Sam Davies, Author at PBrunner

I wouldn’t worry about it being the same as your half marathon pace. If anything that is a positive when you factor in everything that will have made this more challenging, the elevation, the lack of return from the surface, the shoes. 4:15 per km on that course. to me, is hugely impressive. Having seen some of the photos it looked amazing and I really hope someone was there doing a vlog as that should make great viewing. Thanks for all the feedback as well. It does pain a nice picture of your experience and I think you should be really pleased with this.

COACH SIMON

I’ll let George now you said that. He did say he could see you in the distance and was working hard to catch up, but just couldn’t close the gap. Given the illness you’ve come off, this was a really good effort. Delighted your hard work is going to be rewarded with the age category win. Honestly, these days my runners achievements are more rewarding for me than my own, one of the real great things about being a coach. Well done Sam.

COACH SIMON

I think it’s about 12 weeks now since the Barry Richards when we last focused on speed in the training. Ultimately the result here was determined by the last 3 months of training where we haven’t done loads of speedwork and have been a little in maintenance mode with so many races taking place. I think overall you are in a better place, stronger and with better endurance than in the Spring, but the speed in the legs probably isn’t quite there. So I wouldn’t be hard on yourself. Had this been a goal race, then every reason to be disappointed with that time. But sounds like the recovery wasn’t ideal and that could have added a few seconds. I think you could be an 18:30 5k runner, perhaps even match Mr.Lambert but that would require a different approach, more sessions and knowing you as I do now, that’s probably just not worth the effort. Your best gains are going to come over the longer distances, half marathon and above. Well done on the extra 5 Club Championship points. See you at Snape Wood 😏

COACH SIMON

Brilliant. I love that race mentality of really hating those around you and using them as motivation. Any race where you finish with 2 vegan sausage rolls in your back pocked in a huge win. 36th out of 1,100 runners though, that’s pretty cool right and I think you would have taken the sub 4 all day long had someone offered it to you. I kind of love the extra in the gardens and feel like it makes you the winner in truth. That determination to do that little bit extra despite being pretty ruined, it’s cool. I think looking back at my own experience and what I could have done better as both a runner and a coach for yourself is firstly come up with a much more detailed race plan. Which hills to run, which hills to walk, splits at certain check points. I think without any of those mini goals I was just demoralised from the start and kept taking the easy option. I had to cut this from the video as looking back it was humiliating and so ignorant that at halfway (2:18) on my watch I actually said I was going to try and do a negative split. Looking back that was a ridiculous comment and a goal I gave up on as soon as my foot was submerged in that smelly puddle. The only thing I noticed a few of the runners did was a recce of part of the course. I don’t know about you but some of those hills and climbs, despite being warned, were much worse than expected. Even walking up them was brutal. In fact running was easier than the walking. I think it’s good to tick that one off and maybe one day I’ll go back determined to beat that time, but for now I’m sticking to the road or at least sensible trail races. Beachy Head can do one. Thanks again for taking the time to share your experience, it’s fun to read. And superb running Sam.

COACH SIMON

Love this and brings back one year for myself where it all went to plan. Sounds you executed the race perfectly from a pacing point of view and it’s such a good feeling when that happens and you are able to pick off other runners who haven’t quite got it right. To have the others around you including George and Kieran always makes it a more enjoyable experience, even more so to be able to beat them with a strong finish. Such a big improvement on last year, but I do appreciate conditions were a lot more challenging then. Sounds like the effort level was spot on, keeping it comfortable to begin with, doing what you could up the hill without stopping and then really unleashing the speed on that final stretch. I think that’s what makes that race for me, to get to that point of the route and suddenly be able to pick up the pace and feel strong is a great feeling. Hopefully another confidence boost and a sign of just how well you are running right now. I have to say the standard of runners among the men right now is really deep and it’s great to see it’s providing healthy competition. It’s inspiring for me as well to see if I can find anything else and become a little bit quicker. Superb running Sam and loving the feedback. Thank you.

COACH SIMON

Love the feedback. Almost get to relive the race with you. I think it’s a tricky one as it’s tough to race that kind of distance on the trails and knowing how to pace it. As the second Hastings Runner home you ran a really strong race and that is a decent time to come in at. You might completely disagree but it almost seems a shame to race an event like that as it has the potential to take away from the enjoyment a little. Something to consider going forward as to which races to select as races and which ones to just enjoy the trails. Loads of positives to take as well though in terms of the fuelling and hydration, how you felt at the end and the fact you had no discomfort at all. 30k (+) is still a long way, especially when you’re pushing the pace so to finish and feel strong is amazing. 199 pts banked as well (🤬) so that’s something to be pleased with. Overall I think you should be delighted, especially with the quick 10ks you’ve also completed in recent weeks. Great running Sam. Onwards and upwards.

Sam Davies

COACH SIMON

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