"If I'm not out there training, someone else is."

ecoli · 12-04-2011 8:36pm

ecoli · 14-04-2011 1:48pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Wednesday|Easy Run + strides |7.02 miles|7.08 mile pace|50.06
Thursday|Track session |8 miles||

Track Session 2.5 mile warm up 12x400m w/ 75 second rec 2.5 mile cooldown

Splits 73,70,70,70,70,70,70,69,69,70,71,68

When i got the session from my coach this morning i was kinda taken back. Normally its a light session the week of a race but given i have two races this week i think he has taken the second one (next Wed) as higher priority than the road relays this sunday. It was also the first session where he wanted to introduce a bit of sharper work so this is the first time in nearly a year that i was doing proper fast stuff as opposed to my usual 10k paced stuff. Was delighted with how the session went and suprised as to how easy the pace felt especially for the first 8. After this i started to find them harder but was not struggling to hold the pace which was good. Looking forward now to these to races as a nice way to tune up for my goal 10k which is 10 days after

TheRoadRunner · 14-04-2011 2:22pm

Where is the 5k?

Nice session by the way

ecoli · 14-04-2011 2:24pm

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

Where is the 5k?

Nice session by the way

Colours (Trinity v UCD) out in Irishtown just to get me first track race of the year before IUAA 10k the week after

TheRoadRunner · 14-04-2011 2:38pm

ecoli wrote: »

Colours (Trinity v UCD) out in Irishtown just to get me first track race of the year before IUAA 10k the week after

good luck against those Trinners bastards

ecoli · 14-04-2011 11:39pm

ecoli wrote: »

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Wednesday|Easy Run + strides |7.02 miles|7.08 mile pace|50.06
Thursday|Track session |8 miles||

Track Session 2.5 mile warm up 12x400m w/ 75 second rec 2.5 mile cooldown

Splits 73,70,70,70,70,70,70,69,69,70,71,68

When i got the session from my coach this morning i was kinda taken back. Normally its a light session the week of a race but given i have two races this week i think he has taken the second one (next Wed) as higher priority than the road relays this sunday. It was also the first session where he wanted to introduce a bit of sharper work so this is the first time in nearly a year that i was doing proper fast stuff as opposed to my usual 10k paced stuff. Was delighted with how the session went and suprised as to how easy the pace felt especially for the first 8. After this i started to find them harder but was not struggling to hold the pace which was good. Looking forward now to these to races as a nice way to tune up for my goal 10k which is 10 days after

ecoli wrote: »

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Thursday PM|Easy Run|4.8 miles|8.17 mile pace|39.44

Nice easy recovery run to keep the mileage up this week. Also broke the 1000 mile barrier a good five weeks earlier than last year. Happy with this as shows a good deal more consistency in my training though i do have to include taper and recovery from the half last year but still mileage dropped in the summer so wont be letting that happen this year. On to the 2000 mile mark now:D

ecoli · 14-04-2011 11:41pm

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

good luck against those Trinners bastards

Usually a walk over but for once should be more than just a UCD time trial

ecoli · 16-04-2011 12:11am

ecoli · 16-04-2011 2:15pm

ecoli · 17-04-2011 6:50pm

Today was a bit of a blow out to get the legs moving a bit faster than i am used to over the shorter distances to get me a little sharper for the 10k in two weeks on the track. I was also on the B team which took a bit of pressure off me so could run my own race.
When I got out to Raheny I was told i was on the second 2 mile leg (last leg of the race) didnt know whether this suited as meant I wouldnt be sucked into running to fast for the first mile but with the field stretched out I could have been on my own.
As it pans out when it got to my leg this is exactly what happened I was about 80m back off two lads and about 40 ahead of the next competitor. First lap didnt feel too bad but was a bit lost thought i might be going too slow but didnt wanna push too hard in case it was fast. Garmin beeped at 1 mile, 5.06 pretty much perfect, perhaps a little fast but nothing too major. Started working on the second lap and the lads ahead were coming back to me slightly. With 800 to go i was tiring however i got a lease of life seeing a letterkenny single coming back to me 50,40,30,20. I was hurting but as i came around the last bend I went for it however he had a little left and despite a strong surge he finished with about 5 meters on me. Looked at my Garmin, 10.33 which was a PB and even better than that knowing the course is a little long (it has always been) saw that I had actually come through 2 mile in 10.17 which meant i came through 3k at my track PB roughly (9.41). All in all I am very happy with how it panned out and sets me up nicely for Wednesday

Splits
5.06
10.17 (5.11)
10.33

Unofficial race time: 10.33 (2 mile PB)

ecoli · 20-04-2011 8:46pm

ecoli · 20-04-2011 9:02pm

Was having mixed thoughts about this race. The last two weeks I had been absolutely flying and feeling good though last year I was starting to feel a bit tight. Went for massage yesterday and he confirmed the tightness was due to a trigger point and had to do a fair bit of work on it. Though it wasnt hindering my running it was still causing discomfort and making me a little uneasy mentally. Woke up today and it was very tender after work being done yesterday but it had to be done and i knew it shouldnt really affect the race.
Largest crowd we have had for the colours that I can remember and this year the 3k had been changed to a 5k which i was looking forward to as a nice way to start the track season. Gun went and i tucked in near the back. I wasnt taking chances by going out to hard and hit the first lap in 78. Perfect pace for the target (16 min) was feeling good and kept it nice and controlled.

The first k and i was bang on 3.12 again perfect pacing. From here a few people were showing signs that they had gone off a little too hard and i started moving up the placings feeling good. Second k and i hear the split "3.24,3.25" still perfect things were going according to plan. It was here i saw one the lads pull off. I dunno whether this put me off a bit as before the race I had my sights on him and him pulling out maybe made me ease up a little. 3k mark "9.51" little slower than i would have liked but still was on target for good time.

Here is where things all fell apart dunno whether it was a bit of annoyance from the hip or what but chance of a good time went completely out the window. Missed my 4k split but it was slow. Came around with 200m to go and looked at the watch "16.10" roughly. I was in shock this had been slightly slower than my target and here i was with still 200 to go. Started to wind it up and managed to pass one the lads but he came back at me and got me in the sprint

Finishing time:16.53

While I am disgusted with the time I have to look to some positives to try keep the confidence up for the race next week. Looking back at last year I hit 9.51 for three k in this race, here I managed to hit that at three k and continuing on for another two so i guess it shows I am in alot better shape than I was this time last year and I guess it is better to get a bad race out of the way now rather than when it counts. Main thing now is get the hip back into shape before next week and be fighting fit and ready to go

Timmaay · 22-04-2011 6:42pm

ecoli wrote: »

and hit the first lap in 78. Perfect pace for the target (16 min) was feeling good and kept it nice and controlled.

78sec laps only leaves ya on for 16.15, not 16.00 :P, I had all the splits done out in my head for a 16.15 finish, managed to stick to bang on that pace for 1st 2k, and its one of the very few times I've beaten ya :P. I was also not feeling great at all after 2k, I couldn't keep the 78sec lap splits and fell off the pace, and the lack of a bell before the last lap threw me totally, and I didn't kick at all, never have I come across the line with so much energy going bo**ox, messed that finish up! Did that catch you out also?

But all in all you definitely paced the beginning very well and I was nicely tucked in behind you (what 1/2 the rest of the field was thinking going out at the pace they did!), If you can hold 77 for 3k which you are well able to you should be able to bring it home at that pace, and knock out a sub 16 soon enough!

ecoli · 22-04-2011 6:53pm

Timmaay wrote: »

78sec laps only leaves ya on for 16.15, not 16.00 :P, I had all the splits done out in my head for a 16.15 finish, managed to stick to bang on that pace for 1st 2k, and its one of the very few times I've beaten ya :P. I was also not feeling great at all after 2k, I couldn't keep the 78sec lap splits and fell off the pace, and the lack of a bell before the last lap threw me totally, and I didn't kick at all, never have I come across the line with so much energy going bo**ox, messed that finish up! Did that catch you out also?

But all in all you definitely paced the beginning very well and I was nicely tucked in behind you (what 1/2 the rest of the field was thinking going out at the pace they did!), If you can hold 77 for 3k which you are well able to you should be able to bring it home at that pace, and knock out a sub 16 soon enough!

True but 77-78 would have been grand being conservative for a lap or two second lap was 77 so I was still pretty much on target with the hope of stepping it up in the second half.
You ran well man what time did you finish up with in the end? The laps was a bit of a disaster alright but i knew that I was on last lap. My last k seemed to be on right pace so i think it was just between 3 and 4 where it fell apart think that it was more mental but trying to put it past me and looking to next week

ecoli · 22-04-2011 6:58pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Thursday|Rest|||
Friday|Easy Run|4.01 miles|7.24 mile pace|29.37

The plan for today was supposed to be a long run however after being back at physio for the second time this week i was under orders to keep this run short and easy. Been having a little trouble with my glute minimus (upper ass/lower back). Hasnt really affected my running however I need to have it addressed before it sidelines me or hinders my running as its slightly sore. Didnt feel to bad on the run so hopefully easy the next day or two and be alright

Timmaay · 22-04-2011 7:34pm

Ha grand don't worry I wasn't being serious about the splits! But I ran 16.45, two weeks ago I would have been delighted with that but I was just abit annoyed I couldn't stick to my splits that bit longer. I sort of lost track of my splits but think it was 2k to 4k where I lost all the pace, I was getting tired by then, and it was not close enough to the finish to try wing it! As you said, mental strength counts for alot at that point, I think once you can keep the splits bang on till 1k to go adrenaline should bring you home then!

woodchopper · 26-04-2011 3:59pm

Good luck at the weekend Ecoli. I believe this is your debut over 10k. Any advice I would have from experience is to feel comforatble at 5k even be extra cautious if necessary. The first one on the track is all about getting through it with a positive experience. This positive experience can come from a well executed game plan.

Regards
Woodchopper

ecoli · 26-04-2011 4:02pm

woodchopper wrote: »

Good luck at the weekend Ecoli. I believe this is your debut over 10k. Any advice I would have from experience is to feel comforatble at 5k even be extra cautious if necessary. The first one on the track is all about getting through it with a positive experience. This positive experience can come from a well executed game plan.

Regards
Woodchopper

Cautious is right haha havent ran over 5 miles since before my race last week as I am struggling with a bit of a hip problem which also forced me to cut session short at the weekend.
Thanks for the well wishes

ecoli · 26-04-2011 6:24pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Saturday|Easy Run|5.28 miles|7.31 mile pace|38.41
Sunday|Session*|6.43 miles||
Monday|Rest|||

Session: 3 mile warm up, 3x400m on road*, 2.68 miles cooldown

Splits: 73, 68, 71

No access to the track (club closed and UCD being cleared from the poxy UCD ball:mad::mad::mad:) so had to do these on the roads. After the first two though wasnt feeling right and left the session as it was plan is a small easy run tonight and back to physio tomorrow to hopefully get me right in time for Friday

ecoli · 27-04-2011 5:33pm

Back down to get the hip checked today and make a call on the race on Fri. Thankfully it is coming on very well and he reckons should be no problem with racing as its Trigger Points in the glute. Had a chat with the coach then after and I am going ahead with it.
The mileage has been pretty low since last wed and missed a few days so confidence is pretty low going into it (especially after my 5k last week) so I am going into the race with no expectations. The only thing is given I am not expecting much hopefully could be a blessing in disguise and takes pressure off my shoulders and coach reckons that the "down" week prob wont harm it too much. Hip did feel alot better today on the run and was staring to feel back to myself so that is optimistic
Just easy runs and icing the hip now for the next few days and hope to go into the race atleast 80-85% and just give it a bash

ecoli · 28-04-2011 9:22pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Tuesday|Easy Run|4.25 miles|7.27 mile pace|31.41
Wednesday|Easy/steady Run|4.60 miles|6.58 mile pace|32.03
Thursday|Shake out + strides|2.52 miles|7.56 mile pace|20.01

Though the pain in the hip is still there slightly the fact that I am not feeling it at all while running has me happy. Also looking to the positives in that felt powerful on my run this evening so maybe this little break from heavy training can be seen as almost a taper and a blessing in disguise. The fact that I have done no proper session in over 10 days though i was told to do a few 150m strides just to wake the legs up tomorrow kept these relaxed and long recoveries. All in all it is not the ideal way i would have wanted to go into one of my A target races this year but given things have been going so well this year i will not worry too much. Just gonna give it a go and not be too worried about it. End of the day it will be forgotten this time tomorrow and will be looking to the summer of racing

ecoli · 04-05-2011 3:36pm

This had been one of the big target races for the year and was also my debut on the track for 10k. Though this has been a pretty good year in terms of running for me the last two weeks couldnt have been worst prep for this race. My track opener in 5k last week hadnt gone to plan and since then had been struggling with trigger points in the glute and as a result hadnt managed to run over five mile a day and ended up having my two lowest mileage weeks of the year.

The plan was just to give this a lash and not worry too much about time as could have went either way, might have been an excellent taper or i might not finish. Drove up to belfast morning of race rather than go up the night before as it would have been too late to head up after work. Made it up in plenty of time so could completely relax and prepare properly. When i got to the track however there was alarm bells ringing as all i saw was 4 people on track jogging with their kids. Turns out I had made first mistake of the day. Though Queens University were hosting the Intervarsities for the weekend it was not actually on their track. Jumped back in the car and booted it to Antrim after getting directions. Rang ahead to get someone to check me in which I was glad i did as i arrived 5 min before check in closed.
From there had an hour to warm up so I was grand. Body didnt feel to bad and couldnt feel the hip which was a good thing thankfully after 3 sessions with Vinny in a week and a half coming up to it had got me right. Was still a bit weary though as hadnt done anything fast on it since sunday when i pulled up on a session.

Lined up to see 20 in the races fairly big field for a track race but to be honest was happy as in case it went bad i could blend in. Gun went and we were off. Immediately i tucked in near the back. Pace was slow. Didnt wear a watch as I didnt want to with the hip over the last while might discourage me so thought i would just race it besides there is always someone calling splits at 200/400m marks right:rolleyes: (I was later to find out that first track race I have ever ran where this wasnt the case)

Field immediately broke into groups. I was just behind the second group. Was tempted to tag on to the back and not get caught on my own but had a quick scan of the group couple of 32/33 min runners. The pace was too fast for them and i knew it. Alot of that group would start to fall off and come back to me so i stayed disciplined. Was kinda going crazy not knowing what pace i was hitting but thankfully managed to get my one and only split of the race at 2k (was with a CIT lad who had someone calling his splits) 6.51-6.52. Little faster than would have liked but had done good pacing job as I want to push on later rather than fade too much.

Was in a good rhythm and was feeling strong. As i had predicted the group was starting to spit a few out the back. There was one of my team mates on my shoulder who took the lead to break the wind a bit for me as I had been doing for him for a few laps and from this we began to rotate the lead each lap. Slowly but surely we were starting to work through field a bit till. had seen some lads taking on water "IN A TRACK RACE? NOT A HOPE" was my thought however as the race went on the heat of the day really did start to take its toll and I eventually succumbed and grabbed a cup.

After a while I let the team mate get 2-3 seconds on me and couldnt regain it but thankfully by this stage the other college team mate had come back to me so I had someone still to work of. Ran with him coming into the closing laps till I had a CIT singlet lapping me. For some reason i decided to tag on to him for a bout 150m not feeling too bad which dragged me along a bit. At this stage there was about 600m to go and i was slowly winding it up. I was happy with how the race was going I was still strong enough and giving it a good run. Time wise didnt know where I was but was still happy with how it was goingv felt i was giving it my all. I had slowly built the pace and was pretty much topped out come 150m to go. Not my usual all out sprint because I had commited to a longer kick but still a strong spurt gaining ground on fella ahead of me (the team mate who had been with me in the early stages)

Was very happy with this race and how I had ran it but I still didnt know where I stood time wise.

Finishing Time35.35

Was delighted with this given the last 2 weeks and the wind and heat on the day. Felt despite the time was one of my better performances of the year and even time wise i suppose it still second fastest time I have run ever so I guess I cant complain to much even though the target was sub 35 earlier in the month but sure what can you do

Perkina3 · 04-05-2011 3:52pm

Fair play lad...If I could get even within 3/4 minutes of that I would be over the moon! You will do great if this is breakthrough season and that's your time!

cwgatling · 04-05-2011 6:13pm

Great stuff ecoli - I was looking out for this report. Sub 35's in the bag for next time.

ecoli · 04-05-2011 6:20pm

cwgatling wrote: »

Great stuff ecoli - I was looking out for this report. Sub 35's in the bag for next time.

Its definitely there this summer without a doubt. Rarely confident like that but i seem to be more at home on the roads so i think hit a 10k later in summer on the roads and target will be 34.3x hopefully as long as i keep things going

TheRoadRunner · 04-05-2011 11:33pm

ecoli wrote: »

Its definitely there this summer without a doubt. Rarely confident like that but i seem to be more at home on the roads so i think hit a 10k later in summer on the roads and target will be 34.3x hopefully as long as i keep things going

You should hit that with ease if you can stay healthy. Sub 34 should be in your line of sight. Dunsaughlin or the lakes 10k are 2 great races were you could go well.

ecoli · 05-05-2011 12:43pm

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

You should hit that with ease if you can stay healthy. Sub 34 should be in your line of sight. Dunsaughlin or the lakes 10k are 2 great races were you could go well.

You sound like my coach:D. Dunshaughlin is one i really wanna do but i think it clashes with the u23s so i dunno what will happen. I have to sit down with him this weekend and start looking at summer race targets

ecoli · 06-05-2011 3:33pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Sat|Easy Run|6 miles approx|No Garmin|50.00
Sunday|Easy Run|6 miles approx|No Garmin|50.00
Monday|Easy Run|8.53 miles|7.12 mile pace|1.01.26
Tuesday AM|Easy Run|4.10 miles|6.51 mile pace|28.05
Tuesday PM|Easy Run|7.73 miles|7.32 mile pace|58.15
Wednesday|Easy Run|7.16 miles|7.30 mile pace|53.42
Thurs|Session*|5 miles||
Friday AM|Easy Run|8.44 miles|7.17 mile pace|1.01.32

Session: 1 mile warm up, 1x1600, 3 min recovery, 2x(8x200m w/ 100 jog rec (40 sec)) 5 min rec between sets

Splits: 5.17 (28,31,31,32,32,33,34,33) (31,33,33,33,34,32,34,32)

This week it was back to the grind and back to normal mileage. To be honest I dunno whether it was the low mileage the last 2 weeks or just tiredness due to few bad nights sleep but I havent felt great this week. The legs feel fine and this was reaffirmed when went for massage was told that the legs feel strong but just dont feel great on the runs despite the legs and the pace feeling grand.

Session yesterday was a bit of a shock. Didnt get out of work till late and had to rush to get down to the track before the club locked up so as such I was extremely pushed for time. Warm up shortened, no drills and only bit of quick stretching before i got going and as such legs never felt great on the session. The mile was relatively easy and slightly under pace then hit the twos and put the spikes on for first time this year. First one far too fast and from here never felt comfortable. The recovery mixed with the higher intensity meant that this was one of my harder sessions of the season. Splits werent great but given warm up and how i felt I not too worried. Second set felt alot more controlled while still pushing it though will expect this pace will get easier as i should be closer to 30-31 for these kinda reps

thirstywork2 · 06-05-2011 10:43pm

Good session considering you havn't done anything like this in a long time.Big difference time wise between some of the reps but im sure you will nail the next one.
Id say you will get a big knock on affect from this session.any plan to run any races like 1500m/3k?

ecoli · 06-05-2011 10:52pm

thirstywork2 wrote: »

Good session considering you havn't done anything like this in a long time.Big difference time wise between some of the reps but im sure you will nail the next one.
Id say you will get a big knock on affect from this session.any plan to run any races like 1500m/3k?

Put this down to short warm up just didnt feel good in general that. Yeah I plan to dip my toe into a few 1500/3000 races in the gradeds just to get the legs moving. Plan for the summer now is increase the intensity a bit and work towards a goal 5k at the end of June

"If I'm not out there training, someone else is."

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