running up that hill

vanderlyle

Mon 09/10:
AM: Off.
PM: 4.6 miles, 37:55, 8.15m/m.

Slower than usual today. Effort felt similar but nothing felt wrong, not sure why it was so off the usual pace.


Tue 10/10:
AM: 4.6 miles, 35:50, 7.47m/m
PM: 4.6 miles, 34:49, 7.34m/m


Wed 11/10:
AM: 4.6 miles, 34:45, 7.33m/m
PM: 3x 2miles, 2 min float recovery

Experimenting today with running to work and then doing a session later. Can't say the experiment was a failure, but I found the session tough. It's a question of do I get a better benefit from being fresh for the session, or doing the session on tired legs? One for the coach next time I see him.

The session itself was tough on paper from where I'm coming from. This is worlds apart from the 800m training over the summer! Struggled to stay with two lads who are at the same level as me, and who I'd normally be in a group with for club sessions. It was then made tougher by a strong wind around the park, which made the pace on certain sections about 15-20 seconds slower per mile.

Avg pace: 5:50m/m on the fast miles.
Total: 9.2 miles = 1.5 miles warmup + almost exactly 10K for the session (6.2 miles) + 1.5 miles easy.


Thu 12/10:
AM: 4.6 miles, 38:03, 8.16m/m
PM: 4.9 miles, 37:02, 7.33m/m

Left achilles a little sore after last night, so took it easy on the run in. Still a bit stiff this evening, hopefully a day of rest will help it.


Fri 13/10:
Off.

After missing out on tickets to their vicar st gigs, I got tickets today for The National next year. They've been one of my favourite bands over the last few years, but fook me, 76 euro is a punchy price that better be worth it!


Sat 14/10: BHAA XC Castleknock
23:34
16th

Lap 1: running in a nice group with two clubmates, a work colleague, and another guy who I had ran much of the Rathfarnham 5K with.
Lap 2: The group split, and I passed one clubmate, but lost touch to the others.
Lap 3: Really struggling to maintain some pace, and had another runner on my shoulder for the entire lap. Towards the end, he passed, but I got in front again at the next corner.
Lap 4: Gradually pulled away from the runner behind me, and closed the gap to the other clubmate from the group on lap 1. Passed him in the last little loop around towards the finish for 16th.

Felt I ran ok, but only a 10-second improvement on last year's time here. Tougher day today though, wetter and muddier in places than last year.

The big unanswered question over the last few weeks is how do I push myself harder earlier in races – and use earlier more of what I have left in the tank towards the end. Today was in hindsight a great opportunity to try and hang onto the back of the guy from my work, and see if I could stay with him. Nothing to lose today. But I maybe gave up the fight a little too early. He finished a few places ahead of me in the end.

Left Achilles tendon was in trouble afterwards, and worsened as the day went on. A few days off needed I think.

5.6 miles total.


Sun 15/10:
Off.


Total weekly miles: 42.7

Going to take a few days off, and play it by ear. I'll look to start back with some easy runs on grass from mid-next week, but maybe give the run-commutes a rest for a while. Hopefully back in action for the Leinster Novices in a few weeks.

vanderlyle

No running since Saturday. Achilles has improved and pain has reduced. In particular the sharp darting pain has not come on since Sunday. But it's still not near 100%. In particular walking downhill or downstairs upsets it. Canned the club session tonight, which is something like 15x 400m on the track.

The injury/niggle couldn't have come at a better time. First, there's no target race on my horizon until probably the Raheny 5 (need to sit down with the coach and plan the next while and transition back to track work next spring). Also for the rest of this week I'm away to the UK with work, which promises to be fairly intense because of how new I am to this project. And there will probably be a good few pints on thurs night. Then a stag night on Saturday in cork - so If I had to choose a week to be switched off running, this is the perfect week.

With some luck, by Sunday the niggle will have cleared up and I can return to easy running next week. But it looks like I'll give the Leinster Novice XC a miss.

vanderlyle

Took the guts of a week off to get over the niggle, and also to get over a few late nights. Planned to ease back in last week with 5 runs and no doubles. Though the calves were a bit tight at times, the niggle in the very lowest part of the soleus/achilles seems to be resolved. Managed a relatively respectable (for me) 44 miles in total, and I'm pleased with the session on Saturday.


Mon 23/10:
6.8 miles, 53:04, avg 7.48m/m. Started slow and eased in.


Tue 24/10:
7.5 miles, 60:53, avg 8.07m/m. Started slow again and felt I was moving nicely over the last 2 miles.


Wed 25/10: 4 miles @ LT
Club session
23:04, 5.46m/m average.

Nice little group around the pitches in the park. Did this session in flats instead this week - definitely felt more comfortable running tonight than on 04/10 in the Omnis. Though the calves were a bit sore the next day.

9.2 miles incl warmup and cooldown.


Thu 26/10:
Off.

Fri 27/10:
Off.


Sat 28/10: 10x 800m, 1:20 jog rec
Club session on the polo grounds.
Splits: 2:41 for the first, then 2:49-51 for all the others.

The group went out at an unsustainable pace on the first one, but settled quickly. Found myself struggling to hold the pace on the second half of the last few reps into the wind, but kept the times around 2:50. Calves were hurting from rep #3, and by the end of #10, I felt like my legs had been whipped. Felt a good deal better after a recovery cool-down run.

11.3 miles total = 2.8 mile (warmup) + 5.9 miles (session) + 2.6 miles (cooldown)


Sun 29/10:
9.3 miles, 69:53, 7.31m/m

A moonlit run in the park this evening, after spending the morning manning a junction around Rialto for the marathon. Felt good on the run, despite the calves still being a bit sore.


Total: 44.1 miles

vanderlyle

Mon 30/10:
AM: Off
PM: 5.3 miles, 41:48, 7.53m/m


Tue 31/10:
AM: 4.6 miles, 36:47, 8.00m/m
PM: 4.6 miles, 36:50, 8.00m/m


Wed 01/11:
AM: Off.
PM: Club session: 1 mile, 2x 1K, 3x 1min, 3x 30s

Sharpener session on the club track ahead of Sunday. Good bit off the two lads on the mile and K reps, but felt great on the 1min and 30s reps. Been a while since I've done anything with fast turnover. Total 8.6 miles with a much longer warm-up than usual. In flats, no trouble with achilles/calves.

Splits: 5:35, 3:20, 3:23; then 3x 300m-350m, 3x 200m


Thu 02/11:
AM: 4.9 miles, 38:08, 7.47m/m
PM: 7.4 miles, 58:51, 7.57m/m

Gradually stretching the mileage a bit on these doubles. Legs a bit tired by the end, but two days off now to get a little bit fresher before Sunday.


Fri 03/11:
Off.


Sat 04/11:
Off.

Made the trip to amphibian king and bought some 12mm spikes. Had been using 7mm for XC up to now, but I now have 12mm and 15mm on reserve if things get sticky. Also bought myself a pair of track spikes. I'd been meaning to get these for a while. Up to now, I used the same shoes for XC and track, just swapping out the XC spikes for the 5mm ones for a track race. But with doing a fuller XC season this year, I think it's time I had a separate pair for track. Can't wait to take them for a spin!


Sun 05/11: Dublin Senior XC
41st place, 34:23, avg pace 5.40-5.50m/m (? unsure of distance – billed as 10K)

My first time doing this, and though I wasn't expecting much from myself, I was really looking forward to the test over this distance cross country. I struggled to remember my last race this long. I think it was a road race in Feb 2016. Weather was good, dry and bright with only a barely noticeable breeze. Ground was in great condition.

The plan was to set out relatively conservatively, with the expectation that some would come back to me. I also had a few target people to aim for, who I should be at a similar level to, based on recent results. That served as a useful gauge for me in the very early stages. From lap 2 onwards, I picked up 1-2 places per lap, and made up another two in the last 800m. A fairly frank and sobering reminder too though of how far off the stronger lads at the club I am: I didn't place on the team, and was 45 seconds off the club's 6th finisher, and that was without a couple of other strong lads from the club that were not running today. I'm still satisfied with how I judged the effort, and will take a good training benefit from this.

Calves were hurting at the end, and felt a bit of stiffness in my hips that will probably take a couple of days of easy running to get over.


Total: 42.9 miles

vanderlyle

Been a while since I’ve had much to log about, time to crank this diary into life again!

After a disastrous winter, I'm settling down to consistent running again. Things went wrong mid-November. I pushed myself through a Saturday morning club session on the polo grounds, when I should have pulled out. By the end I knew something was wrong in my lower calf/Achilles area on the right leg.

I took a few days off, then tried an easy run, because I felt no pain walking. It wasn't long before I had to stop running due to pain. Repeated this again but couldn't even get through half a mile without pain. Time for the physio – diagnosis was some sort of Achilles inflammation. I got stuck into the strengthening work, the most important being eccentric calf raises, and resigned myself to being out of action for 3 months.

The period of zero mileage coincided with a very busy period in work, which had me in the office on 29 days out of the 31 days in January, and with plenty late evenings. Not a pleasant time, and I was probably not a pleasant person to be around.

It's easy to point to that one session as the culprit, but all was not well for a while before it. I was probably under-prepared for the XC training coming off a low mileage summer, and I didn't have a strong enough foundation to keep training and racing. I should have taken a complete break or at least a major step back after the Dublin novices XC. Definite lessons to take on for the future.

Back to the present and things have been going smoothly for several weeks now. I’m getting the mileage up (very gradually) and getting out 4-5 times each week, and I’m back doing 2 sessions per week. Not a whole lot to get excited about, but getting there slowly! Mostly I’m just happy to be totally pain free again, which has been the way since about the end of March.

The last 4 weeks have followed the same kind of pattern:

Monday: easy run 5-7 miles
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: session, e.g. 6x1000m, 2x (1x 1k, 5x400m) or similar – aimed at 3K/5K, rather than the shorter faster 800/1500 workouts I was doing last year.
Thursday: easy 5-7 miles
Friday: Off
Saturday: session alternating between either much longer reps than Wed session e.g. 4x1mile, or much shorter than Wed e.g. 4x300m on hills.
Sunday: Longer easy run, typically 9-10 miles

Looking forward to tackling a 3000m/5000m on track or a 5K on the road over the next few weeks.

vanderlyle

Mon 11/06: Off

Tue 12/06: 6.8 miles 51:54 7.37m/m

Wed 13/06: 3x1500 @ 5k pace + 1x500m @ mile pace. 2:30 recovery between all.

Splits: 5:02/4:59/4:59/1:23. Club session on the polo grounds. Comfortable on the 1500s and pace felt well within me despite the breeze. Probably a bit too fast on the 500m. Feeling good throughout though. 2.4 mile warmup and 3.9 mile cool down made for 9.4 miles total.

Thu 14/06: Off

Fri 15/06: 6.5 miles 48:19 7.26m/m

Sat 16/06: Hill session - 8x 0.2 miles.

Splits: 76 76 77 74 75 76 71 73. Nasty headwind made this much slower than previous efforts around the 70-second mark. Plan was for originally 7, but though I was tired I felt good enough to get through another at a relatively quality effort. Few easy miles afterwards to take the total to 9.2 miles.

Sun 17/06: 11.1 miles 01:27:20 7.52m/m

Felt good, gradually been building these long runs over the last few weeks. No plans to go any longer than 90 mins for the foreseeable future.

Total weekly miles: 43.0
Milage has built slowly over the last few weeks, this is my first week north of 40 mpw this year.

vanderlyle

After successive mileage increases over the last 6 weeks, this week was a step back. With a few races coming up over the next while, another reason to ease off a little.

Mon 18/06: Off

Tue 19/06: Off

Wed 20/06: 3000m, Dublin graded, Tallaght
First track race this year, and first 3000m since Jan17 I think. PB from then was 9:51, but this is quite soft given the amount of time that has passed. Expected around 9:40. Had a clubmate and training partner for company in grade B.

I went out too hard on the first lap, maybe a rush of blood or lack of practice, something like 72-73 seconds. 9:40 would be 77.3s per 400m. Settled in after that and ran fairly consistent laps around 78-79s until the last 600m, where I gradually worked harder. Finished with another 72-73 second lap.

Finished 5th of 9 starters (I think there were 9, though only 8 results) in 9:42.43. Little bit less breeze today and a bit better pacing and I probably could have gone under 9:40. Still relatively pleased with the run, hopefully can take some more off this at the next 3000m race in the final graded meet this summer. Warmup and short cool down meant only 4.5 miles total.

Thu 21/06: 6.3 miles, 47:28, 7.32m/m

Fri 22/06: Off. Few days away with the better half in beautiful west cork.

Sat 23/06: Castlehaven parkrun.

Found out that Rinneen Woods, where the Castlehaven parkrun is held, was only 15 mins drive from where we were staying in Skibbereen. A little research suggested it was the hilliest parkrun in Ireland, so I thought why not try it as a semi-session/fast tempo.

Stuck with local guy on the first loop so I wouldn't get lost (and still almost did, even though I was behind him, I missed the 180 turn). He tore down the hills, I almost went head over heels on one section trying to stay with him - I'm clearly not cut out to be a mountain runner. Pushed the pace at the end of the first loop on lap 2 and worked fairly hard to get home under 20:00.

Beautiful setting along the banks of an inlet, and with about 30 runners on average over the past few months, it's a totally different world to some of the Dublin park runs. 1.5 mile warmup and no time for cool down meant 4.6 miles total.

Sun 24/06: 7.6 miles, 60:52, 8.01m/m

Easy run around Skibbereen. All on concrete, so took it easy. Got lost again.


Total weekly miles: 23.0 miles