Aqua Track

A repeat of the session of late - 1 x 1600 followed up with 12 x 400.

I was dreading it - conditions were pretty bad. Very wet and track covered in puddles. Plus a nice breeze to deal with.

After all the usual stuff I ran a decent 4 lapper in 4:53. Then I just couldn't get going on the 400's and no matter how hard I tried, I failed to break 67 (except the last one). Finished up averaging 67.3 which in those conditions wasn't half bad...

All up 13.0kms for the day.

One more decent week required

12.6kms in 48:45 (3:52's). Plus a few strides at the end.

The plan is to have a big week this week and then race the following week..

Long Threshold 3 x 6km

A 2.2km warm-up. Then 3 x 6km threshold off 2 minutes. Finishing up with a 1.1km warm-down.

Paces for the 6km efforts were:

3:25 / 3:27 / 3:32

Knackered at the end and struggled the last few clicks.

All up 92.9kms for the week.

A run

Recovery run 14.8kms in 55:54 (3;47's).

Recovery run and massage

11.1kms in 41:49 (3:46's). Heart rate a little on the low side and need to be nearer 3:40/km to get a few beats into the recovery zone.

Massage after. Bloody agony. I've no pain threshold and was crying like a baby.

Another track session

A repeat session of the last couple of weeks. Warm-up (pitches), then some strides on the track, then the mile primer which I ran quite hard (4:52). Then a 3 minute break before the 12 x 400's.

I do dread this session. The track was damp and greasy and there was a bit of breeze to contend with on the top bend. Just get it over with...

Times were fairly consistent and I was getting the heart rate much higher today and at the same time I felt a little more in control. Average time was 66.2 and I'll take that given it was a little slippery.

Warm-down around the pitches and job done. I think pushing the initial mile helps spike the HR higher during the 400's. I'll use that strategy again. All up 13.4kms for the day.

45 mins in zone 2

Warm-up of 2.3kms, then started my threshold run. A 6.5km outward section, then turned at the castle, running back another 6.5kms. I finished the 13.0kms in 44:44 (3:26's). Felt slower than that so a little surprised by the pace. An improvement of around 45 seconds when I last did this session 2 weeks ago. They may be due to fresher legs though I didn't feel that fresh today.

Finished up with a 2.2km warm-down to give me 17.5kms for the day.

Back training proper like

A 14.8km recovery run in 55:45 (3:46/km). Finished up with a few strides. I'd been a bit lazy on the knee rehab exercises in the last few days and I was getting a few reminders today...

Happy birthday to me

Woke up with another hangover....43 years young...

No run today. My first complete rest day in over 8 weeks. Instead it was the long trip back to Galway.

Takeaway curry and a couple of beers in the evening. Back into it tomorrow!

More pubs

Another run just to turn over the legs and sweat out some of the night before. A total of 11.3kms in 52:37 (4:39's). It certainly didn't feel any easier running slowly today...

Out again in the evening to celebrate by impending birthday. In the pub by 4pm and home just after midnight. Nice.

That's 91.kms for the week. A good start to the week but just going through the motions over the weekend. Nice to have a bit of a 'rest' though.

Round Norfolk Relay

I didn't do much during the day. I had a quick look around the city in the afternoon and I was just making my way home from town to prepare for my relay run when I got a call from our team manager to inform me of some tragic news. One of the City of Norwich runners had collapsed towards the end of an 11 mile stage and despite the best efforts of the medical staff he could not be revived.

That completely knocked me for six. All 3 City of Norwich teams were withdrawn from the race so there was no 18 mile relay leg to run. I got home and decided to go out for a run to clear the head. I didn't know the guy personally but it was very upsetting news. I ran for just under an hour and then met up with some mates for a few beers. RIP Darryl Davis. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Travel and easy 30 mins

The long journey to Norwich today. Finally got there about 6pm and decided to do an easy 30 minutes just to turn the legs over. Not in the zone - just really easy.

All up 7.4kms in 32:05 (4;20's).

Then out in the evening for a few beers. I have to say I love the real ale scene in Norwich. It's absolutely brilliant and you're simply spoilt for choice.

18 mile relay leg tomorrow...

Recovery run

I really struggled to get going today. The first half of the run I was struggling to get into my recovery zone and that's hard to swallow when you're running well under 4 minute clicks. At halfway I made the decision to push it for 5km to see what it takes to get into the zone. Well the answer was sub 3:40 kms. Clucking bell. That's a tough pace to keep up on a recovery run.

All up 14.8kms in 55:46 (3;46's). My recovery pace has dropped a lot in the last few weeks and is starting to work down towards my threshold pace. A sign I'm finally getting fit...

40 minute threshold

Today was a test to see if it was easier to run a threshold run on tired legs. I should clarify, being tired it should be a little easier to get into the threshold zone...

A 2.2km warm-up, then a few strides and straight into it. I had the benefit of the wind for the outward section and was running sub 3:20/km pace. Then turned and it was a lot tougher. Overall I managed 12km in 40:48 (average 3:24/km).

A 2.2kms warm-down to give me 16.4kms for the day. Was it easier to get into the zone? Maybe a little. Good running that on tired legs.

1 x 1600, 12 x 400 take 2

The same session as last Tuesday. Dreading it I was.

Perfect conditions. Track to myself.  Warm-up of 3.5km on the pitches, then strides, and straight into it. The legs didn't feel as good as last week and I was a little disappointed with the mile primer in 5:00.

The fist couple of 400's were also not great. But then I got going and was running each lap basically as hard as I could. I'd like to have gone quicker but I'm not sure my body has much more to give. Times were as follows:

68.7, 67.1, 65.4, 66.2, 65.2, 66.1, 65.8, 65.6, 65.2, 65.4, 65.5, 64.7 (average 65.9)

That's 0.3 seconds per lap quicker than last week - progress! But I wasn't elevating the heart rate as much as last week which is a little disappointing as it felt like I was on the red line.

A 3.5km warm-down and 13.4kms for the day.

Recovery struggle

A total of 14.8kms today. Legs felt very heavy and just couldn't get going. At one point I dropped in a 3:30 km but just couldn't settle into my zone. By 10km I'd had enough and backed off a little.

Not a great start to the week. Time 57:06 which equates to 3:51 per km. So not sluggish by any stretch of the imagination.

Long run mixed zones

I started off with a long loop in my recovery zone of 11.1kms in 41:06 (3:42's). Then a quick change of shoes into the flats and out for 9kms at threshold pace. I felt pretty good and it was easy to lift the pace (time 30:56 @ 3:26's). Then a slow romp home to give me 22kms on the knocker.

That's 108.7kms for the week and another good week in the bag. Things going nicely but just knackered all the time.

A similar week again next week with a slight difference being that I'm back to Norwich to run a leg of the Round Norfolk Relay. Great fun and this year I have an earlier, shorter stage of 18 miles starting at around 8pm on the Saturday. The plan is to run this all in my recovery zone and the way I'm going at the moment that should be sub 6 minute miles...

4 x 10 minutes threshold

I was determined to put in a good session after yesterday. Perfect conditions for running and did my 2.2km warm-up, and then 4 x 15 second quick strides and it was time for the off. I ditched the top and took off as if I was starting a race.

I felt good straight away and was cruising today. Easily into my threshold zone and was running at a good clip. I did 2 outwards 10 minute segments, then turned at the castle for 2 x 10 minutes coming back the other way. The recovery was a huge 3 minutes which was used for a nice little walk.

Paces per km were: 3:15 / 3:13 / 3:21 / 3:19 (average 3:17/km).

A 2.2km jog home and that's 16.6kms running for the day (ignoring the walking segments).

Failed threshold segment

The plan today was 30 minutes recovery and then 15 minutes threshold to finish with....

I did 8.5kms recovery to start with averaging around 3:50/km pace, then lifted the pace for the threshold segment. I ran hard for the next 15 minutes and was running 3:31/km pace but couldn't get into my threshold zone....

Feeling a bit dejected I walked/jogged home to give me 13.8km for the day. Those 400's on Tuesday seem to really knock me and had nothing in the tank today...

45 minutes borderline threshold

A repeat of the session from last Thursday. A 2km warm-up, then 45 minutes threshold, then 1.9km to finish with. Struggled to get into my threshold zone and I was borderline for the first half of the run. Very frustrating as every time I looked at the watch the heart rate was always a beat or two lower than where it needed to be. I finished up running 13kms in 45:30 which was exactly the same time as last week.