A testing couple of weeks

The last couple of weeks have been a bit of a struggle training wise with a couple of niggles and ankle problems. Had hoped to up the training and miles but haven't been able. Below are details of what I have been at:

Tuesday 16th April

5.8 miles in total which included our weekly club speed session. This consisted of 15 seconds hard running, 30 seconds jog, 30 seconds hard running, 30 seconds jog with the hard running increasing by 15 seconds each time all the way up to 2 minutes and then back down again. The aim here was to run each interval quicker than 5K pace which if I remember I think I did.

Wednesday 17th April

6.87 miles @ 8:47 pace. This was run in hurricane conditions around the Balscadden loop as we call it. Left Calf was at me towards the end and I eased up the effort towards the end to save it.

Thursday 18th April

1.92 miles. Managed a loop around Gormanston but knew needed to get Calf worked on. Would have stopped sooner if I could have.

Sunday 21st April

9.8 miles @ 9:06 pace. Having been away for the weekend the Calf got a bit of rest so knew I would manage a longish run. Ran with Mo & Kate from the college and around the hills and finished with a loop of the college. Only managed 24 miles for the week.

Monday 22nd April

3.51 miles @ 9:18 pace. Recovery run around the college before a session with Mark to get Calf worked on. Eased out a few knots and there was no pain when he stretched it different ways indicating it was just pure tightness.

Tuesday 23rd April

6.32 miles @ 9:17 pace. Just an easy run mostly on grass. Still in pain and a lot of wondering about should I be running or not. Envious of the others doing some 1K reps. Interesting that my ankle seemed to be troubling me now :-(

Thursday 25th April

3.76 miles @ 9:29 pace. Couple of recovery paced loops around Gormanston followed by another visit to physio. Lots of movement checks and no muscle issues. Pain just above ankle on inside leading Mark to believe I may have twisted my ankle without feeling it at the time. Lots of icing and he strapped it up with some Kinetica tape as well to give some support.

Friday 26th April

Speed session with Gary which turned out to be a silent killer. Sounded easy enough when he described it 3 sets of 3x200m w/45 second recovery with 600 metre recovery between each set. Really happy with how this went and times were very consistent mostly coming in at 37 seconds and one at 38 I think.

11.83K in total. Legs were swimming in lactic during the cool down.

Sunday 28th April

12.94K @ 5.39 per K pace.

Have changed to metric measurement to facilitate most of my races this year being measure in K. Headed from the house in the evening over to Barnageera & back. Pain in ankle means no run is really enjoyable now. Had wind behind me on the way there and a pretty strong headwind on the way back. Happy enough as seemed to maintain the same pace on the way back without any real extra effort.

Clocked up 29 miles for the week which I was surprised enough with so maybe not that big a disaster after all?

Summary: Had been hoping to do the Boyne 10K race next Sunday but not so sure now. No point in really racing if I can't train properly but I'll see later in the week. Main aim at the moment is to try and get running pain free again. Should have my plans for up to the Berlin Marathon finalised this week.

A not so Great Ireland Run

At the end of a tough enough week training relative to the amount of training I've been doing recently the last thing you want to be doing is running in the National 10K championships aka the Great Ireland Run but I was so it was a case of getting on with it as best we could. 

Sunday morning was damp and breezy, very breezy in fact when I headed out around 9am for a couple of easy miles as suggested by Gary on Friday night. The purpose of this was to prepare the body for running later on so the race did not come as a complete shock to the system. Even though this was only to loosen the legs and at an easy pace the legs were definitely not feeling anyway fresh and my left calf was still feeling a bit tight.

Fast forward a few hours and we were in the Park, brief warm up and I took my place at the back of the pen for AAI athletes ready for the off. The wind was gale force and the consensus seemed to be that it would be difficult to run any sort of PB time.

10.03K in 46:48
Avg Pace: 7:31 per mile
Avg HR: 146

KM Splits (4:31, 4:31, 4:40, 4:35, 4:30, 4:44, 4:42, 4:55, 5:06, 4:28, :07)

Started off the race with the aim of going no faster than 4:30 pace for the first few K and see what happened then. Kept it nice and steady up chesterfield avenue and up to the 1K point. Felt controlled but not easy. As we headed down the north road the wind seemed to be helping slightly and again kept the effort steady. Got passed along here by one of the telletubbies which was worrying but he ground to a halt further up the road.

Got through 2K on target but wasn't feeling easy and knew we would be turning shortly onto a fast part of the course but which was directly into the wind today. From 3K - 5K should have been easy and a chance to make some time with a big downhill but it was really exposed and a fight with the wind just to hang onto planned pace.

Just after 5K the first challenge came in the form of military hill followed shortly by the S bends. A few seconds but enough to put any thoughts of a PB out of my head were lost at this stage as I only really had one effort level to resort to. Sometimes if your feeling good or fresh you can kick on or dig in but not today.

At this point it was just a case of seeing the race out. Slowed a bit further through 8 & 9K both of which had further hills. Coming up to 9K I met someone I knew and had a chat for a few hundred metres before picking it up a bit for the last few hundred metres.

Summary: Relative to some of my recent races I should be able to run 44:xx for a 10K at the moment so probably about 2 minutes off where I should be on a calm day and favourable course. Not too disappointed with the performance on tired legs and the fall off in the 2nd half is not huge for that course.

Hopefully a couple more weeks good training and a bit of a taper will leave me fresher for the Boyne 10K. Surely we're due a calm day as well or maybe thats too much to ask.

Building up to Great Ireland Run

Just a normal training week this week but with the Great Ireland Run at the end of it. Normally I would let up a bit in training the week of a race but not for this race.

Monday:

5.95 Miles
Avg Pace: 9:01

Few loops around Gormanston on a windy Monday evening. Not really feeling the love for it and legs tired enough. Bit of tightness in left calf going on at the moment.

Tuesday:

10.04 Miles
Avg Pace: 8:38

Long run for the week. Headed from Gormanston through Stamullen and out for a hilly loop and back to Stamullen. Quick enough pace for the terrain but a good test for the legs. Did a loop of the college to bring up the 10 miles. Upped the pace to around 7:30 pace for the last mile and felt fine. Lovely loop and ideal for a longer midweek.

Thursday:

4.40 Miles
Avg Pace: 8:38

Got the legs worked on Tuesday night which normally leaves them tired for a couple of days. Just a few loops around the college tonight.

Friday:

2 miles warm up @ 8:39 pace
6 mins tempo @ 7:07 pace
.81 mile w/d @ 9:52 pace

3.65 miles total

This was out speed session with Gary. Those of us racing the weekend got let off with just a 6 minute tempo at around 10K pace. Felt grand and was really just a blowout to get the legs turning over. Couple of laps warm down outside the track while those not racing continued with their session.


Summary: Happy enough to get out 4 times so far. A lot going on with work at the moment so good to get out in the fresh air. Meant to be windy tomorrow for the race but the aim at the moment it not to go out too quickly. The first 1/2 of the course is quick but plenty will be needed for the second half. Hopefully will pace it right to be able to pass plenty of people in the 2nd half. Easier said than done ......

Another visit to Malahide Parkrun

Thursday 5th April

6.7 Miles
Avg Pace: 8:25

This turned out to be my longest run of the week. Usual Thursday night club run but with a bit more light we were out onto the outer loop for the first time this year and onto some grass. Turned out to be a really good progression run doing the last 2 loops with Rosemary bringing the pace down from around 8:40 on the first loop to 8:20 odd on the second loop to 8:00 even on the last loop. We hadn't planned this but noticed at one point the pace was picking up as we went on so we just continued like that.

Friday 6th April

Rest Day - Had planned to get out for a few miles but a disaster of a day at work had me working much later than planned so running had to take a back seat to family time & Libero's pizza.

Saturday 7th April

Mooted the idea to Emma on Friday night about heading to Malahide on Saturday morning, me doing the Parkrun and then heading to Avoca for breakfast. Got the thumbs up as it was a win/win situation for both of us. Charlie decided to sleep an hour longer than normal so there was a bit of chaos getting ready but got there in time without any breakfast or even a sip of water. Did a mile warm up after bumping into Ken who was also doing the race, getting down to the start and then having to dash back to use the loo.

5K in 21:14
Avg Pace: 6:49
Avg HR: 153

Plan was to run this as a second speed session for the week. Started off a bit quickly but with 400+ runners you need to get a good start. Settled into a good rhythm and tried to maintain a good even effort as the race progressed. Field was well spread out in front of me with about a mile to go but I just tried to concentrate on bridging gaps and passed a few people as I kept a fairly even effort and they were maybe slowing down a bit. Took another 2 on the last incline and put in a bit of a sprint to keep them off on the last downhill section. Pace splits for the race were (6:44, 7:06, 7:04, 5:49). Part of the course is tree lined so hard to know how accurate they are but probably not far off. A good run and as it turned out only 2 seconds outside my PB!!

Finished off with a scone in Avoca before working in the afternoon.

Sunday 7th April

4 Miles
Avg Pace: 9:17

Had an arrangement to play Golf on Sunday morning so missed out on any sort of long run. Did manage to get out around 8pm for a couple of loops of the college with Ailish though. This was one where I had to force myself to get out but as usual enjoyed it and the company.


Summary: Good week with 6 days running and weekly mileage over 30 miles again. Two good quality sessions but the absence of a longer run. Will try to get a longer one in early this week. 

Training Update - Take 2

Having spent a good bit of time writing a training update last night only to lose it trying to save and publish it hopefully this attempt will be more successful. I can't say the content will be any better though :-( but it will be shorter.

Training has slacked off a bit since Bohermeen due to some recovery time, other races and not having another specific target to work towards other than to keep things ticking over. Next race will be the Great Ireland Run on Sun 14th. Don't really like this race or the course but there a lot of people from work doing it so that is the main reason for doing it. I'll race it alright but won't be tapering up for it. Should give a good indication of where I am and what time I should be looking to target or work towards for Boyne 10K or Dunshaughlin 10K in May/June.

Am going to start posting more regular training updates to keep myself honest. Feel free to give me feedback good or bad and ask any questions if you have them. Summary of mileage up till the end of March is below.

Month        Mileage       No. of Runs 

January      123.1         21
February     135.49        17
March        98.61         15


Training so far for April:

Monday 1st

5.71 Miles
Avg Pace: 9:10

Nice run on "Colm's hilly route" with Colm, Deirdre, Ailish & Mel. Good to blow off the cobwebs after Easter Sunday in advance of speed session on Tuesday.

Tuesday 2nd

1.53 mile warm up

Drills & Plyometrics(stretching and stuff trying not to fall over).

1 min hard @ 6:28 pace
2 min hard @ 6:26 pace
3 min hard @ 6:47 pace
4 min hard @ 6:38 pace
3 min hard @ 6:52 pace
2 min hard @ 6:50 pace
1 min hard @ 6:11 pace

45 sec recovery jog after each of the above.

1.47 miles warm down to complete the session.
5.88 miles total.

Speed session tonight. Second week for us training as a group with Gary O'Hanlon. Really enjoyed this session although it was quite tough at times with the recovery seeming to get shorter as we progressed. Tried to run them all at an even enough pace/effort without paying too much attention to the watch. Drills & Plyometrics were interesting to say the least and thought I did my hamstring at one stage. Flexibility is crap. Talk of heading to Ardgillan for the next session was not what I wanted to hear :-) He wouldn't be that cruel would he?

Wednesday 3rd

5 miles
Avg Pace: 9:12

Recovery run after the speed session night before. Focus for this was on keeping the HR below 130 to ensure it was a recovery run. Legs a bit tired/stiff from the drills and speed the previous night but as Gary said the previous night if you want to improve you need to get used to running on tired legs !!!


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Become a better Athlete with Rob Denmead

On Friday 22nd March our club Star of the Sea put on a talk with full time athletics coach Rob Denmead, which Rob had titled 'Become a better Athlete'. I wasn't sure what to expect in advance but in a talk that lasted over 3 hours we certainly got great value for our €10 along with a hell of a lot of knowledge shared with us.

Below are some of the topics covered and also some information given to us as handouts. I'll warn you now there is a lot of information, hence the time it has taken me to do up this post but I think most of it is relevant for athletes at any level:

Goals/Plans:

• Every runner should have an annual plan so they know what they are training towards. This should contain goal races (maybe only one big goal race) and also other races that they will run but maybe prepare slightly differently for (no taper etc.).
• Your training plan should include 1 rest day per week minimum.
• A runner should do no more than 2/3 sessions per week and each session should be followed up with a recovery run the day after the session.
• Every 4th week should be a step back week where the mileage is reduced to give the body a chance to recover.
• Be sensible when resuming training after illness. Your tendons and ligaments get weaker when you are ill.
• Generally Rob will begin a training plan specific to a goal race with an Athlete up to 10 months beforehand.

Training Phases:

• Base Period - Phase 1
• Easy Running
• Progressive Runs (e.g. 2 miles easy, 2 miles steady, 2 miles threshold).
• Long Runs
• Hilly Runs
• Strengthen Legs & Core
• Some strides/sprints
• Transition - Phase 2
• Transition to faster paces over 2-4 weeks
• Fartlek runs
• Long runs with last 20 mins at steady pace
• Hilly runs & hilly reps
• Phase 3 (may last 6-8 months)
• Specific sessions for goal race.
• 10K early in phase
• HM or Marathon late in phase
• 10-14 day taper before goal race
• Specific session, time trial or shorter race 7 days before goal race.
• Plan your races with aim to peak at goal race.

Training Paces:

Rob is an advocate of training a lot by heart rate and giving his athletes a session based on time and not miles. He feels if you tell someone to run x number of miles they may run them at too quick a pace just to get them done but if you tell them to run for an hour they will run at the prescribed effort. Below are the different training paces and reason behind them:

• Easy Pace: Should be no more than 75% of your Max HR and you should be able to hold a full conversation at this pace. Recovery runs should be run at this pace, as well as Warm Ups & Cool downs & Long Easy runs. Running at this pace teaches the body to burn fat as a fuel and strengthens the heart.
• Steady Pace: This pace is approx 5-10 seconds per mile slower than Marathon pace. Good pace for clearing lactic acid from the muscles and it is a good idea to run the last 20 minutes of some of your long runs at this pace.
• Anaerobic Threshold: This is a pace you should be able to hold in a race for 60-70 mins. Below this pace and the lactic acid produced is very low. When you go faster than AT pace there is a big increase in the lactic acid produced in the blood. Training at AT pace trains the athlete to be able to sustain a fast cruising pace and is great for 10K, Half Marathon & Marathon. Example training sessions for this include 30 mins at this pace or a session of 15 mins, 10 mins, 6 mins with 1 minute recovery between each interval.
• Vo2 Max: This is the pace you would be expect to be able to hold for 10-12 minutes race pace (approx 3-4K). Doing intervals at a range of paces from 3K - 10K race pace helps to improve your Vo2 max over time.

The important thing with any of these paces is that your  training paces should be based on your current times and not a time you aspire to do. These can generally be found by putting a recent race into something like the McMillan Calculator but Rob also had a spreadsheet giving details based on 10K time. The below paces are relevant for someone with a 10K time of 45:28 mins (my PB) & 44 mins just for comparison.

10K time    Vo2 Max     AT Pace     Easy Pace

45:28       6:46        7:43        9:33
44:00       6:33        7:29        9:16

For me that 10K time was from last June and not really relevant as I ran a HM at below the suggested AT pace since then but the times suggested by McMillan are along the lines of the above.

The important thing I took from the discussion on paces was that it was more beneficial to train at the actual pace than at a quicker pace (some very good examples give on athletes making greater levels of improvement compared to when doing sessions too fast). It is also important that everyone does sessions at their own paces/effort level and doesn't try to speed up/slow down to match someone else.

Sessions to improve your Vo2 Max (Oxygen Uptake):

10-12 x 400m @ 3K race pace
8 x 600m @ 3K race pace
5-6 x 800m @ 3K race pace
5 x 1000m @ 5K race pace
4 x 1200m @ 5K race pace
4 x 1 mile @ 6K race pace
3 x 2 miles @ 10K race pace
Down the clock session of 1 mile, 1200m, 1000m, 800m, 600m, 400m, 200m, 100m

Recoveries for the above should range from 75 seconds for the shorter intervals up to 2 mins for longer.

Specific Marathon Sessions:

800m @ 5K pace going straight into 1 mile cruise @ marathon pace.
Long Run with last 20 mins at Marathon pace or faster.
Fartlek sessions with cruise recoveries.
Strong Hilly runs for 30 to 60 mins.

Hill Sessions:

The below sessions should all be done at approx 85% effort.

4-5 x 3 minute hills.
Hilly run of 30 - 40 mins.
10 x 60 second hills.
6 x 2 minute hills.
20-40 second hills x 20.


9 Things you need to know when you are a runner:

1. A lack of Iron will have a detrimental effect on your performance. Ferritin stores important to be > 40. Haemoglobin Males 14-16; Females 13-15 per 100ml of blood. Too much Iron in the body is a medical condition called haemochromatosis.
2. Teeth - A tooth infection will poison the body.
3. Sleep - Human Growth Hormone is released during sleep & naps. Makes you stronger.
4. Fuel up - Carbohydrates straight after training. Drinks, bananas, raisins after hard sessions. A meal (potato's, pasta, rice, bread, vegetables, red meat, liver, chicken, fish) within 90 mins of finishing training will help you replenish the muscles and aid recovery. Porridge for breakfast. Eat less carbs when you are not fuelling up. Carbo drinks during hard sessions will help you sustain pace. Home made "Carbo Drink" 500ml bottle, 2 soup spoons of glucose, pinch of salt, fruit juice & water.
5. Hydration - water, carbo drinks, milk (protein), fruit juice, beetroot juice all aid recovery and keep the body working properly. Water binds to carbohydrate. Dehydration will severely hamper your performance - 4% dehydration leads to a 2 minute 48 secs dis-improvement in a 35 min 10K athlete. 4% = 4.5lbs in an 8 stone athlete. Drink 1kg of fluid for each kg of weight lost. Tea, coffee, alcohol and coca cola can cause dehydration. Sip water on the morning of a race. Urine should be pale colour.
6. Dynamic warm-up is done prior to a race or fast training session. Static stretching done after you have showered and eaten. Static stretch should not be held for too long, usually 3 secs.
7. Upper body tightness will have an effect on your legs and stride length.
8. Replace worn out shoes, runners, spikes, racers. Niggles - treat them immediately with ICE. Pulled muscles should be iced for 2-3 days, left settle and then massaged gently after 3 days. Cross train if possible when injured to maintain fitness.
9. Head colds, runny nose etc. Use Neil Med sinus rinse to clear sinus congestion. You won't beat illness so respect it and give it time to recover. Check your mornings HR's (lying and standing) when you are ready to resume training.    Antibiotics - Take acidophilus tablets (probiotic) or natural yogurt to replace the good bacteria in your gut.

Fat Burning Strategies:

Half a lemon in a glass or warm water will kick start your metabolism in the morning (not too often as it is very hard on tooth enamel). Use a straw.

Green tea in the morning before a slow run will kick start the process of utilising fat as a fuel.

Mental Preparation & Race Preparation:

Visualise your race and various scenarios during the week of the race. In the race itself, try to stay relaxed and focused. Don't go off too hard (20 secs gain in first mile could turn into a 60 secs loss over the rest of the race). In training practice getting faster as you go on.