It's now fun to run

dazza21ie · 27-11-2016 06:42PM

Friday 25th November 5 miles @ 9:15
The frost was back for this and temperatures were as low as -6 going around. There was never really a stage when I felt fully warmed up and I think my legs decided half way around to pick the pace up to get the run finished asap.

Saturday 26th November 10 miles @ 9:01
I put on a thicker top above my base layer before heading out for this one as I was expecting more of the same weather wise. I was greeted to a small bit of rain and a much milder morning. It was quite pleasant in comparison to some of the runs during the week. It had been nearly a month since the last long run so it was good to get this one done. I started to feel the distance from 8 miles or so onward but the pace was still pretty decent at stage too.

It brought up 35 miles for the week. After a run of a few weeks only getting into the 20s mileage wise that is two weeks of 35 in a row and hopefully now I can start adding on to that again. Ideally I would like to get at least 3 weeks of 40+ miles in before the end of the year. I would hope to do one more race too, probably a 5k and probably a 5k on Boxing Day which is basically over half of the 10k route that I just done.

dazza21ie · 28-11-2016 08:56AM

Monday 28th November 7 miles inc 2 x 1 mile @ tempo & 2 x 1k @ tempo w/ 1 min rest rec

Perfect conditions this morning for a run, dry, almost mild and no wind. This was done over the usual route which meant a 2 mile warm up before starting the tempo intervals. The splits for the tempo miles and kilometers were:

Mile 1: 7:44, Mile 2: 7:42, KM1: 4:43 (7:35 pace) KM2 435 (7:39 pace).

I was kind of aiming for around 7:48 pace and the average pace for the tempo sections was 7:41 which was good. Another mile and a bit cool down, which ended up being at a steady enough pace too, brought up 7 miles for the morning.

dazza21ie · 04-12-2016 09:48AM

Tuesday 29th November 6 miles @ 9:11
From what I remember of this it was a nice run, not as cold as it had been and the legs were moving quite freely.

Wednesday 30th November 6 miles @ 9:14
This was a repeat of the run from the day before. The exception being that I forgot my head torch and only realised when I put my hand up to turn it on two miles into the run. That meant I had to run over a mile in relative darkness. It was over an almost daily route though so not too much of a problem!

That brought up 134 miles for the month of November which is a bit down on October but ahead of September. The main reason the mileage was down was the lack of long runs but I done more sessions and had a race which was an improvement on the previous months.

Friday 2nd December 6 miles @ 9:21
I slept through my alarm on Thursday and only woke up when it was time to be back from a run. I had been working off minimum sleep for a couple of days before that and had the onset of a cold in my system so it was probably my body taking the decision to have a rest day.

I thought about doing a session during this but the energy levels were still a bit off and I gave it a miss and kept things easy.

Sunday 3rd December 10 miles @ 9:19
Our Christmas night out was on Friday which made running early on Saturday too challenging for me. It wasn't that cold this morning heading out and again the body was a bit sluggish. This was more about distance covered than pace anyway so I kept things easy and let the pace gradually improve which it tends to do on this route.

That left me with 35 miles for the week, for the 3 week in a row. However, this time it was off 5 runs.

dazza21ie · 19-12-2016 01:51PM

A long overdue update….

Monday 5th December 6 miles @ 9:35
Tuesday 6th December 6 miles @ 9:43
Wednesday 7th December 5 miles @ 9:42
Thursday 8th December 5 miles @ 9:39
Friday 9th December 5 miles @ 9:48
Sunday 11th of December 10 miles @ 9:13

It has been a while since I ran these so I can remember very little about them! I reaslied during the week that whatever bug had got into my system was proving a little difficult to move. There was a voice in my head telling me to take a day or 2 off and another voice saying I can run through it. On the Wednesday I also had a moment where I awkwardly turned my left foot when moving back onto a footpath. The foot hit the kerb at an angle that caused it to turn. I managed to stay up right at the time so I didn’t pay to much attention but I think I may have stretch some ligatments as it has been somewhat noticeable in runs since. I took Saturday morning off for a rest and felt a bit better on the Sunday but I think the longer run took it out of me.

My stubborness resulted in a weekly total of 37 miles but with a lot of plodding involved.

Monday 12th of December 6 miles @ 9:34
Tuesday 13th of December 6 miles @ 9:37
Thursday 15th of December 5 miles @ 9:36

Last week was much more of the same. I was feeling better Monday & Tuesday but the pace of the runs hadn’t improved that much. On Wedneady I had woke up with a very sore throat and didn’t get back to sleep for a couple of hours so I knock the planned run on the head. On Thursday evening/Friday morning I thought I had a chest infection coming on so I decided to be a little bit more cautious and took Friday and Saturday off.

Sunday 18th of December 10 miles @ 9:36
After two days off I felt obliged to at least try some sort of run. Not too sure how I managed to convince myself to do a longer run but I did. The pace was kept very easy. I had the slighest bit of discomfort under my left shin as the run progressed and my left calf tighened up a bit near the end of the run.

It brought up a lowly 27 miles for the week.

Monday 19th of December 3 miles @ 10:01 mins/mile
We had a kiddie birthday party in the house yesterday afternoon. I did my best to eat my way through most of the leftover goodies. I was regretting that this morning! It was probably a blessing in some ways but I went back to sleep after the alarm had gone off. When I did wake I reckoned if I moved quick enough to get out the door there was still time for a run of some sort. A nice slow plod around then followed.

dazza21ie · 27-12-2016 12:41PM

Tuesday 20th December 7 miles inc 2 miles @ tempo, 2 min rest, 1 mile @ tempo
It had seemed a long time since I tried something a bit quicker. Conditions were good, cool but very calm. I reckoned that pace didn't really matter that much so I aimed to get the tempo pace somewhere close to 8:00 mins/mile. It was more a case of getting back into the habit of doing some quicker runs that the training effect itself.

The tempo mile splits were: 8:11, 8:06, 8:02.

Two miles each for the warm up and cool down made up the distance.

Wednesday 21st December 6 miles @ 9:40
Can't really remember if it was the legs being tired or me being lazy but this was kept relatively easy.

Thursday 22nd December 7 miles inc 2 x 1 mile & 2 x 1k @ tempo w/ 1 min rests

It was just hoping to build a little on Tuesday's run for this one. It was cool out again with some breeze.

The tempo splits were: 8:08, 8:07, 4:57 (7:58 pace) 4:58 (8:00 pace). Fairly consistent but still a bit off what I was doing in these sessions a few weeks ago.

Friday 23rd December 5 miles @ 9:26
It was a bit wet and windy for this run. I put on a heavier running top before heading out which gave a bit of warmth at the start of the run but acted like a giant sponged as the run progressed.

Saturday 24th December 5 miles @ 8:55
This was supposed to be a 10 mile plus long run but laziness meant I was later getting out and didn't have enough time to do a longer run. So I decided to push the pace every so slightly and the legs responded quite well to that.

Monday 26th December - Finn Valley AC 5K

This was the 3rd time doing this race and the 7th time over this course which literally goes past our estate.

Given the lack over sessions done this month, the time of year and the indulgences one has I questioned whether or not I should even run the race. I decided to do it as it would be a good decent effort and a different running stimulus than I would otherwise have had this week.

Having decided to run it I decided not to get too worried about time or targets and just try and give it a good effort. Heading over to the start I felt there was a strong breeze which would be against you for the first half of the race. That added to the route profile meant that the 2nd half of the course would be much quicker if you could apply an even effort the whole way around.

There was another big crowd for this, over 500 taking part. After registering I finished my warm up with a couple of laps of the track with a few strides thrown in and then walked over the to start.

I tried to keep closer to the front this time but still managed to get boxed in right in the middle of the crowd. It was a very slow start and at first I took it easy as those in front moved away but then I thought - "this is a 5k, you need to get going". So I started weaving through the crowd trying to find clear ground. Things spread out after we turned onto the Railway road and gradually the pace picked up. 1st Km: 4:49

Things start to settle a bit but there was a constant swapping of places throughout the race. Ahead of me I noticed Batman (perhaps an impersonator?!) and used him as a target while the pace gradually picked up. I moved past him and a few others before we headed over the bridge and into the town. 2nd KM: 4:34

Heading out past Super Value you really felt the breeze and I struggle to keep the pace up. Batman goes by me on my right but I am still making it past a few others. Once we turn left out of the headwind it becomes easier. Batman has opened a decent gap so I concentrate on those between us as targets. 3rd KM: 4:32

In profile the 4th km is probably the easiest especially with a strong breeze now at our backs. But it is at this stage that it becomes hard to keep up the effort as the legs are tiring. I pass a few people early in the km and close the gap to Batman but without any drop in my effort levels a few of these retake their positions and Batman seems to move out of reach. 4th KM: 4:32

That 4th beep on my watch was very welcomed and I can see the next turn left up ahead the pace picks up a bit. After we turn there is a short decline before a small climb over the bridge. There are still plenty of runners in front of me and close behind me and there is plenty of chopping and changing going on. As we approach the turn into the track I see that the gap to Batman has closed quite bit. I get notions in my head that I can get past him on the track. I seem to lose ground again as we cross the soft rugby field before getting onto the track. There are two other runners between me and Batman and I realise that I am not getting past him. Another runner goes past me on the inside before I switch to the inside lane as we approach the bend, running the wrong way around the track. I can hear a few runners close behind me and see those close in front. Coming off the bend I try and kick but it doesn't amount to that much of a pace increase and everyone seems to hold their positions. 5th KM: 4:25

Finishing Time: 22:53

Overall it ticked all the boxes. I gave it a decent effort and had I been offered that time at the start of the race I probably would have taken it all things considered. It is still 3 minutes off my PB so it needs to be taken in that perspective. But it is also a few minutes quicker than what I would have managed last summer. It's been a long time since my last 5k so that wasn't a bad start to getting back into the distance again.

I managed to jog home gingerly to bring up 5 miles total for the day.

Tuesday 27th December 5 miles @ 9:48
The legs felt a bit tired after yesterdays race. More tight than anything else. I kept this easy enough and it seems to have helped loosen out a few muscles.

dazza21ie · 31-12-2016 09:41AM

Wednesday 28th December 6 miles @ 9:08

A nice easy run on another mild morning with a few strides at the end.

Thursday 29th December 7 miles inc 2 x 1 miles & 2 x 1k @ tempo w/ 1 min rests

Another go at this session. Again over the usual route so previous attempts at it are easily compared. Conditions were pretty much ideal, a bit of breeze but nothing that affected the run too much. The tempo splits were:
Mile 1: 7:54, Mile 2: 7:43, KM 1: 4:44 (7:37) KM 2: 4:44 (7:37)

It took the first mile to get into a rhythm but after that the splits are similar to what I was doing for this session at the end of November.

31st December 2016 10 miles @ 9:20
I was late getting out for this but I wanted to do something longer so I went ahead with the planned run and hoped everyone would be late rising at home which they were. It was quite breezy out and I was running into a strong head wind for a good part of the first half of the run. When the route looped back around and the wind was to my back it became very mild. It felt quite comfortable and the pace could have been increased but I was happy enough just letting things tick along. I am glad I didn't have anything longer planned as I was really scrapping the barrel when it came to podcasts to listen to. A lot of the usual suspects have very inconveniently taken time off!

So that finishes out the month at a total of 146 miles which wasn't terrible. The yearly total is 834 with a large part of that coming in the August - December period.

Looking forward to the new year I am giving myself quite a simple target - try and break an existing PB. I am a good bit off all of my current PBs so that I think is a decent challenge.

Happy New Year.

dazza21ie · 03-01-2017 02:46PM

Sunday 1st of January 5 miles @ 9:35
Not really sure how I convinced myself to go out for this one after staying up way past my bedtime the night before to ring in the new year. I was operating after a limited amount of sleep so the pace of the run wasn't terrible all things considered.

Monday 2nd of January 4 miles @ snails pace
We had an unexpected hard freeze which left all roads and footpaths in a treacherous condition. Unfortunately I didn't know that heading out or before I started to run. It was the worst I have ever tried to run on. I quickly realised I couldn't run in our estate and tried to stop but just kept on sliding to the end of the footpath. Usually even when it is slippery at our end of the town conditions are okay when you cross over the river. So I headed off along the grass verge hoping to find some ground with a bit of grip. It wasn't happening and at times I could only slow to a walk to safely go any further. Plan C then came into my head to head off road and in particular into Drumboe Woods. I went into the upper side of the woods first along the trails. I have always struggled to follow the correct trail in there and again struggle and found myself in quite soft mucky ground a few times. So I went to the lower side of the woods where the trails are now more solid paths. I done a few loops in there and then tried to get home without falling.

Tuesday 3rd January 7 miles inc 5 x 3 mins hard w/ 2 mins jog rec

After yesterday's run I was just glad to see clear paths when I went out this morning.

I done this over the usual route with a two mile warm up which was quite sluggish. After the warm up I done 6 strides as prescribed by the plan and then started the intervals.
A hard effort was prescribed the JD for these and I took a guess beforehand that hard effort would be around 7:00 - 7:10 mins/mile pace. What happened was:

3 mins @ 6:53 mins/mile
3 mins @ 7:12 mins/mile
3 mins @ 7:22 mins/mile
3 mins @ 7:32 mins/mile
3 mins @ 7:23 mins/mile

Each one had a two minute recovery afterwards with the recovery being a bit longer between reps 2 & 3 because I had pressed the stop button on my watch instead of the lap button. I need to get this setup on my watch as session for the next time to take away the need for pressing buttons. As can be easily seen I struggled to keep an even pace. The first rep was quicker than I had planned but it was mostly over a downhill stretch and I was trying to pace these by feel and they definitely did feel "hard" especially the last two.

dazza21ie · 05-01-2017 10:06PM

Thursday 5th January 7 miles including 20 mins @ tempo
It was another really cold morning with a sharp frost overnight and it was still freezing when I headed out this morning. I had an unplanned rest day yesterday so I tried to get back on schedule today. The planned run was quite simple, 2 mile warm up, 20 minute tempo and then completed the rest of the 7 mile route as a warm down.

The tempo ended up being 2.47 miles @ 8:06 mins/mile. I would have liked it to have been a bit quicker. Probably a few reasons for the slower pace: it was cold, I was somewhat concerned about underfoot conditions in some places, I may have been running within myself somewhat, and it was really cold!

dazza21ie · 11-01-2017 04:23PM

Friday 6th January 5 miles @ 9:46
The legs were tired from the previous day's run and while I had thought about doing another mile I decided against it and get things very easy.

Saturday 7th January 10 miles @ 9:32
I have been guilty over the last few years to pretty much sticking to tried and trusted routes and haven't ever really tried to vary things that much. Over Christmas I got a bit of a geography lesson on the area that I have been living in for nearly 8 years. I realised that there was a lot more potential routes to be discovered. So I decided to try a give one such route a try. I had mapped this out on the computer before hand and had a fair idea of where I was going and the distance involved.

It is one thing seeing a route and elevation profile on screen but another to run it. Or run up it as this route required. After the first mile I turned up a local road and started to climb. And for the next 3 miles it felt like a continuous climb, climbing approx. 500 feet in the process. The road became a bit of a bog road for the last of those 3 miles and it wasn't the easiest to run on. I was glad when I had reached the junction at the top which brought me back out onto a smoother surface. From here it was mostly downhill but there was the occasional incline which made the legs think again. There was a great view from the top. It was still dark so you had a view of the lights from the twin towns which you didn't get as clear from the other side of the valley where I normally run. I made up the last 3 miles with a bit of running around the town.

It was an enjoyable run despite being tough. I probably won't run this exact route again given the surface up near the top of the climb but I think it can be varied to avoid that part.

I knew I was going to feel the effects of the extra hill effort after Saturday's run and planned to go out on Sunday morning for an easy few miles but unfortunately I didn't get out leaving the weekly total at 33 miles - below what had been planned.

Monday 9th January 6 miles @ 9:40
The legs were still a bit stiff for this run. It was only in the last mile or two that I was moving freely but an otherwise easy run.

Tuesday 10th January 7 miles including 5 x 3 mins hard w/ 2mins rec
This was a repeat of last Tuesday's session just slower. This week the "hard" parts were:

3 mins @ 7:03 mins/mile
3 mins @ 7:20 mins/mile
3 mins @ 7:37 mins/mile
3 mins @ 7:27 mins/mile
3 mins @ 7:18 mins/mile

There was a head wind against me for the first two which did affect pace a bit but the speed is clearly down on last week's effort.

Wednesday 11th January 5 miles @ 9:48
There was a bit of a gale blowing overnight and it was still quite strong when I headed out this morning. I had the wind against me for the early part of the run and it seemed to drain whatever life was in my legs. On the way back in, even with the wind at my back, the pace was still slow.

dazza21ie · 21-01-2017 08:55PM

A four day break that was very much unplanned. We had an outbreak off chicken pox in the house and it hit the poor baby hard with a few unsettled nights sleep for everyone. It might not have mattered on Thursday or Friday morning as we had a decent snow fall and the footpaths around the estate and town were white. A lowly 18 miles and only 3 runs for the week.

Monday 16th January 6 miles @ 9:23
I was glad to get out for this after the break. For the first mile or two it felt like I hadn't run for a year but then I got into a stride and it all felt easy again.

Wednesday 18th January 7 miles including 5 x 3 mins hard w/ 2 mins rec
I was annoyed with myself on Tuesday morning because I slept in and only woke when I would have been due back from my run. Anyways Tuesdays run became Wednesday's. It was cool out with a bit of a breeze. The intervals were:

3 mins @ 6:52 mins/mile
3 mins @ 7:03 mins/mile
3 mins @ 7:11 mins/mile
3 mins @ 7:27 mins/mile
3 mins @ 7:30 mins/mile

A small improvement of sorts on the same session a week ago but I am still not keeping the consistent enough.

Thursday 19th January 6 miles @ 9:32

A fairly standard easy run along my usual route.

Friday 20th January 7 miles including 20 mins tempo

I didn't get this session done last week due to the the break. Same as two weeks ago, two mile warm up over same route and then the tempo section. This time I managed to cover 2.52 miles @ 7:52. The pace felt quite controlled and improved during the second mile. I had to stop at the end of the 2nd mile to briefly give someone directions - not too many out at 6 in the morning to ask!

Saturday 21st January 10 miles @ 9:14
I plan to do a run on Sunday too but thought it best to get the longer one in today just in case.

As I was getting ready I peeked out the window and could see there was a sharp frost overnight. It had been very dry for the last couple of days so I wasn't worried about ice. But I did got back to get a pair of gloves and I was glad I did. There was still a low freezing fog. It didn't really impact the first half of the run. But when the route looped back home I had only a couple of meters visibility in front off me. It caused me to step into a deep pothole and nearly roll my ankle. But mostly I wasn't too put out. I was listening to a podcast that really caught my attention - Graham Hunter's interview of Damien Duff. I had downloaded it ages ago but only got round to listening to it now. The miles flew by and because it was so dark and for most of the run I barely knew where I was or how far I had run I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived back into town. One of those runs that you feel you could run forever.

When I stopped though I could feel a layer of ice had formed on my head torch. I then noticed that there was a bit of ice on my legs too. It must have been colder than I had realized.

dazza21ie · 22-01-2017 08:21AM

Sunday 22nd January 5 miles @ 9:50
Another cold morning for this. Had another night sleep slightly disturbed and slept in a bit too. But I still managed to make it out. I have been trying to get the mileage up over 40 miles for the week for months now so despite the sluggish nature of this mornings run at least I can say it brought up 41 miles for the week. Two sessions, a longer run and above target mileage all makes a good week. Just need to keep repeating that now.

I would have liked to have a race targeted at this stage but there is nothing fitting in at the moment. There are a few of 10ks in March and April that are attractive but ideally I would like to get another 5k in during February.

dazza21ie · 25-01-2017 01:56PM

Tuesday 24th January 5 miles @ 9:38
We had an unhappy baby during Sunday night/Monday morning. I was going to be working off minimal sleep without the disturbance so Monday's planned run just didn't happen. I don't like missing Monday runs as it leaves no room for error later in the week if you are trying to stick to a plan.

Anyways, after another slightly disturbed nights sleep I headed out for this. My stomach wasn't feeling the best on the way round (probably due to the terrible diet lately) and somewhere along the way I made the call to keep it to 5 miles instead of the planned 6. I think heading out I actually had a notion of doing a session but that was quickly dismissed. A good sign though was that I felt better when I finished the run than when I started.

Wednesday 25th January 7.1 miles including 5 x 3 mins hard w/ 2 mins rec
The fourth go at this session. Heading out I felt a bit sluggish but that is nothing new for me. The usual route was used with a 2 mile warm up, some strides and then into the time intervals which went like this:

3 mins @ 7:04 mins/mile
3 mins @ 6:56 mins/mile
3 mins @ 6:52 mins/mile
3 mins @ 7:06 mins/mile
3 mins @ 7:04 mins/mile

That is easily the best and most consistent attempt I have made at this session yet (any I don't plan to do it again any time soon!!) which is pleasing. There was a swirling breeze that couldn't make its mind up whether it was helping you or against you but overall it didn't really impact the run. I definitely put in more effort as the session progressed that in previous attempts which obviously helps.

tailgunner · 25-01-2017 02:28PM

Nice work on that session. Is that from one of Daniels' plans?

dazza21ie · 28-01-2017 03:33PM

tailgunner wrote:

Nice work on that session. Is that from one of Daniels' plans?

Thanks, yeah I am following the sessions on his red plan, it's quite basic and repetitive - you repeat each set off sessions for 4 weeks but I think it will help give me a good base before moving on to the next plan

dazza21ie · 28-01-2017 03:48PM

Thursday 26th January 6 miles @ 9:27
I had a strong breeze at my back for first 3 miles off this run. That had the pace a bit quicker than normal but it was against me on the way back.
Friday 27th January 5 miles including 20 mins tempo
I had a round trip to Dublin for work on Thursday getting back late enough. Normally the next day morning run gets shelved but I got up and out. I even managed to get myself to try a tempo run. I felt tired so just tried to go by effort more than anything else. For the tempo it was approx 2.5 miles @ 8:10. Slower than last week's effort but okay in the circumstances.

Little people again had a role in cancelling this mornings run. Will try to get a long run in tomorrow

dazza21ie · 03-02-2017 08:52AM

Sunday 29th January 8 miles @ 10:06

We had some more overnight frost and it was still freezing when I went out early Sunday morning. I headed out my usual 10 mile route hoping that conditions would improve the further I went but they didn't. It was never a case that it was impossible to run, it was just difficult and I was always watching my step and never could up the pace. After a while it become quite tiring and I turned after the 4 mile mark cutting the run short in the process.

Monday 30th January 5 miles @ 9:25
Back to our lovely mild mornings. I have been struggling to react to my alarms in the morning lately and this was no different. I usually have a time in my head to be back home by which dictates the distance I can run. This would have been a bit longer had I given myself more time but otherwise felt good.

It also ended up being the last run for the month leaving a total at 133 miles. A bit below the goal for the month.

Wednesday 1st of February 5 miles @ 8:42
I can't remember if Tuesday's no run was due to laziness or preventative measures to prevent onset of a cold either way it didn't happen.

This run was meant to be a session of 2 x (5 mins @ I 4 mins rec, 3 mins @ I, 2 mins rec). My "I" pace I had calculated at 7:10. I done a two mile warm up and a few strides and then started into the intervals. It took a little while to get on pace but the longer rep gave me more time to gradually get there. I managed the first set of the session okay and was operating at 7:05 pace for the reps. But during the second 5 min rep I stopped twice and decided then to abort. Annoyed at that but I have another 3 goes at this session before I finish the current plan so hopefully better next time.

Thursday 2nd February 6 miles @ 9:38
Nice easy run while listening to a few different podcasts. The mind was wandering and I just happened to be running.

Friday 3rd February 5 miles @ 9:46
A little bit more of a struggle this morning. I had at best 6 hours sleep. I was very slow getting out of bed and getting ready so only really had time for 5 miles not that I really wanted to do any more.

dazza21ie · 04-02-2017 10:18AM

Saturday 4th February 10 miles including 2 x 2 miles @ tempo w/ 2 min rest

After keeping yesterday's run easy I had a tempo session and longer run to tick off for the week. So I decided to combine them. I headed out my usual 10 mile route and after 3 miles and a few strides I started into the tempo. For most of the first two miles I was running into a breeze and light rain. The 2 minutes break felt longer because I was in anexposed stretch and the wind and rain was at its strongest.It didn’t take too much to make me cool down. Feeling a little cold and the legs feeling a bit heavy I started the 2nd 2 miles. I had the breeze at my back now which helped. After a couple of minutes I got into a nice stride and the miles ticked by nicely. I still had almost 3 miles to do but even for these my legs were moving along nicely.

Splits for the tempo miles were: 7:50, 7:53, 7:39, 7:37.

A pleasing run after a frustrating session earlier in the week.

dazza21ie · 12-02-2017 08:06AM

Sunday 4th February 5 miles @ 9:44
Ran this on relatively tired legs in freezing conditions. There was a local 10 mile race on later in the day that I would have tried to do had I not been otherwise booked to go to a christening. Shame that they clashed as the route for the race turned out to nearly mirror my standard 10 mile loop. It was a very cold day for a race though.

That run brought up 36 miles for the week.

Monday 6th February 6 miles @ 9:30
A fairly standard easy run over the now standard 6 mile route

Tuesday 7th February 6 miles @ 9:46
This was meant to be a session but I wasn't feeling great heading out with stomach issues again and given the pace on the run when keeping it easy it was probably best that I didn't try a session.

Thursday 9th February 6 miles @ 9:10
I still didn't feel great on Wednesday morning so I didn't bother! By Thursday I was feeling good and the legs were now well rested. I should have done a session but didn't. After a couple of miles warm up I kept it pretty steady for the rest of the run.

Friday 10th February 11 miles @ 8:43
I was getting my car serviced at 2p.m. in Donegal Town. The garage is a good bit from town and while they would have dropped me in to town to wait if I wanted I reckoned I could try and do something useful with the time. So I had a lie in in the morning and brought the gear with me to go for a run. Unfortunately I forgot my baselayer which I was cursing for the first mile of my run later as it was really cold.
Having made the decision to go for a run I had to make it a longer run. I didn't want to be landing back before the car was ready as this would involve sitting around in my running gear while getting funny looks!
I had mapped out a route of sorts before leaving work so I had an idea of where I wanted to go and the approximate distance involved. The route brought me down along Lough Eske which was quite picturesque. The pace was a good bit quicker than normal from the start without ever being forced. The miles ticked by nicely. I was listening to a couple of SC podcasts but had to keep the volume a little bit lower as I had the unfamiliarity of having traffic passing me regularly.
After a few miles down back roads I came out on the edge of town and looped around the town along the bypass road. This was tough, in a car it feels like one long flat stretch of road. It was anything but and felt like running through a wind tunnel. I looped back into the town, through the Diamond and back up the bypass road before turning for home and out towards the garage. The last 2-3 miles the legs really tired and it felt quite tough. In hindsight I probably should have taken it easier on the earlier miles which were all run at 8:3x pace.
The 11 miles brought me within sight of the garage and luckily the car was ready to go when I landed.
A very different type of run. I really felt it the effects of it later in the evening.

Sunday 12th February 3 miles @ 9:20
I decided to take a rest on Saturday morning and had planned a few more miles this morning but I reacted very slowly to the alarm and took even longer to get ready to go out so I had to keep the run itself short. Otherwise it was a nice run.

It's now fun to run

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