Jack Daniels kicked my ass again last night

blockic

Well done TJ! Sub 90 is there now...just have to pick the date!

drquirky

Nice running. Sorry I didn't get to meet ya but well done on what I thought was a tougher than expected day/ course!

AuldManKing

Nice work J, the 1:30 is all but a formality. I've yet to run Clontarf on a 'nice' weather day

statss

Nice one, you are well set now for Bohermeen....and you've nudged ahead me over the half distance ye scamp. many congrats, I've enjoyed following your progress.

Tom Joad

5 mile @ 11:00 pace

Ended up doing a 5km race today as it was for a good cause, was in the parish and Mrs Joad was running it. Very hilly course which was made tougher by doing it with a buggy. Turned out the course was 3.5 mile too :eek:. Took it very, very handy and done an extra 1.5 mile after the main event to see could I get some of the stiffness out off the legs - I couldn't :rolleyes:

Weekly Total: 34 miles

Have decided that am definitely doing Bohermeen half and also Raheny 5 so will finalise a new plan for the half in the coming days with a bit of speedwork thrown in to go under 32 in Raheny - figure if I can do this the sub 40 10k should be within touching distance..

Tom Joad

statss wrote: »

Nice one, you are well set now for Bohermeen....and you've nudged ahead me over the half distance ye scamp. many congrats, I've enjoyed following your progress.

Am sure you will put that right soon - or we could have a showdown in Bohermeen - handicapped to take account of the ten years I have on you of course

tang1

Tom Joad wrote: »

to go under 32 in Raheny.

Selling yourself short here TJ, 30.xx should be the goal for Raheny. Well capable of it.

average_runner

Tom Joad wrote: »

Clontarf HM - 1:30:13 :rolleyes::eek::D:D

Headed into this with a 1:34:40 PB from Athlone in September which I always knew was a soft PB. Had a great plan this time to follow (Cheers Statss) and had the best training cycle since I started actually following plans so was feeling confident - still felt sub 1:30 might be a stretch too far but decided during the week to go for it (as long as the weather played ball).

Was up at six am to a beautiful morning in Cavan and had my porridge before a quick check in here to see Tang's update which gave me a real boost. Decided definitively on the way up to just go for sub 1:30 and have no regrets as Bohermeen was the real target. Headed off for Clontarf and was an uneventful journey until I got lost in East Wall and pulled in to check my map of Dublin to realise it predated the port tunnel and was no use:o:o Thankfully had loads of time to spare and made Clontarf at 8:45 and got parking right beside the start.

Done a bit of a warm-up, then made 3 or 4 wardrobe changes - thankfully was parked close!! - eventually settled on gloves and long sleeved top. Headed down to the start around 9:45 and met Dave McMahon - he had a similar strategy so we headed off together a bit back from the pacers.

First few miles were just settling in and were nice and comfortable - great to have someone to chat to too. Was nice and calm headed out for the beach and the sand while a bit soft getting down posed no problem - the sand on the beach was nice and hard - as promised and any wind was behind us. 5 mile came in no time and was a PB for me at 5 mile. 10k came in 42:30 and was delighted with that. Took a gel at 5 mile and felt great. By mile 6 was feeling great - even remarked on it to Dave (he may have wanted to kill me for that ) and we were just behind ecoli so bang on target

Splits for first 6 mile were - 6:51; 6:45, 6:48; 6:52; 6:52; 6:50

Sharp turn at half-way nearly caught me by surprise but no real issues and felt good again as the miles ticked by. Lost my focus and concentration a bit when taking the second gel and nearly missed the water stop so had to work a bit harder than I should have to get back behind ecoli's group heading down onto the beach - the going was definitely a lot softer this time and we were heading into the wind. We were now getting strung out and it was getting tough. Dave said he was feeling it too but we tried to catch up with ecolis group and managed to get back by mile 10. Knew mile 10 was a bit slower but reckon had enough banked to be ok.

Miles 7-10 splits 6:52; 6:52; 6:54, 7:00

Coming off the beach was tough and tried to catch up with ecoli's group but the harder I worked the further away they were getting. Had a bit of a chat with myself coming up to the wooden bridge and decided to start hunting people down. Started with a girl in a Drogheda top and reeled her in and then caught another two or three before turning onto the promenade. Really started worked hard here and now focussed on catching ecoli which I managed with about 1.5 miles to go. Knew it was touch and go to get sub 1:30 and would have to push on a bit but it wasn't there and just concentrated on getting home as close to sub 1:30 as possible.

Clock said 1:30:15 as I crossed the line so I knew that I had missed the sub 1:30 but was delighted with a 4 min 27 sec PB :D

Miles 11-13 splits: 7:08; 6:47, 6:44; 0:16

Had a quick chat with ecoli who done a superb job pacing (never got close enough to Dr. Quirky before or after to say hello) and Dave who got a great PB, enjoyed the hot soup and headed off to meet the family in Blanchardstown. Had to babysit for the day to make up for my abandoning ship so early on a Saturday :D

Got text to confirm time was 1:30:13 - am delighted with that as I know that with the right plan I will knock a bit off that in Bohermeen. Now am going to get stuck into a six pack of Guinness that has my name on it .

Have a 5k tomorrow in the parish which Mrs Joad is running so might do it as a recovery run with the buggy if I can move by then..

Well done. So deserved. Enjoy the xmas break.

Tom Joad

tang1 wrote: »

Selling yourself short here TJ, 30.xx should be the goal for Raheny. Well capable of it.

:eek: Might be a bit too much too soon but would be hoping to hit that later next year.:)

Tom Joad

Club Session:

Had missed last weeks session with the club so wanted to go tonight - spent a hour foam rolling before I headed down and done a 2 mile slow warm-up and felt reasonably human again.

Really enjoyed the session - especially the core work as have been neglecting this a bit lately. Done some fartlek work which I found tough but manageable.

Total mileage: 6 mile

Have a rest day planned tomorrow and a sports massage too

Tom Joad

5 mile easy

Got out early as I am in Dublin with work till all hours:rolleyes:. Was a bit eerie this morning as was very foggy and had a couple of mini heart attacks when people appeared from nowhere out of the fog - but nothing compared to the heart attack I nearly gave a girl out walking a dog - she obviously didn't hear me coming and nearly dived into a ditch when she seen me at the last minute!!

Was nice easy run and good to have the legs moving again - average pace was 8:05.

Tom Joad

6 Mile easy

Happy to get this done and out of the way. Felt rubbish all day - reckon I have picked up a stomach bug from one of the kids. Didn't feel great doing it and it felt like a lot of effort but pace was good @ 7:57 average.

Will see how I feel tomorrow as to whether I run as I'm out of plan so no pressure to run..

Tom Joad

Haven't been running for the last few days as feeling a bit under the weather with a stomach bug but better update this for the end of another month.

Mileage was good at 148 and highlight was HM PB ! Plan for December is to continue with a version of the HM plan I was following for Clontarf starting at week 5 with the intervals session focussing on 5k work - idea is to build these up with Raheny 5 mile in mind. Will also try and keep the LSR's at a minimum of 12 miles for December. Idea is to build a base for the hard work in the Spring!! Plan is for 150 to be minimum monthly mileage next year!!

Month|Miles
Jan|57
Feb|78
Mar|87.45
Apr|125.7
May|117
Jun|105
Jul|125.5
Aug|125.5
Sept|112.5
Oct|160.5
Nov|148
Total|1242.15

Gavlor

Just catching up on the log, that was a great run in clontarf. despite being flat it can be a tricky course

Tom Joad

7 Mile easy:

Lovely evening for running - felt more like September than December . Nice and easy 7 mile at 8:05 pace. Have a game of 5 a side tomorrow so no running for me.

AuldManKing

Tom Joad wrote: »

Have a game of 5 a side tomorrow so no running for me.

I've made my decision and quitting the footie - painful and all as it is. Have only played 3-4 games since the summer.
Maybe just 1 more game before our Christmas pi$$ up then I'm calling it a day (until after April)

Tom Joad

AuldManKing wrote: »

I've made my decision and quitting the footie - painful and all as it is. Have only played 3-4 games since the summer.
Maybe just 1 more game before our Christmas pi$$ up then I'm calling it a day (until after April)

I've only played myself about 5 times since the summer but as I'm kind of off plan at the minute will play a few games between now and Christmas and that will be it for a while.

Much as I enjoy playing the ball and its a good workout, it's not worth the risk of getting injured plus it's a real pain trying to rejig the weeks running schedule to fit it in.

Tom Joad

6 Mile easy:

Legs were a wee bit tired after ball yesterday so pace was a bit slower. Nice and frosty night out - perfect for running. Done the 6 miles @ 8:11 pace.

Tom Joad

6 mile easy

Another nice night for running and good to get out - done 6 mile at nice and easy 8:09 average pace.

Tom Joad

12 x 400's

Have been trying to do this session all week but other things were conspiring against me until today. Managed to get an hour at lunch time so headed out to the track. Was nice and mild when I arrived but half way through my mile warm-up the heavens opened!! :rolleyes:

Realised that I hadn't planned a pace for these so decided to run to feel for first couple and set that as my pace. Also wanted to do these off a farily short recovery to see where I was at - settled on 60 sec standing recovery. It was gusty at the track but was neither a help or a hinderance really apart from sending the rain in on top of me

Anyhow first couple of reps felt comfortable at 76-80 pace so decided to keep it at that pace. Surprisingly managed to keep all 12 reps comfortably within the 76-80 range so very happy with that.

Reps were
76
77
80 (very gusty)
78
77
78
79
76
77
76
76
77

Done another mile cool down and home for a nice quick shower and a bacon & egg sandwich and the mother of all cups of coffee before heading back to work:D

ecoli

Great session Tom they are some serious reps off that sort of recovery

Tom Joad

12 Mile LSR

This was a strange run to say the least.

Firstly it was an awful morning for running - very windy and alternating between light drizzle and driving rain. Picked a boring route that I don't particularly like as its 6 mile out and back along the hard shoulder of a straight hilly route - but as visibility was so poor it was the safest option.

Started out will light drizzle and strong wind at my back but still surprised that 1st two miles @ 7:32 and 7:37 - they didn't feel like that effort but made an effort to slow down or would struggle when running into the wind. By mile 5 the rain was driving down and it was straight into my face when I turned back at 6 mile. Last 3 miles were tough as it was hard to run into the gale and most off it was uphill. My face was sore for an hour afterwards :eek:.

Finished in exactly 1:36 so average pace was 8:00 but splits were all over the place:

7:32; 7:37; 7:54; 7:49; 8:08; 8:04; 8:13; 8:03; 8:17; 8:10; 8:18; 7:48.

Overall it was a tough run but delighted to get out and get it done.

Brought weeks mileage to 36 miles - solid if unspectacular

Tom Joad

5 Mile easy:

Nice to get out this evening as it was so mild - however my old mate the wind made a reappearance for the second half off this run :rolleyes:.

Finished the 5 mile in 8:23 average pace - nice and slow and relaxed.

ThebitterLemon

Tom Joad wrote: »

5 Mile easy:

Nice to get out this evening as it was so mild - however my old mate the wind made a reappearance for the second half off this run :rolleyes:.

Finished the 5 mile in 8:23 average pace - nice and slow and relaxed.

TJ, your local pharmacist can probably give you some over the counter tablets to deal with that

TbL

Tom Joad

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

TJ, your local pharmacist can probably give you some over the counter tablets to deal with that

TbL

Tis grand as I don't have to run behind myself

Tom Joad

6 Mile easy:

Got out at lunchtime for this and was blessed to say dry - was only finished when the heavens opened. Legs took a while to get moving freely and first two miles they were heavy but soon got going and finished it in 7:59 average pace. Wind was only against me for 2 miles too

Tom Joad

5 x 1 mile @5k pace (6:20) with 2 min recoveries

This is session 1 of the McMillan best 10k workouts tailored for a 5 miler.
Went into this session on the back off 3 consecutive days running deliberately to see what I could achieve with a bit of fatigue in the legs - also decided to shorten the recoveries to 2 mins instead of 3 mins.

I have tried this session 3 times in the past and didn't achieve it twice so was a bit apprehensive that I wouldn't nail it but knew that if I did it would be a good confidence booster:).

Got out to the track for first light and done a gentle 1 mile warm-up and realised that the wind would be a factor again:rolleyes:.

Reps worked out as follows:

Mile 1: 6:10 - first 400mtrs was way too fast@ 81 secs but was more controlled for rest and happy with this.

Mile 2: 6:04 - bit annoyed with this as was way too fast from the word go and the form was poor and wasn't able to rein in the pace - was also afraid this would come back to haunt me. 2mins recovery felt very quick after this one

Mile 3: 6:15 - delighted with this form was good and pace was consistent and controlled.

Mile 4: 6:18 - more off the same - but starting to feel tough.

Mile 5: 6:17 - felt consistent and form was good - it was bloody tough though over last 1/2 mile.

Finished with 1 mile cool down @ 8:35 pace after a 2 min recovery (including lots of dry retching ).

Total: 7 mile

Overall was delighted with this session and it's a real confidence booster - it's one of those sessions I will be remembering when the going gets tough in Raheny and the body want's to stop.

statss

jaysus you are smoking with those times!

AuldManKing

that's a super session - well done on that!

davemcmahon

Excellent session TJ, looks like we could be keeping each other company at Raheny

Tom Joad

davemcmahon wrote: »

Excellent session TJ, looks like we could be keeping each other company at Raheny

You are way ahead of me on the shorter stuff tbh but a few more sessions like this and I might be able to keep you in sight for a while..

Tom Joad

6 Mile easy:

Am in Dublin with work till late this evening so got out a 5:30 am for this. Cracking morning - was 13 degrees according to the car :eek:. Don't think I woke up properly until the 5th mile as wasn't checking the time or anything - was just enjoying having the streets to myself. Finished the 6 mile in 8:35 pace - a fair bit slower that my usual easy runs but not bothered about that.

Am under a fair bit of pressure with time tomorrow but will try to get a few HMP miles in early.

Tom Joad

5 mile with 3.2 tempo

Couldn't get out this morning with the high winds as it would be a struggle to do any kind off fast stuff so tried to hold off until this evening. Everything went against me time wise today and wanted to watch the rugby. So only way to get anything done was to take out the treadmill.

Done a mile warm-up @ 8:20 pace and then covered the display and set the treadmill to its max speed 9.8 mph and tried to hold on for 20 minutes. Treadmill has no slope setting (it was second hand when I bought it 13 years ago ) so figured max speed would equate to tempo effort. Done 3.2 miles in the 20 minutes and done a 0.8 mile cool down to get to 5 mile.

Felt good and comfortable and enjoyed the consistent hard effort on the 3.2 but not sure if I got the same benefit as I would have by doing this on the road but it was better than nothing which was the only alternative.

Tom Joad

13.5 mile LSR

Wasn't looking forward to this at all after listening to the wind howling outside my bedroom window last night. Meant I had to pick a route around town to stay away from the roads as was hard to hear traffic - meant I had to double back a few times and do laps so not the most exciting route in the world.

The wind was at my back for the first 3 or 4 miles but after that it was fairly tough as I seemed to be constantly running into the wind. Was a lot of debris on the streets too so had to keep the eyes open. At times I was struggling just to move forward and the legs really felt it over last few miles but was delighted to get this done and pace wasn't bad @ 8:06 avge considering conditions.

Splits were: 7:55; 7:56; 7:58; 8:03; 8:01; 8:04; 8:07; 8:03; 8:05; 8:17; 8:11; 8:25; 8:18; 4:01.

Weekly total: 42.5 miles

Tom Joad

5 Mile with 3 @HMP

Got out for this at lunchtime and while it was tough at times, overall was enjoyable. Done 1st mile @ 8:15 pace and splits for HMP section were 6:40; 6:49 and 6:42 with last mile @ 8:20 pace.

Happy to get this done as I don't particularly enjoy these sessions but am going to incorporate more of them into my plan to take me out of my comfort zone and build up the HM pace miles.

Tom Joad

8 Mile easy:

Was away all day yesterday and it was too dangerous to go out when I got home. Power was intermittent so couldn't even use the treadmill so decided to add a few miles on today.

Was the first proper bitterly cold day for running this winter and it was kind of cool to be running as the snow was pelting down:). Done the 8 miles at a nice steady 8:04 average pace and don't feel as bad now at missing yesterday .

Tom Joad

1 x 2Mile; 3 x 1 Mile @ 5k pace

This is the second of the mcmillan sessions and got out at first light to get this donw as have office party this afternoon/ night/ early morning and will be messy .

Done a 1 mile warm-up @ 8:20 pace and was surprised at how mild it was - expected it to be bitterly cold.

On to the 2 mile bit and was tough but manageable - mile splits were 6:10 and 6:14 so delighted with that.

Took a .5 mile recovery jog before going for the 1 mile intervals. They all felt nice and controlled with a 400mtr slow recovery jog between them and a 30 sec standing recovery which equated to a total of 3min recovery.

Splits for these were 6:15; 6:13 and 6:14.

1 mile slow cool down run for a total of 8 miles for the day. Overall was delighted with this session - was tough but manageableand didn't overly struggle at any stage.

AuldManKing

Solid work, you're flying these days.

Tom Joad

6 Mile easy:

Surprisingly wasn't too hung-over after office party last night so decided to get out this afternoon when it was calm for a run. Took it nice and handy with 8:36 average pace. Happy to get the easy miles in today ahead of LSR tomorrow.

Tom Joad

15 mile LSR

Wasn't looking forward to this at all as had a dodgy stomach yesterday evening and last night - also knew I hadn't drank enough water yesterday in my hung-over state.

Put all my excuses to one side and headed out early enough to try and beat the sleet and snow showers.

By the end of the first mile I just wanted to head home as I felt crap but gritted my teeth and kept going - next few miles flew by and was started to feel ok. Was worried about taking a gel at mile 5 in case it made the stomach worse again but there was no worries on that front thankfully and it didn't do any damage. Weather was grand for first 7-8 miles but for about 4 miles after that I was running in a near whiteout - snow was coming down in sheets and it turned to sleet - was soaked through and couldn't feel my fingers anymore by the end of it. Sun came out for last few miles then and couldn't see it was so glaring :rolleyes:.

Anyhow was glad to finish the 15 miles and even more so when I restored feeling to my fingers:D. Surprised when I checked the garmin to see average pace was 8:06 - happy with that given the conditions:

Splits were: 8:21; 7:53; 7:54; 7:57; 8:09; 8:15; 8:10; 8:05; 8:13; 8:25; 8:01; 7:56; 7:54; 7:56: 8:15

Weekly total: 42 miles

Duanington

Tom Joad wrote: »

15 mile LSR

Wasn't looking forward to this at all as had a dodgy stomach yesterday evening and last night - also knew I hadn't drank enough water yesterday in my hung-over state.

Put all my excuses to one side and headed out early enough to try and beat the sleet and snow showers.

By the end of the first mile I just wanted to head home as I felt crap but gritted my teeth and kept going - next few miles flew by and was started to feel ok. Was worried about taking a gel at mile 5 in case it made the stomach worse again but there was no worries on that front thankfully and it didn't do any damage. Weather was grand for first 7-8 miles but for about 4 miles after that I was running in a near whiteout - snow was coming down in sheets and it turned to sleet - was soaked through and couldn't feel my fingers anymore by the end of it. Sun came out for last few miles then and couldn't see it was so glaring :rolleyes:.

Anyhow was glad to finish the 15 miles and even more so when I restored feeling to my fingers:D. Surprised when I checked the garmin to see average pace was 8:06 - happy with that given the conditions:

Splits were: 8:21; 7:53; 7:54; 7:57; 8:09; 8:15; 8:10; 8:05; 8:13; 8:25; 8:01; 7:56; 7:54; 7:56: 8:15

Weekly total: 42 miles

Super running in that weather !

Tom Joad

5 mile @ recovery pace

Uneventful slow run - managed to get out before the storm this evening and in time to watch the match too . Felt tired doing this which was probably due to lack of sleep last night but plan to take next two days off to rest the body (and eat my own body weight in crap :pac:). Average pace was 8:36.

Tom Joad

Took a few days off during the week which was always planned but the weather then played havoc with my plans

Friday: 7 miles @ 8:41 pace - was shockingly crap - thought from the effort I was putting in that I was running @HMP at one stage. Shows the effects of 3 days of non-stop eating and drinking :eek:

Got out Saturday early but had to abort after half a mile as footpaths were lethal with ice and had slipped twice by that stage. Was travelling to Kerry for the rest of the day so getting out again was not an option.

Sunday: 12 miles @ 7:47 pace. Got out in the rolling hills off North Kerry early and decided to up the effort a wee bit. Delighted with this run and it really blew the cobwebs away - splits were:

7:27; 7;48; 7:45; 7:47; 7:47; 8:00; 7:59; 8:06; 7:52; 7:50; 7:34; 7:24

Weekly total: 24 miles

Tom Joad

End of 2013 Table:

Month|Miles
Jan|57
Feb|78
Mar|87.45
Apr|125.7
May|117
Jun|105
Jul|125.5
Aug|125.5
Sept|112.5
Oct|160.5
Nov|148
Dec|144.5
Total|1386.65

Another good month's running and happy with that - has been a good last three months of 2013.

Highlights of the year were Clontarf HM (1:30:13) and Dunshaughlin 10k (40:24) which were big PB's. Other highlights were joining a club and finishing 3rd in novice cross-country and 3rd in masters 3k at county track championship.

Lowlights were K Club and Great Pink Run - both 10ks - a distance I have to master in 2014. Running through a chest infection lost me a few months and was a big disappointment but thankfully haven't looked back since.

Learned a massive amount this year and received some great advice here which is much appreciated and was a big motivation to keep going when the going got tough or I was searching for excuses to miss a run.

Plans for 2014:

1. Up the mileage and keep it at 160 miles per month minimum.
2. More tempo work - just because I don't like it doesn't mean I can avoid it.
3. More foam rolling and sports massages as the mileage increases.
4. Set short term goals with key races in mind and stick to these goals and plans.

Races Planned and aims:

January - Raheny 5 mile - sub 32
February/March - Park Run 5k - Sub 19
March - Bohermeen HM - Sub 90
April - K Club 10k - Sub 40

Will reassess at that stage but if I have 640 miles and hit all those targets will look at some more aggressive targets.


Thanks for reading and Happy New Year everyone following this log. Looking forward to meeting loads of boardsies in Raheny

Tom Joad

6 mile with 4 Tempo

Might as well start the new year with a tempo run as I've committed here now to doing more of them .

Between fixing my overflowing gutters in the rain :mad: and building a table for the young lads scaletrix that santa brought it was late afternoon when I got out. Was trying to find excuses to miss it but eventually just got out and done it. Nice gentle 1 mile warm up @ 8:10 pace following by 4 tempo miles. Don't know whether a lot of it is in my head but this was tough and by mile 3 wanted to stop but focussed on the breathing and got the four miles done. Another gentle mile cool down @ 8:04 pace.

Tempo miles were 6:38; 6:50; 6:40; 6:43.

Very happy with that run and hearing that utd lost to Spurs only marginally pissed me off :rolleyes:.

AuldManKing

Tom Joad wrote: »

that utd lost to Spurs only marginally pissed me off :rolleyes:.

But it delighted me.

Tom Joad

AuldManKing wrote: »

But it delighted me.

Am sure it did :(

Anyway top 4 is the main thing now!!

Cleanman

Best of luck for 2014 TJ. I still think that Raheny target is too soft given your form over the last 6 weeks or so. I'll be doing Raheny too and have the same target so I must meet up with you beforehand to discuss tactics;)

Tom Joad

Cleanman wrote: »

Best of luck for 2014 TJ. I still think that Raheny target is too soft given your form over the last 6 weeks or so. I'll be doing Raheny too and have the same target so I must meet up with you beforehand to discuss tactics;)

Sounds good - got the entry done on line this morning so no backing out now. Will be good to catch up with you there.

The target maybe a wee bit on the soft side alright and I will reassess the week of the race. I see the sub 32 as a big step on the way to a sub-40 10k which I know is within touching distance. However I done three 10ks last year and blew up spectacularly in two of them. The one 10k I didn't blow up in I started conservatively and got the early pacing right so am not going to make any high pressure targets for Raheny and pressure myself into setting off too fast and blowing up again - if that makes any sense. But if training is still going as well as it has been this last while I might target 31:30!

Best of luck to yourself too for 2014 - hope you stay injury free and the PB's will keep coming.

Tom Joad

7.2 mile easy:

Got out at lunchtime for this and was pleasantly surprised at how mild it was. Picked a nice route and enjoyed the run - kept it nice and handy. Average Pace was 8:03