Half Sub 1hr 35, 10k sub 38, 5k sub 18

another world · 13-06-2010 09:39AM

Sun: 6.5km at 8:37min/mile

I could feel the rustiness in the legs today. They were exhausted after the first km. Thankfully, the last kilometre or so felt a lot better and I even felt good for it

The plan up to the 26th will be as follows:

Week 1: 35k : easy runs, one run of 12-14k

Week 2: 30k : again pretty easy and a mini-tempo at 10k race pace

Main plan is not to get injured really! Based on today´s run sub-40 isn´t even remotely possible. We´ll see how it goes up to the race.

another world · 14-06-2010 07:33PM

Mon: 6.5k at 8min/mile

My first early morning run, out at 6:30am. The leg felt good from the get go but now this evening I´m feeling a lot of tightness in the shin area of the same dodgy leg. More foam rolling for me! I´ll rest tomorrow and go for a 4 day stretch after that.

another world · 18-06-2010 08:10PM

Tue: Rest

Wed: 6.5km (am), 5 aside footie (pm)

Thurs: Rest

Fri: 6.5km

All easy runs this week while I get a better feel for where I am fitness and leg wise. Strangely enough, I´ve been feeling really good since the soccer during the week, it seems to have used different muscles and the ones that were annoying don´t seem so bad anymore!

Longish run tomorrow.

another world · 19-06-2010 01:20PM

Sat: 16km LSR easy pace

Week Total: 42km/26.1miles (pure coincidence!)

A good weeks running for me. The leg is still an issue but the icing (morning and night) is doing wonders for it and it feels safe enough to run on it.

It was a perfect day for the LSR today and myself and the oh did a circle from the house, to UCD, Sandymount and back along the canal. My thighs were exhausted towards the end, and worryingly I was delighted about it because I´d missed that feeling :eek:

The plan for the next week is:

Sun: 6.5k easy
Mon: 6.5k easy
Tue: 6.5k (4 at 10k planned race pace)
Wed: 6.5k easy
Thurs: 6.5k easy
Fri: Rest
Sat: Race Dunshaughlin

I need to tap into my anaerobic fitness before the race or I may as well give up already. I could also do with shedding a kilo or so aswell :rolleyes:

another world · 27-06-2010 10:20AM

Having not run since my LSR last week due to lower leg pains my hopes of doing any sort of time in this were slim to none. In fact, I had told myself in the few days beforehand I wouldn´t run it and on the day I was still of that mindset.

The preparation for this couldn´t have been worse really. No running in 6 days, then a week of running and before that pretty much nothing for a month.

So, when I was on the start line I was relaxed but disappointed I wasn´t going to be able to race such a good race. Before I knew it we were off and I was going really really slow. For the first 200m or so I was just strolling away not really caring and then for some reason at the roundabout I realised, Feck it, this is a race and I´m racing it. So that was my real start.

I went through the first 2k in 7:40. Excellent, I thought, at least it´s not bad training for when it all goes wrong. This pessimistic attitude continued most of the way around and strangely it worked to keep me going, keep going and see how far you get at this pace, at least you´ll get some training in!

At this stage I also figured out my tactics for the race. Find a group or person, run with them a bit and then catch the next group. This was a great help psychologically as I was rarely alone and I always had a target to think about and not the pain in my lower legs which was pretty bad for the first few km. km 4 in 15:34.

I suffer from hayfever and this is not a race for hayfever sufferers

I spent a good part of the race blowing my nose! Steadily picking groups off and never getting passed I got to 6k in 23:31.

I knew there was a hill of sorts coming up but I didn´t think it was going to be very big. It probably wasn´t but at the time it felt enormous and the one after it felt even worse. Head down and some how I got through them without damaging my time too much. 8k in 31:36.

The last 2k were fine course wise but I knew my legs weren´t ready for a 10k race. I felt complete deadness in them at about 9.5k and only for the support from the locals I could easily have given up. I knew there wouldn´t be a sprint finish but I was delighted to be coming in in under 40mins. One lad I was had passed out on the hills and had a mini chat with passed me at the end, I guess you can´t have your cake and eat it, too!

Final time of 39:31 by my watch but probably 5 or 6 secs because of there not being a mat at the start. Great race and great atmosphere. I have to say the lads in Meath know how to throw a good race. Oh, and my wife got under 50mins for the first time so we were both very happy with our trip out to Dunshaughlin.

another world · 02-07-2010 06:49PM

Sun: Rest

Mon: 6.5k easy

Tue: 6.5k easy

Wed: 5 aside

Thurs: Rest

Fri: 4k easy

Waaaay too many easy runs up there! The legs have been tired enough after the race last week but not sore. My calves are still bothering me but I´ll keep trodding along anyway (icing and foam rolling have become a new hobbie for me :rolleyes:) A long overdue physio appointment is booked for Tuesday.

Aim now is sub-30 5 mile on the 17th. I´ll have to get some speed work in if I´m going to manage that so hopefully the physio will work wonders and very quickly!

another world · 04-07-2010 02:00PM

Sat: Rest (from running, climbing most of the day)

Sun: 21k in 2hrs7mins

Pretty slow LSR today with the oh around Phoenix Park. I loved this run, started off sunny, then rainy, then windy (a big branch nearly hit us) and then sunny again with plenty of wind.

I´m glad to be back doing this sort of distance and I´m sure it´ll pay off fitness wise over the next few weeks. Main aim this week will be to get another 25k in and one interval session on Friday.

another world · 08-07-2010 09:08PM

Mon: 7k easy

Tue: Rest (Physio)

Wed: 9.1k in 7:35min/mile

Thurs: 4k easy

So far so good this week. The physio says one foot is flatter than the other so the lower leg in that leg is working harder to stabilise it thus the pain! Makes sense. I have a few exercises to do and I should be back to new in no time.

Wednesday´s run was good. The average pace was 7:35min/mile but I did a warm up and warm down so the middle part must of been around 6:30min/mile, I´d imagine. Good to get that in. It might finally be the start of something

another world · 10-07-2010 08:31AM

Fri: 4k easy

Sat: 6.5k easy

Weekly Total: 51.6k/32.1miles

Out early today before the rain arrives:(

A good week really. The 4k runs are just runs from work to the house. I´ll add a few loops to make these longer in the coming weeks. I want to get 2 or 3 weeks at 70km per week before the half marathon in September. It´d make a big diiference I´m sure.

another world · 11-07-2010 04:26PM

Sun: 17.1k LSR

No time for this because I had to stop twice and forgot to restart the stopwatch. It was down around Phoenix Park. Main highlight was going at pace (for me) up the Kyber Road, from the stop sign to the poles blocking cars in 4:34. I´m glad the race next week is going down that but if your not ahead of the pack it´ll be mayhem, it´s pretty tight :eek: Good run in general. Felt fine finishing and all my aches and pains are keeping at bay. Sub-31 looks more likely than sub-30 but we´ll see, I´ll certainly be aiming for sub-30

another world · 17-07-2010 04:42PM

Mon: 5.4k easy

Tue: 3.5k easy

Wed: 10 Steady

Fri: 3.5k easy

Sat: 7.85k/4.88miles

Weekly Total: 47km/29.4miles

another world · 17-07-2010 05:02PM

First off it was disappointing about them getting the distance wrong. No way around it, they should be getting that sort of thing right otherwise it takes away from the credibility of the race. I probably won´t enter this again next year because of it.

I was actually nervous about this race because it was my first 5 miler and I wanted to get a decent time for that reason. The preparation has been okay I guess. Coming back from the injury in May/early June and gradually getting my fitness back but nothing really specific to this distance. Despite that I knew I´d do alright.

So, at the start line and the atmosphere was good, I felt fine and ready to go. I was about 6 or 7 rows back and I had a fair bit of weaving to do for the first mile. At the first mile marker I heard loads of people being surprised with how fast they had done it. I´d gone through it in 5:13. I felt comfortable but I knew I´d need to slow down a bit to get up the hills. The hills felt grand really and I passed a fair few people going up them. Strangely enough, I felt really tired in the bits between them. These were the times I wanted to slow down but thankfully I kept the pace up.

I never really felt terrible (well, maybe the last few hundred metres

) and coming up to the last mile I thought I could push it a bit, I was right, I could but not for long! My last mile was up and down. Up at the start, then slowed down for a mini-sprint finish towards the end.

Final time of 29:15 or 5.59mins/mile.

I guess I should have known that was faster than were I´m at right now. I would have been happy with a 30 minutes 5 mile which is roughly what I would have got.

Well organised race in general, a big pity about the distance!

another world · 24-07-2010 10:32AM

Today was my first run since the race last week. I tried for a run on Monday after work because my legs felt grand when I was walking or sitting but the pain was too much running and after a kilometre I had to stop and walk home

Anyway, a day or twos rest turned into 5 because of work and laziness, but today I got out for a really nice 6.5k run. I felt like I could have raced it I was so fresh and no pain at all in the shin area.

The next month will be a balancing act between training, staying injury free and keeping my energy levels up (work and climbing are also taking it out of me!).

So, all steam ahead for a sub 63min 10 miler...

another world · 25-07-2010 02:42PM

Sun: 11.5k at 7:57 min/mile

Lovely run down by the canal, then coast and then home. For some reason I can never hold myself back when I´m running at the coast so turned out to be a mini-tempo for that part of it. The problem now is mid-week running! Where do you fit it in???

another world · 26-07-2010 08:27PM

Mon: 6.5k at 8:26min/mile

Sooooo humid... Felt like puking afterwards

another world · 31-07-2010 07:51PM

Tue - Wed: Nothing

Fri: 6.5k easy

Sat: 21k in 9:39min/mile pace

Weekly Total: 45.5k/28.3miles

I´ve given up on running mid-week, just can´t fit it in. I guess 4 days a week will be enough to keep me in shape and improve a bit.

Just an easy 21k with the OH today. Grand and easy but my legs aren´t designed for distance running, no matter how slow I go I still feel painful enough towards the end.

I have to say my motivation is well down at the moment for the running. I think it´s because of where I have to run i.e. usually along concrete paths in Dublin city. It´s killing my legs as well. I´ll have to put a change to that over the next year, I couldn´t keep it up long term, just not much fun and crap on the body. But needs be and it´s maintaining my fitness for now so carry on we will.

another world · 01-08-2010 03:41PM

Sun: 6.5k

Way too fast today for what was meant to be a recovery run. I didn´t bring the watch with me but I´m sure it was fast enough. Plenty of energy for the run even though I had climbed for 2 hours beforehand. Bloody wrecked now :P sure what else would you do on a bank holiday weekend? Relax??

another world · 02-08-2010 12:06PM

Mon: 11.5k Avg 7:25min/mile (3k at 6:21min/mile)

Lovely run this morning. Nice to get a mini-tempo in there as well. That´s 45.5k in 4 days now so the fitness should be up a good bit. Off for the next 3 days and then back into it on Friday.

another world · 07-08-2010 01:59PM

Fri: 6.5k Easyish

Sat: 21k LSR at 7:58min/mile

Weekly Total: 45.5k/28.3miles

Tough enough LSR today. I started out and was internally debating about going back to the house and just not bothering. Anyway, by the time I had decided that was stupid I was a few k down the road and on my way. I kept it steady for the first 4.5k to the park and then picked up the pace going around the perimeter. I guess I must have been going sub 7min/mile at some stage because I took it easy enough for the few k back to the house as well. Overall a good run but strangely I felt a lot better going at this pace than I did the last two weeks going a good bit slower. I´m really looking forward to the 10 mile in 2 weeks!

another world · 08-08-2010 06:30PM

Sun: 6.5k Recovery 8:11min/mile

Yet again too fast for a recovery, I really have to cut that out! Oh well, nice run on a lovely day.

another world · 09-08-2010 08:49PM

Mon: 11.5k in 8:08min/mile

Perfect evening for a run, pity my body wasn´t up for it! Oh well, miles in the bag

another world · 14-08-2010 06:57PM

Fri: 6.5k easy

Sat: 16k easy 8:45min/mile

Weekly Total: 40.5k/25.2miles

Lovely day for a run. With the race in mind next week I decided to ease off a bit and head out out with the OH for an easy enough one. Mostly run on paths but with a small off-road section. In general it was very very easy but my left ITB was a bit sore towards the end which was a worrying but I think it´s grand, icing it now. Easy enough run in into the race next week. 3 days of easy training should be enough to get some tiredness out of the legs. All I´m thinking about is sub-63, I think the fitness is there so we´ll see.

another world · 21-08-2010 07:36PM

I´ve been thinking about this race for a good while now and despite wanting to do really well in it I just haven´t been getting the miles in and I knew it. I got one run in this week of 6k at an easy pace, I guess realistically it was always going to be tough.

I started off kind of slow I thought and after a 100 metres or so I realised this and over-rectified it by weaving around a lot of people I shouldn´t have been weaving around! I didn´t see a 1 mile marker so didn´t know what sort of pace I was going at. I felt ok at the time but nothing amazing, I guess I had a kind of laziness in the legs today. At the 2 mile marker I looked at my watch and saw 12.02mins. Bugger, too fast so I slowed it down a good bit and did the next 4 miles in 12.58mins. Just perfect I thought but it wasn´t enough.

Going down Chesterfield Avenue is just tough, mainly because it´s long and you can´t see the end, today it was really sunny as well and that didn´t help. I actually sped it up in that section and did the next mile in 6.22mins and the next in 6.17mins. Into mile 7 and I was feeling it in the legs, I knew I would lose time on the hills so made a point of going fast down the hill that came before it. Bad move! I was wrecked going up the hill but my mile split of 6.38mins was only a sign of where things were going.

I was dead going into mile 8, a feeling I´ve only had in the half marathon in Bogota last year. I was toasted. My pace dropped to 7mins and it felt like everyone was going past me and a lot were. A 7.12min mile came next and I could barely feel my legs, completely full of lactic acid and there was nothing I could do. I managed the last mile in 7.23mins with lots of attempts to speed up but my legs just wouldn´t react.

A lot of lessons learned in this race:

1. Do the training that your proposed time deserves (you may have noticed I´m not the best at this training business!)

2. I have to find some way of slowing myself down at the start. A Garmin may be on the cards in the near future. I have no feel for it myself.

3. Despite not doing this I think it would have been important to have a small bit in the bag for the hills instead of expecting to maintain the same pace on the hills. It´s probably OK in a shorter race. Open to corrections on this.

Right, I´d like to finish by saying I´ll be training non-stop until the Half Marathon, but I can´t, because I´ll be in Prague next week and the beer will be flowing!

gerard65 · 21-08-2010 07:50PM

Hi another world, I've been following your log and I'm amazed (and envious) of the race times you achieve on what is a fairly light training program. Ever wonder what you could achieve if you up you training? Well done today, even though you read a little disappointed, sub 66mins is a very respectable time.

another world · 21-08-2010 08:04PM

gerard65 wrote: »

Hi another world, I've been following your log and I'm amazed (and envious) of the race times you achieve on what is a fairly light training program. Ever wonder what you could achieve if you up you training? Well done today, even though you read a little disappointed, sub 66mins is a very respectable time.

Thanks gerard. I think the reason I might sound a bit dissappointed is because I got my hopes up about a better time! If I had decided on sub-66 I´d be delighted about it :P You´re right about uping the training, If I got 3 - 4 months of good training with 2 solid sessions per week plus recoveries I think there could be a very good time there somewhere. I plan to do this a bit later in the year all going well.

another world · 22-08-2010 11:52AM

Sun: 6.5k eeeasssyy

I felt it was important to get out for this one just for recovery purposes. I could feel it in the legs a good bit but towards the end I was feeling grand. With the weather the way it is today it would be hard not to enjoy a run

another world · 25-08-2010 09:49PM

Mon: 6.5k at 5 min/mile

Wed: 11k at 5min/mile

I don´t know why but I haven´t been able to slow down over the last few runs! Well, I think I´ve bagged a bit of fitness over the last few days which I will probably lose over the next few days on holidays. Next run, next Monday.

another world · 04-09-2010 07:14PM

Tue: 6.5k in 8:10min/mile

Wed: 8k in 8:26min/mile

Fri: 11.5k (lost the time but it was healthy enough)

Sat: 6.5k in 8:26min/mile

Weekly Total: 32.5k/20.2miles

Well, I certainly lost a lot of fitness last weekend but the beer is so good over in Prague! I really struggled to get my fitness back over the first day or two back running. Finally felt goodish again yesterday (despite muscles feeling a bit week) and this morning I was back to normal. Slow LSR tomorrow so I´ll be able to see where my resistance is at. Thinking of an interval session midweek just to get some speed into the legs.

another world · 05-09-2010 12:55PM

Sun: 6k warm up, 6 * 800m with 3min rest, 6k warm down

Splits:

1. 3:02
2. 2:57
3. 2:57
4. 2:52
5. 2:48
6. 2:42

I hadn´t planned on doing this (see yesterdays post!) but I felt good going out the door and wanted to go fast. Only problem being that the UCD track is 6k from the house (no car) so slow jog out there and then into the laps.

Felt grand for the first two and realised I was giving myself too much rest between runs. Pushed it for the last three and still felt pretty good. The 800 is such a good distance, I´ll definitely put a bit of focus into it next summer. I think it was a good workout and overall I ran 16.8k this morning so that should stand to me somewhat on race day in two weeks. I can´t wait for the half now.

Ps. in my head I had a bit of a rant planned for this post about slow runners/walkers in the inside lane but it´s best I don´t say it in writing :P

another world · 06-09-2010 09:16PM

Mon: 6.5k Easyish

I loved this run. It feels great running in the rain especially when it's not too cold. Half looking forward to the winter now!

Half Sub 1hr 35, 10k sub 38, 5k sub 18

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