It's now fun to run

dazza21ie

Tuesday 4th February 8 miles easy with strides
Had dropped my garmin on Sunday when I was getting changed. Hadn't noticed that I had broke the strap on it. It only dawned on me as I was trying to strap it on this morning. So another watchless run. Ran to feel and it was quite enjoyable. Done 10 x 100m (ish) strides at the end. Was able to find the spare strap that came with the Garmin so it should be back in action tomorrow.

dazza21ie

Wednesday 5th February 12 miles @ 8:47
Had serious thoughts about knocking this one on the head when the alarm went off this morning. But I managed to get myself out the door. After that it was all quite easy. First few miles were very gentle. The route looped back the way after 6 miles and the pace picked up as I was coming back in despite a head wind.

dazza21ie

Thursday 6th February 5 miles @ 9:42
Friday 7th February 8 miles @ 8:52
Saturday 8th February 5 miles @ 9:30

Two recovery runs with a very easy run in between. Friday's run was meant to be 9 miles but was late going out last night. Heading out I would have settled for anything over 5 miles so it didn't turn out too bad in the end. Recovery run this morning was first time for a while that I really had to ease off to stick to recovery pace.

dazza21ie

Sunday 9th February 0 :mad:
Monday 10th February 13 Miles @ 8:19 (with 5 @ MP)
Tuesday 11th February 0
Wednesday 12th February 5 Miles Easy (Treadmill:eek:)
Thursday 13th February 9 Miles (with 4 @ LT) (Treadmill)
Friday 14th February 5 Mile Recovery Run

Missing Sunday's run really annoyed me. Was due out for an early run but slept right through alarm. Had a few shortened nights sleep before that and it finally caught up. Didn't have a chance to get out later on Sunday so run was gone.

Since I wasn't out on Sunday I decided to move things forward and run on Monday. Would like to say it was planned because of the imminent weather but I usually don't watch/listen to weather forecasts, all their fancy colour warnings don't do it for me. Sunday's run was meant to be 18 with 8 @ MP. Decided that I would like to get some sort of feel for MP so tried for 13 with 5 @ mp. Should really be aiming for 7:26 pace for MP (or a little under it) but I was doing Monday's run in the evening and my stomach was giving out during the warm up and there was a strong breeze blowing so thought anything close to 7:30 pace would be ok. In the end the average pace for the MP miles was 7:31 so ok.

By the time I was home on Tuesday evening the place was white with snow. Didn't fancy running around footpaths on that. I decided to use my free day created by running on Monday for a change.

Thought the snow would be gone on Wednesday by the evening time. It mostly was but the footpaths were still a bit dodgy. Didn't want to miss a run so took the drastic step of using the treadmill. Hadn't used it for 3 years so it took a little getting used to.

Outside conditions were fine on Thursday but Mrs Dazza was out. Decided to get a couple of warm up miles in on treadmill before heading out when she came back. By the time she came back had already started into 4 miles at LT(ish). Think the pace converts to 7:05 mins/mile. Had done two easy beforehand and done another 3 easy afterwards.

Outdoors this morning for a recovery run. Didn't bother putting on the watch, just kept it very easy around a usual route.

dazza21ie

Saturday 15th February 5 miles @ 9:41
Sunday 16th February 16 miles @ 8:49

Had planned a bit longer easy run on Saturday but the legs felt a bit stiff and tired so just done another recovery run.

Icy out this morning. Done 3 miles around town very slowly, headed out on the back roads then. Reckoned they could be no worse than the footpaths. Turned out to be ok. Legs felt good and miles ticked by nicely. Had the iPod with me for first time in a long while, was a nice change. Was able to pick it up at the end.

Think that's 53 miles for the week, a few down on the plan but am happy once it's over the 50 mark.

dazza21ie

Monday 17th February 5 miles @ 9:40

Legs were a bit tired again this morning so they were happy to just plod along:)

dazza21ie

Tuesday 18th February 9 miles @ 8:49

Out early this morning for this one. Nice morning out and starting to feel a bit warmer weather wise. Finished with some strides at the end.

dazza21ie

Wednesday 19th February 14 miles @ 8:31
Nice to have this done before the working day starts though I wasn't thinking that when the alarm went off earlier. Tried to go by P&D's pace guidelines starting off around MP+20% and work down to finish last few miles at MP+10%. The slightly quicker miles at the end felt fine, just needed to concentrate a little more.

dazza21ie

Thursday 20th February 5 miles @ 9:30
Friday 21st February 11 miles @ 8:31

Simple recovery run on Thursday. Took same approach this morning as on Wednesday with quite similar results, just a bit shorter in distance. Rest day tomorrow after 10 days running:)

tomred1N

dazza21ie wrote: »

Thursday 20th February 5 miles @ 9:30
Friday 21st February 11 miles @ 8:31

Simple recovery run on Thursday. Took same approach this morning as on Wednesday with quite similar results, just a bit shorter in distance. Rest day tomorrow after 10 days running:)

That's fierce mileage dazza , you're going to half your last marathon time if you keep this up.

How in the name of god some of ye on here do these miles in the morning I don't know. the house could be burning down and I wouldn't run down the stairs in the morning

dazza21ie

tomred1N wrote: »

That's fierce mileage dazza , you're going to half your last marathon time if you keep this up.

How in the name of god some of ye on here do these miles in the morning I don't know. the house could be burning down and I wouldn't run down the stairs in the morning

Thanks Tom, don't think I will ever half it but hope to take a good chunk off

The morning running thing is all down to personal preference, at the end of the day as long as the miles are done it doesn't matter how

dazza21ie

Sunday 23rd February 18 miles @ 8:20
It wasn't too pleasant heading out this morning with a strong wind which was carrying heavy rain. Was soaked within the first half of a mile. But that just seemed to waken me up. Had to hold myself back during the first half of the run. Most of this was into the wind but that didn't make any difference. When I turned back into towards town with the wind at my back pace naturally picked up. Picked it up a bit more for last 6 miles. Legs had felt pretty good through out run, tired a little over last couple of miles but held the pace.

Some chocolate milk and homemade flapjack went down nicely once in the door. And a splash in the pool with the little ones was a good way to relax.

62 miles up for the week. Similar mileage planned for this week just with a bit more intensity.

dazza21ie

Monday 24th February 5 miles @ 8:42
Legs were a bit stiff at the start of this but loosened out after a couple of miles.

Tuesday 25th February 9 miles @ 8:19
This was meant to include 5 miles @ LT but that didn't happen. Had donated blood on monday night so had to wait until the evening to do this one. Still haven't got the hang of evening running and in particular eating before running. Had two and half hour gap last night before going out. Was fine for easy running but once I tried to up the pace felt a stitch coming on. Managed one mile around LT but just had to ease off after that. Shouldn't really be a surprise because my body would be used to running on empty most of the time. Will just have to get in habit of eating lighter before running and maybe eating a bit more at lunchtime if running in the evening. Will probably try to give LT miles a go again this evening, although that will be as part of a 14 mlr.

dazza21ie

Wednesday 26th February 14 miles @ 8:37
Was out last night for this. Hadn't made any changes in eating habits so had abandoned any ideas of doing LT miles. The weather conditions would have probably put me off the idea anyway. Had a strong wind and heavy rain for most of the run. There was just no escaping from all the water. Miles ticked by ok until last 3 or which were a bit of a struggle.

AuldManKing

Given the 9 miles on Tuesday, that was a great run - nearly 30 miles in 3 days.

dazza21ie

Friday 28th February 12 miles @ 8:54
Took a rest day on Thursday which meant I could get back on morning runs. Cold out this morning with a bit of ground frost. Just ran by feel and took in a few hills along the way. Had to change my planned route as my head torch was dead when I turned it on after a couple of miles.

Monthly Summary
Month| No. of Runs| 2012 | No. of Runs | 2013| No. Of Runs| 2014
January| 14 | 34.22 | 23 | 127.01| 27| 221
February|16| 46.21 | 11 | 59.82| 23| 213
March|16| 52.11 | 23 | 137.57
April|14|49.98 | 27 | 174.19
May|22| 95.18 | 27 | 154.79
June|17| 85.79| 23| 150.07
July| 18| 101.16| 26| 194.29
August| 17| 126.55| 25| 181.85
September| 18| 151.64| 26| 190.85
October| 16| 115.04| 24| 182.57
November| 21| 91.63| 23| 160.63
December| 16| 89.14| 25| 178.17
Totals | 205| 1,038.51 | 283 | 1,892| 50| 434

PDCAT

dazza21ie wrote: »

Sunday 23rd February 18 miles @ 8:20
It wasn't too pleasant heading out this morning with a strong wind which was carrying heavy rain. Was soaked within the first half of a mile. But that just seemed to waken me up. Had to hold myself back during the first half of the run. Most of this was into the wind but that didn't make any difference. When I turned back into towards town with the wind at my back pace naturally picked up. Picked it up a bit more for last 6 miles. Legs had felt pretty good through out run, tired a little over last couple of miles but held the pace.

Some chocolate milk and homemade flapjack went down nicely once in the door. And a splash in the pool with the little ones was a good way to relax.

62 miles up for the week. Similar mileage planned for this week just with a bit more intensity.

Just catching up on your log Dazza. Some great training done here. 18 miles at 8.20 pace - great going.

dazza21ie

Saturday 1st March 5 miles @ 9:31
Legs were tired starting out and were glad to have only to do a recovery run. Last couple of miles were probably a little quicker than they should have been.

Sunday 2nd March 18 miles @ 8:26 (incl 5 miles @ MP)

Had quite heavy legs starting this out. Decided to do a couple of short loops around town so that I would have the distance covered when I came back into town after my usual 13 mile loop out around the back roads. Plan was for 10 miles at MP. Done 7 easy miles first and didn't think I had the legs for MP effort. But the first two miles for the MP part had nice downhill stretches which helped waken up the legs and get into a stride. Next two were uphill and I went a good bit off pace but wasn't overly concerned and judged it by effort. Got back on pace for the 5th mile and thought the session was going to be ok after all. But shortly into the 6th MP mile I just came to an abrupt stop. Mentally I just bailed on it. I had been starting to feel the effort but it wasn't a case of struggling to keep going. Got myself going again but couldn't get back into, it just felt so much harder then and after a couple more stop starts I just abandoned the remaining MP miles and kept it easy for the rest of the distance.

The run brought up 63 miles for the week but with no properly completed sessions it felt like a disappointing week.

Monday 3rd March 5 miles @ 9:53
Step back week this week. Just let the legs set their preferred pace for this one and they were never going to go too hard after Sunday's run.

Tuesday 4th March 8 miles @ 8:28
Plan had 8 miles with strides. Had thought about doing the missed LT session from last week. Was conscious that this was a step back week and should be letting the body take it easy. Settled on doing 3 miles @ LT. Target pace for the LT miles was 6:55 and the splits were: 6:54, 6:54, 6:56. A few very easy miles before and after brought up the total.

Wednesday 5th March 12 miles @ 8:40
Eased myself into this one with a couple of very easy miles to start with. Pace gradually picked up and probably would have picked up some more for the last few miles had it not been for my stomach giving out a bit, more a case of what I shouldn't have ate last night than the effort causing difficulty.

dazza21ie

Thursday 6th March 5 miles @ 9:39
Gentle recovery run. Was stopped near the end by a Fr. Jack lookalike that appeared from an alleyway to ask the time and then disappeared again.

Friday 7th March 10 miles @ 8:48
An easy run this morning. Had a strong headwind and some rain for the first half so it was nice to turn around and have it at my back on the way home.

dazza21ie

Sunday 9th March 15 miles @ 8:40

Nice morning for a run. Starting to get bright around half 6 now. First 5 miles were very easy. Had a slight pick up in pace after that and a few quicker miles near the end. Brings to end the recovery week, was nice while it lasted!

dazza21ie

Monday 10th March 7 miles @ 9:28

It was very cold heading out yesterday morning. There was a sharp frost still in progress but the ground was dry so there were minimal icy patches. The downside to recovery pace is that it takes a little longer to get warmed up. Done 10 x 100m strides at the end.

Tuesday 11th March 10 miles @ 8:06 (incl 5 Miles @ LT)

A big confidence boost this morning. Have been struggling to get sessions done of late and this has caused a few self doubts in my mind. Quite cold again this morning when heading off. Done two and a half miles approx warm up and then a few strides.

Started into the LT miles with a target pace of 6:55 mins/mile again. Started out a bit quick with the first mile and the pace got exaggerated by a downhill stretch at the end for a mile split of 6:37. Second Mile was again quicker than planned but the effort felt right, another downhill finish to the mile put it at 6:40. Readjusted the target pace at this stage to 6:50. The next 3 mile splits were: 6:46, 6:50 & 6:47. Could feel the effort during the 5th mile but managed to keep the mental demons at bay for a change. Another 2 and a bit miles very gently followed for a cool down.

Pretty pleased with how that went. The total time for the 5 LT miles was 35 seconds quicker than what I managed in a 5 mile race in January which is still technically my 5 Mile PB (albeit obviously a soft one). Just a matter of being able to reproduce on a more consistent basis.

dazza21ie

Wednesday 12th March 14 miles @ 8:38

Hardest part of this run was responding to the unruly alarm. A close second was the freezing temperatures outside. Eased myself into it with a few very easy miles. Legs felt good from the start so it was just a matter of relaxing and enjoying the run. If only they could all be like that.

dazza21ie

Thursday 13th March 5 miles @ 9 : 45

Nice gentle recovery run.

Friday 14th March 11 miles @ 8 : 39

Lovely morning this morning, first time in a while that it felt quite mild. Legs were a bit tired starting out but came good as the miles ticked by.

Just the little matter of 21 miles on Sunday to finish off the week!

dazza21ie

Sunday 16th March 21 miles @ 8 : 32
Seemed like the perfect morning heading out for this. Nice and mild with clear skys and a full moon partly lighting the way. After 3 miles the moon disappeared and a strong breeze picked up. Was running against said breeze then until mile 8.

Pace was very slow at the start and seemed to take its time to pick up. Even with the breeze at my back the pace didn't change too much. Was trying out my new hydration belt for first time and had brought two gels with me to give them a try. Took first gel after 9 miles.

Went through 11 miles with pace averaging 9:00 mins/mile. Plan was to pick it up for the next 10 so started doing so gradually. It was easier than I expected and afrer a few miles I was consistently doing sub 8 min miles. The average for the last 10 miles was 8:00 mins/mile.

Had taken 2nd gel at 15 miles and didn't have any adverse reaction to them, pretty sure they made things a little easier.

68 miles up for the week.

Monday 17th March 6 miles @ 9 : 42
nice recovery run this morning. The legs felt a little bit tired but otherwise ok.

dazza21ie

Tuesday 18th March 9 miles @ 8:59

Plan had double recovery runs for today. I usually move my recovery run scheduled for Saturday to the Monday which either gives me a day to play with later in the week if I miss a run or a weekend morning off. As I had done a recovery run yesterday didn't think there was anything to be gained from another one. Doubles are really a great option either. Could manage a double but that would have ruled out a morning run tomorrow. Settled on doing an easy run and somehow settled on 9 miles as the distance. Decided to keep it to the slower end of "easy" range.

After a few morning with nice weather had to contend with wind and rain this morning. Legs were still a bit tired from Sunday's run but seemed to have loosened up a bit more by the end.

dazza21ie

Wednesday 19th March 14 miles @ 8:19
It would have been a perfect morning this morning had it not been for the wind. I think it actually helped me to wake up a bit quicker. Done the usual pick up of the pace on way back in.

dazza21ie

Thursday 20th March 6 miles @ 9:25

It was very wet, windy and a bit cold for this. Weather which isn't really conducive to slower running. Was just glad at the time I didn't have my LT session that morning....

Friday 21st March 10 miles @ 7:40 (incl 6 miles @ LT)

... still very wet and windy . Reckoned I still had to try and get some sort of LT session done. Just had to expect it might be a bit tougher. Done a two and a bit mile warm up with a few strides at the end and then started into the LT miles. Splits for them were: 6:39, 6:48, 7:01, 6:58, 6:56, 6:53.

Consistent(ish) with the splits. The wind was felt more on the first 3 miles. It was the same route as last weeks session. Had to stop on the 5th mile to tie my shoe laces and nearly had to stop just before that when a lorry was blocking the footpath trying to get turned around.

dazza21ie

Sunday 23rd March 20 miles @ 8:33

This felt tougher than last week's long run. Was ticking along quite nicely until around mile 14. After this seemed to tire and had some stomach issues. Took two gels again, not sure if it was them or something I ate last night. Was back in the town by mile 15 and didn't really have a set route in my head to finish the distance. Briefly thought about calling it a day after 18 but took a turn away from home and got the distance finished. Another one in the legs anyway. Easy running now until Omagh on Saturday.

Runchick

dazza21ie wrote: »

Sunday 23rd March 20 miles @ 8:33

This felt tougher than last week's long run. Was ticking along quite nicely until around mile 14. After this seemed to tire and had some stomach issues. Took two gels again, not sure if it was them or something I ate last night. Was back in the town by mile 15 and didn't really have a set route in my head to finish the distance. Briefly thought about calling it a day after 18 but took a turn away from home and got the distance finished. Another one in the legs anyway. Easy running now until Omagh on Saturday.

A 20 miler by 9am Dazza :eek: Well done for toughing it out, your training has been mighty impressive. I have no doubt you will reap the rewards in Omagh - so jealous, its a class race

dazza21ie

Runchick wrote: »

A 20 miler by 9am Dazza :eek: Well done for toughing it out, your training has been mighty impressive. I have no doubt you will reap the rewards in Omagh - so jealous, its a class race

Might have finished by 8! Thanks, best of luck in London, glad to see your gonna make it now. I will be the real jealous one when I'm reading your report afterwards