Sub 5 minute mile

Murph_D

Excellent - nationals will be an excellent test, especially in your relatively youthful category. Are you just entering the one event?

Dubh Geannain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119374852#Comment_119374852

Last year in the M35 and looking at the last few runs M40 actually looks more competitive 😀 Of course there could be some springier chickens just hitting Masters level this year that wouldn't show up on previous runs.

You gave me slight pause for thought but only for a second. I tend to need at least a couple of days recovery if I go to the well in a race. I hope that'll be the case for this so don't plan on entering another distance.

Murph_D

Good plan. A good few people double up with the 1500 but I agree, you can really only put it all in to one event. Best of luck!

Dubh Geannain

Less sleep than normal probably made this week a little tougher than I'd hoped. I really expected I'd find the Tempos easy enough and the Reps hard but it was the other way around.

18-24 July - 30.5 miles

Monday - 5.5 km easy. Still a little tired after Saturday's speed session

Tuesday - 3 x 1mile Tempo, 6x200R. Two tempo sessions down for this week so I chose the one that looked easier to start the week off. Turned out fine although I did start to flag a little on the third. So the 200 Reps required some psyching up and then I accidently only did 5.

Wednesday - Rest

Thursday - 6.35 km easy. Planned speed session but had to postpone it as there were road and path works all over the nice new estate I often use for quick stuff. It was meant to be I figured as my hamstring was a little tight I was thinking on the jog up.

Friday - 1x600FR (600rec), 2x300FR (500rec), 3x200R. Less of a handful than last Saturday's session on account of having two Tempos runs this week. Psychologically I was glad I was closer to a week recovered from the last one all the same. Having postponed the day before, work had brought me into Dublin so I tried to scope out a decent flat section for this that wasn't Chesterfield Avenue before arriving. I thought I had but turned out there was a very slight incline on the section I chose. Naturally I chose to run the 600 with the slope and do the 300s against it to balance things out. I was determined not to over exert myself here and ran a very controlled 600 with probably less effort than Saturday, the slope no doubt helping. Another 93 without killing myself. The 300s were 46 and 47 so again happy with them. When I checked Strava to my surprise I noticed I'd made a segment leaderboard. "AMS Acres 400m". I had a look at the other efforts and noted that all the ones ahead of me were cycled parts from duathlons so I flagged them 😂 and defaulted my way to the top of the pile. I've a few segment crowns but to be honest making one in a hallowed place such as the Phoenix Park made my day. The gentle slope probably means it's not a heavily contested one but I don't mind.

Saturday - Rest

Sunday - Long Run with 3 mile Tempo, 8xStrides - 15 km in total. I couldn't have picked a worse route for this, running an unexplored road for the first time. After the first half a mile I was okay but the next 2.5 which were almost completely into a gusty wind finishing with exactly a 1 mile long drag directly into the wind and uphill. It looks to be only about a 20 m climb for that section but it might as well have been Everest. I stubbornly kept the head down and plugged away to end it quicker when in reality I probably should have let myself be slowed by the terrain. Averaged 5:55 for the miles but man that last one had me questioning WTF am I doing here.

Dubh Geannain

Hasn't been an easy couple of weeks. I've come down with the little bit of dizziness again. I'm convinced after all these years it's fatigue related, specifically not going to bed when I'm feeling zonked and ploughing on for several more hours. But it's not easy to just hit the hay at 7pm when there's a 1/4 dozen kids still trooping around and jobs to do. I can run through it and have in the past. The main thing I do avoid is any sort weights or strength work and hope that it passes.

25-31 July - 31.5 miles

• Monday - 5 km easy
• Tuesday - 5x1km T w/ 1 min jog, 6x200R. Easier to manage than the 3 miles solid at T effort.
• Wednesday - 6 km easy
• Thursday - 8x200FR w/ 200 jog. I was looking forward to this workout as it looked very manageable and even fun. 32-33 seconds probably should be the target pace here but I kind of wanted to test a little faster than 800 pace. 30,30,31,31,30,30,30,29 with the hard work starting after the 4th. I didn't really enjoy it as much as I'd hope and afterward the thought occurred to me that this was a 4th session in 7 days. Last week had 3 Q sessions, which was fine but with the way I'd moved days around I'd done (Friday-Speed, Sunday-Tempo, Tuesday-Tempo, Thursday-Speed).
• Friday - 10.8 km easy
• Saturday - Rest
• Sunday - 7km at 7 am before heading west for a couple of days.

01-07 August- 32.5 miles

• Monday - Planned 2x200FR, 2x600FR, 4x200R. Actual 2x200FR, 2x580FR. With the way the week was planned out I knew this would be my best chance over the next few days to get the weeks speed session in. I played a bit of soccer with the kids and then hit the track that went around the pitch we were on. Clonard county Sligo. A lovely community feature there but I've no idea what a lap of the track was unfortunately. The 200s felt stale with 33 seconds for each. I felt I was running longer on each and was certainly wary of the 600s at this stage. I gave them a crack anyway but pulled out of both. I was starting to flag early and couldn't rely on any speed from my legs. I pulled up with maybe 570-580 metres done. Both in 95 seconds so I was probably drifting to around 2:10 800 pace probably slower if I saw out the final 20 meters of each. Some work done anyway so I didn't beat myself up.
• Tuesday - Rest
• Wednesday - 17 km easy in 1hr 21. A lovely run on a pleasant evening.
• Thursday - 5 km easy in 25:30
• Friday - 3x(1m T w/ 2 min jog), 6x200R. It's fair to say I haven't enjoyed many of the Tempos this block and this was no different.
• Saturday - 5 km parkrun with our eldest.
• Sunday - 8 km easy with 5 sprints (100,150,200,150,100 with 1 minute jog between each). The sprints were to to make up for Monday's no show from my legs but nothing stressful. New tarmac in the business park made the sprints quite enjoyable.

Dubh Geannain

08-14 August - 20 miles

• Monday – Rest
• Tuesday - 2x200R, 2x(1mile T w/ 2 min jog), 2x200R – 11 km in total. Work took me up the North where I did my last session around 3 pm on a very hot day. I was wearing my big fat Sauconys for this so the 200s were hard to hit too fast. The times were pretty bang on. For the miles then I started out too fast on both reps but settled into the correct pace which I held okay. Despite the heat, and probably helped that it was only 2 reps, this was the best I felt on any of my recent Tempo efforts. They came in at quite a clippy 5:40 and 5:42.
• Wednesday – 5.8 km in 29 minutes
• Thursday – 9.5 km in 44 mins
• Friday – Rest
• Saturday – National Masters 800m race. Report to follow… not a good ‘un I'm afraid.
• Sunday – Off. Not physically tired but quite sleepy by the time the evening came around. I decided to take the evening off despite throwing around ideas of doing a 3 k TT or something to work off my frustration. I still might next week.

 

Dubh Geannain

National Masters 800m

I’d had a pretty good week and felt good Saturday morning. Made my way to Tullamore and was a little inside the stated 45 minute close for registration but there was no issue collecting my number. Out around the sportfields for a 10 minute warm-up and a few pick ups. I was feeling in good nick. Some of the other athletes talked about the womens 800 just after getting under way and I probably should have made my way trackside at that stage but finished my pick-ups. I’d stretch when I got trackside. By the time I went into the stadium and got to the gate I noticed the 800m men lined up and ready to go. “Early? F**k!”. I jump in and talk to the starter who has trouble finding my name as I hastily put on my spikes. Eventually I’m ready to go. No stretching but not a big deal, I’m well warmed up. I think I delayed the start by around 2-3 minutes so apologise to everyone as I made my way over to lane 2. We were off straight away.

Race

Lap 1 – I can see everyone in front of me from lane 2 and let it stay that way. So it was a snails pace setting off. Here is where I should have tried to position myself off the front 2-3 athletes. But I’m joined at the back by a Belfast runner in yellow who won the race last year so I figured I was in good company. He squeezed me quite a bit though as I concentrated on holding the inside and to not clip the rail. Glanced at the clock as we went through 400m and saw 72 seconds. No PB today anyway I thought but I feel super relaxed.

Lap 2 – I’m not really concentrating on the leaders yet, only the one in front of me. I don’t want to start my move on the bend and risk tiring quicker so decide that at the end of the bend I’d go. But the moment I’m about to the guy beside me (Yellow) also goes and so I’ve to check my stride before stepping out to go past a Kerry runner on the back straight. Yellow is motoring now and I follow him. I notice that the leaders are a good 15-20m further ahead but hope that they’ll come back to us. I’m on the heels of a Donore runner. I go around the outside of him on the last bend and am close behind Yellow. On the home straight I’m in 5th and thinking if I catch him and the next guy I'll get 3rd but it's not looking likely. Pushed as hard as I could but didn’t catch either of the guys ahead. I came through the line quite fast and wished for another 50m that weren’t there. 5th it was in 2:12.39.

Post race

My tardiness to the line might seemed to pay me back by delaying my exit. Trackside with the athletes after, one of them pulled up the live results from which I was omitted. I debated whether I'd bother going to the officials to get my official time. I knew where I came so could interpolate. Eventually I did and spent over 10 minutes upstairs acting as another heat source to the room in which the sweating officials were busily working away.

A 60 second final lap was my only consolation here which is very good for me especially as I didn’t really kick properly until 300 m to go. The guy that won I guess was 56-57 seconds. James Ledingham.  His PB is around 1:50. So no way I was catching him once he went but. But. But... I think a bronze definitely was a possibility if I’d run the race better and just been a bit braver right from the start. Not the place to be learning lessons. Inexperience cost me and lack of race practice. I'll cherish that Masters bronze for indoors earlier in the year more now though, when I ran a lot braver.

It was hard to pick myself up on Sunday and again today. I know the track season is pretty much done so I might have to TT an 800 to try and see if I've improved on last year. Not nice putting in the work and not seeing gains. Google came in handy today though. The Griffith Avenue mile race is being run again this year. I couldn't make the last running of it in 2019 so I'm going to do that and intend to nail sub 4:50 if I can maintain my current fitness level. I'll be pacing myself to go a bit faster than that though. Hopefully low 4:40s.

Dubh Geannain

Ran the s**t out of myself in the early part of last week as I dealt with the disappointment of the Masters. It was a target from a way out but luckily I've hit some goals for the year already and will now focus on what I've got left. On I go. The Griffith Avenue Mile is entered anyway so I'll train towards that in just under 4 weeks.

15-21 August - 30 miles

• Monday - 3 k Hard - 9:53. In the morning I toyed with the idea of having a full blown TT here but by the late evening when I sauntered out for this I realised I needed a bathroom and, well, wasn't feeling as energetic as I had hoped. Decided I'd aim for sub 10 pace and leave it at 2 k if I needed to before setting off. I didn't have to stop at 2 thankfully but did push hard for this and was very happy with the time afterward.
• Tuesday - 14.75 km with 2 k Tempo - 1hr 5. I thought I'd timed my departure well for this but no. I realised mid run I could be late to collect the kids from a summer camp so threw in a 2 K tempo around the 11.5 k mark. That save me all of 2 minutes 😅. Went around the Trim 10 mile route for this and got to revisit the horror stretch where I nearly bailed earlier in the year. Actually getting to suss the route out a bit more this time.
• Wednesday -6 k recovery - 30 mins
• Thursday - Intervals 12x(400 w/250 jog). Legs were still a little tired after the earlier efforts in the week so went for a pace faster than 10 k but slower than 5 k on the Intervals.
• Friday - 5 k recovery - 26 mins
• Saturday - Rest
• Sunday - 5 k easy - 27 minutes. Would have liked a longer easy run today but this was the only chance I got to get out and brought the two boys who cycled with me for it.

Dubh Geannain

22 - 28 August - 30 miles

• Monday - Off
• Tuesday - Plan 10x(400 @milePace w/ 60s rec). Actual 8x(400 @nearlymilePace w/ 60s rec).

Mile fitness tester to see what kind of shape I'm in. 10x70seconds might have suggested I'm in 4:40 shape. I was starting to gas after the 3rd and felt I wasn't going to make the 10 at that stage but wanted to do at least 8. Ended with 8 reps [70,69,70,70,70,70,70,71] so had to be happy with that. A good lung burster anyway on the last couple of reps. I'm somewhere in the 4:40s anyway I hope. Just need to hold it together for the next couple of weeks.

• Wednesday - 6 km recovery 13.2 km in 1hr 3 minutes w/ 472m elevation gain 😆

Work took me up the North on a pleasant day. On the way home I wanted to get a recovery run in somewhere but also wanted to check out Slieve Gullion Forest Park as a place to drop in with the kids sometime. Lets just say the excitement got the better of me here.

And I was off -

I'll not recount all the details of the run and the imaginary creatures I met along the way (I'll save that for the trilogy.) Suffice to say, it was one of those runs where you're not sure of the distance of the route you're following and have many moments of doubt along the way thinking "maybe I should turn around". But then "maybe I'm already past halfway". I reached one junction where I was having doubts but luckily met a couple of walkers who informed me I was on the right route back to the carpark and that it was only 2 miles further. It's a beautiful spot and I took 0 wrong turns.

• Thursday - 5 km barefoot proper recovery around a GAA pitch
• Friday - 8 km - more recovery
• Saturday - Rest
• Sunday - 14.5 km Long run with 10 km Steady (in around 39 minutes). My legs were still a little creaky for this but I comfortably covered the 10 k Steady at a decent pace. Nice relaxed breathing throughout the 10 so I knew I got the pace perfect for this.

Dubh Geannain

I passed 1,000 miles for the year during the week 8 days earlier than last year so I'm course to get more mileage in for 2022 if I can keep it up. My weekly mileage has been fairly consistent with the average to date stubbornly staying just below 30 miles per week.

August 29 - September 04 - 34 miles

• Monday - 6 k easy
• Tuesday - 4x600R off 400, 2x200FR. [1:48,1:44,1:43,1:44], [31,29]. Around the hotel at 9:30 in the evening. Building on last weeks 400s with a target of 1:45 for the 600s. The first rep for me often goes a little slower as I get tuned to the pace. I think it's a bit to do with me often not committing too much on the bit of a warm-ups I might do. Felt decent on these though. Pretty sure I passed a deal being done on my last 200 rep. Unfortunately it was my last one so I wouldn't be passing again and have the chance make inquiries.
• Wednesday - 6.5 k easy
• Thursday - 10 k easy - Passing though Edenderry I decided to get my run in. Really enjoyed it. finding my way to the Canal spur for the town before heading out along the main canal on grass. Nice to find somewhere new to run if I'm passing that way again.
• Friday - 5x(1 mile Tempo off 1:30 jog) [5:55, 5:52, 5:56, 5:54, 5:49]. Decent session.
• Saturday - Off
• Sunday - 12 km in 1 hr. Late out for this again and I was looking forward to bed for the last 2 kms or so.

Dubh Geannain

Managed to stave off what appeared to be a dose halfway through the week thankfully and check in with 30 ish miles. Less than a week until the Griffith Avenue mile now. One more mile paced session this week and then I'm going to ease off on lung bursting efforts for a while apart from maybe one last 800 TT perhaps after next week - simply down to the fact I didn't even run under 2:10 in any of my three races this year. We'll see how the mile goes first though.

I'll try and maintain mileage and hopefully enjoy a couple of cross country races with the club in the autumn.

05-11 September - 29.6 miles (grrr)

• Monday - 5.2 km easy
• Tuesday - 2x800R (low 1:20s target), 2x400R (70s target), 2x200FR. On my jog out I was debating 3x800 but thought better of it and think it was the right call. Ran the first 800 really controlled without forcing the pace at all. 2:23 was pretty perfect as a session starter. 3 minutes recovery before the second 800. I probably went out a little too brisk here but managed not to slow down too much in the second half for a 2:20. Was definitely glad I was only doing two reps at the end of it. Another 3 minutes before the 400s which were always going to feel easier afterward [69,70]. The 200s were [29,30].
• Wednesday - 11 km easy. Legs felt fine today.
• Thursday - 5 km easy. Another easy one but I wasn't quite feeling myself on finishing up. Bed early.
• Friday - Off. Very hard to get out of the bed today and feeling sleepy and dopey for the rest of it. So I rested..
• Saturday - Off. Extra day off to be sure to be sure.
• Sunday - 7x(1.5k Tempo w/ 1:30 jog). Supposed to be 6 reps but I'd lengthened my route a little to chase the magic 30 MPW mark. I felt pretty great at the end of the 6th rep to be honest (even with the paces averaged around 5:50/mile). The 2 days off no doubt helped. And, with a bit more road to work with I threw in a 7th which half way through I kind of regretted as I set off uphill for the remainder of it. Saw it out though but 6 would have been perfect. I was certainly feeling it in the legs in bed that night.

Dubh Geannain

Something happened...

First, the week that nearly wasn't. That touch of something that was nagging me the previous week came back to bug me again and put the race in question. Cue a bunch of short easy runs for the week.

12-18 September - 22 miles

Monday - 6 km recovery. 5:12/km

Tuesday - 9.2 km easy. 4:45/km. Started to fade towards the end of this. "Don't tell me I'm getting sick."

Wednesday - Off. There was to be no mile paces (or any) sessions this week I decided.

Thursday - 5 km easy. 5:10/km. Felt horrible but just wanted to turn the legs without getting the heartrate elevated.

Friday - 6 km easy. 4:55/km Feeling a bit better but still taking it easy.

Saturday - 6 km easy again around 9 pm. Again feeling a bit more optimistic. I tried 4x200s at mile pace which felt okay and went home to bed.

Sunday - Stuck to the bed again in the morning. Well f**k it! We'd decided to make a day of it though and with everyone going for the spin into town I'd double the motivation to drag myself in. Wandered around among Shelbourne and Bohemians supporters near Old Hallows in DCU for a while as we were good and early. I was definitely going to run and, given the day, I was going to enjoy myself regardless of whatever time I might run. I supped on a can of red bull as my wife lectured the kids about the dangers of highly caffeinated sugary drinks. Of course I agreed with her and I was "only taking it as medicine". On reflection, it certainly must have helped.

Griffith Avenue Mile

I left the family at the finish line with my bag and used the jog up to the start as my warm-up. I made my way to the second row of the pen which had a fair few more casual runners that had not heard or ignored the starters instructions to leave room for 5:30 runners. It didn't bother me though as it didn't seem to bother anyone else. It was a very relaxed and jovial atmosphere. I spoke to the guy beside me to enquire what he was aiming for. "Just under 5:00 hopefully" came the reply. I said I'd love to nip under 4:50 but under 5 would be fine too given how I was feeling. I said I'd keep an eye out for him to know how I was doing as the watch couldn't be trusted too much for pace on account of all the trees. A couple of runners are introduced - Hiko Tonosa and Michelle Finn that I can remember anyway. A short countdown and we're off.

I go out quick enough to avoid traffic and the sides of the rails which look like a bit of a trip hazard. I arrive near the front as Hiko and a young DCU runner bound off away from everyone. I settle myself after the initial burst and try and hone in on a pace I feel I can hold. I know the watch can't be trusted too much but hazard a glance to see the quarter mile approaching and around 67 seconds. "Okay dial it back a little bit and settle." There's some strong runners around me as I let 3 ladies and a few lads move ahead a little. But I'm feeling okay and don't think I've overcooked my start. Adreneline is a wonderful thing. This'll be over in a flash and I can get back to feeling crap afterwards. Time to focus.

Coming up to halfway the runners in front are almost single file and I'm a little isolated around 5-10 metres further back but don't feel the urge to kick onto the back of them. I find a guy sitting right behind me drafting, doing what I think I should have with the main chase group. In fairness he pulls up beside me eventually and says something like "we can catch this guy" as a green vested runner starts to fall off the pack and come back to us. All I could manage was a "yep" as we both wound it up a bit. Another glance at the watch though shows 0.73 miles. Right that's close enough to 400 to go. So I do, leaving my drafter in my wake. I catch and start passing each of the chase group one at a time as someone shouts my name from the crowd. Had no idea who that could have been @Murph_D . Passed a few guys and a couple of ladies. It's exciting to feel so strong here. I start to let myself ease off a little as I near the finish. I don't even look at the clock as I notice there's one more lady in front. I can probably catch her I think so manage one more little kick to pass her a few feet before the line and before she could even respond. Stopped the watch and was absolutely floored by the time...

4:35.0 (official). Position - 4th. My wife and kids are over at the rail and I'm not even my usual prostrated mess so can talk excitedly with them about my disbelief at the time. They had been instructed to watch out for me at just before 5 minutes. My wife hadn't believed my eldest when he said I was coming but she started recording the finish line anyway.

We had to hang around for the prizegiving after, which I hadn't planned on and the kids were all well ready to go home by the time the prizes were handed out. Had never received money before for sport. All those years wasted playing GAA 😂. And the lady I passed on the line was Michelle Finn. That absolutely topped it all off. I also kind of ruined a photo of her as a photographer had jumped out in front of me crossing the line to take a snap of the first female finisher. She did break the course record though.

After thoughts.

Anyone new would be forgiven for thinking, Given the thread title, "WTF". This is the first time I've run sub 5 in a race. So it's my first official sub 5 mile. I think round a flat track in spikes I'd have to be closer to 4:40 something. Maybe. I don't care really though. This one is going into the memoirs if I haven't bored everyone to death about it by the time I get around to writing them 😁

The pace chart (FWIW with all the trees) kind of helps tell the story too. I must be a kicker. Stuff you only learn from racing I guess and while the kick didn't land me success in the National Masters 800 I did similar in the Meath 1,500 earlier in the year too to good effect. The 800 training must be paying some dividends which is a relief after not nailing it this year. The feeling of flying at the end and passing folks really beats hanging on at a prescribed pace indefinitely.

Lambay island

That is an outstanding performance. Massive congrats,what a scalp too... patiently waiting now for you to add that video 😉

Laineyfrecks

Absolutely brilliant! I loved reading that, big huge congratulations🤗

Lazare

This is stunning!! A massive congrats to you. What a performance 👏

Man that last 400 must have felt the sweetest, what a kick!

AuldManKing

That's a brilliant performance - many congrats - I've been neglecting this log, so went back and re-read a good bit of it :)

Glad that this performance has wiped the memory of the 800 at nationals. (you also mention in that post about running a low 4.40 in the Griffith Mile!)

ariana`

Wow, well done! A contender for performance of the year at our annual awards I'd say 😊

Dubh Geannain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119644830#Comment_119644830

I did indeed! As Lainey says, I dreamt big. Although 4:30s was probably hallucination territory.

But I'd no right to expect to run any such time just based off training runs, paces and dreaming. My 1,500 race earlier in the year was a 4:48 equivalent I think. That and a couple of disappointing 800s (which pointed at similar) were the only form I could honestly gauge off.

After the 800 I put in a good month of mile stuff though. I read an article on the Ingebrigtsens just after the start of it. Again Lainey might know a thing or two about EIM. I didn't go all in on EIM but did avoid any fast intervals for the month (apart from the week after the race before I read the article). I kept up my mile paced reps of 400s one week, 600s the next week and 800s a couple of weeks back. For tempos I made sure that any I did did not exceed 6 minutes in duration so they were all mile tempos for me.

As well as warning of the dangers of too much one paced aerobic running on the one hand, Lok advocates the need to avoid too many intense interval sessions at or around V02 max, on the other. The Dutchman maintains that the Easy Interval Method allows the athlete to run at a range of aerobically dominant speeds by varying the tempo and adopting a multi-paced ethos, without the acidification of the muscles occurring..

...

Typical sessions undertaken by the three bothers have reportedly included 5 x 6 mins at threshold pace; 10 x 1km at threshold pace and 20 x 400m with 30s recovery

Ingebrigtsen Intervals | Fast Running

Now I didn't vary the tempo pace really but that was my month basically. With the exception of last week when I just ran easy.

Murph_D

Great stuff, it was great to witness your performance and yeah, great scalp to take on the line! The course profile will have helped of course, but you smashed it by so much that that doesn't come into it really. Great performance, and congrats on the prize. Nothing like an envelope to put a gloss on the day, and I love your line about choosing the wrong sport earlier in your career. 😀

dna_leri

"I spoke to the guy beside me to enquire what he was aiming for. "Just under 5:00 hopefully" came the reply. I said I'd love to nip under 4:50 but under 5 would be fine too given how I was feeling. I said I'd keep an eye out for him to know how I was doing as the watch couldn't be trusted too much for pace on account of all the trees. A couple of runners are introduced - Hiko Tonosa and Michelle Finn that I can remember anyway."

So I was that guy, I'm glad you did not take my advice not to follow Hiko and Michelle 😁

That was a brilliant run, 4:35 is a super time, equivalent to 4:15 for 1500m !

I made my target but you were well out of sight - well done

Laineyfrecks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119645218#Comment_119645218

Always nice to dream big but even better for them to come true🤗

Dubh Geannain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119647241#Comment_119647241

Ah lovely. That's brilliant. Nice to have sort of met you.

Dubh Geannain

Probably going to meander a little bit into the winter now. I'm hoping the NIA Live will be back in December so I can try one more time to put a decent 800 to my name before the end of 2022 but I'm not going to start to training towards it yet anyway. Meath Novice CC is next weekend and unfortunately it doesn't suit. A couple of clubmates thought I'd a chance at winning it too as a lot of stronger runners are no longer eligible having won it before along with the London Marathon being on. Ah well.

19 - 25 September - 32 miles

Monday - 6.2 km easy

Tuesday - Off

Wednesday - 14.5 km in 1 hour 6. (4:33/km). Set off and was really enjoying this run but needed the bathroom not long after halfway. A ginger second half.

Thursday - Pyramid - 2,4,6,8,8,6,4,2. Started at just slower than mile pace and then slightly slower with each longer rep. It still was more taxing than I would expected with the 600s probably being the hardest strangely which were at around 5k pace.

Friday - 5 k easy

Saturday - 3.5 km of a parkrun and a little bit. Had the two boys with me for this. One took a tumble due to the other fella and wasn't best pleased. We called it a that.

Sunday - 10 km TT. I wasn't going to call this a TT because I wasn't planning on going all out for this. I decided a pace of 3:35/km would get me to 35:50 and 8 seconds quicker than a TT I did last year. It was breezy which made kms 3,4 and 9 the worst of the lot. On the flip side I was absolutely cruising on 6,7 and felt great where the wind is on your back and you could hear a mouse whisper. I didn't force the pace here on these. Just made sure I was settled before turning into the wind before the end of the 8th and for the full 9th. Worked out fairly consistent split wise when you take account of the wind. [3:34, 3:34, 3:36, 3:41(w), 3:40(w), 3:35, 3:33, 3:35, 3:37(w), 3:18]. Pushed on the last obviously and ended up with a PR for 10k of 35:44. It might have been the overall effort or the final km push but my calves were aching afterward and last night. I did call it a TT in the end (sure what else could it be called?) as I was properly gassed after finishing the last plus my calves certainly suggested there wasn't much more pushing the could have been done during it.

Laineyfrecks

Well done on the TT, great time! You are in great shape!

Dubh Geannain

With all the resurrected logs I've got a dunt to at least see out 2022 here. I'd been pretty good at keeping it going this year up until the last month where my visits were more focussed on following Dublin preparations and reports. I did say I'd meander a while, I guess. I have found it hard to adjust goals after such a massive high for me though and so I slipped back a little but no harm I hope.

The plan for winter was to try and increase easy mileage run a bit of cross country and then have a stab at an NIA 800m off little targeted training to close the year out. But my mileage actually decreased (usual kids busy life etc etc.) from my nice low base of roughly 30 MPW.

Was just ramping up again at the end of October (after entering one of the 800s indoors) but managed to curse myself a couple of weeks back by commenting how I've stayed relatively healthy all year just before a stag which resulted in a nice two-day hangover, followed by a cold and then a bug to top it off.

Missing weeks:

• 26Sep-02Oct: 25 miles. One 10 mile run and 5 miles steady in here.
• 03-09 Oct: 25 miles. Looking back I was trying to make up for the lower mileage and forecast lower mileage. Also I knew that I'd be on the road alot the following week too so would be doing even less then. I logged 5 miles steady, another steady run finishing with 3 K T, Intervals session 15x300on, 150off and an 8x1kT w/ 1 min jog.
• 10-16 Oct: 21.5 miles. Just one session of 9x1kT w/ 1 min jog.
• 17-23 Oct: 31 miles. Sessions. Intervals 10x400 w/60s jog, 10 mile run Steady finishing @ Tempo pace for the last couple of km.
• 24-30 Oct: 35 miles. Sessions. 7x1k T w/ 60s jog. Time to wake the legs back up = 4x(100Fast,200Fast). Intervals 4x800 w/ 2min jog
• 31Oct-06Nov: 22 miles. 4x400R, 4x200FR. Definitely lacking in speed in the legs. 10 miles Steady. Off to the ill-fated stag for the weekend where I'd planned to complete my weekly mileage by running easy but it never materialised.
• 07-13Nov: 17 miles. Horrible horrible week which I finished off by running in the Meath Senior Cross Country.

Meath Senior Cross Country

This weekend was my last chance to run cross country this side of Christmas I figured. Feeling really guilty for putting my name down but not being able to make the last couple of races I dragged myself out for this very much not in 100% condition but hoped the race buzz would see me round if I took it easy enough. We'd 7 runners present. On a good day I'd maybe be the 2nd-3rd home I reckoned. But then again, I've no experience over 8 k so what do I know. I could be outside the top 4 today so I can just enjoy a trot around the course near the back. That was the plan anyway. 5 laps of one mile over a very dry hilly course with lots of long grass.

Lap 1. I went almost to the back and didn't even look at the leaders concentrating on who was around me. I was determined to finish stronger than I started. I'd say I averaged 3:56 pace. A couple of my clubmates still managed to be behind me here despite me holding myself back. I was feeling good at this stage though.

Lap 2. Right I can pass a few here maybe I reckoned and did so on a couple of hills. Take it steady though. I went by one of my team mates halfway through the lap here giving him some encouragement as I do. This put me third for our team so I was just going to try and hold the effort level now until the last lap and kick then if I could. The body had responded when I needed it to here but maybe not quite to the level I might have expected, so definitely wasn't getting excited. There might not be a kick for the last lap, but I can certainly hold this effort. Lap 2 maybe 3:53 pace.

Lap 3. Boom! Not happening for me today. This is only the 4th km and I'm struggling big time. I slow right down. I get repassed by my team mate again toward the end of this lap and consider dropping put. Really don't help myself at all here or for the next lap or so by continually telling myself "what do you expect. You're shook after being sick all week and are risking getting sick again". Pace 4:15.

Lap 4. Going past the finish line with all the encouragement and the crowd always give you a little push to hang on. So I know I'll make it to the next hill at least. I look around to see if I can see any of my club colours behind me. No sign for a good 300m back and lots of other runners. There's one fella that is ominous by his absence. "God why am I still running" followed shortly by "Oh there's my teammate". He'd pulled up on lap 3 and was now cheering me on. He wasn't going to be catching or taking up the mantle if I drop so I knew then I was going to have to see it out if the team were going to have a chance of a medal. Main thoughts now are "hang on" and "If the guy behind starts to close try and kick a little to discourage him". Pace 4:13.

Lap 5. I try to tell myself I could catch at least 3-4 people ahead of me on another day (perhaps to make myself feel a little better) but if I even tried such a stunt during this lap I might pass out. Just get home. The last lap involved very little in the way of bursts really even allowing myself to slow in places as the guy behind me wasn't closing. Last lap around 4:10. I was greeted by one of my teammates as I crossed but couldn't talk. I went off to lie on the grass for a while before returning a few minutes later.

That was tough. That was humbling. That was cross-country racing. We got a team bronze by 4 points so I'd made the difference in the end being our 4th finisher in 21st place overall. Roll on the Master CC in January :)

I'm simply assuming at this stage I'll get back to feeling much fitter during the week. I couldn't have lost that much of my conditioning in such a short space of time. Let's see how the week goes.

Dubh Geannain

14 - 20 November- 33 miles

Bilbo was back on his adventures this week.

Monday - 5 km easy in 25 minutes. Chanced a run on the Monday and I was definitely back to feeling near normal.

Tuesday - Intervals 6x(60s On/Off), 4x200FR. Covered just over 300m on each 60s on with the recovery time more than enough. The 200s were just over 30s each.

Wednesday - On the way to Sligo for work. I stopped in Mullingar for 8 k recovery. Winter fog and street lights made it quite atmospheric around the town especially around the canal. Had the phone with me but didn't stop to take any snaps. Probably should have.

Thursday - Road/Trail run 13 km Up Knocknarea and back with 356m elevation gain. If I regret not using my phone on Wednesday it was more so today as the fog lingered on into the early afternoon as I set off on this run. As I went higher I emerged from the fog to the sunny uplands where the views were absolutely stunning with clear skies above and patched fog around various pockets of Sligo and its surrounds below. I wasn't sure what shape the trail was but found out soon enough as I continued running for as long as I could. I eventually succumbed to walking the final little bit as the steps became ever more pronounced requiring me to shuffle on each one before jumping up to the next. Once it levelled out again I got back into a trot doing a couple of laps of the cairn before heading back down again. I ended up covering the 13 kms in 1hr 06 so the pace overall ended up quite quick as I enjoyed going at a good clip on the descent.

Friday - 2x(300R, 200FR, 100Fast). Legs were good and tired today but I wanted to get some more speed work into the legs before racing indoors the following week. Didn't overdo it but was feeling the increased speed of 800 paced stuff a little easier to handle than a couple of weeks back.

Sunday - 10 km in 50 mins. Night run to finish off the week.

Dubh Geannain

21 - 28 November - 30 miles

Monday - 6x (1kT w/ 60s jog). Racing Thursday but I wanted to get a decent session in at the start of the week so went out on Monday. Kms were 3:44, 3:41, 3:41, 3:37, 3:40, 3:30*. With Thursday's race in mind I decided to pick up the pace a good bit for the last 200 of the final rep, hence the quicker time.

Tuesday - 6.5 km Easy

Wednesday - Rest

Thursday - [RACE] Track and Field Live 800m. I wasn't taking this race extremely seriously in my prep but had tried to inject some faster paced stuff in the last 3 weeks and wanted to give it a good go. This was just to give me a marker of where I've left myself at this stage of the year. Conclusion is not in great 800 shape but not atrocious. Hard to resist a min-report...

As is customary for track races despite there being a 40-minute delay to proceedings when I arrived I still managed to nearly miss the start of the race. I think that's 4 track races in a row for me where I'm tying my laces as they're lining up. Ridiculous stuff really. The meet gained twenty minutes back from the time I decided to go for a 5k jog which I'd shortened to 3 as I started to feel anxious that that might happen. I arrived back into the arena as the 800 ladies were about to start and the 800 men were in the middle of the track. Panicked but I still needed the toilet so off I went trying to remove layers as I ran. The 800 was condensed from 3 to 2 heats and I was stood with a host of young sub 2 lads. The director (thankfully) rechecked his board and they decided to move me in with the first heat where I shared a lane to start.

Start - We set off and I move out much quicker than my lane buddy to take up second position as the lanes broke. I tried to match the pace of the guy in front and went through the first 200 in 31. The next 200 the gap grew a couple of yards, but I was feeling comfortable with the pace and didn't feel the need to sit on him. I didn't feel there was anyone very close to me either, so it was turning into a 2-man race. Lap 2: 33s. Into lap 3 and I'm on my own as the gap has grown further to about 15 metres. I don't believe I'm completely out of touch though but am feeling the effort big time at this stage. However, I know I can still kick for the last 200 and will go at the bell. By the time the bell comes the gap is still around 15 metres. Lap 3: 34s. I kick as best I can, and the gap starts to close. It's not rapidly closing but I feel I can catch him before the line. Legs are a tonne weight, and the lungs are gasping but I'm a metre behind coming off the last bend and get right up beside him as we approach the finish where he responds with a little kick of his own. We dip at the line but I think he's got me by a hair. This turned out to be the case with Two hundredths of a second in it. Time: 2:11.18. Last lap: 32s. Funny how you feel you're kicking at the hardest you've done the whole race but still not as fast as the first 200m. The 800 is a very interesting event.

I hope to put in a solid 3 weeks and return again on December 14th. December is due to be crazy, but I haven't broken 2:10 for the 800 this year. I have to believe I can run faster next time out, once I don't get sick or injured and keep the training sensible.

Friday - 12 km easy around Baldoyle and Howth. Working in the area I went for a trot seeing if I'd happen upon the famous Howth Hill. I'm not sure if that's where I ended up but it was hilly enough.

Saturday - Off

Sunday - 4x400R, 4x300FR. Game face on and a decent middle-distance workout. Hit the target pace no problem on the 400s (70s) but found the 300s tougher with the lactate in the legs hitting early on. The jogged recoveries became partially walked for the last two 300s but I hit the time for these but with effort the race possibly still a bit in the legs 49,48,48,48.

Dubh Geannain

What was I saying about December? Grrr! Kids Christmas mass is on the same evening as the next Indoor meet which I'd entered. It means I won't be able to run it now so need to rejig my plans somewhat. Could be ending the year doing a solo 800 TT but I'm also hoping I might take in a nearby 5k race too during the month. Will be seeing if I can get into the next Indoor event in January.

November 29 - December 04 - 31 miles

Monday - 6.6 km easy

Tuesday - 5 km @10k pace. I was thinking of doing 5km Tempo but decided to push the effort level a little more. Felt nice and controlled, speeding up slightly as I warmed into it for 5k in 18:03.

Wednesday - 7 km easy

Thursday - Fartlek on some small hills. Work took me to the North near Cookstown. A glance at Strava introduced me to the Mid Ulster Sports Arena with an undulating running path around all the sports fields. I didn't want to tax myself too much but wanted to do something so settled on picking up the effort around the upslopes. This resulted in a 1.3 k lap with increased efforts over 4 hills for between 20-50 seconds. I did 20 pickups in total over 5 laps.

Friday - 6.5 kms easy

Saturday - Off

Sunday - 2x400R, 600R, 1x400FR, 2x300FR (Still believing the 800 race was happening). Reps were 70, 70, 1:45 so bang on target. The Fast reps were 64, 48, 48. Bang on target again. The Fast reps were definitely less stressful than 7 days earlier, so I was happy I was getting used to the bit of speed again.

Dubh Geannain

An okay week. Punctuated with a wedding on Friday but still hit my mileage target so tipping along. I've another wedding right on top of Christmas too and going to miss two vital days in work as a result. Daft stuff.

I passed last year's mileage total yesterday so 3 weeks up on 2021. I'll get really close to but likely won't break 1,500 miles for the year.

05-11 December - 32 miles

Monday - 6.9 km easy in 33 minutes

Tuesday - Intervals 4x(1k w/ 2 min jog) [3:19, 3:19, 3:19, 3:16]. First few hard Ks in a while. I wasn't as comfortable as I would have liked going into the last but choosing 2 mins instead of 2:30 jog in between probably played a part.

Wednesday - 6 km recovery. This was the 4th night in a row I got out after 9 pm so made sure I'd try and get some daylight running in.

Thursday - 10 miles in 1hr12. Midday run. Quickened a little in the second half as I warmed up. Long run for the week done before a couple of days off.

Friday - Off

Saturday - Off again.

Sunday - 5x300FR, 4x300R. I'd trotted up to the business park hoping there'd be a bit of grip for some fast stuff. It wasn't to be, so I went back to the Porchfields where the path there provided a little more traction for what were now going to be shorter reps. It was nice and cold and these were a little all over the place but I was happy I did something at least. Fast 300s were [??, 47, 47, 46, 48] with the mile paced ones [54, 53, 52, 52]

AuldManKing

thats some 800!! fair play - those paces are insane.

Under a previous coach we used to do 4x1min 'all out' - I done these on a straight road in the PP. (think I only done them once). I knew from Bollard to Bollard on the Furze Road is exactly 400m - so used this as a marker.

On the 1st one - I managed about 380 meters in 60 secs - that was the height of it! Legs & lungs fecked afterwards. Downhill after that. Dont know how you guys run that fast on a consistent basis - I'd be constantly injured!!