Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads...

Reaganomical

Right, after much contemplation I've decided to start a training log. It seems to be a great way to get feedback on training and races from other people and also a good way of keeping track. Up to now, I've been keeping notebooks of all my sessions and will probably continue to do that but I will try my best to keep this log updated...

I've been running on and off since I started secondary school - off for most of college, but since I left college and joined the working world , it's been on for the last three years (albeit missing most of '08 with injury).

'09 has been a bit of a write-off, lots of training but not a lot of decent races. In '07 and early part of '08, I maybe raced too much...this year, maybe not enough and those that I did, I probably didn't take as seriously as I should have.

I'd like to get a good winter under the belt and have a go at running some better times in the early part of next year - I prefer the shorter stuff - 5k and 10k...I have put myself through a number of 10's and half's but really find them tough going. (That being said, ran Ballycotton for the first time this year, wouldn't miss it for the world)

Although I have infinite admiration for everyone who has completed the marathon, I have absolutely zero interest in running a marathon myself before I'm 30 so I've at least 5 years before I get to experience "the wall".

As far as goals for 2010 - still to finalise, apart from the general plan of getting my pbs down.

Sosa

Best of luck with your log.

I like the name of it,quoted from the infamous Doc Brown

metamorphosis

Hey best of luck with the log.

I'm sure we will cross paths soon with the winter races looming.

Reaganomical

Sosa wrote: »

Best of luck with your log.

I like the name of it,quoted from the infamous Doc Brown

Cheers Sosa, gotta love that film...when I make my fortune I'll get myself a Delorean. Deloreans are cool, right?

ULstudent wrote: »

Hey best of luck with the log.

I'm sure we will cross paths soon with the winter races looming.

Yeah, should do, will see how tomorrow's race goes but will try to get along on Thursday night for the first run. Should be an interesting experience running at 5k pace through the Scholars courtyard at 7pm on a Thursday night...wouldn't fancy the marshalling gig...

Reaganomical

Today: 40 mins very easy along the river bank this morning with a couple of strides at the end. Not too much exertion as I have to strap on the spikes tomorrow.Despite two sessions of physio this week, I've committed to racing the county senior XC. Blame it on being a committed club runner/deluded masochist [delete as appropriate]

The goal for tomorrow is to just to give it the full gun and see where that gets us.

Krusty_Clown

Great stuff, best of luck with the targets. What are the 5k and 10k PBs?
What was the injury on 08, if you don't mind me askin'? Love the title too.

goofygirl

Great title. I think you'll have to do some cross country races now to do it justice.

Reaganomical

Yesterday's race was the disaster it always threatened to be. Certain things in life can be bluffed, certain things can't...one of the latter is a 10k XC race in November.

Anyways, onwards, it's not the first and it won't be the last race I make a dog's dinner of...

Reaganomical

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Great stuff, best of luck with the targets. What are the 5k and 10k PBs?
What was the injury on 08, if you don't mind me askin'? Love the title too.

Hi Krusty, fair play on the excellent pacing job at the Dublin Marathon.

I was struck down with plantar fasciitis for most of last year. It probably came about in March but in my stubborness, I decided to keep training and racing until I eventually collapsed with the pain during one training session in May. Pride before a fall, etc. It meant that the injury was worse than your standard case of pf.

As for my pb's, I've run 16'38 for 5k and 37'20 for 10k...not going to break any hearts or minds with those times but I'm proud of them and if I can focus and ramp up the training between now and April, would be hopeful of taking a bit off them.

MarieC

schnellimbiss wrote: »

As for my pb's, I've run 16'38 for 5k and 37'20 for 10k...not going to break any hearts or minds with those times but I'm proud of them and if I can focus and ramp up the training between now and April, would be hopeful of taking a bit off them.

Best of luck with the log, you make it sound like you take running, dare I say it - in your stride, those times for 5k and 10k are impressive!

Might see ya Thursday, I'll be a few minutes behind you though!

Reaganomical

6 soft miles last night.

Track session and pilates tonight.

Reaganomical

Tuesday

Track session, good turnout for a cold wet November night

2mile warm up/12 x 35 secs (approx 200m) w/ 1 min rec/2 mile cool down

Pilates class afterwards. First in awhile. Tough going after the session.

Reaganomical

Wednesday
Planned a 10 mile run on Wednesday evening but got stuck on a conference call til late. No harm, will lash it out on Friday instead.

Thursday
Limerick Winter Race Series, 5k, 18'50"

Headed to UL for the first winter race, a new initiative of the UL Rowing Club. About 40-50 runners of all standards. A pre-requisite was to wear hi-vis gear for safety reasons, a fact that I had forgotten about until lunchtime today...thankfully Guineys do quite the dapper one size fits all hi vis vest for a recession-busting price of €2.50. Score. First time running with one of these babies on, and it was a bit annoying, flapping hither and thither.

The run itself was grand, nice course, pretty flat with a nice 200m downhill to finish. Plenty of stewards to show the way and to stop the traffic. Think I finished 5th or 6th in the race (will probably get results tomorrow), couple of guys passed me in the last km. Regardless, it was a good tempo run and hopefully I can make it out to the boathouse for a few more of these.

Gonna get to the gym before work in the morning for some more core work and some funky aquarobics and will lash out the 10 easy miles in 70mins tomorrow evening, originally scheduled for Wednesday.

metamorphosis

Glad to hear it went down well. I was a little skeptical about the route but given the feedback will look forward to it next week when i won't be working!

Reaganomical

Friday 6th November

10 mile run after work...conditions weren't great, wet and windy but kept going...the iPod kept me company...


Saturday 7th November

Biblicallly bad weather conditions so had to resort to the gym and the treadmill. I did 6 miles and increased the pace every 2 miles (started at 7 min mile pace, then 6 min pace, then 5'30 pace)...felt good but was absolutely soaked after it.

Not the biggest fan of the treadmill, find it hard to concentrate at times and easy to "zone out". Increasing the pace kept me on my toes anyway and I got through it alright.

I did 30 mins v easy swimming and stretching afterwards.

Sunday 8th November

1'40" LSR - 13 miles - perfect conditions for this, took it nice n' handy. Again the ipod kept me company, I ran two loops of the university bank with a little bit extra strung on. Felt great, happy to get a good solid run done.

Reaganomical

Weather was manky again last night so had to make do with the stinking treadmill. The treadmills in my gym only display speed in km/h - I'm more of a miles man so I printed off this handy sheet to save my brain from having to do conversions and calculations on the fly...http://blog-de-phil.blogspot.com/2004/12/treadmill-conversions.html

My gym, like most I have ever set foot in, pipes that awful dance and pop music dirge over the speakers so I resorted to the ipod and reacquainted myself with the earlier part of the Counting Crows career as I knocked out six steady miles at 7' min pace at 2% incline. Because of the heat generated in the gym and the lack of any real wind resistance, I always end up soaking by the end of the run. I wear singlet and shorts and enjoy the quizzical looks being thrown in my direction.

This week's training will be a bit all over the shop as I'm heading up to Dublin at the weekend for the Ireland-France game. Gonna head up Friday evening and catch up with some mates. There'll be no training on Saturday morning unless I arrange to train with my former clubmates and not quite sure I want to suffer the tortures of a cross country session with them. ;)Will come back down after the game on Saturday night and get my LSR in on Sunday again.

Plan for the rest of the week:

Tuesday pm - Track session & Pilates
Wednesday am - Gym
Wednesday pm - 8 miles easy
Thursday pm - Fartlek 1min on/off session...30-40mins
Friday am - 6 miles easy
Saturday - rest(!)
Sunday - LSR 1'45"

Reaganomical

Track seisun tonight...2mile warm up/6x3mins w. 1 min rec/2mile cool down

followed by...

Pilates

Good evening's work. Was clicking thru each lap round 85 secs, and getting around 900m for each rep. Got thru all 6 without too much drama.

Pilates was easier this week, I did a lot of core work this week. My inability to straighten my right leg over my head is still frustrating and something I need to look at.

Reaganomical

Couple of good days training...

Wednesday am - 4 miles & gym, pm - 8 miles

The weather last night was pants, the run was tough, wet, windy...but we have to HTFU this time of the year, don't we?

Thursday pm - 2 mile warm up/30 min fartlek/2 mile cool down

Would have liked to have made the race out in UL this evening but was working late so had planned this session instead. After the warm up, did 30 mins of 1 minute on / 1 minute off...i.e. 1 min @faster than 5k pace then 1 min @ 10k pace...

I don't wear a heart rate monitor so I suppose I'm running by "feel"...maybe I will invest in one around Christmas. I've never been a big fan of gadgets and gizmos when it comes to running. Maybe it's due to the influence of the old school runners who shaped my interest in running...

Gonna try to whip out six miles in the morning as Friday evening and Saturday are a write off...really looking forward to being in Croker on Saturday night when we make history and stuff the French 12-0

Fingers crossed Trap can lead us to glory...then the question of how to afford 3 weeks in South Africa will arise!

Reaganomical

In Dublin at the weekend for the football; as I was travelling up Friday evening, I got up at stupid o'clock on Friday morning to get six miles in. Friday night was a late one catching up with friends and Saturday was spent in nervous excitement of the game. I try to go to most of the Irish games with the same bunch of messers. We've been going to games since we were just young fellas. We've had some great days out - beating the Dutch, beating the Croats, beating the Yugoslavians, some bad days out - the whole "Staunton as gaffer" era, the playoff with Turkey, the Israeli draw. Saturday night was without doubt, the best atmosphere I've ever seen at an Irish game, everyone was just so up for the match. The game itself was difficult to watch, the French didn't start playing ball until the second half and after they scored and we threw on McGeady and Hunt, they could have scored 2 or 3 more. We didn't really have any manner of luck. Anyways, we'll go to Paris and see what Fate holds in store.

Got out for 90mins easy yesterday morning - will get another 60 done tonight.

Anyways, between the jigs and the reels, training this week and next will be pretty poor. Will be doing well to hit 30 miles this week and 30 miles the week after...Gonna try to and ramp it up from December - April. No real races lined up...will probably do one or two more of the ULRC series, the 10 miler on Stephens Day, Ballycotton, Plassey 10k and maybe a half marathon "out foreign" with a gang...Like the idea of Prague

MCOS

schnellimbiss wrote: »

Track seisun tonight...2mile warm up/6x3mins w. 1 min rec/2mile cool down

followed by...

Pilates

Good evening's work. Was clicking thru each lap round 85 secs, and getting around 900m for each rep. Got thru all 6 without too much drama.

Pilates was easier this week, I did a lot of core work this week. My inability to straighten my right leg over my head is still frustrating and something I need to look at.

Ha ha I have the same inability I was in bits after that track session so skipped pilates. If its the UL pilates session it can be tough alright after the track sess. Puts me to shame she does

Best of luck with the log...

metamorphosis

Is that the pilates by Ms. E herself? If so, it's always a savage session with her. She takes no prisoners!

MCOS

ULstudent wrote: »

Is that the pilates by Ms. E herself? If so, it's always a savage session with her. She takes no prisoners!

Yeah, tell me about it.. she's my Mom!

Reaganomical

Just back from France. Fairly gutted to lose the way we did. Awesome atmosphere, better than '04. The lads gave it their all and unfortunately once again, Lady Luck didn't shine on

Some of the reactions has been so OTT to be hilarious. A replay? Not going to happen.

Alll these petitions and Facebook groups are a bit ridiculous...some perspective wouldn't go astray! No one died. No one lost their job over it.

Brian Cowen and Dermot Ahern should STFU and get on with more important issues like saving the remnants of the Irish economy and not trying to be "down with the ordinary man", shower of opportunistic feicers.


/rant


Back to running, not surprisingly haven't done anything for the last three days, will try to get a couple of runs in over the next couple of days. Looking forward to seeing the results of the Inter Counties on Sunday...there's a thread on the main page about it. I think Lebeta Debala from this neck of the woods could have a good run. Given the weather conditions expected for Sunday, it'll be a muck fest!

Reaganomical

MCOS wrote: »

Ha ha I have the same inability I was in bits after that track session so skipped pilates. If its the UL pilates session it can be tough alright after the track sess. Puts me to shame she does

Best of luck with the log...

Hey MCOS, yep that's the pilates alright, only started doing it a couple of weeks ago...used to do pilates up in Dublin and find it pretty useful. The class on Tuesday evenings is a real toughie, but will stick it out.

metamorphosis

MCOS wrote: »

Yeah, tell me about it.. she's my Mom!

EEK!!:D

Reaganomical

Doesn't take long for the logs to vanish off the first couple of pages. Haven't trained all week due to exams and this weekend is looking doubtful due to threatened flooding. I'm all about the benefits of aqua-running but this is just taking the p1ss.

Reaganomical

Six miles at 8 min pace this morning. Legs were pretty heavy from lack of use over the last two weeks...

Reaganomical

Another 6 miles @ 7'30 pace this afternoon, on the treadmill while the Arsenal Chelsea game was on tv. Followed by 45 minutes of circuits and core work.

Now, El Classico...come on Barca

Reaganomical

60 minutes on treadmill last night (first 20 mins at 7'30 pace, middle 20 mins at 6'30 pace, last 20 mins at 7'00 pace, incline of 1.5%)

God, I hate the treadmill. Looking forward to heading to the track this evening even if it is bitterly cold out.

Reaganomical

Track session @ UL last night.

I expected it to be freezing but turned out to be a very pleasant evening for training. The only downside being I was layered up to the gills...short sleeve nike training shirt, north face long sleeve top, running gillet, gloves and beanie and of course the obligatory tights. By the end of the warm up I was down to the short sleeve t-shirt.

The session was a lively one. Following warmup drills and stretches, it was (1) 6 x 80seconds with a 60 second recovery between each (2) 2 min recovery after this (3) 4 x 80 seconds with a 30 second recovery between each (4) 5 min jog (5) 4 x 100m sprints, then 10 min jog to cool down and stretches.

Found the first 6 ok, was trying to ensure that I was getting at least a lap in for each rep, the last 4 off the short recovery were pretty tough and I felt like I was going backwards in them. I usually prefer the shorter sessions like this but I found myself wishing for 5/6 min reps last night.

I had my pilates conditioning class afterwards. Some new twists and turns to try and master. Still bugger all flexibility in my right leg.

I was half planning on taking a rest day today but will try to get outside for a 90min easy run this evening and then the 7k ULRC race tomorrow as a tempo run.

Reaganomical

80 mins easy last night. Took in a decent chunk of the latter stages of the course of the proposed *great* Limerick Run. It's not bad towards the end, bit of a climb between the Gaelic Grounds and the Tennis Club and then it's mostly downhill back into the city centre.