Sub 3h15

Make sure you get your gfa entry forms straight off.  I forgot in 2010 and posted it the day before the closing date and it arrived a day too late.  No amount of crying down the phone would make them process it!

Nice area Lorenzo. I studied in Cardiff and started running then, which made me impervious to rain.

The sore foot is back- I must have overdone it yeasterday .

Sent my GFA application on Monday. Didn't send any result proof, just gave them my race number as I figure if I did it in their race they should have details.

Still suffering with a sore right knee. It comes and goes but the pain is quite sharp on the inside left of the kneecap when it happens, and if I run it's quite sore to the touch next morning. Because of this I was undecided about training last night, but then 30 minutes before the off I got a phone call to say the coach was stuck at work, so I ended up coaching the session instead of running it anyway. So I made the session longer 

Poacher - I'll be up in that neck of the woods in July. Flying to Inverness then up to the far north of Scotland and down the west coast. Never been up that far so really looking forward to it!!

The other thing to say about GFA entries is that it's work sending by recorded delivery (which they recommend) and then calling them a couple of days later to check that they've got it.

Catch Up Part III (09/06 to today!)
PMJ - nice 5k.
OOlg - great going at Blaydon.
Joolska - nice way to round off the week.
Jezza - well done on finishing the tri in a decent time; good effort.
AR - fantastic result; you must be really chuffed with that.
SD - take it easy, you might OD.
Lorenzo - sounds like you're having a whale of a time in Wales.
Off to bed now ready for an early start. Long hill reps in the morning- yippee ;(  Not enough time to post in the mornings at the moment. This morning I had already been out of the house and back 4 times before I finally set off for work!

5.5 mile league race tonight. Very hilly. Only managed HM pace but wasn't too far behind the ususal suspects to finish 8th. Pleased to make it round in one piece after an entire day of stomach cramps, which were somehow cured by the race. No weird leg pains. 

Bedtime. 

Met up with Knight Rider tonight at the local 5 mile in Coventry. Nice to catch up with him and have a chat. I didn't race as I am still not running and it's 12 weeks tonight since I tore my plantar fascia but I hope to return to running soon. Needless to say my year so far is a write off and I hope to do something before Dec 31st but it's not looking great so far.

Keep on keeping on peeps

Well done on your 8th position Speedy - good your leg pains have subsided.

Ventured "over the border" to Coventry tonight to compete in the Spinx 5. I know it would sound weird to non formites, but I met a man from the internet in the car park - Matchstick Man! Good to finally meet up with him after all these years on here. So had a good chat with him before the race then got warmed up.

Course was pancake flat and had all the trademarks of a PB course - no hills. The course is 2 laps around the War memrorial park mostly on the paths and briefly on the pavement around the outside. First mile was a bit crazy, with a fairly tight path and a lot of congestion taking it easy wasn't going to happen and came out at 5.47. After that I tried to settle down a bit and when we went onto the pavements outside there was a bit of an incline (not much) but enough to slow me down a bit and mile 2 came out at 6.13. Luckily this averaged out at 6 minute mile pace for 2 miles - still on target. Back into the park and a few sharp twists & turns navigating the pathways probably added a couple of seconds here and there for a 6.07 mile 3. It was good to finish the first lap and get a cheer from MM! The second lap started as the first one with a bit of a good downhill, but by now I was feeling the pace a bit. Luckily I was managing to gain distance on some of the runners that had gone past me earlier and got past them by mile 4 (6.11). A quick look at the watch and I knew a sub 30 was just out of my grasp, but got my head down and got a 5.59 final mile to get a time 30.19 and a new PB

It's been 3 years (2009) since I got my last PB at this distance (30.36) so I'm over the moon to get this and sooo near to that elusive sub 30 time - 3 more 5 mile races to so it!

Great to see you back on here MM. Hope you get back into things soon.

Also good news to hear that Speedy's leg held up today.

Congrats to KR<span> - impressive performance sir. It's been a pretty darn good year so far for you.

Sorry to hear you are having such a long lay off, MM.  Must be terribly frustrating for you?  Are you cross training in the meantime eg creating abs of steel?  Sorry also to hear the sore foot is back, OO, but at least it is not mid-marathon training.

Pleased to hear you are running pain-free, Speedy. Not surprising you have the odd niggle (can't use that word here as they think you are saying something else!) with your marathon not long ago. Sounds like you are still in good form with your 8th place.

Congratulations on the fabulous 5M PB, KR!  Am very envious of your speed and am sure you will be dipping under 30 mins soon and giving Nell a run for her money.  Are the other races decent courses for PBs?

Nothing around here is flat and fast so I am resigned to relatively slow times for distances unless California suddenly flattens out which, given our proximity to the  fault lines, is unlikely...

With that in mind, I ran my 4th long run of the summer marathon campaign which was to be a Time on Feet run.  I am being bold and going for sub-3:10 or thereabouts so set out for 3h10mins.  I ran the hilly bits of the course which included the Golden Gate Bridge (which I ran twice) and the Golden Gate Park.  Thankfully none of the hills seem too bad but I made a mental note of which uphills could seem bad if I was having a negative moment mid-race.  I practised running the downhills too to try and minimise quad damage and found running into the descent made it much easier. Ths dog came along for the first 15 or so which I have realised does compromise my gait a little as I can only swing properly with one arm as the other holds the lead and stays steady.  for some reason I can't swing while holding a lead <insert joke as appropriate >. It was a windy day as ever as the summer fog rolls in through the gate and can create quite a gale.  I guess it is all good training for the day.  Anyway, I was pleased to finish strong with 24.32 miles on the Garmin at an average pace of 7:48m/m.  My long runs are definitely much faster than the 8:30s MM prescribes but I have been careful to keep things easy and finish strong.  I quite often find I drift into MRP and have to pull back which I take to mean I am running slowly enough.  I am still learning about marathon training as this is only my 3rd cycle so I will have to see what happens in July!

Nice going MsE. Have you tried a hands free lead for running with the dog, similar to this?   They are much better than a hand held one and brilliant for getting the dog to pull you up the hill! Do they allow dogs on the marathon?!!

Congrats on thwe PB Knight Rider- what's the secret to your good form?

Sounds nasty MM- you wouldn't believe a foot could cause so much grief!

Great result, KR.  I quite like 5M races but they do hurt!

Nice LSR, MsE, especially given it was a hilly course.  And agree with Minni: get a cani-x type harness.

Nice return to racing, Speedy.

Nice to hear briefly from MM.  Hope that you are able to return to running soon...

Nice race there KR, what are the other 5 milers you have lined up? I admit to the same tactic of having a few races over the same distance so you get the feel of the distance and can pac eit well, but looks to me that the pacing was fine (no big fast first mile and a 5:59 last is a good indicator as well) so maybe it is just a few more track sessions, parkruns and other short hard sessions to get the leg speed up.

MsE, 24.32 miles, weren't tempted for the extra one and a bit?

The canicross harness looks a good thing, may help KR with leg speed as well. The Newbury parkrun has a lady as second fastest overall in 16:14 !!!!As far as I can tell, she jumps in the air and hopes as she is pulled along at high speed.

Brilliant stuff from AR, a nice PB from KR and great Tri action from Jezza and MsE.

After nearly a month of x-rays, physio, frantic ab and abductor stretching/excercises and swimming/cycling in the gym, I shoved in my shiny new shoe insert and tentatively shuffled round the park opposite Casa Ant, doing as many of the 400-odd metre laps on grass as it took to make up 5-and-a-bit kilometres. I think I'm o.k. but I won't be opening the cava just yet - steady as she goes.

Having a good year so far Lorenzo with PB's at 5k, 10k, marathon and now 5 miles. Still hoping to improve on the 5 mile time and also my half marathon in October.

MsE, The other races are relatively flat with one being pancake flat. .Sounds like you are putting in some good training and a well paced long run there. I am more of the opinion that these kind of long runs should have some marathon paces miles to them rather than all really slow. Good to have run the hilly parts of the course too I think when peole say it's hilly you don;t know what to expect, and in reality sometimes they're not as bad after all.

OO - Not sure there is a secret, just doing more faster paced running and weekly track sesions have helped

PMJ - I'd like to be pulled along by some dogs too to make me faster! Used to do track sessions years ago the other way round and pulling a tyre behind. My ‘A’ 5 mile race is next month in Leicester - the Watermead Challenge. It's the same one that Martin did last year and got his 28.xx PB, so a very flat course. Then the other 2 are the Wellingborough 5 and a local league race. I got a flyer last night for another 5 miler at the same place as last night by organiser by Coventry Godivas, so might do that too? Would be good to also try and do as many Parkruns as I can too.

Gretat you are back running Ant. Have you been advised to stay off tarmac as much as you can?

KR - well done on your 5 mile PB. Four PBs in a year is very impressive and much deserved. Good luck with Watermead.

I'm a big fan of the sub 3:15 but rarely post as I don't think I've got much to contribute at this stage - more a case of learning from afar...

I'm still sticking to your/Martin's advice about focusing on the shorter stuff. My weekly track session with Steve is now my favourite run of the week and I've done a few parkruns, although my pacing needs a lot of work..  I'm doing another 5k race next week, so I'm hoping to nail a better time then.

Anyway, the mojo has returned and I'm really enjoying my running again.

Keep up the great running everyone.

KR - well done indeed!  Missed that earlier.

Rob - get posting!  They don't bite (much)!

Howdi Rob - nice to see you on this thread - Stick around -

KR - Great stuff! You doing Ellesmere10k or Vyrnwy Half this year?

MSE - Well done on joining the 24 club!

First 5k for me last night - 18.39