Everybody else is doing it, so why not me?

pointer28

Thursday 12/4/2012

80 Min Bike, 32.23 km, Av Spd 24.17 kmh, AHR 130, MHR 158

Early morning spin before work, usual loop a little faster than usual.

pointer28

Friday 13/4/2012

37 Min Run, 5.94km, Pace 6.14 m/km, AHR 144, MHR 182

My first run since the 10k race and not feeling great so took it really easy. Very busy with work and everything I touch seems to fall to sh#t lately so stress levels at a high too.

On a positive note, I'm getting the hang of running to a specific HR zone and hopefully it will pay off in the long run.

pointer28

Sunday 15/4/2012

253 Min Bike, 99.9 km, Av Spd 23.69 kmh, AHR 138, MHR 183

KARE Tour De Foothills

I wasn't looking forward to this as I was in really bad form all week, stressed out and I did sweet feck all training on the bike for the past two weeks. I really struggled to get out of bed in the morning and wasn't motivated at all but told myself to HTFU and get on with it.

The event itself was really well organised and a lovely route with the proceeds going to a fantastic charity. Excellent marshals thanks to the Brotherhood MCC and a well stocked food stop with sandwiches, granola bars, loads of fruit, water, tea/coffee and jelly beans. I saw loads of people skipping the fruit but not too many walked past the jelly beans.

Personally, the first half was fantastic and I felt great, especially on the hills. However, after the food stop my legs were just dead and never got going again. As well as that, it got very cold for the second half and we were cycling into a headwind with some bad road surfaces so the second half was basically just a slog to reach the finish. My first 100k though so that's another of my goals ticked off the list.

I was very disappointed to finish in a time of 4.13 as I had hoped to make it inside 4 hours, but that's what happens when you let your training slide. I could list endless excuses for missing my target time, but what's the point?

Anyway, a fantastic event nonetheless and nobody to blame for my performance only myself. Congrats to the organisers.

Totals for Week 15

Run 88 mins
Bike 333 mins

YTD Totals

Run 1641 mins
Bike 3403 mins

pointer28

Monday 16/4/2012

53 Min Run, 7.78km, Pace 6.49 m/km, AHR 148, MHR 178

Needed to do this just to get back on the wagon after two lean weeks of training. Took it real easy, but my HR was in the clouds for the first five minutes. I eventually got it under control and plodded my may around. I considered going longer and doing my normal 10k route but thought the better of it after yesterday's effort.

pointer28

Thursday 19/4/2012

32 Min Run, 5.94km, Pace 5.23 m/km, AHR 149, MHR 166

Nice early run around the town. Kept it steady but found it quite tough, was glad to get to the end.

Sunday 22/4/2012

70 Min Run, 11.40km, Pace 6.08 m/km, AHR 150, MHR 174

Trail run today for a change. Haven't done this in a long time, and really enjoyed it. Due to the constant up/downs and twisting/turning nature of the trails it tends to lead to a higher AHR for a slow pace, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

After a couple of crappy weeks, I'm starting to get motivated again and spent this evening fitting new tyres to the bike and I also think I've finally convinced the girlfriend to dump her hybrid and buy a road bike. So, hopefully next week will look a lot better although the weather forecast doesn't look too promising.

Totals for Week 16

Run 155 mins
Bike 0 mins

YTD Totals

Run 1796 mins
Bike 3403 mins

pointer28

Monday 23/4/2012

124 Min Bike, 49.6 km, Av Spd 24.00 kmh, AHR 140, MHR 169

After a couple of bad weeks, I feeling re-energised and raring to go again this week.

Out for a quick spin this morning, a little longer than I normally do for my short spins but I'm not working today so decided to keep going rather than rushing home to get ready for work.

New tyres went really well, I changed from factory issue own brand 25mm tyres to Panaracer Extreme Evo 3 in 23mm and found a big difference. I was afraid that there might be comfort issues with the narrower tyres but I noticed no problems even over some crappy surfaces and they seemed to roll far easier and also felt really secure and grippy.

Sorry I didn't change sooner now.

pointer28

Assessment of the year to date

My original short term goals for this year were as follows:

10k Road Race - 22nd April
Couldn't work out to do the 10k at the Wexford HM so did this instead on the 9th April, in a chip time of 51.11, my target time was 55.00 so delighted with this and also the first time I ever ran in a race. Really enjoyed it too.

140k Tour de Conemara - 27th May
This ain't gonna happen I'm afraid, stupid, poxy, hateful work getting in the way of life yet again. Not too upset though as it was only a stepping stone towards the SKT. I'll have to try and find another sportive around the 120 / 140 km mark over the summer instead.

160k Sean Kelly Tour - 26th August
Still looking good for this and my A event for the year. I'm doing this even if I have to be carried over Mahon Falls.

National Lottery Half Marathon - 17th Sept
My other A event and I'm now consistently running 10+ kms once or twice every week with relative ease so I'll start the proper HM training in May. I have a 12 week plan that I'm going to stretch over 16 weeks as work can be funny and likely to interrupt my plans so the extra 4 weeks will hopefully allow some leeway for bad weeks. I might actually do the Sligo HM instead as I don't like large crowds, especially for my first.

Unplanned events

KARE Tour De Foothills - 15th April
Entered this at the last minute but wasn't really properly prepared for it. Did very little cycling for the 2 weeks previous and attacked the climbs in the first half a little too enthusiastically. Stood around for too long at the food stop allowing my legs to get cold and they just never warmed up again at all for the second half. Finished in a disappointing time of 4.13, but got my first ever 100k under my belt. More climbing than I've ever done before either. Beautiful route though and I'll certainly do it again and would also recommend it to anyone else. Perfect amount of climbing for someone of my ability ie second season beginner / improver. Just enough to test you but not enough to make it impossible.

Injuries

I had been blessed so far up until the last few weeks when I've had issues with my IT band and rotator cuff. An hours research on youtube etc and I purchased a foam roller and some kinesio tape. Both seem to be working too, the KT tape is doing an awesome job on my shoulder and the foam roller really seems to find the sore spots :eek: Research suggested that the IT issues usually originate some place different and sure enough the foam roller found some very tight hamstrings.

Up until about a month ago, I used to do a 20 min set of strength exercises 3/4 times every week and never had a bother with anything but they fizzled out when things got busy. The pains and niggles only started about 2 weeks after the exercises finished. Maybe there's a clue there for me. :rolleyes:

pointer28

Tuesday 24/4/2012
32 Min Run, 5.74km, Pace 5.34 m/km, AHR 149, MHR 179

Short run along the canal with some sprint intervals thrown in to get the legs warmed up. Probably took it too easy on the warm up and cool down leading too a very unimpressive avg pace for some serious efforts but I'll know better the next time.

Feeling re-energised and enjoying it again which is the most important thing.

pointer28

Saturday 28/4/2012
63 Min Run, 10.2km, Pace 6.11 m/km, AHR 144, MHR 177

Up early for this one, out the door at 6.15am as I have to work today. Just got caught in the rain on the way back but luckily was only out in it for ten minutes.

No issues with my hamstring this morning. It's been at me all week, but I Kinesio taped it during the week and it seems to have worked miracles.

pointer28

Totals for Week 17

Run 95 mins
Bike 124 mins

YTD Totals

Run 1891 mins
Bike 3527 mins

pointer28

Monday 30/4/2012

48 Min Run, 9.16 km, Pace 5.14 m/km, AHR 161, MHR 175

This is week one of my new plan for the half marathon in September and called for:

1 x 30 min Speed work
1 x 30 min Recovery run
1 x 48 min Steady
1 x 70 min LSR

So this was the steady session and it was really, really tough. The welcome tailwind for the first half came back and bit me on the arse for the second half. I was very fatigued after a busy weekend working and spent most of today working in the office drinking about half a gallon of coffee. Hardly an ideal hydration plan :rolleyes:

pointer28

Wednesday 2/5/2012

91 Min Bike, 37.6 km, Av Spd 24.79 kmh, AHR 138, MHR 167

Out early for this, hard to get out of bed but forced myself to do it and was glad I did. Made myself push on a bit a get my heart beating as I'm getting a bit one paced on the bike. Half way around I remembered I have a 5k road race tonight so reined it back in again for the second half.

pointer28

Wednesday 2/5/2012

21:45 Min Run, 4.5km, Pace 4.50 m/km, AHR 166, MHR 176

I was meant to run a 5k Race tonight but events conspired against this happening so I headed out the door and hit the road in earnest. My plan was to run a 5k Race in 25:00. I didn't realise my route was short until I was finished but what the heck, I got a good session in anyway and really got the heart beating.

pointer28

Thursday 3/5/2012

96 Min Bike, 29.6 km, Av Spd 18.2 kmh, AHR 89, MHR 129

Nice spin with the GF on her brand new first ever road bike. A Bianchi no less, and a lot nicer and more expensive than my bike too. :mad:

Friday 4/5/2012

30 Min Run, 4.68km, Pace 6.25 m/km, AHR 143, MHR 178

Short easy run prescribed for this session so got up early and got it done before breakfast. My Garmin sometimes acts up and gives me unnaturally high reading for the first few minutes, and therefore gives me an AHR higher than I felt it was. Thinking back I never moistened the contacts this morning so that could be it. Very easy session, far from exciting but miles in the legs.

pointer28

Saturday 5/5/2012

50 Min Run, 9.30km, Pace 5.23 m/km, AHR 156, MHR 171

Steady session this morning. While I find these quite difficult I also feel great after them as they really give me a feeling of accomplishment and feel like they're making me stronger.

pointer28

Sunday 6/5/2012

85 Min Bike, 36.75 km, Av Spd 25.9 kmh, AHR 136, MHR 171

Making an effort now to up my average speed as it's getting a little embarrassing at this stage to still be plodding about at 23 km/h on a flat route. That equates to 7 hours for a 160k and that's not taking any climbs into account, so I have serious improvements to make if I'm going to finish the SKT in daylight.

I put in a few decent efforts in the drops, pushing a big gear and trying to keep as aero as possible. I was happy with the efforts and was spinning along nicely at 35 km/h and managed to push it to over 40 km/h on the flat for a short time. While the running is obviously improving my aerobic fitness and keeping my AHR in a nice place it's doing nothing for my bike legs so I need to work on that.

Feeling good in general though and really enjoying the training again. This was the first week of my HM plan and the first time I've ever had 4 different run sessions in a week rather than doing the same every time. It's different, and tough at times but I'm liking it and it keeps it interesting.

Totals for Week 18

Run 150 mins
Bike 272 mins

YTD Totals

Run 2041 mins
Bike 3799 mins

pointer28

Monday 7/5/2012

45 Min Run, 9.00km, Pace 5.00 m/km, AHR 157, MHR 172

I was working in Kilkenny over the weekend so did this session at 6am running around a shopping centre car park in the rain. (How's that for dedication?)

While the actual running itself was fine and felt good, and I was able to live with the rain, the monotony of running around in circles nearly killed me. I have no idea how guys run on a track, I wanted to quit after ten minutes but just kept going out of sheer stubbornness. In hindsight I should have prepared in advance and researched a nice route for this session.

On a happier note, my average times for these steady sessions are improving while my AHR's are dropping so that can only mean good things.

pointer28

Wednesday 9/5/2012

21.08 Min Run, 4.66km, Pace 4.32 m/km, AHR 167, MHR 184

While the original plan was to take part in a local 5k road race league every week in May, this isn't going to happen now, so instead I try and do one really hard 5k (or thereabouts) session every Tuesday.

I'm very happy with the pace I'm achieving but my AHR is quite low for what should be race effort. Maybe if it was an actual race with other competitors I may be able to push myself harder but on my own I find it really difficult. Still, my paces in all my sessions are better than McMillan suggested based on my 10k PB yet I'm still staying comfortably inside my HR zones.

pointer28

Thursday 10/5/2012

30 Min Run, 4.70km, Pace 6.23 m/km, AHR 136, MHR 147

My recovery run after yesterday's hard effort. Even though I haven't been feeling any after effects from the hard 5k sessions yet, I still make sure that I do these really easy runs the day after just in case.

This morning's run was lovely, my AHR was way down and the session just felt effortless. Small bit of drizzle in the air but not enough to bother me.

pointer28

Friday 11/5/2012

70 Min Run, 10.85 km, Pace 6.27 m/km, AHR 143, MHR 162

What a morning, absolutely gorgeous. The sun was shining from a beautiful blue sky and there was a cacophony of birdsong to accompany me on my way. Obviously I'm not the only one that thought this as I met a good few runners out and they were all smiling with the joys of spring (even though it's summer).

Luckily I had last week's edition of Marathon Talk to keep me sane and I'm really enjoying listening to it. I find it really interesting and well made. This week's interview was with Nell McAndrew and she was just buzzing with enthusiasm about her recent marathon PB of 2:54. Great to listen to if just to imagine Nell in her shorts. I'm still chuckling over Tony's trials and his description of the Manchester marathon as a 3 course meal and finding a pubic hair at the end. Add to that his penile chafing on his anniversary weekend and I was nearly choking.

All in all, a really enjoyable run.

pointer28

Tuesday 15/5/2012

45 Min Run, 7.06 km, Pace 6.22 m/km, AHR 134, MHR 184

45 mins easy on the plan for today so that's what I did. I still find these incredibly boring but I'm sure the fine folks writing all these training plans know better than I do.

Wednesday 16/5/2012

20:40 Min Run, 4.66 km, Pace 4.26 m/km, AHR 164, MHR 180

Another TT effort, week 3 of 5 of these sessions and yet another PB, although I really suffered and felt like quitting numerous times. Legs just felt heavy and dead and I find it really hard to sustain a high HR for any more than a few minutes.

My training plan suggests my 5k race pace should be between 172 - 180 bpm which I find impossible to even comprehend at this point. Maybe in an actual race against other competitors it might be easier to do but on my own in a TT setting it's just torture. I do feel a great sense of accomplishment afterwards though.

pointer28

Thursday 17/5/2012

30 Min Run, 4.70 km, Pace 6.23 m/km, AHR 145, MHR 180

My Garmin is playing up and gave me a massively elevated HR for the first ten minutes, so also messing with my AHR figures. I'd say my AHR was more arounf the 135 figure.

Other than that, too boring to even write about.

pointer28

Saturday 19/5/2012

80 Min Run, 12.40 km, Pace 6.27 m/km, AHR 139, MHR 155

Chilly, but dry and otherwise pleasant and no pesky headwinds to contend with.

pointer28

Totals for Week 20

Run 176 mins
Bike 0 mins

YTD Totals

Run 2452 mins
Bike 3799 mins

Once again another huge duck egg in the bike column. Work is manic at the moment and I just can't afford to turn it down. I'm going to try and find a crappy wheel and tyre to put on the bike for turbo use, then I can at least try do an hour in the kitchen a few nights a week.

Tuesday 22/5/2012

48 Min Run, 9.00 km, Pace 5.20 m/km, AHR 155, MHR 166

Steady session this morning, went well. I tried to carry my phone in my hand today as I didn't wear the sleeveless wind vest I usually do. I use it as both an MP3 player and also to track my runs but it drove me nuts so I'll have to come up with a new plan. I have another tiny MP3 player which I can put in my shorts pocket but I'll have to buy a shiny new watch to track the workouts.

Thursday 24/5/2012

20:54 Min Run, 4.66 km, Pace 4.28 m/km, AHR 161, MHR 178

Week 4 of 5 time trial speed session over my standard short loop. Felt dreadful for the first few minutes, my legs were just dead but came good for the second half.

franklyon

just out of interest how much weight have you lost since you started?

pointer28

Hi Frank,

I only started the log since Christmas but I started running in October and have gone from 84 kgs to 73 kgs now.

My target weight is 71.5 kgs so nearly there.

pointer28

Friday 25/5/2012

56 Min Run, 10.20 km, Pace 5:29 m/km, AHR 151, MHR 168

pointer28

Sunday 27/5/2012

30 Min Run, 4.7 km, Pace 6:23 m/km, AHR 141, MHR 152

Another dull, boring 30 mins easy. Jeebus but I hate these. I can see the point of long slow runs, or short fast runs or steady runs, but everytime I do this I come home feeling like that was a waste of time. Now, I'm sure the feeling writing the plans know more than me and I'll keep doing what they tell me but it stills bores me to tears.

Bought a water belt this afternoon as I nearly melted with the heat at 10am so I hate to imagine what I'll be like on a 2 hour run. Now I have it the weather will surely break.

Totals for Week 21

Run 155 mins
Bike 0 mins

YTD Totals

Run 2538 mins
Bike 3799 mins

pointer28

Monday 28/5/2012

46 Min Run, 7.20 km, Pace 6:23 m/km, AHR 131, MHR 147

84 Min Bike, 35.67 km, Av Spd 25.48 km/h, AHR 127, MHR 155

What a superb day yet again. Even though I was off today I still got up early and got out for my run at 6.30 am. Felt good and my AHR was way down so obviously all this structured training malarky is actually working.

Got home, did a few DIY jobs and took the bike out for a short spin after lunch when I had the opportunity. Again, fantastic weather for the job, if a little blustery but divine just to be out there doing it again. Average speed up and AHR down so I'm obviously getting fitter.

pointer28

Tuesday 29/5/2012

82 Min Run, 13.00 km, Pace 6:18 m/km, AHR 139, MHR 149

Today was meant to be an early hard 5k TT session, the last of the 5 in my plan. I was absolutely exhausted this morning and physically couldn't drag myself out of the bed. In fairness, I've been working flat out lately and I'm usually very good at getting up in the mornings so I won't beat myself up too badly over it.

I actually did two sessions yesterday which I usually never do and in hindsight, the searing afternoon heat of yesterday probably wasn't a great time to start the habit. Still, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right?

Instead I got up, had a good breakfast and spent a few hours working on the computer until I felt a little more human. I eventually headed out about midday and decided to do this weeks LSR as I still couldn't face the thought of running hard. I think it was a good session as my pace was up slightly and there was only 10 bpm in the difference between my AHR and MHR. Felt tired at the end, but legs are fine and feel the better for doing it. There's still plenty of time left in the week for the hard 5k.