Confessions of a never has been.....

Bungy Girl

Wow, I'd be thrilled with any of those 5K splits in a stand-alone 5K :eek:. Congratulations on the sub-3, a performance to be proud of, off the back of some great training.

Duanington

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Wow, I'd be thrilled with any of those 5K splits in a stand-alone 5K :eek:. Congratulations on the sub-3, a performance to be proud of, off the back of some great training.

Thanks BG - funny you say that, it doesn't seem that long ago that I would have felt the same about the 5k splits!

Dubgal72

Brilliant, well done. Delighted for you, your consistent training and progress over the last few years is something we all need to take note of. Fwiw, I think you judged your approach perfectly, especially concerning the heat 'pull back'. And you're in good company re mind drifting; Sonia used to drift off mid race all the time

annapr

Loved the report DD, captured the atmosphere very well. Fantastic that you were so strong all the way... all that consistent training paying off.

Never mind the pace band, sure the straw made up for it.

Duanington

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Brilliant, well done. Delighted for you, your consistent training and progress over the last few years is something we all need to take note of. Fwiw, I think you judged your approach perfectly, especially concerning the heat 'pull back'. And you're in good company re mind drifting; Sonia used to drift off mid race all the time

Thanks A - if its good enough for Sonia, its good enough for me

Duanington

annapr wrote: »

Loved the report DD, captured the atmosphere very well. Fantastic that you were so strong all the way... all that consistent training paying off.

Never mind the pace band, sure the straw made up for it.

Thanks A - the straw certainly brought some envious looks my way on the way out of the water stations ! ( still should have had a pace band though !)

overpronator

My mind is still blown by that straw!

Duanington

19.10.2016

With recovery just about done and dusted, its time to get back on the wagon and start looking towards new goals, the Waterford Half in 6 weeks or so should give me a good idea of where I'm at going into winter\spring training ( where the aim will be to go after some of the shorter distance times and to run some XC races)

Thursday (29th) - 4.3 easy miles
Saturday ( 1st Oct) - 4 miles easy
Sunday (2nd Oct) - 6 miles easy
Monday (3rd) - 4.1 easy miles ( runmute)
Wednesday (5th) - 4.1 easy miles (runmute)
Friday (7th) -5.2 miles easy
Sunday (9th) - 6 miles w\strides ( weights\stretching)
Monday (10th) - 4.1 miles easy
Wednesday (12th) - 6.1 miles with a little pace thrown in for some reason (7.30 min\miles)
Friday (14th) - 5 easy miles
Saturday (15th - 6 easy miles
Sunday (16th) - progression run. 9 miles - 7.58 down to 6.03 pace. Good blow out and lovely evening for it

Gradually built up all the extra stuff over the last 10 days or so too ( core, weights, stretching etc...)

Back on plan since Monday so I'll keep things updated from here;


Monday

5 easy miles from work - felt a little tightness in the legs from the night before but really enjoyed this

stretching and weights afterwards

Tuesday

Plan was for 12 easy miles after work. To be honest I got a little carried away over the first few miles of this. Given that I had the backpack on, I really should have known better. Ditched the bag and carried on my merry way, picking a rolling route for the remainder of the run. Ran a few miles with an Ironman athlete.....still reeling from the stuff he was telling me :eek:

12.5 miles @ 7.29 min\miles

Pressups and core after

Wednesday

6 easy miles after work - no messing around with the pace tonight, all nice and easy. Perfect weather for running too which is always nice.

Chartsengrafs

I only got to read the race report during the week - well done on a very well executed race and a smashing time!

Duanington

Thanks Chartsengraffs - it feels like an age ago now :eek:

Duanington

23.10.2016

Thursday

Hills on the menu today - 8x45 second hard effort with 2-3 min recovery

Got some weights and corework done earlier before heading out to St Anne's for some easy miles to warmup. Made my way over to Watermill road and got stuck into the hill reps.

Ran the first 2 a bit too hard ( instructions were not to let form suffer...it did over these two) but I got the hang of it after that. Each rep got harder as the session went on, focused on running hard but keeping form all the way to the end.

Paces were all between 5.00 - 5.20

Ran a couple of easy miles after to bring the total to 7.3 miles

Friday

Runmute after work - nice and easy all the way, legs felt good. Don't remember a whole lot about this one.

6 miles @ 8ish pace ( no watch)

pressups and stretching later

Saturday

Saturday sessions were back this week - first up was 4x6 minutes @ 6.10 pace ( 2 minutes easy between)

As always, I ran a few easy miles before getting started on this. I decided to run the lot on grass, something I'll do a bit more of over the winter, the pace may suffer from time to time but I won't worry too much about that if the effort is right.

Picked a loop that took in the pitches on the Clontarf side of St Anne's, basically the North West corner of the park.

Flew out of the traps on the first, ran another too short and ran them all too quick - if anything, they should have been a little slow on account of the softer ground. Having said all of that, very happy with the session, worked hard and I was blowing towards the end of each rep.

Paces:

6.02
6.01
6.01
6.04

Another few easy miles to finish off, stopped off at the Parkrun to cheer on some runners and catchup with one or two people from the club, including RedRunner, looking on enviously at those non injured folks! ( keep the chin up R)

More weights and core later in the day

8.7 miles for the day

Sunday

Out into a chilly enough wind on the coast for this evenings easy run, headed down towards Fairview then headed up the Howth road to get a good chunk of that drag in, ran a couple of loops around Killester ( more drag stuff) before heading back down into Clontarf.

7.1 miles @ 7.45 min\miles

Core\stretching\rolling after

Things start to pick up from tomorrow, looking forward to getting back to full tilt

annapr

Do you ever do parkrun, D? Just wondering as don't think I've ever seen you mention and since you practically live in St Anne's?

Duanington

annapr wrote: »

Do you ever do parkrun, D? Just wondering as don't think I've ever seen you mention and since you practically live in St Anne's?

I used to run it a bit A - its been a while though, my Saturday mornings are a bit hectic with the kids etc so I usually need to be done and dusted and on the road before Parkrun even starts.

BUT - I will deffo be running it at some stage over the winter

annapr

Duanington wrote: »

I used to run it a bit A - its been a while though, my Saturday mornings are a bit hectic with the kids etc so I usually need to be done and dusted and on the road before Parkrun even starts.

BUT - I will deffo be running it at some stage over the winter

I know the feeling! You could always bring the kids to junior parkrun on Sunday mornings, highly recommend it

laura_ac3

Great to see you back at it D! I don't think I got around to adding my congratulations when I read your race report. Great to see you have a positive experience whilst getting that pb. Much more to come I'm sure!

Duanington

annapr wrote: »

I know the feeling! You could always bring the kids to junior parkrun on Sunday mornings, highly recommend it

Another one that I am definitely doing over the next few months A - although it'll be easier to arrange that than for me to actually run one on a Saturday !

Duanington

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Great to see you back at it D! I don't think I got around to adding my congratulations when I read your race report. Great to see you have a positive experience whilst getting that pb. Much more to come I'm sure!

Thanks Laura - good to see you branching out in the XC world these days, well done ( hoping to get a few in myself over the next while...might see you at one). It was a genuinely fantastic experience and yes, there is definitely more to come.

RedRunner

How rude of me not to congratulate you on the sub 3 when I saw you on Saturday! I'm only catching up with your log now though. Super performance D.

Duanington

RedRunner wrote: »

How rude of me not to congratulate you on the sub 3 when I saw you on Saturday! I'm only catching up with your log now though. Super performance D.

Not at all R - you've more important matters to be sorting out at the moment, i.e. that injury ! ( thanks though)

Duanington

07.11.2016


Monday (24th) - Tempo ( 6.30 pace) run in St. Anne's, mostly on the grass. I plan on running as many of these as I can on grass over the next few months, which is a great idea while the weather is good of course !

Worked hard on this, stayed in control all the way and possibly pushed too hard at times.

6.32
6.18
6.33
6.25
6.24
6.23
6.22

for the tempo section with some easy stuff either side...9.3 miles for the lot.

Weights\stretching in the PM

Tuesday ( 25th)

12 easy miles, picked a route that had some drags over the 2nd half, another part of the plan for the next while. Enjoyed the run but tired towards the end for sure.

12 miles @ 7.35 min\miles

Wednesday

AM - 4.1 easy miles on the way to work

PM - 6 easy miles on the way home

Cranky legs but good easy running, stretching and pressups in the evening


Thursday

Back to hill reps today, 8x 60 seconds.

Got some easy running in before then ran these on Watermill road. Pushed hard on the lot and just about stayed in control - no loss of form.

Between 5.05 and 5.25 pace for the lot.


easy stuff afterwards to finish up then weights\core work


8.2 miles for the day

Friday

6 easy miles on the way home from work, spot of stretching afterwards.

Saturday\Sunday - off....sick Saturday and supporting for DCM on Sunday with a family event afterwards meant no running. ( Normally I'd get up at all hours and get the run in first but given I'd been feeling under the weather, I decided against that)


Monday (31st)


Tempo session 1 easy, 8@6.30, 1 easy - late getting out for this which meant St Anne's was out of the picture ( dark) so I headed down to Fairview then back up the Howth Road into Raheny\Killester to get some drags in.

Got a bit of a stitch after 3 miles but really got into it after that, tough but enjoyable session.

Average pace for the tempo stuff was around 6.25


Tuesday

"long run" - 12 miles

Bumped into one of the faster lads from the club for this one after a mile or so and in fairness he was happy to run at my easy pace for the run , one of those night though where the pace crept up at times. Same story as last week, my legs tired a bit towards the end. Another good, honest route

12 miles @ 7.40 min\miles

Pressups\stretching after

Wednesday

AM - 6.1 easy miles before work ( runmute), can't remember this

PM - 6.1 easy miles after work - as above!

Stretching and core after

Thursday

Back to the hills....8x60 seconds off 2-3 min recoveries

Same story as last week, easy stuff first then straight into it.

This is a tough little session, no matter how controlled you run these, they should still sting. Quads were feeling it by the end of the session ...and I was blowing hard


more easy stuff after to bring the total to 8.10 miles

weights and core later

Friday

AM - 6.1 easy miles before work , legs a little sore to start with if I recall.

PM - 6 easy miles after work.

Pressups and stretching after

Saturday

Session day again - 4x8 mins @ 6.10 pace ( 2 min easy between)

Wasn't loving the thoughts of this one to be honest, the legs were a little more tired than usual with the heavier workload this week and there was a good wind blowing on the coast. Got a warmup done though and got stuck in.

Rep1 - 6.03
Rep2 - 6.02
Rep3 - 6.03
Rep4 - 6.00

Was working pretty hard over a couple of these, noticeably so when running into the wind which obviously resulted in me running too hard !

Good session, glad to get it done

9.9 miles for the lot

Lots of stretching in the PM


Sunday

Easy miles around Clontarf\Fairview then up into Raheny again for a loop or two. Legs tired at the start but conditions were lovely for running ( freezing !)

7.1 miles @ 7.45 to close out the biggest week in a while

Weights and core earlier in the day



Monday


Back to tempo running today, the plan was for:

1 easy, 9 miles @ 6.30, 1 easy

Got a chance to get this done in St Anne's today so back to the grass again. Started off a bit too quick for the fast section but got into a lovely stride after a while and while I was working, the breathing was good, cadence was good....it felt like I often read a tempo should feel like ! Finished working hard, legs tiring but still in control.

I do need to pace these better though, I should allow some slack for the softer surface in terms of pace.

Tempo splits:

6.23
6.24
6.24
6.20
6.28
6.32
6.26
6.26
6.20


11.5 for the lot.

Core\pressups and stretching before work

Duanington

08.11.2016

Long run tonight on a smelly wet, cold, windy night. Got out of work on time and headed for home with the backpack on, ditched it in the house and headed down for a lap of Fairview park before heading towards Raheny for a more rolling route over the 2nd half of the run.

I was conscious of keeping the pace down for the first few miles on this because the legs had yesterdays tempo run still lingering but I eased into the run nicely after 6 miles or so.

14.2 miles @ 7.44

Weights and stretching after

Duanington

10.11.2016


Wednesday

AM - 6 odd miles before\on the way to work. Its just over 4 miles door to door so I added the extra bit in St Anne's before heading off. Legs tired!

I don't normally wear the watch during runmutes but I want to make sure I don't let the pace creep into anything too fast on these runs so I've started wearing it as of last week.

6.2 miles@ 8+ min\miles

PM - Runmute home, legs feeling a little better and I had to check the watch a couple of times on this.

6.1 miles @ 8+ min\miles

Stretching\core afterwards

12.3 for the day


Thursday

Hill session day today.

10x60 seconds with 2\3 minutes recovery

Got a good warmup done in St Anne's and headed down to my chosen hill. It's not the steepest of hills but it probably just about does the trick for these workouts. Throw in the increased workload on the legs this week and a good headwind and I knew this would be tougher than last week ( 2 extra reps too)

Worked hard on all the reps here, tried to stay controlled, kick straight behind ( as opposed to loping side to side which I do naturally) and obviously push hard without losing control.

Tough session but the 1st rep was as difficult as the 6th rep....it had that kind of feeling to it. Pushed the last rep hard into the wind to appease the ego.

Paces ranged between 5.15- 5.50 for the 10 reps.

Finished off with some easy miles to bring the total to 9.7

Weights and core later

Duanington

13.11.2016

Friday

AM - Had planned a 6 mile early run before\into work but I was feeling the tiredness this morning ( general tiredness, not just the legs) so opted for a shorter straightforward runmute instead ( 4.1 miles). Had company for some of this which was nice and the miles flew by as a result.

4.1 miles @ 8+ min\miles

PM - nasty weather for this so I didn't hang around long enough to give myself a chance to back out of it, straight out the door after work.

6.2 rain soaked miles later and I arrived at the front door of the house fit for the tumble dryer.

Pressups and stretching after

10.3 for the day


Saturday

A night out the previous night left me stuck for time this morning so I basically carried the running gear with me everywhere I went throughout the day waiting for a chance to head out to get my session done.

As it happens I should just have left the gear at home...because it wasn't until I got home later that evening that I got out.

Plan was for the same as last Saturday:

4x8 minutes @ 6.10 pace w\2 minutes easy between.

I found this tough at times last week, notably when running into the wind on the coast, I toyed with the idea of running it around a loop in Raheny but opted for the better visibility of the stretch between Sutton and the Causeway on the coast.

The first rep was good, felt very smooth and comfortable
The 2nd rep was tougher, into the wind but still no panic, just harder work
Eased into the third rep a bit better - legs felt it a bit towards the end
Decided to ignore the watch until the end for the last rep, I wanted to see if I could control things into the wind better - I have a habit of pushing far too hard into the wind. I pushed too hard.

8 minute section paces
Rep 1 - 6.04
rep 2 - 6.07
Rep 3 - 6.04
Rep 4 - 5.59

Some easy miles before and after took the total to 10.7 for the lot


Sunday

Weights and core work earlier in the day then out for 7 easy miles this evening. Legs were a little heavy but I settled into the run nicely after a few miles.

7.5 miles @ 7.47 pace to bring the weekly total to just over 76 miles.

Duanington

20.11.2016


The days and weeks really are flying through, lots of good stuff happening around the various logs on boards and from my own perspective, another good week down this week. Next week will have a work-trip shaped spanner thrown into the works to deal with so I'm not expecting the same level of consistency with the training but we'll see...where there's a will...

Monday

Back to tempo running, plan was for 1 easy, 9@6.30, 1 easy and again I planned to run this on the softer surface of the grass in St Anne's.

This was a tough one, the ground was a little softer than the previous week, the legs a little more tired, the wind a little sharper so the mind had to be a little tougher to see it out.

Got there in the end

11.6 for the lot with 9 @6.26 average

stretching\core\pressups after

Tuesday

The long run is a funny one at the moment, an enjoyable first half but usually a tiring 2nd half and this was no different..I still enjoy the run all the same but the last couple of miles definitely pinch a little.

14.1 miles @ 7.44 miles

Weights and stretching after

Wednesday

AM - A tired and cranky 6.2 miles before\on the way to work

PM - A slightly less tired but equally cranky 6.1 miles on the way home from work

12.3 for the day

Thursday

Timed today's session to coincide perfectly with what felt like a sub zero ice shower straight from the arctic circle. The plan was for 10x 60 second hill sprints


Got "warmed up" with a few easy miles around St Anne's and arrived at the hill a shivering, saturated mess. Took me a couple of reps to get going but I got there in the end. FInished much stronger than when I started.

Reps started off around 5.40 pace and finished around 5.15 pace.

Easy miles afterwards ( in the glorious sunshine :rolleyes:) to bring the total to 9.7 for the day

core work and stretching later


Friday

AM - stuck for time, slept it out, the dog ate it...not sure which excuse to use but I shortened the planed run to 4.1 miles.

PM - A most enjoyable 6.2 easy miles after work

10.3 for the day

Saturday

Planned session was for 2-3 easy, 4x10 minutes @6.10 pace ( 2 min recoveries), 2-3 easy

Ran this along the coast in near perfect conditions, long may it continue!

Got the easy stuff done then headed off on the faster stuff. Worked hard, felt strong and in control of the pace, focused on stride and turnover more than anything really - aerobically it felt very comfortable which shouldn't be a surprise really, the legs did pinch a bit towards the end of the last two reps though.

4 x 10 minute sections

Section 1: 6.07
Section 2: 6.05
Section 3: 6.04
Section 4: 6.00

easy miles after to bring the total to 12.1

Core\stretching after

Sunday

Good craic at Albert College Junior Parkrun this morning, my youngest thoroughly enjoyed making her debut there under the watchful eye of Annapr and Murph_D - thanks again folks.

A few easy miles for myself this evening, some stretching and a little light work with the core\hips\glutes to finish off the week.

7.6 easy tonight and just shy of 78 for the week.

annapr

Nice to see you yesterday D! and great to see next gen Boardsies making their parkrun debuts Glad she enjoyed it.

AuldManKing

Duanington wrote: »

20.11.2016


The days and weeks really are flying through, lots of good stuff happening around the various logs on boards and from my own perspective, another good week down this week. Next week will have a work-trip shaped spanner thrown into the works to deal with so I'm not expecting the same level of consistency with the training but we'll see...where there's a will...

Monday

Back to tempo running, plan was for 1 easy, 9@6.30, 1 easy and again I planned to run this on the softer surface of the grass in St Anne's.

This was a tough one, the ground was a little softer than the previous week, the legs a little more tired, the wind a little sharper so the mind had to be a little tougher to see it out.

Got there in the end

11.6 for the lot with 9 @6.26 average

stretching\core\pressups after

Tuesday

The long run is a funny one at the moment, an enjoyable first half but usually a tiring 2nd half and this was no different..I still enjoy the run all the same but the last couple of miles definitely pinch a little.

14.1 miles @ 7.44 miles

Weights and stretching after

Wednesday

AM - A tired and cranky 6.2 miles before\on the way to work

PM - A slightly less tired but equally cranky 6.1 miles on the way home from work

12.3 for the day

Thursday

Timed today's session to coincide perfectly with what felt like a sub zero ice shower straight from the arctic circle. The plan was for 10x 60 second hill sprints


Got "warmed up" with a few easy miles around St Anne's and arrived at the hill a shivering, saturated mess. Took me a couple of reps to get going but I got there in the end. FInished much stronger than when I started.

Reps started off around 5.40 pace and finished around 5.15 pace.

Easy miles afterwards ( in the glorious sunshine :rolleyes:) to bring the total to 9.7 for the day

core work and stretching later


Friday

AM - stuck for time, slept it out, the dog ate it...not sure which excuse to use but I shortened the planed run to 4.1 miles.

PM - A most enjoyable 6.2 easy miles after work

10.3 for the day

Saturday

Planned session was for 2-3 easy, 4x10 minutes @6.10 pace ( 2 min recoveries), 2-3 easy

Ran this along the coast in near perfect conditions, long may it continue!

Got the easy stuff done then headed off on the faster stuff. Worked hard, felt strong and in control of the pace, focused on stride and turnover more than anything really - aerobically it felt very comfortable which shouldn't be a surprise really, the legs did pinch a bit towards the end of the last two reps though.

4 x 10 minute sections

Section 1: 6.07
Section 2: 6.05
Section 3: 6.04
Section 4: 6.00

easy miles after to bring the total to 12.1

Core\stretching after

Sunday

Good craic at Albert College Junior Parkrun this morning, my youngest thoroughly enjoyed making her debut there under the watchful eye of Annapr and Murph_D - thanks again folks.

A few easy miles for myself this evening, some stretching and a little light work with the core\hips\glutes to finish off the week.

7.6 easy tonight and just shy of 78 for the week.

That's a great weeks training - whats the focus??

Duanington

AuldManKing wrote: »

That's a great weeks training - whats the focus??

Thanks A - well the next race is the Waterford half (Dec 3rd) but training at the moment is not specific to any distance, its more aimed at getting the body into good shape for some more focused training in the new year....."pre-season training" is how I'm phrasing it to myself !

I suppose the focus is to PB across shorter distances with the aim of really attacking a half before getting back into marathon stuff later next year.

Duanington

28.11.2016

Monday

MP\Tempo day rolls around again and when I checked the plan to see what lay in store, my suspicions were confirmed – 10 miles @ 6.30 pace was on the cards.
Got an easy mile in on the way down to St Anne’s ,where I planned to run this on the grass again, then got started at the top of the park.
The ground is getting softer each week on these and I had a strong enough wind to keep me company for most of this one – at my back at times but in my face at others. Picked a few different loops around the park to make up the miles, the route in the end was honest – not too tough but certainly not easy either.

Splits worked out as :
6.32, 6.28, 6.26, 6.20, 6.27, 6.29, 6.25, 6.35, 6.30, 6.13
Easy stuff either side to make a total of 12.2 for the day

Weights and core afterwards


Tuesday

Long run night - the now usual 14 miles was on the cards. Picked a flat first half and rolling 2nd half for this route. Tired over the last couple of miles and I actually noticed my feet getting sore – ditched the new Nike Zoom Elite I wore and haven’t worn them since, finding the soles too hard\stiff for the long stuff on the roads\paths.
14.1 miles @ 7.43 min\miles

Wednesday

AM – 6.2 very easy miles, into St Anne’s and then onto work.
PM – 6.2 easy miles, ran home from work and added a little extra on to the route
Core\stretching later

Thursday
Hill Session – 10x60 seconds with 2\3 minutes recovery
Had a bit of time for this for a change so made sure to get a good warmup done before starting on the hill reps. Wasn’t feeling the love at all when I got started but I gradually got into it and as I did, the pace got quicker.
Paces started around 5.30 and dropped to 5.15 by the last rep.

10.1 miles for the lot, weights and core later.

Friday

A very early morning flight to London meant that I would only have 1 running window throughout the course of the day, this presented itself between meetings so I nipped out to Regent’s Park to do a few loops on the grass\trails. Forgot my watch but judging by the time, this was around 6.5 miles easy

Saturday

A late night the previous night, another early morning start to catch a flight AND a very tight running window due to family celebrations meant that I wouldn’t get my planned session in. I opted for some easy miles around St Anne’s instead.
8.2 miles @ 7.46

Sunday
No early start this time but I did have another late night the previous night (well behaved again on the boozing front though  ), by the time I got out late in the evening – I knew it would be pointless to try the session I’d put off the day before so opted for some more easy miles – the energy levels weren’t there and while I could possibly just about squeeze it in time wise, it would have meant chopping the warmup\cooldown which I hate doing.

7.6 easy miles along the coast to finish off the week. Only 2 of the 3 planned sessions done but another good long run and another decent week overall, given the hectic couple of days thrown in to the mix.
Just over 70 miles for the week, an easier few days ahead as the focus switches to Waterford at the weekend

tang1

Best of luck tomorrow D, looking like good running weather.

Duanington

tang1 wrote: »

Best of luck tomorrow D, looking like good running weather.

Cheers B - looks about as good as it gets alright, looking forward to getting a race in :-)