Ever Decreasing Circles:

BeepBeep67

After a couple of lackluster races this week I'm kinda glad that's the end of the racing for a while, I haven't trained optimally since the mid of Aug, so it'll be nice to get back to clocking up some miles.

Mon - Tue
Couple of easy runs around Shanganagh with some strides and pick-ups thrown in, 6.5 and 5.5 both in and around 8min pace.
Wed - Fit4Life 1 Mile Track
This was the 1st time I was on the track since the beginning of Aug and I stupidly went through my normal pre track race warm up and duly tweaked my hammer, considered pulling out, but said I'd try a few laps anyway.
My performance in this race was not hampered by the hammer, but more a general lack of fitness and speed work, but you always have in the back of your mind will I go sub 5, but hearing a 76sec split as my heart was hopping out of my throat for the first 409mts soon put any thoughts of that to bed. Managed to get around in in a lifeless 5:07 and the only consolidation I can take is even when feeling sh1te I'm 3 secs faster than last year.
1st O/40 all the same, but nothing that would make the back pages.
Thu
Nice little run and only minor discomfort from the hammer as I met with a clubie and we ran a nice loop around Lord Meath's, Belmont and the Little Sugarloaf - 6.4miles @ 7:51 pace.
Sat
Just a gentle run on the treadie watching the 1st half of Wales V France - to think we could be preparing for a World Cup Final now
Sun - Wicklow Intermediate XC
Not going to say too much about this, one of my worst races of the year, never felt right in the warm up and got a stitch after 3k and from there the race petered out into a let's just get this finished, went from 3:46 average pace to 3:53 by the end.

That's 29 races for the year - time for a little break!

WTD: 57.0 [35.4]
MTD: 136.0 [84.5]
YTD: 2,730.5 [1,697.0]
Races YTD: 29 [11 x M40 PB's]

Woddle

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

That's 29 races for the year - time for a little break!

Well deserved, I think I've about 6 to my name

26 weeks to Rotterdam tomorrow.

AJCOT

Dominic, way too hard on yourself. You've had an awesome year of PBs. A rest is in order for sure or could I tempt you to run with a cloak in Clontarf for the Dracula race next Saturday? Well done in the long grass earlier, even with a stitch you were furlongs & a field or two ahead of some of us!

BeepBeep67

Sometimes it's nice just to run and remember why you enjoy it so much, this was one of those weeks, no plan apart from getting out 6 times and running easy. Highest mileage since before the injury and just over 6hrs of running.

Mon
Rest day, wasn't scheduled, but felt I needed it.
Tue
Easy run in Shanganagh, first of the chilly evenings - long sleeves and gloves for 7.5 miles @ 7:56 pace.
Wed
Met up with a few clubies for a sociable run and chat in Lord Meath's - 5.95 miles @ 8:12 pace.
Thu
Ran from the house on my regular 7.5 mile loop, bit chilly and found myself running a little faster than planned to keep warm - 7.48 miles @ 7:37 pace.
Fri
Hit Shanganagh on the way home from work for a nice easy run, had the place pretty much to myself - 6.38 miles @ 7:51 pace.
Sat
First of the longer runs and the longest I've run since since Waterford, will need to start ramping these up over the coming weeks. Met up with a clubie and we went on a nice loop of Wicklow Town, Ashford and Miltown - 12.6 Miles @ 7:26 pace, felt relatively easy.
Sun
Easy 1hr to end the week - 7.6 miles @ 7:53 pace

WTD: 76.5 [47.5]
MTD: 212.5[132.0]
YTD: 2,807.0 [1,744.6]
Races YTD: 29 [11 x M40 PB's]

BeepBeep67

Another solid week under the belt and up over the 50mile mark for the 1st time in 10 weeks - it's all about banking miles now.

Mon
Had planned to run tonight, but when I got home to the smell of home cooking and the wind and rain outside, I was easily swayed to take a day off.

Tue
Steady run in Shanganagh which was in surprisingly good shape after yesterday's weather - 8 miles @ 7:09 pace.

Wed
Got up early for 6k easy on the treadie, plan was to do another 8k later, but got stuck on a call for work that over ran by 2hrs, so that was that.

Thu
Met up with a clubie and ran Lord Meath's and Little Sugarloaf by head torch, included a lap of Boghall and Southern Cross to throw in a few extra miles - 9 miles @ 7:44 pace.

Fri
Easy run along the Murrough at least I thought it was easy until I turned back into a head wind where I found it hard to run at 8:15 pace - 7 miles @ 8:02 pace.

Sat
I could have quite easily rolled over in bed this morning when I heard the wind the rain outside but that would have made trying to fit a run in later quite difficult, so I sucked it up and hit the road, 1st 2 miles felt like I was running backwards but once I got off the main road there was some degree of shelter to be had. Nice run all in all climbing to a high point near Ballymoney before dropping down to 3 mile water and finishing back along the Brittas Bay road to Wicklow - 13.62 miles @ 7:38 pace.

Sun
Easy run after too much to drink last night, won't get away with this once the real training starts, went on a loop of Wicklow Town making it up as I went along just to get enough miles in to make 50 for the week - 8.75 miles @ 7:55 pace.

WTD: 80.6 [50.1]
MTD: 293.1[182.2]
YTD: 2,887.6 [1,794.7]
Races YTD: 29 [11 x M40 PB's]

Abhainn

Real good consistancy lately BB67. Will meet up for a nice weekend run soon

BeepBeep67

Another solid base week in the bag, just over 7hrs of running and my 2nd highest mileage week of the year, can feel the strength starting to come back.

Mon - Tue
Couple of recovery runs to start the week, 5 miles and 6.9 miles at in and around 8min pace.

Wed
Ran from work out to Foxrock down to Deansgrange and then over the footbridge at Loughlinstown. The pace for this 7.7 mile run says easy @ 7:41, however with the wind the effort was high.

Thu - Fri
Couple of 1hr runs, Thursday's was horrible in the rain, Friday's was lovely along the Murrough.

Sat
First time over the 15 mile mark since my ill fated run back August which led to my injury, today was a different story as I hit the road early in glorious conditions for a nice run from Rathnew to Newcastle. First 7 were at 7:30 pace and the last 8 was at 7:00 pace - route

Sun
Another fantastic day as I hit the Murrough for a recovery run and to run off 1 too many beers from last night. 6 miles at 7:50 pace.

WTD: 90.3 [56.1]
MTD: 51.1[82.2]
YTD: 2,978.0 [1,850.8]
Races YTD: 29 [11 x M40 PB's]

Krusty_Clown

Lovely running BB. Have you got a target in mind yet for Rotterdam, or is it too early? Any more half marathons on the cards in the build-up?

BeepBeep67

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Lovely running BB. Have you got a target in mind yet for Rotterdam, or is it too early? Any more half marathons on the cards in the build-up?

I'll train in the 2:55 - 2:57 range, but sub 3 is the primary target.
I'll run Waterford in Dec off no speed work just to see where I am and then I need to try and find one around Paddy's day, which will be the target setting race.

BeepBeep67

4 nice weeks under the belt now and 20 consecutive days (longest streak since June), this week also brought me over the 100k mark for the 1st time since I returned to running. Body is holding up well with the exception of some muscle fatigue which is to be expected and a little niggle in the arch of my right foot, not bothering me when running, but sore 1st thing in the morning and when I isolate it with the roller. Threw in a few strides this week to remind the body what faster running feels like, will step back this coming week by 25% to let the body adapt and run the F4L 4 mile trail @ 10k pace next Sunday.
Read through Hadd's approach to distance training which was forwarded by Abhainn a while back (attached for reference) and I definitely fit into that category some thoughts for the next block of training.

Mon
8 miles in the dark in the park after a long day in the office, nice and easy @ 8:10 pace with 6 x 30 sec strides.
Tue
Another easy run which started in Shanganagh and then as I was dropping my jacket back to car I bumped into a clubie who was heading the Bray, so joined him as far as Bray Head before heading back for another few laps - 8.8 @ 7:54 pace.
Wed
Made up lap of Wicklow Town include 6 x 30 secs strides in the Murrough Car Park - 7.6 @ 7:39 pace.
Thu
Little bit longer of a run tonight as I only had a short window tomorrow, so stayed on the tarmac in Shanganagh for 9.2 @ 7:49 pace.
Fri
40 mins easy on the treadie before work - 5.14 miles
Sat
Just tweaking the long run up a little week by week, got to 16 with pretty consistent spits around the 7:16 mark, nice route which brought me back past the car at 11 miles to drop off my companion and I continued on - felt very comfortable doing this, plus it's my fastest pace for the week.
Sun
Finished off the week with a very gentle run on Carrick, went over on my ankle after 1 mile, but thankfully was ok, had that sinking feeling for a few secs. - 7.68 @ 8:28 pace

WTD: 100.5 [62.5]
MTD: 182.8[113.6]
YTD: 3,078.5 [1,913.3]
Races YTD: 29 [11 x M40 PB's]

RacoonQueen

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

I'll train in the 2:55 - 2:57 range, but sub 3 is the primary target.
I'll run Waterford in Dec off no speed work just to see where I am and then I need to try and find one around Paddy's day, which will be the target setting race.

There's a half marathon in Kinvara on March 3rd or the Wicklow Gaol one on the 25th of March. Think the Wicklow one is a bit late for Rotterdam though, I'm thinking of giving Kinvara a lash.

BeepBeep67

RacoonQueen wrote: »

There's a half marathon in Kinvara on March 3rd or the Wicklow Gaol one on the 25th of March. Think the Wicklow one is a bit late for Rotterdam though, I'm thinking of giving Kinvara a lash.

Yep have Kinvara on the radar or maybe the new one that's part of the Meath RR calendar - but would pick the one with the most bodies to ensure I had a proper race - might have to do Wicklow, 2 years of taking pics on my doorstep :rolleyes: but it's a tough course - so would be more for the effort, not as a gauge of potential marathon time.

BeepBeep67

Step back this week to let the body recover from the increased mileage, felt like it had the opposite effect, but I'm sure it's right thing to do. Picked up a bit of a sinusey, nasaly, flemy something or other, not green yet, but need to keep an eye on it, still have the pain in my arch when I get up in the mornings. Added a few hills during the week and 'raced' (inverted commas) this morning in Avondale - the speed disappears pretty quickly, when it's not getting enough attention - but I have longer term goals in mind, back to some miles next week.

Mon
Easy run in Shanganagh, wore an ankle strap yesterday and today in work, but removed it before the run, stayed on the tarmac which was a little boring, but no reaction from the ankle: 7.9 miles @ 7:50 pace.
Tue
Added a few hills into the mix tonight, warm up, some stretching followed by 220mts uphill bounding, 240mts recovery, 220mts downhill strides, 240mts recovery x 6 - nice and relaxed session, just focused on form, bumped into Abhainn for the warm down - 6 miles in total.
Wed
It's evenings like this that make you question why you do it, as I stood by the side of the road at Shanganagh trying to get changed as the wind and rain made sure I was soaked before I started, great once I got going apart from played Russian Roulette with my nipples (need to be more prepared). 6.6miles @ 7:54pace.
Thu
Challened for time and motivation = 4+ miles on treadie @ 7:45 pace - nuff said.
Fri
Took the kids to athletics and ran around the GAA pitch while they trained - stopped counting the laps when I went into double figures, added some strides while they were doing their warm down - 6.4 miles.
Sat
Novelty to have a bit of a lie in and have breakfast with the kids, squeezed in 5 @ snails pace later in the day.
Sun - Fit4Life Round 11
Plan for this was to get a decent workout and on the undulating trails of Avondale there is no point looking at pace, more concerned with effort and what's going on around you. The course was a 1 mile lap followed by a 3 mile lap (changed this morning from 2 x 2, which had 2 sleep climbs), I ran pretty steady for the 1st 3 miles or so, gaining some places and giving up a few as the course went up and down and it was quiet easy to see who was comfortable on the uphills and who liked to stretch out on the downhills (mental notes for later), with just under a mile to go I focused on increasing the effort (not sure it related to pace as there were a few climbs to get through) and easily took a place on the hill, but knew I had to kick on over it as he would come back, so put in increased effort here (it worked), got a nice shout from Billy with a k to go and 2 more spots were up for grabs, closed the gap quickly, but one kicked again so I sat in waiting for the little climb about 300 from the finish and a burst off the corner here was enough to win that battle today. Finished in about 12th place, with Cormac Conroy taking the win and very competitive masters field with I think 5 ahead of me. The Inov-8 f-230's were beautiful in these conditions and I actually took a few places on sharp corners. 4 Miles in 24:50 about 9 miles in total.

WTD: 72.5 [45.0]
MTD: 255.3[158.6]
YTD: 3,151.0 [1,958.4]
Races YTD: 30 [11 x M40 PB's]

Woddle

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Read through Hadd's approach to distance training which was forwarded by Abhainn a while back (attached for reference) and I definitely fit into that category some thoughts for the next block of training.

I just finished it myself, makes for some very interesting reading and it seems simple enough. The one thing I can't get my head around though is running the marathon at an average HR of max minus 15/20 beats, that would be my 5k average :eek:

Slogger Jogger

Nice work BB. Keep it going.

Cormac is in flying form at the moment. He was 1st home at the Glendalough trail race 2 weeks back.

BeepBeep67

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Cormac is in flying form at the moment. He was 1st home at the Glendalough trail race 2 weeks back.

Sure is, took off on the 1st downhill and went like a rocket!

BeepBeep67

Nice solid week as I stepped the mileage back up to where it was a few weeks ago, got in 2 nice hill sessions, a mid-week 10 and a 16 miler - body holding up surprisingly well. Races in the next 2 weeks, so the mileage will dip a little, not A races so I'll keep above 50.

Mon
Recovery run around Wicklow town, at least recovery pace - hard to avoid the hills - 6.9 miles @ 8min pace.
Tue + Thu
Continuing on from my hills of last week added 2 to make it 8 uphills and 8 downhills can feel myself getting a little stronger on these already. Both sessions just under 7.8 miles.
Wed
Hit Shanganagh to get off road, so armed with a head torch and Marathon Talk and was delighted to knock out 10.2 at a conservative pace.
Fri
Just hit the treadie to complete to required 6.2 miles at recovery pace.
Sat
Back to the longer stuff and the plan was to run at PMP +10% [7:19], pretty much went to plan after after a slow 1st mile with even effort and the change in splits only determined by wind or elevation, had a gel and a water stashed at 9 miles, which proved a welcome boost and finished with 1 mile at PMP for 16 in 1:56 [7:16 pace], which tipped me over 2k miles for 2011.
Sun
Nice recovery run down the Murrough and back - 8.4 miles.

WTD: 101.6 [63.2]
MTD: 356.9 [221.8]
YTD: 3,252.6 [2021.5]
Races YTD: 30 [12 x M40 PB's]

BeepBeep67

Just an easy recovery run tonight, hit Shanganagh after work for 5.23 miles @ 8:19 pace, was nice just to loop along keeping the pace slow. Very few people in Shanganagh in the dark this year was quite a few more last year.

BeepBeep67

Lurverly evening for running, crisp with nice breeze only thing that spoilt was the fact that 70% of this run was done on a stretch of bicycle lane 470mts long behind my house. So 1.5mile warm up follow by (1 x uphill bounding 230mts, 240mts rec, 1 x downhill strides 230mts, 240mts rec) x 10. Glad I had the lap counter on this or I could be still there - done and dusted 8.6 miles @ 7:50 pace. New monthly distance record @ 235.7 surpassing July by 4 miles, mid-week 10 planned for tomorrow.

BeepBeep67

Holy Moly that was unbelievable, headed out with the intention of getting in an easy mid-week 10, so on with the headphones and head torch and went in the direction of Killoughter out along the Murrough, very windy and breezy. But when I reached my turning point and started heading back I faced into an almighty wind and rain to boot hitting me straight in the mush almost like getting sand blasted, after just over 2 miles of this I felt like I had run up a mountain and made a bee line for home ignoring my extended loop and kept it to 8.5 miles. On arriving home I took off about an extra stone in weight from my wet clothes - glad that's over!

BeepBeep67

Nice 7 easy miles in Shanganagh in relative calm after last night, topped off with 6 x 30 secs strides. All is good, I've no real speed to talk of, but I'm feeling strong.

BeepBeep67

Warm weather training on the treadmill, house was like a furnace, anyway 5 recovery miles in my new Adizero Tempos - beautiful, if they loosen up a bit more they might come to Waterford otherwise it's the Manas.

BeepBeep67

Sat
Just an easy 30min recovery run to keep the legs ticking over.
Sun
Wicklow Senior XC - 10k
Championis, championis, olé, olé, olé!!!
Not an A focus race for me with my lack of speed work, just looking to run pretty steady which I did with 7 of my splits within 4 secs of my average pace, slightly faster 1st and last split and the 8th where I must have fell asleep or it had more elevation than the others. Good crowd turned out for this on an undulating 5 lap course with a few sticky spots that would take you out of your stride. The race settled down for me by the start of the 2nd lap and from there I think I gained a few spots and gave up a few spots, from the 3rd lap to the finish I held my ground to the runners in front of me, while pulling away from the others behind. Felt strong throughout, definitely lacking some raw speed, but felt I could have a ran another few laps at that pace - finished the less than 10k course in 40:02, but not too concerned about time on this course. Great running by the Bray team, Krusty 4th scorer in 9th and I was 6th.

WTD: 77.8 [48.4]
MTD: 41.9 [26.0]
YTD: 3,330.5 [2,069.9]
Races YTD: 31 [12 x M40 PB's]

BeepBeep67

Long day in work today meant a shortened run this evening, was just a recovery run after yesterday so no drama anyway. Jumped into Shanganagh on the way home for a chilly one, 3 layers and it still took a few k to warm up. No reaction from yesterday really apart a my left knee was a little sore, but that ran out pretty quickly and a tight buttocks a new one for me.
All in all 5.3 miles @ 7:38 pace.

BeepBeep67

Easy run planned in Shanganagh this evening, forgot my rain jacket but luckily had a sleeveless gillet in the bottom of my bag - better than nothing when after about 3k I was getting bombarded by freezing rain and I started getting colder by the minute, didn't notice myself picking up the pace, but when I noticed my average pace dropping rapidly I pulled the reins back in, checking back had several 4:20k's in there. Total 6.5miles @ 7:30 pace. Could be good practice for Saturday.

BeepBeep67

Just a short hop around Wicklow Town this evening in chilly conditions, I smell snow in the air . Stopped off at the Murrough car park to do 6 x 30 secs strides, my left knee started playing up again, so I stopped to stretch and manipulate it as it was pretty sore, had to run baby steps for the 2 miles home, but it eased out after a while, going to wear a support for a few days and fingers crossed.
6.9 miles @ 7:53 pace

BeepBeep67

Waterford Half Marathon

You know I'm not destined to arrive at the start line of a HM 100% fit, this time I must have tweaked my knee in the slippery mud conditions of Avondale, which had me strapped up since Weds evening and limited my last couple of runs to a few shorts jogs on the treadmill. But I headed to Waterford in hope rather than expectation, but in the back of my mind I had a little dragon to slay after running through an injury in Sept.

Anyway this training cycle was just based on running consistent mileage with no speed work as the goal was to lay down a solid foundation to kick start my Rotterdam training from in the New Year and they only faster work I done was a trail race and last week's XC supplemented with some up and down hill sessions and a solid run at the weekends building to 16 miles at 7:15 pace.

Arrived in Waterford in plenty of time stopping along the way for a strong coffee and a muffin, picked up my number and went and chilled out in the car for a while before starting my warm up about 30mins before the race. Knee was still giving out especially on the few strides, but I headed to the start line anyway and met Pronator over there.

Positioned my self near the start and we were off pretty quickly, knee was very sore for the 1st mile and I checked the pace at 6:06 - too hot, so the breaks were applied and I settled into planned race pace and thankfully my knee was easing out and only giving a sharp pain every now and then. At mile 4 I settled into a nice group running at my pace and a Junior from WAC called Andy and I feed off each for the rest of the race, talking turns in keeping the pace where it needed to be. Hit 5 miles in 31:43, 6:21 pace - so was working my way towards my planned 6:24 which would see me going through 10 in 64.

Miles 6 -10 had a few climbs in them, but I maintained the pace at 6:26 with splits of 6:34, 6:20, 6:18, 6:34 and 6:24. Strange thing happened at about half way I went down in a pot hole, my knee jerked and after a 2 sec oh sh1t moment it felt great!! Took a gel at 8 miles when I seen the water station coming up even though I didn't feel like I needed it, it couldn't do any harm. I was 8 secs under target at 10 and rather than thinking my work was done, myself and Andy started making a play for a home.

Mile 11 was 6:18 and we were reeling in a few bodies, felt like we were going a bit quicker on mile 12 but 6:22 flashed up on the and I was a little disappointed with that, but I was getting little spasms in my calves and the toes on my left foot kept cramping, but it just spurred me on as I could now see the track over the fields to my left. Tried to up the pace again as I headed down to the final roundabout, lost a little pace on the footpath here dodging a few pedestrians and up and down kerbs, Andy got away from me here and I had a little sprint finish to get through the last 1+ miles in 6:36, for a final 5k of 19:16 for 1:23:08, a 3 min 24sec M40 PB and nice that I now have a HM time that justifies my sub 3 training plan.

Well done WAC - this could be a permanent fixture for me.

BeepBeep67

The body needed a little bit of TLC last night, it knew it had been in a race, tummy was a bit suspect and most of what I ate did not pass GO and did not collect €200 and my calves and feet kept going into little spasms, but a nice warm bath and a few beers aided the recovery.
This morning just went down to the Murrough for a 40min recovery run, a few sore spots but eased out pretty quickly, knee still a little tender noticeable on the return.

WTD: 74.5 [46.3]
MTD: 116.4 [72.3]
YTD: 3,405.0 [2,116.2]
Races YTD: 32 [13 x M40 PB's]

Abhainn

Jaysus you are a chancer. "Kids do not try racing if you have an injury"

Great running though. If you can build on this you should be very confident for Rotterdam

Slogger Jogger

Great running again Dom. You are looking good entering the final phase of training in the new year towards the full 26 miles.