Way back in early May I ran the BUCS 10,000m and frankly had an abysmal race. It was my track debut for the distance and I was completely unprepared for the psychological battering of the 25 seemingly-endless laps. I also was missing a bit of running fitness having spent Easter cycling through Italy, Switzerland and France which certainly didn’t make the already grueling event any easier. I couldn’t wait to put the race behind me and get back to some serious training. However the day after my race, whilst watching the women’s 5000m final, I decided to vault the track’s fence… and completely c**ked it up! My eager return to training had to be postponed by two weeks while my very bruised and swollen right shin recovered.
I’m very glad to report however that, after the minor hiccup, the last eight weeks of training have gone very well. I’ve been running a lot more miles than I ever have before and feel like I’ve coped with the extra stress reasonably comfortably. Since arriving back home in Cornwall for the summer my training has changed slightly. Firstly I’ve been using a lot of local races to replace the usual harder sessions. I love racing and mentally it’s much easier than grinding out a tough session by myself. I’ve also been forced into running a lot slower for my easy and steady runs due to the challenging terrain. When in Cardiff I do try to do as much of my running as possible on the soft grass in Bute Park, but this doesn’t compare at all to the unmerciful trails of Bodmin Moor.
Looking ahead the main goal is to run fast at the Cardiff 10K and Cardiff Half in early autumn, and with both being a part of the Run Britain series should attract strong fields. More short term I’m running the 5000m for Cornwall at the South West Champs tomorrow (19th July) with the aim to run a quick race. If the conditions are OK I definitely feel I’m in shape to challenge my PB of 14:36 set last year when winning the Welsh Champs.
Week starting 18/05/15
Monday- 8M easy, PM 5M easy including 5x10s hills
Tuesday- AM 4×8 minutes with 90s recovery + 6x30s/60s, PM 6M easy
Wednesday- AM Gym, PM 8M easy
Thursday- AM 5M + drills and strides, PM 8M steady
Friday- AM 4 x (3, 2, 1 minutes) with 1 and 2 minutes recovery, PM 7M recovery run
Saturday- AM Parkrun (15:29) + 7M easy, PM 6M easy
Sunday- AM 14M steady, PM Gym
105M total- Biggest ever week by about 15 miles!
Week Starting 25/05/15
Monday- AM 7M recovery run, PM 6M easy
Tuesday- AM 6M tempo (5:20/M) + 6x30s with 90 recovery, PM 6M easy
Wednesday- AM Gym, PM 9M steady (6:10/M)
Thursday- AM 8x60s with 60s jog, PM 9M easy
Friday- 3M jog (tired)
Saturday- AM 5M easy, PM 4M easy
Sunday- Bristol 10K, 15th in 31:05
84M total- Very happy with the race especially off pretty tired legs. Another big week in the bank.
Week starting 01/06/15
Monday- AM 6M recovery run, PM 6M easy
Tuesday- AM 6M recovery run, PM 9M easy
Wednesday- AM 6M easy, PM 12x400m with 60s recovery on grass track (avg 68.7 but very windy)
Thursday- AM Gym, PM 4M steady + 4x(30s, 60s) with 90s recovery
Friday- AM 7M easy, PM 4M easy
Saturday- British Athletics League, 3K S/C (2nd in 9:37 PB) and 5000m (2nd in 15:25)
Sunday- 18M steady (6:10/M with 300m of climbing)
86M total- Another good week of training and a 23s PB in the S/C, even with abysmal technique!
Week starting 08/06/15
Monday- AM 6M easy, PM 6M easy
Tuesday- AM 8M easy, PM 5x(400m, 200m) on windy grass track with 2:30 recovery (avg 65 and 30s)
Wednesday- 5M jog, very tired!
Thursday- 7M easy
Friday- 10M steady, 6M easy
Saturday- AM Parkrun (15:12) + 8x60s with 90s recovery, PM 7M recovery run
Sunday- 19M steady (6:17/M with 360m of climbing)
97M total. Took me quite a while to recover from last Sunday’s long run and was very early in the week. Wanted sub 15 for the parkrun but messed it up with a 2:50 1st km but good training session.
Week starting 15/06/15
Monday- AM 4M recovery run, PM 8x10s hills + 4x60s hills
Tuesday- AM 7M tempo (5:19/M) + 6x30s with 90s recovery, Noon Gym, PM 8M recovery run
Wednesday- AM 8M easy, PM 7M easy
Thursday- AM 4M easy, PM 2M jog (very tired)
Friday- AM 5M jog, PM Cardiff Summer Series 2M (1st in 9:32)
Saturday- AM 7M steady, PM 5M steady
Sunday- AM 5M easy, PM 5M easy
84M total- Good progression with the tempo run from the 6M I did last time. The 2M race was tough. Didn’t help myself by running the first half mile in 2:11!
Week starting 22/06/15
Monday- 5M easy + drills and strides
Tuesday- Cornwall 10,000m Champs (1st in 31:24)
Wednesday- AM 7M easy, PM 6M easy
Thursday- AM 6M easy, PM 9M easy
Friday- AM 11M steady (6:01/M), PM 5M easy + 6x15s hill sprints
Saturday- AM 5x1km on the roads with 60s recovery (avg 2:55) + 6x60s hills with jog back recovery, PM 7M easy
Sunday- 18M steady (6:22/M with 260m of climbing)
94M total- Was hoping to run quicker for the 10,000m. Got paced by James Ansell to two miles but then the next four by myself. 15:20 through 5,000m but then struggled to keep motivated knowing I was well clear of 2nd place. Very happy with Saturday’s session as this time last year I was averaging 3:00.
Week Starting 29/06/15
Monday- AM 6M recovery run, PM 8M easy
Tuesday- AM 5M easy, PM Boconnoc off-road 5M race (1st in 27:49 on a tough course) followed by 10x30s hills
Wednesday- AM 7M recovery run, PM 5M easy
Thursday- AM 6M easy, PM 5M easy including 6x15s hill sprints
Friday- AM 5M easy, PM Two legs of the Erme Valley Relays (approx 2.4M) in 11:58 (CR) and 12:07
Saturday- AM 6M easy, PM 9M steady
Sunday- 20M steady (5:52/M with 284m of climbing)
100M total- Great week! Tired for Boconnoc but a really nice scenic route and a comfortable win. Fantastic to get a course record at Erme Valley as some good athletes have run it and it was a very good confidence booster being only 9 seconds slower on my second leg of the night. Long run was also very pleasing but did completely wipe me out!
Week starting 06/07/15
Monday- AM 5M recovery run, PM 6M easy
Tuesday- AM 4M recovery run, PM 2.5M including drills and strides
Wednesday- AM 3M easy, PM Turkey Trot 4 miles (1st in 20:03 with 80m of climbing)
Thursday- AM 6M easy, PM 8M easy
Friday- Rest
Saturday- British Athletics League, 3k s/c (1st in 9:45) and 5000m (1st in 15:37)
Sunday- 18M easy (6:43/M with 250m of climbing)
69M total- Wanted to go sub 20 for the Turkey Trot but legs were still pretty dead from Sunday’s long run and it is a pretty tough course. Pretty tired all week and mileage a little down due to doing some pretty hard work as a labourer. Not enough sleep due to having to get up at 6AM to run! Still an OK week and always nice to win three races! Managed a 2:50 last km for the 5000m so seem to have at least a little speed in the legs.
Dan Nash 
A good read Dan. There are still plenty of years of potential improvement in there
UPDATE- Had a bit of a shocker at the South West Champs. It just seemed that everything went a little wrong. Legs didn’t feel very good warming up despite easing off quite a lot in training for the few days leading up to the race. Maybe I didn’t do enough running! I probably also set off a little fast for the quite hot and windy conditions, going through 1 km in 2:55 and 2K in 5:52. Just to top if off I was having some real stomach issues for the last mile which resulted in me running/staggering straight through the finishing line and on to the toilet; don’t worry I made it!! The end result was a pretty disappointing 2nd place in 15:23. I’m not too concerned though. I know I’m in very good shape and my head is really set on running well at the Cardiff 10K in 7 weeks time
I really enjoyed reading through this – thanks for posting.
When the schedule says ‘gym’ is this core, upper body or lower body weights? Do you do any plometrics?
P.s. If I ever got my name on a bib I too would be very, very, very excited!
Glad you enjoyed it! In the gym I do a bit of everything, so core, arms and legs. I think squats are really good. I don’t really do any plyometrics. I used to do box jumps but after a couple of mishaps I decided it wasn’t worth any benefit they may give