Tidying up the residue!

Wow! Another 5 weeks of no updates! Here is a go at catching up by way of a summary of my (lack of) Autumnal running - I hope to get back on track with the log this week!

Monday, 6th October 2014 – Rest Day

Tuesday, 7th October 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:16/km)
Wednesday, 8th October 2014 – Rest Day
Thursday, 9th October 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:26/km)
Friday, 10th October 2014 – Rest Day
Saturday, 11th October 2014 – Rest Day
Sunday, 12th October 2014 – Rest Day

Week 40 Summary:
RTW: 2 from 7 days
DTW: 14.8km
DTY: 2,200.3km

Monday, 13th October 2014 – Rest Day
Tuesday, 14th October 2014 – Rest Day
Wednesday, 15th October 2014 – Rest Day
Thursday, 16th October 2014 – Rest Day
Friday, 17th October 2014 – Rest Day
Saturday, 18th October 2014 – 4.8km Distance (5:31/km)
Sunday, 19th October 2014 – Rest Day

Week 41 Summary:
RTW: 1 from 7 days
DTW: 4.8km
DTY: 2,205.1km

Monday, 20th October 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:23/km)
Tuesday, 21st October 2014 – 6.4km Distance (5:53/km)
Wednesday, 22nd October 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:32/km)
Thursday, 23rd October 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:31/km)
Friday, 24th October 2014 – Rest Day
Saturday, 25th October 2014 –6.3km St Annes Parkrun (25:10)
Sunday, 26th October 2014 –5.1km Breakfast Run

Week 42 Summary:
RTW: 6 from 7 days
DTW: 40.0km
DTY: 2,245.1km

Monday, 27th October 2014 – 42.7 Dublin Marathon (4:09:04)
Tuesday, 28th October 2014 – Rest Day
Wednesday, 29th October 2014 – Rest Day
Thursday, 30th October 2014 – Rest Day
Friday, 31st October 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:47/km)
Saturday, 1st November 2014 – 5.7km Poppintree Parkrun (22:13)
Sunday, 2nd November 2014 – 4.7km Distance (5:59/km) / 7.4km Distance (5:34/km)

Week 43 Summary:
RTW: 2 from 7 days
DTW: 65.9km
DTY: 2,310.0km

Monday, 3rd November 2014 – 6.5km Distance (4:50/km)
Tuesday, 4th November 2014 – Rest Day
Wednesday, 5th November 2014 – Rest Day
Thursday, 6th November 2014 – Rest Day
Friday, 7th November 2014 – Rest Day
Saturday, 8th November 2014 – 11km Sea2Summit (2:17:09)
Sunday, 9th November 2014 – Rest Day

Week 44 Summary:
RTW: 2 from 7 days
DTW: 17.5km
DTY: 2,327.5km

Monday, 10th November 2014 – Rest Day
Tuesday, 11th November 2014 – Rest Day
Wednesday, 12th November 2014 – Rest Day
Thursday, 13th November 2014 – Rest Day
Friday, 14th November 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:27/km)
Saturday, 15th November 2014 – 5.6km Hartstown Parkrun (23:13)
Sunday, 16th November 2014 – 9.8km Distance (5:41/km)

Week 45 Summary:
RTW: 2 from 7 days
DTW: 22.8km
DTY: 2,350.3km

Where have all the weeks gone??

Right, I’m so far behind by now that a simple listing of activity is all I can do to catch up at this stage!

Monday, 1st September 2014 – Rest Day – Post EP blues!

Tuesday, 2nd September 2014 – 11.9km Distance (5:26/km)

Wednesday, 3rd September 2014 – 8.0km Distance (5:41/km)

Thursday, 4th September 2014 – 12.6km Failed LSR (5:42/km)

I attempted an LSR this evening but was so tired from the EP weekend and just generally not in the mood for it that I only lasted 12.6km. Not happy quitting this!

Friday, 5th September 2014 – 5.0km Distance (5:58/km)

Saturday, 6th September 2014 – 7.8km St. Anne’s Parkrun – Intervals (4:08/km)

I ran this as an interval session so I ran 4 x 600m + 1 x 800m at 4:00/km effort. Unfortunately this did not correlate to pace so my speed got slower throughout. Not too surprising really as it was my first bit of faster stuff for a long time. Just did the recovery parts to regain my breath while trying to avoid too many passing me!

Sunday, 7th September 2014 – 10.7km Distance (5:25/km)

Week 35 Summary:

RTW: 6 from 7 days

DTW: 56.0km

DTY: 1,964.8km

Monday, 8th September 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:07/km)

Tuesday, 9th September 2014 – 30.0km LSR (5:50/km)

My failed LSR from last Thursday was banished this evening with a pretty straightforward 30km run. Confidence back on track somewhat.

Wednesday, 10th September 2014 – 6.3km Recovery (6:00/km)

Thursday, 11th September 2014 – Rest Day

Friday, 12th September 2014 – 20.0km MLR (5:36/km)

With Berlin looming I decided two back to back MLR sessions would help with endurance and be best chance of avoiding injury so soon after Tuesday. This run went very straightforward.

Saturday, 13th September 2014 – 20.0km MLR (6:01/km)

Part two of my B2B and I was up in Tyrone for this. 2 x 10km loops around rural hills and I’d hit my target. Glad to have this completed and another step in the correct direction.

Sunday, 14th  September 2014 – Rest Day

Week 36 Summary:

RTW: 5 from 7 days

DTW: 83.7km

DTY: 2,048.5km

Monday, 15th September 2014 – Rest Day

Tuesday, 16th September 2014 – Rest Day

Wednesday, 17th September 2014 – 30.7km LSR (5:30/km & 5:52/km)

After a few days of laziness I managed to get out for a good run in the PP/canal greenway this evening. The first 20km were ran at a decent clip and as it was getting dark I decided to go home and do another 12k loop around the streets of Santry/Ballymun. However, just before getting in the car I spotted Roisin out for her run in the Park so I joined her and managed to do a loop to bring th distance up to just over 30km. I left it at that, happy enough.

Thursday, 18th September 2014 – 4.4km Distance (5:48/km)

Friday, 19th September 2014 – Rest Day

Saturday, 20th September 2014 – 21.3km Dublin Half Marathon (5:02/km)

I ran the 10 miler a few weeks ago at an average pace of 5:00/km, until I hit the hill in the last 2 miles. I decided I’d do a similar strategy this time, maintaining the same pace. Everything went well (apart from a toilet break at mile two!) for the first 10 miles so I was already stronger than the previous race. Once I was out of the PP and running out the Chapelizod road I slowed to an easier pace just to take it handy in advance of the marathon next week. My timing was impeccable as Joe Dunne was not far behind me , so I jogged the remainder of the course with him and felt great at the end. Time (1:47) was quite a bit slower than PB (1:31) but not bothered about that at this stage.

Sunday, 21st September 2014 – Rest Day

Week 37 Summary:

RTW: 3 from 7 days

DTW: 56.4km

DTY: 2,104.9km

Monday, 22nd September 2014 – 11.9km Distance (5:34/km)

Tuesday, 23rd September 2014 – Rest Day

Wednesday, 24th September 2014 – Rest Day

Thursday, 25th September 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:46/km)

Friday, 26th September 2014 – Rest Day

Saturday, 27th September 2014 – 5.8km Breakfast Run (7:09/km)

Sunday, 28th  September 2014 – 42.4km Berlin Marathon (5:44/km)

See the standalone report on Berlin in the next post.

Week 38 Summary:

RTW: 4 from 7 days

DTW: 67.5km

DTY: 2,172.4km

Monday, 29th September 2014 – Rest Day

Tuesday, 30th September 2014 – Rest Day

Wednesday, 1st October 2014 – Rest Day

Thursday, 2nd October 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:35/km)

After taking a couple of days hols in Berlin after the marathon and then a long day at work on Wednesday it was Thursday before I got out for an easy leg loosener. 7.4km was long enough for this too!

Friday, 3rd October 2014 – Rest Day

Saturday, 4th October 2014 – 5.7km Griffeen Parkrun (4:15/km)

I raced this Griffeen Parkrun just to see where I am at the moment and to lay down a marker from where I can progress. My time of 21:39 was the same as a few weeks ago in my Interval session on the easier St. Anne’s course. It’s a fair enough representation so my plan will be once DCM is out of the way to kick on and reduce these 5k times to sub 20 over the Winter and see where I can get to by the end of January before I start ramping up distances again. Not sure if it is a real prospect but I’d like to be 19:45 or less by then.

Sunday, 5th  October 2014 – Rest Day

Week 39 Summary:

RTW: 2 from 7 days

DTW: 13.1km

DTY: 2,185.5km

Electric Picnic

Monday, 25th August 2014 – 8.5km Distance (5:21/km)

Feeling low on energy in work today so when I got home I had a little snooze on the couch before heading out at 8:45pm for a run. I had planned on an 11.9km loop, and things were going very well. However, halfway around I decided to be sensible and take a short cut home for a 8.5km loop instead in order to keep things fresh seeing as I’m not long back. I think it was the right deision as the extra few mins I got allowed me to do a bit of stretching. Feeling much better afterwards than any of my runs last week.

Tuesday, 26th August 2014 – 11.5km Distance (5:24/km)

Felt good on this run too and went down the local park for a few laps. Nice and straightforward!

Wednesday, 27th August 2014 – Rest Day

Had to go to a work dinner in town this evening so there was no way of fitting a run in so a rest day before my LSR tomorrow.

Thursday, 28th August 2014 – 30.0km LSR (5:43/km)

I was quite apprehensive after last weeks run being so tough. I decided to follow the same route but just add in a couple of extra kms. This extra distance was incorporated via a Home Farm Road loop. Towards the end of Griffith Avenue I met Matt on his bike and so stopped for about 15mins and chatted. I did a few stretches at this stage and when I was getting a little cold I made my excuses and got back into it.

I was down by the wooden bridge and noticed that I was still feeling in good shape and about 20s/km quicker average speed than last week. As I got to the end of the Coast Road turnaround point I was beginning to feel the Easterly air chill. Thankfully by the time I hit Kilbarrack Road that was no longer an issue. The final 10km were much more manageable than last week and even though I went 2.5km further I maintained my pace to be 20 seconds quicker. Quite happy with this in the end and bit of a confidence boost about running all of Berlin! Still lots to do in between then and now!

Friday, 29th August 2014 – Electric Picnic

Legs felt decent after last night although I still had no time for a run today. I had a packed day, working in the morning, and then getting to Electric Picnic in the afternoon. Great EP debut for me with Foals being my particular highlight this evening. The overall vibe and layout was brilliant too with the ‘Body and Soul’ area really impressive once nightfall arrived.

Saturday, 30th August 2014 – Electric Picnic

I had the running gear with me in case I had an idea to head off for a few miles but after a substantial fry and a couple of hours lying on the bed, recovering from last night I had just about enough energy remaining for the EP itself. Therefore no running again, and I came around to the fact that I’d be doing none either until I returned to Dublin.

Music highlights were probably Portishead (who I didn’t get to see enough of), Chic and London Grammar. Lowlights of the day was the Mayo v Kerry replay result. :-(

Sunday, 31st August 2014 – Electric Picnic

No hope of running today so just enjoyed the festival with Beck, Outkast and Lily Allen being the main acts. A drunken spin on the bumper cars was probably best of all though!

So, a good LSR and a couple of decent runs before Electric Picnic annihilated the week! Just hope the LSR benefit stays with me!

Week 34 Summary:

RTW: 3 from 7 days

DTW: 50.0km

DTY: 1,908.5km

Frank Duffy 10 miler & a tough LSR

Monday, 11th August 2014 – 16.6km MSR (5:46/km)

Met up with Roisin for an easy 8km before she departed and I continued on my way. The next couple of kms were about 20 secs quicker (5:3x) but then I started to get an ache in the hip flexor region leading down to my inside left groin. This started to adversely affect my stride and I started to slow down again to the earlier pace. I had been planning to complete 24km this evening but after giving the ache ten minutes leeway to see if it got better, and failing, I decided the clever thing to do was return home. Which I did for a total of 16.6km. This now means there is no chance of hitting my long run for the week. L

Tuesday, 12th August 2014 – Football match – 45 mins at Right Back

I played pretty poorly in this game as I was left exposed to the speedy left winger who caused lots of problems with his direct running. Felt like packing in the football again after this match but I’ll let it linger another game or two. From now on I will most likely just turn up to make up the numbers, if required.

Wednesday, 13th August 2014 – 5.8km Tempo Run (4:42/km)

Flew to Glasgow for a wedding today so with doing odd jobs in the morning, flights in the afternoon and dinner and drinks in the evening I never managed to make it out for a run.

Thursday, 14th August 2014 – 45 Minutes Football Match

I dallied for far too long before getting out for a short run before the wedding ceremony. Within the first few steps I could feel the hip flexor at me again, the same as Monday evening. Managed to get 4.5km completed in a slightly painful manner. Will give it a rest now til I return from Glasgow to see if it clears up.

Friday, 15th August 2014 – Rest Day

Saturday, 16th August 2014 – Rest Day

Sunday, 17th August 2014 – Rest Day

Week 31 Summary:

RTW: 2 from 7 days

DTW: 22.4km

DTY: 1,794.4km

Monday, 18th August 2014 – 26.6km LSR (6:00/km)

Back into the swing of things again this evening. Took the watch 2km to register satellites and when it did I decided to change my route to take in Clontarf seafront. The first 4km I was trying to ease back to 5:40/km as things were feeling good and I was benefiting from so many days off! However, kms 4-7 showed the 5:40/km pace to be about right for how I was feeling before kms 7-12 started slowing down to 6:00/km!

This was bad enough but I was now feeling all sorts of aches and niggles with a sore psoas beginning to take effect. I briefly thought about taking some short cuts and going directly home but soon changed my mind to grit the teeth, shorten the stride and plough onwards! I even managed to take in the extra 1.5km out and back to the Sutton end of the seafront walk. The final 9km from the Coast to home was a real shuffle and I had to stretch out the limbs in Coolock Village (briefly) and at the M1 flyover.

Got home and was in bits. Not surprising really given it’s far and away my longest run for a very long time! Anyways, onwards and upwards…surely there couldn’t be any further to sink!!

Tuesday, 19th August 2014 – Rest Day

Took this evening off as a result of the big effort last night. Pretty sure it would be a painful experience if I hadn't!

Wednesday, 20th August 2014 – 3.0km Recovery (5:45/km)

Short, easy run just to get the legs moving again. Only did 3km as I was due in town later. Even though the run was at an easy pace the HR was quite high and I did feel tired. I even contemplated the possibility of deferring Berlin til next year!

Hoping this short run will at least allow for a decent effort tomorrow evening.

Thursday, 21st August 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:35/km)

Managed a reasonable run this evening. Still feel sooo unfit. HR averaged around 130bpm for a 5:35 pace which is getting better after Monday, but still a way off the efficiency I would hope for. Learned this evening that my Brother is running the 10 miler on Saturday also and he is not much more advanced than me as he has achilles troubles. We will run the race together and use it as a long run (I will do about 5 miles beforehand).

Friday, 22nd August 2014 – 7.1km Distance (5:52/km)

Went out for an easy 7km run with Roisin this evening but my legs are still incredibly dead. I had expected that they would be back to condition by now but no such luck and as a result will have to alter my plans for tomorrow…

Saturday, 23rd August 2014 – 19.8km Frank Duffy 10 miler (5:00/km)

I parked outside the Ashtown Gate and ran almost 2km before meeting my Brother. We took off together in lots of space at the back of wave 1, where we kept on 5:00/km pace and were consistently passing people. I was finding the pace a bit tough and was sweating lots due to the sunny day.

By halfway I told Damien to kick-on as he seemed full of running. After initially declining my offer, it took him less than 20 seconds to start drifting ahead! I continued on at my pace until we got out onto Conyngham Road where I maintained effort (152bpm) instead. This turned out to be a 5:20 km which surprised me but the breeze seemed to slow a few people down here. Once again inside the Park I just concentrated on short strides and getting up the hill as easily as possible. This resulted in a 5:33 km but I now had just over 1km remaining. I picked up the effort here so that I finished the last 350m+ at 4:00/km pace and crossed the line in 1:21:38. Probably a fair result based on how I was feeling. I covered almost 2 more km on my return to the car bringing total mileage to approximately 20km.

I lay on the couch all evening as a result before heading away for the evening. The rest seemed to work as I was feeling significantly better than expected that night.

Sunday, 24th August 2014 – Rest Day.

I was in Croke Park today for the very exciting Mayo v Kerry Semi Final. I felt like I was doing a cardio workout in the second half and it was 20 minutes after the game before my HR returned to normal!! No running today. Legs feel OK after yesterday thankfully!

Week 32 Summary:

RTW: 5 from 7 days

DTW: 64.1km

DTY: 1,858.5km

Streets of Galway 8k - VDot = 45 (+3)

Monday, 28th July 2014 – 7.4km Distance (5:29/km)

This was just an easy run to loosen the legs out after yesterday’s 10km race effort.

Tuesday, 29th July 2014 – Football Training (90mins)

Another 90 minute training session for football. Didn’t particularly enjoy this session as amongst other things my feet were cut up again.

Wednesday, 30th July 2014 – 5.0km Fartlek (5:02/km)

Went out with nothing particular in mind but began speeding up so turned this into a fartlek session. A couple of decent-paced kms turned this into a reasonable session.

Thursday, 31st July 2014 – 8.5km Recovery Run (5:41/km)

Handy run where I slowed things right down.

Friday, 1st August 2014 – 6.0km Distance (5:31/km)

Took this easy. Just logging in another short run to add to the weekly mileage. Slowly, slowly…

Saturday, 2nd August 2014 – Rest Day

I was down home in Mayo this afternoon so no time to do anything.

Sunday, 3rd August 2014 – Rest Day (Croke Park)

Back up again this morning but a day split between Croker to watch May beat Cork and then in the boozer to regale well into the night meant no running again.

Week 29 Summary:

RTW: 5 from 7 days

DTW: 26.9km

DTY: 1,748.3km

Monday, 4th August 2014 – Rest Day

I had intended to pace the 2hr group in the RnR HM today but due to the organiser’s complete incompetence this fell through. Left a really bitter taste with me but I still went in to watch Roisin and others take part. Roisin was very unlucky to see a toilet break at half way deprive her of her sub 2hr goal but nevertheless it was a 19 minute PB, so well done her!

I did a bit of cycling around after her in the race but no running today.

Tuesday, 5th August 2014 – Rest Day

Yet another Rest Day! That’s 4 in a row!! Need to get back into some sort of structured plan soon to keep me focused! Can’t blame a dodgy hamstring any more seeing as it seems fully recovered at this stage.

Wednesday, 6th August 2014 – 5.8km Tempo Run (4:42/km)

This run just appeared out of nowhere as I just started off swiftly but just kept upping the pace. A nice session.

Thursday, 7th August 2014 – 45 Minutes Football Match

I started tonight’s game in Defensive Midfield. It was only a friendly but I gave it full effort. Mainly consisted of me moving more laterally across the park rather than up and down the pitch. I feel I played well but with 10 mins to go before HT I started developing blisters on my soles again. The hard ground combined with so much twisting and turning really cuts up my feet. I decided to come off at HT and even though there were options of going back on later in the game I simply couldn’t as I was in too much distress. It was 1-1 at HT but we ended up losing 5-1 (Al has it down as 4-1 in the report but I think it was 5). This was mainly due to us making changes which disrupted our play and the opposition introducing 4 of their best players at HT.

Friday, 8th August 2014 – Rest Day

I could barely walk this morning due to my soles so I was never going out running. If this doesn’t improve soon I will have to knock the footie on the head once more!

Saturday, 9th August 2014 – 11.0km Streets of Galway 8k Race (4:24/km)

The annual pilgrimage for the SoG and I wasn’t exactly sure of what should be my target today. Going by VDot of 42 from a couple of weeks ago I should have been looking at sub 38 but knew that was quite soft. Instead, after a few seconds thought I went with a nice round pace of 4:30/km and see how I’d fare. This would leave me with a sub 36 target which I’d be ok with.

I left Stephen and Philip at the start to go back the crowd and slot in where I thought I should be. The race started in a different position this year to what I’m used to but it was an improvement as it took out the hard right angled turn 400m into the race. Mind you, there was still a few cars on the bridge which could have been handled better.

First Half:

Km1: 4:19, Km2: 4:20, Km3: 4:22, Km4: 4:24.

I ran what I felt was a suitable speed from pretty early, once I managed to get a bit of space. I was conscious not to go out too fast in the first couple of kms but still ended up around 4:20 for the first 2km. The route got a little more up and down after that and this resulted in me dropping closer to goal pace. By halfway I wasn’t feeling too bad and the race was moving along nicely.

Second Half:

Km5: 4:30, Km6: 4:33, Km7: 4:25, Km8: 4:23, (Final 110m: 3:30 pace).

The 4k marker came right at the corner to the main hill on the course – lengthened this year as a further course change. This saw my pace slow a little which was expected. The following km past Pearse Stadium and containing the most downhill was actually my slowest! Think I must have tuned out here but I was definitely recovering from the tougher previous km. With 2.5km to go we were back out on Salthill promenade and downwind. This helped bring me home with my pace returning to the mid 4:20’s. I had not been keeping a very close watch on my overall time and had kinda been expecting to have missed sub 36, but when I spotted the finishing line clock with 200m to go I was in with a shout of 35:xx on the clock, let along my chip time. I summoned all that was left in me (which wasn’t very much by now!) and bolted for the line. I ended up with a chip time of 35:37 which made for a very happy surprise.

My time actually gives a VDot of 45 – a jump of 3 points since the Mullingar 10 miler, so even happier with that improvement over a couple of weeks!

2014 Streets of Galway: Pos: 342/2,324 (14.7%), Gun time: 36:02, Chip Time: 35:37, VDot = 45.

Sunday, 10th August 2014 – 6.9km Recovery Run (5:28/km)

I went out with Philip and Stephen for a run this morning – Philip had an LSR planned. I was just going to go for 10 – 15kms but after about 4km the heavens opened and an almighty rain fell. I decided to bail after sheltering for 5 mins but the lads continued onwards. To be honest, the eventual 6.9km was enough for me today. I was pretty tired and the body was still feeling the effects of last night’s race.

Week 30 Summary:

RTW: 4 from 7 days

DTW: 23.7km

DTY: 1,772.0km

VDot: 45 (+3)

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