Next 5! Next 5!

Insect Overlord · 29-01-2017 09:21PM #1

I posted this in another forum at the start of the year.

An File wrote: »

Yesterday I signed up for parkrun and the Run Clare 5 to 10 series.

My ambitions between now and May:
5km in 25 minutes, 5 miles in 45 minutes, 10 km in 55 minutes, 10 miles in 85 minutes, half marathon in 110 minutes.

Times that I definitely have to beat: 5 miles in 50:30 (New Year's Day). 10 km in 1:07:00 (Stephen's Day). HM in 2:16:45. (Dingle HM last September)

Let's see how this goes...

I also posted this on Friday:

An File wrote: »

I'm mostly going to be focusing on running over the next few months. I did a 10km road run on St. Stephen's Day in 1:07:00, and a 5 mile run on New Year's Day in 50:50 (average times of 6:42 per km and 6:22 per km respectively). Those times are fairly miserable, considering I used to be able to maintain 5 minute kilometres for up to an hour only a few years ago. I was at or just over 206 lbs at the start of January. My diet has always been pretty good, but I drink too often and I wasn't training at all from September to December so the pounds piled back on after the Dingle half-marathon...

The real goal that I have to remind myself to focus on is losing weight and running faster. I did the Park Run (five kilometres) in Limerick on the 7th of January and clocked in at 30:45. The week after that I managed 30:20. Then I started deadlifting for a few nights last week and my time dropped to 29:10. That's a massive jump to make in one week. My strength and stability are improving, and working my back and glutes properly is already helping to prevent the shin-splints that were tormenting me in December.

I'm running a 5km race in Ennis tomorrow and I just want to finish it in under 29 minutes, without stopping to walk at any stage...

TL;DR: I've been a bit depressed for the last two years. I got heavy and slow and had no motivation to run, apart from the end of last summer. The weights I have at home are part of an attempt to quick-fix a few things, but they will have great longer-term benefits too.

Where am I now?

I ran the 5km Resolution Run in Ennis yesterday morning, finishing in just under 30 minutes (clock time; my stopwatch had me closer to 29:35) It was a tougher course than I had expected, but I did meet one of my goals. I didn't stop to walk at any stage. Average pace: somewhere between 5:55 and 6:00 per km.

What next?

There's a 5 mile race on in four weeks' time. It's on near the coast, and I believe there will be hills involved again. I want to finish the race in 45 minutes. Target pace: 5:37 per km.

How am I going to do it?

I want to do a 5 mile run in the woods every Monday. There's a 4km course from one side of the woods to the other, with steep climbs in both directions, so I can test myself very nicely on that.
I want to do a sprint session on a running track on Wednesday evenings. The plan is to do 10 laps of a 460 metre track, and to spring the 100 metre straight on each lap. Not very scientific, but I tried it back in August and was happy with the results.
I'll keep the Park Run for Saturday mornings and monitor my average pace per kilometre there.

I'll also be doing yoga and upper body/core work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with Sunday and Friday being rest days.

I'll keep a diary of my training here.

Insect Overlord · 30-01-2017 08:32PM

First run done. Got stuck late at work so it was too dark to go to the woods by the time I got back to Limerick. Decided to run across town to my parents' house instead.

8km in 51:36. Take at least 01:30 off that for time lost at pedestrian crossings and traffic lights. I changed my style and ran hard for as long as I could, then walked for recovery, then repeat. My legs are burning in a most wonderful way. :P

kit3 · 30-01-2017 09:41PM

Best of luck with your training.

Insect Overlord · 30-01-2017 10:26PM

kit3 wrote: »

Best of luck with your training.

Thank you!

I'm especially looking forward to seeing what I can do in the month of February.

Anyway, what goes up must come down. Or, what crosses town must come home!

I jogged back across the same 8km. Much slower this time. Only managed 4.3km in the first half an hour. Finished the distance in 55:00.

There was a stretch after the 35 minute mark (5.1km) where I slowed to a walk. Started running again on 40 minutes and thought my calf would never stop twitching. The second last km was mostly uphill (great workout for my hammers and quads) and then my fastest km came at the end.

All in all, a great night's work. 10 miles, over 100 minutes of movement, plenty of water, and a few satisfying stretches at the end.

Insect Overlord · 01-02-2017 10:05PM

Went out and did the same routes again tonight (instead of sprinting).

Got very lucky with the first 8k. The traffic lights all went green for me, so I was able to keep moving for the whole distance.

Managed to do the first 5km in 28:30, and finished the distance in 47:26. I'm ecstatic with that. I only wanted to break 48 minutes tonight. Still some way off my target for the end of the month, but very encouraging progress for the first of February. Average pace of 05:55 per km. Target for the end of the month is still just over 05:35 per km.

The return leg was more challenging. I think I left 45 minutes between runs on Monday. Tonight I only had 15 minutes of rest. I had also pushed myself harder for the first leg so there was less left in the tank. 57:27 was the time on the stopwatch at the end. Two minutes slower than Monday, but one hell of a work-out.

I'll weigh myself on Friday afternoon and push for 28:30 again on Saturday morning at the Park Run. The sooner I get under 28 minutes again the better, but I don't want to push too hard this weekend.

Insect Overlord · 04-02-2017 11:31AM

Park Run 5k done. I don't think I hit my target of 28:30. My own stopwatch had me at about 28:50. I got stuck a bit behind some walkers at the starting line so the chip time could be interesting (read: slower again...)

It's still a new PB for the course though, and definitely under 29 minutes. My fastest recorded 5k on my phone is 27:55 back in August.

I'd love to break that next weekend. Might try to do two back-to-back 4k runs in the woods on Monday and do them both very hard, really push myself to average 5:30 per km on both.

Edit: official time confirmed at 28:50. Not bad!

Insect Overlord · 06-02-2017 10:58PM

An File wrote: »

Might try to do two back-to-back 4k runs in the woods on Monday and do them both very hard, really push myself to average 5:30 per km on both.

Attempted this route this evening.

Flew down the first kilometre in 5:07, then slowed right down. Average of 6:35 for the next two (6:48 and 6:21), then back downhill in 5:19. KM #5 was slow again at 6:37, before three slightly quicker kms to finish (average of 5:56). 23:35 on the way down, 24:28 on the way back.

I think I have all those numbers correct anyway. Came in at a 6 minute average over-all on my mobile app. Way off my target of 5:30, but reasonable for a first attempt at serious hills. I haven't done that track in the woods since August, but my first 4k were as good as any I did out there last summer.

What did I learn?

I probably pushed too hard in the first 2k and didn't have enough left in the tank to benefit properly from the downhills on the return journey. I was tempted to walk a few times so I could recover and launch into a stride, but I preferred at the time to keep going instead of breaking the jog into a series of fits and bursts. Today's workout was about aerobic fitness, after all.
I should have pre-hydrated more.
I need to keep doing my stretches on my days off. My groins and hips were far too tight today.
I may have benefited from a caffeine boost, but I'm trying to cut down on the amount of coffee I'm drinking so I'm happy to take the hit there. I'll still have a mug of strong coffee before the Park Run and before the race at the end of February, but otherwise I'm cutting back to one mug per morning and no more than that.

What's next? I'll have to do something on Wednesday. Another pair of 5 mile runs across the city is tempting. It'll probably come down to how long I have to stay behind after work that evening. I may do a sprint session at the college track instead if I'm stuck for time.

Insect Overlord · 10-02-2017 10:31PM

Forgot to update this yesterday.

I was utterly exhausted on Wednesday so I came home and got ready for bed instead of trying to do another 2x5 miles.

Made up for it a bit on Thursday instead. We have an 800 metre walking track and GAA training field outside where I work. I had an hour free after lunch so I set up a few drills for myself there.

1km run around the track in 5 minutes to warm up.
Dynamic stretches and mobility work to finish off the second lap of the track.
(10 press-ups, speed/sprint ladder (2 feet in x2, sideways left/right and back the opposite side, tangos x2, 2 feet in) short jog, 2 chin-ups on the crossbar, short sprint) x5
1km run around the track in 5 minutes 4 seconds.

It was a fantastic little work-out, got my whole body working, and gave me a chance to do drills I hadn't done in over a year. I was delighted to do both 1k runs around the 5 minute mark as well.

I was buzzing for the rest of the afternoon, so I set up for another run when I got back home. Again, I went out without coffee (I really want to see how much of a difference that actually makes to me) and prepared for 8km across town. Started very well (1.85 km after 10 minutes, mostly up-hill) but slowed dramatically after the 15 minute mark (2.66 km on the app) and finished the route in 48:05. Not bad at all over all after having already done some tough work in the afternoon.

I'm looking forward to seeing how I get on with the 5k tomorrow morning. The second race of the Run Clare series (Quilty 5 miler) is only 16 days away. They put up the route on Facebook today, including the elevation. It looks like the first two miles will be very very quick, and the two miles after the half-way point will be very challenging, with the last few hundred metres being down-hill again. 45 minutes may be a little out of my reach, but I'll strive for it anyway. If I can do the first 4 km close to 20 minutes I'll still have a great chance to push myself through the hills.

Insect Overlord · 11-02-2017 11:08AM

Park Run: 5,k. 27:30. New PB. Shattered my record for the course by a huge margin. Utterly delighted.

The training is paying off!

Insect Overlord · 16-02-2017 08:22PM

Some brief updates.

Monday: couldn't sleep Sunday night, no chance of running.
Tuesday: Valentine's Day. Busy with the girlfriend. No chance of exercise that day either. :pac:

Wednesday: slightly hungover. Did a very short work-out during a break at work. 2x1km. Ran each as fast as I could. First km: 4:28. Second km: 4:51. Would have loved to have done a third hard kilometer but had to get changed back into work clothes.

Thursday: (part 1) 1 km jog to warm up, followed by high intensity stuff. 4 circuits of the following:

10 x push-ups
6 ladder drills
2 x chin-ups
10 x burpies.

Finished with 3 x 100metres uphill sprints. Great buzz.

Insect Overlord · 16-02-2017 08:42PM

I've a 5 mile race coming up on Sunday week. The goal is to run it in 45 minutes. Possibly a bit ambitious still at this early stage of my come-back to fitness, but an old Facebook post reminded me that this time four years ago I was running that distance in 41:15...

Anyway, I know I still have some hard work to do to get to that goal. That meant doing a second session today. I spent ages thinking about what would be best (a long bike ride, a weights session, or another run) and the sensible idea seemed to be a timed 8km run. Just to see if I'm making any real progress at that distance, like.

I decided the strategy should be to attempt the whole run with a steady 5:50 pace and aim to beat 47 minutes, knowing that I probably wouldn't have the power left to do any very fast Kms at the start or the end.

I was tipping 5:54 pace after 6km, but recovered to 5:51 over all with a time of 46:40. Delighted with that. Nice improvement over my recent PB, and that despite having already exercised today. I probably won't knock 100 seconds off it in the next 10 days, but I'll give it a good crack anyway.

Insect Overlord · 18-02-2017 08:36PM

Did 2 sessions again today.

1) Park Run Limerick. Very slow start but was bang on target for a 5:40 average after 2k. Had a dreadful third lap, got awful pains in my feet, slowed to a walk, had to stop to tie my laces, and lost a load of time. Recovered in the 4th lap to finish in 30:10. Miserable stuff, but my own fault. I should have checked my runners before starting.

2) Went out to the woods/hills to properly test my legs. 8.01km. Started very nicely and had 4.25k done in 25 minutes. Struggled through the return leg (2km uphill around 7:20 pace) but flew down the last km in just over 5 minutes. Averaged 6:13 over all.

Might try the same route again on Wednesday and see if I can knock a few minutes off it when I'm less tired. Today came too soon after my PB on Thursday night.

Wubble Wubble · 18-02-2017 11:38PM

Crua go leor tar éis an seisiún oíche Déardaoin? B'fhéidir (mo thuairim féin) ba cheart duit bheith ag rith i bhfad níos éasca an seachtain seo chugainn. Go n-éirí leat

Insect Overlord · 19-02-2017 11:28AM

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

Crua go leor tar éis an seisiún oíche Déardaoin? B'fhéidir (mo thuairim féin) ba cheart duit bheith ag rith i bhfad níos éasca an seachtain seo chugainn. Go n-éirí leat

An-chrua, ach is fiú é.

Ligfigh mé mo scíth tar éis an Chéadaoin. Go raibh maith agat!

Insect Overlord · 05-03-2017 02:14AM

Sunday 26th February: Quilty 5 miles. 46:30. Saved myself for a big hill that never came. Was hoping to break 45 minutes. Should have made it, but hindsight is like that. A good run in tough conditions.

No training during the week.

Saturday 4th March: Limerick Parkrun. 5km. 26:45. New PB. Ran 1.95 km in the first 10 minutes. Slowed down a bit after that, but held on over the last lap. Delighted with myself. Getting closer and closer to my goal of 25:00.

Training plan is gone out the window. New one coming up for the next fortnight: run every day.

Insect Overlord · 12-04-2017 07:14PM

So, this thread died a death for a while! I've mostly been lying in bed for the last 5 weeks.

Back in January I signed up for the Run Clare race series. The idea was to do a 5km race in January, 5 miles in February, 10km in March, and 10 miles in April. I started attending the weekly Park Run on Saturday mornings and saw immediate results. I went from running 5km in 30:46 in the New Year to doing the same course in 26:45 at the start of March. A savage improvement in only 8 weeks, like.

I'd set a target of 55 minutes for the 10k race, and 85-90 minutes for the 10 miles. Then I got sick. I thought it was just a bit of a cold, but it got worse and worse. I had no training for 2 weeks in the build up to the Eamon Moloney 10K in Ennis, and struggled to finish it under 1:02:00.

I shouldn't have run at all that day because it just exacerbated my cold/flu and pushed it into full blown chest infection territory. I was coughing up all kinds of horrible colours and textures. It meant another two weeks without running. I revised my goal for the 10 mile race to 1:40:00. minutes. That was too optimistic. I dragged myself, walking, through the last 3km after a decent start, and finished it in 1:55:00.

Targets for 2017:
5km in 25:00
5 mile in 45:00.
10km in 55:00.
10 miles in 1:25:00
Half marathon in 1:55:00.

Achieved so far:
5k: 26:45
5M: 46:26
10k: 1:01:49
10M: 1:55:15

I'm running a flat 10k in Rosslare next Monday, so I should have a decent chance of hitting my target there.

The Great Limerick Run half marathon is the last day of this month. I'll be happy to break 2:05:00 for that one.

Yesterday afternoon I went out to the woods to do 5 miles of painful hills. I managed to finish that in exactly 50 minutes. I used to do the same route in 44 minutes (going back about 4 years ago when I was in decent form) so I still have a long way to go.

So today I went out and did the same route again. Managed it in 48:30 today.

Splits from today and yesterday:

| Tuesday | Wednesday
KM1 | 6:06 | 5:32
KM2 | 6:35 | 6:43
KM3 | 6:16 | 6:23
KM4 | 5:42 | 5:24
KM5 | 7:11 | 6:33
KM6 | 6:28 | 6:29
KM7 | 5:32 | 5:28
KM8 | 5:59 | 5:57

What does that show me? I put much more effort into the down-hill sections, but was much slower on most of the up-hill parts. I'll have to fix that.

Same route in the woods again tomorrow, followed by a couple of hill sprints to finish.
Park Run on Saturday morning.
10k race on Monday.

Insect Overlord · 13-04-2017 11:04PM

Same route again today. Left it to 5:30 in the evening instead of going out at lunchtime. The extra recovery time came in very handy, as did the slightly lower temperature.

I split the run in two with a short break at the half-way point. Managed it in 46:53 (total; 23:45 up, 23:08 down) today.

Splits from today, yesterday, and Tuesday:

| Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday
KM1 | 6:06 | 5:32 | 5:41
KM2 | 6:35 | 6:43 | 6:30
KM3 | 6:16 | 6:23 | 6:03
KM4 | 5:42 | 5:24 | 5:15
KM5 | 7:11 | 6:33 | 6:19
KM6 | 6:28 | 6:29 | 5:51
KM7 | 5:32 | 5:28 | 5:12
KM8 | 5:59 | 5:57 | 5:38

What does that show me? I had great improvements across the board on the up-hill sections, especially kms 2, 3, and 5 (which are very, very steep) but also made much better use of the down-hill parts (apart from km 1, which I kept fairly steady). I'm delighted with that. Obviously the breather was a great help, but my legs were feeling stronger from the start too. I decided to leave out the hill sprints afterwards.

Rest day for shopping tomorrow.
Park Run on Saturday morning.
10k race on Monday.

Singer · 13-04-2017 11:13PM

An File wrote: »

What does that show me? I had great improvements across the board on the up-hill sections, especially kms 2, 3, and 5 (which are very, very steep) but also made much better use of the down-hill parts (apart from km 1, which I kept fairly steady). I'm delighted with that. Obviously the breather was a great help, but my legs were feeling stronger from the start too. I decided to leave out the hill sprints afterwards.

Technique, confidence and motivation definitely are real factors, but you won't really have gained any additional fitness over this week. Speed and ability are gained over longer periods of time, it takes time for muscles etc. to respond to training. You had a good week, no doubt, but athletic fitness is gained over longer periods of time than a few days. I'm not trying to belittle your improvements, they're definitely real, just make sure you're keeping the longer term improvements in mind

Insect Overlord · 13-04-2017 11:53PM

I've gone from 4 weeks of doing nothing at all (apart from one ill-advised 10k) to doing 10 miles on Sunday and 24 km Tuesday to Thursday. I'm just happy to be getting back into the swing of things.

I was making real progress at the start of the year. Just trying to kick-start a return to progress now. Monday will be a true indication of what I can do on a flat course at this stage.

This time next year is where I'm really aiming for. I've already signed up for the next Run Clare series, and I already know what times I have to beat. It's nice having over 9 months to get ready for that.

Insect Overlord · 19-04-2017 12:05PM

Updates from the last few days.

Saturday 15th April: Limerick Park Run. 5km. 29:27. Started fairly well, then pushed too hard for the second km. Averaged 6:21 for kms 3 and 4, before putting loads of effort into the last one. Was happy to be back under 30 minutes anyway. First time out on that route since the 5th of March.

Monday 17th April. Rosslare 10k, organised by the Wexford Triathlon Club. Slept on the floor the night before, ate sausages and rashers for breakfast, made a lousy mug of coffee, and still finished it in 58:16. Absolutely thrilled to be back under 60 minutes for the distance. Tried to match the 55 minute pacer but lost sight of him around the half-way mark.
Fastest km: #2 - 5:14
Slowest km: #8 - 6:08.
Average pace: 5:49 (weirdly enough, 7sec/km faster than the shorter run on Saturday)

11 days until the Great Limerick Run half-marathon. Should be on target to finish under 2:10:00.

Insect Overlord · 24-04-2017 01:15PM

Did some speed work for the first time in ages today.

Warmed up with 2.5 km in 12:30.
Did some dynamic stretches. I think I need to strengthen my hip flexors and my groin area. I seem to have lost power there since taking a break from team sports.
Set up my ladders for some fast foot-work.
Finished with an old goalkeeper drill: 10x jumping "frog" squats under the cross-bar of the goals, then sprint full-speed to the edge of the box.
Did all my ladder drills and 2 sets of squats/sprints, took a water break, did the same again.
Short walk and loads of stretches for the cool-down.

Feeling good now. Should try something similar again tomorrow and Wednesday with a shorter warm-up and some sets of longer sprints.

Insect Overlord · 29-04-2017 11:42PM

Two little updates ahead of the HM tomorrow morning.

Thursday, 11:05 - 11:55.

Warm-up: 1.8km in 10 minutes. Dynamic stretches and side-steps.
Exercise 1: Lie face-down on goal-line of GAA pitch. On signal, jump to feet and sprint to 13 metre line. (x10)
Exercise 2: Stand on goal-line. Squat with finger-tips on the line, jump to touch the crossbar (x10) and sprint to 20 metre line. 1 minute break. (x5)
Exercise 3: Very slow jog for 450 metres, sprint 100m (slight incline) jog 100 m, sprint 100m, walk 250 m.
Cool-down: 10 minutes of stretches.

Felt great. Woke up with DOMS every day from Tuesday to Friday.

Saturday, 9:30 - 10:00

Limerick Park Run. 5km. 29:46 on my stop-watch. Had to think hard about running the day before the race, but decided I needed to loosen out my limbs after working on power during the week. Aimed for 6 minute pace. Lost 30 seconds at the end of the first km when I stopped to tie my laces. Should have been closer to 29:15 in the end, but happy to still be under 30 minutes while running well within myself.

Will update this at some stage in the next couple of days when I know my time from the Great Limerick Run half-marathon. Aiming to beat 2:10:00, but hoping to surprise myself too.

Also signing up for a local 10k on 14/5/17. Really aiming to beat 55 minutes that day.

Insect Overlord · 02-05-2017 11:38PM

Great Limerick Run - Half Marathon - Sunday 30th April 2017

Started off with the 2:15 pacer and knew within 30 seconds that they were going too slow for me. Went off and did my own thing for a while and kept an ear on my phone to see if I could maintain something close to a 6 minute pace per km. I started following a small group around the 3km mark and stayed with them until KM16. There was a gentleman in a Suicide Prevention charity t-shirt pacing for two young ladies, and they were (for a long time anyway) going at the perfect pace for me. Great approach to the race, this fella had.

Made it through the first 10km in 1:00:45.
The next 10 km took 1:03:44.

My slowest km was #15 (6:32) and that was when I knew I needed to go back to doing my own thing.
My fastest km was #21.

That was a lovely 5:42.
Chip time: 2:10:18
Average pace: 6:11.

Missed my target by 18 seconds, but moved at a steady pace throughout and never stopped or walked. Knocked about 6:30 off my time from Dingle last September too. Still 15 minutes away from my old PB, but moving back in the right direction.

Insect Overlord · 02-05-2017 11:56PM

Tuesday Evening Recovery Run (which turned into a proper training run!)

The weather was glorious this evening so I went out to the woods for 8km of hills, in a bid to get my limbs moving again after the half on Sunday.

It was my first time on that route since I ran it 3 days in a row this time 3 weeks ago. I decided to start slowly but realised after 10 minutes that I was doing pretty well.

| Tuesday 2/5 | Thursday 13/4
KM1 | 5:41 | 5:41
KM2 | 6:23 | 6:30
KM3 | 6:03 | 6:03
KM4 | 5:05 | 5:15
KM5 | 6:29 | 6:19
KM6 | 5:57 | 5:51
KM7 | 5:32 | 5:12
KM8 | 5:38 | 5:38

I held back on km 7 because my left hamstring was threatening to cause trouble.

Over-all time: 46:48 (5 seconds of an improvement on my last effort).
I know I used to be able to run the whole thing in about 43 minutes or so a few years back, so that's still the target for this year.

I've signed up for a 10k on Sunday week with the goal of breaking 55 minutes. I've also signed up for the Dingle HM again.

Rest day tomorrow. Sprints, fast footwork, and strides planned for Thursday.

HigginsJ · 03-05-2017 09:16AM

Congrats on the Half Marathon, great run by the sounds of it.

Insect Overlord · 03-05-2017 11:21AM

HigginsJ wrote: »

Congrats on the Half Marathon, great run by the sounds of it.

Yeah, I was very happy with it. Slow and steady. I knew I had to be realistic about my time after missing a month of training due to illness.

From reading your log, it sounds like you're in the early stages of what I went through in March. Went out for a 5k jog one afternoon and had to stop after 2k, feeling too hot and dehydrated. Tried to go cycling a few times that week instead of running but that just made it worse and I ended up going from a cold to man flu to a full-on chest infection over the course of 25 days. Take care of yourself this week!

HigginsJ · 04-05-2017 09:03AM

An File wrote: »

Yeah, I was very happy with it. Slow and steady. I knew I had to be realistic about my time after missing a month of training due to illness.

From reading your log, it sounds like you're in the early stages of what I went through in March. Went out for a 5k jog one afternoon and had to stop after 2k, feeling too hot and dehydrated. Tried to go cycling a few times that week instead of running but that just made it worse and I ended up going from a cold to man flu to a full-on chest infection over the course of 25 days. Take care of yourself this week!

Will do thanks, still just head cold at the moment so hoping to keep it to that!!

Insect Overlord · 04-05-2017 10:53PM

Thursday, 14:05 - 14:50.

Warm-up: 0.91km in 5 minutes. Dynamic stretches and side-steps/karaokes/lunges for half a lap of the GAA field.

Exercise 1: Lie face-down on goal-line of GAA pitch. On signal, jump to feet and sprint to 13 metre line. (x10)

Exercise 2: Stand on goal-line. Squat with finger-tips on the line, jump to touch the crossbar (x10) and sprint to 20 metre line. 1 minute break. (x5)

Exercise 3: Very slow jog for 100 metres, sprint 100 m (slight incline) jog 150 m, sprint 100 m, slow jog 250 m, sprint 100 m.

Cool-down: Walk 50 m, jog 50 m, walk 300 m. 10 minutes of stretches (hamstrings, quads, groins, calves, back)

Felt good. The sun went in behind the clouds for a while, luckily - I forgot to bring my water bottle outside with me! :eek:

Insect Overlord · 06-05-2017 11:14AM

I think I need to stop sprint/explosive training on Thursdays if I want to run a fast 5k on Saturday mornings.

I did the Park Run this morning in 26:39 (on my own clock) and that's a new PB by about 6 seconds, but my legs were sore in places.

Getting up in the middle of the night to walk 5k for Darkness Into Light probably didn't help either.

All in all though, a very satisfactory start to the weekend. 5k walk at 4:15 in the morning, 5k run at 9:30, with only a mug of tea for fuel in between.

I'll volunteer to help out next Saturday and save my energy for the Mungret St Paul's 10k on Sunday. I want to hit 55 minutes next Sunday.

HigginsJ · 06-05-2017 01:02PM

Congrats with the PB & best of luck with the 10k race, you should be well set for sub 55.

Insect Overlord · 09-05-2017 01:28PM

Went out to the woods last night for a different kind of challenge.

My usual slowest km on my 8k route out there is the first part of the return leg (going from Point B back to Point A). It starts with a nice down-hill stretch of about 200 metres, and then the incline really kicks in. According to RunKeeper it has a total elevation of 33m. Then it levels out again after the first kilometre marker.

I wanted to see how quickly I could get up it (seeing as I've recorded times between 6:19 and 7:11 on it this spring). Set off at a charge to save time on the decline, then powered up the rest. 5:09 for the km on my stopwatch. Very happy with that.

Alas, things didn't stay great. I set up a sprint drill (150 metres up another, slightly more gentle incline, with 4 minute breaks in between sprints).
The first two went perfectly, but I felt an awful sensation in my left knee as I started the third so I called it quits straight away.

Finished off with a 10 minute walk around the woods, and another quick km (back down the same hill I'd started with in 4:40, legs definitely feeling the effects of the few sprints!)

Planning lots of walking today, and another tough session on Thursday morning. Still aiming to break 55:00 on Sunday in the Mungret 10k.

I've also signed up for a half marathon in the Burren on Saturday week (the 20th). No idea what the course is like yet. Hopefully I'll do a little faster than I did in Limerick last week anyway.

Next 5! Next 5!

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