'For whom the bell tolls-

gerard65

it tolls for me'.
I've long since put my old log to bed. A few months ago training began to go to pot. I could still put in the sessions, it was the recovery that began to take so long. Twenty-four hours was not enough to recover, neither was forty-eight hours, three days later and I could still feel the effects in the legs. Thats what happens when you get older, recovery becomes longer and longer. So I've realised my days of being able to push myself are over, I did'nt take it lightly, played around with my training, looked at different methods, tried almost everything, but you can't beat time and I'm entering the second half of my forties in a couple of months.
So, unlike all the other logs here which chart progress, this log will track decline.
I raced in the XC season and enjoyed it, no pressure, just ran to enjoy the races and thats the way I'm approaching my training and racing from now on. I'm going to roughly follow Daniels' "Red intermediate plan" for a while and see how it goes.
The struggle within begins.

menoscemo

Best of luck Gerard. Hopefully see you in a few races in the spring.

gerard65

menoscemo wrote: »

Best of luck Gerard. Hopefully see you in a few races in the spring.

So you can kick my ass;)

rainbow kirby

Your log title reminds me of this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_7r6eALGyg

Good luck with your spring racing!

gerard65

I knew you'd get the reference:) I was listening to it last night when the idea of starting a new log came to mind. It was nearly going to be 'My Highway To Hell'.

menoscemo

gerard65 wrote: »

So you can kick my ass;)

Unlikely.
The day I beat you in a 5k may be the day I actually become a real runner :pac:
Gizz a shout if you want a hill run up cruagh some afternoon/evening.

gerard65

menoscemo wrote: »

Unlikely.
The day I beat you in a 5k may be the day I actually become a real runner :pac:
Gizz a shout if you want a hill run up cruagh some afternoon/evening.

My main plan for the year is the half marathon in the park in September so I hope to add in some longish hill runs on a Saturday morning during the summer, so if your interested I'll give you a shout. I'll be around during the day from June onwards so I can meet you for a few runs around Masseys wood.

TheRoadRunner

Good luck but you're never too old to stop improving (unless your were an absolute stud in your teens/20s). You ran track back in the days right? I'm sure the half marathon could yield a PB with proper structured training! So what if your recovery takes longer. When I was 18 I could do 3 sessions a week. Now I'm lucky if I can do one a week without getting injured. Generally my times still improving though. You have a few years on me of course but maybe quality over quantity is what your old haggard body requires

gerard65

Mon 4th April. Week 1 Day1.
3.25mls in 30mins. Avg 9:13.
JD was very kind with just a 30min jog to start off with. He has four compulsory sessions per week with the other three discretionary with no more than three in a row.
So, over to Bushy this evening before it got dark and back. 30mins exactly. Forgot to do the 6 strides - duh. Tommorow is another 30mins but its discretionary so I'll see how I'm feeling then.

gerard65

Tues 5th April. Week 1 Day 2.
3.67mls in 32:14. Avg 8:46.
Remembered to do the strides this evening. Today was a discretionary day. Decided to get this done, tomorrow is a tempo session so I can have Thursday off. Friday is another tempo and a longer run over the weekend.

gerard65

Wed 6th April. Week 1 Day 3.
3 x 1 mile tempo. 1 min recovery.
7:07, 6:56, 7:08.
Made a mess of this session. All should have been slower but the second was crazy. JD says a tempo pace is the pace you can hold for ten miles, I'm nowhere near this pace atm. Still the first week is where the mistakes can be made and lessions learned. Rest tomorrow.
Total 5.68mls in 46:25.

gerard65

Fri 8th April. Week 1 Day 5.
6 x 1K tempo pace. 1 min rec jog.
7:19, 7:06, 7:09, 7:11, 7:09, 7:08.
Rest yesterday. This evening pace's seemed a bit slow but I was aware these were to be done at tempo pace and not interval pace, so apart from the first one, the pace was OK I suppose. Also done on grass and its only the first week of a 4 week cycle of a 4 cycle phase.
Total 6.7mls in 55:46.

TheRoadRunner

gerard65 wrote: »

Fri 8th April. Week 1 Day 5.
6 x 1K tempo pace. 1 min rec jog.
7:19, 7:06, 7:09, 7:11, 7:09, 7:08.
Rest yesterday. This evening pace's seemed a bit slow but I was aware these were to be done at tempo pace and not interval pace, so apart from the first one, the pace was OK I suppose. Also done on grass and its only the first week of a 4 week cycle of a 4 cycle phase.
Total 6.7mls in 55:46.

I love the imperialist in you even though you did 1 km reps you give relative pace in miles. I thought I was the only one who did that

gerard65

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

I love the imperialist in you even though you did 1 km reps you give relative pace in miles. I thought I was the only one who did that

Lol. I never took to that new fangled metric stuff, it'll never catch on anyway.
I find its easier to use miles for long runs and tempo paces, but would use km's for intervals. Although in my written diary I'll record both measures for tempo runs and races.

gerard65

Sat 9th April. Week 1 Day 6
5.73mls in 48mins. Avg 8:23.
This was a long run, well thats what Daniels' has down and in 'Jack we trust'. It actually was meant to be 6 miles or 40 mins, whichever is shorter, but 40 mins seem a bit short so I pushed it out a bit.
That brings the curtain down on week 1. Week 2 is the same as week 1.

gerard65

Mon 11th April. Week 2 Day 1.
3 x 1 mile tempo pace. 1 min jog rec.
7:07, 7:02, 6:50.
Ignored the watch and ran by 'feel'. Felt fairly good for all three and I was surprised by the pace of the last one. My breathing was a bit laboured for the first two but the legs felt good, maybe I need a better warm up in future. I'm shuffleing my plan around a bit this week with a race on Saturday, that'll be in place of the second tempo session for this week.
Total 5.77mls in 46:11.

gerard65

Tues 12th April. Week 2 Day 2.
3.37mls in 30:37 + 6 strides. Avg 9:05.
Legs felt a bit heavy tonight and breathing seemed a bit laboured, so I was glad of an easy night.

gerard65

Wed 13th April. Week 2 Day 3.
7.3mls in 59:21. Avg 8:08.
JD's long runs are a bit light, 40min or 6miles, whichever is least. I decided to stretch it out a bit this evening and head for the hills. Lovely evening for a run around Mount Venus and Rockbrook. Pity about the traffic and those who drive those roads as if their in a rally stage. The other event was been attacked by a dog outside the halting site on the Ballyboden road. It attacked and I retaliated, next time it see's a runner it may remember their dangerous creatures and should be ignored.;)

gerard65

Sat 16th April. Week 2 Day 6.
BHAA K-CLUB 10k.
6.2mls in 43:10. Avg 6:58, 4:20km's.
Mile splits - 7:01, 6:59, 6:53, 6:59, 6:58, 6:58.
Plan was to run this at 7min/ml, a controlled time trial, the pace for my long term goal, the half in Sept. To be honest I thought this would be easier than it turned out. Warming up I had a feeling it wasn't going to go too well. The legs did'nt feel right, hard to pin point, but all runners know that 'flat' feeling. Maybe thursdays binge drinking did'nt help:o. A big crowd started but I soon found my pace. First 5k felt OK but I began to feel the burn in my legs over the second half. Was hanging on to the pace over the last mile. The thought of 'how do those people run this pace and faster for 26miles?' kept going through my head over the last mile. Except for the third mile the splits aren't bad, but there is no way I could hold that for another 7 miles.
Still, its given me a honest benchmark of where I'm at and I can adjust my tempo session to a correct pace. The RTE 5 mile is in two weeks time so I'll give this pace another go then.
Really need to watch the weight as well.
Next week is week 3 of JD's program.

gerard65

Mon 18th April. Week 3 Day 1.
6 x 1k with 1 min jog rec.
Mile pace - 6:50, 6:54, 6:48, 6:52, 6:52, 6:52.
Much too fast for tempo's. First four felt OK but I was reaching too far on the last two. These were alot faster than the last time I did these a couple of weeks ago. I don't think I've improved that much:eek: I've got to stop messing these up.

Woddle

Nice session on what seems a really short recovery or maybe I'm still slacking , I was averaging 2 mins of walking for a similar session last week

gerard65

Tues 19th April. Week 3 Day 2.
3.78mls in 33:15. Avg 8:47. 6 strides.
Not much to report, just an easy recovery run. Long run tomorrow evening.

Woddle wrote: »

Nice session on what seems a really short recovery or maybe I'm still slacking , I was averaging 2 mins of walking for a similar session last week

Its meant to be at tempo pace so thats the short recovery. Still a fairly tough session.

TheRoadRunner

gerard65 wrote: »

Mon 18th April. Week 3 Day 1.
6 x 1k with 1 min jog rec.
Mile pace - 6:50, 6:54, 6:48, 6:52, 6:52, 6:52.
Much too fast for tempo's. First four felt OK but I was reaching too far on the last two. These were alot faster than the last time I did these a couple of weeks ago. I don't think I've improved that much:eek: I've got to stop messing these up.

I wouldn't personally do anything hard after a race for 5-6 days. Are you following a JD plan? As far as I remember, he recommends 3 days easy running before and after a race. Could be asking for injury

gerard65

Wed 20th April. Week 3 Day 3.
8.29mls in 67:24. Avg 8:08.
Headed to the hills this evening, nice evening for it. Felt good from the off and I'm happy with the pace up the hills. Rest tomorrow.

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

I wouldn't personally do anything hard after a race for 5-6 days. Are you following a JD plan? As far as I remember, he recommends 3 days easy running before and after a race. Could be asking for injury

He gives a day recovery for every 3k raced, but Saturdays run wasn't meant to be at race pace, fitting it in to the training program. Althought it ended up tougher than expected I did'nt have the usual aches on Sunday so I'm putting Saturday down as a bad day (more to do with the boozing a couple of nights before:)).

gerard65

Fri 22nd April. Week 3 Day 5.
3x1 mile tempo. 1 min rec.
7:00, 6:53, 7:20.
It just wasn't there this evening. From the warmup I knew this was going to be a bad one. Very tired after the first, shagged after the second and went through the motions for the last. I may back off a bit next week, the last three weeks are the most quality I've done in a long time so I suppose I was due to hit a bump in the road. Easy run tomorrow to end week 3.

thirstywork2

Nice steady start to week one,can't get used to km's myself although 160km per week sounds alot better than 100miles (if only)

gerard65

Sat 23rd April. Week 3 Day 6.
3.52mls in 34:20. Avg 9:46.
Very slow jog to finish week 3. Felt lousy last night and could'nt settle when I went to bed - major signs of over-training. Next week is the last week of the first cycle and I have the RTE 5 mile next weekend so i'll keep to the program but back off the pace. Enjoyed this evenings jog in Bushy, nice and sunny but cooling down. Metallica on the MP3 and a nice easy pace.

gerard65

Mon 25th April. Week 4 Day 1.
3 x 1mile tempo pace. 1min jog rec.
7:27, 7:20, 7:17.
I think I've found my proper tempo pace. After Friday I planned to back off the pace this evening. The first mile was slow but I found a good pace for the second and third - just fast enough to begin to feel the burn but not fast enough to feel too stressful and to feel recovered after the minute recovery. Needed to get my tempo pace right as these get longer next week. So, I'd say 7:15 - 7:20 is my tempo pace at this point in my training.

gerard65

Tues 26th April. Week 4 Day 2.
4.12mls in 37:34. Avg 9:07.
Nice and easy this evening with Blackie. Long run tomorrow evening. I'll keep this on the flat (as possible in Sth Dublin) and get back to the hills next week. The plan is then for an easy run on Thurs, rest on Fri and the RTE 5 mile on Sat.

gerard65

Wed 27th April. Week 4 Day 3.
9.24mls in 78:36. Avg 8:30.
Was going well until about mile 8 when my achilles tendon got very sore. Its been very stiff and tender first thing in the mornings for a couple of weeks but I had no problems running up to now. I'll see how it is over the next couple of days but I'll drop the RTE race on Sat if it doesn't improve.

gerard65

Thurs 28th April. Week 4 Day 4.
3.64mls in 31:29. Avg 8:39.
Easy run this evening in Marley. The lads were doing 1k reps so I jogged around while they killed themselves;). Tendon was sore this morning but it was OK this evening. Still not sure about Sats race, I'll play it but ear over the next day and may leave it till Sat morning to decide. Rest tomorrow.

gerard65

Sat 30th April. Week 4 Day 6.
BHAA RTE 5 Mile.
4.93mls in 33:39. Avg 6:49.
Mile Pace- 7:06, 6:52, 6:52, 6:46, 6:30.
After the K-Club a couple of weeks ago I was a bit apprehensive about this morning. I'd have been happy to hit 7min/mls and this was the initial plan. But a big field meant a fair amount of congestion over the first mile so I had to chase the clock to get the pace back. After 3 mile I was clocking just under 7 for the overall pace. Feeling fairly good I began to pick people off one by one. I decided to see fast I could run the last mile so at the 4 mile mark I hit the lap button. Was pleased to see the pace pick up a fair amount. Felt strong over the latter stages and continued to pick people off. Very happy with the splits and banishes the K-Club 10k to a bad day at the office.
Only problem is the achilles tendon is still sore. I'll give it a rest for a few days and hope that sorts it out.
Next up is the Sportsworld 5 in a couple of weeks which, if the tendon is better, I'll give it a good go.

Woddle

A nice easy progression run.
Good stuff

gerard65

Fri 6th May
5.3mls easy fartlek.
First run this week, between exams and giving the ankle a rest to see if it improve. Tonight was just a few strides and a few steady bits of 3 - 4 mins to bridge over to next Monday for phase 2.

gerard65

Sat 7th May.
10.45mls in 93:43. Avg 8:58.
Longest run in a while. Feeling a bit flat and the achilles got sore towards the end, iced it when I got home. Rest tomorrow and start phase 2 on Monday.

gerard65

Mon 9th May.
10.26mls in 90mins. Avg 8:46.
Dropped the faster stuff for a long easy run this evening, the achilles is still playing up. Iced when I go home. This is becoming a pain, really messing up my plans.

gerard65

Tues 10th May.
8.55mls in 72:14. Avg 8:27.
Wanted to go to 10 miles again tonight but the digestive system had another idea. The achilles is still playing up but not getting any worse, iced it again for about 15 minutes.

gerard65

Wed 11th May.
3.25mls in 29:08. Avg 8:57.
Legs dead, quads sore, cut my losses and bunked out. Put it down as a recovery run. Iced the achilles when I got home, seems to be improving slowly.

gerard65

Thurs 12th May.
10mls in 86mins. Avg 8:35.


Easy
Fri 13th May.
3.53mls in 32:52. Avg 9:19.
Thats it till Sundays race. Don't know how I'll approach this race. The problem with my achilles put all my plans out so everything has to be revised. I'll think about it between now and 10am on Sunday.

gerard65

Sun 15th May.
Sportsworld 5 mile in 34:16. Avg 6:50.
6:40, 6:38, 6:51, 6:50, 7:16.
Awful race for me this morning. Decided to have a crack at this so the plan was to keep the pace between 6:35 and 6:40, worked for 2 miles:rolleyes:. I was dying over mile 3 and the last mile seemed endless, against the breeze and slightly uphill. What went wrong? I don't know. The legs felt a bit heavy when I got up this morning but after a good warmup I was feeling alot better and over the first couple of miles I was enjoying it, but it was downhill with the breeze.
Where from here? Because of the problem with my achilles tendon I've decided no fast stuff in training for a while. I'm going to build a base and the have a 12 week run in to the half in Sept, although after this morning my goals may have changed for it. I've only planned for two more road races before the half, the 5 and 10 mile. I might do the BHAA track races as well over the summer.
Still shocked at how poor the last three miles were.
Edit- beaten by an over 70. I quit.

tHE vAGGABOND

We all have bad days Ger - we just have to write it down to experience and move on..

Many people [me included!] could kill for that sub 35 run

gerard65

Mon 16th May.
10mls in 90mins. Avg 9min/ml.
A long jog in the wind and rain.

gerard65

Tues 17th May
8.16mls in 72:40. Avg 8:54.

Wed 18th May.
Rest

Thurs 19th May.
10mls in 82:42. Avg 8:13.

Fri 20th May.
5mls in 48:21. Avg 9:42.

Sat 21st May.
Rest

Sun 22nd May.
6mls in 53:32. Avg 8:56.

39mls this week. Achilles still stopping me from running fast.

gerard65

Mon 23rd May.
7.28mls in 67:53. Avg 9:19.
Tired, no motivation. A cold, windy evening didn't help the mood.

Thurs 26th May.
6.83mls in 58:38. Avg 8:35.
Felt much better this evening. Met the lads in Marley. Was doing an easy run with memo while the other three were doing mile intervals. Joined in for two for the craic @ 7:15 and 6:43 pace. The 6:43 felt surprisingly easy. I'll have to try make Marley on Thursdays, go to do this kind of session with others.
I think the couple of days off did alot of good. I'll have to start cutting down on the days I'm trying to run per week.
Wore my new supernova's this evening, very different to the GT2150's, the jurys out.

dna_leri

gerard65 wrote: »

I think the couple of days off did alot of good. I'll have to start cutting down on the days I'm trying to run per week.
Wore my new supernova's this evening, very different to the GT2150's, the jurys out.

I agree with the quality more than quantity, recovery is more important for me as I get older.

Also changed to supernova's a while ago from ASICs. Have put nearly 600 miles on them since and don't want to throw them out yet.

gerard65

Mon 30th May
10.2mls in 83:49. Avg 8:13

Wed 1st June.
10mls in 88:36. Avg 8:51.
Inc. 5 x 1200.

Fri 3rd June.
5.1mls in 40:58. Avg 8:03.
Progression run - 8:59, 8:27, 7:55, 7:46, 7:15.

Sun 5th June.
11mls in 88:27. Avg 8:03.
Feeling the luv today:D

Fairly good week. The day on, day off is the way to go atm. Liking the supernova's alot, never took Adidas shoes seriously but they feel good on my feet.

gerard65

Tues 7th June
10.17mls in 81:11. Avg 7:59
Hilly run.

Fri 10th June.
9.34mls in 71:02. Avg 7:36.
Inc. 2x2mile tempo.

Sun 12th June.
9.97mls in 81:51. Avg 8:13.
Wet and cold run.

gerard65

Tues 14th June.
10.35mls in 85:44. Avg 8:17.
Started slow and finished fast.

Thurs 16th June
BHAA Trinity Track Race's
800m-2:33, 1 mile-5:48, 3k-forgot to stop the watch and no offical times on the website yet but well over 12mins.
Great night again in college park. In the 8 I was going well in 3rd or 4th till the last 300m when I began to die and others started streaming passed, but was happy enough as I've done zero fast running in training.
The mile brought me back years, stuck into a good position throughout the first 2 laps on the shoulder of the leaders - very slow pace which suited me, but alot of bunching and pushing, but I'm well able to look after myself. The last two laps were taken by a guy who wasn't hanging around anymore, tried to chase him and get back on his shoulder but had'nt got the legs, was passed for second on the final back straight but dug in deep and regained 2nd for the finish. Slow time but I was delighted with the race.
3k - nothing to see here, move along now:pac: A 3k 10 mins after a mile race, you've got to love the optimism.
Legs are still shattered so I've scrapped my planned run for today.
I've decided that after the lotto series in the park I'll concentrate on the shorter stuff, XC in the winter and shorter track/road 5ks next year.

rainbow kirby

gerard65 wrote: »

I've decided that after the lotto series in the park I'll concentrate on the shorter stuff, XC in the winter and shorter track/road 5ks next year.

Thinking about having a crack at some of the XC races myself this year, always thought it looked like fun.

Woddle

You were very impressive in the mile and it was a great race to watch as each lap quickened. You definitely have some track skills.

gerard65

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Thinking about having a crack at some of the XC races myself this year, always thought it looked like fun.

Do. The BHAA XC races are 2m/2.5 for the women so you've nothing to lose. A old pair of runners and Bob's your uncle.