Mum on the Run

Monday - Easy

Laps of the local park. Supposed to do 45-50 mins according to the plan but had to be back home for a certain time so traffic light stops getting to and from the park had to be deducted from my run and I ended up only getting about 36 mins done . Think this is going to be a low mileage week :rolleyes:.

• 4.1 miles @ 8:54 (grass, path)

Tuesday - Speed

Ran to the Phoenix Park and squeezed in a short session before meeting aquinn to cheer on clubmates at the BHAA trail race. Just finished the session, which coincided with the start of the race, when the sky emptied about a month’s worth of rain in the space of 5 minutes. Got completely and utterly soaked to the skin and of course had no change of clothes. Was good craic watching the race and cheering. Looked tough and a bit mucky so was envious naturally enough. Only 3 months til XC .

• 4.3 miles incl. 6 x 200m @ 800m pace (2 mins rec) on grass.

(Paces in min/mile: 5:06, 5:12, 5:03, 5:13, 5:17, 5:17)


Wednesday – S&C, Easy

Intermediate Pilates and just a short 20 minute run including strides as prep for tomorrow’s 800m. Strides were into a strong wind along the promenade. What is with this weather ?

• 2.3 miles @ 8:46 incl. 8 x 15 sec strides.

Thursday – Drogheda & District Graded Meet

So much fun. Loved this. Weather on the way up was poxy – torrential rain meant I couldn’t hear the GPS woman, but to be honest her directions weren’t great and her grasp of the Irish language even worse, so had to ask for directions the old-fashioned way in the end. Still made it with time to spare and the rain miraculously stopped during the warm up. Signed up for the 800m in the 2:20 – 2:50 group so knew I’d be bringing up the rear but I have made my peace with that at this stage :rolleyes:. Tough enough wind along the back straight so wasn’t expecting much but delighted with 2:45.8. Felt I ran a well-judged race and could have been faster on a less windy day.

Also put my name down for the 200m for a laugh. Legs were still wobbling from the 800m when I lined up. Declined the blocks (:eek:) and went for a standing start. Thought legs were going to buckle in the last 50m but made it over the line in 33.6 . Delighted with that. First ever 200m so I’ll claim a PB .

Resisted the temptation of the 3000m and cheered on clubmates instead while doing a cool down. Really want to go back and do this next week – there’s a 100m, a 400m and a 1500m. Highly recommend these meets to anyone who wants to try track racing in a very friendly atmosphere. All levels catered for.

• 3.0 miles incl. 800m @ 5:31 min/mile & 200m @ 4:31 min/mile

Month 2016 2015 2014 2013
January 141 101 86 0
February 134 109 75 0
March 114 124 109 0
April 127 129 101 24
May 127 133 95 81
June 110 110 86 72
July 181 2 101
August 208 31 37
September 133 83 43
October 155 93 64
November 170 107 69
December 113 119 94
753 1666 987 585

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Well done!! Paced mile on Sunday....just sayin That 33sec 200 will make 6 min mile pace seem like jogging......promise!!

Thanks DG, but the pacer the last time went out at breakneck speed (<5:30 min/mile :eek:) so I might just sit this one out!

Monday – REST

Unscheduled. What ya gonna do ?

Tuesday – Speed

Wasn’t feeling the love this evening after a long day and a late lunch consisting of junk. So I went for the same short session as last Tuesday (with shorter recoveries) rather than the one on the plan. Reps 1,3,5 were into a strong wind, which is odd because they’re faster on average than the wind assisted reps . It’s difficult to time the recoveries precisely with the watch I have, especially when they’re short, so I decided to start a rep every 80 seconds which would give me about 38 seconds recovery – a lot less than last week but not as little as 30 seconds which I’m definitely not able for yet (as illustrated by the fall off in pace today ).

• 6 x 200m @ 800m pace (5:30 min/mile) off 1:20 turnaround

Paces min/mile (5:07, 5:14, 5:26, 5:35, 5:23, 5:37)

• 4.8 miles total (grass)

Wednesday – S&C, Easy

Intermediate Pilates with some advanced moves thrown in. Our instructor is determined to push us to the next level whether we like it or not.

Nice run along the seafront after, turned into a massive headwind on the way back but just relaxed and kept the effort easy. Even stopped for a chat with a parent from BG Jr’s school who was running the opposite way (we paused our Garmins first, of course, then went our separate ways when the watches beeped in harmony to remind us of our inactivity :rolleyes:).

• 4.5 miles @ 9:03 (grass)

Thursday – Graded Meet Drogheda

Almost a hat-trick of PBs! Hadn’t really planned on doing all three races tonight but entered them anyway and said I’d see how the evening panned out. First up was the 400m. Hadn’t time for much of a warm up thanks to taking the wrong slip road off the M1, getting stuck at the toll plaza AND having to find an ATM because I’d forgotten to bring enough money :rolleyes:. Anyway it was lovely and warm, with no wind, perfect conditions. No gun this time, just a gentle ‘toot’ of the whistle and we were off. I was in lane 6 so only had 2 other runners to focus on ahead of me initially. One of the Raheny coaches had advised me to aim for a negative split and I have to say it was good advice (no idea whether I actually followed it) as I felt I ran the first half conservatively enough and was able to finish strongly with minimal wobbling in the legs.

A short rest between that and the 100m. Not much to do here but run like heck once the whistle went. Again the advice from the Raheny coach (given last week in relation to the 200m but applies to 100m as well I suppose) worked a treat: he said to resist fighting hard over the last 20m when your legs are screaming. Just stride it out and you’ll be quicker than those who are pushing too hard. So I ran hard then when the legs started to wobble I relaxed and let the momentum carry me over the line. PB guaranteed seeing as I’ve never done an official 100m and it’s probably 30+ years since I actually raced that distance. I’m guessing the Mammys race at School Sports day will be the next test .

Finally it was time for the 1500m. Legs were tired but I was there and it seemed a shame to drive all that way for a total of 500m racing. My race was the 5:30-6:30 bracket so I should have been near the pointy end of things, but as it’s self-graded you never know who’s going to end up in your race and at what pace so I decided to relax and run within myself and see what I could do on tired legs. Another toot of the whistle and we were off. By half way I realised I was in and around PB pace which surprised me as it was feeling easy. I was on my own though – the lead group of 5 or 6 had forged ahead and the one girl who had been with me had dropped behind. So I didn’t have the will to really go for it. With a lap to go I was maybe 1 or 2 seconds off the pace. Made a bit of an effort on the last 100m but it was too little too late and I ended up with 5:42.9, just over 1.5 seconds slower than my PB. Actually happy with that as it felt reasonably ok and relaxed until the last lap so if I’d cared a bit more I might have pushed to a PB.

400m 72.5 (PB!)
100m 16.1 (PB!)
1500m 5:42.9 (PB 5:41.32)

• 3.1* miles total (track, grass)

*Yes, I double checked the sums . 3 races, a warm up, strides, drill and a cool down and it’s still only a parkrun worth of mileage :rolleyes:.

annapr wrote: »

Even stopped for a chat with a parent from BG Jr’s school who was running the opposite way (we paused our Garmins first, of course, then went our separate ways when the watches beeped in harmony to remind us of our inactivity

...all running chats can be no more than 3 minutes... :pac: future competition in the Mammy's sports day?

... Well done in Drogheda, you really do love racing don't you!... so did you only arrive an hour in advance after all that

Ha ha, yes quite possibly. But I gathered from the first parent/school meeting last night that competition on school sports day may be frowned upon. I think it's all about team work and collaboration. So the mammys might have to set an example and not race eachother :rolleyes:.

I was only 30 minutes early. Panic stations .

Friday - Easy

Loops of the local park. Noticed a man who was standing in the same spot each time I did a lap, dressed for exercise but not actually doing anything. When I was on my last loop he starting talking to me and wanted to know how to get fit and lose weight. He didn’t know whether he should be running slow or fast or lifting weights or what he should be doing. Gave him what I hoped was some useful advice and wished him luck. Really hope if I see him again he’ll be running around the park and not just thinking about it.

• 4.8 miles @ 9:11 (grass)

Saturday – Speed, S&C

Parkrun warm up in the rain then met a clubmate who had kindly agreed to do the session with me. Plan was 3 x 4 x 200m (30 seconds/6 mins recovery). I knew if I did this on my own I’d cheat on the recoveries . We went by time rather than pace and I measured out 200m on the grass. 30 seconds recovery is nothing :eek:! Barely time to catch our breath then gone again. We walked the 6 min recoveries and were able to get the sets fairly consistent. Lovely to have company (and a strict timekeeper!) for this.

Set 1 40, 43, 43, 41
Set 2 41, 41, 41, 42
Set 3 41, 43, 40, 40

Horrific 60 mins in the gym where even with the windows wide open it felt like a sauna and I was sweating buckets in a most unladylike fashion . Very glad when it was over.

• 5.4 miles total (parkrun on tarmac, session on grass)

Sunday - LSR

Club plan said 60 mins this week. I wanted to do 90 mins but circumstances conspired against me and I only had time for 60 mins in the end.

• 6.6 miles @ 9:08 (grass, path)

TOTAL WEEKLY MILES: 29.2

6 weeks to National Masters .Haven’t seen a timetable yet and that’ll probably dictate the events I do, but at the moment it’s looking like either a 400m/800m combo or 800m/1500m.

Monday - Recovery

A plod in the searing heat up to the Wooden Bridge and back. Meh.

• 5.3 miles @ 9:33 (grass)

Tuesday – S&C, Easy

Pilates followed by a short run with strides as prep for tomorrow’s race.

• 2.4 miles @ 9:14 (grass, path) incl. 6 x 15 sec strides

Wednesday – Graded Meet Santry (800m)

Was simultaneously dreading and looking forward to this. 800m hurts! Like hell. And it’s a difficult distance to get right in terms of pacing. The A goal was to go sub 2:45 for the first time, but as the graded meets are, for me anyway, more like time trials (as I invariably bring up the rear ), I wasn’t sure if tonight was going to be the night for a PB. Conditions were almost perfect though: a bit of a breeze on the 2nd curve, but warm rather than hot. Did a warm up with some clubmates, changed into the spikes, and only had one stride done when we were called to the start. Luckily I was in the second B race so got another few strides in while the first race was on. Within minutes we were on the start line. I got lane 4, and about 2 seconds after the gun went off, one of my clubmates was up alongside me already. Felt like I was going a reasonable pace so I resisted the temptation to chase her. The fear of blowing up and having a tortuous 2nd lap is always foremost in my mind :eek:. We cut in after 100m and I was delighted not to be miles off the pace. I wasn’t even last at that point if memory serves me right. (I was by 200m but hey, it’s the little victories :rolleyes:). Someone was calling splits at 200m and I heard 36 seconds. Yikes, too fast! Tried to relax and not panic that I’d overcooked it early. Clock for the first lap was 77 seconds. Still too fast. One lap to go. Time to start hanging on. It’ll all be over in a minute. Well, a minute and a bit. A big bit. Oh just concentrate. Just run :rolleyes:. Felt I was closing the gap a little to the next runner. Split at 600m was called at 2 mins even. Time to dig in. Legs starting to hurt. Really hurt. But not Bambi legs thankfully, I still had some control over them. Was inching a bit closer still to the girl in front before she took off down the home straight like a bullet, overtaking my clubmate. Did my best for the last 100m, couldn’t catch my clubmate but wasn’t too far behind. 2:44.32, PB by a microsecond and A goal achieved. Happy days.:D

• 4.5 miles total (track, tarmac)

Thursday – REST

Happiness is…..feet up and control of the remote.