Running27:25 5.3 km (5:11 / km) +2m5:10 / km ahr:126 max:162
Running race 29:56 10.0 km (3:00 / km) +6m2:59 / km ahr:178 max:187
Stirling 10km - 1st.
Ground myself into a bit of a hole last week but cut back a lot and feeling a bit fresher for today. The race started into a bit of wind and I covered a few early surges from various people. After a couple of km I stretched the legs out to see who the main challengers were going to be. Grant Sheldon was the only one to come with and we got a little gap on the rest of the field. As it was just the two of us I decided that it was worth keeping the pressure on. Grant stuck in stubbornly for a long time and I was wondering whether he would ever drop off, but at around 6.5km I got a small gap and the elastic snapped. From here it was just a grind into the finish. From the shape of the course, I was sure we'd have the wind at our backs at the end, but no, from 6-9km was probably the worst wind of the whole race.. Happy to dip under 30 and get the win, which were the two aims the day.
Running20:29 3.99 km (5:08 / km) +2m5:07 / km ahr:116 max:126
3 PM
Running55:03 11.94 km (4:37 / km) +81m4:28 / km ahr:121 max:139
Today's 29.56 10k means I've run <14.30 and under <30 in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Before 2016, my bests were 15.19 and 31.47. There is an element of not racing as much, certainly before 2015, but I definitely didn't think that I'd make those sort of improvements at the time (and I'm not sure anyone else did either!).
Running51:28 10.41 km (4:57 / km) +74m4:46 / km ahr:107 max:119
I had hoped that I'd be able to get a good volume of training while writing the final stages of my PhD but the last couple of weeks has felt like too much. I've been a bit knackered and not feeling like I'm recovering. I want to be in good shape for the Cardiff half on the 7th of October but the XC season is the bigger priority. So I'm going to ease back on the volume for the next month. I'll focus on getting two faster sessions, two gym sessions and some strides during the week.