Better late than never

jake1970

tang1 wrote: »

The Athlone 10k is on same day as Wexford, run on some of the Athlone Half route so flat as flat can be. There's a 10k on the day before in Longford as part of the Royal Canal Run, two laps but flat again. Both worth considering to IMO.

Thanks for that B, do you know anything about the Fr Murphy 10k in kildakey, Athboy on the 16th as time wise that would suit me better. It is listed in the Road Races 2017 thread but the only info I can find online is about previous races. Sorry for the log hijack denis.

denis b

tang1 wrote: »

The Athlone 10k is on same day as Wexford, run on some of the Athlone Half route so flat as flat can be. There's a 10k on the day before in Longford as part of the Royal Canal Run, two laps but flat again. Both worth considering to IMO.

Cheers B. From your own experience is the Royal Canal Run a bit congested with a narrow path for a 10 km run? Don't mean to be unfair but as a midpack runner it might be an issue for me.

tang1

jake1970 wrote: »

Thanks for that B, do you know anything about the Fr Murphy 10k in kildakey, Athboy on the 16th as time wise that would suit me better. It is listed in the Road Races 2017 thread but the only info I can find online is about previous races. Sorry for the log hijack denis.

I ran it when it was a 5 mile, there's a drag about 2 miles in say but you get it back the other side. It's a fair route, more flat than hills.

tang1

denis b wrote: »

Cheers B. From your own experience is the Royal Canal Run a bit congested with a narrow path for a 10 km run? Don't mean to be unfair but as a midpack runner it might be an issue for me.

The path is narrow alright Denis so congestion may be an issue with it as it's laps of 5.1k.

snailsong

Just hijacking here as it's the fashion. The Kilmovee 10k is on Easter Saturday, April 15. I'd recommend it, a fast course where I've got pbs in the past and a famous spread. Kilmovee is close to Knock airport. Unfortunately I won't run fast there this year as it's 6 days after Rotterdam.

denis b

snailsong wrote: »

Just hijacking here as it's the fashion. The Kilmovee 10k is on Easter Saturday, April 15. I'd recommend it, a fast course where I've got pbs in the past and a famous spread. Kilmovee is close to Knock airport. Unfortunately I won't run fast there this year as it's 6 days after Rotterdam.

Cheers for that. will fall too early for the programme that is going to land me a pb!!!! Best of luck for Rotterdam and will be watching that race closely as it is on the cards if DCM 17 does not work out.

denis b

Monday 13th Feb
Rest Day for running but S&C upper body and core work session completed.

Tuesday 14th Feb
11 km aerobic run and 6x12 secs hill sprints followed by 6x100m sprints. 11km run went well averaging 5:42/km. HR 142 but there were a number of irregular spikes. Have noticed this recently and thought that it might be a combination of things. Effort felt fine all the same.

Got my hill sprints done on Glandore Road, near the top where there is less traffic in the morning. 100m sprints completed on Griffith Avenue on the flat. Great session and the sprints pretty well finished me off.

12.1 km. Good stretching session followed paying extra attention to the achilles.

Wednesday 15th Feb
13 km Endurance run. Started off too fast and hard to judge the pace. Had to rely on the watch for confirmation regularly. Only to be expected with the pace to slide up by about 10 secs every 3km. Fairly happy with the result and last 3 km in about 5:15/km. Average pace worked out at 5:33 and HR 147.

Thursday 16th Feb
Rest Day with S&C Upper Body followed by Day 12 of Kinetic Challenge. Really poor flexibility through my left hip and everything was quite an effort.

Friday 17th Feb
11km with 3 x 8 mins at LT off 3 mins jog recovery. Ran this along the promenade in Clontarf in the early evening after a country travel day. Was looking forward to this to see see what I could manage. Idea was to use 4:29 to 4:35 LT range, which reflects a 5km time of 21.30 (pb 20.40 at JB). Main priority is no injuries and to use this programme to progress. There will be plenty of summer ahead for picking things up a level or two.

First 8 mins into a slight wind. Couldn't believe how fast I had to run to get to the pace and stop the watch pace alarm--- all warnings on the down side :rolleyes: Managed 4:35 exactly. Jog recovery into wind.

Next 8 mins I got to pace immediately and ran 2 mins into wind and 6 to back to average 4:33/km. Never looked at the watch for this and had found the pace.

Last 8mins with 50/50 into/with the wind. Ran this really well and only looked at the watch to confirm time left with a minute to go. 4:29/km.

Jogged 2 km home on a complete high. I know someone who would have clapped me on the back for this session.

Saturday 18th of Feb
Day 13 of Kinetic Challenge, core session and S&C Upper

Sunday 19th Feb
14km Endurance Run and went out the door and just followed my nose with regard to a route. Turned out to be an early morning mystery tour of Finglas and Ballymun. Poppintree Park has to be one of the most significant improvements on '80's Dublin. Transformed from flat open derelict fields, which were a perfect getaway for Enduro's, into a diverse interesting parkland much used by early morning walkers now. Great credit to the Corpo Parks Dept. for having the vision to transform this space. Have a look for yourself at their Parkrun.

Weaved down through DCU and Albert College Park where the Junior Parkrun was setting up and then home. 5:35 pace per km and HR at 157 :eek: . Had a closer look at the belt and could see that there is a seal break on the belt itself where the sensors are located.

Have always felt that the Garmin Soft HRM strap contributed to spiked readings for me. Quick research with DCRainmaker suggested keeping the transmitter, which works fine and is the expensive component, and replace same with the polar strap which has the same clip on arrangement for the transmitter component. Very cheap solution. Ordered on Amazon.de. Apparently it is the preferred setup in Australia.

Chose my target race which will be Athlone 10km on the 29th of April and will run the K Club as a semi tuneup race.

50.2 km for the week. That is 4 and a half weeks of progressive work done.

tang1

Good choice on the goal race, might be joining you.

tang1

The route profile, if you haven't already seen it:

denis b

tang1 wrote: »

The route profile, if you haven't already seen it:

Thanks for that B. Appreciate all the input. That profile will work well for me as I always carry a negative split, being a cautious runner.

denis b

20th Feb 2017
Rest Day.

21st Feb 2017
11.2km Aerobic Run with 2 sets of 4x200m and jog recovery : 49,49,46,45 and 44,44,44,43.

Aerobic run at 5:35/km. Nice long 1 km drag to keep me honest for races later in the year. Tendency to run too fast at times. Much more conscious of trying to get pacing right at these sessions. The cumulative effect of the sessions is enough so no need to react to initial enthusiasm in the cycle.

Wed 22nd Feb
Endurance Run 14km at average of 5.35/km. Again working hard to get the correct progressive timing. Ran out of town early afternoon to Atane and down to St. Annes to get some mileage on grass. Back along by the coast into a gathering wind and just got home before the heavens opened. Karma.

Thurs 23rd Feb
Rest. Knew there were some hard sessions coming up so really had a handy day. Unfortunately there was no time for S&C this week....first time I have missed a session this year.

Friday 24th Feb
13km with 6x3mins Hills at 3-5km pace and jog recoveries. Choose the Swords Road between Griffith Ave and Comet Pub on Swords Road for this. No roads to cross and path mostly plenty wide. Downside...traffic fumes but traffic was lighter than I had assumed for 3-4pm.

Ran the first 5 km at Easy pace. Set a target of 4:20-4:25 /km. Reckon my current 5km racetime reflects that. Will revise these timings with tuneup races.

4:19, 4:19, 4:22, 4:19, 4:22, 4:16. Worked hard for these. First 2 and I was thinking if I can do 4 then the session will have been worth it. By 4 I knew I would finish the session. Legs were heavy for the last 2 reps but I consciously relaxed the body for the last and ran my best split. Delighted.

Saturday 25th Feb
1.6km warmup and then an Easy Pace Parkrun in St. Annes with the usual very sociable company and coffee afterwards. Nice to positively put a name to a face Yaboya...and all of those numbers were not wasted on me. Came away from this, having run with Kenny G (who was pacing) with lots of ideas and positivity for running this year.

Sunday 26th Feb
16km Endurance Run. Had spotted a route on another Strava that I had partially completed when training for DCM 15. Down Griffith Avenue and picked up on the linear Parks along the Tolka River and into the wind until I passed the Glasnevin Industrial estate. A quick romp up the new bridge and then descended to the Canal towpath. Was feeling the pace, and the weeks accumulation of work and then turned for home with the breeze much more favourable for me. Found the last 4 km needed plenty of effort but managed them ok. Average pace was 5:38/km. Perfect.

60.5km for the week and next week is a recovery week. Whew.

Kennyg71

Another good week Denis, and thanks for company Saturday, didn't seem to
be any one else targeting 28mins except me:pac:

Murph_D

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Another good week Denis, and thanks for company Saturday, didn't seem to
be any one else targeting 28mins except me:pac:

I know that feeling! :pac:

denis b

Recovery Week

Can't ever seem to remember what I did over a week so will update every two or three sessions. Had noticed late last week that a recovery week might be a good idea even if the plan had not suggested it. It did, so that made things a little easier. Overall, I feel that I am running well enough and that my paces, for the same HR last year, are about 7 seconds a km faster. That was a by the way rather than a target. Have been much more attentive to the Achilles - stretching after every session and rolling most days.

Monday 27th Feb
S&C session (upper body) and core work with rehab exercises for hips. Tough little session but good concentration on form and breathing after receiving some advice. I don't want to be just doing these sessions for the sake of it. They can deliver a little extra and I want to get those gains.

Tuesday 28th Feb
Aerobic Run 10.6 km at average of 5:30/km. This was a little faster than was required but I ran it by effort as the new HRM strap has not arrived from Germany yet. Was really tired when I got home from work. Sleep is quite poor at the moment. Headed out the door and felt better almost immediately. For an early morning runner these runs later in the day feel much easier.

Wednesday 1st March
My first day back on the hills without Ronan. Headed to the Cooleys with a friend who was brave enough and we walked about 15km up from Carlingford back towards Windy Gap taking in all the summits. Ran into a sheep farmer, on the ridge top, who had caught up on us as he had forgotten his binoculars and was trying to account for his 150 head of sheep. Duly obliged with my own binoculars and himself and the Collie went sprinting off over the hills after whatever he had seen. No cappuccino's on tap here. A hard life and no goretex jacket or vibram soles.

Thursday 2nd March
Aerobic Run 10.81 km at average 5:46/km. Much more sensible pace but felt a twinge on left ankle to outside of the foot. Feels familiar and might be related to yesterdays day on the hills. Sometimes I think the hillwalking takes more out of me than I might admit. Can certainly feel it in the hammers and quads after a hard quick descent on poor ground.

Core work and stretching attended too.

Mrs Mc

Glad to see you are back in the hills Denis a nice way to remember Ronan I'm sure it was difficult for you. Good running this week definately agree about keeping up the stretching and exercises definately feel it myself when I don't keep doing it. See you at pr Saturday

denis b

Recovery Week Ctd.,

Fri 3rd March
Nice 5 km recovery run. Heading away to Kerry to help out on a mountain training weekend. Brought the running gear with me to keep the mileage topped up.

Sat 4th March
Got a nice slow 8km hill run done after a handy training day on the hills. Had left Dublin at 5am sharp to be on Mangerton for 8.30am. A cold day with strong gusts of wind acting as a warning of another approaching band of hail. Ran off the hill and explored some of the lanes back to Killarney.

Sunday 5th March
Up early and out the door before breakfast was handed to me. 6km slow run out towards Blennerville from Tralee. Not much wind cover there Diego but a breeze on the return journey.

A tidy 40.4 kms for recovery week and the legs are the better for it.

Monday 6th March
Rest Day

Tuesday 7th March
12.4km Aerobic Run with 6x12secs hill sprints and 6x100m strides. Got this session nailed for once. Had never realised that these were strides and not sprints before. Likewise, gave full effort for the exact prescribed time of 12 secs for the hill sprints at the start of Glandore Road which is a healthy enough challenge. Maybe a slightly steeper hill would be a good idea going forward. My new Polar HRM strap had arrived and I have fitted the Garmin transmitter from the old garmin strap. Far less bulky and very happy with improved HR readings which I can trust.

Wednesday 8th March
Working down in West Cork so an early start from Dublin. On return journey I had planned to run at the foot of the Galtees on the old Main Road which is normally very quiet. Bad headache when I got that far so hit the alarm and went for a 15 minute sleep instead. Reached the Curragh around 5pm and decided to run there rather than in the Phoenix Park in the dark. Super run and the legs are feeling lively. Ran on the grass in places at the back of the Curragh but eventually hit the roads as the ground was just too wet for my slick continental rubber soles. Did not meet too much traffic and drivers were incredibly accommodating. Gave each one the thumbs up to keep the partnership alive, literally.

Ran the 14km as an Endurance Session on the rolling ground averaging 5:35/km with the last 2 at 5:12 and 5:04. HR at 144. Very very pleased with this run and HR seems to be returning to a more normal pattern.

Thursday 9th March
Rest Day

Friday 10th March
13km Run with V02 Max 5x1km at 3-5km pace.

No escaping a testing session and I was looking forward to it to see where I am standing.

2.5km warmup brought me to the promenade at Clontarf where I fired off the requisite laps: 4:12, 4:13, 4:15, 4:15 and 4:14 per/km. Have brought my pacing a little forward to reflect a few decent weeks training and am pacing about 40 seconds off my Dec 5 KM JB pb. Jog recoveries of 3:30 mins did the trick and was ready to go again at the end of each leg. Worked hard for the 4th and 5th leg and dropped pace (day dreaming) on the 3rd leg when the watch pace alarm went off. Ran each leg trying to remain as relaxed as possible to maintain better form.

3km recovery home and I had the porridge and tea/toast combo for recovery. Great session and feel as though I am back on track with the running.

Kennyg71

are you doing plan from faster road running, looks very like the one I am following at moment, a few decent Sessions there.

denis b

Kennyg71 wrote: »

are you doing plan from faster road running, looks very like the one I am following at moment, a few decent Sessions there.

Sure am G. The 10km programme Schedule 1 and am on the 5th week. Just spotted that I should be doing a 5km recovery run today :eek:

Tried it same time last year but got sick twice which kind of messed things up a little. Being sensible this year so lets see what happens.

denis b

Saturday 11th March
A query from Kennyg71 had me reaching for the plan only to discover that I should be doing a 5km Recovery Run today. Late afternoon and tired after an early start I got out the door and home just in time to carve the roast beef. To shower or not to shower!

Tired ould run with heavy legs. 5:53/km and HR 138

Sunday 12th March
Endurance Run 16km. Headed out on a new loop through Artane, Raheny and out the Howth Road to Blackbanks turning and returning along the coast. Last 7 kms, and the fastest, were into a fair breeze. As usual the slower initial kms were hard hardest and as soon as I hit the 5:30's and 5:20's things felt much better. Strange one that. Left ankle has fully recovered from the hill walking and have redoubled my efforts with stretches for the achilles.

5:35/km and HR 144. That made 60.4 kms for the week. Will continue to edge up the kms beyond the prescribed kms nice and slowly.

denis b

Monday 13th March
Rest Day. S&C upper body and stretching session.

Tuesday 14th March
14km Aerobic Run with 2 sets of 5x200m jog recovery and 4 mins jog between sets. Headed out late afternoon and could have fallen asleep on the aerobic run. Just suddenly felt very sleepy. Pushed on and found a decent flat 200m section to run on Griffith Avenue. Parched with the heat and wind,
Set 1: 47, 49, 48, 48, 47 secs
Set 2: 45, 45, 46, 44, 44 secs

Tough but rewarding session

Wednesday 15th March
14km Prog Endurance Run. Another late afternoon run which always seems much easier than the early morning no food alternative. Quite warm. Runnning these at the faster end of the suggested range as training seems ro be going well at the moment.

Average pace at 5:31/km and HR at 142 average. Last 4 km felt good at 5:18, 5:16, 5:10, 5:05.

Friday 17th March
Out into the maelstrom at lunchtime for an LT Session of 12, 10, 10 mins with 10.5km run. Murderous with the wind and passed Anna who seemed to be quite happy running up the avenue. Tried to balance the running into and with the wind on each leg and managed to stay with required pace: 4:26, 4:25 and 4:30ish. Wiped but delighted as I had reckoned that a 12, 10, 8 would be ok but managed the full 12, 10, 10. Max HR170.

Saturday 18th
Recovery Parkrun and warmup of 6.5km incl. Nice and handy run and great to meetup.

Sunday 19th March
Prog Endurance Run of 18.4km. Ran the first 9km into the wind along the Tolka River before joining the canal and running back to town. Met another runner, Pablo, who recently arrived in Ireland by the canal and we ran along for a couple of kms before we parted ways. Pace increased with the chat. Really enjoyed the run this morning and even spotted a kingfisher.

5:35/km and hr of 142. Very happy once again.

63.4kms for the week.

denis b

Monday 20th March
Have added another days running to the programme to keep the mileage up. Just a 5km recovery run at 6.04/km and HR 132. Will make sure that I keep these runs at the proper pace so that they do their job.

Twinge behind the left knee, on inside, after yesterdays run still there. Feels as though the inside tendon (the tight wire like bit that runs parallel to the knee) is under stress. Remembered that I stopped twice to stretch out the hamstrings on the left leg yesterday. decided to do the same at home again that evening and hey presto it felt better instantly.

Made a pig of myself eating 14 biscuits and 2 slices of cake over the day. Rot stops here. Food is not the answer.

Tuesday 21st March
13 km with 2 sets of 6x100 strides thrown in. Run went very well and knee is feeling better. Nearly run over by a primary school teacher (I presume) who came from behind me and cut across the path into the primary school. Was kind of surprised, given the immediate environment, that someone could be so careless. I would never presume any right of way but most drivers are very very reasonable. No harm done and she waved nonchalantly to me as the car continued sailing through the gates.

Wednesday 22nd March
14 km Prog Endurance Run. Avg 5.28 pace and HR at 146. Pretty nippy for me. It rained hard this morning and that wind could certainly chill you quickly. Picked up the pace to keep plenty warm. Passed a couple of lads (Tree Surgeons) who certainly had their work cut out holding chainsaws in swinging wet trees.

Athlone 10km run on 29th April is my target race and I am beginning to start thinking about how I am going to race it. Am getting some healthy confidence. No doubt it will dissipate as the day approaches. Going to fight it this time.

Run safe out there folks.

jake1970

Are you running K Club tomorrow denis ?
Best of luck if you are.

denis b

jake1970 wrote: »

Are you running K Club tomorrow denis ?
Best of luck if you are.

It did not fit in with the revised plan so being sensible and waiting to debut for 10km at Athlone. Will get in a tune up race in 3 weeks time, which will most likely be a Parkrun 5km.

Smashing race conditions later this morning. Enjoy

denis b

Thursday 23rd March
Rest Day. Very little sleep the night before so recovery was probably on hold today.

Friday 24th March
Big session. Its Race Pace Day. Felt a cold coming on yesterday and put this session off until early evening to see if another 12 hours would help.

14km with 4x 1.2km and 2x1km at 10km race pace. recovery at 50% of interval time.

Warmup to the promenade at Clontarf assessing wind direction. Wasn't too bad so ran into it for a few legs. Have noticed a tendency to speed up when I run into the wind. Had set the pace alarm for -+5 secs and off I went.

2.5 km warmup at 5:40/km pace and HR 141
4:28, 4:29, 4:29 and 4:29 pace for the 4x1.2 km
4:25 and 4:25:km pace for the 2x1km
2.6km cooldown at 5:46/km

Really good session and had intended to push a little harder for the last 2x1 to simulate my negative split tendencies. That was 6.8 km at race pace and I could have got another one or two in. Back to back might be a different kettle of fish :rolleyes: (sorry BG)

Saturday 25th March
Headed down to St. Annes for a paced gig. Bit dodgy for a recovery run and more so when I was handed a 24 minute pacer vest. Serves me right for turning up last!!

Plenty of sweat for this with the warm morning sunshine. Made a bit of a mess of the pacing with the 23 minute pacer overtaking me after 2/3rds of a km :eek:. Did ok for the next 4km but forgot to account for the fact that the course always comes up short on my garmin so came in 30+ seconds early. Ah well....will try harder next time.

Great to meet and chat with FBOT, Kennyg71, Mrs Kennyg71 and Laura (congrats on Sundays Race) and a few new faces.

Sunday 26th
Cancelled the 18km Endurance run as I have a throat/sinus/chest combo. A shame as target was to head north of 70 km this week. C'es la vie.

Kennyg71

Came In 30 sec early myself, it seemed to be common thread. Hope your on the mend, take it handy till chest settles.

Bungy Girl

Hope you're feeling better soon Denis.

Great Race Pace Day session - very consistent splits! Are you going for sub 45 ?

denis b

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Hope you're feeling better soon Denis.

Great Race Pace Day session - very consistent splits! Are you going for sub 45 ?

Sure am. PB in Dunshaughlin last June of 44:46. Would be happy to shave seconds off that this time and use it as a platform.

denis b

Monday 27th March to Wednesday 29th March

Throat, sinus and chest congested.Enforced rest. Could be worse as this is a kind of step back week anyway with reduced mileage and aerobic runs. Have had episodes of similar complaints before. Have an awful habit of stretching for 10-15 mins when I finish running and had got a soaking out running 3-4 times over the previous week, particularly so on Wednesday last week when I had to run pretty fast on the endurance run just to stop getting too cold. Decide that I will be hitting the shower first and stretch second in future. Sometimes these episodes cost me 2 weeks of running so I did some research.

Pretty sure that I do not have an infection and am just congested. Threw everything at the symptoms and rested up for 4 days to see if I could start running again by actively managing everything rather than just feeling sorry for myself and making Rocky Roads for a fortnight.

Thursday 30th March
Tentative 5km recovery run. Sweated a nd felt tired but no reaction and if anything the congestion has eased a little (This is also what I had read and been advised medically).

Friday 31st March
Easy run of 8 km at 5:53/km and HR 136. Nice and easy and felt much better than yesterday. Seem to be salvaging something out of the week. Oh...and I made some Rocky Road as well.

tang1

Suffering from similar complaint myself, very congested in the head and not at 100% but still able to run. Just can't shake it fully, Rocky Road you say is the cure!!!!

denis b

Testing my Ladybird Tables skills......

Month|2017|2016|2015|2014
Jan|59|149|183|
Feb|198|168|200|
March|200|207|318|
April||24|200|
May||165|118|95
June||128|126|126
July||158|185|160
August||154|271|117
September||127|250|69
October||98|174|167
November||169|106|157
December||136|79|169
Totals|457|1,683|2,210|1,060

[/QUOTE]
Table in kms folks.