I can see the sun in wintertime

racheljev

Plan: 50 min tempo run
Actual: 51:29, 6 miles as follows:
9:26, 8:23, 8:10, 8:08, 8:14, 9:06

Switched Monday and Tuesday sessions this week - appt with doc tomorrow for various blood tests so didn't want to have to do tempo after that! Very tired again as I started but by mile 3 (mile 2 of tempo miles) I felt great and feet were flying. Right lower leg/ankle bit sore. Niggly rather than painful while I'm running. Making appt to sort that out later today - it's going to be an expensive week....

racheljev

Plan: 10 x 400 @ mile pace
Actual: 6.7 miles in 57:44 as follows:
1 mile @ 9:31 pace (w/u)
1:48, 2:20, 1:42, 2:18, 1:46, 2:09, 1:48, 2:21, 1:46, 2:18,
1:46, 2:17, 1:45, 2:20, 1:48, 2:24, 1:45, 2:20
1.2 mile @ 9:30 pace (c/d)

So, only 9 instead of 10 x 400. Although to be perfectly honest, I'm surprised I even got 9 done. Felt like absolute sh** since yesterday's blood tests and other unpleasant doc stuff. Didn't attempt to run yesterday after all that. Didn't feel a whole lot better this morning but decided I had to get some sort of a run in. So off I headed. I didn't head to my usual 400s spot - I just ran and incorporated the 400s into the run. Some were uphill, some were downhill, some were into the wind. The times are all over the place as a result. When I got to the 6th one, I stopped and stretched for a minute and then did the rest. I really wanted to do a 10th one to finish it off, but I literally couldn't do it - after the 9th one I was gone. Disappointed I didn't do the full 10, but happy I got 9 done.

digger2d2

racheljev wrote: »

Plan: 10 x 400 @ mile pace
Actual: 6.7 miles in 57:44 as follows:
1 mile @ 9:31 pace (w/u)
1:48, 2:20, 1:42, 2:18, 1:46, 2:09, 1:48, 2:21, 1:46, 2:18,
1:46, 2:17, 1:45, 2:20, 1:48, 2:24, 1:45, 2:20
1.2 mile @ 9:30 pace (c/d)

So, only 9 instead of 10 x 400. Although to be perfectly honest, I'm surprised I even got 9 done. Felt like absolute sh** since yesterday's blood tests and other unpleasant doc stuff. Didn't attempt to run yesterday after all that. Didn't feel a whole lot better this morning but decided I had to get some sort of a run in. So off I headed. I didn't head to my usual 400s spot - I just ran and incorporated the 400s into the run. Some were uphill, some were downhill, some were into the wind. The times are all over the place as a result. When I got to the 6th one, I stopped and stretched for a minute and then did the rest. I really wanted to do a 10th one to finish it off, but I literally couldn't do it - after the 9th one I was gone. Disappointed I didn't do the full 10, but happy I got 9 done.

Look at you with your 400 repeats

RayCun

digger2d2 wrote: »

Look at you with your 400 repeats

+1
A good pace too, under 7 minute miles on some of them

racheljev

Plan: 6 miles
Actual: 6.4 miles in 2 parts:
2.8 miles in 25:39 to athletic therapist & 3.6 miles in 32:48 home!

Grand run this morning, nothing to report. Therapist reckons my lower leg ache is an inflammation of the tibialis posterior muscle (or she might have said tendon - I did well to remember the tibialis bit :rolleyes:) As it's not causing me too much problems running, she doesn't need me to stop completely - just ease back a little. She wants me to take it easy tomorrow, ice it and use anti-inflams - either tabs or gel, whichever is easier. She also gave me a load of strengthening and stretching exercises to do. Happy enough with that - it's not causing me too much trouble but I want to nip it in the bud before it does. She also reckons I don't need the orthotics, she said my arches are fine. So I've to reduce the lifts in the orthotics a bit at a time and then hopefully run without them at some stage. So will take a rest day tomorrow and decide on Saturday whether to run pace miles or not. I've most of the training for the Raheny 5 done at this stage so if I take it easy for the next week until the race, it shouldn't affect me too much - hopefully...

jcsmum

Fingers crossed you'll be okay for Raheny.

racheljev

Plan: 5 miles w/3 @ pace
Actual: 7.8 miles w/4 @ tempo as follows:
9:26, 9:08, 8:40, 8:13, 8:22, 8:38, 8:59, 0.8 @ 8:59 pace

I didn't feel able for the pace miles this morning - the wind out there was pushing me backwards when I started running. I know I should have given myself a dose of HTFU but honestly, that frickin wind! So I decided I'd try to do a few tempo miles instead. They felt ok, hard but not vomit inducing. Tomorrow was supposed to be 8 miles, so I'll do 5 instead - might try 1 or 2 pace, will wait and see. Leg muscle feels ok, bit niggly when running. More strengthening and stretching and icing today. Have to get to Raheny!

Bally8

Mind yourself Rachel little niggles are so very annoying.


On the orthotics -did she say you dont need them any more because they made you better or does she think you never needed them in the first place?

racheljev

I got them around the time of the stress fracture - physio said one leg shorter than the other, and arches collapsing so orthotics with adjustable lifts recommended. Athletic therapist measured my arches, checked my feet and legs and said she doesn't think I need them. She said my arches were fine, normal height apparently. She also said the lift to fix leg length should be flat, not tilted. So I'm going to reduce the lifts, a bit at a time, with the aim of getting rid of them completely - hopefully...:)

racheljev

Haven't been on since last weekend -haven't been in the best for the last week or so. Leg was playing up as well so I took a few days off. Didn't run from last Sunday till Thursday, when I did an easyish 4 miles. My head wasn't in a good place at all and it was affecting everything else. I had targetted Raheny as a goal 5 mile but, up till this morning, I wasn't definitely doing it - not a good place to be!

Headed up to Raheny for 2ish, but got caught in traffic so had to abandon my lift at Killester because I was afraid I'd be late to collect my number. Ran the mile or so to the school as a warmup, collected the number and tried to stay dry - not an easy thing to do today. As I wandered around waiting for the start, I met Woddle and we had a chat. Then it was time to get moving.

As usual, I started too far back and the first mile was spent trying to get past people (8:04). My goal was to keep the avg pace between 7:45 & 7:50, that way I'd definitely pb. Mile 2 went better, 7:40. Mile 3 went even better, 7:39. Mile 4 wasn't great, I got caught on the path when we turned onto the coast and I couldn't get past people. When I got onto the road it was better. Hit the 4 mile sign on Watermill road so I knew we were nearly there. The hill didn't mess me up that much, I slowed down a teeny bit to give my legs a break and then sped up a bit more as the hill finished. Mile 5 was 7:41. I really wanted to break 40 on the clock, but as it was already at almost 2 mins when I started, that wasn't going to be today. Watch time 38:57, avg pace 7:47. Got my goody bag and headed straight for home. Miscommunication between myself and OH meant he was sitting at All Saints Road waiting for me in the car, while I was 2 miles further down the Howth road jogging home with the very heavy goody bag - ah well, at least it was a decent cool down :rolleyes:

Last year's time was 42:04 so I blitzed that. The Aware 5 mile was 39:47 so I took 50 seconds off that. I'm happy with the time but in a strange detached way. I'm not jumping up and down, which I would have been earlier on in the program. Not sure what's going on, but the head needs to be sorted out and a hefty dose of HTFU may need to be taken.

Anyway - 38:57 today, happy out.

shazkea

Well done Rach, great time. I hated that flipping hill :mad: I'm loving the goody bag though - serious weight in it!

racheljev

shazkea wrote: »

Well done Rach, great time. I hated that flipping hill :mad: I'm loving the goody bag though - serious weight in it!

Didn't realise you were doing this as well Shaz, thought you were away? How did you get on?

shazkea

racheljev wrote: »

Didn't realise you were doing this as well Shaz, thought you were away? How did you get on?

Supposed to be but never got my tickets for my flight today so what could I do only run Raheny :rolleyes:. Funny that I didn't raise a stink over it!

Yeah happy with my time 41:10...was looking for anything under 45

rainbow kirby

^ Nicely done Shaz, looks like a good day all round

Woddle

Great time and nice to meet you properly and thanks for the pin, it would have wrecked my head

jcsmum

Well done Rachel, great time. That's two super January races!!

claralara

Well done Rachel. Great running! It’s difficult to get out of a bad headspace sometimes – and running is probably the worst hobby to have in those circumstances. Huge congrats though, you totally deserved that great run. Hope you’re feeling ok otherwise

racheljev

Not much done this week. Rest day Monday, unintended rest day on Tuesday, 4.8 miles on Wednesday, sick child on Thursday and today. Got out at 6:30 this morning to make sure I got a few miles in - 4 miles done.

Head still not right. Don't know why, can't explain it. Feeling very down in a non-specific way - no reason for it but can't shake the feeling that something not nice is about to happen. Doing my best to talk myself through it and administer a$$ kick as well. The Boy's confirmation is in 3 weeks so need to get the act in gear for that.

Signed up for the Luxembourg marathon on 19 May so something else to aim for. I reckon I'll give the P&D 12 week (up to 55 mpw) program a go. Going to take the running handy for the next few weeks untl the program starts. I've been on one program or another fairly steadily since last summer, so a few weeks of unregimented running of 25-30 mpw will hopefully do no harm

jcsmum

A few non-program running weeks will be great. Good that you have the marathon to focus on too, that will hopefully improve the head.
Hang in there, you've had a super start to the year running wise.

Mr Slow

Well done on the race Missus, hope the mood improves, there's a lot of it going around, I call to at least 10 people a day and there's definitely an air of pleh about the place. Once the clocks go forward and the hope of a decent Summer starts to appear we'll all be back in good form contemplating which is the best beer garden, and whether it's better to clean the old BBQ or buy a new one!

Bally8

Mr Slow wrote: »

Well done on the race Missus, hope the mood improves, there's a lot of it going around, I call to at least 10 people a day and there's definitely an air of pleh about the place.

+1 on this. I've been feeling it myself, just sad. Anyway I find keeping very busy helps and planning my next few races. Also the brighter weather is def helping me. Hope you feel better soon.

littlebug

Bally8 wrote: »

+1 on this. I've been feeling it myself, just sad. Anyway I find keeping very busy helps and planning my next few races. Also the brighter weather is def helping me. Hope you feel better soon.

++ 1 on this. First thing I thought when I read your post. It's that "meh" time of year, that yukky in betweeny phase. It'll pick up

Nules10

+++1 on the above posts Rachel. It's a strange type of feeling alright just can't put your finger on it. Time of the year. But one thing I noticed this evening it was bright until 5.19 at least so that's a plus. Soon the bright evenings will be in and we will be bounding around the place. Mr slow is right old or new BBQ

racheljev

Thanks folks. And on with the running and logging.

Saturday:
6.7 miles in 63:43. Very wet and rainy but no problems. Took it handy enough, kept the avg pace close enough to 9:30ish for most of the miles. A few ups and downs to keep the legs ticking over.

Sunday:
5.7 miles in 53:47. Followed a route that meant a decent uphill early on. Legs gave out a bit but it was fine. No problems again.

Right leg still quite sore close to the ankle - but not the ankle. Doesn't bother me when running but gets sore after and then a bit stiff as well. I've been neglecting the stretches and strengthening exercises so will make myself do them this week. Lux program starts on 27 Feb, so have a bit more time to build myself and mileage back up. 21.2 this week - not great by any stretch, must do better next week.:)

racheljev

2 weeks since I posted, eeek! The first week (6 -12 March) contained the grand total of 9.65 miles run.... Got an awful cold and couldn't move for a few days. Had to move of course, children had to be fed and clothed and brought to school and gym and gaa etc etc. But as soon as I got home, I got back into bed and sniffled for a few days.

This week wasn't as bad.
Monday: Rest - breathing still a bit dodgy from cold.
Tuesday: 4.1 miles @ 9:30 avg pace
Felt ok for this, breathing a bit heavy and legs a bit jellyish.
Wednesday: 6.6 miles @ 9:21 avg pace.
Felt a bit better during this one. Even managed a teeny tiny hilly bit.
Thursday: 3 miles @ 9:34 avg pace.
Had to get out early because of mid term break, so 3 miles done before 7 a.m. Found this one slightly tougher than previous day, but miles done so happy
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 10.3 miles @ 9:21 avg pace.
First time in double figures in ages - first time in 2012 actually. Went out with the intention of doing at least 9 and maybe 11. Followed an out and back route, turned around at just past 5 so I knew I'd have 10 done anyway. When I was close to home I could have turned right and done an extra half mile or so, but my legs were tired and the tummy was starting to play up again, so I went straight home. Felt happy I'd done just over 10 at a reasonable pace.
Sunday: 4.1 miles @ 9:07 avg pace.
Legs ok this morning so just went a teeny bit faster and added one of my least fave uphills to get the heart pumping. Oh that reminds me - get battery for hrm...

So 28.1 miles this week, substantially better than last week. One more week of aimless running and then program starts for May 19. I'm probably not going to try P&D though, don't think I'm in the right shape for it - will hopefully do it for DCM instead. Cobbled together a program using HH & RunRepublic, will give that a go.

Mood still not great, deciding to keep the head down and try to run through it. Big family week - Oldest boy's confirmation on Friday and Oldest girl in national gymnastic comp on Sunday, lots to keep me occupied

Emer911

racheljev wrote: »

Mood still not great, deciding to keep the head down and try to run through it. Big family week - Oldest boy's confirmation on Friday and Oldest girl in national gymnastic comp on Sunday, lots to keep me occupied

Might see you there Rachel. We're on Sunday morning (1st session). When are ye in?

RacoonQueen

racheljev wrote: »

2 weeks since I posted, eeek! The first week (6 -12 March) contained the grand total of 9.65 miles run.... Got an awful cold and couldn't move for a few days. Had to move of course, children had to be fed and clothed and brought to school and gym and gaa etc etc. But as soon as I got home, I got back into bed and sniffled for a few days.

Is it March already? :eek:

racheljev

Emer911 wrote: »

Might see you there Rachel. We're on Sunday morning (1st session). When are ye in?

Emer, we're in the same session - Niamh is level 4, under 11 - and there's 18 of them :eek: I'll keep an eye out for you.

RacoonQueen wrote:

Is it March already?

A very big d'oh! Told you my head was melted, I'm all over the frickin' place.

racheljev

Not much to report for the last week.

Tuesday: 4.1 miles @ 8:51 avg pace.
An attempt at a mini tempo - mile 1 w/u, then 2,3,4 @ between 8:37 & 8:53. Added in a few inclines as well (only little ones) to see if I could keep pace up.

Wednesday: unscheduled rest day due to sick baba

Thursday: 5 miles @ 8:53 avg pace.
A slightly quicker than intended run. Had a mad morning in preparation for the Boy's big day on Friday and still get back in time for school run. So got into gear after everything was done, parked outside smallest Girl's school and legged it around Fairview/Marino for 5 miles.

Friday was the Boy's confirmation. Had planned for an early run but that got schemozzled by my inability to get out of bed after very little sleep.

Saturday: 8.3 miles @ 9:13 avg pace.
Again, slightly quicker than intended, but not all my own fault. A lovely morning for running, I was really enjoying it today. I was keeping it steady around the 9:25-9:30 mark until mile 5. Crossing over small road off Berkeley Road, looked around - no car. While crossing over, big car zooms up small road, almost hits me, meat head oul' fella driver beeps horn and points at his eye. I say to him to point out that his eyes obviously weren't working because he missed the stop/yield sign directly in front of him. He called me a jaywalker, I told him he should look where he's going and yield to stop signs if he won't yield to pedestrians, he roared again, I told him I had his reg and I was ringing Mountjoy Garda Station to report him. He drove off and I was so angry that I ran an 8:50 mile :rolleyes: Adrenalin kept me speedy until the last half mile when it wore off and my legs felt like a ton of bricks. I almost wish I had taken his reg now but I was so annoyed I couldn't see straight. And before people start giving out to me - I didn't have my headphones on, I looked both ways and I always slow down coming up to junctions - even small ones

Anyway, off to prepare my house for family invasion to celebrate the confo. May not get a run in tomorrow as middle Girl is in gym comp in Greystones at 9 a.m. - will have to wait and see what happens.

jcsmum

Sounds like you are a very busy bee. Good on you getting the running in.

Motorists!