Tuesday, 25 March 2014
Whatever will be, will be
The above pretty much sums everything up for me at the moment. In summary following on from last week I was anxious to try and get rid of the niggle or whatever was going on with my Achilles. I visited Mark last Tuesday night and got some dry needling on the Achilles which involved 6 needles being stuck in my Achilles at various points. Luckily I couldn't see it going on.
Mark also commented how it seemed inflamed compared to the other one. I did around 45 mins or so on Thursday & Friday but there was no real improvement, no better but not any worse either. I took Saturday off to give myself the best chance at running on Sunday. Again there was no real difference so I called it quits after 4 miles rather than risk doing something silly for the sake of it. I visited Mark again on Sunday evening and following consultation with another physio who had suffered the same injury himself the area was strapped up with Kinesio tape to try and help a bit and some self massage was recommended around the area to try and get the excess fluid away from the area.
I will try a few miles this evening to see if there is any improvement but from reading about it achille's tendinitis does not necessarily heal in a hurry.
With 19 days to go to the Marathon I feel everything is in the lap of the gods to be honest. Never mind the important sessions or training I'm missing on what should be a peak week there is nothing I can do about that now. It's no longer about worrying about goal times or paces but more trying to get to the start line in a condition that I can finish the race.
I would prefer to be out running miles than constantly icing the area or taking anti-inflammatory's to try and reduce the inflammation. That is the annoying part. It wouldn't be so bad if this was just another race but this is 'The Race', the one I have always wanted to do. The race that has driven me to get out the door and complete sessions on the most horrible winter nights we had this past few months.
Wednesday, 19 March 2014
Not great, but it could be worse
So after an easy week of sorts last week it was all about getting back to normal this week with only a couple of peak weeks left to go before tapering/easing off for London.
As usual with me though things never do seem to go exactly to plan. On Monday I joined the Balbriggan Roadrunners group for 5.75 miles at an easy pace around Balbriggan. Achilles felt a tad tight after the long run the day before but nothing major.
Tuesday is speed night and Gary had told me in advance to get there early and start into a 50 min Tempo at 1/2 marathon pace. After a 1.5 mile warm up and some stretching I set out on laps and laps of the track, felt a bit sluggish for the first 10 minutes or so but built into it and finished with 7:26 pace for the 50 mins. Wrapped up with a mile cool down.
Wednesday was a 6 mile recovery and the Achilles was throbbing a bit and ended up getting it looked at by Mark that evening. Had a couple of days off on Thursday/Friday and didn't really want the tempo hanging over me so set out on Thursday to see could I manage it. Got going after a 1 mile warm up on my usual loop where I could stop if I needed to and not be too far from home. Once I got 5/6 miles into it I was going to finish it as I didn't want to have to do it again. Managed the 11 miles @ 7:56 pace but it wasn't pleasant. The pace wasn't an issue just the pain and picking up a nice blood blister on the other foot :-( Was pretty difficult to walk later that day but with the tempo out of the way I was happy to take a couple of days off and let things settle down a bit.
Came back at it on Sunday with 4.3 miles at an easy pace. Didn't really feel the love for this one to be honest and was still in pain but not as bad. I think the run the next day was hanging over me a bit. Spent a good bit of the evening icing the Achilles and foam rolling as well. What a wonderful way to spend your bank holiday Sunday night.
The plan for Monday was 7 miles before the Balbriggan 1/2 marathon at around 8:40 pace and then do the first 7 miles of that at 8:30 and the last 6 at 8:20. I honestly didn't know doing the warm up miles if I would even be lining up at the start. I had committed to meeting Niall Campbell though so I just got on with it and got through them ok though without much discomfort and made the start line just in time. Took off at an easy pace but the start is downhill so by the time I was joined by a friend of mine Matt towards the end of the first mile the pace was a bit fast at under 8 min miles. We toddled along and chatted and the miles ticked off and soon enough we had a loop done. The pace felt pretty easy and not pushing it, although quicker than it should have been. Legs tired a bit on the 2nd loop but not surprising with the amount of hills. Was really happy to get to the finish in one piece and think I finished in 1:46:xx without ever really forcing the pace.
I suppose the bad news again is that I haven't run since but I kind of expected that after Monday and got some dry needling (ouch) on the Achilles on Tuesday night from the ever reliable Mark. I think it's probably sensible to try and get it sorted properly now and take a couple of rest days than have it linger on closer to the marathon.
All in all still 57 odd miles over the 8 days. It could be worse.
As usual with me though things never do seem to go exactly to plan. On Monday I joined the Balbriggan Roadrunners group for 5.75 miles at an easy pace around Balbriggan. Achilles felt a tad tight after the long run the day before but nothing major.
Tuesday is speed night and Gary had told me in advance to get there early and start into a 50 min Tempo at 1/2 marathon pace. After a 1.5 mile warm up and some stretching I set out on laps and laps of the track, felt a bit sluggish for the first 10 minutes or so but built into it and finished with 7:26 pace for the 50 mins. Wrapped up with a mile cool down.
Wednesday was a 6 mile recovery and the Achilles was throbbing a bit and ended up getting it looked at by Mark that evening. Had a couple of days off on Thursday/Friday and didn't really want the tempo hanging over me so set out on Thursday to see could I manage it. Got going after a 1 mile warm up on my usual loop where I could stop if I needed to and not be too far from home. Once I got 5/6 miles into it I was going to finish it as I didn't want to have to do it again. Managed the 11 miles @ 7:56 pace but it wasn't pleasant. The pace wasn't an issue just the pain and picking up a nice blood blister on the other foot :-( Was pretty difficult to walk later that day but with the tempo out of the way I was happy to take a couple of days off and let things settle down a bit.
Came back at it on Sunday with 4.3 miles at an easy pace. Didn't really feel the love for this one to be honest and was still in pain but not as bad. I think the run the next day was hanging over me a bit. Spent a good bit of the evening icing the Achilles and foam rolling as well. What a wonderful way to spend your bank holiday Sunday night.
The plan for Monday was 7 miles before the Balbriggan 1/2 marathon at around 8:40 pace and then do the first 7 miles of that at 8:30 and the last 6 at 8:20. I honestly didn't know doing the warm up miles if I would even be lining up at the start. I had committed to meeting Niall Campbell though so I just got on with it and got through them ok though without much discomfort and made the start line just in time. Took off at an easy pace but the start is downhill so by the time I was joined by a friend of mine Matt towards the end of the first mile the pace was a bit fast at under 8 min miles. We toddled along and chatted and the miles ticked off and soon enough we had a loop done. The pace felt pretty easy and not pushing it, although quicker than it should have been. Legs tired a bit on the 2nd loop but not surprising with the amount of hills. Was really happy to get to the finish in one piece and think I finished in 1:46:xx without ever really forcing the pace.
I suppose the bad news again is that I haven't run since but I kind of expected that after Monday and got some dry needling (ouch) on the Achilles on Tuesday night from the ever reliable Mark. I think it's probably sensible to try and get it sorted properly now and take a couple of rest days than have it linger on closer to the marathon.
All in all still 57 odd miles over the 8 days. It could be worse.
Monday, 10 March 2014
Letting the body recover
After the race last weekend and the effort put into it the body naturally needs some time to repair itself and recover. This doesn't mean doing nothing, but rather not trying to push the boat out again too soon afterwards.
Monday was a recovery run of just over 4 miles where the legs felt heavy and all over the place, but with the pace slow enough it helped aid recovery. This was followed up with some foam rolling on tight spots in the legs which was painful but seemed to work. Tuesday's session was shelved by Gary as he emphasised the need to recover properly before going again so there was just a 30 minute steady run which along with the warm up was just under 6 miles for the night.
Wednesday saw a return to strength & conditioning class after an easy 5 miles to warm up. The legs showed how they weren't recovered fully during the finisher but that was OK. The tempo session was replaced with a 90 minute easy run which ended up as 10 miles and there was another 6 miles easy on Friday breaking in my new Mizuno Wave Inspire 10's. Legs had been pretty tired as was 6th day in a row running but woke up a bit for the last couple of miles.
With Saturday being a planned rest day as I had to play golf I was hoping the body had recovered sufficiently for the long run on Sunday. This was to be 19 miles and I was out in Stamullen early to get some miles in before meeting with the other from the club for their long run. I got 6 in before joining them. With the early start the legs took a few miles to get going but were grand then. We set off on a 9 mile loop and with the good company before we knew it I was back at the car with just under 15 miles done. Took a drink on board here and a gel just to try it out and set off for another 4 miles. While the legs were tired at this point the pace seemed to pick up a bit which was a good sign. Maybe I just wanted to get finished.
All in all was happy with the run and the week in general. Just over 50 miles covered in what was meant to be an easy week :-)
Monday was a recovery run of just over 4 miles where the legs felt heavy and all over the place, but with the pace slow enough it helped aid recovery. This was followed up with some foam rolling on tight spots in the legs which was painful but seemed to work. Tuesday's session was shelved by Gary as he emphasised the need to recover properly before going again so there was just a 30 minute steady run which along with the warm up was just under 6 miles for the night.
Wednesday saw a return to strength & conditioning class after an easy 5 miles to warm up. The legs showed how they weren't recovered fully during the finisher but that was OK. The tempo session was replaced with a 90 minute easy run which ended up as 10 miles and there was another 6 miles easy on Friday breaking in my new Mizuno Wave Inspire 10's. Legs had been pretty tired as was 6th day in a row running but woke up a bit for the last couple of miles.
With Saturday being a planned rest day as I had to play golf I was hoping the body had recovered sufficiently for the long run on Sunday. This was to be 19 miles and I was out in Stamullen early to get some miles in before meeting with the other from the club for their long run. I got 6 in before joining them. With the early start the legs took a few miles to get going but were grand then. We set off on a 9 mile loop and with the good company before we knew it I was back at the car with just under 15 miles done. Took a drink on board here and a gel just to try it out and set off for another 4 miles. While the legs were tired at this point the pace seemed to pick up a bit which was a good sign. Maybe I just wanted to get finished.
All in all was happy with the run and the week in general. Just over 50 miles covered in what was meant to be an easy week :-)
Monday, 3 March 2014
I get knocked down but I get up again...
Been a couple of weeks since I posted as suffered another bit of a setback and have only run 6 times in the past 2 weeks.
Did a good session on Tue 18th (7x4 mins) and was looking forward to 3 days off work and getting training done mostly before the weekend as there was some real life stuff planned and taking over most of the weekend.
Got up Wednesday morning and changed ready to go for a run and Boom got hit by a spasm in the back. Went ahead and met Susan and did the run but was pretty tight after it. Had hoped to do my Tempo run the next day but as I attempted the warm up I knew it wasn't going to happen and I limped around 5.5 miles at around 9:50 pace.
I had hoped it would clear up and gave it a couple of days but eventually got stretched out on Monday which seemed to help. Went along and got a good 30 min Tempo in on Tuesday night and had the quandary with the race the weekend that I couldn't start really ramping up the miles again before the race so just did a couple of days easy running.
With all the goings on I hadn't really thought too much about the 1/2 marathon or a target time and even had to check what my PB was the day before. Maybe that's the best way to be. Travelled over with Susan and as we got closer to Navan we could see the sky turning grey followed by the inevitable rain. Saw the 10K runners pass us as we headed towards the car park and even though it was early in their race there didn't seem to be much enjoyment on their faces :-(
Met Rosemary & Eamonn as we left the car park and also one of our elites Neil Callaghan for the first time. He was hoping to run around 75 mins but obviously had a great race to finish 3rd in 72:40. Got changed and after meeting Niall Campbell decided to ditch the base layer and just go with the singlet (was glad I did). After a 1.5 mile warm up with Gareth we were at the start line and I moved forward trying to find Rosemary & Susan but alas I couldn't locate them anywhere. I presumed I would see them somewhere on route but for now I was on my own. Race started fairly promptly which was just as well as the rain was pretty heavy waiting around.
Miles 1-4 (7:24, 7:30, 7:15, 7:16)
My plan for the first few miles was around 7:30 pace and see how that felt. Took it steady from the start and had settled well after the first mile was out of the way. The first couple of miles was different to last year so was content to use it to get into the race. After we came back onto the course we were used to the I spotted the others in the distance and hoped to make up ground to them in the next few miles without doing anything mad. Was a bit surprised when the 3rd mile registered as 7:15 as it didn't feel like I had picked up pace too much despite having overtaken a few. Keeping the same effort I was gradually making up ground on the others and joined then after around 4 miles.
Miles 5-8 (7:19, 7:25, 7:27, 7:22)
I tucked in with the others and everyone was in good spirits as we registered another quickish mile but I knew the mail hill on the course and gradual rise towards the end of the first lap lay in wait. We coaxed each other up the hill saying it would be over in a minute and it was. I let the legs come back to themselves a bit and set about keeping the effort consistent then. Passed the clubhouse at around 7 miles and was great to see so many familiar faces from the club that had hung around after the 10K. This definitely put a pep in the step setting out on another loop. Legs were hurting at this stage and tried to take a bit of water on but the stomach was rejecting it so just did without. We were now running into the wind mainly which seemed to have picked up and although the effort had increased a bit the pace was only holding steady at best.
Miles 9-13.1 (7:28, 7:10, 7:13, 7:18, 7:20, 6:31*)
Another mile into the wind brought us to the main road and a change of direction. Shortly after the 9 mile mark Susan told me I was looking strong and told me to head on so I decided to try and pick it up over the next couple of miles if I could. I set about just trying to pass as many as I could and working from group to group. This seemed to help as the next mile registered at 7:10, but there was still 3 miles to go. Knowing the last 1.5 miles was tough enough I was hoping the wheels wouldn't come tumbling off. A 7:13 mile brought me to the flyover and legs were pretty shot at this stage. A slight downhill and up the hill and over the flyover to be greeted with a pretty strong wind wasn't what I was hoping for. It didn't help that I felt out on my feet but knew if I just kept putting one foot in front of the other it would be over soon enough. Pulled up alongside Karen Clarke here and exchanged pleasantries as best we could. I think we helped each other a bit and with around 400 metres to go I spotted another group of maybe 4/5 runners that could be picked off so set about trying to. Got them with about 150 metres to go and amazingly some of the earlier club gang were still there. Swung onto the track and I don't think I was ever as happy to see the finish line. After hanging over the railings and getting sick a little I checked my watch so see 1:36:24 showing. Checking later this was an 88 second PB which I was thrilled with.
13.14 miles in 1:36:24
Avg Pace: 7:20
Caught up with the others as we got changed inside and there seemed to be lots of great PB's and times run by everyone on what wasn't an easy day.
Summary: A really well organised race by Bohermeen in my opinion. A bit of a confidence booster at the end of a difficult month where I didn't hit any of my goals. They were always going to be toughies and probably needed a perfect months training in reality. Sometimes we and definitely me forget that we do this for a bit of fun mainly. At least with the bits of layoffs I have had I got a chance to remind myself of that and how lucky we are to be able to run in the first place.
The next month will hopefully all about building endurance and getting 4 decent long runs in before taper for London. It's all getting a bit too real now and I know from previous experiences there is no comparison between a 1/2 Marathon & Marathon.
I'll be doing what I can to help this transition over the next few weeks, hopefully with no more enforced breaks. For now these legs need a few days easy running to recover from yesterday...
Did a good session on Tue 18th (7x4 mins) and was looking forward to 3 days off work and getting training done mostly before the weekend as there was some real life stuff planned and taking over most of the weekend.
Got up Wednesday morning and changed ready to go for a run and Boom got hit by a spasm in the back. Went ahead and met Susan and did the run but was pretty tight after it. Had hoped to do my Tempo run the next day but as I attempted the warm up I knew it wasn't going to happen and I limped around 5.5 miles at around 9:50 pace.
I had hoped it would clear up and gave it a couple of days but eventually got stretched out on Monday which seemed to help. Went along and got a good 30 min Tempo in on Tuesday night and had the quandary with the race the weekend that I couldn't start really ramping up the miles again before the race so just did a couple of days easy running.
With all the goings on I hadn't really thought too much about the 1/2 marathon or a target time and even had to check what my PB was the day before. Maybe that's the best way to be. Travelled over with Susan and as we got closer to Navan we could see the sky turning grey followed by the inevitable rain. Saw the 10K runners pass us as we headed towards the car park and even though it was early in their race there didn't seem to be much enjoyment on their faces :-(
Met Rosemary & Eamonn as we left the car park and also one of our elites Neil Callaghan for the first time. He was hoping to run around 75 mins but obviously had a great race to finish 3rd in 72:40. Got changed and after meeting Niall Campbell decided to ditch the base layer and just go with the singlet (was glad I did). After a 1.5 mile warm up with Gareth we were at the start line and I moved forward trying to find Rosemary & Susan but alas I couldn't locate them anywhere. I presumed I would see them somewhere on route but for now I was on my own. Race started fairly promptly which was just as well as the rain was pretty heavy waiting around.
Miles 1-4 (7:24, 7:30, 7:15, 7:16)
My plan for the first few miles was around 7:30 pace and see how that felt. Took it steady from the start and had settled well after the first mile was out of the way. The first couple of miles was different to last year so was content to use it to get into the race. After we came back onto the course we were used to the I spotted the others in the distance and hoped to make up ground to them in the next few miles without doing anything mad. Was a bit surprised when the 3rd mile registered as 7:15 as it didn't feel like I had picked up pace too much despite having overtaken a few. Keeping the same effort I was gradually making up ground on the others and joined then after around 4 miles.
Miles 5-8 (7:19, 7:25, 7:27, 7:22)
I tucked in with the others and everyone was in good spirits as we registered another quickish mile but I knew the mail hill on the course and gradual rise towards the end of the first lap lay in wait. We coaxed each other up the hill saying it would be over in a minute and it was. I let the legs come back to themselves a bit and set about keeping the effort consistent then. Passed the clubhouse at around 7 miles and was great to see so many familiar faces from the club that had hung around after the 10K. This definitely put a pep in the step setting out on another loop. Legs were hurting at this stage and tried to take a bit of water on but the stomach was rejecting it so just did without. We were now running into the wind mainly which seemed to have picked up and although the effort had increased a bit the pace was only holding steady at best.
Miles 9-13.1 (7:28, 7:10, 7:13, 7:18, 7:20, 6:31*)
Another mile into the wind brought us to the main road and a change of direction. Shortly after the 9 mile mark Susan told me I was looking strong and told me to head on so I decided to try and pick it up over the next couple of miles if I could. I set about just trying to pass as many as I could and working from group to group. This seemed to help as the next mile registered at 7:10, but there was still 3 miles to go. Knowing the last 1.5 miles was tough enough I was hoping the wheels wouldn't come tumbling off. A 7:13 mile brought me to the flyover and legs were pretty shot at this stage. A slight downhill and up the hill and over the flyover to be greeted with a pretty strong wind wasn't what I was hoping for. It didn't help that I felt out on my feet but knew if I just kept putting one foot in front of the other it would be over soon enough. Pulled up alongside Karen Clarke here and exchanged pleasantries as best we could. I think we helped each other a bit and with around 400 metres to go I spotted another group of maybe 4/5 runners that could be picked off so set about trying to. Got them with about 150 metres to go and amazingly some of the earlier club gang were still there. Swung onto the track and I don't think I was ever as happy to see the finish line. After hanging over the railings and getting sick a little I checked my watch so see 1:36:24 showing. Checking later this was an 88 second PB which I was thrilled with.
13.14 miles in 1:36:24
Avg Pace: 7:20
Caught up with the others as we got changed inside and there seemed to be lots of great PB's and times run by everyone on what wasn't an easy day.
Summary: A really well organised race by Bohermeen in my opinion. A bit of a confidence booster at the end of a difficult month where I didn't hit any of my goals. They were always going to be toughies and probably needed a perfect months training in reality. Sometimes we and definitely me forget that we do this for a bit of fun mainly. At least with the bits of layoffs I have had I got a chance to remind myself of that and how lucky we are to be able to run in the first place.
The next month will hopefully all about building endurance and getting 4 decent long runs in before taper for London. It's all getting a bit too real now and I know from previous experiences there is no comparison between a 1/2 Marathon & Marathon.
I'll be doing what I can to help this transition over the next few weeks, hopefully with no more enforced breaks. For now these legs need a few days easy running to recover from yesterday...
Monday, 17 February 2014
Battling the elements
The past couple of weeks have been tough mentally as well as physically with mother nature throwing everything our way. Also had a small setback of sorts the week before last but nothing major. More details below:
Monday 3rd Feb - Recovery Run
5.03 miles @ 10:08
Just a loop around the town at a very sedate pace to freshen the legs up a bit. Wasn't feeling the best in general after this so had an early night and took a couple of paracetamol hoping to stave off anything.
Tuesday 4th Feb - Session
1.78 miles w/u @ 9:09
7x2 mins w/1 min recovery (6:59, 7:28, 7:22, 7:01, 7:05, 6:54, 6:59)
0 CD
4.22 miles in total.
Hurricane like conditions greeted us along with driving rain and flooded track. Started to do a bit of a warm up to see how bad it was and was soaked after one lap so decided I might as well stay put with the rest of the lunatics. When Gary arrived I think he got a bit of a shock with how bad it was and took it easy on us this week. The paces really mean nothing as it was just a case of putting the head down and battling through the wind. Got it done eventually and for the first time ever nobody did a cool down. Fair play to all the hardy souls that turned up.
Friday 7th Feb - Tempo
1.65 miles @ 9:46
7 miles @ 7:43 (7:46, 7:46, 7:54, 7:43, 7:50, 7:30, 7:30)
1.67 miles @ 9:52
Had woken up on Wednesday with a knot between my shoulders that stayed there for a couple of days which meant no running, but had eased off enough for this session on Friday evening.
Met up with Rosemary for this and used the same 2 mile loop as last week. Was good to have the company and made it pass a bit quicker.
Even with the reduced miles this week just wasn't really feeling the love for it. Feeling pretty tired despite getting plenty of sleep. I think it was more a case of doing too much last week and also maybe some sort of viral thing going on.
Saturday 8th Feb - Ardgillan Parkrun
5K in 27:27
This was the first hosting of the Ardgillan parkrun and I decided to head up and do my easy run and support the event. Seemed to be a great turnout despite the weather. Was talking to Michelle from the club waiting for it to start and out chat continued over the first couple of miles that were mainly downhill or flat. Knowing Ardgillan all that means is while it's great to be running downhill you have to get all the way back up to where you came from. Even at an easy pace and not trying to run a time or anything I really struggled and just felt empty. Got there in the end anyway and look forward to giving it a proper go in the future.
Monday 10th Feb - Easy Run
9.5 miles @ 8:55
Pulled the plug on Sunday's long run as didn't fancy another slog and struggle. Ended up watching the Rugby on Sat afternoon and having a few drinks with the lads which I enjoyed.
With that in mind I did a longer than normal run this evening but not too long that it would impede on Tuesday's speed training.
Tuesday 11th Feb - Session
Last weeks storm was replaced with snow this week which didn't have an effect on the underfoot conditions just the back straight that was into the wind and the snow making it more difficult than normal.
Session was 3 sets of 2 mins @5K pace, 45 sec recovery, 6 mins @10K pace, 3 min recovery.
Paces were (6:54, 7:12, 6:49, 7:04, 6:52, 7:03)
Felt the effort was pretty consistent throughout and happy enough with the paces given the conditions. Was really a case of getting a breather when the wind was behind and digging in when into the wind. Finished strong which was the main thing.
Some week soon we must be due decent conditions.
6.78 miles in total incl w/u & c/d.
Monday 3rd Feb - Recovery Run
5.03 miles @ 10:08
Just a loop around the town at a very sedate pace to freshen the legs up a bit. Wasn't feeling the best in general after this so had an early night and took a couple of paracetamol hoping to stave off anything.
Tuesday 4th Feb - Session
1.78 miles w/u @ 9:09
7x2 mins w/1 min recovery (6:59, 7:28, 7:22, 7:01, 7:05, 6:54, 6:59)
0 CD
4.22 miles in total.
Hurricane like conditions greeted us along with driving rain and flooded track. Started to do a bit of a warm up to see how bad it was and was soaked after one lap so decided I might as well stay put with the rest of the lunatics. When Gary arrived I think he got a bit of a shock with how bad it was and took it easy on us this week. The paces really mean nothing as it was just a case of putting the head down and battling through the wind. Got it done eventually and for the first time ever nobody did a cool down. Fair play to all the hardy souls that turned up.
Friday 7th Feb - Tempo
1.65 miles @ 9:46
7 miles @ 7:43 (7:46, 7:46, 7:54, 7:43, 7:50, 7:30, 7:30)
1.67 miles @ 9:52
Had woken up on Wednesday with a knot between my shoulders that stayed there for a couple of days which meant no running, but had eased off enough for this session on Friday evening.
Met up with Rosemary for this and used the same 2 mile loop as last week. Was good to have the company and made it pass a bit quicker.
Even with the reduced miles this week just wasn't really feeling the love for it. Feeling pretty tired despite getting plenty of sleep. I think it was more a case of doing too much last week and also maybe some sort of viral thing going on.
Saturday 8th Feb - Ardgillan Parkrun
5K in 27:27
This was the first hosting of the Ardgillan parkrun and I decided to head up and do my easy run and support the event. Seemed to be a great turnout despite the weather. Was talking to Michelle from the club waiting for it to start and out chat continued over the first couple of miles that were mainly downhill or flat. Knowing Ardgillan all that means is while it's great to be running downhill you have to get all the way back up to where you came from. Even at an easy pace and not trying to run a time or anything I really struggled and just felt empty. Got there in the end anyway and look forward to giving it a proper go in the future.
Monday 10th Feb - Easy Run
9.5 miles @ 8:55
Pulled the plug on Sunday's long run as didn't fancy another slog and struggle. Ended up watching the Rugby on Sat afternoon and having a few drinks with the lads which I enjoyed.
With that in mind I did a longer than normal run this evening but not too long that it would impede on Tuesday's speed training.
Tuesday 11th Feb - Session
Last weeks storm was replaced with snow this week which didn't have an effect on the underfoot conditions just the back straight that was into the wind and the snow making it more difficult than normal.
Session was 3 sets of 2 mins @5K pace, 45 sec recovery, 6 mins @10K pace, 3 min recovery.
Paces were (6:54, 7:12, 6:49, 7:04, 6:52, 7:03)
Felt the effort was pretty consistent throughout and happy enough with the paces given the conditions. Was really a case of getting a breather when the wind was behind and digging in when into the wind. Finished strong which was the main thing.
Some week soon we must be due decent conditions.
6.78 miles in total incl w/u & c/d.
Thursday 13th Feb - Tempo
Plan was for 9 miles @ MP-10
9 miles @ 7:49
(7:53,7:48,7:52,7:46,7:56,7:51,7:55,7:43,7,41)
Delighted with how this went given the conditions.
11.3 miles total.
Plan was for 9 miles @ MP-10
9 miles @ 7:49
(7:53,7:48,7:52,7:46,7:56,7:51,7:55,7:43,7,41)
Delighted with how this went given the conditions.
11.3 miles total.
Friday 14th Feb - Recovery
6.05 miles @ 9:44
First early morning weekday run in a good while, but having seen the forecast for later it proved to be a wise decision. Was a lovely morning for a run but by the time I was in work the weather forecasters had gotten it right. Legs were tired from the previous evening and right knee was a bit sore.
Saturday 15th Feb - Easy Run
5.5 miles @ 8:54
A few hilly miles around the silverstream loop as it's known with a few from the club. Feeling a lot fresher this week compared to last week. Definitely think I was run down or something last week.
Sunday 16th Feb - Long Run
16 miles @ 8:32
A lot of the usual crew were heading to Bohermeen to do a trial run there but with time pressures and also a longer run to do I stayed local. Basically did the Balbriggan 1/2 marathon route with the bit to/from my house making it up to 16 miles. This had a nice blend of hills throughout but with it being a loop it all balances out in the end. After a couple of slower miles to start the pace gradually kept falling as the miles ticked by. Bit of frost in some spots but navigated these ok (apart from one spot on a hill). Toyed with the idea of tagging on a few extra miles but decided to stick to the plan in the end as had plenty of miles in the bag from this week (55). Really happy with how this went.
Summary: So after a bit of a setback last week it was followed by a much better weeks training this week. Fitting everything in continues to be difficult but helped by a very understanding wife. Another busy week coming up but we'll do our best to squeeze everything in. Having 3 days off work will help ;-)
Monday, 3 February 2014
10 weeks and counting...
10 weeks to go to London now which I'm trying to put to the back of my mind for the moment and just take the training as it comes. Below is the rest of my training from last week.
Tuesday 28th January - Session
2.03 miles w/u @ 9:30
3 x 400 w/90 sec recovery (88,87,88)
20 min tempo @ 7:25 pace, avg HR 141
.81 miles c/d @ 9:05
I wasn't looking forward to this one after the race and long run and to be honest legs were feeling pretty crappy as expected during the warm up. I wasn't expecting to push it too much during this session.
Started off with 3x400m that was actually .23 according to the Garmin (the track we use in the winter is not a standard athletics track and around 475 metres so hard to get exact distances).
After that there was a 20 min tempo. Then came the light at the end of the tunnel. Gary told anyone that had done Raheny to just try and aim for HMP. This seemed to help my outlook and we started ticking off the laps and minutes. It felt a lot easier suddenly than HMP normally does and picked up the pace gradually for the last few minutes.
Really happy with how this went. Few laps cool down to finish.
Wednesday 29th January - Recovery
5.05 miles @ 9:51
Recovery run this evening keeping it as easy as possible to try and flush out the legs between sessions.
Followed up with 30 mins S&C class involving some new exercises (pull ups, dips & dead lifts).
Thursday 20th January - Tempo
This one had me worried. Had a serious case of Doms developing in the upper body and arms during the day to the point where it was a struggle to change my top beforehand. Was also worried it was a bit close to race/long run/session from the days previous. Still there wasn't going to be too much time in the rest of the week to fit it in so I got on with it.
Just over a mile warm up brought me to the traffic lights on the Naul road, where I would use a mile out and back on the ring road for this session.
8.5 miles @ MP -10 secs
Split HR
7:51 138
7:46 138
7:54 141
7:49 141
7:53 138
7:44 132
7:51 138
7:26 130
7:40 133
Avg Pace: 7:46
Avg HR: 137
The odd miles were into a stiff enough breeze mostly so took a bit more effort to get close to 7:50 pace which was the target. I wasn't killing myself to hit it as I knew I could balance it out going the other way. Not sure what happened with the 7:26 mile, think I had switched off with it being the last mile and thoughts of getting finished led me to pick it up without knowing it. Strange to see a drop off in the HR as well in a couple of later miles but maybe that is just a glitch?
Glad to have this session done with the way the body was feeling.
Nice slow cool down home to finish up with over 10.5 miles.
Friday 31st January6.08 miles @ 8:57
Avg Hr:130
Easy run this evening with Ken. Didn't look at the watch once as we were just chatting our way round. Was a bit harder than it should with upper body in a bigger jocker than yesterday. Legs were ok though if a bit tired.
183 miles for the month which is probably my highest ever. Certainly not far off anyway. Happy with how most things are going at the moment.
Sunday 2nd February
Tuesday 28th January - Session
2.03 miles w/u @ 9:30
3 x 400 w/90 sec recovery (88,87,88)
20 min tempo @ 7:25 pace, avg HR 141
.81 miles c/d @ 9:05
I wasn't looking forward to this one after the race and long run and to be honest legs were feeling pretty crappy as expected during the warm up. I wasn't expecting to push it too much during this session.
Started off with 3x400m that was actually .23 according to the Garmin (the track we use in the winter is not a standard athletics track and around 475 metres so hard to get exact distances).
After that there was a 20 min tempo. Then came the light at the end of the tunnel. Gary told anyone that had done Raheny to just try and aim for HMP. This seemed to help my outlook and we started ticking off the laps and minutes. It felt a lot easier suddenly than HMP normally does and picked up the pace gradually for the last few minutes.
Really happy with how this went. Few laps cool down to finish.
Wednesday 29th January - Recovery
5.05 miles @ 9:51
Recovery run this evening keeping it effortless basically. Followed up with 30 mins S&C class. Main set was below 7 times Pull ups x 5 Dips x 5 Deadlift x 5 Hopefully the feeling in my arms comes back soon. |
  |
5.05 miles @ 9:51
Recovery run this evening keeping it as easy as possible to try and flush out the legs between sessions.
Followed up with 30 mins S&C class involving some new exercises (pull ups, dips & dead lifts).
Thursday 20th January - Tempo
This one had me worried. Had a serious case of Doms developing in the upper body and arms during the day to the point where it was a struggle to change my top beforehand. Was also worried it was a bit close to race/long run/session from the days previous. Still there wasn't going to be too much time in the rest of the week to fit it in so I got on with it.
Just over a mile warm up brought me to the traffic lights on the Naul road, where I would use a mile out and back on the ring road for this session.
8.5 miles @ MP -10 secs
Split HR
7:51 138
7:46 138
7:54 141
7:49 141
7:53 138
7:44 132
7:51 138
7:26 130
7:40 133
Avg Pace: 7:46
Avg HR: 137
The odd miles were into a stiff enough breeze mostly so took a bit more effort to get close to 7:50 pace which was the target. I wasn't killing myself to hit it as I knew I could balance it out going the other way. Not sure what happened with the 7:26 mile, think I had switched off with it being the last mile and thoughts of getting finished led me to pick it up without knowing it. Strange to see a drop off in the HR as well in a couple of later miles but maybe that is just a glitch?
Glad to have this session done with the way the body was feeling.
Nice slow cool down home to finish up with over 10.5 miles.
Friday 31st January6.08 miles @ 8:57
Avg Hr:130
Easy run this evening with Ken. Didn't look at the watch once as we were just chatting our way round. Was a bit harder than it should with upper body in a bigger jocker than yesterday. Legs were ok though if a bit tired.
183 miles for the month which is probably my highest ever. Certainly not far off anyway. Happy with how most things are going at the moment.
Sunday 2nd February
18.2 Miles
Avg Pace: 8:50
They say there is a benefit to doing your long runs on tired legs right? Well I hope so. Got an early start to get 4 miles done before meeting the usual crew at 8:30. Legs and body were just generally feeling tired but the miles ticked off harmlessly enough. On one of the country roads a dog came to greet us and then 30 secs later we heard this thud. The poor dog got a belt of a car. It sounded pretty bad but the dog was moving around when we left it back into it's owners house. The driver of course hadn't stopped.
Had to make a pit stop after around 14/15 miles so ended running the last bit of the run solo. This was tough with the wind and terrain including a few nice hills. As bad as I felt though and as slow as I thought I was going the mile splits were ok, despite the mental anguish.
Glad to get sight of the cars in the end but need to make sure in future I at least have a drink with me it we're not going to be passing the cars. We didn't expect the loop to be 14 miles though!!!
Just over 60 miles in the last 7 days which is a lot for me and too big of a jump but in my defence the long run last Monday really belonged to the previous week so it is more a case of 84 miles over the last 2 weeks.
Avg Pace: 8:50
They say there is a benefit to doing your long runs on tired legs right? Well I hope so. Got an early start to get 4 miles done before meeting the usual crew at 8:30. Legs and body were just generally feeling tired but the miles ticked off harmlessly enough. On one of the country roads a dog came to greet us and then 30 secs later we heard this thud. The poor dog got a belt of a car. It sounded pretty bad but the dog was moving around when we left it back into it's owners house. The driver of course hadn't stopped.
Had to make a pit stop after around 14/15 miles so ended running the last bit of the run solo. This was tough with the wind and terrain including a few nice hills. As bad as I felt though and as slow as I thought I was going the mile splits were ok, despite the mental anguish.
Glad to get sight of the cars in the end but need to make sure in future I at least have a drink with me it we're not going to be passing the cars. We didn't expect the loop to be 14 miles though!!!
Just over 60 miles in the last 7 days which is a lot for me and too big of a jump but in my defence the long run last Monday really belonged to the previous week so it is more a case of 84 miles over the last 2 weeks.
Hopefully another good week's training lies ahead and the weather doesn't turn out to be as bad as they say :-(
Friday, 31 January 2014
It's all about goal's
Within my first blog of the year I noted the following:
A couple of goals for January are to run 160 training miles, get the long run up to 16 miles and get under 35 Min's in Raheny 5 mile race.
Just a couple of lines towards the end of a blog, some might have noticed, some might not. That is irrelevant. What I was doing was writing them down as a reminder to me of what they were. Wisdom says if you write down/share your goal's you have a better chance of achieving them.
At the end of January it's time to reflect on them now and set new ones.
Training Miles: 183 approx
Long Run 16 Miles: 19th Jan
Raheny 5 Mile: 34:21
The above might not seem earth shattering to some while maybe it does to a few, but the main thing is it was all relevant to me. The miles was about consistency, something I struggle with at times. The long run distance was about building endurance again, starting from a low base. The Raheny 5 Mile goal was a test of speed & to a lesser extent endurance I suppose, maybe a way of gauging progress overall.
In coming up with new goals for February I don't plan to do a race so there will be goal around a race. This will be replaced by a more nutrition focused goal which I think is a big weakness of mine (or certainly could be improved on)
So with that the goals for this month are:
190 Miles
Long Run 20 Miles
Lose 8lbs
The miles is all about consistency again and represents 47.5 miles a week on average. The long run is again about building on endurance and one of the long runs this week will be 20 miles. The 8lbs is a 2lb loss a week. No radical diets or anything planned here. Just eating properly to supplement the training being carried out will hopefully lead to this loss.
So there you have it. They are my running related goals written down. Have you set yours? and recorded them somewhere?
Good Luck with them if you have.
A couple of goals for January are to run 160 training miles, get the long run up to 16 miles and get under 35 Min's in Raheny 5 mile race.
Just a couple of lines towards the end of a blog, some might have noticed, some might not. That is irrelevant. What I was doing was writing them down as a reminder to me of what they were. Wisdom says if you write down/share your goal's you have a better chance of achieving them.
At the end of January it's time to reflect on them now and set new ones.
Training Miles: 183 approx
Long Run 16 Miles: 19th Jan
Raheny 5 Mile: 34:21
The above might not seem earth shattering to some while maybe it does to a few, but the main thing is it was all relevant to me. The miles was about consistency, something I struggle with at times. The long run distance was about building endurance again, starting from a low base. The Raheny 5 Mile goal was a test of speed & to a lesser extent endurance I suppose, maybe a way of gauging progress overall.
In coming up with new goals for February I don't plan to do a race so there will be goal around a race. This will be replaced by a more nutrition focused goal which I think is a big weakness of mine (or certainly could be improved on)
So with that the goals for this month are:
190 Miles
Long Run 20 Miles
Lose 8lbs
The miles is all about consistency again and represents 47.5 miles a week on average. The long run is again about building on endurance and one of the long runs this week will be 20 miles. The 8lbs is a 2lb loss a week. No radical diets or anything planned here. Just eating properly to supplement the training being carried out will hopefully lead to this loss.
So there you have it. They are my running related goals written down. Have you set yours? and recorded them somewhere?
Good Luck with them if you have.
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