Talent is overrated

P_Fitz

I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and do one of these logs too, bloody hell they're coming in thick and fast. To give you a run down on me, I'm 37, male, based in Dublin and have been running for about 3 years now with the last two being with a club. Current PBs are:

5km 18:20 Jingle Bells December 2014
5 miles 36:06 Raheny 2011 (I haven't done one since)
10km 39:01 Dublin Night Run November 2014
10 mile 1:05:14, Frank Duffy, 2014
1/2 marathon Haven't done one
Marathon well... ahem.... moving on swiftly..

This year my goals are:
5km sub 18mins
5 miles 30:30mins
10 km sub 38
10 miles sub 64mins
1/2 marathon sub 85mins
I won't be tackling a marathon this year.

Typical weekly runnng would be:
Monday, run to work, 11 miles round trip
Tuesday, club run, sprints, hill session etc
Wednesday, 6 miles easy
Thursday, Tempo run with club
Friday, 6 miles easy
Saturday rest
Sunday 12 miles easy

I did a parkrun on Saturday which went badly. My initial aim was 18:40, then just before the race started I decided to aim for 18:50,so i was having a negative attitude before i started. This negative attitude continued for the race and I just felt like I couldn't be bothered and really let myself down, i came home in 19:30. This isn't the first time I've felt like that on parkruns. I think when it's a proper races, I've paid good money and the standard of runner is much higher i give a lot more. I might just use the parkruns as tempo sessions in future.

Today i did 12 miles at 7:44 min/miles with another lad from the club, we were tipping along nicely, maybe a bit on the fast side. Beautiful morning for it, cold, but not a breeze and the sun shone for the hour and a half.

So i hope to update this again soon, any comments or suggestions would be very welcome.

bonaparte2

Set harder targets.

dublin runner

P_Fitz wrote: »

I did a parkrun on Saturday which went badly. My initial aim was 18:40, then just before the race started I decided to aim for 18:50,so i was having a negative attitude before i started. This negative attitude continued for the race and I just felt like I couldn't be bothered and really let myself down, i came home in 19:30. This isn't the first time I've felt like that on parkruns. I think when it's a proper races, I've paid good money and the standard of runner is much higher i give a lot more. I might just use the parkruns as tempo sessions in future.

I can see where you are coming from with regards to the Parkrun. They have become a brilliant addition to the racing calendar but because you don't pin a number to your vest/pay an entry it can give you an out. I guess it all about approaching the run with correct mentality. The idea is that every race serves a purpose (training tempo run, race effort etc.). If you are going to get up early at least make it worthwhile . I can completely relate to your experience (I think we've all been there!).

Best of luck with the training and log. I look forward to seeing how you get on.

bonaparte2 wrote: »

Set harder targets.

First reply, mustering up a very informative and insightful three word response.

bonaparte2

Just thought I'd get the ball rolling.

From my point of view OPs targets do not strike me as sufficiently ambitious given his proven abilities.

Three years running so far is not much, he can expect further improvement in the natural course of things.

A minute and change off his 10 mile PB is not much.

Chivito550

Would agree with the above. Targets here are not hugely ambitious given where the OP is currently at. Aim higher. Better to fall a bit short of a challenging target, than to reach an easy one. 18:20 to 17:59 is not a huge improvement. 16:20 to 15:59 is a different story.

P_Fitz

OK, the consensus appears to be that the targets are too low, I'll go back to the drawing board with those so. Also, dublin_runner, i'd agree with you 100% the parkruns are great and my mentality needs to improve.

Anyway, today I did a lovely 8 mile on a frost covered wood trail, 7:34min/mile, it couldn't have been nicer.

I'm sitting back now in front of a wood fire, feet up and sipping a hot whiskey. Ah, life is good. Thanks for the feedback folks.

P_Fitz

I normally do a speed session with the club on Tuesday's but these are on hold this week so I went for an easy run instead. Same trail route as yesterday but at an easier pace, 7.5 miles at 7:53m/m. My right calf was feeling a bit tight, I'll get the foam roller out later.

A mink ran across the trail in front of me which was a first, I never saw one before.

RayCun

just realised who you are!

should give some advice then - instead of setting time goals, set race goals. Pick two or three goal races for the year, and build your training and other races around those. You could work from the longest race - your half marathon target, are you going to run that in Bohermeen, the Rock and Roll, the Dublin half, do you plan to run a spring and an autumn half? - or your most important target - maybe you'd miss everything else if you got your 10k time goal?

tom_tarbucket

RayCun wrote: »

just realised who you are!

tell on !!

also, OP, do you think you might be over training a bit, 6 out of 7 days training is a lot with hardly any downtime.

RayCun

another member of the best club in Dublin, of course!

P_Fitz

RayCun wrote: »

just realised who you are!

should give some advice then - instead of setting time goals, set race goals. Pick two or three goal races for the year, and build your training and other races around those. You could work from the longest race - your half marathon target, are you going to run that in Bohermeen, the Rock and Roll, the Dublin half, do you plan to run a spring and an autumn half? - or your most important target - maybe you'd miss everything else if you got your 10k time goal?

I like your thinking fellow brother! I can't run on Saturday's so I'd need to pick Sunday races. Is there a list of all the big races and dates for the year? Most websites have dates for the coming months but it would be nice to have them all to plan now. I can do a bit of research myself if there isn't.

What did you make of my goal times? The feedback was that they were too soft? Thanks again for the good advice.

P_Fitz

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

do you think you might be over training a bit, 6 out of 7 days training is a lot with hardly any downtime.

I wouldn't have thought so, RayCun, would you like to throw in your tupennce

RayCun

No, there's no good site that lists all the races, its a real pain in the arse. This list seems to be getting better, but its still way off what you'd want.

You'd expect to get faster through the year, so your goal time for the 5 mile would be different if you're talking about Raheny, Terenure, or the Irish Runner. Same with the half, depends on if you're running Bohermeen or Charleville. I'd pick one or two races and times as your real goals, and use everything else as an indicator for those races. Like, aim to run under 30 in Terenure, so for Raheny aim for 30.30 (or 30.30 and 31). Or run Raheny and use that to set a target for Terenure.

I'd say they are fairly soft targets, except maybe the half marathon. If you're going to set a target for the end of 2015, it might as well be a hard one.

RayCun

P_Fitz wrote: »

I wouldn't have thought so, RayCun, would you like to throw in your tupennce

Generally, the more you can run the better. 6 days is a week is fine, 7 would be better
It is also going to depend on how hard you run those days. 7 days a week with mostly easy runs is not going to drain you as much as 6 days with three harder runs.
At the moment you're running

Monday, run to work, 11 miles round trip
Tuesday, club run, sprints, hill session etc
Wednesday, 6 miles easy
Thursday, Tempo run with club
Friday, 6 miles easy
Saturday rest
Sunday 12 miles easy

So do you feel you're able to do the club session properly on Tuesday, or are you coming into it already fatigued from Sunday and Monday? Same with the run on Thursday, are you going into it tired and sore or do you feel okay? It's okay to take the Wednesday and Friday runs very easy to recover, but also consider if that means you spend a lot of your week running either 'hard' or 'very easy' and not much at a steady aerobic pace in between.

P_Fitz

RayCun wrote: »

So do you feel you're able to do the club session properly on Tuesday, or are you coming into it already fatigued from Sunday and Monday? Same with the run on Thursday, are you going into it tired and sore or do you feel okay? It's okay to take the Wednesday and Friday runs very easy to recover, but also consider if that means you spend a lot of your week running either 'hard' or 'very easy' and not much at a steady aerobic pace in between.

I never run with tired legs, there's at least 24 hours between each run. My easy and long runs are around the 7:50min/mile mark. So i reckon i'm grand.

Anyway, my shiny new Asics GT-2000 arrived in the post from Sports Direct today. They are the 2013 model which i had already but in a different colour, so i new what i was getting. These are my third pair of these shoes and are doing the job nicely. They were €56 delivered! happy days. I don't like taking my business away from the irish running shops but at that price it's hard to say no.

Big change in the weather today, 8 degrees warmer, a breeze and a shower. I had to run through a gang of teenagers on my route. I got the regular complements on my legs and the thoroughly original "run, Forrest, run" shouts.

Did 7 miles at 8:00min/mile pace. That's my fourth day of easy running in a row, i'll have to see is anyone interested in a hill session tomorrow.

Anyway, I'm off to pretend i care it's 2015. Happy new year!!!!!!

ultraman1

RayCun wrote: »

another member of the best club in Dublin, of course!

Rsp?

P_Fitz

Hill Session
450 meters

Reps:
1:59 mins
1:55 mins
1:56 mins
1:52 mins
1:50 mins
1:51 mins
1:47 mins

Total ran: 6.5 miles


There were no takers for doing a hill session tonight so Johnny no friends here plodded out in the wind and the rain on his own. The hill is at the base of the mountains and very exposed, but to be honest the wind was on my back going up so i can't complain. You can see from the times that the first few were slow, but they times improved with the later reps. I should have been doing about 1:52ish for them all but in miserable weather and on your own it's not so easy. I was only planning to do 6 reps but i lost count and ended up doing a 7th which was no harm considering my poor start.

I'm taking tomorrow off and then on Saturday I'm planning an easy 3 miles, followed by a tempo parkrun and another 3 mile home. That's it for now.

P_Fitz

RayCun wrote: »

another member of the best club in Dublin, of course!

ultraman1 wrote: »

Rsp?

I just realised from a thread in the main forum what this means. I'm not impressed.

P_Fitz

Marlay 5k Parkrun

Time 19:01

Km Splits:
3:44
3:54
4:01
3:40
3:40

Total today: 9 miles
Total for week: 51 miles

A good day at the office. I headed out at 9:00am and ran the 3 miles to the marlay parkrun doing an easy 8:00min/mile. I was hoping to do much better than the previous week (19:30) and run below 19:00. Apart from running on saturated grass for the first 60 metres the first kilometer was grand. The second kilometer was like running through a stream there was so much water and gravel. There's a hill at the back at the park which brought my pace way down for the the 3rd kilometer. The 4th kilometer is a continual downhill, and at looking at my split times now should have been faster. The first and last kilometer are on the same loop. From the pace on my watch i thought i was under 19:00 mins but i must not have ran the tangents too well as I was just over it. I forgot my barcode so i didn't get the time registered which is a shame because it was a big PB for the course.

I was happy with the time but it's still a long way off 18 min which is the 5km target. I took the scenic route home over a hill which added up to 9 miles for the day. And a total weekly run of 51 miles. My Garmin's watch goes from Sunday to Saturday so new week starting tomorrow.

P_Fitz

Long Run

Distance: 19 miles
Pace: 8:49

Well today was a bit of a disaster. Five of us set out at 9:00am up to Bohernabreena resevoir. It's a lovely location to run, just at the base of the Dublin mountains. The planned pace for the run was 8:10 min/mile. The time flew and after a very enjoyable 12 miles we arrived back at where we started having ran at 08:18 pace. Two from the group were training for a 50km race and were doing extra mileage so i joined them for another 2 miles and was back home with a nice 14 miles under my belt. But it went downhill badly from there. I forgot to bring the key for the house and the family had gone off! The dog was gone too so i presumed they had brought him for a walk to the park, so i decided i'd run there and get a lift home (they drive to the park). Three miles later i arrived at the park but no sign of the car. Oh hell. Maybe there were in the back carpark i thought, but after another mile i realised i thought wrong. Back to the main entrance i went with 19 miles done and totally wrecked. I couldn't face running the additional 3 miles home so i just walked it. Thankfully they were home when i got back (they went to a different park for the first time ever!). So after running 19 miles and walking 3, I fell through the door at quarter past one, 4 hours and 15 minutes after leaving. Also bear in mind i had nothing to eat or drink in that time. During the summer i ran 16 miles one day but that was the longest. For some reason after running i never feel hungry and in the past i didn't eat nearly enough, this led me to get very tired and completed drained. Having learned the hard way I forced myself to eat and drink all around me with a combination of different food. I was surprising grand then, not overly tired and the legs are okay. I know in the morning they'll be in bits and the run to work will be out the window.

Now, you're probably thinking why didn't I call into a neighbour to make a photo call, get something to eat/drink or just wait there. But the problem is forgetting my keys is not without precedent for me. The neighbours are well used to me arriving, looking for the above so i didn't want to go knocking on doors tail between my legs again. Yes i know i should have a spare key hidden somewhere. So, first thing tomorrow morning, i'm getting two spare keys cut. One to hide out the back and one to give to the neighbours.

So, i'll sign off by saying i solemnly swear never to do a long run again. (Well, not until next Sunday anyway). Bloody hell I'm wrecked.

RayCun

the extra miles are always bad, five extra is horrible

yaboya1

P_Fitz wrote: »

why didn't I call into a neighbour to make a photo call

Don't see what good having your picture taken would have done.....:P

P_Fitz

Easy Run

Distance: 5 miles
Pace: 8:10

I thought I would be a lot more tired today after the extra long run yesterday but i was okay. Legs weren't sore at all in the morning. I decided to skip the run to work and just do an easy evening run instead. It was a lovely evening for it, the thermometer on the car read 10 degrees. The outside of my left knee was hurting towards the end of the run so i cut the route short and just did 5 miles. It was niggling yesterday too, i hope it's nothing serious.

P_Fitz

Easy Run

Distance: 3.5 miles
Pace: 7.52

My knee was hurting yesterday so I said I'd skip the club session and go for an easy run instead to see how it was. I kept to a short loop about 2 miles long so that if I had to stop I wouldn't be too far from home. It was fine for the first few miles but then started to hurt again, just on the outside of the knee. Then, when i was about to give in and walk home i tripped on the footpath and went flying. A few cuts and scratches but that was it, i was wearing tights so that saved the knees and non of the clothes ripped so that was good. It was a quiet road and a car was coming towards me just as I fell, I thought they'd roll down the window and see was i okay but they kept going. I was surprised by that, I certainly hope i'd have stopped.

Anyway, a scratch will heel a lot quicker then a pain in the knee. I'm suspecting it might be my IT band. I'm going to take a few days off before i go out again. In the meantime I'll get the foam roller out and google some exercises for ITBS. I'm seeing a physio next week on an unrelated matter, i'll mention it to her when i see her.

Injuries are so bloody frustrating.

ECOLII

P_Fitz wrote: »

Easy Run

Distance: 3.5 miles
Pace: 7.52

My knee was hurting yesterday so I said I'd skip the club session and go for an easy run instead to see how it was. I kept to a short loop about 2 miles long so that if I had to stop I wouldn't be too far from home. It was fine for the first few miles but then started to hurt again, just on the outside of the knee. Then, when i was about to give in and walk home i tripped on the footpath and went flying. A few cuts and scratches but that was it, i was wearing tights so that saved the knees and non of the clothes ripped so that was good. It was a quiet road and a car was coming towards me just as I fell, I thought they'd roll down the window and see was i okay but they kept going. I was surprised by that, I certainly hope i'd have stopped.

Anyway, a scratch will heel a lot quicker then a pain in the knee. I'm suspecting it might be my IT band. I'm going to take a few days off before i go out again. In the meantime I'll get the foam roller out and google some exercises for ITBS. I'm seeing a physio next week on an unrelated matter, i'll mention it to her when i see her.

Injuries are so bloody frustrating.

The knee issue can be a common enough one in the latter stages of a long run when the gluteal muscles start to fatigue. Spend a bit of time giving the TFL and Glute medius some TLC until you get a chance to visit the physio.

Best of luck with the recovery

P_Fitz

Easy Run

Distance: 7 miles
Pace: 8:01

First day back after hurting my knee last week. I thought I'd make it easier on the legs and run on grass, so I went for a few laps of Marlay park. It was wild out but enjoyable all the same. The knee was niggling a small bit from time to time but much better than the last run. I wouldn't have mind doing another couple of miles but i said i'd just do the 7 to keep the knee happy. I'll stick to easy runs on grass for a couple of days before i get back into the full swing of things again. I hope.

P_Fitz

Monday Easy Run

Distance: 8 miles
Pace: 7:53

Still going easy on the knee so a I did a few laps around Cherryfield (the spiritual home of running), the pace was fast enough considering I was on grass. Small niggles but getting better all the time. I was off work for Monday and Tuesday and it was nice to get out running in daylight, bring on the Spring!

Tuesday Easy Run

Distance: 8 miles
Pace: 8:00

Snow! I skipped the club tempo run and did my own easy run instead. Started in Cherryfield and ran along the Dodder river on the new footpath as far as Old Bawn which is over 2 miles. Two of those (up and back) brought me to 8 miles. I got caught by a couple of snow showers, I was well wrapped up with the exception of the hands, I need to get some good gloves. The snow was blowing straight into my face on the way to Old Bawn which makes for uncomfortable running. It was nice on the way back with the wind behind me and the snow flakes sweeping past. I'm happy with the knee so I'm looking forward to getting back to a club tempo run on Thursday.

P_Fitz

Wednesday, Easy Run

Distance: 7.5 miles
Pace: 8:26

Very windy out, it was raining but not too heavy. I ran from Firhouse to Terenure with the wind on by back. It's about 4 miles. Even with the wind on the back i was taking it easy, average pace of 8:09. On the way back i tried to keep to sheltered streets as much as possible but it was tough going in exposed areas. It wasn't too cold, i think about 8 degrees.

Thursday, Tempo(ish) run

Distance: 5 miles
Pace: 7:11

Club run tonight, i was hoping to do a faster tempo this evening but there were no takers. Still, 7:11 was a nice pace certainly faster that I've being going lately. Combining the run to and from the meeting point I did 7.5 miles in total.

I'd being planning to do Raheny on Sunday week but I don't think I'll be able to make it now. There's a 10 mile on in Trim the following week, i might give that ago instead. It's the first time that race is being organised and i doubt they'd get big numbers, so it might get a bit lonely during the race. It's much harder to push yourself when you're on your own, i find anyway.

ECOLII

P_Fitz wrote: »

It's the first time that race is being organised and i doubt they'd get big numbers, so it might get a bit lonely during the race. It's much harder to push yourself when you're on your own, i find anyway.

I reckon it may actually get fairly good numbers despite it being first year as there will be plenty of fall off from Dungarvan as well as having an alternative to the Munster 10 mile spring series of races.

P_Fitz

Friday Easy Run

Distance: 9 miles
Pace: 8:01

I really didn't want to go out for this. It was freezing hard out and I was just back from bringing the kids to hockey where i was hanging around, waiting for them in the cold. I just wanted to sit back and relax for the evening but that wasn't in the plan.

But as always, i was delighted when i got out and felt really good after. I ran more that a mile longer than normal and the following morning the legs felt heavy and tired. Could one extra mile have made such a difference? Today (Saturday) is my day off, my total for the week is 48 miles which is great going but the only problem is that they were almost all easy runs. I really need to do more speed work.

In the hundreds of times I've gone out running I've never listened to music, I've always thought it kind of defeated the purpose. I enjoy running because it lets me relax and unwind, deliberately adding noise didn't make any sense. But for this run i said I'd give it a go. The earphones lasted a mile before I confirmed what I thought, music when running is definitely not for me.

Regarding upcoming races it looks like I'm not going to be able to do the Trim 10 mile either (I can't do Raheny). I'm not able to run on Saturdays and Sundays are limited to. It's a real pain doing all this training and then not being able to race.

RayCun

in the summer BHAA do midweek races, I think some of the Meath/Kildare 5ks are midweek too

P_Fitz

Sunday Long Run

Distance: 14.5 miles
Pace: 8:20

Another enjoyable run up to Bohernabreena resevoir. Definitely my favourite run of the week. Seven of us went on a very cold morning, the roads were dry so generally no problems with ice. There were loads of runners up there, I never saw so many, maybe it was because we left later than normal, we set out at 10:00 as opposed to the normal 9.

Monday Easy Run

Distance: 7.5 miles
Pace: 7:55

It the past I used to run to and from work on Mondays but as my Sunday runs are getting longer and my weekly mileage is increasing substantially i said i'd but it on hold for a while. I'm doing close to 50 miles a week now and don't want to over do it at this stage of the year when there are no major goal races ahead. The last thing i want is to pick up injuries. It was a cold evening, but again it was dry and no breeze, so nice for running. Loads of people out today as well, the wind and rain is a major turn off. The first couple of miles were slow enough, but then I picked it up and brought the pace down, I was feeling good. Speed session tomorrow, looking forward to that, we'll be doing 800s. This will be my first proper speed session in two weeks.

P_Fitz

Tuesday, 800's

Reps:
2:52
2:44
2:59
2:48
3:01
2:47

First time doing 800's in a long time and it's bloody hard work. We started off running up an incline, 2 min break and then back. So every second one is quicker as it's downhill, you'll need to compare black to black and red to red in the above list. My first one was too fast but after that they were reasonably consistent. Leg's are tired now but it's great to have this done.

P_Fitz

Wednesday, Progression Run

Mile splits:
7:46
7:33
7:24
6:34

This was only meant to be an easy run but i felt good so i picked up the pace and was tipping along nicely at the end. It was nice to mix it up a bit.

Thursday, Tempo Run

Distance: 5 mile
Pace: 6:35

Mile Splits:
6:51
6:35
6:32
6:32
6:29

We were flying tonight. My plan was to do 7:00 min/mile but when i got going i felt really good and pushed on. There were four of us running together of similar ability which really helped. The route we took was fairly hilly which makes the times better again. It was very cold and freezing hard with the surface icy in places. I'm delighted with this run, best tempo in a long time, a real boast in confidence. When the distance running to and from the meeting point is included the total distance for tonight was 9 miles.

P_Fitz

Friday, Bang Crash, Wallop!

What a night. I set out at 8:00pm for an easy run planning to do about 7 or 8 miles which would have brought me up close to 50 miles for a great week of running. After about a mile things went bad, very bad. I was coming up to a roundabout with a car driving in parallel to me, I had a look and he wasn't indicating so i presumed he was going straight on. Yes, you guessed it, he wasn't. I ran out to cross over he took a left and bang! It felt like everything was happening in slow motion, i was half way across when i realised he had turned, then it was oh sh1t he's going to hit me, bang against the bonnet (which are remarkably bouncy by the way), up into the air for what seamed like an eternity then crash down onto my back followed by my head walloping against the road. When my head hit the road my reaction was oh hell that is not good. I opened my eyes and everything was swirling around, my eyes closed again i lay there in the middle of the road with arms and legs spread out like a star. The driver came out and looked down at me, he was in as much shock as i was, he just looked at me without saying much. A couple of more people arrived shortly and they started to give me attention, a few minutes past and one of them asked the driver when was the ambulance due, at which point they realised the ambulance wasn't called. I lay there for about ten minutes, eyes closed doing a lot of moaning and heavy breathing and then a fire engine arrived. I don't know why a fire engine came, maybe there was one locally. An ambulance arrived a few minutes later and put my neck in a brace and put me onto a board. I wasn't feeling much pain at this stage but the back of my head was bleeding and by all reports i had an impressive looking bump. When i got to the ambulance i was brought straight into a cubicle where they did a thorough check for neck and spine injuries but all was good. Bar the cut and swelling to the head and a few other scratches i was in remarkably good condition. Bloody lucky. I don't know how i got away with what were more or less superficial wounds. It could easily have been a hell of a lot worse. Anyway, i was released from hospital this morning with no more than a few scratches and bruises and a sore head. Incredibly lucky.

The main thing is that the legs are fine so there will be no problems getting back running in a few days! You have to get your priorities right.

Anyway, apart from the obvious it was a great week of running. I did about 42 miles, with a nice 14 mile LSR, a good 800's speed session and an excellent tempo run. Hopefully i'll be able to get back out again in a few days.

Ososlo

Omg thankfully you're ok! What a scary experience. Don't be in a hurry to get back! You must've been very shaken.
Recover well and quickly!

RayCun

wow, get well soon!

Ed Mc

Bloody hell! speedy recovery.

tang1

Jaysus,take your time coming back, dont be rushing.

ECOLII

Glad to hear to got away relatively unscatted.

Look after yourself and be sensible over next few days

blockic

That was an experience! Wish you well in the recovery..I can see how it could easily happen!

Tom Joad

Scary stuff - glad you are ok. Take care

P_Fitz

Monday, easing back into it

Distance: 3 miles
Pace: 9:03

Tonight was my first run since my accident a few weeks ago. I thought i was grand at the time of my last post but my back wasn't quite right and it has taken until now to get back running. It's great to get back out running again it really gives a lift to the evening. I'll be taking it easy for a while before i get back into full training.

Tom Joad

Great to see you back at it.

annapr

Welcome back. Very scary what happened to you. Take it easy.

P_Fitz

Things are going good again, back is almost 100% good. Here's a run down on what's been happening

Tue, Feb 17th
This was a club run night when we were meant to be doing 2 * 20min tempo runs. I was going good until about 15mins into the first run and the back started to hurt so i slowed it way down for rest of the evening

Wed, Feb 18th
Easy 5 miles, 8:45 pace

Thurs, Feb 19th
Club run, took it easy again, 9 miles at 8:05 pace

Fri, Feb 20th
Easy run, 7 miles at 8:09 pace

Sat, Feb 21st
First full proper speed session since coming back. 450m Hill run, splits:
1:51
1:55
1:55
1:53
1:54
1:55

As you can see, bar the first one, they were consistent. The last time i did this session my average time was 1:53 so I haven't lost much speed since i was off.

Total mileage for the week was 35 miles which i'm delighted with.

Sun, 22nd Feb
My hamstring had been a bit tight the day before and was still tight this morning. I was in two minds on whether to have a rest day (i ran the previous 6) or run anyway. I was itching to get going so I decided to do a run on a threadmill with a decent incline at 9:00pace, this gave me a good run with the shorter steps making it easier on the hamstring. I did 6 miles.

Mon, 23rd Feb
Rest day (and the hamstring was fine).

P_Fitz

Tuesday, 24th Feb
Another tempo run with the club. The tempo runs are still hurting my back, i had to stop this early. The back pain then put me out of action for a few days.

Sunday, 1st March
Lovely 13 miles at 8:30 pace up and around Bohernabreena resevoir. It was bloody cold, there were hail stones on the way up followed by snow, I was well wrapped up so it wasn't too bad. The place looked fabulous with the fresh snow on the ground.

Monday, 2nd March
Easy 7 miles at 8:20 pace.

Tuesday, 3rd March
Club session, hill sprints 280m:
1:07
1:05
1:05
1:06
1:04
1:06
1:03
1:04
1:03
1:04

Fairly consistant splits there.

Wednesday, 5th March
7 miles, 8:40 pace but I felt like i was pushing harder. I've been feeling tired this week for some reason.

I'm signed up for the Bohermeen 10km on Sunday. I haven't done a proper tempo session in over a month so I don't know how i'll get on. Hopefully the back will be OK. My 10km PB is 39:01 which is one of my softer ones so i hope to go under 39mins.

P_Fitz

Well, i pulled out of the Bohermeen 10k. I decided on Friday to cut out the tempo work and races for a few weeks and hope the back fully heals.

Friday, 6th March
My daughter was at hockey training in the evening so i took the oppurtunity to get a run in then. I ran 5miles around and around and around the pitch, at 8:00 pace. Boring as hell. My pace was quicker than had been of late which is good.

Sunday, 8th March
The usual run up and around Bohernabreena reservoir. Five of us went, 14 miles at 8:20 pace, a lovely morning for it. Thoroughly enjoyable, i love the long runs. I was tired after.

P_Fitz

Tuesday, 10th March
I like writing these logs when things are going well and today was one of those days. We had a club session where we were running 8 * 5 mins with 1 minute break in between. These were to be run at lactate threshold pace or the pace for an hour race. My pace should be 6:20. I deliberately took it relatively easy so as not to hurt the back, i kept at the slower pace for the first 6 with no ill effects on the back so for the last 2 i put the boot down. The back held up fine which is fantastic. It was a little bit uncomfortable later in the evening but still a big improvement. The run was up a slight hill for the first 5 mins and back down again for the next 5 mins so every second split is faster. Split paces were:

7:04
__6:38 (the tab indicates downhill)
6:58
__6:33
6:51
__6:10
6:12
__6:02


Total mileage for the day was about 10 miles.

P_Fitz

Wednesday, 11th March
A good 8 mile run this evening at 7:51 pace. This was the fastest easy run in a long time, no problem with back at all. Splits were:
8:01
7:28
7:34
8:08
8:01
7:59
7:45
7:54

Thursday, 12th March
Another really good club session. 6.5 miles at about 6:55 pace. The watch ran out of storage memory after 2 miles so I've only that pace to go with, but the pace was fairly consistent. Total for the day including some easy miles at the start and end was about 10.5 miles. 42 miles for the week which i'm happy with.

I've a cold today (Friday), three days of tough running probably didn't help the immune system.

I hadn't planned to, but i'm going to sign up for the St. Patrick's day 5km. Hopefully the cold will have cleared up, I'll have to pick up my number on race day which is always a pain. All going well I'll be aiming to do it in 18:30, you'll find out Sunday evening how i get on!

tang1

Good luck Sunday, your coming back into form nicely.