How low can I go...?

ThebitterLemon

Did you road race at all over the summer?

Have you any target races planned?

What time is your A target for Frankfurt?

TbL

Toblerone1978

Best of luck Pat, no doubt you'll do it, just stay injury free!

That some stats you quoted below, very low HR for that pace; that alone looks good!

Bahanaman wrote: »

7:42 pace. Avg Hr: 125

overpronator

Best of luck and welcome back, you've been flying this summer on Strava and you're well on course for the the sub 3.

Bahanaman

Wed 26th Aug: 15 miles on the Barrow track again! 7:28 pace Avg Hr: 131
Same riverside run as yesterday but a good bit softer following the rain. Went a bit harder than yesterday and pushed the last mile for a positive finish. The underfoot conditions made for more of a workout for the legs and had the benefit of having less impact on the joints. Another cool dip in the river after the run. I reckon this really helps with the recovery.

Thu 27th Aug: 5 mile recovery. 7:50 pace. Hr: 122
Easy paced recovery back on the road and I'd say it was needed. The legs were heavy from the effort of the previous two days.

Fri 27th Aug: 10 miles with 4-9 @ h/m pace.
This was a tough workout. I took it nice and easy for the first four miles and felt comfortable but as soon as the pace dropped for the faster five miles I had to work quite hard. The splits for these 5 miles were: 6:28(hr 144), 6:31(hr 147), 6:26(hr 150), 6:25(hr 152), 6:26(hr 152) I was doing these miles over and back on my usual route. It is fairly ok with a couple of ups and downs. I think the effort was probably a bit higher than it should have been. Another day chalked off the plan though! As I'm writing this though (late Fri) I have some worrying pain in my left foot. It's in the arch/instep area. Hopefully its nothing too much and will be grand in the morning.

Just to answer your questions TbL! Haven't raced too much. Four 10ks along with the few cross country races earlier in the year. The five and six mile races in the KCH road series and the Clonmel Half a couple of weeks ago. My best time for the 10k was 38:08 in Carlow in March. I targeted the Pink Rock one in Kilkenny to have a right cut at this time and get into the 37s but life got in the way the Friday before and I joined my auld fella on the beer for his birthday. Big session and I was still not in good fettle for a fast 10k the following Sunday! I really should be lower than 38:08 but I'll have to wait a while now. I did Clonmel in 1:26:40. Again I was disappointed with this as I had a target of 1:25 in mind. However, again preparation wasn't the best. We were away on holidays the week leading up to the race and although I did get the training done each morning, I also managed to eat and drink my fair share in the evenings! A fella has to live!!! Anyway that's all done with for the time being. No more excuses! A bit more focus required now and I think the last two weeks have been going well. I had no target races planned after Clonmel but am toying with the idea of doing another half. There's a local one on September 27th. It's only four weeks from Frankfurt (Oct 25th) so it might be too close. I can see myself leaving things as they are and just trusting the training programme to get me there in good shape.

As far as targets for Frankfurt are concerned......Sub 3 is the A goal really......but!.......if things were to go as well as possible in the weeks leading up to the race and on the day itself maybe a 2:57/58ish time could be an A+ goal!!! Ya never know!

Bahanaman

overpronator wrote: »

Best of luck and welcome back, you've been flying this summer on Strava and you're well on course for the the sub 3.

Cheers OP. Pity I can't do Frankfurt on Strava! A "virtual Frankfurt"!

Bahanaman

Toblerone1978 wrote: »

Best of luck Pat, no doubt you'll do it, just stay injury free!

That some stats you quoted below, very low HR for that pace; that alone looks good!

Thx Tobes! I hear ya on the injury front! From a man with all too much knowledge in the area:( You'll be back sooner rather than later though!

Toblerone1978

You should consider the Athlone Half Marathon. I think it's an ideal time out from D day, it's flat, last year they had 1.25 pacers, really well organised and it's on a Saturday morning - probably the last wkd you can properly enjoy before Frankfurt!

Bahanaman

I'll have a look at that Toblerone but I can see myself leaving racing until the big day!

Sat Aug 29th: 5 mile recovery @ 7:26 pace. H/R 130

Another riverside run. Felt ok but legs still had the effort of the previous day's run in them. Maybe a little more effort than it should have been.

Sun Aug 30th: 18 mile LSR @ 7:40 pace. H/R 130

Great LSR with a clubmat who is training for Dublin. We set off from my house on a challenging hilly route. Just a "time on the feet" run with no mp miles. It flew with the two of us chatting the whole way round. We coped with the hills very well when they came which I was very happy with as hills are not my strong point. We both felt very fresh at the end, as good as I have felt after any long run for a long time. I also tried something new with the gels. I find them to be beneficial but think they are a real nuisance to take. They don't always open easily, can spill and taste awful no matter how quick you wash them down with a gulp of water! I have gotten used to carrying a water bottle with me now on every run over eight miles. What I did was empty three gels into the bottle and fill the rest up with water. I figured that if I drank a third of the bottle at a time it would be the same as taking a gel. It was also much more palatable. Almost like taking a drink of strong cordial It seemed to work for me and I'd be interested to hear what people think about this. Am risking diluting the effectiveness of the gels?

ThebitterLemon

That Saturday recovery run looks ridiculously quick to me, you're a fair bit faster than me, but I do my recovery runs at 9.30/10.00 pace.

Nice LR though.

Why don't you take one of those very liquid, water like, gels?

TbL

echancrure

Re the gels
I'd be worried that you won't be able to replicate this setup in the actual race.

Notwork Error

I think if you're going to go with a bottle setup, don't bother with the gels and get some isotonic tri-source carb powder. I find it better than gels anyway. Gives an almost instant boost and is easy to digest and you can dose as much as your stomach can take.

Taste much better as well.

Bahanaman

Hi echancrure! I've been carrying the bottle now for a good while and am quite used to it. It has enough capacity to hold six or seven gels and still have them thinned out with water. It would reduce having to go through the whole routine involved in taking a gel each time I need one. Also I usually end up spilling some of them and being covered in sticky sweet gloop! I think I could manage it in the race but won't make up my mind until closer to the day. I have a big long run in my plan with a lot of mp miles in it so that would be the day to try it out in something like race conditions.

Re the recovery pace TbL I see where you're coming from! I see these as recovery runs because of the relatively low mileage. Once I'm at a fairly easy effort level I let the pace dictate itself (the effort the last day was too high in hindsight!). I might concentrate more on keeping it slower in future.

Tue Sept 1st: 8 miles with 10 x 100m strides to finish.

Back on the road for this one. Nice steady pace for the most part of the run and then into the strides. I pushed these hard but I think I need this. Starting them off I felt quite stiff and restricted but by the end my stride had lengthened and my from was much better. It was a good feeling to have the faster leg turnover.

Bahanaman

Wed Sept 2nd: 15.5 miles @ 7:33 pace. H/R: 129

This was always going to be one of those testing runs both physically and mentally. The mileage was to be big for a mid week run but because of work and other commitments I had to start at all hours this morning. I was fairly groggy heading out and wasn't really looking forward to it to be honest but after a mile or two things were moving along surprisingly well! It helped that these miles were all down hill. I did the gels in the bottle thing again and I think this will work for me. Two things from this run that I don't expect to have to deal with in Frankfurt, hills and cowsh1t!! I encountered three different herd of cows on their way in for morning milking and I could just imagine what was going through the minds of the farmers as I approached in my hi-viz gear! The run ended up being half a mile longer than intended as I forgot the exact route I had planned. I was feeling good though so this wasn't a problem and I still had plenty of time to get the young lads up and ready for school. I threw in a mp mile to finish which I was quite happy with as it had a good bit of a hill in it. It also struck me during the run that only a few short years ago I would never have imagined being out at this time of a mid week morning running for over fifteen miles! I'd be thinking something along the lines of what those farmers I met this morning were probably thinking!!

I'm hanging in on the P&D plan but it is some test! There are some big challenges ahead. This is supposed to be a recovery week. In previous years it would have been one of my toughest. If I can manage to keep things going confidence should be good leading into the marathon. The weekend after next has a really tough long run with a big chunk of mp miles. It will be a big indicator as to where I am target wise.

Bahanaman

Thu Sept 3rd: 5 miles @ 8:07 pace. H/R: 121

Headed out before work again this morning and turned around straight away to change into a long sleeved top! Ffs! Early September!! Anyway the run was grand. Uneventful. Supposed to be a recovery run so tried to put some of your advice into practice TbL! Slowed down the pace a bit. Felt fine but no more comfortable than I've often felt doing about 30 sec quicker a mile! Thought that was interesting. Then I suppose yesterday was an unusually long mileage day.

Notwork Error

Slowing down feels awkward at first as your almost trying to force things and tensing up, I'd concentrate on making the legs feel loose and relaxed to make it easier.

What's your Max HR btw?

Bahanaman

Not sure NE! Like I've said before, I wear the monitor but am not clued in on what the data means. I've put my stats into the watch and iI think that is supposed to work it out so I must check that. I'll get back to you! Also I'm sure about how good my monitor is. There always seems to be plenty of spikes on the graph when I check my runs.

Bahanaman

Just checked there and according to the watch my max h/r is 185.

Bahanaman

Time for an update!

Fri Sept 4th: 10 miles with 5-9 @ hmp. H/R: 137

Nice enough run but achilles began to annoy me. With my history, this could be the story from now until Frankfurt. The faster miles were 6:23, 23, 27 and 20. Hr peaked At 158 during these.

Sat Sept 5th: 5 miles @ 7:50 pace. H/R: 127

Easy recovery run along the Barrow track.

Sun Sept 6th: 18 mile LSR with the last 3 @ mp. H/R 131 peaked @ 161. Average pace: 7:25

Great long run with the crew around Kilkenny. Felt really comfortable all through and gave the last few faster miles a right rattle coming in the Waterford Road. Splits for those last three miles were: 6:40, 6:25, and 6:00! (downhill) Did the gels in the bottle thing again and it was grand. Followed the run with a 1.2 mile warm down jog.

Tue Sep 8th am: 6 miles @ 7:23 pace. H/R: 130. pm: 4 miles @ 7:16 pace. H/R: 127

This was the first time I ever did a double run in a day. It went ok but I was quite tired during the evening run. Felt out of breath and heavy legged at times for the pace I was doing. I had a bit of fun in the morning run trying to have even splits after the first mile which was slow.

Wed Sep 9th: 11 miles on the track inc 5 x 1200 m @ 5k pace

Did this in Kilkenny with one of the lads who is also heading to Frankfurt. I felt really dodgy during the early warm up part of the run. My heart felt like it was pounding in my chest and I thought I might have to stop! It didn't look good for the faster reps. Thankfully they went well though with each one getting faster. The effort was all out which was faster than 5k pace I reckon. The 1200m splits were: 4:25, 4:13, 4:12, 4:09 and 4:06 for the last one. The H/R peaked at 163 during the reps. We took about three minutes recovery between. I was happy with the workout considering how I felt at the start. Having company helped also because we pushed each other hard.

Thu Sep 10th: 15 mile mlr @ 7:37 pace. H/R: 131

This was always going to be a tough run. It was early in the morning after having a tough track session the previous evening. It was hard to drag myself out of the leaba to face into it but sure it had to be done. No use giving in! The route was good and hilly as usual but the legs were feeling it and I was tired all through. Glad to have done it though. Also the morning was glorious!

Fri Sep 11th: 10 miles @ 7:37 pace. H/R: 129

Took this nice and easy but the legs were still feeling weary. I began to wonder if I was over training. This was going to be the highest week's mileage I ever did. Also both my IT bands were getting tight. A bit of painful foam rolling would be needed!

Sat Sep 12th: 6 miles @ 8:02 pace. H/R: 121

Took this very easy. A recovery run of sorts because I had a very tough long run planned for the next morning. The foam rolling had helped with the IT band stiffness but the legs still felt tired.

Sun Sep 13th: 18 miles with last 13 @ mp.

This was a run I was worried about. It was at the end of my biggest mileage week ever and I wasn't feeling great leading into it with tired legs and creeping doubts in my head. The last few long runs have been done with company which has made things much easier but this one would have to be solo. I chose a looped route which has a few nice hills. I'd have to go around four and a bit times which would also be a test mentally. Once I started I was trying to take the first few miles nice and easy. I was saying to myself that it would be like doing a half with a good long warm up! Mile 5 didn't take long to clock up and then the serious stuff. If I wasn't able to manage this it would be a dent to the confidence. When the pace got that bit faster I struggled a bit at first but gradually got into a rhythm. I had to work hard but over the next 13 miles I felt fairly ok. Given the rolling nature of the route, I was happy with the splits for these miles. They were as follows: 6:48, 42, 41, 38, 44, 45, 41, 42, 41, 43, 40, 38, 36. the H/R peaked at 155 during the second last mile. As you can see, I began to gain confidence nearer the end of the run and pushed on a little. The splits got a bit quicker which was pleasing. I know it was only 13 miles at that kind of pace but with the extra 5 miles before and the hilly course it was good to be able to quicken the pace at the end and not be in a heap after it!. The dream scenario would be to be in somewhat similar shape coming near the end of 26 miles in six weeks time!! I had five gels in the bottle this time and it worked great. Definitely going to do this on the day.

Bahanaman

Tue Sep 15th: 9 and a bit miles with 10 x strides. H/R 129, peaked at 151 during the strides.

Nice run at an easy pace until the strides. The strides are between two lengths of telephone wire along three poles. very scientific I know! Enjoyed these. Pushed hard and as I've said before felt great benefit from them by the finish. They actually seem to freshen the legs! Maybe that's all in the head though.

Wed Sep 16th: 15 miles @ 7:37 pace. H/R 128

Headed off at 5:30 am for this one in pitch black darkness!. Wasn't dreading it as much as similar runs before for some reason. Apart from the darkness the conditions were perfect for running. Nice temperature and no wind. Everything was grand during the run except for needing a pit stop at my home place! The Boss Man wasn't impressed with me knocking on his window at 6:30 in the morning! Lucky for me that I happened to pick this route this morning. If I'd gone the same route as the last few 15 mile mlrs I would have had to find a gate to jump over and all that entails! I forgot to bring the diluted gel drink with me as well and I began to flag during the latter part of the run. Amateur!

Toblerone1978

Bahanaman wrote: »

I forgot to bring the diluted gel drink with me as well and I began to flag during the latter part of the run. Amateur!

Hi P. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing. I use to do my mid-week long runs without any gels and I think it was for the better. I didn't want the body to be completely reliance on gels and I thought it might make it more efficient in how it uses fuel already in the body.

Although I admit this is all somewhat guessing/mady-up!! Better to check with the boss man!

Itziger

Toblerone1978 wrote: »

Hi P. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing. I use to do my mid-week long runs without any gels and I think it was for the better. I didn't want the body to be completely reliance on gels and I thought it might make it more efficient in how it uses fuel already in the body.

Although I admit this is all somewhat guessing/mady-up!! Better to check with the boss man!

On the gels in training thing. Here's my tuppence worth: I agree with above for MLR but I have found in my own case that I need a pick up in tough Long Runs if they include MP miles or faster towards the end.

If I don't take anything I don't seem to be able to hit the paces and if I do, I am capable of completing the session. I think on balance that the second is the better option.

Bahanaman

Thu Sep 17th: 7 miles @ 8:03 pace. H/R: 116

Nice and slow recovery jog. Lovely clear, crisp morning but much colder than I thought! Hoped I would heat up but hands and forearms were numb from start to finish!

Fri Sep 18th: 12 miles with 4-7 at tempo pace.

Wow this run took me by surprise!! When I looked at the plan for the week it was the 15 mile mlr that caught my attention but this one proved much tougher. Of course it would be. It was only three miles shorter and seven of those miles were at full pelt! I found those tempo miles very tough. Had the radio on as usual and that ridiculous Glo Health ad about running filling you with confidence came on during a little uphill section of the tempo. At this very point confidence was far from what I was feeling! Giving in and collapsing onto the grassy verge seemed more like what would happen! After telling Glo Health where to go I got back a little bit of form and was able to finish out the workout. In fact I picked up the pace for the last mile as I tried to get it finished before the end of The Undertones classic "Teenage Kicks". Failed on that one! Jaysus it's a short song! Good session though and happy with it at the end. The last warm down mile was a shuffle home.

Itziger

I wanna hold, wanna hold you tight get teenage kicks right through the night.

The old ones were usually under 3 minutes.

They should have stayed that way. One of my 'modern' faves, Common People would be an all time classic if they called it off after 3.30 mins. After that it's just a bleeding loop.

Bahanaman

Sat Sep 19th: 6 miles @ 7:38 pace. H/R 124

Didn't feel great during this run at all. Heart felt like it was pounding in my chest and I felt generally weak all through. Just noticed that I said that the tempo miles last Thursday were from 4-7, I meant 4-11! Just in case people might think I'm slacking!

Sunday Sep 20th: 21 mile LSR @ 7:35 pace. H/R 136

Grand time on the feet run with a few lads Dublin and Frankfurt bound. We did it on the Barrow track which was a bit wet from heavy overnight rain. The time and miles flew by with the company. One big mistake though was that we stopped three times during the run to take a drink. Not a good idea as it was very hard to get going again after each stop. The effort wasn't too heavy overall and we gave it a lash for the last mile which I managed in 6:20. I was happy with that having run on heavy enough ground with soggy training shoes for the previous 20 miles. Her good self had baked a batch of scones when we arrived back at my place which was very welcome!

Tue Sep 22: 9 miles with 5 x 600m @ 5k pace (off 2 min). H/R 133 (Max 162 during last 600)

Felt good on this one. I was wondering how the legs would be after the 21 miler. The effort was nice and easy before starting into the reps and after a wobbly first one, got into a nice rhythm for the rest. I tried to keep thing as relaxed as possible for these but was pushing hard all the same. I was concentrating on trying to keep good form, especially near the end of each rep. The splits for the 600s were 2:00, 2:06, 2:02, 2:03 and 1:59.

While I'm happy enough with how things are going at the moment I am beginning to have a little bit of doubt about my run in to Frankfurt. A few of the lads did halfs at the weekend and went extremely well. A great confidence boost for them all. My last race was Clonmel when I under performed a bit. So will I be sharp enough going into Frankfurt? Will I be a bit under cooked? There's a half on next Sunday up the road that I'm now tempted to run. Four weeks out from Frankfurt. Is it too close? Should I stay with my initial decision and trust in my training? Typical doubts coming towards the big day I know...... Imagine what I'll be like when the taper starts!!

Toblerone1978

Bahanaman wrote: »

The effort wasn't too heavy overall and we gave it a lash for the last mile which I managed in 6:20.

My sources tells me it was just you who give it a lash. The others made a bit of attempt to keep up with you!

Bahanaman wrote: »

While I'm happy enough with how things are going at the moment I am beginning to have a little bit of doubt about my run in to Frankfurt. A few of the lads did halfs at the weekend and went extremely well. A great confidence boost for them all. My last race was Clonmel when I under performed a bit. So will I be sharp enough going into Frankfurt? Will I be a bit under cooked? There's a half on next Sunday up the road that I'm now tempted to run. Four weeks out from Frankfurt. Is it too close? Should I stay with my initial decision and trust in my training? Typical doubts coming towards the big day I know...... Imagine what I'll be like when the taper starts!!

It's gas, when you're doing the marathon, you have all these mad doubts. But when you see someone else in the exact position, you know they're fine.

I'm no running expert but I know you're fine. You're flying it in training. If your target is just sub-3hrs, I'd say just keep training away. An all out effort in 1/2 marathon four weeks is too much. I know how you feel but trust your training. If you want to do a 1/2 marathon, do it as part of your training, not as a race. If you want an all out race, do a Parkrun in the next week or so. I think you know this too, you just need someone else to say it!

Like you said, you under-performed the last day. It happens. Before I did DCM, the Phoenix 10mile took me about 66 mins - and that was with decent tapering! But I knew it was an under performance.

I think the most important thing for you at this stage is to keep the training up and not to get injured.

Bahanaman

I think the most important thing for you at this stage is to keep the training up and not to get injured.[/quote]

Cheers for that P! The voice of reason is always welcome! (No guarantee that come this weekend I'll have listened to it though!!)

Bahanaman

Wed Sep 23rd: 15 miles @ 7:34 pace. H/R 130

Out in the dark again! Conditions almost perfect. Cool but not too cold and little or no wind. These midweek runs so early in the morning seem daunting beforehand but once into them they've been really enjoyable and set you up for the day. The effort this morning was nice and easy and I only began to feel a little tired over the last few miles.

Thu Sep 24th: 7 miles (6 x strides) @ 7:11 pace. H/R 129. Peaked @ 148 during the strides.

This morning was one of those runs that ended up being a little faster than intended. Obviously I'd be pushing during the strides but the rest of the run was to be easy enough. From early on though I was tipping along at a steady pace and because I felt reasonably comfortable I decided to keep t up. I enjoyed the strides again as usual. Wouldn't mind being in the form for a few of them entering the arena at the finish in Frankfurt!

Bahanaman

Fri Sep 25th: 6 miles @ 7:16 pace. H/R 132

Dunno where this run came from but jaysus I felt great this morning! It was supposed to be a recovery run and I've been trying to take these nice and slow over the last few weeks. So I was conscious of taking this one easy as I started out but straight away the pace was up despite the effort being what I felt to be easy. I was going to dial it back but decided not to because I was feeling so good! The legs were bouncy and the breathing was easy, something I hadn't felt in a long time! The whole run went the same way with the last mile being the fastest despite it having the biggest climb of the run. Running is gas isn't it?! I did the very same 6 miler last Saturday and was blowing from the off and struggled along with heavy legs all through! I wonder if today's run had anything to do with a text exchange with Asimonov yesterday in which we were talking up each other's Frankfurt prospects big time. "you'll do great"....."sure you're in savage shape!".. or something along those lines! Whatever it was I was in good spirits before setting out this morning and continued in that vein during the run! Happy days! Gonna do a tempo tomorrow as prescribed by the same Asimonov and I'd say that could bring me right back to earth with a bang!!

Bahanaman

Sat Sep 26th: Tempo 50 with alternating 5mins @ mp/5 min @ tempo. Peak H/R: 161

Yep! Was brought right back down to earth alright! What a slog. Did a little bit of a warm up and started with the first 5 min at mp. It wasn't too bad but the next 5 at tempo was tough. The idea was that when I'd revert back to mp for the following 5 min I'd find it relatively easy. While it obviously was a bit easier, it wasn't as easy as it possibly should have been. That would be the trend for the rest of the 50 min. Also I found it hard to adjust back to the marathon pace, finding myself going a bit quicker at the start of the rep and then slower at the end to get the average for the 5 min right. I was wearing the training shoes which are heavy enough compared to my tempo/racing shoes so that made things a little harder too. Good session though which took the place of a race this weekend. The paces for the 5 min splits were: 6:42, 06, 42, 14, 45, 11, 46, 05, 48, 07.

Sun Sep 27th: 18 mile lsr @ 7:21 pace. H/R: 141

Met one of the lads who signed up Frankfurt only a couple of weeks ago for this one. He's from local to me so we did the run on a local route. This meant there would be plenty of hills. In fact we made it our business to include some good ones. It was the same route I did a couple of weeks ago but starting from a different spot. This also meant that the toughest hill on the route would come at around mile 12 rather than mile 16 leaving plenty to deal with after it was climbed. I decided not to bring any water or gels on the run to make it a bit more like what it might be like near the end of the marathon. The run began bright and early in the fog and on a down hill bit. This meant we were going at a nice clip for a long run. It was a bit faster than I had planned for the run but we kept it up and it was to remain at that effort for the rest of the run. I dunno if this was good or not but what it did guarantee was a really testing workout which had us both fairly shook by the end. With the pace, hilly route, and zero hydration, this run was much tougher than the 21 miler the previous week. The sweat was pouring off me for most of the second half of the run. Another good run in the bag though. Really looking forward to the rest day after this one!

Tue: Sep 29th am: 6 miles @ 6:51 pace. H/R: 144

Got a bit carried away on this one. Started out with a steady pace in mind but kept increasing until the end. I only looked at the watch for the mile splits. I was happy enough to keep pushing the pace as long as I felt reasonably comfortable. Legs felt great again. God I hope this type of feeling in the legs lasts at least another four weeks!! I used the old reliable adidas sequence boost shoes again this morning. They now have 925 miles on them!! The guide for change is some time soon after the 500 mile mark isn't it? The rubber under the forefoot is just about worn through to the foam but they still feel great with plenty of bounce and protection in them. They felt heavy when I got them first but I've gotten used to them and they've worn better than any shoe I've ever had. They also fit like a glove. I'm always tempted to change to a different shoe each time I get new ones but this time I reckon I'll be staying with these.

Tue Sep 29th pm: 4 miles @ 7:15 pace. H/R: 132. Peaked @ 161 during the uphill sprint.

This was the second part of today's planned double. Only four miles but I remember the last time I did a double I found the shorter evening run a good bit tougher than the morning run. Not today thankfully. I took it nice and easy and felt grand. About half way through out of the blue, I decided that I'd have a cut at beating my time on an uphill strava segment that i've makrked during the last mile of the run. I havent had a go at it in months and was curious how I'd go. I gave it a right rattle and it felt fast. I really gave it a right lash and was bolli*ed after it. I shuffled home and was grand at the end of the four miles. Once I got home and got the run uploaded (first time! What's seldom is wonderful with garmin connect!) I saw that I'd beaten my previous best by seven seconds! Result! Early start again in the morning for a long interval run.

Bahanaman

Wed Sep 30th: 11.25 miles with 6 x 1k @ 5k pace. H/R 138 (162 peak)

Early start for what was to prove a brutally tough session. The morning was absolutely beautiful with an almost full moon shining a silvery white light on the world. I was thinking I could have been in a lot worse places. Anyway I got into the run nice and steadily for the first six miles. I wasn't feeling as good as I have been lately. I'd say the effort I put in on the uphill segment last night was having an effect. The idea was to begin the k reps after mile six which i had ensured would be on fairly level terrain for consistency. Once they started the legs were definitely protesting. The first one was tough but they generally are as the body begins to crank things up. Sometimes the next few can be a little easier as the legs get accustomed to the change of pace. Not this time! While they were a bit faster the effort was getting tougher and tougher by large increments each time. Jesus the last two were torture. I had considered canning the session after the fourth one because I was so banjaxed but thought I'd be kicking myself as soon as the session was over if I did. So whether it was wise or not I finished the last two out. my form was all over the place during the last rep. Arms and legs everywhere! Hopefully the perseverance will have done me good!
The splits for the k reps were: 3:40, 35, 31, 32, 30 and 32. Theses are the splits according to strava. for some reason the garmin splits are a few seconds slower for all the reps bar the first one?! I'm going with strava!!