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Turning a mule into a race horse.
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Too many jokes :pac:
That's great PM, glad to see you back running & logging
There is for the filthy minded
Yeah - I'm going to be logging properly. Have changed my mind about stepping back from it.
Was up on the treatment table with Myles Splitz and chatting as you do whilst he beats the sh!te out of you.
The wise old elf that he is (Have watched way too much Ben and Holly this weekend with the young lad) made a point about logs. I'd mentioned my thoughts on the log here to him and had said that sure all the info to look back on is on Strava anyway so why post what would amount to boring stuff on boards. His take on it was that Strava was great for figures but he likes to look back on the comments about the session. Was it comfortable, what were the thoughts at the time etc. Because logs are like mini diaries there is so much more there. You won't remember in 12 months time if the session you've just done was faster or slower because the wind was crazy or it was after a night on the lash etc. So that's one aspect. You can counter that of course with you could always keep a private journal but then you also lose the benefit of the wisdom, advice and help of the peers here which is worth a hell of a lot. Also was as I mentioned before quite surprised by the interest shown in the log here over the last few weeks.
So that's a long winded explanation but short version is I'm back :pac:0 -
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Tues 22nd March
2 Steady + 3 x (0.5 @ 5k pace + 0.5 easy)
Landed all 3 half mile blocks at just under a 5k target pace of 6:45 (for a sub 21 attempt - current PB 21:21
Thurs 24th
4 miles easy @ 9:33 avg pace
Sun 27th
13.2 miles @ 8:59 pace
A very windy half marathon ran at marathon pace. Granted marathon pace might be a little high but given I didn't manage my last marathon to come in under the 4 hours a mid term target of 3:55 is a reasonable pace
Quite tough at times with the weather being so windy. Few miles needed extra effort into a headwind, others less effort and splits also ranged. But overall a decent confidence booster and marker of a bit of fitness returning.
Mon 28th
4 miles easy @ 9:30 pace
Wed 30th
7.5 miles easy (ish) @ 9:18 avg pace
Met UM1 for an easy run in the park. At his mileage 7.5 is more of a warmup than anything else. Was a little fast for me to call it truly easy if honest with myself but it was a very enjoyable run. Had never ran the trails around the outskirts of the park. Ran past AuldManKing near the end. Sorry mate - was past you before I recognised you and UM1 was ploughing on so apologies for not stopping :pac:
Monthly Mileage
Jan 80
Feb 33
Mar 80
Despite missing the first week of March with the injury it turned out I got back up to match the January mileage. February a bit of a write off. Still a bit off what it needs to be but building up slow and steady which is needed.0 -
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Friday April 1st
4 easy miles @ 9:33
Sunday 3rd
14 miles @ 9:19 avg pace
Yeah writing that down now I know in hindsight it was way too fast for a long run. It wasn't particularly challenging pace wise at the time but late in the run and in particular for an uphill mile 13 the hips area was feeling the strain.
Monday 4th
4 miles @ 9:18 avg pace
Meant to have been a recovery run after the previous days LSR. Stupid pace asking for trouble.
Tuesday 5th
Got what I asked for. Became aware of a niggle in the groin / uppermost inner thigh. Wasn't running at all but suddenly became aware of it. Pressing on it was definitely tender but didn't seem to be an issue walking. Took a couple of days off as a precaution.
Thursday 7th
Whilst still aware of the slight niggle it was only slight. Had talked it over with some of the respected elders and decided to do a couple of days testing it out. Potentially a hip issue causing the discomfort - nothing new there. If it can cause knee pain where there is no actual reason for it found it's plausible enough that similar could be the case here. So a bit of work on hip flexibility done.
3.1 steady @ 8:52
No pain during the run. Just the same sense of discomfort in general. Took Friday off too to allow it to flare up if it was going to.
Saturday 9th
1 steady, 2 @ 5k pace with 1 min standing recovery between, .5 easy cooldown
8:31, 6:46, 6:47, 9:40
Encouraged by the result of Thursdays test it was time to test it at race pace.
Good news: No ill effects / nothing made worse by it.
Bad news: Second mile was damn tough. I'd actually decided very soon into it that 5k pace just wasn't sustainable and would just run as fast as I could manage without looking at the watch. Was surprised that it landed in just about on target but I was absolutely spent by then so I'm a bit away from the 5k fitness I'd like to be.
Have a family event today so won't be doing much of a run. If I can get out later it will be for a short easy run. Not enough of that done this week.0 -
Monday 11th
5.5 miles easy @ 9:14 avg pace
Wednesday 13th
4 miles steady @ 8:22 avg pace
Saturday 16th
4.7 miles @ 9:19 avg pace
Very early run done and dusted by 7:30 during work
Relatively handy this week considering I was racing today. Yes I did keep it quiet here but it may explain why I was off doing testing at 5k race pace last week whilst having a niggle. Surprised nobody asked me wtf I was doing and for that matter that Detective Inspector Tang didn't sniff out what was happening (since he's sniffed out my last ninja race and was congratulating me on my time before I'd even got back to boards) 0 -
Sunday 17th April - Jog For A Dog 5k Castletown House Celbridge
A quiet leadup to this that not a lot of people knew I was running. Reasons being I was set to do this because it was a fund raiser for My Canine Companion who are one of the providers of special assistance dogs to Autistic kids and I wanted to support it considering I know how great these dogs are. Wasn't sure if there was a chance of a PB or not so didn't announce it as a goal race. That said I went into it today aiming for one.
Old PB 21:21
The jogforadog is a relatively new race - this was only it's second year. Limited to 500 spots this time and great to see it sell out before the event meaning on the day registrations were not available. I'd seen the results last year and also knew it hadn't got a lot of penetration into the club runner scene - especially given the clash with the relays in Annes Park today so I was reasonably confident that taking a spot up towards the front of the pack was appropriate. Also the route is a little narrow as the roads around the outskirts of the park in Celbridge were not closed off and Ron Gomall had warned me off congestion possibilities. Ron I found out at the last minute was also entered.
Met Ron for a warmup beforehand and we bumped into davemcmahon too. Dave aiming for 19 minutes and Ron flipping between getting around uninjured / 21:30 target or maybe keeping up with me aiming for sub 21. The lad can't make up his mind :pac:
Race started a little late and off we went. Aiming for 6:45 pace for a sub 21 I found it a bit uncomfortable right from the start. Doubts flooded my mind immediately tbh. Also fairly quickly Ron fecked off up the road after Dave and the early leaders and I was wondering was I going too slow myself on top of struggling. But a look at the watch and I had to consign Ron to the label of ****ing lunatic and let him go. I was going too fast for 6:45 so God knows what he was doing. If he hangs on for that fair play to him. If not I will see him later along the way. Easing off felt good. Got up to the top of the climb out of the park, turned left into a bit of wind and effort upped again. The watch was gradually rising the predicted lap time and came in a fraction under at 6:41. Good start.
Mile 1 6:41
Got tough then as the wind was still in my face (not a lot to be fair) but also I needed to run faster now as I'd ran the last half mile a bit slower making up for the too fast start. Started to struggle a bit then. Some spanner decided he wanted to try and have a conversation with me at this point. Reckoned we were half way. I said we're not and ran fast to get past him. Thanks for the motivation. A left turn arrives and now it's a nice downhill stretch back into Celbridge. The flip of mile 1 in that now I'm running faster chasing the predicted time back towards 6:45 - It had predicted a 7:20 split earlier on. That early buzz worn off now and it was starting to get very uncomfortable but still I was close to target and all I could tell myself was 1 more mile after this. Dig in. Passed Ron who unfortunately hadn't been able to hold the pace he set himself up for.
Mile 2 6:45
Into mile 3 still dropping down the gradual downhill. It got a bit tricky coming back into the village as there was no road closures and we were meant to be on the footpaths. Crossing junctions, maneuvering around pedestrians etc made for quite a few drops off the kerbs and back on. Quads were grumbling a bit. Aerobically it was starting to burn too and the time honoured wussing out doubts start creeping in. Well I would still PB even if I lost 20 seconds on this mile. 7:05 sounded very appealing at that stage. Well at that point it was time for secret motivation weapon I picked up from Tangs epic race report for Rotterdam. I'd written my kids names on my hands. One each side. Looked down opened up the hands and resolved to do it for them. Sub 21 was still there and on target. It was going to hurt a bit and not feel too good - but it would feel great after. Held it. Turned left back into the park and now it's a long tree lined avenue to run up towards the finish. An avenue also in use by the general public so not ideal conditions. Also an avenue that for some reason had a sign saying 500m to go about 750m out Thankfully we'd spotted that before the start. I'd planned to hit within sight of the 200m to go sign and go balls out from there but I was almost spent slowing downand wondered would I have anything left to throw at it. In sight of the clock now and I could see it ticking over up towards 21:00. I injected an epic burst of speed - 4 minute mile speed !!! that Strava seems to have really downplayed as it reckons I pulled it closer to 6:00 pace :pac: (felt like 4 min mile effort anyway) and crossed the finish line spent but not as bad as docklands last year. I was actually capable of coherent speech today.
Mile 3 6.48 / Mile 3.1 @ 6:25 pace
A new PB of 20:51 and 12th place overall.
Delighted with that. A full 30 seconds off PB and truthfully wouldn't have considered myself truly race fit. More there to be taken off for sure.0 -
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Well done PM.Pacing Mule wrote: »not as bad as docklands last year.
-1pt for the Murph-like cigar smoking finish though.....
Just kidding! 0 -
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Wednesday 4th
Session day - 8 miles in total including 6 x half mile @ 5k pace with 3 min* jog recoveries.
This was a tough one. Legs were feeling the effects of the previous run with the lads. * Can't count too well.
Some of these went a little over 3 minutes and stopped the last rep after .4 of a mile necessitating another .1 of a mile burst to top it off.
Friday 6th
4 miles recovery @ 9:47 pace. Enjoyed that. Felt the niggles loosen up as it went on.
Saturday 7th
11 mile LSR with impromptu urban fartlek (credit to beepbeep67 for the phrase) This was meant to be 13 miles.
Was running down a long road. Car went past with 3 scumbags in it. One out the window roaring at me as they went past to give me a fright. Off they went laughing away. The one in the passenger window in particular laughing hanging out window. Further down the road turned out they were stuck in traffic at the lights to turn right. This was few minutes after they'd passed me and shouted at me. I'm on the path with 2 lanes of traffic between us. Passenger window was open. They weren't looking. Total spur of the moment job - ran up to the window stuck me head in and let a huge roar at him. He dropped a beer onto his lap in fright. Said to him. Now how the fcuk do you like it.
And then common sense kicked in and I decide maybe having a debate with 3 boozed up skangers wasn't too smart. So I took off on my run but they pulled out of the right turn lane and were trying to get back across the lanes to me. I ended up having to duck into a carpark up a flight of steps for a while. (Obviously the car entrance not up steps !) Car went up and down road couple of times. I started running again but the car appeared again half a mile up the road I ducked down into the park there so couldn't be followed but I knew they were looking for me and decided to change route and get home quicker just to be on safe side. Made for a faster run home then I'd have preferred but was well worth it tbh :cool:
Weekly total 32.7 miles (no more 20s) 0 -
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