No pain No Gain

Seres

here it goes ,i have finally decided to start a training log , not sure for what really , at the moment running , however this could change to triathlon.

Goals
under 42 min Great Ireland Run ( original plan was 40min but due to lack of commitment since november will def not happen)
under 40min womens mini marathon
Ballina Triathlon ( have not assessed achieveable times yet)
Mullaghmore Tri ( maybe , sea swim is a turnoff)
Lough Key Triathlon

Expectation for this log :

1. help me to be more consistent with training
2. encourage me to have a training plan ( none yet )
3. aid in achieving my ST and LT Goals
4. to focus me
5. Training assessment ( my me and other on the boards )

So here it goes, starting today:
up 7 am , run slow 40min

just a note : got one of those nike wrist bands to help me record pace , distance etc , however not working , disappointing
has anyone used these and if so how are they( prob should post a thread on this )?

Woddle

Great to see you've started one of these and it will def help you in your quest. I find when motivation is waning all you need is a slight shove and you'll get that here, best of luck

christeb

Good stuff. The women's mini marathon is v hard to run fast in (or simply run!) with the crowds (yes, I did it once dressed up - guilty!)

Best of luck with the log

MCOS

Best of Luck Seres in the Bupa run and good for you putting up a log.... 'tis busy around these parts...

Seres

thanks for the support guys

Krusty_Clown

Hi Seres, best of luck with the goals and the log.

On the Nike+, I had one for a while that I used with an iPod Nano. A friend had one too (with iPod Nano), and his footpod was a dead duck. Have you paired the footpod to the wristband? Can you borrow someone else's footpod and see if it works?

Seres

i was told in the shop that i had just to pair the wrist band with the footpod , have tried that but its not working ,was told in the shop that i didnt need an ipod , think i might bring it back , hope that i dont look like and eejit if they get it working in the shop !

Krusty_Clown

No, he's right, you don't need an iPod (the wristband replaces the iPod piece). Are you sure you've 'woken' the footpod? You need to swing it briskly like a pendulum, or attach it to your show and walk for a bit to get it powered on.

Seres

will try your suggestion krusty , thanks

yesterday 17th : forgot to post
long run , one hour twenty , glad to get back , knees are stiff and sore when running, worried about this , really need to get thing equipment to measure distance while i am running

Today 18th
35 minute easily run , legs stiff

does anyone know when i should do speed session and long run( after day off , after easily day ???)

a little worried about knees , one in particular , might go to see physio

cfitz

Seres wrote: »

does anyone know when i should do speed session and long run( after day off , after easily day ???)

You will probably feel freshest after a day off. So that could be a good day to get the best out of your speed session. Post up the rest of your week and there might be an obvious way to schedule it.

Seres

thank cfitz

Seres

anyone any good ideas for a speed session for morro morning , training for 10K ?

cfitz

How about: 4-5 x 1600m at target 10k race pace with 2 min jog recovery?

shels4ever

cfitz wrote: »

How about: 4-5 x 1600m at target 10k race pace with 2 min jog recovery?

Hard session to start with there, I know its 10k pace but I'd prob start with 3 reps depending on when the 10k race is.

cfitz

shels4ever wrote: »

Hard session to start with there, I know its 10k pace but I'd prob start with 3 reps depending on when the 10k race is.

Yeah if Seres hasn't been doing these kind of sessions up until now, that would be quite tough. It might be better to start with something like 2 x 2000m and build up from there. Possible increments might be:

2 x 2000m
3 x 2000m
4 x 1600m
5 x 1600m

Woddle

You could check this site out http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/paces.php?metres=5000&hr=0&min=19&sec=25&age=29&gender=M&Submit=Calculate

Or I did this last night for the first time, it was tough but you knew you were going to get sth out of it

pyramid 1 min,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1
the rest is half the time of your last repeat, so if you ran the 3 mins fast, well then its 1:30 rest
I didn't know what pace I was to run them at, but when I finished I realised I ran it at roughly 5 mile race pace

Seres

thank woddle
i shudder when i think of pyramids , bad childhood memories , tough stuff !

Seres

speed session today

did on threadmill to give the road a break

10min warm up

6*1k @ 7min/mile pace , 60 sec intervals

10mins warm down


disappointing performance for a no of reason:

1. did not stick to correct interval times , went over 60sec to maybe 80sec on some
2. did not feel as comfortable at that pace as i should have
3. felt very heavy in the legs
4. fitness has gone back alot !

good reality check , think goal of 42min re bupa 10k is out the window
dread going back swimming , expect big setbacks there

Seres

update : havent log on for a couple of days but have trained

Saturday 21st March
nothing , not intentional rest day , day ran away on me , very dissappointed

Sunday 22th March
8min warm up
35min Fartleg , spurts of between 45 sec to 2min thirty
10min warm down
Session really wrecked me out , didnt pace myself , however a good kick in the ass session which is what i needed

did fartlek years ago , but somehow felt i wasnt doing it right !

Monday 23th March
40min easy run

Tomorrow Tuesday 24th March
60-70min long run





Fartlek Questions

1. is there any point doing spurts of less than 2 mins if you are training for 10K ?
2. what lenght of time jogging should you give between spurts ? do you leave it to your own discretion( this doesnt seem right )
3. should jogging betwwen spurts be very slow ?
4. how long should i do it for ?

Long Run Question

1. should this be done very slow ?
2. is 60mins enough for long run ( training for 10K) ?

Seres

65mins easy run/jog

cfitz

Seres wrote: »

Fartlek Questions

1. is there any point doing spurts of less than 2 mins if you are training for 10K ?
2. what lenght of time jogging should you give between spurts ? do you leave it to your own discretion( this doesnt seem right )
3. should jogging betwwen spurts be very slow ?
4. how long should i do it for ?

Long Run Question

1. should this be done very slow ?
2. is 60mins enough for long run ( training for 10K) ?

I didn't reply to this the other day coz I didn't think my answers were very good (I don't think I've done any fartlek in years). But seen as no-one else replied, here's my opinions:

When doing Fartlek, training for 10k, I think spurts of less than 2 minutes might be useful - also, it may be hard to keep your discipline for longer bursts in such an unstructured type of run.

As far as I know, both fast parts and the parts between are meant to be chosen at your discretion while you run. But it might be a good idea to have some maximum and minimum times in your head before you start.

In my mind, Fartlek means running with some short bursts, so the gaps between the bursts shouldn't be a very slow jog - they should be an easy running pace.

The length of a normal run is probably what you should do for your Fartlek (maybe 35-55 minutes), and possibly don't put any bursts in the first or last 5 minutes.

Regarding your long run, I think it should be very easy but not necessarily very slow. It should be done at a very comfortable pace, some days that might be slower than other days. It's hard to describe properly, but I think it should feel like a run rather than a jog even if it is at an easy pace.

Lastly, I reckon your long run should be about 60 minutes and upwards. But I wouldn't move up to a distance that I couldn't run easily. Doing it in weekly cycles like this might work - 60min, 65 min, 70 min, 55 min.

Stupid_Private

Seres wrote: »

Fartlek Questions

1. is there any point doing spurts of less than 2 mins if you are training for 10K ?
2. what lenght of time jogging should you give between spurts ? do you leave it to your own discretion( this doesnt seem right )
3. should jogging betwwen spurts be very slow ?
4. how long should i do it for ?

You may get more answers to this by posting on the main forum - cfitz covers the long run very well. I'll just give my two cents on the fartlek as it's one of my main training sessions.

1. Definitely. I've two speed sessions a week and one of them usually ends up being 1 minute intervals. The other could be a tempo run, 800m, 2 or 3 minute intervals.
2. Enough time until you're recovered to go again is a good way to start off. Don't worry too much about it. With 2 minute and 3 minute intervals I'd generally give a 2 minute jog in between. 1 minute interval would have a 90 second jog.
3. As slow as you need to recover before the next one starts.
4. You're looking at a 2 mile jog before starting and finishing. For one minute repeats you could do around 12, building up to 16 eventually (this should take a while and there's no need to rush into getting there too soon). Again for 2 minute intervals you could probably start with around 6 and try build up to 8.

They're a great training session if done right. Every now and again I tend to do them too fast and pay at the end.

Seres

thanks cfitz and stupid private
i suppose i should have posted it on the main forum , it was a little bit presumptuous of me to think people would bother reading my logs

Seres

Yesterday 25th March
planned Days rest

Today 26th March

10min warm up

6*1k @7min/mile pace , rest approx 1min 20sec

10min warm down

threadmill not in miles so 1k a bit short (.6miles ( 960m) , hard to get rest interval time correct cause have to start on .1mile exact , feel pace not as good as could be outdoors

Morrow 50min easy run

Seres

50minutes steady run

Morrow Saturday 27th
30min easy run

Sunday
35min Fartlek , 10min warmup&warmdown

will report on monday , prob wont be on internet over wkend

Seres

Disappointing weekend training wise

Saturday planned 30min run did not happen

Sunday
planned fartlek session in the park did not happen , instead did 10*2mins with 1min in between @4.10min/km on threadmill

Monday
Planned 30min run did not happen this morning , hopefully tonight.

Seres

10min warm up
2*10mins @ 5k race pace( dont know speed) with full recovery between
10min warm down

not at all sure what pace i should run 10k on sunday , think 42mins id out of my reach

Seres

havent posted in a while , due to circumstances beyond my control did not get the training in last week that i wanted and could not go to bupa 10k yesterday , very dissappointed.
Wednesday
35min easy run

Thursday&friday nothing

Saturday
4.7mile nearly race pace @ 7.23mi/pace - pace has not improved much

sunday 5th April
10min warm up
6*4mins @ 6.4mile pace with minute rest between
10min warm down

Seres

Tuesday 7th April

60min run , 7 miles

Seres

37mins /4.6miles 8.03min/mile/pace
easy run

Seres

thursday 9th April 09
Speed session -very dissapointed
intended to do 6*1k @ 6min 40sec approx, 1 min intervals

Actual
5*1k @ 6min 40sec - 7mins , some intervals > 1 min

Disappointing : dont feel i am improving at all !

shels4ever

Seres wrote: »

thursday 9th April 09
Speed session -very dissapointed
intended to do 6*1k @ 6min 40sec approx, 1 min intervals

Actual
5*1k @ 6min 40sec - 7mins , some intervals > 1 min

Disappointing : dont feel i am improving at all !

these sessions can be hard to start with, It can take a number of week to get into them. I started something like this back in sept and it took 3-4 week until i was used to the session and progress quickly followed. One bad (just looking at the session its not bad) session doesn't mean your not improving.

One thing I would say is increase the interval between them to maybe 90 secs to start with, I started at 2 mins and brough it down that way, 1 min is hard.

Krusty_Clown

Seres wrote: »

Actual
5*1k @ 6min 40sec - 7mins , some intervals > 1 min

Disappointing : dont feel i am improving at all !

This is the same session that you have done for the two previous weeks, right? I'm no expert (and I hope the experts will correct me if I'm wrong), but taking up to 20 seconds off of your pace on an interval is a massive amount and probably contributed to why you didn't make your 6th interval. Is 6:40-7:00 your 5K race pace?

Seres

Seres wrote: »

thursday 9th April 09
Speed session -very dissapointed
intended to do 6*1k @ 6min 40sec approx, 1 min intervals

Actual
5*1k @ 6min 40sec - 7mins , some intervals > 1 min

Disappointing : dont feel i am improving at all !

Sorry krusty and all !
jesus i cant believe i posted that wrong it was actual not 1ks that i was doing cause i found them hard to measure exactly on the threadmill (that is in miles) so i had switched to 4min intervals with 1 min in between , ( easier to make sure interval times between were correct and i knew i was doing exactly 4 mins )
I choose 4 min intervals @ 6 min 40 sec cause at that pace 1k would be 4min10sec

Sorry was dissappointerd with preformance cause sunday last did this same session 6*4mins @ 6min 40 sec with 1min in between and found it much easier re Sunday 5th April Session

Seres

Saturday 11th April
10min warm up
30min Fartlek
10 warm down

Tuseday 14th April
40min easy run

Krusty_Clown

Hey Seres, you mentioned before that you were in based Co. Roscommon. Are you doing the Roscommon 10k in May? I drove the route yesterday, and it seems very flat and fast.

Seres

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Hey Seres, you mentioned before that you were in based Co. Roscommon. Are you doing the Roscommon 10k in May? I drove the route yesterday, and it seems very flat and fast.

I saw you mention that you were going doing that 10k , there is one in sligo the same day , run by the same crowd , was thinkin of doing that one , although if you recommend that one i might do it instead , i really need to do a race , dont really know where i am at pace wise , last two races had planned could not make them. what did you think of the course? how is your training going ?

Krusty_Clown

The course is actually pretty nice. Mostly minor roads, with a short spell on the hard shoulder of one of the national roads, then finishing in the rather pleasant Moate Park. My OH ran it over the weekend for training purposes and would have easily recorded a PB, so a lot flatter than Phoenix Park and Donadea. I've signed-up as I'm hoping to get under the 40 mins. It would be a great boost with Edinburgh marathon coming up a few weeks later At only 10 euro it's a snip!

Training's going well, but have picked up an injury, so need to see what the doc has to say. Hoping to do another race this Sunday. Fingers crossed.

thirstywork

seems to me you are giving yourself very short recovery between session?
thur 1k's and sat tempo?

Seres

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

The course is actually pretty nice. Mostly minor roads, with a short spell on the hard shoulder of one of the national roads, then finishing in the rather pleasant Moate Park. My OH ran it over the weekend for training purposes and would have easily recorded a PB, so a lot flatter than Phoenix Park and Donadea. I've signed-up as I'm hoping to get under the 40 mins. It would be a great boost with Edinburgh marathon coming up a few weeks later At only 10 euro it's a snip!

Training's going well, but have picked up an injury, so need to see what the doc has to say. Hoping to do another race this Sunday. Fingers crossed.

where did you register for roscommon , i read that you have to pick up application form in local newspapers ?
under 40min , that would be fantastic, i thgink i will have to do a time trial to see where i am at

Seres

thirstywork wrote: »

seems to me you are giving yourself very short recovery between session?
thur 1k's and sat tempo?

ya i dont really know what i am at , had a rough training plan in my head based on nothing concrete but even that keeps changing constantly , i need more focus , i think i was doing better without a plan ,i was just going out and running a couple of miles every day as hard as i could, what do ya think ?

Krusty_Clown

Seres wrote: »

where did you register for roscommon , i read that you have to pick up application form in local newspapers ?
under 40min , that would be fantastic, i thgink i will have to do a time trial to see where i am at

You can register here.

Seres

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

You can register here.

thanks krusty
Wednesday 15th April
10min warm up
Time trial 4.5/4.6mile ( not to sure measured in car ) in 32.37min, really leathered it out today , hilly course , need a more accurate measure than the car as 4.5-4.6 makes a big difference to mile pace
10min warm down

Happy with today , feel i have better idea what i can aim for that is within my reach
any suggestions on how to measure distance if one doesnt have a garmin (really want/need one but cant fit into budget yet )

ss43

Seres wrote: »

any suggestions on how to measure distance if one doesnt have a garmin (really want/need one but cant fit into budget yet )

If you're running on a road or trail that's marked on a map

• Get a page, put the edge of the page at the start of the route, the way the page is alongside the route (until the first turn).
• Mark the point on the page where the the route turns away
• twist the page the way that point is still in the same place but the page is now alongside the next section of your run.
• Keep doing this until you get to the end of the route.
• Measure how much of the page you marked and use the scale on the map to see how far it is.

If anyone who knows what I'm talking about would like to explain that more clearly please do so. It's clear in my head but not so sure it's explained well. It was on the junior cert geography course if that rings any bells.

It's not really that important to measure how fast/far you're running. If you want to do a session at 5k pace run at what you think 5k pace feels like. You mighn't be too far off and you're less likely to run too easy after improving or too hard after a setback if you run according to effort levels than pace.

Seres

ss43 wrote: »

If you're running on a road or trail that's marked on a map

• Get a page, put the edge of the page at the start of the route, the way the page is alongside the route (until the first turn).
• Mark the point on the page where the the route turns away
• twist the page the way that point is still in the same place but the page is now alongside the next section of your run.
• Keep doing this until you get to the end of the route.
• Measure how much of the page you marked and use the scale on the map to see how far it is.

If anyone who knows what I'm talking about would like to explain that more clearly please do so. It's clear in my head but not so sure it's explained well. It was on the junior cert geography course if that rings any bells.

It's not really that important to measure how fast/far you're running. If you want to do a session at 5k pace run at what you think 5k pace feels like. You mighn't be too far off and you're less likely to run too easy after improving or too hard after a setback if you run according to effort levels than pace.

thanks will try that , actually your explanation is very understandable , got it on the second go , thanks also for advice re pace

Running Bing

ss43 wrote: »

If you're running on a road or trail that's marked on a map

• Get a page, put the edge of the page at the start of the route, the way the page is alongside the route (until the first turn).
• Mark the point on the page where the the route turns away
• twist the page the way that point is still in the same place but the page is now alongside the next section of your run.
• Keep doing this until you get to the end of the route.
• Measure how much of the page you marked and use the scale on the map to see how far it is.

If anyone who knows what I'm talking about would like to explain that more clearly please do so. It's clear in my head but not so sure it's explained well. It was on the junior cert geography course if that rings any bells.

It's not really that important to measure how fast/far you're running. If you want to do a session at 5k pace run at what you think 5k pace feels like. You mighn't be too far off and you're less likely to run too easy after improving or too hard after a setback if you run according to effort levels than pace.

That would remind me too much of Junior cert Geography.....just use mapmyrun.com

Seres

Babybing wrote: »

That would remind me too much of Junior cert Geography.....just use mapmyrun.com

thanks babybing fantastic checked that out yesterday , fantastic , i cant believe i been using the car to measure distances to date

thursdays 16th
easy run : 4.68 mi 43.17 mins @ 9.17 av pace
no pressure , 1k sessions morrow , outdoors so times should be interesting

Seres

friday 17th April
6*0.95K reps with 90sec recovery

times
3.37
3.45
3.41
3.39
3.44
3.38

First time doing outside , planned 5 glad i could do 6 , first two i was trying to figure out a suitable pace , happy with session , thought i wolud have trouble getting it under 4mins
next weeks session i will take 10sec off recovery time

Krusty_Clown

Great running Seres! What's with the 0.95k reps? Did you run out of road?!

Seres

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Great running Seres! What's with the 0.95k reps? Did you run out of road?!

what happen was i was told by babybing about mapmyrun so i mapped out a 0.95km loop on the street view (thinking that was the only map type you could do) and left it at that because i felt i wouldnt know where exactly to stop for the 1km , just realised that there is a satelite view , so next week will be 1km.
I dont know though if i fully trust the mapmyrun measurements because i am after measuring that same loop twice and am getting a 0.01km difference 0.94km versus 0.95km , have you ever tried it ?
to tell you the truth its totally annoying cause i really want to get it exact !

Krusty_Clown

Yeah, I have often used Mapmyrun. I mapped out that Roscommon 10k recently using it. It's never going to be exact unfortunately, but it should be close enough. The only way you'll get more accurate is to measure the distance yourself, using a measuring wheel, or a GPS receiver (doesn't have to be a Forerunner - you could borrow somebody's car GPS if you don't have one). Your car's speedo won't be very accurate either. The thing is, if you measure it properly once, you'll never have to measure it again. just make a few discrete spray-paint marks on the road.