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2018 in review

2018 was my first year of consistent running, starting with a walk to run in January and finishing with a 5k PB on December 30th.

The first 6 months of the year were spent building up a solid base, with the ultimate plan being to beat my PB from the 2017 rock 'n' roll half in Charleville. Up until the start of June, other than 2-3 small interval sessions and a couple of 5-6 mile progression runs, I didn't do anything other than easy running. This block finished with me completing Cork City Half Marathon in 1:54:03. The plan was never to race this (not that I could have run it in a better time than I did), but to have enough of a base built to run it in sub-2 hour.

A couple of weeks after this L started coaching me. That week I raced the Arthur's Way 5k and must have made a great impression, clocking 24:03 after a heavy night out the previous night.

My 5k PB at the start of the year was 22:30, from Docklands 5k in 2017. Fast forward 12 months (and 2 weeks after the Arthur's Way 5k) to June 28th 2018 and I easily beat that in the heat, knocking exactly 30 seconds off it in the same race with a time of 22:00. Reputation restored

I'd lined up a few races over the next couple of months, building up to Charleville, on Sept 23rd. The first of these was the South Dublin 10k on July 22. Again, it was a warm, muggy day, but unlike during Docklands 5k, this time the heat got to me and I faded badly, clocking 46:55. My target had been sub-46. This is probably the first race that things hadn't gone to plan for me and it niggled.

Next up was the Frank Duffy 10 mile in Swords on September 2nd and I wanted to make up for the 10k and hit my target. That said, I was a bit apprehensive and after chatting with L, went out with a plan to target 77:00 and see how I went. I actually planned for this race and knew where the water stations would be, and where the drags and downhills were. This meant that I was in a much better position to manage both my effort/pace over the course of the race and I feel that this really helped me to relax. When I got to the water stations, I got water and walked through, making sure to get as much water on board as possible. During the 10k, I'd choked trying to drink while running at the water station. I knew it'd lose me a few seconds, but felt that it'd be worth it in the end. Also, having looked at the course profile beforehand, I knew that if I felt good at the 7 mile point, I could push on knowing that I was past the main drag. Both of these really helped and I brought these learnings to Charleville. Finished in a time of 76:10. This race gave me great confidence going in to Charleville.

September 23rd and Charleville, or the Charleville International Half Marathon to give it it's full title, arrived. A bit of a taper in the week leading up to this had me feeling good. The recommendation from L was to go out at the 10 mile pace and try to hold on. Went out with the 1:40 pacers and stayed with them until the 10 mile mark, which I passed in 76:17 and then pushed on to finish in 1:39:33, over a 5 minute PB.

After that, focus switched back to 5k, with the plan being to PB again before year end, Jingle Bells being the suggested target race. This was going to be short enough block, one that didn't start until mid-October, when we got back from our post wedding break. That said, while on the break, we took part in Westpost Parkrun and I PB'd in it, somehow managing 21:19, despite feeling a little bit tired after a few glasses of wine the night before.

After returning to Dublin, I joined Crusaders AC, which added some seriously taxing speed sessions on Tuesday evenings. Work committments meant that I didn't manage to run Jingle Bells, instead finding myself at a conference in Las Vegas and running a 4k that was organised as part of it. Managed to complete the 4k in a time of 16:27, which various calculators suggested meant I could run a 20:50 5k. A couple of weeks later, I ran a blind 3k time trial at the club, managing a time of 12:07. Again, online calculators suggested that this should give me a time of 20:50 for a 5k. Finishing the 3k, I felt that I had a bit left in the tank, which suggested to me that I could improve on the 5k prediction. And so it came to pass, with a 44 second PB in the ERP Clonliffe Harriers Christmas Cracker 5k, with a time of 20:35 on December 30th.

Overall, a very positive year of running for me, with hopefully more to come.

Distance|01/01/2018|31/12/2018
3k|--:--|12:07
4k|--:--|16:27
5k|22:30|20:35
4m|--:--|32:41
5m|--:--|--:--
10k|--:--|46:55
10m|--:--|1:16:10
Half Marathon|1:44:53|1:39:33|
Mileage|401|1,210

Plan:
Monday: Foam rolling & glute strength exercises
Tuesday: Foam rolling & glute strength exercises
Wednesday: Foam rolling & glute strength exercises
Thursday: 3 miles easy (hopefully) + Foam rolling & glute strength exercises
Friday: Foam rolling & glute strength exercises
Saturday: 5 miles easy + Foam rolling & glute strength exercises
Sunday: 5 miles easy + Foam rolling & glute strength exercises

Actual:

Overall, running mileage was well down on what I'd planned, but at the moment the most important thing is to build strength while preventing injury.

To try to keep up fitness, I added in some cycling, which doesn't have the same impact as running.

Monday:

Morning: Foam rolled left glute in the morning before work

Evening: 8 x 10 sec single leg bridge (on both legs), 8 x 10 sec single leg squats (on both legs)

Night: Foam rolling

Tuesday:

Morning: Foam rolling

Evening: Running replacement cycle after work. Hip/pelvis issue seems to be mostly impact related so no issues with cycling.

Distance: 15.17 miles @ 14.2 m/h

Night: 10 x 10 sec single leg bridge (on both legs), 10 x 10 sec single leg squats (on both legs)

Wednesday:

Morning: Foam rolling

Evening: Evening cycle to keep up the fitness (hopefully)

Distance: 21.01 miles @ 13.3 m/h

Night: Foam rolling & hip flexor stretches

Thursday:

Morning: Foam rolling & hip flexor stretches

Afternoon: back with osteopath

Friday:

Evening: Evening cycle to hit my monthly target for January

Distance: 10.05 miles @ 14.3 m/h

Did a short run to test out the hip/glute. Needed to stop to stretch out, but overall successful.

Distance: 2.03 miles @ 9:21, avg. hr: 128

Night: Lots of stretching

Saturday: Headed out to Hartstown with A for a spot of Parkrun tourism. Managed to take a wrong turn and arrived late (I was the navigator...and am from the general area, so no excuses). Anyway, started off at a fairly spritely pace searching for the tail walker. We caught up fairly quickly but the difficult part therefter was slowing the pace, but kinda managed it.

Splits |Time|Distance|Avg Pace|Avg HR|Avg Run Cadence
Car -> start|02:06.6|0.22|09:26|119|173
2|08:45.5|1|08:45|143|180
3|09:05.2|1|09:05|142|178
4|09:15.6|1|09:16|143|176
5|00:56.4|0.11|08:20|147|178
Finish -> car|01:00.4|0.1|10:25|116|169

A couple of niggles during the run, but was happy with how hip/glutes held up overall.

Distance: 3.43 miles @ 9:05, avg. hr: 140

Hip/glutes really tightened up in the car on the way home, so much stretching ensued, but felt much better after that.
5 x 10 sec single leg bridge (on left only)

Evening: More stretching and some glute stretchening exercises.
5 x 10 sec single leg bridge (on left only)

Sunday: Stretching a few times and glute strength exercises.

AM: Lots of stretching (piriformis, glute, hip flexor, hamstring and calf), 7 x 15 sec single leg bridge (on left only)

PM: Lots of stretching (piriformis, glute, hip flexor, hamstring and calf), 8 x 20 sec single leg bridge (on left only)

Weekly totals
Running: 5.46 miles
Cycling: 73.77 miles

YTD totals
Running: 25.11 miles
Cycling: 128.36 miles

Been very quiet here of late, with good reason. So, here comes a brief four week update

Week starting Jan 28

Monday|Nothing|
Tuesday|15.5 mile cycle|Nearly got killed by a taxi driver who, in his own words "couldn't possibly have seen me" on the roundabout as he nonchalantly drove onto it. I've two front lights on the bike (one constant, one flashing), three rear lights (two flashing, one constant) and wear a high vis. If he couldn't have seen me, it's because he's blind, or not bothered looking.
Wednesday|Nothing
Thursday|10.6 mile cycle|This brought me to 200 miles for the month, way higher than I've ever managed (since I started recording on Garmin). Fairly sure I used to cycle 80-100k a week 10-15 years ago.
Friday|Nothing|First leg of flight to NZ
Saturday|Nothing|Second leg of flight to NZ
Sunday|Nothing|Arrived in Auckland at lunchtime and strolled around. Nothing beyond that though.


Week starting Feb 04

Monday|4.2 mile run|Lovely run around Auckland. Hip flexor was tight for this one.
Tuesday|4.0 mile run|Morning run with A around Whitianga. Out and back route with a big hill approaching the halfway point.
Wednesday|4.1 mile run|Mount Maunganui trail run in Tauranga. A really nice run around the extinct volcano on trails.
Thursday|8.5 mile MTB|"Easy" MTB in and around the Redwood forests outside Rotorua. I may have enjoyed this more than A
Friday|6.2 mile run|Amazing run through the Redwood forests outside Rotorua on the Pohaturoa track. There were definitely some steep enough climbs on this, but worth it for the amazing views.
Saturday|Taupo Parkrun|Beautiful Parkrun along the shores of Lake Taupo with A. 3.4 miles including a very short warmup. Official time 26:15. It was very warm for this one, considering that it was on at 8am.
Sunday|Nothing|Trans-Alpine train from Christchurch to Greymouth. Amazing!


Week starting Feb 11

Monday|3.1 mile run|Easy run along the Kawatiri trail in an around Westport in NZ. Also went for a walk along the Charm Creek Railway.
Tuesday|Walking and swimming|A few walks, Hokitika Gorge walk, Dorothy Falls and Creek Walk and a quick swim in Lake Kaneire.
Wednesday|5 mile run|An easy run around roads of Kokatahi. If was an overcast morning, so cooler than previous runs.
Thursday|Nothing
Friday|Walking|Short enough walk around Lake Matheson and a couple of shorter strolls.
Saturday|Wanaka Parkrun|Another really nice parkrun around Lake Wanaka in NZ. Official time 24:34. Ran this with A and a guy from Dunedin who was running the HM as part a relay team for the Challenge Wanaka triathlon that day. He finished the HM in a very good 1:33:49, considering the heat of the day. Overall, 4.7 miles including warmup and cooldown.
Sunday|6.2 mile run|Down to Lake Mistletoe and on to mouth of Eglinton River at Lake Te Anau. Amazing scenery when we reached the lake.


Week starting Feb 18

Monday|Walking|A couple of short walks en route to Milford Sound. Not great weather, but amazing all the same.
Tuesday|5.5 mile run|Nice run along the Queenstown trail (Frankton track)
Wednesday|7 mile run|Out along the Frankton track again, but a bit further this time, turning around past the Frankton Marina.
Thursday|30.4 mile cycle|Hired bikes and got driven out to Arrowtown to cycle back to Queenstown. Stopped off to see some crazy people jumping off "bungy bridge".
Friday|Nothing
Saturday|Queenstown Parkrun|Another really nice parkrun around Queenstown Gardens. Official time 22:51. Overall, 4.5 miles including warmup and cooldown.
Sunday|5 mile run|Nice run in Kaikoura. Other than running, it wasn't a successful trip to Kaikoura as the train was turned back and we had to travel by minibus and then the whale watching was cancelled, both due to weather.


Week starting Feb 25

Monday|Nothing|
Tuesday|5 mile run|Nice early morning run around Sydney through a number of parks, including the Sydney Botanic Gardens as far as Sydney Opera House and then back to the hostel.
Wednesday|Walking|Nothing much other than a couple of short enough walks
Thursday|Hiking|Hiking in the Blue Mountains|First hike was down the Giant Stairway (998 steps) and along Jamison valley to Federal Pass and back up from the valley in a cable car. Second hike was along the Prince Henry Cliff Walk, with amazing views over the Blue Mountains and the Three Sisters.
Friday|4.1 mile run|Ran from Coogee to Bondi with A and then went for a swim, as you do. This was tough enough in the mid-afternoon heat, but worth it for some amazing views.
Saturday|Centennial Parkrun|Ran down to Centennial Park for the 8am start. By far the biggest of the parkruns we've run over the last few week, with 329 finishers, 24 of whom ran sub 20. Despite being an 8am start, it was fairly hot for this one. Official time 25:30. Back to the hotel after to pack for the flights home. Overall, 7.1 miles including warmup and cooldown
Sunday|Flying

Race report: Simon Home Run 5 Mile 2019

After a January of very little running (39 miles) and a February of much travelling (and eating, drinking and laughing) and only 68 miles running, I didn't really have high hopes for this. The fitness is definitely starting to come back now, but I've no speed sessions in the legs at all this year. I used the Queenstown Parkrun time as a base line for this and decided to target somewhere between 36 and 37 minutes.

I'd only run one 5 mile race previously, that being the Raheny 5 Mile in January of this year when I was managing the niggle in my hip. I'd taken it easy around the roads of Raheny that day (for the most part) and had finished in a time of 42:12.

We got to the PP in plenty of time for this and had no trouble finding parking on Chesterfield. Jogged the rest of the way and collected our race numbers and t-shirts. After much internal debate, I decided to keep the heavy top on, as the wind was baltic. In hindsight, this was probably a bad decision. Warmed up some more and then headed down to the start line via the portaloos. We quickly worked our way into the middle of the pack to keep ourselves warm on the very exposed Acres Road and after a short delay, we were off.

With a race like this, I think it can be difficult to place yourself well for the start, and as expected, the first half mile required lots of weaving and dodging between and around slower joggers and walkers. By the time I was turning on to Chesterfield, I felt that I was in a good size group that were moving at a good pace. Kept the inside running line around the corner and within 30 metres it was clear that the group was already splitting, and I was boxed in and losing touch with the main group. Had to slow to extricate myself and then make my way around them before bridging the 10 metre gap that had already opened to the group ahead. Once I caught up with them, I tucked in and held steady. That brought me up to about the mile mark in a time of 7:21.

For mile 2, I kept with the same group for the most part, as it slowly fractured along Ordinance Survey Road. That said, doubts were already starting to raise their heads about my ability to maintain my current pace as early as 1.3 miles into the race. Thoughts of the South Dublin 10k last year entered my head, when I was feeling the heat after 2 miles and really started to struggle when the water station failed to materialise at the point I thought it was meant to. I just tried to keep the effort levels in check and turned my focus to an Ashford AC runner just ahead of me. For the first and second miles, the wind and gradient made things tough, but my mile 3, we'd turned down the Upper Glen Road, so had the wind at our backs as we headed downhill towards Military Road and the S bends. By the end of mile 3, I was really starting to regret the pre-race decision to keep the heavy top on. At this point, Ashford AC was still about 10 metres ahead and there was a fellow Crusader close by as well. (7:18, 7:02)

As we hit the small climb up Military Road towards the S bends both started opening a small gap on me. I decided not to take water on at the water station, even though I was definitely starting to feel the heat!!! and was finding the going tough. Mile 4 beeped at 7:19, so still on target for sub-37. However, I still had Kyber to go and felt that I didn't have much in reserve for it. I enjoyed the final downhill of Military Road and prepared myself for the pain.

I'd never run up Kyber before and a couple of cycles that incorporated it definitely hadn't prepared me for how tough it'd be, particularly when the wind hit about halfway up. I just tried to keep the legs moving and the form strong. By about two-thirds of the way up, I'd managed to reel Ashford AC in and passed him. By the top of Kyber, the dry-wretching was kicking in, but managed to keep it mostly in check and push on to the line in a time of 36:51, clocking a final mile of 7:41. Came 109th overall and 97th male out of a field of nearly 1,300 finishers.

Once over the line, the dry-wretching threatened to become something more, but I composed myself, collected my goody bag and headed back to cheer A on just as she crossed the finish line.

Happy overall with my performance, considering that it definitely wasn't a target race and the prep, particularly over the previous couple of evenings wasn't ideal. Anyway, onwards and upwards.

Splits|Time|Distance|Avg Pace|Avg HR|Max HR|Avg Run Cadence
1|07:21.6|1|07:22|149|169|190
2|07:17.7|1|07:18|164|169|188
3|07:02.3|1|07:02|166|177|185
4|07:19.2|1|07:19|168|179|185
5|07:41.3|1|07:41|172|180|187
6|00:09.5|0.02|06:27|176|178|191
Summary|36:52:00|5.02|07:20|164|180|187

Plan:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 6 miles easy
Wednesday: 5 miles easy
Thursday: 6 miles easy
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 8 miles easy
Sunday: 5k easy + strides
* Monday: MSB St Patrick's Festival 5K

Actual:

Monday: Headed for a spin on the bike after work to loosen out the legs.

Distance: 10.05 miles @ 12.7 mph

Tuesday:

AM: Runmute in to work in the morning. Calves a bit tight, but nothing to report other than that. Headed out towards Killester and back along the seafront and into the city. For once, the pedestrians on Alfie Byrne Road weren't walking 5 abreast on the foot path with their heads in their phones, so no shouting or jumping onto the road to avoid idiots was required.

Distance: 6.34 miles @ 9:27, avg. hr: 133

PM: More direct runmute home. Legs a bit tired and it turned out that running along the canal to Drumcondra provided a wind tunnel instead of shelter from the wind.

First time doing a double runmute and it wasn't planned in advance. I didn't have the bike, which means any route home has 15 minutes walking, so it was either walk in the cold/wind/rain or run in it. Went with the run option as at least I wouldn't be as cold and miserable.

Legs were fairly tired, but it showed me that doubles are definitely an option, although I'll likely cut down the distance of the run in to work in future.

Distance: 2.01 miles @ 9:14, avg. hr: 138

Wednesday: Easy miles exploring Dublin 7 with A. Nothing much to report. HR generally good, although there were some misreads, resulting in a max hr during the run of 166.

Distance: 5.14 miles @ 9:27, avg. hr: 131

Thursday: Headed down to Ringsend Park at lunch and ran a couple of laps before heading back to work via Munchies to grab a Monster Club and a packet of salt and vinegar Hunky Dorys. Pace to the park was a minute faster than pace on the return but the effort was consistent throughout. Some wind blowing along the Liffey.

Distance: 5.28 miles @ 9:02, avg. hr: 136

Friday: Nothing

Saturday: Ran down and back to Fairview Parkrun with A, where we bumped into G. Ran the first two laps of PR with A and G and then slowed the pace a bit, as I didn't want to overdo it with Monday in mind.

Distance: 7.03 miles @ 9:37, avg. hr: 135

Sunday: Nothing. Went for a walk in the early evening with A and we ended up having a bite to eat and a few glasses of wine in The Bald Eagle in Phibsboro. Not ideal race prep.

Weekly totals
Running: 25.82 miles
Cycling: 32.66 miles

YTD totals
Running: 171.68 miles
Cycling: 294.98 miles

Plan:
Monday: MSB St Patrick's Festival 5k
Tuesday: 3 miles easy
Wednesday: Nothing
Thursday: 6 miles easy
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 5 miles easy
Sunday: 10 miles easy/lsr

Actual:

Monday: 8.77 miles, including MSB St Patrick's Festival 5k in a time of 21:09. See race report above.

Happy with the result and my performance overall, although the prep could have been better.

Splits|Time|Distance|Avg Pace|Avg HR|Avg Run Cadence
1|04:09.4|0.62|06:41|147|190
2|04:10.6|0.62|06:43|160|189
3|04:12.4|0.62|06:46|163|188
4|04:11.6|0.62|06:45|169|190
5|04:06.7|0.62|06:37|171|190
6|00:17.9|0.05|05:30|171|148
Summary|21:09|3.16|06:41|162|189

Tuesday: Recovery with A along Griffith Avenue. Lovely evening.

Distance: 4.60 miles @ 9:46, avg. hr: 122

Wednesday: Easy miles with A out through Fairview and back along Griffith Avenue.

Legs still a bit tired and achey after Monday, which probably explains why the easy pace has slowed up this week. No harm, as I increase the overall training load.

Distance: 5.50 miles @ 9:43, avg. hr: 125

Thursday: Runch with A to Ringsend Park for a couple of laps before stopping off to get a Monster Club on the way back to the office.

Distance: 5.38 miles @ 9:26, avg. hr: 128

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Was up in Donegal on Saturday, so we headed across to Dungloe and did Parkrun there at a steady pace. Short warmup and a different loop to cooldown after.

Very nice Parkrun that only needs 4 volunteers, as it's three laps of a single closed loop. Friendly group but small enough numbers, with only 27 finishers.

Splits|Time|Distance|Avg Pace|Avg HR|Avg Run Cadence
1|08:24.4|1|08:24|127|182
2|08:38.5|1|08:38|143|185
3|08:36.4|1|08:36|147|185
4|00:41.9|0.09|07:44|149|183
Summary|26:21:00|3.09|08:32|139|184


Distance: 5.34 miles

Sunday: I'd added extra miles during the rest of the week, so I cut the long run down a bit, as wary of overdoing things. Nice run out the canal to Ashtown and back home through the park and up the North Circular road to Phibsboro. Paces definitely weren't consistent, but the first 3/4 miles was uphill and into a stiff enough breeze along the canal.

Distance: 8.4 miles @ 9:36, avg. hr: 126

Very happy with how the week panned out. I was tired and a bit achy after Monday, but some (more than intended) recovery running for the rest of the week helped the legs and felt I could have kept going for another few miles easily enough on Sunday.

Plan for this week is a bit lower in mileage than I covered this week, but only by a few miles. All going well, I'll be back to the club tomorrow evening, so I reckon the rest of the week will be run at a recovery pace. I had pencilled in the Dunboyne 10k for this Sunday, but don't think I'll be able to make it.

Weekly totals
Running: 38.01 miles
Cycling: 20.1 miles

YTD totals
Running: 209 miles
Cycling: 318 miles

skyblue46 wrote: »

Are you back on plan with L again since you got over the injury?

At the moment, I'm just following my own plan to build up slowly, to get back on track, so to speak. Next progression is back to the club this week and if all goes well, I'll add a second weekly session in a few weeks time.

Plan:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Club session
Wednesday: 4 miles recovery
Thursday: 6 miles easy
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 3 mile tempo
Sunday: 10 miles easy/lsr

Actual:

Monday: 7.8 mile detour home on the bike.

Tuesday: Down to the club with A for the "usual" Tuesday night session, only my second of the year. Standard laps on the grass, dynamic warmup followed by strides and then we were off. Session for the evening was 8 x 600 off 200 active recovery. Had felt a slight twinge in right hamstring that'd bothered me on Sunday's long run on the final stride, so was wary starting the session. Thankfully, there was nothing more to report on that front after that.

The actual session was tough enough, with a stiff breeze making the home straight challenging. The first rep was done mostly near the back of a group, but after that the group started to splinter and I ended up pacing myself around, as tends to happen. The reps got tougher as the session progressed, but just tried to focus on my form, which seemed to work for the most part. Even managed a mini-push for the last 50 metres of the final rep.

Calves were tight again this week, but I went through this when I started with the club initially last October, so I'm not overly concerned about it and hopefully it's something that will lessen over the next couple of weeks.

Splits|Time|Distance|Avg Pace|Avg HR|Avg Run Cadence
1|02:20.3|0.38|06:11|125|181
3|02:20.8|0.37|06:19|144|187
5|02:20.6|0.37|06:22|156|186
7|02:21.5|0.37|06:21|155|185
9|02:21.4|0.37|06:26|155|187
11|02:20.0|0.37|06:20|153|188
13|02:24.7|0.37|06:26|149|188
15|02:19.0|0.37|06:12|150|193
Summary|29:44:00|4.09|07:16|149|182

Distance: 8.75 miles

Wednesday: Easy recovery run along Griffith Avenue with A. Legs were tired and calves tight, but nothing to report other than that.

Distance: 4.28 miles @ 9:34, avg. hr: 128

Thursday: Another recovery run, this one a commute to work. Legs very tired and calves still tight.

Distance: 5.01 miles @ 10:09, avg. hr: 130

Friday: Nada, zip, zilch, nothing!

Saturday: I'd pencilled in a 3 mile tempo session for Saturday. Decided on Friday to try one of the sessions I was given in December, that looked more complicted than it was in reality. The most taxing part was setting it up on the Garmin.

Warmup
1 mile @ 7:50 - 8:03
3 min rec
2 x 2 min @ 7:26 - 7:38 / 60s
1200m @ 7:50 - 8:03
2 min rec
4 x 1 min @ 7:26 - 7:38 / 60s
Cooldown

Paces were to be easy tempo for the longer intervals and tempo for the shorter ones. The paces are roughly equivalent to those I've run this session at previously, when targets were set at 8:00 and 7:30.

Overall the session went well. Paces were a bit off, but the tree cover in Albert College makes these more difficult to get right. For the most part I'd to dial the intervals back as opposed to pushing the pace for the last bit.

Splits|Time|Distance|Avg Pace|Avg HR|Avg Run Cadence
4|07:53.4|1|07:53|152|183
5|03:00|0.29|10:18|138|174
6|02:00|0.27|07:20|154|183
7|01:00|0.11|09:31|155|177
8|02:00|0.28|07:13|152|181
9|01:00|0.1|10:28|150|171
10|05:48.9|0.75|07:48|154|181
11|02:00|0.2|10:03|141|177
12|01:00|0.13|07:31|147|183
13|01:00|0.11|09:18|152|157
14|01:00|0.14|07:16|150|179
15|01:00|0.1|10:23|150|170
16|01:00|0.13|07:43|153|176
17|01:00|0.1|09:44|158|177
18|01:00|0.14|07:00|151|180
19|01:00|0.1|09:39|147|174

Distance: 7.5 miles in total

Sunday: Spent a lazy morning in bed after the Leinster match on Saturday night and headed out with A at about 11, out through the PP and back through Tolka Valley Park. It was breezy enough, so we decided against returning along the canal. Legs were tired starting off, but got into it after a while and happy enough overall with how it went.

Distance: 10.01 miles @ 9:46, avg. hr: 126

Weekly totals
Running: 37.8 miles
Cycling: 26.9 miles

YTD totals
Running: 279 miles
Cycling: 403 miles

Plan:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Club session
Wednesday: 5 miles recovery
Thursday: 6 miles easy
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 3 mile easy
Sunday: Great Ireland Run

Actual:

Monday: Nothing

Tuesday: Much of Monday afternoon and evening was spent in a hostelry after a funeral, so didn't feel up to the club session. Headed out locally with A instead to get some easy miles in.

Distance: 6.22 miles @ 9:36, avg. hr: 131

Wednesday: Easy runmute in to work. Legs tired with the combination of Monday's overexertions and Tuesdays run.

Distance: 4.04 miles @ 9:45, avg. hr: 129

PM: Reverse runmute. Took a shorter route than in the morning, as don't want to overdo the mileage.

Distance: 3.11 miles @ 9:33, avg. hr: 128

Thursday: Another easy runmute in to work. It was a colleagues last day, so no repeat of the double from Wednesday today. Supported the Vintners Federation instead.

Distance: 4.01 @ 9:48, avg. hr: 131

Friday: Nothing

Saturday: Headed out for the inaugural Royal Canal Parkrun in Kilcock with A. There was a good crowd of 288 finishers on a nice out and back route along the canal. Kept the effort levels easy, although that was more difficult into the wind on the way back. Finished up with a "stride" (sprint finish) as I didn't want a couple of people that had used me as a windblock before passing with 100m+ to beat me. I'm not at all intolerant and/or competitive.

Including short warmup and cooldown, total distance was 4 miles.

Distance: 4.00 @ 9:21, avg. hr: 130

Sunday: We'd only signed up for the Great Ireland Run on Monday evening, although I'd pencilled it in before that, as part of building towards Bob Heffernan in May. I knew that my 10k PB from last year was soft. That day in late July last year for the South Dublin 10k had been hot and muggy and I'd struggled.

The prep during that week hadn't been ideal though, with multiple visits to local drink shops, including some pints after the Leinster match on Saturday evening. I was still relatively confident that I could manage sub-44, although part of me argued that after the weeks exertions, sub-45 would be perfectly acceptable. The race calculator I normally use had spat out 44:04 when I entered my MSB 5k time, and I'd been building up for a few weeks since then and that course had possibly measured long.

We quickly ruled out running up to the park on the morning, choosing instead to cycle. Locked the bikes to the metal fence around a tree and jogged down to the registration area to drop off our bags and use the facilities. Bumped into Wubble and wished good luck all around. Headed off on a far too short warmup with A and S after that and headed back to the start line to take our places at the back of the 36-45 pen. I took a detour to water a tree but managed to find A and S when I returned. An organiser saw me and A in our Crusaders singlets and said we should be up at the front, but by that time, it was too late. I've looked at the results and I don't think that either of us would have scored for the club anyway.

Got through the start line near the start of a wave and very quickly started catching and passing runners from the wave in front. For the first couple of miles, there was a lot of dodging around slower runners, joggers and walkers. At about the 1k mark, I look to my left to check that I can move over to overtake a group of slower runners and see A hot on my heels, flying. After the first mile I felt that things were starting to spread out as we turned right off Ordinance Survey road. But as soon as we turned to go down to the Furry Glen, things got very busy again as the road narrowed. For the most part, I managed to work my way through successfully enough but got boxed in a bit at least twice. I know the park well enough at this stage, as we use it regularly enough for long runs, but it's the first time running back up out of the Furry Glen that I've felt that the hill was small. Possibly it was the fact that I couldn't see that far through the crowds, but I felt strong. [7:03, 7:00]

The start of the third mile was down the Upper Glen Road towards St Marys. I'd decided beforehand that I'd need to push a bit here, so that I could manage the effort levels as we turned back up the hill at St Marys along Acres Road, a hill that I've not run before. At this stage, I was feel a couple of slight twinges, lower left calf and the right hamstring. Neither are new, so I wasn't that worried about them. Up the hill at St Marys wasn't as bad as I'd expected, although I was starting to feel the effort along Acres Road, as we battled what was mostly a cross wind. Mile 4 brought us across Chesterfield and towards the North Road. With the main hills out of the way, and the niggles mostly sibsiding, I felt more confident pushing on a bit during the fourth mile. That said, the water at 5k was much appreciated and unlike most others, I held on to it until the end, taking a couple of sips every few minutes. I was thankful of having it, as I was starting to get very warm in the balmy conditions with the heavy base layer. [7:03, 6:57]

By the end of mile 4, I'd started to feel a pain in my left arch, where I sometimes get blisters. This got progressively worse during the fifth mile and I found myself trying to land differently and move my foot inside the runner to minimise it, but nothing seemed to help, so I realised that if I didn't want the first 4/5 miles of good running to go to waste, I was just gonna have to suck it up. At the 5 mile point, we crossed Chesterfield Road again and ran onto Ordinance Survey Road for the second time. By this stage, the foot was sore, I was very warm (although the nice Summer breeze was helping with that), but I felt that I was nearly there. I was keeping a close eye on the watch to make sure the pace wasn't dropping and trying to work out what time I was likely to hit when I noticed what I thought was the 9k mark out of the corner of my eye. Cue lots of confused recalculations for the next thirty seconds or so. I was fairly sure that the splits had been accurate enough. Turned on to Furze Roads to see the 9k marker (again). The marker I saw must have been for 1k. Right, only 1k to go. I can do this! Kept pushing on and waiting for the dry retching to kick in, but it was nowhere to be found. Nearly halfway along Furze towards the finish line, there was some much needed tree cover on the right, which seemed to do a great job of blocking the wind and gave me a much needed lease of life. [6:57, 6:51]

Watch beeped for 6 miles. Right, only just over 300 metres to go. I can see the finish line. I can see a few people in front of me. Surely I can take the runner immediately in front. Extra effort, pass. Wait for fight back, but it doesn't come. I see two more runners in front, but there's only 50-60 metres left. No point in even trying to catch them. Still no dry retching, **** it, go for it! I pass between them with 5-10 metres to go. Over the line, hit stop on the Garmin. Relief. Still no dry retching. There must be something wrong. Breathing seems okay. [0.23m in 1:26 @ 6:10]

Time to grab my medal and goody bag and head back to the finish to see A cross the line. Just about make it in time to cheer her over the line.

Distance: 10k in 43:19 - PB by 3:36

Splits|Time|Distance|Avg Pace|Avg HR|Avg Run Cadence
1|07:03.2|1|07:03|152|182
2|07:00.2|1|07:00|159|184
3|07:03.8|1|07:04|165|186
4|06:57.5|1|06:57|168|179
5|06:57.6|1|06:58|170|180
6|06:51.6|1|06:52|172|188
7|01:26.3|0.23|06:10|175|191
Summary|43:20:00|6.23|06:57|165|184

Weekly totals
Running: 28.24 miles
Cycling: 36.98 miles

YTD totals
Running: 308 miles
Cycling: 441 miles

Plan:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Club session
Wednesday: 5 miles recovery
Thursday: 6 miles easy
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 3 miles easy (Parkrun - possibly not easy)
Sunday: 11 miles easy (or 8-10 if I push Parkrun)

Actual:

Monday: Nothing. Too windy to go for a longer cycle, so straight home after work.

Tuesday: The plan had originally suggested a club session, but after the race on Sunday, I reckoned that'd be too much and decided to keep it easy instead and possibly try an old L session on Wednesday instead, giving the legs an extra day's recovery.

The run was an easy "few" miles out towards the coast on one of my usual routes, through Drumcondra and out to Clontarf, before heading up to the Howth Road and back along Griffith Avenue. Ran the first 2 miles with A and then she turned for home. It really was a perfect evening for running. Legs were great for the first 3-4 miles but started to tire a bit after that.

Distance: 6.50 miles@ 9:14, avg. hr: 125

Wednesday: After deciding against the club on Tuesday, I dusted off a session from last July that L gave me and updated paces based on last weekends 10k, so
4 * 2 min @ 7:09-7:20 / 75s,
4 * 90 sec @ 6:50-7:00 / 90s,
4 * 60 sec @ 6:50-7:00 / 90.

Headed down to the seafront with A, who was out for an easy run. The session went well, although the Garmin was unsure about paces, calling me as fast or slow randomly when I was in the correct pace zone during the first set. I didn't properly work out what was going on until the second interval. That's my excuse for it being slow and I'm sticking to it. I do seem to remember this happening once before though, when I'd copied and edited a previous workout and altered the times to suit current fitness levels. I did that again this week, so there might be a bug in Garmin somewhere.

Splits|Time|Distance|Avg Pace|Avg HR|Avg Run Cadence
4|02:00|0.27|07:24|127|184
6|02:00|0.28|07:13|130|186
8|02:00|0.28|07:11|142|176
10|02:00|0.28|07:13|146|176
12|01:30|0.22|06:56|152|185
14|01:30|0.21|06:59|149|187
16|01:30|0.22|06:54|146|185
18|01:30|0.22|06:55|148|185
20|01:00|0.14|06:56|152|187
22|01:00|0.15|06:53|151|186
24|01:00|0.14|07:00|152|190
26|01:00|0.15|06:51|151|190

Distance: 9.0 miles

Thursday: Lunchtime run out to Ringsend Park for a couple of laps. Calves were angry at being made to run again so soon after the session, but were manageable.

Distance: 5.26 @ 9:43, avg. hr: 131

Friday: Nothing

Saturday: We headed down to Waterford on Friday for a couple of days, so Saturday saw some parkrun tourism in Tramore. Had decided to give this a bit of a go, despite the wine and lack of any proper hydration on Friday night. Went for a quick warmup jog with A beforehand and was already parched.

Lined up near the front surrounded mostly by kids. There's nothing worse than a gaggle of kids at the front, as they tend to start fast, and quickly slow down and get in the way. Not this time though, as although they started fast, they continued at the same or similar pace for the 5k and left me for dead. At least 7 of those that beat me were age 11-14, a few were 15-17 and there were a couple more 18-19. Great to see so many good young runners. Anyway, back to the race. By the time that the first k beeped on the watch, I was already starting to struggle and breathing was getting a bit laboured. By this stage, I'd settled in behind three of the kids (all 11-14 as it turned out). By the end of the second k, the kids were starting to slow a bit, but I knew that I didn't have it in me to overtake them. Even 2k in, my mouth felt like the Sahara on a dry day. I kept with them until about the 4k mark, when two of them decided to put the afterburners on and left trailing in their wake. Managed to push on for the last 100 or so when I heard someone breathing heavily behind me, but not enough to catch the kids in front.

I knew after 4k that I was near abouts PB time and with the push at the end, I managed a 6 second 5k PB of 20:29. Still a ways to go to break the 20 minute barrier, but going in the right direction.

Splits|Time|Distance|Avg Pace|Avg HR|Avg Run Cadence
1|03:55.5|0.62|06:19|141|186
2|04:05.9|0.62|06:36|161|190
3|04:13.7|0.62|06:48|163|186
4|04:16.0|0.62|06:52|166|187
5|03:59.1|0.6|06:38|170|186
Summary|20:30|3.09|06:39|160|187

Distance: 4.14 miles including short warmup and cooldown

Sunday: Nothing

Had to get back to Dublin from Waterford in time for the Leinster match so didn't manage to fit a run in at all.

Weekly totals
Running: 24.92 miles
Cycling: 28.17 miles

YTD totals
Running: 332 miles
Cycling: 469 miles

Plan:
Monday: 8-10 miles easy
Tuesday: 3 miles easy + strides
Wednesday: Raheny Winter League 1 mile
Thursday: 6.2 miles easy
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 4 mile tempo
Sunday: 8 mile easy

Actual:

Monday: Went out for a long run with A through Tolka Valley Park to Ashtown and then back through the park. Glorious day for a run and thankfully not as warm as I thought it was going to be. That said, I brought water and got through most of it by the end of the run.

Distance: 9:30 miles @ 9:43, avg. hr: 127

Tuesday: Gave the Crusaders track session a miss and headed out after work for some easy miles along Griffith Avenue with A. Plan was an easy few miles in preparation for our Raheny Winter League debuts on Wednesday. Kept mostly to plan, although I ran 4 miles instead of 3 and didn't include strides. So not to plan at all, really.

Distance: 4.01 miles @ 9:33, avg. hr: 126

Wednesday: So, on to Raheny for the 1 miler. aquinn drove across to Raheny with me riding shotgun. Picked up Murph_D en route. Parked up and headed in to the Raheny Shamrock clubhouse to register for the race. D has been a regular at these over the winter, but for us it was a new distance and venue for racing. It was the final race in the Winter League, so many of the top Raheny runners were out, using this as a trial for the National Road Relay teams at the weekend.

Did a couple of laps of the course with A & D, with HelenAnne joining us for the second warmup lap. It was good to get advice from both D and H, with D pointing out the 400 split markers that he uses and H suggesting that although she'd normally be in the second row of starters, with the bigger (and probably faster) field on the night, we'd be better off lining up 4-5 rows from the front. Sage advice as it turned out.

With a tip of the starters hat, we were off. Thankfully, he also shouted "Go!", as otherwise I'm sure there would have been fatalities in the tangle of legs with everyone looking to their left instead of forwards. I'm definitely not used to lining up so close to the pointy end of the field and the speed at which everyone took off was a surprise, but all seemed to survive intact. I started off quickly but SkyBlue promptly bounded past on my right. I was already going faster than intended, so "let him go". Got into my rhythm fairly quickly after that (and also slowed down a bit) and watch beeped for 0.25m at 1:28. Onto the 2nd quarter and I slowed a bit before we turned the first corner and headed downhill(ish). Tried to push the pace a bit but mostly kept it steady. Watch beeped for the halfway point with a 1:33.

I was starting to feel the heat now and my mouth really started to dry, as I gasped for air. I was still struggling to increase the pace and the 0.75 beeped a 1:31 and I knew I'd need to increase the effort levels further to hit the sub-6 target. Took the second and final turn of the Raheny course and looked in horror at the hill (slight incline) ahead, but knew that the finish was close. There was great support along here and even though I didn't know many, got great support which spurred me on. Managed to overtake H on the uphill and kept the legs driving to finish strongly in 5:58, with a last 0.25 of 1:24.

Target achieved, I chatted with S, D and L. Thankfully L had water which may well have saved my life. Headed off after chatting and rehydrating for a cooldown lap of the course with S, A and D. Spent most of that coughing and spluttering, but definitley worth it for the result. Looking at the Strava "Relative Effort" of the warmup, race and cooldown afterwards, the warmup was 6, the race 12 and the cooldown 19. Obviously the body isn't used to the effort of running that fast.

Splits|Time|Distance|Avg Pace|Avg HR|Avg Run Cadence
1|01:28.2|0.25|05:53|133|188
2|01:33.6|0.25|06:14|158|189
3|01:31.7|0.25|06:07|162|191
4|01:24.8|0.25|05:39|169|198
5|00:01.1|0|04:02|170|208
Summary|05:59.4|1|05:58|156|191

Distance: 4.3 miles overall, including warmup and cooldown

Thursday: Headed out with A on one of our standard routes to Clontarf and back via Griffith Avenue. Legs tired but other than that all okay.

Distance: 6.01 miles @ 9:37, avg. hr: 126

Friday: Nothing

Saturday: Pacing 28 minutes at St Anne's Parkrun. It was still fairly windy in the aftermath of storm Hannah, but that made the final stretch along the avenue a dream for anyone looking for a PB. Threw in a few strides during the cooldown.

Distance: 5.37 miles in total

Sunday: We were both fairly tired after dinner and drinks on Saturday evening, but braved the elements to cycle over to Raheny to support the National Road Relays. Some great racing from all those involved. Locked the bikes afterwards and headed for a bit on a jog around St Anne's with A. Annapr joined us for the first half before turning for home.

Distance: 6.01 miles @ 9:47, avg. hr: 136

Weekly totals
Running: 35.06 miles
Cycling: 37.20 miles

YTD totals
Running: 367.74 miles
Cycling: 506.01 miles

Murph_D wrote: »

Interesting to see those mile splits. Great push at start of the second half, to leave you in with a shout for the final stretch (Is it really uphill? Never noticed that, could be an optical illusion from the lines in the concrete!). If it is a hill you seem to have conquered it. Well done again.

Ah, it's barely noticeable. Strava suggests that the last "lap" (0.25m) had an elevation gain of 11ft.