The least important part of this thread is the Title

Update: 11th August to Date, new goals
Training has been taken down a notch over the past 12 days as I'm busy writing up my masters dissertation. I've tried to get a little bit of something useful done every day, whether that is just a bit of foam rolling and a few pull-ups at home, a gym session, or a run in the park, but I haven't been to the track since I last logged.

On Thursday of last week (14th) I did a tempo type session in the park with my training partner. We did 3x6 turnabouts on a roughly 100-110m section of pathway in the park. It was done at about 70% effort, a controlled sprint to the bin we were using as a marker, slow down, turn around and go again back to where we started after the agreed break. We took 30s breaks for the first set and 45s for the second and third, with 6min between the sets. I was coming in a 15s bang-on for every rep, and finished off with a 14.1 at the very end as I felt pretty strong.

Saturday was a gym session; I ran there as usual but didn't do a huge session, just cleans, deadlifts, upright rows and core work. Wasn't having a great day if I remember correctly, so just grinded out the sets and felt much better afterwards.
Cleans: up to 3x5 at 60kg - a bit 'meh' overall, trying to work on pulling higher as I tend to try to catch before reaching triple extension.
Deadlift: warmup sets of 60kg, 80kg, 100kg, before 120kg 5x5 - happy enough with how my DL is coming along.
Upright Rows: 35kg 3x15
Core: 100 Russian Twists w/ 16kg kettlebell, then 100 Reverse Crunches. - Core work is my least favourite thing to do in the gym as it's really tough and it always comes at the end of sessions, but it's so important that I'm only shooting myself in the foot if I don't do it. I often struggle to find the mental fortitude to make myself do 3 circuits of core if I'm training alone so this is great little go-to as it's only one set but really gets you working hard.

Wednesday this week (20th) saw me take another trip to the park for a tempo session. It was the exact same set-up as the previous one, except I tried to hit 30s breaks for all 3 sets, and I was training alone this time. It's amazing the difference 15s makes, as I found this one much more difficult. I struggled to hit the 15s reps consistently but wasn't far off, and some of the breaks stretched out to 35s, as I didn't have enough lap memory on my watch to hit split for every one, and my oxygen-deficient brain was finding it difficult to do the mental maths for the breaks mid-set. Still was happy enough with how I did, and kept an even pace to the end which is the goal of these sessions.

Basically I'm winding down at the moment, just trying to keep the fitness ticking over and my head sane as I finish off the masters. I'll be heading home around the 10th September for a few weeks and will come up with a plan for the season ahead at that point. I don't think I need to take an extended break from training as such as my season has been broken up as it was and I'm not in full training at the moment. As of now, the aim for next season will be sub 53s indoors, and sub 52s outdoors, which I think is achievable if I get a good run at it and stay healthy. I think I would have gotten into the 52s this season with more races, as I only raced once this summer, on a Tuesday after an absolute bender the Saturday before, and still took more than half a second off my best from last year. This year has been about putting my hamstring problem behind me, and getting fit enough to handle the training loads needed to run the sort of times I know I'm capable of.

My legs have been in absolute bits since that gym session. GVT squats even at that weight are no joke. I've had a lot going on the past few days, am not home yet but I'm in Cardiff for the next two weeks and can use the local park to train, although will have to do without a gym. I have a plan laid out for these couple of weeks, which will take me up until I head home on the 1st of October. It's basically just building back up some aerobic fitness, with some faster stuff to keep working on the speed.

Wednesday 17th Sept - 30min easy + mobility
The ole legs were really in a bad way the past few days, I tried rolling a couple of days back but had to give up as it was too much. They were a little better yesterday so headed out for a run. Concentrated on keeping the effort even and easy. Run profile was pretty much pancake flat but the scenery was beautiful, I'm going to have fun exploring the trails around Bute Park over the coming days. Did some stretching and managed to get a good bit of rolling done afterwards, although it was still quite painful.

Thursday 18th Sept - Tempo 3x6x100m off 45s, 5min
I used a rugby pitch for this, ran from dead ball line to dead ball line, and I paced it out at almost bang on 100m although I could be off slightly. Nevertheless, I did this session in Leeds with 30s rest a few weeks ago, but there's no way I'd have been able for that today. Going backwards a bit with the time off is to be expected and I was happy enough to hit bang on my target of 15s for every rep, with a few here and there being quicker. I went all out on the last one and stopped the watch at 13.9, although I missed it on the first attempt so was probably 0.5 to 1s quicker than that. Happy overall, and will keep this streak going for the next few days.

Vive l'independence de l'Ecosse!

Friday 26th September - 50min easy
Didn't do much in the way of training the past couple of days except stretching and foam rolling. Hammy felt much better today so I decided to head out for a run. Tried to keep it as handy as possible but towards the end I picked it up a bit. Leg felt fine throughout. Will go for another easy/steady run tomorrow and reassess then. I was thinking about winter training during the run today, all sorts of tortuous sessions. I might try an 800m as an opener at the indoors.

Chivito550 wrote: »

You back in the old country for next season?

Looks like I'll be home for the next couple of months at least while I decide what to do with myself. I'll probably end up heading back over to the UK for work but I have aspirations of doing a race or two on home soil this season. We'll see how it pans out.

Monday 13th October - accels + 3 x 250m on grass
This was a grand session. 5.5km in total, with about 1km warm-up jog, a few stretches and whatnot, then 4 x 40-50m accelerations on a slightly uphill tarmac path, then 3 x 250m in 41, 41, and 42s off 3mins. The first break was stretched out a little bit as I had to move my gear to make sure the local unsavouries didn't smoke it or blow it up or something. Felt good overall, legs weren't really tested but the lungs were.

Wednesday 15th October - Hills: 2 x 3 x 230m
I don't think anyone enjoys doing hills sessions, and I'm no different. This session had been hanging over me all day, and in the hour before I left, when I'd realised I couldn't put it off any longer as it going to be getting dark soon, I started to get nervous. Like pre-race nervous. Weird. Anyway, I sacked up and got out the door and it turned out it was a lovely mild evening for a run. I headed up to the hill I've been using for the past couple of years near my house, but was a bit annoyed to find that it's a lot busier now. I originally started to use this particular hill because it was on a quiet country-ish road only a little over 1km from my house, it has a footpath, and it's the right gradient. However they've recently built a new ring road around my town and this land joins up to it, meaning that the amount of traffic on the road has increased a huge amount. It didn't help either that it was evening rush-hour, but that's my own fault.
As it transpired, during the course of my session, I ran into one of my secondary school teachers, as well as two lads I know who were out for a walk. This was a little distracting but thankfully it was towards the start of the session so I wasn't in a heap unable to respond. I may have to look for a new hill though.

Anyway, I got though the session. Felt very good for the first couple, although my first break was up at 4 mins as I had to fit in a quick word with the aforementioned former teacher, but after that it was a struggle. The last two in particular were very tough, and I got my first dose of lactic in a long while at the end.

The times were: 43, 40, 42, 41, 44, 41. I took a 6 min break between the sets, and 3-4min between reps.

Usually when I've done sessions on that hill, I've done less distance, so I'm very happy with that session. The downhill jog home afterwards was a struggle though. Total distance 7.2km.

Friday 17th October - Gym
Went down to my local club yesterday evening to do a bit of coaching with the kids. Didn't do a huge amount but they were delighted to have me, got me signed up straight away and I'm going to be helping out a few days a week with the training. Will play it by ear at the moment, hopefully I'll nab a few juniors I can train with/coach myself.

Anyway, this evening I headed to the club's gym session for the older juveniles, and did my own thing. The aim was just to get a solid session in and start building the strength back up over the next few weeks. My calves were tight after Wednesday's hill session but other than that I was feeling fine.

A1) Back Squat: 20kg x 10, 50kg x 10, 60kg x 8, 70kg x 5, 80kg 5x5
A2) Dips: BW x 10, BW+12kg 5x8
B1) OHP: 20kg x 10, 30kg x 5, 40kg 3x5
B2) Pull Ups: BW x 3, 3x5
C1) Leg Extension machine: 20kg 3x10
C2) Hamstring Curls: 20kg 3x10
D) Core Circuit: 3 x [Russian Twists w/ 10kg x 30, Front Plank 30s, Side Plank 20s e/s, Med Ball Knee-Tucks x 20]

Good session. Legs feeling a bit wobbly after it, but hopefully I'll be ok to do the track session I've planned for tomorrow morning.

I think I stepped the intensity up a bit too quickly last week, with the track session the day after my first gym session in a month really taking it out of me. My legs were all banged up for days, so I elected to take things easy this week before doing any more intense training. I did nothing except for a bit of stretching and rolling until Wednesday actually, when I went out for an easy 30mins on the road.

My calves then tightened up a bit yesterday so I decided to have a mobility day, I did lots of foam rolling, and tried a yoga routine from youtube. I've never done yoga before but despite it being a beginner's type routine, I found it very difficult. I'm definitely going to keep doing it though, as I really enjoyed it as well. After the yoga I went out for a very easy 20mins to break in a new pair of runners.

Hitting the gym tonight, and the track on Sunday morning.

Saturday 25th October - Just a bit of Yoga
20mins yoga. Felt absolutely smashing, as my legs were sore enough after the weights. Loving the yoga, but I'm still awful at it.

Sunday 26th October - Track: Sled Pulls, Starts, and 7x150m
Just as well I'd had a very easy day on Saturday, as this was one of the most intense track sessions I've ever had. Speed development is my number one aim this season; I need to get faster over 100m and 200m if I've to have any hope of running the sort of times I'm shooting for. I was training with the Kerry squads group, which is a new enough idea where the best athletes in the county meet up and train together once a week. Anyway, there was a small enough turn out this week, but I 3 other lads doing the session with me. One guy is about 40, but ran 53.5s last year for 400m, so I'm glad I've someone pretty much on the exact same level as myself to train with.

I've never done sled pulls before, but they were great fun. There was 10kg on the sled, and we each pulled it for about 15m three times.

The starts were good as well, went to about 20m. I don't know how many we did, about 10 maybe.

The 150s were tough enough then afterwards. They were supposed to be technique runs, but tbh I was just trying to get through the last few.

I'm in absolute bits today, compounded by a late and boozy night last night. I did well to get out to walk the dog earlier for half an hour. My legs are very tight, I've got leftover DOMS in my upper body from Friday's gym session, and I'm dreading the prospect of taking a foam roller to myself which I'll have to go about doing soon. Really happy with training at the moment overall.

Tuesday 28th October
Just did a bit of recovery type stuff yesterday evening while coaching the youngsters at my club's training. I did most of the warm up with them, and the warm down. Every bit of me has been stiff and sore since Sunday's session.

Wednesday 29th October - Grass Session: 4x[100m, 150m]
I took this session handy enough. It was the same session as the juveniles did last night, so I said I'd give it a go. Did a 1km warm-up jog, then some dynamic stretching and a few strides. The breaks were 30s between 100m and 150m, and 1min then before the next set. I kept rigidly to the breaks, but it wasn't too difficult as I'd say I took it a good 10% easier than I normally would for a session like this. I had about 600m of a cool-down jog then, and some stretching a foam rolling when I got home. The legs feel better now than they did before I left, I suppose the main benefit of this was getting a bit of a work-out and active recovery going.

Deano7788 wrote: »

Hey man, would you be able to post a link to the yoga video, or the video itself? It's been recommended to me and I'd rather not go to a class or anything yet until I loosen out some bit!

Do you find it's doing a lot of good? Does it do a good job of relieving tightness?

I'll post it up in the morning, I'm just heading to bed now and on the phone.

The way I'm starting to see it is that it's a more full body thing than the muscle-specific stretches I normally do. I find it hard enough to sit in the back-neutral, cross-legged position she does at the start when she's just chatting about what she'll be doing in the rest of the video. I'd definitely recommend it. I haven't done it for a few days now and I miss it!

Friday 7th November - Gym
Wednesday was a pretty physically tough day, despite the fact I didn't do any athletics training. I did over an hour's worth in total of hilly cycling across Cork city, and had a very enjoyable and quite hard game of 6 on 6 astro as well. Thursday was absolutely miserable out, and I didn't really do anything. Yesterday evening I got back on the horse and headed to the club's gym session. Felt fresh enough apart from a slight groin twinge from the soccer on Wednesday. Was looking forward to it all day and had a really good workout.

A) Box Jumps: 5x3 I did 4 sets of these at a pretty manageable height based on what I was jumping in Leeds, and the last on the highest single box they have at the gym, I'd guess about 43" or so. Will look towards doing all sets on this height the next day.
Back Squat: 60kg x3, x5, 80kg x3, 90kg x3, 100kg 3x5, 90kg 2x5
C1) Bench: 60kg 3x10
C2) Bulgarian Split Squat: 40lb DBs 3x8
D1) Pull Ups BW 2x5
D2) Core Circuit: 2x[kneeling ab rollouts, 20 reverse crunches]

Did some stretching then to finish off. Fit all that into just over an hour so it was pretty intense with minimal breaks. I jumped the squat up 10kg compared to the last day and it was pretty tough so I rolled back on the last two sets. Hashtag linear progression FTW. Will be looking for 100kg 5x5 the next day and it should be a lot easier. I have DOMS setting in now at the moment and I'm planning a 20/30min easy run at some stage today if I can drag myself away from the sport for long enough. Training's going well at the moment. I'd like to be doing more gym sessions but I'm a bit limited with when I have the gym available to me.

Chivito550 wrote: »

Just wondering what sort of warm up and cool down to you do generally? Do you do any static stretching before a session, or only afterwards? Do you do dynamic stretching before, and why types of exercises?

Looking to replace some of my static stretches with more dynamic stuff for my warm up, in the off chance that the static calf stretches are causing my irritating calf issues.

I generally wouldn't do a huge amount of static stretching during my warm up, although for gym sessions I'd do more than I would for a track session. I do the couch stretch before every gym session for a minute in each position. This:

and this:

For a track session, my warm up would generally be 1-2 laps slow jog, then a bit of skipping and dynamic type stretches, walking lunges, squats, etc., with possibly a bit of foam rolling beforehand if I'm feeling particularly stiff. Then I do drills. Then a stride out or two in trainers, followed by a stride out in spikes if I'm wearing them for that session.

I try to spend 5-10mins doing static stretches after sessions, both gym and track, but I often cut it short because i'm too knackered and/or lazy. I think it's important to keep on top of the flexibility though.

I dunno if that helps but that's my routine anyway.

Sunday 9th November - Track: MB Throws, Sled Pulls, Accels, 5x100m
This was another Kerry squads session out in Castleisland. The weather was very mixed, heavy showers interspersed with lovely warm sunshine, so much of the time on the track was spent ducking in under the high jump mat's metal housing for shelter, in between reps. The session itself went well enough, my legs were pretty DOMS-ey from Friday's weights but they were fine once I got warmed up. We did the acceleration work on the bends as the straights were pretty waterlogged. I was getting tired on the last few reps of 100m, which were untimed but effort was about 90%. I was in with a few teenagers and held my own. I don't know how good the others are, or what their PBs are but I felt like I was moving well enough.

Easy day tomorrow then hills on Tuesday, and maybe a late gym session.