Tom Roper's Running Training

Nostalgie de la boue

Being up in London for the weekend, I ran a nostalgic rainy route, touring places I used to know. I went from East Finchley to Highgate, down to Crouch End, along the Parkland Walk to Finsbury Park, down to Clissold Park where I used to live, then back again. On the return trip I went through Queen's Wood and Highgate Wood, which were shut on the way out
Time: 2:04:32
Distance: 12:16
Pace: 10.15 (best 6.13)
Average heart rate: 161

Total last week: 25.09

Three weeks till the Isle of Wight Marathon, five weeks till the Seaford half marathon.

Technorati Tags: clissoldpark, finsburypark, northlondon

High and Over

Yesterday afternoon I ran in pleasant sunshine to Frog Firle and High and Over, on the longer route.
Time: 46:41
Distance: 5.07
Pace: 9.13 (best 6.42)
Average heart rate: 144

Technorati Tags: frogfirle

Stanmer Park

A short run, as one of the group was recovering from a very successful London Marathon.
Time: 25:55
Distance: 2.83
Pace: 9.30 (best 6.51)
Average heart rate: 140

Splash Point once more

After a grey day, brightness came in late afternoon, so I took advantage of it for a run to the front and along to the base of Seaford Head. The kittiwake colony was noisy but there were no dolphins, I fear. I was slow, but that's to be expected after a long run the previous day.
Time: 46:21
Distance: 5.03
Average pace: 9.13 (best 7.34)
Average heart rate: 143

Technorati Tags: seaford

Seaford Striders' training routes

The Seaford Striders website now has some very useful training routes, requiring Flash but well done, apart from an irritating animated runner who races along the bottom of the page. The route I took today is more or less the Itford Farm Circular

Technorati Tags: seaford

Long run: Ouse valley, Beddingham Hill and Firle Beacon

It being marathon day, it seemed only right to do a long-ish run, so I did 16 miles, to Newhaven, held up briefly by the swing bridge, then along the Ouse Valley Way, up Itford and Beddingham Hills, though the new bridge over the A26 is not yet open, to Firle Beacon and home to Seaford. Nature notes: a heron, plovers, two egrets, though whether the cattle or little types I could not tell.

Time: 2:44:11
Distance: 16.04
Pace: 10.14 (best 7.53)
Average heart rate: 144

I also ran briefly yesterday afternoon, a truncated version of the Frog Firle run:
Time: 38:09
Distance: 4.2
Pace: 9.04 (best 7.57)
Average heart rate: 141

Total last week: 36.9

Four weeks till the Isle of Wight Marathon, six weeks till the Seaford half marathon.

Technorati Tags: ousevalley, longrun

Stanmer Park

I went back to Stanmer Park by kind invitation of the people I used to work with. One, Claire Brooks is in the London Marathon in two days time. Also running on Sunday is Abigail Woods, who gave the 2003 Bishop and Lefanu lecture on her research on the history of the control of foot and mouth disease. Good luck to them, and everybody else.
Time: 26:06
Distance: 2.74
Pace: 9.31 (best 6.24)
Average heart rate: 138

Splash Point

I had a mid-morning run to Splash Point in grey and uninspiring weather.
Time: 44:38
Distance: 5.03
Pace: 8.53 (best 6.48)
Average heart rate: 151
In this morning's post the entry form came for the 2006 Beachy Head Marathon, to be held on 28 October. I shall certainly enter, and hope to improve on last year's time of 4:51:54.

Three runs for the price of one

I've been away for a while, so this post must combine three runs.
Run 1: in Cambridge, I went out to Haslingfield on Easter Sunday morning, ran a circuit of the village, and back. It was cloudy.

Time: 1:30:39
Distance: 9.45
Pace: 9.35 (best 7.40)
Average heart rate: 149

Run 2: a slightly elongated version of the TAG route, as the Sheeps Green bridge is closed; this time it was sunny and I saw two hares, perhaps the same pair I saw a few weeks before

Time: 49:32
Distance: 5.56
Pace: 8.55 (best 6.39)
Average heart rate: 152

Run 3: back home, I ran a short way down to the sea and back on a sunny evening.

Time: 29:06
Distance: 3.33
Pace: 8.44 (best 6.59 )
Average heart rate: 157

Total last week: 17.66

Five weeks till the Isle of Wight Marathon, seven weeks till the Seaford half marathon.

Firle Beacon

I ran again, to try to get myself back into regular training. It was a pleasant afternoon run over the downs to Firle Beacon and back. There had been snow in the morning which had melted but could still be seen on the hills to the north.

Time: 1:19:29
Distance: 8.31
Pace: 9.34 (best 7.42)
Average heart rate: 144