"It's what you do next that counts"

March 21st (Mon) - Rest, possibly overdid it Sunday after a hard 5k, 10 miles on the flat probably would have been better.

March 22nd (Tue) - 6 miles at 8'50 pace, AHR 72%. Beautiful sunrise to start the day, after months of training in the dark, this was just amazing.

March 23rd (Wed) - running with a couple of different groups. 3 miles easy to start, followed by a mile walk/run with 10x100m strides concentrating on form.

Followed this with 3x1k around the concert field off 60 secs, aiming for 5k pace but a little quick on the first 3'50. Fast first rep may have stole the joy out of the next two 3'53 & 3'54.

Racing Dunboyne 10k on Sunday, its the one distance I've never got right, so hoping to change that.

The weight loss had stalled a little post marathon but now seems to be moving again. Currently 71.9kg from 83kg mid December. Need to start some core work for both toning and aid my running, my back definitely fatigues on fast efforts.

March 27th (Sun) - A little over 10 miles at 8'52 pace, AHR 71% of max. So tired in the morning, stayed up later than usual and then losing an hour with the clocks, left this run feeling more like a chore.

March 28th (Mon) - Rest

March 29th (Tue) - Working in Town for the first time since Feb 2020. Delighted to be back and catching up with folks, glorious day. Just over 8 miles in total.

Going to have to start planning my training week a little better, now that I'm fully back in work, I've way less wiggle room. Plan is 8 to 10 weeks of trying to get my 5k time down, I'd love to dip under 19.

I've had a little look at potential races but the fast ones seem to be evening races and my circadian rhythm follows that of an early bird. So on the look out for STH in May and June that have a 10 to 11am start and are preferably close to Dublin. If anyone knows of any, let me know, cheers.

April 2nd (Sat) - Marlay Parkrun, sub 19 attempt.

With the cold and damp weather predicted, my wardrobe was a bit of concern. Went with a long sleeve underarmour and Tee rather than my now lucky singlet.

Met a couple of guys at Marlay House carpark at 9am for a light warm up. I like to run real easy and I think we were jogging 11 min mile pace. I followed this up with 6x100m strides with walk back recovery.

Nice and warm now, I took off leggings, hat, gloves and the underarmour. I felt so light and bouncy.

I see the first 20 secs of a race as free energy, so I got out hard which got a comment from a guy who is normally battling for 1st place, I told him not to worry as the brakes were about to be applied. I soon went from 2nd place to about 5th. Then we have a 400 meter climb and by the time we're at the top, I'm in approximately 13th - 3'49.

Going through the first km about 5 seconds quicker than planned but feeling good. I soon had a question to answer. There was a group of 5 who I know from previous runs and are all quicker than me, one is 17'50 but I felt the pace was a little slow, so I overtook them. This did two things, it made me not want to look like a fool and have them go back by me and secondly, start to think sub 19 is definitely on - 3'45.

I think I'm now in about 8th position and on the concert field and there's a tall guy in the local gaa team shorts. I work hard to catch him and pass him just before the 3rd I. I also get a nice shout of encouragement from a couple of Brother Pearse runners - 3'51

The 4th km is always my slowest but I'm feeling strong and like two weeks ago, get into a battle. I reckon we're 6th and 7th but halfway up the forest and he lets up, I decide to put some distance between us, just incase he's saving himself for the fast last km - 4'06

I love the last Km but I've no real change of gear, it's just time to grind and hang on. I've a runner in my sights but can't quite get to him, I've no more to offer, but surprisingly it turns out to be a solid effort - 3'20.

The 4th and 5th km are always a little skewed in Marlay with the forest, so I can probably subtract a few secs from 4th and add it to 5th km.

18'50 for 6th place. I can't believe it and I'm high as a kite. My two daughters were volunteering and on finish tokens. I loved that I could share this moment with them.

A few things that I think have contributed of late to my improvement:

1. Consistency and staying injury free.

2. Diet, 11kg down since mid December and still eating super clean

3. The shoes, I love the original vaporflies, so much fun running with them.

4. Mental attitude, I'm up for the challenge, more glass half full and backing myself.

5. Keeping easy runs proper easy, averaging around 71/72% of max heart rate.

6. Pre race rituals, listen to Sing street - Go Now, the song has struck a chord over last few months. I tried coffee 45 minutes before racing today, I hate coffee but saw it on the Ingebrigsten YouTube series. I also take two gels on the warm up as I can't eat breakfast before a race. Maybe a little unconventional but it works for me.

7. Iron intake, had my bloods done and iron was low, so I've been taking a supplement every other day.

April 3rd (Sunday) - 10 miles with the group. Haven't met up with them in some time, so really enjoyed the catch up. 8'28 pace, AHR 73%. The run probably wasn't as easy as I'd like after the parkrun effort.

Week 14 of 2022

April 4th (Monday) - Was going to take a day off but a window appeared. 5 miles at 8'49 pace, AHR 73%. Quite sluggish and probably should have kept it a rest day.

April 5th (Tuesday) - Combining a run and work. 9 miles at 8'52 pace.

April 6th (Wednesday) - 6x40 second fast efforts with walk back recovery. Followed this up with a 2 mile tempo at 6'30 pace. About 7.5 miles for the whole run.

April 7th (Thursday) - Another run/work combo but this time in my new fuelcell Rebel elite, courtesy of @Swashbuckler friend. These are going to be my new easy run shoe, I love the softness of them. 8.5 miles at 9'00 mile pace.

April 8th (Friday) - 5.5 miles at 8'26 pace, AHR 70%. Bang on the money for proper easy.

Bushy Parkrun in the morning as my daughter has her Irish oral at around the same time and she goes to school beside the park. Definitely not my favourite parkrun route but still looking forward to it.

April 9th (Saturday) - Bushy Parkrun, my daughter was having her Irish orals beside the park, so it just suited.

Wore my new coros pace 2 watch and thought I had it configured with stryd for reading distance.

Same pre race prep as last week with music, coffee and strides.

I went out fast, taking advantage of the alactic system and although I started to ease up after 20 secs, I found myself leading and my watch told me 3'05 km pace 😅 I eased up even more. It wasn't till 800m that I was overtaken, secretly glad as I don't really know the route.

Turns out my watch readings were way out and I could add at least 5 to 10 seconds to each kilometer but I didn't realise this till I was on the last K. I actually thought I was having a big performance and on for 18'30 as I held 2nd spot.

The route isn't the fastest, lots of turns and you run into a fair bit of traffic which leads to a lot of side stepping.

Finished in 19'05 and was a bit disappointed at first as effort levels felt high. I soon copped on and was actually quite satisfied. Lovely little parkrun.

Met my daughter on the walk back to the car and she seemed very happy with how her oral went.

April 10th (Sunday) 10 miles up to Bohernabreena reservoir and back. Trying to calibrate my watch and stryd, think I have it figured out now.

Body was tired after 13 days in a row. Rest day tomorrow. Have an entry for Streets of Kilkenny but seems a lot of effort for an evening race but on the other hand, seems a fast route.

He was great to deal with. I find them too spongey for racing and have Vaporflies now anyway. But from a recovery/easy pov, all my feet want are the RC. I just couldn't justify 230 quid but 150, just about 😅

Week 15

April 11th (Mon) - Didn't rest, instead went for 5k on the Marlay Parkrun course to try calibrate my watch and stryd. Ran a 1k around the concert field after, again trying to improve accuracy.

April 12th (Tue) - A little over 9 miles with a 4 mile Tempo in the middle at 6'30 mile pace. Considered adding a 5th mile as it would be a PB for 5 miles but was pretty soaked and miserable.

April 13th (Wed) - 5 miles easyish, 8'14 pace for 73% average of MHR. Got out a little late and park was quite busy.

April 14th (Thu) - 5 miles easy, 8'11 pace for 71% of MHR. Really enjoyed this.

Not going to run Kilkenny this evening but I have booked an exciting alternative for May 8th in Barcelona, a flat 5k.

I was half thinking of it a few weeks back but it was becoming a bit too expensive. Roll on my birthday and my wife and kids have given me vouchers for Ryanair which covers the flights for a nice romantic/run weekend away for two.

I was talking with the RD after NC, he reckons Bushy about 20 secs slower than Marlay and I'm happy to go with that as I felt my effort was higher than Marlay's effort the previous week.

I actually think if you negotiate with the hill at the start of Marlay parkrun, its quite a fast course.

Week 16

April 18th (Mon) - 4 miles easy with the group, 10 minute miling, exactly what my legs needed. AHR 61% of max.

April 19th (Tue) - A little over 8 miles with 8x1k at 350 watts (10k effort), which worked out at 3'50 per km. Recovery was 60 seconds standing. Really enjoyed this, felt strong throughout, and looking at the stats after, I was bang in the zone I was targeting.

April 20th (wed) - 5 easy/recovery miles at 8'44 pace, AHR 70%. Body was tired but thoroughly enjoyed it.

Heading to Portugal in the morning for a long weekend with a buddy, hope to get a track session and a decent long run in.

Week 17

Apr 25th (Mon) - 9 miles in total, ran the first 3 miles on my own up to Marlay, joined in with the group for 5 and then 1 directly home. Beautiful evening but with a cold bite on the forearms.

Apr 26th (Tue) - 7.7 miles with a group at lunchtime, easy running only.

Apr 27th (Wed) - Abandoned planned session. Woke at 6am, got into my gear but just wasn't feeling it, back into bed for an extra hour. Took my daily HRV reading and it told me to take it easy, so took a rest day.

Apr 28th (Thu) - 7.4 miles at lunchtime around Stephen's Green. Feeling 100% for the rest day.

Apr 29th (Fri) - 6.4 miles which included 5x12 second strides at the end. Plan was to hammer the Parkrun.

Apr 30th (Sat) - Ended up running it with my 16 ye old, she has a bit of a mental block around Marlay Parkrun, so we decided to tackle it together. She finished and was quite pleased with herself.

May 1st (Sun) - Considered driving up to Drogheda for a 10k but the weather put me off. So new idea was the Arc 10k the following day, so just 5 easy with a few pick-ups towards the end.

May 3rd (Tue) - Work run in town, legs wrecked, 6 miles.

May 4th (Wed) - Took a well needed rest day.

May 5th (Thu) - Back into town for a super enjoyable easy run with great company, 6.5 miles.

May 6th (Fri) - In Marlay with a group, about 5k super easy with a fair bit of walking.

May 7th (Sat) - Approximately 6 miles around el Prat de Llobregat. Legs not too bad but morning hrv reading was low. A few strides towards the end.

Back out in the afternoon for 2 more miles to collect my bib and take a spin on the track.

Week 19 - May 9th to 15th

43 miles for the week over 6 days. One session, 3x6 mins at 10 mile race pace off 2 minutes. Was hoping for 5 efforts but just felt off and HR was only going one way.

Week 20 - May 16th to 22nd

50 miles for the week over 7 runs which included my new favourite session, 3x1k at a few secs faster than 5k pace off 60 secs. Splits came in at 3'39, 3'33, 3'29.

Popintree Parkrun on the Saturday, wanted to get an idea of where I'm at. Feel I'm not as fit as 5 weeks ago. Work has been mental and physically demanding but that'll ease up soon as schools finish up.

My daughters were competing in the Leinster schools champs and it was an early start for the eldest, which worked in my favour.

I was worried about the route, Strava & @ReeReeG helped with some of the concern. Tried to get out fast but felt clunky, still found myself leading. Got by the first Marshall and could see a left turn or straight on option. I slowed a little and asked the guy behind me, he signalled left. Soon after there was another concern left, straight or right. The guy behind again shouted at me "straight through". Very decent of him.

After that it was handy enough, repeat the big loop and then one shorter loop. My heart rate strap unclipped at 3k so I had to hold it, didn't bother me too much and took it as a positive (feeling slimmer).

It's also at 3k that you run into the back of other parkrunners and the paths are a bit narrow. Also had a game of chicken with a toddler, I won.

There was a strong head breeze at the start of both big laps and there was a sense of time trialing about my effort.

Having slowed a little on km 3 & 4, I rallied again in the 5th and it was only here that I actually started to feel good and realised I had more left. Although still fell in a heap on the line.

Great bunch of volunteers, super route, I'd certainly do it again and delighted with 1st place, can't see it ever happening again, at least not in Marlay.

Finish time 18'42 - rough splits 3'42, 3'46, 3'54, 3'57, 3'22 (lots of turns and tree cover, no way GPS is accurate)

10 mile long run up to Bohernabreena reservoir and back, crew of 10 for this and the time just flew by.

I'd gotten a little lazy in keeping the log up to date. I guess I'm a little unsure why I have a log given there's Strava but hopefully with the upcoming Autumn marathons, there maybe a little more banter?

Seeing Krusty back posting is super and looking forward to following his build up.

I've also signed up for the Mullingar 10 Miler and the Ratoath Half in preparation for Amsterdam.

May 23rd to 29th was 54 miles and included a new Parkrun PB of 18'35 at Marlay.

May 30th to June 5th was 24 miles, had an infection around the jaw bone that was quite painful. Started to feel better on the Friday but thought it best to skip the Bohermeen 5k. I did however attempt Marlay Parkrun on the Saturday and ran 19'16, not bad and confirmed I had made the right decision the previous day.

June 6th to 12th was 59 miles and included some testing with Emmett Dunleavy which was very insightful and I've now got pretty accurate training paces to work off and apparently I've a good ability to store glycogen and have a VLamax of 0.3 which seems to be beneficial for marathon running, can't say I fully understand that yet.

I also took down a 13 year old PB at the Irish Runner 5 Miler on what was a fair route with fair conditions. Finished in 31'10, previous PB was 33'07 from Raheny back in 2009.

June 13th to 19th was 66 miles which included aligning my stryd power pod and HR with new paces.

I also went exploring on my long run and got a little lost which tacked on an extra couple of miles, just shy of 18 in total.

Nice bit of momentum appearing on Strava, are you targeting DCM?

On Monday I brought my 16 year old for a run up around Bohernabreena reservoir, she loved it. I felt great throughout, which surprised me after the previous day's long run.

I woke Tuesday feeling very achy in my legs and lower back and a bit of a sore throat. Took a COVID test, negative, so went on my work run. It was an unenjoyable slog.

Later that evening my 12 year old took a test, positive, so I took another, also positive.

Been feeling a bit miserable and sorry for myself.

Wednesday and Thursday were rest days and can't imagine I'll be running tomorrow either.

Its been a good month though with 209 miles covered and a PB.

June 27th to July 3rd

Finally hit with covid, 14 miles for the week and 4 rest days. Highly frustrating but better to have it now.

July 4th to 10th

Ran every day, 51 miles with no real sessions apart from this morning's 15 mile long run, marathon pace plus 40 to 50 seconds.

The theme of the week was a slightly elevated resting heart rate and running heart rate. If I wasn't a runner, I might feel I'm back to a 100%, hopefully over the next couple of days as I'd love to get a session in on Wednesday.

Next week is 14 weeks to Amsterdam.

July - 202 miles

some good efforts but mostly running below par.

August - 221 miles

All of the above miles were done in Portugal. I'd get up nice and early to avoid the heat. Some good solid sessions and long runs but hadn't a clue what shape I was in.

September - 223 miles

Included the Ratoath half in 1:33:3? A disappointing run, elevated HR from the start and dizzy spells after.

Got my bloods done and would highly recommend this to runners who are feeling flat. Turns out my iron levels were very low 9 umol/L. A couple of weeks of galfor twice daily and lots of red meat and my levels are up to 13. This is very comforting with 2 more weeks till Amsterdam.

My last 3 long runs have actually gone well.

First was 22 miles which included 4x3 miles at marathon effort on a hilly route. The average pace around 7:15.

Second long run was a 20 miler with 8x1.5 miles off a 5 minute jog, again on a hilly route. Average pace about 7:10s.

And then Friday gone 15 miles with 10 miles in the middle progressing from 7:23 to 6:40. Trying to mimic race day heart rate drift. Definitely could have done another few miles.

Wore my race day Vaporflies for the first time and the fresh bounce was evident but not a huge difference when compared to my other vapors with 340 miles on them.

Two weeks to go

I'm not a 100% sure on my target time for Amsterdam yet, input definitely welcome.

One idea is to go out at 7'24 pace, which is sub 3'15. My hope is with two more weeks and improved iron levels that this cautious pace might see me run my first ever negative split.

Seville was 3'25 and I cramped badly in the last 4 or 5 miles (iron was low then too). I know anything quicker than Seville should be considered a win but I'm greedy.

Oct 10th - Rest

Oct 11th - 30 minutes with 6x400m, slightly quicker than MP

Oct 12th - 35 minutes at 8'45 pace

Oct 13th - 35 minutes with 3x1k off 60 seconds, trying to dial into MP 7'20, a little quick at 7'10s

Had a sports massage with Peter Mathews on Tuesday morning, no areas of concern.

Limited my carb intake on Monday and Tuesday, ate normally yesterday and will add extra carbs from today till last meal Saturday.

After Seville Marathon, I got my 5k to 18'35 and 5 mile to 31'10. I thought I was going to kick on from here, averaging just over 200 miles a month but it didn't really happen.

A disappointing 93 mins in Ratoath and I was already contemplating an alternative to Amsterdam.

Had bloods done and the results identified low iron. I feel I've now resolved that issue and feeling pretty positive.

Target time sub 3'15, this is the A goal. The B goal is to beat Seville 3'25.

Noticeable changes in this training plan:

1. specific marathon paced long runs, including a 22 & 21 miler.

2. Overall volume is up, 1900 miles so far for the year.

3. Have kept nutrition in check.

4. Zero miles/sessions run faster than 10 mile race pace since end of July.

Thanks 🤗

I don't feel its needed, at least not for me. I think I'm a little quicker over the shorter or maybe (and more likely) a case of my endurance is poor to average, so wanted all my miles ticking the endurance box.

Especially no 5k work and eroding aerobic development. The only exception would be strides but 100 meter efforts at 3k pace with lots of recovery between efforts isn't an issue.

So my miles have been mainly easy, 10 mile / half and MP. The only issue being, I never really knew what my MP was, guessing mainly. I've had a lot of hit and miss sessions, whether caused by low iron or running in Algarve heat in August.

Spent 5 weeks there and although mileage was high, there was a feel of no man's land to it.

This cycle has been one big experiment, looking forward to deciphering it after.