Better give a quick update before the Xmas festivities....
To say there has been a lot going on the past couple of weeks would be an understatement. Between trying to fit in S&C classes when I could, a stag night and a typically busy period for Emma with school there hasn't been a whole lot of time free. There is light at the end of the tunnel though.
In brief the training has been as below:
Mon 9th Dec
3 mile recovery run
Tuesday 10th Dec
Session: 12 Min's tempo @ 10K pace + 6 x 400m
Another good session. Numbers were a bit sparse this week. Pace for the tempo was 7 min mile pace. Was pretty windy and this seemed to pick up further for the 400m as they went on. 6.5 miles in total for the night.
Thursday 12th Dec
8.18 miles easy run
Just the usual few loops of Gormanston, even venturing out towards Stamullen to get a bit of extra distance in.
Tuesday 17th Dec
Session: 18 Min's tempo (10 @ 10K, 8 @ 5K) + 4 x 250m
This was a toughie as again it was basically a solo run with nobody to pace off. Probably started off a bit too quickly and didn't have the pick up required to really hit the 5K pace as I would have liked. The pace was 6:57 for the 10K portion and 6:51 for the 5K portion. Finished off with 4 x 250m at mile pace.
4.84 miles in total.
Thursday 19th Dec
5.15 miles easy run
Had hoped to get down to the club run but didn't work out time wise so just headed out for a loop of Balbriggan. Nice bit of wind and rain but legs felt good which was a bonus.
Sunday 22nd December
Clonliffe Christmas Cracker 5K
Had this race in mind for a blow out before Xmas and although the conditions weren't going to be ideal I decided the night before to do it. Picked up Stuey and headed off to Santry in plenty of time. Got registered, had a chat with Gary and Mark Bermingham and then set off to do our first warm up. This was actually just to try and get warm in the first place as it was Baltic out. With about 15 Min's to the start we stripped off and did a more serious warm up with a few drills and strides. When I went to set my watch I noticed the battery was at 0% so I left it behind in the bag. This was going to be interesting.
The race started with a lap and a bit of the track before heading out of Morton stadium. Was a bit worried about heading off too quickly with no watch to tell me the pace I was running at so settled in behind someone I remembered passing towards the end of the Jingle bells 5K reckoning that would be about right.
I moved past them after about 1K as we turned into Northwood to be greeted by a nice stiff breeze for around the next 1.5K or so along with some icy rain :-( Was trying to find a group to tuck in with but was gradually passing people and trying to work between groups. Noticed then that my lace had opened but tried to ignore it. It got to the point a few minutes later where my runner was becoming loose and I was losing grip. There was nothing for it but to pull over and tie it. Not sure how much time this cost me but enough anyway.
Got back into it and set about making up ground and passing some people for the 2nd time. As we turned onto Ballymun road there was a brief respite from the wind and before long we turned onto Santry avenue to make our way back towards the stadium. I had missed the 3K sign and the field was fairly strung out so I was just trying to keep going and was managing to bridge the gap and overtake a few people in front of me. I thought I could see the left turn in the distance to bring us back to the stadium when one of the volunteers told us there was 1.5K to go. This threw me a bit as I was pretty much flat out at this stage and was running at an effort that wouldn't have lasted for 1.5K. I wondered about easing up a little and maybe did somewhat for a couple of hundred metres but then say the turn so knew we were nearly home.
Got a nice bit of encouragement from Mark just before turning into the stadium with about 300 metres to go on a saturated track. There was only one runner in my sights and I managed to close down and pass him. Crossed the line with 20:50 on the clock which allowing for 5 seconds or so to cross the line I would estimate 20:45 as my finishing time.
This was 14 seconds slower than my PB from 2 weeks ago. Running without the watch hadn't been a disaster. It only really helps in a 5K to get your pace right at the start I suppose. I'm not sure if it would have turned out differently with it or not. Having to stop to tie your lace costs you time and momentum as you have to get up to speed again. This was also a much tougher day than a couple of weeks ago so I suppose I have to be happy with the result. I can't help but feel I might have knocked a few more seconds off the PB without the stoppage. I guess that will have to wait for another day though.
Summary:
Thanks to everyone who has read my blog since I started it up and for the mostly positive feedback you have given me. I wasn't sure about it all at the start but I hope you enjoy my ramblings. I hope everyone has a great Xmas and finds time to put the runners on to work off the excesses. I'll be back with more of my ramblings in early 2014.
Now where did I leave that Marathon Plan............
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