Sometimes I just need to get out and run

Tues 24/03 Club session:

8 x 800m with 90s recovery. The reps were kept fairly consistent, all varying from 2:54 - 2:58. Legs were feeling pretty tired by the end of the session. Could feel a little tightness in the hamstring after the session. Had a quick chat with some of the lads that ran the 3k last year and they pretty much sold me on the idea of doing it.

Wed 25/03 30 mins Easy AM and 25 mins v Easy PM

Runmute to and from work. Legs felt awful on both these and the hamstring and glute were very tight afterwards. With an eye on the Senior Road Race on Sunday opted to rest for a few days

Thurs 26/03 Rest

Fri 27/03 Rest

Sat 28/03 Rest

Sun 29/03 Kildare Senior Road Race:

Weather was awful, Legs felt awful, really didn't want to be there. Overall didn't enjoy it one bit. Went out to fast and blew up badly in the second half. was very aware of the tightness in my left leg the whole time. The only positive I took from it was having an awful day but still managed 39:42.

Mon 30/03 45 mins V Easy.

Headed out at lunchtime, the leg felt better today after some foam rolling last night. Can still feel the problem area but thankfully its more uncomfortable when I'm not running. More stretching and foam rolling in the evening

Tue 31/03 30 mins Easy AM, 30 mins Easy PM

Morning runmute was grand but got caught in the hailstones on the way home, made the run completely miserable.

Wed 01/04 30 mins Easy AM 35 mins Easy PM

Another day of runmuting. Keeping the paces nice and slow as the leg is getting better and is now just some stiffness in the glute/ITB which is slowly being worked out through foam rolling and stretching. Have kept a tennis ball close at hand all week in work to let me work out any after run discomfort.

Thurs 02/04 45 mins V Easy

Headed out with a colleague and kept it nice and handy at his pace. Almost no issue with the leg so good improvement there. Now just fighting a head cold.

Fri 03/04 Howth Trail Run

Decided to do this early in the week as I knew I needed the scenic route to get back some of the enjoyment thats been missing the last 2 weeks. Really enjoyed this and was glad I made the trip out even if I did have to skip the cake to go to work.

Am not sure if I'll bother with the K-club now, I want to get the leg sorted fully first and don't want to rush it. When I think about it I'd rather do the 3k so that will probably be the next 'goal' race. As such I'll be staying away from any speed work for another week at least. Once the legs are feeling better and there's no issues I'll get back to them.

Sat/Sun/Mon 4/5/6/04 Rest. Decided to take a couple of days rest to try and shift the head cold.

Tues 7/04: 45 mins Easy
Headed out with a colleague at lunchtime and into the grounds of Castletown House. Kept to the trails and down along the river before heading back to work.

Wed 8/04: 40 mins AM and 30 mins PM
Runmute to and from work back into the grounds of Castletown House again.

Thurs 9/04: 45 mins Easy
A handy run around Celbridge and then back to work through Castletown House along the river. Picked up a new watch today (Polar RC3) so can go back to analysing my runs in minute detail.

Fri 10/04: 50 mins Easy
Out nice and early for this run as I knew I'd a busy day in work planned. Headed out of Celbridge and down towards Leixlip. Back into Celbridge through the Castletown House grounds and then home for breakfast.

Legs are beginning to feel better, hip isn't giving me any problems. Am skipping K-Club tomorrow and am just trying to get the mileage back up and hopefully get a few sessions in before the 3k in May. The big lesson for me from the last few weeks is to take the Easy days even easier to allow me to run the Hard days harder.

Thurs 16/04 55 mins Easy:
Have a few days off work so still got out early for this. Having done a lot of running in Castletown House recently made the decision to stay away for a couple of days. Headed out on an out and back route through Celbridge and up to the N4. Turned around and headed back home with a quick loop around the estate to finish it off. Rest of the day was spent with the youngest at her 3rd birthday outing.

Fri 17/04 90 mins Easy:
Plan for today was to bring the kids swimming so with that in mind I decided to move my LSR forward to today. Headed out of Celbridge and down to the canal heading out towards Ardclough. Turned off the canal at Ardclough and up the hill for another mile or so. Turned around and came back to the canal and headed back towards Celbridge. Came off the Canal early at Newcastle and headed back into Celbridge along the back roads and along the river. Was a nice morning for a run and once I got off the roads it was very peaceful. Was a little cold starting off but warmed up pretty quickly.

Have been wearing the HRM with the new watch so nice to get an idea of where the fitness is even if the HR values I'm using are a little outdated (would have worked them out about 12 -18 months ago).

I plan to go back to the club session next week but I'm pretty much off plan for the next few weeks until I come back from holidays. I'm not sure what I'll aim for after that but am thinking I'll drop the club plan for a while and go with a plan from one of the books. The main reasoning being that I feel I need a change in structure at the moment and I'll have to drop the club stuff for a while anyway in September, since we'll have a new arrival, so may as well do it soon so it won't be as much of a shock.

paddybarry wrote: »

+2, congrats Dave.

Tom Joad wrote: »

+ 1 big congratulations Dave

tang1 wrote: »

Congrats on the impending arrival Dave.

Cheers Lads

Sat 25/04 Rest

Sun 26/04 60 mins Steady
Headed out nice and early planning to get an easy run in. Body felt great and the legs were picking up speed without much movement in the HR. Figured I'd go with it and turned the run into a Steady run. did a lap around Celbridge before cutting through Castletown house grounds and into Leixlip before heading back home.

Mon 27/04 45 mins Easy,
Headed out at lunchtime and made my way over to Leixlip. Took in a loop of the Leixlip 5k route and then headed back into work, throwing in a few sets of strides into mile 4.

Tues 28/04 Club Session:
Plan called for 6 x 1km or actually a little over 900m. First few reps were grand, knew I was working hard but also knew i could have pushed it a little more. Faded a little in the last couple of reps, felt like the engine just let me down. Wasn't too worried about fading as ideally i would have built up to the 6 reps rather then jumping back in at 6. Reps were:
3:24, 3:22, 3:22, 3:24, 3:28, 3:30.
Usual warm up and cool down.

Wed 29/04 30mins Recovery Runmute AM and 35 mins V. Easy PM
Legs were feeling tired this morning so kept the runmute to work at recovery pace and one of the shorter routes. The evening run was a little longer but the pace was only marginally faster than this morning.

Thurs 30/04 Club Session:
Plan called for 10 x 500m (really 450ish). Got up to the track nice and early to find that only 4 or 5 of us were doing the session as most are racing over the weekend. After some discussion as to should we change the plan it was decided to just go ahead with the plan. Reps were tough enough as there was a strong headwind along the back straight and very little coverage with the low numbers. I was happy to see the reps kept nice and consistent:

1:38, 1:39, 1:36, 1:38, 1:36, 1:38, 1:39, 1:39, 1:39, 1:38.

Usual warm up/down included.

Fri 1/05 85 mins 'LSR':
With a busy weekend ahead and the fact I've enjoyed doing these on tired legs on Fridays I got up nice and early and headed out for my LSR before breakfast. The battery in the HR monitor went just as I was starting so figured I'd just run on perceived effort instead for this. Dropped the car to work and then headed out around Celbridge, heading over the to club and threw in a couple of laps around the gravel track at the back. Left the club going past my house and down into the village and back into work through Castletown house grounds. Was happy enough with the run and effort as I was very tired this morning. Legs are a little heavy now but thankfully no niggles.

Saturday 9/05 Rest:

Sunday 10/05 Kildare T&F Senior 3000m:
Myself and one of the lads had decided to give this a shot purely to experience a track race. I arrived nice and early, picked up my number and headed off for a warm up. Was chatting to the club mate after the warm up and we both commented as to how nervous we were, much more than normally for a race. I changed into my racing flats and did a few strides while I waited to be called to the start. The warm up and strides had let given us a chance to see that the wind was fairly strong on the home-straight and into our faces.

We lined up at the start and weren't waiting long before we were called to the line and were off. I went off fairly hard and got into a position where I thought I should be. I kept the club mate a couple of meters ahead of me and planned to not let the gap widen too much (I knew he was a better runner and would finish ahead of me). I went past a few people in the first couple of laps as those that went off too hard faded early. The laps went pretty quickly with someone calling them as we went by the finish line each time. As much as I could I kept the pace hard for the remaining laps and thankfully didn't loose any places in the last couple of laps. The club mate pulled a little further ahead in the last lap but I was happy with the effort I'd given as I crossed the line.

Took a couple of minutes before I could talk afterwards but was happy with the race overall. I knew the head wind in the home straight had probably cost me some seconds as the field was fairly strung out. Wasn't long until we got the official times. They have me done for 10:59.68 and finishing 6th of 9 entrants. Overall I enjoyed it and will probably give it a go again next year.

vanderlyle wrote: »

Is that open to anyone Dave, or just members of Kildare clubs? Thanks

Its the Kildare county senior T&F so Kildare clubs only. They use it to pick the Kildare team for Leinsters.

Sun 17/05 60 mins With Stuff
Got out nice and early for a good solid hour. As part of my build up to jumping into one of the JD plans I've been doing a few of the Q3 plans on the Sunday runs. This week it was 4 x (2 x 200 + 1 x 400). Session itself was grand and everything felt good.

Mon 18/05 60 mins Easy
Kept it fairly easy with yesterdays session and a planned session tomorrow. Kept to the roads and trails around Celbridge and Castletown House

Tues 19/05 50 Mins with 25 mins @ Tempo
With a lot of the lads racing tonight I knew there'd be no training so decided to get a decent Tempo run in. Was out nice and early and did about 10 minutes warm up before I jumped into the Tempo miles. The tempo section was grand. 15 minutes warm down afterwards.

25 mins @ 6:36 Ave

Wed 20/05 65 mins Easy
A nice easy run before breakfast around Celbridge and Leixlip.

Thurs 21/05 70 mins Easy
Another nice easy run around Celbridge. Legs felt good.

Fri 22/05 1:40 mins Easy LSR
Out nice and early before work. Ran a looping route around Celbridge and Leixlip. Don't remember much else about this.

Sat 23/05 45 mins Easy
Kept the pace nice and easy on this. Legs were feeling grand after yesterdays run.

Sun 'Rest'
This involved getting up at 3:30am, missed check-ins and running through the airport with a 3 year old sitting on top of my bag holding on for dear life.

Mon rest
After yesterdays escapade I was happy to just enjoy the sun and sea.

Tues 26/05 60 mins Easy
Used this as a change to get some sightseeing in. Was staying in Estoril just west of Lisbon. Headed down to the promenade which gave me a couple of flat miles before I hit the hills around Cascais. Was a nice run and was kept nice and easy due to the heat.

Wed 27/05 65 mins with 8 x 2 mins
Had hoped to get a session in yesterday but after the rest day on Monday I pushed the session out to today. Did 2 miles along the promenade before I got into the session. I didn't pay much attention to the pace due to the heat and humidity. A couple of the reps were on the hills towards Cascais. 2 mile warm down which included the last km to the hotel which was a fairly steep climb

Thurs 28/05 55 mins Easy
Kept to the now usual route along the promenade and kept the pace nice and easy after yesterdays session.

Fri 29/05 65 mins Easy
Again the usual route along the promenade.

Sat 30/05 90 mins LSR
Out before breakfast and did a couple of miles along the promenade before heading for the hills and along the cliff front past Cascais. This was one of those runs I was thankful for the opportunity to see some areas I wouldn't normally have seen. Turned around at the half way mark and headed back to the hotel along the cliffs and promenade

Sun Rest
Travel back home at a much easier pace then I'd left.

Mon Rest
Spent the morning out in IKEA and then the afternoon putting together bunk beds for the kids.

Tues 02/06 30 mins V. Easy
Out before work just to get the legs moving again after a couple of days rest before tonight's session with the club.

vanderlyle wrote: »

Good session, must have missed that in JD!

Seriously though what are you planning on tackling?

Its definitely not a session I'd recommend.

I'm going to jump into one of the 5k plans once I've picked a target race. Will probably aim for mid to late September so possibly Rathfarnham.

Thurs 04/06 AM 30mins V.V. Easy
A very easy paced 30 mins Around Castletown house to breath a bit of life into the legs.

Thurs 04/06 PM Club Session
Headed down to the club for 5 x 5mins. On my Warm up I knew I wasn't feeling great, could feel my food from the day sitting in my stomach. Checked my HR and say it was a good bit higher than it should have been so decided I wouldn't push myself too hard during the session. The first rep was grand but then I forgot myself and ended up running the next two harder than I wanted, so I eased off a bit on number 4 and kept that effort again for the last one. A couple of miles warm down afterwards.

Fri 05/06 65 mins Easy
I had planned to run my LSR this morning but after the first couple of miles I decided to leave it at an hour as the legs were heavy and I was feeling a little off. Headed out into Castletown House and then into and around Leixlip before heading to work.

Sat 13/06: Rest

Sun 14/06 1:40 LSR

Headed out nice and early for this. Did a lap around the estate and the headed off towards Ardclough along the main roads. Got to Ardclough them jumped onto the canal and continued on a little further before turning around and coming back along the canal. Upped the effort for the last couple of miles.

Mon 15/06 55 mins Easy

Legs were a little tired after yesterdays run. Its a step back week this week so was happy to leave the run a little shorter than usual.Headed out from work around the top of Celbridge and through the village before heading back to work through Leixlip.

Tues 16/06 Club Session

Plan for the night was 6 * 800m off 90s recovery. It was very warm and humid when i set out for this. By the time I had my warm up done I was sweating alot and knew the session was going to be tough. The first couple of reps were probably a touch on the fast side given the conditions. I eased the effort slightly for reps 4 and 5 and then pushed the last one again to finish strong.

Reps: 2:54, 2:54, 2:56, 2:58, 3:00, 2:56

I was quite happy with them as a couple of the lads were clearly struggling with the heat. Kept the warm down a little short to keep the overall mileage down for the week.

Wed 17/06 65 mins Easy

Headed out first thing. Dropped the car to work and then headed out through Castletown ground and into Celbridge Village. Then headed back towards Leixlip along the Dublin road and back in Castletown house. Did a little bit along the river before heading back to work.

Thurs 18/06 65 mins Easyish

Another early run, headed from work again and over towards Intel. Took the back road through Kilmacredock and onto the canal at the level crossing. Headed out towards Maynooth but turned around at Pikes bridge. This time kept going until Louisa Bridge and then headed through Leixlip and back towards the N4 interchange before heading back into work. Pace was a little on the fast side but since I'd no session that night I just went with it.

Fri 19/06 45 mins Easy

A nice and Easy run just looping around Celbridge before leaving for work.

I had thought about running a parkrun tomorrow but have decided against it as I'm finding the early mornings tough this week. I may do the Kilcock 5k on Friday night as I haven't raced in a while and could probably do with one.

Thurs 25/06 45 mins Easy

Headed out from the house and over towards the club. Once I got there I decided I'd follow what I was lead to believe was the new route for the clubs 5km in August. Did a loop of the route and finished back at the clubhouse, did a couple of laps of the track and then headed home. Thankfully I was misinformed of the route as it seemed very short when I was running it, the actual route I was informed of on Friday night is much better.

Fri 26/06 St. Cocas 5km.

I'd managed to convince myself during the week that I should run this as I haven't raced since the first weekend in May. Training has been going well but I've been lacking confidence to race so I just bit the bullet and signed up. This would be my first ever evening race so I just treated it the same way I would a club session in terms of preparation. Left the house nice and early for the short drive to Kilcock. Was parked, had collected my number and had changed in with a good 30 minutes to spare. Bumped into a few familiar faces and joined them for a handful of laps around the track to warm up. Headed over to the start with a few minutes to go and bumped into one of the lads from work that would be of a similar standard so decided I'd keep an eye on him so I lined up a row or two behind him.

After a false start we were off. The first mile for this was very fast and I was glad I was probably too far back. I didn't have room to get fully up to speed at the off but was happy to have to build up gradually over the first km or so. Once we were across the motorway and off the main road I had the space to push on and start going past people. I could still see the guy from work up ahead so I had my target. We passed the 2km mark and I decided I'd aim to pass out the target at about 3.5-4km mark. At the 3k mark I was beginning to fell the heat but told myself I'd run the 3000m in May at a decent enough clip and I'd less than that to go. 3.5k and I caught the target, a quick exchange of pleasantries and I pushed past him after the slight incline back over the motorway. Past the 4k mark and I was still going past people and was surprised with how little (relatively) I was suffering. I kept reminding myself of PM's report from last week and description of his suffering and knew I had more to give. 800m to go and the workmate is back on my shoulder so I up the effort again but this time he's not letting me go. 400m and I could see the clock reading 17:XX. It wasn't long until it changed to 18:XX so I knew a PB was on the books. Kept pushing and cross the line with 18:17 on the clock and beside the workmate. His watch was reading 18:15 so I'm taking that (even though he was a couple of rows in front at the start).

Hung around for a while and then joined a couple of the lads for a jog back to the track and a few laps around it as a warm down before heading to the clubhouse for some cake.

So a 17second PB and I was very happy with the race itself. I didn't go off too hard and didn't struggle through the second half over the race. I may do another couple of 5k's over the next couple of months and see how much more I can take off it.

Saturday 27/06 Rest

Sunday 28/06 1:45 LSR

Headed out nice and early on my own for this. The club lads were heading out a bit late for me so was happy to be on my own. Headed out on the back roads around Celbridge up to the Maynooth/Clane road. I stay on this road and headed into Maynooth before jumping onto the canal for a short stretch. Back off the canal and down into St Patricks in Maynooth for a quick lap around the grounds and through the college. Out the Kilcock side and then back into Maynooth and back past the canal and up to the old Celbridge Road. Back up to the top of Celbridge and then a quick loop around Celbridge and home. By the end of the first few miles I'd really wished I'd gone out for a recovery run yesterday as the legs were heavy and uncooperative. After a while they woke up thankfully.

Mon 29/06 70 mins Easy

Dropped the car to work and then headed out towards Leixlip. Headed over to the canal and then stay on it down to the Confey bridge. Back off the canal and down Captains Hill and through Leixlip village. Headed back up towards Louisa Bridge and then through the estates back to work. Legs were a bit off and I had a tightness around my knee for a while afterwards.

Tues 30/06 Club Session

The knee felt alot better today but I was very conscious of it all day leading up to the session. It seemed fine and some stretching during the day had taken the discomfort away. Did the usual warm up down to the track and met up with the handful that had braved the heat. The plan called for 7 x 800m with 90s recovery. I planned to take the first few easy and not flog myself by running any harder than I needed to. The first rep was very slow and then the next few began to pick the pace up. Towards the end of the session a couple of the lads dropped off the pace but I was happy to stick with it. Thankfully by the last rep the temperature had dropped a couple of degrees meaning the last rep was probably the most comfortable.

Reps: 3:02, 2:55, 2:58, 2:58, 2:57, 2:57, 2:50

The usual warm down around the track and then home.

Wed 1/07 70 mins Easy

Had the day off today but still got up nice and early to get this in before the family woke up. Headed out the back roads followed a similar route as a few weeks ago. Up towards the Maynooth/Clane road and then as far as Taghadoe crossroads and then right to bring me back towards Celbridge. Did a quick loop around the village to bring the time up to the 70 mins. Legs were feeling grand but the heat really made the run feel tougher than it should have.