Everything Counts (In Large Amounts)

FrClintPower

RunningKing wrote: »

Try the Nike outlet in Blanch if you like Nike?
Great value in there.

I'll have a look out there for shorts anyway, I tend to use the same couple of Dri-Fit shorts all the time. I'm planning on heading into Amphibian King in Ballymount this time though because I'm going out that way anyway to get the car serviced. I had gait analysis done last year with the first pair (slight pronation with the right foot in particular seemingly) and haven't had trouble with that pair, but no harm in getting a second opinion.

FrClintPower

Tuesday 18 June - 5.16 miles in 42.57, 8.19 per mile

A nice easy lunchtime run around the "Lansdowne Loop" today, although it's pretty warm and muggy out there. My left knee wasn't sore at all while I was out but I can feel it a little bit now as I'm sitting down, I'll ice it again this evening.

Really looking forward to getting new runners tomorrow as well, I've the day off work so I reckon I'll head out for an easy spin in them in the afternoon. Definitely going to get a foam roller too, I've been reading some more logs over the last few days and people who do it seem to find it really beneficial.

FrClintPower

Wednesday 19 June - 4.76 miles in 41.18, 8.41 per mile

Lovely weather for a run today so I got out along the trails in the Park for an easy run. It was a strange one though, I felt really drained after 3 miles and had to stop for a bit of a stroll - maybe it was the heat (I was daydreaming about the ice cream I was going to have when I got home), the vino last night, or the foam rolling I'd just given my legs for the first time.

On a more positive note, got a new pair of runners in Ballymount today and it'll be interesting to see how I get on in them. The gait analysis I got last year was correct, my right foot pronates (it actually looks horrendous to see the ankle fold like that in slo-mo) so I tried a few different support runners. In the end I went for the Saucony Omni 11, felt like a really nice fit with a good bit of room for my toes, but they've only got an 8mm drop so I'll be taking my time transitioning to them. Might go for a couple of slow miles at lunchtime tomorrow, but I'll be mainly using the current ones for the next few weeks at least.

I also picked up The Grid (TM!) foam roller and spent half an hour finding the most painful places possible to focus on, really very very painful indeed, but in a good way! Stretching/Core/Foam Rolling are things I've neglected, but I need to get into the habit of it. Pretty sure the foam-rolling session was productive too, my left knee had been at me but not a peep out of it this evening after giving the ITBs a good going over.

Edit: Should also mention the brisk 8 mile cycle home from Amphibian King this morning.

blockic

Nicw work, it was tough out there tonight, I'm bait myself!

Let us know how you get on with those Omni 11, I over pronate myself and have the Mizuno Inspire 9s, might try an alternative for the craic next time.

Foam rolling is vital if you ask me and like running, consistancy is key!

FrClintPower

blockic wrote: »

Nicw work, it was tough out there tonight, I'm bait myself!

Let us know how you get on with those Omni 11, I over pronate myself and have the Mizuno Inspire 9s, might try an alternative for the craic next time.

Foam rolling is vital if you ask me and like running, consistancy is key!

Will do!

career_move

FrClintPower wrote: »

In the end I went for the Saucony Omni 11,

I have them. They're my Limerick marathon runners. Love them

FrClintPower

career_move wrote: »

I have them. They're my Limerick marathon runners. Love them

glad to hear it, they're not the most stylish but were definitely the most comfortable, hopefully the change in drop won't cause any issues.

RunningKing

I went to 8mm drop recently(new balance) and had no bother, but I have about 3-4 pairs on the go, so I don't get too used to the feel of any 1 particular shoe.


I wore the Mizunos inspire recently and they feel like a block on my foot now. Think it's bin time for them, close to 600 miles.

blockic

RunningKing wrote: »

I wore the Mizunos inspire recently and they feel like a block on my foot now. Think it's bin time for them, close to 600 miles.

The Inspire 8's are blocks, Inspire 9s are much lighter and are kind of hybrid racers!

I reckon its time for the bin for that nun outfit of yours too!

RunningKing

True on the W.I. 8's.

I wore that nuns outfit at an event in work recently, accompanied with the 'Scream' mask and won a Twister competition dressed like that. in work.

Might try it in Clontarf, Athlone and DCM...........

FrClintPower

Thursday 20 June afternoon - 3.14 miles in 29.25, 9.22 per mile

A nice lunchtime jog to Fairview Park and back with some work colleagues, I'm going miss the sunshine. First run in the Sauconys as well and I'm very happy with them so far, really comfortable and no twinges in the calves or Achilles, but we'll see how they go in harder runs.

Tonight's plan is a bit more foam rolling and I'll throw in some stretching and core work while I'm at it, so then I'll feel fully prepared for tomorrow's Pride Run 5k where a PB is inevitable (it's my first 5k ). The weather's not supposed to be great tomorrow evening but you can't have everything.

FrClintPower

Thursday 20 June evening - 2.75 miles in 23.09, 8.25 per mile

Went out for a quick spin this evening to warm-up my legs before having a bit of a stretching, core and foam rolling session. I didn't overdo it this time as I want to feel fairly fresh tomorrow evening, but I'll be trying to spend maybe 3 hours a week altogether on that stuff.

I think today counts as my first "doubler" too, a total of 5.89 miles, look on my daily mileage ye mighty and despair!

career_move

How come music always starts playing when I go into your log?

FrClintPower

career_move wrote: »

How come music always starts playing when I go into your log?

straight back at ya!

career_move

FrClintPower wrote: »

straight back at ya!

Strange :eek:

dazza21ie

Just reading through your log for the first time. We seem to be quite similar in times and targets. Plan to start the McMillan 10k sessions myself next week so its interesting to read how someone else is getting on at them. Best of the luck in the 5k, will be following with interest.

FrClintPower

dazza21ie wrote: »

Just reading through your log for the first time. We seem to be quite similar in times and targets. Plan to start the McMillan 10k sessions myself next week so its interesting to read how someone else is getting on at them. Best of the luck in the 5k, will be following with interest.

Thanks for that, hopefully the weather won't be too bad.

I'd recommend the McMillan sessions alright, but mainly because they've provided a spine around which to build the rest of a training plan. The only other plans I've followed have been to increase distance (e.g. c25k) so it's been interesting to do some harder sessions. Once I get past the 10k plan in 4 weeks I'll be looking for an 8-9 weeks HM plan.

FrClintPower

Friday 21 June - 7.53 miles in 1.01.34, 8.11 per mile

Right, Pride Run down in the Phoenix Park this evening and a chance to see how I'm set on the road to sub-43 for the Fingal 10k.

Jogged down nice and early to give myself time to pick up my number and get a good warm-up in. No queues so I got the number in no time, and I was able to pick up the really nice technical t-shirt beforehand too. Met up with some people from work and their clubmates and set off for more warming up when the weather took a turn for the worst but thankfully the rain cleared by the time the race started.

Warm-up 3.41 miles Time well spent, the legs had been sore leaving home but felt much better lining up at the start.

The course itself was two loops of the path around the Fifteen Acres and in the hope of going sub-21 I was planning to try to go out at 6.40 per mile for the first lap and then decide if I was going to try to pick up the pace or just try to sustain it for the second lap. I thought I was nice and close to the front but spent the first minute or so overtaking people by running on the grass, only to realise that I'd gone off way too fast. Came around the first corner and tried to settle into a more sustainable pace. Even so my first half mile was 2.56, so the next while just became about getting my breath back and settling down and the next half mile was bang on target at 3.20. First mile in 6.16

The second mile took in the end of the first lap which is slightly uphill, and while I slowed down a little, I knew I had seconds in the bank and that the start of the second lap would be downhill. In the end, the start of the second lap was also straight into a stiff breeze so that was pretty tortuous. Overall the second mile came in at 6.54. Disappointed with that, and looking at it afterwards my HR rate dropped by 8/9 bpm by the end of that mile.

The third mile started along the back straight, and at this point I was overtaken by my workmate who I'd beaten in Terenure, but who also did 20.06 in Raheny last week. I thought about trying to go with him but didn't want to try to pick it up too soon. Just tried to keep it steady, knowing that I was good for sub-21 and it was just a matter of by how much. The third mile came in at 6.46. The last bit was up the nasty little ramp to the finish, and any "kick" I had left was spent just trying to keep to the same pace. Last little bit in 0.46.

In total 3.11 miles/5k in 20.42. My first PB for 5k! Ave HR 170, Max HR 179.

So I'm really happy with that time, even if I reckon if I hadn't gone out so fast I might have had more to give at the end. Essentially I banked time in the first mile and then leaked it from then on. But still, it looks like sub-43 is possible in 4 weeks time. 179 is the highest HR I've recorded too - I've been working othe basis that my Max HR's 180 so I was pretty close! Nice 1 mile jog home after to cool down.

I'll definitely be back for this race in the future as well and would be one I'd recommend, really friendly atmosphere, well organised, 400-ish runners, and a really nice technical t-shirt too. Funds raised go to a good cause as well which is always nice.

blockic

Great run clint. So easy to tear off fast in a 5k!..sub 20 not too far away..

macinalli

Well done on the PB! I did a similar thing at last nights race - took off way too fast for about the first half mile and then spent the rest of the race trying to hold people off. No PB for me, but a good effort and a lesson learned!

Some of the guys here recommend doing a few 5ks in a short period of time - theory is that it takes practice to get the pacing spot on and you tend to recover quite quickly. Might have to test that out...

RunningKing

Great running, the sub 43 looks very much on for you based on that, you just need to control the pace a bit more.
Do a recce on the course as well, it'll help on the day.

dazza21ie

Fair play clint would have loved that kind of time for my first 5k!! You seem bang on course for your 10k target.

FrClintPower

macinalli wrote: »

Well done on the PB! I did a similar thing at last nights race - took off way too fast for about the first half mile and then spent the rest of the race trying to hold people off. No PB for me, but a good effort and a lesson learned!

Some of the guys here recommend doing a few 5ks in a short period of time - theory is that it takes practice to get the pacing spot on and you tend to recover quite quickly. Might have to test that out...

I might do another in 6-8 weeks, but the main focus from now till the end of September is the Dublin Race Series, particularly the 10k and Half-Marathon. I might see about doing a few in October/November, maybe give the Park Runs a go.

FrClintPower

Sunday 23 June - 8.03 miles in 1.10.02, 8.43 per mile Ave HR 135

Took a rest day yesterday after the 5k on Friday but did about 30 mins of stretching/core/foam rolling. The legs actually felt pretty good yesterday for the first time in a couple of weeks, I must have done a good job warming up before the race.

Did about 15 mins of core this evening again before heading out for an easy run at around 9 this evening. I intended this week to be a bit easier than the last few but if I'd gone for 12ish miles it would have been mid-30s again, so I decided on 8 miles but made sure there was a good few hills in there. Really enjoyed this run, the weather had cleared and it was really nice and fresh around the Park. Good to keep the HR nice and low as well. Followed it up with 15 mins of stretching.

Weekly Total - 31.37 miles

A good week this week - another 5 run week, new runners, started foam rolling, a lot of easy miles with the only "session" being the 5k on Friday, where I got a decent PB, and the legs feel better now than they did this time last week.

Yearly Total - 673 miles

Today was also the final run of my first year of running, on 24 June last year I had my first try at this running lark. That first run was 1 min run/1 min walk * 10, and I covered 2kms in 20 mins. Each of those minutes of running nearly killed me! 673 miles later, I'm enjoying running more than ever and hoping to do 900-1,000 more miles before 2013 is over.

FrClintPower

Monday 24 June - 4.78 miles in 36.01, 7.32 per mile

A brisk lunchtime run down around Lansdowne and back, at a faster than easy pace that got the heart and lungs pumping. First quicker run in the new Omnis and no ill-effects. Followed it up with 20 solid and painful minutes of foam rolling this evening.

Plan this week is to run each weekday because holidays start on Saturday and ironically that'll probably mean less chance to get out, especially for longer runs. Travelling for work midweek but should have time during that to go for a long run on Wednesday and do the 2*2 and 2*1 mile session on Thursday.

FrClintPower

Tuesday 25 June - 6.00 miles in 52.16, 8.43 per mile

Another lovely evening run in the Park, mainly along trails and across grass. Great to see so many people out and making use of a fantastic amenity, walking, running, cycling, frisbeeing, hurling, remote controlling, badmintoning, smoking, shifting, .....

It was noticeable how it felt easier the few times I was on tarmac, running on grass definitely ups the effort levels a bit. Keeps the impact down though and hopefully the constant readjustment involved in running on rougher ground is strengthening the "stability" muscles.

FrClintPower

Wednesday 26 June - 11.10 miles in 1.41.32, 9.09 per mile Ave HR 132

Nice afternoon for a run in Brussels yesterday, quite humid but a nice bit of breeze. The last long run there was 26 degrees and the HR went over 150, so it was good to see it stay relatively low this time. Spent a good fifteen minutes stretching afterwards.

Thursday 27 June - 10.25 miles in 1.24.01, 8.12 per mile

The third McMillan session today, 2*2 mile and 2*1 mile at race pace, and it almost didn't happen. Travelling to and from Brussels meant early starts and I was feeling a bit delicate today anyway after a work booze up last night. Got home from the airport at 11 and spent 4 hours lying on the couch debating whether I was up for it, but if it didn't happen today it wasn't going to happen at all so off I went, and I felt a lot better by the time I jogged the 1.4 miles down to the Fifteen Acres. Spent a few minutes stretching and psyching myself up and decided that, considering everything, I'd be happy with 7.00 pace, rather than the 6.53 I averaged two weeks ago. Once again a blustery day down there so that effected the pace at times (half-mile paces in brackets) -

Interval 1 - 2 miles in 13.37.5 @6.49 (6.44, 6.42, 7.11, 6.38)
Interval 2 - 2 miles in 13.57.7 @6.59 (7.04, 7.04, 6.44, 7.04)
Interval 3 - 1 mile @7.02 (7.05, 6.59)
Interval 4 - 1 mile @6.48 (6.53, 6.42)

Once again, I went off too fast for the first one, but not as badly as before. Third half mile was into the wind but happy enough with 6.49 for the first two miles. I took a 5 minute recovery and set off for the second stint, and the wheels nearly came off. After a mile I was getting negative, thinking how it was going to be impossible to string 6 and a bit miles of this together in Swords, this is hell etc. Pulled it together by telling myself that the second mile of that stint was going to be the toughest and once I was through it the 1 mile intervals would be handy(ish!). 6.59 was decent enough in the circumstances. Another 5 minute recovery and then 7.02 for the third interval, not sure what happened there, think I just lost a bit of focus, and then had a 3 minute recovery. Happy with 6.48 for the last one though, especially after taking a fly to the eyeball with a quarter mile to go. Overall average was 6.54.5, which will do nicely. My HR tended to get up to around 170 on each rep, 92-93% of my Max.

A very slow 1.68 miles home followed by 30 mins of stretching and foam rolling.

Plan for the rest of the week is a handy short recovery run tomorrow and probably not much over the weekend. Less mileage next week as I'll be on my holliers in Cork, we'll see how it goes.

career_move

Great session yesterday

FrClintPower

Friday 28 June - 2.90 miles in 26.48, 9.14 per mile Ave HR 124

A short, very easy recovery run down the quays and back at lunchtime, probably marking the end of my running week. I won't total it up yet though, just in case .

FrClintPower

Sunday 30 June - 4.57 miles in 38.18, 8.23 per mile

Got out for another run this week after all. The place we're staying has well marked trails on the grounds for walking/jogging so this was on a mix of tarmac/gravel/forest trail, fairly undulating as well. Can't see myself venturing out onto the local roads as they're pretty narrow and don't have footpaths but I'll try to find a flattish bit of trail to do a session during the week. I've done hill reps and a race in my two "off-weeks" so far so I might go for something like 20*400s to vary it again.

Took a spin down to Kinsale today and noticed the hill from the Kinsale Road Roundabout to the Airport Roundabout, about 3kms long and straight up all the way. Might be interesting to drive over and do a few reps of that one evening!

Weekly Total - 39.60 miles

6 runs this week and highest mileage yet. A quality session in there on Thursday as well.

Monthly Total - 150.41 miles

Literally my highest mileage month by quite a distance in June. This year so far was January 56 miles, February 65, March 75, April 40 (flu and sinusitis that month) and then the previous highest of 85 in May. A couple of reasons for that, although it's mainly enthusiasm! The fact I've got a bit of structure around my running coming up to Swords has meant an increase and the other, stranger, reason is I've switched from kms to miles - psychologically a 5k run used to seem respectable but a 3 mile one doesn't, so my standard runs have just gotten longer.

So a big, probably inadvisable, jump this month, although I think I've pretty much gotten away with it. The legs have been sore but I haven't popped, knacked or twanged anything (yet!). I won't be looking to increase the mileage in the near future, 150-odd per month will be perfectly fine for the foreseeable.