Sunday – Half Marathon Race (17m)
Bohermeen half marathon, PB’d running a 1:21:46, great indication that the training’s going well, we’re on the right road. See all my babbling about that in full here.
Monday – 6m Recovery
First day back working after almost a year and it was a good day all things considered, these guys at Apple really look after you, highlight was when I walked into the canteen at lunch, gourmet dinners…I think I’ll like it here, oh and the job seems interesting too. Strange getting kitted up at 6 pm for a run but such is the life of a working man (me), get used to it Conor. The legs didn’t feel too bad today but was feeling a bit low on energy from yesterday so I headed off for a 6 mile very easy run. I said it’s hilly in Cork and that was an understatement, it’s hill mania. I headed into the city centre which was a fairly steep 2 mile downhill but coming back on other side of the loop, the uphill was squeezed into under a mile and it was just horrendous. The worst part is that this is unavoidable, every route I map out has a climb back home so I’ll just have to deal with it, maybe even get used to it.
Tuesday – 3/2/1/ & 1/1/1 km intervals (10.5m)
Was originally down for a 3/2/1km x 2 but Jim advised to tone this one down a bit since I’d still be recovering from the half, fair point there Jim. So off I set after work again, the steep 1 mile down to the city and out the Carrigrohane road which was ideal for the session though it’s strange running in the dark now, what’s going on. I warmed up for about 20 minutes and set off for the first 3km, this felt a little difficult understandably but pace was slower than I wanted at around 6:35 min/mile but I didn’t push it too hard knowing that I’m still feeling the effects of the race. I took 90 sec recovery and jumped into the 2k feeling a lot better than running avg. 6:10 min/mile for this, exactly what I was aiming at. Another 60 second rest and into the 1k which was 5:56 and feeling surprisingly sprightly. A few minutes break and then jumped into a 3 x 1km set with 60 seconds recovery which went just fine, paces were also averaging 5:55 which made for a decent session overall and delighted with how I felt only 2 days after the half. Nightmare crawl back up the hill to my house, something has to be done about this hill, just look at the elevation chart.
Wednesday – om (sick)
Woke up today at 7am and immediately knew I wouldn’t be running. Sore throat, stuffy head, lethargic and just plain sick. I guess everything caught up on me, the race, starting a new job and then the hard session last night though it felt ok at the time, oh well. I planned on getting an easy double in today, 4m before and after work but I knew I needed a day off. I bought me a pack of lemsip™, went to work and sucked it up.
Thursday – 13m Tempo
Felt a bit recovered today, bit more energy today but all the symptoms of the common cold remained throughout the day , my desk bin was overflowing with kleenex™. Coming home from work, I was not looking forward to this session as the rain started coming down harder and I didn’t want to get sicker but you know what they say, if you’re only sick above the neck, go for it. Not those words exactly but it’s an unwritten rule of thumb. Anyway It turned out to be an excellent session, it usually does when you least expect it. I headed out the Carrigrohane road again as I got into a good stride, seems to be my new Wexford road, sniff. The plan was just to see how I felt as I went along and I was feeling good by the 2nd mile running it at 7:30 min/mile pace, the rain now subsiding. I kicked on for the next 8 miles running splits of 7:14, 6:49, 6:55, 6:39, 6:29, 6:27, 6:17, 6:10, 5:45 and then a cool-down for 2 miles. I was feeling great for the last few miles, and really pushed it for the last one though I only intended to hold that pace for 1/2 a mile I just kept going. Felt great afterward, amazing what a good hard run can do you for. I also had a nice fillet steak for dinner, worth mentioning.
Friday AM – 4m Recovery
Relaxed 4 miler recovery around Hollyhill before work, it was very early and I can’t remember much maybe I was still asleep, maybe I never actually did it…no wait I did, garmin says so. Smashing morning for a change.
Friday PM – 5m Recovery
Similar route to this morning, trying to avoid the hills for the recovery so stayed away from the city. Beautiful evening, easy pace, nothing to write home about and legs are feeling grand, I guess I’m almost back to full health. Not a particularly pleasant route around the estates and a lot of young louts who like to shout things like “run” at me. I am running! Dropped into my local Supervalu for some groceries on the way home, cooked a chicken and watched Shutter Island, what a twist at the end, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the movie, I’m still not sure, was it good?
Saturday – 4 x 12mins w/2 min recovery (15m)
Well I knew this was going to be a tough one but felt up to it even though it’s been a tough old week, didn’t expect it to total 15 miles though, I swear it wasn’t just to clock a 70 mile week. I headed down to CIT track for this, I figured it’s 2 mile repeats and I wasn’t aware of any decent 2 mile interrupted stretch so I’ll do it on the track, might be boring but let’s just do it. 3.5 mile warmup to the track and then headed into the first rep. It was a pretty blustery day so for a good 150 meters of each rep I’d be battling a headwind, the goal pace was around my 1/2 marathon pace, around 6:12 min/mile. The session went by quite quickly to my surprise, pace was very consistent with average min/mile pace for each rep registering 6:14, 6:13, 6:12, 6:14 and a typical rep measuring 1.93 miles. I enjoyed running by time today rather than distance because I didn’t know when the rep would end so I just ran hard until the watch beeped, I’m sometimes guilty of slowing when I know a rep is almost done. Cool-down for 3.5 miles back home and yeah I walked back up the monster hill, I’ve got a long run tomorrow! Pretty satisfied with that session and that makes 3 quality sessions in this week, recovered very well between each and a 70 mile week including a race, I’m happy enough with that.