Just like starting over:The quest for a sub 18 5k

Back in Black

As the title says, feel like I'm starting over so time for a new long to mark a new start.

After getting patellar tendinopathy last June and a few aborted comebacks and a few setbacks, I finally feel like I'm ready to start a structured training plan and focus on a target.

The past few months have consisted of lots of physio work, pool training and some sporadic attempts at core work.

From the middle of March I ran 3 times a work and from April added 1 speedier and mainly unstructured day into the plan.

The focus was on the Run With Catherina 5k - the idea being to set a baseline time to set paces for the next training block. Ran a ok race but ran out of juice over the last few k and came home in 19:41.

The following week I answered the call from the club and ran a 100mtr sprint a 100mtr leg of a relay and a 3k as part of the county Track and Field Championship. Minded myself fairly well and was just making up numbers but knee was sore after it so took the rest of the week off from running and focused instead on the exercises the physio gave me.

Not ideal as last week was meant to be week one of the 10week 5k plan (Ryan Hall 5k plan) but I think it was right to be sensible.

So plan started today with a 25 minute easy run.

Monday 14th May: 25 minutes easy
Went down to the local gaa pitch after work and the young lad tagged along with me. The company meant the pace was nice and handy. It was as much a bonus to have the young lad run with me as to start back on plan. Hopefully this will become a regular thing with these short easy runs.

2.8 miles @ 9:23 avg pace (26:21) Avg HR: 128

Am also going to track the core work to keep me honest and chart how I'm doing.

Got up early this morning and done following:
3 x 45 second single leg wall sits
50 x one legged squats
40 sit-ups
30 push-ups
50 crunches
25 raised knee crunches
2 x 25 side crunches
25 ankle touches
20 leg raises
25 bicycles
60 second plank

AuldManKing

Good to see you back at it.

Sure you'll have nothing else to do on a Sunday between now & September

Back in Black

AuldManKing wrote: »

Good to see you back at it.

Sure you'll have nothing else to do on a Sunday between now & September

Thanks and yes lots of free Sundays on the horizon!!!

OOnegative

Welcome back J, great to see.

Back in Black

Tuesday 15th May: Intervals 5x400mtrs with 2 mins rest (Max HR: 147)

The original plan was to get up early and do some core work and then do this on my lunchbreak.

Had a really bad night sleep so core work at 6am was not going to work. Done some physio exercises for the knee - one legged wall sits and one legged squats instead.

An unexpected meeting put paid to the idea of getting out at lunch time so it was late when I got out for this. Went down to my usual Gaa pitch track but both pitches had matches going on so intervals were not going to happen so went to other local pitch which has a rough track outside the walls of the pitch and a hill at either end. Not ideal but had to work with what I had.

There was also a match so had to negotiate some vehicular traffic. But at least it was a nice distraction from the intervals :pac::pac:

Done a very handy 1 mile warm-up followed by lots of stretches and got engrossed in the match!!

Was happy with the pace of these and no trouble from the knee. The track is about 500mtrs so just walked back to start on each rest period and avoided the uphill bit at the top of the pitch.

Paces for the intervals were as follows:
5:53
5:26
5:35
5:43
5:41

Done another 1 mile cool down and plenty of stretches and stayed for the end of the match - no idea who the opposition was or what age group was involved or the final score!!

Total: 4.1 mile

Wednesday 16th May: 4 mile easy @ 8:44 avg pace (avg HR 140)

Brought the young lad to athletics training and headed out for a nice easy run with one of the lads from the club. Bit of tiredness in the legs from previous day but knee behaved itself.

Coffee Fulled Runner

Good luck with this. What sort of distance did you run weekly and your PB times before your injury?

Back in Black

Coffee Fulled Runner wrote: »

Good luck with this. What sort of distance did you run weekly and your PB times before your injury?

Thanks. I was consistently running 40/45 miles per week before the injury. PB is 17:48 from 2015 and low 38:?? For 10k in 2016. Hope to be back at that level before the end of this year if I can build the mileage and stay injury free.

Back in Black

Thursday 17th May: Rest

Rest from running but done a good core workout and the physio exercises

10 exercises with 3x15 reps.

Friday 18th May: 3.7 mile @9:15 avg pace

Had a very short window as had a work function on in the evening that didn't finish until midnight.

Had 30 minutes or so to run so threw on the gear and got a nice handy run in.

Saturday 19th May: 5 mile with 3x1mile @racepace with 4 mins rest (Max HR: 167)

Had a busy day painting fences and after 6 hours painting the last thing I wanted to do was a session but couldn't think of a good reason not to get out.

Started with a 1 mile warm-up and lots of stretching.

First mile wasn't too bad - I didn't have a time in mind - just wanted to work hard without pushing too much and running out of juice.
6:06

Second mile started ok but was definitely feeling it in the legs over the last two laps and was delighted when the mile beeped on the watch:
6:05

Last mile was hurting from the word go and considered throwing in the towel a few times as the quads were on fire but would have been annoyed if I pulled up. 6:05

Another mile cooldown before another stretch. Iced the knee as a precaution afterwards
Delighted with this and the toughest session in a long long time.

Sunday 20th May: 6.4 mile @ 8:51 avg pace (Avg HR: 145)

Went out first thing for this. Plan had me down for a 60 minuted progression run. That plan went out the window as the quads were in absolute bits from the word go. Only progression involved was getting slower every mile!!!

Still happy enough to get miles in tired legs

Weekly total: 22.3 miles

AuldManKing

Super work on the 3x1m. Bodes well.

"Paint the fence"

Back in Black

Monday 21st May: 4 mile easy @ 8:58 (35:56) Avg HR 146

Plan had 35 minutes easy running which suited fine as legs still had some residual DOMS from the weekends speedwork. Headed up to local football pitch, turned on a podcast and zoned out. Plenty of stretching afterwards and the physio exercises for the knee


Tuesday 22nd May: 4 mile easy @ 8:53 (35:33) Avg HR 134
Mirror image of Monday's run - same place, same time etc..


Got up at 6 am and got a core workout:
50 x single leg squats
3 x 45 sec wall sits
50 x pushups (20,15,15)
50 x situps
50 x crunches
50 x raised crunches
100 x side crunches
50 x raised arm crunches
50 x bicycles
50 x leg raises
50 x flutter kicks
50 x ankle touches
60 second plank


Wednesday 23rd: 3x (90sec @ 5k, 1 min rest , 3 mins @ 5k pace, 4 min rest) Max HR: 156


Another 6 am rise for a core workout - same as yesterdays without the wallsit and one legged squats


As I had an evening meeting with work, I had to squash this in by leaving office a wee bit early and getting down to the track.



It was 20 degrees and very warm but at least there was a bit of a breeze.


Started out with a gentle 1 mile warm-up before getting into the reps. Tried to keep good form and not to overcook it and surprised myself by really enjoying this and wasn't as tired as I expected afterwards


Paces were as follows:
90sec - 6:04; 3mins - 6:05
5:55; 6:06
6:07; 6:08


Another mile cool down for a total of 4.4mile

AuldManKing

That core workout is hard core. Very impressive.

Is this an assigned plan or just something your doing yourself?

Did you build up to it the volume you posted?

Back in Black

AuldManKing wrote: »

That core workout is hard core. Very impressive.

Is this an assigned plan or just something your doing yourself?

Did you build up to it the volume you posted?

I started doing a fair bit of core work before Christmas just to feel like I was doing something when I couldn't run. I've been doing it fairly consistently since.

It's something I came up with myself when the circuits class I was doing came to an end based on the exercises that we were doing there. I'm trying to do it at least 3 days a week and find it's helping.

I had been doing various 30 day challenges but they never really worked for me as I'd usually miss a few days and then abandon them.

On volume I started at 30 reps of each exercises and am building up slowly but it's fairly ad-hoc.

I've started to catch up with the logs here and it's great to see the training your are knocking out - it's very impressive. Are you sure you aren't going full time pro??

Back in Black

Friday 25th May: 4.4 miles @ 8:08 avg pace

Evening hilly run with a few lads from the club.


Saturday 26th May: 4.4 miles with 15 mins @ 5k pace


Started off with the same core workout as Thursday (50 reps of each)


Got out in the heat of the late afternoon for this at the local gaa pitch track. 15 minutes was tough. 1st mile was 6:22 and second was 6:34 and 6:28 for last .4 to make the fifteen minutes.


A toughie but delighted to get it in the legs and not struggle too much.


Sunday 27th May: 8 miles @ 8:55 avg pace


An early morning run around the local hills with usual running buddy. Hills took a lot out of the legs and it was fairly hot.


Weekly total: 29.2 miles and 3 core workouts

Back in Black

Monday 28th May: 4.4 miles @ 9:09 avg pace

Started the day with an early core and physio workout before work - blows the cobwebs away. 50 reps of each.

Got out after work for a nice gentle 40 minute run. Kept the pace real handy.

Tuesday 29th May: 3.7 miles with 10x 30sec hard, 60 sec easy.

Knowing I had a busy day planned and it would be a scorcher, decided to get out early for this and set the alarm for 5:45. Headed to the pitch track and it was 17 degrees already!!

Done an easy 1 mile warm-up and a few stretches before getting into this.

I really enjoyed it as it was over fairly quickly and the 30 seconds flew by.

Done another 1 mile cool down before heading home for the breakfast.

Swashbuckler

Any time I see someone setting an alarm for stupid O clock for a run I know they'll do well. Fair play and best of luck with the plan. Will follow with interest.

Back in Black

Wednesday 30th May: 5 mile @ 8:47 avg pace

Went with one of the lads from the club while the young lad was at training. Nice route around town and miles whizzed by.

Usual core routine in the morning: (50 reps)

Thursday 31st May Rest

A welcome complete rest day!!

Friday 1st June: 8.4 mile @ 8:19 avg pace

Started the day with a core workout but ran out of time so only 35 reps of each.

Had planned a hillier route with two of the lads from the club but the thunder and lightning meant we changed our plan and stayed around town. Tough run as it was very warm and heavy and a fairly tough route. Still enjoyed it.

Saturday 2nd June: 5.2 miles with 6 x 800mtrs/ with 2 mins rest

Plan said to run each one 1-2 seconds quicker. I knew that would be very difficult to judge and wanted to make sure the first wasn't too hot.

Done a nice and easy one mile warm-up and a decent stretch and then the heavens opened. It was literally a cloudburst that kept up for the entire workout and the clothes were stuck to me. The training got completely waterlogged and slippier with every lap but was soaked to the skin so kept going.

Times for what they are worth were as follows:
3:20
3:13
3:08
3:06
3:06
3:08

Happy enough with this as by the last two reps I was slipping on the corners and it was like a steeplechase in places with the amount of standing water on the track.

Managed a one mile cool down before having to wrap a few beach towels around me in order not to destroy the car!!

Wettest I've ever been but it got done!!

Sunday 3rd June: 3.3 miles @ 9:10 avg pace

Legs were tired and I could feel the fatigue in the knees so decided to play it safe today and call Friday's run my long run. Was up very early to head to Dublin anyway so would have been a squeeze to get this done. Went out after the dinner and headed down to the gaa pitch and zoned out for 30 minutes. Legs feeling heavy and dead but am taking that as a sign of a good hard weeks work!!

Weekly Total: 30 miles.

Back in Black

Monday 4th June: 5 mile @ 8:55 avg pace

Headed out just before tea else I would have talked myself out of this. It was 22 degrees at the pitch and felt every bit of it. Legs were on the tired side so pace was very handy. A good stretch afterwards and the legs felt the better of it.


Tuesday 5th June: 4 x 1min 30 @5k pace, 1 min rest, 3 mins @ 5k pace 4 min rest.


I knew I had a manic day ahead and also knew it was going to be a hot one so set the alarm for 5:30 and got out the door. Started with a one mile wam-up and lots of stretching.



Splits were as follows:
1. 1:30 @ 6:08; 3min @ 6:12
2. 1:30 @ 5:53; 3min @ 6:16
3. 1:30 @ 5:59; 3min @ 6:24
4. 1:30 @ 6:07; 3min @ 6:25


Pace was a bit all over the place and the 3 min sections got slower and slower as I got tired.


It's sessions like this that show me the lack of fitness and the long road back to where I was but equally it's sessions like this that will bring me on.

Total: 5.83 miles.

Wednesday 6th June: 4.7 miles @ 8:09 avg pace
Started the day with a 6:00am core workout - usual 50 reps and the physio exercises - a great way to start the day!!



Followed this with the usual Wednesday night run with some of the lads from the club while athletics training was on. Found the legs tired on this and the heat didn't help. Was struggling to keep with the pace by times and looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.

AuldManKing

Fair play J - I'm in awe of your early starts and the consistency of the circuit training.

Back in Black

AuldManKing wrote: »

Fair play J - I'm in awe of your early starts and the consistency of the circuit training.

Thanks- I think you put the mockers on me. Only managed 1 out of 3 core sessions last week!!

Back in Black

Thursday 7th June: Rest

Planned rest day. Ended up going to a table quiz and a few pints were had!!


Friday 8th June: Rest

Was fairly tired but had planned to get out in the evening but the lightning storm meant I canned the idea of getting out.


Saturday 9th June: 5 mile with 20min progression run M to HM pace

The family were heading off to Kerry without me. I had a manic day planned so decided to head for the pitch when they were leaving straight after breakfast.


Started with a 1 mile warm-up and that felt a struggle so was starting to dread the 20 minutes. I should have put more thought into checking my marathon pace but decided to go on feel. I probably should have been aiming for 7 - 7:15 and worked down to 6:45 or so.


First mile came in at 6:48 pace and was starting to feel it. Was tempted to can the run after 10 minutes and then after 2 mile. 2nd mile came in at 6:56 so gritted the teeth and decided to stick it out. It took a lot to keep going. 3rd mile came in at 6:51 and was happy enough with that. Finished with a very slow final mile.


I made this a lot harder than I should have and paced it poorly but will consider it a decent workout and hopefully it will stand to me and bring me on.


Spent most of the rest of the day digging holes at the local school to install balance beams so felt justified in skipping the core work!!!



Spent 6 hours in the car then to travel to Aughrim to see a very one sided game but a lovely scenic drive!!


Sunday 10th: 9 mile LSR @ 8:21 avg pace

It seemed like a good idea when I was sitting in the sun in Aughrim to plan a run for very early on Sunday.



Woke up feeling creaky but met one of the lads from the club and we hit the forest trails for this. Legs were dead for first few miles but got better the longer we went on and we ended up quickening the pace over the last few miles. Last mile came in @ 7:31.


Enjoyed this run and happy to notice that the long runs are getting easier.



Spent a few hours putting together a street party and playing football for a few hours with the kids so no energy for a core workout.



Total weekly mileage: 29.53 miles

Back in Black

Monday 11th June: 4 mile easy @ 8:53 avg pace

Feeling guilty about missing so much core work last week, I set the alarm for 6 am to do a core workout. Done 50 reps of the usual routine.


Went out then after tea to the local pitch and done a very easy paced 4 miles.

Back in Black

Tuesday 12th June: 4 mile with 12x 30 secs with 60 sec recovery

Set the alarm for 5:30 and hit the local pitch for this. Generally I try to avoid doing speedwork early but figured this was a manageable one even for 6am.


Started with a 1 mile warm-up and then into the 12x30 seconds. They surprisingly flew by and really enjoyed this. Too short a time to get really uncomfortable and the 1 min jog recovery felt generous.



Another 1 mile cool-down finished it out nicely


Wednesday 13th June: 6.3 miles @ 7:54 avg pace


Started off the day with a 6am core session as well as the physio exercises.



Went out with two of the lads from the club while the kids were training. I had no idea of the route but was told it was "testing"!! I had a fair idea that this meant lots of hills and sure enough that's how it worked out. The lads were setting the pace and I just clung on.


A nice tough run with plenty of hills!!


Thursday 14th June: Rest

Decided to do a Friday evening 5k with one of the lads from the club so made sure this was a very restful day and done feck all!!!


Friday 15th June: 5 mile including Clones 5K

One of the lads from the club was doing this so I decided to tag along. I figured it would be a useful exercise exactly half way through my 5k plan. I wanted to get as close to 19:00 as possible but wasn't putting myself under pressure.


We got up to Clones with plenty of time to warm-up and it was the perfect evening for running. Race started bang on time with just over 100 lined up. It was part of the County Monaghan Distance league so vast majority of runners were wearing club vests so was expected plenty of company around the course.


I was chatting to a local before the race who gave me a good run down on the course, so I knew the 1st km would be a quick downhill so focussed on keeping with a decent group and not going off too hard. Settled into the back of a group of around 7 and was happy with that over the 1st km. 3:39


Second km had a few sharp hills on it and by this stage it was clear that some in the group had gone out too hard and were struggling. By the time we hit the 2k mark there was four of us left in the group working together and I was happy with my position. 3:54

Next km was fairly uneventful with the group staying together and no-one making a move really. 3:50



4th km had a few hills on it but was expecting this. One of the group was struggling and we dropped him early on in this km. About 3.5 km in we hit a fairly long sharp hill and the two guys with me made a move. I kept with them but was really finding this a chore. Was pleasantly surprised when we hit the 4km mark as really didn't expect it to come so soon with my focus being on hanging on to the other two. 4:00

Was happy where I was at the 4km mark and felt I could push on a bit and get a decent time but a combination of lack of miles in the legs and a stitch turned this into a horrendous slog!! I was quickly dropped by the two guys with me as I tried to work out the stitch and was soon passed by the guy we had dropped earlier. Tried to latch onto him but the stitch meant that wasn't really an option. The focus was now on just trying to get home and was counting down the metres. Kept telling myself only two laps of the track, 1 lap, 1/2 lap to go. Felt I was slowing significantly and wasn't surprised to hear footsteps gaining on me with 200mtrs to go. Not a lot I could do as he glided past me. Seen it was my clubmate that I travelled up with so gave him a shout of encouragement to keep going. He shouted at me to keep up. Told him to keep going as I was struggling badly.



Got into the last 100mtrs and could see the finish line from a fair bit out and heard footsteps behind me again. Decided that I really didn't want to get passed again so put the boot down and the stitch seemed to go (lesson for the future!!). There was a lot of people lined up on the home straight and they were shouting encouragement for all the runners. I got a buzz from this and realised I could catch my clubmate if I got the finger out. Managed to catch him on the line but had no idea which of us got it.


19:26 and later found out I pipped clubmate by 0.1 of a second.


Stood against the rails with the legs like jelly and felt like I was going to throw up and at that moment realised how much I missed racing 5ks and that feeling at the end after you gave it all.


There was an impressive spread afterwards and after a bit of reflection, I was happy enough with how the race went. I gained 15 seconds on my comeback 5k on a tricky course and hopefully with more work over the rest of the plan will give sub 19 a good bash on the 14th July.


Onwards and upwards

OOnegative

Good man J, keep her lit. Your on the right road.

Back in Black

Saturday 16th June: 3 mile easy @ 8:45 avg pace


A very handy run around football pitch. Legs were tired and heavy


Sunday 17th June: 10 mile LSR @ 8:20 avg pace

Longest run since the comeback from injury. Perfect conditions for a long run and just ran around Cavan town. Got tired over last few miles but another milestone under the belt and legs felt fine and no worries with knee.


Weekly Total: 32.3 miles

Back in Black

Monday 18th June: 3 mile @ 8:42 avg pace

Very handy football pitch run


6am core workout



Tuesday 19th June: 4 x (1:30 @5k pace;1min rest; 3 min @ 5kpace; 4 min rest)


Was wrecked when the alarm went off so went back to sleep.

Meant it was late getting out but had some company so all good. It still felt a lot tougher than the same session 2 weeks ago


Splits were:
6:03 pace; 5:37pace :eek::eek:
6:00 pace; 5:51 pace
5:57 pace; 5:52 pace
6:03 pace; 6:04 pace


1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down


Total: 5.4 miles


Wednesday 20th June: 5.2 mile @ 8:54 avg pace

6am core workout and then an easy evening run around football pitch


Thursday 21st June: 4 mile easy @ 8:52 avg pace

Finished work at lunchtime for 3 weeks so treated myself to an early after run in the heat.


Friday 22nd June: 9 mile LSR @ 8:21 avg pace


Long run day today as only time to fit it in as we are heading on the ferry to France in the morning and really need to get the long runs into the legs.Will do the faster stuff at stupid am in the morning to finish out the week.

OOnegative

Enjoy it J, looking like ye will get the weather. Watch the 3 lane slide, you can get airborne!!!

Back in Black

Saturday 23rd June: 4.9 miles including 20 mins at HM pace

Snuck out early to get this done before heading for the ferry to France.


Started with a one mile warm-up and a few stretches.


Was aiming for about 7 minutes mile pace so happy with 2.9 mile in 20 minutes which worked out at 6:54 avg pace.


A cool down mile and was back home before anyone missed me to finish packing the car up. :pac:

Sunday 24th: Rest.

Weekly total: 31.5 miles

Monday 25th June: 4.7 mile @ 8:33 avg pace

First leg of the holiday was in Disneyland and we were staying at a campsite nearby. I knew getting the runs in could be tricky so had to be creative.



Got back from Disneyland at 3pm to cool off and rest the kids out of the heat before heading back in. Decided to use the opportunity to explore the campsite by running - not a great time to run with the heat but enjoyed it.


Tuesday 26th June: 4.1 mile with 12x 30 secs with 1 min rest


Another late afternoon run in the heat but not the worst speed work to do in the heat. Had a lot of tree cover so garmin was all over the place pace and distance wise so just focused on working hard on the 30 sec bits.


Wednesday 27th June: Rest

Not a chance of a run as spent the day sightseeing in Paris. Climbed the Eiffel Tower as cross training though :pac:


Thursday 28th June: 5.56 mile @ 8:38 avg pace

Found a new trail to run and headed off to do this early in the morning - very enjoyable run.


Friday 29th June: 5 mile with 6 x 3 min @5k with 2 min rest

We were leaving the campsite and heading for part 2 of the holiday so set the alarm for 6:30 am to get this done but slept through the alarm so had to rush through this and dropped the planned 8 x 3 mins to 6.


Also cut the warm-up and cool down to half a mile each.


Paces for 3 mins were as follows:
6:16
6:10
6:12
6:22
6:21
6:25


I overcooked the first 3 and paid for it the second 3 - probably wouldn't have managed 8 of these if I'm totally honest.


Saturday 30th June: 4.1 mile @ 8:52 avg pace

Early morning run exploring the area we were staying - followed the suggested run from OOnegative and found it handy enough.


Sunday 1st July: 10.22 miles @ 8:56 avg pace

Longest run since the comeback!! Got out at 6 am to beat the heat and found this really enjoyable and miles flew by enjoying the French countryside - hat tip again to B for the route suggestion.


Young lad was waiting for me when I got back so ended up having a kick around with him instead of a cool down.



Weekly total: 33.7 miles

Monday 2nd July: 3.5 mile @ 9:03 avg pace

Wee lie in which meant that it was humid when I got out - just stayed around the campsite.


Tuesday 3rd July: 5 mile with 9 x 1:30 with 2 min rest

Late evening for this when the sun went down and just stayed around the campsite again.


Paces for 1:30's were:
6:51
6:26
6:40
6:25
6:09
7:01
6:23
6:09
6:16


Am not sure why the paces were so all over the place unless it was the tree cover messing with the satellite.


Wednesday 4th July: 3.9 mile @9:27 avg pace

Gentle even run just to stretch the legs.


Thursday 5th July@ 4 mile with 25 mins @ HM pace

Got out at 8 am for this and it was already scorching so was a bit apprehensive about this.



Only managed 19:20 at HM pace (6:58 pace) as was starting to struggle badly and really didn't feel well so pulled the plug rather than flogging myself.


While initially I was very annoyed for not completing the 25 minutes as I seen it as a crucial session in this cycle, as the day went on I was feeling worse and worse and knew I had a chest infection so the right call was made to pull the plug.


Took the rest of the week off to allow the body recover and got back from France yesterday.

Back in Black

Friday 6th July - Monday 9th July: rest while travelling home/ allowing the body recover.

Tuesday 10th July: 4 mile @ 8:34 avg pace

Gentle run around the local pitch to see how I was feeling and if I could run at the weekend - result was inconclusive!!

Wednesday 11th July: 4.2 mile with 10mins @ 6:50 avg pace

Can't remember what I was attempting here :pac: but suffice to say the conclusion was that goal race was in the bin and a trip to the doctors was in order to clear chest infection.

Thursday 12th July - Tuesday 17th July:
More rest :rolleyes: as I waited for the chest infection to clear up.

Wednesday 18th July: 3.75 miles @ 8:08 avg pace
Easy run with a few lads from the club. A few of us were roped into playing a football match the following evening so the run for me was to make sure the chest infection had cleared up. The run felt good and I gave myself the all clear to play the match

Thursday 19th July: Football match - was flying and enjoying this until early in the second half when challenging for a 50/50 ball I overstretched and pulled up with a quad injury. Could barely walk off the pitch - I knew straight away my goose was cooked!! Quad was very sore afterwards even after a lot of icing.

Friday 20th July - Monday 23rd July:
More rest and icing the quad.

Back in Black

Monday 23rd July: 30 mins easy (3.3 miles @ 9:17 avg pace)

Day one of the new 10 week 5k plan (with Rathfarnham as the goal race).
Quad was still a little tender so kept the pace very handy. I went up to the local pitch track so I could pull the plug at any minute if needed.

Delighted to report that there were no issues and felt good after this.

Tuesday 24th July:
AM: Back to the core routine with 50 reps of usual stuff with rehab exercises thrown in. I had neglected this with the holidays and want to get this done a minimum of 3 times a week as well as finding s&c classes that suit me timewise.

PM: 4 mile easy @ 8:37 avg pace with 1 and a bit 60sec hill sprint.

Plan had me down for 10 x 1 min hill sprints. I done a 1 mile warm-up before attempting this. I lasted 1 and a half reps until I pulled the plug as the quad was screaming at me to stop.

To say I was p*ssed off was a bit of an understatement!! However the consolation was that I could run with no issues at easy pace.

Wednesday 25th July: 3.2 mile @ 8:32 avg pace

Plan had me down for 45 mins at easy pace but only managed 27 minutes as the stomach was at me - ran too soon after dinner after missing lunch due to work pressures!

Still no issue with the quad and even the stretches were easier to do.

Thursday 26th July: 6 mile @ 8:57 avg pace

Got a call from running buddy for a 6am run and decided to join him even though he had a very hilly route in mind. Done loads of stretching before and after 1 mile of the run and no issues at all. Actually really enjoyed this and hills didn't present an issue.

PM: 50 reps of core exercises.

Friday 27th July: Rest

Gave the body a rest with plenty of icing the injury.

Saturday 28th July: 5 mile with 5k @ 6:30 avg pace

I was very nervous about attempting this and was putting it off and off but eventually went down to the local pitch track. Again idea of going to the track was that I could pull the plug at any stage if required.
Target was 20 mins @ goal 5k race pace + 30 seconds (6:30 per mile)

Started with a 1 mile gently warm-up and lots of stretching before getting into the quick stuff. First thing I noticed was that the track was slippy from the earlier downpours. Second thing I noticed on lap two was that was lace was loose. That proved a great distraction as I kept convincing myself to go one more lap before tying it as it wasn't in danger of tripping me up. The distraction worked and the laps flew by and I soon got to know the really slippy bits on the track. First mile was 6:27; second 6:32 and third 6:29.

Quad was tight at times but nothing major and was delighted with this after a few tough weeks and nice to rescue something from a fairly crappy first week of a new plan.

Sunday 28th July: 12.6 mile @ 8:45 avg pace:
Again got the call from running buddy for an early morning run. We both brought our cars to the local forest park as he is in marathon mode and I wasn't sure if I could hit his target of 105 minutes. Set off on the forest trails at 7am and I soon fell into the rhythm of the run and the miles flew by as we talked crap and enjoyed the scenery and the weather!

Never really considered not staying with him and was thrilled to hit this distance. Comfortably my longest run in 12 months.

A definite week of two halfs with two decent runs at the weekend! Hopefully my luck is changing and I can get some consistency going.

Weekly total: 34.1 miles

Back in Black

Monday 30th July: 3.5 miles @ 9:18 avg pace
Started the day with a 6am core workout - 50 reps of the usual stuff along with the physio exercises.


Got out the door then straight after work and ran from the house. Kept the pace nice and handy. Body was tired and achey!!


Tuesday 31st July: 5.65 miles @ 7:59 avg pace

Met two of the lads from the club for a late evening run around town. Was happy enough to slot in behind the two lads and try and keep up with them. Just about managed that!!



Wednesday 1st August 5x 3mins @ goal 5kpace with 2mins rest

Was wrecked this morning so had to push this back. Day and weather went against me so ended up doing this straight after work. Not ideal as I was tired and hungry and I knew this would be a toughie. After all the rain and remembering how slippy the track was at local pitch, I decided to do this at the other gaa pitch. The track around this is a lot rougher and has a hill on one side that is short but sharp and track is about 500 metres. I always find it harder to monitor the pace and effort for speed work but it doesn't get slippy. (I think that's enough excuses :pac::pac: )


Anyhow started out with a handy 9min warm up run and a few stretches before getting stuck in.



Splits were as follows:

6:01
6:11
6:07
5:58
6:23

I'm putting 2 and 3 down to having taking in the hill twice but happy with the first four. The fifth wasn't pretty as I was running on empty and even though I knew the pace was slipping from halfway through, there was nothing left in the tank.



A tough session and needed 5 mins sitting time before I attempted a cool down lap.



Total: 5 mile

Back in Black

Thursday 2nd August: 5.2 miles @9:22 avg pace

Late evening handy run with running buddy around the forest park trails. A perfect time for running as it had cooled down a fair bit.


Started the day with the usual core workout.


Friday 3rd August: 8.6 mile @ 8:37 avg pace


This was meant to be session day but the body was feeling tired so when I got the call from one of the lads in the club for a run decided to go with him. Decided to turn this into the long run for the week (plan had the long run at 65 mins so comfortably achieved that).



Glad to get this done as was feeling creaky after this.


Saturday 4th August:


Feeling achy this morning so called this a rest day.


Sunday 5th August: Had to go up and down to Kerry in the day so spent 7 hours in the car. Wasn't back until after 10pm so canned the idea of doing the session by floodlights at the local pitch.



Monday 6th August: 50 mins with 30 easy, 15 steady, 5 @ goal 5k pace

Headed out early this morning to get the skipped session in the bag. I hadn't a huge amount of time so went down to the pitch track. It was warm and muggy for this and I was a bit concerned that the easy bit was feeling tough. I didn't feel too bad on the steady but and averaged 7:20 for the 15 minutes.



The body wasn't happy with me springing goal 5k pace on it and I had to really grind this one out. As it was the track, I could keep an eye on splits and could tell that the pace was slipping after 2 laps of the 3 and a bit. Was barely hanging on at the end and happy to finish and lie on the grass for a few minutes. Avg pace was 6:09 so happy enough with that.


If the purpose of this was to replicate the end of a eyeballs out 5k race, it certainly achieved that!!


Done the core workout (50 reps) this evening and happy to report that I was feeling the benefit of the two days rest.