Last of the Summer Wine

OOnegative wrote: »

Why not run this with Ferris & Cranky D? Reading you ran it solo?

Their pace is a good bit faster than mine - if I meet up for these runs it’s only for warmup, cooldown or coffee after! We do meet up for easy runs regularly enough.

Week 14 cont.

Fri 4 Sep

10.1k recovery

Met up with S for our now customary Grangegorman and PP 10k. Chatty and restorative.

Sat 5 Sep

16.1k easy @ 5.33

In Donegal, so a variation on one of the standard 10-mile routes, taking in the nearby town lands of Croagh and Castleogary. Very pleasant - these Hanson ‘easy’ weekends are badly needed sometimes.

Sun 6 Sep

16.3k easy @ 5:50

First couple of miles with A, then we split up and I headed down around the route of the St. John’s Point 10k - a race I hope to get to do again sometime. Another glorious morning, washed clean by the earlier rain.

I had signed up to run 800m at the National Masters today, but the timing didn’t suit, as the requirement to show up at the stadium 2 hours before the event would have been too much of a rush, never mind the long drive home which would have seen me show up stiff as a board. So I canned it. I would have been the only M55 in my event anyway. Still, it seems a shame to waste a rare opportunity to race. Its great that it went ahead, and I see there were some excellent performances and a couple of new records set. Kudos!

This week: 90 kms (56 miles).
This year: 2,507 (1,558)

Week 15 cont.

Wed 9 Sep

Rest.

Thu 10 Sep

21.2k inc 16.1 @ MP (80% HRR)

First of three 10-mile MP runs on the plan. Another early start. Less windy today, water was very still as I jogged along the seafront warming up. Bumped into Ferris again, then FBOT and once again we parted company at the Baths as they headed off on their sub-3 paced tempo. I took a slightly longer warmup than usual (two miles) this morning as I felt my HR was taking a bit longer to settle, but ignored it once I got into the MP. The last few runs on this route have been fairly windy so this morning’s outward leg actually felt a bit harder than usual with a much lighter tailwind. After the honeymoon mile one, I was feeling fairly challenged for a couple of miles. Passed KennyG coming in the opposite direction at Bayside, so it was good to see the full Hanson contingent out nice and early this morning. Enjoyed waving at the sub-3 train early enough on their return leg, before turning myself at Sutton Cross and girding the loins for the longer-than-usual return leg, as I’d front loaded the warmup and had to get all the way to Alfie Byrne Road before hitting 10 miles. Again, I tried to lean into the breeze a little to minimise the effects, and I was happy at the way I was able to get in the zone and reel off the kms, throwing the odd eye on the average pace to make sure I didn’t underdo things on the way back. The result was probably the strongest MP run in some time, based on how I was feeling. Pleased afterwards to see the HR was right where it should be, suggesting things are coming together nicely. Finished the 10 miles right on the money in terms of pace (7:41/m) and HR reserve (168 or 80%).

A good one. The miles are piling up on the Zoom Flys, I’ll miss them when they’re done. Can’t justify buying another pair as I’ve got a couple of pairs of Pegasus sitting in their boxes ready to go.

This week: 51 kms (32 miles)
This year: 2,558 (1,590)

Hanson ??? Week 16

Well, we have been put out of our misery again, with Galway Bay postponed til May 2021. This happened during my Tues session.

Mon 14 Sep

10.9k easy @ 5:40 (61% HRR)

6 easy miles from the GAA club again - deviated towards St. Anne’s this time, which was quite busy with many kids and adult sports training going on, and many strollers enjoying the balmy conditions. Was thinking this would be the first run of less than an hour in several weeks, but I miscalculated the route and ended up being out for almost an extra km. On retrieving the GAA kid, I found myself joining in a fruitless search of the darkening pitches for the coach’s lost car keys (and our lad’s dropped fitbit). No luck on either count. Enjoyed the run though - although legs quite tired.

Tue 15 Sep

Strength: 4 x 1.5 miles (800m jog recovery) (No HR strap)

I am delighted to be back in the office, hopefully for a while as working from home doesn’t really agree with me. I’m also starting a new job contract, in the same place as the last job, so the new office is also the old. One of its features is that it’s in the attic of a four storey building with no lift, so I’ve been reconditioning my legs to the stairs. It’s in Trinity College, and one of the perks is having a grass track available during the summer months. I hadn’t expected to find the track marked out at all this year, considering there isn’t really any demand, but sure enough it was lined and looking quite inviting, although the grass is a little longer than usual. Anyway I decided it would be wrong under the circumstances to do this session anywhere else, despite the sweltering lunchtime heat. I found all of the reps tough, to be honest. The legs were still quite heavy, but hit the target pace (7:31/mi) quite well. This would have been an easier session on a road or a real track, but it’s good to be back in the auld environs.

Splits (target 11:16):
11:14 11:14 11:15 11:15

Enjoyed a sandwich in the same College Park afterwards, watching an Asian runner in long sleeves and long trousers running laps. Quite a few laps. When she finished, she retrieved a raincoat from a nearby bench. I suppose acclimatisation takes a while.

This week: 28 kms (17 miles)
This year: 2,628 (1,633)

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Congrats on the new job, the track looked fab in the strava photo. Is there a plan B for D-Day now Galway is off?

Cheers, AM, nice to have the track all right, even if only for a couple of weeks.

It's Plan C we need as Galway was already Plan B - not sure yet. One or two options, but it looks like anything outside Dublin is just too risky to plan, as there's a possibility of travel restrictions. Might have to be a TT.

Week 16 cont.

Wed 16 Sep

Rest. While I’ve definitely been feeling tired lately, the day off still gets me a bit antsy.

Thu 17 Sep

21.1k inc 16.1 @ MP (76% HRR)

Second of the 10-mile MP sessions. I felt good on the way out the door, having checked resting HR just after waking - everything normal, despite the usual spotty sleep. Properly dark when I went out the door, but a pleasant morning with not much wind. Warmed up and started the MP at the usual spot, a little before the Baths. Was wearing ’The Shoes’ again today, and although the noise was annoying me (anyone remember Gerald McBoingBoing?) they seemed to be helping me cut through the gentle headwind nicely enough.

Met Ferris coming back in the other direction at about 4.5 miles, so he must have only started a few minutes before me. No sign of KennyG this morning though. I just plodded through this one, lost in thought for most of it, and it felt like the route was eaten up in no time. I was keeping an eye on the watch, and while never more than a second or two off the pace, I tended to fall asleep the odd time and have to inject a little pace, including in the final km. Ferris joined me for the last couple of hundred metres, having completed his cooldown, and we had a little chat about the various options that might be open, or closed.

The run was a good one - on target, consistent pace, low HR - an average of 162 this week, or 76% HRR, easily the lowest yet. There’s no doubt that the shoes make a difference

This week: 49 kms (30 miles)
This year: 2,649 (1,647)

I haven’t given up on the M training, but it’s in cold storage for a week or 10 days. I’ve entered the Down Royal event so will resume Hanson shortly, halfway through Week 15, with some sort of race effort - hopefully a real one - in mind. This possibility might be becoming more remote, though, as the situation in NI isn’t looking very promising at the moment. Breaking Hanson up is not ideal, of course, but these are extraordinary times! I started this week thinking of taking an easy few days to just reset some of the clocks a bit. That plan had changed by the end.

Mon 21 Sep

8.8k easy @ 5:48 (53% HRR)

Five and half miles from the GAA club. It was muggy and I felt suitably sluggish after the previous day’s steady LR. St. Anne’s was full of evening strollers, football trainers and joggers of all shapes and sizes, including me.

Tue 22 Sep

Strength: 5 x 1k (400m jog recovery) (No HR strap)

Another session on the Trinity Track. I chose the 5x1k because it was the session I missed when I skipped week 5 of Hanson. That was designed as a speed session, of course - I switched this to something more ‘strength’ related. The reason for this was because a few runners I know were talking about a TT half marathon effort at the weekend, and I was considering joining in. I tried to do most of these at HM race pace to get a feel for it - so a few seconds faster than the usual ‘strength’ pace of 4:31/k. Felt tough, especially on the grass. Downgraded to MP for the last rep - wouldn’t want to be overdoing it.

Wed 23 Sep

Rest.

Thu 24 Sep

8.1k easy at 5:48 (No HRR monitor)

Just a few easy miles around the Collins Ave loop after dark.

Fri 25 Sep

Rest. An extra day off. Why not - haven’t I been working fairly hard? :pac:

Sat 26 Sep

TT 21.42k @ 4:27 (83% HRR)

https://www.strava.com/activities/4113252926

Delighted with this. I had an excellent night’s sleep by my standards and was up, feeling good, just after 6am for some porridge, coffee, and a look at the calculator to finalise the planned pace for the day. My half PB from Charleville (2017), 1:34:17, equates to 4:28 per K or 7:11 per mile. I figured getting close to that in a TT would be an achievement, even though I’ve been training well this year, with plenty of mileage, and have the right to be relatively ambitious. So 4:27/7:10 was the goal. The course was three laps of the North Road/Chesterfield circuit, with a bit added on at each end. I set off with the group of about six runners, and although I expected this would break up fairly soon, it held together for the entire first lap, and I found myself in the rare position of running well with a group, all taking turns to do a bit of the work. A couple pushed ahead in lap two, where I worked hard to stay switched on during the difficult middle third, where the North Road drag bit harder and it was tempting to start feeling sorry for yourself. We were down to three at the start of the third lap, and I pushed on myself with about three miles to go - working hard, feeling pretty strong, but missing the efficiency and motivation of the group. But needs must, and it was tough by now to keep the goal in sight as the pace inevitably dropped on the drag. Tried to just pick out some targets among the many runners in the park, and managed to keep things moving, although I was starting to leak time. A glance at the watch with 2k to go suggested a strong finish would be necessary, and I was delighted to be able to summon an increased effort for the final stretch down Chesterfield and up the Odd Lamp Road. Being a TT, it wasn’t clear where to finish so I made sure to go well over the distance just in case of a dispute.

Job done, average pace 4:27 for a ‘Strava PB’ of 1:34:01.

It’s a good improvement on Bohermeen earlier in the year, but of course I had the magic shoes this time. That said, I’ve no doubt I’d have gotten a bit more out of a real race, especially in the last few miles. In fact, I didn’t even have to lie down for a bit at the end of this one, so a bit left in the tank for sure.

Leaving out the little bits at either end, the three laps - at about 30:14, 30:33 and 30:38 were pretty consistent, so I’m very happy with the effort. Hopefully the race fitness can get properly tested soon.

Sun 27 Sep

8.2k recovery @ 5:56

The auld bones were creaky enough during this, and plenty of feedback from the quads, which have been protesting since Saturday afternoon. Good to have that feeling again.

This week: 56 kms (35 miles).
This year: 2,744 (1,705)

OOnegative wrote: »

What’s the POA now D with Galway gone, still a marathon TT with your fellow DNS crew?

As mentioned above, Down Royal on the 24th is the current thinking. I've entered anyway, who knows what will happen. If I don't run a marathon by that weekend I'll call it a day.