21-06-2015, 04:31 PM
Hi TheEd, thanks for asking!
Last week was all work and parental duties, so after Tuesday's session I was only able to fit in a single recovery run before toeing the line for today's 15K.
Based on my recent 10K Macmillan predicted 1:19:47, so I decided to try for sub 1:20, knowing it would be a stretch on the difficult surfaces.
The first 12K were OK. I started a bit too fast, but my heart rate was where I wanted it and it felt easy despite really muggy weather. But at 13K appeared a long stretch of really bumpy grass field ... on an uphill slope, which I must have suppressed from my memory. After that, my legs were logs and accelerating was not an option.
I finished in 1:20:51. As I didn't quite reach my goal I wasn't super pleased until I discovered that I ended in the top 15% of my gender and age category. I'm more used to top 35%, so maybe I did a decent race after all, given the conditions.
The question now, of course, is "what next". During summer I'll have more time for running, but probably no races until September. So far this program seems to be working very well for me, and I'd like to continue my progress towards the sub 50 min 10K. However, my true love is longer distances and I'd also like to build on my marathon training to work towards a couple half marathons in the fall and a faster marathon next year. Any suggestions for how to train over the summer are welcome.
Thank you so much for all your counsel and support so far, I really appreciate it!
Last week was all work and parental duties, so after Tuesday's session I was only able to fit in a single recovery run before toeing the line for today's 15K.
Based on my recent 10K Macmillan predicted 1:19:47, so I decided to try for sub 1:20, knowing it would be a stretch on the difficult surfaces.
The first 12K were OK. I started a bit too fast, but my heart rate was where I wanted it and it felt easy despite really muggy weather. But at 13K appeared a long stretch of really bumpy grass field ... on an uphill slope, which I must have suppressed from my memory. After that, my legs were logs and accelerating was not an option.
I finished in 1:20:51. As I didn't quite reach my goal I wasn't super pleased until I discovered that I ended in the top 15% of my gender and age category. I'm more used to top 35%, so maybe I did a decent race after all, given the conditions.
The question now, of course, is "what next". During summer I'll have more time for running, but probably no races until September. So far this program seems to be working very well for me, and I'd like to continue my progress towards the sub 50 min 10K. However, my true love is longer distances and I'd also like to build on my marathon training to work towards a couple half marathons in the fall and a faster marathon next year. Any suggestions for how to train over the summer are welcome.
Thank you so much for all your counsel and support so far, I really appreciate it!