Be a shepard, not a sheep

skyblue46

Damo 2k9 wrote: »

Seen that run yesterday on Strava, wasnt a bad day out for it either, would love to try it one of the weekends.

I'll head out with you on one of the next few weekends

Sheep1978

Mon 17/06: 4.4m recovery at 8.15. Could feel the previous days run up in Howth in the legs

Tues 18/06: 4.9m @ 8.07. Some local easy miles with some strides thrown in before the upcoming racing.

Thurs 20/06: Race 1 : Docklands 5k. Legs have felt dead / Flat ever since lap of the gap but the job enters us into this and so the annual bragging rights in work etc were on the line here. Had planned on an aggressive run targeting 5.45/mile pace for a possible first sub 18. After a brief warm up, we were off. Got caught up in the enthusiasm early on and first mile came in at 5.33. Knew immediately I'd probably messed by sub 18 plan up. Straight after this, starting feeling the strain. The 180 degree turn at the three arena doesn;t help as feel like you lose some rhythm or something here. This is the 3rd time I've run this race and I always feel it tricks you mentally. Coming back down the quays, your looking at the first bridge in the distance, but its not this bridge you need to cross. When you do eventually cross the correct bridge your mind tells you 'just there', but its actually a full km still to go. 2nd mile came in at 5.52 and I was flat to the walls effort wise. Slowed even more and the 3rd mile came in at 6.07. Picked up the .1 come in at 18.20 chip time. 13 second pb from Jingle bells in dec so happy with the time, but disappointed with how I ran the race.

Fri 21/06: 3.2m @ 8.30. Short recovery run after docklands and the post race drinks.

Sat 22/06: Race 2 : Dunshaughlin 10k. Legs were pretty stiff and sore after Thursdays race. Too much for 'only' a 5k. The post race alcohol didn;t help I presume. Changed my mind back and forth several time Sat afternoon between all out attack, good tempo pace and a nice easy canter around to enjoy this race for my first time. Decided to see how the warm up went. Felt alot looser once I got moving and after a chat with my bro-n-law decided to go with him for a sub 37 attempt. First 3 miles were pretty much on target (6.01, 5.54 and 6.04) but I was putting good levels of effort in. By about halfway through mile 4 was really struggling. Told myself to see out this mile, then worry about the next and so on. Mile came in 5.56 but almost as soon as the watch beeped, I felt the batteries empty and pace drop immediately. Trundled along for a couple of mins and contemplated stopping. Had a good talk to mysefl and got going a bit again. Mile 5 at 6.40 and damge done. Decided to still try break 38 and did the last full mile in 6.07. was passed by Scotindublin and Ray Cun during these last two miles and at least was able to try use C as something to cling on to till I got home. Chip time 38.06. Not too disappointed as I knew I was throwing caution to the wind. Will probably try the same at Clonee this week.

Post race spread was top drawer so fair play to Dunshaughlin on a great race and event. Post race cool down and pints with some of the Dunboyne crew to finish off an enjoyable day.


WTD: 26.6m
MTD: 85.1m
YTD : 1109.2m

AuldManKing

Fair play there - a 13sec PB on Thursday and a low 38 on Saturday in a 10k!!

In the 5k - 1st mile in 5.33 - sometimes you have to do these things otherwise you don't improve. 13 sec is a massive PB.

Great going in the 10k - dont know how you ran a low 38! - This will bring you on no end.
The 5th mile in that race is tough with the long drag, so well done for finishing it out.

Plenty to come from you this summer.

Sheep1978

Cheers A

scotindublin

Great effort after the 5k on Thursday Daz.....I was watching you sail off into the distance as we headed out towards Ratoath. That drag from about 6.5 is pretty deceptive; it was longer than I remembered from last year.

Good luck in Clonee.

Sheep1978

Tues 25/06: 6.2m@ 8.05. After two days down in cork boozing and eating rubbish, I went out tues afternoon to try 'sweat it out of me'. That it did. Found it very warm and I reckon if I'd been wearing a HR monitor it would have been extremely high for the pace I was doing. A sign of the bad week ahead.!!

Wed 26/06: 5m @ 8.20. 5 very easy lunch time miles to keep the legs ticking over.

Thurs 27/06: Clonee 10k. I'l keep it short - ****e. Went out fast, knew during the second mile I was done for and the pace dropped. Finished 39.04. 1min 45s slower than Dunboyne 3 months ago. Tiredness and fatigue and stupidity all mixed in for the causes.

Sat 29/06: Spent Friday contemplating taking a few days/weeks/forever off. Decided on Fri (and Sun) off, with a few days of easy miles other than that. Sat morning did local park run nice and easy, with wu and cd total was 6m @ 8.26.

Going to try spend the next few weeks really concentrating on nutrition, recovery etc. Finally have 3/4 weeks with nothing on so should be alot easier. Let operation DCM commence!!!


WTD: 25.1m
MTD: 110.2m
YTD : 1112.1m

Sheep1978

Mon 01/07: 7.25 @8.13. Up early to get this marathon plan kickstarted and out for some local easy miles.

Tues 02/07: 11.4m@ 7.50. Took a route through the phoenix park and into work. Mostly very easy miles but its generally downhill towards the city centre so despite the sub 8 min miles, it was pretty handy pace.

Wed 03/07: 5.3m @ 7.40. Local loop and the legs starting to feel a bit fresher. I remember it being very warm and sticky

Thurs 04/07: 5.3m @ 7.48. See Wednesday and repeat

Fri 05/07: 9m @ 7.35. Canal route into work. Decided to see how the legs felt and went with 2m @ 7min pace and 2 @ 6.45 pace. Again, downhill in toward town helped.

Sat 06/07: Dunboyne were doing a takeover of Hartstown parkrun so volunteered to pace the 25 mins. total for the morning was 4.3m nice and easy.

Sun 07/07: 14.1m. Down to the phoenix park with a couple of friends. Plan was 2 sets of 3m @ approx MP with 1km recovery between. First set of 3 was slightly slower, particularly mile 1, as it was generally uphill and the second set was faster as it was downhill including down the khyber.

Slightly stiff/sore this morning but feeling good. IR 10m this coming sat that I'll try run at MP.

WTD: 56.7m
MTD: 56.7m
YTD : 1168.8m

Sheep1978

Mon 08/07: 7.25m @8.06. Out in the evening some local easy miles.

Tues 09/07: 13.35m. Up to porterstown for the club meet. Session was 4*1m @ 10k pace with full recovery, only 3 reps for any of us doing the 10mile on the Sat. Pace for each of the (just short of 1mile) reps was 5.57. Jog up and back to the park brought the miles up for a decent midweek day.

Wed 10/07: 5.35m @ 8.09. Local loop in the evening and the heavens opened for the whole run. Enjoyed running in to to be honest what with the latest heat and stickey temps

Thurs 11/07: 5.75m @ 8.25. Lunch time run up toward clontarf and back. Kept it nice and easy

Sat 13/07: Irish runner 10m. I've decided not to do another race flat out until rathoath in Sep and to use some of these races to get some MP miles in. This was the first race i'd ever entered that I'd not planned on racing. 6.50's was the target. First mile came in at 6.40 so in my heard I put that down to the immediate surge and told myself I'd slow. Problem was the next couple of miles was downhill. In fact, very little of the course was flat with alot of up and downhills so I found keeping a steady pace pretty difficult. I was still working but was comfortable enough. Seen some of the usual heads along the course supporting so thanks for the shoutouts Skyblue and ScotinDublin Opened the legs a little on the last mile for a 6.20 and with a finishing time of 66.29. About 90 secs ahead of planned but didn;t flat out race so happy enough. I'll try again at the RnR half in a couple of wees.

Sun 14/07: 5m @8.15. Brought a couple of the kids up to Grifeen parkrun for the first time and they really enjoyed it. When theyd finished, my wife and kids drove up to St.Catherines park for the food market so I followed by foot for a nice easy few miles recovery from Sat.

WTD: 50.2m
MTD: 106.9m
YTD : 1219m

Sheep1978

Mon 15/07: 9.1m @8.03. Usual run into work down the canal. Nice and easy

Tues 16/07: 14.6m total. Up to porterstown for the club meet. Did about 7m solo first and then up for the session. Was 10*approx 450m with active rec of about 300m. Reps were all about 5.55 pace and managed to keep them consistent. was tough enough going on a warm evening but happy to get a good midweek workout in.

Wed 17/07: 5.1m @ 8.20. Out at lunch for some very easy recovery miles.

Thurs 18/07: 8m total. Out at lunch again and planned mile w/u, 6m at MP and mile c/d. Headed up toward clontarf and the first 3 miles at MP felt pretty comfortable. Did a 180degree turn then to head back to the office and immediately felt a good headwind. Hadn;t noticed it on my back but obviously why the pace felt reasonably comfortable. Effort levels to maintain pace were very big and was struggling so decided to cut the MP stuff a mile short (so 5 total) and just take it easy back to the office

Sat 20/07: 17m @ 8.06. Had to drop something down to someone in cabra at some stage so decided to kill two birds with one stone. Down via prterstown to the park and feeling really good on a nice morning. Dropped off the delivery and started heading back up the navan road and onto the canal. Then mother nature started kicking in and was really struggling. Had to stop/walk a few times before eventually making it to the parents house for saviour!!!. Second half of the run was totally messed up but c'est la vie

Sun 21/07: 6.4m @7.55. Out for some mile after Sat's long run and just did a local loop nice and early before the rest of the house were up. Nice to finish off the last full week before the hols.

WTD: 60.2m
MTD: 167.1m
YTD : 1279.2m

Sheep1978

Mon 22/07: 9.2m @7.51. Usual run into work down the canal. Nice and easy

Tues 23/07: 7.25m @ 7.53. Skipped the club session as wanted to just concentrate on easy miles for most of the week before Fridays planned MP miles

Wed 24/07: Felt the calf a little tight Tuesday evening and Wednesday on the walk to the train so decided on a rest day

Thurs 25/07: 7m @ 7.31. Up nice and early to get the run done before volunteering in the evening at the Carton House 6k. Legs felt unusually fresh for that hour of the morning and I struggled to hold the pace back. Wish it always felt like that!!!!

Fri 26/07: 18.8 with 2*5@MP with1k rec. Up nice and early again to get this done before heading off on hols. Down to blanch village, along the canal, into the phoenix park and then home via porterstown. Was supposed to be 10 straight but had to split it as was struggling. That was despite a short break after about 3 of the faster miles due to a rail crossing. Also stopped for about 15secs on the second 5 to stretch my back out. Ah well, holiday time

WTD: 42.2m
MTD: 209.3m
YTD : 1321.4m

Sheep1978

Over to Bulgaria for the hols with all the best intentions of keeping the mileage up. Didn;t quite go to plan but not to worry:

Tues 30/07: 9m @7.41 Up early before the heat cranked up for a run with the brother-n-law

Total for July: 218.3m

Fri 02/08: 6m @7.32
Sun 04/08: 6.1 @ 7.38
Tues 06/08: 5.7 @ 7.30

Each run got prgressively harder with each days alcohol consumption and the rest of the week got blanked due to hangovers / tiredness.

So home Fri night / Sat morning about 3.30am and Sunday RnR half playing heavy on the head. Went to town Sat morning to collect my number and gave serious thoughts to blanking the race. Got home and went for 4.5m run to try loosen the legs and sweat some gargle out.

Sunday morning and a 5.30am alarm had me thinking am I mad barley 24 hours after getting home!!! Into town nice and early, dropped the bag and just did a 1 mile warm up. Plan was to head out with the 1.30pacer and do MP miles for as long as I could before easing off. Within the first mile or two the large group with the pacer was very annoying and constantly though I was going to be tripped or trip someone else. Decided to move ahead of them. Kept a 6.40 pace for roughly most of the race then, barring the last of the hills in mile 12, when I had to stop for 20sec to stretch my back and hammers. Finished in 1.27.47, bit ahead of the planned 1.30 but delighted I was able to do it after the two weeks hols.

WTD: 24.9m
MTD: 42.7m
YTD : 1367.4m

Damo 2k9

A casual 1:27 HM after two weeks full of gargle, quality.

Have you any target races coming up before DCM?

Sheep1978

haha defo wasn;t casual pal!! In theory I didn;t race it, but not too sure I could have done much more given the prep.

I'll do the race series 10m and half but try do them at MP or as part of a longer run. Only thing I'm planning on racing is the Rathoath half we did last year

coogy

Sheep1978 wrote: »

Over to Bulgaria for the hols with all the best intentions of keeping the mileage up. Didn;t quite go to plan but not to worry:

I was over there on holiday last year, up at the crack of dawn most mornings to get the training runs in.
How did you find it? Would you go back?

Sheep1978

coogy wrote: »

I was over there on holiday last year, up at the crack of dawn most mornings to get the training runs in.
How did you find it? Would you go back?

thats our 4th or 5th time going. We go with a big gang and all the kids ahave someone else their own age so their all happy. Happy kids means happy parents. Other then that, I personally think most places (in terms of sun holidays) are the same. Pool, beach, sun, beer. Standard issue

Sheep1978

Mon 12/08: 6.5m @ 8.39. Recovery run afters Sundays RnR half. Up the canal toward Leixlip and a u-turn back. Nice and easy but remember it being fairly sweaty and heavy

Tues 13/08: 11.2m total. Up to the club for the session. 18*400m reps with 200 active recovery. Hamstrings were a little tight after the weekend so eased off on the reps. Usually aim for maybe 85-89 secs but did these reps in 93-99. It was my first night up at the new track in Dunboyne and first time ever running on a 'real' track. Can feel the give in it and was nice to run on.

Wed 14/08: 9.1m @ 8.03. Usual run in to work along the canal

Thurs 15/08: 10.3m total. Ran home from work through the park. Plan was for 2 set of 3 miles steady. But as soon as I started I felt a bit tired and changed the plan to 3*2. After about 1.5miles of the first set I bumped into a couple of lads from the club who were on a cool down from their own session. Trotted with them chatting away for a few mins, so changed the plan again!! Ended up with 3m warm up, 1.5 steady,0.5 easy,1s,0.5e,1s,0.5e, 1.5s and a short cool down.

Sat 17/08: 6.2 total. Plan was to take in the local park run nice and easy as I'd not been over for a few weeks with hols etc. Ended up doing approx 19.40 for the parkrun part of the morning.

Sun 18/08: Kilcock 10m race. Had an 18-20m run planned for Sunday morning anyway so decided on Friday to sign up and do it as part of the long run. Always easier in a crowd. Headed out to Kilcock early enough with a clubmate and did 8miles pre race. Original plan for the race was for MP miles and to do the 10 in approx 67-68. there were quiet a few from the club running together and after a chat with them I decided to go with them as they were planning a 66 min race. Ran most of the race with one of the girls from the club who was trying to pb and ran 64.45. Really enjoyable race and course. Defo one on the list for next year.

WTD: 61.3m
MTD: 104m
YTD : 1428.7m

Notes from the week - definately too many faster miles, especially after last Sundays half. And also, I am **** at sticking to plans!!!! All easy miles this week with the FD10 at MP on Sat. Thats the plan anyway!!

healy1835

Just catching up on your log here, you're tipping away nicely, lots of MP miles in the bag. What plan are you following? How close was that 10Miler in Kilcock to your PB?

Sheep1978

healy1835 wrote: »

Just catching up on your log here, you're tipping away nicely, lots of MP miles in the bag. What plan are you following? How close was that 10Miler in Kilcock to your PB?

I'm roughly following the P&D 55-70, which I messed around with to try and incorporate hols etc. Not too sure I'll reach the 70 though. Knee is giving me a little grief so I think 48 hrs rest may be in order to see how we go.

Kilcock was maybe a minute outside my pb from Trim earlier in the year

Sheep1978

Mon 19/08: 7m @ 8.07. Recovery run afters the previous days long run including Kilcock

Tues 20/08: 13m @8.08. Ran home from work, up the north circular into the phoenix park and home via porterstown. Felt pretty tired and the knee has gradually been giving me a bit of grief. Started taking some anti-inflammatories for a few days

Wed 21/08: 6.2m @ 8.24. Nice easy lunch time run. Again the knee getting sorer and sorer so decided to take Thursday off.

Fri 23/08: 10.6 @ 7.58. Took a slightly longer route to work via the canal. Decided to go ahead with this to test the knee and see whether to blank the Frank Duffy on the Sat. Was sore early on but got better the further I ran

Sat 24/08: 19.1m total. Got down to Whites gate early to meet a few clubmates who were already a couple of miles into their long run. Ran 6 easy miles with the gang before kicking on for 2 MP miles which brought me back to the car. Threw the vest and number on, had some water and a banana and jogged up to the start with about 5 mins to spare. 9miles pre race.
Plan for the race was roughly 6.45 pace. First couple of miles came in at 6.37 and 6.29 - due to the initial exuberance at the start and subsequent downhill section. It was very very warm on the morning and effort levels were pretty high. Tried to keep the pace steady for the rest and took water on at each station, along with one gel halfway through. Seemed to be plenty of people pulling out (I seen AMK coming down Chesterfield - thankfully I heard he wasn;t injured, just suffering from a chest infection or something.?) and can understand why with the temperature. Pace for miles 3-9 was very steady around 6.38, with the last mile at 6.44 up the hill. Finishing time 66.48. Heppy with that on the morning that was in.

Sun 25/08: 7.1m @ 8.16. Up early before a family day out in clara lara and got some easy recovery miles in.

Thats 3 'races' in 3 weeks with plenty of MP miles in there so ticking along nicely. Knee felt considerably better Sat and Sun so hopefully all good. Only 9 weeks now till DCM and 3 till Rathoath half.

WTD: 63m
MTD: 167m
YTD : 1491.7m

Unthought Known

Cracking run on Saturday in that heat!

The Black Oil

Clara Lara...that's a blast from the past, about primary school. Must look it up.

Fair play on the 10 mile.

Sheep1978

Mon 26/08: 7.2m @ 8.00. Lunch tim e run up towards Clontarf

Tues 27/08: 7.75m total. Got talked into heading up to the TT racers session in Trinity. Session was a pyramid of 400/800/1200/1600/1200/800/400 with incresing rec's from 30secs to 2 mins and back down as the distance increased. Plenty of bodies up at the session and the grass surface was nice to run on. Paces for each rep came in at :
400 - 6.14/m
800 - 5.41
1200 - 5.46
1600 - 5.57
1200 - 5.52
800 - 5.41
400 - 5.20

I think the track set out is actually slightly longer than 400m but not by too much. Enjoyed the session and good to get it done earlier in the day to keep the mrs happy and not heading out too many evenings!!!


Wed 28/08: 8.2m @ 7.58. Local loop in blanchardstown at lunch up by the NAC.

Thurs 29/08: 7.05m total. Back over to Trinity and the session was 10*500 with 45sec recovery. I did the first few reps with one groupo before attempting to move up to a group in which there were only 3 others. 2 of the 3 were too fast for us and the other 2 of us were taking our rec's based off the other lads, meaning we were only maybe getting 30-35secs instead of the 45. We / I should have left them to it looking back. Anyway pace for the 10*500s was : 6.06, 5.43 ,5.54, 5.24, 5.22, 5.36 ,5.54, 5.39, 5.41, 5.51. Pace dropped off after the first 2 reps with the faster lads, probably down to a mix of the shorts rec's and the pace being a bit too hot for me

Friday - Rest day

Sat 31/08: 20 @ 8.00. One of the girls from the club brought some of us out to Duleek for a change for the weeks LSR. A tough hilly route but enjoyable all the same and one that hopefully will stand to us in a few weeks time. 1400ft elevation according to Strava. We took in a couple of laps of Bellewstown race track which always a bonus for a horse racing fan like me and although tough, the route made a nice change from the hartstown, porterstown and phoenix park routes we usually end up on.

August total - 217.1m

Sun 01/09: 7.1m @ 7.42 Short local run after Saturdays exertions. waited till an hour or two after the AI final, thinking my dinner would be well settled. Mile or two in a had a serious stictch. Luckily bumped into a clubmate and had a 5 min chat with her which cleared up the stitch!!

WTD: 57.2m
MTD: 7.1m
YTD : 1548.9m

Damo 2k9

Whats the highest you will go up to on your LR's? Do you do any foam rolling/stretching/s&c to stay niggle free?

Sheep1978

Damo 2k9 wrote: »

Whats the highest you will go up to on your LR's? Do you do any foam rolling/stretching/s&c to stay niggle free?

I might do a 21/22 but will see how Rathoath goes first. I always have the best of intentions with regards to stretching and S&C but ultimately no I don;t do anything really. did some S&C classes at the end of last year and in Jan but never stuck with it.

Damo 2k9

Sheep1978 wrote: »

I might do a 21/22 but will see how Rathoath goes first. I always have the best of intentions with regards to stretching and S&C but ultimately no I don;t do anything really. did some S&C classes at the end of last year and in Jan but never stuck with it.

Yeah Id imagine its hard for u to fit them in as well as the high mileage, with the kids etc. I'm the exact same have great intentions but ultimately never do it, although the bit of worry on the weekend has scared me a bit, back to the foam roller. I done it religiously in 2017 when I got injured and the difference it made was unbelievable.

Sheep1978

Have had a little bit of trouble with my knee lately but just relying on anti-inflammatories for now. Havent really got the money for physio etc at the min. Fingers crossed its nothing too serious

Damo 2k9

Sheep1978 wrote: »

Have had a little bit of trouble with my knee lately but just relying on anti-inflammatories for now. Havent really got the money for physio etc at the min. Fingers crossed its nothing too serious

I know it's hard self prescribing etc, but I have a couple emails there with loads of stretches etc I can send you if you want?

Sheep1978

Cheers Damo

Unthought Known

Damo 2k9 wrote: »

I know it's hard self prescribing etc, but I have a couple emails there with loads of stretches etc I can send you if you want?

I also have my stretches and strengthening exercises for my knee from earlier this year. PM me your email address if you want me to send on.

Sheep1978

Mon 02/09: 11.9m @ 7.52. Early morning run into work taking the long route into work. Easy pace to start off the week

Tues 03/09: Afternoon - 7.6m total with 5*1m reps off 90sec recoveries. Went over to Trinity at lunch for this with the reps coming in at paces pretty much bang on 6mins.
Evening - Back out for some easy local mile with 5.5m @ 7.58. Higher mileage planned for this week so threw in a double day

Wed 04/09: 7.1m @ 7.49. Lunch time run down to clontarf and back. Nice and easy

Thurs 05/09: 10.1m total. Up to the dunboyne track and after a warm up, did 40 mins @ approx 6.40 pace. Felt tough enough on the night and pretty boring on the track!!

Friday - Rest day

Sat 07/09: 21.1m total. Took a route down via porterstown, the phoenix park, cabra and back up the Navan road back to Hartstown. Had approx 16.5m done by then at average 7.50 pace. Was pacing 22mins then at the local parkrun which felt good lifting the pace and an easy mile or more cooldown. Good to have the long run done nice and early in the morning.

Sun 08/09: 7m @ 7.08 avg. Plan was for 7 easy rec miles. Was wearing some new Nike runners and after about half a mile, the childish mindset of wanting to run faster in new runners kicked in so decided to do 1e/2MP/1e/2MP/1e. Good finish to a tough week.

WTD: 70.3m
MTD: 77.4m
YTD : 1619.2m

If anyone reads, I'd be interest to know the thoughts on doing a double run on the Tuesday. Apart from the mileage, is there any real point / benefit.?

On to Rathoath this week. Will ease off over the next few days with a view to giving it a good bash