March 20th
Monday
evening. Last week started off pretty slow but ended pretty well. I didn’t run
the day after Ballycotton as I was pretty much squeezed for time when I got in
the door, It was evident the rest of the week was going to be the same so I
decided to try a few early morning runs instead. I have run a few 5.50 am runs
in the past but they could be a more regular feature in the future. The Tuesday
morning was a case in point. I was up at 5.35 am and was out the front door by
5.55 am.I planned to run a hour, anymore and I would have been cutting it tight
for work. I didn’t use the garmin (takes too long to get a signal) but ran
using a stopwatch. I ran deliberately conservatively as the legs and head were
pretty foggy and rather than risk something silly, slow and steady was order of
the day. The pace was roughly 8.30 pace with maybe 7.3 miles covered. Then it
was straight into the shower, change of clothes and a be line out the door and
into the car. I had the car parked by 8.15 am with the 15 minute walk to work
on Wellington Road, a bowl of porridge in work and into class by 8.40. Essentially I don’t have a minute to spare in
the morning but the rest of the day went fine. I was home by 5pm that evening
giving me plenty of time to get dinner ready, lunch made and what ever was
required to help out Aoiffe and Iseult. As
I don’t get to bed until 12 pm most nights any lost sleep is made up on the
couch form 8pm to 12 pm that evening. Iseult is in bed at that stage and I forfeit
television rights to Aoiffe.
As I said it
will take a while to get used to it but the benefits outweigh the negatives. I
was back out for a A.M run again on Thursday morning and I was happy with the
effort this time. I ran 4 miles slow with another 4 miles at a reasonably
faster pace (around 7.50 pace). I really would like the pace of these longer
aerobic runs to come down without me having to force it. For me it’s a ideal
way of measuring my fitness as hopefully it will be the pace I hope to run a
marathon at. Saturday morning was a
later 10 am run running 8 miles with a 5 mile tempo insert of 7.20 pace. It
wasn’t a especially fast tempo but a solid run nevertheless. The wind was
strong in parts and it gave my legs food for thought. Sunday morning was a
solid 13 mile run, my longest long run in quite a while. The pace was 8.30 but
the last mile was tough going. Getting there though….
This morning
consisted of another 5.50 am run. I probably ran longer than I should have – 8.5
miles at 8.15 pace with 6 or 7 X 45
second strides. However getting into work was matter of being very efficient
with my time but again I was happy with how the day went. As much as I am
enjoying these early morning runs I am careful at the moment to use them
sparingly. If I can get out running 4 times a week by May covering around 40
miles a week then I am doing ok. That’s plenty for the moment. After that I
need to work on the pace.
Mileage to
end of 19th May – 36 miles. Tuesday 7.3 miles, Thursday 8 miles,
Saturday 8 miles with 5 mile tempo, Sunday 13.1 miles.
20th
May 8.5 miles with 7 X 45 second strides.
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