The Peds Peddler - 400m & The Mile

IvoryTower

Sacksian wrote: »

I've had a similar season to what you've described a few posts ago - slowest times in years in the 8.

I was originally hoping to finish up this week with 8s at the Graded on Weds and then Drogheda but achilles is acting up so I'm definitely not racing Wednesday. Hopefully, get to do one final race on in Drogheda on Saturday but I may just have to start posting in the xc thread from july. Good luck on Wednesday.

It's hard to put a finger on it, I likely came back after injury all guns blazing and it was just too much. Sometimes I wonder if 3 hard sessions every week is too much for oul lads working full time/family life etc. Gym sessions then on top.

Thanks Saskian, hope you can make it Sat. If I show any improvement at all I think i'll see the season out, I won't be long missing the track when i'm plodding around a field battling with a 70 year old

dna_leri

IvoryTower wrote: »

It's hard to put a finger on it, I likely came back after injury all guns blazing and it was just too much. Sometimes I wonder if 3 hard sessions every week is too much for oul lads working full time/family life etc. Gym sessions then on top.

I tend to agree that 3 hard sessions every week is too much for most of us. I can sustain it for a few weeks but then need to back off. Probably needs to be used tactically e.g. in lead-in to key race or to boost fitness, like in a training camp. Even with a base in place and no recent injuries, it's easy to over-do it.
BTW do you count a long run as a "hard session" ?

Sacksian

dna_leri wrote: »

I tend to agree that 3 hard sessions every week is too much for most of us. I can sustain it for a few weeks but then need to back off. Probably needs to be used tactically e.g. in lead-in to key race or to boost fitness, like in a training camp. Even with a base in place and no recent injuries, it's easy to over-do it.
BTW do you count a long run as a "hard session" ?

Yeah, I was going to comment on this but I'm not one to give advice on how to stay injury-free, although that's because I tend to do stupid things outside training!

To me, that workload sounds insane. BUT if your sessions are on the shorter side or involve a lot of recovery and aren't all anaerobic ball-busters, it's possible although you'd be better doing the gym as part of them or on the same day, rather than as a separate day/session.

It depends on what you call a session and how hard any individual run is.

A lot of distance guys do sessions tues & sat and tempo thurs, which would be too much for me, especially with a longer run on Sunday, whereas you get sprinters doing shorter sessions with a lot of recovery and maybe gym on top.

You might just have got caught a bit between the two in the last while. Build up to something that you know you can maintain and that you'll either enjoy or are motivated by - probably the best way to get consistency.

IvoryTower

dna_leri wrote: »

I tend to agree that 3 hard sessions every week is too much for most of us. I can sustain it for a few weeks but then need to back off. Probably needs to be used tactically e.g. in lead-in to key race or to boost fitness, like in a training camp. Even with a base in place and no recent injuries, it's easy to over-do it.
BTW do you count a long run as a "hard session" ?

A typical week May/June

Tues - Tempo (hard)
Thurs - Speed endurance (hard)
Sat - Hills (hard)

Then easy runs/rest and long run Sunday

I notice we do a steady run on a sat now if we've done a really hard session Thurs

IvoryTower

On top of that though I was doing lot of gym work, probably not sleeping enough, not eating well....

I have what I call the stairs test, if I struggle to get up the 2 flights of stairs at work I'm in trouble, unfortunately it's pretty tough at the moment

IvoryTower

Dublin graded santey b race


2.09!

Finally a decent run! I love that track, never fails me. It was lashing all evening but the rain stopped in time for me to warm up outside. Barely any wind, can you believe it. Got off fine, the dude beside me slipped in a puddle unfortunately. At the breaking point I was level with some dude and decided to play it safe and settle in behind him. I was at the back of a nice pack so this was perfect running into the corner breeze. At 400 I saw the clock was about 2.04/2.05 so this was spot on, just stay with them I thought. On the back straight the group was starting to stretch, coming up to the last 200 I could feel the guy ahead of me was fading so decided to pass him, at 150 I felt great so kicked to the end. Honestly I felt like I could have ran another 100m. It feels easier kicking/sprinting than it does trying to hold the pace around the 500-600 mark. That doesn't make sense but anyway

Happy out. Looking forward to imc now, slower track and likely more wind but I know theres more in me so will give it a blast. Happy to continue my season into August as well cause theres still hope of a PB there.

Nice to be able to post something that's not moaning about being tired

career move

Congrats Sounds like you had a great race

Chivito550

Great work. Get your entry in for nationals. No reason not to run.

IvoryTower

FRI - 5m easy
Sat - 3 x 300 race pace, 8min rest, 3 x 300 race pace. This would murderous. My training bud was on the group floor after it. Great session, definitely felt it helped with my race last night.
Sun - 6.4m easy
Mon - 4m easy
Tues -pre race shake out, 2m easy + warmup & strides
Wed - 2m w/u, race, 2m w/d
Thurs - 6m easy

All easy running below 150hr which is about 8.30 mile pace. Going to pile this on when the track season ends.

IvoryTower

IMC Drogheda 800m D race


2.08 SB, possibly an outdoor pb, I ran 2.08 3 years ago...

For the first time in ages I was really nervous before this. Buzzing to race an IMC on the home ground, big crowd, lovely sunny day, really felt up for it. The plan was to be braver than wed night, if it came between me and someone else at the cut to push on. I shared a lane with some nice dude from the north, he said he ran 2.08 a few weeks back, unfortunately this sowed the seed that I should let him lead out. I can't actually remember how that panned out but at 100 there was a group of us coming together so as planned I pushed ahead of them before settling in on someones shoulder. I was wishing at this point that the wind was being blocked but didn't want anyone to box me in either. At 400 i saw 2.03, maybe 2.04 on the clock so i knew all was good. I had no one to block the wind again on the back straight, i just figured make it to the last 200 and away you go. Again the best part of my race, only tied up with meters to go so i'm happy I ran a good race. Looking forward to the video cause it's quite a blur.

Hope that's readable because I'm absolute bolloxed!

Achilles felt a little tender so will just try and easy run tomorrow and see how it is.

Chivito550

Official time 2:08.35.

You need to start keeping track of your times to the nearest hundredth.

Fantastic running. Well done again.

IvoryTower

Sat - IMC 2.08.35 + 3m jogging
Sun - 9m easy @8.32
Mon - 4m @9.34 recovery run
Tues - 3 x 10min @6.36 look, its bad, but its better than it was
Wed - 3.4m @9.30recovery run
Thurs - (300 x 3) x 2, 2 x 200. 52,51,51 51,50, 49 28, 30. I was bad....was supposed to be hitting 48/30.
Fri - 4.5m @7.58 hr 152. Some drunk guy wrote off my car last night(drove into it parked) so I just went for a run despite having little sleep. HR higher than id of liked

Well i'm entered into nationals. Hoping to have a good run and end my season then. If the weather is bad or i mess it up i might go again in Antrim a couple of weeks later. Have a wedding on for national masters. Unfortunate lack of races in August tbh, i might give the mile a lash at Dublin graded if I'm not sick of it all by then.

My mileage seems to be knocking around 30mpw without me making any real effort to run more, i seemed to have transitioned somewhat over the last while. My feet seem to have finally accepted its middle distance destiny.

Dubh Geannain

You're training for a shorter distance than me but putting in more weekly mileage. I really should up my weekly mileage.

IvoryTower

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

You're training for a shorter distance than me but putting in more weekly mileage. I really should up my weekly mileage.

I was a sprinter up until last year so I've literally gone from 1mpw to 30mpw...it hasnt been without its problems so i would do it slowly. They say no more than 10% increase every week and other training should be taken into account. Football training is intense so keep an eye on that. I do 3 hard sessions a week, couldn't handle 4, id count a football session as 1 deffo

The people I train with who are at a good masters md standard would run between 30 and 60 I would say.

IvoryTower

Sat 6 miles
Sun Rest
Mon - 3 x 300, 3 x 200, 3 x 100 , race pace, very sluggish lately, can't even get close to my 800 race pace in training over 300m
Tues - Rest
Wed - jog + 6 x 100 strides
Thurs - Rest
Fri - Jog + strides

Weight - 12.29

Nationals tomorrow. Feeling very weak on my runs, its probably the weather. Hopefully can finish off the season with a decent run tomorrow. The weather looks good, I love Santry, will likely be nervous which i find helps, my weight is good, lots of positives. I'll be running on my own at the back no doubt but at least I won't be running in lane 2 at all so still good opportunity for a decent time.

Dubh Geannain

Best of luck tomorrow.

IvoryTower

2.06!

Off to croke park now to celebrate end of season pb, the usual 10 word race report can wait , yeeeooowwwww

Murph_D

Congrats!

Dubh Geannain

Wow. That's great going and just deserts.

IvoryTower

National Seniors 800m Heat 1

2.06

It's a strange feeling going into a race knowing you're going to come last but I knew this was a good opportunity for a pb regardless. I haven't gone out too fast at all this season so my only thought was to remember to keep pushing at 500m when that "uh oh" feeling starts to make its way through your body. I felt with the good weather, mondo track and not having to run in lane 2 at all could help get me a pb. It all went as planned I guess, strong finish as usual, no real fear of tying up badly. 2 second outdoor pb, 1 second on my indoor. I would love to go back next year and run close to 2 minutes and maybe beat a few of the young lads.


Season Over!!!

What a great way to end the season. Unfortunately I have a wedding on during the masters so I don't feel any need to keep my season going. I think overall it was a successful year and I came a long way from running 2.20 at Christmas. My 400 times would suggest I've plenty more to go and I do believe that. If I was to change anything this year it would obviously be to not get injured. It's hard to predict what injuries are coming but I was running my easy miles too hard back then, I also have tight calves, bad ankle mobility,these all led to a sore Achilles. Going forward i'll continue doing my easy miles under 150hr, also stretching my calves and doing calve raises everyday.


What now

Daily easy miles now until I feel well recovered. I would love to race the mile next week in Dublin but not sure if i'll have a car by then. A sub 5 mile and sub 19 5k would be two fun targets to go for between now and christmas. I'll likely join up with the cross country training when that gets started. My days of going to the gym 3 times a week seem numbered, the value of easy miles over gym sessions is pretty big in my opinion and ive also another baby on the way at christmas(WOO!), so getting to the gym will become very tricky. I'll aim to do a couple of strength sessions at home every week.

Thanks to everyone else who chipped in with advice and support over the year, always great to have

caseyjones1

Delighted for you. Great end to the season. See you for xc, I guess we'll be training together again by then :-)

IvoryTower

caseyjones1 wrote: »

Delighted for you. Great end to the season. See you for xc, I guess we'll be training together again by then :-)

Can't wait

IvoryTower

Mon - 7m easy
Tues- 5m easy
Wed - Rest
Thurs - 3.4m easy

I reckon another week or two of only easy running. I have a cold at the moment so doubtful i'll make the mile, will make a call Tuesday

Chivito550

IvoryTower wrote: »

Mon - 7m easy
Tues- 5m easy
Wed - Rest
Thurs - 3.4m easy

I reckon another week or two of only easy running. I have a cold at the moment so doubtful i'll make the mile, will make a call Tuesday

Do you not plan to take a full break from athletics for a few weeks? Always good from a physical and mental perspective to have a break. All the top 800m runners will take at least a couple of weeks doing no training. Easy running is still training.

This down period is always a good time to do other things to keep fit, like swimming, cycling, kayaking, hiking or whatever. The purpose of a break is mental as much as physical. I was told by a former coach to get out of the mindset that you're training during that time.

IvoryTower

I'm not training but i still like to go for an easy run, these are 9 min mile runs, I would actually hate to take a break completely. I got a bike yesterday so I do plan on doing some cycling as well.

IvoryTower

Back at it now after a week at the Fleadh. As you can imagine after a week of boozing and not running I feel pretty terrible, i might actually be coming down with something, hopefully just still recovering.... I done an easy run yesterday, then tried a 3 x 8min tempo this morning to try and shake off the cobwebs. It wasn't too bad, just over 7min pace. I've entered the Griffith avenue mile to see where i'm at, with the goal being sub 5 before Christmas. I'm thinking i'll run a few 5k races in place of tempos for fun and to help push myself.

IvoryTower

Mon - 5 mile easy
Tues - tempo just over 7min - was coughing up the green stuff so went to doc, start of chest infection, i asked for augmentin cause ive never beaten a chest infection before without it
Wed - Rest
Thurs - 4m easy
Fri - 4m easy
Sat - 4m easy followed by another 3m really easy while i waited for a lift
Sun - 9m really really easy

Feel pretty normal now, just have to finish the antibiotics. Base training starts Tuesday, after a few weeks of easy running and drinking i'm well and truly ready to get back to it.

IvoryTower

Mon - Rest
Tues - Tempo - 20min@7 12min@6.50 5min@7 (was supposed to go down to 6.30 but was wrecked..) total 8miles
Wed - 5m easy
Thurs - 3.8m recovery
Fri - 6.8m easy

The easy runs are super easy, cross country training starts next week i think :cool: I'm not in a rush to add a second session, will see how the body feels after another tempo on Tuesday

Griffith mile coming up but I've decided to just train through it and any other races I do, i'll switch them in instead of a session. The real goal between now and Christmas is to improve aerobically as much as possible. Get my body comfortable running 30-40 miles per week. I think i'm already comfortable with 30, as I get fitter it should just go up while running the same amount of time.

Looking back on strava between sept and christmas last year i averaged 18mpw. I think this could be a big boost for me going into the indoors. I just have to do it sensibly to avoid any injuries. Lots of grass and keeping the easy stuff easy

IvoryTower

Friday - 6.8m easy
Sat - 10m easy
Sun - 3m recovery
Mon - rest
Tues 6m including warm up - tempo with 4 x 2min pick ups, steady about 7.15 picking up to about 6.45
Wed - 5m easy
Thurs - 5m easy

So I went a bit overboard last week with the miles, 38 in total, my achilles let me know it wasn't happy, not sore really but i know if i push my luck it will get sore, very much the early signs of what had me miss a month earlier in the year. Decided to do easy miles today instead of session. I'll likely just do similar for the next few days and should be good for the tempo then on Tuesday. I'm eager to up the miles but I think hovering around 30-35 for a few weeks would be sensible.

IvoryTower

Fri - 4m easy
Sat - 5m easy
Sun - 6m easy

MPW - 31

Mon - Rest
Tues - 5m tempo with 5 x 2min pickups. Steady @7.15 pick up @6.40
Wed - 5m recovery
Thurs - 6 x 1k @6min pace. Delighted with this session.
Friday - 5m easy

Achilles feels perfect the last few days. A friend can't make the Dromisken 5k tomorrow so I'm going to give it a bash. The legs are well and truly doms filled but looking forward to setting a marker. I'll try for 20min pace thereabouts. Will set 18.59 as the goal for jingle bells.

IvoryTower

Dromisken 5k

20.10

Plan was to run for sub 20, of course I didnt check what that pace was so messed it up. I had it in my head it was around 6.40. Felt comfy after 2 miles, ran the last mile in 6min which clawed back some time. Happy out anyway , nice to get a feel for the distance. Will push harder in rathfarnhan or whatever its called.

Body feels sore but good, no injury concerns. Looking forward to the griffith mile now, it could be another pacing disaster but it's a long way till christmas so not too concerned.

IvoryTower

Sun - 8m 35mpw
Mon - rest
Tues - tempo with pickups, 6.35 - 7.10
Wed - 5m easy
Thurs - 5 x 1k @ 3.40km. Was meant to be 6 reps but a 3.30 in the middle broke me
Fri - 5m easy
Sat - 5m easy
Sun - griffit mile, 3m w/u and w/d
Mpw - 34

2 solid weeks in the bag, body feels good.

GRIFFITH AVENUE MILE

Was unsure about all of this but it's actually a great event. Very well organised. There was a sub 5.30 group and nobody messed about, this group was legit. Unfortunately my racers got soaked by a leaking bottle so I had to resort to wearing my long run shoes. Bad start. Anyway I convinced myself they felt good and was all set to get as close to 5 as I could.

When the gun went it was quite smooth, so no having to go around folk etc. I swear by about 400m I was cursing my shoes already. The wind was in our face also but the downhill kinda makes up for that to he fair. I was using my friend to help pace me thinking she'd be about 5.10, I looked at the watch and we were at 5.15 pace so i decided to push on. About 0.7 in and it was really starting to get tough, all I could think was ****ing shoes and ****ing wind. When we got closer to the finish line I didn't even have a kick I just tried to maintain what I had. Over the line in 5.09, which was net 5.08. Considering how bad it felt I was delighted tbh. I dont know what difference my runners would of made, I'll let my head think I couldve ran about 5.05.

This time next month we have a mile time trial in our training ground. It's a tough course for a mile but will be good practice all the same.

TLTR - 5.08

Dubh Geannain

Well run dude. Pity about the runners.

Couldn't make it in the end myself. Management had organised a challenge match for us for the weekend so it put paid to my hopes of running.

IvoryTower

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

Well run dude. Pity about the runners.

Couldn't make it in the end myself. Management had organised a challenge match for us for the weekend so it put paid to my hopes of running.

Thats a pity alright it would have been perfect for you. The only tricky part is you're not fully aware of how far you've gone compared to being on the track.

Here are some mile options for us, not many....last year NIA live had a mile(indoor track) Dec 4th, which would be great. They havent announced their schedule yet.

Alsaa 15th Oct 8pm 1 mile (Bernie Murphy mile)
Alsaa 3rd Dec 8pm 1 mile
Alsaa 11th Feb 7.30pm 1 mile

IvoryTower

Mon - Rest
Tues - 4m tempo with pick ups. This went badly, started too fast which kind of ruined it
Wed - 5m easy
Thurs - 400s with 200 jog rest. This went awful, done about 5 at 86 and left it at that
Fri - 4m easy
Sat - too hungover after bellator
Sun- Rath 5k
MPW - 28.5

Bad week for training and miles a bit low.


Rathfarnham 5k

I was a bit anxious about this because i had an awful week of training topped off with an 8 hour beer session on Friday night. Everything pointed to this being a bad idea. Plan was to keep the pace around 6.25 to get sub 20

Mile 1 - this race starts very fast and we had the wind on our back, played it pretty safe and came in at 6.22

mile 2 - into the drag and of course into the wind/breeze, started to hurt here, 6.30 pace felt hard but i figured if i could hold that i could make up for it in the last mile

Mile 3 - feeling the burn coming around the corner but then you're greeted by a down hill with wind on your back and damn it feels good. Picked up the pace and enjoyed the rest of the race. 6.14 for last mile

Really enjoyable race and super fast course. Only annoyance is i spent most of it looking at my watch. Hopefully less of that as I get the hang of the distance. It might be a ****e time in the grand scheme but considering I didnt run sub 20 last year at all its a good start to my winter training. Now to knuckle down and do some training.

TLTR - 19.44

IvoryTower

Mon - 4m easy
Tues - 8m easy/lsr
wed - 4m easy/ strength work
thurs - 400s @86, better than last week, still missed a couple of reps
fri - rest/strength work
Sat - hills + wu/wd = 6m
Sun - 4.4m easy

MPW - 32

Sunday was meant to be a long run but felt my Achilles twinge around 3m, tried to run it off and decided to call it a day. I think it's fine so will just check during the warm up tomorrow. Watched the louth novice xc after where my homie overpronator came 2nd whoop.

Achilles aside, happy out

IvoryTower

Mon - rest
Tues - 5m tempo with pick ups 34.31
Wed - 5.4 easy + strength
Thurs - Mile trial, pulled out after 600m, legs were pooped
Fri - 3.58 easy Sore achilles so stopped early + strength
Sat - hills
Sun - 6.5 easy

MPW 31.8

Not a great week. Wasted a night on the mile trial, an easy run and long run cut short cause of niggles. I've noticed running slow seems to be when the niggles arise, it's never during a fast session, it might be cause my form is sloppy when I run slower. Anyway just something i'll keep an eye on for now. At least my mpw are consistent if not spectacular , id like to think if I keep that up until Christmas Id be in good nick to push for an indoor pb. I may forget about 40mpw for now.

IvoryTower

Mon - rest
Tues - 12 x 200 rolling
Wed - 4m easy
Thurs - 3 x (4 x 400) @ 84, 100m jog between reps and 3min between sets
Fri - 5m easy
Sat - rest/hangover
Sun - 10m

Mpw - 31.7

Missed hills cause of wedding hangover but otherwise a solid week with no niggles

IvoryTower

Mon - rest
Tues - tempo, 3 x 10min, disaster session, blew up in first set, then the second, then went home
Wed - 5m easy
Thurs - 3 x (4 x 400) @ 84, 100m jog between reps and 3min between sets. Great session.
Fri - 5m easy
Sat - Oldbridge parkrun. I didn't go all out here, id say harder than tempo but not in any pain as such. 20.18 but the course is a bit short. It reminded me that I should run 1 or 2 more 5k races before jingle bells to get used to the hurt
Sun - 10m

MPW - 36.5


Was really pissed on Tuesday that I blew up in training again. I get put with people I just can't keep with, from now on if there's any doubt ill run on my own cause its not worth it. Looking back through the log i'm wasting a session every second week doing this. Going to track this to keep the pressure on myself.

On a positive note my HR is improving on easy runs, I ran 10m at 9min pace, so slow, but my hr stayed at 140 which is unheard of for me.


SESSIONS SINCE LAST BLOW UP: 2 :cool:

IvoryTower

Mon - rest
Tues - 7m easy
Wed - 6m easy
Thurs - 6m easy
Fri - 4m easy
Sat - 800s x 5 2.52, 2.52, 2.58, 3.00, 3.01
Sun - 10m @8.30 hr149

Mpw - 38.6

The xc group were tapering for seniors so I took the opportunity to have a down week. Lots of easy miles, first 800s of the season and an improved long run. Long way to go for the 800s to get back down to 2.43s but no panic

Shout out to our mens xc team who won Louth seniors. Will join them in a year or two hopefully.

No blow ups: 3

IvoryTower

Mon - Rest
Tues - Tempo/Pyramid 5.07m
Wed - 4.36m easy
Thurs - 3 x(4 x 400), 100m jog between reps, 3min between sets. 86-88, there was a strong wind so we just went on feel
Fri - 5m easy
Sat - hills 3 x(4 x 160), jog back recovery with 3min jog between sets
Sun - 10m @ 9min pace

MPW- 38

Strength work every Wed & Fri after my easy runs, I forget to log this but I never miss it.

I'm almost afraid to say it but....everything is going well, body feels great, literally zero niggles. Sessions are going well, no blow ups. My upcoming target races are the mile on the 3rd Dec and jingle bells 5k on the 7th Dec. I reckon I need to run a 5k before jingle bells to remind myself of the hurt, Oldbrige Parkrun might do the trick. I'll get another crack of the mile on the 17th Dec so i'm not worried about a test run for that.


SESSIONS SINCE LAST BLOW UP: 6

IvoryTower

Mon - Rest
Tues - Tempo/Pyramid 5.28m , slight improvement on last week
Wed - 4 easy, strength work, 2m jog
Thurs - 10 x 400 84s. 84 is poor really, I wont have any hope getting close to 5min in the mile if i dont get this down by a good bit
Fri - 4m easy, strength work, 1m jog
Sat - couldnt make club session so joined overpronator for 10 x 60s hills, good session, more like a fartlek than hill sprints
Sun - 10m @ 8.36 hr 149

MPW - 40

Worked through the last 2 weekends doing up my house and now I've a cold to pay for it. Happy with this week, the sanding at home has me bolloxed so just to get through it all is a bonus. I need to up my game with the 400s, I think I could push a little harder this week, maybe 82s. It's certainly putting me off the idea of racing a mile soon. I'll see how the next 2 weeks go. Nice mileage although slightly buffed by jogging here and there.

No blow ups: 9

Sacksian

IvoryTower wrote: »

Mon - Rest
Tues - Tempo/Pyramid 5.28m , slight improvement on last week
Wed - 4 easy, strength work, 2m jog
Thurs - 10 x 400 84s. 84 is poor really, I wont have any hope getting close to 5min in the mile if i dont get this down by a good bit
Fri - 4m easy, strength work, 1m jog
Sat - couldnt make club session so joined overpronator for 10 x 60s hills, good session, more like a fartlek than hill sprints
Sun - 10m @ 8.36 hr 149

MPW - 40

Worked through the last 2 weekends doing up my house and now I've a cold to pay for it. Happy with this week, the sanding at home has me bolloxed so just to get through it all is a bonus. I need to up my game with the 400s, I think I could push a little harder this week, maybe 82s. It's certainly putting me off the idea of racing a mile soon. I'll see how the next 2 weeks go. Nice mileage although slightly buffed by jogging here and there.

No blow ups: 9

I wouldn't worry too much about the 400s. Based on your background (and 400m flat speed!), you could treat 400s as your tempo work and do them at 5k pace, which is probably closer to 90s for you? And try and get them up to 12-14.

Don't be afraid of breaking stuff into sets for any session, especially if your ultimate target is 8/1500 (but also even if you're targeting longer distances, it suits some runners to do things that way - depending on if you're more fast-twitch than slow-twitch).

If you're doing mile-paced stuff, do 200s or even 100s. 20 x 200m off 100m is a nice rhythm session and you can ease into it, take the 100m as slow as you need. A 37s 200m should feel comfortable enough with your 400m speed.

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with 3 or 4 x 10 x 100 at mile pace, even if no one seems to ever do it. Just turn-around (maybe a few metres past the 100m and then back) after each 100 and go again and then take a lap jog between sets.

IvoryTower

Thanks saskian will keep them in mind, good to hear about the 400s

IvoryTower

Mon - Rest
Tues - Tempo/Pyramid 5.39m good improvement
Wed - 4m easy and strength work
Thurs - 10 x 400 60r. 82, 79, 81, 80, 80, 80, 80, 80, 80, 79, 78. Woo! Figured 82's but felt comfy doing 80s so just rolled with it.
Fri - 4m easy and strength work
Sat - 9m easy. Was meant to do Parkrun but I got a call from work at 12.30am, after the issue was sorted I couldnt sleep, ended up going for a run at 6am with zero sleep, got 4 hours sleep then after it thankfully.
Sun - Hills - in an effort to save my weekend I done what my training group had done on the Saturday.

Mpw - 36.5

Delighted with that week, on Tuesday I felt stronger than usual on the tempo and it really showed then on Thurs during the 400s. My vo2 max went up a notch on the garmin(53 to 54, still awful) as well so more proof to back up how i felt. Pity about the Parkrun, it just means no practice run for Jingle Bells. I could do it next weekend but with the mile on Tuesday I think i'll leave it.

IvoryTower

Mon - Rest
Tues - Tempo/Pyramid -5.45 solid, felt harder than last week but made it through
Wed - 5m easy + Strength work
Thurs 12 x 400 at training ground/gravel track. 81, 82 , 82, 80, 80, ?, ? , ? , ? , 78 , 77, 76 Track is up and down so erratic times but felt strong throughout and we pushed it a little at the end, could have done 80's all day which is a good sign
Fri - 5m easy + Strength
Sat - 10m @ 8.06 hr 154

Mpw 34

I was torn about skipping hills on Sat with it being race week ahead so I decided to allow myself push a bit for the last few miles of long run. It's a lot easier to do a long run when you haven't done hills the day before.

Weight

So after hitting a high of just over 13 stone a while back i decided to try eating less, the weight fell off for a few weeks, about 12 pounds. One thing I noticed though is that my training didnt improve until my weight plateaued for a couple of weeks at 172. I guess it makes sense that you will have less energy losing that amount of weight. I'm happy with 172, im not exactly eating clean so there's more there if i want it but with Christmas and baby incoming I think keeping it around 172 is good.

Race Week

Rest now for 2 days then the NIA Mile Tues, Jingle Bells Sat. PB for mile is 5.05 so at the very least I would want a pb, I will be going for the 5 though of course! The plan is to check the time at 200 and maybe 400, after that just dig in, hopefully there's people to race which usually pulls me on.

For the 5k, my pb is 19.02(i think), that's likely out of reach but anything in the 19-19.30 range would be a solid run.

Sacksian

IvoryTower wrote: »

.

Race Week

Rest now for 2 days then the NIA Mile Tues, Jingle Bells Sat. PB for mile is 5.05 so at the very least I would want a pb, I will be going for the 5 though of course! The plan is to check the time at 200 and maybe 400, after that just dig in, hopefully there's people to race which usually pulls me on.

Should be a few there under 5 mins. Is there a group from DDAC travelling?

IvoryTower

Sacksian wrote: »

Should be a few there under 5 mins. Is there a group from DDAC travelling?

Not this week, just 3 of us, there will on 17th though I believe. 2 of us going for the sub 5 and 1 guy running his first 800 bless him!

overpronator

IvoryTower wrote: »

Not this week, just 3 of us, there will on 17th

:eek::eek:

Sacksian

overpronator wrote: »

:eek::eek:

Is this you announcing your middle-distance debut on Tuesday?!