Racing and Training 2018

am Nine of us did 12 miles at 10 mm pace... the Bishton loop. There were... Me, Stuart Howison, Chris Stevens, Elinor Philips, Mel Shipton, Sarah Francis, Huw Evans, Louise Muteham and Naomi Hibberd. Stuart and Naomi were back at the tail but both did well. The others were running well within themselves.

I ran to the Riverfront. I did the parkrun at a canter. I jog / walked home

I did six @ six. We did the original route.

am I did the Lliswerry Special 8 training session running at 10 mm. We left the tennis centre and regrouped at the start of the Lliswerry 8. We ran the course and afterwards i jogged back to the Tennis Centre with Stuart Salvage. I ran with... John Hill, Teej Dew, Lisa & David Bateman, Maria English, and Gareth Yeoman with Rachel Avon finishing strongly behind us. after that I went to Rodney Parade to get my Newport County v Leicester City match ticket. I also went to the Greyhound. I missed Slimming World.

am I did the Glynneath 5 mile road race as a training run with Roni. I started off steady and wound the pace up. I did not have a chip so I may not be in the results.

am I ran to the Riverfront. I did a fast riverfront parkrun. I ran home

am I did the am LSR for 10 minute miling. There was Gareth Jenkins and his Neighbour Matt plus me Mel Shipton and Chris Stevens. We did my Lliswerry 8 loop plus start 7 finish (exact 10 miles) and I did it in exactly 1:40:00.

pm I did Ruth's S & C session at the Velodrome

Christmas fun session near to the transporter bridge with the Lliswerry Wednesday evening crew.

pm We did the High Cross Horror (Christmas Edition). This was basically the High Cross Horror route but starting out up Fields Park Road to look for Christmas illuminations. Quite a few runners finished at the Handpost for a Christmas drink. Some of us didn't! I was running with Steve Crowther and Janine. We also had group 6 for a while... that comprised Carl, Maria David & Laura Rendell. They cut it short down High Cross Road.

pm We did a track Christmas special with NEWTs. It was basically circuit training with stations at the 200 metre points on the track. So 200 metre run then exercises and repeat for 5K. Very tough.

am Did the Lliswerry 8 loop . Exited the NISV via Langland way on to the SDR and round to Nash Road. Returned the same way. It is 10 miles exactly. There were 5 of us. Naomi & Mel, Me, Chris and Stuart Howison. We did 10 minute miling pretty much exactly. After yesterday's storms it was nice to have a window of no rain and just a mild breeze.

am Jogged to the river front. Did the parkrun. Jog walked home. All in the worst weather of the winter so far. It was cold with a wind chill factor thrown in and it was very wet. I wore arthritis gloves ostensibly to keep my hands warm but when they were saturated they served to keep my hands very cold indeed. My hands were blue/orange when I peeled the gloves off outside my house. I had to take them off to be able to unzip my pocket and get my house keys out. Once again my running was affected by the Thursday S&C session. I commented on Strava thus... Strength and conditioning on Thursday evening affects parkrun time on Saturday morning. It even adds about 5 minutes on to the time it takes to put my socks on. parkrun time was quicker than last week only because the weather was so bad I didn't stop to talk to anyone.

pm Six at Six was Waterloo sunset. There were 7 of us. Me, Julie Davies, Steve C, Louise, Chris Stevens, Richard Talbot and Richard Steele (a friend of Steve & Roni).

pm S & C with Ruth at the Velodrome warm up included high knees & bum flicks Squats Lunges Get ups Planks side planks glute bridges Press ups planks and touch chest

pm I did 4 sets of intervals on the riverfront two bridges circuit with group 5.

pm I did a Lliswerry Tuesday from the Civic centre. We did Dewsland Park Road Hill reps. For a warm up we ran up Caerau Road and along to the top of Dewsland Park Road. We jogged down the hill on the left side and then ran up with effort. We did four reps. Warm up 13 minutes. Down - 3:37 - up 3:10 Recovery & down - 5:20 - up 3:17 Recovery & down - 5:15 - up 3:12 Recovery & down - 5:15 - up 3:05 cool down - 10:23

pm I did 4 * 1600 on the track with Nick Davies and Angela Potter plus a group of NEWTs. Interval times were 7:48; 7:36; 7:30 and 7:28. Starting to feel good.

am I did the Llanwern / Bishton loop with Naomi & Chris. Mel Shipton & Sarah Kembrey were with us (or just in front of us) for much of the way. We separated at "The Queen's Way" the long straight road which links Magor & the SDR, retail park etc. Mel & Sarah chose to do extra distance while we three headed back to the NISV via a 2.5 mile straight road into a strong headwind. It was very character building. It was 10.48 miles according to Garmin. We went out round the stadium so that was part of the excess.

am jog to the Riverfront (via St Julian's Road). Did the Riverfront parkrun. Jog / walk (mostly walk) home. DOMS alert! I struggled ... probably due to Ruth's S & C session. Those squatty things ... moving left and right touching the floor.

pm Sis @ Six ...the Newport 10K route. Just five of us. Quite a reasonable pace.

pm The Greyhound run. To say I was leading group 5 would not be entirely accurate since Laura Richards and Charlotte Boast disappeared into the distance. Also running were Bethan Jarrett (daughter of Elwyn)  and Eleanor Howell (nee Johnston). Steve Crowther was looking after group 6 which was Ann Westley & Paul Williams. Paul had a blister and turned back early. Ann did not return to the Civic so Steve was able to join up with Group 5. The group ran pretty well . We went all the way to the Greyhound as consensus dictated. A good run out (and back).

pm I did a NEWT track session. This always starts with a couple of warm up laps and some strength & conditioning exercises. I trained quite hard on Thursday (S & C Indoors), Friday was easy (Six @ Six), Saturday was a hard parkrun and Sunday was a tough long run. So this evening I just cruised the intervals. The intervals were…  200, 600, 1,200, 600, 200, 200, 600, 1,200, 600, 200 with recovery times of 30 secs after the 200s, 60 secs after the 600s and 90 secs after the 1200s. All my split times were pretty much spot on 60 seconds for each 200. Nick Davies was there to be Mr impeccable pace man

am I did an LSR from the NISV. I was the only slow runner doing the long run so I was pretty much on my own from the start. I kept them in view (just about) for 5 miles ... which was probably a bit of a mistake. I took a wrong turn in Bishton and started heading for Underwood. I retraced my steps, the detour added half a mile to my journey. After running too fast at the start I struggled on the hills at Llanwern, I resorted to walking the steepest bits. It was good to get a bit of a downhill section even if it was blustery with a headwind on the SDR. I did an extra mini-loop round Leeway industrial estate for a bit of change of scenery and to make the distance up to 13 and a bit miles. what I wrote to Keith... Although I am short on speed work my priority is to gradually increase the mileage of my Sunday morning long run. I have therefore decided not to do the Welsh Masters 3000 metres indoors and I will not be doing the Welsh Masters 5 mile road race championship either. Those w...

am I ran to the river front. I did the Riverfront parkrun as fast as I could (club championship) and walked and jogged home. I was a damp breezy day. My parkrun time was 23:02 which is my best for a while.

pm Six @ Six (plus warm up from Eton Road, cool down back to Eton Road). There were seven of us. including one who I don't know. Me, Roni, Maria David, Mel Shipton, Steve Crowther, Yvonne Forsey, and Mr x.

pm Ruth's S & C class at the Velodrome

pm 5000 metres time trial on the track in blustery conditions. Fortunately there were a couple of taller runners in the race who I was boxed in behind. Hence I missed much of the breeziness. 23:24 is consistent (ish) with a couple of recent parkruns (23:13 and 23:14). So that's all quite tidy really. Great performances from everybody in the conditions and thanks to all the volunteers who seemed to be enjoying themselves too. Great vocal support was given.

am What I said to Mel! Dave Proffitt   I missed your post too Mel  Shipton . I went with Geraint's 8 am crew. It was a bit quick for me but critically for me the Saturday afternoon beer was no help at all.  🙄  As Geraint suggests there will be more pace choices soon. I'll be there again next Sunday morning, hopefully in better shape. What I said in the group... Went with Geraint's 8 am crew for an LSR. The Lliswerry 8 plus a bit more. I've done a couple of weeks hard training so I was weary, I engineered a short cut and called it a day at 11 miles. Two rest days now. Which to quote a wise man "will be nice".

am I ran to the Riverfront. I did the parkrun .. very easily as a recovery run. I jog and walked home I am fatigued after two high mileage weeks. Looking forward I will have two days rest (Monday & Tuesday). I may try a quick parkrun on saturday which would mean missing Six * Six on Friday.

pm I did Six @ Six. There were 7 of us. Roni was suffering with Asthma this evening. Also running were Me, Louise, Carl, Sam, Richard Talbot & Steve Crowther. We did the "Original Route". From the Newport Centre along Chepstow road to the Cross Hands. Down Somerton Road to Traston Road. Along Transton Road 7 Corpy Road. Over the SDR bridge and then join up with the Riverfront footpath at the parkrun turning point and head back to the City Campus on the riverfront path. For some reason they ran at a very quick pace this evening. Too quick for me!

I did a set of short reps on the SDR next to the Velodrome.before Ruth's S&C class 3 * 3 * 200 with 30 seconds recovery & 5 minutes between sets. Didn't really have time for a full warm up and cool down. So it wasn't the greatest session I've ever done. It was pretty chilly on the SDR too. Splits went like this... warm up 5:04 set 1 1:00; 0:30; 1:00; 0:30; 1:01; 5:00 set 2 0:50; 0:30; 0:56; 0:30; 0:54; 5:00 set 3 0:52; 0:30; 1:00; 0:30; 0:54; cool down 6:30

pm I did a track session with Lliswerry group 5. dynamic warm up then 8 * 300 (in lane 6) with 100 metres walk recovery

pm NEWT / Lliwerry track session after an S & C warm up with Richard (NEWT coach) we did a pyramid session. Continuous running for 12 mins, 10 mins, 8 mins, 6 mins with 3 mins recovery. Thebrief was to run 100m at 10K pace, 100m at 5K pace and 100 m at 3K pace followed by 100m jog/rec. Then straight into the next lap. After that Richard led us on an active cool down with stretches etc.

am I stepped up a gear today. I did the Sunday morning LSR with Geraint's group. Advertised as the Bishton loop - 11 miles at 9 mm pace. I thought I might struggle. In fact it was 12.36 miles at 9 mm pace accotding to Garmin. I was tired at the very end but the rest of it was OK, even the hill up to Llanwern Village. So, I made the right choice. We were Lucasz Plonka, Geraint Heath, Chris Davies, Nick Rees, Keith James and Me.  

am I ran to the Riverfront. I did a tempo parkrun timed at 23:14. It was as fast as I could run TBH. I was a bit baulked at the start but didn't want to start on the front row (obvs). I ran back towards home with JK, who was running back to Langstone. I hung a left and walked up through Beechwood Park to home. Facebook update... Six at Six last night - Waterloo Sunset route with 14 chums. . ... and today ran to the Riverfront, did a tempo parkrun timed at 23:14. It was as fast as I could run TBH. Was a bit baulked at the start which cost me a vital 2 seconds 😁 ...but didn't want to start on the front row (obvs). Ran back towards home in the company of JK, who was running back to Langstone. I hung a left way before then and mostly walked up through Beechwood Park to home.

we did Six @ Six. Waterloo Sunset route. There were 15 of us Roni, Louise, Sam, Jon Kendall, Mike Pobjoy, Liz Kenward, John xxx, Me, Carl Elliott, Maria English, Karen Berry, Richard Talbot, Stuart Howison. Steve Crowther plus one who I don't know.. 

week 3 of S & C with Ruth at the velodrome

pm I did the interval session from the NISV with group 5. Group 5 was led by Rachel Avon & Steve Crowther. We did 3 sets of three half bridge intervals. We were on the South Side of the bridge at the Discount Tyre end. We ran from the pedestrain lights to the centre of the bridge and jogged back down. Immediate turn and repeat twice. Then a max of three minutes recovery. It was a cold night. We did three sets. On the final rep of the third set we ran all the way across the bridge at pace. Met Ellie the blonde girl again and Tom ... her husband who I knew from Monday on the track.

pm I did the Caerleon Canter short route to the St Julian's pub as a recovery run. with Group 5. I tail ran so to speak  with Maria David & Ann Westley  

pm Track session with NEWT / Lliswerry. We were doing 400 metre reps. I started with the sub 24 minute group who had the instruction to do their 400s in 3 minute blocks with a lap jog recovery after a set of 4. The timing was all over the shop. We were supposed to be doing the 400s in 1:48 with 1:12 recovery. That was not happening... so when one of the recoveries was only 47 seconds I gave up the ghost and dropped down a group to enjoy reliable pace making by Mr 5K. description Splits  Time Cumulative Time warm up part 1 1 27:41:00 27:41:00 warm up part 2 2 08:23.3 36:05:00 set 1 / 1 3 01:48.5 37:53:00 standing recovery 4 01:00.7 38:54:00 set 1 / 2 5 01:37.9 40:32:00 standing recovery 6 01:05.1 41:37:00 set 1 / 3 7 01:46.5 43:23:00 standing recovery 8 00:56.2 44:20:00  set 1 / 4 9 01:43.9 46:04:00 reco...

am I did a 10 mile LSR with Melanie Shipton & Ceri Jenkins. We exited the NISV via Traston Road and did the Lliswerry 8 course. We went wrong by not turning right at the the point where the lane carried on to the sea wall. We nearly got to the tea rooms. I think if we had gone to the team rooms and then turned back and got back on to the Lliswerry 8 course we would have pretty much done 10 miles. As it was we were nearly a couple of 100 metres short. My original plan was to do an extra mile by going round the Leeway estate. With the wrong turn that would have turned it into 11 miles which might be a good idea for the future.

am Ran to the Riverfront. Did the parkrun. Jog walk home. Had a bit of a dodgy tummy and had two poos before leaving the house. I also had one after the parkrun. I had to make my way swiftly to the Loo in the Riverfront theatre complex. It was wet and hence a little bit colder today. My journey home was more walk than jog!

pm Massage with Jo (Josie) Adams

pm S & C session at the Velodrome led by Ruth King

Track Session (Group 4) 10 * 300 (100 jog recovery) + 1 * 600. Split times thus ... ably led by Nick Davies 01:24.7; 01:30.7; 01:29.3; 01:27.7; 01:27.8; 01:25.9; 01:28.4; 01:27.7; 01:26.1; 01:27.8 02:51.7

afternoon I did a "recovery run". I had an extra baby sitting (child minding) session this evening  so I went out in the afternoon and did a gentle lap of St Julian's woods. Much of it was jog / walk. I had a bit of a sore knee from those band exercises that were introduced in S & C on Monday and I continued with at home on Tuesday

pm I did a track session with NEWTs. The warm up session was led by Richard. The track session by Paul Bruton. The stretching at the end by Chris Davies. The warm up included exercises with bands. Maybe I need to try that at home. The running session was 1 * 12 minutes then 2 * 6 minutes. recording the distances from where I actually stopped on the track...  I did - 2,530 metres in 12 minutes then             1,340 in six minutes then             1,330 in 6 minutes. The 12 minutes run is a recgonised test for VO2 max estimation (The Cooper Test) Garmin stats for the test were thus: 12:02 59:17:00 12:01 1.55 2496 06:25.6 01:05:43 02:07 0.1 161 06:02.1 01:11:45 05:58 0.82 1320 03:50.2 01:15:35 02:25 0.09 145 06:02.7 01:21:38 06:01 0.8 1288 Banter for Keith ...   Maisie was too frightened to go for a decent ...

am I led the 8 am NISV group. I started from my house to give myself a warm up and a few extra kilometres. There were nine of us (I think) on the 8 am shorter run today. I chose the Riverfront Ramble as it has options to make slight adjustments to the distance covered e.g (1) cross the footbridge rather than town bridge; (2) shorter routes to & from the NISV to the SDR. As it happens everyone was happy, quite keen in fact to do the longer distance of 10.3 km (Strava trace below). I forgot to do a head count at the start! However, the attendees were Jon Kendall, Chris Stevens, Liz Crook, Maria English (newbie?), Michelle Shapland, Clive the ex-policeman, Me, Ceri Jenkins, and Kate Parry-Jones. We formed two natural groups with me, Kate & Ceri at the back. Shappers switched groups a couple of times so she could have a chat to us all. It was pleasing to note that the lead group did actually stick together as a group. They ran at an easy conversational pace and nobody got is...

am I ran to the Riverfront. I did the parkrun. I jog walked home. My DOMS from Thursday was even worse than it was yesterday. However I did a brisk (ish) parkrun in 25:44. I started off a little bit quicker than I normally do. Given my current state of fatigue 25:44 was the best I could do. The jog walk home was a bit of a struggle. Much more so than last week.

pm I did Six @ Six. We were doing the Virgin on the ridiculous route which starts by climbing to the top of Stow Hill. To give myself a warm up I parked in Eton Road outside the community centre. I then jogged to the Newport centre. The run was done at a very leisurely pace with lots of regrouping. I found I managed the hills quite well.I was a bit sore after yesterday's S & C session with Ruth King at the velodrome.

pm I did Ruth King's strength 7 conditioning lesson at the NISV track side location at 19:30. It was great. I forgot my towel & water but I took a mat!

Did some reps on the right (north) side of the SDR bridge. Liz Mounfield was leading the groups (5 & 6). We did 6 * approx 600 metres. I felt weary. This was my 6th consecutive day of training. It felt like one day too many. S&C at the Velodrome tomorrow if I feel like it.

I did the High Cross horror for the first time with group 5. I am putting hills into my schedule and building the mileage up.

I did a track session organised by NEWTs with Lliswerry guesting! We did a three laps to warm up. Then we did 700 metres of dynamic exercises.. sideways running, skipping, bum kicks baby steps etc. The we did some technique drills. Then we did 12 * 400 metre reps. I was with a group who were tasked to run them at 2:05 pace. We started close to that but got quicker. Each rep plus recovery pair was 4 minutes thus... 02:01.5, (01:58.1), 02:03.1, (01:57.1), 02:00.1, (02:00.0), 01:58.5, (02:01.3), 01:57.8, (02:01.5), 01:57.2, (02:03.9), 01:53.7, (02:05.7), 01:52.8, (02:07.1), 01:48.3, (02:11.7), 01:50.7, (01:49.8), 01:49.2, (02:10.8), 01:43.1

I ran down from the top of Beechwood Avenue with Chelsea. We met Karen Berry at the Cross Hands. We continued to the NISV. We then did a short straits lane loop (Just mne and Maria David). The rest did a longer loop. Maria gave me a lift home. I did 8.27 miles.

am I ran to the Riverfront. I did the Riverfront parkrun. I ran and walked home. Feeling a lot better and more positive.

pm I did a shortened Six @ Six. I was tail running with Laura Rendell & Colin Tebby. We did the Newport 10K route but missed out the Stevenson Street out and back. Steve Crowther led the group which included: Louise, Allysha, Chelsea, Jon Kendall, Sam, and Richard Talbot

pm I did the Champagne mile on the track. My Facebook October group status was thus: Did a warm up and then a fast (ish) mile on the track. Been feeling crap for a month or two. You may have noticed. After the warm up this evening I felt really good. Decent mile time too.

pm I did a shortened Reverse Greyhound Run. ... kind of.  Shortened Reverse Greyhound Run I ran from my house down to the Civic Centre car park. I arrived there just in time to turn round and run back with any group that I could hang on to the tail of. I got to the telegraph pole at the highest point of Christchurch Road and then turned, jogged back to my house, and put the kettle on. Thanks to the real tail runners for keeping me company!

am ,  Did the 8 am session from the NISV. It was the Beechwood Bimble. Which is nice when you are finally at at the top. It's a shortish run but I wasn't going to volunteer to do extra mileage.

am I ran down to the Riverfront. I did the parkrun. I jog/walked home. feeling the left ankle a bit by the time I got through Maindee!

I lead Six @ Six with Carl Elliott tail running. We did the Newport 10K course. There were 12 of us, it was a really enjoyable session. Me, Sam, Allysha Perryman, Chris Stevens, Karen Berry, Janine Lane, Alison Carter, Julia Groombridge, Maria David, Yvonne Forsey, Laura Rendell / James, Carl Elliott.

pm Interval session on the SDR aborted due to moorland estate idiots throwing fireworks at us. How sad is this world? Did a run out to the Llanwern Bull and back instead.

pm Five very tired 1 kilometre laps in Caerleon. I was going to do 10 * 500e plus 300f but I was so tired I stopped after 1 warm up lap and 4 reps. Maybe yesterday's massage didn't help.

am After a few days of non-running social stuff a nice easy (ish) 10K with the 8 am crew was just the thing to wash the cob webs away. New chum... Karen Berry, also ran... Martyn, Chris Davies, Louise, Chelsea, et moi.

pm I did intervals on the track (variable pace) 4 * 1200 (in lane 3 so more than 1200) 2 minutes recovery Interval (1) 1200 at marathon pace - 7:01 Interval (2) 1200 at 10K pace - 6:31 Interval (3) 1200 at 5K pace - 5:39 Interval (4) 1200 at marathon pace - watch malfunction (I may have pressed pause button  instead of lap button.

pm I did my first ever Tuesday club run from the Civic Centre. We did the Caerleon Canter. I went with Group 4 ... they turned at the Ship but I went round Caerleon one way system. I was last back... except I met Andy James & Keith james on Newport Bridge so I ran from there back to the Civic Centre with Andy. I had to run quite hard. Harder than was probably good for me so soon after the Rugby 10 mile.

I did the Rugby 10 mile road race. The conditions were perfect though it was a little chilly wandering around just in my racing kit. i could have worn throw away stuff and left it at the finish ... I'm sure it would still have been there at the end. I am waiting for the official results because their computer crashed but my Garmin clocked me at 1:22: something and that is half tidy. A bit sore afterwards so looking forward to a sports massage with Daniela on Monday and a couple of days rest & recovery. I had a couple of burgers with two free sausages after the race. Waiting around for the results which didn't come (see above) the BBQ people late on were giving the food away.. so that was nice. Saw William, Ollie & Charlie in the ball pit after. Also visited the T & C Club. Is the Hillmorton Manor a viable option for an overnight stay? It's cheaper than Travelodge.

6 @ 6 was delightful. A shorter easier paced affair this evening due to some events what are occurring at the weekend. It was so enjoyable that I was tempted to do a swift parkrun before my main event of the weekend ... the Rugby 10 mile road race on Sunday. Eventually sanity prevailed and I rested on the Saturday.

I did a track pyramid session with Chris Gentle leading group 4 from the sidelines. We did 200, 400, 800, 800, 400, 200. Note however that we were in lanes 5 and 6 and no compensation was made for the stagger. I ran reasonably well. I note that it does take me a while to recover. After next Sunday's Rugby 10 mile road race I have no need to "force the pace" but rather building steady mileage and adding additional easy sessions might be more beneficial.

I did the Barnstaple Half Marathon as a training run. I had to park at the Leisure Cente (which is just over the Town bridge). This necessitated a 1 mile walk to the event HQ. I noticed that after the marathon had started at 9am that one or two places did get freed up in the Sports Centre car park. I decided to run with the 2 hour pace man. I did that until 8 miles then picked up the pace for the last 5 miles. Towed a couple of young ladies in my wake. Steph Wade supporting as usual at 13 miles. Felt a bit stiff and sore afterwards. Had Sunday Lunch at Dawn's Stumbles. ... and coffee with Kay. After driving home and feeling tired I slept for 12 hours - 6:30 pm to 6:30 am

I did six at six.. the Harlequin Dream. Carl took a tumble on this one and had to go to hospital. On a positive note my right hip seemed to be a lot more free in its movement. We shall see if the improvement continues!

Did some laps in Caerleon the first time for a long time. To make it fun I programmed the following workout into my Forerunner 235 ... 10 minutes warm up, 10 sets of (jog 500m, run 300m), 5 minutes cool down. ... and here is what Strava made of it... I also saw lots of joggers, Caerleon Runners, beeping motorists, King Charles spaniels, Lliswerry Groups 1 and 2, Air Cadets practice at the hall and much more! https://www.strava.com/activities/1865378160

I did a 21.2 km LSR with the 8am 10mm crew. It was the Newport Half Marathon course as near as dammit. ... and it was fun!

I did six @ six. The Harlequin Dream Course. Feeling a bit sore in the left ankle

I did the Lliswerry Interval Session this was my comment on Facebook - Septempo Did I mention the DNS in the half marathon in a hot & humid Malaga last Sunday? Discretion the better part of valour! Anyway, back home now and a nice welcome home interval session with Group 5 last night. with reps from Spytty McDonald's down & round towards the clock. The group was superbly led by pink hair  Claire . Rest today and Six at Six can't come soon enough.

Wednesday 12 September 2018 It was the 5000 metres on the track today. Once again, I spent a short time in the morning by the pool. My race was at 20:00 so I headed to the main stadium at mid-afternoon. I saw a number of my chums, including Sally & David, Ian Snow, and Barrie & Katie. Keith also came to watch. I was in the middle race of three. I would have expected to run 23 minutes and something. I ran 23:08.08 so that was not too bad. Ian Mitchell was in my heat. He was quicker than me in the 10K road race but I was quicker than him this evening. After the race Keith, Barrie, Katie and myself had some food and a beer in the bus station cafeteria.

Sunday 09 September 2018 I had a very poor night’s sleep again. Sleeping fitfully, I got up very early and was early for the 6:58 train. I had a bad stomach and generally felt quite rough. I had to visit the loo before the 10K Road Race. The race itself was tough in very warm and humid conditions. There was a problem with my chip recording and I did not get a finish time. I finished about 20 seconds in front of Andrew Murray. I was red as a beetroot and soaking wet with sweat due to the humidity. After my race I went to see Juliet run her 200 metres semi final at the University track. In the evening I went out with Stu, Joel, Juliet and Neil. We went out at 9:30pm and I got home at 2pm.

Wednesday 05 September 2018 This was the day of the first race, the 8K cross country. I had set my alarm for 8am as a back stop. I needed it! I woke one minute before the alarm went off. My idea of getting a taxi to the venue did not come to fruition so I walked, got the Cercanías for two stops and then walked at the other end. It was a good option as I got to see the course before I arrived at the start and finish area. Here is what I said to Keith Etheridge about the experience… I was pleased to finish the course it was a tough one. You are right, I was well aware of the progress that I have made in the last six months so I am happy with that. I ran most of the way with Rob Sargent who is definitely a baby… still in the 60-age group (but not for long). Rob was in front of me for most of the race. He pushed hard for 3 of the 4 laps but then tailed off. Archie had told us that he was only going to do one lap so we knew that he would not finish. I think quite a few runners approac...

I am in Malaga. I shall be competing in WMACS Malaga 2018. I shall not be doing much else. I was still very tired on Tuesday and I had a lazy day although I did go to the pool and did little swimming and aqua aerobics. In the afternoon I had a stroll down to the sea front and back through the park. I did some shopping – I found a supermarket which sells steak and strawberries! I had an early night.

am I ran to the Riverfront. I did a tempo riverfront parkrun (23:13) and I jog walked home. This was a 30 second improvement over a few weeks ago and my best time since pre-Denmark. Although, I was a lot quicker then (20:55).

pm I did 6 at six with 12 others. We did the Harlequin Dream route. I felt the benefit of reduced mileage this week.

pm I did an interval session with group 4. 6 * 800 on the SDR. Recovery times were varied. Shortest was 1:49, the longest was more than 3 minutes. here are some stats.... Splits  Time Moving Time Avg Pace Avg Moving Pace Avg Run Cadence Max Run Cadence Avg Stride Length 2 03:45.7 03:40 07:45 07:33 188 211 1.11 4 03:43.2 03:36 07:30 07:16 190 203 1.13 6 03:47.8 03:46 07:30 07:26 192 210 1.12 8 03:34.6 03:30 07:21 07:11 192 207 1.14 10 03:34.3 03:33 07:24 07:21 191 203 1.14 12 03:33.1 03:29 07:09 07:01 193 207 1.17

pm I did speedwork at Caerleon 10 * 200 + 1 * 400 (1 min) There were quite a few dog walkers about. I felt pretty good but died towards the end. Maybe on the final 200 and the 400. Earlier on I felt like I was running with good form despite a weakness in my left ankle.

am A small but dedicated squad at today's 8 am session did the Llanwern loop. Two newbies, Chelsea & Liz pushed the pace along, chatting as they ran ... so that showed commendable restraint.  Matthew Potter  displayed easy running elegance as he cruised alongside them.  Roni  tail ran with  Jo Love   leaving me somewhere in the middle. At the start we were unsure when the rain would start. Suffice to say, we didn't stay dry.

am run to the Riverfront. Riverfront parkrun. Jog / walk home. 7.00 miles (approx)  :-)  . Did the parkrun in 26:26 Next week... Zager & Evans?

am massage with Daniela pm sis at six with Roni and the crew. We did the Harlequin dream (new course).

Did railway bridge reps (on the SDR from Boots) with group 5. The group was lead by Candy Claire and I took it fairly easy as I was very tired.

We did old faithful (Canal Last) Group 4. I was trending faster according to Twitter I worked hard along the canal.

This was a fairly key session. It was speedwork on tarmac (as opposed to on the track). I did a 1 mile warm up. I then did 1 * 700 metres fast with 10 mins recovery. Then I did 3 * 300 metres with 3 mins recovery between each 300. As you will be aware it was on the flat and fast (for some) one kilometre lap course at Caerleon. There were a lot of dog walkers out this evening and there were several King Charles Spaniels. One was pretty much a lookalike for Maisie so I stopped to chat to the owner. Obviously it got serious once the speedwork started. However my 7 minute recovery from the 700 metre fast bit turned into a 10 minute recovery as I got chatting again. This time to a guy who was coaching some kids. I felt that my 300 “sprints” were a lot stronger this week. I mentioned to Keith in an e-mail that the Strava stats reveal more about the session than is available on live track. I attached a screen shot of some stats for him to see..   Pace is the light blue gra...

I led the 8 am session (tail running). Neil Sidney was at the front. Neil Sidney Gareth Yeoman Rachel Jayne Neil Sidney Jo Love Kathryn Collins Dave Proffitt Colin Tebby We did a riverfront run from the tennis centre.

I ran to the Riverfront. I did the parkrun and I ran home. I had hoped for a good run but it was a struggle. Maybe the muggy humidity. Maybe the fact that I have been going out a lot. Yesterday I looked after Emmie and we went to the Greyhound for a meal. Also. I have been building up my mileage so maybe I am fatigued.

I di a one mile time trial on the track. I thought I'd aim for 7:08. At the end of lap 1 I was 3 seconds up. (plus the 2 seconds that the fiist 9 metres takes). I was up at lap 2 by two seconds and at the end of lap 3 by three seconds. I worked hard on the final lap and was pipped on the line by Emma Maloney.

Out and back on the canal from 14 locks (upstream). My comments on Facebook were thus... Lliswerry Official Session! 14 Locks ... out (upstream) and back (downstream) along the canal tow path. Although the splits were not quite even and the pace was not quite fast  😀  I went out in 25:02 and back in 24:59, which is nice.Worryingly though, Tracy struggled to chatter for the full 50 minutes.