Initium Novum
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15-08-2024 4:35pm#1
Hey! Some of you might remember me, I use to log my training here a few years ago. But for anyone who doesn't know me my old training log was called Positive Vibes. Negative Splits.
My last race was in August 2020 which was a 3000m on the track in a time of 9:59, and before that in July 2020 another track race 5000m in a time of 16:51. My last proper road race was Raheny 5 mile in January 2020 in a time of 28:35. I did a local 5k the following week but if I remember correctly I was really beat up because I was in the middle of home improvements and the Raheny 5mile race the pervious weekend.
So what's happened in the last few years? Injury after injury then when things were finally coming together I was in a serious car crash in December 2022. I was just unfortunate to be parked where I was when the other vehicle came off the road and crashed to me, but in other ways I was very fortunate as a few seconds earlier I probably wouldn't be writing this log today. The past 18 months or so I've been dealing with the fallout of that crash which is still causing a few issues on and off.
I've called this log initium novum, new beginnings. Yes it's a bit of a pretentious log name but it does feel like a new beginning in my life. I'm now a father since my last log and I've recently started a new job which is more family and training friendly. The past few months my running has been pretty decent too base building and trying to get fit again. Nothing spectacular, low mileage and easy runs. My easy runs are a lot more easy than they were a few years ago. Where I would run them at 4:45/km or 7:40/mi in the past it's more like 5:15/km or 8:25/mi. Lately I've been doing some 'faster' runs too with a weekly session. I'm just using my Garmin daily workout recommendations. So it feels quite conservative in the approach, this is what i need right now. I set a 5km race or time trial for the start of November and a 10km at the end of November so Garmin is following that target. I'd say that I would break 20 minutes 5km at the moment but not much more. So I'm not totally unfit. I've a load of weight to loose too! I hope to get back racing in February 2025 with a local 5km which will be 5 years since my last road race. This local 5km was actually my last road race back in 2020. I'll see what happens after that. But I'm hoping for a good 2025 and lay the foundations for the following year. My long-term goal is making my marathon debut and breaking 3 hours in it. I'll be targeting a spring 2026 marathon so likely Manchester.
I see that there aren't many active logs here any more, with a few more semi active logs. Because its quite here now I'll probably be talking to myself as I don't expect much interaction but positive and critical comments are always welcomed just like my last log.
Seán
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Comments
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Welcome back. Glad to hear you're on the mend and hopefully it's the start of a very productive period for you.
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Best of luck on your return. Hope you have a clear run at it.
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Great to hear from you Sean. I've often thought of how you've been going over the last couple of years. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since we were chatting in that pen at Raheny, way further back then we really needed to be!
Looking forward to seeing how the training goes. My log has been on and off over the last couple of years in tune with my running, but I've timed my return nicely it seems. Your marathon debut is long overdue :)
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That feels like ages ago now! Hopefully I'll get to race with you again sometime soon.
Monday 12th August
Easy 30 minutes @5:10/km or 8:19/mi
Mainly loops of the new track around the GAA pitch.
Tuesday 13th August
25 minutes tempo
I did this on a 1km loop in the forest that is now part of our new parkrun route. I ran it a little bit faster than prescribed but not much. My go to session shoe of choice at the moment is the Saucony Endorphin Speed 1 mutant colour way! Anyone remember them from back in 2020? It shows the lack of quality runs I've done in the past four years.
10 minutes warm up plus drills and strides
Km Splits
4:11,4:07, 4:08, 4:07, 4:09, 4:09
10 minutes cool down
Wednesday 14th August
Rest day
Thursday 15th August
Just over 30 minutes easy @5:10/km or 8:19/mi. 33 minutes is what was prescribed. Its a bit of a random time, but that's what it seems to do every so often.
Friday 16th August
7x1 minute with a big 3 minutes active recovery. The first one was almost spot on in terms of pace but on the 2nd one my watch kept telling I was going too slow so I'd speed up more and more, it did feel too hot. In the end I totally over cooked the 2nd repeat so I just ignored my watch an ran by feel for the rest of them as my watch kept saying too slow. On the 7th one I was feeling fresh enough probably because of the long recoveries I deliberately when faster.
15 minutes warm up with drills and strides.
7x1 minute average paces
@3:37/km or 5:49/mi
@3:20/km or 5:22/mi
@3:33/km or 5:43/mi
@3:33/km or 5:43/mi
@3:34/km or 5:44/mi
@3:37/km or 5:49/mi
@3:23/km or 5:27/mi
Recoveries were at around 5:45/km or 9:15/mi
10 minutes cool down
Saturday 17th August
Rest day. But bumped into some club mates who think I should aim for Valencia so we can train as a group again in 2025 they hateed Manchester...
Sunday 18th August
40 minutes easy @ 5:16/km or 8:29/mi
No long run this week I suppose it's because I had two sessions. Good week just over 40km or 25 miles 3k more than last week.
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Good to see you back! We miss you down at the track
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Monday 19th August
8x2 minutes @3:50/km or 6:10/mi with 1 minute jog recovery
Drizzly humid evening in the forest loop. Definitely working harder in the second half of the session. The Saucony Endorphin Speed aren't great in the wet even though it's a mix trail surface. Conservative enough on the first repeat then close enough to the prescribed pace after that. It's going to take time get the pacing right but a good effort today even though I was speeding up and slowing down over the repeats.
10 minutes warm up plus drills and strides.
8x2' average paces per repeat
3:55/km or 6:18/mi
3:47/km or 6:05/mi
3:47/km or 6:05/mi
3:47/km or 6:05/mi
3:49/km or 6:09/mi
3:50/km or 6:10/mi
3:51/km or 6:12/mi
10 minutes cool down
Tuesday 20th August
Easy 30 minutes @5:23/km or 8:40/mi
Legs were a bit heavy after yesterday's session so I worn my New Balance Supercomp Trainer. I find them good for recovery. Average heart rate was 124bpm so my fitness seems to be improving.
Wednesday 21st August
8x10 seconds sprint with 3 minutes off rest.
This is something Garmins daily workouts throws in the mix every so often. The first few times I did them I'd be beat up for a good few days after. I'm still quite undecided about them as it's something alien to me. I would have trained along side sprinters in the past on the track but it's not something I'd ever do. This is the first time having sprints the day before a session. I wonder is the idea have you doing your session on tired legs? Usual they would be a the second session in the week.
I didn't get home until nearly 9pm so I was late enough going out, I was in two minds to just have a rest day as the wind was picking up with the tail-end of this hurricane coming it. In the end I went down to the forest for shelter but it was getting dark. I just wore Nike Infinity RN4. The average paces don't really work on such a short distance but it went from 2:45/km on the first down to 2:29/km on the last one. Very slow walk back then standing around for the 3 minutes in a dark forest hearing the trees creeking and all the other noises is a little unsettling! I met one one man out for a walk on one of my last recoveries when it was almost totally dark. He must have thought I was mental.
15 minutes warm up followed by a few drills
8x10 seconds sprint
10 minutes cool down
Thursday 21st August
2x15 minutes @ 4:10/km or 6:42/mi with 5 minutes jog recovery.
I knew I had ran sprints the previous day as my legs were heavy enough. Heavy drizzly rain but no wind for the session on the 1km loop in the forest. Plenty of puddles and muck to take the new look of those 4 year old Saucony Endorphin Speeds! The first 15 minutes went quite good, it took a 1km or so to loosen up the legs. I've a tenancy to slightly overcook sessions so I was trying my best to keep the pace at 4:10/km without overly relying on my watch. Overall I was quite happy how I preformed on the first 15 minutes, on the second 15 minutes I was definitely working much harder. Looking back at my watch after the session I see I did go a little faster but not much. Overall happy with the session. These are the type of sessions I need to be focusing on to get fit but I'm happy enough to let Garmin guide me until I lay down a decent foundation.
10 minutes warm up followed by drills and strides
2x 15 min6 average paces
4:09/km or 6:41/mi
4:07/km or 6:38/mi
10 minutes cool down
Friday 22nd August
Rest day
Saturday 23rd August
60 minutes easy @ 5:12/km or 8:22/mi
I got a pair Mizuno Neo Vista recently. I'm not sure what this shoe is actually designed for but I find it nice for longer runs if your legs are tired. I got soaked again on this run.
Sunday 24th August
Rest day
Overall great week running I really enjoyed it. I know I'm getting ahead of myself but I'm thinking a lot about marathon training next year and looking forward to the grind. I'm thinking now Frankfurt with Ratoath half in September for next year's targets. I'd don't know is a sub 3 hour marathon is overly ambitious in a years time given my current shape but that's what I'm thinking.
44.77km or 27.8 miles this week.
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Monday 26th August
Easy 30 minutes @5:13/km or 8:24/mi
Loops of the track around the GAA pitch.
Tuesday 27th August
23 Minutes Tempo
10 minutes warm plus drills and strides
23 minutes Tempo @ 4:14/km or 6:48/mi
10 minutes cool down
Forest 1km trail loop for the session perfect weather conditions so busy enough with dog walkers etc. I was quite comfortable throughout the session. Would I be able to hold that pace for a marathon in just over a year...?
Wednesday 28th August
Rest day
Thursday 29th August
Easy 35 minutes @ 5:14/km or 5:26/mi
Loops of a different GAA pitch than Monday
Friday 30th August
5x1 minute with 3 minutes easy recovery
15 minutes warm up plus drills and strides
5x 1 minutes average pace 3:33/km or 5:43/mi
10 minutes cool down
Light enough of a session overall. Still struggling to keep the pace constant over reps on the shorter sessions. Perfect conditions.
Saturday 31st August
Easy 40 minutes @5:09/km or 8:17mi
Flat enough route but warm.
Sunday 1st September
Easy 40 minutes @ 5:23/km or 8:40/mi
Another flat enough route deliberately keeping pace back.
Still no long runs but 6 days running building nicely. I deliberately stayed on flatter routes all week. 45.4km or 28.2 miles so similar distance to last week but overall effort was dialled back a small bit to see how the body would react to six days running.
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Sean with your background and a full year's training with no speedbumps behind you ;) Sub 3 is not a goal to shy away from at all. What I might suggest though, with this being your debut, is to maybe think about Dublin instead of Frankfurt. I know I'm probably influenced by the varying degrees of disaster that have been my overseas marathons (Berlin, Rotterdam, Manchester 😭), but the buzz of Dublin is hard to beat, and it takes a lot of variables off the board for your debut marathon, allowing to focus more on the race. Just my two cents.
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It's the speed bumps I'm worried about! I'd like to do Dublin as my first but it's so hard to get an entry, or at least it was a few years ago. The lads in my club have done Frankfurt a few times and like it, I think thats what they'll be targeting next year. Better course but the atmosphere isn't as good as Dublin is what they say.
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Monday 2nd September
32 minutes Tempo
10 minutes warm up plus drills and strides
32 minutes @ 4:13/km or 6:47/mi
10 minutes cool down
I was feeling fresh before this one had to check the warm up pace a couple of times to cool the jets. Perfect conditions on the 1km forest loop. Very controlled, never working too hard but id consider that quite a big workout for me at the moment. I'm enjoying straight tempo sessions but if i was doinga plan for myself I'd probably cap them at around 24 minutes followed by some 20-30 seconds on/off for turnover. I'm feeling a lot stronger. Even on the cool down I felt great.
Tuesday 3rd September
Rest day.
Feeling good but around half way through the day I started getting a niggle in my left knee. I was on my knees for a job so maybe it's related to that or it could be yesterday's big session. I'd be quite weary of knee issues.
Wednesday 4th September
60 minutes easy @ 5:20/km or 8:35/mi
Just not feeling it for this one. Legs were fine but no energy. My knee was niggling a little during the day but fine after the run.
Thursday 5th September
7x1 minute with 3 minutes recovery
Just like Mondays session it was the same as the previous week just longer. Ideal conditions. Didn't get out until nearly 8pm so it was getting dark finishing up. Really cool sunset. I wore an old pair of Nike tempo, I haven't worn them in ages. Great shoe but takes a bit to get used to the ride and noise. It kinda felt like I went over slightly on my right ankle during the session. I noticed it a bit on my cool down.
15 minutes warm up
7x1 minute average pace @3:33/km or 5:43/mi
10 minutes cool down
Friday 6th September
30 minutes easy 5:26/km or 8:45/mi
That right ankle was bothering me quite a bit so I slowed right down. I probably should have stopped after a mile.
Saturday 7th September
Rest
Sunday 8th September
Rest
I took the weekend off except for a short mountain walk on Sunday. I decided to take yesterday the 9th of September as a rest day too. I hope to do 30 minutes easy this evening and resume business as normal all going well. But if not I'll ease back in more slowly over the week. It's funny how I started the week thinking I'm undercooking it and by Friday I'm thinking am I over cooking the come back 😃
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