Be still my beating heart

rom

HelenAnne wrote: »

I just think saying to yourself, 'I have no natural ability, and that limits me' can hold you back.

+1

Self confidence is all you need and this constant putting yourself down ain't good. Find a way to break this cycle and it will all start to happen. Have been there myself and it's magic when it happens. It could be listening to the relentless positivity of a running podcast, a club, other positive runners, running community by doing regular races,reading a book where someone overcomes adversity etc but you need to get it from somewhere.

I listen to trail runner nation and marathon talk. Both give me romantic ideas of running races all over the world and doing great times. I find it great to be a dreamer.

yaboya1

TRR wrote: »

They obviously have some natural ability but everyone does! They work really hard and most of all have lots of fun doing it. It isn't a chore for them at all!

+1 to this.
The day running becomes a chore for me is the day I pack it in. Enjoying it is the main thing and if you're doing that, the chances are you'll improve automatically (this goes for most things in general life).

Ososlo

Thanks for the posts.
Not sure when I ever said running was a chore and I didn't enjoy it?
I relish every step and my only problem is that I love it so much I want to do too much.

Gavlor

If you want my tuppence worth (you're getting it anyway!) you should stop logging for a few months and just take/seek advice from your coach.

Logging every bad session/emotion is counter productive

rom

Gavlor wrote: »

If you want my tuppence worth (you're getting it anyway!) you should stop logging for a few months and just take/seek advice from your coach.

Logging every bad session/emotion is counter productive

Reading Ryan Hall's book would be good too if you can filter out the religion.

Murph_D

rom wrote: »

Reading Ryan Hall's book would be good too if you can filter out the religion.

Thanks for the warning on that one. I'm afraid my Jesus filter is broken beyond repair.

Ososlo

Was tempted for a while to abandon the log but that'd be like giving in and where I come from you fight your corner and make sure you have the last say:p
Anyway, I miss my log. I like my log. It works for me and just adds to the enjoyment I get from my running. I don't really agree with my honesty on the log being counter productive, to be honest, in fact it's quite the opposite!
If my log/training/approach/coaching bothers anyone a lot then it's really quite simple - IGNORE ME!.
There's plenty of room for us all around here.

Tuesday 29 July
35 mins easy w/6 strides 10:21min/mile
Poor sleep for last 2 nights so fairly tired all day and neck really sore from tiredness and stress but enjoyable little trot all the same. Certainly felt better after it than before.

Wednesday 30 July 10:15min/mile
45 mins easy w/6 strides
Warm enough, wore too many clothes. Lucky guys with their topless runs. Sometimes life just ain't fair...:(

Thursday 31 July
30 mins easy
Monthly roundup:
140 miles for the month.
5k pb
2 x Dr. Billy attacks

Friday 1 Aug
30 mins recovery effort 10:47min/mile
Threw in a few 10 sec strides. Right calf a bit tight. Foam rolled it to the point of bruising it last night to make it sorer! I almost overdid it but it did feel better the next day.

Saturday 2nd Aug
3m w/u, Parkrun, 3 m c/d
Another bit chipped off. Getting there- 24:48. It's taking me a lot longer than I hoped for me to get my original target of sub 24 this summer but it's going in the right direction. Arrived late due to flooding on the roads in Santry and had to start right at the back and was a bit panicked. Route was flooded in a few parts so we had to run on the grass for some of it. Luckily I didn't wear my racing shoes as I find I slip a lot in them in wet conditions so just not worth taking the chance of slipping and falling which happened me before in a session.
A good workout but I know I'm capable of much better but I've yet to prove that to myself in a race. My training suggest I should be performing a lot better in races. I have another 5k in a few weeks to hopefully make some more gains. I'll get the hang of it eventually... I do feel that my race nerves are holding me back a lot and they haven't improved over the 3 races I've done in the last few weeks. This third race was just as bad for nerves as the first one I did. I've another 3 races to do over the next while, so hopefully it'll get a bit easier in time.

Sunday 3 Aug
Week One, Day One of Couch to 5k
Stazza told me to wipe the slate clean and start at the very beginning again:D
Actually my mother wants to take up a bit of running at the grand old age of 60 odd. She was a very fast runner as a child and used to win all her school races unlike her daughter so she seems to have a bit of natural speed. Apparently we inherit our mitochondria from out mothers! Maybe it can skip a generation or perhaps I'm adopted!
She awoke with her first sports injury this morning having not run a step for 50 odd years - a sore calf. It must have been nerves! But she was determined to run anyways. She said nothing was going to stop her from running today. I like that attitude! After her morning cigarette:rolleyes: and donning her makeup (I'm my mother's daughter in that respect), we headed for the park looking good:D. 5 mins walk and then alternating 60 sec jogging with 90 sec walking. 8 one min reps of running and she did great. She could have done another few and I told her to put a bit of welly into the last one if she wanted and she tore off ahead of me! She's still got the speed:cool:
pm: 40 mins easy. This morning served as my recovery run so felt I could allow myself to enjoy another little trot. Legs don't feel like I did a race yesterday. I think maybe I'm just not pushing myself enough...
Weekly total: 36 miles

Monday 4 August
11 miles easy with 6 x 45 sec strides 10:05min/mile
Woke up feeling wonderful and no delayed ill-effects from the race still so wanted to do a session. Was advised not to do a session so a longer run was suggested instead which I thoroughly enjoyed. Supposed to be 10 miles but forgot where I had put the car (blonde moment:o) but delighted I had an excuse to do an extra one:)
Really focused on my form and used the advice I got this morning to run with 'light feet' and not plod. Kept this strategy in mind for the whole run and while I was not purposely trying to run faster, it did turn out a bit faster than normal longer runs for the same effort. Included as many hills in the Phonenix Park as possible to challenge myself a little more.

Tuesday 5 August
4 miles easy
Long day childminding (how do you people do this full time) and I was wrecked and broke. Managed to perk up for a run this evening though. It was Elbow Night in the Demesne but I did notice a distinct improvement in the formation of the ladies' running groups. Perhaps I had something to do with that;) Felt like I was being pushed along on this run tonight and pace was just under 10 which is fast for me for easy effort but it certainly felt very easy.

Thanks for the very kind pms and offers over the past week. My Dance Running Card is certainly full for the next while. TbL would be jealous! Pity I'm such a unsociable runner but maybe that'll change soon...There ia a truly special group of people on this forum and it would be nice to go for a jog with one or two sometime in the future or get some help with a session.
1044 - yearly total

Stazza

Just want to point out that the link to FH's article about mitochondria etc is very selective in its quotes from the relevant research. Frank selected certain elements from the papers to support his method of training. He omitted several points, which show there's more to it...

And if anybody reads the rest of his articles, which I suggest they do, bear in mind that Frank was dogmatic/controversial/brilliant. It's interesting to read Frank's stuff and then read John Kellogg's work: they are polar in their approaches and yet both very successful and respected within elite circles.

Talking of elites - good to see you posting again and well done on the pb. Go on, tell the good folks how much you've sliced off your pb in the two 5k races you finished?

Ososlo

Stazza wrote: »

Just want to point out that the link to FH's article about mitochondria etc is very selective in its quotes from the relevant research. Frank selected certain elements from the papers to support his method of training. He omitted several points, which show there's more to it...

And if anybody reads the rest of his articles, which I suggest they do, bear in mind that Frank was dogmatic/controversial/brilliant. It's interesting to read Frank's stuff and then read John Kellogg's work: they are polar in their approaches and yet both very successful and respected within elite circles.

Talking of elites - good to see you posting again and well done on the pb. Go on, tell the good folks how much you've sliced off your pb in the two 5k races you finished?

Thanks. 62 seconds and counting...

Duanington

well now that is progress, well done !

RedRunner

Well done in the park run. Good to read lots of positivity here;) Many more improvements to come! That's cool to be able to run with the Ma!

My own Mother told me the other day she had signed up for DCM!:eek:
I haven't even signed up yet!

Ososlo

RedRunner wrote: »

Well done in the park run. Good to read lots of positivity here;) Many more improvements to come! That's cool to be able to run with the Ma!

My own Mother told me the other day she had signed up for DCM!:eek:
I haven't even signed up yet!

Well mine lives in a different county so it's up to her now to continue it on her own. I've given her a weekly plan and I'll be checking up on her progress regularly!
Does your mother run currently?

RedRunner

Ososlo wrote: »

Well mine lives in a different county so it's up to her now to continue it on her own. I've given her a weekly plan and I'll be checking up on her progress regularly!
Does your mother run currently?

Ah no, I forgot to mention in my post that she will be walking it. It's a big challenge for her to take on all the same and I hope she prepares well. She walks regularly and has done 30k in one day before when she did part of the Camino de Santiago so hopefully she will be ok.

rom

Ososlo wrote: »

Pity I'm such a unsociable runner but maybe that'll change soon...There ia a truly special group of people on this forum and it would be nice to go for a jog with one or two sometime in the future or get some help with a session.

A running club is simply boards in real life ;D

Ososlo

rom wrote: »

A running club is simply boards in real life ;D

hey let's just leave it for now.........

Lovely weather we're having:)

Ososlo

RedRunner wrote: »

Ah no, I forgot to mention in my post that she will be walking it. It's a big challenge for her to take on all the same and I hope she prepares well. She walks regularly and has done 30k in one day before when she did part of the Camino de Santiago so hopefully she will be ok.

Cool. Good luck to her.
I'm signing mine up for 2015!

Ososlo

Wednesday 6 August
9.86 miles
6 x (3mins @5k, 1 min jog, 1 min @3k) 3 min jog recoveries
aka lactate shuffle session

Excited about this for the last 24 hours. Didn't really know what it would be like in reality by just looking at it on paper. Ran this session purely by feel ignoring the watch but did hit lap to review paces afterwards. This session was to be all about effort and working hard. Paces vary a lot as I did out and back reps as I wanted to run on the shady bit on the Chapelizod road as it was very sunny at mid-day so every first rep is into wind and a slight incline and every second one with the wind on my back.
Going to wear the heavier traning shoes for all my sessions too and just save the racing shoes for races to give me a bit of a psychological boost on the day.

2.5 miles w/u @ 10:30, 10:09, 10:15 (felt good on the warm up. Lots of very friendly runners about the Phoenix Park at mid-day today. I think nearly every sinlge one said hello or gave a slight nod today. Great to see people in such good form. Funny but the runners always seem to appear the happiest people I come across on a run.

3 mins @5k 8:05 (into wind, slight incline)
1 min @3k 7:58

3 mins @5k 7:52 (wind at back, slight decline)
1 min@3k 7:21

3 mins @5k 8:01
1 min @3k 7:44

3 mins @5k 7:42
1 min @3k 7:22

3 mins @5k 8:06
1 min @3k 7:54

3 mins @5k 7:52
1min @3k 7:40

c/d 10:32, 10:43, 9:47

I stayed very relaxed for the reps and kept with my 'light feet' running form mantra and felt really good until the 5th rep where I struggled a tiny bit towards the end but managed to focus on the job at hand and concentrated on form and breathing. I did walk for about 15 seconds of the recovery after the 5th rep but was able to pick it up for the 3k rep without too much hassle. Found the 3 min recoveries between sets ample to have a little sip of drink and was able to jog all the rest of the recoveries and was well rested and prepared to tackle the next rep and feeling good.
I must say I did really enjoy that a lot and maybe a little more than I should have so perhaps should have worked harder for the reps but I wanted to ensure I'd have enough gas left in the tank to finish the latter reps in the session strongly. I did find myself running a bit too hard at times and as the last race was fresh in my memory, I imagined myself in mile 2 of the race and held back the effort accordingly so it stayed at 5k effort and not faster.
Could easily have done another few reps...
So that was 24 mins of 5k and 3k effort running altogether. Happy out with that!

I found I was a bit shagged on the cooldown jog back to the car. Unfortunately it involved a lot of uphill running and hate to admit this but did have to walk for a a few seconds here and there in the second last mile up through the hilly bits in the park to get back to the car. I hate having to walk at all on any kind of run but so be it, the workout had finally caught up with me I think. I felt super duper on the last mile so finished well.
Some more fun workouts to look forward to in the next week. Can't wait:D

Daily total: 9:86 miles
(I'd normally do a double today but gonna trust the boss on this one and hold back. I'm also going to heed to the letter about my recoveries from now on and will take 2/3 easy days between sessions to give myself the best opportunity of recovering well and letting my body gain the most benefit from the sessions. I'm allowed do the odd double but only on certain days but will only do them if feeling 100%)

tang1

Great session, nice going.

yaboya1

I was in the park a couple of hours before you and it was starting to get pretty warm. Can only imagine what it was like at midday. Nice work.

Laois_Man

Ososlo wrote: »

hey let's just leave it for now.........

Lovely weather we're having:)

I'm the exact same. I'm a reclusive weirdo about my running. I know it would bring me on massively if I joined a club but I just don't want to do it.

Although I do want to get my son into a club when he's a bit older so I'll probably have to bite the bullet myself.

barryoneill50

I love the look of that session!
What's this light feet lark about O ?

Ososlo

barryoneill50 wrote: »

I love the look of that session!
What's this light feet lark about O ?

I have a tendency to plod so I'm trying to change that regardless of what pace I'm doing or what elevation I'm running. I'm trying to be quicker/lighter on my feet so think 'running on hot coals'! I think the less contact you have with the ground the better it is for running form and running economy.

I'm sure you'll get to try that session at some point;)

saucyjack

Ososlo wrote: »

I think the less contact you have with the ground the better it is for running form and running economy.

Don't know if it's of interest Ososlo but the newer Garmins gather a ton of data on 'vertical oscillation' (up and downy-ness), cadence and ground contact time. Can't say I pay much attention (got a FR 620 as a gift and most of the data is wasted on me) but I remember much earlier in your log / the DCM 13 thread you were basing a lot of training on HR zone data etc so might be worth a goo. Great log BTW!

Ososlo

saucyjack wrote: »

Don't know if it's of interest Ososlo but the newer Garmins gather a ton of data on 'vertical oscillation' (up and downy-ness), cadence and ground contact time. Can't say I pay much attention (got a FR 620 as a gift and most of the data is wasted on me) but I remember much earlier in your log / the DCM 13 thread you were basing a lot of training on HR zone data etc so might be worth a goo. Great log BTW!

I've got me trusty 305 antique watch and I'll be sticking with it until one of us collapses:D
But many thanks for that! I'll bear that in mind for the next one I buy!
Cheers!

pconn062

Ososlo wrote: »

I have a tendency to plod so I'm trying to change that regardless of what pace I'm doing or what elevation I'm running. I'm trying to be quicker/lighter on my feet so think 'running on hot coals'! I think the less contact you have with the ground the better it is for running form and running economy.

I'm sure you'll get to try that session at some point;)

Have you shifted from a heel strike gait to a forefront/landing on the ball of your foot gait?

Ososlo

pconn062 wrote: »

Have you shifted from a heel strike gait to a forefront/landing on the ball of your foot gait?

Nope. I don't think I was ever a heel-striker... was told by the guy in AK that I had a pretty good foot landing.
I'm just concentrating more on quicker, lighter footsteps.

pconn062

Ososlo wrote: »

Nope. I don't think I was ever a heel-striker... was told by the guy in AK that I had a pretty good foot landing.
I'm just concentrating more on quicker, lighter footsteps.

Ah, I understand. That's the first step towards becoming a track runner.

SamforMayo

pconn062 wrote: »

Ah, I understand. That's the first step towards becoming a track runner.

Or a boxer. Fly like a butterfly....

barryoneill50

SamforMayo wrote: »

Or a boxer. Fly like a butterfly....

Or a ballet dancer...

Ososlo

barryoneill50 wrote: »

Or a ballet dancer...

Ha ha one of my sisters is a ballet dancer. Me...well more a chance of being a boxer than a track runner or a ballet dancer. I'm not a bad little fighter

Laois_Man

Ososlo wrote: »

I'm not a bad little fighter

Sounds like it's been put to the test.
I sense a very interresting story there!!!

You'll have to come down to the Parkrun in Kilkenny when it gets going in October and I'll give ya a race

Ososlo

Laois_Man wrote: »

Sounds like it's been put to the test.
I sense a very interresting story there!!!

You'll have to come down to the Parkrun in Kilkenny when it gets going in October and I'll give ya a race

Sounds like a plan! Hopefully you'll be thinking about marathon tapering though at that stage! Fingers crossed!

Ososlo

Thursday 7 August
35 mins recovery
Legs felt super after Wednesday's session. Sleep pretty patchy however so while the body and legs felt good and rested today, the mind felt shattered. Skipped off work a bit early to get home in time to avoid the unleashing of the club runners into my local park but got waylaid on the way so I came face to face with the usual crew in the usual spot. Now there is a DEFINITE improvement and most of them were in lovely orderly groups. There was still one group of nattering women sprawled a bit further out on the path, but in the main they were in neat pairings of 2s and keeping very definitely to one side of the paths:) Result!
Hot, wet and sticky one this... I normally run with headphones in but didn't today. Funny how you feel a lot more exposed without them when you're used to them..

Friday 8 August
40 mins easy
Nightmares back again:( It was absolutely terrifying and took me ages to get back to sleep. I was completely terrorised. Even though I did get a good 7 hours last night the quality of the sleep was dreadful so I felt rotten all day. Really poor form and wrecked tired. The run this evening perked me up a little:D

Took the hr monitor for this just to see what's what. I know you can't tell much from readings for one run but it confirmed to me that easy pace is early 10s these days which is an improvement. I've been recording some really low resting heart rates lately too. Normally it's 50ish but it's around 46 the last week or so so I'm relaxed but very very tired:)
Easy tomorrow and fun on Sunday!

Ososlo

Saturday 9 August
Didn't sleep more than a few hours Friday night and had to go wedding dress shopping with my mother which is a harder undertaking than 4 x 1 mile reps as I hate shopping so much but no greater love... so decided to give myself a day off completely and not just force a run for the sake of it. Looking at my weekly mileage total just now I'm glad I did as I've done a bit too much this week. Dress purchased within an hour so not too painful and managed to avoid the cocktails the others were having in celebration, and had myself a veggie juice instead with spinach, courgette, broccoli, lemon juice, apple, kale, celery, parsley, ginger, beetroot and carrot. Absolutely delicious! Wish I could make them like that. Mine always taste vile:(

Sunday 10 August
5 x 90 secs hard (off 60 sec rec), 3 min jog, 6x30secs hard

This was f'king hard! I dunno why, but I thought this would be quite easy but far from it!!! A lot of htfu was required today. I did over 4 miles warmup which was maybe a tad long but logistically it just worked out that way today. I wasn't quite sure what kind of effort I should be putting into these but I vaguely rememberd being told to do them 'hard' so that's what I did. Somewhere between the effort I used to do for the 400s and 800s. Some of the very slow reps were into a stiff breeze and slightly uphill but believe me the effort was the same even though it doesn't look it below. Ignored the watch and just hit lap after each interval to review paces later. They're all over the shop but I worked very hard. I felt totally wasted after the 5th 90 second rep and needed 2 whole minutes out of the 3 to just get my breath back. I wasn't recovered fully (3 min rec) going into the 30 seconds hard section but just did them as hard as I possibly could and really thought they'd all be under 7 pace as I was working so damn hard but they're much slower than that... I was fu'ked after this session and felt sick and just weird... I tried to jog on the first cooldown mile but had to stop a few times to walk. Second cool down mile was a lot better and made it up military hill without stopping and when I got to the flat I was totally fine again. I'll never underestimate again what a session is going to be like just by looking at it on paper.
I'll take 2 days now very very easy until the next session.
I think it's really good for me to be running some sessions at harder than 5k effort so that 5k effort feels a bit more reasonable in the future!!! This was a great workout and I'm very pleased with how I worked today. The 60 second recoveries felt like 20 seconds as they passed by so quickly but I didn't slack off at all and got straight back to work immediately the recoveries were over without taking an second extra even though I dearly wanted to!
One thing I noticed today was that even though this was really tough, I got this lovely sense of elation at running at a much faster pace and enjoyed the sensation of my legs turning over at a much more rapid pace. Must try that 800m on the track soon. I've 4 people who want to do it with me so will give it a go soon.

w/u 10:41, 10:23, 10:21, 10:08, 9:38
90 sec intervals: 7:05, 7:30, 7:01, 7:07, 7:30 (slow ones into wind)
30 sec intervals: 7:13, 7:45, 7:44, 7:20, 7:31, 7:33 (should have been 5 reps but did 6 by accident. Must have been enjoying it more than I thought lol!)
c/d 10:29, 10:02, 10:16
Total 10.40 miles

Weekly total: 42 miles. Oops...

tang1

Tell your Mam i said congrats!!!

Ososlo

tang1 wrote: »

Tell your Mam i said congrats!!!

That was a bit unclear:D
She was buying an outfit for herself for my sister's wedding!

tang1

Ososlo wrote: »

That was a bit unclear:D
She was buying an outfit for herself for my sister's wedding!

Ah sh!t, thought we'd all have to buy a hat!!

Ososlo

Monday 11 August
35 mins recovery
Got some more running-form tips today which I put into practice on this. Problem is it's making me go too 'fast' or maybe it doesn't matter if it's helping my running form in the long run. I realised that I tend to look downwards a bit too much when I'm running, especially when I'm running easy/recovery effort so I'm going to look forward onto the bright horizon from now on:D Pace under 10min/mile which is fast for me for a recovery run.
Foam rolled the **** outa my calfs and did a little self inflicted torture massage trying to find trigger points and loosening them out. Found a good video and followed that.

Tuesday 12 August
9.6 miles with 20 mins @ 10k effort
Lovely bruised calfs when I awoke this morning but they didn't feel sore walking so felt I was ok to do the run. Did a little more foam rolling on top of the bruises ouch:o... Nice relaxing AIS session followed.

I am supposed to be leaving 2 days between sessions from now on but was off work today so thought it'd be good to do this while I had loads of time to myself. Turned out not to be a great idea as I've clearly not recovered from Sunday's session and was a bit tired. Will I ever learn:rolleyes: I seem to be very good at giving advice around these parts but less good at receiving it!
The warm up was slow which is never a good sign for what's to come and the first 10k mile came in at 8:20 but the second mile slowed more (I should be well able to do under 8:20 pace for 10k). I was still tired from Sunday, no doubt about that and should have left this another day... I won't do anything hard now until Saturday as it's pointless doing these workouts if I'm not fully recovered as I won't be performing to the best of my ability. (listen to your own advice Ososlo!)
Enjoyed it all the same and took in some of the lovely Clontarf seafront in the mid-day sunshine. Did a bit of a tour around Raheny village and back to St. Anne's for the 10k effort which I started in mile 6.
9.6 miles total

I set myself a target on the 19th July to lose 4lbs.
Starting weight: 8 stone 9 lbs / 121lbs / 54.8kgs
Target weight: 8 stone 5 lbs / 117bs / 53kgs
Target achieved this morning:D

I've just been a little bit more sensible with my food intake and haven't been hungry once since I started the new regime. I've cut out extras snacks on non-session days and no white bread anymore and smaller dinner portions on easy/recovery days. Wholewheat/spelt pasta instead of the regular stuff and I'm eating more good fats. It's all very balanced with lots of protein and a humungous amount of greens and other veg and plenty of fruit so I ain't gonna waste away

As God Stazza is my witness, I will not do another session until Saturday! And after that not until Tuesday....and have at least 2 days break between sessions from now on..

Ososlo

Wednesday 13 August
35 mins recovery
9:50min/mile

Clearly too fast for a recovery run but I was putting all my new running form tips into practice and I can't seem to slow down whilst changing my form. I am running very relaxed though so I'm not going to worry about it. I'd normally do anything up to 11min/mile or even slower for recovery runs.
I reverted to my old running form during this run a couple of times just to compare to it to what I'm doing now and boy was it dreadful and sloppy! My head down, my limbs akimbo, and everything basically all over the shop.

Thursday 14 Aug
2 nights with next to no sleep so decided to give the body a rest.

Friday 15 Aug
40 mins easy w/6x10sec strides
9:41min/mile
9 hours sleep last night:D No nightmares:D:D did wake up with a headache though. My body didn't know what had happened to it with all that delightful sleep!

Again, a lot faster than my usual 'easy' pace (see above). I'm doing the 'light-feet' thing automatically now which is great but still have to very much concentrate on keeping my head up and shoulders relaxed. Even though I'm sure I still look like a plodder, I don't feel like one when I'm running these days. I feel more like a runner!
Decided to throw in a few strides at the end as I was in a hurry to get back for the 800 final which was TOTALLY worth it!!! Bronze for Ireland! Yay! Now let's see what the ladies can do in the morning!
Session day tomorrow:) FINALLY!

barryoneill50

Snap on the head up tip.
When running up hills I had a habit of looking down at my feet. Over the last week or two I've kept the head up. Not sure if it's purely a coincidence or not but I seem to be gliding up the hills lately.....

Ososlo

Saturday 16 August
5 x (4mins at 5k effort, 1 min jog, 1 min @ 3k effort) 3 min jog recoveries between sets
Up nice and early for the marathon so had a lazy hazy breakfast in bed while watching the women in the very tight tiny knickers/shorts do their thing. I'd be all for the more sensible looser kind;) delighted to see Fionnuala (in a very sensible pair of shorts:)) do so well with a top 10 finish. I see her out on the roads a bit and she always has a little nod for me.

Nice and chilly morning in the Phoenix Park, just how I like it. There was an abundance of runners who were very obviously doing very long runs for marathon training, a lot of whom looked on their last legs. Fair play to them. I do miss that feeling of accomplishment one gets at the end of a 20 mile run:(..... I did my longest training run ever of 21 miles this weekend last year and I loved it!..stop dreaming of marathons Ososlo! Now, back to the business at hand!

Set 1:
5k effort: 7:59 (pace)
3k effort: 7:34
Set 2:
5k effort: 7:57
3k effort: 7:25
Set 3:
5k effort: 7:50
3k effort: 6:54 (I was trying to impress a guy (a running guy ))
Set 4:
5k effort: 7:48
3k effort: 7:01
Set 5:
5k effort: 7:38 (slight decline)
3k effort: 7

Ran efforts by feel. Interesting that each rep got progressively faster. I did feel better as I went along and really got into it. I found the one minute jogs between 5 and 3k efforts ample to get my breath back and was able to jog them all at a decent pace and found the 3 mins between sets more than enough. Could have got going again after 2 mins. Today was just one of those days when everything seemed to go right. I LOVED running the faster bits and looked forward to each new rep instead of dreading them, especially the 3k reps.
Ran the cool down a bit too fast but I was feeling great after a short recovery jog and it was mainly downhill so during this session today I actually managed to unofficially knock about 3 mins off 10mile pb which is admittedly quite soft. I'm putting the improvements in overall pace down to the better running form for the slower bits of the run (w/u, c/d, recoveries) which were much faster than usual.
Now if I had worn those teeny tiny shorts those marathon runners were wearing this morning could I have gone even faster?:D
The 2 or 3 day recoveries are obviously suiting me and I definitely won't be doing anything faster again until Wednesday. I feel a bit crap now a few hours later to be honest so obviously did work very hard today:)
Total: 10:37 miles

Laois_Man

Ososlo wrote: »

I did my longest training run ever of 21 miles this weekend last year and I loved it!

How come your mileage peaked such a long time before taper? With the benefit of your hindsight, was that wise?

Ososlo

Laois_Man wrote: »

How come your mileage peaked such a long time before taper? With the benefit of your hindsight, was that wise?

Hey Laois_Man. That run was supposed to be 20 but I was enjoying it so much (according to my personal log!) that I added on another mile. I did a few more 20s after that. I had also done a 19 and a few 18s in the weeks before that 21.

Didn't do me any harm at all but to be honest with you, I just couldn't get enough of the long runs. Set me up really well for the day as I knew 26.2 wouldn't be any problem. I had been doing relatively long runs however since the beginning of the year though so it's not like I jumped into them. I'd been doing up to 15 mile long runs from early 2013.

Ososlo

Sunday 17 August
3.67 miles recovery @ 9:50min/mile
Felt rotten all yesterday evening after my sesion and had a terrible night's sleep but felt really good this morning despite this. Watched the marathon in bed and headed out for my recovery run. Again, way too fast for a recovery effort but I can't seem to run slower with the new running form. It'll come eventually I'm sure.
Popped into ALSAA this evening to look at the track and see how much it costs to use. I can use if for 10 euro for a full day although I dunno what I'd be doing on a track for a full day so pity I can't just get a cheaper price for an hour. Maybe I'll bring a picnic, invite some friends and sip wine on the track for the rest of the day watching the airplanes overhead to get my money's worth!!
I want to give this 800m in under 3 mins TT a try hopefully this week (10 round numbers challenge). I want to see how far off the target I am - this is not me being defeatist from the get-go, but realistic. I never ran at 6min/mile pace for even a short interval before but it'll just be interesting to see where things stand currently and I'll have something to beat for the next attempt. I ran a 1 mile TT in 6:59 a few months back with the wind at my back so this might be asking just a little too much. I know it's supposed to be a 'soft target' according to some around these parts but hey, it's all relative! I'm dying to give it a helluva shot though!
Maybe it's time to purchase a pair of those super tight running shorts that were all the rage with the elites in the Euro Champs, to help me achieve my target.
They must've been wearing them for a very good reason:)

I actually think they really just wear them to look extra hot as there's NO WAY they're comfortable

A good week's training and managed to avoid the doubles and took a complete rest day and legs feel super.
36 miles weekly total

1103 yearly total

Ososlo

Monday 18 August
45 mins easy @ 9:34min/mile
Had a pain in my right wrist all day around the knobbly bone below the little finger. I earn most of my living by my right hand so this is really not good news. Knew I should've gotten it insured for a few million a few years ago:rolleyes: I remember twisting it on Sunday morning in bed but it only started feeling really sore yesterday. Took an anti-inflam and iced it. Hope I don't have to go to a physio with it... I can't imagine having to pay a physio for something that isn't a matter of life and death - i.e. - running!
It felt fine when I did my run after work to pick up the car. It was net downhill, hence the faster easy pace- along with improved running form.

Tuesday 19 August
4 miles easy @ 10min/mile
Wrist pretty painful during night. Was so bad at one point that i thought i was gonna have to go to A&E. I think a nerve got caught or something but thankfully after about half an hour of intense pain it improved with some icing and painkillers. Slept on and off through the night. Couldn't work today as I'm pretty much good for nothing without the use of said hand.
Luckily I can drive as it's pretty easy drive with the left hand mainly so had a nice walk in Corkagh park and treated myself to a little run in the Phoenix Park afterwards. Bandaged up the wrist and it didn't hurt whilst running. PHEW!
Will do my 800m Time Trial tomorrow if I sleep ok tonight and the track is quiet.
800m in 3 mins! Can I do it? McMillan has me down for 3.12 so let's see if I can prove him wrong :cool: Really looking forward to it!

pa4

I always wear the tight running shorts down in college purely for the whistles and comments I get off the groups of women I run past :pac: I find them good for sessions too though, it makes me feel more aerodynamic! And they are quite comfortable.

Ososlo

pa4 wrote: »

I always wear the tight running shorts down in college purely for the whistles and comments I get off the groups of women I run past :pac: I find them good for sessions too though, it makes me feel more aerodynamic! And they are quite comfortable.

Really? These are like really tight jocks or knickers that seem to gather between the cheeks:o You wear those:eek:
Something like these that this lady is wearing!

pa4

Ososlo wrote: »

Really? These are like really tight jocks or knickers that seem to gather between the cheeks:o You wear those:eek:
Something like these that this lady is wearing!

Hahah oh god no the shorts that come down to the knees! Not the girl ones You just gave me extremely disturbing visions!!

Ososlo

pa4 wrote: »

Hahah oh god no the shorts that come down to the knees! Not the girl ones You just gave me extremely disturbing visions!!

Not half as disturbing as the ones I have:eek: So you're not interested in purchasing a pair of Smooth Front, Skin Tight Bun Hugger Cheeky Peeker Booty Shorts in Liquid Gold Stretch Metallic Foil Coated Nylon Spandex. No front seam (reduces "Camel Toe"). The back seam "lifts and separates" your booty for a cheeky profile.

pa4

Ososlo wrote: »

Not half as disturbing as the ones I have:eek: So you're not interested in purchasing a pair of Smooth Front, Skin Tight Bun Hugger Cheeky Peeker Booty Shorts in Liquid Gold Stretch Metallic Foil Coated Nylon Spandex. No front seam (reduces "Camel Toe"). The back seam "lifts and separates" your booty for a cheeky profile.

No thanks :pac: What a description!