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Man! I feel like a runner
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30th Dec to 5th Jan
Mon 30th
Met one of my friends for a run around the local parkrun route. I feel like we've done this the past few years now... she's great for the local gossip as well so the run always flies along :pac:3.4 miles @ 9.25/m. Bit fast but probably no harm as a fat burner this time of year!!
Tues 31st
Headed back to Dublin finally and stopped off at Marlay for 8 x 1 min hill sprints on the way
Was a bit lazy with the warm-up and cool down (approx 1 mile each) but did the hills on grass which I definitely found harder than on concrete! Paces were: 7.29, 7.06, 7.10, 7.07, 7.13, 7.22, 7.18, 7.29. I started to walk the recoveries after about 4 reps, and considered stopping altogether after 6 but persuaded myself to do "one more" twice. Got it done anyway, that's the main thing.
Weds 1st
For the first time in about 15 years, I was not desperately hungover on the first day of the year. Very strange feeling
Doing a parkrun double is a much more enjoyable way to spend the day!!
Had switched the weeks plan around so the sprints were Tues and 60 mins easy would be the 2 parkruns. Chatted around both with a clubmate, coming in just under 30 mins for both (so technically not 60 mins total but oh well).
Thurs 2nd
Back to work but thankfully was able to just work from home, so got out in the daylight for the 60 mins easy. 5.7m @ 10.23/m.
Fri 3rd
Back to S&C class, and it wasn't pretty. Add to that, I was the only one in the class so full focus on me
No run.
Sat 4th
The plan had 15 mins tempo, and 10 mins threshold. I used the Jingle Bells 5k to roughly calculate these, and decided to do it as part of parkrun over in Poppintree where my sister was doing her 100th parkrun. About 15 mins warm-up beforehand. The 1st 15 mins were 8.38, 8.44 pace (target was 8.40-50).I skipped the recovery mins, but then also did the 10 mins way too fast @ 8.05, 7.10 (target was 8.15-8.25). I rather enjoyed the stretch of the legs though. Skipped the cool down to go get tea.
Sun 5th
Up early (for a Sunday) to get the 1 hour 45 mins done. Earphones in as I thought I might need it for the longest run in quite a while but I really enjoyed this. I've been feeling like I lost some pace-discipline as well as fitness the last few months so tried to keep that in mind and think I did pretty well. 10 miles @ 10.44/m.
Total miles: 34.9 (5 hours 52 mins)
Back in the 30+ bracket, whew. Now to stay there!!!0 -
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I sure am a moany Michael this week.
Jan 20th - 26th
Mon 20th
Hadn't been able to book my morning S&C because it was booked out - silly January
I went in the evening instead and it's definitely harder after a day's work, although that might be mainly mental.
Tues 21st
Out before work for the easy 60 mins. 5.6 miles @ 10.44/m/
Weds 22nd
Was supposed to be up early again for the session, but my one or two drinks the night before turned into eh a few more and a McDonald's at 1.30am :eek: I went to bed when I got home from work!
Thurs 23rd
Properly rested, I got up to do Wednesday's session of 8x3 mins @ CV. It went so much better than expected tbh. CV was set at 7.55-8.05/m, and the reps came in at: 8.03, 7.56, 8.06, 7.52, 7.46, 7.55, 7.49, 8.01. Actual discipline lads :pac:
7 miles total for the morning.
Fri 24th
S&C before work, and cycle commute.
I could have done the 60 mins easy but had a rage-filled day at work and just wanted to relax. Probably a run would've helped, but Netflix did an ok job too.
Sat 25th
Was down in the parents, so headed out to the local parkrun. Couple of easy miles beforehand, then tried to keep it easy for the parkrun. Failed a bit there for the 3rd mile certainly, but actually it ever felt too hard until the last dash cos I was determined to pass a man out. 5.2 miles for the morning.
Sun 26th
Raheny 5 mile day :pac:
It's so convenient having family living near race locations! I drove to my sister's house in Raheny to park up, and where my brother was in advance of his last race in the Raheny vest :eek: Jogged... his jog pace... down to the start area with not much time to spare, dumped my layers / bag under a tree with his stuff, and wriggled into the start area.
As mentioned my target pace was 8 min miles and seeing how it would go, but intended on being a little slower for the first bit as the initial drag can be your undoing if you take it too hard. The first mile was naturally slower though with the crowds in the race, and having to weave a lot. Came in at 8.12.
Started to hate it already in Mile 2, decided running hard isn't for me and all my running in future will be fun running. Dramatic? Me?! Still, found myself running at the pace I wanted and there eventually was some space around me. 7.59.
Mile 3 and I just wanted to get to the halfway point! Any time it started to feel tough I looked at my watch and saw 7.4x and pulled back. eyrie came CRUISING by me somewhere here I think, looking super strong and I was sure she was on her way to a PB! 7.52 on this mile.
I was wondering where we come into St.Anne's now, as I thought it was way sooner in the race. I was tempted to ease up as I'd run 3 hard miles and wasn't that enough? Into the park, and I started to lose it a bit on the avenue. I was tired. Tried to spot people on the other side, couldn't spot eyrie which made me happy as that meant she had pushed on rightly!! Out of the park, and I'm nearly home.. 8.02
I ran up behind two guys, one was encouraging his struggling friend onwards and he had no idea his words were having the same effect on me I'd dipped a fair bit into the start of this mile but found myself coming back listening to him. He should be a motivator! Finally came to the 2nd last turn and I kicked on, thought to myself how I am running like this while on the last straight but knew I was under the 40 mins. Looked at my watch when I stopped it and my pace on the last straight was 5.40/mile.... I think I had too much in the tank!!! 7.44 for the last mile.
39.42 chip time... 37.40 is my PB from Raheny 2018. Soooo that's annoying but the race went better than expected despite my mental acrobatics throughout. I think I need to re-learn race hurt. I definitely was holding back at times from looking at my watch, rather than just running. And maybe... the situation isn't as dire as I thought this week :rolleyes:
The chocolate in the goodie bag helps though!
Did a cooldown with the brother who ran a great race after eventually finding him. So many people about! DSD had some day with Hiko's almost record-breaking run, and winning the Men and Women's team prizes, as well as the F40 team prize. I have to say here that certainly those women's prizes owe a certain amount of credit to the wonderful Wottle from these parts. He's doing some fine work with those people. 7.8 miles for the day... and I didn't have ANY noise from my shin or calves...
25.7 miles for the week, thanks to my missed run but let's call it a step back week.
So, with the calf stuff.. going to go get a gait analysis done, probably next weekend as I doubt I'll get anywhere during the week. I'm also inclined to think my form is quite different on the easy miles vs the faster ones as the calf complains more on those so I need to look at that? I'm going to book a physio appointment as well just to get them rubbed down and see what he says.
Well done to all on here on their races today. Some incredible and INSPIRING performances.0 -
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Comic Book Guy wrote: »Great report V, love the description of the internal monologue I think we all have when it gets tough.
Congrats on toughing it out and running a super disciplined race.
Thanks, I feel like the mile splits are a bit deceptive as my pace definitely was creeping up and down a little wildly at times.shotgunmcos wrote: »I turned off my 1hr chrome limit to read your report. It was worth it. I love this log. Got my vote for the best in the awards. Great racing all considered
Ah jaysus M are you trying to make me cry! I don't react well to compliments and those are words are too kind and too flattering Just tell me to run better next time 
But thank youLaineyfrecks wrote: »Well done V great race & race report:)
Cheers E! I missed your result in the mayhem of so many on my Strava feed running Raheny today and only checked it now... holy god!!!You are incredible!!!0 -
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Rossi7 wrote:I suffer similar issues with my calves, it's more to do with pelvic tilt and weak hip flexors. I find pilates has helped massively since I swapped S&C for it
You know, that's interesting. My calf issues increased after we moved office and I didn't have the pilates/yoga classes near me anymore (well , the ones I was used to, I'm sure there are more!) I do feel there are benefits to doing both however...if I had infinite funds and free time 0 -
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Had to google that... no, my pain tends to be in the 'meaty' (or fat!) part of my calf, so higher up than the soleus. [I feel like a farmer with that sentence :pac:]
Best get to the physio then I've picked up this book which may be of interest but will be a few weeks before I get stuck in to it. 0 -
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Jan 27th - Feb 2nd
Mon 27th
Couldn't get booked into the morning S&C again, so had to go in the evening. My physio was leading it though so good to have a chat about the off and on again calf issues. He's a harder taskmaster in the class, was near dead leaving Cycle commute too.
Tues 28th
Had a day trip to Shannon for work, so plenty of hours in the car, in rotten weather. I really had to force myself out the door as soon as I got back. Easy hour, 6m @ 10.15/m.
Weds 29th
Work was really not fun this week, and Wednesday was the height of the stress. I really, really didn't want to do the session but again forced myself out. CV session with 12 x 75 secs CV, 60 secs off. I'd upped the CV slightly after Raheny on my watch, but ended up running it way too fast. Window was 7.50 - 8.00, and paces hit were between 7.15 to 7.52, and most towards the lower end.. 5.4 miles total.
Cycle commute again.
Thurs 30th
Cycle commute, and S&C before work. I was wrecked again, had gotten the laptop out the night before to do more work and with the early morning, I was mentally shattered. I knew I could squeeze in this run Friday morning however, so didn't mind too much.
Fri 31st
Got the hour easy in before work, 6m @ 10.13/m. I managed to get a last minute physio appointment too for that evening.. will discuss below.
136.6 miles for January.
Sat 1st
Given the intense work week, or even month, I opted for a lazy morning and did the HM session in the afternoon. It was a lovely afternoon in Marlay. I decided to listen to music to distract myself from the expected hardship of the session, and chose a playlist a very camp friend of mine had made - it was the perfect choice :pac: Session was 4 x 10 mins @ HMP, 2 mins off. My HMP is around 8.25-8.35 I think, and my paces were: 8.26 & 8.33, 8.24 & 8.26, 8.21 & 8.00, 8.18 & 8.32. I was very happy with it to be honest. There were the usual thoughts of could I maintain this for a full 13.1 miles right now, but I think I could or maybe even a bit faster.. depending on the next few weeks of course. 8 miles total.
Sun 2nd
2 hours easy long run. I got the great idea of heading to Phoenix Park for this, and delighted I did. It was a lovely morning with some sunshine even, and I ran in some areas I never have before. Plenty of runners about. I did start to feel fairly tired for the last 30 mins but I'd only had a banana en route to the park so I suspect that was part of it. 11.7 miles total @ 10.15/m.
37.4 miles total for the week.
Following the physio visit on Friday, I have a new set of exercises to try get in!
We went through where the calf / leg seems to be weaker, or in need of more work with a few tests, of which I know none of the names The left is still the weaker and more problematic leg, but the right isn't exactly perfect either. I'll get to work with these for the next 4 weeks, as well as continuing the S&C classes, and re-assess then.
As well as these, I need to do activation exercises before each run. Pretty much just some resistance band work. I did it Sat and Sun before my runs, and both went fine but as some runs were fine before, I can't say for sure that the exercises were a solution. Anywho, feeling a lot more positive now that there's something like a plan to help them even more. I asked whether a gait analysis would be any use, and he said there's enough to work on now without trying to find a quicker fix from new shoes which may only bring some short-lived relief.0 -
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