Dunboyne 5 miler

Monday, May 25^th: 7.4km Steady (5:08/km)

A good steady run around Collins Avenue. Can’t really remember anything about it though!

Tuesday, May 26^th: 11.0km Dunboyne 5 Miler (33:52)

Arrived quite close to the wire for this race so just about managed to get registered before jogging down to the race start and using that as my warmup. A beautiful evening and a great turnout. I was hoping to go better than Terenure here but doubted I’d be bothering the 34min barrier. As it turns out everything went brilliantly with a very fast course and perfect weather bringing me home in 33:52. Extremely pleased with that and only about 15 seconds off the PB! Speaking to a few people afterwards and almost everyone seemed to run a great race. Definitely do this one again next year!

Wednesday, May 27^th: 6.5km Easy Run (5:16/km)

I went for this run right after yoga in the gym. Hated pretty much every minute of it though as the legs had been overworked and as a result it felt like I was just falling forward. Strangely it ended up as a fastish pace. Definitely did not enjoy this and calling it an easy run is a bit of a misnomer!

Thursday, May 28^th: 5.0km CH: 2.5Mile race (16:29)

This evening’s race took place in the grounds of Malahide Castle and was ran in a handicap system. There was a good turnout of nearly 60 racers and I was positioned about halfway through the crowd. The intention was for the slower runners to start first with everyone else delayed by a certain time period so that in theory the fastest will have caught the slowest (and everyone else) by the finish line to give one massive photo finish! Of course things never work out like that but I was thinking the trail towards the end come become very busy!

Myself and two others started approximately 7 minutes and 15 seconds after the first racer. Through the first 300m we three were pretty level but I started to open a little gap as we turned into the forest away from the golf course. The female runner then joined me and we paced off each other pretty well for the next while before she dropped back a little around the halfway mark.

We were now passing lots of runners that we’d caught up to and the pathway was just beginning to get a little crowded. Not long after this point I passed Roisin who was having her own battle with those around her. Then, thankfully, we arrived out of the trees with just a few hundred metres remaining. At this stage one or two of the really fast guys came charging past in the last ditch sprint for home. At this point I got nabbed by the girl that started with me too – She was putting in a serious sprint down the last 100m and after Tuesday I just had no kick left. I kept on however and passed a handful more people before crossing the finish in 16:29 and 13^th place.

Pretty happy with my finishing position but was hoping for a faster time. I guess several issues were at play here including some tiredness from Dunboyne as well as possibly a slightly long course through the trails and paths. Thankfully though, the congestion on the paths never really became too much of an issue for me. A very enjoyable evening once we got started!

Friday, May 29^th: Rest Day

Feeling a bit jaded today so opted for a rest day.

Saturday, May 30^th: 28.9km Fartlek (5:25/km)

For my long run I headed down to Donadea Forest to join in with Anto and his 100km race for a few loops. I missed the turnoff coming from Maynooth so my detour through Clane meant that I was a few mins late arriving. No worry though as I met the peloton shortly after they started and joined in to a nice easy 5:45/km pace with them. The loop was 7km which included an out and back section of 1km each way. In what was lovely weather I had a great time doing a few early quicker kms (‘running’ an errand for Anto) followed by a couple of slower loops before finishing with a fast loop. By the time I returned to the car I was just shy of 29km, so well pleased with that. One of those runs where I reckon I could have managed the full 42.2km if I so desired. Mind you, even with the benefit of 45 mins in the local gym’s jacuzzi I was still pretty tired that night.

Sunday, May 31^st: Rest Day

Yesterday definitely took a good bit out of me. So, given the fact we were in Tyrone, we took a trip to watch the latter parts of the Derry marathon, meaning another rest day was definitely the smart option!

Week Summary:
RTW: 5 from 7 days
DTW: 58.8km
DTY: 1,118.6km

Bob Heffernan 5k

Monday, May 18th: 5.0km Easy (5:37/km)

Don’t remember much about this run to be honest and looking at the pace it was just an easy run to tie me over for tomorrow’s race…

Tuesday, May 19th: 7.0km Bob Heffernan 5km (20:22)

Down in Wexford today for a meeting so it was a long drive back directly to Enfield for this race. Arrived around 7:25pm, so managed to get registered in time to go for a very short chat with a few of the guys and then a nice trot down to the start line brought it up to 2km.

It was a lovely evening for it and after a few minutes of a wait we were marched from a side road onto the main road to the official start line. This helped ease out the congestion somewhat and once we started there was a little freedom. However, I had positioned myself too far back so it still meant meandering around slower runners before hitting my proper rhythm about 500m into the race. There was a slight headwind for the first km before we turned a sharp left hander onto a backroad. Thankfully though the wind was light enough not to make a difference really, especially at the start.

Photo courtesy of Peter Mooney

Kept on with a good pace for another few minutes before the heavens opened with a shower of hail that lasted for about 4 minutes. The body language utterly changed from feeling good to miserable in the space of a few steps! Thankfully once it finished it was perfect from there to the finish. In the final km I was beginning to struggle a little bit but then so were most of those around me. Once I was up and over the short humpback bridge it was time to leg it for the final 500m or so. A small chicane as we entered the car park and over the line in a time of 20:22(gun time). I was very happy with that. I ran 19:58 (watch time) here two years ago and that stands as my current PB, so the hope is to break through that over the next few weeks before concentrating on the longer stuff for Berlin.

Km Splits: 3:57, 4:00, 4:08, 4:12, 4:01.

Wednesday, May 20th: 7.4km Recovery (6:06/km)

Went out for a slow recovery around the small loop with Roisin this evening. Legs feeling very well after last night’s race.

Thursday, May 21st: CH: 5.4km 1 Mile Race (5:58)

The club held a 1 mile race on the track this evening. The crowd was sub divided into four races with the heats getting progressively quicker. I positioned myself into the third group as I was optimistically aiming for between 5:50 – 6:00. As it turns out I was quite happy with a run of 5:58. I only ever ran one mile race before and that was a 5:50 in the Raheny Winter League 18 months ago. Getting there slowly!

Friday, May 22nd: 11.9km Easy (5:42/km)

Another easy paced run to keep ticking over after the race last night. Nothing much to report. Met with Anto and we did a few loops in Albert College Park in DCU.

Saturday, May 23rd: 9.8km Steady (5:14/km)

Had a fair bit of wine last night so I wasn’t at all sure how this was going to go today but to my complete amazement I managed a steady pace that felt pretty effortless! I was wearing a new pair of runners that I assumed was the main reason but I’ll have to see it happen again to confirm if they are indeed ‘super-runners’!

Sunday, May 24th: 12.2km Recovery Run (6:10/km)

Did a similar type run as Friday but with Roisin rather than Anto this time. Nice way to round off the week.

Week Summary:
RTW: 7 from 7 days
DTW: 58.7km
DTY: 1,059.8km

Clonliffe 2 miler & Terenure 5 miler

Monday, May 11th: 12.3km Easy Run (5:35/km)

I was out in Malahide Castle this evening getting a recci done for a 5km fundraising run next Sunday. After doing the essentials I ran home from the Cricket Pitch entrance. Turned intoa pretty miserable run with stinging, freezing rain for about 3km of it. Was very happy to be home in the end.

Tuesday, May 12th: Rest Day

Feeling a little tired so took this evening as a rest day. Had my second Pilates class through work today. Definitely going to do more of this in future!

Wednesday, May 13th: 5.1km Easy (4:59/km)

Ran at lunchtime today, in between meetings. Legged it a little bit with the lack of time.

Thursday, May 14th: 6.6km CH: Clonliffe 2 Miler (12:55)

The World's oldest Club race, apparently, this evening. Started off with a lap and a bit of the track before out onto the Swords Road. I managed the pace well here and began to overtake a couple of people who just started too quickly. Continued Northwards and then took the left into the Northwood Estate before taking another left into the demesne. Things were getting tougher now as we climbed the brief hill. Feeling strong still I pushed things on around the remainder of the lap of the park and as we turned for the finish onto the track I tried giving everything. The change of surface to the track meant the legs took some adjusting and a lack of strength meant I was getting quite the kick off the surface as I would have with the solid road. Continued on around and finished in 12:55 which I was happy enough with. All getting very close to PB country at last!

Friday, May 15th: Rest Day

Took today off again as I was a bit tired from last night and with another race coming on Sunday, I needed to refresh a little.

Saturday, May 16th: 7.0km Easy (5:41/km)

Can't remember much about this one apart from the fact it was an easy run taking in a couple of laps of the park.

Sunday, May 17th: 13.1km Terenure 5 Miler (34:25)

This was probably my target race for May yet I was unsure what to really target until the morning of the race. I assessed that on a fair course in Belcarra in April I managed 35:24 over 8k and, given that this would be an extra 50m, I would be doing well to come home sub 34:30. With that I promised myself I’d keep the pace in the range of 4:15 – 4:20/km.

KM 1: 4:09

The first km was relatively free of the usual congestion and before we knew it we were on the road into Terenure village. I recognised I was going a bit fast and halfway through the km I eased off a little. This still clocked 4:04 by the end of the split so given my pre-race planned pace I would surely have been heading for an explosion before too long.

KM2: 4:18

I caught sight of Karen (from the Tallaght race last week) just before we reached the village. She was about 20m up ahead and, knowing that if I could catch her very slowly I’d produce a good time, it became my goal for most of the remaining race. As each marker was passed I began to narrow the gap by a few yards.

As we turned the corner in the village we were met with a drag for about 200m. The little bit of wind was in our face along this stretch but thankfully it was nothing more than a cooling breeze and most runners probably even welcomed it.

KM3: 4:20

With the combination of breeze and gentle incline the pace fell off a little into the third km. I was very accepting of this however and managed to consolidate position until we reached the next turn to the left.

KM4: 4:25

The fourth km is pretty featureless and serves little more than making up the miles for this race. I was catching Karen still, but more than 10m behind her yet. Still though, I felt in control of my running and was tipping along nicely.

KM5: 4:14

This eventually brought us back out onto the Terenure road again and once more we were back onto the fantastic running surface. Probably little more than a placebo effect in reality but it felt like I was running better than ever along this stretch. Pace came back down a little here and yet I still managed to ease back a little with the breeze and incline in my favour.

KM6: 4:11

As we turned the corner in the village for the second and last time I noticed many of those around me were beginning to suffer. In the immediate aftermath of the corner I passed about 4 or 5 people over 10m, all breathing heavily. I put the head down regardless and powered up the gentle incline once more.

KM7: 4:12

With less than two km to go I knew I was in good shape and the main focus now was to maximise my speed to the finish line. I was now only a few metres behind Karen who was still running well. I could tell that everyone around us at this stage was gearing up for a fast finish to the line.

KM8: 4:15

Not long after going past the final km marker I moved past several others including Karen. One of her BP clubmates was sticking to my shoulder however and I was having visions of us racing to the line together. This vision was short-lived however as about 100m later and I managed to drop him. Still though I could make out his club colours through the corner of my eye and sure enough when I managed to look properly there was Karen coming back with a surge over the final 400m! By this stage I was redlining in top gear so I had no answer to her sprint but as the line got closer I could feel the 3m gap narrowing again and she seemed to be slowing a slight bit. Unfortunately though, she stayed on and crossed the line about two strides ahead of me.

I offered her congratulations immediately but neither of us were in much of a state to chat so I continued on through the finishing chute. Once I regained my breath I jogged back out the course in search of my sister Karen (This all gets very confusing!!). I caught her with just over 1km to go and joined her on the run in. She managed to stay ahead of the 50min pacer (Olwyn) and even though we weren’t sure at the time the results later confirmed her as 49:18 or thereabouts. She was well chuffed with that as by all accounts she hasn’t managed to do more than a few runs since the new year!

After chatting to a few more people it was time to head off home for a shower before I had to go to Malahide Castle to help with that charity 5k funrun. Really enjoyed that 5 miler though and think I’m getting back into the groove of these ‘shorter’ races at last.

Week Summary:
RTW: 5 from 7 days
DTW: 44.1km
DTY: 1,001.1

An increase in mileage

Monday, May 4th: 20.0km LSR (5:02/km)

Took the opportunity of the bank holiday to get a long one in down in Raheny. I intended to run along the coast but found myself traipsing around St. Anne's Park initially. Buoyed by the lovely day and the park being quite busy I began to up the tempo. Then I ran past Mick Clohissey a couple of times and this naturally resulted in me doing my best fastest-pace-while-not-breathing-too-heavily while he was jogging slowly for him and still passing me by so, so easily!! Unreal talent and hope he manages to nail down an Olympic marathon qualifier over the next 12 months.

I did manage to get a stretch in along the sea front before returning through St. Anne's. The final 5km was tougher than expected due to the speed of the session up 'til that.

Tuesday, May 5th: Rest Day.

Took today as a rest day. Can't remember too much about it!

Wednesday, May 6th: 7.4km Easy (5:13/km)

An easy run around the regular loop. Feeling refreshed after the rest meant a decent pace was recorded today.

Thursday, May 7th: 10.3km CH: 8 x 400m @ 85secs

Down in Morton Stadium for a club session. Good solid outing with the final few laps being quite tough, yet I managed to maintain consistency through to the end.

Friday, May 8th:  11.9km Easy (5:21/km)

Easy run to recover from last night. Didn't take much as the pace was pretty steady. Finished strongly just for the hell of it!

Saturday, May 9th: 22.1km: Hartstown Parkrun (25:16, 5:05/km), and then 16.7km LSR Part 2 (5:32/km)

Paced Roisin around today with the goal of sub 25mins. However, from early on her knee was giving her trouble so we eased off a little bit by mid-way, yet the pace picked up again on the 4th km and by the time we crossed the line we weren't that far away from goal time. Pretty sure she'll nab it easily enough once the knee issue resolves itself.

Afterwards I'd arranged to join JC for the second half of his LSR. So, after chatting for a few mins we ran back to Northwood via the canal to Phibsboro. An enjoyable run in warm conditions.

Sunday, May 10th:  8.2km Recovery (5:33/km)

A pretty relaxed recovery run to finish out a good mileage week.

Week Summary:
RTW: 6 from 7 days
DTW: 79.9km
DTY: 957.0

3,000m race and Tallaght 5k

Monday, Apr 27th: 16.2km LSR (6:01/km)

Myself, Roisin and JC joined together for this run which took in the three parks of DCU's Albert Park, Poppintree Park before finishing in Northwood Demesne. The pace was pretty leisurely for me on this one and finished feeling like I could have gone much further.

Tuesday, Apr 28th: 11.9km CH: 1 Mile – 1km– 1km – 1Mile

Club session. Managed this more easily than previous similar session back several weeks ago. Still tough though!

Wednesday, Apr 29th: 4.8km Recovery (5:33/km)

Short recovery run to keep it between the ditches!

Thursday, Apr 30th: 6.3km CH: 3,000m Race (12:00)

3,000m race on the track. First time ever doing a track race (apart from a marathon on Le Cheile’s old grass track in Leixlip and a 24 hr race on Mary Peters’ Track in Belfast!!) I ran in the second race after the fast folk completed theirs. From the off I tucked in behind the leader and was very comfortable for the first couple of laps before a lady runner came past both of us. The other guy was beginning to fade so I went with the lady runner for a few more laps. The pace was beginning to have an effect by lap 5 and the leader began to drift slowly away. Over the course of the second last lap I could hear/feel the pack clsong on me and were only a couple of steps behind now. With 600m remaining they began to ramp things up and within about half a lap I was passed by about 5 others! I was maintaining my pace but they were simply getting faster. I managed to hold position from there to the end though and finished in 12mins flat. Pretty sure there wasn't another second to be found out there though as I was totally spent when crossing the finish line. 

Great event and an eye opener to racing for me, as opposed to time-trialling! Already looking forward to hitting up my next mile 3,000m race!

Friday, May 1st: 7.0km Battery died!

I know I ran but just can’t remember anything about it apart from the fact it was in the park! Recovery pace after last night.

Saturday, May 2nd: 0.9km Aborted Poppintree Parkrun

I was feeling a twinge in the right groin ever since the race on Thurs evening, and possibly in sympathy with Roisin’s knee which was giving her jib, we decided it was pointless either of us doing this parkrun. So, after a very short warm-up lap we reverted straight back to the car.

Oh, and the torrential freezing rain may have helped sway our minds!

Sunday, May 3rd: 13.4km Tallaght 5k Race (21:17) and 6.4km Easy(5:17/km).

I went to Tallaght for their 5km race with the hope that I’d give 20mins a serious run for its money. The groin was remaining quiet and the weather 24 hrs later had made a dramatic improvement so things were looking good.

After a 2km warm up I joined in with the field of runners. Without any notification back where I was we were suddenly set off on our way. Immediately I noticed a girl I know called Karen overtake me. I decided I’d try hanging with her as I knew she’d be close to 20mins. It all remained a little tight for the first few hundred metres until we turned the corner towards Tymon Park. We were making nice steady progress and went through the first km in 4:02 which I was very happy about as I’d wanted to ensure I didn’t go off way too quick here.

Towards the end of the second km there was a sharp left turn and a slight drop so I kicked on again past Karen and to forge my own race. How wrong was I! I ran strongly for the remainder of the downhill to the halfway mark of the course but as soon as the incline began to increase upwards I had no response! I trudged on but the legs just would not go any faster. At this point I realised that racing a 3,000m on the previous Thursday probably wasn’t the best prep for this 5k! With about 1km to go Karen went past again and over the course of the final km she took about 80m out of me!

So, while I was hoping to be close to 20mins I ended up crossing the line in 21:17 or thereabouts. Definitely one to write off and forget about!

Week Summary:
RTW: 8 from 7 days
DTW: 61.0km
DTY: 877.1

Marshalling at the Samsung Night Run.

Monday, Apr 20th: 16.4km LSR (6:13/km)

Myself and Roisin met up with the other JC for the second half of his LSR. Meeting point was the Zoo entrance in the Phoenix Park and after doing a couple of small laps we were joined by John. Plenty of chat with an easy pace for the most part before speeding things up for the final 1.5km. A good run and felt perfectly fine afterwards.

Tuesday, Apr 21st: 14.1km CH: 1 Mile - 2 Mile - 1 Mile

Lovely evening for another CH session. After a 5km warmup the session comprised 1mile/2mile/1mile. The first mile was done in 6:20 and I felt I paced it well having eased into it til halfway and then pushed on a little towards the end. That was followed by a 3 min recovery before the 2 mile leg which I recorded in 13:40. Happy enough with that as I kept a more uniform pace throughout and ended up running 6:52/6:48 splits. I was pretty tired by now so the recovery mile that followed helped to sort the legs out a bit. However, at the start of the last mile I wasn't feeling very powerful so decided to take it relatively easy. Again, by halfway I'd settled in at a sustainable pace and kept it as strong as possible til the end. The time of 6:35 represented a 15 second slowdown on the first mile though. Not sure if I should be looking to have the last mile closer to the first mile, or if as tonight I'm expected to slowdown given the 2 miles in between. I'll analyse the next time we do this session against tonight and see what I make of it.

Wednesday, Apr 22nd: 6.5km Easy (5:13/km)

Met up with the other JC again this evening for this. Started off slowly and stiffly but after 3km I was feeling better. Ended up doing an extra mile loop where we upped the pace to sub 4:30/km. I was happy to be back home again though, rather than having any longer to run!

Thursday, Apr 23rd: 11.1km CH: 300:400:500 x 3
Second session of the week. Legs were pretty heavy from Tuesday evening but managed to get through everything in one piece. The first 300m averaged out at 3:33/km (3:34/3:30/3:34) pace for the three reps. 

We followed this with a walk to the 400m mark before setting away on a 400m lap that averaged out at 3:40/km (3:39/3:35/3:45) pace - Recovery was the remaining balance of a 2:30 cycle, which usually meant just over a minute. 

The last rep was tough and I was half considering not finishing out the last 500m rep yet to come. However, finish it I did and these half km reps averaged out at 3:41/km (3:37/3:43/3:43) - Surprisingly close to the average for the 400m reps!

Anyways, a good session and a total of over 11km for the evening.

Friday, Apr 24th: 4.7km Easy (4:35/km)
Just a very easy run this evening. Started quite slowly but picked it up as it went on.

Saturday, Apr 25th: 8.2km Easy (5:17/km)
Down in Ballinasloe last night so got out at 9am for a gentle run. Started off gentle at least but once again  ipicked things up in the second half and finished with a 4:46 kilometre.

Sunday, Apr 26th: Rest day.
At a wedding last night so took a well deserved rest day today. After returning to Dublin we went in and marshalled at the Samsung Night Run in town. Very congested and certainly a race I don't think would tempt me too much!

Week Summary:
RTW: 6 from 7 days
DTW: 60.5km
DTY: 816.6km

Clonliffe Harriers training begins!

Clonliffe Harrier Training.

Back in January I decided to take the plunge and join a running club. I debated about which would be most suitable for my needs and abilities and after considering Fingallians and Raheny Shamrocks I eventually decided on the most obvious choice – Clonliffe Harriers.

I say most obvious but there were plenty of doubts in my head as I had visions of anyone outside a sub 3 marathon not being welcome such was my view of the quality of their runners. It’s rare that I ever pass a CH runner in a race because they are all well ahead of me in the field!!

Anyways, myself and Roisin managed to make it down to our first visit on the 6th of January to check out the place and ask a few questions. Thankfully one of the first people we saw was Eugene who I’d met briefly a couple of years back when pacing the Dublin Marathon. A few basic questions and we were sold on the idea.

Thursday, Jan 8th: CH: 8 x 400m @ 90 secs

I returned on my own the following Thursday evening (Roisin was busy) and in no time we were off on our warm-up – a 4.7km run around my own estate (handy living so close!). It was then time for the session itself to commence. We were down for 10 x 400m reps but because I was a newby Eugene recommended only doing 8. I managed the first 7 but by the last couple I was beginning to fade so I sat the 8th lap out. I returned for the 9th thinking it would be easy after my rest but it was just as tough. However seeing as I had my 8 now completed I slipped off home before the cooldown run, my social awkwardness rearing it’s head! :-)

The session itself was impressive once I checked out the data afterwards. My pace was in the early 3:4x’s for the most part until the last couple slowed a little. On a more basic level I was feeling knackered when I got home so I was happy it was a decent session.

Tuesday, Jan 13th: 5.6km Fartlek

I returned with Roisin for the following Tuesday night where we were brought to the Trinity playing fields, just off Santry Avenue. Here we were split into groups and the session of the day was a fartlek run with 30 minutes duration. The tempo was pretty consistent however and almost all were in the 4:00-4:12/km range. The final one however was out to 4:22/km pace which signalled it was indeed time to go home! Because this was done on grass surface with road runners accounts for a somewhat slower pace. However, the rest of the gang were wearing spikes and this was their chosen pace so probably a bit high on effort from me.

Tuesday, Jan 20th: 8.0km Tempo: 37mins at 4:40/km

We missed the following Thursday night session and by the time the Tuesday came around again I wasn’t really fancying the pitches once more. So instead, I went down to the track and did a solo 37min Tempo run at 4:40/km pace, covering exactly 8.0km. The effort wasn’t so bad (I was running these at sub 4:20/km on the roads last year!) but there were lots of distractions from other runners which meant I was always having to watch myself that I didn’t get in the way of others doing their sessions.

Thursday, Jan 22nd: 3.3km 8 x 300m @ 60's Intervals

Back down at the track a couple of days later and this time it was to be 10 x 300m reps. However, the evening was freezing cold and there was a significant fog down. When we got onto the track one of the bends was still pretty slippery even after some salt/grit had been laid down. Thankfully our 300m sections weren’t too badly affected, apart from the first 30m which had to be carefully negotiated as we built up our speed. As the session went on however the temps seemed to drop further and by the 8th rep Eugene advised us to call it a day as things were getting too risky.

Having said all that when I look back at the data it suggests we were getting quicker all the time, coming from a 71 sec repeat into a 60 second repeat for the last few. Maybe Eugene knew this and was wary of somebody getting a muscle injury as much as having a slip! I was happy enough to finish at 8 anyways as my speed was still taking time to improve.

Thursday, Feb 5th: 10.1km CH: 8 x 300m @ 60secs

After running the Raheny 5 miler in a surprisingly fast 34:36 I was wrecked for much of the following week so I declined to go to the fast sessions. It was the following Thursday before I got back down to the track for this replica session. This time my data afterwards told me I was in or around the 60second mark for all the runs with a couple of quicker ones thrown in. Probably the first chance of measuring improvement and it was looking good so far.

Thursday, Feb 12th: 10.2km CH Session: 5x600m (2:15s) + 3x400m (1:28s)

The following week I again only managed the Thursday session. It was meant to be 8 x 600m which immediately set the alarm bells ringing! Almost 5km of flat out running in total so I knew things would be tough! Managed the first few easily enough but around the middle things were getting tougher. I was falling off the main group and my lack of speed endurance was telling. By the 4th rep I was feeling the lactic burn and after the 5th rep I knew I was beginning to slow excessively so I dropped the reps down to 400m laps. This meant I was better able to maintain speed so I finished out the session with 3 x 400m reps. Overall I felt it was still a good session as I remain very much on the comeback trail.

Thursday, Feb 19th: 6.9km CH Session: 7x500m (1:53s)

Again, I gave the fields session a miss on the Tuesday and when I arrived down for this I was none too impressed when advised of the 10 x 500m session in store! Considering last week’s issues with the speed endurance I knew once more things would be difficult.

Paces went something like: 3:42, 3:37, 3:43, 3:45, 3:41, 3:45, 3:52 and I could feel my pace slowing dramatically so much over the last couple of reps that I baled after the 7th. Happy enough with the pace but hoping the endurance will return sooner rather than later!

Tuesday, Feb 24th: 13.7km CH: 3x1min, 3x2min, 2x3min & 1x4min

I made it down for what I expected to be the usual Tuesday grass session but turned out to be on the road instead. We jogged the warmup to the old Whitehall Garda Station. From here we ran 3 x 1mins (which were grand), 3 x 2mins (a bit tougher but still manageable). The 2 x 3mins felt tough and by the 1 x 4min I was running hard. I was expecting to reverse down the pyramid reps but to my surprise we were only expected to do two more 1min reps before we jogged home. This was a big surprise to me and immediately I felt much better about the run! For all sections I was about 60% down the group, and it never felt like I was hugely suffering more than the rest!

Thursday, Feb 26th: 7.9km CH session with 400m/300m x 5

The follow up track session was to be 5 sets of 400m/rec/300m. This was something I had never heard of before but it worked a treat as somehow psychologically it sounded much easier. It wasn’t until the 4th set that I was beginning to feel the real effort and in the fifth I was beginning to fade but definitely felt like I was much improved on past weeks!

So, definitely training at higher paces than I would have on my own and I feel plenty of improvement is taking shape and pointing me towards a return to peak fitness. How long this takes though is another thing!

Summary:
Jan 1st - Mar 1st
DTY: 390.4