Training Log 25th December

Christmas Day. I ran 22.7 mls in Cork yesterday. The whole thing took 3hrs30mins taking me right up to my Mum's house in Mayfield. I could have ran for another 3 minutes to get up to the 23 miles but the lure of the annual Lotabeg Green fry up was a temptation too strong ;-) I ran 7 X 1 miles around Lotabeg and then onto and turn around at the top of the North Mall running back the way I came. Anyway job done delighted. It was a tough especially the last 5 miles, lots of hills and one 3 minute walking spell up Spring Lane past the Glen Rovers hurling club. Lots of slow shuffle running after that , not pretty and it looked demented to one of my old neighbours (he thought I might a lift from the AA !!) but I was very happy with it. Hopefully it will serve me well for future challenges ahead.

The fry up was well worth it. All the family were there and that was great.

No running today. Legs a bit stiff and calves a bit tight but hope to get a few more runs in during the week. Again my weekly totals are on the low side.

P.S

Just forgot I did 5.5 miles last Tuesday, 7.3 miles Thursday and 8 miles Sunday.

Training log week ended 15th December

Tuesday 5 miles in 50 minutes (recovery pace). Wednesday no run , can't remember why. No run Thursday or Friday. Saturday 8 miles at handy enough pace, around 8.20 per mile. Sunday a very enjoyable and relaxed 14 miles in around 2hrs 02 minutes. Felt good for that one. Again the long run was good but need to get more done during the week.

Training log week ended 8th December

All the running was compressed into 4 days - Tuesday a 30 minute walk run around Charleville - 3 mls, lots of stretching on the way. Wednesday around 7.2 mls in a hour and a very slow 7 mls at 9 minute pace followed by a 20 mile epic in Cork on Friday.
 I broke the 20 mile run in to 5 X 1 ml loops  around Mayfield and then 15 mls on the regular "Cork long run route" out towards the long road by the Lee Fields and 2 mls back into the city stopping by the bus stop on Summerhill. If I wanted to jog back to Mayfield that would have meant another 4 mls on very very tough hills, it's unlikely I would have been able to run it without walking. It's something I may come back too in the future. This time I was happy / relived to get the run done. The whole thing took 3 hours.

My splits were very even generally in the 8.45 to 8.55 area. As I waited for the bus I popped into the off licence for the life giving properties of Tanora and a Mars bar !!! I was reasonably comfortable for the rest of the day. It was only my second 20 ml run this year but I was happy enough with it.

Saturday was a busy day - Iseult had a visit to Santa in my wife's workplace and I then drove from Limerick to Cork for my work xmas party. Sunday I had planned to do a easy recovery run but Aoiffe was struck down with a bug so that was that. It would have been great to do the 40 mls for the week. Monday is out of the question too. I'm doing a course on that day.

Training log week ended 1st December

Good week just gone. 5 MLS at 930 pace Tuesday. 1 hour with 7.6 MLS on Wednesday. 1 hour in Mayfield Cork at a lot faster pace than before, 8.10 as distinct from previous 8.30 pace. That was it until Sunday. Shame I can't more consistency in terms of getting out 5 times a week. That would have been my ideal training cycle but it's a lot better than it has  been in a couple of years. On Sunday I ran a MP longish run, 11 miles at 8.20 pace. I know in terms of MP it's around 30 seconds slower than what I used to do but that will do fine for the moment. 30 miles for the week.

Hopefully the Xmas break will give me more time to get he running done in the morning. I was hoping for a regular 4- 5 day running cycle