Spiral out - keep going

Treviso · 15-03-2020 06:26PM

Friday 13th - 9m easy, 8.43avg

Or Day one as it's now known. Went for an out and back from Carrigaline to Crosshaven along the walkway. Not many people about at that time. Was an enjoyable run as I didn't feel any DOMs from the previous day's hill sprints.

Day 2 - rest

Day 3 - 13m@7.40

What a difference two days makes - walkways were jammed packed with all sorts of traffic for this one. Guess I need to get used to it, or venture out earlier. The run is a good way to break up the day so might keep as is.

In terms of running, this one went so much better than last week's similar run. More rest from the last session, plus the session being easier, meant my legs were a lot fresher for this. Maybe dodging between everyone made me keep concentration on the paces, but was able to keep to them and even go faster towards the end. Was suffering for the last 2 and could only go one pace, which turned out to be faster than I should've! Miles were

7.37, 37, 41, 44, 31, 32, 43, 33, 39, 25, 26, 23, 18

Weekly mileage - 53
Year to date - 505 (half way to 1k already, bloody hell!)

I've been fine so far with all the restrictions and self isolation, normally work from home most of the time anyway - the only change for me really is having the wife and kids in the house with me, which is great (have to say in case she reads this

). The only thing that scares me is if the country goes into lockdown and we can't go running. Hopefully the pubs closing and other measures kicking in won't cause that to happen.

Treviso · 18-03-2020 06:45PM

Day 4 - 8m easy, 9.03avg

This run was broken up into two parts, 4 miles ran on walkways and the other 4 on muddy grass. It really did break up the run doing it that way. First 4 miles went quick enough, then a quick change into the spikes and off I went for the rest at a slower pace. Good news is the greens are starting to firm up a bit so should be able to run there more often once the rains holds off (which it hasn't

) Miss the barefoot running!

Day 5 - 7m easy, 8.49avg

Family trip to the nearby park, plan was to run 3 miles with my 2 daughters on their bikes. Then I would pass them onto the OH and complete the rest in peace. The 3 miles with the girls were actually quite pleasant as they broke the monotony. At one stage I was struggling to catch my breath as myself and the youngest were chewing the ear off each other. Handover achieved and finished off the last 4 miles in boredom

Day 6 - 3x2m @6.50 w 1m@8.00 float

Same session as last week but quicker by 5 whole seconds. I knew it should be an ok one. First two miles rep I felt really strong, bouncing along the walkway
6.41 6.45
Float mile was ok and off I went on the second set. First mile was ok but start of 2nd mile, I felt a strain on the outside of my right calf. It caused me to slow and I say I was limping some bit (definitely my gait changed). The strain travelled up my leg, into the hamstring and became manageable. This happened so quickly. My thoughts went from stopping, to slowing the pace, to see how this goes, to it's not too bad, to carry on as normal, to try to redeem the mile time

6.51 6.53
It certainly gave me some food for thought during the float mile but it seemed to have subsided. I decided to carry on. Last rep and the legs were suffering a bit but was able to finished them out quite strong
6.47 6.42

A tempo session on Friday and a longer one on Sunday has me fretting a bit for my legs - they are going to get a battering for the rest of the week. Rest day tomorrow so they'll get a chance to rest up.

With Cork Half marathon now postponed, there's not even a goal race in the distant horizon to train for (apart from DCM). I'm looking at it as an opportunity though. I'm betting that not many runners have put a 5-6 months block of solid training together without running a race. I'm expecting the next race I run to be a world record attempt :cool:

Laineyfrecks · 18-03-2020 07:05PM

Loving your positivity T

Treviso · 22-03-2020 09:19PM

Day 7 - rest

Day 8 - 7m tempo, 5@7.05 2m@6.55

Had my doubts on how this run would go for me - 7 miles seemed a lot at those paces. Good news was my legs felt fine after the rest day. Did the same route as Tuesday but never checked which direction the wind was going. Turned out it had changed direction so a lot of this route was against the wind.

First 2 miles were ok, it was upon turning a corner towards the end of the 2nd mile that I realised my mistake with the wind. 7.00 7.05
Next mile and a half were into the wind. I did think about going back the way I came but persuaded myself to carry on. Once I turned the corner by Blackrock castle, I had the wind at my back for the next two miles. Was able to recover some bit during these 7.08, 7.00, 6.58
Final two miles were straight into the wind so I needed to push quite hard for them. Last mile was quite a struggle, but managed to get to the end on time 6.42, 6.51

Day 9 - 7m recovery - 9.15avg

Wanted to take this run as easy as possible. Went for a new route close to the UCC sportsgrounds, which was a 3.5m out and back along some quiet walkways. Did see a few groups of runner about, which is a crying shame - mostly young enough lads doing it. Run was grand, a new route always help.

Day 10 - 14m 10@7.45 4m@7.25

Not a great night sleep before this run and felt I had some sort of strain on my right calf as well, so wasn't in good form going out for this. Turned out to be ok though, legs were alright for the whole thing. Picked a nice route for this to take advantage of whatever wind was there. Again there was more groups of runners out - makes no sense to me - so people can't run by themselves for a few months. It'll be these type of people that will cause the lockdown of the country and stop everyone from running.

First 10 miles at 7.45 were there or there about, working for them but at a comfortable level if that makes sense. Miles were 7.43, 47, 47, 44, 47, 45, 50, 37, 44, 42

Last 4 and felt the increase in pace, legs were heavy but were good. Told myself it wasn't that long to go and to dig in. Last 2 miles were into the wind and I pushed myself to finish out strong, so the pace increased for both of them. Miles were 7.24, 21, 12, 16

Weekly mileage - 57
Year to date - 562

Biggest ever weekly mileage for me, plus 3 sessions in 5 days that were quite a push. Happy to get through the monster week, although the legs are tired now. Should be recovered over the next 2 easy days, and the next week looks a bit better intensity wise

Lambay island · 23-03-2020 11:15AM

Fair play on the great week with the 3 sessions. I like the looks of that day 8 run you did, might try that at some stage this week myself

Treviso · 25-03-2020 09:01PM

Day 11 - 7m easy, 9.15avg

With all the recent good(ish) weather, I thought that the fields in the UCC Farm would be runnable. Needed some grass running to boost the recovery days. Started off with my spikes on but conditions were so good that I was able to switch to normal runners. Even towards the end of the run, I was able to take the shoes off and do the last mile barefoot. Could feel the benefits on my feet straight away

It's good to have the grass running back, one positive at least

Day 12 - 7m easy, 9.18avg

This was an interesting run in which I had my daughters with me for the majority of it. We started off with me running on the walkways by the Farm and them on their bikes. We managed to do 4 miles out and back before the complaining got too much. After some rest, they wanted to run a mile with me around the Farm.

So all three of us took off, oldest one got a stitch about 100 metres into the run. Myself and the youngest carried on (So cruel you'd think, but we could see her all round the pitch). A lot of stop and starting with the youngest but we eventually got to a mile. My OH was there to rescue me for the rest of the run - long road ahead of us to get them to a junior parkrun but it's a start (and they're only 6 & 7

:D) I can sense I'll become like the dad of the Williams sisters in pushing them :P

Day 13 - 4x1m@6.42 w 1m@8.00 float

A lovely single session for me during the week, I feel spoiled. This is the first phase of an overall pace increase, going from 6.50-.55 to 6.40-.45. I felt confident for this one as they were only a mile long and 4 instead of 5 reps.

First fast mile felt very comfortable, a bit too comfortable for my liking, with pace around the 6.30 mark. Eventually I did fade a bit towards the end, or was I conserving energy....6.40
Float mile was quite easy too (7.59). Second fast mile and again felt good. Started too fast again and faded towards the end 6.39
Another good float mile(8.05) and off i went on the third one. Felt it was taking a bit more effort here, looked down and pace was at 6.50. Had to up the pace to reach the target (turned out it was a gps issue) 6.38
Tough float mile here (8.09) but felt the last mile would be ok - had a slight downhill and a bit of a wind behind me 6.27
Felt great after that mile, so much so that I kept the cool down mile to 8.07. Delighted with how that went. Bigger tests to come, 1 miles were ok, 2/3 miles at that pace will be a different story

During the first 8min float mile of this run, I noticed how warm it was and my head was a ball of sweat. With the lack of barbers available, hair is beginning to get too long. Thinking of buying some hair clippers and shaving my head. Last shaved my head in my twenties, didn't mind it too much except that I look like a drug dealer. Will be interesting to see what my work colleagues will think of the new look during our video calls (now is the time to do it though!!) Could save me a few seconds for my sessions

Flies are back out in force as well, bring back the cold & wind I say

shotgunmcos · 25-03-2020 10:31PM

Yeah noticed the flies too. Fly swattin time already!

Good 4x1m session there

Treviso · 28-03-2020 10:16PM

Day 14 - 8m easy, 8.45avg

Very warm morning for a run, which was a nice change. Remembered to bring the bottle of water from the car into the UCC Farm, nice to get some water after every few miles. 7 miles went quick enough and finished the last mile barefoot

Day 15 - rest

Should've ran!!

Day 16 - brief run

After the new measures were announced the night before, there was a mad scramble to google maps and other distance running apps to see what routes were available. Live in a fairly hilly area with loads of estates, but thankfully Tramore Valley Park was within the 2km radius. It's definitely more hilly than my usual routes but beggars can't be choosers.

Brief warmup downhill to the park followed by more brief miles. Not many people about in there so all was good. Brief miles home up some really sharp hills did not do my legs any good. Happy with how it went. Strangely the run didn't upload to Strava.......

Another brief run tomorrow

Treviso · 31-03-2020 09:57PM

Day 17 - 6m easy, 9.10avg

Typical easy run on grass. Legs were quite tired after the previous day's brief run, so it was a slow slog around the fields. Quite a cold and windy morning, not many people about for a Sunday

Day 18 - 2x2m@6.40 w 1m@8min float

Tramore Valley Park, or home as I call it now, was the setting for this. A 1.3m gravelly path, with plenty of hilly lumps, is the best I can do for these sessions. It'll do me good to get these done in not ideal conditions. Twas a bit windy as well

Was comfortable enough last week doing 1 mile at this pace, but 2 miles together was something I wasn't sure of. Started off the first rep and the pace felt ok, didn't want to go out too fast and suffer later on. Did feel it towards the end 6.41, 6.34
The float mile was quite tough to keep at 8min (8.22) but wasn't too concerned about that really. Felt a small bit recovered before starting on the second rep. As it was the last one I put a lot of effort into maintaining the pace till the end. Was happy to hit the times 6.37, 6.37
Overall happy, but we'll see how I fare when I need to do a 3x2m or 2x3m at that pace. Guess I'll worry about that next week.

Day 19 - 4m easy w 12x30sec hill sprints

I was questioning whether I should do hill work, what with the extra hills that would be involved in my running in the next few weeks. I decided to go with it as i had plenty of options for hills in the 2km radius. Kept it to Tramore valley park though, same hill as the last time so I could compare.

Started with a 2.5m warmup, in which my legs felt really stiff. They loosened up by the time I started the hill sprints. Sprint paces varied from 5.24 to 5.39 for the first 11, with jogged recoveries that were 70 secs on average. I was feeling good for the last one and wanted to give it a full sprint to remember what it was like to run fast. Felt good going at full pelt up the hill in 4.46 - just a bit of fun really.

Nice rest day tomorrow to look forward to.

ReeReeG · 01-04-2020 10:33AM

Treviso wrote: »

Tramore Valley Park, or home as I call it now, was the setting for this. A 1.3m gravelly path, with plenty of hilly lumps, is the best I can do for these sessions. It'll do me good to get these done in not ideal conditions. Twas a bit windy as well

:pac: This made me chuckle
You're still flying it T, good stuff!

Treviso · 05-04-2020 04:50PM

Day 20 - rest

Day 21 - 7m easy, 8.35avg

This was run on grass, with the last 2 miles ran barefoot (increasing as I go). Probably faster than it should have been but was feeling good after the rest day. The goal is to get up to 5 mile running barefoot at some stage (or until I step on something sharp)

Day 22 - 8.5m tempo @7.05

2 weeks ago, I did 7 miles at this pace so it was adding another bit to the tempo. The hillier terrain of TVP made this quite a tough run - although I did hit the paces. It's always a case for me to under-calculate how many miles I have left to run. I get to a point and say to myself I've 1.5mile left, only to realise that it's actually 2.5miles (give a big eff off to myself when I do). Legs were heavy towards the end. Miles were
7.06, 6.59, 7.07, 7.02, 6.53, 7.06, 7.00, 7.00ish for the last half mile

Was happy with how that went. Got my training plan for the next few weeks after the run and the coach has switched focus to 5k/10k training, what with no upcoming races. I must admit I did feel a bit gutted at that decision as I've been making huge progress recently. After speaking with the OH, it's probably a good decision. I'll keep the training sharp till June and then start the buildup to DCM. It could have been a big ask to keep hammering in the miles from now until October. Plus it's good timing, with the boards TT coming up.

Day 23 - 5 miles easy, 8.47avg

Another grass run, was meant to be 8 miles but shortened it to 5. Was meant to add another mile at the end barefoot but couldn't be bothered. The change in plan affected my motivation to run long, which also made me alter the next day's run

Day 24 - 10m@7.40

This was meant to be a 15m@7.40 run but didn't see the point in running 17 miles today. Shortened it to 10 miles instead, ran on grass, but kept similar paces. They say running on grass slows you by about 15-20 sec per mile so pace was quite taxing, especially when it started to rain. It was a tough run mentally but got through it. Wasn't totally focused on the paces but they did seem to average out about right. Felt great afterwards though, no long run fatigue in the legs.

Weekly mileage - 47.5 miles
Year to date - 663 miles

So a new direction, quite a lot of shorter runs so that will keep people like stockshares happy. It's strange to see so much speedwork on a training plan. In my head, they look manageable but it's always a case of going through hell when I'm actually in the middle of them. Will see if the paces are too fast/slow this week and adjust accordingly.

It all ties in nicely with the Boards TT, how could I not enter! I see others are doing TTs for the TT already, I might do a 1 mile TT on Friday to see where I am

Treviso · 08-04-2020 10:01PM

Day 25 - 5m easy, 8.36avg

A nice run around Tramore Valley Park, legs were feeling fresh from the shorter run on Sunday. Therefore, pace was quicker than normal. 5 miles felt quite short given the recent mileage I've been doing - nice change

Day 26 - 12x400m in 91secs w 75 secs recovery

First piece of pace of the week. The 91secs seemed like a soft target given I was doing 85secs a few weeks earlier. 2 reps more this time though. Did 2 miles warmup on grass before moving to a deserted car park to do the speedwork. It's a 500m loop, quite flat so was ideal for this. Reps were quite comfortable, starting too fast and slowing towards the end. I could've done them faster but wanted to keep to the plan. First 11 400s were
88, 90, 89, 87, 88, 88, 89, 86, 88, 87, 88
Was feeling fresh for the last one so decided to give it a blast, full stride and arms pumping. Came in at 77
1 mile cooldown afterwards, bringing it to 7 miles overall

Day 27 - 7m easy, 8.47avg

Was meant to be a 5 mile run but decided to boost my mileage for the rest of the week. Want to keep the mileage around the 50 mark even though I'm focussed on speedwork. Will be plenty of junk miles, need to be more vigilant with warming up and cool down for longer. Lovely day for a day today on grass, not many people about so always a bonus.

Rest day tomorrow and then a 1 mile TT on Friday. Quite looking forward to it in a weird way. Not sure how to approach it but it'll be a great learning curve

Lambay island · 08-04-2020 10:50PM

Treviso wrote: »

Rest day tomorrow and then a 1 mile TT on Friday. Quite looking forward to it in a weird way. Not sure how to approach it but it'll be a great learning curve

Pedal to metal job I'd imagine- no pacing yourself there. Something on my to do list also. Good luck.

Treviso · 10-04-2020 07:36PM

Day 28 - rest

Day 29 - 1 mile TT - 5.05

Felt good after yesterday's rest day, didn't sleep that great the previous night. Was either too hot or too cold in the bed. Started off with a 3 mile warmup with some dynamic stretching. Was wondering at what pace to go with all through the warmup

Switched to the NEXT% and did 1 lap of the route, place was deserted but had seen a father and son go by previously. Route was a 500m(ish) loop so had to do 3 loops. Definitely felt the bounce of the NEXT%. Weather was quite hot and sticky, was sweating before I even started.

Off I went down the main straight, going at a pace that I felt was quite a push. Thought I went off a bit too fast, going at a pace I wouldn't be able to maintain. At the end of the first loop, I made the mistake of glancing at the watch and it was something like 4.35. Frightened me to be honest but knew I wouldn't be able to keep that up. End of the 2nd loop and the father and son were walking through the route. Was able to pass them safely first time.

Legs & arms were killing me for the 3rd and final loop, never felt so much lactate acid in my arms (need to start doing S&C). By now the pace had definitely slowed a small bit. Looked at the watch to see what was left and saw the pace was at the 5 minute mark. Saw that the father & son were still walking through so had to change the route and do another turn. Was seriously gasping for breath on the final stretch, deep heavy breathing the whole way. Finally heard the watch beep, stopped it and saw it was at 5.05 - was elated

Immediately afterwards, both my calves started to cramp up - don't think they could deal with running at that pace yet. Had to stretch them out for ages and try to walk it off if I could. I was tempted to get in the car and drive home then but knew I needed to do a cool down. Once I started running, the calves calmed down and I was able to do a 3 mile cool down.

Nice to actually do some sort of TT, and I'm guessing race conditions would not affect a 1 mile result too much. But I would hope to do sub 5 on a track some day. Puts my targeted time for the boards TT up in the air in my mind. If anyone has an opinion, let me know. PB is 18.46 from December so i should be able to run faster than that. By how much I dunno - is 17.59 a reasonable time?

skyblue46 · 10-04-2020 07:44PM

Treviso wrote: »

Day 28 - rest

Day 29 - 1 mile TT - 5.05

Felt good after yesterday's rest day, didn't sleep that great the previous night. Was either too hot or too cold in the bed. Started off with a 3 mile warmup with some dynamic stretching. Was wondering at what pace to go with all through the warmup

Switched to the NEXT% and did 1 lap of the route, place was deserted but had seen a father and son go by previously. Route was a 500m(ish) loop so had to do 3 loops. Definitely felt the bounce of the NEXT%. Weather was quite hot and sticky, was sweating before I even started.

Off I went down the main straight, going at a pace that I felt was quite a push. Thought I went off a bit too fast, going at a pace I wouldn't be able to maintain. At the end of the first loop, I made the mistake of glancing at the watch and it was something like 4.35. Frightened me to be honest but knew I wouldn't be able to keep that up. End of the 2nd loop and the father and son were walking through the route. Was able to pass them safely first time.

Legs & arms were killing me for the 3rd and final loop, never felt so much lactate acid in my arms (need to start doing S&C). By now the pace had definitely slowed a small bit. Looked at the watch to see what was left and saw the pace was at the 5 minute mark. Saw that the father & son were still walking through so had to change the route and do another turn. Was seriously gasping for breath on the final stretch, deep heavy breathing the whole way. Finally heard the watch beep, stopped it and saw it was at 5.05 - was elated

Immediately afterwards, both my calves started to cramp up - don't think they could deal with running at that pace yet. Had to stretch them out for ages and try to walk it off if I could. I was tempted to get in the car and drive home then but knew I needed to do a cool down. Once I started running, the calves calmed down and I was able to do a 3 mile cool down.

Nice to actually do some sort of TT, and I'm guessing race conditions would not affect a 1 mile result too much. But I would hope to do sub 5 on a track some day. Puts my targeted time for the boards TT up in the air in my mind. If anyone has an opinion, let me know. PB is 18.46 from December so i should be able to run faster than that. By how much I dunno - is 17.59 a reasonable time?

Well done T, thats a super effort. 17:20 would be the predicted time off that one. Possibly your softer target of 17:59 would be a safe one to go with and kick on towards the end if you can.

Treviso · 10-04-2020 07:58PM

skyblue46 wrote: »

Well done T, thats a super effort. 17:20 would be the predicted time off that one. Possibly your softer target of 17:59 would be a safe one to go with and kick on towards the end if you can.

Thanks S, yea I saw the predicted race times from that result. I'm thinking with it being a TT instead of a race, it won't line up that way. At least I haven't gone for 18.59

Murph_D · 10-04-2020 08:54PM

Great TT. Hard to extrapolate all the same - you could be more suited to the middle distances. You’ll know soon enough. Pity there will be no graded meets this year, you could have tested that theory!

Treviso · 12-04-2020 03:18PM

Day 30 - 7 miles easy, 9.02avg

With the new 5k/10k training plan, the mileage seems to have dropped to about 30-40 miles per week. I want to keep it at the over 40 mark, so will add more easy miles to my runs.

This was meant to be 5 but did 7 miles on grass. Didn't care what pace I went at, wanted to ease my legs back into it. Really sunny morning, super hot.

Day 31 - 6x1k@6.25 w 95sec rec

Soaked from start to finish, what a difference a day makes. At least there wouldn't be many walkers about

Started with a 3 mile warmup on grass. Quite a lot of surface water for this run, my feet got drenched. Changed into different shoes for the quicker paces.

Must admit the 6.25 pace was not as easy as I thought it would be. Looking back they felt quite manageable, but at the time I did suffer somewhat. Guess all types of speedwork is the same way. Reps were
3.56, 3.55, 3.55, 3.57, 3.56, 3.51
with walking recoveries. A good days work with no after affects from the TT. I was actually more proud of the 4 mile cool down I did afterwards to boost my mileage.

Weekly mileage - 44 miles
Year to date - 707

3 more speedy sessions next week, that seem more challenging than this week. Good mix of variety though.

Treviso · 17-04-2020 09:46PM

Day 32 - 5m easy, 9.08

So my plan to increase mileage failed on the first day. Had a few drinks and stayed up late the previous night so wasn't in great shape that morning. Struggled to do the 5 miles on grass but got there in the end. Didn't feel great all that day

Day 33 - 2m@6.35 3min rec 4x800m@6.10 w 95sec rec

Was still feeling a bit dodge today (mind was melodramatically racing about whether I have COVID-19 or not :pac:) but headed off to Tramore Valley park for this. If I was infected then everyone was doomed in that park with the toxic sweat this session produced. Did a 3 mile warmup and as always felt wrecked during it and wondered how I'd get through the session. Next thing you know, you're on your cool down!

The 2 mile at 6.35 pace were ok, legs starting to feel it towards the end. Not sure I was meant to walk the recoveries but did anyway. Miles time were
6.29 6.33
800s were strange in that I was feeling good for them but struggled to reach the pace. Reps were
3.06, 3.04, 3.10, 3.03
Not sure if it was against the wind for the third one but hard to see where the 6.20 pace came from. Warmed down around a grass GAA pitch there

Day 34 - rest

Day 35 - 2x400@5.40, 3x800@6.00, 2x400m@5.40 w 90 sec rec

Big difference today from the session two days ago. Paces felt easy and legs felt good. Difference was either the rest day, change of location or just a different day. I did these reps around the 500m loop I did the 1 mile TT on. There may be an element of favourable GPS here, not too sure as it seems to be an ok route (2 long stretches and 2 moderate turns)

Anywho, did a 3 mile warmup on grass nearby and started the reps. Always started too fast at the start. Times were
89, 92, 2.58, 2.57, 2.57, 89, 89
Was happy with the times and did a 3 mile cool down. Was building up the mileage nicely again for the week

Day 36 - 7m easy, 8.38

Surprisingly spritely for this run so pace was up. Felt good for the whole 7 miles.

Have a 5 mile tempo tomorrow - bit of a change to the shorter speed sessions

Treviso · 19-04-2020 09:50PM

Day 37 - 5m tempo @6.55

Must admit, day 37 and motivation for running is starting to wane a bit. With the likelihood of no racing for 2020, it's harder to focus on these hard runs with no short to medium goal in sight. I'm hoping it's just a small phase I'm going through.

So this was a 5 mile tempo at 6.55 pace - I remember doing a 6 mile version of this in February and it wasn't easy at all. Went to Tramore Valley Park for this, so the route would be a bit hillier too. Did a 2 mile warmup, wasn't feeling it but reluctantly I set off on the tempo miles. I needed to keep pushing myself to keep at the 6.55 pace, any lack of concentration caused it to drop. I was counting the miles down from the start and did find it tough to complete. I do think I couldn't done another mile at that pace though, big struggle that it would've been. Mile times were
6.56, 6.49, 6.50, 6.48, 6.45
Another 2 miles cool down

Day 38 - 6 miles easy, 8.58avg

Back to Tramore Valley as recent rain would make grass running a bit too muddy. Plodded along for the 6 miles, didn't care about pace. Was running behind some guy for a bit when another runner joined him for a planned run together. There may have been some case for them to do that, but when a third runner then joined them, they were taking the pi$$ - no distance at all. No wonder us runners get a bad name when eejits like them are behaving like that. Now there may have been justification i.e. living together, lovers etc but I highly doubt it.

Probably just in a cranky mood :mad:

Weekly mileage - 45 miles
Year to date - 753 miles

Maybe the 5k TT on Saturday will lift the spirits. Will treat the week like a race week and reduce mileage towards the end.

shotgunmcos · 19-04-2020 10:33PM

The TT will lift the mood. Going to be a flood of TT reports, back slapping, sobbing, DNFs, PBs and calls for the referee! Lol

Treviso · 24-04-2020 09:16PM

Race week!!

Day 39 - 12x400m@6min w 60sec rec

Did these reps on the same loop as the TT. A 3 mile warmup on grass and off I set. I knew that 6 minute pace would be comfortable enough but the 60secs recovery was shorter than normal. If I didn't have the TT this week, I might have tried to jog the recoveries, instead I walked them. Reps were

84, 88, 88, 86, 88, 86, 87, 85, 85, 86, 87, 85

Felt good after them. Finished with a 2 mile warmup to bring me to 9 miles in total. Need to replicate that effort for the full 5k tomorrow and let the vaporflys make up the rest for me

Day 40 - 7m easy, 8.37avg

Not happy today. Went out to the UCC Farm only to see they had blocked all the entrances and put signs up everywhere saying no entry. Makes no sense to me. Plenty of open green space that everyone (runners, walkers, dog walkers, families) was using and maintaining easy social distancing was now gone. Instead we're all pushed to the nearby narrow walkways where everyone is on top of each other. Bit of an agenda by the Cork Athletics board against certain clubs & high profile runners has prevented this amenity from being used.

Anyway rant over. Ran the 7m on those walkways effing and blinding the whole way round

Day 41 - 3x1m@6.28 w 2min rec

This was meant to be 4x1m but knocked a mile off for tapering reasonings. Also walked the recoveries

2 mile warmup and off I went. Fast miles were
6.25
6.24
6.10
Didn't think I was going that much faster for the third one, but good signs. 2 mile cool down bringing it up to 7 miles

Day 42 - rest

Day 43 - 3m easy, 6x100m

Prep day. Ran the 5k route so could determine the place to start, number of loops required and the proposed finishing line. 10 loops required, start and finishing line same enough place so happy enough. 5k time was about 26mins, need to knock a few minutes off that tomorrow.

Did 6 strides afterwards but didn't really push it. They were fairly bad strides tbh.
All set for tomorrow, looking forwarding to it. First mile should be ok, probably be too fast, then it'll be 2.1 miles of hurt. Hope my prediction of 17.59 isn't too ambitious! PB is 18.46 but I'm hoping improvements since December, plus the advantage of no racing line extra distance - just 5k - will see me improve

Treviso · 25-04-2020 08:49PM

Day 44 - Boards 5k TT - 17.46

Had a hectic week in work this week, with Friday being quite a long day. This TT was a welcome distraction and release. Had a good night sleep last night so preparations went well. Drove to the planned route only to find I forgot to bring my water and chocolate milk with me. Lack of water made me worry as it was quite a humid day, even at 10am.

Did a 2 mile warmup, legs did feel heavy but it's a taper feeling I'm kinda used to. Changed into the Nike shoes and was ready to start. Route is a 500m loop of the Greyhound Track carpark, so I needed to do 10 for the 5k total. Normally there's no one there except the odd walker but today we had loads of walkers, another runner do some sort of session and two blood bike guys meeting up for a chat before work. Decided to setup a 5k workout on the watch so I could see the distance countdown, but more importantly see the average pace for the whole run and not just the current mile. Stood on the start line for about 5 minutes just making up excuses for not starting. Eventually I started

Mile 1
Starting off at a nice pace that I felt was about right, looked at the watch and it was 5.15. Again I thought $hit, gone too fast again but I reckon I caught it early enough. Settled back and got into a nice 5.44 rhythm, which felt ok for this mile. Said to myself all I needed to do was to maintain this pace for the rest, no faster or slower. 3 loops of the track and 1st mile beeped in 5.46

Mile 2
Was happy with that, wasn't pushing fully but going at a good tilt. Remember starting to look at my watch quite a bit from this point on, counting down the distance. As I passed the bikers for the 5th, I can only imagine what they were thinking. Started to struggle towards the end of this mile but was maintaining pace. Normally the 2nd mile for me is always the slowest but today it was the fastest 5.40

Mile 3
I was counting the loops down from here and checking the distance left on my watch all the time. Breathing was starting to go fully maxed and legs were pleading to stop. I didn't have anything in me to increase the pace but was happy to keep the average pace at 5.44. Got to the last loop and turning the last corner the last mile beeped 5.45

Last bit
Didn't think I had much of a kick left in me but gave it all and was surprised to see it at 5.18

As some other poster's report said, every 5k should have a grass field near the finish line. I remembered to stop my watch before I dropped to the nearest plot of grass in a heap. Grass was still wet from the morning dew and was a welcome relief. Was probably full of dog pi$$ or laced with corona virus but I didn't care. Managed to get to my feet, calves were cramping really badly - like a knife was sticking into both of them. Tried to keep myself moving and stretch the cramp out. Eventually I was able to head off for a 2 mile cooldown.

Ecstatic with the time, wasn't much extra I could give for it. There may have been favourable GPS with the loop and I did wear the vaporflys, but hopefully the lack of race conditions counteract that. We'll see the next time I get to do a 5k race.

I was dubious about the proposed 5k TT when I first saw the idea, but OONegative did a great job organising the whole thing and I'm glad i took part. There was so many great TT results came in today in Strava and it did make me feel really part of the Boards A/R community. On to the next one!!

Lambay island · 25-04-2020 09:35PM

Treviso wrote: »

Day 44 - Boards 5k TT - 17.46

Had a hectic week in work this week, with Friday being quite a long day. This TT was a welcome distraction and release. Had a good night sleep last night so preparations went well. Drove to the planned route only to find I forgot to bring my water and chocolate milk with me. Lack of water made me worry as it was quite a humid day, even at 10am.

Did a 2 mile warmup, legs did feel heavy but it's a taper feeling I'm kinda used to. Changed into the Nike shoes and was ready to start. Route is a 500m loop of the Greyhound Track carpark, so I needed to do 10 for the 5k total. Normally there's no one there except the odd walker but today we had loads of walkers, another runner do some sort of session and two blood bike guys meeting up for a chat before work. Decided to setup a 5k workout on the watch so I could see the distance countdown, but more importantly see the average pace for the whole run and not just the current mile. Stood on the start line for about 5 minutes just making up excuses for not starting. Eventually I started

Mile 1
Starting off at a nice pace that I felt was about right, looked at the watch and it was 5.15. Again I thought $hit, gone too fast again but I reckon I caught it early enough. Settled back and got into a nice 5.44 rhythm, which felt ok for this mile. Said to myself all I needed to do was to maintain this pace for the rest, no faster or slower. 3 loops of the track and 1st mile beeped in 5.46

Mile 2
Was happy with that, wasn't pushing fully but going at a good tilt. Remember starting to look at my watch quite a bit from this point on, counting down the distance. As I passed the bikers for the 5th, I can only imagine what they were thinking. Started to struggle towards the end of this mile but was maintaining pace. Normally the 2nd mile for me is always the slowest but today it was the fastest 5.40

Mile 3
I was counting the loops down from here and checking the distance left on my watch all the time. Breathing was starting to go fully maxed and legs were pleading to stop. I didn't have anything in me to increase the pace but was happy to keep the average pace at 5.44. Got to the last loop and turning the last corner the last mile beeped 5.45

Last bit
Didn't think I had much of a kick left in me but gave it all and was surprised to see it at 5.18

As some other poster's report said, every 5k should have a grass field near the finish line. I remembered to stop my watch before I dropped to the nearest plot of grass in a heap. Grass was still wet from the morning dew and was a welcome relief. Was probably full of dog pi$$ or laced with corona virus but I didn't care. Managed to get to my feet, calves were cramping really badly - like a knife was sticking into both of them. Tried to keep myself moving and stretch the cramp out. Eventually I was able to head off for a 2 mile cooldown.

Ecstatic with the time, wasn't much extra I could give for it. There may have been favourable GPS with the loop and I did wear the vaporflys, but hopefully the lack of race conditions counteract that. We'll see the next time I get to do a 5k race.

I was dubious about the proposed 5k TT when I first saw the idea, but OONegative did a great job organising the whole thing and I'm glad i took part. There was so many great TT results came in today in Strava and it did make me feel really part of the Boards A/R community. On to the next one!!

Super running and great report. Massive chunk off Togher.
Also been a mile person i think the 2nd mile in a 5k race is the key. You seem to nail it here and by looks of your finish, despite what you were feeling at time, you will still go faster next time.

Treviso · 25-04-2020 09:52PM

Lambay island wrote: »

Super running and great report. Massive chunk off Togher.
Also been a mile person i think the 2nd mile in a 5k race is the key. You seem to nail it here and by looks of your finish, despite what you were feeling at time, you will still go faster next time.

Thanks D. Hoping there'll be more improvement to come with another chunk of solid training

Laineyfrecks · 26-04-2020 07:27AM

Brilliant run & time T! Delighted for you. The consistent training is paying off & it's great to see.

As D said lot's more to come from you with some more solid training! Well done:D

OOnegative · 26-04-2020 07:35AM

Treviso wrote: »

Day 44 - Boards 5k TT - 17.46

I was dubious about the proposed 5k TT when I first saw the idea

Great running & time.

But shame on you for doubting me!!

ReeReeG · 26-04-2020 11:52AM

Bloody fabulous time and running. Another one which shows the benefits of consistent and dedicated training! Nice kick at the end too.

Damo 2k9 · 26-04-2020 12:39PM

Unreal running, really well done man. More to come out of ya for sure, especially in a real race scenario.

Comic Book Guy · 26-04-2020 06:33PM

Brilliant stuff T.

You are really kicking on thru the gears this year. Scary thought but there's lots more to come too!

Spiral out - keep going

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