Saturday 31 January 2015

More miles...

I continued my habit of following the Tempo run with a double the next day. My legs were a little tired in the morning, but in the evening I found myself going at a fair old clip. While it was enjoyable I had a feeling I'd pay for it Wednesday morning.
AM 8.2miles @ 7.18 HR 139
PM 8.4miles @ 7.15 HR 138
 Sure enough Wednesday's AM run was a little slower but I think it was more to do with the headwind than fatigue. By Wednesday evening there was a storm blowing so what little temptation there was for another double quickly dissipated.
AM 10 miles @ 7.29 HR 135 
Thursday was track time again, the weather was still far from ideal with strong winds and flurries of snow. My hope had been to be close to 5.40 for 6 mile repeats since last week had gone so well. I didn't get off to a great start and my legs felt tired from the off. I decided there was no point in trying to force it on the first repeat so struggled to a 5.45. The second was even worse, partly due to absent mindedly doing too short a recovery so I ended up with 5.51. By now I resigned myself to the fact that if I managed to stay under 6minutes I'd be ok, just finish it out. After a more sensible recovery I managed to get down to 5.49. Sort of miraculously and with the help of some extra long recoveries I managed to bang out two 5.39's and a 5.36 to finish which was great considering how the session had started. Not sure if it was the weather changing slightly , the longer recovery or the GPS playing tricks (I take the distance from my watch rather than the track) but I didn't complain. Finishing out the session was the important thing. Warm up 3miles, 6x1 3miles warm down.
Felt pretty crappy on Friday, not sure if it was because I had a long run hanging over me all day or what. My sleep is still pretty bad but probably got my best nights sleep of the week on Thursday night. Anyway the hope was to do another 20 miles but so that I didn't feel under too much pressure told myself that anything more than 13 would suffice. It's still early days. Felt rubbish from the off but my pace was fast, hovering just over 7min /miling - I think I just wanted to get it over with!
By 6 miles I had slowed up though and really felt like stopping but decided another 6 miles feeling awful would be good for mental strength. By the time I got back to the start I had 13 miles done and said I'd do another half mile and once that was done was able to struggle on for another mile. Never strayed far from the office and continued like this, thinking about every mile being one less to do at the weekend. Once I got to 18.5, decided there was no way I was going to get this far and not do 20 and sure enough I did exactly that. Toughest run in a long time, but definitely a good tactic to stay close to base when knackered and only having to worry about each 1/2mile at a time.
20 miles @ 7.21 HR 139

Another brutal nights sleep but this time it was due to having to be up at 3.30 for a flight home. Nice to know I can take today off but will decide later if I want to go for a nice easy run. Weighed myself when I got up and am down to 64.8 kgs which is nice, considering I seemed to be stuck on 68 only a few weeks ago. Haven't been starving myself at all but funny how cutting out the little things like hot chocolate are making all the difference. No doubt I'll spring back up a bit as always on weekends at home but managed to resist the pastries in the lounge at Copenhagen airport earlier so there's hope for me yet! 

Tuesday 27 January 2015

After last Monday’s bad start I was filled with trepidation for Tuesday’s tempo run. My trepidation was well placed, after glancing at my watch during the warm up I noticed I was doing slower than 8 minute miling. Once I got started I did however do the first mile in 6.07 so was thinking maybe I was in for a pleasant surprise. The second was a little slower but I felt awful. I really wanted to stop but knew I’d regret it and pushed on. After holding it together as far as mile 4 the wheels really came off and the last two miles were both slower than 6.30. But to be honest I was just happy that I finished it. Looking at my HR, my average was only 160 and looking back at my HR for the 3K race it was also lower, only peaking at 170 whereas I would have expected to max out (around 178ish). I interpret this as fatigue, which is understandable considering my high mileage of late. Warmup 2miles Tempo run 6.25miles @6.18 HR 160 Warmdown 4.75miles
Thankfully the rest of the week showed a major improvement, Wednesday an easy 8miles AM followed by 5PM with 10miles AM on Thursday.
On Friday it was time to hit the track again and I did a session of 6x1mile. I had it in my head that the first one should be no faster than 6.00 or 5.50 if I was going really well. Completely surprised myself with a 5.41 but felt grand. Decided to see if I could make sure I was under 5.50 for the remainder and I was with (5.47,5.45,5.46,5.47 & 5.46) . Only really felt under pressure towards the end of the 5th and for most of the 6th but overall a good session.
I planned a long run Saturday, but as I had a few hours work to do, I was little undecided which to do first. After seeing there was a good chance of snow later in the day I said best get the run out of the way (It started snowing heavily almost as soon as I finished!). After Monday’s disaster I was hoping things would go a little better & in fairness they did. Got in my first 20 miler and at 7.10 pace to boot. Felt fine though and the last few miles were only a shade over 7 minute miling giving  20miles @7.10 HR141. This gave me a weekly total of 86miles (highest ever) and afforded me my first day off, of the year on Sunday. Decided that I deserved a few beers which I thoroughly enjoyed and even managed to resist hitting the Pizzeria afterwards. Had a very lazy Sunday.   

Yesterday was Tempo time again and even though I was still a little shook after Saturday night I was hopeful of being close to 6 minute miling. Again my first mile was 6.07 and after the second I was at an average of 6.10per mile. However after a 3rd mile in 5.54 I was down to 6.03 average by mile 4. Alas once more the wheels came off & I ended up with a 6.15 & 6.16 for the last 2 miles giving an average of 6.07 @165bpm. Better than last week but still a bit off. I have an easy week planned for next week & I think it is well needed at this stage. Still, not there yet.

Monday 19 January 2015

a bad day out of office

Today was a bad day, and it was entirely my own fault although I'm not sure if it was entirely physical or mental or a combination of both. After returning from Nenagh I had some food, a little too much as I had promised Olan I'd take him for Pizza. When we got to the pizza restaurant I foolishly picked one with lots of salty and fatty bacon. As a result of this and ahem dessert I found myself gasping with the thirst when I woke during the night. 
My plan was to do my first 20 miler today but from the first step I felt off. I struggled on hoping that it would improve as the run progressed. Managed a decent enough clip for the first few miles and was down at around 7.05 pace but started to really struggle at the first major hill at mile 8. This was also the end of the first loop so it did cross my mind to call it a day.
Soldiered on and felt a little better for a while but on approaching the hill for the second time I felt awful. The only thing that stopped me from stopping was shame juxtaposed with the fear of freezing. Eventually fatigue outweighed pride and I adopted a run walk strategy for about half a mile before managing to amble the last mile home.
A very sobering experience which will hopefully stick with me next time I'm thinking of stuffing myself with junk food.

16.3 miles @ 7.43 HR 137

Sunday 18 January 2015

Master of none

After a fairly hairy trip to Nenagh due to icy roads, I was happy to be running indoors, despite the infamously arctic venue. Wasn't too confident but reckoned with a good run I should get down to around 10 minutes or so.
After discovering that we were being set off with the senior men (I've given up on senior running when masters is available) my fear of being lapped disappeared due to it's inevitability. After making a few introductions to some of the other masters it didn't appear to be too loaded a field.
When the gun went I was happy to remain at the back of the field, in fact I felt very lacksidasical. After a few lads quickly detaching themselves at the front of the field I settled in at the back of the second (and possibly final) group. As there was no counter it was down to ourselves to count down the laps. I knew I hadn't started too quickly but I was still surprised with how quickly I got lapped. I hung on to one of the guys who I knew who was O35 and let another get away. I felt reasonably comfortable but overtaking on the tight track takes a fair bit of energy so once or twice I got held up in traffic and unfortunately due to this and a lapse in concentration I allowed a gap to develop. After 10 laps (2K) I was starting to suffer and started to give up on the notion of catching anyone. I had no idea how I was doing time wise but just struggled on.
I crossed the line in 10.24 which was pretty disappointing, I definitely expected quicker than that. But hopefully with another few weeks of training the performances will start to follow.
One positive I can take from the lightened training over the last few days is that a niggle I had had in my right knee has thankfully disappeared.
Warm up 2.5miles 3K in 10.24 (5th O35 I think) 3.5 miles warm down. Total for week 67miles

Saturday 17 January 2015

After last weeks tempo run I was really looking forward to the next one as I was curious to see how it would go on fresh legs, well when I say fresh I mean not having done a long run the previous day - as my legs weren't too fresh after my first 80 mile week since last spring. But all day Monday I have to admit I was dreading it, even considering putting it off until Tuesday. But as I know only too well ’tis a slippery slope - putting off a Tempo off for 24 hours can quickly turn into Pizza, ice cream and a lash of pints and a “sher there's always Autumn” As I was getting changed I remarked to one of my colleagues who also runs my sense of foreboding & he just said, the hard bit is getting out there and with this in mind I headed out into the cold but slightly less windy elements. 
My personal philosophy for tempos is to do the first mile no quicker than the average speed of the previous one so in this case 6.13min/mile. Regulating pace was never going to be easy in the still quite windy weather so when I saw 6.16 at around the half mile mark I didn't worry too much. I had a tail wind for the next section though and went through the first mile in 6.10. Shortly after this I entered a section where there was no street lighting so had to go purely off feel, which is no harm at all. I must have sped up though as the second mile was 6.04 and a far cry from the 6.26 of last week. Felt good though and continued like this and by mile 4 my average was 6.05. The wheels came off after this a bit though, despite my best efforts to keep the speed up and miles 5 & 6 were both around 6.15 giving an overall pace of 6.08. Nothing wrong with that but had hoped to be within touching distance of 6 minute miling. Finished with a long cool down giving me 13miles for the day.
By tuesday morning the wind had finally disappeared so I did a very enjoyable 8 miles AM. Had had a very bad nights sleep so by the afternoon I was shattered so struggled through another 4 after work. AM 8.3miles @7.25 HR137 PM 4miles @7.49 HR129
As I am racing on Sunday I decided I would try and do some sort of speedwork on Wednesday. Thankfully I got a good nights sleep but at around 11am the snow started to fall thick and fast and despite the prettiness all I could think of was should I go to the track or do something else? In the end I headed to the track from work. I had foolishly underestimated the distance and had 5 miles done by the time I got there. There was no way I was going to attempt 400’s on an icy track so I decided to revert to my ‘favourite’ mile repeats or 1.609’s as they’re known locally. As it was pitch black after the first 60 seconds of light on my watch I was again running on feel. I was happy enough to clock 5.55 for the first. As I started the second a horde of Golden oldies arrived on the track for some aerobics of some sort. Despite being here long enough to know better I was still a bit incredulous to see them lined up along lane one as I approached. “Lane one, bane et!!” I shouted and they scattered like a flock of hens. By the next lap they were respectfully occupying the 7 free lanes but I had already decided that this was my final repeat and this was compounded by the time of 6.05. I did a longish cool down bringing at total of 12.odd miles. 
Despite another night of no sleep I had no option but to run to work on Thursday (Both my jackets were at the office) I’m beginning to think it’s the thought of running to work that makes me sleep badly so I headed off at 4.45am and was surprised to meet a few other runners en route. Despite it only being a 4 mile trip I squeezed in another 4 so’s that I wouldn't have to do anything in the PM if I was going to be as knackered as I was Tuesday. I think I was actually a bit under the weather so had a lemsip as soon as I was showered and started to feel a bit better. Could have managed a few miles but it was raining katten og hunden in the evening so I took it as a sign to do some stretching and foam rolling instead. I didn't read the sign but read a book instead! 8miles @7.50 HR137.
Oddly despite my increased mileage and genuinely only eating healthily all week I managed to put on weight which was a little annoying. I am making a point of trying not obsess about weight during this training cycle but know in my heart and soul I’ll get nowhere weighing as I am, 68kilos. So on thursday my frustration manifested itself in polishing off almost a loaf of ryebread with peanut butter along with dinner. Out of curiosity I weighed myself this morning and it hadn't made a huge difference but felt pretty crap all day. Not surprisingly I wasn't any better as I embarked on what should have been a quite pleasant run in the afternoon. The old “you’ve a race on Sunday” mentality had kicked in aswell so didn't enjoy my little jaunt around Bagsvaerd So (lake) at all. I was quite happy to be on my way to airport and having some time to relax before my flight. 8.1miles @8.32 HR139

Even though I was overnighting in Amsterdam, and not flying until 9.40am on Saturday I resisted the urge to go on the lash. Well to be honest there was n't much resisting I just felt like going to bed. Did a very nice 50minutes on frosty grass near the airport this morning before heading to the airport. All set for the masters indoors in Nenagh tomorrow. Not expecting too much but it'll be nice to have a good blow out. 6.2 miles @7.51 HR 132. First time running below sea level!!

Monday 12 January 2015

Wet 'n' Wild

The weather in Denmark has been pretty crazy for the last few days and indeed all over Europe it seems. Thankfully however it has n't affect training too much. Managed a session on Friday evening, 12x400 with 400m recovery. I had done a few of these sessions of late with two reasons in mind. Firstly I had delusions of being in great shape in time for the Munster indoors (18th of Jan) and needed some proper speedwork as opposed to my usual mile repeats. Unfortunately I'm not in great shape, but intend running the indoors 3K anyway. The second reason was that when I switched back to mile repeats I'd have a bit more zip in my legs. Time will tell but I'm pretty doubtful that it has worked, especially if Friday's session is anything to go by. While I started reasonably well, with two 76's (the previous sessions had averaged 80 seconds followed by 78) but they rapidly fell off with a few high 70's and low 80's. Now the weather played a part as I had to deal with 24 mph swirling winds but I think it was also just one of those days in conjunction with readjusting to the high mileage weeks so I wasn't too hard on myself.
The high winds became even stronger on Saturday and along with rain made for pretty miserably conditions. Managed a little over 12 miles using the mantra "any mile I do today is one less to do tommorrow". 12.4miles 7.45min/mile HR138bpm.
I had set a goal of breaking 80 miles for the week so only needed a short run on Sunday to reach the target. The rain had gone but the high winds continued to I ventured into a local wood to escape the brunt of it. A number of fallen trees provided some interesting obstacles so it was quite an enjoyable run. 5.6miles 7.37min/mile HR141bpm.
Total for week 80 miles

Thursday 8 January 2015

Back to work

After having no problems with a 17 mile long run before Christmas I didn't think I’d have any major issue with an 18 miler on Monday. As I was flying back to Denmark Monday evening I thought it would be good to get the week off to a good start. It turned out to be a bit of a slog though plus I had to put up with a constant drizzle which felt like it added a few kilos to my running gear even though in reality it didn't. I think it was more to do with the heavy mileage over Christmas having done the 17 miles on Fresh legs. 18 miles @ 7.40 HR 143
The plan for Tuesday had been to do a session with some work colleagues but when it was apparent I would be alone I decided to give it a skip. As the guy who coaches the session doesn't know me I was nervous that he would push a bit hard and after all the miles I didn't want to risk injury. If the other guys were there I could at least have hidden in the pack a. Instead I did a tempo run and after doing the first two miles in 6.19 and 6.26 I was quite happy to get my average pace down to 6.13 by the end. This was my fastest tempo run in a while, although I did manage one at 6.07 in Spain in November, but I was well rested and the conditions were perfect. From looking back at last year I appear to be about a month ahead of where I was, which is encouraging, if I can keep it up! 12 miles incl 10K tempo run @ 6.13 HR 168.
Managed a double yesterday, 5.5 miserable miles in sleet in the morning into a head wind (to work) and a more agreeable 6.5 on the way home.

Decided I didn't want to double up again today so took an extended route to work to get 8 miles in. About to head home now and looking forward to an evening of leisure.  

Tuesday 6 January 2015

Dune and out in County Kerry

After an inauspicious start, the Christmas holidays turned out to be quite productive from a training point of view. After not managing a solitary mile during the first two days, I managed to rack up over 180 miles in the following 16 days. This was especially pleasing as I had only logged one 60 mile week since my last post. On a few occasions I had reached to 50+ by Friday only to be stuck on the same figure come Sunday evening, due partly to circumstance, and partly just not being in the zone. Since the beginning of December I have managed to knuckle down a bit knowing Christmas holidays would provide the perfect opportunity to get back into proper training.
After the initial two day hiatus I did get in a 17 mile long run to kick things off and a reasonable hill session in the Galtees. I followed this up with a race on the 26th with a belly full of turkey during which I thought I was going to die. As it was my first race since May I didn't know how it would go but had 18 minutes in mind. I managed 18.26 for 3rd place on a reasonably challenging
course.
After getting some social "obligations" out of the way that night I knuckled down again amd joined the club for their annual trip to Inch beach in county Kerry for a session on the infamous dunes. Well when I say knuckled down, the night before the session I had a few beers with an old work colleague in Killarney so I was ever so slightly under the weather setting off. The actual weather however was glorious so despite the dunes living up to the their reputation it felt great to let off some steam with some like minded individuals. (70miles total for week)
Inch Beach

The session was followed up with a return to the beach for a long run the following day and even though I felt I hadn't given it my all on the dunes I really struggled, especially when we encountered some soft sand. Rather than try and stick with the group I let them go and just pottered my way around for 11 miles. Felt knackered at the end so was surprised that my legs felt much better when we ventured out for another 30 minutes that evening. I guess that it was on tarmac may have had something to do with it.
The first session of the new week was back at the beach. As my Garmin battery had died I have no idea how it went but it felt ok as we went through 6x2minutes with 2 minutes recovery. As I was planning on racing on new years day (2 days later) I didn't want to kill myself. After returning home did an easy hour the following morning pre breakfast. Had planned on being in bed early but low and behold I ended up past midnight eating all sorts of rubbish before finally hitting the sack in the wee hours. Not an ideal way to prepare for a race or see in the new year for that matter.
The race didn't go great - never really got going and felt I was just going through the motions. Still it was a good workout (22nd in 29.52) and when I think I struggled to do 4 miles on the same day last year it was quite encouraging.
Did another double on friday (5miles am; 6miles pm) before another hill session on Saturday. Had hoped to get to the club hill session but a lack of transport meant I had to make do with the Galtees. Finished out the week with a dreary 70minutes on Sunday evening, was just going through the motions but of course that needs to be done too. (76miles total for week)
Hill session on the Galtees