Every accomplishment starts with a decision to try

laura_ac3

Firedance wrote: »

Monday 13th April: PM Strength session 40 mins, AIS stretching

Tuesday 14th April 4 x 4 mins @ 5K pace - beautiful evening to be out running :-)

warm up 1 mile @ 10.16 pace HR 141

8.25 hr 149
8.37 hr 158 (this was 5mins 44 secs long)
8.32 hr 153
8.13 hr 150

cool down 1 mile @ 10.14. jogged the recoveries although I did walk some of the last one.

Found this very tough and then messed up the 2nd interval (missed the beep to tell me the 4 mins was up). Following on from that I relaxed into the pain, of which there was a-lot and this helped, the pace of the last rep for me is normally worse but today is much better and that's got to be down to that - possibly my first ever positive split!!!. Also I told myself it was still only 2 days after a race and it was normal to be extra tired. Very happy indeed to finish!

Nice times, especially the last one. I was the same, I definitely found those the sessions which were the most challenging off the plan.

annapr

+1 to Laura's comment. I'm impressed at your almost 6mins interval... when I do these, I'm always counting down to the end of the 4 mins, no way I'd miss that beep! A good session so soon after ther race too.

Firedance

I think garmin need to increase the volume of the beep so I can hear it over my gasping breath!!

just as a side question, I'm looking at the HR for those intervals, on the 2nd one I was dying a death because I had gone over and didn't realise it but a HR of 158 doesn't seem to be 'high' enough for what I was feeling at the time. Does HR reading = how out of breath you are or are the two thing completely different?* (*stupid question time!) IF my max HR is around 180/188 (can't remember the exact figure now) should my AVG HR for those 5K intervals not be around that somewhere? My highest HR on the long interval was 169, my highest on the fastest was 170.

menoscemo

Firedance wrote: »

I think garmin need to increase the volume of the beep so I can hear it over my gasping breath!!

just as a side question, I'm looking at the HR for those intervals, on the 2nd one I was dying a death because I had gone over and didn't realise it but a HR of 158 doesn't seem to be 'high' enough for what I was feeling at the time. Does HR reading = how out of breath you are or are the two thing completely different?* (*stupid question time!) IF my max HR is around 180/188 (can't remember the exact figure now) should my AVG HR for those 5K intervals not be around that somewhere? My highest HR on the long interval was 169, my highest on the fastest was 170.

Why do you think your max HR is 180/188?

Firedance

menoscemo wrote: »

Why do you think your max HR is 180/188?

I did a max hr test back in Feb based on clearliers instructions, the figure I got was 180 - ill check back for the exact one - yesterday the max reading was 170 on that interval of 4 mins, I'm guessing that means I should have pushed more although at the time it felt like I was loosing a lung!

menoscemo

Firedance wrote: »

I did a max hr test back in Feb based on clearliers instructions, the figure I got was 180 - ill check back for the exact one - yesterday the max reading was 170 on that interval of 4 mins, I'm guessing that means I should have pushed more although at the time it felt like I was loosing a lung!

Ah Ok.
Think that average HR is difficult to measure over a short period like 4-5 minutes simply because you start from a low HR (presumably) and it takes 2-3 minutes for the HR to 'warm up' but the first 2-3 minutes affect the average.

I would be looking at taking the Max HR from each interval rather than Average. You'd assume that if you were to continue running at that effort (like in a 5k) you would keep up that max HR. 170 for someone with a max of 180 sounds about right for 5k pace.

Firedance

menoscemo wrote: »

Ah Ok.
Think that average HR is difficult to measure over a short period like 4-5 minutes simply because you start from a low HR (presumably) and it takes 2-3 minutes for the HR to 'warm up' but the first 2-3 minutes affect the average.

I would be looking at taking the Max HR from each interval rather than Average. You'd assume that if you were to continue running at that effort (like in a 5k) you would keep up that max HR. 170 for someone with a max of 180 sounds about right for 5k pace.

Makes sense! Thanks Meno

Firedance

Wednesday 16th April pool swim

Thursday 18th April headed up to the club to watch the annual races, 200 & 400 last night I think. I took part in these last year having just joined but no point at all in aggravating the injury so just cheered instead. Did laps before, between and after the races and some miles on the road afterwards so about 50 mins easy pace. I've been pretty sure that running on the track does aggravate the foot, I thought it was connected directly to the speed but there was no speed in the laps yesterday and yet the pain flared up just as I was finishing and was sore today too. Went for a session with my strength trainer today who's also a physio so he had a quick look and sure enough my tibialis posterior was tight. He confirmed that the track could cause the issue as we were running a direction where my left leg was closest to the inner track meaning i'm running on the outside of that foot & putting strain on the TP. On top of that my squat form has deteriorated since the last visit, partly due to increase in running but mostly because I took the chair out of the room I use to train in and turns out I need it there for 'squat to chair' to ensure proper form So, not ideal but, lots learned today. I've also been neglecting my AIS stretching and only sporadically foam rolling. I need to build these properly into each session and make the time to do them! Sorry that was a bit of a long winded post :-)

Friday 17th April Afternoon: run to physio, strength work, run back. 3 miles total @ easy pace.
PM 3.42 miles @ 10:09 146HR followed by 9*9 sec hill sprints with full recovery - made the mistake of doing these with a friend who is a sprinter.... it didn't end well she kicked my ass, and speaking of asses OMG mine is feeling that session! great to have someone with me pushing me.
1.63 miles @ 11.02 warm down home

going to take advantage of a trip to Dalkey tomorrow to do my longer run, probably dalkey/sandycove/dunlaoghaire & back, if the sun is shining this will be truly glorious and I rarely get to run by the sea. - EDIT just google maped this and its only 2.5KM! will have to investigate more, was hoping for something maybe 4.5-5 miles out and then run back to the car in Dalkey..

chickey2

Enjoy your long run tomorrow, sounds lovely!
I've been getting lazy with the stretching and rolling too. Will have to get back to it.

Firedance

Saturday 18th April 75 mins @ 10.31 total 7.50 miles. Beautiful run from Dalkey, around the back roads through the harbour to sandycove and down the east pier in Dunlaoghaire. Ran the first part with my phone in my hand taking pics along route the vistas are stunning. On the return leg could feel the legs tired after yesterdays session and there were more uphills to tackle on the road back. Still, thoroughly enjoyed that.

Am a bit off plan though, today should have been 50 mins and tomorrow 100 mins, will see how the legs are tomorrow and go from there...

Firedance

Sunday 19th April AM: sea swim (snorkel) :eek: oh - my - god this was tough, all those Wednesdays practising in the pool were child's play compared to this!! Firstly you're in a wet suit so arm movements take twice the effort, secondly there were easterly winds today and getting back against the current was HARD WORK - result, exhilaration followed closely by total exhaustion

PM: AIS pre run, 40mins @ 10:20, 4 miles. Started off slowly but then did each successive mile faster so was happy with that given how tired I was feeling. Ass 'glutes' still quite sore from the hills yesterday and Friday :-) Not the mileage I should have done today but better to get out than not at all. Will sleep tonight that's for sure.

Dubgal72

Sea swim???? :eek: even the tri forum think you're nuts

Firedance

Tuesday 21st April 60 mins with 33 @ tempo

15 mins @ 10:00 avg hr 152

tempo splits: 9.10, 8.55, 9.05, 9.06

15 mins @ 10.50 - total 6.50 miles

Found parts of the tempo tough, stuck with it though and was happy enough when I saw the splits. Cool down was very slow, I found my legs ceased up when I stopped the tempo section and was hard to get any kind of rhythm going. Another beautiful evening, lots of groups out walking, none of them seemed interested in moving over on the path to let a solo runner through :rolleyes: had to run out on the road on several occasions..

laura_ac3

Nice tempo firedance, you should be happy with those times!!! I remember when I asked about how to structure this session clearlier recommended to me to do more of the warm up and less in the cool down as the tempo can be tiring! If you found it hard to get in the rhythm you could change it around next time.

It looked like a fab evening for it.

Firedance

thanks Laura, its a balancing act for me, I tried the longer warmup on a previous session but didn't enjoy that either :-) I did stop at the end of the tempo, literally because I'd reached the end of the road and had to turn around and I think this was a major mistake, the legs did loosen up as the cool down went on, I even ran past my house to bring the time up to where it needed to be which is a big improvement for me :D

I see the rain is coming for a week solid, payback for all these nice evenings..

Firedance

Wednesday 22nd April pool swim, 20 laps, felt much easier tonight after the sea swim last weekend.

Thursday 23rd April 50.02 mins @ 10.04 HR 142 miles 4.97.... really, had I known that I would have gone a smidge further... was aiming for the 50 mins :rolleyes: lovely evening for this, splits were 9.47, 9.51, 9.50, 10.12 10.06. Last two miles were part uphill drag, happy to be seeing mosly sub 10 for easy pace here and a low HR too.

Firedance

Saturday 25th April 50 mins easy 5.03 miles @ 9.59 avg HR 153

pace & hr a little higher than has been for my easy runs but it felt very comfortable - except for the awful stomach cramps in the last mile, very very nearly became a 'real runner' thankfully the 50 mins came just as I reached a major short cut home. Hit end on the watch and walked (almost doubled over!) through a field to home. Beautiful evening for running too, glad to have missed the rains..

Sunday 26th April 90 mins easy 9 miles @ 10.40 avg hr 143. Made sure to keep this much slower than yesterday, this is really my first time since injury doing a long run the day after a medium run, there were niggles for sure and I was very tired in the last couple of miles, but thankfully no stomach cramps! I did have to stop and re-do my laces though which happened during marathon training. I think my feet swell considerably on anything over 6 miles.

Just reading BG's log and realise I'm also doing a 5K this wednesday - what the F@*k was I thinking signing up to that :eek: maybe the club will decide they've enough for a team and I'll have a get out of jail card.... watching the London Marathon this morning reminds me of last year watching it when I decided I wanted to do one.....

Bungy Girl

Firedance wrote: »

Just reading BG's log and realise I'm also doing a 5K this wednesday - what the F@*k was I thinking signing up to that :eek: maybe the club will decide they've enough for a team and I'll have a get out of jail card..

My thoughts exactly...:eek:

Firedance

Tuesday 29th April 32 mins easy @ 10:00 - 3 miles. Just an easy run with some strides at the end.

Wednesday 30th April Womens meet & train 5K griffen park @ 8.31 Instructions were not to look at pace but to overtake anyone in front of you. Right, yeah, no problemo.... about 800m in I was coming up with excuses to pull out! Clearly the wrong mental attitude to posses :-) it was windy, very very windy and then wet about half way through so not the most pleasant conditions to be running in.

splits are 8:07, 8.30, 9.01 - disaster - my fastest pace in the first mile was 5.43! so as usual I went off to fast, way to fast. I've never run these M&T races before and I had thought I'd try the hold back & push on later strategy but the advice given was contradictory to that - confusing! 2 more of these to do. I couldn't have pushed any harder though so I gave it my best shot...

Great to catch up with Bungy girl who now has a lovely 2nd hand garmin to bowl us all over with her stats :-)

Bungy Girl

Firedance wrote: »

Wednesday 30th April Womens meet & train 5K griffen park @ 8.31 Instructions were not to look at pace but to overtake anyone in front of you. Right, yeah, no problemo.... about 800m in I was coming up with excuses to pull out! Clearly the wrong mental attitude to posses :-) it was windy, very very windy and then wet about half way through so not the most pleasant conditions to be running in.

splits are 8:07, 8.30, 9.01 - disaster - my fastest pace in the first mile was 5.43! so as usual I went off to fast, way to fast. I've never run these M&T races before and I had thought I'd try the hold back & push on later strategy but the advice given was contradictory to that - confusing! 2 more of these to do. I couldn't have pushed any harder though so I gave it my best shot...

Great to catch up with Bungy girl who now has a lovely 2nd hand garmin to bowl us all over with her stats :-)

Well done FD, it was not a night for fast times I think! I guess because the league (and team glory :rolleyes:) is based on position rather than times we're all supposed to ignore our watches and chase down the competition, but that's hard to do when we're all following the same advice! Good turnout from your club. And there must have been around 130 racing all together ?

Firedance

Yep but I still think ill do it my own way next time :-) at least I have a place to aim to beat next time and I need to remember I'm not back to where I was yet - patience grasshopper!

Firedance

Wednesday 30th April 30 mins recovery run - ouch ouch ouch, legs heavy & tired and felt completely uncoordinated, tried to keep the pace to the lower end of my range which I tend to struggle with, and concentrate on form.

So, I got an email the other day from Chicago Marathon to say I've won a place on the 2015 marathon - yipee! sort of... my brother lives there hence the reason for entering in the first place. I thought when I entered I'd be much further along my recovery by now. I'm not though and while I could 'take part' I really want to give my next marathon some proper well deserved attention and that means 2016. It seems I can register for 2015 and then defer my place until next year - expensive but I need to think about this logically. I would really love to run the Chicago marathon, the chances of me winning a place on next years lottery are slim so this is probably the best solution. If anyone has any experience of Chicago/entering/deferring marathon places I'd love to hear them.

adrian522

Maybe post on the Chicago marathon thread? If I'd have known you can just defer your entry I'd have applied myself!

Firedance

adrian522 wrote: »

Maybe post on the Chicago marathon thread? If I'd have known you can just defer your entry I'd have applied myself!

I only discovered that myself in the last couple of days, I never thought I'd get a place!! and I thought I'd be further down the recovery road by now..

Firedance

Friday 1st May 8*30 second hills
2 miles warm up @ 10.16, 8 sprints @ avg 7.50, 2 miles cool down @ 10.50

Saturday 2nd May AM 30 min Swim followed by 30 mins strength session
PM: 60 mins easy @ 10.50, no HR monitor for this. put off the run all day with the weather, finally got out around 4ish, a very helpful motorist made sure I was soaked from head to toe about 800m in, though for about 1 second about turning for home then thought 'I can't get any wetter'! wasn't very comfortable though but very pleased to be such a hard runner ha ha. More stomach cramps on this in the last couple of miles saw me stopping with pain a couple of times I think its down to eating too close to running.

Sunday 3rd May 110 mins @ 10.50 - 10 miles avg HR 136. Found this tough, the legs were tired after yesterdays activities which is entirely the point! Very pleased to have stayed the distance, had to do some looping near the car at the end to bring the time & mileage to where it should be. Rest tomorrow thankfully so all I need to do now is clean the house..:rolleyes:

annapr

never mind the cleaning, put your feet up... you've earned it!

Firedance

forgot to post april miles, can't do those table yokes so this'll do:

Jan - Zero
Feb - 50
March - 85.07
April - 97.65

happy with progress, at least the numbers are going in the right direction..

nop98

I've finally mastered the art of tables! Here's yours. To add to it, just quote this post, you'll see the table. Just add a line for the next month and so on.

Nice progression, b.t.w.

Month & Year | Miles
Jan 2015 | 0
Feb 2015 | 50
March 2015 | 85.07
April 2015 | 97.65

Firedance

thank you nop! I was just admiring the table on your log :-) you have some great PB's, I must get around to learning how to do one from scratch..

annapr

Firedance wrote: »

thank you nop! I was just admiring the table on your log :-) you have some great PB's, I must get around to learning how to do one from scratch..

I discovered by accident recently that you can pretty much cut and paste from xl or equivalent... if you click the table button in the post menu, then paste, voila!