Running away

ariana`

Surprised to see I'm still on Page 1 despite a bit of an absence. I'm going to try to get this going again. I've put in a decent 5-6 weeks building back up. I'm really enjoying the consistency & feeling the fitness return. Fit for what I don't actually know😂 I can really feel it in my easy runs where my HR is right back to where it should be. I've done a speed session each of the past 3 weeks, all based on effort, for example this week was 5 * 2' @ 10k effort + 5 * 2' @ 5k effort (off 90seconds, with 3 mins between sets). I'm always a bit unsure of running by effort at the best of times but with the focus on the marathon for so long I'm really at a loss now. I haven't raced a 5k since May 2019 or a 10k since March 2020 so it's hard to remember what that effort is supposed to feel like. Also for 2 mins reps should it feel like the start of a 5k or the end of 5k - there's a big difference? I know I am most likely totally over thinking this 🤔

So the plan is to give parkrun a lash on Saturday. I've no idea what to expect but if nothing else I might refresh my memory of 5k effort. Putting it out there that I'd at least like a new parkrun pb which stands @ 23:32 since May 2018.

Thanks for reading. I'll start weekly updates next week ☺️

ReeReeG

I'd say that parkrun pb is in danger anyway! Enjoy 😊

Swashbuckler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118294428#Comment_118294428

Wouldnt be too surprised given the lack of activity on Boards these days although there does seem to have been an uptick lately. Great to see.

Great to see the fitness is coming back. It generally does. I think often a lot of people lose faith due to lack of patience...I've seen enough the past week looking at race results to see that the fitness is always lurking in there (some of my mates pulled very surprising results out of the hat). It just needs time to come out. You've been training away solidly though so it was never in doubt.

Don't get too hung up about the running on effort. Knowing and feeling it will come back to you in time - just needs a bit of practice. Its especially hard for marathon folks to readjust. The approach I take on days where I'm not necessarily feeling it is I try to run hard enough that I'll be in reasonable enough shape at the end of the rep but glad for the recovery. So for example, 5*2min at 5k effort - the first couple of reps im probably not breathing very heavily until the second minute and by the end im happy to get the recovery....For the third and fourth its getting harder and the heavy breathing starts sooner (probably within 30s). For the last, I dont particularly even want to do the rep and sometimes 1min and 50s of that rep could be a hard effort). 10k effort is different. There i'd probably focus more on staying controlled but fast . To be honest, 10k effort for a 5x2mins session Id find handy enough. (not meant to make you feel bad by the way - just 10mins of 10k effort is a light enough session).

Also an easy reference for me if it was a 5x2min session is the first couple would feel like the start of a 5k. The next couple like the middle. and the last like the end. But thats just my basic enough approach.

Good luck with parkrun - hope you get to wear some new runners 😀

ariana`

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118294637#Comment_118294637

It should be a given considering all the miles consistently clocked since last time i did it and even more miles since last time I did it with intent. I seem to suffer from a serious case of doubting myself though which is rather tiresome even for me never mind anyone reading my log 😳

ariana`

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118294982#Comment_118294982

I think from reading that that I judged them about right. Now to see whether the 5k effort pace for 2' reps can be translated to actual 5k pace, if nothing else it will be interesting and it's a nice feeling to be a tiny bit excited about an event of some sort and at the same time there isn't pressure of a target race, possibly the best of both worlds 🤗 Not sure about runners, the route tends to flood in spots and on my last count there are no less than 6 rickety bridges/boardwalks to negotiate which are quite slippery 😫

Murph_D

Are you talking about Knocknacarra? Definitely not fast! Any alternatives?

ariana`

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118297309#Comment_118297309

No, did that one once and wouldn't be in a rush back to it. Claremorris is closer & it's very flat although there are a couple of sharpish turns and bridges/boardwalk sections that you invariable slow for.

ariana`

Week 1 of ???

Monday: 5ish miles @ 9:31 (easy pace, avg hr 136bpm)

Tues: 6ish miles with 4 * 100m strides, avg pace 9:25, avg hr 146bpm (*interesting this was 10bpm higher than previous night - combination of being slightly longer and the strides?)

Wed: 5 * 2 @ 10 effort (7:39, 7:28, 7:25, 7:22, 7:42), 5 * 2' @ 5k effort (7:10, 7:10, 7:17, 7:09, 7:09)

Thurs: Rest

Friday: Just yoga

Saturday: 2.5m warm-up + Parkrun in 23:06 (7:26min/m avg pace, avg hr 167bpm).

Enjoyed this, well not so much the running part but it was nice to do parkrun again. Ran alongside another runner from 600m - 3.2km until he dropped back and I was on my own til the end. Felt tough at the time but in hindsight pretty sure if I had some other runners around me I could have found a bit more to run closer to my 5k pb or at least under 23mins. Your man that dropped back at 3.2k was breathing hard the whole time and I was conscious my breathing was fine but I didn't really try to pull away, bit of a cop out on my part. But good to run hard and a reminder of what 5ks feel like - last 5k race was May 2019, 2.5 years ago now, mental that 😱 Splits were fairly even & fairly mediocre @ 4:34, 4:38, 4:38, 4:41, 4:34

Sunday: 6.3m easy @ 9:26min/m, avg HR 144 bpm.

30 odd miles for the week

ariana`

Week 2 of ???

Monday: 5.1m easy @ 9:38, avg HR 138bpm

Tues: 5m very easy @ 10:09, avg HR 133bpm

Wed: Rest

Thurs: Session 10' @ 7:52, 2 * 5' @ 7:31, 7:29, 5 * 1' @ 7:00, 6:46, 6:55, 6:54, 6:41

Friday: 8m @ 9:15, avg HR 143bpm

Sat: Rest post jab

Sun: 9.3m @ 9:07, avg HR 142bpm

About 36 miles for the week.

Felt a bit low in mojo this week certainly at the start of the week, my Mon/Tues runs would normally be 6-7 miles but cut these both short. In my defence there was very heavy fog on Monday so I was trying to stay off the roads for safety and the path by the river was very spooky in the pitch dark with just the sound of the river so I got a bit freaked and couldn't go down a 2nd time. Mojo picked up a bit on Thurs/Friday but Friday pm everything went pear shaped when I learned that one of my kids is a very close contact (sitting beside a boy in school on Thursday who tested +ive on Thursday evening) so I've been doing antigen tests every day and watching him like a hawk, I'm a bag of nerves at the moment as was hoping to see my 81year old immunosuppressed mother for Christmas. So fed up of this situation we are all in. It's hard to get excited about Christmas when we're in limbo, with 3 kids in primary school, it feels like we are a ticking time bomb (not one for being a bit dramatic am I 😂).

Swashbuckler

Feel like they really should have shut the schools last week.

How were you after the booster? I got mine yesterday and I'm knocked for six. Been in bed all day, high temp, general awfulness.

ariana`

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352799#Comment_118352799

I was ok thankfully P, just the sore/dead arm feeling. Sorry to hear you've been down with it, hope you're feeling better today.

Swashbuckler

95% again today. Just one rough day so I'll happily take that on the chin...

Cleanman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118314560#Comment_118314560

I did parkrun that Saturday in Claremorris and, if you did Claremorris too, you're leaving out of your report that there was a really heavy shower during the run which generally made it a bit miserable to run in! So we can be pretty sure that you'll revise that time down soon!!

ariana`

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118355316#Comment_118355316

Do you do it regularly? It is a nice flat one though right. I can't remember the rain though I know it certainly wasn't a particularly pleasant morning, it was a bit blowy too. I'll give it a bash again in a few weeks time. I'm doing nice little sessions at the moment with 10k & 5k efforts mixed in so hopefully a few weeks of those will make a difference.

Swashbuckler

Meant to comment that actually. Those are nice sessions E. They'll have you primed nicely provided you keep some regular 5k racing on the go too.

ariana`

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118355060#Comment_118355060

Glad to hear it was just the day.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118355734#Comment_118355734

Yeah, lovely sessions coming my way at the moment, I'm really enjoying them. I'll give parkrun another go in January.

Cleanman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118355647#Comment_118355647

Hi, yes I try to do it whenever I'm in Claremorris to visit my folks. It's a lovely course - no big hills so it has my vote all day long ;-)

Ah we got absolutely lashed on that morning!! Or maybe all I remember is the pain of 5k running and I've completely dramatised it in my head! 5k running is as much about practise as it is fitness IMO so those sessions will really bring you on. Keep up the good work 😎

ariana`

Dec 20 - 26th

Week 3 of ????

Monday: 7m vey easy @ 10:20min/m, avg hr 130

Tuesday: Session, 2 * (5', 4', 3', 2', 1') off 90 seconds rec, 3 mins between sets.

Really enjoyed this but ran the 2nd set waaaaaay too fast - was supposed to be 5/4/3 reps @ 10k effort and 2'/1' reps @ 5k effort. The 2nd set was more like 5k for the longer reps & 3k for the shorter reps - I blame the shoes 😉 First time to wear the new NB Fuelcell TC (an early Xmas present). Loved them.

Set 1

5' @ 7:43

4' @ 7:37

3' @ 7:33

2' @ 7:14

1' @ 7:05

Set 2

5' @ 7:18

4' @ 7:20

3' @ 7:13

2' @ 6:55

1' @ 6:54

Wed: 6.6m easy @ 9:33min/m, avg hr 137

Thurs: The day we got the dreaded +ive text from my 9 year olds PCR test. he was a close contact in school the previous Thurs and had done umpteen negative antigen tests but for peace of mind before spending Christmas with my 81 year old immunosuppressed mother I dragged him for a PCR and got the shock of my life when it came back +ive 2 days later.

4.5m easy @ 9:44min/m, avg hr 135bmp

Fri: Nothing - road trip to get the rest of us PCR tested and coming to terms with isolation.

Sat: Nothing except a food, drink, board games & movies! Very lucky & grateful to have our immediate family together.

Sun: 5m easy + strides

32 miles aprox for Christmas week.

Swashbuckler

I know all about the shock of an unexpected +ve test. My daughter had one in similar circumstances a few months back. Even worse for ye being so close to Xmas.

Here's the thing about these lovely shoes...you probably need to recalibrate. You didn't run too fast. That could very well be your 5k effort now!

ariana`

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118385355#Comment_118385355

The shock and the rollercoaster of trying to figure out what happens next is the worst bit. Not to mention all the conflicting information, even the contract tracer who rang us on Christmas day didn't seem to be too sure of herself, the advice seems to be ever changing 🤔 but we weren't the worst effected, it just feels a bit surreal, like that very first lockdown when were all on a 2km limit 🤷‍♀️

Interesting about the shoes. I haven't worn them since but will have to keep an eye on that so.

ariana`

Week Dec 27th - Jan 2nd

Monday - "Easy" (actual was steady) Monday 7.55m @ 9:06min/m, avg HR 145bpm

*RHR jumped 5 beats this morning.

Tues - One from the archive as i had no session planned for this week, 20mins Tempo, 5' recovery, 6 * 1min on/off

20mins @ 7:59min/m

6 * 1' @ 6:49, 6:56, 6:38, 6:50, 6:45, 6:35

Felt ghastly during this, had to walk most of the 1' recoveries. Did the same session (very similar paces) much more comfortably on 18/11 without having to walk recoveries. RHR still elevated

Wed - 7.5m easy @ 9:41min/m, avg HR 139bpm

Had the most awful tummy cramps during towards the end of this, just about made it home with major butt clenching 😳

Thursday - didn't leave the house all day, barely left the couch, felt totally flat all day, not unwell per se, just flat mentally and physically.

Friday - 5m "easy" (very debatable) @ 9:37min/m, avg HR 145bpm 😱😱

Last day of the year and 20miles to hit 2000m for the year, no chance, just about managed the 5m

Saturday & Sunday - NOTHING

30 odd miles for the week, nothing to write home about but ticked off a few miles in a bad week, to finish out the year. Time to reset my easy pace heading into the new year I think. It's been creeping up and while I have kept an eye on HR, this past week it's definitely been on the high side and I was ignoring it. RHR is still elevated as I write this on January 4th so I need to allow for that to settle again. Tapped my most recent parkrun time into a JD VDOT calculator so have an idea of paces to work for a bit until I trust myself again and until my RHR settles.

Thanks for reading and HNY everyone.

ReeReeG

I wish a bad week for me still had 30 miles 😅 Fair play, sounds like you had a bit of a dose. The couple days rest could only be good in that instance.

You had great consistency last year, well done. I'd say you'll have that HR coming down in no time when you get back into the swing of things. Best of luck with whatever is planned for 2022!

Swashbuckler

Exact same thing happened me E - was wondering what the hell was going on. I think I had a mini dose plus the stress of the xmas and maybe one or two nights of "fun" all adding up. I've come round again a few days later. My easy HR was 10 BMP up on normal last week.

Don't overthink it. A week of normality should hopefully see you come good.

ariana`

2021

I feel I need to write something about 2021 before I can begin to think about 2022.

It was a funny year, sparse on tangible results - 1 TT, 1 race, 1 parkrun 🙃

I started coaching in late 2020 so 2021 was my first full year of coaching and started with a continuation of the build phase which began at the end of 2020 and culminated in a 10m TT in March (1:16:56 @ 7:41min/m, a 10min PB roughly). I also scored an even less official 10k PB (2mins 39seconds) during this 😆

This TT is probably my best performance ever, gutted it was a TT, however i believe it paved the way for the sub 4 marathon which came about later in the year (3:51 in October, down from 4:25). Anytime the uncertainty set in I found myself looking back on it and knowing sub 4 was possible. Finished the year with a parkrun in December, 23:06, a parkrun pb, 5k pb still stands at 22:42.

2022

I'm like a child in a sweet shop. I jump between being excited about trying to break 22 mins for 5k to trying to get another big marathon pb like a child going between Skittles and Smarties! And then there is the reliable sensible HM distance (Dairy Milk) sitting there looking a bit boring but tempting none the less 🤷‍♀️ @Swashbuckler don't even bother mentioning 10k to me 😂

For now I will continue to build. Coach has me doing 1 session (mix of HM, 10k & 5k efforts, usually around 25' of work), 1 easy + strides, 2 easy runs, and 1 vanilla long run at the moment. Long runs suffered over the Christmas/New Year so need to get back on those and I'm not overly excited at that prospect but routine will help I know. If I could settle on goal/plan for the next few months then the mojo will follow too but for now habit & routine 🤞

ariana`

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118416794#Comment_118416794

P I'm glad it's not just me. I feel like my fitness has fallen off a cliff in just a week. It's a horrible feeling. I think getting the diet and hydration back on track will help massively. And yes perhaps some kind of mini dose lurking.

Laineyfrecks

I think it's about wiping the slate clean for 2022. Start by building back to the consistency and drive you had for 2021. You know you can do it once you put your mind to it & although it feels like the fitness is gone realistically it couldn't be gone that quickly (that's what I'll be telling myself next week!!) I wouldn't be worrying too much about not having all your goals layed out, when you know exactly what you want to target you can make that decision & get a plan in motion, for now absolutely nothing wrong with habit & routine.

Bluesquare

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118417017#Comment_118417017

You didn’t just get the booster by any chance ? As in a week or so ago . Sometimes vaccinations can affect inflammation abs energy symptoms up to a month later - can send hormones in a spiral . Happened to be after second one in June - and to a lesser degree now after booster - everything is just hurting more .

Bluesquare

You are very consistent and steady - keep with that and the drive will return . I always need a race even if I don’t have a goal time in mind to get me out the door. Maybe just sign up for a local tenk

ariana`

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118417413#Comment_118417413

Yeah I got the booster just before Christmas alright, just under 3 weeks ago now. Still not 100% and RHR is still elevated but I'm not over thinking it too much. Kids are only back to school today, it will probably take a week of routine for everything to fall back into place. My kids' sports have all been cancelled for the foreseeable future. I'm really gutted for them. They were mostly outdoors, it makes no sense that they can go to school indoors and can't do sports outdoors. They need the outlet, especially the oldest one - it's hard enough to cope with a moody tween without taking away his sports 😒 It means I'll be able to do parkrun which is a treat. For now I'll just do it as part of a longer run but I might aim to give it another proper go by the end of the month if sports aren't back on (tho I genuinely hope they are 🤞).

Bluesquare

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118426694#Comment_118426694

Oh my - the moody teen we have one here as well . Just started first year . He only plays soccer and trains once a week so we drag him out for 2*4ks to supplement fitness . We find it makes him less moody and relieves a bit of stress - he loves it after but hates starting . They deffo need an outlet . It will be good to get routine back for sure . Good to get a park run in - it’s like a little treat to yourself - better if you can have a coffee and a chat after as well !