Things will come to those who wait...

pconn062

menoscemo wrote: »

Were you just using that goal mile as a tempo run?

Nah, did as an MP run, need to get as many MP miles as possible in before my next race!

pconn062

My days are all screwed up, only just realised it was Sunday and the end of another week.

Saturday: 11 miles @ 7.25 pace

Met RFR for my "long run", we made up the route as we went along. I found this run really tough, we picked a very hilly route and I am most definitely a track fairy, so don't cope well on the hills. Was labouring quite a bit on the uphills and the quads are tired today. RFR has a pain in his ear now from all the moaning and complaining I did on this run. Good tough run though that should stand to me though.

Sunday: 6 miles @ 8.09 pace

Easy run on the grass today, wanted to get off the road as my legs were starting to feel a little tender. I'm currently on a 14 day running streak but I'm running a 10k on Wednesday so not sure whether to keep the streak going or take day off. Will see how the legs feel tomorrow, feeling good at the minute though but have little speed, something I will have to look at in the new year.

So 44.5 miles for the week, which I thought was pretty good for Christmas week until I read some of the other logs on here! :eek: Will post up a bit of a year summary tomorrow and a rough plan of what I'm going to focus on in the new year. Had a great chat with the coach this week so some exciting stuff planned that I'm looking forward to starting!

AuldManKing

pconn062 wrote: »

So 44.5 miles for the week, which I thought was pretty good for Christmas week until I read some of the other logs on here! :eek:

Its very good for a track fairy.............:p

pconn062

AuldManKing wrote: »

Its very good for a track fairy.............:p

I'd rather be a track fairy than a marathon jogger!

pconn062

Today: 4 miles @ 7.47 pace

All I had time for today, had hoped to get a few more miles in but the day got away for me and this is all I could manage on the treadmill.

Going to do a short run tomorrow then I will do my annual 10k run up in Monaghan on New Years Day. Doing this run just for fun, not even going to wear a watch, will just run as hard as I can and see what happens.

So a little review of the year, it was a little hit and miss but ended fairly well. Decided to focus on the track season for the first time, with the 1500m as my main event. Unfortunately I only managed three 1500m races before I picked up a bad calf strain which had me out for a few weeks. I managed a 4.38 1500m at the Leinster championships which wasn't bad but felt there was more there if I could get a few more races. Still I learnt a lot from it.

I then spent a few weeks just running easy trying to get back some fitness. I decided to make a big change to my training for the cross country season. I was doing pretty low mileage, about 40 a week, normally with 2 quality sessions a week. This type of training left me lacking in endurance and struggling in races. I started upping the mileage slowly up to 60 miles a week, averaging 50-55 miles a week. I immediately felt stronger and the few races I did in this time showed I had improved my endurance, although I was lacking speed. I started introducing one session a week starting with tempo runs then intervals, mostly kilometers and miles. Had a good cross country season, felt strong in most races, and a few good results with the club. Finished off the year with a few good 5k's, lowering my PB to 17:36 in the Jingle Bells 5k.

So after talking the coach, we have come up with a plan for the new year. My main aim for the year will be the summer track season, focusing on the 1500m again as I think it could be my strongest event. Some rough times that I would like to hit include:

800m: 2:12
1500m: 4.25
1 mile: 4:50
3000m: 9:55
5000m: 16:59

I would most love to hit the 1500m and 5000m times on that list. I will be keeping my training fairly similar for the next few months, holding the mileage around 50-60 a week with one session and the odd tempo run. I will run some road races and BHAA cross country races for strength. Then by March I hope to switch to track specific sessions, with a hope to peak in June or so. My coach is going to get more involved with my training, because for some reason he thinks I could be a half decent runner! I will also be including more strength work and a little bit of weight work for the fist time which should help with the track training. And if that all comes to be, I will be shocked! But it should be a fun year and I'm looking forward to a longer track session this year.

Apologies for the long post, but it helps me to see it written out!

Edit: Thanks to everyone who has offered advice, criticism and some much needed slagging throughout the year, it is much needed and appreciated! Happy New year!

pconn062

Tuesday: 4 miles @ 7.45 pace

Few easy miles to get the legs ticking over, pretty nasty weather out there, got drenched.

Today: 6 miles w/Emyvale 6k in 21:52, 2nd place

We stayed over in the OH's parents house last night in Monaghan and today I went to my now yearly pilgrimage to the Emyvale 6/10k. When I woke up and seen the weather, the lashing rain and general misery, I decided to switch to the 6k (I know I'm a softy, but I also want to give the BHAA cross country a lash on Saturday, so didn't want to over do it today).
Both races started together with different numbers for the two different races, it was clear to see that most of the quality was in the 10k field with Gary O'H and Simon Ryan. Still, a few faster looking juniors in the 6k race told me I would have a good fight.
Off we went and the start is very fast, downhill for the first k, and I pass is in a bit too fast 3.23. Even at that I'm still in about 20th place overall with some over enthusiastic 10k runners soon to be kicking themselves. Gradually made my way up the field passing out about 10 members of the one GAA team all wearing matching jerseys. :rolleyes:
Reached halfway in 10:41 and soon after that the race divided with the 6k turning left at the next junction. I had no idea where I was in the race but after the turn I counted two runners, one GAA guy who I knew was struggling and a good up and coming junior in first. The next 2k was very tough, mostly uphill and the hills in Monaghan are nothing to joke about. About halfway up the 1st hill I went past the GAA guy into 2nd place and although he hung onto me for a while, I knew he was fried. On the big downhill with about a mile to go I put in a big spurt and got 50m over him, which increased to 100m by the end. I was too far away from the guy in first to ever trouble him, but in the last 800m I was starting to feel the effects of the over indulgence over Christmas and very much wished the finish line to come. Just tried to relax and cruise is as there was no danger from behind.

I picked up a nice bit of prize money which I felt a little guilty about, given the lack of quality in the field and my fairly shoddy time, but feck it, you can only race who shows up. Watched to 10k where Gary and Simon had a good battle to the finish, coming down to a sprint which Gary took.

Good fun apart from the horrible conditions. I have a bit of sore shin now on my troublesome left leg, have run the last 17 days in a row, mostly on the road which was maybe a bit too much so might take tomorrow off if I need it. One day off won't hurt and might mean that I can still run the BHAA race at the weekend.

Going to go back to tracking my miles, just out of curiosity.

MYTD: 6

RayCun

Nice way to start the year...

ThebitterLemon

"have a bit of sore shin now on my troublesome left leg"

Jesus be careful with that shin, I've had two and a half weeks of extreme frustration with shin soreness that I wouldn't wish on anyone. Mine started out as a small pain that very quickly developed into severe tightness and pain that completely stopped me running.

I'm no expert but a good exercises I found was to stand on a step with half your foot off the step (toes pointing off/away from the step), flex your foot pointing it downwards and quickly upwards as far as it will go. Do it with your knees slightly bent also seems to stretch the muscle fairly well.

Well done on 2nd place.

TbL

career_move

Congrats on the placing

pconn062

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

"have a bit of sore shin now on my troublesome left leg"

Jesus be careful with that shin, I've had two and a half weeks of extreme frustration with shin soreness that I wouldn't wish on anyone. Mine started out as a small pain that very quickly developed into severe tightness and pain that completely stopped me running.

I'm no expert but a good exercises I found was to stand on a step with half your foot off the step (toes pointing off/away from the step), flex your foot pointing it downwards and quickly upwards as far as it will go. Do it with your knees slightly bent also seems to stretch the muscle fairly well.

Well done on 2nd place.

TbL

Thanks for the advice TBL, much appreciated. I will try that stretch, keeping a bit of ice on it as well. As much as this might be tempting faith, I don't think it's too bad. It only hurt a little on the warm up today, was fine during the race and on the cool down. Also seems fine now, will just have to keep an eye on it.

pconn062

Thursday: OFF

Friday: 6 miles @ 7.48 pace

Took yesterday off as a precaution and to rest the shin, kept ice on it throughout the day. Did a tester run today and everything felt fine, I get niggles like this the whole time and have learned how to manage them. Will have to keep an eye on it but I don't think it's anything serious. Part of my new plan now incorporates strength everyday so hopefully this will help with the injury prevention. I have also started my move to more minimal runners. Hopefully this doesn't make me sound like some new age hippy jumping on the new fad but I really think it will help with all my lower leg problems and over pronation issues. I will be doing it very slowly, starting by introducing the Kinvara's a bit more frequently. I received a lovely Wiggle.com voucher for Christmas so I'm going to invest in a pair of Inov-8's on recommendation of a few people on here.

First business house x-country race of the year tomorrow!

MYTD: 12

RayCun

The more minimal runners can be hard on your calves, so transition slowly

pconn062

RayCun wrote: »

The more minimal runners can be hard on your calves, so transition slowly

Will do Ray, will be a very slow transition, but hopefully a worthwhile one. Thought you might be done to shout abuse at the BHAA race today?! :pac:

Saturday: 6 miles w/BHAA 4 mile x-country race


Jesus this was rough, a real tester after the Xmas holidays. Headed up with the coach and a few of the lads. Course was pretty torn up, very wet in places and plenty of mud. I don't run well on ground like this and wasn't looking forward to this race. Off we went and I started too far back, BHAA races are unique in that you can go off way to hard and still be near the back of the pack. Looked down at the watch after 400m or so and I was running 5.30 pace, but there were at least 70 people ahead of me!! Pace slowed a bit throughout the lap and I moved up some places, but never felt good, was struggling by the start of the second lap.
Fell in with the first lady and we basically stuck together until the last 100m. By the middle of the 2nd lap I started to feel slightly better but still not moving well, and generally struggling. Me and my companion shared the work but with about half a mile to go she pushed on and shouted at me to come with her. I was feeling like crap but didn't want to let the side down so went with her. We ran to the finish side by side, I've seen guys in the past trying to out sprint the first lady and I think it's a pretty lame thing to do so when she pushed on to sprint I didn't bother going with her, no pressure coming from behind either so just jogged in.

Finished in about 49th place, 26 something on the watch, but the course was mad long, went through 4 mile in 25:10 I think. By comparison, my 6k time the other day was the same as a 23:10-20 4 mile. Not a great performance but was only ever going to be a run out, had no real interest in digging deep and giving it a good lash. I suck at running on ground like this, fast flat cross country courses suit me better obviously. Still, it's a good training session. One of my friends finished 2nd so at least one of us ran well!

Hopefully going to get a long run in tomorrow before the rain comes.

MYTD: 18

ThePiedPiper

Well done today PConn. Sounds like a mess of a course, but as you say good to get the tough session in. See you tomorrow probably.

pconn062

10.2 tough, tiring, painful miles @ 7.55 pace

Met a few of the lads out in Oldbridge in Drogheda for the long run on the grass this morning. Usually it is very dry ground but was quite squidgy in places after all the run. My poor legs, which were already tender from the tough race yesterday, were complaining right from the start. We negotiated several different laps, none of them easy with plenty of tight corners, uphills, and soggy ground to worry about. We were working hard to run at 8 minute mile pace, which felt weird. Last two mile were a real struggle but we got it done. In hindsight this was a really great run, loads of leg strength to be gained from a run like this, although the legs were absolutely dead by the end of it. Going to do more of my long runs out here as the gains are much better than you get from running on the road.

Not a great week overall, 38.5 miles, messed up with the few races and some short runs earlier in the week. Time to get back into more serious training, I'm back to work this week so back into my normal routine. I'm not going to do another race until Raheny so three weeks good training before that. Will try and get close to 50 miles in this week.

MYTD: 28.5

Huayra

Those long runs on squidgy grass are tough as hell but they will pay off when you are racing. Getting under 8 m/m pace is harder than it sounds. If you are in any way tired and the ground is bad, you can pretty much count it as a session.

pconn062

Huayra wrote: »

Those long runs on squidgy grass are tough as hell but they will pay off when you are racing. Getting under 8 m/m pace is harder than it sounds. If you are in any way tired and the ground is bad, you can pretty much count it as a session.

You're dead right, it felt like I was doing a session and the legs were drained afterwards. Hopefully all this soggy running will pay off when we are running in the glorious sunshine during the track season! (wishful thinking?!).

pconn062

Monday: Off

Tuesday: 54 mins easy

No Garmin today or stopwatch so just had to do the old fashioned thing and read the clock face. Covered a little over 7 miles I'd say, felt tired and the legs still aren't recovered from the two hard efforts at the weekend. Have a massage booked for tomorrow which is badly needed, so I'm gonna double up in the morning before doing a session tomorrow night. Hoping to get a good tempo run done if the weather is anyway half decent. I'm only going to tempo runs for the month on January to try and get some fitness back, will also include some 150-200m strides for some turnover work before doing a few interval sessions in February.

MYTD: 35.5

NiallG4

pconn062 wrote: »

You're dead right, it felt like I was doing a session and the legs were drained afterwards. Hopefully all this soggy running will pay off when we are running in the glorious sunshine during the track season! (wishful thinking?!).

RFR is right. You are a fairy.

pconn062

NiallG4 wrote: »

RFR is right. You are a fairy.

No I'm not a fairy, I'm a track fairy! Aonghus won't be saying that when I'm kicking his ass on the track during the summer!

NiallG4

pconn062 wrote: »

No I'm not a fairy, I'm a track fairy! Aonghus won't be saying that when I'm kicking his ass on the track during the summer!

Ok but any title decider has to be over at least 3K for fairness and equality. The Bolt V Farah 600M race will merely be a sideshow to this one. All roads lead to Louth T & F 2014. I think I will sit it out and watch from the grass bank. BHAA Saturday week? Best training you can do this time of year. I am going to do the next two BHAA CC 5 milers and then take it from there. I think I will join RFR as a plodder in 2014 with the marathon as the goal in October.

pconn062

NiallG4 wrote: »

Ok but any title decider has to be over at least 3K for fairness and equality. The Bolt V Farah 600M race will merely be a sideshow to this one. All roads lead to Louth T & F 2014. I think I will sit it out and watch from the grass bank. BHAA Saturday week? Best training you can do this time of year. I am going to do the next two BHAA CC 5 milers and then take it from there. I think I will join RFR as a plodder in 2014 with the marathon as the goal in October.

3k?? No problem, I already beat him over 5k so 3k will be grand!! :pac: Not sure about the next BHAA race, I might wait and do Raheny as my next race, although if David is going up to race the BHAA race, I might get convinced into doing it. If it's a mud bath like last weekend though I'll try and give it a miss, hate running on ground like that.

So Dublin again, are a few of your lads doing the marathon? I seen a few NERD's up at the marathon this year putting down some good times. Would be nice to have a group to train with.

NiallG4

pconn062 wrote: »

3k?? No problem, I already beat him over 5k so 3k will be grand!! :pac: Not sure about the next BHAA race, I might wait and do Raheny as my next race, although if David is going up to race the BHAA race, I might get convinced into doing it. If it's a mud bath like last weekend though I'll try and give it a miss, hate running on ground like that.

So Dublin again, are a few of your lads doing the marathon? I seen a few NERD's up at the marathon this year putting down some good times. Would be nice to have a group to train with.

Yip, we are all doing it this year. Should be a decent training group. I will be a plodder from August to October so. Hope to join you fairies at the T & F for my once a year run on tartan.

ThePiedPiper

In fairness Niall, he really rattled me in Jingle Bells race. I was so well prepared, had targeted the distance excellently, put on a half a stone and was doing optimal mileage of 15-20 per week.. Don't know how he beat me, especially with my strategy of starting in a portaloo too.. I may give it all up I reckon..

NiallG4

RunForestRun wrote: »

In fairness Niall, he really rattled me in Jingle Bells race. I was so well prepared, had targeted the distance excellently, put on a half a stone and was doing optimal mileage of 15-20 per week.. Don't know how he beat me, especially with my strategy of starting in a portaloo too.. I may give it all up I reckon..

He kept that bit of info. quiet. Is he really claiming that as a scalp. Where did he beat you over 3k.

pconn062

NiallG4 wrote: »

He kept that bit of info. quiet. Is he really claiming that as a scalp. Where did he beat you over 3k.

The truth of the matter is Niall, he was so afraid to give me a proper race he hid in the jacks before the race and missed the start! The time don't lie, me: 17:36, RFR: 17:37.

NiallG4

pconn062 wrote: »

The truth of the matter is Niall, he was so afraid to give me a proper race he hid in the jacks before the race and missed the start! The time don't lie, me: 17:36, RFR: 17:37.

As the saying goes "once you put your toe on the line" you are there for the taking and the results do not mention toilets, lack of training or weight.

ThePiedPiper

Dangerous game this rubbing it in, the backlash could be horrific..

pconn062

Wednesday

AM: 4 miles @ 7.47 pace
PM: 7.5 miles w/4 mile tempo in 24:32 + 3x150m strides

First day doubling up in a while, was nice to get out early in the morning for an easy run to shake the legs out.
Then into the track tonight for the first session of the new year. The next few weeks are going to be all about tempo running and turnover work. Started off as a pretty nice evening, with no wind but the rain started almost as soon as we got out of the car. The plan was to try and hold 6.10-15 pace but we managed a bit quicker than that (6.08). Was pretty happy with that, thought I was worse shape than that, felt good throughout and only started labouring a bit on the last two laps. Finished off with a few 150m strides, did 50m build up then 50m hard then 50m gliding to the finishing line. Good session, probably going to do the same next week then will try for 5 mile the following week. Easy running for the rest of the week with a long run hopefully.

MYTD: 47

pconn062

Thursday: 58 minutes recovery

Couldn't find my Garmin which is usually fine, but when running around a field and having to change directions the whole time based on how boggy it is, makes a Garmin handy. Just did 58 minutes instead, I'm calling that 7 miles.

Friday: 7 miles @ 7.36 pace

Run on the grass, legs felt tired and overall I didn't feel great, just one of those days. Did two strides afterwards, meant to do more but the legs were feeling tight and didn't want to risk it.

Saturday: 11 miles @ 7.41 pace

I have to go to Dublin tomorrow so switched my "long run" to today. I'm building these up slowly, going to add a mile a week until I get to 15-16 miles. Did this again out in Oldbridge, it really is a great place to do long runs. If I was training for a marathon (which I have no intention of doing) I would be doing all my long runs out here. This is where the Rás na hEireann and our Louth senior x-country is held every year and it's real cross country ground, there are no easy laps, each one has some steep hills and tricky ground. It's great because it makes the long run a good session, giving the legs a proper workout that you just could not replicate on the road. Feeling tired now, but I know these runs will stand to me.

Going to finish off the week with a few miles tomorrow when I get back from Dublin.

MYTD: 72