hills, spills and bellyaches

showry

Here's the sceal so far:
Nov 2005: I'm 16.5 stone with type 2 diabetes so I print off the famous couch to 5k plan and hit the roads.
I need something to aim for so I set myself goals as I went on.
2 miles without stopping: Dec 2005
3 miles: Jan 2006
5 mile road race: Feb 2006, 45 mins
5 miles under 40 mins: Dec 2006
10 mile road race: Feb 2007, 79 mins
5 miles under 35 mins: Aug 2007
Dublin marathon: INJURY

Did something to my hip flexor and couldn't get it right for about 6 months. Started cycling in the meantime and got hooked on that too so now I'm trying to combine both with the aim of doing the Sean Kelly tour. Training's been a bit haphazard since I started running again so I'm hoping that by keeping a log I can be a bit more consistent.
I'm now a trim(mer) 12.5 stone or so but could probably afford to lose another stone and a half.

Here's the plan for now:
Monday: Track at lunchtime for some speedwork
Tuesday: Athletics club summer league (5 miles)
Wednesday: Cycling club summer league (40k)
Thursday: Weather permitting, cycle to/from work (42k each way) or group cycle in the evening (40-50k) or 10k run
Friday: Nothing - watch telly or football
Saturday: 7.5 mile run
Sunday: group cycle (80-100k)

Obviously this will be loose because of various road races, the irish weather etc. but I reckon if I can stick to it I can get through the Sean Kelly in August and get my 5 mile time under 35 mins again.

showry

Monday 20th May:
Went over to the track and did some failry basic speedwork.
2 warm up laps,
8 * 200 with 1 minute recovery time.
Wasn't flat out sprinting, about 40 seconds per go, which is as close to flat out as I get.
I'm still kind of paranoid about my hip. I'd had a quick enough 7.5 mile run on Sunday and it was a little bit tight. Spent the rest of the day stretching it.

SUNGOD

hi showry great to see another running /cycling log , there a good few running logs on now which are all very interesting best of luck with yours , i'll be interested to see your progress its great to look back on your log to see how far you've come since you started it ,anyway best of luck showry hope it goes well for you

ike

Hi Showry, just to echo what SUNGOD said, nice to see how another runner gets on

token56

First congrats on the weight loss since back in 2005 and also on the improvements which you have showen. Also just to say best of luck with the training, I am sure you will get under the 35 mins for 5 mile no bother.

showry

Thanks lads,
club summer league tonight, 5 miles on grass,
best time last year was 35:30, this year's best is 36:40 and slowest is 36:59,
i'm a bit worried about my hip the last couple of days so i might try and take it handy tonight,

showry

Summer league tonight.
Despite my saying I was going to take it easy I got my fastest time this year, just under 36 mins. The first 3 laps were slightly quicker than my normal pace but I had enough in the tank to bury myself for the last lap and break 36.
Chuffededness abounds.
The hip feels ok, a tad tight but I'll be stretching it all night and weather permitting I'll be on the bike for the rest of the week before running again Saturday so it should recover.

Odysseus

Just echoing the others posters. Welcome its great to have another runner sharing their routines, best of luck with your training.

eclectichoney

Good luck with the log - that's a massively impressive list of accomplishments to date!

showry

Cycling league tonight,
40k handicap race.
There's normally 3 or 4 groups with the racing lads last ones off. I'm usually in the first group. Numbers were down because of the wind and rain and football (the less said about that the better) so I was off on my own. I stayed away until about halfway and got caught by 2 lads who let me sit on their wheels all the way home. I was quite happy to let them fight it out for first and take third and collect 3 bonus points going up the last hill (anything else would have been cheeky).
Well pleased. Even Chelsea losing and the sight of Fergie doing his tormenting little jig can't dampen my spirits.

showry

5 mile run tonight,
didn't bring a watch which was just as well - terrible run,
legs were heavy and had no energy,
had intended doing 6.5, normally feel bad for the first mile but after 2 it wasn't getting any better so i cut off for the 5 mile route instead,
you get days like that sometimes,
got up early to cycle to work but didn't fancy the weather - turned out to be a lovely day for cycling though, wanted to go for a spin instead of a run this evening but mrs showry had to go out so that scuppered that plan,

Woddle

Just started reading your log, welcome and best of luck with your goals

showry

Saturday:
50km cycle on my own, taking in the climb over the mahon falls. With the wind and the climbing it was fairly savage. The descent was fairly hair raising too, think I wore out my brake blocks. It's one of 4 major climbs on the Kelly tour though so I've my work cut out.
Was planning to go over another one on the way back but was under pressure time wise.
Avge speed: 24 km/h

Sunday:
Group spin, 80km. It was mostly the fast lads so I was a bit worried. Hung on in there though, no major climbing, just the wind and the speed to contend with.
Avge speed: 30 km/h

showry

Monday:
over to the track again at lunchtime,
same as last week,

couple of warm up laps
8 * 200 with a fairly generous recovery time (basically a jog back to the 200 line at the other side of the track, although it was as close to sprinting as I can get this week),
couple of warm down laps,

went well - going to start adding in 300s from next week (with less recovery time)

was happy with last week, got my 3 runs and 3 cycles in,
we got wii fit at the weekend and it reckons i'm overweight and made my mii a lot rounder, it came in at 81 kilos, i'd like to get down to around 76 kilos eventually (don't think i'll be using wii fit to do it though)

showry

Tuesday:
Athletics club summer league:
35:20 - my fastest ever time over that course - happy out

showry

Wednesday:
Cycling summer league, went alright, got caught by the fast group about 6 miles out, hung on for about 4 miles, realised I wasn't going to finish top 5, said there was no point killing myself and sauntered home. I'm a bit pissed off at myself cos I should have just hung on anyway.
Avge speed: 31.5 km/h

showry

Thursday:
Cycled to/from work,
43 kms each way,
29.6 km/h going down
31.6 km/h coming back,
legs were sore at the end, I'm running or cycling 6 days in a row for the past month or so and the 6th day is sore,
rest day tomorrow,
will probably do an easy 5 Saturday and go for a decent spin on the bike Sunday,
I'm running a relay leg of the Cork marathon on Monday and a 5k in Touraneena Monday evening, managed to run 2 legs and the 5k last year so hopefully should be ok this time.

SUNGOD

hi showry thats a fair spin (dungarvan to waterford) before and after work id imagine you were fairly tired come the end of it . after a full week you deff be shattered come the 6th day of training all right. best of luck on monday morning and monday evening.

there are two 4 mile races on in tramore and kilmacow on the 6th and 8th which might be of interest to you , you prob know about them anyway
i wont do them myself as i will be taking a break after cork but i will go to support friends running but i will probably be doing the remainder of races in the ger wyley series

showry

Thanks SG,
might look at those races you mentioned.
Dungarvan to Waterford's a decent spin, it's handy to get it out of the way like that though.
I was going for long spins (50-60 miles) on Saturdays and Sundays but I do hurling coaching with the youngsters on Saturday mornings now so the work and back spin is a good replacement for that.
It's not as bad as people think, it took me 80 minutes going home Thursday, it takes me 40 minutes to drive it.
Best of luck on Monday.

showry

Saturday:
6.5 mile run,
The nicest run I've had in a long time,
beautiful day but I was out before it was too hot,
was moving well and felt strong all the time, I felt as if I could keep running all day,
I only hope I haven't wasted my good run before Monday.
Will go for a cycle in the morning but might take the easiest spin going - that will depend on who's there though.

Woddle

Best of luck tomorrow, enjoy

Odysseus

+1 hope it goes well for you.

showry

Sunday:
80km cycle,
was a beautiful morning for cycling, tough enough spin - 1 long climb and a few annoying little drags,
avge speed 29km/h

showry

Monday AM:
Relay leg 4 of the Cork marathon,
got through my 5.9 miles in 44 minutes, never felt like I was getting into a rhythm, probably to do with the hills in that section and my mile splits were all over the place, 7:10 to 7:55,
I would have been happy enough with that time beforehand though,

Monday PM:
5k road race,
21:49 - almost the exact same time as last year, tough enough course, uphill for the 1st mile or so, then downhill with a rotten little hill right at the end,
happy though, felt strong enough at the end,

Can't make the summer league tomorrow as herself is heading out so parenting duties for me, think I've done enough today to warrant a break tomorrow though,

SUNGOD

well done showry thats good going its not easy running twice in one day never mind pushing yourself and racing twice in one day . i see you got landed with the hard leg hill wise (id be shouting conspriacy ), i wouldnt be too concerned about your 5k time if you had'nt have raced that day you would have seen an improvement time wise.enjoy your break tomorrow

ike

Hey showry - forgot about you running in Cork - thats a great time for nearly 6 miles. I found a few of the short sharp hills particulary going up those slip roads to be a bit energy sapping.

showry

Thanks lads,
Last year I ran 2 legs in Cork and still got the same time in the 5k but I'm only doing half the miles now that I was doing then so to even be doing the same times is good enough for me.

showry

Wednesday:
Cycling - 50 km,
part of which was the club 5km time trial,
won my category in 9:24,
carried on with a few others and took in a balls of a climb, was suffering near the end but felt great after it,

have a table quiz in Waterford tomorrow night,
tomorrow would normally be my day to cycle to work and back but I might hang on and work late and go for a run before it instead of cycling home and driving back down,

showry

Thursday:
Went over to the track to run their golden mile in the middle of a 6 mile easy run on the road.
Was fairly happy with my mile time - 6:02 - as I wasn't sure what to expect. Last year at the end of a 5 miler I was doing the last one in 6:40ish so I was pleased with it. Tough going though.
Did a couple of miles down to it and 4 after it at about 8 minute pace.
Rest tomorrow and probably cycling for the weekend.

showry

Saturday:
50 km cycle,
headed off early, took in a couple of nasty hills and a ****ty enough road surface,
never felt too good, legs didn't want to co-operate,
there's a few lads I haven't seen in a while around tonight so I might go on the beer and skip tomorrow's group spin but if it's nice in the morning then I'd be kicking myself. Times change, a couple of years back I wouldn't even have entertained that argument with myself - I'm putting this whole fitness thing down to a midlife crisis.

showry

Sunday:
6.5 mile run - easy enough pace

had intended cycling but found a broken spoke on my back wheel last night so I didn't want to chance it.

showry

Monday:
Track at lunchtime for "speedwork",
couple of warm up laps then
1 X 300
6 X 200
1 X 300
couple of warm down laps,

I'm going fairly flat out for the sprints but still being generous enough with my recovery times - basically jogging back to the 200 line each time.
Was fecking hot over there today too,

showry

Tuesday:
Athletics club summer league, 35:59
happy enough considering the heat,
took the first lap easy - 9:30, picked it up for 2 & 3 and did the last in about 8:20,

showry

Wednesday:
Cycling club summer league - 40k
Did ok - our group was working well, we got caught by the fastest group about 5k from the end and quickly spat out but we kept working well - good spin,
avge speed 31.5 km/h

showry

Thursday:
Cycled to/from work,
43 kms each way,
29.5 km/h going down
32.5 km/h coming back,

rest day tomorrow, heading to west cork tomorrow with the family so no cycling for the weekend, am tempted to forget the runners as well and just concentrate on pints of murphy's and bowls of chowder for a couple of days,

79 kilos according to wii fit tonight

showry

Saturday:
Running, 5 hilly and hungover miles in West Cork, fairly easy

Sunday:
Running, 6 miles, easy

I had promised myself a break from it while I was in West Cork but I guilted myself into running both mornings. It's a tough road between Crookhaven and Goleen, might be politely described as undulating, I prefer to call it one bastarding hill after another.

We normally spend 2 weeks down there but sacrificed that for Eurodisney this year. Put in some really good training on that road for the 2 weeks last year and it stood to me for the rest of the summer. Wasn't sorry to see the back of it this morning though.

Due to go to the track tomorrow but feel like I'm coming down with something. Dosing up on vitamin c and going for an early night.

showry

Monday:
Speedwork over at the track,
same as last week,
couple of warm up laps,
1 x 300m
6 x 200m
1 x 300m

I'm still being good to myself with the recovery time, jogging back to the other side of the track.
I'm going to adjust the mix rather than the recovery times for a while. I'll add another 300 next week so laps 1,5 & 8 will be 300m laps and then after a couple of weeks make 1,3,5 & 7 300m laps and 2,4,6 & 8 200m laps
So it'll be
300m - 200m recovery
200m - 100m recovery
x 4

showry

Tuesday:
Running, summer league,
35:25,
not too far off my best, first lap was the wrong side of 9 minutes, I probably could have broken 35 if I'd pushed that one, maybe next week,
I'm happy with my running at the moment - times are in and around last years but I'm only putting in half the miles. This time last year I was doing 30-35 miles a week, now I'm doing 18 on a good week. So far it looks like the cycling/running combination is working (or certainly doing no harm).
There's a few 5 milers coming up over the next few weeks and that's where I really started noticing the improvements last year so I'll be interested to see how those times compare.

showry

Wednesday:
Cycling summer league, 40k
Avge speed 31.5 km/h,
2nd place

2 of us went away first and managed to stay away, we had to work very hard being just 2 of us, had nothing left at the end and was happy to roll in second,

have a 5 mile road race on friday night so am going to take my rest day tomorrow,

SUNGOD

good luck tonight in clashmore

showry

SUNGOD wrote: »

good luck tonight in clashmore

Thanks SG

Friday:
5 mile road race,
36:05 - nearly a minute faster than last year,

happy with the time cos it's a tough course,
flat 1st mile,
bit of a drag for the next 2,
nasty hill for the next half mile and then downhill for the last mile and a half,

felt very strong on the hill, am definitely putting that down to the cycling,

doing the cycling part of the dunmore east triathlon tomorrow so am skipping the post-race pints

Woddle

congrats on your time, I'm hoping for sth similar next month, so I'll be keeping a close eye on your training:D my new nemesis

showry

Thanks Woddle,

Saturday:
cycling, 20km part of the dunmore triathlon,
absolutely atrocious weather,
had to be there at 10:30, it didn't start till 12:30,
was freezing and drenched by the time I got going, was delighted to actually be on the bike,
was an out and back course - flew out and then back into the headwind, average speed was about 32 km/h which was okay given the conditions,

was a lot of hassle to go to for a 20km cycle but it mightn't have been so bad on a better day,
much like the cork marathon you do feel a bit of a fraud when you're doing a relay and people are clapping you and you're passing people doing the whole thing,

Odysseus

Fair play to you mate, I gererally never let the weather stop me, I think it was my 50k this year that it rained all the way. However, I got up at 7 this morning and the plan was a 30k before next weeks race, but I said no way. If I'm not there by now today isn't going to make much difference. Its great for your psychological endurance to experience days like today. Days like today stand to you at a later stage when you need to dig a little bit deeper.

showry

Sunday:
70km cycle,
very windy,
there was a training day organised for the Sean Kelly with different length spins organised,
wind was against us for the first half and there was a few punctures on the way back so we never really got to use the wind fully,

showry

Monday:
Speed training

3 X 300m
5 X 200m

was a bit of a struggle,
normally the legs are fine and it's just the lungs bursting I need to worry about but today the legs were still sore from Friday night.
I added an extra 300 and felt it (on the middle one more so than the last one).

Nice to get the training out of the way by lunchtime.

showry

Monday:
Speed training

3 X 300m
5 X 200m

was a bit of a struggle,
normally the legs are fine and it's just the lungs bursting I need to worry about but today the legs were still sore from Friday night.
I added an extra 300 and felt it (on the middle one more so than the last one).

Nice to get the training out of the way by lunchtime.

showry

Tuesday:
Athletics club summer league,
5 miles - 35:40,
happy enough, was windy and ground was quite soft,
didn't kill myself, spent a couple of laps chatting and felt pretty comfortable at the end,

cycling summer league tomorrow night but my bike's in the shop (bottom bracket's shagged apparently), have to ring about it tomorrow, I'm in 3rd place with 2 nights to go so I really don't want to miss it. I'd nearly do it on my mountain bike just to pick up the points.

showry

Wednesday:
Cycling club summer league,
40km, avge speed 34 km/h,
2 of us went off first again but this week got caught about halfway by the middle group, hung on to them until some of them made a jump on a hill, got caught by the scratch group about a half mile out,
good spin though, hard work,

road race again friday night so rest day tomorrow, bike has to go back into the shop anyway,

showry

Friday:
5 mile road race,
35:40

Villierstown-Cappoquin, started by the great John Treacy no less,

happy with my time, it's a fairly lumpy road so it's hard to get a rhythm going, didn't expect to break 35 there but there's a couple of nice races coming up in Dungarvan and Ardmore where it should be on. Ardmore last year was my only sub-35 to date.

hoping to get up early in the morning and do a couple of easy hours on the bike,
planning on doing the ring of kerry next week,

showry

Sunday:
80km cycle,
found myself working hard to stay with the group,

ended up doing nothing yesterday, felt too tired from the night before to go out early on the bike, was going to go for a run yesterday evening then but went for a snooze instead,

am tired again this evening so I'm thinking about giving myself an easy enough week before the ring of kerry on saturday.