Shotgun 2020

shotgunmcos

Wed 19 Feb
Easy 9.8m @8:30ish in the pouring rain

Thing about 2x garmin 645s in the house is hers (formerly mine) takes priority to charge. Mine was on 1% last night but plugged Caz's in thinking I'd charge mine in the morning. In the rush I forgot! So straight out after a long day for a much needed wind down. It was lashing. Soaked within a mile. No toons cause no watch. No cap so it ran down my face. Then I thought, there are 2 chargers, doh! Or I could just use hers, doh!

The usual suburbia, Industrial Estate, country loop plus a lap of the park. About 1hr25 so just shy of 10 easy miles. Legs a little stiff from yesterday. Probably more from the squat jumps and lunges than the track reps. Finished the run feeling better than it started albeit utterly soaked through.

shotgunmcos

Sat 22 Feb
Run1: Steady 7.32m @7:27, hr 152, 0hr54
Run2: Easy 6.6m inc 7x15s strides, hr 143, 0hr54

Missed the last couple of days. My Mum so so lucky to survive a car accident. Had to be cut from her car after a trailer with cattle jackknifed in front of her. Airbag did its job and she is recovering.

The first run today a steady effort while my daughter did gymnastics. Lots of runners about despite the cold wind. I met a group waiting at traffic lights and we all had runner smiles. I thought about joining them but I had limited time and a route in mind. In the zone on the riverbank I nearly missed my Marathon buddy Niall running towards me. Realised in time to high five. He is doing DCM too so we plan to hook up for training for that.

Later I had to run an errand, so I ran it! The intention was a few easy suburbia miles as I had intended to do 10m earlier. It felt colder and windier. Rain clouds were gathering too. 6x strides became 7x because I lost count. The NB 1080v10s were great for tired legs. Roomy and cushioned, exactly what needed.

AuldManKing

My God - sorry to hear that - hope she recovers well.

ReeReeG

Lord, your poor Mum. Glad she's doing ok

Lazare

Jesus! Hope your Mam is ok.

Swashbuckler

God, hope she's OK man

OOnegative

Hope your Mam is ok M, scary thing to happen!!

skyblue46

Hope your mam gets over the shock and/or injuries quickly. It must have been terrifying for her.

Mr. Guappa

Hope your mum is doing ok... a traumatic experience I'm sure.

Laineyfrecks

God scary stuff! Hope your mam makes a quick recovery.

Wubble Wubble

Just seeing that now M. Speedy recovery to your mother.

shotgunmcos

Thanks all. She is ok, recovering.

Not a good week, 47.5 miles total in 6hrs 30. Only pulled the mat out once. Weight back up to 82.5kg, VO2 dropped to 55. No complaints. I got to run with people. Moving on, this week will be better. Lent approaches, an excuse to clean up the diet and say no to cake at work.

Finished "Once a Runner" by John L Parker Jnr today. Read it years ago too. Fantastic running novel.

shotgunmcos

Mon 24 Feb
Easy 12.11m @8:01 inc 6x15s strides and last mile steady, hr 137, 1hr37

Will this wind ever feic off!! :mad: Pretty undulating route this morning and it felt like a headwind was waiting at the start of each hill. First time listening to a Scullion podcast and he was talking about fighting the wind, unbeknown to itself. Even the Elites are sick of it! Still raining since last night too and the usual peace of a pre dawn run was ruined by 90 minutes of squelching. Some puddles hard to avoid in the dark too so the feet were truly soaked. I really can't wait for bright sunny mornings. Some energy in the legs because I missed a long run yesterday. I plugged in some strides and finished the last mile in 6:49. Had some weetabix and fruit in hot milk with the kids before we all rushed out the door. Still hungry...

Lent starts Wednesday. Simple things. Cut out sugar, more protein, more water, more sleep.

shotgunmcos

Tue 25 Feb
Intervals 3x6min off 60sec, 13.33m total, max hr 181, 1hr41

Looking forward to the reducing bloating feeling over the next week. Basically gluttony the last 2 weeks. That changes. The Nutella put to the back of the press beneath jars for hibernation. Felt lumpy setting out after work. An immediate hail shower. A light one though that felt sort of good. The first mile quite enjoyable crunching the fresh carpet of hail. Also felt good to be running out of the Industrial park instead of crawling the mile out in traffic at 2mph.

I had an hour before the track session. The clouds temporarily parted for a pleasant couple of miles up through Monaleen. Traffic was mental everywhere and I'm really considering run commutes. At 3 miles I had a choice to retrace my steps or tackle the climb over the golf links road hill. I opted for the hill en route back to UL. The skies quickly darkened to lash some angry showers.

Good turnout again despite the weather. Short exercise routine with some strides. Too cold for that stuff. The plan was 3x6min threshold off 60sec.

Rep 1: 6mins @6:01 pace.
Good pace but with a minute walking rest I felt I had to steady up a bit.
Rep 2: 6mins @6:17 pace.
Small group lapping together in a controlled effort. On lap 2 as the effort bit down, I had an urge to step off the track. Not sure why but it sure helped to have a body in front of me to focus on slowly catching instead.
Rep 3: 6mins @6:17 pace.
Happy with this. Well into red zone but held the pace with a little in the tank. I resisted the urge to sprint the last bend, satisfied with the work. 17 mins in the red zone and body good. Another hard but fun social club session.

Short cool down to the car. My hands were so cold I could barely steer. The windows fogged up from my body head, not that I felt warm.

shotgunmcos

Wed 26 Feb
Run 1: Easy 5.04m @8:51, hr 139, 44:34
Run 2: Easy 5.04m @8:15, hr 138, 41:37

A pair of commutes that the Garmin 645m measured exactly the same! The run to work, no wind! A heavier bag than necessary with lap top and shoes. I'll learn. Since I wasn't wincing into a wind I noticed the snow capped hills as I passed the gridlock. The run home a bit quicker for same effort. Cake again in work today but avoided the temptation. The hills had really thawed during the day. The flooded field and riverbank hadn't receded though. I could see shower around the sky but lucky to get home dry. Stiff calves and quads need rolling.

shotgunmcos

Thu 27 Feb
Steady 8m @7:23, no hr, 59min

Some nice fresh miles on a crisp calm evening. Dropped my eldest to the rugby pitch and immediately headed off. My watch was charging in the car but not enough juice yet. 1.5m to get out of the country into a 5m loop of suburbia. I felt great. Chilly at first but soon warmed up. No idea what my pace was so it was great to just run. No pace alerts on the headphones. I focused on a good cadence. I had planned some MP miles but no watch so I'll do those tomorrow. I kept the pace fresh to ensure I got back to the car in time. Made it just as he finished his session. Enjoyable run.

OOnegative

Easy@7.23

7.23 is Easy?

shotgunmcos

OOnegative wrote: »

Easy@7.23

7.23 is Easy?

No, typo. Steady. Typos are easy lol

shotgunmcos

Fri 28 Feb
4m Easy, 4m @HMP, 3m Easy
11.09m total, hr 147/171, 1hr22

So nice all day for a run. Alas miserable by the time I got out. Really miserable wind and rain. Dark and miserable. Did I mention it was miserable?! 23mins in and already soaked, I hit a runners low. A while back I had a runners high. This felt like a sudden depletion of energy. Breathing out of control. Short breaths. I stopped for couple of mins and battled the demon telling me to walk home. Motivation under the earth. Excuse list running down my mind like a tattered grey scroll unfolding. Legs refusing to move. Not caring about the rain...

Then I snapped out of it. Controlled my breathing with some long deep breaths. Stopped a couple of more times over the next mile but crucially left it longer each time. Mile 4 finished to indicate time to work. 4 miles tempo. Just do it!

Splits: 6:39, 6:16, 6:17, 6:24

The first mile practically head first into the wind. But then some calm. Running along at 5k pace but HM effort. Out of the Industrial Park, onto the wide open road and greeted again by the wind and rain for a half mile. Heart rate quickened. I set a mini goal to get to the next roundabout and I'd have shelter for much of the last mile. It was a tough mile but felt good to complete the work. Easy miles home not caring about the rain anymore. I was soaked through. Shoes again soaked. I ran past that spot again, right over that demon, not stopping to look.

shotgunmcos

Tue 03 Mar
Easy 12.36m @8:00, hr 137, 1hr39

Late post, late run. Midnight run around town. Lovely crisp chilly calm night. Quite enjoyed the serenity. Missed the last few days but wont get annoyed about it. Life and work happened. I had to be uber organised to run and I wasn't. 244 miles total for February was ok. Better than last year but not as good consistency. I need to rope that back in. 2 months to get in Half Marathon shape. 82kg is not it. Will target a sub 20 Parkrun and 10k time trial by the end of the month. I have an IMRA Half Marathon coming up mid month too for some offload mountain fun.

shotgunmcos

Wed 04 Mar
Run 1: Easy 5.01m @8:56, hr 134, 44min
Run 2: Progression 5.02m @7:39, hr 143, 38min

A pair of commutes. This morning woke a tad groggy from the late run. No time for brekkie, had to be in early. Bag heavier than necessary again. Laboured effort going up hills under the odd heavy drop of rain. Even at a slow pace I passed a bus and made it a mile before it passed me again. If I do this regularly I'm going to have to look into a better bag than my lap top bag. I have 30L adventure backpacks but a bit more than I need.

A full day cooped up in a workshop and delighted to feel the sun and a cool breeze on my cheek. Much lighter bag as I could leave stuff in work. I felt tired and hungry and just wanted to get home. After a first plodding mile I felt the need to push on to a steadier effort to avoid further plod and form falling apart. It ended up being a progressive effort and finished sweaty. Miles 8:26, 7:46, 7:44, 7:25, 6:57. Greeted at the door by excited kids just back from swimming. I forgot to turn off the watch and recorded another 15 mins of me eating! 3 runs in 19 hours. Sleep needed..

shotgunmcos

Fri 06 Mar
Run 1: Easy 5.01m @8:15, hr 136, 41min
Run 2: Progression 5.02m @7:26, hr 141-165, 37min

Yesterday ran away from me. It was supposed to be a session. Gotta let these go. A pair of commutes today. Nice easy tailwind in this morning, felt good despite a belly full of breakfast. Progression miles home. Tried to drop 20sec pace every mile. Nice weather (compared to lately), but mostly headwind. Backpack was light but bouncing around and I found the undulating route tough. It's been a long work week too so generally a bit fatigued.
Miles 8:12, 7:47, 7:28, 7:06, 6:36

shotgunmcos

Tue (technically Wed) 10 Mar
Easy 12.16m @8:03, hr 132, 1hr37

Bit of a mad run to get back on track after missing too many days for my liking. Some will have seen the time stamp on Strava
2am! Basically I had a migraine yesterday and crashed into bed straight after putting the kids down about 8pm. I woke up at 1am feeling fresh but couldn't get back to sleep. I was still mentally in "yesterday" so I decided to go for a run. It was bliss. Calm, dry and a superb bright blue moon lighting up the empty roads ahead of me.

I ran on roads I could never dream of during normal hours. It was like running on closed roads, or what running on Italian roads must be like recently. No risk of Covid19 out here, hardly another soul about. Ran on the line dividing main roads, laughing out load to parts of a podcast. No wind! A peaceful run and I had bags of energy. I only have the heart rate field on the watch for easy runs and kept it under 140hr. Yet the miles were steady 8 minutes or slightly better. 12 miles banked still feeling good and I was back in bed for 4am for 3 hours before the kids dragged me out of it Yawning now though...

sideswipe

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Tue (technically Wed) 10 Mar
Easy 12.16m @8:03, hr 132, 1hr37

Bit of a mad run to get back on track after missing too many days for my liking. Some will have seen the time stamp on Strava
2am! Basically I had a migraine yesterday and crashed into bed straight after putting the kids down about 8pm. I woke up at 1am feeling fresh but couldn't get back to sleep. I was still mentally in "yesterday" so I decided to go for a run. It was bliss. Calm, dry and a superb bright blue moon lighting up the empty roads ahead of me.

I ran on roads I could never dream of during normal hours. It was like running on closed roads, or what running on Italian roads must be like recently. No risk of Covid19 out here, hardly another soul about. Ran on the line dividing main roads, laughing out load to parts of a podcast. No wind! A peaceful run and I had bags of energy. I only have the heart rate field on the watch for easy runs and kept it under 140hr. Yet the miles were steady 8 minutes or slightly better. 12 miles banked still feeling good and I was back in bed for 4am for 3 hours before the kids dragged me out of it Yawning now though...

Taking social distancing to a whole new level!

shotgunmcos

Wed 11 Mar
Easy 12.11m @8:41, hr 129, 1hr44

In contrast to the last run, this was cold, wet and windy. I figured to try and entertain myself I'd try and list something I noticed about each mile.
Mile 1: Different people crossing the road from Aldi with bags and bags of bog roll. Seriously, why all the bog roll?
Mile 2: A huge puddle/pond blocking the path. I skirted around it on sodden grass, getting my shoes as wet as if I had run through it.
Mile 3: 3 lads in black tracksuit, black hoodies, black shoes and white socks, walking arm in arm sharing a doobie.
Mile 4: The rain stopped but the entire mile was into a merciless bitter headwind.

Mile 5: As I approached town I noticed the crazy light show on the trees outside the lock bar. Then the reflection from the water on the road beneath it. I then noticed it was actually the river. The arches of the bridge were almost hidden. I ran over the bridge, around the Island and down the bank from the Treaty Stone. The whole walkway was submerged. The tide had swelled more than I've ever seen it. The city flood defenses were just about holding. Water was above the level of the road in parts but the old city walls holding it. City riverside residents were out taking pictures.

Mile 6: Ahh that awful wind behind me chilling my exposed neck. Rows of daffodils lining the approach to the bridge leaning away from the wind I leaned into. I noticed the river creeping up to the rowing club's door beneath the bridge.
Mile 7: Passed a young couple holding onto their hoods and each other for dear life. They shrieked as a bitter gust blew them and me sideways into a wall.
Mile 8: A road I usually run blocked off. Either run through it or add more miles to get around it. The next 5 minutes were stepping through a building site in pitch darkness. The ankles survived.

Mile 9: Hungry. Passed within 200m of my house and longed for the shepards pie I had made, sitting in the oven.
Mile 10: Goddam wind! I passed the hospital and no more than 200m from Covid19. The isolated cases within. Scary thoughts.
Mile 11: Hungry and tired but yay a tailwind pushing me down the road closer to home.
Mile 12: The Garmin died. I realised I did not meet a single other runner. Was I the only eegit running in that blasted bitter wind?!

shotgunmcos

Thu 12 Mar
Easy 10.04m @8:22, 1hr24

D day. A day we will remember. Hopefully the right thing at the right time. Working from home for the foreseeable. I forgot something small so ran back to get it. Legs a bit heavy. Weather a bit crap. Everything cancelled. I was supposed to run the IMRA Knockmeldowns Half Marathon with Career_Move on Saturday. The GLR half was the next goal, to set a benchmark. Moved tentatively to the start of October. A goal this year is DCM so it could be a good tune up.

Fri 13 Mar
Steady 11.97m @7:53, hr 138 1hr34

It felt like a Friday the 13th kinda run. I ran across town to the University campus and Castletroy. Eerily empty. I was running on the road like it was 5am, not 8pm. It was a day of it. Working at home with a 3 and 5 year old thinking its holidays and the rain falling the whole day. My wife cant work from home so its the short straw for me. Sucked that I couldn't give the kids all the attention they wanted. Logged off, collected the teenager and then 2hrs mad playtime. Was in decent mood for a run but the headphones died after 2 minutes. I then realised it was wet and dreary. Started easy but hills were an effort. The legs fatigued. Might be a good opportunity to drop back to base training for a few weeks. Focus on building mileage, strengthen the core etc..

shotgunmcos

Sun 15 Mar
12.45m Progression. 4x (1m easy/1m steady/1m MP), hr149-170, 1hr36

Ooh body aches. Lovely sunny evening. Caz and the kids were out on a trail at the back of the house. Just a half mile in and I stopped to pass a rugby ball around. Lots out walking. Then got going. Right side sore. Yesterday we were mucking about on a track racing the kids in the rain. I was racing my eldest when I stepped on the grass on the 2nd bend. Foot slid under me and I hopped off the ground. He looked back and smiled so I hopped up, caught him by the end of the straight and toasted myself around the last bend. Great fun but quads also stiff from that effort.

With no immediate race to aim at or even a plan. I made up a session and really enjoyed it. Simple. Easy mile, steady mile, MP mile and repeat the sequence 4 times.
8:00, 7:27, 6:46, 7:58, 7:20, 6:43, 7:52, 7:21, 6:41, 8:06, 7:18, 6:39.

Overall a good session but finished just as sore as I started. Overall 63.73 miles in 8hr32 in a weird week. Whatever about events, they will be back. I just hope everyone keeps running. From the Strava feed it looks like that's just the case. Possibly even more fun or relief from the constrict of a plan. Plenty of good ideas going around. I'm reading those instead of the ridiculous debate on the main forum. I'll likely come back to base and spice it up with the odd session. If, and hopefully if, we are still running outside, I like the idea of a time trial over 5-10k.

Edit: Another weird thing. Everytime I refresh boards it takes me back to 11 years ago. My first log. When Krusty Clown was aiming for a sub 40 10k. I haven't cleared my cache just yet as the nostalgia is great!

healy1835

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Sun 15 Mar
12.45m Progression. 4x (1m easy/1m steady/1m MP), hr149-170, 1hr36

Ooh body aches. Lovely sunny evening. Caz and the kids were out on a trail at the back of the house. Just a half mile in and I stopped to pass a rugby ball around. Lots out walking. Then got going. Right side sore. Yesterday we were mucking about on a track racing the kids in the rain. I was racing my eldest when I stepped on the grass on the 2nd bend. Foot slid under me and I hopped off the ground. He looked back and smiled so I hopped up, caught him by the end of the straight and toasted myself around the last bend. Great fun but quads also stiff from that effort.

With no immediate race to aim at or even a plan. I made up a session and really enjoyed it. Simple. Easy mile, steady mile, MP mile and repeat the sequence 4 times.
8:00, 7:27, 6:46, 7:58, 7:20, 6:43, 7:52, 7:21, 6:41, 8:06, 7:18, 6:39.

Overall a good session but finished just as sore as I started. Overall 63.73 miles in 8hr32 in a weird week. Whatever about events, they will be back. I just hope everyone keeps running. From the Strava feed it looks like that's just the case. Possibly even more fun or relief from the constrict of a plan. Plenty of good ideas going around. I'm reading those instead of the ridiculous debate on the main forum. I'll likely come back to base and spicy it up with the odd session. If, and hopefully if, we are still running outside, I like the idea of a time trial over 5-10k.

Edit: Another weird thing. Everytime I refresh boards it takes me back to 11 years ago. My first log. When Krusty Cown was aiming for a sub 40 10k. I haven't cleared my cache just yet as the nostalgia is great!

Lot's of stuff resonating with me there Mike. Since my marathon has gone off the table, running has felt a lot easier. No stress about running 2:40 something or constantly asking myself how fit I am, how fresh I am, how likely am I to hit my goal. Just heading out and running feels essential the way things are right now. Maybe we could pick a few dates in the the next couple of months and aim for a Boards Tine Trial Event or something. Just a bit of craic to give people a little target to keep sharp for. 5k,5miles,10k whatever.

Lambay island

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Edit: Another weird thing. Everytime I refresh boards it takes me back to 11 years ago.

I'm getting that too on training logs.

Swashbuckler

Ten miles into my long run this morning I saw a bandana cast aside on the road. Thought of you. Carried on.

shotgunmcos

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Ten miles into my long run this morning I saw a bandana cast aside on the road. Thought of you. Carried on.

I do duck into a ditch for nature calls but usually dont mark the spot!

shotgunmcos

Mon 16 Mar
Easy 10.77m @8:31, hr 131, 1hr31

Nice day outside with the kids. My little girl cycling without stabilizers for the first time with a huge proud smile on her face. Of course the latest weather front moved in for a dreary, wet and windy plod. Joanna Donnelly assures us of some nice running conditions this week. Bring it on. My right quad was tight and reluctant and the miles seemed to take forever. A few runners out and we all grinned at each other. I did a loop of the park and an older lady in a bright pink jacket and bright pink shoes grinned at me. I wore a bright green jacket. Easy to spot us in the greyness of it all. We both gave 2 fingers to this Virus. Won't stop us runners!

shotgunmcos

Lá Fhéile Pádraig
Easy 11.92m @7:53, hr 136, 1hr33

My right quad was unhappy again today despite a fun day running around after the kids. Feels like Christmas at home only without the festive stresses. Quite lovely family time actually. 4 way WhatsApp and the local community doing indoor Paddies Day stuff and putting up on the community WattsApp for a giggle. No break in the rain either so really wasnt bothered. Checked Strava and saw people going for runs around the block, 2 miles out and back etc.. Just tipping away.

Ok a couple of miles. It was late anyway. Straight away the quad gave out. Just a dead spot in the belly of it. The roller should find it. 3 miles done and I stopped at the top of the Childers road. Eerily quiet junction to the Dublin road. I took forever to decide not to turn back. Ran through the University campus again and stopped again to fix my earphones. I could nearly hear my heart beat in the silence. It was wet and cold and again I had to convince myself to get going again. Through an empty Industrial Park and down the Dublin road again. Its Paddies night. The students ought to be falling arm in arm across the road singing. Instead the odd dark walker or couple of walkers ghost along wet paths. Eerie it was. Finished hungry.

Happy to see some other log updates. Community will get us through this. Our online running community more important than ever. It might be hard to self motivate but just enjoy whatever running you can. Post anything. A 2 mile plod. It doesnt matter. We wont have the exciting race reports or PBs to read about for a while so a few words to let us know you are running goes a long way.

Laineyfrecks

I agree 100%, although it might seem trivial I think updating logs and reading them is a good distraction given everything that's going on!

shotgunmcos

Wed 18 Mar
Easy Easy 8.26m @8:20, hr 131, 1hr09

Early one. Thankfully the rain had eased off. I thought it would be colder and overdressed. Took it nice and easy. The right glute still unhappy but the easy effort loosened it somewhat. I encountered 2 other runners on the route around town. A girl in a pink Jacket far enough ahead that I wasn't tempted to chase. She crossed a road at lights and headed off in a different direction. Distraction gone. As I approached the lights a lad in a bright yellow jacket crossed in front of me. I turned left as intended and was about 10m behind him. I seemed to instantly match his pace and my base heart rate of 140 was good. It started to creep up though.

I backed off a little and it came back down. He pulled away so gradually that a quick stride would have caught me up but I was adamant that this was a base run. Takes a bit of discipline to stay in the base zone. I'm going to do a 5k base test as soon as the quad is good and check it again every 100 miles or so. When I hit a certain benchmark I'll change it a Marathon effort 5k base test.

shotgunmcos

Fri 20 Mar
Progression 7.17m @7:15, hr 149/171, 52mins

What a fantastic morning! Glorious calm air and blue sky. Instantly forgot about all the dark, wet and windy miles. The ones with hailstones sweeping across your cheek like tiny knife edges. I had a short window before Caz left for work so thought I'd have fun with a progression run. Start easy and drop about 20 secs per mile.

Actual miles: 8:18, 7:56, 7:36, 7:17, 6:58, 6:33, 6:06

The first mile felt awful. My legs felt like there were wading through invisible mud. Just sleepy. I certainly need longer to warm up these days. The quad was behaving itself after a day off yesterday. Each step mile I surged too quickly and had to settle to the pace. I'll learn. Overall it felt comfortable up to 7min pace then the work started for the last 2 miles, which averaged better than my last Parkrun PB. I wont do many sessions while I'm developing the base again so I'll savour the opportunities to fly a little. I wore the Beacon 2s as I hadn't originally planned progression until I was out the door. They handled the run no problem but I'd prefer faster shoes on that last mile.

WFH day 4.
I've scheduled in "Zoe reading", "Mowing the lawn", "Zoe writing/math", "Kids bikes/trampoline" as meetings in my diary

shotgunmcos

Fri 20 Mar (2)
Easy Easy 7.53m @8:38, hr 132, 1hr05

A few more miles to get out of the house. I was watching the red sunset with the kids wanting to be running. Lovely day with the kids. Local broadband connection issues meant work was replaced with the sound of laughter and the smell of cut grass. We forgot about "the virus" as my kids call it. They are taking it more seriously than some of these stupid, ignorant groups I see mulling about corners. Unfortunately it was brought right back to me on a happy WattsApp video call with my Mum. Still recovering from the car accident a few weeks ago, walking alone on a rocky beach. She was collecting stones for the kids to colour. Lots of ideas how she will get them to us and how we will return them with colour and love. The best bit was Zoe spotting a stone the shape of a bear at the waters edge. Shouted at my Mum to run because there was a bear on the beach! Lol

Despite the laughter, I saw sadness in her eyes and I felt it. When we get to hug her again, we are not letting go. Until then the approved idea was that she would come down the side of the house and throw the stones to the kids from the garden. We will plonk and chat a distance apart while the kids get colouring.

The run passed mulling much of this over. I kept it very easy, capped hr on hills, about 9min pace. Lots of folk out walking or running, it almost felt normal. I guess it is, will be, a new normal everyday. I finished the last mile fast at 6:38 pace because I just felt like it.

shotgunmcos

Sat 21 Mar
Base 11.21m @7:56, hr 134, 1hr29

Not a soul to be seen for the first hour. I had to be done early enough to get down to Zoe's school for 8. Collecting her school books from rows of book bundles on the gym floor, with the masked Principle giving direction, was eerie.

The roads were quiet and it was pretty peaceful miles. I looped the outside of town practically in the middle of the road. The Easterly wind yesterday more like the prevailing SW. Rain clouds were gathering. A few solitary folk about by the time I got back into town.

Done by 7:30. Muesli and OJ before I collected the books. Poached eggs on avocado on brown soda afterwards. Washed down with ginger and lemon tea. Also had a mango, passionfruit and coconut smoothie cold from the fridge overnight. Quite the epic and tasty breakfast!

shotgunmcos

Sun 22 Mar
Fartlek: 6x 1m easy/1m at 10k effort, max hr 178, 13.4m total in 1hr38

Picked an undulating route for this so some reps started downhill or with the wind, others the opposite. The reps were 6:34, 6:17, 6:26, 6:13, 6:16, 6:22. The first 2 were good, then it was tough. Managed to run easy at 8-8:30 between but should have brought it down to 9min pace. I will when this becomes a session with shorter recoveries. Gorgeous day for it, if a little chilly and breezy. The last rep was mostly into a breeze with the final 2mins uphill. Felt smashed afterwards but not speed session smashed. A solid 20mins in the red zone.
Easy base for the next few days.

It was another impromptu session. An excuse to wear the Boston 7s. Tough but enjoyed it. No chance to relax either. Straight out with the kids, running after the bikes! The quad felt fine so I'll do the first base (capped Z2 hr) 5k test this week.

70.25 miles total for a strange week.

shotgunmcos

Mon 23 Mar
Easy 10.77m @8:58, hr 126, 1hr36

Caught the last of the light. Long day. I wasn't bothered but the legs were tired from last week and I figured a recovery run was needed. Steps way down working from home. Sooo many walkers out, hugging the edges of footpaths, actually stopping to let runners pass. This was slow so felt like forever. The saddest thing is seeing empty green grass where kids usually kick ball. Or people standing outside front windows speaking to neighbors or loved ones through a pane of glass. I ran a route where I'd expect to see walker in the evening anyway so it seemed sort of normal at times. I read on some logs these easy runs are described as "vanilla". If thats the case, this was like eating vanilla ice cream with a blocked nose on a cold day. Totally meh!

shotgunmcos

Tue 24 Mar
Easy 3m with my little girl

Zoe learned how to cycle on 2 wheels last week. Already she is cycling up and down a closed road at the back of our house. It's a half mile stretch so handy if full lockdown happens. I felt a bit wrecked but her sheer joy of independence and speed gave me energy.

Wed 25 Mar
Easy Long Run 14.1m @8:10, hr 137, 1hr55

Just felt great running and ran a bit longer than planned. Lovely calm starry evening. Mild and quiet. Overall people respecting social distancing. However pods of wreckless young lads and some students dont seem to care. Worst I saw was a half full supermacs. I though supermacs were suppose to close?

Scary moment today. Was playing with the kids on the trampoline. Lovely sunny spring day. After 20mins I got out for a work meeting but felt very disoriented. Then quesy and my breath shortened. Pins and needles up my arms and face. I recognised it straight away and got the ventolin inhaler at the onset of an asthma attack. It would have been #3 in as many years but I caught it. Thankfully avoiding a trip to a risky A&E. I think I just appreciated being fit and healthy on the run. It was quite enjoyable.

shotgunmcos

Thu 26 Mar
Easy 30min Rowing Machine, hr 135

Chance to run scuppered when I rolled over and turned off the alarm. Caz at the front line so long day working from home with 2 tots. Zoe my 5yo in fairness gets it. Evan my 3yo is just a boy. Destructive when bored. Nice out so they were in and out of the garden. I prioritized a Friday morning run over late tonight. Substituted an easy row outside for an easy run. While I kept the hr capped at 140hr, the effort in general was more that running. Happy to get something done, outside and the rower dusted off for more use. I would have preferred to be out running in a tee like some mentioned on Strava but we do what we can.

shotgunmcos

Fri 27 Mar
AM: PE with Joe 30mins
PM: 30mins easy rowing machine, hr 135
PM: Easy 7.22m inc a 3min hill surge & 6x15s strides

So, many small laps it is for 2 weeks...

The morning S&C was funny and sweaty. Funny cause the kids were trying to work out each of the 20x30s exercises, involving teddies and telling me their heart was beating out their neck! Sweaty cause I wore a jumper and tracksuit, underestimated the session and sweated buckets with early sun baking me through the window.

The row was outside in the sunshine as the kids had a nap.

The run was after the went to bed. Capped hr for 5 miles, then surged up a long 3min drag. With 10min to go I threw in a set of strides and really got up on the toes. 95% effort sprints for the last 3. Enjoyed opening the legs. Overall a bit stiff from the row yesterday so a bit looser after this, last wonder around suburbia for a few weeks anyway. Stay safe everyone. Dont take the risks. Just run loops and put up with it.

shotgunmcos

Sat 28 Mar
Easy capped hr 10.05m @8:10, hr 134, 1hr22

Dark, quiet start this morning before the kids rose. I hadn't looked at route options within 2km yet so chose easy loops of the South Circular Road. Each loop 2km. I had planned a base 5k test but no point since the whole run was capped and loops. Felt a bit stiff from the S&C yesterday. The long slight gradient side was into a chilly north easterly and I had to focus to the effort to keep it in zone. My heart rate would drop 5-10bpm on the sheltered SCC side staying in zone easily. Still felt stiff finishing 8 laps and realised it was glute DOMs.

I've since checked the 2km radius map and have plenty of options for routes within. All good in the hood.

shotgunmcos

Sun 29 Mar
Long Run inc 4x2m HMP
15.37m @7:23, hr wrist based and spiky, 1hr53

Planned this carefully to stay within the radius. I managed 11.5 miles without crossing over myself. That loop involved 2 out and backs though. The first a hidden one under a bridge, up a short country hill to emerge with a fantastic view over the South of the city. The next one I was delighted that the furthest pier from the city was just inside the perimeter. It's the point where you can look left right back down the Shannon to the city or right towards the Estuary.

It was lovely and sunny but the wind was cold. The difference between the bitter headwind and cool tailwind was significant. After the 11 mile loop I ran back into town and meandered around the People's Park for a while before a tailwind home. Overall a good but tough long run. The work was solid ranging 6:39 to 7:00 pace and average 6:50.

61.5 miles total this week plus an hour of rowing and an hour of S&C.

shotgunmcos

Mon 30 Mar
Easy Easy Compliant 7.11m @8:52, hr 126, 1hr03
S&C PE with Joe Wicks 28mins
10 full chin ups
20min stretching

A gap in the day, the kids at play, time to make hay. I found a nice short bit of country road with a hill. It connects the smelly Dock Road and Fr Russell Road that cuts through suburbia. I like it, but not the mile of smelly old Industrial Dock Road to get to it. Alas it's part of the loop for now. As I got to the cycle/walkway at the back of my house I met Caz and the kids. Zoe raced me in her bike, giving it all she had. Sunny day, sunny smiles.

The chin ups was max effort. Not bad but not good either.

The S&C was another sweaty session with JW. 3 mins warm up then 2 sets of 10 reps 30s on/off. Generous recovery to explain the next exercise to kids. It was needed though, the burn!

shotgunmcos

Tue 31 Mar
Easy 11.93m @8:02, hr 134, 1hr35
26 push ups

I did intend to do yoga too. I have a nice Manduka yoga mat that I should be using often. Alas the kids decided to use it as part of a mattress to sleep on the floor tonight. We had survived a massive DefCon tantrum already so left it alone. It was epic. An hour and a half of wrestling, running, soccer, frisbee, trampoline and they were wrecked. Evan, my 3 year old managed to kick the ball over the net into the trampoline earlier. Now, red faced, 3rd wind and wanted to show Mommy. 30-40 efforts later and some crossbar efforts and he was not giving up. For a finish Caz volleyed a kick into the net with her hand and he launched. Burned every ounce of energy he had left in a 2 minute explosion. Most impressive one I've seen yet. He especially loved that it was suddenly bed time and the hour forward made it still daylight! The joys!

26 push up was my S&C challenge one time effort.

The run was at 7am. Meandered around the radius in glorious still chilly morning sunshine. It was enjoyable but also felt odd. I didn't feel the restrictions meeting runners along the Condell Road. I'd see someone ahead stepping onto the grass verge for a runner on the path while I took the road to give both space, or vice versa. Polite distancing. Around 8am the town got a bit busy with cars and some people walking in to work or getting exercise. I felt conscious of the looks from walkers and motorists alike. It didn't bother me so much as to want to run a bit earlier when it's even quieter.

The other perspective of feeling the restriction was that it was such a lovely morning. The kind I love to run along the riverbank, out country roads or around the outskirts of the city. All out of reach within my urban 2km radius. Just a little sad that I couldn't run where I want but simultaneously fully respecting the reasons and appreciating the freedom we do have to run.

The last bit about the radius is lots of hills. Not big ones just lots of them. I dont mind some undulating for the 5k TT in a few weeks, just not heavy hills. I bit of exploring to do. It may just well be the loop around my own house. About 2km and one short sharp hill.

Swashbuckler

Is the industrial estate not within your radius?

shotgunmcos

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Is the industrial estate not within your radius?

No need to turn into Raheen just after the hospital. Ballycummin road off limits. Going to do a 5k base test tomorrow so I'll suss out a spot

shotgunmcos

Wed 1 Apr
Easy 11.53m inc 5k base aerobic test, hr 131, 1hr35

So what is a base test? I was asked on Strava. Base fitness is that underlying aerobic foundation upon which you build your plans. Like a period of easy winter miles only longer, building mileage at a capped heart rate. After a few easy miles a 5k capped in a tightened Z2, 130-140hr and capped at 140hr, 75%max or 85%LTHR. Try and stay as close to the cap but controlling it.

I was exploring a route for a 5k TT and settled on an undulating one with a slightly faster GAP. I started at my house and the first half mile was a gentle incline. Focus on the 140hr cap very soon. If it touched 141hr I eased a little. 2 more bumps like that and done in 24:05 avg heart rate 139. The whole point is to mark that and do it periodically. Progress = faster 5k for same heart rate. It's easy but needs control.

10 struggling chin ups was as far as the S&C effort got today. Challenging day 15 WFH.