Just Do It

Lambay island

Monday 6 miles @8.33

Tuesday
AM 6.80@8.07
There seemed to be a gap in the weather so this turned out to be a pleasant skip into work. I was thinking my luck was in.
PM 6.80@8.35
This on the other hand was an absolute sh1t show of a storm i got caught in. The wind was mostly into my face along with a few cross winds that made me almost stumble. The rain that accompanied the wind was fierce and a some stages it was sore. In a strange way, I perversely kind of enjoyed it though.



Wednesday 8x800 metres @ 5.45 approx 2.50 mins reps
2 mile warmup in and around Marlay park. Due to the majority of my runs been early before work, I'm squeezing as many as I can in the park at the min. I think come September, it will be shorter opening hours so will need to revert to previous session venues.
Reps were
2.59
2.48
2.49
2.48
2.48
2.50
2.46
2.47
I seemed to be just getting to grips with pace on the first one. I remember thinking, I better up the game a bit here. The last one I was losing form and it was more of a push. As L had commented when giving me the session, the recoveries at 3 mins were generous. I was grateful for them though. 2mile cooldown to finish it off.


Thursday 6.30 miles@8.37
Nothing too memorable from the run itself. I've been having heel issues for the last few week. From reading about the symptoms etc, I'm fairly sure I have some form of plantar fascitis unfortunately. There seems to be plenty of experience of it around these parts. After some direction from B and further advice from L, I have incorporated some new exercises into daily routine here with massage ball, heel drops etc.


Friday 7miles @8.13
Debated giving the heel a rest here but put on the cushioned fuel cells to lessen the impact.


Saturday 19miles@7.14
This consisted of a 2 mile warmup and 2 miles cooldown. 15 miles progression in between with 5 miles@7.20, 5 miles @7.00, 5 miles@6.45
I knew it was going to be tricky when I saw the plan. I didn't realise at that stage that my legs were going to be as tired as they were, not to mention the PF issue. I had also been woken by kids on a couple of occasions during the night.

Anyway in general, I was happy with this, although the 5 miles at 6.45, my legs were becoming more like jelly. I had to dig deep. I was lucky there were not many climbs on the route at this stage, as I wouldn't have been able to progress if there were. These 5 miles were 6.47,6.41,6,47,6.43,6.37
I was happy to stop for a min there to get some water on board before shuffling home for the last 2 miles cool down. There was definitely a nip in the air early that morning,which after 19 miles resulted in one or my own nips drawing blood. Fun times. Kinesio tape will be used for next long run.


Sunday 7.23miles@8.40
I was probably only going to do 40-45 mins easy here but after 10 mins up in Marlay I met my 2 'runner uncles' on their 18km run. I joined them for about a half hour natter and made the time fly by for me. My uncle at 67 is/was still doing sub 20 parkruns prior to covid. By the looks of things, I'm sure he will continue to do that when they come back.



69.6 miles for week

---

who knows if I'll get to run any form of a marathon but sure I'll be in decent shape anyway

Swashbuckler

800s at 10k pace are very easily underestimated.

Fuelcell rebel or echo?

Lambay island

Fuecell TC - Newer marathon training/race shoe

Swashbuckler

Of course! Sorry completely forgot the TC

Lambay island

Monday 5 Miles @8.17
Just an easy 40 minutes mainly on grass

Tuesday 6.6 Miles @ 7.59 (6x 20 sec strides)
Just a local loop finishing up with the strides in Marlay.I felt the niggling PF a bit here so worked through the exercises shortly after.

Wednesday AM - 2 Mile warm up/2 Miles@6.00/3 min Jog/6*90seconds@5.30/2 Mile Cooldown
This is a session that L had me down for a few weeks ago too.It was a familiar one to me. The plan this week is more of a consolidating week with the heel issues but also suits me for a few other reasons that I'll mention below. In terms of this run, I was happy how this went. I felt pretty strong throughout despite the rain giving me a fair beating. I was practicing my Jonathan Edwards too with plenty of puddles about.

PM - 3.11 Miles @8.42
This was just a evening trot around the local pitches to see how the body was and keep the miles ticking.

Thursday 8.05 miles@8.24
This run incorporated 3 of the of local parks. Nothing too exciting here,avoided the rain.

Busy week this week, with young lad starting school and my wife back to work(in education). It wasn't the Ideal time to get a call at start of week from contact Tracers to tell me I was deemed to be a close contact of a covid case, but sure that is what happened. I have been restricting my movements since the start of the week, but luckily I was allowed exercise once I was on my own and 2 metres away from anyone else. As I expected, I got the all clear tonight but not a comfortable few days.

Comic Book Guy

Does your training plan incorporate any type of TT in advance of the marathon?

Lambay island

Comic Book Guy wrote: »

Does your training plan incorporate any type of TT in advance of the marathon?

Nothing specifically planned J that I'm aware of, but it can be added at any stage. I'm kind of waiting to see what happens with Galway(oct 3rd). If that gets the bullet, I am also signed up for a marathon a few weeks later so that purgatory period could work for a 10 mile TT perhaps.

Lambay island

Friday 7.72 miles@7.50
Mid morn run around the perimeter and amongst the trails of Marlay. Followed up by 6x20 seconds strides trying to concentrate on form.

Saturday 19miles@7.12
2miles w/u, 5x(2,1) 2 was 6.40 and 1 was 7.40..2 miles cooldown. L had me doing the x4 version of this a few week's back. For whatever reason, I had it in my head it was the same session. It wasn't until afterwards, I copped it was a longer harder session. Probably just aswell, as I would have over thought it. I was happy how this went as I hit all the paces, but my legs were feeling this on the 5th rep. Id expect that though, as that is 8 weeks in a row with a minimum of 65 miles p/w.

Sunday 6.56 miles@8.16
Back up to the trails and pitches of Marlay for an easy 55 mins.

65 miles for week

Swashbuckler

I have a nice 4x(2/1) ahead of me tomorrow. Cant wait. Love those longer sessions.

Lambay island

Swashbuckler wrote: »

I have a nice 4x(2/1) ahead of me tomorrow. Cant wait. Love those longer sessions.

I've noticed a few of your most recent sessions trying to work them out Was that a 5 mile progression yesterday?

Swashbuckler

I really should start labelling them. I used to, but got out of the habit as I always had to rush to some meeting when getting back from my lunch run.

Yesterday was a lovely session. 6x300m (60s),2 min jog, 5K at 6.20.
My warmup and cooldown can vary but usually take roughly 20 mins each.

Lambay island

Monday 6 Miles @8.39
Due to a few moving parts, I am now able to be a bit more flexible with the times of my runs. I will keep the sessions early morning but will mix up the rest a bit. This was a post lunch trot around the park.

Tuesday AM 3.37 Miles @8.36
I had always planned to do an easy double on this day but was ore likely to be 5 or 6 miles a run. This was in fact an early morn jog that had to be cut short due to a pressing call of nature.
ALSO AM 6.84 Miles @8.09
Feeling a but fresher(lets say), I did a mid morning loop of the local parks followed by 6 x 20 seconds strides.

Wednesday AM - 10 min warmup,4 x 8 mins @6.00 off 3 minutes, 4 x 30 seconds @5.30 off 60 seconds, 1 mile cooldown.
I saw this on plan and my initial thoughts would be that this would be difficult on fresh legs, let alone tired legs. For whatever reason, I felt very fresh that morning and once I kicked into a warmup, I couldn't wait to get into the faster stuff. I hit all the paces in this session bar the very last rep of the 5.30 which came in at 5.55 for 30 seconds. I was chuffed to get that under 6.00 as I slipped on a grass turnabout, did an awkward tumble and almost landed back on my feet. I would have liked to see what that looked like on video .

Wednesday PM - 3.10 Miles @8.45[/B]
Just saw the opportunity to get out for a recovery 5k on grass to see how the legs responded.

Thursday 8 miles@8.22
Nothing spectacular here, just ticking off the easy miles


I should know in the next few days if Galway gets the yay or nay. The number of increasing cases probably wont help the situation and despite in the back of mind thinking there's a chance, realistically it looks very doubtful. Plan C and D will then need to be decided on then with the help of L. Either way I will try and race something over the marathon distance.

Lambay island

Friday 6.03 Miles @ 8.18

Due to a busy day planned ahead, I reverted to the pre work run here. 6x 20 seconds strides added at the end. I felt the heal issue for the remainder of the day(hadnt flared up in recent days) but spent a lot of time using the massage ball under my desk then followed by a few moire exercises. By the night time I wasn't feeling it much at all.

Saturday 18 Miles @7.09

This consisted of 3 up , 12 at 6.40 mile pace then 3 down to finish off. I picked a different route here that gave me an advantageous start after the opening 3 so I could ease into the pace. I hadnt banked on a strong head wind here though so was happy to turn off and head northwards. I did a few mile loops of bushy park. The tail end of the fast miles were from Terenure to the UCD section of the DCM route. I enjoyed the challenge of this run and probably made it a bit harder for myself as had a few beers the previous evening.

Dargged my stiff legs up the shower and then caught the end of The Antrim Coast half marathon on a dodgy stream. It seemed like a good race, although I have very little time for Mo Farah as it is. He had Sir Mo on his bib just to add to my lack of interest. The way Scullion is looking and running, i think he could take out John Treacys Irish marathon record if he gets favourable conditions in London.

Lambay island

Sunday 5.57 Miles@8.08
An easy 45 minutes around the grass of Marlayparkto rack up 66 Miles for week.

Monday 6 Miles@8.27
This is my usual very easy Monday Morning 50 minute trot. Again this was mostly on grass

Tuesday easy double
4.74 Miles@8.34 + 5.32 Miles @8.10
The first run here was early and for whatever reason never felt great during it. The 2nd run was far more enjoyable and mixed up the route a little more.
I returned to see the inevitable cancelling of Galway Bay after the Government briefings.Even though it was expected, it is still a pain in the hole seeing the confirmation.
I had signed up to a pop up races marathon on the same weekend as DCM virtual as a back up. The organisers seem to think it will go ahead under current guidelines so I suppose we will see. At the very least, I will do a marathon/marathon effort on that weekend.Who knows, the way things are going, it could be doing it in my back garden yet.This gives another 3 weeks training which L had also factored in as a chance of happening. I'm lucky and enjoying it so happy to extent this block.

Wednesday 4x1 Miles @5.40 off 3 mins, 4x30 seconds @5.30 off 60 secs.
I didn't want to be too despondent after another race cancellation the previous day so was determined to nail this session. I hadn't use the next% in months so gave my feet an unexpected treat this morning after I eventually found them. I did a one mile warmup first.
Mile Reps : 5.34,5.31,5.27,5.27

Turnover reps were : 5.14, 5.19, 5.05, 5.28

healy1835

Lambay island wrote: »

I had signed up to a pop up races marathon on the same weekend as DCM virtual as a back up

Athy?

Lambay island

healy1835 wrote: »

Athy?

Yeh, wouldn't be a million miles away from you.

crisco10

What time does Marlay open at these days (for pedestrians)? mid week...:-)

Lambay island

crisco10 wrote: »

What time does Marlay open at these days (for pedestrians)? mid week...:-)

Seems to be still about 6.30

Lambay island

Wednesday 3.05 Miles @8.39
Jogaround the local green to see how the legs were after the session earlier in the day.


Thursday 8 Miles@8.19
An easy late morning run taking in the 5 local parks/greens. I'm lucky to have these options so close, even more so within Dublin.


Friday 6.07 Miles@8.17
An early morning loop i used here that was a familiar one to me when the 2km restrictions were in.

Saturday 20Miles@6.57
Pace here was suppose to between 7.00-7.05 with an ease in. That meant starting about 7.15 pace wasnt an issue. First mile came in at 6.58 so decided to keep the pace around this mark from then onwards really. I was out before 6am so was dark for over half of this. I spent that half counting the amount of Fox's I encountered. I think 7 was the count the time i saw the sunrise near Tallaght. One thing I have noticed a lot running the roads lately, is the sheer volume of discarded disposable face masks lying about. Its up there with people who half clean up after their dogs(i.e. put dog crap in a bag but dump the bag)
I was happy how this run went and wasn't feeling like I was working as such. My legs were definitely tired later on but the HR remained within moderate range though.


When I came home and took off the runners, I was disgusted to see they had split on outside of both shoes(right more so). I am an under-pronator so think that is the reason on location of damage and it must be a weak part of the shoe. I'd expect more the 167 miles out of the NB Fuelcell TC that I only bought less then 2 months ago. They were an extremely comfortable shoe so that is a pity.


Sunday 5 Miles @8.25
Lunchtime trot around Marlay park

66.2 Miles for week

healy1835

Lambay island wrote: »

When I came home and took off the runners, I was disgusted to see they had split on outside of both shoes(right more so). I am an under-pronator so think that is the reason on location of damage and it must be a weak part of the shoe. I'd expect more the 167 miles out of the NB Fuelcell TC that I only bought less then 2 months ago. They were an extremely comfortable shoe so that is a pity.

****! I was only looking at my own today and thinking they were holding up pretty well. You get them in The Run Hub? They're usually pretty good to deal with in these situations...

Lambay island

healy1835 wrote: »

****! I was only looking at my own today and thinking they were holding up pretty well. You get them in The Run Hub? They're usually pretty good to deal with in these situations...

Yeh, might throw them a mail so, nothing to lose cheers

Lambay island

Monday 6.09 Miles@8.13
Not much recollection of this. Seems to be 50 min easy up on the pitches in Marlay which would make sense as PF had flared up over weekend. I need to be more diligent managing this now. In the last week or so, I have been more inclined to crack open a can and turn on Netflix rather then get some work done on massage ball, foam roller etc. Need to make room for both

Tuesday AM 5.05 Miles@ 7.55
This was the day I was heading into the office up to recently. I'm choosing not to at the minute. As a result I'm not doing my double runmute which cumulatively was a minimum of 13 miles. I'm now getting out for approx 5 miles before I start work and another 5 around lunchtime. The 2nd run will generally be a bit slower and incorporate grass where possible.
Tuesday PM 5.00 Miles@ 8.05

Wednesday 1 Mile Up, Mona Fartlek(2x90 sec, 4x60 secs,4 x30 secs, 4x15 secs) 2 miles down
Yeh I really enjoyed this session. First time doing it for me. Speed is something I'm craving at present so happy to let the legs release a bit. The fast pace here was planned for 5.40 for the 10 mins with a steady pace for the down 10 mins. My average pace was closer to 5.20 but the off pace was too slow above 8 mile pace for the first half of this. As it got to the first 15 seconds rep, i had a bit of a chuckle after the first one. I knew the off pace would have to be quicker now as otherwise i wasnt going to hit paces. So the last eight 15 seconds resembled this. 5.20, 7.25 ,5.15, 6.45, 5.09, 6.44. 5.21, 6.43. Thats was fun - covered just under 5k distance in the 20 min Fartlek before finishing off with 2 cool down miles. Look forward to doing that one again.


Thursday 9.04 Miles @8.23
With the distance on a Tuesday been a bit shorter this easier run is extended a bit. I went up stepaside way for a change of scenery. I decided to check out how the track and pitch was coming along up in Fernhill park. I couldn't see from within the park due to the pitch up at a height and it still been a construction site. I had noticed they had put Rocky style steps leading up to it so was trying to figure how will I get a proper look at this. Theres a trail beside the park that takes you up 3 rock mountain beside the Blue light Pub. It was about half a mile up but was steeper than I anticipated. After the overnight rain, it was also wet and slippy. I could have done with trail shoes here. I eventually got up and got a good view of the site. I believe it will be a 3-lane running track surface and its starting to look the part.


Friday 6 Miles + strides @7.43
A little bit quicker than my usual easy pace but noticed a notification half way through, that I needed to speed things up to get back for a meeting.

Lambay island

Saturday 2miles up, 3miles on(6.40) 1 off(7.15) x4, 2 Miles down

I had a real poxy night sleep on Friday. I probably got something like 3.5 hrs sleep. I debated not going early then for this or leaving it until Sunday. The fact that I had already been awake about 3 hours leaned me towards just getting out the door and getting it done.I went out and did a similar route PY did for his half TT around Firhouse, along with a couple of loops around Bushy Park and Ballinteer.I was comfortably hitting the splits for the first 3 reps. The last one was more challenging as I was tired and losing a bit of concentration. I was able to tick off the 3 last faster miles nonetheless.Half way through mile 18, I was passing the SuperValue in Churchtown and realised, I had taken no water on board yet.Forgot to stop watch here so my 7.15 mile turned into a 9 min mile. 90 seconds later I got going again and I was just feeling really leggy now. The last couple of easy miles were going to be uphill too. In hindsight I should have just eased off more or walked. I was about 200 metres from my home and my right calf just starting giving out and was on verge of cramping.. I felt jaded after the run and couldnt get warm for a while. A bit of food and Epsom bath improved things a bit.


Sunday 5.5 Miles @8.17
I felt fine getting out for this up in Marlay on a busy Sunny afternoon. I was thinking I must have got away with the calf until the last mile running downhill towards home its started to make a few noises.


Monday 3.65 Miles@8.15
This was due to be 50 minutes easy loop of the block but knocked it on the head after 30 minutes. I started feeling the calf tightening up after the first mile and by the 3rd it was just very uncomfortable - not really sore as such.


Tuesday

No run here. First rest day since early July I think. Well it wasnt a full rest day as such as i did 45 mins on the exercise bike to stop the madness setting in. I had gone to Physio earlier in day when he confirmed there was nothing sinister in the calf. It was tight alright and gave it a good going over. I have rather large calves which often gets pointed out to me. They seem to take a disproportionate amount of the work on their shoulders so to speak. I think I developed them by been a short ass for years playing centre forward in soccer. The teams i played for generally favoured the aul agricultural style so got plenty of practice jumping for the long balls.


Wednesday 5.5 Miles @8.23

Calf felt a bit stiff before i went out here was was a little anxious on this one. It turns out I didn't feel any aggro from the area for this one and debated going for longer. I thought it was best to ease it back in though. After Talking to L, its been decided to keep going easy for the next couple of days. May doing something long over the weekend but id imagine it wont be too hard , more of the LSR bracket.


Got comms yesterday the the Athy Triathlon club marathon is going ahead as of now and has been sold out now too. The route looks flat enough and would be four loops it seems. Pop up races are organising it and seem to have the social distance element of this down to the tee with the staggered start times. I'd imagine it will only be called off now if Kildare manages to slip a level again which of course could happen. Dublin is due to be out of level 3 at that stage but id say it could extended. I may have a decision to make.

Comic Book Guy

First rest day since July, that's incredible! I feel lazy now :pac:

A shortass playing upfront for a long ball team, your manager sounds a really tactically astute man! I'm sure Ed Woodward will be on the blower when Ole inevitably gets the bullet.

Lambay island

Comic Book Guy wrote: »

First rest day since July, that's incredible! I feel lazy now :pac:

A shortass playing upfront for a long ball team, your manager sounds a really tactically astute man! I'm sure Ed Woodward will be on the blower when Ole inevitably gets the bullet.

Ha.. We never set up to play that way. It was often revert to the easiest way when under pressure at the back. It turns out white men can Jump(well sometimes)

Lambay island

The last couple of weeks had been going Okay. The calf injury seemed to clear up as quick as it came.
With the whole country going into Level 3 any chance of running a Marathon was gone. The mail from Popup cancelling Athy came the following day. It was annoying but I knew there was always a serious chance this would happen so wasn't gutted or anything. Bigger issues happening anyway.

Over 24hr or so I mulled over if I wanted to bother with a 26.2 Mile Time Trial. I had initially thought, pointless, why bother etc.... I eventually decided I want to see where I am, so with the reduction in mileage already evident, I turned this into a taper to run a Time Trial on weekend of 17th or 18th Oct.
I wasn't too bothered about the Virtual Marathon and my head and body were telling me they didn't want to hold out a further week. Galway bay was originally due to be on 3rd Oct, so that is what I had trained for date wise. Along with L's help, training was adjusted after that but I had enough of the Marathon training at this stage.

Anyway, I have enlisted a friend to help me over the latter parts of the Time Trial. The route I have picked is a 10km loop that swings very close to my home. It gives my family a chance to support me. It also gives me a chance to set up a drinks/gel station. Its not the easiest route in terms of elevation but that doesn't bother me. It was also picked with the fact that a 5km limit could still be introduced any day.

It could all be in vain now though. In a cruel twist of fate, in the action of picking up a kids shoe from the floor yesterday, I have managed to screw up my back. Why is it always innocuous things? grrrrrr
I felt the shudder immediately in the lower back but it kind of subsided as quick . On that basis I went for a run and didn't feel anything at all during it. I actually felt really fresh, maybe taper was kicking in.
As the day wore on the pain in my back came back and got progressively worse. It got to the stage that getting out of a seat or moving at all was a massive chore. Not much better this morn, nearly had a heart attack getting the socks on.

I'm happy in the sense that its not a race i have next week and there is no pressure to do anything. It is frustrating nonetheless after months of hard training. I'm hoping it miraculously clears up but I wont be risking damage for a TT so watch this space I suppose.

Laineyfrecks

Sorry to hear this D, back pain is horrible & can happen so easily.

Your training has been so consistent & dedicated, it's only human to feel disappointed if you can't test it out but your back needs to be your priority!

Wishing you a speedy recovery:D

ThebitterLemon

Hopefully it’s just a tweaked muscle rather than disc issue.

If you already don’t do it I couldn’t encourage you enough to do plenty of core work

Hopefully your back soon

TbL

Lambay island

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

Sorry to hear this D, back pain is horrible & can happen so easily.

Your training has been so consistent & dedicated, it's only human to feel disappointed if you can't test it out but your back needs to be your priority!

Wishing you a speedy recovery:D

cheers E

Lambay island

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Hopefully it’s just a tweaked muscle rather than disc issue.

If you already don’t do it I couldn’t encourage you enough to do plenty of core work

Hopefully your back soon

TbL

I'm almost certain its just a tweaked muscle. The first 36 hours were a world of pain and discomfort but its has loosened a fair bit since.

Yeh I do very little core work if any. Thanks for the tip