My UltraRunning log

mithril

Summary:
8*400 repeats(average 3:27 pace) around U.C.D.

First interval session since November and running roughly at same pace as then.I expected to be a bit slower so thats good news.
Whether its possible to improve speed over a short distance when you are in mid forties is questionable but will give it a shot.

Ran first 4 after 3 km warm up. Stretched for a few minutes and then ran another 4 before 2 km cool down. 400 m recovery lap at jogging pace following each repetition so plenty of recovery.

Speed in KM equivalent pace.

03:30
03:20
03:31
03:31

03:28
03:29
03:17
03:28

mithril

Wednesday
Summary: 10.71 KM in 58:15 (5:26 pace) recovery run around my neighbourhood.

Left knee still niggling so stopped halfway for quad stretches which helped.

Afterwards Champions League, pizza and lots of red wine. My aspirations to improve my pace by reducing my BMI to 20 took a dent this evening. Can't be good all the time.

mithril

Thursday
Summary: 10.71 KM in 49:15 (4:36 pace) aerobic run mainly on grass around U.C.D. Stopped twice for quad stretches since knee still niggling. Felt easy as the legs are quite fresh and now used to a much higher weekly volume.

mithril

Friday
Summary: 10.31 KM in 42:43 (4:09 pace) tempo run along a waterlogged track in U.C.D.

Peaked with a KM of 3:45.
Disappointed a bit with this run - wet surface did not help and I think yesterday's run might have been a bit tough for the day before a tempo run but feel I should be able to manage better than this.

mithril

Saturday
Summary: 12.46 KM in 1:02 (5:02 pace) run along Royal Canal in Mullingar.

Enjoyable run but planned to run this at recovery pace and this was too fast. Some enormous birds skidding over the waterr alongside me. I did not think we had anything that big in Ireland - curlews?

mithril

Sunday
Summary: 20.59 KM in 1:42 (5:00 pace) along Westmeath Way from Lough Ennell to near Kilbeggan.

First long ran since Connemara on a hard surface and it did not got well. Both of my previous niggles - sore left knee and right sole - returned with a vengeance and I was struggling by the end of it.

Route itself was disappointing - from the map it appeared to be along the banks of the Brosna but there must have been a re-route since it was virtually all on country roads - some quite busy. After 4 K I found myself back in Ballinagore which I had passed though a couple of KM earlier, and after re-tracing the route, I discovered one of the signposts had been turned the wrong way around . Found the route again and it led up a boreen to a padlocked gate with the signage apparently removed. Risking a shotgun to continue so turned back instead of continuing to Kilbeggan which was the original plan. There is a coffee shop and a few other shops in Kilbeggan depending on tourism for their survival - this kind of thing does not help.

mithril

Rest and rest.
Planned rest yesterday since sore after week-end's long run which lasted all of 20k.
Bad night's sleep and long day at work meant I was not in mood for planned intervals this evening so taking another day off as well.
Pointless doing speed workouts if you are not going to to run fast enough to force an adaption.
Might do the IMRA run tomorrow night instead of a speed workout if I can get out of work in time.

mithril

Wednesday
Summary: 7.59 KM in 39:32 (5:11 pace)
61/220th place. 130% of winning time 29:56

Enjoyable run in the Wicklow hills near Glencree even though I finished a lot further down the field than I expected.

Just managed to get out work on time to make the start, registered with IMRA for the first time this year and discovered I had no running shorts in the car. However, a pair of swimming shorts did the job adequately, and did not look too much out of place, provided you did not look too closely.

This was the first time I used the boards singlet with IMRA and it attracted a few other boardies over - good to put a few faces to the ids.

Race started on a slight incline and a group surged ahead at an apparently unsustainable pace. I thought at the time that I would wait and let them burn themselves out and come back to me, but when the trail narrowed into the forest, it was clear that a different approach than what works for road running was required. You need to get out fast to avoid congestion, and any advantage I had before going into the woods, was lost as people recovered while we proceeded at near walking pace upwards.

I started picking up places once we got out of the forest and proceeded upwards on the Wicklow Way to the cairn which marks the summit but at that point I was way off the pace.

I was hoping that the downhill would be on a good path but it was on rough ground, and my vision started to blur as the contact lens threatened to fall out in the wind. At this point, I decided it was not going to be my day, and it was pointless risking my ankles since I could not see the ground in front of me clearly, so I contented myself with jogging down off the mountain until I reached a good quality fire road. I lost about 30 places in the slow descent but then I put two good KMs together (3:40 and 3:42) until I reached the finish with plenty still in the tank.

There will be other IMRA races later this year which suit me better - I prefer either a much longer run where stamina is more important or a forest road where my compromised vision is less of a handicap.

Not concerned by the poor placing since I always planned to treat this as a training run . However I am not sure of the training benefit of this type of run and whether they adequately substitute for a tempo run - the pace is very uneven and effort as a result is midway between an aerobic and tempo run which fails between two stools. The BHAA runs at the week-end might be a better idea for a short race.

mithril

Summary:
Interval session on U.C..D. track.

3 KM warmup.

4*400 with 400m recovery jogging.

1:19
1:19
1:22
1:25

4*800 with 400m recovery.

2:48
2:49
2:43
2:57

400 metre intervals consistent with last week but really pleased with the 800 timings which were a good bit faster than I expected. Not sure why the final one was much slower since I felt quite strong at the end and was tempted to extend the set further.

Finally 3km warm down.

Krusty_Clown

mithril wrote: »

...and my vision started to blur as the contact lens threatened to fall out in the wind...

Sunglasses! I reckon the first IMRA run of the year is the most difficult, irrespective of the gradient and surface. You seem well recovered from Connemara anyway, if you can manage 400/800m intervals. Not looking forward to starting them next week. Might give the IMRA race a go instead.

mithril

Friday
Summary: 8.5 KM in 46:07 (5:26 pace) recovery run around Carysfort Park.

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Sunglasses! I reckon the first IMRA run of the year is the most difficult, irrespective of the gradient and surface. You seem well recovered from Connemara anyway, if you can manage 400/800m intervals. Not looking forward to starting them next week. Might give the IMRA race a go instead.

That would be the sensible thing but I hate racing with glasses of any sort. I am pretty cowardly anyway and I never would take the chances on the downhills that I see others do.

I am struggling every time I try and do a long run but I can manage the shorter stuff OK. That was always the plan anyway. A bit of speed training for now which might help improve running efficiency, take out my 10K PB which is pretty soft and then build up the distance again to peak for the Dingle Ultra in September.

mithril

Saturday
Summary: 10 KM in 38:43 (3:52 pace) tempo session on U.C.D. track.

I thought Thursday's intervals session might still be in the legs but this turned into a better session than I expected. Ran first few kms at 4 minute pace and then pushed hard for the last few 3:40,3:39,3:43 to finish strongly. Big improvement since last week's equivalent tempo session

Slogger Jogger

Nice to see a fellow boardsie on Weds. With the crowds that the Weds races are attracting it really is important to get positioned up towards the front if you want to maintain a position with a decent pace. As you say it can get quite tight on the trails fairly quickly and you can get caught behind slower runners if not in the right place and at the right pace to start with. The technical uphills and downhills are a big part of the imra races and you can lose places easily enough as you say. My uphill on the main climb to Prince Willie's seat wasn't great, but I held my own on the technical downhill and made up some places on the fireroad. Each race is composed of lots of little elements and theres few enough runners out there that are strong at every such element. You need to play to your strengths. For me, doing a race like this beats doing a training run on my own any day. For me too, I'd prefer to be running in the hills than on the pavements or track. As the imra races get longer they'll be more suitable to a man of your stamina in any event.

donothoponpop

^+1. In fact, next Saturday's race might be one playing to your strengths, the Circuit of Avonbeg. Slow, grueling, endurance, for 25k around the best part of Wicklow. The weekend races are a lot smaller and informal than the Wednesday nights. And you can join us in enjoying a pint and chat in the rustic Drumgoff Inn afterwards.

mithril

Sunday
Summary: 25.59 KM in 2:58 (6:58 pace) from Ticknock to Cruagh Mountain summit and back again.

Orignal plan was to do a recce of leg 7 of the Wicklow Way Relay route, but was not free until 1PM and since this would have meant a clash with the final game of the football season, deferred it for a week.

Instead as soon as Chelsea went two goals up, and the title was effectively decided, parked at Taylors 3 Rock pub and headed up Ticknock following the DMI route over Tibradden to top of Cruagh Mountain and back again.
Big change in pace from yesterday, but this type of slow run achieves at least as much as a fast tempo - time on your feet is all that matters at the moment.

mithril

Monday

Three of the last 4 days runs have involved tough runs and it has caught up with today. Feeling tired and sore so will take a day off.

Planned to book my flight to Iceland for Laugavegur Ultra in July this week but with resumption in volcanic activity starting to look unlikely for this year. I want to do a long off road race in the Summer to pick up the qualifying points for the Mont Blanc Ultra next year so may need to start looking for a substitute.

mithril

Tuesday
Summary: 10.02 KM in 44:46 (4:28 pace) aerobic run on grass around Carysfort Park. Used the Salomon XWings for extra grip on slippy grass after the rain. Injury with right sole appears to have cleared up so will get rid of wedge which I was using for extra support.

mithril

Summary:
Interval session on U.C.D. track.

Real horror show this. Started badly when I was struggling even in the warmup and got more gruesome as the session progressed.

First 3 KM warmup.
My last hard session was Sunday and I had taken Monday as as rest day so I had a decent recovery coming into this but felt tired even in the warmup and even completing strides was difficult. Other factors might have been that the track was quite congested so I needed to weave quite a bit and there was a bit in a wind but neither of these should have bothered me as much as they did.

5*400 with 400m recovery jogging.

1:25
1:22
1:23
1:24
1:23

About 5 seconds on average slower than last week's session but I fitted in an additional repetition.
I considered abandoning the session at this point when I saw the timings but I actually enjoy running 800M reps and I don't like getting into a habit of ducking out of hard sessions unless I think I am risking injuring myself.

So 5*800 with 400m recovery.
2:47
2:46
2:52
2:58
2:58

Way slower than last week.


Speed sessions are never natural to me since I am not built for power and you can't draw too many conclusions from one workout, but this was really disappointing.

mithril

Thursday
Summary: 7 KM in 31:30 (4:30 pace) aerobic run on grass around Carysfort Park.

Afterwards went over and introduced myself to another runner who I have often spotted leading a runners group around the park. He looked to be in his sixties but is actually 74 and is the oldest man to complete all Dublin Marathons to date - 3:56 in Dublin aged 72 and 2:25 best for a marathon in his prime! Most of the runners in his group are struggling to keep up with a man 50 years older than them.

Afterwards sports massage. Noticed my back and neck as very stiff recently - probably problem caused from being hunched over a lap-top at work all day rather than through running. Knot the size of a golf ball in my back loosened up with agonising probing and acupuncture.

mithril

Friday

mithril

Friday

Core strengthening session in gym.

mithril

Saturday
Summary: 10 KM in 37:48 (3:47 pace) tempo session around U.C.D.

This was much better - the extra rest making the difference.
Ran this more as a time trial than a proper tempo so pretty fast from the start but managed to complete the second half faster than the first and felt I could have sustained pace for longer.
Only issue was started to develop a stitch in KM 9 but managed to run through it and finish last lap fast in 3:39

I doubt I could run the same time in a road race . The GPS distance is very inaccurate when running laps and I had the advantage of running with no hills on a perfect surface. Still I ran 38:15 on the same course just before Berlin so the like for like comparison shows an improvement.

mithril

Sunday
Summary: 24.84 KM in 2:21 (5:42 pace) LSR in Dublin Mountains.

Parked at Tibradden and headed up forest fire trails and then along the DMI sleepers to cairn on top of Cruagh mountain and then over to military road (following the Dublin Peaks IMRA route). Then along military road past Lough Bray until reached the service road up to summit of Kippure. Military road a little too busy with drivers taking a Sunday spin. Later this Summer will extend this run to top of Kippure, but this is too much at the moment, so retraced my path back to Tibradden.

mithril

Monday
Summary: 5.26 KM in 29:27 (5:26 pace) recovery session on grass around Carysfort Park.

mithril

Tuesday
Summary: 12 KM in 1:12 (6:01 pace) on forest trails at Glen of the Downs.

Felt like a bit of a change so headed out on the motorway from Sandyford after work. 20 minutes brings you to the Glen of the Downs forest trails - not quite a wilderness since you can hear the hum from the N11 below you but still a nice spot to run.

A bit tougher than the pace indicates since it involves steep climbs on rough ground. I jogged the uphills because they were tough and then jogged the downhills to protect my ankles.

This was nearly the scene of my greatest sporting triumph during the Imra run 2 years ago. I was in my usual spot mid pack when with 2 KM to go a few of us realized that everyone ahead of us had ignored the race directions and headed up on an extra 3 KM loop. We then formed our own IMRA faction and headed home following the original directions -I was second at the time but finished sixth since I could not maintain my position in a steep downhill.
Eventually there were two sets of results published with a lot of us getting a much higher position than normal.

Slogger Jogger

Some nice trails there. I remember that imra race well. I probably wasn't too far off you on the 'short' course results that day.

mithril

Summary:
Interval session on U.C.D. track.

First 3 KM warmup.


5*400 with 400m recovery jogging.

1:21
1:21
1:23
1:20
1:18


4*800 with 400m recovery.
2:42
2:50
2:51
2:53

2 KM cool-down.


Better than last weeks fiasco but disappointed that the trend for the 800's is consistently slower as workout progresses which probably indicates I am running them too fast.

That concludes my short cycle of speed training. I have a 10k Race on Saturday and then the Cork and WW trail relays on the following weekends. Hopefully I will see some benefit of the speed training in these shorter races.

The slow build-up of mileage towards the Dingle 50 mile Ultra in September starts next week and emphasis therefore switches from speed back to endurance.

mithril

Thursday
Summary: 7.69 KM in 42:09 (5:29 pace) recovery run around the leafy neighbourhoods of Foxrock.

mithril

Friday
Summary: 3.16 in 16:49 (5:20 pace) easy recovery run before BHAA run.

Saturday BHAA Intel race
Summary:10KM in 40:19 (4:02 pace) BHAA Intel race
40th out of 236 Winning time 32:47


I had expected to run this in under 38:30, since I had broken 38 minutes in a GPS measured track run a week earlier. I knew that the GPS time was artificially fast because of the inaccuracies in the measurement and flat fast surface but I was still confident.

Preparation was not ideal - we had a morale event at work the previous night and a big meal plus a few classes of wine might have had some impact - but I had drunk plenty of water in the morning and was well hydrated going into this.

The obvious excuse would be to blame the weather - it was very hot and humid even at 11 in the morning and it seemed to knock about 1 minute off the normal finishing time of most runners who finished around me.

However, I ran well in Berlin in equally oppressive conditions for a marathon and I was also able to cope with the unseasonably hot weather in Connemara last month in the Ultra.

I started badly, targeted 3:50 for the first lap and when with a lot more effort than I should expended I achieved 3:53, I knew it was going to be a tough run. I put in one good downhill assisted lap for the fourth km of 3:44 but that was a mistake and I could not sustain the effort. When KM 5 went over the 4 minute mark , I knew that the game was up and focussed on getting around in one piece.
I managed to get a glass of water for the final lap and this helped. The race at least had the advantage of being over quickly. I managed a surge for the last 200 KM to 2:45 which surprised me and met Robin once I crossed the line. He had run a strong race given the conditions and finished 2 minutes earlier.
Hot showers - for once most of us would have preferred cold ones – were a bonus and met a few other boardies over coffee and brack in the gym afterwards.

I found the course pretty boring -3 laps of the Intel campus without any shade - and speed bumps and varying surfaces meant it was difficult to maintain a good rhythm. The real problem though was me - I just am not built for the short, fast stuff and I don’t have the motivation to push myself through the pain barrier when required.

mithril

Sunday WW Relay Leg 7 Recce.
Summary: Approx 18KM at recovery pace.I don't have the stats since I stopped the watch half-way through and forgot to re-start it.

Enjoyable run with Daithi and donothoponpop. Met Daithi in Tinahely, dropped his car at the end and ran back to Tinahely meeting donothoponpop on route and SJ at the end. Congratulations to Daithi who had a better experience than me yesterday - winning the 10km Wicklow race.
Route -dare I say it looks fairly straightforward - and I will keep my eyes on the Garmin where I have downloaded the route to make sure I don't go badly off course during the race itself. Nothing technical but a couple of uphill slogs which if you expend too much energy early on will bite you in the later stages. Glad to finally get this out of the way.