Trying To Make The Grade

Gleedog

annapr wrote: »

great running in tough conditions! good day for Monaghan all round

The brother went down to the match from Monaghan, they made the journey worth it for him anyway! There's a Kerryman at work I get to take the piss of tmw

annapr

Gleedog wrote: »

The brother went down to the match from Monaghan, they made the journey worth it for him anyway! There's a Kerryman at work I get to take the piss of tmw

Make the most of it while you can!!!

pconn062

Good running today, tough conditions. I think I have a few photos of you on the Dunleer AC Facebook page (blue and yellow singlet?).

Gleedog

pconn062 wrote: »

Good running today, tough conditions. I think I have a few photos of you on the Dunleer AC Facebook page (blue and yellow singlet?).

Thanks Yup that's me, need to be running quicker soonto get away with a hairstyle like that hahah

Gleedog

What a week

I can't really remember my training for the past week, it was all easy runs around 50-70 minutes) but I jumped into a 10k on Saturday in Ballybunion, not expecting much, seemed to be quite hilly. Ended up running a massive PB of 31:51!!!

Absolutely delighted. Took Sunday off, did 60 minutes today, making a plan for the rest of the week tmw.

Still buzzing with that time though. Previous 10k best was 32:50, and I remember quite clearly that I hit the 5k mark around 16:30, which means I ran a 5k PB in a 10K race. When it clicks it clicks good!!!

Will throw up my training plan tomorrow. Hope the nice weather treated you lot well too

Timmaay

Seriously time, well done, delighted for ya! Good to read through this blog also, I can see the appeal even if utterly nobody else looks at it, maybe I should start one ha.

pconn062

Savage running, serious progress. 14:XX on the track is a possibility now.

NetwerkErrer

Well done man! You were lifting out there, that's some result on that course. 15:20 for the 2nd half is a ridiculous split!

annapr

You neglected to mention that you won the race! not bad for just casually 'jumping in'!!

KielyUnusual

That's a crazy good time on what sounds like not the easiest course. Were you being pushed by anyone in the second half to record splits like those or was it just pure Monaghan stuborness that kept you pushing on like that?

Gleedog

Thanks for the support guys Yeah Tim you're right, these blogs do help a lot, even if no1 reads them. I never read over what I've posted, so its going to be good someday before an important race to read over the work I've put in, so you should start one if you've the time for sure!

I was out running on the Friday morning and seen a sign that the roads were going to be closed the next day for a race. Came back to the gaf, had a wee look at the results from last year, told my friends that if I did the race I'd win it and that we should stick around Ballybunion for the day, and there it was. Honestly didn't think I was in the shape to do that though-especially cause I wasn't sleeping until 2am and had done 60 minutes on the Friday-which just proves what my coach has been saying to me since day 1-I run best when I'm relaxed and enjoying myself.

The course was a toughie. The 1st 1.5k is uphill and then you have random ass hills everywhere else (but lets not forget that the last 1.5k is downhill too-but still, I had to push hard to get away from the group on the first 1.5k so that played a part too). I was on my own for the whole way...we had to do a turn around at the 5k point-so it was literally out the road and back in. So we were running against people. I think this played a part. Just kept pushing and pushing. I got a few 'well dones' by the other competitors going in the other direction, so I had to make sure I won the thing!

I have my goals on my wall and a 10k time like that was nowhere to be seen. My 5k aim is 15:00, which is something I thought I'd hit next summer rather than this summer-funny how 1 race can change your opinion and give belief you've never felt before. Hopefully I'll get to continue to share positive results with you guys!!

Gleedog

What I've done this week so far;
Monday; 60 minutes
Tuesday AM; 25 minutes, PM 50 minutes,
Wednesday AM; 45 minutes, PM short core session with 10 min cross trainer & stretch

Legs are feeling pretty tired right now, but thats expected. I've increased my food intake in the past couple weeks and have also started with a recovery protein shake for when I'm feeling extra tired. I also have a pre work out shake that I sometimes take too.

Plan for rest of the week;
This evening; 8 by 1 minute with 90 sec recovery w WU & CD
Friday; gym session-starting with a strength and conditioning coach, so an individualised program depending on what he thinks I need to work on, really looking for to this
Sat; 3 mile WU, 10k race, 3 mile CD. Local road race my club mates are running in so I'm going to jump in with them-run it as easy as possible (but obviously try to win!)
Sun; easy 60 minutes.

I revisited my thoughts on heart rate monitoring & gps tracking so I can track my training appropriately, but I don't think its necessary just yet. I'll look at things I can control before that-like diet and my S&C training.

On a side note; I don't depend on the shakes. My main source of nutrients comes from the food I eat-no processed stuff and I cook all my own meals. But it'll be interesting to see what the S&C coach thinks of my diet when I go through it with him.

Gleedog

Suffered my first disappointment in running in a good while over the weekend-I've strained my left hamstring. Looking back now it was my own fault, but I'm going to take the positives out of it (well going to try anyway!!).

I was in 2 minds about doing the 8 by 1 minute session on Thursday because my legs were pretty stiff but it was such a nice evening I just couldnt resist. It was a very tough session but it felt good to get through it. Did it on the football pitches in Maynooth-hit the same spot every time so it was successful. Leg stiffness disappeared during the session but swiftly returned that night.

Went to the S&C coach on Friday, we did very little but he introduced squats to me. Now my left hamstring was tight then and squats aren't going to help that at all... On Saturday I did a local 10k-it was meant to be easy but sure I ended up racing it and won. I tried to take it easy until 5k but my competitive side wanted me to push on from here. Ran something around the 34 mark-but the time was irrelevant.

So I go to run Sunday and just couldn't lift the left leg up too high and its been pretty sore to walk since. I'm going to get it looked at tomorrow and trying not to be too down about it.

The plan was to race the Patsy Kelly race on Saturday, but we'll see how the hamstring gets on.

Positives;
-learnt not to do a snappy speed session, then hard gym, then hard hilly race one day after another
-not going to bother with the local races anymore; I'm not getting anything out of them and just leaves me frustrated
-its not a very serious injury and I should bounce back quick enough

Sacksian

Recovering from something similar myself - it's not the worst because you can still run but just be careful with hills and anything fast and definitely don't do both at the same time! Patience...!

I know your focus isn't the track but thought you might still be interested in the Dublin Endurance Project being run as part of the Dublin Graded Series - might give you some very good quality races, if you're interested in seeing where you're at during the summer, even if they are on the track..

Morton Stadium, 22nd April - 10k.
Tallaght, 6th May - 3k
Morton, 20th May - 5k
Tallaght, 3rd June - 3k
Morton, 17th June - 5k
Tallaght, 1st July - 2k steeplechase

Gleedog

Patience is key alright. Its funny cause I can be patient with regards to steady progress but I find it hard to accept an injury in the same manner. It's all a test

Thanks for the list of races there. My track aim is June 6th, Ulster 5k. And then we have our county championships on the 2nd May, hopefully get into the IMC 5k on the 3d of May if they run a B race, but we'll see.

The steeplechase 2k might be worth a look though

Gleedog

Injuries suck. But luckily mine is nothing compared to some guys out there. Below is what I've done so far this week.
Hit the physio on Tuesday, first time in an age, also the first time someone has worked on my hamstrings. Will be booking more session in the future for sure!!

Sunday-off
Monday-off
Tuesday-off (physio)
Wednesday-light gym work, cross training and row. This helped the recovery alot, didn't push it too hard, but got me out of the house and feeling a bit better in general..I get cranky when I can't run and regress to being a moody teenager again (even though I'm 24!!).

Plan for today is light 30 minutes, and same again tomorrow with the Patsy Kelly on Saturday evening. Feeling confident that the hamstring will be back to 100% by Saturday, I reckon its 80% today.

Aim for saturday; enjoy it and see what happens. Bit of frustration to be taken out on the road!!

Gleedog

Its strange being disappointed with sub 16....

Raced in the Patsy Kelly 5k last night, it was a strange race in terms of timing because usually if there's an evening race you be busy in work all day and that, but cause it was a Saturday all I was up to was hanging around the apartment, probably should have met up with some friends during the day but there it is.

Initially I thought it was a flat course, but theres a lot of small inclines between 2k and 3.5k, this really took it out of the legs. Passed the 1k mark in 3 minutes, 2k in 6:06 then stopped checking the watch after that because I knew myself that I was fading bad. What a missed week of training does to you. Anyway, was dropped into 6th at 2k and held this position for the rest of the race to finish in 15:58. Not particularly happy but that's the way it is.

Hamstring is still a bit tight but much better than what it was. So the plan for this week is miles, tempos & S&C. Nothing sharp until next week.

Its been 3 races in 3 weeks. For some reason I just want to hide away for a while and get the consistent training in. Anyone else ever feel like this?

30 minutes recovery run this morning with stretching.

Krusty_Clown

Gleedog wrote: »

Its been 3 races in 3 weeks. For some reason I just want to hide away for a while and get the consistent training in. Anyone else ever feel like this?

Yeah.. It's been at least a race a week in April (with two more in the next 4 days), and I can feel it bleeding away at my sharpness. I think the impact is more mental than physical. A couple of weeks of solid training with no races though, and the drive/sharpness will be back. Not a bad result all the same. Running 15:58 on a tough course and being disappointed is a solid sign. The Bob Heffernan 5k in Enfield in May (Tuesday 19th) is flat as a pancake and very fast, if you're looking for a good 5k course.

pconn062

Well done, I was down at the race yesterday and it looked like a lot of people were suffering. The hills in the middle of that race always catch people out, couple of nasty ones there. That's a good young Clones team you have there as well.

Regarding the amount of races, I always feel like that towards the end of cross country season where you could run 4-5 races on consecutive weekends. Usually we take 4-5 weeks and just train and then hit a 5k before Xmas and are usually flying again.

Gleedog

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Yeah.. It's been at least a race a week in April (with two more in the next 4 days), and I can feel it bleeding away at my sharpness. I think the impact is more mental than physical. A couple of weeks of solid training with no races though, and the drive/sharpness will be back. Not a bad result all the same. Running 15:58 on a tough course and being disappointed is a solid sign. The Bob Heffernan 5k in Enfield in May (Tuesday 19th) is flat as a pancake and very fast, if you're looking for a good 5k course.

I think you're right about the mental sharpness going when racing so often, it definitely has an effect on things, getting away from racing all the time and focusing on training is like pressing a reset button in my mind
2 races in 4 days!! That's a hectic schedule. Are you expecting to be in top form for them considering they're so close?

Yeah I think I'll be hitting that one, its a good 2 + weeks away from the Ulsters so it'd be a quality race to hit, thanks for the suggestion!

@pconn, thanks for that. Funny, someone said the same thing to coach at the race too. We've another lad who's injured at the moment but once he's back he's a sub 16:30 guy too, so its nice to build on things and nice to be noticed! the new track back home is doing the guys wonders. It'll be interesting to see what they can run in track races this summer

Gleedog

Its been a tough week, the hamstring is still giving me bother. Keep trying to stretch it out on steady/tempo runs and gym work, its not working though. So I'm going to take the next couple of days off and take it from there.

I'm also away to Holland with work next week for 3 days-gear will be taken but its not ideal, so I'm not expecting much at the County Championships next week.

Once the hamstring is back to normal it'll be a month of track work for Ulsters, and I'm leaning on finishing up my track season early so I can get back to XC training. Maybe some gradeds toward the end of July but we'll see.

Sunday-30 minute jog AM, gym afternoon
Monday-30 minutes easy
Tuesday-15 min WU, 25 min tempo, 15 min CD
Wednesday- same as Tuesday
Thursday-gym

Plans;
Friday-off
Saturday-off
Sunday-hopefully back to jogging pain free

Gleedog

Been a couple of crappy weeks for training!!

Still having hamstring issues, must have been a small tear rather than a strain (I presume?!) but I haven't had a chance to get to a physio with being away cause of work and that the past week.

I've got county championships today, 3k. Going to give it a go and see if it helps at all. Its fine once it warms up but still a bit sore to touch. If its still sore by Wednesday or so I'll just have to give it a break completely for a couple of weeks and see if that heals it properly. Such a pain, feel like I've taken 10 steps back-but in reality its only one. Just gota wait it out and think of long term goals.

"You reap what you sow"

annapr

good luck in the county championships!

ThebitterLemon

I wouldn't jeopardise my season by running with a potential tear, you've run some great races lately. Be sensible

TbL

Gleedog

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

I wouldn't jeopardise my season by running with a potential tear, you've run some great races lately. Be sensible

TbL

I ran the race anyway, it hasn't made it worse but probably delayed recovery-so I've decided just to take a 2 week break (will still do core and press ups-but no squats), and get it massaged twice over the 2 weeks.

Bit disappointed the issue didn't go away but I've learnt what not to do-overtrain just because I run a good race.

If only we could bottle motivation for a later date

Gleedog

First run in 2 weeks this evening, hurah!!

Gleedog

Its good to be back, the gym was getting too comfortable, slowly turning into a meathead :P

Tuesday-40 minute run. It was surprisingly hard but felt good to get it done. I was sore Wednesday, my legs felt like they'd done a massive hill session, limping about work all day!
I got out on Wednesday for the same 40 minute loop, which felt even harder than Tuesday!

Yesterday I was travelling all day so I'll get out for another 40 today, with a gym session too (Fridays are now my only gym days of the week).

I'm going to focus on increasing my miles. by not doing as much gym I'll free up time for longer runs. Hopefully this will help me take the next step.

Still going ahead with the Ulster track. Not going to aim for a time, just going to race. Been thinking a lot on my time off and I'm way too focused on times. I refer back to the 31:51 in Kerry-I didn't care that I won, I was more concerned about the time. F*ck that sh*t. People are fare too focused on times (myself included). Heres to breaking the mould.