Faster

tailgunner

Thursday, 29th October 2015

4 miles
35:22
8:50/mi

The plan was to have a recovery run on Wednesday and a rest day yesterday, but life got in the way and I had to move things around a bit. This will probably be a common theme for the rest of the year really. Not ideal, but I'm looking at this period of training as a way to keep a bit of momentum going for the winter more than anything else. As long as I can still get most of the runs done each week, I'll be happy enough.

Anyway, I ended up with 4 miles "fast" prescribed for yesterday. I'm not a man who handles ambiguity well, so off to Hal Higdon's website I went for more advice. Mr. Hidgon (we're not on first name terms yet) advised the following:

'Go somewhat faster than you would on a "run" day. If you are doing this workout right, you probably do not want to converse with your training partner, assuming you have one. It's okay now to get out of breath.'

Hmmm. Still not loving the vagueness, Higgy. I don't have a training partner, so who am I meant to be conversing with? And how much faster is "somewhat" faster anyway?

Eventually I gave up trying to decipher these riddles, and decided I'd go with something similar to my race pace runs during the half marathon plan. Went off at 9:00/mi, which felt an awful lot easier than I remembered, so pushed on a bit after a while. I think somewhere around the 8:40-8:50 range will be the aim for these runs in future.

Oh, and I wore the headtorch.

tailgunner

Sunday, 1st November 2015

8 miles
1:19:22
9:55/mi

Had no time for the planned recovery run, so I decided to write it off and make sure I got a decent long run done over the weekend instead. The plan was for 6 miles, but ended up with 8. For no other reason than that it was an absolutely glorious day, and I was really enjoying it. Fantastic run to finish off the week.

Totted up my mileage for the year so far:

Month|2015
Jan|7.86
Feb|14.7
Mar|23.53
Apr|32.91
May|45.88
Jun|42.65
Jul|23.26
Aug|84.29
Sep|106.61
Oct|56.17
Nov|8
Dec|0
YTD|445.86

Finglas Flier

Congratulations on the HM and the brilliant log....
Great reading!!

tailgunner

Monday, 2nd November 2015

4.01 miles
40:40
10:09/mi

Back to running in the dark. I'm starting to enjoy it though - nice and quiet.

tailgunner

Tuesday, 3rd November 2015

3.16 miles
30:00
9:29/mi

This was a 30 minute tempo run. I did 10 minutes easy, 15 minutes hard (8:15/mi) and then 5 minutes easy again. I think it's meant to be a more gradual acceleration to peak pace and back down again, but I struggle with that sort of thing, so will stick with how I'm doing it for now. Had no problems holding the faster pace for 15 minutes anyway, and found it a lot easier than last week's interval session overall.

tailgunner

Thursday, 5th November 2015

3.37 miles
34:28
10:14/mi

It bothers me when I don't finish on a nice even number of miles for a run, but I misjudged my route a bit and ended up with this horrible asymmetric-looking figure.

Grand run, though it felt like I was just plodding along aimlessly. It was a recovery run according to the plan, but I had taken a rest day on Wednesday, so in reality I was recovering from nothing...

tailgunner

Friday, 6th November 2015

4.01 miles
35:15
8:48/mi

I think the 8:40-8:50 pace range is about right for these "fast" runs. Any quicker, and things go from "comfortably hard" to "hardly comfortable" quite quickly. I find it much easier to judge the pace on faster runs too, so this was nice and consistent.

Sunday, 8th November 2015

9 miles
1:29:47
9:58/mi

Pace wasn't as consistent here - a couple of miles were way too fast, and I had to slow to a walk during others as it was an absolute mudbath in certain areas. Glad I got the miles in anyway.

I'm going to try and do a long run of 8 or 9 miles every week, as it seems counter-productive to drop back as much as the plan suggests (it only peaks at 7). I don't think I'd be very satisfied with anything shorter, and I want to maintain some endurance.

Not a bad week's running at all in hindsight. 23.54 miles in total.

Maximus Alexander

You're dead right about the eerily similar paces! :eek:

tailgunner

To be honest I'm just going to copy and paste from your log in future. Save myself a bit of time you know.

tailgunner

Monday, 9th November 2015

3 miles
30:22
10:07/mi

I've been a little under the weather since the weekend, so I made a decision to give the planned recovery run a skip and take it easy for the evening. Got home from work and realised I had about an hour to kill before I had to think about making dinner. Perfect, I thought. I'll spend some time doing whatever it was I used to do before I took up running. Almost immediately though, I was drawing blanks.

Suddenly, I spotted a PlayStation gathering dust beside the TV. Was that mine? And look! There was a musical instrument of some description in the corner. Was it... a guitar? Did I know how to play this contraption?!

Five minutes of terror and confusion later, I was out the door. Lovely run.

Tuesday, 10th November 2015

4.23 miles
40:24
9:33/mi

Working from home today, so I was able to get this interval session done at lunchtime. The plan was for 6 x 400m repeats at mile pace. I went with 7:10/mi as the pace to aim for, as last time felt a little conservative. Splits were:

1:47
1:48
1:54
1:46
1:42
1:45

Not as consistent as last time, but I picked a really bad route for it and had to dodge some construction workers during the third rep. Next time I'll just run up and down a quiet stretch of road. I unintentionally flogged myself for the fifth rep - Garmin was having the craic for this one and kept telling me I was 30 seconds off the pace. Had to walk some of the recovery after that one, but managed to jog the rest.

tailgunner

Wednesday, 11th November 2015

3 miles
31:54
10:37/mi

Legs felt tired, so kept this very easy for the first couple of miles. Tried to pick it up for the last mile, but my body was just not having it, so I dropped back again. Not overly bothered really. The session yesterday probably took more out of me than I thought, and it was the fourth day of running in a row.

tailgunner

Friday, 13th November 2015

5 miles
43:30
8:41/mi

These "fast" runs are probably my least favourite on the plan, at least from a mental perspective. They're not fast enough to be much fun, and not slow enough to be easy, and with the slight increase in distance this week, I really had to force myself into getting out the door.

As soon as I got going though, as usual, I was left wondering why I was so averse to it in the first place. I had covered nearly 4 miles before I felt like I had done any real work, and at that point it was nearly over and I was able to pick up the pace and finish strong.

tailgunner

Sunday, 15th November 2015

9 miles
1:32:11
10:14/mi

The plan was for 8 or 9 miles again, but I want to do the local parkrun next week, so this morning was partly a reconnaissance mission to find out where the hell it is. Google Maps has been telling me it's only 1.8 miles from my front door, but I've never come across it, so I was a bit dubious. Anyway, off I went into the wild unknown, like Magellan or one of those lads. And wild it certainly was, going by the tree in the garden that was threatening to be uprooted.

What Google Maps didn't tell me is that the park I was heading for is at the top of some sort of mountain. Well it felt like a mountain. It was probably a small hill, but I'm not used to them, okay? The ascent started after a mile, through what is probably a pleasant woodland on other days, but was mostly some sort of bog today due to the rain over the last few days. I wasn't so much running as squelching.

Eventually arrived at the park, heaving and blowing, and feeling like a beached whale, after what felt like an eternity of running, but what was only about 20 minutes in reality. The park is a little exposed, so hopefully it won't be as windy next week, but otherwise it's nice and flat and looks like a nice route, entirely on grass.

Ran back the way I came and arrived back home after 4 miles, exhausted after my efforts on the mountain small hill. Debated leaving it at that, but figured 6 miles wouldn't kill me. Ran on a bit and then decided I might manage a couple more. I was counting down the metres by the time I reached 8 miles. Stopped the watch and waited for the relief to wash over me. It never happened. Ran back down the road for half a mile and back to bring it up to 9 miles. Toughest run in ages.

24.23 miles for the week.

tailgunner

Monday, 16th November 2015

4.03 miles
40:29
10:03/mi

A very pleasant trot around in the dark. Legs were a bit stiff at the start but soon loosened up. Thoughts of "maybe I'll do one more mile" were creeping in near the end, but I nipped them in the bud. I ran the last mile too fast anyway and was pretty tired afterwards, so definitely the right decision.

tailgunner

Wednesday, 18th November 2015

3.81 miles
35:00
9:12/mi

The plan for Tuesday evening was a 35 minute tempo run. But then there was wind. Sure who'd be going out in that?

Well, plenty of people, as it happened. I read a few training logs before bed last night and got an attack of the guilts, so I set my alarm early this morning and got it done before breakfast.

Was very pleased to find that the wind had died down to a gentle breeze. Jogged for 10 minutes to warm up, then did 20 minutes at 8:15/mi, followed by 5 minutes of jogging to cool down. It was tougher than I expected, but my brain wasn't fully awake and my legs didn't really know what was happening either. A morning person, I am not.

Firedance

Ironically, the weather was far worse this morning than last night with the rain, you must have been out very early to miss that downpour, fair play

tailgunner

Thursday, 19th November 2015

3 miles
31:30
10:29/mi

Kept this very easy. My right calf felt a bit tight, but not much else to report.

Next up in the plan is a "5k Test", which I was planning on taking at a parkrun tomorrow. The weather forecast is for "a swathe of gale force north to northwesterly winds, accompanied by a band of rain and snow".

Wonderful.

Maximus Alexander

Be grand, if the parkrun is a loop the wind will be behind you as often as it's in front.

tailgunner

I'm trying to make excuses here!

Firedance

tailgunner wrote: »

I'm trying to make excuses here!

what's your goal TG?

tailgunner

I was hoping to go under 24 minutes, but I might have to review things if the wind is very bad tomorrow morning.

Firedance

tailgunner wrote: »

I was hoping to go under 24 minutes, but I might have to review things if the wind is very bad tomorrow morning.

the best of luck! that's my next 5k goal too, hopefully the wind is more of a help than a hindrance.

The Muppet

tailgunner wrote: »

I was hoping to go under 24 minutes, but I might have to review things if the wind is very bad tomorrow morning.

Good luck with the goal if the weather allows you go for it.

tailgunner

Saturday, 21st November 2015

3.11 miles
24:38
7:55/mi

Happy with the time, disappointed with the performance.

Took off like a hare, then pulled back too much, and covered the first mile in 8:00 flat. Over 15 seconds per mile off target pace. Ah sure, the wind is crazy, I told myself. The second mile was a little better in 7:48. Still 5 seconds per mile off the pace, but the whole course is a mud-bath, it's grand. But then the third mile was 8:07. At this stage, I was out of excuses. Picked up the pace for the last bit (0:43), but it was too little, too late.

It would be easy to blame it on the conditions, but they really weren't as bad as I convinced myself they were during the race. The reality is that I didn't run as hard as I could have. I've run a full 5k at race effort a few times now, and I know what it feels like. It's hell. And today was nothing like that. It was tough in spots, but I got nowhere near that lung-burning pain I've experienced before. I had way too much energy left in the tank at the end, and it's very telling that I can't remember any point where my legs felt tired.

I'm not beating myself up over it. It was far from disastrous, but I wasn't mentally up for it today, for whatever reason, and the performance reflected that. It's technically a PB, just not the one I was capable of running today.

In other news, my girlfriend (who is not a runner and only decided to tag along on a whim) finished in 30:27. Now that was an impressive performance.

tailgunner

Monday, 23rd November 2015

4 miles
43:05
10:46/mi

Ran this by feel, which usually results in me running much too fast, so was surprised to see the splits afterwards. Haven't run this slowly in months. Legs were a bit creaky - I guess the parkrun took a bit more out of me than I thought. Enjoyed it anyway. I seem to be the only one running my usual route lately, which suits me down to the ground.

tailgunner

Tuesday, 24th November 2015

4.73 miles
46:45
9:53/mi

The plan called for 7 x 400m repeats at mile pace. Very pleased with this. Took to a nearby industrial estate which has a nice flat road of about half a kilometre in the middle of it, which is quite well-lit. Splits were nicely consistent this time, and I was able to jog all the recoveries. Fairly shattered after it, but I suppose that's the point!

1:47.1
1:46.7
1:47.3
1:47.5
1:47.5
1:46.4
1:47.5

Wednesday, 25th November 2015

3 miles
30:15
10:04/mi

Shuffling things around this week means I won't get a rest day before tomorrow's "fast" run, so I decided to get this recovery run out of the way this morning to compensate. Legs felt okay after the session last night (they seem to be in very good shape lately), but I felt pretty tired in general. I blame getting up at ridiculous o'clock.

tailgunner

Feel like the log is probably due an update. Ended up skipping a run last week, and then the running gods saw fit to smite me with manflu, so I haven't done a thing in over a week. Chest/throat are too clogged up to risk it really, but hopefully will be able to get back into easy running after the weekend. Not sure what to do about the plan now - given the time of the year, I'll probably just leave it and tip away for the rest of the year. Frustrating, but at least I'm not injured.

In better news, I've been accepted into the Berlin Marathon next year, so that'll be the main goal for 2016.

Forgot to add mileage for November:

Month|2015
Jan|7.86
Feb|14.7
Mar|23.53
Apr|32.91
May|45.88
Jun|42.65
Jul|23.26
Aug|84.29
Sep|106.61
Oct|56.17
Nov|81.45
Dec|0
YTD|519.31

tailgunner

Monday, 7th December 2015

4.01 miles
39:51
9:57/mi

A tentative return to the roads. Completely uneventful, but delighted to be back running. I'd like to do some sort of faster session this week, but I'll see how I go and stick to easy running if needs be. Still coughing and spluttering a bit more than I'd like.

tailgunner

Wednesday, 9th December 2015

5 miles
48:19
9:40/mi

Was working from home yesterday so I took advantage and got this done at lunchtime. It was nice to be reminded of what daylight looks like. The plan was for... well there was no plan really, but 6 miles easy sounded like a good idea. Found it way harder than it should have been, and ended up calling it a day at 5 miles - probably ran it a touch quick for an easy run, but I think it was mainly that my breathing still isn't 100%. Enjoyed it anyway. You'd miss the auld sunshine.

tailgunner

Wednesday, 16th December 2015

4.01 miles
38:51
9:42/mi

Had to go digging for this log... again. Came down with yet another cold at the end of last week. To be honest, it wasn't bad enough to keep me from running this time, but I was so pissed off and frustrated, I just sat on the couch eating pizza and feeling sorry for myself all weekend.

Anyway, finally got back out yesterday evening. Could really feel the lack of fitness. My running form (which isn't great at the best of times) was atrocious, and my legs were even a bit achy. Not much I can do but ease back into things I guess, so I'll try and run every second day until next week, and then see about returning to some proper consistency over Christmas. I'm sure that'll go really well!

Also, what is going on with the weather? I ran in just shorts and t-shirt and was absolutely roasting for most of the run. It's the middle of December like.

Moaning aside, my cold is definitely gone and my breathing was fine. Really enjoyed the run too.