Be still my beating heart

barryoneill50 wrote: »

What HM have you planned in April?

Wexford. It's the best one I can find on at that time. Practice race for the main goal of the year which is Autumn half!

barryoneill50 wrote: »

Done that one twice myself. Tough climb after a mile or so, a good few sharp turns in around the castle and a long run in on the main road which can be tough if the wind isn't playing ball. Not as fast as advertised. Get down there good and early, parking can be hard to find near the start.

Thanks Barry for the tips. I'm not going to concern myself too much with the course as it's purely for race practice at half marathon distance and a good pb will be on the cards unless something goes badly wrong so will take it in my stride!
Good tips there though. Cheers!

pistol_75 wrote: »

If you could hold that pace easy enough today you'll prob surprise yourself in race conditions when it comes. Frankly an hour at HMP should be a bitch of a session.

Really! That's good to know! It really didn't feel that bad and I have 3 months before the half so who knows, maybe I'll be aiming higher by end of April!

pistol_75 wrote: »

The main thing is the adrenalin you don't get from a session and also running with others which I find help.

You will have the training done so that side won't be a problem. Most HM plans max out at 7 miles at HMP because it's such a tough training run.

Really good to know. Must try it without the watch next time and see what the pace turns out at.

Hannibal Smith wrote: »

Fair play Ososlo....that's an amazing pace to be maintaining for that distance. I dream of a run like that some day. Im going to have to look at your log a little closer. ..if that's alright. Just read the post on your first page about the dcm and heart rate training and though I'm not at all comparing abilities it certainly struck a chord. ..the whole slowing down in order to progress and keeping the heart rate under control. I never used a hrm but found last year the whole slowing down to keep going so frustrating. Its great to see how fast you're going now.

The mileage is incredible!

Jeez thanks HS! Yeah read ahead! It gets a bit ahem... controversial at times... and it's all there, blood, sweat and tears! Literally:eek:

I have a lot more free time on my hands than most around these parts (work a lot from home, no kids) so have plenty of time to get the miles unlike people like yourself so major respect to you for managing to fit it all in.
Enjoying your log and it's great to watch your progress!

Hannibal Smith wrote: »

I have no choice but to run. Since day one I'm completely addicted.

ha ha..brilliant... you sure we aren't related? I felt that way from the first day I put on a pair of runners I'm waiting for the novelty to wear off but it ain't happening!
Love it!

Wednesday 21 January
am: 3.5 miles recovery
AIS, Lunge Matrix pre run

Perfect running conditions. One could not ask for better. Picked it up to about 8 pace for 3 mins towards the end.
10:03 avg pace

pm: 5 miles easy
AIS, LM pre run
Had a nice afternoon which involved popping in to Amphibian King in Ballymount to pick up some new runners which I've christened
"The Graduates":D Thanks guys!
A lovely fresh pair of Brooks racer st5s. I wear my current pair a lot (on at least 3 runs a week for sessions, so over half my weekly mileage) and find I'm wearing my clunkier Mizunos a lot less so needed to throw another pair of lighter shoes into the ring. The guy gave me some great advice and I'm gonna wear the new ones for 40% of my runs, the old Brooks for 30% and the old Mizunos for 30% and see how I get on. He doesn't think I need a heavier shoe necessarily at all so I might phase them out completely. I'll keep a close eye on niggles and make a decision based on how I go over the next few weeks/months. He even let me try out the new shoes for a little run outside. Those guys are the best. Only found out today that AK in Ashtown no longer exists.

I took the new shoes for a little spin up to the airport. Can't believe why I never ran up there before as it's a perfect 2.5 miles up to Departures so a nice 5 mile round trip. I guess the road up that direction looks very bleak and dark and it's not the most scenic, and while it's busy enough with cars, it's mainly devoid of pedestrians, just the odd cyclist. I did feel quite safe up there tonight though so nice to have another run to add to the repertoire.
Got up real close and personal with some planes which made for an interesting little run. Kept it nice and easy to break in the new shoes gradually.
Myrtl post run
9:54 avg pace

8.5 miles total

Day 6 - no alcohol

Thursday 22 January

3 x (6 x 40 secs @ 1 mile pace) 5 min jog rec between sets & 5 mins at 2 mile effort
AIS, LM pre run

Was feeling A1 tonight. Great form, sprightly with lots of energy and raring to go. Warm up a bit longer than usual as I wanted to find to a suitable place to do these. I'm very limited as to where I can do this session in the dark so opted for Griffith Ave. Found a nice stretch for the strides but the tree cover means the pace of the reps on the watch are fukced so there's no point in recording them.
Put in the usual good hard effort but it was so cold that I never really warmed up at all and could have done with a second layer on. My hands were frozen under my 1 euro pair of gloves
I moved to a different area for the 5 mins @ 2 mile effort at the end of the 3 sets. It wasn't an ideal place to do this rep as the paths were very uneven and parts were starting to frost over so I had to be hyper aware of my footing. Still I'm happy that the pace for the 5mins was 7:16.
Myrtl post run.
Got a new tub of the Kinetica 100% Recovery powder in AK yesterday and went for blackcurrant flavour this time and it's really tasty! I'd highly recommend! I really feel that taking this after my harder workouts is definitely contributing to keeping me healthy and injury free.
Wore the new Brooks again and they feel great but I'd better rest them now for a few days.

10.5 miles total

I'll try and take 2 days easy before the HEAE run, as it worked out well last week that way having the extra easy day

Day 7 - no alcohol

adrian522 wrote: »

I take 100% recovery on occasion too, and I understand how it works (I think) but I don't see how it helps injury prevention. Care to elaborate?

The protein and carbs and other vitamins aid muscle repair I guess!
If the muscles don't repair well after intense exercise they're more prone to injury I guess!

adrian522 wrote: »

OK makes sense I suppose, though I think all that stretching and strengthening you do is probably more the reason you never get injured!

ah yes the stretching and strengthening is definitely the main reason!