Running away

Thank you for the reassurance P. I have an irrational fear that I won't wake up 🙈 To add to it my 8 yr old had an anaphylactic reaction to a GA last year and it was the most frightening experience of my life... but I'm sure it will be just fine.

To clarify by fun I meant I won't be chasing times in these races as such... of course if the times come (and of course i secretly hope they do 😂) then that would be a wonderful bonus but right now I feel anything but fit or fast so it's hard to imagine running good times. Fun may have been the wrong word and rather some pressure free races to get a feel for it and get the buzz again, kick start the old mojo! Looking back my last 5k was Jun '19, last 8k Aug '19 and 10k in March '20 (at a pace that is more recently my HM pace) so it will be very interesting. Just hope some local races go ahead now. My old annual 5k series has already been cancelled 😌

Have you a HM in mind for Dec? I know of a couple around Sept/Oct and that's why I said Autumn, but realistically a bit later will probably suit better, to give me a decent block.

Thanks P. I'd love to do Charleville but I won't be ready. That Border HM sounds like better timing so I will definitely keep that one in mind. I'd like to give myself a decent block to close out the year.

This was another mediocre week. Got 28miles in and my first tempo in a while, managed 3m @ 8:20. About 40secs off my pre-covid tempo pace but the effort felt about right and I thought it was better to under-cook than over-cook and by the last mile I has no concerns about under-cooking it! It got hard, I was dripping sweat and possibly over-cooked 😏

Gave parkrun a lash and finished 1st female for the 1st time ever - I've no idea where all the women were gone off too, I obviously was the only one not invited 😅 Finished in a paltry 24:25 with HR trace very similar to when I ran 23:06 a few short months ago. I was in 4th position overall for most of the park run and in the last few measly metres I let someone pass me, hands up I had no fight and was spent. I'd be lying if I didn't admit to feeling a bit disheartened initially when I saw my finishing time...

Later on Saturday I delivered some baby equipment & toys to a Ukrainian lady and her 9 month old baby. It was quite humbling. With the risk of sounding sanctimonious I feel very privileged in life and being able to lace up & run at any pace is enough for me right now.

Off to hospital on Wed to get my shoulder fixed. I'll get back to proper weekly updates after that.

Going to try to revive this to give me some mojo.

I had a shoulder procedure on May 18th which went fine but not the immediate relief I had hoped for. I've been working away at the Physio exercise and it is improving slowly. Must make a follow up Physio appointment soon. Heart rate is getting closer to normal on easy runs a little bit every week. Also need to get my legs rubbed out soon. Haven't had a rub down in 9 months and I have a slight soreness at the outside of my right calf, it started when I wore heels to a First Communion about 3 weeks ago but has been coming and going ever since then.

Week of May 23-29th

33miles. 0 sessions, 1 "long" (if you could call it that) run of 9.25miles.

Long run was on a hillier route than I am used to and I had to walk near the top of one hill - a hill I used to use for hill repeats. I genuinely could not get up it, I was dry retching and feeling light headed. I had to let my friend go ahead and I caught up with her again on the flat. Now, hills aren't my strong point but this was very demoralising, went home feeling very unfit and totally fed up to be honest.

Week of May 30th-June 5th

A week that included my baby's 7th birthday (however that happened I don't know) and a birthday party that included one split lip and one set of broken electric gates (two separate incidents), who knew 6-7 years could cause so much damage, maybe Covid and the lack of parties wasn't a bad thing 😱

31miles, 1 session and 1 long run of 10miles.

Session was 5 * 2min hard (6:56 avg.) + 5 * 1min hard (6:39 avg.). Similar paces & HR for these efforts to Jan/Feb which is definitely reassuring, however I am well aware that it is a lot easier (for me) to knock out this type of session that it is to run less intense but sustained efforts.

On the flat for the long run this week and cruised along for 10miles very comfortably on my own, the most comfortable I've been in a long time for runs beyond the 1 hr mark. A nice little confidence boost to finish the week out, completely flat but I'll take it as a win none the less.

I'm doing a race next weekend! Woohoo, an a real live race! An 8k, I'm not expecting to produce anything special but I want to set a benchmark to see where I am over the shorter distance stuff. I'm not even sure how to approach it. The plan then is to run another one in roughly 8 weeks time and hopefully improve on it. There will be lots of distractions with school holidays and holidays away but hopefully I can improve my time after an 8 week block.

Thanks for reading.

Is there 🤔😂

Yes I understand. Under normal circumstances I do a fair few tempo (10m-HM pace) efforts alright and I don't mind those (to a degree), I suppose what I meant by sustained efforts was more 6-7mins @ CV pace (between 5 & 10k pace), this is where I really struggle and probably why I'm a disaster with 10k races. There seems to be a limit to how much I am willing to suffer 🙄 Yesterdays' session was 15mins tempo (on effort without looking at the watch and averaged 8:03min/m), 5' recovery, 8*1' hard (again no watch gazing, averaged 6:45min/m pace). This was very doable, but if for example you asked do 4 * 6' @ 7:25-7:35 I'd find it much harder and on paper this should probably be ok? But the basis of what you are saying is still absolutely correct, if it's something I find hard then it means it's an area worth working on. Food for thought... thanks P.

Those McMillan 10k workouts look horrific 🤢

Hi P. No, I have never run it. I've been meaning to stalk your Strava actually to see if you had but I hadn't got around to it (yet 😅). Any course info would be great but probably best to wait a few weeks (unless you have time to spare which I sincerely doubt!) as it's definitely not a definite right now!

Enjoy the supporting on Sunday. I'm jealous of you, I'd love to go up but it's my son's 10th birthday, so I'll be hosting a family gathering for him ahead of a week of Halloween & birthday celebrations - kids nowadays seem to really drag it out 😂

I haven't settled on a plan, despite a good bit of reading over the last week+. Lots of books with dust on them were pulled out but nothing seemed to quite tick the boxes in terms of getting me excited to get stuck in but also suiting my schedule (weekday runs really need to fit into 55mins as I'm usually dropping the kid(s) to some form of after school activity and then bringing them home again). I'll plough on with logging even though it will most likely be fairly boring for the time being.

Week 1 of 10 ('til the end of 2022 that's all, no race 😅)

Monday: 5 * 5mins @ 7:52, 7:48, 7:49, 7:41, 7:47 (current CV pace), off 2' rec. These felt pretty comfortable for CV pace. Possibly should be a touch faster but for now I'm happier to have them a touch slow than to be straining for them.

Tuesday: 5 miles easy

Wed: No running, strength session.

Thursday: 3 * 9mins @ 8:06, 8:09, 8:01 (threshold pace), off 3' rec.

Friday: 5 miles easy after strength session

Saturday: 9 miles with a few easy-tempo intervals sprinkled throughout just to break it up a bit while keeping it feeling easy (8:35-8:55 for these)

Sunday: Rest - Felt like I ran a marathon with a kid's birthday and tracking all the amazing performances at DCM! Dying to read the race reports and get a better feel for the day. Was very tempted to sign up for 2023 during the day but on Monday when I got out of bed & went for my run, I was quite thankful not to have marathon legs, so I don't know right now. Also, it's gotten steep hasn't it and when you factor in travel & accommodation costs 🤷

34 miles for the week

Thanks D. Yeah Half is a great distance alright. I usually do Kinvara Rock 'n' Road in March, it's not a particularly fast course but it's a really nice event. I've never done a notoriously fast HM though (like Charleville) so maybe that is something to think about for next year.

Thanks, running keeps me sane to be honest - and thankfully my OH realises that! Barcelona would be fab, it's definitely on my agenda to do more running tourism, it's just hard to do everything 😃 You should consider logging again for motivation!

A busy week with mid-term, kids off school etc. Living close to the grandparents always means an influx of visitors when the schools close, great fun for all the kids of course making memories with their cousins, but I often struggle to get anything done with all the comings and goings. This week was no less chaotic than other midterms so definitely pleased with what I managed to sneak in. Ate & drank my way through the week but that's another story.

Week 2 of 10 ('til the end of 2022)

Monday (Halloween): 30min tempo @8:25min/m

Tues: Strength + 5m easy

Wed: Just strength.

Thurs: Strength + 4m easy

Fri: 5 * 3' @ 7:50, 7:48, 7:38, 7:41, 7:41 + 4 * 30s @ 6:41, 7:01, 6:58, 6:48

Sat: Nothing

Sun: 8.66m - a not so long, long run

32 miles for the week.

Another busy week ahead with 2 nights out 🙈 It's either a feast or a famine for me, I barely go anywhere for 6 months and then a rake of things come together 🙆‍♀️

We'll just have to struggle on, take one for the team 'n' all that 🤩😆 Probably not the best time for me to be getting bloods done to check my liver function though 🙄😲

Any tips for goal setting or structuring a year without many races but still with enough focus to progress?

My goal to run a sub 4 marathon kept me going right through 2020/21 but since then I can't honestly say I've had the same focus. Racing often isn't an option (kids who now do 8 different sports between them & other non-sports after school activities & birthday parties etc etc). My other half does his share, but Saturdays & Sundays are chaotic trying to be in 3 different places with the kids as it is, so races are an inconvenience at best. Then every so often there's a random free day and a random local race that I wish I had trained for, if I'd known to plan ahead.

I think I need a "just enough" approach, whereby I am always fit enough to take on a 10k-10m-HM with short notice and accept not being in peak shape or getting PBs. But how does one go about this, do a 10K-HM plan back-to-back and pop in a mini-taper & recovery any time I can squeeze a race in? I'm thinking this is where having a coach would be really beneficial, but I can't justify it right now.

By the way I didn't come on here to whine, though you'd be forgiven for thinking I did 😳  For the last 5 years I've done the same race every March and it's one I love and look forward too, even when not at my fittest, it's a fixture I haven't missed. I was planning to target it next year and start a 13-week plan in a couple of weeks, but I've just realised I won't be able to make it and I'm gutted and feeling a bit meh about this whole running lark today. I'll probably be grand again by evening time if I get a little run done 😅



It's a tough call, I guess what I really want is something on paper but without the accountability aspect. I did have a coach for a bit, but I called it a day when it hit a point where the accountability factor was a negative or an additional stressor in my life (through absolutely no fault of the coach in question I must say, totally on me and my personality). And I've proven I can run consistently without that accountability factor, maybe slightly lower mileage perhaps, but still consistently steady.

I'll read up on Lydiard. And I think you're right about racing and that is what I'll have to do. It will be last minute entries, if any, for a while I think...

Thanks P. There should be an annual award for the person most likely to reply - you'd be a shoe in ☺️

Week 4 of 10 ('til the end of 2022)

Not a super start to this week, I was tired and not sleeping well in the early part of the week but that improved thankfully as the week went on. I've been hoping to race before the end of the year and had taken note of a few upcoming races in the locality - the Border Half was one of them but more recently I had notice 2 10k races in Mayo, one on Nov 20th and one on Dec 4th, I hoped one of them might work out. At the start of this week, the Sunday didn't suit but that changed later in the week, so this week includes an actual race 😄

Monday: Just strength.

Tues: Planned a session but I had the offer of company for an easy run, so I happily took it - 65' easy chatting with friends

Wed: Session + Strength. Limited to 45mins so did 4 * 3' @ CV (8:00, 7:57, 7:54, 7:52) + 4 * 30s hard.

Thurs: Nothing

Fri: Strength + Easy

Sat: Easy

Sun: 9m incl. 10k race @ 7:38min/m - a 2 min race PB (my best 10k effort is still during a 10m TT early last year)

My expectations going into this - an undulating course, potholes, and floods - I was advised to wear my oldest runners!

I did 2 8k races this past Summer and both were awful - the first in June in 39:33 and the second in August in 40:13. Training paces have been fairly comfortable recently, so I wanted to test myself. Going out the door my hubby asked me what I was hoping for (as he always does), my answer to him was that I'd be thrilled with 48-49 but I could as easily come away with 51-52! I really did not know what to expect after the (unexpected) struggle in those 8ks.

This was a looped course, it started at the bottom of a 400m drag to the finish line and then 3 * 2m loops, so that drag would have to be done 4 times. The crowd at the start line was very small (73 I found out after), and we were off without much fanfare. I tore off of course and was halfway up the drag and into the breeze when I realised that the leaders had gone, and I was leading the next pack with open road ahead of me. FFS, this is what always happens me on these runs, I end up on my own when I really could do with a big, tall lad to shelter behind or even just company to keep me motivated later on. Thankfully as the road levelled out, after we passed the finish line for the first time, a few came alongside, and I thought I might have a group. By the time we hit 1k a couple fell back and maybe some went on ahead, but I did have 1 lady just about 10m ahead of me, a lady I recognised, an O65 runner with a lot of street cred on the Irish & European scene in track, cross country and a national marathon team medal winner in her age cat. So, I basically ran the next 8k about 10m or so behind her. I was conscious every so often that I was breathing down her neck (not to mention photo bombing her 😆) and she could be cursing me but at least I wasn't wearing loud slappy shoes 😂 I never looked at the watch once the entire race. I just ran along and clung to the coat tails of my new BFF, total blind faith in her pacing even though I had no clue what time she was aiming for (seems a bit stupid written down, but it felt right at the time). Around 9.2k I passed out my fellow runner. It wasn't a conscious decision, I wasn't feeling in the slightest bit competitive towards her, it happened without me realising it and if I'm honest I instantly regretted it with a moment of panic when I realised I had to commit to pulling ahead now and of course I was about to face into the toughest part of the course for the last 800m, the part where she had extended her lead on me each and every other time before I closed it down again on the more favourable parts of the course 🙄 But I was committed now. As I passed the volunteers at the bottom of the drag for the 4th time, I realised my head was up, something which gave me a bit of satisfaction at the time. I started to count down from 120 (seconds) in my head and went for the finish line with the sun in my eyes blinding me. I was bent over at the finish line for a minute before I could even register the time, 47:39, a PB. 4 seconds ahead of my fellow runner whom I had a lovely chat with afterwards in thanking her for dragging me along. Of course, the splits don't look that impressive at all - I ran a fairly hefty positive split 🙄 but with my track record at 10ks I will take it. All in all, a very satisfying Sunday in November. Thanks for reading.

31 miles for the week.

Thank you! The book I have is the Easy Interval Method by Klaas Lok. It might suit you.