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
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