Keep on moving ...............

Speedy44

Sunday
Weekly long run (11mls) with the club at 9am. Good group out, 9 or 10. No watch but once we settled in and woke up, I think we were cruising at around 7:20-30 pace. Of course once we hit the prom it picked up but was very surprised when one of the lads informed me that we ran a 6:49 mile. Felt very good though.

Monday
Busy day at work so only managed to squeeze in 4mls.

Tuesday
Easy 4mls in the morning.

Club session at 7pm. This didn't start out great as I left my gear bag at home. Thankfully I had my runners in the car at least, I called a mate who lives across the road from the track and he came over with some gear.
Did 8 x 3mins off 1min over xc type course. Wasn't into this at all at the start becasue it was getting dark and we had to go around a lot of potentially treacherous bends, but then I figured it would be good practice for what lies ahead.
Not too sure about pace but the effort was there and fairly consistent, although I backed off a bit for the last 4.

Wednesday
Just did 6.5mls easy, didn't feel good though, tired for most of it, a bit better in the last couple of miles.

Thursday
8 x 400m, again no watch so just concentrated on form and running steady but relaxed. Had wanted to run them at about 80-82secs, so hopefully that was about what I did , took a 200m jog recovery.
Didn't want to kill myself as I have a 10k race on Sunday, first road race since April I think !

Speedy44

Well, been absent from here for a while, but I have been doing a bit of training in the meantime. Think the last post I had was before a 10K in September. Ended up bombing in that, went off with a few lads from the club and blew up at 5K, even though we were only running 38min pace!
Was going to do Gerry Farnan but just wasn't nowhere near the shape I would have needed to be in to be competitive.

Been training fairly consistently though, averaging 55mls/wk for the last 5-6wks. Doing 2 quality sessions per week as well.

Had a race last Sunday and ran 17:54 (3:27, 3:31, 3:38, 3:31 & 3:48).
Was surprised with the last K, but I did clock the race at 5.05K, as did a lot of other people. My garmin gave me a 3:36 last k.

Anyway, hope to get up tp 70mls+/wk by the end of the year and get a good winter base behind me.

Here's the list of races I plan:
New Years Day 5K
Jan 19th - Nat. Indoors 3000m
Feb 3rd - Nat. Masters XC (tbc)
Feb 24th - 5ml race
March 24th - Craughwell 10ml
April 14th - Nat. 10K

dna_leri

Good to see you're going well speedy. Should see you in athlone, I expect there will be a big crowd.

Speedy44

dna_leri wrote: »

Good to see you're going well speedy. Should see you in athlone, I expect there will be a big crowd.

Yea, with the new track I expect there will be. What are you doing up there?
Hows your running been going?

dna_leri

Speedy44 wrote: »

Yea, with the new track I expect there will be. What are you doing up there?
Hows your running been going?

Planning on the 800m.
Keeping things going here but not much fast stuff.

Speedy44

dna_leri wrote: »

Planning on the 800m.
Keeping things going here but not much fast stuff.

I've been trying to add some 200's on to my sessions once a week as well.
The first session of them I did a few weeks back I couldn't believe how hard they felt, the first one was 36 or something and I felt like I was a clydesdale horse lumbering down the track. Funny how easy it is to go off the boil with the speed.
Last week I did 5 x 200m off 2mins in 33, 32, 33, 33 & 29. That was the only good session I had all week, but it set me up nicely for the 5K 2 days later :rolleyes:

Speedy44

Monday
Just did an easy 6.5mls.

Tuesday
4mls easy at 10am, roads weren't too bad but a bit dicey in places.

At 6pm we did the club session, couldn't use the track as it was too icy.
Instead we used to old sand track. It wasn't ideal, a bit like running a cross country race on a track :rolleyes:, but it did the job.
Anyway, session was 8 x 3mins off 75secs. The lead group took off like it was the start of the Grand National, sand and grit flying everywhere. Tried to just settle into a comfortable pace and keep the form.

For the 8 reps, this is what the mile pace was;
5:35, 5:39, 5:36, 5:34, 5:37, 5:44, 5:32 & 5:31.

Tough session, but happy enough that I kept them steady, apart from the 6th rep.

Total Distance - 8mls

Speedy44

Wednesday
Did 3mls of a walk/slow jog with some clients first.
Then I did 8mls by myself. Felt ok at first but then got very tired. Pace didn't slow down too much though, still sub 8's without forcing it. Actually felt better again on the last couple of miles.

Thursday
Onto the track with a couple of club mates.
Session was 3 x (200, 200, 400), 3min rec between reps, 6min between sets.
Decent warm up and drills, then off we went.
Splits were:
32, 30, 70 (34,36) - 34, 32, 68 (32, 36) - 33, 33, 69 (34, 35)

Was hoping for about 33's & 68's, so not too bad. One of my mates took out the 2nd 200, last time I'm letting him do that!
Lung's were busting & legs swimming in lactic, but great to be doing these in December.

dna_leri

http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/?p=29338

In case you missed it.

Speedy44

dna_leri wrote: »

http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/?p=29338

In case you missed it.

yea, saw it alright. Three more weeks to fine tune :rolleyes:

Speedy44

Friday
Managed to squeeze in 4mls before it got too dark. Felt pretty good, not too many ill affects after yesterdays track.

Saturday
4 x 6mins off 90secs at 10am with the club.
Pace for the reps were 5:46, 5:47, 5:51 & 5:46.
Happy with it, tough going out there, wrecked at the end (and still wrecked, think I need a nap before I bring the family christmas shopping :rolleyes:).
Very slippery underfoot, lots of sharp turns and a hill to contend with too, so hopefully once I get back onto the road I'll feel the benefit.

Distance = 7.66mls

Speedy44

Sunday Dec. 16th
Longest run in almost a year, 14.75mls at 8am. Took it easy, left calf/achilles was a bit sore at times but ran it off. Felt grand throughout, got faster towards the end. Averaged about 7.50/ml.

WEEK DISTANCE - 60.5mls

Speedy44

Monday
6.5mls easy, felt tired at times doing this, but better towards the end. Right knee and left calf were also a bit sore. Am conscious that not only have I increased the mileage, but I have also increased the quality sessions, so will keep eye on it and back off if need be.

Tuesday
4mls easy at 9am

Met one of my clients at 5.30pm, she is the fastest in the group and is able to run at about 9min pace, so did 4.5mls with her.

Then headed to the track for 4 x 400m, 3 x 1ml, 4 x 400m. 1min rec between reps, 2mins between sets.

Splits were, 80, 78, 75, 73 - 5:45, 5:46, 5:55 - 79, 78, 76, 75

That was tough, was feeling the pinch in the miles, and had to grind out the last 400's by myself. Shattered afterwards but glad to get it done. As tired as I am, I feel like I am getting stronger.

Distance = 17.25mls

Speedy44

Wednesday
6.5mls recovery miles. Felt surprisingly good, and strong, with no aches or pains after yesterday. Hopefully a good sign

Thursday
Was thinking about doing some 300's today, but as I did 3 quality sessions last week, and am also increasing the mileage, I listened to the coaches advice and just did 7.5mls easy with a few mates from the club.
Most of my easy runs are done solo these days so was glad for the company. Ran over a nice, varied loop as well, enjoyed running through the thick fog coming in off the bay.

Friday
With the kids finishing school early and the wife needing a lift to the dentist, I had to get my run in early today. Got out by 10am.
Had origionally planned a 20min tempo, I was thinking of something about 6min/ml. Then during the first part of the run I changed it to 2 x 12mins, then it ended up as follows:
12mins @ 5:56 pace, 3min rec,
8mins @ 6min pace, 3min rec
4mins @ 5:53 pace

Haven't done a tempo for a while, and should really get some under my belt. Hate doing these by myself as I always seem to struggle. Still, I think I tred one a couple of months back and this was a significant improvemnet on that.

Distance = 8.25mls

Speedy44

Saturday
Almost didn't get out, wasn't really into it. Managed to get in 5.5mls though, and once I was running I felt like doing more but it got too dark.

Sunday
After been at parties for the past 2 nights, even though I only had a couple of beers at each, I didn't get out of bed until 10am this morning. Was moping around the house for the next couple of hours trying to convince myself not too run. Was going to do 15mls, but made a deal with myself and just did 8.5mls instead, but I did it steady.
After a first mile of 7:51, I averaged 6:48 for the rest of them.

Not sure what the next week is going to bring as we are heading to another party now, and then its over to the mothers tomorrow. Running is so much easier than all this socializing :rolleyes:

Week Distance = 60mls

Speedy44

Monday
After a Christmas party last night, I thought that a day off was in order :rolleyes:

Tuesday
Once the kids got up to see what Santa brought them, I headed out and did a 20min tempo. Tried to do this a few days ago but started off too fast. This time I kept it together, and although I was going slower that I would have liked, or expected (6:12/ml pace), it was hard going. Still, at least I grinded it out and did it. I know if I was doing these with the club and later in the day that I would be doing them faster.

Distance = 8.25mls

Wednesday
Easy run, thought about another day off though. Have a 5k race on New Years Day so going easy this week won't do me any harm.

Distance = 8.25mls

Speedy44

Thursday
Opted for another day off

Friday
Was supposed to join a few from the club for this but the clubhouse is closed for the Christmas, which meant no badly needed hot shower after. So instead I did it from home.
Messed it up a bit, was supposed to do 10 x 30secs with a walkback recovery, instead I did 8 reps over from one pole to another. Unbelievably I did them all in 36secs, thats the first time I can ever remember nailing them like that. Did a jog back recovery.

Distance = 7.25mls

Speedy44

Hadn't realized how long it was since I was on here :eek:

Brief recap, been training away. Target is still the National Masters 1500m, although judging by some of the times in the Indoors this season, not sure if I'm going to be in a position to defend my title in August!
Hope to get down to close to 4:30 though, so tried to get some base mileage under the belt before I introduce the speedwork. Last year, while I did a lot of good speedwork, I neglected the base so was seriously lacking in speed endurance. Also the type of work I was doing could have been better.
I opted to run the Limerick Marathon on a weeks notice so as to qualify for Boston, ran 3:17+, happy enough with that.
Took an easy week after that, then the next 4 weeks was mostly easy/steady running building up to an average of 55mls/wk.

On the last week of this I did my first track session, Great workout on the heat of the track.
5 x (2 x 200m with 200 jog rec, 400m with 400 jog rec).
34, 36, 72 - 34, 34, 72 - 35, 36, 72 - 35, 35, 73 - 36, 35, 72
Plan was 36 for the 2's and 73's for the 4's, so happy with that.

Ran a 5k in Craughwell a few weeks ago in 18:02, then another one in Tuam 2 weeks later in 17:47.

Felt lousy last week so took 3 days off, but also got in 3 quality sessions, although I had to cut one in half as I was wrecked. Tried 2 x (2 x 200m, 200 jog, 1 x 800m, 800m jog). The 2's were fine 35/36, but after struggling to do the 8's in 2:34 & 2:38 I bailed.

So far this week I have done an easy 8.25mls on Monday and yesterday did 20min tempo at 6:14pace followed by 4 x 200m in 36, 36, 35 & 33 off 200m jog.

dna_leri

Good to see you back here and fit.

Have you any plans for track races before Tullamore?

I am looking at doing at least one of the Galway T&F (electronic timing I hear) and 1 or 2 of the Dublin Graded events.

Speedy44

dna_leri wrote: »

Good to see you back here and fit.

Have you any plans for track races before Tullamore?

I am looking at doing at least one of the Galway T&F (electronic timing I hear) and 1 or 2 of the Dublin Graded events.

Hi dna,
I will do the Galway Track races, but probably not too many others. I may do a couple of 5k's this year, and possibly the Streets of Galway which are on a week before the Masters.
Good to see you tearing up the track, sub 2 is on the cards

Speedy44

Strange run today. Felt ok starting off but then I got a stitch, which is something I never get. I think it must have been the fruit salad I had an hour or so before the run. I was hoping I had aggravated my hernia as I was also doing a few light reps with the dumbbells.
Just a slog most of the way around and I felt tired, and I was only averaging about 7:45's so definitely wasn't pushing it.
I suppose I'll just put it down to one of those days.

Distance = 6.5mls

Speedy44

A bit better today, but still not feeling the love!
8.25mls easy, very sluggish at the start, but then I settled down a bit. Averaged 7:22/ml running comfortably, but legs felt heavy.
Still, at least I got it done.
Out early tomorrow as I have to don my Race Directors hat for our local 10K.

Speedy44

Friday
Wasn't feeling the best before the run. Was debating whether or not to do a track session, but then a group arrived so I couldn't use it. Headed off for 6 easy miles, and felt surprisingly good
Averaged 7:08/ml running comfortably.

Saturday.
Fairly wiped this morning after doing my Race Director job for our local 10K last evening. Had a sleep in until 9.30am
Sort of made up today sessions, 6 x 1k over hilly route, off 1min. The hills weren't the steepest, more long drags, but it was also very windy out there.
Started off a bit too fast, 3:31, next one against the wind was 3:34, then another 3:34 with the wind at my back, but was feeling it now so decided to take the foot off the pedal a little bit as I just wanted to be sure to finish the session.
Next 3 were 3:41, 3:44 & 3:43.

Happy enough with it, the effort was there.
Did 2mls warm up and cool down as well.

Speedy44

Monday
8mls easy coming in the prom at Salthill. Felt good on this, nice and relaxed, which I was surprised at because I feel like I am coming down with something, have a sore throat, hard to swallow and so on.
Averaged about 7:20/ml.

Tuesday
Wasn't sure if I should go out as I still feel the same.
Was supposed to do a 40min tempo, with a few 200's, cut it to 20mins at 6:22 pace as I was sore and felt sort of weak too, although coasting at the same time :rolleyes:

Speedy44

Took Wednesday & Thursday off purely for precautionary measures. Still not 100%, not sure what this thing is though.

Anyway, did 8.25mls this evening at an easy 7:23/ml pace.

Going to try to do the quality session with the club in the morning to see how it goes. Supposed to be running the 1500m in the Counties next Thursday but feel like I have missed a lot of track prep at this point. I'll see how tomorrow goes and decide then.

Speedy44

Well, managed to do the session this morning. Only 2 of us showed up.
Plan was 8 x 3mins off 1min, but I opted to try to do them at Interval pace rather than threshold pace, which is hard off 1 minute, so I decided to just do 6 reps, broken up into 2 x 3 with a 5min recovery.

Pace per mile was 5:34, 5:32, 5:31 - 5:36, 5:41, 5:41.

Hard to get going early in the morning, legs definitely starting to feel heavy in the 2nd set. Good to get it done though.

Speedy44

Sunday
Gave the 9am club session a miss when I heard the wind and rain at the window :rolleyes:
Got out for 11mls at 12.30pm instead, unfortunately I now had to do it solo
Wasn't too bad, took a while to get into it. Some heavy set oul fella said to me as I passed "its great to see a man fit", well the next mile was 10secs faster and a lot easier, sometimes you forget how privileged you are.
Averaged 7:29/ml for it.

45mls for the week (5days)

Monday
5mls easy followed by 2 x 200m off 200m.
Felt very good in the 5mls, like I was almost floating.
2's were ok, 38, 37, 35, 36. Was wearing runners and had to face a head wind. Just wanted to stretch the legs a bit.

Tuesday
First track session with the club since April 9th :eek:
Thankfully haven't been inactive in that time, but great to be back.
Its so much easier doing these with company to pull you along.
Session on the schedule was a tough one; 4 x 400m off 1min, 3 x 1ml off 1min, 4 x 400m off 1min - 2mins between sets.
With Thursdays 1500m in mind, and the fact that I'm still not 100%, I decided to opt for a revised version of this. Wanted to try and get some much lacking speedwork into my legs, without killing myself.
Did 3 x 400m, 2 x 800m, 3 x 400m, all off 3mins (approx).
Times were 70, 69, 70 - 2:42, 2:44 - 75, 67, 68

Happy enough with it. Did the first two 4's with some of the faster lads and they felt ok. The 3rd one I had to do by myself and that required a lot more effort.
On the 8's I jumped in with the pace of the 2nd group, but in hindsight I should have gone with the faster guys again and be closer to 2:30-32.
I was definitely feeling it in the last set of two 4's. Paced one of the lads doing a mile in my 4th 400m, hence the 75, but the next 2 I had to get stuck in, I have to say I was thinking of Mo when I was trying to hold off the club leader coming off the last bend in the last rep

Good session all round. Have also been doing some light upper body work for the past couple of months so feel better able to drive on. Still have to stay away from the core due to the hernia.
Went to the doc yesterday as well to get something for this bug. Will wait until after the 1500m tomorrow before I take anything though.

Speedy44

Had been looking forward to this until I got this bug 10 days ago.
Wasn't too sure what to expect tonight. Was feeling optimistic after Tuesday nights session, but still not sure what to expect.
Large field but not too many seasoned vets :rolleyes:

Clubmate took off and opened up a large lead immediately. Knew dna was in the field (but he had ran a blinder in the 400 a little bit before, which I will let him tell you about ) and there was also supposed to be another lad who has ran 4:15, but he missed the start!

Found myself in the front of the chasing pack, there was a strong wind but we were only really feeling it coming off the bend into the home stretch.
First lap was 74/75, hmmm, was hoping for a second or 2 faster.
Just concentrated on running comfortably in the 2nd lap while trying to maintain to pace, 2:33 (78 :eek:).
Wasn't sure what was going on behind me but tried to pick up the pace a bit and push on.
3:48 at 1200m, 75, tried to do the math but got a bit confused so just put the boot down and struck for home, waiting for someone to come up on my shoulder.

Surprised when I saw the 4:40, which gave me a 52 for the last 300m (sub 70 pace).
Would have liked to have dipped under the 4:40, but think I left a second or 2 out there, and it is the fastest I've ran in about 30yrs, so I'll take it.

Now to enjoy the 4th of July celebrations

BeepBeep67

Rolling back the years, well done Paul

Speedy44

Friday
An easy 6.5mls to recover from yesterday.

Saturday.
Tried to do the club session at 10am, 3 x 9mins off 3mins. Managed 2 (5:52 & 6:07 pace).
Legs felt very heavy after Thursday, figured there was no point in killing myself before the 5000m on Tuesday.

Sunday
14.25mls this morning, never felt so bad after a training run. I wasn't 100% during it, had to throw in a few quick miles early to catchup with the group.
Sweating like a dog though too.
When I finished it I took my recovery drink and water, and then headed to the lake. So far so good, until I went to get out of the lake and got a severe cramp in my calf.
Could now feel my quads very tender and on the verge, and my hamstring.
Not sure what the deal is, never felt this bad after an easy training run, don't know if it was the heat combined with the antibiotics I am on?