Still trying to figure it all out.

hot buttered scones

Monday 08/10

Took a rest day, which wasn't the plan. I was onto the coach and was giving the all clear to shift things around a bit to suit work. Plus I was feeling really tired, so it was time to listen to the body

Tuesday 09/10

6@8:41. Just went local. Felt a bit stiff and sluggish at the start, but perked up after a mile or so. An enjoyable run.

Wednesday 10/10

Session - What I'm calling a Pyramid session, plus 1km@ what's probably my current LT pace.

So it was 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 mins @ 6:30 with equal recoveries, 5 minutes recovery jog and 1km@6:50 pace. This was done in torrential rain, in the dark out along the Lee Fields. It felt really cold as well - I was actually shivering in the car on the way out.
1st 3 recoveries were jogged, but resorted to walking for a bit, then jogging after the 4 minute rep

Warmup - 2 miles - 8:45, 8:57

Rep paces:
1 min: 6:27 Felt good, almost too easy. But deceptive
2 min: 6:32 Still good, but starting to feel it by the end of the rep
3 min: 6:26 Tough rep, felt hard from about half way in. Redlined by the end.
4 min: 6:29 Last 2 minutes of this one felt like the end of a 5k, at close the HRmax. Falling apart by the end.
3 min: 6:26 Ah here, this felt harder than the 4 minute rep.
2 min: 6:32 Tougher than the 1st 2 min rep, but manageable.
1 min: 6:22 Just getting hard when the minute was up.

5 min jog: 9:50

1km: 6:47. Felt quite good and controlled doing this, but the HR was up near the high 170s/180 for a good bit of this - it didn't feel like it though, I was never straining, form was good and it was nice to be running at this pace and I wasn't praying for the km to finish. It wasn't until I finished the km that I felt like I'd been working hard.

Cool down: 2 miles - 8:41, 8:37. These couple of miles felt great - my legs felt light and I was moving along nicely. I wasn't watching my HR tough - which never fully recovered and was up around the low 160s, but again it didn't feel like it.

Pacing was a bit up and down again on the reps, but I think I was there or thereabouts for most of them. I was actually looking forward to this session, and was happy to get it done, but it felt a lot harder than it initially looked on paper!

Total miles - bang on 9.00 miles for the day!

I was totally soaked through my jacket and top after this and had forgotten to bring a change of clothes. Sometimes I keep a spare couple of bits in the boot, but when I looked all there was a Chewbacca onesie (the kids idea of a funny Xmas present!). So there I was, standing out in the Lee Fields car park, in the dark and pouring rain, stripped down to my shorts struggling to get into this yoke with a car parked either side of me. Which I thought were empty of course, but as soon as I finished changing they both took off!

Thursday 11/10

6@8:41 in the fog, with a long drag for good parts of the route. Legs felt very heavy and my lungs weren't liking the fog. Definitely feeling the effects of the night before's session

Friday 12/10

10 easy@8:41
8:44; 8:44; 8:59; 8:41; 8:39; 8:41; 8:36; 8:36; 8:35; 8:35.

Did the Marina/Blackrock castle loop, with a few miles out and back towards Passage on the old railway line. The wind around Lough Mahon was savage and I felt like I was being blown backwards in the air at times. Effort levels were about right for the entire run, but I was tiring by the end of it. The sessions are boosting my confidence, but then these 10 milers leave me questioning myself. I was doing these distances over the summer without a second thought and feeling great after them, whereas now they definitely feel like a long run. I have to keep telling myself it's early days yet and not to worry.

Saturday 13/10

5.8@8:55

I was a bit late leaving for work, hence the odd distance. I did a 5 mile out and back, and when I got back to work I still had a few minutes to go before clock in so I added on the extra bit. A drowsy run, where the pace kept slipping back if I lost concentration. One of those early morning runs where the HR was low, but the effort felt higher. To sleepy to get going I suppose.

Sleep has been rubbish all week. I never managed to get back into a decent pattern after night shifts, so ended up being awake until 3 or 4 am and sleeping too late, until Friday where I managed to get up at 7:30 after about 5 hours sleep. I still didn't get to sleep until gone midnight last night and was up at 6, so I'm hoping I'll have no choice but to be asleep early tonight.

As far as races are concerned - I sent the coach on a list which he was happy with, provided training goes ok. I've binned the Berlin half for a few reasons -logistics and cost being the big ones. I'm going to do the Great Railway Run 25k on April 22nd as my goal race instead. It's race I've done before and that I enjoy. It's a point to point race from Cork City to Carrigaline and is mostly flat. It covers most of the route I use if I'm running to work (about 2 or 3 times a year). I might throw my name in for the Cork Half - I haven't made my mind up about that yet. There's Raheny in a couple of weeks and then just a few local races. I want to do the John Buckley 5k in May as well as a 5k PB attempt. I haven't raced this properly since 2014 due to other commitments, so I want to give it a good go this year.

Damo 2k9

Jesus that pyramid session sounds savage!! Really like the sound of that. It's mad how much a bad/good sleep effects the runs the next day, if I have a crap sleep the night before, after work all I want to do is chill out never mind go running. See ya in Raheny!

Kellygirl

Strava informed me that you ran your Friday run with a friend of mine. I was trying to figure out how ye knew each other :-) Turns out you were both just doing your own thing but ran a good part of the route very close to each other.

hot buttered scones

Damo 2k9 wrote:

Jesus that pyramid session sounds savage!! Really like the sound of that. It's mad how much a bad/good sleep effects the runs the next day, if I have a crap sleep the night before, after work all I want to do is chill out never mind go running. See ya in Raheny!

I'll see the back of you as you disappear off down the road anyway!

hot buttered scones

Kellygirl wrote:

Strava informed me that you ran your Friday run with a friend of mine. I was trying to figure out how ye knew each other :-) Turns out you were both just doing your own thing but ran a good part of the route very close to each other.

I was wondering that myself. Jaysus a fella could get into awful trouble with that particular Strava feature. Nice progression run today btw.

Kellygirl

hot buttered scones wrote: »

I was wondering that myself. Jaysus a fella could get into awful trouble with that particular Strava feature. Nice progression run today btw.

I know! It was funny. I had to text her and ask how ye knew each other

Thanks. Looking forward to more of those runs.

hot buttered scones

Sunday 14/10

Tempo Intervals
9-8-7-6 minutes @ 7:00 with 2 minute recoveries. 2 mile warm up and cool down.

I was looking forward to this session when I got my plan last week. This morning - not so much. I'd swapped things around a bit this week because I didn't want to do the 10 miler before work this morning, which was the right idea. Even so, it felt like the middle of the night when I got up this morning and I was having to talk myself into doing this all the way in to work in the car. It was dark, foggy and cold - not ideal. As it turns out, a base layer, t shirt and light jacket was too many layers for the faster bits.

Warmup: 2 miles@8:54. Creaking like a rusty hinge and still bargaining.

Reps:
9 mins@7:03. A total shock to the system. I started off too slow and was playing catch up for the rest. I could barely see going round by the ferry terminal it was that foggy. I had serious doubts about completing the session - it just felt very hard. Looking at the data afterwards my HR never got higher than 162 - it just felt a lot harder than that. The recovery was spent discarding the jacket and retying my laces, with just a 30s jog before the next rep. Might do a few easy strides during the warmup the next time I have to do one of these this early to get the heart rate going

8 mins@6:51 Much better, felt more controlled, but I was working harder for the last 2 minutes. Max HR around 168. Walked the recovery mostly.

7mins@6:56. The best one of the lot really. Nice and steady, max HR 168. Felt controlled, and was over quicker than expected. Very very slow jog recovery.

6 mins@6:54. This rep felt a bit tough again from about halfway through, which surprised me but I managed to hold the effort right on the edge of it being too hard (if you know what I mean). Took the 2 minutes recovery after this before the cooldown.

Cooldown: 2.1miles@8:45 - felt good during the cool down, it was easy to run and I wasn't totally bate.

Total for the day: 9 miles
Weekly total: 45.9

OOnegative

Always impressed how you can do these sessions in the early morning HBS, fair play, something i have tried and just know its does not work for me.

Bungy Girl

hot buttered scones wrote: »

I was totally soaked through my jacket and top after this and had forgotten to bring a change of clothes. Sometimes I keep a spare couple of bits in the boot, but when I looked all there was a Chewbacca onesie (the kids idea of a funny Xmas present!). So there I was, standing out in the Lee Fields car park, in the dark and pouring rain, stripped down to my shorts struggling to get into this yoke with a car parked either side of me. Which I thought were empty of course, but as soon as I finished changing they both took off!

Can't stop laughing at this. Did you really drive home as Chewbacca ? :D Too funny.

hot buttered scones

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Can't stop laughing at this. Did you really drive home as Chewbacca ? :D Too funny.

I did. I had the hood up 'n all. It gave them all a great laugh at home anyway. I was nice and warm and didn't care!

Swashbuckler

I've done a couple of early morning sessions in the past. They're harder. The body is in shock. Don't be too hard on yourself.

hot buttered scones

OOnegative wrote: »

Always impressed how you can do these sessions in the early morning HBS, fair play, something i have tried and just know its does not work for me.

I have no choice but to do them like that sometimes because I work from 8am to 8pm with a 40 minute lunch and strictly speaking I'm not supposed to go off site - although on a rare occasion I do sneak out for a quick run at lunch at the weekend when no ones looking.
Some days it's fine, but other days it's hard to get going. This morning was a bit like that where a HR of 160 felt like 175, but once I got the 1st rep out of the way I was grand. I tell myself it helps to power through races when fatigue hits, but I think that might just be a little motivational lie.
I have to say though it's waaaaayyy harder to do at this time of year than e.g. June or July when the mornings are nice and bright. You wake up a bit faster in the daylight, and it can be a relief running when it's nice and cool in the morning during the more humid times of the year. It's less appealing when it's dark and foggy and 0 degrees out!

hot buttered scones

Swashbuckler wrote: »

I've done a couple of early morning sessions in the past. They're harder. The body is in shock. Don't be too hard on yourself.

I didn't mean it to come across that way - I'm well used to it. Sometimes even easy pace feels hard at that hour. If it had been a more intense session I'm not sure if the body would have let me do it! I do seem to get on well with doing long runs at that hour though - plenty of time to ease into it I suppose.

At least it meant I didn't overshoot the prescribed pace (by too much anyway )!

Swashbuckler

hot buttered scones wrote:

At least it meant I didn't overshoot the prescribed pace (by too much anyway )!

I've learned we get away with that as long as the effort is right. Haha

Yep I've even found some easy morning runs tough. Takes a couple of miles to wake up and way worse in winter

hot buttered scones

Monday 15/10

6.1@8:46. Done before work in the evening. Not too bad an evening weather wise - bit of a headwind on the way back maybe. All I remember really is that I felt better as the run progressed and was fairly energised by the end.

Tuesday 16/10

Same again. 6.1@8:39. Snow, hail and a vicious freezing wind howling down the harbour. I was being pushed off the footpath crossing the bridge to Haulbowline, while getting the face stung off me with horizontal hail. I enjoyed the tailwind for the 1st 3 miles though!

Wednesday 17/10

Session: 4 mins - 3mins - 2 mins - 1min @6:30 x 3. 90s recovery between reps, 5 minutes between sets.

I got a bit delayed going out - waiting on a delivery. Headed down to the 500m loop in a local park to do this. I thought I'd be more tired after nights and 4 hours sleep, but I was flying during the warm up - felt great, and had to reign it in a bit.

I was to focus more on effort today, and if that matched with the pace then great. I didn't want too redline like I did during the pyramid session last week. Weather wise - it was ok until the last set - not too windy and not raining too much either.
The first set was fine. I could feel the effort levels rising a bit high towards the end of the longer reps. Recoveries were all very slow jogs. The 2nd set was much the same, except it felt hard sooner. Although the 4 minute rep felt hard at the beginning after the 5 minute jog, as if the body had gone to sleep. Like I'd cooled down a bit too much and it was hard together going again. Recoveries - a small walk after the longer reps (maybe 30s), then slow jog the rest. The 3rd set was a bit of a mess. I had to leave the park after the 2nd set because they were locking up and ended up on the roads around it - with the wind and rain picking up it felt a lot harder. The 4 min rep involved a 180 degree turn. For the 3 minutes, I was putting too much effort in from the start and I still couldn't hit the required pace - I think the wind was a factor here. However, I didn't push even harder to get into target range, so that's a positive I think. The last 2 reps felt fine then, but the 1 minute was too fast - but felt fine effort wise. Lots of walking during the recoveries.
I felt good during the cool down. Oh, and no redlining during any reps. I started to get a feel for when I was pushing too hard and was able to maintain the effort rather than pushing too hard and sending the HR through the roof.

Paces:

Warm up: 7:51; 8:15

|4 min|3 min|2 min|1 min| 5 min jog
set 1|6:26|6:25|6:25|6:24|9:15
set 2|6:27|6:32|6:31|6:20|10:02
set3|6:29|6:41|6:27|6:13|n/a

Cool down: 8:27; 8:33: 0.2@8:24

A nice bit of volume too with 11.2 miles for the day.

Thursday 18/10

10@8:36

8:37; 8:37; 8:21; 8:41; 8:40; 8:33; 8:26; 8:27; 8:32; 9:04

Did this today instead of Sunday due to work. I was also taking advantage of the weather, which was fine - there was even some blue skies and sunshine for part of this! I could feel the day before session during the 1st mile or so, but felt fine after that, until the last mile. The last mile is nearly all uphill, I could feel that I was a bit weaker than normal due to tired legs. I enjoyed this - starting to feel strong again, with the effort levels what they should be for a run of this length.

Friday 19/10

Rest day.

So overall, I feel some progress has been made, in terms of where I was a few weeks ago. I'm feeling like things are almost back to normal, I'm less tired than I was and I'm starting to recover faster. I'm getting loads of good sleep this week (still not enough though) and I'm eating more regularly too, which helps obviously.

hot buttered scones

Just noticed all the dates in my last post were wrong - it's January, not October


Saturday 20/01

5 x 1 mile, goal pace 7:20, 90s recovery

Warmup: 2 miles: 8:44; 8:26

Splits: 7:16; 7:16; 7:13; 7:15; 7:15

All recoveries jogged

Cooldown: 2..2 miles: 8:32; 8:31; 8:53 pace for the OCD bit.

10 mile for the day.

Weather wise it was warmer than it has been and sunny :eek: in parts, but very windy still so each rep felt a bit hampered by that. 1st mile was up the Centre Park Road for half a mile into the wind and down Monahan Road for the rest with a strong tailwind, 2nd rep mostly into the wind, 3rd rep had the first half with the tailwind, 4th was mostly tail wind, 5th was the same as the 1st. These felt too slow and hard going into the wind and too fast and easy with the tailwind. On review of the HR data though, it seems that the effort was more even than I thought, with a couple of spikes/rises in effort at times when the wind got particularly strong. I was happy out with the days work anyway.

Sunday 21/01

6.7@8:48

I wasn't up for this this morning, and it shows. This didn't feel as easy as the pace says it was, and it was a struggle to get my HR up to 150 tbh. HR was nice and low throughout but the early hour meant I wasn't really fully awake for this, so it felt harder. This is something I've experienced before on these early morning runs so there's nothing to worry about. I was glad I didn't have a session to do. The extra 0.7 was to round off the week. Felt warm again - around 12 degrees, so just shorts and t-shirt for the first time in a while. The wind was still shocking though, but it nearly always is around the harbour. Luckily there was no rain yet. So just a bit tired for this pre work plod, but that was more to do with the hour of the day than anything else. I can't wait for the bright mornings to start.

Weekly total: 50.10 miles.
YTD: 136.71 miles.

Damo 2k9

I don't think I remember what shorts and a t shirt look like together anymore...

That mile session was nailed, fair play, the splits were spot on.

hot buttered scones

Monday 22/01

Late start (stuck to the bed!) plus unexpected traffic plus an FDA audit meaning I couldn't be late meant I lost a mile off this mornings run.

5@8:39

Tuesday 23/01

Session (swapped around from Wednesday)

1 mile@ 5 mile race pace, 5 mins recovery, 3 x (3x90s@6:30, 60s recovery) 3 mins between sets.

Did you ever have one of those days where you feel under pressure from moment you wake? Like there's not enough time in the day, even though there is? Well today was like that, between one thing and another and as a consequence I felt rushed to get this done. I ended up going to the local park and doing laps of that for the fast bits.

I hadn't decided on my 5 mile pace when I got my plan for the week, after consulting with the coach I settled on 6:25 (although I think I may have gotten things mixed up a bit). The day was a bit windy again, but I'd be doing 3 laps of the park for the mile, so I reckoned it would even itself out.

Warmup: 2 mile: 8:11, 8:18

1 mile@race pace: 6:21

A bit fast and a bit strained towards the end. Probably not my 5 mile pace at the moment.

90s reps:

Set 1: 6:21; 6:23; 6:30
Set 2: 6:32; 6:31; 6:23
Set 3: 6:33; 6:25; 6:24

I still find it hard to hit the correct pace for these shorter repeats. The ones were I was closer to 6:30 felt better. On the other hand, my form didn't break down - the reps felts controlled, but got harder in the last 30s or so, especially during the 3rd set. They did feel quite short though and I was never under pressure to reach pace.

Cool down: 2 miles: 8:32; 8:42. I was fairly tired during the cool down, which I normally take as a sign that I probably worked too hard during the session

Total for the day: 9 miles

I have no HR data because I forgot to wear my HR strap - which I only realised after the mile effort. I have an FR235, but the OHRM on that was totally useless today.

Swashbuckler

hot buttered scones wrote:

I still find it hard to hit the correct pace for these shorter repeats. The ones were I was closer to 6:30 felt better. On the other hand, my form didn't break down - the reps felts controlled, but got harder in the last 30s or so, especially during the 3rd set. They did feel quite short though and I was never under pressure to reach pace.

Take a look at my splits vs target and you'll see what not hitting the correct paces is like. Yours are pretty much bang on. Plus as coach has said to me a few times it's more about hitting the correct effort level than hitting the specific number.

OOnegative

All the best tomorrow afternoon, your in better shape than you think so don’t be afraid to push the pace. Run well.

hot buttered scones

DNS for me for the Raheny 5. Felt a dose coming on Friday but just put it down to tiredness. Woke up with a brick on my chest Saturday and was very low on energy. Had some sleep and still feel crap today - tired and my breathing isn't great. I could possibly do it with a sub par performance, but I could almost guarantee this would lead to at least 2 days off work sick. I'm disappointed, but I think I've made the right decision. I have a 6k race in 2 weeks anyway which I should be right for.

Swashbuckler

Absolutely right decision. A hard one but the right one.

hot buttered scones

Swashbuckler wrote:

Absolutely right decision. A hard one but the right one.

I think so. Physically not up to it, but mentally not up for it either. I knew for sure when the mrs suggested going for a short jog to see how I felt and I couldn't even face that. To be honest I'm a bit caught for breath even when I'm talking and just feel generally weak all over. I've raced sick before and it never goes well. We were in Dublin for the night anyway so at least it's not a wasted journey.

Murph_D

Hard luck Mark.

diego_b

Hopefully a minor wobble but right call for sure, take care!

hot buttered scones

Log stuff:

Wednesday 24/01

5@8:52. Cut short by a mile again - a bad crash on the road on the way in meant long delays.

Thursday 25/01

6@8:35, pm around the city

Neither of these runs stood out - I suppose I did feel a bit tired, and maybe felt like a bit of a cold coming on but nothing major and nothing I wouldn't be used too. Maybe I felt a bit more fatigued than usual outside of running but I'd put that down to busy night shifts.

Friday 25th - Monday 29th

Started feeling a bit ropey on Friday evening, woke up on Saturday with a brick on my chest and feeling totally drained. I drove to Dublin anyway - I had other reasons for being there besides Raheny and was wiped out by the drive! I went up to get changed for a short run, laid down on the bed for a minute, and slept for nearly 2 hours. I woke late on Sunday still feeling pretty tired, but better than the day before and finally decided to pull the plug on the race. I was balking at even getting my gear ready and I was dreading the race, so there was no point. There may have been an element of stage fright here as well though and it may not have gone as badly as I thought, but there was no point in risking it. I was going to go for a test run this morning, but tiredness and the horrible weather (howling wind and sheets of rain battering the window) convinced me to just put it off.

I fairly disappointed at how this turned out because Raheny was the biggest race (in terms of number participating) that I had planned for this part of the year and it sounds like a great event. There's always next year I suppose.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. I'll try a light run tomorrow to see how things are and then see what the coach says. In terms of races, I don't think I put my planned races in the log so I might as well - putting it in here does motivate me a bit more.
Provisional schedule so far is:
Feb 11th - Cork BHAA Jansenn 6K
Mar 4th - Killeagh 4 mile
April 8th - Cork BHAA UCC 10k
April 22nd - Great Railway Run (Cork to Carrigaline 25k).
May 9th - Cork BHAA Pfizer 6 mile. Evening race.
May 22nd - Cork BHAA John Buckley 5k.
June 3rd - I'll probably do the Cork City Half because it's down the road and I'm off work even if I don't race it - I'm not a fan of the course.

hot buttered scones

Tuesday 30/01

Short run to test the system - 3.1@9:06. Nice and handy, felt ok doing it.

Wednesday 31/01

Went a bit longer - 6.1@8:33. Felt ok again, but still not 100%. Tired a bit during the last mile but the effort levels were right down in the easy/recovery zone for most of the run. All good signs

Thursday 01/02

After checking in with the coach I was to do nothing but short easy stuff for the rest of the week. Felt crap when I woke up this afternoon though after nights so took a rest day. Felt like I had a stomach bug, but felt better by around 10pm and was in the mood for a run, but was stuck in work by that stage. No matter, needed the rest anyway.

hot buttered scones

Friday 02/02

4.7@8:32 (40 mins)

Saturday 03/02

4.7@8:28 (40 mins)

Sunday 04/02

7.3@8:13 (60 mins)

Just trying to keep the engine ticking over with these. Feeling better as the week progressed. Got a bit carried away on Sunday, but took that as a sign I was better - in fact I really enjoyed this run. Didn't use the flattest routes for these, which gave a nice bit of variety.

Weekly total: 26 miles

That makes two crap weeks in a row, with only 25 done the previous week. The bug I had seems to take a while to shift. although I felt I'd gotten over it by Sunday.

Monday 05/02

Back to it then with a progression run.

Plan was for 15 min warmup, 20mins@7:40, 15@7:30, 10@7:15, 15min cool down. Headed down to the flatness of the Marina/Centre Park road for this on a cold but sunny day.

Splits:
15mins@8:14
20mins@7:36
15mins@7:23
10mins@7:09
15mins@8:18
Added another couple of minutes to bring the daily total up to 10 miles.

Session felt tougher than it looked on paper. I went out too fast for the 20 min rep, so my pacing was a bit all over the place as I was trying to get back within range. The 10 minute rep did feel like I was straining a bit towards the end. However the HR data tells a different story - it shows a steady increase in effort throughout the entire session, peaking at 170 just at the end. This is where it should be really, or maybe just a couple of bpm higher. Maybe it felt harder because it was my first bit of faster running for a couple of weeks.

Tuesday 06/02

6@8:43. Plodded around in the dark and cold, but it was noticeably brighter by the end for the first time in ages.

Wednesday 07/02

6@8:39. Beautiful morning, but freezing with only a very slight breeze. Both this and yesterdays run were done before work and again felt harder than they should have - but the HR was in the right zone, so it was just a case of the body not being awake yet. I did pick up towards the end of today's run (not in pace - just felt more awake) - just as it started to get properly bright. I felt a bit stiff and flat footed, but again I was half asleep doing this.

hot buttered scones

Thursday 08/02

12x1 min@ 6:40, 1 min recovery jog

2 mile warm up: 8:26, 8:36

Paces for intervals:

6:34; 6:25; 6:23; 6:26; 6:28; 6:33; 6:26; 6:21; 6:31; 6:21; 6:19; 6:21

2 mile cool down: 8:32; 8:35

Totally overshot all of these as I tend to do on the shorter intervals, but the effort felt right. I was able to fully jog all the recoveries and felt good afterwards. I was still left wondering how I was going to maintain the above paces for the race on Sunday, but I needn't have worried.

Friday 09/02

Off

Saturday 10/02

Hauled myself out of my pit after night shifts and about 3.5 hours sleep for 3.11 miles easy@8:47 - it loosened me out and woke me up at least.

Sunday 11/02

Race - BHAA Jansenn 6k

I finally get to do my first race since DCM. I woke up to fairly heavy snow - although it wasn't sticking - and a good bit of nerves. I was half inclined not to bother, using the weather as an excuse, but I talked myself into it in the end. I got out there very early, registered, then sat in the car for 20 minutes with the heater on. I did and easy mile to warmup before stripping all the layers and changing into the flats. I went with a t-shirt instead of a singlet (in my head that meant I'd be warmer?) and a cap and gloves - which I almost never wear when racing - and did another mile or so with a few pick ups down to the start line. The snow had started again - fairly heavy - but the roads were grand and clear. There was people huddled everywhere trying to keep warm. I ended up just shuffling up an down a bit until we got going. Luckily the snow had stopped and stayed stopped all the time I was racing - the sun even came out. The start took a few of us by surprise so it was a couple of seconds before I got going. I flew off down the road and a quick check of the watch saw a number starting with 5 so I applied the brakes. I feel in behind a teammate who I knew ran fairly decent times and followed him off down the road. The first mile was tough enough and I was fairly full of doubt that I'd be able to maintain it, but in hindsight I think I just wasn't properly warmed up. The road drops off slightly during the 2nd mile and I stuck in behind yer man still - but I should have made more of this to gain a few more seconds. We turned into the retail park bit into a bit of headwind and I noticed the pace dropping off a bit so I passed the lad I was following (who usually well beats me) and off I went. I knew yer man wasn't 100% fit, but I still got a big psychological boost from this. I caught up with another guy I knew to be coming back from injury and tailed/ran alongside him for a bit, but passed him too in the end. We went back up the drag we had come down previously - the effort levels rose a bit here and got me worried, but I could have pushed harder. Passed 5k in 19:3x (Strava says 19:28) and pushed on for the finish. I pushed a bit too early though and a about 3 or 4 guys that I had caught in the last 800m passed me with about 200 to go. I don't know why I didn't kick on - maybe my kick is gone at the moment? - but I didn't and even slowed a bit coming to the line. I think I was just very happy with the numbers on the clock and didn't feel the need too. Recovered a bit, the jogged the half mile back to registration, had a quick coffee then layered up again and changed the shoes for a two mile cool down with more snow.

I have it timed at 23:31, the official (hand timed) result is 23:33, so I'll go with that. Max HR was 178bpm. Considering I'd normally be up around 186 at the end of a race like this, and in the low 180s for the 2nd half of a 5k, I think I definitely didn't push hard enough because I didn't think I had it in me at the moment. That's a good thing though - it means I now know I have a lot more to give and next up is a 4 miler os I can give it a bit more. It's a new 6k PB, run over the same course as the last one by around 90s - but that's from early 2016, so I'm not marking it down as a great achievement or anything. The 5k split is more interesting. My 5k PB from last July is 19:17 - and I was within touching distance of that during a longer race and not at 100% effort. This would only be my 3rd time ever going under 20 minutes for 5k, but this was definitely easier than the other two times. I think its safe to say I'm in a much better position than I thought I was, and it was my head that held me back yesterday and not the body. A couple of more races like that and I'll be flying confidence wise, I think.

Splits:
6:16; 6:18; 6:17; 6:07 pace for the last 0.75 miles (4:38)
km splits (from smashrun) - 3:50; 3:57; 3:58; 3:48; 3:58; 3:47, then an extra 50m at 4:07 pace.

OOnegative

More there for sure, I know what you mean about not backing yourself at times and keeping it comfortably hard rather than pushing on. Great racing.