Becoming a Real Runner

menoscemo

I wasn't planning anything today more than trying to get over my hangover/ chest infection but it was such a lovely day that I decided to go off for a bit of a jog this evening. I shot out really fast for a mile or two (about 7:30 pace) then slowed down a little. In the end I did 5.1 miles in 7:55 pace, HR was about 156, a little high but I'll put that down to the hangover.

This week's overall:
4 runs (and one aborted effort) and 24 miles overall. A little disappointing, but I guess not too bad given the illness. I am quite pleased with myself for getting out today despite last nights booze as well. That's also 287 miles in the 100 mile challenge and wednesday is the last day in march, so I plan to have rossed the 300 mile mark by then.

menoscemo

I hit the track at UCD this evening and the plan was 5x 1km at 10k pace. My next race is the great Ireland run, so I want to get some 10k specific training in. I hope to run sub 44 minutes :eek: so the plan for the intervals was 4:24 or less.
Anyway after a few laps warm up I went off on the first interval and hit it in 4:20, perfect. My right leg was a little stiff especially up round the hip, so I stopped for a minute to stretch it out a little and went off on my second interval. This one felt a little tougher but then again it was a little fast, clocked it a 4:14. The right leg was really stiff now and the stiffness was spreading down to the calf. I stopped again and tried to stretch it out but the next interval the pain was still there so it was a little slower than the others 4:25. I decided to run in the opposite direction to see if that made any difference, so I did a few slow laps anti clockwise and the right leg was still so tight (from hip to calf) it felt like something would snap at any minute. The left leg (the one where I have had the ankle trouble recently) was absolutely fine. Reluctantly I called it a day before I did any damage. This is a little frustrating as I felt the intervals themselves were going fine if it wasn't for the leg.

I think I will give the UCD track a miss from now on. I have always found the surface tough to run on and it normally gives me really sore calfs, but nothing like today. Infairness the track was very wet tonight which probably didn't help. I think next week I will do some mile intervals on tarmac round the park instead of the track. I will probably try to do something like 3x 1 mile at 7:00 pace later in the week as well to make up for todays aborted effort.

Overall 3.4 miles in 27 minutes. 8:00 pace.

I have just spent about 20 minutes rolling out the leg from top to bottom and I am sure it is fine and was just the surface tonight.

kennyb3

hope your okay, i find the track very tough on the legs too - gave my achilles a scare few months back. i wonder if there are any softer track surfaces around? Im thinking a footy pitch might be best way to do intervals myself

menoscemo

kennyb3 wrote: »

hope your okay, i find the track very tough on the legs too - gave my achilles a scare few months back. i wonder if there are any softer track surfaces around? Im thinking a footy pitch might be best way to do intervals myself

Thanks man, I think I'm fine, the legs always get a bit sore on it and a combo of the news shoes and the wet surface (you kind of subconsciously try to 'grip it') probably provoked the reaction. I'll definately get out for a few miles tomorrow to loosen up. The track was great through the winter months for the speed work, but with the strecth in the evenings and the use of a garmin, there is no reason I can't do the speedwork in the park from now on.

menoscemo

5 miles very easy tonight in 45 minutes. Unfortunately the weather was so bad I just had to go to the gym and do them on the dreadmill.
The Right leg felt fine until the last km or so when it seemed to cramp up a bit from the hip- or maybe it is just in my head?? I don't know but I have a feeling the Lunarglides are a bit stiff for me and I may need soemthing else. I think I will visit Elverys on thursday or friday and see if I can get a deal on something like a pair of Asics 1140 or 2140's (i.e. something that still gives me a bit of support). I have something in my head that SUB430 said to me about having a couple of different pairs of shoes on the go being good for your gait.

Anyway, just over 4 miles short of 300 miles and I will endevour to get them done tomorrow after work. I will rpobably run thursday and friday too since I am off work and will be up home at the weekend eating chocolate and crisps. Except for a slip up on Paddies day I have had no crisps since lent stated though I haven't lost (or gained an ounce.

menoscemo

Back to form tonight!! I have a nice 2 mile lap around tymon park and the plan was to do 3 x 1 mile at 10k pace (7min/mile) and use the the other half of the lap as warm up/recovery. I was really surpirsed with the splits: 6:37, 6:52, 6:49. They really didn't feel that hard at all and I certainly never ran any of the miles flat out. Av Hr for all 3 was 162-163 and a high of no more than 171.

Overall 6.75 miles in 57 minutes, pace 8:25 av HR 152.

It was really cold tonight and I had no gloves, after 1 lap my hands had lost feeling. I went back to the car and lucklily found a couple of old golf gloves which staved off the frost bite. But I must have looked a right sight wearing two golf gloves, one whote, one black and one of them back to front!!

Plan is a recovery run tomorrow and an LSR on friday. I hope to get a new pair of trainers tomorrow begin to alternate them with the current ones, though in fairness the legs were 100% tonight so maybe the last few days niggles were just apparitions.

menoscemo

Just reviewing the 100 mile thread there as I have just crossed the 300 mile milestone.
In January I did 112 miles (to sit 41st on the table)
In February I did only 73.6 (Dropped to 52nd)
In March: 117 miles (still in 52nd)

So it seems that despite what feel like a bad month with Injury and Illness, It was actually my biggest mileage month of the year so far. Hopefully I can keep fully fit in April and If so I would like to up the mileage a bit and do something like 150 miles (about 35 per week).
Short term targets are the Geat Ireland run on the 18th April (sub 44), then the Leixlip 5k on the 8th May (c.20min 30s) and the Sportsworld 5 mile on the 16th May (sub 35). If all goes according to plan I will have actually broken all my shorter race goals for the year and can start concentrate on training for a Half or maybe even Full Marathon :eek:

menoscemo

I spent the day baragin hunting for new trainers. I have had the feeling that while my current Lunar glides are great, soft and supportive, they have a rather large heel and I don't like the feel of landing when I am doing a speed session, it feels like my heel lands before it should. After much browsing and deliberation I purchased a pair of Asics DS trainers in Elvery's in dundrum. The have a very low heel and still offer me enough protection. The salesman flimed me on the threadmil in them and they looked good.

I Decided to give them a spin tonight to break them in. 6 miles easy in 50 minutes. Pace 8:25, HR 150. The difference in feel between these and the lunar glides is huge, the nikes are very very soft and these feel almost like my feet are touching the ground. I think they will suit me better for short stuff and speed training (especially on a soft track) and the plan is to rotate these and the nikes on a day on day off basis.

rainbow kirby

I'm tempted to get a pair of DS trainers myself for the faster stuff, they really are a very nice shoe. Only problem is that the womens one is barbie pink :mad:

menoscemo

rainbow kirby wrote: »

I'm tempted to get a pair of DS trainers myself for the faster stuff, they really are a very nice shoe. Only problem is that the womens one is barbie pink :mad:

Would you not consider a pair of 1140's or 2140's? there were some decent offers on those in the various sports shops in Dundrum. I assumed with your insistence on Kayanos that you were a sever over pronator??

RacoonQueen

rainbow kirby wrote: »

I'm tempted to get a pair of DS trainers myself for the faster stuff, they really are a very nice shoe. Only problem is that the womens one is barbie pink :mad:

The orange 13's were the coolest.

http://www.prodirectrunning.com/Products/Running-Shoes-Asics-Gel-DS-Trainer-13-Womens-Running-Trainers-White-Orange-601.aspx
http://www.sweatshop.co.uk/Details.cfm?ProdID=3024&category=2 - they have a size 7.5

rainbow kirby

menoscemo wrote: »

Would you not consider a pair of 1140's or 2140's? there were some decent offers on those in the various sports shops in Dundrum. I assumed with your insistence on Kayanos that you were a sever over pronator??

I'm a relatively heavy pronator - if I was to get a pair of DS-Trainers or Lunarglides it would be for the faster stuff and I'd still be wearing my Kayanos for the majority of my running. I'm tempted actually to try the 2140/50s though, there tends to be better deals on them and I'm really not very enamored with the Kayano 16.

menoscemo

rainbow kirby wrote: »

I'm a relatively heavy pronator - if I was to get a pair of DS-Trainers or Lunarglides it would be for the faster stuff and I'd still be wearing my Kayanos for the majority of my running. I'm tempted actually to try the 2140/50s though, there tends to be better deals on them and I'm really not very enamored with the Kayano 16.

Not sure the DS would do you much good if you are a heavy pronator, the guy today told me that 1140's would be too much support for me and 2140's way too much... they have 1140's for €80 in lifestyle dundrum and 2140's for €85 in elverys.
I was looking at the Asicsamerica page earlier and it gives you good info on the Pronation range of all it's shoes
http://www.asicsamerica.com/products/category.aspx?PARENT_CATEGORY_ID=250001547

menoscemo

I have a few Doms from the run in the new trainers, nothing troublesome I guess they'll just take a few runs to break in.
Went to the Gym this morning and did just over 3 miles on the treadmill afterwards as a kind of recovery run.

That's 6 Days straight running for me now, something of a record. I'm heading up home (north) for easter now, so I'll deffo have a rest tomorrow. I'll maybe try to get some kind of run in on sunday when everyone else is at mass :P, before gorging on crisps and easter eggs. We'll see.

menoscemo

8.2 miles this morning over very hill paths and Trails in a forest Park up here in Co Tyrone. time 1hr 14, pace 9 min/mile HR 152.

Really glad I got this run in and quite a tough workout despite the pace, given the very tricky terrain.

So that's 6 runs this week and 33 miles, some of the runs were quite short tough, that's why I did an extra run. Let's see If I can make it to 35 miles next week.

menoscemo

So despite saying this time last week that I would do the speed work in the park from now on, I headed back to the UCD track with the new DS trainers to see if they would make a difference. The plan was to finish the session that I had to abort last week i.e. 5 x 1km at planned 10k pace (4:24/km or 44 minutes total) with 400m recoveries.

I finished the session this week with very little trouble. These shoes are much lower to the ground and a little harder in the sole than the Lunar Glides. I am pretty sure that it was a combo of the Softness (and high heel) of the Lunar glides and the softness of the track that was causing the stress on the legs and particularly the right hip.
Anyway todays splits were: 4:09 (av HR 166/max 171) 4:14 (166/171) 4:19 (166/171) 4:24 (164/170) 4:18 (167/171)
The first was obviously a bit quick so I consciously slowed down in the next 3 and then upped it a bit on the last one. Pretty pleased that all the HR's are amazingly consistent and that the max is only 171 as I am sure I can push to an Average HR of around 175 for 10k in race conditions.

The legs were a bit tight after the run so I had a good strecthing session after. Overall (with a 1k warm up and 1k warm down) 5.6 miles in 44 minutes, pace 7:55/mile HR 157.

menoscemo

I headed out for a medium lenght recovery run this evening but seemed to go off at a decent clip, So I kept it up.

Overall 6.5 miles in 51 minutes. Pace 7:53, HR 154.

Surprised that the HR was so low, must be a good sign. Lovely warm evening, I amy have to start carrying water again for longer runs.

menoscemo

Gym day today.
Went on the threadmill after weights. I set the machine for 10km though I knew I was being very optimistic. I finally gave up the will to live at 4 miles or 6.5km in sheer boredom so I called it a day at that. Not to worry, it was only a recovery run anyway so I am sure the 4 miles served the purpose. I am thinking a handy run tomorrow and a good long LSR on saturday, maybe 12 or 13 miles. There I have said it now so I'll have to do it!!

menoscemo

I said I would do my ong run tomorrow, but I got off work a little early this evening and the weather was so lovely that I just said f**k it, let's do it now. I only had a half litre of water which I stashed under a bench but I didn't start to feel thirsty till about 10 miles at which point I couldn't be bothered to veer off to get it. There was a lovely cool breeze and the sun was just behind the clouds the whole way so I sweated very litle. I took a nice hilly route but made a conscious decision to keep the HR below 150 at all times. I have to say this run felt great although the legs feel a little stiff now.

Anyway 13.2 miles in 1hr 56. Pace 8:50 HR 147. Really happy with that. Thats my longest run since the marathon by over 2.5 miles.

menoscemo

Well, the legs were really stiff and tired this morning, so I am hoping the recovery run does some good. What a day today!! Summer is definately on it's way, I was sweating all the way despite the Hr never really rising and my Lidl sunglasses got their first ever outing.

I was thinking about doing exactly 5.7 miles to complete the 35 for the week, but heading home I looked a little short. I really couldn't be bothered doing a lap to make upthe difference so quit at 5.1 miles. Time 47 minutes (pace 9:14, HR 143)

That's 5 runs and 34.3 miles for the week - Happywith the increase (it s actually over 40 miles for the calendar week, considering I ran lst sunday).

metamorphosis

menoscemo wrote: »

Summer is definately on it's way, I was sweating all the way despite the Hr never really rising and my Lidl sunglasses got their first ever outing.

.

The minute i saw the sun this morning, i whipped out the shorts and lidl glasses. WooP!

menoscemo

ULstudent wrote: »

The minute i saw the sun this morning, i whipped out the shorts and lidl glasses. WooP!

lol I was wearing my 'short' lidl shorts too.

menoscemo

5.7 miles in 47 minutes this evening Pace 8:20. Easy run the average Hr was only 145 but the legs felt really heavy, I set out a lot faster but mentally and physically I wasn't in it and I had to force myself on past 3 miles. The right leg in Particular is very stiff.

I hope it was just a bad night. Speed work planned for tomorrow 6 x 1k at 10k pace. My pack for the Great Ireland run came in the post today aswell. I am quite nervous and excited about sunday now...

menoscemo

I decided to do my intervals in the park today and it is certainly a lot tougher than the track though maybe more enjoyable. For a start it is more difficult to measure the reps, you have to keep checking the Garmin to see when the 1 k is up. Secondly there is the terrain to consider, it is obviously tougher to run to pace uphill than down, but I purposely made an effort to push hard on the uphill reps and take it easier on the downhill ones. Thirdly are the crowds in the park- a lot of dodging is necessary. Despite this I enjoyed it today much more than the track so I think I'll keep doing these in the park. There is nothing as fun as a jogger passing you during your recovery between reps and then flying by them during reps You also get to look like a flying machine when passing someone during one of the reps!! I also think it is not as tough on my muscles as the track is though my calfs were pretty sore after this session

Anyway the plan was 6 x 1k at planned 10k pace (4:24) with 400m Jog recoveries.
The result was: 4:14 (166 AvHR/ 171 max 10mts uphill) , 4:04 (166/171 -7mts), 4:20 (166/171 +5 mts) 4:25 (163/168 -8mts), 4:15 (165/171 flat) 4:12 (164/171 -11mts). Average pace for the 6 Intervals: 4:15/km (42:30 pace over 10k)

Totlas for tonight: 9.8k or 6.1 miles in 48 minutes. Pace 7:58, Av HR 156.
Obviously the results were good, but I have to say I was panting like hell at the end of all the intervals despite the HR never rising above 171, as I have said before I usually have an Average HR of 175 or more over a 5 mile race so surely I can sustain these paces over 10k, Right? The mental doubts are there as always
This will probably be my last tough session before the race on sunday. I may take a day or two off betweek now and sunday to rest the legs. I will probably jog the course on saturday becuase I'll be out by the zoo anyway and I always like to know what to expect.

Woddle

Hey menoscemo, marley park is great for intervals, there is a 1k flat loop next to the main house, handy for you on your lunch break and its exactly a k, can meet you there some time.

menoscemo

Woddle wrote: »

Hey menoscemo, marley park is great for intervals, there is a 1k flat loop next to the main house, handy for you on your lunch break and its exactly a k, can meet you there some time.

Sounds good. Any Monday or Tuesday is fine for me, although next week I'll probably not be fit for speedwork till thursday or Friday. PM me or text me whenever you fancy it and I can meet you there around 1.30?

gerard65

menoscemo wrote: »

Sounds good. Any Monday or Tuesday is fine for me, although next week I'll probably not be fit for speedwork till thursday or Friday. PM me or text me whenever you fancy it and I can meet you there around 1.30?

Will you give me a shout as well?

menoscemo

gerard65 wrote: »

Will you give me a shout as well?

Absolutely!! A Midweek Boards AC Southside meet up. Sure we can even stick it on the Group Training sessions thread on the main forum and see if anyone else is interested.

menoscemo

The logs have been really active recently and I have been really enjoying reading all the Race reports and analysis from the weekend racesjust past. As a result of Misty Floyd's Rotterdam training programe and subsequent performace the famous 'improving for the next time' thread containing the now legendary Tegat posts on Training popped up. I remember at the time reading his advice about two big workouts per week and lots of easy miles in between and thinking 'ah sure most of my miles are 'easy' '. Now reviewing Misty floyds training and performance in Rotterdam, I saw that his PMP was under 7min/mile. Today when asked what his 'easy' pace for those 4-8 mile mid week runs, he replied around 8 minute miles. I read all this but it didn't quite sink in.

This evening while driving to the park after work, the light bulb went off in my head. Most of my 'easy runs' of late have been done at 8-8:30 pace. This is close to the same pace that Misty Floyd or Krusty Clown would call easy pace, so WTF? Now that I think of it, all of my runs in training for DCM last year were at or below PMP (9:09 back then) and guess what? I couldn't sustain it over 26 miles. What would my PMP be if I were in marathon training now? At a stretch it might be as low as 8 minute miles but proabably closer to 8:30 so..... I concluded my easy runs have not been easy at all, I really should be doing them much slower and concentrating on two big runs a week- a speed session and an LSR for now, but if I start going for longer stuff, that will become two big workouts- outside of this I really oughta be running much slower and more importantly enjoying it!!

So this evening I did 7 miles in 1hr 5 minutes, that's 9:20 pace with a HR of 142 :eek: I guess that's what easy should be (not 10 bpm faster as it usually is). Most importantly this evening I really enjoyed it. No suffereing at all, no thoughts of giving up. I think I am going to enjoy my running more from now on.

menoscemo

Yesterday:
3 miles on the threadmill as warm down after weights
Today: I was out droppiing my nieces to the zoo so I decided to jog the course for the GIR tomorrow, very gently. Just under 10k in about 57 minutes. I quite like the course, there are planty of downhills and flats. there are just a few sharp hills, One at the bottom of Kyber rd, Running up towards the S-Bends. One comng up from chapelizod gate tot he Lwr Glemn Rd (this is long and gradual rather that sharp) and the last is from the lake in the Lwr Glen Rd up to Knockmarron Rd. All the uphill bits are preceeded by downhills and followed by flat bits so the course is not too bad. the climbs are no steeper than I'm used to in Tymon Park. Here is the course for anyone interested (you can click 'lap' to see the km markers and 'splits' to see the eleveation/loss gain each km):
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/30286055
That said the fist half is notably fatser than the second part. I will hope to run the first 5 k tomorrow in about 21.30 (I ran the first 5k in Raheny in 21.20 approx, so it should be ok) and hop to hold as best as possible over the second half. I will try to leave a bit of gas in the tank for the last km which is dead flat over the furze rd.