That’s one month into the training and I’m pleased with how well I’ve adapted to the high milage, feeling good in general, always improving and no injuries so far…touch wood. I’m up to 70 miles now weekly and heading into a busy month. It’s 3 weeks to the Bohermeen 1/2marathon where I’ll really get an idea of my progress but until then I’ll get the head down and run oh and find a job.
Sunday – 20m
Phew well that’s that mother out of the way! first 20 miler in the bag, 2:33 hrs, 262 meters climbed and mentally a little comforting to have the first one done. An interesting but scenic route (see it here), first 10 miles were my usual loop around Bree then I ventured out the Dublin road and wandered into the unknown. I got stung by a killer hill at mile 13 when the legs were starting to feel heavy, I got through that unscathed and found a second wind which brought me home and finished strong with a 7:30 mile. Pace-wise I was happy, averaging 7:37 min/mile for the whole session (see splits), the aim was 7:30-7:40 so pretty much spot on and much improved since the first long run 3 weeks ago. I didn’t have breakfast, water or gels and never felt weak, it really pays to adapt your body to this method of fuelling by fat, it’s the diesel of running I hear*. I plan on getting some marathon pace miles integrated into these long runs soon, they’re an integral part of the schedule, particularly when you run them at the latter stage of the run when fatigued, it means on the day it’s not completely new to you. As always, on with the week.
Monday – 8m Steady
I feel so dirty! I looked out the window at 9am this morning and it was like the apocalypse, the wind was howling, the rain was spewing sideways and I’m pretty sure I saw a park bench flying through the air, chaos. Alright some of that was an exaggeration but it was still very stormy out there, I could have been killed so I did something I don’t normally do, I retreated into the safety of the Waterfront gym and did my session on a…tr…..tr….on a treadmill, alright I said it!! I felt bad, I feel bad now, those are the sort of sessions that make you a champion but nothing was making me go out in that this morning and anyway It’s done now there’s no need to write a huge paragraph about it, get over it Conor. Session was a 2 mile warmup, 5 miles at pace (felt like around 7 min/mile pace but worked out afterwards it was more 7:25 but hey treadmills can lie, never trust ’em) and then a 1 mile cool-down with 20 mins core work afterwards. Off to the Cotton Tree afterwards for a shepherds pie and a coffee, good morning with a sprinkle of guilt.
Tuesday – 10m Tempo
Plenty of punishment today for using the treadmill yesterday but a good quality session, certainly got the old ticker pumping. It was a calm sunny morning in contrast to yesterday (still chilly though) so I headed through the town and out the old Dublin road for a 2 mile warmup. I picked up the pace to average around 6:20 min/mile for the next 6 miles which was tough going at the start but after 3 miles I settled into a nice comfortable rhythm and gradually picked up the pace. I really felt for the first time today that I’m starting to feel the benefits of the training, there’s no way I would have done that a month ago, unless I was being chased by say a dragon. I think I could run a decent half marathon in a months time, I’m aiming at Bohermeen on March 3rd and 1:21-1:23 would be a good result there. Afterwards I chopped some wood for the fire (supplementary plyometrics) and mother said it was the best chopped wood she’s ever seen so, just saying.
Wednesday – 8m Recovery
Got lucky again with the weather, sneaked in a session before the rain arrived. A light, pleasant 8 mile jog around the town averaging 8:32 min/mile, turned off the pace on my watch and just ran by feel, starting to like those runs without the watch. Legs felt pretty good considering the hammering yesterday so all good for tomorrows brutal sounding interval session. Read some sound marathon advice today on boards.ie, it gave me a few things to think about, check it out. Foam rolling later in the evening.
Thursday – 16 x 2 mins w/30 sec recovery (10 m)
Good quality speed session today. Headed out the Wexford road to my flatland haven, it’s a great stretch for some intervals. 2 mile warmup, legs feeling good and then reluctantly straight into the first rep of 16. I decided to run by feel today without checking pace, aiming for in and around 5k pace. Time really flew, probably because my recovery was only 30 seconds which felt like 4 seconds. I turned around after 8 reps and gladly because the 8th was entirely uphill, horrible. On the home stretch, I really got into a good rhythm and felt pretty comfortable, well, less uncomfortable would be more accurate. It felt like 5:40-5:50 min/mile pace for most reps and looking at the splits afterwards that was probably about right for most, best rep was 5:37 and slowest was 6:10 for the uphill 8th, good session overall. 2 miles cool-down back along the bursting Slaney river and boy it is close to overflowing, it even made the news last night which really put us on the map.
Friday – 6m Recovery
Felt quite tired today so a recovery run was right up my alley. A nice lazy log around the town for 6 miles, avg 8:23 min/mile and the weather held up nicely. The old diet needs to be cleaned up a little I think as I’ve felt sluggish this at times this week, too much sugar and not getting enough veg I reckon. I’m getting far too comfortable eating rubbish snacks but there’s just always nice stuff available in this house and on top of that when you are running so many miles you feel entitled to gorge on crap, which is true but just not every day maybe. Swim later in the evening. Enniscorthy made the news again for a bank raid pew pew, great news week for us.
Saturday – 8m easy
I was down for another interval today but decided to run 8 miles easy instead – avg 7:34 min/mile. With a 22 mile scheduled for tomorrow, I’d rather keep the legs fresh and I have already got some quality sessions in this week, justified. Felt good, pace was comfortable and once again I beat the rain, that’s a good week. Core and stretching in the evening.
Weekly total: 71 miles