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Wednesday: An early 4 local miles to help the legs recover. Followed by 7 miles in the park later in the day.
In between was bad news regarding my madra which had the family in tears - we were making plans to go and say goodbye to her before another call to say she had somehow made it through a difficult operation.
A mad day really.
Total 11 miles
Thursday: A sweaty run around the park - legs were knackered - day 2 is tougher after a race.
Followed by a trip to UCD the see the miracle dog.
Followed by a nice dinner with the family - interrupted by a phone call
Followed by news that my days as a full time athlete will end in the coming 2 weeks
Followed by beers in town to celebrate.
A good day really.
7.2m@8.13
May finished with 243 miles and 3 races. I'm surprised to see the mileage that high given the races, but it teaches me that I can race well on decent mileage.
2 full months in a row running - 84 days of a streak. I have to make 100 now
Friday June 1st: Session 14x45s hills (90s)
The idea of this session was to give the legs some 'pop' prior to next weeks race.
I felt tired (whats new) jogging down to the Khyber, but one I started I got into the rhythm and got through them.
Someone painted a small bluey line just at the side of the road, close to where I finished the 1st rep - so that was my marker for the rest of the session.
After each rep I felt I was gasping for air and wondered if this is what training at altitude is like! It was so humid.
The last rep I really pumped the arms and blasted past the blue line - really blasted it. I would not have managed them all like that as it had me keeled over trying to get any oxygen into my lungs.
1st couple of reps were 5.20's (pace) followed by a lof of 5:30's - the last one was 4.57 pace and reminded me the importance of pumping the arms.
A Humid day really.
8m total.0 -
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Monday: found myself pushed for time for this - managed a few miles in the PP
6.5m@8.15 pace
Tuesday: Session: 3x1km/4x800 @ 5.30 pace (2min Rec)
Given that I've a race on Friday I was apprehensive about this one as normally race week workouts are lighter - the upside of this one was the 2 mins of recovery, which is higher than usual.
I jogged from Whites Gate to the 15 Acres and done a few strides & stretches before setting off.
As usual, the first 200-300m was at faster the 1mile pace - so took a while to get the pacing right.
The 3x1km were a bit faster than planned - target pace was 5:30 - I ran them in 5:20 / 5:26 / 5:26 pace (3.18-3.22 per rep)
Then onto the 800's - the target pace of 5:30 was easier to achieve here as I was boll!xed
A fly flew into my eye on the 2nd last rep - I was going into the wind and it would have been so easy to stop, but I didn't. Happy with that. The last rep with the wind and it was over.
4x800's - 5.27/5.27/5.30/5.29 ( all about 2.43 per rep)
the 2 mins R was generous - but it was still 6.2k worth of work at faster than 5k pace.
8.2m in total.
Wednesday:
AM - 4m easy recovery - 8.46 pace.
PM - felt a bit weak in the PP - meant to do a 5 mile easy run, but had to stop 2-3 times feeling a bit weak - hadn't eaten much that day and possibly not got the right calories in all week between a recovering dog and 2 girls doing JC & LC.
4.4m
8.4m total
Body back feeling good later on due to a sh!tload of carbs - then watched the show on BBC1 about carbs.....ah well.
Thursday:
Short shakeout and strides. Legs feeling ok - lets see what Friday brings.
With the new job, I'll be doing a bit of travel. This has me questioning if DCM is viable or not.
I was thinking about a 12 week run up to it (pardon the pun) - but I wonder if just keep ticking over with shorter stuff and tackling a spring Marathon is a better call.
I've time to decide.0 -
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AuldManKing wrote: »Cheers lads - its not the 12 weeks that I'm worried about, well it is, but only because it might be fragmented - if it was a longer build up, it might not be an issue - and I need to be putting the best foot fwd for the next few months and not turning down dinner invites etc.
However - the upside of not doing DCM if I go that way is doing a plethora of races, park runs and XC!!
Sounds not completely unlike what I'm intending for the rest of the year
Regarding fitting in runs while travelling, TbL's log has numerous examples of managing these scenarios. Best of luck later.0 -
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minus 2 secondsSwashbuckler wrote: »I'm expecting an update to the Irish pbs thread any minute now 0 -
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Friday: Patrick Bell 5k - Bohermeen
Pre race:
I had done this race last year and matched my PB of 17:38 - that was a windy day and I was in the shape of my life - so I reckoned that this year was a great opportunity to beat that.
The 'thing' about having a coach is that you dont quite know where you are on a plan - are you in a transition phase, in competition phase - are there even 'phases'?
What I did have were some mighty sessions behind me that were giving me comfort - the 2 recent ones where I was running 4m of intervals at 5:30 pace. I also had the Pat Finnerty 5k where I ran the 1st 2 miles at 5:30 pace - but the 2nd mile was mostly downhill.
So a lot of stuff going on in the noggin, but I was certainly going in with a different mindset, 'the best race on the day' - "no fear of failure" as I read on a different thread.
Filling the day was the 1st chore - out to UCD with the Miracle dog - clean bill of health with an excellent prognosis.
I even done the grocery shopping and sorted out the wifi in the house as well as hung up some pictures that were on my 'to-do' list for the past few weeks.
I made it to Bohermeen about 6:40 and got my number and done a warm up with Gosh (previously around these parts). Done some drills and got plenty of stretching done and the legs were feeling good.
Race:
I lined up about 2-3 rows back and the gun went. We were off. I had broken the course into 4 main sections, mainly to give me focus near the end.
1st segment: Start until the 1st right turn - 3 mins - pace was good here and I quickly found some space- I found myself running at a good clip and after a bit I could see the guys turning right - I daren't look at the watch until the turn - I seen I was in the 5:20's but feeling quite good. Fu*k it I thought, lets see what happens. Made the turn and into segment 2.
2nd segment: 1st Turn until the 2 mile mark - I was motoring fairly well here - the 1st mile beeped at 5:24 (fastest mile in a race) and I was feeling good. I kept moving and could see Gosh up ahead and also a guy who looked remarkably like BeepBeep from these parts. My 1st thoughts were that I had no right to be so near him, $hit - had I gone too fast? I was feeling good and kept moving. At this stage I was right behind BB and Maria McC was just a few meters ahead. Jesus I was feeling good.
However, as quickly as I was feeling good, I started to suffer - maybe we lost the tree cover, but the thirst was insufferable - I couldn't even spit! The pace was getting harder to maintain - but those ahead were coming back to me. As we neared the 2 mile mark, which is also a turn in the road, I had thoughts of passing BB - but didn't as he was acting as a good pacer for me and if I passed him and he then later passed me, would my head drop?
Mile 2 beeped as we turned - I didn't look at it but it as 5:33.
3rd Segment: This is where course knowledge is key - this straight is 4 mins long, so I was quite prepared. Last year I thought it went on forever, but this year I knew it was only 4 mins- I should be making the turn up ahead at 15 mins into the race - dont look at the watch until then I was saying. Just over 1km to the turn.
At this stage we were in the full glare of a 7:45pm sun - but it was very muggy and I found it difficult to get air into the lungs. BB was making a break and I tried to stay with him, but the legs were filling with Lactic. Let him go I was thinking - I didn't want to crumble in a couple of mins and risk a good PB.
I made the turn and knew that it as just over 2 mins away. I was into the final segment and it was go for broke time. I passed by a sign on the road which said 500m to go. Nothing in the legs.
As Mile 3 beeped - I chanced a look at the watch and seen that 'current pace' was ticking up towards 6:00/mile - the 3rd mile was 5:44.
3 guys passed me in the final 2 mins and I couldn't respond. Don't let any more pass I said as I passed 300m to go. Lets keep pushing.
I turned onto the track and you cannot help but put a burst in - I gave it everything in the last 100m. (The last 0.1 (actually 0.14) was in 43 seconds (5:18 pace). This was the only disappointment of the entire race. Last year the last 0.14 was in 37 secs @ 4.55 pace.)
Anyway - I finished with a nice PB of 14 seconds finishing in 17:24. I was absolutely delighted for a number of reasons.
I lay down for a few mins, trying to capture my breath before getting up to see some buddies hit their marks of sub 19's.
Bit of a warm down with Gosh, a good chat with GO'D (Raheny Shamrocks) and some burgers before heading home for a beer!
A good evenings work.
Positives from the race:
* Reinforced that I can run 2x5:30 miles in a 5k - (I didn't need a downhill as at the Pat Finnerty 5k) - and not die a death.
* Fastest mile, 2 miles, 3 miles and 5k in a race ever.
* Reinforced that I CAN do a tough workout on a Tuesday and race well on a Friday.
* Strava tells me I ran through 5k in 17:15 - a few were saying the course was slightly long. This gives me confidence for a good well measured course - maybe like a track.
* Runners are a nice sort of folk - I got so many messages on Strava, here, insta and whatsapp - a nice bunch you all are.
Saturday: A buddy of mine who I have mentioned here a few times, Fletch, was doing his 100th Parkrun, so I was up early and jogged up to Hartstown to help him celebrate it.
I jogged around with the famous Emilia, who is also a fab cake maker, and happened to meet a guy who turned out to be Wowzer from these parts. Apparently he's had significant spinal surgery!!
Had some of Emilias (& Fletchs) cakes and jogged home. Fletch was 1st finisher, Parkrun PB and a course record on the new course.
A good 8.3m @ 8:32 pace.
Sunday: A significant run this - my last as a full time athlete. Thank God for that as the money was terrible.
The 1st 6 miles were far too fast - the guys I was running with were out earlier and were well warmed up. 6miles at 7:05 pace!!
I slowed in down when I met the 8:45am group and a more sedate pace followed.
total: 14 miles at 7:28.
54m and a 5k PB for the week.0 -
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I get the continuous improvement/ ongoing approach without an end point but just wondering do either of you have any major target races in the pipeline....the sort where you are hugely targetting it, resting, tapering and not doing big sessions 3 or 4 days beforehand?
What I'm figuring out is that there's a correlation to being too rested versus being 'primed'.
I would NEVER have thought that I'd of ran a 5k PB after the session I done - but I did.
If I had of done a 'softer session' midweek, would I have gained a few more seconds - I don't really know. I've tapered in the past and ran well but lately, I find that my worst runs are when I taper (or too much taper).
Luke might jump in to this with his thoughts if he's not changing nappies.
I'm targeting (My A race) a good 10k PB for Dunshaughlin, so I'll be very interested to see what Coach has in store for me..............probably do 15k at 5k pace the night before . And it'll work. 0 -
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