Are those my feet?

Swashbuckler

Mr. Guappa wrote:

Haha, you've plenty lads batting eyelashes at you from what I can tell

His log is like the red light district these days

OOnegative

Swashbuckler wrote: »

His log is like the red light district these days

Nope it isn’t!!! Scurrilous comment that!

Lambay island

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

I'd love to see you start a training log too, I think you'd gain a lot from it.

Something I have been mulling over actually after getting some inspiration from several of these logs

Huzzah!

I'm just getting around to reading your race report now. The race itself was just like your training: superbly executed. You judged it so well. And 26 minutes off your PB? Amazing stuff.

Looking forward to seeing you hit your sub-20 5k aspirations too.

BrownEyes79

Congratulations again on an amazing race. I’m envious of how perfectly it all panned out for you and how patient and controlled you were throughout. And how did you run the race line so perfectly?? I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next for you

ariana`

Trying to catch up... Super report and super race. You have had some year and it's great to see it. Dying to see how the short stuff pans out next, i'd say you'll have great fun and continued success.

Mr. Guappa

4th November - 10th November

Monday:
Rest

Tuesday
Rest

Wednesday: 30 mins very easy - 3.03 miles @ 10:33
First run post DCM. Legs felt fine, and it felt great to be back!

Thursday:
Rest. On my lunchtime walk I passed two girls doing a C25K. It was over 4 years ago when I was in their shoes. I still remember looking in dread at the "20 mins without stopping" run - no way I'd be able for that! A nice reminder of how I've progressed

Friday:
Rest. My copy of FRR arrived. Weekend sorted

Saturday: 4 miles recovery - 4.05 miles @ 10:343
I road-tested the novices gift. Luckily only a couple of cars passed by - I felt extremely preachy. :pac:

Sunday:
Rest. I was on supporting duty at the Thomas Kent 10k in Castlelyons. It was a perfect morning for racing, although a little too cold for spectating. Met tbukela again, another great race put on by his club, and one I'll look to do next year I reckon.

7 miles for the week. I'll keep it all easy/recovery paced this week, and then I'm looking at a 4 mile race in Glenville on Sunday week. Let's see how the next 7-10 days go before making a final decision on that, although I should be able to knock out a 4 mile PB without a flat out effort.

I've tipped over the 1,500 mile mark for the year, so may as well update the mileage table while things are quiet:
Month|2016|2017|2018|2019
January|21|5|51|131
February|19||51|119
March|27||62|112
April|3||55|142
May|1|18|74|120
June|2|38|96|135
July||33|129|175
August||49|137|184
September|1|25|179|211
October|4|42|131|162
November|6|40|34
December||51|84
Total (mi)|83|301|1083

Laineyfrecks

Haha glad to hear the tshirt had its 1st outing

Mr. Guappa

11th November - 17th November

Monday: 3 miles recovery @ 10:41
Don't remember anything particularly remarkable about this one.

Tuesday: 3.1 miles recovery @ 10:16
Tried to suss out a few suitable hills for future sessions - only succeded in ruling out a couple of options on this occasion.

Wednesday: 4 miles recovery @ 10:24
Had the morning off so took the chance to return to one of my favourite local loops. Legs feeling good.

Thursday:
Rest.

Friday: 3 miles recovery @ 10:15
A few early morning miles before work. A nice crisp morning, with a touch of frost about.

Saturday: 7.1 miles general aerobic @ 10:07
We were down in Ardmore for the night, and I took the opportunity to get in a few miles in a new location. You couldn't help but choose a hilly route down there, although I got in a mile or so on the beach too. I loved this run - I've been missing the long runs, so enjoyed building the distance up a little. The only downer was the watch acting up - took ages to lock onto GPS, which has been an issue recently, and also the HR shown was much higher than reality. Strava indicates that I'm not the only one observing issues. Annoying.

Sunday:
Rest. A bit of a swim and jacuzzi, etc., to aid recovery

20.4 miles for the week as things build up again slowly. I bit the bullet and signed up for the (now sold-out) Glenville 4 miler next Sunday. I'll be aiming for a slight PB on a soft target of 29:13 and it will be interesting to see how the legs react to a bit of pace! I'll be going again at the 4 mile distance on Stephens' Day, so this will very much be a bit of a range-finder. Mileage next week will probably be ~20ish again, with a few strides thrown in towards the end of the week. After next week I'll be embarking on the 10-week P&L base plan, which will take me nicely up to the Dungarvan 10 miler.

Mr. Guappa

18th November - 24th November

Monday: 4 miles GA @ 10:10
Lunchtime run. Scouted out a hill for future hill sessions. Better than what I'd identified so far, but I've one or two more locations to suss out as well. Legs felt sprightly enough from what I recall.

Tuesday: 4.1 miles GA @ 10:06
Another lunchtime trot. I can fit in 4 miles handily enough at lunch, which is a big help in keeping the mileage ticking over without impacting home life.

Wednesday:
Rest

Thursday: 4 miles GA with strides (9:51)
Lunchtime again. First time injecting a bit of speed into the legs since DCM. I did 4 strides, each one slightly longer and faster than the last. Really enjoyed this - bit of a jelly-legged feeling - shock to the system I think.

Friday: 4.1 miles GA with strides (9:39)
A few early morning miles before work. Great feeling having the run done and dusted early doors. Four strides again. Felt good, but worried that I'd struggle to maintain a 7-7:30 mins/mile pace on Sunday.

Saturday:
Rest.

Sunday: The Great Glenville Run (4 mile race) - 27:48
I'd checked out the course for this beforehand on Strava - climbing in the first mile, mainly downhill then for two miles and a drag again for the final 3/4 of a mile. I had intended on taking this relatively handy - mile paces something like 7:30, 7:00, 7:00, 7:30 for sub 29 and a small PB on my only other attempt at this distance 11 months ago.

Got to Glenville in good time, and picked up the number. I was #1 , which was nice! Alphabetical order, by first names it seems. After a hilly enough warm-up mile with a few little bursts thrown in, I made my way to the start. Bumped into DeepBlue here, and knowing his race times I figured we wouldn't be too far apart on the road either.

The start was pretty frantic, with an initial fast downhill leading into a short climb. I found it difficult to settle into a rhythm, and hard to get a handle on pace with the changing terrain and general craziness that you get at the start of a race. I did know that I was going faster than planned (saw 5:xx on the watch at one stage :eek:). Another downhill section followed, before the toughest climb of the day. I tried to dial things back a touch here, as tbukela passed by with a word of encouragement. DeepBlue was also up ahead. Mile 1 beeped in 6:54. Much faster than planned, but I knew I had two favourable miles coming up now.

The climb continued into the start of mile 2, before finally giving way to a gentle downhill. Found myslef between groups for a while here, although there was little wind about and conditions were nice and cool - pretty much ideal. I'd finally settled into a rhythm, and just tried to keep the pace at 7 min/mile, knowing that sub 28 was very much a possibilty. Mile 2 clocked in at 6:56.

The third mile was the fastest on the route - downhill all the way. I'd no real kick to be able to take advantage, although I didn't leave the pace drop while being conscious of saving a little for the final mile. Ran side by side with a guy here (I'm not a big talker during races, don't have the energy!) for a while before pushing ahead. I remember thinking here that 4 miles is such a stupid distance - I think I have similar thoughts 3/4 of the way through every race! DeepBlue and tbukela had been in my sights for the a while now, and were coming back towards me a touch at this stage. Mile 3 - 6:50.

DeepBlue had moved ahead of tbukela now. I figured tbukela was running a session as he'd be much faster than me, but turned out he was having a bad day out. Encouraging words were exchanged as I passed him with about half a mile to go and the uphill finish began to bite. Knuckled down as best I could and pushed through - the climb wasn't horrific by any means, but on tired legs it was tough sledding. DeepBlue was up ahead, although a touch too far I reckoned. The course levelled out for the final 100m - DeepBlue managed a kick, but I couldn't muster anything of the sort. 7:10 for the final mile as per watch, and a chip time of 27:48.

Thrilled with this to be honest. It felt great to be out racing again, and even better to knock out a PB of 1 minute 25 seconds! I should mention here that this is a cracking race. A sellout of 600 runners, marshalls everywhere and what a spread afterwards! An obscene amount of food was consumed :pac: (following a cool down mile as the rain made an appearance). My next race will be another crack at 4 miles on Stephen's Day - on a flatter course and with another month's running in the legs, I'll be expecting another PB there.

22.4 miles for the week. This week sees me start the P&L Base Plan, although the start of the week will feature recovery runs. The aim mileage wise is to get to a point where 35-40 miles is a basic week.

passinginterest

Great running in the 4 mile. May the rain of PBs long continue!

Wubble Wubble

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

18th November - 24th November
DeepBlue managed a kick, but I couldn't muster anything of the sort. 7:10 for the final mile as per watch, and a chip time of 27:48.

Thrilled with this to be honest. It felt great to be out racing again, and even better to knock out a PB of 1 minute 25 seconds! I should mention here that this is a cracking race. A sellout of 600 runners, marshalls everywhere and what a spread afterwards! An obscene amount of food was consumed :pac: (following a cool down mile as the rain made an appearance). My next race will be another crack at 4 miles on Stephen's Day - on a flatter course and with another month's running in the legs, I'll be expecting another PB there.

22.4 miles for the week. This week sees me start the P&L Base Plan, although the start of the week will feature recovery runs. The aim mileage wise is to get to a point where 35-40 miles is a basic week.

Congrats on the PB, nice to get it so soon after DCM. Enjoyed the report too.

Best of luck with the Stephen's Day PB attempt. If only we could all be so disciplined

ariana`

Nice PB and so soon after DCM too, good to see you've recovered well and are cashing in on the super block of training. Sounds like you left it all out there, it's a great sign when you've no finishing kick.

I've never seen 4m races advertised locally, i didn't know it was a thing! Seen some 6k races alright which i always think is a funny distance.

Mr. Guappa

ariana` wrote: »

Nice PB and so soon after DCM too, good to see you've recovered well and are cashing in on the super block of training. Sounds like you left it all out there, it's a great sign when you've no finishing kick.

I've never seen 4m races advertised locally, i didn't know it was a thing! Seen some 6k races alright which i always think is a funny distance.

Thanks E! I hadn't thought of it being good to have no kick at the end, but you make a solid point. I'd normally be disappointed with a positive split, but in this case I was happy as the fast start means that now I can raise my sights a touch higher than they might have been for my next 4 miler. If I'd cruised around in 28:5x here, then I might be looking towards 27:5x next time, whereas now I might aim closer to sub 27. We'll see how the next few weeks go.

4 milers would be reasonably common down here (Tipp, Cork, Waterford). I can think of half a dozen or so off the top of my head anyway. It's a nice distance if you work in miles - nice and easy to do the mental maths mid-race. 6k does seem kinda random alright, with 5k's being so popular. Don't think I've ever seen a 6k down this way.

Mr. Guappa

passinginterest wrote: »

Great running in the 4 mile. May the rain of PBs long continue!

Thanks P! It's great to see progress I must admit, although that PB was soft enough. Hopefully plenty more to come in the coming months

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

Congrats on the PB, nice to get it so soon after DCM. Enjoyed the report too.

Best of luck with the Stephen's Day PB attempt. If only we could all be so disciplined

Cheers J! Yeah, it's really reminded me how much fun the short stuff is. The P&L plans have a couple of tune-up races in the final month, and they advise racing in clusters, so I should get in plenty of races next year.

ariana`

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Thanks E! I hadn't thought of it being good to have no kick at the end, but you make a solid point. I'd normally be disappointed with a positive split, but in this case I was happy as the fast start means that now I can raise my sights a touch higher than they might have been for my next 4 miler. If I'd cruised around in 28:5x here, then I might be looking towards 27:5x next time, whereas now I might aim closer to sub 27. We'll see how the next few weeks go.

4 milers would be reasonably common down here (Tipp, Cork, Waterford). I can think of half a dozen or so off the top of my head anyway. It's a nice distance if you work in miles - nice and easy to do the mental maths mid-race. 6k does seem kinda random alright, with 5k's being so popular. Don't think I've ever seen a 6k down this way.

It's funny i was thinking since that we don't have 5 milers either, in fact i've never raced a 5m race! We have tonnes of 8km races though! It seems we're just more metric in the West, not ideal when you train in miles :cool:

Mr. Guappa

25th November - 1st December

Monday: 3 miles recovery @ 10:48
I was in bits after the race the previous day, but any bit of walking did seem to loosen the legs so did this short recovery run after work. Certainly felt better after than before.

Tuesday:
Rest

Wednesday: 4.1 miles recovery @ 10:25
Lunchtime miles. Legs still a tad tender but much improved. Found an ideal stretch for future lunch time hill sprints.

Thursday: 4 miles recovery @ 10:25
Had a free hour in the morning so got this in earlyish. GPS still acting up - took it's time finding location on most of this week's runs.

Friday: 3 miles GA @ 9:59
Squeezed in what I could before work. Legs feeling nice and fresh now.

Saturday: 6 miles GA @ 10:07
Back to one of my regular loops. Hilly enough route but the legs felt good.

Sunday: 9 miles GA @ 9:48
Now this was seriously enjoyable. A very fresh afternoon out for my longest run since DCM. Legs were full of pep and I kept finding the pace creeping up but the effort remained easy. A good sign I'm sure. I had put my 4 mile time into the Tinman calculator and paces are faster than I had been working with for Dublin. Easy would be 9:42-10:03, so right on where I was at here. I've been doing GA miles at what would be the Tinman easy range anyway, which I think is about right, although they are not exactly explicit in the book - "moderate effort" runs is how GA is defined.

29.4 miles for the week, and 70.4 miles for November. That's right where I wanted the November mileage to be, and I feel nicely refreshed and ready now to step things up in December. Reassuring too to feel a freshness in the legs - I'm taking it as a sign that they are recovered and ready to kick on.

tbukela

Well done in Glenville, you ran a very well judged race, flew past me up the hill.

I don't think you give yourself enough credit sometimes, you'll take a nice lump off that time on the 26th as long as you don't overdo it on Christmas Day!!

Mr. Guappa

tbukela wrote: »

Well done in Glenville, you ran a very well judged race, flew past me up the hill.

I don't think you give yourself enough credit sometimes, you'll take a nice lump off that time on the 26th as long as you don't overdo it on Christmas Day!!

Thanks T! Glenville is a nice race - ye are spoiled for choice down your neck of the woods!

Haha, and here was me thinking I'm being too happy and giving myself too much credit! Yep, the plan is to take a nice chunk off that again in 3 weeks time.

Mr. Guappa

2nd December - 8th December

Monday: 4.1 miles GA @ 10:00
Sixth day running on the trot, which might explain the stale feeling legs. Could also be a pair of runners nearing the end of their usefulness. Didn't use them for the rest of the week and felt much better. They'll get a final chance to redeem themselves this week.

Tuesday:
Rest

Wednesday: 6 miles GA @ 9:59
Nice miles.

Thursday: 6.5 miles GA + Speed @10:12
6 x 100m strides made up the "speed" portion of this run. These were the most purposeful strides I've done in ages. Tried to focus on being relaxed for the most part. A very nice run.

Friday: 4.1 miles GA @ 9:56
Lunchtime miles through UL. I've been meaning to see what's the story with access to the running track there. Rarely see anyone on it. It could come in handy over the coming months.

Saturday:
Rest

Sunday: 10.3 miles endurance @ 9:13
An early start for my first endurance run. There was a decent variation in what my HM and 5k times suggested as paces for this, so I went somewhere in the middle. Basic idea heading out was:
2 miles @ 9:50
2 miles @ 9:30
2 miles @ 9:10
2 miles @ 8:50
2 miles @ 8:30
It went very well in general. The 6th mile was all uphill and I had to really work to stay around the right pace - this mile or so was the first time in months where I felt like I was really working (outside of a race). Settled down again after that mile, although I did lose focus a touch over the last two miles. I hadn't thought about a cooldown in advance, and tacked on just 0.3 as I was tight for time - I'm used to (and like) at least a mile cooldown for anything above easy pace, so I think I'll take that appraoch in future endurance runs. Great to have the run done and the whole day still ahead of me.

31.2 miles for the week. Felt good to be introducing a little bit of "stuff" again. Nice also to nudge over both the 30 mile weekly mark, and 10 mile run mark for the first time since Dublin.

The main news from this week is that I've adjusted my plans for 2020. On Friday, I signed up for the Mallow 10 miler and I've now set that as a target race. This means cutting the current base phase short, and also pushing the 5k block back by a couple of months, so now that block will culminate towards June/July when there are loads of decent 5k's around here to choose from. So, the coming months now look like this:
Dec - a few more weeks of base building leading to the Stephen's Day 4 miler
Jan-Mar - a 10 mile block (P&L) leading to Mallow, with Dungarvan (10 mile) and Adare (10km) in the build-up
Apr-Jul - a 5k block leading to an as yet to be determined goal race.
Exciting :cool:

Treviso

Nice week of training A. Is the P&L training similar to P&D?

Will hopefully see you in Dungarvan and Mallow as I've also signed up for both. I did both last year and found the Dungarvan route a bit better than Mallow - but maybe that's because I suffered more in Mallow running a quicker time.

Not sure how far you would travel for a 5k but there's plenty of options around the Cork area from May-July (Bweeng, John Buckley 5k etc) if you're looking at options

Mr. Guappa

Treviso wrote: »

Nice week of training A. Is the P&L training similar to P&D?

Will hopefully see you in Dungarvan and Mallow as I've also signed up for both. I did both last year and found the Dungarvan route a bit better than Mallow - but maybe that's because I suffered more in Mallow running a quicker time.

Not sure how far you would travel for a 5k but there's plenty of options around the Cork area from May-July (Bweeng, John Buckley 5k etc) if you're looking at options

Cheers T. Yep, the P is Pfitzinger again, so the plans are similarish to the marathon one you followed.

This will be my third successive Dungarvan 10 miler, but my first Mallow. I checked out Mallow on Strava and it has a bit more climbing than Dungarvan alright. I'll keep an eye out for you at both.

Cheers for the 5k recommendations - I'd have no issue travelling a bit for the right race! The 5k plans have tune-up races 2 and 4 weeks out from the target race, so I'll be getting in plenty of them anyway.

Mr. Guappa

9th December - 15th December

Monday: 4.28 miles recovery @ 10:20
Lunchtime miles through UL.

Tuesday: 6.35 miles GA @ 10:08
Very windy out for this one. Effort felt about right. I'm trying not to be a slave to the watch for GA and recovery runs - just going with what feels appropriate on the day.

Wednesday: 7.13 miles LT @ 9:25
This was 16 minutes at LT pace, which I've put at 7:20-7:30 for now. Following 2 miles warm up, the LT section translated into 2.15 miles at paces of 7:31, 7:19, 7:46. The effort felt comfortably hard, which is exactly what the book mentions. I switched off for the last 0.15, rather than it being a case of not being able to hit the pace. A very pleasing session.

Had a physio appointment in the afternoon. A soreness in my left knee had been a minor, but persistent issue for the previous week or so. Thankfully, the verdict was nothing too concerning - my hamstring is "ropey" and a few specific stretches to target the calves and quads were prescribed. There has been a massive improvement in the knee in the few days since.

Thursday:
Rest

Friday: 6.13 miles GA @ 9:57
Cold. Once my hands and ears are covered I quite like running in the cold. Legs felt nice and loose following the physio visit.

Saturday: 11.02 miles endurance @ 9:12
Basically the same as last week's 10 mile run, with a mile cool down tacked on to the end. These endurance runs have been very enjoyable so far. Reasonably challenging, but not overly taxing. Maybe once I start the 10 mile plan and more stuff gets added to the weeks I'll find these endurance runs more daunting. I'll review training paces after the 4 miler on Stephens Day.

Sunday: 2.06 miles recovery @ 10:15
Rounded off the week with a couple of groggy miles to collect the car following Saturday night pints.

36.9 miles for the week. My work schedule has been changed for the next few weeks, as I return to shift hours for a while to cover absences. It will probably mean increased tiredness, but on the plus side I'll have more scope for longer midweek runs. It also means a bit more time for drills.

tbukela

Nice set of goals for 2020 already.

The Dundrum 5K race is usually in May, same route as the 10K race. It might be a nice range finder for a later goal race.

Mr. Guappa

tbukela wrote: »

Nice set of goals for 2020 already.

The Dundrum 5K race is usually in May, same route as the 10K race. It might be a nice range finder for a later goal race.

Yep - Dundrum could be ideal to set an early summer benchmark. I've also spotted a mile race in Borrisoleigh at the end of April which I might give a whirl. My 2020 race diary is filling up fast!

Mr. Guappa

16th December - 22nd December

Monday: 6.12 miles GA @ 10:06
One of my regular local loops. Hilly but a nice run.

Tuesday:
Rest

Wednesday: 4.10 miles GA @ 9:58
The weather was pretty atrocious for this one. The plan was for 7 miles, including strides, but it was very wet and windy out there, so I called it a day after 4 miles. I didn't mind the weather at first, but once the shoes got soaked my enthusiasm evaporated.

Thursday: 10.04 miles GA + speed @ 9:53
I added a couple of miles, plus the strides (8x100m), onto this to make up for Wednesday's lacklustre total. Randomly added in a big local hill for the craic - I was loving this run so much that through the middle miles I debated turning it into a 14 miler but stuck to the plan in the end. Chose the same spot as last time for the strides. I think it helps with my focus to have a pre-determined out-and-back area earmarked to do the strides. Previously I'd just keep running and incorporate the strides into my route. 9 miles was the plan, but I underestimated how long the strides would take.

Friday: 4.30 miles recovery @ 10:15
Very foggy out so had to keep this one in the town.

Saturday: 12.40 miles endurance @ 9:13
11 miles endurance, plus cool down. Foggy out again, so had to keep it urban for the early going until the fog lifted. The 10 miler on Thursday made this a touch more challenging than previous endurance runs, but still I enjoyed this one. It's a great buzz afterwards when you've nailed a run, and also the ever-changing target pace keeps the mind occupied and keeps the miles ticking along without you even realising.

Sunday: 3.25 miles recovery @ 10:20
I only did this two hours ago and I barely remember it!

40.2 miles for the week. My first time over that mark since DCM. I'll have a mini-taper now this week ahead of the 4 mile race on Thursday, then a few days recovery, before the Mallow plan starts the following week. Target wise, I'll aim for a PB on the 27:48 I ran in Glenville last month. I don't know if sub 27 is on (it would require a 5k PB!), but we'll see. Hopefully, I won't overdo it on the Christmas celebrations anyway and be in reasonable shape on the start line :pac:

Merry Christmas to the entire A/R forum, and in particular those who follow and contribute to this log. I hope Santa brings you loads of running-related goodies

Laineyfrecks

Best of luck in your race Thursday, a Christmas PB would be nice

Merry Christmas to you too

OOnegative

Merry Christmas A to yourself and the family, your mentoring job this year was one of the highlights of the A/R forum for me this year!!!

Mr. Guappa

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

Best of luck in your race Thursday, a Christmas PB would be nice

Merry Christmas to you too

Thanks E

OOnegative wrote: »

Merry Christmas A to yourself and the family, your mentoring job this year was one of the highlights of the A/R forum for me this year!!!

Ah, cheers B... that's really nice to hear!! Thanks!

Lambay island

Best of luck on the 26th