You only get what you give
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Monday 28/03/2022
Club run this evening, running down around the sandhills in Banna. First half of the run on the beach with the second half of the run back across the sand dunes. Nice run and body felt all good after the previous days racing. 5.5K in 32min @ 5:55min/km. Training session with our U12-U18s after that for an hour then, distance running filled half the time for me on the coaching front, following that with some hurdles. Getting good numbers at these sessions and all appear to be enjoying them so they keep coming back!
Tuesday 29/03/2022
Solo run after work, using a loop with an added small out/back section to make up a 6K run. 6K easy in 32:43 @ 5:27min/km. Club committee meeting that evening then with planning training and also some event planning over the next number of months.
Wednesday 30/03/2022
Took a rest day today but coaching again in the evening from 7-8pm, focus on sprints (specifically starts with the same group as Monday night)...second half of the session was focused on relays with 10-15mins with some changeover drills and following that running the teams across the various age groups off against each other. Everyone loves relays.
Thursday 31/03/2022
Busy evening on the cards this evening so got out for a 6K steady run before work, 6K in 31:32 @ 5:15min/km. Not the best for running before work but always enough when I do. Our last indoor training session of the season then afterwards between 6-8pm with our U9-U12s in preparation for the Kerry Sportshall Games. Lot of work on relays against with these age groups and we'd a good group of 36 due to go compete on the Sunday coming.
Friday 01/04/2022
One of the guys in a group I run with from time to time announced a comeback after a break of a month or so due to injury so few of us met up to run which was great. Down around Banna on an out/back run on the roads there. 6K in 31:18 @ 5:11min/km. Pace wise I've felt this week has been a bit too quick on many runs, certainly this one was but I guess it was partially down to a few people being able to run together that haven't for a while. Need to remind myself that easy should be easy...also I need to get onto a plan again soon as that forces discipline I find.
Saturday 02/04/2022
Tralee parkrun, 5K in 22:49. Wasn't really sure how I was going to approach this but feeling good at the start I said I'd try for around 23mins. Felt it was a decent run without pushing it and feeling pretty comfortable and controlling throughout so was pleased with that. One issue that came up though was my Endorphin Speeds are starting to cause me some heel issues after only 200K. I really like Saucony runners but unfortunately this is not the first time this happened. I used to run in Saucony Breakthrus (now retired) as an easy runner but the last pair I had was cutting my heel to ribbons so might be something similar happening, could also be a side effect of being a heel striker so I am wearing the heel counter away a bit quicker in them than other brands. Will have to see can I come up with a solution or alternate the socks I wear with them to try aliverate the issue. I did a 1K warm up before parkrun and could feel it a bit on that but once I finished the run I didn't do a cool down as could already feel the blister coming in.
Sunday 03/04/2022
Busy Sunday ahead so was trying to figure when I'd get a run in, the best option involved an early start so to meet with a running group at 8am and do an 11K run with them, if that wasn't going to work out I'd have to leave it till late evening as I had an athletics competition on between 10-3ish and then to go see my daughter in her ballet show. The early morning run was a winner and set the day up nicely, unfortunately one of the lads had to pull out of the run almost immediately after starting as an injury flared up. Just a case of 1 step forward and 2 steps back for him it seems but hopefully some careful minding will see it right. For my own case 11K in 61mins @ 5:32min/km. Porridge in the car then and off to Milltown to arrive for 10am for the Sportshall competition to begin. Our young athletes did fantastic, with 4 relay teams winning medals. 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze. One of the coaches who had a great view of the relays could see that in one age group our sprinters clearly were not the fastest team in terms of pure sprinting but their change overs were very smooth so they made up the ground and eventually got the silver medal. The work is paying off and all were delighted as were us the coaches. Our club finished in joint second place, next up will be the outdoor county championship in early May. After that back to Tralee to see my daughter taking part in her ballet show which went great too. Long day but a good one.
Weekly total: 40.9K
Year to date: 458.70K
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Monday 04/04/2022
Club run this evening, went for a doze after work for what was supposed to have been 15mins and then overdozed by and extra 15mins so bit of a made dash then and arrived a few mins late to the run so ended up being a shade faster than I would have liked. 7.3K in 37:49 @ 5:08min/km. Using a loop around Ardfert that I thought I'd never run before but Strava tells me I did it back in September 2019....seems like a lifetime ago!
Tuesday 05/04/2022
Rest day
Wednesday 06/04/2022
Two hours coaching to come this evening so got my run in at lunchtime. 6.2k easy in 34mins @ 5:27min/km. Absolute battering then during training this evening with wind and hail, felt sorry for the juveniles but they just got on with it. For me I was coaching on sprint starts and with some sprint intervals with the older group but with the headwind they were dealing with at times it was like they were having to sprint uphill.
Thursday 07/04/2022
Another lunchtime run today, weather a bit wintery at spots at moment so gloves are on for a lot of runs. Added a few strides into this run at the end just to mix things up a little bit. 6.5K steady plus 4x12sec strides with 1min walk recoveries.
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Friday 08/04/2022
Caught up with a running mate for an easy 5K on the beach, he is making slow progress on the injury front but but hopefully this week will be better than last. Met another running mate towards the end of the run so the last 200m were walking and talking with her as she is slowly on her way back from injuries also. 5K easy in 30:51 @ 6:10min/km.
Saturday 09/04/2022
Tralee parkrun
Good day today, I was volunteering (V25 day for me) as a VI guide with another VI runner R who attends parkrun regularly there. We had exchanged messages earlier in the week that I would do VI guide with him and we'd go for a good time if he wanted. His pb stood at 24:38 so in my prep I had that written on my hand on Friday night with a target pace in km and more significantly I find is an elapsed time per lap so that was to be 8:10min so target time of 24:30 was the reference point. Of course on Saturday morning it was pretty cold so I worn gloves but I had the figures committed to memory. Arrived around 9ish to do my own warm up first, 1K in 6min. Back to the start area then to meet my guidee and do a warm up with him also. I asked what he liked to do so he said a short jog would do. 0.5K in 3:04. We had a bit of a chat then about his recent runs in parkrun, he's been close on the pb front but missed out by 10 secs or so. The last lap can be tricky with the overtaking required and just keeping the pace going but all the same we agreed we'd try for the pb. With that we lined up and away we went.
Lap 1, fast start...I have ran with R before so I know he's a quick starter but after about 200m I checked the watch to confirm what I felt and could see we were already on pace (4:55min/km) so told him to hold this pace as we appeared to be still accelerating but he eased back and all good. Lap 1 went off pretty easily thankfully. Not too much jockeyed for positions with people so easy to manage the few passes. We weren't exchanging much words enroute but just offered a few tips here and there...keep the head up...use the arms on the incline...keep it simple I find is best. Also prompting the turns (right turn coming up in a little bit, okay 3-2-1 and turn) keeps my concentration on the task. Coming around to end of lap 1 I looked at the watch to see 7:55 had elapsed. I was surprised we were 15 seconds ahead of the target but moving well.
Lap 2, could tell the effort was coming in a bit more here for R but just kept up the encouragement. Anyone passing knows him so gives him the few words of encouragement too which helps. His head was dropping a bit at times but his breathing was all good so I just kept up the encouragement. The dog leg section was a bit trickier to navigate on the second lap. Annoyingly as we went around the cone at the end of the dog leg the runner a few seconds behind us decided to give the cone a whack with his hand which gave R a fright as he thought he clipped it but told him to ignore it as wasn't him. Up the drag to the back of the Siamsa Tire took plenty of encouragement but then you get the nice downhill to that the respite which was appreciated. Coming through the start finish around I checked the watch and could see 16:11 on the watch. Feck I said to myself we've slowed a good bit on that lap (8:16). I just told R you are doing great but you need to do the last lap the same pace again and you'll get the pb.
Lap 3, this lap was all about keeping the show on the road pace wise and managing the overtakes of the various walkers on route. Thankfully all passes went pretty well, I try to call out around 20-30 meters from behind to say passing on the right. Most people hear it and respond to give a bit of extra space but unfortunately not everyone does so it can be tricky and it is tight in spots so and with a VI runner you can't run onto the grass to pass, you just have to slow down to get past safely. I can only recall one tricky pass where it was tighter than I would have liked but got done safely which is the primary job of the VI guide is to get the runner around the course safely. Up towards the top of the drag at Siamsa and I told R...two mins to go now so we need to push it on to get the time. He upped the pace a bit which was great but I was worried that we weren't going fast enough and were going to miss out on his time with the various passes...I knew it was going to be very close one way or another. Coming around to the back of the Ashe Memorial Hall there is a spot where it all opens up so no passing issue and that around 1 min to the finish so I told R..."one minute to go and if you have anything left we need to go for it now and stay going". Brilliantly he responded and found something else and the pace just picked up...around the last few bends and running much faster now. The finish line in sight....at this point now there is no talking but just running as fast as we can as a pair right through the finish line (my GPS tells me we got down to 4:18min pace over the last 100m or so). I just shouted stop and we both stopped in sync...I hit the button on the watch and kept my arm around his shoulder as he had been at max effort for the last bit. R took the respite for a second to get his breath and I checked the watch to check the time. My watch tells 24:34 so I told R I am pretty sure we got it...he's very happy and I am delighted for him. That third lap was around 8:21 so it was slower as I thought it would be but the strong finish did the job. At the finish line R's Dad collected him telling him he was running fast coming to the finish and they went happy with his run. Caught up with a few people and then did a cool down lap with some other running mates. 1.4K in 9:09min @ 6.09min/km.
Confirmed in the results later on that we both had 24:32. A 6 second pb for R and one of my favourite ever days at parkrun for me.
Sunday 10/04/2022
Up in parents place in Laois as going up to Dublin for my niece's birthday party so decided I'd get my run in this morning. Following the day's previous adventure at parkrun there was a lovely post on fb from Tralee parkrun so that gave me a nice smile first thing this morning. Wasn't sure what distance I'd run so planned to do a 10K loop and then add on a bit afterwards if time permitting. Picked a slightly different loop than I normally do up here to be a bit more adventurious. Always a bit wary of dogs here as I'm not around enough to know where they are. The loop worked out great and it was nice to take in a few different sights. Bit of a novelty for me is that after 6K I ran past the house of a local builder who I did some work experience with back in transition year in school. My one and only time doing some roofing was to put the slates on one side of the roof of the attached shed to the house. Anytime I pass the house I look in to from the road to check the roof to see if it's okay...I hope it's holding up as well on the inside as it looks from the outside and I have never heard a bad word back. It's there since 1997 so 25 years old....must be out of warranty now! When I got back to my parents place I was around 10K so added on a another small loop that brought the run up to 13.2K in 1:13:27 @ 5:33min/km.
Weekly total: 46.4
Year to date: 505.1K
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Brilliant parkrun. Fair play and very satisfying to help R with a pb. Saw the pic on facebook. You were very cool looking with the shades.
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Great parkrun report there D!
R is doing well since parkrun returned shaving almost a minute and a half off his PB. Excellent job getting the pacing right.
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Well done on the parkrun, great report.
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Thanks P, I bought those glasses around 5 years ago and have lived in them since for running. I'm a full time glasses wearer since early childhood but I don't need prescription ones for running. Glare drives me nuts so I'm in the sunglasses in probably 8/9 months of the year. Speaking of cool, one of the young lads in my AC at training one days says to me quietly...."you think those glasses are cool but they are not". He destroyed me but gave me such a laugh as well in the delivery.
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Thanks D, he's continuing to improve which is great. Figure as well as guiding I could offer some help on the pacing front as 5Ks are so tough the pacing is crucial to get right. For most people it's only ever going to be a few seconds you knock off when you break a 5K time.
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Thanks very much, it was a good one to try write a bit of a report for it.
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Monday 11/04/2022
Rest day, well as much as a rest day as can be with a day spent in Tayto Park instead. My daughter's birthday this week so had taken few days off work with the Easter Holidays as well. Second time in Tayto Park (probably 3 years ago the last time I was there) and I hadn't gone on the The Cú Chulainn last time so forced myself to go on it this time...it goes a mighty speed in fairness. Least no loop the loops so could leave with it, felt worst coming off some of the smaller rides I went on with my daughter.
Tuesday 12/04/2022
With a mind to the Dublin marathon I'm just focusing on base building for the next coming weeks/months. My average weekly mileage this year so far is only 35K a week so I need to get that up to 50K a week at least over the next month or so. Running 5 days a week usually works fine for me but most runs have been a bit on the short side (6/7K) so will try add a few K here and there and get a few longer 10K min easy runs throughout the week. 8.1K in 44:41 @ 5:30min/km.
Wednesday 13/04/2022
6.5K in 35:27 @ 5:26min/km. Had been to the pool with my daughter for an hour before this run, bumped into an old classmate from school and her 3 kids so it was great to catch up. Always nice to bump into people like that that you might not met for 5-10 years and you just can chat away as ever as if it was yesterday when you last spoke. After I got back to my parents place I got my run in before the trip back home to Kerry. Both my calf muscles felt oddly very tired during this run (been at least 6 months since I swam) so the run itself wasn't that enjoyable to be honest. No fear of a triathlon this year!!
Thursday 14/04/2022
Back home in Kerry since yesterday evening so took the opportunity for a club run in Tralee. Nice run this and plenty of chat running with people I haven't ran with for a while. Despite the weather looking like it was going to turn at any point it held off for the hour we needed. 10.2K in 58min @ 5:41min/km.
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Friday 15/04/2022
5K easy in 27:24 @ 5:27min/km. Off work on Good Friday so got my run done at a nice sociable hour of 10am when I'm usually working. Lost about 3-4 hours of my life after that assisting my daughter to spring clean her room. Clothes go in there and never leave, more clothes get bought but clothes still never leave. Local charity shop the beneficiary of a few bags of probably rarely if ever worn clothes but now all too small.
Some shot putt practice after that, ahead of the county championships next weekend. Have been trying to practice one or twice a week despite not logging it here. We'll see how it goes on the day but one or two of the throws out of the set went well.
In the evening time we took a bus load of juveniles over to the track in Castleisland for some practice ahead of their county championships at the end of the first week in May.
Saturday 16/04/2022
Tralee parkrun in 23:36, 1K warm up before this with 1.5K cool down afterwards. Run felt grand now, as ever with parkrun probably ran it a few mins too quickly but even with mileage build up this week figured a good tempo run was good to mix it up.
Sunday 18/04/2022
Running group were going at 8am so took the option of an early start and linked in for some of it, the lads were doing a local half marathon route...I had 10 miles in my mind so said I'd join them for the first 10K or so and then could break off across a gap in the hills as they continued on for another few K more of hills. I was tempted to stick with them and do the full half route but said having run yesterday I'd leave it with the planned shorter route. Worked out slightly longer than I realized it would be so it was 17.6K when I got back to the start so just kept going to get up to 18K. 18K in 1:39:46 @ 5:32min/km. First 10 mile (and change) run since mid Jan so happy with that.
Wraps the week off nicely with my first greater than 50K week since end of October last year so pretty happy with all that. Feeling good and could keep up the streak to run tomorrow but going to take the day off and next week see can I get similar mileage in 5 days running instead of 6. The county championships is on next weekend, not planning any running events for it. Will get entered for shot and weight for distance and will run in a 4x100 relay team if required.
Weekly total: 55.3
Year to date: 560.4K
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Monday 18/04/2022
Took the bike out for a spin on the bank holiday, 28.6K in 1:12. Hadn't cycled or even drove on one of the roads I took in on the loop I did. Pretty bone shaking for a few K there and then a headwind for a lot of the second half of the cycle. Didn't really enjoy it much to be honest. When I got home I watched the Boston marathon whilst working on two new policies for my club. I was tracking some runners I know of this parish and elsewhere who were running in the race. Unfortunately one of my favourite marathoners, Molly Seidel did not have a good day and had to drop out but no doubt will be back again to nail that race.
Tuesday 19/04/2022
Got my run in whilst my daughter was at football training, made a slight ballsup in regards planning the route as was planning to run out the road a bit and then do a loop using a side road to come back to the village but when planning the route I somehow remembered it the opposite way around so ran the wrong road out of the village. Not a great road to run on, high speed traffic/no hard shoulder but thankfully it's closed at the moment for resurfacing. I did get a small out and back section on an interesting back road/lane so will try get up there again to see what is to see. 8.1K in 45:25 @ 5:35min/km.
Wednesday 20/04/2022
Coaching and a county board meeting tonight so got my run in at lunchtime, 7.3K in 40mins @ 5:29min/km. Maybe a side effect of the longer than recently usual run on Sunday but not feeling it much this week so everything feeling very ploddy.
Thursday 21/04/2022
5K easy in 27:30 @ 5:29min/km in the evening time.
Did a bit of planning out for the Dublin marathon so looking at the Hanson beginner plan again. I used this for attempting to train for Manchester marathon last year...got to Week 11 of 18 when I had to can it as I started getting some strange shin pain that was really niggled a lot. After easing back that cleared in around a week or so but Dr. Googled it to determine it was possibly the start of a stress fracture so I just backed right off the plan and let it go. The hassles of travelling over at the time wasn't something I wanted to do either so was an easy decision. In prep for another go at the plan I am working my way through the Hanson thread here to find out more about other's experiences and the general queries about it. From what I recall of it last summer I did find the speed intervals pretty challenging at times. For the the next 5/6 weeks will just be general base building. There's a 10 mile race in Castleisland at the end of May that I might do and I do have a Half on the Head half marathon entry in June but neither will be run for a particular time I guess. My Dingle HM number (carried over from Sept 2020) arrived in the post this week but as it's on the first day of the juvenile county championships (May 7th) so I can't make it. I have an entry for the forthcoming September edition (carried over from 2021) so that will scratch the itch for running that route this year.
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I'll be watching your log closely for races in Kerry over the Summer. 😉
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Haha very good, the Banna 10K/5K will be on Sunday July 31st! An Riocht will be holding their annual 5K road race series over 3 Friday evening at the end of August/start of Sept that might be a good option for you too.
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ooh excellent thats good to know. Was wondering about Banna. Cheers lad.
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I had a look at the route profile for the half on the head. Looks like 9 miles of mostly climbing before the last 4 miles of downhill. Seems like it might be one of those "character building" routes. Have you done it before?
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Don't run it for a pb anyway........that's for sure.
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I run the route (or at least good chunks of it) at least a few times a year as it would be one of the routes a group I run with a bit uses. Unless your half marathon pb is very soft (I’d guess you are 1:35-1:40) at the moment then no chance of a pb. You’d be easily losing 3-5mins and that would be on your best day I’d guess. It’s a great race though and have done the half marathon I think 3 times off the top of my head as part of it. Raced it twice and ran as a 2 hour pacer another year.
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Friday 22/04/2022
Rest day from running, final bit of shot putt practice that evening ahead of the county championships on Sunday.
Saturday 23/04/2022
Tralee parkrun in 24:28, half a K w/u before hand and 1.5K c/d down afterwards.
My parents were down visiting for the weekend so finally got around my mother to do her first ever parkrun. She walked it with my wife and daughter, I then joined in for some of the 3rd lap as my daughter had pushed ahead herself with a family friend. Lovely morning with perfect weather, for the most part I ran much of the run at conversational pace with a running colleague. Always a nice way to catch up.
Sunday 24/04/2022
Kerry County Championships on today, I was taking part in two events individually, shot and weight for distance and would run in the relay team if required. Have been working a bit on my shot and wfd, I like both events and would like to be able to throw further. I figure I'll keep plugging away at them and once I hit 50 in 10 years I'll be laughing as I'll go from a 7.26kg to 6kg and the weight for wfd will go from 56lbs to 35lbs...which hopefully will be an easier beast to manage. My first task on the day was to assist with the measuring in the javelin competition, it's always great to be in the infield area for javelin for when it's thrown well. Few of the guys today were throwing over 30m with some noted ones around 34/35m so their throws looked great, you'd be looking forward to seeing their throws up close!
Back to my own events, my shot pb is 5.89 from the county championships in 2017 with my wfd pb of 2.92 from the Munster championships in 2019. In the Munster indoors back in Feb this year I threw 5.84 in the shot and 2.88 in the wfd (improving in each round). My long term target for these is to try to crack 6m in the shot and 3m in the wfd so I have been working on them a little practising once or twice a week for a few throws in the yard at home. In the shot today my first throw registered 5.92 (only found out it was a pb later as was too focused on the 6m) and my second through was also 5.92. I think after this second throw DeepBlue of these parts zipped by on the track in the masters 3000m (his 3000m debut and did very well, congrats). Ahead of my third throw I took a few pointers from a colleague which I then messed up with a 5.4x throw I think...completely failed to carry momentum into the shot. For the 4th throw then I decided to push the boat out and tried a different shot (same weight) but a smaller size...think of these like bowling balls....each one is slightly different. This didn't work out so good as soon as I moved through the throw the smaller shot slipped in my hand a little so just fell out around 4m. Anyways the comp was done and glad with the pb and gold medal in the o40 category (only m40 competing in the event on the day). Into the weight for distance now and whilst I don't have as good a memory of the distances here I think my first throw was 2.45, second maybe 2.5x and then 2.6x. Will find out in the published results...in between my 3rd and 4th throw they started calling for the relay teams so I had to go get ready for that...bit of a dynamic warm up on the track. I got called back to do my final throw then and amazingly I think the shot of adrenaline for the warmup for sprinting helped and 3.04 was the official score for that throw. Delighted to finally crack 3m...next stop 4m...will take a few years!! Again a gold medal as the only m40 in the event, they are a bonus really but it's the nature of masters events...I am far from the level to compete a senior so will stick with my age category.
For the relays, I was running the first leg for my team...sure it's only 100m...it'll be grand. Nicely enough the next runner on our team (our fastest sprinter) on the day lined up close to the start of the transition zone so I only probably had to run 90m. Smooth enough changeovers through the team and we got a silver medal for the team on the day.
A successful day individually and also great to see many clubmates medaling across other events. Always a very enjoyable day out catching up with lots of people in clubs across the county as they compete.
Was planning to do a longish run when I got home but after sprinting decided to play it safe and leave it out. Lower mileage for the week but having built up for a few weeks a step back week was probably not a bad thing.
Weekly total: 27.4
Year to date: 587.8K
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Monday 25/04/2022
Rest day, left knee a little bit achy after sprinting the day before..., running a bend in Lane 1 did me no favours. Cleared in a few days so all good. Funny one was I did the 400m in the counties last year. Got drawn in lane 8 for that and I could feel a niggle in my right knee for months afterwards...small bit of ligament trouble I guess but didn't cause me any real issues for regular road running.
Tuesday 26/04/2022
Whilst my daughter was at football I took in a longish loop around Abbeydorney, took a small chance with memory recall as it's over a year since I ran some of the roads, having only ran on them one time ever before (and in the reverse direction) but I got away with it and back just in time to catch the match they always wrap the training session with. 10.5K steady in 57:27 @ 5:28min/km.
Wednesday 27/04/2022
Coaching in the evening so got my run in at lunchtime. 6.5K easy in 36:16 @ 5:34min/km. Doing a few hours video meetings/training in work every day at the moment so a break to run at lunchtime is very good for the head.
Thursday 28/04/2022
Another lunchtime run, 7.5K easy in 42:39 @ 5:41min/km. Broke out a singlet for the first time this year (outside of a race) for this run. Sunglasses and a hat as it was scorching. Neglected sun cream as didn't think it was that warm but the shoulders were tinged with a bit of redness when I got back. Sun cream supplies restocked at the weekend!
Friday 29/04/2022
Flat out in work again today with my colleague off on leave for a week as well plus still those video meetings/training sessions to do. Out the door the second work was done to head over to Castleisland to meet bus load from our club over there for a training session. Busy session, I was working primarily with the turbojav throwers and then relays. Pretty tired after it all and was wondering about getting a run done when I got home. I got a message popped up on a Whatsapp group about an entry going for the half in Limerick on Sunday. I checked with my wife if we'd anything on Sunday (we had not) so I said feck it, will go for it. Have a long run to do Sunday anyways. Some friends of mine were running the various distances on the day between 6 miles/half/full so figured I can give them a cheer enroute and catch up with them afterwards. No run when I got home then.
Saturday 30/04/2022
Very easy Tralee parkrun, 5K in 28:17 @ 5:41min/km. Just ran around with a group of running mates (same lads doing the marathon in Limerick the next day), it was a lovely run tbh just trotting around having the chat. Joined my wife and daughter then on what was their 3rd lap for a run/walk cool down in 13:53.
Sunday 01/05/2022
Great Limerick Run Half Marathon 2022
The novelty of doing a race as a training run, how disciplined could I be and not get sucked into running it too hard. My previous experience of this race was running it twice. 2015 (1:56:56, a pb at the time) and 2016 (1:47:44, also a pb a year later). I met a mate who was pacing 2:15 in the start area and he asked my what my plan was (my subconscious had worked out the answer) and I answered him quickly and specifically that I was going to run it for around 1:55 pace and if feeling good was going to push on for the last few K to finish strong. Footwear wise I worn a slower shoe, Saucony Triumph, the runner I worn on an 18K training run a few weeks back so figured I've tested it enough for the distance.
Lined up quite near to the front (20 rows back I guess) as it turns out as a lot of space to the right hand side of the area and was keeping away from the pace groups which were giving some slightly odd instructions that they were to hold at the start line and I think try feed them in with the marathon pace groups. Maybe I mis understood this but to my reckoning it meant a long stand for some people what were running anything slower than 1:30 if relying on a pace group (marathon started at 9, half at 9:30) and we joined the marathon course around the half way mark give or/take 500m. Start is always a bit dodgy here with the sharp right turn right from the start line but so be it...we were off.
1-5K (5:30, 5:19, 5:36, 5:33, 5:19)
Aim here was to start off easy and keep it easy, 5:30/5:25 being my kinda reference point for pacing and to try keep the heart rate in zone 3. The 1:30 pace group passed by here in the second K, impressive pace those folks were motoring at. Met the leading marathon runners on our way out to Dooradoyle. Even more impressed at marathoners that can run this sort of pace. I think the 3:15 pace marathon group passed here at one point, we must have just missed the 3hr group. The drag up to the motorway bridge in the 4K of the half seemed to have done a number on a few marathon runners here.
6-10K (5:16, 5:23, 5:25, 5:17, 5:33)
Nothing much to note but the support on the route here, not a big fan of the route in the suburbs and running through housing estates but in fairness the people were out giving their support. For my glorified training I just smiled and said thanks. A runner from home passed here at one stage and was motoring very well, kept it going till the end and a nice pb for her. Very well done. In the 9th K I met my mates who were running the marathon and both seemed to be having a tough day unfortunately at a relatively early stage in the race. They were only around 25K in at this point. Certainly were in my thoughts for the run hoping they got it done.
11-15K (5:32, 5:20, 5:24, 5:29, 5:31)
One of my favourite parts of the course now as you run back into the city centre and it feels pretty cool to run through the middle of the city. I spent 4 years in UL...although that's out in Castletroy the nights out were generally in the city centre as was shopping and I also worked part time in a shop in William St in 3rd and 4th year so have an affinity with the city as thought it might be where I might end up living long term but I'm a bit further South West. Anyways I digress, got a cheer from a college friend here going through the city and had a brief chat as you can in 5-10 seconds as you run by, not seen her in 2/3 years but will catch up soon. Runner beside me struck up a chat as we ran along Henry St as we compared notes on the day and our respective runs.
16-20K (5:31, 5:33, 5:13, 5:25, 5:11)
Across the Shannon now and probably only now did I start to feel a bit of fatigue just from running for coming up to 90mins. Doesn't seem long but mentally a bit out of practice on long runs. Out to the Ennis road section and looped around the GAA grounds area, gave a shout to a few half marathoners and full marathoners here struggled to hopefully see them get going again. Once we did that loop near the GAA grounds and hit back onto the Ennis road I then said now we'll go for a push to the finish and work my way down the gears a bit. Nicely loads left in the tank it seemed.
20K to the finish (4:43, 0:39 secs for the 0.17K of the 21.17K my GPS recorded)
The last K here is a pretty excellent KM for any race in fairness, you cross the Shannon and the city centre sucks you in. The crowds build as you run up the street before the right turn and final push to the finish line. I took the last turn wide to go past a group of 5/6 runners. One runner broke off ahead so tried to chase him down over the last 150m but couldn't catch him. Crossed the line in a time of 1:53:35.
Walking my way out through the finish area I checked my phone to see the good news on a few runners I knew running, one namely @Swashbuckler of this parish and delighted to see his achievements. I thought I might spot him enroute in the first 10K as we looped around and met marathon runners of the 2:20-3:15 range but never spotted him. My running mates got their marathon done, a tough race for them both but delighted to get it done. I met them at the finish area to get the run down of their race. Caught up with another college mate doing the 6 miler, again pre-pandemic since I last met him so great to see him. All in all not a bad way to spend a Sunday morning and a good way to dip my toe back into a city race...the last time I raced in a city was Dublin Marathon 2019.
Weekly total: 52.2
Year to date: 640K
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Great stuff lad...if I'd known you were around I'd have tried to meet you. Myself and Lambay were actually hanging around the massage tent for a while getting spoiled 🤣
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Thanks P and no worries at all, as I walked past that tent I thought would I go over to see was anyone there I knew but I went to meet my Mrs and get changed out of my gear as was going to be hanging around for a bit. Given our respective finishes times I suspect you were probably still in the massage tent there after your happy ending to the race.
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Monday 05/05/2022
All good following the race but given the spike in mileage/distance I took a rest day.
Tuesday 05/05/2022
Took in another loop around the townloads of Abbeydorney whilst my daughter was training. Another test of memory running roads I'd only run once before as part of a group. Worked out grand only for about 2K I had to run on what is classed as a regional road (naturally no hard shoulder) so not very comfortable with some traffic driving that little bit too fast. When I got back to the village I took in a short out/back section to have a look at the Abbey ruins for which the village is named after (Mainistir Ó dTorna). Interestingly enough I have often some locals in the area refer to the village as just odorney...they drop the Abbey part altogether. It's not the first time I've observed some curious things around place names in Kerry. A lot are actually pronunced much closer to the Irish version of the name rather than the anglicised version. The other two I often come across, Lixnaw and Gneeveguilla (first one is Leic Snámha, most commonly pronounced as Lixnaa, the second one...just say it in Irish if you want to say it, Gníomh go Leith...but run the words all into each other)...I think it's really a form of a locals test! 10K easy in 56:51 @ 5:40min/km.
Wednesday 06/05/2022
Run at lunchtime, 6.5K easy in 36:03 @ 5:32min/km. Fierce busy in work this week as my colleague is on leave...it's always a bit painful for either one of us when the other is off as we have to cover all the work coming our way so pretty relentless at times. Also had a technical issue that I could not crack for a few hours but thankfully the run did the job and I had the solution when I got back to my desk. This is not something unusual I find with technical challenges, sometimes you have to step away and a different approach will suddenly come to the fore. Running brings clarity in things I find. Big evening at my athletics club tonight as our final training sessions for our juvenile athletes ahead of the county championships and we also had a launch with a new sponsor. Lots of excitement! It's going to our largest groups in many years to go to the counties, that will take up most of Saturday and Sunday this weekend but looking forward to seeing how they get on.
Thursday 07/05/2022
Evening run, 8K (incl 6x strides) in 47:16. Felt really quite tired before going out for this run and was debating going for a lie down but went with the run option instead. Was going to be working later on for a few hours so the head needed the run as much as anything. Run was grand once I started off and decided to add a few strides in ahead of the last K or so. This went very nice, actually felt like I was moving fast for this...my GPS tells me I was getting down to sub 3min/K pace for this so around 400m pace. Last of the Easter eggs got rid of at home...sharing is caring!
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Friday 06/05/2022
8K easy in 44:24 @ 5:32min/km. Nothing of note with this run that I can recall. Head was pretty tired as lost a few hours during the day trying to get the final lineups of our relay teams for the weekend sorted.
Saturday 07/05/2022
A long and very busy day at day 1 of the county championships, over at the track in Castleisland from 9 until around 5:30. My daughter get herself a bronze medal in turbo jav so she was delighted with that. Very tired in the evening but a short run done at home at 8:45, 6.5K easy in 5:36min/km. I felt a lot better for having done the run so that was good. Another bit of time when I got home than for the last lineups on the Sunday relay teams. We had 15 teams due to run over the course of the weekend and no no shows which was fantastic.
Sunday 08/05/2022
Day 2 of the juveniles championships, more relay teams for me to sort out that morning...all were present but just to get the last minute practice in on changeovers and address the many many queries you get. Great excitement for all and we were delighted as a club to come away with 4x Golds, 1x Silver and 3x Bronze from the relays alone. Individually the athletes from the club did great as well with many medalling and one CBP in the long jump. We await the overall standings of the clubs but it was a great showing for us I think. Home a little bit earlier this evening so went for my run at 8pm, 11K easy in 1:03:00 @ 5:43min/km. End of a very busy week!
Weekly total: 50K
Year to date: 690K
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You're a busy man. Remind me again do you have any race targets over the coming months?
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A bit too busy at the moment, training wise I am building up my general mileage and trying to get more discipline on pacing before kicking off Dublin marathon training on the 27th of June. So at the moment the marathon is the only target race, I will be doing Half on the Head and the Dingle Half but probably just incorporate them into training. Might slot in a few more races just for social reasons as much as anything. If things were going well I'd consider giving Charleville a go as been a while but my head is really veering towards keeping the main thing the main thing!
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Basebuilding (DM Training W-7)
Monday 09/05/2022
Debated to take my rest day here or else do the club session on offer. Was feeling good and wanted to catch up with the other coaches after the weekend to talk through a few things so opted with the club session but decided I'd do the intervals nice and handy, probably 10K/half marathon pace. So after a warmup it was into 4x800m intervals with 2min recovery (standing around chatting between them). For the first few of these I was around the back of the group but for the next 2 I seemed to have moved up despite not changing pace. Longer cool down jog and job done. 8.7K for the session. For the 800s the splits were 3:53, 3:57, 3:50, 3:56 (we were running into a headwind down around Banna for each second one).
Tuesday 10/05/2022
11K easy in 61mins @ 5:31min/km, I called this easy but looking this morning polar flow calls it steady. This run felt a bit crap now, just tired so figured about half way through you're definitely taking the next day off. I probably got my pacing wrong here but was trying to squeeze in a decent enough midweek run whilst my daughter was at football training. I quite like the loop around Abbeydorney that I used for this as feels safer than some of the other roads around that village. I probably rushed things a little trying to squeeze in it to be back in time so easing back a bit probably would have made it more enjoyable. Will do better next time.
Wednesday 11/05/2022
Putting in a rest day here, end of an 8 day streak.
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Thursday 12/05/2022
On half day from work so got a longer run in at lunchtime when I'd finished work for the day. 10K easy in 56:11 @ 5:37min/km.
Friday 13/05/2022
Another lunchtime run, 6K easy with some strides added in towards the end just to add some pep into the step and keep focus on running form.
Saturday 14/05/2022
Tralee parkrun in 23:58, 1K warm up before hand and 1.6K cool down afterwards. Nice tempo run this but pushed on for the last K to get down to 10K pace. Completely forgot about the 50K race on in Tralee the same day so would have went up to watch it for a little bit give a cheer to a few familiar faces I guessed might be running it, only realized when I got home. Anyways caught up on some house work before doing a few hours strimming to tidyup the loosely termed "garden" outside.
Sunday 15/05/2022
Local Community Games on today for my area so was going to get a run in early, a few from the running group I run with were meeting u[ at 8:30 in Ardfert so I said if I wake up I'd head over to meet them for their planned 11/12K. Woke up around 6/7am, pure stiff in my shoulders and lower back and was wondering did I sleep awkwardly...I then remembered the strimming. Figured I'll be very efficient with my time and drive over to Ardfert, get 6K done before the other lads arrive then can run the rest with them to get 18K. Worked out nicely now and the pacing was good throughout, 18K easy in 1:44:47 @ 5:49min/km. Strava tells me I managed 1hr 28mins of that run in Z2 endurance and 11mins in Z1 active recovery...only 5mins in the Z3 tempo zone. That's my big focus this block to avoid spending too much time in Z3 when it's inappropriate to do so. Wraps the week with 61.3 which is my highest weekly mileage since August last year. Community Games was good fun, I was the race starter for all the races which went grand now. My daughter got a gold medal in the U12 ball throw (it's her bad year in community games, i.e. she'll also be an U12 again next year), she did great as was very happy. She has a bit of knack for throwing things around the place so that side of athletics working out very well for here at the moment. She'll get to compete in the county community games finals at the end of June which is something to look forward to.
For the week ahead I'll probably stick to a similar week/mileage to this week but might take in the 10 miler hosted by An Riocht in Castleisland next weekend. Wondering would a similar approach to the half in Limerick be a plan here....easy run with a pick up over the last few K. It's a run I'd like to do to support another AC and also should have a good few people I know at it so nice to meet up.
Weekly total: 61.3K
Year to date: 751.3K
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Basebuilding (DM Training W-6)
Monday 16/05/2022
8K easy in 45:11 @ 5:38min/km. Missed going to club training tonight, can't recall the reason but I think I went for lie down after work so figured I'd just go for my own easy run. Working later that night then for a go live in work.
Tuesday 17/05/2022
Early start this morning for work, on a call from first thing not long after 8am and ended up being another extremely busy day in work. This was to be the way for much of the week, one of those weeks where you feel things are getting away from you. Between overtime and longer days I ended up doing an extra days work across my regular 5 day week. Today was a rest day from running, my wife and daughter also both very tired too with busy weeks for them so just had a quiet evening.
Wednesday 18/05/2022
My club (forgot to mention, placed 3rd overall in recent juvenile county championships....our best result since 2015 so delighted with that), were due to host our area's primary school sports this evening. Weather was looking a bit dodgy but said we'd leave it till afternoon before we'd make a call on it. I got a run in at lunchtime and despite just 6.5K in 35:11 @ 5:25min/km I got a proper soaking...drenched as could be. We made a call then to postpone our event on safety groups as sprinting on grass and a very wet surface are not a good match.
Thursday 19/05/2022
10.5K easy in 58:36 @ 5:35min/km, went for a doze for 20 mins after work and then out for my run. This run was a real slog, felt like crap throughout and had to break it down into smaller checkpoints to trick my brain into doing it....around 3K in said I'll run to end of this stretch of road and maybe ring my wife...got to 5K then and said sure run up to the village and see then...that got me to 7.5K and then figured sure by the time I ring her and her collect me I'd nearly be home just finish it off. Glad I did it but didn't enjoy it at all.
Friday 20/05/2022
Another after run work, could have got this in at lunchtime but short lunch due to work stuff again. 6.5K easy plus 6 strides. Starting to feel a bit better...guess cos the work week was done. Had been thinking of doing the 10 miler being hosted by An Riocht in Castleisland on Sunday but a change of plans meant a trip up home on the cards on Saturday.
Saturday 21/05/2022
Tralee parkrun, my daughter (K, aged 10) asked me would I run with her so I said no bother. Car was packed for a trip up to Laois after the run. We arrived just in time for the briefing but no time to warm up, as I figured we'd be running it around in 40ish mins no issues. My wife was walking it and K and I were running together. Lidl were doing a popup thing at Tralee this week so free t-shirts all around, worth getting one if they're doing it in your vicinity. Anyways away we went and steady pace starting off....around 500m in K tells me she wants to get a pb today and I was like oh right you should have told me before hand, so I said fair enough we'll give it a go. First lap went well and she ran the whole lap so that was a good start, checked the watch at the end of the lap and it was around 11mins something...all good as her pb was 39:31 for Oct 2021. She suggested a walk break now so all good, walk for a minute and go again. She tipped away but the next walk break came within the same K...I just encouraged her that the second lap is always the hardest and we just need to get it done and we can see then for a pb. Another walk break going up the drag at the back of Siamsa Tire and then she ran down to the finish line. Checked the lap time...12mins 30 I think it was. I told her she's doing great and if she can keep going you'll get it. Decent run for 500m and then she stopped again for another walk break. Bit more cajoling this time as said you've just to do this lap now and you're done....you'll still get a pb once you can get running again. Away she went but wanted to hold my hand for a bit, that's grand for a little stint but showed her it's easier to run using your arms to help you along. One lady on the run gave her great encouragement as it was tit for tat between them over the laps but on the last stint on the dog leg K got a good go at it and ran for a little bit but stopping again. This was to be the final stop and with around 800m to go I told her we have to run...we don't have to go fast but we need to run and you'll get the pb you want and be so proud of yourself. Using all the tricks in the book now over the last km, see that person there I reckon you can catch them (she did) and around the last few bends it's 200m to go and she was motoring now....we could see someone else she knew up ahead (P) and I said to her (catch P before the end) and away she went...I was only a passenger now as she passed P in the last 20 meters and across the line....36:08 the official. Almost a minute and a half off, K delighted with herself.
Sunday 22/05/2022
18K easy in 1:42:42 @ 5:42min/km. Planned a route out around my homeplace in Laois. It's route I think I ran before and strava tells me it would be around 17.5 long so could patch on an out/back bit at the end for a route number finish. Took in the Jaap Stam podcasts on the Man United podcast for this run and very interesting, not sure I've heard Jaap do any long form interviews before so nice to hear from him as he looked back over his career and time at United. It's tough times for United fans like myself these days so nostaglia is the order of the day on that front for the moment.
The route though worked well, first half of the route was country flat...ups and downs....plenty of turns on the back roads. Second half of the run then was on the old N7 from the Pike of Rushall back to Borris. Good route for Dublin marathon training as long drags and tbh it's tedious running in the hard shoulder of an old main road for 8K...the camber was something to be wary of in some spots so had to shift positions to nearly on the broken yellow line to right down on the grass verge to get a level spot. That section is mentally tough to run on, I've done the same on the other side of Borris going to Roscrea and back...8 miles in each direction and I find it mentally challenging at times! My focus on this was keeping it in the green on my hrm again, easy being easy and glad to say outside of the initial spike when I started off running it keep in the correct zone for the duration.
Back home to Kerry then in the afternoon listening to the final day of the season on the radio. Certainly was lively there for a time when city were two down but not to be for Liverpool on the day. Liverpool winning plenty at the moment so they'll be okay! No time for city at all though, least Liverpool are a proper football club and given where they were not so long ago give me hope that with better ownership and management United can get up there again...hopefully soon.
Weekly total: 54.5K
Year to date: 805.9K
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Basebuilding (DM Training W-5)
Monday 23/05/2022
Club session tonight, hill repeats. The prescription was to do 6, each repeat (over the hill and back again counting as 1) was around 900m in length. Being a little bit more conservative with my normal approach with club training I stopped the repeats at 4. Main thing not to pick up a silly calf injury which is my weak spot and would be atypical thing for me to do. 7K in 38mins.
Tuesday 24/05/2022
Lunchtime run, 7K easy in 39:42 @ 5:39min/km.
Wednesday 25/05/2022
Rest day
Thursday 26/05/2022
10.5K easy in 59:46 @ 5:41min/km, up early today as my daughter needed to be in school for 8am for her school tour. So after she left for school I got my run done.
Friday 27/05/2022
11.5K easy (incl 6x strides) in 66mins. Took the day off from work as a busy weekend ahead and work had been quiet this week. Got this run done at 9am, using the same loop as the day before but ran in reverse. Added in some strides after around 10K of running, these felt good and pretty consistent pacing for them.
Saturday 28/05/2022
5.2K easy in 30:48 @ 5:54min/km, staying in Ballyvourney overnight with my wife and daughter before going to MTU Cork for the Munster Combined Games. Did my run at 7am to get it out of the way. My club had 7 juveniles (including my daughter) taking part. It was a good experience for them all, no medals unfortunately but hopefully the experience will stand to them for the individual events in a few weeks.
After that I took a detour to Dublin to meet some college friends and see The Frames in the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham. Excellent gig and they got through a fair setlist covering a wide range of the band's lifetime. Hoping it won't be as many years until I get to see them live again (last time was 2010).
Sunday 29/05/2022
Back to my parents house on Saturday night so Sunday's long run was going to be around my homeplace. Planned a loop I'd run similar to previous week and then as soon as I got on the road I changed it and took in a route I hadn't run before. One long loop of around 15K and then a shorter loop of 6K to make up to the half marathon distance. 21.1K in 2:00:13 @ 5:41min/km. Feeling pretty good about getting up to good consistent mileage again and the longer runs as well.
Weekly total: 62.4K
Year to date: 868.3K
Post edited by diego_b on7
