Run run run run run run run....

Sunday - 7.5m Easy @ 8:00 min/mile
2nd week of marathon recovery so still taking it very handy. Home for the weekend so nice jog around Enniscorthy, with my sister for 3 miles who is recovering from a broken pelvis and then just jogged the next 4.5 miles around the town on my own. Nice and easy, legs feeling ok, made a fool of Easter dinner and eggs.

Monday - Swim
Joined the excellent Mardyke gym & pool and I think I'm gonna like it here, amazing facility. Learned how to properly crawl while away last year so came down in the evening and did some easy lengths. Hope to make this a regular part of my training now.

Tuesday - 5m Easy @ 7:24
Everyday I'm starting to feel more and more rested and feel the recovery is going well. Didn't have a planned pace for this but felt comfortable around 7:15 pace and slowed it right down for the last mile.

Wednesday - Gym
Something that had always been part of my training was neglected since I moved to Cork but time to get back to it, I feel there's great benefit complementing your running with resistance training. Worked on arms and chest when I could get a bloody bench, place was jammered!

Thursday - Club - 6 x 1000m @ ~5:40min/mile (9m)
Headed down to Leevale tonight and had a decent first session without pushing it too hard. The much respected olympian Donie Walsh oversees training down here, it's a good setup with some quality runners so I think I can learn a lot from them. 20 mins warmup and then worked in with a group for 1000m intervals on the track. I planned on taking it fairly easy, maybe 4 reps depending on how I felt but I found the pace surprisingly comfortable and ended up doing the whole 6 and the last rep on my own as the others just dropped off. 2 mile cooldown and good to be back training.

1. 3:32
2. 3.42
3. 3.47
4. 3.40
5. 3.43
6. 3.38

Monday - Steady Run
So my first week back to the grind, I'm excited about what lays ahead for me and really motivated to put in the hard work required to achieve my goals. Beautiful evening again, set off down towards the city, settled into a nice steady 6:40-45 pace after the first mile. Felt pretty comfortably for the most part, weaved through the city streets for 6 miles at that pace and then 1 mile cool-down up the killer hill.
Summary: 7.95m in 55:19 @ 6:57 min/mile avg.

Tuesday - 3 x 9min track session
Time for my second club session and it was bloody hard work but worth it in the end. Wasn't feeling particularly great today, smothering with a cold and didn't particularly feel like a session but I knew I was able for it even though my brain tried to talk me out of it. 2 miles warm-up and then headed into the planned session of 3 by 9 mins at pace with a 3 minute recovery. I started with a group of 5 lads, one of which ran 2:29 in the London marathon just gone, yikes. The planned pace for the group was 5:20-5:40 but by the 2nd rep the group had split into distinct groups, the 3 quicker lads and then myself and another runner at a similar level, it was good to have someone to push me, really needed it. First rep was too quick because I was trying to stick with the faster lads but soon I realised that wasn't my pace and saw sense. It was a tough tough session, by the 2nd rep I wasn't feeling I'd make the 3rd but I stuck it out in the end and managed to run the 3rd one pretty well.

1. 1.67 miles @ 5:26 min/mile
2. 1.63 miles @ 5:34 min/mile
3. 1.63 miles @ 5:35 min/mile

Happy with that session, met a few new people and also bumped into Donore club mate John Travers who was wandering around the Mardyke, looking pretty fresh from his cracking run in the states during the week. 15 mins cool-down and a lovely* cycle back up the hill, nearly collapsed with hunger.
Total: 9.6 miles

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Youi're only 31? Oh! :pac:

Ow, my feelings!

Friday - 2hr cycle + Gym
After work I went cycling to see a man about a car, and bought the car. The cycle there was full of hills, hunger, rain and more hills but I had company so it wasn't so bad, still didn't plan on it being 2 hours, hugely under-estimated. Was planning on a small recovery run but figured the cycle was enough recovery for me so just headed down to the gym in the evening for shoulders and back work.

Saturday - Club Session: 10 mins hills & 6 x 3 min on grass
A misty Saturday morning but not enough to ruin a good session. Met up with the club near the greyhound track in Curraheen, 2 mile warmup around the pitches and then headed off to do some hills. This involved 10 mins of 200 meter repeats with a jog back to the start recovery. I slotted in with a group and knocked out 6 of them at an avg. of 43 seconds (5:45 min/mile).

Next it was back to the pitches for 6 x 3 mins on the flat pitches. I was in a group of 4 runners and we ran these at 5:45 min/mile pace (0.52 miles) with a minute recovery. A 15 min cool-down and that's a good first weeks training bagged I reckon.
Total: 9 miles

Total for this week was 51 miles, I plan to ramp up the non-session day and long run mileage over the next couple of weeks and then consistently hold 60+ mile weeks over the summer, should be a good base for Autumn marathon season.

Today - Track session: 3 x 9 mins
Left this session today feeling not entirely satisfied, pace was slower than last week and felt sluggish at times. The elements played their part, the rain hammered down on the 3rd rep and we were battling a tough headwind at times. Still though, the body didn't feel quite there today, I'm thinking the Monday steady run needs to be slowed a little given that I'm going to be doing 3 tough, speed focussed sessions every week. I worked in with 3 new lads this week, ended up quite spread out by the last rep with myself sandwiched between them. After 8 mins on each rep we picked up the pace for the last minute and took a 3 min recovery before the next.

I know I'm not going to walk away from every session beaming, I just gotta get on with it and heed any warning signals my body is trying to tell me. 1 mile cool-down cut short due to a darting pain in my calf which I'm hoping is a minor strain

1. 1.57 miles @ 5:44 min/mile
2. 1.57 miles @ 5:44 min/mile
3. 1.60 miles @ 5:37 min/mile

Total: 8.97 miles

Friday - Rest + Gym
No running today to allow my young calf to heal up. That didn't stop me heading to the gym in the evening however, worked on back & shoulders and did some deadlifts I later lived to regret, walking like a hunchback today.

Today - Easy running + 4 x 6 mins on grass
Was just eager to get through this session with the calf intact and I'm now happy to report it's feeling prettttttty good. An extremely blustery start to the day so up we got and drove to the farm for 9:30am and started with some easy jogging. I opted out of the hill repeats today so ended up just running laps of the pitches with another guy, probably averaging 7:30 min/pace and feeling pretty good throughout, despite the wind. After about 5 miles, the group came back from the hills and we jumped into a set of 4 x 6 mins around the pitches with a 2 minute recovery. Calf was feeling fine from the easy running so I said I'd give this a go. In with a group of 4, target pace around 6 min/mile. Overall the pace felt ok, didn't feel I had to push too hard and got through them all averaging 5:50 min/mile for each 6 mins. Here's hoping that's the end of the calf trouble, taking it easy enough tomorrow with a 10 miler on the grass.
Summary: 10.66 miles

Weekly total: 55 miles, happy with that considering I had to cut a session short and take 1 day off. Next week should be interesting, on Thursday evening it's my first race since the marathon, the Cheetah 4 mile in Fota wildlife park, looking forward to it :pac:

Thursday - Cheetah 4 mile
I don't know how Krusty and the lads remember so much detail for their reports, I can barely remember a thing but here we go anyway...

It was a cold winters morn...no it was a warm spring evening myself and Jenny headed out to Fota wildlife park, a really smashing evening, the sun still spitting the rocks at 7pm and everyone in great spirits. Parking was a breeze and everything being kept in order by the excellent organisation of Eagle AC. I was excited yet nervous, this was my first race since the disastrous Rotterdam marathon so I was out to banish some 26 mile demons, over 4 miles.

We got our race numbers and headed out for a 20 min warmup around the park and a chance to have a little recce of the course. It was hillier than I imagined but what surroundings for a race. I'd never been here before but there was something nice about warming up though the wildlife park, the Ostriches racing you behind the fence, wallabies, peacocks, kangaroos wandering around freely and the buffalo and zebras roaming the prairies. For 12 euro, I'd already got my moneys worth on the warmup.

After a couple of strides, it was time to line up and get going. There was a pretty impressive turnout, 789 runners in all and a great atmosphere in the air, still pretty warm too at 8pm. I lined up near the front with the Leevale lads and suddenly we were off. This was my first 4 mile road race, it's a tough distance to gauge, I hadn't a clue what to aim at but I set the goal high at around 22 mins, requiring a 5:30 min/mile pace, I'd go out hard and see how I go.

Mile 1
First section was all downhill so felt pretty comfortable and as usual got caught up in a faster pace than I should have. A quick glance at the watch saw me hitting 5:15 pace before I relaxed and settled into a more comfortable rhythm. A lead group quickly formed, there were about 6-7 in there and they were flying, see ya lads. I was leading a 2nd group but was quickly passed by about 4 runners who opened up a 10-15 meter gap on me, I was ok with that and said I'd just keep them in sight. A difficult climb at the end of the first mile knocked me back a little but clocked a 5:32 and starting to feel difficult.

Mile 2
I felt I settled a bit into the 2nd mile, it was a lot flatter but being out on my own, it was a little difficult, still I kept the lads in front of my in view though they had spread out now and I could see 3 lads ahead of me. I clocked a 5:42 and when I saw that, negative thoughts started consuming me, I'm slowing down, how am I going to keep this pace up? I decided to just forget the watch and stop worrying about pace.

Mile 3
I was really feeling the heat now, I could hear runners closing in on me from behind and was just waiting to be overtaken but this also spurred me a little. One of the 3 lads that was ahead of me pulled up with an injury, well that's one out of the way I thought. This patch felt the most difficult but I just kept going, we were running up a drag and I felt I was slowing but suddenly I realised I was gradually reeling in the guy ahead of me. I concentrated on just this guy and just before hitting the 3 mark, I had taken him on a corner and felt that familiar strong finish brewing. A disappointing 5:51 for this mile and I think I was lucky I didn't see that on the watch.

Mile 4
We hit the mile 4 mark and now I had another target, the runner in front of me though he was a good 20 meters or so ahead, was also slowing. I felt energised knowing it was the last mile and the pace gradually picked up. A nice downhill gave me some brief respite and I charged on from there, taking the runner ahead of me with about half a mile to go. I knew there was a difficult climb coming, the same one from the first mile so I eased slightly for it knowing there was still a good 500 meters to go after it. I got through the climb still feeling good and I gave it socks for the last stretch. The finish was way further than I expected, I was heaving and giving it everything and finally the line came into sight. I had nobody around me or in front of me, which was strange but it meant I could soak up all the cheers. I crossed in 8th place in a time 22:39, final mile of 5:32. Happy.

Overall, I was delighted with a top 10 finish but disappointed in my 3rd mile where I felt I lost a lot of time, I would have hoped to be closer to 22 minutes but with some more focus on the track over the summer I can improve. I can't be too hard on myself, I have nothing to compare it to really, I'm definitely heading in the right direction and I'm really happy with that last mile effort and strong finish. Based on this race, I should be able to "renew" my 5k PB in 2 weeks time at the John Buckley 5k here in Cork.

I chatted for a bit with clubmates, had a cup of tea and headed for a lovely 3 mile cooldown around the park with the OH Jenny (who ran a brilliant 28:29 for only her 3rd race ever) and we really got the moneys worth out of this event. A top top race (alright Jamie) and I can see why it's so popular, everything went like clockwork, hope to be back next year.

Summary: 4 miles in 22:39 @ 5:41 min/mile. 8th overall. (8.7 miles total).

Wednesday 21st - AM: 60 min recovery PM: Gym
Up early for a lovely jog around Cork city on a beautiful morning. Streets were empty, sun was shining and the pace was relaxed, enjoyed this one but the shin complained a bit. Down to the mardyke in the evening for some chest & shoulders work.
Summary: 6.8m in 55:10 @ 8:06 min/mile avg

Thursday 22nd - Track: 6 x 400m & 4 x 300m
Started off as a smashing sunny evening but quickly transformed into a wet wet horror scene about halfway through the session but got 'er done. Plan was 6 x 400's with 400m recovery followed by 4 x 300's with just 100m recovery, these were killer.

Started in a quite large group which quickly divided into smaller groups, about 4-5 in my pack by the end. I had some good pacers around me and we all took turns at the front keeping the reps pretty consistent. Once we finished the 400's in the lashing rain, it was straight into the 300's with a brutal 100m recovery but I really felt this was a quality session and will stand to me a lot, so glad to have finished that last 300. 20 minute cool-down and pretty satisfied with this session, splits below.
Total: 9.3m

400's (400m recovery)
1. 76
2. 76
3. 77
4. 76
5. 75
6. 73

300's (100m recovery)
1. 58
2. 55
3. 54
4. 54

This is the most popular race of the Cork BHAA Calendar, a lovely setting close to the banks of the Lee, only 8 euro and a super flat course so no wonder they turn out in their droves for this one. The competition would be fierce attracting Corks finest, I had a quick glance at last years results earlier where 31 people ran under 17 minutes. Sub 17 would be my only target today though my time at the recent 4 mile race suggested I wasn't quite there yet. I felt I'd been training well and up for the challenge, it's a flat course so I'd just go out hard and see how I go. Either way I was on the hunt for a PB, all I had to to was beat 17:21, easy right? Target pace: 5:28 min/mile

Got down early, a fine evening for a race I say. Registration was a breeze and got a nice 20 minute warm up done with Jenny on a lap of the course with a few strides thrown in. Chatted with a few club mates who were running and soon it was time to lineup. It would be a simple 2 lap course with nice gradual bends and a straight finish of about 200 meters.

With almost 1000 folks running, congestion would be inevitable at the start. I ended up getting pushed back about 4 rows which wasn't the worst but I hadn't realised there was no starting mat and it was being timed by the gun.

Note: My garmin is now dead as a doornail so I have no splits except for mile 1 and 2 which were shouted out by a steward.

Mile 1
Bang! said the gun, and off we went. A lot of jostling and elbows, shimmying and dodging but after about 500 meters I had enough breathing room to relax and work my way into the race, not the worst start. I settled into a good rhythm, breathing was relaxed and I started making up a ground on what looked like as massive field ahead of me. I'm no good as estimating but I'd say there was about 7000 runners ahead of me. Cruised along nicely picking a few people off early and heard a shout of 5:24 for the first mile, that's fine just fine.

Mile 2
I started feeling a slight cramp in my side but it wasn't affecting my pace, I was still passing a few people though I glanced at my pace and saw I was up near the 5:40 min/mile mark. I had now started lap 2 of the course and wasn't too worried about that pace as the garmin has a tendency recently to display volatile lap predictions, I felt I was going well so I didn't worry about it too much. It started to feel like a real struggle as I closed in on the mile 2 mark but I was still positive and chugging along nicely. I'd already preempted mile 2 being difficult so it was just a matter of pushing through the pain. I vaguely remember a shout of 10:56 as we hit the mile 2 mark, making that a 5:32 mile, still on track I thought, just keep going.

Mile 3
I was working extremely hard at this stage, breathing heavy but still moving well and knowing it was the last mile, I was mentally in a good place. I must have picked up 5 or 6 place on this last stretch, confidence building with each place I gained but still the primary target was not place but a sub 17 and I wanted it bad. I hardly looked at the watch for this mile, I didn't want to know what distance was left or what my time was I just pushed and pushed keeping the momentum. I was giving it all and finally approached the last corner before the straight. I had a right ding-dong battle with a guy over the last half a mile, I had taken him before the corner but he drew level with me on the straight which didn't really bother me, all I was looking at was the clock above the finish line ticking onto 16:40...41....42.....I'm still a bit away, can I do it? No time for sums Conor, just run, run fast! Finally that moment came when I knew I had it in the bag, I crossed in 16:56 having giving it absolutely everything over the last mile, job done. Kiss my face.

I'm not sure what the split was for the last section, but I ran the last 1.1 miles in 6 minutes = unofficially 5:27 min/mile pace. I may never know if my garmin doesn't wake up. I reckon with a starting mat and had I been a bit closer to the front I could have taken a few more seconds off that but still absolutely no complaints.

Really delighted with my effort this evening and though I'm only with the club 4 weeks now, the track sessions are already paying off. That's another target for the year ticked off in May and now we see how far I can push that 5k down over the summer, dare I dream of a 16:3x? Nice 30 minute cool-down and that's a good days work.

Summary: 5k in 16:56 (5:27 min/mile) and 34th place overall. (9 miles total)

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