In to Coalville to test the legs, 3 days after my ultra run, and see if I could lower 1 of my own strava CRs. 1 CR!: Lowered Olivers Crossing to Woottons, 1 min 6 secs @ 4:48/mi pace, 5 secs ahead of my previous best, and former CR, set 2/3/21, 13 ahead of Thomas Harley and Tom Wasley in joint-2nd, 14 ahead of Fred Benskin in 4th, 18 Patrick in 5th, 23 Cooper and Bethell in joint-9th of 256.

Drenched in downpour

Attempted to reduce another of my own strava CRs. 1 CR!: Lowered Bridge to Charnwood St top, 1 min 30 secs (phone 1:27 I think!) @ 4:55/mi pace, 16 secs ahead of my previous best, and former CR, set 30/6/21, 27 Cooper in 2nd, 32 Filip Martinez/Grace in joint-3rd, 1 min 18 secs ahead of 10th of 28.

Headed off to Amazon to attempt a very, very, long, dirt track strava CR retrieval, then, on run home, saw if my legs were up to lowering another of my short/rapid strava CRs, to see if I could put distance over Patrick in 2nd. 2 CRs!!: Retrieved he 2.6M long, off-road, using all of the postcode segment, 16 mins 50 secs @ 6:27/mi pace, 15 secs ahead of the time Shaun set 4 days ago, when be beat my former CR, 1 min 24 ahead of my previous best, and former CR, set 24/2/23, 2 mins 48 Murphy in 3rd, 3 mins 14 M Wooldridge in 4th, 10 mins 25 ahead of 10th of 13. Lowered my existing CR on Stensons Qtr through Bardon View, now 1 min 8 secs (phone 1:07) @ 3:57/mi pace, 8 secs ahead of my previous best, and former CR, set 29/1/21, 12 ahead of Patrick and the time he set 8 days ago, 32 Gaynor in 3rd, 48 Elliot in 5th, 1 min 35 secs ahead of 10th of 17. 351 ft of climbing.

Trail run including Bardon summit

Stready trail loops

Last Leg Loosener before my 21st Great North Run

My 21st consecutive Great North Run - and undoubtedly the hottest! Stupidly warm from the off so ground out a sensible pace I thought I could hold for the conditions but never felt I could particularly speed up. Did work the last 400m to finish at 5:43 pace. 168 places better than last year, despite a minute slower shows the sun factor.

Warm up for GNR. Steady as roasting hot!

Pre-work trail run, including Bardon summit in fine drizzle

In to Coalville to attempt a strava CR-retrieval. 1 CR!: Retrieved Boylan Reverse to Ravo Rd, 58 secs (phone 57) @ 4:32/mi pace, 16 secs ahead of the time Cooper set 4 days ago when he beat my former CR, 23 ahead of my previous best, and former CR, set 22/3/21, 26 ahead of Rich Miller in 3rd, 38 Elliot in 6th, 45 simon ward in 10th of 53.

Headed out to Penny Wakefield/Amazon, in the drizzle/rain, to attempt a strava CR-retrieval. 1 CR!: Retrieved Le Wiggle to put myself back atop a Top 10 full of quality, 36 secs (phone 35!) @ 4 mins 4 secs/mi pace, 7 secs ahead of the time Shaun set yesterday, when he took my former CR, 12 ahead of my previous best, and former CR, set 5/11/20, 13 ahead of Parker in 3rd, 16 Dixon in 4th, 19 Skinner in 5th, 22 Gaunt in 6th, 23 Ell Bee/Pettitt/Redfern/Collins in joint-7th of 262.

Headed to the back of Morrisons to attempt a short/sharp strava segment I'd never tried. 1 CR!: Put myself at the top of a Top 10 oozing quality on HH Short Loop 400m, 1 min 9 secs @ 4:50/mi pace, 3 secs ahead of Mike's 6-year-old former CR, 4 ahead of Pete A/time Alex set 2 days ago in joint-2nd, 5 Dumelow/Armston in joint-5th, 6 Elliot in 7th, 10 Kristian in 8th, 12 Fraser/Tom Scott in joint-9th of 181.

Headed out to Ibstock to attempt a very long strava CR-retrieval, dropping by Donington-le-Heath on way home to attempt a short and sharp 2nd strava segment I'd never tried. 2 CRs!!: Retrieved Maple Drive to Mill Hill wood way, 5 mins 20 secs @ 5:44/mi pace, 5 secs ahead of the time Shaun set when he took my former CR on 31/10/21, 7 secs ahead of my previous best, and former CR, set 30/9/21, 17 ahead of Ryan in 3rd, 34 Sign in 4th, 59 Parker in 7th, 1 min 1 second James in 8th, 1 min 3 secs Wilkes in 9th, 1 min 12 secs ahead of 10th of 149. De Herle Lane, 59 secs (phone 58) @ 4:44/mi pace, 19 secs ahead of Dean Walker's 'very-short' 3-year-old former CR (I was actually 27 secs up on him before the segment even ended!, 28 Shaw in 3rd, 33 Kington in 4th, 1 min 31 ahead of 10th of 12.

Headed out to Greenhill Playing Fields to attempt grass lap strava segments (same core lap). 3 CRs!!!: 3 Lap Field, 4 mins 54 secs, on grass, @ 6:22/mi pace, 1 min 16 ahead of the time jack fairbrother set 20 days ago, 2 min 18 secs Adam Imre in 3rd, 3 mins 41 Pete A in 7th, 4 mins 47 ahead of 10th of 11. 4 Lap Field (continuation of same effort), 6 mins 37 @ 6:25/mi pace, 2 mins 59 secs ahead of the time Imre set exactly 1 year ago, 3 mins 43 ahead of Robert Thorley in 3rd, 4 mins 20 Pete A in 5th, 6 mins 11 ahead of 7th. 5 Lap Field (again continuation of same long effort), 8 mins 27 @ 6:34/mi pace, 4 mins 39 ahead of the time fairbrother set 20 days ago, 4 mins 42 Thorley in 3rd, 7 mins 49 ahead of 6th.

Back to Greenhill Fields as learnt there is a 6-lap grass segment!!!!!! 1 CR!: 6 lap field, 11 mins 18 secs, on grass, @ 7:04/mi pace, 4 mins 23 ahead of Thorley's 4.5-year-old former CR, 4 mins 42 ahead of Patchett in 3rd, 8 mins 51 ahead of 5th.

Headed into Coalville to attempt a strava segment I hadn't previously. 1 CR!: Avoid the main roads, 2 mins 6 secs @ 5:43/mi pace, 47 secs ahead of Gaynor's 3-year-old former overall CR, 1 min 2 simon ward's 5-year-old former Overall 2nd/male CR, 6 mins 38 ahead of 7th.