Once in a Lifetime....for now

Swashbuckler

It's a bit of a novelty seeing you doing those Glue factory sessions although having said that you've been doing them for a while. Haha.

skyblue46 wrote:

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 !!

Theres only one winner out of that group right now but who knows come June.

skyblue46

Swashbuckler wrote: »

It's a bit of a novelty seeing you doing those Glue factory sessions although having said that you've been doing them for a while. Haha.



Theres only one winner out of that group right now but who knows come June.

Best time is one thing...starting within sight of each other and tactically racing against people rather than the watch might be another story?

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote:

Best time is one thing...starting within sight of each other and tactically racing against people rather than the watch might be another story?

Yeah maybe. If the man in question just closed his eyes and ran his own race and ignored those around him there's only one winner. Haha.

Gimme time though. Wasn't that long ago I was a decent runner. Lol

scotindublin

Great to hear you finally bit the bullet and joined Raheny and well done on the 2 mile; great effort.

skyblue46

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Yeah maybe. If the man in question just closed his eyes and ran his own race and ignored those around him there's only one winner. Haha.

Gimme time though. Wasn't that long ago I was a decent runner. Lol

Ah someone could shoot off at 5:10 and make him think. Haha. It'll probably never happen but there are a few of ye there at a similar standard who also have a competitive streak. That's kinda unique here on Boards.

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote:

Ah someone could shoot off at 5:10 and make him think. Haha. It'll probably never happen but there are a few of ye there at a similar standard who also have a competitive streak. That's kinda unique here on Boards.

Yeah I thought the same. There's a few more not on here but trained by himself too. Hopefully we get a chance to hit the road at some point. Dunshaughlin maybe. 5k would be a bit of craic too. Haha

coogy

skyblue46 wrote: »

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 !!

Another great week of running S!

If you don't mind me asking, what would be 'hard' pace for you? I was trying out this pace yesterday and really just winged it but had a feeling I was overcooking it slightly at a pace of around 5:15. for each of the 1 minute spurts.

AuldManKing

I think Johnny would burn everyone right now!!

Sheep1978

Back at it properly S. great stuff

skyblue46

Sheep1978 wrote: »

Back at it properly S. great stuff

Thanks D. Yep it feels good to have kinda stiff muscles on a Monday morning again.

skyblue46

coogy wrote: »

Another great week of running S!

If you don't mind me asking, what would be 'hard' pace for you? I was trying out this pace yesterday and really just winged it but had a feeling I was overcooking it slightly at a pace of around 5:15. for each of the 1 minute spurts.

Hi K. For me I don't set a pace for it. I concentrate on trying to keep good form. Whether it's right or wrong I use a mental image I have of a top quality 5000m race I would watch on TV. I try to dial into the effort I perceive they make with 400/600m to go when there is a significant raising of pace but I keep it lower than the effort needed as they strain every last sinew in the final 100/200m. Not sure if that helps or not. :pac:

coogy

skyblue46 wrote: »

Hi K. For me I don't set a pace for it. I concentrate on trying to keep good form. Whether it's right or wrong I use a mental image I have of a top quality 5000m race I would watch on TV. I try to dial into the effort I perceive they make with 400/600m to go when there is a significant raising of pace but I keep it lower than the effort needed as they strain every last sinew in the final 100/200m. Not sure if that helps or not. :pac:

No, that's definitely a help, thanks. I was trying to go by feel but just happened to glance at the watch to get a sense of the effort I was making. Still think my first one or two were a little on the 'speedy' side.

skyblue46

January 28th-February 3rd

Monday 28th: Rest Day

Tuesday 29th: Plan: 5 miles easy. Actual 5.4m @ 8:32. HR 139. As ye all well know by now I'm a huge believer in training paces matching current fitness levels rather than training to PB level or target times. The recent 2 mile race in Raheny gave me an up to date benchmark which I could use to calculate training paces. My easy pace should be 8:48-9:07. This was way too fast whilst feeling easy. The HR betrays the truth. I want my HR closer to 125 for these runs.

Wednesday 30th: Session. Plan: 4 mins, 3*1 mins, 3 mins, 3*1 mins, 2 mins. The 4,3 and 2 mins @ 6:50 and the 1 mins @ 6:20. 90 sec recoveries except for 60 secs after the 1 min repeats. Paces were 4 mins- 6:50, 1 mins- 6:23, 6:15, 6:16, 3 mins- 6:49, 1 mins-6:09, 6:20, 6:16, 2 mins-6:36.
I really enjoyed this and was never really pushing things. Warmup and cooldown brought mileage to 8.3 miles.

Thursday 31st: Plan 5 miles easy. Actual 6 miles @ 8:55 HR 133. A bitch of a day. Terrible sleety rain being driven into my face made this a hard one to practice a nice upright form while looking forward into the distance :pac: Along Collins Ave it was a case of turning my face to the ground to try to prevent skin from being ice blasted from my face. Did an extra mile just to prove how fooking tough I can be

Friday 1st: Rest Day

Saturday 2nd: Session. Plan 2*10 mins @ 7:10 off 3 minute jog, 5*20 sec hard off 60 sec jog. I went up to Poppintree Parkrun to do this as it's always easier to do these with company...well at least it always was until today!! Just wasn't feeling comfortable after the first 3 or 4 minutes. Paces for the 10 minute repeats were both 7:09 so it looks better on paper than it felt. Warmup and cooldown brought the total for the day to 9.2 miles.

Sunday 3rd: Plan and actual: 12 miles easy with a 20 second surge at the beginning of each of the last 5 miles. HR: 139. I also threw in a little 2 min fast uphill finish. I headed down to Phibsboro and up the canal as far as the M50 before retracing my steps to Phibsboro. All felt nice and easy, the surges were strong and only the one after mile 11 put me under pressure as it was between the Tolka House and the Met Office. My fellow northsiders know this is a decent little drag for a hill sprint! Jogged really slowly for a half mile after this before finishing off with a decent paced 600m or so.

A good strong week on paper. At the same time I'm fearful that I might be coming down with something. I don't feel anything but my HR has definitely spiked a bit this week. It has been 7/8 bpm up on most runs when compared to identical efforts over the past couple of weeks. Something to keep an eye on...

skyblue46

I have just realised I put a wrong digit in the pace calculator....easy should be 9:00-9:30! I've been doing my easy runs at Easy/moderate and moderate paces. :rolleyes: It still doesn't change the fact my HR was lower while doing them over the last 2 weeks.

Kellygirl

Hope you are wrong and there’s nothing brewing.

ariana`

How is your RHR S, or do you measure that? I ask because mine was elevated since DCM and has only started to drop in the last couple of weeks. Prior to DCM week it averaged 46/47 over the course of a week. Post DCM it was averaging in the range 54-56. The last 2 weeks have been 50 and 51 so it's finally moving towards normal again, fingers crossed it keeps going in the same way. I presume it was effected by fatigue, sickness, lack of fitness and possibly the weight gain too :cool:

I do think HR can paint a picture! Hopefully the new easy pace will see yours drop again and nothing is brewing for you.

skyblue46

Raheny winter league 3 mile race tomorrow night. 2 mile time suggests anything between 19:50 and 20:30 is probable depending on the race time predictor I use...I hope to god it's closer to the former.

Kellygirl

skyblue46 wrote: »

Raheny winter league 3 mile race tomorrow night. 2 mile time suggests anything between 19:50 and 20:30 is probable depending on the race time predictor I use...I hope to god it's closer to the former. I have to admit that after making 18 months of improvements I'm struggling to deal with my current level.

Best of luck. Hope you are feeling well and the elevated HR came to nothing.

Baby75

Good luck Skyblue

ariana`

Good luck

scotindublin

Good luck S. Great idea to have those club races. In training for the road relays??

Bluesquare

Good luck!

skyblue46

Thanks folks. 19:50. I'm just bowled over by how accurate the runfastcoach race times predictor has been for me over the last 12 months!!!

Yeah C I think they're a fantastic idea. I'll be making a point of getting to as many as I can. The fact that they are nearly all 2 and 3 mile races and all on the same course makes it very easy to track progress....or lack of it!

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote:

Thanks folks. 19:50. I'm just bowled over by how accurate the runfastcoach race times predictor has been for me over the last 12 months!!!

Is there a danger of it being a self fulfilling prophesy?

skyblue46

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Is there a danger of it being a self fulfilling prophesy?

Valid point P. On occasions it predicted times that I didn't believe I could do and it was only a strong finish got them for me. Tonight I rarely looked at the watch as it's difficult in the dark. Timekeeper called 6:47 and 13:23 after miles 1 and 2...I just ran the last mile as best I could. I'm not getting carried away. It equates to a 20:34 5k which is 2 minutes away from where I want to get to.

Swashbuckler

Then scratch that comment. I feared you were maybe paying too much attention to the watch and going at a pace you thought was "appropriate".

You can go lower than that for the 5k

skyblue46

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Then scratch that comment. I feared you were maybe paying too much attention to the watch and going at a pace you thought was "appropriate".

You can go lower than that for the 5k

No pressure there! :pac::pac:

Rossi7

Great stuff S, I noticed you didn't do Raheny this year so out of interest I checked your time from last year ( I'm no Ted Bundy honest ) and it was the exact same time I done it in this year. So hopefully I'll have a similar year this year as you had last year

OOnegative

Nice going Sean, not where ya want to be but something to work on now. Those races that Raheny run are great way to gauge progress.

eyrie

Well, you made it through at the very fastest end of the predicted range, so I'd say that's pretty good going. Not where you want to be, I know, but you're certainly on the way back there (and beyond!)