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Sometimes I just need to get out and run

davemcmahon

With nothing to do today in work I've decided since I took up running a year ago today now would be the best time to start logging.

So first a brief recap of the last year:

started running this time last year, had very poor fitness and overweight, weighting in close to 110kg. completed my first 5k race the end of February in 30.30 and really struggled. Over the next couple of months I ran the Leixlip and Lucan 5k's. Struggled but my times were improving. At this I realised I was hooked. At this stage I had no intentions of ever doing a Marathon.

Shortly afterwards I came across the Mentored Novices Thread and upon reading it and look at the previous years threads I realised that I could actually run the marathon if I wanted if I started training. This thought slowly built up momentum until I decided to take the plunge and sign up to the novices thread. It's worth noting that this was probably 2 weeks after my wife had given birth to our second daughter (our first only being 15months old at that stage).

Over the next few months if became apparent that I was finding the running a great stress relief from work and demands of the kids.So over the next few months I trained and trained and trained for the marathon running the Dublin Half in 1:55:37 and bringing my 5 k time down to 22:36 in the Rathfarnham 5k.

During this training I also had some trouble with my ITB which got sorted thanks to physio and foam rolling.

So I finished the marathon in a disappointing 4:46:04. The less said about that the better for now.

So anyway onto the point of the log. To track my goals and development through the year. I plan on spending most of the year focusing on my 5 and 10k times as well as doing the Dublin Race series. I've yet to decide about doing the marathon this year.

My main goals for the year

47 minute 10k will probably review this based on current 5 k times
sub 20 5k

My plan is to focus on the 10k for the first few months of the year with the goal race being the K-club 10k and then focus on the 5k with the goal race being the Rathfarnham 5k.

For now my next race is the Raheny 5 mile. I hope to go sub 38 minutes for this.

Anyway on to the name of my log. As my wife has said a few times over the last year "its obvious that sometimes I just need to get out and run and come home in a better mood."

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davemcmahon

Tues Club Session, The plan was for 5 x 5 mins but I only managed the first 4 reps. They were very tough, the legs wanted to go faster but I just wasn't able. The pace for the reps varied from 6:25 - 6:50 pace. I faded badly on the last one so was happy to bu given the option of dropping the last one.

Wed: Rest day, legs were sore and tired from yesterdays sessions.

Thurs, Club Session: The plan for tonight was 6 X 800m. I was looking forward to this one as I felt it would give me a good idea of where I am at the moment. The last time I did a set of 800s I was running them at 2:55, so I was going to be happy once I was running these at anything faster than 3:20. Went through half way at 92-98s and the full reps came in at 3:09-3:18. I was happy enough with the session as I wasn't as wrecked as I had been after Tuesdays session. Hopefully the times will come down quick enough as the legs get back to normal again.

Fri: This was my only chance to get an LSR this week so headed out before work to try and get in a solid 90 mins. The first half was on the roads and then I switched to grass and trails around Castletown House. The pace was kept very slow as I knew the legs would be a little sore from yesterdays session, plus I had a backpack on. The main goal was to just get the 90 mins under the belt. Finished out at just under 10 miles.

Am planning on running the Liz McDonnell run on Sunday in Casltetown House. There's no way I'm going to race it so I'll just plod around to show support.

tang1

Great to see you back at it Dave, your tipping along nicely again.

davemcmahon

Sat: Rest. Calves were like bricks, wore shoes with a lower heel to toe drop yesterday for the first time in a whole and suffered for it.

Sun 28/09: had agreed to run the Liz McDonnell run in Castletown house. Calves were still a bit tight. Jogged down and met the brother. This would be my first taste of XC so I was kinda looking forward to it. Had planned on sticking with him and getting around in about 25mins but I got a little bored and started upping the pace after the first mile. I didn't push too hard but I gradually overtook people and kept moving up through the field. As I passed by club members I'd slow a little and encourage them. Over the last mile I was trying to get some the younger lads that train with us on Tuesdays and Thursday to either push on or stay with me if they were falling behind. I was using this as a good judge on effort. If I could talk to the other runner I wasn't pushing as hard as I could. Finished strongly and was happy with my time of ~21:30. Felt I could have gone harder but glad I didn't. did a cool down with the brother for 5.8 miles for the day.

WTD: ~33 miles

Mon 29/09: 50 mins Easy. Ran from work into Casltetown house and ran a good section of yesterdays race again. I'm trying to keep as much of my running at the moment on grass with the county Novice XC on Sunday. I'm feeling the benefit of Fridays long run already as 50 minutes felt like nothing compared to running 90 on Friday.

Have started to do the Myrtl routine to try strengthen the hip area and address some of the current weakness on my left hand side.

davemcmahon

Tues: Club Session. The plan was 1k (~940m) reps. I was down for 8 of them but knew before I got there that I'd be lucky to be able to get around 6 of them as I'm just not strong enough yet for that. I'm also fighting off a head clod at the moment so knew this would possible effect me. The legs were feeling good so I wanted to give the session a good hard effort with the XC on Sunday. I was very surprised to find myself hanging onto the back of the group I would have been with had I not got injured for the first 3 reps. I slowed for the next three reps as I knew I was running out of steam quickly. Reps 3:30, 3:28, 3:32, 3:40, 3:40, 3:40. Again I was happy with this as the last time I'd done them I was hitting 3:20 -3:30. So the first sign that I'm getting some kind of speed back.

Wed 45 mins Easy. Bumped into a club mate after the first mile so had company which made it pass a little quicker. Leg a little tired today.

davemcmahon

Thurs 02/10: With the race on Sunday I had planned to skip the Club Session and get my LSR in for the week. Decided to go for another 90 min LSR. Started off slower than last week and just took the pace nice and handy. Ended up keeping in 96 mins and just over 10.5 miles. Everything felt much easier than last weeks run so was happy with how it went.

Fri 03/10: A poor night sleep meant I really wasn't in the mood for a run. Once the rain started this morning I decided I was definitely getting it done since it would be good prep for Sunday. Headed out for an Easy 5 miles in the rain. After mile 3 I went into the local Rugby pitches and threw on the XC spikes. A couple of laps of the pitch and some strides just to get a feel for the spikes again. Headed back to work to finish out the run.

davemcmahon

Sat: rest day.

Sun: Kildare novice xc.

Was very apprehensive about this as I've never done proper cross country before, none the less I was looking forward to this. Got down to suncroft early enough to get a good look at the route and some of the juvenile races. About 30 mins before our race I threw on the spikes and went for a warm up/recce of the course. The novices and masters were to only run 3000m which worked out as 3 laps of the field. There were a couple of climbs on each lap and unfortunately the wind was blowing into our faces for everything but the climbs.

I had no real plan and despite everyone telling me to go eyeballs out from the start I decided to hold back a little until the second lap and then push on. The first lap was grand and I settled into a nice spot behind some kilcock runners. Biggest issue here was not getting blocked in. At the start of lap 2 I could see some of the runners ahead of me fading so I moved past them. By the end of this lap they were about 10m behind me. Lap 3 I spent trying not to give up. I moved onto the shoulder of the group ahead of me and just kept reminding myself that it was about placings and not time. As we turned towards the finishing shoot I moved a head of the two lads just ahead of me and pushed home in front of them.

I've no idea of placing or time but I doubt we won anything as I don't think we even had a full novice team. By the time we were done the field was almost empty. In summary it was cold, windy,tough enough course and lots of waiting around. I actually really enjoyed the day and the race. My highlight of the day was the havoc being caused by sheep on the way back home through the curragh. Now should I run the intermediates next week, hmmm?

davemcmahon

Mon 6/10 50 mins Easy:
Dropped the car into work and then a handy enough route around Celbridge. Legs felt good and had no bother from the race yesterday.

Tues 7/10 60 mins Easy:
Having decided the drop the club sessions for the weeks and just focus on easy running for a few days I wanted to get a good hour of easy running in. Again I dropped the car into work and headed off on an out and back course. Kept the pace handy and was surprised to see it drop down to the 8:30's and lower for the first time in a while for that effort.

Weds AM 8/10 45 mins Easy:
Have no car today was needed to get the first double for a while in. Again kept the pace nice and easy and yet again it quickly dropped down to the low 8:00's. Was very happy to see that as I'm taking it as a good sign of returning fitness.

Have signed up for the intermediates XC this weekend. Its 6k and on slightly better surface than last weeks so should be a good test for me.

davemcmahon

Weds PM 8/10 20 min Tempo:
Was running late when I left work so had to put the foot down to get home. Decided a Tempo run would be enough, kept the pace floating around the 7 min/mile mark. Felt comfortably hard and was happy enough with it as I had the bag on my back at the time.

Thurs 9/10 Rest

Fri 10/10 45 mins Easy:
A nice handy Easy run to keep the legs ticking over for Sunday. Threw in some strides to get the legs working a bit.

Sat 11/10 Rest.

Sun 12/10: Kildare intermediate XC 6k:
Was looking forward to this although being at a christening on Saturday meant I had indulged a little too much. Got down to Kildare town easy enough and with plenty of time to spare. Met up with the team, most of whom are low 18 min 5k's and the group that I would have been in with before the injury so I knew this would be a good test for me. Did a couple of loops of the 1k route as a warm up to get the lay of the land. The weather was a lot warmer than last weeks and while the route had less hills than last weeks there were two transitions in and out of a neighboring field to contend with. On the first warm up loop I had noticed that the first transition was a little rocky so i had to be careful were I stood as I could feel the spikes slipping when I hit the rocks. The second transition was a little easier but the ground afterwards was alot damper and well trodden than the rest of the course. Aside from the transitions the only real issues were going to be nettles and sheep shíte.

After the warm up we had to wait for the intermediate ladies to finish and then we were off. There were probably about 25-30 people in the race with 6 from Celbridge. My plan for the race was to try and hang on to the coat tails of the club mates. The first couple of laps passed without incident as I stuck with the club vest in-front of me. I knew I was working hard even at an early stage but I was determined to just hold the pace and not get dropped. We overtook a couple of people and settled into a nice position. As I tired the mental struggle of having to run laps was a real challenge but again I just dug deep and tried not to drop position. On lap 5 I was beginning to struggle a little but so was everyone around me. I was overtaken by a runner from Le Cheile but I refused to let him pull too far away from me. As the bell rang for the last lap (a nice touch) I tried to close the gap on the runner from Le Cheile but he decided he was going to pull away at the same time. As a result the gap between us didn't change much despite a last minute sprint to try and catch him.

Came home in 26:35 and 17th place. The club mates finished in 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, myself in 17th and 18th. I was happy with the effort and only being about 20s behind the runners in 13/14th which is where I want to be. The time wasn't great but it ended up being quite a tough day in the end. The main lesson I learned was to bring wet wipes to any XC races in future to clean the abundance of sheep shíte from my runners and legs afterwards. Left leg was a little tired afterwards but loosened back up as the day went on. The team finished 3rd in the end with myself just missing out on the scoring places.

davemcmahon

Mon 13/10: 65 mins Easy:
Legs were feeling a little tired this morning so I wanted to get a good hour easy running on them. I decided to take in a hilly enough course, from work down into Leixlip and then back up into St. Catherine's park via the Leixlip fire station. This meant that I would have a good hill to climb up into the park and them another hill itself once I got there. This meant I spent the guts of a mile climbing. Once in the park I took a different route back out which meant a lap around the outside but also meant I'd avoid the majority of the sharp downhills. Ended up coming out at the Leixlip Garda station and then headed back to work. Legs felt pretty tired last night, but did some strength work when I got home.

Tues 14/10 40 mins Easy:
As I'm planning on keeping the running Easy until the end of the month I've no club sessions tonight. I had hoped on getting a little longer of a run in but it was fairly ate when I got out at lunch. As a result I just kept it to the simple route around Celbridge and Castletown house and back to work. I had to work hard to keep the pace slower than 8:00 min/mile which I'm taking as a positive.

The plan at the moment is as mentioned to keep the running easy until the end of the month and just build back up to 40+ miles a week. I've had a month now back running 35 ish miles a week so I feel its time to move it up a notch. At the end of the month I'll reintroduce the club speed and tempo sessions, I'm going to keep doing the hill session on the Saturday morning. The next race I have planned is the Jingle Bells 5k but I may throw in a parkrun before that (most likely in Tymon as I haven't had the pleasure of running it yet). After that I'll see where I am and make some decisions on what I want to do.

davemcmahon

Wed 15/10 AM + PM 60 mins Easy in total:
Runmute to and from work as I had no car for a couple of days. Both runs were nice and easy.

Thurs 16/10 AM + PM 65 mins Easy in total:
Another day and another runmute to and from work. I'm finding these shortish easy runs good for building back up the mileage without putting to much stress on the body. Had to stay focused to keep the pace down on these.

Fri 17/10 45 mins Easy:
I had wanted to get a longer run in today but was aware of the mileage I'd already done this week and I'd planned on getting an LSR in tomorrow so kept it short and easy.

LSR planned for tomorrow which will incorporate the club hill session into it.

davemcmahon

Sat 18/10 90 mins LSR with hills:
Joined a couple of people from the club for the weekly club session as the first part of my run. The plan was to run a couple of reps of the 2 mile loop the lads run for the hill session and then add a few miles on at the end. The first loop was taken pretty handy. By the second rep the legs really wanted to pick the pace up so I pushed on. Ended up doing four laps of the hills followed by a couple of miles easy on the roads afterwards. I really enjoyed the hill section as the legs got a chance to open out and push the pace a little bit. Kept the run to just over 10 miles as I didn't want the jump in mileage to be too much.

43 miles for the week and the legs are feeling good so looking forward to building things back up.

davemcmahon

Mon 20/10 60 mins Easy
Having had Sunday as a rest day meant the legs were feeling pretty good this morning. Dropped the car into work and headed out towards Intel and the down into Leixlip, turned around at the Salmon Leap and headed back towards work. Ended up cover just under 7.5 miles in 61 mins. Was very happy with this as the effort felt easy and I had to reign in the pace a little on some sections.

Tues 21/10 60 mins Easy
Same as yesterday dropped the car to work only this time I headed towards Celbridge and did a loop around the village and then covered some of the trails in Castletown house. The first couple of miles were tough as I was fighting a strong headwind but I kept the effort easy enough. Once out of the headwind the pace picked up but the effort stayed easy.

overpronator

I assume that's yourself I started to follow on Strava, took a gamble on there not being too many Dave McMahon runners about the place!:)

davemcmahon

overpronator wrote: »

I assume that's yourself I started to follow on Strava, took a gamble on there not being too many Dave McMahon runners about the place!:)

Yeah that was me. I'll admit I spent some time trying to think who it was.

davemcmahon

Wed 22/10 45 mins Easy:
Have a few days off work so decided to get out nice and early before breakfast. Overslept and ended up cutting the run short as I was hungry and wanted to get back for breakfast.

Thurs 23/10 40 mins:
Didn't get out until around lunchtime today. Had a bad morning so once I got out I vented my frustration and ran this at a much harder pace than originally planned. Cut it slightly short again to get back home for some much need food.

Fri 24/10 55 mins Easy:
A nice Easy out and back route today to get back to normal. Took it fairly handy as the legs were a little tired from yesterdays run.

Am very jealous of the people running Dublin on Monday and would love to be running it but at the same time have accepted that it wasn't to be this year. That said I'll be out on the course at a few different points throughout the day and may drop into the pub afterwards for a drink.

davemcmahon

Sun 26/10 110 min LSR:
Met up with a couple of the lads this morning who are just getting back into it after Berlin marathon. The plan we're on has us down for 2hrs but none of us has run that much recently so the plan was to aim for around 1:40 and see what happened. The first couple of miles flew by and we were surprised to see the pace dip down into the 7:40's with the effort feeling easy. We took a route up into Maynooth, into Carton House and back into Leixlip through Kellystown lane before going back to Celbridge. Ended up doing 13.75 miles at 7:51 min/miles. The pace felt good and stayed consistent even with a couple of the miles into a head wind. Leg was a little stiff at the end of the run but a little bit of stretching and it felt grand.

45.4 miles for the week and the legs are feeling good. I may reintroduce a speed session towards the end of the week, if not I'll do one next week.

davemcmahon

Mon 27/10
Was up nice and early and headed in to what the marathon with the brother and some lads from the club. Decided to watch from Parkgate for a while before heading to Kilmainham, Dolphins Barn and then onto mile 26 to watch the finish. Had great fun watching it and it made me really appreciate just how many people had come out to watch. I turned to the brother at one stage and asked had the crowds been this big when I'd last run as I had no idea and absolutely no appreciation of it. When he said yes I felt a tinge of regret from not having enjoyed my only marathon to date. Was still watching at Dolphins Barn when the winners and the 2:40 runners were finishing so had to run pretty hard (about 2 miles down the canal) to get to the next point in time to see the 3 hr finishers. I stayed around until just after the 4:30 group when through and then headed home. I decided I'd run back to the Red Cow, so 45 mins Easy back along some of the marathon route and then picked the car up and headed home.

Tues 28/10: Rest

Wed 29/10:
60 mins Easy. Went out before breakfast and just kept the pace handy enough. I plan to give club session a go tomorrow night to see how the legs handle it.

davemcmahon

Thurs 30/10 Club Session:

Was looking at the plan for the week the club sent out and say that we were down for 8 x 500m (really ~450m) which I figured was probably a good session to reintroduce some speed work. I was a little late to the club so only got just under a mile warm up. I wasn't really sure what time I wanted to do these in but decided to just give them a shot and see how I was feeling. The reps were 95s, 94s, 95s, 94s, 93s, 95s, 94s, 91s. I was happy enough with the session and the legs felt ok afterwards. A couple of miles warm down to finish up the session.

Fri 31/10
55 mins very easy around the Celbridge and Castletown House. Legs were feeling a little tired after yesterdays sessions.

Tom Joad

Good consistent reps Dave - you fully over the injury now?

davemcmahon

Tom Joad wrote: »

Good consistent reps Dave - you fully over the injury now?

Cheers TJ. I'd say I'm about 90% at the moment. Taking the few weeks of Easy training got the legs some of their strength back and they still have some speed. The real area I'm lacking at the moment is any kind of sharpness or confidence so hopefully a few weeks of club sessions will help get that back.

Tom Joad

davemcmahon wrote: »

Cheers TJ. I'd say I'm about 90% at the moment. Taking the few weeks of Easy training got the legs some of their strength back and they still have some speed. The real area I'm lacking at the moment is any kind of sharpness or confidence so hopefully a few weeks of club sessions will help get that back.

Good stuff Dave - will be trying to keep you in sight at the Jingle Bells so!!

davemcmahon

Sat 1/11 Rest

Sun 2/11 100 min LSR:
Had company for the first half of this run with one of the clubs mates. We started off a little to fast running into the wind and I'd suffer for this later in the run. Headed from Celbridge up into Maynooth and then parted ways with the club mate and I came back to Leixlip along the canal. The legs were tiring a little by this stage and I was suffering from an over indulgence in crap food the last couple of days as I had to stop for a moment due to stomach cramps. As a result the next couple of miles were a good bit slower but thankfully the pace picked back up when i got to Leixlip. Headed back towards Celbridge and then down through Castletown house and back to the car. This was just one of those runs that you don't enjoy and was a good reminder to take more care in the food I'm eating.

38.5 miles for the week. A little less than planned but the extra rest day on Tuesday kept it down.

Mon 3/11 55 mins Easy:
Headed out before work today and a nice and handy loop around and through Celbridge before heading back through Castletown House and to the car.

Am going to change my approach a little for the next few months. I'm not really happy with how long it took me to recover from last weeks session so I'm only going to do the one Club Session a week. I'll start looking at a training 'Week' as closer to 14 days rather than just 7. In a 14 day period I plan to get in 1 speed session, 1 tempo session and I'll rotate the weekend runs, on one week it'll be a 2hr long run and the other weekend a 10ish (~90 mins) mile run incorporating the club hill work. The hill run will be done at a steady pace. I feel this will be a good approach until I'm strong enough to go back to doing a more intense schedule. I'll still be running 6 days with most of it done at Easy pace and keeping the mileage in the mid 40s. Hopefully the body will find this a little less stressful.

davemcmahon

Tues 4/11 60 mins Easy;
Easy run before work, headed over towards Leixlip and then onwards to Carton house. Kept going till I hit the 3 mile mark and then turned around and headed back to Leixlip and loop around and then back to work. Threw in some strides in the last couple of miles.

Wed 5/11 Runmute AM and PM;
No car today so the plan was to run to and from work. Both runs at fairly easy pace. The run home saw the first outing of the winter for the headtorch as I headed home through Castletown House.

Thurs 6/11 Club Session;
Was running a little late finishing work so drove straight to the track. once I saw the weather I knew I'd be better off throwing on the spikes for session to give me a better grip. The plan was for 3 x 10mins. When I got there I knew i'd be running most of this on my own as not many people braved the elements last night.
10 mins @ 6:37, 10 mins @ 6:37, 10 mins @ 7:38
Was happy with how the session worked out. The last rep was slower as there were only two of us left and we stuck together and chatted for the last rep. The other two reps felt comfortable so I'm happy with how the pace turned out.

Fri 7/11 50 mins Easy;
Easy run at a break in work. Legs felt good. The pace was feeling very easy on the legs even if it was actually around 8:10 pace. Was windy and cold so was happy to get back to work for a warm shower.

davemcmahon

Sat 8/11 90 mins (10.77 miles) with hills:

Was up nice and early this morning to get this in. After spending some time lying in bed listening to the rain outside I eventually just bit the bullet and headed out. I was doing this run on my own so headed over to were the club do their hill session and adjusted the route to make it close to 3.5 miles a loop rather than the 2.2 miles. By the time I hit the first hill I knew this would be a tough one and the pace would not be as steady as I wanted. Decided to let the pace stay in the easy pace and not focus too much on it. That first hill was the toughest as I had to dodge puddles and wade through stream of water pour down the hill. This is the closest I ever want to come to adventure racing. By the time I started the last downhill section the rain had finally stopped but at that stage I was soaked through and my hands and feet frozen. While I wasn't particularly happy with the run when I'f finished I was by the time I'd warmed up.

Legs weren't too bad afterwards and spent the afternoon on the allotment so they were kept moving and busy. Will take a rest day tomorrow. Just under 45 miles for the week.

davemcmahon

Mon 10/11 60 mins Easy:

Legs were feeling a little bit tired this morning, mixed with a poor nights sleep meant I was planning on shortening this run. However once I got out the legs were feeling better and by the end of the second mile I was happy to go back to the original plan.

Will do the Club session on Thursday so will keep it easy until then.

davemcmahon

Tues 11/11 60 mins Easy:
What was suppose to be 60 mins Easy turned out to be 55 minutes Easy(ish). Headed out to run a slightly hillier route than usual for this run. By the time I got to the top of the hill I discovered I was running a faster pace than planned. Fortunately the pace still felt easy so I just went with it. Finished the run ans legs felt grand so I'm taking it as the body just felt good.

Wed 12/11 AM/PM 55 mins Easy total:
No car today so ran to and from work. Took it fairly handy both ways. Not much else to report on this run.

Thurs 13/11 Club Session:
Headed down to the track to find it completely waterlogged. Only a few us turned up so we decided to change the session to a Tempo run around the streets of Celbridge. The first couple of miles were taken at a handy pace as a couple of the lads hadn't warmed up yet. Once everyone had a chance to warm up the pace quickly picked up. The pace gradually increased over the next couple of miles and finished out the last 2 miles at around 6:45 pace. Ended up doing about 40 ish minutes that brought us back to the club. Finished up with a mile warm down back to the house.

Fri 14/11 40 mins Easy:
Kept this one short as the body was a bit tired this morning. Just a familiar loop around Celbridge and back into work.

davemcmahon

Sat 15/11 100 min LSR:
Was out nice and early on Saturday morning for this. Headed out from home and did a loop from the house, through Celbridge and up towards Leixlip. At this stage I changed route to run a slightly hillier route that would bring me up to Maynooth via some of the back roads. Had a bit of trouble with a rather large dog at this stage but thankfully came out unscathed and continued on my way. Went up through Maynooth and headed back into Celbridge via some other back roads which meant another hill and then back home through Celbridge village. Was happy enough with the run as the effort and pace was fairly consistent throughout.

Mon 17/11 60 mins Easy:
Headed out before work to get a few miles in. Wasn't feeling great yesterday so wasn't sure how much I'd get in. Once I was out I felt grand so went back to the original plan to get about an hour easy in. Headed out from work and did a loop around Celbridge and back into work. Legs feeling grand.

Club Session tomorrow night and then the following few days are up in the air as I've to bring the eldest to Crumlin so may not have much chance to get out.

davemcmahon

Tues 18/11 Club Session:
Planned session was 4 x 1500m (really 1367m) with 90s recovery. Ran the mile from the house to the track and then changed into the spikes since I figured the grass track wouldn't be in great condition. Did another mile warm up and then got ready to go. Reps were 5:14, 5:12, 5:11, 5:14 (paces between 6:16 - 6:07 min/mile). Was very happy with the session as I was able to comfortably stay with the people I feel should be with. 2 mile warm down home afterwards.

Wed 19/11 40 mins Easy:
Had hoped to get a longer run in but was short of time so was happy enough with 40 mins and then back to the house to bring the eldest to Crumlin. Legs felt grand after last nights session so all good.

davemcmahon

Thurs 20/11 Rest:
Back into Crumlin with the eldest after her Ambulatory EEG.

Fri 21/11 50 mins Easy
Back into work today so got out at lunchtime for an easy run around Celbridge and Castletown house.

Sat 22/11 Hartstown Parkrun:
Decided yesterday that I'd run a parkrun this morning to get an idea of where I currently am. Arrived nice and early and took in a lap of the first part of the route (the park circumference) as a nice and easy warm up. The parkrun itself was fairly uneventful. I settled into about 4th after the first mile and stayed there until the end. Checked the pace after the first mile and saw it was down in the low 6's. Was reminded why i don't wear the watch racing as the wheels came off a little after this and I struggled through until the end with a very tough last mile. Cross the line in 18:36 but the course was about 200m short. Finished off with a mile warm down and then headed home. Wore the HRM for this just to get a current reading for HR Max.

Sun 23/11 45 mins Easy:
Headed out this morning for about 40/45 mins easy to loosen the legs a little bit after yesterdays hard effort. Just stayed around Celbridge and did a lap around the village. Was very cold, the first morning in a long time I've wished I'd put on a thermal top/

Mon 24/11 55 mins Easy:
Back to the normal schedule today and just under an hour Easy. Wore the HRM again to see if what i thought was easy pace actually was based on HR. Was happy to see that my HR stayed within the planned levels for the run. Did a slightly different route just to mix it up a little.

Will do the Club session tomorrow night and then easy for the rest of the week. Have opted out of doing the Senior XC at the weekend.

davemcmahon

Tues 25/11 Club Session:

Headed down to the club for the planned session of 6 x 800m with 90s recovery. Did just under 2 miles warm up and then changed into the spikes for the session. The reps were tough as 800's usually are but i was feeling strong throughout and was happy with the session. Reps were 2:58, 2:57, 2:58, 2:57, 3:00, 2:57. Was very happy with this as it was only a couple of seconds slower than where these reps would have been before the injury, and considering I'd run the parkrun on Saturday.

Weds 26/11 AM Runmute:

A very easy run into work taking one of the shorter routes in. Was very cold this morning but there was still no need to wear any extra layers. This meant I was running in my short sleeves and getting a lot of strange looks as I went past the line of cars out of the village. Was happy to keep the pace between Easy and Recovery as the legs were a little tired from last nights sessions.