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17-10-2018 12:25pm#1A bit of background.
I started running because I wanted to get fit and lose a bit of weight. I'd always played a bit of sport, soccer on the local park, cycled into college a bit and then later work (about 10k), joined a gym, played a bit of squash, but there'd really never been any running and everything else had pretty much fallen away.
So one evening in October 2013, I decided to go out and run 5k
Mile|Pace
1|11:01 /mi
2|11:03 /mi
3|11:02 /mi
4|11:05 /mi
My vague recollection is that I struggled around the route and walked parts. I clearly didn't enjoy it, as my next recorded attempt at a run was 0.4 of a mile in May 2014.
Mile|Pace
1|12:14 /mi
I'd a couple of runs a week, never more than 1 mile for the next couple of months.
c25k
I started semi-seriously trying to start running with couch to 5k in September 2014. Based on imported Strava logs, I started on Sept 6th 2014 and finished the programme just before Christmas that year, usually only managing 1-2 runs a week instead of the 3 in the plan (I'm better at following plans now).
My first 5k was on Dec 21 that year in a time of 31:36 according to Strava.
Mile|Pace
1|9:19 /mi
2|10:06 /mi
3|10:06 /mi
4|10:28 /mi
About a month after that I moved to Glasnevin and ran once or twice a week until the end of March, when I stopped running completely.
I didn't run again until late April 2016, coincidentally a month before I met my better half. Built up the mileage over the next few months and was up to long runs of 10k by September time. After that I was out until the new year with injury. Thankfully I eventually found an osteopath who was able to fix me in 20 minutes (and a few days of soreness) and I was back running a week later.
Rock and Roll Half - 2017
From there on, I built up the mileage again up to 10 mile long runs, running 3/4 times a week.
A friend, who'd run Dublin in 2016 and wanted to get back running, talked me in to signing up for the Rock and Roll half marathon while we were in Galway supporting Leinster...in the bar at 1am, so I woke up to find that I'd just signed up for my first race. Thanks go to A here for completing the signup for me, as I was struggling to use my phone at the late hour.
27 May 2017 - St Anne's Parkrun - 22:54 - tough
Mile|Pace|HR
1|7:26 /mi|148 bpm
2|7:40 /mi|164 bpm
3|7:22 /mi|171 bpm
4|15:20 /mi (forgot to stop watch)|179 bpm
I went with the 24 minute pacer, saw the 23 minute pacer just ahead and thought to myself, why not...caught him and held on.
After this point, I started training for the Rock & Roll half on Aug 13. The plan I used for this was the "FIRST Half Marathon Training Plan" - https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a20799308/3-day-half-marathon-training-plan/. The plan was sugggested by C, who'd been pacing 24 that day, as by that time I was running, cycling (commuting) and swimming in the gym. He also suggested that I should be able to manage sub 1:45 based on the 5k pace.
Distance|Target Time|Mile pace|Note
Half Marathon|1:44:30|0:07:58
400s Time|0:01:41|0:06:46|Target Mile Pace - 75s / 4
800s Time|0:03:27|0:06:56|Target Mile Pace - 65s / 2
1600s Time|0:07:13|0:07:16|Target Mile Pace - 45s
Tempo Pace|0:07:43|0:07:43|Target Mile Pace - 15s
Long Pace|0:08:28|0:08:28|Target Mile Pace + 30s
I did a lot of swimming as cross training, often 60-100 lengths and a small amount of weights and kept cycling 2 miles in and out of work every day. Most of my tempo runs followed a tough uphill route, taking into account the R&R course. Also, I mis-read what a tempo run was and didn't slowly increase pace to tempo, instead going straight to tempo pace after 2m warmup and then holding that pace until I started my cooldown.
During training, I also switched in the Docklands 5k in place of a tempo run.
6 July 2017 - Docklands 5k - 22:30 - felt good
Mile|Pace|HR
1|7:21 /mi|147 bpm
2|7:24 /mi|162 bpm
3|6:59 /mi|169 bpm
4|5:58 /mi|175 bpm
Over the next couple of weeks, I'd a couple of niggles, definitely some with the calves, so was only managing one run a week. Where possible, I switched out runs with long cycles. In the end I'd a shortened taper. On the Friday before the R&R, I was with physio and had knee bursitis (inside lower left knee) and a tight hip (right). Physio eased out the hip and ibuprofen helped with the knee. With all the niggles, etc, I went out with a view of seeing how I felt when I got started, but probably didn't see 1:45 as a realistic target.
13 Aug 2017 - Rock & Roll Half Marathon - 1:44:53 - tough going but all went as planned
Mile|Pace|HR
1|8:07 /mi|144 bpm
2|8:01 /mi|157 bpm
3|7:47 /mi|158 bpm
4|8:18 /mi|162 bpm
5|7:44 /mi|163 bpm
6|7:36 /mi|164 bpm
7|7:45 /mi|166 bpm
8|8:10 /mi|166 bpm
9|8:17 /mi|170 bpm
10|7:55 /mi|166 bpm
11|7:56 /mi|171 bpm
12|8:11 /mi|172 bpm
13|7:53 /mi|174 bpm
14|6:43 /mi|177 bpm
I ran Fairview Parkrun the next weekend and basically died a death.
19 Aug 2017 - Fairview Parkrun - 27:57 - Strava says "First time doing Fairview Parkrun. Calves in bits."
Mile|Pace|HR
1|8:11 /mi|142 bpm
2|8:33 /mi|156 bpm
3|9:37 /mi|152 bpm
4|11:54 /mi (forgot to stop the watch again - I do this a lot)|154 bpm
After that, my knee didn't feel right. I rested it for a few weeks and then when there was no improvement, I went to physio. The pain was only on impact and walking generally didn't cause any issues, only running. Kept going to physio, but it wasn't helping. Went away in October and took opportunity to give the leg a complete rest.
Getting back on the horse
By mid-December I felt that everything was back to normal and started a walk-to-run over about 5-6 weeks. Kept slowly building the miles after that.
4 Mar 2018 - Lusk 4 mile - 32:41
I didn't push on this too much, although the hill at the end was still a struggle. Target was about 8:30 /mi.
Mile|Pace|HR
1|7:58 /mi|136 bpm
2|8:29 /mi|149 bpm
3|8:18 /mi|161 bpm
4|8:02 /mi|172 bpm
Did some parkrun tourism the next week in Castletown. This was definitely tough going, but I'd targetted sub-25 to see where my fitness was.
10 Mar 2018 - Castletown Parkrun - 24:56
Mile|Pace|HR
1|7:55 /mi|133 bpm
2|7:55 /mi|164 bpm
3|8:10 /mi|175 bpm
4|6:36 /mi|177 bpm
After that, I started building miles, mostly at an easy pace, with a couple of interval sessions and progression runs thrown in, building towards the Cork City Half Marathon.
Sessions:
18 Apr 2018 - 2*400
25 Apr 2018 - 4*400
2 May 2018 - 2*600 & 1*800
16 May 2018 - 5m Progression
23 May 2018 - 5m Progression
Week before Cork, I gave Parkrun one more lash, as it was pacer Saturday in St Anne's.
26 May 2018 - St Anne's Parkrun - 23:03 - struggle at end
Felt I could have done better, but pacing was off and I couldn't manage to pull it back in the last 1k or so
Mile|Pace
1|7:40 /mi|148 bpm
2|7:43 /mi|164 bpm
3|7:15 /mi|171 bpm
4|5:25 /mi|179 bpm
The next week was a couple of easy 5k runs on Tuesday and Wednesday in preparation for Cork.
That brought me to over 100 miles for May, which is the first time I'd ever broken that barrier in a month.
3 Jun 2018 - Cork City Half Marathon - 1:54:03
I spent most of this trying to keep up with A.
Mile|Pace|HR
1|8:44 /mi|139 bpm
2|8:57 /mi|152 bpm
3|8:41 /mi|156 bpm
4|8:45 /mi|158 bpm
5|8:41 /mi|159 bpm
6|8:54 /mi|160 bpm
7|8:32 /mi|160 bpm
8|8:39 /mi|158 bpm
9|8:42 /mi|159 bpm
10|8:31 /mi|162 bpm
11|8:29 /mi|165 bpm
12|8:30 /mi|166 bpm
13|8:19 /mi|170 bpm
14|7:13 /mi|175 bpm
After surviving Cork, my plan for the rest of the year was a follows
28 June - Docklands 5k
22 July - South Dublin 10k
2 Sept - Frank Duffy 10 mile
23 Sept - Charleville HM
5 Oct - Get married
December (no set target race) - Random 5k
Charleville was my real target here, with a view to beating my PB. At this point A also signed up for Charleville and it became our pre-wedding smackdown, as we'd never really raced against each other before.
To level the playing field, A asked her coach if he'd be willing to take me on to help me out. Training became a lot more structured, and painful, as a result. Generally, weeks consisted of easy runs on Wednesdays and Thursdays, an array of different sessions on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and long runs on Sundays.
In training for Cork, the maximum mileage I'd hit for a week was just under 29 miles, two weeks before the half, with mostly easy miles, so the new structure, combined with increased mileage definitely took getting used to. Looking at my Strava updates during the next couple of months, I think the word I used most often was variations on the word "ache". So lots of tiredness, aches and pains as my body adjusted to the increased mileage and effort. Despite all the aches and pains, my workload was obviously very well managed, as I missed 1 session on total, which I replaced with a 17 mile cycle and had to push another back a day. Outside of that, I hit every training session.
Prescribed easy pace was 9:30 to 10:30, which was a bit slower than I was used to, as I'd usually run easy pace somewhere between 9 and 9:30.
Charleville training
Week 1
Tues - 5 miles easy
Weds - 8x60s @ 7:00 w/ 90s rec
Thurs - 5 miles easy
Sat - Arthurs Way 5k
Sun - 8 miles easy
Arthurs Way 5k didn't go well, but that was expected as I drank all of the drink on Friday night - 24:03
Week distance: 28.8m
Week 2
Tues - 2 x [4,3,2,1 min @ 7:15 w/ 90s rec, 5 min jog between sets]
Weds - 5 miles easy
Thurs - 5 miles easy
Sat - 1 mile @ 8:45, 3 min rec, 4 x 800 @ 8:30 w/ 75s rec
Sun - 8 miles easy
Found the Tuesday session very tough, as I did any time I did it subsequently. Achey on Wednesday and Thursday
Week distance: 34.7m
Week 3 - Docklands 5k
Tues - 4 miles easy + 4x30s @ 5k pace
Weds - 3 miles v. easy
Thurs - Docklands 5k
Sat - 5 miles
Sun - 9 miles progression down to 8:45
Weather was in the high 20's IIRC for Docklands, but managed to stay with it and log a 30 second PB of 22:00. Previous PB was from the same race the previous year.
Docklands 5k
Mile|Pace|HR
1|7:07 /mi|154 bpm
2|7:08 /mi|168 bpm
3|7:07 /mi|174 bpm
4|5:56 /mi|179 bpm
Really enjoyed the progression run on Sunday.
Sunday Progression
Mile|Pace|HR
1|9:56 /mi|130 bpm
2|9:44 /mi|138 bpm
3|9:37 /mi|139 bpm
4|9:25 /mi|145 bpm
5|9:19 /mi|144 bpm
6|9:08 /mi|146 bpm
7|8:57 /mi|147 bpm
8|8:51 /mi|150 bpm
9|8:37 /mi|151 bpm
Week distance: 27.1m
Week 4
Tues - 5 x 2 min @ 7:30 w/ 75s rec, 5 x 90s @ 7:10 w/ 90s rec
Weds - 5 miles easy
Thurs - 5 miles easy
Sat - 2 x [1m @ 8:30, 800 @ 8:00, continuous]
Sun - 10 miles easy
Recovery on the Wednesday was tough and achey after the session. Sunday I was out at 7:30 to get the run done before going on a daytrip on the train to Wexford
Week distance: 34.2m
Week 5
Tues - 4 x 2 min @ 7:30 w/ 75s rec, 4 x 90s @ 7:10 w/ 90s rec, 4 x 60s @ 7:10 w/ 90s rec
Weds - 5 miles easy
Thurs - 5 miles easy
Sat - 2 x 1m @ 8.30 w/ 90s rec, 4 min jog, 6 x 1 min @ 7.30 w/ 90s rec
Sun - 10 miles easy
Week distance: 35.8m
Week 6 - South Dublin 10k
Tues - 3 x 3 min @ 7.30 w/ 2 min rec, 4 x 1 min @ 7.30 w/ 90s rec
Weds - 5 miles easy
Thurs - 5 miles easy
Sat - 2 miles very easy
Sun - South Dublin 10k
I missed the Tuesday session with a calf strain but managed all of the easy runs
The South Dublin 10k didn't go as planned. Target pace was somewhere around 7:25 - 7:30 per mile, but on a hot and muggy day I couldn't hold the pace at all.
Mile|Pace|HR
1|7:21 /mi|149 bpm
2|7:27 /mi|163 bpm
3|7:25 /mi|165 bpm
4|7:25 /mi|169 bpm
5|7:41 /mi|172 bpm
6|7:48 /mi|176 bpm
7|6:48 /mi|180 bpm
South Dublin 10k time 46:55
Week distance: 20.9m
Week 7
Tues - 12 x 45s hills w/ 90s rec
Weds - 5 miles easy
Thurs - 5 miles easy
Sat - 2 x [4,3,2,1 min @ 7:15 w/ 90s rec, 4 min jog between sets]
Sun - 10 miles easy
Really enjoyed the hills but found the session on Saturday very tough going. Strava mentions that it was tough after the session the night before, so only myself to blame really.
Week distance: 35.1m
Week 8
Tues - 15 x 60s @ 7:15 (hard) w/ 60s rec
Weds - 5 miles easy
Thurs - 5 miles easy
Sat - 8 x 800m @ 8:00 w/ 90s rec
Sun - 10 miles easy
All went well this week. Went for a cycle to Malahide and back of 22 miles with A on Friday evening. Session still went well the next day and Sunday was 11 instead of 10, as miscalculated distance...
Week distance: 38.4m
Week 9
Tues - 4 min, 3 x 1min, 3 min, 3 x 1min, 2 min, all at @ 7:15 w/ 90s rec
Weds - 5 miles easy
Thurs - 6 miles easy
Sat - 20 min tempo
Sun - 12 miles easy
Saturday was tough after work night out on Friday, but other than that, everything seems to have gone well this week.
Week distance: 36.5m
Week 10
Tues - 2 x [4,3,2,1 min @ 7:15 w/ 90s rec, 4 min jog between sets]
Weds - 5 miles easy
Thurs - 6 miles easy
Sat - 15 min tempo @ 8:10, 3 min jog, 10 min @ 7:55
Sun - 12 miles easy
The Tuesday session was done at lunch time and was tough as always
Week distance: 40m - biggest ever weekly distance!
Week 11
Tues - 1,2,3,4,3,2,1 min @ 7.15 w/ 90s rec
Weds - 5 miles easy
Thurs - 6 miles easy
Fri - 5 miles easy
Weekend - Stag
I had a bit of a niggle in my hip, so no run on Tuesday and did the postponed session on Wednesday instead. Got up Saturday morning just too late for Oranmore Parkrun so did a 5k local to our hotel.
Week distance: 21.1m
Week 12 - Frank Duffy 10 Mile
Tues - 5 miles easy
Weds - 7 x 600m @ 7:15 pace w/ 90s rec
Thurs - 5 miles easy
Sat - 3 miles very easy
Sun - Frank Duffy 10 mile
I still had some niggles around the hip during the week. Gave the shakeout on Saturday a miss to help the hip to settle.
Frank Duffy 10 Mile
Target pace was ~ 77 minutes, so 7:42 miles. Kept just under that for the first 8 miles and then pushed on a bit as I felt strong. There was a bit of a drag on miles 5/6, so managed effort. Pushed on in the last couple of miles, which resulted in the all too familiar dry-wretching in the last half mile, but slowed briefly before a strong finish. I clearly looked shook at the finish as a steward came up to assist me. Caught my breath for a minute and then strolled off for water and fruit. Must say, the finish area was great here.
Time|Pace|HR
1|7:38 /mi|131 bpm
2|7:28 /mi|158 bpm
3|7:41 /mi|161 bpm
4|7:31 /mi|164 bpm
5|7:49 /mi|165 bpm
6|7:49 /mi|166 bpm
7|7:37 /mi|167 bpm
8|7:39 /mi|168 bpm
9|7:27 /mi|169 bpm
10|7:17 /mi|172 bpm
Oficial time (and a PB) was 76:10. The PB is by default, as it was my first 10 miler, but delighted with it, as it was well inside target time/pace overall.
Week distance: 28.7m
Week 13
Tues - 6 miles easy
Weds - 5 miles easy + 6 x 1 min strides (approx 5k effort 2-3 min jog rec)
Thurs - 6 miles easy
Sat - 15 min @ 7:45, 3 min jog, 10 min @ 7:35
Sun - 13 miles easy
Achey on both Tuesday and Thursday. Wednesday session replaced with substitute appearance at g25k for A's work team. Ran steady for time of 25:11. Found the Saturday session very tough and walked most of the 3 min recovery. Sunday run was a bit longer than intended, at 13.5 miles.
Week distance: 37m
Week 14
Tues - 6 miles easy
Weds - 5 x 3 min @ 7:20 w/ 75s rec, 3 min jog , 4 x 30 sec hard w/ 90s rec
Thurs - 6 miles easy
Sat - 3 x 8 min @ 7:40 w/ 2 min rec
Sun - 11 miles easy
Week distance: 37.8m
Week 15
Tues - 4 miles easy
Weds - 4,3,2,1 min @ 7:20 w/ 2 min rec
Thurs - 4 miles easy
Sat - 2 mile shakeout
Sun - Charleville International Half Marathon
Everything went well during the week, 2 mile shakeout became Malahide parkrun at an easy pace.
For Sunday, had been told to go out at FD 10 mile pace and "try hold on". Started off alongside A with the 1:40 pacers, thinking that I might be holding on sooner rather than later. After 2, A fell back as she was felt discomfort in her calf, which had been niggling in the days before the race. Instead of holding on, I found myself handling the pace fairly well and at the half-way mark all felt good, assisted by the fact that we were heading downhill out of Kilmallock at this point.
From about 7-9, I started to struggle as the heat got to me a bit, So I decided to forego the racing line and run the shady line instead. By the 9-10 mile point, I was feeling better. I think the psychological boost of only having 5k to go always helps, aided in this case by being back on the main road we'd run out an hour or so earlier. At the 10 mile point, I clocked myself at 1:16:17, so slightly outside my FD pace, and showing the GPS to be about 10 seconds off for 10. The pacers didn't seem sure whether they needed to speed up or slow down, one seemed to think they were well ahead of pace.
I decided to leave them behind and push on myself, as I was feeling okay at this point. Half a mile later, the pacers were all of 2 meters behind me. I pushed on again at the 11 mile mark, trying to tag a couple of runners ahead of me to keep focus. It wasn't until the final mile, back up the first hill that I started pushing hard, resulting in the inevitable dry-wretching with about 600 to go. Slowed a bit until we got back on the the flat for the final sprint and pushed hard, taking a couple more runners coming up to the line.
Not even a second glance from the stewards this time, so I got water and a banana and went back to murph_d and yaboya near the finish to cheer on aquinn.
New PB of 1:39:33 accomplished. Not something I even thought was within sight after Cork, which went well, considering the training.
Mile|Pace|Time|HR
1|7:31.5|7:31.5|127 bpm
2|7:38.0|15:10|152 bpm
3|7:33.8|22:43|155 bpm
4|7:32.7|30:16|157 bpm
5|7:35.0|37:51|158 bpm
6|7:39.6|45:31|159 bpm
7|7:34.9|53:06|160 bpm
8|7:38.0|1:00:44|158 bpm
9|7:40.1|1:08:24|159 bpm
10|7:43.5|1:16:07|161 bpm
11|7:37.8|1:23:45|163 bpm
12|7:36.2|1:31:21|165 bpm
13|7:27.8|1:38:49|170 bpm
13.1|0:46.8|1:39:36|175 bpm
Week distance: 32.5m
5k Training
Post Charleville, focus switches to 5k for me.
Week 1
Recovery week
Tues - 5 miles easy
Weds - 5 miles easy
Sat - Pacing 27 minutes in St Anne's Parkrun
Week distance: 15.3m
Week 2
Tues - 6 miles easy (10k)
Weds - 8 x 200 w/ 200 rec - Target pace ~ 6:03
Fri - 2.2 miles easy before getting married
Sun - 4 miles easy with the better half
Paces for 200's were a bit fast. Find it difficult to pace such short intervals.
Interval|Time|Pace|HR
4|41s|5:30 /mi|137 bpm
6|45s|6:02 /mi|135 bpm
8|42s|5:38 /mi|152 bpm
10|44s|5:54 /mi|154 bpm
12|44s|5:54 /mi|156 bpm
14|44s|5:54 /mi|157 bpm
16|44s|5:54 /mi|155 bpm
18|42s|5:38 /mi|156 bpm
Week distance: 18.8m
Week 3
Tues - 6 miles easy
Weds - 6 x 400 w/ 400 rec - Target pace ~ 6:18
Thurs - Great Western Greenway - 28 mile cycle
Sat - Westpost Parkrun
Sun - 9 miles easy
Did the 400's with A at Ballina AC track. Haven't run on a track since age 10-11 in the community games, IIRC. Really enjoyed it and found it much easier to pace on the track. First and fourth reps too quick and recoveries were too long, so cut most back to 200 and one could have been 100 walk/jog.
Interval|Time|Pace|HR
3|1:25|5:43 /mi|130 bpm
5|1:36|6:24 /mi|139 bpm
7|1:33|6:09 /mi|140 bpm
9|1:29|5:58 /mi|127 bpm
11|1:37|6:22 /mi|135 bpm
13|1:35|6:18 /mi|130 bpm
The Great Western Greenway on Thursday was beautiful, would really recommend it. The views over Clew Bay at Mulrally/Mallaranny are spectacular. Thankfully, other than one shower when we were starting out, the weather held.
The same can't be said for Parkrun on Saturday morning. I was tempted to give it a miss after the steak and wine the night before, but we were brave. Plan had been to race this, but on the morning we decided to err on the side of caution and hold at a steady pace. Started at faster than steady and kept going. A eventually left me go before the one mile point. Most of the first mile is downhill and it's an out and back route. The out and back is short of 5k, so it turns back down the first hill for the finish. Second mile was mostly flat and held my pace. Third mile back uphill was a struggle but tried to pick off any runners in front of me. Started to struggle on the third mile and caught my form going a few times. After 2.5/6, I was definitely struggling and the all too familiar dry-wretching started, so had to pull it back a bit. Still managed to take another runner around this point. That just seemed to spur him on and he stuck with me until the turn.
After the turn he overtook me again and started pushing. I felt it was too far out to push on, so let him go. It was only when the watch showing nearly 3 miles that I felt I could push. Finished strongly and only a second behind the other runner.
Finished on 21:19 for a 41 second PB
Mile|Pace|HR
1|6:58 /mi|145 bpm
2|6:58 /mi|161 bpm
3|6:58 /mi|168 bpm
4|4:58 /mi|170 bpm
Week distance: 26.7m16
Comments
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Fair enough. Just watch out for the difference between J Daniels ‘Interval’ vs ‘Repetition’ pace - quite a difference if you’re looking at the wrong one.
I did a lot of ‘alone in the crowd’ sessions at Irishtown myself over the last four years!
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Fair enough. Just watch out for the difference between J Daniels ‘Interval’ vs ‘Repetition’ pace - quite a difference if you’re looking at the wrong one.
I did a lot of ‘alone in the crowd’ sessions at Irishtown myself over the last four years!
Thanks D. I was definitely looking at the repetition paces. I've read up a bit more on the difference between intervals and repetitions now, so have a better understanding of them.
I'll have a chat with the coach to make sure I'm not overcooking it.0 -
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Great intro P! Well done in Charleville, Best of luck with the continued training, see you at Jingle Bells (best race ever)!
p.s. I'd expect the HR to have been fairly erratic on Sunday between stopping, starting and shouting (my HR has spiked before while supporting
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Plan:
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Club session
Wednesday: 5 miles easy
Thursday: 5 miles easy
Friday: Off
Saturday: Warm up, 1 mile @ 8:00, 3 min jog recovery, 2x2 min @ 7:30 (60s rec), 1200m @ 8:00, 2 min jog recovery , 4x1 min @ 7:30 (60s rec), cooldown
Sunday: 10 miles easy
Actual:
Monday: Off
Tuesday: As of Tuesday afternoon, I'm a fully signed up member of Crusaders. Really enjoyed the interval sessions the last two Tuesdays, so took the plunge and signed up for the rest of the year and 2019.
Ran down to the club with A and arrived just in time for a few strides. Session was 8 x 600 w/ 200 AR. Headed across the field to the far side to start off. Found a spot near the back of lane 4, although there didn't seem to be many in the lane at all. Set out behind a couple of other runners, but felt their pace was a bit fast so let them go. At the start of the second or third rep, a girl overtook me, but her pace was much closer to my own, so I sat in behind her for pretty much the entire session. The recoveries seemed very slow, so I overtook her on a couple, but within the first 50-100 of the next rep she'd have overtaken me, but then she'd settle back into the same pace again. She flew off on the final rep and I didn't attempt to follow, even though I'd decided push myself a bit more and finish strongly.
With the session, I tried to focus as much as possible on maintaining a strong and relaxed posture. Breathing was never laboured and had no issues maintaining my normal breathing rhythm.
Splits|Time|Distance|Avg Pace|Avg HR|Avg Run Cadence
2|02:17.8|0.37|06:08|125|183
3|01:24.5|0.15|09:17|135|172
4|02:24.8|0.38|06:22|137|183
5|01:23.9|0.15|09:15|142|173
6|02:27.4|0.37|06:33|146|182
7|01:24.0|0.15|09:23|148|175
8|02:24.2|0.37|06:29|152|185
9|01:26.4|0.15|09:31|152|176
10|02:27.4|0.38|06:32|153|183
11|01:29.4|0.15|09:39|153|174
12|02:26.6|0.38|06:29|152|184
13|01:23.6|0.15|09:02|155|172
14|02:23.6|0.37|06:28|155|186
15|01:39.6|0.15|10:53|153|176
16|02:17.9|0.38|06:06|150|191
Summary|29:21:00|4.06|07:14|147|181
Averages
Intervals|02:23.7|0.375|06:23|146.25|184.625
Recoveries|01:27.3|0.15|09:34|148.29|174
Looking back at the average pace of the recoveries, they definitely felt a lot slower at the time.
Collected my fob from the reception desk after the session, so there should be no stopping me now. Took a slightly circuitous route home with A and F, who we left on the quays. This had the added bonus of avoiding Sheriff Street and having eggs thrown at us again, as happened last week. Hopefully all will be back to normal next week.
Distance: Warmup: 3.4 miles, Strides: 0.38 miles, Session: 4.06 miles, Cooldown: 4.18 miles, Overall: 12.04 miles
Wednesday Decided that it'd be easier to avoid bangers and rockets on foot than on the bike so joined A for a 5 mile easy recover-mute home after work. Has to stop after about a mile to ease out the calves, but they were okay after that.
Distance: 5.3 miles @ 9:54, avg. hr: 128
Thursday: Another achy runmute in to work. Started off uphill which didn't help. Everything eased out once I reached flatter terrain. Calves were better than Wednesday evening, but hamstrings were tight. I've a feeling that there may be one or two foam rolling sessions in my near future.
In other news, I will be partaking in the "DCM 2019 - Mentored Novice Thread" when it's opened for business next year!
Distance: 5.01 miles @ 9:40, avg. hr: 134
Friday: Off
Saturday: Headed up to Poppintree parkrun for the session lured by the promise of cake for their fourth birthday celebrations. The run up to Poppintree with A was fairly tough. It's pretty much all uphill and the calves were really complaining. Warmup was ~1.5 miles during which I needed to stop multiple times to stretch them out. Once I got into the session, they were much better. First mile was at 8:00. Got to the park and still had a bit to go, so did a loop of the pond before joining the other runners. Completed the mile at 7:59. We were waiting around for the Parkrun to start for a minute or two, so we cut the jog short by about 40 seconds to make up for the extra rest. Next part was 2 x 2 minutes at 7:30 off 1 minute. Actual paces were 7:29 and 7:27, so fairly close to target. Next up 1200 metres @ 8:00. This was tough going and the feet and calves were complaining. Hit the pace exactly, possibly the first time this has ever happened. After this, I slowed down and watched A running off into the distance at the same pace. It was nothing I'd said thankfully, she was just running a slightly different session. 2 minute jog then before the final reps of 4 x 1 min at 7:30 off 1 min. These were done mostly under tree cover, so the paces were a bit off. Fairly sure that I was closer to the prescribed paces, but Strava shows 7:11, 7:35, 7:49
and 7:01. Was meant to be done after that, but was nearing the finish line, so opened it up and finished strongly with 30s @ 6:03 pace. Stopped for cake and then headed off back down the hill home. The calves were much better on the downhill unsurprisingly.
Split|Distance|Pace|elevation gain|Avg. HR
1|1.00|10:05|123 ft|124 bpm
2|0.46|10:00|33 ft|127 bpm
3|1.00|7:59|4 ft|148 bpm
4|0.26|8:57|4 ft|135 bpm
5|0.26|7:29|10 ft|146 bpm
6|0.10|9:33|-0 ft|153 bpm
7|0.26|7:27|-16 ft|155 bpm
8|0.11|9:04|-7 ft|155 bpm
9|0.74|8:00|21 ft|156 bpm
10|0.21|9:31|-10 ft|154 bpm
11|0.13|7:11|-10 ft|154 bpm
12|0.10|9:18|1 ft|152 bpm
13|0.13|7:35|10 ft|155 bpm
14|0.11|8:58|5 ft|157 bpm
15|0.12|7:49|10 ft|160 bpm
16|0.11|8:52|-8 ft|160 bpm
17|0.14|7:01|-14 ft|158 bpm
18|0.11|8:24|3 ft|155 bpm
19|0.09|6:03|-2 ft|158 bpm
21|1.00|10:06|-31 ft|136 bpm
22|1.00|9:47|-105 ft|136 bpm
23|0.28|9:10|-23 ft|135 bpm
Distance: 7.81 miles @ 8:59, avg. hr: 141
Sunday: Plan was 10 miles easy. We considered heading back up to Howth to run the Bog of Frogs loop, but were a bit lazy after birthday celebrations for a friend in town on Saturday night and decided it'd be too busy with walkers at lunchtime. Stuck with the PP instead and headed around some of the trails there, so that I could test out the new trail runners before RtL next weekend. Has to readjust the laces a few times to make them more comfortable and there was something rubbing on the inside of my left foot, but other that they were good. Didn't plan a route beforehand, so we were a mile over in our planned distance.
Distance|Pace|Elevation gain|Avg. HR
1.00|10:08|52 ft|120 bpm
1.00|9:18|1 ft|132 bpm
1.00|9:14|36 ft|134 bpm
1.00|9:29|53 ft|137 bpm
1.00|9:11|-4 ft|132 bpm
1.00|9:30|-67 ft|127 bpm
1.00|9:40|-9 ft|129 bpm
1.00|9:32|-20 ft|127 bpm
1.00|9:28|18 ft|127 bpm
1.00|9:21|2 ft|130 bpm
1.00|9:28|-62 ft|129 bpm
Distance: 11.01 miles @ 9:30, avg. hr: 130
Weekly totals
Running: 41.22 miles
Cycling: 13.73 miles
October totals
Running: 131.86 miles
Cycling: 104.0 miles0 -
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A bit late with the weekly update, but been busy with work...
Plan:
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Club session
Wednesday: 6 miles easy
Thursday: 5 miles easy
Friday: Off
Saturday: Off / Flying
Sunday: 10 miles easy
Actual:
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Neither A or I fancied a trek to the club on Tuesday due to a combination of fatigue and the weather, so we kept it local. I was glad that I did. My left calf was fairly tight for the first half of the run and I've a bit of a niggle in my right adductor/groin area as well.
I finally remembered to borrow A's Chest HR monitor and used that for this run. It seemed to have some issues for the first half mile or so with elevated HR, but it settled after that.
Overall it was an enjoyable run, albeit with a few brief stops to stretch out the calf during the first couple of miles. About the time the calf eased out, it stopped raining as well and the gloves and hat were removed. It started raining again as we neared home and if we'd had much further to go, they would have been back on.
Distance: 6.51 miles @ 9:40, avg. hr: 129
Wednesday: Easy run after work. No issues with calves today, but right adductor still tight. Lots of puddles to step into along the route. Headed out towards Clontarf and decided to try some route variations which were less than 100% successful. Only one cul de sac, so it could have been worse.
Used the chest HR monitor again this evening. Not 100% successful. Started and HR was pretty much immediately over 160. Discarded run and started again but it was the same. Took it off and put it on again, but nothing changed. Eventually decided to just ignore it completely and just run. It eventually settled down after 3/4 of a mile and HR was as I'd expect after that.
Distance: 6.31 miles @ 9:12, avg. hr: 136. Overall run was probably closer to 6 miles, if the discarded bit is included. Also, ignoring first mile, average HR was 132 (which includes stops at junctions, so in reality probably a couple of points higher)
Thursday: Pretty much the same as Wednesday night, without the puddles. Nice run out towards Fairview/Clontarf with A and back along Griffith Avenue.
Exact same issues with HR monitor as the previous two evenings. No idea what's up with it...
Right adductor tight as usual, but eased out as the run went on.
Distance: 5.26 miles @ 9:20, avg. hr: 131. Ignoring the first mile, average HR was 129 (which includes stops at junctions, so in reality probably a couple of points higher)
Friday: Headed out to Ballsbridge on the bike for the Leinster match, my first of the season despite being a season ticket holder
Flight to catch the next morning, so wasn't drinking.
Saturday: Sitting on a plane watching movies
Distance: 0
Sunday: Got out for a long run on Sunday afteroon. I'd wanted to get out first thing, but wasn't feeling the love after the long flights.
For the actual run it was quite warm, temp dropped noticeably after a few miles when the sun went behind some clouds only to reappear as I completed the run.
So may intersections and the lights take an age to change, Las Vegas is not designed for running.
Distance: 10.34 @ 9:25, avg. hr: 139
Weekly totals
Running: 28.44 miles
Cycling: 30.82 miles
YTD totals
Running: 1056 miles
Cycling: 961 miles0 -
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Plan:
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Club session
Wednesday: 6 miles easy
Thursday: 5 miles easy
Friday:
Saturday: 5 x 3 min @ 7:20 of 90 sec, 3 min jog, 5 x 20 sec hard off 40 sec
Sunday: 10 mile
Actual:
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Club session, 8 x 600 off 200 active reecovery. This went well, with paces consistent throughout. Only the second rep was a bit off, as I lost concentration for the first half and slowed. Paces were a bit slower than recently, but closer to JD interval paces as a result, which is probably a good thing. Calves were a bit tight as usual, but not too bad. Overall very happy with how this went. Changed the warmup and cooldown, heading from work and back from there to collect the bike after, cutting down a bit on the overall distance run. Garmin VO2 max dropped to 50.
Splits|Time|Distance|Avg Pace|Avg HR|Avg Run Cadence
600|02:24.9|0.38|06:26|140|175
200|01:19.7|0.15|08:44|154|168
600|02:25.9|0.37|06:33|152|174
200|01:19.5|0.15|08:48|150|169
600|02:22.5|0.37|06:26|157|179
200|01:25.9|0.15|09:34|157|168
600|02:25.7|0.38|06:28|156|180
200|01:26.4|0.15|09:24|161|165
600|02:25.8|0.38|06:24|177|180
200|01:28.6|0.15|10:05|168|162
600|02:23.1|0.38|06:21|164|182
200|01:30.4|0.15|10:15|164|164
600|02:23.8|0.37|06:25|167|182
200|01:27.1|0.15|09:27|163|171
600|02:22.4|0.38|06:19|161|181
Distance: 8.98 miles
Wednesday: Was at a conference during the day. Cycled there and back home and passed 1,000 miles for the year on the way there, so that's the double 1,000 completed; running and cycling.
Anyhoo, back to the run. 6.5 miles that I didn't enjoy. It was windy and it seemed like either the wind was in my face or I was running uphill. HR was high considering the pace. Garmin VO2 max dropped again, now 49.
Distance: 6.51 miles @ 10:02, avg. hr: 130
Thursday: 5.3 miles. See description of Wednesday's run, except add another 10 to the HR. Poor A had to endure my bad mood. Surprised that Garmin VO2 max didn't drop again, but still at 49. It was 52 around the time of the Charleville Half Marathon in late September. Maybe I'm just overanalysing things, it wouldn't be the first time. Cadence was higher though, possibly because I was running with A and calves were mostly okay, although the right adductor is bothering me a bit for the first time in a while. I noticed it on Wednesday evening, but it was more prominent this morning.
Distance: 5.30 miles @ 9:42, avg. hr: 140
Physio in the afternoon to get the calves looked at. Strength and endurance are grand and overall there's nothing much wrong there, but got exercises for glutes to strengthen them and hopefully take some pressure off the calves. Single leg bridges ftw. Was also suggested to me that improving the cadence again might help, as I'd thought.
Friday: Off
Saturday: Did the session as part of St Anne's Parkrun, or possibly did St Anne's Parkrun as part of the session. Either way, despite the wind all went well. Both A and I had the same session, but she'd forgotten to upload it from phone to watch, so I was mostly in charge. Paces were good for the repeats, although I hit the lap button at the end of the first rep. Getting too used to using the watch for open intervals at the club. Paused it while A counted the 90 on her watch. Normal service resumed after that. Wind definitely played a part and made a couple of the reps tougher than others, but overall happy with it. Finished last 3 min rep 100 metres before the finish line. Accidentally sped up in the last 20 metres to finish just ahead of A
Hard reps were grand, first three kinda into the wind and the final two with it. Cooldown back to the car and headed to catch up with friends before getting ready for the second session of the day; Leinster vs Bath.
HR on the warmup seemed to match more with cadence than actual HR. Average HR on first warmup mile was 161...
Splits|Time|Distance|Avg Pace|Avg HR|Avg Run Cadence
3|03:00|0.41|07:19|148|180
5|03:00|0.41|07:15|160|181
7|03:00|0.41|07:17|161|180
9|03:00|0.41|07:16|163|179
11|03:00|0.42|07:12|166|177
14|00:20|0.06|05:24|153|187
16|00:20|0.06|05:51|158|186
18|00:20|0.06|05:48|158|189
20|00:20|0.06|05:49|158|193
22|00:20|0.07|04:44|161|174
Distance: 6.15 miles
Sunday: Easy miles with A. After the two sessions on Saturday, this could have been worse, although we definitely took this easy enough, even if the HR was still a bit higher than I'd like. Calves were grand and enjoyed this overall. First long run for a few weeks.
Distance: 10.21 miles @ 10:10, avg. hr: 130
Overall, a fairly moany week, although Saturday and Sunday were definitely better. I think there's a bit of a dose lingering in the background, so I probably just need to take that into account and stop being hard on myself.
Weekly totals
Running: 37.15 miles
Cycling: 25.51 miles
YTD totals
Running: 1149.49 miles
Cycling: 1012.68 miles0 -
Catching up here post Christmas and New Years break
Week starting Dec 17
Plan:
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Club session (3k time trial)
Wednesday: 6 miles easy
Thursday: 5 miles easy
Friday: Off
Saturday: 5 x 3 min @ 7:20 off 90 rec and 60 between last two, 3 min jog, 5 x 20 sec hard off 40 rec
Sunday: 10 miles easy
Actual:
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Blind 3k time trial. We all had to provide a target time beforehand and I went with 12:06, which would see me pretty much on pace with my 4k race from Las Vegas. I need to start racing "proper" distances again
Anyway, headed to the club directly from work and did a few laps of the field before some strides.
3k; seven and a half laps.
Started off in the middle and the field quickly split, with a large enough group heading off in front. Kept what I thought was a steady enough pace and found myself in a group of four. We stayed like that for the first 3 laps before we one fell off the group. By this stage, we were starting to reel in a few that had fallen off the pack ahead. During the middle laps, I lost concentration a few times as we passed people and had to work a bit to get back with the group, although I was never more than 2-3 metres behind. Eventually with a few laps to go it was just me and one other guy. With two to go I felt he was flagging a bit so eased ahead and got no reaction. By the "bell", there was another runner on my shoulder, even though I'd upped the pace slightly. He kept with me for the lap until the final 100, when I opened up and sprinted home, just overtaking another runner before the line, or at least that's what I thought, but official results have me a second behind him, in a time of 12:07. I need to keep a closer eye on where the actual finish line is in future.
Felt good afterwards although I was surprised when I got my time later that night. I felt that I was mostly running within myself and thought I must have been slower. The fact that I'd a bit left in the tank when I got to the final 100 hopefully means that I've more to give next time out.
This was my first time trial/race on a track and my first blind run without the watch. I felt that I managed the effort relatively well, which I'm happy with. In hindsight, I do feel that I could have pushed it a bit more, but probably didn't have the confidence that I'd be able to stick with it if I kicked on earlier than I did.
Overall, well run and worth it from my perspective and a great learning experience.
Distance: 9.43 miles
Wednesday: Christmas shopping this evening so ran in to work. A little bit achy, but not as bad as I expected.
Distance: 6.20 miles @ 9:38, avg. hr: 138
Thursday: Easy post work run in through Phibsboro to Smithfield and back home via Cabra, sporting new runners. Had to stop a few times in the first couple of miles to adjust the laces on the left, but everything was grand after that.
Distance: 5.01 miles @ 9:41, avg. hr: 129
Friday: Off
Saturday: We headed across to Corkagh parkrun with annapr and murph_d. Both A and I had the same session so we annoyed the the other park-runners by doing the session in the middle of parkrun. All went well.
5 x 3 min @ 7:20 off 90 sec
Splits|Time|Distance|Avg Pace|Avg HR|Avg Run Cadence
3|03:00|0.41|07:18|129|178
4|01:30|0.15|09:56|130|171
5|03:00|0.41|07:15|133|180
6|01:30|0.16|09:14|143|172
7|03:00|0.42|07:05|151|182
8|01:30|0.16|09:22|154|178
9|03:00|0.41|07:14|157|184
10|01:00|0.1|10:22|157|172
11|03:00|0.42|07:11|157|184
12|01:00|0.11|08:47|163|173
5 x 20 sec hard off 40 sec
Splits|Time|Distance|Avg Pace|Avg HR|Avg Run Cadence
14|00:20|0.06|05:50|156|191
15|00:40|0.07|09:30|130|167
16|00:20|0.06|05:48|149|189
17|00:40|0.06|11:29|154|179
18|00:20|0.05|06:09|154|197
19|00:40|0.07|10:14|155|178
20|00:20|0.06|05:47|153|188
21|00:40|0.07|09:10|164|175
22|00:20|0.07|05:00|159|194
23|00:40|0.08|08:44|160|180
Distance: 6.23 miles overall
Sunday: Was meant to run 10 miles easy with A, but we spent most of the day last-minute Christmas shopping and didn't fell like heading out in the evening, so sat in front of the telly instead.
Distance: 0 miles
Weekly totals
Running: 26.8 miles
Cycling: 15.3 miles0 -
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