Sub 5 minute mile
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Thanks folks.
@Comic Book Guy There was quite a small crowd there if you're not counting athletes I'd say. I could hear a bit for the first two laps but heard nowt on the last two.
It was a lot more enjoyable than I expected to be racing like that. I forgot to add that I got my second spike related injury this month as I stabbed my thumb picking them out of the car when I got home. Dangerous yokes.
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Excellent read. Brilliant comment at the end too. I literally laughed out loud and nearly woke the little one beside me.
Great running and very interesting to read the detail on shorter racing. I always find those race reports a very good read.
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Congrats on the medal and podium place @Dubh Geannain , you've got a nice medal collection going on this year. Let's hope you can keep it going! I'm still baffled how you were not awarded 2nd place,I looked at though he nudged you through the line. I think more experience in championship races and you'll time the surge better, a great performance and report!
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Great run and report there N ! The winner lives a few doors down from me. Fair play to you, so close to gold, your time will come I'm sure.
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Nice fella. He was telling me about fishing regularly out near Trim in the past. He must be in some shape as he had run the 1500 earlier and said he was absolutely delighted with the slow pace. He didn't tell us that before the race though 😉
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Fair play on the race Dubh Geannain and well done on the medal, always frustrating to lose out on such close margins as not a reflection of the shape but rather the minute details of the race so can go either way on any given day. Still take it and use it to fire you up for the rest of the year, only January and plenty more racing to be had going forward.
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Congratulations! Delighted to read this 😀 Isn’t track racing great! Plenty more to come from you there, roll on the outdoors and I’m looking forward already to those race reports.
Btw, the timing system goes to thousandths but only publishes hundredths.
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Well done DG, if only you’d shaved your head you’d have been more aerodynamic like the winner and might have taken gold!
Great run and report
TbL
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Jan 31 - Feb 06
Monday - 14.7 km 4:35 pace. After the race on Sunday I didn't even do a cooldown as it was wild out and I was rushing home. I'd targeted 200 km for January so left myself with 14.5 km to do on the last day of the month. I told my wife I'd be around and hour and set out. Realised around 25 minutes in I'd be well past the hour mark and didn't want herself to be worrying so the run turned into a progression from there as I worked my way down from 4:50s/km to 4:20s. Discussed with her when I got home if I'd run the Trim 10 mile on Sunday. Not a hope I said. Trim were in the Intermediate All Ireland final at 3:30 and we were all going to head to that. I'd played with almost all the team when I was lining out.
Tuesday - 8 km @ 4:50/km. Little recovery after Mondays effort. Got a text from a clubmate to see if I was running the National Masters Cross country. No I said. What about the 10 miler? No again. All Ireland final and I'm more middle distance focussed etc etc.
Wednesday workout - (3x600R, 30s r/, 200FR, 7 min jog). Back into it this evening and around the hotel. I think I prefer here for fast stuff in the evenings more than the business park. I'll not welcome the later sunsets of the summer (but will really) as it will no doubt be busier in the future with golfers and residents and I can't sneak around the laps as much. Target for the 600s were 1:48 and I hit 1:46, 1:48, 1:47. Rest of 30s not quite enough to catch breathe before hitting the 200s hard. I allowed myself to push a bit harder than the target of 32 and see where it took me 31, 30, 29. The hotel is a bit generous I always feel for the pace particularly on the laps so the 600s may have been a second or two slower in reality but happy with the 200s on definitely tired legs. Thoughts on running Sunday? Still no. I was on course to break my weekly mileage record at the rate I'd started the week so figured one more easy run and session would have me at high fifty something for the 7 days without even needing a long run. Monday had been long enough for me.
Thursday - Rest. My sister announced she'd a spare entry to the 10 mile race. No thanks.
Friday - 9.1 km @ 4:55/km. Nice easy run. Feeling pretty good. Same clubmate texts me again about the football and the race comes up again. Would I be mad to run Sunday? I'm now 7 kms shy of my weekly target, would I get away with it? Maybe I will I tell him. Well get a club singlet if you are.
Saturday - Rest. A load of locals ran the course Saturday morning as they had entered the race but were heading to Croker for the day Sunday. I couldn't have joined them due to kids activities. It was a miserable enough day anyway but it meant that I was offered an entry by a friend. I finally went and picked up a club singlet joking it was a statement of intent and the pendulum swung from not running towards maybe running as the timing lined up with the baby's nap and us making Croker in good time. No need to be dragging the kids to the pub before throw-in. Had another think on it and then said feic it I'll take it. Called over to my mate at 8 pm for the race number. He was keeping the T-Shirt though 😀
Sunday - Military operation getting the kids all ready for the road before popping over to transfer the number to my name. Back home again to put the baby down for her nap before rushing out again to warm up. I must be mad.
I'll try and put up a report later.
Post edited by Dubh Geannain on7 -
Apologies for the length but it'll stand alone for me as a 10 mile race for some time. I want it here to remind myself not to be so foolhardy when dealing with bigger distances. That's if I ever consider going near one again 😑
Pre-Race
I was thinking of the guys who ran the course yesterday and how they might have in fact have picked a better day to run the course. It was cool and breezy.
I jogged up to the finish line with my bag on my back to leave at the bag drop wearing my new club singlet. I met one of my teammates here. He’s a regular marathoner, having run two already this year and more planned. He’d never broke the hour for a 10 mile before but felt in the shape to do it if it was a good day. Today was not that day he said on account of the weather. Not being familiar with the course I asked him how I should approach the run (1) having never run a 10 mile race before (2) having not trained for such a distance and (3) not tapering for it. And by the way, I’d love to crack an hour for it too 😊. I'm sure he thought this lad has notions. The wind was to be in our favour for the first couple of miles and to make the most of it was the advice. Then expect to be slowing down when the route turns into it at around 3.5 miles with a long uphill drag for 2 miles before turning for home for the second half of the race and then see how you’re going then. Also, try and run in a group because of the wind.
Made my way up to the start area where the rain started coming in sideways. So I join a few runners sheltering at the side of one of the buildings waiting for it to pass, before heading up to the start line and finding a place behind several Trim singlets including my adviser. I’d finished a bit ahead of him in the masters cross country and most of the other lads but should have heeded the massive difference that exists between 6 km cross country and 10 miles on the road. The two lads I tailed for the cross country were there too. While being foolish in assuming I might finish in the middle of all of them I wasn’t foolish enough to decide on the same tactic and tail the two fastest lads again. These guys are all serious distance runners. Still I naively figured I’d probably be sandwiched between all of them Trim guys in the race.
Trim 10 Mile Race
Mile 1 to 4 (5:48, 5:46, 5:51, 5:58)
The gun goes off and I’m right on the inside keeping my head down coming out of the business park to avoid clipping the kerb and end up momentarily mounting the footpath. Down towards Lidl with the wind at our backs I was feeling nice and relaxed. Another runner beside me is looking at his watch and does a double take, then a triple take. I know from running the road here that that particular patch always gives ropey pace data so I let him know and he thanks me. We turn at the Lidl and I am beside my friend again. We acknowledge each other and run together in a still sizeable group for a while. Mile 1 beeps in 5:48. Pretty good I think to myself. Over the next mile smaller groups are starting to form. I can see 3 of the top Trim runners ahead and a group in between us and them. There’s a gap growing between ours and the next so I decide to move to the next group and a few follow my initiative. The next mile comes in 5:46. I think I’m giving myself a nice buffer here. The groups have become splintered again. One thing I remember at this stage is noticing the noise of everyone’s runners as I wonder to myself if I should have splashed out an a pair of high end shoes. I’m wearing Asics Magic Speed which certainly don’t sound like what these guys are wearing. I think it has a half carbon plate if that’s much help. Anyway, I can still see my 3 clubmates ahead maybe 30 metres. They’re moving slightly further away but I just concentrate on each of the next small groups in front of me. I must have passed 7 or 8 runners as I wanted to be a big enough group for the turn into the wind. Mile 3 in 5:51. I wondered at this point if my friend was close behind which would validate my opening pace I wasn’t long finding out. I started to find myself slowing slightly and my breathing starting to get a bit more heavy over the 4th mile. I’m not catching people anymore and let the group I was in start to pull away a little. Time to catch my breath a bit I think to myself. Just before we come into Dunderry I’m swallowed by the next group of runners. I get a hello from my friend so I think, okay not too bad. I say to him “it’s great to get picked up by a group before we turn here”. I don’t hear anyone breathing as heavy as me though, I think to myself. Around 100m later we turn the corner into the wind before mile 4 beeps in 5:58.
Mile 5 to 7 (6:27, 6:13, 6:08)
The wind and drag isn’t long chopping the group up from a nice clump of runners into a double and single file line. I’m feeling it a little slipping to the back here and but hope to hang on at the tail. We’re soon at a water table. Not even thirsty I reach and grab a bottle. Just wet my mouth a little and swallow maybe half a mouthful. The whole act seemed to enough to knock me out of my ailing rhythm though and I just can’t keep with the group anymore. I’m cast adrift gasping as they head off up the hill without me. I’m finished I think to myself. What the fck am I doing here. I feel my stomach tighten and think I might be about to vomit. I start thinking of what I’d eaten in the morning. I should have thought about it more and planned it. But, I hadn’t planned on running this. I shouldn’t have run so much earlier in the week. But, I hadn’t planned on running this. Maybe I should have done some more 10 mile paced stuff in the last few weeks. WTF why would I have, sure I hadn’t planned on running this. Wait. Then why the fck am I running this!?
I’m not even 5 miles yet and feeling woeful. (I wasn’t looking at my watch here but Strava tells me my pace went from 6:02 to 7:16 very very quickly. I was toast.) I keep putting one foot going in front of the other with the only motivation at this point being that I have to get home and at almost the maximum distance away I can’t even turn around the way I came. I need to just keep the feet moving to get home. Another group catches me as I’m in the horrors and I cop another Trim singlet. He says something to me I think. No idea what but I’m sure it was encouragement. Maybe my last rites. I can’t muster a response. Very soon him and his group of about 8 are disappearing up the hill ahead of me. Another single runner goes past before a group of 3 runners containing another Trim vest catches me. My watch must have beeped very close to this point. I’m so dishevelled it takes a moment to register that that was the fifth mile so I’m too slow to react to even see the split but I look at the time eventually and see 30:0something (the 5th mile was in fact 6:27). The thought hits me that these must be the 60-minute group. It’s only 3 runners and I really don’t know how I managed it but the spark of 60 minutes had me hanging onto the back of them somehow. I let them do all the work dragging me through the next mile which is a blur apart from knowing we turned the corner to head back to Trim in there somewhere. 6:13 beeps for the 6th mile. I’m on the way home and this might be my group if I can just stick with them. I begin to regain my composure a little and have relaxed a bit here. During the 7th mile I find myself a couple of times to the front of our quartet. I wasn’t intentionally doing it but one of the other runners must have been working off me. I could hear my club mate beginning to breathe a bit more heavily and shortly after it’s just three of us. We come upon one runner who had stepped off the road and re-joins with us. Then catch another before ascending a hill. Near the top another runner who has stopped re-joins too. The group is starting to get bigger again. A rangy runner in black joins the group from behind before blasting past us. The watch beeps for 6:08. I have the thought that maybe this isn’t the 60-minute group after all. I think momentarily of going with the lanky fella but don’t feel I’m fit to.
Mile 8 to 10 (6:01, 5:50, 5:45)
Our group around 7 or 8 now as it is joined by another couple of runners that don’t hang in long before making a break. It was a lady in an Edenderry vest and another guy who’s details I can’t even remember. She was leading the charge and appeared the stronger of the two so I gritted my teeth and went with them. We open a gap from the larger group and are away. Mile 8 is 6:01. I’ve no idea where my overall time stands now but I am going to try and finish as hard as I can. Two miles is only 3 km I tell myself. I can run that quicker than I’m currently doing. Right in the middle of mile 9 there’s another bit of a bump. The guy was already starting to drift off before the Edenderry girl lets out a few loud wheezes just as we crested the hill. He gets dropped and then she does. I’m hurting again myself now but am solely focussing the distance left. 1.5 miles left that’s less than 2 km and I can run a pair of 2 Ks quicker than this. I let the legs spin away. Mile 9 is 5:50. The gap to the runners ahead never looked to be closing much but there had been a guy up ahead who might as well have had a target on his back though for the last 2 miles as that is who I was going to catch. 0.5 miles left, is only 800m. I can catch him I think and do eventually just before the entrance to the business park for the last 400m only to be met with the roughest wind of the day. I’m not easing off until the finish line though but am inevitably slowed down by the windy onslaught gasping and wheezing my way through the tunnel. I must have looked over my shoulder 3 or 4 times to make sure the guy wasn’t coming back at me. I can see the finish line but can’t read the clock for a long time. Eventually it comes into focus. 59:44!! No bloody way! How far away is that? I can’t even judge the distance but hear someone shout “you can make sub-60”. I don’t know who made the decision but I’m suddenly accelerating again literally going under the clock at 59:59. Feicen Hollywood stuff. I’m straight onto the railing to hold myself up before being ushered off to find a soggy kerb to sit on.
My own watch was stopped at 59:56 so I was fairly sure I’d done it. After a few minutes I could talk to a couple of people. Met Quickfeet too who ran a PB. And my clubmate, who said the hour wasn’t on today had run 59:30. He was delighted. We were both off to the match so started to jog back in the direction of home together. Both my calves cramped up before I got out of the business park so it was a very ginger trot home.
Official chip time of 59:55 PB.
I don’t think I’ll ever pull a stunt like that again. If I want to race something that long I’ll bloody prepare properly for it or just enjoy it for the decent workout that it is. No need to go chasing arbitrary, although pleasantly round, numbers. Lots of lessons learned from that near death experience. And while it’s taken the one hour monkey off my back he was really only a small fella that I probably could have lived with carrying around a while longer.
I ended up with 59.7 km (37 miles) for my week. A weekly record.
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Well done, great account of it and some effort over the last 2 Miles. I went past the Edenderry runner on the last turn actually now I think of it.
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Brilliant report! I really like how you just throw yourself into these things, yes maybe more prep would be a good idea but I feel like we could all learn from you in not overthinking these races! That Edenderry woman has an Irish vest for masters xc I think, she's our neighbour down home.
Well done again!
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Great run and report N. Like I mentioned on my own log, can't be easy going from 800m to 10 miles in a week. That said, it worked out well for quick feet too ! NIA next week ?
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It looked to work for him alright J. I'm hesitant to say it worked for me though but thanks.
I looked at the NIA. Must be 800 week with the amount of entries for it but it's not on for me. I'm off on stag next weekend and hoping to be taking it a little easy the following days.
Cheers V. In a couple of weeks I'll hopefully look back a bit less critically on myself. She played a massive part in getting me there. If I didn't follow her there would have been no sub-60.
Thanks D. Trying to give an accurate account but there were definitely blurry bits in there. Just reread what I've posted and I'm not even sure in fact I made it to a rail at the finishing line. I may have been doubled over in the middle of the finishing chute and in your way before being moved along.
Post edited by Dubh Geannain on3 -
Jaysus that's some effort man. Some recovery the last two miles. Unreal. Great account of the suffering. Wouldn't read too much into what you did during the week. The suffering was probably down to two things. You havent optimally trained for ten miles. But moreso you went off hard, probably faster than threshold and then the wind hits you hard. Those "slower" miles probably brought you back into threshold territory. The cramps on the cooldown probably tell you the legs were pushed to the limit.
You've huge potential if you wanted to target the longer stuff. Running sub 60 off non optimal training and relatively low mileage....unreal.
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Brilliant stuff - there's a lot of talent there, I think. Who knows what you could do with a specific training block. To make that milestone at the first attempt is some achievement at the best of times.
And a great report too. Many congrats on an excellent day (sorry about the GAA though).
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Ah interesting. The science explanation. Thanks. I'd the watch set to miles too which I don't use often so I couldn't tell off hand what 5:45-5:50/mile is in kms and so how far beyond what I'd consider tempo pace for me I was. People that know their paces well can smile smugly at that and know they shouldn't have to experience such a blow up. It's not pleasant.
Thanks Murph. There's a discussion in E.Coli's log about kids and running too. Happy to get the mileage I do manage and sure we'll see as they get a bit older. Well outclassed on Sunday in the football. No complaints. They gave us a terrific run.
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Most people don't recover from those blow ups . You did phenomenally well to finish with those last two miles especially considering how tough the last 400m is. Says a lot really.
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Well done on the PB! Absolutely brilliant read, you summed up the pain so well...imagine what you'd achieve with specific training!
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I was convinced half-way through your report that you'd made a bollox of Trim. What a recovery. Savage running and enjoy the sub-60.
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Savage run and a great report too. Really enjoyed reading it. That 5th mile was a killer, only matched by the last 400 into the wind!
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Thanks folks. I was convinced myself I'd made a bollox of it with a touch of Icarus with my approach which could and maybe should have ended my participation. The 5th mile didn't have to be the killer it was.
Thanks Lainey. I was doing a bit of imagining since. The general theme is if days were maybe 25 hours I'd have a little more scope to get more mileage in. Or maybe I'd just find more work to do 😀
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Great running, that was a horrible day for it. I was a bit slower, running with the 80min pacers but also found the 5 - 8 mile stretch very tough mentally. It was only when I noticed that the group (maybe 25) had split badly during that stretch (down to about 7) that I realised I wasnt the only one suffering. Had a bit in the tank coming into last km so finished in 1:18, 2 min under target.
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That section after you turn left out of Dunderry till you turn left back for Trim is very tough, even tougher when you’re running into a strong wind!!! Superb performance man, real grit and mental fortitude to dog the sub 60.
Post edited by OOnegative on2 -
I was thinking more about your run and some of the comments we've sent your way and just wanted to get one last word in..😂
It's easy be influenced by the tide of comments about you having huge potential at the longer stuff. Just make sure you stick with what you enjoy. It's easy to be swayed towards particular distances when you see most folks on the forum training for marathons. But there are plenty of folks who are quite happy doing the shorter stuff, or even mixing it up during the year - MurphD can go from 800m training to marathon training in one year. There's a few others on here who are 100% shorter stuff. Yes you have huge potential at the longer stuff but you also do at the shorter stuff.
Sorry, just wanted to get that out there. lol. Do whatever you enjoy and keeps you running.
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Appreciate that @Swashbuckler . The head does get turned a bit alright with all the great long distance logs but having just bit off a little more than I can chew this week I'm more than happy to keep working on the shorter stuff for a while.
@OOnegative . Cheers. The team got second overall and I think 5 of them were ahead of me so it was very much an effort for myself in the end. There's looks to be a glut of talent there at the moment as I mentioned after the Masters CC.
Congrats on the run. You must have realised you were ahead of target but drove on in the last km anyway instead of just cruising home. Fair play.
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Great stuff
Cross Country, 800m indoors and a 10 miler in quick succession, my kinda log. Fair play and for those mentioning potential on the longer distances the other way to look at it is look at the likes of Coe and Ovett, Takes good aerobic power to be a 800/miler, Great winter strength for a solid summer track season if that is the aim
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Ahem. Short summary since Trim. It was about 4 or 5 days before my legs were right. I remember that much.
Took the week easy then went on a stag weekend so another easy week followed before being a little ill the third week. So that's the guts of a month on from Trim covered.
I was ramping up nicely again before getting sick a second time. Not too badly but i wasn't fit for much for about 4 days. Still somehow never got COVID though. There's been a good bit of training in there too managing at least 1 session a week and I've even got my average weekly mileage into the mid 30s for a couple of weeks straight which is above anything I've managed before. We'll see if there's a knock on benefit from that. Hoping to run the county masters track at the end of this month. Still need to decide on a distance for that though.
That's the condensed version of the last few weeks anyway.
Work and life got very busy in February and then Russia invaded Ukraine so I've not visited the forum at all spending my online time following events there. But I've been on Strava and know there's a big L shaped marathon coming up for some along with some other targets so now to get myself to to date here 🙂
Post edited by Dubh Geannain on6 -
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I'm hoping the consistency has left me in good shape despite not following a distinct plan. I think during the first few months of the year I did proportionally more Tempo work than I would have last year and a fair bit less 800m paced stuff. Apart from a couple of bouts of illness I've felt pretty good lately. I've found myself coping well with 400m (and some 600m) reps at 4:50 mile pace during other workouts. Time (literally) will tell if that's ill founded.
So hoping to see what I can do after the past couple of months. Here's the summary -
7-13 Feb - 20 miles
Week after the 10 miler. Lots of easy days. I stopped in Athlone on the way to a stag on the Friday to do some 400s at Interval pace. The legs were still tires (5 days later).
Friday Session - 10x400 w/ 60s rest. 400s were averaged in 77 secs. Had a nice thirst worked up for when I landed. On the Sunday I went for a run out to Salthill, probably with a porter still on board. Ended up running right through the front of the big cycle lane protest just before they set off. I broke through the front of the caravan to be met with a brass band playing a mid sized crowd gathered and some local and national media. I had a quick check the following week to make sure none of the coverage included my wild looking head emerging dazed and confused from the front of the pack. Phew.
14-20 Feb - 19 miles
Few more easy days before chancing something on the Thursday.
Sunday session - Intervals 24x(40s on, 30 off). I remember enjoying this and hitting some decent paces on some of the 40 seconds on. I really didn't feel like I was but maybe I pushed it much as I ended up wiped out sick a day later and didn't run for the next 3 days. I put it down to not just the session but a hectic fortnight in general with the session giving me a chance to rest up for a few days.
21-27 Feb - 30 miles
Wednesday session. 4x400R, 4x200FR. I made the decision I needed to get back doing some mile paced and 800 paced stuff after a month of not doing any work at these. The original session is 4x300FR but I wanted to ease myself back into it and just make sure I held my form. The 400s were fine and I ended up running the 200s at faster than 800 pace so was happy with the systems check.
Sunday session. 4x2kT w/ 500m jog.
28 Feb - 6 March - 30 miles
I had a head hold this week so lots of slow easy runs as I tried to prevent it getting it into my chest. I stubbornly wanted to get my 30 miles in for the week and by the Sunday I'd 9 miles to do. Set off nice an slow for it but noticed I'd been progressing during the kms as I warmed into it so it ended up as a 9 mile progression run.
7 March - 13 March - 14 miles
Everyone was getting COVID and I was sure that's what I was fighting myself but tested religiously throughout and it always came back negative. Ended up with 5 days of no running with the last two due to my friends wedding which I really wanted to be healthy for. Made it through unscathed and finished the week with a 10 mile run on the Sunday with a couple of 1 km pickups.
14 March - 20 March - 29 miles
First decent week after a couple of false restarts.
Wednesday session - Intervals 4x800 w/ 2 min jog. Average pace 3:18/km. Was happy with that.
Sunday session - 8 x 1km T w/ 1 min jog. Felt good and handled this well. Average pace was around 3:40/km
21 March - 27 March - 34 miles
Another decent week.
Thursday session. 8x(400R with 2 min walk) I was in Portlaoise and found a nice flat business park for this. Times were 71,70,71,69,71,69,71,66. The wind was in my face every odd one hence the yo yo times. Target was 70-72.
Saturday session. 5 km hard progression. Didn't have the interest in a Tempo reps today so I decided I'd get it all done in one starting at 3:42/km finishing in 3:29. 18:13 for the 5 k.
28 March - 03 April- 36.5 miles
My second highest mileage week ever. Started the week with 10k Steady on the Monday but I can't for the life of me remember why. Pace was 4:16/km.
Thursday session - 4x(1k w/3 min jog). Back in Portlaoise again. Chose a straight suburban road for these that only needed to cross 1 roundabout. The wind was in my face on the odd ones and from the start found the pace tough. I'd flirted with maybe 5 reps but knew midway through the 3rd rep that 4 would be it for me today so pushed that last little bit on the 4th. 3:18, 3:21, 3:20, 3:16. I probably ran the 1st too hard into the wind and ended up paying for it.
Sunday session - 4x400R, 4x300FR. Right back to some harder paced stuff again. I knew I was on for a high mileage week so wanted to be smart here and try and just gauge the effort level. The 400s were respectable 71s and 72s. This route around the hotel is generous with pace so I knew I was probably even a second or so slower than that. The 300s were 49,46,50,47. I was happy that I'd managed all the reps I'd given myself to do here.
04-10 April- 22.5 miles
Just couldn't seem to get the time to get out the door enough during this week but at least managed one decent session. I got to do a run in Corkagh Park while passing.
Wednesday session - 4x(1mile T w/ 1:30 jog). A bumpy enough route around the back of Dunshaughlin. 5:57, 5:58, 6:00, 5:53. I was working a little harder that I would have liked for a couple of these but was reminding myself of the advantage of not always choosing perfectly flat routes for Tempos and slower paced stuff.
11 - 17 April - 35.5 miles
Started the week with an easy long run on the Monday to try and make up for lower mileage the previous week. This included 2 sets of 6 hills at a hard effort over 25-28 seconds. I was over in the same area of Dublin again this week so got another easy run in Corkagh park this week also.
Wednesday Session - 4x500R, 4x200Fast. 500s were 89, 89, 87, 87 which were perfect pace. The 200s were 30, 30, 30, 29. I know these were after the 500s but I was hoping I'd be able to nip under 30 for them all and maybe even a little faster on the last. Still though, the 500s left me feeling good after the workout.
Sunday session - something different. 4x(1 mile @10k pace with 3:30 jog). The 3:30 jog was decided mid-flight as my first recovery jog approached the 3 minute mark :) I haven't run a 10 k in some time so aimed at 3:35 pace. The miles were 5:44, 5:44, 5:44, 5:42 which was an average pace of 3:34/km. It worked me into a good sweat anyway.
18 - 24 April - 30 miles
We were in the North for a few days where I got one "easy" run in. A nice jog down the the back of Lough Neagh. I didn't realise when I planned my route that I'd basically be running downhill for 4.5 km and then back up again. Not a massive slope but long and tiring towards the end of my supposed easy run.
Wednesday session - 3x(200R, 400R, 600R) - I'd the kids with me for this on their bikes. They stayed with me for the first half before getting bored/hot and waiting at the exercise machines in the Porchfields as I trundled over and back. The section on grass always requires a little extra concentration as it's not perfectly flat. I ended up staying on the path for the last set of 3. No additional recovery between the sets and targets were 36, 72 and 1:48. I didn't miss one so was sásta before heading off on our trip.
Sunday session - 5x(1k Intervals w/ 3 min jog). This one left me a little giddy after. Only to arrive home and discover that the garmin file had become corrupted! But I wasn't going to let it cast doubt over what I saw on the watch though. I was sure I'd seen it. This was another attempt at what I hoped to do n Portlaoise 3.5 weeks earlier. I was determined to get 5 reps in this time. So started sensibly with a 3:24. Next two were straightforward 3:19, 3:20. I found I was starting them all pretty comfortably before upping the effort a little over the last 200 m which was probably brining the time down a second or so. I knew after the 3rd that I'd be well fit for the 5 today. So on the 4th I tried for a more consistent effort throughout the Km - 3:17. With 4 done I could relax and see where the 5th took me again deciding to not hold back to allow a stronger finish. Around a quarter way I note the pace is hovering around 3:10 but I'm not really reaching. At halfway I was still holding it together fine. With the usual 200 to go I decided I again could give it a little more and kicked again. The watch beeped at 3:09. At least 6 or 7 seconds faster than what I would have expected/hoped. I was delighted to be honest. To finish that 5th rep at a pace that's only 9 seconds off my target mile pace gave me a good lift. But I've no proof it ever happened 😂 I think because I stopped the watch and re-started it for my cool down almost immediately the data file just didn't have time get resolved in the software.
So that's where I'm at. A decent last week has left me feeling optimistic of what I might manage over the mile. It been useful for me to go back over what I've done the last couple of months too, so apologies for the really long entry.
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