The Sub 210 London Challenge

career_move

digger2d2 wrote: »

Is that Sugar as in sh1t or is it a term of endearment for pistol?

:rolleyes:

jcsmum

career_move wrote: »

:rolleyes:

+100

pistol_75

Just to give a quick update...

Did 30 mins last Thursday and still a bit or soreness but nothing relative to what is was.

4 miles on Monday pain free and no pain afterwards (had to take a small detour on the loop as there were 2 runners that had been ahead of me bet into each other in the woods :eek:)

5 miles yesterday with a little bit of pain towards the end and afterwards but fine this morning.

Pain probably caused by running 2 days in a row for the first time in a while. Planned visit back to the physio this evening for an update but there does seem to be good progress to me anyway.

Time to get things back on track with the diet as well as eat and drank all round me at the weekend and a bit over the last few weeks as well.

pistol_75

Back at the physio last Wednesday and more improvement again.

Did just under 6 miles @ 8:50 pace on Friday and felt good and 9.18 miles @ 8:51 miles on a hilly route on Monday with my usual training partners. Really enjoyed it.

First run completly on roads in a while and no real issue with calf. just a bit tired towards the end as was longest run since Paddy's day and also had a fair sup of alcohol the night before.

Had planned a re-introduction to speed training last night for some of the session but ended up in Sligo for the day and didn't make it. Probably no harm.

pistol_75

Wed 23rd April

6.05 miles @ 8:25*

Above pace is a guess. Watch died after 4.5 miles and the pace was 8:30 at that point but picked up a bit to finish. Ran this with a clubmate who would be quicker so a tad more effort required but all ok.

Friday 25th April

6.05 miles @ 8:17

Same route, same company. Every second day seems to be working well now from a recovery point of view. Legs a bit tired still with getting back into it properly.

Sunday 27th April

9 miles @ 8:51

Hilly club run yesterday morning. Nice group out and lovely morning for running. Leg a bit sore afterwards so will be careful with it. Followed up with a round of Golf in the afternoon. Qualified for the Club championship (top 16 over 2 days qualify) and will meet the Irish amateur open champion in the 2nd round if I beat his brother in the first :eek:

All in all a decent week. 4 runs and 30 miles odd. Starting back with S&C classes twice a week today. Looking forward to the DOMS already.

pistol_75

Tuesday 29th April

2.36 miles w/u

14 min (10K pace) tempo @ 6:56 pace

3 min recovery

7x90 sec (3K pace) with 75 sec rec. Paces (6:32, 6:25, 6:27, 6:23, 6:21, 6:18, 6:12)

.43 miles c/d

First speed session in 7 weeks when I check back. Wasn't sure what to expect and was prepared to drop out if it got too much or if there was any reaction. Although DOM's were setting in from the S&C the previous evening I loosened up a bit over the course of the warm up.

Kept it steady during the initial 14 minutes and just off the back of the pack I normally run with. The pace was fine and I was surprised after so long it felt manageable.

Then it was onto the surprise of 7x90 secs. No idea what 3K pace should be but the first one felt about right. Surprisingly the pace gradually came down for the same effort.

Was tired afterwards but not completely wiped or anything. No pain this morning either which is great. THe only pain is from the 2nd day DOMS.

Great to be back at it.

pistol_75

Thursday 1st May

4.65 miles @ 9:12

Just an easy run last night to try and loosen out the legs after another S&C session on Wednesday evening. Body pretty much aching in most places but apart from that an enjoyable run.

Probably going to give a parkrun a bash in the morning for a bit of a workout and see how that goes. Malahide the most likely.

pistol_75

Saturday 3rd May

1 mile w/u

Ardgillan Parkrun in 23:50 (6:29, 7:36, 9:16, 8:27)

1 mile c/d

Headed up to the local Parkrun over Malahide on Saturday as I knew I wouldn't get caught up in racing it with the difficulty of the route. Had no plan really other than to make it up as I went along. Got out into a decent position from the start and relaxed as we made our way down the hills to begin with. The pathways had dried out from my previous outing here and found the underfoot conditions more trail like. As things flattened out and we hit the first hill/loop at the bottom of the course I slowed a bit and got passed by a couple of people. Wasn't looking at the watch but was just trying to keep the effort meaningful. Watch beeped for the 2nd mile at probably the lowest part of the course and set about the last mile which goes up, up, and then more up. There was no pick up in the legs at all even if I wanted to use it so it was just a case of seeing it out to the finish which I did. Found it a worthwhile exercise and hopefully the next time round I'll feel a bit stronger.

Monday 5th May

4.69 miles @ 9:48

Just a late night shake out with a couple of others. Let them dictate the pace and ticked off a few miles. Sweated some of the alcohol from the weekend out

Not too many miles last week but did get a speed session and a parkrun in along with 2 S&C sessions. Will start adding to the mileage gradually this week again.

pistol_75

Tuesday 6th May - Session

2 miles w/u @ 8:49

5 x 1K (approx) @ 5K pace w/90 sec recovery

.6 miles c/d @ 9:11

6.04 miles total.


Numbers were a bit sparse last night with the Meath road relays taking place and others missing. Got my warm up done and noticed how the winter wind had re-appeared on the back straight. Lovely jubbly. After a few strides it was into the session. The first rep was around 950 metres and then Gary extended some peoples so we all got equal recovery meaning my last 4 became roughly 1050 metres.

Paces for the 5 reps were (6:38, 6:38, 6:42, 6:44, 6:42)

This was tough. I was basically running them all solo with nobody to pace off. My PB pace is 6:36 per mile so after the first one where I had probably taken off a bit quickly I decided to try and keep it around the 6:40 pace if I could.

Didn't think after the 3rd rep I was going to be able to hold it together. The wind was becoming more difficult to battle through but I dug in and was pleasantly surprised there wasn't much drop off over the course of the session.

Another session completed on the road back.

pistol_75

Thursday 8th May

5.5 miles @ 8:50

S&C class yesterday so no running. Out for a few hilly miles this evening at an easy pace.

There's this house on the route with a huge Alsatian that runs along the fence barking. If he ever comes over it I reckon I'll hit sub 4 pace :-) The owner who runs assures us it's just doing what it's trained to do.

Tempo session tomorrow. A difficult one on the cards...

pistol_75

Friday 8th May

1 mile w/u

6 mile tempo (7:51, 7:16; 7:57, 7:18; 7:51, 7:27)

1 mile c/d

This was a toughie to get back into 2nd weekly session and was hanging over me a bit during the day. Session called for 6 miles alternating between MP -5 seconds and 10K pace. Luckily had company with 2 others which definitely helped. First mile was grand and then came the first pick up which wasn't too bad either and in the range we wanted. The third mile was a real struggle and head wanted to stop and job it home. Reached our turnaround point and convinced myself I'd settle at 4 miles. Felt more of a struggle but pace was on. Was really hanging on for the 5th mile, legs were just in ribbons. Last mile was into the wind and was a slog. Dropped off the others here not helped by a fly in my eye. Even though the pace dropped off was pretty happy to get what was a tough session completed.

Room for improvement and pace to come down but all in time. Think the change up/down in pace through the session really hits the legs.

Saturday 10th May

4.6 miles @ 9:26

Just a shakeout this morning mainly on grass. Legs pretty wrecked to be honest. Just in a tired sort of way. All to be expected.

Longish run in the morning and given that the Giro passes less than 1K from the house I'll take a look at that.

pistol_75

Sunday 11th May

60 mins easy + 25 mins MP

6.68 miles @ 8:59

3.16 miles @ 7:55

1 mile @ 9:49

Long run yesterday morning with a bit of MP at the end. Legs felt a lot better during the easy miles. MP miles were tough given that they were mostly uphill if anything and into the wind. Got through them fine but just required a bit more effort. Did this run with a couple of others which always helps. Did a very slow mile afterwards just to aid the recovery process.

Just under 40 miles for the week and a couple of decent sessions as well. Few more weeks like this will help. Club road race tomorrow night which I'm not running but marshalling at. Might do the Na Fianna 5K next week as a blowout if this week goes ok.

pistol_75

Been a bit of a messy week this week so far.

Monday 12th May - 30 mins S&C class

Tuesday 13th May

2.8 miles @ 9:27

Club race was on Tuesday evening so it was all hands to the pump. Managed to squeeze in a very short one around 11pm.

Wednesday 14th May

30 mins S&C class

5.42 miles @ 9:01

Class after work and then an easy run later on. Picked up a blister last Friday from wearing bad socks. Had it covered but an area next to it split on the sole of my foot last night. Quite painful getting through this run. Looks horrific and bit uncomfortable to walk.

That's all I needed but hoping to get better dressing today to help it recover. Doubt I'll be doing tempo run this evening they way it is currently. No harm to push it out a couple of days and see if I can manage an easy run.

pistol_75

Thursday 15th - Monday 18th May

Nada, nothing. Blister was pretty bad and needed a couple of days before any soreness was gone out of it to heal. Couple of nights moderate drinking (not quite Gavlor style) over the weekend helped take up the time.

Having not raced since Bohermeen I was hoping to no Na Fianna 5K tonight so I did a short tester run last night and it feels fine to put pressure on the recovering area. So with that I'll race tonight and see how things go. Not expecting anything other than to set a mark as a starting point.

pistol_75

Tuesday 20th May - Na Fianna 5K

5K in 21:03 (6:37, 6:54, 6:51, 6:37*)

Headed into this not knowing what to expect or aim for having done one speed session in the last couple of months and generally been recovering from injury during that time.

Got there with others from the club in plenty of time and no issue with registration. After a jog down to the start we hung around for a bit before a couple of strides closer to the off.

Before long we set off and it struck me the quality of the field how many that were in front of me and that I could only remember a couple of people who seemed to be out of place early on.

Passed the 1K mark in around 4:10 I think and if anything the pace picked up a bit around the first corner and first mile was clocked at 6:37. There was a clubmate beside me and they gradually opened up a bit of a gap but I was already feeling it a bit. Wasn't sure if they had picked it up or if I was slowing but I let them get on with their own race. Legs were feeling every little bump in the road and all of the usual negative thoughts that come in the middle of a 5K. I was keeping an eye on the average pace and it was slowing but felt like I was moving a lot slower.

Second mile clocked off in 6:54 and was trying to convince myself it would be over soon enough. As we turned again I tried to pic it up a small but and was happy to see the 4K mark on the road soon after. Legs were pretty fooked at this stage but still moving. Got passed by a couple of people in the last 400 and wasn't able to put up much of a fight. This wasn't a day for any sort of sprint finish.

Crossed the line in 21:07 gun time and 21:03 by my watch.

This is 32 seconds off my PB from last December which is not bad I suppose as comebacks go. Given fitness where it's at and also carrying a few extra KG I'm happy enough with the time. Time to get the head down and hopefully reap the rewards. The blister held up ok but probably wasn't helped in healing either. Don't think it will stop me running at the moment.

Dunshaughlin 10K will probably my next target race but might do a couple of the other Meath races in the meantime.

pistol_75

Wednesday 21st May

30 mins S&C + 7 miles easy @ 9:09

Legs and body were a bit tired after the race so wasn't looking forward to the S&C after work.

Warm up consisted of upright row & weighted lunges, main set was wide grip pulldown, kneeling press & backward squats with the finisher being hand rows and static bike. 5 sets of each with 7 reps.

With the evening that was in it I got the urge to get a recovery run in as well and met up with a few others later on. Did more than bargained for but what else would you be doing on an evening like that. Only downside was the squishy feeling of skin on the sole of my foot.

While I don't want to rest I do need to let it heal properly. Any sort of fast work seems to cause damage with added friction. Will play it by ear but given that it effects my walking today I better not try anything today.

pistol_75

Bit of an update due here. Took a week off to let my foot heal and tested it out again last Wednesday. Had cut all of the dead skin away and kept it covered with a hospital type plaster and that seemed to do the trick

Wednesday 28th May

5.45 miles @ 8:52

Usual hilly route and no ill-effects from the blister. Still not heeled fully but with the covering no impact on running on it. With that in mind a few others were doing the Navan AC 6K on Friday evening so I decided to join them once babysitter was organised.

Friday 30th May

6K in 25:12 (6:50, 6:48, 6:39, 6:43*)

In the absence of any sort of run of training or speedwork lately I decided to head along to this and use it as a speed session. With it being a random sort of distance there was no emphasis on time or PB's. Did a couple of warm up laps around the track and made our way down to the start. It was a lovely humid evening with no wind to speak of. Did a couple of strides and really wasn't feeling the love for it.

Set off anyway and had it in my head to run no quicker than 6:50 for the first mile as I felt I went off a bit too quick in the 5K last week for my current fitness. One of my regular training partners was in and around me and we were joined and then passed slightly by another club member. After around 2K I felt like letting the 2 of them go but I hung on and we all started feeding off each other. Everyone was taking a turn at pushing it slightly at different times. We had passed a good few people in the 2nd mile that had gone out too quickly. Mile 3 was nip and tuck the whole way and anthough I was in a jocker for some reason I seemed to be trying to force the pace a bit. Was really enjoying the route and as we came back into Navan I heard the beep for 3 miles done. I knew there was less than a mile to go and around 100m was on the track. Really felt like pulling up but could sense I had opened a bit of a gap on the others and thought even if they came back to me I could take them on the track.

Passed a few others and wasn't hearing anyone too close behind me. Took a glance over my shoulder with around 400 to go and lo and behold I hadn't managed to shake them at all. Felt like I was running in a swamp but was still hanging on as we swung back onto the track. Felt like I picked it up here and I obviously was. Spent the last 50M trying not to puke but once I got over the line it was on to the infield to get rid of whatever was in my stomach.

Really enjoyed this route and what turned into a pure race rather than chasing a time. Average pace was quicker than the 5K in Na fianna the week before (6:45 v 6:47). Really happy with the effort but it took a lot out of me.

Great to see younganne before and after the race making her comeback.

Saturday 31st May

Ardgillan Parkrun in 25:52

Avg Pace 8:27

Was up early on Saturday morning and with tired legs I headed to Ardgillan for a planned easy run around. Legs were tired alright so I never pushed this at all even on the downhills. There can be no nicer place to run when the weather is like Saturdays.

That was that for the weekend though as I was playing Golf in a Pro Am on Sunday & Monday in The Heritage in Laois so between travelling and playing and family etc there was time for nothing else.

pistol_75

Tuesday 3rd June - Session

The session last night was 4 sets of 5 mins @10K pace, 1 min jog, 2 mins @5K pace w/3 mins between sets.

Paces were (6:58, 6:45; 6:55, 6:47; 6:55, 6:42; 6:53, 6:40)

This was tough enough to get my head around as the group was quite small last night and nobody close to my paces either way. The track was also pretty wet and heavy. Figured out if I kept the 10K portions around the 6:55 - 7 min pace and the 5K sections around 6:45 it would be a good workout.

Happy with how it turned out. The 2nd 5K was a little slower as the coach blew the whistle after 1 min by mistake, I realised and kept going but lost a bit of momentum and also lost a minute recovery as everyone else had stopped :mad:

Just over 6 miles in total including w/u & c/d

jcsmum

How did you do in the Pro Am? My OH was down there too. No prizes came home though . It's exhausting being the only 'winner' in the family!

pistol_75

jcsmum wrote: »

How did you do in the Pro Am? My OH was down there too. No prizes came home though . It's exhausting being the only 'winner' in the family!

First day terrible, second day played well. Sure it's all about the taking part :rolleyes: and getting away from the women

What are you winning now? If you updated your log from time to time we'd congratulate you. Are you doing Bohermeen on Sat?

jcsmum

pistol_75 wrote: »

First day terrible, second day played well. Sure it's all about the taking part :rolleyes: and getting away from the women

What are you winning now? If you updated your log from time to time we'd congratulate you. Are you doing Bohermeen on Sat?

That works both ways Pete!

He was the opposite, great first day, not so great second day. Nope not doing Bohermeen, did WMM on Monday. No races planned.

pistol_75

Wednesday 4th June

30 mins S&C followed by 5.45 miles @ 9:16 a couple of hours later.

Few stomach problems this afternoon that just finished up before my first session which was a toughie. A couple of hours rest before the usual easy run.

Killer 10K session on paper planned for tomorrow. I'm slotting back into the club training where others have been building for a few weeks towards Dunshaughlin. Will give it a go anyway.

average_runner

pistol_75 wrote: »

Wednesday 4th June

30 mins S&C followed by 5.45 miles @ 9:16 a couple of hours later.

Few stomach problems this afternoon that just finished up before my first session which was a toughie. A couple of hours rest before the usual easy run.

Killer 10K session on paper planned for tomorrow. I'm slotting back into the club training where others have been building for a few weeks towards Dunshaughlin. Will give it a go anyway.

Sure what you got to lose, seem to be keeping your fitness going even with all the injuries you picked up.

pistol_75

average_runner wrote: »

Sure what you got to lose, seem to be keeping your fitness going even with all the injuries you picked up.

Doesn't seem to be too bad over the shorter stuff alright. Not much structure around training at the moment but enjoying doing a few races.

pistol_75

Thursday 5th June

2 miles w/u

2 x 2 miles @ 10K pace w/lap jog recovery (7:10, 7:04; 7:06, 7:05)

1.5 miles c/d

THis was a toughie. Legs were a bit cooked and DOM's were kicking in from the previous day throughout the afternoon. Was looking for any excuse nearly not to do this. Did a loop of the college and even the slow pace (9:40ish) was a bit of an effort. Over to the track then and after a couple of strides we got going.

Tried just to get into a bit of a rhythym and probably took a couplf of laps to work the pace down. From here on in it was just a case of maintaining it during the 2nd mile. The lap recovery is nearly a curse as the body shuts down a bit and it reluctant to get going again. Again just kept it steady lap by lap as I counted them off until there was just one left.

Happy with how this session went given how the body felt before hand. It's a tough enough session in isolation but takes a bit more out of you when your trying to get back into the full swing of training.

Will take a rest day today and then do Bohermeen 5K on Saturday night. Not a goal race but hopefully give it a good go anyway.

pistol_75

Saturday 7th June

Bohermeen 5K in 21:41 (6:49, 6:57, 7:21, 6:34*)

This turned out to be a race to much for me after a tough weeks training (relative to getting back into things). Course was changed at the last minute due to a local bereavement. Made our way up to the start which gave an ok warm up and did a few strides. Was quite warm and a bit of a breeze but seemed fine overall. Having run Na Fianna 5K at 6:47 pace and Navan 6K at 6:45 pace I decided to head off around 6:50 pace and see what happened from there.

As you can see from the splits it only went one way really. Legs were pretty dead before the race and didn't improve. Things started to go south around 1.5 miles in and it was reduced to a plodding effort for the remainder. There was no pick up or energy left in the body and I just coasted home.



Sunday 8th June

8.75 miles @ 9:14

Plan called for a very easy run and with getting home late enough from Bohermeen I wasn't really in the mood for this but got a message from someone to meet up which did the trick. Legs were pretty banjo'ed but the miles ticked off pretty easily. Managed to dodge all the rain as well

pistol_75

Monday 9th June

30 mins S&C + 5.5 miles @ 9:29

Was pretty tired before S&C class but got through it ok in the end. Bit of dinner and out an hour or so later for an easy run. Legs were pretty tired but again they need runs like this to re-introduce them to the week in week out training they have missed.

pistol_75

Tuesday 10th June - Session


2.23 miles w/u incl strides

5x800m @5K pace w/75 sec recovery (3:12, 3:14, 3:12, 3:12, 3:09)

.76 miles c/d


A shorter session than normal last night but still tough enough. Legs weren't feeling it during the warm up but was able to get the session done when it came it to it. According to the coach this is a sign that the fitness is there so I'll take it as a positive. Switched off a bit towards the end of the 2nd one hence the drop off in time but apart from that happy with how it went. Recoveries seemed shorted and extra effort was required for the last couple but that's what you would expect.

Am heading down to Cork for the Irish Open next Thursday & Fri as a friend of mine is playing so it looks like Dunshaughlin is off the cards for me. Will probably keep building towards the Fingal 10K now which falls the day before I go on holidays.

pistol_75

Wednesday 11th June

6.26 miles @ 8:47

Easy run with a few hilly miles thrown in. Difficult enough in spots but was with a group so you have to go with the flow sometimes. One of the evenings that we remind ourselves why we run.

Tempo session today. 5 miles alternating between HM pace & 10K pace.

pistol_75

Thursday 12th June

2 miles @ 9:33

5 mile tempo* (7:29, 7:08, 7:28, 7:12, 7:27)

1.67 miles @ 10:01

* alternating between HM & 10K pace

I don't know what it is about these Tempo's where your alternating pace each mile but my god they're tough mentally as well as physically. After a warm up loop we headed to the track. What was noticeable was after a slow warm up how hot it was, great.

Settled into HMP pretty ok with the aim to keep them around 7:30 pace, this was the easy part, 4 laps clocked off and increase the pace gradually and try to hang on, working hard already, another 4 laps completed and ease back a little bit but try to maintain the effort, legs toast at this stage, considering dropping out after 3 miles or easing off the pace, pace seems to be holding ok although it feels like a plod, another mile done, 8 laps to go, pick up the pace again, everything in ribbons, trying to hold it together, how will I finish this rep, sure you can leave it at 4 miles, legs can't handle another change in pace, finish mile 4, grab some water and head off again, just do the 4 laps, don't worry about the pace, pace seems to be holding ok, just one lap to go, watch beeps and it's all over, relief

Really glad to be able to complete this given how tired I felt in general before it and during the warm up and wanting to quit. Paces were pretty ok for where I am at the moment. Finished off with a nice slow cool down.