This is NOT a training log :-)
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31-01-2022 5:22pm#1
Seriously...this ain't no training log...if you're hoping to find a story of hard training, disciplined dieting and heroic racing, then no need to read on :-)
So why, prey tell, did I set up a log? I donno really. I used to have a log here way back before it became cool or popular :-) Injuries (or one injury in particular) cut my running short and I stopped logging in or around 2015. I'm not gonna relive that story but long story short, I'm still struggling with the injury and thus, I won't be training hard or setting new pbs in here!!!
My 2021 running story is a lot more dull....I've been running once/twice a week for the last year - not long distances at all, usually 5k or so. But....BUT I've enjoyed every one of those runs so much. Man have I missed running and parkruns and racing. As I ran more and more, I started dipping back in here more catching up with some logs and even read my own again to spark some enthusiasm. Find myself getting more excited about each run, started doing a few parkruns at the back end of last year and I'm always, always, waiting for my next high (run). For the last while, my routine has been a run every few days, a bit of stretching most days, ice my dodgy ankle every night and I've been trying to loose a little bit of excess weight over the last few months too.
So what are my aims? Simply to keep lacing up and enjoying it is the number one big aim! I've ran every few days in January and am eager to see if I can push that a little. Two things, I believe, are making a huge difference to my ankle. The first is ice...such a simple solution! The swelling gets pretty bad after runs or long days on my feet and if I accumulate a few runs in a row without ice (and elevation), then I get into all sorts of trouble. So I ice every night while on the couch and it really helps. The second is carbon plates.....I bought a pair of NB fuel cells at the end of last summer and got Nike supershoes as birthday present in November and I think they've made a huge difference. Wear NB for most runs and Nike for parkruns. So my sneaky, back of the mind (until now!!) plan is to build milage really really slow and see what the body can cope with and if all goes well, I reckon a sub 20 5km is on the cards before the end of the year. My old man pb (OMPB) from December is 21:07. Lets see where this non-training, training log can take me!!!
All views are my own but happy to take (and ignore😎) any advice shared :-)
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Oh and I'll compile my January running once I get a chance for context. Don't hold your breath, it won't be very long or exciting!
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Fantastic, welcome back to the logs. The carbon shoes have been massive for getting rid of my niggles, actually really enjoying my runs again.
Good luck with getting back to sub 20.
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Thanks Wottle, ya I didn't pay any attention to the new 'elite' shoes when they first came out but once I realised they could actually help me, I was all over them! Felt a bit awkward wearing them and not being at the pointy end of the field at first but quickly lost that awkwardness after a couple of runs and after they knocked at least 20 secs off my run time ;-)
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Ok then, a quick look back at my non-training runs during January:
5th Jan - 7k @ 5.33 /min
9th Jan - 8.4k @5.36/min
13th Jan - 7k @ 5.21/min
18th Jan - 8k @ 5.13/min
22nd Jan - 6.2k @ 5.14/min
25th Jan - 6.2k @ 5.04/min
29th Jan - 7k incl. a PR in 20:54
31st Jan - 4.4k @ 5.12/min
Overall, 8 runs and 54 km's covered and a new OMPB set last Saturday! Very happy with that to be honest. All my runs are done on fresh legs so the paces are probably a little on the quick side for my current fitness but I tend to just run at whatever pace I feel like and look at the watch afterwards. Highlights for me were two 'long' runs of 8k or over, breaking 21mins for the first time in nearly 6 years and doing a run after only one days recovery (ran on the 29th and 31st). That last one might not seem significant but there was no way I could have done that a few years ago without significant swelling. All good today with the leg, I was out for a 20 mins walk before work and no issues to report!
I'd like to do more than one park run per month and will aim for at least two from here on. I had a little niggle in my back in early Jan and didn't want to push it and then life got in the way for a couple of Saturday mornings so that's my excuse this month!
On the weight side, I was 12st 13(82.1kg) on Sunday morning. I'm almost 5ft 11 and I've a pretty big frame so that is pretty light for me. It's certainly my lightest weight in a long time. I was 13 and a half stone before Xmas so very happy with it. It was a really good month in terms of diet and alcohol intake and to be honest, January usually is with me after the excesses of Xmas. I'll probably do well to keep my weight under 13stone but less weight has to be good for my leg so something to keep an eye on.
Finally, I forgot to say that I turned 40 last November. Not that it's significant but just for context and to explain why I'm calling my parkrun an old man pb.......and also to distinguish from my pb's back in my early 30's!
I probably won't report here too often - I think it would get pretty boring if I did. But hoping to see some improvements in the above figures. Hopefully I'll see another 8 plus runs for Feb and a new OMPB too 😎
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February has been great so far. I've got out for 5 runs which included a park run effort. The park run was a bit slower than in January but happy with the effort because it was a windy day and I had to bike/run to get there (as the OH had taken my car) and so it was a bigger effort overall.
2nd Feb: 4.4k @ 5.08 pace
5th Feb: 9k including a park run in 21.06
8th Feb: 6.2k @ 5.25 pace
11th Feb:8.3k @ 5.15 pace
14th Feb: 4.5k @ 5.15 pace
Feeling good overall. I've neglected the stretching a little over the two weeks so I need to focus a bit more on that. Also not been perfect with the diet but I don't feel like I've put any weight on - I don't have scales in the house and usually just weigh myself when I'm visiting my folks in the whest! Going back next weekend so I'll have an update on that front then. Planning to hit another parkrun this Saturday and see how it goes.
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Just as I start to log some activity again, I have a few set backs....typical :-)
My back was giving me a little grief since Christmas...nothing major but then one Monday morning it just seized up and I was left lying on the floor for a day or two. To compound matters, I took some anti inflammatories and got a bad reaction to them so ended up feeling really ropey in bed for another day!! Just as I was starting to get over that, I got Covid! Covid was different and although I didn't get very sick, I was still unable to get out of bed for another day....so a pure disaster in terms of running but at least I got over it.
Anyway, my little activity from my last post has been:
17 Feb: 4.4k @ 5.31 pace
19 Feb: 7k including a parkrun in 20:38 (OMPB)*
Back flared up on the following Monday, the 21st and I couldn't run for over a week.
1 March: 4.4k @ 5:33 pace
I wasn't feeling great on this run (although my back was ok) and then tested Covid positive the next morning so cue no running again for over a week!
10 March: 4.4k @ 5:31 pace
13 March: 8k @ 5:31 pace
The parkrun has been the highlight of the last month, I actually got a first place (first time ever) but obviously the few faster guys that usually turn up weren't there that morning....In their defence, it was pretty cold ;-) It clocked as a new best time but the course was changed around a little because of a flooded section that morning and I think it was a bit short. Maybe about 100m. So in my mind, it was more of a solid 21min effort. Still very happy with it.
I'm pretty much recovered from Covid but just feel a little lethargic. Also, not that I pay much attention to it, I noticed my average heart rate has been about 10 beats higher than normal. It's usually around 140 but the last couple of runs were up on 150.....all part of the recovery I'm sure.
Hopefully I get a little more activity in for the next few weeks.
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A couple more runs to report. Got out on the 16th March for 5.3k @ 5.29 pace. I felt much more comfortable on this run than just a few days earlier. Sun was shining and I was tempted to do more but kept it short in anticipation of doing a parkrun on the Saturday.
19th March - 7.5k including a parkrun. I was a 'reasonably' good boy on Thursday and Friday and decided to give this a go. I found I was a bit apprehensive about this as I've not done any effortful running since I got Covid. Convinced myself to try a progression run - to start at around 4:40 pace and work my way down to 4 mins for the last km. That was the plan! I don't look at my watch when running only to note the km splits and I'm still very bad at judging pace - why would I be any good when I don't do much paced work!! Anyway, despite running at what I thought was an easy pace, the first km came in at 4:15! New plan was to just try and keep that pace. I pretty much did that but I was in the red zone for the last two km's and was really hanging on. All km's were between 4:15 and 4:20 for a final finish of 21:28. 50 secs slower than my last effort (although that course was a little short). Covid recovery is still my excuse and I'm sticking to it ;-) Sure, the wine and extra food on Thursday/Friday didn't help but I did say I was 'reasonably good'. It was a good effort overall though and a really gorgeous morning - times don't really matter on mornings like that, it's just about getting out and enjoying it. Despite feeling like I was going to get sick at the end, I did enjoy it - I promise ;-)
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22nd March - 6.2k @ 5.19 pace
26th March - 7.5k including a parkrun in 21.04
I wasn't planning another 5k effort after last week but it was a nice morning and I knew that I may not get another chance to do a pr for a few weeks. I went down to Poolbeg this week. The bay looked gorgeous in the sunshine but it was already pretty warm before we started. The plan was to try and repeat last weeks run (although on a different course) and hope it would feel a little easier. Again, my lack of pacing ability messed me up and I ended up going out too fast and progressively got slower and slower with splits of 4:05, 4:08, 4:13, 4:20, 4:18. Not a nice way to run a 5k and between the heat and exhaustion, my form was all over the place for the last km. I was just willing the end to come. Slightly surprised that I managed to hold my pace for the last split though and I've got to take something from that. Recovered pretty well after though and the legs woke up ok on my short warm down. It was also a poolbeg pb - I ran 21.06 there in February
29th March - 6.6k @ 5.17 pace
After the parkrun on Saturday, I was walking a lot on Saturday evening, Sunday and on Monday so the legs were tired and very slow to warm up. Eventually got into it and it was one of those runs where you feel so much better when you've finished. Really feeling the heat though!
That's it for March, 8 runs and 50km, including 2 parkruns complete despite having Covid at the start of the month and therefore taking a week off and what felt like the rest of the month to fully recover.
Other comments:
Average heart rate while running is still higher than normal but nothing to worry about
Weight crept up a little post my back issues and covid - I was 13st 1lb last time I checked
Heading to Spain next week so hopefully it doesn't impact on running but lots of food and wine always take priority!
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No update in April yet! I've been tipping away but just haven't been logging. Was in Spain for a weeks holiday and running suffered a little around that but not much. I'm now comfortably running 2 days a week and doing a little stretching on another 2/3 days a week - it's not much I know but I'm delighted with it because I had kind of resigned the ageing body to the scrap heap a couple of years ago. it's not training but it it is some (semi) regular exercise. The trick for me now is not to push it too much!
1 April - 8.4k @ 5:16 pace
Felt great on this run. I wanted to go further and probably should have as I could do with a few longer runs.
4 April - 6.7k @ 5:25 pace
Don't really remember this run but I did do it!
6 April - 4.8k @ 5:29 pace
This was slightly unplanned but I was flying later in the day and found a window in the morning and just went for it. Kept it short and slow and really enjoyed being off work and looking forward to a holiday!
11 April - 4.2k @ 5:40 pace
My only run of the week away. Did it first thing in the morning after a few drinks the night before so hence the slow pace. Strange wearing sun glasses on a run again.
16 April - 7.5k including a PR (Claremorris) in 20:54
I was back only three days after a lovely break but with far too much nice food and alcohol. Felt really heavy for a couple of days after coming back but decided to go down and ease into the run. Of course I didn't! Took up a third position from the start and once the pace is locked in, it's hard to ease back. In fairness, there was a good group of 3/4 of us so that really helped and something you don't always get at this PR. The girl running with us pushed on at around 2k and joined the two leaders but one of those guys fell back and then fell off our group. Really pushed on in the last km and actually managed a sprint in the end to lead in our group and finish 3rd overall. When I say "sprint", it was a funny effort. I don't think I've sprinted or ran very fast in a few years...my legs didn't know what was happening and I actually nearly fell over near the end line. Saved my blushes but just about! Overall, I was delighted with the effort and time. Feel like I'm back to where I was pre-covid. Splits were 4:05, 4:10, 4:15, 4:18, 4:06
20 April - 7.0k @ 5:24 pace
23 April - 5.5k including a PR (Poolbeg) in 23:20
I had planned to meet a friend at this who is getting back into running after two pregnancies. But of course, for the first time in at least two years, I ended up in a bar on Friday night. Alarm went off at 8:30 on Saturday morning and first thoughts were "no, not doing it". Then the guilts creep in! Needed a shower and a strong coffee just to wake up but was surprisingly ok after that. Started the run very slow and gradually, and what felt like naturally, upped the pace slightly. Last km cam in at 4:40 and I felt very comfortable. Enjoyable to not do it at 100% for once!
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27 April - 7.8km @ 5:20 pace
I was planning to go a bit longer on this but I did something funny at about 20 minutes and my calf got really sore. So sore that I needed to stop for about 30 seconds and tried to stretch it out but to no real avail. Started running/hobbling again and was prepared to stop if it got worse but eventually my hobble turned into something that resembled a run. Still cut it short just in case and was very glad I did because it was very tight and sore to touch for a couple of days afterwards.
4 May - 4.4km @ 5:14 pace
Decided to take a week off (well my OH/physio strongly advised I don't do anything for at least two weeks so a week sounded like plenty!!)- well for most it's a week off but I just canned my weekend run....one advantage to only running twice a week is that "taking a week off" doesn't really set you back too much :-). Anyway, this was a test run as much as anything just to see where I was at. Calf has been feeling much better these last couple of days and thankfully, no pain today. It did feel a bit tight but I think I'm over it. All is good in the world again!
Just noting here - 8 runs in April and circa 52km covered. No big increase on earlier in the year but I'm consistent at least. Weight has crept up a little (3 or 4 pounds) so something to keep an eye on. Diet hasn't been great so it's no big surprise. Otherwise feeling good about running again which is absolutely the main thing....and to paraphrase one aul man around these parts....keeping the main thing as the main thing is the main thing!
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7 May - 6.5k including PR (Busy) in 21:51
The plan was to put in a good moderate effort for this and aim for somewhere in the 22min to 22:30 range. For once, I almost got it spot on pacing wise! Bushy has no km markers and my iwatch (which I don't think is very accurate anyway) shows that the km paces were all over the place but it felt like a reasonably even paced run. Effort was well up there in the last km but not in the red zone. I was passed out by one guy with about 500m to go and felt like, if I really pushed it, I could keep up with him but I let him go. I was happy with my mornings work as it was.
11 May - 9.5k @ 5:14 pace
I make it out to be my longest run in about 7 years! It wasn't particularly warm yesterday but I was sweating buckets near the end! One thing to note in relation to my pace is that all my runs lately have started real slow and have cranked up after a km or so. That was never the case in the past where I would almost immediately dial straight into the desired pace. Not sure if it's lack of fitness or age and/or niggles but I really struggle at the start of runs these days. For example, my first km in this run started at 5:45 and progressively got faster up to the 8th k which was covered in 4:52 (again, taken with a pinch of salt on the iwatch) before I slowed a bit for the last 1.5k (includes a nice incline). I remember the older guys in the club I trained with used to start really slow but they were running 5 or 6 times a week and needed that slow start to get going. I'm only running twice a week! Anyway, just an observation. It was really nice to do something a little longer and hopefully I can gently push these runs out a little more without any issues.
I'm on volunteer duties for PR at the weekend so was thinking of doing a session of some kind instead. Maybe something like 3x1k at 5k pace off maybe 2 mins. Does that sound too ambitious or does anyone have any suggestions? (If anyone even reads this 😂)
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14 May - 6.8k including a mini session!
Settled on a little session for this just to mix things up a little bit. Last year, on a couple of occasions, I did 2X1km off 2 mins. So now that I'm super fit (😂), I upped it to 3X1km off 2 mins. I did the session down on the parkrun course in my folks place and used the km markers there for guidance rather than relying on my watch. I hit the 1km marker (about 1.5k of a warm up) at just under 9 mins and decided to get straight into it and left the time on my watch running. Aiming for around 5k pace, I figured I'd just leave the watch running and do the repeats in 6 mins cycles. The first rep felt like I was going way too fast but I had locked into a pace and decided to keep with it. To my horror, it wasn't too fast at all! 4:06 for the rep and I was breathing hard!! In hindsight, maybe I should have done a longer warm up or a few strides or something. So 1:54 recovery and I was off again. The legs felt so strange starting the second rep. I'm so not used to doing repeats but I relaxed and felt a lot better on this rep and actually finished it in 3:58 at what felt like an easier pace. I remember thinking at that point that 2 mins was ample for recovery but when I got going again for the 3rd rep, I needed every second of it....I felt like I was loosing my form big time in the latter part of this rep but completed it in 4:04. Hands on knees for a few seconds and not sure that I could have done another. Just over 2k back to the house and recovery for the rest of the day watching the rugby and relaxing. Really enjoyed this and I might try and do a few more mini sessions over the summer. The trick is to not over extend on them and use them as a motivator and a different stimulus.
17 May - 9.3k @ 5:12 pace
Felt great on this run. Tired at the end but that's my second run over 9k in a week so I'm super happy with it. All injuries and niggles are behaving and hopefully that will continue.
Weighed myself at the weekend and I'm up to 13st 3. I don't focus on my weight and I'm not even sure why I'm recording it but I have it in my head that being under 13st will help with injuries and can't do my 5k times any harm either. I've noticed over the last number of years that I'm more inclined to put weight on during the summer months. I think the long evenings lead to more social outings with a few more beers and bbq's and the like having an adverse effect on the scales. Now that I've noticed that, you'd think that I'd learn :-)
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I'd build up on the sessions if I were you.
Jumping into any kind of speedwork with a bit of meat on it is a recipe for injury.
1 min reps, following week build to 2 min reps, then 3 after 2-3 weeks etc. Couple that with a steady run that has the HR up and we'll have you under 20 for 5k in a few weeks :)
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Cheers for that A. Of course you’re right, the main thing is keeping injury free. I’ll defo follow your advice re the faster stuff and report back how it goes.
All my “easy” runs are being done at a faster pace than I should be doing for my current fitness. A few years ago, I would have been screaming at me to slow down😂 it’s just bloody hard when only running twice a week and the legs feel fully recovered….so I don’t think I’m lacking steady runs, I think I’m just lacking volume!
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21 May - Parkrun (OM)pb!
Heading back to Poolbeg for this and I had it in my mind to give this a good push. Looking back on this log, it's been 5 weeks since I put in an all out or close to all out effort. Sub 21 mins being the target and my best on this course is 20:54 (from a few weeks ago) so I wanted to ideally dip in under that. As luck would have it, there was a volunteer there pacing 21 mins! Me being still in a sleepy haze during the announcement, I didn't take much notice but after 200m, I was right behind the guy and decided that this was my position for the next few km's. The first km felt very comfortable and we hit it in 4:01. Normally I'd berate myself for going too fast but it's so comforting to have someone pace you and I just decided to implicitly trust him and not worry about it. The second km felt fine too and we passed the marker in 8:10.
There was a nice little group of 6 of us and I was sitting at the back and feeling good. For anyone not familiar with Poolbeg, there's a b!tch of a hill for about 100m before you hit the halfway mark. You then make a 180 turn before going back down the hill. As I was feeling good, I moved up on the group at the start of the hill and it turned out to be a good decision because by the time we got back down again and hit the 3km mark, there were only two of us left with the pacer. The km split was much slower but it's amazing what a hill like that can do to a group. Anyway, onwards and I started to feel a bit (over) confident at this point and moved onto the pacers shoulder and pushed the pace a little. During the 4th km, we caught the lead lady (well I think she's only 15!) and she joined our little group for the remainder of the run.
Hitting the 4km mark at 16:37, I knew a good time was on but I was starting to struggle a bit and my breathing was getting very laboured. But it's only 4 mins of work and it's the last km....the other guy in our group made a break for it with 500 to go and the lead lady followed. I had nothing in the legs and really struggled for the next 100m as they sped away. Fair play to the pacer because he stayed with me and encouraged me along. I got going again and put in a big effort for the last 200/300m and was starting to reel the lead lady in before falling over the line. Stared at my knees for a few seconds and then checked the time....20:40 and very happy with the result.
In hindsight, I think I was almost too comfortable at the 3km marker and I'm not sure if that suggests that I could have gone harder/faster. Happy with the progress though. The splits were interesting too as it turned out to be a little pyramid session! 4:01; 4:09; 4:20; 4:07; 4:03. I'm taking it as an old man pb too. I did run 20:38 on a different course back in February but it was definitely short.
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I actually checked again and my previous best in Poolbeg was 21.06 so the last post is a 26 sec improvement. I'll take that.
24 May - 4.4k @ 5:15 pace
A shorter run just because I've been pushing it a good bit lately and the weekend run was hard.
28 May - 8k including Parkrun (Claremorris) in 21:15
Wasn't planning to do this. I had a run pencilled in for the previous day but I ended up in a local bar at stupid o'clock in the morning and could hardly lift my head the next day, never mind run. So woke up on day 2 and was still not feeling the best - I think it's called an old man hangover ;-) but forced myself up and out the door and decided to give it a go. Full effort was not on the menu but I figured i'd like to run with someone or a group and that can be hard to judge at this particular PR as the numbers can be quite small. Five runners took off at the start and I decided to follow them and hope a few came back to me. First k was 4:02 and I knew I would be in trouble if I didn't slow. Unfortunately, there was no-one within 100m behind me so a solo run it is. I just eased back and aimed for 4:20's for the remainder of the run and that's the way it more or less worked out. I was blowing hard in the last km but it overall went well and I recovered pretty quickly afterwards. Splits were 4:02, 4:20, 4:16, 4:20, 4:17. I was actually very happy when I got home and thought about it. A relatively "easy" 21:15 while still not in the best of health is ok by me.
31 May - 8.2k @ 5:19 pace
Really enjoyed this run mainly because I had a really horrible day with news of my uncle's passing. The day was up in the air with organising stuff and driving but I got a window late and decided I needed it. Sometimes I thought of my uncle but mostly I thought of nothing and felt so much better when I got home. Today's run is conformation on why I need to run!
That's 9 runs and 64k in May. Plus an improvement on my 5k time. Slowly feeling some kind of fitness starting to stir inside me...slowly!
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Sorry to hear about your uncle, may be RIP.
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Sorry to hear about your uncle.
So - this is not a training log........really......
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My condolences on the passing of your uncle, may he RIP
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Thanks all for the condolences.
Not really a training log....just somewhere to rest my activity thoughts....and to give myself the illusion that I'm training!
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Right - so the last two weeks haven't been great from a running point of view but I did get lots and lots of walking done on a mini break to Bilbao last week so that at least counts for something!
5 June - 8.2k @ 5:19 pace
After a few heavy nights, I ventured out again but really struggled after 5k....unfortunately I was 4k from home so had no choice but to slog it out. Exhausted when I got home and the first time (from a running perspective) in a long time that I really regretted being such a stubborn idiot and didn't just walk the last couple of k's.
Packing up the next day for a short break away and my legs were still in bits so I made the decision to remove the runners from my bag and replace them with "nicer" drinking attire :-) Best decision I've ever made. No running in Spain but we did end up doing lots of walking (about 12 - 15k each day last week) and that really helped the legs.
12 June - 4.5k @ 5.23 pace
Early morning flight back into Dublin and I couldn't wait to get back and throw on the runners. Kept it short and was particularly pleased that my heart rate is starting to come down a little (average was 141)
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15 June - 8.2K @ 5.34 pace
My intention was to do a short session for this but I misjudged distances and knew it would be too much so just jogged home. I was glad of it too because I was struggling big time at the end of this run. Second time in a week that a simple 5 miler has had me in bits. Not as bad as last weeks but it shouldn't be this hard. Some are blaming the weather but I think I must have picked up a little virus or something.
18 June - 6.6k @ 5.20 pace
Felt better than the last run but I was still working harder than I should have been in the last km. Glad to finish and be home. I don't trust the heart rate on the iwatch because it told me the average rate was 161 and it was over 180 one stage when I looked down🤨
21 June - 4.8k @ 5.22 pace
Kept this short and it felt a lot better. I think I'll keep all runs short for the next couple of weeks and reassess then maybe at the end of June.
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24 June - 6.2k @ 5.31 pace
Got slightly lost on this run and so it was a little longer than planned. Felt ok but still struggled a bit after the 5k mark. It got me thinking that talk of a virus from my last post was pre mature - it turns out to be a good old fashioned lack of fitness!
27 June - 4.6k @ 5.25 pace
I think I'm starting to get a better at slowing down in my runs. I'm taking anything as a positive these days :-) Nice run and felt good.
That's me for June. I had a (planned non-running) medical procedure on the 28th. Recovery is going fine but I was told no running for a week. I'm definitely not tempted yet and a weeks recovery seems short to me at the moment but I'm sure as I get stronger over the next few days, I'll be looking forward to getting the runners on again.
Only 43k and 7 easy runs in June. A bit disappointing but I have to keep reminding myself that it's all about getting out and enjoying it these days. It's not all about racing anymore :-) Plan for July and August is to run see if my body can handle more frequent easy, but short, runs.
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July update
I've been really bad at updating here. It's partly because of summer and other distractions but also a lot to do with a really crap July where very little was done. I had a small medical procedure at the end of June and recovery was going well, I got a few short runs done before I noticed signs of infection from the surgical site. Queue a week off running and then near the end of that, I picked up some type of virus. According to all antigen tests, it wasn't covid but it knocked me for six in terms of energy and for about two weeks. Anymore than a 15 minutes walk would leave me utterly exhausted. I ended up getting back into it with a few very short and easy runs at the end of July and looking back on the month as a whole, very little activity was done. For myself and to stay accountable, below are the few runs completed:
5 July - 3k @5:30 pace
7 July - 4.3k @5:27 pace
9 July - 4.1k @ 5:17 pace
29 July - 3.2k @ 6:00 pace
31 July - 4k @ 5:33 pace
Thankfully, August is starting to look a bit more positive and I'll update on that separately.
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I was toying with the idea of trying to get out more often (and keeping the distance a little lower on each run) in an attempt to see if it helped. I struggled (or at least it wasn't enjoyable) throughout May and June with any distance over 7/8kms. One solution is to slow down on my runs but another is to get out more often. My dodgy ankle has been really behaving lately and I've been disciplined with icing each night to keep swelling down. I really think the carbon shoes are making a huge difference too. Anyway, July was a complete disaster with illness etc so I decided to build slowly into in August. Rough plan is to try and do 3 runs (instead of two) per week but be prepared to be very flexible with it. Going well for the first few weeks.
2 August - 4.9k @5:25 pace
5 August - 5.0k @ 5:27 pace
7 August - 5.2k @ 5:16 pace
11 August - 5.3k @ 5:13 pace
13 August - 5k (Parkrun) in circa 34 mins
This was done with a friend doing her first ever 5k run. I've been at her for years to try a few runs and eventually got her doing a 5k. Nearly ran it all too. Just a 30 sec walk after the 3k mark. Very happy and delighted my enthusiasm for running eventually worked (even if I was less than enthusiastic for a couple of years with injury, it still rubbed off!!)
15 August - 5.9k @ 5:11 pace
17 August - 6.0k @ 5:08 pace
20 August - Session! 8 x 300's with short 800m warm up and warm down (5k in total)
AMK rightly pulled me up on attempting a few 1k reps earlier in the summer and, for once, I listened to advice given! But I was nervous as hell for this. Haven't been on a track in about 8/9 years. Haven't ran faster than 4:00 per km pace also in about 8/9 years. Didn't know what shoes to wear. Didn't know what (not) to eat beforehand. Was completely unsure of what pace to target. Stomach was in bits! Love it!! Got to the track and the turnstiles were broken. Nobody around. Feck this, over the big fence goes I, at 40 years of age, with the chance of impaling myself on those nasty spikes on top of said fence! Fecking eejit!! nothing was stopping me doing this 🙈 Maybe it was the adrenaline of "breaking into" a running track but I loved every second of the session, even the stitch I picked up on the 5th/6th rep 🤣 I tried to target 70's in the end, with a 50 sec 100m recovery back to the start line. As it happens, I ran the first one "too fast" at 66 but I got into a rhythm after that and 66 ended up as my slowest rep!! Full 8 were 66,66,66,64,64,64,65,64. So I had 55s recovery and it felt like plenty. I could have done another one or two at the end if I was pushed but 8 was fine for my first attempt. It was only after I finished that I realised that I was only running 292m reps (there are too many lines on these new tracks!!) but no matter, its the consistent effort that matters and that will bring me on a ton. (Exit turnstile was working fine and thank god for that - I don't think I would have been capable of jumping the fence after a session!)
Very pleased with 8 runs in 3 weeks and no ill effects. In other news, I've been much better over the last few weeks at ancillary stuff like stretching and conditioning work too. It's still very basic stuff but it also has to help. I've also lost a few pounds (I lost them when I was sick and just haven't put them back on 😂) Now at 12st 13. Has to help too.
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Super stuff T - great to see it!!
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Over a month without an update and this log is still on the first page!🤨
I'm way behind in updating but here's how the end of August looked:
22 August 6.3k @ 5:11 pace
24 August 4.3k @ 5:27 pace
27 August 7k including parkrun (Poolbeg) in 21:26
29 August 4.9k @ 5:35 pace
Overall very happy with August. 12 runs and about 65km covered. They are the highest figures I've logged in years. I was hoping to do something similar for September but a little niggle has held me back. I'll update on that soon.
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September has been a bit disappointing mainly due to a little niggle in my calf that I picked up on an early morning run while on holiday - did the run at 7am, after a few drinks the night before, and it was straight into a pretty steep hill. So I was probably just a bit dehydrated and not warmed up. Didn't feel the tightness until after the run and I shrugged it off as nothing and tried to continue running but it's just gotten worse so I'm resting up now for a little bit. Anyway, September:
1 September 4.9k @ 5:15 pace
3 September 6.5k including a parkrun (Claremorris) in 21:12
6 September 4.9k @ 5:27 pace
9 September 6k @ 5:20 pace
Strained my calf on this run
12 September 7k @ 5:14 pace
15 September - Session 8 x 400m
This session went well but it made things worse on the injury front. Hindsight is 20:20! I targeted 90 sec reps with 60 sec recovery. Reps came in at 86, 89, 87, 86, 87, 87, 90, 91. I started to struggle on the last two reps and was on all fours for a minute after finishing but recovered ok after that. Good progression on my session in August.
18 September 5.2k @ 5:19 pace
I could feel the tightness instantly on this run but convinced myself that it would loosen out. It didn't. I was planning a 7k run but took a shortcut back to the car in the park once I realised it was actually getting worse and not better.
24 September 4k including start of a parkrun!
I took a 6 day break after this and then for whatever silly reason, I decided to jog a parkrun. Did a 1k jog to the start line and it was ok but not great. Lined up and started jogging and then got going but I knew after 1k that it was really foolish to push it. Mind games for the next little bit before I pulled up just short of 3k and walked back to the car. First time I can ever remember pulling up in a race/pr. Initially I was peeved off but then just happy that I eventually had the little bit of sense to stop before I made things worse.
8 runs in September and 43km covered.
Going to rest up for at least 10 days now and see where I am. It's not an injury per se but it's definitely in pre injury territory. Hopefully I'll be back out running shortly. Until then, more time to stretching and less time devoted to the fridge and I should be ok 😁
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Back into a little bit of running and no real issues to report so hopefully I can kick on with a bit of consistent running coming into the winter. I still have a little residual tightness but happy I'm over the worst of it. Plan for the next 6 weeks is to get out for as many short runs as I can. No focus on going longer, just getting out the door and enjoying running again. October so far:
4 October - 6 k incl. the GT5k in 21:40
I had already booked into to this with work so decided to do it mainly because I've missed nearly every work social event this year. No warm up to speak of so just started off jogging and planned to keep it that way. But of course one gets swept up by the crowd and I ended up with a pretty evenly paced (circa 4:20 pace) throughout. Cardio wise, I was feeling fine until the last km or so but had a few twinges in the calf on the last km too. Jogged a km back to the office after for a quick shower and a few drinks. Calf was tight the next day so decided to wait a few days before going out again.
10 October - 4.3k @ 5:17 pace
Felt great on this run. Legs really fresh. Kept reminding myself to slow down and no real issues.
13 October - 4.4k @ 5:15 pace
Rinse and repeat!
15 October - 6k incl a parkrun (Claremorris) in 21:33
Didn't have any plans to do this but woke at 8:30 and was wide awake staring at the ceiling with no plans for the morning. Sure I'll just go down and see how I feel! Began with a jog and progressively got quicker. Ended up with a pretty aggressive negative split of 11:17/10:16. Although I was pushing hard on the last km, there was definitely a bit left in the tank. Happy to be back :-)
I've also had four weeks almost completely off alcohol (think I've had just 5 bottles of beer over that period) and have been reasonably good on the diet side generally. Weighted myself for the first time in a couple months on Saturday morning and was 12st 12. Starting to feel like I'm not carrying around too much weight anymore so generally happy with progress on that side of things.
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Continued to build up for the rest of October - strangely felt my legs loosen a little and unintentionally had a couple of faster easy runs. But they were short runs I guess.
18 October - 4.5k @ 5:04 pace
21 October - 4.4k @ 5:02 pace
25 October - 6.7k @ 5:20 pace
29 October - 7k incl. parkrun (Claremorris) in 21:18
Nothing else special to report. The parkrun felt good. I think the course was slightly long this week so it was probably closer to a 21min effort. Started slowly and built up the pace with a couple of faster kms thrown in at the end. I'm not feeling the love to push all out yet but maybe in a few weeks I'll give it a bigger effort. 8 runs in total for the month and just 43kms covered. I'll try to increase those numbers a bit for November.
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