A Slow Journey to Faster Times

Monday 18th January - 120 minutes Easy
120 minutes @ 128bpm avg

Bleh!
14.25m @ 8:25p/m pace. Didn't feel very good at all during this. Haven't really got an explanation.

FBOT01 wrote: »

Well let's start by looking at what you got up to at the weekend

• Rest and relaxtion??
• Working all the hours God sent??
• Party Central??
• None of the above
• All of the above except the R&R Bit ??

As you well know in every cycle we all have our fair share of Bleh days and there doesn't always have to be a specific reason. Sh!t happnes as they say. You also have had some fairly big weeks over the last few so they are going to take some toll while the system is adapting.

Was away for the weekend, so mainly the one in bold but nothing too bad as I was in bed by 1am. Sleep probably wasn't the best quality though. I won't worry about it.

Saturday 23rd January - JD Q2 Workout
5 x 1k/1200m/1m I (with 3/4/5min recoveries)

I've been hitting these sessions on target, but can't help thinking they're a little deceptive with the big recoveries. So I decided to try a 5k timed run instead, which I felt would give similar benefits to the prescribed workout and also give me some idea what to expect in Raheny next week. It would also get me back to 'racing', which I haven't done for a long time. Plan was to go out at a pace I felt I could hold for the entirety of the race and speed up at the end if possible. Executed it pretty well, but was originally a little disappointed at the time, as I was hoping it would be sub 18. Looking back though, it's not too bad and should hopefully bring me on for the 5 miler next Sunday. Made up the remainder of the week's mileage jogging to/from train/DART stations.

St Anne's parkun (18:37)

Mile 1 - 6:08
Mile 2 - 6:10
Mile 3 - 5:58
0.06 - 0:21

Duanington wrote: »

Nicely done there P - I can't help but think I was lacking a few races over my last training block. Good to get a few under the belt on the way to the big one

When you say big one, I assume you're referring to the smackdown next week?

Hectic few days.....

Sunday 24th January - Rest

The work I'd put in earlier in the week meant I had made room for an extra rest day here. But with a tough week ahead and no easier way of getting to the office early Sunday morning, I was going to give myself a little headstart. However Saturday night was pretty rough and although I still could have managed it, I decided the original decision to rest was the right one.


Monday 25th January

(A.M) - 60 minutes Easy
60 minutes @ 125bpm

(P.M) - 90 minutes Easy
90 minutes @ 130bpm

Stretched out both routes either side of work, extending the total length of the double to almost 18 miles. Good start to a demanding week.


Tuesday 26th January - JD Q1 Workout

This was supposed to be the lesser of 25% of the week's mileage OR 2.5 hours. I'm maxing out at 75m, meaning I'd be running 18.75m at most today. The fact that the VDOT value for my marathon PB is the worst by far in comparison to all my PB's at other race distances could only have you come to the conclusion that endurance is a bit of an issue for me. Therefore I'm hoping to extend a few of these long runs up to at least 22m (possibly further) throughout the plan. I also remember Krusty telling me before that he thought JD plans were better suited to 90/100mpw runners, so those instructions would have you running that sort of distance in long runs if that was the case. Anyway I decided today that twenty was plenty. Onto the run....

Yesterday was beautiful. What happened today? Running in that was idiotic/ridiculous. Trying to maintain a consistent HR was impossible/nonsensical, so I just concentrated on keeping an even pace for the whole run while I got battered by everything the storm out there had to throw at me.

Final stats:

20m @ 8:16p/m average (142bpm avg)

More than half of the mileage I've to cover this week is out of the way already now. A couple of doubles over the next two days will leave me with just one easy run on Friday morning and the race in Raheny to finish it off. Once I stick to that plan I can rest up on Saturday to give me some chance of doing myself justice on Sunday.

Wednesday 27th January - 45 minutes Easy
45 minutes @ 118bpm

This was supposed to be the first of a morning/evening double, but for various reasons I couldn't get back out in the evening. Kept it very easy after the previous day's 20 miler.


Thursday 28th January - JD Q2 Workout
2m E + 4x12min T (with 2min rests) + 2m E

I knew this would be tough, especially when I felt the gale that was blowing as I ran the warm up miles. Decided to hit the Clontarf coastline for this. I knew the wind would help me going out and figured once I hit the first two sections on target, I'd stubbornly dig in on the way back for the final two. That's exactly how it worked out. I was well above pace on the final rep, but managed to drag it back just in time. Happy with the session, but almost vomited afterwards. Really hard going, but it was runs like that along the coast two years ago that made the Seville Marathon seem so easy for so long on race day. Spotted MrsMc putting the final touches to her Raheny 5 Mile preparation during my third rep. She waved and said hello enthusiastically . I blurted out 'Heya' with snot all over my face in response. Unlike her, I think I may have left my Raheny 5 in Clontarf tonight :O

2m E - 16:47 (8:24p/m avg)

Rep 1 - 1.91m (6:17p/m pace)
Rep 2 - 1.90m (6:20p/m pace)
Rep 3 - 1.90m (6:20p/m pace)
Rep 4 - 1.91m (6:20p/m pace)

2m E - 18:12 (9:06/m avg)

Total miles (including recoveries): 12.12

Itziger wrote: »

Jesus, who's got the mojo back. Well done man. Remind me of the first big target of the year.

Well I'm running Raheny on Sunday and Ballycotton in March. Although I obviously want to run well in both of those, Boston is the only race I'm really targeting. The others are just lumped in the middle of marathon training.