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Positive Vibes. Negative Splits.

MY BAD

Hi,
I enjoy reading the logs here so I'm starting a log here mainly to be accountable to myself but also I'm hoping I can get a bit of advice along the way. I'm club runner and we have a coach but most my sessions are done on my own which can be hard, but it's circumstances out of my control.

This summer I'm training for mainly 5km races. I had a couple of 5k races this year nothing hectic 18:51 and 18:44. I hope to get close as possible to my 2016 PB 17:59 in Rathfarham at the end of September. These are the dates and distances I hope to race.

14th June 5k
8th July 5k
13th July 4 mile
8th September 5k
30th September 5k

I know a lot of runners here use the imperial system but I use metric so apologies in advance. Over 1200km on the clock this year and around 70km average per week over the past two months. So a nice base behind me, okay let's see how this goes. I'll update this every Sunday.

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AuldManKing

its both the best time to have setbacks (no races) and the worst time (need to run for something to do!).

Keep well.

MY BAD

MONDAY

Rest day.

Tuesday

PM: Easy 45 minutes on grass plus 6x 15 seconds strides.

10.7km @4:41/km

Wednesday

PM: Easy 60 minutes on grass 12.96km @4:42/km

I tend to go a bit too quick doing laps on grass. I'm going to try and slow down especially now that I'm back doing sessions.

Thursday

PM: Easy run back on the roads.7.72km @4:47/km

No particular time or goal in mind just wanted to see how my foot who react. All good thankfully.

Friday

PM: Easy 40 minutes on the road again. 8.65km @4:46/km

I probably shouldn't have ran today but it was hard to resist as it was a peach of a evening. I also wanted to check out a route for upcoming 5km TT. My course starts with the first mile slightly down hill, the next mile is mostly flat, and a bit of a climb to finish. Out and back course.

Saturday

PM: Road 6x1km tempo with 60 seconds shuffle recovery

Warm up plus all my usual activations, drills, plus a few strides. 3.1km in total.

Splits
3:48, 3:46, 3:43, 3:49, 3:46, 3:47

Cool down 2.1km with the 2nd km on grass.

First session in a few weeks. It felt really good to open the legs up again. I've lost a bit of fitness but maybe not as much as I first thought.

Total session 12.2km

Sunday

AM: Easy on the roads.17.07km @4:52/km

Weekly distance 69.3km with 6 days ruining. Plus 769m elevation gain. Normally my weekly elevation gain would be between 300 and 500m. I'm running back where I grew up. It's very hilly in these parts I guess I've no excuse for hill repeats. I think I'll still do a few easy runs on grass next week, a massive improvement on last week.

MY BAD

This is the flattest route where I live for a TT. I used Garmin course plotter and pro strategy to target a 17:15. It's fast start but I'll be working on the finish.

MY BAD

And this is my faster 5km route. I won't be using it for the Boards TT but I think I will run it hard at some stage soon and see can I get a 16:59...

healy1835

Garmin Course Plotter you say...give me the Cliffnotes

Swashbuckler

How did the injury/niggle hold up with the session?

MY BAD

Swashbuckler wrote: »

How did the injury/niggle hold up with the session?

No pain or niggle at all during or after it:)

Swashbuckler

Excellent. Great news

MY BAD

I've decided to run a virtual handicapped 5k race for our club members. I'm just wonder what do you guys think about how I will be calculating the handicap. I want to keep it as simple as possible while keeping it fair.

As the virtual race km, a runner's most recent 5km is used to establish their handicap, or if you don't know your recent 5k time use a best honest estimate. Using 40 minutes as a baseline, divided into 15-second increments.

For example, Runner A has a 5km time of 36 mins 10 secs, so they will have 3 mins 45 secs added to their 5k virtual time.

Runner B has a recent 5km time of 17 mins 25 secs, so they have 22 mins 30 secs added to their 5k virtual time.

Finally Runner C has a recent 5km time of 25:00 so they have 15 mins and 0 secs added to their virtual 5k time.

Runner A runs a virtual 5k time of 35:15 so I add 3:45 to their time. Their time is now 39:00

Runner B runs a virtual 5k time of 18:45 so I add 22:30 to their time. Their time is now 41:15

Runner C runs a virtual 5k time of 27:50 so I add 15:00 to their time. Their time is now 42:50

So Runner A wins the virtual race, Runner B is 2nd and Runner C is 3rd.

Dubh Geannain

Is your course selection but point to point as opposed to out and back or have I got the terms mixed up myself?

Good luck with those split targets.

MY BAD

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

Is your course selection but point to point as opposed to out and back or have I got the terms mixed up myself?

Good luck with those split targets.

My course is out 3k and back 2km. Option 2 is point to point but I don't do that one

Dubh Geannain

Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote: »

My course is out 3k and back 2km. Option 2 is point to point but I don't do that one

Ah, I can see the symmetry there now after the first km and a half.

MY BAD

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Easy on the roads with 4x 15 seconds hills sprints at the finish. 45 minutes in total. 9.36km @4:49/km

Wednesday: 5x1 mile cruise with 60 seconds standing recovery.

3km warm up

Splits
5:48, 5:54, 5:52, 5:53, 5:56

Cool down 3.1km

Its the flattest bit of road as I'll get around these parts. It has a few drags up and down so it's a lot harder to get a feel of the pace/effort compared to the track. My first mile was a bit too hot, I think the rest were okay. I really miss doing sessions on the track. Doing your drills and activations on the side of a boreen always feels a bit rushed.

Thursday: Easy/Recovery 45 minutes on grass 9.24km @4:55/km

Friday: Easy 45 minutes on the roads. Plus 4x 20 seconds strides at the finish 10.6km @4:42/km

Saturday: 2mile, 1mile, 1km, 1mile with 2:30 walking recovery

Warm up 3km

Splits
2 mile @10k (11:31)
1mile @5k (5:30)
1km @3k (3:22)
1mile cruise (5:54)

Cool down 3.4km

I would have liked to have run that 1km a little bit faster but I am where I am. Good session.

Sunday: 16.1km/10miles @5:04/km on mixture of road and trail. Out at 530am to get my run in before work. If I was able to get out in the evening I probably would have brought that run up to 20km. First proper morning run in a few weeks. My legs were quite heavy after yesterdays session so I didn't force it as it was only 10 or so hours turn around.

I haven't up dated my weight in a few weeks I'm now 73kg

Weekly distance 74.3km

Murph_D

Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote: »

I've decided to run a virtual handicapped 5k race for our club members. I'm just wonder what do you guys think about how I will be calculating the handicap. I want to keep it as simple as possible while keeping it fair.

As the virtual race km, a runner's most recent 5km is used to establish their handicap, or if you don't know your recent 5k time use a best honest estimate. Using 40 minutes as a baseline, divided into 15-second increments.

For example, Runner A has a 5km time of 36 mins 10 secs, so they will have 3 mins 45 secs added to their 5k virtual time.

Runner B has a recent 5km time of 17 mins 25 secs, so they have 22 mins 30 secs added to their 5k virtual time.

Finally Runner C has a recent 5km time of 25:00 so they have 15 mins and 0 secs added to their virtual 5k time.

Runner A runs a virtual 5k time of 35:15 so I add 3:45 to their time. Their time is now 39:00

Runner B runs a virtual 5k time of 18:45 so I add 22:30 to their time. Their time is now 41:15

Runner C runs a virtual 5k time of 27:50 so I add 15:00 to their time. Their time is now 42:50

So Runner A wins the virtual race, Runner B is 2nd and Runner C is 3rd.

Nothing wrong with this in principle, although I’d tend to pick the baseline as the average 5k time in your club, rather than the slowest. That way you’re showing people how they relate to this average, while still being fair. Half the runners have time added, half have it taken away. Your way adds time to almost everyone. The result is the same either way though!

Swashbuckler

Great weeks work there lad. Are you still being coached during this pandemic?

MY BAD

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Great weeks work there lad. Are you still being coached during this pandemic?

Not really. I'm in contact but not asking for sessions. When I picked up the niggle/injury it was at the start of the lock down. So I let him know and said I'll have to take it easy for a few weeks and see how it goes. The last two weeks I decided on my own sessions just to see how the body handles it. That session yesterday was is one I've used before in the build up to 5km racing. It's to see how I'd handle a 5km tt particular the 1k faster than my 5k pace. He had me gearing up for spring/early summer 10km racing before the lock down so I'll see what he thinks I should do for the few months.

MY BAD

You might notice I've changed my username

Talking to other runners I see alot of them are struggling with this 2km radius. I'm actually okay with it as every 3rd week I'm on call and don't venture much further than that anyways for that week. I live in a nice part of the world with lovely views and scenery, so no shortage of hills that helps too. I do miss the track and racing. No wonder I'm giddy about the thought of a 5km time trial on boreens. Although the hilly terrain makes it difficult to find a fair course for time trials. Just following up on Swashbucklers question on coaching. I think I'm going to experiment with my training for a while. I don't see anything changing for sometime so this could be a good time learn more myself. But I'll be still using his advice and guidance.

Monday: Very easy 40 minutes. 8.22km @4:53/km. Normally a rest day, I felt that I needed a shakeout as my legs were quite dead. I tried to keep my heart rate low which can be difficult on hilly roads. My HR average was 125bpm

Tuesday: Easy on the roads with 6x10 seconds hills sprints at the finish. 11.55km @4:38/km

I actually stopped for 5 minutes in the middle of this run talking to some club mates and neighbours.

Wednesday: 3km Steady plus 2x Pyramids.

3.3km warm up. My legs felt dead during the warm up.

3km steady was 12.19 which probably was a tad too quick. Trying to shakeout that deadness.

I made a bit of a balls uploading the workout on my Garmin. I normally run pyramids on the track and just press manual lap for every 100, 200, etc like any other track session. But this was on the roads so I uploaded the session. It should have been 100, 200, 300, 200, 100, 200, 300, 200, 100 all with 200 recovery. Instead I uploaded 200, 300, 200, 100, 200, 300, 300, 100. Its all good.

Cool down 3.2km

Thursday: Easy/Recovery 30 minutes 6.15km @4:55/km.
I thought yesterdays pyramids would have put a bit of pop back in my legs again

Friday: Early start out at 6am. Easy plus 5x 20 strides. 6km @4:51/km

Saturday: Shakeout 1.4km @4:50/km my legs felt good.

Warm up 2km plus another 600m doing strides.

5km time trial
My course was a generous one but it's either that or running up hills. When I woke up for work I was checking Strava to see was there any early birds out. I was in awe of Lambay islands 5km. Unreal. I had previously said 17:59 as a prediction time. But decided to go harder after seeing some of the efforts all day on Strava. I uploaded a session of 5x1km on my Garmin with paces between 3:29/km and 3:21/km. So sub 17:30 was the new target. With the way I had my Garmin set up I could only see my current speed and not see the splits until I finished. I think my course choice gave me 15 to 20 seconds but would I make that up in a real race? I suppose my only regret was not pushing harder on the last 2km I gave a good kick with 200 to go I should have kicked with 400 but I wasn't as switched on as I would be in a race. I love the discomfort of 5k racing, it's my favourite distance. Massive kudos to OOnegative for organising the time trial. 17:13 was my time today. I have a club virtual 5k next Saturday so I'll use the same route. My coach was asking how I got on. He's always very positive, even when I showed him the elevation telling me I'll go sub 1630 and beyond someday. You gotta believe.

Splits
3:24, 3:30, 3:23, 3:29, 3:24

Almost 3.4km cool down

Sunday: Easy hilly 20km @4:43/km with a solid 246m elevation gain. HR 129

Weekly distance 77.5km

Swashbuckler

You'll always be Mellow Yellow 26.2

Dubh Geannain

Nice week and great run

MY BAD

Swashbuckler wrote: »

You'll always be Mellow Yellow 26.2

MY is short for Mellow Yellow

MY BAD

My clubs virtual 5km this week

Monday: I was wrecked after my TT and Sundays hilly 20km. So a rest day

Tuesday: Easy 45 minutes on the roads 9.4km @4:47/km
No strides as usual after a race.

Wednesday: 6x1km cruise with 60 seconds off.

I was thinking of doing 4km steady then 10x100m on/off. I think it would have set me up better for my clubs virtual 5km if it was a race I wanted to give 100% towards.

3.2km/2mile warm up plus the usuals

Splits
3:45, 3:43, 3:39, 3:38, 3:37, 3:41

Caught day dreaming on the last km

Cool down 3.2km/2mile

Thursday: Easy 40 minutes 8.84km @4:42/km.

Friday: Early start again this Friday. Easy plus 6x 20 strides. 6km @4:48/km

Saturday: Shakeout 1.4km @4:36/km

Warm up 2km plus another 600m doing strides.

I went hard for a sub 17 but over cooked the first km completely and suffered for it. A good stiff head wind for almost 4km compared to last week when it was very calm.

Splits
3:20, 3:27, 3:25, 3:29, 3:24

17:09 finish on the same course as last weeks 17:14

5km cool down

Sunday: Easy hilly 20.5km @4:47/km

Weekly distance 71.8km

AuldManKing

That's a super time and very solid splits - no real slow down - congrats on that.

MY BAD

I think I've responded great to doing two 5km TTs the last two Saturdays. A bit like racing, it's put a good spring in my step. I hadn't raced properly since late January. I think I needed the discomfort of "racing" after a few months of just training to bring me on a bit.

MONDAY

Rest day.

Tuesday

PM: Easy/Moderate 45 minutes.

10.15km @4:31/km

Wednesday

PM: Rotating kilometres

Warm up 3.84km

Splits
3:37, 4:06, 3:39, 4:02, 3:36, 4:02, 3:35, 3:58

8km in 30:36

Cool down 3.14km

Thursday

PM: Easy 60 minutes.

12.79km @4:45/km

First run in the Epic React 2. Very impressed although I don't think you get much purchase on wet roads with them.

Friday

AM: Recovery 40 minutes.

8.05km @5:01/km

Bit of a slog so kept it relaxed. I've got out of the habit of 6am runs.

Saturday

PM: 3km Steady plus 8x hills

Warm up plus all my usual activations, drills, plus a few strides. 3.3km in total.

3km in 12:09

The hills were hard especially the final push where the grade goes up to 12%. Approximately 1:10-20 hills. I had 1 minute hills on a pre programed Garmin workout so I kinda used that for guidance

Cool down 3km

Total session 15.2km

Sunday

AM: Easy 75 minutes. Mainly trail

16.2km @4:40/km

I thought I'd struggle after yesterday's hills but after about 5km I was bouncing of the gravel. Out before 6am I would have liked to run for 90 minutes but that's all the time I had before work.

Weekly distance 77.5km with 6 days runing.

MY BAD

MONDAY

Rest day.

Tuesday

PM: Easy/Moderate 50 minutes with 6x20 seconds strides at the end.

10.92km @4:36/km

Wednesday

PM: 3x1km, 4x400, 3x1km

Target for the first 3x1km was a tad bit faster than tempo so at cruise pace. Then the 4x400s target was at 1 mile pace so 75s. There's alot of things I miss about doing sessions on the track, one of them is pacing 400s. Doing them on the road is hard it's get them right. I guess I could pre program a pace on my watch but I prefer to go by feel or maybe I might get the roller wheel out and mark the road every 100m. Anyway I over shot the first 400 completely, the next two were a bit better then the last one I was in the swing of it. The next 3x1km I was starting of where I finished on the previous 3x1km but with a slight progression without forcing it. The speed was in my legs after the 400s so the second 3x1km were really smooth. 60 seconds off on everything.

Warm up 3.22km plus all my usual activations, drills, and strides. I miss the pre session warm up on the track too.

Splits

3:43, 3:43, 3:41

69, 73, 73, 75

3:39, 3:36, 3:34

Cool down 3.11km

Thursday

PM: Easy ish 60 minutes.

13.06km @4:36/km

CR chasing on Strava for a 1km with a 35m elevation gain. Definitely not the smartest thing to do, it's a bit of sibling rivalry fun.

Friday

AM: Recovery 30 minutes.

5.77km @5:13/km

Heavy legs. I had planned longer with strides but I didn't even attempt it.

Saturday

PM: 8km Progression Tempo

I was feeling fresh all day so I knew this would go well. I played with the idea of speed work today for the up coming mile TT but I need to work on my strenght as I haven't done any long tempo work in a bit.

Warm up plus all my usual activations, drills, plus a few strides. 3km in total.

8km in 30:33

The first kilometre was in 3:56 and worked it down for the last kilometre in 3:42 so a 3:49/km or 6:09/mile average over 8km

Cool down 3.14km

Total session 14.16km

Sunday

PM: Easy half marathon distance. 100 minutes ish. It was quite windy and for the first time in months I got soaked on a run.

21.18km @4:41/km

Weekly distance 79.7km with 6 days ruining.

MY BAD

I ran my mile TT route this evening. Its a out and back course. I pre programed 4x.25 of a mile on my Garmin. I think breaking it into 402m laps will help me replicate a track and make it easier to aim for 75s. Although I don't give myself a hope in hell of 5 minutes mainly because I haven't done any specific mile sessions and don't plan on doing any before this TT. On Strava, because I've my settings set to metric it comes up as 1.62km maybe I was a little bit too slow pressing stop. Also on Strava there is a 1metre elevation gain over the mile. There is a slight difference between Strava and Garmin elevation but it's virtually flat. I'm hoping the judges will give me a 4 second handicap because it's a in and out and not a loop

Swashbuckler

Haha you won't be penalised anyway that's all I can commit to.

Not sure I follow why you had to press stop of you pre programmed 4x0.25 miles?

MY BAD

On my watch when the workout is finished it keeps counting until I press the stop button I think my old watch would stop automatically after the workout

ThebitterLemon

MY BAD wrote: »

MONDAY

Rest day.

Tuesday

PM: Easy/Moderate 50 minutes with 6x20 seconds strides at the end.

10.92km @4:36/km

Wednesday

PM: 3x1km, 4x400, 3x1km

Target for the first 3x1km was a tad bit faster than tempo so at cruise pace. Then the 4x400s target was at 1 mile pace so 75s. There's alot of things I miss about doing sessions on the track, one of them is pacing 400s. Doing them on the road is hard it's get them right. I guess I could pre program a pace on my watch but I prefer to go by feel or maybe I might get the roller wheel out and mark the road every 100m. Anyway I over shot the first 400 completely, the next two were a bit better then the last one I was in the swing of it. The next 3x1km I was starting of where I finished on the previous 3x1km but with a slight progression without forcing it. The speed was in my legs after the 400s so the second 3x1km were really smooth. 60 seconds off on everything.

Warm up 3.22km plus all my usual activations, drills, and strides. I miss the pre session warm up on the track too.

Splits

3:43, 3:43, 3:41

69, 73, 73, 75

3:39, 3:36, 3:34

Cool down 3.11km

Thursday

PM: Easy ish 60 minutes.

13.06km @4:36/km

CR chasing on Strava for a 1km with a 35m elevation gain. Definitely not the smartest thing to do, it's a bit of sibling rivalry fun.

Friday

AM: Recovery 30 minutes.

5.77km @5:13/km

Heavy legs. I had planned longer with strides but I didn't even attempt it.

Saturday

PM: 8km Progression Tempo

I was feeling fresh all day so I knew this would go well. I played with the idea of speed work today for the up coming mile TT but I need to work on my strenght as I haven't done any long tempo work in a bit.

Warm up plus all my usual activations, drills, plus a few strides. 3km in total.

8km in 30:33

The first kilometre was in 3:56 and worked it down for the last kilometre in 3:42 so a 3:49/km or 6:09/mile average over 8km

Cool down 3.14km

Total session 14.16km

Sunday

PM: Easy half marathon distance. 100 minutes ish. It was quite windy and for the first time in months I got soaked on a run.

21.18km @4:41/km

Weekly distance 79.7km with 6 days ruining.

That Wednesday session looks tasty, what were the recoveries?

Edit: I see 60 seconds, that’s a great session
TbL

MY BAD

60 seconds off standing/walking on everything

MY BAD

I was talking to a club mate about Dublin marathon getting cancelled during the week and all that and he was asking me when will I race one and what will I target if I eventually do. I don't actually know was the answer. I suspose I should target 2:59.59 but for my first one but that might be ambitious or underachieving depending which way you look at it. He sent me on 3 months of a marathon plan from last summer from a online coach beginning with G targeting sub 3. It was different to what my coach had me doing back in 2016 when I last attempted a marathon. I think for my long runs I'd prefer it with stuff than just long steady runs.
I was going to comment on the heart rate thread. I know vo2max isn't a good prediction for racing, mine is at 65 these days and I do feel in great shape. It dropped a bit when I picked up that niggle in March but its holding steady at the moment.
Two years tomorrow this log is active. I'd like to think I've improved as a distance runner over the two years. I wonder what the next two years will bring.

MONDAY

PM: 3.6km checking my mile TT route

Tuesday

PM: Easy 50 minutes with 7x 10 seconds hills at the end.

It should have been 6 hills, I can't count.

10.88km @4:41/km

Wednesday

PM: 5x1km broken in 200s with 2 minutes off recovery

So it's 200m on, 200m float, 200m on, 200m float, 200m on.

If the heads not right then I can't expect a good session. Crappy day at work then I got a call from Mrs MY leaving work saying a pipe burst in our house. Luckily I was able to tell her where to isolate the mains and what to do so no major damage, lacing up my shoes I noticed a hole in my toe which seemed to annoy me with only 250km on them. Just before the lock down the council resurfaced a 1km strech of road that I've been using for speed work. They never got the chance to chip it because of the lock down, so it was a peach to run on. Smooth, responsive, and flat. All good things come to an end and unfortunately for me they chipped it today. I tried a few 200s on it but it was too loose for speed work, it will be okay in a week or two when it settles in. I had to switch to another road that was quite busy causing me to have to run on the verge/grass at times, which was a bit off putting. Quite windy too, I hate the wind! It's a track session so doing it on the road isn't ideal anyways. Have I mentioned I miss the track with BA Distance before?

All the moaning aside I wasn't my usual chilled out self during the session but I got it done. It's a bit of a speed and strength session just flirting with a 1 mile race pace. I averaged 36 seconds for all the 200m fast which was okay I guess, I felt the whole session was a bit meh. Not a hope will I knock out a 5 minute mile next week but I'll give it a honest effort.

Warm up 3.5km

Splits
3:26, 3:26, 3:27, 3:28, 3:27

Cool down 3km

Thursday

PM: Easy ish 60 minutes.

13.14km @4:38/km

Just finished before the storm/bad weather hit.

Friday

PM: A bit dopey after a power nap it started as recovery but once I woke up it turned into 45 minutes easy. I didn't do any strides at the end like I normally do on Fridays. Very windy so I stayed on the forest trail for shelter.

9.4km @4:40/km

Saturday

PM: 6km Tempo plus 8x100m on/off

Poor enough conditions.

Warm up plus all my usual activations, drills, plus a few strides. 3.45km in total.

6km in 22:53 or 3:49/km or 6:08/mile average. The same as last weeks average pace tempo but 2km less work.

8x100m on/off
17sec on, I think that's sub 3:00/km pace so a nice bit turn over ahead of next weeks mile TT. Between the 100 on/off it was a 6:03 mile

Cool down 3km

Sunday

AM: Easy half marathon distance again this Sunday. Turned into a lovely morning for a long run although still quite windy. I met a couple of running buddies on the last 2 mile to keep me company on the home stretch.

21.14km @4:39/km

Weekly distance 84.7km with 7ish days ruining. About 5km more than last week. My runs next week will most like be mainly 6am runs so I'll probably do a fartlek Tuesday and combine my long run on Sunday with a progression run. I'll see how the TT goes first before deciding.