Still trying to figure it all out.

skyblue46 · 20-06-2018 3:44pm

hot buttered scones wrote: »

I really wasn't happy with the outcome of my last physio appointment so I went and got a second opinion. Yes, I'm injured but it's not serious and I can still run as long as I'm sensible. Coach agrees, so happy days. 3 days of running then, 30 mins, 40mins, 30 mins. First 2 runs were ok with some pain and the last one a bit uncomfortable, although I'd had no sleep. I was travelling all day yesterday so nothing. Today I was doing holiday stuff until the afternoon. Then it was a choice between an easy run in 30 degrees or beer. So I'm having a cold one waiting for the world cup to come on!

Delighted for you! The beer was definitely a wise choice. Enjoy!

hot buttered scones · 06-07-2018 11:40pm

Jaysus. I've done barely anything while on holidays. A few short run with a 10k max the other day. Loads of sleep though. And beer and pizza. Home tomorrow so time to get back on the wagon. The leg is still a bit sore, but much much better - the rest has done me a pile of good. I may have tweaked my left hamstring playing basketball with the young fella - nothing serious, but boy did it make me feel old. I have definitely lost a lot of fitness, and I don't like it, not one bit. That's my motivation anyway. I'm also a bit more roundy in the belly area than I used to be. Times, goals and all that jazz have gone out the window tbh. I just want to get back to proper training and see how things develop from there.

Kellygirl · 07-07-2018 5:59am

I was quite impressed that I saw you popping up on Strava so frequently while you have been away. You probably needed a break from the hard stuff. Sounds like a great holiday - beer and pizza and nice runs to see the place.

hot buttered scones · 23-07-2018 2:55pm

Almost back to normal. A few twinges from the shin every now and then (maybe one or two at the start of a run) but they go away once I'm warmed up. Frankfurt has been cancelled, and I'm in for Valencia now on Dec 2nd. I felt under pressure together going again to be ready in time for Frankfurt and Valencia give me 4 or 5 weeks more. I'm very happy with that decision.

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
9th July|4 miles|8:37|Back to work, and some easy morning miles, with effort about right.
10th July|7.4 miles|8:07|Post treatment run down Crosser. Got a bit carried away. Hr was a bit high, but I'm blaming the heat and optical HR.
11th July|5|8:55|Plodded around the Glen Park in between night shifts. Effort nice and handy.
12th July|Rest|-|Day off after nights
13th July|5 miles|8:34|Up to the tank field. Mostly on burnt grass. Did 6x20s strides in mile 4.
14th July|4 miles|8:33|A too fast morning run before a day at the beach. Quads a bit tender
15th July|10.1 miles|8:32|Marina loop. Fridays strides seem have have given me DOMS in my quads?? Other than that a lovely run. Started slow, and picked it up a bit towards the 2nd half. 10 miles was the goal, but I wasn't sure I'd achieve it without being buckled. In the end I managed it handy enough.

Total: 35.7 miles

Back with the coach for this week. All easy runs.

Date |Distance|Pace|Notes
16th July|Rest|-|-
17th July|5.1 miles|8:24|Early AM rework, nice a cool (relatively). Effort else nice and low - ran this off HR rather than pace.
18th July|8 miles|8:06|Hmm. A bit too fast. Wore the marathon shoes for this. I got a bit carried away enjoying myself. HR not too high though. Silversprings to Grandons in Glanmire and back.
19th July|5.1 miles|8:30|Usual pre work route before nights. A mile or two with company.
20th July|Rest|-|Birthday pints. Too many.
21st July|5 miles|8:59|A small bit faster actually, because I forgot to stop the watch. Out around Crosshaven again, met the clan for food afterwards. Absolutely dieing all day. Drink is evil. So is the sun.
22nd July|11 miles|8:12|Out in the car to Garretstown in the afternoon. The clan went for a walk, while I got a run in (their suggestion). Up and down Garretstown beach, with a loop of the Old Head. Absolutely roasting, with a pig of a hill to get me around the Old Head. Jumped straight into the sea after too cool down. Drank over a litre of water while running. Thoroughly enjoyable, if not a bit hard.

Total: 34.3 miles

Back in business, and back to basics for now. The last two weeks have been the first in a long time where I've really enjoyed just running easy. with no worries about pace, distance etc. I feel a lot better having 2 weeks of consistency under my belt after all the previous messing about. The break did me the world of good though.

Swashbuckler · 23-07-2018 4:33pm

Welcome back. You were missed.

hot buttered scones · 23-07-2018 6:07pm

Swashbuckler wrote:

Welcome back. You were missed.

Cheers!! I've a lot of catching up to do on here.

hot buttered scones · 05-08-2018 6:14pm

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
23rd July|5 miles|8:50|Local route, Laps of the Glen, very humid.
24th July|rest|-|-
25th July|5 miles|8:57|Another hot and sweaty one around town. Very tired after a bad sleep. Cried off work, just felt rotten when I woke up.
26th July|8.3 miles|8:15|Nice route up round Blarney which I'd only run once before. Enjoyable.
27th July|6 miles|8:33|6x20s strides in the 5th mile, 1 min recovery. Felt good.
28th July|rest|-|-
29th July|11.18 miles|8:18|0.5 miles easy, last 5 minutes steady (0.68 miles@7:21) Steady bit felt a bit too fast tbh. Stuck my feet in the river too cool down for a good 10 mins afterwards

Total: 35.5 miles

A bit of a mixed bag of a week - tired to start, but felt better as the week progressed

Date |Distance|Pace|Notes
30th July|5 miles|9:14|Laps of the tank field. Purposely went very very easy. Went over on my right ankle at apron 3 miles. Felt a bit stiff and swollen afterwards. I panicked a bit but it was ok in the end.
31st July|5.7 miles|8:57|4 miles easy@8:25ish. 6x10s hills, flat out with 2:30 recovery. 1 mile jog back home@9:16. Felt ok doing this, although a bit tired starting out.
1st Aug|Rest|-|Oh dear god - hip adductors in bits. even walking is sore.
2nd Aug|8 miles|8:26|Another crap sleep, woke up too late to get this in before work. Took an early dart and got it done. I was desk bound for most of the day at work, so I was fairly stiff and tired at the start, Hip adductors and Quads giving out loads. Very muggy and warm.
3rd Aug|5 miles|8:39|A good nights sleep meant this felt better than previous days. Hot and sunny, although a bit less humid. Felt good afterwards. Grumbly bits a bit less grumbly. Drove to Dublin later that day and was stiff as a board when I got out of the car, with the aforementioned hip adductors feeling like overstretched rubber bands.
4th Aug|5 miles|8:33| I'd planned on doing this weeks long run today, but in the end I just felt too tired after another crap sleep in a strange bed. Also had some gastro issues which was putting me off. Did a nice loop down the Kilbarrack Road, along the coast, up Watermill Road to Raheny, and back up to the fire station, with a loop of the houses to get to 5 miles. Hip adductors calmed down too which was nice.
5th Aug|-|-|Nothing yet. A few pints last night (not too many though, and not too late either), and yet another crap sleep meant I put off running this morning until it was too late. I'd planned on going this evening after driving back to Cork, but now I'm not in the humour. Maybe I'll feel better later. A bit tired after the drive, but certainly no where near as stiff and sore as I was after the drive up.

Total: 28.7 miles so far.

Bit of a rubbish week. I never got into a good sleeping pattern, and didn't do much to help myself either tbh. I should have just done the long run Friday when I had a bit of time. I'd totally forgotten about the trip to Dublin, which then I allowed to mess up my plans, when usually I'm quite good about getting my runs in when I'm away. I'm debating whether or not to go out this evening or to do it in the morning instead. At the moment tomorrow morning is winning. I'm thinking an early night and a good run tomorrow will be more beneficial than slogging my way through it tonight and having to wait until 9pm to eat dinner. I have to get my act together with regards the sleeping though - its having a seriously negative impact on my training. I'm a bit pee'd off that I'm feeling fatigued again, especially because I know its mostly my own doing. I hate being tired.

hot buttered scones · 12-08-2018 10:23pm

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
6th Aug|12 miles with 6x1min pickups in the last 2 miles|8:20 avg for the 10 miles. 6:14 avg for pick ups|Recoveries after pick ups at easy pace. No set pace for pickups. First few miles I felt a bit tired and sluggish, but once I warmed up and got going I felt better. 1st 3 pick ups felt like I was floating along, then the rest felt a bit harder, but ok. Glad to get it done.
7th Aug|5 miles|8:31|Easy run on the flat, fairly warm. Felt ok
8th Aug|8 miles|8:22|Can't really remember much about this
9th Aug|rest|-|-
10th Aug|5.1 miles|8:38|After work, tired. Having trouble getting up on time, and I usually like going out in the morning.
11th Aug|9 miles steady|7:23|Goal pace was 7:30-7:40. I ran relaxed and kept going too fast, so I'd slow down and as soon as I relaxed I'd start speeding up bit again. The last 2 miles (especially the last) was a bit harder than it should have been as a result. Probably closer to current MP really. Got a good confidence boost though, because I was well able to finish it out. Between the rain and sweat I was soaked by the end.
12th Aug|5 miles|8:49|Post rain in hot sticky conditions. Sweated buckets. Legs were tired after yesterday. Tired overall due to lack of sleep between night shifts. Plodded around a local route, not the flattest.

44.1 miles for the week. Biggest week since the week ending 6th May.
Very happy with this week. The body is holding up very well. The fatigue from last week seems to have abated. I'm loosing weight - down from 78.4 in July to 76.5. Probably some dehydration there, but it's going the right way. "Race weight" for me is around 74-75kg - that's when I feel my fastest and strongest. Any higher and I get a bit flabby round the middle, any lower and I just feel weak.

Next week I'm planning on doing the BHAA Musgraves 5k down the Marina on Wednesday evening. I'm taking a do or die approach to this. I'll either surprise myself or end up having to grind out the last two miles - either way I'll getting a baseline so I'll know where I'm at, at least.

hot buttered scones · 17-08-2018 5:32pm

Time for a quick update:

Mon 13/08: Rest
Tues 14/08: Shakeout with 6x20s strides. Just a nice relaxed run. Threw in some strides after 1.5 miles and jogged back home. Felt fairly humid out.

Weds 15/08: BHAA Musgraves 5k.

I only decided to do this late last week, and was looking forward to it until the morning of it when I started to get nervous and was actually dreading it a bit. I'm not a big fan of 5k's - too much short sharp pain! I had a funny old day. I was off work, but had to get up at 5am to drop the lads to the airport. I was back in bed by 6 and slept through til 11!! How do you eat for an 8pm race? I spent the day snacking on things like toast and porridge, had some eggs for lunch - nothing that would upset the stomach. Anyway, I felt ok on the warm up (still a bit apprehensive). This a flat 2 loop course going up Centre Park road, the down Monahan Road and back around again.
I went out hard enough and backed off a bit after the first half mile hanging on to the back of a group of about 10. I got boxed in turning the corner onto Monahan road, found gap and pushed ahead just to get a bit of space. I regretted this fairly soon as all I could hear was the the sound of many footsteps closing in behind me. Mile 1 in 6:04, feeling comfortably hard for the most part, breathing deeply, but still slowly.
I wasn't long into mile 2 (about 400m) when I felt the pinch. We had turned out of the breeze and now it felt fairly warm and humid. I was sweating buckets. Next thing I felt a slight pain in my ribcage on the lower left, breathing rate increased and I felt the start of the burn in the lungs. My head didn't like this at all and I backed off into a more comfortable zone. Still very hard, but not a world of pain hard??? Anyway, I got that sinking feeling and just eased back into a "I'm not going to blow up badly" effort while still trying to maintain some sense of respectability around the effort. As we passed halfway at the start/finish I though about DNFing, but made a deal with myself just to hang for one more lap. I'd stopped counting how many I was passed by at this stage and just kept going. Mile 2 in 6:36
Mile 3 was more of the same, legs feeling tired now, lungs starting to feel at their limit. With about a km or so to go I found a little reserve and was able to push past a couple and up the pace a bit. Sometimes the body would kick back, but at least I was able to gain a place or two before having to back off a bit again. Mile 3 in 6:33
The last bit - I hit the 3 mile marker and took off, passing 2 or 3 on the way home. Strava says 0.09 @5:52, Garmin says 0.10@6:04. Either way I had something left in the tank at the end. I've definitely felt worse at the end of a race - makes me think I left something out there. Yerrah, to be honest when the going got tough, my heart wasn't in it. Being honest, I probably could have shaved a few more seconds of with better pacing and and attitude, but not much.
19:49, so a sub 20 anyway. All in all, given my lack of training lately I suppose it's not a bad result really, but I know I'm capable of better and it's a long way off my PB. Put into context - I went through 5k in 6k race in February in 19:31 and went through 5k in a 10 miler in March in around 19:55.

I did a slightly longer cool down than normal to bring the total for the day to 7.6.

Thurs 16/08

8 easy miles around the Blackrock Marina loop @8:26. I was a bit stiff and sore at the start but it didn't take long to ease out. Enjoyable.

Friday 17/08. Rest + work

Back to doing sessions tomorrow - hopefully in the morning. There's a bit of soul searching/reality checking going on regarding marathon goals for December. Confidence isn't very high, so the inner dialogue is a bit along the lines of just getting ready to run the distance and forgetting about times. Basically the goal at the moment is to finish. On the other hand I am moody auld b*ll*x, so next week I could be planning a PB attempt off the back of a decent session.

Swashbuckler · 17-08-2018 8:07pm

Two things. I can't think of a worse distance, apart than maybe the 1500m to try and make a comeback. It's a lot of pain. Just a little rusty like I said on Strava.
Also, let the confidence build over the marathon block. Nothing wrong with starting a marathon block low on confidence. It's like worrying about an exam before you even start studying. You'll be well prepped come December.

Swashbuckler · 17-08-2018 8:08pm

Also sub 20 after a layoff like that is nothing to be ashamed of.

hot buttered scones · 20-08-2018 12:44am

Saturday 18/08

AM Session. Up early and out to get this done before work. Started just before 7 a.m.

2 miles warm up - 8:38; 8:30
4x100m strides - slowed down halfway through the first one for some reason, probably because I was still half asleep. Felt ok for the rest. I was doing laps of the ferry port. There was no one else around and it was very warm and humid, even at that hour so off came the t shirt. Has to be done.
1 mile @ 6:40. Looks bang on the prescribed pace, but in reality my pace was up and down for the whole thing. I only felt fully awake about half way through this.
3 min recovery - light jog, took on some water.
4x2mins@6:30, 90s recovery
Overshot all of these - 6:17, 6:13, 6:27; 6:24. The last two were close enough. Tried to maintain good form throughout. I wasn't flogging myself or straining at any point, nor did it feel "easy".
2 mile cool down back to work - 8:36; 8:45

Sunday 19/08

Planned - 12 miles with 6x1 min pickups aftre 10 miles with recoveries at easy pace.

Actual 10 miles and 1x1min pickup.

Felt pretty tired and a bit stiff this morning, which was a bit surprising as I felt good all day yesterday after the session. Got out a bit late in the day (around 11:30) and it a already felt too warm. This first mile felt sluggish, but thing started to get a bit better, but I was already sweating buckets. I to make an emergency stop after 5k and I found it hard to get going after that. Another a stop at 6 miles to stretch the quads. Another just before 9 to take on more water and have a short pit stop. A km later I was sat on the kerb for a minute. I said I'd finish out the mile and start the faster bits and see how I felt. Did the first 1 min@6:45 and stopped immediately. No was I running at easy pace again. I felt nauseous, overheated and a small bit dizzy. Very uncomfortable. I walked the half mile or so back to car. I felt rotten for ages afterwards - first of all I couldn't cool down, then started getting cold in the shower. I just wanted to sleep, but didn't. After a bit of food and about 3 pints of water I started to feel right again.
All through the run the legs felt heavy. The air felt like soup and I felt like I was gasping for air after around the mile 5 or so at times. The effort felt a lot harder than the HR data shows - HR was in the normal range for this kind of run. Weather wise it was 24 degrees and really humid - my least favourite running weather. I've crashed and burned many runs and sessions in this kind of weather, so this is nothing new. I was definitely dehydrated though before setting out today which didn't help - I did drink enough after yesterdays session. 12 hours in a lab with broken aircon didn't help much either. I drank 2x250mls of water during today's run, which is normally enough but I needed more.
This was my first "bad" run in a while, so there's no panic - it was just one of those days.

Weekly total: 37.1 miles. Not the biggest mileage, but with a race and a session it's the most "work" I've done in ages.

hot buttered scones · 28-08-2018 1:51am

Monday 20/08

5@8:54. Made an effort to keep the HR low and not push to hard after Sunday's bad run. It was still very humid out. Just a few miles around the harbour in between night shifts.

Tuesday 21/08

5@8:58 Another slow plod in heat and humidty around the Glen. First run after 2 nights shifts in ages and first time running 4 days in a row since May.

Wednesday 22/08

Planned: 10 mins@7:00, 5 mins@6:40, 10mins@7:00

Actual:
Warm up: 2 miles@8:21
10mins@7:01; 5 mins@6:40; Unoffical pause for around a minute; 10mins@6:55
Cool down: 2 miles@8:45

Headed down the Marina for this on warm evening, with a bit of humidity, although there was a stiff enough breeze blowing too. The tempo started into the breeze, but felt comfortable enough at 7:00, although it took a minute or two to settle into the pace. It took around one lap of the Marian 5k course to get this done. Straight into the 6:40 section then, and I could feel the increase in effort straight away. I was running directly into the breeze for most of this, but was too hung up on pace rather than effort, so I was pushing way too hard. When I finished the 5 min section just around the corner on Monahan Road, I had to stop for a minute to catch my breath/empty reach a bit (breathing hadn't . I wasn't long getting the HR back up when I start the next 10 min section, which came in a bit fast. Pace felt a bit easier at the beginning and I probably ran a bit fast here. I was definitely bate by the end of this. First proper tempo in a long while, and although it was tough I felt good after finishing it. I'll have to gauge the effort better in future.

7.6 miles for the day

Thursday 23/08

8@8:30. A nice out and back from Silversprings to Glanmire and back. Pace varied a bit due to headwind/tailwind effects.

Friday 24/08

Rest. Had a sports massage. All good.

Saturday 25/08

Session: 4-3-2-1 mins@6:30, 75s recovery, 2 sets, 3 min jog between sets

Warm up: 2 miles@8:28; 8:38

Paces:
Set 1: 4 mins@6:30; 3 mins@6:32; 2 mins@6:34; 1 min@6:16
Set 2: 4 mins@6:27; 3 mins@6:28; 2 mins@6:29; 1 min@6:18

All recoveries/break jogged around ~9:00, could have been a bit slower, but I made a conscious effort to slow then right down.

Cool down: 2 miles@8:09; 8:22

Up early for this one - single digit temperatures in the car, around 6 deg. My hand were freezing for the first couple of miles, first time in ages. The cooler temps made for an easier session though. I thought I did fairly ok with this - I lost a bit of focus during the first set and as per usual I overcooked the shortest rep. Most reps were a bit unevenly paced though, but I tried to keep the effort fairly constant. Yeah, I was looking forward to the end of each rep, but I wasn't straining either. Nice to be back doing proper sessions again. Felt fairly good all day in work after it too.

8.4 miles for the day

Sunday 26/08

12 miles with 6x1min pickups after 10 miles. Recoveries after pickups to be run at easy pace.
I had planned on getting this done before work, but I balked at 5am when I looked out the window and saw the rain hopping off the ground. I took an early dart instead and did this round the harbour at around 6:45pm. I met a lad from work after about 2 miles and so had company until 6, which a nice distraction. Overall this went ok - at least I got it done unlike last week. I was fairly tired after a busy day and my legs felt a bit heavy, but it didn't seem to slow me down. I was just a bit drained from the broken aircon - 26 degrees in the office/lab for hours on end is no fun. It was very windy in exposed parts - the wind was howling down the river and the wire on the bridge over the Haulbowline was rattling. Most of the pick ups were done into the wind. I kept the recoveries at 1 minute - I was trying to time so that I didn't have to do the last fast bit uphill. the pick ups definitely felt hard, and so did the recoveries. My legs were fine and tired by that stage and I was glad to see I still had a bit of zip in them. The first 2 reps seemed to loosen me out a bit and I was flying after that.

Splits: 8:24; 8:20; 8:43; 8:36; 8:34; 8:31; 8:13; 8:13; 8:25; 8:17
Pickups/recoveries(1 min each): 6:35/8:16; 6:43/8:12; 6:18/8:17; 6:17/8:16; 6:13/8:10; 6:24/8:32
An extra bit to get back to work for a daily total of 12.2 miles.

46.4 miles for the week and a decent week too for where I am at. Happy enough with it.

Monday 27/08

5 miles @ 9:20. Should have stayed in. I was knackered, it was hot and sweaty and I hadn't eaten enough since yesterday evenings run - my stomach felt a bit rough when I got home the night before so I didn't eat, and then I just had a light breakfast this morning. I just plodded about mostly on grass and trails trying to keep the HR low. Just a question of getting the miles in on tired legs.

hot buttered scones · 28-08-2018 1:59am

Future plans:

I've giving the marathon I'm doing some thought. I'm not sure if I'm up to the job of running a faster marathon than before at the moment. I don't have a target yet, which makes me feel a bit uneasy. When I think of a target like 3:05, or even sub 3 it just seems impossible at the moment. I'm not sure if it's even wise to target a PB time for this. I was thinking maybe I should aim a bit lower for this - not a PB, but a respectable time nonetheless - somewhere in the 3:15 - 3:30 range maybe? The idea would be to use this training block to get ready for a half decent Valencia marathon, but more importantly to build up the strength and endurance for a proper go next spring (or even autumn) at sub 3 or thereabouts. This idea just sits well with me. I don't think its a cop out - in fact I think it might be a more sensible approach than I normally take.
Anyway, marathon or not I'm going to Valencia that weekend - flights and Air bnb are booked and the Mrs is going, so there's no backing out of the trip anyway!

hot buttered scones · 02-09-2018 2:05pm

Tuesday 28/08

5@8:29 with company, in between night shifts.

Wednesday 29/08

Rest. I'd planned on doing my tempo/LT or whatever this evening. Got togged off, dropped the young lad off to training, turned the car around and went straight back home. I was really, really tired. The nights took a lot out of me this week and the weather was playing havoc with my breathing, I was hungry etc. etc. I was just all wrong. Went home, rested, ate and slept.

Thursday 30/08

Yesterdays session - split tempo??

Warmup: 2@8:37
15 minutes@6:56 (goal pace 7:00)
3 mins recovery@9:21 - all jogged very slowly
10 minutes@6:41 (goal pace 6:45)
Cool down: 2.06@8:04
Total: 8 miles

Overshot the pace slightly, but the effort felt about right. I was bang on 7:00 for the 15 minutes section for ages, and just seemed to go a bit faster for the last 3 or so minutes. For the 10 minute section, I was pushing too hard at the start, but reigned it in. No stopping during the recovery. Nice condtions for running as far as I remember - not too warm or humid and only a very slight breeze. I was very apprehensive about this to be honest after last week, but after a couple of minutes @7:00 I felt strong and confident that I was going to finish it out. I was feeling it by the end of the rep, but never straining. The 10 minute rep of course felt much harder, but not too much and again I was never in doubt that I could finish it out. Overall I'm happy enough with how I executed this, except for the overshooting the paces bit.

Friday 31/08

8@8:25. The legs felt a bit dead and rubbery after the day before's efforts. One of those runs where you have no real route planned and you feel like you're just wandering around aimlessly to make up the miles - felt like forever. Horrible misty rain too. Still, job done and the sore nipples to prove it.

Saturday 01/09

2@8:18
Intervals:
4 mins, 2x2mins, 3 mins, 4x1mins, 2 mins recovery jog. Headed down the Marina for this after watching Liverpool's new keeper being a Liverpool keeper.

Goal pace: 6:30

Paces:
4 mins: 6:24; 2 mins: 6:28; 2 mins: 6:28; 3 mins: 6:30; 1 min: 6:24; 1 min: 6:17; 1 min: 6:17; 1 min: 6:15

Recoveries: Jogged the first one. Had to stop 30s into the 2nd for a bit of a coughing fit. Decided I'd walk the first 20s - 30s or so of the rest of the recoveries to stop this happening again.

Reps: Yeah, overshot the paces again on the fist one and all the 1 min reps. The 4 minutes felt ok though, Surprisingly enough the 2 minute reps felt much harder than expected. I was in the red zone HR wise for the end of most of the reps. Weather wise - it was really hot (21 degs at least) so I'm happy enough with how this went. Much harder in this heat than the 6 degrees last Saturday morning, but still got it done.

Cool down: 2.2@8:54. I was totally drained after the session tbh and just plodded around for a bit. Total for the day: 8 miles

Sunday 02/09

12 miles with 6x1 min pickups, recoveries at easy pace (about 1 min)

10 miles@8:32 average:

Pick ups/recoveries: all over the shop - 6:31; 8:12; 7:05; 8:06; 6:33; 8:48; 6:35; 10:02; 6:12; 8:30; 6:47
Then 0.7 miles@9:22 back to work.

Got up early and drove into work to get this done before 8 on an empty stomach. Was tired starting out due to the hour and the relative lateness of yesterdays session. I was pumping sweat even before the sun came up - 15 degrees only, but very very humid. This was a bit of a slog and the pick ups - well I think I'd have been better off skipping them. They felt like very hard work and I had no bit of spring in the legs at all. Failed to run the 2nd last recovery at easy pace and had to jog slowly back to the plant to finish up. Sweated buckets during this as well. Felt good to get out and get it done before 8am though. 12.2 for the day

Weekly total: 46.3 miles.

Not a bad week. I got off to a slow start and felt burnt out by Wednesday, but a good bit of rest sorted that out. Compacting all the hardest runs into a 4 day block is not the best idea, but sometimes it has to be done to fit it in around work. I'm starting to feel like I'm on the way back.

hot buttered scones · 07-09-2018 4:04pm

Monday 03/09

5@8:41 - sleepy A.M. miles

Tuesday 04/09

Tempo/LT session.

warmup: 2.16@8:32
8 minutes@6:42 (goal pace 6:45)
3 mins recovery@9:26
2x2mins, 90s recovery - 6:29, 6:35, recoveries shuffled. Was supposed to be 3x2 minutes but I made a mess of the Garmin program.
10 minutes@6:59 (goal pace 7:00) - launched into this@6:30 thinking it was the last 2 min rep, then had to pull it back.
cooldown: 2.2@8:24

Total: 8.2

This was reasonably tough. I felt controlled during the longer reps, but never under pressure. The shorter reps felt very hard though.This felt tougher than last weeks session but I was definitely a bit more fatigued doing this than last week. Did it a day early too to fit around work, so a very busy last few days - tempo Thursday, longer easy Friday, Session Saturday, long run Sunday, Easy Monday, Tempo Tuesday. In other words I had a good few miles and effort in the legs and (bar the programming error) I was well able to complete the session, which is a sign of progress I think.

Wednesday 05/09

More easy miles before work - 6@8:29

Thursday 06/09

Rest.

Friday 07/09

8 miles@8:12. Legs felt fine and fresh for this, although I'm enjoying a new pair of Nike Zoom Structure 21s. I'm moving away from my custom insoles - they just haven't felt right since I've come back from injury for some reason. I've been using flats for most sessions and seem to be favouring shoes with some light support for longer stuff (the Nikes above and an old pair DS Trainer 21s). My stride seems to have changed too - I seem to have developed more of a forefoot strike. I used to also have an issue with clipping my ankles (a cross stride??) which seems to have gone as well. I have no explanation for this - it's just happened. I have a pair of Saucony A type for sessions which have a 6mm drop which are giving me no trouble at all. And the old Takumi Rens as well, which I also found a bit supportive due to the way the upper wraps around my foot so well. I just hope this paragraph won't be famous last wards though.

Anyway, enough about shoes and back to the run - a bit too fast, but it felt controlled and the effort never felt too hard. A few small hills in my chosen route, so I took advantage of any downhill sections which make the pace/effort seem a bit harder than it was. A nice day for it - warm, but not hot, with a cool breeze, but not windy

hot buttered scones · 10-09-2018 11:24am

Saturday 08/09

Session - 3 x (4mins-3mins-2mins-1mins, 90s Recovery), 3 minutes between sets

Goal pace for the reps was 6:40 - which I queried initially, as other sessions had been done at 6:30. Having done this session before, my initial instinct was that this was going to be a tough session and so the pace was scaled back a bit accordingly and this proved true.

Did the warm up up and down the Marina and the reps around the Atlantic pond and the Centre Park Road/Monahan Road loop. The first set was all a bit fast as I tried to settle in the pace, the 2nd set was better. The 3rd set proved hard, as expected. I was disturbed by a dog off its leash for the last 1 minute rep - so I paused the watch. I just repeated the full 1 minute then, and way too fast because I was annoyed.

2 mile warm@ ~ 8:25, 2 mile cool down@ ~ 8:50

Splits:

Set|Time|Pace|Time]|Pace|Time|Pace|[Time|Pace
1|4 mins|6:35|3mins|6:37|2 mins|6:32|1 min|6:40
1|4 mins|6:38|3mins|6:38|2 mins|6:35|1 min|6:23
1|4 mins|6:38|3mins|6:41|2 mins|6:40|1 min|6:08

Other notes - for the first 2 sets all the recoveries were jogged slowly. Ran into a bit of trouble in the last set - there was a small bit of walking, the recovery after the last 3 minute interval was a mix of coughing, standing and walking. The 3 minute reps felt the hardest. I missed the worst of the rain, but it felt very humid all the same.

Total daily miles: 10.63

Sunday 09/09

13.12@8:38. There was 13 on the schedule, but I think I'm mentally incapable of stopping short of the half marathon distance.

Anway, this was a bit crap - in hindsight a bit worse than I described it on Strava. I was tired, sore and stiff from the start, I never really got into any sort of flow and really struggled in the last 2 or 3 miles. I sort of ran out of air. Pace dropped off towards the 9s and my muscles were tight and stiff by the end. I had to do a bit of convincing myself to finish this out - with a couple of stops to "stretch" in the last 2 miles. This felt like the last 13 miles of a crap 20 miler. HR data shows a steady creep upwards, but it really didn't get outside "easy" range until the last 800m or so. I couldn't have pushed harder though - I just didn't have it in me. And the wind was blowing into my face for a good bit of this, which just p'ed me off even more Still though, that's probably the two toughest days together I've had in months so maybe that one positive. And a 13 miler on very very tired legs. And my longest run since the 3rd of May. I have a lot of work to do.

Monday 10/09

5 miles@8:53. Usual am prework plod, tired again, never fully woke up but I did feel a bit better as the run progressed. Nice and handy with the HR in the very easy range for all of this.

Looks like another busy week ahead - I might be under pressure to fit it all in tbh - we have a Junior cert results, a birthday and I'm in work a good bit as well. I'll have to see how it goes.

hot buttered scones · 13-09-2018 1:52am

Tuesday 11/09

7 miles@8:36. Early morning run again after a crap sleep. Didn't feel great starting out, but felt a lot better than yesterday and managed ok in the end. Bread and butter stuff.

Wednesday 12/09

Felt like crap this morning. so much so that I considered scrapping this session altogether. Felt ok by the afternoon, so I said I'd give it a lash, but I wasn't confident getting it done. In the end I flew around, and felt great both during and after this run

Warm up: 2.14 miles@8:33

Session - 3x3mins@ 6:30, 8 mins@6:50, 3x3mins@ 6:30.

I don't know what, but I had it in my head (and on my watch) that the 8 mins should be at 6:40-6:45. The first set of 3 minutes were a bit too fast - but 6:30s felt strangely easier than before. Even the fast 8 minutes felt more manageable than previous sessions where I ran@6:50 pace. The last set of 3x3mins was harder alright, but still the effort felt ok (as it did for all reps). All recoveries were very slowly jogged. I sipped on some water in between reps too and this seemed to fix the coughing issues I'd been having lately - a 250ml bottle last me the entire session, so it was literally a bit of quikc sip and a mouth rinse.

Splits:

3x3mins@6:28; 6:23; 6:27 - went out too fast on all of these.
8 minutes@6:41- way faster than prescribed, but the effort felt right.
3x3mins@6:28; 6:27; 6:29

Cool down: 2.04 miles@8:21

Total: 9.27 miles.

My legs felt great - no pain or residual soreness. I wasn't totally wrecked after the intervals and I felt quite good for the day afterwards. I really felt like I had an extra spring in my step today. There is definite signs of improvement. I'm starting to think I'm turning a corner fitness wise. Here's hoping

hot buttered scones · 16-09-2018 11:26pm

Thursday 13/09

8.1 miles easy - recorded this as 2 runs because I had to stop off somewhere for a couple of minutes at halfway. 4.05@8:07 (mostly downhill or flat), 4.05@8:22 (ran back up home). Nice run, felt easy all the way.

Friday 14/09

Rest and a day off work. These 2 things don't often coincide, so I must say I enjoyed it.

Saturday 15/09

7x800m, 2 mins recovery. Goal 3:05 - 3:08 per rep.

Headed down the Atlantic pond for this, but there was a match on down the Pair. I did a couple of reps around the pond anyway, but then it got a bit too busy, so I headed off up around Centre Park Road and Monahan Road. A couple of reps were too fast, but I was mostly within the right range. Rep 1 felt good, 2+3 comfortably hard, and 4 hard. 5, 6 and 7 were tough enough, with 7 feeling like race effort. I sat down on the path after the last rep for a minute or two to recover. Recoveries - 1+2 were jogged, then the walking started - maybe 30s walking then a light jog. There was bit of a strong breeze, but it didn't effect me too much. This was done in the afternoon, by which time it was fairly warm but I think I'm finally getting used to that - albeit just as it's about the get cool! Strava seems to have robbed me of 0.01 miles per rep and also has the split times a second or two quicker, so the splits are from Garmin.

Splits:
Warm up: 2 miles@around 8:25

7x800m: 3:04; 3:01; 3:03; 3:02; 3:06; 3:07; 3:05

Cool down: 2.42@ 8:49

Total: 9 miles

Sunday 16/09

13.16@8:19

I couldn't get out until the afternoon again and it was warm and sunny down here. That, coupled with the residual fatigue from yesterdays sessions meant it looked like this was going to be another tough run like last week. It was tough, but far better than last weeks. All went well, but the last 2 miles felt very hard. I misjudged the effort with the HR a bit higher than it should've been for a good portion of this run. I didn't feel like I ran out of juice at all this week, but my legs were - well they were on their last legs by the end of the run.

I'm quite happy with this week, but I still have that nagging doubt that 26.2 at pace is beyond me when I'm finding easy paced 13 milers tough. On the other hand, I'm more used to doing longer runs on fresher legs so maybe these runs on tired legs are more beneficial than I realise.

Weekly total: 51.64 miles

hot buttered scones · 20-09-2018 9:50pm

Monday 17/09

5 miles@8:51. Felt very humid today. Didn't have much energy.

Tuesday 18/09

6 miles@8:33. Was supposed to be 7 but I was caught unawares by heavy traffic. It's normally a lot quieter at that hour of the morning. The usual early morning run - felt harder than the HR says it was. I must have had a 24 hour bug or something. I felt great until just after lunchtime, then just felt more and more tired as the day went on. The only sign of life from me was when Firmino scored that last minute goal.

Wednesday 19/09

Shattered all day. Cried off work, and put the feet up for the day. I was starting to worry that I was overdoing it a bit (again). No running.

Thursday 20/09

Felt better after a good nights sleep, but still a bit rough. I decided I'd chance doing the session planned for yesterday. Popped out about 2pm, when the torrential rain had eased off a good bit. I felt ok during the warm up, and then (to my surprised) I banged out the reps no bother at all, feeling better than I had in any of the previous tempo type sessions I;d done so far since the summer. I ran them faster than prescribed, but if I'm honest I would say that the effort was spot on for each rep. Every rep was very controlled, I was working but never straining and the HR data confirms this. In fact the HR was lower than previous session done @7:00/mile. My breathing was very controlled and comfortable - no huffing and puffing. I could have definitely done more today if required. In fact, I was a bit disappointed when the session ended. The cool temperatures, light rain and cooling breeze meant I never felt overheated. I would say these were almost perfect conditions for me for running. I did the reps in my new favourite spot - laps around the Marina/Pairc Ui Caoimh. One lap is about a mile and it's fairly well sheltered from the worst of the wind.

Goal pace for reps: 6:50
Warm up: 2.09 miles@ 8:25
Reps:
3km@ 6:42/mile (12:30)
2km@ 6:45/mile (8:23)
1km@ 6:42/mile (4:10) - less steady than the other 2, as I just lost concentration half way round and slowed down a bit.

Recoveries were 3 minutes, both ran at easy pace (around 8:30)

Cool down: 2.51 miles@ 8:14

Total: 9 miles.

OOnegative · 20-09-2018 10:04pm

A welcome return to form, great to see.

hot buttered scones · 26-09-2018 7:47pm

I'd half this typed out at home, but forgot to go back to it yesterday!!

Friday 21/09

8.1@8:22. Don't remember much about it other than it was nice out I think. In between night shifts, but wasn't too tired.

Saturday 22/09

Evening run. Session 2 of the week.

4 mins, 2x2 mins, 3 mins, 4x1 mins@6:30 2 minute recoveries

Split paces:
4 min@6:28; 2@6:22; 2@6:28; 3@6:28; 4x1@6:24, 6:22; 6:28; 6:24. All recoveries at easy pace between around 8:20-8:45 and felt comfortable enough. Felt controlled throughout and maintained good form. Much better than the same session a couple of weeks back.

2 miles warmup and cooldown brought the daily total to 8.36 miles.

Sunday 23/09

13.2@8:30. A bit of a creaky start and didn't really get into it until around the 4 mile mark. Legs and lungs held up well and still had enough left in me the push the last mile (very slightly though). A big improvement form last week. I was tired enough for the last 1.5 miles, but nothing major.

Weekly total: 49.7 miles

Monday 24/09

7 miles@8:30, easy run but very warm towards the end. Loosened the legs out.

Tuesday 25/09

7x800m@6:30 with reducing recoveries (2mins down to 45s loosing 15s each time)

Splits/paces:
3:12.4 (6:27); 3:12.4 (6:27); 3:12.3 (6:27); 3:11.7 (6:26); 3:13.6 (6:29); 3:11.6 (6:25; 3:13.1 (6:28)

All recoveries jogged @8:41 to 9:07 pace. This was tougher than it looked on paper. The pace was set slower than the 800s the other week, but the reducing recoveries meant I was working hard towards the end of the session. I was focused on breathing right and leg turnover/form, so it never got out of control. I was quite happy that I finished this out in better shape than I thought I would be. I did stop after the last rep and there was a couple of minutes of walking around before I set of on the cool down. A couple of mile either side of the session brought the daily total to 8.4 miles.

Wednesday 26/09

8 miles@8:26. Fairly tired starting this around 6:30 but got into it after a couple of miles. Surprisingly warm though - was sweating buckets. Good start to the day.

Swashbuckler · 26-09-2018 8:07pm

Not to jinx it but it seems like your woes are behind you?

hot buttered scones · 26-09-2018 10:04pm

Swashbuckler wrote:

Not to jinx it but it seems like your woes are behind you?

Hopefully. Getting fitter, feeling faster and starting to enjoy it more. I have to do a good bit of shuffling things round this week, but I'll get it all in. But nothing's ever simple is it - I've to take 2 or 3 days off from Sunday - it's unavoidable, but I'll have a great 2 weeks before it so I'm not too concerned. The rest will probably do me good haha!

hot buttered scones · 28-09-2018 9:14pm

Thursday 27/09

Another session - this time a tempo/threshold mix (I think?). I dunno, I just try to run at the prescribed pace (but usually a small bit faster

)

Goal: 10 mins@7:10, 5 mins@6:45, 10mins@7:10 continuous running

I'd made a mess of this session a few weeks ago, needing to stop for a minute after the 5 minutes section. Today the paces were a bit slower, but no stopping. I don't know whether it was the early morning start(6:30am) or the cool temperatures (11 degs), but this really didn't feel hard at all, and the HR data backs that up. For the first 10 minute section the HR barely got up above 150, just about got above 160 for the 5 minutes section, and then back down to the low 150s for the last 10 minutes. Generally my HR for easy paced runs is 140-150, maybe a little higher when its warm. My legs felt like they were working, just not the heart and lungs (well not too much anyway)

Split paces:
Warm up: 2.01@8:23
10 mins@7:09 (1.39 miles)
5 mins@6:40 (0.75 miles)
10 mins@7:01 (1.42 miles)
Cool down: 2.41@8:09

Felt fantastic doing this. I wish I felt this good running all the time. I found it hard to slow back down to 7:10 after the 5 min section, which was also too fast.

Friday 28/09

Long run - 15.11 miles@8:33

Some more moving stuff around. I can't run Sunday and 12 hour night shifts tonight and tomorrow mean a long run tomorrow is a bad idea - I've done it before and it's not worth it. It was a nice day down here - clear blue skies, and a warm sun, but a fairly strong breeze which both hindered and helped at times.
This run was the opposite to yesterdays. Tired, stiff and leggy , getting increasingly warm as the run progressed. This was done with an attitude of "just get it done". I tried to keep the effort nice and easy, which meant slowing down in parts when running into a stiff breeze along the Marina. I drank 250mls of water every 4 miles. I also took a gel at mile 8 and 12 - mainly because I knew I hadn't eaten well enough over the previous couple of days. I don't think I needed them, they were sort of a "just in case". Kind of got into it after 5 or so miles. My legs were very tired for the last 4 miles, but the aerobic system felt like it held up well, although my HR was up into the high 140s/low 150s by mile 4 - running @ 8:30 pace roughly. Compare that to Thursday morning were it barely hit that running@7:10. The body can be funny at times. Enjoyable in parts (especially when I had the wind at my back

), but a bit of a slog in a parts too, especially running along the Marina into the wind.

So I'm doing a bit of cramming, which is never really a good idea. I said I'd keep going until the body told me to stop and I've felt pretty good up to today. I was fairly tired after today's run, so its time to back off a bit. I'll do a few recovery miles tomorrow, and then I have to leave it alone for 2 or 3 days.
That's 9 days in a row, with 2 long runs (13&15), 2 tempo/LT sessions and a faster session too. 46.5 miles so far this week, but 68.1 miles ran in the last 7 days (22nd-28th September). Happy enough to have gotten all the quality work done without feeling too wrecked.

Swashbuckler · 28-09-2018 9:29pm

Sounds like the effort on that split pace interval session was spot on. Feeling it in the legs but lungs OK sounds like similar sessions for me.

Great to see you on the road back.

hot buttered scones · 28-09-2018 9:39pm

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Sounds like the effort on that split pace interval session was spot on. Feeling it in the legs but lungs OK sounds like similar sessions for me.

Great to see you on the road back.

Yeah, it felt about right. I'm wondering about the low HR, but then again for the warm up/cool down miles my HR more or less in the recovery zone, so I'm going to put that down to the early start.

Swashbuckler · 29-09-2018 4:08pm

hot buttered scones wrote:

Yeah, it felt about right. I'm wondering about the low HR, but then again for the warm up/cool down miles my HR more or less in the recovery zone, so I'm going to put that down to the early start.

Three times be replied and three times the post has been lost.

What's your typical race HR? Your easy HR sounds high

hot buttered scones · 29-09-2018 10:04pm

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Three times be replied and three times the post has been lost.

What's your typical race HR? Your easy HR sounds high

Around 180+ for a 5k, 170-175 for a 10 miler/half marathon hitting 180s towards the end. For a marathon - starting out at around 160 and rising to low 170s past halfway, into the 180s for the last few miles. Resting HR varies between around 38-43 or so, max HR is around 187-188 (from my HR monitor though). I know there's tables and stuff, but from experience I know that<135 feels like recovery pace, 140-150 or so is very easy to easy. 150-155 is usually what happens at the end of a long run (HR creep) or on a hot day. LT seems to be around 165-170, but it varies with fitness. When I'm doing well in training and I'm good at dialling into the effort I can guess my HR more or less. I don't train by it, but I do use it sometimes just for an extra bit of feedback.

skyblue46 · 29-09-2018 10:26pm

hot buttered scones wrote: »

Around 180+ for a 5k, 170-175 for a 10 miler/half marathon hitting 180s towards the end. For a marathon - starting out at around 160 and rising to low 170s past halfway, into the 180s for the last few miles. Resting HR varies between around 38-43 or so, max HR is around 187-188 (from my HR monitor though). I know there's tables and stuff, but from experience I know that<135 feels like recovery pace, 140-150 or so is very easy to easy. 150-155 is usually what happens at the end of a long run (HR creep) or on a hot day. LT seems to be around 165-170, but it varies with fitness. When I'm doing well in training and I'm good at dialling into the effort I can guess my HR more or less. I don't train by it, but I do use it sometimes just for an extra bit of feedback.

Those numbers would indicate that easy pace should be at 125-130. As P says the numbers are high for easy... particularly with such a low resting HR. You must be an anomaly!

Still trying to figure it all out.

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