Ever Decreasing Circles:

BeepBeep67

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

600ft hill, surely? :eek: Well done again. You must have a house full of choccies, decorated plates and tins of USA assorted biscuits.

Meters as in lenght, not elevation thankfully

BeepBeep67

Another solid week, over 50 miles again, a short race, my first 16 mile run for 11 months and 113 consecutive days.

Mon:
Under some time pressure this evening, so jumped out at Greystones Rugby club for a few laps, probably should have stayed on the road as it was very mucky, but really wanted an easy run off road.
4.5 miles @ 8:24 pace.
Tue:
Hit the track for some cruise intervals. The plan was for 1200's off a 1min recovery, some of the club were already doing a 1200 session so I jumped in with them, recovery ended up being too long for cruise intervals, but I seen no harm with a race on Thursday night.
Splits were 4:31 - 4:24 - 4:26 - 4:24. 7 miles in total.
Wed:
Not too concerned about the race tomorrow evening, so this was a nothing run.
Easy pace around Shanganagh, 4.27 miles @ 8:20 pace.
Thu:
Race Report: Wicklow Fit4Life 5k - Rathdrum
This is a race where you can leave any notions of PB at home, it's essentially a 1.5k lap, which has a 600mt climb, a 300mt flat and then a 600mt descent. The finish is about halfway up the climb and the start obviously 500mts back which means you get to enjoy the hill almost 4 times.
This wasn't a flat out effort for me, more around holding a nice even effort, the faster races will come later.
So after a false start the race kicked off with a flurry of bodies hurtling down the road, before having to navigate a 150 degree turn to face the hill for the 1st time, I started handy enough and just focused on getting into a nice rhythm on the hill, the first k came and went in 3:48. The next k started almost at the beginning of the downhill section and a few bodies went flying by, but I was happy enough to let them go and keep to my plan. True enough when we hit the the hill again I started reeling them back in, the 2nd k beeped at the finish line @ 3:37. I worked hard up the hill this time buoyed by the fact I was passing people quite easily and again just eased down the hill clocking a 3:42 in the process, this 3rd k is probably the most even one with equal up and down. The 4th k has the full length of the hill in it, but I was still feeling strong and took another 2 places at the start of that hill, but that was my slowest @ 3:56. Know now at the start of the last k I could stride out and take maximum benefit from the downhill I did just that, I was never really close enough to 8th to consider challenging and the plan wasn't to kill myself so i just let gravity dictate and I was happy to finish with a 3:27 for 18:33 - job done, 9th overall and 3rd M40.
Fri:
As I drove home from work the thoughts of a run became less and less appealing as the weather grew progressively worse, so once I got settled I hopped on the treadie before I got a chance to think about it, watched an hour of the green zone, while squeezing in 12k.
Sat:
Nice long run from the house out by Blainroe with some nice climbing thrown in for good measure, I knew I had been climbing quite a bit when I banged my head off a cloud after 9k, but was immediately rewarded with a nice downhill. Felt ok generally, took a High5 Iso @ 13k and the pace was very steady until the last couple of k which were uphill against the breeze.
16.17 Miles @ 7:41 pace (2:04) AvHr 145
Sun:
Recovery Run Resistance Training: Nice gentle recovery run from Whitegates out past Killoughter along the Murrough, then I turned around into what felt like a gale. The temptation was to dig in and fight it, but I held back and kept the effort easy.
7.5 Miles @ 8:30 pace.

WTD: 54.3 (7 days)
MTD: 148.9 (20 days)
YTD: 349.7 (51 days)
Races YTD: 7

BeepBeep67

Solid 5 x 1200mt cruise interval session this evening @ 4:24's off 200 jog recoveries.

BeepBeep67

So I'm sitting here typing this one up from my hotel room in Hyderabad, with the Cricket on the TV and West Ham V Liverpool on the Interweb. Well the running streak came to an end this week, not really enforced but on the back of feeling tired sometimes you have to listen to the body - 116 uninterrupted days was a new record for me nonetheless.

Mon:
10.03 / 52:41 / 5:15
Popped into Shanganagh on the way home from work for my usual easy Monday run and just managed to catch the end of the light. The ground was still very soggy and even on the trail over the bridge the gaps between the various fields we flooded, but had fun splashing through the puddles while walkers tried to navigate around them gingerly.
Tue:
11.7 / 52:05 / 4:27
Club were doing a speed session on the track, but the distances were a little short for me at the moment so I jumped in with a few doing 5 x 1200. They were running 4:15's so the trick for me was not to get carried away and stick to my planned 4:24 pace. Went pretty much according to plan, the 1st one was a little fast at 4:20 and the 4th a little slow at 4:27, but the rest were on the money.
Wed:
8.4 / 43:00 / 5.07
I've been lucky in this running streak that all but one of my runs have been enjoyable, tonight was a run that really wasn't fun at all. I this the combination of a poor night's sleep (kids) and eating out of my normal sync meant as soon as I headed out the door for a planned 12k I knew I wasn't feeling right, really fatigued and breathing heavy, so just after 4k I made a u turn and headed home.
Thu:
Day off!!!
The first one in 116 days, got changed to go for a run, but realized my head or heart wasn't in it, so had a steak and a few beers instead.
Fri:
Nice gentle run from the house to Killoughter, still feeling off the pace, but enjoyed the run all the same.
Sat:
Day off #2!!!
So just like waiting for a bus, 2 come at once, when I had looked at today the plan was to get up at 4am to run on the treadie to keep the streak going as I was heading on 17.5hr journey to Hyderabad, but in light of the streak ending and how this week has gone an extra 60mins in bed was more appealing.
Sun:
9.65 / 44:37 / 4:37
Staying at a hotel I'm unfamiliar with and only 4hrs sleep meant I went for a walk this morning instead of a run and really unless I want to do 600mt laps around the compound I'm going to be on the treadie for the week as the main road can get pretty busy. So I hopped on the treadie late afternoon and whacked it up to 12kmph, before realizing it was in mph and I don't think I was going to manage 5min miling for 6miles, so dialed it back down to 8mph while the treadie found it's natural resting place again.

WTD: 33.4 (5 days)
MTD: 182.3 (25 days)
YTD: 383.1 (56 days)
Races YTD: 7

donothoponpop

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Thu:
Day off!!!
The first one in 116 days, got changed to go for a run, but realized my head or heart wasn't in it, so had a steak and a few beers instead.

Glad to see this written in your log, thought we'd lost you to the dark side for a while there.

Speedy44

donothoponpop wrote: »

Glad to see this written in your log, thought we'd lost you to the dark side for a while there.

+1.
Congrats on your streak, and your steak

I'm on a mini-streak myself, haven't missed a day since Jan 4th.
I calculated that if I get to Rotterdam without missing a day, that'll make 96 days, then I can squeeze in another 4 to reach triple digits.

Looking at the Daniels plan though for the last few weeks, there are 2 days where I can total almost 40mls, and my weekly total will only be 56mls, so it would make sence to take a day off there and not get too worried about this streak thing ........................ and a few beers sound good as well :rolleyes:

BeepBeep67

So managing to stick to my plan over here which is 5miles per day on the treadie, even managed a little session this morning, warm up with 10 mins at 6:49 straight into 10mins @ 6:11 pace followed by a warm down - felt good.
Looking forward to hitting the Morrough Sat evening.

Great day yesterday the whole office came to a standstill to cheer on Ireland on the big screen and the Cricket team are all over the newspapers this morning.

BeepBeep67

Well this week went pretty much as planned, set myself a realistic target of running 5miles per day on hotel treadie. Working UK hours that easier to achieve but still took some planning with 11-12hrs per day in the office, it was pretty much run-eat-work-sleep.

Mon - Fri:
40.23 / 3:10:53 / Av Pace / 4:45
Won't bore you with too much detail, 4 of the runs started at 8min mile pace and increased in segments for the last 2 miles and on Thurs I ran 10mins @ 8:00 10mins @ 6:49 and 10mins @ 6:11 and finishing with enough to get me to 5 miles @ 8:00.

Sat:
Day off - 20.5hrs door to door and 38hrs since I woke, with the exception of a couple of sets of 40 winks, meant I skipped today and relaxed with the kids - good decision.

Sun:
17.0 / 1:16:25 / 4:30
11hrs sleep left me feeling close to my oldself and I headed out the door for a relaxing 17k, felt great as the run progressed so cranked it up a little and came home feeling great in 76mins (4:30pace)

WTD: 35.6 (6 days)
MTD: 30.6 (5 days)
YTD: 418.7 (62 days)
Races YTD: 7

BeepBeep67

Back on the track tonight for a breezy 6x600 with 2mins rec @ 3k pace.
Target pace was 2:03, average pace was 2:02, fastest - 2:00, slowest - 2:03. AvHR - 151, MaxHR - 177 (Rep 6)

BeepBeep67

Nice social run on Carrick this morning with good company, trying to get back into it after a few easy weeks.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/73468037

BeepBeep67

Good session today - 2 x 3k at faster than tempo 11:21 & 11:17, target is to get these to 11:15 (10k pace) over the next few weeks, it was breezy today so a good 1st effort.

BeepBeep67

Got back into the swing of things this week after a couple of down weeks, but I think I needed those as the quaility work will start to ramp up now.
Week went as well as expected with 2 sessions giving a quality to total percentage of 20% and a longish run on hills at 24% of total mileage.

Mon: 10k / 49:53 / 4:59pace
Just an easy run to kick start the week, was actually my first run since Thurs and I felt very fresh so the effort was in keeping the pace easy - nice evening in Shanganagh.
Tue: 10k / 50:20 / 5:02pace [Short Intervals]
Hit the track this evening for more 600's @ 3k pace with 2min recs, hit the mark with an average of 2:03 with only a 2 second spread and the HR peaking @ 177 on the 6th. Felt handy enough but the legs were lacking zip.

1. 2:04 [170]
2. 2:03 [173]
3. 2:02 [175]
4. 2:02 [176]
5. 2:04 [176]
6. 2:02 [177]

Wed: 9.77k / 50:03 / 5:07pace
Another easy run around Shanganagh met another runner whom I didn't know after about 2.5k so we ran together for 7k as he competed his mid-week 2hr run - happy to have some company.
Thu: 11.2k / 53:25 / 4:46pace
Sent word around yesterday to try and rustle up a few bodies for a Paddy's morning run and we ended up with 7 hitting the trails of Carrick Mountain @ 9bells. Great to have some good company and the run out of the way early - trails are in great shape.
Fri: 5.47k / 26:46 / 4:54pace
Took the kids to their first official athletics training with the local club Inbhear Dee, happy to report they enjoyed it and want to go back - I ran a few laps of the GAA pitches as a recovery day.
Sat: 11.47k / 53:14 / 4:38pace [long Intervals]
This is going to be a key session for to help with the speed-endurance, warm up followed by 2 x 3k at 10k pace. Week 1 has a 4min recovery and this will be reduce to 2mins over the next 2 weeks.

1. 11:21 [174]
2. 11:17 [176]

This was tough work along the old N11 from Ashford to Cullenmore, with some wind to contend with and slight uphill on the out section - had to keep regular checks on the pace to keep on track - if I can nail this and get the HR down to 172 for the same pace I'll be a happy camper.
Sun: 18.4k / 1:31:55 / 5:00pace
Managed to get a group of 4 together for another run around Carrick this morning - nice social one taking in the scenery and not too concerned with the pace - watch died for last k or so. Nice and mild aswell - Spring is in the air!

WTD: 76.3 [47.7]
MTD: 158.3 [98.4]
YTD: 782.7 [486.5]
Races YTD: 7

BeepBeep67

Solid session on the track this evening 6 x 800 @ target 5k pace (2:48).
2:47 - 2:48 - 2:48 - 2:47 - 2:47 - 2:44
Body felt much looser this evening.

BeepBeep67

2 x 3k on grass this evening [11:16 & 11:17] found the last k tough, but the times are in the right ball park.

Abhainn

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Solid session on the track this evening 6 x 800 @ target 5k pace (2:48).
2:47 - 2:48 - 2:48 - 2:47 - 2:47 - 2:44
Body felt much looser this evening.

Good workout.
With luck I'll be on track for some 800's on Wed eve

BeepBeep67

Good weeks running with the exception of my hip (RHS) feeling a little tight which I'm putting down to the increase in quality and several trips up and down Carrick, so I've been hitting the Trig the few days. Will keep the easy runs slow and flat this week to ensure I'm not jeopardizing the quality sessions. Quality % was 13.8% and Long Run was 23% (cut a couple of miles short).

Mon: 10.05k / 51:38 / 5:08 pace
Just an easy run around Greystones Rugby club on the way home from work, just what the doctor ordered followed by some stretching.
Tue: 12.52k / 1:01:00 / 4:52 pace
This is where the track work starts getting serious, 6 x 800m with 2mins recovery @ target 5k pace. Felt more in control this evening, done the 1st 3 by myself and then had company for the last 3, which was welcome.

1. 2:47 [168]
2. 2:48 [173]
3. 2:48 [174]
4. 2:47 [176]
5. 2:47 [177]
6. 2:44 [176]

Wed: 10.09k / 49:33 / 4:55 pace
Another easy run in Greystones Rugby Club, finished up just as the kids were getting ready to train, a real hive of activity - great to see. Hip was a little tight afterwards.
Thu: 11.1k / 54:38 / 4:55 pace
3rd run on Carrick in 8 days and my legs were letting me know that I can't increase the quality and add hills into the schedule at the same time - so the hills will take a back for a while. Met up with a fellow Bray Runner and went for a nice trot, relaxed pace, but you're always working. Hip didn't really loosen up even with the Tiger Balm.
Fri: 11.54k / 52:48 / 4:35 pace
Hit Shanganagh on the way home from work to get my 2 x 3k session @ 10k pace done, Saturday was going to be busy with a rugby match in Wexford, a birthday party and the match.
Warmed up for 2.5k before some stretches and drills. First one was handy enough @ 11:16, took a 3:30 recovery (30secs less than last week) and got around the 2nd in 11:17 although I was working harder than I should have to hit that - left my HRM at home which is a pity. Took Ibu before the session not real issues.
Sat: 5:00k / 26:26 / 5:17 pace
Easy recovery run on the treadie
Sun: 17:72k / 1:26:14 / 4:52 pace
Had great intentions in getting up early, but will hours going forward and wanting to back in time to take some pix of the Wicklow Gaol Break 10k I left the run to later. So hit Shanganagh about 4bells, was planning 20k but the hip was tight and even though I stopped at 7.5k for a bit of stretch it was always there - so I bailed out @ 17k as a precaution - no real issues the plan is to run 90mins most weekends.

WTD: 78.02 [48.5]
MTD: 236.28 [146.8]
YTD: 860.7 [534.9]
Races YTD: 7

BeepBeep67

Wasn't sure what to expect on the track tonight, my hip and thigh on the RHS have been playing up so I only ran 20mins easy last night.
Anyhoo broke open the new Adidas Adizero track spikes for another 6 x 800m - went better than expected @ 2:45, 2:45, 2:45, 2:44, 2:43, 2:42 with the HR peaking at 170 on the last. This was 17 secs quicker than last week with 30 secs less recovery between each and no negative reaction from my leg - happy days.

BeepBeep67

Cracking session this evening in Shanganagh with a club mate.
2 x 3k [11:05] + [10:43], HR only peaking @ 170, 1st k of the 2nd rep was a little fast @ 3:31 but I felt like I was cruising.
Leg is still a little tight but only when I'm jogging

Speedy44

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Cracking session this evening in Shanganagh with a club mate.
2 x 3k [11:05] + [10:43], HR only peaking @ 170, 1st k of the 2nd rep was a little fast @ 3:31 but I felt like I was cruising.
Leg is still a little tight but only when I'm jogging

Cracking session indeed beepbeep.
What recovery were you taking, were you doing them on a track?

BeepBeep67

Speedy44 wrote: »

Cracking session indeed beepbeep.
What recovery were you taking, were you doing them on a track?

On the grass (nice 1k lap) with 3min in between.

dna_leri

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Cracking session this evening in Shanganagh with a club mate.
2 x 3k [11:05] + [10:43], HR only peaking @ 170, 1st k of the 2nd rep was a little fast @ 3:31 but I felt like I was cruising.
Leg is still a little tight but only when I'm jogging

Fair going, alright. Nice progression from a few weeks back too.

What do you put the 2011 improvement down to?
What's next on the list?

BeepBeep67

dna_leri wrote: »

Fair going, alright. Nice progression from a few weeks back too.

What do you put the 2011 improvement down to?
What's next on the list?

I think 116 consecutive days (almost 800mls), adding hills and later longer intervals, plus the 6 races in Jan has given me a solid base to work from, this followed by a mini-break has left me feeling strong and able to cope with the demands from the recent workouts.

I have some 'B' races coming up this month:

• 10th Great Ireland just looking for a solid run, will be a PB but only because mine is soft.
• 13th Wicklow 5k road champs - bit too soon after the 10k to look to kill it
• 17th road realys - just there to support the team
• 20th - 1 mile track, hopefully I can nip under 5:10 to set me up for a sub 5 later in the Summer

Primary goals would be to get under 10 for 3k and 5 for 1m on the track and take my 5k under 17:45 (hopefully close to 17:30) if the right opportunity comes along.

BeepBeep67

Good week's training from a quality perspective, 2 solid workouts and a nice hilly trot on the mountains this morning. Only concern is a niggle in my hip and right thigh, but it's not getting worse and at least it's manageable.

Mon: 4k / 20:38 / 5:10pace
This was a run that was going nowhere fast, had planned to do 8-10k but my hip and thigh did not feel quite right and I didn't see the benefit of struggling through this so I abandoned ship.
Tue: Aerobic Capacity Intervals: 11.1k / 54:27 / 4:54pace
Back on the track tonight for 800's at 3-5k pace with thre recovery period dropped from 2mins to 90secs. Running them with a couple of guys that are a level above me.

1. 2:45 [168]
2. 2:45 [173]
3. 2:45 [175]
4. 2:44 [176]
5. 2:43 [178]
6. 2:42 [178]

Felt pretty good doing these, although I was glad it was only 6, was recovering pretty quickly in between and my stride felt smoother, only noticed my thigh during the recovery jog.
Wed: 10.31k / 52:40 / 5:06
Just an easy recovery run in Shanganagh, nothing more to report than that - stopped half way and spent some time stretching my legs.
Thu: 10.8k / 57:04 / 5:17
Popped into Shanganagh again to hook up with the club, some were doing a tempo session but that wasn't on the agenda so joined someone doing a easy run. Nice to trot around having a chat and putting the world's troubles to bed.
Fri: Tempo Intervals: 10.65 / 47:25 / 4:27
Done these 2 x 3k @ 10k pace in company of one of the guys from Tues, his plan was to gently grow into the session and my mine was to try and tag along without killing myself. Recovery reduced by 30secs from last week to 3mins.

1. 11:05 [3:44, 3:40, 3:40] 169
2. 10:43 [3:31, 3:35, 3:36] 170

Tough enough session, it wsa quite breezy and the last k I was starting to feel it - but was buzzing afterwards.
Sat: 8.14 / 40:10 / 4:56
Busy day managed to get the OH to throw me out of the car on the way home with a belly full of junk - just an easy recovery pace.
Sun: Hilly Run: 16.15 / 1:20:32 / 4:59
Nice gentle run on Carrick on my todd, nice to run easy over the hills and let the mind wander, trotted up the road a bit on the way back to make it 10miles.

WTD: 71.2 [44.2]
MTD: 34.9 [21.7]
YTD: 931.9 [579.2]
Races YTD: 7

BeepBeep67

Handy session on the track this evening not too taxing with the weekend in mind.
4 x 800 - ave 2:46
2 x 400 - ave 1:17
2 x 200 - ave 34
90 secs recovery for the 8's and 2mins for the 4's and 2's.

BeepBeep67

Quick update:
Fantastic performances by Bray athletes this evening in the Wicklow 5k road championships. Individual titles for Mary Dawson, Muriel Haire and Noelle Thorpe in the Ladies and Vinnie, Finn, Martin and Richard in the Mens.
On top of that both the Senior Mens and Senior Ladies team titles were claimed by Bray.

M40 PB for me, was concerned if my leg would hold up, but to be honest didn't notice it during the race. Had to work really hard for it, wanted to test myself and the HR hit 170 after the 1st k (too fast at 3:25) and steadily climbed to 178, ran pretty steadily after that to come in at a watch time of 17:48 and 5 sec M40 PB.
http://connect.garmin.com/splits/79033408

BeepBeep67

So the leg wasn't in great shape after the 5k so have been taking it easy, couple of slow 8k runs Thu and Fri and an easy 12k on Sat after I heard we wouldn't have a team for the relays, I wasn't too disappointed as I was still tender. Took Sunday as a recovery day and went for a gentle cycle 45k @ 25kmph pace.
Went down to the Murrough this evening and bumped into one of the Inbhear Dee lads who was doing 8k easy and that suited me and no reaction from the leg - fingers crossed.
Easy 20-30mins tomorrow and check how many 75 second laps I can put back to back Wednesday evening, before getting back to some miles.

BeepBeep67

Close...But not quiet.

Well the Fit4Life Mile Challenge was on tonight and although this was primarily a tester to see where I was at I was secretly harbouring ambitions of dipping under the 5mins.
The plan was to try and run as close to 75 secs per lap and try to hang on. Toed the line in 1st of 4 races and go a reasonable start, heard 37 @ 200 and went through the 1st lap in 74, the 2nd lap came and went as I found my position in the race and I heard 2:30 (76secs) on track. I was wary of the difficult 3rd lap and didn't feel like I had dropped the pace, however it was a 77 and left me needing to find a 72 from somewhere, that didn't happen, although I did pass 2 on that lap for a 74 and 5:01 (5:00:96 on the watch).
Was bitterly disappointed straight afterwards although it is a 9 sec Masters PB, but in hindsight in April and no real short stuff done I'm sure I can find 2 secs between now and Aug and scratch off another 'Big 8'.
Finshed 9th in the race and 3rd M40 and a great turnout this evening in ideal running conditions.

Speedy44

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Close...But not quiet.

Well the Fit4Life Mile Challenge was on tonight and although this was primarily a tester to see where I was at I was secretly harbouring ambitions of dipping under the 5mins.
The plan was to try and run as close to 75 secs per lap and try to hang on. Toed the line in 1st of 4 races and go a reasonable start, heard 37 @ 200 and went through the 1st lap in 74, the 2nd lap came and went as I found my position in the race and I heard 2:30 (76secs) on track. I was wary of the difficult 3rd lap and didn't feel like I had dropped the pace, however it was a 77 and left me needing to find a 72 from somewhere, that didn't happen, although I did pass 2 on that lap for a 74 and 5:01 (5:00:96 on the watch).
Was bitterly disappointed straight afterwards although it is a 9 sec Masters PB, but in hindsight in April and no real short stuff done I'm sure I can find 2 secs between now and Aug and scratch off another 'Big 8'.
Finshed 9th in the race and 3rd M40 and a great turnout this evening in ideal running conditions.

unlucky there beepbeep, but well done all the same.
Running that fast in April will definitely see you go well under come the summer.
That 3rd lap is always the killer.
A week or 2 before DCM '09 I ran a club mile on the track and did 5:00:23 :mad:, I should have dipped!
Havn't ran one since, so looking forward to getting stuck into it again.

donothoponpop

Wow! Hard luck on just missing out, but...this in April? You've a great summer ahead of you Dom!

shels4ever

Nice start to the track season there, your 3k pb might need to go now too