The Portal is Open

This is an entry covering 2 runs:

Tuesday: 02.03.2021 - 30 mins grass run

Got dark at 16 mins in so I went on the road & did a lap of Gort - started at 18:10 & home for 29:57

All up 8k (usual 1.1k cool down)

Thursday: 04.03.2021 - 5k all out - 20:18

This felt good - really good - I went out hard & didn't let up

Obviously the time isn't impressive but on a diet of  < 10 miles a week for the last 2.5 months as well as crap sleep pattern + average (at best) diet etc, this is pretty good.

I must do some sprint training now to get this time down.

I felt I was working hard but not exactly pushing to the limit - there is loads more there.

I couldn't have ran that much faster but I just decided to push that pace & that's all it is - just getting used to that pace again - the rest comes with getting used to it - there was nothing hard about 20 min 5k pace, it's just getting used to it, at that level you start to go into the top 10-15% of runners - so it's tough but nothing as compared to those who run sub 18 min 5k on 50k a week or those doing sub 16 min 5k on 60 miles a week etc..

I've never been a big trainer but I know if I can run 3 times a week with targeted workouts that I can improve again this year & break 19 min for the 5k - that should be relatively easy really & I shouldn't have to lift my mileage up past 25 miles a week to do this - just do some more cycling & harder interval threshold sesssions - that's it - as well as living sensibly. 

My body breaks down after I enter 30+ miles a week territory - I simply can't handle it, so getting to that next level which you can only achieve really at 50 miles + per week will always allude me - but that's OK as I love my running the way I currently am doing it & have done so for the past 11 years now.

Tomorrow (Sunday I'll do a 10k - relatively easy) then for next week a nice 30 min on the grass on Tuesday & then do 5x1k sprints on Thursday (go at about 15:00 after the cryptography lecture...) 

My Goal then is Fri 2nd April - try to break 19:30 for the 5k using my usual route - this should be quite do able now really - though it would help if I had people to run with (thanks Covid!)