Confessions of a never has been.....

Duanington

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

How did you guess FBOT!!!


DD, your session tomorrow is 16 x 1 mile reps at 5k pace off 4 seconds recovery with a 19 mile cool down jog. Don't forget the hour of core afterwards!

Coach TbL

TbL - Had to can this at the last minute, Yaboya roped me into an LSR tonight, couldn't let him down - soz

Duanington

05.08.2015

Bit of a changed schedule this week which meant tonight was long run night, 16 miles was on the cards..all nice and easy. Met Yaboya1 after work to get this in which worked out perfectly, good chat all the way up to the 13.5 mile mark where we parted ways. The miles flew by as always with the bit of chatter back and forth

After that I couldn't get Lasagne or Chilli con carne off my mind so while the last few miles were straightforward, my stomach started to rumble a bit which may have quickened the pace a tad!

My watch died just after 10 miles but doing the maths, the average pace was 8.26 min\miles.

16 for the day

Duanington

08.08.2015


Thursday

AM - out just before lunch for this, working from home so I headed out along the coast for 4 very easy miles. Loved this run, slowed things right down and let the recovery begin

4 miles@ 8.47 min\miles

PM - out late for this, no chance in the evening and I could quite easily have canned the run and gone to bed but I stuck with it and headed off after 10.30. 6 easy miles, loop of fairview park and back up the coast.

6 miles @ 8.20 min\miles

10 for the day


Friday

AM - up and at it early for work, I was hoping to get out a little early so tried to get in that bit earlier. Legs felt a little rusty but the easy pace made this nice and enjoyable

4.1 miles @8.30 min\miles

PM - No chance of getting out early but did get out on time and ran towards home with the backpack on, legs were still rusty but in that strange "this is a little uncomfortable but I could probably run all night" way. Took in a couple of extra miles around St Anne's before heading home

7 miles@ 8.20 min\miles

Saturday

Flying off on hols with the Family today so I had to get up at 6 to get this in, I wanted to have a small breakfast before running and had to be on the road by 7.

Plan for today was 8 miles with 6@MP (6.45-7.00)

Took in the easy warmup mile along the coast and got started on the MP section. I found myself far too anxious over the first couple of miles, checking the watch too often to make sure I wasn't missing the pace when in actual fact I was probably pushing a little too hard for fear of slipping outside of the correct zone. The effort wasn't comfortable at all, do-able but not comfortable

Settled down almost magically when I reached Fairview park ( halfway point) and glided through the rest of the session. Much happier with the second half of this one because I wasn't forcing the pace and was much more controlled.

Finished off with 1 mile easy.

8.28
6.47
6.40
6.41
6.42
6.46
6.43
8.10

8 for the day

tang1

Enjoy the hols D.

ThebitterLemon

Nice session to have in the bag before the hols.

TbL

RedRunner

Duanington wrote: »

08.08.2015


Thursday

AM - out just before lunch for this, working from home so I headed out along the coast for 4 very easy miles. Loved this run, slowed things right down and let the recovery begin

4 miles@ 8.47 min\miles

PM - out late for this, no chance in the evening and I could quite easily have canned the run and gone to bed but I stuck with it and headed off after 10.30. 6 easy miles, loop of fairview park and back up the coast.

6 miles @ 8.20 min\miles

10 for the day


Friday

AM - up and at it early for work, I was hoping to get out a little early so tried to get in that bit earlier. Legs felt a little rusty but the easy pace made this nice and enjoyable

4.1 miles @8.30 min\miles

PM - No chance of getting out early but did get out on time and ran towards home with the backpack on, legs were still rusty but in that strange "this is a little uncomfortable but I could probably run all night" way. Took in a couple of extra miles around St Anne's before heading home

7 miles@ 8.20 min\miles

Saturday

Flying off on hols with the Family today so I had to get up at 6 to get this in, I wanted to have a small breakfast before running and had to be on the road by 7.

Plan for today was 8 miles with 6@MP (6.45-7.00)

Took in the easy warmup mile along the coast and got started on the MP section. I found myself far too anxious over the first couple of miles, checking the watch too often to make sure I wasn't missing the pace when in actual fact I was probably pushing a little too hard for fear of slipping outside of the correct zone. The effort wasn't comfortable at all, do-able but not comfortable

Settled down almost magically when I reached Fairview park ( halfway point) and glided through the rest of the session. Much happier with the second half of this one because I wasn't forcing the pace and was much more controlled.

Finished off with 1 mile easy.

8.28
6.47
6.40
6.41
6.42
6.46
6.43
8.10

8 for the day

Think we may have passed each other on thefriday in st annes. I was wearing the orange bohermeen t-shirt. Thanks for the hello and enjoy the hols

FBOT01

Duanington wrote: »

Saturday

Flying off on hols with the Family today so I had to get up at 6 to get this in, I wanted to have a small breakfast before running and had to be on the road by 7.

Plan for today was 8 miles with 6@MP (6.45-7.00)

Took in the easy warmup mile along the coast and got started on the MP section. I found myself far too anxious over the first couple of miles, checking the watch too often to make sure I wasn't missing the pace when in actual fact I was probably pushing a little too hard for fear of slipping outside of the correct zone. The effort wasn't comfortable at all, do-able but not comfortable

Settled down almost magically when I reached Fairview park ( halfway point) and glided through the rest of the session. Much happier with the second half of this one because I wasn't forcing the pace and was much more controlled.

Finished off with 1 mile easy.

8.28
6.47
6.40
6.41
6.42
6.46
6.43
8.10

8 for the day

Nicely done. Enjoy the hols.

Duanington

RedRunner wrote: »

Think we may have passed each other on thefriday in st annes. I was wearing the orange bohermeen t-shirt. Thanks for the hello and enjoy the hols

I remember you alright RR - thanks, back to the real world now

Duanington

16.08.2015

Back to reality today following a great week in Turkey.

Mot a whole lot of running going on over there but I did manage to squeeze in a few early morning runs.

Monday

I don't sleep very well while away from home, throw in near 30 degree heat at night and an early morning call to prayer from the local mosque and there was nothing for it but to get up at dawn and head out to try to find a nice running loop for myself. We were staying near an area called Ladies Beach in Kusadasi and I'd spotted a few possible routes while we were out for dinner the day before so I got the gear on and headed off towards the seafront to do a couple of loops before heading back up a massive hill ( which the locals have taken to calling a "hell"!), losing the runners and plunging myself into the pool.

Two things stuck out about this run;

1 - heat
2- hills
Lots of both!

4.2 miles @ 8.30 min\miles

Tuesday

basically a repeat performance of the previous days' run with a slightly shorter loop

4 miles @ 8.25 min\miles

Wednesday

Up and at it a little later than the previous two days, had a glass or two of wine the night before and I slept right through the alarm. I had a rule for myself on hols, if I wasn't out the door by 7.30, I wasn't running - at 7.28, I checked the temp on the phone, 32 degrees - nice!
Off for the usual loop but rather than doing a couple of loops of the strip\beach, I headed towards Kusadasi town which had lots of hills in store for me but also some pretty breathtaking views of the coast, I was delighted I had the bottle to try the new route but turned back for home as soon as I reached the town, mainly because I was short on time. The heat was pretty intense on the way back and I was blowing hard on all the climbs but the scenery was stunning and if I had the time I would have gone on and on - heat or no heat

5.1 miles @ 8.20 min\miles

Thursday

With a trip to Ephesus planned the next day, I was pretty sure this would be my last chance to run so I went for the same route as the day before, venturing a little deeper into Kusadasi this time, the same people that served us our dinners the night before were out washing pavements and cleaning shopfronts - I can't imagine they finished before 1 am and here they were at 7.30 am at it again.

Back home last night on a delayed flight, got locked out of the airport upon arrival in Dublin - leaving about 30 of us standing between the aircraft and the airport for 10 \15 minutes or so...having left the apartment at 3 pm (Irish time) yesterday, we got home at 3 am fairly wrecked. Up early again this morning for a birthday party and I wasn't feeling the better for the late night and I'm fairly sure I'm a little dehydrated.

Sunday
Headed off this evening for a sluggish 6 miles to bring an end to a below par week of training but a pretty impressive week of other cool stuff

6 miles @ 8.15 min\miles

Back at it tomorrow

Duanington

17.08.2015

Monday

AM - 4.1 miles very easy into work, still feeling the effects of the travelling on Saturday to be honest, felt fairly jaded but enjoyed the run all the same ( even if the backpack felt a bit heavy)

PM - Mental day at work and got out later than expected and I was looking forward to a run at that stage, even if I was also looking forward to my bed!

Took it handy again, kept the backpack on and tagged on the couple of extra miles in St Anne's

Stick work and food at home :-)

10.1 miles for the day - I've just realised it was supposed to be 6

Duanington

18.08.2015

No run this morning because of the planned session tonight;

14 miles with the last mile @ MP

Ate and drank well all day in work and headed off at around 6 for home with the backpack loaded up. Beautiful evening for running with the sunshine and the slight breeze, still feeling a little tired but better than yesterday and I was looking forward to getting this in the bag.

Clontarf's finest, FBOT01, had agreed to meet me for this one so once I dropped the backpack off at home, I made my way to our meeting point and off we headed up the coast at a nice easy pace.
The miles ticked by nicely with the distraction of the conversation, dictated effortlessly by FBOT01 of course !
After dodging a train at the crossing at Baldoyle, we made our way up the drags into Donaghmede and then into Raheny and St Anne's
FBOT01 was happy enough to drag me around my MP mile which suited me nicely so we got that one out of the way without too much effort and ran an easy mile to finish up in the glorious sunshine.

Stretching\stickwork\eating loads after

8.05
8.05
8.17
8.15
8.40
8.20
8.16
8.20
8.22
8.12
8.13
8.09
8.17
6.44
8.33

15 miles for the day

Duanington

19.08.2015

AM - 4.1 miles @ recovery effort - with the backpack on, in the rain and wind...in August
While my legs felt heavy, I always enjoy recovery runs with the more relaxed pace.

PM - Run home from work, what a difference a few hours made to the weather! Sunshine and a nice breeze all the way home. My legs were heavy again for this, I was feeling the backpack for the first time in a while but trudged on past the house and into St Anne's to finish off the 6 easy miles

Stick work\stretching and a little corework after

10 miles for the day

Duanington

20.08.2015


AM ( early PM really) - working from home today and headed out for lunch to get this one in, heading down towards St Anne's at a nice relaxed pace, enjoying the warm sunshine. Took in the trail that runs right around the park and did a little lap of the sand based pitches (which I always enjoy) before making my way home.

Did a little work with the weights afterwards

5 miles @ 8.15 min\miles

PM - out late for this one, usual run down the coast , around Fairview park and back home. Feeling sluggish to start with, I'm carrying an ear infection or something at the moment which definitely has the energy levels just a little below par but felt good by the end.

6 miles @ 8.17 min\miles

11 miles for the day

FBOT01

Best of luck tomorrow, D. Hopefully see you in there. Have a good one and ENJOY!!

Duanington

21.08.2015

No run this morning, got the bus in to work to give the legs a rest.

Plan had me down for 3 recovery miles with 4x100 metre strides so I brought the gear with me but forgot a top !

Home time came and I had to use the same tshirt I wore during the day ( cotton) for the run home, beautiful evening for it with the the warm sunshine and the light breeze.

Got the strides in with the backpack on along the coast, felt much better by the end of this run compared to the start. Ear was banging on and off today so I've had to resort to some painkillers and will get it looked at on Monday if its still at me.

FD 10 mile tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to the occasion - no idea how I'll fair out to be quite honest but I am looking forward to testing myself and hopefully putting in a strong effort

3 miles for the day

Duanington

22.08.2015


12.25 miles incl Frank Duffy 10 mile


First race in 4 months and getting up earlier than usual this morning for breakfast etc..made me realise how much I've missed it.

I had low enough expectations going into today, if I could run hard yet controlled and keep somewhere around the 6.20-6.30 min\mile mark, I would be reasonably happy. Part of me wanted to really let rip from the off but then part of me was wary of the fact that I am in marathon training and most of my sessions so far have been steady state runs with a handful of quicker stuff - while physiologically I have zero idea how that would serve me today, mentally it does remove that comfort blanket that I normally have from operating regularly around the 6.00-6.30 pace range during sessions.

After making my way to the park and meeting the bro ( nice and early), I hung around the finish area taking in the atmosphere in the park - I love it!
Dropped off the back with about 25 minutes to go and headed off for a warmup, throwing in some strides towards the end.
After finishing the warmup, I took my place in the starting area, a good bit back from the front but close enough so that traffic shouldn't be an issue.

After a small wait, we were off - cruising down Chesterfield avenue in near perfect conditions for running, I decided not to bother with any real pace monitoring for the first bit - the beep at the end of the mile would tell me how I was doing. Traffic was an issue until we got by the first roundabout and then I was able to open up my stride a little, settling into what felt like tempo\HMP.
Turning off chesterfield on the slight drag up towards North Road, I could feel the effort starting to hit just a little - nothing major, just a little pinch that a race throws your way every now and then.
The field had settled nicely as we turned onto North Road, everyone seemed to be settling into their various paces with no real chopping and changing of positions.
North Road is a tough enough stretch but I was feeling pretty strong, moving well without really pushing things too hard - up until the turn off for Chesterfield however, I did have a bit of apprehension around whether or not the fatigue I had felt all week would result in a spectacular blow up....deep down I knew I'd be fine but I had definitely held back a tad for the first few miles, each drag or change in effort resulted in a micro " oh $hit, I'm going to blow up shortly"...followed by a "oh, wait...its grand"

Coming back down Chesterfield, I found myself pretty isolated with no runners around me so I started to chase down the group ahead, hoping to be with them by the time we left the park. Effort levels felt tough but good, I was into the 2nd half of the race now, pushing a little bit more but I kept comparing the effort levels back to the 10 miler in St Anne's at Easter, I was coasting around that day and while I was moving well today, I was definitely not coasting.

A few people overtook me just before the water station at the 7 mile mark, I thought about going with them for a sec but let them go, we were hitting a downhill stretch with the climb back into the park ahead. Lots of good support around this area actually - and in fairness, all through the park there were pockets of people out in support.

Down the hill, out of the park and onto the drag of the main road, I was running alongside a TRX guy at this stage and he was blowing a little harder than me and seemed to be battling the urge to slow down, I always have a deep respect for anyone that can push themselves to that kind of level, it hurts and with the climb after the gate ahead, it would hurt even more.

As we turned into the gate and started the climb up the hill, I became aware that this was nowhere near the red zone in terms of effort - while I was breathing hard and the legs were working, I felt like there was a lot left in the tank - strange how that feeling came over me as the race developed though, I didn't feel that way over the first few miles.
I passed quite a few people on the way up the climb and as we turned right at the top, heading into the "other" S bends, I started to up the pace a little, not checking the watch, just putting in a but more effort ( and taking the associated pain that goes with it), I was passing a lot of people now and I noticed that a few others had latched onto me too but as we took the last right turn onto the finishing straight I kicked a little harder for home, again moving up quite a few paces as I did so.
With about 400 metres to go, I was reminded of something FBOT01 said the other night about the "400 metre to go" line in St Anne's and I wondered how quickly I could run the 400 metres to the finish so I kicked the legs, pumped the arms and definitely went into the red to get over the line.

Chip time of 1.04.17 which is just under a minute away from my PB, I was initially a little disappointed with the time but in truth, this is probably exactly what I needed, a solid if unspectacular race with a strong finish. Maybe I had forgotten what it feels like to hurt over long distances, I have always been good at gritting my teeth and digging in. Either way, the finishing mile today was a timely reminder of that red zone, I have a feeling I will need to re-familiarise myself with that feeling over the next 2 months !

Splits
6.22
6.30
6.27
6.30
6.27
6.22
6.23
6.27
6.39 ( eek!)
6.10

Met FBOT01 for a quick chat afterwards, he had a fantastic run today, not sure if its a PB or not but its a smashing time - then met the bro and we headed off for a warm down


12.25 miles for the day

FBOT01

Good days work, D. Shaping up nicely.....BTW, how fast did you do the last 400m?

Tom Joad

Nice running today.

Duanington

FBOT01 wrote: »

Good days work, D. Shaping up nicely.....BTW, how fast did you do the last 400m?

1.24 - it felt like 1.04 !

RedRunner

Great run today.

annapr

Great time yesterday, D and great report too.... sounds like you were pretty comfortable at the end... wait til you really get in the red zone! (mile 20+ ?)

Duanington

annapr wrote: »

Great time yesterday, D and great report too.... sounds like you were pretty comfortable at the end... wait til you really get in the red zone! (mile 20+ ?)

Thanks Anna- I can't claim to have been comfortable, just not in the usual state I find myself with 3 miles to go !

Duanington

24.08.2015

Sunday

What a horrible day, rain, rain and more rain...and I normally like running in the rain! In between watching the GAA and Athletics, I got out for 8 easy miles in the lashing rain, usual loop around Fairview Park, back up to St Anne's and home.

Legs felt surprisingly fresh after Saturday's race which may or may not be a good thing! Plenty of stick work, stretching and a good core work out afterwards...once I dried off of course

8 miles @ 8.05 min\miles - 70 odd for the week


Monday

Long day at work today and I was looking forward to getting out for a run having skipped the usual run this morning.
The backpack was heavier than usual today and the legs felt heavier than yesterday - nonetheless, a mightily enjoyable run.

Had a kickaround in St Anne's after too - even more enjoyable

6.5 miles @ 8.20ish pace ( no watch)

yaboya1

Nice run on Saturday D.
All coming into place nicely ahead of the big day

Duanington

25.08.2015

No run this morning but brought the gear to work and after a mental day at the office, I managed to squeeze this in before having to leg it off to sort out a few things this evening.

Usual LSR route, Coast road, Baldoyle, Donaghmede, Raheny, St Anne's then home

Legs felt good with just the quads tightening up towards the end.

8.21
8.15
8.26
8.18
8.14
8.04
8.10
8.03
8.05
8.11
8.12
8.04
8.04
8.08
8.06

15 miles for the day

Duanington

26.08.2015

AM - got up a little earlier than normal this morning as I had an extra mile to get in, had a very light breakfast then headed off, getting in the extra mile on the coast road before heading off into work.

Ate a proper breakfast in work after a shower and had a look at the plan - copped on that I had mixed my mornings up and was only supposed to do the usual 4 this morning

5.1 miles @ 8.20 min\miles

PM - had a half day from work so spent the afternoon in the queue in various book\uniform shops, pretending that I knew what I was doing. Got home at 5ish and headed out for 6 more easy miles, taking in the trails in St Anne's - very enjoyable run

6 miles @ 8.15 min\miles

Finished off with some stretching and pressups

11.1 for the day

Duanington

28.08.2015

Thursday

I had 2 runs to squeeze in before a planned work night out so got the first one out of the way nice and early in between meetings ( working from home). Nice day for it if a little breezy, felt good on this one.

AM - 5 miles @ 8.10 min\miles


PM - straight out the door after my last meeting for 7 easy miles, felt a little tired in the legs during this but really enjoyed the trails in St Anne's, took in a few loops of the pitches to make up the extra bit.
7 miles @ 8.06 min\miles

12 miles for the day


Friday

Few scoops with work last night to welcome a few new bodies to the team, good craic and I was home by 12, having managed to keep reasonably sensible on the drinking front. Unfortunately A) I don't sleep well with booze on board and I always, always feel a bit dehydrated the day after.

AM - I was up earlier than I planned so just got the gear on and made my way into work with the backpack on, legs felt ok but I was tired and thirsty !

5 miles @ 8.20 min\miles

PM - Ate quite well all day but couldn't get the food into my gob quick enough at times, took on plenty of water too and headed off at home time for 7 easy miles. Felt jaded on this, the legs were a little tired again around the quads but again, I felt ok towards the end.

7 miles @ 8.25 min\miles

12 miles for the day

Duanington

29.08.2015

Session day today and I had been looking at this one all week with an element of trepidation to be honest - while the session itself on paper looks tough but do-able, I knew I would be running it with quite a few miles in the legs from the previous few days.

Anyway, the planned session was: 3 easy, 2MP, 1 steady, 2MP, 1 steady, 2MP, 3 easy.
With MP pace at 6.45-7.00

Got up nice and early this morning, had a little water and a banana before heading out onto the windy coast road to get started, sure enough the legs creaked over the first couple of miles but felt better before I got started on the MP sections.
First section went well, after the initial bout of huffing and puffing, I settled into a nice pace and then dropped back to the steady mile.

The second section was a little tougher to start with but again, I settled into a nice pace and tried to focus the mind better than the first set as I had overcooked things a little there.

By the time the last steady mile rolled around again, I was running directly into a strong breeze so needless to say, the last MP section was pretty tough going - as before though, I focused the mind on the effort, good form and relaxed breathing, or at least as relaxed as I could running into the wind! The legs complained quite a bit but I toughed it out and got the job done

Finished up just outside St Anne's park so I headed into the park to wrap up the 3 easy miles, running around with the parkrun crowd for most of it. I have to admit, my legs were fairly beaten at that stage and I needed the comfort of running with other runners!

Made my way home for a mammoth breakfast afterwards :-)

Core work and stretching in the PM

8.25
8.09
7.55
6.44
6.43
7.25
6.45
6.47
7.32
6.48
6.46
8.43
8.30
8.30

14 miles for the day

FBOT01

Nicely done, D. Another good solid week in the bag.

Duanington

30.08.2015

Had planned my first lie in for what seems years this morning but woke at the crack of dawn ....in anticipation of said lie in :rolleyes:

I settled for ownership of the TV remote for an hour to catch up on the athletics in Beijing.

After a day of shopping and watching the Dubs put it up to the 16 men of Mayo , I was looking forward to getting out for a run and finishing off what feels like a very good week.

Headed off for a straightforward out and back loop on the coast to make up 5 easy miles and while the legs were a little cranky, I thoroughly enjoyed the run and thought about getting a few more miles in. Common sense got the better of me though and I headed home for some stretching and a little work on the chin up bar.

5 miles @ 8.05 min\miles for the day