Things will come to those who wait...

belcarra

I have read it is the pace which you could hold for an hour. So, for slow runners that might be 10km pace, average to advanced runners would be slightly slower than 10 mile pace but for fast runners that would be close to HM pace.

pconn062

Just backing up what the two lads have said RFR, I always went by the pace you can run at for an hour or so, 10k pace would be too quick. 6:15-20 would prob be around my 10 mile pace at the minute so I'm going with that. You can also adapt the pace you run depending on how long you are doing.

ThePiedPiper

Grand, good to know. I suppose my 10k was always a very soft pb so the paces were askew due to that.. Still think you're sandbagging though.. Man up..

pconn062

Thursday: 8 miles @ 7.48 pace

Can't remember this run at all, think it was done on grass.

Friday

AM: 4 mile @ 7.58 pace
PM: 5 mile @ 7.58 pace

Two identical, tired runs. The first one was done on the road, the second one on the treadmill as the sky opened just as I stepped out the door. Had intended to do 6 in the evening but got a pain in my left foot, just below the inside ankle bone. Very strange so had to call it a day early.

Saturday: 8 mile with hill session

6x300m uphill, 4x100m uphill

Had a hill session planned for today but wasn't even sure if I would get it done given how my foot felt last night. Headed up for the grass and after having to leave one field after one lap because of some ignorant bastards who wouldn't keep their mongrels on a leash and thought it was "cute" when their massive dogs came over a barked at me, I headed for the hill field. Thankfully the foot felt OK and even though I felt like a lunatic repeatedly running up a hill on purpose in the lashing rain, I really enjoyed this session. My left ankle is a bit tender from running on the uneven surface so will put a bit of ice on it tonight (wasn't joking when I said it was about taking it one day at a time and hoping the body holds together! :pac:).

Long run planned for tomorrow, hopefully 12-13 miles to take me to my highest weekly mileage total ever.

pconn062

Sunday: 12 miles @ 7.55 pace

Long run on the grass this morning, took it nice and handy as I ran with my brother who raced the Frank Duffy 10 mile yesterday, so he was feeling tender enough. Didn't realise that I got a bit of man boob chafing yesterday in the rain, after two miles today they got very sensitive and the top had to come off. Luckily there were no women or small children around to call the guards!

So that gives me 54 miles for the week, my highest ever weekly total I think. The plan is to try and keep the mileage around this mark, going up to sixty over the next few weeks which should leave me in good shape for the cross country One I hit 60 miles I will start proper sessions in the next, mostly 1k-1 mile reps done on the grass and over hills. Physio booked tomorrow to give my legs a good battering.

ThePiedPiper

pconn062 wrote: »

So that gives me 54 miles for the week, my highest ever weekly total I think. .

Is it any wonder you were rubbish at marathons?!!! :P

Seriously though, as you know yourself, I'm a big believer in steady 50-70 mile weeks giving big gains over all distances. I think you'll get the same benefit, and it'll stand you in good stead if you do decide to have another crack at the track next year.

Just be careful though when you get over 60 to not have too many hard miles in there for the first while until you get used to the higher mileage. I was starting to creak just a small bit back in June doing high mileage and quality, I know you'll be more sensible than me, but just throwing it out there.

pconn062

RunForestRun wrote: »

Is it any wonder you were rubbish at marathons?!!! :P

Seriously though, as you know yourself, I'm a big believer in steady 50-70 mile weeks giving big gains over all distances. I think you'll get the same benefit, and it'll stand you in good stead if you do decide to have another crack at the track next year.

Just be careful though when you get over 60 to not have too many hard miles in there for the first while until you get used to the higher mileage. I was starting to creak just a small bit back in June doing high mileage and quality, I know you'll be more sensible than me, but just throwing it out there.

Definitely true, for my next marathon (in ten years time) I'll be averaging 150 mile a week! :pac:

I don't know if I'm going to go much over 60 miles for now, if I can get to that number without getting hurt then instead of going higher I will probably introduce one session a week. As I said probably mile repeats but probably done on grass to make it easier on the body, nearly 50% of my mileage is done on grass now and it's much easier on the body.

pconn062

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 9 miles @ 7.25 pace

Nice, moderately paced run on the grass. This was supposed to be a double day but got called into work an hour early and there was not a hope I was getting up before 6 in the morning to go for a run! The effort was fairly high for this pace as a lot of this run was done over the rolling hills in the hill field.

Wednesday: 7 miles with session

6x3 mins @ 5.48 pace with 1 min easy jog

I am possibly running a 5k time trial on Friday evening so only planned to do a short tempo session tonight. But when I got to the track one of the coaches asked me and my friend would we pace one of the younger group for their session. I agreed before I found out what their intended pace was, 3.35 a kilometer which was a bit faster than I intended to do but I had already agreed at this stage. I actually felt very comfortable during the session, everyone around me seemed to be working fairly hard but this pace felt comfortably hard to me and even by the last rep I wasn't working overly hard. Overall we covered exactly 5k fast during the session in 17:58, a great session for the kids and a good confidence booster for me.

I hope I didn't overcook before Friday, I will run very easy tomorrow and then see how I feel on Friday before deciding if I run. If I feel to tired I will just stick to counting laps or something, steady mileage is the main goal at the minute.

Timmaay

I'd say I've only ever done more than 54 miles in a week 3 or 4 times ever, max was 69 while warm weather training! I love middle distance running for that reason

jfh

Hi Pconn, some great consistency here, whats the plan.

pconn062

Timmaay wrote: »

I'd say I've only ever done more than 54 miles in a week 3 or 4 times ever, max was 69 while warm weather training! I love middle distance running for that reason

Ha, I know man, the middle distance stuff definitely has it's advantages! Unfortunately low mileage and lots of sessions on the track won't cut it for the cross country!! Looking forward to next summer already though!

jfh wrote: »

Hi Pconn, some great consistency here, whats the plan.

Thanks jfh, the plan for now is the cross country season. I'm trying to build up the miles a bit to get ready for that. We have three county championships races in October and November so will be trying to put together some good teams. After that I might run a few road races before taking a break over in December. How's your own training going at the moment?

jfh

pconn062 wrote: »

Ha, I know man, the middle distance stuff definitely has it's advantages! Unfortunately low mileage and lots of sessions on the track won't cut it for the cross country!! Looking forward to next summer already though!



Thanks jfh, the plan for now is the cross country season. I'm trying to build up the miles a bit to get ready for that. We have three county championships races in October and November so will be trying to put together some good teams. After that I might run a few road races before taking a break over in December. How's your own training going at the moment?

my training is going good, i think! in the depths of marathon schedule at the moment & actually loving it, i've noticed it's quiet similiar to some sessions your doing thats why i asked, small bit worried TBH time will tell.
the hills really do pay off, never felt stronger.

pconn062

jfh wrote: »

my training is going good, i think! in the depths of marathon schedule at the moment & actually loving it, i've noticed it's quiet similiar to some sessions your doing thats why i asked, small bit worried TBH time will tell.
the hills really do pay off, never felt stronger.

Totally agree, have been including hills in all my easy runs now and I can really feel the difference in races. Good luck with the marathon training, pretty brutal stuff, will keep and good eye on your log.

jfh

my training is a little different to a traditional, no real long runs, up to 14 miles so far on hilly trail, TBH it's an experiment, my mileage is low too, have yet to hit 60. some of the marathon purists would not agree but i know it'll be a PB anyway as my previous exploits were a few years ago. i've yet to have a bad training session so maybe not pushing myself as hard as i should.
you were following the JD 10k plan earlier in the year weren't you, i started that too & found it much tougher !

pconn062

jfh wrote: »

my training is a little different to a traditional, no real long runs, up to 14 miles so far on hilly trail, TBH it's an experiment, my mileage is low too, have yet to hit 60. some of the marathon purists would not agree but i know it'll be a PB anyway as my previous exploits were a few years ago. i've yet to have a bad training session so maybe not pushing myself as hard as i should.
you were following the JD 10k plan earlier in the year weren't you, i started that too & found it much tougher !

Yup I did it earlier in the year, well most of it. I found it too much for me to be honest, too intense and it left me a bit burnt out. I didn't have the mileage or aerobic capacity for it to be to effective either.

pconn062

Thursday: 7 miles @ 8.10 pace

Very easy run on the grass to try and help the legs recover from the previous night.

Friday


AM: 3 miles very easy
PM 6.5 miles w/5,000m time trial

A bit of a balls up this evening, I had organised this time trial for a bit of fun and because none of us had ever run 5k on the track. We had a good group looking for around 18 minutes and we were going to take turns running on the front. It wasn't a very good evening for it, very windy down the back straight and I think we all felt tired after a long week. I had my Garmin with me which usually is very accurate on the track (more on that later).

We started off and got into 5.45 pace straight away according to my Garmin, we were looking for 86 second laps but it's very hard to keep count when you're trying to race. The first few laps were grand with each of us running one lap and the pace dropped to 5.41 by the first mile (again, according to my Garmin). Over the next mile the group broke up a bit and three of us went off, pace now dropped to 5.38. I thought, Jesus I'm having the run of my life!!! Into the last mile and I moved into second place, still feeling great and hammering it around the track, the average pace now showing 5.35.

I lost track of the laps but checked the watch on what I thought was my last lap, I had 2.85 miles on the Garmin so one lap would bring it up to 3.10, perfect, and a new PB. I couldn't believe it, it felt so easy and was only running at about 80% effort. Then the guy counting laps said I had two left, not one. WTF???? I was sure I only had one, this couldn't be right because it would take me over 18 minutes but my watch said I was averaging 5.34 pace now, good for a 17:20 finish. I couldn't believe it, the Garmin had obviously fucked up, telling me I was running much quicker than I was. I was really pissed and just ran the last two laps to finish in 18:1X I think.

The Garmin at the end told me I ran 3.34 miles at the end, I don't know what was up with the damn thing. I was gutted at the end, I thought I was running the race of my life. No wonder 5.35 pace felt so easy, it was actually 5.50 pace! And the most frustrating part is that I never felt under real pressure, I had so much more in the tank and if the watch was given me the correct info I could have broken 18 with ease. Stupid technology!! Even checked my splits when I got home: 5.41, 5.35, 5.27 and 5.40 for the last bit?? Normally my Garmin is great on a track, I use it for my tempo runs every week and it is usually very accurate, anyway lesson learned, never rely on technology.

Back to training.

belcarra

Hey P, when I ran the midnight marathon in leixlip it registered 2km long! Also, a good bit out on the 24hr race on the track in Belfast so I think the GPS really can't be trusted on the track.
Instead, just go by lap time as it's a safer bet.

pconn062

belcarra wrote: »

Hey P, when I ran the midnight marathon in leixlip it registered 2km long! Also, a good bit out on the 24hr race on the track in Belfast so I think the GPS really can't be trusted on the track.
Instead, just go by lap time as it's a safer bet.

Thanks J, I just couldn't believe how badly it let me down, usually it is very good on the track, out by 400m over a 5k race seems like a lot! Next time I will go by lap splits although I don't know how good I will be at counting 86 second laps in my head!

belcarra

pconn062 wrote: »

Thanks J, I just couldn't believe how badly it let me down, usually it is very good on the track, out by 400m over a 5k race seems like a lot! Next time I will go by lap splits although I don't know how good I will be at counting 86 second laps in my head!

You can do the auto lap 'by position' which means it will automatically split each time you pass the start position so it will count your laps.
So, as long as you now what your lap split is you should be good to go!

ThePiedPiper

$hit PConn, that's a balls. The same thing happened me in the 3,000 at the Louths, for a 3,000 metre race, I measured 1.99 miles on the garmin, which would be 3,184 metres!
That's a real pity for you, because, as you said, you felt like you'd plenty more in the tank. On the plus side, it felt easy, so sub-18 should be a doddle next time.

ecoli

pconn062 wrote: »

Thanks J, I just couldn't believe how badly it let me down, usually it is very good on the track, out by 400m over a 5k race seems like a lot! Next time I will go by lap splits although I don't know how good I will be at counting 86 second laps in my head!

Surprised by this I thought Garmins never read accurate one track simply because it is a straight line measurement and the oval is too small.

I know personally my watch always reads .26 per lap so I always ignore this and pace on the watch and just use it as a stop watch when on track.

Its not a bad idea to get used to working out pace splits in the head for track races (even just up to 1600 and split each mile roughly)

Still that sort of effort is a good work out and will stand to you. Keep it up man

pconn062

ecoli wrote: »

Surprised by this I thought Garmins never read accurate one track simply because it is a straight line measurement and the oval is too small.

I know personally my watch always reads .26 per lap so I always ignore this and pace on the watch and just use it as a stop watch when on track.

Its not a bad idea to get used to working out pace splits in the head for track races (even just up to 1600 and split each mile roughly)

Still that sort of effort is a good work out and will stand to you. Keep it up man

Thanks man, usually the distance can be out a little but the pace reading is usually correct (as in all our watches have the same pace reading). I just couldn't believe how much it was out by, got my hopes up for a massive PB! Lesson learned now anyway, we are going to run another one next month so I'm going to do up a pace band for that will all the different splits and just use a stopwatch. Good to see you back training, you'll be back flying again in no time.

pconn062

Saturday

AM: 4 miles @ 8.30 pace
PM: 5 miles @ 7.45 pace

4 very easy, recovery miles in the morning on the treadmill. Headed up to thirstyworks's new venture in Ashtown for new runners. Great service and I picked up a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline 13's, a mild stability shoe for a slight overpronator like myself. Did 5 miles easy in the evening to test them out and they felt pretty good. A bit firmer that the Pegasus I am familiar with but nice all the same.

Sunday: 13 miles @ 8.00 pace

Tired, tired run this morning. Did this on the grass and running the loops became a bit wearisome. Felt good at the start but could not get the legs moving and doing our last few miles in the hill field was a bad idea, the legs were like lead weights.

Another week over, with 54.5 miles in total. The body is a bit tender in places but seem to be holding up OK so far. The next few weeks are the last two base building weeks and I hope to hit 60 each week. Then I will drop the mileage a bit and start with a few sessions to leave us in decent shape for the start of October. The muck awaits us in a few weeks.

BeepBeep67

I do enjoy a bit of XC, leave the watch at home and get on with a bit of racing.

pconn062

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

I do enjoy a bit of XC, leave the watch at home and get on with a bit of racing.

Absolutely, I was absolutely fried at the end of the cross season last year, can't believe it's that time of the year again! Some solid miles you're getting in now, I'd say you are itching to get racing!

BeepBeep67

pconn062 wrote: »

Absolutely, I was absolutely fried at the end of the cross season last year, can't believe it's that time of the year again! Some solid miles you're getting in now, I'd say you are itching to get racing!

I'll be using them as sessions - but yes looking forward to it all kicking off!

pconn062

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 8 miles @ 7.36 pace

Hectic day at work, didn't get home until 6.30 and had a committee meeting @ 8.15 so had to squeeze this in. Usually do my Tuesday run on the grass but had to settle for the road for most of this, did manage to squeeze in about 2.5 miles doing laps of the football pitch.

Wednesday

AM: 3 miles @ 8.20 pace
PM: 7 miles with 4 mile time trial in 23:55

Had to get a few miles in early this morning to try and get near this weeks mileage target, just did these on the treadmill before work.
Then this evening I went in and did my coaches 4 mile time trial, which is run over the Dunleer 4 mile route. There was a massive group of about 100 doing it but to be honest, not very many good runners (and I include myself in the not good runner section!). Four of us went off at the start but the pace was fairly handy so me and my brother pushed on, as this is possibly he easiest part o the course). He ran with me until the 1 mile mark but dropped back a bit. From then on I ran on my own, just following the lead car (yes, a lead car, it's a very fancy time trial!). Ran comfortably hard, I was aware of the group behind me but just wanted to maintain the gap without killing myself. A quick glance behind me after the 3 mile mark and I could see the next guy about 20 seconds behind. Just kept it steady over the last mile and rolled down the final hill. Very happy with how I felt, I kept the effort steady and the mile splits reflect the undulating nature of the course, 6.00, 5.55, 6.12, 5.54.

I could have run faster if I had have had some company to push me on but it was a good run out and I enjoyed it. It's nice to be the only runner with a lead car even if it's not a real race! The rest of the week is all about steady mileage and trying to keep the body in check.

pa4

Your in good shape judging by your 5000m and 4 mile timetrial, are you training for any races in particular at the moment?

pconn062

pa4 wrote: »

Your in good shape judging by your 5000m and 4 mile timetrial, are you training for any races in particular at the moment?

Hi pa4, yeah I suppose I'm training now for the cross country season, we have 3 county races (novice, intermediate and senior) within the space of a month starting on the first week of November so all the training at the moment is geared towards that. Might give one more road race a bash this month as well. From reading your log you seem to be getting ready for the x-country too?

ThePiedPiper

First week of October you mean, is it? Was BS and D not closer to your pace?

pa4

pconn062 wrote: »

Hi pa4, yeah I suppose I'm training now for the cross country season, we have 3 county races (novice, intermediate and senior) within the space of a month starting on the first week of November so all the training at the moment is geared towards that. Might give one more road race a bash this month as well. From reading your log you seem to be getting ready for the x-country too?

Ya training for cross country at the moment. I've my county novice on the 6th of October and the intermediate the 20th so those two are the main aims for the moment. Munster novice is on the 27th afaik so October will be a busy month of races, kinda quietens down after that. For some reason our senior champs aren't until the end of December so that rules that out because I'll be in the middle of college exams unfortunately.

Will you give the regionals and nationals a go?

pconn062

RunForestRun wrote: »

First week of October you mean, is it? Was BS and D not closer to your pace?

Yup, October sorry! No BS wasn't there and I presume you mean DC? He wasn't running. A few lads in a group behind me but I was all out on my own!

pa4 wrote: »

Ya training for cross country at the moment. I've my county novice on the 6th of October and the intermediate the 20th so those two are the main aims for the moment. Munster novice is on the 27th afaik so October will be a busy month of races, kinda quietens down after that. For some reason our senior champs aren't until the end of December so that rules that out because I'll be in the middle of college exams unfortunately.

Will you give the regionals and nationals a go?

Good stuff, plenty of races coming up to keep you busy! Yeah I think I will run the Leinster novice this year, didn't do it last year but feeling a bit stronger this year and it's close enough to me. Will prob leave the nationals though, I think I'd be a bit out of my league this year!

pa4

pconn062 wrote: »

Good stuff, plenty of races coming up to keep you busy! Yeah I think I will run the Leinster novice this year, didn't do it last year but feeling a bit stronger this year and it's close enough to me. Will prob leave the nationals though, I think I'd be a bit out of my league this year!

Yep, spoilt for choice this year! I could run 7 races in total but that would be a bit much so its probably for the best that I'm leaving out the county seniors and I doubt I'll do the inter-counties. I did the national novice last year, ended up way down the field in around 84th but it was a good experience, not bad considering there was nearly 200 finishers! If you do happen to do it you certainly won't be last!

pconn062

Getting it hard to remember all these runs!

Thursday: 9 miles @ 7.43 pace

Had no enthusiasm for this run, a long day at work and didn't get out until half six. Would like to say my enthusiasm increased as I went on.....but it didn't. A slog on the grass!

Friday

AM: 6 miles @ 7.41 pace
PM: 4 miles @ 8.30 pace

First one was done on grass, felt really good. I called into the track on the way from work only to discover that I left my shorts at home. Nearly bitched out and called it a day but my running OCD took over and I hopped on the treadmill instead when I got home. Hopefully it's these little decisions that will make the difference.

Saturday: 15.2 miles @ 7.27 pace

Long run with the group this morning, did the first 8 or so miles with my coach and a friend of mine before turning off as they were doing 18-20 miles (I love not doing marathons!). I only planned on doing 14 but as usual my coach was economical with the truth when it came to the true length on the course! The run back in on my own was tough, was mostly uphill and directly into the wind for 7 miles. Was nice to have the company for the first few miles, I don't usually do my LSR's this quick so made a nice change. Just to show a difference of class, the guy I ran with at the start pushed on at 10 miles and ran the last ten miles "steady" in 58 minutes. That's not 10 mile MP or 10 mile tempo, just ten mile steady into the wind, mostly uphill in 58 minutes on his own. He's gonna run some marathon.

52 miles for the week so far so - or 7 miles very easy tomorrow will round off a good week hopefully.

ThePiedPiper

Good work PConn. Very decent long run, at a pace that I think is more suitable for you than 7:45-8:00 and weekly total.

pconn062

RunForestRun wrote: »

Good work PConn. Very decent long run, at a pace that I think is more suitable for you than 7:45-8:00 and weekly total.

Ha, you're probably right but I hate doing long runs (15 mile is very long for me!) and I can get a bit lazy with them! Might try and do my next few with the group as well.

ThePiedPiper

It'd be good for you unquestionably. Give you that stamina for the tail end of races that has bitten you a couple of times. Lydiard had his middle distance runners doing 20+ mile long runs back in the day. I think some of his 800m guys even did those type of long runs at certain points to build stamina. Doing it with the lads will make it easier.

pconn062

Sunday: 6 miles @ 7.49 pace

An easy run in the glorious evening sunshine to round off a good week. 58 miles in total, again my highest ever. The body in general feels pretty good, I didn't get as much running done on the grass this week as I would have liked so will try and rectify that next week. I have small twinge in my right shin, no pain, just a feeling like there is extra pressure on it. I have a physio session booked for the morning before work so hopefully a good rub will sort me out.

This week is going to be my last higher mileage week, I hope to hit to big six zero. After talking to the coach, the plan after that will be to drop the mileage down to about 50 but include a hard session on the track once a week, and then an easier short session or maybe only a few strides on another day on the grass. The hard session will probably be 1k-1 mile reps, my coach loves mile reps. Then the shorter session will be a few 200's or some hill sprints for leg turnover work. I have a good few race options coming up, Star of the Sea x-country on the 22nd, Rathfarnham 5k on the 29th and then out novice and intermediate x-country on the first two weekends of October.

One thing that isn't going so great is the diet and I'll mention here to remind me to keep it in check. The higher mileage is making me crave all the bad stuff and I keep caving in. While I'm not gaining weight I would like to drop 3-4 pounds by the start of October so am going to try and clean up the diet this week. Please feel free to drop a comment on the log anytime calling me a porker or a fat bastard for that extra bit of added motivation! :pac:

ThePiedPiper

You're a fat bo!!ocks. State of ya..

pconn062

RunForestRun wrote: »

You're a fat bo!!ocks. State of ya..

Should have known you'd have been the first to drop in!

pconn062

Monday: Rest/massage

Tuesday: 8 miles @ 7.39 pace

I seemed to have picked up some sort of head cold over the weekend, probably caused by doing my long run in the miserable weather on Saturday morning, and it moved down to my chest on Monday. It's not a bad dose or anything and I felt mostly fine during this run, but it just a little tougher than it should have been. My shin gave me the odd warning sign but it felt much better after the rub I got on Monday. Just a case of keeping an eye on it.

Wednesday

AM: 2.5 miles easy
PM: 7 miles w/20 minute tempo/3 mins rest/10 mins tempo

Just a very short jaunt on the treadmill before work to get the legs moving. Headed into the track this evening for the last big tempo session. The lads weren't too happy when they heard the plan, 2x20 minutes tempo! My chest still is not 100% so I said I was only going to do the first 20 minutes. We had a good group of 5 lads and we all took turns, the first set flew by and we averaged 6.17 pace after a slow start. I actually felt pretty good during the recovery and said I would give another 10 minutes a go. The lads were picking up the pace a bit for the second set and I was labouring a bit after 8 minutes so was glad to call it a day after 10 minutes, averaging 6.16. Pretty happy getting as much as done as I did, wasn't overly optimistic on the way out. Next week the session will be more along the lines of mile reps or something, will be nice to do something other than tempo work! Just a case of churning out the miles for the rest of the week, might try and squeeze in a short hill session as well.

dna_leri

pconn062 wrote: »

I seemed to have picked up some sort of head cold over the weekend, probably caused by doing my long run in the miserable weather on Saturday morning, and it moved down to my chest on Monday. It's not a bad dose or anything and I felt mostly fine during this run, but it just a little tougher than it should have been. My shin gave me the odd warning sign but it felt much better after the rub I got on Monday. Just a case of keeping an eye on it.

.

Be careful with that head/chest cold. No point in overdoing it at this time of the season.

Signed
Irish Mammies Institute

pconn062

dna_leri wrote: »

Be careful with that head/chest cold. No point in overdoing it at this time of the season.

Signed
Irish Mammies Institute

Ha, thanks Mammy!

Seriously though, it's good advice, backed off my run today and I'm feeling better today.

pconn062

Might as well stick today's run in while I'm here.

5 miles @ 8.20 pace

Had an absolute nightmare of a day at work. Started at 8am and things dragged on and on meaning I didn't get home until 9pm. Without thinking I jumped straight on the treadmill and did a 5 mile recovery run. I had planned on getting 9 or so done but work put a dampner on that. Probably not a bad thing to have an easy day with this head cold, feeling much better today. Chest is a little caught up so if it's the same in the morning I'm going to go to the doctor and get something rather than let it linger.

pconn062

Friday

AM: 7 miles @ 7.39 pace
PM: 4 miles @ 8.20 pace

Couple of easy runs, felt really good on the first on the grass and had to hold myself back as I knew I had more miles to do in the evening.

Saturday: 8 miles w/hill session

7x300m, 5x100m uphill

Had hoped to do my long run with the group in the morning but again worked screwed up my plans and I got a call to go in in the morning. Didn't get home until early evening so did a hill session instead. The stomach was dead dodgy on the warm up and I thought I was going to have to abandon ship but thankfully it settled down. Did this in the hill field, same session as I've done a couple of times now, just added an extra rep to each set. Recovery was a jog back down the hill. Felt good!

Sunday: 9 miles @ 7.45 pace

Had agreed to meet my brother for a run @ 10 but one look out the window when I woke up at the trees bending sideways and rain pounding the windows was enough to put my off and I rang him and we mutually cancelled, nothing to be gained from running in those conditions. And, to be honest I was feeling tired, the dose I have which I thought was gone was still lingering and I was feeling a bit lethargic. The weather picked up a bit so headed out and decided to cut the long run from the planned 15-16 to 9 mile. The wind was shocking, I was forced to walk a couple of times, after 5.5 miles I came back to the house and I wussed out and jumped on the treadmill for the last bit.

So a few problems this week, mostly work related. I got 50 miles in, 10 less than what I hoped to hit but after Thursdays long day at work I had it in mind to treat this like a bit of a step back week. Starting back into proper sessions this week, have a good one lined up for Wednesday. Firstly I am going to go in the doctor in the morning and get something for this dose, am meant to be racing Star of the Sea next week but will see how the week goes before deciding.

pconn062

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: 8 miles @ 7.24 pace

Out into the misty rain for this, felt good overall apart from the fact that the tablets I'm taking for my chest are killing me with the heartburn! Not nice.

Wednesday: 7.5 miles w/6x1k off 90 secs recovery on grass

The thoughts that went through my head during this session:

Split 1: 3.40 (hmmm, that was a bit slower than I wanted, and it felt tough as well)
Split 2: 3.35 (the pace is better but man this feels fast)
Split 3: 3.36 (yup, 5 reps will definitely be enough)
Split 4: 3.37 (why the hell is this so hard???)
Split 5: 3.38 (crap, I'm gonna puke, I don't want to see my lunch again)
Split 6: 3.40 (Just finish it, finish it, where's the damn finish!!)

This was a very tough session, felt much tougher than it should have. Had to do it on my own as I was Dublin bound this evening so would miss training at the track. Decided to do it on the grass for some x-country practice and I dusted off the spikes. My chest which has been feeling better was at me a little during the warm up and I was slightly nervous starting. Found it tough to find the pace at the start, was way too slow and this pace felt fast. From then on it just got harder and harder and I was really clinging on at the end. I checked the watch halfway through the last rep and I was only running 6.30 pace! :eek: Put in a big push to drag it down to something more respectable.
Sick as a dog at the end and I had to drag myself around for a cool down.

I was a little disappointed at the end that it felt so tough but looking back now I think it's a good session. It was very windy, and I had a strong wind in my face for 400m of each lap. Also my chest obviously still isn't fully right and this had an affect. And simply it's harder to do a session like this on your own.
Also I'm sure that running on the grass would leave the reps a bit slower??

Anyway, glad to get it done and dusted. Going to just run easy for the next few days and wait until the weekend before deciding if I run Star of the Sea.

RayCun

yeah, running on grass is always slower, that's a good session

pconn062

Thursday

AM: 6 miles @ 8.20 pace
PM: 4 miles @ 7.50 pace

Very easy recovery run in the morning to recover from the previous days session. Four miles easy then on the treadmill when I got home.

Friday

AM: 7 miles @ 7.26 pace
PM: 3 miles @ 7.47 pace

Another double day, first one on grass and second one on treadmill.

Saturday: 5 miles @ 7.54 pace

Absolute killer of a day at work, spent 11 hours straight standing up, legs were hanging off me at the end. Came home and went out without thinking about it, beautiful evening for a running and really enjoyed this.

Sunday: 6.5 miles w/Star of the Sea 6k cross country

Hard to believe that the cross country season is back, it does not feel like a year since we were here last year. This is a very tough race, tough, hilly course and as my friend said "even on the downhills, you're running uphill"! It wasn't helped by the fact that we had a mini heatwave and after a short warm up the sweat was running of us. My plan was to run steady and try and keep the same effort throughout.

About 55 in the field and we were off. Found myself about halfway up the field after 400m running with my clubmate. Between the two us we made our way around the first lap and I felt fairly comfortable. At the start of the second lap I pulled away from my clubmate, this was a surprise to me as he is usually a much better x-coutry runner than me. Kept the pace steady on the second lap, picking off different runners who were struggling. Halfway through the second lap the damn lace on my spike opened, I couldn't stop so, cursing the situation, I ploughed on.

In the middle of the third lap I closed in on a group and stuck with him, was starting to hurt here now and the effort was increasing, the heat was starting to become an issue. Down the hill and into the last lap it was a case of holding on. I stuck to the group and as two of the guys dropped back. Up the second last hill and and the lactic is building and the breathing is going crazy. Up the last hill and I''m struggling, one guy pulls away and I battle it out with another. At the top of the hill before I lift my head the guy is gone before I even see. No one behind me so I fly down the last hill, glad to be done.

Finished in 23:43, a minute and 10 seconds quicker than last year and in 30th place out of 55. was bolloxed at the end, bumped into Lock who posted here before and finished in a great 4th place. Managed to put 25 seconds over my club mate as well which I was delighted with. Happy with the days work and I enjoyed it strangely, there's no racing like cross country racing.

So 46.5 miles for the week, and step back week mileage wise. After talking to the coach I think I might have to give Rathfarnham a miss. The novice and the intermediate are on the two following weeks so don't want to overcook it. The cross country is the main thing so don't want to do anything to damage that. So I am going to try and out in a decent mileage week this week, 60 hopefully. I am starting a new job tomorrow and even though it's only part time I will be keeping my old job, will have to try and squeeze the miles in around work.

BeepBeep67

Nice going - seems strange to be discussing cross county in 20 degree temperatures!

pconn062

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Nice going - seems strange to be discussing cross county in 20 degree temperatures!

I know, it's not often I'm hoping for a bit of cloud cover and a spot of drizzle but getting sunburned while running cross country is unnatural!