Good running and a 10k race

Week starting 17^th February

In terms of mileage this was a lower mileage week than the previous week. 40 miles instead of 55 miles. However the workouts were intense and on the whole successful. Monday was nothing special – the usual 4 mile recovery jog. On Tuesday I met up with my friend Don Golden. He drove out from Donoughmore to go for a run around the Ballyhoura mountains. It’s only 5 miles from my house but i have never ran up there. A shame really so this was a chance to put the record straight and to ctach up with Don. We ran around 10 miles at a handy enough easy recovery pace – around 1hr34minutes. It was slow enough but the route at times was quite challenging. We both enjoyed it.

Wednesday was a different affair. Time for the dreaded tempo run. As I was off school for the week I was able to get a lie in bed and still get my workout completed in the daylight. I ran my favourite 9 mile loop from my house down to Pikes Cross and up Cooleens back to the house. I ran 2 mile warm up with 6 miles at 7.10 pace and a 1.4 mile cooldown. The splits were very positive -1) 7.13 2) 7.10 3) 7.09 4) 7.12 5) 7.09 6) 7.04 – encountering two hills at mile 3 and mile 4. My best tempo since last year.

Thursday I ran up in Mayfield. I was out for a few hours the night before with Derm and Tim watching the Arsenal game against Bayern Munich. I haven’t seen the lads in a while and it was a chance to go out and have a few beers but I was conscious of the workout and a few longstanding appointments i had planned for the day after. Ah well...... Anyway I ran 9 miles in 1hr10mins18mins. This was the fastest run I have run up in Mayfield on what is a hilly course. Things are looking up.

This brings to me to the 10k race in Adare. I took 2 days off running and I was feeling fresh if a little apprehensive. The course was supposed to be hilly and so it was. One hill was followed by another and another and another. I didn’t have a watch with me so I simply ran as i felt. By the time I finished I ran the distance in 43.42- not a PB but a good workout at around 7 minute pace. It was probably the toughest route i have run in a while and hopefully it will stand me in good stead.

Miles for the week 40 miles

Pinning colours to the mast

Week ending  16^th February

The week of the big storm. Thankfully the hurricane like conditions of last Wednesday didn’t upset my running plans too much. The first couple of days had gone well fitting in my usual Monday recovery jog (4 miles) with a 2 X 3 mile tempo session on Tuesday. The time for each session was 21.10 and 21.27 respectively. The splits for each mile were steadily slower too, going from sub 7 pace to around 7.25 pace. It wasn’t as bad as it looked really as the last 1.5 miles were running into a pretty savage headwind. That said though caution is required for any future workouts.

The big storm on Wednesday required a stay over in Mayfield so i passed the time with a routine 7 mile jog at a handy pace (8.25 pace). The legs were feeling heavy but the winds had calmed down by the evening and it actually made for a nice evening. The situation back all the way to North Cork was pretty dire with fallen trees, loose slates and power cuts a plenty.

I also realised  I haven’t attended a Mallow mid week training session in a few weeks either. The only times i can manage to go are Thursdays and they were either postponed or moved to indoors making it either impossible or un palatable to go. Not knowing if the session was going ahead this time either I ran 10 miles in Charleville running the last 3 miles in under 7.50 pace and covering the whole distance 1hr18mins20secs. A very positive run. Hopefully i will see more of these over the year.

Saturday was a easier day jogging 5 easy miles at a sub 10 minute pace, 3 miles of these were in my wife’s company. It was a good leg stretcher and certainly beats walking.

The long run on Sunday with the Mallow gang was a  smaller affair than usual. Just me and Clive covered the planned 20 miles. The first 7 miles we ran with Siobhan and the rest we ran with Tim and Barry. The latter part of the run took in Ballyclough- a nice route with a fast 4 mile downhill finish. I felt reasonably comfortable for the run pushing on a bit for the second half of the run. I finished in around 2hrs52ins (8.39 pace). In hindsight I should have ran for 3 hours and possibly at a slower pace. That will be the plan for the next long run – 21-22 miles or 3hrs10mins on my feet.

Now I that have pinned my colours to the mast and have decided I am doing the Connemara marathon in April, it would be beneficial to see my plans for the next few weeks.  Next week I hope to run the 10 k in Adare, week after that a 21-22 mile long run, Ballycotton 10 after that, 22 mile run over Patricks weekend, 10 mile pacing gig in Mallow and a two week taper. In terms of setting myself time goals for the races I don’t actually know. Ideally set PB’s in all of them but that may have to wait until later in the year- Adare and Ballycotton are tough courses. The Connemara marathon is the “A” race. It’s a very tough course but I would like at least to get under 3hrs50minutes or close to 3hrs45minutes. Some might say a modest target but it would set me up for the rest of the year. The Dublin/Amsterdam marathon in October is where I ideally would love to get under 210minutes once more. It may be my last shot at a marathon. These few months are all about getting the mileage and confidence up again.

Miles for the week 55 miles.

Catching up

Week starting 27th January

Monday was a 4 mile recovery effort – 12 minute pace type of thing. I jogged 2 miles with my wife doing the other two under my own steam. Tuesday was 9 miles around Charleville at 8.16 pace, nothing extraordinary. A faster 8.2 mile effort in Mayfield on Wednesday on the hillier route at a good pace-8 minutes.  Thursday was 2 miles warm up with a planned 5 mile tempo and a one mile cooldown. The two mile warm up ended up being fast with a faster 5 mile tempo (7.10,7.06, 7.10, 7.14, 7.13) at 7.11 pace. I was feeling good at that stage and ran the warm up in 7.30 running 8.25 miles in total in a hour.  Saturday morning i jogged 2.5 miles with my wife and did 20 miles with the Mallow gang. I ran the 20 miles in 2hr54minutes @ 8.42 pace. Apart from the first 6 miles I was comfortable enough in that long run plodding kind of way. I would hope to cover the long runs at a faster pace in future.

Total mileage for the week – 52 miles

 

Week starting 3^rd February

Same as every other Monday, that is the usual 4 mile recovery jog in the company of my wife. Tuesday was a no show as the weather was pretty brutal – high gales and lashing rain. Wednesday I did 9 miles up in Mayfield at a solid enough pace – 8.17 per mile. Thursday was a pretty brutal/tough workout – 2 mile warm up with 5 X 1 miles repeats. Splits as follows were 6.38, 6.40, 6.41. By the 4^th mile the effort was beginning to tell with the split covered in 6.50. I should have quit at that stage but decided to do a 5^th repeat. The legs were very heavy and I ambled home in 6.58 per mile. I finished up with 5 X 0.20 mile sprints completed the mile total in 6.50. I finished off with a easy jog home. I probably should have run the tempos at 6.50 pace- next time.

Took the usual Friday off and had hoped to get a few easy miles up on the legs on Saturday but real life events made it impossible. At least by Sunday I had fresh enough legs for the long run with the club. The by now familiar storms had their presence felt along the route- flooded roads, lakes where fields once stood. I had it my head to run 13-15 miles at a marathon pace ideally sub 8 minute average. Started off well enough covering miles 1 to 11 in 1hr 29mins, not bad considering the first few miles were run in 8.10 pace. By mile 13 the legs were feeling the effort and I was happy to cut it short at 13.1 miles, a good half marathon workout. It was a good meeting with the lads. I covered the route in1hr.47mins or 8.10 pace. I walked the last mile to the car. It probably means in terms of a marathon running at a pace of around 8.30 per mile would be more sensible than running at a faster pace.

Mileage for the week 35 miles. Lower than last week but I missed a possible 9 mile workout because of the weather. That said Thursday’s and Saturday’s workout were very beneficial.