My first race back after a 10 year lay off was the Newburn river run, but i jogged the first mile then wound it up, so my second race was the Tynedale 10k, i went from the gun to see what i could do. On this occasion i got into a bit of a tussle with a team mate and we pushed each other on, i managed to get the better of him and ran 34.30 (ish).I now had a benchmark to work off.
Over the next couple of races i managed to dip under 34 minutes, i was over the moon with my improvement. Because of this i decided to work towards a sub 33min 10k, how hard can that be, i'd gone from 34.30 to 33.59 in a couple of races.
I moved to Durham because of work and went through a period of just ticking over, but then started training with Max Coleby as my coach, my sessions are now tougher than ever, but my recovery sessions are just that. I leave my watch at home and just run how my body tells me. If i feel good, i run faster, if im still tired i take it easy. With Max's help i went from running low 33's to a new pb of 32.23! I couldn't believe it, next target, sub 32!
I've now been running consistantly sub 33 for about three years, Ive shaved my personal best down to 32.13, but sessions that i've been doing suggest i can go faster. I know to do it, it will take a good course, with the right weather conditions and the right runners around me. So the last couple of years i've been all over the country looking for the perfect race, and its not easy. Its either, too hot, too cold, icy, windy or i've run the whole race by myself, but when the pb comes it'll be all the sweeter.
Because i've been hovering around 32.30 to 32.13 for a while now, we're thinking that perhaps a period of shorter track races might improve my basic speed, which in turn help me run a quicker 10k. Im not looking forward to racing on the track, track is the domain of young racing snakes not Veteran men. But if it means i'll run quicker i'll do it.
My main targets this year is as ever, a sub 32 10k, run a faster 5k (looking to get under 15.40) and my 3000m pb needs to come down a lot. Towards the end of the summer i'll be looking for a good half marathon and then hopefully if all has gone well i'll get selected to run for the English masters in home nations in Belfast.