Running Under the Influence of Jack Daniels

beeduybe

Tuesday 10th April
5 mile recovery run on the treadmill. 6.4mph with 1% incline.

Wednesday 11th April
Core workout with the MRG including a warm up and cool down on the track totaling about 3.5 miles altogether. Would have done a longer warm up only it started bucketing down and didn't fancy doing the class in wet clothes so cut it short and ran into shelter as younganne and a few others braved the elements

Thursday 12th April
Recovery Run. Decided to do some of this on grass so went out to Ringsend Park for a few laps.
6.07 Miles in 55:20. Average Pace 9:07.

Friday 13th April
No running today but had an appointment with the physio just to loosen out the legs. Almost everything ok but will have to stretch my glutes a bit more as my pirformis muscle was quite tight and could lead to problems down the line.

I've a few races coming up over the next month or so and I've set a few targets based on what I feel I can achieve based on my recent performances:
41:59 - 10k (K Club 21st April)
24:29 - 6k (Navan 11th May)
19:59 - 5k (Lucan 20th or Na Fianna 22th May)

When I started the log in November I would have felt that I'd be doing well to break 22 mins for 5k or 45 for 10k by the end of the year but now I'm targeting sub 20 and sub 42 in April. Amazing what some consistent training and carrying a bit less weight can do.

Month|Miles
January|152.95
February|125.45
March|168.66
April|62.78
Total|509.84

pconn062

Good targets, I like aggressive targets and they all should be achievable given your recent results. Good Luck.

beeduybe

Saturday 14th April
Met up with a few members of the MRG for a run. Most were doing less than 10 miles but I managed to drag someone else along for 12 Nice morning for it too.
11.94 Miles in 1:46:22. Average Pace 8:54.

Month|Miles
January|152.95
February|125.45
March|168.66
April|74.72
Total|521.78

beeduybe

Sunday 15th April
5 mile recovery run on the grass in the morning. Went up to Phoenix Park in the afternoon to watch the Great Ireland Run. Actually made a nice change to be spectating instead of running as I was able to see all the elites in action and cheer on some familiar faces.

Monday 16th April
6 x 400m
First interval session on the track this year. Plan was to do 8 x 2 mins with 1 min recovery but ended up joining in with another group who were doing 6 x 400m. My pace was probably too quick so was glad of the generous recovery times (2:30+).

My splits were rather consistent though. Each about 1 second slower than the previous one:
1:20
1:21
1:22
1:23
1:25
1:26

Tuesday 17th April
Easy 10 mile run at lunchtime taking my favoured route out to Blackrock College and back.
9.88 Miles in 1:25:46. Average Pace 8:41.

Going to take it very easy for the rest of the week now in preparation for Saturday's 10k at the K Club.

Month|Miles
January|152.95
February|125.45
March|168.66
April|94.30
Total|541.36

beeduybe

Haven't done much last few days as I'm tapering for K Club 10k tomorrow.

Wednesday 18th April
MRG core and strength session. I feel less sore every week after these sessions so my body must be getting used to them

Thursday 19th April
3 mile recovery run on the treadmill followed by some stretching.

Friday 20th April
Very easy 20 minute cycle on the bike in the gym followed by more stretching. Can't bate a good stretch

Month|Miles
January|152.95
February|125.45
March|168.66
April|99.08
Total|546.13

beeduybe

Had marked down this race at the start of the log as one of my goal races to record a fast time. My 10k PB was one of my softest PB's (48:31) mainly due to the fact I hadn't raced one in two years and knew I was going to record a PB based on my improvement since then even if I had a bad day. I had after all ran faster over the last 10k of a HM.

It was the first race this year I set myself a target time to beat. Sub 42 was the plan and I calculated I would have to keep my mile splits just under 6:45 pace to achieve this.

After a short warm up I made my way to the starting line where I had a brief chat with RayCun before finding my place among the field. I made sure I didn't make the same mistake as I had done in the last BHAA race in Raheny by starting too near the front and then taking off too fast trying to keep with those around me so I located myself somewhere nearer the middle of the pack.

The race was off and although I was caught behind (what seemed like) slower runners on the way to the main road it was keeping me around my planned pace so I was happy. The garmin beeped the first mile at 6:38 so I knew that gave me a little cushion to work from if I could keep around 6:45 pace from there on in. Despite the claims of a pancake flat course there were a couple of inclines to be negotiated albeit small ones. I'm not complaining. Just saying

Mile 2 beeped at 6:43 and while I was finding it a little tough I was still feeling good and did pass a few others. Around the 2.5 mile mark I felt a little stitch in my side and felt this slowed me down a bit. Could have been just in my head though as my pace hadn't dropped and I was surprised to look at my watch and see I passed the 5k marker in 20:44 (almost 40 seconds faster than my 5k PB). Although in retrospect that was probably in and around the time I'd have wanted I just hadn't considered my 5k splits beforehand.

It was after this that I really started to suffer and feel rough. The stitch had seemed to disappear but I really felt I was hanging in for the next mile or so and it showed in my 4 mile split of 7:04 which was 18 seconds slower than the previous mile. I was passed by 2 girls at this stage and just tried to stay off them and went through the 5 mile marker with a split time of 6:54. Again slower than my planned pace but an improvement nonetheless. I was too knackered to figure out if I was still on for sub 42 at that point and knowing there was only a mile or so left I just put the foot down and tried to keep with those in front. I passed a few strugglers just before the turn back into the K Club grounds and boy did the finish line look a million miles away at this stage. Thankfully I had a few targets in front of me so concentrated on just trying to catch them. As I passed one person on the finishing straight I could see the clock at 41:5x. It was turbo time as I sprinted towards the line crossing over the mats in a time definitely under 42 mins on the clock, 41:56 on the watch but 42:02 on the official results :mad: I'm claiming the watch time though as others seemed to be a few seconds slower than their watch times too :cool:

6.16 Miles in 41:56. Average Pace 6:48.

Distance | 1 Mile | 3k | 5k | 4 Miles | 6k | 5 Miles | 10k | 10 Miles | Half Marathon | Marathon |
Pre Log PB | 6:41 | 12:57 | 22:52 | 28:44 | 28:53 | 37:32 | 48:31 | 1:21:35 | 1:46:03 | 4:10:01 |
Current PB | 6:10 | 11:58 | 21:22 | 26:14 | 28:53 | 33:23 | 41:56 | 1:21:35 | 1:41:48 | 4:10:01 |

Month|Miles
January|152.95
February|125.45
March|168.66
April|107.69
Total|554.75

shazkea

...and another PB bites the dust . Great running and congrats

menoscemo

Nice PB. I figure the results are a bit out as there was no timing mat at the start, Therefore you get your gun time in the official results.
In those circumstances (since it would have taken you those 6 seconds to cross the start line) it's quite acceptable to take your watch time for PB purposes.

beeduybe

menoscemo wrote: »

Nice PB. I figure the results are a bit out as there was no timing mat at the start, Therefore you get your gun time in the official results.
In those circumstances (since it would have taken you those 6 seconds to cross the start line) it's quite acceptable to take your watch time for PB purposes.

Thanks meno. I started my watch as soon as the starter said go and stopped it as I crossed the finish line so watch time should match gun time but I know what time I ran and that's all that matters

belcarra

Superb time there Beeduybe!
When's your next 5k race? Sub 20??

beeduybe

belcarra wrote: »

Superb time there Beeduybe!
When's your next 5k race? Sub 20??

Thanks I'm thinking either Lucan on 20th May or Na Fianna on the 22nd. Not so sure about sub 20 though. Would be a big ask...

belcarra

beeduybe wrote: »

Thanks I'm thinking either Lucan on 20th May or Na Fianna on the 22nd. Not so sure about sub 20 though. Would be a big ask...

You're well able for it!
I got 20:33 on Paddy's Day and you beat me by a minute today so very achievable for you!
(I'll be ultimately aiming for sub 20 this year myself but need a bit more speed in the legs first!)

beeduybe

Sunday 22nd April
Recovery run. Had some company for this one so actually managed to keep it at a nice slow pace the whole way through.
4.42 Miles in 40:43. Average Pace 9:13.

Monday 23th April
Interval training at the track. 6 x 3mins. Just 3 of us doing this and the other 2 were short on speedwork practice so recovery times were probably longer than they should be but it certainly felt like they went quick.

Managed to cover 800m on the first 3 reps but came up a little short on the remaining ones but was relatively consistent otherwise. According to the Garmin the distance covered for each rep was approx:

840m
810m
810m
790m
780m
780m

2.99 Miles in 18:00 (6 x 3:00). Average Pace 6:00.

Total distance for session was 8.5 miles including warm up and cool down.

Tuesday 24th April
Despite the weather forecast suggesting showers were on the way in the afternoon I took a chance and headed out for a 8 mile lunchtime run out to the Merrion Gates and back. All was going well until I reached the halfway turning point and then the heavens opened and got soaked Still was happier afterwards that I went out and got it done though. Forgot to turn the autolap on at first too which explains the long first lap.
7.95 Miles in 1:09:23. Average Pace 8:43.

Month|Miles
January|152.95
February|125.45
March|168.66
April|128.69
Total|575.75

Younganne

Congrats on the PB, you are in flying form at the minute!!!

beeduybe

Younganne wrote: »

Congrats on the PB, you are in flying form at the minute!!!

Thanks Anne. No sign of you in Claremont last night?

Younganne

No i developed a headache yesterday evening due to an issue with lightening in a new office i'm in and i was just so cold after yesterdays lunchtime run, that i just couldn't face it and went home instead....got a good decent early night for a change!!! I'll do my session this evening...i promise:p

beeduybe

Younganne wrote: »

I'll do my session this evening...i promise:p

Don't worry I won't be keeping tabs on you A good nights sleep won't do any harm.

beeduybe

Wednesday 25th April
Done a 3 mile recovery run on the treadmill at lunchtime as felt the monsoon like conditions would soak me if I left it for the track before the MRG core and conditioning class in the evening. Proved a good decision as there was no let up in the weather.

Thursday 26th April
My first tempo interval session on the treadmill for quite some time. 1 mile warm up followed by 3 sets of 10 mins at 7:14 pace with 2 min recovery and 1 mile cool down. Was planning on keeping an eye on HR during this session but the monitor wasn't working so I'm hoping it's just because the battery has died.

Friday 27th April
Rest day from running. 15k on the bike followed by some stretching.

Saturday 28th April
Met up with some members of the MRG this morning and got in a nice 12 mile run. The route showed up as exactly 12 miles on the Garmin so there was no need for laps of the car park
12 Miles in 1:43:53. Average Pace 8:39.

Month|Miles
January|152.95
February|125.45
March|168.66
April|150.24
Total|597.30

Younganne

Hey B, Some day soon i'll manage to make the saturday meet up...football blitz this am....have to say that pace would be way too fast for me thought...anyone there goin slower @ 10min pace or would i be wasting my time going in??

beeduybe

Younganne wrote: »

Hey B, Some day soon i'll manage to make the saturday meet up...football blitz this am....have to say that pace would be way too fast for me thought...anyone there goin slower @ 10min pace or would i be wasting my time going in??

Numbers are quite low on the Saturday mornings at the moment compared to the Wednesday nights. Last year a lot of people didn't seem to start going until the summer in the run up to DCM. We generally split into different groups depending on distance and pace. 3 of us ran 12 miles this morning but a few others only done 5 or 6. There are a few people who would run at about 10 min pace though but they might not be there every week at the moment.

Younganne

Cheers, i will definitely be trying to get in for the LSR before DCM as its good to have company...seems to make the run go quicker!!

beeduybe

Sunday 29th April
4.5 mile recovery run to loosen out the legs.
4.42 Miles in 41:29. Average Pace 9:23.

Monday 30th April
Interval training on the track. 5 sets of 4 minutes. Last 2 reps were slower as just couldn't find the power in my legs to go any faster. Covered at least a km for every rep although each rep covered less distance than the one before. As we were sharing the track with another group recoveries were a little inconsistent as we waited for them to pass before we started. Total mileage including warm up and cool down was 6.77.
3.24 Miles in 20:00 (5 x 4:00). Average Pace 6:11.

Tuesday 1st May
5 mile recovery run on the treadmill at 6.5mph. Wasn't wearing a HRM but heart rate details appeared on Garmin Connect? Must have picked up somebody else...

Month|Miles
January|152.95
February|125.45
March|168.66
April|161.43
May|5.00
Total|613.49

beeduybe

Wednesday 2nd May
MRG core & conditioning class including warm up and cool down run.

Thursday 3rd & Friday 4th May
Had a bad nights sleep on Wednesday so decided to take Thursday off and still felt tired on Friday so took 2 consecutive days off for the first time in quite some time.

Saturday 5th May
Despite feeling shattered the last couple of days I made my way to RTE for the 5 mile BHAA race. If it wasn't for the fact my absence would have meant we didn't have a team I probably would have stayed at home. I done a bit of a warm up and made my way to the start where I met RayCun and Huskerdu. Despite not feeling 100% I still felt that a sub 34 time should be within my reach.

The race consisted of about 4 and a half laps which started on Ailesbury Road and looped through the RTE grounds and around by Nutley Road. The start was a bit congested especially going around the first bend into RTE as people were almost coming to a stop. I was running at a nice pace on the opening couple of laps and the first two mile splits were 6:43 and 6:49.

It was around here were the wheels really started to come off. My legs started to feel really heavy and I just couldn't muster the energy to race at the intensity I usually do. The last 2 laps became a case of just finishing the race as my pace slowed and loads of people passed me. This was a scenario I'm not used to as I generally find I'm more likely to pass others in the closing stages of a race. Anyway I crossed the finish line in a time of 34:54, 90 seconds slower than my last 5 mile race about 6 weeks ago and the first time in a long time I had finished a race thinking I really hadn't enjoyed it at all.

4.94 Miles in 34:54. Average Pace 7:04.

A google search suggests it's quite likely that I'm suffering from Overtraining Syndrome. Some people may say everyone has bad days but I know myself that it is something more than that. Too many of the symptoms sound familiar and and mindful of Mr Slow's experience I have decided to take at least a week's break and see how I'm feeling after that. I'm running considerably higher mileage than ever before and it's probably starting to catch up on me now.

Month|Miles
January|152.95
February|125.45
March|168.66
April|161.43
May|17.33
Total|625.82

pconn062

Well done on the race beeduybe, an easy or recovery week is a good idea. Doesn't have to be a complete week off, just ease back the intensity and refresh yourself for the next training block.

beeduybe

Sunday 6th May
Despite saying I was taking a week's break I knew by Sunday afternoon my addiction to running was worse than I thought so I headed down to the local football pitch to do a few laps on the grass at slower than recovery pace.

Monday 7th May
Not really big into lie in's but I had a pretty massive one that was well needed and didn't do any running at all.

Tuesday 8th May
3 miles on the treadmill at recovery pace.

Wednesday 9th May
Core & conditioning class which included a mile warm up and cool down. Noticed it was the freshest I'd felt in weeks so the rest and recovery of the previous few days was taking effect.

Thursday 10th May
30 minute cycle on the bike in the gym covering 15k followed by some stretching.

beeduybe

Despite having signed up for this race I made a decision last weekend to take a rest/recovery week as I was absolutely knackered and knock this race on the head. However by race day I was feeling good again but still wasn't going to chance it. As the day progressed I suppose curiosity got the better of me and decided to run as I knew I'd regret it if I didn't.

I'd originally marked down this race as a trial run for my sub 20 5k attempt in the Bob Heffernan 5k in a couple of weeks so decided to stick with my original plan of going out hard for the first mile and keeping that intensity for the second mile and then hang on for the last 1.73 miles, similar to what I'd plan to do in the 5k only tonight I'd have to hang on 1k longer. My 6k PB is quite old and ridiculously soft compared to my other PB's so I knew I was going to smash that regardless. 6k's ain't too common either. Even the McMillan calculator couldn't give me an estimated time.

After a short warm up we lined up for the race. The race director gave a speech and then immediately without much of a warning let off the starter's gun to the surprise of many including myself :mad: I realised I had forgotten to reset my Garmin after my warm up so I spent the first few seconds of the race resetting and restarting the watch so I knew my watch would be about 4ish seconds faster than my official time. I was feeling good in the first mile, a little bit too good I think as I noticed my pace was 5:xx about a minute into the race :eek: Ok the plan was to go out hard but not this hard but the pace felt too OK to slow down now. I went through the 1k in 3:4x and the watch timed the first mile in 6:06 (+4 secs). I began to feel the effects of my fast start as despite working harder I was starting to slow and people began to pass me. Despite this I passed the halfway point in 11:45ish but looking at the stats now my HR at this stage was already 197 so I was never going to maintain that pace to the finish.

3k - 5k were pretty uneventful. It was mentally tough from here on as I knew I was only halfway and I had pushed so hard from the start. Short inclines seemed tougher than they should be but I just kept at it. I took a look at the watch at the 5k marker - 20:05 (+4). The last k was just a case of keeping the guys in front of me in sight but I wasn't going to muster a kick to out sprint them today as I was completely out of gas at this stage. I look at the watch which showed a time of 24:16. Given the delay in starting my watch I estimated an official time of 24:20 which was then proved to be spot on.

This race gave me the preparation I was looking for ahead of my sub 20 attempt. I know now that's it's within my capabilities and will be disappointed if I don't achieve that result on the 22nd. I went out a tad too fast in the first couple of minutes tonight but if I can get the pacing a bit better in Johnstownbridge I should have more in the tank for the finish. Not a bad night's work in the end. I'll still take it relatively easy next week as I think my problems stemmed from not enough recovery from too many hard sessions. Playing golf tomorrow so will be a good chance to recover and get some fresh air and exercise.

3.73 Miles in 24:16. Average Pace 6:31.

Distance | 1 Mile | 3k | 5k | 4 Miles | 6k | 5 Miles | 10k | 10 Miles | Half Marathon | Marathon |
Pre Log PB | 6:41 | 12:57 | 22:52 | 28:44 | 28:53 | 37:32 | 48:31 | 1:21:35 | 1:46:03 | 4:10:01 |
Current PB | 6:10 | 11:58 | 21:22 | 26:14 | 24:20 | 33:23 | 41:56 | 1:21:35 | 1:41:48 | 4:10:01 |


Month|Miles
January|152.95
February|125.45
March|168.66
April|161.43
May|32.67
Total|641.16

beeduybe

Sunday 13th May
3 mile recovery run. Just loosening out the legs.

Monday 14th May
Headed out at lunchtime for an easy 8 mile run. Well easy apart from the strong headwind I had to fight against on way back but nice to get out all the same.
8.01 Miles in 1:11:00. Average Pace 8:52.

Month|Miles
January|152.95
February|125.45
March|168.66
April|161.43
May|43.60
Total|652.09

beeduybe

Tuesday 15th May
5 mile recovery run on the treadmill.

Wednesday 16th May
Interval training with MRG. 6 x 2mins with 1ish min recoveries. According to the Garmin the distances covered were approx:

590m
590m
550m
550m
540m
580m

Covered about 8 miles altogether including warm up and cool down.

Thursday 17th May
Recovery day. 20 easy mins on the bike followed by some stretching and core work.

Friday 18th May
3.5 mile recovery run on the treadmill.

Month|Miles
January|152.95
February|125.45
March|168.66
April|161.43
May|60.33
Total|668.82

beeduybe

Saturday 19th May
Easy 8 mile run with a few members of the MRG.
7.86 Miles in 1:09:41. Average Pace 8:52.

Month|Miles
January|152.95
February|125.45
March|168.66
April|161.43
May|68.19
Total|676.68

beeduybe

Sunday 20th May
No running but did walk around the zoo for a couple of hours so I'll stamp that down as cross training

Monday 21st May
3 mile recovery run around the local football field to keep the legs in check before the 5k tomorrow.