North East Running

For a number of years now I have ran seven days a week most weeks. Very roughly following: Monday = 10k easy Tuesday = Effort (either intervals or tempo) Wednesday = 10k easy Thursday = Effort (either intervals or tempo) Friday = 8k extra easy Sat + Sun = either parkrun + long run OR 5k easy + race day A typical week is 74-80km per week. For someone who has ran competitively for less than 10 years... My theory (hope!) is that if you put consistent effort in, and run smart having recovery days, then your times slowly get better.  (My first sub-20 parkrun was 2016, my first proper race 2018) However, by the middle of this year I ran a couple of races well off the pace. May, June and July were not good months for running. Two examples below. The first was Riverside parkrun - a run I have done many times before and in the 12 months prior had kept all of the splits below 3:30km to put in times in the low 17s. However, the run below, was relatively poor. In particularly km4 which at 3:49...

 It's been a good year of running. I put this down to: Being extra motivated moving into the M50 category - feeling I can possibly get a category win in reasonably big races - as opposed to being top end of M45 where even if you do a great run there will always be someone faster Putting in three big training blocks - Q1 marathon training block for Manchester, Q2 lots of short 200/400 effforts to get speed in the legs, Q3 marathon training block for Chester. (comes for free following point 2) - running more miles this year than ever before - workout sessions + easy runs This means coming into November I've managed to PB each one of the main road distances... except 10k. One PB remaining Of these runs, the 10miler PB is the one I am most proud of - this was on a stormy windy day in York, only two weeks after a marathon - so had to dig extra deep for that one. Doing three HM PBs in a row (Brass Monkey, Sunderland, Redcar...) is also a sign of the progression throughout the year. B...

Last year I got a sub-three marathon at Edinburgh . I looked at my training block for that race and made a few tweaks this year for my London effort. As always, in addition to doing a bit of online research, I picked the brains of some of the best runners I know. In particular a couple of runners who have ran sub 2:20 in the past and another who runs sub 2:30 who really know their stuff. Some bulleted notes: Started the training block having regularly done 21-25km every Sunday for some time just as 'the Sunday Long Run'. So this is a great starting point Worked hard for 14 weeks - a little longer than the Edinburgh plan Ran every day, but alternated hard efforts with easy runs. Put the effort in, then recover, then repeat. Kept a fast interval session in for the Tuesday (anything from 400 up to 1mi intervals) but put a longish tempo effort in for the Thursday. Worked this up from 10k to 16k through the training block Kept the Sunday Long Run at a decent pace (sub 4:30/km) - to...

  I've done 16 races now at 10k distance over the last 4-5 years. My PB has gone from sub-40 to sub-36. I got a PB last year and then again another just recently. 10k is a tough distance. With 5k, it can be argued that you can get away with going hard and trying to hold on. Try the same tactic over 10k and you can find that by half way you'll be too tired and the pace will just drift away. So, first things first - you don't get a PB unless you have the basics right: Make sure you are in good form - you are not going to get a PB if you not in your best shape Pick a race that is pretty flat and has a good surface - enter a hilly, mudfest of a 10k - you're not getting a PB Think twice about building your hopes up if the weather forecast has a strong wind predicted So, if the stars are aligning on the three points above - then it is down to (a) pacing stategy and (b) race preparation and (c) how much your prepared to push yourself. A. Pacing strategy Every world record from...

I pretty much ran every day through 2022. Typical week would be Mon-maintenance, Tue-effort, Wed-maintenance, Thu-effort, Fri-easy, Sat-parkrun, Sun-long-run. However, before Christmas I was absolutely knocked out with the flu. Terrible cough, shivering, having to wear 4-5 layers and waking up damp with sweat. There was no way I could run for nine days! My weight went from 78 to 73kg also. Xmas (lack of) runs I then had to consider two things (a) when do I start to run again? and (b) what amount of fitness I had lost? The first five days back I simply ran 8km slow runs. I still had a cough and when I stopped half-way through and at the end I found myself having to cough for 20-30s because of the cold air. Day six I tried to do 3x1km efforts keeping the pace below 4:00/km and just about managed this. Again coughing at the end. Day eight I decided it was time to return to the normal training schedule. My three parkruns leading up to having the flu were: Riverside 17:48 (fast course) Orme...

Back in January 2021 I posted a training plan for the year along with some target times I was hoping to hit: -  https://northeastrunning.blogspot.com/2021/01/running-training-plan-for-2021.html Reflecting back 12 months later, I think I got things just about right and will keep the same plan in place for 2022. In summary: Alternate easy run days with hard workout sessions Race or parkrun at the weekend Long run where possible at the weekend One rest day each week In terms of distance, works out roughly as 60km a week - around 3,200km per year. Ideal training week - 2 workouts, one race, one long run The good news is that this plan gave me personal bests at all of the distances I raced at: parkrun - 17:40 (Herrington)  5k - 17:40 (Sunderland) 10k - 36:26 * (Hexham) 10mi - 59:33 (Brampton) HM - 80:34 (Sunderland) * I recorded 35:44 at Town Moor for 10k, but course measured short and runbritain ruled as invalid - which was a real shame, as a sub-36 10k would have been something t...

Everyone knows the answer to the miles vs kilometres question is clearly 'kilometres'. But why is there still a 50-50 split of runners that choose one or the other? There is nothing worse than sitting down to watch a 'How to run a faster 5k' video on youtube only to hear the person start talking in what your splits should be for each mile! A mile is 1760 yards. Originally defined as the left foot of a Roman soldier hitting the ground 1,000 times when they marched . So even though the majority of running races are measured in metres and kilometres from 100m up to 10K, why are miles still a thing? Three reasons why kilometres are better : The majority of running races can be split nicely into kilometres. Obviously 5K and 10K. But even 5mile races can be split into 8km (+40m) and a 10mile is 16km (+80m). Half marathons are close to 21km (+100m) and a full marathon 42km (+200m). So when calculating splits and working out pace it easier to do. A kilometre is shor...