Moving on up ...

hillsiderunner

17th-20th Nov: week 3 of the Myles S graduates plan http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101424076&postcount=910

The plodding continues!

Monday: nothing as planned
Knackered all day, yawning in the office. Went to the movies in the evening, food and Trump debate afterwards, and after I got home I went to bed without doing the back exercises because I was too tired.

Tuesday: 45mins easy (3.8miles @11:51 avg)
Or .... "45mins recovery", it might better be called. Had a decent night's sleep but was even more tired today, yawning all morning in work ... maybe it was the political discussions that did it . Have been tired a lot over the past months and the training has been conservative so I called the GP and made an appointment so I can ask to get my iron checked, got a slot for a couple of weeks later.
Still did my run after work, running grass/trails in the late afternoon, a bit mucky. Slower than easy pace but I guess that's allowed. After the warm weekend I was back in my shorts today, but it was a bit too chilly.

Wednesday: 1.2mile w/u, 8x45sec hills (hard/form, jog down), .2mile easy, swim class, .9mile c/d (~3miles, 700m), pilates
Long bottoms today with the chilly forecast. The Garmin was out of charge when I got ready for this so had to go naked. Ran to the swimming pool and a bit further where there's a decent hill for the repeats. Had nothing to time myself so guessed what 45secs felt like and went at it in the chilly sunshine. Can't be sure they were definitely 45secs but it was roughly that and for the later ones I wouldn't have been able to do longer anyway. Used the jog-downs for recovery and one or twice I took a few standing breaths before starting the next.
For once I was early to the pool and got in 200m of my own before we started the class. Easy pace (I think!) back to the office, and all the "stuff" after.

Thursday: 55mins easy (4.73miles @11:38 avg pace)
Ok, the forecast was looking even worse today, so now stepped things up to the running tights. Usual grass/trail route near the office in the late afternoon, proper easy pace. It was mucky in parts so from time to time I had to pick my way through it, and had to hop out onto the path a few times towards the end when it was getting dark and I couldn't see well .... Runners were dirty after. Have to start planning properly and bring the trail runners for these wet days.

Friday: nothing
Had planned to swim this morning but had been destroyed after getting home the night before. Knew I wouldn't get out of bed early, so bailed on the idea and set the alarm to its usual wake-up (with a few snoozes of course).

Saturday: 10mins w/u, 20mins tempo, 10mins c/d (4miles)
Some speed. Hurray! Had a giant sleep into late morning so was feeling a bit more lively at last. Calculating from my parkrun last week, my tempo range is 9:09-9:14. Round the neighbourhood loop for this one in the late afternoon, and got the tempo paces as 9:09 (!), 9:14 (!) and the .18 @9:05, just slightly fast. Warm-up and cool-down 11:05 and 10:53 respectively. Was cold out there but nice to be doing some faster running.
Was listening to Laura Graham's interview on Marathon Talk later this evening, seriously I need to htfu. Not even one child here to tire me out or interfere with training.

Sunday: 82mins easy, hilly run (7.2miles @11:23 avg)
Another decent sleep under my belt. Typical Sunday route in late afternoon with 1 loop of Holyrood park, 1 circuit of the playing fields, and then a couple of miles extra on undulating roads/paths and back home. About 3miles on grass/trail, and the rest hard surfaces. Went out prepared for the weather in tights, running gloves and long-sleeve top with new running-jacket over it, but it was feeling quite cold as the sun came down in the last couple of miles. The running gloves were too thin and the hands were most cold, was fumbling to get my keys out at the end. Google says 1C. Happy to have it done, and *not* knackered afterwards.

weekly total: 22.7miles (252mins as 5runs), 700m (1swim), 1 pilates.


niggles and exercises:
back exercises 4days/7. Not too happy with this, the reason they were missed was leaving them till evening and then being too wrecked. Had been "out" 3 nights during the week (not late at all, just a couple of hours yawning in front of friends) and these were the days that I bailed.
stair drops done once a day 6/7, skipped Friday (see excuse above...). Have deliberately taken these down to once a day as the posterior tib is pretty much sorted, and it's just a matter of keeping the achilles quiet now (still niggling a bit).
Stretching mostly good except I never did them after today's run.


Another bad performance on the swimming. But am feeling more alert after the good weekend sleeps and think that I may well bounce out early tomorrow and hit the pool before work . Feeling a bit silly about the GP appointment after sleeping-off some of the winter tiredness, but I'll go anyway when the time comes and see if she thinks there's any point in doing checks.

hillsiderunner

hillsiderunner wrote: »

Another bad performance on the swimming. But am feeling more alert after the good weekend sleeps and think that I may well bounce out early tomorrow and hit the pool before work .

And of course ...another 9hour+ sleep, a late start, a cancelled morning swim, and yawning most of the day. But finally managed to push my feet to the pool for 800m after work. Mostly just 50ms of freestyle, but there was 200m of drills in there too: 2x(50m catch-up, 50m catch-up with zip)
First time in the 50m pool in ages and I felt it, think I was thrashing around a bit. Main thing was to break the deadlock, and between that and the tiredness I let myself get out before 1000m. Counting this one for the previous week:

weekly total: 22.7miles (252mins as 5runs), 1500m (2swims), 1 pilates.

hillsiderunner

21st Nov ->: week 4 of the Myles S graduates plan http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101424076&postcount=910

Midweek plodding:

Tuesday: 50mins easy (4.3miles @11:38 avg)
Brrrrr. 50mins easy on the neighbourhood loop in the evening, broke the run halfway through to run up to my flat and switch on the oven to get the dinner perfectly synchronised with run & stretches.

Wednesday: 10mins w/u, 12x45secs @5k (1min jog), 10min c/d (3.85miles), pilates
No swim class today. Was nothing specific clashing with it but had a good bit to do at work and am really hating navigating everything around the 11-12 slot not to mention the run-commute and stretches, it's a nuisance and knocks a big hole in the smooth running of the day. And am not loving this particular instructor anyway. Big mistake to sign up for this window and it'll be an evening slot or nothing after Christmas. Did take the run-gear and went out from the office after work. Cold and icy, Google said 0C but I'm not sure it was quite that cold, the puddles weren't frozen yet. Took myself to the meadows and found myself a flat stretch of tarmac that was well-lit and well-trodden, no worry of slips (in case walshb is reading this and getting upset :rolleyes:).
Paces for the reps (as much as you can judge with these short intervals) were a bit faster than 5k pace being sprinkled between 8:15 and 8:50, and it was all very comfortable and enjoyable. W/u and c/d were done at slow easy pace on a mixture of tarmac and grass, the leaves giving an extra crunch from the frost.

Thursday: 50mins easy (4.37miles @11:27 avg pace)
Nice easy run done round Harolds Cross, Kimmage and Terenure. Nice and mild compared to earlier in the week (when I took the bus to Edinburgh airport this lunchtime there still was a very thick frost on the ground). Run was mostly uneventful but when I came alongside the Dodder, there was a bunch ... or a "luminosity"? ... a "rack"? .... of running jackets tied around the trees at the Fairways/Springfield intersection. Seemed to be unattended too. About 5mins later I passed a group of about 30runners in T-shirts heading towards that direction, I assume to capture their jackets.

Have a MP run on Saturday and 80mins on Sunday, and you never know I might make it to Swan Leisure tomorrow morning. No parkrun this visit as the American visitor has Thanksgiving plans for Saturday lunch.

Bungy Girl

Gotta love those 'giant' sleeps! I miss them . Good work being done, Hilly, nice tempo and 5K paces.

hillsiderunner

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Gotta love those 'giant' sleeps! I miss them . Good work being done, Hilly, nice tempo and 5K paces.

It's a nice little plan .

Giant sleeps at the weekend are great but am a bit less thrilled that the fix for the all-day yawning is now looking like 9hours/night rather than iron or Vitamin D ....

hillsiderunner

21st Nov -> 27th: rest of week 4, Myles S graduates plan

Friday: nothing
No I didn't get up early to go swimming. Also missed the evening late swim due some combination of politeness and laziness....

Saturday: 10mins w/u, 45+mins MP, 10min c/d (6.45 miles)
This one done on paths in the late afternoon round Kimmage, Dodder, Orwell, Upper Rathmines and back to Harolds Cross. My MP range is 9:29-9:59. Times for the MP miles came out as 10:04, 9:40, 9:45, 9:55 and 9:37 for the "rest" (slid over the 45mins a bit as I wasn't watching the watch closely enough). Bit slower than I'd like .... first MP mile was on the drag of Fortfield road :rolleyes: (a very minor drag), and the 4th MP mile had the Orwell undulations I suppose.... *but* at least I was doing something faster than easy pace!
w/u was the slow side of easy, c/d a bit faster than easy.

Sunday: 80mins easy (7.09miles @11:17 avg)
Back in Edinburgh for this one. Did this on the "Sunday-after-dark" route round the eastern suburbs and coast. Most individual miles were on the fast side of easy-range except for mile 2 and 3 (net downhill, and a bit faster than easy even though I did try to slow things down at the end of mile 3) and mile 5 (long uphill stretch, so slow side of easy). Pretty comfortable overall .

weekly total: 26miles as 5runs, 1 pilates

niggles and exercises:
stair drops *once* 5days/7 (all running days), this is mostly deliberate as the posterior tib is quiet and I'm just aiming to stretch out the achilles.
back exercises 5day/7 (well it will be after I've done this evening's set).
stretches pretty good.

Now I have to confess that maaaaybe I have a new niggle, not sure yet. Have been feeling a bit of discomfort (not soreness) on the flat bit near the ball of the right foot on-and-off for about a week. First though it might be related to the toe-thing (more or less sorted) but after a while I realised it felt more like the start of the stress fracture I had last year on the other foot . Was doing the long walk through Terminal 1 today to the outer-ghettos of Ryanair gateage and I was feeling it as I walked. Got to thinking about the possibility it is another stress fracture, it would fit with the GP thinking I had low VitaminD (last year), and also with all the yawning over the autumn months (Google pulled up some suggestions that the tiredness can be VitD). Hmmmm ..... in thinking through it I *nearly* talked myself into skipping today's run and taking a week or two off to head it off. Had changed my mind by the time I had landed in Edinburgh. Might have changed my mind again later this evening but that would have been laziness not sensibleness .... Anyway foot was fine during the run, bit of response in the final two miles but it was the "toe-ness" not the bottom of the foot. Will do some more work on the tendon on my outside leg and will watch it like a hawk in case it is something serious. Had already dug out the long-forgotten VitD tablets (bought in Stockholm in the days of the stress fracture) and started taking them last week. And there are pints of milk in the fridge.

Had been feeling a bit disappointed in Dublin airport thinking of bailing out of my schedule again for another break. Nearly as disappointed as for a certain internet stranger ....

Next week is week 5 of Myles S, and that was Christmas week last year. There's no Goal mile to do this week so as long as the niggles being quiet, I'll change the end of that week to be Friday rest, Saturday parkrun with 10 mins w/u, c/d and Sunday 70mins easy. Aim will be to take 30secs off the parkrun time of a fortnight ago - and most of those secs should come off the first mile as I went out too slow that time.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101424076&postcount=910

hillsiderunner

29th-5th Dec: week 5 of the Myles S graduates plan (2015)http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101424076&postcount=910

Monday: nothing as planned

Tuesday: 50mins easy (4.48miles @11:10 avg)
Daylight run from the office after lunch, mostly grass/trail. All paces were towards the fast end of easy except the first one which was closer to steady. All felt very slow though.

Wednesday: 60mins steady (5.93miles), pilates
The swim class was directly clashing with a meeting at work today (totally useless meeting as it happened), so had to skip.
Didn't get out to do the run till after work, it was dark, and I was dreading the cold ... then I checked Google and it was 9C :rolleyes:. Went out towards the meadows planning to run on the tarmac towards the faster end of steady which would be low 10:xx. But there was just enough light hitting the trails (barely), so I drifted onto the trails, paces were 10:05, 10:01, 10:09, 10:05, 10:13 and 10:07. The effort did feel a bit faster than steady, esp in mile two (had to slow down at the end to get the pace right) and also in the final mile when I was finding it harder. Probably felt as tough as Sunday's MP run being honest. It probably was the extra effort from being on the trails and also working to see the ground for tree roots, it dawned on me about three miles in ... of course I kept the pace going anyway. There were a good few others out (the other runner on the trails had a head torch) and despite this being "speed" I was passed by a number of runners zooming past.
Was pretty tired when I got home after pilates, so could feel the effects of this one.

Thursday: 51mins easy (4.5miles @11:20 avg pace)
Tired in the morning so no swim . Was fine that evening so I did some nice comfortable miles round the neighbourhood loop.

Friday: nothing as planned
Rest day before parkrun tomorrow.

Saturday: 7mins w/u, parkrun in 26:00, 15mins c/d (5.05miles)
No excuses for this one. Had some good sleep under my belt, weather was cold but not freezing, and the forecast was *no wind*. Went out on my bike to the parkrun on the promenade, locked up the bike, and did as many w/u mins as I could fit in (.6miles @11:xx). The achilles is always a bit tight coming off the bike these days, so I can't really get away with my old trick of locking the bike and jumping into the throng. Little bit of drizzle.
parkrun: Main plan was to start this at a better pace than I did last time out, goal was to bring the first mile below 8 and a half mins or even slightly better if I was comfortable. So instead of dawdling after the start I worked up to a decent pace fairly early on, was already around 8 and three-quarter pace after a few mins .. then increased the effort a bit and brought the first mile in at 8:28. The second mile of this route is my favourite being less exposed and having a tiny bit of up-and-down, slightly more down. Kept pushing on and was expecting to bring this in faster than mile 1, job done 8:15. Was already breathing fairly heavy half-way through this but able to keep the pace up. Didn't let myself look at the watch in the later half of the mile, and same for mile3. Mile 3 is never my favourite as it's the most exposed and I was expecting it to be slightly slower than the previous one, but kept pushing on and it came in at 8:13 and the ".14" run-in was 7:33 to my surprise. The exposure was less important today because of the gentle wind of course. Was working hard in the last half-mile but felt stronger than the last-time-out, wasn't dying for it to be over this time. Still had a fleeting sense of maybe-getting-sick at the finish and it was a slow walk up the funnel. Enjoyed this little race though, "running fast" is so much fun! Watch was showing 25 mins 59 1/2 secs after, and the official time was very close at 26:00.
15mins c/d (1.31miles) at a slow-easy pace before cycling home.
Of course after cycling back I went straight to buy the bread and had brunch instead of doing stair drops and stretches. Thought I might do them later in the day but of course I didn't. Was exactly the same the previous parkrun ....

Later on Saturday felt the toenail of the big right toe a bit sensitive, like the start of a black toenail. Have only ever experienced this after hilly HMs but had noticed a day or two before the nail was just a bit too long, so probably I did the damage at parkrun....
Have cut all my toenails.

Sunday: 70mins easy, hilly run (6.41miles @10:55 avg)
Midday run in the *daylight*. Typical Sunday route with one lap Holyrood, once round the playing fields, then out of the park for a sharp climb and a couple of miles back to the flat. More than half the distance was on hard surfaces with about 3miles of lovely frosty grass trails. Paces were all over the place with the hill factors, but this was overall a nice and comfortable run. The big toe was a bit sore on the downhills though. Hoping it will calm down with a day off today, and I'll avoid downhills for an extra couple of days. Stretches were done after, but no stair drops as the toe was too sensitive for that (the achilles that needs the strengthening is also the right side).

weekly total: 26.3miles (279mins as 5runs), 1 pilates.

niggles and exercises:
back exercises 4days/7. Not happy with this, really wanted to do five but was too tired last night.
stair drops 2/7, terrible. Need to improve.
Stretching most days.


Have a new table of training paces from Saturday's parkrun . Sightly faster paces of this week's runs was justified it turns out.

pace | min-per-mile
5k: | 8:22
Easy: | 10:52-11:22
Steady: | 9:37-10:07
MP: | 9:07-9:37
HMP: | 8:47-9:02
tempo: | 8:47-8:52
10k: | 8:37-8:52



Hit the end of the month after Wednesday:

monthly total: 103miles

Month|2013|2014|2015|2016
January|55|85|70|49.5
February|69|9|96|30
March|53|57|134|61.5
April|85|61|85|39.8
May|65|71|145|26
June|51|43|89|6.8
July|25|99 |79|75.8
August|84|120|26.5|97
September|18|131|0|85
October|83|0|15|95
November|78|3|62.5|103
December|53|56|86
Total|719|735|888|669

hillsiderunner

6th Dec ->: week 6 of the Myles S graduates plan (2015) http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101424076&postcount=910

Monday: nothing as planned

Tuesday: 50mins easy (4.7miles @10:38 avg)
Daylight run from the office before lunch, on my usual grass/trail loop. Bit mucky but manageable in road shoes. Genuinely comfortable and enjoyable run even though this is slightly faster than legal "easy", consistent pacing too.

Wednesday: 10mins w/u, 12x90sec@5k w 1min rec, 10mins c/d (4.8miles), pilates
Nothing directly clashing with swim class but I was only arriving to the office at 10am, felt I had too much to do to run off 30mins later. So skipped *again*. Will make the effort for the final two weeks, and will have more sense signing up for things like this in future.
run: Left the run until after pilates, and half an hour extra of dithering, then out do this on my trusty neighbourhood loop. Dug the shorts out for this as even at 10pm it was still quite warm. Target pace for the reps was 8:22. Got them all done mostly within 5-10secs of the 8:22, with a couple around 8:00, and one around 8:40. The last two were harder and there was one very slow recovery at that point. And definitely overall a harder session than the 12x45secs a couple weeks back. w/u and c/d paces were slower than official easy, so compensation for yesterday. Achilles was bothering me a small bit. Got back into the house and did stair drops, and stretches, and the bloody back exercises, was in bed a bit after midnight.

Thursday: 1000m freestyle, 50mins easy
Finally a swim, done at lunchtime because the pool was closing off the 50m stretch at 3:30. And this pool is shut all weekend for a competition, that's the essential motivation that brought me here today. The 1000m was done as 4x50m, 6x100m and finally one 200m. Had a comfortable pace going and this was very enjoyable (after dodging for so long). Great time of day to swim also, there were only about 2people per 50m lane. I guess that could be December rather than lunch-slot though ... Could feel a bit of "looseness" from the big toenail that got a knock, might tape it before future swims as I don't want to lose it, much prefer if the nail stays on while the new one grows below.
Had planned to do the 50mins on the schedule in the late evening (not a new thing ...) but did the back exercises first to make sure I wouldn't dodge them. Was 10:45 when I was finished with those, and didn't have the energy to head out. That's the first time in a month I've pushed-back a run I think.....

Went round to the GP this morning so the nurse could take blood for the iron tests. Am betting the results will be fine though as I'm feeling grand these days, and the knackered phase from autumn has passed. In fact I started coming back to normal just after I'd booked the first appointment with the GP a few weeks back.... Not sure what was going on in autumn, the heart rate had been quite high those months (have been testing it in Boots when I weighed myself each month), rate is a good bit lower now. I guess it's possible it was simply lost fitness and was maybe pacing "too-fast" () in the early months back running.

Will do the 50mins easy this eve after work.

hillsiderunner

-> 11th Dec: week 6 of the Myles S graduates plan (2015) http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101424076&postcount=910

Friday: 50mins easy (4.4miles @11:22 avg pace)
Ahhh, Friday evening, Pringles and central heating, needed to give myself a shove out of the flat to do Thursday's skipped run. Round and round the neighbourhood loop at a easy pace.

Saturday: 10mins w/u, 25mins @HM (not) pace, 10mins c/d (4.28miles)
Parkrun volunteering in the morning, some great performances from the lead runners. Went out to do this HM session in early afternoon, my pace should be 8:47-9:02 per mile. Was going to do the HM minutes round the playing fields which is grass, so expected that I'd be to the slow end of this range, maybe 10secs slower again. *Ha*! Went off towards the park, hopped onto the grass for the last few mins of w/u, then into the start of the HM minutes. There were about 10 mini-greyhounds walking around free off their leads nearby with hi-vis jackets on their backs and just a couple of people with them. Seemed they'd already been trained a bit and weren't looking for a race, I'd have been no match for them anyway. After a few "HM" mins had a look at my watch to see pace a bit over 10min .... worked to pick it up as I went round the fields but it didn't improve much, mile came in at 9:57 despite working hard, then the second time round the fields for another difficult mile, exactly 9:57 again, no kidding. Not sure there was any point bothering with the extra 5mins but I did them and this was 9:42, little bit of downhill advantage helped. Oh dear .
Was doing the HM mins mainly on grass which would explain some fall in pace. Also there's a bit of rise-and-fall on the lap. Though .... nothing too major and certainly not enough to explain 50secs+ slower than target pace. Felt harder than HM pace too being honest. Anyway it was attempted. c/d and w/u easy/slower-than-easy.

Sunday: 91mins easy, hilly (8.08miles @11:16 avg pace)
Plan was to put some extra hill-climbing into this run in preparation (of a kind) for Fat Turkey. So into Holyrood (as usual), and I did two clockwise laps of the circular road, then back home. Half the miles on hard surfaces, the other half on grass. Had originally thought I might do a steeper climb up the Radical Road after my first lap, but given yesterday's fail I decided to stick with the easy option: run still had 70m-80m climb over a mile, done twice, so a decent bit of uphill anyway. Paced myself carefully on the climbs but did push a bit (bit over easy) in the last couple of miles, always having my mind on average pace . Must do better.
Was early afternoon I was doing this, well before sunset, but the clouds were low in the sky and the light dim. More nods from other runners than usual, maybe the bond of December running. In fact the run was split into two because I got shouted by an past colleague just before I started the second lap and she was in the mood to chat, so I stopped myself and watch for about 5mins.
Back into the flat and stair drops and stretches ignored in the rush to switch the TV onto BBC2 to see the European XC. Poor Fionnuala, did the main work and got out-kicked. Very well done by Jack O'Leary and Callum Hawkins. Apart from the controversy of the Turkish/Kenyan athletes have to say the course didn't seem typical cross-country, imagine the Irish runners might have preferred a bit more muck.

weekly total: 26.2 miles as 5runs (274mins), 1swim (1000m), 1pilates

niggles and exercises:
Back exercises 5days/7 with today's done already .
Stair drops 2days/7 but will do them tonight to make 3days (achilles not too bad have to say).

Have other grass runners noticed the recurring problem of dirt on inner ankles? If I'm not vigilant enough when I'm showering and over the past months I'm often noticing little scuffmarks when shoes and socks are off.

Day off tomorrow , and food and drink in the evening, then pick week 7 up starting Tuesday.

hillsiderunner

12th-18th Dec: week 7 of the Myles S graduates plan http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101424076&postcount=910

Got it all done more-or-less as planned this week .

Monday: nothing as planned

Tuesday: 4.7miles easy (about 50+ mins I guess)
Forgot my Garmin this morning, so did the exact same route as last Monday, including the tiny little out and back near the office that I needed last week to use all the minutes. So have the distance but no idea of pace except it was comfortable. Mostly grass/clay trails on the usual office loop.

Wednesday: 10mins w/u, 5x4min @10k pace w. 3min rec, 10min c/d (5.2miles), pilates
Not early enough to work to justify nipping out to swim class, but let's be honest, it's bitten the dust for good, I'm not going to turn up out of the blue for the last week. But never mind .... Intervals day! Went out around lunchtime to my usual office loop, but stayed on the tarmac for all the intervals and recoveries so I'd have the paces right. Target pace 8:37-8:52. Actual paces for the 4min reps were 8:46, 9:01, 8:41, 8:48, 8:32. Had a narrow turn near the end of loop2 so think the Garmin might have dropped a small bit of distance at that point, I'd been on target for most of that rep. Was a blustery day and most of the 4th rep was into a headwind so was happy to get that one on target. Breathing a bit heavier on the final slightly-faster rep (though no harder than in Saturday's HM section I have to say, probably less in fact ).

Thursday: 51mins easy (4.55miles @11:17 avg)
Round the neighbourhood loop in the evening.

Friday: 800m freestyle
Went off to the pool in the evening to get the swim in, 4x50m and 6x100m except one of the 100ms was broken with some spluttering. Usually I have 1000m as a minimum for a swim, but was watching the clock a bit and as I came up at the end of the 800m I had another look at it and then something propelled my limbs towards the side of the pool and then I was getting out, with *purpose*, no going back. There was enough time left to do some extra lengths in case anyone is wondering.

Saturday: 50mins easy (4.25miles @11:46 avg pace)
Slower than easy run, mostly done on the grass loop round the playing fields, one mile of hard surfaces for the there-and-back. Could have done with the trail runners, that's the n-th time in the last weeks I've thought that, should be paying more attention to the forecast. Junior greyhounds with their hi-vis jackets there again, leaving the park as the sun went down on my second loop.
No stair drops, no stretching, not even the back exercises. No sure what it is about Saturdays ....

Sunday: 90mins progression (40 easy, 30 slightly-slower-MP, 20 MP), 9.04miles
Checked the forecast and got a pair of shorts back out of the cupboard.
Script was to do the 30mins and 20mins at "effort" pace but I've no feel for MP effort. And not 100% about steady either, except I'm beginning to suspect it's the effort I used to do most of my running at a year or two ago ... Anyway, that means that despite the "effort" instructions I was going to use the paces for this. That means 9:37-10:07 for the steady/slightly-faster-than-MP, and 9:07-9:37 for the MP. Didn't want to have to try to estimate the effect of hill factors with a long route, so laps of the neighbourhood loop it was .... 8 and and a bit laps total in the end. There's a bit of rise-and-fall on the loop but it's the same each time round, so no calculation issues. I go past a collection of shops, cafes, pubs at the top of the loop and a couple of older gentlemen at the window of a takeaway seemed to be keeping note of my repeated laps as I went round.
Easy minutes came out as 10:57, 10:52, 10:49 and the .68 again @10:49. Few secs faster than official easy for those last two paces, but close enough. The 30mins of slower-than-MP was ... hmmm ... not as comfortable as expected but 9:55, 9:52, 9:41 all within target range, didn't bother timing the "bit" of this section. Then upped the effort level and the remaining 21+ MP mins gave paces 9:24, 9:30, and the .17 @9:19. A few slow mins back to the flat.
Verdict: MP felt a bit harder than I'd expect, at least from those race reports where they talk about the first 10miles feeling so comfortable. Those 21mins felt closer to "feel" of HMP.

weekly total: 27.7miles (294mins as 5runs), 800m (1swim), 1 pilates.

niggles and exercises:
back exercises 3days/7, worst *ever* . Back/sciatica is behaving well, but official rules are every day, and my own rules at-least-5/week. If I go below 5days again going have to start banning the running.
stair drops done once a day 3/7, that's ok I think as it's just for keeping the achilles quiet.
Left hamstring/adductor niggling a bit, did some dynamic stretching after today's run, will keep an eye.
Stretching mostly good.

Week 8 and 9 of the Myles 2015 plan were the run-up to the Raheny 5. Don't have a 5mile race in two weeks, but I do have the Fat Turkey in 10days. So am scaling-down/changing next weekend to have less minutes, and also the bit of race-effort that was written in for midweek of week 9:

|
Monday | maybe swim
Tuesday | 50 minutes easy
Wednesday | 10 min w/u, 8 x 2 min @ 5k pace with 90 second recovery recovery, 10 min c/d
Thursday | 50 min easy
Friday | nothing
Saturday | 10 min w/u, 1,2,3,2,1 minutes @ race effort w/ equal time recovery, 10mins c/d
Sunday | 70 min Easy

Ososlo

Good week and great to see it HSR!

Best of luck in Fat Turkey!

hillsiderunner

Ososlo wrote: »

Good week and great to see it HSR!

Best of luck in Fat Turkey!

Thanks Ososlo, pales in comparison to your mileage, but I'm happy to have kept the show on the road for this long to be honest!

The run up the hill is only race-with-a-small-r this time, but thanks for the wishes. The 5k two weeks back gives 54mins as the 10k equivalent, so I'll aim for sub-55 .

hillsiderunner

19th Dec ->: week 8 adapted, Myles S graduates plan http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101424076&postcount=910

Monday: nothing

Tuesday: nothing
Plan was 50mins easy.
Had left this till the evening and it was cold outside and there was lots to do, so I did the back exercises and a bit of housework and skipped the run ...

Wednesday: 6.5 mins easy, then later ....30mins w/u, 8x2min @5k pace w. 90sec rec, 23.5min c/d (8.12miles total)
Went out of the office in the afternoon with the rain starting. Cold rain. Ran down towards the meadows getting wet and cold and when I turned right onto my loop I got a huge blast of cold wind in the face ... and turned around and ran back to the office and slunk up the side stairs to my floor. *wimp*
Take 2: Only thing for it was the gym, and making it worse I wanted to make up most of yesterday's lost minutes as well as do the session. Saw the clock already at 7:30 when I came down into the cardio room and nearly went and took my stuff back out of the locker .... anyway it was done. I had converted my mile-paces to km-pace and km-per-hr in advance and written them down, so for this session the paces were bang on: 8.6 km-per-hr aka 11:10 per mile for w/u, c/d, 11.5 km-per-hr aka 8:21 per mile for "5k" ... and was able to do all the recoveries at 8.4 km-per-hr (11:26 mile pace). All done exactly as scripted except that the treadmill was on a 40mins limit so the third recovery had about 15secs extra (of standing) while I hit all the buttons to finish and then start up the next session.
Hate these things and had my tummy right up against the bar all the time so I wouldn't slide off, but there is something nice about getting the paces just right. It wasn't programmable but I was able to switch between 5k and easy in 5secs or so which was a nice surprise. Did all the reps without trouble and could have done a few more. And with the minutes from the afternoon, and the extended w/u and c/d, got in 40 of yesterdays lost minutes....

Thursday: 62mins easy (5.4miles @11:26 avg)
Back in Dublin a bit frazzled after 7hours door-to-door.
Late evening run, slower than easy round Kimmage, Terenure, Dodder, Orwell, Rathgar, HX. Made it 60 rather than 50 to finish up all of Tuesday's lost minutes. Didn't go as well as hoped as about 6-7mins in I started noticing sore/stiffness of the outside left knee, that I'd felt in the last 15mins of the treadmill run. Decided I'd run a couple miles more to see how it would go and it was quite noticeable through mile2, and then started to quieten down, was hardly there in the last 20mins. ITB niggle I think, so I added a couple of stretches for that when I got home and will do them again today. Will play it by ear.
There was a big fox in the park beside the Dodder running back-and-forth looking for a clear spot to cross the road. When I came up Orwell Road later, another big one standing in the corner of the green by Rostrevor Terrace, confident and relaxed and not bothered by me running close.
[rant] *cars*. I think some of them must head out for a evening drive looking for runners and then finding just the right spot to dither-in to stop us crossing the road .... [/rant]

Am still hoping to get the weekend runs in if the knee behaves. Still a few small Christmas presents to sort out first ...

hillsiderunner

->25/26th Dec: week 8 (adapted) of the Myles S 2015 graduates plan http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101424076&postcount=910

Saturday: 10mins w/u, 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, mins @10k effort, equal rec, 10mins c/d (3.6miles)
Usual Dublin route in the evening. Did the session as scripted except had to take a longer recovery after the first "1min" to get across the KCR crossroad and out of the way of the cars going in-and-out of the petrol station ... nearly two mins to navigate all this. Tried to run the effort-mins at just a shade off 5k effort, and the result was 9:02, 9:11, 9:02, 8:32, 8:20. The earlier reps are a fair bit off 10k pace (8:37-8:52) but it was blustery and I had some dark patches to navigate. Wind conditions more favourable for the last couple of efforts.

Sunday: 11mins+ w/u, Goal 7/8-mile, 11mins c/d (2.9miles)
Plan was 70mins and I'd been planning to do it in the evening, but the night before my Dad had mentioned there was a Goal mile up in Sundrive. Left my brother minding the oven while myself and my sister ran up to do this. Dusty tinder track (had my eye for intervals on this a couple years back but it was always locked any time I was up there). They had the run set-up as 3 and a half laps, so only 7/8 of a mile (and matched my Garmin distance). 6:56 on the clock (for the 7/8) and pace was 7:57 on the watch, slower than McMillan says I should do it. Nice slow runs to the park and back.
Had intended to go out later in the evening to do the leftover 40mins or so, but had been a heavy day in the kitchen and I had got too comfortable watching Casablanca with a couple of glasses of wine.

Monday: 44mins+ easy (4miles @11:10 avg)
Yesterday's leftover minutes, nice and easy.

weekly total: 24miles (262mins as 5runs)

niggles and exercises:
back exercises 4days/7, know I meant to keep this over 5days but let myself off the hook Christmas eve.
stair drops done once a day 1/7, terrible.
Stretching also scanty, these days it's too easy to just retire to sofa/floor after coming in from the run.

Next week's adaptation of the Myles week 9:

|
Monday | -
Tuesday | 25mins recovery
Wednesday | 10k race with a small 'r'
Thursday | 40mins recovery
Friday | nothing
Saturday | 50mins easy
Sunday | 70 mins easy

Annie get your Run

+1 on Casablanca, and the wine Good luck tomorrow if you're doing FT!

hillsiderunner

Annie get your Run wrote: »

+1 on Casablanca, and the wine Good luck tomorrow if you're doing FT!

Ha, all too easy to fall into line with the RTE programming! Thanks, it is FT, but not exactly shooting for a PB so less pressure :rolleyes:

hillsiderunner

26th Dec ->: week 9 (adapted) of the Myles S 2015 graduates plan http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101424076&postcount=910

Hmmmm .... lazy lazy lazy and I'm not moving from the sofa now. It's a lovely evening for a run but it's getting shifted to the morning.

Tuesday: nothing
Never bothered with the recovery minutes at all but no bother, could always add them to Thursday's minutes. Hmmm ...

Wednesday: 10k race with small 'r' (55:42 official)
Fat Turkey 10k of course. Had managed to get my sister to sign up for this (despite being untrained) and to my surprise she even came along on the day. I was also meeting two other friends at the race.
So ... a *gorgeous* day for a run up a hill. Hard to know how to pace this but I started off at a decent effort. Fastest friend passed me a couple of minutes into the race but the other two were behind. My aim was to maintain the decent effort on the way up without crumpling. First mile in at 9:42 which is well-off 10k pace but that's expected with the incline. A little bit after this I tripped and went flying onto the road .... lots of kind helpful people asking was I ok, had to say "I'm fine" many many times to get them out of my hair :rolleyes:. Got up straight away and continued, it's not the first time I've grazed my knee on a run. Was passed by the other friend a minute or two after the fall, but re-took her a few minutes later and didn't see her again. Miles 2 and 3 were 9:22 and 9:38 and I was working but not struggling. Spotted BG coming downhill near the end of my mile 3 and she was holding her side having been stabbed by the stitch gods. Last little uphill stretch to the summit and I walked a few little steps here, but only a few, then turned for the lovely downhill. Got a great shoutout from my sister after I turned back onto the main road, her threats of bailing obviously forgotten, and she had lots of energy to yell at me. Three and a bit lovely miles downhill picking up the pace as I went and crossed the line just under 55:30 on the watch. Bit slower than "equivalent" 10k pace from most recent 5k but it's hilly. Really enjoyable race on a perfect day and I wasn't wrecked after. Have a tear in the knee of my favourite tights unfortunately but am also the proud owner of a race T-shirt with a turkey running and shrieking on it *and* in nice dark colours *and* sensible sizing too. *fabulous*. Will be the first ever race T-shirt making a regular appearance in my running wardrobe.
paces: 9:42, 9:22, 9:38, 8:46, 8:30, 7:34, "bit" 7:48.

Thursday: nothing
More recovery miles dropped, just too lazy. Will head out for 50 easy mins or so tomorrow morning, and do the planned easy minutes on Saturday and Sunday too.

I only got the call about the blood tests yesterday even though the test was nearly three weeks ago (and I also know the results were back more than two weeks ago). You have to book the phone appointment and there's always a delay. Anyway ... haemoglobin is normal (the low end of normal) but the ferritin is low: only 7 when the normal range is 15 - 200+. So we will be making some adjustments in January to bring this up. Have been feeling pretty good over the last month or so, and I wouldn't be surprised if the haemoglobin had possibly been low also back in Oct/Nov when I was yawning all the time. But who knows.... Think this stuff might be contributing to the slow running paces since my paces are well-off what they used to be, the most recent parkrun was a bit better but still slower than any parkrun I ever did during 2013-2015. For sure there were a lot of interruptions in the year up to July 2016 but I've been consistent for 5-6 months now and it's not like I ever was a high-mileage runner before. I told the GP that my diet is fairly good but after surfing the net not so sure, the daily requirement seems very high in comparison to how much iron various foods have .

Will see if there is any improvement in the months ahead anyway, would be great to have a fix for the current slowness .

Annie get your Run

Nice work! I had thoughts of doing this at one point but 10K racing is a bit beyond my capabilities at the moment That's a very respectable result for a hilly course and off no specific race training either.

*Good* news on the results as that can be sorted although I definitely don't eat the daily Iron recommendations either :rolleyes:

Happy New Year!

hillsiderunner

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Nice work! I had thoughts of doing this at one point but 10K racing is a bit beyond my capabilities at the moment That's a very respectable result for a hilly course and off no specific race training either.

It's a lovely race. Have done it a couple of times in the past but enjoyed it the most this time I think .

*Good* news on the results as that can be sorted although I definitely don't eat the daily Iron recommendations either :rolleyes:

I can't imagine how *anyone* could . My normal eating is miles off though I've been making an effort over the past 5-6 weeks after I started suspecting iron was low. The diet in my parents' house at the moment is helping as there is a strong emphasis on cute woolly animals and those mini-cabbages of the season.

Happy New Year to you *and* best running-wishes for 2017.

hillsiderunner

26th-1st Jan: week 9 (adapted) of the Myles S graduates plan (2015)http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101424076&postcount=910

Week was finished off with three easy runs round the usual Dublin routes - HX, Kimmage, Terenure, Dodder, Orwell and Rathgar (+ Churchtown, Milltown for today's run). Did these in daytime/early-evening and didn't meet a single fox any of the three days ....

Friday: 61mins easy (5.4miles @11:17 avg pace)

Saturday: 60mins+ easy (5.4miles @11:12 avg pace)

Sunday: 80mins easy (7.24miles @11:03 avg)

weekly total: 24.3miles (257mins as 4runs).

niggles and exercises:
back exercises 4days/7 to include today's which are yet to be done (will make sure).
stair drops 1/7, after today's run. Have to say the achilles is not any worse at all despite the neglect.
Stretching also terrible, neglected every day except this evening.


And, of course, hit the end of the month yesterday:

monthly total: 110.9miles

Adding to the table and doing a bit of rounding (can't bear looking at those .8s and .5s any more :rolleyes: ... ). Next up, thoughts about the future.

Month|2013|2014|2015|2016
January|55|85|70|49
February|69|9|96|30
March|53|57|134|61
April|85|61|85|40
May|65|71|145|26
June|51|43|89|7
July|25|99 |79|76
August|84|120|26.5|97
September|18|131|0|85
October|83|0|15|95
November|78|3|62.5|103
December|53|56|86|111
Total|719|735|888|780

Bungy Girl

Lovely to see you at the FT, Hilly, and I agree the t-shirts are the business this year (compared to last years green tents :rolleyes:). Well done on a great time, nice downhill splits!

hillsiderunner

Going to be a very quick look-back on 2016. Had only two goals for the year, to avoid injury, and hit 1250miles, failed miserably on both unfortunately.

No real races in 2016, only "see where I am", I'm slower than I used to be across all distances anyway.

Small chinks of light .... "keeping the show on the road" for the past six months (that's quite rare on this log) and getting the back exercises done 4-5 days/7 since August is something too :rolleyes:. And I am finally a model citizen running easy runs at the correct pace .

Not going near the "goals for 2017" thread, I know better, but am going to risk jinxing myself here with my *hopes* for 2017:

• Currently 9weeks into my 18week plan, first aim is to finish that out. It finishes in the first week of March, and there is a local 10mile race on the 5th March which will be my target. Will set a goal time nearer the date as I'm hoping to pick up a bit of speed as I continue.
• Going to get-tough on the back exercises, and from now on, if I don't hit 5days/week, then not allowed to do Tuesday's run the following week (and not allowed to make up the minutes later).
• Have a little suite of body-weight strengthening exercises to add to the regime, twice-a-week is the goal. No penalty for skipping yet, will give myself time to get used to them.
• Have two target races I'd really love to do, longer distances. Anyone who was reading this log in 2014/2015 can guess what they are :rolleyes:. They are perfectly spaced through the year in terms of timing with the 10miler, and with each other. Of course the question is whether injuries will hit. But if I get to March without mishaps, I'll be up around 30miles/week, and probably will be in shape to start proper training. Would want the paces to have picked up a bit too, let's say parkrun down around 24mins by March. If that's the landscape come March, then I'll be planning for 7Hills and DCM.
• 1swim a week. Not going to bother with classes from now on, but no harm keeping a bit of cross-training going (to have in reserve for when I injure myself next).
• 1400miles for the year.

We'll see. Not going take it personally if I come a cropper with the hopes, what will be will be...

hillsiderunner

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Lovely to see you at the FT, Hilly, and I agree the t-shirts are the business this year (compared to last years green tents :rolleyes:). Well done on a great time, nice downhill splits!

Ah, thank you, but it is *not* a great time . But no matter, was great fun, and better results to come in 2017 I hope.

Nice to see you too, look forward to seeing what you do next year!

annapr

Good luck with the 'hopes' for 2017, M, you're overdue a good year! Looking forward to hearing about the hills again....

hillsiderunner

annapr wrote: »

Good luck with the 'hopes' for 2017, M, you're overdue a good year! Looking forward to hearing about the hills again....

Thanks.

And good luck to you for the running year, and (I see from your log) your own hills!

hillsiderunner

2nd->8th Jan: week 10 (not) of the Myles S 2015 graduates plan http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101424076&postcount=910

Foiled again!

The jinx fairies don't let anything past them, less than 24hours after my "hopes for 2017" posting they'd sent a virus in my direction. Wasn't too bad in the early days of the week, so got in the Tuesday and Wednesday runs fine. Even added some extra minutes in because I had plans for the end-of-week that were going to affect Saturday running. Then the cold started getting worse on Thursday, day-in-bed Friday and both plans and running were out.

Tuesday: 60mins easy (5.48miles @10:57 avg)
Final Dublin run over last week's route with a small out and back to use up the final minute.

Wednesday: 6mins w/u, 50mins steady, 9mins+ c/d (6.8miles)
Little warm-up near the flat, then a loop of the Eastern suburbs and coast for the "steady" minutes. Target pace was 9:07-9:37 and actual paces 9:25, 8:59, 9:09, 9:13, 9:37, and the .38miles @9:36. There was a net downhill for mile 2, that's why it came in under the target; also a fair net-uphill in mile 5. For the "bit", the effort was a bit above steady in mile 5. Then 9mins c/d back to the flat and round neighborhood.

Saturday:
No actual running but was feeling a bit better and the weather was mild, so spent an exciting couple of hours in Holyrood shouting at Ciara Mageean and team, Fionnuala McC, Garrett Heath, Callum Hawkins and Mick Clohisey.

weekly total: 12.3miles (125mins as 2runs)

niggles and exercises:
back exercises 4days/7, off the 5days target but not bad given the miserable days.
stair drops 0/7, terrible. Same with the stretching.


9th->15th Jan:
Was hoping to do the second half of "week 10" this week, but took longer to shift the cold than expected. Might have gone out for some miles yesterday but there were already little bits ice on the paths at 4pm, and mainly I was worried about the colder air in the lungs. So waited till the nice mild weather today to kick myself out with the aim of doing the 90mins LSR.

Sunday: 83mins+ (7.38miles @11:19 avg pace)
Two laps of Holyrood, muckier than usual so only about 2-3miles grass and the rest hard surfaces. Glad to be back out again and there were just a few bits of coughing (and no horrible Dickens-like stuff). Met a pheasant scurrying across the road near the top of the climb on the second loop. Unfortunately had some calf tightness on the right leg in the last mile or two, and when I came out of the park onto the road I could feel it more, so stopped and walked the .5miles home. **stamps foot**

weekly total: 7.4miles

niggles and exercises:
back exercises 2days/7, at least it will be 2days when I do tonight . Mixture of laziness, feeling rotten, and went to a party for a couple of hours Friday and got straight into bed when I came home ..... Think I'm going to give myself a waiver from my Tuesday ban because of having the cold (though on the other hand it's possible the calf will stop that run anyway).
stair drops 0/7. Only ever do these after running, and didn't think I should after today's. Did do some moderate calf stretches and will continue that tomorrow.

Think the calf tightness is not the posterior tib (even though it's the same leg). But it's true there has been neglect on the stair drops over the past month or so. Sorry to introduce another niggle onto the log (but hoping, wishing I might "anti-jinx" myself by writing about it).

Hope for next week is to *really* do "week 10" but we'll see. Apart from the calf work is looking busy, not helped by some lost time from having the cold.

[rant]Brexit!!! All the new articles, emails. The gloom and doom. And Sterling not worth anything ...[/rant]

hillsiderunner

Suppose I should write some of the cross-training up . The "little bit of stiffness" was a minor calf strain. Some crazy weeks at work, so hard getting time for pool/gym but did more than I expected. Still not fully back to the running unfortunately....

16th-22nd Jan: 2 run attempts (2.3miles total), 1 elliptical (57mins)
Had caused some trouble to the calf on the Sunday evening but didn't think it was a real injury, just a bit of stiffness. It was that "broad stiffness" rather than a specific twinge. Tried a run on the grass on the Tuesday and started feeling the stiffness again after a mile, tried to run through it but stopped at 1.6miles. Left it another 4days and at this stage it was feeling pretty much perfect when walking. So another run attempt on Sunday round the neighbourhood loop. Not a success, this time had to stop at .7miles ... kicked in a bit sharper this time too rather than just general stiffness . Could feel a slight twinge going upstairs to the flat, when it had only been tight on the downstairs before. So unfortunately I made it a little bit worse. Still seemed at most a grade 1 (which was right).

23rd-29th Jan: 1 swim (1000m), 2 aquajoggings (2x50mins), 1 Elliptical (65mins)
Calf a bit tighter now on walking and stairs. Had the physio booked for Wednesday but expected it would be cross-training only for the week. Elliptical, aquajogging, cycling ok, as along as not hurting (and nothing like 3hour cycles). Had been planning a cycle on the Sunday as well but the Saturday aquajog seemed to upset the calf, so I skipped it.
Had a bit of an inner tantrum this weekend after noticing the f***in aquajogging was not 100% neutral, had been very stoical up to that (though not much else you can do when the injury is your own fault).

30th-5th Feb: 2 Ellipticals(2x60mins), 1 aquajogging(45mins), 1 swim(1350m), 15mile cycle, 1 walk/jog
Better week on the cross-training, and another Wednesday physio visit, with permission to try a walk/jog . Tried that on the Saturday as 5x(2mins run, 2mins walk) round the neighbourhood loop and it went well so I continued on and did 10 full minutes of running after.

6th-12th Feb: 1 aquajogging (50mins), 1 Elliptical(60mins), 2 jogs (30mins, 37mins)
Calf no worse, but life getting in the way, so less cross-training this week. Two short easy runs on Tuesday and Saturday, Saturday's in miserable weather but I was happy to be doing it. Still having to watch the calf as it tightens up a bit after various activities.


13th-19th Feb: 1 elliptical (70mins), 1 aquajogging (50mins) and 1 mini-swim(600m), 3 jogs (37min, 45min, 55min), 1 junior parkrun

Monday: 35-40mins easy (3.3miles)
Lunchtime run on the grass (muck) with the trail runners on. No Garmin. Calf hadn't been 100% this morning, but it was good during the run, and fine doing the stretches after, so happy with this. Great to be back out on a daylight run .
Had planned an evening trip to the elliptical on my way home but never got to it.

Tuesday: 70mins elliptical
Done today after work on pretty low settings (incline 2, resistance 5) and keeping arms by my side instead of using the handles. Have been doing the ellipticals like this to try to have the strides/min up near 180 and I usually get near that. Strides/min 178 today, distance covered was 10.4km. Can't say I "enjoy" it but it's good to have the option.

Wednesday: 45mins run (4miles @11:15 avg), physio
First garmin-ed run. Another lovely run on the grass of the meadows as the sun came down. Lovely dry weather as well, though the muck still hadn't dried up. Yippee! Saw the physio in the evening and have permission to keep increasing distance gradually. For the next two weeks there is a ban on speed training, and can run "only every second day".

Thursday: 50mins aquajog, mini-swim (600m free)
Off to the pool after work to do the usual aquajog session - fine, kept the effort up when I should ... (with aquajogging there is the risk of the concentration dropping off in the longer reps :rolleyes:)). Have noticed a painless flutter in my left foot in the last two aquajogging trips, similar to what I used to feel the few weeks after the stress fracture in 2015. I don't think there's anything wrong with it though!
Was supposed to be doing some swimming after the aquajogging, ended up being 6x50m and 3x100m. Would have preferred more but had a little piece of work to finish back at home and was worried that if I knackered myself it wouldn't get done.

Friday: 56mins- easy (5miles @11:10 avg)
Friday evening doing a 5mile route on the roads. Delighted again to be out. All was well for 2.5miles or so and then started to feel a bit of stiffness in the calf. Did continue on in that kind of unsure way and ran the whole route back home. Hmmm ... nothing acute and less stiff than even the original run that upset it, but probably would have been better to hop on a bus. Was a bit tight on the Saturday.

Saturday: nothing
. Planned rest day after five days of doing "something" (runs very short admittedly) and too much work. Had got up early to catch a flight to Dublin, so another night of 5.5 hours unfortunately. Went over to the northside to babysit tonight so the plan for Sunday morning was ....

Sunday: junior parkrun(2k = 1.25miles)
Had planned to take hillsideniece for her debut parkrun, and had her barcodes sorted out in advance. So even though the calf was a bit tight I was not going to back out. Asked her at the start line if she preferred to run herself or have company, and she wanted the company. She shot off like Usain Bolt for the first stretch and it took a good while to catch up with her but after that we stuck together and kept things at a controlled pace, just a couple of short walk breaks. Her Mam will bring her again in a week or two.
Calf a bit tight while running so I stayed on the grass a bit. Nothing too serious though. Was even tempted to head off for my "real" run this evening and did a couple of test 20-30ms, but decided better to leave it. It's a bit tight.

Oh yeah, the back exercises. Couple of 5day weeks, couple 4day weeks, but only 1day week-before last .

Plan for the week ahead is a cross/running medley. Have two days off work (hurray!), and the rest of the week is looking less frantic than usual, so hope to *finally* start the strengthening exercises. Will probably leave the running to Tuesday and just do some stair drops instead. Planning to go to bed early tonight to catch up on sleep and then get up early for a swim and elliptical session in Swan Leisure. Let's see ....

No need for any sympathy on the calf, doesn't fit into the tale of misfortune as it was totally my own fault. Should know by now I can't be going out doing a LSR straight after 10days of no-running . And had been lax on stretching and stair drops in the month or so beforehand. Like to think I'm very tough but my body is one of those delicate little princesses always whinging about a bruise or a little scratch on their arm. Hope I will learn my lesson from it anyway.

hillsiderunner

Monday 20th Feb: 40mins easy (3.68miles @10:52 avg)
Calf fine this morning. By afternoon I had decided I'd do a run today. Not a desperate try-to-pack-the-miles-in, more a "might as well". Was aiming for 40mins but there was a very slight stiffness there from the start, and since it was all hard-surfaces I took a short cut after 1mile to be sensible. Was still feeling good as I came towards my base so I added an extra loop on .

Hoping the pool/gym visit will happen tomorrow!

annapr

Oops, not wishing you luck again M, in case i jinx you.

Which junior parkrun did you do with your niece? Did she enjoy it?

hillsiderunner

annapr wrote: »

Oops, not wishing you luck again M, in case i jinx you.

Ah, no, it was the goals "hopes" for 2017 post....
Would go back and revise my mileage "hope" but am playing it safe this time.

Which junior parkrun did you do with your niece? Did she enjoy it?

We were at St Anne's. Think she did enjoy it, there's a bit of competitive spirit there and she did quite well for a first go. Her Mam suggested taking her again in a week or two (she's a lapsed runner so the 2k would also suit her well right now) and she was up for it.

hillsiderunner

Tuesday: swim (900m free), 35mins "elliptical" (freemotion torture instrument)
Yesterday's gym trip a day late. Was there mainly for lane swimming but he started pulling the ropes up **15 mins** early when I'd only done 500m :mad:. Did a bit of up-and-back while the poll was being split, then a bunch of 15m lengths. I think it was about 900m overall. After that to the gym room and they had a different kind of elliptical to the one I'm used to .... no incline or resistance settings, just a "level" setting. Started at level 2 and after 3-4mins realised this was quite a lot tougher than the settings I use on my normal elliptical, I was working quite hard. Was also using the handles on this because I thought I might fall off otherwise. Promised myself I could have a quick break if I got to 15mins, and just about managed that. Jumped off "for a drink of water", and back on for 20mins at level 1. Even level 1 was not so easy, though the reps/mins went up slightly from early 70s to around 80. That'll be just counting one leg I think, probably really 145-160 which is less than I do on my usual machines. Distance was .42 +.58 = 1 "whatevers" (no unit), over 35mins!!!
I had been planning on 50-60mins on the machine but time was running out and I had to go after 35mins (even if I'd wanted to stay). Still felt I'd had a good workout.

Started sneezing in the afternoon before I left for the airport, continued on to a proper cold, with lots of sneezing and woolly-headedness for a few days. *But* it did not go towards lungs/throat at all, so was able to continue training . Very rare that the colds I catch are one of these cute little mini-colds so I'm grateful.

Wednesday: 50mins easy (4.45miles @11:14 avg)
Calf a bit tight in morning/early afternoon, plus a little bit of the "toe" thing also (did a bit of work on the tendons on outside leg). But also the left calf was a bit tight too. I suspect the freemotion machine. Or maybe the stair drops I'd done for the first time yesterday .....
Did my run anyway on the neighbourhood loop after work, all hard surfaces. Little bit of stiffness in the final 5mins or so, but fine stretching after.

Thursday: nothing
Planned rest day. Had a friend staying for a couple of days so a got a meal out in return for the lodgings .

Friday: 10mins w/u, 30 faster (steady?/MP?), 10min c/d (5.05miles)
Lunchtime run. Had permission from the physio to do some tempo/steady running at this point, and was being sensible and doing it on grass. Not sure what steady or MP paces are now after the missed weeks, so was just going out with the plan of 35mins of "bit faster". Paces worked out as 9:42, 9:35, 9:24 and 9:15 for the .14. Looking back now these would fit steady/MP from before Christmas. Only did 30mins fast as the calf had been a bit stiff since about halfway through this section. W/u and c/d a bit faster than easy at 10:40 and 10:30 or so.

Saturday: 21miles cycle
Out and back along the coast in late afternoon, and yes, this would have been more if I'd got myself moving earlier in the day. Bring on the longer days please.

Sunday: 65 mins easy (6.05miles @10:45 avg)
Had been hiding from the winds earlier, waited till 5pm to go out when things were quiet and dry. Was running this on the same suburban coastal loop that gave trouble over a week ago. All hard surfaces. Slight quiet stiffness for the later half of the run, but less than before so I was happy to finish this one, with one "neighbourhood loop" at the end to get 65mins done.

Had hoped to get a swim and/or aquajog done at the weekend but didn't get to the pool. All the same not too bad for a rehab week.


weekly total: 19.2miles (205mins as 4runs), 21miles cycle, 1swim (900m), 1elliptical (35mins)


stretches and exercises:
Back exercises done 5days/7. Was very nearly 6days too except I decided that 11pm Saturday after waving off guests, with a couple of glasses of wine taken, was not the time to start doing core. So instead I wasted a couple of hours surfing the internet :rolleyes:...
Stretching is back on (still hadn't got my act together last week). Did well this week and even incorporated the dynamic hamstring stuff.
Strengthening - still to come . Next week.

hillsiderunner

*jobs* :mad:

Monday: nothing
As planned. Hadn't even planned to do cross-training today (and just as well because it was a very very late night in the office)

Tuesday: 54mins easy (4.87miles @11:05)
On the grass of the meadows as the sun went down, chilly and enjoyable. Calf hadn't been perfect this morning, but I'd had used my thumbs and the hockey ball on the foot an hour before heading out, and that helped. Another late night in the office, no pancakes for me ....

Wednesday: nothing
Plan had been to take myself to the pool for a swim and aquajog, but no chance. Another late .... etc etc.

Thursday: 55mins easy (5.1miles @10:48 avg)
If I have to spend 12hours+ a day in the office, I'm not giving up my hour of running! A few spins round the meadows in the dark, easy and very consistent. Mostly grass. The disc had been niggling down the leg a bit over the past couple days. But it's not the running, it's all the sitting at the desk (I have the option to stand at the computer, and usually do a fair bit of that, but when things are busy I end up sitting all day poring over the work).

Friday: 10min w/u, 10min fartlek, 5min easy, 10min fartlek, 15min c/d (5.03miles)
Again on the meadows as the light went down dark. Bits on grass and bits on pavement, depending on how much light I had. Overall only about 1/2 grass because I was taking more care with lighting for the fartlek sections, there's a good few tree roots on these trails.
Anyway ... this was the first speed training in two months. First fartlek section about 1.16miles, second fartlek around 1.15, giving 8:40 and 8:42 for the paces. The fartlek sections were quite controlled too, I wasn't at my limit at the end of the 10mins . Happy with that for now.

Saturday: nothing
Plan was to get to the pool at last but spent the day dealing with one of the medium "to-dos" from my work list. C'est la vie. Happy to have it shipped.

Sunday: 75mins hilly run (7miles @10:43)
The typical Sunday run round the Holyrood loop and with undulating suburbs to follow. Not "easy" on the uphills (or terrible either) but the rest was at a fairly comfortable pace. Went out around 5pm with the sun shining, and was rewarded some lovely views after the sun was getting lower.

weekly total: 235mins as 4runs (22miles), no cross-training though, not happy about that

stretches and exercises:
Back exercises Will be 4days/7 after I do tonight's. But not going to penalise myself on Tuesday, am letting myself off the hook this week. Think I did quite well given the circs.
Stretching has been good again!
Strengthening - still to come . Again. Next week.

Next week shouldn't be as bad as the one gone past, but will be busy. Have hopes of x-training, fingers crossed. And planning for 5runs. Have been little bits of stiffness from the calf over the week, so am still keeping an eye.

hillsiderunner

Ok. Seo téim leis an dushlán "Seachtain na Gaeilge". *Yikes*.

Mé dearmad fiú na focail de na laethanta na seachtaine.

Dé Luain: Sos
An plean. Ní raibh aon seas agam beidh ag rith ar aon nós.

Dé Máirt: 55nóim (5mhíle @11:00)
Bhí mé ag obair déanach, mar sin ríth mé trí laps timpeall an "Meadows" sa dorchadas. Bhí fearg orm mar gheall ar rud eigín a tharla ag an oifig an lá sin. Bhí me beagán níos ciúine faoi deireadh.

Dé Céadaoin: 56nóim "aquajog"
10nóim w/u, 1nóim, 2nóim, 3nóim, 4nóim, 5nóim, 5nóim, 4nóim, 3nóim, 2nóim, 1nóim "hard" le 1nóim "recovery", 7nóim c/d.
Plean lae inniu a bhí le déanamh 40nóim "compordach" le 5 "strides". Ach bhí mo cos beagán righin tar éis an reáchtáil inné. Chuir mé "Plean B" i bhfeidhm ina áit and chuaigh mé go dtí an linn snámha a dheanamh ar roinnt "aquajogging". Cheap mé go raibh mé am breise sin chuir mé ar 5mins breise iarrachta "crua". Ach rinne mé botún ar mo ríomhaireachtaí agus ní raibh aon am a dhéanamh ar mo "sprints".

Dé Deardaoin: Sos
Bhí me ag obair go an-déanach agus ní raibh aon am agam beidh ag rith. Rinne mé smaoineamh ar a dhéanamh cúpla míle timpeall an "neighbourhood loop" ar 1am :rolleyes:, ach chuaigh mé a chodladh ina ionad sin.

Dé hAoine: 40nóim "compordach" (3.5mhíle @11:26)
Chuaigh mé abhaile ón oifig ag 7pm inniu! Bhí mé a dhéanamh ar roinnt ag rith, ach amháin "compordach" - bhí mé ag súil a dhéahamh ar an "parkrun" amárach. Rinne mé 40nóiméad timpeall an "neighbourhood loop" ag luas éasca - ach bhí sé níos deacra ná "compordach". Bhí tuirseach orm tar éis na seachtaine gnóthach.

Leag mé mo aláram do 8am nuair a chuaigh mé a chodladh aréir. Bhí mé ar mo choladh ar feadh ní uair an chloig, ach bhí mé fós an-tuirseach nuair a ghlaoigh an t-aláram ar maidin. Mar sin, d'fhan mé sa leaba .

*Whooof*. Is deacair é labhairt na Gaeilge. Mé dearmad go leor. Agus nílim cinnte go bhfuil "Google Translate" iontaofa.... "an reáchtáil" . Hmmmm ....

Wubble Wubble

Iontach ar fad HR

Níl sé go h-éasca bheith ag scríobh as Gaeilge, go háirithe nuair nach bhfuil tú tagtha isteach air (especially when you're not used to it)

Bhí an reathaíocht go breá freisin Maith thú!

J.

Bungy Girl

I understood 'sos'.....I too have 'dearmad go leor' Sounds like work is very gnothach anyway. Hope you get more time to rith soon .

hillsiderunner

Dé Sathairn: 15nóim w/u, 20nóim "tempo?", 15 nóim c/d (4.84mhíle)
Chuaigh mé amach go déanach sa tráthnóna a reáchtáil timpeall ar an bpáirc imeartha i Holyrood Park. Bhí mé a dhéanamh ar roinnt ag rith níos tapúla. Dhéan mé 15nóim ar luas "éasca" ag rith go dtí an bpáirc and leath-bhealart thart ar an bpáirc imeartha, agus ansin, thosaigh mé ag rith níos tapúla: rith me 2.5 uair timpeall an lúb sa 20 nóiméad. Rith mé den chuid is mó ar an bhféar. Bhí sé seo alt tapa go leor taitneamhach. Ansin 15nóim éasca a cool síos. Bhí an ghrian ag teacht síos le linn na reáchtáil agus bhí sé dorcha mar a chuaigh mé abhaile. Ach chonaic mé aon cúnna sóisearach. Bhí mé ag caitheamh shorts mar gheall dhúichí aimsir bhog, agus fuair ​​mé láib ar mo chosa. Ní raibh mo Garmin aimsiú satailíte, mar sin bhí mé a ríomh mo paces i ndiaidh an rith ag baint úsáide "walkjogrun": w/u (1.35mhíle i 15nóim => 11:07, 2.12mhíle i 20nóim => 9:26, 1.37mhíle i 15nóim => 10:57).

Dé Domhnaigh: <85nóim (7.65 mhíle @11:03)
Chuaigh mé amach sa tráthnóna a rith mo bhealach Dé Domhnaigh gnáth - aon lúb timpeall Holyrood Park, agus míle cúpla breise ar na cnoic fo-uirbeacha. Ba é an spéir shoiléir agus bhí an ghaoth éadrom. Bhain mé taitneamh as an reáchtáil.

iomlán: 230nóim i 4reáchtáili (21mhíle), 1aquajogging (56nóim)

exercises etc:
stretching - 2lae/4 ...... hmmm.
back exercises - 5lae/7, agus tá na cleachtaí lae inniu atá déanta cheana féin! Cleachtaí Dé Domhnaigh seo caite riamh fuair a rinneadh ...

hillsiderunner

Monday 13th: nothing
As planned. Well I might have swum but was a bit tired getting up so didn't bother bringing my swim gear.

Tuesday 14th: 55mins easy (5.01miles @11min pace)
Had left work early (hurray!) to come home for a flat inspection so was able to do this in daylight round the playing fields. Mostly grass. Exact same route as Saturday with a tiny bit stuck on at the end. The ground was a bit soft underfoot but better than the weekend and I got home with my tights clean. This was enjoyable and comfortable, quite blustery out but I got a push on the back whenever I headed northwards. Can't wait till the 26th when we get the extra light and I'll be able to do midweek evening runs on more interesting terrain.

Wednesday 15th: 50mins easy (4.5miles @11:05 avg, 5x100m=> 4.8miles total)
Done from the office on the meadows from 6:30, so in the dark, mostly on grass. Despite being dark there were boot campers, dog walkers, bikes, runners, and a strange procession of people in pairs holding sticks out and doing some quiet chanting. Did the strides after in the streetlight alongside my office building.

Thursday 16th: nothing
There had been plans for running and swimming, but work intervened. Not too surprised and had done an extra 10mins yesterday because I was kind of expecting this.

Friday 17th: nothing
Was at work today as over here Patrick's day is pretty much a non-event, it's mainly for the students to get p***ed. I did have the "tunes" from our "irish trad music" trio at work coming down the corridor for the last hour at my office, but got out of there at 6:30. Might have gone out for a few easy miles this evening, but instead went to the pub and didn't get back till midnight. Two glasses of wine only, so the parkrun plan was still on.

Saturday 18th: 1mile w/u, parkrun in 24:59, 3.1mile c/d (7.2miles), 37miles cycle
Woke up at 8am after a decent bit of sleep and while acclimatising to being awake I realised my Garmin was probably low on charge. Hmmm... could I use it as an excuse to skip the parkrun? Checked the forecast, looked good, cloudy with light wind, couldn't really miss the chance. Got out and stuck the watch in the charger for 25mins while getting out. Was not expecting it would last the whole 5k but it did.
6miles cycle out to the waterfront. Arrived in good time, so did about 12mins warm-up very easy, let's say 1mile. Usual feeling of the calf feeling a bit wobbly after coming off the bike. Then lined up with the others and set off for the first mile. I was putting in a decent effort from the start, looked at my watch a couple of mins in and it was 8:05 already, normally I take a while to work-up to the pace. I kept a close eye on the watch in this first mile so I didn't overdo it, and brought it in on target at 8:00 exactly. Had started a bit further back than usual so knew I'd lose some seconds that way, so was aiming for slightly quicker 2nd/3rd miles ... and managed to do that somehow with 7:55 for each. The third mile was difficult and I had to do a couple of subtle backoffs so I wouldn't have to stop. Also did the thing of counting down benches and restricting glances at the watch. Knew I was going be annoyed if I wasn't sub-25, so stuck at it. I passed a few people in my third mile which hardly ever happens .... though I could see that a few people ahead of me had increased their gap, including a father/granddad with an JW10 . Was passed by hardly anyone throughout the race, except for the sprint finishers in the final 300ms or so. Hit the watch at the finish and it said 24:57, so was hoping I wouldn't lose too many secs with the timer. Official time 24:59. Whew! 8:00, 7:55, 7:55, "bit" @7:48.
I went around the course a second time, untimed but easy, after getting my barcode scanned. By the time I got back to the bike it had started raining, and when I turned the bike round to set off the wind had picked up as well. Had a plan to head to Leith and have breakfast before doing some cycling, and went ahead with that; 5.5miles later was inside the cafe, soaking wet. Hid in there for about an hour, but after the second cappucino I couldn't avoid it any longer. Both myself and the stuff in my bag were already wet, so I might as well continue on the bike ... thought of Neady's exploits while searching for motivation. Was about 6miles down the road when the weather started to clear up, and we even had some sunny patches, so I ended up travelling further out than I'd planned. Bit of a headwind after I turned for the trip back into town, but I got it done and it was good to be back at the flat by 3pm with 37miles on the bike. Bit of a change from chasing the sunset. I need to be building up my base so it was a relief to get this done after weeks of missed cross-training

Didn't stretch after getting back home, but should have. Calves are tight, the right one more so.... *sigh*. So will do a bit of foam rolling and stretching and decide on running a bit later.

hillsiderunner

Sunday 19th: 6.3miles untimed
Both calves were tight and the right ankle a bit clicky etc etc etc. Wasn't sure I would head out at all but it felt better later that evening ao I went out to try some miles on the playing fields. Could feel it slightly on-and-off on the hilly bit so played it by ear, testing how it felt when I came onto the small bit of tarmac for each loop. Anyway it never got worse so did 5 of the loops on the grass, then back out the gate and took a longer route home via Sainsburys. No worse on the tarmac either.

weekly total: 23.3miles as 4runs, 1cycle (37miles}


Monday 20th: nothing
As planned. Calves very tight anyway.

Tuesday 21st: 5miles easy untimed
*Brrrrrr*. 3 and a bit loops round the meadows on tight calves in the darkness. On the grass of course. Still hadn't got round to charging the Garmin, so this was untimed.

Wednesday 22nd: nothing
Working a bit late, planned to go out round the neighbourhood loop when I got home, and then I didn't bother. Of course could also be interpreted as resting the calves .

Thursday 23rd: 55+mins easy (5miles @11:06)
Did this round the meadows in the darkness *before* heading home to make sure it got done. On the grass and it was mucky, I could have done with the trail shoes. The right calf was a bit niggly toward the end so skipped my hill sprints.

Friday 24th: 3.2miles untimed
*Not* lazy today. This was a late night run after getting home at 11:30 (no, not from work, had escaped at 4:30pm). Hadn't had the chance to run earlier and also I'd had the "big toe" stuff going on my right foot all day. Had been at the tendons on the outside of the leg during the afternoon so by 11:30 the toe was all ok again. Kicked myself straight out the door after getting home and did three neighborhood loops .

Saturday 25th: nothing
Gorgeous day hitting 15C. Had 40mins with 20@tempo on my schedule, and this got pushed to the evening because I was out in the hills for the afternoon. Then I never bothered going out (and had only done a little bit of walking earlier, so no excuse).

Sunday 26th: 100+ mins easy (9.15miles @10:56 avg pace)
Another lovely day, but not so warm. But run *done*, usual hilly route - two laps of Holyrood Park and a lap of the playing fields. Lovely views. The ground had dried out a bit with the sunny weather so I was able to use the verges a lot .. so 5.5miles was grass/clay trails. Calf good throughout, just a faint post. tib. tightness in the last mile or so.

Will spare you the fascinating insights into the different flavours of calf tightness, the interaction with the big toe, the need to be careful using the tendons or causing soreness elsewhere, etc etc. But think I have the measure of it by now. For the post.tib. niggle, I know the solution: stair drops two-three times a week will sort it. And no, I haven't been doing them in the past fortnight .... or the back exercises (once each week ) ... or much by way of stretching . The mad period at work is over now so I've no excuse any more, am going to have to harden up. No more waivers on the "Tuesday ban" on running.

weekly total: 22.35miles as 4runs

Let's call it a down-week.

It's all been a bit sporadic over the last month but (barring any injuries over the next week :rolleyes:) I've got a week more being sporadic, and then I'm looking at 10 weeks of "hillified" base building. Have got a race to train for.

Might do another parkrun Saturday before the base-building starts, but not expecting it to be any better than the last one tbh. It'll probably be the harder course too.

Hannibal_Smith

Ah! Found you! Lol You're going well. The stair drops are miracle workers for the calf. You can never beat a good push against a wall stretch though!

hillsiderunner

Hannibal_Smith wrote: »

Ah! Found you! Lol You're going well. The stair drops are miracle workers for the calf.

The real miracle would be if you *wanted* to do them!

Hannibal_Smith

hillsiderunner wrote: »

The real miracle would be if you *wanted* to do them!

Haahaa very true.

Neady83

Hope you get the niggles ironed out before your ten week block starts HSR.

hillsiderunner wrote: »

and then I'm looking at 10 weeks of "hillified" base building. Have got a race to train for.

This sounds interesting, any more details on the race you're going to target?

hillsiderunner

Neady83 wrote: »

Hope you get the niggles ironed out before your ten week block starts HSR.

Ah, you're very wise ....

Just did a little bit of foot-rolling with the hockey ball. And will do the stair drops later. And I promise I'll skip the parkrun next weekend unless everything is perfect.

The main niggle is occasional posterior tib tightness. Had real trouble with it twice 2-3 years ago, and the odd bit of niggling in the last year. Am able to manage it and most of last weekend's tightness was not post.tib. related, was mostly tightness on upper-outside of the calves (aren't you glad you asked...). Not ideal to have cycled 30miles after racing parkrun, too big an effort for the legs (of some of us!).

This sounds interesting, any more details on the race you're going to target?

This one:
http://www.seven-hills.org.uk

Did a training block for it in 2015 but was scuppered by a ribs problem 1 week before the event. Think you're more recent on boards so you may have escaped all the recces I did back then ...

Bungy Girl

hillsiderunner wrote: »

This one:
http://www.seven-hills.org.uk

Did a training block for it in 2015 but was scuppered by a ribs problem 1 week before the event. Think you're more recent on boards so you may have escaped all the recces I did back then ...

Oooh exciting. All that groundwork in 2015 won't go to waste; some super recce-ing went on then that'll stand to you this year.

It's on my bucket list!

Neady83

hillsiderunner wrote: »

This one:
http://www.seven-hills.org.uk

Did a training block for it in 2015 but was scuppered by a ribs problem 1 week before the event. Think you're more recent on boards so you may have escaped all the recces I did back then ...

That looks like unadulterated hard fun Really looking forward to watching your progress towards this.

With that much elevation (and down hill), make sure you build some good strength and conditioning into the ten week block - a strong core will really help with the hills.

hillsiderunner

Neady83 wrote: »

That looks like unadulterated hard fun Really looking forward to watching your progress towards this.

'Tis puny fun compared to your own efforts! I am looking forward to it both for the race and the improved fitness.

With that much elevation (and down hill), make sure you build some good strength and conditioning into the ten week block - a strong core will really help with the hills.

To be honest core is only thing I do take care of, as the back exercises are nearly all core. There have been a couple of bad weeks recently but usually I am doing them fairly regularly. Also have a batch of more dynamic strengthening to start over the next week or two. Must write it all out on the log sometime ...

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Oooh exciting. All that groundwork in 2015 won't go to waste; some super recce-ing went on then that'll stand to you this year.

It's on my bucket list!

Glad you're not doing it this year or I'd be left in the dust! That's true about the recces, I am planning to mix up the hills a bit more this time round and just stick with a couple of routes on the course itself.

hillsiderunner

Monday 27th: nothing
As planned.

Tuesday 28th: 55mins+ easy (5miles @11:07 avg)
Post-work run from my flat thanks to daylight-saving-time, round and round the playing fields as the light went dim.

Wednesday 29th: nothing
Got myself busy with work and dropped the planned run (the planned swim was already dropped from morning).

Thursday 30th: 15 min w/u, 12x45 secs @ 5k (1 rec), 15 min c/d (5.07miles total)
A random session from the Grads plan thrown into this last week before I switch to base-building. Did this from the office on the meadows, but in bright daylight for a change. 8:00 or so is my current 5k pace and I was able to do all the intervals below that, average of 7:45-7:50 or so I think (well there was was one that came in at 8:02 but it involved a turn at the corner of the park), and jog the recoveries without being too tired. Could have definitely done a few more reps. Was able to stick to the trails even for the intervals because of the recent good weather and the daylight. Anyway really enjoyed this session and will miss this kind of thing over the upcoming months of base building.
The calf was a tiny bit sensitive at the end, but a batch of calf stretches after sorted it out fine.

Friday 31st: 45mins easy (4.11miles @10:57 avg)
Just under 4laps of the neighborhood after work and before dinner. At this stage still had the idea of parkrun in the back of my head, especially after the calf held up so well to the intervals yesterday. But in the first mile or so of this run could feel a little bit of sensitivity in the lower inside. Was nothing to worry about I don't think but no need to dance the tightrope between injury and fitness, so parkrun off the schedule. Was quite happy to have the lie-in next morning .

Saturday 1st: 45mins- easy (4.15miles @10:46)
Afternoon run in the sunshine in the lower trails of Holyrood, nearly 3miles on grass/trail. It was about 12-13C and sunny so there were people lying on the lower slopes taking in the sunshine as I came past, though they mostly had their jackets on :pac:. Harder than easy maybe at some points.

Sunday 2nd: 94mins+ easy (8.66miles @10:55 avg pace)
In Holyrood before sunset. Did most of a clockwise loop on the road, then I took a deviation through the interior on a trail with a steeper incline, then anti-clockwise on the road to come back down, and an out and back to make up distance. Achilles/lower-inside calf were a bit sensitive in the last two miles. Only niggle-level though, and I suspect the reason was skipping stretching after yesterday's run.

weekly total: 27miles as 5runs

Happy with the weekly mileage, but am disappointed I didn't get to the pool. Can't imagine what my swimming will be like after all the time away.

exercises and niggles:
Stretching done 3-and-a-bit/5 (skipped on Friday and Saturday, but I did the calves on Friday)
Back exercises 4days/7 (yes I know it's not 5 but at least I'm getting back into it)
Stair drops 3day/7.

Ososlo

Nice week, HSR, and great to see it!

nop98

Strolling through Greystones yesterday:

hillsiderunner

nop98 wrote: »

Strolling through Greystones yesterday:

. My street is not actually Hillside anything (though there's few Hillside Xs close by) but the whole neighborhood is called Hillside.

If I ever move back to Dublin I know where to search.