Festina lente

RayCun

week 7 part 2

Saturday
There's a club tempo run every Saturday which I usually can't make, it clashes with juvenile training. But our Saturday track time has been changed, and Maria McCambridge was coming up to do a session with us, so I went up for an easy run. Good day - did some running drills, which I usually only do before a race, and some of the gang never do, and some of us did an easy run on the same 1500m loop as the others were doing their tempo. First real summer day
About 8k altogether.

Sunday

Out to Dunboyne for the 4 mile. Couple of miles warmdown afterwards with a guy from Na Fianna I bumped into in the hall. I think he bumped into me because we wanted to find out if we were competing in the same age category :pac: Not to worry - I got my old man prize, he got his, Marthastew got hers, all happy out Bumped into lots of boardsies too - average runner, Bungy girl, laura ac, Annie get your run...

Good club race - course was fast and well-stewarded, strong field, loads of prizes , and a good feed afterwards

100k for the week

RayCun

better update more often because I'm relying on memory...

Monday
AM and PM, 4 easy miles. Gym too, but I didn't do much, just planks, squats, a few pull-ups

Tuesday
Plan was 15 and 10 tempos, then 2 x 800 @ 10k pace, 3 minute easy recoveries
The Bushy park lap is about 1200m?, so I reckoned about 3 and 2. The 3 went okay, finished almost exactly 3 laps in 15. First lap of the 2 was also okay, but the second was horrible, I was completely blown, legs tied up, and ready to vomit. Finished, a little more than the two laps in 10 minutes, but only by promising myself that I wouldn't do the 800s After a few minutes jogging I did consider doing the 8s in another park nearer home, but even with ten minutes recovery instead of three, it just wasn't in my legs.

Wednesday
Easy run to work, and a lap of UCD

RayCun

before I forget...

Wednesday
Gym in the evening - planks, squats, box jumps, walking lunges, bench press, nordic hamstrings, resisted fast arms, bands
Followed by 5 miles easy, with strides

This morning
5 miles easy

RayCun

Thursday afternoon
9 miles easy, around UCD and home

Friday AM
About 7 miles, including 8x200 @ 3-5k pace w/jog back recoveries
Did this in Bushy park, found a 200m section on mapmyrun yesterday, flat with obvious landmarks. 40 seconds? for the first, 42/43 for the 6th, didn't bother timing most of them just a couple to make sure I was more or less on track. It's a fairly easy pace at that distance anyway, but it has been a long week...

I was going to postpone replacing my Garmin (carrot for an ongoing job hunt), but this was too cheap to pass up

RayCun

Saturday
About 9km - up to Tymon and one loop - in the morning, before heading down to Athlone for nationals. Only two of the kids I coach running the distance events, so mixed feelings when one qualified for the finals - "yay! Well done!" (looks like I'm here for the day then:rolleyes:) :pac:

There were some great races to watch in the meantime, in fairness

Supposed to do another 4-5 miles when I got home, but no. Apart from feeling tired enough, if I'd announced I was going out for another run after being out all day, I'd have come home to a pile of my clothes in the driveway:)

Sunday
Supposed to be 8 miles at marathon pace, but on Saturday I talked myself down to a long run, and then to just a regular 8 miles. The difficulty of running at MP without a watch had been on my mind during the week (I would have been running 2.5k loops and checking after each) but in the end I didn't have the energy. Probably the right decision, but still....

Spent the afternoon zip-lining with the kids, which would have been less fun if I was knackered

104k for the week

RayCun

Monday
Didn't have the usual sack of food to carry to work, so ran in and out with just a bag of clothes. Still hate running with a bag :rolleyes:
About 7.5k each way, slow

Tuesday
Two sets of (5 x 3 minutes @ 10k pace, 1 minute easy recovery), with 4 minute recovery between sets
Did these in Bushy park, the usual laps on my way home. Probably not at 10k pace? I can't tell without a watch, especially when the intervals are so short.
about 17k total

RayCun

Wednesday
AM
14.8 @ 4:50
the usual into and around UCD run, on tired legs
PM
8.3 @ 4:47
No gym this evening, just a 5 mile run

Thursday
14.2 @ 4:50
400s
Brought forward from Saturday, because I won't have much time for a run then. Setting these up on the 610 was (I thought) very easy, building the workout on Garmin Connect and transferring via ANT stick. Old-school, but easy. This also seemed like a much handier workout than the one I set for my clubmates with the decreasing recoveries. I didn't reckon with my capacity for self-sabotage :pac:

Longish warm-up from work to a park near home, about 4 miles. Target pace was 3:35, a few seconds faster than Dunboyne pace. First five all had the same pattern - I'd tear off at some stupid pace, start suffering and slow down, and pick it up again towards the end. The 610 is not designed to handle this kind of stupidity :pac: and the pace display was very laggy, so it looked like I was missing the target, but the first set were 3:33, 3:33, 3:35, 3:23, 3:28. It was only after the first interval that I realised I'd set the recoveries for 40 minutes instead of 40 seconds :rolleyes:

Second set I ran a bit smarter, speeding up into them instead of just haring off. Pace didn't change much but felt more controlled, 3:35, 3:35, 3:30

Last set I had somehow managed to set the recovery correctly - yay! But I only set two intervals - boo! So I was running down the last 400, wondering if it was ever going to end, and looked down to see the watch was happily ticking through cooldown seconds 3:37, 3:23, and something probably around 3:35.

Friday
9.4 @ 4:41
Easy run into work


I finished the base phase of training last week, incidentally. With a missed week last month, and some more missed weeks scheduled for this month, I would not be able to complete the full programme. So I'm skipping most of the 'pre-competition' phase, just doing 2 weeks of it. This is week 3, IIRC

RayCun

Saturday
10.6 @ 4:42
No time for the session on the plan, so a run up to Tymon and around the new parkrun course. Surges at every km once I reached the park, to wake me up.
Then down to Athlone to learn how to pole vault :pac:

Sunday
10.6 @ 4:43
Exactly the same as above
More gym stuff in Athlone. You can wander through life thinking you're reasonably fit (I run! I go to the gym!) and then you go to a race and are reminded that you're only jogging, or go on one of these courses and see how generally weak and slow you are :pac:

107k for the week

Monday
AM
5.2 @ 5:46
Short little recovery run
PM
run home from work, about 9k? Not much use buying a new watch if you leave it at home on the kitchen table :rolleyes:
Gym later on, core work, some squats, some incline bench press (they've been buying new equipment in). Went out for the usual sprints at the end but my legs were dead, took me all of the first sprint to get up to speed, so didn't do the rest. Don't know if it was extra weight on the squats or the course on the weekend, but no point doing sprints if they aren't sprints.

Tuesday
5 x 600 @ 10k pace with 1k steady recovery
These were a bit all over the place. The default setup for the watch is to use current pace when you're running intervals, and it is not helpful. The aim was 3:45, and I ran 3:42, 3:54, 3:53, 3:54, 3:34. 3:45 would have been manageable, but there was too much guesswork involved with the changing paces. (also, because I programmed this on the watch not computer, I didn't realise I hadn't set a distance for the intervals, so I was guessing at 2:15 = 600m)
Recovery intervals were 4:31, 4:16, 4:16, and 4:18. Too fast, again because I was guessing at the real pace.

I'll have to go read the manual... or possibly find a Garmin expert who this week has a lot of time on his hands...

RayCun

Wednesday
AM
7.3 @ 5:44
Punctured on the way home Tuesday. No time, or spare tube, to repair it that evening, so ran in with the bag.
PM
8.5 @ 4:57
run home, no bag. Felt like I was working a bit on this run for some reason?
OH out this evening so no gym

Thursday
3 x 800 @ 5k pace, hill sprint, 2 x 800 @ 5k pace, hill sprint, 3 minutes recovery after each
Over to Bushy park as the warm-up for this one. Ankles a little sore today.
times were 2:51, 2:49, 2:43, 2:45, 2:46 (which equals paces of 3:34, 3:31, 3:24, 3:26, 3:28) although I had a bit of downhill with me for most of them. Third one felt like hard work, and the fourth (after the hill sprint) felt very sloppy, but not too bad in the end.

Will take the next few days fairly handy before the 10 miles on Monday

ThebitterLemon

Nice going on your Thursday session.

How long was the hill sprint and did you take 3 mins recovery after the sprint too? Standing or jogged recoveries?

TbL

RayCun

Hill sprints were about 10 seconds each time, usual hill in Bushy park

Recoveries were 3 minutes after everything, walking and eventually jogging - more walking as the session went on!

ThebitterLemon

You've a decent consistent block behind you with few apparent injuries or niggles, how important do you think your S&C and gym work has been on the niggle prevention front?

I ask coz I stopped going as I felt the S&C stuff was actually exacerbating my niggles, probably a poor short term call and I'm considering going back

Thanks

TbL

RayCun

between my magic long socks, my gym work, and the rolling and calf raises in the morning, I'm not sure what works but I'm not stopping any of them :pac:

The gym work is making me stronger, which should make me better at maintaining form. One of the things, or the main thing, that was causing my achilles trouble seemed to be that, especially when tired, my ground contact time was too long and it meant my legs were collapsing in, which increased the angle at the ankle and the strain at that point. Stronger legs are more rigid, less likely to fold like that, so the gym work is helpful there. But it's hard to quantify the effect. It could just be that this training is not putting me under the same stresses as the last one

I did start the gym work last year, when running training was much lighter. It's not a good idea to start it when you are already doing some intense training, you have to pick a down period for your start date.

AuldManKing

Super time today - good man!

RayCun

Friday
10.6 @ 4:58
Up to Tymon, around the parkrun course, surges at every k

Saturday
Lazy lie-in, no running :pac:

Sunday
10.6 @ 4:57
As Friday, with added sluggishness, phantom aches and pains, and ennui

Monday
Battle of Clontarf 10 mile
I was out early enough for this, around 9am, and hung around with a bunch of clubmates for a while. It was a great day for running - cloudy and cool, with hardly any breeze - enough that it was even a little cold for standing around beforehand. Plenty of time then for a relaxed warm-up and the race was small enough (400ish?) that there was no trouble getting a decent position at the start line. Couldn't make head or tail of the course though :pac:

Started with a long, straight run down the avenue - longest straight in the whole course. My 10 mile PB is from the Frank Duffy in 2014, 62:24, and I wanted to be reasonably close to that, 62 something, so I was thinking about 3:55 pace. But as we hit the first km (3:52) there seemed to be a group forming in front of me, a few Raheny guys and two from Tallaght (first woman, and a guy who turned out to be an M45 rival), so I said **** it, let's stick with them.

Turned at the end of the avenue and Dick Hooper's umbrella and came back up, 3:49 and 3:48 brought us to behind the finish line and the group was getting smaller, 3:45 down to the corner and across the grassy section. At this point I thought the pace was getting a bit too hot and slowed down, thinking the people who'd fallen off the group were in a second group just behind and I'd drop back into them. But there didn't seem to be anyone behind me, and though I'd eased off a lot the group in front weren't getting more than 10m ahead, so I let the pace creep up and caught them again after the hill (4:02)

After that, I gave up any ideas of running my own race, and stuck to the Tallaght pair :pac: A couple of other runners came in and out of the group, but the three of us ran together for a whole lap of the park (3:53, 3:56, 3:47, 3:50, 3:53) It was only when we went up the little hill the second time that I realised their pace was dropping, they didn't recover afterwards, so it was time to push on (4:02 for that km around the Masters corner). Things were pretty strung out ahead, but there was a guy from Mullingar in range so I was chasing him most of the way back to the avenue (3:56)

Onto the avenue, and now I was really feeling it. To make matters worse, as we ran up to the 180 for the last time, I was passed by a guy from Raheny (Terry?). Oh well, at least I had someone to chase :rolleyes: 3:52 for that stretch up and down, which is surely longer than a km :pac: 3:42 down and around the pitches, and corners I was getting too tired to take. Around that fecking rose garden and finally, finally the finish line was in sight. 3:31 for the last k, which felt like staggering, and 61:42 at the end.

MisterDrak

Well done yesterday Ray. Great run.

Did you manage to get one of the George Forman Grills ?

RayCun

I did!

34th overall and first M45 so I brought home a medal and grill
(What is with Raheny and George Foreman grills? :pac: )

also, it looks like we've been grouped into two M35 teams, rather than one senior and one M35, and I scraped onto the second one, so a bronze medal there too

MisterDrak

RayCun wrote: »

(What is with Raheny and George Foreman grills? :pac: )

I think Pat Hooper must have a deal with Big George

Managed to get a Team M50 silver myself, but the good went out of it with the mess up on the team results Yesterday.

You guys were out in strength alright.

Good day for running, as you mentioned above...

ThebitterLemon

That's a great run and time, had you a better time in you on a less twisty/varied course?

TbL

davedanon

Ah, I wouldnt go that far. The medal and what it represents is still yours. We nabbed the gold so were in the same situation. Plus the fact that our gold in the Nat 10k was downgraded to silver just the previous week.

RayCun

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

That's a great run and time, had you a better time in you on a less twisty/varied course?

Not by much anyway - the course is twisty, but very flat, weather was great, and I had people to work off for most of the race, which really helps. If I had all that and fewer corners, maybe another 20 seconds, but most things were in my favour.

davedanon

RayCun wrote: »

Not by much anyway - the course is twisty, but very flat, weather was great, and I had people to work off for most of the race, which really helps. If I had all that and fewer corners, maybe another 20 seconds, but most things were in my favour.

that's about what I reckoned. 15-20 seconds lost with all the deceleration and changing of direction. But then it would really have been the 'perfect' race setting. Very rare all the ducks line up in a row like that.

RayCun

recovery week...

Tuesday
AM 5.2 @ 5:36
PM 7.3 @ 5:39
easy jog in the morning, and another home from work

Wednesday
9.3 @ 5:04
easy run in to work

Thursday
14.3 @ 5:17
jog around UCD and home

Friday
9.8 @ 5:11
into work

legs felt like they'd been battered with baseball bats after the race, particularly the quads and hips. Walking downstairs was giving me trouble :rolleyes: I had this scheduled as a recovery week anyway, but didn't realise how much I'd need it!

Krusty_Clown

RayCun wrote: »

(What is with Raheny and George Foreman grills? :pac: )

You know you've made it when you've taken home a Raheny George Foreman grill. For a time I considered getting a neck-chain, so I could wear mine around my neck, but after a couple of short trial runs, I realized it was interfering with my heart rate monitor. So now I only wear it at night.

davedanon

My 5k pb in Raheny was marked with a presentation of a Morphy Richards saucepan. Still use it.

AuldManKing

just catching up - I seen that result on the net last week and thought it was a superb time. Very well done.

RayCun

Saturday
9.5 @ 4.55, usual run around Tymon with surges

Sunday
stayed in bed

76k for the week

Both days I was down in Athlone, finishing the course (high jump and long jump this weekend), and it is draining. Even the car journeys - I was so stiff getting out each time, after only an hour. I couldn't manage a commute like that :eek:

It meant that I missed the road relays - the first time we'd had a team in too. I'd been thinking about doing the graded meet tomorrow, but training volume has dropped off a lot in the last couple of weeks (and there's Tallaght on Sunday, followed by Terenure in May), I need to build up again.

Annie get your Run

RayCun wrote: »

Sunday
stayed in bed

That's some example to be setting #supercoach rumor has it the road relays are moving west next year, it certainly looked good from a spectators POV!

RayCun

#busytraining
#notimefordrama

RayCun

Annie get your Run wrote: »

That's some example to be setting #supercoach rumor has it the road relays are moving west next year, it certainly looked good from a spectators POV!

next year... okay, that's allowed, if I'm fit I'll be running Rotterdam
...
though really I should be thinking about the 2022 road relays and the M50 team :pac: