The reboot!!!

token56 · 05-01-2020 3:01pm #1

Reboots are rarely as good as the original but I'm going to do my best to buck that trend.

A bit of background I'm a 32 year old male who used to do quite a lot of running of my younger days, I have two older training logs here somewhere too. Unfortunately for the past 6ish years I've led a very unhealthy and inactive lifestyle and my weight shot up to 17ish stone (I'm 5'11 for context), no one but myself to blame for this. Thankfully I got my sh*t together over the past 6 months and I've shed 4.5 stone while also getting back into a bit of running.

At the moment I'm running okish but far from my peak of 15 years ago. I'm not sure I will ever get back to that level but no harm giving it a go.

Right now my goal for the year is simple a sub 20:00 5k. This is pretty ambitious and I'm quite a bit off this at the moment but I think I can still make some relatively big gains quickly enough with some consistent running and more targeted training. I'm going to do my first park run on Saturday to give myself a bench mark.

For the past few months I've just been running to get my base level of fitness to a somewhat decent level but I'm going to try follow a bit more of a plan with some proper training sessions going forward.

I've recorded my last couple of runs so they are the following:

01/12/19
5.25 miles - 43:00

03/12/19
2.15 miles - 15:25

07/12/19
5 miles (hills) - 42:20

10/12/19
5.38 miles - 42:00

14/12/19
5.25 miles - 42:17

16/12/19
2.15 miles - 15:13

19/12/19
3.22 miles - 23:42

21/12/19
5.25 miles - 41:59

23/12/19
2 miles - 14:42

26/12/19
4 miles - 31:03

28/12/19
5 miles (hills) - 41:25

31/12/19
6 miles - 47:59

04/01/19
2.15 miles - 15:13

05/01/19
5.25 miles - 43:00

I didn't feel all that great on my last two runs but it has been a bit of messy period over the festive period with diet/sleep. All back to normal today so hopefully will feel a bit more like normal during the week.

token56 · 09-01-2020 9:40pm

07/01/2019
4.3 miles - 33:51

Windy day but treated this as a bit of an relaxed run and focused on keeping pace at 8 min/mile which I did, so happy enough.

09/01/2019
4.3 miles - 32:35

I intended for this to be another relaxed run and started out with an 8:00 mile but felt strong and picked up the pace each mile and finished with about a 7:20 mile and felt pretty good at the end of it.

Next up I am going to do a park run on Saturday in Father Collins Park. This will be my first official "race" in about 9 years. Hopefully I feel strong for it as I want to try push hard. My target is under 23:00 which I certainly feel I have in me, but lets see what happens.

OOnegative · 09-01-2020 10:11pm

Your running all your runs way to quick, your paces are the lower end of 8 mins or below for most of your runs. You’ll end up getting nowhere doing that. Plus runs of just over 2 miles are of no use.

Slow down, like to 8.45/9 minute pace, it’ll serve you better in the long run. If you wanted to throw in some strides into your runs for something faster do ,but slow down after them!!

shotgunmcos · 09-01-2020 10:16pm

+1 Welcome to logs!
Have to agree with the feedback. I once fell into the trap of running everything at 8min miles. Short story... I learned the hard way. Definitely keep 1 or 2 runs at steady 8min pace but dial 2 back to 9min and maybe 1 with some faster intervals. Basically, mix it up!

token56 · 09-01-2020 11:29pm

Thanks for the advice. I guess I'm coming from a place of 6 months ago not even being able to run 2 miles straight so I've just been used to pushing myself on most my runs since then and seeing good gains but I know this is not sustainable.

Those short runs, i.e. less than 4 miles, are just laziness and I will be cutting them out.

I still don't have great strength in my legs so will have to gradually increase my distance but you are right I need to start managing my runs better if I am going to do this.

token56 · 11-01-2020 1:14pm

11/01/2020

Parkrun 5k - 22:40

Overall I'm pretty happy with this, I hit my target of under 23 mins and I feel like there is a lot of room for improvement. I didn't actually feel that great on this, I never felt strong so to speak. It was quite a windy morning and that definitely sapped the energy from my legs a bit. But still a good benchmark that I am taking as my PB.

It was my first parkrun and I really enjoyed the bit of atmosphere at it. I will definitely be back to do some more throughout the year.

My next target is the Streets of Portlaoise 5k on St Patricks day. I would like to be getting well into the 21:xx's for this. In between now and then I'm going to try increase the miles and quality of my runs. Onwards and upwards!

token56 · 12-01-2020 3:22pm

12/01/2019

7.43 miles - 1:07:37 (9:06 pace)

Taking on board the advice given here. Slowed my pace down and added an extra 2 miles to this run. This felt very relaxed and I'm sure I could have added on a few miles more but I will do this gradually over the next few weeks.

token56 · 16-01-2020 9:32pm

14/01/2020
6.45 miles - 53:48 (8:20 pace)

I had intended this as a medium effort run targeting 8:30 pace but was a bit quicker. Felt pretty good.

16/01/2020
4.3 miles - 31:22 (7:18 pace)

I wanted to get out for a run yesterday which I planned to be a hard run but was a bit under the weather and decided to do a hard run today. Somehow this is the same pace that I ran the 5k at the weekend but I really didn't think I was going as fast. This is the strongest I have felt on a run so far.

I probably won't be getting out tomorrow so plan for the weekend is two easy to medium longish runs.

token56 · 19-01-2020 9:56pm

18/01/2020
7.5 miles - 01:04:22 (8:35 pace)

19/01/2020
7.5 miles - 01:05:13 (8:42 pace)

Lovely crisp morning runs, I love these conditions!

This was the same route both days but it was a new route so wasn't quite sure of markings for distance so didn't really pay attention to time and just went with how I was feeling and tried to keep it pretty relaxed. Felt good on both so happy.

Total miles for the week is 25.75, not bad but I would like to get this above 30.

I would also like to start doing a speed session. When I was younger we would do sessions of 300's, 400's, 600's but I'm really not sure what the best approach is for me based on where I currently am.

token56 · 23-01-2020 10:29pm

21/01/2020
6.45 miles - 53:55 (8:22 pace)

Relaxed run at easy to medium effort. Not much to report on this one.

22/01/2020
3.22 miles - 22:55 (7:07 pace)

I had planned on a longer run but something unexpected came up which meant I didn't have as much time as I would have liked. So decided to just do 3 laps of my usual route and push the legs. I didn't actually feel that strong on this but the pace was good, a bit surprised to be honest.

23/01/2020
5.38 miles - 40:20 (7:30 pace)

Found this a bit more difficult than I think I should, I might have been feeling the previous days run more than I realized. Regardless I'm happy with it. It was a good pace.

Next up, take a break tomorrow and then some easier longs runs at the weekend. My last few runs over 7 miles have still been around 8:30 to 8:40 pace. I will try slow this down a fraction more this weekend. I also want to extend one of the days out to 8+ miles.

token56 · 25-01-2020 6:03pm

25/01/2020
10.5 miles - 01:32:01 (8:46 pace)

I decided to push the distance today and in fact this is furthest I have ever ran, in my life. I know its not a huge distance really but if you had told me 6 months ago I would weigh 60+ pounds less and be running 10+ miles right now I wouldn't have believed it. So even though it's a bit silly I feel a small bit proud of myself for getting to where I am today.

As for the run itself, this was 2 of my usual laps in the phoenix park. The 2 laps were almost identical in time and I felt my pace was very consistent. The muscles are a bit sore afterwards but I expected that. I don't think I'm going to go much further than 10 miles on any individual run before the 5k in March. Getting in one of these plus a couple of 7/6 mile runs a week is good right now I feel.

token56 · 26-01-2020 11:26pm

26/01/2020
5.25 miles - 43:50 (8:21 pace)

I had intended on running 7.5 miles but I was feeling yesterdays run in my legs and just didn't have the energy in my legs. I'm still on a calorie deficit diet the past couple of weeks in an effort to loose weight but I think maybe too much. Going to increase my daily calorie intake on days when I run a bit more.

Total weekly miles - 30.8

Happy with this. However I am going snowboarding next weekend for a week and I don't think I'm going to get much running done that week unless I can find a treadmill. I will try to add a few more miles during the coming week but won't get much done over the next two weekends unfortunately.

token56 · 31-01-2020 3:28pm

28/01/2020
6.45 miles - 49:20 (7:38 pace)

This was a nice tempo run. Felt strong on it even with the bit of a breeze swirling around.

30/01/2020
6.45 miles - 52:50 (8:11 pace)

This was supposed to be an easy run and it felt pretty easy although the pace was a bit fast for a classic easy run.

I had certainly wanted to get out for another run or two before I head off on holidays for a week but work restricted the time I had available.

If I can find a treadmill while I am away I will try do something but I am not going to stress over it. Once I get back I will have a few weeks to put in some hard miles before the race in March.

token56 · 12-02-2020 9:04pm

10/02/20
3.22 miles - 23:10 (7:11 pace)

12/02/20
5.38 miles - 41:48 (7:46 pace)

Back from the holidays last week and bar a very minor concussion which I've recovered from I'm injury free thankfully. On the holidays I did have access to a treadmill and I did a small bit on it one day but the body was pretty tired from the snowboarding and after the minor concussion I didn't do anything more on it. I took the weekend to recover too and back into training mode now.

First run this week I just wanted to try get a measure of where I was after not running for 10 days so pushed out just over 5K. A very windy night and the legs were pretty dead but still maintained a decent pace.

For the second run I was planning a 6.45 mile run but could feel my right hip getting quite strained after 4.5 miles so stopped a lap short. I can still feel a bit of pain now when resting so I think this was the right decision to stop. I picked up a new pair of runners during the week and this is my first night wearing them so maybe this why I was getting the pain. They are a pair of Adidas Solar Glide's so a bit more stability than I had before and felt pretty comfortable on the run. I did feel like I was bouncing a bit more in my stride and my knees were a bit higher so maybe my hips are just not used to that.

The plan is to go for an easier 6.45 mile run tomorrow providing my hip feels good and I'll try the new runners again. If I'm still feeling pain in the hip I will switch back to my old runners at the weekend and see if there is any difference.

token56 · 13-02-2020 8:40pm

13/02/2020

6.45 miles - 53:31 (8:17 pace)

Wore my new runners again, thankfully my hip was pain free while running. It was still a bit sore throughout the day and now again after but so are a couple of other muscles. I think my body is just getting used to it all again after the bit of a break.

Overall felt very comfortable and easy on this run so pretty happy and I can feel a bit of energy/strength returning to the legs.

The plan for this weekend is two longish runs but I may only get out for one depending on some personal stuff.

Also just to add I have officially signed up for the 5K on the 17th of March so no backing out of this now. At the moment I am setting my target as mid to low 21's. I think this should certainly be possible if I run well.

I've also signed up for the Simon Home Run 5 mile on the 7th of March. This is just as my work is trying to get a crowd out to run it. I won't necessarily race it at 100% as my main focus is the 5K but I will try do it at a decent enough pace and target sub 38 min.

token56 · 16-02-2020 8:42pm

15/02/2020
7.5 mile - 01:02:54 (8:23 pace)

16/02/2020
5.25 mile - 44:29 (8:28)

Saturday was probably the worst conditions I've ever ran in. Particularly just after 6.5 miles the mother of all showers hit me and I was just drenched to the bone. I had planned to add on another 2.5 miles but I just couldn't move I was that cold and wet and had to finish.

Today's run I didn't feel great on to be honest and my legs just didn't have much in them even though this was an easy pace. Still its miles in the legs.

Total weeks mileage 27.8. Overall pretty happy with the week after 10 days of little to no running. Next week I will try to up the mileage a small bit again. I'm also plan to throw in a hard session, probably on Wednesday. I'm thinking 4x1 mile with 2 min recovery and 1 mile warm up and warm down. Doing this at 5K race pace and practice a bit of speed endurance.

On to another week.

token56 · 20-02-2020 12:02am

18/02/2020
5.38 miles - 37:54 (7:03 pace)

I wanted to do a tempo run here but the pace was probably a bit quicker than what I should be doing for a temp run. Once I noticed the pace I was at I just put the head down and said I would stick with it and I'm quite happy I was able to maintain the pace for the distance. This is quicker than I have run over any of the shorter distances thus far so not bad going.

With trying to run more miles but a bit slower in general I was unsure whether I was actually making any improvements but this would tell me I am. I know I have to be patient and the times will keep dropping.

19/02/2020
6.45 miles - 55:00 (8:31 pace)

Easy pace recovery run. Not much to report on this one. My legs felt a bit heavy after yesterday but no problems.

token56 · 23-02-2020 2:08pm

22/02/2020
11.58 miles - 01:41:33 (8:46 pace)

I had been planning on getting out for the interval session on Thursday but my hip was quite sore that day so decided to take a 2 day break and focus on getting a long run in at the weekend. I didn't realize the Operation Transformation 5K was on in the park Saturday so had to alter my route a bit making this about a mile longer than planned.

A lot of running into a strong headwind but that's what I need to get some more strength in my legs.

Bang on 90 minutes into this my calf decided to cramp so had to stop twice to stretch it out but overall happy with run. A good one to get in to the legs and good decision to skip the session I think.

23/02/2020
7.44 miles - 59:53 (8:03 pace)

I was expecting my legs to feel a bit heavy after yesterdays run but felt pretty good. Again some varying winds and ran along the route I will be doing for the 5 mile race in two weeks time. There is a nice little drag for the last kilometer or so. Good to know in advance. I'm feeling my hip now a bit after this but should be fine.

Total weekly miles - 30.85

Not a bad week off 4 days of running. More of the same next week but I really want to get that interval session in so I will probably do that first on Tuesday all going to plan.

token56 · 26-02-2020 8:38pm

24/02/2020
1.5 mile warm up

4 x 1 mile with 2 mins jogging interval
Mile 1 - 6:44
Mile 2 - 6:47
Mile 3 - 6:49
Mile 4 - 6:51

1.5 warm down

Total Distance 7 Miles

I didn't feel good on this at all, no strength or power and I am pretty disappointed with it to be honest, especially with each interval getting slower. I was aiming for 6:40 per mile but I guess I'm just not as quick as I thought I was.

I really do feel like I'm lacking strength/power in my legs. I think my cadence is high enough, just not propelling myself very far forward. Time for some hill sprints I think. I also really should have started these interval sessions a couple of weeks back but I can't change that now. Going forward I will definitely do my best to have one interval session a week. Next week I will shorten to 800's and see what I can do.

25/02/2020
6.45 miles - 46:56 (7:16 pace)

Over the past few runs I've been feeling pain/discomfort in my left hip and in particular in the inside of my left knee. Not really muscular pain in my knee, more like the bones are being stressed. I've a feeling its the new runners so for this run I put back on my old pair as a test and I definitely felt a lot less pressure on the inside of my knee and was relatively comfortable from a pain point of view on it. I don't feel as quick in the old pair but better to be able to run slower than not run at all so I'm going to switch back for the next few weeks until after my races anyway.

In the mean time I will look into seeing a good physio to try and get an idea of what is going exactly. In fact if anyone is reading this and could recommend a good physio in Dublin, or around the midlands let me know. It would be much appreciated.

As for the run itself this was a good tempo run, happy enough with it as the legs were a bit heavy after yesterdays session. Unfortunately I probably won't be able to get out again until Saturday. I will try sneak something in Friday but its unlikely.

Treviso · 26-02-2020 9:39pm

What was the thinking behind running a speed session followed by a tempo the next day, no wonder you're feeling a discomfort? You need an easy or rest day in between

As a relatively new runner myself, I can only preach what has been preached to me before. You need to slow down your easy miles and train to current fitness. Your tempo training pace indicates you can run a sub 20 5k

token56 · 26-02-2020 9:58pm

There wasn't any particular logic behind running these two sessions back to back and in terms of discomfort I was a lot better today than my easy runs at the weekend. Ideally I would have run an easy session this evening and the tempo session tomorrow. Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to get out over the next two days due to work related reasons and just did the tempo run. Maybe this wasn't the right choice.

On my pace I would definitely agree my tempo run last week was too fast but I thought my pace this evening was more in line with what I should be doing. I am pushing for a sub 21:30 5K in a few weeks and I'm using the following calculator as a rough guide for my paces in training.

https://runsmartproject.com/calculator/

My easy run pace, yeah it is probably still a bit too fast. I find it very difficult running slower than 9:00 mile pace for any sort of distance but I guess I just need to do it sometimes.

Thank you for the advice.

Treviso · 26-02-2020 10:21pm

Wow never realised the jack daniels calculator was so aggressive. Using this calculator gives a lot less aggressive paces - https://runfastcoach.com/calc2/index.php

I suppose easy pace is different for everyone. If I was following JD paces, my easy miles would be between 7.50 and 8.30 - I'm doing mine at around 9min miles. If you keep your easy days really easy, as in being embarrassed to be seen running that slowly, you'll be able to push those sessions more

token56 · 26-02-2020 10:35pm

Yeah a big difference between the two, I like the look of your one better

. The pace of my tempo runs are closer to CV runs (a new phrase to me) in that calculator.

The logic on the easy runs makes absolute sense. I guess I just need to fight the instinct to run that bit faster on the easy runs.

token56 · 01-03-2020 9:17pm

29/02/2020
5 miles - 38:40 (7:44 pace)
5 miles - 48:00 (9:36 pace)

Total 10 miles

This was done on a 2.5 mile hill run loop that I used to every week when I was younger but don't get the opportunity to do much any more. Since I'm not getting much opportunity for serious hills at the moment I wanted to make the most of it so pushed a bit for 2 laps and then 2 very easy laps. The 2 laps I pushed felt good but I certainly have a long way to go before I feel strong on hills.

The body felt pretty ok on all of this. A few little twinges but nothing I couldn't handle.

01/03/2020
7.5 miles - 01:06:55 (8:55 pace)

An easy recovery run. I did think I was running a bit slower than but it was a bit of an unfamiliar route so wasn't quite sure of my pacing. The legs were a bit heavy from the day before but again overall everything felt relatively ok.

Total Weekly Miles : 31.45 miles.

The week ended a bit better than it started. I'm not 100% sure on my plan for this week. I plan to do an interval session Tuesday, maybe 6 or 8 x 800. The rest of the week I'm not sure. I have the Simon Home run 5 mile on Saturday. The closer it gets the more I feel like I wouldn't mind racing a bit harder than I had initially planned. I'll reassess after Tuesday's session.

token56 · 04-03-2020 11:19pm

03/03/2020
1.5 mile warm up

6 x 800m with 90 secs jogging interval
#1 - 03:00
#2 - 03:01
#3 - 03:04
#4 - 03:06
#5 - 03:07
#6 - 03:06

1.5 mile warm down

Total distance 6 miles

As I change distance on the interval sessions it is difficult to gauge what pace I should be running at and what that actually feels like as it has been so long since I did it. In my head I thought that somewhere around 3:10 pace for these would be right.

Again while I obviously started too fast I was able to hold the pace a bit better over the last couple. At least I have an idea now of what pace I should be doing for this session.

Question for anyone is 90s interval to much for this type of session or ok?

04/03/2020
8.83 miles - 01:14:37 (8:27 pace)

As it was a nice evening and had my gear with me I decided to run home from work. There is a shorter route I could take but the route today brings me all along the coast by Clontarf, Dollymount etc which was quite nice.

The pace was a bit fast but I didn't account for the extra weight of my bag pack when thinking about doing this and I probably ran a bit harder than necessary to make up for carrying the extra weight. But I felt quite good on the run and the legs are feeling ok now.

I am still feeling my left knee a bit of the last two runs, nothing major but just a bit strained. I have been thinking about it and it has only just occurred to me that this is the knee in which I had my ACL reconstruction done over 6 years ago. While I did a serious 6 months rehab after the surgery and I have not had any problems with it since, I have lived a very sedentary live for 5 of the last 6 years. The last 6 months is by far and away the most exercise I have done since the surgery all that time ago. I'm thinking maybe it is all related but I'm not concerned at the moment. As the evenings get longer I will hopefully be able to run on a lot more grass which should lighten the load on the joints.

Regarding the race on Saturday I've decided I'm going to give it a proper go and see what I can do. I will have 10 days to the 5K which is plenty of time to recover. With that in mind I will take it easy tomorrow, maybe an easy 4 miles or something and then rest until Saturday.

One very last thing to say is that my weight has finally dipped under 12 stone which makes it over 5 stone lost in total. It is probably 10 years since I've been at this weight so I am quite happy with that and its at least one number going in the right direction, now I just need my running to do the same

token56 · 07-03-2020 3:16pm

05/03/2020
4 miles - No time

I started this is off easy and built up to a quickish pace and held this for a mile then back down easy. I felt awful on this. The long run the previous day had taken a lot more out of my legs than I realized. I was just hoping I would recover for Saturday.

07/03/2020

Simon Home Run 5 Mile with 1 mile warm up/1 mile warm down

Race Report:

Before starting I wasn't really sure how fast I could go, my legs still felt quite tired from my midweek long run. I won't be making that mistake again leading up to a race. Last week in the back of my mind I was thinking I should be capable of a sub 35 or at least close even with the few hills on the course but being realistic I set myself a goal of sub 36 on the warm up.

Mile 1 : My plan was to try hold 7 min miles for the first 3 miles as this was pretty flat and I knew after this the hills would come into play and I would be a bit slower, especially given how my legs were feeling. We had the wind in our back starting which has quite nice. I was running at what I thought was a decent pace, just trying to stay in with a group who were picking off some people that sprinted off at the start and were beginning to slow. Came to the mile 1 marker on the course and the watch said 7:30. Ok, I didn't think I was this slow but I wasn't feeling great so maybe it was accurate, head down a keep working.

Mile 2 : During this mile we start turning back into the wind. I'm catching a couple of more people and some others are passing by me but I feel like I'm holding my pace. The legs don't feel great but just keep pushing. I see a guy from work in front of me struggling a bit so I work to try catch him which gives me a bit of extra motivation. I couldn't see the mile 2 marker on the course so I wasn't sure of pace for this mile.

Mile 3 : At the start of this mile I was beginning to get a bit isolated. There was a couple of people in front who were pulling away and a bit of a gap to anyone behind me. A bit of a cross wind but a nice down hill section which gave me the chance to speed up a bit and try catch the people in front. I was able to just get up to the last person in this group but couldn't stay with them for long. The mile 3 marker came and my watch said 20:55. I wasn't sure what to think at this point other than the markers may not be too accurate.

Mile 4 : This is where the hills start. A long drag before there is a bit of undulation. My pace definitely slowed a bit but I could see someone in a white singlet in front who was slowing more and I just worked hard to try catch him. Just before the end of the mile I manage to overtake him however a quick look behind and I could see there were people catching me too... not good. Passed by the mile 4 marker at roughly 28:20. My legs feel awful at this stage and I definitely don't have any strength to try go faster, just focus on holding pace and not getting slower.

Mile 5 : This starts with a quarter mile down hill. I tried to speed up as much as possible but the legs were dead. White singlet guy from before flies by me, I'm not quite sure what he's doing but I don't try to go with him. At the end of the down hill its a turn for home all up a nice gradual incline. I'm struggling on the incline but I see white singlet guy is struggling even more so my goal is just to catch him and I manage to do this quick enough. Unfortunately two other people pass me by. I do my best to do with them but I can't. Almost there and it flattens out just before the finish line. A quick look behind me a there is someone pushing a buggy catching me...a buggy

. Fair play to him but it made me feel pretty crap and he was definitely not passing me. I gave everything I had left and crossed the line.

Finished
Gross Time : 36:03
Net Time : 35:57
Position 65

My net time was under 36 so technically I hit my target but I am left feeling a bit deflated after it all especially with how I struggled at the end and seeing the guy pushing a buggy catching me.

I know I've run faster in training but where I run for most of my training is all too flat. Plus training doesn't matter a dam if you can't replicated it on race day. The long run during the week didn't help me either and I was a bit naive really doing that. I need to check my ego a bit because I am running in training like I am fitter than I actually am.

On the positive side of things this wasn't a race I had specifically targeted and I know there is big room for improvement in the future. My time up to 3 miles if accurate also puts me in relative good standing for the 5K on St Patrick's day. Anyway today gives me a target to come back and try smash next year. For now I'll get an easy run in tomorrow and then just going to focus on the week ahead.

token56 · 08-03-2020 1:10pm

08/03/2020
5.25 miles - 46:18 (8:49 pace)
6 x 30 sec strides

Easy/Recovery run after yesterdays race. I was struggling to find the motivation for this but glad I did get out. Legs still feeling tired but that's to be expected, apart from that the body felt fine. I also did a couple of strides after the run.

Total weekly miles - 31

For next week I think it should still be ok to get out for an interval session on Tuesday once I take the rest of the week relatively easy. I will try replicated this weeks session of 6 x 800, maybe a touch easier pace. Apart from this I'm thinking one tempo run and then just some easy runs until the race on St Patrick's day.

token56 · 10-03-2020 8:10pm

10/03/2020
1.5 mile warm up

6 x 800m with 90 secs jogging interval
#1 - 03:01
#2 - 03:04
#3 - 03:05
#4 - 03:07
#5 - 03:03
#6 - 03:03

1.5 mile warm down

Total distance 6 miles

Same session as last week. Still struggling to get my pace correct on the 1st one, I was aiming for around 3:04-3:05. But I'm pretty please with it all apart from number 4, this was just a mental slip up more than anything. Towards the end and coming around a bend which is up a bit of an incline I switched off mentally and my paced drop a small bit and I dropped the couple of seconds. Overall though more consistent than last time and finished stronger too.

Tomorrow will be an easy run, ~5 miles and followed by something a bit quicker on Thursday, not quite tempo pace but something close. Then just easy running at the weekend but nothing too long.

Treviso · 10-03-2020 9:16pm

Nice session there - it seems that speed isn't your issue if you can bang those 800m out at those times. You might be similar to me in that you need to work on endurance to improve your performance. I would focus more on longer tempo or progression type runs over speed sessions for the moment. And if possible increase the easy weekly mileage. Keep the consistency up and you'll see plenty of improvement

token56 · 12-03-2020 10:51pm

Thanks Treviso. Yeah I'm happy there is still some sign of speed in the legs. I think you are right, even though I did a lot running when I was younger all I ever did was hard running back then so I'm learning a lot at the moment. I've only just been reading about progressive long runs and I think these will certainly help. I've also been looking at some of your tempo sessions, they are fairly serious but I might try replicate a few over the next couple of weeks (in distance obviously, not time

).

As for the last two days

11/03/2020
5.38 miles - 47:20 (8:48 pace)

Easy/recovery run, at this stage I still had the race in mind so was keeping the distance low enough.

12/03/2020
4.3 miles - 29:53 (6:57 pace)

So obviously today all races were cancelled which is disappointing but really nothing in the grand scheme of what is going in the world at the moment. Regardless I was feeling a bit depressed this evening, at the cancellation, the weather was miserable and just everything going on and I was so close to not going out. But I convinced myself to get out and ended up doing this run in anger really.

I went at a decent pace from the start but didn't feel like I was racing it. I felt really good through out it, legs felt much stronger, no real niggles and the pace was consistent through out. This is obviously harder than tempo pace which I knew going around but I wanted a bit of a blow out. However I was far from all out and had more in the tank.

Obviously I'm very happy with the pace, this is the first run over a decent distance that I have averaged under 7 min pace which is very nice to see. I'm fairly confident I would have been close to breaking 21 mins had the race gone ahead on Tuesday but that's just hypothetical now.

I'm sure everyone is in the same boat right now not knowing when things will return to normal which makes it difficult to plan anything. But I feel like I'm turning a bit of a corner at the moment so I don't want to ease up. I think over the weekend I'm going to try put together a solid 10 week training plan imagining there is a 5k at the end of it and the goal of getting as close to 20 mins as possible. If there is a 5k I can do then great, if not, the training certainly won't have been wasted.

token56 · 15-03-2020 3:51pm

14/05/2020
12.1 miles - 01:46:44 (8:49 pace)

This was an easy/recovery run. Felt a few muscles get a bit tight along the way but nothing serious. A good run and I tried to stick to the easy pace as best I could.

15/05/2020
8.1 miles - 01:06:50 (8:15 pace)

I tried to do this as a progressive run of 5 times a ~2 mile loop and had intended to do 10 miles but my right hamstring was getting quite tight so I stopped short after 4 laps. I started out at 9 min pace reducing by 30 secs every 2 miles. This would have had me finish with the last 2 miles at 7 min pace which I think would have been good although I think I would have struggled with that today. But still I'm still happy with the run and my pace was pretty spot on the whole way.

I have a fitbit charge and tried to use this with my phone to measure the distance/pace etc but I definitely think it is a bit off. This had a lap at about 2.15 miles but I'm quite sure it is closer to 2 miles. My fitbit had my pace about 20-25 secs faster per mile which I really don't think I was. So I'm taking my own more conservative measurement for the moment. I'm considering getting a nice Garmin but will wait for the whole virus thing to hopefully blow over first.

I can definitely see this type of run helping when I get the full 10 miles in. I'm not sure it is something you would wanted to do every week or maybe every 2 weeks. Maybe someone could advise?

Still working on my 10 (maybe 12) week training plan. I'm also working from home for the foreseeable future so presuming we can all still get outside and run for the next weeks I will have plenty of time. I'm also planning to try factor in some decent strength and conditioning on a regular basis, something I'm not doing at all right now.

Total weekly miles : 35.88

The reboot!!!

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