I AMsterdam 2010

fri 16th, 9m Easy/interval, 2m warm up + 5x1200m @5:52m/m ave, 4min rec + 2m warm down. 22deg

splits: 4:15/4:20/4:26/4:30/4:31 @ between 5:42-6:03m/m pace

splits show a very large drop in pace! and the body felt it, it would seam that the first 2 were probable faster than they should have been(although in the sub3 range, im clearly not there yet) and the last 2/3 were a little slower....maybe because of the first 2 being too fast but over the course of the 30-odd mins of quality running, the wind picked up a hell of a lot! no excuse, but it didnt help when facing a strong wind for what was around 200m a lap!

happy enough anyway because i still feel i was running at vVO2 max for large portions of the 1200m...its bound to help.

total weekly mileage 46m, glad to be taking tomorrow off!!!

sun 18th: 4m easy, 29:52mins @7:28m/m + 1m incl 6x100m strides. 21deg

i started this a little slower than 7:28m/m pace for the first mile but picked up the cadence a bit for the last 3 which brought the time down. nice run.
did an extra mile at the end on a track with 6x100m strides/200m recovery.
i think they will help a lot and will try to tack them onto the end of 2 of the easy runs a week for now on.

total weekly mileage 51m

tues 20th, 6.1m Easy, 45:27mins @7:26m/m. 20deg

run was grand, was going to take it a bit slower and do more of a recovery style easy run than an aerobic style easy run today but have a recovery run tomorrow morning.

then an 8k race in the evening, not the best run up to a 5k race, no taper, long demanding runs in the days previous, lots of mileage etc etc but it should still give me a good idea of where im at in the fast pace department.


total weekly mileage: 22.3m

8k Race report

So, i wasnt looking forward to this all day, the thought of running at speed for 30odd mins just wasnt sitting well with me, but it needed to be done to assess the fitness a bit after the lay off.

arrived nice and early, registered, paid the $5 entry fee and did a small warm up.
got talking to the organisers about the race as it was on a gravel/dirt running bike track that followed the river. wasnt happy about this as i never ran of trail before and i didnt want to get injured slipping or something.
also asked about the measurements, they said it was accurate enough but +/- a bit maybe. that was fine for me as it was just a pace setting run.
as predicted there was only a handful of what seamed to be entrants looking for time, the rest were there for the 2k fun run with their children...nothing wrong with that, just not your typical race atmosphere.

the layout of the course was head east out along the trail for about 1k and come to a U-turn, then back towards the start and continue out westwards until the next U-turn and back to the start...fairly simple i guess.

at the start line i positioned myself about 3rows back, wanted to get an idea of the pace the some of the more serious runners would have and also the kids were lining up at the start also.
we started on time anyway i guess and after a few secs of weaving through kids and a slow start i found myself in front, nobody had taken the inititive to lead out, so off i went...a few ups and downs, weaving as trails do and slightly slipping with each foot push...looked at the innacurate nike+ and was reading 6:30-6:40ish, breathing normal to heavy as expected but going steady. got to the first U-turn and it was just that, a stop and turn effort around a bollard...back towards the start line and it was a few second before i passed anyone in the other direction, i had a 20sec lead! was thinking this is great....passsed the start line and headed out westwards, which seamed to go on for ages as it was quiet open, just phycological really, was begining to tire though and with nobody around me i had thoughts of being able to easy off and walk and still finish 1st!
got to the next stop and trun around U-turn and headed back to the finish, had and even bigger gap now, maybe a minute?

long story short about how i was making my way back towards the finish line facing a head wind i crossed the line to win the race in 20:25mins....not bad for an 8k eh? well actually it was short, surprise surprise....how short?, maybe was around 5.3k?
have been looking at it on mapmyrun and being precise with the turns etc im getting a total distance of 3.32miles, being more easy with the markings and prob cutting corners a little i make it no shorter than 3.25miles.
even if we had gone out east again to the 1st Uturn it still wouldnt have given us 8k, maybe 7.5k but that was prob the intention, they just never said that, because i clearly asked them at the start is it just one loop etc.

so, lets look at it like this, my times based on 3.32miles and 3.25miles with is 6:06m/m and 6:14m/m, put that into a 5k race and its a 5k finish of between 18:58mins & 19:22mins.

im actually happy with that because i ran the race on my own, it was on a loose surface with 2 U turns and towards the end (i may not have had any extra gas in the tank) i didnt sprint to the finish like you normally would for a 5k race, and it was 25degs also.

total weekly mileage: 32.8m (incl race & warm up and down)

thurs 22: 4.1m recovery, 36:19mins @8:51m/m +1m incl 8x100m strides. 22deg cloudy am

nice cloudy morning, still warm but at least not sunny!
did 8x100m strides instead of 6, im starting to like them and can see them helping without much stress on the body.

total mileage for the week: 37.9m

theboyblunder wrote: »

congrats seany - a win is a win! Great stuff.

thanks, but it really wanst much of a race....was a fun run really, not too many competitive runners in it, only a handful!

still though, i was running for time and thats what i did.

picked up a garmin forerunner 305 today! was sick of not really knowing what pace i was running at....will try and figure it out before my interval session later...happy days!

Sosa wrote: »

Now that he has a win under his belt he gets serious and gets a garmin

Well done seany...i only dream about winning a race

i should really change the wording of the race report, although i did finish the run 1st, there was only about 4 or 5 taking the race seriously, but i was running for a time, which i was happy enough with(assuming it was right!)

anyway, if you want to win a race, get over here and you would take a few mins off my time!

sun 25th, 6.1m easy, 46:24mins @7:36m/m HR161ave..eek...but it was 28deg!

this was the hardest easy run i have done, now there is a contradiction eh. basically was not prepared for this, hadnt eaten much, spent the day at the beach(lake beach) and was prob too dehydrated to run in 28deg heat which had a feels like factor of 31deg...not sure if they have that in ireland but in canada there is a feels like temperature rating, factors in humidity etc...so it ended badly and now my legs are knackered. supposed to do an 18miler tomorrow with tempo sessions incl ill see...

total weekly mileage: 57m

mon 26th: 17.36m Easy/Tempo, 2:16:41mins @7:52m/m incl 3x6min +1x5min tempo @ 6:25-6:36m/m and 1min rec. Easy pace @7:51-8:21m/m pace. 26deg(feels like 33!!!)

Tempo splits: 6:25/6:26/6:30/6:36m/m

this was very hard, was supposed to do another round of a tempo run but couldnt even try it.
either im doing too much mileage or the heat in the last 2days is behind this but im really suffering at the moment!
im going to reduce the mileage this week and hopefully get in a good quality tempo session on friday before the hols where ill reduce the mileage to low 40s, if i even get that many, how bad!

mileage this programme v edinburgh
week 1; 41m/31m
week 2; 51m/34m
week 3; 57m/34m
week 4; 60m/39m
etc etc

maybe im burning out, if so, my quality sessions will be effected, ill relook at mileage also after the hols.

total weekly milesge: 17m

village runner wrote: »

Your heart rate was very high sunday so maybe the long one today was a day early. Also doing strides as part of a recovery run is a no no. you want to recover full stop.
I do the strides a day before a hard session to get my legs ready.
Rem the garmin is a tool. Dont look at it on an easy day or recovery day. Good for data afterwards. When you look back that at it that you ran say two days hard in 3 days how long did it take you to recover. I aint able to do a session tuesday and thuesday but am able tuesday and friday. I learnt the hard way. Gone are the hard 5 miles. The garmin is however great for a race for pacing.

ya your right about the easy/recovery runs, they should be easy and help you recdover for the next big run and normally my easy runs do feel easy, espicially the 5milers, but yesterday was a nightmare, and i was supposed to do strides but could barely get home not to mention sprint!
and today, i never sweated so much in a training run before, honestly it was like i came out from a pool or something.
i feel something is wrong, run down....but the last 2 days were hotter than any other day i trained in, with yesterday being 28, thats hot here with a viscious strong sun and high humidity, not like ireland and today 26, might have been 23 starting out but still, 2h and 15mins in that....its taking it toll on me thats for sure.

ill take it easy the next 3days with reduced mileage from above and hopefully get a quality tempo session in friday.

as i say, have been doing far more mileage this time than ast with 59/53/50/47/46 my highest mileage over the 14weeks, ive already hit 57m in this pregramme...plan "b"

Hi Seany, running easy for a few days is a good idea. Might be time for an easy week. Youll be in a better position to judge what mileage you can do the following week.

ya, ill take it easy this week but high/medium mileage, ill have an easy low mileage next week, im on hols then.

I think this week you did 3 hard sessions in 5 days (race, interval, tempo).
Im not one to talk but for marathon training tahts too much.
2 sessions a week is ample. I reckon youre good for the higher mileage or close to it.

your right, it was too much, even though the race was more of a fun run, i was still running at a faster than usual pace, low-ish m/m 6s? and the interval session was tough, but glad i got through it!

Sundays run seems to have been too hard. That should have been at 8.30 pace to recover. thats the pace (8.30) I often do recovery runs
After an easy week you may find a 50-60 mile week with only 2 sessions is not too much. Its up to you but I would cut down the sessions, speed of running before the volume. Once you get used to a larger volume the speed will come.
You can do 2 easy runs as a recovery also. Eg sunday you could have done 20 min jogs slowly by 2.

ill take it extra easy on the recovery runs, espically the day after/before big tempo/interval sessions but im going to try and get in 1 aerobic easy run and 1 med long in the week too....
mon & fri = hard,
tues & sat = rec
wed & thurs = med long & short aerobic + strides

Youre going really well but make sure and recover fully from this weeks efforts.

thanks but, im not sure im going well, the tempo pace and speed endurance isint back to me yet and im feeling that its important to have at least 12weeks at the correct paces for the sub3 or better to work...at this stage i feel i should be able to run a 6:30 tempo for at least half and hour, but i think id struggle! ill keep plugging away anyway...