Are those my feet?

16th - 22nd January

Monday - 5.3 miles easy (9:43/mile) Feels like I've not been doing enough of these 'bread and butter' easy 5-6 mile runs recently. It's either been 7-8 mile runs with a bit of stuff, or shorter 3-4 miles recovery trots. This was a nice lunchtime out-and-back at a nice easy effort.

Tuesday - 70 mins progression (Easy to MP) I started this at 9:45 pace with the plan to increase the pace by 15 seconds each mile until the final mile at 8 min pace. The run worked out pretty well, although the route was fairly lumpy so didn't really allow for completely even effort/splits. The last 2 miles were mainly uphill and I found these tough enough going - not sure I could have done much more at the 8 min pace by the finish. Short cool down gave 8.75 miles for the day.

Wednesday - Rest. I normally try to take advantage of days in the office for a short flat recovery run, but had no chance this week. I did get in a bit of a walk at least. I've been trying to be consistent with a little bit of walking 4-5 days a week, although it's usually just 20-30 mins.

Thursday - 3.21 miles easy (9:51/mile) Needed to get this one out of the way early, and it was still icy in spots. Nothing too dangerous, I just had to run on the opposite side of the road for half of it to avoid the slippy bits. Might have been the extra focus on not falling over but this felt a touch harder than it should have. Or maybe I just don't like mornings.

Friday - 50 mins easy, 4 x 200m @ 5k effort Another early start (by my usual standards). I had physio in the afternoon and she always advises that I don't run afterwards, so had to get it out of the way beforehand. The 50 easy minutes felt like a long pre-amble as I mooched around town waiting for some brightness so I could go further afield. I'd forgotten to transfer the workout to the watch, so worked out that 200m was approx 0.12 miles and used that as a rough guide. Probably went at the reps too hard, the first one definitely, but it is tricky to zone in on 5k effort when you're not accustomed to it. Each rep lasted around 45-47 seconds, with paces being 6:27, 6:06, 6:12, 6:11. Funny how the first was slowest given it felt the fastest (but least controlled). Recovery was prescribed as 2-3 mins full recovery between reps - I had planned on jogging each but during the first recovery I swiftly knew that 3 minutes jogging wouldn't provide full recovery so instead each recovery ended up being a minute each of jog/walk/jog which worked nicely. Hated most of this at the time, which again I'm putting down the early start - I do need to get used to early morning running again. 8.04 miles for the morning.

Phsyio went fine afterwards. I've gotten into the habit of going every 6-8 weeks for a general maintenance visit. It seems to be working at the moment - the hip flexor and left knee need a bit of minding from time to time, but generally I'm in decent nick.

Saturday - 13.1 miles easy (9:28/mile) This was a great improvement on the previous easy long runs which I had found to be a bit of a slog. I varied up the route a little more than usual so maybe that helped. Looking at it now I spotted that the pace was closer to easy than my previous long runs, even though avg HR is fairly consistent. Maybe that explains why this one felt better. Either way I was very happy with this one - longest run since Waterford.

Sunday - 3.05 miles recovery (10:00/mile*) A short flat recovery run along the Swiss Cottage path to round off the week. GPS went haywire in the middle of the run - I'd say average pace was more like 10:20

The 41.4 miles for the week is my highest in 3 years. Felt a bit of pain in my right foot over the weekend, but a bit of foam rolling on the calf/post-tib area seems to have eased it, thankfully. Into the last week of the base plan now and this was the first week where I felt like I was coming back into decent shape. The aim for this week is 38 or so miles - I'll see how the week develops before deciding if that'll be spread over 5 or 6 days.

January becomes February with a light week ahead of Dungarvan on Sunday.

Monday 30th - Rest

Tuesday 31st - 10 min at race pace. This is a FRR session that I've used the week before my last two Half Marathons. The book suggests 2 miles at race pace, but that felt a little chunky to me back then, so I'd trimmed it back to 2k on both previous occassions. Settled on a slightly longer 10 minutes this time, which would be 1.37 miles (2.2km). I figured 7:15/mile for race pace (I'll come back to targets for Sunday later), which when I thought about it further would make this a hard enough effort, certainly a more sustained hard effort than what I'd been doing recently. After a 2 mile warm-up it was into 4 x 100m strides, before the 10 mile effort. I was a bit disappointed with this at first - it just felt much harder than I'd been expecting. The equivalent session pre-Waterford went really well and had given me a nice confidence boost, so as this one was in progress and feeling tough I was quickly lowering my Dungarvan expectations. Looking at it later with a clear mind I'm happier - there was a stiff breeze about for much of the 10 mins, and the route was lumpy-ish (nothing mad, but not pancake flat by any strecth). I probably should have backed off the effort a bit more but I'm not going to over-analyse 10 minutes work and what it means either. Paces came in at 7:17 for the first mile and 7:22 for the 0.37. Just under 2 miles cool down brought it to 6.33 miles for the afternoon.

Wednesday 1st Feb - 3.09 miles recovery (10:29/mile). A gentle recovery trot around UL for this. Left the HR strap at home, and the watch was it's usual unreliable self as regards HR. Effort was nice and gentle. Legs felt fine from the day before.

Thursday 2nd Feb - 4.19 miles recovery (10:16/mile). Back on home turf for this, so a lumpier route. Completely over-dressed as well - looked set to be horrible as I set out but the skies cleared and it was a lovely 40 minutes or so.

So January was a good month overall. 157 miles which is my highest in 3 years. No huge leaps on any supplementary stuff, but some small improvements. I've cut-down late night snacking, and improved sleep a touch. Still plenty scope for improvement with both, but a step in the right direction. Got in a walk on 17/31 days, usually just a short 1 mile or so effort with the dog, but still it's 22.3 miles and my best walking total in a non-injured month. I've been pretty good at a spot of foam-rolling and stretching, so want to add a bit of S&C now once Dungarvan is in the rear-view mirror.

Anyway, onto the exciting stuff - a RACE! Putting my Waterford HM time into Tinman and FRR gives me 1:13:xx for 10 miles. Coincidentally my 10M PB is 1:12:58 from Dungarvan 2020, so a PB is the obvious goal here. I've always felt that 2020 race was when I was in my best-ever shape and felt that this would be the hardest of my pre-injury PB's to crack, so if it was to go on Sunday it would be a very satisfying achievement. Sub-70 is out there as the next nice-looking target, and I had notions of cracking that if I have a really good day, but honestly I think it's a stretch right now, and 72:xx will be the aim. I don't feel in the slightest bit sharp at the moment - of course that's probably to be expected coming off a base block and this race isn't a main target for the year. Still want to give it the best lash I can on the day though.

Rough race plan is to try for my usual negative split. I'll take a closer look at the route over the weekend, but rough plan would be to settle in for the first couple of miles at 75 min pace (7:30), then push onto target pace (7:15) for a few miles and see how that feels. Around the 6-7 mile mark I'll re-assess and see if I can push on or not and hopefully fly it over the last few miles if it's in the legs. The weather forecast for Sunday looks to be pretty good, so I'm really looking forward to giving this a good rattle.

Race Report - The John Treacy Dungarvan 10 miler

A weird one this - a strong result but I never felt great at any stage.

I'd a thumping headache all day Saturday that just wouldn't shift. The headache itself was bad enough but I was more worried it was going to be the first symptom of something else. Got out for a few shakeout miles and felt physically fine. Mercifully the headache finally eased around 9 Saturday night. Woke up feeling fine Sunday morning so all systems go. The local running group had a bus booked to Dungarvan - we were on the road for 9 and the bus dropped us in Dungarvan before 10. The race started at 1pm on the previous occassions I'd ran it - this years 11am start was far more agreeable. I knew the final mile had changed last year and would remain the same this year - a few on the bus had warned of a nasty little kicker of a hill not far from the finish. Set off on my warm up and randomly ran up a side road which half way up I realised was the aforementioned hill - not too bad I thought with my nice fresh legs. Bumped into plenty of familiar faces as I made my way to the start line, although no sign of V or D. Took position alongside the 75 minute pacers and after a slight delay we were off.

The plan was as I'd outlined last week - stick with the 75 minute pacers (7:30) for a couple of miles, then ease away at 7:15 for a few miles, kicking on for the last few if I could. It's a tight enough start given the size of the field as the opening half mile twists through the town before you finally emerge back onto wider roads and things settle down a tad. The start was fairly chaotic with some people charging past, others to be negotiated. I just tried to keep calm, stay upright and keep in touch with the pacers. I kind of ebbed and flowed near them for the first mile, before settling alongside for a bit. First mile came in at 7:27 so bang on what I wanted. I just didn't feel great though - the effort felt more than I expected - maybe it was the hectic start, or I worried that something lurked from Saturdays headache and I'd be in trouble soon. The second mile was more of the same, pace was ok, I just felt uneasy. There was a slight downhill before we turned right onto country roads and I used this to slide away from the pace group. 7:21 for the second mile.

Third mile took us down past the finish line and I never seem to remember that we go back onto the ring road for a bit - every year it surprises me. I was full sure we'd gone wrong. 7:08 for this mile and I'm a bit more settled now. I spot John Treacy himself supporting on a roundabout as we depart the town for the final time until the finish. 4th mile has a bit of climbing so I'm conscious not too push too hard here, still though the mile clocks at 7:21. This whole section had been a wind tunnel in previous years - not so this year. Could not have asked for better conditions. A big black balloon distracted me for a while on the long straight stretch of the 5th mile - I think it had belonged to one of the 70 minute pacers but now it drifted off into the blue Waterford skies. The mile markers were pretty much bang on what my watch suggested, and mile 5 beeped at 7:14 for a 36:31 first half, so a PB (72:58) is within touching distance. I'm surprised at how quickly the miles are ticking by, and I'm feeling more settled now after my earlier rough patch.

As we approach a tight hairpin-type turn I spy a gentle downhill on the far side which I then target to make some further progress and kick on a bit, before knuckling down again for a bit of climbing. 7:07 for the 6th mile and shortly after I glanced at my watch as it read 6.25 miles in 45:xx, only slightly outside my (admittedly soft) 10K PB. This gave me a nice little confidence boost at an opportune time as we hit a lovely downhill section. I tore down here with gusto as others had a more measured approach. I carried this momentum into the the flat miles that followed. 6:53 for that 7th mile. I took a caffeine gel along here just before the water stop. I'm not feeling super strong like I did in Waterford, but still managing to keep the pace under 7 min/mile as mile 8 beeps in 6:51.

There's a little pull back onto the Youghal road, a bit of respite for a few yards before the long drag up towards the town. This is bloody hard work now. I'm looking at others bouncing along in their Vaporflys and Alphaflys and I'm cursing the Speeds which feel like rocks right now. I'm still passing people and managing to keep the pace up despite the drag. 6:55 for the 9th mile. I've picked up a stitch now, possibly from the gel and I'm trying to remember what I read about getting rid of a stitch. Deep breaths? I try that but it doesn't help. I just want this to be over now as we enter the final mile and the road flattens out and helps for a while. I'm wary of the last little hill, but at this stage it's not like I'm going to back off to save something for it. Turn the corner and jaysus it looks like Everest (it's not!). Feels like I'm crawling up here but everyone around is in the same boat or worse. The climb has drained my legs and I've nothing much to muster for the last short sprint to the line. Last mile was a 6:46.

Chip Time 1:11:06. A PB of 1:53 from the same race 3 years ago. I'm very satisfied with the time, just a bit perturbed that I never really felt in control at any stage. Maybe that's a good sign though. I mentioned before the race about not feeling sharp, or in race shape and I think that's why I felt off during the race. It's to be expected I guess coming off a base phase with lots of easy and moderate work - the race pace and effort were a shock to the system. So, a PB in February - shut up moaning and take it! I also smashed my 10K PB by over a minute in the back half of the race, and came close to a 5K PB, so both of those need seeing to in the coming months.

Afterwards we headed for dinner in Dungarvan and a few local IPA's before the bus dropped us back home for a few more pints where I caught the end of the Spurs match. I read my 2020 report before compiling this one - a few common things stood out. One was how quickly the miles ticked by, another was how I used the nice downhill section in the 7th mile as a launchpad to head for home, and also that Spurs beat City that day too. A really enjoyable day out at a great race - what more could you want!

Thanks everyone for the kind words - it's certainly nice to be back claiming PB's again!

Thanks E. I suppose first of all it could be argued that I'm overselling myself saying that I've jumped a level, but that's what it feels like to me, and maybe that's all that matters anyway - that in my mind I feel like I've made strides and feel confident of more progress to come.

What's it down to? Great question, and one I've given a fair bit of thought too over the past 24 hours. The honest answer is that it's probably all relatively low hanging fruit, so to speak. I'm still in the infancy of my running 'career' really, so improvements should be expected by just logging miles and being consistent?

Prior to my first dabble with running in 2017, I'd basically been inactive since my early teens, so 20+ years of nothing, so I was starting from a really low fitness base. Since I started running I had a solid 18 months or so in 2018/19 with two marathon blocks, then 2 middling injured-hit years, followed by the last 10 months which have been nice and consistent. But add that all up and it's not a whole pile really, so if I can just keep the consistency then I should expect to keep improving for a while yet? I don't expect it will be linear - sometimes big chunks, other times lean periods, but I'll just keep plugging away.

Well done on your own PB at the weekend - nearly a minute at 10k - a fairly substantial chunk! Looking forward to that report ☺️

6th - 12th February

Monday - 3.72 miles recovery (10:21)

Tuesday - Rest

Wednesday - 4.54 miles recovery (10:56)

Thursday - 5.56 miles easy (9:58)

Friday - Rest

Saturday - 6.03 easy miles (9:46)

Sunday 10.24 easy miles (9:47)

A nice handy week to allow a bit of recovery after Dungarvan. 30.1 miles in the end, and went passed 200 miles for the year, which is a solid start. Nothing too exciting to note running wise - no lasting niggles or soreness after Dungarvan, pleasingly. Attended a soccer coaching course on Saturday morning - nice to pick up a few pointers on how to approach coaching the u8's, although there was plenty soccer-type work in the bits where I was one of the guinea pig players for the other budding coaches. Plenty soreness in the days after as a result, and a timely reminder of why I knocked the 5-a-side on the head pretty quickly last year - great craic as it may be, the injury risk just felt too great for it to be compatible with running.

Focus now turns to the Limerick Half in 11 weeks time. I'll be jumping in at week 2 of the 12 week P&L Faster Road Running plan. Couple of reasons for going with this plan. Firstly, it should suit my weekly schedule, and I've had decent results on the few previous occassons I've dabbled with P&L. The other main reason is as a test run for Dublin - it's a long way off, and I'm very much leaning towards the Boards Grads plan again for that but wanted to see how I got on with P&L here as I've never really done a full P&L plan outside of the base version.

I'll mainly follow the plan as prescribed, although there will be some alterations. There are two tune-up races (8k-10k), 2 weeeks and 4 weeks out from Limerick. I've been looking at options and there are a few workable ones on those weeks, or in-and-around those weeks, so we'll see what ends up suiting. I'd considered the Mallow 10M mid-plan too, but I'm happy enough with my Dungarvan 10M time and I'd like to stick to the plan as closely as I can.