On Thursday I did the Plymouth Musketeers group run – a Fartlek run with my usual 9 minute mile group. ‘Fartlek’ is a Swedish word meaning ‘speed play’ and the Fartlek run involves successive periods (a few minutes in duration) running consistently at various different paces. We do the run around a loop of about 1 mile which, as always, involves a decent hill. I have only done this type of run twice now but it is definitely one of the harder ones we do.
On Saturday morning I did the Plym Valley 5k Park Run and was pleased with a time that was not too much below my best for this route despite considerably wetter conditions again.
On Sunday morning I got myself up early and did a long run starting from Coypool going through the Saltram estate, up Billacombe Road in Plymstock then heading back to Saltram. This part of the run included a good chunk of the Plymouth Half Marathon route and so I was really pleased to discover that the Billacombe Road climb really isn’t anything to be concerned about. I completed 9 reasonably fast miles (sub 9 minute mile pace). Having returned to Coypool, I then decided to head up and back the Plym Valley trail to get the overall distance up to half marathon distance (my first time running that far). Unsurprisingly, I slowed a bit in the last 4 miles (particularly the first two uphill ones) but I was really pleased to complete the HM distance in 1 hour 55 minutes 30 seconds. This has given me confidence that I will complete the Plymouth Half in under 2 hours and has me seriously wondering whether 1 hour 50 minutes is a possibility.
Tim O'Hare 