"It's what you do next that counts"

Wottle

Saturday
This was my favorite run of the streak so far. I coach the 2004 age group and decided to run with them, all girls including my eldest (2003) who's racing tomorrow, so she jumped in with us rather than her own group, who'd be working a bit harder.
A tad over 4 miles which included 4x1 minute steady and 2x30 seconds fast.
Started in Marlay and headed to St Enda's and back to Marlay, loads of puddle splashing and good fun, can't wait to see how they go tomorrow.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1761463762?share_unique_id=10

Wottle

Sunday
10.25 miles which included 6 miles @ 80% heart rate (160)
2 mile warm up, then gradually moved into correct zone, unlike last week, I did a really good job of sticking to 160, this did mean slowing right down on uphill sections.
Average pace for 6 miles was approx 8:25 per mile, so a little on the easy side of things.

It was straight up to the track after to watch the kids and then out to Dundrum town centre for a couple of hours (treated myself to some new gear).
Not the best recovery plan and am pretty wrecked now, early night calling.

Just over 40 miles for the week and definitely my best patch of training ever over last 7 weeks.

Wottle

Run number 50 in the streak.

Monday
6 miles which included 19x14 second strides. The 14 seconds is a bit random but it equals 20 right steps. Loads of recovery between, which meant the AHR stayed in the easy bracket 152 and only got to a high of 164, my max is 200, so definitely very little stress in the run. Think this run is going to replace an easy one. Very enjoyable.

Wottle

Tuesday
5 miles easy when 3 would have done.
AHR 74%
Pace 9:48, a little slower than normal, maybe from day before.

Wednesday
Bit over 7 miles with 5x1k, delighted with how this went as I stayed on plan and in control. This is one of my favourite workouts, I looked at previous ones and saw my HR gets as high as 190 towards the end of the last few reps, I didn't want that today and only allowed myself a max of 180. Never looked at splits, just HR screen.

All the reps were between 4:23-4:28 (I reckon close to 5k pace give or take)
Recovery between reps was a 500m plus jog with a drink.


May - 169 miles

RacoonQueen

Done...

Wottle

Thursday
Up to and through Marlay and home.
4 miles, AHR 73% (146)
Pace 9:26

Friday
Exact same run as Thursday, effort was same 147 but the pace was 9:08.
Think that's the quickest pace I've ran for such an easy intensity.
Maybe a fitness boost.

Going to head down to Shanganagh in the morn and attempt a 21 sth, can't wait!

Wottle

Shanganagh parkrun
Woke at 6:30 and needed the toilet, this continued till I left the house at 8:50, resting heart rate was 62, compared with 42 yesterday. Not good signs but I felt up for it.
Because of above tummy issues, I was late arriving, not much time for a warm up, 800m and a few strides.

Put the heart rate screen on and we were off, first mile felt good and heart rate wasn't too high, 6:58, I was actually on plan as I believed I could run at 7 minute pace.

2nd mile and I couldn't get the heart rate any higher, felt it was all a bit too hard but yet HR was low for 5k effort, 7:31, but as the watch beeped, a parent of a girl I coached went by me and I couldn't go with him. Also a stiff breeze hit me in the face.
Think I'd already thrown the towel in but the above just made me even more negative.

3rd mile was pretty identical to the 2nd, didn't bother with a finish, just let myself fall slightly downhill over the line, 7:25.

Looked at my watch and saw 22:04, serves me right, parkrun PB but although I said yesterday I wanted 21 sth, I felt I could run high 20.

Short cool down as I had to get home and showered and back to marlay for juveniles training. Got a text from a friend (who has started his own streak) only back 2 weeks and he broke 19 mins in Marlay, the bollox, said he was keeping Raycun in his sights :-)

learnt a few things today, got to get sth from the chemist for race day morning for race related ibs, got to do a few more 5k paced efforts in training, be more positive and turn the watch to pace.

Shanganagh really is a super course and although all my efforts here measure it between 3.03 and 3.07 miles, I'm fairly sure its spot on, there's loads of twist and turns and tree coverage, which the Garmin can't cope with.

Have a mile on the track next Saturday but might do the parkrun again instead as I know I can do better!

Wottle

Sunday
Just under 3.5 miles at 74% AHR
Easy

Monday
10.1 miles
No long run last week and none this coming weekend, so today was the only chance I had.
Rained for the whole thing.
From the very start my HR was 10 beats higher than normal, thought about just doing 5 but convinced myself to run by effort and not worry about paces.
3 mile W/U, followed by 2x2 mile tempo effort with 1k in between to recover, 2.5 C/D
The tempo efforts were a lap around Marlay 16:14 & 16:22, bit slow but as said above HR was higher than normal.
Glad I got it done but next few days will tell me if I was a bit silly or not.
Strava tells me today's run was extreme :-)

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1780157949

Wottle

Tuesday
30 minutes on the treadmill, being a bit cautious.
AHR 69%

Wednesday
Feel energised this morning, so headed to Marlay, 2 mile warm up getting there and then 1 mile from Golf course down to main car park at a hard effort, had HR display on, so no idea what I was running, watch beeped 6:06:8, threw myself on the ground to get my breath back. Very happy with the effort, it's a net downhill mile but I think doing it on your own probably negates any gains, maybe?
I wanted to do this in prep for Saturday, I feel I've always been stronger over shorter but I'm mentally weak at pushing hard, maybe because I've never trained at these pace?
2 mile cool down with 3x20 second strides.

Wottle

Thursday
5 miles easy, pace 9:42, AHR 74%
Legs very tired from day before.

Friday
5 miles easy, pace 9:31, AHR 74%
Exact same route as day before, legs still a bit tired.

Its not looking likely for the magic mile in the morning. Juveniles are racing 800m this evening in the Dublin champs, with the finals tomorrow at 12:15. So too much of a time pressure. My only saving grace is if numbers are low and they have straight finals.

Wottle

Saturday
Same 5 mile route again
AHR 79%, Pace 8:52
Resting heart rate finally returning to normal

Sunday
Same 5 mile route again, 5 days in a row.
AHR 78%, Pace 8:46
Resting heart rate finally back in the mid 40s


Runs above were done at a fractionally higher effort, think I've got too many easy easy miles under my belt.

Wottle

Monday
3.5 miles easy
AHR 73%, pace 8:43
Wanted to keep going, felt fantastic but needed to bottle it for Tuesday.

Tuesday
6.1 miles in total
2x800m (3:07, 3:11) and 1x400m (1:35) too fast but trying to work off feel, little bit wide of the goal.
2 mile jog and then 1 mile at approx 5k pace 7:04, better.

Starting to realise I need a longer warm up the older I get, also need to get a proper plan together and get the best out of my mileage.

Wottle

Wednesday
5 miles, trying to figure out how to warm up. In the past, never needed much of one, just jump in to a race and off you go but lately I find it hard to get the HR up and it has to be down to needing a longer warm up.

Thursday
Another super run with the u14 girls, very short on boys in this age group. Last night they had their 1500m Dub champs and was great to be able to chat away with them and listen to them chat with each other.
Just under 4.5 miles easy.

Wottle

Friday
Silly mistake, was my last day of athletics in a particular school, played chasing with each class. I felt great during but afterwards my hamstrings and groin were sore and tired. Got home after 4pm, ordered a Dominos pizza, legged it out for
just over 3.5 miles, AHR 80%, Pace 8:15
Home in perfect time for pizza.

Saturday
Plan was a parkrun but knew I ruined my chances of a fast time from antics the day before. Still very stiff.
5 miles around the usual route, AHR 78%, Pace 8:42
Felt great on this run but last mile was getting tough.

Testosterscone

Wottle wrote: »

Friday
Silly mistake, was my last day of athletics in a particular school, played chasing with each class. I felt great during but afterwards my hamstrings and groin were sore and tired. Got home after 4pm, ordered a Dominos pizza, legged it out for
just over 3.5 miles, AHR 80%, Pace 8:15
Home in perfect time for pizza.

Two words..... Base Pizza

Your tastebuds and your body will thank you for it. Changed my life and will never go back to Domino's :P:P

Wottle

Sunday
10 mile long run straight after the night shift, with zero sleep.
5 laps around Marlay taking in the long parkrun hill every time.
It's been 2 weeks since my last long run and my legs knew it.
First 6 miles felt great and then it just got hard.
AHR 77%, Pace 8:51

Today marked 10 weeks of running everyday.
My average daily run is just over 5 miles.
I raced twice, Terenure 37:28 and Shanganagh 22:04.
Feel like I have a good 5k in me, just need a few weeks of consistent VO2 type sessions.
Mileage was 30, 30, 32, 40, 30, 39, 42, 34, 39, 38
I've lost 13 pounds and feel a big move is on the way.

Wottle

Monday
5 miles easy, didn't feel like it and sweated buckets.
AHR 74%, Pace 9:31

Tuesday
8 miles which included 5x1k off 2:30 jog + 5x100m off 1 minute walk
The reason for the latter is because I kind of dread these sessions.
I read http://www.scienceofrunning.com/2017/06/why-bad-races-hurt-the-worst.html this article by Steve Magness about the "peak-end rule" so am trying to trick my brain into thinking the session was easier than it was :-)
Actually it wasn't that bad or is it working already?
The 1k splits were 4:30 of running, I had set workout up to press the lap button but this was for the marlay lap but I headed elsewhere, all were between 6:46 and 7:11, some downhill, some up and more importantly I got back into the 90%+ of the towards the end of each rep.

ThebitterLemon

Really really interesting article.

Tnx

TbL

Wottle

Wednesday
5 miles, AHR 78%, Pace 8:50
Ran my usual 5 mile loop but in reverse, hated every step of it, after the first mile (which is nice), I then had a little 2 miles over climbing, sweated buckets.

Thursday
5 miles the right way round
AHR 77%, Pace 8:38
Was a bit stressed heading into this run, lots of bits and bobs to do in work but came back feeling a hell of a lot better.

Wottle

Here's a list of PBs, they don't match up very well across distances, and years of going AWOL means pbs are over a 10 year period and haven't run one in another 5 years but reckon all are beatable, which is good for motivation. Really want sub 3:30 in DM though.

Better in here than other thread

Wottle

Friday
Not sure what happened, started this run in great form and after half a mile I decided to pick it up, 23 mins for 5k later and I take it easy for the next mile but not looking at the watch and I reckon if I pick it up again for 5th mile Ill be under 40 minutes for the first time in this training comeback, 38:58, definitely not doing Dunshaughlin now :-)
5 miles, AHR 85%, Pace 7:47

OOnegative

Your 800 & 1,500m times are very tasty!! Keep up the consistent training and you'll be running PB's again before year is out.

Wottle

Saturday
5.5 miles around a 1 mile loop close to home, kept the HR as closely as I could to 150 (75%), the average pace came in at 8:41, good number and an indicator that I'm getting stronger.
I ran these in an old pair of racing flats that I found behind the tank, pearl Izumi XC, don't think they have too many miles on them and enjoyed the run with them, apart from last half mile, got a couple of blisters.
Got home and ordered myself a pair of NB 1500V.

Sunday
Had a BBQ the evening before and didn't fancy getting up extra early (before juvenile training at 10:30) to get the long run in. Decided to postpone it to Monday, no biggy as I plan on racing next weekend.
Finally got out in the afternoon for just over 10K, bringing weekly mileage to just over 40 miles.
AHR 158 (79%), Pace 8:19
Probably my fastest week in training and enjoyed it.

The streak is now at 77 and a friend of mine has followed me into the streak, he's on 38 but the fceker ran 39:01 in Dunshaughlin last night, lots more talent than me, hard not to be jealous

Wottle

Monday
10 mile long run, really enjoyed the first 8 miles and then I can just feel my lack of endurance kicking in, now it also coincided with picking it up for last 2.
AHR 76% of max, Pace 8:42

Tuesday
Almost 5 and a half miles
Felt sluggish at the start but after a couple of miles I was into my stride, had to slow myself down on occasion.
AHR 72% of max, Pace 9:11

My cadence has improved a lot over last couple of weeks, not sure how accurate my watch is though but again, I can feel the change.

Plan is to race a 5k this weekend, weather dependent.

Testosterscone

Wottle wrote: »

Monday
10 mile long run, really enjoyed the first 8 miles and then I can just feel my lack of endurance kicking in, now it also coincided with picking it up for last 2.
AHR 76% of max, Pace 8:42

Tuesday
Almost 5 and a half miles
Felt sluggish at the start but after a couple of miles I was into my stride, had to slow myself down on occasion.
AHR 72% of max, Pace 9:11

My cadence has improved a lot over last couple of weeks, not sure how accurate my watch is though but again, I can feel the change.

Plan is to race a 5k this weekend, weather dependent.

St Coca's is Friday if any use to you, supposed to be a great race.

Wottle

Testosterscone wrote: »

St Coca's is Friday if any use to you, supposed to be a great race.

Absolutely, I find it hard to get fully geared up for a parkrun.
I'll check it out, cheers.

Testosterscone

Wottle wrote: »

Absolutely, I find it hard to get fully geared up for a parkrun.
I'll check it out, cheers.

From what people have said it's one of the fastest around, or if you want a perfectly flat one there is 12.5 laps of Irishtown next Wed

Chivito550

Wottle wrote: »

Here's a list of PBs, they don't match up very well across distances, and years of going AWOL means pbs are over a 10 year period and haven't run one in another 5 years but reckon all are beatable, which is good for motivation. Really want sub 3:30 in DM though.

Better in here than other thread

You've said a few times that you think you are better at shorter distances. So why are you targeting the Dublin Marathon so?

Testosterscone

Chivito550 wrote: »

You've said a few times that you think you are better at shorter distances. So why are you targeting the Dublin Marathon so?

You considered yourself an endurance 400m runner before switching to 100/200. Gotta do what you feel is right for you in all cases I think D's issue in the past was the lack of base due to inconsistent training something which he seems to be tackling this time round very well.

Chivito550

Testosterscone wrote: »

You considered yourself an endurance 400m runner before switching to 100/200. Gotta do what you feel is right for you in all cases

Haha yes, after giving the 400 a good bash for 5 straight seasons. Bit different to speculating that one is better at certain disciplines but never really giving them a proper go.

Agreed though, enjoyment is the most important thing, and results won't happen without that element fully in place.