10 hilly miles in Stockport was the one of the major things in my mind whilst I was taking on another glass of wine at the work Xmas do on Friday. Sure I would have recovered from the side effects of the alcohol in 2 days but I didn’t much like the thought of a nauseous train journey at 8am the following morning. So like a good boy at about 930 I stopped drinking, a wise move I think!

Staying at a hotel next to Euston meant we didn’t have to get up at silly o’clock for the journey and after a pleasant journey we were in Stockport with plans to head into Manchester city centre and the Xmas Market. Manchester was heaving, as to be expected, and frickin cold. We met up with Lauras uni friends and drank mulled wine, ate German sausage and pancakes and over the course of 6 hours I gradually lost the feeling of my hands and toes due to the cold. I don’t think any of what I had done in the buildup to this race would be listed in the 101 guide to racing and tapering. Fortunately we did manage an early night which was somewhat of a result.

With the race starting 5mins from where we staying thanks to the generous hospitality of Sam and Matt the morning was chilled. Shower, breakfast, kit up then head out. We left the house. Have I mentioned it was cold…the roads were icy and slippy – this was going to be interesting! The journey was short and before long we had collected our numbers and waiting for the off.

At 10:15 the race started, after two laps of the track we headed out of the AC and into the park. The paths were icy but before long we were on even icier roads and pavements. This race was to continue on a similar vain and I would be watching my footing throughout ensuring my race didn’t finish early due to a slip! I was prepared for a hilly race this time, unlike with Dartford, I had done a little bit of hill work locally but nothing substantial. I had no idea of the profile except there was a hill at 6miles and again at 9. Setting my virtual partner at an 8min mile pace I should definitely beat it but I wasn’t sure how hilly it was and how i’d cope with the ice. The first mile came in way ahead of the watch and so did all the subsequent miles except 1 – the 6th mile which came in at 8:01, that’d be the mile with the ‘hill’. We covered 60meters in a mile with a final steep climb of 10meters in under a tenth of a mile – tough! That said what goes up must come down (in a point to point race anyway) and a mile or so later I clocked a sub 7min mi which I was happy even if it was artificially aided by the gradient!

I well and truly obliterated my virtual partner coming in at 1hr13. Sam, who I was staying with came in just two minutes behind me, very impressive as she had set her pace at 9min/mi. Don’t think it will take her long to be overtaking me so at least I got in there first with one race! Justin, who I met at the Thunder Run also came over from Leeds to take part and he flew (finishing in 63mins), one day I hope to be able to stay with him for just one mile…one day! The last and only other 10m race I have done was the Great South in November 2008, I finished that in 01:25:34 so in just over 2 years I have taken 12 minutes off of my time – not bad!

This is the last race I am booked into in 2010 time to relax, rest and recover. I will do some light runs over the coming months but ultimately it will be an opportunity to prepare for whatever is to come in 2011!

Well done Sam and Justin for great races also for Tom Williams of Marathon Talk and his wife Helen who also ran and we bumped into at the end – it was a great event to finish the year with! It was also great to meet Justin’s girlfriend Ash who came along to support with Laura and Matt, I suspect she was a little bit envious and would have like to have been out running too!

According to the diary today was supposed to be a 4M fartlek session, opting for a pre-work run and not being able to find a buddy I decided to take the session in the gym instead.

I set myself a short sprint interval session averaging 250me fast and 200me or so recovery. The recovery pace was set at 12km/h. I intervaled upto a top speed of around 18km/h and fell no less than 16km/h. It was a very fast 6.6km – I think I finished 5km in under 22mins. Tough but ok just need to try it outside!

Tomorrow is a mixup to the schedule, diary has it at 6M in 57 mins, I am going to run the same route as last week and put my watch virtual partner on the faster speed.

As I write this I know my body isn’t at 100%, I have been sniffling and sneezing for days but I am still perfecty able to train so hopefully tomorrow will be no difference!

Till then…

Saturday morning was the designated 4M slow warm-up jog in preparation for the Sunday run and following a rest day on Friday. Plotting a loop online during the week I took to the frosty streets. The route I chose was hilly to say the least, thinking back now I don’t remember more than 200m that was flat, however this did not come as a suprise as I had done stretches of the route before. Easy 4m under the recommended time, perfect!

Sunday was billed in the diary as the first ‘race’. Having not been able to find an organised run to enter at the required distance (10km) I realised I would have to do it alone. I was also very aware of how quickly I was supposed to do it and wasn’t overly confident of my own ability to meet the target of sub 47mins. During the last summer I ran the British 10k in 46mins so know I can do it, however it wasn’t to be the case on Sunday.
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