Things will come to those who wait...

pconn062

RunForestRun wrote: »

good work pconn.. You could always make the excuse that you were saving yourself for Sunday's race and that you backed off.. Don't worry bout missing out on the PB, plenty more races in the tank.. I must make a go at a 5k sometime, they sound like a bit of craic. See you Wednesday, hope today goes well for you, lovely day for it.

Cheers RFR, yeah we'll have to get you along to 5k so we can have a bit of a duel, think it's the only distance I have any chance against you!

National league 1500m

5:00:32

Headed up to this with a few from the club, I was put down for the 1500m, my first ever outing at the distance. Premier and first division were meant to be in different races but they changed the plan at the last minute which meant me vaulting the fence to get to the line in time, not an ideal start. Off we went and the pace was ferocious, even the 2 other 1st division runners got away from me after 300m so I just treated it as a time trial from then on. Went through the first lap in about 73 secs, too fast. Just a case of trying to maintain my pace as best as possible, tried to push at then end to get under 5 minutes but just missed out. I have to say I was pretty happy with it, I would have ended up with about 5.14 for the mile if I had have kept going, which would be a PB. The race was won in 3.55 I think which is great moving. Overall an enjoyable if very warm day.

MYTD: 814.5

pconn062

8 miles including 6x1 mile @10k pace off 3 minutes recovery

Splits: 6.13, 6.15, 6.14, 6.13, 6.15, 6.13 (for .33 of a mile)

Good session this, got it from McMillans best 10k workout plan. You are supposed to run these at goal race pace which I picked as 6.15 which would get me under 39 minutes, and 9 seconds a mile quicker than my last 10k pace. The stomach was bothering me even on the warm up mile and eventually caused me to pull out of the last repeat after 1/3 of a mile as it was in knots at that stage, I was nearly folded over with cramps :eek:. This annoyed me because apart from that it went really well. The pace came easy (OK not east but easy enough), and even though I was working like a horse on the repeats I felt pretty good. Might try this session again next week or do 2x1 mile followed by 4x1 mile all at goal pace. Have a 10k in 3 weeks so would like to give sub 39 a crack although it could be a bit late to start specific training at this stage.

MYTD: 822.5

pconn062

AM: 3.5 miles @ 9.02 pace
PM: 6 miles with 4 tempo miles

Decided I'm going to try and add in one double run a week, which will more than likely always be a recovery run. That's what this mornings run was, nice and slow to flush out the legs after yesterdays session. Then group training tonight and we did 6 mile with four mile at tempo-ish pace.

Splits: 7.01, 6.30, 6.34, 6.41

Legs were hanging off me on the last of these miles and was glad to be done. Had a slight niggle in my knee this morning but thankfully seems to be grand this evening, fingers crossed nothing comes on.

MYTD: 832

pconn062

6 miles including 5x800m off 90 sec recovery

Splits: 2.51, 2.49, 2.53, 2.58, 2.59

Probably shouldn't have done this session tonight with the heavy running over the last two days but a good group were heading in so I said I would chance it. Weather was miserable, wet and windy. First two went fine and I felt good. Third one I was pushing a bit and I was finding the recovery a bit short as we were jogging them at a fair pace. The last two weren't great, the breathing was fine but the legs just gave up, the felt like they had weights attached to them and I was barely hanging onto the group. Glad it was done and glad to have another session in the bag. Just gonna run easy for the rest of the week to give the legs a chance to recover.

MYTD: 838

tang1

Any idea on when your giving your half marathon a go?? Your doing great work since you came back from illness, keep it up.

pconn062

tang1 wrote: »

Any idea on when your giving your half marathon a go?? Your doing great work since you came back from illness, keep it up.

Cheers Tang. The next half marathon will be the Dublin half in the park in September and the target will be 1.28 or so. Before then I will be racing the race series 5 and 10 mile in the park as well and a few 10ks hopefully!

pconn062

4 miles, 35:39

Just a much needed recovery run this evening. It's going to be hard to squeeze in running this weekend as I am on the organisation committee of a conference that is on all weekend al the college, already had an 11 hour day today. Will just try and squeeze in what I can. Few days of light/easy running probably won't do any harm anyway.

MYTD: 842

pconn062

4 miles, 30:26, 7:36 avg. pace

Another crazy day down at the college today and this run was just the remedy I needed to clear my head. Really enjoyed it and the pace felt good and easy. Have a half day tomorrow so hoping to get a longer run in at some stage, 10 mile anyway.

MYTD: 846

pconn062

12.5 miles, 1:36, 7.40 pace I think

Nice run this afternoon with RFR, good to get a bit of longer distance done and the pace was quicker than I would do if I did a long run on my own which is good. Legs are sore now though as I came home and started cutting the grass straight away which probably wasn't the smartest idea. 43 miles for the week which is the highest in a while, happy with that. Next race is the Irish Runner 5 mile in two weeks and my local 10k the day after, not sure which one I will race yet, probably the 10k.

MYTD: 858.5

pconn062

8 miles

Session: 1 mile WU, 1x2 mile then 4x1 mile @10k pace
Splits: 2 mile: 12:26 (6.14, 6.12), 4 mile: 6.16, 6.20, 6.14, 6.16

So this is the second session from the McMillan best 10k workouts. Headed into the track and I have to admit, on paper, it looked scary and I was slightly dreading it. I was aiming for about 6.15 pace. The first two miles felt good but I was still working to hold the pace. 5 minutes active recovery and then launched into the 4x1 miles. Again it felt tough but just about manageable, not sure what happened with the 6.20 one, I didn't feel like I was slowing but I obviously did a touch. There were 3 minutes active recovery between the single miles and I averages 6.15 on the button overall for the 6 mile.
Very happy at the end of this, good session as well, the final repeat really felt like the last mile of a 10k and was all about toughing it out and getting it done. To be honest I think this pace is a bit quicker than my current fitness and if I could hold 6.20 pace on race day I would be happy.

MYTD: 866.5

menoscemo

pconn062 wrote: »

To be honest I think this pace is a bit quicker than my current fitness and if I could hold 6.20 pace on race day I would be happy.

When I did these sessions last year I managed 6:33/mile av for all the workouts and felt the same as you- that would be a bit beyond me on the day but that's exactly what I did on the day.

Good session

Whats the target 10k?

pconn062

menoscemo wrote: »

When I did these sessions last year I managed 6:33/mile av for all the workouts and felt the same as you- that would be a bit beyond me on the day but that's exactly what I did on the day.

Good session

Whats the target 10k?

Cheers meno, think 6.15 is about my 5 mile pace at the moment but I think I'll chance it for the 10k anyway. The target 10k is on in my local village, the Clogherhead 10k, on the 1st of July. I know the course like the back of my hand and it's a good course for fast times.

ThePiedPiper

Good session there pconn. I finally got around to my 10 x 800s lastnight. No bother on the first 7, all at 2:55, the 8th and 9th were 3.10 and the 10th was 3.30. I was going off 1:45 recovery. It seemed enough at the start but on the uphill repeats for the second half, I was struggling. Do you think 1.45 is too short a recovery or would you increase your recoveries if you're finding it tough? See you this evening.

pconn062

RunForestRun wrote: »

Good session there pconn. I finally got around to my 10 x 800s lastnight. No bother on the first 7, all at 2:55, the 8th and 9th were 3.10 and the 10th was 3.30. I was going off 1:45 recovery. It seemed enough at the start but on the uphill repeats for the second half, I was struggling. Do you think 1.45 is too short a recovery or would you increase your recoveries if you're finding it tough? See you this evening.

That recovery sounds about right Aonghus, when we do 800's at the club we take 90 secs recovery between each one. I'd say the reason it was tough is because 10x800 is a bit of a monster of a session, it's the same as 20x400. Generally the most amount of repeats I do are 6x800 and 12x400 which is more than enough for me. The 90 seconds recovery (60 secs with the 400's) should be enough if you only have to do 6 repeats. You could probably aim to run the 800's a bit quicker then, 2.45 each maybe.

pconn062

AM: 3 mile recovery run
PM: 6 miles with 4 mile tempo-ish

Splits: 6.57, 6.22, 6.36, 6.47

Extremely warm doing this run this evening and legs were a bit tired after yesterdays run. Headed out with the group and went with RFR but got dropped after a mile, the legs just weren't responding. Last mile is uphill and died a bit of a death on it! Splits aren't that bad overall though. Probably just going to run easy for the rest of the week, another session would probably do more damage than good.

MYTD: 875.5

ThePiedPiper

You're a snake, trying to lull me into a false sense of security before the big showdown in a couple of weeks!!!

pconn062

RunForestRun wrote: »

You're a snake, trying to lull me into a false sense of security before the big showdown in a couple of weeks!!!

Damn, you figured out my tactics! I'm just going to go with Patsy's tactics and give you a swift elbow in the back just before we start!

pconn062

5 miles

Session: 4x800, 1x1000 off 90 secs recovery
Splits: 2.49, 2.47, 2.49, 2.49, 3.31

Headed into the club for this session this evening, hadn't intended on doing this session but I was nagged into it, "it will do you good" apparently. I'm glad I did as I felt good and the session went really well. Big improvement on last week and I felt strong the whole way through. Was meant to do 5x800 but felt good so stretched the last one out to the full 1k. Nice to have a big group to run with cause you can just slot in with someone and tough it out, ignoring the fact that I was mostly running with a 16 year old junior girl! Dunshaughlin was mentioned in passing, wasn't intending on going but if a few a are going my arm could be twisted, although it's not ideal with two tough sessions done already this week.

MYTD: 880.5

pconn062

4.5 miles, 40:34, 8.50 avg. pace

Just an easy recovery run this evening, and although the pace was close to crawling the wind made it tough at times, was absolutely wild in some stretches. Still not decided about Dunshaughlin, it will be a very last minute decision at this rate. Hopefully the weather picks up for it because if it's anything like today it's goona make for tough running.

MYTD: 885

pconn062

Chip time: 39:54

Definitely not a goal race for me, in fact I didn't decide to run it until about 3 today, the coach wanted me and a few others to do as a good training run out before the 5 mile in the park next week. Got a lift up and all, registration was no problem, really well organised event over all. Did my warm up with the prestigious grouping of the eventual winner Gary O'Hanlon, 2nd place finisher Mark Hoey who is also coached by my coach (you can probably tell who his favourite is ) and my coach. Lined up and soon we were off, I was advised to run comfortably until halfway and see how I felt there, which is what I did. Fell in with a nice group and passed halfway in 19.42.
I felt fantastic, honestly felt like I was out for a jog, breathing wasn't laboured at all. So at 6k I pushed a little of a slight downhill and got clear of the group. Hit the hill at about 6.5k and this is where the trouble started. By the time I got to the top it was like someone flicked a switch, the legs just gave in. It was amazing, I just couldn't lift my knees, felt like they had lead attached. I struggled on until 8k where the next hill destroyed my spirits and I was down to a crawl (OK slowest mile of the day was here, 6.42, so not crawling but it felt really slow after the early pace). RayCun cruised by me at this stage looking really strong (the bastard! ). I was counting down the metres from this stage, and just to rub salt in the wound the group I left at 6k now cruised by me (probably laughing at me!) . I had no fight left to chase them and just gave a little push at the end to duck under 40, and I was in bits.
Slightly disappointed with how badly I faded but I suppose it's not surprising, I had two tough sessions this week as well as a tempo run on Wednesday so not ideal conditions. But the coach said it doesn't matter, just a good run to set us up for next week. Ate my weight in buns afterwards which cheered me up a bit!

MYTD: 892

pconn062

9 mile, 1:18:20, 8.42

Met up with a friend of mine for this early this morning, was a bit of slog and the legs felt very tired. In fact I feel a bit fatigued overall so I'm going to take a recovery week this week. It works out well because I'm heading to Scotland in the morning until Wednesday so will be missing a few days anyway. Want to be really fresh for the 5 mile next weekend.

MYTD: 901

pconn062

6 miles

First run since Sunday after a few days of overindulging in Scotland, a much needed rest I think all the same. Group training tonight so headed out with a few lads, stayed at the back of the group and took it nice and handy. No watch with me but there were a few 6:5X miles according to the brothers watch, and they felt very comfy which is a good thing. Irish Runner 5 mile on Saturday and then my local 10k on Sunday so the rest of the week will just be short, easy runs. Will probably race the 5 mile and then just see what happens with the 10k, would like to take a big chunk off my 5 mile PB from Raheny in January.

MYTD: 907

pconn062

5.5 miles, 42:53, 7:42 avg pace

Nice handy run this evening in very humid conditions, luckily I live in the middle of nowhere so I won't get arrested for decent exposure for running with no t-shirt on! Starting to look forward to the race on Saturday, it's gonna be a tough course though so will have to work for a PB. Running with a lot of people I know so looking forward to trying to get a few scalps!

MYTD: 912.5

pconn062

4.3 miles, 38:54, 8.56 avg pace

Nice, handy leg loosener at recovery pace this morning with a friend of mine, felt good. Threw in a few strides at the end as well. Looking forward to tomorrow, I feel like a have a touch of something coming on, chest feels a bit tight, but feeling good so it should be grand hopefully. Gonna have a good crack at this tomorrow and hopefully get low 31 or so, sub 31 would be great but I think it's a bit of a stretch at the moment, especially given the course. Good luck to all running.

MYTD: 916.5

tunguska

pconn062 wrote: »

4.3 miles, 38:54, 8.56 avg pace

Nice, handy leg loosener at recovery pace this morning with a friend of mine, felt good. Threw in a few strides at the end as well. Looking forward to tomorrow, I feel like a have a touch of something coming on, chest feels a bit tight, but feeling good so it should be grand hopefully. Gonna have a good crack at this tomorrow and hopefully get low 31 or so, sub 31 would be great but I think it's a bit of a stretch at the moment, especially given the course. Good luck to all running.

MYTD: 916.5

Make sure to go out hard and take advantage of that section from chesterfield ave to military hill, because after that you'll leak time on those hills.

pconn062

tunguska wrote: »

Make sure to go out hard and take advantage of that section from chesterfield ave to military hill, because after that you'll leak time on those hills.

Cheers tunguska, yeah that's the plan. Will try and bank 30 secs in the first 3 miles and will be a case of holding on as best as possible after that. Good luck to yourself if you're running.

tang1

Great running today, mid 31 like you wanted.

pconn062

tang1 wrote: »

Great running today, mid 31 like you wanted.

Cheers tang, went well. Did you run yourself?

pconn062

Chip time: 31:29

Happy with this, headed up with the big group I am training with at the moment, over 100 of us there today swarming the place! Had tunguska's advice in mind and wanted to go out hard over the first few miles. Wave start was a bit of a mess, only 10 rows back but spent 1/2 a mile dodging around joggers which was annoying but what can you do, people just won't get into the right wave. Soon got up to pace and first two miles were 6.05 and 6.08. Crossed halfway in 14:41 and a quick check of the garmin told me the distance was a bit off.
First climb of the day came just after halfway, a bit earlier than expected but I maintained the pace OK and third mile was 6.13, not bad and I still felt good here. From here to the end it was just a case of hanging on, I found the fourth mile the toughest of the day, the pace was still OK but it slipped a little here. Fifth mile I was just gritting my teeth and even though the pace was slipping, I couldn't do anything about it, just keep going for the line. A friend of mine who I was running with made a dash at 400m to go and I hadn't the legs to respond so he got 4 or 5 seconds on me.
But overall I'm happy with the run, good time on a tough course and I did what I set out to do, go out hard and hold on. I really enjoyed this race in fact, enjoyed the hills and finished 123rd out of 4000+ which isn't bad! My local 10k is on tomorrow but I will wait and play it by ear in the morning and see how I feel before deciding if I will enter.

MYTD: 922.5

tang1

pconn062 wrote: »

Cheers tang, went well. Did you run yourself?

Not today, on babysitting duty and find the 5 mile a little packed on my previous times doing it. Sub 31 your next goal, easy!