Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Moving on up ...
Options
Comments
-
-
Not sure whether it was the expedition last weekend or the cold weather, but took a while to get this week moving.
Monday, Tuesday: nothing
Monday was planned (though I'd taken Sunday off, so really should have being re-adjusting to run today), Tuesday due to bit-late-working, attachment-to-sofa, fear-of-dark ...
Wednesday: 8.4miles @10:26 avg pace
Took the running gear to work to prevent a repeat of yesterday's problem. Was after 5pm when I set out to do this, dark and *cold*, but doing it straight from the office meant I hadn't had time to relax and get comfortable.
Thursday: 8.4miles @10:32 avg pace
Had been to the hairdresser late afternoon and had come home from that and tonight was back in hiberation mode, firm in my resolve to ditch the run. Went out to put the recycling at about 7pm and noticed it was fairly mild .... to my shock I changed my mind (the right way for once) and went out for another 8.4 mile run (let's hope aquinn does not glance in here this week
). Similar but not the exact same route to yesterday. At this point had caught up with the "weekday" mileage but of course with these being mid-length runs, and done in darkness, not really suitable to add the fartlek sections ... so that wasn't done.
Friday: nothing
Today the plan/hope was to do five miles with fartlek, as I would not get a chance tomorrow. But no chance to do at lunchtime and then in the evening I went on the doss instead ....
Saturday: cross-training, 4.3miles @10:21 avg pace
Got up before 7am (*shudder*) and took the bus to the borders to volunteer at a small forest owned by John Muir Trust. About 5hours chopping up and bagging some non-native invasive trees, plus fixing and adjusting stakes, protective cones, net wrapping on the growing trees (the good ones that they went to keep). It was actually quite hard work and together with the early start I was a bit knackered.
Went to a talk that evening and it ended earlier than expected. Had thought I wouldn't run today but headed out a bit after 9pm and did 4 neighbourhood loops. But not a time for doing the fartlek sections (the paths are not too neat/well-surfaced).
Sunday: 14miles @10:29 avg pace
A typical Sunday route with less Holyrood Park than usual as I was still feeling tired and not really up for trails etc. And it was mucky underfoot on the trails. So did 1.5 loops of the park and then went out towards the coast and suburbs to continue. Had my headtorch but my route was fairly well lit and I never used it. At points this was a bit harder than easy, maybe yesterday's work to blame. Last mile fastest at 9:44 all the same though I was putting in a bit of effort.
weekly total: 35.1miles
In fact a mile more than planned! The fartlek was missed so that means next week I'll do a mid-week fartlek instead of tempo, given the lack of any speed training to date think I should prioritise that...
Oh *yes* I hit the 1000miles for 2018 on today's run! First time ever
0 -
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
1,000, woo! Congratulations
But I have to go back to the Thursday entry - you went out running after getting your hair done?? Now that's dedication :eek:
Well *cut* ... not done that's my Mam.
I liked the cut but it was looking very perfect and polished, that's not natural, was happy to mess it a bit.
Weather looks like it may be a deterrent going forward unfortunately, have set the goal of 1150 for the year and let's hope that'll get me out.0 -
Another decent week. There is nothing too fascinating here though
Monday: nothing, as planned.
Tuesday: 6.1miles @10:18 avg pace
Pre-lunch run from the office, loop of Holyrood park and some extra.
Wednesday: 1mile w/u, 1miles fartlek, 1mile easy, 1mile fartlek, 1.1miles c/d (5.1 miles)
Again done from the office before lunchtime, on the familiar turf of the meadows trails - was mucky underfoot, so I didn't do the fartlek sections on the trails themselves, came out onto the tarmac. The short story is that the 1st fartlek mile came in as 8:22 avg pace, the second one as 8:27 avg. Had been doing very well for the most part of the second fartlek mile, but had overdone it I think, struggled to keep the effort up for the last .3 or so... Looking back on my previous attempt at this session this year (a few months ago!) my combined time for the 2 fartlek miles is only 17secs below the previous go ... that attempt was 2.5weeks before a 25:48 parkrun
.
Despite this, I will continue to hope.
Easy miles were in the range 10:30-10:40ish.
Thursday: 6.9miles @10:14 avg pace
Early morning run before work (*shudder*) in Holyrood park and surroundings.
Friday: nothing, as planned
Saturday: 5.1miles @10:05 avg pace
Left this a bit too late and had to head out in the darkness. This was on the flat coastal suburban loop, all hard surfaces, flat and a genuinely easy pace.
Sunday: 13miles @10:46 avg pace
A typical Sunday route in Holyrood Park, hilly but with a small "h" (1350ft or so). It was drizzly and damp all day so I wore the trail runners and planned I'd stay mostly on grass and trails (and apart from 4.5-5miles of hard stuff, I did). The weather was sh**e with serious mist on the higher side of the park, but there was not a puff of wind, which is very rare and made things much easier. Controlled the pace well and this was an enjoyable and easy run. As usual had gone out just a bit later than I should have so the last few miles were in darkness and I had to watch carefully on some trails (there's hardly any lighting in the park, and I didn't have the headtorch). Not remotely tired after this one.
weekly total: 36.3 miles
Couple of miles more than planned, but it feels fine. All the running except the fartlek miles were properly easy this week. Next week is a cutback week to 28miles, no speed training, but weather permitting I will risk a parkrun (it better be under 25mins).0 -
3rd-9th Dec:
the plan: 28miles with parkrun, LSR just 8miles.
Would be the first parkrun in a few months, badly needed chance to set a benchmark to improve.
Monday: nothing as planned
Tuesday: 5.1miles with strides (9:48 avg pace)
Pre-lunch run on meadows trails, easy pace, and did 4.5 strides in mile 5 (which of course quickens average pace a bit). From the start this (comfortable) run was quicker than usual and below 10min pace for all miles I think, little bit of fitness returning.
Wednesday: nothing
Was supposed to do 6miles today, aim to pull the mileage early in the week to have fresh legs for parkrun. Was too lazy to do it.
Thursday: 8miles @10:34 avg pace
Plan had been 4miles in "taper" for parkrun, of course now I was needing to make up some of yesterday's miles. Took my gear to work so that I would not fall foul of sofa-itis again. Did an extended coast+suburbs loop at an easy pace.
Friday: nothing
Resting for parkrun, while simultaneously checking the weather forecast every hour. There were going to be high winds overnight which would die down round 6/7/8am on Saturday morning, still wouldn't be calm but would be all right to run.
Saturday: 13.7miles @10:37 avg pace, 0.6miles @10:21
Had heard bits of wind through the night and when I woke at 8am the windows were still rattling a bit. So I turned over and went to sleep instead of going to parkrun (from comments I saw on Strava it seems that was the right choice). So now wanted to adjust things to make this a proper-mileage week, aim was now to be 34-36miles so I could backoff for next week's parkrun (ahem :rolleyes:). Went out around 3:30pm and did 1.5 loops of Holyrood park until it was properly dark (though to be honest it will not be long before I will have acclimatised to running that loop in full darkness, I think, the number of times I've accidentally got caught in there a bit late ...). Then came back out of the park and did some running round the suburbs before heading back to town and finishing up at John Lewis to search for Christmas pudding bowls.
Little .6mile run back to the flat after John Lewis - without the pudding bowls unfortunately!
Sunday: 13miles hike with around 2000ft ascent
Pentlands Skyline is a famous 16miles hill race with 6000ft ascent, run entirely on the (many) small hills of the Pentlands. Not planning to run it any time soon but for today the aim was to do the route as a hike. Was a bit of a late start (my fault) and we only started walking at nearly 10, and first had to find our way from the bus terminus to the Swanston entrance to the Pentlands ... was only a couple of miles but took a while to find it. Ended up doing a few hills (Allermuir, Castlelaw, Turnhouse) and then had lunch at the gate leading to Carnethy hill a bit before before 2pm. It was very cold eating the sandwiches, hands in particular very cold, and my friend's motivation was low ... We discussed alternative bus options and with darkness looming for 3:30 or so (*ridiculous* this time of year) we came off the hill down to the road and walked up to the reservoir and then took some trails to Balerno where the buses are frequent. So only did about a 1/3 of the actual route we'd been aiming for. Another time ...
Had been planning to still run that evening to turn the week into one of the 36mile weeks but did not do it...
weekly total: 27.4miles as 3runs, one hike (13miles)
Was not too bad in terms of matching the plan, mileage nearly what it should be, just the missing parkrun. And a proper LSR in there instead. Aim now to bring some of next week's mileage early and do a parkrun next Saturday.
10th-16th Dec:
the plan: 34miles including 13miles LSR, and 2x1miles fartlek in a shorter run
Really it's now 36miles as I did 35 and 36 miles instead for the 34mile weeks at the end of November, so now thinking of that as the target...
Monday: nothing as planned
Tuesday: 8.9miles @10:26 avg pace
Trying to shift mileage earlier in the week in case of the weather being good enough for parkrun Saturday (at this point it was already looking like it wouldn't be). So did ~9miles instead of planned 7. Holyrood park as usual, about half on grass/muck, half hard surfaces. 900ft or so overall.
Wednesday: 1mile w/u, 1mile fartlek, 1mile easy, 1mile fartlek, 1.4miles c/d (5.4miles)
Done on the meadows trails at lunchtime, with the fartlek sections on the tarmac so I wouldn't slip. I was quite reluctant to do the fartlek bits, but did them and got 8:11, 8:12 for the two fartlek miles which is a bit faster than the previous time doing this session.
Thursday: nothing
The terrible curse of sofa-itis ... plan had been 5miles. What was I doing instead? Have been following the "Cape Wrath" adventure of Beth Pascall and Damian Hall, their aim to beat the best time for the 230mile trail, in winter conditions (this week). This was day 4 of the challenge and the latest of their little videos was up on facebook, so I was hiding indoors from the cold :rolleyes:, and watching this, oh the irony:
https://www.facebook.com/runnersworlduk/videos/2245946128749532/
(they completed it in 4days, 10hours .. I think that's 2-3days faster than the previous best)
Friday: 6miles @10:19 avg pace
With the weather forecast looking as it did (8-9am tomorrow would be only 1C, threat of sleet), there was no longer any need to rest for parkrun. It was already very cold this evening, so when I came home from work I changed into my running stuff and went straight back out before I could change my mind.
Saturday: 7.5miles @10:20 avg pace
Another cold run in the afternoon as the sun came down - was one loop in Holyrood, then the rest round the suburbs.
Sunday: 9miles @10:21 avg pace
Daylight! Did this one around 1pm so had daylight for all of it. It was clear and sunny and there were loads of people out walking in Holyrood park. Did my usual Sunday stuff (except a bit shorter), 2loops of Holyrood, with about half the miles being grass/muck. This felt a bit harder than the recent runs despite similar pace, but I'll put that done to extra hilliness, and the two previous days in the legs.
weekly total: 36.8miles as 5 runs
Fartlek was done, mileage target of 36miles hit, and I even compensated the lost .6miles from last week too. No long run but there was one done the previous week which hadn't been planned.
Aim for next week is to do the 36miles as planned, but weather is looking good at the weekend, so will be aiming for a parkrun for sure this time. Hoping to do the 13-14mile run mid-week to keep it away from Saturday. 0 -
Killing time here while my niece+nephew play with their tablets, might as well do an update. Will head out for a few easy miles when they leave ...
17th-23rd Dec:
the plan: 36miles with a LSR of 13miles, and a parkrun (hahaha :pac:)
Monday: nothing as planned
Tuesday: 5.15miles @10:37 avg pace
Did this in the evening round the coast and suburbs after work. It was a real plod, not sure why ...
Wednesday, Thursday Friday: nothing (not as planned!)
The aim had been to do the Long Run on Wednesday to keep it away from the parkrun attempt and to make use of the Edinburgh hills before travelling. But got caught up in work and couldn't get out. Thursday got interrupted by work and last-minute Christmas, Friday I was travelling.
Saturday: 3miles w/u, parkrun in 25:39, 3miles c/d (9.35miles)
Back in Dublin. Ran up to Tymon at a slow pace (10:48 avg), though not feeling that easy. Hmmm ... Then did the parkrun keeping a good effort throughout. It came in as as 8:15, 8:14, 7:43 and the "bit" 8:18. There was a drag on each of the first two miles, then the third mile was nice with no drag and a downhill, and I was working for the "bit" (.16 watch), though maybe not killing myself as I knew the sub-25 was gone at that stage.
Disappointed - would have expected sub-25 at least, despite the lack of real speed training. I tend to think of sub-25 as meaning I'm in ok (not good) shape, and I've run more miles in 2018 than ever before .... I was missing some sleep from the Thursday night, but I'd had 3 days of rest from running. Could not fault the course itself apart from congestion in the first few minutes.
Sunday: nothing
After all the days off, the 36 miles was out the window. Had been mentally shuffling the plan to swap this week for next week's 28miles, which would mean 13.5miles today. But was too lazy to head out .... stayed on the sofa to watch Harry Potter instead.
Monday: 10.7miles @10.17 avg pace
Could not put it off any longer, did as much as I could in the evening. Saw a fox towards the end of the run. And am duly donating these miles to the week just gone, to make it to 25miles. Still planning to do a full 36 miles for next week starting Tuesday.
"weekly" total: 25.1miles as 3runs
Tuesday 25th: nothing
Wednesday 26th: 7miles @10:23 avg pace
Late evening run round south Dublin suburbs, taking it fairly easy in advance of tomorrow's race. Back in my shorts again it's so mild.
Thursday 27th: Fat Turkey 10k (53:42)
This has been an irregular tradition in the family for many years; this year I was joining a couple of friends for it. One is a great runner who has had lots of injury trouble in the past year or two, and is only getting back into it again. She'd done a couple of parkruns back in November, fastest around 26mins, and said she hadn't been training since. She might need to walk some of it. I was thinking this was my one chance to beat her. Given Saturday's parkrun time, and taking course profile into account, best I would be hoping for myself was 53mins. We were waiting at the start to set off and I had a tap on the shoulder from Norbert, and we had a chat ... discussed the recent successes of nop Junior. Then we were off for the first mile with a bit of gradual uphill, was taking it cautiously 9:36. Next mile has the interruption for a bit of downhill, so was able to use that stretch to reduce the pace a bit to 8:48, and then mile 3 climbing again up to the summit. The last bit of the uphill climb felt a bit harder and I backed off a little bit, but mile 3 in 9:35. Then down ... *wheeeeee* ... was working on these but also enjoying the help from the downhill, remaining miles came in as 7:53, 8:04, 7:23 and the "bit" sub-8. Very enjoyable and I love this course, such a lovely route especially for the time of year. And perfect conditions this year.
At the finish line there was a chap handing out leaflets for Raheny 5 and I explained I didn't need one, then when I went to walk away he said "take care now" :mad:.
Had seen my spectating friend standing with nop at the finish line, went and chatted to them, nop had come in sub-47 (watch out nop Junior). My friend/rival had also already come in, foiled again! It turns out she followed me all the way up to the summit and when I slowed on the last little bit, quietly overtook me. Then she flew down the hill arriving nearly two mins ahead of myself! (no training indeed (ok :rolleyes:) ... *walk* some of it (yeh, right))
The time of 53+ is probably about the best I could expect at the minute. Not too bothered about it, but the bad parkrun time is a bit more annoying. Have done 3 parkruns this year (March and July the others) and they have all been 25:xx. And have run nearly 650 miles since the July one. Expecting 1170miles or so for 2018 which is nearly 300miles than ever before in a year ...
Had been very happy with the consistent mileage of recent months and the "run slow to get faster" thing (which has not been working!), but have been loving racing these short distances. Together with the weak times that is a big incentive to continue, and am a bit tempted to go again for a NYD parkrun but will likely leave it till the weekend after instead :pac:. Have 9weeks of training for an HM in early March and I will be adding speed training to that at this point.0 -
I sound a bit cross in that Fat Turkey update! Am not really carrying such a grievance, honest.
Friday 28th: 4.8miles easy (10:42 avg)
Few easy miles in *ridiculously* mild weather, I love it! Legs not stiff whatsoever after yesterday, this is something I also noticed after RtL. I think the decent mileage and/or regular hills to thank.0 -
Advertisement
-
-
-
That's fantastic M, it looks like a completely different year to the others. Great that you've been able to be so consistent. Will you continue to stay away from the speed do you think, or is the plan to build towards doing some?
Happy new year! 0 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
Awh I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy the Winter walking training (though I know how much the boots and crampons would have aggravated your Achilles).
Ah the achilles is grand this past year or two. True that winter boots aren't the most comfortable. My main issue is organisational. There are these people who are always carrying round a big bag and in there will be umbrella, a packet of tissues ... if you've a headache they have some paracetamol in there and know exactly which pocket it's in, etc etc .... I'm the opposite, I am used to travelling light - keys and wallet and that's it. The carrying of all this gear, and taking it on-and-off, and in-and-out of the bag, having to do it as quick as possible so as not to get snow in the bag, now where the hell is that sandwich, quick get the gloves back on, etc etc ... required a mental shift which wasn't easy.
Also it was really cold and bitter on the Sunday, snow falling too, and I hadn't brought enough layers (had even left some down in the van
), and was a bit too cold during those standing-around bits where you're listening to the instructor.
Did not mean to sound ungrateful as Saturday had been beautiful conditions, absolutely *ridiculous*, sunny and calm, it was a good day. And even Sunday had some good bits. I will do a winter Munro trip in two weeks time and will try to prepare better and hope that will reinforce some of the stuff I learnt.It wasn't with Ron and Fiona from Talisman was it?
No, it was Falkirk Community Outdoors scheme. It is worth knowing about as it's subsidised by Falkirk council (though the attendees were from Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds and Edinburgh/West Lothian) and is really good value for what you get, it included travel from Falkirk and accommodation and loan of equipment too. The instructor was a tiny bit crochety at times, but overall it was a good course and we did covered more skills and practice than in the course I did 3years ago.We were out in a white out one day and the instructor was showing us how to check if we were on a Cornice, balling the snow and all that. They obviously knew we were on a cornice with a short drop so one of the instructors went around and climbed down but the girl guiding us down forgot herself, walked right off it and dropped a couple of meters, much to our amusement. It certainly showed us that you need to be on the ball all the time.
:pac::pac:.
We went into the snow bowl near the summit to do some sliding and first we went through the checking of the snow to see if it was avalanchy ... and this time it was, we could slide the blocks out with no trouble. Then we went ahead and did the slide/arrest practice on the same slope!
(ok, it was not that deep snow and there were skiers nearby who could have dug us out)0 -
Advertisement
-
Ok, we have a week done nearly as planned, let's log it.
the plan: 38miles with 1 tempo run (30mins), 14mile LSR with hills, one run with hill sprints
Monday: 3mile @10:20 avg pace
Neighbourhood loops in the evening. Don't usually run on Mondays but wanted to get an early start to the week.
Tuesday: 5miles @10:00 avg pace
Afternoon run done on the Meadows trails from work; have to admit I had gone out planning to do the session of the week (1mile w/u, 30mins tempo, 1mile c/d) but was only a few minutes into the tempo when I decided to bail, wasn't feeling it.
Wednesday: 1mile w/u, 30mins tempo (8:40, 8:30, 8:31, .56miles @8:23), 1mile c/d
Same venue as yesterday, late lunch run. Very cold and the trails were iced over but somehow also managing to be mucky, so I went onto the tarmac to do the tempo miles. The tempo was a fair bit slower than the one I did in Dublin two weeks ago despite putting in a good effort here. Never mind.
Thursday: nothing (not as planned)
That too-cold thing.
Friday: 5.4miles @10:xx
Done in the evening on tarmac on a suburbs+coastal loop, then continued past my house and went to the pizzeria to buy my dinner. *Cold* (maybe I should stop typing that).
Not sure of the true pace as the Garmin added distance to miles 1 and 2 but it was probably 10:30 or something.
Saturday: 5.2miles @10:44 avg pace
Had been thinking of doing my Long Run today because of the nice mild weather, hope was to do 3-4 loops of Holyrood Park as a "basic" level of hilliness. Went out a bit late at 3:50pm but felt heavy legged and tired from early on, so it got turned into your typical "few easy miles" instead. Wouldn't have had enough daylight to do more than two loops of the park anyway.
There is a nice steep hill near where I exit the Park and I thought about going round to it and doing the hill sprints but given the lack of energy (and LSR looming tomorrow) thought better not.
Sunday: Long hilly run (13.7miles @10:22 avg pace, 1560ft)
On the plan this was a long run with hills, but there have been very little hills in my running over the past 5weeks, so was being cautious - would just do 4 loops of Holyrood Park. It was very cold today and I was reluctant to head out but managed to get myself moving at 3pm. Took the first couple of miles to warm up the feet... according to the weather forecast the temps were hypothetically 3-4C but I'm sceptical :rolleyes:, the hands were cold even in gloves and I had trouble taking my keys out, opening the flat, undoing laces when I got in.
As planned, did nothing too steep, just 3 standard loops of Holyrood and another slightly shorter loop taking an interior trail ... still ended up as 1560ft which is not too bad. I stayed on grass/trails whenever possible which made ~9miles. There was a bitter wind, and some strong gusts, but the direction was NW for a change - meant that I was suffering from the headwind on flats and downhills which was a welcome change. I even got a push on the back on some of the uphills.
Overall happy with this, both distance, hilliness and pace. Will aim to increase the hilliness a bit as I go forward.
weekly total: 38.2miles
Everything done except the hill sprints.
Similar mileage/plan for the coming week, but fartlek instead of tempo. Looking ahead we will struggle to hit 2C most weekdays, looks like I will be doing some lunchtime runs.0 -
Mostly plodding over the past few weeks, but a bit of progress on the parkrun too - got it (well) under 25mins this weekend.
28th-3rd February:
The plan: 38miles incl 14LSR with hills, 4HMP session
Mon: nothing as planned
Tues: 7.1miles @10:11 avg pace
This was cold! Done in late afternoon from work, one loop of Holyrood and some extra distance on the meadows.
Wed: 1.2miles w/u, 1mile fartlek, 1mile easy, 1mile fartlek, 1.8miles c/d
Cold again today, was about 1-2C when I went out to do this at 4pm. Was very reluctant to do the fartlek and quite prepared to bail and shift it to tomorrow. Even had the excuse of slippy paths, which is why my w/u ended up being 1.2miles, I had to go across to the sheltered side of the meadows for the fartlek. However I did both fartlek miles, they came in at 8:11 and 8:13 which is a good bit quicker than previous attempts, so happy with that.
Thurs: 6miles @10:46 avg pace
Done with the headtorch in 0C to -1C. Headed out from work just before 5pm, did the Holyrood loop in the darkness, then came back via the meadows. Slow pace because of some gastric coughing and having to avoid the frozen patches using the headtorch. There was hardly anyone else inside Holyrood Park which is rare, even in darkness ...
Fri: nothing as planned
Sat: 5.8miles with 5 strides in mile 5
Very cold, and snowy underfoot. It might have been my long run but gastric issues were giving trouble; I was coughing quite a bit and got asked by another runner should I be running with that cough, a bit embarrassing. So just one loop Holyrood and then I found a clear section of path alongside the playing fields and did the strides.
Sun: 13.3 miles with hills @11:27 avg pace (1570ft)
Did this from the office, 2 standard loops, then a 3rd loop going along the top of Salisbury Crags, and a tiny loop up to Pollock roundabout and back down through an interior trail .... Some coughing though not as violent as yesterday. The climb up to Salisbury Crags is steeper than others and I walked a few times on the ascent, then when it came to descending there was a load of muck around after the thaw - even walking down was tricky .... so I lost quite a bit of time on that, but was also a bit slow in general today. Weather about 4-5C which is mild compared to recent temps.
weekly total: 38.2miles as 5runs, Long run 13.3miles, fartlek session
No HMP run but instead I did a fartlek session. Not sure of the reason but I assume it'll be because I'd skipped a fartlek session the week before.
Should mention I've been trying to sort out the gastric thing for a while now and it's still not sorted, this week was a setback, still working on it.... In the injury-free nirvana of recent months it's been the only issue affecting training.
4th-10th February:
The plan: 29miles incl 9LSR, fartlek session, parkrun
Mon: 4.8miles @10:50 avg pace
Slow-legged most-of-a-lap of Holyrood from the office.
Tues: 1mile w/u, 4miles @HMP, 1.1miles c/d
First of the HMP runs. Had calculated 8:40 as a rough estimate of HM pace, the December parkrun would not suggest this fast, but I *must* have made some progress since October (1:56 HM) and 8:40 only gives 1hr 54 or so... This was done on the tarmac because the trails were mucky, achieved the target pace with the HMP miles coming out at 8:41, 8:40, 8:35 and 8:39.
Wed: nothing
That thing where you can't be arsed.
Thurs: 7miles at 10:30 avg, 5 hill sprints midway
Had been signed up to do a winter hike of Beinn A'Chreachain and Achaladair today, but a call had come yesterday morning to cancel it (this had fed into my lazy decision yesterday). So I had an opportunity to run after all. This was a lap of Holyrood Park from the office (with a bit extra), I stopped at a nice steep section at 3.5 miles to do the hill sprints.
Fri: nothing as planned
Had been resting in advance of the parkrun tomorrow, but by lunch it was looking definite I wouldn't be doing it as the high winds forecast showed so sign of changing. But had a work event in the evening so no chance to head out.
Sat: nothing
No parkrun because of the high winds. Thought I'd get out later but went to the pub instead. With the missed parkrun had been aiming to re-focus the week and switch it to becoming one of the 38miles, but didn't happen.
Sun: 13.2 miles @10:31 avg pace
Had some bad sleep over the past few days and was not feeling as lively as usual, but meeting friends at 4pm so had to get this done. Plan had been 4 Holyrood loops to get some hills in and make 14 miles ... but ended up walking bits of the 2nd climb, then the 3rd climb (normally I never walk on these more gradual climbs) ... at that point I decided to abandon the park and finish the run on flatter ground. Legs were a bit heavy and I had negotiated a discount to 12miles with myself, but as I neared the house I found the energy to do a small deviation.
weekly total: 31.1miles as 4 runs, 13miles Long Run, HMP pace run
Seems I must have HMP and fartlek swapped over in my own copy of my plan I think. No parkrun this week but I did 2 miles extra.
11th-17th February:
The plan: 39miles incl 14LSR with hills, 4HMP session
Mon: 1mile w/u, 4 miles @HM pace, 1.2miles c/d
Getting the week started early because now wanting to do the parkrun on Saturday, aim was to pull the session(s) early in the week so they wouldn't interfere with that. Again aiming for 8:40 for HMP even though I hope the truth is a bit better. In fact I only achieved 8:43, 8:49, 8:49, 8:43, for those HM miles, but not too worried given that I had 13miles in my legs from yesterday.
Tues: 5miles easy @10:22 avg pace
Loop of Holyrood (plus a little bit extra) done from the house. Thought I felt a little bit of ball of foot soreness on lhs, and had noticed similar this a day or two ago. Made a note to watch it but have felt nothing since.
Wed: nothing
Was planning 5 miles with fartlek to make up for the missed session last week, but was tired so took a rest instead.
Thurs: 7miles @10:08 avg pace, 5 strides in final mile
Holyrood loop plus some extra. Needed to get some mileage in, but was also thinking about the fartlek; had an idea that I might just do one mile of fartlek in the middle so as to keep the legs fresh for Saturday. Changed my mind mid-run and just did some strides at the end.
Fri: nothing
Sat: 1.2miles jog w/u, parkrun in 24:04, 1mile c/d
The aim was sub-25min *or else*. Nice clear day with a bit of a breeze, but nothing major. Was very mild (like the past few days) and I wore my shorts. Was not sure what pace to start out and and played it by effort, the pace started to drop more quickly than usual and was down below 8min pace quite early ... slightly worried but was cautious - 7:37 for first mile. Continued the decent pace, was quite surprised to look down at my watch around 1.3miles and see sub-7:30, did a slight bit of backing off but despite that (and despite turning back into the wind) 7:30 overall for mile 2... mile 3 slower at 7:47 but I had a bit of a headwind for all of that mile. Quite happy with that and given the wind it was a pretty consistent effort, was able to hold my pace for the "bit" but no energy to sprint or anything like that. Aim is definitely to take more time off that going forward.
[7:37, 7:30, 7:47, "bit" @7:28]
Sun: 13.45miles @10:15 avg pace
As often happens this one was delayed past the planned time. I had enough daylight to do a loop and a half inside Holyrood Park but had to exit after that and do the rest round the coast and suburbs. Was aiming for anything between 12miles (or 10 if the legs were tired) and 14miles, got nearly all 14 done at a consistent enough pace. The legs were feeling light and the pace was comfortable, however, I'd been at a party the night before and hadn't got out of bed till 1pm today, definitely I had got my rest!
weekly total: 37.1miles, 13.5mile LSR, HMP run
This is pretty much as planned except I only did 37miles in total .. but I had two in hand from last week.
I went back to the McMillan calculator with my parkrun time and it gives 1hr 51-and-1/2 mins equivalent for the Half-marathon. Am going to work towards that for two weeks time, given that my training has been half-focused to date and I should have the miles in the legs. So 8:30 pace for my two remaining HMP sessions.
Plan for next week is still 35miles with a HM pace session and some fartlek, and since I have visitors next w/e the mileage will be front-loaded a bit - will only help with the taper for my HM on the 3rd.0 -
-
El CabaIIo wrote: »A bit early but best of luck at the weekend M! Great to see you get a get a stretch of training like this together and making big progress again. Onwards and upwards and have a gud un on Sunday!:)
Hello El C, and thank you!
Not thinking of it so much as a goal race. The estimate of 1hr 51.5 mins from McMillan is a bit off my PB and from my HMP sessions I think I might even be a bit slower (and am not tapering much) ... so it's more to "see where I am".
All the same cannot believe I have managed to hold it together for 8 injury free months of decent mileage in a row (probably will regret typing that) so never mind the time, and hope to be building on that and doing more races in spring and summer. 0 -
-
Have a blast on Sunday M and well done on great training block.
Thank you Anne, though it feels less like a race and more a time-trial. I will try to have a blast!
18th-24th Feb:
the plan: 35miles incl 11LSR, 5HMP session, fartlek session
Ok ... some of this was done.
Monday, Tuesday: nothing
The day off on Monday was planned, Tuesday was not. Not sure of the reason now but it was probably work, has been busy these past weeks. Not ideal to have missed Tuesday's run as had been aiming to pull mileage early this week.
Wednesday: 1mile w/u, 4miles @HM pace, 1.2miles c/d
Had stuck last Saturday's time into the McMillan calculator and come up with an improved HM pace of 8:30. Not sure how reasonable given that some of the 8:40 pace sessions had been tricky, but you never know. The result was 8:35, 8:34, 8:29, 8:33, just a bit slower than the plan and not all that comfortable either. Had gone out with the idea of doing 5@HMP and as I did mile 3, then 4 ... I knew I was going to let myself off the final one.
Was doing this on the meadows near work (where I do most of my fartlek/tempo runs), this is the same location where I will run the half this coming weekend.
Thursday: 8miles @10:07 avg pace
Getting some miles done. From the office into Holyrood Park for a loop of the circuit and then a shorter loop through the interior trails. Over 4miles of this was on trails iirc.
Friday: 10.9miles @10:12 avg pace
The mission: to get the long run done *and* finish tidying the flat before the visitors arrive. Had hoped to have the flat in shape before today but was running a bit of a deficit on the housework, left work early to come back to the house for 3pm but wanted to do the LSR as I knew I'd have no chance at the weekend. It was done, first a loop and half of Holyrood, and at that point was feeling the effect of the (minor) climbs so came out of the park to do the second half round the suburbs.
It was after 5:30 when I got back home and the visitors were due around 6pm ... but luck was on my side, I got a text saying the arrive time was actually 6:50 to the bus station, and by the time they'd walked from there I had myself showered and most of the remaining tasks done
Saturday: 5.3miles @10:29 avg pace, 5hill sprints in final mile
Came back from touristing in the afternoon and the others were resting and dozing, I threw on my gear to get this done. Stopped at a perfect hill-sprint hill after the 4mile point and did my 5hill sprints.
Sunday: nothing
Had been planning to do 5miles today, even hoping to get the fartlek done in there. Was looking hopeful as we again returned to the house in latish afternoon ... but when we got back there was a power cut, so no chance to get out. Was a bit knackered anyway after a few days of playing snap and getting jumped on and the "strongest head" challenge :pac:
weekly total: 30.4miles including 11mile LSR, 4HMP session
Also did the hill sprints. But mileage was short of the 35, and no fartlek was done (and I think there was another fartlek session missed a couple of weeks back).
25th-3rd March:
the plan: 33miles incl HM race, 3HMP session
Except now the mileage is going to be a bit more because I will make up some of the missed mileage from last week. Somehow the "miles in legs" goal seems even more important than the race .....
Monday: nothing
Had meant to do the missed 5miles/fartlek from yesterday but too tired.
Tuesday: 8.5miles @10:16 avg pace
Trying to get some of my miles done early, especially important after missing yesterday's run. Done from the office in late afternoon, this was one loop of Holyrood and also the interior trails. About 5miles on grass/trail.
And then back to the office for a few more hours of work ...
Wednesday: 1mile w/u, 3miles HM pace, 2.2miles c/d
Done at the venue of Sunday's race again. Aiming for 8:30 pace but what I got was 8:36, 8:35, 8:26. The first mile can be excused as I didn't notice the w/u mile finished until about 1.05, so I picked up the pace a bit late.
But overall this was a bit of an effort, would not be sure I can do Sunday's race at this pace, we'll see.
Thursday: 5.5miles @10:25 avg pace
Some nice flat neighbourhood loops at an easy pace, added in the extra .5miles to make things even for the February total mileage.
Now I really need to taper a bit. Will do 3 easy miles with strides tomorrow, then take Saturday off. Sleep has been bad, so need to catch up on that.
Here is the new mileage table with Jan 2019, Feb 2019 added. Still feels like tempting fate to be publishing this!
Month|2013|2014|2015|2016|2017|2018|2019
January|55|85|70|49|29|55|145
February|69|9|96|30|44|76|138
March|53|57|134|61|98|106|
April|85|61|85|40|118|55|
May|65|71|145|26|116|48|
June|51|43|89|7|0|93|
July|25|99 |79|76|7|127|
August|84|120|26.5|97|15|107|
September|18|131|0|85|47|116|
October|83|0|15|95|49|114|
November|78|3|62.5|103|2|130|
December|53|56|86|111|29|131|
Total|719|735|888|780|554|1158|
0 -
Didn't manage to get out on Friday at all.
Saturday: 2.9miles incl 3 strides
Did this in the late morning to make up for missing it yesterday.
Not quite sure how to summarise today's race, in some sense it went better than I expected and if the distance is right, then my time (1:49:23) is a marginal PB. But the distance was a fair bit off on my watch and I can't be sure it was all due to turns and turnarounds ... so will not be claiming it. At worst, I have a 12.7mile run @8:37 pace under my belt.
Sunday: Meadows half-marathon in 1:49:23 official time (12.68miles @8:37 pace)
After tracking the weather (windy) and a bad night of sleep I was feeling a bit less keen on this. I went along though, this is not the first time I have felt this way. Only about 100 HM runners starting but there was a group of Marathon runners already on the course (for 2hours+ by now) and also some 5k runners.
This was set up as a truncated lap of the meadows, with a little leg up-and-down Middle Meadows Walk as an extra detour each lap (this little about .15miles each direction). Had not been too happy to see this little leg when I checked course details the night before, it's not a horrendous climb but when you are pushing it hills always feel worse. I think the lap distance will have been about 1.4miles and we were to do 9 of them, we started/finished about .15miles away from the lap so that also added a bit of distance. I know this park very well, I train here a bit as it's close to my office.
My aim was 8:30 pace (which would give 1hr 51.5), but I was willing to back off if needed.
Miles 1-3: (8:38, 8:19, 8:23) Bit of congestion for the first 1/2 mile or so, the paths are very narrow in this park. Wasn't going to push it for the first mile and I wasn't able to exploit the first little downhill (the "down" of the little leg), but I did pick it up a bit in the second half, still a bit below the target as 8:38. Miles 2 and 3 came in at 8:19 and 8:23 and these both included one of the up-and-down legs ... that was interesting, it was a bit more work than I would have liked. Main thing about these early miles is that despite performing well, I was *working* at this stage, I prefer to have a few comfortable miles in the early stages of a half. Ah yeah, another observation - positive motivational cheerleading can be very annoying. There was one main offender and I think after the second time round she'd worked out to tone it down when I was coming past
Miles 4-6: (8:24, 8:29, 8:41) A special 4th mile as this one was only on the flat and missed out the up-and-down stretch. A reprieve! Though looking at the Strava record I wasn't slowing all that much on the uphills in the first half of the race. By mile 5 I was beginning to think I had slightly overcooked it with the starting pace and I started thinking I would aim to have miles 6-9 all slower than the 8:30 target. That's what happened, mostly. Though .... I'm not sure all the slowness was entirely by choice.
Miles 7-9: (8:25, 8:36, 8:58) Yeah ... don't have great memory of the details here except that I was leaking time. Mile 7 was another of those nice "no up-and-down leg" miles, hence faster. Was paying a bit more attention to the change in pace and noticed that (of course) I was losing time of the uphill leg, but was not really making it up on the down (despite pushing) and the pace wasn't budging after turning back onto the lap. Suspected there might be some Garmin inaccuracy due to the 180 degree turn at the top of the "leg" and the sharpish turn back onto the main stretch. You have to occupy the mind somehow...
Also had been thinking about the course structure and realised that I should hit 2/3 of the course just a little bit after finishing lap 6, so checked my watch at that stage and was very pleased to notice that 1.5 times the current time would bring me in under 1hr 50. Gave me hope.
Little bit of hope lost when my efforts for the last third of mile 9 needed up with no better than 8:58, a low point .... but after an extra .1-.2 the watch was showing well below 8:30. Had noticed that before too. So Garmin and/or drags on the course possibly to blame.
Miles 10-12: (9:07, 8:26, 9:01) Only strategy for the rest of the race was to wring what I could from it, but not push so hard I'd blow up. Mile 11 again without the up-and-down, the others slower than I wanted. Actually I thought of stopping and going home after mile 10 beeped when I saw the time, but held off on my decision and again after .1 or so was seeing a good pace again. Later I checked the mileage just a bit after finishing the penultimate lap (when I only had 1.5 or so left to do), and adding up could work out the Garmin distance would be quite a bit below the 13miles. So nearly there.
Final "mile": (.68 @8:44 pace) Had picked up company around 11.7 or so, was trying to get ahead of another runner but she wasn't budging and we ended up running side-by-side for quite a while. She was still there as we headed up the little "up" for the final time, but I had got ahead of her by the top. Then a turn to bring us onto the little stretch of cobblestones (*yeuch*) to the finish. I couldn't see her and wondered what had happened but she showed up a bit later and *ahem* congratulated me on being so fast (For an auld one, I suspect). 1hr 49min 31secs on my own watch, a few secs lower on the official results.
It was very nice to see the time on my watch (in fact my PB from 4years back is exactly 1:49:31) but having difficulty believing it. Given the 9 lap thing I suppose it's *possible* the Garmin could have lost .05miles each time round the lap, but I wouldn't rely on it. Quite happy with the progress and it's all good training, so never mind.
weekly total: 36miles as 5runs, 1HM0 -
-
-
Advertisement
-
Advertisement