Start of the Pennine 100

Wednesday, 19 October 2011

I have my MOJO back











I think I may have got my MOJO back!!
Last weekend I was up at my mum’s in Maltby, South Yorkshire while the Round Rotherham was on.http://www.hmarston.co.uk/rhac/trail/rrr.htm A member of my family was going to be taking part in the relay class with other members of her running club and I had arranged to run with her on her leg and then continue back to Maltby (a distance of 16 miles in total). I also wanted to pop over at the start of the race to say hello and good luck to a couple of people. I knew from the start list that Colm (who I partnered on the OMM last year) had entered, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to catch up with him before he was completely knackered!
Although I knew that it would be extremely foolish to attempt to run the entire distance at this stage of my ‘come back’, I was VERY tempted once I saw everyone else prepping and getting keyed up for the start. However, I had a good chat with Colm and a few others and then tore myself away to go back to my mum’s for porridge before meeting Caroline at the handover point for the start of her leg. Unfortunately, having waited for some time at the checkpoint, we heard that the first runner in Caroline’s team had got lost and that it would be quite some time before she would be needed. Colm was due to be along shortly after we heard this and with Caroline’s agreement I decided to ask him whether he minded me tagging along with him to Maltby. He didn’t mind me keeping him company and we set off.
It felt incredibly good to be running in a competitive environment again (even if I wasn’t technically in the race) and everything was working as it should have, so rather than stopping at Maltby I carried on running, ending up at the finish at Dearne Valley College - a total distance of some 26.8 miles. We averaged 10:27 minute miles for the part of the race I covered. A steady pace for me (which is maybe why I was able to cover the distance)and a great pace for Colm given that he had already done 25 miles cross country! He finished in 08:16:47 and was in 22nd place.
All-in-all I have to say it was a FANTASTIC weekend. I caught up with some old friends, the weather was great for running and I had the best run I’ve had in a VERY long time! I even managed to take the dog out for a run the next day. To say I came back home on something of a high is an understatement.
I would certainly recommend the Round Rotherham as an enjoyable, if challenging, event to anyone looking for a 50 mile ultra.
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Training Plan

Week M T W TH F S SU
1 Rest 6-10 miles, including 4x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 7-9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 90-minute run 3-hour run (or about 18 miles)
2 Rest 6-10 Miles, including 4x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 7-9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 90-minute run 3-hour run
3 Rest 6-10 miles, including 2x2 miles at HMP Easy 5-mile jog 7-9 miles, middle 3 at MP (5:00) Rest 2-hour run 3.5-hour run (or about 20 miles)
4 Rest 5-8 miles, including 3x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 6 miles, middle 2 at MP Rest 1.5-hour run 2-hour run
5 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 3.5- to 4-hour run (or about 20-24 miles) 3-hour run
6 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 3.5- to 4-hour run 3-hour run
7 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at HMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 3.5- to 4-hour run 3-hour run, last hour at MP
8 Rest 9 miles, including 3x2 miles at HMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 2-hour run 2.5-hour run
9 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 miles at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 4-hour run 3.5-hour run, last hour at MP
10 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 miles at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 4-hour run 3.5-hour run, last hour at MP
11 Rest 9 miles, including 3x2 miles at HMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 2.5-hour run 3-hour run
12 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 4-hour run 5-hour run (or about 27-29 miles)
13 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 4-hour run 5-hour run
14 Rest 9 miles, including 4x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 2-hour run 2-hour run
15 Rest 7 miles, including 3x1 mile at MP Easy 5-mile jog 7 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 1.5-hour run Easy 1-hour jog
16 Rest 6 miles, middle 3 at HMP Easy 5-mile jog Easy 3-mile jog Rest: Stay off your feet 50-mile race Rest. (Duh.)

Key:(MP) Marathon Pace: the pace/effort you can hold in a marathon
(HMP) Half-Marathon Pace: the per-mile average of your best half-marathon
(TMP) 10-Mile Pace: the per-mile pace of your fastest 10-miler
Recovery for HMP/TMP: Jog slowly until you feel fresh enough to start the next repetition.