Running away

ariana`

Kellygirl wrote: »

Another good week, that’s great. Hard to get the pace right in the 400s I’d say. I need a longer distance to get the pace right usually.

Thanks K.

skyblue46 wrote: »

Are you following a plan E?

Short answer is no!

Longer answer is i sit down on a Sunday and plan for the week ahead so it's not completely haphazard. The focus is just to get a bit of consistency with the mileage and adding in some gentle sessions to keep it interesting. You probably recognise some of these as watered down versions of what's on Luke's grads plans? I'm using the Tinman calculator for my Easy/Tempo/Threshold paces to keep me sensible.

I got completely disillusioned after all my comeback attempts over Nov/Dec/Jan so for now i'm happier to take it week by week. I'm open to input at any time

eyrie

ariana` wrote: »

I got completely disillusioned after all my comeback attempts over Nov/Dec/Jan so for now i'm happier to take it week by week. I'm open to input at any time

I reckon if it's working for you and you're enjoying it that's all that matters! You can always switch to something more specific when you feel like it, but this seems like a good way of getting back into things. And you had a great week last week so it sounds like it's suiting you now!

Bluesquare

Great your back at it as well and going well !

It will be interesting to see what races you plan on targeting . I want to try and do some 10ks/5ks after bohermeen so ill be keeping a close eye on you!

ariana`

eyrie wrote: »

I reckon if it's working for you and you're enjoying it that's all that matters! You can always switch to something more specific when you feel like it, but this seems like a good way of getting back into things. And you had a great week last week so it sounds like it's suiting you now!

Yeah i'm happy out now enjoying it

Bluesquare wrote: »

Great your back at it as well and going well !

It will be interesting to see what races you plan on targeting . I want to try and do some 10ks/5ks after bohermeen so ill be keeping a close eye on you!

I'm in the West so probably different races to the majority on here. At the moment it's looking like 5 & 10ks between April & June. After my hols in July i'll start training for Charleville HM in September with maybe a tune up 10 miler in August if something suitable pops up.

Bluesquare

Holidays ! I wish it was holidays now ! Sounds like you have a rough plan. That charville half sounds like a great race my all accounts .

ariana`

04/02/2019-10/02/2019
Monday
Easy with 2 sets of strides, 6 x 30s on a hill bump in the road + 6 x 100m on flat
Total 5.1m @ 11:08 min/m, avg hr 147 bpm

Tuesday
45 min strength class

Wednesday
Easy, 6m @ 10:43 min/m, avg hr 142 bpm

Thursday
REST

Friday
Threshold 3 x 8 mins @ 8:29, 8:26, 8:30

Target pace 8:30-8:42. Really happy with this, windy evening (thanks Storm Eric!) but settled into the effort and was really happy with the result.
Total 6m @ 9:33min/m, avg HR 150bpm.

Saturday
Kid's birthday party - easily counts as cross training right

Sunday
8.5m easy @ 10:51, avg hr 139bpm.

Lots of black ice and sleet showers.

Total: 25 miles

Only four runs this week but happy with the quality. Wednesday's easy run in particular just felt completely effortless. I gained 4 points on my V02 Max according to my Garmin this week, I'm sure it's not an exact science but it was reassuring to see it going up after weeks and weeks of watching it fall (I lost 7 pts on it in the 12 weeks post dcm ).

BrownEyes79

Great week E, how did you find the S&C class?

ariana`

BrownEyes79 wrote: »

Great week E, how did you find the S&C class?

I've been doing it since Christmas C, i've surprised myself by really enjoying it actually. It's a bit different every week, some overlap of course, there's a couple of exercises i don't like but I like most of them. There's just 8 in the class, all runners, so it's quite specific and with 2 trainers between us we get a lot of attention - there's no slacking off. I'd love to get a 2nd class in during the week but it's not really possible unless i sacrifice another run and i can't be doing that :P

ariana`

This was a challenging week with 1 child off school all week on sick leave which threw the usual routine and the usual quota of sleep out the window :cool:

11/02/2019-17/02/2019
Monday
Unplanned rest day - bad start to the week

Tuesday
Speed: 2 x (4 x 200m off 200m rec) @ 6:56-7:28, 4 min between sets
Set 1: 7:27, 20, 08, 10
Set 2: 7:40, 05, 04, 04
Total 6.2m
Supplementary: 45 min strength class

Wednesday
Easy 7.6m @ 10:54, avg HR 137 bmp.

Thursday
Planned REST

Friday
LT (8:24-8:34): 2 x 10 min off 3 mins rec + 1 x 8 min: 8:26, 27, 29
Total 5.5m @ 9:25 min/m, avg HR 157 bpm.

Saturday
10.1m @ 9:50 min/m, avg hr 150 bpm

Club run and it was too fast for me, especially into the head wind but i was delighted to see the HR didn’t take too much of a hit, i did long runs 3 weeks ago at a much slower pace that resulted in a much higher HR. Really pleased overall to see how the average HR has dropped on all my runs over the course of just 4 weeks.

Sunday
Planned 3-4m easy today to bring me over 30m for the first time this year but I woke up with a sore throat (actually i went to bed Sat night with a sore throat too) and no voice so decided to park it. I wouldn't usually drop a run so easily but i had such a run of sickness in Dec and Jan that seems to have turned me a bit soft

Total: 29.5 miles

Baby75

After the few weeks sick you had that sounds like a good idea I hope the sore throat clears quickly for you

eyrie

ariana` wrote: »

I wouldn't usually drop a run so easily but i had such a run of sickness in Dec and Jan that seems to have turned me a bit soft

Not soft at all I'd say - more like you've learned when not to risk it turning into something worse! Hope you're feeling better now.


Beautiful consistency on those LT intervals

ariana`

Started this week with no voice and a very sore throat, developed over the week to a very annoying cough by midweek and eventually a head cold by the end of the week. Thankfully i had my voice back by about Thursday but was feeling pretty rotten all week really. I made a good few compromises on the training front and overall mileage was down unfortunately, very disappointed to be sick again as that’s the second time i’ve lost my voice this year and we’re not even 2 full months into the year yet I'd been planning to give Parkrun a good lash this week as i’m rarely free to go but i was this week (thanks mid-term break) but i did a session instead in the end.

18/02/2019-24/02/2019
Monday
Skipped speed session, 5m steady instead @ 9:50min/m, avg hr 160 bpm.

Tuesday
REST

Wednesday
Easy hour, 5.6m @ 10:36, avg HR 142 bmp.

Thursday
REST

Friday
REST

Saturday
Park run @ Threshold pace (8:24-8:34) @ 8:22 min/m. This was in range for 3 miles but of course i couldn’t helping myself sprinting the last bit (.1 @ 7:08 min/m)

Sunday
9m long run @ 10:53, avg hr 148 bpm
Did this on my own and found it tough enough, legs were heavy from the start and i never really settled into enjoying it much. Lots of sinus pressure with the head cold not helping. Nice morning out though, lots of dog walkers about :cool:

Total: 24.7 miles

ariana`

25/02/2019-03/03/2019

Monday
Easy hour with 2 sets of 4 strides, HR still very high, lots of sinus pain so no wonder really.
5.75m @ 10:18, avg hr 156 bpm

Tuesday
45 min S&C Class, no running.

Wednesday
4.15m @ 10:41, avg HR 143 bpm

Thursday
4m @ 10:17, avg HR 141 bpm, first enjoyable run in a week +, good to see the HR returning to normal as well

Started OTC sinus tablets and nasal spray today, finally some bit of relief, should have got them sooner. February ended on less mileage than the same month last year, that's two months in a row now with a drop in mileage, bad start to 2019

Friday
2.2m @ 11:33, avg HR 142,so much for the HR returning to normal :pac:

Saturday
10k race @ 8:01 min/m average pace, watch time 50:05, chip time 50:04. Avg HR 175 bpm (not accurate, apparently my heart stopped briefly at 41 mins and was reading well below average for the remaining - i think the rain effected it)

Splits: 7:59, 8:18, 8:04, 8:16, 7:58, 7:45, 7:03 (.25)

Couple of miles w/u, c/d also.

Sunday
Rest

Total: 25 miles

10k Race
Only six weeks since my last race, 8k, my time from that race gave me 51:59 (McMillan) and 52:xx (Tin Man). During the week when we were having lovely Spring weather i set my sights firmly on 51:xx and hoped my sinuses would be improved sufficiently by Saturday. Thankfully i woke up Friday feeling well for the first morning in 2 full weeks, good timing, yay

If i'm honest any time goal was very loose, what i really wanted and really needed was to run well. I read Swashbuckler's report from last week a few times this past week and was really inspired by it (thanks P ). I've had a few pretty poor months to be honest and confidence is rock bottom. So with 6 sort of ok-ish weeks behind me i knew i'd be really happy to keep the head and not let the demons get to me - "an honest effort" that was my mantra for the day. If i could do that then i knew i'd get an honest result that i'd be happy with.

So the race, well my warm up was a complete waste of time, i was cold and wet to the bone by the time i started running. I don't have a break down of the miles, i missed every single mile split which is very unusual and i didn't notice too many of the KM race markers either. It was strange not to spend the whole race doing math which i what i usually do, adding splits and trying to work what i need to do to finish in x.

I remember 3 instances where i glanced at the watch, the first (which i think must have been mile 2), i saw my pace was 8:21, i was slightly disappointed but at the time it was taking all my effort just to stay on the road and not be blown into a field :eek:

The second and third times i glanced all i saw was my HR and it read 176 & 179 respectively, confirmation that i was working.

Shortly after half-way, about 5.5 km in, we got some very welcome respite from the crazy wind. This was perfect timing as it is of course when the demons usually start to get a hold. But there were still some tough hills, more floods and more wind to make for a very mixed for the last 4 km.

Overall not all bad we did get the wind behind us at times and there were some down hills (i'm sure i just can't quite remember them :pac:) but for now it was most definitely the toughest conditions i've ever raced in. I was wet to my knickers and had muck up to my knees by the end but i have to say i was just so so happy with how i ran it and a day later i'm still happy.

My time was the icing on the cake. Those 4 seconds don't even bother me, had i known i was that close to 50 maybe i would have found them somewhere i don't know but it wasn't what the day was about, i've broken 50 already, yesterday was about an honest effort for an honest result and about finding myself again and putting the last four months of hit n miss training, injury and sickness firmly behind me.

Thanks for reading this far

OOnegative

Well done, great to see some positivity for you after a few ropey months. Long may it continue for you.

Huzzah!

Fantastic racing in such dreadful conditions. Well done! I think the result shows it’s coming right for you. I also think that by running races where a PB is maybe out of reach for whatever reason might teach us to race a bit better.

I suffer terribly from sinus too. Does running help? It does for me when they’re not too bad.

chickey2

Well done!

Swashbuckler

Great stuff E. That's a race report like none I've seen from you before and I'm glad to see it. No torturing yourself with mental mathematics during the race. You only glanced at your watch three times. Great to see. A good honest effort. I know what you mean with confidence being low. That'll come back too.

Mr. Guappa

That's a cracking race report and it's great to see you happy with the performance. Tough conditions yesterday and sounds like a tough course, so it must be extra pleasing to put in a good performance in those circumstances.

ReeReeG

Great race ariana, and on a tough course with rotten weather. That's a super result, hope it's given you a good confidence boost now

BrownEyes79

ariana` wrote: »

My time was the icing on the cake. Those 4 seconds don't even bother me, had i known i was that close to 50 maybe i would have found them somewhere i don't know but it wasn't what the day was about, i've broken 50 already, yesterday was about an honest effort for an honest result and about finding myself again and putting the last four months of hit n miss training, injury and sickness firmly behind me.

I loved reading this last paragraph!
Great running yesterday on a really tough day and after a crappy few months

skyblue46

Well done! Did I forget this race or have you been keeping quiet about it? Hope you are enjoying a nice recovery evening...of alcohol and chocolate!

ariana`

OOnegative wrote: »

Well done, great to see some positivity for you after a few ropey months. Long may it continue for you.

Thanks B.

Huzzah! wrote: »

Fantastic racing in such dreadful conditions. Well done! I think the result shows it’s coming right for you. I also think that by running races where a PB is maybe out of reach for whatever reason might teach us to race a bit better.

I suffer terribly from sinus too. Does running help? It does for me when they’re not too bad.

Thanks E. I was thinking the same, the pressure was definitely lifted as I'm not in PB shape and then with the conditions on the day... I never realised i struggled with pressure but I'm rethinking that now for sure.

Same re sinus, it helps when they're not too bad. But when it gets to that stage where you want to tear your hair out and you feel like every tooth in your mouth is rotten then drugs are required :cool:

chickey2 wrote: »

Well done!

Thank you.

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Great stuff E. That's a race report like none I've seen from you before and I'm glad to see it. No torturing yourself with mental mathematics during the race. You only glanced at your watch three times. Great to see. A good honest effort. I know what you mean with confidence being low. That'll come back too.

Thanks P. I really enjoyed it in a way and yeah hopefully confidence will only go one from here! You're on the up too which is great to see

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

That's a cracking race report and it's great to see you happy with the performance. Tough conditions yesterday and sounds like a tough course, so it must be extra pleasing to put in a good performance in those circumstances.

In reality the course probably wasn't the worst, undulating i suppose is the word for it! Conditions were woeful but i think that took the pressure off. It got to a point where there was a strange kid-like sense of joy in running through giant mucky puddles - Peppa & George would've loved it

ReeReeG wrote: »

Great race ariana, and on a tough course with rotten weather. That's a super result, hope it's given you a good confidence boost now

Absolutely, thanks. And delighted to see you had a super run and a podium finish - brilliant!

BrownEyes79 wrote: »

I loved reading this last paragraph!
Great running yesterday on a really tough day and after a crappy few months

Thank you!

skyblue46 wrote: »

Well done! Did I forget this race or have you been keeping quiet about it? Hope you are enjoying a nice recovery evening...of alcohol and chocolate!

Thanks S. I mentioned it a few weeks back but it wasn't a target race. I was was going to be there supporting so signed up to kill an hour while i was waiting around for the half & full runners

Sheep1978

Nice race E, well done

eyrie

Fantastic!! This is brilliant to see, I'm delighted for you. Suggests you're in much better shape than those calculators (or even yourself?) thought. A gutsy run on a tough day weather wise too.

Lazare

Well done E, you've been v unlucky the last couple of months. Hopefully that performance in those conditions gets your confidence back to where it should be.

Younganne

well done on a great race in such horrible conditions. Keep that positively with you going forward, great to see things improving for you.

hillsiderunner

Congratulations again, and especially well done in the conditions , did not realise about that just looking on Strava.

Kellygirl

I haven’t been on Boards so didn’t get to comment on the report but it’s a great read and very well done again. You are back :-)

ariana`

eyrie wrote: »

Fantastic!! This is brilliant to see, I'm delighted for you. Suggests you're in much better shape than those calculators (or even yourself?) thought. A gutsy run on a tough day weather wise too.

I was hoping so deep down but a bit afraid to get my hopes up at the same time. If only i could inject some self belief into myself :pac: but races like this one help

Lazare wrote: »

Well done E, you've been v unlucky the last couple of months. Hopefully that performance in those conditions gets your confidence back to where it should be.

Definitely a big boost thanks

Younganne wrote: »

well done on a great race in such horrible conditions. Keep that positively with you going forward, great to see things improving for you.

Thanks A. And likewise good to see you on the up too.

hillsiderunner wrote: »

Congratulations again, and especially well done in the conditions , did not realise about that just looking on Strava.

Cheers M. There's been a few tough races with the weather this past week or so.

Kellygirl wrote: »

I haven’t been on Boards so didn’t get to comment on the report but it’s a great read and very well done again. You are back :-)

Cheers K

Huzzah!

Hallllo! You mentioned LT testing on my log - I'd love to hear more about it if you'd the time/inclination!