Friday 28 February 2014

I can't get no sleep

Found myself awake at 2am on Wednesday morning and just could not get back to sleep. Debated getting my first run of the day out of the way & then going back to bed but decided against it. Eventually hit the road & got in 30 minutes. The plan for the day was 12 miles in total, so rather than 2 x 6 I decided I was better off with a 4 mile recovery in the morning and an 8 mile in the evening. I read somewhere that when you have a reasonable level of fitness you really need to do at least an hour to get any benefit. Plus it would make sure I wasn't too fresh for the weekly long run on Thursday.
As the day went on I seriously faded due to the lack of sleep and for the first time since getting back in training I debated skipping the evening run. In the end I dragged myself out, deciding it was a slippery slope skipping runs & besides I had a friend visiting at the weekend so didn't want to be trying to make the mileage up. Was never so glad to get home, was practically in a daze!
Got a relatively good sleep Wednesday night but was still a little apprehensive (as I always am) about the long run. I was humming and hawing about whether to do 20 or 22 miles but in the end I said I'd aim for 20 & see how I felt. First few miles were grand and felt really comfortable. The pace was quite fast & by the time I hit the 7 mile mark I was averaging 7.05 minute miling. My HR if anything was a little lower than last week & I didn't have to force the pace at all. The second half is a little hillier so I knew the pace would drop but so far so good.
Around the 11 mile mark, after doing a "new section" on grass I started feeling a little lightheaded - not good. Told myself it was just the tiredness from sleep deprivation rather than tiredness from exertion. I also said remember how tired you were yesterday and you managed 8 miles so just do the same again (a mile had based during my deliberations!) This had the intended effect, along with a half mile downhill section. Felt fine for the next few miles and only really started to tire after 19 miles. At this point I decided I had to run for at least as long (in time) as last week, which as I was going to be at least 10 secs/mile quicker that I would do 21 miles, even though I hate running odd distances for some reason (at least it wasn't prime!)
My pace dropped down to just under 7.30 for the miles 19 & 20 but managed to pick it up for the last one just so I knew I could :) As per last week my HR dropped with the pace suggesting (to me that my legs are behind my heart & lungs)
Wednesday: AM 4miles @7.58 HR129
PM 8miles @7.36 HR130
Thursday: 21miles @7.12 HR139

Tuesday 25 February 2014

Hold da kæft mand!

So finding myself back in Denmark on a Monday morning for the first time in a few weeks I didn't bother with the pre dawn, pre breakfast 13 miler as per the last two weeks. Instead I did 6.5 with 5 more after work. Rather than laziness it was because I had time on my hands the previous 2 weeks. I like to stay on CET when I'm at home so getting up early isn't a problem. Plus now I was able to bring my tempo run back to today, Tuesday, as I had left it until Wednesday the last 2 weeks as I wouldn't subject myself to a tempo the day after a 13 miler especially when it's part of a double.
 So for today's tempo, I had one thing in mind - to get down to 6 minute miling. As last week I had only managed 6.04 (and had to dig deep for that ) it was by no means a certainty. 
After checking the weather I knew I'd have the wind for the first half but said I would definitely go no faster (but possibly slower) than 5.55min/mi to the turning point and rather than try and run as fast as possible for 10K I would hold 6 minute miling for as long as possible if the chance arose, and turn it from a tempo into a longer steady state run.
Sure enough like all good plans, they changed during the run with miles 1 and 2 both in 5.52 and mile 3 in 5.48 for good measure, but in my defense I felt fine and the wind was even stronger than I expected. After turning the average pace dropped to 5.54 but came back to 5.53 as I went down a gradual incline. At this point it usually gets very tough but I eased back slightly and let the pace drop after about 4.5miles At my usual stopping point of 10k I was still at 5.56 and felt reasonable so kept going. I was still heading into the wind and passed two joggers and heard one say " hold da kæft mand" or shut up man, a Danish expression for incredulity. This brought a wry (albeit slightly contorted) smile & inspired me to keep the head down but after a while I decided I had enough wind for now so turned again. Managed to keep going til 8 miles by which the time the pace had dropped to 5.59. Very satisfying and also was good to know that the tired legs had disappeared :) A good confidence builder 12 days out from Ballycotton.
Mon AM 6.6 @ 7.45 HR 129
PM 4.8 @ 7.31 HR 130 
Tues warm up 2.8 @ 7.31
8 @ 5.59 HR 168
Warmdown 3.5 @ 8.22

Ballygiblin 5k


So Sunday brought my third race of 2014 having done the Dungarvan 10 (62.15) and a 10k a week later in Copenhagen (37.25). I had sub 17.30 as a minimum target for the 5k course which was being billed as being fast and flat. 
It certainly was flat but a very strong headwind for the first half of the out and back course made for a very casual start. After settling into the lead group I felt fine and realised the reason was we were doing 6min/mile. Just as well as I hadn't done a great warm up having not factored in meeting people I knew and chatting. Things picked up slightly after the 1st mile and two lads got away. I was happy enough in 5th place and noticed at the turning point we had a nice gap to the chasers. I also noticed the 2 lads with me had opened a gap on me as we turned the corner.
 I felt reasonable as we headed back and having all the runners coming against us was a nice distraction. The gap to the guy in 4th was a bridge too far, my legs felt a bit heavy but my average pace was dropping steadily with the wind having thankfully not dying down. Crossed the line in 17.25 for a steady enough performance. Splits were 5.55, 5.30, 5.21 and 5.06 pace for the last bit. 
Did a 7 mile warm down to ensure I hit 80 miles for the week but felt quite tired.
I think I need an easy week now, but I will try to go to the well one more time and use next week as a recovery week in the build-up to Ballycotton. Heading back to Denmark now and next weekend will be my first travel free weekend since I got back in training so that should also help :)
Edit: publish failed. Total for week 80miles

Saturday 22 February 2014

So Friday and today were easy days as I am planning a 5k race tomorrow. Got completely soaked on Friday so was thankful it was only 4 miles. Was still quite tired after the long run Thursday. Amazing how I felt so fresh after last week's 18 miler in comparison. I think it was a combination of the extra distance and the knowledge of the upcoming race that made me feel so tired, and today is same despite only 3miles. But I did travel home last night so had 3.5 hours driving and a 2 hour flight. Finally I think the rather fast build up in mileage is taking it's toll. Since January I've had gone 50, 60, 62, 72, 76 and 81 last week. The 72 week was planned as an easy week but was the week I was in Tenerife so wasn't going to waste the sunshine by lying by the pool (well I did, but between runs).
Anyway early to bed tonight and we'll see what tomorrow brings
Friday, 4miles @ 7:53 HR 130
Saturday, 3miles @ 8:09 HR 130

Thursday 20 February 2014

Jeg er tilbage (i'm back)

So on the day I ran my first 20 miler in ages  (in training at least) I've decided to resurrect this blog. The usual story, I'm abroad and training for a marathon. Hopefully Limerick on the 4th of May. I'm 6 weeks into a 17 week program, and so far I've made steady progress as I was coming off a very low base, due to a combination of working the day job hard (trying to rid the world of diabetes, sort of) and malaise.
Anyway since the new year I've knuckled down and things have really kicked on since I did a weeks warm weather training in Tenerife in January. I've been doing 3 key workouts each week: a 10k tempo, mile repeats and a long run, which today was 20 miles. The long run follows the tempo to ensure I'm not too fresh starting it. For the past two weeks I've done a medium long run as well of 13 miles on Monday morning before breakfast but this was mainly because I've had Monday off.
So :
Monday am : 13 miles @ 7.45min/mile
Pm : 7 miles @7.45 min /mile
 Tuesday am : 5.5 miles @7.45
Pm 5 miles @ 7.45
Weds : warm up 10k @ 6.05 cool down
Thursday 20 miles @ 7.24 HR 142