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Berlin Q or Bust: Road to sub 2:45
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Mon: 7 Miles Recovery: 56:28 @5:01/km
Shuffle around the bog listening to Brian Conroy on Runner Beans pod. Know Brian from before either of us were runners and more interested in drinking pints before Kildare games
hope it all goes well for them. Early reports seem positive anyway.
Tue: 18k Easy: 1:25:36 @4:46/km
Wed: 16x400m @78secs off 30 seconds recovery.
I suppose the only thing about today was that I'd done this session 2 weeks ago in 24° and on the Curragh. So in theory, despite target being a couple of seconds faster, the track and power temps would make life easier, and the fact that I'd done it before!
Made it down to the track via a school sports field that was open. I had however misjudged the climb that awaited me up to the track and it wasn't pretty scaling all's well that ends well though and after a decent 5k warm up, the watch beeped and the session then just sort of takes on its own life. 30 seconds is not a long time, so it's just a case of sucking it up and getting out the door for the next rep. After 5 reps I got into a nice rhythm, and unlike last week, held it until the end and was pretty happy with the workout.
Splits were:
79,77,79,79,78,78,77,79
78,78,78,78,78,78,78,78
10 Miles for the day. Really unsure of how to go about things over the next few months. Have a plan laid out, culminating in an HM TT in August.... But things may be looking up as regards racing. Will play it by ear for the moment.0 -
Mon: 7 Miles Recovery: 56:28 @5:01/km
Shuffle around the bog listening to Brian Conroy on Runner Beans pod. Know Brian from before either of us were runners and more interested in drinking pints before Kildare games hope it all goes well for them. Early reports seem positive anyway.
Tue: 18k Easy: 1:25:36 @4:46/km
Wed: 16x400m @78secs off 30 seconds recovery.
I suppose the only thing about today was that I'd done this session 2 weeks ago in 24° and on the Curragh. So in theory, despite target being a couple of seconds faster, the track and power temps would make life easier, and the fact that I'd done it before!
Made it down to the track via a school sports field that was open. I had however misjudged the climb that awaited me up to the track and it wasn't pretty scaling all's well that ends well though and after a decent 5k warm up, the watch beeped and the session then just sort of takes on its own life. 30 seconds is not a long time, so it's just a case of sucking it up and getting out the door for the next rep. After 5 reps I got into a nice rhythm, and unlike last week, held it until the end and was pretty happy with the workout.
Splits were:
79,77,79,79,78,78,77,79
78,78,78,78,78,78,78,78
10 Miles for the day. Really unsure of how to go about things over the next few months. Have a plan laid out, culminating in an HM TT in August.... But things may be looking up as regards racing. Will play it by ear for the moment.0 -
Mon: 7 Miles Recovery: 56:28 @5:01/km
Shuffle around the bog listening to Brian Conroy on Runner Beans pod. Know Brian from before either of us were runners and more interested in drinking pints before Kildare games hope it all goes well for them. Early reports seem positive anyway.
Tue: 18k Easy: 1:25:36 @4:46/km
Wed: 16x400m @78secs off 30 seconds recovery.
I suppose the only thing about today was that I'd done this session 2 weeks ago in 24° and on the Curragh. So in theory, despite target being a couple of seconds faster, the track and power temps would make life easier, and the fact that I'd done it before!
Made it down to the track via a school sports field that was open. I had however misjudged the climb that awaited me up to the track and it wasn't pretty scaling all's well that ends well though and after a decent 5k warm up, the watch beeped and the session then just sort of takes on its own life. 30 seconds is not a long time, so it's just a case of sucking it up and getting out the door for the next rep. After 5 reps I got into a nice rhythm, and unlike last week, held it until the end and was pretty happy with the workout.
Splits were:
79,77,79,79,78,78,77,79
78,78,78,78,78,78,78,78
10 Miles for the day. Really unsure of how to go about things over the next few months. Have a plan laid out, culminating in an HM TT in August.... But things may be looking up as regards racing. Will play it by ear for the moment.0 -
Thu: 10k Recovery: 51:43 @5:10/km
Its amazing when you've a certain distance or pace in your head for a run, how you feel that you couldn't run a second faster than that pace! Meant to run 8 miles easy on the plains with a mate in the evening. I'd much rather have gotten the run in earlier in the day, but I was being a good buddy and making myself available to suit my partner...who then subsequently pulls out at the last minute with me parked up in the Curragh
I shuffled around the plains, 5:10's feeling tough enough I might add. Left it at 10k, and i was doing well to get that far.
Fri: 13k Easy:1:02:46 @4:50/km
Disastrous night's sleep caught up with me on this one and scrapped the planned 10 miler mid run. Tired.
Sat: Progressive LR
Instructions were; 5mile @ 6:45ish pace, 5 @ 6:35-30 and last 5mile @ 6:20-10ish.
Pretty much hit all the splits, except it ended up being 9k and 7k for the last two parts as the route I ended up taking brought me back into the camp up a steep incline so rather than kill myself to make 3:50ish I kept it at 4:02/km which was tough going enough.
Had company for the first 5 miles from a mate I hadn't ran with since before the lock down so they flew by catching up on things.... The rest just took care of themselves really.
Splits were: 5Miles@4:07, 9k@4:00, 7.1k @3:51
Which more or less amounted to 15 Miles @MP
Hard to know what to do with this fitness... Head is addled.0 -
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Things just seemed to reach a critical mass earlier this week. Poor sleep, bad weather, solo parenting, shed loads of work, mounting levels of tiredness and stress... So as I threw the runners on Monday night about 9pm to get out the door for a run, I just stopped myself, literally looked in the mirror and asked myself 'What the *#@% are you doing!?'
Queue, a two day break, and whilst I returned Wednesday once I'd got through a lot of stuff in work, it was decided that I'd take a bit of a down week, run how I feel for a few days and do a bit of LR session Sunday and recommence the plan next week.
Running has provided an outlet during the last few months that really has been essential and invaluable. I'm hesitant to use terms like stressful or depressed as there are so many people who this pandemic has affected far, far worse than me. My job is secure, as is my wife's, and my children are happy and healthy. I don't have any serious problems in the greater scheme of things...however my head space has been really crowded lately, with loads of worries about my own kids, kids I work with, what my work is going to look like in September and so on. Running has helped me deal with all of this. But I just had to step away at the start of this week.
Wed: 14k: 1:05:16 @4:39/km
Wasn't sure if I'd get out, but managed to get into work at 6am, so was able to get out in the afternoon. Didn't look at the watch, just ran. After 2k I'd come to the conclusion that all of my fitness was lost and my running career was over, despite the fact I'd basically ran 15 miles @MP 3 days previously but, naturally, by the end all was good in the world again.
Thu: 14k: 1:06:25 @4:44/km
Pretty much as previous day.
Fri: 5 Miles Steady: 33:43 @4:11/km
Small window before the football for this. Just ran a decent clip before getting home to have a few weissbiers with my Dad watching United drop two points
Will prob do 15 miles at a decent clip tomorrow. May happen today but unlikely. Plan I'm on will work nicely in conjunction with a prospective HM in Charleville. If Amsterdam does go ahead then I'm pretty confident I can get in marathon shape in 10/12 weeks so there's no rush to jump onto a marathon plan just yet.0 -
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Sat: 13k: 1:01:56 @4:46/km
Got out in the afternoon and felt lt great on this one. Could have went longer but wanted to be in good nick for LR the next day...
Sun: 15 Miles: 1:40:15 @4:09/km
Had a plan in place for 5/5/5miles @6:50/6:15/6:50 but I'd had enough of running loops for my long runs so I set off on a route that couldn't have been more poorly planned if I wanted to hit the above splits! Miles 6&7 were uphill and into the wind, followed by a brief respite and then more climbing and headwinds... So I just decided to run a steady, honest effort from start to finish. Ended up with 6:49/6:37/6:36 averages for the 5mile splits. Wind was against me for about 11 of the miles I reckon
Felt like a tank out there today. Enjoyed that one.0 -
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OOnegative wrote: »Only rising J, I really hope so to man.
Jesus, I thought you were going to crush my new found optimism with some breaking news would have been the shortest marathon block ever... 0 -
Jesus, I thought you were going to crush my new found optimism with some breaking news would have been the shortest marathon block ever...
The young lad reckoned he heard something this afternoon on the news about a return to Marathon running for The Netherlands but I’ve been googling in earnest since to reaffirm his knowledge of Dutch but can’t find anything yet.0 -
Amsterdam Marathon Week 1 of 16
I know, i know it's wishful thinking, but here we go anyway
Mon: 14k Easy: 1:09:30 @4:58/km
Listened to Dick Hooper on the Runner Beans pod. Great interview, only confirmed everything I'd heard about him already; serious runner, sound out and not man that half arses anything! Kept the two boys on their toes anyway
Tue: 7 Miles Easy: 57:31 @5:06/km
My little lady is returning to creche 2 days a week, so i took off with the two lads on a bit of a day out. Headed up to Dollymount strand, then onto Decathlon for goo, and, naturally, ended up coming out with all sorts of stuff! Eddie Rockets for the boys, not Daddy
End result was having to head out for a run after the United game. Latest I've headed out in a long while, but ambled around listening to the House of Rugby podcast and the time went by quickly enough.
Wed: Session: 6 Mile Tempo @6:10
My buddy reckons I'm a little too sharp and too fit at the moment!! I had a chuckle when he told me that, but i get where he's coming from. Gonna ease into the block for 2/3 weeks, keeping it to one tempo and a LR and the rest easy enough. Have a tentative schedule of LR's, TT's and the Charleville Half in there so we'll see. First up was today's session. The idea was to keep it controlled at around 6:10 no faster and, in the absolute pissing drizzle, that was just about (36:56 @6:09/mile) achieved without too much fuss
10 miles for the day.
Gonna double today, easy miles tomorrow and Sat and then a relaxed 28k Sunday.0 -
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Thursday:
AM: 10k: 45:21 @4:32/km
Took the lads down to the track and let them play away in the infield while i belted out a few laps. If I'm to hit 120/130km as planned I'll need to give myself the chance to do one or two doubles a week.
PM: 10k: 50:46 @5:04/km
As the morning was a bit steadier, i just took this one easy. Ran out the dial carraigeway until 5k hit and then turned back.
Fri: 14.2k: 1:05:50 @4:38/km
Bouncing for this one. Body showing no ill effects from yesterday's double. Bumped into Loughie, a former poster from these parts, so had a nice chat with him for a few km.
Sat: 15.3k: 1:11:54 @4:41/km
On a whim i said I'd head down into the bog and run on a few of the botharíns down there. Very enjoyable, but got pretty ropey underfoot and had to turn back and improvise on the route. The Zoom Flys aren't much of a trail runner
Sun: 29.2k: 2:13:02 @4:33/km
Instructions were to go no faster than 4:30 for this one. Felt great today. That feeling of getting to 25k, looking at the watch and having to consciously slow down was a good one today. No water or gels.
A great first week. Not the hardest, by design of course, but feeling good about putting a strong block of training together.
120k for the week.0 -
Mon: 7 Miles Easy: 57:40@5:07/km
Out early for this one as we were heading away with all the gang for a little staycation for a couple of nights.
Tue: 9+ Miles Getting Lost: 1:09:35 @4:47/km
Got out in the afternoon and mooched around Gorey for 70 mins. Was never really tuned in and was about to ask a local for directions back to hotel when it appeared on the horizon. Hilly spot.
Wed: 16k: 1:12:14 @4:31/km
After the previous day's aimless traversing of the town, i had a goo on the interweb and happened upon the Gorey parkrun route. Plotted my route, about 2.5k from the hotel, and came upon the lovely little wooded trail that is home to the Gorey iteration of Parkrun.
I say lovely, it's actually a bit nuts. The parkrun itself is 4 and a half loops of the smaller loop in the woods. Nice tarmac surface although a little slippy at points. I should add that I was out at 5:40am for this run the path was quite windy with a decent drag on one side and decline on the other. There's also a longer loop which according to the map is 2.5k, that part is on gravel and it's fine to run on. But again, one side is a non stop drag.
All in all my easy run turned into a mini hill session as I did 4 large loops and a smaller parkrun loop for overq 200m of climbing. GPS was sketchy in the woods naturally. The parkruns i looked at on Strava all seemed to measure 4.5/4.6km. For reference Sean Hehir ran 16:30 in the last parkrun before the lock down i think. I was really putting it in going up the climbs and I quite enjoyed it. Hopefully as life moves on and Erin Healy begins sleep through the night, running that early becomes an option for me and not just a random holiday run
Thu: 8 Mile Controlled Tempo @6:20/mile: 50:23 (@6:17)
Thought about doing this on the parkrun course in Gorey for the craic, but i was pretty wiped after a brilliant few days. Had sort of decided to put it off until Friday, but driving home, i decided on a whim to drop myself off at the ball in Naas and run back to Newbridge.
Tempo was to be capped at 6:20. Again, the mantra was that we're taking a little step back in intensity for the first 3 weeks of the block. It had been a couple of years since I'd ran back to Newbridge from Shelbyville, and I'd sort of forgotten the new layout of the M7 interchanges. They were pretty ropey and i had to stop the watch and walk through those parts. Didn't give me any help at all really, and found it difficult to get going after last one.
The run itself, despite the lack of preparation and headwind that seemed to defy the forecast, was fairly straightforward. It was just one of those runs where you ran to the prescribed pace and that was the effort. If the instructions had of been 6:30 or 6:10 I'm pretty sure the effort levels would have been the same.
17k for the day.
Charleville cancelled, but that always seemed a little too good to be true. Pity. Haven't talked to the boss but might look at getting a 10k race in soon. Got jealous looking at results from Mondello tonight. I couldn't care less about any of the 5ks that have been going on, but a 10k would be nice i think.0 -
Fri: 18.5k Easy: 1:29:58 @4:51/km
Went down to Moore Abbey woods with the family down in Monasterevin and decided to run home afterwards. Heading out the road and met my regular training partner who was driving up to the Curragh to have a run before work, so took the lift with him and went for a few miles around the camp.
Sat: 13.6k Easy: 1:07:47 @4:59/km
Felt a little tired after a long and hectic week so just ambled around and listened to a couple of good interviews with Shane Dowling & Philly McMahon.
Sun: 30k Relaxed: 2:13:15 @4:26/km
Plan called for 30k @no faster than 4:20kms. A couple of buddies were doing a 15 Miler with 10 of them @7:00 pace so i said I'd get a few km in beforehand and then join them. Found it a little tricky to slow back down for their 5k warm up, but the craic and chat were flowing so I wasn't too bothered.
One of my mates, my regular (unfortunately perma-injured) buddy who went sub3 that fateful day in Rotterdam and ran 2:56 in Berlin this year, eased off about 8 Miles in @7min pace, so as it was just me and Ferg left, who is making huge progress and looking like he's in Sub 3 shape, I suggested we push it a little and see can we finish out the last 5 Miles in or around sub 3 pace. Like the gentleman i am, i took the lead and brought us home So the run worked out about 25k@4:20/km and the slow 5k thrown in. I really couldn't have been more comfortable @4:20 pace, so feeling good about the coming weeks.
Entered Ratoath half marathon. It's on the same date as Charleville so the plan won't change. I'd be a lot more hopeful of that going ahead. Must have a goo at Sheep's log, as I think he ran a great race there last year.
Still easing into the block with just a 6x1 Mile session midweek and slightly steadier 32k LR planned for week ahead.
121k for the week.0 -
Amsterdam Week 3 of 16
Mon: 11.5km Recovery: 57:26 @5:01/km
Ambled around listening to Pollock & Seaward on the Runner Beans podcast. Great listen. Found the two of them such a contrast to Scullion; no airs and graces, no massive internal conflicts, just Work.Train.Improve.Race.Repeat. Pollock clearly has no time for SS but is being the bigger man and not going there. Would love to see them both toe the line in the near future. Loads of good little tidbits of advice in there. Must listen again and jot a few things down.
Tue: 10 Miles Easy: 78:22 @4:51/km
Long and frustrating day led to me heading out not exactly enamoured to be running 10 miles...but got it done. Had a chipper afterwards as neither of us could be bothered cooking anything
Wed: Session: 6x1 Mile @5:50 off 2 mins
The first 3 weeks of the block have been about taking a little step back in terms of intensity and this was the last 'easier' session on the plan before things step up a gear next week. Aim was for around 10 Mile race pace, which in an ideal world is about 5:50's (Trim in February was very far from that ideal world ). Headed down to the track replete with my new (and hot pink!) Streak 7's and got to work. Splits were; 5:46, 5:46, 5:46, 5:47, 5:46, 5:46. Effort levels felt appropriate and the shoes felt great, not much of a difference to the Streak 6's.
10 Miles for the day.0 -
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Sweatlicker wrote: »Very very very pink.......
60 quid...they're mainly for the track, so I won't be turning too many heads 0 -
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