Como Una Cabra

Diablo Verde

Monday 21st June Rest

Tuesday 22nd June Rest

No 2 mile race this week as life got in the way.

Wednesday 23rd June Easy

Nice easy pace with MacPhisto in St. Anne’s. Off to get vaccination this morning so I’ll have to wait and see how that affects the rest of this week’s training.

Distance – 10.5km
Average Pace – 5:25/km

Diablo Verde

Thursday 24th June Easy

Total Distance – 11km
Average Pace – 5:12/km

Friday 25th June Easy

Total Distance – 13km
Average Pace – 5:13/km

Saturday 26th June – 5k@Tempo

St. Anne’s parkrun course. A bit too hot on the pace.

Tempo – 18:43@3:44/km
Total Distance – 14km

Sunday 27th June – Long Run

Malahide Road-Coolock-Raheny-Dollymount-St.Anne’s

Distance – 22km
Average pace: 4:53/km

Total Weekly Distance – 70.9

Diablo Verde

Monday 28th June Rest

Tuesday 29th June 2 Mile Race

I gave this a proper lash this week and managed to take another few seconds off my PB. The pace was more even than previous efforts so I’m really pleased with that.

Race Distance – 2 Miles – 10:51@3:23/km
Total Distance – 14.5 kms

S&C – Yoga

Wednesday 30th June Recovery

Distance – 6.5km
Average Pace – 5:08/km

Thursday 1st July 8 Mile progression

This was the session I was supposed to tackle last week but decided to delay it after getting vaccinated. I headed out to Malahide and ran 1 mile loops on the first part of the parkrun course, which unhelpfully (or helpfully if you’re sadistic) ends with a nice uphill. Miles 7 and 8 were tough but I got there.

Mile 1: 6:53@4:18/km
Mile 2: 6:45@4:13/km
Mile 3: 6:35@4:07/km
Mile 4: 6:28@4:03/km
Mile 5: 6:20@3:58/km
Mile 6: 6:08@3:50/km
Mile 7: 5:59@3:44/km
Mile 8: 5:51@3:39/km

Total Distance – 18.5km

Friday 2nd July Easy – Coast and St. Anne’s

Legs feeling a bit achy today.

Total Distance – 10.5km
Average Pace – 5:16/km

Saturday 3rd July – Easy – Dunes and St. Anne’s

Legs a bit better on this easy run with MacPhisto.

Total Distance – 14km
Average Pace – 5:11/km

Sunday 4th July – Rest

I woke up this morning feeling wrecked so decided to bin any plans for a Sunday long run. I’m not training for anything specific so there’s no need to flog myself when I’m not right.

S&C – The Challenge

Total Weekly Distance – 64.1

Thoughts for next week:
This was my lowest weekly mileage in a long time but I felt like the body was giving me a few warning signs. I’ve been slowly but surely dropping the strength and conditioning work and I really feel like I need to get back on it. The focus this week will be on trying to get some consistency there.

Diablo Verde

The short version is that in mid-July as Boards went off a cliff, my running went in a similar direction as our first baby arrived. Both were a good excuse to not bother with this log for a while.

I took a month off the running, as well as the sleeping, and after that, slowly started building up to the marathon in Valencia. Training went well (I felt), and I reckoned I was well able for around 2:55 on a bad day, meaning a decent 4-minute PB. I felt I could probably go a few minutes quicker still. On the day, I started too far back, as well as too slowly, and I just never got going from there. At halfway, I was still confident of nabbing my 7th PB in a row, but alas, with 10k to go, I knew my race was run and not even the world-class clapping and roars of support from Itziger were enough to prevent me from shuffling home in just under 2 hours 61 minutes.

Where from here? I’ve taken the drastic decision to try something new, so I’m going to try tackling a Jack Daniels plan for the 2 mile distance during the first six months of the year. It’s unlikely that I’ll be able to hit the 100k weeks that I was logging this time last year, so something that allows for less mileage suits. I think my PB over the distance is 10:57 (ish) but I’ve never trained specifically for the distance, so I’ll be interested to see how this ‘experiment’ goes.  

After that, I’d be very surprised if I don’t try to right a few marathon wrongs in the Autumn, and hopefully I’ll go into that with a bit more speed in the legs.  

Murph_D

Welcome back. I think your 2-mile PB is a good bit better than that - see a few posts above! Good luck with the JD, will you be using the winter league to get in a bit of practice or will tomorrow focus on the summer league?

healy1835

I don't think I've ever seen a 2 mile race outside of the Raheny series 😛 maybe throw in a 3000m indoor attempt too?

A good 26.2 is just waiting there for you. Hopefully life plays ball and you can have a good rattle in the Autumn 👍

Murph_D

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118417282#Comment_118417282

https://clonliffeharriersac.com/the-clonliffe-2/

MrMacPhisto

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118419434#Comment_118419434

That looks like a great event. Do the sponsors provide hydration post event?

Diablo Verde

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118417251#Comment_118417251

That's gas. I've no recollection of running that time. Strava backs it up though. Delighted with that 😁

Looking at the Winter League schedule, I'll probably have a go on the 19th to see where the fitness is at. Then I can see how much (or how little) I've improved when the summer comes around.

Diablo Verde

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118417282#Comment_118417282

Ah yeah. I'm a fairly positive person and reckon I still have a good bit left in me over the marathon distance. Let's see what the next few months holds.

Diablo Verde

Week 1

Sunday January 2nd - Run – 5k@MP (Q2)

I was already out the door for an easy evening 16 km, when I remembered that the Q1 sessions in JD are the longer efforts, so this should really be day 1 of the ‘plan’. I knew that there was some MP (marathon pace) stuff in one of the Q workouts in week 1 so I guessed it was on day 1. I did 4k Easy, 5k at MP (a bit faster actually as the wind was mostly at my back) and then 7 Easy to finish off. I could definitely feel the morning strength workout in my legs. I was wrong on a few counts relating to this session. It should have been Q2 for starters, and it should have been 6.4k@MP with 8 strides. I'll forgive myself this once.

MP 1: 4:04

MP 2: 4:08

MP 3: 4:03

MP 4: 4:02

MP 5: 4:06

Strength – The Warrior (P90X3) – A bit of core, upper-body, leg and cardio all rolled into 30 minutes. Tough!

Monday January 3rd - REST

Strength – Isometrix (P90X3) – Balance workout

Tuesday January 4th - Run – 6.5k@E (4 Strides)

Wednesday January 5th - Run – 16k@E (Q1)

The Q efforts for the first period of this plan are fairly mild, which is no harm as it should give me a good chance to shake the Marathon out of my legs. This run should have included some strides but I skipped them seeing as I’d done a few on Tuesday. Instead, I took a nice easy effort through Fairview Park, along the coast, through the dunes at Dollymount and came home via St. Anne’s. Mostly off-road which was nice.  

Thursday January 6th Run – 9.82k@E (Q3) (8 Strides)

I wouldn’t ordinarily have two Q days in a row, but as this was just an Easy run with some strides, I went for it. Got absolutely pissed on along the coast at Clontarf. The legs are only just beginning to return to normal after The Warrior on Sunday. A sure sign that I had really let the strength stuff go over the last 6 months.

Strength – Incinerator (P90X3) – Upper body

 

Diablo Verde

Friday January 7th - REST

Saturday January 8th - Run – Fairview parkrun

I wanted to get back into the habit of doing sub-20 minute parkruns fairly regularly. This was not easy, and though I was always going to hit my target, it was a struggle. I feel a long way from fit.

Week 2

Sunday January 9th Run – 16@E (Q1) (6 Strides)

Average Pace - 4:38/km

This was definitely at the hotter end of the paces that I could consider Easy. I just felt like blowing the cobwebs off so hopefully this did the trick. I went down to St. Anne's earlier in the day to watch the Cross-Country. Was a bit jealous at the start that I didn't sign-up but I'd changed my mind by the time I saw the struggle on the faces of the lads as they hit the fourth lap. Probably not helped by the spectator beside us who thought it was a 3-lapper and was telling people to sprint for home at the end of the third go around. Ouch!

Strength – Total Synergistics (P90X3)

Diablo Verde

Monday January 10th - REST

Tuesday January 11th - REST

Wednesday January 12th - 13.6kms

A nice run through St. Anne's and home via the dunes in Dollymount.

Thursday January 13th Run – 8k recovery pace

Sick of running in the dark.

Friday January 14th Run - 6.5k Easy

Sicker of running in the dark.

Saturday January 15th - Run – Fairview parkrun

A little quicker this week but still a second slower than my best over this course. I have to accept that this is where I am fitness-wise at the minute. Hopefully I'll be able to pick it up when the tougher sessions kick in.

Week 3

Sunday January 16th Run – REST

Motivation not great this week and plenty of family/work stuff got in the way of training. Hoping to invest in a running buggy in the next month or so which should give me the freedom to get out and about for some of the easy runs during daylight hours. Will make a big difference. Strength and conditioning fell off a cliff this week too so need to get back on that tomorrow.