4 years at a glance

Be still my beating heart...

Those readers who've been enthralled with my regular aerobic fitness updates (speed in relation to heart-rate) since the dawn of the Lazarian epoch, will no doubt be thrilled to see a similar analysis that covers almost my entire time at NHRR! The trend-line on this version is a 12-run rolling average. It provides a very accurate correlation with race-performance too.

Click on image to enlarge

Our friend in the North

Mr Atkins is leaving us :o(

Very sad to see James moving to Yorkshire (which is a place up North apparently). Clearly the draw of ferrets, racing pigeons and cold weather was ultimately irresistible.

James is a lovely chap and I can't think of a bad word (or anything approaching one) to say about him. Tears will be shed in Hertfordshire, but in Barton, the loss may be even more keenly felt, as they bid farewell to their 10k Champion!

Good luck to you sir.

Mini-recovery within a recovery

August blip left behind

Having got my body and mind (at least for now) back on track, 3 weeks of good work has seen me reach the fitness level I was at in early August. I'd estimate I'm currently in around 39-min 10k shape. Given life is a bit strange, I won't make any predictions about where I might be in a couple of months time however.

2011 just isn't going to happen

Running competitively simply requires efforts I can't maintain

Life is draining too much energy from me at the moment to maintain the level and consistency of training to run anywhere near as well as I'd like. Every time I feel I'm making a breakthrough, there's a set-back. I have to accept this and just keep a base level of fitness ticking over. Hopefully 2012 will see a rosier picture.

Interestingly, I managed a 9-mile XC run in the wind and rain this afternoon at 7:33 mile-pace (and with a bit of a hangover) - and really enjoyed it! This was almost purely running for it's own sake - a progression of sorts.