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Confessions of a never has been.....
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03.03.2016
Long time no log
Tuesday - stayed in bed, sinus infection took control of proceedings for a good 36 hours
Wednesday - feeling a lot better but took it easy to give whatever this thing was every chance to f*ck off for good
Thursday - feeling much better again but ditched the planned 8x1k session, the risk of relapse was enough to keep me sensible so I opted for some easy miles around St Anne's
6.84 miles @ 7.48 min\miles
Friday
AM - 4.1 miles easy into work, nice run, feeling back to full health again
PM - 4.1 miles easy home from work, tired after a busy day - cut both runs back a little distance-wise to ease back up to full scale training a bit
Saturday
Session day today, plan was for 3x12 mins @ hmp with 2 minutes easy between sets.
Missed my usual window for running ( early AM) so had to settle for a lunchtime slot, got the warmup done around St Anne's and picked a rolling route for the session to test the system fully.
Blew a little hard over the first 12 minute section, started to settle nicely over the 2nd 12 minute section and finished the 3rd section feeling strong - working hard of course but always feeling like I was controlling the pace\effort well.
1st 12 minute section - avg pace 6.25
2nd 12 minute section - avg pace 6.22
3rd 12 minute section - avg pace 6.19
9.36 miles for the lot and a very good session in the bag
Sunday
More easy miles on the cards, late enough getting out for this though and for some reason as always on a Sunday evening, it was a mental battle to get out the door and get going.
Legs started off a little tight from yesterday's session but felt better as the run went on. Usual rolling route for this run
8 miles @ 8.06 min\miles
Not a great week training wise but glad to be back at it fully by the end of it
Monday
I had signed up to a charity run (5k) with the crew from work a few weeks back but as this got closer, I was starting to regret doing so. I feel that I need a few more solid weeks' training under the belt before my next race ( MSB 5k) and with a fragmented week last week, the charity run was a bit of a distraction now.
Having said all of that, it was for a great cause and there is more to life than taking running\training so seriously. The plan for the actual run ( after consulting with the coach) was to hold back to 10k pace +10\15 seconds, as it turned out, it would have been very tricky to go much faster than that because we were lapping the same stretch in a local park 6 times - traffic was a constant issue after 2 laps as the leaders lapped other runners.
Developed a bit of a stitch again for a minute or so but felt good and solid otherwise.
2 miles easy warmup
3.22 miles @ 6.10 min\miles
2 miles warmdown
a lot of money raised for charity
Tuesday
( Corework in work before lunch)
Out straight after work for this evening's run, 12 miles easy on the menu tonight. Had a little company for a bit of this, one of the lads from Raheny recognised me from being out on the roads and jumped in for a chat along the coast. Carried on solo from the wooden bridge onwards, heading up into Raheny, Donaghmede and back to Raheny before heading home.
Nice run, a little tired towards the end but I suspect some of that was from trying to keep pace with my companion from Raheny !
12 miles @ 8.05 min\miles
Wednesday
AM - 5 miles easy before work, just ran a slightly longer way in than normal. Cutting, biting, horrific wind Beautiful morning for it :pac:
PM - 7 miles easy after work, again just tagged on some easy miles around St Anne's at the end of my usual runmute. Enjoyed this more as it went on
Thursday
Over in Germany (Hamburg) for a couple of days with work so an early start this morning and a hectic hour or so trying to get to my hotel left me a bit drained by the time I got to head off out and find somewhere to run my session.
Plan for today was 6*600 ( 2.04-2.06) w\2 min easy recoveries.
While I had hoped to find a flat, straight stretch of path\road to run this on, I stumbled upon a beautiful little park not too far from the hotel that looked like it may have a loop or two that could do the trick.
Having used up my warmup exploring the park, it became clear that there was no stretch of path long or flat enough to run this session cleanly but there was a nice little loop around a lake with gravel underfoot and a lot of rolling hills at either end of the loop....not ideal but it looked great and I wasn't going to do better than this with my non existent knowledge of the local area.
I knew the splits would be compromised by the route - not just the rolling nature, there were a few bridges to go under and lots of trees to contend with - so I was content to make sure the effort felt right , fast but controlled all the way.
Splits worked out at;
2.09
2.07
2.09
2.03
2.08
2.02
Was pretty tired by the end to be honest, the quads had taken a bit of a hiding on some of the downhill stretches but I still thoroughly enjoyed the warmdown through the park ( where I noticed all of the hills had the gradients listed on signs at the foot ! - you have to love the Germans!)
7.6 miles all in for the session and I headed to the gym for some stretching, core work and weights before going out to stuff my face.0 -
04.03.2016
AM - woke up later than planned this morning, I normally wake up stupid early when I'm away from home - maybe too much wandering around Hamburg looking for a decent bit of food the night before ( plenty of choice on offer, I'm a fussy so and so when I'm away though) or maybe legging it back to the hote too quicklyl when I read the travel alert mail that came in just after I scoffed down my 2nd main course - not sure why but I was tired this morning
Got up and at it straight after waking, with not a lot of time before a planned breakfast meeting ( at the hotel thankfully), I got the gear on and went back over the the park nearby.
A freezing, foggy morning for running but the park was busy with people out for a morning strut, chanced a few "morgen"s at fellow runners but it appears that the locals prefer to keep to themselves in the morning, didn't stop me continuing on with it though
Legs were pretty tired for most of this, I used the gravel paths throughout the park and got in just shy of 4.5 miles @8.22 min\miles before I had to scarper back to the hotel.
PM - lunchtime flight home was delayed by a fair bit which meant I had a tight enough window to run in when I got home, I still had a bit of work to do too and despite the disco nap on the flight, I was not feeling the love for a run in the cold wind.
Manned up and got out the door without letting myself talk myself into canning it, went straight down to St Anne's to do a few loops around the park, quads were definitely feeling the workout from yesterday but another run where I enjoyed it more as it went on. Made it back to get some work done in time and to refuel the body
7.35 miles @ 7.56 mim\miles
Just shy of the planned 12 for today0 -
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10.03.2016
Monday
4.1 miles very easy - usual run home from work on a Monday, I love this run - not just because its the easiest day in my training week but there is usually the sense of easing my way into another week's training. Lots of friendly folks out along the seafront on the way home too
Tuesday
long(ish) run night - 12 miles on the cards for this one. Brought the gear to work, loaded up the back and got changed just after 6, waited in the freezing cold for a signal on the watch and then got going.
Just over 4 miles to the house where I quickly dropped off the backpack and headed off to take in some drags over the rest of the run. Raheny\Donaghmede providing most of these.
Felt a little jaded towards the end...as Dubgal says on her log "10 miles is 10 miles!" well, in the same sense 12 miles is 12 miles ...well 12.5 to be precise.
Pressups, core and stretching after
12.5 miles @ 7.57 min\miles
Wednesday
AM - run into work, bitter cold wind on the coast for this but thankfully it was dry. Ran on the grass for as long as I could but the second half was back onto concrete pavements.
4.1 miles @8ish min\miles ( no watch)
PM - Wasn't looking forward to this at all for some reason and when I did get the backpack on and head out the door from the office, I expected to feel up to it but the legs were a tad stiff for the first few miles.
Exchanged greetings with a by now very familiar bunch of Raheny lads on the coast road ( they were running their session on the grass) and by mile 5 I was enjoying the run - oddly!
Ran the extra bit up into Raheny\St Anne's - still bright enough to run in the park at almost 7 pm ...yipppeeee
7 miles @ 8ish min\miles
11.1 for the day
Thursday
Session day today and I was down for :
2 miles easy, 5x1 mile @ 10k pace ( 3 min recovery), 2 miles easy
This was a bastid of a session, no other way to explain it. Near perfect weather ( barring a breeze on the coast), feeling good energy wise but this was tough.
Got my warmup done in St Anne's after some weights and corework at home and decided to run the mile reps on the flat stretch between the causeway and Sutton.
Didn't feel much of a breeze on the warmup but it was enough to add a little resistance over a couple of the reps ( 1 and 3 I think).
Mile 1 - 5.46
A little too hot, into the breeze ( which probably effects me mentally more than physically ) which perhaps had me working a little hard and the stitch started to tickle the ribs a little
Mile 2 - 5.49
better, effort wise, closer to 10k effort, no breeze to contend with but the stitch still came along towards the end - a little more pronounced this time
Mile 3 - 5.52
into the breeze again and I felt it over the 2nd half, thought about pulling the plug on the whole session as the stitch got worse.
( spent the jogged recovery really trying to open my lungs up, deep breaths, pushing air right out etc)
Mile 4 - 5.48
Stitch much better, managed this one much better too - rather than racing off on the beep, I eased into the mile a little...starting around 6 min\mile pace and working down over the course of the mile, finishing working very hard but controlled.
Mile 5 - 5.48
again, no real issue with the stitch thankfully but I was really feeling the session from about .25 miles in, tempted to check the watch every minute or so to see if I was nearly there - that kind of thing. Forced myself to focus and relax a bit, enjoy the effort etc...finished pushing hard but still in control.....may have had a little nap on the grass afterwards.
Warmdown through St Anne's, then home for a feed
Very tough session, tougher than expected to be honest
10.3 miles for the lot0 -
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Nice session D, don't think it's supposed to be easy. Regarding building into the rep, that's a comment ultrapercy made on my log a while back and it's something I'm conscious of when I'm doing repeats of any kind. I try building into the rep rather than bolting off and holding on for dear life as the rep comes to an end. You seem to have gotten straight back into things after your dose.
Cheers Tang - you're right of course, it's not supposed to be easy, note to self ! Re building into the rep, I used to be very good at this but have lost a little discipline when it comes to 1k-1mile reps, much better than hanging on - right again.
Yep, back at it now thankfully 0 -
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13.03.2016
Friday
AM - easy run into work, 4.1 miles...lovely morning for running - kept the pace way down, I didn't sleep well the previous night with some kind of stomach cramps ( the world's hottest chilli straight after THursday's session didn't help there)
PM - 7 miles easy, another run home from work with the few extra miles around St Anne's - felt the lack of sleep on this one right up until the 5 mile mark when I started to enjoy myself.
Light stretching after
Saturday
Up earlyish for this morning's session and with the stomach still not feeling 100%, I wasn't looking forward to this one.
Plan was for 7 miles @MP so after a little water and getting the gear on, I headed out to get an easy mile in before starting the faster stuff.
Every single time I see MP miles on a Saturday on the plan, I make the mistake of thinking that it will be a stroll in the park....its not exactly fast but with other sessions and general mileage in the legs, it never is that stroll in the park! As the week rolls on, I tend to come to my senses
This one was tough in stages, tougher than it looks but always manageable - the ropy stomach definitely added a degree of difficulty but I would guess even without that, it would present enough work to keep me honest throughout the session.
Bumpy route as always on the Saturday session, very tired afterwards and no time for a warmdown.
Good core\stretching session in the PM ( GUns n Roses blaring in the background :cool:)
Splits:
7.55
6.49
6.42
6.44
6.42
6.50
6.39
6.42
Sunday
Got out after sunset this evening - what an evening for running, calm, mild, clear and no ropy stomach !
Felt great for just about all of this and really enjoyed the route, a few drags around Raheny\CLontarf but a good stretch out on the coast too - would have loved to go on for a bit more but common sense prevailed.
8.5 miles @ 8.02
Weights and stretching after ( Churches live in Paris or somewhere for this one)0 -
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20.03.2016
Saturday
2.5 ( I think !) very easy miles around St Anne's park. Kept the pace way down for this and actually struggled as a result! Lovely day in the park though, lots of people out enjoying it
Sunday
MSB 5k
Arrived at Stephens’ green nice and early with my merry band of cheerleaders and loads of time to spare, after hanging around the place taking in the building atmosphere for a bit, I got started on a warmup around the paths within the park.
I was eager to get a thorough warmup done before the race itself, I don’t race 5ks very often and given the recent issues I’ve been having with the stitch under the ribs, it made sense to make sure the system was well warmed up before giving this a go.
2.5 miles, some strides ( of sorts) later and I was lined up at the starting pen ( too far back of course, another mistake I make at every single 5k I ever race, I always find it difficult to judge the right starting area but I think next time around, I’ll have to be a little more ambitious in that regard). The minutes silence for Jim McNamara didn’t quite filter down through the field as people would have hoped and didn’t seem like a minute to me either – things felt a little hurried and rushed in general at the start.
The start seemed to catch everyone by surprise but start we did and straight away , I knew I had started a long way away from where I should have, I was completely boxed in for the first 2\300 metres, barely getting beyond steady pace ( at a guess). The first turn up towards Fitxwilliam square opened things up nicely though and from there on, I started to work my way up through the gears and forget about the start – a quick look at the watch here, told me that I had forgotten to change it from KMs to Miles again...which would throw me off a little in terms of calculating pace etc but I knew that the whole point of running this was to get the head down and run hard – the watch can’t help you do that so it really wasn’t any big deal.
The first KM sign appeared up ahead and my watch beeped well in advance of the marker ( non racing line obviously ! ) 3.25, it seemed too quick for the start to be honest but I’d take it!
KM 1 – 3,25
Left onto Baggot street and I was running with a good group of club runners, although the turns seemed to be slowing the group as we took them ( and I had wise words from FBOT ringing in my ears about turns slowing people over 5k!), another left and we were moving down past the southside of Fitzwilliam place, the field was much more open now and while I having to work to keep the pace going, I was moving very well, feeling strong , breathing well and my form seemed relaxed ( even if it may not have looked relaxed!), sharp right, sharp left and the second KM marker was around here somewhere ( I think!) - again, the watch beeped well in advance
KM 2- 3.27
We moved out onto the stretch by the canal and I was aware that I was probably moving better than I thought I would be by this stage, no sign of the stitch but there was a bit of a wind in the faces now running along the canal and that is usually where I start to breath too shallow. Looking ahead, I could see the field disappearing over a little hump so just focused on that point as a sort of mental marker, keep the arms and legs pumping then reach that point – well over halfway gone by that stage.
Again, the watch beeped well before the marker, I’d lost a little pace over that one and needed a mental kick in the arse to get back into the right zone.
KM 3 – 3.31
Moving into the 2nd last KM, I knew a small PB could be on if I didn’t bottle it, it was really starting to hurt but I also knew that I should have plenty of strength in the legs to start to kick a little over the last stretch. I moved alongside a couple of club runners again and focused on keeping things from slipping back at all, there were no voices this time telling me to ease up but there was a fear, an intimidation almost, laughing at my efforts and hopes of keeping this effort up for another mile and a bit.
KM 4 – 3.30
I knew that the last km meant that I had steadied any bleeding of the pace and moving back down towards Baggot Street again, I found myself running with a very young looking lad – first junior according to the great support that was building on the footpaths.
F*ck this was really hurting now, left onto Baggot Street and the finish area appeared ahead – we both upped the pace a little in anticipation, running side by side almost, people were willing the young lad on but I heard my own little band of cheerleaders in there too somewhere. We had a great little battle for the entire stretch up to the finish area, I made a surge for the line at the 100m to go mark and just about pipped him to it.
KM 5 – 3.23
( 16 seconds for the last bit too)
Official time of 17.35 and an unexpected 12 second PB for my efforts, most importantly - no sign of the stitch !
Waited around the finish area to say hello to a few people I knew who running, including Myles Splitz who nabbed a sneaky PB too then ran 1.5 (roughly) easy miles to warmdown.
Very happy with today’s effort, it’s been a hugely positive start to the year for me training and racing wise, I do feel that today’s race will stand to me in building a bit more confidence over the distance – and in fast paced training in general. There’s definitely more to come off that time this year, hopefully I’ll get another shot at it before I switch back to Marathon training, like so many runners around here, I hate 5ks but I love them when they go well !
I loved this race too by the way, the route is very flat with the only drawback being the sharp turns but we don't get to race through the city on a Sunday afternoon very often 0 -
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