If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me.

Kellygirl

Week 4: Grads 5-10km plan

Sunday 3 miles @ 10:34 min/mile
Monday 6x2min AP(7:44-7:54) 3 mins off ; (7:45; 48; 55; 51; 44; 55) 5.1 miles in total
Thursday 4x6 mins Threshold (8:26-8:38) 2 mins off; (8:33; 29; 31; 29) 5.6 miles in total
Friday 70 mins easy; 6.5 miles @ 10:38 min/mile

Bit of an odd week doing runs at strange times but real life got in the way left, right and centre so pleased I got the sessions and long run (well all 70 mins of it) done.

Sunday’s Recovery run was in Clonakilty with Ariana and Browneyes and the only dry run of the week. Wind and rain were the themes for the rest of the week.

For a while it looked like I wouldn’t get out on Monday but my husband unexpectedly came in for lunch and I scarpered to the local greenway to do my session. In my haste I programmed my watched for 2 miles AP what rather than 2 mins but just used the lap button. The greenway is only 2.6km long but I kept turning around for my intervals and did a total of 5.1 miles. I must have looked like a bit of a nutter to the walkers. It was great run and badly needed as my head had been melted with real life stuff that morning.

Real life got in the way again Tuesday and Wednesday so missed my very easy 60 min runs.

Thursday I just ignored the wind and rain and headed to the greenway again as figured I wouldn’t have far to drive home soaking wet after. I loved this session with the 4x6 min threshold intervals. Really enjoyed both sessions this week. Wish I had done the plan this time last year now!!

I kept hearing about weather warnings today for Storm Deirdre and we had Santa and lunch booked for 11:30 so I decided last night to go do my 70 minutes easy. It was very dark, windy and wet and my husband and brother in law thought I was off my head but was afraid I wouldn’t get out today. Turned out Parkrun was even cancelled so I’m glad I went out. I didn’t pass one other runner and for a while I considered just doing 5km and then 5 miles but I did it in the end. It wasn’t cold anyway but it was most certainly wet. I enjoyed a G&T and a box of Ferraro Rocher then when I got home!!!

Not sure what this next week will bring as have a work party and a wedding as well as trying to prepare for Christmas but will do what I can because Christmas week will probably be even more challenging with family staying and 16 to cook for. Off to start making lists now and make sure I’m as prepared as possible.

20.3 miles in total for the week.

Huzzah!

Kellygirl wrote: »

For a while it looked like I wouldn’t get out on Monday but my husband unexpectedly came in for lunch and I scarpered to the local greenway to do my session. In my haste I programmed my watched for 2 miles AP what rather than 2 mins but just used the lap button. The greenway is only 2.6km long but I kept turning around for my intervals and did a total of 5.1 miles. I must have looked like a bit of a nutter to the walkers.

I did my 25 minute tempo on the 800metre loop outside my apartment this morning. If being out in the weather wasn't enough for my neighbours to think I'm a bit touched, the loops probably were :P

Kellygirl

Huzzah! wrote: »

I did my 25 minute tempo on the 800metre loop outside my apartment this morning. If being out in the weather wasn't enough for my neighbours to think I'm a bit touched, the loops probably were :P

Ha ha! It is mad what we do sometimes.

Kellygirl

week 5: Grads 5-10km plan

Monday 8x1 min hill repeats (2-3 mins off) 7:33, 49, 43, 49, 56, 51, 58, 8:20 - 3.9 miles with WU and CD
Tuesday 62 mins easy - 6 miles @ 10:23
Wednesday 40 mins - 3.6 miles @ 11:11
Thursday 15 min tempo; 4 min recovery; 10 min threshold (6 miles)
Saturday Easy 1:47; 10.2 miles @ 10:31

Real mixture of a week. I’d no motivation last Monday for the hills and the rain didn’t help. I was tired and low energy so kept my WarmUp and cool down short and got it done.

Tuesday was a lovely run and just enjoyed not getting wet for once but Wednesday was back to the rain and mud and I went to the local forest park which was a mistake. A flatter run would have been easier and I gave up after the second lap. I just had no energy and was just dragging myself around.

Back on form on Thursday after making an effort to drink more water and had my tempo and threshold run. A friend joined me so I wasn’t concentrating on pace as much as I should have been. Tempo should have been approx 9min mile but was 9:07 and 8:43. I really enjoyed the 10 min threshold bit but did it slightly too fast too at 8:24 and 8:17.

Today’s run was just fab. 1:45 mins easy. Headed off with a friend and was in my happy zone straight away. We were prob averaging an 11 min mile and just so easy. My friend stopped after 7 miles and I continued by myself. I picked up the pace and I knew I was going a bit fast for easy but I was loving it. I did the last three miles at 9:52; 9:13 and 9:38 and considered not stopping when I was back at the car except my friend was back at hers so stopped to chat. I felt justified with the faster pace as I’ll prob miss one or two runs at least in the next week. I’ve guests coming tomorrow to stay and cooking for 16 on Christmas Day so not sure how much I’ll escape.

I picked up a heart rate monitor during the week as my readings from my watch are a bit odd - though consistent on a few watches. My heart rate seems to stay down while I up the pace and climb during recovery. It’s odd. The readings from the monitor weren’t any different today for my long run to other long runs really. Looking forward to seeing what happens on sessions.

29.9 miles in total for the week. I was tempted to go do the 0.1 for OCD reasons!

Happy Christmas all!

ReeReeG

Ugh HILLS, the least tempting part of that plan!

Happy Christmas and good luck with the Christmas dinner! 16...Good lord

Kellygirl

Week 6 Grads 5-10km plan

Sunday 5x5 mins CV(8:04-8:15) with 4 mins off
8:11; 17; 11; 08; 14

Was doing this the day after my long run but I knew I wouldn’t get out for a few days and was feeling good. I was a little nervous beforehand as it was a slightly longer session than previous weeks but it was fine. Seems so long ago now that it was before Christmas

Monday Christmas Eve and no chance to get out

Tuesday Christmas Day, cooking for 16 and never been so exhausted. I’d prefer to run a marathon though it was a great day all the same

Wednesday Really wanted to do 60 mins very easy. I got up to discover that when somebody exploded a can of Guinness the night before I had walls, windows, doors, floors, furniture to scrub as well as preparing for the next visitors. I got out as soon as I could but my window was short and only did about 37 mins. I met cousins en route so had to stop to meet their new baby and forgot to stop my watch. It was a lovely run though and really wanted to do more but had to get home to visitors who proceeded to turn up 1.5 hours late :mad:

Thursday 3x8 min threshold (8:26-38) with 3 mins off
Paces: 8:20; 23; 26 ; 1 hour in total and 6.1 miles

Squeezed in before the next visitor and a night out. Very enjoyable and the heart monitor proved my heart does normal things for the first time!

Saturday should have been 1hr 45 mins easy but had planned to race a 5km today so I did 1hr 15 @ 10:30 with a friend and loved every minute. 7.1 miles.

Weeks total - 23 miles. Not bad for Christmas week I suppose but would have liked more.

Kellygirl

Togher 5km race report

Delighted to be able to do this race this year as it’s a big Cork one but never been free to do it before. On the other hand nerves were getting to me again and considering I’ve been carb loading since long before DCM and added alcohol into the mix over the holidays I didn’t know if there was any point. Figured I wouldn’t say anything to anybody and I’d just go see what I could do. Then I woke this morning after a bad sleep, splitting headache and a bit of a sore throat. I think I was actually dehydrated being honest.

I warmed up for 15 mins with a friend and did 3 strides and felt quite good. I’d looked at paces last night and figured I’d possibly be able to go for 24:30 - my pb being 24:45 from 6.5 weeks ago. When we lined up I spotted pacers so went a few lines behind the 24 minute guy and figured I’d keep him in sight for the first mile and stay in control. The whistle went and we were off. It started on a downhill but the crowds were thick so was just watching feet. We went round a corner and straight into an uphill. My watch was saying 7:3x and I doubted myself a bit here as my head was thumping and I was afraid that I’d bitten off more than I could chew and would end up collapsing or something :rolleyes:

Anyway, on we went and lots of downhill in the first mile after that so the first mile clocked in at 7:27. After that the route got a bit more roly so my pace slowed down and most of the time I just wanted to stop but I knew now I’d get a pb if I just kept pushing. To be fair the drags weren’t bad at all and there was always a downhill one after. I don’t remember much about the 2nd two miles really. It’s through housing estates so I was just focusing on the ground in front of me rather than looking around.

My watch clocked 3 miles and I was on an uphill drag again. Somebody said this is the last climb and I was hoping there’d be a little downhill to the finish but then I could see the finish line ahead and surprisingly was able to pick up the pace a bit. Ran though at 24:31 so very pleased with that. A 14 second pb. The official results say 24:34 but still a pb.

I’m most pleased that I thought I could run 24:30 and was so close to it. First race I’ve done that all year. I’m also pleased that I ran that after the amount of food and drink I’ve put away. Hopefully it’s a pb I can annihilate when I have the plan finished in 8 weeks and I’m a slimmer, trimmer, healthier version of me

Swashbuckler

Well done again. 5k pbs are hard to come by and you have two in the last 7 weeks. Great going. Keep it up!

The Black Oil

Kellygirl wrote: »

Wednesday Really wanted to do 60 mins very easy. I got up to discover that when somebody exploded a can of Guinness the night before I had walls, windows, doors, floors, furniture to scrub as well as preparing for the next visitors.

Santa?

Congrats on the 5k.

OOnegative

Well done on another 5k PB, great going!!

Kellygirl

The Black Oil wrote: »

Santa?

Congrats on the 5k.

Ha ha - you’re not far off.

eyrie

Great! Some going to get a 5k PB during Christmas week! I don't think this one will last long either at this rate

Baby75

considering the week that's in it (food /Drink) and everything else and you managed a great run and a PB great stuff K, you will smash that time before you know it

Kellygirl

2018 Review

Races
April: Gas Networks BHAA 5 mile: 40:50
May: Great Limerick Run HM: 2:02:36 PB (previous PB 2:03:55)
June 3rd: Cork City Marathon: 4:27:51 (PB 4:20:05)
June 7th: Cloughduv 5km: 25:12 PB (previous PB 25:57)
July: Killarney HM: 1:58:44 PB
September: John Buckley 10 mile: 1:31:12 PB (previous PB 1:33:31)
October: DCM: 4:23:34
November 14th: Run In The Dark 5km: 24:45 PB (previous 25:12)
December 1st: Parkrun: 25:25 Parkrun Pb
December 8th: Clonakilty HM: 2:07:10 ( fun run but course Pb)
December 30th: Togher 5km: 24:32 PB (previous 24:45)

Mileage:
January: 116.5
February: 89.1
March: 146.4
April: 146
May: 116.5
June: 108.5
July: 148.1
August: 122.8
September: 147.2
October: 83.5
November: 104.9
December: 123.3

Total: 1452.7

All in all it wasn’t a bad year’s running. I trained consistently and only missed training due to bad weather (Storm Emma and one or two others) or injury for a bit of August and then the end of September and October). I never lost motivation to run though.

The first race in April where I ran the 5 miles in 40:50 set up my expectations a bit high for a while and I blew up in the Limerick HM after that and took me a while to get my confidence back after that and Cork full resulting in making some iffy choices in terms of training plans then for DCM but either way I learned a lot. The John Buckley 10 mile was ran as part of a 17.5 mile long run where I did the 7.5 miles beforehand so the unexpected PB was nice there. I have to give that a proper bash next year!

So I PB’d in everything but my target races :rolleyes: which were Cork and DCM.
During the year I wanted bigger PBs and was disappointed but I’m happy now looking at the improvements I’ve made and I’m ready for 2019. Hopefully with more targeted training I’ll see lots more pbs.

Being part of the DCM Novices thread was a massive part of the year and thanks to Ariana for asking me to help out. I loved it and it made the day so special then meeting everybody.

Wishing everybody a happy new year and one filled with pbs and consistent injury free training.

scotindublin

A brilliant 2018 K and well done on the 5k PB this week!

Great consistency with your training and fully expecting to see more big gains in 2019.

Happy New Year and here is to an injury free and PB filled 2019!

C

skyblue46

K I think you have added a minute to your 5k times there! :pac:

Well done in 2018, some very good runs in there. Some targetting of shorter races will see huge improvements. There will definitely be a massive chunk off that 10 mile time.

Was great to be involved with ye on the Novices thread, I think we made a good team. It made the day to meet up in McGrattans afterwards. I'm looking forward to being there in civvies next year

Happy New Year to you and the family.

Kellygirl

skyblue46 wrote: »

K I think you have added a minute to your 5k times there! :pac:

Well done in 2018, some very good runs in there. Some targetting of shorter races will see huge improvements. There will definitely be a massive chunk off that 10 mile time.

Was great to be involved with ye on the Novices thread, I think we made a good team. It made the day to meet up in McGrattans afterwards. I'm looking forward to being there in civvies next year

Happy New Year to you and the family.

Thanks for that - just edited to sub 25!!!

Happy New Year to you and J too and see you next year :-)

Huzzah!

Kellygirl wrote: »

The first race in April where I ran the 5 miles in 40:50 set up my expectations a bit high for a while and I blew up in the Limerick HM after that and took me a while to get my confidence back after that and Cork full resulting in making some iffy choices in terms of training plans then for DCM

I have to point out that this wasn't really your fault! Just sayin'

Kellygirl wrote: »

Hopefully with more targeted training I’ll see lots more pbs.

I have no doubt.

Kellygirl wrote: »

Being part of the DCM Novices thread was a massive part of the year and thanks to Ariana for asking me to help out. I loved it and it made the day so special then meeting everybody.

And thank you for helping out and all the support you gave me. It was great to meet you.

Kellygirl wrote: »

Wishing everybody a happy new year and one filled with pbs and consistent injury free training.

Happy new year, K!

BrownEyes79

You had a good solid year of running KG. I’m really looking forward to seeing what 2019 brings for you..

Mr. Guappa

Well done on a very nice 2018, and thanks again for your guidance in the Novices thread.
Best of luck with your running in 2019. It strikes me that you are enjoying your running at the moment, which is great to see.

Kellygirl

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Well done on a very nice 2018, and thanks again for your guidance in the Novices thread.
Best of luck with your running in 2019. It strikes me that you are enjoying your running at the moment, which is great to see.

Thanks A. I really am enjoying it. Long may it last. Same to you. Hope 2019 is a great year.

aloooof

Very solid year of running there, KellyGirl, hope you see lots of PB's in 2019. (My PB's are all remarkably similar in pretty much all distances). And I'll echo the thanks for all the support and advice on the Novices thread!

ariana`

It really was a great year K when you read back on it - 2 marathons, course PBs, actual PBs, loads of miles and loads of smiles! There's plenty to come in 2019 but it's great to take a moment to look back and appreciate what you achieved this year, well done you.

Kellygirl

aloooof wrote: »

Very solid year of running there, KellyGirl, hope you see lots of PB's in 2019. (My PB's are all remarkably similar in pretty much all distances). And I'll echo the thanks for all the support and advice on the Novices thread!

I noticed the PBs on your log reading it yesterday actually! Be interesting to see how we do getting new ones!!!

ariana` wrote: »

It really was a great year K when you read back on it - 2 marathons, course PBs, actual PBs, loads of miles and loads of smiles! There's plenty to come in 2019 but it's great to take a moment to look back and appreciate what you achieved this year, well done you.

Thanks Ariana. Smiles are the most important thing!! :-)

Kellygirl

Week 7: Grads 5-10km plan and 2019!

Monday: 6 miles very easy @ 11:30
Last run of 2018. Made sure it was a very easy one after the 5km race the day before. It gave me a yearly total of 1452.7 miles while I was happy with - I got to just above 1000 for 2017.

Tuesday: 10xVO2(7:22-31) with 2 mins off
7:31; 13; 21; 11; 25; 29; 21; 23; 26; 28
6 miles in total with warm up and cool down
New Year’s Day. Off to the nearby greenway for this one and discovered it was the busiest I’d ever seen it. It was a nice dry day, not too cold and gangs out walking and kids wobbling on new bikes all over the place. I did my warmup and then into the first interval. I knew the effort would be high but shot off way too fast and had to pull it back. Turned out to be the slowest interval and just in range. The next one was too fast and I found it hard to get the effort levels right as those are very fast paces for me anyway. I was very self conscious doing it as I was running back and forward a 2.6km stretch and kept passing the same people out sometimes really fast or sometimes during recovery and I’d be puffing and panting while at a ridiculously slow pace and I’m sure people were thinking ‘God help us, look at your one trying to learn to run for a new year’s resolution’. Anyway, I finished it and while it was the toughest session on the plan yet it felt great. My heart rate monitor was working great and my HM was doing exactly what it’s supposed to be doing.

Wednesday: 60 mins very easy
Actually 5.85 miles @ 10:37

Ran with a friend in a very heavy mist. It wasn’t cold but was like a drowned rat afterwards. Ran a bit faster than I should have so was more easy than very easy.

Thursday: 30 min tempo (8:47-9:00)
Warm up; 8:51; 8:51; 8:55; 9:00 (for last few Mins); Cool down; 5.24 miles

Out in the dark for this one. Really enjoyable run. I loved the tempo pace and it was nice to be doing a steady run giving it a bit of welly. I would have happily kept going for longer. I was stretching by the car at the end and a young couple came over to inform me that they had bumped into the car when reversing out of their spot and had waited to tell me. Neither I nor they could find a mark on the car and we searched with a torch so I thanked them for their honesty and sent them off. Made me laugh.

Saturday: Easy 1:45
Actual - 10 miles @ 10:38

Ran with a friend and included parkrun in the middle. Very enjoyable and a lovely morning for running. I came 334th in 32:47 in Parkrun as a massive 430 runners turned out. My last one was 85th and 25:25.

Total week’s miles: 33.1

So a good week’s running for the first week of 2019. I enjoyed all of it. The long runs get shorter now with just 70 mins next week and 90 mins the max after that. Feels a little odd to be dropping the distance for a while.

ReeReeG

That's a lovely weeks running!
Sorry if I've missed it but do you have a 10k chosen for the end of the plan??

Kellygirl

ReeReeG wrote: »

That's a lovely weeks running!
Sorry if I've missed it but do you have a 10k chosen for the end of the plan??

Not quite

There’s not a huge amount of choice around at that time of the year. I found a 5 mile race on the week before I‘m due to finish the plan but I’ve been told it’s far from a pb course with a fairly steep 1 mile drag amongst other hills in it. Hoping others will pop up. I started the plan with no race in mind really but just wanted to work hard at getting faster and then move straight onto the HM plan for Cork. Come April the BHAA evening races will start up so hopefully I’ll get to a good few of them.

Swashbuckler

Nice weeks running K. Remind me again how long that plan is? When are you looking for a race? And is there a place in the plan for any races between now and then?

skyblue46

I'm really delighted that you're loving the plan and finding it both manageable yet challenging at times. As for a race I wouldn't worry if it's a PB course. As someone said to me it's not all about PBs...(thanks El C) :-)

Kellygirl

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Nice weeks running K. Remind me again how long that plan is? When are you looking for a race? And is there a place in the plan for any races between now and then?

It’s a 14 week plan in total and I’ve 7 weeks left to do. Only half way through. I can’t do any races in that time as all on Sundays and I’m working for the next 5 Sundays. There’s always parkrun though.

The plan finishes the week ending 23rd February so will be looking for something round then. Hopefully something will pop up.

skyblue46 wrote: »

I'm really delighted that you're loving the plan at finding it both manageable yet challenging at times. As for a race I wouldn't worry if it's a PB course. As someone said to me it's not all about PBs...(thanks El C) :-)

Yes, I reckon I’ll try do that one regardless if I can get to it. It will be a good experience. I’m expecting my 5 mile pb to be hard to beat for the next while anyway.