The breaks even out in the long run

marathon2022

Best of luck, if your consistent in your base with a small 5k plan built in you should be ready early spring for a Limerick block. Im thinking about Limerick as well. 👍

MY BAD

All the best with your return!

SuspectZero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122716102#Comment_122716102

Thx S! And great to see you back too and recovering well, hopefully we can both recapture our glory days, or atleast kickstart some activity in this ghosttown

SuspectZero

Going to log everyday bar rest days to keep myself accountable.

Tuesday 15th October-3 miles(11:27 pace)

Shoes arrived today, I got a bit overenthusiastic with the shopping and bought the rebel v4s as well as the vaporfly v3 and a pair of dragonfly spikes, not that I'll be going anywhere near the track anytime soon but they're on sportsshoes.com for a bargain €70 so I couldn't turn them down.

I've never actually run in any of the new supershoe or pebax era shoes bar 6 miles on the og vaporfly when it came out so taking the rebels outta the box was a shock tbh for someone who ran every run in racing flats in the past. I'm kind of hoping the high stacks and supersoft midsoles will help my calves cope though. The sensation is hugely strange though, especially landing on the rocker but obviously something I will get used to.

As for the run itself, first mile was awful, too fast, calves screaming so I had to back off, after that, they gradually started to feel better as the run went on and I warmed up a little so honestly this wasn't near as torturous as I was expecting. I knew I'd be a lot slower than I was but it didn't feel as sloggy as expected. Step one completed

Next Steps:

Get out atleast 3 times a week

Complete scheduled distances no matter how slow I need to go

Start small and slow and build as I feel better(dont let my mind get bigger than my legs in other words). Getting out 3 times a week and running 3 miles for months is better than running 3 50 mile weeks and been back on the couch two weeks later.

Focus on progress from the couch, not against the ghost of the past

Work on cleaning up my diet and flexibility

SuspectZero

Thursday 17th October- 3 Miles BF on grass

Legs were pretty sore yesterday and today, mostly around the outside of my quads and some tightness in my tfl so I decided to do this barefoot around the local GAA pitch to reduce the impact. Grass and mud is where I feel most at home so going to be doing a lot of this. Minor DOMS so it was still a little sloggy.

The Vaporflies were on my porch when I got back so lobbed them on straightaway to get a feel and done a few strides. First impression is these are probably the most comfortable shoes I've ever put my foot in, they feel like a sock, the little padding strip on the heel is such a good touch. Feel good, bouncy, light and nowhere near as clunky as I was expecting

I'm going to try make a parkrun this weekend if time permits, I just really want to get a baseline for where I'm at and possibly a good kick up the arse too.

SuspectZero

Friday 18th October- 5k Uptempo(9:45 min/mile)

I tried to convince myself this was an easy run, it definitely wasnt😅. Much more me being a little dumb and would probably be a tempo effort realistically. Legs felt OK starting out, a little sore now though. Positives are I'm probably a little fitter than I thought, maybe a few minutes over 10k

SuspectZero

Saturday 19th October- 4 Miles EZ

Legs felt pretty good after yesterday, little niggly right hip tightness for the first mile but it disappeared as the run went on. Not too shabby overall

First week done, 4 runs for 13 Miles total, pretty happy with that. Didn't get to make the Parkrun as i had some stuff to do but no biggie, I'm not in any rush

SuspectZero

Monday 21st October- 5M Easy

Got out this evening for a run in the rain, legs felt pretty OK. Second run in the vaporfly and had zero calf pain on both. Anyone who knows me over the years will know, my calves are the bane of my existence, that I usually can't run on the road without them being strained and have tried literally everything to stop it so this is curious and I'm hoping it continues😅

It's also my longest run in 4 and a half years so that's a win

SuspectZero

Tuesday 22nd October-4 Miles Easy

Two laps of my old marathon training loop, 1 mile up at 5% and back.

Wednesday 23rd October- 5 Miles Easy on Grass

Done barefoot, the best I've felt on any run yet, there's just something liberating about running barefoot on Dewy grass

Thursday 24th October- 3 Miles Recovery

I had plans on running another 5 miler tonight, but I got struck down with heartburn and the legs were a little tired so I just went with a short recovery jog instead

SuspectZero

Friday 25th October- 5 Miles Steady Barefoot on Grass

Legs felt really really good today, full of pop. Kept HR in zone 3 and averaged 5:23 per/km which was very encouraging tbh. I used to average over a minute faster per km on these but this is way wayy further ahead of where I thought it would be right now. I guess my legs are starting to remember a bit.

Saturday 26th October- 7 Miles Zone 2(Long run?)(6:07 per/km)

Longest run in 6 years and it felt like it mentally😆, weird how just adding on two miles can do that, but then again, 5k felt far just over two weeks ago so I guess it's just a natural progression of intimidation. Legs were a little tired after yesterday but I got through it.

No niggles this week, calves have behaved mostly, first mile today, they were a little tight but loosened up as the run went on. Plan for tomorrow is just a short recovery jog to round out the week, pretty happy with it

SuspectZero

Week 2 cont:

Sunday 27th October: 5k Easy(6:06min/km)(145bpm)

Short jog to round off the week, can't remember much of it so it couldn't have been that bad

Week Totals

Runs: 7

Kms: 51.9

Time: 5hrs 5mins

Week 3:

Monday 28th October: 8k Easy Barefoot On Grass(5:56 min/km)(150bpm)

Tuesday 29th October: 8k Easy On Road(6:01 min/km)(149bpm)

Wednesday 30th October: 10k Easy On Grass(6:00 min/km)(149bpm)

Thursday 31st October: 6.4k Moderate Barefoot On Grass(5:29 min/km)(158bpm)

Friday 1st November: 8k Easy(5:52 min/km)(148bpm)

Saturday 2nd November: 14.4k Long Run(6:01min/km)(152bpm)

Sunday 3rd November: 5k Recovery(6:06min/km)(142bpm)

Week Totals:

Runs: 7

Kms: 60.2

Time: 5hrs 57 mins

It's probably a first but I don't have much to say😅. This week went pretty smoothly, I'm definitely feeling more comfortable as the weeks are passing, the pace obviously won't reflect that yet because I've built pretty fast so the higher volume each week will disguise that, probably until I take a down week and absorb what I've done so far. Friday was probably my only real tough day, mostly because I was a little fatigued after Thursdays higher effort, I also took in a bit too much fiber so my stomach was in knots and I was going to call it at 5k but gave myself a HTFU and got to the planned 8k.

The long run felt much easier this week too both mentally and physically, I had urges to go even further towards the end but gave myself a STFU this time😅

As is probably apparent, I've gone completely against my original plan and common sense of trying to get out 3 days a week and jumped straight to seven for the last two weeks and have made frankly huge and what some people would rightly call idiotic volume increases. There is some method in my madness though, I mentally need the habit, off days are the perfect copouts for me, I'm pretty sure I'm ADHD and any time for distraction and I'll be chasing tinfoil. I've made all the big jumps I'm going to now, I knew from how my body felt that I could make these jumps quickly, but I know I cant push it any further without causing problems as the fatigue would rise exponentially and accumulate so everything from now on with volume increases will be rational and slow, I just needed to find a rhythm.

Overall, it was a good week and I can really feel the love coming back and I guess I had a lot to say afterall😂

SuspectZero

Base Week 4:

Monday November 4th: 8k Easy Barefoot On Grass(6:01min/km)(155bpm)

I'm not sure what was going on here, my heartrate was very elevated for the pace despite having no real noticeable signs of high fatigue, it wasn't just HR though, my perceived effort felt high too so there was definitely some internal tiredness going on

Tuesday November 5th: 10k Easy(5:59min/km)(152bpm)

Similar to yesterday but not quite as elevated

Wednesday November 6th: 12k Easy(6:04min/km)(146bpm)+5x80m strides

Much better today, was actually struggling to get it up(get you mind outta the gutter😋)The Heartrate I mean!!

Thursday November 7th: 8k Run to the barn progression(5:34min/km)(156bpm)

Alot better today, felt strong so ended up as a natural cutdown with every split faster than the last working down to 5:12 for the last K. Kinda crazy but this averaged the same heartrate as Mondays strugglebus but average nearly 30 seconds per km faster

Friday November 8th: 10k Easy(5:49min/km)(150bpm)

Big big improvement, legs felt really good

Saturday November 9th: 16.2k Long Run(5:54min/km)(147bpm)

My day turned out to be a bit of a mess so I didn't get out until dark for this one, I'm in the sticks now and my headlamp doesn't arrive until Monday so I had to do this on the only footpath in the village which is 400m long, took just over 40 back and forths on it to get it done, found it very mentally tough as I couldn't help counting them😅

Sunday November 10th: 6.8k very easy(6:03min/km)(139bpm)

Just some low end zone 2 km's to keep the legs ticking over, enjoyed this

Week was good, some early struggles but very noticeable overall improvements in the second half of the week. Today's very easy jog was almost the same pace as Mondays but was massively lower effort. I could tell I took a big jump in fitness compared to previous weeks just by the pace improvements. The garmin pretty much confirmed this to me this to me as it's Vo2 max estimate moved from 49 Wednesday to 52 after today's run. I don't put much stock in the actual Vo2 numbers or race time predictors but a big shift usually correlates with increased aerobic efficiency so I'm happy out. Zero niggles to report, calves feel better than they ever have at any time in my running

Week Totals:

Runs:7(now 21 straight days)

Km's: 71.17

Time: 7 hrs 1 min

SuspectZero

Base Week 5:

Monday 11th November: 8.1km Easy(5:51min/km)(150bpm)+5x80m Strides

Felt a little tired, Nothing crazy

Tuesday 12th November: 6.5km Easy(5:46min/km)(148bpm)

Legs felt good, pace starting to get faster again

Wednesday 13th November: 8.1km Easy(5:42min/km)(151bpm)

Almost 20 second per k faster than two weeks ago at the same heartrate

Thursday 14th November: 6.5km Easy(5:46/km)(148bpm)

I'd planned to do a fartlek or cutdown today depending on how I felt but I had to scrap that idea fairly early, my left calf was threatening to cramp the whole way through this run so I just kept it easy

Friday 15th November: 8.1km Easy(5:44min/km)(150bpm)

Felt pretty good

Saturday 16th November: 13.1km Long run(5:39min/km)(150bpm)

One 10k loop around the black hill and back into town. Very very happy with this and way faster than I was expecting. Almost 30 seconds per km faster than 3 weeks ago taking in the same loop, and 15 seconds per k faster than last week

Sunday 17th November: 6.5km Very Easy(6:08min/km)(139bpm)

All in all, pretty decent week, cutback the mileage just to get a downweek in to help the body absorb the last few weeks, I didn't really feel like I needed it but I've got plenty of time and it seemed like the best decision. I did feel a little more beat up than the last few weeks, mostly because I didn't run on grass at all this week, which I really need to be doing.

Week Totals:

Runs:7(28 straight days)

Kms: 56.9km

Time: 5 hrs 30 mins

SuspectZero

Base Week 6:

Monday 18th November: 10k Easy(5:37min/km)+6×8sec Hill Sprints

Done this in a biblical downpour, at times I felt like LT. Dan clinging to the mast and cursing out god in Forrest Gump as I waded through puddles. My HR was having problems too which would become a common problem for the week, first 5k was at my usual 150 but it locked onto my cadence for the second half. I actually felt really good though

Tuesday 19th November: 12k Easy(5:38min/km)(150bpm)

Uneventful, felt pretty decent

Wednesday 20th November: 14k Easy(5:29min/km)(150bpm)

This felt like more big progress again, I took on an 8 mile loop I haven't had the cajones to try in almost 10 years, I've limited most of my running over those years to at the most 5 and usually just 3 because my confidence with my calves was shot and I never knew if I would have to bail on routes. To get through this unscathed felt amazing, to see another big drop in pace again was also borderline mind-boggling.

Thursday 21st November: 10k Easy(5:42min/km)

We got 6 inches of snow overnight and the windchill was -7 so this was a tough enough, my HR was all over the shop with cadence lock and I probably ran this too hard, it was more akin to XC muscularly and I could definitely feel the fatigue

Friday 22nd November: 10k Easy(5:43min/km)(149bpm)

Snow and roads frozen over, could definitely feel tiredness on this

Saturday 23rd November: 21.2k Long run(5:40min/km)(150bpm)

This just might have been one of the toughest training runs I've ever done, combined with the last 2 days snow, storm bert hitting and the balmy November conditions, there was a huge snowmelt and the river Feale burst it's banks causing flash floods everywhere to the west of me, my 8 mile loop from Wednesday was closed so I done a 13 mile loop to the south and east which is not ideal, I live almost on top of one of the highest points in Munster and everything to the south and east slopes down to the Shannon. Going down is fine coming back up, not so much😂

I was already pushing boundaries with this being my longest run since December 2017 but when I turned for home with 7k left to go, this became a near deathmarch straight into gale force winds and a constantly increasing gradient. I had to break it down in my head mentally into shorter loops just to get back home and was almost completely rigged up for the last k and a half.

It was awful, the only positives I can take from it are that it's the longest run I'll be doing for a while as they are capped at 2 hours until Marathon training proper so they are only going to get easier as I adapt and the combo of freakish weather conditions is unlikely too. It was also only a few weeks ago that I felt this way on much shorter runs too.

Sunday 24th November: 6.7k Recovery(6:02min/km)(140bpm)

Felt stiff as expected, did start to feel a little better in the last 2k bit I'm tired for sure

So this week was probably my toughest so far and my first run in with proper fatigue, The weather definitely didnt help and it was bound to happen at some stage, this might be or is close to at the very least the highest volume I've run in a week ever so it's not unexpected, given I was much fitter and faster when I've done this much in the past. The fatigue doesn't really worry me as my training is low intensity so it's not going to fry my CNS, it's just part and parcel of pushing boundaries. I could've been a little smarter though, after the downweek, I should've just increased to Week 4 high first, before stepping up again, it probably would've taken the edge off the increase. I'll see how this week goes, if I feel increasingly tired, I might just take a day off all depending on how body feels. Overall, I'm still ecstatic with how things have been progressing

Week Totals:

Runs:7(Now 35 straight days)

Kms: 84.05km

Time: 7hrs 56min

Murph_D

Some fantastic progress here alright, well done.

I'm intrigued by a couple of things. Glad to see the attention to HR, but are you using a chest strap? I only ask because you mention some unexpected variations, and of course the cadence lock issue, both of which suggest you're using the watch's optical sensor, which I have found wildly unreliable over years of HR training.

Best of luck with it all.

SuspectZero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122879727#Comment_122879727

Thanks Murph. I'm not using the optical although my watch has one, like you, I've found them unuseable in the past so I bought a garmin strap the first week I started back up. It seems pretty bang on mostly, I have no idea why but it only seems to lock onto the cadence if it's extremely wet out and it's definitely a cadence lock because my garmin connect overlays fit perfectly when it spikes. It can't be the batteries as it's still new and the only thing I can think of is interference from the OHR as it makes no sense for a strap to pick it up. Atleast that's the only thing I can come up with

SuspectZero

Base Week 7:

Monday 25th November: 10k Easy(5:34min/km)(151bpm)+6x8sec hillsprints

Felt a bit heavy legged, hillsprints were tough but not in a painful way, my turnover was just ass and I couldn't really sprint hard

Tuesday 26th November: 16.4k Easy(5:19min/km)(150bpm)

Another big drop in pace, almost a whole minute per/km faster than I was just 6 weeks ago

Wednesday 27th November: 14.5k on grass(5:26min/km)(152bpm)

This was really frickin cold, I initially wore my spikes as I thought it'd be dumb to run Barefoot in -3 but with the frozen tufts of grass and not being used to spikes anymore, my calves were back to their old self and basically just shutting shop so I tossed them after 4k and finished this in my socks, after a fairly freezing 10 minutes, they eventually warmed up to the point I didn't notice anymore.

Thursday 28th November: 10k with 20 minutes of Diagonals on grass

I used this as a kind of sprint fartlek session, sprinting from the corner flag diagonally across the pitch from corner flag to corner flag, about 115m and then walk recovery across the end line. basically an aerobic interval hard stride session. Diagonal Sprints averaged around 20/21 seconds, walk recovery was about 60 seconds(I took my damn time😂). Good to feel some speed though.

Friday 29th November-Saturday 7th December- Disaster

I caught the flu and was bedridden for 4 days. I tried to get out a few days towards the end of this week once I was up and about but called these runs so early that they aren't worth logging. This could also be a blessing in disguise as I was kinda nursing a bit on an oncoming piriformis/sciatica niggle that had cropped up after the last long run and was getting worse everyday but it seems to have quieted itself now🤞 but it was left butt/hip problems which I have history with its a reminder that I need to super proactive with my glute strengthening going forward.

Sunday 8th December: 5k Easy(No pace or HR, hadn't charged garmin)

Just a little tester, felt a lot better than I did in previous days, still not back to 100% so it was still very laboured but manageable

The flu was a little spanner in the works as it kind of messed up my rhythm and habit so this is kind of where I need to be careful of not falling off the wagon and staying focused mentally as I know me too well😅 so the goal of the next week is just trying to get out everyday again and build that rhythm back, whether it's 5k or 15k isn't important, consistency is