The main thing is keeping the main thing, the main thing

Swashbuckler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118237845#Comment_118237845

We're far more cultured these days 🤣

AuldManKing

Monday 29th Nov: Today was the day after the night before - My daughters debs, family & friends around at the house, then my & wifey out for dinner that night - probably a mistake as we were both wrecked after the day or 2 prep etc. The Debs daughter also had her B'day today.

Anyhow - despite not wanting to - I went out for a few miles, I could feel the doms - probably from the few miles on the lumpy side of the park at faster than MP on Saturday (& not fully recovered from the big session last Wed).

5.8m / 8.40 pace

Tuesday 30th: I was caught in a bit of a quandary today - legs still feeling a bit 'meh' and I knew that I shouldn't be putting the session off until Wednesday with a race on Sat - So I compromised and ran a different session.

The planned session would have had me doing 8m worth of Tempo (3/2/2/1) which is a progression from last week - which I felt fine with even though its well over the 10% guideline that JD espouses for Tempo runs. My compromise was 5x1m at T.

I ran a good WU of 5 mile to tire the legs even more and during this it started to bucket down.

I made it to the PP and the wind was blowing a gale and the rain was nearly horizontal at times. Not good for sessions in the dark with a headlamp.

2.5m of the session was down North Road / 2.5m Up North Road - about 1 min recovery +/-

Paces were 6.02 / 6.00 / 5.53 / 5.55 / 5.57

This was a horrible session - it felt rushed, it felt strained - the wind & rain dont work well with it being dark with a headlamp - certainly not as fluid as previous sessions with a headlamp.

2m Home and delighted that I got out and got something done - but amazing that on my jog home, I was nearly discounting the 'low volume' workout - its 5m at Tempo pace!! I gave myself a good talking too.

12.3 mile total

In other news:

I was meant to go to the US in December (work) for a little over a week - so I had wrote off that time as a recovery week (very little running planned) - it looks like with all the talk here of tests/quarantines etc that I wont travel - so that gives me an additional 8-9 days training time. I'll still plan a down week - just with higher volume of easy running in a week that suits me.

MY BAD

Nice 5x1. Winter miles summer smiles and all that good stuff.

ThePiedPiper

Travel plans are an absolute pain at the moment, we were planning on Christmas in Italy, disheartening. Have you decided on a spring marathon yet?

AuldManKing

Wednesday 1st December: Just over 4 miles recovery pace - legs were a bit 'meh' before hand - but felt brand new afterwards.

Pints and a meal in our local - of a Wednesday!!

4.2m / 8.50 pace

Thursday: 7 miles with 6x30 sec strides.

Ran the 'willy route' as its lit, no hills and a nice park for the strides. I done slightly longer strides as I want to incorporate longer ones into my plan as it helped Dathen Ritz with his cramping situation.

7m total.

Friday 3rd Dec: So apparently I have a race on Saturday!! - this thought crossed my mind as I got ready to go out for dinner & a gig in Town on Friday night. This was long planned & re-planned for a a couple of years. What an enjoyable evening - lovely meal, nice couple of pints, great band - home at 12.30am. Wifey watching TV in bed til 1.30 - great prep for a race the next morning!!

Prior to this - I went out for a shakeout in the newly purchased Alphaflys - which SB MADE me buy. I must say - my thoughts were - 1st 0.5m - I love them - after that - I didn't like them.

Done the strides in them and didn't like them. But that last 400m home after the strides I felt - hmmmm maybe theres something there............

One thing was for sure - I wasn't wearing them for Jinglebells.

I do want to try them on a MP paced run soon - both for the run but also for the recovery afterwards. They'll NOT be returned - I'll keep them.

3.1m / 8.10 pace

Saturday 4th: Jingle Bells 5km - report to follow - I loved typing that - an Actual race report.

3m WU/ 3.1m Race / 4m CD: 10m total

Sunday 5th: 14m with a good group from a variety of clubs who meet every Sunday morning - loved the company and the run.

56miles total.

AuldManKing

Saturday 4th Dec: Jingle Bells 5km

Chapter 1

This was perhaps the least anxious/prepared I've been for a race in a long time. Given that it was my first race since July 2020 (a track 5km), I thought I'd be a bit more anxious about it - but no.

Fuzzy Logic suggests that 5k Specific training, plus a clean living lifestyle and a good taper into the race will result in a 5km PB.

So I done my best to not do any of the above - by choice, as it wasn't a goal race and I'm trying to downplay training and racing in my mind as its not the most important thing in the world. And it is NOT.

Out on Wednesday in my local, a glass of wine on Thursday, out on Friday in town - wasn't great prep.

I was listening to Scullions latest podcast during the week about 'Excuses' and how 'excuses' can take the pressure away from the startline - but how the lack of excuses can add to pressure on the startline. This is exactly how I felt on the line for Jinglebells. (out a lot / windy / 1st race in 17 months/etc).

I arranged to meet Healy at the popes cross - were we had a good catch up before doing a 3m warm up. - This was amazing as the sheer number of people I haven't seen in 2 years - between the 2 of us, it was a chorus of 'hellos' and 'hi's' for the warm up. I love this atmosphere.

After some strides, we made it to the starting funnel - probably too far back, but ready to go.

Chapter 2:

As we were in the starting funnel - I realised I hadn't stretched - something I always done prior to a race - but hey ho - its too late now as I looked around and realised I felt NO nerves whatsoever - what ever the result - this was going to be a good day.

The blower went and we were off - the 1st part of the race is bedlam until you find your line. Took me a while to find mine. I noted 2 former teammates ahead of me, I don't think I've ever beaten both. A few sholder barges and elbow grazes and I managed to find a racing line as we approached the 1km sign at the turn for C'Field. I remember thinking F' sake - this feels tough - 4 more K's of this!! I think Healy passed me here.

I spotted my former team mate/pilates instructer/sports therapist/all round nice person, up ahead, I watched her running style - always on her toes - Flawless. She'd been sick the week leading into the race - so surprised to see her there and running so well.

I passed her on C'Field - but didn't say anything passing as it may of been cheeky? - I kept moving, spotting another former team mate up ahead.

I think I passed healy here - hoping he wouldn't pas me near the end.

Mile 1 buzzed at 5.40 - slowest in a 5k in recent times

I was passing quite a few people on Chesterfield - I recall looking at the watch at 1 stage and saying - there's no chance of a PB today - the breeze on C'field was blustery and a lad of my size cant really hide behind people.

As I approached the turn at C'Field/Ordanance Survey Road - I felt very strong. I passed the other former teammate, Sean, (who afterwards was full of praise for me - top man) - my pace increased - I noted a blind guy & his guide at this stage - they ran a fantastic race.

As I moved along I noted how strong I felt, I was getting faster. I also noted that I was only 1.5m into the race with a good way to go. I held my fire.

Mile 2 buzzed at 5.39

It was at this stage that I noted my 'current pace' was 5.30's - I was thinking wtf - I've never ran as fast in a 5k in the last mile - Down hill or not.

I was worried that I'd fade big time - so I put the brakes on momentarily, then speed up again - I noted a few people passing me at this stage, and decided that, no - it would have to be all out or nothing. I pushed on. I didn't notice the buzz for mile 3 and I wasn't watch checking. (but looking back - I see mile 3 was 5.26)

Mile 3: 5.26

5.26!! - I've never ran the last mile in a 5k as my fastest mile - but I felt fantastic and it was downhill, so why not. It was only in the last 0.5m of the race that I considered a PB was on the cards.

My only worry at this stage was that Healy, and my 2 teammates would pass me.

As I approaced the last portion by St Marys - I remember telling Healy about the Strava segment at Raheny and how it can mean a 6 sec difference in your time. I pushed to the max.

I crossed the line checking the clock, smiling to myself knowing that a PB was there! The last 0.1 was at 5.21 pace as I finished and wretched by the barrier through my big smile.

I crossed the line with 17.20 on my watch - confirmed in the results afterwards - I believe this is a 4 sec PB - but such a welcome one as I NEVER thought I'd get near to it again - especially off Marathon training.

Chapter 3:

After I crossed I noted a child across the road on her own, she was heading for the gate with no adult around - there was also a German Shepard off his leash and looking angry, wandering near the child.

Despite my exertions, my protective side took over and I hopped the barrier and ran at speed to the child, reaching her just before the rabid dog approached her - his teeth glaring and froth coming from his mouth - At this stage - I was watching the dog and the child ran out on the road, as a car approached - while the dog responded to her sudden movement by going for her.

I jumped for the child and caught her before the car, it was speeding. it just missed her - and the dog came for me - I protected the child and fended off the dog with some feng shui mind tricks - getting him to lay down while I carried the child to her parents, watching from behind the barrier - they had both PB'd in the race. The child had escaped from her granny - whom I noted lying an the ground and I proceeded to give mouth to mouth to - reviving her and saving her life.

As I approached the finish area, with the child, her granny and the dog, now on a lead made of daisy chains, the announcer called out my actions and about 1000 people applauded me as I handed the dog to its owner, & child to her parents, who were both tear stuck after raising a lot of money for charity in the race. They were actually 2nd cousins (twice removed) of OONegative.

I humbly made my way to get my top and find healy.

Chapter 4:

So - in reality (Ch. 3 included as I'm now a schoo in for Race Report of the Year) - after crossing the line and finding healy - we went on a lovely 4m cool down - solving the ills of the world - which actually included children, dogs and tears.

Delighted to have ran this - primarily for the social side of things - then for the racing - then for the PB - delighted.

Overwhelmed by the response on Strava - its a great community - I look fwd to the next one.

Murph_D

😂😂

Many congrats.

Wubble Wubble

Great report. I was waiting for this one. Bit surprised you didn't make more of beating JH, especially with ROTY sewn up it would seem. Also, my compliments (and GD's) on choice of racing attire didn't merit a mention ? Nitpicking, some might say...none of it takes from a top class run by you though. K especially is a good egg. Don't know if you read my report, but it was S's daughter who overtook me on the bend.

ThePiedPiper

Race report of the year, log of the year, performance of the year, I think you have them all wrapped up. Fantastic run, and hilarious report. You actually had me until the granny bit.

Dubh Geannain

Yep. I was in up until the poor granny too. Congrats on the PB. Winding up the speed to get there must feel pretty good.

MY BAD

Congrats on the PB. Great report too. Bravo AMK

ReeReeG

Hilarious! Congrats on the PB!

diego_b

Haha excellent, you had me going for a bit there on chapter 3!

Big congrats on the pb.

Swashbuckler

Hahaha brialliant. Similar to TPP you had me too...Very good.

As for making more of beating healy - shur he ran it as a tempo......

There's plenty of takeaways for you there lad. Without getting too philosophical - the 5k "struggles" in the past are possibly more mental than anything. Seems like the mental aspect is something you've noticed and tried to address...Good to see. I felt the same on the start line of Banna in August. Very little pressure, no huge expectations and just happy to be back in the mix. Harder to do with marathons though as you spend a big chunk of time specifically for one single race. One thing I will say, for me mental pressure + 5k effort are a bad mix..its very hard to go to 5k effort when you're not there mentally.

Another takeaway is your pacing......Slowest starting mile in a 5k led to your strongest finish in a 5k......Maybe you're the textbook negative splitter in the short stuff...Some people go hard from the start and hang on, others ease into it.

Anyway I dont want to be taking away from a brilliant race, and brilliant race report. It just seems like you might have unlocked a few key learnings there and would be a shame not to call it out specifically. Although I doubt a man of your experience would have missed those.

Delighted for you man. Great run and like I said on Strava you now have the 5k PB on me too I think. I'm determined I can get those three seconds back off you though....Maybe not any time soon.....Well done on a great race.

P.S. a little shocked there was no mention of shoes in that report!

ariana`

LOL, it's not easy to entertain this many people on a Monday morning with a storm pending so kudos to you for that firstly!

And secondly, a 5k PB, never easily got but you made that one sound kinda easy! Well done, many congrats and thanks for continuing to inspire and entertain around these parts.

Laineyfrecks

Great report...well done on the PB😊

Cleanman

Brilliant stuff AMK and massive congrats. Eeking out a pb like that must be so satisfying. Well deserved. I'd love a chat with that German Shepard to see how it's recovering from its encounter with the great AMK!

As an aside, very disappointed with the lack of a shoe report. I'm not going to lie here but it's probably going to cost you come awards night! All joking aside, I bought a pair of fuel cells based mainly on you enthusiasm on this log and I've been doing a few runs and really love the runners....so thank you!

AuldManKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118283292#Comment_118283292

Great to hear from you T - hope your making a comeback!! Nice to see you still read this - I do wonder at times if its just the usual 8-10 people who read it.

Did you run it yourself or were you helping out??

Cleanman

I think more people read this (and other logs) than you realise so please don't stop logging if you can!

No comeback for me I'm afraid....just the odd parkrun at a much (much!) slower pace than I was used to back in the good old days ;-)

I'm not involved with DH anymore either so I wasn't there (I was park running!) but sounds like it was a great event by all accounts.

I'll keep dipping in here to make sure you're staying honest......but really great to hear you're back to good health so onwards and upwards for 2022.

OOnegative

Seeing as I haven’t raced in over two years you have it easy for Race Report of the Year in fairness!!!! Superb racing to BTW, you certainly ain’t showing your age yet!! Well deserved Alan.

Duanington

Well done, A - I do wonder what you could land on now with some regular racing over the shorter stuff, I know its not your focus right now but you seem to be enjoying your training, fair play

AuldManKing

Thanks everyone for the comments - as always - we move on.

Monday 6th: An hour around the locality - I'm not missing the park on these easy runs.

7m / 8.27 pace

Tuesday: Storm Day - Didn't think I was going to get out, but managed to walk the dog twice (as I do every day now) and get out for a 5 mile run.

Wednesday: Session.

The planned session was for 8m easy + 5x1km - but I reconsidered this after doing the 5k at the weekend and thought something longer & steadier would be better. With the wind blowing a gale, I didn't want to do laps in the PP so I settled on a steady run followed by a 3m Tempo - I planned a route that would allow for this without too much work into the headwind - more of a side wind on a good bit of it.

1m easy and the legs were moving well, so started into the steady part - working down to MP'ish as the miles progressed. A route through Carperterstown and the Canal, back up to CK gate - saw me with 6 miles (6.59 / .53/ .41/ .44/ .29/ .31) - I took 20-30 seconds and then started into the tempo - that went better than I thought and I felt quite good on it. (5.53 / 6.01 / 5.59).

4miles back home at a decent effort uphill into the wind - legs feeling quite strong.

14.4 miles / 7.02 average

Thursday: Was going to take a rest day - but felt the need to run a bit (for the head mainly) - 5m locally at 8.30 pace.

AuldManKing

Friday 10th: Was running around Porterstown when I spotted an old team mate and current dog walking buddy :) - Done a few miles with him and headed home.

I can remember being home and thinking how incredible I felt for this stage in training - not as tired as normal and after Wednesdays session - the thoughts of doing a Sat session didn't phase me (normally leave an additional day recovery).

My wife was due to get her booster shot at 6.30pm - and she rang me to say that he had additional boosters due to No Shows - he lives on my road - so he dropped by on the way home to give me my booster - My 1st thought was - what impact will this have on my running!

I was due to go out on Sat night and had a family thing on Sunday along with wanting to watch EuroCross. So it was going to be tricky as the only day I had for the long run I had planned was Sat.

6m / 8.30 pace

Saturday 11th: I woke up feeling fairly good - but waited til 2.30 to head out, to make sure I had more time with nutrition and to make sure I was ok after the booster. All felt ok - the plan was for 5/4/3/2/1 at MP - and to get 20miles in.

My warmup miles were in the 7.30's - so I was convinced a good day was on the cards.

I started the MP miles from Whites gate - going down Chesterfield. The 1st thing I noted was how bl00dy warm it was - I was sweating early doors - (1 mile!)

After a couple of miles at MP - the effort was too high so I said I'd do some kind of fartlek - after about 20mins at MP - 3+ miles (6.15/6.21/6.21) - I had to stop and run easy - At this point - I should have went home. But didn't - because plans are plans!

I done about 5 mins at 7 min miles and then tried again - 6.13/6.24 and then stopped again and ran a half mile steady before going again for another mile (6.27). At this stage I was nearly 8-9 miles in and said I'd run the rest steady/easy.

The next few miles were horrible - the booster really kick in (in a bad way) - I had no phone with me so couldn't ring home to get a lift. I remember thinking how sore my feet felt from the pounding and my legs were really paining me at this stage.

A guy passed me at Garda HQ and I used him as a target - this got me 2 miles at 7.07/7.19 and then I took 2 miles easy enough to Laurel Lodge were the wheels cam totally off.

I had 16 miles done at an average of 7.02 pace - this was only a 'highlight' as the run was peppered with stops - I had done 6 miles at pace (or faster) in the run- so all was not lost.

The walk/run/slog from Laurel Lodge to Home was a 2 mile run - I think only 1 mile is on Strava as I was in a bad way - walking - stopping - jogging - stopping - walking.

Finally made it home - spent 30 mins in a shower to try to get warm, puked in the shower, went to bed for 2 hours. Ended up not going out as Wifey was also in a bad way.

But ended the evening with an amazing pizza and a couple of glasses of wine as the body came around nicely.

Not my finest moment overall.

On the plus side - I've had my booster.

17m total.

Sunday 12th: Legs were fairly tired and sore - so didn't run - watched all of Euro cross on the TV as the pre-planned family event was pushed out by a couple of hours (in hindsight I could have ran on Sunday). What a great Euro Cross it was.

Some thoughts (oversharing AMK setting up 3 pages of debate :) ):

(1) Some bad behavior creeping back in due to Strava led internal pressure - I must watch that or take another Strava break.

(2) not every long run has to be a huge long run with stuff. - Its ok to run easy during long parts of your long run.

(3) I have 10 weeks left to seville - plenty of time to get 20 milers in.

(4) And most importantly - I'm running Seville to get motivated to run over the Winter - I dont need to PB - I dont need to do the most insane training ever - I just need to be careful - I need to trust my plan (JD / CRU Plan / Steve Way) - I cant 2nd guess it.

I have something in my head that a run such as (using this as an example of my current thoughts) 2WU/4x1m Tempo / 8m Easy/ 4x1m Tempo/2CD is an 'Easy Workout' - when it is anything but.

Back on the positive horse this coming weeks.

ariana`

OMG that sounds like a nightmare, you did well to make it home. How had you reacted to your previous jabs? Asking purely for selfish reasons because I have my booster booked for Friday and am wondering what to expect in the aftermath - I was fine after the other two jabs so was fairly unconcerned until reading this 😱

Swashbuckler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118313712#Comment_118313712

Ah but he's old E. The elderly respond worse to these jabs......................

E.coli

Belated congrats on the PB and the training as of late. Definitely a great Zen feel to the log the last few pages will be looking back for tips.

Also best of luck with the marathon build up will follow with interest. I think JD got a bit of a bad rap around these parts a while back mainly due to the volume and intensity (including with myself) but have definitely come to appreciate it more and more especially if an athlete has a bit more of there wits about them in terms of listening to the body, smoores old log was a good one for it and proved hugely successful for him (and indeed alot of the crusaders folks to be fair)

Hope you are coming round after booster. My OH and parents seem to have been a bit worse for wear this time around with it but said passed fairly quickly thankfully

Duanington

That 5,4,3,2,1 session is a huge session anyway, A - leaving all of the booster stuff aside, did you really need it this far out?

AuldManKing

Thanks folks (apart from SB :) ) - Felt fine before the run but hit for 6 during it - came around ok but took Sunday off to fully recover. - Ariana, maybe take Saturday off and run very easy and light on Sunday.

DD - thats a correct point - I didn't need to do it and went off plan - so my comments around sticking to the plan are what I want to do going fwd. It throws out the question of the value of shorter races in a Marathon build up - you get a result but it does mess up your training and makes you 2nd guess your training the following week, rather than keeping the main thing the main thing.

AuldManKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118314292#Comment_118314292

yeah - one of the plans I have is a 2.40 plan from Cru (theres another one developed by James Cottle that I also have). Its heavily leveraged from JD and I'm pulling sessions from that as well.

Must take another read of SMoores log.

Back in Black

Belated well done on the 5k PB - they don't come around too often. Sorry I missed you on the day!