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Speedy Gonzales or Slowpoke Rodriguez?

Haven't invested in the paper version this year yet so decided to start an online log. Have looked at other logs and there are benefits as always with sahring the pain and getting advice.

Targets this year include a sub 2.45 in Paris marathon. I am using 1000 mile challenge to keep my mileage high. I have been lucky with injury as I took a sizeable jump in miles in early january following an easy couple of months.

Looking for a few good results in hill races in the summer also.

Wednesday 10 Feb 09:

14.25m easy

Tuesday 11 Feb 09:

a.m 7.75 easy
p.m circuits 1 hour
3.75 easy

11.5 total
Cycling about 15m

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Time for a condensed session update:

Calf tightness on and off the last two weeks

About 90-100k total each week + 100k cycle commutes.

Relevant sessions:

Thur 7th April:

Idea was continous threahold run on 5 laps of the hellfire hill race lap, (5 x 2.5 K.)
Warmup about 20 mins. HR strap on for feedback on hill. (my HRMAX is around 215)
Started at the Hellfire ruin.

Lap 1:

First lap controlled steady. HR in high 170s. First time hitting the hill. Just like I remember! Not as flattenned as I hoped my training would have made it. HR hitting 200. The small flat section of 100m mid climb was very welcome.
Relieved to reach the ruin again

Lap 2: Tried to keep it controlled. HR 180s but feeling recovered by hill time.
Solid climb, but very tough. HR over 200.

Lap 3. Barely recovered by Hill time. It took full race effort to keep the speed as other laps. Steadied it after half way up and ended session at ruin.

How did I underestimate that so badly? It's a tough lap and there is no real resting. You're either climbing or running fast. Surface is a bit hard and my calf (that i forgot about again) was complaining in the warmdown.

Training intermittent since: calf clearing and then returning after a few days.
Just local tightness at different spots.

A lot of commuting cycling so little fitness lost.

Did another turbo session on:

Sat 16th April

Session: 25 minute muscular endurance on cycle trainer. Wattage: low 190’s. Cadence low 70s.

Have done 4 strenght sessions since. Several more Core sessions.

Ive re-done the Jay Dichary tests (failed most) and I'm working through the exercises now. This will lead my strenght work progression.

One of the advanced core exercises you climb onto all 4's on a Swiss ball, balance and 'walk' about. It can even be done up hill!

Balance and core stability will be in great shape if i manage that.

Doing a good bit of balancing on 1 leg in 30s reps throughout the day.

Massaging calf and eccentric calf raises are finally doing the trick. The calf raises told me immediately affected calf was a lot weaker. Ill sort that.

Apparently, for stability the signal is sent from the brain to core muscles slightly before movement. A lot of issues are caused when this signalling gets screwed up. To cover that base on some of my recovery runs I'm running sideways, backwards, in circles etc etc to challenge this signalling in different ways and make sure its up to speed.

Over and out.

Sun 17th April
19k Easy 'long' maintenance. In between run to hold general endurance levels while not aggravating calf. Ran from house to Phoenix park. Did a mostly off-road lap then ran back. Just under 5 min kms. Calf behaving, all good.

Week 18-25 April

Monday 18th April
PM: 10k easy
(AM + PM) 13k cycle commute(26k tot)
Ancillary exercises: Clamshells, myrtle, wobbly pressups, some lunges. Calf prodding + Eccentric calf raises

Tuesday 19th April
Lunch: 6k easy
PM: 13.5k easy inc 10 x 100m strides (22k tot)
(AM + PM) 13k cycle commute (26k tot)
Ancillary: Core routine during lunch run.

Wednesday 20th April
PM: 16k easy inc 10 x 100m strides
(AM + PM) 13k cycle commute (26k tot)
Ancillary work: Pigeon glute activation exercise, chair of death, beidge marching amonst others. Calf prodding + Eccentric calf raises

Thursday 21th April
AM: Jog/Dart 4k
PM: 12.5 km easy

Friday 22nd April
AM: 16k inc (18-20 x 20s fast relaxed) off 40s jog.
Did this in 3 sets on solid beach, road and grass.

Saturday 23rd April:
2 hrs long over trails on Braid Hills Edinburgh. Conscious of using the glutes, particularly on some of the steep uphills. Beautiful run, great views.
22k in about 2 hrs.

Sunday 24th April:
10k easy on Braid hills.

Totals:
110k approx
75k cycling
Good start to Ancillary work

Good week. Getting my calf sorted has been the priority and 'Anatomy for Runners' by Dicharry has been the key. Breaking up the sore spots, rolling and eccentric raises have done the trick (touch wood). Mondays Strides, Fridays aerobic strides and Saturdays long run with climbing were all tests which the calf passed. Im also doing exercises for the stability/postural/strenght tests I failed. Even the few sessions have meant I now understand how running with the glutes should feel like, and I understand the issues I've been having more. Didnt get much in at the weekend but Ill start again this week.

I've aso realised the need for a set mileage progression to help with consistency. I've robbed Magness's Base phase 10k progression. So its 70,80,80, 85, 90, 90,100. Ill roughly keep to this.
The 70 miles (last weeks total) felt sustainable and Ill be in good shape if I succeed in this progression. I will hope to be doing more aerobic strides, progression runs and my long run will be just over 2 hrs.

Personal Rave: Proud weekend for our family having a building in the University of Edinburgh called after my Aunty, who was an astronomer.

demfad wrote: »

Sun 17th May...

Did your astronomer aunt invent time travel as well? :pac:

Congrats. Nice week too.

Murph_D wrote: »

Did your astronomer aunt invent time travel as well? :pac:

Doh! Some of the jeans may have passed me by.

Congrats. Nice week too.

Thanks. The bit of structure should help now as I was finding it tricky to find the right starting point for building. The Dicharry stuff should help with consistancy. If I can run more with my glutes Ill be a happy man. I think that could be worth 1-2% on its own.

Week 25-1 May

Monday 25 April
16k easy. Late at night. Tired after weekend away but took it easy. (16)

Tuesday 26 April
Lunch: 8k easy. Easy run on tarmac and grass as far as Kilgobbet track and back. Cold.
PM: 10k easy. Another tired run. Still catching up on weekend and had the double cycle commute also. Day was just about 'easy'. (18)
Cycle commute (13k x 2) 26k

Wednesday 27 April
AM: easy jog/dart 4.5k
PM: 15k inc. 18 x 25s (rec 50) followed 2 mins hard. Garmin showed the 2 mins to be @ 3:27 pace. (19.5)

The session was roughly based on 3 sets of 6. I was running along coast with sets starting at Dun Laoghaire West pier and finishing at Sandymount prom. I ran them at suitable sections for fast running i.e coast path to Seapoint, cycle path before Blackrock, Blackrock Park, Sandymount prom. So perhaps 4 adhoc sets jogging between the sets for 5 mins or so till I reached the next suitable stretch. Did the 2 mins hard along the Liffey between Toll Bridge and Convention centre.
All reps were comfortable but noticed a slight fatiguing in the legs near the end of a couple of sets and at the end of the 2 min hard.
Cold evening into the wind but glad to get the session done. Magness's 10k schedule had hill sprints scheduled. I will be doing hill sprints in a few weeks. But want to get good technique imbedded first so I can get the most out of the hill sprints and reduce any injury risk.

Thursday 28 April:

Lunch: 10k easy Killiney Hill
PM: 7k easy treadmill. Some glute exercises, stretching and eccentric calf raises after. (17)
Cycle commute 26k

Friday 29th April:

7k easy treadmill with some glute exercises after (7)

Saturday 30th April:
(Strandhill)

AM: 18k Progression run with 50 mins steady:
PM: 5k recovery (23)

The calf does not like the flat running. The two treadmill runs in recent days and the slacking off a little on the rolling/poking/eccentric calf raises , meant the tight feeling returned again.
Started the progression run at a crawl just using the first 6k of beautiful seaside trails and beach in Strandhill to get warmed up. After about half an hour I was moving fast enough to warrant a press of the lap button to start the 50 mins at effort. I didn’t force an increase in pace at this point I just let it gradually increase naturally. The perception at the end of this run should be that you could manage another 10 mins at the pace. I played it safe and imagined that I had to do 70 mins (20 extra). That worked and I fell into a nice effort groove that was easy to maintain (without going too fast or slow). The gradual increase was key to that. Did roughly 15 min loops on sand and some undulating grass. With a few minutes to go my breathing seemed to have increased a fair bit, nothing uncomfortable jus noticable. I just picked it up for the remainder. Calf behaved, job done. Did some calf exercises on the very slow recovery jog later.

Sunday 1 May:

Long run 2h 15 (23)_

Ran over to Cullanamore beach and ran along the coast to Strandhill beach then followed Killaspugbrone loop then took the boardwalk over Knocknarea mountain and continued clockwise back to Cullenamore and back towards Starndhill. At 1hr 58 I noticed the breathing increase with no increase in pace and deduced I was now in the long run training zone. Upped it a bit for 10 mins and jogged the last 5 home for 2:15 mins running

Totals:
Running: 124 k
Cycling: 52k.
Just a couple of sessions of ancillary work.

Another solid building week. I'm going to build for 3 more weeks before a week down. Ill do a race (WW Relay) at the end of that week.
Early part of week ahead will be 2-3 days easy to fully recover after two effort days at the weekend. It's so much easier to train in beautiful surroundings. Strandhill has everything a runner needs. The psychological recovery you get from recovery runs in such places cant be underestimated.

From memory:

Week May 2-9

Monday 2 May
70 min easy. Beach. 11k. Windy but nice run. PM 10k easy (21)

Tuesday 3 April
Lunch 8k easy. PM: 12.5k easy run home. Another tired run.(20.5)

Wednesday 4 May
Lunch 8k easy. PM: 12.5k easy run home.(20.5)

Thursday 5 May

Lunch 5k easy. PM: 12.5k prog run home. effort = 35 mins.(17.5)

Friday 6 May:

10k easy (10)

Saturday 7 May:

AM 10k easy PM 10k easy (20)

Sunday 8 May:

AM: 4k jog.
PM: 21k Progression run with 60 mins steady. (25)

About 135k with more progress.
Prog run on Sunday was controlled. Had the HRM average in the 170's.
Controlled. Could have kept going. I'm starting these at a slow jog, very slow build up. Click the timer when i feel the pace is deffo steady.
The training feels very sustainable. I have 3 consistant weeks in the bag now. I can actually feel the strenght from that and I will be better able for more training now.

Quick race report while I remember:

WEd 11 May

Scalp IMRA:

Met Bazman at reg. We jogged to start and covered the second part of race.
figure of 8 race, 3 climbs in first part, 2 in second. Bazman wasnt fully fit, had very sore ribs, and soon discovered the route was slippier than his runners. It was going to be close between us and he'd be limited on the downhills (little grip. cant aford to fall due to ribs) which would be a big dissadvantage. Ive volunteered for this race many times but never raced it.
Niall L is there a good master from Donore who is prob fav for overall win.

Off we go uphill. 6k race so no hanging about.
Im in 4th. First hill over and Downhill. Niall takes off. I get in third behind a lad called Diarmuid. I finally pass him on the next up. Gapped Bazman a bit on the down. Gasping badly and the climb of Carrigollogan looks huge. I walk a bit (poor) and Diarmiud bounds by. (Not suprised to find out later he is a duathlete. The basic leg strenght when exhausted is better with these guys).
I make a complete bags of the technical downhill and the two lads are well clear. Next up i remember to stand tall, climb with glutes. Works. I sense Bazman isnt far. Fast downhill and flat now and i relax and try to run fast.
Diarmuid has taken a wrong turn and im in 2nd. Through the carpark where we started again. Up a hill. Forget about the glutes. Slow. Now the technical down. Just be OK here and Bazman will be in trouble. Im Ok. At the bottom about a 3-4 min climb to end. Here comes Bazman. I was about to say 'good descending' but its Diarmuid. Fair play, he's going to beat me twice. He runs past a little fast and gaps me quickly. I sense weakness or is it I see Bazman coming behind. Anyway Diarmuid slows and i catch up. He surges mightily again. But there is still 2 mins running left. He has surged twice while already at max effort now. I watch him. He slows, wobbles, staggers toward a bush and starts puking. He'll probably get up and beat me again Im thinking so i kick him fully into the bush while passing (kidding).
Bazman is closing big time which makes the last few 100 metres unpleasant to say the least. Get in 10 secs clear. Diarmuid staggers home in 4th. (hard luck to him. Admirable what he pushed himself to as Bazman said).
I think if Bazman had grips, or a working set of ribs i would be well behind.
Great workout, 5 climbs, 4 descents. Very intense opening half.
Easy win for Niall. He is running same leg in WWR as me so that's my target.
Body a bit shook as this was first big effort in ages. Just a fleeting visit. I wont be lured by the racing. Back to building now till the WWR.

Edit: Had the strap on for the race. 202 ave. 215 max

Week 25-1 May

Monday 9 May
PM easy run home 12.5k. PM2 10k easy (22.5)

Tuesday 10 April
16k easy. PM
Late one, in light drizzle. To Dollymount Strand and back (16)

Wednesday 11 May
AM 4.5 km easy jog/dart
PM early 2km jog to location for lift to IMRA race.
IMRA Scalp race 6k. Warmup was about 5km. included 3 x hill sprints as a very fast start predicted. About 13.5 in total.
PM jog home from lift drop off 2.5k (22)

Thursday 12 May
PM easy 13km.
It took a little willpower to make it out. But im in the habit now. This cements the habit more. (13)

Friday 13 May
Am 8km easy
PM 12.5 km easy run home (20.5)

Saturday 14 May
21.5k easy. Did 8 x 30s at end every minute or two.
Along the grand canal. Beautiful day for it. Out passed the M50, some of the canal there more reminiscent of Madison county than Dublin City (21.5)

Sunday 8 May
WWR leg 2 recce 22 inc 11k hard/steady. (Most of it hard)
Up early. Arrived at Curtlestown at 7 am. Jogged around a bit. Drove and jogged a few of the junctions in the Curtlestown-Crone section. Jogged up and down the hills in this part. Drove to Crone wood. Car park closed so parked at
Small CP at start of off-road down to Glencree river.
Jogged down. Started where I know the 4km point in leg was (Strava comparisons) and started. Plan was steady-hard from here to the end. Then jog back. Managed most of it hardish. Learnt a lot.
Beautiful day out there. Coldish wind though. (24)

It didn’t take much out of me. The reason surely is that it was first thing in the morning.

Totals:
Running: 138 k

Fitness and strenght improving. Easy week now and hopefully Ill get a nice kick from it.

Since the Debra half (before this recent block) I had an inconsistant, niggly up and down 5 weeks maxing at 130km, and about 70km min, with more low weeks than high.

To break free of that cycle I decided to start a block with a week that was well within myself in order to get consistancy.
I stole Magness's base progression 70,80,80,85 as a mileage template (so I wouldn’t be chopping and changing) and more or less filled in the blanks.

Last 4 week block:

110, 124, 135, 138 km
(70, 78, 84, 86 Miles)

Rest week now before WWR leg 2.

The reason for the relative success of the last month was only the decision to cut back on the kilometers and use a slow progression of volume. No hard sessions (apart from race) just 4 easy enough feeling weeks and now I'm considerably stronger and fitter. I was trying to train too hard before and couldn’t get consistancy. That's not all bad, it's good to hack up the rough ground a bit before applying a more methodical plough.
As well as feeling fitter, I now feel I'm a lot more niggle proof to do the volume. If youre struggling for consistancy: ease it up, do a sustainable month and it will happen.

Another block like that and Ill be happy. Next block is: 90, 90, 95, 100 ( I think) Ill lower it (by 5 per week) if it feels too tiring. Ill do a road race in that period, maybe just a parkrun.
Ill also do another very early morning hill run and perhaps an early AM long cycle. Bright at 5am, so I can be out to Wicklow and back and a hill run/cycle in the bag before the day even gets going.

Leg 2 course goes from Curtlestown to Lough Tay on WW.
14.5k most of 700m of climbing.

I had broken the course into a few sections.

1: Curtlestown - Glencree river 4km
Start at Curtlestown Coillte car park. Road south for a km on Glencree Rd, then left onto a good trail around the back of Knockree hill before a steep (partly stepped) descent back down to the road. Cross the road and another good fast trail this time descending. After a while you exit the trail and descend steeply on grass down to Glencree river. Run along river bank (beautiful: meandering river on one side, grassy meadow with blue and purple flowers, butterflies etc. to the left) for a km and cross the Glencree river.
2: Major Climb 1. about 4km: Glencree to Powerscourt (ends just before breaking for descent to Dargle). Mainly fireroad, a very small section of flat road early and about 500m of flat fireroad midway. Gaining over 300m.

Broken by a brief steep descent (90s) to cross Dargle river then

3: 2nd major climb Dargle to boardwalk on the side of Djouce. 3.5km and over 300m again but wind exposed on open mountain, getting steeper towards the end.

4: Boardwalk and descent to changeover at lough Tay: about 2.5km. Fast on undulating then descending boardwalk. Last few 100m on trail.

Recce 6 days before

8 AM. Same time as projected leg start.

Hoped in and out of car for section 1, double checking junctions and running both descents. Some dew. Then drove to Crone.
Plan was to run counter direction down to Glencree. Then turn, run steady to Lough Tay on race route and see what happenned running back.
I knew pacing was important for this leg. I wore a GPS and HRM for as much feedback as possible.
Started the steady portion at Glencree river.
Managed good cadence and good effort. HR spiking over the 200bpm on the speeper sections (max is roughly 217-8). Legs burning a bit here.
First climb over and needed to take the descent handy. Tough going on climb 2. Effort clearly harder, hrm always above 200. When it got steep i was hurting and had to steady the effort as it was race intensity. Kept it steady from then on. Jogged back, but practised climbing with high knees (using glutes) on every climb back. Did 3-4 x 30s on the fireroad back to train running fast when tired.

Pacing:

Back at the lab analysing the data:
I had two leg 2 guys who had run the leg previously on Strava to compare my times with. One guy I knew who ran 71:30. Another (slogger knows i think) who ran 74:30.
1st guy i knew was in good shape. That said his time waned a little on the open mountain. Second guy lost all his 3 mins on the faster early section and on the fast climb. But thereafter he matched runner no.1. He was an ironman triathlete. Not much speed but great endurance to keep powering his way up. (his was actually a super run). Runner 1. had more speed, good endurance but the second rough climb affects the oul leg turnover, and youre getting tired anyway. My Strava times had shown me 20s and 40s per km respectively faster than runner 1 and 2 up the first main climb.
I was slightly slower on the second climb. Although I eased off my endurance was exposed as a weakness. Even though it was only 6 days before the recce would help my endurance a little come race day, but not enough to climb hard all the way.
Now I had to best match my current fitness to what the course demanded.
This is an important leg. The overall race can sometimes be won here (last year it was a vital leg). But it can be lost here also. First objective was to have a solid run and the key to this is the second climb. If i could run the second climb well and run the boardwalk fast I would get close to potential. The recce told me that I wasnt strong enough to push hard for all of the climbing. It also told me that I was in good shape and with an easy 6 days ahead and good pacing I should be confident.
To run strongly from the Dargle to the finish I needed to put some strenght in the bank early in the race.
Effort plan was:
Steady (just below threshold in feel) till Glencree. Steady thereafter: HR up now, keep it under 200bpm. No spikes over 200.
Recover on ALL descents and flats.
When i reached the Dargle, its release the beast time..... When i get on the boardwalk the cue was to increase cadence first while recovering and then increase stride force/lenght to get up to speed quickly.
On race day I would have 4km racing in me before the first climb. If I could match the recce climb time I would therefore be happy. I aimed to be slightly faster than my Strava advisors on the open mountain and gave myself a similar target on the boardwalk. (10:35) That gave me 69 mins bang on. If things went really well i might even go under....

Race:

Peterx was going to be handing to me. Looking at the entry list he was up against a fast UCD lad and a very fast and famous road (and XC and etc.etc.) runner from Rathfarnham also..but racing for TT racers..we'll call him Paul F.

I parked in Crone and jogged back to Curtlestown. I wanted to wear the road runners but the morning had been wet and i had to wear my trusty if slightly heavy mudclaws.
Paul F had a brilliant leg and arrives almost bang on the hour. Niall L is off for the TT racers. After about only 45s Peterx arrives after a really storming run to take the fight to the TT racers. 45s means its possible to make contact with Niall. If I do I plan to do to him what Peterx taught me on Brockagh....make him go too hard on the up and watch the train crash.
Niall was really fast in the Scalp race. I wondered about his endurance (for no reason in particular other than lack-of it can be exposed on this leg). Even if he sees me during the leg....it is hard not to react to a chasing runner and reacting early on this leg will cost you time later.
Ben Mangan was running for UCD on this leg. He had beaten me well in every IMRA Winter League race this year and I had considered that I might have to mix it with him also.

I start steady. The runners feel a little clunky being honest but my speed is OK and most importantly my effort is steady. Turn left off the road after a km and Ben catches me on a little uphill! He's wearing Mudclaws and all...so no excuses there....
I have thought about this and know not to panic, dont get flustered.
He seems to be slower as it flattens out and my effort draws me level. He reacts and speeds up. Presumably he just wants to be ahead before the upcoming steep descent as he is an excellent descender.
He puts 10+ secs on me. Dont panic! Onto the good trail, gradual descent. Next steep descent on grass to river. He is a whopping 30s ahead now! Who knows how far he was behind when we started (24s). I start to feel that it's slipping away. I tell myself not to panic. Just stick to the plan and keep it steady till the bridge see what happens. I'm not racing Ben here, my goal here is to do my best for my team on the day. I compose myself. Over the bridge and start climbing. HR climbs to 198...i keep it there. No burning legs this time. Controlled. Feels very easy. I had banned myself from timing Bens lead but I break the rule.. Only 28s now at top of Crone carpark.....
Up and up...closing, closing...always 198bpm.

After it flattens out I catch up. HR drops to 195, getting recovery. Ben speeds up to stop me passing. I have to decide what to do here. I think Ben has gone too hard too early, and I am probably stronger now. If I make a decisive move to get ahead he probably wont react. On the other hand we are climbing again and I dont want to deviate from my steady plan. I play it safe and tuck in behind. Passed the waterfall viewing point, up to the small rocky section and across the felled forest onto the open mountain and the steep descent....Ben doesn't take a great line and keeps on the steps. He eventually hops off onto the grass but only puts 5 secs on me.
I catch back up quickly enough but Ben still reacts a little to my trying to pass. Once the gradient levels out I know its time to go. I pass strongly and after a quick hop over the steps I head towards Djouce mountain......Niall....where the feck is Niall.?...I look up the mountain and at first i think hes not there, he has gone wrong..but then i see a tiny speck in blue...way way up..already starting to veer left with the climb. 3-4 minutes I think...how could he have got this far up....? He has a long way to go...he must be hurting...just finish as fast as you can....close it a little.
Im climbing very well..good cadence..pretty heavy headwind...keep it going up as it gets steeper. BPM is well over 200, but im long past pacing off it.
Passing the turnoff for Djouce summit, it descends a little...forget recovery now..full effort down....back up to the last climb to the boardwalk....I make it...at last. Now check the watch..sub 60 and sub 70 is on. .feck! never started it...ah well...i start it now. Go for sub 10. Wind is very strong..small hard strides into it. Take the hills well and now descending inside the last km. I am going well on the boardwalk, I decide to stay on it even though I was able to cut a few corners on my recce. I change my plan and i twist an ankle ... gingerly back on the boardwalk.....cautiously down....its not so bad so i can go all out the last few hundred metres till the handover. I see looking back that my HR was averaging over 205 for this section. Good effort. With no wind or a tail wind. a i doubt i could get that effort up. 10.36 from the start of the boardwalk. Wish I could see the other splits alas.

71:17 finish time.

After: Adrian from Rathfarnham gives me a goody bag and change of T shirt for my jog back to Crone. Chatting to him and Niall after and they say Niall did the leg about a minute faster than me. Delighted with that. I realise later its closer to 2 mins. Not so happy. As you can see a few hundred metres back up the boardwalk, Adrian said that the next TT-racer knew that I was on the way, which I was glad to here as that can add pressure.

Perhaps I should have started my push a little earlier at the river....perhaps even earlier... I could have upped it when i first caught back up with Ben on the fireroad.
Physically I could have managed that, but was I mentally prepared to suffer for much longer? Would I have made it to the boardwalk without slowing....ran as hard on the boardwalk? Hard to know. I think I ran a 'decent' race but a sub 70 was possible if I had ran an 'excellent' race. Niall is in great form and had done the full Connemarathon so had no issues with endurance. He went out hard and stayed the course.

We were about 2:40 down after my leg, so kept us in it I guess. Job done...kind of.

Nice day in the mountains.

I'd love to have a crack at that leg again. I think to get really in shape for it I will need to mix in a good bit of uphill suffering on the bike for legs and mind.

Ok very quick catch up.

Week 16-22nd May: Recovery week

Mon 10k easy + 25k bike commute
Tue 16k easy (main run 12.5k)
Wed 26k easy wi strides (main run 12.5k)
Thursday 16k easy (main run 12.5k)
Friday 10k easy including 6 x 30s hard (3 uphill)
Saturday 28k including WWE leg2 (report above)
Sunday 16k easy

Recovery week Total: 112k

Week 23rd-29th May: semi recovery

Very tired after WWR leg2.
Decided I needed more recovery but to keep the planned kilometrage.
Various runs. Al easy. Cycle commuted a bit and felt my hamstring on Tuesday. Poked prodded etc, and released something later Tuesday. All good!
Longish run on Sunday on Canal from Leixlip to just after Croke Park.
Lost Garmin during earlier logistics due to a bag with a hole in it that I hadnt thrown out for some reason. Don't think I even have a watch so running by feel for a while. Can map out distances before hand if needs be for progression.

Week Total: 145k

Week 30th May 5th June.

Monday: 2 x 10m easy lunch and PM
Cycle commute x 2 = 25k

Tuesday: 15 x about 150m. Jog back recovery. All good.

Wednesday 1/6

AM Run/Dart easy 4.5k
PM 17-18k easy Nice run along coast and out passed nature reserve in Poolbeg.
Steadyish portions there. (22)

Thursday 2/6

AM Run/Dart 4.5 k easy
Lunch planned a few hill sprints. Felt my hamstring deep down after one.
No issue but left it there. Easy 4k
PM: 13k inc 10k steady. Wanted to get some effort in. Not fast but OK.

Short term effort plan is possibly a parkrun this Sat. A long run with a fast finish this Sun. Sorrel Hill race this Wednesday. Will see how it goes.

Medium term I'm looking at a few good runs in road races, the odd hill race. Ill be racing the Warriors run ofcourse. After that I might focus on getting a fast 10k time, XC with a view to

Longish term: A spring marathon. Rotterdam is the obvious choice but I'm thinking Seville in February now. That way myself and my other half can combine it with a nice break.
Ill be getting help for the marathon as I dont want to be doing it all alone during heavy training when sometimes difficult calls have to be made. I'm hoping to get help from John, coach to a few runners here and elsewhere.
I got excellent advice from him while base building last year which led to a very good run and medal in the national 10k. (Just to be clear and fair: a recent poster called 'Stablemaster' was not him. It was someone pretending to be him. That person has now been site-banned.)
This is my choice, I am happy with it on all fronts. If anyone has issue with it please don't post, just look at other logs.
Lets move on. OK. Next couple of weeks are due to be 2 x 160k. I dont want to be greedy and am finding the heat tough at the moment. With that in mind I may leave it at one big week before a recovery week if it suffices. But I am starting to feel lighter and stronger. Weight is 10st 1-2 now and falling.
Actually i may be doing the Ransboro 10k in my home parish in 3 weeks.
Ransboro is to Strandhill, what Shelbyville is to Springfield (kind of). A successful raid would be sweet.
That's the plans. The main thing is staying injury free. I have been neglecting my Duchary excercises (flexor stretches, glute strenghetning, eccentric calf and ham work etc. and the rolling and prodding). Even my brief period of doing that has really helped.
Onwards and upwards.

Friday

10k easy x 2 Am n PM

Saturday

AM 18k easy. Had planned, a parkrun or aerobic strides. Reduced it to a session fast steady (AT) but felt the ham. Easy pace is not an issue.

PM 7k easy

Sunday

AM 16k easy considered longer but decided not to risk aggravateing hamstring.

PM easy 6k

Week total about 145k with 75k cycling commute

Monday 6/6

AM 16k easy
PM 10k easy

All good. Felt strong

Tuesday AM
Felt the hamstring. I got the tightness from cycling. No choice to abstain, as I have to drop the wee fella to creche. Need to be careful.

Good luck with the new coach. You're in safe hands.

Tuesday 7/6
AM Cycle 12.5k
Lunch 8k easy
PM Cycle 12.5k
PM 13.5k easy (21.5)
PM worked on hamstring. Positional release.

Wednesday
AM Cycle 12.5k
Lunch 8k easy
Pm Cycle 12.5k
PM 13.5k easy (barefoot type runners) (21.5)
Same as yesterday. Hamstring improving.

Thursday
AM Cycle 12.5k
Lunch: Agressive work on hamstring with tennis ball. Got all fingers inbetween muscles to try and seperate out and release.
Lunch 10k easy (22.5)
PM Ran home from work easy 12.5k (sick of bike)
Hamstring improving. Tightness there but less.

Friday
AM Run to work easy 12.5k
Lunch 10k easy (Killiney Hill) (22.5)
Risked a bit of a climb up Killiney Hill. Bounced up a bit to keep the hamstring happy. No probs so far.
PM (will be cycle home 12.5k touch wood)

114k for the weekday block (mon-fri) with 75k cycling.
No sessions due to tight hamstring but TBH what I did was just about right.
Real base training week. Noticed my lunch run today was quite efficient at easy pace. To keep spring/tension in the stride with all the easy running I am wearing barefoot type runners (vivo trail runners) every third day for the longer run. These make me run mid/forefoot using more of the spring from arch and achilles. Negates some of the bad habits and sluggishness from running easy with no strides. Cant do it everyday as I'm not used to it daily and would risk injury.

I probably wont do a long run this weekend as I want to get the hamstring tightness firmly behind me. I'm getting stronger at what I'm doing so I'm happy.

I have been given a couple of very nice LT session progressions suggestions with nearer races in mind but that will also fit very well with an early Spring marathon. First session next week hopefully if the hamstring starts behaving.

Edit: Weight at 9st 13 this AM. This means it took me the guts of 7 months to recover (weight wise) from 2 months 'letting it go'.
The weight has fallen a bit more rapidly recently so I need to watch that. Don't want to lose strenght/power. Have to watch that protein intake is adequate.

demfad wrote: »

Tuesday 7/6
AM Cycle 12.5k
Lunch 8k easy
PM Cycle 12.5k
PM 13.5k easy (21.5)
PM worked on hamstring. Positional release.

Wednesday
AM Cycle 12.5k
Lunch 8k easy
Pm Cycle 12.5k
PM 13.5k easy (barefoot type runners) (21.5)
Same as yesterday. Hamstring improving.

Thursday
AM Cycle 12.5k
Lunch: Agressive work on hamstring with tennis ball. Got all fingers inbetween muscles to try and seperate out and release.
Lunch 10k easy (22.5)
PM Ran home from work easy 12.5k (sick of bike)
Hamstring improving. Tightness there but less.

Friday
AM Run to work easy 12.5k
Lunch 10k easy (Killiney Hill) (22.5)
Risked a bit of a climb up Killiney Hill. Bounced up a bit to keep the hamstring happy. No probs so far.
PM (will be cycle home 12.5k touch wood)

114k for the weekday block (mon-fri) with 75k cycling.
No sessions due to tight hamstring but TBH what I did was just about right.
Real base training week. Noticed my lunch run today was quite efficient at easy pace. To keep spring/tension in the stride with all the easy running I am wearing barefoot type runners (vivo trail runners) every third day for the longer run. These make me run mid/forefoot using more of the spring from arch and achilles. Negates some of the bad habits and sluggishness from running easy with no strides. Cant do it everyday as I'm not used to it daily and would risk injury.

I probably wont do a long run this weekend as I want to get the hamstring tightness firmly behind me. I'm getting stronger at what I'm doing so I'm happy.

I have been given a couple of very nice LT session progressions suggestions with nearer races in mind but that will also fit very well with an early Spring marathon. First session next week hopefully if the hamstring starts behaving.

Edit: Weight at 9st 13 this AM. This means it took me the guts of 7 months to recover (weight wise) from 2 months 'letting it go'.
The weight has fallen a bit more rapidly recently so I need to watch that. Don't want to lose strenght/power. Have to watch that protein intake is adequate.

Saturday:

AM: 21k inc about 15k intermittent steady
Stopped occasionally to stretch the legs. Half against wind half with a mild wind. Down wind I was able to run freely.
PM: 10k Recovery (31)

Sunday

AM: 5k recovery Pm 10k recovery (15)
Very tired legs. Yestaerdays steady run on top of the mileage tired them.
With all the easy running the fatigue is hitting the legs (and some cycle commutes). No general fatigue really. Strange feeling but Im getting stronger

Solid week. No sessions bar Saturdays steady run. A couple of sessions working on glutes and hams. Tightness slowly being worked out. Hopefully this week will see it gone. I was considering taking a 3 day 'low' period (mon-wed) but I think it will be Ok. So one more high week and then a lower, compensation week.
160k running. 75k cycling. Some ancilllary stuff.

Monday 13/6:
21k easy-easy out coast and back on tarmac.
Tue:
AM 3k jog
PM 22k Fartlek.
Time to test the Hamstring. Tarmac, grass and sand out to end of Dollymount strand and back. Short bursts of 8 secs with good form. Wore my barefoot yokes to make sure form was good as I am more likely to 'get at' the hamstring otherwise. Extended the times a bit and did a few reps of 1-2 mins at about LT effort. Came through OK.
Wed:
23k Easy-Steady. Turnover was there from yesterday. Went with it. Run included a lap of Bull Island. One of those perfect Irish summer evenings, sun not splitting the stones but little wind and warmish. The type of evening you'd be out playing till all hours as a kid. The turnover meant run felt more steady than easy towards the end.
Thur:
AM cycle communte 12.5k
Lunch: 10k easy Killiney Obelisk and back. Legs tired from the last two days. Felt them on climb. Hamstring quiet.
PM 12.5k easy run home. (22.5)
Fri:
AM 12.5k easy run in to work
Lunch: 10k easy to Killiney Obelisk and back. Legs relatively recovered. (22.5)
PM cycle home
Sat:
LT 10 x 3mins off 30s
Did it on the avenue in St Anne's. My GPS is lost and I don't have a watch of any kind now. So measured out about 900m between to side roads as markers as an approximation of 3 mins.
First one was slightly uphill. This was the big test for the hamstring, the first session. After a few strides I started. I wanted to run the first one within myself and with good turnover as I was wary that force might get at the hamstring more. OK. Felt it a little, i expected that and stretched for the 30s.
Back downhill for number two and just turnover needed to get down.
Continued in this vein, feeling the hamstring tightness slightly after each uphill rep. After 4 or 5, I was pretty sure I would finish without hamstring issue. These can end up slightly faster than LT and on rep 7 (downhill) I noticed my breath catching a bit for the last 30-40 secs. This is kind of second quickening of the breath is at CV pace (critical velocity) which is about 40 min race pace. That's all good. I was finding the session comfortable but I wanted to make sure that only the last half minute should be at this intensity. Rep 7 uphill my legs felt tired. To be expected at the end of a training block and it's actually a boost feeling a limiter being challenged.
Not enough to slow down but noticable. Rep 9 similar. Rep 10 downhill and session over.
I tested my ham after, tried a few releases. A Raheny S man doing a few sprints saw me and offered his roller which was great. Jogged home to make the round trip and session = 23k.
Sun:
AM 10k recovery effort
PM 16k easy. Nice run around the bull wall half of Bull Island. Wind in face coming back but I had ran down beach with tailwind and avoided most of it by running in the interior. I noticed a second old loo in this part of the Island's interior. Not counting the visitor centre, there is 2 loos between it and the bull wall. The first a km from the visitor centre is 100m inland. The second, much older and not far (500m) from Royal Dublin clubhouse is 200m inland. Why so far inland from the beach? Victorian prudishness? Stay miles away from any possibility of being observed. Then the penny dropped. The whole Island is only a couple of hundred years old. Perhaps these loos represent where the beach used to be. Great to be able to amble around and break from everyday stresses and be only concerned with such trivia for an hour or two. Running is great. (26)

Totals: 160k for the week, 1.5 sessions, 10 runs compared to 14 last week. 25k cycling.
The three Longish runs at the start of the week were not planned. Just had to do all the running in single runs for different reasons those days. Delighted that I was able to recover and run long (monday) Good sign.
Happy to get through Saturdays session.

That's the end of this base block:
Last 4 weeks were: 145, 145, 160, 160.
That's two good base blocks in a row. When I was struggling to get consistat weeks the decision to peel back to a 110k week that felt very sustainable and build has worked.
Ill start to add sessions now but only two a week or at most 1 every 3 days (including long runs). Hopefully I can hold the mileage by going easier on easy days, but I wont worry if it drops slightly to facilitate the sessions.
This week its lower volume and easy, strides on Tuesday for a 10k race on Saturday. Havent a clue what time Ill run but it will give me a good base to start building sessions from. Ill probably start conservatively, keep in touch and push through. Undulating course. Last 4k is gradually up and with all the consistant work I'd imagine ill be strong at the end.
Did a Parkrun in March but apart from that I havent done a road race since September I think. Looking forward to it.

Nice work T. Hope you get over your hamstring issues. In the last week I've felt an ache on my right hamstring too. Not an issue I'm familiar with. Felt it after I did a 10x400 off 60s session, so the relative hardness of the session probably brought on an underlying concern. Easy running and foam rolling since has seen it quell a bit but concerned about any hard session / race.

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Nice work T. Hope you get over your hamstring issues. In the last week I've felt an ache on my right hamstring too. Not an issue I'm familiar with. Felt it after I did a 10x400 off 60s session, so the relative hardness of the session probably brought on an underlying concern. Easy running and foam rolling since has seen it quell a bit but concerned about any hard session / race.

I have a tube I might wear racing or else the Kinsei tape.
Positional release videos are worth googling. Have been trying a few different things and ts gradually abating. Something you have to keep working on I think. The guy who leant me the roller from Raheny says he always wears the tube (one from a pharmacy) for sessions etc.

Hope it clears for you soon.

Edit:

Ive been dong some glute work too. The book 'Anatomy for runners' is useful I find. It has self-tests to see whats wrong and exercises to fix etc.

With ongoing (although improving) hamstring tightness and with an easy week due I thought I'd give this a go again.
There was a session near where I lived starting at 8:30. It's 26 yoga poses, each repeated twice during 90 mins in a room at 40' C.
They use big air heaters to get the temperature up. The room was wide and long with a low ceiling. I had been wondering if heat adaptions didnt help endurance at different stages. I did 7-8 of these in 2014 when I had sciatic issues. I started taking anti-inflamms at the same time so dont know which did it.. but I was cured.
I also noticed that in an endurance race that I was training for I almost PB'd off little running at that time. That said I did a good bit of cycling, swimming etc. I was very strong at the end though poiting towards good endurance. I wondered if it was because I was heating up less....but then again i had made other changes to my training so I cant be sure.
The Science is that heat adaptions come in the form of bring able to sweat more i.e having 1.5 litres to sweat if unadapted to having 4 litres if adapted.

Back to the class and with recent high mileage i was thinking i would be somewhat adapted and having been here before it should be psychologically easier.
The room felt not too hot at the start. So you start with a few breathing exercises, then do 50 minutes of standing psoes, and then teh remainder of lying/kneeling/sitting poses. Rest between poses is by standing in 'tree pose' for standing poses, and lying in 'shabasana' (dead mans) pose either on back or front, for the ground poses.
Started off easy, breathing Ok and I could really feel my ham. Continued in this vein and after a while i stopped noticing it. Getting tired now and was glad when the standing stuff was over. Really noticing heat now and sweating buckets. Thinking about how long to go.....Youre supposed to think about breathing between poses. Forget the previous pose and think about nothing.
This is why kids are pretty tough around pain, they dont catastrophise it.
After my confident start I was doing a bit of catastrophising myself now.
The poses were actually easier because during the 'rest' I wasn't concentrating on my breathing I was pondering the chances of me dying before the 90 minutes were over! I was actually getting psychological breaks during the 'effort' parts (and i was coasting too big-time).
Youre supposed to end each 20s shabasana break by sitting up (doing a sit-up). She mentioned anyone with back pain could roll on their sides and then get up. Hadnt I had back pain at some point previously? oh its not feeling great now...no sit ups for me.
Panic was setting in now, like when youre suffering way to early in a race. But there is no option to slow here, the heat wont go away...
Eventually, I was forced to goldfish during the breaks just to be able to remain in the room. And it worked...and soon it was over....youre supposed to lie and relax for 7-8 minutes after as the room cools....i just about made it. Out of 12 people if mental toughness was being measured I finished near last.
I know that after more sessions the mind gets stronger, and the body also.
The last few sessions I did in '14 felt easy. Good news is that my ham has improved dramatically. I could 'feel' the issue with a deep squat yesterday...now i cant. Not clear yet, but a great help.
Id recommend it. (not necessarily Bikram, but Hot yoga). Guaranteed to sleep like a baby for anyone with sleep issues too or in need of/planning a good sleep.
I was thinking about how I might use it for a Spring marathon that might be warm/hot (coming from Irish Winter). I reckon a blitzing of sessions during easy weeks far from the race, and then using it as a weekly injury prevention helper session there after.
Youre facilitating the bigger mileage and youre covering your ass against a warm race day.

20th-27th June.

Recovery week. Cant remember most of the individual easy runs. Doubles most days, Did 6 x 30s on wednesday and a 10k race on Saturday.
100k approx for week.

Saturday:

AM 6k shakeout around coast: beach and grass and road.

PM: Ransboro 10k.

The profile showed a very undulating course dropping 40m over the first 5k and then rising the same in the second half. I was wary of ongoing hamstring tightness since the WWRelay, but I needed to test it at this stage.
My plan was going to be to start relatively steady (threshold) and work into it. I had completed an LT session the previous week and the downhill reps were not problematic. I reasoned I'd get away with a normal start and having looked at previous local race results this might see me close to the main group. So I would go out with the leaders for as long as possible and hopefully my strenght (from high mileage) would help me later in the race. Just make sure of a good warmup.
When I say undulating there are 12-13 hills of varying size on the course. In the first half they are steep but they are all 20s or more and they hurt when you cant slow down.
I didnt spot the guy who had been winning the local races at the start but after the race started (fast) I spotted him. I was in 4th at this stage. The first hill was painful but i kept touch and lamented a less than perfect warmup (too much chatting). I was finding the downhills easy and the local main man was quite slow on these, but he was running easily 10m behind me and I fancied him to win. Another km another bump. The intensity was hard for me and when we hit 3 km it felt like there was a very long way to go indeed.
The hill in the 4th km was steeper and longer than usual and in third place my quads felt like they had 10 hill sprints done (jellified) and i resigned myself to not being able to regain contact with the 2 leaders on the flat/down after. The favourite behind me spotted this and quickly clicked up a gear to catch the two lads. I tried to maintain a strong effort and I noticed the lead pack was not pulling away to quickly, a sign that the effort was generally fast, but with over 5km to go I was going nowhere near them.
That group passed 5km in 16:25 I think which would give me 16:35.
At 6km it flattenned for a very scenic section on a small coastal road on Ballisodare bay. I looked behind and I saw a chap about 50m away. I knew who it was. He's great on hills and XC, so I renewed my efforts. He was also my age and out of the top3 we'd be grappling for a Vets prize. The race started undulating/climbing with 3k to go. Wanted to hold the gap till there. Id lose a bit on the up, but the last 1 km was flattish (1 hill) so I might be Ok.
He caught me before the up and was breathing hard. He passed rapidly, but I picked it up and caught him. Next few kms was a matter of me losing ground on the climbs and fighting to catch him on the flat. My resolve was being tested but I knew it was hard for him too. In the second last km there was a flat bit and for once I was close enough to him. I upped it a gear (turned by legs over faster) and tried to force a gap. No luck, he reacted and passed me on the next up. Another hill and flat double went the same way but atleast I was mixing it with him now and not hanging on anymore.
The last kilometer was flattish with one hill in the middle as mentioned and then flat to the line all on a good (relatively) main road.
I should have the advantage here if I could make it count. Once we turned onto the main road I made a strong burst of speed. He reacted and was right there but i went harder and finally sensed a gap. A minute later we were at the hill. I really worked this time and that was enough to hold the gap. I ran hard till the line and got in five or six seconds clear. Time was 34:15 apparently. I was hoping to sneak under 34 but my gut would have said 34 so I was happy.
I felt the hamstring at 4km and was considering easing off, but after a few minutes the pain dissappeared and seems to be allright now.
In hindsight running it hard was probbaly right. Ive only trained with almost exclusively easy runs so wasnt going to be able to completely hammer myself. Waking up some of the fast twitch, recovering from those hills during the race would have an alternation affect too. I enjoyed racing again and enjoyed the mini battle too.
I think I can manage a faster session now, so aerobic strides next and that will help me for the next AT and LT sessions.
The pace was really a shock as it was more or less the fastest/hardest Ive run since the Scalp hill race way back in mid may. Was a long while before that too.
The favourite guy got a gap on the other two runners and won in 33:28 or thereabouts. He had plenty more in the tank. I was 20-25 behind 2nd and third.
Another block of training starting now. More sessions and more progress.

27/6 - 3/7/16

M AM 13k Hilly
PM 10k easy (23)

T AM 4.5 commute
PM 12.5 easy (17)

W AM, PM 2 x 4.5 commute
PM2 17k easy (26)

T AM 4.5 commute
Lunch 3 x 6 x 200m + 3 hard
PM 5 commute (24)

F AM 4.5 commute
Lu 5 easy
PM 5 easy
PM2 10 easy (24.5)

S AM 10 easy
PM 9 easy (19)

S 30k: 10k easy, 35min AT, a few hill springs, 1km CV, 1 min
hard, 30s harder

160+ Km. No cycling. Some core.

Thurdays aerobic strides was tackled as fast as possible while relaxed as speed identified itself as the biggest limiter in the 10k. With this session banked I knew speed would no longer be a limiter in subsequent AT and LT sessions as it would otherwise be. No watch so jogged to KIlgobbet track and did 200s. In the 3 mins hard I was accumulating lactate for last minute but felt strong. Tired for a couple of days after this but no surprise as my muscles were not used to being worked like this recently.

Saturday was due 35 mins AT. I decided to fit it into a longish run. Also when I passed by the upper part of the Main Park road I noticed it was closed to traffic. I jogged down it. It felt really fast.
My 35k consisted of the bike lap of the Phoenix Park duathlon, anti-clockwise as the duathlon. Gradual hills as My hamstring is still a worry.
All good. After 2 laps I continued up to the junction of Glen road/furry glen to mark the end of the 10k I had mapped out. Ran steady into the glen to run out the lactate. Did 3-4 hill springs up one of the steps. Cant do hill sprints and tested to see if these could substitute.
Now I was heading back. Had to run down the main road anyway and I was well recovered, so decided to do a km @ LT to get home quicker.
Ended up harder than planned but was happy with speed.
A minute hard (counting my steps) and 30s harder and I was within jogging home range. Encouraging run. Another solid week.

Mon 17.5 E
PM 7.5 E (25)

T AM 4.5
Lunch 12.5 Hilly
PM 5 (22)

W AM 4.5
Lunch 20km: 10 X (3mins @ LT-CV,1 min uphill)
Jogged recoveries: 1' 'tween reps, 3' 'tween sets.
PM 5 (28.5)

T AM 4.5
L 7.5
PM 5
PM2 4
(21)

F AM 4
L 9
PM 4
PM2 5 (22 all E)

S Long Run 30k including 11k AT:
WU 4k: Easy long climb and descent 8k. 11k AT on undulating ground finishing up on a climb.
WD.
PM 5 (35)

S (recovery day): 12 E

Another solid week. 166km Total. No core etc though.

Tuesdays session was the first in a progression of sessions that John gave me. I decided to do it around Killiney Hill. The type of session is usually done on all flat ground, but can be done on undulating ground or a mixture as this one was with the emphasis even more on strenght which should help my goals short and medium term.
The location was probably a bit hilly but once it was executed well the job will be done and hilly is specific for me. I did most of the 3 min reps on fast undulating tarmac. I did the first one and two of the last 3 on an uphill, may have gone over CV pace on one but that was all.
All of the 1 min hills were controlled uphill at a slightly harder effort.
I could feel a little heaviness in my legs which they had to deal with over the 3 mins recovery. Happy with my strenght. It must tough but I was enjoying so much I hardly noticed. Excellent session, Ill be in good shape after a few of these.
Saturday's AT session was due to progress from the 10k undulating I did last week. I was going to do it as part of a long run again. I was conflicted as to where in the run I'd place it. Last week I ran 10k easy before the AT section.
Ran closer to 12k this time with a good climb and descent included.
AT section was on very undulating road and finished up a steep road climb with last 6-7 mins steep off-road (Hell-fire). Was tougher than anticipated, and I probably should have placed the quality section closer to the start of the run. The quality was good though and I'll be doing a more conventional one when I progress it next.
Another high week coming up and then a recovery week and race scheduled.

M 11/7/16 AM 4 LUNCH 10 (Killiney Hill) PM 12.5 (26.5)
T AM 4 PM1 4
PM2 19 km inc. Session: 6 x (5min @ LT-CV, 1 min uphill harder) - wi 1',3' (27)
W AM 4 Lunch 8 PM 12.5 (24.5)
T AM 4 PM 4 PM2 16 (24)
F AM 4 Lunch 10 PM 10 (24)
S AM 13km inc. 3 x (6 x 200) followed by 1600m hard. Rest: 600 - Jog between sets 100m before long rep. PM 6 easy (19)
S PM1 easy 6 PM2 easy 10k (16)

161 km total for week.

Third high mileage week and I was feeling a little fatigued I didn’t know how Tuesdays session would go.
Wanted to insure a fast session so made sure of a suitable location. Long reps were on flat tarmac path (beside cycle lane) between Bull Island causeway and Sutton. The minute uphill was the start of the Howth road hill off the Coast road: shallow, fast and very good quality tarmac.
I tried to start restrained but the first 5 min rep felt fast. I did it towards the Causeway and back. Used the minute to cross the road and get in position. I attacked the hill for the 1 min rep, hard but controlled to get a little lactate in legs. 3 minute jog back to start position for rep 2. Rep two felt definitely fast but the feeling in my legs was strange: it was as if lactate was trying to build up but it wasn’t. And this is the purpose of these sessions, put lactate in legs during the 1 min hard uphill and learn to re-use it during the long rep. Strange feeling going at a hard pace but the discomfort remained at the same level.
Second last long rep the legs' strenght started being tested in the minute or two. Same for the hill rep.
Last rep I ran very well, keeping relaxed. Legs were struggling but I still had to complete the last hill which was more important than flogging myself, so I ran 10 metres less in the 2nd part of the last long rep. Attacked the last hill, second half was tough but kept good form. Jogged as warm down with 3-4 x 30s controlled to clear the lactate. Great session, flew by.

Saturday I did the aerobic strides session. Some rain during the night, had planned to use Trinity track but decided on Kilbarrack track instead. Well I ended up using it twice on Saturday, the first time and the last time! There was the remains of a bonfire, and only the inner lane was anyway clear of grass. Most of the gravel was gone. I thought at least a few runners must be using it but when the walkers/dog walkers started arriving that I realised It's de facto no longer a running track.
I was stuck for time and despite feeling a little run weary due to the heavy training load, I pulled out a decent enough session, especially happy with the mile at the end.
The run signaled the start of a low week for me. Just after a session is a good time to ease into a compensation week.
Race this week looking forwarded to it and to an easier week.

Thats this mini-block over:

Last 3 weeks were all over 160k.
I last raced the week just before starting the block.

Sessions done between races:
Ransboro 10k (34:15 undulating)
3 x 6 x 200m then 3 mins hard
10k AT undulating during long run
10 x (3 + 1 uphill)
11k AT undulating/hilly during long run
6 x (5 + 1 uphill)
3 x 6 x 200m then 1 mile hard

I hadn't done much fast running at all before the 10k so I'm sure I'll improve.

I have to be realistic in that I'm in the middle of heavy training, but really looking forward to enjoying the race.

Big congrats on the win last night demfad! Hope you're working away on that report :-)

Ososlo wrote: »

Big congrats on the win last night demfad! Hope you're working away on that report :-)

Thanks a million Ososlo! Snowed under with work but Ill update on training and racing ASAP!

Well done T. Nice picture of the lead runners on ActionPhotography facebook. You can see where you made your move

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Well done T. Nice picture of the lead runners on ActionPhotography facebook. You can see where you made your move

Thanks SJ. You came through well yourself from that position well timed. Where did you catch Alan?

demfad wrote: »

Thanks SJ. You came through well yourself from that position well timed. Where did you catch Alan?

Halfway along the top track I reckon on the way back to the road. Very happy with the race.

Week Mon 18th - Sun 24th July: Low volume week

About 90-100k volume

Tuesday 19th July:

Race. Bettystown 5 report below.

Sunday 24th session:

Aerobic strides 3 x 6 x 40-45s (approx) on a slight gradient on good tarmac.

The race on Tuesday wasn't in the best position as it should have have been late in an easy week. I enjoyed it last year, had a free entry and after 3 weeks hard training I was dying to race.

5 full days easy after the race and the legs felt good. I decided to do the strides slightly uphill for a little more power. I had one objective: every rep would feel completely relaxed. And I succeeded in that. WAs due to ryn 6 misn hard after. After a couple of mins I felt something in my calf, so aborted. It was just a tight spot and sorted easily later/ I was wearing very flat runners (Nike LT2) and with the uphill there was more work on the calfs. Good session.

Week Mon 25th - Sun 21st (part of)

Mon 23k various easy runs inc. 16k easy
Tue 24k various easy runs inc. 16k easy
Wed 25k inc. Hill race Glen of the Downs trail (8k) report below
Thurs 2 x 4k

Changes this week:
My short run commutes etc. were always jogging. I decided to get more pep that only the first would be jogged. The rest are run easy but with good turnover. It's made a difference and my standard 16k runs felt better as a result.
Legs a little sore on Thurs and fell asleep putting the kids to bed so very easy day. That's ok because the emphasis is shifting more towards sessions.

Bettystown 5 (Tues 5th)

A week before this I was hoping for it, feeling I was going to have a cut at anyone. As the week went on: accumulated fatigue made me realise that maybe I was going to be racing tired. I needed a compensation week and I had got strong advice that this was the week. Also it was due to be the hottest day of the year....

Got the train to Laytown and walked up to Bettystown. In the hosting hotel I plastered layer no 3 of anti-sun.
I spotted Mick Traynor there and thought: todays the day!
Anyway, a coast wind had cooled the coastal area down. My research had indicated that this might be so but I also knew it should get hotter when it turned inland after 2.5 k.
Off we went. A biggish group petered down to Freddy Kitt, David Fly, and Cillian O'Leary. I was hanging in about 10th. Without accelerating I was soon in 6th. Then joint 4th. The guy with me kept surging. It annoyed me a bit so i dropped him, and went clear in 4th. This felt restrained, I felt that I would finsih a comfortable 4th. Once we turned in after 2.5 k, things changed. The cooker was turned up. Each step away from the sea was like a step further into some massive oven. Same for everyone but the tiredness that hadnt quite shaken out of my legs since the start was nagging me now. I had decided to take the hills handy if feeling tired. After 4 k nearing Donnacarney we hot the first one. I eased up and was immediately passed by 2 Drogheda and district lads. Thought I was clear but now i had shown weakness. I passed them on the down. One was dropped the other was dogged.
We swapped places a bit i the race for 4th. A sound alerted me and then a sense of dread as i spied the white and green singlet of Raheny a few strides back indicating Mick Traynor had arrived.
3 mile marker and Mick does his trade mark surge. I go with him, hoping I can hang around until surge over time. I drives harder and busts me!
I dont panic as i know he will steady also. Im passed by Drogheda again. Mick slows so I pass Drogheda again. He reacts immediately (dont think i cut him off) but he ups it and im dropped. The little tussle means he realises Mick is not out of reach. He heads off on his quest after him.
I run in, trying not to fade. I dont speed up at the end and finsih in 27:31.
Amazed with the timw, was positive it was sub 27...
The two guys put almost 20s on me, most of it in the last 800 as they were only a few seconds apart. Dissapointed but was hoping fatigue of body and mind was a factor.

27:41 6th place

IMRA Glen of the Downs 8 k trail

I had planned this as a threshold session and finish wherever I finished maybe top 10 maybe not. Then I met Bazman...and Ian C....f*ck the session, racing today!

Course was a very steep up a wide gravel road. Right into the ancient forest, a bit more gradual up then a long down eventually zigzaging down to a flats ection for a mile. Another steep (not as steep) climb back up to meet our original path about 2k from the line and then a gradual descent with a little flat then a fast fast descent down the initial steep road.
Bazman is a bit from his best (his best is 30.xx 10k shape, he is 2-2:30 off that) but this is normally good enough to take care of me.
Ian C is a phenomenal climber and winner of last years Warriors run in 53 mins. Again Ian was on the comeback from injury, and not 100% but improving rapidly.
Long warmup with Mick (thanks for the lift) and then with Bazman. Nearly 7 hilly km done id say.
Off we go. Ian tears up the very steep hill, getting smaller quickly. Anyone who has been in a race with him will know the sight. But there is a sense that this is too hard even for him. If he can sustain that he is supremely fit, and he cant be. Another guy has gone with Ian. He wont be able to keep it up...
Bazman and myself are cagily moving through the field. Half way up Ian's lead has stopped increasing. Bazman and I are more controled so IMO anyway the winner was probably going to be one of us.
I felt really strong climbing. I knew he would have the advantage on any flat sections, so i passed him and upped it a little to try and make the hill be run at the effort i wanted. Not long after we turned Ian's companion was passed.
Bazman passed me also around here as I expected.
Ian first, Bazman 2nd and myself third. He seemed to close the ground quickly to Ian. A slight uphill and we were all back close together.
First chance and Bazman was gone passed Ian. Around here I had a fight with my jacket tied around my waist. It seemed to take ages to sort it out but maybe 5 secs there. Significant in a close race. The descent started. I eventually caught Ian and passed. I was going well, the strong legs help with descending as well as climbing. I caught up with Barry and just at that time luckily, the path widened and i slipped past.
I was confident and descended well and may have mad e a 6-7 second gap. Flat bit coming up. Run as fast as you can but leave something for the big climb to come. I knew i could hold my own on the climb and as I was descending so well, Bazman probably needed a few seconds before the descent. On the long flat bit beside the N11 he reeled me in. There was a carpark and i just got through it ahead, and thankfully the climb started just after. I felt good here. It was painful: steep bits mixed with flater bits. I just wanted the lead at the top, so concentarted on running fast during any flat sections as that was where i was more vulnerable. The path wasnt wide though and it was going to take a big effort to run wide and past.
I had a plan for the top. We passed a little building indicating it was imminent, and I immediately surged hard on the initial down. It worked and I got the gap. There was a horrible flat section which i was forced to really peg it to keep the gap but after that it was on the the steep down and tricky as that was I felt i had enough gap to run it controlled.
So a positive result, and a better reflection of training than the 5 miler. My strenght during climbing was really encouraging and the mixture of high mileage topped with those shunt sessions are really putting strenght in the legs.

Great stuff T! A hard fought race and a very well deserved win. Really enjoyed that report. Can't fathom the level of technicality involved in this type of racing at all.
It's great to be feeling so strong and seeing the hard work pay off from recent weeks and months. Not a bad outing in Bettystown either! Well done.

Glad you sorted the calf out too. So what's up next?

Ososlo wrote: »

Great stuff T! A hard fought race and a very well deserved win. Really enjoyed that report. Can't fathom the level of technicality involved in this type of racing at all.
It's great to be feeling so strong and seeing the hard work pay off from recent weeks and months. Not a bad outing in Bettystown either! Well done.

Glad you sorted the calf out too. So what's up next?

Dulleek 10k is the plan in a few weeks.

Thanks a million O!

Those trail races aren't that technical for 95% of the race and the ground never gets really rough. They are a good deal faster than the normal IMRA races so are a good for general training and you have to get recovery at different points while running relatively fast. Racing through an ancient forest like that is a real treat, magic place.

Training starting to kick in now but its early days and more to come in the next few months!