Sub 5 minute mile

Swashbuckler

What size are you in runners?

Dubh Geannain

Swashbuckler wrote: »

What size are you in runners?

There he is. I actually bought the flats after one of your posts! They were my first ever pair of non regular runners and remember my pleasant surprise at how light they felt compared to my Asics at the time. I'd be an 8.5 UK or 42.5 EU usually.

Sacksian

Well done on the 10k TT - that's another great performance. TT or otherwise, I don't think I'll ever do a 10k on the road!!

I don't know what you think, but the break from official events might have given you a bit of space to try out a few different things, over different distances, that you might not have considered in a normal year. And it'll stand to you when races get back.

Get registered with a club and I might see you at the Masters T&F in September!

Dubh Geannain

I won some money playing Fantasy Football this year \o/ Actually had a terrible year overall but the league I was in was equally as bad I won by a single point in the end so yesterday was quite nervy as the games were going on. I've been playing since I was in college but this was the first time money was involved for me. I think it became a little less fun as a result and I'm not sure if I'll do it again.

Aaaanyway, while they were certainly not on my radar previously I just might pick up a pair of carbon plated shoes after all Not going to jump the gun just yet though, I'm considering putting it towards a treadmill or an exercise bike either. Tough decisions.

On the running front. I hit my 30 miles two weeks ago but missed it this week gone by.

Two weeks back I did a 10x400 @ mile pace session w/ 1 min r/. Just wanted to see if I might be in sub 4:50 shape. I'd love to be able to run it without completely redlining but think I will actually have to push myself hard to get there. The target for the session was 72 secs and I hit [74,71,72,72,72,73,72,73,72,68]. It wasn't a struggle and feel I could have hit the targets with a little more effort on the ones I missed by a second here and there. Marked out the distance would have helped too. It'll be tight I'd say and the thoughts of doing 4 back to back (plus 9 metres) puts the fear on me a bit.

Last week I redid the following 800 session from a few months back - 3x(600FR, 30 sec r/, 200FR, 7 minutes jog). Last time out I missed the pace on all the 600s but this time I managed each of them with 1:47, 1:47, 1:45. No issues with the 200s after 30seconds rest. They always feel very short after a longer rep. Was very happy after this and a good wake up for the legs.


3 Km - TT
Last Saturday was supposed to be an Intervals session but I changed it out for a 3 k TT. Had a couple of drinks Friday night but wasn't heading out for this until the late evening so was back to normalish by then. Managed to get out between the showers too which was a bonus. Having fallen short of 10 minutes on a couple of occasions previously I decided on a different tac. 3:20 is 10 flat pace but I planned to run the first km in 3:15, expect to fade from there but not too much that a final km kick might see me home. The route was uphill out the Navan road and back in again. I reckoned it was around 1.5 k up and then down, so 3 km and I'd get the benefit of having a downslope for the second half. It was a bad estimate. :rolleyes:
1 km - Up the navan road at a nice clip. I think I touched 3:00/km initially but reeled it back to target. I wasn't feeling the pace was something that was going to take a toll. I was feeling good. Watched beeped at 3:14. Lovely
2km - Right, try an hold 3:20 pace. I came to my loop around after only 300 metres or so, so knew I was going to have to run past my starting point. Kept the breathing controlled and the form relaxed and soon saw the watch beep at 3:18. Sweet, there was no doubt I was on course at this point.
3 km - Allowed myself to slow a bit to 3:25/3:30 pace to save a little for the finish. A nice position to be in. I knew I could afford to do this as I was probably around 8 seconds up. Also, by running past my starting point I was going to have a little extra elevation gain. Picked up the pace for the last 300 metres to as close to a sprint as I could manage. 3:15.

Final time - 9:46.

This is as short a report as they come because it really did go by in a blur. While I was certainly working hard, the suffer fest never really hit apart from maybe when I was trying to sprint at the end. Just one of those days. If only they could all be like that. My plan of not specifically pacing for 10 minutes paid off too I think as there was less psychological baggage involved in the effort. Nice to have another 2021 target checked off the list.

Swashbuckler

Thats a super 3k TT. Fair play.

My claim to fame on Fantasy Football was the year I spent a week in the top 10 in the world (number 1 in Ireland). Finished out the season 49th in the world and top 10 in Ireland....Gave it up since...Too stressful!

Dubh Geannain

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Thats a super 3k TT. Fair play.

My claim to fame on Fantasy Football was the year I spent a week in the top 10 in the world (number 1 in Ireland). Finished out the season 49th in the world and top 10 in Ireland....Gave it up since...Too stressful!

:eek:

I hope that's on your CV for awards/achievements.

Laineyfrecks

Great 3k TT & what a nice feeling having another target ticked off the list

Dubh Geannain

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

Great 3k TT & what a nice feeling having another target ticked off the list

Thanks Lainey. My initial approach wasn't to have so many targets. It kind of just happened this year.

I've had single year targets before which I didn't hit and so was left looking back to find some positives to take out of the year in that case. There are always ones to find (like I was running more and enjoying it) but setting a few extra targets that aren't primary ones are great fun. All upside with little downside IMO.

healy1835

Great 400's session and then followed it up with a great TT. Your late evening runs always come crashing into my feed and usually has me thinking 'Who the hell is running that fast at that hour of the evening!?'

Like a lot of things, FF was great when I didn't have a family to attend to Like my gaming, I only look at it sporadically now. I'll enter a team every season, but this year I didn't even get to Wk3 before I completely forgot to update the team. Like Swashbuckler, I had one great year in it, top 200 I think, but that was a complete aberration!

Mr. Guappa

Congrats on the TT, super running.

Like others, I'm a lapsed FF player. Finished 200-ish in the world one year, and had a string of top 5k and top 10k's also. But it took a lot of dedication and was ruining my enjoyment of matches too. Found I was slipping in recent years as running took over my time, so I didn't even bother entering a team last season.

Laineyfrecks

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

Thanks Lainey. My initial approach wasn't to have so many targets. It kind of just happened this year.

I've had single year targets before which I didn't hit and so was left looking back to find some positives to take out of the year in that case. There are always ones to find (like I was running more and enjoying it) but setting a few extra targets that aren't primary ones are great fun. All upside with little downside IMO.

Nothing at all wrong with having a few targets, I think they help with the motivation too! Yep totally get you on having just the one target, it makes it hard to appreciate all the consistent running you have done if you don't reach it!

As I have said maybe once or twice in my log;) work hard & consistently & reap the rewards

Dubh Geannain

Some serious FF performances. All eclipse my best ever finish. I had to go back and check there. I managed 1936 once which wasn't far off the year when I actually achieved that :pac: Yep, there were a lot less distractions back then. The current distractions are all good off course.

Oh and I collected my winnings today. Apparently 3 never paid in so the pot was reduced slightly. Still it came to € 440. Feel a little undeserving as I got lucky with it being a relatively weak league.

shotgunmcos

Sweet TT result and comfortable sub 10. Sounded like you were in the zone!

You are clocking them up this year! Great log

healy1835

€440! You could get a couple of pairs of the boots for that

Dubh Geannain

I was getting into another 800 block but am at home full time until the end of June so days to run will be fewer. To try and keep hitting my weekly mileage target I've been trying to have longer runs when I do get out in the evenings.

May 24-30

• 17.3 k - 1:11:xx
• 6.5 k - 31:15
• Session - Reps(600, 500), FastReps(400,300,300). R times(1:44, 1:25), FR times (1:03, 0:46, 0:46). Good session. Happy to hit the target pace on each if not a little faster
• 9.17 k - 44:53
• Session - Intervals 4x(800 w/2 min r/), 6x strides. Another decent session. I knew it was a truncated one so I pushed the paces a wee bit faster than prescribed. (2:35, 2:32, 2:33, 2:31). Out on the path for the strides. I decided to open up on the last couple just to see what sort of peak speed I might hit. I nearly hit the deck too though. Running these on the road/footpath. I'll make sure there's no entrances on the next section of footpath I choose. The dips are treacherous enough when going at top speed. When your foot is expecting the ground but has then to travel a little further. I found I jarred my knee ever so slightly slightly on the last one. A slow jog home.

May 31- June 6
Baby was sick and I ended up picking it up too I think because I was sinusy and lacking energy most of last week which ended with us taking a few days holidays for the bank holiday. I crammed some slow runs in early in the week and then took the few days off. I got lucky that there was no further complaints from my knee. Week ended with 3 days of no running. No harm.

• 12 k - 1:02 + 1 k for attempted Strava Art
• 13.7 k - 1:07
• 12.15k - 48:00. day before the trip I knew I'd have a few days rest so for a steady 12 k aiming at just under 4 min/km pace.

Dubh Geannain

"Awful tired now boss. Dog-tired".

After getting 3 days of no running over the bank holiday weekend I decided to do some cramming mileage wise. On the Monday I ran the furthest I have since doing the Connemara Half back in 2007. That was the only race I had run as an adult up until the last couple of years. Turns out I actually posted in the main A&R forum back then too and even competed against the famous Krusty that day. It'd be over 10 years before I think I posted in the forum again. Anyway...

June 7-13

• Monday. 21.15 km Steady - 1:28:13. Having run a steady 12k at 4:00 pace the previous week I figured I'd bump it up to 4:15/km for an intended HM run. I brought a tiny water bottle in hand for this. Actually forgot I had it but did eventually start using it after around 16 km. It wasn't much and I think I might have survived without it. Carried it home then too as I never passed a bin to dispose of it. The effort was controlled for the most part. Never went to heavy breathing or worried if I was nearly finished until the last 2-3 kms. Over the last 2-3 kms I became more aware of the impact of hitting the road in my bones. It must have been a sign that I was going to flag if I kept going. It's not a sensation I'm familiar with and it had me wondering if that's the cause of injury for many i.e. pushing on when the muscles are properly fatigued. As I mentioned I was never feeling feiced at any point really though and the pace actually finished up being 4:10/km. It was an enjoyable experience overall and I caught up on a couple of podcasts. Maybe I was working a little bit harder to maintain the pace towards the end. I knew my target was going to get me under 1:30 anyway then I didn't want to look at the pace chart after and see it dipping towards the end I suppose.
  
• Wednesday Session - Reps 3x400R(70s), 4x300FR(48s) - The hotel is now busy again so I was off to do these on a less preferred stretch of road. Turns out there's a 3 m incline (according to garmin) over the stretch I ran which might explain the times differing between each second rep. With every second one having an elevation gain and proabblu a slight headwind the 400s were 68, 72, 67 while 300s were 48, 46, 47, 46. Legs were tired before starting the session but knew they'd be grand once I got into it. Still with the heat included I was well cooked by the last 300. That was almost as fast as I could have run it I think.
• Thursday - 4.2 km Recovery jog w/ buggy. Down to the shop and back. Later that evening - 8.1 km - 41:50
• Saturday Session - Intervals 8x(2 min Hard, 1 min jog), 4x200R. Hard effort is Interval pace apparently and my current target interval pace is 3:15/km by my calculations. I found this a tough session with my mileage cramming earlier in the week catching up on me. Very surprised when I got home to see I actually managed the pace exactly on 7/8. With me flagging a bit on number 7 coming in at 3:20/km. During the 5th rep I was considering packing it in at 6 but stubbornly stuck it out. Ran towards home and on the way decided I may as well do the 200s too. They did feel a piece of cake after the main body of the workout. No issues with them. I'll make a note that I should always be fit to get the reps even if I pull the plug on the main session.

35 miles last week over 4 days running.

Murph_D

Jeepers. An 88 min HM followed by two more sessions in the same week. Seems a bit OTT - careful now!

Dubh Geannain

Murph_D wrote: »

Jeepers. An 88 min HM followed by two more sessions in the same week. Seems a bit OTT - careful now!

OTT maybe. But only a little. I'd a quiet week and 3 to 4 days before it. Certainly wouldn't be making a habit of it. Having plenty of zero mile days at the moment too.

Dubh Geannain

June 14-20 - 49 km (30 miles)

• Monday. 1 hour run - 12.45 km.
• Wednesday Session - Reps 2x400R(70)(1:45), 2x600, FastReps 2x300(48) - 400s(71, 70), 600s(1:47, 1:45), 300s(48,46). No drama here from what I remember. Pretty much on pace for each.
• Thursday - 3 km Recovery jog w/ buggy.
• Friday Session - Intervals 4x(1km w/3 min jog), 4x200R. Preceded by two nights of really bad sleep (baby sleep regression) and some DIY around the house. When there's a tempo run in the week the interval session is typically paired back a little so the session looked on the easier side and I decided to go ahead with it but I was quite sleepy even during the session. I decided I wouldn't force myself to hit 3:15/km with the first 3 around 3:20 before a 3:15 to finish. The 3:20s naturally were all tough. Another bad nights sleep followed.
• Sunday w/u, 5k Tempo, c/d. Hoping I'd shook off the cobwebs at this stage I ran this at around the target pace. Energy levels were good but I could find my groin catching a bit though not painful. The 5 k came in a couple of seconds over 18 minutes.

The following two weeks have been easy runs.
June 21-27 - 37 km
June 28- July 04 - 38 km

I think my body is protecting itself a bit and not letting me force the pace. Holidays are at the end of this week so I'm note sure if I'll see a physio for another couple of weeks yet. I have a feeling it's related to when I jarred my knee on the same leg a few weeks back. Never had knee trouble in my life so I didn't worry about it too much and it didn't give me much trouble since despite feeling it a little. The groin is definitely more of an issue. The prolonged crouched/squat positions during the DIY work didn't help it one bit either.

Need to decide whether to keep running slow or full break for a week or two. It hasn't dis-improved in the last couple of weeks but not sure it's getting better quick enough either. Outside of running, June was a mental month anyway so I haven't minded the easing off so far.

Dubh Geannain

Right. *checks notes*

July 5-11 - 47 km. I was still running easy the groin seemed to be improving. Before the holidays I did a 10 miler trying to be disciplined with the pace. With around 2 miles to go I was coming down a steep hill when I felt a twinge in it and was cussing myself for not going even easier down the hill. Finished that run off in fowl humour. Waited for the pain to hit me in bed that night but while I could feel it it wasn't as bad as expected. Off to Teelin in Donegal for the week where I went for a gentle hilly trot around the hills on the Sunday.

July 12-18 - 25 km. Climbed Slieve League with the two boys up the Pilgrim Path. Beautiful day but the clouds rolled in right as we reached the top to the point where we couldn't see a few feet in front of us. I decided I didn't want to be one of those idiots you hear about getting rescued off of Irish mountains so we made a hasty turnaround. I'd say we were no more than 200 steps from the very top but we didn't chance it and so the kids never go to see the Ocean. They were still delighted with their exploits all the same so all was good and we were going to be driving up to the viewing point during the week anyway and I was going to point to them where they had been. Had a quick look at Strava that evening and saw the route up to the viewing point along with a Segment or two. Groin was holding up so I decided I'd try a decent effort up to the car park. Off I set. I didn't know where exactly the segments were so ended up giving it a decent effort all the way up. Around 5 kms from the house. Not used to hills in Meath but I remember enjoying them when growing up in Cavan. Got up without needing to stop but obviously I had to take a couple of minutes to enjoy the view once up before tipping back home again. I let the hill back down dictate the pace as I was starting to accept the fact I should just enjoy the non-planned running when I can and kind of forgot about minding the groin as I covered the decent in 20 minutes. Amazingly, there wasn't any negative feedback from it. I didn't feel I deserved to not be suffering a little after the run as I certainly had thrown caution to the wind a little. That said I took 3 days off running. The weather was too nice and typically Irish we were trying to scramble to do as much as possible within the days because sure it could start raining at any moment. Back to Meath at the end of the week and I decided to do my first session in 5 weeks as a tester. 4x1km w/ 400m jog. Tough going but averaged 3:20/km with a bit of puffing.

July 19-25 - 40 km Not back up to 30 MPW yet but managed two sessions. 1 speed and 1 interval session. The speed session was my first in a long time but the main issue thankfully was fitness as opposed to injury. Hit the target paces albeit with walking recoveries for the fast reps.

July 26- Aug 1 - 41 km. Again short on mileage. I did one made up speed session. 2x800Reps, [email protected]_pace. Loose targets for these I'd hoped I'd clock the 800s at around 2:20/21 but they were 2:22 and 2:24 which were around 3:00/km pace. The pace for the 200s were in the 2:30s with the legs feeling it a bit after the 800s so I was satisfied I could really push the pace again.

Aug 2 - 8 - 50 km. Finally back up to over 30 MPW. 1 speed session this week. 3x500R(87.5), 3x300FR(48). Again with the walking recoveries after the 300s but hit the paces. Someone had a fire going in a nearby field so I was doing my best to not be breathing heavy every time I passed that section of the road. 1 Interval session also. 4x800s. Happy with the pace I managed on these (around 2:36 each).

So there I am. Didn't go the to physio. I'm great for not looking after injuries 🙄 I grew up watching and then playing with too many GAA hardmen which will no doubt bite me big time in the future. The groin is still a bit twingy but not during any running, only when not moving too much. It's definitely getting better of it's own accord and I don't think the running is causing it any harm at this stage or so I like to tell myself.

Someone put the idea in my head about actually running an 800m Masters race. I've gone so far as to contact Athletics Ireland to see if I need to be registered with a club to take part in the National Masters. Needless to say I'm still awaiting their response so I'm going to bite the bullet and join the local AC I think. If I don't make that race, maybe there'll be some mile or even a 5 km to have a bit of fun at. I don't feel I'm in the shape I was in a couple of months back but I hope it's just a case of getting my weekly mileage back to a more consistent level. Edit: I'm also going to try and run a sub 4:50 mile at some point in the next few weeks. I think/hope it's achievable while giving it a little less than 100% effort.

dna_leri

Careful with the groin injury. I had an issue a few years ago and made it worse by doing a speed session before being fully recovered - ended up missing months and it has recurred again since.

For the National Masters you do have to be AI registered but I'm sure any club would be glad to have you. You would enjoy the national masters 800m if in race shape.

Dubh Geannain

Plans to run the National Masters got torpedoed last week. I got news that on that weekend I've got both my godsons birthday party and nieces communion so I'll be crisscrossing the country a bit that weekend. Then I got sick so it wasn't looking like I was on track to be in the shape I'd like to have been anyway to do myself justice.

Still though. Plugging away three 30 mile weeks in a row before this week where I hope to hit it again. That consistency of mileage usually puts me in pretty good shape for some longer distance stuff so I'm definitely going to be testing it in September. The groin has gone backwards a little so I'll keep an eye on it.

August 9-15 - 48 km

Speed Session - 4x400FR (64s), 4x400R(70). I had the two boys with me for this and they tried to keep up for the first 200 metres on a few. Wasn't on it today with the Fast Reps 65, 65, 65, 67 before cruising the Reps in 68, 70, 69, 69. The FRs were all in the one direction while the the Rs were in the opposite so the GPS might have been conning me a little but I definitely found the FRs hard to hit.

Interval Session - 4x1k on, 2:30 off. Out with the kids again. This time on their bikes where we'd have a 2:30 rest before I'd try and chase them down for the 1ks. These again were tougher than I'd hoped but we had a bit of fun. 3:27, 3:18, 3:23, 3:22.

August 16-22 - 48 km

I was sick for the first half of the week so had 3 days off. Glad I managed to cram the mileage in so just ran what I felt on the weekend. No fast stuff.

Steady Run - 9km in 35 mins.

Interval Pyramid - 2,4,6,8,8,6,4,2. Same pace target as my previous interval session of around 3:20/km. All the splits were actually 3:1X as I covered 15.5 km over the whole run. I got a nice lift from this.

Onto this week where the groin is playing up again. Need to be little careful. I was onto Trim AC last week so membership is imminent on that front. We'll see if they can tempt me with any events.

Dubh Geannain

I managed to continue my mileage run up until this week just gone. Five 30 mile weeks in a row for the first time ever. That's the accomplishment I'll take from the past couple of months. 26 miles last week and I finally visited a physio.

August 23-29 - 48 km

Tempo session - 3x1mile w/ 2:30 jog. Splits were was 5:40, 5:38, 5:38. Was happy how this went with a rare 6 am start.

Speed session - 2x600R (1:46, 1:46), 3x400R (63, 65, 63). My groin seemed to lock(hip?) just as I finished my warmup but I stubbornly went ahead with the session which was at 9:30 in the evening. I'd trekked out for it and was in no mood to not attempt it. I really wanted to see how I'd feel on the 400s. Miraculously I hit the target splits roughly on all of reps bar the one 65 which oddly had a net elevation loss. The 400s didn't feel good as I wold have liked with my form obviously effected a bit as I wound my speed up more than went at it each time. I knew I wasn't going to be running the masters and was so prepared for this being the last speed session for a while again. Right time to find a physio.

August 30 - September 5 - 48 km

This was to be a very busy week with work, birthdays and communions. So the physio had to be next week.

Navigation session - Easy runs done with the exception of my work trip to Cork. I skipped off the motorway at the Galtee mountains hoping for a nice scenic run and got more than I bargained for. I made sure to carry my phone in hand in case the worst happened and I got lost but I had looked at the area map in the carpark where I parked before I set off and decided on a 6 k loop which I would add a bit too. So I did around 2 k before heading off on the loop. I had a nice run up the foothills of Galtymore on a surface that was mostly loose rock and dirt so I was focusing on my footing going up more than taking in the view. The turnaround was across a field that led to a footbridge over a stream. There was no clear path to the footbridge and when I realised this rather than stop I just skipped over a stone wall with a grass bank on the other side promptly landing on my arse. I was back on my feet before the sheep had a chance to even laugh at me. I had made it look like I meant it. Having saved face in front of the sheep I crossed the stream and was soon bounding back down the mountain on a more stable surface meeting the only person I would meet the whole time, on his electric bike, giving him a windy howya. At the 8 k mark I realised I was nowhere near where I would have expected to be and certainly nowhere near my car. By 9 kms I was sure I'd overshot the carpark by quite a distance but decided I'd keep running in the same direction as I'd have to hit the road I drove in on eventually. Checking the phone all the time. No signal. At 10 km there was a left turn which I very nearly took but I decided to stick to my plan and went straight on. I could hear a river again but couldn't be sure it was the same body of water that was near the carpark. Turned out it was. Around 500m later I actually arrived back at the carpark surprised and relieved in equal measures. I rechecked the map and if anything I cut the 6 k loop short. A "1" must have fallen off it at sometime. Anyway, I still enjoyed the run and would try it again. I actually appeared 2nd overall on a strava leaderboard during part of my ascent so that gave me a little lift despite the slightly bruised ego. The one thing worse than getting lost is having to admit that you're lost 😀. I never double backed on myself or stopped running so was I lost really?

September 6 - 12 - 42 km

Physio booked for the Friday.

Hard Tempo session - 5 miles. While being tired from a hectic week I hadn't done any sessions last week so wanted to do a bit of a tester. I set out of the office for this at 60-minute 10 mile pace. Figured I'd see how I fared for 5 miles and dare I say keep going if I felt good. Well at 5 miles I'd managed to keep the pace consistent at 6 minute/mile but there was no way I was running any further. Had a glimpse back at my sub-60 attempt from last December. I was around 10 seconds slower on the same route by the 5th mile. Still, I was happy with the effort on a tired body.

Intervals - 4x800 w/ 2 min jog - Day of the physio. I was afraid he'd do things to me that would mean couldn't do much for a week or worse he'd tell me to pack it in for a while. So I wanted to fit a second session into the week. All 4 were tough going and around 2-3 seconds slower than I would have liked.

Physio - Finally

I've many niggles but I decided I'd only moan about two. My left groin and a suspected hernia on my lower right abdomen (I had a hernia operation before in my late teens so am familiar with what they feel like). It has been bothering me for well over a year now to the point where I have to stick my fingers into my stomach if I want to sit up from lying down but not enough that I couldn't run or lift weights on the rare occasions I do them.

Anyway, my hips are both in good shape apparently with above average motion in my left. He couldn't find any issue with my groin. I told him that it had actually been an okay week for it so he didn't focus on it too much. The hernia? Well he doesn't think it is one. He thinks is a psoas strain (New word for me. I think it sounds like sore ass). He gave me excercises to do and to check back in in 3-4 weeks. One exercise actually aggravated the groin more frustratingly but I'll try and keep doing them to see where I end up. So the groin issue remains a mystery for now. He mentioned a potential referral if he can't figure it out. Fingers crossed I make some progress with it.

Dubh Geannain

I forgot to mention I did my first parkrun last week with the family. I posted about it in the parkrun thread. Also, I got confirmation today that I'm officially a club member. The registrar asked if I'd be interested in cross country. We'll see how the dates fall for that but the races will be in October. If I can manage one I'll be delighted.

September 13 - 19 - 48 km

The return to school for everyone has squeezed my free time a lot. I'm at home minding/collecting/working Monday to Tuesday and every second Wednesday so I'm under pressure to fit everything into a little less time. Ended up in A&E with the baby last week too. After waiting 4 hours Wednesday night we gave up and went home with my wife retuning Thursday morning before finally being seen. So energy was at a low ebb. Managed to get a early long run in on the Monday and a lethargic session at around about mile pace.

8x400R @milePace w/ 1.5min rec . I've an idea of what mile pace is. I still hope to run sub 4:50 this year but ran these at 4:40 pace as that's what Rep pace works out as on the old 800m plan i.e. 2:55/km. Very tired on these but made sure not to absolutely kill myself hence the 1.5 minute standing recovery. If I was feeling better this might have been 10x400 w/ 1 min recovery and have a proper fitness test. I got them done anyway with the theme being I started each well but faded towards the end. I know I was tired but the fading suggests that 4:40 is not my mile pace yet. I don't think I was starting them too fast. Splits were [68,68,69,68,69,69,69,68] so all just under 2:55/km pace. I had to be satisfied enough that I could manage those splits given the way I was feeling but certainly wasn't buzzing afterward.

🏃 5 km TT - 16:59 😎 PR. After the midweek session I took in one recovery run and a day off. I'd no idea what I'd do on Sunday at that stage but was planning to get up early before the kids and out for a long run of some kind. It didn't happen. Running has been a bit aimless with the injury the last couple of months but I've managed to maintain roughly 30 MPW and while not feeling I'm in particularly top shape or sharp I decided during the day I'd have a bash at a 5 k TT. The plan was to try 17 minute pace but to be prepared for a blow-up even potentially quitting after 3 km which I would then simply accept as a decent cobweb duster.

• 1 km - 3:23. A decent start. Up the hill and out of the business park. Not sure how I was feeling yet, I had gone out only a little fast and was slowing naturally without forcing myself to. A perfect split on appearance.
• 2 km - 3:25. There or thereabouts. I was still probably slowing during the start of the second km as I came to the one stretch of the route that has neither a footpath nor street lights to complete my loop back into the business park. I'm leaning towards it being a blessing that I met two cars (who must have thought I was nuts) on the short 2-300m stretch coming towards me. It meant two things. One, I crossed to the left side of the road as I wasn't wearing any reflective clothing and two I upped the pace quite a bit to shorten my time on that stretch. The blessing being that I'd arrested the deceleration enough that the km probably ended up being a couple of seconds quicker than it would have been. Would I pay for it though?
• 3 km - 3:23. The start of the 3rd km was pretty much where I'd started the 1st and I had to dig in a little as I went up the small hill again. It still slowed me and I was starting to suffer quite a bit. I was ready to accept the inevitable decline. The road had a gentle slope downwards for a bit so I let my legs spin a bit faster without upping my breathing effort. When the watch beeped at 3:23 I couldn't believe it. It meant I was on pace but the horror hit me that now I'm really going to have to dig in if I want it. Was it the last kick of a dying horse? At least I'd given it a go.
• 4 km - 3:27. Absolute suffer fest for the dying horse. A km where I'd a net downhill but still dropped pace explains it well. I was starting to gasp so I'd a battle to maintain my form and try and relax my breathing. Started watching the watch a little too much here. "Feic only 300 m of this km gone", "Okay it's just a mile left", "Just get to the 5th km". Passed a scared looking pedestrian who gave me a wide berth. Down to the bottom of the hill to make a 90 degree turn at traffic lights before heading back uphill. Trying to focus on anything that took my mind off the suffering, so it's the arms now that I imagine are doing the work. I don't get the reassured feedback of this as my arms are beginning to flag a little too. When I saw the split I figured 17 or below was off the menu but if I could somehow not lose any more speed I should beat my best of 17:13 at least.
• 5 km - 3:20. I'm absolutely gasping and turning heads on the far side of the road. A car passes where someone shouts out the window at me. I don't know how I even notice these things I feel I'm in a tunnel now. Back to the mind games. I know I'm spent but I also know my legs can go faster for a short while without my lungs to assist as much so just need to hang on until around 200 left. Empty anything that's left, not even looking at the watch, just waiting for the beep which mercifully comes and I hit stop straight after. 17:01. No time to think I'm going to fall over. I wobble a little but remain vertical somehow. There's a small hip-high fence beside me that really doesn't look comfortable so stagger on. 50 yards up ahead is a petrol station and Supermacs. I can't be lying here or the defibrillator will be out so I wobble on not sitting down. Eventually getting back to a slow jog.
• Final time - 16:59 I began to digest the time. A surprising PR of 17:01.02. Never believed I was in the right shape to pull that out. Damn, I was much closer to sub 17 that I thought I'd be to at the 4 km mark. Wait, what were the splits? Something was no adding up. I then realised I'd waited for the watch to beep for the 5th km before pressing stop. I had to wait until I got home to check Garmin Connect. There it was 0.01 km extra and 1.7 seconds. Subtracting it gave me 16:59.3. That's good enough for me so feic it, I'm taking it 😝

ReeReeG

I saw your name in the parkrun results when I was checking how my dad did, he finished just behind you and your family :)

Well done on the 5km, amazing pace

Lambay island

Well done. Despite all your goings on you seem to be in great shape. That 8 x400's was excellent and showed you what was coming. I don't know how you do that in the dark too, I'd be terrified I'd roll an ankle. If you could manage to sneak out without the buggy at some stage you will probably take a v in that parkrun too.

Laineyfrecks

Well done on the PB, great TT.

Dubh Geannain

Thanks everyone.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117917298#Comment_117917298

Ah cool. Fair play to him. Saturday is often a non running day for me so having the parkrun on the doorstep hopefully will help clock up some easy miles the odd week. I probably won't be able to ditch the buggy for a while yet to go gung ho at it.

@Lambay island It's funny in that I'd the complete opposite feeling after the 400s. Just need a few good nights sleep sometimes I guess. Spent Sunday night on the baby's room floor as my reward 🙄. She's going for a COVID test today, along with one of her brothers. Pretty sure she picked up whatever it is in A&E last week.

Dubh Geannain

Short update and a question. Nobody had Covid anyway so that was good news. The surprising 5K TT gave me a great lift and I seemed to be responding to the physio exercises.

Sep 20-26

As I said I was feeling much better about where I was at and after taking it handy for a couple of days threw in some sessions later in the week. Probably did too much in the form of

• Thursday - Easy run but at the end unoplanned I did 7x200Reps. A bit longer that what would be strides. I wanted to see how the groin was. It was good.
• Friday - 3x1 mile Tempo.
• Sunday - Intervals (40on, 30off). Felt controlled but got wet. I ran out of the office where I was working on some jobs in parallel.

All fine but Sunday I probably was doing too much between rushing around the office trying to get work done and gertting wet while putting a session in. Sick kids around the house too probably meant the writing was on the wall.

Sep 27 - Oct 03

No sessions. I was starting to feel I was coming down with something on the Monday when I ran a slow recovery. Ran another slow day on the Wednesday in Midelton where I was with work, making sure to keep it as easy as possible. I had a good day Thursday and though I was coming out of it. On the way home I broke my journey up by stopping in Portlaoise and doing a brisk enough 6km (might be my half marathon pace). Bloody heavens opened on me around half way through. That was me wiped unfortunately for the weekend.

The problem with being under the weather is that I did none of my physio exercises last week so need to get back on them again. After 3 days of not running also, the ball of my left foot started to hurt. A curious one. I'll keep an eye on it this week.

A Race?

This week anyway I've managed another easy run as I'm getting back to feeling normal again. I've commmited to runninng a cross country race with my new club on Sunday so won't be going in in the shape I'd like to have had. There was a 6 km Novice CC race the weekend just gone which that I missed so I said I'd do the next one. It's an Intermeditate CC race. And it's 8 km!!

My question(s). What's the difference between a Novice and Intermediate CC race aside from the distance? Is the quality of runner going to be higher although not as high as say a Senior CC race?

I'm planning on running in my bare feet. Is that something people still do? I' haven't run a CC in, eh, proably 20 years.

Dubh Geannain

Did I mention a potential race? That's what I get. I've only just gone and turned my ankle quite badly outside the school. Stepping off the path, my foot landed on the downslope of a gutter and I'd say I took a few years off some young lives with my roaring as I fell to the ground 😥.

Straight on with the ice now. I'm no stranger to ankle injuries but it felt like the worst I've done in a long time. I'm hoping it hurt more because the adrenalin wasn't flowing like it would be on a run or during a game. We'll see if the ice does the trick. Less than a half hour ago and it's already badly bruising on the opposite side of the twist from the foot being elevated. Fingers crossed on this one.