The breaks even out in the long run

NetwerkErrer

Wed 18th March-

AM: 4m Rec (9:12)

PM: 6m Easy (7:48)

Felt excellent. The hangover had well and truly worn off by today and I was ready to go. I dropped the midweek steady run from my schedule for now while I'm still building so the plan called for an early morning recovery run which I didn't badly need after yesterday's blown workout but it was nice to just go out at that pace early on a morning like it was. The 6 mile run felt like a breeze, cracking weather which usually signals a time where my fitness going up a notch, not sure why but it does.:)

Thurs 19th March- 8m inc. 4x1 mile @5k pace w/2 minute recovery

Another change from the plan today, with Munster 4 mile coming up next week, I thought it would be better to go with a lower amount of repeats and a higher intensity. Headed back to the track in CastleIsland for this. The Idea was to kick the watch and focus on effort with only the mile split being called

1. 5.53
2. 5.51
3. 5.55
4. 5.48

Judging by the effort level, I think the short Tuesday speed sessions I'm doing are paying off. I couldn't believe I was doing the reps at this pace, it just didn't feel that fast. If this workout translates into a race. I'm willing to say my Pb's from 5k to 10k aren't looking that strong anymore.

NetwerkErrer

Fri 20th March- 8m Easy (7:49)

Another cracking morning for a run, strange one though. I trotted out the door but about halfway through my run, things were getting a bit eerily dark with only a few clouds in the sky, didn't have a clue there was a near full solar eclipse happening today so I was a little spooked to be honest. The run went well otherwise so I'm pretty happy. The tailbone and groin pain was back a little today but only a small bit around my groin. Solid 15 minute stretching routine got rid of it.

ThebitterLemon

NetwerkErrer wrote: »

Fri 20th March- 8m Easy (7:49)

Another cracking morning for a run, strange one though. I trotted out the door but about halfway through my run, things were getting a bit eerily dark with only a few clouds in the sky, didn't have a clue there was a near full solar eclipse happening today so I was a little spooked to be honest. The run went well otherwise so I'm pretty happy. The tailbone and groin pain was back a little today but only a small bit around my groin. Solid 15 minute stretching routine got rid of it.

How are your hip flexors, reason I ask is that I've had the same pain on and off for ages and the hip flexors are usually the culprit

TbL

NetwerkErrer

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

How are your hip flexors, reason I ask is that I've had the same pain on and off for ages and the hip flexors are usually the culprit

TbL

I'd say you're on the ball TbL. My TfL used to bother me constantly since I started running, first in my IT band and eventually my hip. It seems to have completely disappeared over the last while but this strainy feeling has popped up since. My physio reckons that because my TfL was tight, it also caused the adductor to be weak on the medial side and that is causing the pain.

NetwerkErrer

Sat 21st March- 13m Long run (8:03)

Best day of the year so far and an absolute gem for running. Didn't bother meeting up with the lads this morning because I wanted a nice sleep in. Headed to the soccer pitch for this and done laps of the field, a mental test more than anything else, 72 laps:eek: to make up 13 miles. The body felt good and the ground was firmish so it wasn't the slog I thought it would be physically but was tough on the head.

Didn't have my Garmin the pace is guesstimated from the distance and length of time on my stopwatch. Close enough anyway I'd say.

Happy!:)

tang1

72 laps of a football field, either serious mental fortitude or madness!!!

NetwerkErrer

tang1 wrote: »

72 laps of a football field, either serious mental fortitude or madness!!!

More than likely madness tang! A load of my training is off the road when spring rolls around. Two weekly workouts and a couple of runs a week are on grass or the track.

Thought I was off my rocker until a few of the older club lads who ran in the 80's said they used to do 20-24 mile runs around the GAA field every month. Still not sure if they are pulling the piss out of me. The same guys told me to wait until the weather is at it's worst to go out and train.

tang1

NetwerkErrer wrote: »

More than likely madness tang! A load of my training is off the road when spring rolls around. Two weekly workouts and a couple of runs a week are on grass or the track.

Thought I was off my rocker until a few of the older club lads who ran in the 80's said they used to do 20-24 mile runs around the GAA field every month. Still not sure if they are pulling the piss out of me. The same guys told me to wait until the weather is at it's worst to go out and train.

My auld fella is a marathon runner from the 80's and i remember him running hundreds of laps of the local football pitch in preperation for his races as i followed on the BMX, so your not so mad & the local legends are not filling you with spoof.

career move

..... M ...... A ..... D ......

tang1

career move wrote: »

..... M ...... A ..... D ......

Says the OCD Laois woman..........

career move

tang1 wrote: »

Says the OCD Laois woman..........

It takes one to know one

tang1

career move wrote: »

It takes one to know one

I'd give my left one to be on your level my Dear!!

career move

tang1 wrote: »

I'd give my left one to be on your level my Dear!!

Haha .... someday Barry, someday

SamforMayo

tang1 wrote: »

72 laps of a football field, either serious mental fortitude or madness!!!

My record is 6 miles around the football pitch! It's a bit addictive, you keep thinking just one more lap.....

Hannibal Smith

NetwerkErrer wrote: »

Sat 21st March- 13m Long run (8:03)

Best day of the year so far and an absolute gem for running. Didn't bother meeting up with the lads this morning because I wanted a nice sleep in. Headed to the soccer pitch for this and done laps of the field, a mental test more than anything else, 72 laps:eek: to make up 13 miles. The body felt good and the ground was firmish so it wasn't the slog I thought it would be physically but was tough on the head.



Happy!:)

I'd have been dizzy

ThebitterLemon

SamforMayo wrote: »

My record is 6 miles around the football pitch! It's a bit addictive, you keep thinking just one more lap.....

Did a marathon on a 400m track in Crewe once, the Déjà Veu in Crewe it was called. déjà veu for feckin sure

Don't think I'd have the appetite to run 13 miles around a pitch, how did your niggles react?

TbL

NetwerkErrer

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Did a marathon on a 400m track in Crewe once, the Déjà Veu in Crewe it was called. déjà veu for feckin sure

Don't think I'd have the appetite to run 13 miles around a pitch, how did your niggles react?

TbL

Jaysus TbL! A marathon on a track!:D How'd that go for you? Nice to know there's always someone more mental out there!:)

No bother with the groin, It only bothers me after a speed session and the next day, hurts like hell though. A sneeze can set off it off at any minute but it always fades away within 24 hours or so or after a good stretch.

annapr

SamforMayo wrote: »

My record is 6 miles around the football pitch! It's a bit addictive, you keep thinking just one more lap.....

thank god for the Phoenix Park and the seafront...

SamforMayo

annapr wrote: »

thank god for the Phoenix Park and the seafront...

Oh I only resort to the pitch when the kids are with me! A pitch run is better than no run.

NetwerkErrer

Monday 23rd March-

AM: 4m Easy

PM: 6m Easy

No complaints or raves which is a rave in itself so there's one to think about. Pretty uneventful runs, The body and soul felt grand. This week is going to be a slight cutback week to accommodate Munster 4 mile on Sunday so I'm going to do one tough workout tomorrow of 12x600m @ 5k pace and maybe do AMK's mixed pace sharpener on Thursday to get myself on point for the weekend and see how it works for me.

It's been over a month since my last race and once again, I haven't a clue where I am. The workouts have been positive but I still have doubts about how my fitness will play out in a race because of my lax approach to racing of late. I believe I need to race frequently to get be confident and get the best out of myself and a 5 week gap was enough to bring doubt into my mind about my current situation. From here on, I think I'm going to go with running at least 2 races a month, a lot will be trained through but I think it's something I need to do to get my belief really going.:)

NetwerkErrer

Tue 24th March- 8m inc. 12x600m @ 5k pace w/90sec Recovery

Early morning workout for the first time in ages, uuugh! The legs were feeling stiff and a little tired heading out which was surprising given yesterdays inconspicuous spin outs. No track today so I tracked back to a long lost workout spot on the roads where it's flat, well......as flat as I can find around these parts. Had to bust out the Garmin for distance and splits.

Splits:

1. 2:18
2. 2:16
3. 2:14
4. 2:15
5. 2:13
6. 2:15
7. 2:14
8. 2:14
9. 2:12
10. 2:13
11. 2:14
12. 2:12

This workout was supposed to be tough but I took the foot off the gas a tiny bit for the week that's in it. It was always going to feel a little easier after the 4x1m @5k pace last week but I got some good distance in at 5k pace with completely trashing myself today. The first 7-8 were handy enough but the last few were on the testing side, I'm putting the majority of that down to the residual tiredness starting and there was still going to be a bite in this session no matter how good or bad I felt setting off on the first rep.

Happy enough with it, Got a good feel for the pace and good distance at it, should stand to me.:)

pconn062

12x600m? :eek:

In the spirit of questioning training methodologies, why so much volume? These are done at about 10k pace if I'm right, or maybe slower? Would you not have been better off with longer reps at the same pace, or maybe less reps at a quicker pace? What system were you targeting with this session?

Edit: Just realised you said @ 5k pace!

That still seems like a lot of volume!

NetwerkErrer

pconn062 wrote: »

12x600m? :eek:

In the spirit of questioning training methodologies, why so much volume? These are done at about 10k pace if I'm right, or maybe slower? Would you not have been better off with longer reps at the same pace, or maybe less reps at a quicker pace? What system were you targeting with this session?

Edit: Just realised you said @ 5k pace!

That still seems like a lot of volume!

Yep, it is a lot of volume pconn. The plan for my Tuesday sessions of late has been to keep the repeats short(under 800) and volume high at different paces from 800-5k meaning I can work on my higher end speed endurance. It could be completely flawed, I don't know but my thinking was to do a high volume of reps with a shorter repeat and cut down on volume and add longer repeats as I was getting stronger.

I was thinking about the approach a miler takes to training where they start out running 3000m+ of training at mile pace in shorter repeats and cut down to 2000m in longer ones as the phase progresses but doing it across every race pace from 5k down. A day of the week dedicated to faster than any distance I run. I'm not a miler but I thought there was something to be taken from that but I am always going to have to keep the volume higher because I need that longer endurance/speed.

Thursday would be longer repeats repeats and uptempo runs(800m and over) for 5k and 10k specific speed endurance.

That was my thinking. What do you honestly think? I'd love some feedback on it.

NetwerkErrer

Just to add, it's really a nod to the 80's style of workout. I won't be doing anything near as short on the recovery listed because I'm nowhere near aerobically strong enough to recover that quickly but these are some of the hard anaerobic strength workouts from an old log.

Mile pace:

20-25x200m w/30 rec
10-15x300 w/ 100m jog
8-12x400 w/60 rec
2 x (5x400 w/60 rec, 2 min between sets
5 x 600 w/60 rec
2 x (400, 1min rec, 800, 2min rec, 300)5min between sets

3-5k pace:

12x400 w/45 rec
8x600 w/60 rec
6x800 w/90 rec

5k pace:

16-20x400m w/35 rec
10-12x600 w/60 rec
6x1000 w/90 rec

Obviously adapting them to my ability on volume and recovery but some of them, mostly the mile workouts are out of reach for me. You're probably right about the 12x600m too, maybe 2 repeats more than I should of done.

pconn062

NetwerkErrer wrote: »

Yep, it is a lot of volume pconn. The plan for my Tuesday sessions of late has been to keep the repeats short(under 800) and volume high at different paces from 800-5k meaning I can work on my higher end speed endurance. It could be completely flawed, I don't know but my thinking was to do a high volume of reps with a shorter repeat and cut down on volume and add longer repeats as I was getting stronger.

I was thinking about the approach a miler takes to training where they start out running 3000m+ of training at mile pace in shorter repeats and cut down to 2000m in longer ones as the phase progresses but doing it across every race pace from 5k down. A day of the week dedicated to faster than any distance I run. I'm not a miler but I thought there was something to be taken from that but I am always going to have to keep the volume higher because I need that longer endurance/speed.

Thursday would be longer repeats repeats and uptempo runs(800m and over) for 5k and 10k specific speed endurance.

That was my thinking. What do you honestly think? I'd love some feedback on it.

It seems you managed the volume very well and the splits were consistent, even getting faster as you went on. It's just I've never done that much volume (7,200m) at 5k pace, and I don't think I'd be able to. But that's not to say it's wrong! Although looking at some of the other sessions you posted, you seem to be able to handle more volume than me. Looking at some of the mile sessions you posted, there is no way I could do 25x200m or 15x300m at mile pace without breaking down eventually. I think you would get a better improvement in Vo2 from longer reps, 3 mins+ but they can always come further down the line and 600's is a nice way too start.

NetwerkErrer

pconn062 wrote: »

It seems you managed the volume very well and the splits were consistent, even getting faster as you went on. It's just I've never done that much volume (7,200m) at 5k pace, and I don't think I'd be able to. But that's not to say it's wrong! Although looking at some of the other sessions you posted, you seem to be able to handle more volume than me. Looking at some of the mile sessions you posted, there is no way I could do 25x200m or 15x300m at mile pace without breaking down eventually. I think you would get a better improvement in Vo2 from longer reps, 3 mins+ but they can always come further down the line and 600's is a nice way too start.

I think being slowtwitchy helps me a lot with handling those volumes. For instance, my half marathon PB is only 10sec per mile slower than my 10k PB which is unusual and I think that has something to do with it.

I haven't done the majority of the sessions listed above, I'd have to be carted off the track if I even attempted most of them:D They're from a log a guy who ran back in the 80/90s gave to me. He said to change them up to suit my ability because I wouldn't be able to handle the short recovery on the majority of them.

The only workout I've hit on that list is 12x400 @3k pace w/45s

Every other workout that I have done has been chopped and changed to suit my ability in my eyes, of course it's a learning curve for me so I'm going to overcook it on some and undercook it on others.

That 20-25x200m w/30s rec is a really tough workout which I didn't try but changed into an aerobic and neuromuscular effort by doing 16x200m @ mile pace w/100m jog rec. I'm just taking ideas from those workouts.

I think you're spot on with the need to lengthen the reps for a good Vo2max effort, I was supposed to do 8x800m last week but I blew the session. I haven't done much else in the region of longer repeats in the 800-1200m at 3-5k pace. Most of my Thursday long repeats have been mile repeats at 10k pace.

Doing up a schedule at the minute and it's something to definitely add.:)

NetwerkErrer

Fri 27th March- 4m easy (8:47)

Haven't been sick in yonks but I've been pretty much incoherent for the last few days. I started to feel really weak and a banging headache coming on Tuesday evening. Went to bed and didn't get out until this morning. Slept pretty much the whole way through from Tuesday night until today with a few hours here and there of being awake at times.

Not sure what I was thinking this morning but this run wasn't a good idea, every step felt like someone was hitting me in the head with a hammer. Really struggled and the pace felt ridiculously hard even though it was well below normal easy pace. I might have to pull out from Sunday's race if I don't feel better by tomorrow. Play it by ear.

tang1

NetwerkErrer wrote: »

Fri 27th March- 4m easy (8:47)

Haven't been sick in yonks but I've been pretty much incoherent for the last few days. I started to feel really weak and a banging headache coming on Tuesday evening. Went to bed and didn't get out until this morning. Slept pretty much the whole way through from Tuesday night until today with a few hours here and there of being awake at times.

Not sure what I was thinking this morning but this run wasn't a good idea, every step felt like someone was hitting me in the head with a hammer. Really struggled and the pace felt ridiculously hard even though it was well below normal easy pace. I might have to pull out from Sunday's race if I don't feel better by tomorrow. Play it by ear.

Get yourself to a Dr & have yourself looked at, doesn't sound nice.

NetwerkErrer

tang1 wrote: »

Get yourself to a Dr & have yourself looked at, doesn't sound nice.

I'll be grand tang, on the mend I'd say. I can move around and eat today, the headache is the only thing really bothering me now and the only reason I'll pull out Sunday if it's still around.

NetwerkErrer

Sunday 29th March- Munster 4 mile in 26:52

Probably shouldn't have run this in the first place but alas. I felt a lot better today than I had for the last few days so I gave it a shot. A look out the window this morning wasn't going to turn me away. The wind had calmed down by race time but it was still blowing 30mph constantly.

Got my warmup in of about 2 miles and this is when I realised I shouldn't be running. My legs felt like two flat tyres but that's happened in pre-race warm-ups where I've gone on to some of my best performances. I knew I wasn't going to pulling off anything special today but I thought I might do alright.

Lined up at the start with the intention of not going mad and blitzing the first mile. I didn't go wild and knocked out a 6:17 first mile but my quads felt completely empty and numb, no energy after just 400m. The wind was behind for the first 1.8ish miles which was a help but I couldn't hold on even with that advantage, second mile up in 6:34 and fading fast. The tough part was yet to come at 2.4 miles in, the road turned into the headwind and all uphill to the finish. I slowed dramatically on this stretch and was well over 7 minute pace the whole way home. It wasn't pain that was slowing me, I just had nothing to give. I didn't have the energy to even get myself into that place of pain.

Finished absolutely wrecked, don't know the time so the above time is a guesstimate from the guy who finished behind. Finished 5th or 6th last so not one of my prouder days out. Thumping headache is back, hitting the leaba now for the night, I'm shattered! Lesson learned, don't race sick.

Not much positive and negative to take from this. It was what it was, I was never going to be at my best.

On to the next one!