Run for your life!!!!

coogy

skyblue46 wrote: »

Yeah I guess 3 hours isn't brief...

Haha, I'm already having second thoughts S.

One of the lads I was supposed to run with this morning went ahead a ran his marathon out his way, sticking to the 2km radius guidelines. Did it in 3:13.

skyblue46

coogy wrote: »

Haha, I'm already having second thoughts S.

One of the lads I was supposed to run with this morning went ahead a ran his marathon out his way, sticking to the 2km radius guidelines. Did it in 3:13.

I think you made the right choice to be honest K. I like the approach a few lads off here took in banking the fitness and moving on. You'll be in an even better position for the next one and the result will actually mean something. You say a lad did "it" but what is "it"? It may not have been a marathon distance as the course couldn't be accurately measured, there were no cheering crowds, no pint with friends afterwards, no excited friends and family following on a tracker.

Look forward to your new PB when it comes as part of a big marathon day experience...the buzz and excitement of the lead up and an official time! You'll nail it whenever it comes.

Keep safe.

coogy

skyblue46 wrote: »

I think you made the right choice to be honest K. I like the approach a few lads off here took in banking the fitness and moving on. You'll be in an even better position for the next one and the result will actually mean something. You say a lad did "it" but what is "it"? It may not have been a marathon distance as the course couldn't be accurately measured, there were no cheering crowds, no pint with friends afterwards, no excited friends and family following on a tracker.

Look forward to your new PB when it comes as part of a big marathon day experience...the buzz and excitement of the lead up and an official time! You'll nail it whenever it comes.

Keep safe.

Thanks a million S.
To be honest with you I'm actually quite relieved that I didn't go ahead with it this morning. A lot of the reasons were the exact ones you mentioned above.
Even yesterday before the new restrictions were announced, it just didn't feel right in the back of my mind.
Had a good chat with coach today and he assured me that my fitness levels were very good right now and that it would do the body no harm to take a rest for 7-10 days and pick things up gradually again after that.
I know that come October, I'll be raring to go again.

coogy

Ok, maybe 7-10 days of no running was a tad ambitious. :rolleyes:

Back at it from today, just some general stuff for now. 1 mile time trial to look forward to on Wednesday and a fartlek session at the weekend sandwiched in between some easy miles on the other days.

Over and out.

coogy

My logging has taken a serious back seat since my self-imposed exile (of sorts) from Boardsville so this may be a little rusty.
I was looking forward to this after a couple of recent time trials (1 mile and 6k) which weren't too shabby so confidence was reasonably high.
Was doing my best not to overthink things but the 5k TT thread on Boards was really gathering momentum in the final few days and with the number of participants increasingly the day, it was hard not to get sucked in.
Still............as I stood at the starting point of my chosen location, it felt more like I was preparing to do my first bungee jump than I was about to start a 5k time trial.
It was only 2.5 laps but before I even begun, I knew that I would reach a point in the run when even that would offer little comfort.As if I didnt already have enough on my mind, the conundrum of whether I should use the programmed 5k distance in the watch or just use the timer as normal. Went for the latter for some reason.Ready. Deep breath. Off we go. 

Mile 1
19 minutes was the overall target, and completely new territory for me in terms of a 5k distance. As usual, started off too fast and took longer than I should have to settle into a manageable enough pace. From the off, found myself somehow struggling with the breathing too. What's happening? Nerves probably, but not a good start. Rarely moved beyond 6:00min/mile pace for the first mile and eventually felt relaxed enough. Mile 1 elapsed before the first loop was complete and when it did, I saw 5:59 was the split. 

Mile 2
I already knew what was ahead of me and I tried my best to relax the body as much as I could while maintaining the current pace. About 1.5 miles in, I felt the first signs of a lapse. The pace started to drop off gradually to around 6:05/6:10 but I was by no means struggling....yet. In the latter stages of the mile now and the pace drops to 6:20. I'm doing my best to claw things back, just about managing to get close enough to the pace of mile 1. The way I'm feeling now does not auger well for the final mile and already, I'm wanting this experience to be over. Mile 2 comes in at 6:07. 

Mile 3
This should have lifted the spirits but all I felt now was pain. Legs are hurting but not just the legs. My arms are starting to ache too. I've completely tensed up. None of this is helped by my all too frequent glances at the watch, with one eye on my ever-slowing pace (6:20) and another eye on how much longer I have to go before I can finally end this horrible experience.
By now, I'm dying on my feet and it's almost impossible to get a sense of how I'm doing pace-wise. It 'feels' like I'm running in wet cement and there's still half a mile to go. Once again, I try to find a spurt from somewhere but it's no use, I'm fresh out. As the end of mile 3 draws near, I get a sudden urge to stop, which always seems like the best option but common sense prevails, as it usually does.
Not really caring about the pace or finish time, my arms are hurting big time and I'm solely focused on seeing that 3 mile split flash up on my watch. 2.98......2.99............and there it is, 3 miles! Now, just a few more seconds and you are free to collapse like a sack of spuds to your heart's content. And.......STOP!!

Threw myself onto the grass verge and lay spreadeagled, utterly relieved that I'd done it. Glance at the watch showed me a time of 18:41. I was truly gobsmacked. First things first....hit 'Save'. Now, lie back, catch your breath and enjoy this moment. A few minutes had passed as I savoured the moment and assured myself that it was all worthwhile.
Wait a minute. did that say 3.01? Frantically, I checked the watch. Did I just save that? No! No! No! Resume! Where's Resume??? A sinking feeling came over me as I opened the run I had just saved and lo and behold, there it was. '3.01 miles'. From gobsmacked to dumbstruck in 60 seconds flat. There was no escaping it, I'd f***ed up in a gargantuan way. I didn't even have the energy to swear. What a come down. I got up slowly and, still 2.5 miles from home, all I wanted to do was to walk back while I tried desperately to think of ways to fix it. Decided, to just run the extra .1 of a mile, albeit at a much faster pace than I was running at the end of the time trial. 28 seconds. I would have been just beyond the predicted 19 minutes then. Whatever, F**k it.
Walked for a bit before starting the recovery jog back to the house, tail between legs.

Spent the rest of the day watching on as the Strava updates begun to fly in thick and fast, some amazing times being recorded, all of them at least 3.11 miles in length. Later in the day, tried to see the funny side of my mishap but it was no good, I was properly dejected. I suppose there's some positivity to be taken from knowing that 19:** would have been a great time for me and it's something I can now work on some more before it becomes a target I know I can hit without as much of a struggle.
Big, huge, massive thanks to B for all the groundwork on this. I too, would love to see this become a regular event in the Boards calendar!!!

AuldManKing

Classic!!

A good 3m time trial though

coogy

So, another time trial beckons and I *think* I am better prepared for this one. Needless to say, I will be programming the distance into my Garmin to ensure I don't end up running .95 miles or something..........:rolleyes:

As for my target time of 5:30, I'm still in two minds. My last 1 mile time back at the beginning of April was a time of 5:38 (and a lot of hurt).

The interval sessions I do week in, week out tell me I have it in me but on the other days, I think about just what it takes to run a fast mile and start to freak.

Anyway, typing this mostly to breath some life into the ol' log after some time in the wilderness. Hope everyone's well!

coogy

So, I guess a lot has changed since I last typed up my weekly log update. 'Working from home' and  'home-schooling' were phrases that were about as far from my mind as they could have been. Who knew back then that the world would be on the verge of such a catastrophic meltdown and for so many people's lives to be affected in more ways than anyone could imagine.The sheer number of fatalities on a national and international level make things like having to cancel your summer holiday or forego the race you'd been training for appear extremely trivial.
Anyway, you don't need me to start waffling on about what's been reported on an hourly basis in the news over the last three months. Let's get logging.



Monday 25th May
Rest day


Tuesday 26th May
6 x 300 (5:30 pace) off 2 mins/3 min rec/ 4 x 15 secs hard off 90 secs
3.47M @ 7:06
My last proper log entry was back in January I think, so sessions like this one were not standard fare. Now, four months on, I have become more than used to hitting these sorts of paces. Not suggesting that I find them easy, just another step up on the ladder I guess. A few of these sessions over the last number of weeks have left me pretty spent by the last one or two reps but it's the sense of accomplishment after each session that makes me want to do more. My favorite way to start the day.
As I was halfway through the last of the  300's, I was not relishing the thought of completing 4 x 15 second 'hard' sprints but the 3 mins recovery jog seemed to do the trick. Gave it socks at the end and let out my usual WOOP that follows most sessions.  Still preceding the sessions with at least a 15 minute warm-up and ending with a 15 min cool down.
  

Wednesday 27th May
5 miles easy
5.08m @ 8:27
Another element of my running that's changed in a big way is what passes for an 'easy' pace these days. It would be very unusual now for me too run any slower than 8:30 pace and if I'm honest, it's something that I think I would struggle to do unless I really made the effort to slow down. Not  sure it's for concern, I've brought it up with the coach and he's happy enough with the paces I'm hitting.
Ran down the canal for this one, there's some great opportunities to catch sight of some creatures in their natural habitats in the early hours of the morning. Encountered a duck accompanied by around nine or ten of its little ducklings at the edge of the canal bank. A couple of heron were casing the joint, preparing for flight and a swan that had its head and neck immersed in the water. Is this how swans sleep? It's a nice thought so I'll not refer to Google to find out the answer.

Thursday 28th May
Rest day


Friday 29th May
2 mile easy run
2.16m @ 8:24
Just a brief outing here before the 1 mile time trial. 


Saturday 30th May
Boards 1 mile time trial
Ended up getting to bed way too late the previous night but was still determined to get up early enough to make sure I wasn't running in crazy heat or among scores of walkers in the park. Had a coffee and a bagel before leaving the house and set off on a 2 mile warm up run. I was surprisingly at ease considering how on edge I had been during the last few days.
I had to tell myself to cop on at one point, it's just 1 mile. Yes, there will be hurtyness but it's nothing you haven't experienced before. Just think of the post-run elation.Once the warm up was done, the nerves started to kick in again and I was genuinely bricking it and as I was working through my drills, I was seriously fretting about what was ahead.
Once the drills were done, I made my way over to the starting point and, for what seemed like an eternity, I was giving myself an overly-long pep talk, pacing up and down, muttering things like "here we go, come on, this time". Eventually, I decided I'd done enough mincing about, and got ready to go. Decided it was better starting off just before the 100 metres or so of tree cover where the gps can be sketchy, so that it wouldn't hamper with the pacing in the latter stages of the mile.
Finally, off I went. I had figured 5:10-5:15 would be a good starting point for the opening quarter. As I came out of the sheltered section, the pace on the watch showed 5:05. Decided, as much as was possible, to ease up a little. Not an easy thing to do when you are already running full tilt and have to keep that pace up for a whole mile. It was around this point during my last 1 mile time trial that my pace was around 4:45 and ended fading badly. No way was I going to make the same mistake again. Even at the early hour, there were pockets of walkers about but thankfully none that required me to veer off the path. My second look at the watch showed .48 of a mile to go and a pace of 5:15. Nice one, we're over half way there and no major signs of hurt.
What I was focusing mostly on now was not letting the pace slip and my breathing, which was gradually becoming more apparent. I tried to develop a steady rhythmic breathing pattern for this 600 m stretch of the route and it seemed to be working. Now 300 metres before the second-last turn and the pace is shifting between 5:17/5:19 and now I'm feeling the burn. The breathing reasonably controlled. Determined as hell not to let the pace slip beyond 5:20, I kept the legs turning over as much as I could.
With .3 of a mile now left, the hurt eventually arrived, but I felt I was doing well to control the run. Kept the body as relaxed as possible, fast feet, fast feet, fast feet. Turned the last corner up towards where I'd started, and after the last 100 metres, I eventually heard the beep on the watch - end of workout. Time was 5:20, I was over the moon.
Breathless, I sat myself down on the grass and stared at the watch to make sure I HAD actually covered the required distance. No mistaking it this time. If there's one thing I am a little annoyed about it's that I didn't really 'actively' make much of an attempt to speed things up for the last 100 metres. If anything, I was more focused on not losing the pace. Had I made a bit more of an effort to put the foot down at the end, I could have maybe come away with a 5:17 or 5:18 but not letting that get in the way of a good day at the office. 18 seconds faster than the previous 1 mile time trial, two months earlier. What a contrast between the two experiences. The first one saw me starting out much too fast and paying for it at the end big  time. This one went just how I'd hoped it would. Happy camper.  
No doubt about it, the mile is definitely a tough nut to crack and despite the relative shortness of the distance, it's one I'd quite like to have another stab at.

Sunday 31st May
11 miles 
11.15m @ 8:15
'10 mile easy' was on the schedule but I fancied giving the Grand Canal route into Celbridge a go which added an extra mile onto the distance. Set out early seeing as the forecast today was for pretty much the same as yesterday's high temperatures. This stretch of the canal is one I've been wanting to try for a good while now but have never had an opportunity. 
Surprised to see a few walkers already about as I turned into the canal itself but then again, they probably though it odd when they saw me. The terrain along the three mile stretch was a bit of a mixed bag really, mostly scorched and trampled-on grass leaving a hard and rocky surface which wasn't ideal to run on but as after about a mile and half, it was a little more grassy in parts.
Still, it was so quiet and peaceful, it didn't bother me too much. Hung a right at McEvoy's pub at Hazelhatch and made my way towards Celbridge, past Intel and into Leixlip before coming back onto the N4. Lovely run, will definitely be doing this again.


I suppose, like most folk here, it's just a case of taking things one week at a time. Impossible to forward plan when there's still so much uncertainty. I certainly wouldn't be averse to another time trial, that's for sure.
As for virtual races, I'm still not sure that's a road I want to go down either. Perhaps a 10 miler or a half marathon but definitely not a full marathon. That's too unique an experience to be running virtually imho.

Thanks for reading!

Miles for the week- 31
Miles for the year - 841  

coogy

Two log entries in two weeks.....now we're motoring.


Monday 1st June
Rest day


Tuesday 2nd June
6 miles easy
6.27M @ 8:20
In last week's update, I mentioned how my easy pace had dramatically (?) increased compared to before. Of course, I would expect to see some progress in that regard but I find it hard to shake a feeling that I still need to slow things down a little with the easy runs. Still, I have been reassured that all is good.


Wednesday 3rd June
5 miles easy
5.11m @ 8:28
Down the canal for this and spotted some more of the local wildlife swanning about as usual (see what I did there?).
Wore the new Brooks Ravenna 10's, my third pair, bought for a snip a few weeks ago.



Thursday 4th June
Rest day



Friday 5th June
Pyramid session - 5/5/4/4/3/3/2/2/1
Decided to head up to Grange Castle Business park for this one, where it was nice and quiet. Pyramid sessions are new to me I think, apart from accompanying my son on a few of his.
The starting pace would be 5k effort (6:30) for 5 mins before the first recovery, and to increase the pace by 15 secs each time.
Started off and didn't take me long to settle into the desired pace. For a change, I wasn't running a specific distance like a 400 or 800 which I have now become so used to with the other speed sessions and a few minutes into the first rep, I suddenly became aware of the effort required, expecially into a stiff enough headwind. Pace wasn't really faltering but I felt like I was having to put in extra effort just to keep it where it was. Very happy when the 5 min recovery finally came.
Next, 4 mins @ approx 6:15 pace and once again, after a couple of mins, I'm having to push on a little more than expected as the pace began to falter.
Decided to take it a bit easier on the recovery jog as the previous one was a little on the speedy side. Wasn't very successful in slowing down the recovery though and before I knew it, the 3 min rep (approx 6:00 pace) was upon me. This one was the most difficult, and I couldn't quite understand what was holding me back. Headwind was quite strong now in parts of the loop but surely that wasn't it? At the end of the 3 mins, I was a good 7 seconds outside of where I should have been and the following recovery couldn't have come any sooner.
Next, 2 mins @ appprox 5:46 pace and this time I really focused on staying more relaxed. I felt this one went a little better even though I was by no means in control.
Finally, 1 min @ approx 5:30 pace - a pace and time that I was more accustomed to, from the speed sessions over the last few weeks. Surely this one would be a doddle. Not so, even with me doubling back at the end of the recovery jog to avoid another headwind, I started to struggle about 30 seconds in and never really clawed it back. Slowed up for the last 5 secs, which seemed like an eternity. Totally spent.
Here are paces for each of the splits with recovery pace in brackets):
6:20 (7:57)/6:15 (8:02)/6:07(8:18)/5:46 (8:39)/5:46

Anyway, during post-mortem on the way back to the house, I just think it was a case of not being in the zone, and knew this from the moment I woke up. One of those days.



Saturday 6th June
6 miles easy
6.09m @ 8:20
First bit of rain (and not a little chill in the air) for what seemed like ages. Just headed down to Griffeen for this one, done mostly on grass.


Sunday 7th June
12 miles long run
12.02 @ 7:55
Was looking forward this this one all week actually.
Decided to do part of this through my home town of Clondalkin, so took in a couple of laps of Corkagh (where I spent a lot of my younger years) before running through the village and back down the canal. A lovely run.


So, onto the next Board TT. It looks like I will be opting for the 10k distance with a few others who I was planning on running the virtual marathon with back in April. Not sure on the venue yet, possibly Phoenix Park but we'll see. Sub-40 will be the goal.

Thanks for reading!

Miles for the week- 37
Miles for the year - 879

coogy

Typing this entry now in case my mind goes blank at the end of the week.......:rolleyes:



Monday 9th June
Rest day


Tuesday 10th June
3 x 1.5 miles @6:25 pace / 2 mins recovery
4.82M @ 6:38
Back up to Grange Castle Business Park for the week's first session. I was not very feeling confident after last week's pyramid session but I felt relaxed enough during the 2 mile warm up. Usual drills and stuff beforehand and made my way over to the usual starting point.
Started off a little bit pacey but reined it in after a few hundred metres and settled into my stride before long.
Tried to focus as much as possible on staying relaxed during each rep but about 3/4 of my way through the first one, I started to feel signs of wilting already.
This is something I really need to fix. I am not very good when it comes to even the slightest feeling of discomfort from the effort and it doesn't take long before I start to shut down, making way for all sorts of negative thoughts to fill my headspace. Very hard to claw it back after that. Decided to take it easy for the first recovery and hope that I could make the most of the two min recovery.
Rep #2 arrived and I really didn't feel ready for it. This one seemed to be never-ending and as hard as I tried, I felt compelled to constantly check the watch to see how long I had left.
The discomfort increased ten fold and as I ran down the last half a mile, I as good as decided to call it a day once I'd finished with this rep. Feck it, we all have our off days, don't we? Still, also in the back of my mind was knowing that these sessions are not meant to be easy. Despite all of this, I was still hitting the desired paces. Suck it up now. Into the last 200 now, and I'm feeling wasted and still ready to pull the plug.
As the second rep elapsed, I came to a complete halt and gave myself 30 seconds or so to sort my head out. Knowing that I'd be kicking myself otherwise, I decided to carry on but thought it would be more beneficial for me to walk the rest of the recovery. This must have done the trick as I felt a lot more ready for the last of the 1.5 mile reps. Again, I was on pace and even though I was feeling it in the legs towards the end, there were no thoughts of ending the session prematurely.

More than anything else, the one lesson I came away with was this consideration:

Grange Castle Business Park is NOT a happy hunting ground.

Paces were:
Splits: 6:20/6:21/6:21

Murph_D

Your easy pace seems appropriate based on your recent results.

What does the coach say about the session difficulties? Certainly the one where you struggled with headwind seemed to be crying out for adjusting for effort rather than pace.

Looks like some excellent work overall.

coogy

Thanks D. In short, the coach assures me there's no cause for alarm and is very happy (as am I) with where I'm at right now in terms of overall progress.
I can be my own worst enemy at times, with my tendency to overplay certain situations if somehow they don't go as planned.
Still really learning the game though. Its only about 3 and a half years since I took up running seriously so I need to remember to be patient too. Not a trait I could call one of my strengths unfortunately.

coogy

Getting all my dates and runs mixed up!! The ones in my previous post are wrong :rolleyes:


Tuesday 9th June
6 miles easy
6.72m @ 8:26
Pretty standard run with a handful of strides thrown in at the end.


Thursday 11th June
4 miles easy
4.13m @ 8:15
Woke up later than planned and with a hectic day in work at home planned, had no choice but to do this as a night run.


Friday 12th June
Rest day


Saturday 13th June
1 mile @ 8:00/4 miles @ 7:00/ 1 mile @ 8:00
6.00m @ 7:14
Woke up to a dull, wet morning which made a nice change. After a mile and half of a warm up, I started off with the 8:00 mile, feeling nice and relaxed and enjoying the rain which by now was steady enough.
That mile came in at just under the 8:00 mins (no surprise there) and kicked straight into the 7:00 pace. Funnily enough, the park was as good as empty but after a couple of miles, encountered my fellow-running neighbours about to start a session of their own, who exchanged some bemused looks when they examined my devastatingly short*, recently shorn locks from up close. Was holding the pace without too much of a struggle and after mile 2, found a nice steady rhythm that saw me through to the fourth and final mile at this pace.
Funnily, once I started running at the 8:00 pace again, I could feel in the lags.

* the ever-expanding sprawling wasteland that was the top of my head, is now in good company after a "lockdown special" DIY hair clipping. :pac:

Splits: 7:55/6:54/6:56/6:55/6:50/7:55

Sunday 14th June
10 miles easy/moderate
10.19 @ 7:49
Up and over to St.Catherine's Park for this, where I would usually do one loop, run the forest trail and some extra mileage at the end outside of the park. This time, I was keen on exploring the surroundings so I went on one of those winding, meandering runs where you just make it up as you go along. It was a beautiful morning for a run, the legs were feeling great and I was really enjoying this, mostly down to not having a specific route to follow. Paces, although a little faster than usual, were still within the comfort zone.
Was sorry to bring this one to an end but would definitely consider doing a 15-16 miler up here some day.

Miles for the week - 38
Miles for the year - 917

coogy

Brief update.....


Monday 15th June
Rest day


Tuesday 16th June
6 miles easy + strides
6.47m @ 8:25
Chose a slightly different route for this run and returned to St. Catherine's Park and out the other side, into Leixlip village, over the N4 and down past Lucan Golf Club.
Back to the house bang on 6 miles and ran a handful of 80m strides. Really enjoyable.


Wednesday 17th June
2 mile warm up/2 x 3 miles @ 6:35 pace/w 5 min recovery/ 2 mile cool down

Woke up earlier than usual but was greeted by a torrential downpour that looked like it was going nowhere. Considered biting the bullet and just sucking it up but decided to hang fire, enjoy a coffee and bagel and hope it relented.
Eventually, after about an hour, the rain eased slightly and with a busy day ahead, had no choice but to head out and over to Griffeen Park.
After the 2 mile warm up, did the usual drills and 'stuff'. The rain was still persistent enough when I started but still reasonably mild. As usual, the starting off pace was a little quick and thankfully got it back to where it should be quickly enough. I knew this would be a tough session but after the first mile I was holding it together pretty ok and was right on pace. Already, half way through the second mile, the "x laps down and x laps to go" torment had already started but I was still right where I should be, if not a little quicker. Third mile now and feeling a little bit of a struggle, determined as hell to not let it slip. Breathing was becoming noticeably more laboured with half a mile to go and I've already made the decision to walk the 5 min recovery before the next set of 3 miles kicks in, a sensible compromise to pulling the plug on the rest of the session completely.
Finally, with the third mile done, I hit the brakes and began a nice slow, easy walk, preparing myself for another round. Spent the last two mins of the recovery doing a light jog and soon enough I felt ready to go again.
Pretty much the same as the first set, legs were back to feeling good, definitely benefiting from the recovery walk/jog and better still, I was keeping consistent with the paces. Miles 4 and 5 felt like how I expected them to be and was so glad that I didn't scrap the session altogether (I don't think I would ever really do this). Now just focusing on keeping the form relaxed and the breathing controlled. Last mile now and it's a combination of determination, some hurt, and a desperation for the end to come, which it finally does. Thrilled to bits with that and even happier that the pace didn't falter at any stage.
Definitely a big confidence booster for the 10k time trial in a couple of weeks.
Finished off with a 2 mile cool down back to the gaff.
Mile splits:
6:30/6:29/6:30/6:35/6:35/6:32

Thursday 18th June
4 miles easy
4.08m @ 8:32
Nice relaxed recovery run, mostly on grass.



Music recommendation:
'Jupiter's Wife' by Irish singer/songwriter Joe Chester. Just out since last week. Only discovered this guy a couple of weeks ago when I caught a snippet of one of his songs on Tom Dunne's show in the car one night. One of those voices that reels you in, wanting more.
Definitely worth a listen.

coogy

Friday 19th June
Rest day/payday :cool:


Saturday 20th June
6 x 400s/off 90 secs/3 min rec/6 x 200s off 90 secs
Very warm start to the day, not what I was hoping really, knowing what was in store.
Started off with a 2 mile warm up and some drills to get everything motoring. These 400's were to be run approx 5 seconds faster than usual so I knew I'd be up against it in terms of meeting the target of 81/82 secs.
The first few reps were ok but the heat was starting to get to me and felt I had no choice but to introduce some walking into the recoveries. I probably could have jogged the whole 90 seconds but I found that walking for 60 seconds and jogging for 30 seconds seemed to do the trick and was hitting the targets so stuck with it.
The 3 min recovery was welcome and also split that into a walk/jog before taking on the 200s. Again, the recoveries for these were split and by now, was starting to wilt in the early morning heat but more importantly was hitting the targets of approx 40 seconds, and running mostly faster than the desired pace.
Finally came to a stop after the last rep and collapsed on the grass in the usual star-shape. Wrecked but as usual, happy that it went according to plan.
Finished off with a 2 mile cool down.
Target for 400s was 81/82 secs. Splits were:
82/84/83/81/84/81
Target for 200s was 40 secs. Splits were:
39/40/39/39/37/39


Saturday 21st June
Long run
10.07m @ 8:21

Another 10 miler and out the door super early (pre-6am), seeing as the kids were displaying their usual eagerness to commence the Father's day celebrations at the crack of dawn* :rolleyes:
Wasn't exactly loving the route I chose, not much to write home about either.
Generally, a little bit 'meh'.

Miles for the week - 39
Miles for the year - 957




*this goes for any occasion, it's nothing to do with the day that was in it.

coogy

Monday 22nd June
Rest day


Tuesday 23rd June
6 miles easy
6.61m @ 8:18
Pretty much identical to the previous week's run. Finished off with 4 x 80m strides.


Wednesday 24th June
3 x 2km @ 10k pace/off 75 sec
Session day again which usually brings a mix of eager anticipation and not a little dread.
Made sure I had this one programmed into the Garmin properly, something I've messed up one too many occasions, leaving a lot of guesswork when it comes to running part of a session.
After the usual 2 mile warm up, I set off on the first 2k rep. Pace wise, I was aiming for around 6:35 or so. This one felt ok and I was happy enough to have the recovery as a light jog. The second rep started off alright but as I expected, my usual mid-session struggles which involve mostly negative thoughts of not just my ability to complete the session but also of whether or not I'm cut out for all of this running lark. Extreme, I know, and thankfully they are mostly fleeting and disappear before I give myself a chance to  give them too much consideration.The second recovery, I decided to walk because my head and the body told me it was the right thing to do, so walk it I did.
Last rep now and the relative freshness in the legs made all the difference here, running at a pace of around 6:20/6:25. Job done.Finished off with a 2 mile cool down back to le gaff.
Pace for each of the km's :6:28/6:27/6:31/6:26/6:31/6:24


Thursday 25th June
5 mile run
5.18m @ 8:22
"Just going for a run" are words that I once thought I would never get to utter to either of my two kids, especially when I remember back to the days when I would go to unbelievable lengths to not wake them as I was preparing to head out the door. Nowadays, they just get up whenever they like (within reason of course) and can entertain themselves while I'm out for a run. Happy days! It was a beautiful morning out too.
Liverpool FC, League Champions 2019/20


Friday 26th June
Rest day



Saturday 27th June 
5 miles @ 6:45 pace
5.01 @ 6:41
Drove up to St. Catherine's Park to do this one. It's a lovely expanse of parkland and excellent running surfaces. There's also something I quite enjoy about driving to a location for a run, something I should probably do more often.
Did a 2 mile warm up around the park, sorted the head out (no negative thoughts allowed!) and started off. With a week to go till the TT (something I've not really given a lot of thought to tbh), I knew this would be a decent marker of how I might fare on the day. As far as I know, there'll be a good crowd of socially distanced runners with the coach who'll be doing the same time trial. I know of at least three or four of them who will be aiming for the same time as me, which I reckon will be a 39:59 or thereabouts.Each loop of the route I chose was just  a little over a mile, which kind of helped mentally, knowing that the mile splits would be elapsing at different points.
Miles 1 and 2 went pretty much ok. Mile 3 felt a little sticky in parts and miles 4 and 5 kind of flew past, probably helped by the added distraction a pretty sudden downpour. Overall, felt quite good throughout and definitely felt like I had another mile in the legs. I know that running in company next week with make a big difference too.
Mile splits: 6:45/6:38/6:39/6:39/6:40


Sunday 28th June
10 miles easy 
10.03m @ 8:17 
Spent way longer than was necessary over where to do this run and in the end, settled on Griffeen Park. Possibly my longest run in here, lots of random loops, each one different from the last. Very enjoyable run.


Miles for the week - 38.5
Miles for the year - 995

So, on to Liverpool FC. Where the hell do I start? I have been a fan of this club since the tail-end of the 70's, mostly down to my namesake and idol, Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish. Needless to say, I was much too young to fully appreciate just how dominant they were at the time and it would be another few years until I was really aware of just what a force they were, both domestically and in Europe. Case in point being the '84 European Cup Final against Roma.
I was by then old enough to know that games like this one were a big deal (I was amazed that they had already won the competition on three previous occasions) and I can vividly remember snippets of the match on tv, not least Grobbelaar's wobbly legs routine during the penalty shoot-out.
These were the halcyon days of football in my eyes.

In stark contrast, Heysel the following year will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. As a 12 year old, watching that tragedy unfold on the tv screen was a sobering experience and probably one of my first experiences of witnessing football violence at its worst.
As a true football fan, there were of course the (mostly friendly and sometimes bitter) rivalries between friends who were supporters of other teams.
Names of players were scrawled across copybooks and schoolbags, replica jerseys were worn to death (some of which I still own - the original 1986 yellow Crown Paints Double-winning jersey a particular favorite) and posters of top players were pasted to bedroom walls with over-sized clumps of blu-tack or sellotape.
The Big Match on a Sunday with Brian Moore commentating was the highlight of the week. It didn't even matter who was playing but if it was Liverpool, out came the replica jersey for 90 minutes. A post-Sunday dinner bowl of ice-cream would be enjoyed at half time. Watching your favorite players in the World Cup was also a thrill. Seeing Dalglish, Hansen and Souness play for Scotland in the flesh against New Zealand at Espana '82 was about as exciting as it came back then.
The aforementioned 'double' came in '86. What a moment that was. Some glorious football played that day against the Toffees. 

And then Hillsborough happened. The sight of a desperate Liverpool supporter pleading with Grobbelaar on the pitch, mere minutes into the match, was an ominous sign. The magnitude of what followed would change Liverpool football club forever. Even as a 16 year-old, it was not difficult to be caught up in the emotion and grief that took over the city and the wider football community.
Another Merseyside derby FA Cup final was a fitting tribute to those who suffered most and in a cruel twist, the league title and another double, snatched away at the death by the Gunners.

All in all, something of a rollercoaster of an experience as a Liverpool fan. A new decade saw us back on top with a statement of intent after the heartbreak of the year before and then..........



It's ok, I'm not even going to try to analyse the last 30 years of the club's history but what I've written to this point might give you some idea of what LFC means to me.
In short, a combination of mis-management, the wrong players, inflated egos, the club's identity being compromised and some rotten luck could be used to cram it all into a nutshell.

To put things into perspective, when Alan Hansen lifted the league trophy on 1st May 1990, Madonna was number 1 in the charts with 'Vogue'. I mean, come on.
Now, after 30 years (this still blows my mind), we've finally done it. 
Clearly, not the way I would have hoped, but between August 2019 - March 2020, Liverpool produced some jaw-dropping moments on the pitch and no matter what way you look at it, it is true to say that they are deserving winners.

Well done lads. Same again next year would be nice, thanks.

Laineyfrecks

Loved reading that, especially all the Liverpool stuff! Growing up in a house full of boys all being Liverpool supporters & my dad being a huge fan, it was hard not to follow suit! Absolutely love all the old jerseys especially the candy ones! Enjoy the celebrations...I know I have been:D YNWA

ewc78

Liverpool fanatic here. Not going to lie I shed a tear Wednesday night. First memory is the 1986 Cup Final vs Everton. Was 11 the last time they won the league.
Enjoy this training log, keep it up.

OOnegative

I’m a supporter of the real Reds K(I’ll leave the stupid analogies there!!). But I’m a soccer supporter in probably the strangest sense, I have zero so called hatred towards any other club. Don’t get that side of soccer support, don’t get me wrong I’ll fcuk your crowd in and out of the ground when we play but if ye win I’ll leave it there, better team normally wins!!

I’ll say it here & wait on the abuse, it’s for the greater good of English soccer Liverpool won the league again, hugely impressive over past 18 months(2 defeats of any kind in that time). Klopp is the reason for it, I wanted him to take over from Ferguson when he retired but it wasn’t to be. Our loss, ye’re gain. Enjoy the title, well deserved.

Murph_D

Vogue was a great song. Still is. At least it wasn't Michael Bolton.

I was a West Ham fan myself (go figure), but I agree that those were the halcyon days and that was the club that represented the era. The way they knocked the ball around the pitch.

I said the other night, Juergen Klopp is a class act. And of course the players. I don't watch the game much anymore, beyond internationals, but I'm delighted for Liverpool fans. They're usually sound enough.

Congrats.

coogy

Monday 29th June
5 mile easy run
5.13m @ 8:20
Down to Griffeen for a nice relaxing few miles. Can't remember if it was raining or not. Hit the 1,000 mile mark today. Seven weeks earlier than 2019.


Tuesday 30th June
3 x 1.5k @10k pace off 90secs/3mins rec/4 x 500m @5k pace off 90 secs 
This was labelled a 'confidence booster' by the coach and thankfully, it worked a treat. Felt really good during this from start to finish. I knew even as I headed out the door that it was going to be a good session and it didn't disappoint.No walking required for the recoveries either which made me feel I was super ready for the 10k time trial.


Wednesday 1st July
6km easy/recovery run
3.75m @ 8:14
Just a few laps of the smaller of our two local parks.It was definitely raining for this one.


Thursday 2nd July 
Rest day



Friday 3rd July
Just a very brief outing to keep the legs moving. Less than 2 miles.



Saturday 4th July
10k time trial - Phoenix Park
So, the plan was to meet up with coach and a few other runners in his group over by the Hole in the Wall on the North Road.
As I drove up Chesterfield Ave, I could see one of his crew just finishing his own 10k time trial and judging by his reaction, it looked like it was a good day at the office. I would later learn that he smashed his 35 minute pb by a whopping 2 mins and 12 seconds. 
Parked up by the Papal cross and did a 2 mile warm up around the route, starting at the roundabout by the Aras, up Chesterfield Ave, right onto North Rd, right at the Hole in the Wall and back to where I started,After a few drills and stretches, the rest of the gang arrived with the coach (he was on his bike) and he went through the route with us, which was to be run in the opposite direction of what I had just done during the warm up.
The plan was for three loops and then a straight run down towards the polo grounds to finish off.  Nerves were starting to get the better of me, not helped by then learning that of the seven of us, I would be running solo ahead of the rest of the pack. Talk about pressure. 
Mile 1
Off we went up the North Road in the direction of Chesterfield Ave. I was being paced by coach on the bike for the first mile, as far as the left turn for Chesterfield Ave. It was my first time ever to be paced by someone while running solo and almost immediately, I felt under severe pressure. Pace-wise, I was careful not to overcook it at the start and was aiming for a 6:35/6:40 pace for the first mile.
The noticeable lag on the North Rd and the slight headwind were greeted with some trepidation of what was ahead but as best I could, I just kept up the pace and tried to relax.
The watch beeped and showed a mile time of 6:25. Obviously faster than I'd hoped but I was relying on the slight downhill stretch to back towards the Aras.
Mile 2
Running alone now, the pace was floating in and around the 6:23 mark and tried to ease up a little in the hope that the feeling of slowing down would help me mentally.
Already, my breathing was becoming quite laboured and, combined with a general feeling of discomfort, the doubts that I am all too familiar with appeared almost out of nowhere. Not even two miles in and I'm struggling to see how this is going to end well.
Turned left at the Aras back down towards the starting point, where mile 2 showed a pace of 6:20. What??? This was not the plan, you are going to blow up big time. 
Mile 3 
The lag back up the North Road seemed to go on forever and knowing that there was another lap yet to come filled me with dread. Every thought that entered my head now was a negative one, there was nothing to cling on to that made me think I would see this through.All this aside, I was still holding a sub-6:30 pace but holding on to it was becoming more and more of an uphill battle. The headwind, now a little stronger than before was a curse and by the time I reached Chesterfield Ave, the thoughts of stopping were now all I was thinking about. Pace for mile 3 came in at 6:39. A ominous sign if ever there was one.

Mile 4
As I made my way down Chesterfield Ave for the second time, the feeling of wanting to stop grew stronger and stronger. I was not in a good place. In the past, I have always managed to overcome this but on this occasion, it was much too great. I was really struggling now and by the time coach caught up with me on the bike, my first words were "I'm struggling, I can't do this".
Obviously, he encouraged me to keep going and to not give up but the more I ran the more I wanted to stop, I couldn't fight it any longer. And once the words " I have to stop, I'm done" were uttered, it was over. Pulled up on the grass and came to halt. Expletives filled the morning air.
After a couple of minutes of reasoning with coach and putting certain things into perspective, the others started to pass us out, some with confused looks on their faces when they saw me sitting it out.
He asked me if I wanted to pick it up again and see out the distance. I thought about it a said "ok", deciding to not worry about the pace and take the foot off the gas a little. Started off again but after less than 30 seconds I stopped again. The head was gone. Game over.
Before saying farewell to coach, he did comment on how he felt my breathing was a little heavy from the beginning and that to him, I didn't seem 100%. I admitted that I thought it might be a wise decision to wind things down a little for a couple of weeks and take a step back from training. He acknowledged that the fitness is certainly there but that it was simply a case of 'sorting the head out'.
He did suggest for me to consider taking on a 5k time trial in a week or so, to finish off on a positive note. I thought that was a good idea so will focus on that for now and then might scale things back a little. I don't think I would be able to stop running completely though.
What I feel I really need now is for the organisers of Manchester to put us out of our misery and make their official announcement one way or the other. I thrive on being in race environments, it's where I get the best out of my running and I now know that solo time trials are not my forte.
As I jogged slowly back to the car, feeling a combination of relief and sheer disappointment, I started having all these insane thoughts about what I would like to do next, running wise. Running a marathon next weekend in my local park was one of them. I was clearly not thinking straight. Ran a 2 mile cool down around by the papal cross, only to realise at the end that I hadn't started my watch. One of those days. Was sorry to see that many others who put their names forward for the time trial suffered also.     

So yes, the pride took a severe battering today but I'm hoping that in some way, I will be able to see it as a positive, in whatever form that might be in.


Miles for the week - 25
Miles for the year - 1020

Laineyfrecks

Really sorry to read this...we all know that feeling of when the head just gives up on you & there's absolutely no coming back from it. Take what you can from the run when you look back over it, learn from it & move forward!

It's mad how running can have you on a super high or when things go wrong feeling so low...
But no matter what we just keep going

healy1835

Coogy I had a similarly awful day last summer in the Frank Duffy which basically ended in me walking off the course about 7km in and just giving up. Didn't see it coming, was in great nick, but for whatever reason I didn't perform that day. That DNF is still there never too far from my thoughts. What i guaranteed myself was that it would never happen again (possible injuries aside of course).

My mate who looks after my training had me out for a 34k LR the next morning and a 5Mile race the following Saturday. Performed well in that, banished a few demons, and went on to run a decent Marathon at the end of the block. You've had a few great sessions recently and training's been going fairly well. Take yesterday on the chin, see about a 5k TT in the next couple of weeks and move on. No bother to you.

coogy

Thanks J, appreciate that.

Yes, I can remember reading your log after your Frank Duffy experience last year. I experienced a horror show of my own that day.

"Am I out of my depth?" was the one question I was continuously asking myself yesterday, during the post mortem.
Im hoping after my 5k time trial next weekend, I'll be able to answer it with a resounding NO.

coogy

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

Really sorry to read this...we all know that feeling of when the head just gives up on you & there's absolutely no coming back from it. Take what you can from the run when you look back over it, learn from it & move forward!

It's mad how running can have you on a super high or when things go wrong feeling so low...
But no matter what we just keep going

Thanks E! Yes, on reflection, plenty to take away from yesterday's experience.

coogy

Saturday 11th July
5k time trial
19:16

Sometimes, when logging details of a run - whether it's a session, a long run or a race - I can be guilty of over-analysing things that don't necessarily warrant more than a couple of lines.

So with that in mind, I thought in this particular instance it might be more appropriate to use some Hollywood-based visuals.
Hopefully these will give you a sense of what went down........

Mile 1



Mile 2


Mile 3




A PB of just over 30 seconds was the reward but that last half a mile was no joke.
Taking a week off running now while I have a think about what's next.:)

Murph_D

That’s some PB. Well done - I don’t think you have to put last week down to anything more than starting too fast and blowing up. Your man on the bike could have done a better pace job.

Congrats!

AuldManKing

That might just win 'race report of the year'.

coogy

Murph_D wrote: »

That’s some PB. Well done - I don’t think you have to put last week down to anything more than starting too fast and blowing up. Your man on the bike could have done a better pace job.

Congrats!

Thanks D, it certainly helped to put the previous week's experience to bed.

I think what I experienced more than anything that day was pure nerves and zero adrenaline.

coogy

AuldManKing wrote: »

That might just win 'race report of the year'.

Haha, thanks but to be honest, running a 5k time trial was easier. :rolleyes: