Can you buy a new IT band?

ariana` wrote: »

Damo I didn't see a change in HR with the strap, I always found the watch pretty reliable....in dry weather! The problem for me was in the rain the readings from the watch became completely erratic and it rains a lot in the West! An example is earlier this year I ran a 5k PB in the rain with just the watch and Skyblue (jokingly) asked if I had been cycling because the HR reading was so low!

That's gas, very similar with me, when I was running in the Dominican Republic in the summer the HR was all over the place because of sweat on my arms. It's definitely eased my mind now that Im not expecting a huge change in HR. Just a little more accurate.

So 1103 miles for 2019, which is my first time breaking 1k miles in a year.

I started with Evan on June 1st, with a total of 166 miles ran from January - May, I would have liked to have more of a base before starting but only myself to blame. 937 miles from June to December with November being basically a non runner (no pun intended...), is something im extremely happy with.

The feeling of consistency is my big takeaway from this year, all times aside. Outside of running its made me feel so much better, and if getting a coach is what it takes to get that feeling, then so be it.

I PB'ed in HM and Marathon Distances, disaster of a 10M race but huge lessons learned from that so I am glad it happened, in a weird way.
Next on the list is to try get close to my 5k PB which is 18:45, and break both 40 minutes for 10k and 1:30 for HM, with the plan already in progress. Bohermeen is booked and thats the target, I may be in Barcelona for the Half Marathon so may do that as a tune up race, depending on whether I'm there or not.

One thing I do want to concentrate on as well as injury prevention, is my diet, its not terrible but could be so much better. I havent got my college timetable for this semester yet but hoping its not as bad as last year.

A fun year ahead!

scotindublin wrote: »

Great to see the consistency over the last 6 months or so of 2019. Big things ahead for you in 2020 Damo! See you in Bohermeen!

Yeah its something that never really existed for me, I was always in and out of training, never really stuck into it like.

Looking forward to giving Bohermeen a bash! See you there

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Having a coach makes a massive difference. You'll do big things with Evan, I have no doubt. All the best for 2020.

Cheers pal! It really does make a huge difference, I was a bit wound up at the start if I didnt get the result I wanted in a race because the feeling of perhaps letting the coach down, but it was a ridiculous thought, there was nothing of the sort.

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Took me a while to get those thoughts out of my head. Haha. I know where you're coming from.
Over time I started to realise its not the race result that really matters either. It's the consistent, dedicated training that reaps rewards over time. Taking the worry of structuring the training out of your hands allows you to just focus on the running part

I never had that worry, that was my problem :pac::pac::D

Monday 6th January
6 miles easy, nice trot around the usual Finglas/Ballymun loop. 6.24 @ 9:06 min/mi.

Tuesday 7th January
Session day in what felt like gale force winds.
2 mile wu, 4 x 2mile @ 6:55-7:00 pace with 2 min rest between
The first 2 mile rep was with the wind, but the rest were going back up Santry lane and back into the wind, disaster.
1. 6:57 - 6:55
2. 6:57 - 6:54
3. 6:56 - 6:57
4. 6:57 - 6:58

10.52 @ 7:54 min/mi.

Thursday 9th January
I had a exam Thursday morning so I didnt run on Wednesday evening.
4 mile easy with one of the lads who has picked up a bit of running, my left leg is giving me a bit of trouble lately, a bit of a 'dull' ache around the shin area, I dont even want to say the dreaded words...

4.17 @ 9:42 min/mi.

Friday 10th January
As above my left leg is acting up a bit. Progression run was to be 8 mile progression, 2 warmup and start @ 8:00 min/mi and 10s faster every mile. I set out to do 6 but done the 7 but leg was fairly sore at the end of it. Hit all of the paces fine.

7.01 @ 8:05 min/mi.

Sunday 12th January
Didnt run Saturday due to the wind, wouldnt have enjoyed it one bit so had a rest day. As per the others log' I met up with S, C and E for a trot around the park. Absolutely cracking morning with really good company, great craic as we went around and it felt like the fastest 12 miles ever.

12.02 @ 9:07 min/mi.

Strava has me down for 39.9 miles for the week, raging when I seen it after my run on Sunday :pac:

Slightly faster week coming up, the left leg seems to be a lot better thank god. When I slipped a couple of weeks ago in the Park my right glute went, and its still at me but is ok to run on, just a bit tender after a run. I will book in with the boss when hes home from gallivanting around Iten

Wednesday 15th January
4 miles easy, 2 miles out and back. Nice and easy, has been faster than recent runs but it was a genuinely easy run, HR slightly lower too for the pace.

4.06 @ 8:50 min/mi.

Thursday 16th January
Misread the plan and thought this was a progression run, bit of a surprise when I looked properly...

2 wu, 5 x 1 mile @ 6:30-6:35 (2:30), 2 cd.

Felt good for this, took a slight break after the WU and started off. I was doing 1 mile up and 1 mile back up by IKEA because I wouldn’t have to cross any roads etc. Parts of the mile stretch were windier than others so it wasn’t perfectly even paced.

Times were:
6:27 - 6:26 - 6:27 - 6:29 - 6:25.

They were really good reps, blowing at the end but always found myself finishing into the wind.

9.68 @ 8:23.

Monday 20th Jan
7 miles easy, went a completely different route than the usual Ballymun/Northwood route. I was down by S territory but didn’t bump into him as I’d say he was still hiding after Sundays result, and/or sitting in cleaning his shiny new shoes.

7.06 @ 8:37 min/mi.

Tuesday 21st Jan
Me and one of the lads in work have been saying well get out for a run at lunch for ages now, said I’d tie it in with one of my easy days but today was the only day he could do. This is probably the best I’ve felt lately, so I said I’d chance it and try a double day.

3.2 @ 8:09 min/mi around Damastown.

Up to the park after work and although I had the hi vis on, no head torch made it an absolute death trap. I didn’t realise it was so dark up there, after a couple of close calls on some of the uneven paths I turned on the phone torch and used it for the session, not ideal but it will have to do.

The session was 2 wu, 4 mile @ 6:55, 0.5 @ 8:00, 2x1 mile @ 6:45 (3:00), 1 cd.
The toughest part was probably the first of the 1 mile reps, found the 4 mile comfortably hard but was surprised by the HR, until I came back against the wind it rose slightly.

4 mile paces: 6:54 - 6:54 - 6:54 - 6:52
1 mile paces: 6:42 - 6:41

Smashing session and felt great after it although not looking forward to the DOMS. Slightly longer CD brought it to 10 miles for the evening.

10.03 @ 7:41

Monday 27th Jan
5 @ 8:58 min/mi around the local area. Uneventful but ran with one of the lads, miles flew by.

Tuesday 28th Jan
Lunch run in work as im back in college so will be squeezing in the miles. 3.3 @ 8:19 min/mi.

Wednesday 29th Jan
Plan called for 10 miles @ 7:45. Extremely good run bar having to take a pit stop in the crowne plaza... Something I have to keep an eye on race day as I dont want a repeat of FD 10. Ended up averaging 7:35 min/mi, the only time I was struggling was the last two miles into the wind, its always the same on this route.

10.16 @ 7:35 min/mi.

Thursday 30th Jan
6 @ 8:49 Finglas/Ballymun route. Usual route, plodding along listening to Scullion. About a mile from home got an unmerciful pain in my left kneecap, a bit of a limp home and it was even sore to walk around on.

Not sure if this is stemming from the issue I have had with my calf/shin, which I suspect is a small case of shin splints.

For that reason and the fact it was still tender Friday night, I decided to give the LR a miss on the weekend. I think it was a smart decision even tho its a long run missed. But this close to Barcelona no point potentially messing it up. I will crack on with this week and see how things go, and I'm up with the boss on Friday to get him to look at it. Fingers crossed nothing serious.

25 miles for the week, ah well, onto the next one.

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

A wise decision to skip the long run! Hope it's feeling better now

Cheers E, got myself fairly wound up about missing the miles but sure look. One thing I learned is dont chase missed miles! Like home store and more, when they're gone, they're gone!

OOnegative wrote: »

Best of luck Sunday Damo, run well man!!

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

Very best of luck tomorrow Damo

scotindublin wrote: »

Good luck Damo training going very well; go out and give it a good rattle

Thanks a mill folks!

1:27:51 chip time. Over the moon, thanks to everyone for the congrats, legends the lot of ye.

Made the call about 5k in to have a shot at sub 1:30 and it paid off. Smashing race and the route is a good one, brilliant way to see the city.

Race report to follow.

Barcelona Half Marathon 2020
A good block of training that kicked off second week in December. Originally it was aimed towards Bohermeen but when we decided to head to Barcelona it seemed only right that I gave this a bash as I knew it was a fast course. We got in on Thursday evening and as we had been here before, we didnt have a huge amount of sightseeing to do. Still plenty of walking, and went a bit overboard with the drink Friday night but recovered well Saturday. Plenty of water and even got out for a run to stretch the legs. Went out for dinner but headed back to the hotel early to get the gear ready and plenty of rest.

I didnt really have a plan, I was messing with race calculators all weekend, knew 6:52 was sub 1:30 pace but also knew I wouldnt hold it. Told Evan I was going to go out at 6:55-7:00 pace and see what happens throughout, he said settle into that pace and ramp it up for a 1:2x:xx...yeah right I thought.

Pre Race
Race start @ 8:45, breakfast only opened at 7. The buffet was absolutely shocking, I was able to scrape together somewhat of a breakfast and that was it. Got the metro to near enough the start line, herself was with me so I didnt need to go to bag drop which was great. Seen a couple of Irish lads warming up. I was in wave 1 which was 1:20-1:30 so I headed there. I needed the loo tho, and all of the lines were stupid long. Pleaded with a hotel to let me in but they wouldnt, and I couldnt start the race otherwise id have a repeat of FD10. Made the call to leave the wave and if I had to, go in wave 2. I made it back in time thank god, with about 1 min to spare.

Miles 1-3 (6:51-6:58-6:48)
A fast start with a sharp left turn about 100m into the race, I was starting fast so had to pull myself back for mile 1. Noticed a guy beside me here and was trying to slow down to match his more sensible pace. Mile 2 was the start of the only real climb of the day, kept it controlled and kept going. Mile 3 was slightly faster as we were moving toward one of the longer straights of the course.

Miles 4-6 (6:46-6:38-6:43)
I had my eye on a couple of people around to try stick with. Gel. Mile 4 clocked and I knew I was back to 1:29:59 pace, right its on. Made the call and kept it going. Herself was going to be at mile 5 so I kept an eye out and got a good scream :pac:. There was a woman with me since about mile 2/3 and we were working together pacewise, I let her tuck in behind to get out of some of the wind. Seen the guy from mile 1 again.

Miles 7-9 (6:43-6:44-6:32)
Lost the woman as we were on another drag past some apartments, I wasnt in a pack and was very isolated. A welsh young lad came bursting past me at mile 8 and I stuck with him up until the diagonal. Gel just before the turn. Let him go, but now I was back with the German from Mile 1 and we gave each other a thumbs up, I said "I finally caught back up to you" and he just laughed. Me and him worked our way through the pack, with people coming back down the other side it was tough enough.

Miles 10-12 (6:29-6:17-6:25)
Working with this guy definitely helped. Mile 10 we had to weave around a few people. Seen the 1:30 pacers on opposite side of the road, uh oh. Mile 11 GPS was all over the place, it was definitely not a 6:17. It was a 6:28-6:30 tho. Back out onto the coast and we exchanged a couple bits, where we are from etc (minimum) and he warned theres always a headwind here. As I expected, he wasnt going for a PB "If I was I wouldnt be talking to you!" that hit me, I dropped the hammer here and off I went. Tiny climb at mile 12 and back into the wind. Flew past the welsh lad from earlier, great confidence boost as bad as it sounds.

Miles 13-Finish (6:25-5:49)
I had it in me for a fast finish, knew I was way ahead of pace but also wasnt too sure after seeing the pacers, had me thinking I wasnt going as fast as I thought. Mile 13 finished just as I turned onto the finish straight, decent support here. Seen 1:28 (I Think?) on the clock and absolutely burst home (see strava for pain pic :pac: ). Stopped the watch at 1:27:58 and was absolutely delighted, couldnt believe it.

Met up with herself and she confirmed the time and more - 1:27:51.

Got all the bits, water etc. And I purchased medal engraving at the expo, was thinking I am setting myself up for failure here and Ill end up getting a bad race engraved into the medal if it goes pearshape, delighted I done it in the end!

I couldnt recommend the race enough, number pickup was really easy, the course is brilliant, really nice bar maybe 9/10. The finish area is fantastic, very well organised and the metro is right beside it too, so easy to get around.

Whats next: Bohermeen is in a couple of weeks, its either race that flat out again, or run it as a LR/Session and race MSB 5k the week after and try get back to my PB time. Or, I might race both, who knows. We will see