The main thing is keeping the main thing, the main thing
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Thats a great 20 miler, great work 👏
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Monday 4th: 7k recovery - 5.25 pace
Tuesday: The original workout was 6x1200 - but watching the Hamstring so done a steady run instead.
Ran down to the PP and done a lap of it - up the S Bends and Up the North Road. Progressed the pace to about 4.30/km (7.15's) and done about 8-10k at that effort.
Legs were tired from Sundays run - but that was the idea!
18.5km / 4.45 ave.
Wednesday 6th: Planned Rest Day
Thursday 7th: Ran down to the park and done 10k at slightly faster than MP (4.00 v 4.05MP) - Down the North Road and up Chesterfield - turning at the Furze and OS Roads - finishing at Whites Gate by Farmleigh.
Found this tough and got a stitch at about 8km that slowed me slightly.
16.3km total / 4.29 average
Friday 8th: 7km recovery loop - 5.20 pace.
Saturday: I had planned for 3x7km at MP - but when I seen the storm brewing I reduced it to 3x5km (or 3x20 mins). I planned a route that would minimise the amount of time I'd be doing MP efforts into the breeze. Up at 7'ish and out the door by 8.30.
I had my 2 soft flasks of Carb-sodium drink and took 2 gels with me to get the stomach used to drinking and eating at Mara effort.
7km of a warm up and then started off.
1st 5km Rep: Back down past my house, around Carpenterstown and a lap of the park in Laurel Lodge - the bits into the wind were terrible - nearly at a standstill. (Paces ranged from 3.58 to 4.07).
Took an 800m 'float recovery' - meant to be steady but these were into the wind so went by effort.
2nd 5km rep: From Laurel Lodge Park to PP and down to the Aras and back up Chesterfield. Mostly downhill with a side on breeze bar the last KM which was quite tough.
800m Float up C'Field - 4.53 Pace - but felt like much harder effort!
3rd 5km Rep: Another slightly downhill segment but the last KM into the wind and going up by the Zoo. Damn near killed me. Bar the last KM - each KM was slightly faster than MP given the downhill nature.
6km Home into a fierce headwind - nearly knocked me over a couple of times. A few trees down in the park and also Tower Road was closed due to a fallen tree! Mad stuff.
The drinks and gels went down ok while at pace - really helps me feel 100 times better when I finish the run.
30km at 4.29 ave.
Brought the dogs out for a long walk in the afternoon - 90 mins on feet. absolutely knackered after this.
Decided to take another rest day on Sunday as the body was quite tired from the longer steadier efforts this week (Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday)
79km for the week.
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I flitter from 'The community here is smaller and smaller - I'm never going to update this again" to thinking about things to update on Boards while I run - "wouldn't it be great to add this..........." and then theres the aspect of keeping a digital diary, irrespective of who is reading.
I'll commit to keeping it going to the Seville Marathon in Feb.
December 11th to 17th: 92km Total
Key Sessions:
(1) Hill Session: 10x(400 up/400 down) - good session - felt strong and it flew in. Kinda liking these - but decided to have this as my last one as I get much more Marathon Specific.
(2) 4x30secs + 4k/3k/2k Progressive (4k@ 3.50's (HMP) / 3k at 3.40's/ 2k at 3.35's) Hit targets but was a tough run - legs were tired.
(3) Long Session: 12k Steasy (kinda steady but easier - 4.40perkm(7.30's) / 13k at MP (4.05-4.08) / 5k steady uphill home. Delighted with this one - felt good working for a good bit of the run.
Also midweek - I threw in 11x12 sec hill sprints
1 Rest day.
December 18th to 24th: 84km total
Key Sessions:
(1) 5x6mins at Threshold (3 min rec) - Metronomic on these, hitting 3.40's - fair route - no downhill finishes :)
(2) 2x5km at HMP (3 mins) - Hit 3.50's for this on both reps - the breeze was a right pain in the backside - but got it done.
(3) 30k Vanilla Run at 4.50 pace - I didn't plan this - but tired legs, Festivities and a very windy morning made it the right choice.
Took 2 rest days this week with the week that was in it.
December 25th to 31st: 86km Total
Key Sessions: - Kind of a down'ish week with no midweek intensity except 1 set of strides - leading to a big Weekend Run.
(1) 20km with 14km Steady (4.20's per km)
(2) 36km Long run - 4x(3km@MP+40sec / 3KM@MP+20secs/ 3km@MP)
"Really" enjoyed this one - Paces were MP+40secs = 4.40-4.45 / MP+20= 4.20-25 / MP=4.00-4.05.
Obviously got harder as the time went by - at eatly stages I found my MP+20sec run felt like a jog and had to keep slowing down.
By the last 5kMP rep I found it incredibly tough and had to run it at Steady pace as legs were cramping (similar experience to what I get in Marathon) - so happy with that.
A very windy day and I kept the reps on an honest route with the last 9k being hilly - up Chesterfield, Up Castleknock Road to Home.
Very happy with how I felt on this, the Carb-Sodium drinks and 2 Gels really help with the run and the recovery afterwards.
36k at 4.26/km (7.09 per mile)
This run taught me a lot about where my focus needs to be in coming weeks.
2 rest days again to manage the festivities and fatigue.
Jan 1st - Week to date
Jan 1st: Off to run the Howth Loop with 2 buddies of mine - 13k all in and noted that I didn't struggle as much on the hill from the Baily LH to the Top.
Jan 2nd: Back to work - 8.5k loop with Strides.
Jan 3rd: Big MW Run - Focusing this week on 2 big sessions.
24/18/12/6/3 mins (3 mins Rec) - Start 'at' or just slightly faster than MP and get faster each rep.
24mins: Averaged about 4.02's for this - so slightly faster than MP - fair route too. (5.94km)
18 mins: Targeting 3.55's - came in at 3.56's - that'll do (4.54km)
12mins: Came in at 3.48's - (3.13km)
6mins: Had to change this to 4mins as was going up C'Fielld and the breeze was a picking up - fatigue was setting in big time. (3.50 pace)
2mins: 3.43 pace - rounded it to 2 min rep so the full set would be 60 mins.
4.5km CD Home - I got a chill on the way home and felt absolutely terrible - stomach was upside down, couldn't get the heat into me - took me about 2 hours to recover.
Happy with the run itself - but should have managed it better with some drinks/Gels and a different & warmer top for the cooldown run home.
This is how I used to feel after a lot of long runs, so taking the carb-sodium drink and Gels on the long runs have been a revelation to me. I'll take similar for my repeat longer midweek runs.
on the plus side - 60mins of faster than MP running. (25km total)
Jan 4th: Everything was telling me not to run - my body, my watch, my HRV, My Wife................... took a much needed rest day.
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Jan 5th: Down to the Phoenix Park for a few very easy miles and some strides.
Jan 6th: Long run Session: 10k easy / 7k - 6k - 5k MP / 4k CD
I waited til after 10am to go out on this one due to the slippery roads, even at 10, the some of the roads were quite slippery.
Main aim for this run was to again get the volume in and have large parts at MP - Not quite as difficult as last weeks run, but more MP work.
10k Easy - partially around the neighbourhood, after a couple of miles I headed back home to dump the 3rd layer. Headed to the PP.
Soon as the 10k was hit - I started into the 1st segment and found myself working for it right away. The 7k was a couple of times around the 2m Loop (around the Visitor Center) - No real wind thankfully, but still a lot of patches of ice and a lot of walkers out to dodge. Managed the paces and found the rhythm after a few K, but still felt like I was working. Paces came in close to 4min per km - (Target is 4.05-4.08 for a sub 2.55)
1k Recovery (4.50 pace) and onto the 6k Section - From CK Gate to the Wellington Mnmt and finish just by the Khyber. - Just over 4min K's.
Took a bit of a walk and considered leaving the MP at that - legs were a feeling a bit 'sore' and 'worked' due to the ice and the additional stabilising I had to do, not to mention the big runs last week and mid week.
Jogged to the Acres Triangle and set off there, going by the Popes Cross and up Chesterfield, Down the OS and finishing at the end of the Furze. - Reps here were closer to 4.05's. - I noted that I had 30k done at 4.22 per k (7 min miles) (2hr 11 mins) - that brought a smile to my face as 10k of the run was 'easy pace'.
While the legs felt tired and a bit sore - I knew that the engine was building very nicely - I had taken 2 gels and 500ml of Carb/Sodium drink and was feeling quite ok.
4km home was quite different to the midweek run I had - felt great and went out for a 90min walk with the dogs about an hour after.
34km / 4.27 per KM / 2hr 31
Sunday: Out to the beach with the Dogs for a nice fresh walk - came home and done a 5km recovery.
5km / 5.28 pace.
95km (59 miles) for the week - highest Mileage in this block.
Its notable that my mileage for this Marathon Block is lower than previous (I was upto 115km for Seville 2022) - I'm putting the emphasis on the sessions and putting the easy days around it - taking breaks when & where I need them to recover for the Sessions.
As a result, my sessions are definitely a higher quality - specifically the long run.
Looking back to that build up my long runs were not of sufficient quality - only 3 runs since Dec 1st to Seville I would class as 'decent quality'.
This training block - theres a big difference in the long runs.
Noted that the Dublin Masters in St Annes were on yesterday - on the M50 team, a guy who is similar to myself came 11th (we also had a 4th) - MSB came 4th overall. If I had of ran a similar race or just worse than my compatriot, we would have won.
I'll feel some internal pressure to do the Leinsters on Jan 21st.
My Training from 17th Jan to 28th Jan could be: Midweek 35k / Masters XC / Midweek 32k / Raheny 5m.
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While I’d love to see you run the Leinster, it’s a bitch of a course so just keep that in mind - you seem to be managing recovery very well but it is deffo up there with the toughest of courses
of course, maybe that’s what you want/need ?! I’d certainly be of that mindset but the recovery has to be the key (especially with Raheny on the cards too)
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Monday 8th: Around the neighborhood - included 6x20sec strides.
9.5km total
Tuesday 9th: Session - 3x8mins Threshold.
I totally underestimated this one - Last bit of pace work I done was 5x6mins in Mid Dec.
6km warm up and completed the session around the 2mile loop - the Bloom Loop as its known.
1st rep was 3.45's - blowing out my backside - thats about 6 min miles. My God.
2nd rep was better as I was about 2-3secs per KM quicker.
3rd rep was best - about 3.39 average per km
3 and a bit KM's home.
16.3km Total
Wednesday: recovery run - just over 8km / 5.22 per k
Thursday: Easy run plus some strides - the house is upside down as we've a painter in since last Thursday and its a mess and quite stressful with 2 dogs to contend with. It adds to the tiredness - and I felt tired today and this week.
9km - inc 6x20 sec strides.
Friday: 60 mins at MP - I had company for this one - which is probably the 1st time I've done a session with company in quite a while - and it was needed. Amazing the difference it makes with company.
Ran down to the park at lunch time and started off with my buddy (training for Tokyo).
He's coming back from injury, but is a far better/faster runner than I but we were both anxious about it if we'd be able to keep up.
Turned out the workout was 60mins which worked out just slightly over 15km.
1st 5k in 20.14 and we were still chatting away - the stretch from the Aras to CK Gate is always tough with a bit of breeze.
2nd 5k in 19.56 - still chatting - but breathing more noticeable.
3rd 5k in 19.33 - we were chatting until we had 10 mins left or so - going up the stretch to the CK gate for the last time and turning the corner - picking the pace up on the last k (3.47 / 6.05).
A great workout - we both agreed had we been on our own, we'd have split it in 2 - I was feeling it at about 5 miles - but after that I felt stronger until the last mile or so when we picked it up.
Great to do it while having a chat - made it go so much faster.
5km home.
23.7 for the day (ave 4.17/km)
Note: I believe the Phoenix Park is closed for a few days next week as the Chinese President is in town.
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Lovely work
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A bit to catch up on;
Sat 13th: Rest Day.
Sun 14th: Tired legs from Friday - 4k easy / 23k Steady (roughly 4.30's per k) / 5k Easy
32k at 4.40 ave.
Weekly mileage was 99k - ..........had I of known!
Mon 15th: 7k easy / 5.30 per km
Tues 16th: 8km in new Dragon Fly XC's - 8 x20 sec strides.
Wed 17th: Long Run - As I'm doing XC on Sunday - I got my long run in on Wed - didn't have use of the PP but got a nice route anyway.
I was torn between doing a session in the run, and keeping it balanced with the race on Sunday - as its a Team Event, I didn't want to let the team down - so done another steady run. Legs were still tired from Fridays and Sundays efforts.
Done 8k about 4.40's (7.30's) and then 24k Steady (paces in between 4.15 and 4.30) - 4k easy to finish. Felt very good on this - 2 Gels and 2x250 ML of carb/sodium drink kept me going.
Wore the AlphaFlys for the 1st time in a long time to help with the recovery.
Felt great afterwards too apart from being a bit cold!
36.5km at 4.32 per KM (2.45mins)
Thurs 18th: 10k recovery - legs felt good. 5.23 per KM
Friday 19th: Rest day
Saturday 20th: 30min shake out + strides in the spikes - all good.
Sunday 21st: Leinsters XC in Avondale - report to follow 7k Race + 5k WU/CD
Mileage down this week (80k) with the XC race on Sunday - I had considered doing 5-6 miles after the race but in the storm it would have been pointless.
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Race Report: Leinster XC - Avondale
After the Dublin Masters where MSB came 4th, I promised them that I'd do the Leinsters (we'd have medaled had I done the St Annes Race).
As race day approached, I got a bit anxious about it - with it being a team event, I didn't want to disappoint! DD was texting me and mentioned the hills and it being a tough route, then I got chatting to my team mates who mentioned it was a tough course and very hilly.
Then word of the oncoming storm came through, which would make it very very tough.
On Friday night I had a dream that the race started in a Box Room in my mothers house, my team mates had deserted me and the 2nd k was on a surf board through a lake. Hows that!! - With this in mind, I knew it would never be as bad as I dreamt.
Spend Saturday night refreshing various links waiting for the Winds to be upgraded to an Orange warning before 11am - which would have resulted in the event being called off :) - By Sunday Morning - I was more than ready for it as I picked up 2 others and made my way to Avondale. The wind was whipping it up as it was a struggle to keep the car straight in the crosswinds on the Motorway.
Made it down, got our numbers and done a lap of the course before the ladies race set off. My Christ - it was a pig of a route alright and the recent weather made it worse. There's one steep downhill section that was just a mud bath. Fun times ahead.
The weather hadn't been too bad during the warmup, but as soon as we put on our vests and numbers, the rain started falling. Lining up at the start, the wind was in our face as we waited for some stragglers to join us.
I had received 2 contrasting pieces of advice - (1) Start hard and get a good line (2) Dont go off too hard - keep a bit.
My own advice was to go with our 2nd scorer (who I thought would be our 2nd scorer) - an XC veteran.
1st piece of the race was ok, not too packed, we done 1 short lap (about 1km) I looked at my watch for the 1st of 2 times and seen a 3.46 km - not too shabby I thought - by this stage I had taken over our 2nd scorer and now I was 2nd scorer - our top guy was just ahead of me.
Back through and - we then came to the downhill, which I navigated quite well, no fallers around me and we came to the turn for the out and back. I seen I had a gap on my team mate and was willing him to catch up. I had no idea who was my competition out here as its difficult to tell who is 50 :) - but the scoring was done differently in this race as I learned later on - so everyone was competition (hindsight).
We turned to come back the other way and there was a good piece of grass to move, just before the next out and back turn, that was fine in comparison to the other side. The hill was waiting for us, a little drag 1st then this mountain - I swear it didn't seem that steep on the warm up. Legs were burning and lungs were too - kept going, my other team mate (who was up ahead) had advised me that the recovery from the hill would come at a certain point, and it did, I banked that for the next lap. We came around again for the start of the 2nd and final lap - 3k to go I was saying - I had been passing a few lads along the way which was good and noted that the gap to the group ahead was getting larger - as we approached the downhill, they had made a step improvement and I knew I wasn't catching them - there were a sproadic few around me (so it seemed) - 1 guy went past me, I wanted to ask him "are you over 50?" - but thought the better of it. On the downhill, there were 2 fallers around me - I got through it unscathed and made the out and back ok - taking note who was near me and where my team mate was.
We turned onto the 'good grass' and I managed to reel in some stragglers who were suffering, on the out and back, I caught 2 more. Keep going, keep picking them off.
We approached the hill and as I was going up it, the Urge to Stop was huge, unlike anything I've felt - some of the group ahead had come back to me - I passed 3 on the hill - I checked my watch here as well (2nd time) - 5.25 per KM at that point and I'm passing people - that shows how tough it was. The bit before the hill is a mudbath, the bit afterwards is a mudbath - nothing to do but run through it - theres no shortcut.
Legs were stinging me - I felt I was walking, we had about 500-600m to go at this stage, I took another couple around here - it was a bit carnage, 2 girls who were watching shouted at us "Sprint!!" - I think we all laughed, not a chance. The memory of the 1st lap and where I recovered from the hill came back to me, I began to feel a bit better ant we turned to the finishing straight, My team mate was on the other side shouting at me to push on. I seen 2 lads ahead and put in a burst to catch them - as I'm pushing Mick C from Trim bursts by me, I pip the 2 lads on the line but get piped myself by Mick.
Finished - one of the hardest races I've ever done - actually probably the hardest.
Realised that it was raining and windy - was it raining during the race? Not too sure?
Waited for the team mates to finish, got on a top and jogged back to the car for warmed clothes and to change out of the wet shorts and bib - it must have been raining during the race as they were soaked through.
Jogged back to get the medals when we realised we had got 2nd O50 team in Leinster. Happy days.
Seen some of the names of people who I beat - quite happy with that too!
I'd say I have done fewer better performances than that - its up there with my most proudest running moments.
7km - 28.13 - 7th O50 - 48th in total.
Leinster Silver Medal.
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Delighted for you, congrats and well done - you're in fine fettle and that M50 group is no walk in the park. Hope you're hooked now, more medals there for you if you are
Recover well (not so much the legs, more the overload in lactic etc)
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Brilliant report A, what a result for your 1st XC race! I have always loved the idea of giving it a go, but I'm not sure I'd be cut out for it. Ah, maybe one day!
You are in great shape, enjoy the buzz 😉
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You picked some place to debut XC! Fair play to you and congrats on the team medal. We'd travelled with a car load too, hoping we'd get a team place. One of our guaranteed scorers couldn't make it and we came an agonising 4th :(
I'm pretty sure I passed you after the first big lap (start of the final lap) as we went around past the start line. I took a shorter line across some sticks and leaves when most were following the grass. But I refute that O50 remark if it's me you're referring to 😁
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thats exactly what I thought - you'd be a belter at it!! Its not as well attended as you think - theres a lot of people dont run XC.
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Yes - I remember that - my 1st thought was, I think I know that cheating b'stard................. :) - no, it was a good move.
You guys would have needed a good scorer to get 3rd - Clane were very strong.
It was you I was speaking to at the end wasn't it? (its all a bit fuzzy)
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Ah thanks a mill A, defo something I might think about going forward😊
Anyway congrats again, defo sounds like you are suited to it!
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Just to chime in, I really wish more people would run XC, numbers are falling rapidly!
There is just "something" about it.
Great to see AMK doing so well and medaling but there are so many people who are still a huge part of these events and get nowhere near the medals, everyone should try it out - closest thing to that post match feeling from years gone by for me.
BHAA have some great events coming up over the next few weeks if people want to dip their toe in
Sorry for hijacking !
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Well done Alan, I ran it last year so I could picture every stick and grass and hill and dale in your report. Especially the hill. 🤮
Brilliant racing and result. 👏👏👏
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Yep that was me at the end of the race. Our missing man won the Connemara Half last year and likely would have been ahead of me so we would have pipped Clane. Nowhere near the top 2 clubs though. League of their own. He might have been wise staying away because of a small dose. I'm on antibiotics now for Bronchitis now for my troubles 😂
Will ye run the Nationals? It's relatively close by.
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Great stuff Alan, great result and report.
Welcome to the suffer fest the is the wonderful event this is XC.
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I'm not in a club so not sure if that's necessary, I'm always afraid of the unknown & unfamiliar but sometimes that can be a good thing, a bit of motivation to achieve new goals maybe?
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BHAA races are open to all. You’d probably slot into a work team already. Check out bhaa.ie.
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Nah - Nationals are the week before Seville Marathon - far too close.
As the Sunday World used to say - "I made my excuses and left".
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Many congratulations A. Delighted for you getting that bit of bling, it was richly deserved for your super effort on the day and commitment to training over the years. Sounds like a gruelling run, definitely not for the faint hearted!
Post edited by ariana` on1 -
Monday 22nd: Legs felt great actually - they knew they been in a race the day before, but felt good.
10.7km / 5.15 per km
Tuesday 23rd: Oh my Holy Jebus and the Mother Mary - legs in a jock today - felt very tired. Debated taking a rest day but a lunchtime walk with the dogs helped - went out in the PM.
Easy paces with 8 strides at the end - felt much better afterwards.
8.5km
Wednesday 24th: Session: I was flexible with this and was willing to move to Thursday if needed - but woke up a different man.
My sleep quality has been off the charts recently - I've always slept well, but I'm like an Olympic champion at sleeping recently.
The session was 20/15/10/5 mins (all off 3 mins easy jog) - starting at slightly faster than MP and getting faster each rep - I wanted to throw in the addition of 10-15 mins at MP or Steady at the end - depending how I felt.
Ran to PP as a warm up - no strides and straight into the 1st rep - as MP=4.05-4.08 (Sub 2.55 Mara) - I held the 1st set of 20 mins to 4min K's.
I used the Furze/OS road for this and all K's came in within 1 second of each other.
2nd set of 15 mins was at HMP (3.50 per km) - averaged 3.47-3.50
3rd set of 10 mins at 3.40's worked out well for but fatigue was growing and my headlamp battery died - 3.41 ave.
Final 5min set of faster stuff was complete at 3.38 ave - running on fumes, despite being downhill to the zoo.
I debated if I'd add in the additional 10-15 mins but as I set off running up Chesterfield (from the Zoo), it felt remarkably good to be running at 4 min K's - so I kept with it. As 10 mins approached - I debated further if I should extend it to 3km - but didn't - happy to finish with 60 mins at faster than MP. (10 mins at 3.59)
3.5km to home.
23.3km at 4.26 (average)
Was very tired later that evening - but nothing that good food, a few glasses of electrolytes and a good sleep couldn't solve.
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Thurs 25th: 6k recovery plod - 5.30/km pace.
Fri 26th: Didn't feel great on Friday - went out for a few miles with strides - cut it short as just wasn't feeling it today.
7km with 8 strides.
Saturday 27th: Session - 4x(5k MP + 2km Steady) - 2nd Steady KM faster than 1st.
Had a good sleep on Friday night and was well fueled for this one - but still had that 'Meh' feeling - thankfully 'Taper' is just around the corner.
I brought my usual 2 soft flasks with Carbs & Sodium and also a new 90g Carb PH Gel to try it out (90g carb in a single gel pouch).
I done a 3km Warm up around the locality before picking it up for the 1st rep - I like doing the 1st rep outside of the PP, just to break it up a bit.
While on the 1st 5km rep I recall thinking - this seems ok - before 1 min later thinking - no, this is going to be very hard - the wind was quite deceptive.
I finished the 1st 5km rep on Auburn Ave and settled into the 2km Steady - I planned a 4.35 / 4.25 split for the 2km Floats - but the 1st one came in at 4.24 and felt incredibly easy. Picked the 2nd one up slightly for a 4.22 - I recall thinking that the last couple of reps wouldn't feel quite as easy.
I chose the large loop from CK gate to the Zoo and back up again for the remainder of the reps - the wind was swirling and seemed to be in my face for the whole thing, which was a pain.
2nd rep varied from 4.01 to 4.04 - finishing across from the Polo Grounds (that bit from the Zoo upto the Aras is a killer) - again, the Floats felt remarkably easy (4.29/4.22) - the difference in running 4.20's vrs 4.05's is massive!!
3rd rep started near the Furze Road and I went up and turned right - 1st 3k felt fine - running 4's - then the wind comes into play despite the downhill and the uphill from the Zoo to the Polos - final 2k of the 5k rep were 4.05's. the 2 steady KM's were 4.30 / 4.18.
4th and Final rep felt difficult - by the last km my body felt beaten up and I had a very slight feeling in my right calf down to the Achilles. The range here was 4.02 to 4.07 and I took a min or so when finished - I still had the 2 pesky Floats to do - these came in at 4.40 / 4.30.
3.50 km jog home.
5km Reps averaged 4.03
2km Floats averaged 4.28
WU and session came to 31.1km/ 4.14 per km / 2hrs 12 mins.
Cool down was 18 mins - 20 2.30 total.
The 90g carb pouch went down well - glad I tried it as its a bit strange that you dont realise how much you've taken. Its the equivalent of 3 and a bit 25g Gels - so this plus the 60g Carbs in my drinks came to 150g carbs - dont think I've ever taken that much in a Marathon race never mind a training run.
Went for a walk with the dogs later and all ok with the calf - no issues anywhere - just still felt a bit beaten up - Race last Sunday and the Session midweek adding to the level of
Sunday: A well earned Rest day.
3 weeks today to Seville.
Post edited by AuldManKing on12 -
Monday 29th: 8.6k / 5.22 pace - it happened - its on Strava - no memory of it.
Tuesday 30th: I was torn between doing a meaty session and taking it a bit easier due to a big workout planned for Friday.
The planned workout was a progression from a prior workout that I had skipped due to the XC Race - so didn't want to attempt that. Instead I chose different workout, that kept the intention of the session e/g/ Faster than MP. - 5km at MP-10 (3.55) + 5x1km at TH (3.40-3.45).
Done this on my 2m Loop (Bloom Loop around the Visitor Center) - 3km warm up - than onto the 5k.
Managed this pretty well - 3.54 ave - took 90seconds and carried on with the 1st KM rep at TH.
I felt fantastic on these - every one felt strong and I felt I could have went faster and done more reps. I took 90secs active rec for each one.
Paces were: 3.36/3.37/3.38/ 3.40/3.39
17km total
Wednesday: Recovery: 8.4km / 5.15 pace - legs felt pretty ok!
Thursday: Body felt ready to go - but I had planned in a rest day and had a big session planned for Friday. Got a little derailed when Wifey announced we were going out on Thursday night. I was somewhat well behaved but eating late is a disaster for my sleep and didn't have the best of sleeps.
Friday 2nd Feb: Session - I had arranged to progress the 60min MP I had done recently with my Tokyo bound buddy - so jogged down to meet him at 2pm on Friday. Wasn't feeling the love or as raring to go as I was on Thursday.
The wind was blowing and it was raining - that hazy wet rain.
1st few k were ok - we had chosen a 4m route that incorporated OS/ Furze Triangle and the Bloom Loop - which was a mistake as in every ~6k loop - the wind was somewhat against us for 4.
After 5-6k I was waiting for the 2nd wind - the pace was being pushed into the wind and I didn't feel in control - I knew early that this would be a tougher run than the 60min a few weeks ago.
Coming up Chesterfield at 9k - I was blowing a bit - at this stage 4.01 was the slowest rep and the wind was just ridiculous. I was getting worried that I'd put in too high an effort and impact my final 2 weeks prep.
We decided to cut out the OS/Furze portion for the remainder - which was a help - but going back up C'Field at 11-12km into the breeze, my legs were really feeling it - I could feel a stitch building which is a clear indicator that I was working way too hard.
I fell off the pace (despite a 3.57 km) at 14k and as we turned to go up C'Field again - I told my buddy to go on and I turned around and ran back the way I came - doing laps of the Triangle by the HITW Pub until 70 mins beeped and I had an absolute belter of a stitch.
I completed 70 mins at 4.02 pace - 17.3k. (My HR was in high 160's for this from the 3rd KM, which is touching TH - on Tuesdays session - my HR maxed at 158 on last K rep at 3.39 pace)
But felt quite disappointed about how I felt and how I didn't control the effort a bit more. I didn't take my drinks/ gels when I needed to (as effort was too high) - which resulted in me feeling quite $hit for the rest of the day.
I had worn a new pair of VF's that were a tester for the Marathon day and while they were fine, I probably wont wear them on the Marathon as I'll associate them with a bad run (its mad how we think).
With WU & CD - close to 27km for the day.
Still a good beneficial session - a lesson to factor in the conditions.
Saturday: just under 7km recovery
Feb finished up with 392km (243miles) - not my highest in a Marathon build by a long shot - but in line with keeping the priority on the Long Runs and making sure they are good quality.
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Solid week, A - don't think you can compare HR on those two sessions, especially the intervals anyway, broken up, smaller sections, less time moving at higher HR with less HR creep, recovery built in etc
I wouldn't be disappointed one bit with that second one, when you take into account where you are in your block and how tough a day it was to run a continual tempo type run on Friday - you're in good shape, don't let that session fool you
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Cheers DD, don't underestimate your comments!!
Solid Gold.
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Sunday: Out for an easy paced run - legs felt very very tired during this.
17km / 5.06 pace
85km for the week - about right with 2 full weeks to Race Day.
Monday: Spent the day in bed - feeling terrible, tired and headachy. I wonder was this brewing for a while or if Fridays effort made it worse - or both!
either way - the rest done me good.
Tuesday: Resisted the urge to try a session - done a few easy miles with 10 strides.
8km total.
Checked flights, travel plan and to verify that I did actually register for the marathon in Seville - all affirmative.
Feeling quite calm about this one (so far).
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