"Man imposes his own limitations, don't set any"

pa4

Track 'session' tonight. Programme called for 5x1 mile with 3 minute recovery in 5:20. As anyone can imagine tonight is the worst possible weather for a session with gale force winds and heavy rain. Due to this I only managed 4 reps. Did a 2 mile warm up and down.

Times were: 5:18, 5:18, 5:19, 5:19.

Don't really no what to make of this session. The session itself was fairly generous with regards recovery and times but the weather just made it an absolute nightmare. The wind was against me on the home straight and the track is very open so every lap I had too push extra hard to hit the times. I reckon the session could be worth closer to 5:10's on a good day. I really started struggling as the session went on and my breathing was being affected by having to push hard into the wind. After the fourth I had to listen to my body and call it a day rather than trailing around a 5th rep in what I could imagine wouldn't be any faster than 5:30. Hopefully this weather picks up soon.

Total mileage: 8 miles.

pa4

13 mile long run on the roads this morning @7:06 pace. Felt good doing this after a day off yesterday. The weather was much better with no wind which made it much easier. A good weeks training this week and its nice to finish it off feeling good.

Total weekly mileage: 52 miles.

This is my highest mileage week ever by a mile. I have 3 more full weeks training then a taper week before the varsity XC so I'll be keeping up the mileage and building the strength so hopefully should have a good run.

pa4

Monday 10th of February:
9 miles easy on the road @7:20 pace. Went handy for this one and ran with a few lads who had raced the day before so we just went at a relaxed pace. Felt good and didn't feel like 9 miles at all. Nice evening for a run.

Tuesday 11th of February:
Session of 2x2k with a 3 minute recovery. 2+ mile warm up and down.

I had planned on doing this on the track but it has been snowing here all day and when I got to the track the was an inch thick blanket of snow covering the track. I did 2 strides to test it out but my feet were slipping under me so I didn't want to risk it. I didn't have the garmin with me either so I couldn't do it out the road. Luckily theres a big park beside the track. I'm not sure of the distance but the smallest loop was all pavement and wasn't too slippy so I decided to do it there. I have no idea of the distance but one of the lads said 2 laps is over 2k so I decided I'd do 2x2 laps of the loop which turned out to be fairly close to the 2k, a bit over.

Felt great doing the session itself and the loop was well sheltered from the gale force winds and it was flat too. I felt like I was going much faster than I would usually be on the track and I found it much easier mentally only having too do 2 laps and not worry about split times. I think I'll do my 2k sessions there from now on because its way easier to run faster. Times were 6:44 and 6:27. I was surprised how much I picked it up on the second one and didn't realise until I checked the watch afterwards. The first one felt just as fast but I was really feeling good today. I've no idea what distance it was but it was well over 2k, it felt much faster than the last time I did that type of session. Could have been 3:05 pace for the second rep for all I know. I'm gonna measure it next time. Very happy with the session overall judging on how I felt. Would really love to know what pace I was going at. Typical that one of the best sessions I did this year and I don't even no what pace it was!

Total: 7 miles.

pa4

8 miles on the road this evening in 55:57 @7:00 pace. Didn't think I'd get out for this run at all. Got detoured 11 times coming home from college and then when I did get home every road leading to town was blocked from fallen trees and severe flooding. Eventually a tree up the road got moved so I managed to get into town and did my run there. Wind was unbelievable but I felt really good so I managed to keep a nice pace going. Not gonna go to college for the rest of the week because its too dodgy travelling that far in those conditions!

pa4

7 miles easy tonight @7:25 pace. Legs were tired today and it was still fairly wind with a fair bit of rain.

pa4

Saturday 15th of February:
9 miles on the road @7:02 pace. I initially had a tempo planned for Friday and Saturday off but due to circumstances beyond my control I didn't get out at all so I took Friday off and went out Saturday evening. Felt great for this run and found it very enjoyable.

Sunday 16th of February:
13 mile easy long run @7:21 pace. Went out early this morning for this run and was fairly tired, didn't get much sleep last night and was fairly stiff starting off. I was wearing a heavy enough jacket too and it wasn't really cold out so that made it fairly uncomfortable. Tired enough now afterwards.

Total weekly mileage: 53 miles.

Highest mileage I've ever done by one mile so things are going in the right direction. It doesn't feel like much either on the body so that can only be a good sign.

pa4

Didn't get around to updating this during the last 2 weeks. I started working on Monday the 17th so have 2 weeks down and nearly fully adjusted to the routine. Last week was just all mileage, no sessions. The reason for this was it was my first week being up at 6:30am every morning and I didn't want to put my body under and extra stress. Still managed a decent 50 miles for the week.

This week was much better with regards to training. I'm much more active throughout the day so I'm feeling much better running. Two sessions this week, one on Tuesday and one on Friday.

Tuesday session:
3 mile tempo run in 16:09 @5:23 pace. Splits were: 5:27, 5:23, 5:17.
I know it was probably a bit too fast for a tempo but I was feeling fresh from not doing any sessions the previous week and I just felt great overall. Didn't realise the pace picked up and my breathing was under control.

Friday session:
6x1k on the track in 3:10 with a 3 minute recovery.

Actual times: 3:13, 3:07, 3:09, 3:07, 3:07, 3:00.

Average was 3:07. Very happy with this session. It was my first time doing doing 6 1ks and I felt great. The first one was 3 seconds to slow which was my own timing error, I didn't check my splits and was too relaxed. The last one shows how good I was feeling, I didn't plan on doing it in 3:00 minutes but I guess instinct kicked in and I picked it up for the last 600m.

Two good sessions and finished it off with a nice 13 miler this morning @7:07 pace.

Total weekly mileage: 53 miles.

Stazza

Good to see you back. That 6x1k session looks very tasty. Nice position to be in at this stage of the year.

pa4

I seem to be getting very lazy updating this! Good weeks training last week all topped off with Intervarsity XC on Saturday in Cork. Very mucky course, in fact I'd go as far as to say the second worst I've ever ran on! The race itself went very well despite having my heel clipped at the start and having to stop to re adjust my shoe! I was trailing by about 30m from the field but managed to catch the group fairly quick. Took me a while to get my breath back but I started working my way through the field and passed about 10 people on the last lap. The race itself was 8k which suited me perfectly since I had the strength work done. I'm not sure of the position yet but I'm happy with my performance after what happened at the start and I felt strong. Next race will be either a 4 miler or 10k next week, I'm unsure which one I'll do but I'm leaning towards the 10k since I haven't raced one in almost a year.

pa4

6 mile progression on the road in 36:00 @6:00 pace per mile.

Mile splits: 6:31, 6:25, 6:11, 5:52, 5:39, 5:25

Averaged exactly 6 minute mile pace. Very happy with this run and I felt good going into it. I seem to be fully recovered after Saturdays race. Couldn't have asked for better weather either doing this with no wind and nice bit of heat in the air for this time of year.

YFlyer

pa4 wrote: »

I seem to be getting very lazy updating this! Good weeks training last week all topped off with Intervarsity XC on Saturday in Cork. Very mucky course, in fact I'd go as far as to say the second worst I've ever ran on! The race itself went very well despite having my heel clipped at the start and having to stop to re adjust my shoe! I was trailing by about 30m from the field but managed to catch the group fairly quick. Took me a while to get my breath back but I started working my way through the field and passed about 10 people on the last lap. The race itself was 8k which suited me perfectly since I had the strength work done. I'm not sure of the position yet but I'm happy with my performance after what happened at the start and I felt strong. Next race will be either a 4 miler or 10k next week, I'm unsure which one I'll do but I'm leaning towards the 10k since I haven't raced one in almost a year.

The results are up

http://www.resultsxc.iuaa.org/

A top class field.

pa4

If I don't write this report now I never will!

10k road race this morning. Took it easy this week but felt great so I knew I'd get a pb. The prize for the winner was 200 euro so I was expecting a higher standard especially after sergiu ciobanu won it last year. Did my usually warm up routine and there was a nice spring in the legs. When I got to the start line I couldn't see much challengers so I decided to put running a good time on hold and try and get the win and bring home the money.

Gun went off and after about 300m there was a big hill but I felt good going up it. Went straight into the lead but there was a group drafting off me so I wasn't alone. Apparently there was markers on the road for every km but I didn't see any which I think is a good thing because it made the race go quicker. After around 2 miles I looked behind and realised it was just me and two others who had pulled away. Kept a nice steady pace going untill 5k when I made my move. Hit 5k in 17:31 and felt great so I decided to drop the two lads and try aim for sub 35. The second half of the course was even more hilly than the first especially on the last mile but I new the gap was getting bigger so that kept me going. Very hilly course overall and I definitely think I could run much faster on a flatter course, some of those hills were a real struggle towards the end and I noticed my pace dropping significantly on some of them. Passed the line in 34:49, 58 seconds ahead of second place. The second 5k was 12 seconds faster than the first so its nice to get a negative split. To top it all off I got a nice cheque for 200 euro for winning! I don't know my other mile splits I just looked at my 5k split.

10km in 34:49 @5:38 pace - 1st place. PB by 35 seconds.

Really happy with this race. I do think I can run much faster on a flatter course but its still a PB and to get the win is what its all about. I felt really great despite the last mile or two and confident. I knew going up the first hill that I had a strong chance of winning which made the race even more enjoyable.

pa4

53 miles for the week. Another solid week of mileage with one session on Thursday of 20x100m hills which went very well. Topped off with a 13 mile long run this morning in 1:23:39 @6:26 pace. Some might say too fast.. I say it was fun :pac: Don't no why I felt so good but decided to go with the flow!

pa4

Monday 24th of March:
8 miles on grass @6:46 pace. Felt good.

Tuesday 25th of March:
Track session of 2x(1000,800,600) with a 2 minute recovery. 2 mile warm up and down. First time on the track in a about a month so it was a tough enough session since the times were supposed to be fairly quick.

Times: 3:07, 2:26, 1:44, 3:07, 2:25, 1:42.

A good session overall and I'm very pleased with it. Most of my sessions lately were hills/tempos and with 2 races thrown in there I hadn't been at the track in a good while. All the times were either what they were suppose to be or faster. Very cold and windy so it took a bit of extra effort to hit the targets. At the halfway point I was fairly tired especially after a long day at work but my second half still ended up faster than the first so I ended up getting through it OK. Was fairly tired after the last 600 though.

Wednesday 26th of March:
6 miles easy on grass @7:14 pace. Fairly tired today. Took it extra handy and the legs felt fairly heavy. To make matters worse I was on my feet all day so I was happy to get it over it.

Stazza

Nice workout on Tuesday. Good starting point to get back into the sessions. Just watch you don't overdo it with the sessions and burnout. I'd suggest that you try to plan your season and make the workouts progressive, so that by the time July/August comes around you'll have made some major improvements. Good work. Keep at it.

Note to self - when 800's are hurting on Friday - think to self that PA4's dropping off the pace :pac::pac::pac::pac:

pa4

Munster Senior and Novice road Championships 4 miles. I hadn't really intended on doing this race and was going to leave it off but I decided last Saturday and managed to get the entry in even though it was late. I had been feeling fairly good lately and had a good session last Tuesday so I knew I was in good shape. I hadn't really thought about times and had decided to just go out and race it and try and get on the county team which was very competitive this year.

The race itself started around 800m out the road and went straight for about 2 miles passing the finishing area. The standard was very high with the lead group going off very fast, I didn't even try and stick with them and even after the first mile although they were a fair bit ahead of me I still ended up going through in 5:06. I wasn't too worried about the fast pace since I was in a nice rhythm running with two other athletes, one of which was from Tipp too who I never beat before. After about 1.5 miles we started passing a few lads who went off too fast with the lead group and also dropped my fellow Tipp athlete. This came as a surprise since I didn't expect to beat him but just went with the flow anyway. At this point we went around a loop around half a mile long and came back on the road we came out on. There were a few sharp turns and pulls but nothing major. I heard afterwards some people found the course tough but I liked it so I won't complain. Mile 3 was my slowest overall but I wasn't paying attention to the splits and noticed that lads a good bit ahead of me weren't getting farther ahead. I was running solo at this stage since about 1.5 miles and could see a lad in front of me who I was slowly reeling in so I made it my aim to pass him on the last mile which I did. I didn't like the finishing area at all because we had to turn around a sharp bend into the GAA field and run for about 20 meters too the finish line. It was a very silly place to have it since it made it impossible to sprint the last 100m and also probably slowed me down around 2-3 seconds. I passed the finish line with 21:22 on the clock but 21:21 on my watch. This was probably because the start was very narrow and I reckon it took about a second or two for me to pass the start line. We had about 10 or 12 on the county team with some very good lads so I knew it would be tough enough to score on it but I came home 5th scorer which I'm delighted with since I bet the fella I never beat before. Overall I was 11th in the Novice category and 13th in the Senior category. A good position considering the high standard (first 5 were under 20 mins) and too top it off we won the county team title in both the Novice and Senior category so I came home with two gold Munster medals

4 miles in 21:21 @5:20 pace.

Very happy with this race. I worked it out that I hit the 5k in 16:34 which is only 9 seconds off my PB! To be honest I didn't feel too bad afterwards either. Even now as I'm writing this I feel OK compared to the last two races I ran but I'll probably be a bit stiff tomorrow. Next race is in two weeks so this should set me up nicely for that

Stazza

Well done and congrats on the old medallions. Sounds like you had a bit more juice in the tank and that you could've gone faster, which is great. That 5k pb looks like it's going soon. And I suspect most of your pb's will be rewritten this summer. Great stuff - well done.

pa4

Stazza wrote: »

Well done and congrats on the old medallions. Sounds like you had a bit more juice in the tank and that you could've gone faster, which is great. That 5k pb looks like it's going soon. And I suspect most of your pb's will be rewritten this summer. Great stuff - well done.

Thank's Stazza I'm delighted with it Yep definitely think those PB's will be rewritten. I think if I run another 4 miler this summer I could dip under the 21 minute mark.

ThebitterLemon

Well done Pa, plenty more left in your tank.

Keep it going, you'll race some excellent times this summer I'd wager.

TbL

pa4

Monday 31st of March:
8.5 miles easy on grass @7:11 pace. I was tired enough doing this as expected after the race so I took it extra handy. The legs felt a bit heavy and stiff the whole way but nothing extreme and not much muscle tightness. I started on my own and was going a bit too fast but I joined up with a group of lads so the paced eased back. Did lots of foam rolling afterwards to get rid of the stiffness.

Tuesday 1st of April:
Hill session of 10x200m fast into a strong head wind. I thought I'd be more recovered for this session but I still felt a bit stiff and heavy legged for the warm up and drills. The session itself went well despite it being very tough. For the first 2 or 3 I didn't feel great at all and there was no bounce in the legs but as the session went on I started feeling better and I was flying it near the end even with the strong head wind. 8.5 miles in total.

pa4

Wednesday 2nd of April:
7 miles easy on the road @7:22 pace. Very tired doing this and was wrecked all day at work too. It seemed to be from the hills the day before and the race from Sunday was still in the legs.

Thursday 3rd April:
8 miles easy on grass @7:21 pace. Another handy run, still felt tired but not as bad and deliberately took it extra easy before Fridays session.

Friday 4th of April:
Track session of 12x400m with a jog lap recovery in around 70 seconds. 2 mile warm up and down.

Actual times: 70, 71, 69, 68, 68, 67, 69, 68, 66, 66, 66, 66.

A good session overall with an average of high 67's. I felt much better today going into this session than I did all week but was still a bit tired doing my warm up since I went straight after work and it was a long intense day. The times were down for 70 seconds and a jog lap recovery which averaged at around 2:15-2:20. The first rep was 70 and although I was felt fully warmed up it felt tough and there was a strong wind. The second rep slowed to 71 and felt even harder and I wondered how I'd even get through the session since I felt terrible. After the third rep I did 69 seconds flat and it felt slightly easier and as the reps went by I got into a better rhythm and started feeling much stronger. This always seems to be the case when I do 400's, I feel crap and the start and get better as I go along. The last 4 reps were in 66, I didn't deliberately pick up the pace I just felt good. I broke in a new pair of racers for this session and they felt a bit stiff at the start so that might have contributed to the slower times at the start. Haven't done 400's in over 2 months so it was a nice change from the longer stuff and to get a bit of speed back in the legs. 10 miles total.

Stazza

Nice session. Well done for hanging in there after the sluggish start. Just a suggestion: rather than doing a 2 mile w/u and the usual strides, it might be worth doing 2 miles followed by 2 mins @ LT pace or thereabout, and then go into your strides, making sure you're running b/ween strides (keep heart rate up etc). Then after your final stride, do a 200m stride at rep pace so that you can lock into the pace/effort. Just something to consider.

ecoli

Stazza wrote: »

Nice session. Well done for hanging in there after the sluggish start. Just a suggestion: rather than doing a 2 mile w/u and the usual strides, it might be worth doing 2 miles followed by 2 mins @ LT pace or thereabout, and then go into your strides, making sure you're running b/ween strides (keep heart rate up etc). Then after your final stride, do a 200m stride at rep pace so that you can lock into the pace/effort. Just something to consider.

Joe Rubio touches on this.

While I haven't fully come around to the idea on a while I definitely think that it is possible to utilize the warm up to complement the work in any session

Warm-up Routines: One of the least utilized periods of an athlete’s
limited training day is the time spent warming-up. In most cases, it
looks like something like this:

10-15 min easy. 4 half-hearted strides. BS a bit. Run the workout.
The summer and fall are the time of the year that our goal is to have
elevated mileage levels. A warm-up routine that provides a thorough
warm-up as well as enough strides at various paces to ensure the
athlete is prepared to run any pace scheduled that particular
afternoon should be the goal. Here is the warm-up routine we follow
from 8/1-3/1. We stole this from the great Portuguese 1500 runners:
25-30 min easy-moderate. 6 x strides (2 @ 3k, 2 @ 1500, 2 @ 800
effort).

When athletes first try this, they usually complain because they are
not prepared for the volume of running required in the Portuguese
warm up. The overall volume of this particular warm-up is
necessary for another important reason. In the pre-comp phase of
training from 3/1-5/1, we incorporate a pretty intensive warm-up
routine that literally takes 40-45 minutes. If a 30-40 minute warm
up is not adapted to in the previous 8 months of fall and winter, then
the athlete risks falling into the valley of fatigue from over-training
through an overly ambitious warm-up routine that is much too
difficult for that athlete given the level of track work that follows.
Here are the warm-up routines we incorporate for the pre-comp
1500 specific training phase of 3/1-5/1. As you can see, both add up
to a lot minutes:

Warm up A: For all out speed, 400. 800 or 1500 paced workouts
• 20 min progressive run (10 min easy, 5 at AE, 5 at tempo)
• 1200-1600 of stride the straight/jog turn
• 1 x 150-200 at 1500 pace

1 x 150-200 at 800 pace
• 1 x 150 acceleration (1500/800/400)
• 1 x 150 Sprint/Float/Sprint (400/800/400)
• 5-10 minutes, then proceed with scheduled workout.

Warm Up B: For 5k, 10k or tempo workouts
• 25-30 min easy
• 4 x 80-100 light strides
• 6-8 x 120 diagonal accelerations (1500/800/400) on grass
field, walk across recovery
• 5-10 minutes then proceed with workouts

http://img.runningwarehouse.com/pdf/middle_distance_guide.pdf

pa4

Stazza wrote: »

Nice session. Well done for hanging in there after the sluggish start. Just a suggestion: rather than doing a 2 mile w/u and the usual strides, it might be worth doing 2 miles followed by 2 mins @ LT pace or thereabout, and then go into your strides, making sure you're running b/ween strides (keep heart rate up etc). Then after your final stride, do a 200m stride at rep pace so that you can lock into the pace/effort. Just something to consider.

Thanks Stazza I'll try something like that the next day. I'd get away with my usual warm up for the longer stuff where I'm not running as fast but once the pace comes down I sometimes struggle for the first few reps. Is LT tempo pace?

Stazza

pa4 wrote: »

Thanks Stazza I'll try something like that the next day. I'd get away with my usual warm up for the longer stuff where I'm not running as fast but once the pace comes down I sometimes struggle for the first few reps. Is LT tempo pace?

Yep, anything like tempo pace will do the trick.

Another option is to do your w/u as a progression run. Start really slow (10 min pace or even slower) and after each lap just pick up the pace and let this then flow into your strides. You'll know when you're ready to start the strides.

Edit
Just like what ecoli posted.

pa4

Stazza wrote: »

Yep, anything like tempo pace will do the trick.

Another option is to do your w/u as a progression run. Start really slow (10 min pace or even slower) and after each lap just pick up the pace and let this then flow into your strides. You'll know when you're ready to start the strides.

I must try that next week so. If I'm ever not fully warmed up I really notice it on the shorter stuff.

You're flying it yourself at the minute, what distance will your first race be?

Stazza

I'm not sure yet. I'm 7lbs+ overweight :eek: and I can't decide if I'm going to focus on the 1500m or the 5k. I'll probably target the Munster 1500m/3k and the National 1500m/5000m (Masters in both of those); I'll do the Kerry Senior Champs and the Masters. I'll see how the sessions go and I might drop out a 5k (road) at the start of May. I think I'll do some of the Cork track races too. I've just joined An Riocht so if I can make the team, I'll do some races for them. But for April, it's all about shedding a few pounds, getting used to the track, bringing down the rep times, working out what my old body can cope with, and not getting injured.

How about you?

pa4

Stazza wrote: »

I'm not sure yet. I'm 7lbs+ overweight :eek: and I can't decide if I'm going to focus on the 1500m or the 5k. I'll probably target the Munster 1500m/3k and the National 1500m/5000m (Masters in both of those); I'll do the Kerry Senior Champs and the Masters. I'll see how the sessions go and I might drop out a 5k (road) at the start of May. I think I'll do some of the Cork track races too. I've just joined An Riocht so if I can make the team, I'll do some races for them. But for April, it's all about shedding a few pounds, getting used to the track, bringing down the rep times, working out what my old body can cope with, and not getting injured.

How about you?

Judging by your training I reckon you'd run a good 1500 and 5k. The Munster masters is on the same day as the seniors I think so I'll probably see you there! My main focus is on the 5k but I'd like to run a good 1500 too, I've never ran one outdoors and I think I could do a good one. Next week I have the intervarsity 5k track and theres another local road race about 2 weeks later so I'll give that a go too

Stazza

pa4 wrote: »

Judging by your training I reckon you'd run a good 1500 and 5k. The Munster masters is on the same day as the seniors I think so I'll probably see you there! My main focus is on the 5k but I'd like to run a good 1500 too, I've never ran one outdoors and I think I could do a good one. Next week I have the intervarsity 5k track and theres another local road race about 2 weeks later so I'll give that a go too

The 1500 is a great race: there's no better sound than, "62-63 - 2:05/6 - 3:08/9." and then you kick hard for 300m :pac::pac::pac:

Good luck with the intervarsity 5k - looking at your current form and sessions, you should go well.

pa4

13 mile long run this morning @6:53 pace. Did this in the back arse of nowhere over a very hilly course. If I knew it was gonna be that hilly I would have avoided it! It was lashing rain at the start but by the time I finished 90 minutes later the sun was shining and it was very warm. Felt good overall and picked it up over the last few miles when the road started getting flatter.

Total weekly mileage: 55 miles.

Record mileage week by 2 miles. Felt grand and it seems the body is well adjusted to this type of mileage, might be time to increase it.