A good week, similar milage to last week which was the aim but performed a lot more comfortably and that is probably a good sign. Set in the rugged surrounds of the west for the first few days, I ran some more beautiful yet hilly routes but then found myself down in the south-east back to normality and flat routes so it evened out really. Again the plan was adjusted this week in an effort to avoid injury and possibly death and it feels almost wrong not sticking rigidly to a plan which is what I have been used to but so far so good. Week 3 begins on Sunday morning after a weekend of stag madness in Galway, eep.
Sunday – 17m
Well what a difference a week makes, felt great today and feeling like I’m really getting back into the swing of things. Maybe it was the beautiful wild surroundings of Connemara, maybe it was the fact I didn’t do squats the night before but I ran the 17 averaging 7:45 min/mile which is closer to the pace I need to be doing for long runs. No after effects from the 5k the day before and I finished strong, could have done more but playing it sensible again this week. I headed on an out and back route from Tully, a hilly first 5 miles and then along the spectacular Lough Fee, I’m gonna miss training here for sure.
Monday – 10m Steady
Drove down to Glassilaun beach this morning with Jenny, it’s here that the popular Gaelforce West adventure race starts, I’ve done it twice and it brought back some painful memories, ah I kid, it’s not all that bad…once it’s finished. We headed out on a relatively flat route alongside Lough Fee, a really cracking morning. The air was crisp, a wonderful blue sky over us and the sun glistening off the water, can’t get enough of this. I warmed up for 2m and then got into a comfortable 6:50-7:00 min/mile pace for 6m and warmed down the last 2. Jenny ran her first 10m ever in 1:24 not bad at all for a Swede, must keep an eye on her. We headed for a nice stroll on the beach after, a great mornings training.
Tuesday – 10 x 3 min (8 m)
Jim recommended running this session with the reps at either 800 meters or 3 minutes. Having recently read some interesting articles on training by duration rather than time, I wanted to try it out and ended up having a really good session running by duration. The arguments for training by duration make a lot of sense, for example one athlete may run 800 meters in 4 minutes but another, more conditioned runner may run it in 3 minutes but both are running at same effort intensity, the slower runner is putting in more time and that’s hardly fair is it? Also, some runners will find they subconsciously increase the pace when they can visually see a finish point in sight at the end of a rep but when running by duration there is no visible finishing point so some find they run more consistent repetitions in terms of pace. This session was quite enjoyable, same route as yesterday along the idyllic Lough Fee, ideal flat(ish) roads good for intervals. I warmed up for 2 miles and then eased into the session, running the first 3 minute rep at 6:20 min/mile pace. I ran the first 5 against the wind, keeping them all around 6 min/mile pace which worked out at around 800 meters anyway. I turned around after the first 5 reps and ran the next 5 back to base with a tail-wind and averaged around 5:40 min/mile, not ideal to be doing such inconsistent times but being the first time I’ve tried such a session I was really just getting a feel for my paces. Next time I’ll be striving to keep the reps more consistent pace-wise. The recovery was shorter than what I was used to when doing intervals, it was 1 minute which I walked to ensure my heart rate was fully recovered before diving into the next rep. Good session overall, felt strong coming into the last one, good confidence builder and my last session in Connemara!
Wednesday – 9m Steady
Back in Enniscorthy and back to the boring routes, that’s slightly harsh but after Connemara any route would seem boring. I headed out the Wexford road, simple out and back and ran the middle 7 miles at 7 min/mile pace, no major problems, felt comfortable enough. Slight niggle on my right foot below the toes, possibly due to the hills in Connemara but possibly because I’ve been constantly running in racers without much stability. I threw on the Saucony’s today and they felt great, felt the extra cushioning and no tightness around the toes so who knows they could be making a comeback.
Thursday – 10m Tempo
A good hard session today, same route as yeterday, out and back the Wexford road which is relatively flat and relatively safe, relatively, boy do those cars whizz by. It was a progressive tempo, the first 4 miles I worked down to a 7 min/mile pace. From miles 5-8 I ran at a 6:30 min/pace, this felt quite difficult and it hit me during it that this is my PMP (planned marathon pace), nothing to panic about, patience Conor, it’ll all work out, probably. I finished hard with a 5:40 min/mile pace for 1/2 a mile and warmed down for 1.5 miles, good stuff.
Friday – 7m Recovery
Originally planned on swapping Saturdays session to today which is 6 x 1000m intervals but having reviewed the week I quickly realised that would be silly (also wise advice from my injured sister aided my decision). I’ve ran 2 hard sessions and 2 moderately hard sessions this week so I opted for a much needed easy recovery run. I was staying up in Dublin with my sister so I headed out into the Phoenix park at lunchtime for an hours easy trot around my favourite urban park, no worries about pace or time and despite the rain it was a nice old jog. That’s this week done, off to Galway for a stag party and a few beers (hence the reason there will be no session tomorrow).
Total: 61 miles