Run run run run run run run....

jebuz

yaboya1 wrote: »

Ok, but if you don't you don't get any TC

I know thats what makes this such a difficult decision

viperlogic

Passed ya during warm up but didn't see ya on course. Decide not to risk it?

jebuz

Ah no I didn't recognise you sorry! Yeah I did the warm up but the achilles was still slightly paining me, had a brief battle with my conscience but sense prevailed and I pulled the plug on it. Not a great week but I know it was the right call. Now moving on swiftly

jebuz

Miles Ran: 306
Avg Distance: 8.06
Avg HR: 131
Days Ran: 27/31
Days Sick: 1
Days Injured 2
Rest Days: 1

Overall a good month despite the sickness/injury setback in the last week. Decent volume with two 80+ weeks and the reintroduction of sessions has me in a good place to tackle the important 2 months ahead.

At this point I can probably assess better how the base building impacted my training and I have to say I think it made a huge positive difference. I hit the club sessions again without any major difficulties, I felt stronger and more comfortable than anticipated and there was no evident lack of speed. The weekly tempo session I kept during the base phase seemed to have done the job maintaining the turnover in the legs and the 20 mile runs are feeling very comfortable right now. I think my aerobic fitness has taken a big leap overall but I guess the ultimate test is a race. Unfortunately I didn't toe the line in Dungarvan but there'll be something coming up soon hopefully. In the meantime it's back to work!

jebuz

Monday 02/02 - 9.2 miles @ 7:42 min/mile

As with all achilles injuries, you're just waiting for that one run that you get through pain free and thankfully this was that run. Headed off after work with a clubmate and took it very easy while chatting but I was constantly gauging the achilles, I certainly felt something there but no pain and as the run progressed it felt better and better. It was this article I saw recently on cianc's log which gave me some solid advice on how to approach, well worth a read if you suffer. I plan to continue performing the eccentric heel drops as these injuries seems to affect me every few months. With the volume increasing over the next few months its imperative I remain as injury free as possible, isn't it.

Tuesday 03/02 - 10.2 miles @ 7:03 min/mile

Great run tonight, really enjoyable, felt fantastic throughout and again pain free. Obviously I wasn't doing a session so I headed out towards Ballincollig with a few lads who ran the Dungarvan race but thankfully we didn't chat too much about that Effort felt very easy and the legs felt so fresh, the rest looks like it has done me some good.

Nerdy stat time. When I look at the average HR of 128bpm for this run, it appears to be a tangible improvement in my aerobic fitness when last year I would have typically expected 135bpm or so for the same pace so this is a good sign. Of course there are many possible variables at play that affect HR but its still a positive sign though it means nothing really if I'm not seeing improvements in races which is why I need to do a flipping race.

Narco0o0o0o

jebuz wrote: »

When I look at the average HR of 128bpm for this run, it appears to be a tangible improvement in my aerobic fitness when last year I would have typically expected 135bpm or so for the same pace so this is a good sign.

Hi Conor, Sean Cullen here from Strava. Great blog! I'm a month into a Lydiard style base myself, run mainly off heart rate. I was wondering what your max heart rate is as %max would make more sense to me for comparison purposes.

jebuz

Hey Sean. My max HR is 182. I think it's a great idea to use HR as your feedback, I did it myself. Its all about effort and you'll soon have a good idea of what your HR should be for a particular workout whether it be a long run, moderate effort, easy run or whatever. The majority of my base building running was between 120-135bpm which is about 65%-75% and I felt I found a good balance there while getting in good volume. Best of luck with it, I found it very useful but next time I'd plan a little better and get maybe 12 weeks in.

By the way stop lurching get a log going, all the cool kids are doing it

66_Lad

jebuz wrote: »

Of course there are many possible variables at play that affect HR but its still a positive sign though it means nothing really if I'm not seeing improvements in races which is why I need to do a flipping race.

Hey jebuz - if your back down in Wexford this weekend there is the Enniscorthy 10k on Sunday...always has a competitive field, couple of drags on the route but overall its a course you can get a good time on.

Bad luck having to pull the plug on Dungarvan but definitely the right thing - I did the opposite to you last August and ran the Frank Duffy 10 mile with a niggle and ended up missing ~ 6 weeks overall, have learnt my lesson the hard way.

Great blog btw, been following it for past few months now.

jebuz

Thanks 66_lad, I am considering Enniscorthy alright as I entered a few months ago but after last week I think I'm going to try get a solid week of training in and target a 5k race in a couple of weeks then a half marathon in early March. Plus I don't know if I can manage that 6 hour round trip

Narco0o0o0o

jebuz wrote: »

By the way stop lurching get a log going, all the cool kids are doing it

I hadn't considered doing a log. I might do in the future but right now I'm too lazy and there are enough good logs on here already.

Someone mentioned it earlier in your log but you should get the book Healthy Intelligent Training by Keith Livingstone as a great explanation of the Lydiard training philosophy and why an extended base lays the foundation for harder training to come. It has a very accessible section on physiology that for the first time, properly explained for me (and I've read a lot of training books), the whole science behind extending the performance/speed of and recruiting additional slow twitch muscle fibers to your overall repertoire, by an extended period of slower running before hitting the faster stuff ie, 'pushing training up from below'.

Your heart rate for some of your paces is pretty encouraging - 70% Max HR (ie 128bpm) for a 7.03/mile 10 mile run is very impressive and indicates you're in great aerobic shape already. You must be feeling confident going into the harder training. Good luck with it!

jebuz

Wednesday 04/03 - 12.7 miles mixed

AM: 5 miles @ 7:59 min/mile

Just a morning run. Baltic.

PM: 7.6 miles @ 7:33 min/mile

Nice evening hilly run, legs felt pretty fresh. Brought the tunes with me again, and I listened to this great spotify playlist 'indie workout'. Ah shít I'm turning back into a recreational jogger. Does anyone know what a good 5k time is? I can run 25 mins in training.

Thursday 05/03 - 11.3 miles with 30 mins @ MP (6.02 min/mile avg)

Have been feeling great the past few days but didn't want to throw caution to the wind for tonights tempo so I decided to pull back the intensity a little not wanting to upset my buddy achilles. I figured it would be good at this point to see how MP miles feel and ended up running 5 solid and pretty comfortable miles @ 6 min pace, legs felt very good. The goal pace for Rotterdam will be in and around this and tonights session gave me a hint of confidence that with an honest effort over the next 8 weeks I'll be able to sustain that for 26.2......minutes. I mean miles.

Netwerk Errer

You're on a slippery slope towards this. Next, you'll be asking what camelbak you need for a 5k.

jebuz

Wind turbine generator....solar charger!! how did I not think of these things, thanks NE!!

jebuz

Friday 06/03 - 5.5 miles @ 7:46 min/mile

Nice early morning recovery and very mild out, don't seem to find it a problem getting out of the bed on a Friday morning.

Saturday 07/03 10 miles with 4 x 5 mins @ 5k

Out to the UCC farm as always but took to the pathways today for a planned 4 x 5 mins followed by 2 x 10 mins. Started well running the 5's at 5:20 min/mile pace but I started feeling a pain in my ankle during the last few reps so I decided to skip the 10 min reps and just jogged it out for the remainder. I've had a good week and I ran the 5's well, I've got a 20 miler planned for tomorrow so not taking any chances.

Splits (2 mins recovery):
1. 0.93 miles @ 5:21 min/mile
2. 0.94 miles @ 5:18 min/mile
3. 0.94 miles @ 5:18 min/mile
4. 0.94 miles @ 5:21 min/mile

Overall still a good session and happy with those paces, I think I could put it all together and run a decent 5k at the moment in and around my PB. I'll find out in 2 weeks anyway as I've a parkrun planned in Newcastle when I'm over visiting a friend.

jebuz

Sunday 08/03 - a whole 1.2 miles

I decided to head for the grass today as a precautionary measure as I still felt a niggle in the ankle when walking yesterday. Incidentally this is not the same injury that caused me to pull out of Dungarvan, other foot. The plan today was 20 miles but accepted it might be a lot less and it was a lot less, 1.2 miles in fact. I felt a pain around halfway through the first mile that got progressively worse so I pulled the plug, flip it anyway. Looks like this one is on the peroneal tendon on the outside of the bone and I think its due to the Kinvaras I wore for the session yesterday. I don't wear them that often, never feel comfortable in them and not sure what prompted me to take them yesterday though the plan was to just wear them for the warm up. All I can do is rest and let it heal, doesn't feel too major.

Having a frustrating time of it lately but this is the game I signed up for and injuries are inevitable, I just didn't expect two in the space of a week. I suppose the one positive is this is happening with plenty of time still to prepare for Rotterdam so there is some rational thought still lingering. All I hope for this coming week is a quick recovery and getting back on track. Milage way down (60 this week) but could be a lot worse.

jebuz

Tuesday 10/02 - 10.2 miles @ 7:14 min/mile

As with all injuries, you're just waiting for that one run that you get through pain free and thankfully this was that run. Wait a minute didn't I say that exact sentence this time last week? I did, it was meant to be a joke. Anyway this went well, very well. No tendon pain thankfully so the rest did the job nicely and the legs felt great so my rational concern of losing all of my fitness didn't materialise. I did go see a physio today just for peace of mind and she ended up ordering me some custom insoles as it seems my arches are a little flat and apparently I'm toeing off incorrectly, a potential explanation for my achilles injuries. She also said quite bluntly to bin the Kinvaras if I'm getting injured in them. I said I will but I probably won't, I could use them for the gym or if I'm out washing my car or something, or painting the fence but I don't have a fence but someday I might. The recreational jogger thing is getting worse, I have obtained an arm strap for my phone and some bluetooth headphones which to be fair are pretty neat. I took them out for a spin this evening and I had a ruddy good time. Did I just say neat? I honestly couldn't think of any other word...what's happening to me

Wednesday 11/02 - 12.6 miles @ 7:27 min/mile

Nice easy run with a clubmate after work. Plan was about 90 mins, we took a hilly route into the city and talked about all sorts of topics such as running and running. We also talked about running. No niggles to report so all good in that department. I couldn't bring my arm strap and earphones today because it would have been a little rude.

jebuz

Thursday 12/02 - 16.6 miles mixed

PM Lunch: 4.9 miles @ 7:41 min/mile

To the GAA pitches near work for a light lunchtime trot.

PM Evening: 11.6 miles with 30 min track tempo @ 5:56 min/mile

Felt good today, like last week I eased back on the intensity of the tempo not wanting a relapse of the injury but felt good overall and was very relaxed throughout. I felt no issues with the leg and picked it up to 5:50's for the last 10 minutes or so and finished feeling pretty comfortable. I really noticed this tonight but I still don't get the amount of people that 'cling in there' for a tempo session. The tempo should be a hard effort but you should finish feeling like you could manage another 20 mins or so. I'm not a coach and far from it but too many runners in my opinion are unnecessarily flogging themselves during tempo sessions, I'm talking extremely heavy breathing, slouched forward and basically running at or close to 5 mile/10k race pace, finishing and nearly collapsing. I have been guilty of this in the past and it's hard to rationalise that by slowing down you become faster but I think it's a golden nugget of advice that was instilled into me last year by my coach. Personally I've found this thinking has played a significant role for my 'in between' easy days and making sure I'm getting sufficient recovery for the sessions that matter. And that's how my session went today.

Mile Splits: 6:01, 5:59, 5:56, 5:49, 5:50

Friday 13/02 - 5 miles @ 7:54 min/mile

This was your usual bog standard run-of-the-mill typical customary matter-of-course unexceptional Friday morning mundane meander.

Todays post was sponsored by Thesaurus.com

jebuz

Saturday 14/02 - 14 miles with 3 x 10 mins & 2 x 5 mins hard

I have come away from the last 2 Saturday sessions not feeling very satisfied so I was keen to run a decent session today but the target was also not to get injured and I seemed to have ticked both boxes today.

Cracking morning so I laced up (my normal runners) and headed out to the UCC farm where we started with a 20 min warmup on the pitches. Next it was into the prescribed session of 3 x 10 mins & 2 x 5 mins with a 2 min recovery. The pitches were pretty cut up so a group of us headed for the pathways while some stayed on the grass. I figured wearing spikes today given my recent luck was not the best idea.

So straight into the first 10 min rep and I worked in with a club mate while 3 quicker lads took off just ahead of us. I settled into a 5:30ish pace feeling relatively comfortable but still working hard. I felt this was a pace I could hold for the 3 x 10 mins so stuck with it but had to remember those 5 min reps too. Completed the first 10 mins @ 5:32 pace and was happy with that, the recovery felt like about 4 seconds though. Into the second rep and I found myself out on my own about halfway through as my clubmate fell off the pace slightly. I still managed to keep it steady and averaged 5:33 for this one, felt very strong in the last few minutes.

During the recovery I regrouped with the 3 lads ahead of me and said I'd try keep them close for the 3rd rep. I was working hard but was fully focussed on keeping right behind the guys ahead and finished this one @ 5:29 avg pace. Still not done though, time for the 5 min reps which felt mentally quite manageable at this stage and I hoped to pick up the pace slightly for these. I again stuck close to the 3 lads, legs were really getting tired but knowing I was almost there I managed to hold a decent pace averaging 5:25 and 5:20 for each and delighted to hang in there with the lads while still not completely killing myself.

Overall a very taxing but rewarding session and I was buzzing after it. I made a conscious effort to focus on my form today making sure I stayed strong and relaxed even when the legs were screaming. Having the group ahead of me was brilliant for my focus, exactly the session I needed today.

Splits (2 min recovery):
10 mins: 1.81 miles @ 5:32 min/mile
10 mins: 1.81 miles @ 5:33 min/mile
10 mins: 1.83 miles @ 5:29 min/mile
5 mins: 0.92 miles @ 5:25 min/mile
5 mins: 0.94 miles @ 5:20 min/mile

jebuz

Sunday 15/02 - 20 miles @ 6:58 min/mile

What started as a crap week has finished off a lot better and topped it off with a solid 20 miler today. In with a good group of lads down the marina and and felt comfortable the whole way, time just flew by. Picked the pace up for the last few miles and happy to be able to manage this after a tough session yesterday. Time to spend some quality time with my friends couch & TV now.

Weekly milage: 78.4

jebuz

Monday 16/02 - 70 mins easy

Starting from today I've made a decision to stop running by milage and pace and to run by time. I find myself constantly using milage as a metric, checking my pace on runs and neglecting feel. I think the watch can be useful but I'm leaning on it way too much and I want to try a different approach. To aid this, I've configured my garmin to only display a stopwatch and that's how I'm going to leave it for the next while. Start, stop, simple. I headed out with a clubmate after work today, nice and easy pace but legs feeling pretty beat up from the weekend- rub down booked for Wednesday.

Tuesday 17/02 - 6 x 800m track

Still tired this evening, I knew I was in for an 800's session and on my 3 mile jog down to the track I contemplated just heading for an easy run but I was just being a wuss. I think it was just a case of fearing the session, I knew I was physically able for it. I had only done just one 800's session before and I know how horrible they are. Groups were forming for the session, 6 x 800 was the plan with a 400m recovery. I had no idea where I was at with my lack of track sessions lately but figured I'd latch on to the 2:30 group and see how it goes. It went well though despite being the toughest session in a long while. I was in with a group of 5 or so and we kept them all pretty much bang on 2:30's though I wouldn't say I was comfortable, it was one of those sessions where you're digging into reserves. I got to 5 reps which was mentally a weight off and was a mini target. I decided to pace the last rep as I knew I'd feed well off the pressure, it was a killer but ended up being the fastest rep and capped off a hugely satisfying session. A very slow jog back home ensued. 800's, still the worst session in the world.

Splits:
1. 2:30
2. 2:31
3. 2:30
4. 2:30
5. 2:31
6. 2:29

Dubgal72

Hi Jebuz, I have been reading your log with interest. You're generally flying. Have you any plans to return to Donore or are you permanently based in the PRC now? That was a nice session and the last rep gets you on the 10 round numbers table if I'm not mistaken... Although you may want to save that for a single effort entry

jebuz

Hey Dubgal, thanks! I originally planned to return to Donore alright, the idea was to endure 6 months here but it turns out it's not so bad and so I guess I'm here for the unforeseen future. Leevale are a great club so it's working out quite well but I still have to put up with all the munster nonsense Are you with Donore? You may know my sister if so as she runs with them

Yeah it's a nice session looking back but wasn't very pretty at the time I had no idea you could use training times for the 10 round numbers but yeah I'll hang on until the summer where I plan on having a go at some of the graded track meets, I've never tried any. I've been watching your progress also, going very well and a great run at Enniscorthy. I think you're well on track to that sub 40 this year.

Dubgal72

No, I was years ago. They are a really great club and if I was living in that neck of the woods, they'd be my first (and only ) choice. I'm really happy with the club I'm in now (BR in north Wicklow) and won't be going anywhere else.
Thanks for the vote of confidence and best of training to you I'd say you'll be filling in that table pretty quickly once you start!

dublin runner

Thats pretty funny. I'm using just the stopwatch all this week too. We are doing it at different stages of training but mainly for the same reasons I guess. Haven't yet configured the Garmin so wearing a pink stopwatch on the right and Garmin on the left!

Good stuff with the 800s. It's a horrible session but great feeling when you've it ticked off.

jebuz

Hey Anto, yeah it feels like a bit of a load off actually just heading out for a run and not knowing your distance or pace, strange as I've always had a garmin since I started running. I've read a lot about the road legends of the 80's and they all trained and raced by feel while keeping a pen and paper diary, not a huge emphasis on milage. That simplistic approach always struck a chord with me but I've never taken any action so this is essentially an attempt to become a legend of the 80's...now I just need a time machine, and a pink stopwatch.

jebuz

Wednesday 18/02 (AM) - 40 mins easy

usual morning jog around the neighbourhood

Wednesday 18/02 (PM) - 60 mins easy

as if the pre-run rub down wasn't enough torture, the rail wind and hail topped it off nicely. horrible!

Thursday 19/02 (Lunch) - 35 mins easy

lunch time jog, got absolutely abused by a hail shower, couldn't feel my anything.

Thursday 19/02 (PM) - 80 mins with 30 min track tempo @ 5:56 min/mile

Didn't know my pace during the session so was surprised to see just a 5:56 min/mile average for the 30 mins, felt a lot harder and tiredness creeping up on me a little this week.

Friday 20/02 - 40 min recovery

Saturday 21/02 - 10 miles with Parkrun (17:33, 1st)

Over in Newcastle for the weekend visiting a friend so the plan was to head down to the local Gateshead parkrun instead of my usual session.

This was my first time racing without a watch so this was an interesting experience. I was aiming for a hard effort and ended up winning it but the time of 17:33 was a little underwhelming, over a minute off my PB. About 5 mins into the race I overtook the first 2 runners and I was out on my own for the rest of it and had a gap of about 40 seconds by the end. The effort felt like it was sub 17 but I was way off and surprised to see my time at the end, this felt way harder than the 5:40 min/mile average. It was a fairly undulating course in almost freezing conditions but still expected better and I don't have many excuses. Still I'm not going to dwell on this at all, it was a substitute for a session and it was a decent workout.

In terms of using the garmin, I'm starting to wonder if I've gone from one extreme to the other without even considering a compromise. Yes, I've relied on the watch a bit too much but maybe banishing it for every single run isn't the answer. I'm wondering if I had have seen my pace during the race, or even the mile splits pop up I might have been motivated to pick it up a little. Using the stopwatch for easy/recovery runs makes sense to me and I'll continue that but I think the feedback during sessions can be a useful as long as that's all it is, a guide. That's my way of saying "can I use my watch again"? Maybe I just need to give it more time, I'll have to give it some more thought.

Sunday 21/02 - 20 miles

Still hanging around the baltic region of Gateshead so I mapped a 5 mile route around my mates house, headed out at 8am and duly knocked out 4 monotonous laps of a fairly undulating course. Legs felt good and happy to see a 7:18 min/mile pace afterwards as it felt a lot slower at the time.

Weekly milage: 82

Interesting week. As I mentioned with the garmin, I may have gone a little extreme in the other direction so I'll have to review. Nothing was really broken and I was running quite well so maybe it didn't need a radical overhaul, just an adjustment. It didn't feel like a good week overall, effort felt forced at times and the parkrun result was a little disappointing. On top of that I've had glute pain during the weekend which at times pained me to walk but feeling a lot better today but keeping an eye on it.

Positives though: 3 sessions bagged, milage good, injury free. Another way to see it is that I shouldn't be feeling amazing right now, I've 6 weeks until the marathon, plenty of work to do and that's the time to be peaking, not now. I think what I really need is a solid race to assure myself I'm heading in the right direction. The training has been great since December but with no returns to show for it, I'm starting to become a little restless. Mallow on 22nd March can't come soon enough!

Netwerk Errer

I wouldn't worry about it much jebuz. As you said yourself, you're only 6 weeks out from Rotterdam. It would be more worrying if you felt strong and fresh. Personally, as long as I'm sleeping well, eating well and in a semi-decent mood this close to a marathon. I take the fatigue as a sign of being on track for a good day.

Dubgal72

Hi, I was wondering the same myself about 'one extreme to the other' as I read Perhaps there is a period of transition as you get used to listening to your body? We were having a chat with the coach (one of the road running legends of the 80s, yes, we are very lucky!) the other day and garmin talk came up. He reckons they have their place in training but that yes, they can limit training if adhered to too rigorously. On the other hand, you can go too crazy: he got told off for doing his recovery runs - in the dinosaur era - too fast at 5m/m pace :eek: So essentially he was saying there needs to be a balance but the ultimate goal would be to ditch them for racing and race against people, not the watch...

jebuz

Hey DG. Seems to be a popular opinion of the legends alright. I think had the watches have been available in their era they would have been a useful training device and that's all, most would have ditched them for a race and it was simply a case of balls to the wall (or whatever the female equivalent of that is). By the way, this book brilliantly captures the thought process and training methods of the 80s legends and funnily enough it's called "British Marathon Running Legends of the 1980s", highly recommended.

I have to say though on one occasion last year I found the watch very useful in what was probably my best run in the Chaleville half. I was starting to tire around mile 9 or so and had a glance at the watch to see my pace slowing. I felt like throwing the towel in but it gave me a kick up the arse and I picked it up to finish strong over the next few miles running a PB. Just like all variables in the running world, it's completely individual and experimenting with different approaches is key.

I think I'll give it another whack racing without the watch. It'll still play a role in training but for all easy and recovery runs I'm sticking with the stopwatch, wish I hadn't spent so much on it now :P

Dubgal72

Think I'll have to get that book! Good luck with the new approach, fwiw I think it'll pay off, especially if you transition slowly.

jebuz

Monday 23/02 (AM) - 5 miles @ 7:56 min/mile

Missed my flight home from Newcastle on Sunday, long story. Well no it's quite a short story, there were rail works on the metro line and I had to get a bus which took super long and I missed it. The point of this story is that I did this run around a freezing and blustery Gateshead before wasting an afternoon in Newcastle drinking coffee and watching Prison Break and then finally flying home. Conditions were horrific coming into Cork, most terrifying landing ever. I was sure we were all dead but turns out we didn't die in the end and the plane landed ok.

Monday 23/02 (PM) - 5 miles @ 7:25 min/mile

Some post stress trauma relief after the flight, little jog around the city though the wind was crazy, legs feeling much fresher than this morning.

Tuesday 24/02 - 15 miles @ 6:59 min/mile

Made the switch to long runs on a Tuesday for the next few weeks in preparation for Rotterdam and this was a good positive run. Headed down into the city and to the marina where I just let the legs dictate a pace and felt great at times. I experimented with throwing in some surges near the end when tiring. This was an effort to practice picking up the pace when the going gets tough in a race and worked well, especially around 10 miles in when I started slacking and needed some focus.

Wednesday 25/02 (AM) - 5 miles @ 8:14 min/mile

Easy recovery into the city and back. Wish I hadn't chosen the hilly route as the legs were sapped and effort was forced.

Wednesday 25/02 (PM) - 7 miles @ 7:27 min/mile

Feeling fresher in the evening, headed into the city again on a more hilly route with club mate. Still have concerns about the left glute, it almost feels as if I am working harder on one side if that's possible, particularly felt it on the hills today so going to get it checked when I can.

jebuz

Thursday 26/02 - 16 miles mixed

Lunch: 30 mins (4 miles) easy

PM: 12 miles with 35 min track tempo @ 6 min/mile

Making the final progression to 35 mins tonight and will hold it at this for the next 3 weeks or so. I pulled back a group and sat around planned MP (6 min/mile) for 30 mins. Felt relatively comfortable and picked it up for the last 5 min feeling pretty strong. Good session, glute still bothering me but no pain there, just a sense of weakness so trying to sort a physio session for next week.

jebuz

Friday 27/02 - 5 miles recovery

I chickened off to the treadmill because it was windy and raining and I didn't want to get wet. There I said it.

Saturday 27/02 - 14 miles with 5 x 6 mins & 1 x 10 mins

A very satisfying session this morning at the farm. Having felt a bit off the boil recently, this felt like a return to form in terms of effort. Everything had felt a little forced recently and today I felt back in control, breathing and form good and glute felt fine. In with a group of 3 lads, ran the 6 x 5 mins at roughly 5:30-5:35 pace with a 2 min recovery, kept them all pretty consistent and effort was tough but controlled. I expected the pace to slow a little for the 10 min rep but felt good and kept the effort the same. Pretty lucky to get this done in good conditions before the shít storm hit.

Splits: (2 mins recovery)
1. 5 mins @ 5:30 min/mile
2. 5 mins @ 5:36 min/mile
3. 5 mins @ 5:30 min/mile
4. 5 mins @ 5:36 min/mile
5. 5 mins @ 5:35 min/mile
6. 5 mins @ 5:36 min/mile
7. 10 mins @ 5:37 min/mile

dublin runner

Fancy a run in Cork City tomorrow morning?!

jebuz

Dublin runner in Cork...well I never

Planning on 20 miles in the morning you're welcome to come along for some or all will drop you a text

jebuz

Sunday 01/03 - 20 miles @ 7:03 min/mile

Quite easily the worst conditions I've ever run in but on the other hand a pretty satisfying run, after it ended. Despite the torrential rain, gale force winds, hail, soggy runners and generally drenchiness, it felt pretty comfy in terms of effort and capped off my first 90+ mile week, so a lot of positives. I looked outside at 8am and everything looked pretty good so I left the house in my shortest shorts and a t-shirt, ready to rock. Minutes later however a few drops started hitting me but I paid little attention. Cue 8 miles later when I met up with my clubmates at the marina and it was coming down hard, with no mercy. We trudged on and I was definitely glad of the company for these 10 miles or so. Though all the attention (and chat) was on the weather, the effort felt surprisingly easy and legs feeling fresh. There was one particular horrid mile near the end which had myself and the lads questioning our sanity, my t-shirt was stuck to me like glue and hailstones pelting me in the face for fun. Suddenly like a switch, it all passed and I was almost there. Last 3 miles were quite enjoyable but I couldn't wait to get those soggy clothes off and I sat in my car with the heating on full with a weird smile on my face knowing I'd someday look back and realise it was worth it. Good finish to the week.

Weekly milage: 92

jebuz

Monday 02/03 - 70 mins recovery (9 miles)

In Kilkenny for a small break so headed out early for a light jog around the castle grounds on a particularly freezing but beautiful morning. Legs felt ok despite the recent hammering.

Tuesday 03/03 - 15 miles @ 6:44 min/mile

Home in Enniscorthy today to say hello to the folks (and eat their food). Another smashing sunny morning in the south east but a stiff breeze out there. Very encouraging run overall, effort felt comfortable and mixed it up a little throwing in a few quicker miles here and there, getting down to marathon pace for a mile or so. One of those runs where no matter what direction you run the wind is in your face but on the whole a very satisfying run.

Heading back to Cork now and then at 6am off to Holland for the rest of the week for work stuff. Training will be hit and miss I'm guessing as it'll just be a case of squeezing in a run whenever I can. I can't wait to do loops around the airport again though

jebuz

Wednesday 04/03 - 10 miles @ 7:32 min/mile
So I made it to Holland, my home for the next while. Got back from work pretty late but still managed a nice 10 mile run before dinner. Headed off with a clubmate who happens to work with me and happens to be over here too so was glad of the company. We headed around the city of Tilburg which is quite conducive to running with its generously wide bike lanes, there is also a distinct lack of scumbags. Plan is to just get the runs in while I'm here, sessions not essential with the late hours I'll be working so this was a good start. All the restaurants were closed when we came back so had Ronald McDonald refuel me with some chicken nuggets and a tuna salad.

Thursday 05/03 - 9 miles @ 7:01 min/mile (with 4m @ effort)
Headed off just before 9pm and planned on getting some effort miles in tonight. 2 mile warmup and then picked it up. First 2 miles of 6:23 which didn't feel that comfortable, working too hard for that pace and stomach wasn't feeling right. Picked it up with a 6:12 and a 6:07 before I got a killer stitch and left it at 4 miles. Not the greatest run, body didn't feel the best but got some quality in and just happy to get another run in. 3 miles warmdown and just in time for last dinner orders.

Friday 06/03 - 8 miles recovery
2 x 4 mile runs before and after work. Both very easy recovery pace and not really a lot to discuss about them, though PM me if you do want to discuss. I'm supposed to be back in Cork right now but hanging on for a few more days as the project isn't quite finished. Hoping to get a decent session in tomorrow morning and a 20 miler Sunday while also fitting in some work, well that's the plan anyway and that would top off a pretty good week everything considered.

jebuz

Saturday 07/03 - 13 miles with 6 x 1 mile repeats

A quick look at google maps this morning and I saw a park about 2 miles away with plenty of pathway, this could do for my session so I said "this could do for my session" out loud as I wagged my chin, but nobody saw or heard me. Anyway up about 8:30am and grabbed a coffee and a small bowl of yoghurt & nuts in the buffet, such a shame I couldn't dig into the good stuff this morning. Headed off around 9am and jogged down to the park. It was perfect as google promised, loads of uninterrupted pathways and only a handful of walkers around. Fairly chilly out but no different than home so I hid the geansai in a tree and jumped into the session.

The plan was mile repeats, similar to what I'd be doing back home on a Saturday. I felt these would be manageable on my own and the target was at least 6 reps at 5:30 min/mile pace with a 2 min recovery. Into the first one and felt quite tough immediately but eventually relaxed into it and hit a 5:30, decent start. I then settled into the session hitting 5:23 for the next 2 reps and while working hard, felt alright and recovering well in between. A dog chased me on the 3rd rep, I just can't handle that stress but I think I did speed up a little. 5:25 for the 4th, starting to tire a little, followed by a 5:26 and then had to work hard for the last one. I got off to a slow start, felt a stitch coming on and a slight twinge in my groin. I really wanted to keep the session consistent and finish the last rep under 5:30 so had to dig deep for the last 1/4 mile and managed to finish strong with a 5:28. I knew then that 6 reps were enough and I'd be pushing it by doing any more so I left it there. Nice 3 mile jog back home and job done. Time to shower, grab some lunch and then off to work but I don't really mind, that session has put me in a pretty good mood.

Splits (2 min recovery):
5:30
5:23
5:23
5:25
5:26
5:28

ThebitterLemon

Nice mile reps.

Hope you didn't forget the jumper

TbL

jebuz

Sunday 08/03 - 18.4 miles @ 7:32 min/mile

Well not quite the 20 miles as planned but I'm just happy to have gotten over 2 hours in considering I almost pulled the plug on this after about 8 miles. I think the week caught up with me a bit today. Tiredness is creeping in and I had what felt like muscular pain in my chest for the first 2 miles coupled with my glute screaming at me every now and then. I pulled the pace back to 7:30's and just shuffled along listening to the marathon talk lads waffling on about something. I figured out an 8 mile loop and when I got back the first time I considered calling it a day but through sheer stubbornness I convinced myself I could get through at least 2 hours. It wasn't just the physical aspect but mentally I wasn't with it at all today, I just wanted to get it done so I said one more loop and 16 miles will do me grand. Things actually picked up around 12 miles, the glute started behaving bar the odd sharp pain periodically and I started feeling good. Last few miles were comfortable and when I got back to the hotel I was bang on 2 hours. More stubbornness kicked in and I threw in another 15 minutes feeling grand, overall the effort felt very easy today. I got back to the hotel and considered pushing on to the 20 miles but for what really, pull yourself together man. I already had been on my feet almost 2:20, which is my typical long run so that was plenty for today. Really need to get into a physio when I get home to make sure this glute issue is nothing serious. Good weeks running overall considering I've been away and probably no harm pulling the milage back a little after last week.

Weekly milage: 82.6

jebuz

** Monday 09/03 - 10 miles @ 7:53 **

Final run in Tilburg and happy to have made it through the trip with a lot of good work done both on and off the roads. This was a nice relaxed recovery in the evening, body felt just fine. In an effort to avoid missing my flight due to the early morning traffic, I opted for a late night drive up to Amsterdam and stayed close to the airport, heard some horror stories of guys missing flights so played it safe.

** Tuesday 10/03 - 18.5 miles mixed **

AM: 4.8 miles @ 7:13 min/mile. Got back to Cork mid morning and was so glad to be back I laced up and headed for a 5 miler before heading into work for a few hours. Pace was nippier than expected but just let the legs pick a comfortable pace and that was it.

PM: 13.7 miles @ 6:53 min/mile Good positive run and I've been enjoying these medium long ones in recent weeks. Cracking evening, ran into the city and down to the marina for a loop and back home. Was battling a ridiculous wind for 2 miles around halfway through and then when I turned I picked up the pace for the next 4 miles running around 6:20 min/miles feeling very comfortable. Couple of miles easy before climbing back up to home and happy with this one.

** Wednesday 11/03 - 13 miles mixed **

AM: 5 treadmill miles @ 8 min/mile Contrast to yesterday evening, a horrible wet and extremely windy morning meant I retreated to the gym for this one. Nothing much to say, actually nothing to say about it.

PM: 8 miles @ 7:49 min/mile Met up with a Dutch friend of mine who was down in Cork for a few days. He's a coach with St.Cocoas so had a good running chat as I took him on a nice loop around the city. Feeling pretty fresh for this one and what an evening compared to this morning.

** Thursday 12/03 - 17 miles mixed **

Lunch: 5 treadmill miles @ 8 min/mile A horrible wet and extremely windy morning meant I retreated to the gym for this one. Nothing much to say, actually nothing to say about it. In fact some say I copied and pasted from above.

PM: 12 miles with 6 miles tempo @ 5:49 min/mile avg

Great session on the track tonight and just what I needed coming up to a race week. Overall this week I'd been feeling much better than recent weeks and effort-wise this felt very good. In with my usual group and we eased into a steady effort feeling pretty comfortable. Time just seemed to fly by as we ticked off the miles looping around the track and gradually progressing the pace. I brought along the HR monitor for first time in a while just out of curiosity and looking at it afterwards I was surprised to see it staying very steady averaging 160bpm for the 6 miles - same average HR for my last marathon...only 20 miles less This session has really given me belief that I'm capable of holding just above 6 min/mile pace for Rotterdam if everything goes well on the day. The glute was giving me a little trouble in the last 5 mins of the session but no real pain, just niggling. Booked for physio tomorrow to finally get it looked at.

Mile splits:6:08, 5:55, 5:51, 5:48, 5:42, 5:36

** Friday 13/03 (AHH!!) - 7 miles recovery @ 7:51 min/mile **

Smashing morning, smashing but baltic. I geared up early and headed into the city before work getting a lovely 7 mile jog in, more than planned but miscalculated the route. The glute was bothering me again and I'm starting to notice a pattern of it flaring up the day after sessions but....

....I finally got to see the physio in the afternoon regarding this blasted glute and she wasn't overly concerned or surprised, it seems like something she's used to seeing with runners. Anyway she ended up tearing me apart a little and then stuck a load of needles in me, or what some like to call dry needling. It's not fun and I don't like it and I don't want to do it again but I'm booked in for next week again. She reckons I'll be fine for Rotterdam but to come back every week leading up to the marathon and in the taper weeks hopefully it'll crawl back into the hole it came from.

jebuz

Saturday 14/03 - 13.6 miles with 3 x 10 mins

Another good session this morning. Out to the farm nice and early where most of the group were doing 4 x 10 mins but I was told to do just 3 reps with upcoming races on Tuesday (county novice 4 mile) and Sunday next week (Mallow 10). This was a good sharpener and encouraging as the 5:30-40 pace felt pretty comfortable. Legs felt a little tired which is to be expected with the front loading of the milage this week but even that considered the body felt in great shape. Nice relaxed 10 miles tomorrow planned as I wind it down and start freshening up.

Splits: (2 mins recovery)
1. 1.8 miles in 10 mins @ 5:36 min/mile
2. 1.8 miles in 10 mins @ 5:38 min/mile
3. 1.8 miles in 10 mins @ 5:38 min/mile

jebuz

Sunday 15/03 - 10 miles @ 6:56 min/mile

Down home for the weekend so headed for Curracloe beach this morning with my Dad where there are some nice trails for running and walking. Nice to only have just 10 miles on the menu today so as Dad headed off for a walk on the beach I headed for the woods and eased into a nice steady pace hovering around 7 min/mile. I briefly headed on to the beach but it was draining my legs and last thing I wanted was to tire myself before Tuesdays race so I retired back to the trails and then onto the road for a few miles. Nice run and that totals just shy of 90 miles for this week and feeling in a good place at the moment. I just hope an annoying blister on my sole clears up before Tuesday.

Weekly total: 89.3

TRR_the_turd

Do you have a target time for Tuesday's race and next weekends race?

jebuz

Hey Turd. For the county novice on Tuesday I really don't have a target time in mind, just race it and hopefully do the job for the team and get a medal hopefully. For Mallow on Sunday I'd be satisfied with a sub 56. Based on recent sessions I reckon close to 5:30 miling isn't completely out of reach so that's a guide pace I have in mind. You're flying along recently, great race at Bohermeen and best of luck over the next 4 weeks.

TRR_the_turd

Cheers you too.

jebuz

Quick update...no running Monday or today due to blister on my sole which got aggravated on Sundays run and just didn't heal up. I tested it out early this morning but even a light jog was hurting badly so I knew toeing the line for the county novice today would jeopardise Mallow on Sunday. Pretty embarrassing to be missing a race because of a blister but what can I do (apart from manning up). The lads got the team gold, frustrating that I couldn't be part of it but the right decision I think. I went out to watch anyway which was better than sitting at home with a bucket of icecream feeling sorry for myself.

Hoping to be back for an easy jog tomorrow evening if it's better and not a huge deal as this was a pull back week anyway. I've had the worst luck with races recently so I'm just about to cover myself with bubble wrap and hide in the wardrobe until Sunday. See you then.

TRR_the_turd

I'm having problems with my feet at the moment. Really nasty fissure (cracked skin) running along the ball of my foot up to my big toe. Could hardly walk on it yesterday afternoon. I have been going to a chiropodist lately and applied some of the lotion she gave me. Really softened up the tough skin either side of the fissure and with a bit of strapping I was good to go again today.

If you're still having problems tomorrow I would 100% recommend getting an appointment. The great thing about the chiropodist is you will limp in and more than likely stroll out. Totally different experience to going to your GP where if they can't prescribe a pill you're decked.

Where is the blister by the way?

RacoonQueen

Such a girl...