I’ve had quite an active four weeks since I last put up a blog. This has included an 400/800/1500m triple at the inaugural South West University Champs, a decent run at the Milan Half Marathon and then a 400 mile cycle through the Alps! So let’s start with the South West Champs, which feels like a very long time ago now being back on March 25th. This was the first running of the event, yet Cardiff University brought a 30 strong team down to Exeter Arena’s newly-laid track. Being only three days after my 67:19 at the Reading Half I decided to opt out of the 5000m in favour of an 800/1500 double. The 1500m was up first and, despite my legs still suffering from the 13.1 miles in racing flats, I thought I had a good shot of ratifying my three year old PB of 4:05. Unfortunately it was not to be. After an overly-ambitious opening lap of 62s it inevitably all went down-hill. Still, I was happy enough with my finishing time of 4:08, especially considering the complete lack of any 1500m paced training since before Christmas. Next I demonstrated my complete lack of any fast-twitch muscle fibers with a very average 2:05.7 800m, before stepping down even further to run a leg for our our hastily assembled B team in the 4x400m relay. Luckily we didn’t get our individual splits back, as I’m not convinced I went under 60 seconds!
Cardiff 4×4 B Team
Another four days later and I was back into my comfort zone as I stood on the startline of the Milan Half Marathon, again joined by many other Cardiff Uni athletics team mates. Despite this being the 5th race in a week I thought I’d recovered quite well, and was fully ready to take advantage of the pancake-flat course. Unfortunately I was wrong! Before even reaching the first Km marker I knew it was going to be a tough day! My breathing was completely fine, however my calves were screaming. Luckily though I managed to keep a clear head and set off at much more conservative pace than I had in Reading a week previously. I was also very lucky in finding myself settled in a good group of runners, where we all took turns at the front to help maintain the groups pace. In the end I managed a pretty consistent race with 5K splits of 16:03, 15:44, 15:58 and 16:12 which gave me a finishing time of 67:30. I’m 100% sure that if I’d been properly rested then I could have taken a modest chunk of my 66:47 PB which is a good confidence booster.
Milan Half Marathon- 16th in 67:30
And so after a packed week of racing it was time for a break from running. Seeing as we still had some Easter break left, myself and fellow runner Owen Haswell had previously decided we’d make the most of the opportunity of being out in Milan by going for “a little cycle ride”. Starting from Milan we spent six days riding through the Italian, Swiss and French Alps to our final destination of Lyon. I think it’s fair to say the trip was a little tougher than we expected, but we both still had a great time and saw some pretty spectacular views!
Not a bad view overlooking Lake Bourget, France
After this nice “break” I’m now back into my normal training. The first run after spending all that time on the bike was more than a little odd. My legs just wanted to keep going around in circles! Thankfully I’m back into the swing of things and with a bit of luck I’ll be in peak shape for the 10,000m at the British University Champs (BUCS) on the 3rd of May. Below is an outline of my training since returning to the UK.
Thu 8th- 8 miles steady
Fri 9th- 6 miles easy
Sat 10th- AM 8 miles easy, PM 6 miles easy
Sun 11th- A hilly 17 miles steady (5:50/mile), PM Gym
12/04/15
Mon- AM 5 miles easy, PM 5 miles easy
Tue- AM 4 miles easy, PM 6×3 minutes on grass with 60s recovery
Wed- AM 5 miles easy, PM 4 miles easy then Gym
Thu- AM 4 miles with 5x20s sprints, PM 12 miles easy
Friday- 2M in 9:49 (was going for 3x2M but too tired)
Saturday- Rest
Sunday- Hilly 15 miles easy (6:20/m)
20/04/15
Mon- AM 4 miles easy, PM 4 miles easy
Tue- AM 2 x 5K with 3 minutes recovery (15:52. 15:52), PM Gym
Dan Nash 