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Sunday
4 miles easy / 7:47 average pace
Last week turned out as bad as expected, with Thanksgiving, a couple of nights out and two longish drives. Great few days in Michigan where I witnessed a great Lions win
and got to see Calvin Johnson himself in the flesh. Luckily all the TDs were at our endzone also! :cool:. Followed this up by serious dinner and a couple of wild nights out.
Back to the running, I was staying 10 mins drive from the very first parkrun set up in the US in the city of Livonia, it was set up 4 years ago and surprisingly to this day there are only 3 set up in the entire US. Difficulty with sponsorship and commercial organisations not buying into the whole concept have made it difficult for expansion, which is a big shame.
I had ideas of doing this one Saturday morning, but ice resulted in cancellation, Just as well anyway as Saturday morning I was sprawled across a sofa intoxicated anyway!
I have family nearby so hopefully I will get back there to do it soon.
Only managed to get out Sunday morning before the drive back, 4 measly miles resulting in a total of 8 for the week.
The only positive for the week was that I finally crossed the 1,000 miles for the year
, half of what I done last year but at least I got there!
This week will be a redemption week now, aim to hit over 40.
Week Mileage Summary
Monday|Tuesday|Wednesday|Thursday|Friday|Saturday|Sunday
Rest|Rest|4m|Rest|Rest|Rest|4m
Week Total|Month to Date|Year to Date
8m|103.7m|1002.2m0 -
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Tuesday
8 miles easy / 7:33 average pace
This was originally pinned in for Monday but it was forecast to be the coldest of the week so I used it as a rest day. The weather pretty much dictates what my rest days are now and when ever it is mild enough to run I have to take advantage even if I don't feel up for it! (within reason)
Got out Tuesday and was loving the run, couldn't get enough of it as it was perfect conditions out for December. Ended up doing an extra mile that planned as was feeling good and you never know what might happen later in the week.
Wednesday
9.5 miles session - 10K Pace / [6'P (2') + 12'P (4') + 6'P (4') + 4'P]
Another tough session last night, slave driver of a club coach really putting us through our paces
I wasn't feeling great heading out for this, long day and was pretty tired, the warm up felt like an effort and almost used it as an easy run and was going to postpone until tonight but went with it in the end.
Target pace for 10km was anything under 6 min, far cry from a little over a year ago where 6 min/mile was my Half Marathon pace! Motivation if ever there was some to get my ass in gear!
1.8 miles warm up
6 min @10KP (5:58)
2 min recovery
12 min @10KP (5:59)
4 min recovery
6 min @10KP (6:04)
4 min recovery
4 min @10KP (5:57)
2 miles cool down
First rep and first half of the second rep were comfortable but then things got hairy! Walked half of the 4 min recovery and dug in for the second 6' rep, this one was a struggle and walked half the recovery after this one too. In fact the prescribed recovery was supposed to be 2 min but I needed to double it to recover!
The last rep was then supposed to be 8 mins but I knew if I done that It would end very ugly do in order to rescue the session I set it back to 4 in order to come away with some bit of confidence and satisfaction!
Happy with the session overall. On track for my weekly mileage. Slight concern was that once I got home I felt an ever so slight discomfort in my old foot injury that kept be out most of the start of the year.
Will be monitoring this VERY closely. I need new runners too, my Wave Inspire 10s are over 500 miles at this stage.0 -
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Saturday
16 miles LSR / 7:44 average pace
Didn't manage to get out until the afternoon yesterday as I was in the barbers in the morning getting rid of the beard, 6 week experiment over! As a result I had to run this solo as people like morning runs here! Was dreading it a bit when I headed out at 2 but it ended up not being so bad. Went a bit further south on the lake shore path on this one, looping around Navy Pier, through Grant Park. passing the downtown skyline en route and into the Museum Campus, which passed the time a bit.
Turned at 10 miles on Northerly Island and re-traced my steps, finishing outside Fleet Feet, the main running store in town to investigate the purchase of new runners.
Delighted to get 16 miles long run in during December, very mild here at the moment compared to normal so trying to make the most of it.
Sunday
7 miles easy / 7:55 average pace
Got out this evening for this after purchasing the new Mizuno Wave Inspire 11s. Wanted to get another pair of 10s but they would not have arrived until after xmas which is no good to me as I'm well over 500 miles on my current pair. So after doing some research I decided to invest in these as the design is back to similar design of the 9s, which I quite liked. Happy with the investment, toe box is smaller which gives a more comfortable fit.
So went out to christen these and it was pretty routine run, really feel like I'm cruising at the moment which is nice, it's been a while since I've felt this good when running.
With 6 miles in, I really had to add the extra mile to hit the golden week of 50 miles.:) Delighted to get that sort of mileage in, third biggest week of the year, bit shocked by that! Unfortunately I'll only be tipping away for the next 3 weeks now due to holidays so likely not to see that mileage again until mid-January.
Seriously lacking in core work too and could loose a few more pounds in that area, this will be a January project in addition to starting yoga to improve the aul flexibility!
And an important Lions win to end the weekend, happy days.
Week Mileage Summary
Monday|Tuesday|Wednesday|Thursday|Friday|Saturday|Sunday
5.6m|5.1m|10.2m|6.1m|Rest|16m|7m
Week Total|Month to Date|Year to Date
50m|92.5m|1094.7m0 -
Hey Blocky great training this week I'm a recent convert to the wave inspire's, after years in sauconys I really love them. Currently in a pair of 9s and was looking at the 10s as my next little purchase (only because they're cheaper than the 11s) but reading your comments I'm wondering if that's wise? How were they different to the 9s? 0
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Hey Blocky great training this week I'm a recent convert to the wave inspire's, after years in sauconys I really love them. Currently in a pair of 9s and was looking at the 10s as my next little purchase (only because they're cheaper than the 11s) but reading your comments I'm wondering if that's wise? How were they different to the 9s?
Hey runchick, great to see you back running!
The 9s and 11s are very similar, but you will feel a bit of a difference with the 10s, I was still running away with them fine though and I will still probably buy another pair for alternating with in training.
While the 10s are lighter, I have noticed 2 things.
1) The toe box is huge compared to the others, not necessarily a bad thing for me as I have wide feet but it was even a bit too big for me, resulting in the front part of my foot moving around a bit and not kept fully snug in place.
2)Some parts of the 10s are melted together instead of stitched and they have a name for the mesh on the top of the shoe being broken at an early stage of the shoe's life cycle.
The 11s are selling for $130 here and I can get the 10s for $80. The 11s are IMO a better shoe, but $50 better? No! If I could have got my hands on the 10s before xmas I would have got them instead for sure.
Sorry for the ramble!0 -
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Happy Christmas to all and your families on here! Hope ye all enjoy the day! Thanks for following my uneventful log of the year! :rolleyes: Hopefully there is more action next year!
Will update the backlog on my training at some stage.
19:48 in my first parkrun this morning running at half marathon pace and 16th finisher!
Aiming to go all out Saturday morning now in another one which is much flatter. Will see where I'm at then.but for now..back to the wine! Enjoy the dinner! 0 -
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Netwerk Errer wrote: »How did the race go blockic?
Hows it going, cheers for asking, been off the radar for a bit.
Ran 18:26 and first finisher. Only reason why I crossed first though was that the weather was poor and not many turned up! Still I'll take it.:pac:
About 30 seconds away from where i want to me but at least i have a point to move from now. will catch up on the log and do a report at some point this week hopefully!0 -
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Thursday December 18th
5 miles easy / 7:41 average pace
This log is well out of date so time to try and catch up, will hopefully get back up to the present in installments over the next few days!
Almost a month ago I headed out on this one. A routine block route to loosen the legs before catching a flight.
Week 51/2014 Mileage Summary
Monday|Tuesday|Wednesday|Thursday|Friday|Saturday|Sunday
6m|Rest|6.5m|5m|Rest|Rest|Rest
Week Total|Month to Date|Year to Date
17.5m|110m|1112.2m0 -
Back in Spring 2014 an opportunity presented itself to spend Christmas in Oz, kind of a once in a lifetime thing so of course I grabbed it with open arms!
Nothing like some warm weather training over the depths of winter! :pac: What was great that it was planned so well in advance that we were able to work out that all the family would spend the holidays there with parents and brother flying from Ireland and my other brother who lives there. It was a pretty big deal for us as a family as usually holidays for us involved a few days in Killarney so is was a great novelty and was glad that it was all able to come together.
I wasn’t sure how many runs I was going to get over there and every run would be a bonus but I was determined to run in every place that I went to in order to expand my running footprint.
So anyway, back on point.
Brisbane, Australia
Tuesday December 23rd
8.5 miles easy / 7:49 average pace
On with the shorts, singlet and suncream for this one which was a bit strange coming from the cold!:) Ran this one in the Minippi parkland in an area known as Murarrie, an eastern suburb of Brisbane. Glorious morning out and was out the door at 7am to get in before the real heat kicked in. It gets bright at that time of year at 4:30am so everyone is up and about at 5am! It feels like 9am for them! Something you wouldn’t dream off at home but it’s so warm out and with the sun shining in the window you actually can’t stay in bed!
There is a parkrun in Minippi that I didn’t manage to get to do but I ran this run around the lake loop that they use as the course. I knew I was where I was when I got a "G'Day" from a running passing in the opposite direction. It felt good to be running in the relative freedom of a singlet rather than layers of clothes, hat and gloves! Was pretty happy to get in 8 miles as I was originally planning to do 6.
Wednesday December 24th
5 miles easy / 8:09 average pace
Same time again I got out the following morning, was a lot hotter and humid than they day before and the easy pace suffered as a result. What was good also on the trip was that I got to make use of some hills compared to the pancake of Chicago so I was determined to make use of them and get in as many as I could.
The lack of hill experience showed and I struggled every time on even the little ones. This is scaring me a bit seeing as I need to prepare for Boston but I’m working on getting some access to hills for that so hopefully that works out! Ran part of the previous days route just not as far as the lake. Finished up at the shop and picked up bread and was back home before everyone else was up! :rolleyes:
Thursday 25th December
Christmas Day Brisbane Parkrun
Time: 19:48
Average Garmin Pace: 6.14/mile
Result: 16/538
This was one of two parkruns I done while down under. This South Bank Parkrun was the only one in Brisbane on Christmas Day, hence the big numbers! Surprisingly this was my very first parkrun, there was none in Kilkenny when I lived there and a trip to Dublin for one never materialised so I was a bit excited. Having noticed that the one I was going to run on the uncoming Saturday was a more favourable course I said I would target that one for my main “race” so I used this one as a half marathon pace effort.
Managed to get the whole family out of bed and down to the run for the 7am start. Place was jointed.
My Aussie brother had done a few already so was doing this also and convinced my 13yr old youngest brother to run it as well, he has never run anything other than play hurling and football so was interested to see how this would pan out! I tore off myself anyway :pac:
The course is right in the centre of Brisbane and it is one loop which takes in both sides of the Brisbane River, this results in some parts of the route which has steps so therefore not ideal for a "racing" effort.
I started towards the front with about 30 ahead and the adrenaline meant I went way too fast the first mile but it was great to be running on Christmas morning in 25c! Noted my error after one mile and just eased away off then for the remaining 2 miles with the run on Saturday in mind. I concentrated instead on soaking up the atmosphere and views. Towards the end and rounding the last corner a guy behind tried to make a burst past me but I was having none of it so threw on the after burners and put him back in his place! Hope I described the event as below!
Finished 16th which I was happy enough with! Parkrun is massive there and I would love if I had the opportunity to have the option of it in Chicago, something we may look to pursue in 2015.
Waited around for the rest of the family to come in and next thing the younger brother rounded the corner first! :eek: Got a good kick from that one and finished in 28mins. He kicked on from the other bro at halfway cos he wasn’t fast enough :pac:, the other was taking it handy. He would end up doing 3 before the end of the trip.
Back home for Christmas dinner which didn’t feel like Christmas at all, the body just cant understand it when it's warm. In fact I am still waiting for Christmas to come here as it was so different! I’ve only 11 month to wait :pac:
More on the trip to come…0 -
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Friday December 26th
3 miles recovery / 8:39 average pace
After the bit of speed the day before I was back at base in Murarrie for a handy 3 mile recovery just to loosen the legs for the race the following day.
Saturday 27th December
New Farm Parkrun, Brisbane
Time: 18:26
Average Garmin Pace: 5.52/mile
Result: 1/85
I had kind of been aiming for this run from 4 weeks out, and having looked at the previous weeks for this location, I was hoping for a top 5 finish and around an 18:15 time.
While the outcome was much better than that I came away disappointed and would have been more satisfied with a lower finish but a better performance, but I guess what Toblerone said puts it in some perspective. You can only beat what is put in front of you.
This parkrun usually hosts 200-300 parkrunners every Saturday, so I was physched that there would be decent competition up front. I was really focused and looking forward to it.
However, with my luck on waking up on the Saturday morning there was a torrential downpour outside
I contemplated giving it a skip as you could see in the taxi driver’s face (the brother) that he was in no way this committed to going for a run even though he was saying the opposite!
Seeing as it was my one and only shot at this one, I eventually decided to go for it so we hopped in the car and off we went. Rain was easing off the closer we got to the run and it was actually just a little drizzle upon arrival.
Unfortunately as Queenslanders are used to sunshine and can do this one any Saturday they wish, most decided to skip this one due to the weather resulting in a small turn out. Disaster.
Race:
Waiting around at the start, I spotted some competition that ”looked” the part. So I lined up next to this guy and soon we were off!
Pretty much instantly a group of 4 lead the way, with me being tucked in behind the lead two. The guy I had bigged up prior to the start was nowhere to be seen, doh!
This is an out and back route along the Brisbane river so views were good, but one had to be careful on the wooden decking in parts along the river after the rain. For the first mile (5:52) I held on with the group to see their intentions and what their mojo was. The pace was beginning to slow and creep up and I was feeling too comfortable.
Here I had to make a decision as If I was continue to stay with the group my target time would suffer even though I would increase my chance of being a first finisher.
Decided to just up the pace a bit to see the reaction and I took to the front and see how the other reacted. There was not much of a response and soon I found myself creeping away and having a substantial gap.
From just after the mile mark to the finish I was on my own and it turned into a time trial which kinda sucked as there was nobody there to give me that extra push.
At the turn around point I could see the gap was a good 20 seconds and could see that it was pretty much in the bag, this was mentally tough at this point as I found it difficult to still give 100% when I knew the result would be the same, still I tried to keep it together as much as possible. Second mile went in 5:46 while the last mile (6:00) was a procession and while consciously I still was focused, sub-consciously I knew it was over so I kind of gave up on it. The last spurt at 5:29 pace was too little too late and crossed as first finisher which was nice but soaked to the bone!
Afterthoughts: If I had someone to work with up front for a bit longer I reckon there was another 10-12 seconds the if I was pushed for sure. So while I was not 100% satisfied I know where I am and can build my training paces off this effort now for the moment. :cool:
Family put in a solid performance with 22mins for one, and a 3 min PB coming home in 25mins for the youngest guy who ran his second 5km in 3 days after doing nothing up to that point! The legs were a little sore on Sunday!
Week 52/2014 Mileage Summary
Monday|Tuesday|Wednesday|Thursday|Friday|Saturday|Sunday
Rest|8.5m|5m|3.7m|3m|4.4m|Rest
Week Total|Month to Date|Year to Date
24.6m|134.6m|1136.8m0
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