Mini recovery...

Monday, 17th March 2014 – Rest Day

We flew back into Dublin on Monday afternoon but I had a much earned rest day in the plan so I could go out and enjoy Paddy’s Day instead. Which I did!

Tuesday, 18th March 2014 – 9.5km Distance (5:46/km)

This was just a small run to get the legs turning over again. I could feel a bit of tiredness in them but thankfully no niggles. Ran this with Stephen who was home for a short trip from Philly.

Wednesday, 19th March 2014 – 5.7km Raheny 1 Miler (4:57/km)

Plan initially was to race this 1 miler but the tiredness remained in the legs so instead I decided to pace Roisin to her first 1 mile race. We settled on the arbitrary time of an 8 minute mile as the target but unfortunately we were just 2 seconds outside of that. Next time for sure! I followed this up with a cool down jog to bring it up to 5.7km…not very big mileage!

Thursday, 20th March 2014 – 15.5km Intervals: 3 x 800m-600m-600m @ 10k pace (4:03/km)

At last the legs were freshensing up a little so I went out for this Interval session. I had sacrificed the Tempo session as I reckoned I did a decent clip on Sunday to cover that part of my training. For this session I didn’t want to push things too hard after Barcelona so I aimed for 10k pace (4:10/km). However, as I was moving through the gears there was a little more available than expected and ended up doing close to 5km pace.

One thing I noticed though was the GPS went awry during the final set of reps. The graphs show the effort was there for the HR, but the pace skewing. The splits suggest it took 5:47 for the second last 600m split which obviously points to flawed technology! Regardless, quite happy with this session so soon after Barcelona.

                                       

Friday, 21st March 2014 – 15.0km Distance (5:25/km)

This was at an easy effort just to maintain the legs. Nothing much to report.

Saturday, 22nd March 2014 – 8.5km Distance (5:09/km)

Started off at an easy pace but split by split I started to up the pace without too much effort. Looking like a good session when halfway around an almighty hailshower descended and combined with a strong wind meant I had to take shelter from the horizontal bullets! When I got going again I was out of rhythm and cold so I made my way directly home, thereby aborting 3.4km of my run. Not happy about that as I needed the mileage for the week!

Sunday, 23rd March 2014 – 32.5km LSR (5:28/km)

It was late in the evening by the time I got out for this run – typical feelings of dread after having the LSR hang over me all weekend! It was almost dark when I started off so that ruled out the park and the Coastal Path would be too short for this. So, I cam up with a plan for zig-zagging my way in towards Phibsbrough until I hit 16km when I would retrace my steps back home.

The first few km were probably the toughest in hindsight as I was cold and struggling to warm up. Eventually I did though and the route I chose meant I was turning into a different type of street quite often which helped to distract from the usual boredom of the LSR. All the time I was trying to calculate where my turning point would be and adding in extra streets which I’d overlooked in my plans. It turned out that the corner of Whitworth Road and Swords Road was approximately 15.6km so I chose to turn here as opposed to dealing with lots of extra traffic crossings for the sake of a few hundred metres. 

On my return journey I managed a sneaky extra loop of about 1km to make up the shortfall and then it was onwards home as per the plan. One thing I’d neglected to consider was that the return journey is predominantly uphill, albeit no major climb but uphill all the same! Thankfully it turned out to be fine with only the short steeper parts in anyways slowing me down. Arrived back home with 32.5km on the clock in just over 2:56 so happy with my evenings work. Felt pretty good afterwards too so looks like no ill effects from last weeks marathon – Yay!

So, a chunk down on the 100km weekly target but mitigating circumstances as I was recovering from Barcelona. Back into the thick of things for next week though...!

Week 10 Summary:

RTW: 6 from 7 days

DTW: 86.7km
DTY: 1,149.9km

Barcelona Marathon - 3:37:24.

Sunday, 16th March 2014 – 42.9km Barcelona Marathon (5:04/km)

Myself and Ronan beforehand

Build-up:

A reasonable sleep meant that I was awake 5 mins before the alarm clock this morning. My plan was to head over to my friend Ronan’s hotel (which was conveniently located across from the starting area) to get breakfast. This worked out well and with half an hour to race start we were making our way to the corrals. I’d arranged to run the first section with another Irish runner so we were in position by about 8:20am. ‘Barcelona’ unsurprisingly belted out while the first wave (Sub 3:30) set-off. A brief pause of two minutes and our wave were released to the sounds of ‘The Final Countdown’. By the time I passed over the start line there was about 8mins on the clock.

Placa d'Espanya - Startline is between those two pillars in the background.

First Half:

The provisional plan was to match Helen’s goal pace of 5:04/km and see how I felt by halfway. This worked fine for the first 5km where we went though in 25:43. A little time lost to slight gradients and also the course appeared to be measuring long on my GPS which resulted in my actual pace being a little slower than my Garmin pace.

By now we were circling around Camp Nou and it was somewhere around here that Helen and I started to drift away from each other. I think all my pre-race advice to her to take it easy in the first half may have frightened her into being overly cautious! The next section to 10km was uneventful apart from a nice stretch of downhill and led to a split of 25:10.

The next section brought us back into the city centre along Gran Via and past Placa Catalunya & La Pedrera. The support along these parts was really strong and the architecture was a nice distraction. Still feeling nice and easy and this split was 25:26.

Sagrada Familia appeared around the 16km mark and before we knew it we were hitting the first of the two out & back segments along Meridiana. Somewhere along here I passed Fergal with whom I exchanged a few words. He mentioned how much he was looking forward to the second half with the heat already having an effect. I’m pretty sure Fergal enjoys a sarcastic sense of humour or is simply an out and out masochist! I crossed the halfway mark along here with a 15-20km split of 25:06 and a HM split of 1:46:54.

Second Half:

The next 10km was through a non-descript part of town and saw me turn up the pace a little as the plan was to run the second half a bit quicker. This saw my fastest split so far coming in at 24:40 followed by a 25:21.

Just after the 30km marker we hit the coast with a nice section running along the road near the beach. Unfortunately we didn’t really get a seaview but the temperature was heating up along this section and I was now pouring a cup of water over myself at every water station. We were also treated to a temporary shower which was a real pleasure, regardless that we were dried out again within seconds!

By now I was using the giant Mapfre tower and it’s buddy as a marker knowing that once I was past them I’d be close to the zoo and then the city centre and therefore the finish wouldn’t be too far away. Another decent split of 25:32 meant I was keeping a reasonable pace and thankfully things weren’t too difficult. I was passing lots of runners as ever and people were really beginning to fade now with the heat. I certainly wouldn’t have fancied to be racing on a day like today.

Caught off-guard for a photo opp at the Arc de Triompf!

Roisin was positioned at the Arc de Triompf at the Northern end of Parc de la Cituadella and I was almost past her when I heard her call out. That proved a welcome distraction. I was now back in the city centre and in need of a toilet break so at the 38km marker I managed to locate an empty portaloo at the water station. I took my time here and walked past the station when taking the water on board. I also took the opportunity to rinse my legs with water to cool them and keep any potential muscle spasms at bay. I probably wasted 90-120 seconds around here but I wasn’t too bothered, after all this was just a training run and prevention is better than injury! All this added to my split time of 28:20 for the final full 5km section.

The final 2km along Avinguda Paral-lel were mostly up an incline with a slight detour to gain an extra few metres, which also helped ease the psychological pressure from a very long straight uphill road! I dug in over this section and was passing lots yet again as they struggled up the incline. I see from the race data I appear to have overtaken approximately 400 people during this 12 minutes! This was a sure sign that although my time was nothing special it was still a good run in the conditions. I managed to finish strong all the way across the line and nab a time of 3:37:24 for what was my 4th fastest marathon time.

Race Splits & Summary

Finish area - Montjuic palace

Summary:

After the finish I felt pretty good and could have done a few more kms without much issue. No real niggles but my stomach had been playing up over the final 15 minutes and took a while to return to normal. It’s an ongoing issue which I’ve yet to sort out and when racing marathons am basically ignoring it as long as possible until it strikes. Not the best tactic but I even struggled with the old reliable orange segments this time round. What to do, what to do…

Helen ended up finishing in 3:41 so just a few minutes behind me for a great debut performance and Ronan who had only ever before ran one 4 mile race (In Mayo at Christmas) finished in 4:51, so very well done to the pair of them!

Myself and Ronan afterwards

Also, the distance for the run measured 42.9km according to my Garmin. I would expect anything up to 42.5km but this seems a little excessive! Not sure what other people measured it at but I noticed that the extra distance build-up was happening consistently over the length of the route. I'm hoping Düsseldorf measures up better.

Week 9 Summary:

RTW: 7 from 7 days

DTW: 103.0km

DTY: 1063.2km

Tiny Taper

Monday, 10th March 2014 – 11.9km Distance (5:26/km)

Knackered all day after my LSR last night (only finished up at 10:30pm and just managed to fall asleep by 2am!) so really didn't fancy running this evening. However, I'd planned to meet Anto again and it was such a beautiful day I just had to go out for a short while at least! As it was we kept the pace nice and slow but I was still struggling to keep up at times! Made it around eventually and was shattered then for the evening.

It was only tonight that I realised the past couple of weeks have consisted of about 110km each week and with this amount of mileage I haven’t really been increasing my calorie intake. I think this is the first time I have ever thought that I should do this as I've always had either enough incoming food or outgoing energy. At the moment though I think an energy deficit is beginning to appear so I’ll have to try and grab a bit of extra nourishment for the longer runs and for after sessions over the next few weeks.

Tuesday, 11th March 2014 – 12.8km Tempo: 2 x 3.5km @ MTP (4:31/km)

With Barcelona this weekend I decided to just go with one session this week as opposed to the usual two and the Tempo workout won the battle. I didn't want to risk injury with the Interval paces so the easier MT pace seemed the most advisable. I ran this in the PP on the way home from work by doing a few laps of the Furze Road/Ordnance Road. There was a decent wind every time I veered onto the Chesterfield Ave section that slowed me a little. Overall the run went well and the splits show a good consistency with just a slight deviation near the end of the second set where the wind played its part. Happy with the run and it’s the final session now until after Barcelona.

Wednesday, 12th March 2014 – 13.0km Distance (5:28/km)

I returned to the PP for this as an easy Distance run on the way home from work. Feeling reasonably good after yesterday evening’s session.

Thursday, 13th March 2014 – 6.5km + 10.0km Distance (5:23/km)

Got out early for a short run before work and then managed another 10km in the PP once more on the way home from work. Everything out of the way early to allow me get out for a bit of dinner and a few drinks for my birthday this evening!

Friday, 14th March 2014 – Rest Day

Tired when I got home from work and with Barca on the horizon I decided to opt for a rest day today. Fly out to Spain first thing in the morning.

Saturday, 15th March 2014 – 5.9km Distance (5:42/km)

Didn't get a great sleep last night and was up so early that it was not a great sign for tomorrow. Transfer from airport was going by the Expo so I called in on the way. Pretty good expo which was well packed. Picked up my number and t-shirt (which was very disappointing given that Asics were a main race sponsor. I noticed they had several much nicer t-shirts available at €25 each, a trend I’ve seen with Asics before too!).

I continued on to the hotel afterwards before getting out for an easy 6km run around Parc de la Ciutadella – the place was thronged with people learning trapeze, another group doing tight-rope walking as well as bongo players and hammocks all about the place. It seemed like Electric Picnic was transported!

Finished up in time to go to the pub next door to watch Ireland beat France in Paris and win the 6 Nations Championship – Allez les Verts!

Week 9 Summary (so far):
RTW: 6 from 6 days
DTW: 60.1km
DTY: 1020.3km

Inaugural Castlebar Parkrun

Thursday, 6th March 2014 – 11.9km Distance (5:24/km)

A pretty boring run this, I just went out a bit too late after dozing/napping on the couch all evening. Body felt ok but perhaps a little tired after last night. Nothing alarming anyways.

MLR splits

Friday, 7th March 2014 – 18.0km MLR (4:53/km)

Called into the PP after work for this. Never really too keen to actually go and run so was happy with how it went overall. Faster end of the range (4:50-5:10/km) so that’s a good sign.

Saturday, 8th March 2014 – 12.8km Distance inc. Castlebar Parkrun (4:14/km)

The inaugural Castlebar parkrun was held this morning so I went along for a look. Conditions were windy with misty rain which made for a dreary day. In advance of the run I went for a 2.5km warm-up which allowed me the chance to see part of the course. For the amount of times I’ve been to Castlebar I’d never gone down to Lough Lannagh so this was a first experience of the lakeside walk which looked very impressive and scenic. I returned to base in time to strip off a layer and get to the run briefing. No loudhailer made it a difficult task for the girl speaking and the general murmurings of the 111 strong crowd.

Before long they started the standard 3-2-1 countdown and we were away. I was not very interested in racing this as I’d had a decent session yesterday but I was still peeved to see the woman who started in front of me (about 2/3 of the way to the front) just walk! Probably her first event but still annoying. Anyways, we made our way down through the little Lough Lannagh village and were soon out on the lakeside path. This first lap brings us on an anti-clockwise direction around the lake. This section was in the shelter of trees and a mound of earth which meant we didn’t get the full benefit of the wind. However after approximately 2km we reched the end of the lake and doubled back on the far side which was much more open to the elements and just so happened to be straight into the teeth of the wind. This split was quite slow as we had to combine those issues with the first climb – a 5-6m climb over about 50m. Nothing huge but when running at 5k pace it can be quite tough. By this stage I was in about 13th position and was all prepared for another similar lap until I saw the leaders climbing up a steep hill for an extra portion of distance. It must have been about 10m high and all in the space of about 50m again. I passed a couple of people on this climb and it really slowed most people down significantly. Once atop the hill there was a nice zig-zag descent the far side. Thankfully it was at a gentle gradient and the quads managed it without issue. After that it was a return towards the start of the lap via the pedestrian bridge.

The second lap was more drawn out and less opportunity for passing. At this stage I was blowing hard and my initial idea of cruising around was out the window – I now wanted to maintain position even if I was not that interested in closing the gap in front. Thankfully we didn’t have to climb the bigger hill this time round and eventually we were back at the beginning of the lakeside path and turned right for the finish line. This was a further dent to the motivation as the finish chute was at the top of a modest hill but made it all the more difficult after what wes just been through! I decided I was just gonna jog the remainder as no point in killing myself.

Parkrun splits

I ended up finishing in 12th position in 21:27. My time was pretty woeful but there was a combination of things which made it so and therefore I’m not too disappointed as time was never of importance out there. Instead, another good session of faster stuff so should be of benefit. Regarding the course itself it is a beautiful setting and am looking forward to repeating in the near future. On a sunny, calm day it would be a pure pleasure…just unfortunate we don’t get too many of those days down West!

Part 1 splits

Sunday, 9th March 2014 – 34.4km - 11.9km + 22.5km LSR (5:40/km)

My initial plan to run this in the morning in Mayo gave way to running it in the afternoon in Dublin which resulted in me running it after 7pm! Once I was out running things got even worse as mentally I just didn’t fancy three hours of plodding along but I knew it had to be done.

I started off by doing a lap of my usual 11.9km loop and had been contemplating two more laps to bring the run to 36km but halfway around the first one I knew I’d never survive laps tonight. As I finished it out I dropped back into the apt for a chage of clothes as I was already saturated and didn’t fancy two more hours in the same wet clothes. I got caught with a couple of other things too so I was off the road for about 20mins before I returned.

Part 2 splits

Back on the road and I was feeling much fresher and the rain had mostly passed so things were easier for a while. This time I made for the coast road via Coolock. Once I arrived at the coastal path the view of Dublin Bay was much more appealing and my spirits lifted. I was keeping things at a nice, slow pace yet not really looking at the watch. Before too long I reached Clontarf and then was on my final 6km home which was mainly uphill so that added a nice bit of resistance to the end of the run.

Finished up doing 34.4km in total in 3:13:50 (5:38/km). Afterwards my legs were feeling pretty goo and I could have done an extra few kms if required. So, a success overall and another good week of mileage. Another big mileage week follows culminating in Barcelona marathon on Sunday and then a much needed first rest day in a month next Monday – Can’t wait for both of them!!

Week 8 Summary:

RTW: 8 from 7 days

DTW: 109.4km

DTY: 960.2km

Final Raheny Winter Series 2 mile race

Monday, 3rd March 2014 – 7.4km Distance Run (5:35/km)

An easy paced leg loosener which failed to loosen the legs very much! Could feel the effects of yesterday quite plainly still.

Tuesday, 4th March 2014 – 11.9km Distance Run (5:17/km)

Met Anto for this run and it started off as a pleasant amble but evolved into a decent effort by halfway through til the end. Looking at the splits afterwards it seems the pace wasn’t as fast as expected but the effort was there!

Wednesday, 5th March 2014 – 

AM: 6.5km Distance Run (5:49/km)

I was due a session last night but the legs weren’t up to it so my new plan was to have an Interval type session tonight incorporating the 2 mile race in Raheny. This early morning run therefore was a bid to get some life in the legs. Didn’t quite work as I’d hoped for though and was feeling tired and tight most of the day. Think there is something awry with Garmin data though as the Av Pace would have been a deal faster than 5:49/km. It seems to be having difficulty in differentiating between Av Pace and Av Moving Pace.

PM: 6.5km Interval: Raheny 2 Mile Race (4:01/km)

I had a few ideas about how to approach this but by the time I was running my first km @ 4:12/km (10k Pace) I resorted to the ‘easiest’ option of 1km @ 10k, 2miles @ race pace, 1km @ 10k. This resulted in a good session. The pre & post race kilometres were pretty straightforward. For the race itself I decided I’d start very slowly. I passed about 5 people in the first 800m but they were the low hanging fruit. Along the remainder of the lap I managed to get by another 5 or 6 and went through the first mile in 6:39 which was quite a bit down on the more usual ~6:20 opening lap. During the second lap I fell into a higher effort as the targets were now further apart and required more work. A handful more were passed along here but as I turned the corner for the final straight one of my victims reappeared to float past me. I had foreseen this moments earlier though as he had a very relaxed style so was obviously running well within himself. I kept it steady to finish in a time of 13:09 as called by the marshal but the garmin says it was 13:03 so a little confused about that. Doesn’t really matter anyways as there was a good dose of quality in the run and that was the main thing. Considering the easy first mile I was actually quite happy with my finishing time.

Splits from 2 mile race.

I spent about 60 seconds recovering before setting off on a slow jog for 300m before starting into another fast kilometre clocking in at 4:12 before jogging the remainder back to the race finish. So, a shortish session tonight but it did the trick for what was required. My plan for the remainder of the week is an easy Distance run Thursday with a recovery AM run on Friday followed by a PM MLR run in the Phoenix Park before heading West to Mayo for the weekend. Hopefully I’ll catch the inaugural Castlebar parkrun on Sat morning with a 35k+ LSR on Sunday which will involve no faster stuff this time out.

Week 8 Summary (so far):

RTW: 4 from 3 days

DTW: 32.3km

DTY: 883.1km

Bohermeen 10k + HM

Friday, 28th February 2014 – 16.0km Tempo (5:35/km)

Meant to meet Philip for this tempo session but he called last night to postpone as he had a few too many things on around that time. Called into the PP and parked up for around 2pm. Was not really psyched about running so took a while to get out of the car and then the first 10mins were pretty sluggish. I did one 3km loop of the NE quadrant before finding myself back at the top of Chesterfield Avenue, where it was time to begin my first MP segment.

I had calculated that 4.5km would be roughly equivalent of 20mins so that was my goal distance. For this first segment I was downwind and down a slight incline so I figured I’d aim a little quicker and 4:25/km became my goal pace. Thankfully I managed to hit the pace with ease for the most part but when I had to turn around into the wind for the final 1.5km things were a good deal tougher!

Tempo splits

I then took a 1km recovery period before beginning my second Tempo segment. Because I was a little bit tired from the first one I eased back on the target pace to my actual PMP of 4:30/km (with one eye pointed at Sunday also!). This still felt a little bit harder than the first segment but I still managed to hit pace so I was happy with that. I jogged the remaining distance back to the car, only pausing under a tree for a 3 minute hail downpour to pass!

Saturday, 1st March 2014 – 7.5km Distance (5:35/km)

Was meant to meet Anto in the evening for this but got a raincheck in the afternoon so just went out and took it nice and gently. Everything feeling well for tomorrow.

Two cancellations in two days…must work up on my social skills!!

Sunday, 2nd March 2014 – Bohermeen 10k & HM

My plan for today was to maximise the benefits of my long run. This year a 10km race was taking place in advance of the HM so during the week I decided I’d run the 10k at a relaxed pace and then attempt the HM @ MP for as long as I could manage. I was parked up by 10:45 so it was a trot down to the start area via a brief detour to the clubhouse where I ran into Gary (who was pacing the 90min HM) for a couple of minutes. I dropped a bag at the white fence of the clubhouse and then jogged the remainder of the way to the race start. Not too bad, I already had 1km covered!

10.6km Bohermeen 10km (5:15/km)

The 10k was about 5 mins late startig which was a little concerning to me considering I had to take it easy yet still be back at the HM in only 55mins now! There was a smallish field for this race somewhere around the 300 mark. I took things nice and steady for the first couple of km with about 20 people passing me out in the early stages. I was running at a very relaxed level yet the pace was staying around the 5:15/km mark try as I might to go slower! This course was more undulating than I expected and certainly didn’t look like a PB course so I was thankful I was just jogging it. Around midway I started to reel in a few runners that had been caught out by the inclines but apart from this my main focus was on trying to ignore the icy rain falling on me! Eventually I got around to the main road leading to the clubhouse where I diverted from the finishing lane to my bag for a quick change of tops. I ditched the jacket here as I figured it was so wet it was useless to me but I kept the cap and gloves which were well saturated also but still might prove useful.

21.3km Bohermeen HM (4:40/km)

I jogged from the clubhouse to the race start once more but as I was getting closer I could hear the announcer beginning to countdown to the start while I was still a good bit away yet. By the time the hooter went I was 50m off the back of the pack but it didn’t really matter, simply meant the first few hundred metres were a bit more packed. Over the course of the first 2km I was picking off people while still trying not to get too carried away. Eventually things settled down somewhat and a bit of space appeared.

HM splits

I had planned on running at 4:37/km for the early stages and increasing to 4:30 around the middle so when the first 4km were 4:38/4:40/4:38/4:38 I was happy enough. Around here spotted Anto a little up ahead so this subconsciously brought the pace up a bit so that when I caught him there was little time for chat before I was past them again. This saw me hitting the faster end of the range with a 4:30 followed by a 4:29 so I decided to row things back a little bit with the following splits being 4:36/4:36/4:34/4:41. This brought me around to the top of the hill/bridge over the motorway. I decided to have a mini-breather after the 10km were completed so the halfway point saw a split of 4:51 (where I also had to pause for a few seconds to dump my gloves) before ramping things back up again for a 4:39. The next two kms saw me struggle a bit (4:46/4:43) as the wind was proving a bit more difficult to deal with around this point.

Still happy at the halfway stage.

A couple more faster kms (4:39/4:38) led to a tired final 5km where the splits became a bit more ragged with 4:46/4:45/4:41/4:51/5:00 and then a 4:23/km burst for the final 300m. The final straight from the turn in Ardbraccan was tough but apart from that things went very well. I reckon conditions cost 2-3secs per km so I’m not overly bothered about actual pace being a little down on target. Overall I was very happy with this days work. I still have 8 weeks left to D-Day and with that another 5x 20m+ runs which should bring me on even more. Looking forward too to my little jog in Barcelona now that I don’t have to worry about pushing it. And hopefully the weather will pick up to allow for decent training to prosper!

Almost home!

PS: This av pace was run at the same pace as the Clontarf HM which I paced back in November but without the 11.5km preloaded so that sounds like improvement!

Week 7 Summary:

RTW: 8 from 7 days

DTW: 116.1km

DTY: 850.8km

3/6/4/2 Intervals

Monday, 24th February 2014 – 11.9km Distance (5:20/km)

After the symptoms from last night I got worse overnight and woke in bits! Had to call in sick to work and stayed in bed all day until a pre-arranged run with Anto was confirmed by text at 4:30pm. I had been gradually feeling better from late morning so I felt it would be worth getting a bit of fresh air at the very least and if things worked out I’d manage a few miles. As it turned out the first km was VERY slow and then when Anto joined it was the role reversal of Saturday with him pushing the pace. I felt pretty beat up doing this run but eventually made it around the 11.9km. I fell in a heap onto my bed when I got in my apt. I have felt better after many marathons than I did after this short run at a modest pace! Wrapped up well for the night and got lots of food into me including guilt-free sugar overloads. This all managed to perk me up quite considerably by 1am when I eventually went to bed (Was in bed for so long earlier that I wouldn’t have slept anyways!). Not sure what was going on with my system but it appears to have gone as quickly as it came so I’m happy enough about that. I remember thinking during tonight’s run that “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” and the run certainly appears to have helped me exorcise whatever ailment it was!

Tuesday, 25th February 2014 – 17.0km Intervals: 3x(8/6/4/2) (5:08/km)

I ended up once again getting out late for this run but was feeling confident about it so wasn’t really much of a chore when I eventually headed out after 10:20pm down by the Raheny sea front. The general format to this session was a warm-up followed by three reps of 800m/60secs rec/600m/60secs rec/400m/60secs rec/200m and 4 mins between sets, all closed off with a cool down back to the car.

I parked at St. Annes Park so that I could jog the warm-up into the wind and turnaround at the Wind Monument in Clontarf. This was a progressively tougher run as the wind got stronger the further I ran. It being icy cold helped make things even tougher! Eventually I arrived at the turnaround point and I started into my first set immediately. The pace seemed so easy as I had the wind at my back but over the course of the first rep the wind abated a little and I had to front up with the energy myself! This was my first time doing such an Interval set and I really enjoyed the way the first 800m rep was the toughest by far and that made all the subsequent reps much more manageable. The first set were all generally ahead of target but I was ok with that as the wind was on my back. By the time the 4min recovery kicked in though I was pretty happy for the extended break.

The following two sets went pretty similarly and before I knew it I was at the Sutton end of the seafront and running out of path. The final 400m & 200m reps had to be done on the return direction and into the wind. So whereas I had been easing back slightly on the last few reps to ensure I simply maintained target pace I now had to up the intensity just to hit targets! Soon enough it was all over and just a 3km jog back to the car was left. It was 11:35pm by the time I started my drive home and I reckoned it was the latest finishing time for a run I ever did!

Wednesday, 26th February 2014 – 11.4km Distance (5:35/km)

Today was promised a rare decent day and so it turned out with sunshine even if there was plenty of cold wind to stop one getting too carried away! I had the foresight to bring my gear to work with me and so I hit the Phoenix Park on the way home and tried to beat the evening darkness rolling in.

Kitted out and on my way at 5:30pm and decided on a large loop of the park. The Southbound segment into the cold wind was less than pleasant but soon I was in the shelter of the North Road before battling the breeze again at the top of Chesterfield. Darkness had truly fallen by now so I just completed the full loop and turned back for the car at the corner of Furze and Ordnance. The jog down Furze was probably the highlight of the run as I was away from all the traffic and the sky was a beautiful sight with the orange sunset mixing with the navy sky and grey clouds to somehow exude a purple hue across the vista, all the while perfectly supported by the leaveless treetops of the avenue. By the time I reached the car I clocked 11.4km and was happy enough with that. All these runs in future will get a little longer with the expanding evenings so I felt as if Spring had truly arrived out here this evening!

Thursday, 27th February 2014 – 

AM: 11.9km Distance (5:35/km)

I was attending a seminar in Ballymun this morning so that allowed me to get out for a pleasant Distance run beforehand. Lovely and sunny but the bitterly cold breeze had returned! Kept things nice and handy for this one.

PM: 7.4km Distance (5:25/km)

Another week another double day! After the morning’s run went without incident I took advantage of my chance for a second run of the day. Started off settling on 7.4km after initially planning on 11.9km. However through the run my mind started to persuade me to push on for the longer run but whenever I asked myself what possible advantage would this offer me ahead of tomorrow’s tempo run it always returned empty handed. Stook to my guns and left it at the shorter distance for an impressive 60k from 4 days so far this week.

Week 7 Summary (so far):

RTW: 5 from 4 days

DTW: 59.6km

DTY: 794.3km