Dec 11th-17th
Mon: 45 min easy. Complete. 9.61km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10364441333
Tue: 15 min WU, 10 x 600 @ 2 min (60), 15 min CD. Complete. Even reps harder into the wind. 13.47km total.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10369470359
Wed: 45 min easy Complete. 9.41km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10375165023
Thur: 15 min WU, 3 x 10 min @ 4:00 km pace (60), 15 min CD. Complete. Stephen’s Green, reps fast (3;45ish). 15.24km total.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10378550223
Fri: Off
Sat: 15 min WU, 10 @ 3:55 km pace (jog to hill) 5 x 1 min hills (easy jog back), 15 min CD Complete. 15km morning, 20 min (3.93km) shuffle in the evening. 18.93km total.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10387867279
Sun: 85 min. Complete. 19.45km. https://www.strava.com/activities/10394282525
A really enjoyable week of training and a really enjoyable week of socialising. Balance is important and this was balanced (sort of). I was out late on Wednesday at the National Indoor Arena to watch some great racing, particularly Seán in the 3,000, where he ran 7:56 after a long time off the track. I was happy to be watching the race this year and not suffering from that awful cough you get when you race indoors.
On Thursday, I was at a David McSavage gig in Lucan, which was absolutely gas. It was a late night and I didn’t sleep very much so I was exhausted on Friday but that was a day off from running. On Saturday night, I met up with the good folk Jay Hester for a few of Dublin’s most consistent pints and helped to line the pockets of our local, beautiful publican. This ended up being a much later night, with much more pints, than I had originally envisaged, but there will be nothing like this type of carry on come January so I just went with it. Sunday mornings long run was solo so I was able to head out a bit later than usual to nurse the hangover and get properly hydrated.
Now to the training, with the excuses out of the way. Tuesday’s session of 10 x 600m was really fun. There is a 600m flat cycle lane across the road from my office that I had eyed up for this session. I was doing it after work but the traffic on the cycle lane is manageable and I didn’t really encounter any issues. There was a decent headwind on the even splits but overall I was pretty consistent in the reps. It’s good to get the legs tipping over a bit quicker and overall I felt pretty strong and not under any pressure with my breathing.
Thursday’s session was at Stephen’s Green and, again, was pretty windy. It was quite warm for this time of year but the wind made parts of it difficult. I really enjoy doing my sessions here during the afternoons as it is really quiet and the route is nice and flat. It allows the head to switch off and the legs to switch on. I pushed the pace a bit faster then Seán had set out but I’m starting to feel really good on these sessions. The paces are still conservative to what I was doing but things are trending in the right direction.
Saturday was a beautiful morning. The 10 min tempo was on the Acres, where I spotted female ultra running legend and Irish Olympian, Caitriona Jennings, doing a club race on the same route. When I finished the tempo, I jogged down to Khyber for the hill reps. It’s the first time of this block that the hills weren’t short and snappy and, instead, they were 5 x 1 minute. The volume is basically the same as I have been doing but the intensity is a good bit less. I enjoy these reps more and I was trying to hit them in or round goal 5km pace. The morning was so nice that I took an extended cool down around the park and jogged home in a miracle winter sun.
Sunday morning was the first time in a while without Barry and, owing to excessive pintage on Saturday night, I set off later than usual and around the Phoenix Park. I didn’t pay any attention to pace and just had the time on my watch as I ran, running to an easy-ish effort. I was pretty happy that the pace averaged out at 4:22’s because that’s slightly above the easy pace that I would expect to be hitting when fit on Sunday long runs, allowing the aerobic benefits to accumulate without any damage to the legs. The route was one of the hillier ones; being without Barry meant I was allowed a one time visit to the forbidden S-Bends, of course. I opted for earphones and listened to one of Matt Fox’s Sweat Elite podcasts where he just talks shit on people. It’s pretty funny, and entertaining, but I do find it interesting how he doesn’t objectively assess any of his own behaviour, nor does he ever wonder why he finds himself beefing with different types of people all over the world. What a guy, eh.
This was also the biggest week of mileage in a couple months with 86km’s. It’s not the biggest amount by any stretch but, again, represents things going in the right direction. What’s better than the numbers is that the body is starting to feel great and I’m sure the benefit of incorporating gym work is definitely helping. What also helps is I’m really enjoying the training and consistently stacking good weeks, minus the recent pints. I’ve signed up to the Tom Brennan 5K on New Years Day so looking forward to giving that a rattle ahead of January as I build for a 10 mile in early February, before having a crack at my 5K PB in Seville.
Buckets of Rain 