The main thing is keeping the main thing, the main thing
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Yes I specifically mentioned before for a number of reasons - With the mileage down muscle fibres should be in a less exhaustive state meaning can work on conditioning rather than recruitment (think of it like low weight high rep weight training vs high weight low rep weight training, both serve a function but can compliment each other)
Second being prior to marathon block pace is less relevant. As get closer to the marathon people want more assurance of effort levels, paces etc so the watch plays more on the mind.
In terms of the actual marathon block part of it depends on the marathon. I remember Shalane Flanagan talking about it before when she trained for NYC hills were staple of all her session loops yet training for Berlin she moved all sessions onto a track. The idea being that muscles have to be trained for the specific demands. With an undulating course different muscle fibres get worked at different times in different ways so there is a bit of respite (even if effort is higher) With a flat course it is rhythmic and repetitive so the muscle fibres muscles be conditioned to work in a more systematic way.
I remember with Mick was coaching me he was a big fan of doing blocks of hill sessions (3 or 4 weeks of short hill reps or "Corkscrews") and I am pretty sure that is something that comes from Dick Hooper with the marathon approach
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I kinda feel like I have no place in this conversation but fwiw my brother used to be with Raheny and yeah not sure about the short hill rips, but he was running up Howth at a pretty hard pace (maybe 30 secs off MP) in the long runs. He moved away from Dublin then and said the big element missing in his training after was the hills. Hamstrings couldn't hang in /push on in the last few miles.
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And here we go again................
The week after Seville: Week off work - ate & drank my way through the week. Fun was had. 1 run of 3.7 miles on the Saturday.
The week after the week after.......
Monday 28th: a few miles with AJ where we relived our highs and lows of Seville.
5.3m / 8.30 pace
Tues March 1st: Easy miles + some light strides.
7.7m / 8.05 pace
Wed 2nd: Easy few miles -
3.5m / 8.20 pace
Thur 3rd: Mini session to get the legs working - 5x400
1.5m warm up to the Furze road - knowing that the bollards here are exactly 400m apart is helpful!
Done 5 reps off 90 seconds - not forcing it and could have done another couple - so all in a good place.
1.21/1.18/1.18/ 1.16/ 1.17
1+ miles cool down.
Entire session inc WU/CD took 4.4 miles!!
Friday 4th: Rest Day
Saturday 5th: Lap of the Phoenix Park and included 4x4mins at tempo effort - 2 mns recovery.
4x4mins - Pace: 6.07 / 6.08 / 6.01 / 6.02
really enjoyed this - a small session again - but gave me lots of confidence.
7miles total.
Sunday 6th: Rest day - part self inflicted, part too busy! Didn't mind - dont want to push it too much.
28 miles for the week
Monday 7th: Met up with AJ again - more grass miles & chat. Hard to believe Seville was 'just' 2 weeks and 1 day ago.
7.2m / 8.20 pace
Tuesday 8th: Session: 4x40 secs / 5,4,3,2,1 mins progressive (Minutes not miles :) )
2m WU - 4x40 secs felt fine - kept about 1 min recovery.
5 mins: 5.50 pace - this felt difficult initially, but I soon warmed to it.
4 mins: 5.43 pace - Surprised how this felt - I had to slow it down in the 2nd half otherwise the next reps would have been ungodly.
3 mins: 5.32 pace - After marathon training - a 3 min rep seemed like a short sprint.
2 mins: 5.26 pace
1 min: 5.20 pace - sure everyone can run fast for a minute.
2m cool down.
A good confidence builder and certainly something to build on.
8.1 miles total
Wed 9th: Planned Rest day - visitors over from Germany in work - thank God as I wouldn't have liked to run in that rain.
Time to make some racing plans!
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Thursday 10th: Ran down to the PP and done a mini lap and back home.
Was a bit tired from the night before, many pints were consumed - but still got it done.
8m/8.05 pace
Friday 11th: Felt a bit tired today - done my tried and tested 'Willy Route' - throwing in 6 strides to ensure my Strava Art looks the part :)
5.4m
Saturday: As a progression from last weeks 4x4mins - I wanted to do 4x5 mins this week with 2mins recovery.
I ran down to the PP and included 4x200m down Whites Road and towards the OS Road.
1st Set: A small bit of stretching and set off from the OS/Chesterfield intersection, down Chesterfield, turned onto the Furze into a tough breeze - finished the 1st rep by the last set of Bollards.
1st set pace: 5.56 pace
2nd set was down the Upper Glen Road, felt quite ok (as it would) - pace was 5.55.
3rd set was past the Jingle bells finish, turn on the road at St Marys and up the hill. Reached the top of the hill and was nearly dead. Had to stop.
Said I'd count it as a 2min hill rep and continue the next 2x5mins. (6.07 pace) - I'll never stop again.
The revised 3rd rep was along the Acres, finishing up just by Chesterfield. Pace: 5.54 - I was felling it now.
4th Rep was up Chesterfield - 5.49 pace.
Just over a 2m run home - some parts of that I found myself speeding up! Bodes well.
9 miles in total and quite a good session - very happy with the pace - I'd of been happy with 6.05-6.10's - so delighted with how they felt.
Sunday: Legs felt tired this morning, but it was important to me that I got a decent run in to kick start my long runs - doing this on tired legs would be a bonus.
My legs actually felt good as the run went on - I was surprised to see the miles tick along at sub 8's - I thought I'd be slogging this one.
10 miles at 7.55.
Each run this week I've said to myself (apart from Friday) - 'thats the best I've felt since Seville' - so recovery is happening.
48 miles for the week - a good weeks training.
Also done 3-4 short core workouts - maybe 5-8 mins for each one - but its a damn sight more than I've done during my Seville training.
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What is going on in this world - I was on Page 2............Page 2 ............Do people not know who I am!
Anway - a good 4 day weekend was had in every way.
Monday 14th: A good few miles on Grass with AJ - we're both plotting our future races.
7.3m / 8.20 pace
Tuesday 15th: Session. 4x40 secs / 6x3 mins @5.40 pace off 1 min.
I wanted to give the system a bit of a kick - so chose a tried and tested session - the recoveries are short enough but the effort is quicker than 5km at the moment. - So a bit of a V02 session - I could have left recoveries at 2min or 90secs - but wanted to push it. I had 5 reps in my mind starting off - but went with a 6th as I felt good.
Paces: 5.40/ 5.35 / 5.37 / 5.40 / 5.30 / 5.38 - the 4x40secs (200m 'ish) at the start really helps.
1 min Walk recoveries.
I actually really enjoyed this one. - to have an entire session done and dusted in an hour is fantastic!!
8m total.
Wednesday: Planned 'rest' day - busy in work - busy after work with more work - the lenghts we go to to ensure a quiet Thurs/Fri off.
Thursday: Hill Sprints & Strides
Decent warn up to the Furry Glen and done these on a steep enough 'trail' hill - 5x12secs hill sprints then went over to the Furze Road for the strides - 5x20 secs.
Cool down home.
7.6miles total.
Friday: Wasn't feeling the love for a session, had walked the dog for a good while on Friday in a very windy beach and had consumed a fair few pints in honour of the patron saint of Guinness.
The session was to be a progression of the previous 2 weeks 4x4mins / 4x5 mins/ This week was 4x1mile.
I done the session down The North Road - which wasn't helpful as the breeze was a curse this way. I found my feet quite quickly and was amazed at the effort for the pace - It felt quite ok on the 1st one.
The original intention was to run 4x1m at 6min/miles off 1 min - but based on the 1st one I decided to keep it slightly faster than tempo with 90 secs recover (2 mins if needed).
This worked a treat as each rep felt fantastic. Guinness must be my superfood.
The 3rd rep was downhill most of the way at 5.37 pace - I increased due to the downhill.
Reps were: 5.53 / 5.49/ 5.37 / 5.47 - all off 90 secs.
I could not have done a 5th rep at that pace - the last 800m was a real pinch for me.
Really delighted with this - it puts me really ahead of where I thought I'd be starting from and in a real good place.
8.7 miles total. (61 mins for a session!! - Class)
Sat 19th: I had a night of badness on Friday as well - the usual story - out for 2 or 3 - coming home early, bump into people - stay for the night.
7.6 miles at 8.15 pace - probably 3 too many miles but was enjoying the podcasts and the sunshine.
Sunday: Kept things clean on Sat night - went out with the intention of doing 12-13 miles and done the 13. Was happy with it as I had a terrible sleep and had the beginnings of a sore throat and sniffles (Negative Covid test).
Took in the canal and the War Memorial Gardens - back in through the Furry Glen to get some more hills into me.
13.2 miles - 8 min/miles.
52 miles for the week - bouncing back well from Seville.
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So what did yous come up with racing-wise?
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Going to try do a 5k in April (maybe 2) - nothing fixed yet.
Going to do the Bob Heffernan 5k (May 17th) - hopefully the Dunboyne 5m BHAA goes ahead in late May.
I'm down for Dunshaughlin - but Clonee 10k is the same week - so might do that instead.
Hopefully St Cocoas 5k goes ahead too in June.
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I'm thinking along the same lines. I've decided on Patrick bell 5k, Tallaght 5 miler and loads of parkruns before shifting focus to Amsterdam.
Have you an autumn marathon planned?
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I’d say if you do clonee forget about cocas. Usually the day after clonee. Is it open for registration yet? It’s on my list too! it usually fits perfectly. Thursday evening straight after work! Better than dunshauglin. 7pm on a Saturday or so… whole day ruined by that 😁.
going to do one or two hill runs in April (Wicklow way relay recce of leg 1 and perhaps 2) if you fancy joining.
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going to do one or two hill runs in April (Wicklow way relay recce of leg 1 and perhaps 2) if you fancy joining.
The S-Bends/Khyber/Military/Furry Glen will suffice - short and sharp!!
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Monday 21st - Sun 27th: A bit of a head cold this week kept things under wraps a bit.
A rest day on Monday, a solid 7 on Tuesday, 4m Tempo on Wednesday with 7x200 at the end, a casual 6 on Thursday, Hill Sprints and Strides on Friday and a tired 4m recovery run on Saturday and a nice run with steady paces on Sunday.
The 2 runs of Note:
Wed: 4m Tempo
After a 2m WU, I set off from Whites gate and turned right, nice going down the Upper Glen Road and then up the S-Bends and up Wellington Road - Finished a bit up Chesterfield. The pace was what I thought I could as I hadn't done a steady type of faster effort for a while.
Paces: 6.22/6.17/6.17/6.28 - last mile was tough. I then done 7x200 (timed to 40 secs) up chesterfield with about 1min recovery - the paces were progressively faster.
A nice 10 miles.
Sunday: Long Run with Steady parts.
Still not feeling great, I set off for a nice few miles - went down the Canal and back into the PP at Ashtown, I was listening to RTE's coverage of the GAA - a lot of games were ebbing and flowing - it made a nice distraction.
1st 4 miles were progressive - ruined by the level crossing at Ashtown a road stop at the HWH Pub (7.57 down to 7.20's)
Next 4 miles were similar route to Wednesdays 4m Tempo - all done at 6.40's and felt quite good. I took a few mins recovery up Chesterfield wondering what to do next - before setting out at 7 min miles for the next 4 miles, slowing down for the last 3/4 mile to cool down.
I really enjoyed that (apart from the Dublin result) - a non structured long run at a decent set of paces - I probably didn't need the recovery piece in the middle - but I hadn't planned it very well! The overall ebb & flow to the football was breath taking - brilliant stuff all over.
48 miles for the week
Monday 28th - Managed to get out at lunch time - 6 miles with 6x20 sec strides.
Tuesday 29th - An ill judged attempt at a session - still not recovered from a head cold that I've had for more than a week - Meant to do 5x1 mile at 10k'ish (building on a previous 4x1m session)
2m WU to PP and 4 strides - I set off on the 1st rep and knew after 2 mins that this wasn't going to go well. I considered canning it early and repeating on Wednesday, but knew I had late meetings so wouldn't get it done on Wed.
Changed it on the go to a 5 min rep and took 2 min recovery. Done a 2nd 5min rep and was really blowing up big time at 5:50 pace.
(2x5min: 5.47 pace / 5.51)
Decided to do 2x3 min reps at a faster pace - completed these, but the 2nd rep was very hard. (5.31 / 5.38)
Tried to do 2x2min reps - but got halfway into the 1st one and my pace was over 6's - so I called a halt to it.
I still got about 18 mins worth of work done at decent paces - so not entirely unhappy.
A decent 4m uphill run back home - not all is lost.
10 miles total.
Wednesday: Rest day
Still not got a plan decided - in fairness I haven't gave it much thought.
From previous - I'll probably do a lot of tempo/TH stuff with a smidgin of 5k type work - I find TH works better for me than Vo2 stuff.
I'm actually considering doing the 1st 5-6 weeks of JD's Marathon plan as this gets me into great shape really quickly - My 5k/5m/10m/HM PB's are all off the back of 1st 5-6 weeks of JD 2Q plan.
I may also go quiet on here & Strava for a bit - thinking about going off all Social Media for a month, I waste too much time on it - I'm not compulsive, but I could be doing better things with my limited 'spare' time that I have. I'm not 100% sure if I will though.
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Please don't ☹
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You'll be missed but the month off is about right to compare and contrast the online/offline and adjust. Must do it myself sometime.
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I hear ya on the SM part! Those hours spent there can be used to go for a run or ten!
with someone like you I would suggest don’t continue the blog (for a while) but put your thoughts down and write a book! I would defo buy it as long as you still do your own thing and don’t stick to a plan. Reading a one year journey in one go would probably entertaining and lectural (is that a word?)!! 🙂
with regards to a plan: ever thought of just just writing down a couple of sessions, put a number against each, roll a 🎲 and basically do the one that comes up then? Not sure if you do this anyways already 😂. Did that on Luke’s recommendation with my daughter during covid. She loved it!
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Well - the last 2 weeks have not went to plan in any shape or fashion.
Mar 31st-April 3rd: Still in bits with a cold - tried to run through it - a terrible 15min tempo and an attempted long run cut short at 5 miles.
Took a few days off and went to Amsterdam with work - a good distraction and despite the copious amounts of alcohol - I was actually starting to feel a bit better - not a huge amount, but progress.
Fri April 8th: A very tiring 3.2 miles
Sat April 9th: 7 Miles to PP & Back
Sun April 10th: 12 miles at 7.55 - starting to feel somewhat normal but still a tough run - maybe a few miles too many.
Monday 11 April: 7 miles - inc 5x10sec hill sprints / 6x 20sec strides.
Tuesday 12 April: Feeling back to myself today - the best I've felt in 3 weeks. I wanted a session that would ease me back into sessions yet still give me a good boot in the backside.
I chose a 20x1min on/off - Ons at Tempo / Offs 1min slower - I done this on a lap of the PP - so a lumpy enough route.
About half way through I was working hard - the 'Off's' are actually harder than the 'On's I think.
I was passing a man near the Militart Hill downhill - I went onto the road to give him space - as I passed him he made a swing for me, stuck his fingers at me, called me a "Cnut" - Only for I was on the 'ON' part of the session, there would have been an altercation :) - What could I have done different - I went onto the road to give him space?
When I turn up Chesterfield - the paces for the ON stay consistent - but the OFF's drop a tad and I'm getting a stitch. I finish it out with a couple of slower 'Off's but maintain the Ons' - This is a great session and ends up with over 6 miles at 6.20-6.30 pace.
10 miles total. (...........and I'm back)
I had a decent 3 weeks after Seville with some decent sessions - building nicely, sessions progressing on top of each other.
The last 3 weeks have knocked me back a bit in terms of where I wanted to be right now - but we keep going.
Regarding the proposed social media self imposed 'ban' - sickness and work travel meant that I needed it to keep myself sane!!
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That sounds gas, maybe you gave him a fright running past at speed and you were probably breathing heavily as well :)
I know I've had a few instances where I was out running and passing men walking on the path and they visibly jumped.
I found it quite funny when they turned around and realised I was female they seemed embarrassed that they were jumpy and even more so when I apologised for scaring them or maybe I'm just very ugly and that's why they were frightened lol.
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Jealousy…….. The knickers dropping good looks and gazelle like running do annoy some of the rest of us!!!!!!
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Just as well you were on an ON lad, that’s crap you could do well without.
Out of curiosity what pace do you run your 1 min ons at? Or what distance do you cover in the min? I like that min on/off run as well
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The ON's were at Tempo effort - so aiming for in an around 6 min/miles - some faster/some slower. - Covering about 0.17m
The OFF's at 1 min slower than rep pace - so aiming for 7's - you cover 0.14m
It builds on you and gets really tough by the rep 13-14 - or maybe that was just me!!
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Yea that would be in and around what I’d do them at too. I never even measure the OFFs that’s impressive attention to detail pal. Seems like a fair bit for a recovery but even at zero effort we’d likely do 12/13 I suppose. I can’t think of when I last did them but yea after 7 or 8 they def pinch!
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For the next few weeks, I'll be trying something slightly different in my training.
I've been training the same way for a long time now - Daniels type sessions - 2 big sessions a week and to a certain degree they've worked, but I've mentioned previously that I want to try to do something different - certainly with my Marathon training - but I think I'll hop on this now while I'm still 'just getting back'.
Wednesday: Easy recovery run - 4.3m at 8.16 pace
Thursday: Session: 6x2mins / 6x30secs / 4x50meters
2 min reps at 5.40'ish / 30 sec reps faster, 50m all out sprints.
7.7m total - 1 hour.
Friday: Rest day.
Saturday: The something different - 45mins Moderate (7 min miles) + 5x200 (not too fast - cruising - maybe 6's. )
The 1st few miles down Chesterfield were handy enough, hitting 6.5x pace - I turned at the Polo grounds and it felt a bit tougher - I still kept the 6.5x pace but the HR jumped a bit. (approx 150's for downhill - approx 160's for up North Road. )
The 200's are key for helping the legs recover and adding a neuromuscular stimulus.
9.2m / 7.05 ave.
Sunday: The added something different - after yesterdays 45min moderate - today was 90min Moderate + 5x200.
I was out on Sat night so feeling a little ropey - 1 slice of toast and I drove to the PP. I had a route mapped out that included the Canal & the PP.
I done a short warmup that would constitute part of the moderate run as it felt moderate!
1st 5m were Furze, CK Gate, Down North Road - barring the 1st mile (7.50) the next 4 were 6.5x pace. HR was in the 150's but it felt tougher than yesterday - as it should.
I turned to Phibsborough and then up the canal, out at the 12th Lock, back to CK and into the park (I had a couple of traffic stops along the way to the PP which I was quite happy about!)
I maintained the 6.5x pace for all the miles bar 1 (7.05) but was quite happy with the HR which maintained in the mid 150's
The 5x200's felt quite good as the legs were stiff - but the strides loosened them out.
14 miles total at 7.05 pace.
52 miles for the week.
Looking forward to Next week's something different.
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Interesting stuff. Any particular coaching philosophy or advice from fellow runners? Moderate/steady sounds Lideard...y.
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Heavily Canova influenced. Plenty of research gone into this choice.
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Monday: Easy recovery run -
4.5m 8.30 pace.
Tuesday: Session: 6x200 in 37 / 10 min tempo
I done a 2.5m warmup for this session - thinking that the session would be a piece of pi$$. No strides or anything like that - it'd be easy - right.
Well.............
After 2 of the 200's I was gasping - the recovery is 100m in 37 secs - which is nothing. The last 2 were a real push to hold the 37, but done it.
35/37/37/37/36/36 and I was wrecked!!
I hadn't taking note of the recovery in between the 200's and the 10min tempo - so gained my breath for a min and set off (in hindsight its a 3 min jog recovery) - the danger of doing a tempo (6.10 pace) right after quick 200's is that you start too quick.
I checked pace after 2 mins and I was 5.40 pace - filling with lactate. I had to take a 30 sec reset and get going again. I only had the 'step pace' on my watch - so no idea of my actual pace - but I felt like I was running 9 min miles, when in fact I was probably at 6's. The relative difference from the 200's to the tempo was the issue here.
Another 10sec stop to change my watch setting to act pace and set off again - after about 7mins or so, I remember it was getting hard - the lactate was overflowing - I haven't felt like this in quite a long time - which is a good thing I guess to feel this every now and then.
Finished the 10 min tempo in 6 average. And to think I could do 3x2m at faster pace a couple of months back - those 6x200's really add a different dimension to it.
6.8m total.
Wednesday: Easy paced run. Legs felt a bit sore from the 200's!!
Went to the dentist for the 1st time in years that afternoon!! Not good.
5.8m at 8.11
Thursday: Session - 7x2mins@5.40 / 7x30 secs@5.20 / 4x10 secs Fast - all 1 min rec.
This is a progression from last weeks session - I also wanted to keep the recoveries a bit faster. As its just 2 mins at 5.40 pace - it should be doable to keep the recoveries honest.
I done a proper Warm up to Chapelizod Road - a Tin Man Warm Up - 9mins easy - 3 min Tempo / 4x50m strides. Body was ready.
The session went very well - much better execution than last week. There's something about doing reps on that road vrs reps in the PP - its exactly like a running track, except straight......... and tar and concrete.........and with no lines.........but apart from that, its exactly the same.
7x2 mins went like this - with 1 min recovery recovery
5.32 / 7.43
5.39/7.30
5.39/7.23
5.41/7.14
5.40/7.02
5.40/7.35
5.35/8.30
Then onto the 7x 30 secs (Target was 5.20): fastest was 4.50 - slowest was 5.19 - the recoveries were between 7.30 and 8.00
The 4x10 secs followed - with slower recoveries due to the pace: reps were in the 4.20's - scary pace.
just under 2m cool down - happy with that - no doubt I'll have sore legs tomorrow.
Great to be doing 'something different'.
Total: 9.2m
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Friday: As easy run at lunchtime - 5 miles / 8.12 pace.
Saturday: On Saturdays we do Moderate.
45 mins at 7 min/miles or there abouts. Pretty windy out, so kept to the top end of the park. These are great runs as you're working but not too hard.
You know that your legs will be slightly tireder for Sundays session.
I averaged 6.50's for the 45mins - 6.5 miles.
10 miles total
Sunday: Session 6x(5mins at 6.10 / 5mins at 7.10)
The wind would make this a bit more difficult than it should have been. I ran 15 mins down to the PP and decided to keep the route primarily to the Furze/Ordanance /Chesterfield triangle.
I managed to avoid a direct headwind on the ON pieces but had a direct headwind on the OFF's making them harder.
Overall a great workout that began to pinch as it went on - the last 'ON' rep was tough and tempted to not do the final OFF - but did.
ON / OFF
6.10/7.12
6.08/7.05
6.06/7.15
6.10/7.15
6.11/7.10
6.07/7.09
2 miles home as a CD.
13 miles total for the session.
55 miles total for this week and feeling the fitness flowing back.
I've a nice little workout on Tuesday - never done anything like it before - Should be interesting :)
Post edited by AuldManKing on11 -
Monday 25th April.
Firstly - I cant believe that its nearly May. It was January for about 6 months and now suddenly its Summer.
Easy few miles - some with an old club mate - mainly on grass.
5.5m / 8.21 pace
Tuesday 26th:
40x100m (45 secs) - I told you it was 'different'.
The aim was to run the 100m at 5.20 pace and do the recovery 60-90 secs slower. I had it programmed into the watch to keep track.
I done a 2 mile Warn Up and set off - keeping them mainly in a T shape using Chesterfield and The Furze Road.
1st thing I noted was that I thought I was going quick for the 100m but mny watch was showing anything from 5:30's to 6.10's for the fast reps.
I gathered that the watch wasn't reacting to the correct pace quick enough - I had a few hands on knee moments as I wondered what the hell was going on in the 1st half of the session.
I nearly abandoned it a few times as it was playing with my head as much as my legs - but in the 2nd have I sorted out a system of running the recovery at a decent pace and just speeding up for the Rep. Not really looking at the watch - I still had a few moments where I pushed too hard and blew up - taking a few seconds to get going again.
The On's averaged 5.15 pace / the recoveries averaged 6.45 pace (Thank you Garmin Connect) but the real story was with some of the ON reps being far too quick and I'd blow up a bit. If I was doing it again - I'd plan it differently and run the whole thing by effort.
However - a fantastic session - it could be thought of as a 40+ minute run at Marathon pace with a 20 second burst at the start of every minute.
As I ran it too hard in places it was all over the place!
11 miles total (ave 6.54 pace)
Wednesday: a nice few miles with AJ - keeping it relaxed.
5.6 miles / 8.23 pace
Thursday: Session - 8x2mins / 8x30 secs / 4x50m
A progression on the previous 2 Thursdays - this session started with 6 reps 2 weeks ago.
The 2 mins are at 5.40 pace / the 30 secs are at 5.20 pace and the 4x50m are all out. - all recoveries are 1 minute - but its a quick minute (60-90 secs slower).
Parked at Whites Gate and ran down to the Chapelizod Road - doing a 3min Tempo and 4x100m strides towards the end as part of the WU.
My legs were a bit tired from Tuesdays heroics, but I thought I'd still give it a lash - take the recoveries a bit easier if I needed.
The 8x2 mins went well - I surprised myself - the fastest being 5.33 / the slowest being 5.45 - the recoveries were quite honest as well.
The 8x30 secs was a bit tougher than I bargained - still managed to hit the paces once I remembered to run with my arms. (range 5.03-5,19)
The 4x50m were fine - just run fast.
2m back to the car.
10 miles total / 7.04 ave pace
I'm enjoying this - a Steady Saturday and a progressive long run on Sunday to follow.
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Friday: Didn't do the 45min recovery run - opted for a rest day.
Saturday: Moderate 45mins + 5x200
I'm really starting to love these runs - you need to run them in a disciplined way in order to perform on the Sunday runs. They add just enough fatigue to the legs whilst getting a training benefit.
Took a 1m warm up and set off - the route was an honest one - lap of the Furze/OS - with a figure 8 around North Road / Chesterfield /Polo Grounds/ North Road / Chesterfield.
Very happy with this - I was 5 miles in and the HR hadn't gone over 150 - the last mile and a half it went to 156 as the North Road drag and headwind played its part.
Paces were in the 6.48-6.56 range - pretty steady for 6.5 miles.
Next was the 5x200 strides - these are not all out strides - but ran at about Tempo effort. They really help loosen out the legs after the steady running.
9.5 miles total.
Sunday: A progressive long run - 40mins at 7.10 / 30 mins at 6.45 / 20 mins at 6.10
I was actually looking forward to this and was very well behaved on Sat night - I had a nice route planned out that's fast becoming my go-to long run session route. North Road / NCR / Canal / Back to PP.
I drove to the Furze Road and started out - after about 400-500m I realised I wouldn't need a WU mile to get going as the legs felt good, so hit the paces off the bat.
40 mins brought me 5.65 miles and was on the Canal path. - probably about 7.05 pace - HR in the low 140's.
30 mins at 6.45 was a much tougher effort - the wind picked up along the canal and it started lashing out. I considered turning off the canal at Ashtown, but the level crossing was down - so carried on. - pace here averaged 6.41 - HR was mid 150's on the canal but lowered in last bit off the canal.
The last bit would be interesting - I was feeling the fatigue from the breeze etc up the canal so when the time came to up the pace to 6.10's I wasn't quite sure how it would go.
The downhill nature from Myos helped - turning left at the Aras and then down the North Road - absolutely torrential rain out.
Very happy with the 20 mins - 6.02/6.08/6.04/(5.49 for 0.3m) - HR about 160 here.
90 mins / 13.43 miles/ 6.42 pace / 148 ave HR: Have to be happy with that.
2 mile cool down back to the car - I was changing my top and my Garmin snagged and the watch face (hole for the pin) snapped - cant be fixed.
Treated myself to a new piece of kit (Garmin Venu 2) and an Arm HR strap (my chest strap chaff's the bejaysus outa me)
57m for the week with a rest day.
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Ahhhhh no sh1t one about the Garmin but I do sense that the can’t be fixed assessment may have been made rather gleefully! Enjoy the new toy!
Something I picked up on was your not needing the warm up mile for your steady run. In my schedule I’m getting a fair bit of steady - 6:45 - 7:00 type things and I’m usually surprised 1 that there’s no warm up and 2 that I’m not needing it.
You are moving very well!
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Monday: Easy run - 5 miles at 8.30 pace.
Tuesday: 8x200 (37sec) + 10 min Tempo (all with the help of a new watch!)
Last time I done this session (with 2 less 200's) I made a mess of the Tempo.
Ran down to the PP - a short 3min tempo & 4 strides to warm up.
The 200's went better than last time - ranging from 34 secs to 37 secs - all recoveries are 37 secs.
3 min jog recovery and went at the Tempo. While the legs were tired from the 200's - the Tempo felt controlled. - 6.03 pace.
2m jog home - nice to get a session done in less than an hour!!
Wednesday: Met a running buddy in the PP - 6miles of chats. 8.20 pace.
Thursday: 9x2 mins (5.40 pace) / 9x30secs (5.20 pace)/ 4x10secs (sprint)
I had a date night planned with dinner and a gig in the Olympia - so was under time pressure for this one.
The added pressure of being home at a certain time made it feel rushed - which is ridiculous as I knew I could complete it and get home from the park, shower and catch a bus to town in lots of time. But still it lingered over me mentally..........
I stayed in the Park rather than go down to the Chapelizod road, where I had done the last 2 sets of these with no real issues. Probably a bad idea.
Took a shorter warm up and set off.
I hit the 9x2 min reps fairly on the money, still much tougher than previous - the recoveries were a bit dodgy - some watch pausing going on in parts and a longer recovery for the last rep.
The 9x30 secs was ok - I took the recoveries pretty easy and finished off with the 4 sprints.
A good session, but I struggled with it - the 1 min recoveries are a curse!
8.8m total
Friday: Day off running - I enjoy Fridays off!!
Saturday: 45min Steady + 5x200
My intention was to do this at 7 min/miles or just under as I had a tricky workout on Sunday.
I done a 10min warm up and set off.
Mile 1 was a 6.47 - $hit / Mile 2 was 6.45 - double $hit. / followed by a 6.43 & a 6.39 - right Alan - get a hold here - this is slightly harder than steady - turned up the North road and mile 5 was 6.48 and the 6th mile was 6.47 - but HR was at 155 for this mile - higher than I wanted it to be. Finished off the 45 mins with the 0.66 in 6.43 pace.
6.6 miles - ave pace was 6.45 / ave HR 151
followed by 5x200 at 6 min/miles - I enjoy these after a steady run.
Probably a harder effort than I needed. all my own indisciplined fault.
9.7 miles total.
Sunday: Session 15WU / 20x2mins (1 min float) / 15CD
Having done 9x2mins at a faster pace and also done a straight 20min tempo after 70mins of fast'ish running last week - I expected this to be 'easier' than it was.
The change in pace certainly doesn't help, but I was floundering from the rep 5. There's something about 20 reps of anything - its a lot of reps, no matter what the pace!
As the session went on - I was struggling more and thought about canning the session a few times.
After the 10th rep - I took a full min standing recovery and wet off again - feeling ok for a few more reps. The MAD thing was, it was the 'off' 1 min rep that was causing me the issue - I could 'work' for the 2 mins without much hassle, but the quicker recovery was proving difficult.
I got through it at the end - but the last few recoveries were at a slower pace - but I got it done.
13miles total for the day.
51 miles for the week.
I'm in Amsterdam with work for part of this week, so I doubt I'll get a session complete on Thursday.
Tuesdays is another interesting one.
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