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Once in a Lifetime....for now
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December 24th-30th
24th/25th/: Eat, drink and be merry.....and sometimes a little bit beyond merry!
It was definitely a case of taking a real step back to start a step back week! 
Wednesday 26th: 5 miles @ 9:24. AV HR 126. Very easy miles on the usual Collins Ave/ Griffith Ave loop. Can't remember a blessed thing about it. (It's safe to blame the previous 2 days excesses for this :pac:)
Friday 28th: 5.2 miles @ 9:19. HR 134. Returning to grass again. Endless laps of local soccer and Gaa pitches
Saturday 29th: 3.1 miles @ 9:41. HR 126. Really really really easy miles. Planning a 12 miler the next day so kept it short and relaxed. Pitches again.
Sunday 30th: 12 miles @ 9:13. HR 137. By far the most enjoyable run of the week on the tracks and trails of the Phoenix Park. I only ran on tarmac to cross roads a few times. The heart rate was a bit lower until I hit the little hills in and around the Magazine Fort for a few made up laps on the tracks between the Khyber Road and the acres. I'll definitely use this area again when I'm fitter.
So that grand total of 25.3 miles but thankfully they were all trouble free in terms of the foot injury. Plan from here is to increase mileage over the next 3 weeks, a little bit of tempo and maybe a few truncated hill sprints to ease my way back to being ready for a training plan.0 -
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December 31st- January 6th
Tuesday 1st: New Years Day Parkrun double. Having done Tymon and Bushy last year I decided to do Father Collins and St Anne's parks this time around. As has been mentioned on the Parkrun thread the numbers were massive. I met Singer as I was warming up. To listen to him explain his hangover status it was a miracle he could even jog! I briefly met aquinn who introduced me to the fast improving mrpaul 
We strolled down to the start and I took off with MurphD at my side. We chatted our way through an easy first mile and then gradually picked it up until the end. A great way to start the day. 24:08. Unlike many others I drove up to Father Collins. After a congested start I settled into an 8 min mile pace and intended to keep it that way. After 800m D came flying past and threw a joking gauntlet in my direction! I didn't take up the challenge but picked it up to 7 min mile pace for the remainder. 22.04. It was a smashing morning in every way. I had a slight twinge in the foot that night but it was gone by morning.
Wednesday 2nd: 4.2 mile recovery jog on grass. Pace was 9:41 and average HR was 128. Laps of the pitches in Johnstown Park again.
Thursday 3rd: 7 miles @ 8:53. HR 137. Off to the tracks of the Phoenix Park again. All of it was at easy pace except for the 5th mile which I ran at something close to moderate pace....not for any reason other than I felt like it. I also have my first race of the year planned, Bohermeen Half.....thanks to the generosity of Huzzah who kindly transferred her entry as she will not be running it. Another fine example of the soundness of people on here.
Friday 4th: Another recovery run on grass. 3.4 miles @ 9:24. HR 125. Yep that's two recovery runs this week but I'm being as cautious as I can be. Later in the day I saw that I had picked up a Boards award. I'm both humbled and grateful. There were so many deserving nominations. I guess I was lucky to have the novices thread voting bloc familiar with me....the same thing that brought AMK his success in the awards last year! :pac::pac:
Sunday 6th: 13.1 miles @ 9:08. HR 129. After gradually building up my 'long' runs over the past 4 weeks this was my first 2 hour long run. I don't imagine I'll be increasing the duration of the Sunday runs much more if at all over the coming few months. I headed out during the late afternoon after doing a 4am-1pm shift....not really feeling the love for it! I did a nice loop down Collins Ave to Killester, up to Raheny Village, down to the coast and back in to Fairview. Running along the promenade in the fading/ faded light was really relaxing. The drag from Fairview home raised the heart rate a little bit but not too much. Loved this run after such a reluctant start!
All in all a very good week. I'll try a few short hill sprints next week. If that goes ok I think I'll be ready to step things up a bit and reintroduce sessions. That depends on Coach really.
Happy new year everyone. I hope all you touch turns to gold.0 -
Aye, we're the real power behind the throne alright :pac: :PLater in the day I saw that I had picked up a Boards award. I'm both humbled and grateful. There were so many deserving nominations. I guess I was lucky to have the novices thread voting bloc familiar with me....the same thing that brought AMK his success in the awards last year! :pac::pac:All in all a very good week. I'll try a few short hill sprints next week. If that goes ok I think I'll be ready to step things up a bit and reintroduce sessions. That depends on Coach really. 0 -
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January 7th-13th
Monday 7th: Rest Day
Tuesday 8th: 6.6 miles @ 9:08. HR 131. A few laps of Johnstown Park followed by a short local loop.
Wednesday 9th: 10 X 30 sec hill sprints off 90 secs jog recovery. The last test before getting back into training just to see how the foot responded to some faster work than it has been used to. Finished it wondering how in the name of God I ever managed to do these for a minute each. I was totally fooked!! :pac: Target pace was 6:30 but with the reps being so short the GPS is totally unreliable. Paces came out as 7:00, 6:59, 6:55, 6:26, 6:22, 6:21, 6:21, 6:09, 6:27, 6:06. Starting and finishing point on each rep was nearly identical which makes a mockery of the Garmin paces. Warmup and cooldown brought mileage to 5.6
Thursday 10th: Recovery jog. 4.2 miles @9:25. HR 124
Friday 11th: 6.5 miles @ 9:10 HR 124. A lovely late afternoon run up to Santry Demesne and back via Whitehall and the grounds of DCU. A bit of a head cold has taken a grip. Lots of sniffling and sneezing!
Saturday 12th: Session type thingy at Parkrun. I decided to do 1 mile each of tempo, threshold and CV. Paces were based on Jingle Bells 5k rather than any pre injury times. Splits were 7:25, 7:16 and 6:50. I found it tough enough in the strong breeze and a real indication of how far the fitness has fallen Heart rate hit 176 and as 183 is my max it was a lot of effort for a 21:52! Up and home brought the total to 6.2 miles.
Sunday 13th: 2 hour easy run. 13.2 miles. HR 141 (a bit high again) Back to the Phoenix Park for a bit of grass/ trail/ muck and a tiny bit of road running. Wasn't feeling the best from the get go and ambled around at 9:15-9:25 pace for most of it. A strong wind on exposed parts made it harder in places and easy in others. I got caught in a couple of squally showers but to be honest it didn't lessen the enjoyment one iota...I just love running there. Did a lap of the park with a lap of the Furze/OS, a lap of the acres and a lap of the polo grounds thrown in. With a notional target of getting a HM done in my 2 hours I had to pick up the pace in the last 4 miles to 8:30ish pace....mostly into the wind!
So hopefully that's the injury chapter of my story out of the way for a while. The time has come to start a new chapter or two. I will have the great pleasure of having L planning my training from now on and I really can't wait. It'll be a step back in mileage to move forward I know but I'm more than happy with that. Going gung-ho wouldn't be the best plan right now.
The other chapter will begin on Wednesday week when I will go to Raheny to do the 2 mile winter league race and pay my annual sub. Time to end the dithering. :pac: L is more than happy to incorporate these fortnightly 2 and 3 mile races into the plan and they should be good for getting a bit of zip into the legs.0 -
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This is something that has played on my mind a lot. I have recently decided there's no reason to enter as many races as I see fit. The only thing that would stop me entering as many as I'd like to is limited funds!!!!
You will need to think how you approach them also. If you taper for them all and allow adequate recovery each time then you will be missing valuable training days.... I'm not saying not to race a lot but just that you have to balance it out a bit, they can't all be target races as such where you allow yourself the taper required to be in peak shape. If you're following a plan then some weeks a race could replace a session. Or some plans allow for tune-up races which is a great way of getting races in and still feel like you're sticking to a plan (if you're the type that likes to be on plan). Racing is great, you learn a lot every time you race
Best of luck in Raheny S. I have a feeling you may surprise yourself.0 -
You will need to think how you approach them also. If you taper for them all and allow adequate recovery each time then you will be missing valuable training days.... I'm not saying not to race a lot but just that you have to balance it out a bit, they can't all be target races as such where you allow yourself the taper required to be in peak shape. If you're following a plan then some weeks a race could replace a session. Or some plans allow for tune-up races which is a great way of getting races in and still feel like you're sticking to a plan (if you're the type that likes to be on plan). Racing is great, you learn a lot every time you race
Best of luck in Raheny S. I have a feeling you may surprise yourself.
Oh for sure, I suppose I was just highlighting the difference in my approach to entering races before now.
I actually have a few questions about combining training with races which I'll post pin the DCM 2018 graduates thread. 0 -
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Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote: »Get a few fast 5k races under your belt to keep you sharp until you have a target
There are 2 and 3 mile races in Raheny every fortnight which I'll do. End of year target will probably be Charleville....mid year probably Dunshaughlin 10k0 -
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January 21st-27th
*****Spoiler Alert******
I did not run Raheny 5 so if you're looking up all the race reports this isn't the log for you tonight! :pac:
Tuesday 22nd: 5 miles easy @ 8:41 per mile. HR 133. Nothing of interest. Same 5 mile loop I have been using recently. I'll stick with it as long as these runs stay at 5 miles. It makes comparison easy.
Wednesday 23rd: 2 mile race. Raheny Shamrocks winter league. So after many long months of prevaricating and chickening out I finally took the plunge and joined Raheny. Met D briefly before the race and he reintroduced me to FBOT. As I knew nobody else running it was handy to have D as a reference point. I hoped to run 13:20-13:40 and as D had done the last 2 miler in 13:20ish I figured I should have him in sight most of the way. L had suggested a steady first 800 and a strong finish as the objectives. The steady start meant that once things thinned out after 800m or so I could see D about 4/5 seconds ahead. For the rest of the first mile I dangled at this distance. FBOT called me through the first lap/ mile in 6:38. Again I eased off for the first part of the second lap before picking up the pace. I gradually closed the 40/50 yards on the group of three ahead including Murph. Just as I got them with about 500m to go D started his kick for home. I tried to follow but just couldn't make a second effort. I trailed in 3 or 4 seconds behind D after a second mile of 6:17 and a 12:55 time. Better than I expected and a good starting point. After a few of these races I'll get to know the faces I should be racing against. Really looking forward to it all!
Thursday 24th: 5.4 miles @ 8:55. HR 127. Gentle easy run/ recovery.
Saturday 26th: Session day. Plan was for 5*3 mins @ 6:50 off 1 min jog recovery, 4 min jog followed by 4*45 secs hard, off 90 secs. Sent the wrong workout to the watch so had to amend it as I went along. Ended up doing 3,2,4,3,3,3 mins instead of the 5*3. Other than that it was perfect. Paces were a little fast but after last weeks difficulty at the same pace this was a total contrast. I never felt it difficult and was able to run hard for the 45s. I'm making serious efforts to concentrate on form and stay 'bouncy'. Loved this session.
Sunday 27th: 12.2 miles easy @ 8:43 with 5*20 sec surges at the beginning of each of the last 5 miles. HR 131. A game of two halves. Half one was downhill to the quays and a bit of flat along the Liffey. Easy peasy! Then I turned up along the DCM route up Manor Street and the Park and the legs suddenly began to feel yesterday's session. I started to feel heavy legged on every drag but again I concentrated on form. I'm really liking this bit of emphasis. I may look the same to any passer by but I feel infinitely more elegant a runner! :pac::pac::pac:
Congratulations to everyone who took part in Raheny today. There were some great performances. Personally I'd love to see Healy, AMK and Mellow Yellow racing on the same bit of road, Mano a Mano! P can join that party in Dunshaughlin too. At the rate that Sheep is improving he'll be joining the fight as well !!
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