Runners as Street Guardians

As runners we often run the same routes around our local area. We see the same people and we notice what is normal.

On my run commute to work I see the same cyclists / runners / pedestrians each day and I notice their normal behaviours. Today I saw a large builder's bag out on the road causing a hazard and I knew which house it had come from because I'd noticed they were having work done to the house. On other days I've picked up wheelie bins and cut back hazardous branches because I feel like the ground I cover is my patch! It almost feels as though I part own the streets I run on. Therefore I should look after the streets any street sharer person (unknown to them) I see if something does go wrong.

Has anyone else had this same feeling?

North Wales Cross Country - Wrexham

The distance for this race has changed each year, depending on how far into the corners the race goes.

This year my Garmin logged it at 5.64 miles and the corners did feel tight. My average pace was my fastest, 5m24s compared to 5m36s which I did last year.

 

I went off really fast again and felt like it didn't slow me down too much but I felt like a bit of a wally doing it. I think next time I won't go off as fast even though I like to, because I look silly.

Wrexham had a strong team today. Sophie and Bex Paxton came 2nd and 1st respectively in their races.  in the senior race James came 2nd, Darren 8th and I came 10th

Borders League Tattenhall

Today I ran the first of seven of the Borders League. It was forecast to be a wet day but the weather turned out OK. Rebecca and K came along to support me which always makes me happy. I know it must be boring for them but I really like the support.

I ran my fastest race again today. How do I know it was my fastest?   Well, from my calculations fromlast year using a calculator converter for the altitude,  the race is the same as a flat, road, 10k less 7 seconds. Very nerdy on the stats but I like to know whether I'm getting faster since I spend everyday training.  My current 10k PB is 33m09s. My time today was  33m11s, so that's a 33m4s equivalent flat 10k time.

My splits were:

5.08 5.29 6.20 5.26 5.01 5.28 5.15 (the last one being my pace for 18 seconds)

Guess where the hills were!

I started off fast which was the plan, but even my fast pace was not fast enough to place me at the front at 1 mile. I planned to try and lead the race for the first mile, just for a bit of fun really, and because from experience I tend to do better overall.  Going fast to begin with is a decision that is right for me but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone else. I feel I have spare energy at the beginning of a race that's wasted if not used as I can't get it back later. I also don't seem to suffer too much from going out too fast. It's still a work in progress so I'll adjust if necessary. Also my Dad who was a very good runner always went the first half mile leading the race. It suited him. Like father, like son!

I also had a fast mile between miles 4 to 5. This was mostly due to it being downhill but also because I was very determined.

In the race there was a runner in front of me whose shoe lace came undone at about 1.5 miles into the race. I thought that would be the end of his race but he kept going, and going, and going and went all the way to the end. Unbelievable. I didn't run right behind him because I thought he might trip.