BQ or Bust!

Murph_D

Mon 19 Jan

Rest.

Tue 20 Jan

Club session: Avg. 7.1 mi @ 8:27 (11.4 km @ 5:15)

The session was supposed to be a 40-min tempo, around 7:31 mile. Headed to the club for this. Huge turnout at Irishtown park but just a small group doing the tempo, all of whom wanted to go much faster than me. So I plodded around mostly on my own, even though the place was very busy with different groups doing different sessions. Good buzz about the place. Anyway I made a bit of a balls of the session tonight and baled out of the tempo and into the cooldown phase after 25 mins or so. It wasn't happening, probably because of too fast a start and the general confusion. I think i'll join one of the other groups next week and try to get a better feel for the different sessions available.

WTD: 7 (11 km)
MTD/YTD: 69 (110 km)

Murph_D

Wed 21 Jan

Recovery 6.5m @ 9:30 (10.5 km @ 5:54)

This felt pretty alright. Was only supposed to be 50 mins but I ended up on the canal and had to stretch it out a bit as there was no shortcut out of there.

Thu 22 Jan

40 mins easy 4.3m @ 9:20 (6.8 km @ 5:48) approx

Just guessing the pace as didn't have a watch. Routine traipse through Dublin 11, taking in Poppintree Park for the first time in decades. I was impressed and must do the parkrun there soon. The area around the lake (pond?) is very European looking, in a good way.

WTD: 18 (29 km)
MTD/YTD: 79 (128 km)

FBOT01

Agree with you on Poppintree Park. Nice little spot and the parkrun up there is worth doing.....although I am not suggesting that you move from the best parkrun in the country:D

Murph_D

Sat 24 Jan

11.5 mi (18.5 km) incorporating Edinburgh parkrun.

In Edinburgh for the weekend so headed out to the local parkrun. It's a very impressive event, the organisation of which, as is the case with parkrun generally, leaves many big commercial events in the ha'penny place. There were close to 600 runners today, on a cold and windy morning and a frost-ridden course. I'd taken the bus the 6 miles out from the city centre and got there in plenty of time to jog out the course, which is an out-and-back on a promenade very much like the Clontarf seafront, complete with stiff breeze on the homeward half. The frost, the breeze, and last nights eating and drinking all suggested an easygoing 5k would be wise, but I put in a decent enough effort to burp my way to a 22:51 finish, before asking for directions for the best way back to town on foot. The homeward journey was hilly, on lumpy pavements, but a very nice jaunt for a Scottish morning in January.

WTD: 30 (48 km)
MTD/YTD: 91 (147 km)

Murph_D

Sun 25 Jan

50 mins recovery 4.7m (7.5 km)

Pleasant jog in Edinburgh with Mrs M. We meandered through The Meadows and Holyrood Park, which is like a little piece of the Highland wilds in the middle of the metropolis. A really beautiful city.

WTD: 35 (55 km)
MTD/YTD: 96 (154 km)

Murph_D

Tue 27 Jan

Pyramid session: 400/800/1200/1200/800/400

There were three groups running this session tonight at the club and I joined the slowest one, trundling along at the back of the group. First two legs, with 60 secs and 75 secs recovery, felt comfortable enough. But two laps into leg 3 and I was blowing pretty hard and gasping by the end. 90 secs recovery wasn't enough and the second half of the session was tough going although I think I recovered a little for the final lap.

1:30 3:13 4:53 4:59 3:22 1:33

Made a bit of a balls of recording the rep times but I think these times are about right. Not really sure what these times mean but it felt like a decent effort. So that's my first pyramid in the bag (although it looks more like a diamond to me).

Total with wu/cd: 5.7 mi (9:1 km).

FBOT01

Looks like a good solid session with pretty good consistency. You'll be flying when you get the feel of the track.

Murph_D

FBOT01 wrote: »

Looks like a good solid session with pretty good consistency. You'll be flying when you get the feel of the track.

I hope so! The track is under repair so we've been doing the weekly sessions on grass.

Murph_D

Wed 28 Jan

48 mins recovery 5.1 mi @ 9:22 (8.25 km @ 5:49)

Gentle plod through D11. Passed Bono's childhood home. Pity how he turned out.


Thu 29 Jan

Easy 7.2 mi @ 9:05 (11.5 km @ 5:39)

The snow started just as I went out the door, so I nipped back in for a jacket. Headed across the river to Lansdowne Road, via the Docklands, trying to keep as sheltered as possible. Not the easiest or most pleasant run, but it always feels good to get one done in bad weather.

WTD: 18 (29 km)
MTD/YTD: 114 (183 km)

Murph_D

Sat 31 Jan

Easy 6.1 mi @ 9:01 (9.8 km @ 5:36)

Some easy miles around the northside suburbs. Chilly, but not chilly enough for some of the gear being sported by some of the runners I passed.

January total: 120 (192 km)

Sun 1 Feb

LSR 12.6 mi @ 9:22 (20.3 km @ 5:49).

Lovely bright morning for a run along the seafront out to Sutton Cross. Feeling the extra few miles this week however, and it took a bit of effort to stick to the slow end of LSR pace range. Picked it up in the last half mile to get that strong finish feeling.

WTD: 37 (59 km)
MTD: 13 (20 km)
YTD: 132 (213 km)

Murph_D

Mon 2 Feb

Rest.

Tue 3 Feb

50 mins easy: 5.3 mi (8.5 km)

Can’t make tonight’s club session so decided to get out early for an easy few miles and leave the speed work till tomorrow. It was icy cold but spectacular on the seafront this morning, everything covered in frost, the sea dead calm. Enjoyed coasting past the miles of cars chugging towards town at a snail’s pace.

The calendar says 17 weeks to Cork Marathon. I usually follow a 17-week programme. Decisions, decisions.

WTD: 5 (9 km)
MTD: 18 (29 km)
YTD: 138 (221 km)

Murph_D

Wed 4 Feb

Yasso session: 10x800 (60s standing recovery)

Had to miss last night's club session so I decided to make up for that today. Headed up the road to Morton Stadium at lunchtime to do 10x800. Could have gone to the park or on the seafront like I usually do but I'm developing a bit of a taste for doing this kind of work on a 400m circuit - more accurate and less head wrecking from a course-planning point of view. The website says 8 euro for a one-off visit but the guy on the desk only asked for a fiver, and who was I to argue? It turned out to be excellent value.

One of the great advantages of a track is being able to stash your water and other bits and pieces, including extra gear. Cold day so I left on an extra long sleeves layer, gloves and the trusty Waterford AC woolly hat for a few warmup laps. Had the whole stadium pretty much to myself as I discarded the extra gear and started the session proper. The target was 3:20 - 3:30 per rep. It took a few rounds before I got a feel for the pace, and there was a fairly fresh headwind to deal with on the back straight. But the results were decent enough:

3:16
3:17
3:23
3:25
3:25
3:30
3:25
3:18
3:24
3:25

Avg: 3:23

Pretty pleased with that, as it suggests that things are going in the right direction: the last time I did this session (8 months ago, mind) I averaged 3:34 over 8 reps. Not sure what happened on rep 6, but the fluctuations towards the end of the session could have something to do with sharing the track for the last few reps with a very impressive young athlete doing a short pyramid session. I politely stepped aside as she fairly steamed past a couple of times - all grace and power, and a gentle reminder of my geezer status.

Still though - if Mr. Yasso is correct, this geezer, with a bit of work, is in :25 marathon shape. So that's moving in the right direction too.

Total with 2 mi WU / 2 mi CD: 8.9 mi (14.4 km).

WTD: 14 (23 km)
MTD: 27 (43 km)
YTD: 146 (236 km)

Netwerk Errer

That's some workout Murph and way more difficult than traditional yassos. If Mr. Yasso is right, you are in a lot better shape than 3.25 for a marathon.

Yasso 800's are done with an equal jog recovery e.g run a 800 in 3.20, jog recovery will be 3.20. Hitting sub-3.25 800's with a 60 second recovery suggests a lot faster and throw in the difficulty added with standing recovery and it suggests even faster again.

tang1

Some workout D, you'll have to re-assess the Bundoran target looking at those.

Murph_D

Netwerk Errer wrote: »

That's some workout Murph and way more difficult than traditional yassos. If Mr. Yasso is right, you are in a lot better shape than 3.25 for a marathon.

Yasso 800's are done with an equal jog recovery e.g run a 800 in 3.20, jog recovery will be 3.20. Hitting sub-3.25 800's with a 60 second recovery suggests a lot faster and throw in the difficulty added with standing recovery and it suggests even faster again.

Thanks NE. While this "modified Yasso" (specced in meno's marathon plan) indeed looks harder than the original, I've found it fairly accurate to date (ran 3:36 last year off 3:34 session; 3:46 in 2013 off a 3:45-ish session). But that should change I guess as my base gets deeper so I'll take your point, although not sure I'm ready to drop the sandbags yet.

Murph_D

tang1 wrote: »

Some workout D, you'll have to re-assess the Bundoran target looking at those.

Ha - I still think recent race performances are probably a better predictor than a one-off session! Probably best to base Bundoran target on those!

tang1

Murph_D wrote: »

Ha - I still think recent race performances are probably a better predictor than a one-off session! Probably best to base Bundoran target on those!

We'll see, ye Northsiders must have Dollymount dug up at this stage with the amount of sandbagging ye do(FBOT01, Duanington and yaboya1 included).

FBOT01

tang1 wrote: »

We'll see, ye Northsiders must have Dollymount dug up at this stage with the amount of sandbagging ye do(FBOT01, Duanington and yaboya1 included).

I resemble that remark, B....oh and that Yaboya1 bloke was never a northsider but after us welcoming him with open arms, he has now p1ssed off back the southside and taken half our beach with him

FBOT01

Nice session, Murph. Presume that's decision made and you are off to Cork in June. Good luck with the training.

RedRunner

Great session. Week 1 of 17 week plan then!

Murph_D

FBOT01 wrote: »

Nice session, Murph. Presume that's decision made and you are off to Cork in June. Good luck with the training.

Just keeping the option open.

annapr

FBOT01 wrote: »

Nice session, Murph. Presume that's decision made and you are off to Cork in June. Good luck with the training.

wait, Cork? what? :rolleyes:

Murph_D

A fine shot of the woolly hat from the recent Edinburgh parkrun:

ThebitterLemon

annapr wrote: »

wait, Cork? what? :rolleyes:

Did Murph not tell you, we're meeting some auld hotties in Cork that we hooked up with on www.seniormatch.com

Apparently they're fit

TbL

annapr

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Did Murph not tell you, we're meeting some auld hotties in Cork that we hooked up with on www.seniormatch.com

Apparently they're fit

TbL

:pac: LOL, I look forward to the 'race' reports so :pac

FBOT01

annapr wrote: »

:pac: LOL, I look forward to the 'race' reports so :pac

I will save you the wait and give you a sneak preview of the ending.........Murph cruises to another PB while TbL blows up when the going gets tough. TbL then jets off to Japan or someother far away place and smashs his PB. TbL doesn't perform to his best with an audience

Murph_D

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Did Murph not tell you, we're meeting some auld hotties in Cork that we hooked up with on www.seniormatch.com

Apparently they're fit

TbL

Jaysus, that's actually a real site... Are you thinking of doing Cork, TbL, or are you just having a senior fantasy moment there?

ThebitterLemon

FBOT01 wrote: »

I will save you the wait and give you a sneak preview of the ending.........Murph cruises to another PB while TbL blows up when the going gets tough. TbL then jets off to Japan or someother far away place and smashs his PB. TbL doesn't perform to his best with an audience

Haha, what a puerile teenage could do with that paragraph, must resist, must resist ...:)

TbL

ThebitterLemon

Murph_D wrote: »

Jaysus, that's actually a real site... Are you thinking of doing Cork, TbL, or are you just having a senior fantasy moment there?

Hey Murph,

A friend of mine asked me to jog it with him. Depends on how Boston goes and the price of flights to Japan

TbL

Murph_D

Thu 5 Feb

c.50 mins recovery: 5.5 mi (8.8 km)

Five laps of Albert College Park. TbL likes to refer to this kind of run as a nursing home special; for me this felt more like a funeral home special after yesterday's shenanigans. Legs protesting a little and the odd little twinge, but no major harm done, it seems.

WTD: 20 (32 km)
MTD: 32 (52 km)
YTD: 152 (244 km)