Zero

Mon 28th Jan - Scheduled Rest Day. Start of a head cold, tried to avert it with hot whiskey's on monday night (Jameson 12 year old - went down too well), took too many and ended up tuesday morning (4 a.m.) with a worse cold and a hangover. Tue 29th Jan -Unscheduled rest day. Felt absolutely miserable at work. Took more conventional medicine on tuesday night - slept well. Wed 30th Jan -2nd Unscheduled Rest Day and stayed out of work to knock this thing on the head. I wonder is this the central governor's way of avoiding this mornings 8 x 2 min hill repetitions. Next week sees the last of these with 5 x 2 min reps (cut-back week). Then it's into the 400m interval stage for the next 4 weeks in preparation for my programmed 5k race/time trial on the 8th/9th March (I can't find a 5k race nearby and I don't like the idea of a time trial - the measurement could be out and if I get under 19:20 I can hardly call it a PB) Hopefully I will get out tomorrow for an easy run.

Shaved............

...........................a few more seconds off my 4 mile PB today at the F.M.C. 4 Mile Road race at Little Island. 25:19 I measured.

I wasn't even planning on running it but 2 colleagues at work were running and they needed a third to make up a team. I didn't ease up on my training programme in preparation for it as the long term goals are more important.

It was a beautiful sunny morning with a little nip in the air and a larger than expected crowd turned up at the start line (a lot of new years resolutions), so much so that the 1100hrs scheduled start was put back to 1130hrs so that all participants could sign up.

The course is more or less an out and back along an industrial estate (not the most scenic) with only a few small inclines to deal with.

I purposely placed myself 10 rows back from the start so as to avoid going out too fast - I wasn't planning on busting a gut after my 16+ mile long run yesterday (although my legs felt fine).

The gun went and we were off. The first half mile involved a lot of ducking and weaving, slowing and surging just to find a piece of pavement to run comfortably on.

Mile 1 in 06:38 - not bad considering the congestion.

Over the 2nd mile the crowd began to thin out and I made steady progress passing those that had set out a bit faster than they should have - I could hear the laboured breathing as I passed.

Mile 2 in 06:31 - while there had been some slight inclines I thought I had been faster than that. I'll have to pick it up if I want to get under 26 minutes (06:30 average)

I began to pick up the pace slightly after I passed the 2nd mile mark continuing to pick off runners in front of me - this idea of starting easy is certainly good psychologically as picking up the pace later ensures that you do more passing than (whats the word?)

The 3rd mile had more descents (mile 2 in reverse - more or less) and I still felt strong and comfortable. The number of runners I was passing was declining as I approached my own pace group.

Mile 3 in 06:00. Good going! Just a mile to go keep the effort up - only 6+ minutes left.

I continued to concentrate on churning out the quick leg turnover - half a mile to go - a slight incline to the finish.

3 runners in front of me with 200 yards/m to go. I tried to pick off the nearest - he sensed me coming and surged ahead passing number 1 and 2. My surge took me past number 2 to finish in 25:19 (06:10 for the last mile).

While the last 200 yards was strenuous I was not gasping for air when I finished.

All in all an enjoyable run. Perhaps I could have shaved another few seconds off the time had I started closer to the front - but would I have enjoyed the race as much. McMillan says I could do 24:40 based on my recent 10 mile time - so I think I'll aim for sub-25 minutes later in the Year.

My energy this morning is a welcome change from the tiredness I felt during the week completing the scheduled runs as follows:-

Thu Jan 24th
- 8.6 Miles Easy in 01:09:41 (08:06 pace @ 123HR - seems a bit low) - Felt ok.

Fri Jan 25th
- 5.9 Mile Fartlek in 44;54 (07:37 pace @ 146HR)with 8 x 90 secs @ 3k pace . Run in the park at lunch time as I felt too tired to rise early in the morning. Footing a bit slippery on the grass sections. Felt very tired especially during the early reps.

Sat Jan 26th
- 16.7 Miles in 02:12:15 (07:55 pace @ 132 HR) Added 1 mile to last weeks long run - felt better than I would have expected following fridays effort. HR started in the mid 120's and rose to the mid 140's with no real change in pace.

Sun 27th Jan
- 9 miles including 4 mile road race in 25:19 (06:20 pace @ 158 HR)

Mile 1 - 06:38 (141HR) - certainly brought down the average
Mile 2 - 06:31 (161 HR)
Mile 3 - 06:00 (163 HR)
Mile 4 - 06:10 (168 HR)


Training week six - 58 Miles.

Jelly Legs

Started off the week with a rest day on Monday (did get in a 1 km swim) so my legs were pretty fresh for my Tuesday base pace run of 8.6 miles which I covered in 01:05:51 at a steady pace, which I pushed over the last 2 miles to get under 01:07 and the last half mile to get under 01:06 (you could say a bit of play with the fartlek principle) – overall a pretty good run at 07:39 pace @ 134 HR.

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I topped Tuesday off with another steady 2.5 miles on the treadmill at the gym – again legs felt strong. . However the tide turned this morning as I faced my weekly nemesis, hill reps - today 8 x 90 second efforts were called for. To be quite honest while I was less apprehensive than last week, my legs were a bit tired and I was looking forward to getting them out of the way.

Reps 1 to 4 went reasonably smoothly. The pace slowed during the fifth rep as I did not get as far as the previous reps in the 90 seconds. I could feel the muscles of my legs turning to jelly over the last 30 seconds.

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I'll try one more and get to 6, no point in doing them for the sake of it. Rep 6 was similar to rep 5. I'll run down again, I can always cut rep 7 short if the effort is too much.

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Down again and up for rep 7, when I finished I hadn't much left and knew that attempting an 8th rep could be ugly so I called it a day and jogged back to the car.

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As it turned out I could not have afforded the extra minutes down and up to complete the 8th rep as when I got home I had an hour to shower, eat and get Saran (4) and Ani (8) up and out the door with their lunches and drop them off at neighbours to take them to school as I had to be on the road for work by 0800hrs. It's more a case of coaxing and cajoling when it comes to young ones at that time in the morning - no point in rushing them it's counter productive.

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During the two hour drive in the car each way to a meeting in Nenagh I could feel the aches along the backs of my legs - hopefully part of the process of building in "hill" memory that I can rely on in the future.

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Overall 6.7 Miles today in 59:48 (08:56 pace @ 133 HR) - certainly the legs and not the heart controlled events this morning.

Week 5 Done and Dusted.

Sat 19th Jan 15.7 Miles in 02:03:20 (07:51 pace @ No HR Monitor - left it at the gym on friday). Expecting slower pace after friday's fartlek - nice steady run. Sun 20th Jan 9.6 Miles in 01:19:50 (08:19 pace @ 124 HR) - took it nice and easy. Followed up with an easy 15 mile cycle (108 avg HR) with Adrian. Total of 63.4 miles for the week in 08:33 (08:05 pace)

8.6

The number of miles I have run on 3 occassions this week - the same route. An easy run over this distance in 01:09:28 (08:05 pace @ 131HR) on thursday morning after my little hill reps on wednesday and again this morning in 01:08:32 (07:58 pace @ 145HR) The only difference for this mornings run being that the programme called for 8 x 75 Secs @ 3k pace "sprinkled in". Sounds like a baking receipt with "sprinkling" conjuring up images of nice and relaxed movement - far from it. My 3k pace is now a challenging 05:48/mile according to McMillan (or 03:37/km to our metric brethren, don't get me wrong the EU is metric - it's just that it's a slow transition, 35 years and counting). For the four sprinkles that I actually measured afterwards (Google earth) my pace was between 05:15 and 05:30 - no wonder I found the going tough. I certainly must have slowed during the recoveries to give the 07:58 average pace for the run. Last week with only 5 x 60 second sprinkles the average pace was 07:53 @ 145HR. The main thing is the training effect of the sprinkles though not the overall pace. 2.5 miles on the treadmill at lunchtime finished off the days running. I do these treadmill runs over 4km -1km each @ 11.5, 12, 12.5 and 13 KPH (there you go transition in motion) and hope that the effort (HR) will come down over time (at least changes in HR for the same environmental conditions will indicate improvement or perhaps overtraining) Have a good weekend.

Mad Perhaps - But Definitely Crazy

Today's Hill repeats saw me rise a 5.30 a.m. get dressed, complete a few stretching exercises, drive 5 miles to the Lee Fields Car Park, run just over 2.2 miles in to town to my chosen hill (at that time in the morning street lighting is a necessity) and complete 8 x 75 second sprints up the hill with a slow jog down and run the 2+ miles back to the car and drive home for just after 7.

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This new hill appears steeper than last weeks (pace about 07:00) or else i'm getting slower. Anyway the benefit should be the same as the effort was a "comfortably hard struggle" (one of these words is not like the other - to borrow a phrase from Sesame Street). As the hill is about a quarter of a mile long it will not do for my 8 x 2 min reps in 2 weeks time unless I run at 8:00 pace (tempting) or down the other side (more tempting).

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As this is reasonably close to the city centre there were more people about, even at this time in the morning, wondering who's this "langer" (colloquial expression in Cork for a good for nothing a#*hole - brought back from India by Munster troops serving in the British Army in the nineteenth century - taken from the, now endangered, Langur monkey that used to rob food and provisions from the men) running up and down the hill at this time in the morning. Mad? perhaps, but it felt good - especially when it was over.

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Mon 14th Jan:

Rest Day (Swim 1 km)

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Tue 15th Jan:

a.m. - 8.6 Miles in 01:07:36 (07:52 pace @ 134 HR) - pushed last 2 miles to get under 01:08

p.m. - 2.5 Miles on the treadmill (07:49 pace @ 136 HR)

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Wed 16th Jan:

a.m. - 7.3 miles in 01:03:47 (08:44 pace @ 134 HR) including 8 x 75 sec hill sprints.

p.m. - swim 1 km

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Happy running.

Just Shy of 60

.............miles for this week. 59.9 to be exact. Finished the week with a 13.5 mile run. Adrian felt it was too wet for a cycle this morning so I took the the roads on foot instead - no sign of rain. I ran in search of a longer hill for my repeats and found a 0.25 mile stretch in town that should do me nicely (well not quite - I find nothing nice about hill reps, except when they're over) Todays run felt much better that yesterday clocking in the 13.5 miles in 01:46:27 (07:53 pace @ 136 HR). Tomorrow's a rest day (ch*@# it's past midnight) - today's a rest day. Took my eldest to see the "Kite Runner" in the cinema tonight (last night) - excellent movie. I'd read the book so I knew what to expect. It was Keevsa who wanted to see it and delighted afterwards that she had. Goodnight.