The Road to Berlin

macinalli

Decided to go for a longer run today - 16.5k in 87 mins around the Phoenix Park. Gorgeous day out there and the Park was packed with runners. My first longish run for a while and it rounded off a pretty good week for me. Ran 7 days which included 1 race, 1 fartlek session and the rest was easy running. A good weeks work for the 1st week back after holidays.

I also see that my chip time for yesterdays 5k was 20.13 which I'm pretty happy with. I've done three 5k races in the last 10 weeks but for various reasons a PB was never really on in any of them (Christmas parties, holidays etc) It's all good race experience but my next 5k race will need to be much more focussed. Just need to find the right race!

YTD: 211.9k

macinalli

Monday is always a tempo run, 1.5k warm-up followed by 6.5k at a steadily increasing pace. Today was on the slower side (30.20), but it felt pretty tough. A combination of a race on Saturday/longer run on Sunday left the legs feeling tired, a slow recovery is definitely needed tomorrow.

YTD: 219.9k

macinalli

Tuesday got held up in work so missed my slow recovery run. I find that this isn't so bad as the cycle to/from work is a great way of loosening up tired legs. Don't want to make a habit of this!

Today was fartlek day, the usual 2k warm up followed by 6k of faster stuff. Conditions today were beautiful - there was a bit of warmth from the sun and it really felt like spring. You could also see it in todays session - some of the legs in the fartlek had a real bite to them and we really felt like we were moving. Will sleep well tonight!

YTD: 227.9k

macinalli

Thursday was a nice slow recovery run - the usual 4.5k route at a nice relaxed pace. Was followed by an unplanned session of a very different type involving several pints of guinness last night.

Today was the first speed session of the year and was feeling the effects of last night. We used to do these on the UCD track but that's obviously no longer an option. Instead we found a flat 400m stretch that we used for our 'track' session. The plan was 4 x 400 in 80 seconds with a strict 50 second interval. The first one was very uneven but after that we got into our rhythm and the rest were fine (but tough!). We'll gradually increase the number of reps as the fitness improves; we'll hopefully see that speed coming through in a few weeks.

YTD: 237.0k

macinalli

Ended up coming down with some sort of bug at the weekend - unfair! Felt absolute pants, any sort of run was out of the question. This made 4 runs for the week, with 3 sessions and only 1 easy run. No balance - not good at all.

Still not feeling too perky today, decided to skip the lunch time temp run with the work group. Did a nice lazy 6.5k easy run, was nice to get out again.

YTD: 243.5k

macinalli

Feeling a lot better today, joined the work group for a nice relaxed 5k. It was a recovery run for them but was happy to tag along.

YTD: 248.5k

macinalli

Busy week at work, haven't updated the log for a while. Since then we've had a fartlek, a recovery run and a 'track' session. Wednesday was fartlek - the usual 8k route and a mix of fast legs of differing lengths. The pace of this session has definitely gone up - a sure sign of improving weather! Thursday was a 6.5k recovery run - nice and easy.

Friday was our 'track' session on the new UCD 'track'. This is basically a 400m straight in front of the sport centre that's been marked out by UCD AC (I presume?) Target time per 400 is 80 sec, strict 50 sec recovery in between reps. It was a tough session yesterday as there was a headwind which hit hard on runs 1 and 3. Our times ended up as 81, 79, 82, 79 which was pretty good in the circumstances. Was wrecked after it, but these are fairly short & intense sessions. Still on 4 reps for now, will gradually increase that over the summer. Also included a warm up, some strides and a cool down - total of about 5k.

YTD: 268k

macinalli

An easy 8k with the dog around the Phoenix Park, lovely running conditions this morning. This week then comes to 6 days running with 2 sessions and 4 easier days. The 2 sessions were fartlek and intervals and both had good quality, so all in all I think it was a good week. The mileage I'm putting in at the moment is pretty low (40k for the week), will have to try and build that up a bit over the coming weeks.

Will be away with work all next week so not sure what running will be done; will be bringing the gear with me so hopefully will get some runs in.

YTD: 276k

macinalli

macinalli wrote: »

Will be away with work all next week so not sure what running will be done; will be bringing the gear with me so hopefully will get some runs in.

So much for that plan! A write off week due to a combination of work, nights out and then a family christening when I got back. Summary for the week: 0 runs, 0 k:(

First run back was this morning - nice easy 8k with the dog around the Phoenix Park. My main target for the year is the Berlin marathon but I think that I need a few target races in the meantime - I seem to be drifting a lot lately. Am thinking of the BHAA K club 10k in mid April, followed by a half marathon sometime in May before starting training for Berlin in June. All I need now is a half marathon! There seems to be a few on in May - will have to take a closer look later on. Am hoping that these races will get me more focussed with my running, especially at the weekends which have been hit and miss of late.

YTD: 284k

macinalli

Tuesday is always a recovery run, even when there was no Monday session to recover from! A lazy 5k at lunch time.

YTD: 289k

macinalli

Today was fartlek, the usual 1.5k warm up followed by 6k of fast/slow, with a 0.5k warm down at the end. For today we managed 12 legs of between 1 and 3 minutes with a strict 30 seconds recovery in between. There was a good quality to todays run, probably a sign that Fridays 400m intervals are starting to have an effect. A damn enjoyable session:)

YTD: 297k

macinalli

A few days since my last update. On Thursday it was the usual recovery run after fartlek - a nice relaxed 5k, nothing really to report.

Friday was our track session where we run 400's on the path in front of UCD sports centre. This is basically a 2k slow warm up, about 500m of strides followed by a series of 400's in 80 seconds with 50 seconds recovery. Had been on 4 reps up til now, this time did 5 and felt fine after it. Will hold it at this for a few weeks before adding a 6th. a 1k warm down brought the session to 5.5k. It's only 400 seconds of fast running but it does take a toll - was wrecked last night!

Today was for recovery - took the dog out for a 8.4k ramble around the Phoenix Park. With all the stop/start to sniff/pee on everything, these runs are only really good for recovery and working out the stiffness from the legs. That part worked well - feeling good again. It's also a spectacularly nice day for running!:)

YTD: 315.9k

macinalli

A 13.5k run around the Phoenix Park, conditions are gorgeous and there was loads of people out running today - good to see! Had hoped to go further this morning but stomach wasn't happy about something and finished up a bit early.

Total then for the week is 7 runs, including 2 sessions and a total of 53.4k. I'm really starting to enjoy the 400's we do each Friday and am looking forward to my next race to see if there's any speed coming through. That will be next Saturday when I plan on doing the BHAA 4 miler in St Annes Park.

macinalli

Nothing like some gorgeous weather to make you forget about updating my log! Anyhoo, Monday was our usual tempo run which meant 6.5k in 29:20. The legs felt a bit tight on this one - suspect that I went a bit too fast on Sundays run.

Tuesday was a nice recovery day - 4.5k at a very easy pace. Today was fartlek and it was a proper testing session. The usual 8k route but there was a few legs that were real tests. The limit for us is 3 mins per leg and there was a couple of legs today that were long and hard. A really enjoyable session, suspect that I will sleep very well tonight!

YTD: 349.9k

macinalli

Friday is usually a series of 400's but racing Sat so took it easy - a 6.5k at a slow pace.

Sat was the BHAA DCC 4 mile race in St Annes Park and the target was to get under 25 minutes. I ran this race last year and clocked 26.10 so sub 25 would be a good improvement. I got there in good time and the BHAA registration was efficient as ever, all done in less than 2 minutes. Did about a 2k warmup with some strides before slotting in about 5 rows back from the front. I felt that we were going fast at the start but was feeling comfortable. Went though the first mile in 5.52 but still felt great. Decided to try and push on with that pace - bad idea! After about another 500 metres I was struggling and the pace was starting to drop. This was my slowest mile of the race - I think about 6.40. I recovered well after that one and ran steadily for the last 2 miles - did them both in 6.20 to finish in 25.12. A bit disappointing not to break 25, but it was a lesson learned today. I had wanted to be aggressive in my race pacing this year but pushed it too much in the first 2k. It's also a nice improvement over last year and a PB by 58 seconds:)

One of my key goals for the year is to break 40 for 10k. I just put todays race time into McMillan and it says 40.01. Next race will be the BHAA 10k in the K-Club - that gives me 3 weeks to find a 2 second improvement;)

macinalli

Today was a progression run, starting off at about 4.40/k and gradually picking up the pace to about 4.00/k. I faded a bit in the race at the weekend so I was thinking that this is the session to improve that speed endurance. Up until now it's been a 6.5k course, but have decided to gradually increase that and today did about 7.5k in 34.30. Including warm up the session was about 9k.

YTD: 368.9k

macinalli

Ok, Tuesday was a recovery run - a nice easy 4.5k at lunch time.

Wednesday was fartlek and although our group numbers were down, we had some good quality runners. I was probably the slowest there but we had a well run session (despite the wind) which came to 8k.

Due to work/home stuff I didn't get out Thursday. Friday was a relaxed 8k with the dog.

YTD: 395.9k

macinalli

Poorly people at home so the main focus of todays run was to tire out the dog. 11.2k in the Park seems to have done the trick. Reckon it'll be the same story on Sunday and hope to do some 10k specific stuff for the upcoming BHAA 10k on Monday.

YTD: 407.1k

pconn062

Hi Macinalli, enjoying the log. I also targeting sub 40 for 10k soon and was thinking of the K club 10k as well, meant to be a super quick course. Good luck with the next two weeks training.

macinalli

Monday is usually a progression run with the work group but on my own today so decided to do something different. Had an eye on the mcmillan 10k sessions that were mentioned in another thread so decided to give the 3 x 2 mile intervals a shot. The idea is that if I can do these at race pace, then I'll be fine for the 10k. Hadn't done long intervals before but thought it'd be an interesting session. Turned out to be a bad idea! Did the first 2 miles in 12.55 (target was 12.48) so was happy enough. Took a 4 minute recovery and headed off again but the legs were like jelly and all over the place, stopped after 300 metres. Very strange sensation as I know the pace wasn't the issue - my recent 4 mile race shows that. I'm guessing that while my training is going well, I haven't been doing long intervals, and especially nothing near 2 mile intervals. Plan for the future is to build up to these with a series of 1 mile intervals - lesson learned! After pulling the plug on the session I just went for an easy run in the Park - total for the day was a very varied 16.3k.

YTD: 423.4k

macinalli

Tuesday was a recovery day, the legs were pretty tired after Mondays strange run. The usual relaxed 4.5k.

Today was fartlek and the usual 8k route. Conditions were great and I had one of those days when running just felt effortless. Why can't I feel like that on race days? :rolleyes:

YTD: 435.9k

macinalli

Thursday was recovery after fartlek - nice relaxed 4.5k.

Friday was our 400's session - we aim to do 400 in 80 seconds, take 50 seconds recovery and then go again. I had intended to do 5 reps, but recovered quickly during the last and went with one of our guys who was doing a 6th. Struggled in the 2nd half but it's good to be up to 6 this early in the year. Times for the 400 were 82, 80, 79, 79, 80 and 81. Slept very well that night!

Today then was a longish run. Am thinking of doing a half marathon some time in May to help me work out my training paces for Berlin (maybe the Moy half on May 12). Need to get a few longer runs in before then - today was 20.2k around the park in 1:49.

Looking back then on the week, I ran 6 times totalling 59k. Sessions completed were the fartlek and the 400's. I think it's the most I've run in a week when I haven't been training for a marathon and I'm really enjoying my running at the moment. Bring on the K-Club next week!

YTD: 466.1k

macinalli

Bit of a daft week, didn't get to update my log at all. Anyhoo, Monday was the usual progression run - about 7.5k with a finishing around the 4.10/k mark. I'm planning on gradually increasing the length of these - currently around 35 minutes.

Tuesday was a recovery day - an easy 4.5k.

Wed - Fri was abroad with work. Knew that getting a run in would be difficult but thought the rest would be good with the BHAA 10k coming up. Plan was to loosen the legs up when I got back on Friday but was feeling crap so skipped that too!

BHAA 10k @ the K-Club
Got a great nights sleep on Friday so felt good again and ready to have a shot at my first sub 40. McMillan was predicting a 40.01 for me so I thought it'd be close! Got there in good time, a 2k warm up with some strides before joining the pack. The start was a bit of a mess as no-one knew where the start line was and the pack had to move back about 10 metres. Was really congested at the start but cleared out after maybe 100 metres. Got into my stride straight away and went through the 2k mark in 7.45 but I was working hard at that stage. From there on the pace steadily dropped but I went through 5k in 19.53 and thought that if I could keep the pace then a fast finish would get me there. Was not to be as the pace just kept dropping - km splits of 4.10, 4.08 and 4.12 to get me to 8k. Managed to pick it up for the finish, crossing the line in 40.38. It's my 2nd race in a row now where I've walked away with a PB (by 75 seconds!) but still felt disappointed.

In hindsight I think the 3 days off had left me rusty, but I'm getting closer to that sub-40 so reasons for optimism. It's my main target for the year, will have another crack later - maybe Dunshaughlin.

YTD: 495.1k

macinalli

More travel with work has meant a v interrupted weeks running. Was in Athens from Sun - Wed and brought the running gear with every intention of getting out. That plan didn't last though as it's not a good town for running. Footpaths are small and uneven, traffic is bedlam and it's also damn hot all the time. On a positive side, the Acropolis is spectacular!

Joined the work group on Thursday for a slow 4.5k at lunch time - nice to get out again. Friday was the usual session of 400's. The format is the same - target pace of 80 sec off 50 sec recovery. Wind was a bit awkward so the pace was a bit erratic - splits of 83, 79, 81, 80, 82 and 81. Happy with the session though.

Today was a longish run - 21.3k around the park in 1:56. Am thinking of doing the Moy half marathon in 2 weeks as I'll be down West that weekend and I'd like to get a half in before the Berlin training starts. Not sure about the pace (McMillan says 91) but have only done a couple of runs over 20k this year. Will probably do the race anyways!

YTD: 526.9k

macinalli

Monday means a progression run with the work crew - the usual 8k route with 6.5k at pace. We started off on about 5.20 pace and finished very fast at 3.40. Am thinking that I might try change these to a much more even effort in the future but undecided for now...

YTD: 534.9k

macinalli

Couldn't get out at lunch time but was happy to get an easy run in after work. Conditions were awful but was wearing the right (Winter!) gear so it was fine. Eventually I got so wet I decided to go cross country in the Phoenix Park - was brilliant! Something very therapeutic about running through puddles - a very relaxing 8k.

YTD: 542.9k

macinalli

Ok, a busy week but still managed to get some good runs in. Wednesday was fartlek, the usual 8k course with a nice mix of fast/long. Thursday was a recovery day, again the usual 4.5k route. Friday I was travelling all day and no chance for a run.

Have decided to do the Moy half marathon next weekend to get an idea of where my pace is at before getting stuck into training for the Berlin marathon. For that I've been doing longer weekend runs and today was another of those - 22.8k around the Phoenix Park in 1.56. Average pace was 5.07 per km - will need to do much better next week in Ballina!

YTD: 578.2k

macinalli

Monday was one of those days when I just couldn't be bothered - a write off of a day all round By tradition Tuesday is always a recovery run - this time it was a 5k recovery run after my Monday laziness!

Wednesday was the usual fartlek, although unusual in that it was probably the fastest session of the year. The usual mix of long/fast, but with a good bite to the various splits. Today was a 4.5k recovery run - very easy. Legs are pretty tired today - have been back on the bike after a few lazy weeks but feeling better for it.

Am in 2 minds for a race strategy this weekend. McMillan says that I'm 90.30 for the half marathon but I don't think I've the hard work done to get that time. Apparently though there's a 90 min pacer for the race so it's very tempted to see if I can hang on. Tomorrow is a day of rest, will probably just wing it on Sat morning!

YTD: 595.7k

macinalli

Headed west last night and then had a short drive this morning down to the course. Registration was a doddle - all done in 30 seconds; seemed that half of Ballina was getting roped in to help with this one! The race started bang on time, and about 30 seconds before that the 1.30 pacer appeared beside me. Decided to go with him at the start but was prepared to let him go if the pace looked like it might be too much. That happened after about 1.5 miles - I noticed that I was running at 6.30 mile pace and the pacer was going away from me! I knew I couldn't sustain that so decided to let him gradually get away from me. I was told before hand that the course was fast and flat - didn't think so at all. We left Ballina at about 2 miles - 14.14 on the clock so happy enough. From mile 3 to 6 it was a long drag up a hill, into the wind and that was tough going. I kept on the pace however and went through 6 miles in 43.15 - happy enough. Miles 6-10 were largely downhill, but with a few toughish hills in between. Was very happy with this stage of the race - pace was under 7.00 for all of these. As expected though my lack of long hard runs started to tell and the pace flagged a bit towards the end. I was stilling passing some people in the last mile and finished pretty tired in 93.30. I was asked to predict my time on Friday and I said 93 so all in all I'm pretty happy with that.

The race itself was well run - lots of marshalls on the course, good local support and a good spread afterwards. I still have my quibbles about the entry fee (€45) but could not fault anything else. Based on todays run I need to come up with a training plan for Berlin. Will be following the P&D 55 mile plan, but unsure of a target time - any advice welcome!

belcarra

I reckon you would clear 3:30 handy and that you should be aiming for 3:20. You could even aim for sub 3:15 as an optimistic time now and reassess later in the summer. Aim high at this stage anyways!
Well done today!