Saturday 19 June 2010

Right direction

The ast few weeks have seen 1 race and a bit of training. Last time I updated I was building up to the BMC at Watford. The week had gone well with the sessions and runs feeling strong, i had organised to head down and stay over on the Saturday with Matt Barnes, although there was a change of plans when Matt hadn't recovered from a cold so one Matt was changed to another with Matt Bond jumping in for the journey and night in the hotel.

I was hoping for a fast time, close if not faster than my PB, and the race was certainly set up to do that. Fellow Sale harrier Stuart Stokes was pacing the race in 8:40 ish pace (he was also racing the race!), the race started off well with the first k in 2:52 i was just off the pace in about 4th or 5th and as the race continued i made sure to move up as people moved up. By 2k Stuart, Sam Farah and i went through in about 5:50 so the pace had dropped slightly but we were 25 min clear of the field. However at this stage i was starting to feel the pace and i started to drop back with 2 laps to go. I finished with 9:01, a seasons best but well down on what i expected. However i have to admit that my hurdling throughout was terrible and i was losing a lot of time each lap. Although i was disappointed with the time when i spoke to my coach he highlighted how although the wheels came off they came off later.

You can watch the race here 3000SC With thanks to Athleticos.org.

With these in mind my last few weeks have been focusing on improving the hurdling technique as well as a bit more endurance. i have doe one specific session (which unfortunately was ended early due to cramp) and hurdle drills after every session.

The next race will be the AAA's in Birmingham, i will be aiming to break the 9 minute barrier in this one and then look to build on each race.

The last 2 weeks training in brief.

Sunday 6th June: 10:23 (1hr 13min, 10.55 mi, 6;55min/mi)

Monday 7th June: 8:00 approx 27 min

19:00 (WU 16 min, 2.0mi 4*600 3 min rec (90, 88, 87, 87) WD 15min 1.5mi) Good session unlike the last time i did this where i was lay out on the track for 20 mins.

Tuesday 8th June: 12:54 (29:54, 4.21mi, 7:07 min/mi)

18:25 (31:15, 4.69mi, 6:40 min/mi)

Wednesday 9th June: 7:49 (24:35, 3.43mi, 7:10 min/mi)

19:06 (15:43, 2.13 mi, 6*300 45 sec rec (avg 44) WD 14:22, 1.99 mi) Felt good tonight all ready for the weekend.

Thursday 10th June: 12:40 (20:57, 2.97 mi, 7:03 min/mi)

17:52 (29:15, 4.24 min/mi, 6:54min/mi)

Friday 11th June: Rest day

Saturday 12th June: WU 10 min 3k steeplechase 6th 9:01 WD 10 min)

Week total: Approx 45 miles

Sunday 13th June: 8:35 (1hr 20min, 11:42 mi, 7:04min/mi) stead with Matt in Watford.

Monday 14th June: 8:04 (23:11, 3.20 mi, 7:15 min/mi)

19:08 (WU 16:50 min 2.16 mi, 3*1k 2 min rec 10 min WD including hurdle drills) Tired in the legs after the weekend, had spent nearly 9 hours in the car over 2 days.

Tuesday 15th June: 7:27 ( 24:45, 3.32 mi, 7:27 min/mi) felt tired this moring.

12:35 (32:43, 4.72 mi, 6:56 min/mi)

Wednesday 16th June: 12:11 (25:26, 3.82 mi, 6:40min/mi)

18:24 (WU 15:37, 2.13 mi, 2*800 over hurdles ( had to stop on third due to cramp in my calf) WD 10 min 1.5 mi) Was going well until the i had the cramp, probably a little dehydrated.

Thursday 17th June: 7:45 (21:59, 3.02 mi, 7:17 min/mi)

17:42 ( 36:40, 5.80mi, 6:19 min/mi)

Friday 18th June: 12:55 (47:01, 7.22 mi, 6:31 min/mi)

Saturday 19th June: (WU 16min, 2.0mi, 2*1600, 1*1k, (4:32, 4:31, 2:45) WD 10 min 1.2 mi including hurdling drills) Felt good in the session was leading out the 5k Session of Barnsey, Bond and Gaz Raven.

Week total: Approx 55 miles

Fairly steady couple of weeks including the race, been told to ease off after wednesday for the sunday race. Probably close to 45-50 miles up to the Saturday.