From minutes to miles

laura_ac3

Saturday 06/01 - Malahide parkrun 28:59 and short .5 mile cooldown

I'm a creature of habit on a Saturday morning, and usually with the best of intentions to go further afield I end up staying with what I know. I decided to head to Malahide for the first time as it's been on the list for a very very long time at this stage. I bumped into a couple of people I know from the club sessions and ended up running with one of them. The pace was a bit quicker than I had planned as we chatted around together, as the legs were noticeably tired after Thursday so I had planned to take it easy. With just under a mile to go I told her to go on as I knew from the legs and my breathing trying to chat that I was pushing a bit too much. We'll call it a steady run! Enjoyed the course and as you would expect it flew by with company. An enjoyable outing.

Sunday 07/01 - 7 miles @ 10:15

Up early to get this in before a busy day including volunteering at junior parkrun. Out the coast from the park, down and back the Bull Wall, back to the park and a few sections including parkun routes old and current. Felt a bit tired around the halfway point, probably not helped by the wind but shook it off and finished feeling stronger. Juniors as fun as ever and then a great afternoon watching the cross country race cheering on plenty from the club, parkrun and these parts.

23.66 miles for the week, best week in general for a while now.

laura_ac3

Monday 08/01 - 4.85 miles including "fartlek"

I got out of work a bit earlier than usual so headed out once I got home. The wind was much more noticeable than I thought it had been when I was on the bike home. The session is 3 sets of 2 mins hard, 1 min jog, 1 min hard, 30 seconds jog and 30 seconds hard with 5 minutes between sets. When I was following the plan the last time the target pace was 7:37 and some of my recent race times (Clonliffe 5k aside) were in or around what they were when I started this plan previously. I knew starting out that pace would be ambitious but I'd see how it went.

11 min w/u
Set 1: 7:53* (2 mins), 7:52 (1 min), 7:47 (30 secs)
Set 2: 7:45, 7:53, 7:52
Set 3: 8:04, 7:50, 7:47
11 min c/d

I made a balls of the first 2 min rep and was actually closer to 3 minutes, whoops. I glanced at the pace at one stage and was disappointed at how far off it seemed from 7:37. Given how short the reps are and the fact it was dark I decided to just ignore the watch and run hard and see how the paces turned out after. I finished the session a bit disheartened because I thought I was all over the shop but with the exception of the last 2 min rep they were actually fairly consistent - although not necessarily the pace I would like.

Sometimes I need to remind myself that the goal isn't to knock every session out of the park anyway, some days will go better than others and hopefully it's another step added in the training stimulus to get me to where I want to go.

Tuesday 09/01

Rest

Wednesday 10/01

Football

Thursday 11/01

Pilates

laura_ac3

Friday 12/01 - 45 mins easy, 4.27 miles @ 10:33

Runmute into work, I was expecting this to be a slog as some of the early runmutes are especially as the body was tired after the first football/pilates since December. Aside from tight quads the legs felt surprisingly fresh and I enjoyed this. Perfect running weather, crossing the Liffey the water was like glass.

Saturday 13/01 - 35 mins easy, 3.44 miles @ 10:11

Great plans for parkrun tourism but my travel companions BG and Annapr took the executive decision to skip by the time I'd woken up. I thought of heading to St Anne's but I was feeling tired myself after a night out and took the chance to go back to sleep and didn't wake until 11. Obviously needed the sleep so probably the wiser decision. Late in the afternoon heading out as a result and the legs felt great again, very fresh.

Sunday 14/01 - 70 mins easy, 6.7 miles @ 10:27

Dinner at the homestead today so I ran down to the house via a detour taking in St Anne's and a stretch along the coast. I tried to mix up the surfaces and took in some grass stretches and trails when I could. I didn't feel as tired this week as I did last Sunday.

19.26 miles for the week along with the other bits and pieces and cycling. I've made good progress in cleaning up the diet and also get better again with re-fueling properly after runs, hopefully that's having a positive impact, still more improvements to be made but on the right track.

I've got a bit of a plan to focus on for the next few months. I'm looking at one of the club 2 milers in February, the Dunboyne 4 mile end of March and the 5 mile there also in May. I'll look at some 5k's then around May/June too as there were some I wanted to do last year but I got injured. I'll include a couple of other short bits and pieces hopefully to work on that race practice, starting with the cross country BHAA next Saturday.

Bungy Girl

laura_ac3 wrote: »

so probably the wiser decision

No, don't thank me :cool:

laura_ac3

Bungy Girl wrote: »

No, don't thank me :cool:

If you had told me the evening before I could have avoided being interrupted by the alarm at 8am

annapr

laura_ac3 wrote: »

If you had told me the evening before I could have avoided being interrupted by the alarm at 8am

It was all BG's decision.... I was ready to go...

laura_ac3

Monday 15/01

Rest

Tuesday 16/01 - 5 miles inc tempo

I swapped my rest day with the session as I got home late on Monday and it would have been 4 days on the spin. Regretted that choice today with the weather. Cycled home in the sleet and snow, still cold and changed to head out to run. Continued to question my sanity as the sleet whirled around me and I couldn't look across the road it was that strong into the eyes. "Most of your other friends are coming home from work, getting into the pj's/casual gear, lighting a fire or turning on the heat and you're going out in this for....fun?" The plan was a tempo, I was due to have company from annapr but alas she ditched me again and as the iPod battery had just gone I had no distraction at all.

I erred on the side of caution and decided to start off with two 10 minute sets tonight, target pace was 8:20-8:30, I knew the wind would be with and against me at various stages.

11 min w/u
10 min @ 8:28
3 mins easy
10 min @ 8:24
14 min c/d

Happy enough with this one but I wonder if I sometimes go a bit too hard effort wise. I'll see next time when I'm adding a few extra minutes on to the times. The pace did fluctuate throughout the two sets though taking into account drags, wind etc. Bit of a tight hamstring when I finished, will have to make sure I roll and stretch that one out.

Annie get your Run

Fair play Laura, I left both the bike and runners at home yesterday, clearly you're made of hardier stuff

laura_ac3

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Fair play Laura, I left both the bike and runners at home yesterday, clearly you're made of hardier stuff

Well my cycle is a doddle compared to yours!

Bungy Girl

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Tuesday 16/01 - 5 miles inc tempo

Happy enough with this one but I wonder if I sometimes go a bit too hard effort wise. I'll see next time when I'm adding a few extra minutes on to the times. The pace did fluctuate throughout the two sets though taking into account drags, wind etc. Bit of a tight hamstring when I finished, will have to make sure I roll and stretch that one out.

Pace might be a little on the quick side all right. Possibly closer to 10K pace than tempo. Obviously depends on your plan but I would have thought somewhere around 1 hour pace might be more tempo-ish ? More 'comfortably hard' ? The wiser folk on here may have thoughts but that would be my 2c worth. I need to start doing tempos next week and I know I'll struggle to find the right pace, so I might just go by effort and see what happens.

laura_ac3

The logging didn’t last long the last time but still keeping up with others.

Since January it’s all been about consistency, I haven’t been following a plan though. Around Christmas I said I wanted to do one race a month just to practice the race mentality again, not goal races or off specific training. A quick recap before moving on to what’s next.

Since January I’ve done a cross country, a club 2 miler, the Lusk and Dunboyne 4 milers, a club 1 mile, a raced parkrun, Terenure 5 mile and the BHAA 5 Dunboyne 5 Mile. The 2 miler and the Dunboyne 4 mile races showed me I was going back in the right direction and close to PB territory. The 1 mile race was my first attempt at the distance and I was happy with a 7:09. Pacer Saturday at parkrun in April was the first proper target and I was happy to stick with Murph_d and push on for a 30 second PB (23:36). My two 5 mile attempts didn’t go well and Dunboyne was a minute slower than Terenure. PB is 39:12 so that was the A goal but sub 39 was the A+ goal. Both races similar in that I felt fine for the first 2ish miles and then turned into a death march with the pace slowing considerably and the legs like jelly. For Dunboyne I started off more conservatively but ended up slowing more than Terenure. Both days were warm so maybe the heat? (I definitely am a cooler day runner). Maybe because my sessions are mostly geared towards shorter stuff? Although I was able to hold a similar pace at the Dunboyne 4 mile and it wasn’t the last mile that was my undoing. Just one of those days two races in a row? Lack of mental toughness? I wanted to walk, drop out, jog it home – anything - and I didn’t so not a complete collapse if so. I did realise today that this is my highest mileage month in nearly 4 years, off two decent ones, so maybe the legs are still adjusting. Not going to dwell as the shorter races are my targets for the next while but no harm in throwing some thoughts down for future reference if needed (hopefully not!).

Training has been ad hoc in that I haven’t followed any plan but I’ve mixed the club sessions (200’s in the winter, hills in spring) and race pace efforts with sessions from my last plan – tempos, short intervals. I’ve been running 5 days a week consistently for a while and my “long” run has been at 9 miles for a bit, with a step back week every 3 or 4 weeks. I’ve been careful not to increase the mileage too much from one week to the next, monthly totals as follows:

January – 94.67
February – 56.15 (ski holiday for a week, snow here)
March – 103.79
April – 102.85
May – 116.61

So that’s me up to date. I’m going to start a 5k specific plan (the lowest mileage one from Faster Road Racing) to try take a bit more time off that by the end of the summer. I won’t be following it religiously all the time (partly because I hate starting my week on a rest day – no leeway!) and I want to be able to make some club sessions and an occasional short race. If I sub things in I’ll try swap them for a similar session.

Bungy Girl

Welcome back ! It's been ages

laura_ac3

Week beginning 28/05

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - 6 miles inc BHAA Dunboyne 5 Miles

Moving on, nutin' to see here.

Wednesday - 45 minutes easy

A day off so a lovely 4.55 miles in St. Anne's in the sunshine. Legs a little tired. Resisted the urge for a 99 cone because I knew the Bank Holiday would bring ice cream.

Thursday - Rest

Poor sleep Wednesday night so skipped the early morning pilates.

Friday - 9 miles easy

Up early and ran the extra extra long way to work to get my long run in before the weekend. Muggy morning for it, had a nice chat with a passing aquinn though.

Saturday - Glengarrif parkrun

28:52 at parkrun this morning. Like any West Cork parkruns I've done, it was a really scenic setting and a lovely run but not an easy course. The climb in the last mile could only be described as cruel. An easy pace on paper but more of a steady effort. Don't be put off though, it's definitely worth visiting.

Sunday - 6 miles easy

Felt a bit light headed around the 2nd mile and considered cutting it short but chose a route that had no short option and perked up after a while. Very warm though.

28.56 miles for the week and on to the new plan.

Annie get your Run

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Tuesday - 6 miles inc BHAA Dunboyne 5 Miles

Moving on, nutin' to see here.

How did you get on??? It was a very warm evening from memory (sun always seems to shine for Paul's race). Sorry to have missed supporting duties but I didn't make it out from guitar lesson on time!



Glengarrif parkrun! oh wow, I'll be down in Kerry on hols shortly and hoping maybe to walk that one, or Bere Island - which of all the West Cork ones you've done would you recommend??

laura_ac3

Annie get your Run wrote: »

How did you get on??? It was a very warm evening from memory (sun always seems to shine for Paul's race). Sorry to have missed supporting duties but I didn't make it out from guitar lesson on time!



Glengarrif parkrun! oh wow, I'll be down in Kerry on hols shortly and hoping maybe to walk that one, or Bere Island - which of all the West Cork ones you've done would you recommend??

I was 2 minutes away from my goal time and 1 minute slower than terenure a couple of weeks previous (despite starting off more conservatively). So it didn't go great nice course though and a fine spread after, a good race to head to.

Oh it's a tough choice. Castlehaven and Glengarrif are both lovely. Glengarrif is in the nature reserve so for walking would be nice. Castlehaven is similar but if it's a sunny day is in my opinion a teeny tiny bit more scenic because some of it goes around the water. Both have nice trails on the route. For something very different Bere Island is great and is basically a jaunt around the island. Great set up with the boat/bus parkrun arrangement and a real local vibe the day I was there. Coffee shop very close too, and part of the parkrun outing. Castlehaven do a nice set up by the finish so is a bit weather dependant and Glengarrif was too wet to head for coffee after so not sure about there. All 3 very welcoming and friendly so I really don't think I've helped with your decision at all!!

Annie get your Run

laura_ac3 wrote: »

I was 2 minutes away from my goal time and 1 minute slower than terenure a couple of weeks previous (despite starting off more conservatively). So it didn't go great nice course though and a fine spread after, a good race to head to.

Oh it's a tough choice. Castlehaven and Glengarrif are both lovely. Glengarrif is in the nature reserve so for walking would be nice. Castlehaven is similar but if it's a sunny day is in my opinion a teeny tiny bit more scenic because some of it goes around the water. Both have nice trails on the route. For something very different Bere Island is great and is basically a jaunt around the island. Great set up with the boat/bus parkrun arrangement and a real local vibe the day I was there. Coffee shop very close too, and part of the parkrun outing. Castlehaven do a nice set up by the finish so is a bit weather dependant and Glengarrif was too wet to head for coffee after so not sure about there. All 3 very welcoming and friendly so I really don't think I've helped with your decision at all!!

LOL thanks, that's actually very helpful I'm also looking at Killarney now too. Anyway, probably doesn't matter much which one I pick, they all sound gorgeous!! Bere Island would probably mean a crack of dawn start so possibly not but who knows!

laura_ac3

Annie get your Run wrote: »

LOL thanks, that's actually very helpful I'm also looking at Killarney now too. Anyway, probably doesn't matter much which one I pick, they all sound gorgeous!! Bere Island would probably mean a crack of dawn start so possibly not but who knows!

Probably. Glengarrif would be the closest of the three I'd say. So many parkruns - so little time!

annapr

Annie get your Run wrote: »

LOL thanks, that's actually very helpful I'm also looking at Killarney now too. Anyway, probably doesn't matter much which one I pick, they all sound gorgeous!! Bere Island would probably mean a crack of dawn start so possibly not but who knows!

Killarney is lovely, small and friendly and very scenic. Nice coffee shop right there too.

laura_ac3

Week beginning 04/06

Monday - Rest

Travelling home.

Tuesday - 7 miles including tempo

The plan called for 4 x 6 minutes tempo with 2 minutes recovery. The shorter segments made it seem straightforward on paper but I knew that totaled up it would mean a longer tempo than I've done in a while so it would be challenging. Tacked on a bit more to the warm up and cool down to get to the 7 miles.

My tempo pace had previously been 8:20-8:30 range, most times I was at the lower end or a bit under. I popped my recent 5k in to VDOT which gave me a tempo of 8:03 which seemed a bit ambitious, I adjusted the range from 8:10-8:20 to give ma bit of flexibility. It was warm but the 6 minute segments did pass quick so even if I felt tired starting off I knew they would pass quickly. I found myself pushing a bit too much at times so tried to remind myself to run relaxed and back off if needed, the purpose of the session wasn't to max myself out. Tired by the time I got home but didn't find the cool down as much of a slog as I sometimes would after a session.

8:16, 8:16, 8:13, 8:11

Gym session in the AM as well.

Wednesday: 8 miles @ 10:07

I got this one out of the way early and ran to work. Lovely morning but warm already, sweat was pumping out of me by the time I got there. I knew this could be a struggle given the quick turnaround time after the session but I wanted to keep the evening free. Kept the pace nice and easy and focused on feel. The legs were fatigued but I was expecting worse, although the arms were sore after the gym! I knew looking at the plan that the endurance type run after a session could be an adjustment, the aim to be running on tired legs I presume.

laura_ac3

Thursday: 5.5 miles inc club session 12 x 200's

Hills are over so back to the 200's. Jog down and back for a warm up and cool down, usual dynamic exercises and strides as well. Very warm out there, didn't seem to a bit of air. The legs definitely lacked a bit of zip, probably still feeling the tempo and endurance run. Wobbly legs and tummy by the end.

47, 48, 48, 47, 47, 47, 42*, 48, 48, 47, 43*, 44. Led out 7 and 11.

Pilates in the morning.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 9 miles @ 9:50

A couple of miles before parkrun and a few more after. Pit stop at mile 7 for water, knocked a couple of glasses back - it was warm. Enjoyable though, felt strong finishing.

Gym after.

Sunday: 3.55 miles @ 9:52

35 mins easy around St Anne's after volunteering at junior parkrun. Picked up the pace for the last half mile without even realizing and then a sunny 99 cone to round off the week.

33.06 miles for the week, plus some cycle commuting too.

laura_ac3

Monday – 5 miles inc 2(3 x 300m) @ mile pace

With a mile race on Thursday night I took a look at the session planned for this week (5 x 3 mins uphill @ 3-k effort) and thought that might be too much. Looked at the sessions for the following week and this one was down. Sought a second opinion about swapping them and got the same response This session was actually for 800m to mile pace but given the race this week was a mile that seemed a good idea for the session to get a feel for the pace. 300m jogged recovery between each and 4 minutes between sets. The target for each was 79 seconds, tried to focus on staying relaxed and good form and not overdoing it. Over a mile for warm up and cool down each.

77, 81, 76
79, 78, 77

Tuesday – Rest

Short gym trip before work, all upper body and some core stuff

Wednesday – 30 minutes easy, 3.02 miles @ 9:56

Just a short one to keep the legs ticking over. 6 x 10 second strides included, felt great on them and a bit meh about the rest of the run – a classic pre race outing.

Thursday: Drogheda & Distract track meet

I’d heard loads about this summer series but I hadn’t made it out yet. I wanted to do the ALSAA paced miles this summer for my sub 7 target but they seem to have dropped off the calendar so when I saw this had a mile it was perfect. A good warm up with BungyGirl who was out but not racing and the wind was quite noticeable on one side, there was still a hangover from the earlier stormy weather. I made sure not to tear off too fast so I went through the first lap around target. There was good support from BG and some clubmates at the final bend. Second lap I reminded myself I would need to work a bit harder as the “take off adrenaline” would be over. I went through half way a couple of seconds behind target but tried not to let the head drop. At the start of the third lap I reminded myself that if the effort felt right still I was probably slowing and would need to work harder, especially as this is where focus could be lost. There was a girl who had sat right on my shoulder for the first two and a half laps and then she took off by really increasing the pace. I tried to push with her knowing even if I couldn’t keep up the push not to let the gap grow too big would still be a help. Starting the last lap I knew I had work to do as I had lost anther couple of seconds. I tried to up the effort half way through but the wind was getting tougher. Heading to the bend I remember Duanington telling me to be brave before Dunboyne and I reminded myself of that here. One woman had been coming back towards me and I put the foot down to give whatever I had. I just missed catching her and finished in 7:06.

A 3 second PB but a few seconds off what I hoped for. I don’t think I ran a particularly bad race, I didn’t lose concentration – especially on that crucial third lap but I could have been a bit braver overall. I may have been too cautious about not going too hard too soon. I didn’t look at the watch at all and went by feel so a learning curve, especially as it’s still only my second attempt at the distance. The wind didn’t help so on another evening and with more people to chase or be chased by I will hopefully be there! In all honesty I was also happy to have a positive race experience after the last two. I did the 400 metres then on tired legs (1:30), a go at shot put and a cool down. A great evening.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 4 miles including St Anne’s parkrun, 9:15 pace overall

A bit hungover starting off but a great morning. Loads from the club down celebrating a milestone of a clubmate so a great atmosphere.

Sunday: 9 miles @ 9:45

BG had commented on my running form at the mile and how I’m quite tense in the upper body with limited arm swing, aside from when sprinted for the finish. This is similar to other feedback I’ve had before about my running and pilates so I made a real effort on this run to watch my form. I imagined a string between my fingers and hips to focus on the position and motion of my arms. Felt great on this run, really strong and only tired a bit in the last couple of miles.

24.53 miles for the week, so down a bit but happy enough.

Murph_D

Congrats on the mile PB - you ran a decent race. Lap three is definitely the key, I think.

But tell us more about the shot put!