VLM 2013 - Week 7 of 14

VLM - Week 7 of 14
Week 7 - (Mon 25/2 - Sun 3/3)

Mon: Rest Day
Tues: Rest Day
Weds: 10.0 Miles @ 7:56/mile
Thurs: 18.0 Miles @ 8:12/mile
Fri: 10.0 Miles @ 8:53/mile
Sat: 6.0 Miles incl Delamere parkrun 18:54 (10th) (5:54, 6:01, 6:14)
Sun: 16.36 Miles @ 8:50/mile

Total Mileage: 60.36 Miles


This week was  a good example of being flexible with the training after taking account of feedback from the legs.

As mentioned last week, the outline for this week was to get roughly 80 miles in including:
1. A 20 miler
2. A 15-18 miler
3 A progressive 10 miler finishing around 6:00/mile
4. A parkrun.

But in the early part of the week I was very cautious about the delayed effects of running hard three times in two days totalling 20 miles on various surface types, ie Dewsbury parkrun, National XC and Snake Lane 10 all within about 27 hours.

So on both Monday and Tuesday it felt that rest was the most appropriate use of each day. The Tuesday would have been used for the progressive 10 miler but that would have been a struggle to complete, and with the potential training stimulus not being that far removed from the Snake Lane 10 miles @ 6:30/mile two days earlier, I was quite happy with opting for a rest day instead.

In a nutshell the week became one of consolidation with predominantly steady running, which is actually well timed with a series of longer 'bringing to a peak' races lined up over the next 3-4 weeks.


Saturday - Delamere parkrun

This was the inaugural event in a scenic setting in Delamere Forest in Cheshire.

The chances of running this at all had been completely written off at about 8:30am when the sat nav info was indicating an arrival time of 9:14am. This was due to a very awkward bit of new roadworks around Hyde which was causing ridiculously lengthy delays for what it was (but nothing compared to the problems that it was going to cause for the poor people trying to get through the same spot later in the day).

So backup plans involving going to one of South Manchester, Wythenshawe, Heaton Park or Bramhall were formulated, all within easy reach within the time available. Heaton Park was most likely as Dawn and John Broom hadnt actually run at that venue before.

However, we then decided that we would go to Delamere anyway based on the logic that even if we were 15 minutes late we should still be able to get around without holding up marshals etc.

To cut a long story short we actually arrived at 8:58am (dont ask!) just as the run was about to get underway:

This now ranks as the third latest arrival at a distant parkrun after Gorleston 9:01am (after a 4.5 hr drive) and Gunnersbury 9:03am (after a 3 hour drive).

After numerous quick hellos to plenty familiar faces we were off with no warm up whatsoever and, with that in mind, it was satisfying enough to come away with an 18:54 on a 100% trail course.

The hardest part was still to come though when faced with the choice of a bacon baguette, a bacon butty, a toasted bacon butty or a bacon bap!!! At least the coffee was straightforward :)

Considering that the last time I took part in an inaugural parkrun on a 100% trail course it involved a 2 mile detour at Worsley Woods after being led astray by Peter Woodward,  this one has to go down as a resounding success despite the tight arrival time.

Mingling post run in the glorious morning sunshine with Jason Newell, Hannah Oldroyd and half of John Broom! :

And contrary to rumours this was not me running in the opposite direction to the other runners again, it was actually a warm down:

 As you can tell from the pics above the setting is hard to beat and so a visit to Delamere parkrun is to be highly recommended if you get chance.


Sunday - 16.36 Miles

This was shorter than most Sunday runs recently but fitted the bill in terms of keeping the 20+ milers more spaced out coming into the last 7 weeks with just a planned 26 miler 3-4 weeks out going much beyond 20.

This is to let the speed development start coming through and to allow the upping of the volume of batches of 6:15-6:30 miles.

The 16 miles also represented a very positive run for Hannah Oldroyd in her recovery from a damaged ankle after a bad twisting during a XC race three weeks ago. Keeping the pace steady and stopping before it became too much of a struggle this acted as a very significant step in terms of getting VLM back on her agenda.






Next Week:

This coming week is a week when it is time to start getting a feel for where the training is at and to begin the focus on London.

The fixed elements are:

1. Saturday - Hull parkrun. The aim to is to finally get the first 17:xx of the year on the board but, more importantly, to feel strong in the final mile and try to get somewhere close to 5:30.

2. Spen 20 - A hilly 20 miler which will be used to breed confidence more than anything else. The plan will be to have a very comfortable first 10 miles and then get to work. As long as the legs keep responding I'll keep upping the intensity but not to the point where I'm hanging on for the finishing line. A strong final 10 with something left in the tank is the overall aim.

The overall mileage this week should get back up around 80 and there will probably be a rare interval session added in, probably on Tuesday, to liven the legs up ready for the 5K attempt on Saturday. This will be a 4 x 1 mile (400 jog) session.


Still no concerns about VLM, 7 weeks to go and very much looking forward to it :)