2 week snap

Week ending 24^th April

I ran around 32 miles this week and 33 miles the week before. Not high mileage at all but good workouts. Mondays consisted of a 2 mile walk each time with my wife. I normally prefer a 40 mile easy jog but I enjoy the chat with Aoiffe and it has pretty much the same impact. Tuesday last week was 7 miles, maybe 8 miles with 2 X 15 minute inserts in the middle. I covered over 2.2 miles each time at around 7.08 – 7.10 pace and on Wednesday after a long drive up and down to Tralee with my mum (she got the knee done) I did around 6 miles in Mayfield. Hopefully I get up there a bit more in the next few months. Thursday was another MP run of around 7 miles at 7.45 pace. I kept the pace controlled and the Hr was at 155. No run on Friday and I had to forego the Doneraile hill session with the club running 10.5 miles in Charleville early in the morning. Sunday morning was another early start heading to the Fota flower show for the day. A good week but far from hard core either.

This week was more of the same. 2 mile walk with Aoiffe. 7 miles on Tuesday with 8 x 2 minutes at 6.35 average pace. Wednesday a very tired 7 miles at 8.30 pace and a 4 mile race in Ballintotis. I haven’t run here in 3 years. I Pb’ed at the time 27 minutes according to the clock but in reality 26mins 57 seconds according to my garmin. This time I ran a pretty solid time. I didn’t wear a garmin for this one but lost around 10 seconds at mile 3 and another 10 at mile 4. Again far from the finished deal but I was happy enough with the time of 27mins22seconds (chipe timing helps). Clive and Paudie had cracking races. No running as usual Friday and slept out Saturday morning and was basically lazy for the day. I ran 12 miles this morning at 6.30 am at 8.30 pace. Hr was 148 spending the rest of the day watching the London marathon.

As I say a good two weeks but plenty plenty to work on.

Called off due to rain.

Week ended 10^th April

I didn’t run Wednesday. That is a deliberate policy as I am currently simply trying to go out running when I feel rested and fit as distinct from feeling the need to put myself under pressure and go running 6/7 days a week. On average I am running 4 days a week at most. Thursday effort was to be a marathon pace effort. I was planning to run 7 miles at a 7.55 pace but when I looked down at the watch at mile 6 I was surprised to see I was running at around 7.35 average pace. I hadn’t expected that so I decided to dial the pace back a bit for the last mile. The HR was reasonable enough – 158 – for a marathon pace effort but I may want to keep a tighter rein on the pace next time.

My next run was on Saturday morning with the club in Doneraile park. The plan was 2 mile warm up , 6 X 1km and 3 mile cooldown. I wasn’t completely focused and I was feeling a bit heavy legged if truth be known. I was well down the back of the group for the repeats – around 7.58 mile pace. The rest of the club members were flying it and I tried to be philosophical about it. Running is as a honest a sport as it gets, you get out what you put in.

The plan on Sunday was the 10 mile race in Cobh. I had intended to run it at around 7.20 pace feeling strong and controlled. It’s a tough course and I hadn’t had enough done yet to challenge myself to do anything faster. What was even tougher on the way down however was the weather. It was bucketing down, it was cold and the temperatures were very low. In other words ideal weather for catching up with boxsets certainly not for running. By the time I reached Belvelly bridge the waves were lapping over the bridge and onto the road. It looked pretty spectacular and a lot of cars were turning back home. I drove to the finish line and some stewards were packing away barriers and traffic cones so it was obvious it was going to be called off. That announcement was texted to me later.

The morning wasn’t without it’s compensations. I popped into my mum’s home on the way back and got well fed so happy days !!!!

I didn’t even bother trying to venture out the rest of the evening. It does mean however that I haven’t run 10 miles or more in around 3 weeks so that will have to be remedied.

By the way congrats to club stalwart Paudie Birmingham who ran sub 3 in the Rotterdam marathon to day. A great achievement and well deserved..

Monday 40 minute walk, Tuesday 6 miles with 4 X 1 repeats at 6.52 average pace, Thursday 7 miles at 7.37 pace, Saturday 8 miles with 6 X 1 km repeats. Total 23 miles

2 races in 1 week

Tuesday 5^th April.

I drafted this update a while back but only found the time now to finish it off. Last week saw me enter two races in a week – a 4 mile race in Boherbue/Kiskeam and  a 10k race in Cork City. In between I jogged 7 miles on Tuesday, 6 slog miles on Thursday and 6 miles in Doneraile park with the club (3 sets of 4 sprints , -25 -30 -35 -40 secs).

The first race is one of the oldest in Cork county and while it was a bit pricey (15 euro) I enjoyed the drive from Charleville and meeting up with clubmates. The first mile was a rapid downhill. I tried to hold back but it was difficult. The next two miles were quite hilly with a nice finish in the last mile into Kiskeam. My first mile was around 6.35 but I was finding it hard to get the legs moving after that, finishing in 28minutes05seconds. Still though it was nice to get out there and race. The legs felt surprisingly fresh the next day with the HR reaching a decent level of 145 at a pace of 8min15seconds per mile. I took the now customary day off on Wednesday but felt a bit blah on Thursday struggling to get the 6 easy miles up on my legs. Saturday was a series of hill sprints with the club in Doneraile park. I am beginning to warm to these sessions so hopefully I can stick with them. Truth be told I wasn’t very good on the sprints but road running isn’t about sprints more about mile by mile endurance. Nevertheless it was a good workout.

Sunday was the morning of the classic 10 k race in UCC. It takes in a tough but fair route along the Mardyke, the Waterworks, Anglers Rest and back up the straight road finishing in the Lee Fields. The tough part of the course is a long drag and a hill by mile 1.5 to 2.5 but the finish is a good one. I had planned to run around 7.15 pace and get in under 45 minutes, not a fast pace but I wanted to run under my Lactic Threshold. The plan was not to race all out rather at a controlled fast/comfortable pace. I was doing well enough up to mile 3 but started to struggle a bit after that losing 3 to 4 seconds on each mile after that. By mile 6 I was a bit battered and glad to get the whole exercise over with in 45minutes08seconds clock time. I timed it from when I crossed the line coming in at 45seconds02seconds. No matter though, it was tough but enjoyable. I felt recovered enough to tack on a mile cooldown for a good workout. (30 miles for the week)

Monday consisted of a easy 40 minute walk with Aoiffe.  I would have gladly gone for a jog instead but it was nice to talk and chat through our respective days. Tuesday I trundled down to the railway road starting with a  1 mile warm up with 4 X 1 mile repeats and 1 mile cooldown. Mile one 6.40, Mile 2 6.50, Mile 3 6.40 and Mile 4 7 mins. It obviously time to go home after the last mile repeat. I felt surprisingly energized for the rest of the evening.