Man! I feel like a runner

Mon 4th May
Bank holiday Monday recovery run. 4.6 miles @ 10.25/m, avg HR 136.
40 mins S&C.

Tues 5th May
I got up to run in the morning, brushed my teeth, looked at my running gear and got back into bed :pac: I think it was the back-to-work blues after a few days off! Got out after work for the Tempo run. I'm not sure the HRM was right as the pace seemed to quick for Zone 3 at times, or maybe I was mostly going downhill. 5 miles total. Followed the run with 35 mins mobility and core work.

Weds 6th May
Easy run, 5 miles @ 10.03/m, avg HR 141. Felt great.

Thurs 7th May
Another easy run, a lot slower for the HR this morning however. There was just no zip in the legs although I didn't feel all that tired. 5 miles @ 10.27/, avg HR 141.
30 mins HIIT in the evening.

Fri 8th May
I did not fancy hill reps first thing in the morning, so got up before work for 40 mins S&C instead. Headed out late afternoon for the hill reps and headed back to the same spot as last week for consistency. It wasn't as busy, though still plenty of people about, but I was able to do the session without any pauses for people or dogs! I felt a lot more controlled this week, although the paces seem very varied still - but I am inclined to think that's a GPS issue as they felt quite consistent running them. I definitely hit Zone 5 for the 12 x 30 seconds anyway! I really, really struggled to keep my HR in zone 1 for the cool down however. I even stopped and let it settle but as soon as I started jogging at all, it just shot up again. Not sure if this is normal but anyway, tried to stay in Zone 2 at least. 4 miles total.

Sat 9th May
I set the alarm early for my own Darkness into Light run. I didn't bother with the HR as this was a run just for the head / mindfulness. Beautiful morning, and lovely to see quite a few walkers / runners out in their yellow also. All with big smiles and hellos. A great feeling of community. 4.5 miles @ 9.45/m avg.
I went back to bed but really just dozed. Ended up going for a long walk in the afternoon to enjoy the sunshine, nice to be able to do that.

Sun 10th May
I've missed doing one giant loop for long runs so I knew I'd have to get one in as soon as the 5km limit was introduced. I ran into Grand Canal area via the Dodder - one bad incident in there with a little bulldog running after me (not on a lead) and the owner not giving a care. There was exposed water beside me and I can't swim so I felt very trapped and started screaming at her to get it away from me eventually she called it back but was also laughing at me, so I again screamed at her that she should have it on a lead! HR spiked quite a bit and took an age to settle.. I eventually calmed down and headed along the canal, where I got a stitch. Stopped a couple times to try settle it but it kept coming back. In through Terenure and round to the Dodder again, where I decided to be brave again and go via the parks.. not realising one area seems to be an actual dog park :rolleyes: I survived relatively unscathed here though! Once out of there, it was into the last mile which was to be Zone 3 and I was surprised I had the energy. 12 miles total, avg pace 9.45/m,avg HR 146. Home for a massive breakfast then
Then an early afternoon spent trying to scrub the decking on our terrace, seems to have improved it slightly anyway, but I expect to have new aches tomorrow! Followed by an afternoon cycle, way chillier by then.

Total miles: 40.3, 58 days running streak. I think I'm going to get to 60 (just for the round number) and take a rest day...

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Even better than playing with the ball. Just stand on one leg with your eyes closed for a minute each side.

I might have to try this away from anything I could injure myself off falling :pac:

ariana` wrote: »

A tip i once got (on my novice dcm thread way back) was to stand on one leg brushing your teeth! Gets a little balance work in twice a day (at least), multi-tasking at it's best! The graduate plan is to close your eyes - a lot tougher than it sounds

I definitely used to do this, but not sure I ever ended up with good balance. Can't hurt anyway.

Mon 18th May
Easy run, out before the work day. I felt a bit sluggish to start with but felt pretty good by the end of it. 5.3 miles @ 9.46/m avg, 140 avg HR.
35 mins mobility & strength work.

Tues 19th May
The plan is into the "Peak Phase" now, so the first of a bit of the speedier work this week. 7 reps of 2 mins in Zone 4, recovery 2 mins in Zone 1. It went pretty well, reps 6 and 7 definitely felt tougher and I was getting tired. I slipped into Zone 5 a couple of times but I don't think the pace went up! Happy enough with it though, 5 miles total for the morning.
25 mins HIIT.

Weds 20th May
Easy run again, 5 miles 10.14/m avg pace, 139 avg HR. Legs a bit tired from the day before. Cycled into town that evening to meet my sister in St Stephen's Green for a chat One of the few on a bike without a Deliveroo bag on my back
Not so cool were the massive groups of people sitting outside the Barge boozing... social distancing my a$$

Thurs 21st May
And more easy running. 4.5m @ 10.08/m avg, HR 141 avg. Body felt tired and slow.
Tried another stability workout off the UA running Instagram (30 mins).

Fri 22nd May
Having had a midnight work call the night before, there was no way I was getting up early for a run :rolleyes: Out in the afternoon and over to UCD for the 2nd of the week's sessions, 10 x 90 seconds in Zone 5, with 2.5 mins recoveries. I naively thought this would be fine, as there are simiilar sessions in the grads plans - although I guess the prescribed pace in those maybe isn't Zone 5 - but this was really tough! The strong wind didn't help I suppose, although one rep had such a strong gale at my back that I was flying along at 6.10 pace and not even in Zone 5 :pac: I jogged the first 4 recoveries, but then had to walk at the beginning of the rest until my HR settled, and jogged maybe the last minute of the recovery sections. Happy to get it done. 6 miles total.
30 mins S&C.

Sat 23rd May
Recovery run, really trying harder than before to stay in Zone 1 for the whole run. As usual, the hill by the Dropping Well was my undoing. I just can't keep it down going up it, no matter how much I drop the pace! I must just walk it one day and see how the HR reacts to that. 4.5 miles, 10.23/m avg pace, 137 HR avg.

Sun 24th May
Long run with "speed play". I was looking forward to this run all week. 1.5 miles warm-up, then 8 x 0.25 miles Zone 3, 0.75 Zone 2, and cool down. I headed up to Marlay - and I mean UP - because I wanted to check out the mile loop I'm planning to use for the TT next weekend. The first 1/4 mile rep was on a steep uphill and into the wind so the pace didn't change much, but otherwise all went well. The miles really fly along when they're broken up that way. Re the mile loop in Marlay, if there's a wind like today I'd be doing well to sustain sub 7 pace even in some parts! It was lovely to be back in there, even briefly enough, and great to see some familiar faces about the place 10 miles for the morning.

Total: 40.5

I enjoyed the week, despite some tired legs. I'll be ditching the Friday session this week with the mile TT on Saturday. I'm not feeling overly confident about my target but I'll try my best to give it a lash anyway.
The other enjoyable part of the week was the opportunity in the spotlight this week Work was a bit stressful and the days have been long, so dipping in and out of the thread was a good reason for breaks and a distraction so thank you all

ariana` wrote: »

I didn't get a chance to contribute to your spotlight thread but i enjoyed reading it very much! It must take a lot of time over the week so thank you and fair play.

Love the sound of your long run on Sunday, definitely one to build strength.

It's possibly too soon to ask but would you recommend the plan over all? Say in comparison to Grads or other 10k plans you may have experience of?

So far I'd have to say yes I'd recommend it? I've the book constantly out by my bed to dip into to remind me of the correct way to approach the different runs and sessions (but also to check the planned run, it's all laid out in a slightly convoluted way at times!). Some of the runs or weeks can be a bit repetitive, although that might be more of a reflection of the early weeks being limited to a 2km zone so all my easy runs ended up on the same route for the most part :pac: I suppose we'll see how it's worked at the end of June fingers crossed, or even on Saturday in the TT


Seems from some of your posts you're struggling to get into the zone with your running? Maybe trying a new plan will help!?

ariana` wrote: »

Yup the FRR base plan has got me back into some kind of structure and brought my mileage up a little but i'm definitely somewhat bored of it. It's quite repetitive and i'm struggling with multiple midweek runs of 8-9 miles now at the tail end of the plan - i think it may be more suited to someone who's general aerobic pace is a good bit faster than mine or else i'm just a lazy sod :pac:

I have the 80/20 book but i haven't followed any of the plans. I must take a look again, i remember thinking the layout is a bit convoluted alright but i don't suppose that's a reason to be put off. The ole reliable grads plans are tempting too...

Best of luck with the TT

Yeah I found the midweek longer runs in FRR a bit of a mental battle at times, more so when you know you have it at the end of a day, generally they were fine once you got out for them. But it can be draining to have that feeling so often each week? And you are certainly not a lazy sod I can only imagine how much tougher it could be after a day of working AND looking after your small people!
I'd recommend even just reading the book first if you haven't already, there's a lot of good content in it. The grads plan are super as well yeah, you wouldn't be going too far wrong with those. What kind of distance are you looking to work on? 10k?

The weeks are flying by somehow! I'm looking forward to the country hopefully hitting Phase 2 in a week.

25th - 31st May
Mon 25th
Recovery run, 4.7 miles @ 10.20/m, avg HR 135.
35 mins strength / movement stuff.

Tues 26th
Speedier stuff. 8 reps of 2 mins in Zone 4, 2 mins Zone 1. Felt tough enough, and probably should walk more to get back to the recovery zone. Calves a little tight again as I've not been great with the specific exercises for them. 5.2 miles total for the morning.
30 mins HIIT, and some proper calf stretching and foam rolling.

Weds 27th
Easy run, HR was desperate! Probably the warmer mornings I imagine.. 4.97 miles (what was I thinking?), 10.15/m and avg HR 142.
Headed to meet a work colleague for a bit of tennis, one of the few sports that are permitted again! Nice little activity for a sunny evening. More calf work.

Thurs 28th
Another easy run, but felt better for this, although the legs definitely weren't feeling too zippy. 5 miles, 10.00/m and avg HR 141.
35 mins S&C. Worked on the calves again.

Fri 29th
Having had a super late night call Thursday night (technically early Fri morning ) I tried to have a lie in but failed thanks to the heat! Got up and headed for a run instead of working right away anyway. I tried to keep it in Zone 1 for the most part, but added a few strides at the end. 3.7 miles, 10.25/m and avg HR 139. Calves were back to feeling good

Sat 30th
TT day! Having spent way too much time the previous wondering about the route we'd chosen up in Marlay, met crisco with the intention of a couple of warm-up miles in the park only to discover it wasn't open yet even for pedestrians! We ran around the perimeter, still no open gates and were trying to think where else we could head when thankfully the gates opened! Praise the lord.
We were well warmed up at this stage, but had decided on doing the route in opposite directions :pac: eventually decided we may as well just get it done!
Off I took down a slight downhill apparently feeling like I was aiming for a sub 5.. I'm gonna blame reading Dubh G's log or something :pac: I was determined not to check the watch, but knew about 1/3 in that I was going slower. Just kept trying to drive the legs on, and into the playing fields where I met crisco cruising around - when he gave a shout to keep running I knew he was nowhere near the pain he should have been feeling I was breathing super heavy, had glanced at the watch with 0.5 to go and saw 6.10 pace on the watch but also knew I was still slowing. Coming into the last quarter mile and I know I have a little uphill although to be honest I didn't notice it much. I was just trying to keep the legs going. Up towards the big house and praying for the beeps to start on the watch, they eventually do, lower on to the grass and 6.27 on the watch.
I definitely started too fast - looking at Garmin later it was 4.56 pace, what the hell. You'd swear I'd never run a mile before. Thanks again to the 2 boyos for organising, another fun day on the forum
I do think maybe the mile I did 8 weeks ago was a tad short, which led to my now-ridiculous target but I am also now determined to run a sub 6 mile before the year is out. I don't care, I'm really going to try make it happen.
Couple of cool down miles in the lovely Marlay. It was so nice (and unusual) to run with company again!!
30 mins mobility stuff later.

Sun 31st
Despite a few aperols the night before, got myself up for the long run at an ok time and that I thought wouldn't be too hot yet. Aye. I decided to run up to Blackrock and over to the seafront and head home via the canal. The run was another with the first 0.25 of 10 miles in Zone 3, otherwise supposed to run in zone 2. Early on, I'd a weird pain in my lower back but I think it was from some of the mobility work the day before and it eased out after a while thankfully.
As the run went on, my pace dropped a lot for the same or higher HR Again, I take it the heat was affecting it. I'd brought no water, and 90 mins in I was absolutely parched so I stopped at a Maxol and asked the kind man for a (disposable) cup of tap water. Sound man. He asked was it hot outside, so I take I wasn't actually foamy It is lovely to run in the sun, but not so much if the run is a long run. I found it pretty tough. Anyway, glad I got it done eventually. 12 miles, avg pace 9.59, avg HR 150.

Total miles 41.7
Total for May 178

Happy enough with the week and the month I guess. Bit of a step-back on the plan again this week which I have to admit I'm happy about!