St. Anne's Parkrun

Thursday, 9th January 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:45/km)

This was just a short distance run as the past couple of evenings were pretty intense so glad of the chance to take it easy tonight. It probably helped that the Garmin was very low on battery (stupid thing switched on while it was meant to be charging and then instead of charging properly it actually drained the battery instead!) and so I ran with it as simply a stopwatch. ‘Lapped’ splits at known points but never really bothered with the pace, hence nice and relaxed 5:45/km!

Friday, 10th January 2014 – 14.5km Distance (5:30/km)

Only got out in the evening for this and wasn’t particularly in the mood for it! After yesterdays shorter than recommended run I decided to add a couple of extra kms to todays run. Could feel a little more life in the legs but still kept it easy for tomorrows run…

Saturday, 11th January 2014 – 10.2km St. Anne’s Parkrun (4:04/km) with WU & CD

A long threatening comes at last and after wanting to get a Parkrun in for nearly every of the past 4 weekends I eventually managed to get down for the St. Anne’s run this morning. A short warm-up found me at the starting line area with 5 mins to spare. The run itself was probably about 5 mins late getting started though. I lined up about 25-30 people from the front and in no time we were away!

I settled into a 3:55/km pace as I wasn’t quite so fresh as Wed night. The first lap went smoothly and there was little passing happening. I may have been passed by a couple of people but then passed a couple of others to maintain position. Kept it strong for the 900m avenue run before starting into the second lap. At this point I discarded my cap as I was beginning to overheat by now. The second lap was quite similar with the pace now closer to 4:10/km so things were slowing a bit but I was passing a few people now who were obviously suffering with maintaining to keep the speed til the line. The run-in saw me pass a couple of more people but with about 20m remaining some guy came thundering through to pass about 10 of us – not sure where he came out of but you’d have to think he was taking it handy for the remainder of the race!

Ended up with 20:35 – a course PB – and 27th position out of almost 320 runners/walkers. I reckon I’m not far off a sub 20 performance by now if I ran relatively fresh. Finished things off by going for a recovery run around the park. Even though the plan had included a set of Intervals for the week I replaced it with this race and the 3 mile race on Wed night. I think that was enough 5k paced stuff for the week!

Sunday, 12th January 2014 – 30.8km LSR (5:13/km)

Today called for a LSR of between 31-35km with the final 6km @ MTP (4:36/km). However, after a late night last night I was skeptical about the fast 6km to say the least. The nature of my route meant the final 10km would be into the breeze and net uphill most of the way. This allied with me being tired before I ever set off meant I’d already pretty much scrapped the faster section in my head.

The first 10km were net downhill and into the breeze, so I was relatively pleased to manage to keep the average pace close to 5:00/km around here. The middle 10km came along the coast road and the breeze was now on my back and the route flat. Early in this section I maintained my sub 5min pace but about halfway along here my energy levels were clearly beginning to suffer and the average lap pace was dropping by a few seconds, yet nothing dramatic.

Finally I was heading for home but this helped me nothing! Once I hit the Kilbarrack Road the effort required became so much tougher! The final 10km was like a death march. When I got to Coolock at 25km I had to do the unthinkable and pause for about a minute. My HR was remaining low but my breathing had become very shallow so a few deep breaths and stretches got me back on track a little bit but I was really running off fumes by now! Eventually I made it back to home having covered almost 31km which I was very accepting of, all things considered!

Pretty sure it was mainly down to very poor nutrition throughout the day – I was intending to go ‘any minute now’ for several hours so never planned/managed to eat a sufficient meal. A good reminder to prepare properly for all future LSRs!

Week 1 Summary:

RTW: 7 from 7 days

DTW: 97.9km

DTY: 180.7km

Return to Raheny Winter League

Monday, 6th January 2014 – 11.9km Distance run (5:11/km)

I was a little tired after work and would probably have taken the day as a complete Rest day had I not already arranged to meet Anto for a run directly after work. As it was we took the first fewkms relatively easy and things started to come together. It was a pretty windy evening so we decided to throw in 3km of faster running which Anto was seeking along Collins Avenue and up the Swords Road. These came in at 4:48/4:47/4:37 and I think both of us were pretty happy when the time came that we could slow down again!

A good run which I may otherwise have missed out on.

Tuesday, 7th January 2014 – 13.4km MPT run with 3x15mins @ 4:36/km

I changed the sessions around this week as, with the Raheny 3 miler tomorrow evening, I hope to be able to recover a little better from this MT pace run than the alternative Interval session which was originally planned.

The run itself called for a 16-20km total with 3 reps of 15mins at marathon tempo pace (4:36/km). The pace itself didn’t worry me too much, rather it is the current, seemingly endless windy conditions that I dreaded. I knew conditions would make the run tougher and that by running this pace my actual effort would be several bpm higher. However, this training plan is all about paces so I was going to have to match what was required.

I did the usual 1km warm-up but as I was about to start into my first rep I noticed the signal still hadn’t been located so I decided to stop and wait for it to register, which it did after about 60 seconds. With that I started into the first 15mins of MP. This went pretty well and I ended up clocking in at an average of 4:31/km, so a bit ahead of plan but it was a favourable segment. For the second rep I was faced with the uphill section along the Ballymun road so for the first km which was all uphill to register in 4:39 I was pretty happy. I maintained the effort before managing to close out the rep in an average of 4:35/km. The final rep was into the wind for a decent section but again I mnaged to get around in an average of 4:34/km. Thankfully most of the last 1.5km was downwind so the tiring legs didn’t have to work quite so hard!

So, I beat the goal pace for all three segments which I was delighted with as conditions weren’t really helping in the main. Almost 10km @ MPT overall even if I did come short of the recommended distance for the evening. Not really bothered about that though as I already have last night’s run in the bank!

Wednesday, 8th January 2014 – 9.7km Raheny 3 mile race (4:07/km)

Tonight was round 4 of the Raheny Winter League Series and my first race in it this season. I was eager to see where I lay in terms of faster races but knew with the elevated ammount of miles recently and last nights tempo session that I wouldn’t be quite up to my potential this evening. These races are very low key, so much so that you simply rock up to the clubhouse about 7:30pm to pay the entry fee of €7, get your number and then head off for a mini warm-up. This usually means an easy lap of the 1 mile course and then a few stretched before gathering for the 8pm start with the 50 or so other runners.

Tonight was a particularly wet night but at least the recent windy weather had ended. The course is 3 laps of a very flat one mile loop beside St. Anne’s Park. It’s run through an estate which means the street lighting illuminates the course if somewhat dimly. I lined up with about 20 people in front of me. Finally, at about 8:05 we were set away.

I got caught up a little in the early melee for positions and by the time I realised where I was I decided to ease back from the 3:45/km pace after 300m towards a more sustainable 4:00/km pace. Things had settled quickly enough but after about 900m the eventual lady winner went past looking very composed. I kept it steady all the way to the finish of the first lap where I went through 1 mile in 6:30. This was a little slower than I’d hoped for but only by a few seconds and I was hoping this was a reasonably sustainable pace.

Around this time a local runner was on my shoulder. We ran the next km next to each other but once we turned the following corner he started to slowly put daylight between us. I felt myself slowing but couldn’t respond. I reasoned this was to be expected given the reasons outlined earlier so just went with it. I trailed ‘Colm’ through the 2 mile marker in 13:25! I couldn’t believe I was that slow as I’d been expecting only a slightly slower mile than the first one but yet it was a 6:55!

With the final mile I decided I’d try emptying the tank altogether. Unfortunately though the body was not in agreement! The legs were heavy and the lungs were tired so it ended up being more of the same with the gap to Colm widening a little more but I was never in serious threat of dropping a further place as I could hear the next guys footsteps on the sprint to the line and I ensured to keep him behind me. Ended up crossing the finish in 20:14 – 18th position (out of 49) and 16 seconds behind Colm with a 3 second gap to the next finisher. Final mile was 6:49. Finished off with a 2km cool-down to bring the distance for the evening up to almost 10km.

Pretty steady HR all the way through shows the effort was there but perhaps the output was lacking.

Not sure exactly what to make of this. Hoped to be closer to an averag pace of 4:00/km but it is a PB (20:27 & 21:10 on the same course last Winter) which is encouraging amongst the current workload. I’ll keep plugging away anyways with the Tuam 8km next weekend before the Raheny 5 miler the following weekend. I’ll try giving myself an easyish lead-in to those races to see if I can do serious damage to my 5 mile PB (34:46 in Terenure 2012). I’d be hoping for sub 33mins if conditions are favourable.

Week 1 Summary (so far):

RTW: 3 from 3 days

DTW: 35.0km

DTY: 117.8km

Year 2...

OK, I think that's enough of the New Year's references!!

Wednesday, 1st January 2014 – 13.0km Distance run (5:25/km)

I awoke to a raw throat and sniffly head this morning and when I looked out the window it was a pretty rotten morning so I debated the merits of running the 5k race. There was no way I would PB today (most likely would be about 40 seconds off PB if I was feeling 100%) and the fact that I had not pre-entered the race (meaning I would have to fork out €25 for the misery!) all resulted in me going for a recovery style Distance run in the park instead.

I was still unsure if I’d enter the race or not even while doing the first couple of kms (I had the entry fee in my pocket just in case!) but running South along Chesterfield Avenue cleared my mind and the strong wind present once and for all made my decision for me. As it was I ran by the start area and had a look out for familiar faces but could see none just yet. So I continued on for a lap of the US Ambassador’s residence/Papal Cross fields. I took this pretty handy as I had been made aware that the 5:00/km Distance pace I’d been targetting on my first few runs was unnecessarily quick. Something got lost in translation and I’d zoned in on hitting a target pace. Instead the plan actually calls for a flexible pace, one that the body is capable of on the day with the main focus being on recovery from tough sessions. So then, pretty much a recovery run as per P&D? Well yes, but with the flexibility to go as fast or as slow as you feel like whereas P&D was a bit more prescriptive about staying pretty slow.

I had returned to the race start area with about 5 mins remaining to the start. Again I failed to spot many people apat from Kate with whom I briefly chatted. I waited fro the field to start their race before continuing on my way for a few more kms. Before long I was back towards the Finish area and managed to catch the lead guys finishing in a great 2 man battle. This is something I rarely get to see as I’m usually further back in the race field istelf so it was entertaining. Afterwards I met Philip and a few of his Celbridge AC teammates who I met in Rotterdam. Also chatted with Medbh briefly before I took off for the closing 2km of my run. When I arrived back at my car I had managed to rack up 13km but it felt like nothing due to all the distractions of the race. Great to get it out of the way so early. As for the race itself, I think I definitely made the correct decision even if the weather got significantly more placid for the runners while they were on course.

Thursday, 2nd January 2014 - 21.4km MLR run (4:58/km)

The plan called for a MLR between 16km - 21km. The worrying part though was the pace required (4:50/km) as it would mean a tough run in what were tough conditions out there this evening. My thinking at the beginning was to warm-up with a few km at 5:00/km and then ramp it up til I hit 4:50 average pace. The reality though was that after 2km I turned Eastwards into the seabreeze and rain and this would continue in my face for the next 8km or so. By then I was happy to allow the conditions to claim 10secs/km so I maintained the pace in around 5:00/km for the duration of the run. Things felt good until the final 5km where I began to feel somewhat tired and it felt like a little extra work was required. But then I guess this is the part that improves us as runners! I upped the pace over the final 2.5km enough to result in an overall average moving pace of 4:58/km which I was very happy with as I went 400m over the upper end of the distance range. So, a very useful MLR which leads me into my LSR this Sunday. With a tempo to come on Saturday I feel like Monday’s Rest Day will not be messed with!

Friday, 3rd January 2014 - 11.9km Distance (5:28/km)

Just an easy 11.9km loop this evening to keep things ticking over. Kept the pace nice and relaxed with a mind to the tough two days to follow.

Saturday, 4th January 2014 - 11.9km MTP with 9km @ 4:34/km

This week asks for a MP run the day before the LSR. I presume this is as an introduction of what is to come next week when we combine the MTP kms into the LSR - Not looking forward to that!! Anyways, I went for the usual 'figure of 8' loop so the Southerly wind and the hills were always set against each other. The first few kms went well but by halfway I was beginning to feel it. Thankfully though I managed to maintain it all the way to the end of 9km, which was actually a little more than the upper limit of 40mins, so that's a good sign!

After the run I lay on the couch smugly watching the Gunners knock the stuffing out of a very poor Spurs team...what a day!

Sunday, 5th January 2014 - 24.6km LSR run (5:07/km)

Met up with Colm from Boards for this run in the Phoenix Park. We started off towards the canal but as we were about to turn left towards Blanch we saw that section was closed off, presumably from the recent wild weather. Instead we turned right, towards Phibsborough before turning around at the Des Kelly shop. We retraced our route for the most part back to the cars where we paused for a drink of water and to ditch our jackets. The day had started off poor enough but we were now pretty warm even if there was still quite a breeze in places.

We went back out tothrow in a large lap of the park and before long we were back at the cars again. I was done with my 24.5km but Colm went out for another loop. With the MTP run yeterday I was quite tired throughout today's run so was glad of the company. If left to my own devices I would surely have gone a bit slower out of mental laziness! As it was it rounded off a big week of training with almost 109km for the week with quite a lot of quality thrown in there too. 

Week 52 Summary (so far):

RTW: 7 from 7 days

DTW: 108.7km

DTY: 82.8km

Out with the old and in with the new...

(Hear Jimi play in the new year from 1:00 into this video!)

Monday, 30th December 2013 - 14.0km with Intervals: 3 x 2km @ 10km pace (4:13/km)

Nice lie-in this morning meant that it was early afternoon before I got out for this run. With my intention to do the 5km race on Wednesday I decided to move the Interval session for the week forward to today, so I drove to the Phoenix Park. After a 3km warm-up I decided to do these intervals along the roads of Wednesday's race for a little extra familiarity. I really love this loop as it's pretty much flat and at about 2.6km it's not too long.

The first 2km interval was probably a little tougher than I'd expected. I'd planned on 4:15/km as my target pace (10km PB is 42:22 = 4:14/km) and found the little bit of wind to be making the run just that extra bit tough. Managed to claim paces of 4:18/4:11 for these 2km. At this stage I ran back towards my car to dispatch my cap and jacket.

This seemed to do the trick as my next Interval was a little more manageable with splits of 4:08/4:13/km. I was meant to take 3 mins between reps but on the first rest period I ended up taking a little extra as I had to reach my car and throw my stuff into it, so that this was more like 4mins. The second rest period was kept to 3 mins however. The final interval began well with a 4:15 first km, but the second split was fading a way a little before I had to rally somewhat towards the end to grab a 4:14 split. For one of the first times in a long, long time I had to slow to a walk for 45 seconds just to regain breath. A final 3.5km meant I tagged on 14km for the day with a very satisfying session in the middle.

Tuesday, 31st December 2013 - 11.9km Distance run (5:01/km)

Another very relaxed day of hols meant that it was early evening before I got out for this Distance run. The perfect run for recovery from yesterday's session and the race tomorrow, I kept things easy and did the 11.9km route at a comfortable enough 5:01/km. With 3k to go I eased off to 5:25/km in order to avoid weariness for tomorrow, before picking it up again over the last 800m.

Under pressure for a few pints tonight with it being NYE and all but will hopefully be reasonably good with tomorrow's race on the horizon. I've dodged a couple of short races already over the holiday season but really intend running this regardless as it could be a real marker for me for the new year.

Week 52 Summary (so far):

RTW: 2 from 2 days

DTW: 25.9km

DTY: 3,835.8km

...and a Happy New Year!

Friday, 27th December 2013 - 9.0km Marathon Tempo Pace (4:39/km)

After the race yesterday and several hours in the pub afterwards (although I was good and home by 11pm!!) I was surprised to find my pace on this run being so brisk. I'm thinking it's a result of all my running being quite a bit faster due to the new plan that I find it less fearsome to run at Marathon Tempo pace even when I don't need to. I'm sure in a few weeks time I'll be crying out for a 5min+ pace but for the time being it's pretty nice to be able to go for an 'easy' run at this pace!

Saturday, 28th December 2013 - 16.0km Distance (5:12/km)
Met up with my mate Kieran for this run. He's not a runner but is pretty fit from playing football continuously. He struggled over the early mile or two but settled into it afterwards. Thankfully he managed to stay out for 16km which was his second longest run ever (only ever ran longer on a similar run with myself about 18 months ago!). He is someone who was always much faster and fitter than me when we were younger but it's gratifying to see how much the roles have reversed these days. The regular conversation now is over what distance would he beat me these days and I've managed to whittle down his estimations to 800m-1,500m range. To be honest I'd be pretty confident even down to 400m although the kick he managed to hand out to me with 100m to go means that he'll always have the sprint distances! An enjoyable run.

Sunday, 29th December 2013 - Rest Day
I got a bit lazy today and failed to get myself out the door. A combination of a slightly sore throat, driving to Dublin and then a night out combined to consign this run to the bin. Anything I would have done would be extra bonus territory anyways so a rest day is probably just as advantageous considering the upped pace and a solid 6 days under my belt already.

Week 51 Summary:

RTW: 6 from 7 days

DTW: 67.4 km

DTY: 3,809.9 km

Manulla 4 Mile race

Monday, 23rd December, 2013 - 12.2km Intervals 3x(800m/600m/600m) @ 5k pace (5:10/km)

Last weeks intervals were at MTP which I found quite straightforward. It was only later that evening that I discovered all future intervals would be quicker and therefore more difficult! This was the first of these sessions. Each rep consisted of 800m, 90 secs recovery, 600m, 90 secs recovery and 600m before a 4minute recovery in between each rep. The pace was 5k pace which I 'declared' to be between 4:00 and 4:10/km. Having not ran a fast 5k for a long time I knew my current pace was a bit off so I gave myself a decent range to hit.

Before the run I pre-programmed the session into my watch. Unfortunately due to it being my first 'workout' I ended up fiddling with the watch around 1km into my warm-up and accidentally set the session off! I hesitated for a second before realising I had no choice but to dive in and begin! As it turned out I managed the first rep ok - it felt tough but I hit my target ranges, however I wasn't exactly looking forward to the next two reps!

It was a very blustery evening to tie in with my quick session so when my second rep recorded intervals at 4:12, 4:19 & 4:09 I knew conditions were conspiring against me. The 4:19 was primarily uphill also. I was now really struggling to keep pace but given the last rep was mostly back on the flat I managed to eke out 4:10, 4:14 & 4:08.

So, overall a bit of a struggle but am hopeful the numbers will be much improved on a calmer day.

Tuesday, 24th December, 2013 - 6.5km Distance (5:10/km)
This was a short run to pick up my car after being out for a few beers the night before. I took advantage of the South Westerly wind and managed the final few kms at a decent clip. Glad the car wasn't much further away all the same!

Wednesday, 25th December, 2013 - 16.1km MLR (4:53/km)
Christmas Day down West brought a beautiful afternoon for running.I did my usual 10 mile route where I managed to hold a steady clip of 4:53 all the way around. Got a little bit tired around 7 miles but managed to up the effort again over the final 2 miles. Great run and set me up well for the Christmas dinner to follow!

Thursday, 26th December, 2013 - 7.6km Manulla 4 Mile Race (4:13/km)
The by-now traditional Manulla 4mile Stephen's Day race took place at noon at the local Soccer Club. Approximately 200 people turned out for this on what was again almost perfect conditions (a small amount of surface ice at one corner had to be carefully negotiated). I lined up about 3 rows back from the front and after a 10 minute delay for late registrations we were away.

This is a hilly route with about 7 short but steep hills of 10m or more dotted along the course so it's not exactly PB material. My first km came in at 3:57 which considering it included two of those hills was a bit fast so early. I kept a good pace for the next few kms, passing a handful but being passed by a couple of others. Over the course of the final 2 miles there wasn't much changing of places but I did get passed by a couple of guys going over the final hill. An indicator that although my pace was decent I don't have the required strength towards the end of short races yet - hopefully though that will come over the next few weeks.

I kept a decent rate over the final 400m to maintain a wide gap to the guy behind me and ended up coming across the finish line in 27:33 and 31st place. This was a 90sec improvement on last year when I ran even though I was pretty sick at the time. Quite happy at maintaining the 4:13/km pace over a hilly 6.5km course so looking forward to running the Tom Brennan over a flat course in the Phoenix Park next Wednesday.

Week 51 Summary (so far):

RTW: 4 from 4 days

DTW: 42.4 km

DTY: 3,784.9 km

Merry Christmas!

I had planned on following a Jack Daniel's plan for my next marathon cycle but during the week I saw a link to the Boston Marathon advanced training programme which seems to suit what I'm looking for pretty closely. There's much more running at a faster pace and the vast majority of my training will be closer to Marathon Pace. One thing I will need to keep an eye on is the increased effort and try to avoid succumbing to any injuries. Hopefully my pretty good record in the past along with the 2,350 miles I've already ran this year will see me through the plan safely and healthily.

Monday, 16th December, 2013 - 6.5km Recovery Run (5:31/km)

This was just a recovery run to get back running after a week off. I expected my legs to be nice and fresh but instead they were pretty annoyed to be called into action!

Tuesday, 17th December, 2013 - 11.9km Easy Run (5:13/km)

I met up with Anto for this run and what was expected to be a relaxed run instead had several 5min kms thrown into the mix. Good that this happened though as I'd have taken it easy had I been on my own.

Wednesday, 18th December, 2013 - 7.6km Distance Run (5:00/km)

Today was the day I got turned on to the new plan so this meant a faster run than normal. Legs are feeling the effort of a faster average pace so far this week but I think it'll be good for them!

Thursday, 19th December, 2013 - 11.9km 5 x 1,000m @ MTP - 4:33/km (4:51/km)

Strangely I liked this run with the Marathon Tempo Pace intervals. I was running at an effort that felt right so I rarely consulted the watch but thankfully I was on target whenever I did!

Friday, 20th December, 2013 - 12.4km Distance Run (5:18/km)

Another meet up with Anto and again we went a bit faster than scheduled. I had allowed myself to take it a bit easier this evening but the actual quicker pace was what was really required so happy with this.

Saturday, 21st and Sunday 22nd December, 2013 - Rest Days.

Christmas season has truly kicked-in and allied with the terrible weather I baled on both days this weekend. One of them was a Rest Day anyways but the other was a short 'Distance' run.
I had planned on doing the Clonliffe Cracker 5k race around my Estate but in the end I decided against paying €20 for running a race in crappy conditions when I was nowhere near PB form myself, and all with a hangover! So, that's 0 from 3 for me and this race. It would be so much better suited to early new year than the last Sunday before Christmas!

Week 50 Summary:

RTW: 5 from 7 days

DTW: 50.3 km

DTY: 3,742.5 km