Confessions of a never has been.....

Duanington

10.01.2014

Struggling for time quite a bit at the moment but I still squeezed in a 30 minute core-type session and a 4 mile easy run last night ( very late though!).

I quite enjoyed the peace of the late night run after a hectic day, there is something very therapeutic about running on a clear, fresh night with not many others around - it definitely clears the mind and leaves you feeling refreshed.

Back to the usual route on the coast road at Clontarf, 2 miles out, 2 miles back...on the grass too which I much prefer.

Total miles : 4 @ avg 8:27 minutes per mile

Duanington

10.01.2014

1x mile w\u, 5x1k reps w 90 sec recovery , 1 m w\d

I'd wanted to try this one for a few weeks but tonight was the first chance I've had. The idea was to run the reps at slightly quicker than race pace and take a 90 second walking recovery.

Started this off with a bout of chin-ups to start the warm-up then headed off out into the cool night. I ran the 1 mile down to a stretch on the coast that I knew was well lit, flat and fairly straight.

Reps went as follows:

3:50
3:40 ( too quick)
3:47
3:50
3:48

Really enjoyed this session, I felt good and worked at the end, even though its relatively short - it certainly felt like I'd put in a good shift . I'll be back for more on this one, maybe increasing the number of reps every few weeks, even if the pace has to drop slightly.

Ran just under a mile for the w\d

Recovery run tomorrow.

Good week so far, despite being stuck for time at times

Cleanman

That's a great session off just 90 secs. If you could manage another rep or two at that pace, huge pbs are on the way over 5k.

pconn062

Great session, if I was you I would keep the same number of reps but try and decrease the recovery time, ie take 15 seconds off the recovery time until you are down to 45-60 seconds recovery. Is this a 5k paced session? 5x1k is loads for 5k work so I don't think you need to add more reps, 6x1k would be the max we do.

Duanington

Cleanman wrote: »

That's a great session off just 90 secs. If you could manage another rep or two at that pace, huge pbs are on the way over 5k.

Thanks Cleanman, we'll see how the next few weeks\months go - I surprised myself a little with it to be honest, I suppose I am becoming more and more familiar with life in the 5k lane which is helping
I'd like to give it a go again with shorter recoveries to see how I feel after that !!

Duanington

pconn062 wrote: »

Great session, if I was you I would keep the same number of reps but try and decrease the recovery time, ie take 15 seconds off the recovery time until you are down to 45-60 seconds recovery. Is this a 5k paced session? 5x1k is loads for 5k work so I don't think you need to add more reps, 6x1k would be the max we do.

Thanks - yep, 5k pace session. I'll certainly bear that in mind, I was thinking of adding more reps but slowing the pace to 10k ( with up to 10 reps) but in reality I'll probably mix things up a bit each week as much as I can ( 5k pace with less reps one week, 10k pace with more reps the next....400s, 800s etc)

Appreciate the advice on the recovery, I'll definitely try that, it'll probably put manners on me

Duanington

11.01.2014

recovery day today

I got out nice and early this morning before the world woke up ( 7 am) for my first run today. I was shocked at how many people were out at that hour actually, in the 3 miles, I came across at least 10 more runners on the coast.

Ran 70% or so on the grass which was great, I find it much easier on my legs, I also find it soothing during easy\recovery running...maybe its just the knowledge that I'm not punishing my feet\legs with concrete\tarmac.

Anyway, got the first 3 miles done at around 8:40 min\mile

Spend a good hour doing core\light weights for arms shoulders and got another 2 miles recovery in tonight with my eldest. She has been threatening to come running with me for quite a while and bit the bullet tonight....a nice easy 2 miles in just over 20 minutes to add onto the week's total.


My legs feel a hell of a lot better tonight than they did this morning!

Total miles:5 @ slow coach pace

Cleanman

Duanington wrote: »

Thanks Cleanman, we'll see how the next few weeks\months go - I surprised myself a little with it to be honest, I suppose I am becoming more and more familiar with life in the 5k lane which is helping
I'd like to give it a go again with shorter recoveries to see how I feel after that !!

As pconn says (and he'd know a lot more than me about this kind of stuff), if you're reducing the recovery, then probably no need to do any more reps if you're able to hold 5k pace.

Duanington

12.01.2014

4 miles easy today, out into the manky wind and ran. Mainly on the grass today which is always good, I had the wind blowing sideways across my face on the way out ( first two miles) and then somehow IN my face on the way back - I can never work that one out.

Nice and easy run, legs felt good towards the end.

Total Miles : 4 @ avg pace 8:27 min mile

Finished off with a bit of pressup\core work

Duanington

13.01.2014


Started off today with some pull-up\core stuff at home straight after work. I'm putting less effort into this though as I am starting to increase weekly mileage at the moment and am also moving to a 6 day running week. Once I've settled a bit I'll up the intensity again.

Plan for tonight was to try one of the tempo variations listed on the McMillan website ( as kindly pointed out by AMK a few week's back).

4x1 mile tempo ( with 90 second recovery)

I got in a nice 2 mile warmup prior to starting the tempo reps, 1 very slow mile (9 min/mile) then upping the pace on the second (08:10) one because it was freezing and I was conscious of being too cold starting the reps .

Tempo miles went as follows:

1 - 06:40
2 - 06:35
3 - 06:40
4 - 06:40

I ran these at the upper end of my tempo "spectrum" but felt in control and reasonably comfortable all the way through, I probably eased off a little towards the end of the last mile actually, because I had ran the first half a little quick.
I felt refreshed and well worked at the end of this one and will visit it again in a few weeks.

1 mile warm down to finish off

ThebitterLemon

Nice session, also wish I had your dedication for core work.

TbL

Duanington

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Nice session, also wish I had your dedication for core work.

TbL

thanks TBL - re core work, its as much a realisation that I have poor form\am injury prone without doing this stuff, its part of the routine at this stage.

ThebitterLemon

I only do very little of it, I badly need to do more, and my running form would make you look like Martin Lel

How long/often do you do it and which exercises do you find work the best?

TbL

Duanington

ha ha - well I've kind of settled into a routine of doing ab-work like planks, crunches ( not situps as such), leg raises, side planks every second day for about 15\20 minutes- all slow, controlled stuff as opposed to fast moving spine breakers. I try to mix it up as much as possible ( i.e. I don't do the same routine twice in a row) Then I would do press-ups\pullups\weights on alternate days too - again, about 15\20 minutes.

The pull-ups are actually great for your core too I find - in fact, I would say planks and pull-ups are probably the best of the lot for the entire core ( for me anyway)

I get most of the techniques from youtube, I keep doing what I like and I drop what I don't like. I'd just say to be careful not to overdo it if you do start off doing some of this stuff, ease into it and you'll find yourself looking for different techniques etc in a few weeks.

I've eased off a little over the past week or so but I do try to keep to doing core work 3\4 days a week most weeks

Duanington

14.01.2014

LSR


Back out west straight after work for tonight's LSR. I stopped in to Mammy D's, got change and headed off out. Despite the wind and the drizzle ( it wasn't quite rain) it was actually a lovely night for running.

I took in quite a bit of Lucan, a bit of Adamstown and a decent chunk of Clondalkin along the way, plenty of little hills ( railway\canal bridges) to make parts of the run nice and interesting. I enjoy this route because it has a series of straights that are around 1.5 miles in length which keeps things fresh ...mentally.

I felt strong throughout this run, kept the pace in check and made sure I was in control of my form and breathing at all times, any time I started to drift at all, I re-focused on my form which seemed to bring things back under control.

Glad to get this one in, its another LSR the night after a tempo workout which is not ideal but I am keeping the pace in check and don't have an alternative day at the moment.

Total :14 miles @ avg 8:47 minutes per mile

Duanington

16.01.2014

Wednesday

Rest
35 minutes of core, light weights

Thursday

8x400 repeats (200 jogging recovery)

(15 minutes of press-ups before heading out)


Started off with an easy 2 miles warm up. My calves felt a little tight during the warm up so I ditched the idea that I had toyed with of adding 2x800 reps to the end of tonight's session, I'll add these in separately over the next few weeks.

Last time I ran these was on the track and I targeted 1:27 per 400 so I kept that target in mind.
I made my way down to the cycling lane near bull island and the rain started to come down just as I started off - it actually felt great on my face. Perfect night for it really.

Reps looked like this

1:26
1:25
1:26
1:24
1:25
1:25
1:24
1:21

Again, I worked on staying controlled throughout this one - no flailing arms or puffing too hard, focused on form and I felt good (mostly!)

Finished up with an easy 2 miles with a light stretch every half mile or so

Glad to have this done, I'll probably go with 800s next week then back to 1k reps.

Duanington

17.01.2014

Recovery run tonight, had a few things to do after work so as soon as I got the chance, I got stuck into 10 minutes or so of pull-ups and headed off.

Nothing much to report here, except the sea was like glass tonight...eerily calm. Enjoyable run, the legs were a bit stiff and felt much better by the end.

5 miles @ avg 8:42 min miles

Duanington

18.01.2014

Out at 07:30 for this morning's run. one of those cold wet mornings that does not seem very appealing at first but once you get out, you're glad to be out ( no wind!)

Met plenty of fellow footsoldiers out braving the elements this morning, it always surprises me how many nutcases there are doing this kind of thing

4 miles easy on the grass (mainly) at Clontarf, very enjoyable - back for porridge, peanut butter sambo and a giant cup of tea

4 miles @ avg pace 08:27 min\mile

40 minutes of weights ( shoulder and arm) and core work in the afternoon

Duanington

19.01.2014

AM - some stretching and press-ups

PM

I had originally planned an easy 6 mile run tonight but I got life stuff organised a little earlier than planned so took advantage and squeezed in my Tempo run a night earlier than planned.

Perfect night for it tonight, cold, clear, dry and no real breeze to speak of. I flirted momentarily with the idea of heading to bed early and giving any run a miss but copped on and set off for a 1 mile warm up ( a little over a mile actually).

I ignored the watch for most of this, didn't pay any attention to splits until afterwards and really focused on staying controlled, working hard but not so hard I was gasping. ( comfortably difficult?!)

The route was flat for the first couple of miles but then took in a couple of soft hills\climbs\downhill stretches.

Splits looked like this:

6:50
6:52
6:54
6:46
6:36 ( big downhill stretch for the last 1/4 mile though !)

I never felt too under pressure on this one, really enjoyed most of the run and felt great afterwards. Delighted to get a 5 mile tempo under the belt as I can't run Raheny next week so I would have been curious as to what time I could do there.

1 mile easy to finish off.

Happy with this week's effort, back to over 40 miles for the first time in quite some time and they all felt like purposeful runs

Duanington

20.01.2014

Met the bro straight after work for this evening's run, great to have the company. Another great night to run, clear sky, chilled air and a bit of banter on the way around.

My legs felt a little tired towards the end , nothing to worry about though, just a hangover from last nights tempo.

Another enjoyable run, a quick cup of tea and a peanut butter sandwich before heading home for a bit of core stuff\chin ups.

Total miles 7 @ 8:30 min\mile

Duanington

21.01.2014


I've been running my LSR on Tuesday nights for the past couple of weeks but I've had to re-jig things a bit this week, work and family commitments getting in the way !

Anyway, rather than squash ina reduced LSR tonight, I got in the second of this week's sessions and put off the LSR until later in the week.

Plan for tonight was 7 miles (easy) with 8xhill (fast) repeats approx. 150 metres)

Isn't the body a strange, strange thing? I could feel my energy levels dropping as the day went on today, the drive home from work seemed endless and by the time I got out the door for a run ( no time for the usual pressup\core stuff with cool tooones), I was visibly tired looking. the first 4 EASY miles felt never-ending and I had to resist the urge to stop on a number of occasions.

After what seemed an eternity I arrived at my chosen hill for tonight's session, which I must add I suspect is not quite as taxing as it should be so I may change location next time out.
Anyway, I took a 2\3 minute breather and headed off for the first rep...I had intended to run these relatively hard, certainly quicker than 5k pace and did just that. After the 2nd rep, I was in the zone, the energy levels were back up and the mind had sharpened once again....

I'm not sure if this info is of any use to people but I'll stick it up anyway:

Rep avg pace
1 6:30
2 6:05
3 5:57
4 5:37
5 5:46
6 5:40
7 5:46
8 5:29

Enjoyed this session, I can't say I found it too tough though ( but I couldn't say it was easy either)..maybe over the last couple of reps and even then I did feel that I could have done more ( time permitting). Next time out, I'll increase the distance and add a couple of reps on. Floated home during a 1.2 mile w\d....no sign of fatigue or tiredness...slightly sore but very content


Total miles: 7.2

statss

don't be afraid to drop a session now and then if you are feeling shattered, I find sometimes the day off is better for you in the overall cycle.

Duanington

thanks Statss - point noted !

I've a rest day today thankfully so I'll be getting an early night tonight

Duanington

23.01.2014

Late run tonight out on the coast road - mainly on the grass which I always prefer. I squeezed in 20 minutes of pull-ups before heading out which warmed me up nicely.

Kept it nice and easy tonight, the legs were a little tender from Tuesday nights run ( which I claimed was a little too easy !)

LSR either tomorrow or Saturday and I will creep up into the late 40s mileage-wise which I'll be happy with.

Total miles: 4 @ avg 8:20 min miles

ThebitterLemon

20 mins of pull ups - you're joking right! Was that 20 mins solid or did you do one or two, smoke a cigar and then do one or two more

TbL

AuldManKing

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

20 mins of pull ups - you're joking right! Was that 20 mins solid or did you do one or two, smoke a cigar and then do one or two more

TbL

That's my post of the year so far.........still laughing.

Duanington

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

20 mins of pull ups - you're joking right! Was that 20 mins solid or did you do one or two, smoke a cigar and then do one or two more

TbL

ha ha ha - ok, not solid ...plenty of cigars smoked in between sets!

Duanington

24.01.2014

LSR night tonight

I decided to mix it up a little tonight and throw in a daycent hill or two in my long run. The last few long runs have gone quite well and I haven't felt under any real pressure during the run for quite a while now.....Howth fairly put manners on me in that regard!

I headed off up the coast from Clontarf, through Sutton Cross and up towards Howth head, what a spectacular run we have on our doorsteps people, the view to the right (over Dublin Bay) as you head up the first climb after Sutton is nothing short of breath-taking, it makes the climb that bit easier.

After maybe a mile into the first hill, I was reminded of someone's log I read recently where they mentioned that the find concrete paving quite heavy on the legs - I, unfortunately, suffer from this affliction too!
Once I passed the 5 mile mark I settled into a nice rhythm though ( staying around 8:55 min miles), enjoying the sound of my own footsteps in what seemed like complete isolation ...and yet the bustling city was in clear view over my shoulder..great stuff.

Once you reach the Summit pub, its all downhill from there...downhill runs always worry me, I tend to overcook the pace a little and leave my thighs in ribbons...I tried to keep the pace in check but then I was conscious of the amount of effort taken to do that - looking at the splits I ran the downhill section at around 8:35 min\mile so not too bad. On into Howth village where the gorgeous smells wafting out from the kabillion restaurants and pubs left me with a serious hunger and I was back on the flat headed for home.

I picked up the pace over the last mile ( 8:10)to finish off what was a very tough but very enjoyable run. I remember the last time I ran this route because it was during the heatwave last year and I remember stopping 2\3 times with exhaustion. No such problems tonight and I will definitely put this route into the plan again in a few weeks - great to work the legs over those hills.

Total miles 14 @ avg pace 8:45 min\mile

Now where did I put those cigars....

ThebitterLemon

Good session, you're smokin

TbL

Ososlo

Nice run! I was going to do similar towards Howth direction over the weekend. Do you mind me asking for how many miles were you climbing once you left Sutton Cross running towards Howth summit pub? And is it extremely steep? Thanks!