Wishful thinking

Kander

Just thought I'd jump on new year motivation and start up a training log. I have suffered a serious lack of direction and I'm hoping that I can pick up the pieces in 2021.

I had a great year in 2019 where I went sub 3 hours in Dublin Marathon and had a number of PB's during the year in the led up to it. The wheels completely fell off afterwards and I was very burnt out & unmotivated.

Nothing in 2020 was consistent and I only got out the door for head space and feel good factor.

Aims for 2021....back to basics

• Be consistent in getting out the door, just do it.
• Lose the pandemic weight...enough said
• Build mileage by constant weekly level effort and not go mad with something progressive or intense.
• Watch out for special offers on nice shiny running shoes

What else do people write in these things....

Kander

Week 28th Dec to 3rd Jan

Wed 12.3km with tempo middle. Looking back this was a bad session to do. Day 1 of being back and I decided on a speed session. Rookie mistake but it isn't the only one this week

Friday 14km easy pace (142bpm) I was annoyed that I missed a planned Thursday session so I loaded the distance a little too much. I was happy with the pace & effort though at the time.

Sunday 22km Easy Pace (145bpm) Again I was annoyed that I missed a recovery on Sat so I loaded the distance here. "Ah sure it's a long run it's meant to be long".....not when the legs aren't used to it.
I suffered noticeable HR drift in the final stages which was the dead give away that I over did it. Started at 135 bpm and it raised to 155 by the end.


Lesson learned:
I need to get any notions out of my head and get back to basics. While the head is motivated the legs and body just can't handle it. Got to spread out the distance more.
This week I am feeling worn down already and I know its from this weeks structure.

Finished 2020 on 1350 km total

Kander

Week 4th to 10th Jan

After reading through the shoe thread I ended up with two new pairs in the post. Asics Excite and Saucony Kinvara. My Mizuno wave rider & wave equate are at the end of their life so that my justification

Week total running 53km

Tue: 9.7km at HR 139
Wed: 9.2km at HR 141
Thur: 11.5km at HR 142

Sat: 11.2km at HR 145
Sun: 12.5km at HR 141

I was tired and a bit worn down due to the previous week which wasn't structured very well. My goal was to put as little stress on my body while still getting in the distance. The HR effort was only above warming up territory for me at 5:30 to 5:45 per KM

This was a successful week for my in my eyes. I was feeling better as I went through the week in general energy wise and made sure to cut off my weekend runs even when i was feeling good.

I still have some aches in my legs which is showing me that the current distance is enough for now and I'm going to hold like this for a couple of more weeks to get a stable base before I think of progressing.

Feedback & thoughts welcome,
Thanks

Laineyfrecks

I think you should gradually build on this week as part of a base block & keep most of the runs easy. Building up mileage & speed too quickly can also lead to getting injured. Consistency is also key here to building up to whatever you intend to do after the base training. Best of luck with it:)

shotgunmcos

First welcome! Secondly you are using HR which is great.

When you say 139-142HR is "just above warming up", what is your max and resting HR? Are you using zones? Are those average reading or max readings?

Honestly, that first week was silly but we all make mistakes. Carrying fatigue into week 2 was expected and you seemed to deal with it well. 5 easy controlled runs, well done

As LF said, I'd suggest continuing with easy runs and gradually bring intensity in. If you use zones I would suggest no more than 10 minutes total effort in zone 4. So if you did say, 6x500m repeats off 90s that would probably give you your 10 minutes. And that would be it for the week! Everything else easy.

Given your total for 2020 was 1300km, 53km last week was DOUBLE your weekly average. So, unless you had 5-6 weeks of consistent 40-50km before xmas, I would also suggest not increasing your volume anymore for the next 5-6 weeks.

What is you goal event? Distance?

Kander

Thanks for the feed back, much appreciated.

I like to use Heart rate range as a basis of training & efforts. It is outlined in P&D Advanced Marathon which I followed in the past.

Resting = 60bpm, Max = 185bpm. Range is 125bpm (Max - Resting)

Recovery / warm up = 122 to 140
General Aerobic = 137 to 153
Medium & Long run (P&D book zone) = 141 to 157
Marathon effort = 151 to 165
Half MP = 160 to 165


Those are my average for the entire run. I do keep it pretty controlled so while the avg is 140 the max might only be 145.

I totally get what you both are saying about any intensity work, i would even be reluctant to add in the 6x 500m you said for awhile longer. Might only do 5 x 100m controlled strides to work on form & posture.

2020 distance:
Oct = 205km
Nov = 161 km
Dec = 131km

Indeed, the more I think about it, with the numbers I finished up with in 2020 I just need to be consistant at 50-55 for the next 5-6 weeks as said. March will be a likely starting point of progression once I take an easy week into the mix.

Goal:
Primarily I want to be consistent through out the year and not burn out completely like at the end of 2019.
If I was to say a time & event, all going well I'd to have a go at sub 3 for DCM again. I liked being that fit. I'd happily settle on a 1:30 Half Marathon

AuldManKing

What mileage were you doing for the sub3 in 2019?

Did you train by HR for that?

Kander

AuldManKing wrote: »

What mileage were you doing for the sub3 in 2019?

Did you train by HR for that?

Yes I have always trained by HR. I found it worked well for me and it allowed me to know when I was tired or over trained. Stopped me from going too fast / too slow.

In 2019 my total was 3080km in the year.
Jan to April I was holding steady just getting out for time and not concerned for speed.
May to Oct I followed the P&D 55 to 70 Mile 18 week plan. Which you can see here https://defy.org/hacks/calendarhack/?d=2021-01-31&p=pfitz_18_70&u=km

I managed 4 100 -110 km plus weeks and that was my limit. I was very very exhausted after those peaks.

AuldManKing

Kander wrote: »

Yes I have always trained by HR. I found it worked well for me and it allowed me to know when I was tired or over trained. Stopped me from going too fast / too slow.

In 2019 my total was 3080km in the year.
Jan to April I was holding steady just getting out for time and not concerned for speed.
May to Oct I followed the P&D 55 to 70 Mile 18 week plan. Which you can see here https://defy.org/hacks/calendarhack/?d=2021-01-31&p=pfitz_18_70&u=km

I managed 4 100 -110 km plus weeks and that was my limit. I was very very exhausted after those peaks.

excellent - I like that calendar hack thingy.

Sub 3 is no joke, so you have the ability to do the hard work.
P&D, if followed to the letter is a tough plan - those MLR's if done correctly are worth their pain in gold!

No doubt that will come back to you.

Best of luck with the training.

Kander

Week 11th to 17th Jan

Finally brave enough to step on the scales at the start of the week. 9kg up oh well it has to start somewhere. Logged it to my fitness pal to keep track of it.

Tue: 10.6km @139bpm
Wed 9.5 @ 136bpm
Thurs 10.8 @ 141bpm

Sat 12km @ 137bpm
Sun 12.3 @ 139bpm
Total 55.2km

The runs themselves were pretty straight forward and just a little bit boring. I was very tuned out while taking it easy. I did manage to land a fluke of a time for the January challenge on the Tuesday run.

Physically I'm doing great, the energy levels have come back and I'm not drained like i was 2 weeks ago. I can feel it in my ankles and feet that I am back on the go again. This is reinforcing the strategy that I'm not going to go further than this distance for another couple of weeks.

Mentally I'm also feeling good. Now that I'm on a routine again I don't feel as panic'ed about my training levels. I have a plan now which has put my mind at ease. I'm sleeping pretty well on the back of it all which is helping.

Going to keep it steady as it is and control the calories.

Laineyfrecks

It's great to see all the positives in your post! Some runs are boring but the consistency is neccesary to gain the fitness. I am finding some of my runs boring at the moment as I really miss running in the PP etc but I just stick on a good podcast & get lost in it!

Steady is a very good way to move forward

Kander

Jan 18th to 24th

As I am focused on just getting out and being consistent I eased off the pace a little more this week. I wanted to make sure I was able to keep going the next day so I also kept the same distance from last week but I spread it out over 6 days.

Weight lost this week 0.6 kg

Tue: 8.75km @ 140 bpm
Wed: 10.4km @ 136 bpm
Thurs: 10:1km @140 bpm
Fri: 9.3km @ 135bpm
Sat: 9.3km @138 bpm
Sun: 9.1km @ 137 bpm

Total this week 57km and I was about 10sec slower per km which I'm happy about.

Physically I had a couple of more aches this week. I could feel it in my shins and Achilles especially. Foam rolling is back on the cards which helped the achilles as I think i was just tight in the calves all week. I'm going to have to pay attention to the shins and nurse them along.

Mentally I was in a pretty happy place this week. I only decided on a whim to do 6 days due to the bad weather we had at the start of the week. I wasn't keen on going out for long when it was raining so I kept the session short & sweet. I was tired by the end of the week but I think I got the balance right.

I want to stay like this for a couple of more weeks as I think I'll benefit from it.
I'll try pay more attention to the diet cos my clothes aren't fitting very well and it cheaper to lose weight than it is to buy new clothes.:D

Kander

Two weeks of training combined here:

Jan 25th to 31st

Weight loss this week 0.1 kg (0.7 total)

Started off the week with a needed rest day on Monday. Felt positive overall and I knew my focus would be to just keep going and pay attention to the food intake

Tue 9.3km at 137 BPM
Wed 8.15 km at 138 BPM
Thurs 10.68 km at 140 BPM (second Jan challenge attempt)

I finished Thursday feeling fine and was planning to take Friday off anyway. All day Friday I was feeling really tired and groggy like I didn't get much sleep even though I did. My mood was off and I was stressed finishing work.

This spilled over into the weekend. My resting HR was 10-15 higher over the weekend and I had no motivation to get out. It wasn't even a choice if I was going running.

I wasn't overly disappointed though in missing days. My body was telling me something was up and I wasn't just lazy.

Weekly total 28.13 km
January total 230 km

---

Feb 1st to 7th
Weight loss this week 0.5 kg (1.2 total)

After last week I was still not 100% going into the week. While I wasn't getting out I still trying to stay away from the biscuits and crisp....well most of the time anyway :P

My HR strap has died this week so I was only going by wrist sensor which I don't trust very much. I was taking it handy all the way along.

Wed 8.28 km @ 148 (5.31 per km)
Thurs 8.28 km @ 149 (5.31 per km)
Sat 13.20 km @ 147 (5.34 per km)
Sun 13.57 km @ 145 (5.27 km)

Total 43.3km


Wed & Thurs I was just happy to get back out. I was pretty stressed & wound up over work stuff so needed the tune out time and it did really help.

Saturday didn't feel great at all. I think it was my shoes telling me they are ready to be binned. My legs felt dead, my feet hurt and running overall felt like an effort but energy was I was okay. 750 km on my Mizuno wave riders.

Sunday I went out in a new pair of brooks I had ready . Night & day difference in how my legs felt and I was feeling stronger by the time I finished.

Kander

Feb 8th to 14th

Weight loss this week 0.1 kg (1.3 total).

Tue 10.76 km @5.38 min/km
Wed 12 km @ 5.31 min/km
Fri 12 km @ 5.33/km
Sun 14.85 km @5.27/km

Weekly Total 49.7 km

A fairly un-remarkable week in terms of training but I was actually pretty happy with it. I got my distance done over 4 days and no catastrophes. I would have liked maybe to skim some distance off the other sessions and get a 5th one in there on the Saturday but ah well.

I've picked up some pain points on my shins which I think I picked up last week from my old runners dying and losing their support. They went into the bin and I'm loving the Brooks Ghost that I opened up.

The mental state is in a good place. I'm getting the training I need at the moment and I know it will pay off later in the year. I do want to keep the focus on weight loss and possibly getting out for that 5th weekly session more often.

In March I will see how I'm getting on and I think I will looks to increase my distance per week a little more.

Kander

2 week catch-up

15th Feb - 21st

Weight loss this week 0.3 kg (1.5 total)

Mon 5.54km
Wed 13.34 km
Fri 12.20 km
Sat 13.28 km

Total:43.3km

A bit of a meh week. I was a bit worn out from work all week long and I tried to space my runs out so I didn't load up till the weekend. Even with catching up on sleep I didn't feel too pushed to get out on the sunday to make up the distance.

Glad I had another bit off weight loss but wished it was more (dont we all).


_______________________________________


Week 22nd Feb -28th Feb

Weight gain this week 0.4 kg (1.1 total)

Mon: 13.3km
Wed: 13.3km
Thurs: 10.6km
Fri: 8km
Sat: 9.4 km (Feb Challenge)

I was feeling good and comfortable all week. I got my replacement HR monitor during the week and I confirmed that I was running in my easy zone for the last 2-3 weeks. I took Friday even slower as I wanted to give the Feb challenge a go on Saturday morning.

I weighed in on Sat morning and I had put on 0.4kg This annoyed me as it seriously undid over two weeks of work.

Hill run - My plan was to start the timer at the bottom of Howth village and head straight up to the summit car park via the river path. There is a particularly steep part that it was my plan to do some repeats on and then finish at the top. I wasn't planning to go go crazy as I knew I didn't have the strength for it.

I warm up as best as I could and tried to stretch out the legs. My calves are always the problem on hills.

Off I went on my merry way, with the legs quickly starting to burn. I tried to keep my HR comfortably high so I didn't burn out. It felt like someone had hot pokers in my calves and I was ready to finish up. I looked at my watch and only 3 min done....crap.

The steep secton where I planned to do most of my repeats turned out to be too much for me. I had to walk at points and I couldn't fully run down. I changed tactic and decided to go to the top early and if I had the time I'd do what repeats I could on the gentler slope up to the car park.

My feet swelled, I looked and felt like death. I enjoyed it

Cant walk since then but as well that's part of the fun

Kander

March 1st - 7th

I started off the week a bit broken after the Feb hill challenge the Sat before. I forgot just how sore they can make you in such a short space of time. I had a virtual 5km race that I wanted to do at the end of the week so wanted to recover as best as I could for that.

Weight loss this week 0.3kg (1.4kg lost total)

Mon: 6km on the treadmill @120bpm - Nice and easy soft running to get the legs moving, pure recovery while watching netflix

Tue: 10.5 km on road @ 141 bpm. The legs were getting back to normal and I was contents to get out for this. I knew I wasn't able to go faster / further though.

Thurs: 9km on the treadmill @ 137. Still nursing my legs along while burning some calories

Fri: 12km on road @ 137. More distance and time put in. Felt good and I was looking forward to trying the 5km TT on Sat.

Sat: total 9.8km inc warm-ups and cd
TT: I wanted to give a fair go at going hard for 5km. Firstly as a fitness test and secondly just to break up training a little and keep things interesting. I was a little cautious of getting injured though as I knew I didn't have a high level of conditioning & strength.

1st km 04:03 - Started off feeling good as normal. I done a solid warm up and everything felt like it was ready to go. Probably got a bit ahead of myself but thats normal for me.
2nd Km 04:11 - I spooked myself out when I saw my first km. My head wasn't ready to see that at all. I was expecting 4:20-30. My HR was climbing steadily but I wasn't hurting in any one place too much.
3rd km 4:28 - I always hate this km. It's when the hurt really kicks in but you know you still have a good bit to go. It takes a good bit of willpower to keep the effort up. A 5m climb didn't help
4th km 4:23 - I help the HR static here and along with a flat area I was happy with how I was still going.
5th km 4:05 - I opened up for the last km just cos I knew the end was in sight. Cardio wise I felt in control but I just didn't have the power to go faster. Lack of speed training showing here.

Weekly total: 48km. Lower distance week but I am happy which what I have done. It was a challenging week for running that added a fair bit of training stress.

Wottle

Super job on the TT given you're not long back!
How are the shins, are you foam rolling at all?

Kander wrote: »

Aims for 2021....back to basics

• Be consistent in getting out the door, just do it.
• Lose the pandemic weight...enough said
• Build mileage by constant weekly level effort and not go mad with something progressive or intense.
• Watch out for special offers on nice shiny running shoes

What else do people write in these things....

I'm going to Rob these for myself, simple but if followed, good things should happen.
Keep up the good work!

Kander

Thanks Wottle,

The shins come and go but they have been fine lately. Foam rolling & massage gun are almost daily for my lower legs as they are my problem area. If I go further = Shin pains, if I go faster = calf & Achilles pain.

Yes I'm happy as it is and I just got to remember to keep myself grounded. I was looking back over my running data and if I manage to do 50km a week for the entire 2021 year it will have been my second highest running year ever. It puts things in perspective

Kander

Weight loss this week 0.0 Kg

Mon: 16.22km @ 140 bpm. As I had not done much over the weekend I decided on going out on a bit of a longer run. Nice & easy felt good.

Tues: 7.5 km @135. Recovery run

Thurs: 10.8km @142 General distance run

Friday: 9.3km :@140 General distance run

Sun: Was too tired to go out. Just didn't feel it

Total 44km

I think I'm stuck in a bit of a limbo area in training. I want to go further & faster but I'm lacking the drive to push it. I was hoping to get more distance this week but I just wasn't in the mood to get out.

I'll just put it down to lockdown blues and having no goal race or event to aim for.

For any one reading...what's your tactic to get your head in gear?

shotgunmcos

Kander wrote: »

Weight loss this week 0.0 Kg

Mon: 16.22km @ 140 bpm. As I had not done much over the weekend I decided on going out on a bit of a longer run. Nice & easy felt good.

Tues: 7.5 km @135. Recovery run

Thurs: 10.8km @142 General distance run

Friday: 9.3km :@140 General distance run

Sun: Was too tired to go out. Just didn't feel it

Total 44km

I think I'm stuck in a bit of a limbo area in training. I want to go further & faster but I'm lacking the drive to push it. I was hoping to get more distance this week but I just wasn't in the mood to get out.

I'll just put it down to lockdown blues and having no goal race or event to aim for.

For any one reading...what's your tactic to get your head in gear?

Get your gear ready the night before. One less thing to distract you. Have a purpose for a run in mind. There's plenty of things to work on outside a goal plan. You can incorporate to your "general distance" runs

1. Add some strides, one every km or a set of 4-5 towards the end
2. Repeat a random hill or sprint up hills
3. Focus on posture like relaxed shoulders, running tall, even for just a few minutes
4. Try the March Challenge!
5. Add some tempo or repeats, nothing too structured just some intensity
6. Add some S&C
7. Don't worry about it! Mojo comes and goes..

Kander

Week March 15th -21st

Weight loss this week 0.2 Kg. I think my clothes are fitting better though even after only 1.6 total lost. I must be getting denser

Monday 12.18km @141bpm. General distance but glad I got out early in the week. Started me off in a good place

Wed: 17.7km @ 150 bpm. Paddy's day sunshine run. I decided to run with a but more purpose so I added a tempo to the middle 13km. Enjoyed the effort and pace

Friday: 13.3km @142bpm /w 5 x 100m strides at the middle 5 km's (shotgunmcos advice and I loved it. It helped me keep focus in the run and made it more interesting)

Sat 13.3km @142bpm /w 5 x 100m strides at the middle 5 km's

Sun 7.5km @135 bpm recover

Total 64km

Very happy with this week. It was my highest distance in 18 months when I looked back. I'm energy tired but my body is holding up physically.

I think I will continue with building base for a while longer to be a little bit more resilient when I eventually have a race or goal in mind. I don't want to add speed work along with going further. Realistically i've only been consistent for 3-4 months which isn't enough.

Kander

Week March 22nd to 28th

No weight loss this week. 1.6kg lost total. I'm glad it's not going up but at the same time I still have 7.5 to lose.

Tuesday 9.3km 5;35 avg pace

Wed 13.25km 5:51 Avg pace

Friday 12.3km 5:25 Avg pace

Sat 16km 5:13 Avg pace. Felt really rough on this session. It was like everything was just sore and not quite right. Calves were tight, knees were aching and my feet were getting numb at random times.

Total 50km. Nothing going on this week really. After Saturdays miserable session I took Sunday off. I was still on target for my weekly distance so it wasn't worth the risk in getting out.

Something in my head is telling me Manchester Marathon will go ahead in October. Batter chance than Dublin anyway. I think I'm going to aim for that as the main even for the year and train so I can have an enjoyable day out and not be broken from under-training or racing it.

Kander

Week March 29th to April 4th

0.7 kg weight loss this week. Finally a solid number, I had to really dial in on the calories and limit it to 2200 per day. 2.1kg lost total

Monday: 9.2 km Recovery at 134 bpm. Nursing the legs along after doing a lot of foam rolling

Tuesday Treadmill 6km /w 3% incline. More recovery work

Wed March progression challenge. Did this in a park nearby. I really enjoyed the challenge and running on the grass kept things easy on my legs. Last km was tough work though

Thurs: Treadmill 12km followed by S&C! I found my old kettlebell and decided on doing some swings. 10 reps of 10 swings with 16kg.

Sat: 13km @ 141bpm. General aerobic work to finish off the week

Total 53km

I think I have reached a good point in my training for this year. I have done 3 months of building my distance back up to something sustainable. I had debated on if I should go for more distance building but on a bit of reflection I don't think i have the mental strength to take on more volume with having no goal to aim for.

I am going to try get the best return on the distance I am doing now by attempting the low volume 10k plan from Faster Road Racing: 5K to Half Marathon.

If it works out then it will also tie in very well with a marathon plan later in the year if Manchester or Dublin go ahead.

It could all be wishful thinking though

Runningirl

I’ll be looking forward to seeing how you get on with the Faster Road Running plans! It’s a great book, lots of good information in it but I’ve yet to complete any of the plans!

Kander

Week 5th April
Weight loss = 0.5 kg (2.6 total)

Week 1 of the Faster road racing 10km plan

Monday: General aerobic + speed10 km
6 × 12 sec uphill
6 × 100 m strides
I have no hills in my normal routes so I went for 8 X100m strides. This was a good technique session that I liked & felt good afterwards.

Wed: Endurance 13km. So reading the book this is more of a progression run rather than just simple running. It starts out as general aerobic and finishes at LT. Adding in WD & CD this turning into a tougher session than I thought it would be. Definitely challenging.

Fri 11km with 3 x 8 minutes at LT. I knew this would be tough so I did a solid warm up and tried to get the most out the in-between recoveries. I was really feeling it by the end of the second interval and the last one was endless.

Sun Endurance 14km - I wasn't feeling good so I only did 9km on the treadmill instead. Me and the legs were tired.

I went into the week worried that i was only going to doing 48 km on paper. I really shouldn't have worried. This was a much tougher week than I thought it was going to be.

Going forward I will just stick to the plan and try to maximise recovery to keep the fatigue down. I have a feeling this will only get tougher

Comic Book Guy

Hi,


I think your issue with fatigue is coming from the proximity of those 2 LT sessions to each other.
Its a while since I've looked at a plan from FRR but from memory the Endurance run is a progression run like you said but wouldn't be ending at LT pace but instead goes from MP +20% in the early part of the run which is around GA pace to MP +10% for the latter part of the run.
I think the HM plans are the only ones with a progression ending at LT and even then its only an occasional session every 3-4 weeks.


Doing a few very easy miles the day after the LT session might help too but you probably won't need it if you adjust the pace of those Endurance runs.

Kander

I think your right on that. I'll have to sit down and re-visit the pacing & effort that is needed for those sessions. At the moment the pacing guide in the book versus the HRR % for don't match up very well for me.

If there is a mismatch still I think I will be cautious on the endurance runs and be slower and keep the fast days as being fast.

Kander

Week 12th - 18th April
Weight loss = 0.5 kg (3.1 total)

Week 2 of the Faster road racing 10km plan

TueSpeed
10 km with 2 sets of 4 × 200 m @ 800 m to mile race pace

I went out in the wrong runners... I wore a cheaper pair of Asics excite 6 that wear meant for the treadmill only. There were too hard and unforgiving for this session and I was feeling it badly by the end of the intervals. Shin splints and other aches really flared when I got home.

Wed Rest, ice, compression & elevation. Added anti-inflammatory gel

Thurs Endurance 13km
Nursing the legs along in soft shoes on as much grass as I could find. I corrected my HR zones as well and it was much more comfortable. I wasn't as drained after this. Thanks Comic Book Guy for the feedback, it was nice have the extra opinion.

Fri
Lactate threshold work
13 km with 10 min, 10 min, 8 min@ LT. I felt pretty good during the session and I was able to really nail the LT goals while keeping my form together. The pace and effort felt right.

Sun Endurance 16km
I did the entire session on the Treadmill. I wanted to minimalize the stress on my legs. Session went as planned

Notes of the week:
53km Total. My shin Splints continue to be what has me worried. I seem to be on the edge of managing the case or it going to **** and im off the road for a couple of weeks.

Also only buy the fancy high end shoes cos I'm worth it

Murph_D

Good stuff.

You've mentioned pace a few times - are you being guided mostly by HR or are you also trying to align to a particular pace? What is the goal for the 10k?

Nice work, hope the shins are behaving.

Kander

I have only ever done a structured training to Heart rate, it was the first thing that really progressed my fitness and I kind of just stuck with it since then (10 years).

Funny enough though, that Tuesday session was the first one that I can remember that I went aiming / chasing for a specific pace. I used a vdot calculator from my last 5km TT to get a pace range of 3:40 to 3:50.

If I could get the 10k down to 42 min i would be happy. It would have given me a boost to not only speed but also speed over a longer time which will help me for the year.

The shins are not behaving sadly

Kander

Week 19th - 25th April
Weight loss = 0.0 kg (3.1 total)

Week 3 of the Faster road racing 10km plan

Tue General aerobic 11 km with Strides was the plan. From the start I could feel the ache in my shins and it took about 3km before they warmed up and felt free. Once I started my first stride though the pain came back very sharply and I bailed on the second one. I decided to skip the rest of the strides but just did the distance at an easy pace.

Got home, found the ice pack and tried to manage the issue as best I could. This had me worried though.

Wed, Thurs, Fri I skipped the one other mid-week session i had (14km Endurance) in order to keep working on the shim splints. I finished up my stash of kinesiology tape, along with ripping off too much leg hair , it did feel a whole lot better though from the care.

Sat Boards TT
The plan session was VO₂max 13 km with 6 × 3 min @ 3K-5K race effort so I decided to combine it all into the 5km TT. I wanted to get a fresh 5km time for the plan anyway along with the previous TT I did 6 weeks ago.

This was all dependent on how my shins felt though as I really don't want to be sidelined.
Warm up- I only managed to get out in the evening and it was an easy 4km to the park which would tell me how the shin would cope. The run there had no issues and I could even do strides with no issues. I was so glad for this & I went into the 5km TT pretty keen to go all out and not hold anything back.

Race:
1st km: 3:45 @ 177 bpm. Do ya think I went out too fast? haha. I felt good and I was paying attention to the HR to help gauge the effort

2nd km: 4:13 @ 181 bpm. Yup defo went out too fast. This was going to hurt so much. I was happy with my form still but I was conscious of staying focused

3rd km: 4:20 @181 bpm. Normally my worst km and it sucked as expected. Hamstrings especially were building up lactic acid and fatiguing.

4th km: 4:30 @181 bpm. A little disappointed in this one. I was focused and aware of keeping the effort according to HR. I'm thinking now I should have gone by feel but even that felt close to max.

5th km: 4:18 @184 bpm. I decided just to give it everything for this last one. I wanted to see my max HR and reach that limit. Felt like puking with 500m to go so I knew I was there.

Time = 21:17 which is equal to what I had 6 weeks pervious. A little disappointed but now I have a point to move on from and train.

Cooldown was 4km easy on the way back. Stretching for the muscles and ice for the shins at home.

Sun Endurance 16 km
I got changed for the outside and I was only 200m from home when I decided to change plan and go home. The shins will not be able to do an outside concrete run of this length.

Swapped and did it all on the treadmill watching netflix.

Total 48km this week.

Next week is a recovery week on the plan so I am going to do the whole lot on the treadmill.

Kander

Week 26th - 2nd May
Weight loss = 0.0 kg (3.1 total)

Week 4 of the Faster road racing 10km plan

I went into this week knowing that I had to do everything I could to help my shins recover. I had missed a session last week which was due to be a peak week in terms of distance and intensity. While I knew it had to be skipped I didn't want it to happen again if I could avoid it. K-tape / Ice / Ibuprofen / foam roller / Massage gun were all used.

Running wise it was a pretty boring week. It was all done on the treadmill while watching Netflix. Started watching Narcos but I'm not sure I'll stick with it.

Tue: General aerobic 11 km
Wed: General aerobic 11 km with 4 × 200 m @ 800 m to mile race pace
Fri: General aerobic 11 km
Sun: General aerobic 14 km

Exactly as the plan said with no more or less. The shin splints went from a very definite sharp pain to a dull ache over the course of the week.

Next week - I am going to supplement running with some added cycling on my turbo trainer. At least if I'm doing the bare minimum of the plan I can get in some added cardio time. Just some base building Z2.

Kander

Week 3rd - 9th May
Weight change = +0.2 kg ( 2.9 total lost)

Week 5 of the Faster road racing 10km plan

I started off the week thinking I was in a good place after some needed recovery. I was happy in my decision to add in some cycling on trainer road to bulk out the cardio. I did a ramp test in my recovery week to give me my current FTP. 50 lower than a year ago

I am hoping to loosly follow the low hours super sweet spot training and match them up to my tougher Tue, Thurs & Sun runs.

Tue
Cycling 60 min on the Super sweet spot plan
Running 11km with strides. This was done on the treadmill and I was fairly happy with how things went. Shins were aching afterwards so I spent some time afterwards stretching my calves and icing.

Wed
Running: 5km Recovery. On the treadmill my shins were sore on each foot strike. Glad not to be doing any effort

Thurs
Cycling: 60 min on the Super sweet spot plan
Running: Plan was to do 13km with 5 X 1000m at 3-5km race effort. I only managed 3km on the Treadmill before I quit. My calves were a ball of knots and I couldn't stretch them out. They were putting more pressure on my shins.

Sat
Running: Reattempted Thursday interval session which went much better. Hit all race pace efforts in both time and Heart rate. Added a little more distance for warm up and cooldown. Total 14km

Sun
Cycling: 90 min on the Super sweet spot plan
Running: Endurance session that was down for 16km but I finished up at 12km. The addition of the longer cycle just had me energy tired and I reached the point were i didn't want to continue. Still happy with a solid days training.

Next week - I am going to have to take each week as it comes as my shin splints aren't easing up. If i don't see any improvement this week I am going to stop the higher intensity workout and just go back to easy base work. If that doesn't work again then I might pull the plug altogether for a couple of weeks

Kander

Not much typing needed this week.

My shins splints got to the stage where they were causing my gait and stride to change so I knew I needed to take a break. I'm giving myself two weeks fully off running before I try again.

Cycling: I did 3 turbo session over the week. Some productive sweet spot training that I'm hoping will hold onto some of my fitness. 3 1/2 hours total.

S&C: After cycling I did some simple Kettlebell work outs.

Kander

Going to have to park up training and this log for awhile. Involved in a car accident over the weekend which will see me out of action for awhile.

Yay to 2021 :rolleyes:

Comic Book Guy

Kander wrote: »

Going to have to park up training and this log for awhile. Involved in a car accident over the weekend which will see me out of action for awhile.

Yay to 2021 :rolleyes:

Flip, hope ya are ok and nothing too serious.

Mr. Guappa

Kander wrote: »

Going to have to park up training and this log for awhile. Involved in a car accident over the weekend which will see me out of action for awhile.

Yay to 2021 :rolleyes:

Jeepers. Hope it's nothing too serious.

Kander

Nothing serious serious but I wont be able to run for awhile really. I'm disappointed also because my shin splints recovered amazingly and I was planning on getting back on the road this week running. The cycling for two weeks kept me sane and was a nice change up.

And my Endorphin Speeds arrived and I was itching to try them out

Laineyfrecks

Sorry to hear this! Wishing you a speedy recovery!