Last of the Summer Wine

Week of 11 July

13-week (4 month) marathon countdown starts this week.

Mon 11 Jul

57 mins easy.

In Kiel for a few days at a conference - it’s not the most beautiful city in Germany but it has plenty of waterfront running routes. Very warm and humid on this one.

Tue 12 Jul

3 x 2 mi progressive (1M easy recovery)

Having reccied the waterfront last night I was out at early well before the day started to heat up. Conditions were quite nice and relatively cool. Two miles easy to warm up then two miles at steady (8:10), which felt handy enough, along the marina and partly through what seemed to be a military residential area near the Kiel Canal (Europe’s busiest, apparently.) Easy mile then alongside the canal (annoyingly without a view of the water) then into two miles of marathon pace (7:40) towards more industrial buildings. The road wasn’t great here and I briefly noted a trail heading uphill to the left through woods, but stayed on the road until it ran out in a carpark and I had to turn, getting some looks from a few curious local factory workers. The ducking and diving had me struggling to maintain the pace but at least I knew the route now as I headed back the way I came. Closed out the MP section and then another easy mile, then two more miles at 7:10, HM pace, which was OK for a while but quite tough towards the end. Cooldown through city centre. Tough session, especially away from home. 12 miles before breakfast. 

Wed 13 Jul

30 mins recovery around the local streets. Tight for time.

Thu 14 Jul

50 mins very easy.

Train to Hamburg for one night before returning - much more interesting city than I was expecting. Toured some city parks, the world famous Reeperbahn (tacky), and the St. Pauli waterfront. Very warm, had a weird moment where I had to walk for a few moments - think more to do with sleep deprivation than anything.

Fri 15 Jul

10 x 1 min on/off

Figured I had just enough time to do this session before heading for the airport, although I was a little hungover after a few nice local beers after dinner the previous night. Google told me the very nearby Aussenalster lake was a popular running route so I headed there, just a few mins from the hotel. After warming up on the western side, I started the 1 min ‘ons’, which were supposed to be at 10k pace. Paces for these were pretty erratic, partly due to the route, some of which was on residential streets, some on lakeside trails. Just got it done, I suppose. Good to be doing fast stuff again, definitely out of practice.

Sat 16 Jul

Fairview parkrun @ easy

Slept like the dead and awoke too late for the vague plan to drive out to Abbotstown parkrun. Down to Fairivew instead, where it turned out to be their 5th anniversary. Offered to volunteer and they suggested I help close down the course afterwards which meant I could run (not that I really wanted to, but I was dressed for both possibilities). Jogged around in 27 mins and then had to wait around a good while before doing my bunting removal and cone-collecting duties. Always a pleasure.

Sun 10 Jul

Fingal 10k 43:39

I had booked this race a good while ago but if I’d twigged I would be travelling this week I might not have - given my traditional difficulties with sleep, which are even worse when away from my own bed. Add the temperatures we were promised this weekend and it looked like my ‘PB’ of 42:03, achieved on a short Aware 10k course in 2019, would be safe. I thought I might have a shot at my ‘real’ PB of 43:19, achieved on a long course at the K Club in 2018 - what is it about 10k and course measurement? So 43 mins was the time I had in mind, 4:18 per km, not that I’d be studying the watch too intently on the flattish course that has a drag at the start, then a long fast section on the N1 before the back roads of Swords with a couple of drags give way finally to what always feels like an endless trek back into town with a nasty little hill in the last km before the downhill finish.

Long story short - I never really committed to this one. Had a good start, I felt, getting into a nice rhythm on the dual carriageway (6:52, 6:44). Lazare said hello and went past after about 3k and he was just in front of me for most of the next three miles. I stayed at a steady enough pace through the back roads (7:11, 7:09, 7:10) without ever feeling like I could inject a bit of extra pace, and people started going by during the second half of the race - not a huge number, and I was going past people too, but it felt like I was losing some ground. At the right turn out of the leafy lanes that tells you you’ll soon be hitting the final 2k, a glance at the average pace on the watch confirmed that 43 mins was slipping away. I churned out a gritty enough mile 6 under the circumstances (7:13) but nowhere near what would have been needed - by then I was past caring really, just wanted it to be over. Managed a bit of a finish (6:15 pace for the 0.22) but I was still passed on the line by two runners, which is always annoying. 

• Previous PB: 43:??
• Target: 42:59
• Result: 43:39
• 307th place (of 1,943)
• 4th M60 (of 30)
• VDOT 46.9
• Age grade: 75.8%
• Verdict: ‘Lacking intensity’

Not the worst day out ever but the feeling afterwards was mostly one of deflation. Wasn’t the only one, but still! I never really put myself on the line - there were plenty of targets I could have tried to pick off but just... didn't bother.

•  This week: 71k (44m) - 394 mins
• This month: 210 (131)
• This year: 1,952 (1,213)

Week of 18 July

Back on the home turf. Donegal awaits again at the end of the week, but that’s not foreign (anymore).

Mon 18 Jul

36 mins easy.

The plan was anticipating I'd be in bits after shredding myself in yesterday’s race. But my lack of perfect application meant this was just a routine recovery run with no added leg heaviness. You can’t paste yourself all over it every time, I know, but surely I could have put more into it. Why not, I wonder?

Tue 19 Jul

90 mins easy

Again, this should feel hard two days after a race. But no. So yeah, we all know what that means.

Wed 20 Jul

59 mins easy around the docklands with a lap of College Park, still recovering after the recent concerts. 

Thu 21 Jul

41 mins recovery around Marino. Another very humid evening where you just check it off.

Fri 22 Jul

2 hours with 90 mins @ steady.

I’m on holidays from today, and started nice and early with this steady 90 mins. One of the last of these runs on the schedue. Headed up the Malahide Road to the Castle and back down - a route I've used before with plenty of bumps and hollows to negotiate. This went pretty well. I have no heart rate monitor this week because I left it in my Hamburg hotel room. (They are sending it back at my expense. Jammy Northern Germans - years ago I lost some Raybans in a Bavarian hotel and they'd posted them back before I’d even arrived home myself. But I digress.) So this run just by feel with an eye on the watch, trying to keep it just under 5 mins/km on average. Job done, feeling good, although these ones always tire you out towards the end and you have to keep concentrating.

• This week: 63k (39m)
• This month: 273 (169)
• This year: 2,014 (1,252)

Cheers, P, you're right there I think. I like to prepare myself mentally for a race but this one went by the wayside in many ways as I had other priorities that week.

Week of 25 July

On holidays in Donegal most of this week. Unfortunately the weather hasn’t really followed me (so far). Not that I mind from a running point of view, but just for the general holiday vibe - would be nice to be able to sit outside more. But every cloud…

Mon 25 Jul

Easy hour.

Legs quite tired after yesterday’s LR. Funny how that happens, the long run feeling great but you are reminded the next day of the work you must have put in. Or that’s the way I like to think of it anyway. Should have been 6x30s strides incorporated into this but I forgot. Sorry, Coach!

Did this one in Sligo town and out through Doorly Park (scene of parkrun glory more than five years ago now). Fabulous path along the Garavogue that now links up with another park near Sligo racecourse. Kudos to the Sligo authorities who made sure these improvements happen, because they certainly don’t happen by themselves. 

Tue 26 Jul

Hill session 3 x long hill (with 60-90s recovery in middle, jog down)

The Coach has sprinkled a few Corkscrew sessions throughout this and the previous phase, and somehow I have managed to never be in Dublin on any of the relevant Tuesdays. For those not familiar, the Corkscrew is a hill on the Sutton side of Howth - a long 1km hill with a 5-6% grade. The idea is you run the first half, take a 60s recovery then attack the steeper second half. There’s a local hill here with fairly similar characteristics, except there’s a dip in the middle, so I substituted that 60s standing recovery in the middle of each rep for a 80-90-second walk down to the bottom of the dip. This second half is a significant hill, with a grade of more than 10% in the final quarter - so a bit shorter but steeper than the ‘real’ Corkscrew. As my hill leads up the Croagh Caravan Park, I christened it the ‘Croaghscrew’ and jogged the 5k out through Meenabrock. 

During rep one I realised I’d started at the wrong point, so a bit longer than necessary before the walk recovery. Then up the steep part - which I’ve run scores of times but never at this kind of effort. It felt OK for a while but then just impossible near the end. And yet once completed, with the knowledge of how it feels, the second rep wasn't quite so bad, and before you knew it you were on rep 3 and closing it out strongly in the knowledge that there was only the jog home to come. Tough but fair. 16.21 kms for the morning.

• This week: 27k (17m)
• This month: 324 (201)
• This year: 2,066 (1,284)

Yes, I use HR reserve as well. One potential advantage being if resting rate is higher than usual, it's probably a good idea to adjust the targets. Having said that, I'm not in the habit of regularly measuring the resting rate (first thing in the morning before getting out of bed). But it might be a good idea to do this on 'sub-T' run days (or potential overkill, and as Swashbuckler mentions, you should be able to do this by feel eventually, which was certainly what Lydiard preferred as HR monitors were not generally available anyway).

Week of 1 Aug

With last week one of the most intensive weeks of running I’ve ever done, I wondered how this week would feel. Not without hiccups, it would emerge, although all good in the end.

Mon 1 Aug

Rest day. I’ve been taking one every second week or so. Didn’t particularly feel the need for this but good to be procactive on the recovery front, I reckon.

Tue 2 Aug

30 mins @ 7:40, 10 @ 7:30, 10 @ 7:20

Over to Killybegs waterfront to do this one, as it is relatively flat, although not without a drag or two, and I’d be running up and down the length of the stretch several times. Faffed around with the car for a while trying to plug into a faulty fast charger, before giving up and using the slow charge option (a metaphor?) It was a dirty enough morning, spitting rain with a bit of a breeze too. Warmed up for 15 mins or so, then started into the first phase, 30 mins at very close to marathon pace. I’d be a bit concerned about this having not worked at the pace for a while but I slipped into it comfortably enough and the time went past fairly pleasantly as I got into a good groove. 5 mins easy then before 10 mins at a 10 seconds faster pace - again this was OK, although I was starting to play games with myself, will I turn here out of the wind, etc etc. but kept to the planned course in the end. Was glad of the 3 mins recovery before the final 10 mins which started in a favourable uptown, upwind position and I knew a couple of minutes into it that I would be closing it out without incident, not that I didn't have to work to keep to the pace. Felt great to have gotten this one done, and I enjoyed the cooldown. I like running along this stretch actually. I’ve even become immune to the fish factories.

Wed 3 Aug

53 mins with strides. The vigilant coach had noticed my failure to do any strides last week so I made sure to get them into this first easy run of the week, along the seafront on the way back from St. Anne’s with M for company.

Thu 4 Aug

48 mins easy around the Griffith Ave area. 

Fri 5 Aug

Another rest day. Had been out for a few scoops last night and the reward was a painful cramp in my right calf in the middle of the night - not the first time this has ever happened, but it’s always quite alarming and the mrs didn’t appreciate being violently woken by my yelps of agony. It was quite sore all day afterwards and I ditched the Friday session, which was supposed to be 80 steady with a pickup over the last 20 mins. I don’t like missing sessions but don’t believe in chasing them either, so that was that…

Sat 6 Aug

Marlay parkurun - 22:51

… although I suppose with no session in the legs I could afford to hit this tourist parkrun effort a little harder than I would have otherwise. My first time doing this particular parkrun, even though it was the second one to set up in Ireland - I must be a northsider at heart. In fact as I looked around it was unusual not to spot a single familiar face, as the few boardsies and club people I know from around here seemed to all be on holidays. Took me a while to find the start line but I enjoyed a slow start and then worked my way nicely through the field, increasing the pace gradually through each mile. Nice park, nice course. The hill, which I’ve read a lot about, didn’t seem too bad, but then again that was during the slowest-paced part. Another mile to cool down. Couple of laps of Fairview Park later in the morning with some Sanctuary Runners people, so a decent enough return for the day time/mileage wise.

Sun 7 Aug

163 mins LR

Volunteer credit (No. 99 😎) at St. Annes’ juniors where aquinn was RD-ing, then headed out Portmarnock direction via Clongriffin, back via Baldoyle. This was tough enough going in the last hour as I was baking in the heat, identical to my last trot out this way a few weeks ago. Took a few disappointing detours down greenways that kept running out at the edges of the vast new estates around here (some of them still only half built since the financial crisis). Eventually though there will be some excellent networks of off-road routes around this area, and hopefully I’ll be round to run them. 

A relatively easy week with the two no-run days, but no harm done hopefully. 

• This week: 77k (48m) - 443 mins
• This month: 77 (48)
• This year: 2,213 (1,375)

What, you mean it's a thing? 😜 I have some magnesium tablets so I'll start taking them again the odd time.

Week of 15 Aug

Big midweek session, and Frank Duffy at the weekend.

Mon 15 Aug

50 mins easy with 10 x 20s strides on the local Donegal loop. Bit of an angry run so not very restorative unfortunately (although it was still slow!)

Tue 16 Aug

40 mins easy.

Wed 17 Aug

Progressive tempo: 4k@4:59, 4@4:46, 4@4:40, 3@4:33

Was in bed early the night before this one, which looked tough - I’ve done this kind or run before but usually with less volume or a bit of recovery between sets. Chose the Killybegs waterfront again, with its flattish km around the piers that gives way to a small hill and a draggy second km, so it would basically be an up and down for each set. 3k to warm up and then I wasn’t particularly thrilled to find the first, steady set feeling a bit sluggish, although that’s often the case. The second set is just shy of marathon pace, and that didn’t feel much better, with the hill in the second km taking a bite, although I would recover over the remainder. By the end of this set I was well into it and found the pickup in pace manageable but again had a very slow 2nd km. I opted to avoid the hill on the final set, which felt a good bit harder than the pace, which is slower than HM. There were a few barfy moments but I was very close overall to the required numbers so will call it a win. 

Normally I wouldn't run a session as big as this as close to a race day, but I was reminded by the coach that 'racing during marathon training or base building is good, as long as it doesn't come at the expense of the training.'

• This week: 36k (23m)
• This month: 198(123)
• This year: 2,334 (1,451)