Six Mile Interval Run for Day 29 of Janathon 2011

Day 29 of Janathon and with the end in site  I decided to do an interval session alternating faster and slower miles in to a six mile run. I did fairly OK for 2 of the 3 faster miles but slowed on the last one as some how all of my faster interval miles seemed to coincide with hills.

My mile splits were 8.46,8.27,8.57,8.33,8.52,9.12. for a 52.50 for the 6 mile route out to Fornham All Saints.

The month of January seems to have flown past and it has been good to have been part of the Janathon event. Hopefully I will able to take part in Juneathon this year and then have a chance to compare the two. Which is harder I wonder? January with its extra day in the month and colder wintry weather or June one day less but potentially hot and humid weather.

Day 1 - 5 miles
Day 2 - 5 miles
Day 3 - 4 miles
Day 4 - 4 miles
Day 5 - 3 miles
Day 6 - 2.52 miles
Day 7 - 7 miles
Day 8 - 3.5 miles
Day 9 - 2 miles
Day 10 - 4 miles
Day 11 - 4 miles
Day 12 - 8 miles
Day 13 - 3 miles
Day 14 - 4 miles
Day 15 - 3 miles
Day 16 - 4 miles
Day 17 - 6 miles
Day 18 - 6 miles
Day 19 - 4 miles
Day 20 - 3 miles
Day 21 - 4.3 miles
Day 22 - 5 miles
Day 23 - 4.21 miles
Day 24 - 3.3 miles
Day 25 - 1 mile
Day 26 - 7.5 miles
Day 27 - 4 miles
Day 28 - 5 miles
Day 29 - 6 miles

Total 125 miles

Running everyday has become a habit

Ickworth Rotunda House

Ten days into January and I along with many Janathoners are continuing to exercise every day. The weather although generally cloudy, grey and cool  with temps hovering around 3-4C or 37 to 40F has been favourable compared to December's snow.

Decided today to inject a little more pace and do an interval session. This consisted of 10 x 30 seconds faster intervals with a 1.30 second recovery in between so nothing too tough.

Chilly Start

I ran my 4 miles in 35 minutes which was my quickest this year so the lighter mileage of the last 2 days certainly helped. I am hoping legs willing to run close to 30 miles this week. My total last week was 26 miles.

Ipswich Harriers

Yesterday after my run in the morning I went out to Ickworth Park to watch the Suffolk Cross Country Championships. There was a succession of races over several hours for different age groups. Whilst we were there we saw many of the junior races and walked the course which was a tough one with a short sharp hill near the Canal Lake followed by a hilly drag up past St Marys Church to the finish. The ground was clumpy by that I mean not like a flat playing field this had grassy mounds and tussocks meaning unless you watched where you placed your feet you could easily turn an ankle. However the weather was pretty good for runners and spectators so it could have been even harder.

This post contains a few shots from Ickworth Park and the race.

It takes guts!

The course followed a route around the Canal Lake. Much work is underway to restore an early 18th century garden. Vineyards on the slopes are producing a small quantity of wine each year and many bee hives were introduced last year.

The Grade II walled kitchen garden is situated 500m south-west of Ickworth House
on the north bank of the River Linnet. It is enclosed on three sides and is open to The Canal on the south side. Within the kitchen garden lie a further two walled enclosures also open to the water, currently used as a vineyard. Sir John Hervey's three-bay, single-storey Summerhouse (also listed grade II) built in 1703 is situated in the centre of the main garden. It is constructed of red brick with moulded cornice and a parapet which hides a flat roof. The Summerhouse is said to have stood in the grounds of the old manor house and was retained as a feature within the kitchen garden

Downhill around walled garden

St Marys Church - vineyards beyond the lake on the rise

Day 1 - 5 miles
Day 2 - 5 miles
Day 3 - 4 miles
Day 4 - 4 miles
Day 5 - 3 miles
Day 6 - 2.52 miles
Day 7 - 7 miles
Day 8 - 3.5 miles
Day 9 - 2 miles
Day 10 - 4 miles


Total 40 miles

Interval Run

For the first time in many months I felt the need to wear a thermal top and Ron Hill trackster leggings this morning on my run. In fact I wore a second layer over my thermal top as although it was bright and sunny it was also breezy. The first real signs of winter coming early perhaps. The temperature I believe was 2c or whats that 35f or so.

This year we seemed to start Autumn early back in August to be honest and September it rained nearly every day at least it felt like it. We change the clocks in the UK at the end of this month by an hour and return to Greenwich mean time from British summer time. On the 31st of October we gain an extra hour for the week end which is great but from then on we are plunged into darkness from around 4-5pm in the evenings. For a lot of people this means going to work in the day getting home in the dark and you have to make the best of it though many suffer from SAD the seasonal affective disorder.









With the colder weather there has been an invasion of spiders in to the house setting up webs which I don't mean if they are successful in catching a few flies. I am using my Fitflops less frequently now as they are open toed sandals. They were fantastic and helping me overcome plantar fasciitis and if money allowed at some point I would look for a shoe or boot version for the winter. We are eating less salads now and we recently had home made soup so the warm comfort foods are back on the menu. We are also in that inbetweeny stage of sometimes surrendering to putting the heating on and then turning it off again when we are too warm.

As for this morning I felt I could have done with some gloves but apart from the first 5-10 Min's into the run I was OK. My session this morning was a 45 minute effort using the Adidas mi coach set to the heart rate monitor function.

I did 5 min easy warm up (blue zone) 5 Min's moderate (green zone)  and then a 5 minute anaerobic threshold interval I repeated this 3 times for a total of 45 Min's running. Total distance 5.04 miles which is slightly under 9 min miles.

This morning served as a reminder that I  must check out hats and gloves  for running.

 

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1.03.01

Interval Run to Fornham All Saints

I am gradually building up the mileage once again after my recent half marathon though it has taken me 2-3 weeks to do so. I am now training for a 10k race and tonight my schedule called for an interval session.

The plan suggested I do warm up mile and then  4 x half miles in  3.35 and warm down for a total of 6 miles.

It was a little breezy at 5pm and so I wore a t shirt with a long sleeve over the top. This became too warm during the run and I had to lose the long sleeve t shirt  tied around my waist. I am carrying a slight injury at the moment which I hope doesn't get any worse.

I think it is a touch of plantar fasciitis. Having had this before I am pretty sure this is the case and I felt it tonight as I set off for my run in my left foot heel. I have felt it a few times recently and I am hoping it is just a case of needing to replace one pair of my current running shoes which are now warn out. These are my Asics Gel Stratus 2's which have 412 miles on them and are showing wear in the midsole.

However unlike when I previously had this condition I was able to continue to run and I didn't notice any problems after a few minutes. When I previously had this it felt like I was running with a stone in my shoe and running was impossible so fingers crossed!

In the end I did 5 x half miles in 3.36,3.45,3.46,3.38 and an extra one in 4.01. In between I jogged and then finished my run at an easy pace for a total of 6 miles. I didn't hit the target of 3.35 half miles but I wasn't to far out and I averaged 7.28 mile pace for the 5 intervals.

To accompany my run I listened to my IPOD and appropriately Jonathon Richman and the Modern Lovers with Roadrunner. If ever there was a song made for running surely this is it

Track Interval Session at West Suffolk Athletics Arena Bury St Edmunds Suffolk

Tonight my running schedule called for an 8 mile tempo session. I decided to vary it a bit and do an interval session at the West Suffolk Athletics Arena in Bury St Edmunds instead.

This was my first visit to the track this year as I have focused entirely on my half marathon training schedule. This has meant road training and road training and more road training and I haven't been to the track or ventured off road as much as I would normally do. This has been a deliberate plan to see if a focus on a schedule would put me back on the straight and narrow as regards to my stamina to run longer distance and most importantly my confidence. I haven't raced for so long it is now a scary prospective.

So it was with great pleasure that I jogged a mile to the track with a drink in hand wearing tracksters and a thermal top. It was positively balmy this evening and I wasn't in two minds about removing the layers and a short sleeved technical t- shirt and shorts was all I needed along with my Ascics Gel Stratus 2's. These shoes will have to be retired in probably a month or so as I see I have recorded 375 miles in them.

The coach and many of the rest of the Saint Edmunds Pacers club were doing some sets of 4 minute runs but I wasn't tempted to join in as my plan was 6 x one mile intervals .

I felt strong as I set off on the first mile. The main thing was I felt I could keep up a decent pace throughout and my legs and breathing were not acting as a brake as they quite often do. I wasn't sure what time to expect for a mile but I stopped the Garmin Forerunner 205 at 7.32.

Not bad my fastest mile of the year but only because I havent't been to the track. Normally runs at th track are over a shorter distance with intervals of between 1 min and 5 mins so running several mile intervals isn't usually done. Looking back my diary indicates that last year for pace on the track over 3 minutes I would often run around 6.50 - 7 mile pace. 

I tired after 4 intervals but managed to complete the set of 6 to give times as follows

7.32,7.32,7.27,7.22,7.39, and 7.40

In between efforts I had my Asda Isotonic Mixed Berry Flavour Sports Drink

I really like this flavour , very good design of bottles with a good closure cap and cheap  in comapison with the competitors £1.46 for 4. Nice one Asda.





My times were pretty consistent with just 13 seconds between fastest and slowest. I was tired after this and jogged home the mile to give me a warm down and 8 miles in the bag.

Felt good tonight will have a break Thursday before reurning to the road on Friday lunch time.

Free Spikes Magazine

Last year I signed up for a free magazine called Spikes. Three free issues full of great athletic,track and running news for nothing. Click here for the link . You do have to pay postage outside of the UK though but worth considering.


On Day 31 of the Runners World SMART Coach Schedule todays menu called for some speed work.  I had to take an extended lunch to fit this into my working day but preferred to run at lunch time rather than in the dark after work. The schedule suggested I did 8 miles in total including 4 miles at 7.19 pace followed by half mile jogs and a warm down.

I chose to run up and down Newmarket Road. This is a straight road of around a mile from Oliver Rd to the Falcon Pub. Only problems with this are the need to cross over two busy roads and I have to keep a sharp look out for any cars crossing over a roundabout and a set of traffic lights.

What I achieved was as follows:


1.3 mile warm up and then the 4 miles in 7.54,8.08,8.03 and 8.03.
 I did the half mile jogs inbetween and then ran home 1.2 miles for an overall total of 8 miles.

I didn't hit the pace required by a long way. However I am happy with today's training. Firstly I felt good with no problems with my breathing or any aches or pains. Secondly my mile intervals were consistent with no big decline in speed for the last mile. Lastly they are my faster set of intervals or tempo runs for this year.

West Suffolk Athletics Track Bury St Edmunds

6.30pm 7 miles in 55 mins 28 seconds

Week to date mileage 21

Month to date mileage 106

Average weekly rate 30.8

Average Monthly rate 134

Year to Date 1064

Life time 8842

Tonights track session consisted of 6 intervals of 2 minute running at 5k pace with a minute recover in between followed by a 5 minute gap before repeating the set again.

At the end we then ran 800 metres which is something I haven't done very often. My time of 3.24 wasn't great but after looking back in my diary I had to go back to October last year to find previous times which showed ny best then to be 3.30. So a slight improvement which wasn't bad after a hard session which I struggled with after a heavy lunch ime meal and a restful holiday.

Quite a good turn out tonight. My race entry number for the Tarpley 10 has arrived I am number 27.

West Suffolk Athletics Track Bury St Edmunds

6.30pm 7 miles in 54 mins 2 seconds

Week to date mileage 13

Month to date mileage 74

Average weekly rate 31.5

Average Monthly rate 137

Year to Date 1032

Life time 8810

A track session consisting of reps of 4 mins , 3mins and 2 mins at 5k pace followed by 2 x 400 metres. A minute recovery in between and five minutes before repeating the whole set.

West Suffolk Athletics Track Bury St Edmunds

6.20pm 6 miles in 47minutes 48 seconds

Week to date mileage 11

Month to date mileage 95

Average weekly rate 31.9

AverageMonthly rate 139

Year to Date 912

Life time 8690

Tonights track session was kept thankfully a little shorter than normal which I think we were grateful for considering another really hot day with records being set and temperatures in the mid 90's c

We ran 2 x 4 minutes at 5k pace followed by a 500 metres and a 600 metres at 150 metre pace. We then repeated the whole session a second time.

The weather was a little too hot for any kind of running but I am glad I did it. I tended to run 2 laps in arround 3.27/8 and I ran the 600 metres in I believe 2.26

West Suffolk Athletics track Bury St Edmunds Suffolk

6pm 6miles in 48 minutes

Week to date mileage 11.3

Month to date mileage 46

Average weekly rate 31.5

Average Monthly rate 137

Year to Date 585

Life time 8363

I finally managed to get back to the track after an absence of a month and boy did I notice it! Tonights session consisted of 2 sets of 3 x 2.5 minutes at about 5k pace with a 1 min recovery inbetween followed by 2 x 300 metres at 1500 metre pace with a 15 second recovery.

As per usual the objective was to try and be consistent throughout the two sets and to finish at aproximately the same place on the track. I failed on this tonight. I was consistent for the 2.5 minute intervals at least for the first 5 of these but the final one I know I was about 10 metres adrift of my finishing point.

As for the 300 metres I really struggled as I don't feel I have a 1500 metre pace! I ran the first two of these in 66 seconds but then slipped on the 2nd set to 71 and 74 seconds.

It was great conditions for the track being warm but my lack of regular attendance at the track really showed.

West Suffolk Athletics Track Bury St Edmunds Suffolk

6.20pm 6.4 miles in 50 minutes 01 seconds.

Week to date mileage 12.4

Month to date mileage 41

Average weekly rate 33.5

Average Monthly rate 146

Weather: Cool

I ran down to the track tonight which is only about a mile away. I warmed up with a further 4 laps and then we were into a fairly short interval session which was to be run at faster than race pace. That's an extra gear which I don't feel I exactly have as I just haven't down much interval work in the pace and I have never been quick.

we started with 4 intervals of 2.30 minutes with a minute recovery inbetween. After a 5 minute recovery a further 3 intervals of 2.30 with a 45 second recovery inbetween and then finally a further 2 intervals of 2.30 with 30 seconds recovery inbetween.

the objective was to be consistent with all the runs arriving at a certain part of the track each time . The trick being to avoid running quicker on the first few intervals than the last ones.

I think I generally succeeded in this running most of my 400's in 1.40-45 which is faster than my race pace as I think this equates to 7 minute miling.

Bury Pacers Interval Session

6.30pm 6.6 miles in 52 minutes 33 seconds

Week to Date mileage 12.6

Month to date mileage 122

Average weekly rate 34.4

Average Monthly rate 149

Weather: Cold and dry

The club had planned to run some time trials tonight but the track was icy and as the temperature dropped conditions were only likely to deteriorate. So we ran on the inside of the track on the grass and to be honest there were patches of grass which became hard and icy as the night wore on.

I must admit I still warmed up on the track and ran 5 laps. The interval session tonight consisted of 3 x 4 minutes at race speed with a minute recovery in between followed by 4 x 3 minutes and finally 4 x 2 minutes all with a minute recovery.

I found I could run just on 3 laps in 4 minutes on the inside of the track. It was hard to judge if you were keeping a consistent pace throughout the intervals as invariably you might start from a different side of the track. It was a good session though the icy conditions meant always having to be a little guarded with each step.

I warmed down with four laps on the track.

I have posted a couple more pictures of Adkins Woods at Ickworth Park.


As you can see it was beautiful and muddy.