Tales from the Glue Factory

Swashbuckler

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

Great consistent training as always, great to see! Your log is not boring (certain people just like to waffle )

Oh god how are you managing without the sweet stuff, I have had many, many, many failed attempts at giving it up:o What's the secret?

A few things... Stubbornness is one... But without getting too deep and psychological (lol) I was really leaning heavily on stuff like that as a de stressor to the point I was eating a LOT every week. Just had to break the habit. I'm hoping to go back to a square or two of dark chocolate every now and then or a treat when I want one but not a daily binge! I have a vicious sweet tooth. I'd very easily put away a whole box of chocolates in one sitting without a struggle.

Laineyfrecks

skyblue46 wrote: »

The teeniest little bit of willpower

:rolleyes:

ThebitterLemon

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

A month with no carbs:eek:

I was the biggest chocoholic in the Western world.

Tried everything but nothing worked.

July 18 I went very very low carb less than 30 a day and lost 3 stone. Haven’t had a sweet, bread, pasta, takeaway, booze, spud or anything with sugar in it since.

Jazus I’m a right sad bastid

TbL

skyblue46

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

I was the biggest chocoholic in the Western world.

Tried everything but nothing worked.

July 18 I went very very low carb less than 30 a day and lost 3 stone. Haven’t had a sweet, bread, pasta, takeaway, booze, spud or anything with sugar in it since.

Jazus I’m a right sad bastid

TbL

What sort of a diet are you on?

ThebitterLemon

skyblue46 wrote: »

What sort of a diet are you on?

Basically keto.

I eat keto friendly bars (bloody expensive) and peanuts for my comfort foods.

Found it really suited me and never ate healthier

TbL

Laineyfrecks

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

I was the biggest chocoholic in the Western world.

Tried everything but nothing worked.

July 18 I went very very low carb less than 30 a day and lost 3 stone. Haven’t had a sweet, bread, pasta, takeaway, booze, spud or anything with sugar in it since.

Jazus I’m a right sad bastid

TbL

That's brilliant & some weight loss! Fair play...

skyblue46

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Basically keto.

I eat keto friendly bars (bloody expensive) and peanuts for my comfort foods.

Found it really suited me and never ate healthier

TbL

Is making keto friendly bars at home difficult?

ThebitterLemon

skyblue46 wrote: »

Is making keto friendly bars at home difficult?

More a pain in the ass with ingredients you need tbh. I just buy a stock of stuff with little to no carbs

TbL

Lambay island

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Basically keto.

I eat keto friendly bars (bloody expensive) and peanuts for my comfort foods.

Found it really suited me and never ate healthier

TbL

You don't drink and on a keto diet

So basically you are a ketotaler.

ThebitterLemon

Lambay island wrote: »

You don't drink and on a keto diet

So basically you are a ketotaler.

Drum roll

Yeah my wife loves going out to eat with me.

Can I have a sparkling water with no sugar miwaidi

Can I have the prawns without the sour dough and sauce

Can I have the steak, no sauce (mustard on the side), no onions, no chips, do you have broccoli or cauliflower, no, ok can I have a side salad with no dressing

TbL

Swashbuckler

Sounds like hell!

OOnegative

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Drum roll

Yeah my wife loves going out to eat with me.

Can I have a sparkling water with no sugar miwaidi

Can I have the prawns without the sour dough and sauce

Can I have the steak, no sauce (mustard on the side), no onions, no chips, do you have broccoli or cauliflower, no, ok can I have a side salad with no dressing

TbL

But you drive a Porsche!!!!

ThebitterLemon

OOnegative wrote: »

But you drive a Porsche!!!!

An environmentally friendly one

TbL

Swashbuckler

Monday - Easy 14M - 1hr51. 7.53min/mile avg.
Tuesday - Easy 50mins. 6.25M. 8.04min/mile avg.
Wednesday - Easy with strides. 57mins. 7.05M. 8.06min/mile avg.
Thursday - 7x3mins off 80s/3min Jog/4x30s Hard. 6min/mile pace for each 3min split.
Friday - Easy 52min. 6.52M. 7.56min/mile avg.
Saturday - Easy plus strides. 1hr02mins. 7.45M. 8.19min/mile avg.
Sunday - 14x45s Hill intervals off 90s

Nice week this week. No Tempo run on the plan this week. Nice little bit of turnover stuff in this "block".

Legs felt good on the Monday - there was no ill effects from the tempo run on the Sunday before. Getting pretty difficult to find an interesting route in the 5k radius but no complaints - better than a 2k radius thats for sure.

Easy runs on Tuesday and Wednesday were exactly that. Felt noticeably strong this week. No recovery runs needed - a good sign. Feel like im getting better pace these days for the same easy effort.

Thursdays 7x3min session was as good a session as I have run in a long time. Its as controlled as I've felt and the effort and paces were bang on the money. 5.58-6.02min/mile pace range for all seven splits. Nice little fatigue in the legs by the end but plenty of pop left for the 30s strides. Was really pleased with this. Managed it very well. Just over 10M all-in including warmup and cooldown.

Friday and Saturday were all good. Easy again. Nothing to report really. Finally after a month of discipline I treated myself to some booze on Saturday night..........

Woke on Sunday ABOLUTELY DYING!! Good lord, lack of practice makes a huge difference! Had to go back to bed Sunday afternoon. Didn't bode well for a hill interval session coming later in the day................Was a little bit better after my late morning/early afternoon nap and was in full on Daddy mode with the kids (Never again lads.......just not worth it!).
Headed out for the hill intervals after the kids were put to bed. It was baltic so I was well wrapped up. Figured I'd lump this in as the Feb challenge too - judging by the numbers coming on from the mountain runners I figured I may as well just get an effort posted and move on to March for something which might suit me better! Had a decent warmup and picked the Mt Alphonsus St hill to do the reps on. Had my doubts as to whether it was enough elevation for this. Probably borderline (although I didnt feel that way by the end).
Havent run this session since 2019 I think. It's always a fun one (in a sado masochistic way). No sooner do you reach the bottom of the hill then its time to turnaround and head back up it. Averaged in the 5.20min/mile pace for the 45s "on" sections. Was blowing pretty hard my the end - legs were struggling to get me back to the same point each time. But I managed it. Had zero interest in making up the last 7mins running up and down the hill so just accepted my lot and went for my cooldown.
Managed to do it without carrying 14 stones in my pocket too! Not sure how well the stones would have looked with my tights anyway......
Wore the Pegasus Turbo 2 for this - probably well suited to a session like this. I'm not a huge fan of them, although I'm warming to them.
Garmin Elevation Gain = 105m
Strava Elevation Gain = 87m
I'll be taking the Garmin gain . lol

Happy with the week.

Total mileage = 61.2M
Total time = 8hrs
Consecutive days running = 44 days
Total mileage for 2021 to date = 342M

Off the sweets and drink again until Easter weekend. Signed up for a virtual 5k that weekend so that'll be my next decent blowout.

Enjoying my running these days.

Laineyfrecks

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Managed to do it without carrying 14 stones in my pocket too! Not sure how well the stones would have looked with my tights anyway......

So much I could say here...but I won't

How much alcohol did you consume to feel that bad:eek: but fair play getting out to do the hills, think it would have turned me off completely!
Now I just need to decide if I will indeed use my trade mark stones for my own hill reps:p

Swashbuckler

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

So much I could say here...but I won't

How much alcohol did you consume to feel that bad:eek: but fair play getting out to do the hills, think it would have turned me off completely!
Now I just need to decide if I will indeed use my trade mark stones for my own hill reps:p

Too much! Although after a month off it takes very little!
I'm stubborn like that. Punish myself to make myself learn a lesson. Lol

shotgunmcos

Fair play getting the hangover hills done! Head down to the Feb Challenge thread and validate your Garmin link. Come back again then with your good idea for the March challenge

Swashbuckler

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Fair play getting the hangover hills done! Head down to the Feb Challenge thread and validate your Garmin link. Come back again then with your good idea for the March challenge

Was planning on doing it earlier but did the log instead. Will definitely validate, probably tomorrow.

As for March, I suggest fastest segment on North circular road......... Lol

OOnegative

Soooooo, there would have been 16 VERY small stones tucked into your girly tights...........

Swashbuckler

OOnegative wrote: »

Soooooo, there would have been 16 VERY small stones tucked into your girly tights...........

Nope. 14. The other two are at home in a jar hidden away by the missus.

OOnegative

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Nope. 14. The other two are at home in a jar hidden away by the missus.

Good lad, love a bit of honesty!!

Swashbuckler

Rinse and repeat is the mantra at the moment and it's certainly working.

Monday - Easy 14M - 1hr52. 7.58min/mile avg.
Tuesday - Easy 6.6M. 8.14min/mile avg.
Wednesday - Easy with strides. 7.3M. 8.20min/mile avg.
Thursday - 7x3mins off 80s/3min Jog/4x30s Hard. 5.55min/mile pace for each 3min split.
Friday - Easy 6.5M. 7.59min/mile avg.
Saturday - Easy plus strides. 7.5M. 8.18min/mile avg.
Sunday - WU/35mins @ ~6.20/3min Jog/4x600 @ ~6.00min/mile pace.

Weather conditions were pretty bad this week, some days worse than others.
The Hill intervals had well and truly cleared the cobwebs on the Sunday so was in decent nick again for the Monday long run. Hard to find any sort of adventurous routes at this stage. Headed along Childers Rd for this one. Not the kind of road you want to be on for a continuous headwind. Got this done without much fuss. So much so that I cant really remember much about it apart from the fact I ranked it as difficulty of 5 on Garmin (a very non scientific means of registering my effort level) which is about right for all of my easy long runs.

The following two days were fine. Nothing to report from these either apart from pretty cold weather conditions. The tights were out in full force. Legs were good. Body was good. Easy runs feel easier these days and I definitely feel like im getting more return for the same effort levels.

Thursdays session was very much a repeat of the previous week , the only difference being a slight tweak in target pace.
7x3mins off 80s/3min Jog/4x30s Hard. 5.55min/mile pace for each 3min split.
The week previous I was struck by how well I handled the session. On paper I thought i'd find it a toughie. This week was similarly well handled but conditions were much worse. Thursday was probably the worst weather I was out in all week. Slush everywhere + pretty breezy. Had a decent warmup and tried to find an area that was relatively slush free. Found a decent stretch of 1.2km that I basically went back and forth on. Paces for the splits were 5.58/6.12/6.01/5.59/5.51/5.58/5.53. Didnt force it and went entirely on feel , especially given the conditions. 30s strides were all around 5.15 pace - again, not forcing it. 10 miles all in, including warmup and cooldown.

Body was in decent shape the day after. Lately, Friday easy runs have felt great - not sure if its because its Friday or because there a little more pop in the legs with the session the previous day. Aside from that, nothing exciting to report from Friday/Saturdays running.

Sundays session, on paper, looked meaty enough. Four or five months ago it probably would have struck a bit of fear into me but there has been a notable improvement in the past couple of months so I was happy to take this one on.
35mins @ ~6.20/3min Jog/4x600 @ ~6.00min/mile pace
Was happy to get out around lunch time for this. Pretty blustery and I had considered maybe waiting until later in the day as it was meant to clear up. Family comes first though and I knew if I was to wait, it would have a knock on effect on family fun in the afternoon so I headed out while himself was napping.
Settled into a nice rhythm after a decent warmup. Again I was very much focussed on effort and pretty much ignored the watch for the most part. Target was 6.20 pace but given the conditions I wasnt going to force it. Never really felt stretched on this. Was very controlled and "smooth". Breathing was fine throughout - could feel it in the legs a bit by the end and the last two mins were into a strong headwind. Took a minute walk recovery once the 35mins was up and then jogged the remaining two min recovery before kicking into the 4x600m. Nice turnover in the legs for these. They didnt feel like 6min effort.
Splits for the session were 6.23 for the 35mins and 5.50/6.00/6.03/5.55 for the 600m reps.
11.5 miles including WU and CD. Was very happy with this - was put into perspective when I saw healys steady 20 miler on the same day though!

So another really solid week. Rinse and repeat!

Total mileage = 63.4M (102km!) - first time over 100km in a single week.
Total time = 8hrs 14min
Consecutive days running = 51 days
Total mileage for 2021 to date = 406 miles

Aside from running - work was very hectic last week but I managed it ok.
Sleep was pretty decent so recovery was good.
Definitely had a meh feeling on Friday evening and Saturday. I think on the very hectic work weeks I seem to dip at the end of it. The mind seems to take a day or two to adjust. Lockdown doesnt help as the the little girl and daddy havent been seeing eye to eye on everything lately. Cabin fever no doubt. I wouldn't blame her for being sick of seeing the same faces every day. lol.
Sweets and booze have been cut back on again although I did allow myself to relax the self imposed restrictions for Valentines Day.

Like I said about its very much a case of train, train, train at the moment. Keep it consistent. And I'm loving that to be honest. Sessions like Sundays one very much keep me on my toes and keep the interest level high. I'm always excited to see the weekly email come in from L and there's always enough variety to keep the training interesting.
I have a 5k planned for Easter weekend. Very much looking forward to giving the distance another go. The last one was the Boards TT last year. I feel like I'm a different runner since then.

healy1835

Great stuff going on here P. I know you're more focused on the process but it feels like you're building towards some great performances, wherever and in whatever setting they may come. Lovely to see.

Laineyfrecks

I love how focused you are & enjoying the process. Excited to see your progression in your 5k TT. Great stuff.

Swashbuckler

healy1835 wrote: »

Great stuff going on here P. I know you're more focused on the process but it feels like you're building towards some great performances, wherever and in whatever setting they may come. Lovely to see.

Cheers man - half the progress is down to your excellent recommendations for new shoes! haha

Yeah I was actually thinking about it on my long run last night. I recall some of the sessions I did before the sub 80 in Charleville and I feel like if I was to go into a specific block right now i'm in better shape to do so. That can all change in a heartbeat though so I'll stay focussed.

Swashbuckler

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

I love how focused you are & enjoying the process. Excited to see your progression in your 5k TT. Great stuff.

Cheers E. Yeah I'm excited to have a good crack at it. That being said, I've often been excited about a race/TT while sitting on the couch. Different story when the burn kicks in!

MY BAD

Where do you think you are now if you raced a 5k in the morning?

Swashbuckler

MY BAD wrote: »

Where do you think you are now if you raced a 5k in the morning?

That's the million dollar question for Easter...I'm honestly not sure...

I think my 5M TT back in November was a good estimate of where I was at then. 29.18 (5.51min/mile pace). That would have had me in roughly 17.45 shape for the 5k back then.

I feel like i've come on quite a bit since then but the reality is thats probably a combination of other factors like cleaning up the diet and getting better sleep/recovery. You know better than anyone that gains in 5k are hard to come by. So I reckon I'm probably better than 17.45 but by how much, I dont know.

I wont be losing any sleep over it though. I dont really care about the time I run the 5k in. Its just a blowout. I've zero 5k specific stuff done so a decent run will be mostly down to the aerobic base improvements. Either way it wont change the mantra of run it, park it, move on.

healy1835

Good 5ks can be ran off zero 5k training

Swashbuckler

healy1835 wrote: »

Good 5ks can be ran off zero 5k training

And good 10k's can be run off a monster session three days prior :D:D