2012 4 Races for 4 PBs

Duanington

I'm fascinated by the diet thing....I'd honestly get as far as 2pm with your entire daily intake.
Different metabolisms etc I suppose

AuldManKing

outforarun wrote: »

No running today just logging diet. Not super healthy, too much processed stuff.

Track session tomorrow, hope the weather will have improved.

Tuesday 20 November

• Breakfast - Meusli with cashew milk
• Lunch - creamy mushroom soup from Centra deli, no bread
• Dinner - frozen vegan pizza from Supervalu, added some cherry tomatos and mushrooms
• Snacks - cereal bar, 4 oat crackers with honey, cashew nuts.
• Alcohol - none

Duanington wrote: »

I'm fascinated by the diet thing....I'd honestly get as far as 2pm with your entire daily intake.
Different metabolisms etc I suppose

I agree - I think you need to be able to fuel the workouts, I think your calorific deficit is too large on a daily basis.

You'd think I was a 30 stone heifer if you seen my daily food intake.

be careful in the coming days that you feel fueled.

outforarun

Duanington wrote: »

I'm fascinated by the diet thing....I'd honestly get as far as 2pm with your entire daily intake.

AuldManKing wrote: »

You'd think I was a 30 stone heifer if you seen my daily food intake.

Lol

outforarun

5x600m @ 3K pace

I wanted to run a speed session that wasn't too taxing ahead of a Parkrun on Saturday. This evening's run ticked that box nicely.

Chilly outside but at least the rain had stopped. Over to the track in AIT. I liked running 400s on and 200s off, simply because you could continue to loop around for the whole session, so tonight I'd run 600s on and 300s off, rather than my usual 90 seconds recovery doubling back and wandering about.

I aimed for 3K pace. Immediately on the first interval I saw 87 showing as I passed through 400m and it felt really easy. I do think the recent 400s run in 82s and 83s are to thank for this. All five intervals tonight were very manageable, it felt easy to hold form and effort levels were down compared to recent sessions. I was still working but neither lungs nor legs ever felt under too much stress. Running at around 5 seconds a lap slower than during my last track sessions makes a huge difference.

This acts as a nice confidence boost. It also left me feeling a little unfulfilled, I expect to feel fairly wrecked after a session, that wasn't the case tonight. I guess it should make me hungrier to suffer a bit come Saturday.

Interval 1 in 2:10.90
Interval 2 in 2:08.06
Interval 3 in 2:10.94
Interval 4 in 2:07.02
Interval 5 in 2:08.04

Average 600 in 2:08.99 @ 3:35 min/km [5:46min/mile]

Meanwhile on the diet front:

Wednesday 21 November

• Breakfast - Muesli with cashew milk
• Lunch - in cafe, tomato and basil soup with brown soda bread
• Dinner - visiting friends tonight, they'd prepared risotto (mushroom, blue cheese and strips of beef)
• Snacks - cereal bar, cashew nuts
• Alcohol - 2 Carlsbergs

WTD 5.86M MTD 118.37M YTD TBC

outforarun

Easy 5 Miles

Got back from Athlone this evening and threw on the runners straight away. Surprisingly pleasant conditions outside, not wet, not windy and not too cold. I just ran one lap of my 5 mile loop. Legs felt ok. The pace picked up naturally from miles 1 through 4 and so I decided to push a little just to ensure the final mile was the fastest. An easy progression run.

M01 8:50
M02 7:50
M03 7:27
M04 7:14
M05 6:57

Total 5.02M @ 7:40

Thursday 22 November

• Breakfast - Fruit-scone
• Lunch - butternut squash soup from Centra deli, no bread
• Dinner - peperonata (red & yellow bell peppers, cherry tomatos, ginger, tomato passata) with pollenta, one slice of olive bread
• Snacks - cereal bar, peanuts
• Alcohol - none

WTD 10.88M MTD 123.39M YTD 1616.35

outforarun

Easy 4 Miles

Lunchtime run today. Fairly cold outside, running jacket zipped up high and gloves on. Forgot to charge the Garmin so I recorded this via the Strava App on my phone. The live segment feature is fairly clever. Up the Khyber and down Acres. Light but cold headwind from Acres back to the Fort.
Happy to get under a warm shower after this.

M01 8:21
M02 7:51
M03 7:27
M04 7:34

Total 4.07M @ 7:48

Friday 23 November

• Breakfast - muesli with cashew milk
• Lunch - veg soup (sweet potato, bell pepper, onion and ginger), wholemeal bagel.
• Dinner - asparagus and pea omelette, foccacia bread
• Snacks - 4 oat crackers with honey, some milk chocolate
• Alcohol - 1 glass red wine, 1 Guinness West Indies porter

WTD 14.95M MTD 127.46M YTD 1620.42

Singer

Your diet would kill me. Nice run today

outforarun

Tune-up Parkrun in 18:35

A little over 5K of warm-up from Kilmainham across to Palmerstown Saturday morning. Along the way I try to get myself in the right frame of mind to tackle this run properly, it's my final key session before Jingle Bells and should give me an idea of where I'm at ahead of next Saturday's race.

Just as I arrive at the park it starts to rain. So a cold wet race in store. I arrive late and see the group already gathered at the start line. I dash down a grassy bank towards them. I'm not the only straggler so I just have time to join the front row, save my warm-up and get the watch ready for the race. Two seconds later we are off.

I had no time to settle myself properly, maybe not a bad thing, straight into the action. I spot 'Josh' written on the back of one of the three runners that start ahead of me and I know based on his recent performances here that the most I can hope for today is 2nd place. I tell myself that this is a perfect pace-maker, keep him in sight and I'll be doing ok. I overtake the other two runners after 100ms. I can already predict the dynamic of this race.

Speed down to the Liffey banks over the opening kilometre. A 3:25 shows on the Garmin for the first K, that's 5:31 min/mile pace. I love the start to this course. Along the banks and Josh is already around 100ms ahead of me. I hear no footsteps from behind me and I'm 99% certain that 2nd place is in the bag. Turn left over the very slippy footbridge and onto the first significant climb of the day. I glance down to the bridge and see no sign of third place.

I'm trying to avoid looking at the Garmin every two seconds, but I glance at my split for K2 and see a 3:45 [6:02] flash up. A little slower than I'd have liked, but I know that overall average pace should still be good at around 3:35 [5:46]. Josh is around 150m ahead now and continuing to widen the gap. I'm feeling the pinch already and I'm happy when we swing back downhill to the banks again. The first back markers are ahead of me along here and they act as a distraction. I don't check my K3 split when it sounds. I want to try run on effort and if I see the split is too slow it'll just deflate me. It's a lonely race in second.

K4 is tough. Part of me is convinced I'm leaking speed, part of me is saying your effort is fine and you're doing better than you think. After K4 sounds I risk a glance at the Garmin I need some feedback regarding average pace, I see 3:39 [5:52] showing. Ok that's better than I thought and encourages me to at least hold steady.

It's only 1K to go but I'm hurting and tiring and dreaming of the finish line. I get a few 'Well dones' from the backmarkers. I realise I can't see Josh anymore. Don't ease up. Finally reach the end of this stretch and take the right turn onto the steep curving climb that brings us back up towards the start/finish line. Breathing hard here and it's so tempting to ease off the effort on the climb. Pace drops but I stay honest, final turn and I up the pace for the last 50m. Done.

I see 18:35 on the Garmin (which is later officially confirmed). Nice, a Parkrun PB for me. I have to be happy with this. My 5K PB is 18:35, so one week out from race-day I've matched this and done so on arguably a tougher course. Next week I should be running in a group and running with a little more adrenaline. I do expect to better this morning's time, so provided the weather is ok and the racing line is ok I should have a new 5K PB this time next week.

I averaged around 3:43 pace this morning. If I can be travelling at that pace after 3.5K next week then I should be in a good position to PB given the downhill close at JB. I will though make an effort to check the Garmin less often next Saturday.

Chat with Josh for a while afterwards before running a relaxed cool-down back home.

K1 3:25.96
K2 3:45.31
K3 3:39.12
K4 3:45.93
K5 3:56.60

Final Time 18:35, 2nd of 61 finishers

Saturday 24 November

• Breakfast - porridge with rice-milk and honey
• Lunch - salad of corn-on-the-cob, tomato, cheese, garlic and parsley, with olive oil dressing
• Dinner - roast chicken legs, steamed baby potatos and asparagus roasted with the chicken for 15mins, paprika, oregano and rapeseed oil seasoning, some brown baguette.
• Snacks - 2 oat crackers with honey, 2 Bakewell granola biscuits, some milk chocolate
• Alcohol - 2 glass red wine, 1 Hop House

AuldManKing

Nice one on the park run matching the PB.

The little things all add up - like updating boards at 2.58am when you should be sleeping!
Keep an eye on the diet too - that cant be enough food!!

outforarun

AuldManKing wrote: »

The little things all add up - like updating boards at 2.58am when you should be sleeping!
Keep an eye on the diet too - that cant be enough food!!

I was wondering if anyone would notice the 2:58 bit! (I had fallen asleep for 2 hours on the sofa beforehand, but yes I should have gone straight from sofa to bed).

I feel fine diet wise, rarely hungry and I feel fueled for my runs. I am eating probably 10% less than normal these two weeks as I want to make sure I'm feeling light on the day. The 10% I cut out consists mostly of snacks and bread.

outforarun

MLR 14 Miles

Out of the house at 8:00 Sunday morning to hook up with the Donore group. Chilly overcast morning, fairly grim sky overhead. It warms up as the morning progresses and conditions become fresh and nice to run in, if it's like this next Saturday I'd be very happy. Lots of racing talk, lots of Jingle Bells talk. Don't really look at the Garmin at all this morning, just tip around chatting all the while. Everything is conversational. Legs feel fine after Saturday's Parkrun.

Looking forward to an easy midweek now. Will probably stay away from the track. Might just run 1K at sub 18:30 pace on the road.

Weighed in at 67.55 after this one, so my focus on dropping a couple of kilos ahead of the race has worked already, just need to hold it thereabouts for the next few days.

Need to get more sleep as well! It's 1am. Will target at least 6.5 hours a night but try for 7.

M01 9:13
M02 8:25
M03 8:28
M04 8:05
M05 7:43
M06 7:39
M07 7:33
M08 7:33
M09 7:45
M10 7:41
M11 7:20
M12 7:28
M13 7:32
M14 7:43

Total 14.39 @ 7:51

Sunday 25 November

• Breakfast - muesli with rice-milk
• Lunch - homemade cauliflower korma with basmati rice, some brown seeded bread
• Dinner - salad of raw spinach and kale leafs, cheese, green pepper, garlic, one hard boiled egg and a bean and beetroot burger (from a packet), olive oil dressing.
• Snacks - 2 oat crackers with rhubard conserve, 3 granola cookies, 2 fruit soya yoghurts, currants.
• Alcohol - 2 glass red wine, 1 Hop House

WTD 39.40M MTD 150.91M YTD 1644.86

El CabaIIo

outforarun wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone would notice the 2:58 bit! (I had fallen asleep for 2 hours on the sofa beforehand, but yes I should have gone straight from sofa to bed).

I feel fine diet wise, rarely hungry and I feel fueled for my runs. I am eating probably 10% less than normal these two weeks as I want to make sure I'm feeling light on the day. The 10% I cut out consists mostly of snacks and bread.

It really doesn't seem like you are eating near enough. I counted your calories from Friday and it doesn't put you at even halfway to the energy requirements of daily intake. You won't feel hungry on a calorie deficit once your body is used to it because your metabolism slows way down because it goes into starvation mode, a throwback mechanism to the days when people used to have to hunt food and might go days without a big meal. You'll also find it difficult to lose weight because your body starts to redirect it's source of energy. It actually cuts down on energy supply to all your nessacary organs to slow your body down and protect your fat storage. This has been shown to happen by just been in a calorie defecit of 500kcal.

You're eating lots of low calorie fiber there as well which will supress your appetite further, that's fine if you already eating a lot but you don't appear to be. I think it actually takes more calories to eat asparagus than you get from it. It's massively important to get in enough calories as a distance runner and just in general. Operating in a deficit for a long time can can really mess with your hormones and recovery and performance. Your body is slower to do everything when you don't eat enough. Trying to feel light for a race on deficit is a like walking a tightrope.

Count up the calories you are eating in total someday just to see, if you aren't coming close to 2500, you need to start eating more even if you don't feel hungry enough at first, your metabolism will need a kickstart again if that is the case and your appetite will soon follow after a while.

Be careful anyway anyway and don't put losing 2 or 3lbs on the pedastel of making you fast. There's a lot more to diet that might make you faster without looking at just weight as the end goal.

outforarun

outforarun wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone would notice the 2:58 bit! (I had fallen asleep for 2 hours on the sofa beforehand, but yes I should have gone straight from sofa to bed).

I feel fine diet wise, rarely hungry and I feel fueled for my runs. I am eating probably 10% less than normal these two weeks as I want to make sure I'm feeling light on the day. The 10% I cut out consists mostly of snacks and bread.

El CabaIIo wrote: »

It really doesn't seem like you are eating near enough. I counted your calories from Friday and it doesn't put you at even halfway to the energy requirements of daily intake. You won't feel hungry on a calorie deficit once your body is used to it because your metabolism slows way down because it goes into starvation mode, a throwback mechanism to the days when people used to have to hunt food and might go days without a big meal. You'll also find it difficult to lose weight because your body starts to redirect it's source of energy. It actually cuts down on energy supply to all your nessacary organs to slow your body down and protect your fat storage. This has been shown to happen by just been in a calorie defecit of 500kcal.

You're eating lots of low calorie fiber there as well which will supress your appetite further, that's fine if you already eating a lot but you don't appear to be. I think it actually takes more calories to eat asparagus than you get from it. It's massively important to get in enough calories as a distance runner and just in general. Operating in a deficit for a long time can can really mess with your hormones and recovery and performance. Your body is slower to do everything when you don't eat enough. Trying to feel light for a race on deficit is a like walking a tightrope.

Count up the calories you are eating in total someday just to see, if you aren't coming close to 2500, you need to start eating more even if you don't feel hungry enough at first, your metabolism will need a kickstart again if that is the case and your appetite will soon follow after a while.

Be careful anyway anyway and don't put losing 2 or 3lbs on the pedastel of making you fast. There's a lot more to diet that might make you faster without looking at just weight as the end goal.

Food for thought

Thanks for the comment.

I cannot deny that more often than not I don't hit 2500 in a day.
I need to emphasis that these 2 weeks represent a conscious effort to drop a couple of kilos before race day. So I am eating a bit less than normal. I find around this time of year that I make lots of trips to the cupboard and to the fridge and graze a lot between meals. I want to cut that out and if I do snack I want it to be a little healthier. I also want to cut out (for these two weeks) my habit of nibbling while I cook.

But point taken even if I was eating at my usual quantities I don't think I'd often hit 2500.

What I haven't detailed is portion size and in general my portions would be generous to large. And last week for example I had second helpings of risotto, roast chicken, and korma. Plus when I snack on nuts, I'll get through around 100g at a go, so that can be around 500cal on its own. So my food diary might look sparser than it actually is.

For years and years now I've eaten breakfast, a light lunch and then one main meal a day (at weekends or holidays, lunch often becomes the main meal). And snacked in between. I've always felt fine, rarely fatigued and I enjoy my food. I'd be reluctant to make any long term changes to my eating habits. If it ain't broken, etc.

What I do think, is that maybe I need to reconsider calorie intake when I jump up to marathon training. Normally I'd eat a little more when working through a marathon block. But of the 8 marathons I've raced only on one occasion did I not hit a serious energy drain some where after 18 miles.
I think it could be fair to say that I don't carry enough energy stores into race day. Something I need to consider ahead of DCM19.

outforarun

No running today. Just eating.


Monday 26 November

• Breakfast - porridge with rice-milk, honey and currants
• Lunch - veg soup (cauliflower, potato, pea and garlic) with wholemeal bagel
• Dinner - white pasta with sauce of aubergine, pea, tomato, tomato passata, spinach, kale and garlic. Slice of brown seeded bread.
• Snacks - 4 oat crackers with rhubard conserve, 4 digestives, 2 fruit soya yoghurts, currants.
• Alcohol - none

outforarun

Easy 6+ Miles with 1K @ 3K Pace

Weather conditions had improved by the time I headed out this evening for some mostly easy miles. Headed into town, around by the station and then back along Retreat Road and Cartrontroy Road. I startle a dog along here and it starts growling and barking. Bit of a stand off ensues but eventually I manage to continue on my way.

By Garrycastle Bridge I wake up the legs by running a single kilometre at speed. I don't check the watch but I suspect I'm travelling a little faster than 5K pace. The split logs at 3:39 [5:53]. Felt ok. Happy to have done this on undulating road rather than on the track, I had been thinking of some 600s but opted against them in the end.

That's it speed wise until Saturday.

Total 6.63M @ 8:30

Tuesday 27 November

• Breakfast - scrambled eggs on toast, one fruit soya yoghurt
• Lunch - veg soup (cauliflower, potato, pea and garlic) with wholemeal bagel
• Dinner - vegan pizza (frozen aisle) added cherry tomatos
• Snacks - 8 oat multi-seed crackers, some with peanut butter, 4 digestives, 1 fruit soya yoghurt, 2 apples.
• Alcohol - 2 Guinness

Wednesday 28 November
Not a good day diet-wise

• Breakfast - muesli with rice milk
• Lunch - peanuts (lots) and two bananas at desk, just too busy at work
• Dinner - Dominos small vegetarian pizza, protein yoghurt
• Snacks - peanuts
• Alcohol - none

WTD 6.63M MTD 157.54M YTD 1651.49

squiredanaher

racing tomorrow? good luck.
hope weather plays ball.
pbs always tough in december but
u seem to be in shape for it.
anyhoo best of luck.

outforarun

squiredanaher wrote: »

racing tomorrow? good luck.
hope weather plays ball.
pbs always tough in december but
u seem to be in shape for it.
anyhoo best of luck.

Thanks. I'm quietly confident. I'm also glad it's on at 11:00, extra hour or so of sleep is likely.

outforarun

Long day at work. Tiring day at work. Late home. Took evening off, no running.

Thursday 29 November

• Breakfast - fruit scone
• Lunch - butternut squash soup from Centra deli, no bread
• Dinner - Homemade Thai green curry (sweet potato, green beans, peas, sugar snaps) with white basmati rice.
• Snacks - peanuts, crisps
• Alcohol - none

outforarun

Easy 5 Miles

Up at 6:00 to travel to Athlone. Relentless work to hit some deadlines. Home around 8:00, fairly shattered. Had to get out though, cannot trot up tomorrow morning not having run since Wednesday. A lap of my go-to 5 mile loop. Mild out and no wind worth mentioning. If was like that tomorrow I'd be happy. Each mile tonight was a little faster than the previous, that happens often on this route.

That's that. November done (need to catch-up with my month reviews!) Going to try not think too much about tomorrow's race now.

M01 9:11
M02 8:15
M03 8:00
M04 7:49
M05 7:18

Total 5.01M @ 8:06

Friday 30 November

• Breakfast - muesli with rice milk
• Lunch - mushroom soup at Centra deli, no bread
• Dinner - white pasta with fried garlic, anchovies, chilli flakes and a dash of tomato passata, foccacia
• Snacks - muffin and some chocolate (have slipped on snacks last two days)
• Alcohol - 1 red wine, 1 Guinness West Indies Porter

WTD 11.64M MTD 162.55M YTD 1656.50

overpronator

I demand a race report.

outforarun

Yesterday’s race is something of game changer. What I thought was my optimistic 3K pace [3:35 to 3:39 min/km, 5:46 to 5:52 min/mile] turns out to be my 5K pace!

Pre-Race

I was quietly confident going into this one, but I was also aware that there’s not a lot of margin for error over 5K and that things could easily go wrong. I knew that whatever happened I’d need to work to hit any goals. I knew that I would be disappointed if I didn’t pick up a PB by going sub 18:35. I hoped I’d also go sub 18:30. Anything faster than that would be a bonus. Some of the guys I run with on Sunday morning had been suggesting I target 17:XX. I admired their optimism but didn’t entertain any thoughts that this could happen.

I made sure I left the house with plenty of time to spare. All week I had been expecting to wear gloves and a long-sleeve under layer on top, instead I needed neither. It was remarkably mild for a December morning. I ran along the towpath from Islandbridge to Chapelizod and then into the park at Chapelizod Gate. Ran up Acres to the starting area.

Donore had put up big clear pen-markers for walkers, for sub 25, for sub 20 and for sub 16. I place myself some metres back from the sub 16 marker and waited for things to get underway. The pen starts to fill quickly and I saw one runner with a double buggy settling into the sub 16 area. Looking ahead it was hugely evident that people weren’t respecting the pens. With around two minutes to go I knew I’d need to move forward or be stuck behind lots of traffic. I shifted forward ahead of double-buggy woman.

Lots of nervous energy, I want things to get underway. I wished I could feel as relaxed as I had done 7 days ago at the start of the Parkrun. The simple plan in my head was to try run a negative split and ensure I was travelling no slower than 3:43 [5:58] pace after 3K and then hopefully have something left in the tank to attach the last mostly downhill 2K.

Not long afterwards we are underway.

K1 in 3:40.33 [5:54min/mile]
Congestion. So many runners so clearly in the wrong place and lots of these with earphones in. Faster runners streaming around them to the left and to the right, elbows clipping. I hope no one clips me from behind, I hope I don’t clip someone from behind. I never enjoy this opening dash and I just want to get onto Chesterfield as soon as possible and into some free space. After around 500m the worse of the traffic has been navigated. Each time I glance at the Garmin I see a high 3:3X pace showing. Ease up a little. We pass the American Ambassador’s Residence and turn left onto Chesterfield passing the 1K marker. The split shows 3:40. Ok a little too fast, be careful.

K2 in 3:39.45 [5:53min/mile]
I make a key decision as I start up the drag into K2, I decide I’m only going to look at the Garmin at each kilometre split. So I focus on maintaining effort rather than on my watch. There are lots of runners to target and I’m slowly overtaking all the way along the ascent. There is a light headwind to deal with but I always had someone acting as a wind-shield. I still haven’t shaken off my starting line nerves and so I consciously tell myself to physically relax, try find a smooth form, try enjoy the moment. I think I’m travelling at the ‘correct’ effort but I’m not certain and that acts as an incentive not to ease up. ‘Beep’ the watch sounds the kilometre split, I check and see a 3:39 showing. Faster than the first K, cannot decide if that is good or bad. I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough.

K3 in 3:35.80 [5:47min/mile]
Another 200m or so of ascent up Chesterfield. I continue to overtake. We finally turn left onto OS Road. The road profile becomes more forgiving. My stride feels good and I feel stronger at this point than I had expected. I spot AMK up ahead and realise I’m closing in on him. His stride looks very neat and comfortable. I pass on the right and I don’t know if he’s seen me or not. All the time I’m trying to hold the effort steady. Based on the first two splits I don’t feel I need to push, and I reckon the easier profile should ensure the pace is ok. Around 150m before the crossroads with Furze Road the Garmin beeps again. A 3:35! Ok mentally now the game is changing and my confidence is growing. I’ve only got 2K to go and the last K is downhill all the way. If I can simply hold pace I know I’ll have my PB, and then some.

K4 in 3:35.65 [5:47min/mile]
This fourth K would be the critical one. Historically this is the K where I have struggled most and where I have missed out on PBs. I’m expecting things to rapidly become more difficult, bracing myself mentally for this to happen. Every second counts and so I focus on racing line, running corner to corner. I pass one young runner who I recognize from the start line, I think he recognizes me as well and he ups the pace moving ahead of me. I don’t want to get into a race with him (although strictly speaking it’s a bit late for that) but I do try hold the gap steady. We pass over the one mile to go timing mat. Without a doubt knowing that the final mile is being chipped acts as an additional incentive not to ease up. I continue to run corner to corner. Lungs are working and legs are starting to feel heavy, but I do feel I’m holding pace. The Garmin beeps and I see another 3:35.65. Brilliant, I’ve conquered K4.

K5 in 3:27.97 [5:34min/mile]
Don’t mess things up. I do briefly try to calculate whether or not a sub 18:00 is on. But I cannot make the calculations and I just tell myself to stop thinking and I focus on widening my stride and make the most of the downhill. I know the effort is not dropping and I know I’m speeding up. The lungs and legs are hurting though. I’m looking forward to this being over. I overtake a few more runners and I don’t recall being overtaken. The road flattens out again. The noise from the finishing line is growing. I turn right onto the final straight checking how far I have to go. I can see the finishing clock. I think I get a shout-out from someone in the crowd. I can hear some runners closing in from behind and I up the pace to ensure they don’t pass. I hear the commentator saying we are ‘just over 18:00 mins so still sub 6min miles’. I see 18:1X on the clock and I speed over the line. Hit stop on the watch and see a final time of 18:07.

Post Race

My initial and my lasting reaction is ‘Brilliant, nailed it'. That’s nearly 30 seconds off my 5K PB. I would have been happy with a sub 18:30, but I’ve gone under 18:15, under 18:10. I logged a negative split and each kilometre was a little faster than the previous.

But soon enough thoughts turn to those missing 8 seconds. Did I leave 8 seconds out there? I wasn’t bent over dry-retching, so the honest answer is probably yes. I reckon I did leave some seconds out there. But I was never actively targeting a 17:XX, I never believed I could get so close, so I don’t beat myself up over it. I focus on enjoying the PB and I know that next time out 17:XX will be the target.

I want to continue with my current 5K focused training for the next 2 months and if I do this and avoid injury then I’ll be suitably confident to target a 29:XX in Raheny, I’ll expect to get it. Then I need to find a 5K. I’m aware that the Jingle Bells is a fast course so I may not hit 17:XX on my first attempt but that is for sure the goal now.

My chip time is confirmed at 18:06 (so just 7 seconds off a sub 18:00). That’s an average pace of 3:37 [5:49min/mile]. This is the middle of what I’ve always considered to be my 3K pace. I won’t make any drastic pace changes in December when it comes to training. But in January I will push a little further.

I think all the faster than ‘3K pace' runs that I’ve done over the last weeks (the 10x400s and the mile TTs) have really worked for me, combined with the 5 and 6 mile tempos. I think not obsessing with the Garmin and running on effort between splits definitely worked well. I think the controlled diet of the last two weeks was beneficial (I weighed in at 68.65 post race).

Chatted with loads of others by the finishing area. And like others have said this is one of the big positives of this race and really makes you appreciate what a great bunch of people share this passion.

An excellently organized race and another faster mug for the collection.

Chip time 18:06 (flying mile 5:39) @ 3:37 [5:49min/mile].
P152 of 1194 finishers (13th in a race of 100).
P7 in category.

squiredanaher

brilliant. 17:xx is the real big one and it's in your line of sight.
i'll be trying the guinness west indies porter.
well done.

Back in Black

Well done on a cracking run and the huge PB.

MY BAD

Brilliant. Well done on your PB.

outforarun

squiredanaher wrote: »

brilliant. 17:xx is the real big one and it's in your line of sight.
i'll be trying the guinness west indies porter.
well done.

Thanks. I like it but seemingly it's an acquired taste.

Back in Black wrote: »

Well done on a cracking run and the huge PB.

Thanks. Good to chat again, been a while. Looking forward to seeing how you get on in Drogheda.

Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote: »

Brilliant. Well done on your PB.

Thanks. Yeah need to keep this momentum over the shorter stuff going for the next couple of months. Enjoyed your own race report.

outforarun

Easy 4 Miles

So Saturday evening we went out with friends for an early dinner. And then I moved on to other friends for drinks and a BBQ. Somehow I managed to find space for two meals. Back home late. Didn't exaggerate with drink but all the same I got up later than usual on Sunday and decided to take it very easy and headed out for a pleasant sunny 4 miler following the Camac and the canal. Legs felt absolutely fine after yesterday's race.

Low mileage week, but a good one all the same.

M01 8:59
M02 8:10
M03 7:49
M04 7:48

Total 4.01M @ 8:12

WTD 24.75M MTD 13.11M YTD 1669.61

outforarun

Easy 5 Miles

Opted to get out this evening after work for a run around my 5 mile loop. Warm running jacket and gloves on for this one, chilly bite in the air. Spent most of the run thinking about what I'll run this week. I fancy a track session but I reckon it would be safer to repeat the easier 5x600m session rather than a 10x400m. I'll leave the latter for next week. This weekend instead I think I'll run another 10K tempo.

Legs were fine this evening.

I have 4 weeks to try maintain my current shape and plan to close the year with a Parkrun PB attempt in Milan

M01 9:09
M02 8:09
M03 7:49
M04 7:38
M05 7:34

Total 5.02M @ 8:04

WTD 5.02M MTD 18.13M YTD 1674.63

outforarun

5x600m @ (new) 5K pace

Misty last night in Athlone, same session, different name. No longer 5x600 @ 3K pace, this is now 5x600 @ 5K pace.

I got out later than expected so didn't go to the track for this one. Instead I used my loop by Garrycastle Bridge, it measures around 1K. When I ran a fast K around this last week I was convinced I was travelling faster than the 3:39 that the Garmin logged. Last night I had a similar feeling - I was convinced I was running faster and pushing harder than during the Jingle Bells, but the Garmin was saying I was running slower. Just like on the IDA loop that I sometimes run here. I know that if I hit my session targets on either of these two loops then I have definitely not shirked on effort.

Over 20mins of warm-up then got to work. I knew from the first one that this was not going to be easy. I fell short of my target range [3:35 to 3:39]. I had 90 seconds recovery between 600s and they flew past. I had to push on each subsequent 600 to ensure I came home inside target. The last 150m of each interval were not a lot of fun. On the track these are so much easier than on this bumpy loop. Happy to finish this. I had planned on an 'easy' session tonight but that didn't happen.

Will try get back on the track next week for another 10x400 session. I've only three weeks from Monday before the Milan Parkrun, so probably only three speed sessions; two by 10x400s and a Parco di Trenno segment (3.6K) PB attempt.

Interval 1 in 2:13.31
Interval 2 in 2:10.66
Interval 3 in 2:09.67
Interval 4 in 2:10.18
Interval 5 in 2:09.64

Average 600 in 2:10.69 @ 3:38min/km [5:51 min/mile]

WTD 11.04M MTD 24.15M YTD 1680.65

outforarun

10K Tempo (39:29)

Last Friday I had planned on running in Athlone immediately after work. Not for the first time work got in the way of that plan. By the time I got back to Dublin I had already decided I wasn't going to head out, up since 6am hungry and tired.

So my Saturday morning tempo became a second consecutive session, no easy miles between Wednesday and Saturday. It's windy. I had planned on running this around the playing fields but decided it would be too exposed there and headed instead for the Furze-OS-Chesterfield loop. Hadn't realised the Aware 10K was on though. Too much clutter and traffic. So in the end opted for anti-clockwise loops from the Phoenix Roundabout up around North Road and back down Chesterfield. I know 10K will take 3 laps plus around 800m of a fourth.

The opening K and the pace feels ok. I want to travel between 3:56 and 3:59 [6:18 to 6:25]. The top section of the North Road is tricky as I turn into a strong headwind. I need to lean into this, rain is falling as well so a fair bit of squinting and grimacing is required. Happy to turn onto the footpath on Chesterfield and out of the wind. Glancing at the Garmin I see that pace drops on the North Road and then picks up down Chesterfield. By the time I get back to the roundabout I have just about recovered from the headwind section.

Lap 2 starts easy as I have the wind behind me for the opening 600ms or so. Then it's about bracing myself mentally before turning gradually into the wind tunnel for a second time. Form suffers along here and lungs are working harder. I'm really not looking forward to repeating this on lap 3. Recover down Chesterfield. Feeling tired but pace is holding steady at 3:56 or 3:57.

Lap 3, third time into the wind. Tell myself this will make me stronger. Lean in one last time. Doesn't feel quiet as tough this time round, maybe because I know it's the last time. Mentally I relax as soon as I turn onto Chesterfield, I know the hard work is over and I can enjoy the recovery back down to the roundabout. I turn for the fourth time onto North Road. The 10K is completed well before I have to deal with any headwind. Total time 39:29. The wind for sure made this more challenging than it should have been.

A good work-out.

04.11K @ 5:33 [2.55M @ 8:56]
10.00K @ 3:57 [6.21M @ 6:22]
03.97K @ 4:54 [2.47M @ 7:53]

Total 18.08K @ 4:31 [11.23M @ 7:17]

WTD 22.27M MTD 35.38M YTD 1691.88

outforarun

MLR 10 Miles

Up earlier than usual on Sunday. I'd a train to catch at 10:00 (Munster Castres). Out of the house around 7:20. It's been a while since I was out for a dark morning run. I begin with a lap of my 5 mile loop, over to Chapelizod, back toward town, over the bridge at Heuston, up the Luas tracks and swing right back to Kilmainham. I stop outside the Hilton and wait a while before being joined by overpronator and some of the other Donore guys. We head out along Chapelizod Road to the clubhouse. Joined by a few more. We head into the Park where the group grows again. Good group this morning and I'm sorry to have to leave them early. I turn down the Khyber and head for home.

Low mileage week with only 4 days running. Still though two good sessions in those 4 days.

M01 9:28
M02 8:08
M03 7:43
M04 7:28
M05 7:28
M06 8:13
M07 8:00
M08 7:59 (1700M for the year)
M09 7:20
M10 6:40

Total 10.47M @ 7:48

WTD 32.74M MTD 45.85M YTD 1702.35