Is it Now?

Shall we pencil in the morning of Sat 12th then? We can work out any carpooling later. Easy pace suits me too, save any show-offery for the first half of the WWUltra on the day:)

*Edit- the more the merrier if anyone else fancies this.

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

FYI, the Debra Ireland wicklow mountains half is a week before the ultra. A great route and a nice leg stretcher before your ultra efforts.

To rich for my pockets Mick- €70:eek: I'm on €0 for 25 miles raced so far this year, want to beat my 70c/mile average from 2010:D

Thurs Hill run

Got a shout early from +-, did I want to run Coolafynshoge in Tinahely? Did I wha', great morning for it, frosty and bright, with a real touch of Spring in the air. Its a great climb, grassy up and off the WW (leg 7 end, for anyone who knows that). I was noticeably stronger climbing this than I had been lately, a couple of blasts from the inhaler, and the weekends long run, obviously helping. More of this work, and more milage, and I should be in good shape for the LC's.

Almost kept running till the summit, but the long heather towards the top put paid to that- high knee lifts were hurting just a bit more than they should. I'm wary of doing too much too soon after the 25 miler, so walked a bit, and discarded any notion of doing a second climb with my partner. Coming down was magnificent, running into a view that can't be adequately described, but was stunning enough that we stopped running to properly appreciate it. Off down again, fast-ish on the soft grass, and when I opened up the stride a bit, I felt a small pull behind my knee- the hamstring from the weekend come back. No real problem, just slowed down the descent, and ran a few k extra on the flat grass at the bottom. Hamstring is still tight, but a bit of a massage should take care of it easy enough. I really like this route (a new one for me), and look forward to training on it again.

Sun 8 miles fartlek

Began with a steady 2 miles up to the forest, 1 mile easy waiting for the kids to get driven up with their bikes, 3 miles fartlek, concentration on using the upper body and maintaining stride form, while chasing the kids on bikes, 2 mile warm down.

I find fartlek very useful, and enjoy bursts of speed and running fast. Form was good on todays run, I was hitting the ground well, and using the upper body to help drive forward. Training is entering a more structured phase now, so for the next while a typical week will consist of:

*at least one fartlek session, or one speed session,
*one hill session focussing on building climbing strength (repeats or long climbs), tempo based,
*one or two mid-length runs, 8-13 miles, easy or steady, hilly if possible
*weekend long run, finishing faster at the end.

I'll also try and limit the wine intake, which has been getting a bit scary at times, that can only make a positive difference.

I have a bit of work to do in Dublin around 2pm, killing two birds with one stone... shall we say meet at Johnnie Foxes at 9:30am? The alternate is meet at Crone woods carpark, and get the useful part of the recce from here. Or meet at one and carpool to the other, too many choices!

Unless anyone especially wants to recce the Djouce section, shall we just run out 10 miles from JF at 9:30am, and then back? (Ending with a pint)

Wed 11 miles easy

Hit the trail to Annagh today, bright and blustery Spring day, for an easy enough stretch of the legs. Kept the legs motoring throughout, easy effort all the way.

jeffontour wrote: »

Apart from the bit where you all run away from me.

No way, this will be an easy run, full of excuses, while everyone eyes up their opponents. So, 65:xx Krusty, ibuprofen mithril, fatty donot, and "resting" Jeff.

Great, see you all (and anyone else who wants to run this) tomorrow at 9:30am then.