Chasing the sub 50 10k - for what seems like forever

I feel like my training has been a bit odd in the last couple of weeks - no real focus and a busy social life


Wednesday 21st of March

A strange session here

10 min warm up @ 6:14 and 10 min cool down @ 6:00

15 *90 sec @LT pace (approx ten mile pace) with 30 secs run recovery in between

Found this really difficult to pace and the constant speeding up and slowing down played havoc with my breathing. Fast sections averaged more around ten k pace.

24th of March

4k warm up @ ten min mile

5 * 1 min hills (7:17,7:11,7:01,6:46,7:08) pace in min miles

4k cool down at 9:30 min mile

25th of March

13k LSR @9:33 (average HR 137 so not too fast)

27th of March

5 1k repeats at V02 max (average 4:35 min K )
same time rest in between

2k warm up and cool down

29th of March

dreadful 30 mins on treadmill very slow and lots of stopping


31st of March

Bray cliff run

God it was freezing . The start was incredibly tough and the end was just cruel. The cliff bit in the middle was good fun and involved a lot of puddle jumping. Good to do something new despite the weather. Finished in 57 11 . Happy with that as first non road race and not exactly going flat out - comfortably hard.

1st of April

Slow 10k @9:40 min miles

3rd of April

3.5 k warm up @10:15
6*300 m (1:11,1:11,1:10,1:10,1:08,1:07)

7 min cool down (cut short because breathing not good - asthma playing up)

And that's it up to date!!!

Huzzah! wrote: »

I had these thoughts last night. It was grimmer than grim. I had to wear a T-shirt, long sleeved top and fleece and the wind was still cutting. Thankfully, it was a session, so I managed to get a bit warmer once I finished the warm up but easy runs are no fun of late.

No doubt the sun will be splitting the rocks the next time we race :rolleyes:

I like take it !! I do my best running in summer!

skyblue46 wrote: »

4 X 1 mile at VO2 Max!! Where did that come from. I definitely wouldn't be able for that! Sorry for not having followed your log to this point but what is your target race?

Hi Skyblue46

The club coach loves vo2 max sessions - mile repeats into hurricanes are a bit OTT in my opionion mind! There was some build up - there were 1ks the week before !!!

I don’t have a target race - I can’t seem to break targets - the ole brain gets in the way so concentrating on enjoying the buzz of running and racing and hoping the pbs just happen . Not scientific but between bottling it and bad luck it’s the plan for now . The sub 50 is still the holy grail but have resigned myself to not targeting it! I reckon a ten mile and 5k pb this year will do me fine !

So last nights training was grand but once again cold windy and wet. All training into the wind has to be helping my fitness . It better be.

The plan called for a 45 min fartlek with 2-4 min intervals . This is good fun in a group . We take turns in leading the fast bits , you choose distance and speed and nobody can pass the leader.

This means there is s good variety in speed. Recovery afyer speedy sections was unscientific lasted between 1-2 mins and was slow (approx 6:30-7mink)

2k warm up @6:00 mink
1. 3 mins @ 5:00 mink
2. 3mins@ 4:51 mink
3. 2.5 mins@ 4:50 mink
4. 4 mins@ 4:51 mink
5. 2.5 mins@ 4:30 mink
6. 3mins@ 4:40 mink
7. 3 mins@ 5:15
8. 4 mins@ 5:05
9, 4 mins@ 5:10

Cool down ten mins @6:40
Total distance : 11.2k

We had a newbie in the group so the last few were slower than they would be normally but this was probably a good thing .

Anyways I felt strong for this session .

Thought I could fit in a park run or something to gauge fitness before Dundalk but it’s not to be . I’ll just have to wing it.

skyblue46 wrote: »

No need for another run to gauge fitness, you're flying fit! If you felt strong during a session like this and after reading about your mile repeats last week there can be no doubt. You're in great nick :-)

Cheers.

I’m the king of training - not so good at translating into races though.

I am torn between just running and hoping for the best or planning a race and pace.

No idea what a pace should be do thinking run and see what happens and plan the second race better .

Recovery 5k done after Thursday session @ 7 mink

Followed by a long run this morning16k @ 6:15

Wouldn’t normally run three days in a row but I’m away tonight and won’t get to run again until Tuesday .

Legs are tired and ready for the rest!

Weekly total =41k

That bloody wind . I had two awful tenks on the trot and swore of running. Well not really because I like food . But racing yes racings sucks.

Dundalk 10k

A Very Serious Race Report

A Sub 50 10k is my thing. The monkey on my back. My bear bug . My Achilles heel. My one that keeps getting away. You get the picture.

So I have given up . Not targeting it anymore. Just trying to get fitter and fitter and hope one day it just happens.

I am well fit enough for sub 50 , I am , I actually am . My training has gone well. King of training me!

Yesterday was windy . Now coming from an Irish Coastal Club we are used to wind. Windy wind, Sure I can’t remember the last run without wind. Still it hurts me.

I am asthmatic and have to work harder in wind to regulate my breathing. That’s ok though – Paula Radcliffe holds a 15 year old world marathon record. (Go Ventolin!)

My breathing was slightly off before the race but thought bound to be nerves.

I had a half plan to not charge off, keep steady till 5k and then pony home.

Sigh. Steady start kept the 1st two kms at a sub 50 pace . Wind blowy. Breathing Breathy. The congestion of the third k slowed me down slightly. My loud raspy snotty breathing seemed to part folk like the red sea, people were slowing down or gazelling it out of there just to avoid running along side me. Morto.

By the 5th k I was in trouble - I needed my puffy puffer . But first I had to run up a long hill – fast. Clever what!!

After a little walk I was ready to go again. By the end of the 6th Km, Darth Vader had returned and even recalling Eluids Smiley face couldn’t save this race for me.

I pushed as hard as I could, plenty in the legs but the lungs were done. May have taking a little too much Ventolin. (I don’t have shakey hands this morning really)

Apologies to all the folk I met after . Yes I am a grumpy yoke.

It’s a great pb course but just wasn’t my day. Bring on the Drogheda 10k – and the hill of death. I can’t possibly have a worse race than that !

Thanks guys .

I have had a pretty unremarkable week or so training since . Well running has seemed harder.



Thursday 31st May
—————————
6 mile with 30Mins tempo at around MP pace.

I couldn’t pace this to save my life . It was at midday and a little warm. And running at all seemed tough so if I slowed I was running 6:30 mink but when I sped up I was averaging at about 5:20- so just went with that in the end because my head was wrecked speeding up and slowing down . This run was harder then the race . Don’t know why a recovery wasn’t scheduled ! Moved my V02 max dial on phone down by two places !

2nd of June
——————
LSR- another scorcher of a run in the middle of the day .
Ten miles @6:20.
Twas grand if not a little hot.

3rd of June
—————-
8k@5:46 min k

I set off to do an easy run and to keep in the green zone . At an easier pace my heart rate was that of an elephants couldn’t get it past 120-130.
As I am trying to get a more slimline silhouette for my up and coming holiday this would be a disaster on the calorie front and hardly worth my while . I picked up so I could get into the green zone and got my heart rate to average about 138. It didn’t feel that easy . Maybe the watch is beeped !

Tuesday 5th June
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Fartlek with long picks ups and some random running over dunes.

Tenk@ 5:44 average . A pretty run but hated every second of the soft sand running . Impossible to go fast and I spent the run trying my hardest not to break something .

Thursday 7th June
————————-
I’m trying to add some Shaun T into my routine to tone up my upper body . I use the T25 workouts . I picked rip it circuit this particular day because it uses weights and the mat and cuts out on cardio . It’s still hiit though.

Anyways I did this for 25 mins and then set off to do my “easy” 8k run

Omg this was horrific . Again it was around midday and hot but still . I tried to keep my hr in the green zone but no matter how slow I went it kept wondering into orange . In the end I just ran to end torture regardless of zones.

Average pace 6:10 . Average HR 151

Friday 8th June
————————
LSR- 15k at 6:29. Very enjoyable scenic run , chatty and easy . Maybe too easy because calorie count awful and average heart rate was at its lowest yet : 129.

Anyways good to have it out of the way . !!

Disastrous week of running in that there wasn’t really any. I tripped over the roller and bashed my self againt the side of the bed and corner of radiator hurting my left ankle, right calf and of course my pride . Anyways turns out nothing long lasting or serious just a bit of bruising .

Anyways I tested out my Bambi legs on Thursday with any easy two miler - before getting stuck into hard core racing on Friday . 🀣

I’m too lazy to write two race reports so just copied and pasted the below from the club site . It’s a bit cleaner and not as whiny as I would like and contains local refencences to streets etc .

Race Report
———————
Initially I was excited about the race in my own backyard - I knew the route well - happy days !

A sweet pb at star of the sea took the pressure off - and I had convinced myself that that sub 24 was a weird anomaly anyway. I had glared at the splits so many times they are now encrypted on my eyelids and I see them float by as I drift off to sleep .

So far no great expectations. Except I did quite fancy a sub 23 30 for bragging rights.

Anyways Friday’s suck . Friday’s are for lounging and drinking Rioja and avoiding soccer on TV (seriously I’m so over it) . But no I had to finish work and not change into pjs.

Note : the following is not sandbagging ( making excuses before the race for potential bad performance)

I did feel rather awful - I won’t go into details but ladies you can get with the program !

So I had down graded my fanciful notions to just getting around the course.

So off we went. Bother ! How did I get so far up the front? Slow down you mad yoke! Up past Bolton Square we went , the hill at the top hadn’t been this steep since me granny made me wheel her trolley home from the market . Jasus my breath was ragged already. As I turned onto to Patrick Street I glanced at my watch 4:34 mink what the hell was I doing? I pulled back slowing slightly. With my breathing now under control I didn’t even chance a peak at Magdalene Tower for fear the nuns head would turn my legs to stone

I seemed to settle in to a nice rhythm keeping an eye on an orange clad buddy ahead for overtaking later.

First k clocked at 4:43 so looking good ! Kept a nice trot going as we meandered past the glen whilst trying not to think about previously suppressed teenage memories of said glen .

Jolted out of reminiscing by a friendly callout (by an old buddy who I had shared many adventures around those parts ) Anyways 2nd k clocked at 4:41 so on a roll.

Then the race began . God I hate the ballymackenny road . It goes up and up before fading into Boyle O Reilly and a nasty little incline . Who knew? Not bloody me anyway .

The 3k marker was in the wrong place . (not where I expected it to be) The loose plan was to push hard to 3k then have a rest as I sauntered down hill . That downhill didn’t come for another gasping torturous 500ms !

I had slowed down considerably now (4:55,4:51 3k,4K). The steep hill down the north road brought much needed oxygen into my lungs . My little orange friend was getting away from me - and another friendly tap on my shoulder saw another team mate cruise by at the 4K mark.

Ok only 1k left and who needs oxygen anyway . The rope walk is an actual hill! . It truly is - and it hurts when you run up it. I so didn’t look at the tower , stone legs not needed now . Free fell down Magdalene street and turned awkwardly into fair street . That’s a bloody long street. The clock loomed tick tocking away. I could pb by a couple of secs if I turned myself into a human rocket . Zoom ! Boom . A 4 sec pb . I’ll take it Goodnight! (4:28)

———————————

Anyways I finished in 23:44 which according to my watch was a 4 sec pb .

I was happy because I was feeling lousy starting and I wasn’t in racing mode whatever that is .

Retrospectively though I should have caught my buddy in front and stuck with her (she was 10 secs ahead at the end ) , I should have paid more attention to the splits on the 3rd , 4th k - another 5 secs off each was probably doable .

I’m glad sub 24 wasn’t a one off . I think 5k is a nice distance for me because i have less time to sabotage myself .

I’m off on holidays now on Thursday for a coulple of weeks . I have signed up for back to back half’s in September - so summer training will be dedicated to them . (Ratoath and Dublin) My fantasy half is sub 150 but that number scares me slightly so I have decided to aim for 1:52 which is 5:20 mink . I’d like a nice half to set me up for a potential bucket list marathon attempt next year!!

LSR completed Saturday ten miles @6:05. A bit faster then required but was too busy chatting so wasn’t looking at pace . Legs a bit tired at end . Average heart rate was 147 bmp

Did a 4 mile race on Sunday but paced a friend for sub 40 - so a nice recovery in ten min miles .

Weird one - it felt hard at times to go slow but my heart rate was high for perceived effort and pace (average 155) with over ten minutes in the red zone !! Glad I wasn’t racing ! Nice to participate in a race without pressure or nerves !

Decided to go nuts ad run on Monday to make up for the naughtiness last week.

Monday
————-
7k @ 6:20. Nice run despite hot conditions . (Average HR 134 bmp)

Ok so HR seems normal enough

Tuesday
—————

Dunno what this was . Supposed to be 8 mins*2 @ LT which is about ten mile pace .

My ten mile pace is shocking fast these days :

1st interval: 4:55
2nd interval: 4:45

Warm up and cool down @6:10. 9k altogether .

This felt ok but HR through the roof average was 168 bmp and this was fairly consistent from warm up.

Thursday
——————
4 mile hmp tempo @ 5:20 average with 1 mile warm up and cool down @ 6:10

Again hr way higher then would be normally a bit better then Tuesday but 156 average- all of the tempo section was over 167. This is high for me at this pace .

My resting heart rate has gone up as well and my v02 on watch is tanking .

My guess is probably low iron again so I’ll double my dosage for a week or so and the go to doc if no improvement . Could be thyroid doing weird stuff .

Maybe the watch is broken

Couple of things going on last week.

The 1st thing being the heart rate issue - this was beginning to wreck my head . The runs just didn't feel that hard. I was walking to work on Monday and flicked onto the heart rate - it was over 140!! Now I knew fine well that it wasn't actually so I consulted Dr. Google.

Dr. Google tells me there is a glitch on Garmin 235. It can lock heart rate to cadence. So if they match at some stage Garmin may just lock HR to cadence.

So turn your watch on and off and if that doesn't work you need to let your watch die .

Low and behold my heart rate is fine.

Anyways just shows you how watches can mess with your head.

Monday 30th


Easy lunch time run 5 mile@ 10 min mile (average bpm =136)

My calf/leg niggled on and off during this run . I stretched and rolled it on Monday night.


Tuesday 31st

I was supposed to do a fartlek with 10 min WU /45 min fartlek/ten min cool down

Only got as far as 25 mins on the fartlek and had to stop - calf was really screaming and felt like it could pop any minute.

Poked the crap out of it when I got home but couldn't find the offending spot. No swelling or bruising

On Wednesday I ran around panicking but couldnt get an appointment with my physio until the following Tuesday.

He did advise if it felt ok and all the strength was there then to try a light jog on Friday and if ok do long run

So Friday managed 5 mile easy so did long run on Sat (12 mile @ten min mile) (average bmp 143). No issues with leg .

On Sunday my leg in general started complaining again so rested. Yesterday I decided to run again (probably wasn't wise but beginning to think I was making it up) - did a 5mile MP tempo

So went to physio this morning - apparently I have scar tissue in my leg causing the problems - and at most a small level 1 tear but unlikely cause full strength seemed to be there and no swelling or bruising . He gave me ultrasound and send me on my way with instructions to stretch and roll etc etc .

So I can keep running but need to keep away from speed and hills . Keep it steady whatever that means.

So all systems go I suppose for half marathon . Running out of excuses anyway.

Wednesday 15th August
———————————-
6 mile @ 6:14 . This felt hard probs should have been slower but was in a rush

Friday 17th August
—————————-
6 mile progression run . Average pace 5:33 mink

Felt like I should have been going faster at the end but last k before cool down I only managed 4:58 min k.


Saturday 18th of August
———————————-
20k long run @ 6:00.

This included hmp pick ups. The route was incredibly hilly so we ran the pick ups when the surface was flat - couldn’t face charging up hills and wanted to test the pace .

So we ran km 13,14 at 5:12 km , km 16,17 @ 5:10 and the last mile @ 5:15 which was fairly good going as the bit in between was a hill !

The pick ups felt ok as the rest of the running was done around 6:20 .

30 miles in total completed for the week . So happy with that

Monday 20th of August
———————————-
Tenk @ 5:34 . This was a tricky route with lots of ups and downs . Hard on the lungs . Raining but so sticky ! Pace was a bit all over the place (6:06,5:51,5:42,5:37,5:21,5:35,5:36,5:17,5:22,5:11) and I was just running with the purpose of getting it done.

This week was going to be tricky as up north with the kids for a final hurrah before back to school. So just ran when I could do mileage will be down slightly on last couple of weeks

Tuesday 21st
——————-
4 mile @ 5:24

Bit of a progression run here - 5:55,5:25,5:29,5:26,5:06,5:06,5:00

Should have been a slow run but knew I wouldn’t be running for at least another 2 days .

On way back now and wondering how I’m going to fit in a long run !!!