Sub 5 minute mile

Sep 04 - Oct 10 - 10km(running), 45 km (exercise bike)

Properly bet up last week. One sore foot and a sprained ankle on top of a general malaise that was hanging on from the previous week. Got a moderate 6 km on the Monday before turning my ankle on the Tuesday. A marathon icing session followed and I managed to keep the swelling down a good bit. I even went and helped coach my kids GAA that evening with my foot wrapped in a bandage full of ice and I kept icing until I went to bed.

Facing a second week of little activity I took to the exercise bike to try and keep me ticking over. One half session of 15 km in 30 minutes then a handy 60 minute cycle the following day. I was still determined to run the race on Sunday so went for a very slow jog on the Friday to see how the ankle was. I was sure I'd be okay but woke up Saturday with a shallow cough to go with my stuffed head which hadn't shifted by Sunday. Was still close to running (even tried going back to bed for a little while) but thought I'd better pull the plug and text the club. I'd likely be worse today and have prolonged my recovery. So nowt done for a couple of days and probably nowt for another couple at least until I'm in the clear. Frustrating but I've little to be complaining about really.

Oct 18 - 24 - 48.5 km (running), 18.1 km (exercise bike)

4 runs again with the bike used hopefully to provide some aerobic assistance. Significantly, I managed to hit 30 miles again but definitely going through a "not enjoying my running" phase. Running easy has me much slower than usual and even then I'm not sure those runs feel really easy. I'm probably still not moving as freely yet just and not feeling strong generally. The ankle is taking its time on the recovery but I'll keep at it.

Tuesday I did a 10 km progression run working down from 5:00/km to 3:40/km. This was a tester for my sore foot which despite a little discomfort towards the end is showing signs of improving.

Friday was a planned session to see what I could manage. 4x800s with 2 minutes rest. Went by feel here so tried to avoid looking at the pace too much. The paces felt slow and the 3rd into the wind was a bit of slog. Again the foot was good though. Headed home and saw the paces were a actually a little better than I'd guessed they were. Still not wonderful considering I'd walked the recoveries but a little better.

For Sunday's long run, I'd a 14 km loop planned along with another little tester. The hope was to run at tempo pace or a little slower for 5 km. 5 km warm up, 5 km at Tempo and 4 km warm down. Felt great for the first 5 km and was thinking to myself, this might not be the worst idea I've had. Picked it up for the first km Tempo. 1 and 2 went by okay. Definitely slower than my typical(old) Tempo pace but okay, I should be able to hold it for 5. Starting to find it harder on the 3rd km though before turning for home and into the wind (which I hadn't realised was behind me for the whole warm-up). Called it after 4th to shuffle home the last 5 km. Then I realised I'd left myself short timewise as I had to bring our eldest to a birthday party (on a bank holiday Sunday), so definitely not the warm down I would have liked. Ended up being 5 km warm-up, 4 km tempo, 5 km puffing home.

If I was to look back at the past week in a years time the paces might suggest I didn't flog myself but I did a bit. The log is good for that at least giving the real story of WTF I was at and feeling. I was just a bit fed up (and getting impatient) with not being able to run well for the last few weeks and wanted to kick myself into life. It used to work in the football days where the adrenaline and nerves would provide some additional pep. These are absent at the moment. A more sensible week planned this week.

Oct 25 -31 - 45 km

October finishes being the lowest mileage month of the year. No flogging myself this week and I stayed off the bike. Both the toe and foot issue thankfully look to be cleared. The ankle continues to cause a little discomfort at times but fine once warmed up. Highlights from last week were.

• Wednesday session - Plan was 3x400R(70s), 4x300FR(48s). I did the exact same session in August and it seemed like a reasonable speed session. The plan was for 4x300s but I was cooking a little too much on the 300s so decided to take an out, instead doing 2x200 to finish. Times were 68,70,69 for the 400s. This pace, thankfully, is still manageable and I think overall these were comfortable. The 300s were a different story though. Straining to hit the target I managed (48,47,49). Rather than attempting a very messy 4th rep I settled on a couple of 200s to finish (33, 32). My hamstrings were nice and stiff for the next couple of days but I felt like I needed that a little.
• Thursday recovery - 10km. Noteworthy because I was working very near the National Sports Campus for the day. Took a late lunch and went out barefoot on the cross-country course after all the heavy showers. It was a simply lovely run. I did put myself through running on a couple of patches of road which I didn't mind too much and I learned after the first lap to avoid going under certain trees that were dropping their seeds. I met 2 other people, one of whom was also barefoot as he pointed out when our paths criss-crossed (only twice though, so there was only one awkward smile and nod to be made after our first encounter).
• Sunday strength - No repeat of the previous Sundays Tempo. My plan here was avoid a long tempo effort but to work on my strength by running at a steady pace (turned out to be around 4:00/km), picking it up every 3rd km. The 3rd km efforts got gradually quicker and I found myself recovering easily enough in between. The pace maybe dropping to 4:10 at times on the steady intervals. 12.5 km at an average pace of 3:57.

Finished the week in a better mood than last.

Is it? Great! I was only looking a couple of weeks back and couldn't see anything about it happening. That'll be the plan then. I'll try and get the run in there.

It's great to see so many logs on the go at the moment and looking forward to all the Jingle Bell reports.

When I posted last week I was on day 2 of a classic 2 day hangover (family get-together and drinks). I knew what was coming and after taking it handy for a couple more days I threw in a session on the Wednesday before succumbing to the same dose that the kids had missed over a week of school each for. Stuffy head with a cough. Anyway, while a setback and while throwing my training plans out the window for the most part I'm trying to keep the mileage up a little over lots of easy days. 25 miles for each of the last two weeks.

Just a couple of notables session wise in the last fortnight.

The day before the family get-together I did my longest Interval session ever. 15 x (60on,40off). Felt great afterwards and thought I'd nailed it. Basically it came in just over 6 kms covered at faster than 5 k pace. The garmin file got corrupted (first time ever) so I didn't get to see exactly what pace I ran on each split though know myself I actually got slightly faster on the intervals and slightly slower on the recoveries as I warmed into the workout. I was happy to leave it at 10 reps if I wasn't feeling up to it but I felt good. Spent an hour trying to uncorrupt the file and settled in the end for an overall pace vs time chart with no actual splits that I managed to retrieve. I was lucky to get that.

So, just the one session last week. Was afraid this might push me into the man flu abyss and it looks like it did the trick. Wasn't feeling energetic beforehand hoping to snap into it. 3x(200R, 400R, 600R). Struggled to hit the target and even missed mile pace here a couple of times but was glad to get it done at the time. It left me under no illusions that I'm not exactly in peak mile shape for next weeks race. Really hoping there's someone that will drag me around at the perfect pace. That was last Wednesday and my last session up to now. Hopefully tomorrow's the day I'm back to normal.

I did last weeks Rep session around the hotel. I had left top and snood on a hedge around the back after warming up. On passing again I noticed my snood on the ground on it's own so picked it up. Next lap I notice my top is missing so figured someone robbed it. Stopped the watch and looked around briefly before continuing the workout. Next lap around it re-appeared on the hedge. Thinking someone was messing with me and also a little uneasy from being on my own in the dark with someone possibly watching me, I got a helpful adrenaline surge which saw me thankfully through the second 600. Another lap and it's missing again. WTF! I just keep running though and pretend I'm not looking for it anymore. Next lap I finally cop on that there are two hedges! Cut the exact same side by side and I was intermittently looking at the other one. Idiotic but funny at the same time.

30 miles for last week.

Wednesday - I was feeling pretty much back to normal and took the opportunity to try a repeat of the 5 x 1Mile Tempo effort from a couple of weeks back. However, I shortened the recovery to 2 minutes from 2:30 and so didn't force the pace as much. Just aiming for under 6 min pace. I wore a the snood over my mouth for a couple of these as the air was so cold and I didn't want a relapse. [5:55, 6:00, 5:56, 5:57, 5:48]. Straight back on with the mouth covering after the last.

Easy days Thursday and Friday before taking Saturday off.

Sunday - I'd hoped to try a 1,200@milepace last week but getting sick meant it got binned. So today I wanted to do something close to but not the same length just to try and tune into the effort needed for the mile. I think 1200 would have been too much I'd be still trying to clear lactic acid from my legs in a couple of days. Ran 10 k easy and stopped for a couple of skips and pick ups. Then set off for 1 km at milepace. I was strategic here to not be running into the wind and any slope that might have been there was in my favour but it was fairly flat. Anyway - 2:58 for the km. Bang on pace it would appear but it looks like I went out fast and was slowing a little (not alarmingly) in the second half. The path was bending and I'd to move onto the grass to avoid walkers too on a couple of occasions in the second half though. I wasn't flailing but got that nice familiar metallic taste for the effort. Most importantly, it served it's purpose - I'm more optimistic I can do it on Wednesday night. Would have liked a 1,200 effort as that would mean only 400 more but I'm still taking the positive out of it. Healthy and good to go fingers crossed.

NIA Live 1 Mile - Official Party Press Release

DG sparkled under the lights of the National Indoor Arena. Having not raced since 2019 he was determined to maintain his unbeaten start to 2021 successfully doing so to take his record for the year to 1-0. The result was never in doubt as he took the race by the scruff of the neck to lead from the gun a position he never relinquished. A dominant performance if ever there was one. He never bothered to check the stadium clock over the second half of the race and only looked back once to confirm that there was indeed no one coming near him. Asked about his time as he stood watching the next mile heat unfold he said "I don't know or care, it was all about the W today mate".

NIA Live 1 Mile - Party Circular

I had solid start to the week with an easy run Monday then taking Tuesday as a rest. My plan was to get over around an hour before the race and that's where things probably started to go a little off script. I was home with the baby, tidying up the house and getting her to bed before everyone else got home so I could nip straight out to the door. But her bunny went missing so a mad scramble around the house ensued including trying to settle her without. Wasn't working so more searching later uncovered her in the back of a press in the sitting room. Anyway I arrived 30 minutes before the start of the race which left me feeling edgy and rushed. Very short 1 km to warm up as I was afraid we'd be called 10 minutes before the start. Turns out I had a little more time than I expected as the race didn't set off on schedule.

The heats were sent out by email earlier in the day and I was in the slowest of the 3 heats. Looking through the PBs there was no one I could see that I could hope to tailgate so unfortunately this was looking like a solo run unless someone who hadn't listed a PB was a sleeper. I wasn't optimistic I'd pull it off at that stage on account of not being able to pace properly without my watch or a pacer. But I was still excited about going racing.

So, the plan was to look at the clock every second lap. Hoping to see around 1:10, low 2:20s, low 3:30s and finally 4:40s. I underestimated how much the excitement and adrenaline of a race would impact my discipline though. The gun goes and I rush off to get to the first bend as if I'm not leading this heat I'm probably not going to get anywhere near my target i think to myself. I feel like I'm cruising as I finish the first lap around 10 meters ahead of the next person. The announcer calls out my name and states that my opening 200 was 32 seconds. What!! A ****. Still I feel I'm cruising and I ignore the reality that what I just did was really 800 pace and not mile pace, so what follows is no surprise. I tried to remain controlled and was still comfortable going through 400m in 66 seconds.

Only 6 seconds too fast. "No big deal, this is a race, magic can happen" I momentarily think. Maybe I'll run some ridiculous time that will have anyone watching agog. The gap to the pack is probably 20-30 meters going by the announcer calling the time for the next runner as I wasn't looking behind. At 600 I get the first sign indication of lactate build up in my legs but that was short lived in my consciousness really. It was my lungs that were really starting to give in. "Magic? No, tis a curse." As I reach the home bend to finish 800m (only halfway) the announcer says I'm 50m ahead. Through 800m in 2:24 I think. So a second 400m of 78 versus an opening 66. "Jesus H!"

I'm slowing and there's nothing I can do about it. Been tasting metal since probably just before 800 m which is the earliest that onset has ever happened. In my mind now is that I don't want to concede a whole 50 m lead and lose because that could easily happen. I kind of forget about the time at that stage and it becomes a blur really as I continue wheezing and grunting around the track. I start to catch a glimpse of the back runners at 1,200 and I remember that I'd worked out based off the heats list that I'd need to lap the slowest guy at least to get under 4:50. I start to try pumping the legs as best I could and did actually catch him but not pass him at the line.

Absolutely wiped. I exchange one or two fist bumps before remembering to stop my watch, for all the use it was. The track clock looks like it was stopped at 5:01 TBC so not even a sub 5 as a consolation.

I was p**sed off going home and my lungs are still not quite right this morning. But God it was great though, running around the track felling like I was floating for the first 200 m and the momentary thought that maybe a bit of magic might happen as I went through 400 m in 66. I'm having another crack as soon as possible.

Thanks everyone. It was definitely a learning experience for me and I've taken a bit from it. Even the 32 second opening 209 m. That'd be exactly my current 800m pace . 66 seconds through 400 was only 2 seconds off it too. That's left me a little curious what sort of 800 I could do and if I wore some spikes.

As for the mile, even getting that time while making a mess of the pacing suggests there's a bot more there. Need to find out how much.

@quick feet Have you seen the results somewhere as I haven't seen them yet? Did you run yourself and how'd you get on?