Chasing numbers

DigiJem

Sept 20th: 9m with 5x1000m @ 5k pace

3.5 miles warmup, ran to a industrial estate where the roads would be quiet this evening. It has a flatish loop of just over 1k which did the trick for this session. Target was 4:45 per k, did 4:53, 4:42, 4:42, 4:44 & 4:41. Between 3 & 4 mins walk/jog between the intervals. A tough one, the legs still feel a little heavy from the weekend. 3.5 miles cooldown to make up the 9 miles.

DigiJem

Sept 21st: 12m medium long run

Legs felt a lot better today, and I headed out into the pelting rain. It cleared up after 10 minutes and the remainder of the run was fine. Got dark really quickly though, and loads of the street lights aren’t working – left me running gingerly at several places. Avg pace 9:59 min/mile, avg hr 145

DigiJem

Sept 22nd : 8 miles
Headed out straight from work to avoid running in the dark again. Should have done 10:20 pace but went a little fast, mainly because I was starving and wanted to get home for dinner. Avg pace 9:59 min/mile, avg hr 150. Tired tonight, happy to have a rest day tomorrow

DigiJem

Sept 24th: 17 miles, avg pace 9:56mi min/mile, avg hr 145

A bad nights sleep left me pretty lazy this morning so it was late afternoon before I headed out. A new route for me today, went from Ongar down to Castleknock before heading into the park. The sun was out and it felt pretty hot by the time I reached the park. Took a gel @ mile 6, and later had a short stop for water. After I hit the 9 mile mark, I left the park and headed back. Another gel at mile 12. Felt really thirsty again so stopped at Roselawn for a drink before finishing. Hope this weather remains for Rathfarnham in the morning.

DigiJem

Sept 25th: Rathfarnham 5k

No great expectation for this one at the start, it felt like a long time since I rang 5k. Started well enough, a nice downhill start to get the legs moving.

Slowed right down for the 2nd k, but got into a nice rhythm. Knew it wasn't terribly fast but it was all the legs could muster at that stage. They weren't kidding about the course being pancake flat, there wasn't any section that was very hilly. Got a second wind from somewhere near the college, and upped the pace. Went by a lot of runners along here and passing the 4k mark I tried to up the pace again. Finished with a mini-sprint to get home at 24:02 by my watch. Pretty happy with that, and unlike my other 5ks I wasn't ready to die at the end.

Ran with one of my brothers who was doing his first 5k, he left me for dead at the start and I didn't see him again until the end. Thankfully he didn't gloat too much.

A great race and a really nice course, even when you're tiring you know there is a downhill stretch for the last bit, will definitely run this again.

jcsmum

Your training is going great. Well done on the half and last weekends 5k.

jcsmum

Your training is going great. Well done on the half and last weekends 5k.

DigiJem

Sept 27th: 11 mile medium-long run

This was supposed to be v02max intervals but my quads were a little sore from the weekend, and I didn’t fancy any fast running. Did the 11 miles without much bother, an enjoyable run followed by a not so enjoyable ice bath. Avg pace 9:54 min/mile, avg hr: 146


Sept 28th: 8m with 5x600m @ 5k pace

A new pair of Nimbus arrived, courtesy of Elverys sale, so christened them this evening. 2.5 miles warm-up, then the intervals. Target was 7:40 pace, didn’t hit it even once. Did 8:02, 7:51, 7:45, 7:46 & 7:46. 2.5 easy miles back home. A welcome recovery run tomorrow.

DigiJem

Sept 29th - 4 miles recovery with 6x100m strides. Avg pace 10:40 min/mile, avg hr 138

Usual route for this session; stopped at 3m and did the strides. Legs still feel like lead, spent some time with the foam roller this evening so I hope that will help. If its no better tomorrow, I might replace the 8 miler with another short recovery run. Priority this week is the 14m pmp run at the weekend.

DigiJem

Sept 30th: 5 miles in the rain at lunchtime. Another recovery run, although the legs did feel a lot better today. Avg pace: 10:40 min/mile, avg hr: 132

DigiJem

Picked up the race number, tee-shirt & water bottle then caught the end of the rugby before a short warm-up. Met Vaggbond at the race briefing and pretty soon we were led up to the start line. Organisers were very good at getting people into the right pace groups as we walked to the start, so the start itself was very smooth.

My plan was for 1 mile easy, then the 14 miles @ PMP, target pace for the pmp mile was 8:44 min/mile.

Off we went and went through the first mile at 8:31, too fast but we got caught up in the flow of runners. Eased the pace a little and it felt fine. Passed the 3:30 pacers after Glasson village, probably the only time I'll ever pass 3:30 pacers Up to mile 6 felt fine, chatting away with vagga meant the miles flew by. The hills started coming then, lots of small hills, and I knew it would get worse until we passed mile 8. Even though it was hilly we were still right on pace at that stage.

By mile 10 the chat had eased as it was beginning to get tough. Counting down the miles to the end of mile 15, the last mile went on forever and had a few long drags so I was very happy to hear the watch beep at 15m. Slowed right down then, the PMP miles were done so nothing to gain by continuing at anything other than easy pace. Refueled at the next water station with lots of wine gums and fizzy cola bottles, yum yum

Ran the last 4 miles at 9:50 min/mile pace and even at that pace some of the hills were a struggle. Almost there, you could finally see Lough Ree as the mist lifted. The words "last wee hill" painted on the road signaled the worst hill on the course, but after it was conquered just a short run back to the finish.

A tough course but perfect conditions today - no wind, just a gentle breeze and lovely drizzle for most of the race. Very happy with today’s run, avg pace for the first 15 miles was 8:38, avg hr 160.

menoscemo

DigiJem wrote: »

My plan was for 1 mile easy, then the 14 miles @ PMP, target pace for the pmp mile was 8:44 min/mile.

Now the cat is out of the bag Guess I won,t be seeing you at DCM until mcgrattans. Good running if you can hold that pace for 15 on that course, you can surely do it for 26.2 at DCM

jcsmum

Super pace for that distance. You're really flying.

tHE vAGGABOND

Really enjoyed that run today, could not believe that pace we were doing over parts of the course!

Good job

Nules10

Great running there DJ you are flying it. Good on ya

Aimman

Well done today, you tackled that no problem.

RubyK

Fantastic running DigiJem, you are well set for DCM

DigiJem

Plan for this week:

Day|Session
Mon|Rest
Tue|7m recovery with 6x100m strides
Wed|V02max - 9m w/ 4x1200@5k pace
Thur|Rest
Fri| MLR 11m
Sat|Recovery 4m
Sun|20m LSR



Oct 4th - 7m recovery with 6x100m strides
Split this into 2 runs. Did half at lunchtime, and the other half and the strides tonight. My usual spot for the strides was in darkness, so they were done very gingerly, I didn’t fancy hitting the deck. Really enjoyed getting out for an easy run at lunchtime; it breaks up the day nicely.

DigiJem

Oct 5th - 9m w/ 4x1200@5k pace

2m warmup, went up to the harriers warm-up track for a change. Did the 3 quarter mile intervals, target pace of 7:40. Did 7:43, 7:41, 7:34 & 7:36 with a half mile walk/jog in between. A tough one with the wind & rain this evening, I’ll be glad to see the back of these vo2max sessions. 2m easy to finish. Soaked and had the sniffles afterwards, time to dose up on some vit C

DigiJem

Oct 6th – 11mile mlr

Have stuff on tomorrow evening so needed to get this run done today instead. Straight out after work and into the blustery wind. Nice enough run, caught up of some of my podcasts. Avg pace 9:47 min/mi, avg hr 145

DigiJem

Oct 8th – 20m lsr

Met up with a few boardies in the park for this one, it started off freezing but we quickly warmed up. Hit the usual spots in and around the park. I left the group at 12 miles, needed to find the loo in Farmleigh. Back to the car for a drink then headed up Acres road and back to make up the 20. A pretty good run, though my legs felt very heavy for the last few miles. Last 20 miler done & dusted, not feeling that its taper time yet though, P&D still has some work left for me to do next week.

Spent a large chuck of my evening putting together my new turbo, which had the worst flippin assembly instructions ever :mad: Anyway, at least its ready for the winter evenings when I don’t fancy heading out.

Avg pace: 9:33 min/mi, avg hr 151

Brianderunner

DigiJem wrote: »

Spent a large chuck of my evening putting together my new turbo, which had the worst flippin assembly instructions ever :mad: Anyway, at least its ready for the winter evenings when I don’t fancy heading out.

Sound like your heading for the dark side too, there'll be no runners left at this rate

Have you settled on the DCM target yet, 3'50? or sub 4?

DigiJem

No worries about the dark side:) I still associate the bike with being injured and not being able to run. I don’t intend running 5 days @ week over the winter so I think the bike will get more use then.

Sub 4 was the original target but I going to go for 3'50. I’ve done 2 pmp runs at that pace and they went ok so that’s the current plan.

DigiJem

Oct 9th: 4m recovery - avg pace: 10:19 min/mi

Oct 11th: 6m recovery - avg pace: 10:40 min/mi. Another recovery run, quads sore from yesterday’s sports massage. Lots of sore spots found, courtesy of RQ, so not difficult to keep this run at recovery pace.

Oct 12th: 8m with 5x600m @ 5k pace. Legs felt a lot better for this one, managed the 600's ok. Target pace was 7:40, did 7:50, 7:28, 7:37, 7:36 & 7:28 with 300m walk/jog for recovery. Just over 5 miles between warm-up/cool-down to bring it up to the 8 miles.

DigiJem

Oct 13th - 6M recovery w/ 6x100m strides. Avg pace 10:27. Rest day tomorrow then 10k on Saturday.

jcsmum

DigiJem wrote: »

Oct 13th - 6M recovery w/ 6x100m strides. Avg pace 10:27. Rest day tomorrow then 10k on Saturday.

Best of luck on Saturday.

DigiJem

Oct 15th - Donadea 10k

I wasn’t very enthusiastic heading up to this race, and the wet morning didn’t help. I hadn’t run a 10k since June, and if this wasn’t in the P&D plan I would have stayed in the leaba this morning.

Anyway, the weather cleared as I parked the car and my mood lifted a bit too. Picked up the number, a very nice top and generous goodie bag. A short walk down to the start line, a quick hello to Aimman, and before long it started. Usual hopscotch for the fist half mile, trying to pass people. Nearly ran into the back of a lady walking, not sure if she was part of the race or just out for a stroll. As usual I went too fast for the first mile, but a little drag at the start of mile 2 slowed me down nicely.

Into the forest and onto the trails, but nothing too mucky or difficult. Pace was fine, tough but I felt I could maintain it. Struggled a lot from mile 5 but kept pushing and eventually turned left to finish at the lake. 48:51 by my watch, a 10 second pb so happy with that.

Met a good few boardies at the end of the race, all happy with their day’s work. A very long walk back to the car and I decided to forego the apple crumble; hopped in the car and raced home to see the footie. Feet up for the rest of today, then 16 miles tomorrow.

shazkea

DigiJem wrote: »

Spent a large chuck of my evening putting together my new turbo, which had the worst flippin assembly instructions ever :mad: Anyway, at least its ready for the winter evenings when I don’t fancy heading out.

Was it a tacx by any chance - mine arrived yesterday and instructions are a pile of pants. Ended up bribing someone with dinner coz I couldn't be arsed :rolleyes:

Well done on run today, always good to pull a PB out of bag.

DigiJem

shazkea wrote: »

Was it a tacx by any chance

Yep it’s a tacx satori, a bloody nightmare. Bribery was probably your best bet alright.

jcsmum

Well done on the PB!!