Bristol Running Resource

Well 4 months have passed us by bringing along the last race of the Bitton 5k series. Mathematically I had a chance of getting a series place, I just needed to run fast beat my PB and beat various people by either beating them by more than a few placed or that they just didn’t race.

My only plan was to give it all I had from the go. That is what I did, just a bit too much, I did the first 1k in 3:05, I did settle down and overall averaged 3:19/k over the 5k. The race was quite boring, I led for the first k then was overtaken by a guy from Woodford Green, then I pressed on with my legs burning from the 2 k mark onwards. By the turning point I was about 20m in front of Jon Hanley (Team Moti) in 3rd place, unfortunately my early pace started to hit and he passed me in the last k. I finally got home in 3rd place, yes I do sound down with that, but that is because one of the people I needed to beat had passed me to take 2nd place.

All tales should have a happy ending, so here goes, I finished in 3rd place in a time of 16:29, new pb and under 16:30. But it doesn’t stop there, the mathematical chance seemed out of reach given that the guy that finished ahead of me in 2nd place was the guy I needed to beat, until I realised that the other runner didn’t race, so tonight I came home with not only a pb but also 3rd overfall place int the series, a nice trophy and some vouchers form the guys from Easy Runner.

It only feels like last week that Mike and I ran the in the 2nd race of the Bitton 5k series and I had to double check the website that I didn’t get my dates wrong (which has been known!!!).

As for the race, it was a nice calm evening and although it was warm it  nothing compared to the heat and humidity of last week. The race went off on, as usual,  I led a group of about 5 and was sitting in 3rd place, after my dreadful last 1000m last month I decided to settle in with group, and although I stretched out a bit at certain points I didn’t have the legs to keep it going so the group dragged me back in.

 As we reached the 2.5k mark one of the leaders had dropped out so it meant now that 2nd and 3rd place would come from the group I was in. Once we hit the 3k mark a runner from Moti, started to break away and again I couldn’t keep up with his pace. By the 4k mark the group had whittled down to 3, 2 runners from Bath and myself.

I decided not to push on, I would see how my sprint finish would hold out, and it came down to the last 200m the 2 Bath runners started to stretch out and were about 5m in front of me, I still waited, just ensuring that gap didn’t get too big, which it didn’t, we hit the 100m mark, which was the signal to increase my speed, and in no time at all, I sprinted straight passed both of them and neither could respond, so my plan worked and I managed third place in a time of 16:46 (only 7 secs off of my pb). Not bad 2 races in a week a 1st place and a 3rd place.

It was nice to know I still have that turn of speed, to the extent that I not went from 5th place to 3rd, but in the last 100m I put a 7 second gap between me and 5th place.

Update on July 16 by Phil

Results can be found here

I just love these local races out on the Bristol Bath cycle path. At long long last I’ve done a “normal” local race after many months out of the swing of things. I really hope this marks the beginning of a return to the routine of running, and maybe even the form of over a year ago.

5k races are what I’ve done most of. Previously I’ve done lots of the Bridge Inn 5k and my pb was there - 17:47 I recall. I also recall thinking I could do a 17:00 5k if I carried on the way I was. But I didn’t. And I’m a long way back from there. Tonight I did 19:11.

I can’t imagine what it must be like to do 17:47 now - over 5k, that is a big difference. It feels really different to run that much faster - or this much slower.

Anyway, the race: I’ve not done the Bitton race before. It’s a monthly thing, and I would recommend these little monthly races for people who are wanting to get into running. It’s a friendly atmosphere, with people of all abilities, and having a regular benchmark and a few familiar faces is really motivating. And there is a bar … and showers.

My shins and thighs were feeling a bit stiff from the 5x850m reps I did on the downs the other night. My ride out from Bristol and the jog from race HQ to the start was my warm up, but I wasn’t convinced I was ready on the start line. No aggression. No hunger. I just felt stiff, and wanted to do less than 20 mins, and thought I would be well happy if I did under 19 mins. So I set my virtual partner (see my Garmin post) for 19 mins.

But once running I felt OK. I think I paced it about right. It’s mostly downhill going out, and the weather brightened up, and it’s a beautiful stretch of the cycle path. So I felt good as I approached the turn at half way. At which point I slipped and fell over, landing my neck on the marker cone! But on balance I think that was a good thing: I spent the next 500m with much more adrenaline in my body, and distracted from the slow agony of running by wondering if I’d put my neck out again. Better still, I have an impressive welt on my neck - I hope it looks good in the morning.

Aside from the fact running is physically unpleasant, I enjoyed the next couple of kilometres as I had enough in me to overtake a few people. Overtaking people feels good, and it’s a good reason for starting slowly at the back! But as the return is gently uphill, I began to slow down, I slipped back from my 19:00 pace, and more to the point, I couldn’t find it in me to try harder.

But I’m happy! I’ve done it, when I could have not done it. I did under 20 mins, and I had a pint with Phil and a couple of others afterwards.

Also, very important - WHAT A GREAT RIDE! 14k each way from home, on the Bristol Bath cycle path. It’s looking very pretty now, with it’s mown verges and fresh painted signage. Lots of people out strolling and riding - enjoying the evening. Furthermore, I really pushed it on the way back, arriving home feeling satisfyingly finished - 14km in 30 mins. In total, 28k of cycling, 2k of jogging, and 5k of racing, 1 pint of lager, 2 Mars bars, a hot shower, and a glass of wine as a write this.

Race results here

Well, lets see there were some good points, it didn’t rain, and there were some baddish points, I was hoping that I would be able to beat my PB tonight, but alas it was not to be came home in a time 16:53, according to garmin 305, Mike!!! It was pretty boring race really, but that was because I went out too quick and suffered on the 3-4k point. I ended up coming in in 5th place which isn’t bad considering I haven’t really been concentrating on training of late, but I do believe that racing more often does help me, keeps me in the swing (as they say!).

Not a bad nights work, but am hoping the slight dissappointment will spur me on over the weekend at the Oldbury Fun Run.

On another point i met Mike (my fellow blogger tonight). I will let him blog his race, but I did match my Garmin 305 against his 405, there is no comparison on the shell of the watch, as for functionality I can’t compare as you need to run with them to understand the differences.