Last of the Summer Wine

Week of 4 Apr

The quads were very sore after Sunday’s race - I’ve felt fewer after effects after some marathons, genuinely. So nothing too dramatic this week, or the first part of it anyway.

Mon 4 Apr

30 mins recovery

Didn’t feel up for this really but felt it was important to get the blood flowing through the legs a bit. Very creaky trot around Marino and All Hallows.  

Tue 5 Apr

Rest.

Wed 6 Apr

75 mins easy

The DOMS (or maybe IOMS?) was a little better today, so headed out in the rain after work up the Malahide Road and across to St. Annes’s. Came across MC and we both commented on quad soreness as we passed in the park. Last part of this run was straight into a very strong headwind along the coast towards town. Never the most enjoyable way to end a run - froze the brass monkeys off me. 🐵😱

• This week: 18k (13m)
• This month: 46 (202)
• This year: 973 (570)

Week of 4 April cont.

Thurs 7 Apr

46 mins very easy around Marino.

Fri 8 Apr

73 mins easy

Headed out from work along Merrion Strand and back through Ballsbridge. No watch. Plan was to turn after 30 mins but there are no clocks anywhere in Sandymount or Booterstown. On the Northside I’d get the time from the bus stop RTA displays signs but surprisingly they seem to have far fewer of these on the southside, or this part of it anyway, so ended up going a bit longer than planned.

Sat 9 Apr

‘Long run’ 104 mins - broken into two halves, up to and back from the park, Took a break in between to watch a few clubmates doing the Great Ireland Run. Pretty small race compared to the last time I watched this a good few years ago.

Sun 10 Apr

13.8K inc Club Championships mile (5:59-ish)

Every year the club puts on an afternoon of track racing in Morton Stadium for anyone interested, from kids to grandparents. Plenty of kids around but not too many seniors and even fewer masters. I’d never participated in this event before today but thought it would be interesting to run the mile. Warmed up with a few laps of the stadium and the adjacent Demesne, then lined up with seven or eight others - a few juniors, a few seniors and a couple of veterans. Didn’t know most of them so had no idea what to expect. Lining us up, our club captain and Olympian DH reminded us that five men had broken four minutes on this track in 1958’s ‘Miracle Mile’. We looked nervously at each other, wondering how great DH's expectations actually were for this little race. The whistle goes and I found myself in sixth place after 100m, with a couple of young lads well in front already. Went around a kid and a young woman on the back straight and settled in behind a teenage girl in a pink shirt for fourth. Plucky little runner, she sensed my presence and moved out slightly to discourage me. Settled in with her for the remainder of the lap, then made a move and pulled in front in lap two. Feeling every stride in my wafer thin track spikes, so my form was probably a bit clunky, but feeling strong enough at this stage. No clock on the track and no one was calling lap splits so had no idea how we were doing pace wise. Pink girl didn’t want to be dropped and stayed on my shoulder for a while, although I think I pulled away a bit to look good enough for third at the half way point. Thought I was driving through lap three reasonably well but with 600m to go Pink comes past hard and stays there. Should have used my elbows more. 😉 Thought she might suffer in lap four but on the bell she pulled further ahead and I had to settle for fourth in a lonely final lap with no one pushing from behind. The timer told me 5:59, which was a bit disappointing. Then again conditions were blustery enough and it was more of a positional race (for three laps anyway). Enjoyed it!

Forty minute cooldown in the park afterwards, then returned to find the car park gate locked. Had to do some cross country driving to escape (apologies to any Clonliffe Harriers reading - I assure ye I did not drive on the track.)

• This week: 71k (44m) - 412 mins
• This month: 99 (62)
• This year: 1026 (638)

It's not out of any deliberate strategy but you're right, it's probably the distance I've raced the least. Don't think I've deliberately shunned - but haven't gone out of my way either. 10k is such a painfest, almost as bad as the 5k. That might be it. I do have an entry in this summer's Race Series 10k however, although I might get another chance before July. The BHAA K-Club 10k doesn't seem to be on anymore, that was always a popular one (although have only done once).

You're right, I should do more of them.

Which one did you buy?

👍 I have the one on the left and have dipped into the other one. I find all the Lydiard books I’ve seen so far (including the ghost-written originals) fascinating but a little frustrating. That’s where DD comes in, interpreting and boiling down, turning it all into a more coherent ‘plan’ for regular club runner types. 😁

Week of 11 April cont.

Thurs 14 Apr

51 mins easy on the local roads. 

Fri 15 Apr

40 mins easy around the Killybegs harbour.

Sat 16 Apr

A trip up to Derry from Donegal for the parkrun. Stayed the night before but didn’t sleep much - up early to get in a couple of laps of the Walls before breakfast, then back to the B&B, quick feed then jog to the Marina for the start. Nice buzz for this parkrun - friendly and a nice course that takes you over the Peace Bridge and a loop of a park on the far side before retracing back to the Marina. Did this one at a fair T pace to finish 16th in 21:40 or so. Another loop of the course to cool down. Total for the morning: 17:45 kms / 94 mins

Sun 17 Apr

Well, covid has been closing in on us for some time - one of the young lads is just over it and both the mrs and myself are down with it today. Which means I’ll have to forget about next week’s Raheny Open Mile and the National Road Relays, which I’d been hoping to get on a club team for. Oh well - it was a good run when it lasted.

• This week: 71k (44m) - 392 mins
• This month: 170 (106)
• This year: 1097 (682)

Not much has been happening. A little covid break to reset the mechanism. 

18-24 Apr

No running. isolation for most of the week. Very mild symptoms - just a sore throat really, for a couple of days, and not a particularly bad one. It was disappointing to miss this week’s National Road Relays - I reckon I’d have made the club’s M50 B team anyway, and at my age you never know when you’ve had your final chance. I did have the consolation of winning the Division 3 title in the club’s Winter League, despite having to miss the final 1-mile race during the week. But in reality I should have been in Div 2 so it's nothing to shout about!

25-29 Apr

Still testing positive most of this week. Symptoms long gone and while the guidance suggests you’re OK to come out after 7 days if symptom free, I played it safer and avoided a couple of things I was supposed to do, just to be on the safe side. 

Sat 30 Apr

Finally tested negative. Back up in Donegal, clocked up parkrun #174 in Dungloe. It felt good to be running again, despite the fairly miserable conditions. No immediate after effects. Low mileage this month obviously: 175 kms (109 mi).

Sun 1 May

66 mins easy on the local loop. A beautiful afternoon after yesterday’s rain.HR slightly elevated compared to normal but felt reasonably OK for an easy run in the hills. A few more easy days, I reckon, before trying a hill session towards the end of next week if all is well.

Well done to today’s marathoners - Limerick, Cincinnati and beyond. 

• This week: 17k (10m)
• This month: 11 (7)
• This year: 1,114 (692)

Week of 9 May

Hoping to get at least one session in this week - feels like the fitness is waning. Doubt if I'll be setting Cork on fire in a few weeks.

Mon 9 May

67 mins easy, out to St. Anne’s via the Howth Road and back along the coast. Windy, and it would have been more comfortable in the opposite direction. But then again wind exposure is a good thing. Character building! 

Tue 10 May

29 mins easy - squeezed this in just before heading to Cavan for a wedding. 

Wed 11 May

On to Donegal for a couple of nights - 66 mins around the local roads. HR high - not surprising after yesterday’s festivities.

Thu 12 May

60 mins with 40 @ steady. The weather was dire but I headed out around the local loop for a steady run - the neighbours were impressed. Would have been better to have gotten a longer one in but it was getting late, and I was feeling it anyway - good enough to have anything at all in the bag.

Fri 13 May

68 mins recovery. Out on the St. Anne’s loop again after the drive home. HR did not want to stay in the recovery zone, still 5-7 beats higher than I’d like.

Sat 14 May

45 mins including 5k at about marathon pace. Headed over to Brickfield(s) Park in Kimmage to chalk another Dublin parkrun off the list. I’d attempted to run this one a few months ago but it was rained off on the day. Better luck this time. Bumped into a couple of acquaintances including former boardsie raycun. It’s a four lapper, and I settled into marathon pace with a brief stop to tie a shoelace (a recurring problem with my zoom flys - must pay more attention). Again, the effort felt harder than it should, but I enjoyed this as always. Chatted to R and D and the run director afterwards, all very pleasant. A couple more laps to cool down. That’s 175 parkruns under the belt, in 34 locations, 29 of them in RoI, 18 in Dublin. Only Marlay, Shanganagh, Sport Ireland, Ardgillan and Griffeen to go!

Sun 15 May

120 mins easy in the Phoenix Park, starting early to get well underway before the National 5k event. Drove out with C but we went our separate ways as he had a bigger and faster run on the schedule. Covered most roads in the park, slowly working off last night's few pints of porter. Challenging 5k course with the Glen hills in play. Waved at AMK just as I was finishing. Good breakfast afterwards in the visitors centre. This was a decent run and the HR played ball, so good to see some definite improvements this week, and a return to decent mileage. 

• This week: 80k (50m) - 456 mins
• This month: 138 (86)
• This year: 1,241 (771)

Ha. Well it is a good question and the truth is that I am winging it, relying so far on the advice of @Duanington as you know. He has been using the principles for some time and while I've read the Keith Livingston book and some of the original Lydiard books I'm happy to defer to someone who has been looking at this stuff a lot longer than me, and especially how the 'method' has evolved over time - the use of HRMs for instance, which wasn't something Lydiard had at his disposal.

I find the original books a little frustrating as the schedules given are for elites and not applicable to the mid pack without substantial modification. Even the Livingstone book is short of an actual day by day schedule of the sort that I like to use, so I'm happy to let D interpret for me as long as he's willing.

So while I've been doing the anaerobic base phase now for some time, the 'hill transition' phase I'm now about to do for the next 8 weeks seems to be a continuation of that with one hill session per week. This is quite different from a 'by the book' week of multiple sessions on a version of Lydiard's famous 'hill loop' - which suits me, as specific hill sessions have never been part of my routine. That said, I've been trying as advised to do the steady aerobic sub-threshold runs on undulating ground as much as possible.

So to answer your specific questions,

1. I'm planning to use the approach from start to finish, yes. It possibly will incorporate some other philosophies, but in a good way, as far as my understanding goes of D's research around 'updated' versions of the approach. Hopefully M will be joining too - we are all planning to do Chicago, so it's good to be all on the same page in terms of timing the phases. Following this current 8 weeks, which is still very 'aerobicy', there will be 12 weeks that I'm sure will include some sort of sharpening.
2. I enjoyed Phase One, but it wasn't a perfect application. I don't think Lydiard approved of racing during this phase as it undermines the aerobic development goal. (I raced quite a bit, including two 10-milers and a couple of one- and two-milers.) The shorter races were decent enough and while the times probably reflect the lack of anaerobic training, I don't think avoiding speedwork at this stage of a marathon buildup is a problem. I'm not even sure there will be ANY specific speedwork - as I understand it, Lydiard would introduce this more for his middle distance runners than his marathon people. The hill work is going to help with leg strength anyway, and the strides/fartleks as you say. But who knows what's in store. 😉

Despite the less than perfect application, I've definitely felt the benefit of the aerobic work (which followed many months of half marathon specific stuff in the second half of last year, so it wasn't going on top of nothing). The fact that the two 10-mile races were the best I've ever run is very encouraging. I'm hoping the covid break hasn't undone too much of the work, but I should know the answer to that when I attempt another long sub-threshold run later this week.

Thanks for asking - my answers are probably not very enlightening as I have been deferring so much of the thinking on this phase. Standing on the shoulders of giants and all that.

Week of 23 May

The hill transition continues. Slowly coming out of the post-covid fog, I think, and it’s starting to feel like it used to. Just as well with Cork Half coming up next week, although I haven’t really thought yet about how I might approach it. 

Mon 23 May

Easy hour with strides, just the 10-second version this week. Out along the coast during the lad’s GAA training as is usual for a Monday.

Tue 24 May

77 mins total including 2 x 15 mins steady, 6 x 30s hills.

On paper this looked easier than last week’s 2x20 mins with hills, and indeed it was. A muggy evening but I was getting a decent pace out of the steady effort and I actually enjoyed the hills - don’t know why I haven’t made a habit of a hill block every year. Just trying to concentrate on form while going hard but not to hard to lose control. Changed from one St. Anne’s hill to another (the one that’s now on the parkrun route) to give an old gent who was doing some plyometrics some space (no, it wasn’t TbL). Windier second block of steady but all good.

Wed 25 May

40 mins recovery - creaky enough on another muggy night and I was glad there wasn’t anything more strenuous on the cards. Sometimes recovery runs feel difficult to do, which would seem to defeat the purpose - definitely not feeling like a ‘regenerative’ run, so I might substitute rest days on the Weds for the next few weeks and see how that feels. 

• This week: 30k (19m)
• This month: 252 (156)
• This year: 1,354 (842)

No problem re questions - appreciate the interest!

I actually have that question myself for you-know-who. To be honest though I don't think the bounding/springing is on the cards, as from the little research I've done I know that some coaches prefer to do more normal hill sprints these days. Whatever about bounding, the springing looks particularly difficult, and I think the injury risk can be high!

The advice for me was "Sprint hard but controlled, form is more important than pace; full recovery required so jog down very slowly".

There are some 'corkscrews' coming up too - that's a 600m steep hill in Howth that's beloved of Northside athletes back to the Hoopers in their prime and probably earlier. So there will be plenty of variety in the hills.

I think in my case it's very much an old tricks for old dogs scenario.

😆

Doing most of your everyday running over hilly terrain is certainly a good thing - one of the reasons I'm happy to do a good bit of running in Donegal, although Dublin has plenty of good drags too.

My understanding of hill repeats is that they are basically strength workouts, where your bodyweight is the resistance, with benefits that can probably be replicated by other kinds of strength workouts if necessary (e.g. if injury is a risk - but of course injury is a risk with any kind of activity if not done properly). But I'm no expert and just do what I'm told - 'hard but controlled, and take full recovery before starting the next one'.