The half ton week

Week ending 13^th July

In my last entry I was talking about getting out 6 days a week and getting 50 miles up on my legs. I had reckoned I would have to wait till the end of the month. However I had resolved on Sunday night to keep the focus and get out 6 days a weeks and get 50 miles up on the legs. Mission accomplished.

Monday I ran the Dromcollogher 4 mile race giving Tony a lift on the way up. 2 years ago I ran this in around 27minutes 34 seconds. I missed out on it last year but watched as a interested spectator in what was the hottest day in Ireland in nearly 30 years. Again I didn’t know what to expect but hoped to improve on my previous time and ideally get under 27 minutes and set a PB. We did a 2 mile warm up beforehand in the added company of young Declan and bang on 8 pm the race started. The first mile is arrow flat and downhill but I was careful not to over extend myself. It passed in 6.32 and I was happy to see that I wasn’t too stressed by the pace. Turning the corner at 1.4 miles however the race took on a entirely different character.  The course got a bit steeper and the second mile passed in 6.42. Tony zipped past me and tore on up the road leaving me for dead a la the Dungarvan 10 last January. Aoife was up ahead and in her attempt to push for a prize was feeling the pressure. Sharon was as usual flying ahead of all of us. Mile 3 was a aslower time of 6.57 and I was feeling the pressure myself. I still reckoned a sub 27 minutes was on the cards if I could push really hard the last mile which was downhill in parts. Turning the corner into the town I broke into a attempted sprint with two lads breathing over my shoulder. I crossed the last mile in 6.53, five or six seconds outside a sub 27 minutes. Tony came home in 26.45 and Aoife not far behind him.

It was also great to see club great John Holland mark a 14 month absence from running by completing the circuit. While a small bit disappointed not to PB I enjoyed the evening and rounded off the day with a one mile cool down giving me a pretty decent workout of 7 miles.

Tuesday was a recovery day. One mile jog and watch the Hr drop to below 140 beats by walking for a minute to 90 seconds. I repeated this 4 times. The overall pace was 9.15 with the Hr a bit higher than one would expect – 136. While it is a tedious way to run it helps the system to bounce back.

Wednesday was another mid week medium long run. I don’t know how long these runs will go up to – maybe 2 hours or maybe 1hour50 minutes but for the moment the pace will be dictated by the HR. This time the readings were very positive – 8.06 pace with a Hr of 143. The mileage covered here was 10 miles on a flat course. Thursday was a day off with a tempo run Friday. Again this was a positive workout – 2 mile warm up with a 30 minute tempo and a 1 mile cooldown. The tempo portion went well but it was tough. Doing this on your one makes it harder even the pace (7.15) was a lot slower than that which I raced on Monday. Anyway I ran 4.16 miles at the aforementioned pace. I didn’t have a Hr strap for this one but i suspect the Hr was well above 170.

Saturday consisted of a 6 mile run around town with 6 X 1 minute sprint inserts at 6.15 pace. That gave me a overall pace of 7.50. Ideally I would want to be running the casual medium run at a faster pace without the effort  feeling difficult. Hopefully all in good time.

That left Sunday as the last run of the week – the bread and butter long run. I did 3 miles beforehand with Pa and Peader joining up with the large main group at 9 am for a further 13.1 miles around the hills and dips of Chaherduggan. I was glad to hog it down the back keeping a eye on the HR. In all I ran at 8.30 – 8.35 pace spending around 2hrs20minutes on my feet. HR for the second portion was 146.

A good running week – 50 miles and two years since I joined Mallow AC

Monday 7 miles with 4 mile race at 6.48 pace, Tuesday 4 mile recovery pace,Wednesday 10 miles, Thursday rest, Friday 7 miles with 30 minute tempo at 7.15 pace, Saturday 6 miles with 6 X1 minute sprints, Sunday 16.3 miles.

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