Falling apart gives you a reason to build something new.

AuldManKing

Face Pulls??

KSU

AuldManKing wrote: »

Face Pulls??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IndIttUTNMU

Not to be confused with

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftenor.com%2Fview%2Fface-off-nic-cage-nicolas-cage-mask-off-gif-5205208&psig=AOvVaw3Nzf9FKe_-dTn9zANyJXLS&ust=1586262740855000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCKCg_qvn0-gCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAI

KSU

Saturday
AM Yoga
PM 6 miles easy (7.40 min/m)
Daily Challenge: N/A

Today's challenge was more for the soul and sanity so bit of a cheat day with herself after my run with some shredded chicken in home made BBQ sauce (another successful experiment in the kitchen) and a few drinks

Sunday
AM Yoga
PM 10.5 miles easy (7.55 min/m)
Daily Challenge: Plyometric workout

3x15 contacts

Wall Drives
Pogos
Single Leg Bounds
Single Leg Drop Squat

Between the mid day Plyo's and the weather not the most enjoyable of runs with the wind and rain driving down however it helped keep things very nice and handy. The plan was to get 80-90 min as a long run given I haven't done one in quite some time that exceeded an hour. Despite the easy pace legs were a little heavy coming to the end.

Ashamedly that is my highest mileage week of 2020 so far but happy to tip away at that for now and try keep up the extra stuff and hopefully provide a nice foundation to build from

KSU

Monday
AM Yoga
PM 7 miles easy + 5x20 sec strides (7.29 min/m)
Daily Challenge: Chest and Arm resistance work

3x 15 reps (20 for pushups)

Shoulder external rotations
Overhead Tricep pulls
Diamond Pause Push Ups
Tricep pulldowns
Lateral Band Pulls


Handy on on the lunch break from work. lucky to have a stretch on the canal within my radius. Small bit of temptation to continue along it but copped myself on and back to the local park for the last loop and a couple of decent paced strides. Good to feel smooth at sub 5 min pace.

Daily challenges progressing to a bit more structured this week insofar as I am looking at targeting specific area's on specific days.

Came across the following on twitter earlier

"In 5 years, there will be two distinct groups of athletes.
Those with memories of sitting on their ass for 4-16 weeks watching Netflix.
Those with memories of a less than ideal situation that allowed them to develop more than they every imagined they could.
Which one are you?"

A bit preachy and motivational slogan like but it is definitely something that has me thinking. Definitely find that during this whole situation weirdly it has put me in a more positive and productive mindset in general something I hope that will continue once this whole thing dies down.

KSU

Tuesday
AM Yoga
PM Mona Fartlek (3.28 miles in 20 min)
Daily Challenge Core Workout Circuit

Circuit (time listed)
Seated Ab Circles Clockwise (60 sec)
Seated Ab Circles Counter Clockwise (60 sec)
Drunken Mountain Climbers (60 sec)
30 sec rest
Marching Planks (60 sec)
Scissors (60 sec)
Russian Twist (30 sec)

Today reminded me that you can get damn good work done if you really focus on quality in a short space of time. The Mona Fartlek is normally one I reserve for when I am in a time crunch on holidays but it blended well with the Fartleks I had been doing recently as it was exactly 20 mins in total for the workout on the nose. The session is 2x90 sec, 4x1 min, 4x30 sec, 4x15 sec off equal recovery steady.

I'll be honest for these Fartlek sessions I don't really care about the reps I am more concerned with keeping the recoveries steady as strength over speed at the moment despite the low volume in the sessions. Cracking day for it and Garmin reported that I am atleast good for an 18.41 5k in the coming weeks for the TT

Core is not a term I am mad about as it is normally associated with isometric holds or generic "ab work" as the abdominal muscles are multi directional and as such need to be treated as such so the aim here was to use a mutidirectional circuit work. Won't lie it was the hardest 5 minutes of my life and included a few broken 1 min reps but targeted top down, bottom up, cross body and rotational aspects of the Abs. There was a couple more exercises here but I knew my limits and left it as challenging with room for improvement

skyblue46

Care to share the BBQ sauce recipe?

KSU

skyblue46 wrote: »

Care to share the BBQ sauce recipe?

I’m hoping it’s just the self isolation that has made the most interesting aspect of my training log being the recipes

2 cups ketchup
2 table spoons Worcester sauce
3 table spoons brown sugar
1 table spoon paprika
2 teaspoons Colman’s mustard
1 juiced lime

Low heat stirring continuously for 2-3 min and allow to cool before adding to the slow cooker (half on base and half after chicken breasts added

skyblue46

KSU wrote: »

I’m hoping it’s just the self isolation that has made the most interesting aspect of my training log being the recipes

Your sessions might be too tough for me but I think there are few better than me at taking on a few chicken breasts smothered in BBQ sauce :pac:

KSU

Wednesday
AM Yoga
PM 7 miles easy ( 7.37 min/m)
Daily Challenge: S and C (legs)

3x15 reps (unless stated
Bring sally up squats (full song)
Crab walk (resistance band)
Single Leg Romanian dead lift
Pistol squats
Single leg Glute bridges

Great ambitions to get out for a second run as a bonus but when finished work as well as the fairly tough S and C session I sat down for a half hour after dinner to watch a bit of TV and woke up the next morning wasn’t too worried as I am not chasing miles at moment and still getting a lot of quality out of my days outside of just the miles

KSU

Wednesday
AM Yoga
PM 7 miles easy ( 7.22 min/m)
Daily Challenge: Plyometrics

3x15 contacts

Wall knee drives
Pogos
Lateral bunny hops
Single leg bounds
Depth jumps (15 each leg total)


Legs feeling a little like garbage between the plots frying me in the afternoon and the leg work yesterday. Run kept nice and handy feeling fairly strong. It’s kinda strange mileage not being huge but very solid work being done at the moment guess it shows that the devil is in the details with the little stuff being done. Fitness is in decent knick and overall in good shape eating well and looking after myself so even though sessions look fairly run of the mill definitely happy with where I am at the moment without a need to ramp up the race specific fitness

KSU

Friday
AM Yoga
PM 25 min tempo (10/5/10) 3 min jog 4x30 on/off

Another week of the same. Happy to keep this session the same for now as I seem to be progressing on it each week so in the spirit of keeping thigs simple and just getting good fundamentals set down will plough on. I stayed out of the park on early parts of this just with the good weather. Low and behold I saw more people in the off licence when passing than would normally nearly attend fecking Mass around easter :mad:

I know a few people have wondered about why I do the tempo's like this rather than a tradition HM'ish pace session. On paper it probably looks a little too easy to be a good workout with 20 min of the session being at effectively Marathon Effort but for me I think these sort of sessions are perfect

Normally people aim to do there tempo's at target or PB marathon effort rather than the on the day pace. this is something I think is lost when people even look at the 1hr rule.

Simple fact is that those paces/efforts are based on a fully tapered person going into a race who might be able to draft etc not someone who has a number of miles under the belt for the week/month might be trying to squeeze run in somewhere with all life's stresses etc. I know HR monitors can in particular on garmins can sometimes seem off but weirdly enough the one time I have never had an issue with readings is during a race, perhaps coincidence or just the impact all that has to carry.

People running at those efforts unless they are truly well aerobically conditioned tend to be overreaching and usually results in form breakdown etc so I would rather pace be dialed back in particular in latter stages and keep everything nice and controlled while still working, The middle segment usually brings HR up to the right intensity yet despite the pace coming back down the HR tends to lag in the Threshold range so you are still getting the right stimulus without risking overreaching or compromising form (leading to inefficient running or injury risk)

As a coach it is also a great tool for teaching that harder and faster is not always better and holding a pace (even slower as long as it is intentional) helps confidence of a runner rather than running too fast and struggling in latter stages. Despite it usually being faster than prescribed people tend to see paces falling back as they tire as a failure of fitness so we just try to eliminate thhhat aspect

KSU

Saturday
AM Yoga + 4 miles easy (7.43 min/m)
PM 6 miles easy (7.22 min/m)
Daily Challenge: Upper body resistance

3x15 reps
Tricep pull ups (R)
Serratus Punches (R)
Push Ups
Diamond Push Ups
Dive Bomber Push up (10 reps)


Nothing too major with this one a handy short one before I started work and then a late night one. Legs suprisingly good and he DOMS from the S and C a bit easier than other days.

With the S and C experimented with a different variation of the Push up at the end. F%^k me its a tough one but great for the shoulders


Sunday
AM Yoga + 7 miles easy (7.39 min/m)
Daily Challenge: Core work

Pushed back the long run as I don't have time tonight and this morning consisted of a easter egg scavenger hunt with the little lad around the house but enough time to get a shorter one in.

Another 50 mile week which solid enough but more shockingly first 7 day week since last July. Hopefully can keep the momentum going.

shotgunmcos

Incorporate the dive bomb push up into your yoga if you dont already. Its basically down dog to cobra and back

KSU

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Incorporate the dive bomb push up into your yoga if you dont already. Its basically down dog to cobra and back

Yes this would be something I do already however the push up is slightly different in that the last part is not as much a hyper extension on the thorasic spine but rather pushing up in a neutral spine position. It's a subtle difference but an important one for this exercise

(although looking back on the video I tagged I realized that your man's form is not great)

Kurt_Godel.

Theres a whole heap of crap on this forum lately; new posters with singular views looking for a fight... you'll not want this, but I'm going to say it anyway if I don't post here for another year, its refreshing to read your log/posts, keep the faith man, and keep on truckin'.

KSU

Kurt_Godel. wrote: »

Theres a whole heap of crap on this forum lately; new posters with singular views looking for a fight... you'll not want this, but I'm going to say it anyway if I don't post here for another year, its refreshing to read your log/posts, keep the faith man, and keep on truckin'.

To be honest since this whole thing kicked off it has almost left me with a more postive outlook on things in general. Maybe it is just that life is ironically a little less stressful but I figured I can either hit the reset button and start anew or I can either get on with what I am doing or get dragged down by the crap.

Saw alot of good on social media initially and even though people's boredom and human nature starting to creep back it still reminded me of the good. As such I am trying new things in my own life and sharing might be of interest, it might not but sure it's keeping me sane so not wasted. Training is not ultra specific now so perfect time to reset the norm.

Even started using forms of Social Media I swore off many moons ago

Kurt_Godel.

Yeah there is a lot of good, a lot of positives on this forum, better to add to that in these times, it just adds to a more positive life. Carry on and best to you and yours Luke... I'll sign out for another year:D

KSU

Sunday
AM Yoga + 7 miles easy (7.39 min/m)
Daily Challenge Core

Monday
AMYoga

Tuesday
AMYoga
Daily Challenge Resistance band strength session


3 sets x 15 Rest 60 sec between sets
Resistance Band Military Press
Resistance Band Upright Row
Resistance Band Lateral Raise
Resistance Band Bicep Curl
Resistance Band Seated Row
Resistance Band Tricep Pulls


Wednesday
AM Yoga + 4 miles easy (8.19 min/m)

2 steps forward 1 step back. Following 12 day streak I slipped up. 1 day rolled into 2 and excuses as I fell asleep Tuesday/Wednesday night before getting out on runs. The good news is that the bad days are getting better (still managed to do something even if it was only a 15 min yoga routine in the mornings.)

Tuesday was a challenge. A mate of mine (Trainer) was trying to prove a point to a few of us and laid down a gauntlet of a resistance band only workout as some were skeptical about getting a decent strength workout (not sport specific as many of them are the gym head types) Decided to do it as something different along the lines of the daily challenges I have been doing. A solid little workout and a few clever ways to use the RB.

Mileage on course to be a little low this week but won't go chasing.

KSU

Thursday
AM Yoga
PM Fartlek - 10x1/1min (4 min) 8x30/30s
Daily Challenge Core Workout Circuit

Circuit (time listed)
Seated Ab Circles Clockwise (60 sec)
Seated Ab Circles Counter Clockwise (60 sec)
Drunken Mountain Climbers (60 sec)
30 sec rest
Marching Planks (60 sec)
Scissors (60 sec)


This session was long overdue as originally had planned to do it Tuesday :rolleyes: A bit of a step up from the staple fartlek I had been doing with the inclusion of 30 second bouts on top. The 1 min segements were dialed back a little in effort after feeling something that can be described between almost cramping and ready to pop. This loosened out though after the first one and continued on. Not overly concerned with the twinge. All the extra mobility work is definitely paying dividends on known weaknesses I have (left hip has had a number of issues related to pelvic position and muscle inhibition) that I generally compensate for but finally starting to address them so probably having an impact on my gait (or I could just be in the wrong shoes who knows:p) as such muscles which never usually feel tired are starting to be worked a bit more which will help with power and endurance long term hopefully. Doing the little things and the big things will look after themselves approach.

The 1 min reps all in around the 5.30's (don't really look at the watch for these sessions bar the recovery paces) the endurance side of things crept in though as the 30 sec segments ran through and was fairly flaked the last two.

Happy with that session though and control is coming back in at higher intensities so another small step forward in the hope to regain and improve on previous fitness levels.

Those core circuits still a killer but getting better. Nearly able to complete as per prescribed without additional breaks

Swashbuckler

Have you considered a gait analysis? I hear they have really good analysis in New York if you're willing to travel.

OOnegative

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Have you considered a gait analysis? I hear they have really good analysis in New York if you're willing to travel.

And podiatrists and magical foot fairies, tra la la la la.......

KSU

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Have you considered a gait analysis? I hear they have really good analysis in New York if you're willing to travel.

OOnegative wrote: »

And podiatrists and magical foot fairies, tra la la la la.......

All joking aside though there is a great point underneath it that goes beyond foot strike and can be translated to session choices, cadence, HR training and a whole host of other aspects of running

This was actually put very succinctly in a response to cadence running elsewhere

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Cadence is an output, not an input.

We get bogged down with the output and looking for black and white answers here that often things get completely lost. The old adage of running being a simple sport is indeed true if you are looking at it from a polar simple vs complicated aspect however it is also incredibly nuanced

Just taking a few examples

Pace as a metric is all well and good but how a person runs it will matter hugely in terms of performance. Give someone an all out 400m and they can usually bust out a solid time that would be a huge outlier to what they could do for say 4 or 8 reps. Some of this is fitness however some of this can simply be someone fighting their own mechanics (tense posture, not breathing right, tight upper body etc) that simply breaks down with fatigue

Similarly to those who lift weights, many people can get a weight from point a to point b but often they cheat their own body (engage stronger muscles etc) to complete rather than complete right (think of a lateral dumbell raise where suddenly a person is using the back and every other muscle group under the sun to get the weight up)

Even recovery days where people take a day off and use as a cheat day for booze and snacks compromise the goal of the day and would probably be better of with an extra day if it kept them in moderation on all aspects that influence recovery.

Taking a step back and focusing on input (i.e good quality for whatever the aspect is) will have so much more benefit in all aspects of running (and most aspects of health etc to be honest) than trying to increase output as a corrective measure.

KSU

Friday
AM Yoga + 4 mile run (8.35 min/m)
PM
Daily Challenge Resistance band upper body

Another day which got the better of me got out for the morning buggy run but unfortunately post dinner and post work I ended up falling asleep on the couch so main run went out the window. Did manage to get a bit of resistance work done during the day though.

3 sets x 15 Rest 60 sec between sets
Resistance Band Military Press
Resistance Band Upright Row
Resistance Band Lateral Raise
Resistance Band Bicep Curl
Resistance Band Seated Row
Resistance Band Tricep Pulls


Saturday
AM Yoga + 4 mile run (7.56 min/m)
PM 25 min tempo (10/5/10) 3 min jog 4x30 on/off
Daily Challenge N/A

Weekend off and got out for my run while the little lad went down for his afternoon nap. Drop in miles definitely impacted me I was fresh as a daisy and floating along really had to keep the reigns on this one.

Session was very controlled and feeling good through it. Last one of these for a while as the plan is to switch things up a little post Time Trial but 4 weeks of this session the progression is fairly apparent

Week 1 ||Week 4
10 min @ 6.43 pace (153 bpm)||10 min @ 6.29 pace (155bpm)
5 min @ 6.06 pace (167 bpm)||5 min @ 6.03 pace (161 bpm)
10 min @ 6.43 pace (170 bpm)| |10 min @ 6.29 pace (164 bpm)

Sunday
AM Yoga
PM 10 miles easy (7.49 min/m)
Daily Challenge Resistance band upper body + core

3 sets x 15 Rest 60 sec between sets
Resistance Band Military Press
Resistance Band Upright Row
Resistance Band Lateral Raise
Resistance Band Bicep Curl
Resistance Band Seated Row
Resistance Band Tricep Pulls


Circuit (time listed)
Seated Ab Circles Clockwise (60 sec)
Seated Ab Circles Counter Clockwise (60 sec)
Drunken Mountain Climbers (60 sec)
30 sec rest
Marching Planks (60 sec)
Scissors (60 sec)
Deadbugs (60 sec)


The temptation to try and chase miles there as always but I thought better of it.

Despite only getting 38 miles in the bank I did get running 5 days out of the 7 and plenty of accessory work so not a total disaster. Hopefully there will come a point where it will be easier but feel like I am working hard at the moment on the other aspects which normally ignore and am getting fitter even if it doesn't fully translate to endurance just yet. Diet is pretty good overal and translating to getting a bit leaner.

KSU

Monday
AM Yoga
PM 7 miles easy including 6x20s strides ( 7.19 min/m)
Daily Challenge: S and C (legs)

3x15 reps (unless stated)
Bring sally up squats (full song)
Crab walk (resistance band)
Single Leg Romanian dead lift
Pistol squats
Single leg Glute bridges

Followed up with a bit of core

The mobility with yoga and all other ancillary work seems to be helping anyway as for the first time in a long while I had the mobility to do proper ass to grass squats for the full song.

This balloon was quickly burst however as the missus of 6 years came into the kitchen for a chat obviously on the back of all these Run 5 Donate 5 posts on social media. Conversation went as follows

OH "Whats your best time for 5k"
Me "16.15 is my best but probably in about 17.30 shape now why?"
OH "Oh right yeah I have definitely been selling you short so"
Me "??"
OH "Yeah I been telling the girls you run around 22/23 min in the whatsapp group"

It's a good thing she wasn't with me just for my sporting talent so. Anyone Covid 19 negative with a couch to spare. May need a bit of time to reevaluate me life :p:p:pac::pac:

Swashbuckler

It seems like your missus has a similar interest level in your running to my missus.

KSU

Tuesday
AM Yoga
PM Fartlek (10 x 1/1 min) 4 min jog 2x30/30
Daily Challenge: Push Ups

3x reps to failure
Basic push up
Pike Push Up
Inner pec push up
Tricep push up


Followed up with a bit of core

Suns out guns out weather out there today and the last of these sort of fartleks for a while. nice undulating lap for this one but paces were toasty. Most importantly big improvement on the recovery paces which is what this session has been about so 20 min of solid work in there. The plan was 8x30 sec reps as well but a few danger signs from the hamstrings of cramp after the battering from the leg work yesterday saw me wuss out and can these. Very happy with the session.

Today's Daily challenge was more of a challenge than anything I have done in a while. The aim here was to try and target as many upper body muscles as I could with this one using only push up variations. Avoided cheating by including more whole body push ups or combo exercises. Reps to failure really took there toll as the volume added up however the whole thing with push up's is that they are one of the few exercises which it is show that reps to failure is the most optimal way to approach them unlike many other exercises as gravity doesn't gradually take its toll on form as fatigue accumulates.

KSU

Wednesday
AM Yoga
PM 7 miles easy ( 7.37 min/m)
Daily Challenge: Plyometrics

3x15 contacts

Wall knee drives
Pogos
Lateral bunny hops
Single leg bounds
Depth jumps (15 each leg total)


Followed up with a bit of core

Another day down and getting into a nice little groove. Hamstrings still shredded from Monday and legs a little heavy from yesterday but all around been a good few days training so hopefully manage to keep the ball rolling.

Also been a good few days for " self-development" (the wellness buzzword hence the quotations) with some interesting online courses the past few days from prominent Irish professionals between a injury webinar from Colin Griffin yesterday and Sharon Madigan today. Would advise people to keep their eyes open as there is so much quality content doing the rounds at the moment which normally would be reserved for paid conferences and workshops.

Laineyfrecks

Watched the Sharon Madigan one today too, very interesting. Cheers for putting the link up

KSU

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

Watched the Sharon Madigan one today too, very interesting. Cheers for putting the link up

No bother didn't catch it till a bit later. Similar to content she has put on for other workshops (moreso the first half anyway) but does come at nutrition in a different way that well worth taking on board.

Laineyfrecks

KSU wrote: »

No bother didn't catch it till a bit later. Similar to content she has put on for other workshops (moreso the first half anyway) but does come at nutrition in a different way that well worth taking on board.

Yeah, she made me think about a few things so will have to research them for myself. Actually kinda explains a few things for me too.

KSU

Thursday
AM Yoga
PM 7 miles progression( 7.11 min/m)
Daily Challenge: Nap - Fail!

A few bad nights sleep with the little lad saw me attempt a challenge that I am not good at - switching off. So when he went down for afternoon nap I attempted to do the same, didn't really work but a valiant effort was made.

Light progression just to run through the gears and finished at roughly MP for the run definitely running within myself throughout

Friday
AM Yoga
PM N/A

Was gonna be a late run however after a chat with the OH I got a morning window for the TT so i decided just to take the day off and focus on that rather than run for the sake of a few miles late night.

KSU

The scene is set in a post Apocalyptic Clondalkin......

My last 5k was staff relays off a weeks training in 18.21 last year and this is was to be my first race effort since Dublin Marathon (also unfit) so the bar was set pretty low.

Training has consisted of light tempo's and a couple of 20 min fartleks with nothing further thaan 1 min efforts so from a racing perspective I was not hoping to set the world alight having said that diet has been good and a lot of mobility work, plyometrics and S&C so I was not exactly completely unfit.

With change up from my normal run time due to planning around the family it meant that my initial course route was out the window (normally no cars as late night around the estate) so just stuck to the park. A small bit of congestion to avoid (pushing me out onto grass verges to keep the 2m) but overall the loop was fair and the paths were decent. I won't lie I was nervous for this one simply because I haven't had to dig in for so long as all the efforts have been short bouts with a recovery effort never too far away so the sustained nature of a race was not gonna be pleasant.

Just like a race I got out like the clappers only to panic and realise I was sub 5 pace after a minute so needed to dial it back. The loop itself was pretty much 2k meaning 1,3 and 5km were into the wind (was light enough) though this was negated somewhat from the ever so gradual incline (if you can even call it that) 1st k was 3.18 and too fast I knew I was gonna pay for it.

2km and pace was okay though pushed up onto the verge a few times which kinda saw the head drop somewhat. (3.28) was still under the 17.30 mark I had in my head and not feeling too bad.

The next 2km were poor though. Still had pace in miles on the watch so when I saw I was creeping back up to Threshold pace (+5.50s) I panicked and the body just slotted into a safe controlled effort that it dien't wanna push beyond, dark thoughts about pulling the plug crept in but I stood determined just to see it out good, bad or indifferent. (3.36, 3.39) just coming to the last km however I spotted a dad and his son on the bikes tipping along casually at a healthy clip so used them as a marker to try and reel in just to jolt the body. Given my beard is coming to caveman levels at the moment it was probably a scary sight to see just a beard and shades with legs barrel towards them (a few nervous looks back from the dad but hopefully this was just about making sure that they were out of the way for when I came by )

Finished in 17.40. given the deviations for avoiding people I will take that. Truth be told fitness wise I do think I am not as bad as I thought however the way training has been building slowly it was always gonna expose me here as I physically and mentally haven't prepared myself for longer efforts. It wraps up a nice little block of training however and something to build on as the fartlek sessions will change to more 10k efforts in coming weeks and a little more threshold work in the tempo's.

Some great runs out there today fair play to everyone and a huge fair play to B for organizing. Great to see some positives come out of this thing for the board in general and hopefully created a bit for people to help keep focus.

KSU

Saturday
AM Boards 5k Time Trial (17.40)
PM
Daily Challenge: Bodyweight leg work

Followed up with a bit of core

Skipped Yoga for the first morning in since I started the routine. Simple reason was that there is some static work in it and didn't wanna compromise power with the Time trial in the AM


Sunday
AM Yoga
PM 12 miles easy (7.55 min/m)
Daily Challenge: Resistance band work

Followed up with a bit of core

Legs definitely feeling the day before so just tipping along with time on feet despite feeling like garbage actually the first time over 90 min in over 2 months. Again not trying to force the mileage just trying to keep relatively consistent and build it organically.

There is a little bit of a shift with the training now from the previous 6 weeks and there will be a bit more variety to the fartlek sessions moving to the odd CV style workout. Overall though the aim is to keep tipping away with the sessions kept simple and making sure that I focus on keeping up the supplementary work as the run specific fitness grows.

KSU

Monday
AM Yoga
PM 7 miles easy incl 6x20 strides (7.36 min/m)
Daily Challenge: Full body calisthenics circuit

30 sec on 30 sec rec

Cobra Push up
Skater Lunge
Plank to toe tap
Elevated glute raise
In & out jump squat
Crab Walk
Tuck Jump


Followed up with a bit of core

Tuesday
PM 7 mile Progression
Daily Challenge: Push up Circuit

3x15 reps
Basic push up
Pike Push Up
Diamond Push up

Body a little tired at the moment (not in a hugely concerning sense) slips in motivation for the little extra's appearing so now is the time to regain focus and guard against complacency.

I have another Time Trial Thursday, organised by the club so using that as hard effort this week and just moderate sessions around it before starting into next block of training.

Progression run went well feeling nice and controlled throughout and finished with another couple of miles in me at a faster pace if needed.

KSU

Wednesday
AM Yoga
PM 5 miles easy (8.08 min/m)
Daily Challenge: Plyometrics

3x15 contacts (each leg)
Wall Drives
Pogo's
Lateral bunny hops
Single leg bounds


Followed up with a bit of core

This was a miserable one, out after work and was lashing down. Gave myself every out for this one - TT tomorrow, it's raining, it's only gonna be a shakeout so nothing to be gained anyway, body is tired anyway could do with a day off.

In the end got out but ready to turn back after a mile as I couldn't warm up and I was already soaked to the skin. it got better however and by the end of the run I was considering doing usual 7 anyway but happy with the 5.

First time in a long while I didn't take the easy way out.. Baby steps but they all add up.

Laineyfrecks

In terms of motivation, usually the battles with ourselves are the hardest ones... think a wise man said something like that to me recently;)

Swashbuckler

For what it's worth, what's keeping me going is reminding myself that only the mentally strong will come out of this in better shape than they went in. The rest will come out worse off. So it's a big opportunity to close the gap if youre more stubborn than the rest.

The pupil becomes the teacher.............

KSU

Everyone is getting fierce sensible and wise round these parts

Thursday
AM Yoga
PM Club 5k time Trial - 17.34
Daily Challenge:N/A

Followed up with a bit of core

Date for this one was only announced last week and with being commited to both not quite ideal but just took it as it came and went after it. Body is tired at the moment starting to get a good cumulative fatigue feel despite the mileage not being huge.

Out straight after work with no messing about as had a few scares with the little lad waking up once or twice that this might not happen (given it was a team even would have been a nightmare) thankfully he settled shortly before I headed out.

Weather was ideal and at this hour I knew I could use my original route course for last weeks time trial, effectively a 1 mile loop around the estate.

1st km I wanted to learn from the mistakes of Saturday so made sure to keep things in check however I want to look at the watch as little as possible given that I shut down last week mentally (more then likely as a result of clock watching). 3.25 for the first km which was with a slight downhill and wind mostly on my back.

I knew it in myself that physically I was still tired from last weeks effort so this was gonna be a tough one. The second km and I was already slowing more than Saturday despite a more conservative start with a 3.33. The next km proved however course profile and wind had a bit more to do with that than actually falling off as I came back with a 3.29. At 3k I was 5 seconds down on where I was in the last TT however the head was still in it and I was still working. Where the last one I had given up at this stage here I was on the edge meaning I was racing to fitness levels.

Next km and despite it being another slower one I had knew I had more to give in the last km so managed to up it. No sprint finish but a hard sustained close as the reps went 3.36 3.27 for my second fastest split

Finished in 17.34 according to strava (17.32.7 on garmin but took about the same off at the weekend)

6 seconds faster than the weekend but realistically that can be accounted for simply by the bit of congestion in the park however I definitely wasn't as fresh for this one so in my mind was a much better raced effort and alot happier with it than the weekend. Still a long way to go with the fitness but the head was definitely in a much better place.

Now time to take fitness I have built since starting back and build a little strength on it. Mileage won't changed hugely might manage to increase by 10 mpw over the next block but again the aim here is for it to be organic while the other aspects of training are maintained

Swashbuckler

KSU wrote:

Body is tired at the moment starting to get a good cumulative fatigue feel despite the mileage not being huge.

It's not just me then. Really feeling it this week from the TT effort last weekend.

KSU

Swashbuckler wrote: »

It's not just me then. Really feeling it this week from the TT effort last weekend.

:P

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/75896207-31d3-4384-b35d-6e847be34c21#_XIylO5SyK.copy

KSU

Friday
AM Yoga
PM 7 miles east (7.56 min/m)
Daily Challenge: Upper body Resistance band work

Followed up with a bit of core

Thursday
AM Yoga
PM N/A
Daily Challenge:N/A


Sunday
AM Yoga
PM 2 warm up, 10 miles (7.30/6.30), 2 mile cooldown
Daily Challenge:

Followed up with a bit of core

Monday
AM Yoga
PM N/A
Daily Challenge: Lower body conditioning work

A few bad nights sleep from the little lad scuppered a few runs but rather than get too pissed off just took it on the chin. Rather than see them as a step back as I used to and beat myself up in an all or nothing approach I am still looking at it as steps forward be it small or large. These days even my missed run days I am still managing yoga and or core so there is something being done which is a small bit of progress.

Sunday and it began what i am looking at as a strength phase. All of my sessions for the next while are gonna be strength based and really try and work on the aerobic capacity. Mileage will play into that a little but ultimately I am still sticking to my principles of mileage not being sought at the compromise of good overall training.

Disclaimer. For the first time I did exceed the radius. my Loop for this session was tailended by roundabouts one being a couple of hundred metres beyond the 2k mark from the house. I only realised on the cooldown. The only consolation was the fact that it was 11 at night in an industrial estate so not exactly a high risk area.

Session itself went well I generally find the variation in pace for these some how easier. I dunno is it because I viewed the opening miles as warm up or just pace change but I tend to dread these more that standard long runs having said that the effort was very controlled throughout and the HR never rose beyond steady also was good to bag the longest run of the year without feeling too bad

Next few weeks plenty of HM/MP paced work focusing on strength probably unorthodox way to train for a mile but can't beat the old adage of strength equals speed when it comes to running:D

KSU

Tuesday
AM Yoga + 4 miles easy (7.54 min/m)
PM 7 miles including 6x20 sec strides (7.56 min/m)
Daily Challenge: Push Up (descending series on 2 min cycles)

Followed up with a bit of core

Push Ups,

basic starting at 30 working down to 10 in 5 increments
Pike Push Ups 20 working down in 5 increments

Start to a new week and return of the doubles the new radius allowed me trek up to my old stomping ground for a decent little hill, probably throw the loop in regularly over the next while.

A few strides to finish off and good turn over feeling nice and controlled, small decline exaggerating the paces a little but felt good throughout.

KSU

Wednesday
AM Yoga
PM 8x3 min (90) target pace 6.10
Daily Challenge: Plyometrics

Finished this up with a 10 min core circuit

First session of the new block, a big jump up in terms of volume at this pace but it was a controlled session with the emphasis on controlled. Recent tempos have indicated that roughly 6.05-6.10 was bang on for these (and out of curiousity I used Tinman calculator based off my TT and was giving me the same 6-6.10 for his threshold work)

Was out on my lunch break which given way that parks are meant that Bike track was the route for this one. It’s a 1k undulating loop so perfect for this and only ever one maybe two cyclists on it midweek around that time (wide track so easy to social distance)

First half of this session was very handy and I was pacing them well (working down to the pace only after around 1 min-90 sec) previously would have been trying to hit from the start and as a result HR prob a bit higher due to lag.

Second half of session and while controlled fatigue was putting a little sting in the legs though finished the session feeling I could have done more and no where near wiped. Perfect for what I wanted from the session.

The next while these cruise intervals will make up the faster aspect of training (bar strides) while I build strength

KSU

Thursday
AM Yoga

Friday
AM Yoga + 7 mile progression
PM 5 miles easy (8.15 min/m)
Daily Challenge: Upperbody resistance band work

Following up with a bit of core

Thursday no one to blame but myself. I was off for the day so keeping the little lad entertained for the day. By the time the night run came around I was fast asleep on the couch. Body not tired but I had woken in middle of the night which normally is a telling sign.

Restrospectively we noticed a new tooth through so would explain some of his bad nights sleep this week so in hindsight missing 2 days this week not the end of the world as training density will still be there (higher mileage week in 5 days than I have done recently in 7)

Friday and I was back in action. Progression run was very controlled for the paces hit and considering the heat it was a very good run happy with that one. Also got out after work just to flush out the legs

KSU

Saturday
AM Yoga
PM 9 miles + 7x20 sec strides (7.56 min/m)
Daily Challenge: N/A

Usual core circuit (10 min of 1 min on 30 sec off)

Little lad didn't get the memo that DIL wasn't till 5.30 so up at 4, completely shattered after that for the morning so didn't out for a run before work and opted to rest a bit more instead

Fairly vanilla run. A few hills thrown in as my running as of late been on the flatter side. Finished up with a few strides just to keep turnover in check for this TT at the end of the month

Definitely progress mind you as 70+ min run a few weeks back I would have been feeling but felt could have went on forever so endurance is starting to come back and the longer easy runs not as daunting which should help with the mileage creeping up.

KSU

Sunday
AM Yoga
PM 2 mile warm up, 10 steady, 2 mile cooldown
Daily Challenge: N/A

Another week down and highest mileage week in nearly 10 months (which given it was a day week definitely says alot.

The plan for this was 10 miles in around 70 min give or take however it was windy as hell so just stuck to effort as the first few miles were into the wind and I figured 70 was gonna be a tough ask so just focused on keeping controlled first 5 mile and then winding it up slightly in back end.

Using the same long run route as last week its quickly becoming a bit of a fav. It's approx 3 mile loop with roundabout at each end and wide bus lanes, perfect for longer stuff late a night. Its relatively flat with small decline on way out and small incline on the way back however these were negated with the headwind in 1st half of each lap on the down.

1st half and was hovering just over the 7 min miling mark however got into a nice groove as it went on and without too much change in effort started to see the sixes pop up and the watch and cruised from here finishing relatively strong. Finished in 69.43 spot on especially given the weather.

None of my sessions are particularly challenging at the moment as this is a true base phase however there is huge training density as the last 7 days included;

14 (10 alternating between MP/moderate)
8x3 min @ 6.10 off 90 sec (LT effort)
7 progression (finishing MP)
14 (10 steady)

The aim is to increase the mileage while keeping this moderate intensity stuff just grinding me down slowly for now building up that strength

Laineyfrecks

See you got an honorary mention in the Echo online...FB famous you are now

Well done on the funds raised by the club!

KSU

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

See you got an honorary mention in the Echo online...FB famous you are now

Well done on the funds raised by the club!

Haha club PRO must be trying to keep me sweet as I had little to do with bar floating the idea go be honest still was a bit of craic and decent bit raised plus picked up the team win despite being over 90 sec behind some of the younger lads so reckon the teams were fixed haha.

KSU

Monday
AM Yoga
PM 7 miles easy (7.47 min/m)
Daily Challenge: lower body conditioning work

Followed up with a 10 min core circuit

Legs were a bit on the tired side seeing as I did have 35 miles over the previous 3 days but despite this was nice and handy. Thankfully colder weather opened up running along the canal for a bit.

Very sleepy post work and knew I didn't have a 30 min run and the ancillary work so opted for the latter given the mileage will already be taking a bump up this week anyway still wanna stick to the mantra of mileage doesn't take priority over the well rounded approach.

Laineyfrecks

KSU wrote: »

Haha club PRO must be trying to keep me sweet as I had little to do with bar floating the idea go be honest still was a bit of craic and decent bit raised plus picked up the team win despite being over 90 sec behind some of the younger lads so reckon the teams were fixed haha.

Haha club politics;)

A good idea is where it all starts and all for a great cause!