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Playing the Numbers game: Sub 5;10;17;36;60;80

Back in Black

Decided that it's time to start logging here again and start over with a new log.

This year was going well until I missed 6 weeks in September and October between a Chest Infection that kept recurring and spraining my ankle.

Have been back running 3 weeks now and feeling good and finally making progress again. This week was a big test with a reintroduction of speed work and I passed the test with flying colours!!

The log title comes from an attempt to set some long term goals and to put a time frame on them. So with that in mind the aim is to run sub 5 mins for the mile; sub 10 mins for 3km; sub 36 for 10k; sub 60 for 10 mile and sub 80 for the half marathon. I am setting myself 18 months to achieve this as that's when I'll turn 40.

PB's to date are as follows:
3k - 10:39 County T&F 2015
5k - 17:48 Castlepollard 2015
10k - 38:28 Fingal 2015
HM - 1:28:17 Bohermeen 2015

So a fair bit of work to be done on these to hit the targets but am confident I'll have a right good crack at them. HM is the one that scares me a bit as endurance has been my weakness in the past but have a great coach and my endurance has definitely improved since he has been working with me.

Training this week has been as follows:

Monday - 2 mile recovery @ 10:07
Tuesday - 6 mile easy @ 8:45
Wednesday - 6 mile easy @ 8:55 pace
Thursday - 7 mile with 16 x 300mtrs with 45sec recovery (all between 60 and 63 sec)
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 8.5 mile including 800mtrs @ 3:02, 3 mile tempo @ 6:54, 3 x 300mtrs (61,58,60)

Immediate target is a 10k in Belfast on 28th where I hope to do some damage to my 10k PB.

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Back in Black

Duanington wrote: »

really strong session there J, rough enough trying to pace it in that wind

Cheers D - yeah it was a toughie in the wind - it's amazing though that I was doing laps of the track and felt it on my face but never on my back

.

Nice work yourself today - I'd say you had a lot more wind than i had to contend with!

Duanington

Back in Black wrote: »

Cheers D - yeah it was a toughie in the wind - it's amazing though that I was doing laps of the track and felt it on my face but never on my back .

Nice work yourself today - I'd say you had a lot more wind than i had to contend with!

Ha ha - it seems to time those gusts perfectly to blow you backwards alright, never forwards! Ah I had a little bit of shelter in St Anne's in fairness, not a lot but enough to make it do-able (Just!)

Back in Black

Friday 29th January: Rest

Saturday 30th January: 2 easy, 2 @ 6:45-6:55, 1 @ 6:35-6:45, 6x100, 2 easy

Surprisingly I thoroughly enjoyed this one even though it was late and wasn't feeling the love before I headed out.

It was made easier because I had company as my usual running buddy was with me.

Done a nice and gentle two mile easy @ 8:58; 8:46.

The tempo miles felt very good but was surprised that we were so far ahead of target with the first two and the first one had a long drag but pace and effort was very consistent and I was feeling strong.6:36;6:38

I was making more of an effort to stick to the pace on the single tempo mile and again was nice and consistent. It was over quicker than expected and pace was 6:35

Done the 6x100s all in 20-21 seconds and took 40 seconds walk recovery between them for easy sums sake. Legs felt the freshest they have been in a while so all good. Finished out the rest of the cool down @ 8:51 average pace.

Total 8 miles

Sunday 31st January: 12.5 mile LSR @ 8:42 avg pace

I got out at 7am for this and was feeling tired heading out the door. Again I had company for this. I stopped for a stretch after 2km which helped a bit and after that the miles just ticked by at a fairly consistent pace. Nice to have the company and made this fly by. There's also something nice about getting out in the dark and watching it get bright.

It was great to get this done early and back home for the 2nd breakfast.

Back in Black

Month|2013|2014|2015|2016
January|57|177.2|181.18|180.8
February|78|87|166.4
March|87.45|148.25|135.5
April|125.7|120.5|172.95
May|117|94.45|167.25
June|105|144.5|130.43
July|125.5|182.5|174.06
August|125.5|182.6|200
September|112.5|140.5|62.8
October|160.5|142|78.15
November|148|88.5|166.25
December|144.5|145.88|146.5
Total|1386.65|1653.88|1781.47|180.8

Dammit - If I had known I was so close to last January's total I would have done a few more laps of the car park to beat it :P:D

Happy enough with January's training as I got plenty of quality work in and was also fairly good with the strength and conditioning work.

February focus is all on Armagh 3k on the 18th.

Back in Black

Monday 1st Feb: 2.4 mile recovery @9:20 avg pace

Went out straight after getting home from work. It was ridiculously windy out and at times it was a struggle to keep upright. Still I managed to dodge a few wheelie bins and debris on the paths!

Also got a good core workout done too.

Tuesday 2nd Feb: 7 mile easy @ 8:41 avg pace

Headed out this evening shortly after dinner. It was bitter cold heading out but it was still a surprise when it started snowing heavy half a mile in. I was very tempted to cut this short but decided not to wimp out and to keep going. Was a bit dodgy in places with the big lumps of snow falling and getting in my eyes - I never wanted a peaked hat so badly in all my life

. Footpaths were getting slippy for the last few mile so glad to get back to the car.

It took a while to thaw out after this.

tang1

What your honest assessment of the Trim 10 mile course J, you ran it last year didn't you?

Back in Black

tang1 wrote: »

What your honest assessment of the Trim 10 mile course J, you ran it last year didn't you?

I ran it last year as a session with overpronator so wasn't taking too much notice of the course but from what I can remember it was a very fair course and definitely a PB course. Yaboya and Aero2k might be better people to ask as both of them raced it (and had great runs too if i recall correctly).

I would have been back like a shot this year only it didn't fit into the training for the shorter stuff.

tang1

Back in Black wrote: »

I ran it last year as a session with overpronator so wasn't taking too much notice of the course but from what I can remember it was a very fair course and definitely a PB course. Yaboya and Aero2k might be better people to ask as both of them raced it (and had great runs too if i recall correctly).

I would have been back like a shot this year only it didn't fit into the training for the shorter stuff.

My thoughts of it to, just wanted a second opinion. There's eyes watching who have accused me of giving false accounts of race routes before, just wanted to be sure.

Firedance

actually spoke to a clubmate yesterday who did this last year too, he said the same as you & BNB so its unanimous

I believe you!

tang1

Firedance wrote: »

actually spoke to a clubmate yesterday who did this last year too, he said the same as you & BNB so its unanimous I believe you!

You still had to ask a clubmate though, bad form not trusting me!!

Firedance

tang1 wrote: »

You still had to ask a clubmate though, bad form not trusting me!!

Nope, he volunteered the info, sorry for the log hijack BNB!,

Back in Black

Wednesday 3rd February: 2 mile easy, 6x300 @ 56-58 w 2 min rec, 2 mile easy

Managed to get out at lunchtime for this which was a real rarity. I was rewarded with a spring day that was perfect for running, with not a murmur of wind and the sun was even out!! Hard to believe that my previous run was in heavy snow!!

Done a nice and handy 2 mile warm up 8:14;8:13 and then plenty of stretching before getting stuck into this.

Was conscious to try and keep the pace consistent and the form good. Managed that and felt quite comfortable doing this. The legs did get tired on the last two but nothing major and pace was nice and consistent.

Finished of with a 2 mile cool down run before legging it back to work.

As an added bonus got to circuits tonight so not a bad days work

Total: 7.8 miles

outforarun

Some tasty interval splits being posted on here. Was that 2 seconds recovery yesterday??

Any race strategy in mind for the 3000m?

Back in Black

outforarun wrote: »

Some tasty interval splits being posted on here. Was that 2 seconds recovery yesterday??

Any race strategy in mind for the 3000m?

Not so ninja edit made now :P 2 mins recoveries it was!

On strategy - haven't done too much thinking about it but probably it will be go hard or go home. Will try and hit 3:20 pace and hold on for dear life!!

Back in Black

7 miles moderate @ 7:58 avg pace

Idea for this was to be at the quicker end of easy without watching the clock. Headed out this evening with running buddy and we were both feeling creaky after circuits last night. Between that and the session yesterday the legs were feeling stiff and tired.

Was struggling a wee bit to up the pace on mile 1 so stopped for a stretch half a mile in and then picked up the pace. As expected the legs loosened up the further I ran and I started to enjoy this. It was a bit stop start at times as town was very busy tonight and we had to stop at a few junctions and dodge cars too!

Splits were a wee bit all over the place, mainly I hope because of the stopping and starting.

Splits were: 8:26;8:06;7:51;7:42;7:40;8:00;7:57

Back in Black

Friday 5th February: 2 easy, 1200, 4 min rec, 1000, 3:30 min rec, 800, 3min rec, 600, 2 min rec, 400, 2 easy

I knew it would be next to impossible to run Saturday so I had to push this forward. Between that and knowing this could be a toughie meant I was fairly apprehensive going into this. The flip side was that if I nailed this it would be a great confidence booster for Armagh.

Running buddy decided to join me which was great as it was after 8 o clock before we got out and it would have been easy to put if off if i was on my own. When we got down to the pitch the floodlights were on and there was plenty of cars around so we had a feeling it could get busy. Started off with a nice and handy warm-up followed by lots of stretching and a few laps of form drills.

Was ready to get stuck in at that stage and we could see the local gaa teams seniors warming up on the astroturf so the priority was to get going as quick as possible before all 20 odd of them hit the track.

The target for the first 1200 was 4:20 to 4:25 and I was determined not to overcook this. The beauty of the floodlights meant I could keep an eye on the time and checked it at 200 and 400 and saw that we were bang on target. Finished this in 4:23 and felt good and was particularly pleased that my form was very good. Gently jogged 600 metres for the recovery before getting into the 1000mtrs.

Target for the 1000mtrs was 3:30 to 3:35. Again tried to keep the pace even and the form good and we were running very smoothly for the first 400mtrs and then we were joined on track by 6 lads running dragging tyres around behind them (local tug of war team training). Had to do a few maneuvers to get around them which interrupted the smooth running but was still happy out with 3:29. Another nice and handy recovery jog for 3:30 before getting in to the 800.

Still had the tug of war team on track so tried to time starting to avoid the traffic. Target for this was 2:40 to 2:45 and again was concentrating on the form and even pacing. Got held up at one corner as one of the lads with tyres took the turn too tight and I had to avoid his tyre!! Thankfully the tug of war lads finished up as we were on the second lap. This came in at 2:38 and I was feeling good still. Unfortunately running buddy was struggling and he was regretting the cup of coffee he had before coming out. Not much chat on the jogged recovery for 3 minutes!

By now the senior panel had joined us on track and we timed the start wrong and had to divert onto the pitch to avoid a collision - was getting dogs abuse from some of the lads for this and there was plenty of slagging.

Meant i was a wee bit distracted for this and wary of the same happening again on the next lap but thankfully we were able to negotiate a way through. Target was 2:00- 2:05 so delighted to hit 2 mins on the nose. Nice and easy jogged 400mtrs recovery while the gaa lads were steaming pass us doing some heavy pre season training.

The 2 minutes recovery was over very quick and running buddy was still struggling (but still hitting the right pace) so not sure what to expect for the 400mtrs. Instructions were to run this full tilt and I had it in my head to hit 200mtrs at 40 and then speed up from them. Running buddy caught me by surprise by flying off and I had to dig deep to keep with him. Didn't even have time to glance at the watch at 200 as was digging deep and we were passing groups of the gaa lads so had to go wide a few times. Passed running buddy at about 300mtrs and hammered for home. Remembered to stop the watch before ending up on my hands and knees and dry retching for a minute. Still it was worth it when I saw 69 seconds on the watch.

Done another 2 mile easy and was getting some nice compliments from the lads about how well we were running. Nearly felt sorry for them when they told me they had another 30 minutes hard training to do on the track.:P

Absolutely delighted with this and a great confidence booster for Armagh. Genuinely feel like I've never been as fit or strong since I started this running lark!

Total: 8.5 miles

Firedance

A perfect session, super stuff

Murph_D

Great stuff.

Tug of war, eh? Is that big down your way?

Murph_D

Great stuff. Tough to do with all that traffic.

Tug of war, eh? Is that big down your way?

Back in Black

Murph_D wrote: »

Great stuff. Tough to do with all that traffic.

Tug of war, eh? Is that big down your way?

There is a local team that do very well nationally but other than that I'm not sure how big it is. Have seen the training a few times and it's fairly intensive stuff.

Duanington

Really good session J - well done, I'm assuming you had the pen on the hand for that one ?!

Back in Black

Duanington wrote: »

Really good session J - well done, I'm assuming you had the pen on the hand for that one ?!

Ha - Had to actually write it on my arm as there wasn't enough room on my hand. Also had the session written on a post it in my shorts as back-up!!

Back in Black

Sunday 7th February: 12.15 mile LSR @ 8:35 avg pace:

Another early start for this as had arranged to meet running buddy at 7:30. Found it tough to get up this morning and hit snooze on the alarm clock so was a bit rushed getting the porridge in and getting out on time. Nothing to do with the 3 cans of guinness the previous night of course. :P

Our usual forest trails are still flooded so we had to stick to the footpaths and roads around town. Felt a wee bit heavy legged and stiff on the first mile or so but the legs soon loosened out and was moving a lot better.

Weather was perfect for running and the miles flew by with the chat going constant. Happy out with this and had the whole day free with this out of the way early.

Weekly total: 44.85 miles

Back in Black

Monday: 2.5 miles @9:17 pace

Had to convince myself to do this straight after work as I knew I would bail out otherwise as it was absolutely bitter out and I had a ton of work to do. Kept the pace nice and handy and just ran from the house through town. Learned a valuable lesson about how not to carry my phone running. Normally I have a holder on my arm for the phone when I'm listening to podcasts. However, because it was so cold I decided to wear my running jacket and stuck the phone in my pocket. It was annoying me straight away but I couldn't be bothered heading back for the arm holder so kept going.

Unfortunately the phone was bouncing around a lot and as I was turning a corner it caught me right in the crown jewels.

:o:eek: Sweet Jesus it was painful - Talk about taking your breath away. Moral of the story there is to never carry the phone lose in a pocket near a tender region!!

Tuesday 9th Feb: 7miles @ 8:40 avg pace

Another crazy day meant I had only a very small window for this so had to head out straight after stuffing my face with pancakes. Meant I had to keep the pace slow and soon zoned out listening to a podcast. miles ticked by and was finished before I knew it.

Wednesday 10th Feb: Rest

Dodgy stomach made me rethink running today. No harm though as I have been burning the candle at both ends with work being very busy lately so will get an early night and be raring to go again.

ThebitterLemon

"Unfortunately the phone was bouncing around a lot and as I was turning a corner it caught me right in the crown jewels.

:o:eek: Sweet Jesus it was painful "

Obviously a trunk call

TbL

Back in Black

Thursday 11th February: 7 miles easy @9:00

Headed out after work with running buddy for this and stomach was still a bit dodgy so kept this nice and easy. I was glad to have a few extra layers as it was bitterly cold and freezing hard. The miles ticked by nice and handy.

Done a fair bit of stretching when I finished this but decided to skip the core work.

Back in Black

Friday 12th Feb: Rest

Stomach bug was still there so decided to take the rest day and not try and catch up with Wednesday's missed run.

Saturday 13th Feb: 2 mile easy, 2x1000,3x400,4x200,2 mile easy

I was pretty much looking at this as the guide for how Armagh might go - manage to knock the 1000's at 3:20ish and I figured I would be good to go for Armagh and a decent crack at sub 10:00.

Ended up being a bit more anxious about this that I should have been as I had been out for a few beers Friday night, so not exactly the best preparation for this. An early morning run was out at the question as I was going new car shopping so waited until after the rugby to give myself a decent chance to recover.

Headed done to the local gaa pitch track and it was bitterly cold and there was a fair wind on the long straights. Done a decent warm up including form drills and some strides followed by a good bit of stretching.

First 1k hit the pace early on and slowed a wee bit before picking it up again. Felt ok but was thinking I couldn't maintain that pace for 3k. (3:18) Was ready to go again after a 4 min break.

Second k was a lot more controlled and stopping worrying about splits. (3:19)Another 4 min break and it was so cold that I started slow jogging most of the breaks.

400s were fairly comfortable and again jogged the 90 sec breaks slowly. (80,79,81)

I kept the 200s nice and controlled and the form good. (38;39;39;38)
There was 60 second break on these and again done a nice and easy jog to stay warm

I got straight into the cool down 2 miles and waited until I got home before I stretched. Happy enough with this session and hopefully puts me in good shape for Armagh.

Total: 8.5 miles

Sunday 14th Feb: 12 mile LSR @ 8:46

Out at 7 am for this after the porridge and it was bitterly cold so glad I was wearing lots of layers. Legs were a wee bit tired for first mile so stopped for a good stretch and they loosened up after that. Had company so the miles ticked by and the pace was fairly consistent. It started freezing in the middle of this and had to watch our step in places. A fairly straightforward run and it was just a case of getting the miles in.

Weekly total: 37.3 miles

tang1

Will wish you best of luck for Thursday now J as won't have any reception in Donegal. Hope it goes well, you have some great training done in the build up.

Back in Black

tang1 wrote: »

Will wish you best of luck for Thursday now J as won't have any reception in Donegal. Hope it goes well, you have some great training done in the build up.

Cheers B. Enjoy Donegal

Back in Black

Monday 15th February: 2.45 mile @ 9:11

Nice and handy recovery run from home after work. Made sure I was well wrapped up as it was bitterly cold.

Tuesday 16th February: 2 mile easy, 200,400,600,400,200 w 2min rec, 2 mile easy:

I had company for this which was good as I might have bailed if I didn't as the weather was horrendous. I was soaked to the skin after the warm up and the track was badly flooded at one corner so we had to turn back on ourselves which made it interesting and confusing in equal measures. The floodlights then went off and we had to rely on a headtorch to navigate the floods! Not the most accurately measured or timed but still was a useful shake out of the legs before the race. Happy to get this done and into a hot shower.

For what it was worth splits were 40/79/1:59/80/39

Wednesday 17th February: 2.5 recovery @ 9:14 avg pace

Just a wee shake out of the legs before the race and a chase to dust down the racers for the first time in months!! Legs felt nice and fresh and followed the run with a good stretch and foam roll.