Training for week commencing 20/03/2005

Well an even better week for training! Started off with the usual 6.2km runs, a victory for the mighty Bramhall Rangers, then half way through the week, some mates from work mentioned the Salford 10km on the bank holiday Friday. I was a bit resistant to this at first as it's a reasonable jump from 6.2km to 10km, but after a quick think about it I thought why not! Then to top it off, there was a leisurely 12 mile bike ride on the Saturday to Macclesfield and back. For a more detailed view, see below...

6.2km
20/03 - 27:35
23/03 - 27:45

10km
25/03 - 48:14
This was the highlight of the week. It is the furthest distance I have ever run in my life! With it being a professional event, there was a lot of running clubs there. Members from Sale and Altrincham Harriers were liberally scattered amongst the entrants. From work, there was Tim, his Dad, Paul and myself all flying the BT banner :) Unluckily for me, Tim's Dad was up to half marathon standard, Tim had been training in work lunch breaks for months, and Paul had done 10km runs before and said he felt much fitter this time.... something told me I'd be coming last out of our group!

The start was very exciting and I set out with the aim of taking it reasonably easy and just trying to complete the course as it would be the first time I'd run a distance of this length. Just under an hour is what I was after. The more professional runners there had proper skin tight bottoms on, GPS and heart monitoring gizmos, and funny shaped water bottles. I had my Bermuda shorts and slightly hole-y Addidas top that was about 8 years old! There were distance markers set up, and I'm sure that whilst the professionals find these invaluable, I found them rather depressing! 1km feels like an age at the beginning and the end of the race!

Anyway, I finished 359th out of 505 wearing the glorious race number 678. If you want a further look, try this web link... http://www.ukresults.net/2005/salf10k.html Needless to say, everyone had a great time.

Anyway, the total cumulative distance run in training now is up to 80.8km. That's equivalent to running from Stockport to Leeds!

Andy