Plugging Away

I finished off my 4th marathon recovery week with back to back 14 mile runs. The first on Saturday was a very hilly solo run through strong winds and intermittent rain. After the heavy rains and recent flooding there was a lot of runoff from the land and the road was more like a river in places. Sunday's club run, by comparison was a relatively flat run through the city to inspect flood damage. At least some people were having fun. The track was closed on Tuesday due to a public sector strike over impending wage cuts so I managed to get out this evening instead to get some more of those 2km intervals in, this time 4 no. with a target 6:40 pace (08:20 overall). I didn't want to push the normal 6:20 pace after my MP run yesterday although I came pretty close during the last rep.

With the marathon four week behind me I should be able to push a little harder over the coming weeks with my distant targets likely to be the Barcelona Marathon on 7th March and the Connemara Ultra 5 weeks later (which I signed up for last night). I know the advice from those who have gone before is to pick one or the other but not both. So I run the risk of hearing the words "I told you so" from a certain Kerry runner on April 11th. What can I say I like the odds. Thur 19th Nov 2.5 miles in 19:49 (07:56 pace - Treadmill) Fri 20th Nov 5.22 miles in 37:02 (07:06 pace @ 142HR) Progression run - 7:55/7:18/6:41/6:26/7:06 Sat 21st Nov 14.23 miles in 1:57:54 (08:17 @ 140HR) Hilly run Sun 22nd Nov 14.82 miles in 2:08:05 (08:39 @ 125 HR) Club Run Recovery Week #4 - 45.28 miles Tue 24th Nov

2.5 miles in 19:49 (07:56 pace - Treadmill) 7.29 miles in 59:49 (08:17 pace @ No HR Monitor) with 5 x 15 sec hill sprints Wed 25th Nov 5.99 miles in 41:59 (07:01 pace @ 146 HR) Steady (MP) Run Thur 26th Nov 8.3 miles in 1:04:45 (07:48 pace @ 134 HR) with 4 x 2 km in 8:11/17/07/7:57 w/2 min recoveries