A message to Mr. McGee

Sunday 27^th October

 On Thursday I headed out in Mayfield the second day in the row, the weather conditions were a bit hostile to say the least. However given the fact  that running is bad weather is the best mental  training possible I took my chances. Legs were heavy so i decided to run 5 miles as a recovery run. Essentially run each mile slow and walk for a minute. The idea was to loosen the legs up and lower the heart rate down to 140. Anyway fighting htrough the gales and rain splatter from cars I did the job.5 miles at 9.46 pace. Hr was 140 so happy enough.

 

That evening headed to Mallow to sit in on a very instructive talk by Steve Macklin, AAI instructor, on endurance running and  training. Excellent seminar and I was happy to get a lot of tips from it as well act as a excellent motivational tool for me. Frday evening did a 5 miler in Charleville running at 8.30 average. In fact the splits didn’t vary a lot between 8.33 and 8.27. I felt very relaxed and very happy. Even more when i saw that the HR was 144. HR on the whole is looking very positive these days but the desire to run is also very strong. As November to January is a quiet time on the road racing front I hope these months will prove a excellent base to future improvements later next year.

Saturday morning was more of the same – a relaxed 8 miler. Again I didn’t look at the garmin until after the run and I was delighted to the see pace drop from a 8.50 down to a 8.25 for the last mile. I didn’t have the HR strap on for this one but I felt very relaxed all the way through. I was amused to see a nanny goat run around the estate I was jogging through. Average pace for the run was 8.37. As a result I reckon I will be starting any future MP runs at probably 8.20 pace hoping of course to get that pace down over the next few months. Easy steps though. Sunday was rounded off with a relaxed 2.5 mile walk with Aoiffe.

It was only when I added up the mileage accumulated this week did I realise how well I had got on.30 miles running with 5 miles of recovery walking – a sizeable jump on last week. I have now increased frequency and distance. Eventually I hope to increase speed. Delighted with that but I will be careful all the same. That said I will be away for most of next week so I mightn’t get the same amount of mileage up on my legs. At the very worst next week will be a cut back week.

In regard to speed I did toy with starting with mile intervals but I could be risking injury again. Maybe 1 minute intervals for the first few weeks and then build up to a tempo workout.

Anyway all the best to everyone running the Dublin marathon. Aidan McGee you know that will be us next year!!!!!

Back to the future

21^st October 2013

Thankfully in another week the Dublin marathon will be a thing of history so at least I will be on some sort of level playing pitch as everybody else. Regarding upcoming plans for races the truth is I have no plans. I have entered the Dungarvan 10 and might enter the Ballycotton simply on the principle if you are not in you can’t take part. In regard to Connemara I am totally undecided – the half, the full or the ultra? Currently I’m not anyway near any sort of racing shape but I will weigh things up in January. I do definitely want to have a crack off the 26.2 distance next year, most likely Dublin. This may be my last chance at another PB.

For the moment the same theme is repeating itself – run, don’t worry about speed or pace and build up some base mileage. Monday was a case in point 6 miles at 8.23 pace with a HR of 147. I hadn’t expected to do 6 miles in Charleville but the route meant if I wanted to get back to my front door I had to cover the complete distance.I had no intentions of walking the last half mile. I was lucky to miss the heavy showers which erupted as I soon I stuck my sweaty head into the kitchen. Tuesday was my usual walk with Aoiffe -2.5 miles. She was keen to get out and get fresh air, I less so but after a mile or so I was getting in better form for it.

What is interesting that in terms of work and household chores I have bags more energy these days than i had for the last 3 years. Unfortunately I have no marathon excuses to get out of stuff anymore. Take the bins out? No problem!!! Dig flower beds? No problem!!! Go shopping in Cork? No problem!!! Take the 3^rd years to a excursion? No problem!!!!  Organise a  school sports project? No problemClean the windows? I’m sure you get the idea.  Sometimes it easier to say no!!!!!

Wednesday I took advantage of a gap in my working day to get the bus from Cork city centre on McCurtain St up to my Mums house in Mayfield. These Wednesday runas at 10.15 am are a real godsend. It means I am at my freshest for a workout and I still can get back to work by 12.00 am. I have a few extra  bits and pieces going on which means the working day really doesn’t finish until 7.30 pm. Missing workouts isn’t a option anymore. Anyway for this one I decided against the normal hill run around the Glen and did 6 miles of laps around the soccer pitch behind the house. Anyway 12 laps later at 8.37 pace the workout was completed and i was never any further than a 5 minute walk from my house. Grass running is great for the legs. The pace was slow for the first mile (8.55) but was down to 8.20 for the last few miles. HR was quite high 157 but I felt very comfortable all the way through. The high Hr has me perplexed, i changed the battery in the strap so I assume that it is now correct but it is way higher than Mondays effort. Perhaps the change of terrain might account for it or maybe I am doing something wrong. Time to consider speed work in a few weeks.  3 mile tempos or maybe start with something easier?

The heart of the matter

October 20^th 2013

First up to issue offer congrats to the Mallow AC runners who were running in the Amsterdam marathon. A couple of notable PB’s were achieved including another sub 3 hour run by club captain Aidan Buckley and a excellent 3hr36minute run by Darragh Wiley. This was Darragh's 3^rd marathon this year and his second marathon PB in the same period .Hard not to feel wistful all the same, especially with the Dublin marathon coming up. My wife on the other hand is quite glad I am not training for any marathons at the moment able as she is to get me to do as many jobs as possible.

My running this week was compressed into the last 5 days of the week. Not ideal for me but it was the way iit worked out. Did my usual recovery walk on Tuesday (2.5 miles) before heading up to Mayfield on Wednesday for a hilly run. This was my best run up there in a while, running 5.8 miles at 8.50 pace. The last 2 miles are pretty tough but felt strong enough to nearly tack another mile on to it. I followed this up with my fastest run in a while also. 5.5 miles at 8.04 pace. The last 4.5 miles were all sub 8 minute miles. The only annoying aspect was that the HR strap was giving daft readings – 119 HR for example.

On Friday I had a half day in work and repeated the route of my Thursday run but the Garmin died after one mile. No idea what pace I did so I will err on the conservative side and call it as a nine minute pace though I suspect it was much faster.

Saturday was a non running day preoccupied as I was with my wife’s on going gardening project. 4 hours digging out beds is enough cross training for anyone. Still though it meant I scored quite highly in the brownie points ledger.

That meant I under took my weekend run on Sunday. 7.5 miles at 8.40 pace. I was a bit tired for the last 1.5 miles and once again the Hr readings were a bit daft. Previously in August and September the readings were too  high, well into the 160’s now they are totally low less than 120. Obviously the problem lies with the strap and will need a clean and / or a new battery. Hopefully no fear of the symptom’s of Bradycardia – abnormally low heart rate. Nevertheless it does annoy me. Anyway a period of further investigation awaits me. I will update in due course.

 

Tuesday 2.5 mile walk, Wednesday 5.8 run, Thursday 5.5 run, Friday 5.5 mile, Sunday 2.5 walk followed by 7.5 mile run. Total mileage 24 miles running and 5 mile walk.

Ongoing................................

October 7^th to October 13^th

Last week marked a cycle of training which lasted about seven weeks. The point of which was simply to get back running at a reasonably acceptable slow pace and rediscover my interest in running. The first couple of weeks started v slowly. I could be barely jog out of the house and up the passage before I had to stop for a walk and run jog for 3 miles at around 10 to 11 minute pace. The Hr varied between 132 and 160 with a longstanding pain in in my groin and quad. Each period of walk running was very difficult marked by 15 minute sessions with the foam roller. These weeks were v tough wondering if i would ever recover to run at a normal pace. Running up hills or inclines was out of the question.

Never the less by the 4^th week I could see a improvement. The walking had stopped replaced by a slower paced jog. My plans for a Maffetone style approach was still proving elusive so i resolved to simply jog at a reasonably slow jog pace and evaluate the Hr later. At the end of the 4^th week I was “up” to 11 miles a week and jogging 3 times a week. Humble stuff I grant you but i was feeling happier.

On  a personal front I resolved a few issues and this also helped things along. At the end of week 6^th a definite plan was taking shape in regard to the rest of the year and this filled me with renewed hope. So far I have deliberately ignored speedwork and running with clubmates. I think at times in training for Cork marathon i overdid it on both counts so it will be still a while before I will do either. Anyway by week 6 I was running 4 times a week each run about 4 miles or so with a pace between 8.30 and 9.30. The Hr at times was still veering over 160 which tells its own story. However since that week the HR has remained under 160 as the average pace now is between 8.20 and 9.00. Slow improvements but important ones nevertheless. Injuries have cleared up but still have a niggle underneath my left foot with a slight degree of stiffness in my right hip on the odd occasion. My weight is still hefty enough probably close to 14stone so will need to take care of that too.

Anyway now that I can run 22 miles a week 4 times a week with one recovery walk, things are getting better.Nothing will change much over the next month, no speed work and no group running. Ideally i would love to get the running done in the morning and get out 5 times a week but even thinking such thoughts bodes well doesn’t it? Ongoing............................

Week ending 13^th October

Monday 3 mile walk, Tuesday 3 mile walk, Wednesday 5.3 mile at 8.27 pace Hr 160, Thursday 5.2 miles at 8.50 pace Hr 152, Friday rest, Saturday 7 miles at 8.57 pace Hr 157, Sunday 5 miles at 8.19 pace. Total miles 22 plus 5.5 mile walk.

HOK - Hands on knees but a smile on the face

September 30^th to October 6^th

More of the same really but happier each time I review my weeks running. I seem to be able to complete each of my targeted workouts at a more acceptable slower pace (between 8.30 and 9 minute pace). The Hr still remains unacceptably high in that I would prefer it to be under 150 rather than under 160 but then again at the start of September it was well into the high 160’s for nightmare jogs of 10 minute pace. Looking back on that entire period of June to September is like revisiting some sort of waking nightmare. It’s a place i am not happy to revisit ever again. Simply put i had burnt my mind and body out. I reacted very bad mentally to the disappointment of the Cork marathon and then made the mistake of not simply concentrating on rest, recovery and base building.My sub 3.30 last year  and the training involved took a lot of time and effort and I probably stupidly assumed it be easily repeated again. Anyway i won’t be in a position (for various reasons) to tackle another marathon PB attempt for 12 months so best to put it aside. All the same I am happy i have showed the guts to slowly pick myself up.

As i said I will be concentrating on building base, leg strength and a good solid base of medium slow “long runs”. I wont be doing any speed work either, at least not until after the marathon mayhem of October and November dies down. By then I hope I will be in a decent place to able to hold my own with the medium pace runners in the club.

Monday was a 2.5 recovery walk with my wife. Tuesday was a 5 mile run up the hills of Mayfield. This was done at 9 minute pace with a average pace of 9 minutes. It’s a tough run with a hefty 2 mile hilly at the finish. I repeated the same run on Wednesday. I was a bit quicker this time with a average pace of 8.47 but the effort was still high 159 Hr.Thursday was a snappier 4.3 run around Charleville. Average pace was 8.17 with the fastest mile being the last mile clocked in around 8.05 pace. No Hr reading for this one but the sweat on my t shirt and the *HOK at the finish was enough to tell me all I needed to know. Rest day on Friday and a one hour slow jog around Charleville on Saturday. I wanted to run this on the acceptable side of slow which ended up being 8.57 pace and a distance of 6.7 miles covered in the hour. Hr was 156 which is high but again in the context of the last few months is reasonable. Last year running at that pace would have produced a HR of `140.

In terms of race i don’t plan to enter any races for the foreseeable year but I did send off my entry for the Dungarvan 10 mile race on at the end of January. A long way away but it’s a race I really want to get even with after the trouble of previous years doing it.  It’s funny how runners develop a dislike of some races and a love of others. Dungarvan falls into the previous category while  say the the Mallow 10 and Midleton 5 falls into the latter.

Any readers of this blog would know I entered the Connemara marathon for April last year but deferred it because I had no proper training done for it. I don’t know if I will end up racing it but maybe that could be a plan when I set myself some new years goals later on in the year. It isn’t a PB course but it could be a different sort of challenge (second fastest marathon perhaps or maybe just get around and use it as a sort of long run). My head is also being turned by the Rotterdam marathon a week after the scheduled 2014 Connemarathon but it isn’t really practical to expect to be able to do both. All ideas just floating about in my head. I have a definite plan worked out for the period April to December 2014 but i won’t be revealing that to anyone. Lets just get some consistency  done there....

Mileage for the week 24.4 miles. Monday 2.5 mile walk, Tuesday 5 miles, Wednesday 5 miles, Thursday 4.3 miles, Saturday 6.7 miles.

*HOK – Hands on Knees

First step on the ladder ....

Sunday 22^nd September to Saturday 28^th September

On Sunday I ambled down the street to Bakers Road to watch the finishers coming in at the Charleville half marathon. It was very hot and it affected the leading runners times by a couple of minutes with the according knock on for the rest of the field. September is when the half marathon season is in full swing all geared towards the Dublin marathon. I had visions of getting under 90 minutes in this particular race assuming I would pick up the momentum I created last year. No chance this year.

Nevertheless it was good to talk to some local runners and Mallow clubmates. Headed out for my usual 4.3 mile run that evening. On Monday decided to cool things down a bit with a snappy-ish 2.5 mile walk with Aoiffe and on Tuesday did a 45 recovery run around the grass pitches of Mayfield GAA club. The last two runs/walks were designed to get the heart rate down. By Wednesday I did a hilly 5 mile jog up in Cork with another snappier 4.3 mile effort in Charleville on Thursday. Friday was a rest day.

That left me facing into a 5.7 mile “LSR” on Saturday. The legs were feeling it that stage and the pace was very slow around 9.45 pace.

I have been running my back to basics strategy for a month now. There was been some progress but it has been all rather slow. That said I am now running 4/5 times a week. When I started 4 weeks ago the longest run I could manage was 3 miles in 34 minutes with a HR of 145 to 152. Currently I can run 4.3 miles at a 8.15 pace but I suspect the HR was probably in the 160’s. A lot of people have said to me to not wear or ignore the HR strap but the heart rate is what determines how fast or far you can run. It is the true arbiter of performance. My Hr readings last year would have been proof of this. I only hope that prolonged running at different paces over 4/5 days a week over the next 3 months will lead to a improvement in my aerobic capacity. I obviously burned myself out last summer, here’s hoping a long base running period will  see me through. Phil Maffetone's method on the other hand calls for keeping all runs under 135 to 140 Hr which means a pace (in my case) of probably 12minute pace.

The idea behind this is that my heart will strengthen and that I will be able  to maintain this Hr level at a faster pace leading to a greater improvement in my running..  This of course could mean 3-4 months of slow walk/jog/running.In previous posts I spoke about possibly using the Maffetone method . Now I am not too sure. That kind of patient running would see me go a bit crazy. Further investigation awaits but now I am thinking running  most days will have the same effect I do agree though that speedwork would be a error. At least I am out running now and have been doing the last 4 weeks.

Mileage this week – 22.3 miles.

Looking up at the ladder

21^st September

It’s been a while since the last blog report. I am still a work in progress, at least I hope it’s progress.  On August 19^th I did 3 runs in a week. 5 weeks later I am still on 3 runs a week. I am happy to keep it conservative enough allowing for rest days every 2^nd day. There are running reasons for this, which i will explain later and work reasons too, which I won’t be explaining. Coming back from holidays, the cardio system had gone to bits. It was obvious I was well and truly overtrained. Maffetone in page 143 of his “Big Book....” goes into more detail but the signs were easy to tell. Elevated heart rate, inability to perform the simplest cardio workouts (like walking up a hill without feeling tired), no interest in running, susceptibility to colds, stomach bugs and coughs and so on.  There were other personal stressors at play and maybe some dietary ones too. Blood tests didn’t show up anything majorly wrong with my system though the medic did say anaerobic activity should be kept at a minimum. He also suggested a walking routine most days would help with recovery.

Anyway back to the present. I walk probably 30 mins a day to and from the car to work plus the odd 3 mile walk with my wife in the evening. This has certainly settled my on going fatique while use of the foam roller has aided recovery with my groin pull and provided some relief to my quad issues. I’m up to 3 X 4 miles a week running at a average pace of 9 minute miles. HR has varied this week from 138 (9.27 pace) to a whopping 166 (8.27 pace) but the desire for running is coming back. I can hardly see myself racing anytime soon, at least not this side of 2013 but it’s a start. I’m not making any predictions, I have a general  idea of where I want to be by Christmas but won’t be revealing anything yet. The Connemara marathon is looming in April 2014 but that is firmly at the back of my mind now. I am starting at the bottom of the ladder and I won’t be in  a position to return to club training for a while yet not until the aerobic side of things rights itself out. This is a pity and I wish all Mallow runners the very best over what will be a busy few months for members.

Weekly mileage. Week beginning- August 19^th- 12 miles a week (inc 4 mile walk), August 26^th 11.5 miles a week, September 2^nd 3 miles (sickness), September 9th 11.8 miles, September 16^th 13miles