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Sub 5 minute mile

Dubh Geannain

I'm the wrong side of 35 now and have spent the prime of my sporting life playing GAA.

The new football manager last year didn't fancy me as much as his predecessor so I got to sit and watch a lot of games last year (2018). The upshot was that by October when the season wrapped up I was relatively unscathed after what would typically be a grueling season.

What to do, I thought, with this spare energy I had? I went back to doing my usual 4.7 km run a couple of times per week. Times have been consistently around 18 minutes and into the 17's sometimes (over 6 years). I managed to hit 17 minutes once during a few months out of the football when that was all I was doing.

Anyway, I was working out that if I wanted to break 17 minutes on that particular run I'd be looking to run at a speed of 5.8 minutes per mile or thereabouts. Then the brain wave hit me. "I bet I could run a 5 minute mile at my current fitness level, I just never tried it".

I couldn't. Pride before the fall and all that.

My pedigree
1990s: U17 All Ireland 10 km. Time - 40 minutes. I came 12th or 15th I can't remember exactly.
2007: Connamarathon 1/2 marathon. Time - 01:29:xx

Not a lot there really

but I always kept up the bit of jogging when not playing ball.

I was never a speedster and found the half marathon above curtailed my speed even further so I swore I'd not train for any long distances again until I was definitely finished playing football. I've definitely got a little regret now that I wasn't smart enough to try and do a bit around sprints and middle distances but in my head I think I'd resigned myself to playing my part as a Brian Dooher type forward.

Condition of right foot
1x bunion (has become more prominent in the past year)
Range of motion limitation in my right ankle

Obviously around the turn of the year (I only started seriously on November 19th) was never the best time to be starting out so discipline was always going to be a little issue to start with.

I set about following my own plan which no doubt is flawed but wanted to see where it might take me. I'll detail how it's gone so far in my next post. Hopefully tomorrow, if not Monday.

Incidentally, my mile run is along a stretch of road that incorporates a humpback bridge and I suspect a slight incline overall but will confirm my actual time on a track if I feel I'm close enough.

I just want to add finally, this challenge re-ignited an interest I forgot I had in athletics (there's a tangential change in my youtube viewing history in late 2018). Even if I don't make it due to injury or otherwise it has been worth it so far and I look forward to passing on what I've learned to the kids.

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Swashbuckler

I was gonna say my the same but was in two minds. If you want to build your aerobic base (which I think absolutely you should) then all your easy and recovery runs should slow down.

Itziger

Am I reading this right? Your 5k PB is 18.45 and your 5k recovery run is 19.57.

My 5k PB (I've done 1 timed 5k!!!) is 17.50 and my 5k recovery run, if I did one, would be 25mins.

Anyone else think this is strange? Admittedly we're very different types of runners as most of my races are Half or full marathon distance.

Dubh Geannain

Week 01

Monday - 6.6 km - 27:21 mins. . Bumpy path
Wednesday - 15 x short hills on grass at medium effort. 30 seconds up and 50 seconds rec back down First kind of session in a month so took it easy enough. Hamstrings a little tight afterwards
Thursday - 9 km Long run* - 34:58 Wet and windy run. * means I hope that soon this won't be what I'd call a long run
Friday - 5 km recover run - 19:57 Tired enough today after doing 3 from 4 days.
Saturday - 3.5 km moderate - 13:20 Legs still a little tired so a nippy run out to close the week off. Ran 3 kms at increasing effort [3:57, 3:40, 3:33]. Nice to have the watch to see this info.

Week total: 32.7 km from 5 days

At the peak of my training last year I was doing 25-35 km per week so 32.7 km for the first week back is an acceptable starting point for me.

Dubh Geannain

So I finished the year at approximately 1,100 km.
Mile PB: 05:02
5 km PB: 18:45

As expected over December I enjoyed more inactive days than active. It involved a few easy runs between 3.5 to 9 km at around 3 runs per week. No sessions.

My focus for January will be to increase mileage. I've got a feeling that it's my aerobic base that is my main shortcoming. From following other peoples logs, my lack of mileage is what always jumps out at me. I hope to achieve this either by running extra days during the week or increasing the distance on my current runs.

I finally got a sports watch as a payment in kind which doubled up as a Christmas present so now armed with the new tech I'm hopefully going to learn a bit more. The calculator and google maps won't be needed as much

I'l keep the log going until the end of February anyway and then see from there.

Murph_D

Don’t forget you’ve only raced twice (I think?) Times achieved during races are the only ones that count, and racing well is something that takes a while to learn. You’re doing pretty well!

Dubh Geannain

Total distance run in 2019: 1,020 kms (approximately)

So a quick reflection on the 12 months, which is as much for myself.

Personal running related lessons learned

Easy runs are a thing
Long runs are needed, even for middle distance running
Long runs are longer than I would have thought
Progress can be slower than hoped
Benefits of interval running
Discovery of MilePace workouts
Training for the mile did improve my 5 k pace, I think, without putting it to a proper test but not as much as maybe I thought it would. (using my 4.65 km runs as the gauge here)

Questions still to be answered

Do my times really benefit from running in races. This may be down to me not having specific plan to peak for a certain date.

The chart above shows that I certainly made progress. I made a 5.25% improvement over the year or a total of 29 seconds on my initial 5:31 attempt. Using a straightline fit I could be at 4:58 by now :pac: but I know it's not that simple and that Gains V Time get smaller the further along I go.

I was training in parallel with the GAA for most of the year, which I found surprisingly okay to cope with. Although, my initial long runs were not even 5 km.

Over the year-
[*] my long runs have become longer (still though 10 km is not long enough) [*] my hills went from 30 m to 185 m
[*] my days per week running went from 2-3 or 4 to 4-5 pretty consistently

Obviously there were a couple of set backs here and there, all related to illness though and no injuries. I had probably 10 good months out of 12 when all is added up.

In summary, I didn't hit my target, which should bother me more and does at times but then I reflect. I've followed much more accomplished runners within these logs and see the grind and work that they have put in over longer time frames and often with smaller gains to show for it. All understandable of course when you're coming from a stronger base to begin with. The small gains are to be celebrated too and any day you PB is certainly a good day, is the mantra I've learned, so thanks for that.

Baby no.3 is due in the late February/early March so I've got a little time left to hit my ultimate goal before all bets are off. Going to try and target another NIA in January hopefully and then see where to after that.

Signing off the log for 2019, so Happy Christmas and New Year to everyone. Thanks for reading and especially for the sage advice I've received from the posters on here over the past 12 months.

Dubh Geannain

Very little to report here since the race. I've had a combination of voluntary/involuntary time off. 9 days now since I ran now, which is probably no harm at all.

The week of the race went like this -

03 Dec - 1 mile race - 05:02 PB
04 Dec - 4.65 km steady - 17:13. Not a bad time on this lunchtime run considering the race the night before. Should have run it easy but was working off a little frustration from the night before.
06 Dec - 10 km long run - 38:55. A sub 40 minute 10 km, so was happy with that. Last 2 kms were in 3:37/km pace having gone out in 04:07/km pace for the first 6 km. The outward leg of this route is ever so slightly uphill compared to the return leg so the time differential is likely a little narrower than that.

Last week was a blank week. After the run on the 6th I took into three 12-hour days of DIY in the spare room which included a Monday "holiday" from work. Room emptied, then gutted and then completely redecorated. Included installation of new coving, skirting and floors. Fell into bed on the Monday and woke up during the night having contracted a gastro bug from one of the kids. This lasted 2 days but took me until the weekend passed to get completely right again. Lost weight I didn't have to lose so I'm now in a good position heading into Christmas :pac:

As I've passed the 52 weeks since I took on my challenge I'll write up a summary post of my year. Plan is for easy miles for a while. I don't quite have the urge for any hard sessions just yet.

MY BAD

Congrats on the PB. I think with a few more mile races experience you will go well below the 5 minute mark. Clane AC are hosting 1 mile race on Friday the 13th of December if that suits you. Outdoor so the weather might be a factor this time of year.

Murph_D

Definitely no expert here, but I've run a few track miles, at least one of which was indoor. I'd say the spikes will go a long way toward getting the required 3 seconds, tbh, and as you've identified, a little bit more commitment between in the third quarter of the race. Congrats on the excellent PB - something to celebrate for sure.

Sacksian

A lot of people get that metallic taste in their mouth after a hard anaerobic effort (particularly after an 800m). Probably shows how hard you're pushing. I don't think it's anything to be concerned about.

Also, losing concentration in the 3rd quarter of the mile or 1500m is where everyone feels they lose time. Even when you listen to world-class 1500m runners at championship events, they mention the same thing. I think it's a point at which you zone out a little, due to the effort, and then afterwards we reckon that's where the missing seconds were (even though they could have been in the first 400m).

The rhythm of mile races always seem to be first 409m hard, settle for 400m, then the twilight 400m before going hard for 400m. The most effective way to run it is a positive split too.

Some strategies I've read about to overcome the twilight zone (and, to be honest, I've never been comfortable or fit enough in the 3rd lap to try them out) is that you specifically target that third lap mentally. Not sure how effective forward planning is when it comes to the middle of a race though. The other strategy is to break the race up into something other than quarters.

This sort of stuff is what this thread used to be for: https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin//showthread.php?t=2057119644&page=52

Letsrun.com has loads of threads about middle-distance tactics. There's a lot to wade through. Hopefully, the race on Tuesday gave you the appetite for more!

Dubh Geannain

Gah, I just noticed I'd posted the wrong hyperlink in the race report. Might deserve a post on it's own anyway. Folks were probably wondering what I meant by leaking air sacs.

https://www.outsideonline.com/1785581/why-do-i-get-metallic-taste-my-mouth-during-intense-exercise

Dubh Geannain

Sacksian wrote: »

Well done! Indoor is generally going to be a little slower than outdoor - get Santa to get you a pair of spikes, keep the training up and go again in the New Year and I guarantee you'll be under 5.

It might also have been good if you'd be in our heat with more people around you going for sub-5. I really hate running from the front but happy enough though as training has been up and down over the past few months - yourself and IT have me tempted to finally start a log here instead of posting on your logs!

The indoor cough is an occupational hazard.

I'd be very interested to follow what you'd do week to week. I know IT (if I was to compare to anyone) does a bit/lot more mileage than me for example. I've talked about upping my mileage but seem to have plateaued at around 20 mpw for the last while. Passed 1,000 km for the year last week though which is definitely a first for me.

We've baby number 3 due early next year so Santa may not be bringing spikes. Might get a smart watch though :pac: We've a scan on the 17th so I won't get to the NIA again this side of New Year.

Cheers WW, that's a very good point.

Wubble Wubble

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

5:02 - PB

Laps 5/6 - 3:48 (split 78)
Isolated, running my own race in last place here I felt I was cruising a little. I'd decided before the race I'd only check the clock every second lap as there would be too many numbers for me to be remembering. It might have helped here if I knew where I was supposed to be, but I should have realised that although the midway split was on time, my 2nd quarter was off by 3 seconds so I should have picked it up again a little during this which I didn't.

Laps 7/8 - 5:02 (split 74)
I saw the clock at 4:48 as the announcer was saying 2 laps to go for me shortly followed by 1 lap to go for the lead runner so I knew he was bearing down on me. I blanked on what 4:48 implied for my target by was always going to dig in with the 2 laps left. I was lapped on the home straight of lap 5, stepping out to let the guy by. This might have cot me a second. Once he crossed the clock was stopped at 4:28, I passed a second or 2 later so I knew I'd need a 30 second final 200. No idea if I had that in me or not but I put the boot down as hard as I could. The runner in second last place had been about 30 metres ahead of me before lap two. I finished about 3 metres behind him so the benefit of chasing someone helped for sure.

The middle of the race looks to have been my undoing again. That said I wonder if I pushed harder then would I have any kick left for the final lap. When I crossed the finish line I'd nothing left. I actually thought I might have sneaked it so viewing my watch for the first time at the end was disappointing. 150 versus 152 for the two halves. Should I be looking at negative splitting or going out hard and trying to hold on.

I ended up googling this last night. It's happened a few times during hard runs this year and came back again last night. Leaking air sacs maybe
https://www.outsideonline.com/2401802/how-stick-new-training-plan

Well done, 4 seconds is a decent improvement! It's very hard to judge over such a relatively short space of time - in contrast to, for example, a half marathon, where you've a lot more room to manoeuvre in relation to systems checks and in-race mathematics. It's very easy to lose interest if you start getting isolated - 5 minute miles don't leave much time for minding yourself. You know it's there - fingers crossed next time you'll seal the deal.

Sacksian

Well done! Indoor is generally going to be a little slower than outdoor - get Santa to get you a pair of spikes, keep the training up and go again in the New Year and I guarantee you'll be under 5.

It might also have been good if you'd be in our heat with more people around you going for sub-5. I really hate running from the front but happy enough though as training has been up and down over the past few months - yourself and IT have me tempted to finally start a log here instead of posting on your logs!

The indoor cough is an occupational hazard.

IvoryTower

Honestly, 4 seconds is huge, I got a 2 second pb and I'm delighted. We're both fit enough to run sub 5, just haven't got the race practice.

Dubh Geannain

Official Time just gone up - 05:02:99 Ha!

I also see the wining time was 4:21 not 4:28. Maybe the clock wasn't stopped or I was blurry. That's confused me a little.

Dubh Geannain

5:02 - PB

No official time seen for this yet but that's what my watch tells me. My instinctive response was disappointment to only gain 4 seconds since my last track run during the summer. I thought I'd put the work in, albeit with a non-ideal last 2 weeks. But then on the drive home I realised I haven't been following a validated plan and shouldn't be too harsh on myself. I was coughing all the way home too and until I went to bed. That's some very dry air in the arena.

The Race
There was a bit of confusion about heats and who went where. I was due to run in the second heat but saw they were letting folks run in either. I was going to jump into the first heat as well, when the steward asked my name and said I should wait for the second. I might have set the bar too high for myself with the online entry putting in what my PB was as I could tell I was in with some serious runners. I was the only one sporting Asics, the rest were all in their spikes.
I took my start place on the outside, expecting most to tear off past me into the first bend.

Laps 1/2 - 1:12 (split 72)
The sprint to the first bend wasn't as intense as I expected and I found myself ahead of 3 or 4. It was all fairly bunched and I was sitting on the outside of another runner for the first lap. Falling in behind him during the second. Went through 3 seconds up, thinking "feic Ive gone out too fast again".

Laps 3/4 - 2:30 (split 78)
I let a little gap open up to the guy in front and was duly passed by two runners. I think I was passed by the final guy on the final bend of lap 4. Crossed the line on time so no panicking.

Laps 5/6 - 3:48 (split 78)
Isolated, running my own race in last place here I felt I was cruising a little. I'd decided before the race I'd only check the clock every second lap as there would be too many numbers for me to be remembering. It might have helped here if I knew where I was supposed to be, but I should have realised that although the midway split was on time, my 2nd quarter was off by 3 seconds so I should have picked it up again a little during this which I didn't.

Laps 7/8 - 5:02 (split 74)
I saw the clock at 4:48 as the announcer was saying 2 laps to go for me shortly followed by 1 lap to go for the lead runner so I knew he was bearing down on me. I blanked on what 4:48 implied for my target by was always going to dig in with the 2 laps left. I was lapped on the home straight of lap 5, stepping out to let the guy by. This might have cot me a second. Once he crossed the clock was stopped at 4:28, I passed a second or 2 later so I knew I'd need a 30 second final 200. No idea if I had that in me or not but I put the boot down as hard as I could. The runner in second last place had been about 30 metres ahead of me before lap two. I finished about 3 metres behind him so the benefit of chasing someone helped for sure.

The middle of the race looks to have been my undoing again. That said I wonder if I pushed harder then would I have any kick left for the final lap. When I crossed the finish line I'd nothing left. I actually thought I might have sneaked it so viewing my watch for the first time at the end was disappointing. 150 versus 152 for the two halves. Should I be looking at negative splitting or going out hard and trying to hold on.

I ended up googling this last night. It's happened a few times during hard runs this year and came back again last night. Leaking air sacs maybe

https://www.outsideonline.com/2401802/how-stick-new-training-plan

Murph_D

Good luck!

Sacksian

Try and get a ticket online tonight if you can as I think they're selling out:

https://www.sportirelandcampus.ie/nialive

IvoryTower

Great stuff, I'll be in red drogheda vest along with a friend also in same vest. Both going for sub 5, he should be well able for it, I hope to scrape it. We'll drag each other around hopefully.

Dubh Geannain

The structure of the previous month has slowly fallen apart. :rolleyes:

On a positive note I've been getting consistent kms in just not the sessions. I had planned on tapering a little during the week past anyway before running the indoor mile race this week. And I did manage to do that but my days were all jumbled up as I found myself on the road with work a little bit.

I won't even write what the plan was as I ended up doing what I felt like on each day.

Also, no mile attempt, for the 1 year anniversary, as my trusty route was flooded the couple of days I was in the office so I decided I'd have to save myself the drama for the following week.

Week 53

Monday - 9 km long run - 34:37 Began by making up for missing my long run from the previous week and to sweat the remainder of the weekends beer out of me. Was aiming for sub 35. Got there, with a little more effort than I would have liked towards the end.
Tuesday - 6 km easy - 23:42 New runners. Legs tired from yesterday, which wasn't too surprising.
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - 8 x 185 m Hills w/ 70 sec recovery [32, 34, 33, 34, 33, 33, 35, 33] 2 km warm-up, 2 km cool-down. Attempt at tapering here so did 8 instead of the usual 10. So I ended up running these a little harder than normal. My average time turned out to be just over a second faster than my usual average time for 10 of these. Done at 9:30 pm after a daily round trip to Wexford.
Friday - 5 km v easy - 25 mins Caught a little chill after the night before I think. Not helped by the fact I had some ice cream before jumping in the shower as I was waiting for the bathroom to be vacated :pac: . So I set off on this very easy. My left foot arch was sore setting out.
Sunday - 3 x 4 minute tempos with 2 mins slow in between. 6.7 km in 28 mins. The end to an ill disciplined week. I'd intended on tapering by doing a lower volume of reps on my regular interval workout but didn't get any Intervals or MP workouts this week either. 10 pm getting out here and it was cold so settled for some tempo work to keep some sharpness in the legs before hopefully my mile attempt in a couple of days. Arch was sore setting out again and afterwards once I warmed down.

So I've got a sore arch on my left foot. I'm not sure it's down to the new runners which I wore on and off last week. I had started feeling it a little bit the week before without it being actually sore. It hurts a little to walk now and when setting out running but is not sore once warmed up and going.

Tomorrow's NIA is in sight now. I think the arch will hold up for a blast at it as long as parental duties don't intervene. Have spent a bit of time rolling a golf ball under it and will keep at that into tomorrow. If it does and I make the race I might give it a rest for a week or so, whether I get under the 5 or not.

Dubh Geannain

Ding ding ding. 52 weeks! My worst week in the last month too

Scuppered a little by having a sore throat (which thankfully didn't get worse or need antibiotics) and a Pink Floyd tribute gig at the weekend.

I'm down around 3-4 lbs from when I was footballing (October). Not intentionally, but I haven't been doing any weights so it's been lost from the chest/shoulder area mostly. I feel lighter obviously but a little less strong. I'll hopefully pick a few weights up again during this week.

After Tuesday, the plan went out the window.

Plan was -
Monday - Easy run
Tuesday - Hills
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Long Run (8-10 km)
Friday - Recovery run
Saturday or Sunday - Interval Run

Week 52

Monday - 5.8 km easy - 27 mins Along a very bumpy path, in the dark. Legs still tired from Saturday mornings workout
Tuesday - 8 x 310 m hills w/ 2 min rest and 3 min rest after the 4th [64, 64, 65, 64, 65, 67, 68, 63]. Work took me back to Dublin for the morning so off to military road I go again. Didn't feel 10 of these were on so settled for 8. It's amazing the extra burn from these being 50% longer and slightly more steep than my usual hill. Throat felt a bit sore soon afterwards. Started loading up on the honey and lemon.
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - 5 km easy - 19:40. Minding myself with a sore throat. So no long run today, just an easy 5 km.
Friday - 4.65 km moderate - 17:03 Still cautious about pushing too hard or red-lining on this run but done at a decent pace.
Saturday/Sunday - Missed workout- Less mass = less capacity to drink. With the hangover on Sunday I thought it best to rest up. I could have run a little but don't want to be catching a cold unnecessarily at this stage.

Dubh Geannain

More or less stuck to plan last week with a day slipping here and there but the main sessions were done. Motivation was a little lower for some reason but Saturdays workout gave me a nice lift.

Again, plan was -
Monday - Hills
Tuesday - recovery run
Wednesday - Long Run (8-10 km)
Thursday - rest
Friday - A Milepace workout
Saturday or Sunday - Medium run (3-5 km)

Week 51

Monday - 10 x 185m Hills w/ 70 sec recovery [33, 35, 35, 35, 35, 36, 35, 36, 35, 33] 2 km warm-up, 2 km cool-down. Very cold night. I felt good heading out but found the going tougher than expected. A big dinner of spag bol an hour and a half before probably didn't help.
Tuesday - Missed recovery run A common theme it seems this training block.
Wednesday - 9 km long run - 34:32 Another cold lunchtime run. My watch was covered by skins so I didn't check any waypoint times along the route, taking it nice and comfortable. Then I couldn't resist and checked with around 3 km to go. I was trying to just focus on consistent form and cadence but ended up picking up for the last km. Very pleased with the time which is a record for this route by 5 seconds without being at full tilt. The wind direction was also unfavourable today. Average pace of: 03:43/km with last 3 kms in 03:45/km so nice consistency.
Thursday - 4.5 km v easy run - 21 mins Supposed to be rest but had to make up for missing Tuesday.
Friday - Pushed session back a day
Saturday - 10 x 400 m with 60 seconds standing recovery [71, 72, 73, 72, 75, 75, 74, 74, 76, 72] Reported already. Out on Saturday morning, the extra days rest probably helped the energy levels here.
Sunday - 3.5 km moderate run : 13:38 Legs more tired than I realised from the day before.

That was week 51 so I'll probably be doing a mile run myself on the road before racing on December 3rd. You never know... Currently have a mild throat infection so we'll see how that plays out.

Sacksian

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

I've been wearing the same pair of € 80 Asics since around December last year, be it running on grass, road, path or track.

Do I need particular runners for the indoor?

I'd say you could run in any runners but discontinued models of spikes can be picked up very cheaply online. And, if you're worried about sizes, you should still be able to drop into a local bricks-and-mortar place and pick a pair up for a reasonable price.

The indoor track will still be faster than the road whatever you're wearing but spikes do give an advantage as they're lighter and specifically designed for track running.

Dubh Geannain

I've been wearing the same pair of € 80 Asics since around December last year, be it running on grass, road, path or track.

Do I need particular runners for the indoor?

Murph_D

+1 to the above - ALSAA is ok for a 6-min breakthrough but probably not a 5. NIA is where it’s at. The indoor meets are great, and you could end up with a European champion in your heat (happened to me!)

Sacksian

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

I was meant to do a MilePace workout / fitness test yesterday but had to make do with setting out this cold morning. Very glad I did.

These were the trusty old 10x400m repeats Sacksian suggested many months back (on a walking path here). I don't know why but I decided to start with a 60 second standing recovery and inevitably increase it for the latter few runs. But, to my surprise I didn't need to. These were still tough from number 5 onward, and I did contemplate increasing the recovery towards the end but stubbornness won out.

10 x 400 m at MP with 60 sec recovery [71,72,73,72,75,75,74,74,76,72]

With, many clocking in quicker than target(75) at the start, it took me a while to get my pacing right. The one blip at 76 was when I hit some traffic so could not push hard for the last 20 metres, having to run out on the grass.

I really hope this is a good sign of solid progress.

Well done - both yourself and IvoryTower are a lot more consistent than I have been for the past couple of months!

I did an ALSAA race years ago, there was a decent crowd and they're a very friendly bunch and but the track is really, not good and definitely one of the slowest tracks I've ever raced on. You're depending on the weather as well for good turnout. You could end up in a massive race with a very wide range of standards.

There's a mile on the 3rd as well in the National Indoor Arena (and the 17th) - there'll be a sub-5 race and it really is a great experience running indoor in a facility like the NIA, makes you want to train harder to get the best use of a track as fast as that. And, as long as I'm not injured or sick, I'm going to do the NIA Mile on the 3rd for that reason!

After Christmas - you've got a few more NIA nights and, if you sign up with your local club to get an AAI number, you've got about 4-5 more opportunities to run indoor in Abbotstown or Athlone in the new year.

IvoryTower

Some going, with that sort of fitness you likely just need to race, maybe a couple of races to crack it but the fitness is there

Dubh Geannain

I was meant to do a MilePace workout / fitness test yesterday but had to make do with setting out this cold morning. Very glad I did.

These were the trusty old 10x400m repeats Sacksian suggested many months back (on a walking path here). I don't know why but I decided to start with a 60 second standing recovery and inevitably increase it for the latter few runs. But, to my surprise I didn't need to. These were still tough from number 5 onward, and I did contemplate increasing the recovery towards the end but stubbornness won out.

10 x 400 m at MP with 60 sec recovery [71,72,73,72,75,75,74,74,76,72]

With, many clocking in quicker than target(75) at the start, it took me a while to get my pacing right. The one blip at 76 was when I hit some traffic so could not push hard for the last 20 metres, having to run out on the grass.

I really hope this is a good sign of solid progress.

Dubh Geannain

Managing to roughly stick to my plan. Trickier this week with one of the kids being sick.

Plan was -
Monday - Hills
Tuesday - recovery run
Wednesday - Long Run (8-10 km for me)
Thursday - rest
Friday - Intervals or some Milepace workouts
Saturday or Sunday - Medium run (3-5 km)

Week 50

Monday - 10 x 180m Hills w/ 70 sec recovery [34, 35, 34, 34, 35, 34, 36, 35, 35, 35] 2 km warm-up and 2 km cool down
Tuesday - Missed recovery run due to sick kid.
Wednesday - 9.1 km run - 39.20 Wet and very bumpy route. I went out at 9pm here with the headtorch. Such was the weather it wasn't illuminating too far in front of me though. But I got the run done, which was the main thing.
Thursday - 3.5 km moderate run - 12:58 Was a planned rest day but needed to make up for Tuesday to went for a short snappy run. Comfortable run at a moderate intensity level and well pleased with the time Vs effort level.
Friday - 18 x Intervals (40 secs hard with 30 secs jog) Found these very tough this week, especially from 14 to 17. Pace definitely dropped off a little bit for those but the effort was hard a least. Last one is always the easiest to do.
Sunday - 6 km easy - 25 mins

Weekly totals are between 30 - 35 kms the last few weeks. Not comparable to some contributors on this forum

but it's certainly a lot more than I'd certainly have been clocking up weekly at any time in the last 10 years.