what have I been doing ?

Not had much time for blogging recently.  Training mainly but also Keir's birthday a few days ago.  He's 17 now and halfway through some AS exams.

Anyway ... training.  A brief resume of what I've been doing since the last post.

24 and 25 May
A long run on each day ... 25.6 and 28.2 miles but also some strength work and stretching.  Five hours training on the 24th and 5h 30 minutes on the 25th.

26 May
Harrogate League race in the evening but cycling and weights in the morning.  The race was brilliant as far as I was concerned.  I knew it was quite a hilly 6 miles (well two big hills actually) and my plan was to use this as a a quick training run - 6:30 to 6:45 per mile.  I set off steadily and passed loads of people on both hills.  Approaching the finish a few other running tried outpacing me not realising I had always been holding back.  I bet they were surprised by the speed of my sprint finish.  My time of 40 minutes equates to 6:36 per mile ... perfect.

27 May
Hill reps using a 750m stretch of Farnley Lane in Otley - only the steep bit (as Phil Robinson put it).  I began, in February, with six of these with the aim of gradually increasing to twelve.  I ran ten on this day with no problems at all except for the strong winds.  Also did lots of strength work which took the total training time to over 3h 50 minutes.

28 May
Took part in the Park Run in Bradford.  The 5k race around Lister Park took me 20:59 [my worst time ever for 5k].  I did run the 8.5 miles to the start before the race though ... and the 8.5 miles home again.  Not too bothered by the very slow time because it came at the end of a very heavy training week.  Did the usual strength work this evening which took the total training time for the day to almost 5h 20 minutes.

29 May
Keir's birthday so I had a rest day.  We spent an enjoyable day in York with friends and the only training I did was about half an hour's stretching before bed.

This weekend's Grand Union Canal Race saw Pat Robbins win again in yet another course record.  The 145 mile race from Birmingham to London follows the Grand Union Canal as closely as possible and the record is now 25h 37 minutes.  Mike Blamires also took part and he must have been pleased with his time of 40 hours considering his limited training in recent months.

Chris Finill was also running in London - testing the course of the 2012 Olympic marathon with a few other runners including Ian Fisher of Otley AC.  I hear that towards the end the other runners decided to hold back slightly and let Chris finish slightly ahead ... out of respect for his feat of finishing EVERY London marathon (1981 to present).

30 May
No running ... only three and a half hours of cycling, stretching and strength work.

31 May
Long run - fartlek - 27 miles.  Felt very good and ran well in the windy conditions.  My route from Otley included Menston, Guiseley, Shipley, Leeds Liverpool Canal, Kirkstall, Headingley and Bramhope.  Cycling and other stuff pushed the training time up to 5h 15 minutes.

In the evening I attended the final Otley AC committee meeting before next week's Otley 10 mile road race and everything seems in hand and well planned as usual.  Should be another good race.  I'm not running (helping as usual) but Keir is - his first 10 miler.

1 June
The final long run before the UltraRace 100 miles at the end of the month - 29.7 miles using the canal again but a different route not including Kirkstall, Headingley or Bramhope.  Felt good running in the unseasonably warm conditions.  Strength and flexibility work made this a long training day - over 6h 45 minutes.

2 June
Just a nice run in the sunshine up the valley to Askwith and back.  No problem but with all the other training the total time rose to almost three and a half hours.  Weather still warm.

Unfortunately I couldn't run in the Harrogate League race because of the local scouts committee meeting.  Being chairman I should attend if at all possible.

3 June
Early this morning I did more hill reps but this time on the shorter and much steeper Newall Carr Bank.  Then I spent some time shopping for things needed for the upcoming race:  food mainly but also a new wristwatch/stopwatch as mine finally packed in a few weeks ago.

Just finished today's other exercises which takes total to about 3h 30 minutes.

Well, that brings us up to date.  It's been a very busy week with all the training, Keir's exams and two committee meetings.  Hopefully next week will be a bit less hectic - especially as it's the first week of tapering.