This is a little bit late as we’re already in June but today I’m rounding out my runs for May and sharing them with you. I’ve also done round ups for March and April if you’d like to see a little bit more of my running journey.
I had one goal for May, and that was simply to get a new 10km PB. I had set out a race and a training plan, so just need to get stuck in and beat the old time. I (mostly) stuck to my training plan this month, which definitely made a change. However I did miss a few ‘key’ sessions. Mainly the sessions that were actually set out to help me improve my speed and race tactics. Most of this was down to being a little too busy doing other things and so just not having the time to fit it in, or being too exhausted from something else. The race was on the 31st, and according to Strava my previous best 10km was 52.18. However, my Garmin states it as 51.02, and the race time is 52.29. Don’t pause you’re devices if you want it to be accurate. The time I was aiming to beat was 52 minutes without stopping an no pausing. I’m very pleased to say that I was able to do that and finished the race with a new Strava 10km record of 51.50. Doesn’t seem too much better, but it certainly felt great knowing that I hadn’t paused or stopped to achieve that time.
Here’s the training I proposed to do during May:
- Week 1 (w/c 29th): 5km/8km Hills/Run Commute/Tempo 5km/5km
- Week 2 (w/c 6th): 10km/Intervals 1:1/Run Commute/Tempo 10km
- Week 3 (w/c 13th): 7km/-ve split 8km/Run Commute/Tempo 10km/7km
- Week 4 (w/c 20th): 10km/-ve split 10km/Run Commute/Tempo 5km/5km
- Week 5 (w/c 27th): 5km/Tempo 5km/Run Commute/10km RACE
SO HOW DID I GET ON?
As I mentioned before, I met my goal and did the race finishing in a great time. I also had a lot of run training this month as I switched it up a little bit. The first way was the addition of a run commute. I don’t actually have a set location to work from, as I’m a freelance dance teacher, but my partner does. As we both have different goals for running this doubled as a little social hill climb for us both, I would run down to meet him on my day off and then we’d run back up the hill together. Meaning I’d do twice the distance as him, but we’d both have done a good solid hill effort in each others company. This has worked well and given a little bit of structure to my mid-week day off. A few other runs I actually skipped as I was having a little bit of an issue with cramp. Every time I would run I would experience a cramp in my lower right rib. I’ve found a way to manage this now, so hopefully it’s just something that I’ll learn to get out of again. I’ve found that if I breath through my mouth throughout my run the cramp will not become painful but when breathing through my nose it is very painful. Such a tiny difference but can stop me in my tracks if I forget for too long. So here’s what I actually got up to:
- Week 1 (w/c 29th): 5km/Run Commute/5km
- Week 2 (w/c 6th): Intervals 1:1/Run Commute/Tempo 10km
- Week 3 (w/c 13th): 7km/Run Commute/Tempo 5km/7km
- Week 4 (w/c 20th): 5km/Run Commute/5km/5km
- Week 5 (w/c 27th): Tempo 5km/Run Commute/10km RACE
Looking at it now it does seem like I skipped all the long runs! But do note the run commute is about 12km, so a great base run whatever speed I did it. I also did a little bit more cycling than usual and marshalled a few races going on nearby, so I wasn’t completely sediment this month, when not running. Next month is a little transition towards summer running, so I’m not too sure yet what my goal will be. So look out for next months edition, if you want to find out what I did get up to. I also finished my monthly running goal by 152%, so I definitely did the distance.
I hope this gives you a little inspiration and a little bit of truth behind all the pictures I share on my instagram. You can also find all the other bits of exercise I do over on Strava, there’s a lot of cycling.
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