Running mad or mad to run?

Slogger Jogger

No time like the present to transition my frequent running musings from the Daily Drudge to the Training Logs. I'd a few marathons lined up this year - Rotterdam, Edinburgh and almost certainly New York. I might slot in another marathon, possibly Longford. In between all that I'll continue to do the imra hill runs which I really enjoy and which has benefitted my overall running and stamina over the last 2 years.

14 training weeks to Rotterdam. I'm following Hal Higdon Advanced II which starts light enough on mileage, but I do more mileage I'm not fussed. As its holiday season I'm apt to do more mileage to if I can get out early. Today being a case in point. Started the year off with a cracker of a run. The schedule called for a 3 mile pace run which I ignored - I effectively did the pace bit as part of a longer run yesterday. Instead I joined others running from Glendalough to Ironbridge on the Wicklow way, in crisp winter conditions. It was the guts of 28k. I inadvertently stopped and didn't restarted the watch on a few occasions so the distance measured wasn't the full shilling. What a run though! Over 1100 metres of hills ascended. Legs are feeling pretty heavy afterwards but thoroughly enjoyed it. Beautiful run, lovely surroundings, good company. Run was quite slow but who cares. Avg HR was a low 131 but happy to have ran, albeit slowly, all the hills.

Details here:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7362930

Good luck to all with their new year running plans.

Woddle

Great to see you've joined us here. Look forward to reading and learning from your log. Best of luck for 2009

SUNGOD

i was wondering when you would start a log!
best of luck with your training and log , im thinking along the lines of numerous marathon myself this year so i will be keeping a close eye on your log.
best of luck SJ

Slogger Jogger

Cheers guys. If you're learning from me there is surely a problem.

Krusty_Clown

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Cheers guys. If you're learning from me there is surely a problem.

Maybe we're learning what not to do.
Best of luck with the multiple marathon plan. I am registered for three already, and hope to do a fourth as well. Looking forward to recording my fastest mile down your Annacurragh hill too!

Slogger Jogger

Good stuff - my downhill mile time set in training will be a good marker for the M40 class if nothing else.

Today the schedule said REST. The body was thinking REST too after recent runs, but after a glass of wine or 2 last night I started to get restless thoughts. I knew that there was lifts organised to get from the end point to the start.. a rare enough logistical necessity down these south Wicklow parts, so I opted in for the Ironbridge to Tinahely run, drafting in donothoponpop for chat along the way.

A very nice run, but tough on the body after recent exertions. Details here:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7375388
Curiously, the last time I ran this run in May last my time was to within 19 seconds of todays time (todays time faster), not bad consistency over 22k of distance. Avg moving speed was the exact same 11.7kph.

A nice post run lunch in Tinahely followed, where I was joined by another couple who had ran with me yesterday and who had also ran roughly 30k on the Wicklow way the previous day again (and I thought I was nuts). A nice way to see Wicklow over the New year hols.

Body is crying out for rest I think. Next week it'll be back to the more mundane HH schedule, but I'll look back to a good running Christmas break.

donothoponpop

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

...

Body is crying out for rest I think. Next week it'll be back to the more mundane HH schedule, but I'll look back to a good running Christmas break.

Yeah, for a man who ran twenty hilly miles yesterday, you were in flying form coming up the hills at Tinahely. Great run, and a very interesting and challenging route for anyone who wants to test themselves.

Now, you need rest, or a lobotomy:)

Slogger Jogger

Rest today... after 14 consecutive days running. Could have run this morning but to do so would have been looking for trouble. In the 5 days Monday to Friday I've done over 70k which is too much so early in the Rotterdam schedule and something I could only have done with the luxury of free time over the holiday break.

As an experiment today I've bought a pair of skins compression tights. They're supposed to help with recovery and blood flow. I've been wearing them for a few hours but the jury is still out.

SUNGOD

its hard to rest when your feeling good but it will stand to you long term

you must be getting sensible at last:D

Abhainn

SJ Good to see you have initiated a log at last. Best of luck.

Slogger Jogger

After the excessiveness of Christmas - in my case the excessive behaviour was too much running - today was the day to climb back on board the Hal Higdon schedule destination Rotterdam. The day called for a LSR of about 22k at slower than marathon pace but it was left open to you to speed up in the last quarter if you had it in you. Thats all well and good if you have a particular running circuits at your disposal which lend themselves to that kind of run. When you're surrounded by hills like me you need to be a bit more flexible and so it proved.

Anyhow, headed out and was happy with pace for the 1st half which is moderately uphill. What started out as a mild morning was getting colder however and light drizzle turned heavier and then, as it reached the 'turn' on my run the gods had their last laugh at me and decided to rain down sleet onto me. My hands were getting decidedly cold at this point so as much as I could do was stretch my sleeves down to try cover them. Mental note to get more gloves. Running through sleet in wintery sunshine in Wicklow is a new one for me - and a beautiful thing it was.

Surprisingly, the running over Christmas hadn't left the legs heavy. In fact, on the return section of the route I was going very well and I was taking some of the uphill stretches in my stride - and believe me when I say that this is not normal.

So while I may not have run the last quarter faster than the rest of the run I was very happy with overall pace which at 4:21 is not far off sub 3 hour marathon pace. 1:32 for half marathon run with 360m of climb with wind chill Factoring in the hills and weather this is a good result.

Details here. No HRM today. http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7389968

Total kms for week (Monday to Sunday): 97.24 A total thats unlikely to be repeated this year by me I expect but a very nice position to be starting the year in.

Peckham

That's a great run SJ.

TheRoadRunner

yeah great running. By the way how do you find the compression tights ? I find them great. I don't know if it is the placebo effect but I would recommend them.

Slogger Jogger

Yesterday was the first time I wore them. If this morning's run was anything to go by then they worked a treat. I suppose the jury will remain out though until I use them regularly. I've them this afternoon so I'll have an idea tomorrow whether they've assisted the recovery at all. I'll take a placebo effect any day if it helps

Slogger Jogger

13 weeks to Rotterdam:

It could have been the effect of the compression tights but I felt no tiredness in the legs this morning as I set out to do a short recover session typical of the Hal Higdon Monday regime.

Did an easy 6k on the treadmill at 4:25 pace all the way, followed by 2 circuits of strength exercises.

Oh yeah, I must admit that in a moment of madness this morning I registered for Dublin '09. So if I confirm entry for New York whenever proper registrations open for that in February I could be doing 2 marathons in a week later this year. You'd think I would have learned from before... I couldn't resist the pull of the Dublin 30th anniversary.. thats my excuse anyway

Slogger Jogger

Christmas must be over as the training logs become more active... I'm off boards for just over a day and I've slipped onto page 2. So lets catch up...

Tuesday:
AM: At this stage I was completely unaware that there would be a PM session. HH called for 5x800s which I did on the treadmill after a warm up. Tough going. I ran the 800s at 3:30k pace which when I worked it out afterwards was much too fast. Also, I only did 400m recoveries and the pace of the recovery (4:15k pace) was also too fast. Needless to say the last 800 interval was hard. Did a warm down k or 2. Total distance 9K done in 36 mins.

PM: Got a text to do a night run. Head said 'yes' before the body could muster a negative response. Headed out into the cold with donothoponpop for a recovery paced run through the very chilly but wonderful moonlit and starry night air up the hilly trails behind my house. Did another 11.6 or so k. Wore the compression tights running. Whether it was them, or the frightfully cold air I don't know, but the legs felt absolutely fine throughout!

Wednesday:
-5.5C this morning so there was no way I was able to get out of bed early enough for a pre-work run. Time was tight today so did the bare minimum of 6K on the treadmill in 25 mins with some strengh exercises added. Legs still feeling strangely okay when they'd be forgiven for being tired after recent runs.

Krusty_Clown

Great running SJ. How do you feel about the compression tights now? Worth a gamble?

--amadeus--

I had been kicking about teh idea of buying a pair of running tights but figure that if I can run in this weather in shorts I'll probably never wear them. Are compression tights different?

Rusty Cogs 08

I'd see running tights as generally designed to keep your legs warm.

Compression tights (skins) "increasing time to exhaustion by 30 percent, increasing strength and power by 10 percent, improving endurance by 15 percent and reducing post exercise muscle soreness"

Recovery tights are basically a tighter version of compression tights to, you guessed it, aid recovery.

I've all three (not to be worn at the same time you understand) and I wouldn't say any particular one has revolutionised my running life but I come from a cycling background so I'm used to looking like a 'bleedin' poof' as the locals would say.

Slogger Jogger

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Great running SJ. How do you feel about the compression tights now? Worth a gamble?

They get my vote. However, I paid full whack for the skins in AK in Bray. You could get better value elsewhere or was I reading that the likes of Aldi had them on offer this week or shortly? Running tights a size smaller than you're used to would do a similar trick would be my view.

Slogger Jogger

Today:

Schedule called for a 35 min tempo run so I pretty much did what it said on the tin. Got out at lunchtime into crisp chilly conditions - but once you're wrapped up the conditions were pretty much perfect for running. Ran from Pottery Rd down to Dun Laoghaire and back, via Kill O the Grange. 8.5k in 35 mins. Job done.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7415227

donothoponpop

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

They get my vote. However, I paid full whack for the skins in AK in Bray. You could get better value elsewhere or was I reading that the likes of Aldi had them on offer this week or shortly? Running tights a size smaller than you're used to would do a similar trick would be my view.

I bought a set from Aldi this morning- €20 for a tshirt top and underpants which go to mid-thigh. Wore them on a run this morning, I should be tired now after a hard weeks training, but as I sit here I'm actually looking foward to running tomorrow. Don't know if its just in my mind, but they seem to do the trick.

Have to say though, I would expect more from Skins, after all I've read about them.

Slogger Jogger

Today was a rest day according to the schedule, but when I got up this morning I just had to run. I compromised with myself by running slowly, almost recovery mode, for 10K on the treadmill on the way to work. Time of 43:48. Another 6 miles to add to the 1000 mile total. I'll keep a running total here and update the 1000 mile total once a week I expect.

No. of runs this year: 9
Total mileage this year: 75

Rusty Cogs 08

Good going SJ. I have to say, if my schedule says rest then I've no problem with it. I have to ask, how do you run on your treadmill on the way to work ?

Slogger Jogger

Visions of me on a treadmill on the back of a flatbed truck or something being ferried to work My commute brings me past my gym - so I stop off on the way. Helps me to wake up sometimes.

TheRoadRunner

Rusty Cogs 08 wrote: »

Good going SJ. I have to say, if my schedule says rest then I've no problem with it. I have to ask, how do you run on your treadmill on the way to work ?

I was about to ask the same question Good running SJ. I'm not going near this 1000 mile challenge. The competitive edge will take over and I will be running to the shops, pub etc

--amadeus--

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

I was about to ask the same question Good running SJ. I'm not going near this 1000 mile challenge. The competitive edge will take over and I will be running to the shops, pub etc

Yea I'm regretting it a bit. That said it is a tiny bit more of an incentive to drag my backside out and cold, dark nights I need all teh help I can get, might need to nick some of SJ's mojo...

Slogger Jogger

I'd like to bottle some of that mojo I'm feeling at the moment alright and have it there to use on another day when the running might be a drudge.

Saturday called for a 12k marathon pace run. Decided to mix it up a bit. Did 8k at bang-on marathon pace, followed by 12k on the hills some of which were fast. Overall did 20.2k in 1h 39. Total ascents of 507m. On a downhill section I managed a 2:55k split at one point :eek: Must've been 'cos I was 'racing' a training partner. So rollout for the Annacurra imra hill race and see if you can beat that

No. of runs this year: 10
Total mileage this year: 88

Rusty Cogs 08

SJ, that's great running, was dp out with you again ? Your respective partners are going to start asking questions soon

donothoponpop

Rusty Cogs 08 wrote: »

SJ, that's great running, was dp out with you again ? Your respective partners are going to start asking questions soon

Yup, I was out with SJ again, but I'm most definately not the training partner he was racing downhill. I tried to keep up with them but very quickly let them go on their mad sprint.

I had to keep back some energy for entertaining my good wife tonight, which addresses the second part of your post;)

Slogger Jogger

Yeah Rusty with respect to my running friend, he's just not my type
Its great to have a little network of running pals on the doorstep to keep the morale going. We did 8k before our hill run today and it flew by.

Slogger Jogger

The weather today, such as it was, would test the resolve of the best of us. The schedule called for 16k or so. Frankly, I was determined to do more as I had done 21ish k last Saturday and I felt like doing at least that. However, the weather was a real put off. I decided to test myself (and my sanity) but doing a long run on the treadmill. Ended up running 25K in 1:48:21 Staying on the threadmill for that long is a test in itself. Half marathon time was around 1:31. Needless to say I've never run so far on the damned thing before. Gym was fairly empty so I wasn't hogging the equipment. The soak in the gym's outside hot tub with the wind gusting through the trees afterwards nearly (only nearly) made it worth it. Still, very happy to have run 25k faster than sub 3hr marathon pace (4:08min/k) pace), so it was a good test.

No. of runs this year: 11
Total mileage this year: 103 !!

Slogger Jogger

Monday is recovery day each week of the schedule, so a short treadmill run before work this morning followed by strength circuits was called for. Ran for 30 mins at an avg pace of 4:33 which was just what the doctor ordered. The distance covered this week will dip from that of the last 2 weeks to something more like the HH schedule. I've done more than necessary in the last 2 weeks as I was lucky to have the time to do so. The kinder weather played its part too.

No. of runs this year: 12
Total mileage this year: 107

Slogger Jogger

Evening hill run 'out the back garden' with d'pop. Another magically starry sky to run under. Moon was hiding over the other side of the world, but Venus was like a floodlight in the sky.

Nice pace overall, and some different length uphill sprints with jog intervals. Tough going, but with over 13k done and over 436m of ascents it was a good evening at the 'office'.

Garmin stuff here. http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7447434 Looks like a volcano!

No. of runs this year: 13
Total mileage this year: 115.7

Slogger Jogger

Yesterday:
Got out at lunchtime yesterday. Conditions were dreadful so it was a case of getting through it and ticking off the miles. Schedule called for a short easy run. Was happy to cover 9.3k in less than 42 mins, good going conditions considering. Garmin track: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7455677

Today:
Schedule called for tempo run for 35 mins or so. Made time before work to do a treadmill run in the gym. These tempo runs are new to me and I find the treadmill useful for guiding the pace, but also with the weather its a good fall back option. Ran 10K on the dot in 40:57 so 4:05 pace.

No. of runs this year: 15
Total mileage this year: 127.7

Rusty Cogs 08

You've some appetite for any sort of run SJ. I wouldn't be surprised to see you bouncing along on top of that low loader. Keep it up

Oh, don't forget to update that league log yoke, you could ruffle feathers jumping 5 places over night with a '30' mile run.

Slogger Jogger

Friday:
imra race this weekend has made me juggle around my schedule. Today was supposed to be rest, but I felt okay and if I didn't run today my weekly tot would be down, so I switched the required Saturday marathon pace run to day. Took the 'easy' way out by doing an hour on the treadmill covering 14.1k. Felt comfortable. Not so long ago this sort of pace for an hour would have been far from comfortable for me so something is working.

Saturday:
A longish run in 2 parts. First 14.4k on trails in Tinahely. Weather was terrific. The calm before the storm that would hit in the afternoon. Took it slow and handy. The run and the company was great and the time flew.

Got home and felt fresh and that I needed to add a bit more, so dusted down the home treadmill that hadn't been used in a while and racked up another 8k in 35 mins or so.

Hope the weather improves for tomorrow.

No. of runs this year: 17
Total mileage this year: 150

Slogger Jogger

imra winter league race in Howth. What started as a calm and pleasant day.. the phrase 'couldn't be better' was used on the drive there... quickly changed to more challenging conditions with a biting cold wind which blew a gale at times. Garmin is showing a gain of 217m over the race, which sounds about right. The route probably ran longer than advertised due to the heavy underfoot conditions, conditions which no running shoe yet invented is equiped to cope with gripwise

My total time today is made up of a warm up, the race (337:05) and the warm down. There was a thought before the race that it might be nice to run the route again in warmdown mode after the race. That notion was quickly dispelled during the race!

Very happy with my race overall. Happy that the legs didn't give in due to other recent runs. Course was challenging and quite mucky . Everyone had at least one fall I reckon and the first aid was probably kept busy. I fell just once but bounced back to condition on as if nothing has happened. The cut on the sore knee afterwards is telling me something else though. Probably ran an ideal sort of race... started not too fast and over the course of the race I was fortunate enough to be able to pick people off ahead of me. This was a run where you savour the enjoyment of in the afterglow of the race. Not much enjoyment in the doing, unless you really like muck and hardship. Great stewardship by the organisers made for a great race. Don't know actual placing at this stage.

Track: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7470596

No. of runs this year: 18
Total mileage this year: 158

Krusty_Clown

Great running SJ, in what sounds like very harsh conditions. I was up for a run around Glencullen / Enniskerry, and the conditions changed from lovely warm sunshine to sleet, and heavy winds every ten minutes. Can't have been much fun out in Howth.

Rusty Cogs 08

That's a fantastic time SJ (as I'm sure Dp will agree). You could have had the hair in curlers by the time we made it in . There can't of been too many left to pick off by the end. I must make a point of hanging around for the post race social next time. Will be interesting to see how the BAC team did (if you both ran under that banner ?).

donothoponpop

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

..., the race (33:05) ...

That's some runnin';)

Slogger Jogger

Unfortunate, but wishful thinking typo, in my earlier post. 37.05 !!

Slogger Jogger

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Great running SJ, in what sounds like very harsh conditions. I was up for a run around Glencullen / Enniskerry, and the conditions changed from lovely warm sunshine to sleet, and heavy winds every ten minutes. Can't have been much fun out in Howth.

It wasn't a hell of a lot of fun at the time, but looking back it actually was and the toughness of the conditions magnifies the post race feeling of something approaching exhilaration. You know you're alive when you do a run like that

donothoponpop

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Unfortunate, but wishful thinking typo, in my earlier post. 37.05 !!

Moderators, can we please treat all previous times posted by Slogger Jogger as "benign"? In light of this "slip of the thumb" I think his 1000 mile challenge totals in particular be treated as suspect.

signed,

"A Concerned Individual"

Slogger Jogger

Some people will do anything to move up a place in the rankings :-) I mean you, not me...

--amadeus--

Pattern of suspicious behaviour there alright. I suggest adding 10% to all his times and -10% all his distances from now on?

Slogger Jogger

Recovery run on treadmill before work this morning. Legs were feeling a bit stiff and was dreading the run to begin with but once I got going it was fine.
6.8k in 30 mins 4:25 pace

No. of runs this year: 19
Total mileage this year: 161.9

Slogger Jogger

Hal Higdon's run for me for today was a 40 min tempo run. His tempo runs build up quite slowly to a top speed, near your 10K speed, about 2/3s of the way into the run. I've interpreted this my own way and get up to a decent speed earlier in the run and sustain it for longer as I think thats a more valuable workout and I'll get more benefit out of this in the long run which is what this is about.

Dragged myself out of bed this morning and managed 10.1K in 40 mins. 3:58 pace. Well happy with that. Tough going in the latter stages but its supposed to be :rolleyes:

No. of runs this year: 20
Total mileage this year: 168.2

Krusty_Clown

Great to be able to pull in sub 40 min 10k's at will during training. Some day..:)

donothoponpop

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

10.1K in 40 mins. 3:58 pace. Well happy with that. Tough going in the latter stages but its supposed to be :rolleyes:

Thats a great pace SJ, nice to be this fast in training at such an early stage.

Slogger Jogger

My pace has been helped considerably by coming straight into the HH programme having done the 10K programme (or most of it at least) before Christmas....

After the tempo run yesterday today's run was to be easy. Got out in the open air for a change and did a run before work down towards Blackroack and back via Dun Laoghaire. 8.1k or so in 35 mins. Lovely chilly but calm morning. Nice steady pace and running that bit slower than yesterday (but near to Marathon pace) felt comfortable. Wishful thinking looking ahead to Rotterdam perhaps :rolleyes:

'Only' 10 weeks left to Rotterdam after this weekend... Time flies when you're running!

No. of runs this year: 21
Total mileage this year: 173