Yes, i finally managed to get back on track with my training log.

Last week was a recovery week with a step back in mileage and no heavy sessions. I only had one light workout during the week and that was a series of 4 X (800/400)’s that were light on pace and effort. I used the tartan track at www.thewatershed.ie during a Kilkenny City Harriers training session and it was pretty packed with kids – so there was plenty of shouting "track" and having to quickstep around litte 'uns. At this stage I’m totally used to doing these sessions on my own, sometimes i think it would be good to have someone to share the load with but I’m hoping the mentally fortitude of doing these on my own will stand to me.  My own club, Gowran AC, has very little organised training on the senior front  – we generally just meet up at the various track / road and xc country events around the city and county.  

  On Friday afternoon after work I headed to Doolin in Clare. I has been asked to pace 90’ in the Cliffs of Moher Half Marathon on Saturday morning. It was a bit of a mammoth trek across the country (3.5 hour drive), but thanks to an early departure from work I arrived during daylight hours and had a chance to drive the hilly course which runs from Lahinch to the village of Doolin via the Cliffs themselves. I checked in to my accommodation at the Doolin Activity Centre and met up with my fellow pacers; and we pretty much headed straight for the pub for a few drinks and a bit of a chat before hitting the hay just after midnight.

The race itself kicked off early in the morning with about 700 runners. There was a really excellent buzz around the place and after a rather awkward warm up, I’m really not used to having  balloons attached  to me (and the attention it brings) - the race was counted down and we were off. The route is a pretty steady climb of about 6.5 miles to the peak of the cliffs it then  drops down gently to the surf town of Lahinch. The basic plan was to just give seconds away on those first 6 miles and run it relaxed and steady. The scenery was absolutely spectacular but unfortunately the roads weren’t closed so we had to contend with traffic which meant running the tangents was pretty impossible.   Once we hit the crest of the hill, there was a slight drop down to the entrance to the cliffs visitor centre, we were directed through the car park and up and down an unnecessary hill that did however give us amazing views of the cliffs – unusually for an Irish tourist attraction they missed the chance to run us through the gift shop (and try and sell us tax-free aran jumpers and chinese cladagh rings).

The cruise down to Lahinch was then easy peasy and the guys i was running with were great so i only had to do a small amount of encouraging and cajoling  - so in the end we crossed the line with 15” to spare. The pacing experience was really positive and it was nice to enjoy a race without it becoming a suffer fest over the last few kilometres– but some part of me did want to race it as well. I had though the course was going to be a tough one, but if you could get over the hills with your legs intact you could run 10k pace to the finish – might be worth racing next year. As a pacer i get free entry into a marathon they are organising in Kildare next spring – so that may well feature in my plans for next year.  

After the race the course measurer lent us his car and we drove back to the activity centre and to shower before leaving.  Facing into a 3 hour car drive i wasn’t in too much of a hurry to leave and so went back up the cliffs and spent some time watching the surfers at the foot of the cliffs surfing massive waves at Aileen’s.

Monday  - rest
Tuesday – 53’ Easy / 10.84k / 4:55 pace
Wednesday – 59’ easy inc. 8 X strides / 12.46k / 4:46 pace
Thursday – Track 64’ X 4 X (800/400)  (2'42" + 75") +  (2'44" + 81")  ( 2'35" + 77") + (2'31"+ 74")
Friday – 53’ easy – 10.79k / 4:55 pace
Saturday – 89:45” Half Marathon + 12k warm up and down (not on garmin)   
Sunday – 50’ easy / 10.6k / 4:44 pace

Week totals – c. 7hr 15’ / 91K – no pace average.

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I came into the week on a high after the half marathon last week, happy with the time but happier with how in control i felt during the race - this had a lot to do with the pace for the first half.  This week built on the last few weeks' progress and included a 120' mid-week run for the first time. I had a half 8 meeting that morning and so was up and out door by 5:50am...it was a bit of a shock to the system but its going to increasingly be part and parcel of fitting running into real life - and to be honest, running through the sunrise made up for it.

On Friday i had a track session that i ran on my own without a garmin - but using an iphone for a stop watch, jaysus that thing gets heavy by the time you've come to the fourth lap of a 1600m interval - splits on the session as  whole were good though.

On Sunday (today), i integrated the county 10 mile road race into my long run - so did 81' steady before hand (4:39 pace) and then did the 10 miles @ a steady 3:56K pace - the paced quickened slightly through the run with 5k splits of 20:20 / 19:49 / 19:29. I finished in 64'33" but the course was 400m (81") long - but i still managed a PB by 50" or so from my last 10 mile race in January 2009. I took a gel between the easy and the marathon pace bits of the run, and got to practice taking water on board at race pace - i had another orange flavour high5 isogel in my pocket but didn't take it as i couldn't face the thought of the taste of it without having loads of water to wash it down. Do they not taste test these products before bringing them to market? 

Monday 6th: Rest

Tuesday 7th: 57' Steady /  12.08k / 4:42 pace

Wednesday 8th: 118' Steady /  25.01k / 4:42 pace

Thursday 9th: 78' Steady /  16.53k / 4:43 pace

Friday 10th: 4 X 1600m  + warm up and cool down

Saturday 11th: 59' Steady /  12.59k / 4:43 pace

Sunday 12th: 146' Steady / marathon pace  /  33.72k / 4:19 pace

unsure of week totals as didn't have my garmin at the track...

This week is a tough week that includes my first double but just over the horizon i've been promised an easy week...

Lesson one I learned this week is that when a coach says its going to be a fun week, it maybe best not to take that too literally. I started the week with a total workout fail – the workout was a series of 8 continuous cycles of short 3k pace / marathon pace intervals – i ended up having to take recovery after 4 of them before finishing the session. I came away from a little gutted that I didn’t have the strength to just work through it – no excuses (and no fun) at all. 

 The rest of the week was pretty much easy running with a few strides thrown in ahead of the National Half Marathon on Sunday.  As my first national half marathon I didn’t really know what to expect from it. I had been through the results from the last two years and it had been won in 2009 in 65’ and in 2008 in 67’ - with runners at my pace coming in and around the 70th  – 80th place, so it was going to be a step up from previous half’s that I’d done with more club runners and fewer fun runners.  The race was hosted by St. Abbans in Carlow  - about 20 or so minutes drive away – so all very convenient and hassle free to get to. A quickly assembled start with a minutes silence for somebody recently deceased, and bang we were off.

I set off with no "must get" time goal - the plan of action was to run the first 15k steady at around marathon pace and then pick it up from there to the finish and see where that got me. The course was a tough two lapper, the elevation was all rises and falls without any significant flat sections and sections of it were buffeted by some nasty winds.  I ran with a club mate, Jimmy who was doing his first half marathon. Keeping our pace in check to the plan it basically felt like we were freewheeling for the entire first lap and our halfway time was called at 40:50;   Jimmy picked up the pace during this 3rd fast downhill 5k split and I lost about 30 yards on him. After we passed the 5k mark as we approached the bottom of the downhills and turned up the hill and into the wind -  i was able to pick it up a bit and finish ok.  In the second lap we passed loads of runners who were fading - it felt great to finish strongly and not have that holding on feeling – my split for  a slightly tougher second half was 39:35. Over all my 5k splits were  19:05   / 19:36 / 18:48 / 18:32 + 4:25 for the last bit

So the second lesson wot i learned this week was that patience plays a major part in pacing longer races  and it’s important to relax and have the focus and strength not to get caught up in racing too early.

Monday 30th: rest

6:34pm Tuesday 31st:  78' Steady /  16.54k / 4:40 pace

6:44am Wednesday 1st: 75' Steady / 16k / - no garmin 

6:41pm Thursday 2nd  62' Steady inc. 8 X Strides  / 13.70km / no garmin

7:05am Friday 3rd;  62' Steady / 12.46k / 4:46

7:31am Saturday 4th: 52:55 ' steady (not including 10 X Strides as per plan)  / 12.19km / 4:44 pace

9:14am Sunday 5th: 80’25” / 21.1K / 3:48
 
Week totals : 6hr17m / 84.63k  / 4'28" Average Pace

I went into this week feeling pretty good about my running, all this easy - steady mileage is enjoyable, I seem to have dropped my holiday weight and  and i get such a buzz from getting up and running in the mornings before work.  This week was a 6 day week again and it pretty much all blends into one big easy-steady run - with very little difference between them.   I thought i was going to break the 70mile mark for the first time ever this week - and was a gutted on sunday night when i uploaded my garmin to ascent to realise i had missed it by less than half a mile. This was especially so since i had skipped strides on the saturday as i was suffering from a slight hangover and couldn't face them.

Looking back on my training log from last yeat, it was a year today that i got the calf tear that ruled me out of the dublin marathon. This time last year i was running less than I am now - maybe 60 - 65 per week and yet because i hadn't built slowly and methodically I couldn't sustain it without injury. Now i feel much more capable of running more miles and without it stressing the system too much.  So as long as i can keep this progress going - all the better.

Monday 23rd : rest 

7:13am Tuesday 24th:  78' Steady /  16.54k / 4:40 pace

7:12am Wednesday 25th: 92' Steady / 20.28k / 4:31 pace 

4:23pm Thursday 26th:  65' Steady including 8 X Strides  / 13.70km / 4:38 pace

7:05am Friday 27th;  75' Steady / 16.28k / 4:36

7:31am Saturday 28th: 61' steady (not including 10 X Strides as per plan)  / 12.19km / 4:44 pace

9:14am Sunday 29th: 153' Steady  / 31.98k / 4:47 pace 

Week totals : 110.97km / 8hr44'  / 4'38" Average Pace