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quick feet

20 March
1st full day of the hols so I decided to check out the local scenery(.playa blanca) we were located at the end of a beach promenade so I had a good stretch of decent footpath to make use of..got out in early afternoon as it was a little overcast..first km was a bitch of a climb before I could enjoy the sea view, managed to get a 5mile progression run done,starting at 8m.m and finishing off in 7.20s
5.2miles@7.37

March 22
Repeat of the same route as previous day only this time it was before brekfeast and much slower.
5miles@8.20

March 24
I was given the green light and told I had an hour to myself,so shoes on and out the door before she changed her mind. Again up the promenade, would have loved to have gone the full length up to faro pechiguera it was 17k round trip,only managed to make it just past playa flamingo beach. Some decent drags along the way or minor hills, the body was full of drink from the previous few days. New scenery and new territory were a helpful distraction as I tried to ,rep the pace steady.
7.8m@7.41

March 27
Last run of the holidays and shortest of the lot, nice and easy
3.5m@8.17

March28
Up to the club for 4mile easy then a 20min tempo.
Knew it suffer if I tried to push the pace too much so kinky the tempo stuff sensible roughly 6.50s or 1.45/400mts i think . All in prep for club 10k on Sunday

March 29
Up to abbotstown for some easier miles on the grass, meandered around without a care in the world, still having that holiday feeling
5m@8.21

March 31
Dunboyne 10k
Totally undecided on a target for this race,knew I hadn't got the speed endurance for sub 40, only home from hols so felt bloated and heavy. Finally Settled on a target of under 6.40 per mile or as close to the balloons(40min) as I could get...first 2 miles went by quite quickly,6.34/6.36 come the third mile I had to work a little harder 6.37,the balloons were drifting off Into the distance too,I put the head down without trying to slow down,mile 4 coming in at 6.44.. from 7-9k I certainly switched off, settled Into the back of a group Instead of pushing past, although working hard I never felt at breaking point..mile 5 was 6.52.. back Into familiar terrority and the clubhouse Insight I tried to up the ante, the support began to grow too , especially now I was wearing the club vest.. I managed to squeeze past a few people on a slight downhill towards the final turn, with the threat of a clubmate looming I decided to kick on earlier than planned, it helped push me past another group of people before seeing me over the line in 41.20
All in all a decent effort, 25secs shy of a pb but plenty of room for improvement.
I'll focus on some 10k specific training now chase those balloons over the summer!!
6.22@6.39

quick feet

Ended March with 123miles
April 3rd
Took 2 days off after the race so got out Wed for some easy miles, threw in some strides on the final mile, 4 sets of 30 sec.
6.22@7.51
April 4th
Club session 5x1k..400m rec.. target was 4min a km, reps were 3.50/3.58/3.45/3.55/3.45.. slightly quicker than planned but enjoyed working hard and being pushed along..recoveries were between 2.18-2.30..
8m@7.34avg
April 5th
Recovery jog 5miles@8.40 avg.
April 6th
Having missed Tuesdays club session which was a 20min tempo I decided I'd make up for it and Include it in the weekends long run..jogged up to hartstown park and pottered round waiting for the start.. As it was the first run of the month they had pacers. I decided id try hang on to the 20min guy for as long as I could.. 1st mile came in at 6.28 before I started to fall off pace slightly, legs just felt heavy..2nd mile 6.35 and 3rd mile felt a lot tougher than it should!! 6.45 came home in 20.17,good workout wasn't too disappointed with the time as course pb is 19.5x.. had a few beers watching the footie on t.v the night before..plenty of room to Improve and finished off with another 3 miles to round up 10 for the day 7.54avg
April 7th
A few easy laps of abbotstown
6.5@8.20s

quick feet

April 9th
A repeat of last week's session of 5x1k only reduced the recovery to 2mins..
2k w.up ..overcooked most reps coming in at 3.40, 3.48..3.48, then into a stiff wind but the brakes on and I finished off in 3.59,4.0.. 2k c.d
Decent workout and happy enough with effort
6.35@7.45avg

April 10th
Bright n breezy recovery jog
5m@8.30

April 11th
Club session. 2x15mins
4mile jog then into first set of 15mins
First set of 15mins avg. 6.15mile then 3min jog
2nd set of 15mins avg 6.10... was pretty much at race effort here so certainly too fast for what should of been tempo running
2.5m c.d
11.7m for the session

April 13th
Long session
Jumped in with a group doing the final long run b4 London.. 10@pump
I joined the group late so 2k w.p then 10mile @7.25avg
2k c.d
10@m.p felt ok, was working but not too hard. Chest strap read 147 avg with a peak of 160 .
12m for the lot @ 7.33
April 14th
4.2m easy local loop @8.08

quick feet

April 16th
Down to the p.park for some hill work.parked at Aras, trotted down to Khyber via zoo. Plan was 2 x 30/45/60/90 secs..started the reps midway up the Khyber.. intervals went well and the Khyber wasn't as steep as I'd imagined..could certainly feel it in the legs the next day.
6.2@8.50avg
Thurs 18th
Club session
20min tempo,wasn't feeling it but got dragged around about 6.25 pace, roughly 5k for the 20min .
8m @7.40 avg
Sat 20th
Jogged down to the p.park to meet some of our group for their final long run before London. Found this difficult enough at times, pace fluctuated from 7.40s to 8's as we basked in the early morning sunshine..was happy to just get it over and done with
14.5m@7.58avg
Sun 21st
Stayed overnight at mothers mobile home in bettystown so was up n out early for a run along the beach. Trotted trough 7.5 Sandy miles @8.15avg

AuldManKing

Do you guys do the tempo stuff on the track??

quick feet

Yep...for now anyway. I think when it comes to longer tempos during marathon training they head out on the roads..

quick feet

23/4
Interval session
1m-1k-1m-1k-1m.. @5k pace.. off 3&2mins jog recovery
Made this session up myself .. 2k warm up then reps came in at 6.19/3.56/6.35/3.58/6.22... 1k c.d
3rd rep was a struggle, uphill and into the wind..didn't start out great either.. all the others had solid consistent effort
h.r peaked at 172 with 152avg.
7m@7.32avg

24/4
Easy recovery run with a sprint finish.. legs were pretty heavy from previous days session
4.1@8.31avg

25/4
Club session
Was expecting 20-30min tempo as per the norm, but nope they decided to mix it up and we were to do 5x800s.. off 2..30min.. I was pretty pxxxxd as I had done similar session on the Tuesday... legs were still quite heavy and lacked some zip.. tailed off the back of my usual group on first rep and came in at 2.55/ 2nd n 3rd reps were 2.55/2.54 forgot to hit lap button so missed 4th rep then we were giving a longer rest before the final jaunt.. worked hard before opening up on final straight to finish off in 2.49
1.5m w.p/session/3m c.d
8m total

27th April
A pretty uneventful run.. storm Hannah was out in force, had a pain in my hip, finished off with a park run..
13.5m@7.54avg

quick feet

30/4
4 mile easy run with 4x40sec strides thrown in for good measure..
4.3m@8m.m

1/5
Bms 5k
First time doing a bhaa event so wasn't sure what to expect in terms of organisation and attendance.. jogged up to bms as it's close to home. Number collection was swift and I bumped into a few people that I knew, quick chat and continued my warm up then bumped into some club mates and some folk from these parts. Up to the start area and pretty swiftly we were set on our way.
Plan was to A. Pb 19:44
B. at least go sub 20.
The race plan was simple 3.55km or under X5, first km was fast as the slight breeze was on our back, 3.43 was soon followed by 3.52 and a 3.55, myself and some other guy were playing a game of cat and mouse.. every time I passed him bye, he'd immediately come up on my shoulder swnging elbows before cutting me off, although frustrating it was a welcome distraction as I'd quickly move ahead asap.4th km was 3.50 , I was feeling good and knew I was in pb territory, I was begining to pull away from my friend upon turning the last corner I emptied the tank , passing a few more over the final 250meters, finishing time was 19.09
A pb of 35sec over 5k, pretty pleased but it makes me believe with the right application sub 19 is there for the taking.
Met up with the club folk for some cool down miles
8.5m total
Overall great event, well organised, v.good standard and hope to do more..
2/5
Went up to the club to do some easy miles, did 3easy/2tempo/3easy
Still on a high for the previous night's result
8.5m@7.50avg

4/5
10 solo miles that felt great, bright n easy down the canal and into the park to catch the start of the I.runner 5k. Pretty effortless run,
I seems to be just a really good week
10@8m.m
5/5
Trundled around abbotstown in the peace n quiet enjoying the sunshine
6.2m@8.30avg

156 miles for month of April

quick feet

6/5
Fancied something differant on the b.hol Monday so drove over to tolka valley in finglas to take in some hill sprints.. 3.5 miles easy was soon followed by some 40 sec hill sprints/strides..First 3,went ok..I was on all 4's trying to talk to god come the end of the 4th rep before some divine intervention brought me back to life to finish off the next 2.. moved to a shorter hill for the next set of 3x 25secs.. tough but manageable.. joggedback to the car for a dailytotal of
6.6m
Safe to say the legs were hanging for the rest of the day!

8/5
Easy miles with 5x20 sec strides..
5.37 @7.47avg

9/5
Club session
5x800 with 400rec+1min..
800 reps came In at 2.55/2.53/2.50/2.51/2.46
Turns out recoveries were I region of 3.30-4mins
7.25m@8.07 Avg Inc. Cool down

10/5
4m recovery@8.32 avg

11/5
Easy run with 5x20 sec strides
3.2m@7.52

12/5
Terenure 5mile
Arrived over nice and early to collect race number hassle free, into bushy park for a 2mile warm up and some strides then over to the start.
Plan was to run 4mins /km or as close as possible to it.. I was hopeful I could get close after my last race performance.. Wasn't to be as I felt pretty flat throughout.. I only hit the target of 4min/km for first 3kms, remainder were 4.07-4.12, didn't start out to fast or anything just had no zip in the legs.. Effort levels were pretty high from early on and pace suffered..No point dwelling on it, I wanted to get a decent workout and that's what I got.. bigger picture is a crack at 10k In 40min later on in the year.. congrats to those that ran well
Time 5m = 32:46... 35 sec faster than last year
Was nice to catch up with some boardsies b4 and after.. next up is Bob h. on 21st May

quick feet

14/5
Down to the p.park to enjoy the glorious sunshine, meandered around quite comfortably
[email]8.15m@7.50avg..body[/email] felt good considering the race 2 days previous.

15/5
Solo session: 3k warm up then 2k&1k intervals with 3&2min recovery jog..
Aim was to stay under 4mins km.. managed to hang around the 3.55 Mark for most.. really enjoyed the session and felt recoveries were just right.worked hard but recovered quickly.
9.3m@7.23@avg
16/5
Recovery 10k around cross country loop in Abbottstown
10k@8.33

18/5
Easy 2mile jog up to park run were I was to do a 5k tempo, first km went ok but i then struggled to hold 4.10 pace for the remainder 4..(20.40) 2mile easy jog home..
6.85@7.25avg

19/5
Easy loop of a local park
4.37m@8.23avg

21/5
Bob heffernan 5k
Was hoping to have a crack at sub 19 .. .however having toiled around the recent park run struggling to hold 4.10km pace a few seeds of doubt were firmly planted...Arrived down with some club mates in plenty of time,parked up and started our warm up.. headed out the final 1k of race route before we turned back and made our way to the start...I decided I'd start off with a few guys from club who were all looking to go sub19 or low 19s.. however after a few hundred yards I was left behind ,no need to panic tho as I went through first km in 3.50 and 2nd km in 3.48,through km 3 the pace dipped slightly to 3.55 I was still hanging around pb territory ..onto km 4 and I found myself closing on some club mates and passing others, however I began to settle in beind a group of people almost gathering myself for a final assault on the last km. Km4 was 3.58, once we made the final left turn I closed in on a friend of mine and soon past, up ahead was another clubmate, nice target to pick off which i managed,then it was over the final bump in the road and all out attack on the final 400mts , as I turned the final bend I could the clock 19: 10/11/12/..km5 3.34......Pb or not?? Official result gave me 19.07 for a 2 second pb
delighted but still left with the feeling the those 8 secs for sub 19 are somewere between kms 3&4...

23/5
8.92m@7.44avg
Easy with 8x100mt strides

24/5
5m recovery@8.33avg

25/5
Club sesson1,2,3,4,5,5,4,3,2,1 intervals with equal recovery..
For some reason I had a pep in my step, felt great on the grass as we tackled some loops of porterstown park..I wanted to push hard without dying after a few reps...kept all intervals below target of 4min km or less

AuldManKing

good to see you down there - you'll be sub 19 soon enough - don't force it or it'll take hold of you!!

quick feet

Cheers A,
I've bigger fish to fry before I go chasing sub 19. It can always be plan c or d !!

26/5
Extended recovery run. Local loop cumiliating in my Sunday pilgrimage to the grassy plains of abbotstown.
7.15m@8.17avg

28/5
Bhaa Dunboyne 5mile
I was looking forward to this race and another crack at a 5miler after a disappointing terenure run.. Plan/target was simple, run as close to 4min/km or under.. There were a few Club mates targeting the same time so a fellow boardsie agreed to pace them. I said I'd join them but I also wanted to run my own race.. Arrived up quite early with the father in law in toe, parked at community center and we trotted up to view the finish area, quite underwhelming tbh and certainly no flying final km.we proceeded through the trees and to the start area..As we had been running relatively slow 10-11min miles for 3k I felt I hadn't done much of a warm up so i threw in some strides around the start area. However this meant that I lost my pace group in the crowd as we were called forward and quickly started. Start was quite hectic but I got away ok and settled into a nice rhythm.I could see the clubmates n pacer about 50meters ahead.This was perfect as i could just sit off them, run my own race and not let the distance grow...first few kms were quite flat/fast .. first 4km were 3.57/3.58/3.56/3.55 so right on target, the route is nice,its along quiet country roads and not too far from home. By the time we hit 5k I had caught up with the group briefly before some surged ahead once we got to 6km.this is were I felt I had to work, effort levels certainly increased and I had to concentrate more not to let the pace dip or the gap to the others grow. Kms 5,6,7 were 4.00/4.03/4.05 into the final km and we could see Gaelic clubhouse, pacer dropped out and I was left to chase down fellow Club mates who had 50-100mtr head start.. I upped the ante without making much headway,a Sharpe left turn onto the trail, then up the embankment in a hairpin style turn before you could finally open the legs,i managed to reel 1 off by the end of the first straight and passed the 2nd on the last bend before falling short of catching the 3rd on the line.. All in all a more enjoyable experience and a pb to boot.
Finish time 31.50 goal achieved and almost 1min faster than terenure

29/5
Pretty painful recovery run..
Legs a tad bit sore and a belly full of grub made for a miserable experience
4m@8.34avg

30/5
Could not make club session so I did General aerobic run with 20sec strides on the km for the final 8kms.. pace steadily increased as the run went on
9m@7.42avg

quick feet

So the month of May finished up with
158miles logged
4 races 2x5k / 2x5m
19.09 //19.07.... 32:46//31:50 New pbs achieved across both distances plus I'm now another year wiser..A successful month .

1st June
A few birthday beers resulted in an easy jog the following morning to collect the car.. made my way down the canal and into the park @ ashtown before realising the blooming madness, made a quick exit up and out whites gate before taking in some of carpenterstown. Pace increased gradually as the body soon came around, still kept it leisurely tho.
9.33m@8.m.m avg

3/6
Taking advantage of the bank holiday a few of us decided we'd head off out Johnnie fox's way and take it a trail /mountain run. Parked@ the gap cafe and then made our way down to take on a trail , taking us up to Prince William's seat.. A quite enjoyable run, tough in places ,some small walk breaks as we gathered up the troops..Overall I enjoyed the challenge of the hills and found it more stimulating than being out on the roads!!
Covered 10mile in total.
4/6
I was expecting the legs to be quite tender after yesterday's hill run, surprisingly felt good. No aches,pains or stiffness. Rather than try be a hero some recovery miles were in order. A much flatter route ensued in the lashing of rain, quite refreshing and enjoyable.
5m@8.22avg

quick feet

5/6
I was later than expected getting out for this run and pretty tired too,it was meant to be 5x2k but swoped it for 10k tempo instead. 2k warm up then onto my usual tempo route. Felt quite good once I got into the faster stuff and found myself holding back at times, target was 4.15km but ended up running just under 4.10avg for the 10km..was delighted with how the session turned out.
9.13miles@7.16avg

7/6
Some easy miles with 5x100mtr strides thrown in for good measure. Legs felt really good and fresh after the day off
5.13m@7.50avg

8/6
Having already put off my 5x2k session,I finally bit the bullet and was going to attempt it.. down to the phoenix park, 2.5k warm up then started at Aras, heading towards c.knock using the triangle loop of O.s rd, Furze rd and chesterfield ave.. into a headwind going up chesterfield I found myself having to reign it in a little, target pace was 3.55 and I was loitering around 3.40s, eased to a 3.47 and 3.52km for opening set.. took a 90sec rec. jog then into the 2nd set.. suddenly the legs weighed a ton,breathing became laboured and the 3.55 target for 5 sets looked mission impossible..2nd set kms were 3.55/4.01.. I took a 2min . Jog thinking I may have got the recovery wrong. Into set 3 and I felt totally wiped, form was poor, breathing still laboured and pretty disappointed..3rd set kms were 4.04/4.0.. I decided to pull the plug on the session..I had contemplated putting the session off until the following day, I've had really poor sleep and lack of appetite lately.. even the cooldown jog back to the car was a struggle.. in hindsight maybe I should of slowed the pace and seen the session out regardless, I've still had a decent week 1 mountain run/ 1 tempo/ 1g.a .. probably too much tbh.. should have eased off the session the night before.
7.46m@7.20avg

9/6
5mile recovery @8.27avg
Putting yesterday's run behind me..

OOnegative

Why were you targeting 3.55 pace for the 5x2km session when you didn’t run that pace for the Dunboyne 5 mile? You ran 3.57 pace for Dunboyne, 3.55 was the wrong pace for that session. Your easy & recovery stuff is still to quick also.

Duanington

G - ease it up, don't worry about paces so much. So what if you don't hit the pace on a few reps?

Also, B is on the money ...you're still bombing around the place on your easy stuff and not recovering from some really good sessions by the looks of it.

quick feet

OOnegative wrote: »

Why were you targeting 3.55 pace for the 5x2km session when you didn’t run that pace for the Dunboyne 5 mile? You ran 3.57 pace for Dunboyne, 3.55 was the wrong pace for that session. Your easy & recovery stuff is still to quick also.

Cheers B.. I just rounded down the pace thinking I could hit it since I was getting a "rest" on the recovery part.. overly optimistic on my behalf.. @ yourself and D. , should I try a similar session this week @4min/km with longer Recovery?... When I mentioned old habits die hard I was referring to going too fast on the easy stuff..

OOnegative

quick feet wrote: »

Cheers B.. I just rounded down the pace thinking I could hit it since I was getting a "rest" on the recovery part.. overly optimistic on my behalf.. @ yourself and D. , should I try a similar session this week @4min/km with longer Recovery?... When I mentioned old habits die hard I was referring to going too fast on the easy stuff..

Try the same session with same recoveries but at 4.05-4.10min/km a is how i’d go.

quick feet

12/6
Back for more punishment and another crack at the 5x2k workout...target 4.05-4.10km
Interval 1... full of enthuasiasm, got excited...too fast, 4.01/4.02
Interval 2... tried to reign it in slightly and keep pace.. steady to say the least 4.02/4.06
Interval 3... breaking point last time out but put the head Down, worked hard.. effort levels on the up and weary legged come the end.. 4.05/4.05
Interval 4.. sluggish start, tried to pick it up then almost flattened by a panda bin truck broke my rythym, certainly close to race effort 4.08/4.06
Interval 5.. the end is near..a steady km without setting the world alight before picking it up in the final few hundred meters... 4.10/4.02
Roughly 4.05avg km... chuffed with seeing out the session
9.14m@7.33avg

13/6
Club session..
I just done recovery miles, the company helped slow things down..
6.3m@8.50avg

15/6
Club session
3x1mile recovery 4,5mins and 3.5min
6.10/6.13/6.16 were the mile repeats.. Done up in porterstown park so a reasonably undulating route in the grass..

16/6
Jumped in with the local crew for a venture out to howth to take in the trails..
Great morning, super views plus I really like the challenge of the hills
13.1m@8.26

18/6
5 miles easy@8.14avg

Singer

General comment, feel free to disregard - I think your your easy miles are too fast and far too few. Any chance of some easy ~9 minute miles?

quick feet

Singer wrote: »

General comment, feel free to disregard - I think your your easy miles are too fast and far too few. Any chance of some easy ~9 minute miles?

Always happy to receive feedback B, Sure it's why I keep a log!!
As a general rule for paces I use.
Tempo: 6.40-6.50
Long/easy 7.50-8.10
Marathon(hopefully)< 7.15
Recovery: 8.30+

Do you think I should make the recovery runs longer? More frequent??
I try run 4/5 times a week, consisting of 2 sessions/1 long/1 recovery and if I make the 5th session short easy run roughly 5miles...

quick feet

19/6
5 easy miles with 5x100m strides thrown in..
5@8.30avg

20/6
More easy stuff 5k@8.20avg

22/6
Dunshaughlin 10k..
Headed up nice and early with a few from the club, t-shirt and number collection effortless. Lounged about for a few mins before getting changed then heading out to warm up. As it happens there was 4 from the club having a bash at sub 40.. 3k warm up then up to the start line..Started off a few rows back from the front.As I approached the start mat the watch went into power save mode, I pretty much stumbled over the line frantically trying to start the watch, Thankfully it only took a few meters to get started. one of our club mates took off like a hare while I managed to nestle in behind the other 2 as we charged down the road..I was conscious of not startig off too quick, we went through the first km in 4.02, Great atmosphere going through the village and seenig out km 2 in 4.03, no need to panic and almost pleased with my conservative start.. not a whimper was heard from the club mates.. finally up to speed in km 3 4.00km as we made our way out the country roads.The pace eased again in km 4 tho to 4.03, sky blue passed and we both agreed the pace felt harder than it should have..he caught up with the trim train up ahead and I decided to move on up and work off them if I could..Km 5 was a diasppointing 4.02, knowing I was through the easier part of the course and a few seconds behind schedule any aspirations of sub 40 were quickly fading..into km 6 and I was loitering on s.b's shoulder,3.58km.. maybe,just maybe I thought.. I knew the climb/drag was approaching.. I was determined not to loose the race here. As soon as we made the turn I put the head down and began to work, I passed s.b and a few others but it was damage limation stage 4.05 for km 7, I can't say if I passed the trim train but I ended up kinda isolated.. I think I was the head of a group and the legs were feeling the effort of the drag. A navan lad passed and quickly put quite a bit of distance on me..With no one to work off or kick me up the backside km 8 was 4.09.. s.b caught me soon after, finally someone to work with and still chasing a pb I put the head down..seen out km 9 in 4.02.. I think I said to s.b let's push on, he initially did but then said I'm gone or something along those lines.. I gave him another shout as I glanced over my shoulder, I could see he was easing off..I could see the dunboyne hare and the navan a.c. guy up in front..someone to catch!! I closed the gap.As I drew level with the navan lad he kicked again in the finishing chute,my legs were spent and km 10 was 3.51..
Official finish time 40.21
A pb of 35 seconds but still fell I left sub 40 out there.. 5km split of 20.24 leaves plenty of work to do over the 2nd half of the race!!
A better race strategy and a jockey to keep me switched on might help...
Apparently there's a sub 40 train on Thursday night in the clonee 10k..I've bought a ticket so let's see how that journey goes..

quick feet

25/4
Legs were a little sore the day after Dunshaughlin, head felt worse after the few beers so decided to take the day off a d skip recovery run.
24/6
Delayed recovery run, 4.7m@8.37avg, legs felt a bit better.
26/6
More easy stuff, 3m@8.20

27/7
Clonee 10k
3 of us from the club agreed we would have another stab at breaking the elusive 40 mark.. a beautiful evening was instore and the legs felt fine as we went off on our warm up, got 2miles in taking in the first mile of the route along with some strides.. the dunboyne hare from Dunshaughlin volunteered to be the train driver for this one...plan was even splits for as long as possible.. A smoother start this time was in store, the hare initially shot off into the distance but soon hit the breaks when he realised we didn't follow..went through the first 2 km in 3.56, 4.00 into a bit of a breeze but didn't mind too much as it was quite warm..I was sat just off the club mates who in suite were following what seemed to be an msb sub 40 train..Another 4.00min km followed before we took a right turn up a small drag, I'd be quite familiar with the route and never enjoy this section, the crew began to get away from me. I upped the effort to stay honest and quickly reeled them in. Km4 came in in 4.03.. The effort levels were certainly rising as we made a left turn.. Again I found myself falling back and having to work hard to stay on pace , the crew had put about 15-20meters on me and i was passed by 2 others from the club again head down and close the gap, hang in there I taught...I got to km5 in 4.03... The brain was I overdrive, Yes, I'm 20sec up on Dunshaughlin , feck I'm only half way and the wheels are coming off...I think 1 was off already!!.. we take a right turn down a country lane and again I'm in limbo, legs are freeing like lead so i decide to pull the plug on the sub 40 attempt...i know I won't keep this pace for another 5k...I decide to let the pace drift to tempo pace 4.10-15 and see how I cope, I pass a few who have succumbed to the heat..although running slower I'm certainly working harder km6 in 4.10 and km 7 in 4.16, km 8 in 4.15 it feels like it's the closing stages of a marathon when your legs are screaming at you..into km 9 and we're almost home I get a few cheers from some locals, I can see the other 2 from the train up ahead, I don't even contemplate trying to catch them but I'm trying to gauge if they're on for sub 40, anything to distract me..into the last km and you feel the heat bouncing off the recently laid tarmac..a lady in a blue vest zooms past, she can't stoke a reaction from me..soon after a lad loiters on my shoulder, he fancies a sprint finish, he ain't getting one from me, certainly not today..I trundle over the line in 41.10..
Half a race// Half a run
Tbh I wanted to stop so many times from 7km,the ending of the race felt like hell.. I never enjoy this route, not even on a training run.. On the plus side some pizza and pints helped brighten the spirits.
Next year I'll volunteer or do it as an easy run !!!


28/6
Easy recovery miles 4.36m@8.43

29/6
More recovery and easy miles including my 50th parkrun
10.2m@8.30

quick feet

1/7
Start the month on the right foot, handy 5k on break in work
3.11@8.11

2/7
With the track still out of bounds I headed over to a 1km marked route opposite the enteance to the N.A.C,
4x400/2×800/4×400's ...1 min recovery between the 400s and 2mins between the 800's...target was 85-90 for 400s and 3mins for 800's... It was my first time using this loop for speed work..took off like a buck on the first 400 and ran 75 secs..tried to ease off on the 2nd rep and ran 82.. back to the starting point and I realise outwards has a gentle downhill and Inwards has a gentle incline..3rd rep was 83 and 4th 84..2min jog/ then 800s were done in 2.55 and I could certainly feel the incline on the way back. 2nd 800 was 2.58 2min jog then next 4 400s were done in 80/86/83/85
I was pretty heavy legged come the end of the session.
7.21m@7.56 Inc w.up and c.d

3/7
10k around abbotstown @8.50avg

5/7
5mile tempo@6.43avg
Quite a hot humid day..Felt good throughout.
6.92@7.12avg

6/7
Having stayed down in bettystown at the mobile home i felt obliged to go for a run on the beach.. A beautiful run as the tide was In and the sun started to break out from the clouds.. A Sandy 6miles were followed by a dip in the sea.
6.23m@8.26

7/7
Drove home early to meet the lads In the p.p,
Plan was to do 14miles.. My stomach turned When I arrived and they told me there was a change of plan.New plan included 2x5k@ m.p
Session was 6k easy/ 5k@m.p/1k easy/5@m.p/6k easy.. we took in majority of I.runner 10 route
The m.p sections were a tale of 2 halves.. 1st section from conyingham rd,up military rd around by the zoo and up north rd to Ashtown gate
Entrance.. the lads quickly pulled away @6.50 mile pace but i stuck rigidly to 7.15, the remnants of the previous days beers and curry threatening to take a reappearance..1k jog then into a more enjoyable experience..down a quiet chesterfield ave,onto and down the Khyber up the s-bends and finishing half way up the hill.. 6k easy to round off
14miles@7.39pace

9/7
Short and easy 4.36m@7.52 avg while on break in work

quick feet

10/7
Time to start upping the mileage where applicable, a medium long run was in store.having missed out on a session the day before I added some interval to help break up the run.5 easy miles followed by 5x3mins @4min km, 2min jog recovery..the intervals helped break up a bog standard run and made it more enjoyable.
9.63m@7.52avg
11/6
Recovery run around Abbottstown, some impressive work going on by sport ireland. Great to have on your doorstep.
6m@8.42avg

13/7
Race/run/session
Initially planned on running it at m.p, that soon changed to run sub 70 , then to " ahh see how it goes"...
Went out at 6.50 pace albeit a little too fast over first mile, slowed somewhat on conyingham rd and up military/chesterfield rd. picked it up again before struggling on mile9(7.22), managed to pick off 2 club mates in the final mile and finish strong 6.28
Not far off a pb but with better mentality = better time
Decent workout and time wise got what I expected.
10m@6.54
Time 1:08:49

quick feet

16/7
400-600-800 X3
Felt pretty wiped going into the session,weekend on the beer and the race at the weekend had left me pretty drained however once I got started I brushed off a few cob-webs..
400s <85 / 600<2.15 /800s<3.00min
Recoveries were 1min/1.30/2.00
6m@8.04avg
17/7
Recovery run
5.6m@8.43
18/7
Trying to increase the mileage so Jogged up to the club session which was 5k, session was 25min tempo then jogged home. There wasn't many there on the night but myself and another lad rounded up to 4miles @6.40 pace..
Session went well but got lightheaded on the jog home due to poor nutrition /hydration on the day..
10miles total@7.35 avg

19/7
Off to a family wedding and Short on time so miles got sacrificied!! 4miles@8.30avg

21/7
Penance and suffering for having a good night!! 15 sweaty miles along the canal and st.catherines park. Enjoyed mixing up the route .hadn't done this route in 2 years..shame it's not paved all the way tho.
5.2m@8.05

quick feet

23/7
Session was meant to be 5x5mins but It was a scorcher that day so dialled it back and broke it up slightly to 3x5min and 3x3mins
5mins were done at 6.21/6.21/6.30 pace
3min sections @6.32/6.27/6.24 pace
Recoveries on 5mins were 2.30
3mins block had 2mins recovery

24/7
4 easy miles @8.17

25/7
I was down to volunteer at the club race at carton house so I squeezed in what I could before I had to hit the road..plan was general aerobic run but I got bored after 4 miles and threw in 5x1min fast /1min jog to mix things up.
6.35m@7.35avg

27/7
Headed down to Mullingar to take part in their 10miler.. plan was to use it as part of my long run which was 16miles with 10@m.p...resisted the urge to race it but ran slightly faster than m.p..Beautiful day in the Midlands , good crowd and well organised race..I have a soft spot for this race and certainly plan on being there again next year.. as for my run, 2 mile warm up then 9@7m.m felt comfortable and controlled then increased effort over last mile to 6.30 just to round off the average and break 70mins. Finishing time 69.56 averaged 7.m.m, 2.5mile cooldown followed by a cuppa and a sandwich or 2...
Total 14.5miles

28/7
Duleek 10k
Not alot to report bar it's a great value race, entered for €10 many months ago..enjoyed the route and ran conservatively
8.2m @8.06 avg..

quick feet

Mass update:
29 July
3mile recovery@8.50s

30 july
7x800s with 2min jog (2.58-3.02)per rep
2k warm up&c.d
7m total@7.33avg

31 July
9.67m@8.17avg

1st Aug
30min tempo @6.52avg
10..2 miles for session Inc w.u&c.d

3rd Aug
Long run 16.5m@7.49avg

4Aug
4mile recovery@8.32
5 Aug
9 easy miles@8.13avg

6 Aug
4x1mile / 90 sec jog.. reps 6.24-6.27
6.6m total 7.27avg

quick feet

7th Aug
8.25m @8.11avg

8th Aug
22min progression run
6.58/6.40/6.26
6.25m@7.25avg

10 Aug
4.2m@8.10

11Aug
Rock n roll half..
Parked at c.knock gate and jogged the 5mile to the start. Ran the r'n'r with some club mates at p.m.p 7.10/7.15.. felt awful for the first 4 miles of the race,sluggish and lethargic. Thankfully the body woke up and I felt better over the 2nd half of the route. Ran 1.34.2s..
Mile 12 was a bit of a grind but happy to get the volume in.
18m for the day
5@8.17
13.1@7.11

quick feet

12th Aug
5 mile recovery @8.47avg

14 Aug
Off on my hols, mapped out a nice trail run along the coast, turned out to be an ankle breaker. was delighted to get onto the smoother surface and never to return!!
10k@7.49avg

16 Aug
New route, along the seafront, out early'ish and it was already warm, nice final mile with 120ft climb..easy to steady effort
7.5m@7.53avg

18Aug
Same route as previous run but plan was to go a little further..started 30mins later than planned and suffered from the off, 29°c when I started, stopped after 5miles for a mini rest, stopped again after 7m to buy some water.. dragged my sorry ass up the hill feeling worse for wear, soaked in sweat n water for 8.5m total @8m.m..
Still managed 3 runs 6.2/7.5/8.5m on my hols

20 aug
Only off the plane and up to the club, didn't fancy the full session of 20x400 after a week of eating n drinking so decided I wouldn't do the full session, did 12x400 starting out conservative @1.34 for the first 3 before upping it to 1.30..didn't suffer as much as I taught I would, rec were 200mts

21 Aug
Trying to shed some holiday excess
10m@8avg

23 Aug
Met with a pal to do the weeks long run, his plan was 20miles with some at m.p, mine was to hang as long as possible.. started off ok with 5m at 8m.m before upping it to pmp, knew from the first of these miles I was in for a slog.. managed 5miles at pmp before we decided to stop for water, we were both suffering, jogged another mile before trying to up it again, heading up chesterfield ave. after a km I pulled the plug on m.p as the effort was too much for the level, legs were shot..jogged easy until c.knock gate then hit the breaks telling my pal to push on..trotted up to myos before buying more water then had the joys of the shameful shuffle home.. wasn't too bad as I strutted/ jogged through c.knock
13.8m@7.42, didn't bother logging the strut

25 Aug
4/3/2/1
4mile recovery @8.40s avg
3mile easy @8s
2 tempo @6.42
1c.d @8.50
10.2 total @ 8.06