The week that was

Training for the week:

Mon - Treadmill 7.6km easy run 30:04

Tue am - 2km up, 10km treadmill threshold run 31:40, 1km down. All up 13.0km

Tue pm - Tuam AC easy running 8.9km

Wed - 1 hour S&C

Thu am - 2km up, 16 x 400m treadmill speed session, 1,6km down. All up 10.0km

Thu pm - Mayo AC easy running 9.2km

Fri - Claregalway 9.5km recovery run 36:42

Sat - Treadmill 10.0km recovery run 36:40

Sun - Claregalway 14.8km threshold run 52:03

All up 83.0km

The S&C session consists of warm-up, activation exercises, mobilisation exercises, then S&C exercises (squats, press-ups, planks, RDLs, Bulgarian split squats, good mornings, paloff press).

My speed session on the treadmill started at 20:3km/hour and I then up the speed by 0.1km/hour after every 400m (finishing at 21.8km/hour). The recovery is 300m so as the efforts get faster, the recovery time gets shorter.

Finishing the week with my threshold run. I was running at 3:31/km pace which feels comfortable but I just don't seem to be able to get under 3:30/km without a huge effort....

Long Overdue Update

Okay I'm still alive and training has been going well. I've been averaging around 80 kms per week and seem to be getting stronger every week. Here is a quick snapshot of training since my last post back in May....

w/c May 29th - 82.2kms
w/c Jun 5th - 80.5kms
w/c Jun 12th - 73.7kms
w/c Jun 19th - 83.9kms
w/c Jun 26th - 83.1kms
w/c Jul 3rd - 83.2kms
w/c Jul 10th - 85.4kms
w/c Jul 17th - 94.7kms
w/c Jul 24th - 83.3kms
w/c Jul 31st - 85.6kms
w/c Aug 7th - 89.1kms
w/c Aug 14th - 49.8kms
w/c Aug 21st - 91.5kms
w/c Aug 28th - 103.0kms
w/c Sep 4th - 95.5kms
w/c Sep 11th - 93.5kms
w/c Sep 18th - 77.0kms
w/c Sep 25th - 75.9kms
w/c Oct 2nd - 82.1kms
w/c Oct 9th - 84.3kms
w/c Oct 16th - 82.8kms

My current training is 3 sessions per week. Normally treadmill threshold run on Tuesday, speed session Thursday and race or threshold run on the weekend. The rest of the week is just easy/recovery runs.

Training paces have improved significantly but race performances haven't been great. I seem to be a but one paced and aren't pushing myself enough in the race environment. Race summary below:

Jun 5th - Maree 8km - 2nd in 27:40
Jun 12th - Castlehackett 8km - 1st in 28:49
Jun 18th - Annaghdown 10km - 2nd in 34:44 *
Jul 29th - Cappataggle 8km - 1st in 26:52 *
Aug 7th - Dunmore 6km - 1st in 19:13 *
Aug 26th - Claregalway 10km - 2nd in 34:10 *
Sep 3rd - Ros Go Run Half Marathon - 1st in 1:17:34
Sep 9th - Clarinbridge Half Marathon - 1st in 1:16:19
Sep 16th - Round Norfolk Relay 21.3km - 3rd in 1:15:55
Sep 24th - Grey Lake 10km - 2nd in 34:29
Sep 30th - Colemanstown 10km - 1st in 33:36 *
Oct 15th - Tuam 8km - 2nd in 27:07
Oct 15th - Moylough 10km - 1st in 35:08

Looking through that list I have indicated with an asterisk the ones that I put in a decent effort - the others were all threshold type sessions. Only a couple of half decent efforts in there TBH - the Dunmore 6km I was pleased with and nice to get under 34 mins in Colemanstown (though I thought going into the race I'd be nearer 33 mins). I find it hard to push myself at the moment and need to find a good race to hang on to people.

I've started doing some S&C for the first time this last couple of weeks. This should help with injury prevention and over time I think it will help with my running economy. I was certainly sore after the first few sessions so it must be doing some good.

I'll try and update on a weekly basis again. If anyone has any questions then let me know.