Last of the Summer Wine

Holiday running w@nker alert!

Mon 12 Jun

Just over an hour exploring the waterways of Zumaia, a nice little town on the Basque coast with some very dramatic cliff scenery. A balmy 22 degrees but felt a good bit hotter, so tough enough going despite the leisurely pace.. 

Tue 13 Jun

Zumaia hill pyramid: 2 x 10/20/30/40/30/20/10 secs.

The town itself is fairly flat but there’s a nice incline along a cut-through (literally a cutting through a hill) to the beach, a steady grade that turned out to be just long enough for the 40 second reps - happy days. I was a bit wary of a holiday hill session but felt I really grew into this one, it’s that kind of session. Felt stronger as it went along. Had to avoid a few people strolling to and from the beach but not too many funny looks. Warmup and cooldown brought the workout to 60 mins total (9.5 kms).

RIP Christy Dignam, one of the good guys. 😥 Good to read some of the lovely tributes.

Wed 14 Jun

42 mins recovery along the coast in nearby Getaria. They really know how to design coastal walks around here - a totally traffic-separated promenade right over the water, stretching on for miles. Fabulous. Nice sea breeze to temper the afternoon sun.  

Thu 15  

55 mins easy along the banks of the river Nervion in Bilbao, the final destination of the hols. Late evening and very hot - a bit of a chore but another one ticked off. Riverfronts are a great way to explore a new place as it minimises the chances of getting lost. Lots going on as the town gears up for the weekend Pride celebrations. 

Fri 16 Jun

No running - at last a day off!

Sat 17 Jun

Two hours easy. Better to get the long run done today as we are travelling home tomorrow on the ferry. Up with the dawn to avoid the heat - tracing a route northwards along the estuary, getting a chance to explore more of this vibrant city. Mingling with local revellers returning home from the clubs, then seamlessly blending with the early dog walkers, work commuters and runners and cyclists. The route took me through the city centre and alongside some very nice docklands apartment development with fabulous riverfront walkways. It really shows you how much better the Liffey could look, despite the improvements that have been made. Eventually got out of town and through some grungier neighbourhoods and shipyards, before turning back and retracing the route.

Through 1,000 miles for the year, two days earlier than last year. Loved this run and demolished the hotel buffet breakfast afterwards.  

Sun 18 Jun

No running, travelling home.

• This week/month: 59 kms (36 mi) 340 mins
• This year: 1,630 (1,013)

Final week before the marathon-tuning stuff starts. So the last week of the 'hill transition'.

Mon 19 Jun

Starting the week with a rest day, most of which was spent travelling from Bilbao.

Tue 20 Jun

30 mins @ MP, 8x20s hills. 

Hooked up with M for this one. Last time we did a variation on this session the heavens opened, and it was threatening rain again. That would have been welcome, but it held off. We kicked off the MP along the seafront. No problem there, comfortable enough except on the uphill final km where we veered away from the seafront towards the Howth Road to do the hill repeats near Harry’s Pub (M likes to stick an uphill finish into pace sessions). 20 seconds is a nice time for a hill repeat, long enough to get into stride but not long enough to drive you to despair. Enjoyed these, and the company always helps. About 85 mins work including the warmup and cooldown.

Wed 21 Jun

55 mins very easy on the seafront with C. Creaky and tired.

Thu 22 Jun

50 mins easy, mostly in Fairview Park. Strava local legend status reclaimed! 👑

Fri 23 Jun

1 hr 55 mins including 90mins sub-threshold. Strapped on the HRM for the first time in a while. Another muggy evening but I was feeling comfortable enough in the 75-80% HRR range this session requires. Tired towards the end and could have knocked off a bit earlier (85-90mins was the guidance) but stuck with it for the full 90. Could have recovered better afterwards but dinner and pints were on the menu.

Sat 24 Jun

36 mins recovery. 

Fairview parkrun - first lap with the mrs, then the last two in the company of @Annie get your Run. Plenty of chat and the odd rant! Very, very warm.

Sun 25 Jun

Two hours LR.

Headed out in the rain at 9am to the Phoenix Park via Drumcondra, Glasnevin and Cabra. It was drying up when I got into the park for an anticlockwise lap of the perimeter, heading home via the NCR. Felt quite strong despite poor sleep. Glad of the pre-run porridge. 

• This week: 84 kms (52 mi) 466 mins
• This month: 206 (128)
• This year: 1,714 (1,065)

Thanks E - a lot of my inspiration comes from the achievements of runners like yourself so please do go into as much detail as possible 😉

And J - that would be great actually. I've noticed some very solid work on Garmin Connect recently, would be good to hear about how you've approached your running after the Manchester disappointment (for want of a more appropriate word).

Thanks, A. No build up races planned at the moment. I want to try and stick to the schedule as much as possible. Having said that, I'll be at St. Coca's this Fri but don't think my 5k shape will have improved much since Bob H so don't have high expectations there. Haven't signed up for anything else (yet).

Project Berlin: W1

As mentioned above, St. Coca's 5k will get slightly in the way of the plan this week - it will replace an 'on/off' session of short reps so won't go to waste. Apart from that, the plan is to stick to the plan as much as possible over the next three months. And drink more water and less beer.

Mon Jun 26

48 mins easy with 6 x 30s strides. Diagonals on one of the Marino GAA pitches. 30 seconds is a long stride! Another humid evening.

Tue Jun 27

2M WU/ 2 @ 8:10, 1 E / 2 @ 7:40, 1 E / 2 @ 7:10 / 2 CD

M joined for this, and I was certainly glad of the company especially in the second half. Took a wrong turn in the depths of Marino and added a bit to the WU for my trouble (I've lived in the vicinity for 27 years and still have to concentrate going around the 'big green' with its eight intersections). Joined M at Vernon Ave and a nice handy start with the 8:10 miles, with wind behind us as well. The steady middle rep felt fine until we turned at St Fintan's School in Sutton, the headwind making the pace harder to judge. Very glad of the final easy mile before the 7:10 miles both into the breeze - probably not a big breeze in the scheme of things but enough to make its presence felt. Felt OK for the first half but then started to struggle towards the end, a few of old reliable dry heaves. These can be headed off with deeper breathing but when I get into that deficit they seem almost impossible to avoid completely. Nevertheless I was able to pick it up a little towards the end as I saw the average pace not too far off the goal - only to get another attack with only seconds to go. Had to take a few moments before continuing. As M said, there really was no need to push it that much towards the end as the effort had been solid all through and the effort into the wind had been right. I know this instinctively myself and yet sometimes the compulsion to hit the numbers can be overwhelming. Shoulda backed off - if you're on the ground you're not doing the session, even if you're only delaying the cooldown part.

But not a bad start to the week and a timely reminder that there are plenty of tasty sessions to come.

• WTD: 28 kms (17 mi)
• MTD: 234 (145)
• YTD: 1,742 (1,082)

Project Berlin: Week 2/13

Well this seemed like a long week, although mostly easy stuff going on. Mileage has been up and down a bit in recent weeks but I don’t think there’s been any crazy ramping up compared to the usual historic mileage. Nevertheless, a slight glute/hip niggle lately which hasn’t affected how I feel when running (until now). Will start next week with a rest day.

Mon 3 Jul

62 mins easy. The mrs was headed for the M50 so I took a lift and jumped out at Ballymun for a tour of the NS taking in the lovely sights of Santry, Coolock, Artane and Killester. Lovely night for it.

Tue 4 Jul

73 mins easy out to St. Anne’s and back. Lap of the northern perimeter to stretch it out. Surprisingly did not bump into any clubmates that I recognised anyway.

Wed 5 Jul

55 mins easy on a loop out to RIngsend. Passing the church there always reminds me of the funeral of a former client, a terrific gent who sadly died almost immediately after retiring. That won’t be me.

Thu 6 Jul  

44 mins along Griffith Ave and a loop through Glasnevin/Drumcondra.

Fri 7 Jul

110 mins including 90 @ steady

Headed up the airport road to Swords for this. All by heartrate and I was looking forward to coming back from the gradually climbing outward half, but it’s more up and down than that and I had the headwind on the homeward leg to make it more difficult. Didn’t enjoy this - tired legs, low evening sun annoying me.  

Sat 8 Jul 

An easy jog around St. Anne’s parkrun. No. 204 in the bag. 

Sun 9 Jul

LR: 2 hrs 20 mins

I almost always get out early for the Sunday run but today was an exception - another evening-time trot out to Dun Laoghaire. Weather was glorious and all the swimming spots were doing good business. Felt a bit jealous as I sweated past. Glute/hip thing got a bit sore on the way home. But this was a real marathon week, despite no Tuesday session. 

• This week: 94kms (59 mi) 520 mins
• This month: 119 (74)
• This year: 1,883 (1,170)

Week 3 cont.

Thu 13 Jul 

No running. An extra day to rest the glute.

Fri 14 Jul

121 mins inc 90 at sub-T

With the potential for niggle trouble, I was prepared to pare back the 90 min steady run if necessary, as I set off from D3 to Islandbridge and the Phoenix Park. However things felt pretty good all the way around. The weather was wet and blustery and there was hardly a soul along the Liffey or in the Park (except for @Bungy Girl as our paths crossed at the top of the Furry Glen). No gyp from the glute so I stuck to the original plan. HR monitor was unreliable (cheap batteries are a false economy) so just tried to feel the proper effort, not sure how accurate this was but it was good to get the job done.

Sat 15 Jul 

42 mins inc Poppintree parkrun @ steady

Taking the parkrun count up to 205. It was bucketing down when I left the house. ‘Ah it will be grand by the time I get to Ballymun’. Needless to say it was still pouring long after I got home and dried off after possibly the wettest parkrun ever. Good craic though. Started fairly easy and dialled up to steady pace (and probably closer to LT for the final km) which was good enough for 21st finisher in a smallish field of hardy runners. Couple more kms to cool down around the park, which is maturing very nicely.  

Sun 23 Jul

LR: 2 hrs 30 mins

With the Fingal 10k happening (and me not running it for a change) I decided to drive out that way and do the LR in the vicinity, taking advantage of the closed roads for some of it. Bumped into DD and AMK on one of my loops through the Swords town centre, then a few other clubmates shortly after. Atmosphere seemed as good as ever and eventually I made my way back around the course in reverse to the 7k point where I paused to shout at a few people (and get a few shouts myself from people I missed). From there it was a short canter along the Ward River to the 8k point and then the 9k point, where I shouted at them all again. Some great results today, conditions didn’t feel as humid as they often do (easy for me to say of course, jogging around at LSR pace). Managed about 26k over the course of the morning, with four or five pauses. Good way to break up a long run!  

• This week: 73kms (45 mi) 404 mins
• This month: 192 (119)
• This year: 1,955 (1,215)

Project Berlin

Week 5/13

Trying to bed in the stretching and core work, and generally keep it on the straight and narrow. One part of me says, niggles are a normal part of marathon training so don’t be dwelling on it. Another part reminds me that one of these days, that niggle might just refuse to go away. Not sure which part is winning. 

Mon 17 Jul

46 mins recovery on the Killybegs Shore Road. 

Tue 18 Jul

More recovery: 53 mins on the local roads. Legs as tired as they’ve ever been. I can’t help feeling the marathon training is more draining than normal this year.

Wed 19 Jul

 5 x 2k (1k float rec)

Good about the stretching routine today, getting the full set done during the first half of the Ireland-Canada match. Some sort of win so. A new battery in the HRM in honour of the session. Also experimenting with a nose strip to try to improve my breathing. It immediately felt different but would I be able to breathe though my nose during the hard parts? Is that even something I should be aspiring to? And jays, the rain, pissing down again as I set off from the Killybegs Supervalu. Luckily I’d remembered the vaseline. Despite yesterday’s tiredness the session went very well, and I was able to modulate successfully on the drag up past the school on each rep. Legs felt good, nose felt good. HR seemed to be playing ball too. As good a session as you’d want. Only hiccup was discovering doing the first rep that I’d loaded the wrong workout into the watch, which necessitated a stop for a manual reprogramming. All else good. Even enjoyed the cooling rain.

Splits:

(Target: 4:40 4:40 5:00)

4:42 4:39 5:xx (interrupted)

4:34 4:45 5:03

4:37 4:39 4:59

4:38 4:45 4:59

4:38 4:40 5:00

• This week: 38 kms (23 mi)
• This month: 311 (194)
• This year: 2,075 (1,290)

And then to get out of the shower and hear Sinéad O’C had died. Oh no. A few tears.

I remember it, Dublin in a rainstorm

Sitting in the long grass in summer, keeping warm

I remember it, that restless night

We were so young then, we thought that everything we could possibly do was right

Every move stolen from our very eyes 

I wondered where you went to

Tell me when did the light die?

You will rise, you'll return

The phoenix from the flame

You will learn, you will rise, you'll return

Being what you are

There is no other Troy for you to burn

Thu 27 Jul

No running. 

Fri 28 Jul

62 mins easy.

Joined for the weekend in Donegal by a few running friends. We try to get together every year for a couple of days of running related activities. Started out with an easy run around the local roads. 

Sat 29 Jul

18.25 miles @ easy (9:20)

Heavy rain forecast but we got lucky on this long run down St. John’s Point in spectacular if quite windy conditions. 

Sun 30 Jul

60 mins mountain running 

There was a plan to go up the back of Slieve League but opted for a more benign option with more poor weather predicted. As it happened we stayed totally dry yet again, on a scenic jaunt around Glen Head in Glencolmcille before lunch at the Rusty Mackerel. Excellent weekend rounded off with All Ireland victory for the Dubs. 

• This week: 87 kms (54 mi) 500 mins
• This month: 361 (224)
• This year: 2,124 (1,320)

Thanks A. Yes, you yearn for a bit of flat ground after a while up here. Hence driving all the way to Killybegs or Mountcharles for sessions. Can’t avoid the wind though!

Project Berlin

Week 6/13

With August rolling in, it means the marathon is next month. Yikes. 

Mon 31 Jul

50 mins recovery. Feeling the weekend miles in the legs.

July total: 369 kms (229 mi) 

Tue 1 Aug

An easy hour or so on the local loop. Feeling slightly more perky.

Wed 2 Aug

15k progressive + W/C

When you’re feeling a bit weary this session looks a bit scary on paper. 4k at steady, 4 at around MP, 4 a bit faster and 3 more just shy of HM pace. Headed to Inver and warmed up on the road they call the Doorin Line towards Mountcharles. It’s lumpy, and I wasn’t looking forward to speeding up. Eventually after three miles I pushed the button, and the first few kms at 4:58/k (8/m) didn’t feel too bad. The thing about this kind of session though is when you’re looking forward to the end of the rep you then realise you’re not getting any recovery, you have to speed up. 😱

The next 4k at 4:48, 4 secs slower than MP, felt a bit harder. By now I was on the coast road towards Mountcharles Pier, a flat 2k stretch I know well and the wind wasn’t too bad. Nearly high tide though, so plenty of traffic as the place gets quite busy with pier jumpers and swimmers. Towards the end of this rep, feeling like it’s really going to be hard to finish things out. And then 4k at 4:40 and by now I’m starting to get into it a bit more. The watch is beeping occasionally to slow down, and on some parts of the road, especially the turnaround points, the pace drops. But I’m on target as the last 3k comes around. This last bit is going to be tricky. I’m passing a good few walkers on the road who give friendly smiles and that helps - a smile on your face makes the hard kms a bit easier. So in the end the final leg goes by in a flash and the numbers are good. All in all a super session. Cool down back towards the pier and treat myself to an ice cold Coke and a piece of lemon cake at the excellent coffee shop there.

Splits:

5:04 4:48 4:54 4:59

4:46 4:46 4:47 4:46

4:39 4:42 4:42 4:40

4:30 4:34 4:32

Another session on Fri, but good to get through that one.

• This week: 41 kms (25 mi)
• This month: 33 (20)
• This year: 2,165 (1,346)

Project Berlin: Week 7/13

Starting to feel things coming together at last. About time - only seven weeks to go! 

Mon 7 Aug

48 mins easy with clubmates on the traditional bank holiday meet-up at Malahide Castle. 

Tue 8 Aug

45 mins easy around Marino, including 6x20secs strides on the big pitch at the Institute. Should have been eight. Oops. 

Wed 9 Aug

5x3k (1k float)

I’ve been trying to meet up with M for most of these tempoish sessions, which meant a 6:30 AM start. Shoe rotation needs some updating, so I decided to break in the marathon shoes, a pair of Next% 2 that’s been sitting in the box since last November. First thing I noticed was the grippy laces - welcome, as I’ve found the laces can come undone on previous pairs. Wore my racing shorts and a singlet too - wanted to feel in the zone for this session, which I remember finding tough last year. Warmed up on the jog out to Clontarf and joined M in the usual spot at the Baths. The pace target was 4:40/km (7:30/mi), which is around my MP, maybe a second or two faster. Took us the first two thirds of the first 3k rep to find the rhythm, but after that it was smooth enough going and we hit the numbers nicely. Pleased that the float (5:04/k, 8:10/m) felt much more manageable than I remember it feeling when doing this kind of session previously. Certainly working harder towards the end of this but felt strong throughout. No trouble with hips or glutes. Maybe the S&C is working. All done by 8:30 AM.

Splits:

4:44 4:35 4:41 5:05

4:40 4:39 4:40 5:01

4:40 4:38 4:38 5:01

4:41 4:35 4:42 5:03

4:39 4:40 4:40 5:00

Thu 10 Aug

Rest day.

• This week: 40 kms (25 mi)
• This month: 124 (77)
• This year: 2,257 (1,403)

Project Berlin - Week 8/13

Continuing to feel the benefit of all the work over the past few months. It’s always a relief when you start to feel it coming together, especially when you’d been struggling for a while. Ultimately for a runner like me there’s no substitute for just going out and getting some work done (and no alternative really). But plenty left to do, let’s not get carried away...

Mon 14 Aug

52 mins easy

… and none of the above is to suggest that the struggles are over. In some ways the easy runs are the hardest of all. This one was a slog - got dropped off at Inver and picked up at Mountcharles, forgetting that the intervening 9 kms is a long drag followed by a short, sharp drop. Sluggish in the extreme. Wore a new pair of Brooks Ghost 15 which I've picked up for easy runs. Very comfortable.

Tue 15 Aug

45 mins easy around Fairview Park, then 8 x 20s strides. Miscounted and ended up doing nine. The idea of course to wake the legs up again before tomorrow’s session.

Wed 16 Aug

WU / 3x5k (1k a/r) / CD

This session always looms large on the schedule - 3 x 5k at 4:33, closer to HM pace than MP. Meaty, to say the least, slap in the middle of everything else. M is a stalwart for keeping me company on these sessions, and we hooked up at the usual spot and just laid into it. Quiet concentration during the fast bits, a few hand signals along the way to make routing decisions, a bit of chat during the recoveries. I’d worried that it would be hot and muggy with the 6pm meet-up but conditions were perfect. First set went very well, second set I had a bit of a wobble halfway with some brief gagging. Third set was downwind and smooth. Couldn’t have gone much better in the end. Mind you I was wearing the new Next% 2 again, definitely helps this kind of session. But they are broken in now and won't come out again til marathon day. I think.

Splits: 

4:34 4:32 4:38 4:32 4:35 5:15

4:31 4:36 4:34 4:30 4:32 5:19.

4:33 4:33 4:34 4:34 4:29 5:28

Just short of 24k / 2 hrs for the evening.

Thu 17 Aug

38 mins recovery around Marino. I’d normally do 45 or so but wasn’t feeling it and took a shortcut home.

Fri 18 Aug

Taking a cue from yesterday, a day off before tomorrow’s Frank Duffy pacing gig.

Sat 19 Aug

Frank Duffy pacing (1:29:45)

I love this race, and while I’ve paced people unofficially once or twice I was looking forward to the official gig. Unfortunately some of the balloons went missing so I didn’t look quite as legit as everyone else. In the second half of the race I dropped back from my ballon-carrying partner to try to sweep up some of the back markers. I think I helped a few people get over the line. But even though I was wearing the official DCM 2023 shirt with ‘Pace Team’ printed on the back, I probably looked like some randomer shouting motivational snippets at strangers. Good to have @Bungy Girl and @TheRef in the group. Really enjoyed this in the end, although I discovered later there was a gold medal going a-begging in the Dublin championships. Bit of cooldown then ran home to bring the day’s mileage up to 18.

Sun 20 Aug

50 mins easy on the seafront. Glorious morning, and it was tempting to do a bit more, but there’s plenty to do next week. Five weeks to go!

• This week: 86 kms (54 mi) 481 mins
• This month: 255 (159)
• This year: 2,388 (1,484)

Project Berlin - Week 9/13

This week, next week and the week after were looking spicy enough as it is, but as DD had a bit of time on his hands I asked him did he think we should tweak any of the sessions based on what we know now that we didn’t know last year. The result was one or two ‘small’ changes, starting with this week’s midweek session. Feeling good, hoping to keep the good vibes moving along.

Mon 21 Aug

42 mins recovery: a few laps of Fairview Park.

Tue 22 Aug

4x (4k/1k)

When I did this session last year all the 4k reps were paced at 4:40/k (7:30/m), close to MP. The 2023 ‘tweak’ saw the middle two 4ks upgraded to 4:37 and 4:33 respectively. Float recoveries at 5:04 (8:10). I wasn’t sure how this would feel. Hooked up again with M and warmed up heading down to the Baths. We had the wind behind us for the first set - no bother at all there, a second or two ahead of the pace due to conditions. The second set started on the Causeway into a fresh breeze, tough start but we then turned out of it so smooth enough for the rest of the set. The float recoveries felt OK - I struggled with these last year as I was more used to very slow recovery periods between sets. Set 3 started at Sutton and felt feckin’ fast, looping through  Offington and its concrete surface. M took a longer route to the exiting corner and I found myself solo for the second half of this, into the wind on the bumpy narrow pavement, then really into the teeth of it on the coastal path for the last bit - very difficult now. Really glad of the ‘recovery’, first half of which was very slow but picked it up. I’d thought the final set would feel OK, back to MP but no, that turned out to be the hardest of all, intothe wind all the way. M got a little ahead and I was too on the edge to try to pull the gap back, just concentrated on the back of his head 10m away for the full 4k. The final float went  surprisingly OK.

Splits:

4:37 4:38 4:40 4:38 4:58

4:39 4:38 4:35 4:38 5:02

4:32 4:32 4:36 4:34 5:13

4:39 4:43 4:39 4:39 5:03

Nothing left at the end of this session - definitely one of the toughest ever. HR up around 180 (91% HRR) by the end of final reps. Still a bit high, methinks.

Wed 23 Aug

35 mins recovery.

• This week: 37 kms (23 mi)
• This month: 292 (181)
• This year: 2,425 (1,507)