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

Getting there slowly.

Monday, 30th June 2014 – 7.0km Distance

Easy run to get back into things. Again, felt a little too tough to feel easy! Did some weights and a few S&C exercises before and after. Stretched out the glutes pretty well. Trying to keep the distance lowish this week to ease back into things slowly.

Tuesday, 1st July 2014 – Rest Day

Had things on this evening so gave running a miss.

Wednesday, 2nd July 2014 – 7.0km Distance (5:18/km)

Managed a short run before going to see Eels play in the Olympia at 8pm.

Thursday, 3rd July 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:30/km)

Nothing much to report on this one apart from legs still taking their time to recover.

Friday, 4th July 2014 – 11.9km Long Run(!)

Long run of the week. What would normally be my short run! Did the old usual loop with the legs feeling it a bit towards the end. Pretty tired after this which suggests my firness is now at a 3 year low! But I guess that’s where things are and hopefully get back a lot of fitness quickly before the improvement starts to taper off.

Saturday, 5th July 2014 – Rest Day

Drove West this morning. Nothing planned for the weekend.

Sunday, 6th July 2014 – Rest Day

Returned back to Dublin this evening.

Week 26 Summary:

RTW: 4 from 7 days

DTW: 33.3km

DTY: 1,644.2km

Monday, 7th July 2014 – Rest Day

Took today off again. Mainly due to lack of motivation.

Tuesday, 8th July 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:14/km)

A quick run before the 1st WC semi final. Decent average pace. Garmin is still acting up big time though and I really should do something about it…

Went to Ben Folds play the National Concert Hall later in the evening and ended up missing the German trouncing of Brazil! Concert was still very good though!

Wednesday, 9th July 2014 – 8.0km Fartlek (5:10/km)

This week I intend keeping the runs around 8k+ but on this one I felt good so made it a little fartlek workout. The hamstrings definitely don’t like the faster stuff yet but by alternating fast with slow I am managing to reintroduce the feeling of running a bit faster. Still way off being niggle free but it’s getting less nigglesome for sure!

Thursday, 10th July 2014 – Rest Day

Took a rest day to make sure I wasn’t overdoing things.

Friday, 11th July 2014 – Rest Day

Tired today due to poor sleep during the week so just took it as another Rest Day.

Saturday, 12th July 2014 – 15.1km LSR

With the pacing gig in the Rock n Roll HM coming up n a few weeks I felt the need to prove I can run most of that distance still so I ran down the Ballymun Road before taking a right along the Royal Canal until I reached Ratoath Road. Returned to the apartment and registered 15km for the run. Only tough time really came when I turned at halfway with the breeze now on my back I started overheat in the clammy conditions. Once the breeze caught me from the side I began to cool down and things got easier. Could have gone another couple of kms easily if I had to.

Sunday, 13th July 2014 – 5.0km Recovery Run

Managed to get out for an easy 5km in the local park as a recovery run. Everything feeling ok-ish.

Week 27 Summary:

RTW: 4 from 7 days

DTW: 35.5km

DTY: 1,679.7km

Monday, 14th July 2014 – 11.9km Fartlek (5:10/km)

Felt good on this run so went with the flow of a Fartlek session. Some quicker bits and some gentler bits. Feels like I’m getting over this injury at last perhaps…?

Tuesday, 15th July 2014 – 5.3km Distance (5:46/km)

Ran this with Roisin. Took it nice and handy – just what was required.

Wednesday, 16th July 2014 – Rest Day

I was tempted to go out this evening and continue my momentum but I gave way to sensible thoughts and the realisation that the recovery is still finely balanced. No point in pushing too much too soon. Settled for the rest day, especially in advance of the race tomorrow.

Thursday, 17th July 2014 – 7.0km St James’ Liberties 6k Race (4:15/km)

I arrived in plenty of time for this race and picked up my race pack. Roisin was running this also so we did a small warmup together although the main issue was to stay cool as the evening was warm and muggy.

I lined up about 20m from the front and with no particular goal in mind I ran the first 10 minutes at what felt like slightly easier than 5k effort. My garmin was running low on energy so I just had it on stopwatch mode to allow the battery last til the finish. As a result I was unable to know for sure what my pace was until we hit halfway and I noticed the 3k marker. When I saw the time on the watch I estimated that a sub 26 min finishing time would be a good target as I was almost 13 mins at this stage.

The second half of the race was a little tougher but I maintained good effort and was able to rate my pace against the 4k & 5k markers before turning the final corner and the 250m run-in to the finish. Ended up in 25:36 in the end for an average pace of 4:15/km. Very happy with that as it was the first bit of fast stuff I’d really done since March.

Friday, 18th July 2014 – 6.0km Distance (5:27/km)

I managed to get out for a short run this afternoon as a leg loosener after last night’s race. I had flirted with the thought of running a long run today but as it was 6km was more than enough! Finished off the evening with 9 holes of golf and a few drinks in Howth.

Saturday, 19th July 2014 – Rest Day (cycling + football)

I had to cycle 15km to Howth to get my car after last night and then head straight to the Phoenix park for a football training session. Given that I don’t think I’ll be PB’ing in either Berlin or Dublin I’ve decided to play a bit of football this Autumn in parallel with running. I’m hoping a bit of lateral movement will help build up my joints and give more strength overall as the past two years of straight line running has probably taken its toll. I’ll see how this one works out! So, even though it was a Rest Day it was more like a cross training day!

Sunday, 20th July 2014 – 11.5km Fingal 10k Race (4:33/km)

Myself, Roisin, Robbie and Peter.

My return to training continued with the Fingal 10k race today. Once again Roisin was also running so we did a quick warm-up as we had to get to the County Council offices in order to grab a new race number. We then made our way to the start but had to split up into the sub 50 and over 50min waves. I then had to wait 10 mins before we got underway at 10am.

The first mile was a drag uphill as far as the Swords by-pass until we started on a slightly downhill couple of kms. By the early stages I knew I could feel Thursday’s race still in my legs and the muggy, heavy conditions weren’t adding any freshness! I settled into a 4:30 av pace, already aware that this was significantly slower than the 4:15 pace for the 6k race. I wasn’t too bothered though as this was just another step back to fitness so it was all helping. I noticed Karen C go past me in the first km and I would normally be racing her at that stage but I knew today was a little too soon for that!

After 4k we turned off the by-pass and onto the 4km of country lanes. These roads were quite sheltered and there was little breeze to freshen things up. I threw a cup of water over myself at the first station at 4k but almost immediately the cooling effects were lost! I kept plugging away until we arrived at the two fire engines sprying a delightful cool shower on to us. This effect lasted up to a full minute before I started heating up again!

The final two km saw us return to Swords but I was now beginning to fade. I managed to keep reasonably close to pace on km 9 but the final km contained a long drag which was just too much and I lost about 10 seconds in that struggle. Eventually I made it across the line in 45:40. I wasn’t too happy with that time but settled for what it was and that it’s another step on the road to recovery. It’d be nice to go sub 45 in Balla next Saturday as I should be fresher.

Week 28 Summary:

RTW: 5 from 7 days

DTW: 41.7km

DTY: 1,721.4km