Speedy Gonzales or Slowpoke Rodriguez?

Sun 17th April
19k Easy 'long' maintenance. In between run to hold general endurance levels while not aggravating calf. Ran from house to Phoenix park. Did a mostly off-road lap then ran back. Just under 5 min kms. Calf behaving, all good.

Week 18-25 April

Monday 18th April
PM: 10k easy
(AM + PM) 13k cycle commute(26k tot)
Ancillary exercises: Clamshells, myrtle, wobbly pressups, some lunges. Calf prodding + Eccentric calf raises

Tuesday 19th April
Lunch: 6k easy
PM: 13.5k easy inc 10 x 100m strides (22k tot)
(AM + PM) 13k cycle commute (26k tot)
Ancillary: Core routine during lunch run.

Wednesday 20th April
PM: 16k easy inc 10 x 100m strides
(AM + PM) 13k cycle commute (26k tot)
Ancillary work: Pigeon glute activation exercise, chair of death, beidge marching amonst others. Calf prodding + Eccentric calf raises

Thursday 21th April
AM: Jog/Dart 4k
PM: 12.5 km easy

Friday 22nd April
AM: 16k inc (18-20 x 20s fast relaxed) off 40s jog.
Did this in 3 sets on solid beach, road and grass.

Saturday 23rd April:
2 hrs long over trails on Braid Hills Edinburgh. Conscious of using the glutes, particularly on some of the steep uphills. Beautiful run, great views.
22k in about 2 hrs.

Sunday 24th April:
10k easy on Braid hills.

Totals:
110k approx
75k cycling
Good start to Ancillary work

Good week. Getting my calf sorted has been the priority and 'Anatomy for Runners' by Dicharry has been the key. Breaking up the sore spots, rolling and eccentric raises have done the trick (touch wood). Mondays Strides, Fridays aerobic strides and Saturdays long run with climbing were all tests which the calf passed. Im also doing exercises for the stability/postural/strenght tests I failed. Even the few sessions have meant I now understand how running with the glutes should feel like, and I understand the issues I've been having more. Didnt get much in at the weekend but Ill start again this week.

I've aso realised the need for a set mileage progression to help with consistency. I've robbed Magness's Base phase 10k progression. So its 70,80,80, 85, 90, 90,100. Ill roughly keep to this.
The 70 miles (last weeks total) felt sustainable and Ill be in good shape if I succeed in this progression. I will hope to be doing more aerobic strides, progression runs and my long run will be just over 2 hrs.

Personal Rave: Proud weekend for our family having a building in the University of Edinburgh called after my Aunty, who was an astronomer.

Murph_D wrote: »

Did your astronomer aunt invent time travel as well? :pac:

Doh! Some of the jeans may have passed me by.

Congrats. Nice week too.

Thanks. The bit of structure should help now as I was finding it tricky to find the right starting point for building. The Dicharry stuff should help with consistancy. If I can run more with my glutes Ill be a happy man. I think that could be worth 1-2% on its own.

From memory:

Week May 2-9

Monday 2 May
70 min easy. Beach. 11k. Windy but nice run. PM 10k easy (21)

Tuesday 3 April
Lunch 8k easy. PM: 12.5k easy run home. Another tired run.(20.5)

Wednesday 4 May
Lunch 8k easy. PM: 12.5k easy run home.(20.5)


Thursday 5 May

Lunch 5k easy. PM: 12.5k prog run home. effort = 35 mins.(17.5)


Friday 6 May:

10k easy (10)

Saturday 7 May:

AM 10k easy PM 10k easy (20)

Sunday 8 May:

AM: 4k jog.
PM: 21k Progression run with 60 mins steady. (25)

About 135k with more progress.
Prog run on Sunday was controlled. Had the HRM average in the 170's.
Controlled. Could have kept going. I'm starting these at a slow jog, very slow build up. Click the timer when i feel the pace is deffo steady.
The training feels very sustainable. I have 3 consistant weeks in the bag now. I can actually feel the strenght from that and I will be better able for more training now.

Quick race report while I remember:

WEd 11 May

Scalp IMRA:

Met Bazman at reg. We jogged to start and covered the second part of race.
figure of 8 race, 3 climbs in first part, 2 in second. Bazman wasnt fully fit, had very sore ribs, and soon discovered the route was slippier than his runners. It was going to be close between us and he'd be limited on the downhills (little grip. cant aford to fall due to ribs) which would be a big dissadvantage. Ive volunteered for this race many times but never raced it.
Niall L is there a good master from Donore who is prob fav for overall win.

Off we go uphill. 6k race so no hanging about.
Im in 4th. First hill over and Downhill. Niall takes off. I get in third behind a lad called Diarmuid. I finally pass him on the next up. Gapped Bazman a bit on the down. Gasping badly and the climb of Carrigollogan looks huge. I walk a bit (poor) and Diarmiud bounds by. (Not suprised to find out later he is a duathlete. The basic leg strenght when exhausted is better with these guys).
I make a complete bags of the technical downhill and the two lads are well clear. Next up i remember to stand tall, climb with glutes. Works. I sense Bazman isnt far. Fast downhill and flat now and i relax and try to run fast.
Diarmuid has taken a wrong turn and im in 2nd. Through the carpark where we started again. Up a hill. Forget about the glutes. Slow. Now the technical down. Just be OK here and Bazman will be in trouble. Im Ok. At the bottom about a 3-4 min climb to end. Here comes Bazman. I was about to say 'good descending' but its Diarmuid. Fair play, he's going to beat me twice. He runs past a little fast and gaps me quickly. I sense weakness or is it I see Bazman coming behind. Anyway Diarmuid slows and i catch up. He surges mightily again. But there is still 2 mins running left. He has surged twice while already at max effort now. I watch him. He slows, wobbles, staggers toward a bush and starts puking. He'll probably get up and beat me again Im thinking so i kick him fully into the bush while passing (kidding).
Bazman is closing big time which makes the last few 100 metres unpleasant to say the least. Get in 10 secs clear. Diarmuid staggers home in 4th. (hard luck to him. Admirable what he pushed himself to as Bazman said).
I think if Bazman had grips, or a working set of ribs i would be well behind.
Great workout, 5 climbs, 4 descents. Very intense opening half.
Easy win for Niall. He is running same leg in WWR as me so that's my target.
Body a bit shook as this was first big effort in ages. Just a fleeting visit. I wont be lured by the racing. Back to building now till the WWR.

Edit: Had the strap on for the race. 202 ave. 215 max

Leg 2 course goes from Curtlestown to Lough Tay on WW.
14.5k most of 700m of climbing.

I had broken the course into a few sections.

1: Curtlestown - Glencree river 4km
Start at Curtlestown Coillte car park. Road south for a km on Glencree Rd, then left onto a good trail around the back of Knockree hill before a steep (partly stepped) descent back down to the road. Cross the road and another good fast trail this time descending. After a while you exit the trail and descend steeply on grass down to Glencree river. Run along river bank (beautiful: meandering river on one side, grassy meadow with blue and purple flowers, butterflies etc. to the left) for a km and cross the Glencree river.
2: Major Climb 1. about 4km: Glencree to Powerscourt (ends just before breaking for descent to Dargle). Mainly fireroad, a very small section of flat road early and about 500m of flat fireroad midway. Gaining over 300m.

Broken by a brief steep descent (90s) to cross Dargle river then

3: 2nd major climb Dargle to boardwalk on the side of Djouce. 3.5km and over 300m again but wind exposed on open mountain, getting steeper towards the end.

4: Boardwalk and descent to changeover at lough Tay: about 2.5km. Fast on undulating then descending boardwalk. Last few 100m on trail.

Recce 6 days before

8 AM. Same time as projected leg start.

Hoped in and out of car for section 1, double checking junctions and running both descents. Some dew. Then drove to Crone.
Plan was to run counter direction down to Glencree. Then turn, run steady to Lough Tay on race route and see what happenned running back.
I knew pacing was important for this leg. I wore a GPS and HRM for as much feedback as possible.
Started the steady portion at Glencree river.
Managed good cadence and good effort. HR spiking over the 200bpm on the speeper sections (max is roughly 217-8). Legs burning a bit here.
First climb over and needed to take the descent handy. Tough going on climb 2. Effort clearly harder, hrm always above 200. When it got steep i was hurting and had to steady the effort as it was race intensity. Kept it steady from then on. Jogged back, but practised climbing with high knees (using glutes) on every climb back. Did 3-4 x 30s on the fireroad back to train running fast when tired.

Pacing:

Back at the lab analysing the data:
I had two leg 2 guys who had run the leg previously on Strava to compare my times with. One guy I knew who ran 71:30. Another (slogger knows i think) who ran 74:30.
1st guy i knew was in good shape. That said his time waned a little on the open mountain. Second guy lost all his 3 mins on the faster early section and on the fast climb. But thereafter he matched runner no.1. He was an ironman triathlete. Not much speed but great endurance to keep powering his way up. (his was actually a super run). Runner 1. had more speed, good endurance but the second rough climb affects the oul leg turnover, and youre getting tired anyway. My Strava times had shown me 20s and 40s per km respectively faster than runner 1 and 2 up the first main climb.
I was slightly slower on the second climb. Although I eased off my endurance was exposed as a weakness. Even though it was only 6 days before the recce would help my endurance a little come race day, but not enough to climb hard all the way.
Now I had to best match my current fitness to what the course demanded.
This is an important leg. The overall race can sometimes be won here (last year it was a vital leg). But it can be lost here also. First objective was to have a solid run and the key to this is the second climb. If i could run the second climb well and run the boardwalk fast I would get close to potential. The recce told me that I wasnt strong enough to push hard for all of the climbing. It also told me that I was in good shape and with an easy 6 days ahead and good pacing I should be confident.
To run strongly from the Dargle to the finish I needed to put some strenght in the bank early in the race.
Effort plan was:
Steady (just below threshold in feel) till Glencree. Steady thereafter: HR up now, keep it under 200bpm. No spikes over 200.
Recover on ALL descents and flats.
When i reached the Dargle, its release the beast time..... When i get on the boardwalk the cue was to increase cadence first while recovering and then increase stride force/lenght to get up to speed quickly.
On race day I would have 4km racing in me before the first climb. If I could match the recce climb time I would therefore be happy. I aimed to be slightly faster than my Strava advisors on the open mountain and gave myself a similar target on the boardwalk. (10:35) That gave me 69 mins bang on. If things went really well i might even go under....

Race:

Peterx was going to be handing to me. Looking at the entry list he was up against a fast UCD lad and a very fast and famous road (and XC and etc.etc.) runner from Rathfarnham also..but racing for TT racers..we'll call him Paul F.

I parked in Crone and jogged back to Curtlestown. I wanted to wear the road runners but the morning had been wet and i had to wear my trusty if slightly heavy mudclaws.
Paul F had a brilliant leg and arrives almost bang on the hour. Niall L is off for the TT racers. After about only 45s Peterx arrives after a really storming run to take the fight to the TT racers. 45s means its possible to make contact with Niall. If I do I plan to do to him what Peterx taught me on Brockagh....make him go too hard on the up and watch the train crash.
Niall was really fast in the Scalp race. I wondered about his endurance (for no reason in particular other than lack-of it can be exposed on this leg). Even if he sees me during the leg....it is hard not to react to a chasing runner and reacting early on this leg will cost you time later.
Ben Mangan was running for UCD on this leg. He had beaten me well in every IMRA Winter League race this year and I had considered that I might have to mix it with him also.

I start steady. The runners feel a little clunky being honest but my speed is OK and most importantly my effort is steady. Turn left off the road after a km and Ben catches me on a little uphill! He's wearing Mudclaws and all...so no excuses there....
I have thought about this and know not to panic, dont get flustered.
He seems to be slower as it flattens out and my effort draws me level. He reacts and speeds up. Presumably he just wants to be ahead before the upcoming steep descent as he is an excellent descender.
He puts 10+ secs on me. Dont panic! Onto the good trail, gradual descent. Next steep descent on grass to river. He is a whopping 30s ahead now! Who knows how far he was behind when we started (24s). I start to feel that it's slipping away. I tell myself not to panic. Just stick to the plan and keep it steady till the bridge see what happens. I'm not racing Ben here, my goal here is to do my best for my team on the day. I compose myself. Over the bridge and start climbing. HR climbs to 198...i keep it there. No burning legs this time. Controlled. Feels very easy. I had banned myself from timing Bens lead but I break the rule.. Only 28s now at top of Crone carpark.....
Up and up...closing, closing...always 198bpm.

After it flattens out I catch up. HR drops to 195, getting recovery. Ben speeds up to stop me passing. I have to decide what to do here. I think Ben has gone too hard too early, and I am probably stronger now. If I make a decisive move to get ahead he probably wont react. On the other hand we are climbing again and I dont want to deviate from my steady plan. I play it safe and tuck in behind. Passed the waterfall viewing point, up to the small rocky section and across the felled forest onto the open mountain and the steep descent....Ben doesn't take a great line and keeps on the steps. He eventually hops off onto the grass but only puts 5 secs on me.
I catch back up quickly enough but Ben still reacts a little to my trying to pass. Once the gradient levels out I know its time to go. I pass strongly and after a quick hop over the steps I head towards Djouce mountain......Niall....where the feck is Niall.?...I look up the mountain and at first i think hes not there, he has gone wrong..but then i see a tiny speck in blue...way way up..already starting to veer left with the climb. 3-4 minutes I think...how could he have got this far up....? He has a long way to go...he must be hurting...just finish as fast as you can....close it a little.
Im climbing very well..good cadence..pretty heavy headwind...keep it going up as it gets steeper. BPM is well over 200, but im long past pacing off it.
Passing the turnoff for Djouce summit, it descends a little...forget recovery now..full effort down....back up to the last climb to the boardwalk....I make it...at last. Now check the watch..sub 60 and sub 70 is on. .feck! never started it...ah well...i start it now. Go for sub 10. Wind is very strong..small hard strides into it. Take the hills well and now descending inside the last km. I am going well on the boardwalk, I decide to stay on it even though I was able to cut a few corners on my recce. I change my plan and i twist an ankle ... gingerly back on the boardwalk.....cautiously down....its not so bad so i can go all out the last few hundred metres till the handover. I see looking back that my HR was averaging over 205 for this section. Good effort. With no wind or a tail wind. a i doubt i could get that effort up. 10.36 from the start of the boardwalk. Wish I could see the other splits alas.

71:17 finish time.


After: Adrian from Rathfarnham gives me a goody bag and change of T shirt for my jog back to Crone. Chatting to him and Niall after and they say Niall did the leg about a minute faster than me. Delighted with that. I realise later its closer to 2 mins. Not so happy. As you can see a few hundred metres back up the boardwalk, Adrian said that the next TT-racer knew that I was on the way, which I was glad to here as that can add pressure.

Perhaps I should have started my push a little earlier at the river....perhaps even earlier... I could have upped it when i first caught back up with Ben on the fireroad.
Physically I could have managed that, but was I mentally prepared to suffer for much longer? Would I have made it to the boardwalk without slowing....ran as hard on the boardwalk? Hard to know. I think I ran a 'decent' race but a sub 70 was possible if I had ran an 'excellent' race. Niall is in great form and had done the full Connemarathon so had no issues with endurance. He went out hard and stayed the course.

We were about 2:40 down after my leg, so kept us in it I guess. Job done...kind of.

Nice day in the mountains.

I'd love to have a crack at that leg again. I think to get really in shape for it I will need to mix in a good bit of uphill suffering on the bike for legs and mind.

Wednesday 1/6

AM Run/Dart easy 4.5k
PM 17-18k easy Nice run along coast and out passed nature reserve in Poolbeg.
Steadyish portions there. (22)

Thursday 2/6

AM Run/Dart 4.5 k easy
Lunch planned a few hill sprints. Felt my hamstring deep down after one.
No issue but left it there. Easy 4k
PM: 13k inc 10k steady. Wanted to get some effort in. Not fast but OK.

Short term effort plan is possibly a parkrun this Sat. A long run with a fast finish this Sun. Sorrel Hill race this Wednesday. Will see how it goes.

Medium term I'm looking at a few good runs in road races, the odd hill race. Ill be racing the Warriors run ofcourse. After that I might focus on getting a fast 10k time, XC with a view to

Longish term: A spring marathon. Rotterdam is the obvious choice but I'm thinking Seville in February now. That way myself and my other half can combine it with a nice break.
Ill be getting help for the marathon as I dont want to be doing it all alone during heavy training when sometimes difficult calls have to be made. I'm hoping to get help from John, coach to a few runners here and elsewhere.
I got excellent advice from him while base building last year which led to a very good run and medal in the national 10k. (Just to be clear and fair: a recent poster called 'Stablemaster' was not him. It was someone pretending to be him. That person has now been site-banned.)
This is my choice, I am happy with it on all fronts. If anyone has issue with it please don't post, just look at other logs.
Lets move on. OK. Next couple of weeks are due to be 2 x 160k. I dont want to be greedy and am finding the heat tough at the moment. With that in mind I may leave it at one big week before a recovery week if it suffices. But I am starting to feel lighter and stronger. Weight is 10st 1-2 now and falling.
Actually i may be doing the Ransboro 10k in my home parish in 3 weeks.
Ransboro is to Strandhill, what Shelbyville is to Springfield (kind of). A successful raid would be sweet.
That's the plans. The main thing is staying injury free. I have been neglecting my Duchary excercises (flexor stretches, glute strenghetning, eccentric calf and ham work etc. and the rolling and prodding). Even my brief period of doing that has really helped.
Onwards and upwards.

demfad wrote: »

Tuesday 7/6
AM Cycle 12.5k
Lunch 8k easy
PM Cycle 12.5k
PM 13.5k easy (21.5)
PM worked on hamstring. Positional release.

Wednesday
AM Cycle 12.5k
Lunch 8k easy
Pm Cycle 12.5k
PM 13.5k easy (barefoot type runners) (21.5)
Same as yesterday. Hamstring improving.

Thursday
AM Cycle 12.5k
Lunch: Agressive work on hamstring with tennis ball. Got all fingers inbetween muscles to try and seperate out and release.
Lunch 10k easy (22.5)
PM Ran home from work easy 12.5k (sick of bike)
Hamstring improving. Tightness there but less.

Friday
AM Run to work easy 12.5k
Lunch 10k easy (Killiney Hill) (22.5)
Risked a bit of a climb up Killiney Hill. Bounced up a bit to keep the hamstring happy. No probs so far.
PM (will be cycle home 12.5k touch wood)

114k for the weekday block (mon-fri) with 75k cycling.
No sessions due to tight hamstring but TBH what I did was just about right.
Real base training week. Noticed my lunch run today was quite efficient at easy pace. To keep spring/tension in the stride with all the easy running I am wearing barefoot type runners (vivo trail runners) every third day for the longer run. These make me run mid/forefoot using more of the spring from arch and achilles. Negates some of the bad habits and sluggishness from running easy with no strides. Cant do it everyday as I'm not used to it daily and would risk injury.

I probably wont do a long run this weekend as I want to get the hamstring tightness firmly behind me. I'm getting stronger at what I'm doing so I'm happy.

I have been given a couple of very nice LT session progressions suggestions with nearer races in mind but that will also fit very well with an early Spring marathon. First session next week hopefully if the hamstring starts behaving.

Edit: Weight at 9st 13 this AM. This means it took me the guts of 7 months to recover (weight wise) from 2 months 'letting it go'.
The weight has fallen a bit more rapidly recently so I need to watch that. Don't want to lose strenght/power. Have to watch that protein intake is adequate.

Saturday:

AM: 21k inc about 15k intermittent steady
Stopped occasionally to stretch the legs. Half against wind half with a mild wind. Down wind I was able to run freely.
PM: 10k Recovery (31)


Sunday

AM: 5k recovery Pm 10k recovery (15)
Very tired legs. Yestaerdays steady run on top of the mileage tired them.
With all the easy running the fatigue is hitting the legs (and some cycle commutes). No general fatigue really. Strange feeling but Im getting stronger

Solid week. No sessions bar Saturdays steady run. A couple of sessions working on glutes and hams. Tightness slowly being worked out. Hopefully this week will see it gone. I was considering taking a 3 day 'low' period (mon-wed) but I think it will be Ok. So one more high week and then a lower, compensation week.
160k running. 75k cycling. Some ancilllary stuff.

Nice work T. Hope you get over your hamstring issues. In the last week I've felt an ache on my right hamstring too. Not an issue I'm familiar with. Felt it after I did a 10x400 off 60s session, so the relative hardness of the session probably brought on an underlying concern. Easy running and foam rolling since has seen it quell a bit but concerned about any hard session / race.

With ongoing (although improving) hamstring tightness and with an easy week due I thought I'd give this a go again.
There was a session near where I lived starting at 8:30. It's 26 yoga poses, each repeated twice during 90 mins in a room at 40' C.
They use big air heaters to get the temperature up. The room was wide and long with a low ceiling. I had been wondering if heat adaptions didnt help endurance at different stages. I did 7-8 of these in 2014 when I had sciatic issues. I started taking anti-inflamms at the same time so dont know which did it.. but I was cured.
I also noticed that in an endurance race that I was training for I almost PB'd off little running at that time. That said I did a good bit of cycling, swimming etc. I was very strong at the end though poiting towards good endurance. I wondered if it was because I was heating up less....but then again i had made other changes to my training so I cant be sure.
The Science is that heat adaptions come in the form of bring able to sweat more i.e having 1.5 litres to sweat if unadapted to having 4 litres if adapted.

Back to the class and with recent high mileage i was thinking i would be somewhat adapted and having been here before it should be psychologically easier.
The room felt not too hot at the start. So you start with a few breathing exercises, then do 50 minutes of standing psoes, and then teh remainder of lying/kneeling/sitting poses. Rest between poses is by standing in 'tree pose' for standing poses, and lying in 'shabasana' (dead mans) pose either on back or front, for the ground poses.
Started off easy, breathing Ok and I could really feel my ham. Continued in this vein and after a while i stopped noticing it. Getting tired now and was glad when the standing stuff was over. Really noticing heat now and sweating buckets. Thinking about how long to go.....Youre supposed to think about breathing between poses. Forget the previous pose and think about nothing.
This is why kids are pretty tough around pain, they dont catastrophise it.
After my confident start I was doing a bit of catastrophising myself now.
The poses were actually easier because during the 'rest' I wasn't concentrating on my breathing I was pondering the chances of me dying before the 90 minutes were over! I was actually getting psychological breaks during the 'effort' parts (and i was coasting too big-time).
Youre supposed to end each 20s shabasana break by sitting up (doing a sit-up). She mentioned anyone with back pain could roll on their sides and then get up. Hadnt I had back pain at some point previously? oh its not feeling great now...no sit ups for me.
Panic was setting in now, like when youre suffering way to early in a race. But there is no option to slow here, the heat wont go away...
Eventually, I was forced to goldfish during the breaks just to be able to remain in the room. And it worked...and soon it was over....youre supposed to lie and relax for 7-8 minutes after as the room cools....i just about made it. Out of 12 people if mental toughness was being measured I finished near last.
I know that after more sessions the mind gets stronger, and the body also.
The last few sessions I did in '14 felt easy. Good news is that my ham has improved dramatically. I could 'feel' the issue with a deep squat yesterday...now i cant. Not clear yet, but a great help.
Id recommend it. (not necessarily Bikram, but Hot yoga). Guaranteed to sleep like a baby for anyone with sleep issues too or in need of/planning a good sleep.
I was thinking about how I might use it for a Spring marathon that might be warm/hot (coming from Irish Winter). I reckon a blitzing of sessions during easy weeks far from the race, and then using it as a weekly injury prevention helper session there after.
Youre facilitating the bigger mileage and youre covering your ass against a warm race day.

27/6 - 3/7/16

M AM 13k Hilly
PM 10k easy (23)

T AM 4.5 commute
PM 12.5 easy (17)

W AM, PM 2 x 4.5 commute
PM2 17k easy (26)

T AM 4.5 commute
Lunch 3 x 6 x 200m + 3 hard
PM 5 commute (24)

F AM 4.5 commute
Lu 5 easy
PM 5 easy
PM2 10 easy (24.5)

S AM 10 easy
PM 9 easy (19)

S 30k: 10k easy, 35min AT, a few hill springs, 1km CV, 1 min
hard, 30s harder

160+ Km. No cycling. Some core.

Thurdays aerobic strides was tackled as fast as possible while relaxed as speed identified itself as the biggest limiter in the 10k. With this session banked I knew speed would no longer be a limiter in subsequent AT and LT sessions as it would otherwise be. No watch so jogged to KIlgobbet track and did 200s. In the 3 mins hard I was accumulating lactate for last minute but felt strong. Tired for a couple of days after this but no surprise as my muscles were not used to being worked like this recently.

Saturday was due 35 mins AT. I decided to fit it into a longish run. Also when I passed by the upper part of the Main Park road I noticed it was closed to traffic. I jogged down it. It felt really fast.
My 35k consisted of the bike lap of the Phoenix Park duathlon, anti-clockwise as the duathlon. Gradual hills as My hamstring is still a worry.
All good. After 2 laps I continued up to the junction of Glen road/furry glen to mark the end of the 10k I had mapped out. Ran steady into the glen to run out the lactate. Did 3-4 hill springs up one of the steps. Cant do hill sprints and tested to see if these could substitute.
Now I was heading back. Had to run down the main road anyway and I was well recovered, so decided to do a km @ LT to get home quicker.
Ended up harder than planned but was happy with speed.
A minute hard (counting my steps) and 30s harder and I was within jogging home range. Encouraging run. Another solid week.

M 11/7/16 AM 4 LUNCH 10 (Killiney Hill) PM 12.5 (26.5)
T AM 4 PM1 4
PM2 19 km inc. Session: 6 x (5min @ LT-CV, 1 min uphill harder) - wi 1',3' (27)
W AM 4 Lunch 8 PM 12.5 (24.5)
T AM 4 PM 4 PM2 16 (24)
F AM 4 Lunch 10 PM 10 (24)
S AM 13km inc. 3 x (6 x 200) followed by 1600m hard. Rest: 600 - Jog between sets 100m before long rep. PM 6 easy (19)
S PM1 easy 6 PM2 easy 10k (16)

161 km total for week.

Third high mileage week and I was feeling a little fatigued I didn’t know how Tuesdays session would go.
Wanted to insure a fast session so made sure of a suitable location. Long reps were on flat tarmac path (beside cycle lane) between Bull Island causeway and Sutton. The minute uphill was the start of the Howth road hill off the Coast road: shallow, fast and very good quality tarmac.
I tried to start restrained but the first 5 min rep felt fast. I did it towards the Causeway and back. Used the minute to cross the road and get in position. I attacked the hill for the 1 min rep, hard but controlled to get a little lactate in legs. 3 minute jog back to start position for rep 2. Rep two felt definitely fast but the feeling in my legs was strange: it was as if lactate was trying to build up but it wasn’t. And this is the purpose of these sessions, put lactate in legs during the 1 min hard uphill and learn to re-use it during the long rep. Strange feeling going at a hard pace but the discomfort remained at the same level.
Second last long rep the legs' strenght started being tested in the minute or two. Same for the hill rep.
Last rep I ran very well, keeping relaxed. Legs were struggling but I still had to complete the last hill which was more important than flogging myself, so I ran 10 metres less in the 2nd part of the last long rep. Attacked the last hill, second half was tough but kept good form. Jogged as warm down with 3-4 x 30s controlled to clear the lactate. Great session, flew by.

Saturday I did the aerobic strides session. Some rain during the night, had planned to use Trinity track but decided on Kilbarrack track instead. Well I ended up using it twice on Saturday, the first time and the last time! There was the remains of a bonfire, and only the inner lane was anyway clear of grass. Most of the gravel was gone. I thought at least a few runners must be using it but when the walkers/dog walkers started arriving that I realised It's de facto no longer a running track.
I was stuck for time and despite feeling a little run weary due to the heavy training load, I pulled out a decent enough session, especially happy with the mile at the end.
The run signaled the start of a low week for me. Just after a session is a good time to ease into a compensation week.
Race this week looking forwarded to it and to an easier week.

Thats this mini-block over:

Last 3 weeks were all over 160k.
I last raced the week just before starting the block.

Sessions done between races:
Ransboro 10k (34:15 undulating)
3 x 6 x 200m then 3 mins hard
10k AT undulating during long run
10 x (3 + 1 uphill)
11k AT undulating/hilly during long run
6 x (5 + 1 uphill)
3 x 6 x 200m then 1 mile hard

I hadn't done much fast running at all before the 10k so I'm sure I'll improve.

I have to be realistic in that I'm in the middle of heavy training, but really looking forward to enjoying the race.

Ososlo wrote: »

Big congrats on the win last night demfad! Hope you're working away on that report :-)

Thanks a million Ososlo! Snowed under with work but Ill update on training and racing ASAP!

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Well done T. Nice picture of the lead runners on ActionPhotography facebook. You can see where you made your move

Thanks SJ. You came through well yourself from that position well timed. Where did you catch Alan?

Week Mon 18th - Sun 24th July: Low volume week

About 90-100k volume

Tuesday 19th July:

Race. Bettystown 5 report below.

Sunday 24th session:

Aerobic strides 3 x 6 x 40-45s (approx) on a slight gradient on good tarmac.

The race on Tuesday wasn't in the best position as it should have have been late in an easy week. I enjoyed it last year, had a free entry and after 3 weeks hard training I was dying to race.

5 full days easy after the race and the legs felt good. I decided to do the strides slightly uphill for a little more power. I had one objective: every rep would feel completely relaxed. And I succeeded in that. WAs due to ryn 6 misn hard after. After a couple of mins I felt something in my calf, so aborted. It was just a tight spot and sorted easily later/ I was wearing very flat runners (Nike LT2) and with the uphill there was more work on the calfs. Good session.

Week Mon 25th - Sun 21st (part of)

Mon 23k various easy runs inc. 16k easy
Tue 24k various easy runs inc. 16k easy
Wed 25k inc. Hill race Glen of the Downs trail (8k) report below
Thurs 2 x 4k

Changes this week:
My short run commutes etc. were always jogging. I decided to get more pep that only the first would be jogged. The rest are run easy but with good turnover. It's made a difference and my standard 16k runs felt better as a result.
Legs a little sore on Thurs and fell asleep putting the kids to bed so very easy day. That's ok because the emphasis is shifting more towards sessions.

Bettystown 5 (Tues 5th)

A week before this I was hoping for it, feeling I was going to have a cut at anyone. As the week went on: accumulated fatigue made me realise that maybe I was going to be racing tired. I needed a compensation week and I had got strong advice that this was the week. Also it was due to be the hottest day of the year....

Got the train to Laytown and walked up to Bettystown. In the hosting hotel I plastered layer no 3 of anti-sun.
I spotted Mick Traynor there and thought: todays the day!
Anyway, a coast wind had cooled the coastal area down. My research had indicated that this might be so but I also knew it should get hotter when it turned inland after 2.5 k.
Off we went. A biggish group petered down to Freddy Kitt, David Fly, and Cillian O'Leary. I was hanging in about 10th. Without accelerating I was soon in 6th. Then joint 4th. The guy with me kept surging. It annoyed me a bit so i dropped him, and went clear in 4th. This felt restrained, I felt that I would finsih a comfortable 4th. Once we turned in after 2.5 k, things changed. The cooker was turned up. Each step away from the sea was like a step further into some massive oven. Same for everyone but the tiredness that hadnt quite shaken out of my legs since the start was nagging me now. I had decided to take the hills handy if feeling tired. After 4 k nearing Donnacarney we hot the first one. I eased up and was immediately passed by 2 Drogheda and district lads. Thought I was clear but now i had shown weakness. I passed them on the down. One was dropped the other was dogged.
We swapped places a bit i the race for 4th. A sound alerted me and then a sense of dread as i spied the white and green singlet of Raheny a few strides back indicating Mick Traynor had arrived.
3 mile marker and Mick does his trade mark surge. I go with him, hoping I can hang around until surge over time. I drives harder and busts me!
I dont panic as i know he will steady also. Im passed by Drogheda again. Mick slows so I pass Drogheda again. He reacts immediately (dont think i cut him off) but he ups it and im dropped. The little tussle means he realises Mick is not out of reach. He heads off on his quest after him.
I run in, trying not to fade. I dont speed up at the end and finsih in 27:31.
Amazed with the timw, was positive it was sub 27...
The two guys put almost 20s on me, most of it in the last 800 as they were only a few seconds apart. Dissapointed but was hoping fatigue of body and mind was a factor.

27:41 6th place

IMRA Glen of the Downs 8 k trail

I had planned this as a threshold session and finish wherever I finished maybe top 10 maybe not. Then I met Bazman...and Ian C....f*ck the session, racing today!

Course was a very steep up a wide gravel road. Right into the ancient forest, a bit more gradual up then a long down eventually zigzaging down to a flats ection for a mile. Another steep (not as steep) climb back up to meet our original path about 2k from the line and then a gradual descent with a little flat then a fast fast descent down the initial steep road.
Bazman is a bit from his best (his best is 30.xx 10k shape, he is 2-2:30 off that) but this is normally good enough to take care of me.
Ian C is a phenomenal climber and winner of last years Warriors run in 53 mins. Again Ian was on the comeback from injury, and not 100% but improving rapidly.
Long warmup with Mick (thanks for the lift) and then with Bazman. Nearly 7 hilly km done id say.
Off we go. Ian tears up the very steep hill, getting smaller quickly. Anyone who has been in a race with him will know the sight. But there is a sense that this is too hard even for him. If he can sustain that he is supremely fit, and he cant be. Another guy has gone with Ian. He wont be able to keep it up...
Bazman and myself are cagily moving through the field. Half way up Ian's lead has stopped increasing. Bazman and I are more controled so IMO anyway the winner was probably going to be one of us.
I felt really strong climbing. I knew he would have the advantage on any flat sections, so i passed him and upped it a little to try and make the hill be run at the effort i wanted. Not long after we turned Ian's companion was passed.
Bazman passed me also around here as I expected.
Ian first, Bazman 2nd and myself third. He seemed to close the ground quickly to Ian. A slight uphill and we were all back close together.
First chance and Bazman was gone passed Ian. Around here I had a fight with my jacket tied around my waist. It seemed to take ages to sort it out but maybe 5 secs there. Significant in a close race. The descent started. I eventually caught Ian and passed. I was going well, the strong legs help with descending as well as climbing. I caught up with Barry and just at that time luckily, the path widened and i slipped past.
I was confident and descended well and may have mad e a 6-7 second gap. Flat bit coming up. Run as fast as you can but leave something for the big climb to come. I knew i could hold my own on the climb and as I was descending so well, Bazman probably needed a few seconds before the descent. On the long flat bit beside the N11 he reeled me in. There was a carpark and i just got through it ahead, and thankfully the climb started just after. I felt good here. It was painful: steep bits mixed with flater bits. I just wanted the lead at the top, so concentarted on running fast during any flat sections as that was where i was more vulnerable. The path wasnt wide though and it was going to take a big effort to run wide and past.
I had a plan for the top. We passed a little building indicating it was imminent, and I immediately surged hard on the initial down. It worked and I got the gap. There was a horrible flat section which i was forced to really peg it to keep the gap but after that it was on the the steep down and tricky as that was I felt i had enough gap to run it controlled.
So a positive result, and a better reflection of training than the 5 miler. My strenght during climbing was really encouraging and the mixture of high mileage topped with those shunt sessions are really putting strenght in the legs.

Ososlo wrote: »

Great stuff T! A hard fought race and a very well deserved win. Really enjoyed that report. Can't fathom the level of technicality involved in this type of racing at all.
It's great to be feeling so strong and seeing the hard work pay off from recent weeks and months. Not a bad outing in Bettystown either! Well done.

Glad you sorted the calf out too. So what's up next?

Dulleek 10k is the plan in a few weeks.

Thanks a million O!

Those trail races aren't that technical for 95% of the race and the ground never gets really rough. They are a good deal faster than the normal IMRA races so are a good for general training and you have to get recovery at different points while running relatively fast. Racing through an ancient forest like that is a real treat, magic place.

Training starting to kick in now but its early days and more to come in the next few months!