Upping the Tempo

I was a little apprehensive as I headed out on a warm up for my Tempo run. I hadn't been making massive progress and had only managed 6.08minute/mile on my previous effort 2 weeks earlier. I had been at about 5.45per mile at the 10k mark during Sunday’s race (slipping to 5.49 by the end) which gave me some confidence but was also aware that the race would still be in my legs. On this week last year I managed a steady state run of 8 miles @ 5.59 pace so that put me under a little bit of pressure as well.

Did n’t feel great during the warmup, but once I got going I felt reasonable and went through the first mile in 6.01. Slipped back a bit on the second, but pulled it back on the 3rd as usual happens due to the gradient with a 6.07 and a 5.53. The 4th went well with a 5.56, so far so good. The last few outings brought a real drop off over the last 2 and a quarter miles so I was determined to keep it going for at least one of them. Half way through mile 5 I could see I was still averaging 6min/miling so thought at least I wouldn't be too far off at the end. At this point the course goes into darkness so I was running purely on feel. Felt my pace had dropped off a bit so was delighted when I saw 6 flat at 5 miles! Just kept pushing and was even happier to see 5.59 for the 6th. Pushed hard for the last quarter which is predominantly downhill and averaged 5.30 pace bringing me under the 6 minute/miling and unofficially what I consider OK shape.  

warmup 2.25 10k Tempo @5.59 HR164 cooldown 4.6

The plan for Thursday was a long run. For some reason or perhaps due to rose tinted glasses I seem to be dreading them a lot more than last year, when I almost looked forward to my jaunt into the west Zealand countryside. It’s possibly because my cycle is 2 weeks earlier in the year than for Limerick and also I started doing 20 milers a little earlier in the cycle. The first few miles went ok and I was under 7 minute/miling until about the 5 mile mark. I definitely felt a bit better than last week, but that's not saying much! By the time I got to 8 miles I just told myself to stick with it and tried to remember that the more I did now the less I’d have to do at the weekend (in Ireland). Got through it, but it certainly wasn't fun.

20.6 @7.19 HR136

As I was flying home on Friday at 10am I got up early to bang out a few slow miles. The plan was to do 6.3 (to bring me to 70miles for the week so far) and anything else would be bonus territory. This seemed to work and I managed a total of 10 albeit very slowly! My quads were quite sore but in a tired rather than niggly way which is fine. Did a small bit of foam rolling after breakfast before heading for the airport, smiling at the knowledge that tomorrow could be another recovery day.

10 @7.53 HR125

Weight was down to 63.8kg (pre run) so nice progress there, but as always trips to Ireland tend to fraught with excess - you can't beat mammy's cooking!