Running along the road to nowhere

xebec

14.01 miles (22.55km) 2:13:39

Great to be back into the real long runs again Was tiring a fair bit towards the end but no real issues getting the distance covered...

On a side note, probably shouldn't have run today at all. Have a few blisters on the sole of one of my feet which after yesterdays race I realised have become infected Decided to clean them up, cover them with Compeed and see how I got on. No problems with them after the first mile, but then an hour after coming home I couldn't put pressure on the foot. Cleaned up again and now I can walk on the foot. Going to try leaving them uncovered for the night and a basic dressing and day off tomorrow to see if I can get them to clear up. Hopefully won't keep me off the road too much this week.

YTD: 169.77 miles (273.22km)

xebec

No running for the last week. Blisters and infection got worse and by Tuesday evening the swelling was so bad I couldn't put any weight on the foot... Wednesday morning went to the GP who dressed the foot and gave me anti-biotics and cream to clear it up. No pain any more which is great so hopefully back to training this week. €100 well spent...

Have a mental week in work ahead this week, our team is finishing our project on Wed and so are in the process of handing it over to another team which makes the days go very slowly! Also means that I'm averaging over 10 hours a day which is bloody tiring, but only a few days left and then a nice long weekend to look forward to

RacoonQueen

I looked out for you as I hit the s-bends this evening. Alas, you were nowhere to be seen.

xebec

5 miles (8.05km) ~48:00

5 x 800m with 400m recovery at 7:30/mile pace

Great to be back! Work got in the way this week again, but finished up on N*MA on Wednesday so hoping for a little more free time... Even looks like I'll be working in/very close to the Phoenix Park for the next few months

First time doing an interval workout in a very long time!! Found it tough but have realised if I'm gonna get any half decent pace for road racing during the summer I'm gonna have to HTFU. Will try to get a session similar to this in once every week or two...

RacoonQueen

Have you got any races planned coming into the summer?

It's great working near the park, I'm just over a mile away be it from work or home but it's great to be able to get changed in work, run to the park then run straight home(even if it does leave you with a pile of clothes to drag home on Fridays)

xebec

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Have you got any races planned coming into the summer?

It's great working near the park, I'm just over a mile away be it from work or home but it's great to be able to get changed in work, run to the park then run straight home(even if it does leave you with a pile of clothes to drag home on Fridays)

Just a few races planned... The main ones being:
Great Ireland Run - cos work pay for it
Wexford Half Marathon - runs by my parents house
Cork Full
Adidas Series
Whatever BHAA races I can fit in around this...

(Not quite as long as your list I'm sure, but it's enough for me!!)

Yep, having the park nearby is great. I'm almost exactly a mile away at home as well, but have been working in Ballsbridge for last few months. If the next project actually happens it'll be inside the gates of the Park so no excuses

xebec

7.24 miles (11.65km)

Cracking run around Wexford town this morning. No watch so no real idea of pace, but felt on the hard side of comfortable which is what I was aiming for.

Plan for tomorrow is to tackle Whiterock Hill which nearly killed me during the half marathon last year, it's the only hill on the course and I'm very confident I can manage it this year...

xebec

Not feeling great today so postponed run till tomorrow morning... Was wrecked tired all day, went for nap in the afternoon and still not feeling great, not too sure what's wrong but I'm sure if I manage to stay in tonight I'll survive 11 miles tomorrow...

xebec

4.33 miles (6.96km) 39:07

Found it tough to get out for this one. And once I did get out all I could feel was tightness in my left hamstring and the tendon that joins it to the knee. Decided to give it a go and cut things short after about 2.5 miles if it wasn't working out. Managed to struggle through, leg loosened up over the course of the run but it was never as easy as the pace suggests it should have been...

It's going to be an expensive month! Just splashed out on a Forerunner 405, been thinking of getting one for quite a while and decided it was time to bite the bullet. Hoping that it will help me get some more quality sessions in over the summer months, one of my biggest frustrations has been not knowing my pace until I arrived home after a run and the watch will rectify this and hopefully allow me to push myself a bit harder on tempo runs etc.

Also looks like I need to change my shoes again. The model seems fine, but I think they're half a (European) size too big. The shop I bought them in didn't stock the half sizes and they felt right when I tried them on. But the extra space is causing me blister problems which just aren't clearing themselves up. I thought this was supposed to be a cheap sport?!

xebec

8.49 miles (13.66km) 1:18:33

Lovely evening for a run. Park is getting very busy again, great to see so many out, now if only more people would say hi as we're passing...

xebec

13.31 miles (21.42km) 2:12:33

Lovely day but very tough run. Didn't plan any proper hydration and paid for it dearly from 8 miles on - was gonna throw in the towel at that stage but pushed on for another bit. Had planned on 15 miles today but it wouldn't have been healthy for me to go any further than I did in the heat... Lesson learned.

YTD: 208.13 miles (334.95km)

xebec

5.87 miles (9.45km) 52:29

Actually found it a bit cold out this evening, nice day for it again though. Must make use of working in Phoenix Park and try to get out the odd lunchtime...

My new toy arrived today. Now just gotta figure out how to work the bloody thing! (Forerunner 405)

xebec

8.51 miles 1:19:25

I could get used to this weather! Full lap of the Park (plus bits there and back) after work and the sun hadn't even started to go down...

First run with the Garmin this evening, bit of a distraction and gonna have to get used to it, but I'm an information junky so I can handle it!

littlebug

It takes a while to get used to. I still can't run without looking at the bloomin thing every few seconds.
are you using the heart rate monitor too?

xebec

littlebug wrote: »

It takes a while to get used to. I still can't run without looking at the bloomin thing every few seconds.
are you using the heart rate monitor too?

Yep, although I kept the numbers to just time, pace and distance tonight... Not sure I want to see how far off the scale my HR goes on my 'easy' runs!

RacoonQueen

I used to look at the watch every few seconds when I started running, proably slowed me down big time too. You can get VERY obsessed with the Garmin though which is the main reason I never wear the HRM with it. It's bad enough obsessing over pace and distance and stopping at traffic lights etc etc

Enjoy your new toy, it'll be your new best friend.

Are you doing the Great Ireland Run?

xebec

I am indeed, more because work paid for it and there's about 50 of us doing it than anything else, but gonna go enjoy it anyway

Hmm... Boards meetup afterwards for some lunch/light refreshments? What ya think?

rainbow kirby

xebec wrote: »

Hmm... Boards meetup afterwards for some lunch/light refreshments? What ya think?

Sounds good to me - post-race pints anyone? :pac:

xebec

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Sounds good to me - post-race pints anyone? :pac:

Okies, I'll go suggest it in the event thread and see what the reaction is over there...

menoscemo

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Sounds good to me - post-race pints anyone? :pac:

+1 to this and I will get the bus up if this is deffo happening.

xebec

menoscemo wrote: »

+1 to this and I will get the bus up if this is deffo happening.

Cool, have put the suggestion into the main GIR thread, lets see what the reaction is but there's no reason why it can't go ahead even if it's just a few of us...

(only thing that'll stop me is the 'rentals have mentioned coming up to watch, but I can ditch them for a while and meet up with you more important people )

RacoonQueen

Sounds good, there's a few pubs just outside the Chapelizod gate which is probably the closest pubs to the race finish(and selflessly the closest to my home) :pac:

xebec

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Sounds good, there's a few pubs just outside the Chapelizod gate which is probably the closest pubs to the race finish(and selflessly the closest to my home) :pac:

Haha! Nice try, already suggested Ryan's on Parkgate Street, closer to me and close to most forms of public transport which people will be using... You can come all the way down there right?!

RacoonQueen

xebec wrote: »

Haha! Nice try, already suggested Ryan's on Parkgate Street, closer to me and close to most forms of public transport which people will be using... You can come all the way down there right?!

A selfish man? :eek: If yee want me you'll have to come to Chapelizod*.








*I'd probably get lonely and end up in Ryans

xebec

5.05 miles 44:15

Bit of a tempo session tonight. First mile easy then 8:52, 8:20 & 8:19 (fast enough for me!) before easing off on the way home... Garmin serving it's purpose already

xebec

RacoonQueen wrote: »

A selfish man? :eek: If yee want me you'll have to come to Chapelizod*.








*I'd probably get lonely and end up in Ryans

Selfish?! Me?! :eek: No more than you were :P Seeya in Ryan's around 3pm on Sunday

xebec

2.31 miles 23:00

Hardly worth logging... Tonight was going to be a bit of an experiment. I've had a good week of running so far and this was going to be day 4 in a row. Plan was to try to get a reasonably long run in tonight to allow time to recover before Sunday. This obviously didn't happen, after about a mile I started to feel light headed and dizzy. I've felt this before while running but not for a long time. Was very unpleasant so decided to call it a day and give it another go in the morning. Won't be quite as long but should be better quality than what tonight's run would have been.

xebec

8.28 miles 1:16:17

A little slower than PMP this morning, wanted to get a quality workout in after last night's fiasco but didn't want to completely ruin the race tomorrow either. So no long run this week, mileage is still pretty ok though. Race tomorrow and then carry on next week...

YTD: 238.15 miles

xebec

Great Ireland Run

6.21 miles (10km) 49:58

PB and first time breaking 50 minutes \o/ Yesterday couldn't have gone much better. Pretty much even pace the whole way around. Probably would have been a little faster in the first half but for the weaving around people, but expected that. Didn't have a plan going out, just wanted to enjoy myself, got to 3k and saw that I was roughly on target for sub-50 and just kept going from there. The hill at the Magazine Fort took a lot out of me, but passed plenty of people out as I went up it. Felt strong going up the upper Glen Road and had no problems with the Furry Glen. Needed to up the pace a bit for the last kilometer and really enjoyed stretching the legs. Caught up with a work colleague with about 400m to go who is normally faster than me, tapped him on the back and got him to up the pace to the end, mini victories help make things even better Crossed the line with less than a second to spare on my watch, was thrilled with it. The endurance work is definitely paying off!

Now just gotta find a flat 10k to beat this time - the BHAA 10k this weekend looks like it could be ideal, just got to find a way to get out to Straffan...

Had lots of fun meeting Boardsies in Ryan's afterwards. Stayed too long and suffered a little today, but it was worth it. Definitely must do that again after a race (or not) sometime soon.

xebec

Tuesday 20/04

4.50 miles 37:44

Great run at lunchtime in the Park. Just wish I could have spent longer out in the sunshine...

Real life has gotten in the way of running since Tuesday. BHAA race in K Club tomorrow morning and then back to training before the Wexford half next weekend.