The main thing is keeping the main thing, the main thing

No Running on Tuesday - I received 'caveats' for my training this week - which I'll observe like the good little boy I am.

So - with all that free time, I put it to good use.

Signed up for Jingle Bells 5km / Raheny 5m / Trim 10m.

Also

Signed up for Rotterdam Marathon and booked hotel & flights (additional 16euro spent on insurance for flights & race - just in case - can cancel hotel - on Coolsingle - on the day before)

I wasn't sure if I was going to do Manchester or Rotterdam, so I done a little research on times from the 2018 races;

M'Chester 1st
# Runners: 15k v 40k
#Sub 2.50: 136 v 186
#Sub 2.55: 225 v 289
#Sub 3.00: 456 v 476

I thought R'Dam would have had a larger number.

So the deciding factor came down to wanting to look forward and not backwards.
Doing Manchester would have been a shot at a redemption run for the time I ran the short course (1st attempt at sub 3 resulted in me running 3:00:36 on a short course).

Rotterdam provides a new challenge with no baggage

So, Rotterdam it is - don't think I've ever felt as motivated in my whole life as I've felt since finishing DCM - MOJO is high.

healy1835 wrote: »

I'd wholeheartedly recommend Rotterdam. I've unfinished business there, but it can wait until I finish my business with Berlin first

I'd signed up for Raheny & Trim last year too, but only ended up racing Trim. It was decided that the juice just wasn't worth the squeeze in racing the 2 of them back to back. Will you fit in a Half? Bohermeen date suited lasted year......

Cheers for that - Bohermeen is 3 weeks prior - maybe too close??

healy1835 wrote: »

Oh right, was 4 weeks last year. Not that I ran it or anything! Ended up running a time trial the day before instead......

Actually, you are right, it is 4 weeks - I'll speak to the coach on this one.

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Bit late catching your report AMK but boy was it worth the wait!

Nearly spat out my coffee at this bit
I can see the clock, but ‘cos I’m old I cant see the time

Brilliant descriptive report, one of the best I've read on Boards in a while. Well done!

Thanks for that.......the sad thing was it was true

Monday 12th: 1st day of S&C

1m WU on the treadmill and some dynamic stretching.

2 circuits of the following was prescribed by coach

- Eccentric physio ball hamstring curls
- Single Leg Deadlift (runners touch)
- Bodyweight Squats

Number of reps: 15 / Number of sets: 3 / Recovery between sets 3 min

I also added Superman / Planks / Inchworm / Clams / push ups - 2 sets of 15

Great evening of GAA as my 2 daughters played on the same team (ages 15 / 18) and they won the Div 2 Minor Championship.
Quite a proud moment for us all.

Tuesday: Legs were a bit sore and tender - but I expected worse- a few miles around Porterstown - mainly on the grass.
5.2m@8.20

By the evening, my quads were getting very sore.

Wednesday: Session 8x1min (90s)
Woke up with slightly tender legs - not too bad but could still feel the quads and hammys a bit.
Walked the dog prior to the session to wake the legs up a bit.

Done a 2.5m loop as a warm up and done the 8x1min in a new small park near my house (its lit).

Funny moment during the session -

John Coughlan whistles over at me from a distance, then chases me down and comes up to me "Sorry" he says, "thought you were someone else".

"Who" I says.

" Sean Hehir" he said - "you've the same running style".

I may stop running right now and do nothing else..............DD - you can keep the Claw.
(Both John & Sean live quite near me and run together a lot...........I'm expecting an invitation )

Anyway - the session went well - probably started each 1min effort too fast.
Ave pace was probably 5:35/mile

The session definitely helped the legs as they are a lot better on Thursday.

Total 6m

Thursday: Ran down from the house into the PP, by Tower Road - back up the OS road and home.

5.4m@8.10

Friday: Beautiful day out - managed to leave work early'ish and make it to the PP while it was still bright. 5 miles around the park - mixture of tar & grass. Finished out with 5m and then done 6x20s strides. I think today was the 1st day where I hadn't got DOMS from Mondays workout.

5.8m

Saturday: Session 4x4mins (6:30-6:40 pace) - 2 min R
When I seen this session I thought it'd be a piece of P!$$ - sure hadn't I just ran 26 miles at a similar pace a couple of weeks ago.

After a 2.5m WU - I set off on the 1st lap - not too bad - but was too fast initially.
By the 3rd rep I was thinking - How did I run 26 miles at this pace!!

The 4th Rep was grand - the last one always is.
Paces for each rep were 6:31-6:34 range.

7.5m total.

Sunday: I wanted to head out with the club run, so I took it handy on Sat, despite being in town and in 4 Pubs!! - I was home for the match though - so plenty of water

Up early enough and headed off with about 10 others - the 'faster lads' weren't there today, so the group kept together for a while, which was great to have a chat with people I hadn't seen in a while.
After about 5m the group was splintering up - our Run Hub Supremo was dictating the pace as she always does and there was just 5 of us for a while.
5 became 2 became 1 as I closed out for 10 miles - really enjoyable miles - I do miss running with the group.

10m@7.41

41m for the week.

I've done some core work 6/7 days - sometimes spending 15 mins at it - other times just a couple of mins doing planks/push ups. It all counts.