Getting Back To My Best

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Actually missed a few snowy runs this year - when is it due to clear?

Well it's supposed to be like this for the whole of February :mad:. The whole continent seems to be covered in snow apart from Ireland. Hoping it's gone by Monday when i'm back.

Marthastew wrote: »

It is lovely running in the snow but after last year I never want it to snow here again. Don't you dare bring the snow home Brian:)

I'm hearing stories of 10-12 degrees and humidity over there, i'd say your safe

Mon 13th Feb, 4 mls recovery in 38'20 (9'35). 2 recovery runs in a row but needed as i was poleaxed from the weekend in Dublin (got in at 1.30am Sunday night) and the calves were very stiff from Saturdays LSR.

Tues 14th Feb, Track session on Parliament Hill in the heath after work today. Consisting of;

1.5 mls w/u then

10 mins at MP (done at 6'50 pace), followed by 2 mins jog recovery
10 mins at HMP (done at 6'12 pace), followed by 2 mins jog recovery
10 mins at 10k pace (done at 5'58 pace)

then 2.5 mls w/d for 9 mls total.

The MP section felt quite comfortable, but 6'50 pace on a track aint fast tbh. Getting a bit tougher for the HMP bit, had to focus to keep on pace. The last 10 mins was quite tough then and i was willing it to end but kept pace throughout. happy enough with the session.

Thurs 16th Feb, track session on the track in the heath after work today, consisting of;

2.5 mls w/u in 20'30 (8'12), done in daylight which is great for a change.

then 20 x 200m (aim was to hit between 38-40 secs for each one) with 200m jog recovery between them (roughly 80 secs)

200m times were;

40, 40, 39, 39, 40, 39, 39, 39, 38, 38, 38, 39, 38, 38, 38, 38, 38, 39, 38, 34.

Pretty consistent and happy with the times. Recoveries were mostly 75-80 secs with a few 85's thrown in by accident. Picked it up a bit for the last rep as i was feeling strong. Left the legs a bit dead aftere though on the w/d.

2.5 mls w/d in 21 mins (8'24) for 10 mls total.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/150032012

Checked the status of my New York Marathon application today and it said "accepted" and they charged me 2 weeks ago without me noticing Delighted i got in and this changes the summer a bit.

Don't think i'll be going full on for it, just wanna run a comfortable 3'15 or so and enjoy the day. The Cabbage Patch 10 will be the main autumn goal and thats 2 weeks before NY. London will be the one and only sub 3 attempt in 2012.

The 2 best marathons in the world in the same year lol.

Fri 17th Feb, 7 mls easy in 57'58 (8'17) around the outer circle and back. Felt good after a couple of miles to shake off thursdays session.

Sat 18th Feb, 4.5 mls easy in 36'00 (8'00) in the heath. Felt very good today.

Big test of my sub 3 credentials tomorrow with 10 easy plus 8 mls at MP planned. I'm much fitter than i was before Berlin so it should be ok.

Sun 19th Feb (am), headed down to Arsenal tube stop for a 5k run with Mo Farah and 200 others. It was a Nike sponsored event and as soon as my brother told me about it i was doing this. We were all given tech t-shirts with "One Mo Mile" on the front and after a speech from Mo we all headed out. Pace was handy at first but it slowly cranked up, until i looked at the garmin and saw sub 7 pace on it :eek: I was running alongside Mo here and had a brief chat with him about O'Lionaird and Salazar. Nice guy.

We headed through Clissold Park and the pace picked up again, it was like a Tour de France mountain stage with runners falling off the back one by one. I didnt fancy 6'30 ish pace so i dropped back a little. We headed through the old Highbury stadium, which is now apartment blocks but still looks like it used to before it closed. Then we headed towards the Emirates Stadium and finished with a lap of the stadium. I ended up with 7'04 pace but Mo and the frontunners finished in 6'20 pace overall. The run with Paula Radcliffe and Steve Cram i did last April was similar, these runs are for the swift!

After that we headed into the stadium to the corporate level, where we got free breakfast, followed by a Q&A with Mo. This was very good and a bit of a laugh. Didnt know Radcliffe gave him a grand when he was 18 to help with his running. A fair few Spurs fans were twisting the knife too (Mo is a mad Arsenal fan). A great morning out and one to remember for quite a while. See photo below (i'm 2nd from left but obscured)



Garmin link;

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/150916323

Pm;

After the excitement of all of that it was back to the grind with an LSR, some 6 hrs later. Original plan was 10 mls easy followed by 8 mls at MP. Ecoli (my coach) reduced this to 7 mls easy plus 8 mls at MP instead, which sounded much more doable. Did the first 5 mls in the heath, a quick stop at the house to pick up gels and a swig of powerade and headed down to Regents Outer Circle (where else). First 7 mls covered in 56'49 (8'07) and i was feeling good and confident for the MP miles, which consisted of 3 laps of the circle (which is 2.7 mls a lap)

The MP miles were like a dream, i never felt uncomfortable and they sailed by. Wore the Adizero Mana's today for only the second time and they made a big difference. The MP no longer felt like tempo pace, more like steady pace and the 8 mls flew by. I used nothing but a positive mental attitude the whole way, telling myself this was slow, that this is almost a minute a mile slower than my 10 mile time. It worked and for the first time MP felt easy in training. Did half a mile warm down at the end to round up to 60 mls for the week. Today will leave a mark so a couple of easy days are on the way. 8 mls at MP in 54'50 (6'51) and overall 15.5 mls in 1'56'08. (7'30) and 18.5 mls for the day.

Garmin Link;

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/150916304

I have had some great days in my 18 year running life but today just may have topped them all Roll on London!!

Weekly Review, 60 miles and 8 runs. First time doing 8 runs in a week and only the 2nd time over 60 miles. I seem to be taking it well for now.

Yearly Mileage, 323 mls. That's more like it.

Mon 20th Feb, 4 mls recovery in 38'45 (9'42). Painfully slow stuff but the legs were tired from yesterday (as expected) Glad to get that out of the way. The plan for the rest of the week isnt pretty.

The number for the Silverstone Half arrived today. Excited about the race now (even if it is 20 days away) Most of the race seems to be on the F1 circuit. Not sure if i'll go for sub 80 or sub 81, i'll see how the next 2 weeks go.

Weds 22nd Feb, tough midweek long MP session last night. 2 mls w/u then 10 x 1 ml at MP (60-70 secs jog recovery). Times were;

6'51
6'52
6'54
6'47
7'09 (for 1.04 mls so 6'52 pace)
6'54
6'51
6'55
6'47
6'50

First 6 were fine and comfortable enough. I had to dig in a bit the last 4 then.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/151769054

Some were faster and some were slower due to the wind and the uphill/downhill drags around the circle so i tried to keep the effort the same throughout.

Legs were smashed on the warm down (1.5 mls) and they're heavy enough today. Couple of easy days anyway to follow. 14.5 mls overall. Happy i got through the session ok but the deadness in the legs is alarming.

Fri 24th Feb, 5 mls easy at lunchtime today in a sun drenched heath in 40'19 (8'04). Felt better today but not fully recovered. The course for the national XC Champs which is on in the heath tomorrow was being laid out. Tough course and glad i'm not doing it.

Another 7-8 mls easy tomorrow (hungover no doubt) before a progression run from hell on Sunday.

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

Couldn't catch sight f you in that video but I'll be disappointed if you didn't wear your Tottenham jersey into the emirates!

About 11 secs in on the left as we leave the park. I'm sure Mo would have been impressed if i did!

Sat 25th Feb, 5 mls easy in the heath in 40'30 (8'06). Should have gone further but i was sucked into watching the national xc races. Saw the 2 u17 races. They weren't hanging around! Savage day for it and a great advertisement for North London running. Hope we get the worlds here some time. Wishful thinking maybe.

Feb 26th Feb, 15 ml progression run LSR today. Plan was;

8'20, 8'10, 8'00, 7'50, 7'40, 7'30, 7'20, 7'10, 7'00, 6'50, 6'40, 6'30, 6'20, 6'10, 6'00

which not only looked tough, it looked impossible. Decided to give it a lash anyway. Did the first 5 mls in the heath in fading daylight and headed down to the circle. The miles up to 7'20 went fine, even if 7'20 pace took a bit of maintaining. 7'10 and 7'00 went ok ish but 6'50 was a struggle. 6'40 went better but slighly downhill but 6'30 pace proved a bridge too far. Couldnt hit that pace and faded badly to 6'55. Called it a day here after 12 mls, didnt want to flog a dead horse. 12 mls in 1'28'55 (7'24)

Legs were dead after and they're feeling it now. The signs were there on Weds that all was not well. Hope to bounce back next week.

Weekly Review, 7 runs and 53 miles. Not the worst week but feeling the double run last Sunday a bit during the 2 key sessions.

Yearly Mileage, 376 mls.