Just Do It

Swashbuckler

I'm genuinely curious. The improvement and progression has been staggering. What do you put it down to? Do you think it's mostly the fact that you had huge potential to begin with and putting structure around that has helped? I mean we all had big gains when we started getting smarter with training but to go from where you were to where you are is mind blowing. Or do you think it's the supplementary stuff like nutrition, recovery, etc?

Lambay island

MY BAD wrote: »

I'm expecting a 2:4x for when you race a marathon again

Ha no pressure like. It took me a fair while to realise that sub 3 was a possibility and that's my number 1 target. I'd love to be about 14 weeks out from a marathon where I can test the endurance and get stuck into a plan. I see some of those savage sessions the likes of Healy and AMK were doing for Manchester and thought thats where I want and need to be.
Fair play on your super sub 17 yesterday, you predicted that well.

py

Great 10Km time, congrats! Never underestimate how tough gardening can be

Lambay island

Sweatlicker wrote: »

I'm genuinely curious. The improvement and progression has been staggering. What do you put it down to? Do you think it's mostly the fact that you had huge potential to begin with and putting structure around that has helped? I mean we all had big gains when we started getting smarter with training but to go from where you were to where you are is mind blowing. Or do you think it's the supplementary stuff like nutrition, recovery, etc?

Its definitely not nutrition anyway P. I don't eat that bad but plenty of room to improve there. I'd say over the last 6 months I've learned more about my body and its capabilities then I did in the previous 15 years. For example, I have to manage my knee and give it TLC from time to time. At present, I know it couldn't handle 3 sessions in a week so even if I felt like it, I won't do it.. I have learned to run on grass when I need to recover. I have made lots of mistakes in training but I'm not making the same one twice - touch wood. Consistently running has to have played a major role.
I shifted a fair bit of weight initially but id never be described as a thin build as I'm naturally short and stocky.
Any time I have raced or time trialled more so recently, I have just pushed my body a little bit more each time to find that limit.

Lambay island

py wrote: »

Great 10Km time, congrats! Never underestimate how tough gardening can be

Cheers..
I won't. Someone once told me weeding is therapeutic. That person can f right off

Lambay island

Quick catch up.

Nothing too spectacular in the last couple of weeks in terms of running.
Previous week I did about 52 miles including the 10 min TT.
I completed that with a distance of 3.12km when I had targeted 3km so was very happy with that. I gave a report on that in that thread so won't go into detail again.
I will park the short stuff for the time being but all in all, I am really pleased with my improvements in 10k and under. I will revist the 1 mile TT at some stage as I know I can improve on that one.

Last week was a down week and it coincided with me been on holidays. A very pleasant week in Clare where we did a bit of the touristy stuff. Aliwee cave, Cliffs of Moher, bit of surfing in Lahinch were the highlights. I tipped away doing a few miles here and there when I got a chance. One morning I did a loop of lahinch golf club. The work the groundsmen do on that course is something else although it would want to be, when they charge 240 Euro for a green fee. I finished off the week with a 14 mile run back in Dublin, throwing in about 4 miles at MP to get over the 40 miles for the week.
I decided to sign up for the Galway Bay Marathon at the start of October a couple of weeks back. I'm obviously not sure if it will go ahead but I wanted a target . 12 week plan starts this week.

healy1835

Nice to see someone else start training for a marathon that may or may not happen you're in great shape to be starting a block.

Lambay island

healy1835 wrote: »

Nice to see someone else start training for a marathon that may or may not happen you're in great shape to be starting a block.

Cheers, someone around these parts has kindly agreed to help me and also do out the training plan which is a massive plus.

Comic Book Guy

Lambay island wrote: »

Cheers, someone around these parts has kindly agreed to help me and also do out the training plan which is a massive plus.

Looking forward to following your progress over those 12 weeks. Best of luck!

Swashbuckler

Lambay island wrote:

Cheers, someone around these parts has kindly agreed to help me and also do out the training plan which is a massive plus.

Looking at your session this morning, the structure of it looks awfully familiar! Am I right?

Laineyfrecks

Very best of luck with it D!

Lambay island

Sweatlicker wrote: »

Looking at your session this morning, the structure of it looks awfully familiar! Am I right?

U are indeed. Looking fwd now to the next few weeks.

Lambay island

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

Very best of luck with it D!

Thanks E. I'm hoping there's a race at the end of it now.

Swashbuckler

Lambay island wrote:

U are indeed. Looking fwd now to the next few weeks.

Excellent. Will be the making of you wait and see. Great stuff. Welcome to the stable. Lol

Swashbuckler

Need to have a word with him though. He's meant to be helping me catch up with guys like you not increase the gap!

Lambay island

Sweatlicker wrote: »

Need to have a word with him though. He's meant to be helping me catch up with guys like you not increase the gap!

Haha

Lambay island

Monday 5.55 Miles @8.18
45 minute run around Marlay parkas it was opening. I see the fella that opens the gate regularly now, that he often gives me a big wave as I'm quite often the first person in the park on weekday mornings.

Tuesday Double Runmute

AM- 6.82 Miles @8.00
I was listening to the weekend Off the ball Jack Charlton special on this run. As the discussion points turned to the Romania peno shoot out in 1990, it brought me back to exactly where I was when Dave O Leary scored that peno. I was a young kid and my dad had brought me to RDS, where they were showing thematch live on big screens with which seemed like thousands of others.George Hamiltons famous " A nation holds its breath" comment was so powerfuland accurate as I remember the eerie silence as O' Leary walked up. Utter chaos then followed as the ball hit the net. It took me a good 10 minutes to find my father after that as I ended up bout 5 rows in front of where I was in the manic.My dad had a few too many celebratory drinks in the aftermath that we ended up hitching a lift home. The mother was disgusted :)Good Times that Big Jack brought.


PM - 8.74 Miles@8.07
Took the more scenic coastal route back here and ran a couple of Km's on the beach.

Wed 8.79 Miles @7.20

My first session under the guidance of L. 2 Mile warm up followed by 2 miles@6.00. The 2nd of these 2 miles definitely felt harder (which i suppose is the idea) to keep the pace. First mile Garmin reading was 5.59 with 2nd at 6.02.

3 minute jog then followed by 8x1 min at 5.30 off 60 seconds. I was happy with the turnover stuff here and using the 60 seconds recovery to my advantage which led all the reps to duck slightly under 5.30.
2 mile warm down to finish it off and off I went to Tayto park with the kids for a fun day.

Thursday 50 mins easy 10kish at 8.20 mile pace
Just tipping away around Marlay park where I saw my mate again opening the gates

Swashbuckler

Gonna get even more interesting reading your log now that your sessions are very similar to ones I have run or run regularly. I always like those sessions where there's a mile or two of threshold stuff followed by turnover stuff. It stands to you big time getting used to turning over on fatigued legs.

MY BAD

I think thresy/turnover sessions are my favourite type of session.

Swashbuckler

MY BAD wrote:

I think thresy/turnover sessions are my favourite my of session.

Yeah me too. Confidence builders too.

IvoryTower

Whats the idea behind the session, is it like tempo + speed endurance in one session kinda thing?

Lambay island

IvoryTower wrote: »

Whats the idea behind the session, is it like tempo + speed endurance in one session kinda thing?

I'm sure the lads above know better than me but my understanding would be to train the muscles to be able to go faster for longer, so yeh I think.

Swashbuckler

If KSU reads the log he'll give a better insight. But in my mind you're basically conditioning the legs to run fast when already fatigued. By the time you get to the end of a session like this I always feel like the legs are working as hard as they would be towards the mid-latter part of a race (but for short period so low stress overall). Basically a quick way of simulating race effort without flogging yourself.

MY BAD

Sweatlicker gives a good insight there. Faster turnover stuff can be hard on the body so by adding the thresy stuff with turnovers will simulate a race. You will be fatigued but lower risk on the body.

Swashbuckler

I really need to change my username back........

KSU

Sweatlicker wrote: »

If KSU reads the log he'll give a better insight. But in my mind you're basically conditioning the legs to run fast when already fatigued. By the time you get to the end of a session like this I always feel like the legs are working as hard as they would be towards the mid-latter part of a race (but for short period so low stress overall). Basically a quick way of simulating race effort without flogging yourself.

MY BAD wrote: »

Sweatlicker gives a good insight there. Faster turnover stuff can be hard on the body so by adding the thresy stuff with turnovers will simulate a race. You will be fatigued but lower risk on the body.

The lads both made good points as to why these sort of sessions can be beneficial.

For me I like these sort of sessions for a few reasons.

As MY BAD mentions race simulation plays a role. In races that are mostly aerobic (1500m and upwards) fatigue is always gonna play a factor. The threshold stuff raised base level HR to a point where it will simulate second half of a race in terms of fatigue.

No matter what race distance you run it is always the second half of the race which is make or break due to fatigue. Running race paced reps is important but most people can hit splits with relative ease in first half of a race/ sessions with that in mind it is the latter stages of a session where the benefits are got. Threshold work helps get you to that point a little safer than say adding too much volume (reps) and have fatigue impact form and risk injury to get to the point of fitness benefits.

Likewise even races closer to threshold (60 min race pace) are not gonna be linear, a stiff breeze/hill etc is gonna spike effort so it is important that the body can tolerate that in small doses even if the main purpose of a session is threshold type work. Many of us forget that no matter what the race distance the physical demands are gonna be multifaceted. Aerobic races (even marathons) still have an anaerobic competent so the body must be trained to tolerate all aspects of fitness in varying degree's

This is why many coaches opt for multi paced sessions as being more specific to racing demands that more traditional zonal type training.

Also given LI's goals never wanna stray too far from AnT/AeT work even when working more on quicker speeds so prefer keep a bit of aerobic training in all sessions.

Swashbuckler

Swashbuckler wrote:

I really need to change my username back........

That's better....

OOnegative

Swashbuckler wrote: »

I really need to change my username back........

Boooooooo..........

Lambay island

Should it not now be Swishbuckler or Swooshbuckler?

Swashbuckler

Swashlickler