From Connemara to Galway (maybe)

littlebug

I don’t travel far

My first log brought me from zero to the Connemara Half Marathon so it’s time for a new log and new targets.
Current PBs.
5k – 28.16 (June 2009)
8k- 45.30 (August 2009)
10k- 57.53 (Jan 2010)
10 mile- 1.40 (March 2010)
13.1 mile- 2.22 (April 2010)

Looking at that it looks like I’m getting slower over time. Injury and a winter of treadmill rather than road runs seemed to stall any progress I had been making. Following this with training for running longer rather than faster means there has been little to no speedwork in recent months. I’m also a little heavier than I was last summer so I aim to cut the crAp and lose 5-7 lbs over the summer. Next up are the Galway 5k series races starting with Athenry next week so hopefully I’ll pb in at least one of them! After that I’m considering the Galway City (Half) Marathon in August which, being somewhat flatter than Connemara, I would aim to finish in under 2.15.
In the grand scheme of things I know I’m slow but hey it’s all relative

RedB

Best of luck with the new log and the training for the Galway HM littlebug.
Slow, schmow - its the getting out there that's the point. Enjoy .

littlebug

I'm trying out the orthotics again now that the effects of Connemara have gone. My toe still feels sore sometimes but I really only feel it when I'm walking or driving and rarely when I'm running. Nonetheless there is still something going on. I decided to have a short run in the woods for minimal impact on their first outing. This turned into a sort of interval type run (really because I started out wayyyy too fast and had to stop so I just decided to keep going that way ). Orthotics felt odd but better running than walking. In terms of the run.... 3 miles..ish at various paces faster than my norm with breaks (stop and walk breaks) to recover and also to help lost Americans find their way :rolleyes:

asimonov

Hi littlebug,

Good luck with the new log. Are you following a half marathon plan? What will a typical week of training look like?

Blueskye

Best of luck with the new log Littlebug. Don't be worrying about the speed, the main thing is that you're out there training and enjoying it. (that's what I tell myself anyway )

littlebug

asimonov wrote: »

Hi littlebug,

Good luck with the new log. Are you following a half marathon plan? What will a typical week of training look like?

Straight in with the hard questions Asimonov! No harm.... it's made me think about structuring the training more as it has all been a bit haphazard lately.

The Galway 5k series lasts from next week to 1st June so for those weeks I'll be concentrating on the shorter stuff. I've let my club membership slide and haven't been at track sessions which is where I was getting some speedwork in last year so I'll have to rethink that one... maybe the treadmill is the way to go for intervals?
So for the next 6 weeks the plan is something like-

Monday- rest
Tuesday- 5k race
Wed- rest/ cross?
Thursday-Intervals
Friday= 4-5m tempo
Saturday- LSR- 6-7m
Sunday - Cross

I would aim to average 20m per week
I'll keep the lsr short for those weeks. After that I'll have 12 weeks to the Half Marathon so I would plan to slip in to a Hal Higdon-esque plan at that stage....somewhere between novice and intermediate. I think 5 days running would be a bit much to be honest but I really do need to work on the cross training. I tend to have running days and rest days at the minute Depending on dates I may do the streets of Galway 8k in there somewhere.

Last year I ran 5 x9.03 miles in Streets of Galway. Now I struggle to run 1 x 9 min mile so I "hope" by the end of the 5k series to have regained some (so called) speed. The phenomenon of getting naturally faster just by running more doesn't seem to apply to me
Advice welcome!

BTW Asimonov well done in Connemara!

meathcountysec

Just looking at your proposed training schedule for next few weeks.

Monday- rest
Tuesday- 5k race
Wed- rest/ cross?
Thursday-Intervals
Friday= 4-5m tempo
Saturday- LSR- 6-7m
Sunday – Cross

You have 4 hard sessions there (if you include the LSR as hard, as I do). Your 5K race should be giving you enough speedwork for the week without also doing intervals and a tempo run.

I would substitute easy pace runs for the intervals/tempo, only doing one of them (not both) in a week where there was no race. You could then add in a 5th day with recovery pace running (and not too long) to help build up the overall weekly mileage without having to add on to the other runs.

Hope this helps

Good luck with your new log/targets

littlebug

meathcountysec wrote: »

You have 4 hard sessions there

I have haven't I :rolleyes: I'm not thinking straight this morning at all!
Advice taken and rethink of schedule being thunk! I kind of forgot that the race in itself is speedwork

RacoonQueen

Best of luck with the new log littlebug.

ronanmac

Good luck with the new log, littlebug. You're right about not travelling far, an alternative title could be "From Connemara To Right Beside Connemara!" Here's to a series of 5k PBs!

littlebug

I'm really not very good at this running business I left the house with the intention of doing a 4 mile tempo run. The first mile went according to plan but I ended up pushing it a bit too fast for the second (net uphill) 9.20 and needed to stop at the top of the hill and again after the return mile 8.32 (net downhill) + 1 very very slow mile home. My internal monologue was along the lines of "I hate this.... this is horrible... why am I doing this.... I don't even like running".
So eh.... yeah I can probably run 9 minute miles but maybe not 3 of them in a row. I also need my own personal pacer as my pacing is all over the place. I think for the first 5k race next week I will start near the back and just try to find people running at my target pace and try to tag along. If I start too far forward I'll just overdo it at the start. It'll affect my official time (chipped at end not start) but I'll have my watch time anyway so it won't matter- no one will actually be interested in my time but me!
New improved training plan coming soon when brain kicks into gear. I'll have a better idea of my 5k pace after the first race! Thanks for advice MCS and Asimonov.

littlebug

A lazy Sunday morning watching the london marathon turned into a lazy all day sunday. The day ran away with me and I ended up being restricted to the treadmill. 7 slow torturous miles (1 more than planned as punishment).
I'm really stupid... we went to the park for an hour in the evening... if I'd had my head screwed on properly I would have dressed for the occasion and had my run there while the rest of 'em had fun :rolleyes:

Athenry this evening. It's nice and windy out there. Getting there involves an intricate plan involving a babysitter and organising various people to pick up various children from various afterschool stuff. Now I have to figure out which route to take...busy main roads and new motorway or bad but quiet back roads.
Update later.... pb highly doubtful but if I go in the right direction throughout the series I'll be happy.

pgibbo

Good luck with the new log and Athenry this evening. I hope it clears up a bit. Not too nice out there at the moment. Looking forward to the 5k series now!

One other thing you might want to consider - I think it was tergat that mentioned it, but someone recommended that for every hard mile you race you should take 1 day per mile before running hard again. I know SFA about these things but better safe than sorry.

catweazle

I have Mrs C stepping in for me tonight, legs dont feel back to normal at all.

However looking at the rain out there I think I will be stepping back in again as the fair weather Mrs C backs out.

It will be slow going if its me running, I am going to be holding off anything I have for the weekends race

littlebug

What's the weekend race Catweazle (the wimmins mini marathon in castlebar? ). Whichever of you run... good luck!

Actually.... Cw or pgibbo if you're still reading, do you happen to know what the road from Tuam over to athenry/ newcastle is like and how long it takes?
I don't know why but I'm assuming ye're from over that direction somewhere!

yop

Good luck with it littlebug, make sure you trip Gibbo up there during it, slow the fecker down

meathcountysec

Good luck with the 5K. It was a tad breezy out there at lunchtime. Remember that the probability of it blowing into your face is in direct proportion to the importance of the time desired

catweazle

Yeah road is fine as far as I know, I havent taken it yet as I am a blow in but Mrs C takes it regularly, dont know how long though. Race this week is Joey Hannon Triathlon in Limerick on Sunday. I forgot that mini marathon is on in Castlebar, my gym did a good bit of promotion for that race

littlebug

My timing wasn't great from the outset and I landed in Newcastle with about 25 til race time. I hadn't banked on the toilet queue:o Not going wasn't an option and I ended up having to run faster than I would have liked to the start line, just got my jacket off and thrown onto a bush and the race started. Still out of puff from getting there it was probably a good thing I was at the back so I couldn't run too fast. I spent the first mile or so bobbing and weaving around people. Mile 2 was a long uphill and hard. Most of mile 3 was downhill with a great fast downhill finish.
I'm very happy with the outcome. Mile Splits 9.02, 9.23, 8.35 (+.11 in 54 seconds). Total 3.11 miles (I really have to stop running further than everyone else :rolleyes:) in 27.54 (watch time) a pb by 22 seconds.
I'm happy with that and delighted to get in under 28 mins.

ETA- max hr 199 on the finish line.
ETA again... total circa 5miles with the half mile-ish to the start, and long cooldown run back to the startline for my jacket and back to the car.

menoscemo

5k is 3.11 miles or was it a 3 mile race?
Great time and nice to see there is a bit of speed there when necessary.

littlebug

menoscemo wrote: »

5k is 3.11 miles or was it a 3 mile race?
Great time and nice to see there is a bit of speed there when necessary.

I thought 5k was 3.1 and I'd added .01 Not much I know
Yeah I'm delighted with the time to be honest. Hopefully I can build on that now over the next 6 weeks.

rainbow kirby

Congrats on the PB

pgibbo

Nice to start the series with a PB. Well done. I reckon that PB will go over the coming 5 races. Well done.

littlebug

Cheers pgibbo,
How did you get on yourself?

It's interesting seeing the results. I started right at the back and finished with nearly 200 people behind me so I was passing people throughout the race. In one way it was good for keeping me slow at the start and for the morale boosting feeling you get from passing people but maybe I could afford to move up a bit for the start of the next one.
My garmin data is also interesting as you can see that I started to speed up from 1.5 miles despite still going uphill til after 2 miles. Part of that may have been the thinning of the crowds but I think a lot of it was psychological. I know I kept saying to myself "once I get past half way I'll be grand". Interesting.

Now what are the odds of me being able to run Sundays Wimmins 10k in Castlebar as a long slow run and not race it. I either won't bother with it at all or leave the garmin at home and just take my time with it. But once there's a chip on the shoe that might be hard to do...... and if I race a 10k on Sunday I'd be fecked for Tuam on Tuesday. hmmmmmm....

catweazle

I think you will find you mightnt be as stiff these days after a 10k race, your legs are used to running much longer these days. Definetley start a bit higher up the next day, you probably added on an extra 15-20 seconds to your time from starting so far back.

dolliemix

Well done on PB!:)

ronanmac

Fair play on the PB. Maybe rushing to the start line helped you in getting the lungs open before the race!?

littlebug

ronanmac wrote: »

Fair play on the PB. Maybe rushing to the start line helped you in getting the lungs open before the race!?

Maybe. It didn't seem to do me any harm anyway!

Anyhoo... today... 4 horrible embarrassingly slow miles. Funny how the legs have felt absolutely perfect since Tuesday until I started running on them and they felt like lumps of lead then. By the last mile I actually decided that fast walking would probably be more beneficial. I'm guessing it's a combination of Tuesdays race, little sleep last night and a huge dinner an hour before going out. I'm icing the shins now so hopefully that'll help. What it does tell me is that racing both Castlebar and Tuam is not an option. At the minute I'd say I'll do Castlebar slow (10.30-11 min miles or thereabouts) and race Tuam. I don't think I'm in new 10k pb territory yet and by all accounts Tuam is the flattest of the 5k series so it could be my fastest if I run it "right".

earnyourturns

Woo hoo! PB! Maith an cailin! :cool:

meathcountysec

Good luck on Sunday. It'll be hard to keep the pace in check. Maybe visualise it as the first 6 miles of a half and run accordingly.

BTW, I've just worked out that I'm (we're) behind schedule for completing the 1000 mile challenge. Not trying to scare the horses but rather know now than at end of November

littlebug

meathcountysec wrote: »

Good luck on Sunday. It'll be hard to keep the pace in check. Maybe visualise it as the first 6 miles of a half and run accordingly.

BTW, I've just worked out that I'm (we're) behind schedule for completing the 1000 mile challenge. Not trying to scare the horses but rather know now than at end of November

I know . I was just looking at your sums and I've a lot more to catch up on than you.

littlebug

A woman is allowed to change her mind isn't she I knew when I woke this morning counting times and miles in my head that the chances of me taking it easy in Castlebar were slim(ming). Going up there to get my number and chatting to some old club mates, driving the route (which is lovely apart from a killer hill in the first mile ) has gotten me in the mood. I did 3.2 slow on the treadmill this evening to test out the shins etc. I won't decide til the morning... or maybe on the start line Decisions on Tuam on Tuesday will be made accordingly afterwards.

littlebug

littlebug wrote: »

. At the minute I'd say I'll do Castlebar slow

:rolleyes: so I am officially full of sh1te.
Not a great nights sleep in advance and I woke up feeling more nervous about this one than any of the other races I've done lately... to the extent of actually feeling sick. I think in my head I had been putting pressure on myself to try to keep up with someone who I knew is generally a bit faster than me. On the way up to Castlebar I decided this would be utter madness and decided to stay further back in the crowd so as to avoid temptation! The mall in Castlebar was buzzin with 3000 wimmins... some of them looking fit and fast and others wearing all the right gear with fag in hand. In fairness the overall aim of the race was about the fundraising so fair play to people for getting out there. I didn't manage a decent warm up before the race before the crowds were steered into separate running/ jogging and walking sections. The gun went and off we trotted. Before we'd even left the mall I was being blocked by walkers..... with all the shouting and marshalling going on they can't possibly have not known that they shouldn't have been there so it has to have been sheer bloody minded brazenness:mad:.
I digress... down the main street and at .13 mile hit the killer hill (about 30 metres in .16 miles). Between there and half way the route was undulating but the downhill bits never seemed to be enough to make up for the uphills. Together with a strong headwind I was finding it really tough. At half way we turned off the main road, away from the wind and a welcome downhill. Hitting halfway at spot on 30 minutes I wondered about the wisdom of not doing this as an lsr as originally planned:(. By mile 4 the crowds thinned a bit and I found my energy sagging and morale low. 5-6 I seemed to pick it up again and thankfully there was a nice downhill back into town. The last .2 was back up the main street so I slowed a bit again there. There was a great buzz back on the mall at the finish line and it was nice to have Mrbug and the little bugs there to cheer me on. I stopped the garmin at 58.40 a couple of seconds after crossing the line so 58.3*, a negative split by 1.20:) . so more than half a minute off (slower than) my pb but given that I raced on Tuesday and the hard first half with hills and wind I'm very very happy with that!
Splits 9.41/9.19/9.18/ 9.18/9.37/9.18 (+ 2.2 in 2.08). What's with all the 9.18s? Have I actually got a 10k pace?:D

Now.... eh... Tuam on Tuesday

I should add.... great organisation by Mayo Sports Partnership, a great buzz at the start and finish with music, bouncy castle, food stalls, physio tent etc.

DigiJem

Well done, littlebug. Ran it myself and the 1st half was a killer. At least the rain held off. Good luck in Tuam

rainbow kirby

Congrats, nice run

*crosses fingers for another PB for ya in Tuam!*

meathcountysec

Well done on showing such restraint:D

Now, give it a lash on Tuesday. You deserve it:p

Bally8

Hey littlebug, I've only just saw your new training log, I was wondering where you had gotten to and you had been here all along doing some great running!!

catweazle

littlebug wrote: »

The mall in Castlebar was buzzin with 3000 wimmins... some of them looking fit and fast and others wearing all the right gear with fag in hand.

Typical the one day I am not in Castlebar, I would have been in my element. Well done on the time, worried about a tight hamstring myself so I am skipping Tuam this week too. Hope it goes well for you.

littlebug

catweazle wrote: »

Typical the one day I am not in Castlebar, I would have been in my element. .

lol you would've loved it cw

Anyhoo..

Another day, another race and another pb
I wouldn't call this a flat route by any means but it worked very well for me for some reason.
Garmin time 26.55 clock time 27.05 I think when I was passing through. I'll put my hand up I had trouble getting a gps signal and was over the line a few seconds before it kicked in so "real" time is probably 27:00... or thereabouts.... but man oh man seeing that 26 on the watch when I stopped the timer has made me hungry for the real deal.
I am delighted with the improvement from last week (esp with a 10k race in between). I'll do a proper analysis tomorrow.... I'm shattered now!

meathcountysec

Stormin' run LB. Don't worry about the gps. It will only affect your pace/distance not time. The timer doesn't wait for a satellite signal.

littlebug

meathcountysec wrote: »

Stormin' run LB. Don't worry about the gps. It will only affect your pace/distance not time. The timer doesn't wait for a satellite signal.

I "think" I was already over the line a few seconds before I hit the timer but in my mind it was no more than 2-4. The results are up now and I mis-read the clock and was 10 seconds out (eyes and brain not working what with all the blood gone to my legs!) but that still only tells me gun time but makes more sense. I think I'll stick with "around 27" so as not to claim something I didn't do!

Post race analysis- I took catweazles advice and started further up the field but possibly a bit too far this time. The race started with short downhill leading into what looked like a long uphill. Starting so far forward meant I started a lot faster than usual but felt good and strong so kept it going. At half a mile it turned to a lovely downhill section for the next half mile and beyond. The strong start and downhill led to me running my fastest mile ever in 8.21:). A lot of mile 2 was gentle uphill so I was slower but still going strong (9.11). Mile 3 started out fairly flat and then there was a really stinkin' hill which put a halt to my gallop but I managed it surprisingly well. I'd driven the route earlier so I knew that it was short and that once at the top I'd be at 4k and it was downhill from there. Despite the hill I ran the third mile in 8.48 with 33 seconds recorded for the .03. (presumably gps kicked in at.07).
Switching to k's I see I ran the last k in 5.02:D


Lesson learned- don't leave gps til the last minute!

Galway 5k series comparison table.


Race Time (watch) Ave pace Ave HR
Athenry 27.54 8.57 190
Tuam 26.55 + a few 8.45 185
Craughwell
Claregalway
Loughrea
Dangan

ronanmac

That's some improvement on your PB in such a short period of time, littlebug... Going by your times so far, Dangan should be a 22:50 finish!

pgibbo

Great running littlebug. Well done on another PB. It was a great evening for it last night. Conditions were ideal. I even managed a PB myself so was well pleased. :cool:

catweazle

I was wondering if that was a pb or not gibbo, well done. Is that Nigel Killeen from the Bish at 17.27, I thought I saw him out there in Athenry. I always put him down as a rocker and not a runner, super time from him.

pgibbo

catweazle wrote: »

I was wondering if that was a pb or not gibbo, well done. Is that Nigel Killeen from the Bish at 17.27, I thought I saw him out there in Athenry. I always put him down as a rocker and not a runner, super time from him.

Cheers. That's Nigel alright. He's flying. I spotted him at the 5k series last year too. He's around 2mins or more faster this year than last. Great to see improvements like that. Gives the rest of us hope. :cool:

littlebug

ronanmac wrote: »

... Going by your times so far, Dangan should be a 22:50 finish!

In my dreams Ronan:rolleyes:

Congrats on the pb pgibbo. You fast guys at the front always make it look so effortless.
I think that long downhill bit in the first mile made the difference last night for a lot of people. That was probably my moment of glory... I hear claregalway is pretty brutal with hills.

pgibbo

littlebug wrote: »

In my dreams Ronan:rolleyes:

Congrats on the pb pgibbo. You fast guys at the front always make it look so effortless.
I think that long downhill bit in the first mile made the difference last night for a lot of people. That was probably my moment of glory... I hear claregalway is pretty brutal with hills.

Cheers littlebug but I'm a long way off the fast guys. I have aspirations though!

Clareglaway ain't that bad. Saying that I'll probably die a death there but we'll see. One long hill followed by a short one and then a nice downhill finish. A doddle compared to Knock Ma.

littlebug

pgibbo wrote: »

. A doddle compared to Knock Ma.

Ah yes that bump I can see on the horizon. I drove past it on Tuesday with the same feeling I used to get when I'd go into a Church after long absences . The Catholic guilt is long gone now but seems to have been replaced by knockma guilt !

Tonight.. back at track after another long absence. The legs weren't too happy about it so I took it easy and walked a few laps in between slow laps. Left hip (gluteus medius I believe) is really playing up now. It's not an injury as such but a long standing recurrent thing for which I've had steroid injections in the past which worked wonderfully for 3-4 months but I don't particularly want to go down that route. Dry needling has been somewhat successful but :eek: eek it has to be the most horrible treatment out there. I'll try for a sports massage next week and hope that will loosen things up a bit. I can't quite figure out how to work that bit with the foam roller

littlebug

Last week was a low mileage week as the legs were not happy with proceedings earlier in the week. I took an extra rest day and attempted a slow 6 this morning. it turned out to be slower than slow run with frequent stretch stops and walk breaks. I would have walked more only I had to be back home by 10.30 for local communion day duties. I'm not injured... when my muscles get to the point of being so tight that they hurt I just don't seem to be able to sort it out myself without intervention. Last time I had a sports massage I was right as rain again in 2 days. My usual person isn't available for a few weeks and I'm reluctant to go to the physio after expensive disaster that was the orthotics which aren't only uncomfortable but actually cut into my foot:( So I'll have to rethink...
For now the kids have been ousted out the door and told to come home when they're hungry :cool: and I'm going to spend the day icing and stretching and rolling. Craughwell is probably off the cards for Tuesday but that's no harm.

So kids the moral of the story is.... don't run 3 races in 8 days

meathcountysec

Anybody in the club able to recommend someone to you? You bounced back so well last time it seems a pity to be sidelined/hamstrung for a few weeks:(

littlebug

I gave Craughwell a miss tonight which is driving me nuts just about now! I'm completely wound up from work today and feel the need to move legs fast(ish) but common sense tells me not to. I'll try a slow treadmill run tomorrow with stretches between miles and see how it goes. Overall my legs feel much better but the hip still hurts a bit. I'll go to track night on Thursday and see how I go. I have an appt on Friday and will take advice accordingly. I think I should schedule a once a month sports massage just to keep me ticking over. In the long run it would cost me less than weekly physio bills when things get out of hand!