Against Method.

Sacksian

43.4 for the week although it was only today that I felt like I was finally back to the land of the living.

6 days running, mostly short.

Monday - 40mins @8:03 (knee sore)
Tuesday 51mins @7:55 (knee better)
Thursday - 54mins @6:53 w/3 miles a bit uptempo in the middle
Friday - 39mins @ 7:58
Saturday - 8 x 3m30s off 90s xc on Polos.

Probably could have done with longer spikes and a slower first interval. Either way, it was windy as usual on the Polos, very gloopy and I started to tire (hr was rising) by the last few reps. Harder work than I was anticipating but worth doing anyway. Just under 6 miles of running @6:42 pace in total for the session.

Sunday - 66mins @ 7:31

This was a lovely run - I normally run on trails but they're so sticky at the moment that I ran on the road.

---

Will hopefully do a mini-session before the 10-mile xc race on Saturday. Not expecting much, but it will be a good workout (and am preparing a series of legal challenges to the handicapping committee’s decisions in advance of it). In or around 63mins is a reasonable target.

Looking forward to getting faster and fitter again in 2021.

Sacksian

This week was mostly about making sure I was ready for Saturday’s race.

5 days of running (including a couple of short days) for 39 miles.

Tuesday - 46mins @7:47
Wednesday - 3 x 8mins xc @MHR off 2mins on WBB Lap

Very gloopy - hr higher than MHR and my spikes split. Leaving me with no spikes for Saturday’s race.

Friday - 31mins @7:18 - hr higher than usual, not sure why.

Saturday.

Waterhouse Byrne Baird

The traditional club handicap 10 mile xc race, held on St. Stephen’s Day since 1896. Perfect for social distancing because of the handicap nature and two-mile loop.

First runners set off at 11:00 with the scratch man off at 11:35. Myself and one of the junior guys (who ran 9.05.66 for 3000m during the summer) set off at 11:26. 40 finishers in total.

Having split my spikes during the week, the only option I had were my 800m/1500m spikes which I’ve never worn outside a track before but on the morning of the race I ended up dithering so long about spike lengths that I was actually running late so had to cycle up to the park to get there in time. I left the house just after five past, leaving me 20 minutes to cycle the two miles to the park and get my spikes on before the start. It meant I didn’t have much time to think about a strategy.

The way the race works is that, over the first 4 laps, you’re unwinding the handicaps of people who started in front of you, some of whom might be three miles into their 10 miles before you begin, while also trying to protect your lead against the (faster) athletes who start behind you.

I always get the handicap of someone who’s about two minutes faster than me over 10 miles so I was just planning to try and keep an even effort and hopefully push on in the last lap.

The WBB lap starts at the trail beside the dog pond in the Phoenix Park with the first section of the lap up the long drag along the trail that runs parallel to Chesterfield Avenue (on which there was a strong headwind on Saturday). You then turn towards the 15 acres, before turning back down the trail running parallel to the Khyber which, once you’ve navigated the gloop through the trees at the top, is a quite fast downhill down around the cricket pitches and back to the start at the dog pond.

My strategy was to keep the guy who started at the same time as me in sight for as long as possible, letting him off up the drag and then trying to get closer again when we had the wind at our backs. I was managing this quite well for the first two laps and was really holding back on the 2nd half. But the wind was getting stronger and stronger on the drag and I am just terrible into the wind. The rope broke at about 5 miles and he put about another minute into me, on top of the lead he already had, during the second half of the race.

On lap 4, the handicaps are visibly unwinding and, at this stage, I’m conscious that I am slowing down a LOT on the drag. So, I’m starting to worry about people behind me catching me on the last lap. It isn’t until the end of mile 9 that the scratch runner (who started nine minutes after me) passed me and then I’m only passed by one other guy (a 19yo 1:50 800m runner that can also apparently run 10 miles xc in 60mins, who started 2.5 minutes after me). Some of the others who started behind me were catching me towards the end of the race but ultimately ran out of room and I stuck in a pointless sprint finish just to make sure.

In the end, the winner of the Shield is a 16 year-old who ran 62’09”, which in those conditions and on that lap, is very impressive.

My final time was 63:08, 7th fastest on the day, and my splits are a good indicator of what sort of race it was: 6:21 / 5:59 / 6:18 / 5:57 / 6:24 / 6:02 / 6:44 / 6:04 / 6:48 / 5:58.

The fastest time of the day was a mere 53 minutes.

Really good workout and just a great tradition to be part of, and we’re especially lucky to still be able to uphold it in COVID times.

Sunday - 80mins on the road at 7:53 - didn’t fancy more mud and gloop, so opted for a very pleasant clockwise loop of the park, taking in the s-bends, Upper Glen, furry glen and down North Road.

Probably take a week of many easy miles next week. Might repeat today’s long run a few times. Conscious that my HR is a little elevated for the same effort this past couple of weeks so might get some benefit from lots of easy miles.

scotindublin

Very well run yesterday and great that the event managed to go ahead.

The handicappers have made notes from the above which may or may not be taken into consideration in 2021.

All joking aside it was great to see some brilliant times from the younger ones yesterday; the DH future is bright.

Sacksian

scotindublin wrote: »

Very well run yesterday and great that the event managed to go ahead.

The handicappers have made notes from the above which may or may not be taken into consideration in 2021.

All joking aside it was great to see some brilliant times from the younger ones yesterday; the DH future is bright.

Congratulations on the podium place - has to be a very satisfying feeling at the end of a 10 mile xc race! It was definitely a memorable edition yesterday, not just the winner but Eric running 53 minutes was a bit special too.

I was happy enough with my race (I just crumbled under the onslaught of the psychological sledging I received in the run-up). Sub 60 next year!

And the handicapping was bang on.

The conditions on the lap change from one week to the next. I think a little less rain midweek and calmer conditions would have made my handicap more generous. That's the magic of the race!

scotindublin

That will be me slaughtered in the handicaps next year!

It was a bumper edition yesterday; Eric and Barbara both deserve special mentions and a host of good runs through the field.

The first mile of the lap was definitely tougher than the second even though there was a few sticky spots in the second mile. A sadistically satisfying morning!

Sacksian

43.6 miles for the week. About 10 shorter than I had hoped for, due to missing Saturday’s run. Otherwise, all easy.

Still feel like I’m struggling to get back into a consistent routine, and fitness is about 10% off where I’d like it to be.

Monday 51mins @7:51

Wednesday 80mins @7:44

Thursday 51mins @8:08

Friday 52mins @8:06 with 4 x 10s HS

Saturday I left the house for a workout and noticed the front step was a bit icy. Got around the corner on my way up to the Park and promptly hit the deck. I’d had an awful night’s sleep so took it as a sign to take another day off and trudged back home with a heavily gashed (but otherwise uninjured) knee.

On Sunday, I did the session I had been planning to do on Saturday. It felt very wrong to be heading out to do a session on a Sunday, instead of the usual easy miles.

Sunday - 100mins @7:17

Obviously, due to the black ice everywhere, I had to tiptoe up and back but I was able to do the ‘work’ bits on the grass at the 15 acres. The grass was pretty firm overall. The areas where cut-up muddy grass or trail had frozen over was a little unstable, but still better than the road though.

The session was one I did a few times in the lead-up to Bohermeen in 2019, called The Crescendo. Unfortunately, today, it was not much of a crescendo at all, but still worth doing.

It’s done as one continuous run but, after a few miles warm-up, you go into the session proper, in which you increase your HR every 20 minutes (for 3 or 4 segments).

When you’re fit or trained for a long race, the increase in HR should result in an increase in pace, which makes it a good progression session. When you’re not fit, you may actually be slowing down to keep your HR within the target range, which was my experience the first time I tried it.

Today, I managed to run the same pace for all 3 segments:

6:41 for 20mins @ 144 bpm (lower end of marhr range)
6:42 for 20mins @ 148 bpm (upper end of marhr range)
6:42 for 20mins @ 152 bpm (bottom of lthr range)

It’s not an entirely enjoyable session because you have to rein yourself in to keep to the range so you’re never really running relaxed but the idea is that, as you repeat it or do other similar sessions, both your pace for each range improves and there’s less HR drift for the same effort.

Not too worried about the paces, it’s always the same when I do these ‘big workouts’ / sessions within continuous runs and the surface wasn’t ideal this morning. Hopefully, will see an improvement next time out. My average HR for the WBB was 158 and didn’t drop below 154 from 600m in so seems about right.

Hoping to get down to the track mid-week for a 16-20 x 400m session (probably first half at ‘target’ 10k, second half at current 5k) and then doing something similar enough to today next weekend.

I have a rough plan of sessions until the end of January but need to get back to 6 days a week consistently from next week too.

Sacksian

Back up close to 50 miles for the week. Got out 6 days.

Monday - 51mins @8:06
Wednesday - A progressive 70mins @6:51

Was hoping to get to the track for a slew of 400s, but got the news it was officially closed on Tuesday night so, rather than trying to fit something in, I did my 10 mile Phoenix Park loop as a progressive run first thing on Wednesday. Working down from 6:53 to 6:10 pace over an undulating 7 miles - helped by the fact that the first few miles of it is mostly uphill, from the bottom of Wellington Road up the Upper Glen Road and then in and out of the Glen, before becoming mostly downhill in the second half, which includes the North Road. This was lovely and relaxed - sometimes it’s just nice to run!

Thursday - 34mins @ 11:42

Friday - 51mins @8:17

Saturday - 20 x 80s on / 40s off around the 15 acres in the Park.

The grass wasn’t as hard as I expected and I probably could have done with (5mm) spikes but still a good workout which amounted to 40mins@6:14. Would love to repeat this during the summer when the ground’s a bit firmer and the legs a bit faster.

Sunday - 80mins @7:54 EASY (first FOUR miles all over 8mins!)

Lovely and relaxed low HR run. Nice not to have to worry about ice for a change.

Dubh Geannain

I spotted an Irish Times piece on the Stephen's day run. I'm sure you've seen it already but here it is:

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/crock-around-the-clock-frank-mcnally-on-the-joys-of-running-europe-s-oldest-cross-country-race-1.4451700

Sacksian

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

I spotted an Irish Times piece on the Stephen's day run. I'm sure you've seen it already but here it is:

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/crock-around-the-clock-frank-mcnally-on-the-joys-of-running-europe-s-oldest-cross-country-race-1.4451700

Thanks - we have our own PR team in The Irish Times, Ian O'Riordan wrote about it on St. Stephen's Day too!

Frank McNally wrote a longer article about in in 2013 that has some more of the background: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/in-the-park-mid-winter-1.1638562

It also has the story of Frank Cahill who won it aged 76.

Born in 1900, he was not quite as old as the club. But he shared his age with the 20th century, which like him was still full of youth and optimism when he made his race debut in 1923.

There then followed perhaps the most heroic series of failures in the history of athletics, as for the next 52 years he competed without success. In 1974, he was only 200 yards from the finish line when victory was snatched from his grasp again. A year later, he finally missed a race, because of a training accident. Then, finally, the triumph.

It’s said that the “scratch” athlete in 1976 – Eamonn Coghlan – was still finishing breakfast at home in Ranelagh when Cahill started out on the first of the five, two-mile laps. But this time, it was the veteran’s own body that nearly thwarted him.

Within sight of the finish, he fell over, and had he accepted the help offered by concerned onlookers, might have been disqualified. Luckily, his wits were still intact. He regained his feet unaided, accelerated into a trot, and the rest was glory.

His heroics made the front page of The Irish Times, where Peter Byrne noted that Irish sport had just been deprived of its “most illustrious loser”. As Byrne added, Cahill’s attempts to win had spanned the political careers of two Cosgraves, WT and Liam.

That's in Ian O'Riordan's article from this year too:

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/english-soccer/the-joys-of-being-born-to-run-on-st-stephen-s-day-1.4444241

The guy that denied Tom O'Riordan in 1971 was Willie Smith, who also won it in 1958 as a 15 year-old, the youngest ever winner. And now the Senior group's coach!

Dubh Geannain

Peter Byrne noted that Irish sport had just been deprived of its “most illustrious loser."

That's a great line

Sacksian

Still not actually getting to 50 miles for the week. Got out 6 days, but this week and last were more like 5 and a half. A full six will get me to 50.

Tuesday - 53mins @8:11
Wednesday - A progressive 70mins @6:53

Same as last week, but in more difficult conditions due to the stronger wind. 6 miles progressively in the middle - into the wind around the S-bends and up the Upper Glen Road, with a tailwind on the way back down. Not as relaxed as last week, which probably explains why I only did 6 and why the 6th was 5:55.

Thursday - 51mins @ 8:15

Friday - 23mins @ 7:58

Saturday -HILLS!

3 x (30/45/60/45/30) off jog back + 3mins b/t sets.

A good session on the Khyber in the Phoenix Park and comparable to previous attempts at it. Nothing spectacular - think some of the DTC-allied group were doing 800m reps on the Khyber same time, so I got pulled-along for one.

Interestingly, the Garmin Connect stats from this session actually illustrate the gait problem I have that has been the cause of historic calf + achilles issues in the right leg (and multiple missed track seasons). The difference between L/R ground contact balance becomes quite pronounced at higher cadence/pace (only really an issue at faster than 5k pace). This is what I presumed the problem was but have never been able to see it like this. Nice visualisation to keep in mind while not doing anything about it!

Did this in the Asics TartherEdge, which I like for faster sessions. Also ordered a pair of the MetaRacers and some new xc spikes at the weekend. So I’m thinking of going full Asics. I liked the Asics Piranhas as barely-there racers when they were around. But hadn’t had a pair of Asics in about 5 years until last year, I went through two pairs of the Gel Noosa Tri and then randomly picked up the Dynaflytes in a half price sale. I’ve found the Dynaflytes really nice as a proper easy run shoe. So, interested to see how the MetaRacers work out - my impression is that they’re a carbon plate show, but more stripped back so look and feel a bit more like a classic racer.

Sunday Standard - 82mins @8:01 EASY!

scotindublin

Funnily enough your Friday "run" was discussed on our Sunday run this morning.

Sacksian

scotindublin wrote: »

Funnily enough your Friday "run" was discussed on our Sunday run this morning.

Can't believe I got grief from a 400m runner! I'll have to have a word with Donal next time I see him.

Once I start missing days, I start missing more days so the last two weeks I've done a couple of 20-30 min runs when I've been pressed for time just so I can say I've done a 6 day week - entirely for psychological reasons! The more obvious solution would be to run at night / late evening on those days but....eh....

scotindublin

We are all creatures of habit and even getting out for those 23 minutes is good for the head

Sacksian

Broke the 50 mile barrier for the first time since middle of November - 52miles for the week. Bit of a grind getting out every day but feel better having done it.

Monday - 53mins @8:17

Tuesday - half-way between a session and a fartlek. 8 x 3m30s off 90s around my Phoenix Park 10 mile route. It was a bit messy with the rain and people walking everywhere, and it was getting dark but worth getting done, as much for psychological reasons. 70mins @ 7:14

Wednesday 40mins @8:03

Thursday 49mins @8:24 - passed by a dead deer, two wading birds and had to navigate ankle-deep muddles on the trails.

Friday 16mins @8:07

Saturday - 4mile-3mile-2mile-1mile @mar effort —> a bit faster off 5mins jog = 86mins @6:32

Repeat of session I did in November when I was feeling pretty fit - but with 5mins instead of 1 mile between intervals. Good aerobic refresh.

Kept the longer efforts more controlled than last time and was able to up the shorter efforts a bit more.

Last time out paces were 6:18 (4miles) - 6:19 (3miles) - 6:18 (2miles) - 6:17 (downhill 1mile). This time, it went 6:24 (4miles) - 6:19 (3miles) - 6:09 (2miles) - 5:59 (mostly uphill mile).

The jog interval between the 4mile + 3mile reps was about 7min pace but 7:30 before the 2-mile and 8min pace before the 1-mile (because I was hoping to hit that a bit harder but, unfortunately, it was uphill and into the wind!).

—-

So, the ASICS Metaracers arrived on Friday and this was therefore my first ever run in a carbon plate shoe - and one of the few track legal ones!

I think they're essentially an ASICS racing flat with a carbon plate in them, so they don't have the same stack height as the others, but probably don't have the same amount of cushioning either. I mainly bought them for their aesthetics!

I have a lot of thoughts about them and I suspect they'll be more benefit at sub-6 pace. I have an unequal gait so I’m not entirely sure my body appreciates the whole “locked-in” aspect of the carbon plate experience i.e. once you set off at a pace, it’s very economical to keep that pace rolling (in the absence of uphills and headwinds). My average hr for the first 4-mile was actually below marathon hr and 3-mile in the middle of marathon hr range, so I think that reflects their economy benefit. I’m pretty sure I’m not as fit as I was in November yet I was able to kick on a bit for the 2 and 1 mile reps.

And I did get a sense that the pace seemed to feel a bit more comfortable on the two-mile and mile reps when I opened up my stride a bit more.

Would be interested to see how they do on a faster workout but I'll keep them wrapped up for the odd irregular session like yesterday - happy enough with the Hyperion tempo as a standard session shoe on the road.

Sunday - 51mins @8:11
No reason to go any longer after yesterday, especially with the paths in the park as frosty as they were.

—
Have to just keep ticking over for the next while until club training is back. Hopefully, do some faster 3min reps Tuesday or Saturday. Maybe put the spikes on for the weekend session.

dna_leri

Sacksian wrote: »

Thursday 49mins @8:24 - passed by a dead deer, two wading birds and had to navigate ankle-deep muddles on the trails.

.

That was a slow run then :rolleyes:

Sacksian

dna_leri wrote: »

That was a slow run then :rolleyes:

I think someone switched my vitamins that morning.

Sacksian

A very patchy week - only 41 miles but not a bad month overall.

A bit more quality and a bit more sleep too - but work got in the way of getting out on Friday. And rain got in the way of doing a session on Saturday.

Tuesday afternoon I did 14 x 400m. I was a bit pushed for time so I did 50s recovery instead of 200m/1min, saving myself over two minutes!

1st 7 - 80/80/80/77/79/76/78

2nd 7 - 77/ 80/78/79/78/81/70

Average 78. Apart from the 76 and the final 70, they were all in a narrow range, which is encouraging. The 70 at the end is encouraging too, but it was definitely a harder session that I was hoping for, particularly given the output.

Did these along the cycle/pedestrian path at the bottom of the phoenix pitches where I learnt from scotindublin that the bike signs were spaced 100m apart, which was actually really useful as a psychological tool.

At the start of the year, I had been hoping to get to do 20 x 400m on the track, but obviously COVID put an end to that. If I could do a couple of weeks of 20 x 400m @85 or so, I think that would be a very good strength workout for me.

For the 5k pace 400s, I’d prefer to be a couple of seconds quicker over the next few months. Last year, I did 14x400 on the Polos off 60s in average 74s. I had put together a few months of 50-60+ easy miles before that but I still think 76-77s should be possible for 16 x 400m off 200m in 6 or 8 weeks.

---

SHOE REPORT - ASICS TartherEdge:

This was probably the first 5k-ish pace session I’ve done on the road in a good while. I just hate running fast on the road outside of races (as much due to surface and congestion concerns, as injury ones). The TartherEdges did the job insofar as they got out of the way.

When I’m trying to run quickly, I need to get up on my toes and get my knees up and I just want my shoes to not get in the way, which generally means as light as possible.

They’re not particularly cushioned (more cushioned than the ASICS Piranhas but less cushioned than the original Brooks Hyperions) but they’re not so light that they smell of injury e.g. NB RC5000s - which I’ve only worn once (in a Road Relay mile).

So, happy with them as a fast session shoe. And I'm hoping to do 800s with them on Tuesday.

——-

Wednesday - 45mins @8:13

Thursday - 42mins with progressive 20mins in the middle @ 7:06

I’m sort of going back to my running roots with Tuesday + Thursday sessions. When I first started running, I was training for a marathon and I used to do 400s or 800s on Tuesday, a ‘tempo’ on a Thursday and long run on a Saturday. I didn’t really know what I was doing but it worked out.

So, I did a progressive 20mins (4x5min sections) tempo on Thursday. Due to the profile and wind, it was a run of two halves - averaging about 6:35 for the first 10mins and about 5:50 for the second 10 mins. The 20mins section was essentially a 5k loop so I’d like to do that a few times and just work it down closer to 5:50 overall, but without pushing. It’s probably more useful to my middle-distance goals than 10 miles of 6:30.

Saturday - Phoenix Park loop - 81mins @7:56, no session - just happy to get out.

Sunday 76 @ 7:31 - usual route a little brisker, just to get home. Passed scotindublin as I ran down the North Road contemplating a future as a 60m/200m indoor runner.


====

Overall, I still feel like I’m just muddling through these weeks rather than training especially productively or with any particular joy or commitment but, even with that, I did over 200 miles in January.

Last year was my most consistent training year, by some distance, and I didn’t get over 200 miles until April (and only topped 200 miles six times in the whole year), so I’m doing ok. Keep this up until April and hopefully I’ll see a return.

I think the best training period I did last year was during our first lockdown when I just got out for 70-80mins easy every day of the week, building up to a long run of 60+ weeks. I might do that again in March or April to stick in a bit of volume, but 50+ every week with decent quality would be great to maintain for a whole year.

With case numbers falling as they are, and the Olympic window closing in, I’m hopeful the track season will start early. So, I’m keeping that idea of doing a track 5k in mind. I had planned to last year but, hopefully, this is the year I finally get to experience the joy of a 12.5-lap race.

One of the other hangovers from last year is that I think I was fit enough to run faster than I did over 1500m, so that’s still bugging me.

I don’t know whether that’s best served by a repeat of last year (i.e. loads of easy miles in the build-up) or something different. I definitely need more under-distance speed work than last year.

Anyway, I’ll keep muddling through until something clicks.

scotindublin

The only bit of knowledge I have ever imparted on you!

Sacksian

scotindublin wrote: »

The only bit of knowledge I have ever imparted on you!

Quality trumps quantity!! Seriously, this is a life-changing revelation. I had been thinking about possible physical markers around the pitches for years (e.g. where the trees start, where the paths to the car parks are, everything!) so it's really, really useful to know this.

ReeReeG

You want to do a 20 X 400 session... good lord I can barely contemplate half that

Sacksian

ReeReeG wrote: »

You want to do a 20 X 400 session... good lord I can barely contemplate half that

If you're capable of running 6 miles, you can do a 20 x 400m session.

If I said 5 x 1 mile or 8 x 1k, no one would blink an eye!! Similar volumes of work, but the 20 x 400m session has more rest.

Doing intervals is (in my opinion) a very under appreciated and productive method of building endurance with good form for a lot of runners. If you approach it with the idea that you want to finish more strongly than you start, you'll end up running a lot of volume with very good form (because you're doing 70-90s intervals rather than 5-6min ones) without being stressed.

You just have to know how to vary the pace of the interval or length of the rest to suit your needs and abilities.

As with anything, it depends on your priorities and preferences!! I probably won't be running a 10k but it's good for me to get that amount of volume at 10k pace without over stressing myself.

ReeReeG

Sacksian wrote: »

Doing intervals is (in my opinion) a very under appreciated and productive method of building endurance with good form for a lot of runners. If you approach it with the idea that you want to finish more strongly than you start, you'll end up running a lot of volume with very good form (because you're doing 70-90s intervals rather than 5-6min ones) without being stressed.

I am going to have to try this approach to be honest. Good to have in mind at the start of a session for sure.

scotindublin

I remember when we were building up to 20 x 400s on the road and we were all like that's an epic session gaffer.

The response was you are all running 12-16 miles on your long run. Only the pace will get you on 20 x 400s if you go at them to hard.

C

Sacksian

ReeReeG wrote: »

I am going to have to try this approach to be honest. Good to have in mind at the start of a session for sure.

For the bulk of interval sessions, you should be thinking about building into them with your fastest intervals towards the end. For the most part, I don't think it matters if the first couple of intervals are a little off-pace.

Ultimately, if you're thinking about putting weeks of training together, I know I feel better when I can remember all the sessions where I've finished strongly.

And, again, this is all personal opinion, but I'm more likely to stay consistent when I'm slightly undercooking sessions than when I'm picking myself off the floor after them or hanging on for the 2nd half. It means I'm also more likely to get in all the ancillary stuff too.

6 months of 95% sessions twice a week is better than two weeks of back-to-back 100% sessions that lead to burnout or injury!

scotindublin wrote: »

I remember when we were building up to 20 x 400s on the road and we were all like that's an epic session gaffer.

The response was you are all running 12-16 miles on your long run. Only the pace will get you on 20 x 400s if you go at them to hard.

C

I think I've only ever done the 20x400 on the Polos, where the off bits were kept honest, and I remember thinking a 90s 400 never felt so hard!

Thanks to your 100m marker info, I can now do all the stupid sessions I had planned for the track on that path (80 x 100m on/off would be around 10 miles!).

Swashbuckler

Sacksian wrote: »

For the bulk of interval sessions, you should be thinking about building into them with your fastest intervals towards the end. For the most part, I don't think it matters if the first couple of intervals are a little off-pace.

Ultimately, if you're thinking about putting weeks of training together, I know I feel better when I can remember all the sessions where I've finished strongly.

And, again, this is all personal opinion, but I'm more likely to stay consistent when I'm slightly undercooking sessions than when I'm picking myself off the floor after them or hanging on for the 2nd half. It means I'm also more likely to get in all the ancillary stuff too.

6 months of 95% sessions twice a week is better than two weeks of back-to-back 100% sessions that lead to burnout or injury!

Anyone running sessions should burn that post into their brains.. Hits all the key points in my opinion ... Great advice...

Sacksian

The goal for February is 200 miles.

I’ve never run 200 miles in February and I think it’d be great to be going into April and May with 3 decent months of mileage behind me.

48.5 miles this week, but will probably struggle to hit 50 next week so there might need to be one week closer to 60 later in the month.

Monday - 50mins @8:17
Tuesday - OFF
Wednesday - 60mins0seconds @ 7:48

Thursday - Repeated the progressive 20mins tempo from last week. A little faster on both sections, averaging about 6:30 for the first 10mins and about 5:40 for the second 10 mins. and under 19 minutes for the 5k Strava segment that it covers.

Friday - 6.66 miles @8:13

Saturday - session was a faster Fartlek: 2 x 15 x 200m off 100m + 4mins jog b/t sets on the footpath around the Acres. Lots of 40s 200ms interspersed with 30s 100ms. (Total - 6.06miles @ 6:28)

Average for the first set was 40.3s on / 31s off and for the second set 39.6s on / 31.4 off.

It’s the type of session I always enjoy. Just a lot of rhythm work without much rest but never too taxing.

This was done using scottindublin’s 100m per bike symbol trick (although I did discover a glitch in the matrix, in that one of the symbols is a bit off), which made it a lot easier to keep track of things.

Last time I did this was on the track at the National Indoor Arena in December 2019 where I averaged 38s but took the 100m a lot handier (rest was averaging around 45s compared to 31 yesterday - reflecting the fact that it was probably closer to 3k pace for me at that time, rather than 5k pace). And I’d say I was in around 4:45 or so mile shape then, having front-run a 4:48 indoor mile a couple of weeks before.

So, I suspect I’m in that ballpark at the moment. Hopefully, will get a chance to do a session like this on the track soon.

Sunday - an unpleasant 86mins @ 8:14

Plan for the future is just to keep the weeks ticking over, until I can think about putting a proper structure on things. I do think I need more LT stuff and faster than 5k stuff, as I’m hoping to start the season (whenever that is) with a track 5k or 3k.

scotindublin

Is there anything to be said for a Mass for the bike symbol that is out of whack? At least a strongly worded letter to the OPW surely??

Sacksian

scotindublin wrote: »

Is there anything to be said for a Mass for the bike symbol that is out of whack? At least a strongly worded letter to the OPW surely??

They're going to have to dig the whole thing up.

As much as I wanted to believe that I was throwing in a 35s 200m* for the same effort in the exact same spot every lap, it was a crushing realisation.

Seriously, still really useful for sessions and I'll definitely be using it for 400s/800s/ks on the path in future, rather than relying on the watch - but leaving the short 100m out, obviously!

(*- to avoid any suggestion of stat padding, I left the short 200s out of the averages quoted in the previous post!)

Dubh Geannain

What would you hope to run in a track 5k?