2012 4 Races for 4 PBs

outforarun

Back in Black wrote: »

Brilliant running and that's a huge chunk of your PB. Great to see your consistency and dedication paying off so handsomely. I predict a great year for you with loads of PB's. Your 5k PB already seems soft based on that result!!

Thanks. Things have come together better than I'd expected in the last two races. I think the reduced fixation with the Garmin is helping.

Murph_D wrote: »

Impressive. Enjoyed the report. Congrats!

Thanks. Anxious now to get into a new training block ahead of 10K in K-Club. Keep this momentum going and I will expect to claim a 37:XX.

AuldManKing wrote: »

Super controlled racing D, you're going to have a great year. BTW - I cant believe you ate anything from that goody bag - all that disgusting sugar and chocolate

Thanks, fingers-crossed, touchwood I can build on this. Re the goody bag, I know, I feel bad .... might have to go on a diet

outforarun

Easy 8 Miles

A two day break before lacing up again Wednesday evening in Athlone. Cold out but not uncomfortably so. Settle into a very comfortable and relaxed pace as I run my default East Athlone loop. I take a short diversion to fit in a mile or so west of the Shannon.

As I run alongside the river, by the boat club, I feel a sharp twinge behind my left knee. Has me limping for a few strides, then passes. Don't know where that came from, I've had zero issues with the legs of late. A little apprehensive for the rest of the run. Reminded me not to take for granted my current injury-free streak. I'll play it safe for the rest of the week and give the legs ample time to recover from Raheny. From next week I'll officially start a 7 week 10K training block.

One other concern, this time last year I picked up a UTI that required antibiotics. I hope I haven't picked up another one!

M01 9:08
M02 8:12
M03 8:08
M04 8:08
M05 8:12
M06 8:12
M07 8:09
M08 8:14

Total 8.65M @ 8:16

WTD 8.65 MTD 155.81 YTD 155.81

Murph_D

outforarun wrote: »

...Anxious now to get into a new training block ahead of 10K in K-Club. Keep this momentum going and I will expect to claim a 37:XX.

Hopefully it's only 10k this year!

outforarun

Murph_D wrote: »

Hopefully it's only 10k this year!

May not be an issue. Realise I'll be in Cork on that weekend. Unless the race date changes I'll need to find an alternative 10K.

outforarun

Easy 8 Miles

Been guilty of slacking off a bit on here and on the roads. Need to catch-up.

Last Friday logged off at home, dressed for the cold and dark conditions and put the DCM headtorch on. Headed into the park at Park Gate and run a full ascent to Castleknock Gate. Down Tower Road to Chapelizod and home to Kilmainham. Main concern was my left knee I was hoping Wednesday's twinge was just a one-off. Thankfully both legs felt good the whole way round. Just to be safe I still decide to avoid anything fast until next week.

M01 8:43
M02 7:51
M03 7:13
M04 7:36
M05 7:41
M06 7:44
M07 7:00
M08 7:32

Total 8.38M @ 7:40

WTD 17.03 MTD 8.38 YTD 164.19

outforarun

Easy 6M with 4M Trail

Last Saturday morning I put on the neglected Dynafit's and headed over to the Munich Hills area. Probably not the best conditions for trail running, the sun was out but the ground was frozen solid. Enjoyed this all the same, a nice break from watching splits. Snow on the hills in the distance.

Total 6.16M @ 8:22

WTD 23.25 MTD 16.54 YTD 170.35

outforarun

Long Run 18 Miles

Out early enough for this one. Goal was to bring up 40 for the week. Opted for an out and back to Dun Laoighaire. I was happy to stick to the main roads and wasn't trying to stay close to the sea along the route. Didn't check pace on the Garmin and just let the legs decide the pace while keeping it easy.

Nine miles gets me very close to the North Pier. I run a tiny bit over 9 miles just to officially reach the pier. I reckon 10 miles would get me out the end of the South Pier. After a 5 min pause I head back the way I came. Just in case the knee should act up miles from home I carried a Leap card with me. Knee was fine though. I didn't feel any real energy fade near the end and the pace picked up comfortably.

Settled into cooking duties for the rest of the morning. Legs were fine later in the day but I did feel sleepy.

M01 9:12
M02 8:22
M03 8:04
M04 7:48
M05 7:48
M06 7:37
M07 7:32
M08 7:22
M09 7:16
M10 7:55
M11 7:37
M12 7:34
M13 7:33
M14 7:23
M15 7:27
M16 7:28
M17 7:04
M18 6:52

Total 18.29M @ 7:39

WTD 41.54 MTD 34.83 YTD 188.64

outforarun

Easy 6 Miles

I've been slacking off this week. Monday windows were taken by school drops and school collects and some single Dad duty. Tuesday was an early rise and a day trip to Athlone, too tired to head out when I got back. Wednesday I had planned a track session but got out of work late and needed to head out for a work dinner not too long afterwards. I might have been able to fit it in (10x400) but I couldn't be certain and I didn't want to commit to the session if I was unsure I could finish in time.

So instead Wednesday I just ran an easy lap of East Athlone. Keep it comfortable and just manage to stay on schedule for the evening. Legs were heavy and unresponsive, probably because of the two days without running.

M01 8:15
M02 7:46
M03 7:34
M04 7:37
M05 7:34
M06 7:43

Total 6.11 @ 7:44

WTD 6.11 MTD 40.94 YTD 194.75

outforarun

Easy 4 Miles

Arrived back home after 20:00 from Athlone last night. Was tempted not to go out but quickly got the gear on and went out for a gentle 4 miles. Legs felt ok. Home, shower, cook and eat at a Spanish hour.

Today I had hoped to get out for 10x400 in the Park. Working from home on a half-day and observing the silly wind blowing I changed my plan and decided it would better to run these out and back along Chapelizod Road. But then work got in the way and my window disappeared, had to dash for train to Cork.

Not a great midweek. Need to check racing calendar for K-Club alternatives and from next week I'll post up my running plans for the week. Find this should keep me more focused for a while.

M01 9:32
M02 8:39
M03 8:21
M04 8:21

Total 4.05 @ 8:42

WTD 10.16 MTD 44.99 YTD 198.80

outforarun

9 Mile Progression with cool-down

Early morning 10K Tempos are torture so heading out before 8:00am in Cork I opted for an easier reintroduction of speedwork.

I returned to my new Mardyke-Western Road loop. Running clockwise. I took the format of my 6M progression run and just beefed it up to 1.5M blocks instead of 1M blocks.

The first few blocks were very easy, the rise in pace barely perceptible and I was constantly applying the brakes. Really the challenge arrives in the last 2 blocks. I ran the 6:45 to 7:00 block too fast. In theory the final block is 6:15 to 6:30, but I've been running them faster. I see 5:5X pace showing on the Garmin so I opt to stay under 6:00 minute pace for the final 1.5 miles. Feels tough but manageable.

Please with this. I think I'll revise the structure of this run and add an additional block, 9:00 to 8:45, 8:30 to 8:15, 8:00 to 7:45, 7:30 to 7:15, 7:00 to 6:45, 6:30 to 6:15 and 6:00 to 5:45. This way I'll be more disciplined and likely to stay within the pace bands. Looking forward to trying this already.

Brought up 200 miles for the year as well.

1.5M in 13:06 @ 8:44
1.5M in 12:22 @ 8:15
1.5M in 11:29 @ 7:39
1.5M in 10:58 @ 7:19
1.5M in 10:01 @ 6:41
1.5M in 08:56 @ 5:57

Total 10.27M @ 7:26


WTD 20.43 MTD 55.26 YTD 209.07

outforarun

Easy 10 Miles

Bright and not very cold when I step outside before 8:00am on Sunday morning. Had planned on running to Glanmire and back to town via Montenotte, but instead at the last minute I opt to stay south of the Lee.

I head for Blackrock. Legs are heavy and it's a rolling route along the Blackrock Road. Takes exactly 4 miles to reach the castle and from there I continue for another mile into the sunrise along the estuary path. It's been 2 and a half years since I last ran along here, CCM16. Stop a while to take in the view and soak up the vitamin D, so quiet and relaxed here. Then turn around and head back to the castle. Back to town along the Marina. Just 10 miles in total. Legs remained heavy most of the way around. I think I should get a new pair of Asterias.

M01 9:06
M02 8:49
M03 8:16
M04 8:10
M05 8:02
M06 7:53
M07 7:38
M08 7:09
M09 7:25
M10 7:45

Total 10.17M @ 8:01


WTD 30.60 MTD 65.43 YTD 219.24

outforarun

Easy 4 Miles

Ok so as mentioned previously I won't be able to make the K-Club 10K on March 23rd. If they change the date, like they have done in recent editions then I should be good to run it.

I checked online for an alternative and I found a likely suspect. On April 25 in Seveso, a commuter train journey north of Milan there is the 41st running of the Seveso 10K.

I'll be in Milan at the time so it should work out well. It's pancake flat. It's in the evening so should hopefully not be too warm. Last year it had over 500 finishers with 33 runners breaking 38 minutes, so I should always have somebody to race and pace against.

Plus it gives me 10 and a half weeks of training rather than just 6 weeks of training for the K-Club. I'll probably try out some JD 10K specific sessions in some of these weeks.

My next goal race after this will be the Half Marathon in Cork in June, I think a 10 week block of 10K training followed by a month of HM specific sessions sounds perfect for a sub 1:25 run in Cork. During the 10 week block I will continue with Sunday MLRs and LRs, most with some strong and steady miles.

Starting to note key sessions week by week here to ensure I stay focused.

Started the first week with a heavy legged lunchtime run yesterday. Windy up on the Acres.

M01 9:03
M02 8:33
M03 7:54
M04 8:03

Total 4.01M @ 8:23

WTD 4.01 MTD 69.44 YTD 223.25

Week 01 Key Goals | Completed | Detail | Comment
10x400 | Not yet | |
10K Tempo | Not yet | |
40 Miles for Week | Not yet | |

outforarun

10x400 in 82s

It's been sometime since I last ran a track session and I could feel it. This was tough.

I started too ambitiously, the first five 400s were completed in an average time of 1:20.99, the last five 400s in an average time of 1:23.29. I found the last 4 laps were particularly tough and I was cursing the significant headwind down the home straight. Over the full 10 laps I recorded my best average split to date, a 1:22.14. However the recovery times were around 3 seconds longer than recently. Need to pace this more evenly next time out.

Legs were tired. Lungs were tired. Form was fairly poor, especially into the wind. But given that it was my first proper session in a while, given I'd been up since 6:10 and given the headwind, overall I'm satisfied with the evening's work.

I think I may have shared the track with some runners on cool-downs after their Grand Prix races on the indoor track this evening.

1:22.41
1:21.24
1:20.44
1:19.58
1:21.30
1:20.68
1:24.40
1:23.35
1:24.81
1:23.20

Average 400 in 1:22.14 @ 3:25min/km [5:30min/mile]
Average 200 recovery in 1:09.81

WTD 12.27 MTD 77.70 YTD 231.51

Week 01 Key Goals | Completed | Detail | Comment
10x400 | Yes | 1:22.14 average off 70 seconds recovery | Tough. Too fast on the opening laps.
10K Tempo | Not yet | |
40 Miles for Week | Not yet | |

outforarun

January Review

No question as to what the highlight of January was: going sub 30 in Raheny.
Felt strong for the first 3.5 miles then just about held it together for the last 1.5 miles to sneak across the line in 29:56. Thrilled with this and if I can just maintain training consistency then I will be confident of nailing (at least) a 37:XX for 10K and 1:24:XX for a HM. I've taken lots of confidence out of my last two races.

In the build up to Raheny I ran two 10K tempos. The first of these was a 39:18 and felt more comfortable than I'd anticipated. I think these tempos have been key for recent race results.

Only one track session (a 10x400) in January, I need to remedy this in February. I managed just one more interval session in the Park, a 5x800.

Mileage not huge for January I need to make more of an effort to ensure I hit 40 miles a week.

Month | Monthly Miles | Daily mileage for month | Weekly Mileage for month | Daily mileage for year | Weekly mileage for year | Predicted yearly mileage
January | 155.81 | 5.02 | 35.18 | 5.02 | 35.18 | 1835
February | | | | | |
March | | | | | |
April | | | | | |
May | | | | | |
June | | | | | |
July | | | | | |
August | | | | | |
September | | | | | |
October | | | | | |
November | | | | | |
December | | | | | |

outforarun

Easy 4 Miles

As easy runs go this was difficult. The legs had no zip whatsoever. Heavy, stiff, unresponsive and even a little ache. Mentally drained at work, can that affect the legs? This was run as soon as I logged off in Athlone Friday. An out and back. Even the more downhill back didn't wake up the legs. Some concern now ahead of tomorrow morning's planned 10K tempo.

M01 8:17
M02 7:44
M03 7:40
M04 7:26

Total 4.05M @ 7:45

WTD 16.32 MTD 81.75 YTD 235.56

Week 01 Key Goals | Completed | Detail | Comment
10x400 | Yes | 1:22.14 average off 70 seconds recovery | Tough. Too fast on the opening laps.
10K Tempo | Not yet | |
40 Miles for Week | Not yet | |

outforarun

10K Tempo (39:35)

I was genuinely concerned ahead of this one. My legs had been unusually heavy over the last few days. During my warm-up this morning they felt a little looser but still weren't inspiring any great confidence. Tell myself no heroics today, 3:59 [6:25] pace and a 39:59 would be fine. Opted for the Acres over my usual OS-Furze-Chesterfield loop. Light to medium headwind blowing up from the Fort.

I was prepared to abandon this one early if my legs weren't responding.

Turns out I needn't have worried, the tempo went fine.

The first two laps I felt very comfortably uncomfortable, one or two too fast alerts on each lap. It got a little trickier from the third lap but it was still very manageable. Pace whenever I checked the Garmin was showing 3:55 [6:18] or 3:56 [6:20]. I'm just happy my legs are behaving.

Into the fourth and final circuit. When I see that there is only one K to go I think "job done, that's in the bag". I switch off and lose concentration. After a while I think "hang-on, this isn't very fast", check the Garmin and see pace has dropped to 3:58 [6:23]. Oops, still inside tempo range, all the same I push over the last 250m or so. Finish with a 39:35. That'll do fine. I'm happy that I'm not terribly out of breath and within 30 seconds I feel relatively 'fresh' again.

Tip back home, satisfied with morning's work.

03.01K @ 5:34 [1.87M @ 8:57]
10.00K @ 3:58 [6.21M @ 6:23]
02.81K @ 4:33 [1.74M @ 7:22]

Total 15.81K @ 4:22 [9.83M @ 7:02]

WTD 26.15 MTD 107.90 YTD 245.39

Week 01 Key Goals | Completed | Detail | Comment
10x400 | Yes | 1:22.14 average off 70 seconds recovery | Tough. Too fast on the opening laps.
10K Tempo | Yes | 39:35 | much easier than expected
40 Miles for Week | Not yet | |

outforarun

MLR 14+ Miles

Sunday morning ran with overpronator and some of the Donore guys. Wind rain and sun. Legs were a little heavy at the start but quickly warmed up.
Found myself nearly always at the front of the group. Pace felt comfortable and was conversational throughout. Definite hint of spring in the air this morning and lots of runners out.

That's the first full proper running week since Raheny. Legs felt ok for rest of Sunday. Weighed in at 69.70k afterwards. Under 70, happy with that but would be happier to be in the 67s or 68s.

M01 9:07
M02 7:47
M03 7:53
M04 7:25
M05 7:22
M06 7:25
M07 7:15
M08 7:11
M09 7:38
M10 7:19
M11 7:12
M12 7:05
M13 7:20
M14 7:23

Total 14.65 @ 7:29

WTD 40.80 MTD 122.55 YTD 260.04

Week 01 Key Goals | Completed | Detail | Comment
10x400 | Yes | 1:22.14 average off 70 seconds recovery | Tough. Too fast on the opening laps.
10K Tempo | Yes | 39:35 | much easier than expected
40 Miles for Week | Yes | 40.80M | Post Sunday weigh-in 69.70k

outforarun

Easy 4 Miles

Felt like the warmest day of the year so far. Sun was out on Monday afternoon when I went on a short and easy lunchtime run. Ran my usual route clockwise rather than anti-clockwise, so I had a Khyber descent rather than a Khyber ascent. Some strong winds blowing across the Acres. Legs feeling ok.

M01 9:07
M02 8:17
M03 7:34
M04 8:00

Total 4.01M @ 8:15

WTD 4.01 MTD 126.56 YTD 264.05

Week 02 Key Goals | Completed | Detail | Comment
5x600 | Not yet | |
Parkrun targeting min 18:XX | Not yet | |
40 Miles for Week | Not yet | |

outforarun

4x800 in 2:56s

So with a Parkrun planned for this weekend, I wanted something sharp but not too demanding midweek. The original plan was for 5x600 on the track. However when I got there the floodlights were off, felt it wouldn't be very green for them to light up the track just for my 600s.

I opted instead to run the session around my Garrycastle Bridge loop. I checked the Garmin to see what workouts were available, 5x800 was the closest so I decided I'd use this but run just 4 intervals rather than 5.

I hate this loop. Without fail everything feels harder here. I feel like I'm pushing hard right from the start of each 800. I have no doubt that the effort is higher here than on the track. It is also higher than on the Furze-OS-Chesterfield. It doesn't help that there is a headwind to deal with on one side of the loop, nor that that side features an incline.

Each 800 is a little slower than the previous. The last one I'm wrecked as I lean into the headwind and tackle the incline. Form is gone. Last 800 I cannot even break 3:00!

Not thrilled about the splits, but happy with the effort. Hope it wasn't too much effort. There are three loops I sometimes run and they all feel inordinately tough: the Garrycastle Bridge loop, the IDA loop only a few 100m from Garrycastle, and the industrial park loop down in Little Island in Cork.

Floodlights were on as I passed the track on my cool-down.

Interval 01 in 2:52.84 @ 3:36 [5:48]
Interval 02 in 2:54.20 @ 3:38 [5:50]
Interval 03 in 2:57.19 @ 3:41 [5:56]
Interval 04 in 3:00.58 @ 3:46 [6:03]

Average 800 in 2:56.20 @ 3:40 [5:54]

WTD 9.94 MTD 132.49 YTD 269.98

Week 02 Key Goals | Completed | Detail | Comment
5x600 4x800 | Yes | average 800 in 2:56.20 | Hate this loop
Parkrun targeting min 18:XX | Not yet | |
40 Miles for Week | Not yet | |

outforarun

Easy 4 Miles

A before work run on another unseasonably warm February morning. Over to Inchicore and back along Emmet Road to Kilmainham. Up to Suir Road and follow the canal to Dolphin's Barn. Through Rialto and back to Kilmainham. A trip through IMMA and home. Legs felt fine this morning.

M01 9:01
M02 8:20
M03 8:04
M04 7:56

Total 4.20M @ 8:19

WTD 14.14 MTD 136.69 YTD 274.18

Week 02 Key Goals | Completed | Detail | Comment
5x600 4x800 | Yes | average 800 in 2:56.20 | Hate this loop
Parkrun targeting min 18:XX | Not yet | |
40 Miles for Week | Not yet | |

outforarun

Easy 8+ Miles

London running. Chilly and foggy this morning. Glad I packed gloves. Run 2.5 urban miles to arrive at Finsbury Park. Two laps and head back the way I came. The idea was that I would run a Parkrun here tomorrow morning but it looks like that might not be able to happen, other social arrangements have fallen in conflict.

Instead I'll get out earlier and run a solo 5K closer than Finsbury. Target will be to run 5K at desired Seveso 10K pace, 3:45 min/km for an 18:45. This would have been far easier to do in a 400+ strong Parkrun field.

Legs were good today. Quite a few out on a Friday morning. Fog had burned off and chill had gone by the time I was done.

M01 8:57
M02 8:07
M03 7:58
M04 7:35
M05 7:55
M06 7:17
M07 7:12
M08 7:32

Total 8.81M @ 7:46

WTD 22.95 MTD 145.50 YTD 283.99

Week 02 Key Goals | Completed | Detail | Comment
5x600 4x800 | Yes | average 800 in 2:56.20 | Hate this loop
Parkrun targeting min 18:XX | Not yet | |
40 Miles for Week | Not yet | |

outforarun

5K@10K

Spent a lot of time on my feet in and around Central London on Friday, so I don't think I was 100% fresh ahead of this one. It's foggy again in the morning. I warm-up for around 2 miles before finding my starting line in Clissold Park.

Target pace in Seveso will be 3:45 [6:02] for a 37:30. So Saturday's plan was to try this out for 5K. Should see me home in 18:45. I spent my warm-up convincing myself that this would be tricky but not too tricky. My 5K route consisted of 3 and a bit loops inside the park. One steepish incline of about 200m, one downhill drop also lasting around 200ms. Mostly sweeping corners just one sharpish turn onto a footbridge.

I get the 5K started. Opening pace isn't as terrible as I'd feared. I only check the watch as each 1K split sounds. First split is a 3:42.51. This shows as 3:42 on the Garmin and I tell myself I'm 3 seconds up. Already on K2 I start feeling the pinch. All the same the Garmin shows a second split of 3:40, I'm 8 seconds up after 2K.

K3 is tough. Holding this for 10K seems a long way off right now. I can feel I'm slowing, I can feel my stride becoming heavier. I'm really not enjoying the 200m incline. Despite the rising effort levels I still log a 3:44 to move 9 seconds up.

K4, knowing I had 9 seconds to play with, I ease up a fraction. Probably more accurate to say I stop pushing rather than saying I ease-up. Effort is certainly not easing up. I log my slowest K of the morning with a 3:48. So 6 seconds up as I head into the final K.

I focus on trying to maintain effort. Try not to see any more pace scrubbed off. Lungs and legs working hard under London mist. I complete 3 laps and then need to tackle the 200m incline one final time. Thankfully the Garmin sounds after only around 100m of the climb.

See 18:41 as final time. Target achieved with 4 seconds to spare. But this was far tougher than I'd hoped. Mitgating factors: it was a solo run so no crowd to pull me along (an 18:41 would have seen me finish 7th of 500+ runners in Finsbury Parkrun this morning); plus as mentioned above I had lots of Central London miles in the legs from Friday.

Overall I'm satisfied as I run my cool-down back home. Like yesterday the mist would lift and we were treated to another gorgeous blue sky day.

K1 in 3:42.51
K2 in 3:40.93
K3 in 3:44.43
K4 in 3:48.99
K5 in 3:43.94

Total 18:41

WTD 29.75 MTD 152.30 YTD 290.79

Week 02 Key Goals | Completed | Detail | Comment
5x600 4x800 | Yes | average 800 in 2:56.20 | Hate this loop
Parkrun targeting min 5K in 18:45 | Yes | 18:41 | Hardwork. 10K at this pace seems beyond me right now.
40 Miles for Week | Not yet | |

outforarun

MLR 10 Miles

Flew back from London last Sunday afternoon. After catching the end of the Italy game I laced up and headed out for my final run of week 2, objective a relaxed 10 miler to bring up 40 miles for the week.

Daylight just starting to fade as I set off. Head over to Inchicore and on to Chapelizod. Nearly get reversed into in the village. Tackle Knockmaroon and continue up to Castleknock. Much darker now as I turn right to enjoy the long net descent from Castleknock to Park Gate. By the time I exit the Park it is fully dark. Islandbridge to Heuston to James and back home to Kilmainham. Bringing up 40 for the week and 300 for the year. Legs felt good after yesterday's tough 5K effort.

M01 8:49
M02 8:05
M03 8:07
M04 8:14
M05 7:43
M06 7:32
M07 7:25
M08 7:32
M09 7:19
M10 7:46

Total 10.44M @ 7:51

WTD 40.19 MTD 144.35 YTD 300.16

Week 02 Key Goals | Completed | Detail | Comment
5x600 4x800 | Yes | average 800 in 2:56.20 | Hate this loop
Parkrun targeting min 5K in 18:45 | Yes | 18:41 | Hardwork. 10K at this pace seems beyond me right now.
40 Miles for Week | Yes | 40.19 | -

outforarun

Progression Run 6M with 1M Cool-down

Temperature had dropped a little come Wednesday evening, still warm for February though. Didn't want an interval session on top of last Saturday's 5K, so opted instead for progression run. Ran this on the usual Athlone route. I know the point where each mile split occurs: Garrycastle Bridge, Cornamaddy School, Bridge over the N6, Behan's Country Market, AIT, IDA Park.

Each step up in pace is very manageable. It's really all about the last 2 miles, a 6:40 which was very easy to maintain and a fast final mile. I was pleased with this final one, I wasn't checking the Garmin but based on effort I would have guessed I had logged something around 6:07 to 6:09, so I'm really pleased to see a 5:53 split. Cool down for a mile and I'm done.

Will be back to the track next week.

M01 8:46
M02 8:14
M03 7:40
M04 7:10
M05 6:40
M06 5:53

Total 7.02M @ 7:27

WTD 7.02 MTD 151.37 YTD 307.18

Week 03 Key Goals | Completed | Detail | Comment
Short Progression Run | Yes | mile splits from 8:46 to 5:53 | Relaxed legs throughout
10K Tempo | Not yet | |
40 Miles for Week | Not yet | | -

outforarun

Easy 6 Miles

Been falling behind here again, largely due to being busy at work. Last Friday I worked from home and got out in the early evening. Didn't fancy any of my usual loops so I opted to open my account for March with for an out-and-back. Headed 3 miles west. Brings me through Inchicore over to Chapelizod and up to the Applegreen petrol station at the start of the Lucan Road. Turn around and retrace my steps home. For most of this run there was a light rain falling. Legs were ok.

M01 9:14
M02 8:24
M03 8:26
M04 7:47
M05 8:10
M06 7:52

Total 6.03M @ 8:18

WTD 13.05 MTD 6.03 YTD 313.21

Week 03 Key Goals | Completed | Detail | Comment
Short Progression Run | Yes | mile splits from 8:46 to 5:53 | Relaxed legs throughout
10K Tempo | Not yet | |
40 Miles for Week | Not yet | | -

outforarun

10K Tempo (39:45)

This was really tough. In the previous couple of days I'd noticed my nose had been blocking up, I had a tickly cough and a slightly irritated throat. I'm hoping that it was this which saw effort levels soar for this tempo.

Conditions weren't great. Wet and blustery. I stalled as long as I could before heading out. Headed up the Khyber, too windy for the Acres today, continued up to the Furze-OS-Chesterfield loop.

First lap and I could already tell that it was going to be a long morning. I wanted no heroics, 3:59 pace would have been fine, I just wanted to be sure of breaking 40 mins for the tempo.

Effort was high and I was travelling mostly at 3:57 or 3:58 pace. I had to concentrate to hold this. At half-way I had a lot of voices in my head telling me to bin this session. I did a good job resisting these voices and battled on. On the last lap my legs were tired, my lungs were tired, I felt heavy, my form felt poor. As I turned onto OS for the final time the Garmin beeped for too slow. Pushed on this final length to ensure I logged a 39:XX.

Drained after this. Cool down run back home. Legs felt exercised for the rest of the day. I hope this was a one-off. 3:59 is the probable pace I will target in the HM in Cork in June. Right now that pace feels out of reach, but there's plenty of time to fix that.

02.34M @ 8:30
06.21M @ 6:24
02.79M @ 8:10

Total 11.35M @ 7:16

WTD 24.40 MTD 17.38 YTD 324.56

Week 03 Key Goals | Completed | Detail | Comment
Short Progression Run | Yes | mile splits from 8:46 to 5:53 | Relaxed legs throughout
10K Tempo | Yes | 39:45 | High effort levels, thing I have a bug of some sort
40 Miles for Week | Not yet | | -

overpronator

Well done on getting on through that man, the fact that you held that on a windy tempo day in the park would make me very confident you'll hold it in a half. I definitely don't need to tell you how much a wind blowing up there exacerbates the effort needed to finish a session on target so you should take confidence from rather than being deflated.

outforarun

Going to dip in and out of here during the long weekend to get back up to date. Been really busy at work (and will be until year-end at least ) and come working day evening time I'm usually too jaded to update.

After my last posted run above I skipped my first run of the year, no medium/long run on the Sunday. I skipped this for two reasons, a late evening with the neighbours the night before, and a continued feeling of being under the weather. I didn't feel tooooo guilty about skipping this one.

Easy 8 Miles on Monday 4 March

So last week I needed to work out of Athlone every day. Got down before 8:00am on Monday morning. Fairly tired come Monday evening but still happy to get out. The conditions were absolutely wretched. Strong winds with powerful gusts and heavy constant cold rain. Soaked through after a mile. Run my usual loop and go west of the Shannon for a little. My eyeballs are sore from the numbing cold wind and rain.

M01 9:05
M02 8:37
M03 8:22
M04 8:00
M05 8:16
M06 8:05
M07 7:59
M08 8:14

Total 8.22M @ 8:20

WTD 8.22 MTD 25.60 YTD 332.78

Week 04 Key Goals | Completed | Detail | Comment
Track 5x800 @ faster than 5K pace | Not Yet |
Longer Progression Run | Not Yet | |
40 Miles for Week | Not yet | |
-

outforarun

5x800 in 2:50s

Wednesday 6 March

It had been a while since I ran a set of 800s on the track and by the last 2 intervals I was really feeling these. No significant wind at play this evening.

Completely misjudged the opening 800, haring off and logging a high 2:45, that’s 17:17 5K pace. Ahead of the session I had been planning on running these in 2:52s or 2:53s. Reeled in the effort over the next two. Then the fourth interval and I do longer needed to consciously reel in the effort, no risk of going to fast anymore. Happy to finish the final 800 and close this session. Averaged these at 3K pace [a 10:39] rather than 5K pace [a 17:45].

Each 800 was a slower than the previous, with a spread of over 7 seconds between the fastest and slowest. Recoveries as well were getting longer as the session progressed, the final recovery over 6 seconds slower than the first.

Next time out I need to target greater consistency across the intervals and recoveries. Need to get better at judging the pace of the first interval and ensure it doesn’t come back to bite me. 5x800 off 400 recovery is a simple session but there are so many areas to fine tune within it.

I1 in 2:45.93
I2 in 2:50.23
I3 in 2:50.31
I4 in 2:52.44
I5 in 2:53.31

Average 800 in 2:50.44 @ 3:33 min/km [5:43 min / mile]
Average 400 recovery in 2:07.28

WTD 16.43 MTD 33.81 YTD 340.99

Week 04 Key Goals | Completed | Detail | Comment
Track 5x800 @ faster than 5K pace | Yes | average 800 in 2:50.44, average recovery in 2:07.28 | fast opening 800 came back to bite
Longer Progression Run | Not Yet | |
40 Miles for Week | Not yet | |

outforarun

Easy 4+ Miles

Finish a full Athlone based working week by logging off, throwing on the runners and getting out for over 4 miles before heading back for Dublin. Probably ran a little faster than intended because I was slightly stuck for time, but the pace still always felt easy. Notice that despite over 1000 miles logged on the Glycerins, they still carry a nice bounce.

M01 8:06
M02 7:50
M03 7:31
M04 7:21

Total 4.80M @ 7:36

WTD 21.23 MTD 38.61 YTD 345.79

Week 04 Key Goals | Completed | Detail | Comment
Track 5x800 @ faster than 5K pace | Yes | average 800 in 2:50.44, average recovery in 2:07.28 | fast opening 800 came back to bite
Longer Progression Run | Not Yet | |
40 Miles for Week | Not yet | |