Specificity

With time a limiting factor this week I didn't get much cross training in, concentrating instead on getting as many running hours under my belt as possible, particularly as this was my third week of relatively high mileage with next week scheduled as a cutback week before heading into the final 3 week build for Connemara (plus 3 week taper). Apart from my evaluation session at the track on Thursday all I could manage were morning and evening 5 milers during the week leaving it until the weekend to go long.

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With the Clubs annual 5 miler this morning I was banking on getting most of my weekend miles in on Saturday. The plan was to run for 3 hours (up from 2:45 last week) at a steady pace, which meant heading out from the house at 7:30 a.m. My route was an out and back from Ballincollig to Blackrock returning via Turners Cross and the Lough - following part of the route of the Cork City Marathon. I carried a 500ml drink of High 5 with me and while I never felt comfortable enough to push the pace too far under 8 minute miles I never got more uncomfortable as the hours passed by. I overshot the 3 hours by a few minutes happy to get 23 miles on the clock and my legs none the worse for wear.

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This morning was all about the Eagle AC annual 5 miler in Carrigaline, where I was helping out with entries and results (291 finishers in all). Everything went fairly smoothly with a few glitches showing up between the "racemaster" software and our expectations of what it could or should do. We'll know better next time.

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With the rain coming in from the west I wasn't relishing the thought of going out for a run when I got home in the mid-afternoon. I also felt tired after the week and was nodding off on the couch in front of the telly. "Why don't you go for a 2 hour run and then cook dinner" Abina said half joking. With 63 miles in the bag for the week I wanted to climb to the 70's to get close to last weeks total. 7 to 10 miles ought to do it. The hardest part was moving from the couch to the front door and once there I was on my way - no turning back. The first 6 miles were what I would expect the day after a 23 mile run although they were much faster than last weeks Sunday run (8:59 avg) at a few seconds over 8 minute pace. I decided that I would run for 1:30, which would get me to about 74 miles for the week.

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After 6 miles my legs began to feel much more relaxed and while the pace didn't increase by much I felt very comfortable. I felt like my legs were going through some sort of adaptation and who was I to stand in their way - if they wanted to learn I would "learn them real good". The 2 hours suggested by Abina now became my target ..........that was until the 40 mile weekend total entered my head, which meant i'd have to turn out 17 miles - 2:15 ought to do it. And so that is how it transpired with the last 11 miles churned out at a steady pace, checking myself every now and then to keep the effort under the 140HR, surprised that I was not slowing down or feeling the normal long run fatigue, particularly as I had not taken any drink of fuel with me. An unexpected high. The only discomfort after the run could have have been prevented by a strategically placed application of vaseline.

Time now to rest for the week and let all that experience soak in before the next lesson begins.

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Tue 15th Feb a.m. 5.3 miles @ 8:09 pace & 119HR p.m. 5.0 miles @ 7:59 pace (Treadmill) Wed 16th Feb a.m. 5.33 miles @ 7:40 pace & 132HR p.m. 5.16 miles @ 7:56 pace & 131HR Thu 17th Feb 14.6 miles @ 7:45 pace & 129HR with 5 miles @7:10 pace & 140HR (Evaluation run) Fri 18th Feb 5.31 miles @ 8:20 pace & 120HR Sat 19th Feb 23.2 miles @ 7:57 pace & 133HR Sun 20th Feb 17.07 miles @ 7:57 pace & 131HR Base Week #4 (Run 80.97miles, Bike Nil, Swim 1.5 km) - all about specificity.