Berlin Q or Bust: Road to sub 2:45

Thanks gents. It is what it is. Will appreciate things a lot more when I get back to full health and fitness that's for sure.

Not fantastic tbh. I was hoping I'd be out the other side relatively quickly but that hasn't turned out to be the case. General lethargy seems to be reducing by the day, but runs have been sporadic and easy in nature. Got in about 70k of easy running this week including an enjoyable 20k this morning. I'm definitely moving in the right direction but I don't want to rush things.

Thanks for that E. It's important to keep things in perspective I know. I can be uber dramatic at times 😋 The log is a good tool to vent and verbalise things though, so I'm probably not finished with that side of things yet! DCM the main thing, but not thinking about it for a while yet.

Ha, would you believe it that the original plan included me putting a time on the board in Limerick and then heading to Cork to either a) pace a mate (for as long as possible) to sub 2:55 or b) be on the bike for him. So I actually should be able to help you out on you the day as I doubt very much I'll be in any sort of shape to help him out as a pacer. I'll give you a shout closer to the day, but feel free to pencil me in to carry a few gels and drinks and provide good vibes 😉

Have exited the Stravasphere. It's just a source of frustration for me atm and I'm unsure as to whether I'll return. I think @jebuz probably has the right approach to it and just throws up races onto it. Will still keep up the log as I enjoy the community on here, but gonna simplify things for a while and focus on my own fitness.

Oh and thanks to @Wubble Wubble for the good wishes too, mobile version won't let me quote posts not on the most recent page of the log.

@browne_rob5 yeah a pity alright. Hopefully we might share a bit of road in a race soon enough 😬 best of luck in Limerick

Still on page 2 of Training Logs after 7 months away! Will probably need a few posts to get a few things out of my head and system. *Spoiler Alert for what's coming; it's not going to involve a lot of running and it's not going to be particularly positive. But as I am now running again, well sort of, I can start posting here again. I have missed the log...

So where to start? Well I suppose I’ll map out my last few months and then talk about what my next steps might be. 

After Limerick was off the cards, my post-Covid return to running was a bit of a struggle. I took a Strava sabbatical as I was really frustrated and down about the cards I’d been dealt by the running Gods, and looking at other people smashing races and posting times I thought I should be posting was not very enticing.

Looking at Garmin Connect here it’s telling me I ran 21 times in April and covered just over 200km. I’d say nearly every run was over 5min/kms. I wasn’t feeling it whatsoever. Whether it was Covid-related or not, my mojo was close to zero. May came and went, 130km of meh. By now I was just trying to maintain some sort of fitness with a view to starting a block for DCM in late June. Kildare & Clare were both going well and I was enjoying myself at the weekends. I definitely was of the mindset to make the most of not having any big target and was happy to take the hit on my fitness in order to be refreshed for the start of the DCM block.

June saw this pattern repeat itself, except with less running (140km). July came, and I was ready to get back on the horse again. First week back I managed to tweak something in my knee as I was coming down off a kerb. It was painful and I wasn’t able to get back going without the pain becoming too much. It was the same knee that I'd had my ACL reconstructed in back in the day so I’m used to it giving a bit of lip the odd time. I was heading off for the weekend so I thought nothing more about it…until the following Monday when I had to pull up after 400m. Same pain again. Not good. 

Went to my physio, and was happy to hear that everything was still intact there, but that I needed to strengthen a couple of things and take 6 weeks off running. This resulted in me sporadically doing the prescribed exercises, sitting up on a turbo trainer on a couple of occasions to cross train, and basically eating and drinking my way through the summer. Fast forward to me returning to physio to tell him that I’d taken no heed of his advice whatsoever. I promised that I’d play ball for 6 weeks with exercises and cross training and, to be fair, I more or less did.

I started back running on 21st October, got covid 4 days later (you couldn’t even script this **** at this stage) but am now back following a return to running type of plan and that seems to be going well. I’m 2 and a half stone overweight, very unfit and at the very very bottom of the ladder. However, as of November, I’m back living that life again and feel better for it. It’s going to be a long enough road back, but the mind and body are willing again.

I’ve no goals or targets as of yet. Just getting back running was number 1. In a couple of weeks I should be in a position to start looking at the comeback plan in a bit more detail.

I definitely didn’t appreciate the gift of being fit and healthy. It sort of feels like I’m starting again. I know that’s not actually the case and this time last year I toed the line in a marathon looking to run in the low 2:40’s. Sure even as close back as March I did a 30k run @4:04/km… but I’m treating it as if I am. Will post training on here again once it starts to look like real running again, but in the mean time I'll spare people the recount of my 6x3min run/1min walk sessions! Ego has been parked. I am where I am. Looking forward to climbing the ladder again

J

Mon: 5 Miles: 44:48@5:35/km

A tired enough shuffle around the town during eldest’s GAA training.

Tue: 5 Miles: 41:37@5:10/km

Made a triumphant return to my beloved Lidl loop for the first time in a long while. The big sessions and 2:56 marathon-on-a-whim felt a long way away, but it was good to be back up there.

Wed: Rest. I’d ran 8 days in a row, so a rest day was probably in order, even though I didn’t particularly want to take one.

Thu: 5 Miles: 39:56@4:57/km

Felt good after the day off. This one was faster than the others runs of late. Was in the Invincibles so the quicker pace wasn’t exactly by design, just happened.

Fri: 5 Miles: 44:30@5:32/km

Soft shuffle around the EOI loop on the plains. Gorgeous late afternoon on the Curragh.

Sat: Rest. Other half was away so just left the run.

Sun: 7 Miles!!: 57:18@5:05/km

Long Run of a Sunday :) Was gonna go longer but decided not to push my luck. Felt great to be able to head out and cover some sort of distance. Knee feels fine. Might look at introducing a small bit of stuff into the plan this week.

43.5km for the week (5 runs)

Right, let's get this log motoring again.

Sun 12th Feb: LR 20.2k: 1:42:14 @5:05/km

Up early of a Sunday morning to get this is in with a buddy of mine who's flying at the moment. Planned to do 10 Miles but all systems were fairly comfortable so ended up heading around the Lidl loop again which brought up the 20k.

Mon 13th: 5 Miles Recovery: 43:28 @5:24/km

It was nice just to have something to recover from to be honest!

Tue 14th: 10k Easy: 52:29 @5:14/km

Was on midterm for full week myself, but the kids were only off on the Thu & Fri. Couple of goes around the Lidl loop.

Wed 15th: 8.2k Easy: 44:48 @5:29/km

Left calf was giving a bit of lip on this one, but have been conscious of giving it a decent stretch and bit of attention since and hasn't reared it's head again.

Thu 16th: 7 Miles Easy: 56:34 @5:01/km

Pre trip up to the Zoo. I've been in the Phoenix Park on a few occasions over the last while, and this was the first day where I actually wanted to be out running.

Fri 17th: 7 Miles: 54:45: @4:51/km

Actually, this was the one that I was feeling my calf. Was worried at the time, but it seems to have been fleeting. Planned 20k as I was heading down to Ennis for the weekend, but didn't want to risk doing something very bad to the calf so cut run short.

Sat/Sun/Mon - 'Rest'

Ennis was the last big obstacle to my regaining fitness for a while.

Tue 21st: 12.4k Easy: 1:02:46 @5:05/km

Calf showed no signs of any ill effects from Friday's run thank goodness.

Wed 22nd: 8 Miles Easy: 1:04:47/km @5:02/km

Thu 23rd: Session! Actual Session! Well, in name anyway. It's a start.

13.4k inc 3x1mile on/off: 1:04:35 @4:51/km

First things first, I actually misread the session and it was meant to be 4x1mile on/off, but I could have managed another without completely killing myself I think. Just ran up and down the back road of the Lidl loop for this one. Wasn't sure what pace to aim for. At the moment, we're doing most things on feel until we gauge where paces are etc. Did a warm up of just over 2 miles and then cranked out a 7:00 mile, followed by 6:56 & 6:48 miles for the efforts. Broke in a new pair of Endorphin Speed 3's for this one (a sure sign I'm on the way back is that I'm buying runners again) and they felt great.

Fri 24th: 8.3k Recovery: 44:01 @5:19/km

Short window for a shuffle on the plains.

Sat 25th: 10.2k Easy: 52:34 @5:09/km

Industrial Estate miles before eldest fella's soccer match. Uninspiring but passed quickly and felt pretty good.

Sun 26th: Planned a 20k LR with a bit of work thrown in, but ended up having to drive down to Limerick to hand back a lovely dog called Buddy who we had only rescued from the dog shelter the day before. Very sad for all the Healy's, but Buddy just wasn't suited to his new surroundings in the Bridge and we had no choice but to bring him back. This torpedoed my morning's running plans. Made it back just in time to see Kildare get annihilated by Derry, but my bad humour didn't last too long as I tuned into proceedings from Wembley :)

Mon 27th: 10 Miles faster-than-Easy: 1:18:43@4:53/km

GAA training was scheduled for 90mins so I said I'd try and make up some of the distance I missed out on the previous morning.

Tue 28th: 10k Easy: 52:54 @5:17/km

Easy mooch around the plains.

Things are starting to come around a bit. Weight is beginning to drop, runs are feeling less hard. I'm enjoying running. You can't really ask for more than that can you. Will try and get up to speed with people's logs over the next while as I reintegrate myself into the running world.

Wed 1st: 12k inc 4 miles up tempo: 57:12 @4:46/km

Plan called for 8 miles with last 4 miles up tempo. A little tight for time so ended up slightly less than 8 miles but got the 4 quicker miles in. Wore the Speed 3's for this. Lovely shoe. Although whilist I was browsing through a thread last week I saw a good few people had them in their rotation as an easy shoe which surprised me. I would struggle to run easy in those I have to say. Maybe their marketing department has gotten to me, but the roll on them is real, and I'd struggle not to naturally quicken the pace. And they're exactly not the softest shoe ever to boot. Anyway, the run.

Breezy enough day which sort of turned the tempo miles into a more progressive effort. This and the fact I'm still reaching for paces and am consciously trying not to overdo things. Splits ended up looking like (7:37, 7:19, 7:03 & 6:55). Felt decent and was happy enough with the effort.

Thu: 10k Easy: 54:47 @5:29/km

Plains shuffle.

Fri: 5.1k Easy: 27:32 @5:25/km

Window shortened considerably for this one so was just happy to get out for a little stretch of the legs.

Sat: LR 15 Miles: 1:55:25@4:47/km

Got out in the early afternoon and overclubbed the gear side of things which saw me stashing the hat and gloves a couple of miles into the run. Started off around 8 min miles and as the run went on I was able to naturally up the pace and was running under 7:20's by the end. Body felt good afterwards so all in all a good day.

Sun: 5.7k Easy: 30:17@5:25/km

Industrial estate recovery miles whilst eldest had soccer training. Managed to put my left big toe through a sock and actually had to cut run short as it was really uncomfortable and starting to blister badly. Decided to cut losses and protect the toe for another day :)

Trip up to Ardee followed by a dash back down the country to see both of my beloved sporting teams lose in equally pitiful and disgraceful fashion. Yep, that's how bad Kildare were. Oh well.

83k for the week.

Murph_D's call to arms has worked! So...where am I? Murph, AMK and Squinn are the only connections I have on Garmin Connect (not sure what the great Swashbuckler's status is these days but he's my other connection!). So they will have had some idea that a comeback is ongoing. 

Towards the end of April, I started afresh with the aim of getting to DCM ready to run a marathon. Motivationally speaking this was the only show in town. I've always gravitated towards the marathon (to the detriment of all my other PBs) and to keep me motivated and invested, I needed the carrot of DCM. Times went out the window and it was a case of accepting where I was fitness-wise and just building from there.

I had been in a weird place while I was injured/in the early stages of a comeback; down and depressed about being unfit, constantly thinking that I needed to clean my lifestyle up and get back to some sort of healthy living....all whilst doing absolutely nothing about it. I don't know what you'd call it, self sabotage or something. Wasn't good whatever it was.

It took me a while to get into a decent headspace but once I got there the training started to come back. My mate who has always looked after my programmes is in a busy period of his life atm so rather than pestering him for training plans, session notes etc (which he would have done no problem), I said I'd freshen things up and start anew with a different training plan. Another running buddy, who would be very knowledgeable about both training plans and my own running history, agreed to have an attempt at rustling up a programme to get me to DCM and we've been tipping away very nicely since the end of April.

'So where are you!?' I hear the handful of Boardsies left who might read this roar 😁 Well, for a start I'm lighter than I was a few weeks ago. Still some poundage to shift, but that's only going one direction. Running-wise.....I've been tipping away around 50miles a week for the last 6/7 weeks. This mini block was just about getting me fit enough to start a marathon block and so swimmingly did it go, I've started the DCM block a couple of weeks ahead of schedule. 

I don't know what shape I'll end up getting in by the last Sunday in Ocotb3r, but just being able to bang out sessions and LRs again is very satisfying. Obviously, coming from such a low base, the improvements have been quick and I'm sure they'll plateau a little in the coming weeks, but I'm feeling fairly robust and very very motivated.

Weekend before last, I ran my first race since that day in Manchester. Corkagh Park 5 Miler. Was dreading it tbh. Goal was to break 32 mins, a world away from my last few Raheny tilts, but no less of a task. As mentioned in the Novice thread, course was on the tricky side and conditions were pretty challenging. Started conservatively, got over excited on the 3rd Mile (6:07) and almost spontaneously combusted during the 7th km, but managed to come home in 31:49 so job was done. Course and weather probably worth a few seconds, but I'd hope that by the Frank Duffy I might not be too far off that pace for the 10 Miles.

Weekend just past, I cranked out a 14 Miles LR, 3E/4ST/2E/3MP/2E, on a baking hot and windy Saturday afternoon. 4ST & 3MP both averaged under 6:50, which I was happy with on a hot and windy day.

As I'm not chasing any PBs this summer and just using races as training stimuli, I'm not too fussy where I go. I'll probably do the Frank Duffy and HM in the race series, maybe the 10k too. My perfect streak of PB's in the HM in the Phoenix Park will have to come to an end, but I've always enjoyed that race so will keep it in the plan for the good mojo it brings. (Did I ever mention my 79:59 when my laces opened 3 times?)

So there you go! I'll try and keep in touch with the log as the summer goes on, but will probably just log the highlights (if there's any) 😁. 

Last couple of weeks have gone just fine and dandy.

Mon 26th June: 10.2k Easy: 52:40@5:11/km inc 6x12sec hill sprints

Easy trot around the camp. Enjoyed the hill sprints.

Tue 27th June: Session: 12.4k: 54:15@4:24/km - 6k Alternating Tempo + 5mins

Tempo km splits were (4:10, 3:57, 4:06, 3:54, 4:08, 3:56) 4:02/km ave + 5mins @3:41/km

Still reaching for paces a bit and whilst the plan was for 4:15's and 4:00's, after the first km I was feeling pretty comfortable and rather than hold back I just used the first two splits of 4:10 & 3:57 as my guides for the rest of the tempo. 5 min recovery jog and then the last 5 mins at 'faster than 4:00/km's' but 'don't strain'. I probably didn't quite meet that part of the brief but it was enjoyable just to let the hand brake off a little.

Wed 28th June: 10k Easy: 52:14 @5:13/km

Non-descript late evening jog across the plains.

Thurs 29th June: 7 Miles Easy: 57:47 @5:08/km

Early morning ramble.

Fri 30th June: LR Session: 14 Miles: 4E/3MP/1E/3MP/3E: 1:37:54@4:21/km

School closed early, so went straight out to get this one in before heading out for a few end of year pints. Maybe it was those 'June 30th' vibes that those of us who are working in Primary Education get, but I probably ran this a lot harder than I needed to. But I regret nothing! If I have a rough idea/hope of MP being 6:50 miles, then my averages of 6:37/mile for both MP sections were probably a bit excitable. But who knows.......

Sat 1st July: 'Rest'

Wasn't in too bad of a shape and considered going for a run, but ended up having a few beers and watching the action in Croke Park instead.

Sun 2nd July: 8 Miles: 1:05:54@5:07/km

No real ill-effects of previous couple of day's exploits.

79km for the week off 6 days.

Easy week leading up to Fingal 10k.

Mon: 10k Recovery: 53:50 @5:23/km

Legs felt decent after previous day's 18 Miler.

Tue: 8.3k Easy: 44:05 @5:19/km

Squeezed this is during the young fella's training in Sarsfields. Felt really good. 400's & 800's in or around 3:45/50 pace.

Thu: 6.5k Easy: 34:38 @5:20/km

Nothing to report.

Fri: Rest

Didn't particularly want to take a rest day, but you gotta trust the plan don't you?

Sat: 5k Easy w/6x20 sec strides: 24:25 @4:53/km

Predictably, I felt terrible on this one.

Sun: Race: Fingal 10K: 39:18 @3:55/km

Got up to Swords early as I had to collect my race number due to almost missing the registration deadline the week prior! Whilst it meant an earlier start to the day, I was awake anyway and figured I might get a parking spot closer to proceedings. Read the paper and was quite relaxed by the time I met up with AMK for the warm up. Being the stand up fella he is, he very generously eschewed the chance to claim an Age Category W to pace yours truly around.

The target was sub 40. Which felt fairly manageable, but at the same time, my confidence in executing a race plan is still very much a work in progress. It's a different feeling to standing on a start line hoping to get a PB. The pressure is there, but no nerves of any kind. Maybe the marathon will feel different, but when you've faster PBs in your back pocket, there's no fear of the pace you're planning on running. It's just a case of delivering a result that does your training and current fitness justice, ticking a box and moving closer to your goal race.

Start pen seemed to be poorly located. The crowds from the village and the castle all coming across the front of the pen and having to make their way to the back, or hop the barrier, much to the chagrin of the stewards who it seemed had never laid eyes on a start pen of a race before! Chatting away to Alan, I wasn't too perturbed by the delay and eventually we set off.

I say sub 40 was the target, but I wanted to go faster than my 5 Mile pace, 3:57/km, from Corkagh Pk last month, so 39:30 was in my head.

The race was pretty straighforward in the main. AMK was the consummate pacer. I knew it was going to pinch at the end, so I didn't go out too hard. Mile splits were 6:20, 6:20, 6:22, 6:16, 6:20, 6:17 and 3:40 pace for last 400m or so for a time of 39:18. They probably tell the story on their own; solid start, pushed on a bit without going bananas. First 4 Miles were very comfortable, really operating with the handbrake on. But running a solid race was more important to me than any prospective 38:xx, which wouldn't have really meant anything in the greater scheme of things.

Was great to see Duanington & Murph over the morning too. Spotted MacPhisto from these parts sitting on the kerb after about a mile, not sure if he took a tumble or had a niggle,but he got going again and still put a solid time on the board.

I see AMK has already detailed my latest shoe lace faux pas. Yeah, not much to add really. If it was a longer race I would have tied it, but 4 miles in, I was willing to roll the dice. Anyway, I got a shoe tying tutorial from the main man after so I'm sorted now...

Frank Duffy in 5 weeks and looking forward to it already. Excited about where fitness is going and motivation levels are very high. Not getting ahead of myself, i know the marathon training is only starting, but a lot can happen in 15 weeks. Onwards!

Mon: 10k Easy: 52:47@5:16/km

Non descript shuffle around the bog. Legs felt good in the aftermath of the race.

Tue: 10.2k Easy inc 6x20 sec strides: 51:09@5:02/km

Nothing too crazy on the strides front. Just 10k pace.

Wed: 40mins Shuffle: 7.6k @5:15/km

Felt tired during this one so didn't go any longer.

Thu: Session: 9 Miles inc 4x1k/1k off 90 secs: 1:04:30@4:27/km

Hectic enough day. Had planned on getting it in earlier, but I was on Taylor Swift ticket duty for my wife, so the day slowly but surely started to drag as each presale came and went without a ticket. Luckily enough I managed to get two tickets by going back into one of the earlier presales and refreshing for a while. So by late afternoon I had the tickets, but hadn't gotten my run in!

Managed to offload children on one set of their Grandparents and headed off to the Lidl loop, under fuelled and under hydrated. Plan was for 4x2k, with each 2k including a 4:15 &4:00 kms. 

Wind was grim enough but felt pretty good during this one. Splits were (4:13,3:59)(4:10,3:57)(4:07,3:55)(4:10,3:59)

Fri: 10k: 47:43@4:46/km

Ran into a running buddy I hadn't seen for a while a few hundred meters in and ended up going with him and consequently running way too fast. Felt fine, but scolded myself afterwards.

Sat: 10k Easy: 54:24@5:26/km

Up early for this one. Didn't have watch so used Google Fit on the phone. You wouldn't want to be relying on it. Not a great interface at all. 

Sun: Long Run: 17 Miles inc 3E/4Steady/1E/2Hard/1E/4Steady/2E: 2:01:06 @4:26/km

Had been looking forward to this all week, which I'm taking as a good sign of where my head is at right now. Have had conpany on most of my recent lobger efforts, but this was solo. Dropped a couple of bottles on the route the previous evening and managed to tweak something in my lower back getting out of the car which was a little worrying. Took a couple of painkillers and rubbed some gel stuff into it and by the morning it was okay.

Conditons were damp but calm and once I got going I knew it was going to be a good run. First 4 steady miles averaged 4:21/km and I was cruising at that pace. Took on water and a gel after 5 and 10 miles. Route was lumpy enough but apart from a waterlogged stretch that I managed to navigate around, everything went to plan. 2 hard miles averaged around 4:02/km but that stretch included a dodgy GPS section so im truth I reckon they averaged closer to 4min/km pace.

Decided to push the pace a little on the second batch of 4 steady miles and averaged 4:14/km for those. Tipped up to Croke Park afterwards for the hurling final and a few beers. Great day. 

90k for the week. Building nicely.

Monday: 10.5k Recovery: 56:01 @5:21/km

Previous day's exploits on the roads and in Croke Park didnt have any lasting effects and felt decent on this one.

Tuesday: 12k inc 10x12 Hill Sprints: 1:07:35 @5:49/km

11k excluding the hill sprints at around 5:20/km pace. Hills at the end had the desired affect of waking legs up.

Wednesday: Session: 20k: 1:34:18 @4:43/km

WU/3St/6x3mins@>10k/6x45 secs@>5k/6x15secs flat out/CD

Building on previous version of this session by adding in extra rep for each of the intervals. Steady miles worked out around 4:26/km & paces for the 3mins, 45secs, 15secs averaged out around 3:46/km, 3:34/km and low 3's, high 2's for the 15 secs.

High volume in those sessions, but the legs seem to be coming on each week. Cardio wise the sessions seem very achievable at the moment. Just need to stay focused and not push for the sake of pushing things.

Thursday: 8.2k Shuffle: 44:58 @5:28/km

'5 miles as slow as you can'. Done.

Friday: 8 Miles inc 4 Steady: 59:33 @4:37/km

Steady miles averaged around 4:28/km. Seeing as the idea was to tire the legs for the next day's LR, it was definitely a case of objective achieved. Felt tired during the steady miles, but felt good at the end of the run. I knew the LR would be a decent test.

Saturday: LR 18 Miles: 2:11:29 @4:32/km

2E/10St/1E/4MP/1E

After being deservedly told off for running last weeks steady portions of the LR too quickly, I was determined not to do the same again. I'll put last weeks pace faux pas just down to being excited to be able to run those paces again during a LR and I took my eye off the prize as a result.

Steady pace was set at around 7:20 miles today, so i took off mid morning on a lumpy enough route with a breeze blowing that wasn't really going to help me until late on.

The 10 Steady miles averaged 7:19 and despite the legs being a bit in the tired side, I was able to dial into that pace pretty comfortably. The easy mile prior to the MP miles however was pure torture. I genuinely thought I wasn't going to get going again, but with the wind belatedly showing up to give a helping hand, a 6:48 mile shocked me back into action and, despite a nasty little climb during the 3rd mile, finished with a 6:40 mile to average 6:47 for the 4 MP miles.

Shuffled the final mile through the town, getting caught at a few crossings and finishing pretty damn tired!

Momentum is building. If I can keep it going a week at a time, I'll be in a good place come the end of October. 5/6 mile shuffle in the morning will bring up a 100k week. Onwards.

* I've had this draft in Google Keep for about two weeks now.....will get it up today hopefully.

Monday 31st July: 9.1k Recovery: 48:33 @5:19/km

Okay, let's catch up a little here...

Pretty sedate ramble around the bog.

Tuesday 1st August: 10k Easy: 53:02/km @5:18/km

I actually don't remember anything about this run just looking at it on Garmin now.

Wednesday 2nd August: 20k: Inc 4x40secs + 2x20mins off 5 min jog

Rather annoyingly made a hames of setting up my watch on this one so the 4x40 second strides had to be subsumed into the warm up but I rolled with the punches and the the nice and neat 2x20min interval step remained intact.

Felt much better on the second 20 mins than the first, which I'm putting down as a positive. Averaged 3:59/km and 3:56/km for each of the 20 mins.

Thursday 3rd August: 10k Recovery: 52:41 @5:16/km

As Tuesday.

Friday 4th August: 5k Easy: 26:47@5:21/km

Out the door before 6am as I was playing golf for the first time in a couple of years later that morning. Headed up to Corballis in North Dublin. Par 66 links and amazing value for money. Played so well that I might leave 3 years between the next rounds!

Saturday 5th August: 7 Miles Easy: 55:40 @4:56/km

Sunday 6th August: LR: 19 Miles (2E/10St/1E/5MP/1E) 2:16:28 @4:28/km

Ended up reversing planned route to take in Kildare Town later in the run as a mate who was going to come with us on the bike never showed up, so we needed to pick up water later in the run. Lumpy route with an annoying breeze which was pretty much against us for most of the steady and helping for most of the 'MP'. Steady 10 clocked in at an average of 4:29/km and the 5 MP, with the aid of the wind, some downhills and a complete loss of discipline towards the end (we started to really hammer each other, taking turns at the front and just going hard really) came in at 4:09/km average with the last mile in the 6:20's.

It felt great to be able to pick up things at the end and the steady miles were far better executed than previous attempts.

Monday 7th August: 5 Mile Shuffle: 43:57 @5:27/km

Legs tired but felt better by the end.

Tuesday 8th August: 8 Miles Easy: 1:05:57 @5:07/km

Caught up with an old clubmate who is running Chicago. Enjoyed the chat.

Wednesday 9th August: Session: 4x40 secs/20 mins/4x5 mins.

My wife's granny passed away during the week so that resulted in a little more parenting for my goodself than usual....tried to show horn this in around 9pm after a long day. I should know better at this stage, but I said I'd give it a whirl as it wouldn't suit to push it to the following day.

Still very warm by the time I got onto the Lidl loop. Managed the 20 mins section at an average of 3:57/km and was actually feeling decent as I headed for the 4x5 mins. In hindsight I may have been a little delirious as I hadn't fuelled very well (at all). Managed to trip up over a kerb and take a tumble during this 20 mins. Added to getting caught at a couple of roundabouts my lace opening (I know), the writing was kind of on the wall.

If I needed to I was going to scale back the 5 min pace to 4:00/kms. First 5 mins came in at 3:48/km pace but I was fraying at the edges at this point. About 100m into the next 5 min rep I swallowed a fly and nearly coughed back up a lung....when I came around I had a quite word with myself, bit of a scolding, and jogged back to the car.

Got a bit of quality in, but I'm around long enough to have made a wiser decision to just drop the session.

Thursday 10th August: 8 Miles Easy: 1:06:59@5:12/km

No lasting effects from previous evenings **** show.

Friday 11th August: 5 Miles Easy: 41:12 @5:07/km

Ramble around Corkagh Park after funeral.

Saturday 12th August: 8 Miles inc 35mins steady: 59:46 @4:38/km

35 mins came in around 4:26/km. Dreadful conditions and did it out on the open roads of the plains,but felt good.

Sunday 13th August: LR 20 Miles inc 18 Steady: 2:23:31 @4:28/KM

Nothing for this one except to get out and do it. As opposed to the last few LR's I went up to the Lidl Loop, 7 laps of which got me the 20 miles. Got into a decent rhythm and the steady 18 averaged out at 4:25/km. Tired afterwards, first 20 miler in a long time.

Monday 14th August: 5k Easy: 26:58 @5:23/km

Tuesday 15th August: Session: 7 Miles inc 3x4mins/3x90secs/3x40secs

Not gonna lie, this was done on very very tired legs. I wouldn't say I'd underestimated the effects of the 20 Miler, just out of practice that's all. On the warm up I wasn't sure if I'd even be able to get up to the planned 4:00/km pace for the 4min section. Got through the session, averaging 3:58/km for the 4 min efforts and actually put in a couple of decent shorter reps too.

Wednesday 16th August: 10k Easy: 53:09@5:19/km

Thursday 17th August: Rest

Friday 18th August: 5.9k Shakeout + Strides: 31:23@5:22/km

Not exactly bouncing off the wall, but got them in before the heavens opened. Was not looking forward to the following day's race & weather conditions in any way, shape or form.

Saturday 19th August: Race: Frank Duffy 10 Mile: 1:06:28 @4:06/km

Got up to the capital around 8am. Parked in AMK's house and we drove down to the PP and got a bit of a warm up in which confirmed that the wind was even grimmer than expected. Given the route and the conditions the plan was to go under 65 mins. I'd chosen the FD primarily for the good vibes the race series brings and the fact that it was a far tougher track than Kilcock 10 Miler the following day didn't really matter to me. I was now reaping the fruits of this decision!

The plan was to hold off on the pace during the first couple of miles, to keep something in the tank for the mid section of the race when the wind was going to be a big factor. Complicating this was the generous profile of those miles. Looking back, I should have just gone out slower! First 4 miles were 6:20, 6:25, 6:22 & 6:31. I wouldn't say I was feeling amazing here, but when we turned on to Chesterfield I knew I was in trouble straight away. From there on in it was just a bit of a sufferfest. The only thing I was focusing on was not quitting. After Manchester I said I'd never do it again, and thankfully Saturday was not added to that category of shame. It was a weird place to be in. I wasn't dying, but just couldn't summon any extra pace. Miles 8&9 saw me just waiting to be put out my misery (6:57 & 6:54). Managed some semblance of a spurt in the last mile to clock in at 66:28. 5 Mile Splits were 32:28/34:00 which tell their own story.

Not a great day, but managed to gut things out and I'm sure the fitness will get a bit of a boost from it. The fact that I covered the last 5 miles forty seconds slower than the last 5 Miles of my LR a couple of weeks ago pretty much sums up where I found myself on the back half of that course. When I find myself eyeing up 10 Mile Pb's in the future, touch wood, I probably won't target old Frank.

Around 14 Miles for the day inc warm up and cool down.

Sunday 20th August: 12.2km: 1:04:36@5:18/km

Clearing head and legs. Dialled in now. Big 8 weeks of training to come.

Monday 28th August: 5 Miles Recovery: 44:24 @5:31/km

Gentle gallop on the plains.

Tuesday 29th August: 8 Miles Easy Inc 12x12 secs hills: 1:08:46 @5:20/km

Met a buddy who's running Chicago. He'd just ran Tullamore at the weekend so great chats were had.

Wednesday 30th August: Session: 60 min Alternating Tempo. 3mins off/on @4:15/4:00 per km.

This session piqued my interest when I saw it pop up in the plan. Headed out after school on to the loop in the camp. Shortened warm up from the prescribed 2 Miles as there was the possibility I might have a shorter window than I needed.

Started into the 60 mins and the first 3 mins rep comes in at 4:14/km, nothing to see here. Up the pace, open the stride and glance down at the watch....4:19/km pace. Okay. Patchy GPS maybe. Give it another minute, not a huge change in pace and ends up clocking 4:15/km for that 3 minute section.

I'll digress here. I'm around long enough at this stage to have realised that it was a GPS issue and examined the watch. Of course I didn't do this. Instead I absolutely rinsed myself trying to get back on pace. Came off the loop and tried to see if coverage was better on another road in the camp and clocked up 4:23/4:30/4:35 for the next three 3 minute intervals! During these nine minutes I had come to the conclusion that I was finished. Now that we were in the big weeks of the block, I'd come a cropper. Then the skies parted and I pondered whether I should just stop the watch, end the current activity and start a new one....which of course was something I should have done 12mins prior.

I don't know how fast I was moving for those intervals, but it was felt much faster than the rest of the session which went swimmingly. Averaged 4:11&3:58/km for the alternating sections. I did however only do 54mins as I miscounted after starting the session again, but seeing as I was running stupidly fast for those early reps it was probably just as well.

Tough session, but felt good. Just over 12 miles all in.

Thursday 31st August: 10k Easy: 54:45 @5:28/km

Damp early morning shuffle across the plains

Race Number for the Race Series HM came in the post this morning. Plan is to do it at MP as part of a 22 Mile LR. (which was alway the plan, even before I raced the Frank Duffy!)