Middle-Aged Ambitions

slowsteady

Easy 5.3 miles, 44:41, 8:29 pace

Difficult week work-wise to fit in any run but grabbed a chance Christmas Eve between jobs. Motivation was reading the small print on a large bag of crisps consumed in one sitting watching a late night film and realising I had just eaten 750 calories as a snack!:o

Warm, dull and damp, a good way to head into Christmas compared to last year, legs felt stiff yesterday, no warm down or stretching afterwards.

980 miles for the year.

slowsteady

Easy 8.3 miles, 1:12:51, 8.51 pace

Dull day, drizzle on the wind the whole time, but needed to shake off the cobwebs and lethargy. Kids and OH all engaged in electronic wizardry of one sort or another so easy to get a release permit:p.

Relaxed run but wind was strong enough to make the first half of the loop tougher than it might have been, especially as it was difficult to warm up despite being 8 degrees. Second half was much more pleasant. Good to stir the blood a little - back to the overindulgence with a clear(ish) conscience:rolleyes:

slowsteady

Easy 5.3 miles, 45:32, 8:38 pace

After a 4-hour game of Monopoly with the kids (we suffer for our children:)) needed the wide open spaces. Timed nicely to coincide with the first shower of the day, despite that a good run. Conciously kept it easy as not sure what I will do tomorrow in the Baldyman run in Tramore, listening to the howling gale ouside, not much:rolleyes:.

slowsteady

Tempo 5.5 miles, 45:30, 8:17 pace

Despite last night's weather and the weather warnings all over the radio, today dawned bright and fresh in the sunny SE. So no excuse, off to Tramore for my first shot at the Baldyman beach run. Despite knowing the beach and the backstrand I went off too fast as usual -

Mile 1 - 7.08
Mile 2 - 7.18

Front beach is good hard flat sand, breeze didn't seem too strong in the town or in the first couple of miles......

All the neat jumping over trickles of water to keep the feet dry became laughable as we hit the steeplechase section with foot deep streams, sand getting softer and then we got to the turn and back into the wind.....

Mile 3 - 7:54

Now, over indulgence, extra weight, an 8 day layoff before Christmas, etc, etc all took their toll - as well as soft patches of sand and a howling gale (at least to me:o) - result

Mile 4 - 9:52 (!!!, what the ****)

It took all my willpower to keep going, things improved (only slightly) as we hit the back of the dunes

Mile 5 - 9.:25

Final run-in was saved by having a friend shout 'Don't let her go' as one of many passed me on the last stretch - pace 7:59

Absolutely knackered at the end but enjoyed killing myself - if that makes any sense. Good laugh, good day.

Mileage for 2011 - 999.9 (seriously) - suppose I'll have to have another run before Sunday:p

RubyK

Good running slowsteady, it was a tough one. It was hard not to take off too quickly with that tail wind!

slowsteady wrote: »

Absolutely knackered at the end but enjoyed killing myself - if that makes any sense. Good laugh, good day.

Absolutely agree with this

slowsteady

Easyish 10.1 miles, 1:23:38, 8:18 pace

Started the day on 999.9 miles for the year, my daughter's suggestion was to run 3 times around the kitchen and sit down:p.

As this was not really in the spirit of the thing I pulled on the gear and headed out into a thick mist (we live in the hills). Mist cleared when I dropped down below the cloud line, 500 ft, and while damp the rain held off and it was pleasantly warm. No wind for the first time in ages, all in all a good day to be out.

Longest run since the Waterford half and before that the DCM:eek:, need to get some kind of plan together for 2012. Legs were achey after the beach run on Wed but I pushed it along as I felt they needed to be stretched after what had been a poor day. Felt calves and hamstrings the most, sure sign they need more work.

Have not run with music most of the year so used time to reflect on where it went right and wrong this season.

slowsteady

Review of 2011

As one use of a log is to look at what was good and bad and to learn from it, now seems an appropriate time. In terms of my overall aspiration, a 3:30 DCM, the year was a FAIL. However, there were both positive and negative points lessons to be learnt.

Month|Mileage|No. of Runs
Jan|0|0
Feb|25|8
Mar|78|16
Apr|106|15
May|119|20
Jun|24|5
Jul|163|20
Aug|46|7
Sep|121|17
Oct|191|21
Nov|58|10
Dec|64|12
Total|1015|141


I started the year injured, the operation end May and achilles injury early August, it was the last of these that probably caused the missed target.

Poor adherence to the purpose of particular runs probably led to a lot of 'junk' miles, not enough genuinely tempo runs and too many recovery runs too fast. Not enough runs at target pace and poor taper planning for some races.

Of 10 timed races this year, only two really trained for, Wexford half and DCM. Wexford was good but as I had half an eye on a Cork marathon I didn't push it to the last. DCM was a struggle but a 18 min PB was not bad in the circumstances. Rest of races were run with no real targets but as there are now PBs they give something to aim at in 2012.

18 months running, one proper, if broken, season. Enjoyed it, which, when all is said and done, is what it is all about.

Happy New Year to everyone and may you all get your targets in 2012.

slowsteady

A new year and a new plan, usual enough, but as I hope this to be my first full year running, a novelty for me.

Convention dictates some New Year resolutions, in order of difficulty -

1 Join a club
2 Lose 5 lb
3 Get PB in five longer distances by year end
4 Follow training plan
5 Plan each run and stick to pace and purpose
6 Use non-core races for training unless part of plan
7 Peak twice during year, late Spring and late Autumn for marathons
8 Improve qualifying time for Boston in one of marathons
9 Achieve automatic qualifying for NY marathon in Dublin half

Read in isolation the sequencing might seem odd but beating my current PBs is easier for me than following a plan, but hope beats eternal:). Getting discipline into my running this year is the big challenge and I think if that can be achieved, and I can stay injury free, the other aims should prove possible at least.

Having ‘accidentally’ got the Boston qualifying in the DCM I need to improve this in order to be sure of entry as the further inside the qualifying time the better the chances of getting acceptance, so a chunk off 3:39 is needed.

The real target for the year, and the most difficult is to get, is sub-1:33 in the half in September as this will get me automatic entry to NY in 2013. This is where the benefits of age kick in, unfortunately I will qualify for the M55 category this summer, but the upside is that a 1:33 half will get me a place in NY under the much tighter criteria they are bringing in from next year.

Hence the change of log name, ambition being to run Boston and NY in 2013, a rocky road in 2012 to get there though:rolleyes:.

slowsteady

Easy 6.9 miles, 8:52 pace

Left it till mid-afternoon to get out, by that time the day had cooled considerably and I was under-dressed for the conditions. Caught in a milling, icy shower after a couple of miles and was turning a light shade of blue with the wind chill.

Heart was lifted by the most beautiful double rainbow I have seen in many years - rest of the run was easy after that:)

slowsteady

Easy 11.1 miles, 8:37 pace

Very cold morning, took 5 miles to thaw out, pleasant thereafter in the sunshine.

Very few vehicles about today, lots of dogs looking for breakfast;) (a la carte runner), owners in bed?

slowsteady

Tempo 5 miles, 7:21 pace

Winter league run. Set off with my handicap group at a steady pace which felt comfortable, only in the (easy) second half (downhill:)) did I push on.
A little disappointed with the pace as I thought we were going at a slightly better clip - too many mince pies still in the system:rolleyes:.

slowsteady

Easy 5.3 miles, 8:13 pace

Lovely morning to get out, took it steady enough concentrating of keeping good form but when started analysing aches and pains in achilles, calves and shins:eek: decided to pick it up for last mile or so. Even though this was uphill kept a good tempo and finished well.

slowsteady

LSR 10.05 miles, 8:30 pace

Confession time - OH was out last night so me and kids had pizza with extra cheese, as kids were not particularly hungry Daddy cleaned up i.e. 5 large slices:eek:. Later on after all were settled decided to tidy up the surplus alcohol (Bulmers) so half a dozen cans with one large bag of crisps (750 calories) and sundry chocs, sweets and nuts ..... family originate in Famine times and you never know....

Got up this morning planning 10 miles at around 8:40. Lovely day, 8 degrees, no wind, overcast but clearing, daffodils starting to pop above the ground, great to be out:).

First mile was grand, downhill, by mile and half starting to sweat, by mile 3 starting to struggle to hold the pace. What was this all about, yesterday I cruised 20 seconds faster, but struggle went on, even on the downhill mile 4. Miles 5 and 6 were generally uphill so I gritted the teeth, tidied up the form and pushed them out, just inside the 8:40. By this time I had figured it was the overindulgence was the issue so I was determined to pay my dues, even if it killed me, and that was a possibility given the way I was feeling:p. Mile 7 was good, downhill again, and could hear the birds in full voice but then a breeze appeared from nowhere, very slight but enough to drain what little energy I had left so miles 8 and 9 were a sufferance. Mile 10 is the reverse of mile 1, with 70m climbing, so stuck to the task and pushed it out in 8:53 which I was happy enough with.

A hard, hard run but only because of the crap in the system, amazing the impact of bad eating on performance, or at least how it feels. Multiply that up over a few weeks and it would be very easy see how it would be easier sit down than pull on a pair of runners. Funny thing was heart rate was 134 compared to 137 yesterday and yet it felt so, so much harder.

'Eating pleasure causes painful leisure'

....and I didnt even enjoy the pigout that much!

slowsteady

Hill Repeats, 2.5 miles

When your log has disappeared down to page 7 its time to add something:p.

I had been doing some reading over the weekend on training sessions and saw that hill work was good conditioning for faster pace, something I am sadly lacking. As I have a very good hill outside my door it is about time I added some sessions of this type:rolleyes:.

I have been following the discussion on Lydiard's techniques and decided to give them a try so after a warm-up started uphill using the bounding/high knee lift style advocated. After the first quarter mile I could see why it is regarded as a tough workout. I jogged lightly back down rather than at the quicker pace recommended as I felt it might be too hard on the legs for the first time out. I followed this with four more 'laps' and was considering one more when my left achilles cried 'enough' - so I agreed:p.

Could be a very tough session but kept it sensible tonight, although my calves and quads don't think so.

irfrm

Hi Slowsteady.
See You in Dungarvan, what time are you going for?
How did you find p&f 55 m/wk? Just got the book so would be Interested
On how you got on that Plan

slowsteady

irfrm wrote: »

Hi Slowsteady.
See You in Dungarvan, what time are you going for?
How did you find p&f 55 m/wk? Just got the book so would be Interested
On how you got on that Plan

Last 10 miler I hit 75 minutes dead so anything close to that would be the aim, I'm not going to beat it on present form.

I found the 55 m/wk OK to the point where I got injured so hard to tell. I plan to pick it up again when I have sorted out a marathon for the summer.

slowsteady

Tempo 5 miles, 7:18 pace

Winter league run, legs felt pleasantly tired after the hill reps on Tuesday so went out at the group pace. Found this too slow so took off on my own for a couple of miles. Was passed by another guy at halfway and used him to pace my way back to the finish. Felt OK but was a bit disappointed to see I was not much better than last week. Need more speed:rolleyes:.

slowsteady

Easy 5.3 miles, 8:22 pace

Legs were reasonably OK after Thursday and plan was to run this at about 8:30 pace. First mile, which has a fall of 200ft, was 8:04, not bad for me:p - usually faster - but thereafter kept it steady at target pace. Gave the last mile, uphill, a bit of a lash. Nice run, got the clothing right for the weather which always helps, cool breeze out there.

slowsteady

LSR 11.5 miles, 8:55 pace

Lying in bed this morning, the legs were saying 'stay in bed' and the the darkness and wind were agreeing but following yesterday when things were OK once started I got up and out at 8am. I was rewarded after a mile or so by the magnificent sight of a heron taking off having been disturbed by my passing. Does the heart good:)

Legs felt more tired than they should have but I had an explanation. I had been disappointed with the league run on Thursday as I had thought I went out faster than last week - turns out I read the clock wrong at the end and was a minute faster than I had thought:o, nearly a PB.

Run was fine, not as cold as predicted until I turned for the long uphill stretch - right into an easterly wind - that few miles were tough but stuck to the 9:00 pace planned. Only downside was that my left achilles, which was giving a lot of trouble last year and never really came right, made it's presence known again. Feels OK now but will need to be careful for the next while.

slowsteady

Hill repeats, 2.5 miles

Felt this was a good session last week so did more of the same. Killer on the legs but a good way to stress the muscle system without putting too much strain on the joints - a consideration at my age:p.

Left achilles has felt painful since the weekend, another reason for a short session, but by the end both legs were complaining, in a 'give us a rest' way - a good sign.

slowsteady

Tempo 5 miles, 7:17 pace

Achilles was not especially happy for the past few days, lots of stretching but I felt rest might be the best medicine.

This left me undecided as to how to approach last night's winter run but as I turned up late, again:o, I had very little time to decide before the off. Let the group set the pace and just tried to hang on while the legs settled down. In the event it was my breathing that was to be the issue, for some reason, probably the lack of a warm-up, the cold got down on my lungs and I wheezed my way around and coughed all the way home. Not the way to do it.

Good news is that the legs feel better today than all week, may it continue:)

belcarra

That's some good running there Slowsteady...Keep it up!

RubyK

Great running slowsteady! I joined up last night for the last 4 runs - found the wind quite strong for the first half.

Glad the legs are feeling good today. Mind that achilles

slowsteady

Med/Easy 10.13 miles, 8:54 pace

Had to drop of kids for activities so did this run in town. Lazy option was to run around the ring road which has the advantage regular hills to stretch the quads but disadvantage of running on concrete for large portions - not to be recommended. Apart from the wind for the first couple of miles, pleasant enough run, weather is unnaturally nice at present.

Undecided whether to go to the Colligan Cup 5 miler this afternoon, a predict your time race, so could be good crack.

slowsteady

Easy 9 miles, 8:26 pace, approx

It was such a nice day went to Dungarvan for the Colligan Cup, 3.5 lap, predict your time, 5-miler.

Because of the laps there was plenty of company during the race and as everyone timed their start to get to the finish by the target there was time to talk and compare notes on how we were doing. Decided to go at better than 8 minute pace and eventually settled for 39 minutes. Lovely day in the woods, no wind, intermittent sunshine. More perfect running weather:).

Almost perfect pacing, too fast by 9 seconds:mad:. Great day, good laugh, beat Sosa;), only time that is ever likely to happen, so will enjoy it:p.

slowsteady

Steady 5 miles, 7:40 pace

Have not run since Sunday due to work, sore achilles and taper for Sunday!!

Late nights at work early in the week and a persisent niggle with my achilles that no amount of rest or stretching seems it get rid of for good. Didn't feel under pressure to run as my usual failing is to run too much and too hard ahead of a race and want to see where I am at in Dungarvan - i.e. no excuses:D.

With this in mind, went out in the winter league with a slower group so that I would not be tempted to push too hard. Damp with a very cold wind so hat, gloves and leggings were the order of the day. Warmed up well for a change and went out very steady. Inevitably, left the last of the group behind on the final leg of the hill before the long run home but stayed relaxed and concentrated on form. By this time the sweat was literally dripping off me despite the temperature. Very happy with the run and while the achilles never relaxed out properly it feels better today so all good for Sunday. Will do very little except hope for good weather (i.e. no wind).

RubyK

Best of luck for Sunday slowsteady! Hopefully the achilles will settle down for you. Listening to the weather forecast earlier, wind doesn't seem likely. Might be a bit of rain, but as long as the wind stays away we won't complain

slowsteady

Went into this hopeful rather than expecting anything special. Plan was to go out with the 75min pacers and hope to push on, if I hadn't been dropped:p.

Day was wet but as I drove down from Waterford, heading west, the rain petered out as Met Eireann were predicting. Start was slightly damp and there was a light drizzle during the race, no wind, mild temperatures, perfect running weather.

Tucked in beside pacers for the start but despite the wide road the large numbers made hitting the 7:30 pace from the start difficult. After a half mile the Garmin showed the pace to be 8:30 so at this point I decided to speed up and make my own way for a while. First mile was 7:37 so little lost and 2nd mile was a repeat.

At this point I was feeling OK and picked up the pace slightly and the next four miles were 7:17, 7:22, 7:22 and 7:18, so far so good. This was helped by latching on to a local guy going for the same time, mile 7 was a little downhill and taking advantage I knocked out a 7:15.

Mile 8 was a bit of a struggle as my buddy gradually pushed on but it was dead flat and was a 7:26. Mile 9 is a gradual rise, all 16 feet of it (according to Garmin) but felt much more, pressure was on and I was starting to be generally passed for the first time today, still it was 7:29:).

I have no finish but gradually put in a bit of effort, the countdown, 1K, 800, 600, 400, 200 is a great help. Final mile 7:08 with an extra 12 seconds to get to the line. Only looked at the clock about 20 yards from the finish to see 73:54 so a last gasp got me home at 74:00 on the button, exactly 1 minute better than my last effort. So a PB to start the year:D

Heard great things about this race but have to say it was the best so far in my experience - time called at every mile, flat route, great goody bag (bag is excellent as well) all for €15. Passed on the grub, so can't comment but otherwise A1 all round. If running was this good all the time - Happy Days.

belcarra

Great running there - 74:00 is a great time!!

irfrm

Great running, you must be well happy with 74:00. We must
have crossed paths as I started with 75min pacers also.Who
I felt started too slow as well.
Have to fully endorse your glowing opinion of the whole set up
and I will definitely be back next year.