Spiral out - keep going

No 10 mile TT for me on Sunday. Had the week off work but have been non stop painting in the house which will continue until Monday. I'm not used to doing manual labour as spend most of my days sitting in front of a computer. Did my easy runs on Tuesday and Wednesday and legs felt super tired and stiff. Thursday's run was the same so made the decision then. It's a shame I can't do it but I feel like I've made the right decision. The extra stress this week would've increased the chance of injury. Life can get in the way sometimes

So going to spend this week as a recovery week after the 10k TT and go back into the training cycle next week. Tomorrow is 7 miles easy and 14 miles easy on Sunday

skyblue46 wrote: »

:pac::pac: Fair comment! And as I spend more a month on drink than the price of a pair of Metaspeed I will zip it

Any word on your shoes? I have nothing appearing delivery wise or no updates on the order..

Nope, still stuck on not shipped. Although I just checked under my orders and status is saying contact Customer Support. Not good, I hope they didn't take the order without having it in stock. I hate online sports stores that do that

Tues 6th - 7m easy, 8:32avg grass
Thurs 8th - 7m easy, 8:28avg grass
Fri 9th - 12x12" hill sprints, 8:17avg
Sat 19th - 7m easy, 8:28 grass

Wed 7th, 10'@5:55,5min rec,5x1' on/off,5min rec, 10'@5:55,5min rec,5x1' on/off, 10'@5:55, 15'WU/CD
First look at this session and first thought was the coach did a double paste on the 10'@5:55 part. Second glance, I noticed the lack of 5min easy after the second set of 5x1's. I did check previous sessions of other athletes to confirm that this was indeed correct

Did the 15' min warmup in the Invincibles before switching to the Next%. First 10 mins goes ok, probably started too fast and had to slow myself for the last 3 mins 5:55. Recovered ok and as a result the first couple of reps for the 5x1' were probably too fast 5:22,5:15,5:27,5:32,5:37.

Second 10' rep started fast again but was feeling strong for it. My progress was slowed when a toddler ran across across the path, forcing me to check and go around the chasing mother. Was able to recover 5:54. Second set of 5x1' were in a dodgy GPS part of the greenway so can't be sure if they are accurate or I was suffering 5:40,5:59,5:39,5:28,5:36

This is where it got really difficult. with just a minute recovery, I was into my final 10 min rep. First 5 minutes were with the wind and I just about sub 6 minute pace. Had no choice but to turn and finish into the wind. My legs had nothing left and my form went out the window as I struggled to the finish 6:04. Trudged around for the 15' cooldown.

Sun 11th, 6m@6:10, 4m wu/cd
Start of the new cycle of mileage at the increased 6:10 pace. Was confident for the 6 mile effort but unsure of the upcoming 8 and 10 miles. Again wore the Next%. Started off strong and settled into a 6:03 first mile. I was feeling ok as well. Next mile was a 6:02 and everything was rosy. Had a turnaround here so the next 2 would be into the wind. Was still ok for the 3rd mile, 6:04, partly due to passing some other runners which always results in false speed.

Running into the wind eventually took it's toll and next mile was a 6:10. Still into the wind and with a turn, the next mile was a 6:08. Last mile was a mixed bag but found that I finished quite strong 6:05 to give a 6:06avg for the 6. Recovered quickly for the cooldown.

Weekly mileage - 57 miles
YTD - 772

As those of you who follow the shoe thread, I was able to order a pair of the new Asics MetaSpeed Sky after some initial worry about the order. Got my shipping confirmation but won't be certain about it until they are actually in my hands. They better live up to their reviews now.

They will be nicknamed the MetaSpeed Skyblue46s when they arrive :p

skyblue46 wrote: »

Very interesting...and at odds with many of the reviews but let's face it reviews are a personal opinion too. I think I'll plough ahead and try to get them when the next batch are released. I kinda like the fact that you say they are not as soft or squishy as the Next%. Cheers for the feedback

It may just be that they don't suit my running style as much as Nikes, maybe it's all psychological and I'm brainwashed by their marketing. Who knows

OOnegative wrote: »

Genuine question, but would you be hitting the paces you are without the aid of carbon plated shoes? Do you use them on every run you do?

Thanks for the question B and I'll try to answer as honest as I can
I never used to run with carbon plated shoes and still wear the Nike Tempos at times. Made the decision a couple of weeks ago to run these sessions in those shoes, for two reasons:
1. Paces: Yes I can run quicker in them but they'll indicate where I'm currently at in terms of race pace. In a weird way, it'll like before all of these carbon plated shoes were around (not that I know what that was like). Training pace only will dictate race pace - no other factors involved
2. Recovery: Legs certainly are fresher after running in those shoes - which helps avoiding injuries (along with grass running)
I've only been running for 2 and a half years which was the start of the VF craze. Its part and parcel of running for me, I've never experienced racing flat shoes nor would I want to. I don't consider them cheat shoes, just another bit of kit along with everything else. So it's not as big as a decision for me as it might be for someone who has been running longer

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Treviso, just curious about the Meta Sky. The geometry of the sky according to asics is more for the stride runner. Anything there?

I looked at the average stride length from this week's run, compared to last week. This week was 3 mile warmup, 8 miles tempo, 3 mile cool down. Last week was 4 mile warmup, 6 mile tempo, 4 mile cooldown.

You would think that the extra 2 mile tempo would lead to an increased average stride but they were roughly the same (1.15m to 1.13m). Unfortunately, my watch doesn't collect stride length over real time and I'm not sure if I can just split the tempo miles

Was a stepback week for me last week, so plenty of easy running

Tues 27th, 7m easy - 8:31avg grass
Wed 28th, 7m easy - 8:20avg went to Tramore Valley park for a change of scenery
Thurs 29th, 7m easy - 8:29avg grass
Fri 30th, 12x12" hill sprints - 8:12avg
Sat 1st, 7m easy - 8:30avg grass

I don't know what it is with stepback weeks but legs always seem very heavy with no pep in them for the week.

Sun 2nd, 12m@6:40 & 2m wu/cd
Have underestimated this run the last two times, thinking it would be a piece of cake compared to the faster paced runs. I was prepared this time but still found elements of the run tough.

Wore the Nike Tempo for this run and my god how uncomfortable they felt. Like two bricks covered with sandpaper on my feet. I guess I've experienced what AMK was talking about in his log, been spoiling my feet too much with super cushioning. Need to lose a toenail or gain multiple blisters to call myself a proper runner.

After the usual 5.xx pace start, I quickly settled into the required 6:40 pace (or a bit below it). First bit of the run was with the wind so was relaxed enough. Pace began to slow a bit and I didn't feel like I was in a good rhythm by halfway. Mentally I was feeling the slog and thought I would struggle till the end. I knew the last 4 miles would be into the wind so needed to get a move on for miles 7 & 8. Passage walkway is such a nice part of a run to get some fast miles, dead straight and flat for most of it.

By the time I turned into the wind, I was in a good zone so kept it going. I wasn't pushing myself to the max but the effort levels felt ok. Finished the run with a 6:35 average and another HM PB of 1:27:15.

The Tempos definitely don't give the same recovery benefits of the NEXT% as the legs are quite stiff today. The fear of next Sunday's tempo has already started (10m@6:10), which will be roughly my TT time from December 2020. I struggled to get 8 done 2 weeks ago but hopefully the stepback week will benefit me. I'm sure it'll go ok, I like a challenge

A very up and down week, with all routine thrown out the window. An imperfect storm where my kids were off school for the week but my OH was not, meant I was looking after them in the morning. Also had to endure several days of US audits in work late afternoon/evening so a few evening runs thrown in as well.

Tues 4th - 7m easy, 8:29avg grass

Wed 5th - 10x2' on/off, 5min rec, 10x90secs on/off, 10x1' on/off
Guide on paces were the 2mins at roughly 10k pace, 90secs at 5k, 1min at 3k. So on paper this looks like an okish session right. A coaches warning about it made me examine more closely. 45 minutes at sub 10k pace - oh boy. Those fears were proved right

It was the second day of audit work and only finished up at 7pm. Knew I would be out more than 2 hours so was going to be a late one. For the 2', advice was to run the first 5 at 5:45 pace and the next 5 slightly quicker. Knew they would be the worst so decided to take a tailwind for all of these. Only drawback is the rest of the reps would be against the wind. Got off to a good start 5:40, 5:49, 5:45, 5:37, 5:49, with the next 5 on target as well 5:38, 5:38, 5:44, 5:43, 5:39. 6 miles covered, with 5 minutes easy.

Turned into the headwind and knew it was going to be a sufferfest on the way back. My legs were already tired from the 2'. I said I would try to hit 5:45 for the 90secs into the wind, anything lower was a bonus. I was able to hit most of them but my legs were killing me 5:49, 5:40, 5:38, 5:39, 5:45, 5:34, 5:44, 5:38, 5:38, 5:48. Didn't know what I had left in me for the minute reps.

At this stage I didn't care about targets, just get them done. First few went ok but things went downhill then 5:37, 5:39, 5:09!! Pace slowly reduced for the next four 5:41, 5:46, 5:48, 6:00. Then my legs started to cramp up for the last 3. Probably should've finish there but was determined to finish out the session, albeit with half walked recoveries 5:53, 5:48, 5:54

Got to admit that was the toughest session I've ever done and I was in bits that night and the next few days. Ran over 17 miles for this one, finishing after half 9 :eek:

Thurs 6th - 7m recovery, 8:45avg grass. Evening run, legs in bits, tough to get through

Fri 7th - 7m easy, 8:29avg Was meant to be a hill sprint session but decided against it during the warmup. Right leg was still quite stiff, calf was rock hard. Did ease out over the course of the run

Sat 8th - 7m easy, 8:49avg grass. legs still tired as can be seen from the average pace. Was worried about tomorrow's session

Sun 9th - 10m@6:10
Woke up and at least my legs didn't hurt anymore. I was still quite nervous about the run as I knew they were tired and weather conditions weren't the best. Could feel the tiredness during the warmup but said I'd give it a shot and see how it goes. Can always cut it short if things went pearshaped.

First mile had a wind assisted feel to it and came in at 6:04. In fact the first 5 miles would have favourable wind so wanted to have some time banked for the second half. Things settled for the next 2 miles with a strong side wind 6:10, 6:10. Next mile gave me my first taste of the headwind for half it 6:15 before the last tailwind assisted mile. Thought I could claw some time for that one but ended as a 6:10

Halfway and I was feeling really tired but nothing was hurting. Next mile had me going over the Blackrock castle hill and it really stressed the legs going over that part. I felt like I was barely moving down the marina stretch and seriously debated whether to call it quits here or after mile 8 6:14 Turned down the railway line walkway into the wind and said to keep going till mile 8, thats a respectable distance. At this point the average pace was around 6:12 and I noticed that during the 7th mile that it wasn't dropping that much 6:14.

With 3 miles to go, I decided to struggle through the whole ten miles . I was going ok and keeping the pace. Even though it came in at 6:24, the main reason was it ended on the uphill part of the footbridge. Second last mile and legs are burning, gone were the idealistic thoughts of clawing back the pace - instead just wanted to keep at the current 6:13 average 6:14. Last mile was torture. The long straight walkway seemed to go on forever, was glancing at the distance left on my watch every 100m till the beeps finally began the countdown 6:09

It was a 6:13avg for the 10 miles. Considering the midweek session, how sore and stiff the legs were since then and the wind conditions, I was delighted with the run. This week was a tough one and must admit I didn't enjoy running from Thursday to Saturday. Glad things went well today and the body feels better now

Weekly mileage - 59 miles
Year to date - ???? (strava is down) should reach 1k next week

On racing, yes racing news, thanks to a member of the novices group's whatsapp message, I was able to get an entry to the Thoroughbred HM in Kildare on the 20th June. I'm cautious about whether it'll go ahead or not but at least I have something to aim for in the short term.

Well it was bound to catch up with me at some point. After some recent big sessions, the legs finally pushed back on Wednesday

Tues 11th - 7m easy 8:24avg grass
Legs actually felt great for this one, after the rest day. A lot better than the previous week

Wed 12th - 2x10'@5:55, 2x7'@5:50, 5x3'@5:45 (3min rec), 20'wu/cd
All seemed normal, except knowing that the session was going to be seriously hard. 49 minutes of the longer tempo type rep will be a serious challenge.

First 10' rep went to plan and didn't hit me too hard. Did the 3 min rec and turned into the wind to start the second one. As it was into the wind, I didn't mind the pace drifting out a bit but still had to put a big effort to keep it at 6min pace. I needed to walk the majority of the recovery and knew I was in trouble.

Changed the planned route as needed to turn with the wind if I had any chance of completing the session. Surely the reps would get easier as the time decreases, i was over the worst!? The first mile of the 7 mins was on pace but my legs lost all sense of power/energy for the last minute. My form was super ragged. I needed to walk this recovery as well, and decided to call the session there and then.

At the end of recovery I decided to give the last 7 min rep a shot, but not care how fast I go for it - just give it a bit of effort back to the car. Was a 6:15 rep. Changed the shoes and went for the cool down. It's a strange feeling, knowing that you definitely have nothing in the legs speed wise, but are still able for a cooldown. Still was a decent 34min workout so not a total loss

Conversation with the coach that afternoon and it was decided that I would go into a week of easy running, to allow the legs to recovery properly and to absorb the recent big sessions. Those big sessions are here to stay but will be spaced out to allow me to recover from them

Thurs 13th - 7m easy, 8:34avg grass. Legs were heavy but got through it
Fri 14th - 7m easy, 8:25avg Went to Tramore Valley for a change
Sat 15th - 7m easy, 8:32avg grass

Sun 16th - 90' easy, 7:55avg
Wore the VF 4% for easy as wanted to keep it around the 8' pace, so easy(ish). Went to the west of the city around the Straight road for a bit of a change. Must admit that I enjoyed this run, legs felt ok and the 90' flew by

Weekly mileage - 51m
Year to date - 1043m

So passed the 1k marker for the year (ironically during the warmup of the failed session) so happy with that. Another 5 more days of easy running before i get back into the faster stuff. Was happy answering the questions put to me during the week for the A/Rtist in the Spotlight - https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058184999 Will try to pick the next victim person next week