BQ or Bust!

skyblue46

Murph_D wrote: »

Thanks D. It's certainly an awful lot easier when you have a pacer (or pacers) to do the thinking for you and you can just switch off and focus on doing the work.

Just reading your comments both here and on some other log...where did it go wrong? Did you feel you were on pace for a target time and run out of gas early or did you run faster than target pace which caused the maxxing early?

Murph_D

skyblue46 wrote: »

Just reading your comments both here and on some other log...where did it go wrong? Did you feel you were on pace for a target time and run out of gas early or did you run faster than target pace which caused the maxxing early?

Sorry for the earlier response. Tired and emotional! I do think it was the latter, although it felt OK at the time. Fine line. The fast first k also involved some crowd jostling and almost getting tripped, so a bit of energy wasted on that too.

Murph_D

Wed 23 May

No running.

Thu 24 May

8k easy on the Royal Canal near Maynooth.

Fri 25 May

9.4k recovery with M and DD along the coast. Left them in St. Anne’s and returned. The Claw glided past on the homeward leg on what looked like an effortless and impressively slow recovery run.

Sat 26 May

8k including St. Anne’s parkrun.

102nd parkrun, pacing 24 mins. Came in at 23:5x with a good bunch of runners. Always a pleasure. Cooldown with L, then coffee and chats.

Sun 27 May

10k easy on the seafront with some Deep ‘Tarf exploring on the homeward leg.

WTD: 53k (33m)
MTD: 230 (143)
YTD: 1,264 (786)

Murph_D

Operation 800
Week 1/12

Twelve weeks of (mostly) track training starts now. There will be the odd diversion to the road. The goal is the 800m at the National Masters in August. I will be trying to do the Tuesday club sessions, combined with two more Jack Daniels-based sessions. I'll possibly do these three Q (quality) sessions over a 9-day rather than 7-day cycle - this is what I did last year when doing some mile-specific stuff, and it seemed to work well for me. But we'll see how it goes. The rest of the week/cycle will be all easy/recovery.

Mon 28 May

8.5k easy on the seafront. Beautiful after-dinner evening, and the place was jammed with walkers, runners, and dog-walkers, the latter including Ferris, so I stopped for a chat. Very leisurely.

Tue 29 May

Q1: Club session - 2x (4x400)

So my first-ever session with some of the ‘track’ people. There was a small group, about 9 of us, but plenty of quality, including at least one international runner. No pressure then. The instructions were to run the laps at 1500m pace. 75 secs standing recovery, with a three-minute standing recovery between sets.

Splits (target 85-86s):
78 83 84 82
86 85 85 85

This was tough but manageable, although it took a few laps to find the pace. First few were close behind another runner and got sucked along. Second set I found my pace, running mostly by myself (my buddy got sucked into a faster group and I declined). Enjoyed this. Total including jog over and back: 12.7k (7.9 mi).

WTD: 21k (13m)
MTD: 215 (134)
YTD: 1,250 (777)

OOnegative

All the best with the 800 training D, what you feel your capable of running come 12 weeks? Like anything else you put your mind to you’ll give it everything.

Murph_D

OOnegative wrote: »

All the best with the 800 training D, what you feel your capable of running come 12 weeks? Like anything else you put your mind to you’ll give it everything.

That’s a good question. Anything sub 2:30 will do, and I’ll certainly be disappointed if I don’t get to that number. What’s a reasonable target for someone already running 2:32? Don’t know yet!

Murph_D

Wed 30 May

8k easy/recovery in the Phoenix Park. Stuck to the grassy trails in the Acres, plus a lap of Munich circuit. Slow going on a hot day. Rewarded myself afterwards with a large 99 from the ice cream van in the car park.

Thu 31 May

8k easy on Royal Canal including a few steady kms in the middle. A few calf cramps afterwards - must try to drink more water as a rule.

May total: 267 kms (166 mi)

Fri 31 May

Rest day.

Sat 1 Jun

6.5k including Fairview parkrun.

Jogged down the road for parkrun #103. Despite the proximity, I was late, and the run started as I was approaching. So I was about a minute behind the field and enjoyed picking people off for a change. With a race tomorrow the order of the day was a nice steady 24 mins or so and that’s what I did.

Sun 2 Jun

Cork Marathon Relay (Leg C)

Having run the Cork Marathon twice, I’d been kind of fascinated with the relay - not everyone is a fan, but I think it adds a lot of atmosphere to the event, especially at the noisy changeover areas. So a couple of months ago I rounded up a team of regular running mates, all of whom are current/former/occasional boardsies. It was a decent looking team and I fancied we might have a shot at a top 10 placing with a time in the high 2:40s. However one of the lads - who happened to be our brightest prospect - had to drop out and that left me with no choice but to volunteer FBOT to do two legs, while the rest of us would do our best to try and keep the total under three hours and give P (the boardsie formerly known as yaboya1), who was doing the full wth a sub-3 target, a run for his money.

Over dinner the night before we added up our projected splits and, realising the total was amounting to 3 hours and 6 mins, the sandbags had to be reluctantly discarded. The number came down to 2:56, just like that! Things would have to go our way though, especially as one or two of the team are held together with sellotape at the moment.

We gathered bright and early at the start line to see off FBOT and engage in some friendly banter with our opponent for the day, who was looking lean and mean in a brand new sunhat and a 'means-business' red singlet, for the warm morning that was in it. The race started on time, and after some waving at teammates and other acquaintances, I headed off on the shuttle bus out to Ringmahon Road, just past the 10 mile point. There was time for a bit of a warmup and before long the race leaders came through. The field was pretty strung out already, but I soon spotted FBOT, grimacing in pain after a gruelling battle with some niggles and the aftermath of his run-free holidays. Despite this, he’d heroically managed to stay just ahead of the three-hour pacers, but they’d be breathing down my neck and if I couldn’t match my target time of 38:40 for the 5.8 mile leg I’d be swallowed up and there would be a lot to do for our final two runners, Ferris and KennyG.

As I eased away from the changeover area I felt really good and had to rein in the pace. There’s a bit of a switchback at Blackrock Castle though, and I spotted P not far behind the pace group. He’d spotted me too, and shouted something about me being behind the pace. I thought he was trying to psych me out so this was just the early kick up the bum I needed to put in a good shift. But it was lonely enough out there, with only a few runners around, and a (very slight) headwind to deal with along the coastal path. But I managed to pass a couple of relay opponents and the odd flagging marathoner, even though the freshness had quickly worn off and I was struggling to make the target pace by mile two. Then it was on to the old railway line section - my favourite part of the Cork course - but this brought the temperature more into the picture, humid and toasty under the tree canopy. Thankfully there was a water station and some sponges available in here, so I availed of the relief and managed to tag on to a fresh enough looking marathon contender for a while. He eventually got the better of me, but not before we’d passed another couple of stragglers. In mile four though I was really starting to feel the pressure, and I could sense and hear the three hour group getting closer, convinced that P was now just off my left shoulder and ready to pounce. As we entered the Marina area for mile 5, I was having to really work - managed to raise the pace a little, I thought, but at Pairc Ui Chaoimh there was another spurt from behind and the group was on top of me, then around and in front. There wasn’t more than seven or eight runners in the group, though, and I heard one of the pacers announce “30 seconds in the bank”. So I just tried to stay with them down the now interminable Centre Park Road, scanning ahead for the next relay station, not daring to look at the watch and just hoping it would come soon before I imploded. At last, I spotted Ferris waiting patiently, Got ready for the switchover, and emptied the tank. Passed the armband and stopped the watch at 39:12, before taking my customary moment on the nearby grass verge. It took a little while to right myself, and I had to assure Mrs Mc and another kindly concerned spectator that I was OK. An unspectacular time, but I was happy with the effort.


Splits: 6:46 6:49 7:05 7:01 6:49 (0.7 @ 6:41)

Gathered myself in time to applaud the mrs, aquinn & P, all doing the half, before FBOT limped up to rejoin us and we all headed over to the finish area to see our final teammate, KennyG, hit his target for the final leg. We hadn’t made our target, coming in at 3:02:29, but it was good enough to win the ‘5 vs 1 challenge’, and there was plenty of fuel for friendly banter for the remainder of the day and night. Between the relay, the full and the half, the majority were happy with the results on a tricky enough day for running. Terrific event as always. It was an eye-opener for me to get an up-close view of what sub-three marathon running looks like, and I have nothing but admiration for anyone who can aspire to - and pull off - that achievement.

Gwan the Harriers! 21st place (of 619 teams).

WTD: 54k (34m)
MTD: 17 (10)
YTD: 1,318 (819)

Murph_D

Operation 800 2/12

Fairly low on the miles this week for one reason and another. Again. Hopefully the fresh legs theory will work better for me than it did for FBOT.

Mon 3 Jun

4k recovery. Very hungover and dehydrated after the Harriers CCM relay debrief. Stunning morning by the Lee.

Tue 4 Jun

9k easy on the seafront.

Wed 5 Jun

No running.

Thu 6 Jun

7.7k inc 4x800 @ mile pace

Wasn’t sure what to do today, so just headed out on lunchtime run to see how things felt. Felt OK so decided to risk a mini-session rather than have no specifics this week. Chose a loop on the old MU campus that’s probably a little shorter than 800 but close enough for today.

Splits: 3:03 2:59 2:58 2:56

Happy enough with that. Took a very generous 3 mins standing recovery between reps. Deliberately went out a little easier on the final one to see how that would work out and was surprised to see it come in faster than the others.

Fri 7 Jun

Another rest day.

Sat 8 Jun

10.9k inc St. Anne’s parkrun @ HM-ish pace

OK, probably a little faster than current HM pace. Nice steady run, progressing through the field on the first lap and still picking a few off in lap two while feeling fully in control. There was a corner cutter in front on the final stretch, so opened it up a bit to show him it doesn’t work. 21:09 for the 5k, 40th posn, 1st M55.

Jogged home along the seafront. The Claw passed again and this time I mustered up the courage to say hello. :pac:

Sun 9 Jun

90 mins easy on the seafront and St. Annes, including a jog around the junior parkrun course setting up the signs. Nice to be out early again - another glorious morning.

WTD: 47k (29m)
MTD: 64 (40)
YTD: 1,366 (849)

Murph_D

Operation 800 3/12

Mon 10 Jun

9k recovery on the seafront.

Tue 11 Jun

9.4k easy in the Park. Mostly the Irish Runner 5m course. Legs quite sluggish still - a good massage is in order soon.

Wed 12 Jun

Race night! BHAA: Trinity Track 800m and the Mile.

Had a great time at this event last year, so had to return. The races were very different this year - seemed to be a lot more runners in them, which is great to see. I don’t really understand the BHAA grading system, but I seem to have been upgraded to 12 standard after the winter XCs.

First up, the 800. There was a huge field, and the start was more like a cross country jostle. Had to run the first 100 in lane three because there was just no room to cut in. The lead out was very slow, and after about 200m, when I’d fought my way back into lane 1 I tried to force the pace a bit, taking the lead around the bend and into the second lap. I was feeling pretty good, but two guys just blew past at the end of the back straight. Duanington had come out for some support and encouraged me to stick with them, and I did my best to keep things going, but didn’t regain any ground and finished comfortably enough in third place. The time wasn’t good - 2:37.9, about the same as last year, which would be my slowest 800 yet. Just no way back from that very slow first lap! And of course we all know the track is long. :pac:

Splits (approx): 82 75

An hour later, the mile. I knew the legs would be a bit dead but decided to give it a bit of effort. Again, a pretty big field (although some of the earlier lads seemed to have headed home). Similar start, but I took it pretty handy for the first lap, settling in eventually to about seventh place, just behind a clubmate, T, with Wubble Wubble a few places ahead having started brightly. Pretty much stayed there for the next two laps. Lap three didn’t feel any worse than lap two so I knew I was nowhere near PB pace. On the final lap, a couple of lads ahead started to flag. Passed T, then WW, and tried to dial it up for the last 200. There was a guy on my heels who started to challenge at the start of the home straight and I went with him. Then T comes alongside too so the three of us found ourselves in a full sprint finish over the last 60 or 70m, which was fun, even if I lost the battle to both of them. Again, a very enjoyable race. Fifth place in 6:05 acceptable enough under the circumstances.

Splits (approx): 1:35 1:33 1:33 1:24

Tea, sambos and a quick pint. Won some Trinity Long Room merchandise for my trouble. Super event. I feel I’m learning more about how to race these distances, so I’m happy with the night’s work. Good to see RedRunner out there too.

Total for the evening: 6k.

Thu 13 Jun

8.1k recovery on Canal and through Carton Estate.

Fri 14 Jun

8.4k easy/recovery on the seafront.

Sat 15 Jun

3 sets 4x200 off 45s standing rec. (6 mins jog between sets).

We are in Donegal for the weekend. Warmed up on the local loop before diverting down a boreen where there’s a couple of relatively flat stretches suitable for some road 200s. Pretty windy too, but luckily there was some hedge protection in the right places. Alternated direction for these, running up and down the road. Chose a different spot for third set so as not to freak out the people in the house adjacent to the first spot, where I appeared to be lurking every few minutes before running off in the opposite direction.

Haven’t done 200s in a long time so it took me a few reps to get a feel for the right effort. Trying to do these at 800m pace, so a target of 37-38 per rep. The first two sets might have been a little short.

34 34 35 36
34 36 35 37
35 37 36 39

This is always a tough session for me, so I was happy to survive. Trying to get a feel for the target pace, which seems impossibly fast for 800 (and most of these were indeed too fast). So didn’t succeed very well in running by feel - only two of the 12 reps in the fright range. Was properly bunched by the end, as you can clearly see.

Sun 16 Jun

13k recovery. Joined the mrs for a hilly trot around a few neighbouring townlands, including the wonderfully named Ballywogs.

Not a bad week in the end.

WTD: 69k (43m)
MTD: 133 (83)
YTD: 1,435 (892)

Bungy Girl

Murph_D wrote: »

only two of the 12 reps in the fright range.

I find it best to stay out of the fright range, generally. :eek:

Murph_D

Oops! Classic Freudian slip.

OOnegative

Nice week in the end is right, fair play D.

skyblue46

That was a great week. Lots of variety in there.

eyrie

Nice going on the two track races there! Sounds like a great event too. To finish so well in both of them is a great achievement. You can look forward to even better times on an actual 400m track!

Murph_D

eyrie wrote: »

Nice going on the two track races there! Sounds like a great event too. To finish so well in both of them is a great achievement. You can look forward to even better times on an actual 400m track!

Well yes, and in fact I've already done them!

eyrie

Murph_D wrote: »

Well yes, and in fact I've already done them!

Ha, oops! I didn't mean to imply you hadn't, only that you probably ran over 400m each lap to get those times last week. I'm very familiar with the quirks of the Trinity track this summer :rolleyes:
Didn't mean my congratulations to come off as patronising

Murph_D

Not patronising at all. I'm just pointing out that I wasn't close to PB in either race, and in fact I ran the 800 faster last year in my first attempt ever at the distance!

Murph_D

Operation 800 Week 4/12

I feel that with last Saturday’s session, this is only really kicking off now. I’ve also decided that I’m going to wing this training block, sort of. Club session on Tues, plus at least one more Q session weekly from the Jack Daniels arsenal.

Mon 17 Jun

6.8k recovery.

Dropped one of the boys to his GAA match at St. Anne’s and did a few miles, including some laps of the Watermill Road pitches, the Masters XC course and the ‘alternative’ parkrun route. Bumped into DD on his LR and joined him for about 400m before making my excuses and getting back to my more leisurely trot.

Tue 18 Jun

Club session: 3 sets 4x400 with declining recoveries (45, 30, 15s; 2 mins between sets)

Chatty run over to the track with aquinn for the first time in a while. Joined the main group as most of the track people are racing the graded meet tomorrow and weren’t doing a session. I don’t think I’ve done this variation of 400s before. It doesn’t seem to really tie in with the JD philosophy re pace/recoveries, so I just tried to run these by feel (uncomfortably fast). Even so, I struggled to maintain any kind of consistency and was gasping and thirsty after each set.

Splits
1:29 1:25 1:26 1:31
1:27 1:31 1:32 1:36
1:33 1:35 1:36 1:36

I don’t know if I gained a lot from this session, beyond toughing it out (a few runners disappeared after the second set). Form felt like it was all over the place and I was well behind the rest of the group by the end. Jellylegged jog home with A again for a total of 13.9k.

Wed 19 Jun

8.1k recovery/easy

Stopped off at the PP on way home for a few recovery miles. Promptly bumped into AMK who joined in and showed me a few trails I hadn’t ventured on before. So that’s three days in a row running with the Glue Factory. :pac: Enjoyed the chat and the company. Hope I slowed him down as much as he sped me up.

WTD: 29k (18m)
MTD: 162 (101)
YTD: 1,464 (910)

aquinn

Thanks for dragging me up and back to the club. Good to get back.

Don't forget Tuesday was horrendendously hot and that the recoveries were 2 minutes.

Murph_D

Week 4/12 cont.

Thu 20 Jun

10k on the canal between Maynooth and Kilcock. Nice new tarmac surface at the Kilcock end. Really enjoyed this run where I got some good thinking done about a work thing.

Fri 21 Jun

9k easy/recovery on the seafront.

Sat 22 Jun

WU + 5k @ T + 6x200 (200 a/r) + CD

In Donegal. This JD session gelled well with a parkrun visit so we headed to Dungloe, picking up aquinn on the way in Glenties. Warmed up with a couple of kms adjacent to the course, then lined up alongside about 40 runners and walkers, which is a good turnout for Dungloe. Tempo pace (4:10-4:20 according to JD) was good enough for fourth position. Highlight was passing a cani-cross runner being towed along by a very enthusiastic dog. The pooch rallied as I went by but eventually let me go. Hadn’t started the watch so had to try and go by feel, so happy to discover later I’d run 20:54 (bang on the pace, and a course PB as it happens). Chatted with the first finisher for a few mins then headed back out for the 200s, which JD is telling me to run at 42s:

Splits (approx):

43 39 38
41 41 38

It’s a new one on me to run reps after a tempo. It turned out to be less daunting than I thought. Short cooldown then, to complete an enjoyable morning’s work at about 11.3k.

Sun 23 Jun

11k easy on some hills, trails and roads around the Donegal base.

WTD: 70k (44m)
MTD: 203 (126)
YTD: 1,504 (935)

Murph_D

Operation 800 Week 5/12

Starting to feel tired and sleepier than usual so the training effect might be kicking in.

Mon 25 Jun

9k easy on the seafront. Felt perky enough tonight, despite the heat.

Tue 26 Jun

Club session: 2 sets 4x200 (full 90s standing recovery, 4 mins between sets)

Jogged over to the club from town, uncomfortably carrying a flimsy and pretty full drawstring bag after an afternoon of manning the desk at the Docklands 5k number collection point. A few more laps, dynamic warmup, then joined the ‘tracksters’ for yet another session of 200s (third in ten days!) The instruction was to run at slightly faster than 800 pace, as if closing out the final quarter of the race. So for me that would mean better than 37 or 38s per rep.

Splits (approx):
33 32 34 34
35 35 34 35

Again, this variation was new to me, with the long recoveries which allow you to attack each one pretty hard. I was well out of my comfort zone here and hanging on for dear life at the back of the group of seven or eight runners. At coach’s suggestion, a few of us took an extra minute’s recovery between sets. Led out the third of the second set, but otherwise just followed the crowd as best I could. Tough session while running, but quick recovery, and felt much better on the jog home than last week. Total 10k for the night.

Wed 27 Jun

9k recovery

As tough a recovery run as I’ve ever done. Shuffling along on dead legs. Painful! Bumped into DD, then Killerz, then a clubmate. The seafront is a busy place of a sunny summer eve.

WTD: 28k (17m)
MTD: 230 (143)
YTD: 1,532 (952)

Murph_D

Week 5 cont.

Thu 28 Jun

11.3k easy. Dropped off at Donadea Forest after work. Bumped into ultraman and some of his mates, one of whom was in process of running multiple back-to-back marathons in aid of Peter McVerry Trust. Got a bit lost on way back to car, so a bit of extra mileage!

Fri 29 Jun

6.9k easy, mostly under tree shade in Fairview Park.

Sat 30 Jun

8.4k including parkrun @ steady.

Pacer Saturday at St. Anne’s, where I was in the usual 24 mins slot. The heat was putting a lot of people off - only one or two runners stayed with me the whole way round. Hoovered up a few in the last mile though, and helped steady their faltering gait.

June total: 285k (177m)

Sun 1 Jul

11.3k ‘long run’ with strides. Out to St. Anne’s via coast and back on the shadier inland route. Hot, but the heatwave hasn’t been bothering me at all this week, really. Looking forward to some mountain trails next week.

WTD: 66k (41m)
MTD: 11 (7)
YTD: 1,570 (976)

Murph_D

Operation 800 Week 6/12

On holidays in the Dolomites in Northern Italy. 5,000 feet. Will try to get a couple of sessions in. No doubt the altitude will make them harder.

Mon 2 Jul

8.9k (mountain trail)

After settling in and getting the lie of the land, stretched the legs on a well-marked trail around the village. I say well-marked, but I still managed to take an accidental detour - but the scenery was so magnificent I was happy to extend the run. Mostly forest trail, gravel paths, and fire road. Tough enough going in parts, so plenty of walk breaks.

Tue 3 Jul

3 sets 600 @ R, 200 @ FR

Early start to avoid heat. Felt Ok despite last night’s wine/dinner (language difficulties led to a few Fawlty Towers moments, and there was an unordered plate of veal that kept appearing). Easy jog to the flattest piece of ground around, the village ‘laghetto’ and its bumpy but relatively decent 500m perimeter path.

Splits (approx):
(2:13), 0:39
2:13 0:40
2:15 0:41

Brain fart on rep one, only 500m covered. But very happy overall with consistency of pace - not all that far off where it would normally be, which is good under the circumstances. Total 8.3k

Wed 4 Jul

4.9k recovery

A few easy rainy kms in the evening. Lucky to be alive after earlier hike above the tree line in a thunderstorm. OK, slight exaggeration, but it was a bit nerve-wracking, although a group of kids bounded past nonchalantly, followed by their parent who greeted us with a hearty “Keep smiling!”

Thu 5 Jul

3.8k recovery.

Post-hike again, quite tired. Today’s excursion was an exhilarating woodlands trek to the Vallesinella waterfalls. Plenty of climb. The run was a token jaunt just to keep the unbroken stint alive. Glad of the hotel spa facilities afterwards - can’t beat a good steam after a hard day!

Fri 6 Jul

5x1200 (3 mins) + strides

Another session from the JD playbook. Supposed to be at I pace, which the book would put at about 4:45 for me. I don’t often do 1200s, and when I do, I struggle to keep them below 5 mins, so I wasn’t too confident of hitting that target (JD seems to expect little or no dropoff from 400 to 1200 reps). Anyway I was out early for this, jogging to the 500m ‘track’ around the village laghetto. Felt awfully heavy-legged on the warmup. The lake was deserted, save for an elderly walker. Hid my water in a corner, hoping it wouldn’t be cleaned up by any vigilant citizens or municipal workers before the end of the session. Ran these by feel - first one was way off and I picked up for the rest. But I knew these were slow - It felt like there was a restrictor on the engine, preventing anything faster than 10k pace. Was talking myself out of finishing, then downgrading to shorter reps, but in the end the 3 min standing recoveries were enough to keep me honest and I finished it out.

Splits (approx):
5:16 5:07 5:02 5:04 5:03

Was cooling down when I remembered the strides, so a bit of further spice to my jog through the park and village Main Street. Luckily too early for the gawkers (people around here like a good stare). Given the conditions, and the rough and bumpy, if relatively flat, surface, this is probably not too bad. Hopefully this altitude work will pay off. 12.3k for the morning. Enjoyed the breakfast after that, which featured even more cake than usual.


WTD: 37k (23m)
MTD: 48 (30)
YTD: 1,607 (999)

skyblue46

Some fantastic pictures on Strava. It looks idyllic. My idea of heaven!!!

AuldManKing

skyblue46 wrote: »

Some fantastic pictures on Strava. It looks idyllic. My idea of heaven!!!

+1, TBL wont have a leg to stand on when it comes to a travel log (actually, I dont think he even has a leg to stand on.)

Murph_D

Week 6 cont.


Sat 7 Jul

5k recovery (passed the 1,000 mile mark for the year on this run - 17 days earlier than last year)

Bye bye, Dolomites. Fabulous place for outdoor pursuits (no nightlife though, if that’s your thing).


Sun 8 Jul

15.2k inc. 24mins + 16mins @ M

Good night’s sleep after long day’s travel. Headed to Phoenix Park with its scorched turf - amazing how quickly this country changes with a few weeks of unusual weather. Let off the Mrs and Aquinn who were running together, and decided to see how I felt after a couple of miles of warmup and take it from there, with an eye to tackling the third JD session for this week - 40 mins @ M (4:30-4:40/km).

Very warm morning, but warmup felt OK so I decided to try the workout, telling myself I could downgrade to 20 mins or 30 mins if the body didn’t feel up to it. Did a decent enough 4k but when the 5th km clocked at 5:10 I backed off, jogging for 10 mins, during which I persuaded myself to complete the final 16 mins - effectively turning the session into a P&D style 24 + 16 tempo.

Splits:
4:37 4:27 4:46 4:40 5:10
4:37 4:56 4:47 4:34

Short cool down then finished with a single 200m rep, just for the hell of it. Happy with that to end the week.

WTD: 58k (36m)
MTD: 70 43)
YTD: 1,628 (1,012)

Murph_D

Operation 800
Week 7/12

Into Phase IV of the cycle. Some tough looking sessions ahead. Entered the 2018 goal event this week, so no looking back!

Mon 9 Jul

8.1k easy

A couple of miles around the St. Anne’s pitches with FBOT, who is starting marathon training this week. He was in session mode and glided off into the distance after a chatty warmup. Hot and humid, needless to say.

Tue 10 Jul

9k easy

Out along the seafront, which is becoming a bit of a dustbowl. Half-naked bodies scattered around soaking up the last of the evening sun. Walkers everywhere, but no footballers, because run coincided with first half of France-Belgium (didn’t miss any goals). A bit risky as straight after dinner, but no ill effects in the end.

Wed 11 Jul

20mins @ T, 6x200 R (200 a/r)

As I didn’t make the club session last night, I’d opted to do one of the JD sessions this morning instead. A dull overcast day for a change, and I jogged over to Irishtown to use the track, which was deserted. 10 laps of lane 8 for the tempo, which went pretty well. Was glad of the odd drop of drizzle, although the heavens didn’t open despite the increasing gloom. A sip of water then straight into the short reps.

Splits (approx):

Tempo:
4:16 4:20 4:19 4:11 (4:16)

200s:
36 38 42 39 40 39

This is a fairly tough session but I’d done it a couple of weeks ago at Dungloe parkrun and wasn’t too intimidated by the thought of the 200 reps immediately after the tempo. It's a combination I find less difficult than originally expected.

WTD: 32k (20m)
MTD: 102 (63)
YTD: 1,660 (1,032)

Neady83

The Dolomites, just WOW

Looks like you're getting some early training in there for Run the Line

Murph_D

Walk The Line, more like!

Murph_D

Week 7 cont.

Thu 12 Jul

6.5k recovery.

Four very easy miles with the missus on shady Griffith Avenue.

Fri 13 Jul

9.5k easy

Anna had a four mile HM-pace tempo on her Charleville plan so I offered my pacing services. Lovely run in St. Anne’s. Yes, she nailed the four miles.

Sat 14 Jul

Race: Day of Irish PBs 5k

Really enjoyed this event, even though my race was totally forgettable at more than a minute off my PB. Wilted in the stifling heat. Had a great time though, hanging out with various lovely people and decent skins. As Jerry Kiernan said during the public interview, most of the people I like spending time with these days are runners. HelenAnne said he also advised a Raheny runner that the heat would add a minute to some people's time, and he was right about that too. :rolleyes:

My race (the 19:30-20 mins) went OK for a few laps but I soon fell off the pace. By half way I was struggling and kind of gave up mentally and physically as I fell further behind the group, ending up half a lap behind the sub-20 pacer. Managed to pass a couple of people in the last few laps but only because they were suffering even more than me. HR was up there but could tell by my condition at the end that I hadn’t given it everything.

PB: 19:47 (St. Anne’s, Dec 2017)
Target: 19:29
Result: 20:48
14th posn (of 25)
VDOT: 47.6
Age grade: 73.4
Verdict: Melted!

Only one person under 20 mins out of the whole field so obviously not an easy day out. Ultraman beat me but his name isn’t in the results so he must have been a bandit. :pac: I think the next time I should treat this race more like a graded meet than a time trial and try to get a better start (found myself boxed in, falling behind the group rather than in the thick of the action, where I might have been able to hang on a bit longer.) Did manage to fight my way to the back of the pace group but found myself dropping off just as easily. Racing 5,000m on the track is also harder than I thought.

Definitely not peaking too early in the year anyway! Wonderful event with a great vibe. Conditions made PBs tough to come by so extra kudos to chickey for being on the right side of the clock in her race.

Total for the day: 9.7k

Sun 15 Jul

8.5k easy.

Back in Donegal for a couple of weeks, so la few post-World Cup miles on the local loop. Sympathy to the plucky Croats, but bravo la France!

WTD: 67k (41m)
MTD: 136 (85)
YTD: 1,695 (1,053)