Starting again

average_runner

This is my first ever training log and here is my story so far.

I have done two dublin marathons, 08 in 4:07 and 09 in 3:47.
Last year was a year off as my wife had a baby.

This year I am going for 3.30 at the dublin marathon and I am using the P&D 55 mile plan.

My current pb's before this year are as follows:

Dublin marathon 09 3:47
Dublin Half 09 1:42:05
Dublin Series 10 mile 1:19:50
Dublin 5 mile series 09 35:56
Bupa 10k 07 50:50

Targets for 2011:

10k under 45 min
5 mile under 35 mins
10 mile under 1:18 mins
Half Marathon Under 1:40
Dublin Marathon under 3:30


From January till two weeks ago i built a base up and did the following races:

Valentines day run in phoenix park 10k 46:50 a new pb
K club 10k in 44:19 a new pb
RTE 5 mile 35:30 new pb
Wexford Half(extremely windy) 1:42:30

So trying to this all with a 8 month old baby and a very good and understanding wife who thinks I am crazy. Bet all our partners think that.

Last Sunday I did the first general aerobic 9 mile run at a pace of 9 mins per mile. These runs are to be slower than my long runs according to the P&D Book.

slowsteady

Good luck with the log.

Your PBs are in the same ballpark as my own and I would like to think 3:30 in Dublin is possible, if a bit of a stretch, so it will be interesting to track your progress over the summer.

average_runner

Tuesday Night was club training in local park.

I did 2 miles at 8:09 pace just a general run on my own to lossen up.

With the club did 3x1000m on the grass into the wind with a slight hill.
Times were:
1. 3:57
2. 3:59
3. 3:59.


Did 2 miles warm down then.

Nice but tough session especially when running into the wind on the grass with the small incline. Was first session in three weeks with the club.

Next is my LSR 12 miles on thursday. Should be grand as have done this distance quiet a bit in last 2 months.

plodder

Good luck with it. I used the same program to go under 3:30 last year, and based on a similar previous best. It's a pretty comprehensive (and tough) program. But, if you stick to it, and stay free of injury, you'll do it all right.

average_runner

Did my first LSR of the program last night.

The distance was 12 miles at 8:44 pace. In total it was 1:44:56.

Longest amount of time on the road in over two years and even thought pace was slow i forgot how tough it feels. Dont think it helped that it was straight after i got home and no food in me since lunch!!!

Calf muscle a bit sore but will use skins to sort that out.

average_runner

Sat Day

---

It was the tempo run today, calf still a bit sore so didnt go all out.

Did a 2 mile warm up.
4 mile tempo at 7:36 per mile
2 mile warm down.

Using my compression skins now after running and working wonders on the calf

average_runner

Monday

---

General Aerobic run today. Left home in Lucan at 6.30 and ran to town.
Had bag on my back with lunch and all my clothes in it, weight a bit
Took it easy due to calf so did a 9:11 per mile and 9.60 miles.

Compression skin back on now and calf feeling good.

Waiting on roller to arrive tomorrow

Mr Slow

Good luck with the log, I followed P&D (12 week 55 mile)to a comfortable 3:43 in Cork and will be doing it again for sub 3:30 in Dublin. It's an excellent program!

average_runner

Tuesday

---

Got home late from work so did a recovery 5 mile run.

Pace was 9.36 per mile.

Doing these recovery runs are quiet funny as when you finish you feel like you done nothing as your still so fresh!!

average_runner

Thursday "The First Disaster"

---

Session 13 mile lsr(5 miles slow and 8 miles pmp)

Route from Eastpoint Businness park via North Circular Rd, through phoenix park to Lucan.

Well it had to happen the first disaster run for me in this years plan(sure there is more to come). Did the first 5 miles at 8:47 pace, legs were a bit dead but nothing to worry about i thought as i was comfortable!!

Started the 8 miles on Chestefield Rd in the park and thats where it all went wrong. From there to the exit in Chaplizod i couldnt get below 8:17 and even when i went faster in my pace on my watch did not respond, well thats what it felt like.

From Chaplizod up Liffey Valley it got worst, my time drifted to 8:35, now this is a long drag of a hill but i was getting closer to my slow lsr pace than my pmp pace.

Frustration was settling in and i pushed more, but the more i pushed the more my legs went slower!!!

After Liffey Valley at Hermitage Clinic(maybe i should of went in there ) i took a 5 min break to get my head right and to do a few stretches.

From there to Lucan up by the Griffeen Park was two miles and i recovered to do them in 8:11 and 8:07. In total i got the PMP to 8:29 so was a good recovery from earlier.

I felt i could of went on for longer and probably got it down to 8:10 or so in another 2 miles but i kept to the training plan.

Went into my house and my wife said you look very fresh since you ran home from work, that frustrated me more


I know 8 min miles for 8 miles or more is no problem to me as did the Wexford half in 7.50 per mile and that was a gale force wind day!!

But looking over my history, June is always a bad run for my LSR's for whatever reason.


Will do the next week LSR run as plan in the P&D schedule which is 14 miles between 8:40 - 8:50 and then i am going back to the 13 mile run the following week to get revenge.

I do think the route was too much of a hill so might keep this route for the LSR with no pmp and medium runs.


Thanks for reading this. Hope it helps some people!!

PhoenixParker

It's probably a dumb question, but have you looked at the map of your run and compared it with where you know you ran? Granted I'm using an iphone GPS but I've found some sections of the park to be particularly bad for pinning you in the wrong place. The wrong side of the road as you run around a bend can make quite a difference.

Mr Slow

Simple mistake to make but your paced runs are about even effort and getting used to running at your PMP, next time pick a flatter course. The workout won't be a waste because you had to work harder than you would had you run a slow warm up followed by a flat 8 @ 8 min miles. Cover hills etc on your standard LSR's.

average_runner

Yeah you are right. I do think it was one of those days also.


Is Phoenix park a good place for a even pace run or am i better off running flat in around lucan?

Thanks

Mr Slow

average_runner wrote: »

Yeah you are right. I do think it was one of those days also.


Is Phoenix park a good place for a even pace run or am i better off running flat in around lucan?

Thanks

You can get routes around the park from the middle to the north side where it's pretty even, slight drag east to west on Chesterfield Ave. It's perfect for LSR's though, plenty of drags and hills if you're looking for them.

You'll also find group runs here, it's always easier running in a group.

average_runner

Sat morning

---

The schedule said to do a 8 mile general aerobic run with 10 x 100m strides(i thought it was 7 but only found out 10 afterwards)


Did 7 miles with 7 strides in 8:45, got a bit bored and somehow concern about my speed, so decided to do the 8th mile as a sprint!!!

Did it in 6:58 so that put the mind to rest.

The run was done out locally in lucan.

Next day out is the 8k race on the docks. Wonder will i break the 35 min barrier, did the rte 5 miler in 35:30 so it might be close!! Didnt feel great that day.

Will use this as my lactate run for the week and do a 2 mile warm up to the race and a mile warm down.

Thanks for reading this.

average_runner

Tuesday Evening Docklands 8k race

---

First race since i started the P&D program. Previous 5 mile race best was 35:30. So the plan was to run at 4.22 per k pace for 5-6k's and see how things go.

Race pretty much kicked off on schedule.

1km : Started at 4:19 pace but drop back to 4:22 as planned.
2km : Still at the 4:22 and moving on happily.
3km : Pace dropped to 4:24 which was ok nothing to worry about!!!
4km : Pace dropped to 4:28, legs wont speed up and body not happy(trouble ahead)

5km : Pace dropped to 4:31 and legs wont react at all, suddenly realised the race target was over for me so i just i ran the race.
6km - 8km: time kept drifting back, finished on a 4:40 pace average per km.


Finish time was 37:52, worst time in 3 years over that distance.

Not sure whats going on or what I am doing wrong but nothing is clicking for me at the moment.


Thanks for reading this

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

You mention your runs always seem to turn poor around June, do you suffer with alergies or hayfever? I have noticed it does have an impact on my breathing which in turn affects my pace.

Good luck with the 3:30 attempt.

average_runner

Thats a very good point. I do have some minor allegries, nothing to write home about. Havent taken hay fever tablets for a few years but I have taken them this year for the last month.


Thanks for that.

claralara

The pollen count seems to be ridiculously high year and a lot of people seem to be really suffering a bad June. Hopefully a few days rain will help.. but definitely worth taking a non-drowsy tablet here and there.

Well done last night - so it wasn't your best race but so what; it was stil a good time. Another one to chalk down and isn't marathon training the current #1 goal so keep the focus on that... I was holding the 6K marker and jealous of everyone running by as my fingers and toes slowly numbed!

outforarun

I'll be following this log closely. I was trying to go sub 3:30 in Cork this month, fell apart at mile 22 and came in at 3:41. Hope you make your goals. i'm also hoping to go under 1:40 in the adidas series half marathon in September (PB is 1:40 so I'm optimistic on this one).

Best of luck.

average_runner

claralara wrote: »

The pollen count seems to be ridiculously high year and a lot of people seem to be really suffering a bad June. Hopefully a few days rain will help.. but definitely worth taking a non-drowsy tablet here and there.

Well done last night - so it wasn't your best race but so what; it was stil a good time. Another one to chalk down and isn't marathon training the current #1 goal so keep the focus on that... I was holding the 6K marker and jealous of everyone running by as my fingers and toes slowly numbed!

Felt so sorry for the people holding the distance signs but fair play to ye. Once i knew my race was over after the 4k mark i notice the sign holders alot more and how wet ye were. Fair play to ye and thanks.

Mr Slow

average_runner wrote: »

Felt so sorry for the people holding the distance signs but fair play to ye. Once i knew my race was over after the 4k mark i notice the sign holders alot more and how wet ye were. Fair play to ye and thanks.

Whose idea was it to have people holding signs in the rain, surely sticking them to a pole would have been better?;)

Slowbie

Hi Average Ruuner thanks for starting this thread I'll be following it closely! I'm using the same program as you for DCM 2011 and I just started this week. My PBs are all a little slower than yours and realistically I think I'll have to aim for 3:45. Sorry you were disappointed with race Tues night (even though that's still a great time in my books!)
Just wondering do you think you might be running some of your training runs a little too fast at the moment. They say General Aerobic Runs to be run at 15 to 25% slower than MRP. If your MRP is 8MM then GA runs should be run at 9m 12sec pace to 10m pace. Also the Lactate Threshold runs are at HMP around 7m 45sec pace for you. Maybe you had given so much in training your legs were a little tired for the race?
Anyway to be honest you prob know a lot more about it than I do (as you can tell from my enthusiasm I got the book in the post a few days ago!!). Best of luck with it all though and I'll be reading along looking for inspiration!!

average_runner

Slowbie wrote: »

Hi Average Ruuner thanks for starting this thread I'll be following it closely! I'm using the same program as you for DCM 2011 and I just started this week. My PBs are all a little slower than yours and realistically I think I'll have to aim for 3:45. Sorry you were disappointed with race Tues night (even though that's still a great time in my books!)
Just wondering do you think you might be running some of your training runs a little too fast at the moment. They say General Aerobic Runs to be run at 15 to 25% slower than MRP. If your MRP is 8MM then GA runs should be run at 9m 12sec pace to 10m pace. Also the Lactate Threshold runs are at HMP around 7m 45sec pace for you. Maybe you had given so much in training your legs were a little tired for the race?
Anyway to be honest you prob know a lot more about it than I do (as you can tell from my enthusiasm I got the book in the post a few days ago!!). Best of luck with it all though and I'll be reading along looking for inspiration!!

Hi Slowbie;

I am going to change the P&D plan a small bit as time goes on.
Regardign the Generic Aerobic runs, mine should be around 9 min per mile but sometimes if body feels good i just let it go a bit faster or maybe i tweet that run a small bit, as sometimes i feel slow runs hurt my speed more. But general aerobic runs to work will be at 9:10 pace as it be at 6.30 in the morning and a bag on my bck

Regarding Lactacte threshold i was doing them at 7.30 pace before my last half marathon in May so this is why i am going at that pace

You got to do what you feel comfortable at too and listen to your body. 3.45 is a great time to aim for the pacers for that were brillant when i did dublin a few years ago.

As for the race on tuesday i was pretty fresh but just one of those things!!

Keep up the hard work and you will get your time. Hope this log will help you but it will not follow the P&D exactly. But it will have the long runs, medium runs and v02 max and lactacte runs in it.

Thanks for reading the log.

Average Runner

Slowbie

Thanks a million for advice and encouragement average runner. Best of luck with your training. I'll be reading along picking up loads of tips and advice!!

average_runner

Slowbie wrote: »

Thanks a million for advice and encouragement average runner. Best of luck with your training. I'll be reading along picking up loads of tips and advice!!

Any advice or tips you find out as you go along, dont be afraid to post them here too.

average_runner

Thursday Evening

---

LSR day 14 miles.

Route was from Eastpoint business partk via North Circular Rd via Phoenix Park via Chaplizod Hill up Palmerstown out to Lucan.

Legs were tired after tuesday's race and when i started off my hamstring was a bit tight in the left leg so took it easy.

Was cruising along to phoenix park at 8:51 pace. In the park pace increased to 8:45 till i hit chaplizod hill. At the hill I eased off as legs were getting heavy so reduce the pace down to 8:57 over the distance home.

Happy enough with the run and legs dont feel too bad today. Calf still sore so more stretching and ice needed. Sat is the 10 mile general aerobic run so will take it easy on this and then on monday another general aerobic run where i also break the 500 mile mark.

My next LSR i will start at slower pace and increase the speed to within 10% of my marathon pace as i go along. Also it wont be the same route as they are switching to a sat/sun morning.

Thanks for reading this.

average_runner

Sat Morning Plan was 10 miles general aerobic run

---

Headed out at 7.30 am but 2 miles into the run and my calf flared up.
Started to limp when running so stopped as was afraid this could lead to another injury while compensating for the calf.

Nice walk back home and time to think about what to do. Now i had this injury last year while i wasnt training for marathon and spent 6 weeks at physio. At that time she said I could continue to run on it.

So went to boots and was recommended Voltarol Emugel P. Been applying this and ice since sat and calf coming around, but will drop the medium runs from my schedule and do 3 sessions a week.

Will run with club on the grass tomorrow and see how it goes.

So techincally I aint following the P&D Schedule and the moment but i will keep the LSR going and the tempo sessions.

If no real improvement in next 3 weeks I might have to forget about Dublin.

Slowbie

Sorry to hear about calf average runner. I reckon you did the right thing abandoning the run when it flared up. Hopefully the gel/icing will bring it round. I always find running on grass v helpful when any little niggles flare up aswell. Fingers crossed for you!

average_runner

Tuesday Club night running on Grass mostly

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It was a strange feeling running on Tuesday, wondering would my leg hurt on the first few steps, but it didnt

Forgot my garmin also but i know the distance in the park. Did 1.6 miles warm up not sure what pace but it wasnt important.

Met the club then, I went to press the button on my watch and suddenly realising there is nothing on my arm and how stupid i must of looked

Did a 20 min tempo but not too fast with club and then 1 km warm down.

So in total did arond 5 miles or more and happy enough. Leg seems ok.

average_runner

Thursday 5 mile tempo in the Park

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1 mile warm up.

5 miles @ 7.45 pace

Not too bad, first tempo in awhile so not too bad. Found the pace good and enjoyed it loads. Just did a walk for the warm downa s was lovely envening.
Think these runs are vital to get my pace back and fitness.

Next up is the Long run.

Thanks for reading this.

average_runner

Sat 16 miles LSR

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Went to the Phoenix Park and met Mr Slow, Meno, Nules and Pistol for my first boards group session.

It was a good LSR with the pace increasing every mile, think we started at a pace of 10.20 and the last mile was 8:30. Average pace for the run was 9.30.

No complaints from the calf either so all good, will keep to the 3 day week session till end of the month, two of the sessions will be speed work.

Really enjoy this run with the group and will be back more for more groups sessions after the 5 mile race series in the park.

Will to do LSR on Thursday this week as be down home on Sat to bring my Dad up for the match, lets hope we can do what our neighbours Kilkenny did!!

Thanks again for the run on Sat and will see ye all in a few weeks.

average_runner

Tuesday Night Club night

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Todays run was shorter than planned mainly due to not getting home late because of a car crash at ConColbert Road. Eventually got home and make a quick dinner for the wife as she is not well.

Off then went for the run. I thought i would of got a mile warm up in before the club arrived but no luck they were early !!! So got .6 of a mile in. After a few 100m warm up sprints we started a 20 min tempo run, the same as last week.

Kept to a pace of 7.25 this time which was an improvement on my last two and did 2.8 miles in the 20 mins. Did another .6 mile of warm down as in hurry home.


In total it was a short session but the tempo shows improvement on the way again and speed picking up.

Pretty happy with it for that reason.

Next run is Thursday with 9 miles including a 5 mile tempo. After this week this tempo will come every second week.

Thanks for reading this.

Average_Runner

pistol_75

Just catching up on your log. Keep up the good work.

average_runner

Thursday Night

---

Tonight was a 5 mile tempo with 2 miles warm up and 2 miles cool down.

This is the last week where 2 tempo sessions are involved but I just felt Tuesday club session was too short.


So did this run in my local park, some nice small hills so a good course.

2 miles warm up was at 8.41 pace.

5 miles tempo was at 7.34 pace, first mile was a bit too fast but after that it even out. Really happy with this as 11 secs per mile faster than last weeks and getting close to the target of 7.30 again.

2 mile warm down was at 9.58 pace, a nice big wind got up as heading home so glad I was going home and i missed the rain!!

Really happy with this session, starting to feel good again and feel like i am going somehwere.

Next run is LSR on Sat with 6 miles slow and 10 miles at pmp hopefully

See ye all on Sat morning.

Thanks for reading this.

Average_Runner

average_runner

Sat LSR 15 miles

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Met up with some of the boards crowd again for a session.

Legs felt heavy enough on Sat morning before I started out, probably after the tempo on Thursday.

Started off with a 5 mile LSR pace run and then at the car park we broke up into groups for our own PMP runs. Unfortunately I was the only one going for 10 miles @ 8 min runs.


Managed to keep the 8min pace easily enough till I hit Wellington Hill, it seem to of zap my legs. Going back up Chesterfield avenue legs just got heavy and i lost the 8 min pace. Decided to do 8 miles instead and when i got back around to S bends at 8 mile mark i eased off, pace finished at 8.10. Also think i get bored on these runs on my own so hopefully I have more people in this group next time when doing PMP.

Eased into a slow 1.5 miles run back at the car park to meet the rest of the boards gang.

Next week is recovery week and 5 mile race but not sure if i jsut run or race this yet!!

Thanks again to all the boards gang for meeting up on sat and thanks for reading this.

average_runner

Tuesday Night 12 mile LSR

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This week is my recovery week. So LSR was 12 miles. Did it quiet slow at 8:59 pace and it took 1:47:52. It ws quiet a boring run but a lovely evening.

Next up is a 6 mile general run and then the 5 miler in the park.

Thanks for reading this.

Mr Slow

What time are you going for in the 5 miler?

average_runner

I havent made my mind up yet.

I am afraid if i race my calf might flair up again but I somehow cant see myself settling in to a race and taking it easy.

If all goes well i should hit 35 somewhere. Did 35:30 at the rte 5 mile race but the docklands did a 37:52 !!! Both were flat courses.

What you going for? Your flying in training last Sat.

Mr Slow

average_runner wrote: »

I havent made my mind up yet.

I am afraid if i race my calf might flair up again but I somehow cant see myself settling in to a race and taking it easy.

If all goes well i should hit 35 somewhere. Did 35:30 at the rte 5 mile race but the docklands did a 37:52 !!! Both were flat courses.

What you going for? Your flying in training last Sat.

As close to 34 as I can get, I'd break it on a flat course I reckon but the last 2 miles are going to test me.

average_runner

Thursday Night

---

Decided to do a general 5 miler ahead of Sat. Didnt push on this and did an average pace of 8.14, in a time of 41:49 or so. The last mile i did a pick of pick me up mile at 7.44.

Not a bad session so be interesting to see how the 5 miler goes.

Thanks for reading this.

average_runner

Sat 5 mile race in the Park

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My approach to this race was to just pace it and be sure I get in the 35 min area.

So start up off the sub 40 min group. First mile was a 7:24, quite slow but due to the crowd mainly but it was grand.
Second mile I did it in 7:07 and the third in 6:54. The fourth mile was in 7:07. I was in a very comfty zone at this stage, going at about 80%.
At this stage I ahd notice my garmin had register a mile before I hit the mile markers on the course.
So I came to Kyber all ready for it and did it in 7:10 and the 5 mile mark beep on my watch but i wasnt near the end I had .05 mile left on watch and it took 18 secs


My time in total was 35:57 which at first i was unhappy as i could of pushed harder. But this was an improvement on the docklands run of 37:58 which jsut proves June is a bad month for me:D

Definetly think my pb of 35:30 can be easily broken now.

Splits were: 7:24, 7:07, 6:54, 7:07 and 18 secs!!

The garmin and my chip times were off by more than 4 secs too!! Garmin started at the start line on the matt and stopped after i crossed the finish line.

average_runner

Monday 10 mile GA

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Left house at 6.40 and headed from Lucan to City centre with change of gear in my back pack. This was a nice easy run I have to say. Body was good and coast into city quiet easily. Pace was 9:09. had to slow myself down at stages.

Rest of the week plan is 6 mile tempo tomorrow with 2 miles warm up and warm down.

Thursday 3 x1600m 1 min RI and 2 miles warm up and warm down.

Sat 18 miles LSR

Thanks for ready my logs.


PS Weighted myself Sat morning and since i started training back in Jan 1st till last Sat morning i have gone from 92kg to 80kg. Plan is to get to 73kg for the marathon!!!

slowsteady

average_runner wrote: »

PS Weighted myself Sat morning and since i started training back in Jan 1st till last Sat morning i have gone from 92kg to 80kg. Plan is to get to 73kg for the marathon!!!

That is some achievement, aside from the running.

I read some where each pound shed is worth 1 second per mile so 92 down to 73kg is worth over 18 minutes in a marathon!!

(Rather than running maybe we should just sit down and starve )

average_runner

Moving tempo to thursday and going to do a hill session tonight.
Think its important to do some hill sessions especially with the hills in the second half of the Dublin marathon.

average_runner

Tuesday Night

---

Did a hill session with the club last night. We started off with a 1.14 mile warm up and then a 25 min stretch and sprint session.

The hill is very steep and roughly a distance of .16 miles.

Plan was 6 sprints up the hill with 4 min break in between including a jog down the hill.

My times were pretty steady throughout:
1. 58.56
2. 56.48
3. 55.89
4. 55.09
5. 56.02
6. 56.98

Followed with a 1.14 mile warm down and some stretches.

This was a real tough session to say the least and legs are very heavy after it today. Even though I do train in Phoenix Park on Sat a few hill sessions are good to do. Another one next week and then maybe another 2 in september.


Thanks for this log

metamorphosis

You have 18 on the agenda Sat morning don't ya? I might actually do 18, get the miles in the legs.

average_runner

Yeah 18 for sat morning. Seems to be a good few for sat morning, so probably all start of together and then for the last 6 or so miles just pick up the pace to around 9min if that suits?

We can work it out on the day, as it is LSR, its more time on the feet than pace.

Which direction are you coming from for the park?

metamorphosis

Yeah, im not too pushed about pace, il be happy to go at whatever pace most want as i hadn't planned this long one.

If people are meeting at papals, i can be there for 9, im coming into the park from hueston side

average_runner

Tuesday night

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It was my first run since last Tuesday due to illness.

I went for a good tempo run. Did a 2 mile warm up at 8.30 pace and did a 5 mile tempo at 7:38 pace. Was ment to do 6 miles but thought i be pushing it for my first run back as can be weak after illness.


Did a 2 mile warm down of 9:30 and nice half mile walk then.

So a good session and nice to be back.

Thanks for reading my log

average_runner

Thursday Night

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Tonight I decided to do some track work and the plan is to follow the Run less Run Faster speed session on Thursday night.

Did 1.5 miles warm up at 8.40 pace and 1.5 miles warm down at 8.58 pace.

Did 3 x 1600's with 2 min break. Target time was 6.45 - 7.00 according to McMillan

1. 1600m @6:58 started too fast but then eased up too much.
2. 1600m @6:47 this went to plan, paced well.
3. 1600 @ 6.52 this went to plan too.


A good session and feels good to be doing speed work on the track


Thanks for reading the log