To Connemara and Beyond ...

nop98 · 24-06-2015 10:52pm

Nothing much to report here, other than the journey to 1000km has started in earnest.

Monday: Sweet nothing after the weekend. Manic in work, so it actually suited well.

Tuesday:
Target: 4/5M easy
Actual: 4M easy: 6.7k @ 5:41 min/km [4.2M @ 9.18 min/mi]
Went out with a fast and slow colleague. First 100m, felt torn. Then, some super fast dude overtook us and the faster lad went after him. Problem solved. Super-easy run, lovely day, the works.

Target: 4M easy w/strides
Actual: 5M easy: 8k @ 5:41 min/km [5M @ 9.18 min/mi]
Had a little more time so I went for a slightly longer loop. Again, fab day. We were chatting away so much so, that I completely forgot about the strides

nop98 · 27-06-2015 4:59pm

Thursday:
Target: 4/5M easy
Actual: 7.0k @ 5:38 min/km [4.4M @ 9.03 min/mi], 5 strides
Solo-run at lunchtime, and I made sure not to forget the strides this time. Nice weather and pretty uneventful. I don't think I went as fast as that, it's just that one of the km's is a lot faster because of the strides.

Did some stretching afterwards when a colleague appeared, great runner/cyclist. I proudly mentioned doing the training plan and he said: "don't forget to do some strides every week!". Ha!

Friday:
Target: Pilates & 3M easy w/strides
Actual: Pilates & 5.6k @ 5:49 min/km [3.5M @ 9.21 min/mi], 4 strides
Pilates session was heavy on the legs, which were already tired, so soldiered through. For once, I was delighted with planks and push-ups (which is usually not my forte at all!).

Popped on the runners afterwards and trundled along for 3M easy.

Saturday:
Target: 10M LSR
Actual: 17.6k @ 6.10 min/km [11M @ 9.55 min/mi]
I had been looking forward to this LSR all week, as I had intended to go back to the hills I had frequented during the prep for Connemara - and I hadn't been back since.

My better half decided she was parkrunning that morning, so I manned the homefront until she returned with a shiny PB. Set-off when it was quite warm already, so I even put on some sun-cream.

First a few laps in Shanganagh Park and out-and-back to Bray to clock up some km's. The legs were tired (this is the 5th consecutive day running, in itself a record, I think) so they took their sweet time loosening up.

Off into the hills, Carrickgologan first, which looked absolutely amazing and equally daunting from afar. I choose the steep route up and was determined to run the whole way. I had to come down to snail's pace but kept running all the way, another first. :cool:

Across to Barnaslingan accompanied by dozens of midgets. 10k passed in 64 minutes, a cool 18 minutes slower than last week! Coming downhill I decided to "sure, give it a lash" and I clocked a 4:33 min km [7.20]. Later I checked that the pace peaked at 3:18 min/km [5:18], which coincentally is the same pace the winning lady managed in Dunshaughlin over 10k. :eek: Puts things into perspective..

As soon as things evened out, I regretted the "giving a lash" folly ..

but got into a decent enough rhythm and made it home. Admittedly, I was pretty knackered, but I blame the hills and silly fast descent.

Reading all the reports about the race series 5M (and flapjacks) made me jealous! Such good stuff from all Novices (and others). So, I got myself organized and entered the Frank Duffy 10M (can't do the HM unfortunately) and... (drumroll) .... DCM itself! WOOHOO! :eek:

Week 1/18

| B.ie plan | Planned | Actual
Mon | rest/rec | rest |

nop98 · 28-06-2015 2:48pm

Sunday turns out to be quite a busy day so I happily changed the "3M recovery" plans to "active recovery" - cycling, hurling, ironing, the works. Couldn't face the runners for a 6th straight day anyway.

Plan for next week is therefore per below. I'm quite keen to stay ahead of the curve with the weekly mileage and length of LSR.

Week 2/18

| B.ie plan | Planned | Actual
Mon | rest/rec | 3/4M rec |

annapr · 29-06-2015 11:16pm

Across to Barnaslingan accompanied by dozens of midgets.

I'm still chuckling at this one... a tall Dutch guy followed by lots of little people..

nop98 · 30-06-2015 1:20pm

annapr wrote: »

Across to Barnaslingan accompanied by dozens of midgets.

I'm still chuckling at this one... a tall Dutch guy followed by lots of little people..

LOL

Chuckle all you like, but try running tall and relaxed and slow, when all these little buggers try to hitch a hike by settling in your nose, eyes, mouth, eyes .... And now DG wants us to breathe and even smile, too! This DCM training is harder than I thought.

(must admit having consulted dictionary - but I meant midges, the nasty little flies

).

nop98 · 04-07-2015 8:15pm

Manic, manic week workwise. I am glad I managed to get most of my planned sessions in - as it didn't look like it most days. Here goes, as far as I can remember (apologies, this is quite a long post :pac:):

Monday
Target: 3/4M rec
Actual: 4M easy: 6.6km @ 5:43 min/km [4.1M @ 9:12 min/mi]
Easy lunchtime run. I would have gone slower on my own, but I had some (fast) company and I just let the legs do what they wanted. Chatting throughout, warm but comfortable.

Tuesday
Target: 4M easy
Actual: 4M easy: 6.9 km @ 5:55 min/km [4.3M @ 9:31 min/mi]
Early morning before work. I am lucky with Shanganagh Park @ running distance. I just circled around the part of the park sandwiched by DART line and sea, didn't go into the park-proper. Stunning views over Dalkey island, and a nice change to run on grass instead.

Wednesday
Target: 5M (3M PMP)
Actual: 5M (3M PMP-ish

): 7.8km @ 5:36 min/km [4.8M @ 9:00 min/mi]
Nice run, but not really what was required. I have found an extension to my usual lunchtime loop to bring it up to 5M. So I started easy, up'd the effort, and then slowed down as required. However, given the undulating nature of the course, I didn't really hit things on target pace-wise (but I do think it was OK effort-wise, which is what matters).

Thursday
Target: 4M easy
Actual: 4M rec: 6.8km @ 6:15 min/km [4.2M @ 10:03 min/mi]
Hell-ish day in work so my lunchtime run was out

. I came home and the better half must have seen it in my eyes. As soon as she was home from her Bray running club, she nodded to my runners and booted me out of the door. Bless. I ran up to Rathmichael to do the triangle-loop DG had suggested. I liked it and will incorporate it in future runs.

I was thinking of the comments on the Novices thread on this route: I love the Lordello Road, especially the majestic view of Carrickgologan hill. It doesn't look much of a hill from afar, but from close-by, it's totes amazing. You don't often get an unobstructed view up-close from leafy Rathmichael, but you do on the auld Lordello Rd.

The jury is out re: evening running. I loved it to de-stress, but I'm just not used to it. The need to slow down to avoid side-stitches (or throwing up the dinner) made it easy to keep to rec-pace tho

Friday
Target: Cross (Pilates) & biking
Actual: Just biking (~20km)
Another sh*te day at the office so I skipped my Pilates class. I did cycle to-and-fro said place, which is about 20km total. Lovely day for it.

Saturday
Target: 12M LSR
Actual: 12M LSR: 20.0 km @ 6:08 min/km [12.4M @ 9:52 min/mi]
One side-benefit about the increasing training distances is that you can explore your neighbourhood. It's amazing what you miss from the car, and what you can explore by foot. Downside is that you have to run it all :cool:

When I started running and training for the '14 Wexford HM, I got fascinated with the M50 bridge at Lehaunstown. It goes across the M50, literary, nowhere. It's not even easy to find on the maps or to know how to get there. Eventually I managed to incorporate it in one of my training runs back then, and remember writing excitedly in my (then private) log "I've scaled the bridge to nowhere today"!!

These days, it's a mainstay of my LSRs and MLRs and I love running it, despite the plenitude of midges (annapr take note) on both ends. However, today, I wanted to try and incorporate it twice in the 20km I had planned. It's not easy to plan a loop around it as it is so remote, and I didn't want to run it twice as up-and-down.

So off I went, up to Rathmichael, down said bridge, past Cabinteely Park where the parkrun was in full-swing, almost all the way back home south on the N11, sharp right across Bride's Glen, up to the bridge again. Effing steep little short-cut, that Bride's Glen Road, and I struggled, big time, here :eek:. HTFU so, but coming down the infamous bridge a second time, I did think it to be madness, these distances! But at that point, there wasn't much else to do but to stretch out and enjoy the slight downhill home. Pace actually increased a bit too much but it was a great recovery from being down-the-dumps midway.

Absolutely parched when i got home, so next week I am somehow organizing mid-run refreshments. I was to meet a friend for some bevvies this evening, but the b*st*d cancelled on me! If only he knew how much I was looking forward to the, ehm, re-hydration!

Firedance · 04-07-2015 8:25pm

You have some super route options out there nop, up thro ballybrack village to killiney, vico road, sandycove & dunlaoghaire. I'm slightly jealous of your upcoming LSR'S :-)

annapr · 04-07-2015 9:24pm

Haha, glad to see the little people weren't waiting for you on the bridge, Nop! and that you fixed all your :'s for Hilly

hillsiderunner · 04-07-2015 10:46pm

annapr wrote: »

and that you fixed all your :'s for Hilly

Thanks for pointing that out

... hadn't even noticed!

You are really getting the value out of the Boards plan, nop... all those little recovery runs really add up.
Jobs can be a bloody nuisance sometimes though....

nop98 · 05-07-2015 11:41pm

Firedance wrote: »

You have some super route options out there nop, up thro ballybrack village to killiney, vico road, sandycove & dunlaoghaire. I'm slightly jealous of your upcoming LSR'S :-)

Indeed - but the nicest are the nearby hills. Tough, rewarding, quiet, and stunning.

annapr wrote: »

Haha, glad to see the little people weren't waiting for you on the bridge, Nop! and that you fixed all your :'s for Hilly

There's no-one on that bridge, ever

it's the weirdest spot.

hillsiderunner wrote: »

Thanks for pointing that out ... hadn't even noticed!

You are really getting the value out of the Boards plan, nop... all those little recovery runs really add up.
Jobs can be a bloody nuisance sometimes though....

Hilly! I had so done my hardest!

Yeah, jobs. I'm lucky, really, with plenty of flexibility. Just didn't really work out this week.

nop98 · 05-07-2015 11:52pm

The heavens opened and it lashed down all day. I was about to ditch the 3M rec-run when it cleared for the evening, so I threw on the runners and headed to the local park. My little fella came with me on his bike and we had a ball. We had to stop in the playground for a bit (not for me

nop98 · 09-07-2015 5:44pm

Manicness in work is slowly abating.. so I managed to get out for my 3 mid-week sessions so far.

It's actually all a little tedious. So feel free to skip

or if you need some sedative, read on.

Monday: rest

Tuesday:
Target: 4M easy
Actual: 4M easy: 6.6 km @ 5:42 min/km [4.1M @ 9:10 min/mi]
Usual lunchtime loop. I dragged out my Wexford '14 HM buddies. I take great pride having bullied these two lads to 13.1M in Wexford, they both admitted at the time, they would not have done it if I hadn't nagged them so much...

Finally got them to come out again and we had a nice wee gallop.

Wednesday:
Target: 5M & hill-sprints
Actual: 9.1km [5.7M] & 10 hill-sprints (Garmin wouldn't work, so no times).
I loved the hill-sprints part of this session, but the rest was quite silly. On a whim, I decided to hill-sprint at the start of the run. Found the perfect spot (Foxrock N11 footbridge), but I don't think you're meant to do them at the start of the run :rolleyes:

Oh, and if you ever think by yourself "Ah sure, I'll go this new way, must be about the same distance, what could possibly go wrong" then be on alert! I ran almost a mile more than I intended as a result of changing the route on a whim. I should not be allowed to make any decisions while running.

Thursday:
Target: 5M easy
Actual: 5M easy: 7.8km @ 5:49 min/km [4.9M @ 9:21 min/mi]
Another nice and easy run with three colleagues this time. I'm getting a rep for being a total nuisance getting people out to run in work - or if they do go out, to make them go further. I'm just being selfish because it's more fun to have someone to talk to.

On a slightly more serious note, I'm a little niggly. Calves are like violin-strings and the top of my right hip is a little mweeh. I tried stretching and foam-rolling it (through some Novice-thread tips) and it did loosen a little. This evening again.

So, exec decision: I'm going to skip the 3M easy tomorrow (it's supposed to be a cross-train day anyway) and hit the bicycle instead (2x10 km to/fro work).

Week 3/18

| B.ie plan | Planned | Actual
Mon | rest/rec | rest | will do

hillsiderunner · 09-07-2015 5:48pm

nop98 wrote: »

It's actually all a little tedious. So feel free to skip or if you need some sedative, read on.

It's all *very* boring, nop

.

* I feel the same way about my own midweek runs this week, especially the rib-commentary running through mine. Btw, nicked your table.

Firedance · 09-07-2015 6:08pm

Neither of your entries are boring for the record..

Good call on the change for tomorrow, if you google ais calf stretches I find them very good along with heel drops after a run, keep foam rolling too it all helps

hillsiderunner · 09-07-2015 7:25pm

Firedance wrote: »

Neither of your entries are boring for the record..

Not even a session from either of us. And it's only going to get worse as marathon training continues :rolleyes:
(our running is beginning to look scarily similar, I did the accidental-overestimate on my Wednesday run ... also caused by a detour from a usual route).

nop98 · 09-07-2015 10:41pm

hillsiderunner wrote: »

It's all *very* boring, nop .

* I feel the same way about my own midweek runs this week, especially the rib-commentary running through mine. Btw, nicked your table.

Ha - thanks Hilly

Rest assured there's plenty of interest in your ribs

but I can't possibly see how I can keep writing the next 15 weeks about me running the same loop at lunch time...

I noticed your table looked familiar - but it wasn't mine to begin with, I nicked it from outforarun. :rolleyes:

Firedance wrote: »

Neither of your entries are boring for the record..

Good call on the change for tomorrow, if you google ais calf stretches I find them very good along with heel drops after a run, keep foam rolling too it all helps

Thanks Firey, will have a look. Yes, foam-rolling shortly! Are you still parkrunning (or should I say, porkrunning

) on Sat?

hillsiderunner wrote: »

Not even a session from either of us. And it's only going to get worse as marathon training continues :rolleyes:
(our running is beginning to look scarily similar, I did the accidental-overestimate on my Wednesday run ... also caused by a detour from a usual route).

Yes indeed

funny how we both liked the hill-sprints. In fact, I liked them so much I am going to do them more regularly, just don't tell DG...

Firedance · 09-07-2015 10:50pm

nop98 wrote: »

Thanks Firey, will have a look. Yes, foam-rolling shortly! Are you still parkrunning (or should I say, porkrunning ) on Sat?

that's the plan! I think two clubmates are coming with me, as neither are Dubs they may need more than their passports though

are you going to do the run as part of your LSR?

nop98 · 09-07-2015 11:20pm

Firedance wrote: »

that's the plan! I think two clubmates are coming with me, as neither are Dubs they may need more than their passports though are you going to do the run as part of your LSR?

Yes, that's the plan! I just need to make it there on time

hillsiderunner · 09-07-2015 11:23pm

nop98 wrote: »

Yes indeed funny how we both liked the hill-sprints. In fact, I liked them so much I am going to do them more regularly, just don't tell DG...

They are pretty light as speed goes so I think you'd get a pass from DG tbh. The idea is to do them at the end of one of your easy runs. Now the parkrun (if you're racing it) is probably a bigger ask

nop98 · 10-07-2015 9:02am

hillsiderunner wrote: »

They are pretty light as speed goes so I think you'd get a pass from DG tbh. The idea is to do them at the end of one of your easy runs. Now the parkrun (if you're racing it) is probably a bigger ask

Not racing it, no way... 5M there and 5M back, and besides that, it's too hilly!

Neady83 · 10-07-2015 9:24am

nop98 wrote: »

I'm getting a rep for being a total nuisance getting people out to run in work - or if they do go out, to make them go further. I'm just being selfish because it's more fun to have someone to talk to.

On a slightly more serious note, I'm a little niggly. Calves are like violin-strings and the top of my right hip is a little mweeh. I tried stretching and foam-rolling it (through some Novice-thread tips) and it did loosen a little. This evening again.

So, exec decision: I'm going to skip the 3M easy tomorrow (it's supposed to be a cross-train day anyway) and hit the bicycle instead (2x10 km to/fro work).

You should be getting a pay rise for getting your work buddies fit and healthy and probably increasing productivity with it

Good call on cross training, knock them niggles on the head before they start dictating how much you train

Nice training this weekend and it's not even over yet

nop98 · 10-07-2015 11:52am

Neady83 wrote: »

You should be getting a pay rise for getting your work buddies fit and healthy and probably increasing productivity with it

Ha - it depends on the viewpoint. The common joke here is that I owe something to the rest of the world, for keeping these fellas alive an extra year!

but I'll tell them you said I needed a payrise.

nop98 · 11-07-2015 7:27pm

Friday:
Target: Pilates & 3M easy
Actual: Pilates & bicycle commute (~25k)
As suggested, I was going to give the running a break. The Pilates class was excellent as it seemed to focus on the legs with exercises and stretches, one in particular seemed to hit the spot.

Took the bike to work, nice to keep the legs ticking over, and even had time for a little D-tour en-route home. Better than the car anyway.

Saturday:
Target: 13M LSR incl parkrun
Actual: 13M "LSR" incl Cabinteely parkrun.
> 8km @ 5:54 min/km [5M @ 9:29 min/mi]
> 5km Cab parkrun @ 5:27 min/km [3.1M @ 8:46 min/mi]
> 8km @ 6.04 min/km [5M @ 9:45 min/mi]

Not the ideal LSR but a run I had been looking forward to. I live running distance from Cabinteely Park and the parkrun there is challenging and always a great atmosphere. I can go straight North (~5km) or take a longer route. I figured I could make up the required 13M LSR distance this way. Also, Firedance suggested she'd be in Cabinteely and it would be nice to say hello.

So, the plan was 5M, parkrun, 5M, and I was all ready to depart at 8.30am (or is it 8:30am..

) when my Garmin wouldn't get going. I muppeted about with it for a while, managed to re-install some software update (I really hope a certain Novice-mentor is not reading this), and lo-and-behold, it was working again. I had to speed up a little to still be on time. The parkrun kicked off and I trundled around the park at easy pace. First 2 loops at reasonably gentle pace, but on the last lap, especially the downhills, I sped up a little just to catch a few runners in front.

Afterwards, Firedance said hello, nice to meet you after 2 near misses! We chatted a bit about how hard it is to not race in a race. It really is tough, and DG is 100% correct (not that I ever dispute that), races and LSRs don't go together.

Trotted home the long route for an extra 5M, and got the required distance. Happy with the mornings work, the little breaks (before and after the parkrun) made up for the slightly faster overall pace.

So this (almost) concludes week 3/18.

I have to say I am feeling a little ambivalent towards the whole marathon training-thing. It's damn hard work.

annapr · 11-07-2015 7:55pm

I definitely share your ambivalence this week... I guess that happens at different points in the training cycle though.

Firedance · 11-07-2015 8:02pm

My memories from last year are that some weeks were ab fab and others were plain awful, I reckon its your body adjusting to the extra workload every now & then.

Well done on the long run today, hope the niggles are better after the run break on Friday

nop98 · 12-07-2015 5:58pm

Sunday
Target: 3M recovery
Actual: 4+M recovery: 6.8 km @ 6:07 min/km [4.3M @ 9:50 min/m]

After posting some ramblings in the Novices threads about feeling somewhat overwhelmed by it all, there was plenty of motivation in the responses from fellow Novices. So between local downpours, I laced up for some recovery miles in the nearby park. Uneventful, other than that I found it hard to keep the pace down. Also, this was late afternoon and I did not have enough fuel onboard, I think. Here's me looking forward to dinner

Firedance wrote: »

My memories from last year are that some weeks were ab fab and others were plain awful, I reckon its your body adjusting to the extra workload every now & then.

Well done on the long run today, hope the niggles are better after the run break on Friday

Yeah, I think you're right. Had 5-6 good weeks, this was the first one where it all felt a little laboured. We'll see how it works out.

Niggles are better - thanks for asking

the Pilates class seemed to just hit that nail on the head.

nop98 · 17-07-2015 10:37pm

Midweek through week 4. Nothing interesting to see here..

Monday: rest

Tuesday:
Target: 5M easy
Actual: 5M easy: 7.9km @ 5:57 min/km [5M @ 9:34 min/mi]
Little jogs with the Wexford '14 lads. They're both doing the race series (not DCM) so we'll be logging many miles together. This was a simple easy jog at lunchtime.

Wednesday:
Target: 6M, 4M @ PMP (5:35 min/km [8:59 min/mi])
Actual: 1km w/u, 7km @ 5:31 min/km [8:52 min/mi], 2km c/d
Session on target. Really pleased with it. I posted a rambling report on the Novice thread.

Km-splits:
1: 6.00
2: 5:21
3: 5:37
4: 5:30
5: 5:31
6: 5:31
7: 5:34
8: 5:29
9: 6:04
.8: 6:00

Thursday:
Target: 4M easy
Actual: 4M easy, Garmin-free
Busy, busy day at work. When I finally went out, the heavens opened. So it was cold and nasty.

Not having the Garmin was fine - I probably ran quite a bit faster than I would have, but that's more because of the rain. I was trying to keep the spirits up, as "it's good to practice running in the rain, as that's what it might be on the day". Yeah right. Get on with it, and get back inside!

The legs were somewhat heavy from the two previous days - but niggles stayed at bay. Actually, the legs have felt fine all week.

Friday:
Target: Cross (Pilates) && a.n.other
Actual: Pilates
Had intended to cycle to work, but I am glad I didn't due to the weather. Excellent Pilates session, especially tough on the legs. No other cross-training.

So, feel much better about the training compared to last week (mind, the LSR tomorrow might change my mind).

Week 4/18:

| B.ie plan | Planned | Actual
Mon | rest/rec | rest | will do

nop98 · 19-07-2015 9:28pm

Saturday:
Target: 14M LSR
Actual: 14M LSR: 22.7km @ 6:10 min/km [14.2M @ 9:55 min/mi].
Determined to hit this one on target, it would be the first training run over 13.1M, and last week, even though I had covered 13M, I felt I had cheated a bit by doing it in 3 different stretches.

My better half had suggested she'd try Cabinteely parkrun, so I offered to volunteer while the kids amused themselves in the near-by playground. Said hello to Firedance on scanning-duty and donned the yellow bib. FD asked afterwards if I had a route in mind for the LSR and I had indeed some brain-dead route in mind, when it struck me: I should just do some parkrun-tourism! :cool:

So after we got home, I got underway: I ran back to Cabinteely, did the parkrun route (OMG that hill near the House will be the end of me at some point), ran to Shanganagh Park, did as much of that parkrun as was needed to make up the distance, and then ran home.

During the run, I applied a trick I read on one of TFB's many epic race-reports (http://rubbishrunner.blogspot.ie/ if you've never read his blog, it's really very good). Halfway, take status of various body parts and niggles. 10k later, do another check and compare. In my case, while there was some discomfort, I realized things hadn't worsened much in between. In fact, it was pretty much the same. This is such a great confidence boost.

Coming home, I realized I had another few km's [miles] in me if needed. New PB in terms of distance and duration, but this record will stand for 7 days only.

Weirdness: I was nursing some niggles before this run, but I seem to have ran them all out. Gone. Either numbed in shock, or genuinely gone!

Sunday:
Target: 3M recovery
Actual: 5M+ recovery: 8.4km @ 6:10 [5.2M @ 9:55 min/mi]
After spending most day on the sidelines of his royal highness' football league (5 hours+ FFS), I begged an hour off for some recovery jogging. I was handed a shopping list :rolleyes: for the local Tesco. It was an interesting challenge to try and get the few items needed in the time the Garmin allows before resuming the run (I succeeded

). I got some funny looks, but I'm used to that

So that concludes week 4

I feel a heck of a lot more confident about the whole enterprise compared to last week. :pac::) I did make the concession that I will run max 5 times a week, with Monday off altogether, and Friday for Pilates and/or biking to work.

Week 4/18:

| B.ie plan | Planned | Actual
Mon | rest/rec | rest | done

nop98 · 24-07-2015 9:08pm

Jobs and real-life. Don't they understand that I'm "doing Dublin"? So demanding they are (rolls eyes). All I want is just an hour to do some more running. Apparently, that's almost too much to ask for this week. :rolleyes:

Monday: rest.

Tuesday:
Target: 5M easy
Actual: 5M easy: 7.8km @ 6.02 min/km [5M @ 9:42 min/mi]
Out with 5 colleagues (I have them all showing up at 12:30 asking "how far are we going today?"). Most of them took an early route back :mad: but the slowest one came with me on the 5M route. It was great as I had no problem keeping to easy pace

Wednesday:
Target: 6M + strides
Actual: 5M @ PMP: 7.9km @ 5:30 min/km [5M @ 8:50 min/mi]
This was one of them days. Busy-busy with an important meeting looming at 3pm. I just didn't have time for 6M at easy pace, so instead, I got one of the greyhounds and we ran shorter but faster. I actually really enjoyed it, no niggles, no problem with the pace, chatting all the way.

Oh - and nice and refreshed and energized and kicked some a*e during all-important meeting. :cool:

Thursday:
Target: 5M easy
Actual: 5M easy: 7.9km @ 5:39 min/km [5M @ 9:05 min/mi]
Same loop as the two days before, again with a colleague. Uneventful.

My apologies to my no-doubt snoring audience (all 2-3 of you!), this is all boring! But it is actually really exciting (for me at least): these 5 milers are all so easy and enjoyable. Much more so then, say, 6 months ago.

Friday:
Target: cross-training
Actual: Pilates & bike-commute (~20 km)
Heavy-on-the-legs pilates session and the right hamstring said hello during the session. Not good, but stretched it properly so should be OK.

The instructor inquired if I was running tomorrow and actually apologized when I uttered "Yes, 15M!".

So yes, 15M tomorrow, and an early start at that. Best get the Garmin charged and the gear ready! Firedance: it's going to be Killiney Hill, Dalkey, and DL! Here's hoping for nice weather

Neady83 · 24-07-2015 10:01pm

Great week of training Nop, I don't envy you that 15miles tomorrow, hope it goes well and the sun shines but there's also a nice cool breeze blowing

To Connemara and Beyond ...

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