Back In The Saddle

While i'm certain my body is still recovering from Connemara, i'm more or less back to where I was before the race. My resting HR a week after the event was 36, up 2 BPM from the lowest recorded before the race - I actually fell back to sleep while recording it and 36 BPM was the average over 75 minutes, so it should be a fairly accurate reflection of the lowest my HR goes during the night. My legs felt a bit dead and heavy at times as the muscles completed the process of repair and rejuvenation but that is more or less over.

I returned to my longs runs straight away using a reverse taper regime, going from 15 miles a week after the race to 20 milers over the last two weekends. My return to speedwork has been more cautionary with my track session last week consisting of 5 x 1 mile repeats at 6:46 pace (7:00 in lane 3), which was enough to challenge my system without courting injury. My plan this week was to step up to the next pace group doing 6:17 target pace (6:30 in lane 3) and see how I got on. While I was a bit aprehensive before the session - always the case before track intervals - I completed 5 repeats without too much difficulty and was even presuaded by Pat to throw in another one - no bother. Although I had no time left for my usual warmdown. An encouraging session and a clear indication that my speed is never too far away.

To complete the core week of 2 speed session and 1 long run (the rest is only filler, depending on where you're heading - more for a marathon/ultra and less for 5k/10k) I returned to running steady/tempo runs in the Vibrams last Thursday covering just under 9 miles at 6:46 pace - for some reasons the Vibrams make me want to run faster. This regime should keep me ticking over until I decide what's my next target with pacing in Limerick and Cork to keep me occupied in the interim.

I also returned to the bike after an absence of 2 months getting 35 miles in @ 17.6 MPH on Sunday of last week, just about managing to keep the saddle sores at bay - a lot needed to reawaken my bike legs. 



Thur 12th April - 5.28 miles in 40:30 (7:40 pace - Easy run)

Sat 14th April - 20.75 miles in 2:44:03 (7:54 pace @ 126 HR - Long run)

 Mon 16th April - 8.07 miles in 58:24 (7:14 pace @ 135 HR - Easyish run)

Tue 17th April - 7.14 miles in 1:00:37 (8:29 pace - with 5 x 1 mile @ 6:46 pace - Interval)

Thur 19th April - 8.78 miles in 59:30 (6:46 pace @ 143 HR - Steady run)

Sat 21st April - 20 miles in 2:23:07 (7:09 pace @ 145 HR - Long run)

Mon 23rd April - 10.78 miles in 1:19:15 (7:29 pace @ 127 HR - Easy run)

Tue 24th April - 8.1 miles in 1:05:00 (8:01 pace - with 6 x 1 mile @ 6:17 pace - Interval)