Monday 22 December 2014

Help the aged!

Monday, 15th December 2014 – Rest day
Had today off work but being busy today as well as hungover from last night meant I failed to get out for a run.

Tuesday, 16th December 2014 – Rest day
Still very tired and, even more depressed by the weather, so I just lay on the couch all evening!

Wednesday, 17th December 2014 – Rest day
Tonsils were swollen all day at work so I made the mature decision to stay in and allow myself to recover.

Thursday, 18th December 2014 – Rest day
Ended up painting a few walls in my apartment with the intention of going out afterwards but by the time I was done it was 10:30pm and my window of opportunity had passed.

Friday, 19th December 2014 – 7.4km Easy (5:39/km)
After four ‘rest days’ in a row I just had to get out for a run this afternoon. I intended on doing the 12km loop but about 200m before I was due to turn right and start the extra loop I felt a pain in the outside of my right knee. I gave myself until the turn to make a call on it and seeing as I was due to run St Anne’s Parkrun the following morning I decided I should err on the side of caution and turned left for home instead. Of course, 500m later the pain had subsided again but I was all too happy to continue on home!

Saturday, 20th December 2014 – 9.4km St. Anne's Parkrun (4:22/km)
I had promised Denis (Whom I met at the Berlin marathon) that I would pace/run with him in an effort to help him beat his PB of 22:05 in this morning’s St. Anne’s parkrun in Raheny. Seeing as my recent form has been just sub 22 I was confident we’d both manage it.

I ‘ran’ into him during his warmup and we managed 2km before the race started. I met Mark & Colm as well as Anne & Anna, who were also on the Berlin trip in September. A quick hello to RD Jamie and we were off to the start line. Myself and Denis tucked in a few rows back with about 30 people ahead of us. In no time we were on our way. Our starting position appeared perfectly planned as by 50m we were out of any congestion from the mass start. At this point Denis mentioned he’d be conserving all his energy for running and that I’d not be hearing much chat from him for the remainder of the run. I muttered something back to suggest I’d be doing likewise!

We passed several people in the opening km and as we reached the back straight my watch beeped for the first km at 4:20 – right on target! Then 30m later Denis’s watch beeped and immediately I wondered which was the most correct?! We continued on regardless and hit 4:22 for the second km and things were still on track. As we went through halfway I was expecting the time to be approximately 10:55 and as we passed 10:57 was called out. It was definitely tougher than comfortable at this stage and as we went around the corner over the start line Denis mentioned this was the place where he usually found it toughest. With the wind direction the way it was Today would be no different so we just kept on plugging away through the third km split which was 4:28. At this point I was slightly wary that sub 22 might be a struggle and when we went through the fourth km in 4:35 I tried justifying the split by alluding to the tree coverage and the into the wind run down the back straight. I didn’t say too much about these dodgy splits to Denis though as I knew the final 900m would be quick as it is perfectly flat and downwind. So with about 800m left to go I suggested to him that if he had anything left now was the time to push on. The response back was that he was already just hanging on so I knew I had a bit of work to do yet. We targeted a guy just in front and once Denis heard this I saw an immediate quickening of his pace. With 400m to go I was now paying for own my lethargic week and I was struggling to stick with him. With 50m to go we passed Denis’ family and spurred on by that he gained a few metres on me to cross the line in 21:49, with me 2 secs back. He’d just completed his clean sweep of PBs for the year!



It was only afterwards that he mentioned he wasn’t looking at his watch all race at all but simply placed full faith in me to lead him around. I think if I’d known that I’d have been nervous on the fourth km! Anyways, job done and an easy 2km cool down jog back to the car. I’d almost totally overlooked my New PB* of one second!

Sunday, 21st December 2014 – Rest day
I was out last night enjoying the merry festivities of the season so was fit for nothing today! Very poor week running wise, I’m gonna have to get back on track next week when I’ll have more spare time for stuff!

Week 50 Summary:
RTW: 2 from 7 days
DTW: 16.8km
DTY: 2,470.1km

*Post hamstring injury!

Wednesday 17 December 2014

Continued progress

Monday, 8th December 2014 – 8.0km Tempo: 30 mins @ 4:40/km
Another Tempo night. This was a repeat of last Monday’s 30 min @ 4:40 session. Everything went pretty well. I decided there was no point in going any further than 30 mins at Tempo at this stage as I’m only training for 5kms. My plan is to hopefully see improvements in HR efficiency over the next few weeks by doing similar runs at similar pace/distance. Once it has settled down I will drop the pace to 4:35/km before once more waiting for HR to get more economical.

Tuesday, 9th December 2014 – Rest day
Took a rest day and enjoyed the Gunners thumping Galatasaray!

Wednesday, 10th December 2014 – 6.3km Raheny F4L 3 Mile Race (20:42)
Back to Raheny for my first 3 Mile race of the League. With it being so close to 5km I decided to aim for a sub 21min time. Started off quite reserved and could feel the benefit of this by the first km split where I was holding 4:13 even though the target pace was 4:20/km. I was still feeling very strong so the next split was 4:18 gave me confidence to get a good time. Third and Fourth splits were 4:16 & 4:19 so I was very confident in the run in to the finish as a 4:07 pace brought me home in 20:42. This gave me great assurance that the training is paying off and I hope to be in the ballpark of a sub 21 5k pretty soon.

Thursday, 11th December 2014 – 7.4km Steady (5:06/km)
Met Anto after work for this run and after 2km we realised we were both trying to keep up with the other, hence the slightly faster pace. We kept with it regardless. A good run and feeling well after last night.

Friday, 12th December 2014 – 7.4km Easy (5:25/km)
An easy run around the regular loop in advance of my office xmas party this evening.

Saturday, 13th December 2014 – Rest Day
Out for my work office party last night and was in a heap all day. Needless to say it became a rest day.

Sunday, 14th December 2014 – 7.4km Easy (5:50/km)
A very relaxed jog to get the legs turning over. Nothing more.

Week 49 Summary:
RTW: 5 from 7 days
DTW: 36.5km
DTY: 2,453.3km

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Back to reality

Monday, 1st December 2014 – 8.0km Tempo: 30 mins @ 4:40/km
Tempo night. This evening it was a 30 min @ 4:40 session. Even though I have ramped up fairly quickly to half an hour I still found this to be slightly tough but in the main quite manageable. A couple of splits were a few seconds slow due to incline and drop in concentration. When reviewing my data I was surprised to see the HR was lower than last Thursday’s session. I took this to be a good thing until I viewed a much faster tempo session from back in March where the HR was much lower again. Just more proof that I’m quite a bit off where I want to be! Overall, a good quality session.

Tuesday, 2nd December 2014 – 7.4km Easy (5:30/km)
Easy local run.

Wednesday, 3rd December 2014 – 5.4km Raheny F4L 2 Mile Race (13:23)
Back to Raheny for the Winter League. I missed the first event last week but back for this two mile race. Went out a bit handier than two weeks ago so I found it more comfortable and didn’t really start suffering until about 700m to go. Went through halfway in 6:37 so all things considered 13:23 wasn’t too bad. Slowly getting there. Hope to be comfortably sub 13mins by the time the next 2 miler comes around in the new year (21st Jan).

Thursday, 4th December 2014 – Rest day
Opted for a rest day to recover from last night’s effort.

Friday, 5th December 2014 – 7.4km Recovery (6:06/km)
Gentle recovery run. Felt a bit tired even with the gentle pace!

Saturday, 6th December 2014 – 10.6km Poppintree Parkrun (21:52)
After Ormeau last week I was hoping to be around 21:30 for this run. That was never really going to be likely though and given that I was still feeling the effects of all the fast running recently it was no surprise to me that I struggled the whole way today. Only 50 runners turned up today so I was on my own for 90% of the run. Pure time trial in the end. I was considering just jogging home after 4km but I persevered and very surprisingly came away with a time 16 secs faster than last week, so I was happy enough with that.

Interestingly, the course has totally changed from last time I ran here which, in my eyes, makes it much faster.

Sunday, 7th December 2014 – 4.5km Easy (6:00/km)
Very windy out for this run so as I was tired/hungover/old (!) just did 4.5km and retreated back indoors!

Week 48 Summary:
RTW: 5 from 7 days
DTW: 40.1km
DTY: 2,416.8km

Monday 8 December 2014

Tour d'Ireland

Thursday, 20th November 2014 – Rest Day
Travelled down to Limerick this evening after work as I had a mate’s wedding to attend the following day. No run today as a result.

Friday, 21st November 2014 – 8.4km Intervals: 7 x 600m @ 4:10/km
Managed to get out for an interval session this morning before the wedding. I parked in Tesco at Coonagh Cross and ran along the Condell Road and back. I settled on 3 intervals out and 4 on the way back. Initial plan was 4:15 pace but the first one ended up at 4:10 pace instead and I hung onto that for the remainder. Happy with the session and was fairly tired but not wrecked afterwards.

Saturday, 22nd November 2014 – Rest Day
Sunday, 23rd November 2014 – Rest Day
With the wedding on the Friday and a similarly boozy day on the Saturday I opted for two rest days.

Week 46 Summary:
RTW: 4 from 7 days
DTW: 26.4km
DTY: 2,376.7km


Monday, 24th November 2014 – 7.0km Easy (5:57/km)
By now we were in the midst of a 10 day tour of Ireland so before departing Limerick we managed an easy 7km run on much the same route as my run the previous Friday.

Tuesday, 25th November 2014 – 7.5km Intervals: 6 x 500m @ 5:00/km
In Killarney for this one and I paced Roisin to an interval session. It worked out a a reasonable run for myself at the same time.

Wednesday, 26th November 2014 – Rest Day
Drove from Kerry to Mayo today and decided to rest again.

Thursday, 27th November 2014 – 6.6km Tempo: 25mins @ 4:36/km
Down to the local soccer pitch and laps on the tarmac trap. Did this as a tempo session and managed to maintain 4:36/km for 25 mins. Decent but lots more to be done!

Friday, 28th November 2014 – 7.0km Easy (5:51/km)
Just an easy one in Tyrone. Quite country roads but lots of tricky hills!

Saturday, 29th November 2014 – 12.0km Ormeau Parkrun (22:09)
Drove to Belfast yesterday so we decided to run the Ormeau Parkrun this morning. We ran to the event (took longer than expected) just in time for the race start. 

The course is a pretty flat two-lap course with just a couple of slight drags to make you work. I took the start fairly easy until about 300m into the race, at which point I was up to full speed. The effort felt quite consistent, so given that we were out for dinner and drinks the previous night I was nevertheless quite content with my finishing time of 22:09 – a 2014 H2 PB. This left me with a bit of confidence that given a proper night’s sleep before next week’s Poppintree parkrun I should be aiming for 21:30 or thereabouts.

The run home was also longer than expected (we chose a different route) so by the time we returned to the hotel we’d racked up 12km. 

Sunday, 30th November 2014 – Rest Day
The end to our 10 days of travel and it was late evening when I got home so treated myself to a rest day. Good job as I was exhausted!

Week 47 Summary:
RTW: 5 from 7 days
DTW: 40.1km
DTY: 2,416.8km

Thursday 20 November 2014

Back in the fast(-ish) lane!

And so, at long last, begins a proper new cycle of training. My immediate 5km/5mile plan is a Tempo run on Monday, Intervals/short race on Wednesdays, Parkruns/races at the weekend, with a medium long run on Friday afternoons and easy running rounding out the week. I hope to hit 4 runs a week at the minimum - any runs over and above that will be at Easy/Recovery pace. The main milestone for this block of training will be to hit sub 34 in Raheny 5 miler – That would be not far off PB territory. I’m sure I’ll re-examine the target closer to the date though.

Monday, 17th November 2014 - 6.5km Tempo: 20 mins (4:36/km)
My Mondays are going to be taken up with Tempo runs for the foreseeable future. They serve as a good tough way to start the week without being needlessly long. I figured some Mondays may be a struggle and an Interval session too much but likewise an easy run would set a weak precedent for the week ahead.

Anyways, the run itself went quite well. A lovely dry, mild evening with very little breeze. I did the usual 1km warm up to Ballymun Road before throwing myself into the faster stuff. I had somewhat arbitrarily decided that 4:40/km pace was around my Tempo pace and the idea was to hold it for 20 minutes before jogging home. The first km was slightly downhill but yet my body was still coming to terms with the speed so while I hit 4:33 for the lap it felt more difficult than I expected. Km2 was along Collins Avenue and was pretty flat, apart from a small rise towards the end. This registered at 4:35 and I was greeting into my rhythm now. The third km finished off Collins Avenue and stretched around the corner to the bottom of Santry. This was the flattest of all kms but tiredness was beginning to kick in now, yet I was still happy with a 4:36. My final full km was mostly uphill through Santry village and I expected the pace to slow right down here but I still managed a 4:40. I was definitely working harder than Tempo on this section but good to get it within target, even if it is just a rough pace! I continued on for another 250m before finishing up as I turned onto Santry Avenue before jogging the remaining 1.5km home as a cool down.

This was the first bit of properly quick training I have done for months and it was good to feel like I am now training towards some end goal again after all those weeks of treading water. I now need to focus-in and quantify my proper training thresholds in order to maximise my training going forward. I am definitely way off peak-fitness at the moment but would hope to see some good progression over 5km between now and the new year. I certainly want to get a parkrun in under 22 mins in the short term with sub 21 by Christmas hopefully. Then, come the new year I hope to be in with a shot at PB’ing (19:58) by February which would have me in a good starting point to begin ramping back up the distances.

I have also started the Kinetic Revolution 30 Day programme which is aimed at improving runner’s strength and flexibility. I’d been looking for something like this for a while so when it came to my attention I thought it’d be a good idea to incorporate it into my pre xmas training.

Day 1 included:
  1. Hip Flexor stretches
  2. Hamstring stretches
  3. Adductor strength & stretching
  4. Proprioceptive training comprising 3 different drills.
I think I will separate this element out into it’s own page over here so as not to dilute the running training too much.

Tuesday, 18th November 2014 - 6.5km Easy (5:33/km)
Just an easy run around the small Ballymun/Collins Avenue/Santry loop. Post run, I also completed day 2 of the Kinetic Revolution 30 Day programme. Similar to day one but a lower back bonus drill which I’m not sure was hugely effective. I will persist and see how it plays out anyway.

Wednesday, 19th November 2014 – 5.0km Raheny F4L 2 Mile Race (13:43)
A very wet evening where I nearly didn’t bother with this run but after consulting with my central governor (where I was told to HTFU!) I arrived in time for a 1.5km warm up. We were away by 8:07pm(!) and I fell into a rhythm that felt comfortable for about 500m before I started to realise the error of my ways! By the end of the first km I had eased out to 3:59/km so knew I was still going too quickly. At halfway a group of three steamed on past me, as if to emphasise how stupid my early pace had been! By the second km I was at 4:20/km and even this was feeling tough now. I just about managed to keep things ticking over at that pace for the remaining 1.25km to arrive home in 13:43. Before the race I’d set myself a goal of 13:30 and although I was a decent chunk away from it it still felt good to run fast. If nothing else it’s a marker and as the saying goes - “I am where I am!”.

Week 46 Summary:
RTW: 3 from 3 days
DTW: 18.0km
DTY: 2,368.3km

Tuesday 18 November 2014

Tidying up the residue!

Wow! Another 5 weeks of no updates! Here is a go at catching up by way of a summary of my (lack of) Autumnal running - I hope to get back on track with the log this week!

Monday, 6th October 2014 – Rest Day
Tuesday, 7th October 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:16/km)
Wednesday, 8th October 2014 – Rest Day
Thursday, 9th October 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:26/km)
Friday, 10th October 2014 – Rest Day
Saturday, 11th October 2014 – Rest Day
Sunday, 12th October 2014 – Rest Day

Week 40 Summary:
RTW:
2 from 7 days
DTW: 14.8km
DTY: 2,200.3km

Monday, 13th October 2014 – Rest Day
Tuesday, 14th October 2014 – Rest Day
Wednesday, 15th October 2014 – Rest Day
Thursday, 16th October 2014 – Rest Day
Friday, 17th October 2014 – Rest Day
Saturday, 18th October 2014 – 4.8km Distance (5:31/km)
Sunday, 19th October 2014 – Rest Day

Week 41 Summary:
RTW: 1 from 7 days
DTW: 4.8km
DTY: 2,205.1km

Monday, 20th October 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:23/km)
Tuesday, 21st October 2014 – 6.4km Distance (5:53/km)
Wednesday, 22nd October 2014 – 
7.4km Distance (5:32/km)
Thursday, 23rd October 2014 – 
7.4km Distance (5:31/km)
Friday, 24th October 2014 – Rest Day
Saturday, 25th October 2014 –6.3km St Annes Parkrun (25:10)
Sunday, 26th October 2014 –5.1km Breakfast Run

Week 42 Summary:
RTW: 6 from 7 days
DTW: 40.0km
DTY: 2,245.1km

Monday, 27th October 2014 – 42.7 Dublin Marathon (4:09:04)
Tuesday, 28th October 2014 – Rest Day
Wednesday, 29th October 2014 – Rest Day
Thursday, 30th October 2014 – Rest Day
Friday, 31st October 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:47/km)
Saturday, 1st November 2014 – 5.7km Poppintree Parkrun (22:13)
Sunday, 2nd November 2014 – 4.7km Distance (5:59/km) / 7.4km Distance (5:34/km)

Week 43 Summary:
RTW: 2 from 7 days
DTW: 65.9km
DTY: 2,310.0km

Monday, 3rd November 2014 – 6.5km Distance (4:50/km)
Tuesday, 4th November 2014 – Rest Day
Wednesday, 5th November 2014 – Rest Day
Thursday, 6th November 2014 – Rest Day
Friday, 7th November 2014 – Rest Day
Saturday, 8th November 2014 – 11km Sea2Summit (2:17:09)
Sunday, 9th November 2014 – Rest Day

Week 44 Summary:
RTW: 2 from 7 days
DTW: 17.5km
DTY: 2,327.5km

Monday, 10th November 2014 – Rest Day
Tuesday, 11th November 2014 – Rest Day
Wednesday, 12th November 2014 – Rest Day
Thursday, 13th November 2014 – Rest Day
Friday, 14th November 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:27/km)
Saturday, 15th November 2014 – 5.6km Hartstown Parkrun (23:13)
Sunday, 16th November 2014 – 9.8km Distance (5:41/km)

Week 45 Summary:
RTW: 2 from 7 days
DTW: 22.8km
DTY: 2,350.3km

Thursday 9 October 2014

Where have all the weeks gone??

Right, I’m so far behind by now that a simple listing of activity is all I can do to catch up at this stage!
Monday, 1st September 2014 – Rest Day – Post EP blues!
Tuesday, 2nd September 2014 – 11.9km Distance (5:26/km)
Wednesday, 3rd September 2014 – 8.0km Distance (5:41/km)
Thursday, 4th September 2014 – 12.6km Failed LSR (5:42/km)
I attempted an LSR this evening but was so tired from the EP weekend and just generally not in the mood for it that I only lasted 12.6km. Not happy quitting this!
Friday, 5th September 2014 – 5.0km Distance (5:58/km)
Saturday, 6th September 2014 – 7.8km St. Anne’s Parkrun – Intervals (4:08/km)
I ran this as an interval session so I ran 4 x 600m + 1 x 800m at 4:00/km effort. Unfortunately this did not correlate to pace so my speed got slower throughout. Not too surprising really as it was my first bit of faster stuff for a long time. Just did the recovery parts to regain my breath while trying to avoid too many passing me!
Sunday, 7th September 2014 – 10.7km Distance (5:25/km)

Week 35 Summary:
RTW: 6 from 7 days
DTW: 56.0km
DTY: 1,964.8km

Monday, 8th September 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:07/km)
Tuesday, 9th September 2014 – 30.0km LSR (5:50/km)
My failed LSR from last Thursday was banished this evening with a pretty straightforward 30km run. Confidence back on track somewhat.
Wednesday, 10th September 2014 – 6.3km Recovery (6:00/km)
Thursday, 11th September 2014 – Rest Day
Friday, 12th September 2014 – 20.0km MLR (5:36/km)
With Berlin looming I decided two back to back MLR sessions would help with endurance and be best chance of avoiding injury so soon after Tuesday. This run went very straightforward.
Saturday, 13th September 2014 – 20.0km MLR (6:01/km)
Part two of my B2B and I was up in Tyrone for this. 2 x 10km loops around rural hills and I’d hit my target. Glad to have this completed and another step in the correct direction.
Sunday, 14th  September 2014 – Rest Day

Week 36 Summary:
RTW: 5 from 7 days
DTW: 83.7km
DTY: 2,048.5km

Monday, 15th September 2014 – Rest Day
Tuesday, 16th September 2014 – Rest Day
Wednesday, 17th September 2014 – 30.7km LSR (5:30/km & 5:52/km)
After a few days of laziness I managed to get out for a good run in the PP/canal greenway this evening. The first 20km were ran at a decent clip and as it was getting dark I decided to go home and do another 12k loop around the streets of Santry/Ballymun. However, just before getting in the car I spotted Roisin out for her run in the Park so I joined her and managed to do a loop to bring th distance up to just over 30km. I left it at that, happy enough.
Thursday, 18th September 2014 – 4.4km Distance (5:48/km)
Friday, 19th September 2014 – Rest Day
Saturday, 20th September 2014 – 21.3km Dublin Half Marathon (5:02/km)
I ran the 10 miler a few weeks ago at an average pace of 5:00/km, until I hit the hill in the last 2 miles. I decided I’d do a similar strategy this time, maintaining the same pace. Everything went well (apart from a toilet break at mile two!) for the first 10 miles so I was already stronger than the previous race. Once I was out of the PP and running out the Chapelizod road I slowed to an easier pace just to take it handy in advance of the marathon next week. My timing was impeccable as Joe Dunne was not far behind me , so I jogged the remainder of the course with him and felt great at the end. Time (1:47) was quite a bit slower than PB (1:31) but not bothered about that at this stage.
Sunday, 21st September 2014 – Rest Day

Week 37 Summary:
RTW: 3 from 7 days
DTW: 56.4km
DTY: 2,104.9km

Monday, 22nd September 2014 – 11.9km Distance (5:34/km)
Tuesday, 23rd September 2014 – Rest Day
Wednesday, 24th September 2014 – Rest Day
Thursday, 25th September 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:46/km)
Friday, 26th September 2014 – Rest Day
Saturday, 27th September 2014 – 5.8km Breakfast Run (7:09/km)
Sunday, 28th  September 2014 – 42.4km Berlin Marathon (5:44/km)
See the standalone report on Berlin in the next post.

Week 38 Summary:
RTW: 4 from 7 days
DTW: 67.5km
DTY: 2,172.4km

Monday, 29th September 2014 – Rest Day
Tuesday, 30th September 2014 – Rest Day
Wednesday, 1st October 2014 – Rest Day
Thursday, 2nd October 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:35/km)
After taking a couple of days hols in Berlin after the marathon and then a long day at work on Wednesday it was Thursday before I got out for an easy leg loosener. 7.4km was long enough for this too!
Friday, 3rd October 2014 – Rest Day
Saturday, 4th October 2014 – 5.7km Griffeen Parkrun (4:15/km)
I raced this Griffeen Parkrun just to see where I am at the moment and to lay down a marker from where I can progress. My time of 21:39 was the same as a few weeks ago in my Interval session on the easier St. Anne’s course. It’s a fair enough representation so my plan will be once DCM is out of the way to kick on and reduce these 5k times to sub 20 over the Winter and see where I can get to by the end of January before I start ramping up distances again. Not sure if it is a real prospect but I’d like to be 19:45 or less by then.
Sunday, 5th  October 2014 – Rest Day

Week 39 Summary:
RTW: 2 from 7 days
DTW: 13.1km
DTY: 2,185.5km

Monday 8 September 2014

Electric Picnic

Monday, 25th August 2014 – 8.5km Distance (5:21/km)
Feeling low on energy in work today so when I got home I had a little snooze on the couch before heading out at 8:45pm for a run. I had planned on an 11.9km loop, and things were going very well. However, halfway around I decided to be sensible and take a short cut home for a 8.5km loop instead in order to keep things fresh seeing as I’m not long back. I think it was the right deision as the extra few mins I got allowed me to do a bit of stretching. Feeling much better afterwards than any of my runs last week.

Tuesday, 26th August 2014 – 11.5km Distance (5:24/km)
Felt good on this run too and went down the local park for a few laps. Nice and straightforward!

Wednesday, 27th August 2014 – Rest Day
Had to go to a work dinner in town this evening so there was no way of fitting a run in so a rest day before my LSR tomorrow.

Thursday, 28th August 2014 – 30.0km LSR (5:43/km)
I was quite apprehensive after last weeks run being so tough. I decided to follow the same route but just add in a couple of extra kms. This extra distance was incorporated via a Home Farm Road loop. Towards the end of Griffith Avenue I met Matt on his bike and so stopped for about 15mins and chatted. I did a few stretches at this stage and when I was getting a little cold I made my excuses and got back into it.

I was down by the wooden bridge and noticed that I was still feeling in good shape and about 20s/km quicker average speed than last week. As I got to the end of the Coast Road turnaround point I was beginning to feel the Easterly air chill. Thankfully by the time I hit Kilbarrack Road that was no longer an issue. The final 10km were much more manageable than last week and even though I went 2.5km further I maintained my pace to be 20 seconds quicker. Quite happy with this in the end and bit of a confidence boost about running all of Berlin! Still lots to do in between then and now!

Friday, 29th August 2014 – Electric Picnic
Legs felt decent after last night although I still had no time for a run today. I had a packed day, working in the morning, and then getting to Electric Picnic in the afternoon. Great EP debut for me with Foals being my particular highlight this evening. The overall vibe and layout was brilliant too with the ‘Body and Soul’ area really impressive once nightfall arrived.

Saturday, 30th August 2014 – Electric Picnic
I had the running gear with me in case I had an idea to head off for a few miles but after a substantial fry and a couple of hours lying on the bed, recovering from last night I had just about enough energy remaining for the EP itself. Therefore no running again, and I came around to the fact that I’d be doing none either until I returned to Dublin.

Music highlights were probably Portishead (who I didn’t get to see enough of), Chic and London Grammar. Lowlights of the day was the Mayo v Kerry replay result. :-(

Sunday, 31st August 2014 – Electric Picnic
No hope of running today so just enjoyed the festival with Beck, Outkast and Lily Allen being the main acts. A drunken spin on the bumper cars was probably best of all though!

So, a good LSR and a couple of decent runs before Electric Picnic annihilated the week! Just hope the LSR benefit stays with me!

Week 34 Summary:
RTW: 3 from 7 days
DTW: 50.0km
DTY: 1,908.5km

Friday 29 August 2014

Frank Duffy 10 miler & a tough LSR

Monday, 11th August 2014 – 16.6km MSR (5:46/km)
Met up with Roisin for an easy 8km before she departed and I continued on my way. The next couple of kms were about 20 secs quicker (5:3x) but then I started to get an ache in the hip flexor region leading down to my inside left groin. This started to adversely affect my stride and I started to slow down again to the earlier pace. I had been planning to complete 24km this evening but after giving the ache ten minutes leeway to see if it got better, and failing, I decided the clever thing to do was return home. Which I did for a total of 16.6km. This now means there is no chance of hitting my long run for the week. L

Tuesday, 12th August 2014 – Football match – 45 mins at Right Back
I played pretty poorly in this game as I was left exposed to the speedy left winger who caused lots of problems with his direct running. Felt like packing in the football again after this match but I’ll let it linger another game or two. From now on I will most likely just turn up to make up the numbers, if required.

Wednesday, 13th August 2014 – 5.8km Tempo Run (4:42/km)
Flew to Glasgow for a wedding today so with doing odd jobs in the morning, flights in the afternoon and dinner and drinks in the evening I never managed to make it out for a run.

Thursday, 14th August 2014 – 45 Minutes Football Match
I dallied for far too long before getting out for a short run before the wedding ceremony. Within the first few steps I could feel the hip flexor at me again, the same as Monday evening. Managed to get 4.5km completed in a slightly painful manner. Will give it a rest now til I return from Glasgow to see if it clears up.

Friday, 15th August 2014 – Rest Day
Saturday, 16th August 2014 – Rest Day
Sunday, 17th August 2014 – Rest Day

Week 31 Summary:
RTW: 2 from 7 days
DTW: 22.4km
DTY: 1,794.4km

Monday, 18th August 2014 – 26.6km LSR (6:00/km)
Back into the swing of things again this evening. Took the watch 2km to register satellites and when it did I decided to change my route to take in Clontarf seafront. The first 4km I was trying to ease back to 5:40/km as things were feeling good and I was benefiting from so many days off! However, kms 4-7 showed the 5:40/km pace to be about right for how I was feeling before kms 7-12 started slowing down to 6:00/km!

This was bad enough but I was now feeling all sorts of aches and niggles with a sore psoas beginning to take effect. I briefly thought about taking some short cuts and going directly home but soon changed my mind to grit the teeth, shorten the stride and plough onwards! I even managed to take in the extra 1.5km out and back to the Sutton end of the seafront walk. The final 9km from the Coast to home was a real shuffle and I had to stretch out the limbs in Coolock Village (briefly) and at the M1 flyover.

Got home and was in bits. Not surprising really given it’s far and away my longest run for a very long time! Anyways, onwards and upwards…surely there couldn’t be any further to sink!!

Tuesday, 19th August 2014 – Rest Day
Took this evening off as a result of the big effort last night. Pretty sure it would be a painful experience if I hadn't!

Wednesday, 20th August 2014 – 3.0km Recovery (5:45/km)
Short, easy run just to get the legs moving again. Only did 3km as I was due in town later. Even though the run was at an easy pace the HR was quite high and I did feel tired. I even contemplated the possibility of deferring Berlin til next year!

Hoping this short run will at least allow for a decent effort tomorrow evening.

Thursday, 21st August 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:35/km)
Managed a reasonable run this evening. Still feel sooo unfit. HR averaged around 130bpm for a 5:35 pace which is getting better after Monday, but still a way off the efficiency I would hope for. Learned this evening that my Brother is running the 10 miler on Saturday also and he is not much more advanced than me as he has achilles troubles. We will run the race together and use it as a long run (I will do about 5 miles beforehand).

Friday, 22nd August 2014 – 7.1km Distance (5:52/km)
Went out for an easy 7km run with Roisin this evening but my legs are still incredibly dead. I had expected that they would be back to condition by now but no such luck and as a result will have to alter my plans for tomorrow…

Saturday, 23rd August 2014 – 19.8km Frank Duffy 10 miler (5:00/km)
I parked outside the Ashtown Gate and ran almost 2km before meeting my Brother. We took off together in lots of space at the back of wave 1, where we kept on 5:00/km pace and were consistently passing people. I was finding the pace a bit tough and was sweating lots due to the sunny day.

By halfway I told Damien to kick-on as he seemed full of running. After initially declining my offer, it took him less than 20 seconds to start drifting ahead! I continued on at my pace until we got out onto Conyngham Road where I maintained effort (152bpm) instead. This turned out to be a 5:20 km which surprised me but the breeze seemed to slow a few people down here. Once again inside the Park I just concentrated on short strides and getting up the hill as easily as possible. This resulted in a 5:33 km but I now had just over 1km remaining. I picked up the effort here so that I finished the last 350m+ at 4:00/km pace and crossed the line in 1:21:38. Probably a fair result based on how I was feeling. I covered almost 2 more km on my return to the car bringing total mileage to approximately 20km.

I lay on the couch all evening as a result before heading away for the evening. The rest seemed to work as I was feeling significantly better than expected that night.

Sunday, 24th August 2014 – Rest Day.
I was in Croke Park today for the very exciting Mayo v Kerry Semi Final. I felt like I was doing a cardio workout in the second half and it was 20 minutes after the game before my HR returned to normal!! No running today. Legs feel OK after yesterday thankfully!

Week 32 Summary:
RTW: 5 from 7 days
DTW: 64.1km
DTY: 1,858.5km

Tuesday 12 August 2014

Streets of Galway 8k - VDot = 45 (+3)

Monday, 28th July 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:29/km)
This was just an easy run to loosen the legs out after yesterday’s 10km race effort.

Tuesday, 29th July 2014 – Football Training (90mins)
Another 90 minute training session for football. Didn’t particularly enjoy this session as amongst other things my feet were cut up again.

Wednesday, 30th July 2014 – 5.0km Fartlek (5:02/km)
Went out with nothing particular in mind but began speeding up so turned this into a fartlek session. A couple of decent-paced kms turned this into a reasonable session.

Thursday, 31st July 2014 – 8.5km Recovery Run (5:41/km)
Handy run where I slowed things right down.

Friday, 1st August 2014 – 6.0km Distance (5:31/km)
Took this easy. Just logging in another short run to add to the weekly mileage. Slowly, slowly…

Saturday, 2nd August 2014 – Rest Day
I was down home in Mayo this afternoon so no time to do anything.

Sunday, 3rd August 2014 – Rest Day (Croke Park)
Back up again this morning but a day split between Croker to watch May beat Cork and then in the boozer to regale well into the night meant no running again.

Week 29 Summary:
RTW: 5 from 7 days
DTW: 26.9km
DTY: 1,748.3km

Monday, 4th August 2014 – Rest Day
I had intended to pace the 2hr group in the RnR HM today but due to the organiser’s complete incompetence this fell through. Left a really bitter taste with me but I still went in to watch Roisin and others take part. Roisin was very unlucky to see a toilet break at half way deprive her of her sub 2hr goal but nevertheless it was a 19 minute PB, so well done her!

I did a bit of cycling around after her in the race but no running today.

Tuesday, 5th August 2014 – Rest Day
Yet another Rest Day! That’s 4 in a row!! Need to get back into some sort of structured plan soon to keep me focused! Can’t blame a dodgy hamstring any more seeing as it seems fully recovered at this stage.

Wednesday, 6th August 2014 – 5.8km Tempo Run (4:42/km)
This run just appeared out of nowhere as I just started off swiftly but just kept upping the pace. A nice session.

Thursday, 7th August 2014 – 45 Minutes Football Match
I started tonight’s game in Defensive Midfield. It was only a friendly but I gave it full effort. Mainly consisted of me moving more laterally across the park rather than up and down the pitch. I feel I played well but with 10 mins to go before HT I started developing blisters on my soles again. The hard ground combined with so much twisting and turning really cuts up my feet. I decided to come off at HT and even though there were options of going back on later in the game I simply couldn’t as I was in too much distress. It was 1-1 at HT but we ended up losing 5-1 (Al has it down as 4-1 in the report but I think it was 5). This was mainly due to us making changes which disrupted our play and the opposition introducing 4 of their best players at HT.

Friday, 8th August 2014 – Rest Day
I could barely walk this morning due to my soles so I was never going out running. If this doesn’t improve soon I will have to knock the footie on the head once more!

Saturday, 9th August 2014 – 11.0km Streets of Galway 8k Race (4:24/km)
The annual pilgrimage for the SoG and I wasn’t exactly sure of what should be my target today. Going by VDot of 42 from a couple of weeks ago I should have been looking at sub 38 but knew that was quite soft. Instead, after a few seconds thought I went with a nice round pace of 4:30/km and see how I’d fare. This would leave me with a sub 36 target which I’d be ok with.

I left Stephen and Philip at the start to go back the crowd and slot in where I thought I should be. The race started in a different position this year to what I’m used to but it was an improvement as it took out the hard right angled turn 400m into the race. Mind you, there was still a few cars on the bridge which could have been handled better.

First Half:
Km1: 4:19, Km2: 4:20, Km3: 4:22, Km4: 4:24.
I ran what I felt was a suitable speed from pretty early, once I managed to get a bit of space. I was conscious not to go out too fast in the first couple of kms but still ended up around 4:20 for the first 2km. The route got a little more up and down after that and this resulted in me dropping closer to goal pace. By halfway I wasn’t feeling too bad and the race was moving along nicely.

Second Half:
Km5: 4:30, Km6: 4:33, Km7: 4:25, Km8: 4:23, (Final 110m: 3:30 pace).
The 4k marker came right at the corner to the main hill on the course – lengthened this year as a further course change. This saw my pace slow a little which was expected. The following km past Pearse Stadium and containing the most downhill was actually my slowest! Think I must have tuned out here but I was definitely recovering from the tougher previous km. With 2.5km to go we were back out on Salthill promenade and downwind. This helped bring me home with my pace returning to the mid 4:20’s. I had not been keeping a very close watch on my overall time and had kinda been expecting to have missed sub 36, but when I spotted the finishing line clock with 200m to go I was in with a shout of 35:xx on the clock, let along my chip time. I summoned all that was left in me (which wasn’t very much by now!) and bolted for the line. I ended up with a chip time of 35:37 which made for a very happy surprise.

My time actually gives a VDot of 45 – a jump of 3 points since the Mullingar 10 miler, so even happier with that improvement over a couple of weeks!
2014 Streets of Galway: Pos: 342/2,324 (14.7%), Gun time: 36:02, Chip Time: 35:37, VDot = 45.

Sunday, 10th August 2014 – 6.9km Recovery Run (5:28/km)
I went out with Philip and Stephen for a run this morning – Philip had an LSR planned. I was just going to go for 10 – 15kms but after about 4km the heavens opened and an almighty rain fell. I decided to bail after sheltering for 5 mins but the lads continued onwards. To be honest, the eventual 6.9km was enough for me today. I was pretty tired and the body was still feeling the effects of last night’s race.

Week 30 Summary:
RTW: 4 from 7 days
DTW: 23.7km
DTY: 1,772.0km
VDot: 45 (+3)

Tuesday 29 July 2014

Mullingar 10 Miler

Monday, 21st July 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:14/km)
An easy run to get the legs turning over once more after yesterday’s race. Nothing much to report.

Tuesday, 22nd July 2014 – Cross Train – 90mins Football Training
Because I’m coming back from injury and the fact it’ll take a while to get back to full fitness I’ve decided to simply enjoy the second half of the year and take things as I please. I’ll be jogging Berlin now but if I’m feeling strong I may give Dublin a right rattle. However before all that I’ve decided to go back playing a bit of football. I hope this might strengthen up joints and muscles and make me a bit stronger overall, but ultimately I just want to do it for a bit of fun for a few months before I get back into serious training once more.

This was my first full training session (I arrived halfway through the session last Saturday) so I was pretty tired when it finished after 90mins. The session itself was mainly 6 a side matchplay but working muscles I hadn’t gone near in a couple of years left its mark! Stiff and tired that evening but nothing excessive. On the otherhand my soles were torn to shreds as they always are when I return to playing football. All that twisting and turning means the balls of my feet get all kinds of blistered. A few compeed did wonders though so nothing too bad!

Wednesday, 23rd July 2014 – 19.4km LSR (6:02/km)
Myself and Roisin ran this together as it was her last long run before Rock n Roll HM and I needed a long run at an easy pace. As it turned out it wasn’t quite as easy as I hoped but still got round in one piece. I keep underestimating how much endurance I’ve lost as a result of being out for 3 months. Things can only get better/easier!

Thursday, 24th July 2014 – Rest Day
I took today off as I was a bit tired after the previous two nights and also I am wary of overdoing things too soon.

Friday, 25th July 2014 – 5.3km Distance (5:30/km)
I had a busy day Friday so managed to slot this in in the evening before I got too busy. Should have been easy but the heat meant it was tougher than I’d expected.

Saturday, 26th July 2014 – Cross Train (Football – 45 mins)
Initially I was supposed to be going home for the Balla 10k but I changed plans at the last minute so now I was available for our game today. First Pre-Season friendly so I managed 45mins, coming on at left back at half time. Good to get a run-out and dust off the cobwebs! I felt good for the duration however later that evening I was dozing on the couch and the effects of the game became clearer…

Sunday, 27th July 2014 – 18.2km Mullingar 10 Mile Race (4:51/km)
Woke up this morning with aches and stiffness all over. Managed to get to Dalystown in 45 mins and then went to reg and a short warm-up. Ran into lots of people including Peter, Barry, Philip and lots of his clubmates before the race.

Barry and myself seemed to have similar targets (sub 75mins) although I probably should have done a bit more research into my race plan! I stayed with Barry for the first 3km (at 4:30/km pace) before admitting the pace was a little too hot for me so decided to drop back to 4:40/km. This lasted another 2km before things were getting tougher again and I found myself trying to hold on to 4:50 pace from km 6 through til 9. This really was not considered pre-race at all. I had figured my 10k average was 4:33 in Swords last week with tired legs from the Liberties 6k run the previous Thursday. Therefore surely 4:45/km should be quite manageable for this 10 mile race?? Into the last 7km and things sunk to their worst with just about maintaining a 5:00/km pace – something I couldn't remember struggling to maintain outside of a marathon for a very long time! I managed to rally to a 4:47/km final km before crossing the line in 78:21or thereabouts – well outside my general target of sub 75! 

A glaring view of reality ensued and I eventually figured that I’m starting back at a low base for the next couple of months. With that I’ve decided a good way forward might be to track my VDot number as that should show progression week by week. I currently stand at 42(!) having been at 50 when fully fit. Let’s see how long it takes to get back there!

Week 29 Summary:
RTW: 6 from 7 days
DTW: 49.6km
DTY: 1,771.0km
VDot: 42