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Chapter 2 - Finding Nemo

  • 04-09-2017 10:17am
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭


    2018 - Chapter One: The Day That Never Comes - Post 1 to 634

    2019 - Chapter Two: Finding Nemo - Post 635 onwards

    Original Post:
    I've decided to set up one of these in the hope that every now and then someone will come along and in their good nature, answer one of my many questions about my training. I find I've been posting a lot of questions in the Random Running thread so maybe this is a better way of going about it.

    Background
    36 year old male. Been running for 7 years but only started properly focusing my training since January. Only learned what a tempo, LSR etc. were this year! Previous to that I just went out most days and ran 6 miles at as fast as I could manage. No direction or focus to my training. Had ran some half marathons and mixed in circuit training. But this year I really fell in love with running. Thanks to advice from people on here and chatting to some advanced runners I've met at many races this year I've manage to see significant improvements.

    PB's;
    5k - 18:22 - Parkrun (2017)
    10k - 37:44 - Run Killarney (2017)
    Half Marathon: 1:31:35 Charleville (2012). Most recent Half was in June - Half Thru the Heart which I did in 1:33. Extremely tough course and the distance was a little short.

    Short to Medium term targets (over the next ~10 months);
    5k - Sub 18
    10k - Sub 37
    Half Marathon - Sub 1:30

    Long term targets/dreams;
    5k - Sub 17
    10k - Sub 35
    Run my first Full Marathon (maybe by end of next year).
    Run a really good Full Marathon.

    Myself and my wife have a baby on the way so I'd say the training could be impacted for a while but I really hope I can keep it up to the same level.

    I generally do two/three sessions a week (mix of intervals and tempo), one long run and the rest easy runs. Train 5-6 times a week with one day off.

    I do all my Mon-Fri training within my one hour lunch break. LSR is either at the weekend or in the morning before work.

    I know I should probably join a club. I would love to but we'll see how life changes once baby arrives. Even if I could do one session a week with a club I think it would be of benefit.

    Last weeks training;
    Mon: 7 miles steady/progressive starting at 7min/mile and finishing at 6:30min/mile. I'm thinking this run isn't of much benefit as it's in no mans land pacewise for me?
    Tues: 5 x 1 mile intervals. Intervals at 5:50min/mile average with 3min recovery between.
    Wednesday: 10k easy/recovery @ 7:30min/mile. Not sure if this should be slower but I read that it's bad to have easy and LSR paces the same i.e. too much running at the slow pace. The 7:30 pace felt easy.
    Thursday: 15 mile LSR @ 8min/mile. Total time: 2 hours.
    Friday: 4 mile recovery jog @ 8:50 min/mile.
    Saturday: Parkrun 5k - 18:22.
    Sunday: Rest

    Probably overdid it a bit last week. Not sure to be honest but I feel good. I'm still learning. I'll be giving up the Parkruns in a couple of weeks for a while so I wanted to run a couple of them pretty hard to end up on a good note.

    Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'm looking to improve and still relatively new to proper training so I'm willing to take any advice on board.


«13456723

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,415 ✭✭✭Singer


    Three things.

    1. Those are some great shorter times, though with a good dropoff at HM. Endurance looks like a weakness that you can work on (depending on your goals).
    2. Follow the advice there and you'll be flying: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=62738816 - joining a club will also help.
    3. Per your post on jake's log: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=104590958&postcount=491 ...yes, marathon training could well slow you down at shorter distances, depending on how well trained you are. You might well just speed up all over the shop, only one way to find out :) - also, 36 is not old. Krusty Clown's log started when he was around that age, he was slower than you and he finished his most recent marathon in 2:30:01.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Singer wrote: »
    Three things.

    1. Those are some great shorter times, though with a good dropoff at HM. Endurance looks like a weakness that you can work on (depending on your goals).
    2. Follow the advice there and you'll be flying: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=62738816 - joining a club will also help.
    3. Per your post on jake's log: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=104590958&postcount=491 ...yes, marathon training could well slow you down at shorter distances, depending on how well trained you are. You might well just speed up all over the shop, only one way to find out :) - also, 36 is not old. Krusty Clown's log started when he was around that age, he was slower than you and he finished his most recent marathon in 2:30:01.

    Hey Singer,

    Thanks for taking the time out to read and provide feedback.

    First off, those Tergat posts are pretty epic and answer a lot of questions I had. I'll have to re-read a bunch of times to fully digest it all. Thanks for linking. Invaluable advice.

    In relation to the drop-off in HM - it's a hard one to judge. I feel like I've come on a lot since then and that was a particularly hilly excruciatingly tough course through the Burren. I feel like if I was to run a HM now, my time would be much better.

    Endurance has been an issue for me though. In my two 10k fast times this year I have really had to dig deep from 6k onwards. I spoke to a friend of mine who is sub-elite and he recommended I lengthen my interval training which I have tried to do.

    I guess at the moment I feel like I'm at a bit of a cross-roads. Need to decide whether to pursue 5k/10k racing or bite the bullet and jump up to the half/full although it sounds like it might not be a bad idea to spend the next 9 months on 5k/10k specific training with maybe a view to running DCM next year.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,015 ✭✭✭jake1970


    Found you:)
    Best of luck with the log and with your training.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Decent week of running but not very structured. Feeling a bit in no man's land at the moment between my racing finishing for a while and baby season about to begin!

    Monday - 1M Warmup - 12 x 600m Intervals with 1:30 recovery between.
    600m splits - were 2:03, 2:05, 2:06, 2:04, 2:05, 2:06, 2:04, 2:03, 2:05, 2:07, 2:08, 2:05
    So I averaged 5:30 to 5:43m/mile pace for the set. Extremely tough by the end. Not sure if I'm running these too fast but that range is right in the middle of what McMillian recommends for speed intervals for my target 10k time.

    Tuesday - Easy 7M - 8:06m/mile

    Wednesday - 6.5M with 8 x 30s Hill intervals - full recovery in between
    Ran the rest easy.

    Thursday - 12M run - 8M at easy 8:00 pace, 4M building to Tempo.
    4M splits were 6:48, 6:41, 6:32, 6:24

    Friday - Rest

    Saturday - Warmup + Tralee Parkrun - 18:28

    Total miles: 37.5

    So thats the end of the Parkruns for me for a while. Longer term I want to switch my focus to weekend long runs.

    I spent the week reading a load of training logs on here, articles online, researching plans, and trying to figure out what I want to do next. Been talking to a few runners to get some advice and it's funny, everyone thinks something different! My dilemma is whether to try and improve my 5k/10k times and base speed or move into half/full marathon training.
    My thoughts right now are to spend the next few months continuing to do one interval, one tempo, one long run, rest easy running every week and have it progress week on week, assuming i'm not exhausted from first time fatherhood!
    Then in January move into a half marathon block of training with a view to target Half Marathon race in March/April. Then spend two months building up speed a bit more with a half/10k style plan. Then in June/July move into a full marathon plan with a view to running my first marathon in Dublin in October.
    (All assuming I remain fit and healthy).

    Someone told me I should get my 10k time down as it would help with half/full marathon so I dunno. A bit confused at the mo!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,015 ✭✭✭jake1970


    I spent the week reading a load of training logs on here, articles online, researching plans, and trying to figure out what I want to do next. Been talking to a few runners to get some advice and it's funny, everyone thinks something different! My dilemma is whether to try and improve my 5k/10k times and base speed or move into half/full marathon training.
    My thoughts right now are to spend the next few months continuing to do one interval, one tempo, one long run, rest easy running every week and have it progress week on week, assuming i'm not exhausted from first time fatherhood!
    Then in January move into a half marathon block of training with a view to target Half Marathon race in March/April. Then spend two months building up speed a bit more with a half/10k style plan. Then in June/July move into a full marathon plan with a view to running my first marathon in Dublin in October.
    (All assuming I remain fit and healthy).

    Someone told me I should get my 10k time down as it would help with half/full marathon so I dunno. A bit confused at the mo!



    Just on your plan for next year, make sure you plan in some down time between training cycles. Training at high intensity all year round can lead to injury or maybe even overtraining. Take a couple of weeks of easy running between training cycles and give your body a chance to recover.


    You say that you have being researching training plans, are there any in particular that you like the look off?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    jake1970 wrote:
    Just on your plan for next year, make sure you plan in some down time between training cycles. Training at high intensity all year round can lead to injury or maybe even overtraining. Take a couple of weeks of easy running between training cycles and give your body a chance to recover.

    Cheers for the inputs. I actually put a calendar together for next year just to roughly see how everything fits. Each cycle factored in a recovery section between cycles.
    jake1970 wrote:
    You say that you have being researching training plans, are there any in particular that you like the look off?

    The 5k/10k plan is one I put together myself by reading multiple logs and online advice and my experience of what worked for me this year. Basically three hard runs mixed with three easy runs per week. Hard being a mix of interval, hills, tempo, long run.
    For the half block I thought Hal Higdon looked ok but would like to change some of the interval stuff and up the easy mileage.
    For the marathon I would definitely need more research and inputs. That's not something I'd even attempt to piece together myself but the P&D 55 plan looked decent.

    My missus bought me a three books (Daniels running formula, Pfitzinger and faster road running ) as a gift so I'm hoping these will give me some insight.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Pretty happy with how the week went. I feel like I'm getting stronger. My wife bought me a few books as an anniversary present (Daniels Running Formula, Pfitzinger's Faster Road Racing and Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning. Started with the Faster Road Racing book which I find really really good. Gave me insight into a lot of questions I had and saved me plaguing the poor lads on Boards with questions. Took a look at the plans too and will definitely have a crack at one of them once baby is born and things have settled. So I decided to try a few things from the book this week.

    Monday - Easy 7 miles @ 7:52/mile pace. Nothing unusual to report here. Felt nice and easy.

    Tuesday - Fresh legs for the session.
    1M warmup - 8 x 3mins @ 10k pace with 1:15 recovery between each - 1M cool down.
    Splits were 5:54, 5:54, 5:55, 5:54, 5:38, 5:47, 5:54, 5:50
    Really enjoyed the session and felt strong and controlled throughout. This session was recommended by a Boardsie so thanks for that!

    Wednesday - Easy 7M @ 7:30/mile pace. Legs felt surprisingly good.

    Thursday - 2M warmup building into three sets of tempo intervals of 11min/9min/9min with 3min jog recovery between. Target pace was 6:05 and recovery jog at 8:15. I also monitored heart rate as per Pfitzingers guide so target heart rate was 151-170.
    Session went really well. Felt comfortably hard. The splits were pretty much bang on 6:05 and heartrate was sitting around 160 for the duration of the intervals.

    Friday - Easy 6.4M with 8 x 100m strides at the end.

    Saturday - 13M run starting with an 8min mile and working down to 7min mile by mile 11. Last two miles the pace was increased to 6:42 and 6:39/mile. Really good progressive long run. Took 1:37 in total.

    Sunday - Rest

    Total mileage for the week - 48 miles.

    So I'm still learning, but the books are a great help.

    Another point of note this week is I have abandoned listening to music for my runs apart from the long run. I think getting rid of the music has helped me tune in, as opposed to what I was trying to do which was tune out! We'll see how it goes. But definitely enjoying my running.

    If I haven't updated this time next week it might be safe to assume that Baby Swashbuckler has arrived upon us.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Still no sign of Baby Swashbuckler....the wait continues!

    Monday - Easy 7.3M @ 7:28/mile pace. Not sure about the easy pace. It feels easy and I'm fresh for the session the next day but I'l see over time whether the fatigue builds up.

    Tuesday - 4 x 5minute intervals @ 5k effort with 2:15 recovery between each one.
    The average pace for the splits was 5:47, 5:42, 5:40; 5:42 covering a distance of 0.86mile-0.88mile (measured on the garmin so questionable accuracy). I love these sessions. Good and tough and felt "great" after.

    Wednesday - Easy 6.8M @ 7:40/mile pace.

    Thursday - Easy 7M including 8 x 30s strides. Average pace including the strides worked out at 7:15/mile.

    Friday - Recovery Jog of 5.5M @ 8:27/mile pace. Felt better afterwards. Still feeling the session from Tuesday.

    Saturday - 18M Long Run @ 7:40/mile. Was a bit annoyed with myself after this run although it will stand to me as a lesson learned. Went out without any fuel or water. Felt fine up to mile 13 and then started struggling. Considered flagging a taxi home at one stage. I had done 16M a few weeks back so the jump in distance was ok. But by god did it teach me a lesson on pacing. Saw some great posts in the DCM novices thread about pacing a marathon and that advice combined with this run will stand to me next year when I hopefully train for my first marathon all going well. 7:40/mile may seem easy every other day of the week but beyond a certain distance that all changes. Stupid of me not to have water or fuel planted somewhere. Lesson learned.

    Sunday - Rest

    Total mileage for the week - 52 miles

    Slowly but surely building up the mileage. I want to get my body used to the higher mileage for when I start a Pfitzinger 10k/half plan in January. I plan to spend the first 6 months on 10k/half training with a couple of target races. Then the second half of the year will hopefully be DCM training.

    But for now, I'll carry on tipping away and see where my training takes me.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Baby Swashbuckler was born this morning. I'm completely in love. Running can take a back seat for a few days..


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,839 ✭✭✭hot buttered scones


    Baby Swashbuckler was born this morning. I'm completely in love. Running can take a back seat for a few days..

    Congrats! It's the best feeling ever.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Figured now was as good a time as any to get back on track with updating here. Have had a great three weeks off work spending time with wife and baby. Back to work tomorrow which also means I'll be back into my running routine too as most of my running is at lunch break.

    Ran a 5k time trial on the day we were going into hospital. Managed 18.02 which is a new pb. Then pretty much took a full week off after little girl was born. Started introducing some running again over the last couple of weeks. My god sleep plays a huge part in performance on the road!

    Did a couple of "easy" runs to shake off the cobwebs initially. Noticed the heart rate and effort was much higher than it used to be. Then introduced a couple of tempo/interval runs and long runs and can feel it coming back. The 15M long run felt really good but tough on Sunday.

    So the plan for the next couple of months is to keep doing three easy, one vo2 max, one tempo and one long run per week trying to peak mileage at around 50-55 miles. Maybe run a local 10k at Christmas. I've signed up for the Run Clare series in 2018. I plan on targeting the Ennis 10k race in March for a pb. Probably race the 5k. Might just treat the 5m and 10M as training runs. Want to target Limerick Half in May too. So come January I want to start a pfitzinger 10k plan with some adjustments made to it to cater for running a half in May. Not sure how wise it is targeting a 10k in March followed by a half in May but I'm hoping I can come off the 10k plan in decent shape. Some more experienced runners on here might have an input on that?

    Anyway good to be getting back into it. Pretty surprised at how tough I found it after the week off but lack of sleep and bad hydration and diet will do that I guess!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Quick update from last week. Starting to get back into a routine now which is great. Tough going with waking at night to change nappies but I think i'm managing ok. Can feel the fitness coming back a bit. Still amazes me how sleep (lack of) has impacted the running.

    Monday and Tuesday were the last two days with wife and baby before I went back to work, so running rightfully took a back seat.

    Wednesday - Mona Fartlek with tempo section added.
    Really enjoyed this one. Basically it consisted of warmup, 20mins at Tempo, followed by (2x90s with 60s recovery), (4x60s with 60s recovery), (4x30s with 30s recovery), (6x15s with 15s recovery). Paces increase as the splits shorten.

    It's a pretty complicated run so without going into too much detail the tempo section was good. Ran at average 6.20/mile. Maybe a little on the slow side for what my tempo should be. The splits were pretty quick, starting out at 5.45min/mile and finishing up at 5.30min/km. Nice little session to get me back into it.

    Thursday - Easy 5M at 7.38/mile pace.

    Friday - 5 x 1M at 10k Pace with 3 mins recovery between. Was tough but managed ok. Splits were 6.03/5.57/5.56/5.57/5.57.

    Saturday off.

    Sunday - 12M Progression run + 1M slow at the end.
    Started at 7.50/mile for first four miles, steadily increased the pace and finished on a 6.28/mile. Total time for 13M was 1:36:46. Came home and enviously watched all the DCM runners crossing the line. Next year i'll be there hopefully!

    Total mileage for the week: 33.5 miles.

    Happy with how the week went. It'll take a while to get back to where I was but just happy to be getting back into a running routine.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,643 ✭✭✭ThePiedPiper


    Congratulations on the addition to the family. I'm enjoying reading your log. A few observations, if it's alright. The variety in your sessions is fantastic, sets you up well to compete at a range of distances. Regarding the water and fuel on the long run, I would say it's a better workout when you use no fuelling. You will train your body to extend it's glycogen reserves and get more efficient at burning fat. When the time comes for a very specific marathon focused long run, use the gels and water as they will help you in the marathon itself.

    Also, have you a good running buggy? Great core workout and fun for everyone. Best of luck with the parenting and running.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Thanks for your comments and for reading!

    Yeah all my long runs are done early in the morning on an empty stomach. It's how I prefer to do my long runs in training. I think there was an 18 miler a few weeks back where I really could have done with something but i probably hit that run too fast anyway.

    As for the buggy, I plan on investing in one soon but need to wait until baby is a bit older before I subject here to the dodgy footpaths of limerick!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,414 ✭✭✭Testosterscone


    Best of luck with training SB, The log is basically me in 6 months time so following it with interest :p

    FWIW the one thing I would say is that your sessions look great on paper don't under estimate the affects of sleep deprivation on recovery and adapt your training to take that into account. You look like you are not afraid of hammering the sessions splits wise but sometimes less is more in terms of intensity and rep duration (That Mona session is a great one I use it a good bit actually but its 20 min solid work on its own without the tempo)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Best of luck with training SB, The log is basically me in 6 months time so following it with interest :p

    FWIW the one thing I would say is that your sessions look great on paper don't under estimate the affects of sleep deprivation on recovery and adapt your training to take that into account. You look like you are not afraid of hammering the sessions splits wise but sometimes less is more in terms of intensity and rep duration (That Mona session is a great one I use it a good bit actually but its 20 min solid work on its own without the tempo)

    I think I learned that the hard way today. As soon as I started running today I could feel the effects from last weeks efforts. I'm definitely noticing the effects of sleep deprivation and it's tough to get my head around. I'm used to recovering much quicker.

    The Mona session + tempo was something I took from McMillian. To be honest I felt "good" during it. It's probably the cumulative effects of the entire week I'm feeling now.

    The problem I have at the moment is everything I'm doing is geared towards maintenance until January when I plan on kicking off a proper plan. So I'm kinda operating on a week by week basis. And probably a bit overenthusiastic considering my circumstances. If I'm completely honest with myself, is it wise to be doing a Mona Fartlek, a 5 x 1M 10k session and a 13M progression run within the first week back? Probably not!

    I'll be keeping a close eye on my recovery this week. Last thing I want is to overtrain and end up injured. I'll be taking this line of advice very seriously: "don't under estimate the affects of sleep deprivation on recovery and adapt your training to take that into account".


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    You were right Testosterscone. Legs are shot this week. Not sure what to do. Should I keep up the intervals and tempo runs but scale back the pace or should I just be doing easy running to build up the base again?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Definitely learned a lesson this week and Testosterscones advice was eerily accurate!

    In hindsight my previous week's log was probably a little too aggressive coming off a couple of weeks of disturbed sleep and overall general tiredness and not looking after myself. It didn't really catch up with me until last week and I really felt dead in the legs and run down. Chatted to a very experienced runner I know, who also became a Dad last year, and his advice was ignore the watch, run when you can, don't be strict with having to do intervals/sessions on a certain day, be flexible, do what the body will allow on any given day and when the nights settle down kick back into a proper plan probably in January. So thats the "plan". Do what my body will let me do for the next month or so.

    So, after that preample, this is what last week looked like;

    Monday - Rest

    Tuesday - 7M General Aerobic with 8 x 30s strides towards the end. Average pace was ~7.45/mile not including the strides.

    Wednesday - 6M General Aerobic at 7.50/mile. It was this day I felt the legs were dead and I needed to reassess.

    Thursday - Rest

    Friday - Just went out and ran what the body wanted to do. Had a decent enough nights sleep beforehand and felt a bit fresher after the day off. Managed 6.25 miles with a mix of paces in there. A couple of 7min miles, couple of slowish miles and a couple of decent paced miles @6.20/mile. Was happy afterwards. I wore the watch but didnt pay attention to it.

    Saturday - 12M @ 7.46/mile. Really enjoyed this run after 8 hours sleep the night before!

    Sunday - Rest

    Happy with how the week ended. Hopefully the next few weeks can build a bit more but main priority is to listen to the body.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,414 ✭✭✭Testosterscone


    You were right Testosterscone. Legs are shot this week. Not sure what to do. Should I keep up the intervals and tempo runs but scale back the pace or should I just be doing easy running to build up the base again?

    I would scale back paces or volume at times rather than just ran easy

    6x1 miles or the likes are a tough session but can get similar if not more benefits from shorter durations at time (like 5x1k of shorter recovery off the same pace)

    All depends on how all the rest of life is there might be times when you are under recovered and 4or 5 reps is plenty.

    Takes a bit of getting to know your body but worth it you can still train hard and improve without over cooking it


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Another decent week behind me.

    Monday - 6.6mile General Aerobic @ 7.50/mile. Pace Splits 7.53, 7.46, 7.56, 7.44, 7.54, 7.50, 7.41

    Tuesday - 6x3mins with 75s recovery between each. Warmup and Cooldown miles either side.
    Plan was to run at 5k "effort".

    Pace splits 5.51, 5.54, 5.49, 5.50, 5.46, 5.39
    Was wrecked for the last one. To be honest it was more than 5k effort by then.

    Wednesday - 5.5M Recovery at 8.12 pace. Legs were tired.

    Thursday - Bit of a mixed bag that was neither here nor there. 6M including 4 x 20s steep hill sprints. The miles paces either side of the hills were 7.23, 7.04, 6.54, 6.33. One of those runs where I just did what the body felt like with no particular target in mind. I think these are called "junk miles" ;)

    Friday - Gym with some light stretching after 20min on the cross trainer to warmup.

    Saturday - 12M with pretty even splits around 7.40/mile. Total time 1.31.42. Really enjoyed that run. It was raining heavily and was just one of those days where I was smiling away to myself while I ran.

    Sunday rest.

    Total mileage for the week - 37.3 miles.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Week One under new management........

    Monday plan was 6M easy at 7.55 to 8.30 pace.
    Actual: 6.8M at 8.10 pace. Slightly over distance but my running buddy was at fault as he assured me the route was 6M. It wasn't! Nice easy Run.

    Tues plan was 12x90s @ 6min/mile pace with 60s recovery.
    2M warmup. 1M CD. Here were my pace splits : 5.45, 5.59, 5.59, 5.47, 5.51, 5.58, 5.59, 6.04, 5.52, 6.02, 6.02, 5.47. Found it tricky to hone in on the correct pace. Managed it a couple of times but overshot the mark on a few. Felt very controlled and effort level at 12 was the same as it was at 4 or 5. Felt challenging but fine. Is this how intervals should feel, because of that's the case I've been killing myself up to now!

    Wednesday and Thursday were both easy runs as prescribed. Legs were tiredish on Wednesday but felt great by Thursday. Had to hold myself back  A nice feeling. I'm usually a lot more tired by Thursday.

    Friday plan was 3x8 mins at 6.30 to 6.35 pace with 2min recovery. Happy with how I ran this. 6.30, 6.25, 6.30. Felt very controlled and I had a lot more in me. A nice feeling again! Included warmup and cool down.

    Saturday plan 10M easy. Did 10M at 8.05.

    Total 42.6 miles for the week.

    So all in all I felt great this week. Onwards and upwards. Or downwards depending how you look at it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Week Two under new management........

    Monday plan was 6M easy at 7.55 to 8.30 pace.
    Actual: 6M at 8.03 pace.
    Nice easy run. Nothing major to report. The legs are feeling fresher these days unlike before when I was probably overloading a bit. So yeah, this was a nice easy run.

    Tues plan was 7x800m @ 6min/mile pace with reducing recoveries of 90s/90s/75s/75s/60s/60s
    I really like the look of these sessions. There's something about the pain of the sessions that I enjoy. A bit sadistic I guess!
    2M warmup. Pace splits : 6.01/5.58/5.57/5.55/6.0/5.57/5.53. 1M(ish) CD. Loved the session. Felt like a step up from the previous week but still controlled and not all out. The drop in recovery time made the session harder as it went along but in a good way. Felt great after...Nothing like the feeling of a well executed session :) total of 7.4 miles.

    Wednesday (5M) and Thursday (7M) were both easy runs as prescribed. Legs didn't feel as tired post session as the previous weeks which I guess is a good sign - or maybe just a sign of better sleep ;)

    Friday plan was 2M WU + 15min/10min/10min at 7/6.50/6.40 pace + CD so a nice little progression run. Had to head out in the early morning as I was on baby minding duty for the day. It was baltic. But I enjoy running in the cold. Took a bit of a stupid route at peak school/work traffic so there was a lot of jumping on and off the footpaths. The run was executed pretty well. Looking at my Garmin I think I did the first 15mins in or around 7min pace, next 10mins was at closer to 6.45 and last 10 was at around 6.35 so close enough I guess. Took a while to warm into it. The 6.35min block actually felt a little easier than the 7min as I had warmed up nicely by then. All in all another good session.

    Saturday plan 12M easy. Did 12M at 8.01. Nothing unusal to report here either. Another nice fresh morning. Legs felt good after the week. Definitely noticing a difference since coach came on board!

    Total 45.4 miles for the week.

    Moving along nicely and nice to have a plan in place with some very helpful guidance. I'm no longer second guessing everything. So the plan is to target a 10k PB in Ennis in March. This is the number one goal race. I have signed up to the Run Clare series but the other races will be approached in whatever way helps me for the Ennis 10k. If I'm told to walk them backwards that's what I'll do! So the plan is Ennis 10k and then move onto the Limerick Half in May where I would hope for a sub 1.30 but like I said, the priority goal race is Ennis in March.

    Looking forward to doing some races again. Feels like it's been ages (last race was in August). Definitely missing the race buzz.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,638 ✭✭✭ThebitterLemon


    Week Two under new management........

    Monday plan was 6M easy at 7.55 to 8.30 pace.
    Actual: 6M at 8.03 pace.
    Nice easy run. Nothing major to report. The legs are feeling fresher these days unlike before when I was probably overloading a bit. So yeah, this was a nice easy run.

    Tues plan was 7x800m @ 6min/mile pace with reducing recoveries of 90s/90s/75s/75s/60s/60s
    I really like the look of these sessions. There's something about the pain of the sessions that I enjoy. A bit sadistic I guess!
    2M warmup. Pace splits : 6.01/5.58/5.57/5.55/6.0/5.57/5.53. 1M(ish) CD. Loved the session. Felt like a step up from the previous week but still controlled and not all out. The drop in recovery time made the session harder as it went along but in a good way. Felt great after...Nothing like the feeling of a well executed session :) total of 7.4 miles.

    Wednesday (5M) and Thursday (7M) were both easy runs as prescribed. Legs didn't feel as tired post session as the previous weeks which I guess is a good sign - or maybe just a sign of better sleep ;)

    Friday plan was 2M WU + 15min/10min/10min at 7/6.50/6.40 pace + CD so a nice little progression run. Had to head out in the early morning as I was on baby minding duty for the day. It was baltic. But I enjoy running in the cold. Took a bit of a stupid route at peak school/work traffic so there was a lot of jumping on and off the footpaths. The run was executed pretty well. Looking at my Garmin I think I did the first 15mins in or around 7min pace, next 10mins was at closer to 6.45 and last 10 was at around 6.35 so close enough I guess. Took a while to warm into it. The 6.35min block actually felt a little easier than the 7min as I had warmed up nicely by then. All in all another good session.

    Saturday plan 12M easy. Did 12M at 8.01. Nothing unusal to report here either. Another nice fresh morning. Legs felt good after the week. Definitely noticing a difference since coach came on board!

    Total 45.4 miles for the week.

    Moving along nicely and nice to have a plan in place with some very helpful guidance. I'm no longer second guessing everything. So the plan is to target a 10k PB in Ennis in March. This is the number one goal race. I have signed up to the Run Clare series but the other races will be approached in whatever way helps me for the Ennis 10k. If I'm told to walk them backwards that's what I'll do! So the plan is Ennis 10k and then move onto the Limerick Half in May where I would hope for a sub 1.30 but like I said, the priority goal race is Ennis in March.

    Looking forward to doing some races again. Feels like it's been ages (last race was in August). Definitely missing the race buzz.

    I'd say come end March you'd be disappointed with a sub 1.30 half!

    Some of those sessions look familiar :)

    TbL


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Very familiar! I laugh when I look at your/AMK and a few other logs on here.....

    1.30 is conservative. To be honest I'd hope for better but I guess I've never done sub 1.30 so that would be the B goal...... the A goal is TBD.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Another very solid week. I'm happy with the progress of late. And even better is the baby has slept through the night for the last few nights! I'm sure that's just temporary. So I'm feeling very well rested! I've started to settle into the routine of these weeks knowing Tuesdays and Fridays will be fairly challenging and everything else is nice and easy. But there's plenty of challenge in the Tuesday and Friday sessions to more than make up for the easy days in between!

    Monday - Easy 6M @ 7:57/mile. Nice easy run to ease into the week.

    Tuesday - 16 x 300m with 60s recovery. Target pace was ~5.35/mile or 60/61s per set - On paper I thought this looked handy.........I was wrong......very wrong........Very tough session and pretty relentless. The 60s off just flies by. The fastest 60s I've ever experienced.
    Splits were 59/62/60/60/58/59/60/58/61/61/61/60/62/62/59/60. Recovery between most of the splits needed to be walking. Loved the session. Between warmup and cool down total mileage was 7.29 miles. I know I keep saying it but boy do I like sessions.

    Wednesday - Easy 5M for recovery @ 8:06/mile.

    Thursday - Easy 7M @ 8:04/mile. I tend to judge the pace on how I feel. If I feel I need to go slower I will but usually this pace feels as easy as I think it needs to be.

    Friday - 18mins/12mins/6mins @ 6.30 pace with 2mins between each set. It was a cold cold morning and I had to wrap up pretty well. Needed to do this run very early as I had a training course at work. Set off with a warmup and eased into it. Took a while to warm up but this was a very well executed session. The pace splits were spot on more or less and by the end of it I was definitely feeling it. A harder session than the previous Friday ones but enjoyable. It's these sessions that make me remember why I love running.

    Saturday - Easy 12M @ 8min/mile pace. Nice morning run again around Limerick. Lovely to see so many people out running. Warmer than the other mornings. Could have been considered tropical based on the previous days.

    So there you have it. Seems like I'm the only person on the planet that didnt race this weekend. My Strava and Boards threads are filled with great reports and some great running all round. Slightly envious I must say. Looks like I'll be racing a local five miler on New Years day so that will be my first outing in a race since August. I can't wait. I miss racing!

    Total mileage for the week: 45.3 miles.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Coach is definitively putting me through my paces. A couple of tough tough sessions this week but definitely feeling the benefits. Planning to stay reasonably sensible over the festive season. The joys of having a newborn - I've learned that hangovers, running and minding a baby do not mix.........

    Monday - Easy 6M @ 8min pace. Enjoyed this run with one of my buddies from work. Nice to get out with people from time to time. Nothing to report on this run. Took one of the usual loops from work on my lunch break.

    Tuesday - (5x3mins@6min/mile)+(6x30s "Hard")
    This was a really good session. Anyone reading my log is probably sick of me going on about how much I love the sessions, so I'll shut up.......but......this was fun.

    Splits for the 5x3min - 6.01/5.57/5.54/5.56/5.50.
    Splits for the 6x30s - 5.04/5.10/5.26/5/5.10/4.46.

    Felt pretty "controlled" on the 3mins but was definitely feeling it. By controlled I mean it wasn't all out but the heart rate and breathing were definitely high. Decided to go for it on a few of the 30s just to unleash the legs and see what they had. Lost concentration on the 5.26. Mind wandered a bit thinking of how nice it was to blast the legs with some hard hard pace.
    Very happy with the session. Including warmup and cool down total mileage was 7 miles.

    Wednesday - 5M recovery and felt every bit of it...Another one where I ran with one of my buddies. Nice few loops of the nearby park. Wind was pretty strong so adjusted the pace accordingly. Garmin was off on the watch so this was actually closer to 8.15/mile.

    Thursday - 7M Easy @ 7:51/mile. Again the Garmin was off. This was closer to 8min/mile. Nothing major to report here. Decided to throw on the headphones and enjoy a few tunes. I used to wear the headphones on every run but have stopped (apart from my long runs). I couldn't go back to wearing them for any speed stuff. Too distracting. I would say getting rid of the music is one of the things that has helped me a lot as I'm now trying to tune into how I feel while running the sessions.

    Friday - killer session and one of the most interesting so far.
    4 x (4,3,2,1min) with 60s recovery between splits and 3mins between sets.

    Splits for the sets;
    6.16/6.15/6.14/6.08
    6.15/6.14/6.10/6.03
    6.11/6.10/6.08/6.03
    6.08/6.10/6.11/6.0
    Distance covered was close enough to 1k/770m/520m/270m for each set.

    I thought the GPS was acting up again as some of the splits seemed faster than they felt, for example, the 6.08 on the last set did not feel like a 6.08. I felt like I was running within myself. Upon further investigating I think the step pace function on the garmin isnt the best. I have downloaded a new widget and I'll see how that goes. It seems like step pace is the default pace setting for pre-programmed intervals on the forerunner 235. It seems to hop around a bit. Would prefer some sort of averaged or smoothed pace monitor. We'll see. This is the first time I've had issues.
    Either way, coach said not to worry too much about the paces being quicker than planned. The main thing was to run within myself which I did. Interesting that the Tuesday sessions seem to be fairly intense on breathing and heart rate. The Friday sessions tend to be more intensive on the legs. Felt pretty great after. Might be one of the best sessions i've done. Total distance 10.2miles.

    Saturday - Easy 12M @ 8.04/mile. Really enjoyed this run. Freezing cold but fresh and bright morning. Lots of people out running again. Managing to get out early on the long runs over the past few weeks which I prefer.

    Total mileage for the week: 47.8 miles

    Solid week again. Needed to reshuffle this weeks plan a bit as I have my work night Thursday night. Coach was kind enough to reshuffle the runs. In saying that, I'm being punished with a belter of a long run on Saturday. He gives with one hand and takes away with the other. haha. Looking forward to the week ahead.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    These week was the first time I've physically felt a real jump in how I've felt during training. Had a chat with coach about it and he reckoned it's normal enough to feel a boost after 5-6 weeks. It goes to show that the training I was doing was fine but not optimised by any stretch of the imagination. The few mistakes I would point to were (just putting this here for anyone that ever reads this back and might help them avoid making the same mistakes);

    1. Top of the list is running the sessions too hard every week. I think I rarely did a session near 10k pace. It was usually 5k pace or faster.
    2. No progression to the sessions. most were chosen randomly on any given week with a tendency to do longer sessions like 1k or 1 mile intervals.
    3. Every week had a very hard session followed by a really hard tempo run in the same week. So most weeks I was attempting 6min pace in a session on Monday and then running a tempo at 6.15 on Thursday. The legs were fairly fatigued.
    4. Easy runs were too fast - usually at 7.30min pace.
    5. Same for the long runs.
    6. Lack of progression in the long runs. I started doing 16 and 18 miles out of nowhere really.

    The difference in freshness and progress has been fairly surprising since Testosterscone started helping me out. Long may it continue.

    Anyways, my week last week;

    Monday - Easy 6M at 8min/mile. The usual easy run on a Monday to ease into the week. Nothing unusual to report here apart from the fact this was the run that got me thinking about how well the training was working. I was straining at the leash to go faster. Felt great, legs felt fresh, wanted to race! But didn't....

    Tuesday - 6 x 1k intervals. Target 5.55-6.00/mile with 90s recovery.
    On paper I thought this looked like a tough session. I was surprised at how I felt. The whole thing felt very controlled. Not easy by any stretch of the imagination but not a struggle. Splits 6.05, 6.00, 5.54, 5.54, 5.55, 5.48. Really happy with how it went.

    Wednesday - Easy 7M at 8:05/mile. Needed to do this one in the morning as it was Christmas dinner in the canteen at work and I wasn't missing that! Headed out in the lashing rain (it eased) at 7:45am. Pitch black, cold and wet. One of those mornings where you begin to question your sanity but oddly that is one run I will look back on in the Summer when I'm hopefully chasing PB's in the sun. That will be one run I will go to when I have to dig deep. No point spending hours out running in the pi**ing rain in Winter if you don't push yourself to your limits in the Summer :)

    Thursday - Easy 7M at 8:02/mile. Nothing major to report. Another wet day. Ran with my work buddy. Enjoyable run. Always enjoyable to run with a partner on these easy runs.

    Friday - Recovery 4M at 8:02/mile - Normally I'd be doing a session on Friday but I had my work xmas night out the night before so coach was enough enough to reshuffle my week. Had a decent few pints at the party and was surprised how good I felt on these 4 miles. A further sign of improvements maybe?

    Saturday - So as I said, coach reshuffled the week and put this belter of a run on me for Saturday -
    30min Easy+(20/15/10min@7/6.50/6.40) +30min Easy

    Was a little anxious going into this. Knew the first 30 would be fine. Was pretty sure the 7 and 6:50 would be ok but questioned how id feel for the 6:40 and final 30mins. The answer is surprisingly good. Took off on a nice loop of Limerick city. I figured i'd need 14-15 miles foe this run so did a similar route to one I did earlier in the year. Got out nice and early again at 11am after the missus getting a decent lie in while I looked after the little one. First 30mins went by handy enough. Nice easy running. Kicked in to the tempo part. 7min pace took a minute or two to come to me. Funny, this was my pace for years - every day running 7min pace and now I actually struggle a bit to settle into it. Eased into the 6.50 section nicely and the 6.40 was fine too. I was monitoring my pace all the way and they were fairly bang on. The last 30 was when I thought my legs would really struggle but they didn't. I hit the 12 mile mark and wondered why last weeks 12mile easy run actually felt worse. Finished up at 14.2 miles feeling better than last weeks 12 miler. So again, maybe another sign of improvement.

    Total mileage for the week: 44.4 miles.

    This week is back to normal in terms of the format. Next week is a slight down week and then racing on Jan 1st. Can't wait!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,638 ✭✭✭ThebitterLemon


    These week was the first time I've physically felt a real jump in how I've felt during training. Had a chat with coach about it and he reckoned it's normal enough to feel a boost after 5-6 weeks. It goes to show that the training I was doing was fine but not optimised by any stretch of the imagination. The few mistakes I would point to were (just putting this here for anyone that ever reads this back and might help them avoid making the same mistakes);

    1. Top of the list is running the sessions too hard every week. I think I rarely did a session near 10k pace. It was usually 5k pace or faster.
    2. No progression to the sessions. most were chosen randomly on any given week with a tendency to do longer sessions like 1k or 1 mile intervals.
    3. Every week had a very hard session followed by a really hard tempo run in the same week. So most weeks I was attempting 6min pace in a session on Monday and then running a tempo at 6.15 on Thursday. The legs were fairly fatigued.
    4. Easy runs were too fast - usually at 7.30min pace.
    5. Same for the long runs.
    6. Lack of progression in the long runs. I started doing 16 and 18 miles out of nowhere really.

    The difference in freshness and progress has been fairly surprising since Testosterscone started helping me out. Long may it continue.

    Anyways, my week last week;

    Monday - Easy 6M at 8min/mile. The usual easy run on a Monday to ease into the week. Nothing unusual to report here apart from the fact this was the run that got me thinking about how well the training was working. I was straining at the leash to go faster. Felt great, legs felt fresh, wanted to race! But didn't....

    Tuesday - 6 x 1k intervals. Target 5.55-6.00/mile with 90s recovery.
    On paper I thought this looked like a tough session. I was surprised at how I felt. The whole thing felt very controlled. Not easy by any stretch of the imagination but not a struggle. Splits 6.05, 6.00, 5.54, 5.54, 5.55, 5.48. Really happy with how it went.

    Wednesday - Easy 7M at 8:05/mile. Needed to do this one in the morning as it was Christmas dinner in the canteen at work and I wasn't missing that! Headed out in the lashing rain (it eased) at 7:45am. Pitch black, cold and wet. One of those mornings where you begin to question your sanity but oddly that is one run I will look back on in the Summer when I'm hopefully chasing PB's in the sun. That will be one run I will go to when I have to dig deep. No point spending hours out running in the pi**ing rain in Winter if you don't push yourself to your limits in the Summer :)

    Thursday - Easy 7M at 8:02/mile. Nothing major to report. Another wet day. Ran with my work buddy. Enjoyable run. Always enjoyable to run with a partner on these easy runs.

    Friday - Recovery 4M at 8:02/mile - Normally I'd be doing a session on Friday but I had my work xmas night out the night before so coach was enough enough to reshuffle my week. Had a decent few pints at the party and was surprised how good I felt on these 4 miles. A further sign of improvements maybe?

    Saturday - So as I said, coach reshuffled the week and put this belter of a run on me for Saturday -
    30min Easy+(20/15/10min@7/6.50/6.40) +30min Easy

    Was a little anxious going into this. Knew the first 30 would be fine. Was pretty sure the 7 and 6:50 would be ok but questioned how id feel for the 6:40 and final 30mins. The answer is surprisingly good. Took off on a nice loop of Limerick city. I figured i'd need 14-15 miles foe this run so did a similar route to one I did earlier in the year. Got out nice and early again at 11am after the missus getting a decent lie in while I looked after the little one. First 30mins went by handy enough. Nice easy running. Kicked in to the tempo part. 7min pace took a minute or two to come to me. Funny, this was my pace for years - every day running 7min pace and now I actually struggle a bit to settle into it. Eased into the 6.50 section nicely and the 6.40 was fine too. I was monitoring my pace all the way and they were fairly bang on. The last 30 was when I thought my legs would really struggle but they didn't. I hit the 12 mile mark and wondered why last weeks 12mile easy run actually felt worse. Finished up at 14.2 miles feeling better than last weeks 12 miler. So again, maybe another sign of improvement.

    Total mileage for the week: 44.4 miles.

    This week is back to normal in terms of the format. Next week is a slight down week and then racing on Jan 1st. Can't wait!

    Very nice 5 x 1k session, I'd love to be within a hippos arse of those paces.

    Keep it up

    TbL


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Very nice 5 x 1k session, I'd love to be within a hippos arse of those paces.

    Keep it up

    TbL

    6 x 1k! How dare you take away one of my 1k's! haha

    Cheers lad. Going pretty good and seeing gains. Very happy. It helps seeing the other logs on here and the Strava updates from everyone else too.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,307 ✭✭✭ariana`



    1. Top of the list is running the sessions too hard every week. I think I rarely did a session near 10k pace. It was usually 5k pace or faster.
    2. No progression to the sessions. most were chosen randomly on any given week with a tendency to do longer sessions like 1k or 1 mile intervals.
    3. Every week had a very hard session followed by a really hard tempo run in the same week. So most weeks I was attempting 6min pace in a session on Monday and then running a tempo at 6.15 on Thursday. The legs were fairly fatigued.
    4. Easy runs were too fast - usually at 7.30min pace.
    5. Same for the long runs.
    6. Lack of progression in the long runs. I started doing 16 and 18 miles out of nowhere really.

    Interesting reading, thanks.

    Great that you are feeling the benefits of the new coach. Well done.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Said I'd make a bad effort at updating my log from my phone. Given the festivities ahead over the next few days I won't be near my pc.

    Monday and Friday were the usual session days. Tuesday (7M), Wednesday (5M) and Thursday (7M) the usual easy days and Saturday (12M) the usual long. The long and easy days average were between 8 to 8.15 minutes per mile. Nothing major to report apart from the fact the legs were a bit more tired towards the end of this week especially Sat long run. Baby has been a bit more of a handful this week but all good.

    The sessions were fun as always. Tuesday was 14 x 90s off 50s recovery targeting 6min/mile pace. This was a progression on the 12 x 90s off 60s recovery from five weeks ago. Shortened recovery this week to counter the improvement in fitness felt last week. I can't remember the splits exactly but all were a bit on the fast side. Some as quick as 5.45. Coach didn't give me a bollicking so I got away with it. To be honest even at the faster splits I felt good which is a good sign.

    Fridays session was 5k Threshold at 6.10 to 6.15/mile target pace (target total time near 19.20) followed by 6mins easy followed by 4x200m targeting 38 to 40s for each. Ill be honest it was tough. I haven't sustained that kind of effort level for that length of time since Oct 3rd. I did it in 19.10. It wasn't all out by any stretch of the imagination but a very challenging, decent effort. Plenty of zip left in the legs for the 200s which were 36/38/38/38s. I do tend to always veer on the quick side of what's prescribed which is OK as long as effort levels aren't going through the roof. I need to tune into pacing better I think.

    All in all another good week. Total mileage around 47 miles ish. Plan is to take today and tomorrow off and back to it then. I'm racing a five miler on new years day so it'll be interesting to see what coach has planned for the week.

    Thanks to anyone who has taken the time to read this log and give inputs. I've taken a lot of inspiration from a lot of you on here especially the DCM novices. A genuinely nice, helpful bunch of people in this thread and I've learned a tonne. Hopefully I can give back some decent advice over the next while too. Next time I update this log it will hopefully be with my first Boards race report! Enjoy the Christmas everyone. This will be my first with our baba so we're very excited. Take care and be safe over the holidays.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,839 ✭✭✭hot buttered scones


    Have a great Christmas yourself and I hope Santy is good to the baba!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Have a great Christmas yourself and I hope Santy is good to the baba!

    For an 11 week old he's probably been a bit too good ;)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Update for this week. Race week so a mini taper week...

    Monday off. Christmas Day and no way was I getting away with running.

    Tuesday 7M easy.

    Wednesday 12 x 60s On/60s Off. Target 5.45. Lovely session done with Thomond Park as the backdrop. Went a little quick on all 12. Maybe that's overenthusiasm with a race coming up but the main thing is all were controlled and far from all out effort.

    Thursday 5M Easy

    Friday 7M Easy

    Saturday 6M Easy + 5 x 15s strides.

    Racing today. First time racing since August so I can't wait to see where I'm at. Never ideal prep being at a New Years Eve party the night before a race but kept it pretty sensible. Snacking on food was the main issue. Things are gonna change from now on. Gonna start taking race week and lifestyle choices in general more seriously. I have some pretty lofty long term goals for myself so I'll be making the lifestyle adjustments necessary from now on. Next time I write here it will be with my first race report. Happy days.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,839 ✭✭✭hot buttered scones


    Best of luck - hope it goes well for you.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Limerick Country Club New Years Day 5M Race Report

    Happy to be able to say I'm back racing again. Took a sabbatical from racing when my little girl was born to prioritise supporting my missus and baba. Things are pretty settled at this stage so no better time to get back racing. Woke this morning with the nerves that I had missed so much. The body fearing what it was about to go through. A familiar feeling. Amazing how the body knows what's coming.

    Had a decent brekkie at 10am. Tired from the previous night. Was sensible enough but bed late and baby feed at 4am left me a little groggy. Adrenaline would take over. Headed down to the country club to collect my number. Decided to put more effort into my warmup than I had in previous races. Did an initial warmup with some easy miles. Then closer to start time did some strides, active stretching... Good to go...met up with one of my buddies who was marshaling and got some positive words of support. We lined up at the start line and off we went.

    Mile 1
    Had chatted with coach prior to the race and we agreed I should start conservatively and ease into it. Use the endurance I've built up for the big hill and see if I could push on from there. I started pretty conservatively alright. I made a point of having my watch under the sleeve so I would ignore it and purely run on feel. Given the big hill and the occasional gusts of wind I didn't want to be following pace on a watch. First mile established the different packs. The leading pack of about five or six went off ahead. No way was I sticking with them. The trailing pack a bit slower than me... And me in the middle on my own. Lol. That's the way it remained for the race. Nothing to chase and nothing to escape!
    First mile was into the wind. Slight downhill. Passed by without much to report. Felt pretty good. Clocked it at 6.09. Not bad. Given the wind that was closer to 5.55 effort.

    Mile 2 was the beginning of the hill. A long, hard 1.2 mile struggle. Tough going. But I genuinely did feel a difference to previous races. It was tough but not as tough as previous races if that makes sense. Clocked mile 2 at 6.22. Tough but expected.

    The first part of mile 3 had the remainder of the hill and then the nice downhill section. I was surprised at my recovery. Heart rate dropped and I felt "good" again. Clocked mile 3 at 6.05. Decent again. Took a quick look behind me and nobody within touching distance. The leading pack were way ahead. No catching them.

    Mile 4 had the remainder of the downhill and then flattened out. This was where I clocked my fastest mile. A good sign that the training is paying dividends. Clocked mile 4 at 5.39.

    Now just to hold on to the finish line. It's always at this part of a race where I question how I'm feeling and is it normal. At this point I'm usually clinging on. Nothing extra in the tank. Just make it to the finish line. Constant positive reinforcements in the mind. Hang on almost there. Oh Jesus where is that fecking finish line. There it is thank feck. Looked at the clock and it's just ticking over the 30min mark. Finished in 30.07 with a last mile of 5.49. So close to sub 30 but that was never what today was about. Today was all about getting back on the horse so to speak. And technically it's a pb as I've never ran a 5 miler before. Haha.

    Learned a lot today and it really got me thinking.
    1. Running without the pressure of a watch and paces was a pleasure.
    2. Running on feel is interesting. How should any stage of a race "feel". Isn't it very subjective? Should I feel strong at the end? Should I be just hanging on? A learning process for sure..
    3. 5 mile races are fun. That bit less painful than a 10k.
    4. Testosterscone knows his stuff. Everything he predicted and what we've been working on paid dividends. I was relatively strong on the hill. I recovered well. I was able to kick on. I finished pretty strong. Bodes well for the next few months.
    5. No matter how fit you get racing will always hurt. That's something that took a while to get my head around. I always thought racing would get easier but it doesn't. You just push yourself harder and faster and suffer the same!

    So there u have it. First race down and raring to go. Feeling very positive about the year ahead. Next up is Barefield 5k at the end of the month. Bring it on.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,984 ✭✭✭Duanington


    Well done P - there are lots of PBs ahead this year for you if you keep the consistency going.

    Interesting reading through your thoughts post race - in particular point 5. There used to be a log around here that was titled "It never gets easy, you just get faster" and I think we often underestimate how learning to stay comfortable through the discomfort is a skill in itself that we have to master.

    Well done again, looking forward to seeing how you go over the next while


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    Duanington wrote:
    Interesting reading through your thoughts post race - in particular point 5. There used to be a log around here that was titled "It never gets easy, you just get faster" and I think we often underestimate how learning to stay comfortable through the discomfort is a skill in itself that we have to master.

    I often asked myself midrace - when is this going to start getting easier? I asked myself when I was running a 45min 10k and asked myself when I was running a sub 38. I've learned that it doesn't get easier (for me anyway) and as soon as it does, it means I'm probably not going as hard as I should be. One thing I have noticed is what you touched on, dealing with the pain becomes more manageable. But in turn I've noticed my pre race nerves have got worse over time knowing what I'm about to put myself through.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,381 ✭✭✭diego_b


    I often asked myself midrace - when is this going to start getting easier? I asked myself when I was running a 45min 10k and asked myself when I was running a sub 38. I've learned that it doesn't get easier (for me anyway) and as soon as it does, it means I'm probably not going as hard as I should be. One thing I have noticed is what you touched on, dealing with the pain becomes more manageable. But in turn I've noticed my pre race nerves have got worse over time knowing what I'm about to put myself through.

    Nowhere near your paces but I can fully emphasis with these feelings and thoughts! Nerves before target races and paces are more apparent for me now than they used to be.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    It's probably why I love running to be honest. If I stopped getting those nerves then where's the excitement?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,381 ✭✭✭diego_b


    It's probably why I love running to be honest. If I stopped getting those nerves then where's the excitement?

    Haha true, it's a great feeling when it comes together on a day and you probably surprise yourself with what you can actually do!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    diego_b wrote: »
    Haha true, it's a great feeling when it comes together on a day and you probably surprise yourself with what you can actually do!

    Definitely. I went into yesterday with some doubts as I hadn't run 6 minute miles sustained effort for anywhere near 5 miles since August. So that feeling at the end when I saw the clock was definitely a good one.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,307 ✭✭✭ariana`


    Well done on the 5m PB Swash. Sounds like you ran a perfect race.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,839 ✭✭✭hot buttered scones


    1. Running without the pressure of a watch and paces was a pleasure.
    2. Running on feel is interesting. How should any stage of a race "feel". Isn't it very subjective? Should I feel strong at the end? Should I be just hanging on? A learning process for sure..
    3. 5 mile races are fun. That bit less painful than a 10k.
    4. Testosterscone knows his stuff. Everything he predicted and what we've been working on paid dividends. I was relatively strong on the hill. I recovered well. I was able to kick on. I finished pretty strong. Bodes well for the next few months.
    5. No matter how fit you get racing will always hurt. That's something that took a while to get my head around. I always thought racing would get easier but it doesn't. You just push yourself harder and faster and suffer the same!

    So there u have it. First race down and raring to go. Feeling very positive about the year ahead. Next up is Barefield 5k at the end of the month. Bring it on.
    Duanington wrote: »
    Well done P - there are lots of PBs ahead this year for you if you keep the consistency going.

    Interesting reading through your thoughts post race - in particular point 5. There used to be a log around here that was titled "It never gets easy, you just get faster" and I think we often underestimate how learning to stay comfortable through the discomfort is a skill in itself that we have to master.

    Well done again, looking forward to seeing how you go over the next while

    Well done, and a great result for your first race back. Point 5 is one that jumped out for me as well, and I'd agree with Duanington's take on it too. I actually think it gets harder as you get faster - you suffer more! It kind of ties with the 2nd point for me - the more experience you get the more you learn that you can take a lot more pain than you think you can, and for longer than you thought you could. The more you race, the more you learn and the less you'll rely on the watch. I see a good year ahead for you.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    ariana` wrote:
    Well done on the 5m PB Swash. Sounds like you ran a perfect race.

    Feels weird being called Swash. Haha. Cheers Ariana. Must catch up on your log. Haven't had a chance to catch up today. How's the training going?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    I see a good year ahead for you.

    Cheers lad. Hopefully. As long as I stay injury free I think the consistency, enthusiasm, motivation and guidance is there. Fingers crossed. Never loved running more.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,307 ✭✭✭ariana`


    Feels weird being called Swash. Haha. Cheers Ariana. Must catch up on your log. Haven't had a chance to catch up today. How's the training going?

    Whoops sorry! I wouldn't mind but 2 of my kids have names that people tend to shorten and it drives me (a small bit) nuts when they do :o

    All good, you've caught up since i see ;)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    ariana` wrote:
    Whoops sorry! I wouldn't mind but 2 of my kids have names that people tend to shorten and it drives me (a small bit) nuts when they do

    Haha no it's not that. It's just the username Swashbuckler was something I chose off the cuff years ago and I always find it odd when I'm referred to by it haha.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,839 ✭✭✭hot buttered scones


    Haha no it's not that. It's just the username Swashbuckler was something I chose off the cuff years ago and I always find it odd when I'm referred to by it haha.

    It could be worse.....


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,583 ✭✭✭Swashbuckler


    It could be worse.....

    Haha but everyone loves hot buttered scones


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