The least important part of this thread is the Title

Oregano_State

Sunday PM - Gym

WARM UP: 20mins exercise bike, hip mobility, leg swings, static stretching.

Hang Clean
20kg x 5
50kg x 5
50kg x 5
60kg x 3
60kg x 3
60kg x 3

Pendlay Row
20kg x 10
40kg x 10
50kg x 10
50kg x 10
50kg x 10

Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown
25kg x 10
40kg x 10
50kg x 6
50kg x 6
55kg x 6

BW DIP + Plank Supersets
[12 dips, 1 min plank] x 3

GTFO


I spent a bit longer than usual on the bike to loosen out the legs. I find the bike is a good way to warm-up the upper legs and general bum area. It also has the benefit of being non-impact and easy on the calves, which I had been having trouble with during the summer. It also frees up your upper body so I usually do a few arm and shoulder stretches as well.

^^TL;DR, bike = good. Fin.

Oregano_State

Right, well where do I begin? The last week or so has been a bit all over the place logistically, but I have still managed to get a bit of training in. Over the Christmas period I'd decided that it was time to join a club, both for social and training benefits. The main reason I didn't start training with a club earlier was that I wasn't happy with my fitness and wanted to bring myself up to a more decent standard before I inflicted myself upon some unsuspecting coach. We'll get to the club part in a minute, first I need to fill in the gaps in this log.

Tuesday 8th Jan, PM - Easy Run/Fartlek
I did my usual route, with a bit of added spice. I've pretty much been running the same four-and-a-bit mile loop if it's dark. Which has been about 90% of the time, going back to October. I should do more local day-time exploring, but any time it's bright I head straight for Phoenix Park as it's such an enjoyable place to run. Meh. Anyway, on this particular Tuesday I did 120 sec, 90 sec, 60 sec with 60 sec easy in between, then 3 mins easy, then a second round of the same thing. Pace for the fast bits ranged between 3:57 -3:20/km , which I know is a big range, but there you have it. Total was 6.8km in 34:02, avg pace 5:00/km. The legs felt pretty good overall.

Wednesday 9th Jan, PM - Hills
This was the day I was supposed to have my first track session with MSB, but alas it was not to be. Logistics. Anyway I got out the door and did 20 mins easy, then a bit of stretcherooney, before 3 x 40m, 3 x 150m up the hill. The idea behind the shorter reps was to get some real max-effort going. I built up to it though, starting off the first ten meters at 60%, then 95% to the mark I'd picked. I remember it was a cold enough night, and the lead-in was there to ensure I didn't slip or pull anything. The 3x 150m then afterwards was there for speed endurance. It was a good work-out all in all. The times for the reps were consistent and I felt sufficiently knackered by the end of it. I finished off with a very easy jog home, giving a total of: 8.3km in 46:15, avg pace 5:34/km.

Thursday Jan 10th - I have a feeling I did something useful, but I honestly can't remember... Home core work-out possibly.

Friday Jan 11th, PM - Easy Run
6.7km in 33:51, avg pace 5:00/km. Nothing special here really.

Saturday 12th Jan, AM - Track
Did a good aul session that I used to do a fair bit in my previous running life, as an angsty carefree teen: 250m, 200m, 150m, 200m, 250m.
The warm-up consisted of 10mins on the trusty exercise bike, then hip mobility, leg swings, lunges and a few drills and stride-outs. Then came the real horse-meat;) in my track burger:

250m - 38s , 3:02 rest
200m - 27s , 3:19
150m - no time :mad:
200m - 27s , 3:00
250m - 37s

Happy enough with that. Speed is getting a bit better, which is very welcome news, as raw speed is the thing I probably lack the most as an aspiring 400m runner. Once it keeps heading in the right direction I'm happy enough for the moment. I've spent too much time over the past few months kicking myself for allowing myself turn into such an unfit heap over the previous couple of years. I did have some fun doing it though, so it's not entirely a story of lament...:o

Sunday 13th Jan, AM - Gym
Not going to go into full detail as I have aspirations of getting this post finished before I'm due to leave for work tomorrow morning, but this session mainly consisted of trap-bar dead-lift (3x5 @ 100kg) and Split squats with 12.5kg dumbells (3x10). I also managed to drop the trap bar on the knuckle of my left big toe as I was taking the last weight off it. It was pretty ouchie.

Monday, 14th Jan, PM - Gym
The aforementioned toe was not entirely the correct colour on Monday morning so I forbade myself from doing any impact-type stuff on it. Including running. Headed to the gym again, where I did a good core-workout and a spent 20mins on the bike to loosen out the legs from the previous few days exertions.

Tuesday 15th Jan, PM - Easy Run
6.7km in 34:25, 5:06/km avg pace. An Icy run.

Wednesday, 16th Jan PM - Track
This was my first track session with MSB. I headed down to Santry where I met a load of new faces, and my new coach. I told him a short speil about who I was and what I was up to and he seemed to like the look of me. When I told him my PB he said "I got the last lad who came to me with a 51s PB down to 48s low, we'll see if we can better that with you". Turns out that "lad" was my older cousin who I'm now living with, who is on a prolonged hiatus/early retirement from the sport. Now I suppose this coach was just speculating about me because that's a very strong statement of intent given that he hadn't seen me jog, not to mind sprint at that stage. I'll revisit that comment later in the season possibly.

Anyway, the session started off with 3 laps of the track, easy. Then a few ladder drills, plyos, and hip mobility. Plyos felt good, I haven't done them in ages.

The session itself was 4 x 300m with 4 min break. The track was wet and I left my shoes on for some reason. I was training by myself this evening as the other two lads who were there were training for 100m. I will however have a training partner, he just wasn't there this evening. I was happy enough witha coach for the moment.

The times for the 300m reps went 44.6, 45.9, 47.1, 48.1.
I did not find this easy. The first one went like a dream, I was cruising all the way and had plenty in the tank. The second was a little tougher, I could feel my legs weren't moving as easily as I was rounding the bend after 150m. The third was like the second only worse, and the 4th one was tougher again. In fairness, the session went a million times better than when I tried it about 6-8 weeks ago.. I'll look that up tomorrow for comparison, as I could barely get around that day. My hams and glutes completely flooded with lactic at the end of the session, I was having trouble walking and felt a bit light-headed. "Welcome back to speed-endurance training", I was being told. It's ok, I'll have more of it next time. Bring it on.


ps I'll try to be more regular with my updates after this.

Oregano_State

Thursday 17th Jan - Gym

Oregano_State wrote: »

1. 47-something, 2min
2. 49-something, 6min
3. no time, prolly about 49 or slower. 3min
4. DNF, made it to 200m and was in a great deal of discomfort so I gave up in disgust.

I had a trawl back to find the last (and only) time I've attempted a 300m interval session since I started this log, and last night's effort was a HUGE improvement. This was from about ten weeks ago, but it's good to see that I'm making significant gains. I won't allow myself to be too pleased until I can do 4 x sub-45 300s with good form and not be in a heap afterwards.

Anyway, onto this evening: my legs were a bit beat up from the track yesterday, but they'll be fine by Saturday, which is the next time I plan to run on them. I was very tempted to have a lazy evening on the couch, but I wanted to get a gym session in as I won't have access to one over the weekend.

Warm Up - 6 mins exercise bike, 5 mins rowing machine. Then hip mobility, lunges and leg-swings, plus a little static stretching.

Front Squat
20kg x 10
40kg x 8
50kg x 5
(60kg x 5) x 3

Pull Up
22 pull ups split into 6,6,5,5

Conditioning
Mini-circuit of: 20 push-ups (3 variants, with med ball), then 15 reverse hypers /w 10kg plate, 30 secs plank.

I did three sets of the above, with 1 min plank at the end of the third one, for the craic.

Had a bit of a general foam-roll before a swift GTFO.

RandyMann

Good luck with your new club, I will be reading with interest!

Oregano_State

Here's what I've been up to for the past few days:

Saturday 19th Jan - Hills
I was down in Cork for the weekend so I did this run at The Lough on Saturday evening. Started off with about 3.5km easy, then did a few stretches and used one of the residential roads just off the water's edge as my hill. The distance was roughly 120m, but a little steeper than the Hills I've been using recently, and I decided on 2 mins break. The times were as follows:
20s, 19s, 19s, 20s, 21s, 21s, with all the breaks pretty much bang on the 2 min mark. I felt pretty strong throughout, I really only had to dig in for the final two so I was pleased enough. I had a nice little 1.5km jog back to my girlfriend's house as a cool-down.

Sunday 20th Jan - Easy Run /w strides
It was another traipse around Cork's Lough on Sunday evening; a handy 6.4km in 32:42 avg pace 5:06/km, although that was affected by my very easy pace on the final 1.5km. I threw in 3 x 250m strides, concentrating on being relaxed and having good technique. These were all at about 2:55/km.


Monday 21st Jan - Track
Yesterday evening was my second track session with my new coach, and my first time seeing Irishtown stadium. Initial impressions of the facilities were good, although the fake dog cut-outs stuck into the grass on the in-field area were a bit strange. Nevertheless, I got on with it...

The session consisted of 6x200m with 200m jog recovery. The coach had a stop watch so I didn’t have to worry about timing myself, which was good for a change. I warmed up with a lap of the track, followed by some dynamic stretching, drills and a few stride-outs. My legs felt in pretty good shape despite the weekend’s exertions. Times for the reps were as follows:
29 (low), 30 (low), 30 (mid), 30 (high), 30 (low), 29 (low).

Considering the fact that it was very cold, the track was slippery, and I was wearing runners instead of spikes I was pretty pleased with the session. I didn’t feel half as bad as I did after the 4x300m session last Wednesday; 300m intervals seem to be my nemesis. I plan on getting myself a pair of racing flats soon to do these type of sessions in.

I’ve also been suffering with a progressively worsening tooth-ache since last Friday, which while it hasn’t impacted on my energy levels too much, it has really had a sour effect on my mood over the past few days. I was pumped up to the gills with ibuprofen all day yesterday, and will continue to be at least until my Dentist appointment tomorrow afternoon. I have a feeling I may return minus a wisdom tooth or two. Pray for me.

Oregano_State

Tuesday 22nd Jan - Home conditioning/foam rolling/stretching
Just did a 3 sets of: 20 BW squats, then 10 single-leg squats on each leg, then 20 push-ups (3 variations) then 30 sec plank.

Had a good foam roll afterwards to loosen the legs out from Monday's track session.

Wednesday 23rd Jan - 6 km easy + Track
I took a half day from work to go to the dentist, I am now on antibiotics and require a root-canal . At least the pain has pretty much gone, so I'm not too bummed. The wisdom teeth need to be sorted too, but they can wait for the moment.

I finished up with the dentist around lunch time, so I got home in time to head out for an easy jaunt around the Phoenix Park with my house-mate at about 3pm. It was great be back running in the park, and the weather was mild compared to most of the past week, although the ground was a bit soft and slippy in places. I haven't uploaded the run yet, but it was about 6km in 30mins.

I then had a few hours off before heading out for my track session in Santry. My legs were a bit stiff to begin with. The warm-up was 2 laps of the track, followed by drills, hip-mobility with hurdles, ladder exercises, and a couple of stride-outs.

On the menu for the meat of the session was 4x400m with 4min recovery. I decided to wear spikes as my runners were a bit wet from the park earlier.

The splits were: 64-mid, 65-mid, 68-low, 68-high.


I'm happy enough with this. I'm not there yet, but going in the right direction anyway. The first one felt very smooth, I felt as if I could have gone well under 60 with not too much trouble. The second was ok, and the final two were pretty tough. MSB's distance group were doing 8x400m off 90s, with the fastest of them doing about 71-75s, so for my 2nd and 3rd reps I gave them a ten second lead and chased them down, which was pretty fun.

I'm 3 sessions in with the new coach and I have to say I'm loving it. There's still no sign of this mythical training partner, but as there's only two 100m sprinters and myself out at the track (so far at least), I'm getting a good deal of direct involvement from the coach, which can only be a good thing.

A few years back I could do 4x400m in 61-63 without a huge amount of bother. I used to struggle with anything over 4 of them though, at that pace. Hopefully in a few weeks' time I might be back in that sort of shape.

Oregano_State

Thursday 24th Jan - Gym
Back in the gym last night after too long a gap. I should really put a program together for myself rather that just doing whatever I feel like on the day/night, as I think I've stagnated a little lately gym-wise. I didn't have much time yesterday, but the plan was to do some good back-squatting, and take it from there.

Warm Up: 5 mins on the exercise bike, then a good 10 mins of hip-mobility, foam rolling and dynamic stretching as I was (and still am) quite stiff from my two track sessions this week.

Back Squat
20kg x 10
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 5
[92kg x 5] x 3
[80kg x 5] x 3

Conditioning
3 x [6 pull-ups, then 15 x hypers /w 15kg plate]
then
6 more pull ups, and 2 x [10 BW dips, then 10 straight-leg raises]

The fat lady sang at this point, as the gym was closing . I would have liked to get more core exercises in there, but that's the way it goes.

The squats felt iffy. I want to be able bust out a few reps at 100kg soon.
I'll do an easy run this evening, and hit the gym again on Saturday.

Oregano_State

Saturday 26th Jan - Gym in the AM
I was suffering a fair bit from DOMS in my calves and quads, I probably should have gotten out for a recovery run on Friday after work, but the weather was horrific and it didn't materialise. With this in mind, I dedicated a fair bit of time to the warm up, and decided not to lift too heavy.

Warm Up: 10 mins exercise bike, then hip-mobility floor exercises, 5 mins foam rolling, BW squats, leg swings and BW lunges. Legs felt a good bit better after this.

Front Squat
30kg x 10
50kg x 5
60kg x 5
65kg x 5
70kg x 5

Back Squat
[70kg x 5] x 3

Conditioning
3 rounds of: [10 inverted rows, 20 push ups /w med-ball (3 variations), 45 secs front plank.]

I then did BW dips, 3x5 to finish off.

Sunday 27th Jan - Recovery/Easy run
The DOMS in my quads seemed to have disappeared this morning and when I looked out the window to see the Sun shining I didn't hesitate to throw on the gear and get out the door. Unfortunately my calves were still a bit sore form the two track sessions earlier in the week, so it took a few minutes to get into the swing of things. But the sun was still shining, and I had the wind at my back on the way down to the Phoenix park so everything was just plain rosy. However, in typical fashion, conditions soon changed. I found myself battling a maelstrom. Battered from all angles, pummeled by wind and horizontal rain-bullets, I persevered and made it home. It turned out to be my longest run in a while; 9.3km in 50:54, avg pace 5:27/km.

Oregano_State

I just had a brief look at the results from the weekend in Athlone. Pretty glad I decided not to run now, looking at the amazingly high standard. I'm going to wait until the outdoor season for my comeback, I can feel myself improving all the time, but I'm not quite ready for racing yet.

http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/resall.pdf

Anyway, there are some very impressive results from the weekend. Thomas Barr is a serious talent, and Gregan absolutely killed his race by the looks of things. Laura Crowe, who used to run with my old club back in Tralee had a great run in the women's 800m (almost); it seems there was a tangle at the end that led to her and the leader falling just before the line. (I got that story from the piece on Athletics Ireland.com)

RandyMann

Oregano_State wrote: »

I just had a brief look at the results from the weekend in Athlone. Pretty glad I decided not to run now, looking at the amazingly high standard. I'm going to wait until the outdoor season for my comeback, I can feel myself improving all the time, but I'm not quite ready for racing yet.

The Dublin Graded series will be a good platform to start racing again and you can build yourself up through the grades over the summer. You should enjoy that as there wont be much pressure then..

Oregano_State

Monday 28th Jan - Track
The wind was terrible this evening, I felt the car shaking when I was stopped in traffic on the way to Irishtown. Taking the conditions into account, the session was 6x160m-ish starting at the start of the 4x400m in lane 7, running to the 200m start point, with 3-4mins break, focusing on quality. No times though. I ran them pretty hard, but I had the wind at my back so it was very easy for the first 3. My form started to go on the 4th, and the 5th and 6th were a bit raggedy, but it was a good session nonetheless. The coach said my stride was looking pretty good, so I was happy enough with that.

Oregano_State

Tuesday 29th Jan - Recovery Run
My legs were not in the best shape last night, but I didn't have time to fit in a gym session, so I headed out on the usual 6,8km (4 mile-ish) route, at a very handy pace. I stopped a good few times to stretch out the calves, as the right one in particular was not the Mae West, although I couldn't stop for long as I had a chicken roasting in the oven that had been timed to finish cooking as I arrived back in the door! I messed up timing the run, but at a guess it was a bit below 5min/km pace on average.

I've a track session with the club this evening. I've been stretching the legs out as much as I can at work, and I'll do a bit of foam rolling before I head to the track. I've got a sports massage pencilled in for tomorrow, so hopefully that'll sort any lingering tightness.

Oregano_State

Wednesday 30th Jan - Track
Santry again this evening. I was very apprehensive about this session given the state of my legs yesterday evening, but I had a good aul foam roll about an hour before I was due to hit the track. 4x500m was on the menu, off 5 mins rest, which is a session I've never done before, but I distinctly did not like the look of it. Not one little bit.

Anyway, after a warm up of 2 laps, ladder-drills, hip mobility /w hurdles, and some plyos, (which I found tough enough given the state of my calves), I was still a fair bit tighter than I'd like. As I laced up the spikes and did a couple of strides, I decided it was a case of HTFU or GTFO, and after mentally comitting myself much earlier in the day, I wasn't about to give in.

The reps went: 81, 83, 86, 84, for an average of 83.5 which is 66.8 400m pace.

I'm happy with this as it felt like I was going significantly easier than the 4x400m session last week, there was a nasty headwind on the home straight that made the last 130m or so pretty tough, and as I said before my legs were not in ideal condition. I tried to pace myself on the first one, I was already hurting towards the end of the 2nd one, on the 3rd I maybe was a bit conservative, and at the end of the 4th there was a girl in a Raheny top doing a stride-out roughly in line with me that I was determined to beat, so that carried me through nicely. The legs held up well in the end, and actually feel better now than they did yesterday evening.

Oregano_State

Thursday 31st Jan - Gym
This was destined to be a very quick session as I was tight on time with a sports massage booked in for 8pm, so it was a case of getting my stuff together and getting back out the door again as soon as I got home from work.

I warmed up with 5 mins hard enough on the exercise bike, then did a few leg-swings and lunges and made straight for the squat-rack.

Back Squat
BW x 10
20kg x 10
60kg x 8
80kg x 5
90kg x 1
100kg x 1
105kg x 1
[90kg x 5] x 3

Conditioning
Mini circuit of: Chin ups, Reverse hypers /w 10kg plate , and mixed push up variations /w med ball

I did 2 rounds, no breaks: CUx7, RHx15, PUx30, CUx6, RHx15, PUx20

Had to make an exit at this point due to time constrains, so I bolted for the showers, only to find that I'd forgotten a towel in my haste to pack the gear-bag. This unfortunately meant that, besides a quick spray of the worst-offending areas with deodourant, poor Ecoli was forced to massage me in my unwashed sweat-infused state. Apologies for that man! Good points to take were that 105kg is the most I've squatted in quite a while and I'll be able to go heavier soon.

ecoli

Oregano_State wrote: »

Thursday 31st Jan - Gym
This was destined to be a very quick session as I was tight on time with a sports massage booked in for 8pm, so it was a case of getting my stuff together and getting back out the door again as soon as I got home from work.

I warmed up with 5 mins hard enough on the exercise bike, then did a few leg-swings and lunges and made straight for the squat-rack.

Back Squat
BW x 10
20kg x 10
60kg x 8
80kg x 5
90kg x 1
100kg x 1
105kg x 1
[90kg x 5] x 3

Conditioning
Mini circuit of: Chin ups, Reverse hypers /w 10kg plate , and mixed push up variations /w med ball

I did 2 rounds, no breaks: CUx7, RHx15, PUx30, CUx6, RHx15, PUx20

Had to make an exit at this point due to time constrains, so I bolted for the showers, only to find that I'd forgotten a towel in my haste to pack the gear-bag. This unfortunately meant that, besides a quick spray of the worst-offending areas with deodourant, poor Ecoli was forced to massage me in my unwashed sweat-infused state. Apologies for that man! Good points to take were that 105kg is the most I've squatted in quite a while and I'll be able to go heavier soon.

Was wondering what that smell was

Oregano_State

I don't blame you!

RandyMann

Oregano_State wrote: »

Thursday 31st Jan - Gym
This was destined to be a very quick session as I was tight on time with a sports massage booked in for 8pm, so it was a case of getting my stuff together and getting back out the door again as soon as I got home from work.

I warmed up with 5 mins hard enough on the exercise bike, then did a few leg-swings and lunges and made straight for the squat-rack.

Back Squat
BW x 10
20kg x 10
60kg x 8
80kg x 5
90kg x 1
100kg x 1
105kg x 1
[90kg x 5] x 3

Conditioning
Mini circuit of: Chin ups, Reverse hypers /w 10kg plate , and mixed push up variations /w med ball

I did 2 rounds, no breaks: CUx7, RHx15, PUx30, CUx6, RHx15, PUx20

Had to make an exit at this point due to time constrains, so I bolted for the showers, only to find that I'd forgotten a towel in my haste to pack the gear-bag. This unfortunately meant that, besides a quick spray of the worst-offending areas with deodourant, poor Ecoli was forced to massage me in my unwashed sweat-infused state. Apologies for that man! Good points to take were that 105kg is the most I've squatted in quite a while and I'll be able to go heavier soon.

Good work on the squats. How far do you go down with this exercise?, I mean do your thighs go past the horizontal? When I used to go heavy, I used to squat till my thighs were just above horizontal as I was afraid of not being able to get back up again.

Oregano_State

RandyMann wrote: »

Good work on the squats. How far do you go down with this exercise?, I mean do your thighs go past the horizontal? When I used to go heavy, I used to squat till my thighs were just above horizontal as I was afraid of not being able to get back up again.

Thanks. I'm aiming for at least a 1.5xBW squat in the next few weeks, with 2x a longer term aim. I try to go just to the point where my lower back starts to round, so slightly below parallel, but for the heavy ones I was just about getting to parallel I think. There were safety bars in case I needed to bail, but I didn't fancy having to use them. It's a test of mental strength; how deep you're willing to go on the way down!

Oregano_State

Friday 1st Feb - Easy Run /w Fartlek
My legs were feeling much springier after the massage on Thursday evening, but the plan was not to do anything too rigorous over the weekend with my track session on Monday evening in mind. I did my usual loop and threw in 3x1min tempo strides, just to loosen out the legs a bit. I took 3-4min easy between them. The first was 3:50/km pace, then 3:36/km, and finally 3:16km, but the last was uphill for most of it. I took it easy then again until I got home, and ended up with 6.8km in 33:39, avg pace 4:55/km.

Saturday 2nd Feb - Lazy day

Sunday 3rd Feb - Gym
Having had a few pints on Friday night, I found it very easy to have a long overdue lie-in on Saturday morning. The day was then labelled 'Rest Day' and I had a great time watching Ireland and Man United win their respective games.
So, onward to Sunday morning and outwards towards Santry, where I was due to lift things and put them back down again.

Warm Up: 20mins on exercise bike, hip-mobility floor drills, leg-swings, some squats and lunges.

Front Squat
20kg x 10
40kg x 8
50kg x 5
55kg x 5
60kg x 5
[65kg x 5] x 3

Bulgarian Split Squat
BW x 10
10kg DBs x 8
[17.5kg DBs x 8] x 3

Conditioning
3 rounds of: [DB push ups /w lat row x 10, front plank for 45s, reverse hypers with 10kg plate x 15, Pull-Ups x 5]

Good workout. My legs were still a little stiff despite the massage, so I spent a little longer on the bike to loosen them out. Front squat technique is getting better I think. Split squat technique is definitely getting better, I'm seeing major improvements there.

Oregano_State

Monday 4th Feb - Track
It was out Irishtown for the 3rd Monday in a row, and according to the weather forecast I was to expect an imminent blizzard. I had to settle for a stiff, cold breeze with a sprinkling of rain, but it was sufficiently unpleasant to warrant the weather warning. I was feeling a bit stiff as I did my warm-up laps, having just been told I was doing 6x300m for the session. 300m repeats are bad enough, but I then couldn't help but notice the aforementioned 'stiff breeze' which was blowing diagonally across the track, against the home straight. Just plain lovely.

The last time I'd done 300m intervals it was 4x300m, with 4 min rest, so the break was increased this time to 5mins considering I was doing two extra. I finished off the warm-up with dynamic stretching, drills and strides. Then it was time to face the music. Here's how they went:

48-mid, 48-high, 48-mid, 47-mid, 48-low, 45-high. The breaks were all bang-on 5 mins

There were a few different aspects to take into account about this session. I wasn't feeling very fast, but then again the weather was kack-balls and cold. Starting at the top of the back-straight, the wind was at my back, but blowing across me. I don't know how fast it was blowing but it was causing me to stumble slightly, so fast enough. Running the bend was OK-ish, but there was a sickening gust that greeted me every time at the 120-130m to go point. Gust is actually the wrong word, because it felt like I was running in a wind tunnel. Putting it plainly, the final 100m was nasty. I was also scared of not being able to finish the session because the 4x300m I'd done two weeks ago was very very tough.

Given all that, I'm not really worried at all by the times, because on a calm, mild evening they'd be significantly better. The consistency was very very pleasing, and busting out that 45 at the end felt good. I didn't get the feeling of my legs flooding with lactic acid that I've been having at most of the track sessions with the new coach, so something must be working.

Oregano_State

Tuesday 5th Feb - Gym
Due to indulging in a little too much farting around the house after work, it was late by the time I got to the gym and I had just under an hour to get my session done. The legs were a bit stiff, mainly in the calves, so I took my time getting warmed up.

Warm Up: 10mins on the exercise bike, then some squats, lunges, and hip-mobility floor exercises. Did a bit of foam rolling too. Grabbed two 10kg DBs then and did some snatches, rows and overhead presses to get the upper-body in gear.

Hang Clean
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 5
55kg x 3
[62kg x 3] x 3

I then did one set of 10 Deadlifts with the 62kg I'd been using for the HCs. Not sure why.

Conditioning
3 rounds of: [Pull Ups x 6, Burpees x 15, 30 sec Front-Plank] 1 minute between rounds, no breaks between the exercises. (tough enough!)

Then 2 sets of 10 x BW Dips

Not a terrible session, all things considered. I had a bit of DOMS in my glutes from the split squats on Sunday, but they loosened out during the warm-up. The conditioning mini-circuit was harder than it looks on paper, because after the Burpees the core is already fatigued and it wasn't happy when asked to go straight into a plank. My traps are a little sore today, as I haven't done HCs in a couple of weeks.

Another track session is on the cards now for this evening. :cool:

Oregano_State

Wednesday 6th Feb - Track
Having received some new gear in the post on Monday, I was looking forward to getting a bit of use out of them this evening. I got home, had a pear and a coffee, threw on the kit, and hopped back in the car to Santry. It was 4 degrees and calm when I arrived, so not ideal for sprinting, but a helluva lot better than the gales we've all been running in recently.

Warm Up: 2 laps of the track very easy, then some hip mobility drills over hurdles, ladder drills, plyos, and a few leg-swings and lunges. Then I did a couple of easy strides before ditching the runners for spikes.

Session: 6x200m /w 200m jog recovery
Times were:
28 (mid)
29 (mid)
29 (high)
30 (low)
30 (mid)
28 (low)

Breaks came in at 2:20-2:40.

It was great not to have to fight a gale on the home-straight, and I felt I ran well enough. The splits are better than the last time I did the same session, on the 22nd Jan. On the last one I was going pretty much all-out, but my start was messed up by having to shout at a few joggers who had creeped into my lane. It's nice to see the times coming down so regularly, long may it continue.

Oregano_State

Thursday 7th Feb - Gym
Just a bog-standard session at the gym really. I was tight for time again, I had about and hour to get everything done. That's all right normally, but lately my legs have been getting battered on the track twice a week, so I've been taking more time at the beginning of gym sessions to loosen them out and do a bit of foam-rolling and general TLC. This has made it more difficult to get a proper gym session done in an hour, so I'm going to have to start arriving a little earlier I think.

Warm Up: 11 mins exercise bike (10 steady/hard, 1 easy), hip-mobility floor drills, foam rolling, dynamic stretching.

Front Squat
20kg x 10
50kg x 5
60kg x 5
[68kg x 5] x 3

Conditioning
Mini Circuit of: 10 x BW Dips, 10 x Bulgarian Split Squat /w 2x10kg DBs, 1 min plank.

3 rounds of that, with 1 minute between rounds.

Then 15 pull ups/chins in two sets.

It doesn't look very impressive written down, but it wasn't the easiest gym session. I didn't have a mirror in front of me when doing the front squats, so I wasn't able to monitor my form. The last few reps were pretty sketchy, maybe it's better that I wasn't looking at myself doing them...The circuit was also tough. Them planks be hard, like.

RandyMann

Oregano_State wrote: »

Starting at the top of the back-straight, the wind was at my back, but blowing across me. I don't know how fast it was blowing but it was causing me to stumble slightly, so fast enough. Running the bend was OK-ish, but there was a sickening gust that greeted me every time at the 120-130m to go point. Gust is actually the wrong word, because it felt like I was running in a wind tunnel. Putting it plainly, the final 100m was nasty. I was also scared of not being able to finish the session because the 4x300m I'd done two weeks ago was very very tough.

Welcome to my world;)
I know all about that, its pure horrible sometimes in Irishtown and most of my intervals are done running into that on the home straight.
Last night there was very uncomfortable to say the least. I am so looking forward to the temperature getting above 10 degrees to do some proper training!

Pisco Sour

RandyMann wrote: »

Welcome to my world;)
I know all about that, its pure horrible sometimes in Irishtown and most of my intervals are done running into that on the home straight.
Last night there was very uncomfortable to say the least. I am so looking forward to the temperature getting above 10 degrees to do some proper training!

One of the coaches at my club said that one should always do their short reps in the direction with the wind, to get used to the sensation of running fast. Could be an idea to finish your reps at the 200 start line on days when there is a bad headwind in the home straight.

RandyMann

Pisco Sour wrote: »

One of the coaches at my club said that one should always do their short reps in the direction with the wind, to get used to the sensation of running fast. Could be an idea to finish your reps at the 200 start line on days when there is a bad headwind in the home straight.

You know, that sounds like a good idea and it makes sence. Training the nervous system to a faster turnover like running down a slight decline. Going to do it next time..

RandyMann

Hey Oregano, I heard there is a graded meet scheduled for the weekend after next in Athlone if you want to give that a go. It would be a good opportunity to get to run there this year...

Oregano_State

RandyMann wrote: »

Hey Oregano, I heard there is a graded meet scheduled for the weekend after next in Athlone if you want to give that a go. It would be a good opportunity to get to run there this year...

Might do that! I'll chat to the coach about it tomorrow night anyway, thanks for the heads up!

Oregano_State

Right, so I obviously haven't updated in a while, but I've been training away. I'll try and fill in the gaps a bit here:

Sunday 10th Feb - Hills
My legs were really feeling the effects of upping the intensity of training over the previous weeks so I didn't do anything on Friday or Saturday, although the Friday night beers did have a part to play in that. The right thing to do on reflection would have been to go for a long, easy run on Sunday, given that I was going to have a track session on Monday, but guilt at not having done a tap for two days made me run to the hills, Iron Maiden style. I did 6 x 120m with 2 mins break. Including warm-up and warm-down it was 6.7km.

Monday 11th - Track
Session was 4x400m off 5 mins but it didn't pan out too well. I had very little sleep on Sunday night and was still feeling the effects of Sunday, as well as the build-up of whatever it was that was making my legs feeling like lumps of poo.
Anyway I only did 3 because after the 3rd I was in absolute bits. I'm not one for giving up usually, but I probably shouldn't have attempted that session in the state I was in.
The times were 62, 64, 67 for what it's worth.

Wednesday 13th Feb - Track
I decided after Monday's session that I was overdue an easy week to give the body a chance to catch up with everything I've been throwing at it. I wasn't prepared to cut my Wednesday track session, but I left out the gym work on Tuesday and Thursday, and replaced it with foam rolling and mobility/stretching stuff.

Anyway, Wednesday's session was 6x120m off 4 mins which I ran with two 100m sprinters that train with the same coach as me. My legs were still not 100% but much better than on Monday. All the reps were 15.xx, so happy enough there, and I was beating the two other lads, although they're not the fittest.


I was away for a couple of days in Leeds with the missus from Thursday to Sunday morning, which involved lots of walking but no running. After a short kip once I got in the door from the Airport, I headed off to Athlone to watch the senior indoor championships. I was very impressed by a lot of the performances, and inspired to keep training hard to get closer to the level of some of the guys there. The track and facilities are amazing, I'm looking forward to running on it this Saturday at the graded meet.

Monday 18th - Track
Pyramid session: 200m, 300m, 400m, 300m, 200m with 5, 5, 6, 5 mins break.
Times for the reps were 27s (low), 43s (low), 64s (low), 42s (mid), 27s (high).
I felt good, but not brilliant during the runs. The 400m was the most difficult, I felt like I went off easy but I was really working by the end of it. I suppose that shows my speed endurance still has a way to go, but again I feel like I've improved again with the times here so I have to be very happy with how things are going overall.

Tuesday - Conditioning
Didn't have time to make it to the gym this evening so I just did a bit of mobility work and circuits to satisfy my conscience. Did three rounds of body-weight exercises: push-up variants, 'counting', and squats, both single-leg and normal.


Feeling good now after the easy week, looking forward to my first race at the weekend.

Oregano_State

Wednesday 20th Feb - Track
Even though I'm racing this weekend, it's just to see where I'm at and not a goal race so the training regime was not augmented to give me an easy session. The opposite, in fact. Dan (the coach) informed me I was getting a dose of 300s. Lovely.

Having done 4 in previous weeks I aimed for 5 reps tonight, off 5 mins. It was a crisp, breezy evening, and I wanted to knock out a good session to get me in the right frame of mind for Saturday. Here's how I fared:

43(mid), 45(low), 44(low), 43(mid), 45(flat).

I'm very happy with how this session went. There was an awful breeze on the home-straight that made the final 100m pretty difficult but I was feeling very good for all except the last one, and even then my form didn't collapse (at least I didn't feel it go as badly) as it has in other sessions. I was in an absolute heap after the 5th one, my ass and hamstrings were flooded with lactic which made standing, sitting, and lying down equally unbearable. I did a very laboured lap of the track as a cool-down once I'd managed to get my runners on, which seemed to return me to normality.