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Confessions of a never has been.....
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ThebitterLemon wrote: »Excellent session D, nice even splits, I find those types of sessions to be ball breakers. You're going well.
Bit disappointed though, that you didn't get in you 20 mins of pull ups
Ha ha ha - thanks TBL - out of cigars at the moment so the pullups are just not the same without them 0 -
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13.02.2014
I was a little stuck for time tonight so had to re-adjust my planned hill session accordingly.
I had planned on doing 8 miles with 12x 30 second hill reps ( running hard up the hill and jogging back down for recovery)
I ended up going for 7.5 miles with 8 x 30 second reps - in hindsight, I should have dropped some of the easy miles and kept the 12 reps.
Anyway, started off with some press-ups to fight off the fear of the cold then headed off to start off with 5 miles easy...I got most of this in on the grass which is always a bonus.
Made my way down to my chosen hill and started the reps ( into a strong enough breeze too which added a little resistance), I had planned to run this hard, not quite flat out sprinting but I wanted to really work my legs and get some intensity into the session.
rep pace
1 5:28
2 5:24
4 5:20
5 5:24
6 5:25
7 5:28
8 5:28
I was blowing hard on the last one to be honest and found them a fair bit tougher than the last hill session I did but I do think that I need a session like this every few weeks, I felt a little ill straight after the last one which I haven't actually felt in training yet so I suppose its a sign I was pushing up the hill hard ( I need to do that !)
Good session, good week so far
( also, lots more people out running tonight than previous nights - I think people are just sick of the wind at this stage and are getting on with it !)0 -
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15.02.2014
AM - 4 miles easy before the house woke, out into the wind, rain and cold...not a pleasant first 2 miles - the rain was hopping off my forehead and I had brain freeze until I turned for home
Much easier 2nd half to this one, wind at my back and I sailed home for a bowl of porridge
PM - 3 miles easy, lovely night for it - clear sky, full moon, breeze wasn't too bad for a change.
Both runs completed (mainly) on the grass too
Total miles: 7 @ 8:25 min miles0 -
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16.02.2015
Tempo night seems to roll around very quickly these days, I wasn't feeling the love for running but got ready and headed off anyway.
1.5 miles easy to warm up, on the grass at the coast road, then took off on the tempo section ( 6 miles), I planned to run these at the tougher end of my tempo range, especially towards the end
I was running into quite a strong breeze for the first mile and didn't quite hit the pace I had hoped but pushed on anyway. I took in the Raheny 5 mile route on this one so there was a decent climb or two and a couple of downward sections too.
Splits looked like this
6.53
6.47
6.49
6.49
6.43
6.29 - ran the last half mile very hard
1 mile easy to finish
Very happy with this week , 3 tough sessions and some nice easy\recovery runs which brings me up to just shy of 50 miles, all purposeful miles too.
Nice night again for it tonight 0 -
Duanington wrote: »
Very happy with this week , 3 tough sessions and some nice easy\recovery runs which brings me up to just shy of 50 miles, all purposeful miles too.
Nice night again for it tonight
Hi Duanington,
Was it by accident or design that you had 3 sessions & lsr in the last week? Do you think you're taking a bit of an injury risk with so many hard miles?0 -
Hi Duanington,
Was it by accident or design that you had 3 sessions & lsr in the last week? Do you think you're taking a bit of an injury risk with so many hard miles?
Hi Bulmers74, my "running week" starts on a Monday and runs through till Sunday. At the moment the sessions are LSR - repeats and Tempo ( at the end of the week) so if I include LSR as a session I run 3 per week. I'm very careful to run easy miles in between and am getting better at running actual recovery miles too, there are crossovers some weeks that mean I end up doing 4 in 7 days ( Friday- Thursday) but in general I stick to 3 per week.
In short, accident - definitely accident 0 -
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24.02.2014
Sunday - unscheduled day off
. the cut on the sole of my foot was still a little tender so I did the sensible thing and rested up.
Today - 7 miles with 3 tempo
Horrific conditions out there tonight and I was very thankful that this week's tempo was shorter than usual, even though the swirling wind and driving rain made it feel more difficult than normal at times
I've yet to figure out exactly how it is that the wind beats me to a pulp every time I try to run at pace during a gale. It doesn't seem to matter whether I'm running against or with the wind....if its strong and blustery, I struggle.
I started with 1.5 miles easy, started off with the first tempo mile into the wind, hit some hills for miles 2 and 3 then ran 2.5 easy to finish.
Tempo splits looked like:
6:53
6:37
6:42
Felt very good afterwards though and really enjoyed the 2.5 easy miles to finish off. Kind of how Stazza describes you should feel after a "cheeky little session"0 -
25.02.2014
A reduced LSR for me tonight, starting off with a few light weights\stretches\core work....with A Tribe Called Quest providing the soundtrack :cool:
Off down the coast on the grass as usual then back up into Raheny\Killester and home . Lots and lots of runners out tonight, which is always good to see
My legs felt a little tired towards the end which isn't surprising given last night's little battle in the gales but still a nice run on a lovely clear evening in Dubalin towin
Made it home just in time to see the end of another Man UTD horror show :eek:
Total miles: 10 @ 8:35 min miles0 -
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01.03.2014
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Kinvara rock and road 10k
I'd picked this one out almost straight after DCM last year as a race I wanted to run this year - and improve on my time from last year. There is something about running on the west coast that is liberating for a Dub like me, maybe its the total wildnerness you find yourself immersed in , maybe its the fact that you have the vast waters of the Atlantic on one side and the almost bizzare scenery provided by the Burren on the other side most of the way through this course or maybe its the daytrip effect, I'm not sure but I loved this race in 2013 and loved it again in 2014.
Going into the race I had trained well for the most part, I had worked hard, stayed patient and tried to keep consistent in my running - KInvara would tell me how far I had or hadn't developed so far this year.
I had mixed thoughts on a PB, yes it would be nice and I would be lying if I said I didn't expect one but that was tempered by the fact that my PB is from a very flat and fast course and I found Kinvara tough last year, lots of small hills and 2 larger hills that knocked the stuffing out of me last year.
PB going into this one: 42:27
Last year's Kinvara time: 44:59
Anyway, up bright and early this morning, I tend not to sleep very well the night before races and last night was as expected - 4\5 hours sleep max. I had the usual breakfast of porridge and peanut butter on bread and hit the road, convincing my eldest to come along for the spin
We made it down to Kinvara with plenty of time to spare, picked up my race number and sat in the harbour drinking tea while the crowds started to pour into the starting area.
The organisers gave plenty of notice and plenty of reminders to get people up to the starting area, I started a 1.5 mile warmup with about 20 minutes to go and made my way up to the narrow street where we would be starting from.
The weather was great, my training had been good so far this year and I was a year wiser - it all added up right? WRONG - this was my first 10k race in 9 months, I didn't sleep well last night, the drive down would surely have cramped my legs up and I was a year older, not wiser.....
I argued back and forth for a few minutes and we were off before I knew it.
Straight away I knew I had started too far back , the crowd was quite congested running through the village for the first .25 mile or so, I found myself running between cars to try and make up a little ground and get up to the pace I wanted to stay at ( somewhere around the 6:40 mark). Once we left the village though, things opened up nicely and I found myself ticking along at what felt like a nice pace. I was picking people of steadily over the next .5 mile before settling into a group of 3\4 runners who seemed to be at a similar level.
My legs felt quite shaky at the end of mile one though, the seeds of doubt were well and truly planted.
I was very happy with my form at this stage actually, no overstriding and I was moving well, even if I was doubting that I could last the pace. I promised myself to check my pace as often as I liked but to ignore the actual splits as they came along and did just that. The 2 mile marker appeared ahead and I kicked on with the group ( noticing that almost everyone spat in defiance as they passed the sign!)
The first hill at the end of mile 2 hit the field like an atom bomb, people in front of me started to slow but I stayed steady, keeping the legs turning over even though my lungs had to suck in a bit harder to allow them to do so. The field was well strung out now, I was moving well and passing people every few hundred metres but I was breathing, very , very heavily - which I found discouraging.
I passed the water station at the 5 k mark without even looking up, thinking back now, I probably should have taken water - even just to douse the raging flames in my head, I was hurting and doubting but was working hard and reminding myself of some of the sessions I had done since Christmas.
3 miles in, halfway through and I was faltering, I could feel my form slipping but was still aware that my strides were going well. I knew there were two big hills left to tackle so I tried to kick on while the going was flat, I also knew one of those hills would slow me down substantially.
I hit the first of the hill and decided to maintain the effort and not go too hard, I'd make the time up coming down the other side....it hit me hard, I was sucking seagulls out of the sky by the time I approached the top ( stole that saying from Mike Ross) and my pace was down to 7:15, my legs were hurting and shaky but I was on the way home, approaching mile 5.
Runners were very scarce at this stage of the race, I was running on my own in the middle of nowhere, the Burren looming on the horizon, every now and then a pocket of locals would appear and their shouts of encouragement spurred me on....the last mile was approaching, the last .5 mile was all downhill but I knew the first .25 was uphill and was dreading it.
I spotted a runner wearing a red top on the horizon and tried to focus on catching him before the finish, he was slowing and I was holding steady. He hit the last hill about 100 metres ahead of me and his body language told a story, it was f*cking hurting. I made my way up the hill after him, moving out onto a much bigger road on the way back into Kinvara Village, trying hard to relax through the pain on the way up ( can you try hard to relax?!).
I passed the guy in red just before entering backing into the village and knew we had a good downhill finish ahead now, more and more supporters were appearing and that helped me keep pushing on. I could still hear the guys feet pounding behind me in the distance so I knew he hadn't gone away and he probably had gotten a new lease of life with the downhill stretch but I could hear the PA system at the finish line now and the harbour was coming into view up ahead, I also knew at this stage that I had kept a good pace up, my aim of improving on last year's time was in the bag.
The small crowds got bigger and louder as we turned out of the winding downhill stretch onto the flat of the harbour, shouts of encouragement have a wonderful effect on me, I tend to find a kick from nowhere, 2\300 metres to go and I kicked on for home, the pain was gone and was replaced by a that wonderful realisation that I was nearly finished!
Finish line in sight, the clock read 41: something and I was a happy bunny. Crossed the line in 41:33 and grabbed a banana, some water and made my way around to my eldest, my bro and his kids who had made their way down to shout some encouraging words. We hung around for a while to cheer on some finishers then headed off for mugs of tay and hang sangwiches. I was shattered but chuffed, an unexpected PB and a big improvement on last year's time ( 44:59).
So , 1st race of 2014 and a very positive result for me. I am moving in the right direction and have made some genuine progress. I am aware that I have a long way to go before I get to where I want to be but I'm another step along the way.
( splits were: 6:45, 6:34, 6:31, 6:41, 6:45, 6:40 and 1:36)0 -
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