I didn't get this far to get this far.

Very boring week for me - kept runs nice and handy as was still suffering slightly from the Xmas dose. Probably not handy enough but was using the just “run “ approach . Increased mileage on the week before to bring me 26 miles - hopefully enough to start building a half marathon on !

Tuesday : 12k @6:12 ( chatty)
Thursday : 10k @ 6:20
Saturday : 8k@ 6:23 ( with kid on bike so lots of stopping)
Sunday: 12k@ 5:51 ( chatty and not easy )

Yesterday’s run was a real eye opener . I ran with a buddy who is faster and that I haven’t chatted to in ages . So after a slowish warm up and 4 miles (3 into the wind) at a steady pace of about 5:45 I was pooped. The uphill home was torture . Haven’t felt this unfit in an age . I’m not sure Bohermeen maybe my target race after all .

My hubby is taking the kids away to Barcelona for the football so I was feeling left out and booked myself a spot in the Lisbon Half Marathon on 22nd of March !!

The week went well mileage wise but it all feels way to hard. I’m just keeping with it and hoping for the best ! Loved reading the Raheny race reports - great to be in someone else’s head for 5 mile !

Anyways a boring week for me ;

Tuesday :

2m easy, 10 cv x 1' on/off, 2'easy, 5*30s hard , 2m c/d

This was a bit of a messy session but definitely a good one to do when you need to be distracted from thinking about how how running is so meh !

The cv paces : 4:50,4:54,4:54,4:53,4:47,4:47,4:45,4:55,4:46,4:56

Some into the wind and on an incline done opposite direction which felt like a rest . Same for the 30 secs hard .

Hard ;4:03,4:13,4:14,4:02,4:06

Full session : 8 mile @ 6:10 min k

Thursday : a very boring 7 mile @ 6:18 mink with a 5 few strides thrown in at end . ( average HR 136)

Saturday:10k easy ( 6:27 mink ) (average HR 135)

That one actually felt easy which is quite novel at this stage .

Sunday ; ten mile long run, for last 5k increase to LT for 90secs/2 mins at end of each km

Not the best long run I’ve ever had . Slow felt hard and I struggled mentally to keep moving . Stomach felt a little off as well .

Anyways after 7 mile started the pick ups for 5k:

Paces during pick ups : 5:07,5:07,5:03,5:03,4:55

Honestly these felt like flat out pace and the slower jogging in between was very well needed.

It didn’t give me any warm fuzzy feeling on the state of my fitness . Strange thing is my heart rate on the run is not reflecting how I feel ( 139 average here) but from a recovery prospective it is taking a good 12 hours for it to drop neck to normal resting / longer if a tough session !

Anyways mileage still increasing : 31 miles for the week

Have signed up for Trim next week - I’ll go and run it but I’m not really in the head space ( or fitness space) for racing .

Hopefully things will start improving soon !

Thought I’d post if only to keep myself honest - especially as I’ve been slipping back into very bad habits the last few weeks .

Last week I managed to do 3 runs .

A 7 mile at a random pace averaging at 6:00 - not slow or fast - talking of course despite the driving wind n rain .

18k @ 5:53 . Too fast for a windy long run with at least 3 miles with unplanned marathon pace . Running again with faster peeps as need company to get out the door - obviously not ideal but better than not running.

9k@ 6:12 - also too fast as was also chatting and may have had a slight hangover .

This week:

Tuesday - one of my new ( old) running buddies had a new plan - so we all did it for the want of an alternative plan .

8*200s with 40 secs jog in between . The wind again was nasty and the lighting poor so the speed varied a lot ( 55-47 secs)

A very enjoyable session and it went by very quickly . Again warm up and cool down to fast ( total distance 10k@5:59)

Thursday : I got it into my head to do 1k LTs . So I decided 5:15 - 5:20 might be my current LT pace -and off I went .

First 1k: 5:16 into the wind - tough out . 2 mins jog recovery @6:55

Second 1k: 5:12 into the wind on an incline . What the beep was I thinking . 2 min jog recovery @ 7:29

Third 1k: 5:01 . Up a hill into the wind then back down same hill . 2 min jog recovery @ 7:09 plus standing at traffic lights plus tying lace ! obviously too fast and was really beginning to feel it - chest was rattling .

Fourth 1k: Promised myself it was the last . On a decline with wind on my back - 5:05.

Then I ran for a km ( up hill) before deciding to do one for the road even though I was wrecked at this stage @ 5:03 on a slight decline with wind at back .
Not an enjoyable session no idea why I even did it my watch even said I was over reaching . I was exhausted yesterday and legs ached so so much .

This morning continuing with my stupid running binge I did 20k@ 5:52 - with the same fast crowd - 6 miles on average @ 5:45.whilst chatting . Needless to say I was a bit tired by the time we had the long crawl back up a 2 mile hill and Jorge didn’t help .

Anyways at least I know I can do a half next week. I’ll hang around the 2hr pacers and hope for the best . I wouldn’t even bother doing it only it’s a long run for Lisbon . If Lisbon even happens now !! Anyway after Lisbon I’ll need to adopt a sensible approach again - this random stuff is not ideal and doesn't suit my physiology I find it difficult to recover from . I did see a lot of improvement doing slow miles with one hard session a week so I need to get back to that !

Recovery 4 mile on Sunday @ 10:30

Running is keeping me sane these days . Both of us are working from home and both in very busy jobs so quite stressful with kids to entertain and home school . The Kids have become quite feral. There is no DIY, home baking or funky art projects going on here. RTÉ and Xbox are giving more than a helping hand with the child minding .

We are lucky to still be working and not on the front line . Running is perfect for stress relief and as an escape for alone time . My husband has even retaken up running and is going out to do 5k twice a week . Loosing weight as well . Like how is that fair .

I have to admit my running is messy and unplanned - I’m basically doing whatever I feel like on the day . If it’s an easy run I do try to keep the HR between 135-140 . I have a tough plan of tring do between 25-30 miles a week. After that no

I found myself running five days in a row last week - without injury etc etc . Who knew it was a thing I could actually do! Despite running bringing sanity I still haven’t returned to pre marathon form and anything past easy is hard . My heart rate doesn’t reflect this which is odd. I know the high pollen count at the moment is killing my chest not to mention that bloody wind . I just can’t motivate myself to do a long run as running in circles in a 2k radius is beyond boring especially with no Target race in sight. Hats off to the folk who are managing .

I copied the boards TT idea ( thanks lads) and set one up for the club( unofficially) Great response so far but so much sandbagging. Thought I could do with the motivation .

Lots of rude weirdos and poo hanging around the footpaths these days . Runners I meet seem perfectly reasonable and are all over social distancing. There are a few walkers now that should be barred . Earphones on with multiple dogs on leads etc etc . There will be a casualty caused by social distancing before this is all done .

Another week gone by just like that - the days are just blending in together and it’s getting hard to differentiate between them . That’s why there is wine - so I can tell it’s the weekend .

Monday : Rest
Tuesday : Fartlek 8k@ 5:47

This admittedly didn’t start as a Fartlek.

It was supposed to be 8*400s at 5k pace. I panicked after the warm up 2k@6:35 as the first 400m did not hit the pace I would have liked. I decided to keep doing 400m fast for as long as I could but not to lap the watch . I managed 4 400m using this method until I turned into the wind .

I really started struggling then so ran faster when I could for 200-300m. Once I got out of the wind I ramped up to 400m again .

By the end of the run I had done 6*400, 2*300m and 1*200m all @ approx 5k pace judging by the pace graph on garmin . So a tough work out in the end albeit not the planned one.

It was the first unproductive run on garmin in while . I was left feeling annoyed at my plan quitting and was really missing group training at this point .

Wednesday - supposed to be easy run but I got hoodwinked into some family fitness “fun” .

I warmed up by myself for 5k @ 6:20 in a attempt to get some miles in , picked up the hubby and kids and we ran together for 2k to the steps of death. There was a lot of steps - millions even .

Anyways we raced up them 5 times . I’m the fittest in the family by a long shot ,stamina wise but certainly the slowest . By the second set my quads were jelly . The last group of steps I could barely walk up - on the second set !! Anyways five sets later and with jellied legs we wobbled home slowly 2k@6:42.

Thursday - couldn’t walk downstairs but did manage to play soccer with the kids for a while. Needless to say that didn’t help my legs .

Friday - I still had very tight calves . An easy 5 mile loosened them out slightly .@6:25.

I had experienced a silly busy work week and as someone else pointed out on here 3 full time jobs by two people ain’t easy . So as it was Friday I needed to indulge in a a glass of wine and some self sabotage . With the TT looming ( for the boards and my club) the obvious thing to do was to drink a beer, 2/3 a bottle of Red wine and a rather large raspberry Collins .

So roll on Saturday morning and feeling a little worse for the wear I thought I’d better go read the rules for the boards TT.

Somehow and I never actually read back over it I got it into my head it had to be done by midday. ( that still may have been the case Im still confused) . Anyways I was happy to be off the hook for the morning at least .

I did have to do the other one though as I was the bloody organiser. Oh where do I get these ideas from? Where or where ?

I drank a lot of water and zero etc all day . I needed fresh air and it was a glorious day so went for a family walk - a 7k one all within the 2k radius. Five o’clock loomed and I was exhausted . My calves ached. All the results so far from the club league were better than last week . I thought I’m the organiser I’ll give it a shot and abort after 1k and try again tomorrow if it’s not going well . Dragged my butt off the sofa and did a 2k warm up . It felt so hard to do a 6:40 warm up pace . Drudge , drudge - shuffled into starting position . Oh sweet baby Jesus why ?

Right - just do 1k see how it goes . Ok better look at pace on watch “4:40” -a bit too fast - sod it keep going , it won’t last anyway . First km clocked at 4:41.

It started getting hard quickly - 2nd km clocked at 4:55 and a dread settled in starting the third as a nasty incline loomed . Keep going , keep pushing just get it done it will be over soon , the quicker you go the quicker the pain will end . Push push , breathing getting a bit erratic now . 3rd k wasn’t pretty - 5:06. At the beginning of the 4th k a slight incline and a few puffs of ventolin kept me motoring . If I could just make it to 4k without dying and take it from there . Stopped looking at pace and just ran as fast as I could go . People scattered as I ran towards them with my big red faced , and my grunting, sniffing ( stupid tree pollen) and huffing . I had no idea whst speed I was moving at but it felt like a slow drag through treacle . I have never been so happy to hit 5k . I just lay down on the grass outside someone’s house half dead . I couldn’t believe the time on the watch - 24:11 . The last 2k were at a decent clip 4:53 and 4:36. I ended up running 16 seconds faster than last week.

I went to bed at same time as kids - exhausted and aching everywhere .

Sunday - 10k slow @ 6:40

I really had wanted to do a long run this week but was just too wrecked today . That recovery run today was shocking unpleasant . I really did too much fast stuff this week . Easy runs for me next week and no steps - please no more steps !!

Total miles - 27

Grand - thanks for asking. Have been a bit unmotivated last few weeks - heavy legs and lack of real race motivation z One of the kids turned off my strava feed which I’ve just figured out after a few people enquired on my injury status !

Still running albeit a bit poorly and was avoiding motivated folk cause feeling sorry for myself .

But I’m back now in motivated mode ( I think) and going to try and start working off a plan . Looking at the boards graduate one .

skyblue46 wrote: »

Haha...it was actually the lack of activity on Strava that caught my eye not your absence from here. I wondered if those steps in Drogheda had come back to haunt you. Glad you're getting a bit of mojo....I hear there's nothing better than a 1 mile TT to focus the mind

Those bloody steps followed closely by 5k TT with a hangover probably not my best running choices ever !

Not sure on the mile - allegedly doing a 10k TT that weekend. I need to work on speed - at this stage my cardio fitness seems to be much stronger than how fast my legs can actually move . I’m sure there is a technical term for that - but I just don’t know what it is !

Somehow during a bout of lockdown madness I organised a local league (5k league with the odd random distance thrown in). I hate 5ks , have avoided them for years so really don’t know what came over me .

So I’m stuck doing them now and embracing the “pain cave” to save face . Too precious - way to precious .

So running wise – I haven’t been doing much in the way of speed work. Maybe a session every two weeks , no long runs, and odd 4-5k run with my 13 year old which hurts a lot. Did 2 park runs (2ndand 3rd ones ever and loved them) . First one was 26:15 and the second one 25:20

 

In November I did a 10k race (ish) . Hadn’t’ planned on racing per se. Decided on the day I had to keep up with some folk ( I would never hear the end of it if they beat me). They started a bit faster that I expected – 5:15 -5:20 pace. I settled in to it and by the 5th Km I couldn’t resist the urge to pass them even though I knew I would pay for it later when the coastal wind hit. Few nice fast Km before the wind put a stop to my triumphant return . A 52:30 finish wasn’t bad all things considered and passing those people was a great buzz – well passing a lot of people in the second half was nice.

 

December mileage wasn’t great – 120k. Got my booster on the 17th and had a 5k race on the 19thso wrote it off before it started really. I decided if I had it in my legs I’d go with it but if the effort was too much for the resulting pace id sit back and enjoy. I started out with my husband and son. My son has been running about 8 k a week for a while – is very fit but very lazy and hates pushing himself. So we were trying to get him to at least go faster than 25 mins (totally able for much more). So my husband paced for a slow start hoping for a fast finish as that how they normally run anyway. I kept with them and was feeling good – so I thought id keep motoring until I ran out of fuel. It was an out and back race so we reached half way in about 12:40 mins. There were a few tight sections were you couldn’t over pass and the hubby was getting impatient ( his first ever 5k) . At half way he suggested the two of them speed up and go for it but the young lad was like no I’m not going any faster I’m staying with Mum. So your man ran off leaving me with the moany teenager. Are we there yet – what km are we at now, what’s the distance now , this is so boring, why aren’t you talking back etc etc . Obviously had a lot of energy left. Anyways it was a local race and like you know you got to save a bit of face- so naturally I spotted a few folk I just had to pass -and say big hellos to! I was pushing hard at this stage and only grunting to the kid at his whining. With 1k to go I tried to motivate him to leave me and go for it – but he told me my inspirational speech didn’t work – and he wasn’t bothered pushing. We got onto the track – he ran about 10 meters ahead of me and kept looking around to make sure I wasting speeding up . Sadly I don’t have much of a kick – would love to have made him speed up.

 

Anways we just nipped in under 25. (5:02, 5:11, 500, 4:51, 4:46) Delighted with that . Not sure if his whining motivated me or held me back lol. So that’s were my fitness is at . As a side note the hubby went on to finish in 23 mins . He did 2.5 k at a 4:00 min k . I tried to engage him then in running talk – and showing him my book collection but no interest . Won’t even wear a watch. Drives me insane. I did sneakily buy him speeds for Xmas so he’s wearing shoe tech without even knowing.

So I have signed up for the Trim 10 mile race in Feb and the Bohermeen half. Really like both of them and have a hit and miss record racing them. I also fancy a few more 5 kms as reckon that’s the most likely place to see a PB topple. (23:43). I think I am in a good place. Bring on 2022!

Cheers -I have a plan - I have used it before it’s an old club plan. Unfortunately I haven’t did any long runs in about six months so have to build distance again . The plan has one work out a week using HMP which builds up as weeks go by , first few week adds easy run with hills whilst increasing long run then after a while adds a bit of V02 max as a second workout . So eases you in gently . 4 days a week with an option to run an extra run on Wednesdays .

I have decided my half marathon pace is 5:10 which is fantasy based on current fitness - but it does mean I’m getting weekly LT threshold runs which build up fitness anyway . I plan to add a few park runs and a few local 5ks as well . I’ll decide closer to time what target should be I suppose.

First session :

2k warm up , 8*3 mins @ 5:10 with 60 secs jog break , 2k cool down . Hit pace fairly nicely , recovered grand in the 60 secs so first session went well.

I hope things get back to normal for you as well as soon as possible . I think the rate at which symptoms clear and which ones clear first is different for everyone.

I really like those two races - though Bohermeen won’t be the same without the cakes and chats in the clubhouse after !

Second week of HM training ;

Tuesday :

2k warm up : 6:44, 6:31 ( min k), 2.7k cool down : 6:42,6:19,6:03

pyramid @hmp with half time jog recovery

1,2,3,4,4 3,2,1 ( measures in mins )

paces ( 5:07,5:07,5:11,5:07,5:03,5:02,5:07,4:59)

This felt harder than last week despite the fact it was an easier work out.

Thursday : 10k with 5k steady tempo

6:21,6:24,5:25,5:34,5:28,5:25,5:29,5:49,5:57,6:15

I forgot to pace properly for the cool down - too busy chatting so wasn’t paying attention to the watch . The tempo pacing was particularly bad as well - it was supposed to MP ( circa 5:35) but just can’t seem to get that pace in my legs . Pace felt ok - was still chatting a bit .

Saturday : 9k easy @ 6:19. Finding it hard to get easy pace right - usually it comes naturally but first solo run in a while !

Sunday : LSR 14k @ 6:02.

Another pacing disaster - one person in my running group just can’t get her head around the meaning of easy . To be honest I wasn’t bothered on Sunday constantly with the shouting to slow as mileage still low enough that this pace won’t make a big difference . Next week she can scoot off !

Total distance : 43k

Slowly building the mileage . Energy levels weren’t great last week I have to admit - and had a lot at aching after each run . Hoping it was a blip and this week will be the job !

Not a very exciting update - the most interesting thing was a delivery of a new pair of speeds and a pair of runners harmony inserts to stop holes appearing !

I also booked flights today for my holiday ( booked in 2019) - I’m now wondering will I be long running in Spain once more …….