Sunday – 20m w/4m @ MP
A good solid session today, happy with the pace, felt strong and got some race pace miles done but it was overshadowed by a potential calf strain that surfaced during the last few miles. As I said last week, I wanted to introduce some marathon pace miles today and did just that getting 4 good miles in at 6:30 min/mile pace in the latter stages. The purpose of these miles is to mimic race day scenario where I’m already fatigued and need to hold a steady goal pace. I headed out the same route as last week (yep the Wexford road) for 10 miles and then turned around, keeping the pace around 7:25 min/mile for the easy miles. From miles 14-18 I upped the pace to 6:30 min/mile which was semi-comfortable but a lot more work to do if I’m going to hold that pace for 26.2 miles. Just as I took the foot off the pedal after the fast miles, I felt a sharp pain on my lower right calf, it wasn’t painful enough to stop me cooling down but it did persist the whole way home, I was just waiting for it to fade but it didn’t. I then headed down to Kelly’s hotel in Rosslare with my parents for a delicious slap up meal but every time I got up to walk I felt the pain again so it really started to worry me. I came home and iced it and pleaded with it to heal and now we play the waiting game, hopefully it’s just a minor strain. To aid with the waiting game I think am going to get some pizza. On the whole though despite the potential injury, a very good session averaging 7:17 min/mile overall (see splits).
Monday – 0m
“With great power comes great responsibility” – the words of Uncle ben to Spiderman. In no way relevant to my situation but a nice quote and I did take some sort of responsibility today. I was glad to wake up feeling no major pain today but it’s still niggling at me so I’m taking a precautionary day off anyway, I’d rather miss one day of training than a week which is a fair trade I think. Going to do some stretches and stuff and then I’m jumping on a train to capital city to relaunch my career, it’s probably time I stop living with my parents eh.
Tuesday – 10m
Feeling well rested but apprehensive about the calf strain, was it serious or was it just havin a laugh? I’m staying in a friends right outside the Phoenix Park so off I headed on this beautiful sunny morning, not sure what to expect. The only outcome I wanted from this run was to get through it without feeling any pain, the session didn’t matter too much. Throughout yesterday I felt minor sharp pains periodically when I walked so I had no idea how it would be today. For the first few miles I did feel something going on down there but it was really just uncomfortable, not painful so I kept it nice and easy. I ran mostly cross country through the park on soft and muddy ground and my filthy runners were not one bit pleased with me. I kept the first few miles slow at 8+ min/mile pace and as I went on the calf felt fine so I picked up the pace feeling good. It turned into a progressive run where it really shouldn’t have but it just felt good so I went with it. I ended up running 10 miles, working the pace down to a 6:40 min/mile pace and then warmed down for the last mile averaging 7:35 min/mile overall. Really good run and the calf was feeling fine afterwards, looks like we’re back on track. Good news also from today, I got me a job innit. Even though I came to Dublin in search of shelter and dosh, I got a call from Cork and a bunch of people down there in some company called Apple want to give me money to make software, deal! Weights session and swim in the afternoon.
Wednesday – 4 x 2km w/60s recovery (12.5m)
I’m still in capital city today and another cracker of a morning, so warm that I didn’t even wear a hat. I was still not convinced the calf was fully healed yet but after todays killer session I think I can firmly put that one to bed, it’s all good. I slogged out a 30min warmup and never really got going in it but I felt I’d kick into gear for the session. I had no fixed pace in mind for the 2k intervals, I’m not sure what my 5k pace is right now as it’s over a month since I did my last race so I figured I’d run hard and let the pace find me. The first rep was slower than I anticipated (6:08 min/mile) but then I found a rhythm and ran the next three at 5:50-5:55 pace which really felt tough and possibly because I only allowed myself 60 second recovery (see splits). I realised afterwards I had been prescribed a 90 seconds recovery by Jim but that’s not such a bad thing I reckon. Nearly collapsed after the final rep so I knew I had left nothing out there but a bucket of sweat. I cooled down for about 25 mins through the 15 acres with the sun on my back which was nice, even the deer said hello to me. Super session overall, delighted with how the calf has healed. I cleaned up and headed into city for a burrito and then took a train back to Wexford.
Thursday – 12m Steady
A good run today and not feeling too fatigued after yesterdays interval session. A nippy warmup mile at 7:30 min/mile pace then I picked it up and ran 10 steady miles keeping the pace between 6:40-6:50 min/mile which was comfortably hard except for the killer uphill 6th mile which was just plain hard. Felt nice and relaxed after turning around at 6 and got into a good rhythm, cooled down for 1 mile and job done. Weights session in the evening.
Friday – 6m Recovery
Nice sunny morning but was eager to just get this one out of the way as I was heading off to a wedding in Clare. I don’t know why but I never feel good on my recoveries, maybe it’s the pace or just the toll of the last few days training but anyway it got done and now it’s time to let the hair down for a few hours.
Saturday – 10m
The morning after a wedding is always dangerous but I still managed to fit in a decent 10 miler. It was a great day out in Bunratty castle for the wedding of my good friends Scone & Louise and the head was feeling surprisingly spritely this morning at 8:15 despite the concoction of champagne, guinness and whiskey throughout the day, so off I went. I wasn’t sure where I was going but ended up on a motorway for a while and then on a backroad towards Newmarket-on-Fergus, not the most scenic of routes but felt pretty good throughout averaging 7:27 min/mile for the run. I got home in time to make a fool of the buffet and the long drive home in time to catch England swiping the grand slam from our hands in Twickenham.
Weekly Total: 70.5 miles