Sometimes I just need to get out and run

drquirky

Great session especially on grass- well executed.

davemcmahon

11/12/2013 Weds: 4.39 miles @ 9:02 min/mile

A nice handy recovery run before breakfast to loosen up the legs after yesterdays session. Legs were feeling a little tired beforehand but were feeling grand after the run.

12/12/2013 Thurs: 5.11 miles @ 7:15 min/mile

Plan for this morning was a reintroduction of some Tempo work. While my focus for the next few weeks is on speed I really don't want to ignore this either. So plan was 1 mile warm up, 20 min Tempo, 1 mile warm down. Based on my Jingle Bells result my LT should be around the 6:30 min/mile mark. As a result 20 mins equated to 3.1 miles. The Tempo miles were: 6:35, 6:42, 6:30.The second mile was into a pretty strong headwind so I was happy with how the session played out.



WTD|21.74
MTD|61.15
YTD|1874.37

davemcmahon

13/12/2013 Fri: 4.20 miles @ 8:38 min/mile

Christmas party last night so needed to run into work to collect the car. Thankfully I don't drink so this wasn't too hard on the system.

15/12/2013 Sun: 12.01 miles @ 7:48 min/mile

Had planned to get my LSR on Saturday morning but just wasn't in the mood when I got up so put it off until today. Was still quite windy but not as bad as yesterday. Took a couple of miles for the legs to wake up but once they did the pace dropped a fair bit. Overall this was much closer to the steady end of things then an LSR but still a nice run to get in. Was happy with how easy it felt to keep the pace as high as it was considering a number of miles were into the wind and stayed around the 7:40 mark. The miles with the wind at my back were closer to the 7:30 mark.

The weekly mileage for the last few weeks has been a little on the low side but since I'm reintroducing some more intense speed work I'm happy to let the body get used to the increase in intensity before I increase the volume again.


WTD|37.95
MTD|77.36
YTD|1890.58

davemcmahon

16/12/2013 Mon: 5.48 miles @ 7:56 min/mile

A grand easy run. Found it pretty hard to keep the pace down to where I wanted it.

17/12/2013 Tues: 7.74 miles @ 8:15 min/mile

The plan for today was 5 x 1 mile off 2 mins standing recovery as a continuation of the speed work ahead of Raheny. Thankfully I wasn't due in work til late so I was able to get breakfast in before the run and could avoid a lot of the frost and ice. Took at short 1 mile warm up to the track very slowly as there was still a lot of ice around. On days like today I'm very glad I've a track I can use nearby instead of trying to do these on the road.

The mile reps were: 6:08, 6:12, 6:19, 6:21, 6:17

Was happy with how the reps turned out, lost focus a little during the 4th rep and ended up have to run a little faster than planed the last 400m to try get the mile pace back down closer to target (6:18min/mile for 31:30). As with last week the first mile was a too fast but I'm getting a little more used to doing the mile reps.

WTD|13.22
MTD|90.58
YTD|1903.8

davemcmahon

18/12/2013 Wed: 4.33 miles @ 8:31 min/mile

Was talked into playing football for the first time in about 9 months today so a little over 2 miles run there and back with an hour of football in between

19/12/2013 Thurs: 6.19 miles @ 7:55 min/mile

Woke this morning to be reminded why I don't play football any more. Legs and feet were sore and my ankle was a little swollen (the typical aftermath of playing). As a result I put off this run until after work. The original plan was for a Tempo run but I put that off until tomorrow or I'll incorporate it into my LSR on Sunday. Headed out after work to get a few easy miles in. Once i got outside the legs were very glad to be back running and felt surprisingly fresh. Found it very hard again to keep the pace down especially on the sections with the wind behind me.

WTD|23.74
MTD|101.1
YTD|1914.32

davemcmahon

Just catching up:

20/12/2013 Fri: 5.00 miles @ 8:05 min/mile

Done on the treadmill in work, nothing exciting

22/12/2013 Sun: 12.02 miles @ 8.02 min/mile

Long run around Celbridge/Leixlip with 3 miles Tempo thrown in.

Weekly Total: 40.76

24/12/2013 Tues: 5.12 miles @ 7:31 min/mile

Don't remember much of this one, but was a couple of Tempo miles in the middle

25/12/2013 Wed: 5.07 miles @ 9:03 min/mile

26/12/2013 Thurs: 4.35 miles @ 8:40 min/mile

Had planned for this to be a speed session for the raheny 5m. Was very icing in the morning and ended up slipping and landing on my knee on way to track. Only managed to get 1 x 2 mile rep in before knee started to ache and headed home. 2 mile rep: 6:18, 6:22.

28/12/2013 Sat: 12.01 miles @ 8:18 min/mile

Knee was feeling grand after taking the previous day off. Don't remember much of this.

29/12/2013 Sun: 6.01 miles @ 9:14 min/mile

Weekly Total: 32.56

30/12/2013 Mon: 7.01 miles @ 7:23 min/mile

Legs were feeling good this morning and the lack of ice on the ground meant I was eager to do some faster running. Ended up being 1 mile w/u, 5 mile at MP (ish), 1 mile w/d. The w/u and w/d miles ended up being a little to fast but I was happy with how relatively 'easy' this run felt.

31/12/2013 Tues: 5.27 miles @ 7:56 min/mile

A Handy enough run to close out the year.


WTD|12.28
MTD|162.96
YTD|1976.18

Review of the year and 2014 goals to follow:

davemcmahon

So 2013 was overall a really good year running for me. I feel I manage to take advantage of the steep curve of improvement I would get by putting in consistent mileage and improved diet. 2012 was really about learning to run so 2013 was about learning how to train.

I was relatively lucky with injuries with only the one that actually prevented me from running for any amount at the end of October. Admittedly this was due to me not planning a step back week in October and the knee flared up after 3 consecutive weeks of high mileage. Thankfully with the aid of Physio I didn't miss too much. There were also a few weeks towards the end of the Dublin half marathon plan were I ended up worn down and sick which knocked the confidence a bit but thats recovered with some good racing since then.

When I started the log this day last year I thought some of the goals were a little bit ambitious but when I look at the table below its very clear I had no idea of the kind of improvements I'd make. My personal favourite of the PB's below are the 5k and HM. The 5k was set in the Celbridge 5k (home turf) in the middle of a training block for HM so it wasn't 'the main thing' and I never expected to hit sub 19 this year (which I also did in the Jingle Bells 5k).

The HM time was in Clontarf in November just after I'd gotten back running fully fro the injury. After the disappointment of not hitting my time in the Dublin HM (1:34) and the following injury I was happy to have a good run and come closer to breaking the 90 minutes. I believe that had I gotten my fueling right on the day I would have broke 90 minutes.

Mileage wise 2013 was a big improvement on 2012 with very close to 2000mile covered compared to the just under 750 miles I did in 2012

Month|Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|June|July|Aug|Sept|Oct|Nov|Dec| Total
2012|0|5.28|46.23|25.34|52.76|72.78|85.67|111.31|114.94|99.48|69|65.17|747.96
2013|133.98|152.45|172.23|144.94|180.92|179.41|221.99|195.79|102.78|175.06|153.67|162.96|1976.18

Weight wise I've dropped a fair bit from this time last year. When I started the log I was 90.2kg, currently I'm fluctuating around the 80kg mark. At one point during the summer I was down around 77kg but I was finding that I was exhausted constantly and more so than I was expecting. Once I put a small bit of weight back on the energy levels improved (the mileage and intensity didn't change from these two periods). I think I'd just lost too much too quickly and my body couldn't cope, especially when you consider I started out at around 110kg in January 12. That said I'll probably drop a few more pounds once the mileage picks up during the marathon specific training.

Goals for 2014

This year is all about the marathon. I've 2 scheduled, Kildare and Dublin. The goal for Kildare is 3:15 or specifically 3:14:59 (possible a little soft). The goal for Dublin will obviously be decided much closer to the day. The plan for the Kildare marathon is to follow Meno's plan, and its too early to decide what the plan will be for Dublin. In the run up to the marathons I plan to do a fair bit of racing, I've Raheny 5 miler, Meath Spring Half and a few parkruns and maybe the K-Club 10k scheduled before Kildare and I may do the Clontarf Half, National Half, Race Series Half, Donadea 10k and a few 5k's before Dublin (I'll probably add a few more in between now and then).

Other goals are to get my 5k time down to the low 18's and keep trying to get my 10k time below 40 minutes. I'm also going to try improve the relationship between my times at the shorter and longer distances.

Distance |PB as of 1/01/2013|2013 Target|current PB|2014 Target
5km|21.46|sub 20|18:47|18:15
10km|52.XX|45.00|40:57|sub 40
Half Marathon|1:55:37|1:40:X |1:31:14| 1:28
Marathon |4:46:04|n/a| 4:46:04|<3:15

davemcmahon

1/01/2014 Wed: 14.15 miles @ 8:14 min/mile

Was torn between doing the Tom Brennan 5k and a run at home this morning but quickly realised how busy a weekend I had ahead so decided today would be my last chance for a LSR this week. The plan was for 14 miles so I headed off around Celbridge in lashing rain and strong wind. The first few miles were tough but by about the 5th mile I'd gotten comfortable with the pace. If I plan on running MP @ 7:15-7:20m/m I want to keep these runs at the 8:15-8:20m/m pace. There were a couple of faster miles with the wind to my back so I was happy with enough with the pace.

02/01/2014 Thurs: 5.00 miles @ 8:52 min/mile

A handy run on the treadmill in work in between writing the posts above to loosen the legs back up after yesterday.

Plan is for another easy day tomorrow and then I'll probably run a Parkrun on Saturday morning as my speed work for the week.

WTD|31.43
MTD|19.15
YTD|19.15

menoscemo

Great Stuff.
I see you are planning to use my Plan for Kildare. I'd say you have a really super base so don't be afraid to add a few Extra Miles to the weekly total....apart from that it should serve you well!!

davemcmahon

menoscemo wrote: »

Great Stuff.
I see you are planning to use my Plan for Kildare. I'd say you have a really super base so don't be afraid to add a few Extra Miles to the weekly total....apart from that it should serve you well!!

Cheers Meno, I'll probably only go as high as 60-65mpw for Kildare and look at going a little higher again for Dublin.

statss

fully expect you to achieve 3.15, the log will make for a great read for the year, good luck.

AuldManKing

It's been a really great year for you Dave, one of the logs that I'd recommend any new runner to read. Great build up, patience and varying pace led to your PB's.

No doubt you'll have a stronger '14 and some more well deserved PB's at every distance.

davemcmahon

03/01/2014 Fri: 5.18 miles @ 8:31 min/mile

A nice easy few miles to keep the legs ticking over. Plan is for the Griffeen Parkrun in the morning.

04/01/2014 Sat: Griffen Parkrun

Ended up running late this morning so arrived at the start line with moments to spare, no breakfast and no warm up and I forgotten to bring any gloves with me. Not the best start to the day. Off we went and I tucked in behind the lead group. After the first km or so the group began to thin out and I found myself in about 10th place and felt the pace was handy enough. I decided then to move up a few place and push a little harder. Soon I found myself in 7th and had covered the first mile in 6 mins flat. Up until my watch beeped I'd forgotten I was wearing it and from here on in I was reminded why I don't anymore when racing 5k's. From here on in the rest of the run was pretty disappointing as I was happy to stay in 7th place and had no motivation to push myself any harder. The next 2 miles were a good chunk slower (both 6:15), and I made no effort to improve on it. It was only on the last couple of hundred meters or so when I could here 8th place behind me that I pushed on again to make sure I didn't get caught before the line. Finished in 7th place 19:13.

A couple of miles warm down while having a chat and then called it a day. In retrospect I'm annoyed at myself for not pushing harder on the 2nd and 3rd miles and just seeing how if anybody i could have caught.

05/01/2014 Sun: 4.10 miles @ 8:46 min/mile

Another nice easy run and a chance to have a good think about yesterdays run. Decided that next parkrun I do will be one of the others with a slightly better field (hopefully) and more motivation to push on. This was also a chance to try out the new HRM strap.

WTD: 45.83

06/01/2014 Mon: 8.12 miles @ 8:35 min/mile

A handy run. The first 5 miles were with a colleague so were around the 9 min pace. After I left him I upped the pace to closer to 8 min/mile and just enjoyed the run.

Have decided to finally bite the bullet and drop down to the local club tomorrow evening for a training session and talk about joining. I'm putting this here so if I don't I'd better have a good excuse.

WTD|8.12
MTD|41.67
YTD|41.67

davemcmahon

07/01/2014 Tues AM: 2.00 miles @ 8:47 min/mile

The plan going forward will be to use Tuesdays and Thursdays to get a double in. So to introduce them I'm start off with just a couple of miles and build it up over a few weeks.


07/01/2014 Tues PM: 6.20 miles @ 7:57 min/mile

AS mentioned in my last update the plan for this was to go down to the local club and try out a training session. Luckily I had nothing come up to distract or stop me going to this. Got there a little early and had a chat with the endurance coach, then headed off for a warm up. The planned session was 3 x 2k. I joined in with the second group and was told not to go too hard. The 3 reps came in at around 7:50-7:30 for the 2km. This was about 6:45 to 6:30 pace. While I didn't push anywhere near as hard as I could this all worked out as a grand HM session.

This was a whole new experience getting to do these reps with other people. I'll definitely be back to the next session on Thursday and then I'll look at signing up fully to the club.


08/01/2014 Wed: 7.03 miles @ 7:57 min/mile AveHR 145

A nice general aerobic run at lunch time today. Legs are a little tired but they woke up nicely after the first couple of miles. Was really glad to get out and realise there was no wind.

Got back to the office to see that the Kildare Marathon has been cancelled. So plan for the next few days shouldn't change but I'll have to make a decision on if I want to pick another one for the spring or just do Dublin as my only marathon this year.

WTD|23.35
MTD|56.9
YTD|56.9

AuldManKing

Celbridge or Leixlip??

Bad news on the Kildare Marathon...........Limerick is May 4th?

statss

Did you go down to the Celbridge club? Buddy of mine joined them recently, nothing but good things to say about them.

davemcmahon

AuldManKing wrote: »

Celbridge or Leixlip??

Bad news on the Kildare Marathon...........Limerick is May 4th?

Celbridge AC. Only a mile from the house and Philip sold it pretty well to me a few weeks ago.

I'll keep the training going for the next few weeks and take my time in deciding what to do.

statss

davemcmahon wrote: »

Celbridge AC. Only a mile from the house and Philip sold it pretty well to me a few weeks ago.

I'll keep the training going for the next few weeks and take my time in deciding what to do.

good stuff. my buddy went sub 18 recently in the 5k after a few speed sessions with them, the fecker.

davemcmahon

statss wrote: »

good stuff. my buddy went sub 18 recently in the 5k after a few speed sessions with them, the fecker.

They seem to have a good setup so hopefully it'll be what I need to bring on that bit more.

davemcmahon

09/01/2014 Thurs: 6.29 miles @ Various

Back down to the track tonight for a second session with the club. The options were either a 32 pace run or 8 x 500m on the track. Since I'd done the 2k reps on Tuesday @ around HMP I decided I'd do the 8 x 500m. Had a 1.6mile warm up from my house to the track and a couple of laps. After the first rep I settled into the second group. The reps were:

101s, 98s, 95s, 96s, 98s, 96s, 94s, 93s all with 90s standing recovery.

I was very happy with these although I suspect the distance was just shy of 500m. The last 2 were probably the best of the lot as it was good to finish up with my two fastest reps. At the end I felt like I could probably have done another one or two at most.

2.2 miles warm down around the track and then home.


WTD|29.64
MTD|63.19
YTD|63.19

davemcmahon

10/01/2014 Fri: 3.11 miles @ 9:14 min/mile

A handy recovery run to flush the legs after yesterdays session. Could have gone further but was aware that the weekly mileage was building up.

11/01/2014 Sat: 15.05 miles @ 8:29 min/mile AveHR 141

Out earlier enough for this one. There were still ice patches on some of the paths so decided to take it handy enough and focus more on effort than pace. Picked a hillier route than normal from my house through Castletown estate, over to Leixlip, onto the canal for a couple of miles, down Captains hill and back up to Intel and then back across into Celbridge. Effort felt good, the pace dropped on the way back up the hill from Leixlip village but the HR stayed fairly constant. By the time I got home I was very glad I'd worn a hat and neck warmer as it was quite exposed on some of the miles.

I'll have a my first rest day of the year tomorrow as the legs are feeling tired today and they could probably do with it. Still no decision yet about picking another spring marathon since Kildare was cancelled. I'm also going to take a look at my plan and possible redraw it to include the club sessions every week and I enjoyed them.

WTD|47.8
MTD|81.35
YTD|81.35

davemcmahon

13/01/2014 Mon: 8.08 miles @ 7:38 min/mile

The plan was for an easy run in the afternoon. After the rest day on Sunday the legs were feeling good and strong so the pace ended up towards the faster range of my Easy pace. Happy with the run and how I felt afterwards.

14/01/2014 Tues AM: 3.08 miles @ 9:01 min/mile

Out earlier enough for this one. the paths were still fairly icy so was happy to dial the pace back after pushing it a little yesterday. I'm going to continue to build this run up to 4/5 miles the morning of the club session.

14/01/2014 Tues PM: 8.15 miles inc. Club session

Was running a little early today so ended up with a 2.5 mile warm up which included some laps of the grass track. The plan for this evening was 6 x 1k reps with 91-100s recoveries. As with Thursdays session I held back for the first lap of the first rep and moved into a more advanced position and took note of the people of similar pace and slightly faster. The second rep was faster and the 3rd and 4th were fairly consistent. Rep 5 was my slowest as I held back and sat on the shoulder of the guy leading the group. I probably could have pushed this one but I wanted to give the last rep and good push. Final rep was the fastest.

Reps: 3:29.4, 3:24.4, 3:27.2, 3:27.2, 3:29.8, 3:23.9.

The garmin read the lap distance as 960m rather than 1000m. A couple of laps of the track with the rest of the club and I'm really beginning to feel part of the club already. A big difference to last week. A little over 2 mile warm down.

The only downside tonight was the track being fairly muddy and slippy in placed. Thankfully I was wearing an older pair of Brooks Racer St5's . The plan now is to invest in a pair of Saucony Kilkenny XC's. I'm also starting to set myself little goals for the sessions. Next up is to try and stick with the lead group on Thursday.

15/01/2014 Wed: 5.34 miles @ 8:28 min/mile

An easy run in the rain at lunch time. Nothing much of interest. The legs are feeling ok but could do with some foam rolling later.

WTD|24.65
MTD|106
YTD|106

davemcmahon

16/01/2014 Thurs AM: 2.01 miles @ 8:20 min/mile

Just a couple of easy miles to start introducing a double on Thursdays

16/01/2014 Thurs PM: 9.40 miles Club Session

Again I was running early so ended up with a 2.5 mile warm up from home and around the grass track. The plan for tonight was 3 x 10 min pace run. Decided before I started that I'd stick with the few lads that seem around my level. The ground was still pretty torn up in areas so hopefully my spikes will arrive soon.

The 3 reps were: 10 mins @ 6:37 pace, 10 mins @ 6:26 pace, 10 mins @ 6:33 pace.

The rests were all 3 mins standing. I was very happy with how this went. I was wearing my HR monitor and all the reps stayed within my LT HR range.

A little over 2 mile warm down brought me back to the house.


WTD|36.06
MTD|117:41
YTD|117:41

Stazza

Some good training there, Dave. A few weeks of those club sessions and you'll be flying...

davemcmahon

Stazza wrote: »

Some good training there, Dave. A few weeks of those club sessions and you'll be flying...

Cheers Stazza. I think it helps that I'm really enjoying the change in training the group has given me. As such I've shelved me Spring marathon plans and am just going to stick with what I'm doing now.

davemcmahon

17/01/2014 Fri: 4.04 miles @ 9:32 min/mile

A short recovery run after the session last night.

18/01/2014 Sat: 11.00 miles @ 8:07 min/miles

When I woke on this morning I was not looking forward to this run. A poor nights sleep and the general fatigue of a few tough weeks running had me feeling pretty awful before this started. Off I went and the first 6 miles or so where a real struggle. After the 6 mile mark something switched and I upped the pace and found it more comfortable (first 6 miles @ around 8:30 pace) and finished fairly strong. This took a lot out of me and I was feeling pretty crap for the rest of the day. Was worried that I was coming down with something.

Rest day on Sunday. Spent the day eating everything around me and felt alot better.

WTD: 51.1

20/01/2014 Mon: 6.19 miles @ 7:41 min/miles

Was feeling much better this morning and was ready to get back out. A fairly handy run, was meant to be easy pace but the legs felt good so ended up running a tad faster build the HR stayed well within my easy pace.

A step back week this week with Raheny on Sunday.

WTD|6.19
MTD|138.64
YTD|138.64

davemcmahon

21/01/2014 Tues: 7.28 miles Club Session

The reduced mileage this week meant I didn't have any double so was able to rest this morning before the Club Session in the evening. Did my now routine warm up of a mile to the track and then a couple of laps with the lads.

The plan for tonight was 4 x 1500m with 90 seconds rest. The first rep and I went off a little too hard and really pushed the pace. The second was a little more controlled, while I slowed for the third knowing I'd one left and didn't want to leave myself wrecked for the last one. The last one was a more controlled and faster than the third so I was happy with it.

Reps were: 5:03, 5:10, 5:17, 5:10

A couple of laps with the lads and then then a mile home cool down.Was happy with the reps, effort felt like it was pretty high and judging by the HR data afterwards it was.

22/01/2014 Wed: 6.26 miles @ 7:52 min/miles

A handy easy run at lunch around Celbridge. Legs are feeling stiff and tired now so just sticking with Easy miles until Sunday.


WTD|19.73
MTD|152.18
YTD|152.18

AuldManKing

Savage reps Dave!

statss

great session, I did a similar one 2 weeks ago with reps circa 5:40, you are flying.

Gavlor

AuldManKing wrote: »

Savage reps Dave!

+1 That's fricken fast!