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Confessions of a never has been.....
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09.12.2014
Sunday
3 very easy recovery miles along the coast - this was as much to clear my head as it was to sort out my legs following the post race entertainment on Saturday
Understandably enough, legs were tired and tender, slept for Ireland afterwards
Total miles: 3
Monday
Post work run with the backpack, headed off to South Dublin rather than home in an effort to scab a free dinner ( it worked). The route was bumpy enough, taking in Booterstown, Blackrock, somewhere else, somewhere else then Ballybrack ( I don't know the area very well). Legs tired, the backpack slowed things down though and I actually felt good afterwards
Total miles : 8.5
Tuesday
Another post work run, homeward bound this time though, I got out a little late and just in time to meet the building wind...which was at my back for most of the run thankfully
Dropped off the backpack and tagged on another couple of miles to bring the total to 6
30 minutes corework\weights to finish it off
Total miles: 6
I'll keep things easy for the most part this week while I put a plan together. Maybe a small session on Thursday and a relatively small Tempo on Sunday. There is a voice of reason telling me to rest after a long block of training but there is a louder voice reminding me that I am enjoying my running and I am feeling strong, I'll keep running but keep things sensible.0 -
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13.12.2014
( I noticed I never logged anything for Wednesday - 4 miles easy after work)
Friday
AM
4 miles easy before work - another sharp morning and my first run into work in quite a while. Nice trot in, the roads were very quiet for a change, I suppose people are ditching the cars to go boozing after work or taking days off for shopping etc.. it made for a nicer run in either way.
PM
4 miles easy - runmute home, the backpack felt a little heavy for some reason, I didn't think the Christmas jumper was that bleedin Christmasy . Had to run this a little quicker than normal as I was under pressure to get out to Westside before 7. No watch but I actually enjoyed the quicker pace coming home.
Total for the day: 8
Saturday
Up and out reasonably early, stunning morning out along the coast but with the heavy frost overnight, the roads and paths were ropey enough. My lanky legs have a particular hatred of all things icey...I felt like a giraffe on rollerskates for a little bit but managed to get the hang of things after a mile or so and headed into St Anne's to run along the parkrun route. Met a couple of boyos from this part of the woods which is always nice, both strolling through the parkrun without breaking a sweat! Had a quick chat afterwards and headed off home to get ready for a day of shopping with my youngest.
Spent a bit of time doing some stretching\chin up work in the evening.
Total for the day: 60 -
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21.12.2014
Friday - rest, then Christmas party
:D:D:D
Saturday:(:(
5 miles easy, early and blurry...felt better afterwards, for a while. No idea of pace but it wasn't pretty
Sunday
Plan was for 9 miles w\6 steady
Still not right but I headed out this evening for some steady miles as a slower than normal tempo session.
The wind is pretty strong out on the coast so the effort involved was too easy at times and too difficult at others. Not ideal conditions for running this kind of session because I really wanted to hold a steady effort for the full 6 miles, its obviously hard to get that right with the wind messing things up both ways.
I took my usual route tonight, which had the first half of the steady section with the wind and the second half against the wind, not the most enjoyable run ever but a nice session to get in - I was possibly a little dehydrated because I noticed I was quite thirsty at the end.
Splits:
8.10
4.10 ( .5 mile)
6.52
7.03
7.10
7.04
7.14
7.22
8.06
8.05
Total miles: 9.50 -
23.12.2014
Monday
Feeling fairly groggy after a stressful enough day but I was glad to get out the door and out for my run, I had planned to either run a 5 mile recovery or an 8 mile easy run - depending on how my legs were.
Given that the session the previous night was a steady session as opposed to typical tempo session, I felt ok to plod on for a few more miles at the end of the 5 so went on for the 8.
First 4 with the backpack on the way home, dropped the backpack off and tagged on the other 5.
Finished off with some core work\weights fueled by a long lost fatboy slim set I stumbled across again.
Total miles : 8
Tuesday
Run into work this morning, all nice and easy. The roads were eerily quiet though, wind was a bit of a bastid for the first mile or so but eased off afterwards.
No running later, more Christmas festivities to take part in. They are a pain for people that like nothing more than hitting the road and building up the miles but at the same time, I do think we tend to remove ourselves from "normal" society a but too much at times - its good for the head and the heart to keep in touch with the real world ....a bit
Total miles 40 -
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30.12.2014
Monday
5 recovery miles along the coast, a very enjoyable affair as my legs didn't feel too bad from the previous night's session. Kept the pace right down around the 9 min\mile mark for most of this one but switched off a little towards the end and the pace picked up naturally.
Did some weighs in the PM , NWA providing the backing track ( I forgot how heavy hitting some of their stuff is !)
Total miles: 5 @ 8:48 min\miles
Tuesday
Last of the Christmas benders last night and I definitely saved the best\worst for last - woke up this morning after a very late night feeling like I'd spent the last 6 hours in a hot tumble dryer
I spent most of the day convincing myself to get off my ar$e and go for my run ( 6 easy miles) but I would have been a danger to myself if I had gone any earlier than I eventually did - bring on the next few, alcohol free months
After doing taxi duties for my eldest this evening, I got out for a run around Clontarf\Raheny, perfect night for it but it was quite late by the time I got out and there wasn't a sinner to be seen out on the roads\paths. No real ice to worry about this evening so I tipped along nicely on this and felt great towards the end - tagged on an extra mile accordingly.
Total miles : 7 @ 8.23 min\miles0 -
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31.12.2014
Last run of 2014 today, I braved the headcold I've picked up and headed out for 6 unspectacular miles with 6x80 metre strides thrown in.
I headed off along the coast, cutting up into Raheny and back into St Anne's Park to run the strides along the main avenue before heading back out onto the coast. Quite a windy day out there but there were lots of people out running along the coast and in the park - always good to see it.
Came home and did bit of corework\stretching to finish off.
I'll see how the cold is in the morning but if I'm anyway alright, I'll head over to the Park for the Tom Brennan 5k - great way to keep me off the booze tonight
Total miles: [EMAIL="6@8.13"]6@8.13[/EMAIL] min\miles0 -
Among the many benefits of keeping a log is the fact that you can go back in time to a certain extent and remind yourself of the things you did well, the things you did poorly and the things you didn't bother doing at all - in a running sense of course!
Coming into 2014, my main aim was DCM, I was of the mindset that marathon running was precisely why so many people are out pounding the pavements night after night across the country, on all kinds of terrain, in all kinds of conditions. For me, other distances were just warm up acts to the main event, I had never taken them seriously and had no real ambitions of testing myself properly over the so called "shorter" distances.
At the start of the year, I had planned to focus more on 5k\10k races but to always keep an eye on DCM in October, yes it would be nice to break 40 minutes for 10k or to go under 19 minutes for 5k but for me, DCM was the focus and everything I did up until August of this year was geared towards running in our capital's premier running event.
I'm a great believer in sticking to plans but allowing them to evolve...and to an extent, that is exactly how my year shaped up. I trained harder, I tried new sessions, I tried combinations of new sessions, I tried some well, I tried some poorly, I tried, I tried, I tried - and I researched....and I learned!
Not being a member of a running club, having access to the logs on Boards is something that I have taken a huge amount from, it really has become something of a brainstorming\whiteboard area for me - not just in terms of direct support\advice but just general talk from more experienced runners about the basic elements of training - consistency, hard work and patience.
It sounds simple...because it is very simple, its not very easy but it is very, very simple!
In terms of my own development, I exceeded my own expectations in relation to where I was at the start of the year. I went from 20+ plus minutes over 5k to 18:32, 42+ minutes over 10k to sub 40 and from 1.41 over the HM distance to 1.26 .
While there is nothing spectacular about those times, or indeed to progression, that kind of sums me up - I tend to play it safe a bit too much as a runner, while I'm good at gritting my teeth and sticking out a session\race, I do think that I've reached a point where if I am to progress to where I want to be, I need to get stronger and possibly a little braver mentally.
The fear of failure is something that haunts most of us to a degree, those demons that gather over your head during a tough race, whispering at you to slow down and take it easy. I had a few occasions over the course of the year where I gave in to that fear, where the easier option was to simply accept defeat and slow down. I'd like to think I learned from each occasion though and pretty quickly - Athlone being the prime example, I had targeted sub 1:30 and came nowhere near that time. I knew I hadn't prepared right and while I was pretty pi$$ed off with myself in the immediate aftermath, I knew fairly quickly afterwards that I would move on from it and be better for the experience.
There are many training logs that I take a lot from on Boards and while it would be unfair to name them ( because I'll surely forget some!), I've been lucky enough to meet some of the people that write these logs, picking their brains for ideas along the way ! Its been a pleasure to follow some of the progress that we have seen on the A/R forum, seeing real people putting in hard work and exceeding their own expectations. There are of course some people that have been hampered by injury or even health matters which, for me, really puts things into perspective - we are lucky to have lungs, legs and hearts that allow us to train, develop as runners and race, I certainly plan to take full advantage of that fact!
Moving into 2015, I am a lot more confident in my training that I was at the start of the year, I am a lot more confident in terms of knowing what works for me and what doesn't. I have already set targets for 2015 in terms of times but the reality is, times are numbers and nothing more - if I put in the hard work over the weeks and months that gives me the platform I need to race well - then I need to race well, run hard and be happy afterwards....the numbers will reflect that, whatever they end up being.
The very best of luck to everyone on boards for 2015, thanks for sharing your logs and ideas with us. Work hard, stay consistent and if personal circumstances allow for it, run more 0 -
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