Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

adrian522

Thursday

Club Session - Tempo Pace Intervals

Club session this evening. Normal Thursday lap but this time instructions were to run it hard, take 2 mins recovery and go again.

Started with a warm up of 1.3 Miles @ 9:08.

Then 2 x 1.8 Miles (7:50 m/m, 7:55 m/m) with 2 mins recovery

Finished with 0.7 miles @ 10:05 m/m

Went well I thought, felt I ran hard, couldn't have gone much harder really, but it did feel faster than 8 min miles. The pleasing thing is similar pace for both laps.

The other pleasing thing is 2 good sessions this week.

I've joined the gym too so hopefully some good strength work will get done. Feel free to suggest some sort of strength program if you have any recommendations.

Bungy Girl

Good session, nicely consistent!

As for the strength & conditioning there's so much information out there it's hard to know what exercises to choose that'll suit you and address any specific weaknesses you may have. If the budget allows, perhaps a one-to-one session with a S&C coach would be a worthwhile investment ? SportsMed, Dublin Sports Clinic or the Sports Surgery Clinic in Santry would all have specialists who could give you a customised plan and help with technique. Lots of glute, hip and core work anyway and single leg moves are important for improving stability.

adrian522

Thanks BG, I'll take a look at those.

adrian522

Saturday

Speed Session

Short sharp session this morning in Bushy Park. Set is 200m/100m Recovery/300m/50 Secs Recovery/400m/200m Recovery/600m. 2 sets total. 2 Mins between sets.

Started with a warm up of 1.8 Miles @ 8.40 m/m including some strides.

Times for the speed sections are below:

Dist|Set 1|Set 2
200|0.49|0.52
300|1.19|1.20
400|1.47|1.47
600|2.49|2.50

Then a cool down of 0.9 Miles @ 10.29 m/m

Finished with some tea and cakes ��

adrian522

Sunday

Long Run - 10 Miles @ 9.39 m/m

Long run this morning. Still sticking with the 10 mile distance. It was supposed to be with the club but I missed the start time so ended up running it on my own.

It was a bit more difficult given the speed work yesterday and also the ground is quite soft so running the trails is that bit harder.

Last long run before Ballycotton so let's see how I'm fixed for next weekend.

adrian522

February Totals


Things getting a little better now. More consistent in terms of getting out for runs and also in terms of getting long runs done and sessions also.

Days Running|16/29
Sessions|7
Long Runs|3
Races|0
PB's|0

Month|2013|2014|2015|2016
January|7|0|191|73.5
February|10|53|196|104.1
March|7|111|207.9|
April|26|154|165.2|
May|69|121|219.7|
June|75|93|257.4|
July|67|212|151.2|
August|101|233|132.7|
September|85|261|31.6|
October|4|179|63.6|
November|13|28|17.5|
December|6|163|21|
Total|471.2|1606.2|1654.8|177.6

adrian522

****ing boards lost my post ID spent the last 15 mins typing up. Token expired. Whatever, I went to the club Session is the gist of it.3

OK, try again.

Tuesday

Club Session

This is almost the same session as two weeks ago, with the change being that the last part of the lap is now used a s a jog recovery, rather than running the full lap and taking a 90 sec standing recovery.

It was a good session, I again managed 4 laps, I don't think I could have done any more, given that the pace dropped a bit on that last lap.

The lap is just under 1 mile (0.7 Miles + the recovery bit). It starts with a stiff uphill section, once you get through that it is flat/downhill for the rest. It is pretty challenging.

My paces for the 4 laps were : 7:25/7:45/7:44/8:01.

Last time I did this the paces were between 7:30 and 7:50. I guess my first one was too fast last night and I paid for it on the last one?

Total about 6.1 Miles.

adrian522

Wednesday

60 Mins Easy

Got in 60 mins at an easy enough pace last night, was still feeling the effects of Tuesday night a little bit so kept it quite slow.

It was quite windy in parts but not too bad in others.

Total 6.1 Miles @ 9:45 m/m

adrian522

Thursday

Club Run/Half a Session

Went to the club last night, the session was 2 laps of Terneure at a hard pace. As I'm racing at the weekend I went with one lap at a steady pace. Nothing too strenuous.

Warmup of 0.6 Miles @ 9:25 m/m
Steady Run 2.3 Miles @ 8:41 m/m

Total just under 3 miles.

I'm thinking some easy miles + strides tonight and maybe the same Saturday morning.

Firedance

good luck with the race Adrian

adrian522

Thanks, you too.

Dubgal72

Ah best of luck on Sunday Adrian!

Bungy Girl

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Ah best of luck on Sunday Adrian!

+1. Enjoy! (if that is not a phrase copyrighted by FBOT now :rolleyes:) Such a lovely location for a race and great atmosphere.

dintbo

Best of luck

adrian522

Saturday

Easy Miles + Strides

Just some easy Miles and strides this morning, followed by what is becoming the usual baked goods, today scones with jam and cream. And not even a session done.

3.5 Miles @ 9.39 m/m

annapr

Just saw you're doing Ballycotton A, very best of luck... will keep an eye out for you from the sidelines.

adrian522

Thanks, not much expectations but it will at least let me know where my fitness is.

First race since last June.

Ososlo

Have a good day tomorrow Adrian. Things seem to be really looking up for you lately. All the best with it!

RedRunner

Ososlo wrote: »

Have a good day tomorrow Adrian. Things seem to be really looking up for you lately. All the best with it!

+1 to this. Good luck

adrian522

Sunday

Ballycoton 10 Mile

I've had this race on the calendar for quite a while, I'd signed up more in the hope that my fitness would be good enough than any expectation of a good run.

When the time finally arrived I knew I wasn't in shape for a PB or anything close but good enough to give it a good go and hopefully get a good fitness boost from running the race.

The club was running a bus down which took a bit of stress out of the build up but it still makes for a very long day.

We arrived down to Ballycotton in good time for a warmup but the weather gods were not kind as there was fairly steady rain from this point onwards.

After getting changed and warmed up it was pretty miserable getting cold on the startline waiting for the gun to go off. Finally some movement from the front and we were away.

I had thought about running this at a more easy pace early on and picking it up later but I ended up settling into what I thought I could keep up for the duration.

I wanted at least to get an idea of where my current fitness was so that meant not holding too much back.

I was steady and relaxed for the first few miles and it wasn't until halfway I started to struggle a bit. Early pace was between 7:50 and 8:00 for the first 5 miles (with the exceotion of the mainly downhill 2nd mile which was a bit faster).

I went through halfway in 39:43. Probably a bit too quick. The second half of the race was more of a struggle, as my lack of miles started to catch up with me. The pace dropped to 8:15 to 8:20 for the next few miles.

The main problem I was feeling was a lack of strength in the legs rather than struggling aerobically. The 9th mile is mainly uphill, I got through this in 8:47, once I got through this I knew the worst was over.

I realised going through the mile 9 marker that I was finished by this stage last year, but I pushed through as best as I could. Going through the town saw a fair few runners I knew walking back including a few from boards, digging deep up to the finish, for a time of 81:38.

Not ecstatic, not deflated. Happy to get through it in the knowledge I gave it everything I had on the day, but also knowing there is a lot more work to be done.

yaboya1

Wondered how you got on Adrian, since I never saw you afterwards. One of the gang I was with ran 1:21 too, and I gave her a shout out as she passed me at 800m. Don't know how I missed you as you must have been close either side.

Are you running Berlin this year?

adrian522

I am yeah, just signed up this morning, wanted to get through this before committing to it!

chickey2

Great to hear you're back racing. The fitness will come with time.
What plan are you going to use for Berlin?

adrian522

chickey2 wrote: »

Great to hear you're back racing. The fitness will come with time.
What plan are you going to use for Berlin?

I'm not sure. Maybe a modified version of Pfitzinger. I want to stay doing club sessions as much as possible and cutdown on long run/sessions on back to back days.

I'll do a 12 week rather than a 16 week plan. I intend to concentrate on shorter races, targeting Dunshaughlin in June and then going into marathon specific stuff after that.

adrian522

Tuesday

6.3 Miles @ 9:06 m/m


Just some easy miles yesterday. I went down to the club but didn't do the session, instead just some easy running. In truth some of it was a but too quick but overall I think it was ok.

adrian522

Wednesday

Lunch Run - 6 Miles @ 9:25 m/m

I'm not going to get a chance to run this evening so went out at lunch time. Windy enough but other than that a good day for running. Went for a slightly quicker last mile to stretch the legs a bit.

adrian522

Thursday

Club Session - Fartlek

The usual session. 1 min hard/1 min easy. Garmin was giving problems, the intervals feature wasn't working, so no laps were recorded and I kept having to look at the watch to see when my min was up.

Garmin updated itself today so hopefully it will sort itself out.

Total 6.3 Miles.

adrian522

Friday

4 Miles @ 9:35 m/m

I had intended going to the gym but realised a little too late that it closes 30 mins early on a Friday so went for a late, short easy run instead.

Saturday

Club Race - Relay

As a kind of end to the cross country season the club were running a relay up near Hell Fire Club this morning. Never been up there before, great views of the city and a great morning for it.

Started with a warmup jog up what seemed a vertical path, then a jog around the lap, 1.2 miles but 2 significant hills in there. The warmup was tough enough, wasn't looking forward to racing it.

I drew the short straw and was designated the last leg, so a lot of waiting round. When my turn came we were 5th (of 6). I had notions of catching 4th, but before too long I was battling to hold onto 5th. A battle I'd eventually lose and struggle home in last place. Not all bad though as the pace was a respectable 7:26 m/m for the lap which I'm happy enough with.

A short run down to the carpark for some coffee and scones to finish off.

Total 4.4 Miles for the day.

Dubgal72

Looks like your ol body tissues and muscle memory are starting to wake up and remember what it is to run! Great stuff but stay sensible

adrian522

Sunday

Decided to give the long run a wide berth this week due to a bit of tightness after the Saturday run. I went to the gym instead and did plenty of strength and mobility work there.

Possibly too much but it included the Mtytl routine, some foam rolling, some squats and single leg squats, lunges, some deadlifts etc.

I hadn't done much of this sort of thing for a long time so it felt good to get some of this done.

Monday - Rest Day

Rest day, a lot of soreness from the gym, particularly in the upper legs so no running.

Tuesday

Club Session - Hills and Sprints


Even Tuesday the legs are not feeling great but decided to go to the club session to try and get over that. The session was the Hills and Sprints session, the last one of these of the year as we are soon to move to Bushy Park for the mid week session.

Started with a warmup of 1.6 Miles @ 9:21 m/m
Hills and Sprints - I did 6 repeats rather than the 8 most people did, overall pace was 8:41 though that also includes the recoveries. Finished with a cooldown of 0.9 Miles @ 10:15 M/M

Total: 5.7 Miles @ 9:07 m/m