Phoenix Nights

Chartsengrafs

Saturday 12 Nov
5.8 miles. Same as last week (hills/XC) but with 2.5 minute recovery. 4 laps, bit quicker this time, averaging 6:08 to 6:13 for the 4* 5 minute efforts. Was glad of the spikes this week.

I was sick on Sunday so didn't get out. I tend not to run Mondays (couldn't if I wanted to in this case) so a few unexpected days off.

Tuesdsay 15 Nov
7.1 miles, 8.23 pace.

Wednesday 16 Nov
6.7 miles. Incl 10*2 mins at 10k pace. Strange doing a session like this solo. Ran up and down the canal between Ashtown and Castleknock. It was a cold one.

Thursday 17 Nov
7 miles, commute home at 8.30 pace. I could get used to these slower miles

Bit of a change to things from this week. Hope to go long at the end of May so I've started working with a coach. This will involve fewer/no club sessions and more focused work. I think this will work better around the exams in Spring, not to mention work. Looking forward to getting into it.

Chartsengrafs

Saturday 19 Nov
8 miles steady @ 7:36 pace. Taking a bit of time to adjust to the new training paces - started off far too quickly but settled down. I think my brain and legs now understand 'steady' and what is expected of them.

Spent the morning on registration and then marshalling the BHAA XC Irish Life Race. It was good fun but cold. These races are a tenner (when a member), with a feed and hot showers afterwards. Yesterday was a particularly good course too. Baffled by the relatively low turnout for some of these races.


Sunday 20 Nov
10 miles @ 8:33 pace. I started off with some of the usual lads but we were drifting towards 7:55 pace and the brief is to run slower. Dropped back to a few of the women after 3 miles. My favourite conditions for a (mostly) trail run; leaves everywhere, frosty ground and the park looking incredible. Very enjoyable run.

Chartsengrafs

Feeling some discomfort in my achilles over the past few weeks. I don't think it's serious as I can run fairly comfortably but I may need to reconsider Jingle Bells 5k on Saturday. Jumping into a pair of racing flats might not be the best thing for me right now. Other than that a solid, enjoyable week.

Tuesday 22 Nov
7 miles @ 8.27. Easy run down Blackhorse Avenue.

Wednesday 23 Nov
6.8 miles @ 7:27 pace. Incl 5*5min at HMP (all 6:20 to 6:23).

Thursday 24 Nov
7 miles @ 8:22
I had a blacktie work thingie in the evening so got away from the desk fairly promptly at 5.30pm, ran more or less to the wooden bridge in Clontarf and back in.

Saturday 26 Nov
8 miles steady @ 7:36 . I started this a bit under-fuelled (hungry) so although it felt nice and comfortable I was looking forward to finishing.

Sunday 27 Nov
10 miles @ 8:10. This included 4 minute pickup (6:20 pace) at mile 6. The subsequent miles were a good bit too quick - low 8's rather that 8:20+ as I found it difficult to slow back down effectively. But I'll get used to this type of thing, not used to throwing in efforts on a long run. Incidentally this was the only segment where the achilles was kicking up a fuss.

Chartsengrafs

Slightly lower mileage week due to concerns about my leg, and Jingle Bells on Saturday. Magic Myles introduced me to a world of pain on Monday evening. Turns out my achilles is fine (which was a big relief), but the pain has been in that general area, hence my concern. The session helped a lot, some jabs of pain continued up to Friday night, and cleared up after Jingle Bells.

Tuesday 29 Nov
7 miles @ 8:24

Wednesday 30 Nov
7.4 miles @ 7:31 average. 5 steady, 1 easy, 1 at 10k. Felt I was going fine for this but ate too late/too much in the afternoon so had a stitch throughout. Not clever

Thursday 1 Dec
5 miles easy @ 8:12 incl strides.

Sat 3 Dec
5.6 miles
Jingle Bells 5k
I fancied this as a end of season blowout and largely because a load of us from the club were doing it. Zero pressure, haven't really done any speed work in a few months. Still felt confident of going low 18 however, although my PB is 17:55. Chip time 18:05, I had 18:02 on my watch so obviously started it too late. Watch paces: 5:52, 5:55, 5:39 (5:17 last bit).
I was in town Friday evening and my leg was still a little sore at first walking around. Not a bother before, during or after the race though. Very relieved.

Sun 4 Dec
10.2 miles @ 8:24.
Club party was on last night. I took it fairly handy, didn't stay out late. Headed out at noon, got a bit tired at 6 or so miles, but picked up after that.

Chartsengrafs

Tuesday 6 Dec
7.2 miles @ 8:29
Easy commute home in very unseasonable weather. Legs felt a tad heavy.

Wednesday 7 Dec
9 miles, 7:49 average. 4 easy, 3 steady, 2 at MP. Legs wanted to know why we were doing 9 miles on a Wednesday. Brain had to tell them that we're just following orders and besides, it wasn't so bad at all really.

Thursday 8 Dec
5.5 miles @ 8:03 pace
Christmas party straight after work so easy run at lunch.

Saturday 10 Dec
8.4 miles @ 7.24 average. Incl 10*2 mins @ 10k pace. I was still feeling the effects of Thursday night and was dreading this, but it went well and I felt a lot better for it. Great to get moving again and didn't have much difficulty hitting the 10k paces, pulled back a few times as I was starting to go under 6 minute pace.

Sunday 11 Dec
12 miles @ 8:12
I did the first 11 nice and easy but met a (fast) old 3D tri clubmate on my way back to the clubouse, drifted into 7.30 pace, but still didn't feel too hard.

Highest mileage in a while and enjoying the new training structure.

Chartsengrafs

Monday 12 Dec
As I wouldn't be running on Saturday due to a wedding, I brought the week's runs forward a day. Very easy commute run on tired enough legs. Would usually take Monday off.
7 miles @ 8:38.

Tuesday 13 Dec
10.5 miles @7:31. Including 4*10 mins @ MP (6:56 or so).
I ran Tuesday morning as I had the day off. I was quite tired during the 2 mile cool down, just from 4 steady days rather than the actual MP efforts which I felt pretty good for. Nice to do some MP miles to get a feel for them.
My calf has been troubling me a bit again, so I got a lot of work done on it Tuesday evening, it was in spasm apparently. That would explain the pain I guess!

Thursday 15 Dec
7 miles @ 8:18 pace. Nice easy one after the day off.

Friday 16 Dec
8 miles @ 8:20 pace. Got this in before the drive down to Cork. Ran along trails and pure mud by the canal. Very enjoyable but heavy going in places.

Sunday 18 Dec
10 miles steady @ 7:26 pace.
Drove back up from Cork this afternoon. Glad I took it very easy over the two nights, I didn't want to be missing this. Felt great as it happens. Non alcoholic beer is a wonderful thing sometimes.

Chartsengrafs

Low enough mileage week, 5 runs on the trot which I'm not at all used to! Not many out pounding the parks and pavements this week..

Tuesday 20 Dec
7 miles at 8:21. Commute run home.

Wednesday 21 Dec
9 miles at 7:51. 4 easy, 3 steady, 2 MP. Very sluggish for the easy and steady bits, but it was a muggy damp night. If you can't feel sluggish in December...

Thursday 22 Dec
7 miles at 8:18.

Friday 23 Dec
7 miles at 8:17 . Caught the end of Storm Barbara. My own sister Barbara is flying in this afternoon but that's a whole other storm

Sat Dec 24 Dec
4.7 miles.
Coach suggested a Parkrun so I popped out to Poppintree. 5th day running so I wasn't racing per se, 18:41, working quicker than tempo pace. Cold, windy morning but nice and short.

I traditionally run Christmas day but I might take tomorrow off.
Have a great Christmas everyone!

Chartsengrafs

Monday 26 December
7.2 miles at 8:20 pace.
For the first time in few years I didn't get out Christmas day, happy enough to take the day off.

Wednesday 28 Dec
9 miles at 7:47 pace. 4 easy, 3 steady, 2 MP. 1st of two runs in Kilkenny.

Thursday 29 Dec
7 miles at 8.26, nice and easy along the Nore.

Sat 31 Dec
8 miles steady at 7:28 pace.

Sunday 1 Jan
8.2 miles at 8:28 pace. Intended to do ten but felt absolutely brutal after 2/3 miles. I was eating total rubbish all day previously (New Year's Eve and the days before) so I'll blame that!

172 miles for December. Back to normality tomorrow!

Chartsengrafs

Tuesday 3 Jan
7 miles at 8:32 pace, commute jog. It's an uphill drag no matter what route I take from work, today I went up Knockmaroon Hill in Chapelizod rather than Blackhorse Avenue or the Navan Road. Probably won't do that again.

Wednesday 4 Jan
8.4 miles at 7:44 pace.
3 easy (8:39, 8:19, 8:24 ), 3 steady (7:43, 7:24, 7:24 ), 2 at (fantasy) MP (6:56, 6:53).

Thursday 5 Jan
7 miles easy at 8:19 pace, one of those lovely nights where it feels completely effortless, even for an easy run.

Saturday 7 Jan
Fartlek, 6.3 miles
2 miles warmup (8:26, 8:21), then 1,2,3,2,1 minute efforts with 1 minute steady in between. 5k to 10kish effort, paces were 5:48, 5:45, 5:56, 5:44, 5:37. Recoveries were in 7:30s so overall steady enough. 2 miles cool down. Short session so no point easing off the pace when it felt fairly comfortable.

Sunday 8 Jan
12 miles at 8:38 pace.
Easy one on mucky trails. My usual Sunday companions either raced yesterday or today so I started with a few others. Pace for the first 4 was very slow at 9 mins+, but I split off and kept it steadier for the remainder, but still kept things easy.

Chartsengrafs

Monday 9 January
7 miles at 8:31 pace. Commute.

Tuesday 10 January
8.5 miles, incl 3*8 mins @ HMP, from memory 6:26 to 6:31.

Wednesday 11 January
7 miles easy at 8:25. 5 days on the trot which I wouldn't do too often.

Friday 13 January
9 miles steady at 7:29 pace. Got going later than intended, this was a very cold one. Really enjoyed it, I think there was talk on tang's log last week about the benefit of steady runs and I definitely agree.

Saturday 14 January
13 miles at 8:37 pace. I started at 8.15am, a good hour earlier than normal. I struggled a bit regardless of pace, getting all manner of stitches. Less than 12 hours after the nine steady I guess I just wasn't recovered properly and possibly hadn't eaten right in the interim. I was going away for the rest of the weekend so there was an element of cramming this in. Legs felt fine all the same.

Chartsengrafs

Monday 16 January
7 miles at 8:17 pace. Commute.

Tuesday 17 January
9.5 miles. 8*3 minutes @ 10k pace with 2 mile warm up and cool down. 3 min averages were around 6:05.

Wednesday 18 January
7 miles at 8:30 pace.

Friday 20 January
9.2 miles at 7:46 pace. 4 easy (8:15 - 8:25), 3 steady (7:30 - 7:32), 2 MP (7:00-7:01). I tried new shorts, expensive ones bought at lunchtime. I didn't notice at the time but I was chafing in them. Chafing in my.. OK I won't go into detail but the last place a fella wants to chafe! A weird one. A poor night's sleep followed. The run itself was good though. Cold night for it.

Saturday 21 January
13 miles at 8:23 pace. Strange run. I felt aerobically good, legs were fine but both lower calves were screaming at me from beginning to end. Disappointing. I'd be keen to hear from others how they may have alleviated issues like this in the past. More calf raises? Perhaps a higher heel drop? Still sore now, hope it eases off...

tang1

Foam roller, suffer from the same issue at times myself. If the calves become tight I'm almost guaranteed to get a bit of PF in the feet.

Chartsengrafs

7.5 miles for the week.

7 painful miles on Tuesday and an even worse half mile on Wednesday. Lower calves/achilles are in a bad way. I've been doing the appropriate stretches and lots of foam rolling in the meantime. Trim is now out really, and depending on how the next few weeks go other plans may have to change too.
We all get niggles from time to time, but this has been bothering me for months and it was getting to the stage where it hurt to walk. However, there are pros to not running:

- I don't feel like I'm eating / thinking about eating all the time
- The washing machine isn't always on!
- My exams are in just over 5 weeks and I've put the extra hours to good use. Which I think was needed.

Cons

- I miss running!

Getting things looked at tomorrow morning an we'll see from there..

tang1

Sorry to hear that S, was thinking the log was very quiet this week.

diego_b

Hope you get good news tomorrow and a good path to recovery, training and racing again.

Chartsengrafs

Been a while since I have updated this. In short:

-MRI results are in. Not a stress fracture as feared but but there is something stress-related..swelling of the lower tibia, not right in general. Still sore to touch
-Physio reckons this, coupled with history of weakness since a sprain a few years back is causing my calf issues
-I've been cycling or cross training five times a week to keep the cardio fitness. Got some grá back for the bike
-Work is busy and exams are imminent so I'm still in danger of comfort eating and getting soft(er) around the edges. Must keep an eye on this.
-Very unlikely to win Edinburgh marathon now

Hopefully back jogging in a few weeks.

tang1

Don't count the win out yet, keep her lit!!