This is getting addictive

HigginsJ

Hi,

Not too sure where to begin here but let's start with a little about me, then my running to date, what I have learnt so far & a few goals that I have set myself.

I am a 33 year old male, 2 kids (2 year old boy & 9 month old daughter), married 3 years. As a much much younger man I was fairly fit, never did any running just playing sports. About 6 years ago I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, had an op 5 years ago after drugs didn't fully do the trick to remove part of my bowel & intestines. Get the occasional flair up & have a few trigger foods (nuts, apples & just recently found out that Rhubard also doesn't like me).

So I haven't had any real exercise in about 8 years & when I started c25k nearly 3 months ago now I was 14 stone 11lbs. Initially I started the c25k to lose a bit of weight. It turns out once you get into it, this running lark is really addictive. I took part in my 1st ever race 2 weeks ago (5k, 26 minutes 10seconds). I typically run 3 to 4 days a week with a day off in between every running day.

I have learnt a few things courtesy of this forum & from my 1st race
- Relax your shoulders & carry your hands a bit lower. I had tension in my shoulders after my runs but since adopting this I don't seem to have this issue any more.
- Don't try to make every run as fast as possible. Honestly this is advice that I am going to try to put into action in the next week so fingers crossed.
- Apparently you keep your number when you finish a race, no need to hand it back somewhere. Wasted a good 20 minutes looking for somewhere obvious to hand it back, then asked an older lady who said " no sweetie you keep the number!!"

After about 6 weeks of c25k I decided to set myself some goals for the rest of the summer

- Run 10k on my own at my own pace
- Run a 5k race (done)
- Run a 10k race
- Run a sub 25 minute 5k
- Run a sub 53 minute 10k

My training at the moment is every 2nd day out going short pace run (either 5 or 6 k at a good pace) and then a long run at a slower pace (adding about .5k each time)

I am aiming to complete the 10k on my own this day next week (ran 8.5k there on Thursday just gone).

I am aiming to run the Bruff 5 mile road race at the start of July (part of the Ballyhoura series) & then my big goal is the 10K in Curragh Chase in August. I found the race there 2 weeks ago to be really rewarding, felt strong throughout.

Long term goal would be the Great Limerick Run next May, not to the front of my mind right now as a marathon seems inconceivable but I'll get there.

I have had a look at some of the training plans out there but not sure which one to commit to yet.

So that's me (oh I am now 13st 10lbs, go running!!)

Will update when I do my runs and if you have any advice for someone just starting out fire away.

annapr

The only time you don't keep your number is if you do parkrun... You hand your number back at the end!

Welcome and good luck with the log and the training. It sounds like you are starting off very sensibly... So you're ahead of most of us already

The Muppet

HigginsJ wrote: »

Hi,

Will update when I do my runs and if you have any advice for someone just starting out fire away.

The best of luck with your goals and congrats on the weight loss , I will be following with interest.

Tips. Vaseline on the eyebrows before running is one of the best tips I got, its a pretty obvious one but it never dawned on me until I saw it on a log here, sweat into the eyes is not nice.

Oh an enjoy your runs.

HigginsJ

2 sessions to log here

11th June
6.0km in 32 minutes 6 seconds?

So the idea was to run the majority at a slow pace and do 2 1k's at a fast pace (relative term here). The splits were

1km: 6:09
2km: 4:39 (in case it needs to be pointed out, this was a fast km for me)
3km: 5:23
4km: 5:36
5km: 4:40 (the 2nd fast km)
6km: 5:20

I didn't mean to run near identical splits for the 2 fast k's, it was done on feel. They were pretty tough. I don't fully get this idea of "speed work" but is the above a relatively good idea or am I better off trying to pick up one of these ones that gets you to do a few 400m's?

13th June
10.03km in 55 minutes 29 seconds.

Had it in the back of my mind that I might try hit 10k if I was feeling strong about the 4km mark (caught the last 30 minutes of the game on the radio while running so win - win). Felt great throughout the run, was faster than what I was targeting (was aiming to come in just under 60 minutes). My fastest km was a 5:13 minute split for the 9k mark, it happened with no real conscious effort to put it in but felt great.

Usually don't run on consecutive days but thinking of doing 5k tomorrow at a properly slow pace (above 6 minute average) just to recover from 10 km tonight.

Chartsengrafs

HigginsJ wrote: »

They were pretty tough. I don't fully get this idea of "speed work" but is the above a relatively good idea or am I better off trying to pick up one of these ones that gets you to do a few 400m's?

The short answer to this is that what you did is closer to an endurance session, or perhaps a variation of a tempo session.
Broadly speaking, speed sessions would involve 300s, 400s etc with very slow jogging in between, and perhaps doing 8 reps of this. I'm not saying this is what you should do, or that you're ready for it, but that's more what a 'speed' session might look like.

To be honest, if you keep up the 3/4 days a week as you suggest, even with no speedwork that 26 minute 5k will come right down. I'd maybe give it a little more time, keep running easy, build your base. You've already lost plenty of weight and that'll help no end.

HigginsJ

Chartsengrafs wrote: »

The short answer to this is that what you did is closer to an endurance session, or perhaps a variation of a tempo session.
Broadly speaking, speed sessions would involve 300s, 400s etc with very slow jogging in between, and perhaps doing 8 reps of this. I'm not saying this is what you should do, or that you're ready for it, but that's more what a 'speed' session might look like.

To be honest, if you keep up the 3/4 days a week as you suggest, even with no speedwork that 26 minute 5k will come right down. I'd maybe give it a little more time, keep running easy, build your base. You've already lost plenty of weight and that'll help no end.

Thanks for the advice, happy enough with what I am doing at the moment, liked the "endurance/tempo" session that you call it so might try to throw a few of those in as well as building the base if they are not a bad idea.

Chartsengrafs

I was just going to say that what you did there was maybe no harm, but I would maybe change it a bit. Considering 10km is your current long run, maybe keep it easy for the duration as just keeping going for that long is a workout in itself.

A bit of steady/tempo could take the form of 2km easy, then maybe 1 or 2km harder, then 2km easy (so maybe part of a shorter run). But that doesn't have to be done now. Provided you're not running too hard on the 'steadier' bit it shouldn't do any harm. Don't worry about the pace of the harder bits either, some days you'll find 4:40 pace really hard and other days 4:30 might feel easy!

jake1970

Chartsengrafs wrote: »

To be honest, if you keep up the 3/4 days a week as you suggest, even with no speedwork that 26 minute 5k will come right down. I'd maybe give it a little more time, keep running easy, build your base. You've already lost plenty of weight and that'll help no end.

+1 to this.

Best of luck with your running and your goals.

HigginsJ

14th June

5.01km in 31 minutes 55 seconds.

Felt great after the 10k yesterday so tried a recovery run this morning. Aimed to keep it over 6 minutes per km and ran between 6:14 & 6:30 so was fairly consistent throughout the 5km.

HigginsJ

2 workouts to log here

16th of June

5.02km in 29 minutes 20 seconds.

Had intended to do about 6km and throw in some tempo type work but just didn't have it in me. Had been a very long day at work and was really tempted to just bin the run but decided to just go and get it done. Didn't enjoy it but more miles in the legs

18th of June

10.34km in 58 minutes. Tried a new route tonight, was unsure of the distance it would be but knew it would top the 10km. Felt great and ran at a solid pace throughout. The 1st km was 6 minutes 15 with the rest run between 5 minutes 26 & 39 seconds.

So the next race I am going to compete in is the next in the Ballyhoura series, the Bruff 5 mile road race. Going to mix some 5k & 8k runs with some tempo work thrown in. My last work out before the race will be an easy 5km on Tuesday the 28th so working back from there to continue my training. Will focus on the Curragh Chase 10k after that then.

HigginsJ

So 4 runs to log here

20th June

5.54km in 31 minutes 30 seconds

21st June

5.04km in 27 minutes 44 seconds

Both of these runs were pure torture. I reckon running 10km twice in the space of 5 days took out more than I thought. Have a 10km race in August so going to focus on one long run per week from here on out with the rest being basically shorter recovery runs

24th of June

6.54km in 35 minutes

25th of June

8.12km in 44 minutes 56 seconds

Both of these felt much better than the shorter runs earlier in the week, the 2 day rest did the trick.

I am taking part in the Bruff 5 miler that is part of the Ballyhoura series next Froday evening so will do 2 5km easy runs (today & Tuesday). Will update after Tuesday with my thoughts for the race Friday night.

HigginsJ

26th of June

5.08km in 28 minutes 54 seconds

28th of June

5.40km in 29 minutes 52 seconds

So that is that in terms of prep for the race Friday night, going to rest Wednesday & Thursday. Was counting up the distance covered since the 5km race in Doneraile on the 3rd of June and was pretty amazed to see that I have done just over 95km between then and now.

Bought a new pair of shoes at the weekend and wore them for these 2 runs but thinking I will revert to my older pair for the race until I get a chance to run a bit longer in the new ones.

Signed up for the 10km in Curraghchase on the 21st of August this morning. Going to Spain on holidays for a week at the start of August so will stick in the trainers and try to get 1 or 2 runs in.

So the final thing to do is give my thoughts about the race on Friday. Honestly think a 42 minute something is bare minimum but targeting a 41 minute something so running 5 minutes 10 seconds to 5 minutes 15 seconds average per KM (that's around an 8 minute 20 second average mile).

annapr

Good luck with the 5 miler on Friday!

HigginsJ

annapr wrote: »

Good luck with the 5 miler on Friday!

Thank you

FutureGuy

Best of luck tonight! :-)

Maximus Alexander

The mistake I made when I ran my first 5 mile a few weeks ago was to go out too fast. Ran it like a 5k for the first 3 miles and lost lots of time in the last 2. So mind that pace is what I'm saying. Good luck

HigginsJ

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

The mistake I made when I ran my first 5 mile a few weeks ago was to go out too fast. Ran it like a 5k for the first 3 miles and lost lots of time in the last 2. So mind that pace is what I'm saying. Good luck

Thanks, yea going to do my best to pace it as best I can.

My fear approaching races at the moment is definitely blowing up and having nothing to finish so will likely be on the cautious side, I'm sure it takes some time to get the pacing of races down really.

HigginsJ

A miserable day cleared up into a lovely evening (well for about 2 hours around the race anyway).

So my time, yea I ran 39 minutes 39 seconds :D:D:D

That's right, sub 5 minute per km or sub 8 minute per mile if your prefer

The following were my per km splits from my Map My Run tracker

1km - 4:55
2km - 4:54
3km - 4:59
4km - 4:48
5km - 4:52
6km - 4:50
7km - 4:50
8km - 4:41
(There was 8.17km - 4:45)

Delighted with the pace although the last 2km was tough going but getting a very good feel of the effort I am putting in.

What went right tonight, well everything really, I even gambled and used my new UA running shoes and they felt great.

What I have learnt from the Doneraile 5km to now (I.e. the last month), well I think I am going to put some effort into trading intervals at race pace a bit more over the coming weeks.

My next race is already signed up and paid, that's the Curragh Chase 10km on the 21st of August. My next run is going to be a very slow and gentle 6km on Sunday, oh I also ran 1.6km to warm up tonight which if you told me 3 months ago is a warm up I'd have died!!

FutureGuy

HigginsJ wrote: »

A miserable day cleared up into a lovely evening (well for about 2 hours around the race anyway).

So my time, yea I ran 39 minutes 39 seconds :D:D:D

That's right, sub 5 minute per km or sub 8 minute per mile if your prefer

The following were my per km splits from my Map My Run tracker

1km - 4:55
2km - 4:54
3km - 4:59
4km - 4:48
5km - 4:52
6km - 4:50
7km - 4:50
8km - 4:41
(There was 8.17km - 4:45)

Delighted with the pace although the last 2km was tough going but getting a very good feel of the effort I am putting in.

What went right tonight, well everything really, I even gambled and used my new UA running shoes and they felt great.

What I have learnt from the Doneraile 5km to now (I.e. the last month), well I think I am going to put some effort into trading intervals at race pace a bit more over the coming weeks.

My next race is already signed up and paid, that's the Curragh Chase 10km on the 21st of August. My next run is going to be a very slow and gentle 6km on Sunday, oh I also ran 1.6km to warm up tonight which if you told me 3 months ago is a warm up I'd have died!!

Absolutely amazing work! I finished in 39:21 so we were almost on top of each other

HigginsJ

FutureGuy wrote: »

Absolutely amazing work! Now that I think of it, were we actually speaking in the last 500m about the sub 40 min (there was a woman with you?) I finished in 39:21 so we were almost on top of each other

Definitely not me, was trying not to die in the last 500m to be honest. I see you are going doing the Curragh Chase 10km so really need to keep an eye out for you at that. That is going to be a tough course.

FutureGuy

HigginsJ wrote: »

Definitely not me, was trying not to die in the last 500m to be honest. I see you are going doing the Curragh Chase 10km so really need to keep an eye out for you at that. That is going to be a tough course.

Yeah I immediately realized he was an older gentleman after I posted. You must be ecstatic!

I plan on incorporating hill work starting next week so I am more prepared for Curraghchase. Yep, we can meet and have a chat. Well done again!

The Muppet

Congratulations HigginsJ that's a great run . You're flying .

You would have a new 5k pb in that run and your 10k goal looks on too.

Great times considering how long you're running .

HigginsJ

The Muppet wrote: »

Congratulations HigginsJ that's a great run . You're flying .

You would have a new 5k pb in that run and your 10k goal looks on too.

Great times considering how long you're running .

Thank you, yea I'm absolutely delighted with the times. I will admit that I am feeling it today, I really don't think I had anymore to give last night. Glad I had no plans to try a recovery run today as I wouldn't have been up to it.

The 10k goal does look on alright but the Curragh Chase course looks tough so I'll earn it if I get it. As well as working on a bit of tempo stuff this month I want to log about 120km in training to build on the June training.

The Muppet

Just be careful building the milage they say you should not increase it any more than 10% per week . The best if luck with your 10k goal

HigginsJ

The Muppet wrote: »

Just be careful building the milage they say you should not increase it any more than 10% per week . The best if luck with your 10k goal

Thanks, will keep that in mind.

3rd of July

6.40km in 38 minutes 11 seconds

Was kinda fearful of how the legs would be today as felt pretty stiff & tired overall. The first 2km was a bit of a struggle but warmed into the run nicely & was comfortable from there on, could have done a bit more distance but didn't want to push it.

In relation to prepping for the 10km race, what sort of distance should I be doing on my long runs. I have a run planned for next weekend, not sure on the distance but it will easily exceed 10km. Doing this regardless of advice but after that what should I stick to?

HigginsJ

3 runs to log here.

5th of July

8.35km in 47 minutes 14 seconds (5:39 average)

Not sure what I was doing here, ran the 3rd and 4th km at 5:10 & 5:22. Really shouldn't have pushed this hard only a few days after the race. Felt pain in one of my shins when walking that evening and all the following day. Rested it up as much as possible.

6.05km in 40 minutes 40 seconds (6:43 average)

The pain seemed to have resided so headed out but was as sensible as possible. No repeat of the shin pain so hopefully was just something small.

13.15km in 1 hour 16 minutes 57 seconds (5:51 average)

Could not have been happier with this run. Broke the 1 hour barrier for the 1st time. The last 1.5km was really tough as there is a 40 metre elevation gain.

HigginsJ

3 more runs to log here

11th July

5.0km in 25:51 (5:10 average)

Ran the last 3km (which includes a long 30m climb over the final km) in 14:17 which was a good effort. Want to build in a few more of these endurance type sessions over the next couple of weeks.


14th of July

7.07km in 38:37 (5:28 average)

July evenings are lovely aren't they with driving rain & huge puddles on the road. Ran the last 3km with severely waterlogged shoes which was fun Had intended to run a bit slower but was too bloody wet to look at my phone.

16th of July

8.90km in 49:33 (5:34 average)

Time restraints meant I couldn't get in my planned log run but nearly 9km will do. Intend to have one very early start this week to try and get a 12-15km run.

HigginsJ

I didn't manage (was too tired/lazy) to get out of bed early to do a long run this week. I do think it is the best course of action so the plan is to do a short run in the morning, getting up about quarter to 6 so as to ease into the idea of early morning running.

I have 3 runs to log here.

18th July

6.30km in 39 minutes 27 seconds (6:16 average)

After 3 straight runs that all had relatively fast km splits at some point it was good to take it handy.

21st July

10.50km in 58 minutes (5:32 average)

1st run over 10km since the 9th of July. This is why I feel getting into the habit of early morning runs will benefit me as it will counteract any work/life related distractions and keep me on track.

24th July

11.02km in 1 hour 2 minutes & 7 seconds (5:39 average)

Good to get a 2nd run over 10km in the space of a few days, pace was prob on the higher than ideal side but not too concerned.

Going to Spain for a week on the 2nd of August so so hoping to get maybe 2 more runs over 10km between now and then and then 2 short (5km runs) the week I'm in Spain will keep me ticking over.

HigginsJ

26th July

7.03km in 43 minutes 3 seconds (6:07 average)

Set the alarm for 5.15 am and rolled out of bed at 5.25am. Absolutely delighted to get this done. Took things easy for my 1st early morning run, felt great throughout. Will go again in the morning as have a wedding Thursday so might not get anything done Thursday or Friday.

This run put me over 200 miles for the year which is great, also well on track to hit my 120Km goal for the month of July

HigginsJ

Didn't get the planned run in Wednesday. The wedding Thursday was great but a very late night & work Saturday morning. Have also developed a cold this week. Now the excuses are out there here are the 2 runs I logged to finish July:

29th July

6.95 km in 40 minutes 50 seconds (5:52 average)

Didn't feel too bad all things considered Friday evening, got a slight stitch in my side around 4km but breathing technique eased it off to allow me finish up the run.

30th of July

14.61km on 1 hour 23 minutes & 28 seconds (5:44 average)

I listed the excuses earlier so I could talk about the utter balls I made of this run. Things started off nice and sensible as the 1st 5km were all done over 5:40 per km. I lost the run of myself over the next few km and had 5:15, 5:19 & 5:10 thrown in. By the time I hit the last 3.6km I was shot, they were all over 6:13 but they were utter struggles. Prob too much with all the above factors considered but some lessons learnt.

On the plus side achieved the July goal of over 120km :rolleyes:

Heading off to Spain for a week tomorrow & have plans at home for 2nd week of holidays so the August mileage will not be great. The goal is 90km but with the race on the 21st that might be tough to achieve. I plan 2 runs (Thursday & Sunday) while in Spain to maintain fitness, but they will only be 5-6km each.

HigginsJ

3 runs to log here.

5th August

4.57km in 30 minutes 4 seconds (6:35 average)

8th August

6.2km in 34 minutes 37 seconds (5:30 average)

So these were my 2 holiday runs, both done about 7am and it was still 22c which was crazy. Happy to have got them done as I didn't want to go over a full week with no runs. Took 2 separate routes but alot of the running was on pavement with small slabs which were very hard and uncomfortable, not something you would want to train on long term I reckon.

10th August

10.4km in 53 minutes 57 seconds (5:11 average)

Was pretty tired and withered from the flight back yesterday so didn't get out last night. Went out to do 10km today with no real ideas that I would run fast, more a suffer and see if I had lost much with a week of Ice-Cream and soft drinks!! Didn't look at the time until about 4.8km in and was at just over 25 minutes at that point so put in a concious effort to finish out the 10km in under 53 minutes. Managed to finish the 10km in 51:55 which I am delighted with. Not sure if I am allowed count training runs as personal bests but if so then extra happy!! I had set a goal at the beginning for a sub 53 minute 10km and today broke that so know what I will be aiming to do in the Curragh Chase 10k in just over a weeks time.

HigginsJ

11th August

7.9km in 43 minutes (5:26 average)

Decided to join a training run around Curragh Chase before the race on the 21st. Pace was all over the place but was comfortable overall, especially considering the run the day before. Think 4 more runs between now & next Thursday & then 2 day break before the race.

HigginsJ

13th of August

10.53km in 57 minutes 21 seconds (5:27 average)

Final long run before the race. Will do a few 6km runs at 6 minute pace over this week to prep for the race.

HigginsJ

2 more runs to log here

15th August

6.21km in 37 minutes 37 seconds (6:04 average)

17th August

7.25km in 40 minutes 12 seconds (5:33 average)

The 2nd run was a bit faster than intended, had wanted to keep over the 6 minute average but got a bit carried away.

I have one more run tonight before the race on Sunday. Aim to do the 6.2km route again in around 40 minutes. If I get in that run tonight I will have ran 170km between the race on the 1st of July and now which I'm delighted with. 6km tonight will also put me over 250 miles since I have started running

Will stick up a post tomorrow to log my run and give a target for the race on Sunday.

gramar

You're in good shape for Sunday J and you've followed your plan very well.
Looking at your first post and a 10km under 53 looks like it'll be easily achieved and most likely a bit under 50 if the 5 mile
run last month and the training is anything to go by. Only trouble might be the weather. I saw a headline that said 'unseasonably wet weekend'
which probably means wind too so I hope that won't be too much of a factor. Look forward to reading how you get on.

HigginsJ

gramar wrote: »

You're in good shape for Sunday J and you've followed your plan very well.
Looking at your first post and a 10km under 53 looks like it'll be easily achieved and most likely a bit under 50 if the 5 mile
run last month and the training is anything to go by. Only trouble might be the weather. I saw a headline that said 'unseasonably wet weekend'
which probably means wind too so I hope that won't be too much of a factor. Look forward to reading how you get on.

Thanks Grammar.

18th August

7.9km in 48 minutes 14 seconds (6:06 average)

Run was a bit longer than planned but was enjoying the comfortable pace so added a small bit of extra distance.

As you say Grammar it is likely to be fairly wet Sunday and add in the fact that there are 2 long tough up hill sections around Curraghchase makes for a very challenging PB. I know that I set myself a target of 53 minutes in my opening post but I think I have progressed beyond that point. Conditions considered I am going to set myself a very tough target of running a sub 50 minute 10km. The course is tougher than the Bruff 5 miler (a couple of km on loose chipping and paths).

Collecting my race pack tomorrow night (woo hoo my 1st race tshirt and a medal!!)

Will let ye know how I get on Sunday night.

HigginsJ

It was a much nicer day today than yesterday. Overcast, light drizzle &15c.

Got to the location of the race and did 2.6km in warm up @6.35 pace with some strides thrown in. Kept loose & stretched after that.

Kept relatively close to the front at the start line as felt started too far back in Bruff.

Off we went & things were going well, the 50 minute pacers were about 30 metres ahead of me but after about 2km I was up with them. The 1st 4km went very well

1. 4:36
2. 4:44
3. 4:46
4. 4:33

I was comfortable, breathing much easier than most around me. We hit the 1st major climb & this is where things started to go wrong. The climb was tough but fine but it had an impact on my bowels with my Crohns & had to take a bathroom break in the caravan park. Obviously lost time here & it also affected me a little. There was another climb soon after that I had to stop & walk. This was a confidence blow for me. My spilts were

5. 5:32
6. 6.03

I was not on the best place but carried on running. I could briefly here the 55 minute pacers chatting behind me but I picked it up again.

My splits the rest of the way were

7. 5:01
8. 5:27
9. 4:51
10. 5:14

The trip to the toilet added a few metres and I didnt cross the finish line until 10.20km in a time of 52 minutes & 5 seconds. This was a tough experience today & the kms from 5 to 8 were mentally tough being honest. I dont typically let anything Crohns related bother me but that & having to walk a hill section really threw me. Not the best of days but I will come back better.

Aiming to do the St. Michaels Rowing Club Urban Run 10km in October & Run in the Dark 10km in November and want to smash 50 minutes.

HigginsJ

No running for the rest of this week, have a physio visit on Friday. Been told that I have either runners knee or IT Band inflamation/insertion in the knee.

1st injury since I started running back in April

Not sure what the recovery times are for either, if anyone has any experience let me know.

gramar

A few things didnt go your way in the race J but it was still a minute under your initial target time despite the conditions, the course and the pitstop so you know you have sub 50 in you.

Shame about the injury too, hopefully won't be much and the physio can set you on the way to recovery on Friday. I don't know the first thing about that kind of injury so be interesting to know more.

HigginsJ

gramar wrote: »

A few things didnt go your way in the race J but it was still a minute under your initial target time despite the conditions, the course and the pitstop so you know you have sub 50 in you.

Shame about the injury too, hopefully won't be much and the physio can set you on the way to recovery on Friday. I don't know the first thing about that kind of injury so be interesting to know more.

Thanks Grammar, I feel a bit better about the run at this point than I did Sunday. Knee and leg are feeling a good bit better but taking no risks till I see the physio tomorrow.

HigginsJ

Physio went well Friday, he reckons a bone bruise in the knee. Really good session, he put the knee through all sorts of strains n all good. Has given me some stretching routines, foam rolling, bridges n planks to help me on my way.

Tonight was a test run to see how things went.

5km in 36 minutes 42 seconds (7:20 average)

All good apart from my calves feeling like blocks of cement. No pain in the knee

HigginsJ

30th of August

6.30km in 36 minutes 56 seconds (5:52 average)

The knee felt OK again. Think it might be in my head feeling things that aren't there. The 6th KM was done in 5:01 (a fairly uphill KM) and all felt Ok during it so moving on.

Looking at the August distance covered and I have completed 85.06Km. I had targeted 90Km for the month but allowing for the week off with the knee pain it is a good total.

Have no races as such in September (Taking part in a relay marathon, 200m * 14 for 2.9km for my part of it). Going to aim to do about 120Km in total and want to do 2 runs of 15km or more during the course of the month to set me up for the 10Km races in October and November.

gramar

Good to see the knee problem has taken care of itself. I know what you mean about your head imagining something that isn’t there. I was doing the same for a few runs when my heel was at me, almost trying to convince myself there was still something there when it was fine.

I wonder should you throw in a few faster km’s? No surprise to see me say that I hear you say. My reasoning/warped logic is the following – looking back over your log the only times your pace is under 5mins is when racing so it might be a bit of a shock to the system when you do especially trying to hit 5mins or under for 10km. Maybe on longer runs do a fast km every second or third one to shake it up a bit?

HigginsJ

gramar wrote: »

Good to see the knee problem has taken care of itself. I know what you mean about your head imagining something that isn’t there. I was doing the same for a few runs when my heel was at me, almost trying to convince myself there was still something there when it was fine.

I wonder should you throw in a few faster km’s? No surprise to see me say that I hear you say. My reasoning/warped logic is the following – looking back over your log the only times your pace is under 5mins is when racing so it might be a bit of a shock to the system when you do especially trying to hit 5mins or under for 10km. Maybe on longer runs do a fast km every second or third one to shake it up a bit?

You are right on that, think I really need to open it up but just wanted to take these 2 runs handy. I am going to throw in a few sets of strides on my run on Thursday, although the 5:01 km is probably only 15-20 seconds off what I would want to run for the 10Km in October and it felt ok.

HigginsJ

3 runs to log here

2nd of September

7.70km in 43 minutes & 6 seconds (5:36 average)

4th of September

10.30km in 59 minutes & 26 seconds (5:46 average)

Nothing huge to report on these 2 runs, tipped away at an average pace. The 10km run was a new route which will have a nice extra loop that'll I'll use for a longer run soon.

6th of September

8km in 45 minutes & 16 seconds (5:39 average)

So took Grammars advice (definition on insanity maybe) & had a bit of a decent pace over 3km. The splits for the 1st 4km were 6:34, 5:12, 5:59 & 6:11. I then upped the pace for the next 3km & recorded 5:01, 4:48, 4:45. The last km was 6:11.

Felt good throughout the uptempo section.

Have a new race target to add to the year. I am going to aim to do the Clonakilty half marathon on the 3rd of December. Will be great to hopefully complete my 1st half to finish out the year.

gramar

I never thought I'd see the day when someone took my advice!
Seemed to go well all the same as you were feeling good and it's also a good negative split even if only a training run. First 4km 23:16 and 20:05 for the second 4.

HigginsJ

gramar wrote: »

I never thought I'd see the day when someone took my advice!
Seemed to go well all the same as you were feeling good and it's also a good negative split even if only a training run. First 4km 23:16 and 20:05 for the second 4.

It was sensible advice & I did need to stretch it out a bit. The 3 "fast" km were pretty comfortable. My last km to home is very up hill so there was no point risking anything there.

HigginsJ

A combination of work, weather & teething 1 year old gave lots if reasons to not get out in the last few days.

The plan tonight was to hit 15km

10th September

15.65km in 1 hour 27 minutes & 28 seconds (5:35 average)

From the 3rd to 14th km I hung around the 5:30 mark, although dipped down as low as 5:10. The last 1 & a bit km was tough enough, especially the uphill bits.

Planning to run the half marathon in Clonakilty on the 3rd of December now. I'd love to crack 1 hour 50 minutes, so there is lots of work to do between now & then.

HigginsJ

13th of September

8km in 50 minutes 42 seconds (6:20 average)

Took it nice and handy last night after the long run at the weekend, felt relatively tough actually & I was a bit surprised by how slow the run was.

I woke up Sunday after the long run and had the exact same issue as a few weeks ago where I could hardly bend my knee. Did about 3 sets of stretching sets throughout the day (focusing mainly on the glutes and quads). Started to loosen out as the day went along. Stretched out again Monday a few times and all felt good yesterday.

Clearly I have to get into the habit of doing some proper stretching after runs and that likely it was not a bone bruise as diagnosed previously.

HigginsJ

So Friday night i took part in a corporate relay marathon event. 15 on a team, you run 200metres, pass baton & so on. I did 15 200's with about 5-6 minutes rest in between (lots of stretching). Dont have any times for my own 200's but we did the marathon distance in 2 hours & 19 minutes (19 minutes behind the winners).

It was good craic but feck me 200 metres at near flat out is tough. 15 of them is crazy.

Literally every muscle in my body is sore since, been doong lots of foam rolling & stretching the last 2 days. Might take another day before getting gack into a slow shortish run Tuesday.

Its 3 weeks today to the SMRC Urban 10km so a couple of days recovery is no real impact. Plan to do a 16km run next weekend & a slow 10km the weekend before the race. The rest of the midweek runs will be 6-8km with the odd sub 5 minute km thrown in.

One query I have is a 10km race I was planning on doing. The Run in the Dark 10km is 2 & a half weeks before the Clonakilty half. Would i be able to run a hard 10km & recover in time? The Clonakilty half is the main goal to end the year in under 1 hour & 50 minutes

HigginsJ

20th September

5.2km in 36 minutes 25 seconds (7:00 average)

Oh my god, my legs have not been good the last few days, every muscle has been stiff and tight. Lots of stretching but it's been painful. Decided to bite the bullet and get out for a run tonight. It was very slow but felt a good bit looser after. Focus now is on 1 more short run in the next couple of days before long run on Sunday.