Felt good on this for the most part and as a result I fell into a steady pace run. I was thinking I should really back off as I am hoping to run with the Club tomorrow (after a long break!) so want to have some energy for that. Pig-headedly I continued on with a pace similar to Saturday’s HM pacing gig. A couple of slight niggles/tightness afterwards but nothing to really compain about.
Tuesday, July 7th: 10.0km Tempo Session (4.3km @ 4:24/km)
Myself and Roisin were supposed to be joining the club this evening but when we got down there the sessions didn’t suit (Track Intervals) so we went off for a tempo session of our own instead. This involved 800m laps of an industrial park which we’d covered back in early Spring. The idea was that I’d hit off for 5 laps at 4:25/km pace and aim to catch Roisin after 4 laps of her 5:20/km tempo. It worked well but it took about an extra 300m to catch her. This gave me a 4.3km Tempo session without really having to think about it (even though there was a reasonable breeze on half the circuit). We’d have done more but had to cut it short due to time. We’ll be back next week for more of the same, but longer!
Wednesday, July 8th: 18.0km MLR (5:26/km)
Stopped off in the PP for this MLR. Parked in the usual spot and decided to take in the Canal toe path rather than the park (which is getting a little too familiar recently). All went very well and the legs were reasonably fine after last night’s Tempo session. I really enjoy the stretch from Ashtown westwards up to the 12th lock with the relatively fresh tarmac. The Broombridge end is much rougher surface, mainly from illegal fires burning into the path surface!
Thursday, July 9th: Rest Day
Had to meet up with some people visiting Dublin so failed to get out for a run today. Couldn’t run at work either as had a Pilates class instead.
Friday, July 10th: 30.0km LSR with last 12km @ MP(4:47/km) (5:14/km)
This was the big one of the week! I was planning all week on running an extra km today in order to hit the 30km mark. 30km always signals a big run in my mind, kinda like a 20 mile run for imperialists(!) out there, yet it’s 2 km shorter!
By Friday afternoon I was tired after work so went for a power nap before hitting the roads around 5:30pm. A few quick laps of the local park before my route began the out & back section via Coolock, Raheny, Kilbarrack and back again through Coolock. I wasn't feeling very fresh for the initial 7-8km but things soon got better. By the time I reached the coast there was a temperature drop of about 5 degrees in the final 50 metres - A total micro-climate around Dublin Bay!
After adding on an extra couple of kms towards Sutton, I considered adding in a faster section towards the end of the run. I knew it was about 10km from the Coast road directly back to the apartment so I thought I'd try doing 5km+ at MP. The first km was easy but the second km coincided with the start of a long slight drag which would continue nearly all the way home. I reset my target pace to be anything faster than 5:00/km as opposed to 4:45/km as I had originally hoped for. Thankfully though the tougher part of the hill was short and I was back on original target pace again within a couple of minutes.
By the time I arrived back at Northwood Demesne I knew I'd require a couple of 1 mile laps to hit the 30km goal for today's run. So, instead of easing back off MP pace I decided to stick with it all the way to the end for what I reckoned in total would be a 10km section @ MP. A little while later I arrived back at the apt as planned with 30km flat on the Garmin. It was only when I loaded the run onto GarminConnect that I realised I'd actually ran 12km @ MP! I was pleasantly chuffed with this and the even better thing was that I felt I could have ran a few extra MP kms still!
This was a huge confidence builder for me so, with 11 weeks to go, I'm in position A1 for Berlin. Just need to build on that over the next 8 weeks and stay fit now!
Saturday, July 11th: 6.1km Hartstown Parkrun (20:59)
I was intent on running a parkrun this morning regardless of the big run yesterday so I ventured once again to Hartstown to meet up with Gary.
Only, I didn’t!
I arrived a little late so as I was running up to the start line the pack were already gone about 35 seconds! This was my third time arriving late for a parkrun (Malahide and Poppintree previously) and to be honest it’s quite enjoyable slicing through the main bunch throughout the first half of the race.
I said hello to Gary as I passed by after about 600m and at that stage I was in about 25th position. Kept picking others off for the next 10 mins before plateauing around the 3km marker. Passed one or two more between here and the end but by now people were going at my pace.
Obviously the body wasn’t able to put in an optimal performance but I was quite happy when arriving over the finish line just a couple of seconds under 21mins (Garmin time) for 8th place in the end. Looking back at the official times I would have finished in about 5th position if I was there from the start. Finished off with a 1.1k cool down.
Sunday, July 12th: 12.0km Recovery #1 (7km @ 5:31/km) & Recovery #2 (5km @ 5:34/km)
To cap off a great week of running I was feeling good in the morning so went out for a recovery run to get the legs moving. Kept it short and went out later in the evening for a second recovery as it was perfect running conditions. No niggles at all and the legs aren’t too tired so, all in all, feeling good!
Week Summary:
RTW: 7 from 7 days
DTW: 88.5km
DTY: 1,567.6km
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