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

ecoli · 15-09-2011 3:16pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Thurs |Easy Run|9.20 miles|7.06 mile pace|1.05.17

Not one of my more enjoyably runs. Body reminded me who was boss and the fact that I "surprised" with hills yesterday for the first time in about five weeks today was its way of payback. The glutes and hips were tight enough and was pretty tired all the same decided an out and back loop with some new scenery might help a bit so off up around saggart up a short lane (with a bit of a climb) and then cruise back down the N81 letting the hill do most of the work. The fact I worked harder on first half and just cruised second half made this easier and good for a bit of mental freshness after yesterdays session

ecoli · 16-09-2011 12:44pm

ecoli · 16-09-2011 10:41pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Friday PM |Easy Run|6.50 miles|7.23 mile pace|48.02

I dunno whether it is the fact that I have been working nights all week or the fact that the high mileage is getting to me but felt pretty tired today. Was off picking up a new car today and it was only when i switched on the radio on the way back did i realize made a huge mistake. Forgot to record the Diamond League. I am absolutely sick for missing this as its the only one I have missed all year typical:rolleyes:

ecoli · 17-09-2011 9:36pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Saturday |Tempo Session|11.63 miles||1.18.39

Session: 3 mile warm up, 5 mile tempo, 3 mile cooldown, 10 x 100m strides

Tempo Splits: 5.51, 5.48, 5.52, 6.00, 5.54
Overall: 5 miles in 29.35 (5.55 mile pace)

Was supposed to double today but when I woke up I was still tired (physically rather than sleepy) I was thinking to myself would it be better to leave the morning run rather than compromise the session later for the sake of a few extra miles in the end I decided to listen to my body. In the end it turned out to be a good choice considering it meant i got to see the rugby before work:D

Out after work and decided to push the warm up an extra mile along with the cooldown just to make up a bit of this mornings run. On the warm up i noticed what looked like a football or GAA lad (football shorts and under armour top) ahead of me out on a run (though at this stage he was walking) looked fairly knackered and didnt take too much heed. About 400m down the road he comes horsing by like a train another 200m and he was walking passed him again and shortly after this comes horsing by again. this continued a bit more and by this stage I was getting annoyed and the urge to just match his pace as he came by next time was becoming unbearable. In the end i managed to resist and stay disciplined for my warm up. and after 1.5 mile he went one way and i went the other.

Once I started my tempo though who do I come across only your man himself this time went to go by me just as i started my tempo and after about 800m of trying to tag on for dear life he was gone.

The loop I ran the 5 miler on is one i used to use a bit because i love it as a training course. First mile is flat bit of a downhill in the second mile and just after 2 mile its a climb for the next three which simulates a race as you really have to work hard in the second half to maintain the pace. Today there was another obstacle the wind was in your face for the last three miles so i knew it was gonna be challenging enough.

Despite the difficulties I was holding the pace and feeling pretty comfortable. The only mile which was a little too slow was the fourth and that is because of a decent climb (for anyone who knows Tymon its the climb coming up to the topaz garage at the Greenhills road entrance)

When I finished this looked at the watch to see 29.35. On previous attempts I had ran some quicker (last time i did this was during the training for my first Half Marathon nearly 2 years ago) but i think the big difference is that I felt this time I was running comfortably within myself whereas on previous occasions I think I was taking these more as Time Trials.

Another 3 miles back and then came the hardest part of the day having to pass the house knowing you were not finished. Around the corner to a fairly quiet road where I could do my strides. I like road because there is a slight incline so its perfect for strides.These were progressively faster starting at 5k pace and working down to 800m pace roughly

ecoli · 18-09-2011 11:02pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Sunday |Long Run|17.91 miles|7.20 mile pace|2.11.31

After what was an excellent day of sport (Liverpool being trashed, Dubs winning and united beating Chelsea) I was in great spirits so i didnt mind heading out on my run late in the evening after work.
Decided I would check out how long it takes to run out to the site of the new premise of the job seeing as we being relocated to Clonskeagh in November so headed up through Terenure, by St. Lukes and up that direction. Managed about 8 miles out so went up to dundrum from there and back down by Marley Park and through Firhouse. Even got a bit of race experience. Much like the early parts of a race I spent alot of this run bobbing and weaving past stumblin drunken Dubs out celebrating (even got a couple of cheers for my efforts).
Happy enough with the run legs were tired at the start but felt easy enough the whole way through and got progressively faster and felt i could have went on if needed be which is always good sign at the end of a hard week.

Total weekly mileage: 79.57

ecoli · 22-09-2011 6:41pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Monday |Recovery Run|4.23 miles|8.52 mile pace|37.30
Tuesday | Track Session|8.30 miles||
Wednesday |Easy Run|6.05 miles|7.02 mile pace|42.34
Thursday |Fartlek Session|8.85 miles|7.07 mile pace|1.03.06

Track Session: 3 easy , 10x400 off 30 sec recovery, 2.5 miles easy

Splits: 79, 81*, 81*, 82*, 84*, 78, 79, 78, 79, 78

*= additional

First two lanes were closed off on the track so moved out to lane three which I didnt mind as I knew where the 400m mark was in that lane and knew I would be running the right distance. It was only after a few that I realised that even thou i started at the mark on the first one after this I wasnt paying attention and with the short recovery was starting where i finished rather than the shorter 400m. The effort was the same for these so I was considering just hitting the extra but when I hit the 84 i realised something. I was going off 30 sec recoveries but I was actually running extra distance and shorter recovery as a result so I went back to the proper distance. All in all was happy as mileage cut back a bit this week so was only a light enough session

Fartlek Session 3 miles easy , 5x(1 min hard/1 min easy) 1 mile easy,5x(1 min hard/1 min easy), 2.8 miles easy

Pace splits: 5.21 pace, 5.06 pace, 5.02 pace, 5.36 pace, 5.05 pace
4.53 pace, 5.22 pace, 5.34 pace, 5.27 pace, 5.07 pace

This was a light enough session just to get the body working at race pace for the weekend. Though training has been going well recently this session made me aware that I have not done too much Vo2 max work and as a result I may not be as close to PB shape as I originally thought all the same will be good to get back racing and give it a bash

ecoli · 24-09-2011 1:09pm

drquirky · 24-09-2011 1:53pm

Good luck tomorrow!!

cwgatling · 24-09-2011 2:47pm

Best of luck Ecoli. It's a great course, enjoy it. Leave nothing in the tank.

ecoli · 25-09-2011 2:16pm

First race in two months so i didnt know what to expect. Training has been going very well and been putting in some fairly good strength sessions however as Thursday's fartlek session proved to me that the lack of speed endurance and Vo2 max work meant that hitting the times I want could be hard enough.

Plan was simple make sure I didnt go out too hard for the first mile (which always happens on this course because first mile is lightning fast) and hopefully start to crank it up and drive hard on the 2nd lap

Rather than my usual lining up at the front i decided to hop in 3-4 rows back in the hope this would prevent me from going out too hard. Gun went and I stayed true to my word was running very relaxed and came to the first km in 3.21. This was ideal as I could see Tunguska up ahead knowing he usually starts off conservative too i knew this would stand to me later on in the race if i could maintain this pace and then crank it up i could dip under PB

Came around the corner at the end of the downhill just before the one mile mark and into a small hill. It was here I began to work and push my way up through the field. 5.21 called out at the 1 mile mark which was bang on and feeling strong. Missed the 2k mark however I heard a Garmin going off so I assumed that was the 2k mark and checked the watch. 3.23 a little slow but with the climb I didnt mind still quite even splitting

From here it was a long drag into the wind up by Bushy Park I knew here was where I would have to put the work in. Normally at this stage I am slotted in nicely to a group and helps with the wind. Not today however I was feeling great and so strong that I was passing people in dribs and drabs never being able to slot into a group for more than a few seconds as I passed them by and with everyone going backwards there was no worry on me of people catching (Perhaps I had gone out little too slow). 3k mark was hit in 10.07 which meant another 3.23 km. I was still feeling relatively good although was working with the slight incline and the wind. 2 mile mark came up pretty quick and looked at the watch (think it was 11 min when i glanced)

The next km was always gonna be the hardest as still into the wind for most of it but soon turned the corner and now was where I was gonna have to make up the time (though at this stage was aiming more for 16.40 than a PB as splits had been little too slow for that). Like pretty much everyone I talked to after the race the 4th Km was my slowest, but only marginally with a 3.24. My splits were remaining remarkably consistent but just didnt have that extra gear to up the tempo to a quicker sustainable pace which proved my fear of lack of speed work over the last month or so to be valid.

Last K and I was cranking it up a bit passing again (hadnt been passed by one person since the 1km mark). As I came up to a group I notice one of the top women in the group. This girl had marginally beaten me in Raheny in Jan and i knew I was in much better shape so I was not letting her repeat it. With 600 to go i passed her. I tried to encourage her to come with me to hopefully try and help push me on as much as pushing her on but she didnt come with me.

Hit the last 200 and at this stage had hit full sprint and was rewarded with pipping a guy on the line to bring my last km in at 3.13 happy enough with that.

Unofficial finishing time (watch): 16.46
Chip Time: 16.44

Though it was not the time I was looking for I couldnt help but be pleased with this race. I was feeling very strong and given the emphasis on my training since August has been heavy miles tempos hills for the most part I always knew that there was a chance of just not having the extra gear in the legs. Having said that my PB was set in summer time so to get that close when I am strength building after not racing for two months is a very optimistic time also the fact that legs dont have the usual post race heaviness shows that I have more in me but that it will take some speed to unlock it but I dont plan on changing my approach but continue training the way I am as the winter will be predominantly 5k+ races

Splits (km)

.21
3.23
3.23
3.24
3.13

Daily update: 3.29 miles warm up, 3.13 miles race, 4.05 miles cooldown (total 10.47 miles)

Total Weekly Mileage 52.51

brownian · 25-09-2011 8:06pm

Nice running, Luke. Nobody passed me after the 1k Mark.... Tells it's own tale

ecoli · 25-09-2011 8:25pm

brownian wrote: »

Nice running, Luke. Nobody passed me after the 1k Mark.... Tells it's own tale

Depends on how you look at it the positive me is thinking that shows strength, though another part of me is saying that it shows I started off too slow and the reason for even splits was running within myself but I think that is the nature of the beast in this sport very rarely do we think that we hit our absolute best and there was nothing we could do to improve on the performance:D

Onwards and upwards to a five miler in two weeks anyway

ecoli · 26-09-2011 3:19pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Monday |Easy Run|14.50 miles|7.16 mile pace|1.45.26

Long run pushed back today due to the race yesterday. Headed up towards the waterworks in Bournabreena. The more I run up around there the more I like it and with the day being as nice as it was it made this run very enjoyable. Took the first few miles very easy but i progressed into a nice rhythm.

brownian · 26-09-2011 3:48pm

You're embarassing the running public, describing these things as "easy runs".

:D

Do I hear you're doing some coaching next weekend? I might invite myself along....if that was ok? I like the sound of the 6:36 miles, but how slow do you plan the "easy" ones?

ecoli · 26-09-2011 5:28pm

brownian wrote: »

You're embarassing the running public, describing these things as "easy runs". :D

Do I hear you're doing some coaching next weekend? I might invite myself along....if that was ok? I like the sound of the 6:36 miles, but how slow do you plan the "easy" ones?

Yeah I am pacing some of the lads who are looking to go close to 3 hours on this session. Will be pacing the quicker miles @ 6.52 and the easy ones will be roughly 7.40 ish you more than welcome

ecoli · 27-09-2011 3:28pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Tuesday |Easy Run + 6x100m strides|7.40 miles|7.05 mile pace|52.26

Absolutely beautiful day out today so i was glad to get out during it as I am not in work till tonight. I dunno if it is just me but always find wind on a warm day doesn't affect the pace as much as a cold wind could feel the wind blustering around me yet remained easy hitting the pace which was faster than i was expecting given the effort as I was running on feel and wanted to keep this run really easy after race sunday and long run monday

Abhainn · 27-09-2011 3:50pm

Great consistant race splits Ecoli. What's your 5K PB?
Can you post that 5 mile tempo route too , maith on buchaill

ecoli · 27-09-2011 4:06pm

Abhainn wrote: »

Great consistant race splits Ecoli. What's your 5K PB?
Can you post that 5 mile tempo route too , maith on buchaill

Its 16.32 so definitely going down once i get out of strength building phase of my training (and eye another 5k:D)

Route is simple enough (Cant find my Garmin disc to put training maps onto computer but basically starts at Tallaght AC club house goes down by glenview into Tymon park (via the little lane by the Basketball arena). From there follow the path right around to bring you out by the Topaz on the Greenhills road down by the cuckoos nest go up by Kilnamanagh up by Dunnes and onto Belgard Rd up by Jacobs and finish half way down the Airton Rd.

How is China going you getting out much over there?

Abhainn · 27-09-2011 4:15pm

Thanks for the route, I know it .

ecoli wrote: »

How is China going you getting out much over there?

China extremely difficult to run in. Humidity, heat, smog. 6 min miles are a dream over here.
Dawn (6:15 am) is your only chance of gettimg out. I thought it was starting to cool but last two days crazy again. Though got my best run in this morning.

72.5hrs till my flight home:).

ecoli · 28-09-2011 9:36pm

Abhainn wrote: »

Thanks for the route, I know it .

China extremely difficult to run in. Humidity, heat, smog. 6 min miles are a dream over here.
Dawn (6:15 am) is your only chance of gettimg out. I thought it was starting to cool but last two days crazy again. Though got my best run in this morning.

72.5hrs till my flight home:).

Will have to meet up for a run when you get back. Who knows the conditions over there might have you in better nick than you think when you get back like training at altitude you only feel the effects when you return to the normal enviroment:D

ecoli · 28-09-2011 9:49pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Wendesday |Vo2 Max Session|9 miles||

Session: 3 miles warm up, 6x800 off 2 min rec, 3 miles cooldown

Splits:2.35, 2.32, 2.36, 2.35, 2.35, 2.34

Decided last yesterday to include lunges as part of my strengthing (Damn you T Runner and the peer pressure of your thread) and today the glutes were as tight as hell. Stretched first thing this morning and after work to see would that loosen them out a bit and it did but i didnt know whether I would be up for the session so headed out on the warm up and left the call to be made there. Thankfully I loosened up a bit so I said I would go for it.

Rather than hit the track I said I would stick to the roads as probably best to avoid the track as much as possible over the winter and stay specific seeing as most of my winter races are on the roads so I headed up to KC's new favourite strip for intervals which is basically a brand new road just over a km long that has yet to be open to the cars. Perfect for intervals except for one tiny problem; wind. Because its a straight it meant that every second rep would be into a wind.

First one was into the wind and pushed it solid enough to find slightly tough 2.35 very happy with that I was kinda expecting sub 2.40s to be a bit more of a push to hit and even though rep effort was solid I was alot faster than expected. Next one wind was on my back a bit and it showed in the split 2.32 despite effort being a little easier than the first one. These were however slightly too fast and i payed for them slightly and pushed the pace back to 2.35s.

Happy enough with the session as I managed to hold the pace on the reps into the wind. Tiring session as I was expecting considering I havent been doing sustained efforts at this high a speed in a while (which was evident on my recent 5k and the lack of an extra gear) having said that The emphasis is still on strength so these sessions are only thrown in once or twice a month at this moment in time just to not neglect any aspect of my training completely as I think that has been one of the aspects I aimed to change this year as going too long without any one aspect in the past has made me almost feel like I am starting from scratch when I do get around to addressing certain physiological needs (As was evident last year between my winter half training and my summer 3k training)

ecoli · 29-09-2011 8:12pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Thursday AM |Easy Run|6.06 miles|7.06 mile pace|43.09
Thursday PM |Easy Run|7.27 miles|7.29 mile pace|54.25

Very rare day today. Not often has it been hot enough to wear a singlet training at the end of September. Cant say I was complaining though (unless we end up paying for it with months of snow like we did last year). All in all was tight and tired today in training but this could be mentally I saw this as the end of a hard week as tomorrow is my recovery day so perhaps it was just the bodies way of anticipating it.

ecoli · 30-09-2011 8:48pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Friday |Recovery Run|2.54 miles|9.21 mile pace|23.46

Could hardly call this a run and felt guilty however the recovery days are important if I want to stay on me feet and sustain higher mileage and hopefully push on and today called for a 25 min recovery run and did exactly that. Legs felt great as the run went on it almost felt like they do after a sports massage

Krusty_Clown · 30-09-2011 9:35pm

ecoli wrote: »

Rather than hit the track I said I would stick to the roads as probably best to avoid the track as much as possible over the winter and stay specific seeing as most of my winter races are on the roads so I headed up to KC's new favourite strip for intervals which is basically a brand new road just over a km long that has yet to be open to the cars.

Super session ecoli. Beginning to hate that stretch of road. Pity it's not a full mile long. Thankfully I won't have to look at it for another month or so.

So, when are you going to pace me to a sub-5 minute mile? Pints will be purchased.

RayCun · 01-10-2011 7:46am

After DCM surely - you can save a balloon for him

ecoli · 01-10-2011 12:25pm

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Super session ecoli. Beginning to hate that stretch of road. Pity it's not a full mile long. Thankfully I won't have to look at it for another month or so. So, when are you going to pace me to a sub-5 minute mile? Pints will be purchased.

From my normal runs I used to think it was because always hit one mile mark just coming to the end of it but then i realised that included the distance to the house from the Road:D.

Ah dont worry will pace you after you teach Fagan a lesson on how the Irish do it in Chicago:D Your well able for the sub 5 anyway without a doubt after seeing your session the other day. Might we see you hit a bit of track racing next year now that you are club affiliated? (Follow in tRR footsteps as he talking about maybe hitting the odd 800:eek:)

Pints Purchased? Are we talking a beer mile? because Sub 5 is world record pace for that so we may need so quality training for that:D

ecoli · 01-10-2011 1:12pm

RayCun wrote: »

After DCM surely - you can save a balloon for him

KC's eyesight must be slipping if he would need that big a balloon on a 400m track:D

ecoli · 01-10-2011 10:36pm

Day |Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Saturday|Hybrid Session|12.02 miles||1.20.00

Session: 3 miles easy, 4 miles tempo, 1 mile easy, 10x 20 sec hill sprints, 3 miles easy all continuous running

Splits
Tempo miles: 5.47, 5.41, 5.39, 5.43 (Total:22.50 ,average pace: 5.44)

Hills: 5.13 average

Today was not a good day for me. Still feeling the tiredness from a late night on Thursday coupled with a long day at work had me in a mood that was as bad as the weather.
As it was close to half eight when i got out it was already dark out making this session even more depressing so I just wanted it to be over. However as the session went on the mood lifted I was hitting a stride and it felt more comfortable than it should have been for this pace. Not really a challenging route as no major hills or anything but still I had done this session about 6 weeks ago and the effort was a hell of alot easier. Finished the tempo part feeling strong and was itching to get into the hills. These too felt relatively good and i felt strong in my stride and was comfortably strong.
The last time I hit this session seemed more like a bit of a hero session (even though wasn't killing myself) this time it seemed more like an average session although I will admit the easy miles were a bit easier than the last time I did the session but the main aim is the quality stuff so I was not that bother.
All in all the session lifted my spirits and by the end of it the bad mood had evaporated.

Its amazing the power of this sport:D

Dug out the splits from the last session. Similar enough on the tempo but the manner this time made it feel alot improved also last time i felt that everything had gone right and was a hundred per cent for the session this on the other hand was not and yet was hitting slightly faster which is an optimistic sign

Tempo miles: 5.43, 5.38, 5.52, 5.40 (average pace: 5.44)

Hills: 5.20 average

ecoli · 02-10-2011 12:32pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Sunday|Sub 3hr pacing session|18.00 miles|7.24 mile pace|2.13.14

Session: 1 easy,1 MP,2 easy,2 MP, 3 easy, 3 MP,2 easy,2 MP,1 easy, 1 MP

Splits: 8.16 - 6.49
8.04, 8.12 - 6.53, 6.51
7.44, 8.18, 7.50 - 6.51, 6.47, 6.41
8.03, 7.42 - 6.48, 6.44
7.53 - 6.36

This was one I had agreed to do with two of the lads in prep for DCM who are looking to aim for three and we were joined by drquirky and Brownian so was good to have a group (and company for me on a long run).

First paced mile started a little quick but settled into the pace. Suprisingly the weather was not too bad light drizzle was actually nice for keeping us cool.

Next two paced were quite controlled first one was downhill and then I got a disapproving comment when i steered us towards bit a a climb nothing to major. Everyone in good spirits and no one hurting to bad. The three mile came along and even though I had agreed to pace I was actually left bring up the rear of the group. Was I going too slow? looked at the watch and I was actually a little ahead the lads were just feeling good and pushing it on. Funny enough it was the the two lads who were not sure about the sub three pace (Elfoyzer and co.) who were leading the group followed by quirky. I didnt know whether to push up or stay back as a marker of where they were in terms of sub 3 pace and decided to hold off

The next two miles easy was expecting the pace to be used to recover from the increased pace. Not a fear. The lads were strong and this was evident as there pace was quicker than previous easy miles.

After about 12 I got bit of a twinge in the foot which started to get quite sore however this soon passed and was back to normal.

From here on in the lads reeled off the the miles with little difficulty and the last mile was pushed on a bit while still aiming to remain controlled and see how the lads strength was holding up. I was not disappointed.

All in all a good session for the lads and a fairly solid long run for myself

Total weekly mileage:76.79

ELFOYZER · 02-10-2011 12:49pm

ecoli wrote: »

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|Time
Sunday|Sub 3hr pacing session|18.00 miles|7.24 mile pace|2.13.14

Session: 1 easy,1 MP,2 easy,2 MP, 3 easy, 3 MP,2 easy,2 MP,1 easy, 1 MP

Splits: 8.16 - 6.49
8.04, 8.12 - 6.53, 6.51
7.44, 8.18, 7.50 - 6.51, 6.47, 6.41
8.03, 7.42 - 6.48, 6.44
7.53 - 6.36

This was one I had agreed to do with two of the lads in prep for DCM who are looking to aim for three and we were joined by drquirky and Brownian so was good to have a group (and company for me on a long run).

First paced mile started a little quick but settled into the pace. Suprisingly the weather was not too bad light drizzle was actually nice for keeping us cool.

Next two paced were quite controlled first one was downhill and then I got a disapproving comment when i steered us towards bit a a climb nothing to major. Everyone in good spirits and no one hurting to bad. The three mile came along and even though I had agreed to pace I was actually left bring up the rear of the group. Was I going too slow? looked at the watch and I was actually a little ahead the lads were just feeling good and pushing it on. Funny enough it was the the two lads who were not sure about the sub three pace (Elfoyzer and co.) who were leading the group followed by quirky. I didnt know whether to push up or stay back as a marker of where they were in terms of sub 3 pace and decided to hold off

The next two miles easy was expecting the pace to be used to recover from the increased pace. Not a fear. The lads were strong and this was evident as there pace was quicker than previous easy miles.

After about 12 I got bit of a twinge in the foot which started to get quite sore however this soon passed and was back to normal.

From here on in the lads reeled off the the miles with little difficulty and the last mile was pushed on a bit while still aiming to remain controlled and see how the lads strength was holding up. I was not disappointed.

All in all a good session for the lads and a fairly solid long run for myself

Total weekly mileage:76.79

Just a quick word of thanks for this morning. Great run for us and good for the confidence too. Nice meeting Dr. Q and the brown fella too! Best of luck in your final.few weeks training guys.

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

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