Chapter 2 - Finding Nemo

Swashbuckler

Thanks again to everyone for the kind words and messages. Yer a grand bunch in fairness. As AMK would say you don't meet many as*hole runners. Based on a good chat with coach, we decided to step back a bit. I was hesitant but in hindsight it helped.

Monday - Easy 7M at 8.04.

Tuesday - 7M starting out easy and progressing to steady (6.40).

Splits: 8.05/7.35/7.24 /7.11/ 7.00/6.50/6.26.

Wednesday - Easy 7M at 7.55.

Thursday - Easy 7M at 7.57.

Friday - 5M Steady (6.45ish) - 3min Jog - 2x1k at 6.10.

Splits for 5M: 6.48 / 6.41 / 6.36 / 6.42 / 6.42.
Pace splits for 1k: 6.16/6.09.

Saturday - Easy 14M at 7.57.

Sunday - Rest

Felt pretty good this week mainly due to the step back sessions. Tuesdays session was enjoyable. Last split was a little on the quick side but no harm.
Fridays was just as enjoyable. Running at steady pace was a nice change. Big difference from the XC sessions I've become accustomed to!

Legs were fresher than usual for Saturdays long run. As fresh as I've felt on the long run in quite some time.

Still working on addressing the factors outside of running. Making a conscious effort to fuel better and the mood has definitely improved. Work is still pretty hectic but making a conscious effort to try and not let myself get overwhelmed. Mind is a work in progress. Lots of opening up and chats with the missus and family has helped.

Finding it hard not seeing myself push on with the running. I have 50 odd weeks of solid work behind me. The competitor in me wants to push on but as a wise man once said, one step back for two steps forward. Incase anyone ever wonders, when I say a wise man it's usually coach. Haha.

Kellygirl

Glad you are feeling a bit better P. The easier running weeks will set you up to come back even stronger I bet.

MY BAD

Solid week all the same. Good see you're feeling fresh again. Great aerobic base over the past 50 weeks you'll be on fire next year all going good.

eyrie

If it was all going to be solved overnight it probably wouldn't be worth much You're in the process, that's the main thing! Bound to be annoying taking things a bit easier with the running, but it's leading towards more progress ultimately!

AuldManKing

That looks like a pretty solid week to me - you'll only gain with those sort of weeks.

Duanington

Rest and recovery, both physical and mental are vital parts of pushing on with your running. The down weeks can be hard to swallow when you look at the numbers but they are so important to building the bigger picture.

When we neglect the recovery side of things, it really is a ticking time bomb

Embrace it, all part of the process

Swashbuckler

Duanington wrote:

Rest and recovery, both physical and mental are vital parts of pushing on with your running. The down weeks can be hard to swallow when you look at the numbers but they are so important to building the bigger picture.

To be honest I think deep down I know. Probably just being a little negative. Felt unbreakable in the Summer. Went from that to a pretty humbling cross country block haha. One thing about the XC is it certainly makes you realise where you're really at. Takes a strong person to do well at it and I mean that both physically and mentally. I'll take solace in the fact you came out all guns blazing this year after your step back last year.

ariana`

Good to hear you felt some benefit from a easing off the gas a bit. I hope the trend continues for you.

coogy

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Munster Masters XC "report"

And this time the mind just didn't have the stomach for a battle. I managed to get through 5k and that was it I was done. In a way I'm glad. If I had got through that race with a positive result I'd just have kept going in denial about my lifestyle and mental health. As soon as I pulled over to the side my first thought was something has to change. Can't keep going on like this. So that's a positive.

I'm an avid follower of your log and I was very sorry to hear about what you've been going through lately but what really struck me was how admirable it was that you acknowledged your issues and that rather than let things linger, you knew you had to do something about it.
Onwards and upwards!

Swashbuckler

Monday - Easy 7M plus 6x15s strides

Tuesday - 10x1min Hard off 1min on Grass. All between 5.22-5.48. Ground as soft and as wet as hell. Spikes were out.

Wednesday - Easy 7M

Thursday - Easy 7M plus 4x15s strides

Friday - 5M Steady at 6.45ish/3min Jog/2x1k Tempo
5M was done at 6.35ish average. 1k paces were at 6.01/6.17. Felt good.

Saturday - Easy 14M. Legs dead by the end. Very tired

Sunday - Rest

Apologies if the updates are delayed and less detailed than usual. Part of my steps to address the last couple of months has been trying to cut back a little on social media. Been finding myself very stressed at work, coming home and playing catchup on the phone. An endless cycle of being switched on. I've done a great job of cutting back in general but Boards is a hard place to take a break from. Kinda like abandoning family. Haha. Too many good race reports floating about. If ye could all take a break from racing that'd be great .

Last week was week 2 of a slight stepback. Added in stretches for the hip flexors on the advice of coach after me mentioning noting some general tightness and soreness especially on the long run. The tiredness did carry through even with the stretching. Lower back felt a little fatigued after the session on Tuesday. Interesting discussion on El C's log had me thinking about my biomechanics. Some things pieced together when I generally started reading up on tight hip flexors etc. Always had a bit of an arch in my back, always have a feeling like I need to stretch my left hamstring but it never goes away even with all the stretching. Lower back usually feels tired after a hard block or effort. Anyways I'm probably over thinking a bit and over googling but no harm in paying a good bit of attention to consistently stretching the hip flexors and booking a rub down soon.

Friday was a solid effort. Felt good. Nothing overly difficult about it. You can see from the paces I overshot the mark but felt OK. Saturdays long run legs were fairly dead by the end. Just shy of 50 miles for the week.

Solid week. Today is the first day in a few weeks where I've felt some of the hunger coming back. Thinking about racing had me excited rather then a general feeling of meh. The plan is to go after my one remaining goal from 2018 that I had abandoned - to win a parkrun. So that's the target for Dec 30th. Thinking of choosing Mungret as there's a local Dooneen lad who's a speed merchant and that's his local parkrun but we'll see. Bit of craic either way. Good suggestion from coach again. No pressure running.

Had a great night in Inchydoney at the weekend with the missus. What a beautiful place. Plenty of the famous black pudding consumed at breakfast. Great break but knackered after all the driving. Stunning hotel with stunning food.

Swashbuckler

Little bit of catching up to do on the log here...

Last week;
Was given the freedom to run as I liked with the condition of at least one steady run and one long run no more than 10M. A mental break week. Had thought about running a session but figured I would be sensible and take the break when offered.

Monday - Easy 7M at 8min/mile
Tuesday - Easy 7M + Strides
Wednesday - 2WU/2@6.45/2@6.35/2@6.25/CD
Thursday - Easy 7M at 8.07/mile
Friday - Easy 7M at 7.53/mile
Saturday - Easy 9.7M at 7.53/mile
Sunday - Rest

Lots of easy running and enjoyed the steady effort. Enjoyed the week as a whole. Lots of stretches but I must say I was still feeling a bit out of sorts. Nothing about my running feels as smooth as it did earlier in the year. Hard to know if im overthinking or not. Had a chat with coach and asked if I could draw a halt to XC training for this year. I just dont think I have the love for it at the moment.

This week;
Monday - Easy 7M at 8.13/mile
Tuesday - 4/3*2/3/4*1min at 5.50 (Off 2mins)
Wednesday - Easy 7M at 8.06/mile
Thursday - Easy 7M at 7.55/mile
Friday - 3x(1k at 5.50/1M at 6.20) off 3min
Saturday - Planned 13M
Sunday - Rest

Had to head to Ashbourne with work. Passed through Dunshaughlin on the way to the test house. Liking the looks of those roads for June

Ran Tuesday evenings session in Ashbourne. I dont really know the roads in that area so ended up basically heading up and down the town. Was great to be on the roads for these sessions again. Could feel the love coming back.
Splits were 6.02/5.51/5.56/5.47/5.52/5.31/5.33/5.32/5.29
One thing I noticed was the ability to dial into effort a bit better (excluding the first split which is always a bit off as the watch and body take a bit of an adjustment). The 4x1mins were funny in fairness. It was pretty dark and looking at the watch wasnt really an option so I completely lost track of which split i was on. Ran them a little too hard as part of me thought each one was nearing the end of the session. Recovery paces were decent - 7.29-7.53. Cooldown was a little quick as I was in a rush to get back and chat with baba before she went to bed. Felt as stiff as hell the next day to the point where the right knee was jarring a bit at times.

Todays session was another good one. Surprised at how easy I found the 6.20 pace.
Splits were 5.54/6.21, 5.49/6.24, 5.47/6.22. Still feeling a bit wonky.

Solid session and happy to be back on the roads.

Priority is to get a rub down as soon as I can. Physio of choice is getting married today but hoping to get her next week.

OOnegative

Good to see some positivity again here P, I worked in Ashbourne for 18 months, an absolute disaster of a town to have a run in.

Swashbuckler

OOnegative wrote:

Good to see some positivity again here P, I worked in Ashbourne for 18 months, an absolute disaster of a town to have a run in.

Unless running back and forth in a straight line multiple times is your thing. Haha. It was so bad that I literally needed to run a split, turn back the other way run the next and repeat.

Swashbuckler

A lesson in knowing when not to run.
Ran my planned 13 miler yesterday. Still felt a little wonky. Didn't feel a million bucks but figured that's just how I've been feeling lately. I had the touching of some bit of a cold or something last weekend. Felt reasonably OK by Monday. Convinced myself I was good to run. I can't say I even felt it lingering all week. I felt ok to be honest albeit not 100%. Today I feel like ****e. Shoulda listened to coach on Monday when he said not to run of I'm not feeling 100%. There's a fine line between being the type of person who'll never make excuses and the type who'll run when he shouldn't! Lesson learned.

On a positive note had a great date night with the missus last night. Got a babysitter and had a great night of dinner and drinks Limerick ain't a bad spot sometimes.

No running for me tomorrow anyway. Will see how I feel as the week progresses. Priority for me right now is to get physically healthy enough to start building again.

AuldManKing

Next time you are in Ashbourne, give me a shout. Either its only a 30 min drive to the PP or I can head over.

Swashbuckler

Been a hit 'n miss kinda week but I'm not ready to panic just yet. A good year behind me and all going well a good year ahead so I'll take the downtime on the chin and probably look back on this as some well earned "rest".

Had a dose of something last weekend so took Monday and Tuesday off. Ran 7M on Wednesday and Thursday. Felt the semi return of a touch of a cold. Did a handy 4M Friday and felt OK. Ran 90mins Saturday. Felt good during. Nose a bit bunged up today.

So basically I think the body has responded to the downtime and gone into a semi shutdown. No biggie. Very little quality in the running this week but still managed close to 30M for the week. Plans for parkrun have been parked. No point in forcing anything right now. Plenty of time to start building on the last year in January rather than forcing a parkrun for the sake of it.

Probably my last time posting in the log before Xmas day so happy Christmas to everybody. Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings over the past year. Thanks for the support, encouragement and most importantly the banter.

Will sign off this year with a recap on this year's training before new years.

Have a great Xmas everyone.

Swashbuckler

Reeling in the Year - 2018

January started with a bang with my first race since my little girl was born. Limerick Country Club 5M with a monster hill. Felt great to be back. At this stage I had just over 7 weeks of coaching under my belt. I had contacted Luke and given my background in November 2017. Up to that point I had some decent pbs. The main one of interest was 37.4x for Tralee 10k the previous August. I had found I was really falling off a cliff as the races wore on. So prior to the January 5M Luke had me doing quite a lot of aerobic easy running and slowed me down compared to what I had been doing. Instructions were to run the sessions hard but controlled. Up to that point I had been busting a gut in all of my sessions, some of which were big chunky sessions like the McMillian ones which I really wasnt ready for. So I was in decent enough shape for January and ran 30.07.

I had highlighted Ennis 10k in March as a race I wanted to target. Since then my mindset towards target races has changed somewhat. Being encouraged to race regularly has taken the pressure off individual races and I have since leaned towards long term gains, consistent mileage, consistent running week on week, month on month. Barefield 5k was next up in Jan with some nice 5k specific sessions prior. Ran 18.05 in what was an official race pb (I had run 18.02 in a time trial before).

Back to back races in Feb with Lahinch 5M and Adare 10k. Lahinch 5M was a lesson. Had run decent enough in Barefield and was in the mix for positions. Went hard in Lahinch and just made a balls of it. Stopped twice. Finished in 30.32. A good lesson. Adare was much better although probably not quite where I though my fitness was at. 37.11. A 30s pb.

I now had a decent 4 week block to Ennis 10k. A lovely mix of sessions in the buildup. The type of sessions I will be getting back to early in 2019. Ennis was probably one of the highlights of the year running 36.05 (on a slightly short course). 1.06 knocked off previous pb. The results from the coaching was telling. Very strong race and ran very smartly. I probably havent ran a race as well as that since.

Tuamgraney 10M was two weeks later. I didnt really have much interest in doing anything spectacular here. Very little 10M specific prep although the 10k training would have me in decent shape anyway. Ran 63.08 on a very tough course and came third. My first and only podium to date.

Three weeks later I ran Limerick HM in 81.43. A massive pb from 91.30 previously. Was delighted with that on what was a hot day in the city. Most of the Summer was spent in a very good 5k block of training with a lot of faster stuff. Drills were introduced. It was in this block that I really started to feel springy. One of the best blocks of the year. Three races in this period. Shanagolden 5k with a pb of 17.41. Ballyheigue 10k with a time of 37.34 and 4th place and Borrisoleigh 5k with a pb of 17.36 in desperate heat. My first race as a Limerick AC member. Had joined the club with a view to running XC in the Winter with them.In July I ran Killarney 10k in 36.44. Felt like crap and still pulled out a decent result finishing 9th. By now I was in the thick of a good HM block in prep for Charleville. I felt the 5k followed by the HM block really suited me and felt great going into Charleville. I should say, with Luke theres never really a clear line of one block starting and another one finishing but you do notice some more race specific training starting to get introduced. For example in the build up to Charleville there was a lot chunky sessions but still a lot of 10k stuff and even 5k speed type sessions. A good mix. Charleville was one of the highlihts of the year after Ennis although it didnt feel like it at the time! Ran 79.48. Another pb.

I then entered the fabled XC block. Looking back it was probably the wrong time for me to go into a block like this. Things were unravelling a bit in my personal life. Found it very tough but as always with me I was thinking long term and the determination took over. Even at the right time the XC training would be tough. I think people who are good at XC are a different breed. Its a different type of running and I have a new appreciation for the lads that do well at it. Ran a few XC races and had some manners handed to me. Haha. The last month or so has seen me take a little step back and recover mentally and physically. The hunger is definitely back and the return of some of the 10k specific sessions has helped. Turns out I seem to like the rhythm running. Back to the roads with me!

Summary of monthly mileage;
Jan 194
Feb 190
March 212
April 207
May 174
June 190
July 195
August 245
Sept 207
Oct 229
Nov 207
Dec 161 (so far)
Total 2410 miles (so far)
Average weekly mileage was 46.3.
Highest week was 61.2 thanks to my shenanigans traipsing around DCM.
Lowest week was 24.6 (a down week after Limerick Half).
79 sessions.
15 races.
10 pbs.
6 cramps (all in Charleville).

Personal race related highlight: Ennis 10k
Non personal race highlight: My buddies first sub 20 5k.
Personal non race related highlight: Meeting the Boardsies in Dublin and at Charleville.
Biggest lesson learned: Good running needs more than just good training. Nutrition, mental health, stress levels, sleep etc are all as important. Seems obvious but its not so obvious when youre in the depths of neglecting most of those things.
Low point: Munster Masters quitting on the race. Turns out to be one of the most important parts of the year.

Although it hasnt felt like it in the last few weeks as Ive been feeling sorry for myelf its been a great year. I always remind myself that running is a patient mans/womans game. Big gains are made long term with consistent running (although I would argue I made big gains this year). I know I already posted in the Goals 2019 thread but to add some to those, Id like the same level of consistency in 2019. Consistent days, weeks, months. Would like my mileage to be in or around 2500 again. I think thats probably close to the max I can manage with work and home commitments. 5k/10k/HM and everything in between. Maybe a bit of indoor. No marathon. As for XC next year I wont look that far ahead yet. Lol. Would like to run more club races for sure. I probably will avoid the more commercial races. Dunshaughlin and Adare are the two Ive highlighted so far. Would like to do some of the County and Provincial road races too.

I will be moving to a new log in the new year. Id like to capture each year separately. Will link it here when I set it up. Thanks to everyone for following this year. Its been emotional. Haha. Hope everyone has a great new years. Onwards and upwards in 2019.

OOnegative

Fantastic year P, huge well done sir. Plenty more great racing to come out of you in 2019.

skyblue46

Brilliant year P. Great training, great results and a few lessons learnt along the way which will turn into benefits also. Roll on 2019.

MY BAD

Fantastic year. Well done. I really enjoyed your log. Hopefully 2019 well be another excellent year

shotgunmcos

+1 great read, thank you. Some year. Looking forward to the next chapter

Duanington

good man P - looking forward to seeing how you go in 2019

AuldManKing

Great read - amazing progress in the last year when you weigh it all up - not just in the times, but in the holistic sense.
Good man.

Wubble Wubble

Super year there P, looking back on that there's an unreal amount of ground covered. I wouldn't give up on the XC just yet - admittedly, it's not for everyone, but so different to the mass participation races on the road. As for marathons...

Looking forward to following the new log in 2019.

Kellygirl

You’d some year P and an inspirational one at that. You’ve been a great support too to loads of us here and thanks for that. Hope you get back on track soon and looking forward to the next log.

eyrie

You've had an unbelievable year P. I've learned a lot from reading your comments and reflections, so will look forward to the new log and to seeing what the new year brings. Hope you've been having a lovely Christmas.

Swashbuckler

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments. As always you're a very supportive bunch and one of the only reasons I'm on Boards these days!

I decided against starting a separate log for "Year 2" so instead I will be re-titling my log for 2019. I didn't like the thoughts of asking people to go to another log and start following when they've gone to the trouble of following this one already.

So the first post of this log will be an index of sorts (assuming I manage to keep this running lark going) for each year.
You might wonder why I consider this year as "Year One" of my running when i've actually been running for years. Well thats simply down to coaching. Not to be dismissive of the previous work I did but Nov 2017 in my mind is truly when my running journey kicked off.

Anyway I'm rambling, I shall end Chapter 1 - The Day that Never Comes with a status update of sorts.

The Christmas break has provided some much needed relief from the major stresses that have been worklife. A great time to get some perspective. In saying that, no sooner had I signed off at work when I started fighting a dose of something. Two weeks I've fought it on and off with various stages hitting me at different times. I had been saying I felt "wonky" lately. I think part of that was the body fighting something I thought was gone. Also being off work was almost like a taper for me - the body just went into recovery mode. I guess I didnt realise just how highly strung i had been for so long. Also, the XC block has taken its toll a bit on me. Some minor niggles from that I allowed become something bigger to the point that last Saturday after my long run I was in bits (I should say I ran an ill advised session on the Friday too. A session that would have been a breeze to me earlier in the year but my body wasnt quite ready for it). I always harp on to my running buddies - "Listen to your body", "Dont run when you shouldnt". But I'm one of those stubborn lads that cant take his own advice. So after last Saturdays long run I feared the running could be taking a back seat for a while. A bit melodramatic!

Visited the physio today and he reckons nothing serious - just inflammation that needs a few days to recover. Hopefully he's right. I have a history of issues on the left side - previously had shooting pains in the left calf and generally have a numbness in the left quad. When I overload, its that chain that tends to give out (hip flexors, glutes, hamstring, quad, calf). One of the big pluses of something like this is it resets you a bit. I've had a great year but in the past month or so ive struggled physically and mentally and the running has suffered a bit. When I came out of the physio today I just sat in the car for a few minutes and reflected on why I love running to begin with. I've gotten a bit too caught up in "long term gains" and "what will make me better" as opposed to , what do I actually like doing. I found myself saying to Luke a few weeks back, would he be willing to decide what will give me the most gains next year? What should I be doing? Please tell me what to do? Seems a bit silly when I think about it now.

So with my newfound enlightenment (I could feel different in a week!), all going well I'd like to start building on the good work from 2018. Adare and Dunshaughlin 10k are a must for me. I like the thoughts of a couple of ten milers (maybe Tralee in April). Not sure where I could fit in some 5k stuff but would really like to. Me and Mellow Yellow are keeping eachother honest on the 5k stuff. And I think Charleville HM might need to be revisited but thats too far away. When I think back on what I really enjoyed this year, I loved the 10k training - I loved the 5k block - just great sessions. I really enjoyed going from 5k into the HM block. I didnt enjoy the grit of the XC training (timing didnt help there).

In terms of all the other aspects;

Plan is to limit alcohol intake. Not to put hard rules on myself but definitely cut back on the "odd" glass of wine after a stressful day. Not an alcoholic by any means but I found more and more I was enjoying a drink pre dinner after a hard day.

Nutrition improvements are an absolute must and will be addressed. Food, especially chocolate cant continue to be a source of stress relief.

Work stress needs to be managed better. I have plans for that.

Sleep is good so no complaints there. Same with homelife. Missus has been a supportive saint as has baba.

Health is ok although I am awaiting some blood tests which will hopefully come up clear.

Mental Health is the biggest thing for me in 2019. Running and mental health need to go hand in hand and one cant rely on the other. What I mean is, to a certain extent running has been my escape from a lot of what has happened this year. I don't think thats healthy. You need to be mentally healthy for your body to be able to give you what you need. Asking your body and mind to deal with bad stuff and also then asking it to run 8x1k hard is really pretty unfair when you think about it. lol. SO in 2019 I hope to be a bit more in tune with how I'm feeling and when I'm being a bit obsessive with the running. Part of the issue is its the obsession that has yielded the improvements.

Anyway sorry for the ramble. Sometimes it just helps to get the thoughts on out paper and this isn't a bad way to close off Chapter One. I think it's too rare to see men, in particular, talk about this stuff and one thing I've learned this year is when you open up to people a bit it seems to remove that barrier of masculinity we seem to have. Ye ladies are much better at communicating feelings.lol

Anyway, so long Chapter One. Thanks for reading. Bring on Chapter Two.

P.S - Incase you're wondering this isn't a drunken ramble

skyblue46

Good man P. Very honest of you. Are you being a bit hard on yourself? None of us are going to the Olympics. Is improvement that important to deny yourself a glass or two of wine or a few squares of chocolate? There's not an extra pound on you! Isn't that bit of pleasure important for life balance?

Kellygirl

Well done P and looking forward to following Chapter 2. Go easy on yourself.

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote: »

Good man P. Very honest of you. Are you being a bit hard on yourself? None of us are going to the Olympics. Is improvement that important to deny yourself a glass or two of wine or a few squares of chocolate? There's not an extra pound on you! Isn't that bit of pleasure important for life balance?

Very fair question and you certainly wouldn't be the first person to ask me if I'ma little hard on myself. I'm like that by nature. Always have been. I have always had high expectations of myself. Probably why I empathize with people who I see being hard on themselves too.

To answer your question I think theres absolutely a place for the odd treat..Of course. My problem is a bit more complex though. I rely on these things for stress relief...So If you're stressed five days out of seven, and relying on drink or food as a stress relief thats just not the way. Id rather find ways of dealing with this stuff properly.

Plus, and no exaggeration, if it was just a square or two of chocolate I'd say nothing. Its not. It's a cycle of stress, overindulging, obsessing about it. It mightnt be something the average person would understand but I know deep down its an unhealthy obsession I have. Something that needs to be addressed in a healthy way.

I've turned this log into something very serious havent I. haha
Long gone are the days of simple stories of race pain