Blowing Up
The title says it all, as I experienced my first blow out during the Trotters 5 on Sunday morning. After all my racing last weekend and a decent but not over tiring training week of 30 ish miles, I felt in decent shape to race, especially as I opted out of racing the fast & flat Podium 5k on Saturday night.
I ran the Trotters 5 last year, but, due to building work around the area/course, they had decided to reverse the route, therefore also slightly extending it to a 5.25 mile race consisting of 2 laps. It was a tougher course in general too, about a minute slower on times from last year, apparently. I did beat my time from last year but I expected that anyway.
I started well and my first 2 mile split times were really on the money in terms of my pace, running a 7:20 which was mostly up hill then a 6:55 the following mile. I felt good and my time was well on course for my pre-race aim. Then it was actually coming off the back of a downhill, when I tried climbing again, my legs just wouldn't go at the pace I wanted and my 3rd mile split was 9:24, which is slower than my training pace!
I kept on pushing to try and speed myself up but I was just getting slower, I could tell something was wrong so I just stuck at that pace in order to avoid injury as that's the last thing I want right now. My splits did improve after that but they were still over a minute slower per mile than my usual race pace and I wasn't enjoying it at all. This is the first time I've considered stopping in a race but I kept on and finished it in just under 43 minutes (nearly my 10k PB for over a mile less distance!!!)
me & fellow Dasher, Jonny, pre-race
I have just taken it as a good time to educate myself and learn a bit more about how my body copes with racing, after all, all experiences can be taken in a positive light if you want them to be!
My training this week is going to be far from the norm. I had yesterday (Monday) off, when I'd usually do 8 or 9 road miles then 15 hill reps. I will be running with a few lads from the club tonight but it will be a steady 8 to 10 miles on the road. Wednesday will probably be a few miles on the moors, just to get some off road in, in prep for Saturday's race, formerly known as the Half Tour of Pendle.
Also racing Sunday in the Roddlesworth Roller, one of the more local races, which I also ran last year. Hopefully, with a bit more of a chilled out training week I can run a good time. I do feel fresher already which can only be a good thing and I'm looking forward to training this week, more than I have done for a while.
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As far as my Asics campaign is going, I am training well in both sets of shoes, using the 33DFA's for my speed work and the Gel-Glorify's for my longer runs. I'm in the process of looking for a half marathon to race in and will be wearing my Gel-Glorify's for that, as they seem by far the best shoe I have for long distance stability and comfort. Both shoes are still available and as far as I am aware the campaign is going strong.
There are some really good running tips on the link below, from the professionals at Asics Europe. These include improving your pace, marathon training, hydration tips and diet advice, along with many more tips & tricks too, check them out, even if only one of them benefits you, it's definitely worthwhile :)
Twitter - @CalFerguson
Instagram - @CalFerguson
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