Racing Snake

Have to say I have really enjoyed racing since I got back to some kind of fitness.

Hard to believe I've put out 9 races since my last blog post!  Some days back to back just to get used to running hard again.

Previously I've tried to race fit and it's led to a lot of disappointment as the build up increases pressure and expectation. This time around I've used races as hard training efforts and if I've felt good I have pushed on but if not just kept it under control knowing I am still in the game. Net net I am improving slower than I would like but the plus side is I feel very comfortable pinning a number on.

I think running to power really helps. 335w is high 5.3x range and 350w is low 5.2x so I am very comfortable running 330ish watts so I know it's not going to be a total disaster if it doesn't come together. It's a nice place to be.

Race wise, highlights are the 5k at Battersea Park - 16.39 feeling a little leggy and a 9.54 track 3000m. The track time was not great but a solo effort in a hot wind was very tough and I raced it really well. Worth much more.

Body wise I am surprisingly running through my niggles and starting to feel stronger and healthier at long last. I am feeling like I am recovering well and actually not walking about like a raspberry ! Obviously there's 4-5 lbs that I could do with loosing but you do need some life balance !!

Training is going well. I am finally starting to get on top of paces. I have a nice routine going. I've moved up from a block of 30 mile weeks and currently nearly 3 weeks in to a block of 40 mile weeks. The increase in mileage is starting to pay off. I may schedule a cut back week after the 4th week and push onwards to 50 but not 100% on that.

Session wise I am settling back in to trying to get a couple of solid sessions in every week. I'm using my favorite 60/30 session on the treadmill to inject some speed. Each week slowly turn up the pace.  I think getting pace in my legs is going to be key to relaxing at speed.

I am also doing a hard tempo Parkrun - very close to 5k effort.

Mixing those two with a rest day (Monday), coke club (Wednesday easy 8) and recovery trail run (Friday). 

My issue is do I do a session on Thursday (5 x km reps at 5k pace) and an easy long run OR do a harder, longer long run and do an easy run on Thursday?

I think 4 hard sessions a week is just to much and will just end up in disaster. I'm no spring chicken !!  In fairness I still think I am adapting to 3 and my performances are probably slightly below expectation BUT once I start adapting they should see a kick on in form.

That's really where I am at. I'll do 3 of 4 sessions each week and maybe mix up how I do them.

My Runbritain ranking is down to 0.9 which I am happy about. I know it's a pretty rubbish metric but I quite like to see that improve. I've been peppering my top 5 ranking runs all 2021

Form wise I am probably close to the absolute rivet with 16.39. I reckon I could drop any Parkrun tempo from 17.05 to 17.15 so I am shifting in the right direction. It would be nice to kick on, so that 5.15 pace feels slow in the first mile rather than hard from the gun. In fact 5.30 pace still feels quicker than it should although I can hold on to it.

As the regular season draws to an end I know that quick racing opportunities will also become rarer. I would like to drop a sub 17 Parkrun (I've never done that) and maybe mix up some XC racing along with Frostbite leagues.