...she’s the main man in the office in the city And she treats me like I’m just another lackey, But I can put a tennis racket up against my face
and pretend that I am Kendo Nagasaki

Suppose it can get a bit tedious writing and reading about the training all the time…so here’s some bit about my training this week! I felt great after Sherdley and couldn’t wait to get back down to Wavertree for a track session Tuesday. Including me, Tim Fletcher, James McNally and Nige Grant from PLS turned out and the session was 5 x 2 mins with 1 min recovery x 3 times – so once again 30 mins of effort. The Harriers coach Dave Evans explained the session would ideally be run slightly quicker than 10k pace with the top draw Harriers lads doing around 700 metres. Obviously I wouldn’t getting anywhere near that and would be content to get 600 metres which is still 80 second laps and close enough to my current 3k pace.

The first set I was 76 seconds for the 400 mark – always hitting over 600 metres and although it started off hard on a cold night, I was consistent for the 5. The second set I slowed slightly to 78 secs. I notice the other lads in group didn’t run the same speed for all. Some would do 75 400’s then build it up through the 5, others smashing the 1st 300 then floating for the remainder of the 2 mins. Each to their own, I tried to stay close to 80 seconds and never dipped under 600 metres for any of ‘em.

Another good note from this week is that Paddy Boyle from Liverpool RC has started working in at my place. Paddy and I started out more or less together a few years back, I first met him at Parbold in 2009 – he’d thrash me on the uphill and I’d catch him on the down, my shoe came off and he sprinted past me at the end! We were both covered in mud and snot and neither of us has experienced anything like it. I’d always bump into him then and we’d have a good laugh and being a similar standard some decent races in which we’d push each other. He got a bad injury and so did I, came back but got crocked again. Anyway, at least he’ll have a good group of runners to get back into shape here.

I’d unwisely done a steady run of around 6 miles in the daytime before the track session and although I didn’t feel it in the night, the following day I tried to run sub 7’s for 10 miles and found the going tough. You can’t be at the top of you game for every run and a combo of fatigue and the fact I hadn’t had much sleep due to my poor wife having a chronic cough for a few days meant I struggled on the Wednesday run. I had a really easy run on Thursday and Friday with one eye on the Preston 10 mile this Sunday.

I may not be able to run tomorrow as I’m stuck on call as I’m typing this and may not finish until early Sunday. Plus the race is an early start so if I don’t get a good rest I’ll reluctantly give it a miss.

However if I do, I’ll be hoping for a sub hour and maybe sneak a PB. The club champs require x2 times at all the classic distances so this will be my second 10 miler for the season. I’ve felt great since the marathon and had a few quality sessions and races. I haven’t ran over 10 miles but I’ve still put 50 or 60 miles a week in here and there.