Confessions of a never has been.....

Swashbuckler

That's a hell of a response man. Thanks for putting in the time.

I had figured a large part of it was due to cross country but that was naive I guess. I should remember plenty was going on before I arrived on the scene here last October. Haha. You have a big base and years of consistent running.

Fair play to you for recovering from last year. It's been some road to recovery. I guess when you have it taken away for you it makes you appreciate it all the more when you get back training. High motivation.

With the Wednesday group I'd imagine the fact you have such a huge base already that it's not such a big deal to hammer sessions more regularly. My sessions are very controlled for the most part. I suppose it depends on the type of runner too. I came to Luke last November saying I was falling off a cliff endurance wise in races so the approach for one runner would be completely different than for another.

Duanington wrote:

The biggest factor is L though, he's the one that puts it all together, knows what sessions work and when, knows when to pull me back a little, checks in constantly on energy levels given my past woes, has the confidence in me to leave me at it at times too, tells me to cop on if I overthink a session but then. He knows where I'm strong and where I'm weak, its a constant learning excercise really - when I trained for Berlin 2 years ago, I was putting in mammoth tempo sessions week in, week out. It wasn't unusual to do 2x20 mile runs a week for a while, one being the standard long run and the other being a session. I'm told this time around it'll be different, we're working from a different starting point. I think there's a lot more to come really, a lot of hard work to put in and still a lot of progress to be made.

Have to agree on the coaching aspect. It makes all the difference doesn't it. I'd still be killing myself running ridiculous sessions every week if I didn't have the guidance. I'd also still be falling off a cliff in races too no doubt.

Big things to come for you man. Flying it. Great to follow the progress.
I guess the reason I asked the specific question was I'm toying with the idea of cross country next season as I think it's an area that I could really improve on. Also toying with the idea with joining a club but not sure I can commit to evening sessions just yet.

Anyways thanks for the response and best of luck with the training.

Duanington

Swashbuckler wrote: »

That's a hell of a response man. Thanks for putting in the time.



With the Wednesday group I'd imagine the fact you have such a huge base already that it's not such a big deal to hammer sessions more regularly. My sessions are very controlled for the most part. I suppose it depends on the type of runner too. I came to Luke last November saying I was falling off a cliff endurance wise in races so the approach for one runner would be completely different than for another.






I guess the reason I asked the specific question was I'm toying with the idea of cross country next season as I think it's an area that I could really improve on. Also toying with the idea with joining a club but not sure I can commit to evening sessions just yet.

Anyways thanks for the response and best of luck with the training.

I've no doubt that XC has played a part, P - L and some of the faster lads from the club had been onto me for ages to race more xc, assuring me that it would result in huge benefits on the road over the summer months.

I'm a member of a club but I have yet to make a session, I help out when I can though and the inter club\county xc races are hands down the toughest races I've done to date, the benefits are huge in my view though

The Wednesday sessions are great and it might look like I'm hammering them week in, week out but the truth is some weeks, I get dragged around the track by someone else - they are intense but lower in volume to sessions we were doing up until the group started this year, its a good balance I think


Sure the log is all about sharing training\racing thoughts really, no bother at all P - a good year ahead for a few people around the place I hope !

I really think you should join the club, race xc in the county\provincial champs and you'll see\feel what I've been waffling on about. Don't worry about having to make sessions

Swashbuckler

Duanington wrote:

I really think you should join the club, race xc in the county\provincial champs and you'll see\feel what I've been waffling on about. Don't worry about having to make sessions

Cheers man. I guess the way I look at it is if I join a club but make none of the training runs does it defeat the purpose? Or do some people just join a club to get access to these type of races that otherwise us non clubbers couldn't run?

OOnegative

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Cheers man. I guess the way I look at it is if I join a club but make none of the training runs does it defeat the purpose? Or do some people just join a club to get access to these type of races that otherwise us non clubbers couldn't run?

I’m a member of a club, have never attended a training session and paid membership again this year even though i’m living in Holland. I enjoy representing the club and having a club vest to wear.

Duanington

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Cheers man. I guess the way I look at it is if I join a club but make none of the training runs does it defeat the purpose? Or do some people just join a club to get access to these type of races that otherwise us non clubbers couldn't run?

Well I joined the club a couple of years back, gradually got to know people from the club and couldn't believe how many members just do their own thing, work\life gets in the way for most club members when it comes to training sessions.

There tends to be different groups that naturally gravitate together. For example, a lot of people meet for their Sunday long run but then not everyone can make that so now I see there is a group meeting for their long runs each Saturday ( which I still can't make !)

The races are priceless though in my book, running xc for the club as part of a team was a different level of competitiveness altogether for me and really brought out the best in terms of effort. It's the same with the local road races too, there are some real quality events that clubs put on.
Its also nice to give something back, I try to help out with club events where\when I can and will always try to support the club in races that I'm not running in too.

Maybe it isn't for you of course but I suspect you'd get a lot from 3\4 club xc races alone to be honest, throw in the odd session you might manage to get to and who knows? and yes, some people join so they can run those club races and for no other reason!

Swashbuckler

Cheers guys. Appreciate the advice and comments. Nice one. I guess I had just assumed that you would need to make at least some sessions or training runs.

I already know a few lads from one of the local clubs so might just reach out and touch base to begin with anyway.

Duanington

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Cheers guys. Appreciate the advice and comments. Nice one. I guess I had just assumed that you would need to make at least some sessions or training runs.

I already know a few lads from one of the local clubs so might just reach out and touch base to begin with anyway.

That's a good idea, P

Sure you can suss it out with them anyway, you might have the odd bit of company on a session or you might end up joining and running some of the club v club races. From the little bit of knowledge I have of your neck of the woods, there is plenty on in terms of club racing anyway

Duanington

05.06.2018

Wednesday

Jogged down to the track with the work crew, taking on the roll of chief water carrier today and just tipping around the track to get some recovery miles in.

Jogged home then in the evening nice and easy, beautiful day for it really.

8.6 very easy miles in total

Thursday

7 easy miles around St Anne’s, muggy !

Friday

AM – Took a slightly longer than usual route into work, 5.1 miles all easy.

PM – Took a slightly longer than usual route home from work ! 6.5 nice and easy

Saturday

Session day again, plan was for 6x1k off 75 seconds. Target pace was 5.45 but I decided to run this around the pitches in St Anne’s ( with a good deal of grass on the route) and at mid-day so would have been happy to stay consistent. It was hot and humid in the park so I knew I’d have to work a little harder to keep things on track.

Got a good warmup done around the park then got started on the session, feeling grateful of the bit of breeze that had picked up.
First couple went fine, started a little quick on both and copped on after 400m or so, much more relaxed over the 2nd half of both reps.
By the 3rd, the heat was starting to get to me but again I found that a bit of focus and control did the trick nicely

4th, 5th and 6th were hard work, all of which finished on a very slight drag, which isn’t much of a drag at all really but when its on the grass, the mind naturally strays a bit and the effort goes up. I overshot one of these by about 50m because I lost track of the finishing point too.

Was tired and hot by the end of this one but very happy with how it went
KM splits:
3.31
3.31
3.28
3.27
3.35
3.30 ( guessing this one a little, overshot it by 60\70m)

Finished up with some easy stuff to bring the total for the day to 8.5

Sunday
Had some work to do in the AM for a few hours which pushed out any chance of running to the evening, pretty late getting out and fairly tired too.
7.1 miles around St Anne’s park

Monday

No chance of getting out for the long run until late enough in the day and I really wasn’t in the mood for it by the time I was heading out.
Decided to take in a small loop in St Anne’s then head for Howth and take in the long climbs up there. ….forgot just how long those climbs were and how coming back down can be as tough on the legs too. Warm again for this one, although the breeze up on Howth head was nice and refreshing.
Started to tire a little over the last couple of miles coming back along the flat coast but felt much better when I upped the pace a tad.

15.6 miles for the lot.

Annie get your Run

Just catching up here, delighted to see your result in Dunboyne - and that's stopping to tie a lace too :eek: very well deserved PB.

Duanington

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Just catching up here, delighted to see your result in Dunboyne - and that's stopping to tie a lace too :eek: very well deserved PB.

Thanks AM, I'm an expert shoelace tier now

Duanington

11.06.2018

Another solid week down, a tough long run over Howth, a sharp session on Wednesday and a tempo +some at the weekend, all in pretty warm conditions ( especially Saturday). Warm weather training, you’ve gotta love it.

Monday

I was late enough getting out for funday Monday, busy day at home. I could easily have stayed on the sofa to be honest but sucked it up and got out.
A bit of a loop around St Anne’s before heading for Howth to run up to the summit and back down. I haven’t done this one in a year or so and forgot just how tough it can be, heading up is obviously tough because its 3 miles or so of steady incline but coming back down is strangely tough too because you know you risk hammering your quads if you go too hard.

Tired quite a bit around the 13 mile mark ( coming back onto the flat) but picked up the pace a little and found a nice rhythm which helped immensely

Finished up with 15.6 miles for the lot, a tough but very solid run

Tuesday

Evening run in the sun, post work – 7 miles all easy


Wednesday
Down to the track at lunch with the work crew.

Session for today was 2x1k, 4x500, 1k

Instructions were to aim for control and good rhythm on the first 2x1k and then start to push on for the 500s and the last k ( recoveries were 90 seconds for the Ks and 60 for the rest but in truth, they got stretch out by a few seconds each time)

Very warm on the track for this, although I felt quite strong for the 2x1k, we’d a slightly smaller group than usual for this one with a few of the faster lads away – which meant that I was running from the front for the session. By the time we were pushing on for the 500s, the urge to ease off a little and get some more air into the lungs was there, half the battle was trying to fight that urge off. I’ve developed a tactic here though, look at the ground just ahead and stay focused on the sound of my feet hitting it, a great distraction tactic indeed !

The last K was a real burner, the heat was up and the pace was to be as quick as the 500s, rather than push too hard from the off, I built into this one and by the start of the 2nd lap, I had built up a good strong effort, building up to a quick finish.

Really good session

2x1k: 3.24, 3.24
4x500s: 1.36, 1.38, 1.37, 1.37
1k: 3.16

PM – usual jog home after work to bring the day’s total to 10 miles

Thursday
Easy shtuff at lunch aroung Irishtown\Ringsend. Another cracking day

7 miles

Friday

- AM, easy into work, just over 5 miles
PM – 6.5 easy miles after work

Saturday

Session day; 3 mile tempo ( 6 min pace), 4 min easy, 4x600s (5.30 pace, 75 sec recovery)

As with last week, decided to run this early afternoon to train in the warmest part of the day…probably not the smartest thing I’ve ever done given just how warm it was !

Picked a route around St Anne’s for the tempo stuff which would have a drag over the first half but a quicker 2nd half. First mile was fine, started to feel the heat over the 2nd mile and was soaked in sweat by the end of the 3rd mile.
Jogged the 4 minutes out along the coast and got stuck into the 600s. Running the 1st way too hard ( and suffering in the process), the 2nd was just off pace and the 3rd was about right ( although messed up the distance and ran it a little short). Found the warm air pretty suffocating during the recovery runs and 200m into the last rep, a short and sharp pang in my right hamstring was enough to stop me in my tracks. Dehydration or fatigue…not really sure but either way, I wasn’t taking a chance and decided against giving the last rep another go.
In hindsight, I ran the tempo a bit too hard for the conditions, I probably should have eased back a little and allowed for the higher temperature\humidity, running it hard, meant sweating more than I needed to…lesson learned.

Tempo section (5.56, 5.56, 5.51)
600s ( 5.21 pace, 5.35 pace, 5.29 pace , 5.35 pace for the last bit before pulling up)
Good session, despite the messing on the 600s.

8.1 miles all in

Sunday

Met up with FBOT for some sunny miles around St Anne’s – good chats all the way meant the miles just ticked off nicely.
7.5 for the lot

Swashbuckler

Can I borrow your engine for a couple of weeks?

Duanington

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Can I borrow your engine for a couple of weeks?

lol - you wouldn't be saying that if you'd seen the state of me walking in the door after Saturday's session, P!

Swashbuckler

Duanington wrote:

lol - you wouldn't be saying that if you'd seen the state of me walking in the door after Saturday's session, P!

You didn't see the state of me after my session Friday!

Duanington

18.06.2018

Monday

Long run again, came across a dog escaping from its elderly owner on the coast road pretty early on into this run, outflanked the little f*cker and chased him back up to the waiting group that had fallen back in the chase…job done. Dropped off the bag and headed into St Anne’s for the rest of the run, enjoying the slightly quicker pace and the relatively cooler evening. An emergency pit stop around 12\13 miles ( must look at coffee intake on the day of the long run !) broke up the last few miles but finished good and strong on this one.

15.7 miles @ 7.22


Tuesday

Met FBOT for this one, good chats all the way around the 7.3 mile route. Legs felt better as the run went on, stuck to the grass for the most part.

7.3 easy miles

Wednesday

Session day again, down to the track at lunchtime with the group.
Session announced as 4x300s, 3x400s, 2x800s. 75(ish) sec recoveries and 2 minutes between sets.
Good group again today, took to the front for most of these with one of the faster lads being away for a few weeks - worked hard but kept it controlled. Instructions were to progressively work harder on each rep as the session went on;

300s: 54, 57, 56, 57
400s: 76, 74, 72
800s: 2.36, 2.33 ( these hurt like hell towards the end of both)

Really good session, I pushed hard on the 2nd half of the 800s and felt it after.

PM – usual jog home in the evening, 4.2 miles to bring the day’s total to 9.4 for the day.


Thursday

7.2 easy miles around St Anne’s – very windy and very warm out, bit of a sweatfest really.

Friday

AM – Nice run into work, just over 5 miles, warm out again but legs feeling good

PM – run home from work, had planned to do a little more but I didn’t have the time in the end, just shy of 5.5 miles

10.7 for the day

Saturday

Another session, have been running these in the afternoon lately to get some work in during the warmer part of the day but time was against me today so up and out pretty early.
Plan was for:

2 mile tempo ( 6 min pace), 4x400s (5.30 pace), 1 mile tempo, 4x400s

Had mixed feelings about this session when I saw it, liked that it was broken up but didn’t like the look of the tempo stuff. I had settled on St Anne’s for this so knew pacing could be an issue but if the effort is right and all of that….
2 mile tempo went well, used quite a bit of the parkrun course for it which gives a little drag over the first mile, settling off for the 2nd. Took a while to get the legs going to be fair and had to focus quite a bit at times, got there in the end.

Into the 400s around the rose garden, no real issues here, head down, run, don’t overcook.

Headed up the avenue for the first part of the next mile, ducking into the famed “tunnel of pain” and alongside the GAA pitches for the rest, finishing up in the rose garden. Tired by the end of this, starting to feel it in the legs.
Last set of 400s was all about taking it one rep at a time, keeping the head right and focusing on turnover\form. Gave the last one a bit of a belt for the craic…..and gassed myself out!

2 mile tempo: 6.04, 5.58
400s: 79, 79, 81, 81
1 mile tempo: 5.49
400s: 79, 79, 78, 74

Good session, worked hard throughout and had a little something left at the end
10.9 miles all in with warm up\down

Sunday

Out late in the evening for some easy miles around St Anne’s, very humid out but legs felt good.

7.2 easy miles

Swashbuckler

How's the leg? Bad injury or just a niggle?

Duanington

Swashbuckler wrote: »

How's the leg? Bad injury or just a niggle?

Seems to be just a niggle, P - thanks. A few spots of easy miles this week have been ok so a bit of physio tomorrow will hopefully iron it out fully.

Swashbuckler

Duanington wrote:

Seems to be just a niggle, P - thanks. A few spots of easy miles this week have been ok so a bit of physio tomorrow will hopefully iron it out fully.

Always concerned when Strava goes quiet. Modern day problems. Haha

OOnegative

Nice time last night DD, heat must have been a killer!!

Duanington

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Always concerned when Strava goes quiet. Modern day problems. Haha

I was actually down not too far from your neck of the woods for a few days, don't know how you lot cope with the lack of reception down there :pac:

Duanington

OOnegative wrote: »

Nice time last night DD, heat must have been a killer!!

Cheers, B - heat was pretty intense alright, its a great event though and we'd a good crew out from work so the pressure was on !

Swashbuckler

Duanington wrote:

I was actually down not too far from your neck of the woods for a few days, don't know how you lot cope with the lack of reception down there

Depends who you're with. Haha

Duanington

01.07.2018

Wow, where did that 2 weeks go?

Monday (June 18th)

Long run, bag drop after 6 miles or so then into St Anne’s to take in EVERY BLADE OF GRASS.
Typical long run, lethargic at the start, got into it as it went along, tired a bit towards the end then upped the pace a little to get me home.
Solid stuff – 15.6 miles

Tuesday

Just over 7 easy miles. Met FBOT for these so good aul chats along the way

Wednesday

Down to the track for the last session here for a couple of weeks. I was convinced someone was joking when I heard the session was 3 sets of 4x400 – off 45, 30 and 15 seconds!

Saw the Cru folks had this one previous night actually so when that dawned on me, I knew this was going to be rough. A couple of the stronger lads were away for this so I knew I’d be alone or a good bit of the session, no harm to have to battle it a little I suppose.

Really focused on consistency here, there was a very clear warning from the coaches before we got going in that regard, heroism over the first few will come back to bite you in the ass!

First set: 77, 79,81, 79

The last one was tough, a real sign of things to come

Second set: 77, 78, 79, 77

Real gut wrenching stuff again on the last rep

Third set: 79, 78, 79, 74

Ran the last 200 of the last rep pretty hard, finishing good and strong
Wrecked at the end though, a really tough session

PM – usual recovery run home, 4.2 miles

Thursday – very early start to get in my run today, just over 9 miles in total and a glorious morning for it. Used a very long route to work to get it in

Friday
AM – early start with one of the lads from the office, enjoyable trot around Ringsend
PM – Run home, lovely evening, just over 11 for the day

Saturday

Dunshaughlin 10k – not exactly the race I had planned.

Had been looking forward to this one for months really ( first timer) and having met up with Gosh, AMK and Adrian, we got a bit of a warm up done with the usual chatter back and forth. Lined up with AMK who warned me not to go out too fast as the first couple of miles are already pretty quick.

Not much else to say on this one except I flew out of the traps, felt great, started to track a few quick lads early on but also felt my right hamstring “pang” a couple of times on the way down the hill, I ignored it at first ( of course) and put it down to the downhill craziness but when we turned left and flattened out, I could feel a distinct tightness on the hamstring. It was a strange feeling to be bombing along at 5.30 pace, feeling strong but knowing that something wasn’t quiet right.

Another couple of quick, sharp tugs from the hamstring after coming through the village and I knew this wasn’t happening tonight. Pulled up, stretched it out a little and decided to run the rest of the course anyway, just much slower.
I was pissed off but it wasn’t the end of the world, it was a nice evening for a run ( although maybe too warm for racing !) and I’d have company all the way. I knew I was pushing my luck with the leg complaining so early on.

I actually enjoyed running the course, great support, chatting to people, taking a sip of water here and there ( which I never do . Around 1.5 miles from home though, I came across a lad out cold on the side of the road, a fellow runner had already stopped to help him but I stopped anyway to see if I could help. We got a bit of water into him , got him a blanket and got an ambulance on the case...he was in a bad way when we first got there but within 5 minutes or so, he was starting to talk a bit and was responding to questions thankfully.

Anyway, job done, myself and the lady that had stopped to help, headed off to finish the race. Bit of craic on the way to the finish line ..which looked class really, I had a small sense of disappointment crossing the line but its not as bad as a pulled hamstring I suppose.

An easy mile or so afterwards brought the evenings total to just over 10 miles, so not a total waste of time. Great looking event, I’ll be back for more next year.

Sunday, the usual 7 miles to round off the week...just shy of 70 in total all in but a hamstring that needs a bit of a talking to.

OOnegative

Surfing good?

Duanington

OOnegative wrote: »

Surfing good?

Too good !

Duanington

02.07.2018

Monday

Heading to Lahinch for a couple of days later in the morning so could only nip out for a few miles earlier on. Legs were very heavy though and I was sweating buckets. 4 "easy" miles


Tuesday - the morning after the day before, a couple of hours of surfing ( falling off a surfboard repeatedly) cleared the head but there was no running.

Wednesday - The morning after the day before, part 2 - except a little bit of hungover, serious wrecked running in the evening.

6.1 miles easy

Thursday

Docklands 5k


This was a bit of a nuisance race for me in all honesty, one race too many in a hectic training\life schedule …and I was feeling pretty exhausted after the few days down wesht....but …it was also the target race for a lot of the folks that come to our Wednesday track sessions, it was a team event, we had a pretty good team and I knew it would be a great occasion for the group as a whole.

Having spent the day giving our race numbers to our work crew, arranging meeting points and generally doing spots of organizing here and there, I finally got to get myself changed and head out the door for a very brief warmup. I wasn't feeling this at all, I was tired, probably still dehydrated from a few days of excess, had the niggling hamstring onboard and it was bloody roasting out - after .5 mile I mentioned to my warmup buddy that I was already feeling ballixed! D laughed at me and reminded me that he had a window of 10 minutes post race to catch a train for himself so he had little or no sympathy for me.

Group photo out of the way, we made our way to the starting area on the South Quays. Penned up in the blazing sun was bad enough but when word reached us that we were going to be delayed by a few minutes ( through no fault of the organisers), there were groans all around. Not a breath of wind for the next few minutes, the mercury actually seemed to be rising if anything.
I made a deal with myself not to go out too hard and just manage this race, if I could get through the first 2 miles without a niggle then I’d be fine but if I went out too fast, I’d be asking for trouble. A 10 second countdown and we were off, heading back towards the city centre along the South Quays.

I skipped by a few people and settled myself into a group pretty quickly, the 2 lads from my team were moving on up ahead but I was happy to let them go, I knew one was going to be running 16.3x and the other could be in the low 17s if he ran the race he could, although he was dripping with sweat just before the start.
Into a good rhythm as we came to the first turn across the liffey, good support here from the stewards and onlookers which was great. I had that horrible dry mouth feeling though and we were only a km or so into the race, this was shaping up to be a long 5k ! We had turned out of the sun though thankfully so while it was still warm, the sun was behind is now and we had intermittent spots of shade from the surrounding buildings.
A few boardsies gave a good shout out ( AQuinn and Murph) somewhere around the 1 mile mark. It was around this stage that I started to push on a little too, nipping out in front of the group I was with, following a strong looking group of ladies up the field, no sooner had I made my move though and that familiar feeling in the hamstring made itself known, my instinct was to back off immediately, which I did but I didn’t ease of totally. I focused on the chopping the stride a little, less extension on the hamstring should protect it , right? I certainly hoped so

I spent the next few hundred metres focusing on the stride and making sure I wasn’t pushing too hard, turned at the 180 degree turn and headed back towards the city centre and into the sun again. The group ahead were moving away for me a little though, looking strong. I thought about going after them because I figured that if I could hang on there, I’d have a strong finish in me too but I also knew that I was going to have to manage this properly. The heat felt worse than ever coming back along the quays, the relief of the shade was gone now and passing the Samuel Beckett bridge, I was starting to feel the effort, just over a mile to go now though and I had moved into 2nd place for our team. More great shouts along this stretch but I was willing the next turn to hurry up now; “ over that bridge then you can cruise on home, D” ….sounded so simple, I actually said it out loud too.

Finally we crossed the Liffey again and were back running up towards the finishing area. I was breathing very heavily, working the arms, controlling the stride though, listening for feedback from the hammy but it seemed to be working well now. As we reached the 600m to go sign, I increased turnover a bit, started to close in on a couple of lads ahead, I couldn’t go crazy with the last few hundred metres but I could still reel in a few people and take a couple of scalps.

A few more welcome shouts from the crowd here really helped to focus the mind a bit but I was gasping now, really feeling the heat and wanting this thing to be over. 200 to go and I moved past a couple of lads, looked at the road and just wound it up steadily all the way to the line, no dramatics, no burst, no heroics but I was wrecked crossing the line, official time of 17.11
Splits were:
5.30, 5.37, 5.34, (.1- 4.52 pace)

Got my breath back, drank a heap of water and went out to cheer some team mates home, great to see so many of them PBing or finishing their first 5k, some were making a comeback to running after years away from the sport too, great to see it. I was glad to be finished this one though, a messy week but a solid run in tough conditions.

We got word through later in the evening that we’d won 1st male team, and placed very strongly across the board really - I delivered the news to the group in the pub then snuck out the backdoor before celebrations got too messy !
Hats off to Crusaders, this is a great event – looking forward to it next year already.






Friday
6.5 easy miles - runmute home, roasting again...blah blah blah

Saturday

6.2 easy miles around the park, legs felt good, the mind was a little tired from the lack of sleep with the warm nights though

Sunday

Bit of a progression run to finish off the week, Ran down the wooden bridge and along the beach before heading back to St Anne's.

Started off at 8 minute pace and worked down to 5.55 pace over the course of 7 miles. Soaked in sweat by the end of this one

Finished off with an easy mile

Swashbuckler

So, hungover, no sleep, one leg, roasting heat. 17.11. I just dunno what to say anymore. Lol

Duanington

Swashbuckler wrote: »

So, hungover, no sleep, one leg, roasting heat. 17.11. I just dunno what to say anymore. Lol

Serious wind along the quays too, did I not mention that bit?

( all joking aside, the team dynamic is amazing thing, once I had the hamstring under control, I knew it was a case of just getting it over with)

Duanington

05.07.2018

Looks like there'll be a change of plan for the target marathon this year, a project at work has come up that I really need to be here for when it kicks off, said project kicks off the same weekend as the Berlin marathon....:(

While initially pissed off, I quickly came around to seeing the positive side of this...I'll just have to go and run a marathon in a new city somewhere! ( Dublin is out), it'll probably get pushed back now to November\December so San Sebastian and Valencia are the top contenders at the moment.

Monday

Long run night, 16 miles on the card and it was roasting again ( what's new?!). I really just focused on keeping this nice and consistent for the entire run - typically I tend to push on a little in the latter stages of these, not this time. Managed to find a little water around the 7 mile mark which I wouldn't normally do but I am trying to keep on top of the hydration levels at the moment.
16.2 for the lot, thankfully the evening had cooled a little by the end but I was soaked in sweat ( even with the top whipped off)


Tuesday

Run home from work, took the long way, drenched another tshirt

Wednesday

Track session, down to Irishtown with D on our lunch, 8x800s (off 75 seconds) on the cards. I had hoped to head down after work but the only slot we could get was at 12.30 - on a particularly warm and windy day.
Got a bit of a warmup done and got stuck in to the session. Instructions were to keep this at 5-10k pace and not go crazy, to be honest, I was pretty happy with those instructions at the start but by the 3rd rep, I felt a teeny tugging in the hamstring and D was starting to stretch the gap between us.
A little stretching on the 3rd recovery and the hamstring was fine, got through the rest without any feedback.

From about the 4th rep, this was hellish, really found it tough and would have been happy to pack it in after 5, I just couldn't stay cool or get air into the lungs quick enough.

Got through the session in the end, both of us in a bit of a heap, jogged back to the office to finish up

Reps were all between 2.42-2.47 so all in, a very good session to grind out (but still hellish)


Run home from work in the evening to bring the days total to 10.6

OOnegative

I take it your deferring Berlin D?