Man! I feel like a runner

Mon 16th
Tried to establish a decent routine with this working from home malarkey. Up early to do some homemade exercises for 40 mins. Worked it like the classes I was doing in town, think I did well Out for an easy 5k that evening for some air, a stretch and general goodness. 3.3m @ 10.22/m.

Tues 17th
A strange St Patrick's Day. Started the day with an easy hour, 6 miles @ 9.58/m. Then spent the day indoors with my housemates with a homemade quiz, a game of The Lyrics Board (honestly a great game to play over a few drinks), some movies and beers. Could be worse sure.

Weds 18th
Work is still quite busy, and likely to get busier depending what happens, so it was nice to get out for something of a session that evening. Did the 6 x 4 mins CV session off the grads plans. Planned pace was 7.50-8.00, and my actual paces were: 7.51, 7.49, 8.04,7.46, 7.36, 7.38. Bit fast on a few. Felt good. 7 miles total.

Thurs 19th
The place I've doing classes have started streaming online workouts, so did the one at 11.30. 100+ squats I'd say. Grim
Easy hour that evening then, 6 miles @ 10.02/m.

Fri 20th
11.30 workout again - I'm finding it's forcing a good break from work and all the sitting. Heavy on the core :-/
I wouldn't usually run on a Friday but honestly, the need for fresh air is high and I'm fearful there will be a day in the next while when we lose this freedom So I'm taking every opportunity to get a run in. It's really helping the general sense of anxiety too. 3.4m @ 10.06/m.

Sat 21st
I'd decided I'd do a 'hard' 5k effort as a replacement for parkrun. 2 mile warm-up over to UCD, and then got set to run the 1m loop I see Jerry Kiernan's crew use! I figured I was there early enough to avoid the dogs, but sadly not. It was super windy out by the pitches, so by the 3rd lap I actually switched direction to see if it would help. It did not. 5k was approx 24 mins I'd say. 6.1 miles total, 8.52/m avg pace.
Home for pancakes and then some extreme cleaning and another workout. May as well get the core strengthened anyway!
Good news that evening when my brother's test was negative. Lucky.

Sun 22nd
What a beautiful day out. I'd decided 90 mins was plenty for my Sunday long run, given the mileage I'd already added this week. Headed towards the canal and back through Kimmage. I spotted some groups of cyclists who apparently don't need to distance themselves :mad: but mostly everyone on the paths were giving each other plenty of space. 9 miles @ 10.08/m.
I then drove to Offaly to chat to my parents from my car while they sat a good distance away on a bench in their front garden They're not letting anyone in, which makes me sad even though I know it is 100% the right thing. I think it's just because I know for them to have taken it seriously, it means they're a bit scared. Anyway, they were happy to see me and are keeping well!

Total miles: 41.1. My first 40+ week this year. All it took was a global pandemic!

My approach is going to stay the same now, each day as it happens and get out for a run every day while I can. Stay safe everyone, and happy mother's day to all the boards mammies.

The start of this week feels like 3 weeks ago... lots of changes and quite an emotional week!

Mon 23rd
Online workout mid-morning. Finding these great.
Easy 5k in the evening and my first (and only) unpleasant encounter with a walker. I stopped waiting for oncoming traffic to pass so I could step out on the road but as the cars passed the lady first, she stepped out and I had to move back to the inside of the path but she gave out to me for not stepping out... Apparently I should have removed myself as a problem permanently by stepping out in front of the cars? Smiled at her and said I was waiting for the cars to pass and carried on my way. It made me cross for a good 10 minutes however, especially since I spent good chunks of the run on the road / cycle lane anyway. Decided she would have had an issue with whatever I did, even in non-pandemic times. 3.1m @ 10.14/m.

Tues 24th
Another online workout.
Waited until 7pm to head out and the roads were much quieter, which was what I wanted after the previous evening's encounter. However, the downside is I was starving for the whole run :pac: 6.2m @ 10.02/m.
Home in time to watch the Taoiseach's address and was surprised no further limitations yet really.

Weds 25th
Aaaand another online workout.
I wanted to do some sort of a session to break things up. Looked through my Garmin Connect to see what was loaded on the watch already. I spotted the 5,4,3,2,1, session from the grads plan last year which I really enjoyed, and thought "I could change that up again to make it a pyramid"... :rolleyes: yeah, it was hard...! I shall make a fancy table (hopefully) to display my efforts :pac:

Rep Time|Target Pace|Actual Pace|Recovery Time|
5:00|08:12-08:24|08:05|5:00
4:00|07:50-08:00|07:46|4:00
3:00|07:30-07:40|07:32|3:00
2:00|07:10-07:20|07:12|2:00
1:00|06:45-06:55|06:17|4:00
2:00|07:10-07:20|07:07|2:00
3:00|07:30-07:40|07:30|3:00
4:00|07:50-08:00|07:41|4:00
5:00|08:12-08:24|08:14|5:00

I had only intended on a 2 min recovery after the 1 minute, but as I completely flogged myself I needed a 2 min standing break also :pac:
There is a reason I am not a coach, as that was far, far harder than it looked on paper, although I really enjoyed it so there's that. 8.2 miles total for the evening.
Best sleep of the week that night!

Thurs 26th
Took a break from the workouts as I was shattered enough from the session the night before. 5 easy after work was done for the day, 9.56/m. Out to do my grocery shop after 9pm when the shop was nice and quiet.
I was due to fly out to my best friend in Dubai next month, which I already knew wouldn't happen, but the flights were officially cancelled this day.

Fri 27th
Back to the workout mid-morning.
Easy few miles that evening before the new measures came in. 3.4m @ 10.01.
The address that night took the wind out of my sails a bit, genuine fear creeping in. I worry for my parents who are taking it mostly seriously, but definitely are not taking the advice for all 70+ to stay indoors at all times. They're fairly sprightly and want to stay that way... My brother and his fiancee also postponed their May wedding to later in the year; she works in St Vincent's so its for the best regardless.

Sat 28th
Up and at 'em and back to trying to stay positive! Out before 7.30am to run within 2km from home and avoid people as much as possible! Decided I'd do a little tempo in the middle of it, 2 miles came in at 8.35 and 8.17. 6 total for the morning. Back home and saw a text in the Novice group from Dealerz 3 miles into his epic 20 miler!!
Spent the evening in tears as my best friend had her baby in Dubai; all good but it had been an anxious afternoon waiting for text updates!!

Sun 29th
Another early start for a trot around near home. 8 miles @ avg 9.37/m. I tried to slow up but I was feeling really good so went with it?! Not sure it counts as a brief run, but I saw about 4 other people, and I was prepared to just head for home if the paths got busy. Once I keep that in mind, I think I am being responsible. 10 mins of core work when I got home.

Total miles: 40.1
I've also now managed to run 16 days in a row which I have definitely never done before! Gonna continue to take each day I can run as a good day and something to be thankful for right now. The plan is to run before starting my work day to avoid being near people. I might have to add a post-dinner 10 min walk though as the days are a bit long when you have all the outdoor stuff done first thing!
Stay safe and sane folks

Mon 30th
Run before WFH (as with all midweek runs this week), 3.4m @ 10.11/m.
Indoor workout at lunchtime.

Tues 31st
6.2m @ 10.40/m. Highlight of this run was meeting a couple out running, she went onto the road , he started to tuck in against the wall / hedge which would have left me in the middle until she yelled at him "GET OUT HERE" :pac: he sheepishly obeyed
Another 30 mins workout at lunchtime.

162 miles for March.

Weds 1st April
Knowing I wanted to do a mile time trial the coming Saturday, I decided to do one of the Vo2 sessions off the grads plans, 6 x 2 mins. Went with 2.30 recoveries. I'd noticed people seemed to be able to get into the sports field across from my house which is owned by a (I believe) private school in town, so I decided to investigate - there is a gap in the fence. I sneaked in myself to do the reps. Definitely harder on uneven grass, but enjoyable all the same. Not sure I'll go in again as it is trespassing in fairness. 6.5 miles total for the morning.
30 mins workout that evening.

Thurs 2nd Apr
6m @ 10.00/m. Nothing of note.
Lunchtime 30 mins workout.
Great day at work to be fair with something I've been working on for months coming to fruition, so I celebrated with a couple of glasses of prosecco :pac:

Fri 3rd Apr
3.3m @10.15/m. Still just enjoying getting out at all. Not so amazing day at work with announcements of voluntary layoff schemes, inevitable really though.
Evening 30 mins workout.

Sat 4th Apr
Morning of my planned 1 mile TT. 2ish mile warm-up, with the second mile not as easy just to get a bit more ready for faster running. There's a little oval green in a housing estate about 500m up the road which I know from previous sessions is approx 400m in length so my plan was 4ish laps of that (until the watch beeped). Did a few drills and then a Garda car showed up :pac: They drove slowly so I studied my watch, and when I saw them leave the other end I got going! One lap in and I checked the watch, 6.10 pace apparently but I felt good?! Let's keep going, then the Garda car came back and followed me for a bit on my 2nd lap - possibly helped! Lots of heavy breathing now but feeling strong. Finished the 3rd lap to the sight of a woman on the green with a dog off lead so I headed down through the housing estate, pretended it was the last stretch of a track and pushed on, and hurrah a 6.05 on the watch Felt like puking immediately afterwards so I think I did it right. Walked a bit to enjoy the moment and recover, before a 2 mile cool down. Had a nice old cough for a while when I got home and had to assure the housemates it wasn't the plague.

This was also doubling as my max HR check (I can't imagine it being pushed more by the end?!), was wearing my HR strap. Hopefully close enough to work off anyway.

Sun 5th
Up at 8 to head out for a long run. Again, I was going to play it by ear and cut short if the paths got too busy but they were actually fine. Lots of pleasant hellos and smiles from runners and walkers and cyclists. Actually got chatting to a lovely older man (2m away) who runs with Sanctuary Runners from time to time and knows a few from these parts involved with same 10m for the morning, 9.50/m average. Hamstrings a bit tight, presumably from yesterday's efforts so will have a roll on a sliotar later :pac:

40.9 miles for the week. Slightly raging.

Last week of Lent now, have been really good with snacks etc thanks to this so I might actually extend it.. I've actually managed to lose weight the last 2 weeks (some of the weight I gained not running last Sept/Oct), so I'd hate to undo it with chocolate now!!

Before this Covid19 time, my plan was to follow a 10k plan from the Matt Fitzgerald 80/20 book, hence the HR stuff, and I think I'll just do that anyway. The idea was to be ready for Dunshaughlin 10k, but obviously can't see races going again in June. Still, I could get myself ready for a TT or at the very least just enjoy following a different plan. Nothing to lose really.

Murph_D wrote: »

Good stuff!

Watch how you've set up your Zone 3 - not sure which book you're using, but the one I used (80/20 Running) has Z3 at 96-100% of LT HR. Z2 is 81-89%, so there's a buffer zone between Z2 and Z3 - mainly to try to maintain a better separation between 'easy' and 'moderate', and also to get you to do those moderate runs closer to LT. I see you haven't built in this buffer so you risk running the moderate runs a little easy (this would explain the Z3 equating to HM pace as you say - I'd expect it to be a bit faster than that).

Best of luck with it.

Thanks.

Yes, I used that book but the LT calculations confused me so I went with working backwards off max HR... thanks for pointing this out. I'll have to try figure out zone 3 better - slightly raging Zone 3 isn't supposed to feel as comfortable as I thought

I've decided to change to Level 3 but ended up just gradually moving across to it during the week. The week 3 of both aren't all that different anyway really.

Mon 20th
Easy run, and I decided I'd try do it on grass as the legs were feeling the effects of all the concrete a bit, but after 10 mins or so in the sports ground across the road I'd had enough. The grass was very long, the ground is uneven and with the frostiness my feet got very cold! Back out on the paths to finish the run. 4 miles avg pace 10.31/m.
20 mins HIIT session that evening.

Tues 21st
A fast finish run, HR was a bit elevated throughout but not unexpected. Zone 3 was a bit slower for the HR as a result, 8.47 - 9.00 pace. 5.2 miles for the morning. I was feeling pretty tired also.
35 mins S&C.

Weds 22nd
I'd slept really poorly so decided to give myself an extra hour in bed and run in the evening. Of course, ended up being a really stressful day of work, and when I headed out I forgot the HR strap, so I just ran. Probably a little hard, avg pace 9.34/m, but it was needed.. especially when I ended up back in front of the laptop for the evening anyway. 4.5 miles.

Thurs 23rd
Another rubbish sleep, so another "lie-in". It was a better day workwise though so a much better evening run! Back to running by HR for an easy run, still a bit slower but enjoyable run nonetheless. 5 miles, avg pace 10.07/m.
30 mins S&C (gentler class).

Fri 24th
Back to morning running, and skipped the planned session with the TT the next day. Easy run, HR back to normal, 4 miles avg pace 9.58/m.

Sat 25th
Boards 5k TT - 21.56

Ok ok, so I had put 22.30 on the predictions table. But as time progressed, I asked myself why I wasn't aiming for better given the mile TT I did a few weeks back. This remained at the back of my mind all week, and I'd decided I'd set out at 7.00min pace and see how I could hang on!

I'd laid out shorts, day of Irish PBs vest top, and my Nike Zoom Elites (no Vaporflys here). Contact lenses in, race hair ready (i.e. a plaited ponytail ) HR strap on so I'd see if max HR matched the mile TT. Out of the house about 7.30 for a 2 mile warm-up. I knew I'd push a little on the warm-up to make sure the legs are warmed up a bit better. I did a few drills then as I would for a race and got ready to start this thing.

Mile 1
I started on a slight incline and hoped this would keep my starting pace sensible, and think that worked for the most part. Settled into 7.00 pace quickly enough and kept it there for the long stretch along bird avenue, took the corner onto my road pretty smoothly and took advantage of the slight downhill past my apartment. The last bit along here before the right turn is pretty downhill, and I'd hoped I'd have good momentum to carry me up the hill a little better - ha, fat chance. And I'd be doing that a second time! My breathing was heavy now, but forced myself to settle on the flat piece of road I was now on. 7.00 flat for mile 1. Jeez V, you're great for sticking to a plan I said to myself.

Mile 2
About 200m into Mile 2, I hated everything. I had to resort to my tactic of telling myself to get to the halfway point. I've been reading Let Your Mind Run by Deena Kastor this week, and she talks A LOT about positive thinking so I rather cringely (is that word?) started to try it myself I won't share those thoughts! There was more of a drag on this part of the loop than I'd given it credit for but I just kept trying to push on, pace had slipped to 7.03 for the most part. I have no recollection of seeing people near me, so let's hope not? Got along Bird Avenue for the 2nd time, and definitely my best 2 mile split ever. 7.05 for mile 2.

Mile 3
I had to tell myself not to settle for the consolation prize of a good 2 mile split. Come on now, you can collapse after one more mile (and a bit). Back to the short steep hill, get up it. I can't give up now, imagine how you feel if you break 22? Oh god, is this how 5k are supposed to feel if you're running them properly? I'm never doing this again. I looked at the watch to see half a mile to go, facing the drag before the turn on to bird avenue for the last time. I'd chosen my start point so I'd finish along this straight flat road to allow for a good push like a finishing straight in a race. It didn't work; all I could think was how f*cking long is this road!!! Eventually the countdown for the 5k workout starts and I can stop.. 21.55 on the watch but it rounded up to 21.56

Hunched over my knees, gasping for breath, but I was very happy.
I think if it was a race setting, I'd have pushed more at the end with people around me etc, but I don't know if I'd have pushed throughout? I had the same thought after the mile TT that I am a terror for telling myself I shouldn't be near such-and-such in a race, they're faster than you, hold back... whereas on my own I'm only racing myself. It's an interesting thing.
Another thing is the mile TT gives a sub 21 5k time on Tinman. I CANNOT imagine holding a faster pace than I did yesterday (right now) so I don't know what this says about my running. I really don't think I could have gotten much more out of myself than I did yesterday.

Just about managed a cool down eventually, and home to do a bit of decent stretching.
Wonderful morning watching the results roll on here and on Strava. I was buzzing all day from it, and it reminded my yet again of the wonderful little running community on Boards. Grateful to be part of it, and OONegative give yourself a massive pat on the back for putting it all together. Hopefully a nice few bob rolling into that charity also.

Sun 26th
9 mile long run, with 7.5 miles in Zone 2. Fab morning, but my legs were definitely feeling yesterday's efforts! They loosened out after a bit and all was good. Avg pace 9.47/m.
30 mins core and mobility work, followed by yummy pancakes. Loving my Sunday mornings during these times!

Total miles: 38.3. Good week :cool:

Comic Book Guy wrote:

Brilliant achievement to crush your PB in a TT environment.

Cheers, but I'm not gonna count it as PB... unless I never break 22 in a race
Pity you didn't feel like giving it a lash, I think you would've surprised yourself.

Mr. Guappa wrote:

Super result V... delighted for you. I think you should take great confidence and belief from that performance. Great training over the last while too, very consistent.

Thanks A, it's a confidence booster alright, and happy to build from this. Not that there are any races on the horizon but it's nice to know I'm getting stronger / faster all the same! Hope you get back to normal soon, I can only imagine the frustration at this stage.