Not Quite Four Laps

Sun 32.03.14

12 @ 6.50/mi

I never have any plan for my Sunday run so it gives me a bit of freedom over the distance and the pace I want to go at. It was a nice morning and I wasn't hungover so I decided on a longish run. I had just ran a tough session the day before and will be racing a 3k on Tuesday so the pace was going to be easy. I really like the Phoenix Park so the venue was going to be the Phoenix Park .

The sunny weather was deceptive and in to the wind on the way out to Phoenix Park, it was cold and I was regretting wearing the t-shirt for the first time in months. Reached Phoenix Park and going by Garda HQ, I noticed some nutter remonstrating out of the corner of my eye. I diverted my gaze and kept running but he caught up with me, tapped me on the shoulder and forced me to stop. Lucky enough, it was only KC . I joined himself, trr and Dublin Runner for a lap around Phoenix Park. It was a little quicker than I would have liked but my pride prevented me from asking the lads to slow down, especially as they were running almost twice as far as me :eek:. These miles went by quickly and it was genuinely summery in spots with the wind at your back and the sun in your face.

Parted with the lads at Garda HQ and made my merry way home. What else would you want to be doing on a Sunday morning.

Mon 31.03.14

5.9 @ 6.57/mi

This is too long ago to remember any details but the pace was progressing so I must have felt decent.

Tue 01.04.14

8 X 400 w/ 90s recovery (?, ?, 68, 67, 69, 68, 67, 68)

First 1500m session for the new me. There's a proper separation between the groups down the club now (1500ers, 5-10kers and the marathoners). Guess where all the cool people go . We started with the usual dynamic warm up, some strides and then some extra strides for our group.

I was conscious of going fast but not too fast on the first one. Bit of a malfunction on the watch but I'm guessing 67/68s. By the third one, my legs were starting to feel it for the last 100m and this became gradually more pronounced as the session went on but managed to keep the pace consistent. Good session to start the new training regime and coach reckons it would be indicative of a 4.10-4.15 1500m time so that's a nice target to aim for by the end of the summer.

Wed 02.04.14 - Thu 03.03.14

Christ on a bike, my motivation died something awful during the middle of the week. Missed the Wednesday run because the bloody showers at work weren't working again and had a piano lesson in the evening. Thursday, I just wasn't arsed. Got very little sleep Monday and Tuesday so I think it just caught up with me.

Fri 04.04.14

1.2 @ 5.15/mi + 5.8 @ 6.56/mi

What a struggle of a run, well runs. New strategy of running to the DART station, getting train to Blackrock and then running home. Idea is good but felt wrecked and really didn't enjoy this.

Sat 05.04.14

9.9 @ 6.35/mi

I did so much bargaining with myself on this run but eventually I just told myself to 'feck off, I've had enough'. This happened after 4.8 miles of what was meant to have been an 8 mile tempo run. After the first mile, my legs started to get so tired. This often happens and I expected them to pick up again after 2-3 miles but they just got progressively worse and shortly after the halfway point, I packed it in. Even on the run home at a relatively conservative pace, I was incredibly close to stopping on a couple of occasions. Was a bit frustrated that I couldn't even complete 8 miles at 6 minute pace.

Sun 06.04.14

Running motivation very low. Played a lot of piano over the weekend and was considering taking a break from the running and just concentrating on this for a while.

Mon 07.04.14

4.8 @ 6.59

Felt really good again. Showers back working at work. Good day!:D

Tue 08.04.14

8 X 400 w/ 90s recovery (67, 68, 66, 67, 65, 67, 66, 66)

Didn't feel comfortable in the spikes last week so went back to the Adizero Boost runners I got for Christmas. World of difference here. Felt like I was bouncing off the track. Felt a lot stronger on these than for the same session last week and the times were a lot better too. After a poor last week, this was exactly the kind of session I needed and it was very unexpected. Feel more confident about the upcoming track races now. The 3 mile leg for the road relays on Sunday. Less so.

Wed 09.04.14

1.2 * 7.28/mi + 5.8 @ 7.32/mi


Felt good on this one but the easy pace was as slow as I've run in a while. One or two 8 minute miles in there. Those track sessions really take it out of you.

Thu 10.04.14

5.8 @ 7.09/mi & 1.2 @ 7.06/mi

Run/train/run in to work. This run is a real time saver but unfortunately can only be done in the few months of the year where the weather is decent. This was a beautiful morning with the sun rising over the nature reserve in Sandymount as I ran along the coast. Quite the way to start the day.

Fri 11.04.14

5.9 @ 7.01/mi

Usual run out by Clontarf. It's getting busier and busier out there with each passing day. It is a great place to run. Lucky to have it on my doorstep.

Sat 12.04.14

Rest

Sun 13.04.14

Raheny Road Relays 3 Mile Leg: 16.20

This was a tough race. I was selected for the longer leg on the Cru 2nd team. I was secretly hoping for one of the shorter legs. 3 miles is just that bit too far for me these days:rolleyes:.

Arrived early enough to catch all the other races going on. Plenty of Boardsies out there and some quality performance from the Bray crew in Krusty and Timmaay. The general standard there was incredibly high. Intimidatingly high.

I was getting a bit nervous by the time my leg was coming around. I was third runner as the order went 2/1/3/2. The pressure was off a little bit when our 2nd runner came in with no one near him so it was going to be a solitary run for me.

Once you exited the start/finish straight, you turned the corner into a long drag in to the wind. This was really tough, especially with the knowledge that you were going to have to face it another 2 times. The Cru support around the course was brilliant and this really helped in what was otherwise quite a lonely run. Nothing exciting to report from the race really, just one tough solitary run. Can't say I enjoyed it too much but there was always a risk of this happening.

Short warm down afterwards and then cycled home.

Mon 14.04.14

4.8 @ 7.01/mi

This felt all too easy, which is probably testament to the amount of effort put in on the day before. It really was more of a really tough training session than a race.

Tue 15.04.14

4 X 400 w/ 90s recovery, 4 X 200 w/ walk recovery (64.7, 64.9, 64.7, ?) (28.9, 29.1, 29.0, 29.1)

Tonight was our first introduction to 800m paced work (Disclaimer: This would not be my 800m pace:eek:). We all lead out for one of the reps each. A couple of the lads were 1-2 seconds quicker. I was tending to lose them on the back straight and catch them a little on the home straight. This is a about as fast as I could have completed this session so happy with my own pacing and the consistency. Less than 0.2s difference between any of my splits. Nice!. I mis-pressed the button on the last 400 but I reckon it was in line with the others if not a little quicker. Especially happy with the 200s. I was questioning the lads that we had actually done the right distance because I didn't believe I could complete them in 29s. I was incredulous actually because they felt reasonably comfortable when compared to trying these with KC last summer, when the times were a lot slower. We did the session on wet cinder track on a horrible evening out in Kilbogget so that might have had an effect too:P.

Wed 16.04.14

4.8 @ 7.15/mi

Again felt okay, considering the session the day before but there was the evidence there that I'd run a tough session, which was comforting. I'd be worried if my muscles weren't giving me a bit of grief.

Thu 17.04.14

3 X 1 mile w/ 90s recovery (5.11, 5.17, 5.20)

This session is meant to be a little easier but nobody was going to be around for the Saturday session so it was decided to get stuck in to it tonight. The pace was very hot straight away and I considered backing off so that I'd be able to make it round for all three but this can be hard to do in a big group (5 or 6 of us) so I stuck with it. There were three of us that knew we'd have to slow down a little bit so we took off a second or two after the others but surprisingly I felt okay, pulled away a little on my own and the pace wasn't too far off the first one. The 90s recovery was gone in a flash and we were off again. Was hanging in there on the first lap but relaxed in to it for the second lap and finished feeling reasonably strong. Unexpectedly good session and has me optimistic about the 3k in a week and a half. Really looking forward to it.

Fri 18.04.14

5.9 @ 6.48/mi

Half day at work so I had plenty of time for a run out by Clontarf in the sunshine. Yay!:D:D. The weather was deceptive because running into the wind and with the sun at your back, it was decidedly chilly on the way out. The turn around point couldn't come quick enough and the difference was massive. It was such a relaxing and enjoyable run home. I could have went on for a lot longer.

Sat 19.04.14

4.8 @ 7.03/mi

I was quite hungover for this. On a good Friday, I know! I'm a bad, bad Christian:D. It was a bit of struggle and I felt like I was disassociated from my body at times but got around somehow.

smmoore79 wrote: »

Great 1500m session there KU, some serious splits. Sometimes Im tempted to go over to the dark side(1500m group that is) but Im a jedi road runner through and through

Sure you'll have to join us for the odd session and work on those fast twitch muscles of yours. Plus, those 6 minute recoveries are heavenly;).

Thu 24.04.14

1/2 Mile + 3 X 1 mile w/ 75s recovery (Pace: 5.22, 5.34, 5.39, 5.38)

The purpose of the Thursday session (so the coach says) is to get a good workout but hold enough back so as not to effect the Saturday session, which along with the Tuesday session, is the prime focus for the week. This can tend to be ignored when there is a good group down but I was determined to play ball this week. Most of the group were doing 6 X 800 @ 5k pace so I stuck to the mile repeats on my own. Aim was to run them comfortably hard, which I thought would end up 5.40-5.50 pace but they were slightly quicker, much to my delight. Maybe all this training lark is actually working :cool:.

Fri 25.04.14

5.9 @ 7.39/mi

Took this really easy.

Sat 26.04.14

3.7 @ 7.42/mi, 5 X 1k w/ 75s recovery (3.20, 3.17, 3.20, 3.18, 3.23), 3.7 @ 7.41/mi

Had put a lot of focus on this session this week so really wanted to pull out a decent one. Wasn't happy when I was woken up at 2 in the morning by a fairly extreme sounding downpour and driving winds but thankfully it wasn't too bad when I woke up and the rain had cleared although the winds were still something to be contended with.

We do this session on the Acres down in Phoenix Park and they are quite exposed so the wind was going to be an issue. For 2 of the 5 reps we were into the wind for about 2/3s of the route and for the other 3, the wind was at our backs for majority of the route. It's the same kilometre each time, just in the opposite direction.

3.13 is my 5k pace, so I was hoping to hit at least this if not better. I was a way off but I think it was mainly due to the wind so hopefully on a better day, I could be getting there or therabouts. I kept more or less with a strong group for 4 of the 5 reps so this is probably the best indicator of the quality. Tired a bit on the second half of the last one after working too hard in to the wind but it wasn't too bad a drop off the pace.

Sun 27.04.14

11.9 @ 7.04/mi

It was a struggle to get myself out the door despite the warm weather. I was a small bit hungover but more so was just feeling very,very lazy. Eventually left at about 6 to be confronted by crowds of Dubs everywhere from the League Final for the first mile or two of the route through Drumcondra and along the Royal Canal. This didn't help my general state of mind. Once I got to the runner's Mecca that is the Phoenix Park, I was in a Zen state of mind again. :cool:. I couldn't make up my mind if I was finding the pace easy or not. I was comfortable enough but my legs were very tired at the same time. Maybe should have taken it easier but in any case it will be all very, very easy running until the 3k on the track next Wednesday.

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

That's some 4 days training, did you do an extra mile rep on Thursday or am I just reading your session incorrectly?

TbL

Maybe I could have explained better. It had been a long day at work. I'd been all day long re-writing the general procedure for design verification of medical devices at our company. This was not exciting work. It was very boring work.

I got the train from Bray in to town. I slept for much of this trip. I cycled over to Irishtown stadium, togged out and ran over to the pitches in Seán Moore Park.

I was the only one doing this session, so in my not so alert state of mind I pressed go on the Garmin and headed off on a lap of the pitches. I finished the lap, pressed the stop button and thought to myself 'That wasn't so bad now'. Then I looked down and saw that I had only ran half a mile so I scratched it off as some sort of extended stride and just started the session afresh. I stuck the pace for the half mile in to the summary though. I don't run fast for any extended period of time and not let people know about it:P.