Dec 25th – 31st 2023
Mon: 45 min easy Merry Christmas. Complete. 60 mins (it’s Christmas after all). 13.18km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10433335337
Tue: 15 min WU, 6 x 1k @ starting 3:40 working down to 3:30 (60), 15 min CD. Complete. 3:36, 3:33, 3:32, 3:27, 3:26 and 3:18. Evening 20 min shuffle (3.77km). 16.78km total.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10438079580
Wed: 45 min easy. Complete. 9.74km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10443562943
Thur: 15 min WU, 3 x 10 min @ 4:00 km pace (60), 15 min CD. Changed up. Warmed up and ran a few km’s at a steady effort. No CD – en route to a funeral.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10451383515
Fri: Off
Sat: 15 min WU, 10 x 400 @ 82 (45) , 15 min CD. Complete. 11.24km total.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10462050105
jan 1st – Jan 7th 2024
Sun: 50 min easy. Complete. 10.74km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10467853911
Mon: TOM BRENNAN 5K. DNS – got the shits. Ran easy in morning and shuffle in evening. 9.07km total.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10472250897
Tue: Off/easy 25 min. Didn’t race so ran 50 mins easy. 10.77km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10480368035
Wed: 45 min easy. Ran an hour. 13km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10487378059
Thur: 15 min WU, 3 x 10 min @ 4:00 km pace (60), 15 min CD. Complete. Cut down reps – 1st 3:49, 2nd 3:44 and 3rd 3:40. 14.41km total.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10494016014
Fri: Off
Sat: 15 min WU, 6 x 600m Hill reps (easy jog back down) try hit the last two fairly hard , 15 min CD. Complete. Khyber was icey so hard to get moving but last 2 reps were decent. 13.49km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10503368154
Sun: 90 min. Complete – long run with Barry. 12k steady, 5 @ 3:50, 3 @ 3:45 and 2 @3:33. 22.09km total.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10510306903
2 weeks for the price of 1 – aren’t you lucky, dear readers? And just like the post Christmas sales, you’re being sold a pup. A post did not appear two weeks ago and now, in my infinite wisdom, I am dubbing this as a glorious treat as I deliver you the breakdown of TWO weeks of training.
The reason for the two weeks in one is because I had planned to race the Tom Brennan 5K on New Years Day and I was going to post straight after. However, I picked up a bug the day before that really upset my stomach and was unable to race. I was in bits on the day before and had a disturbed sleep but gave myself every chance of being able to race and went to the start line. On the jog down, my stomach was swirling this way and that and I knew there was no hope of being able to race. I did stick around to watch and was treated to some really good racing and some really bad measuring of the course; it was 150m short. There were many a disgruntled voice at the finish line but these things, unfortunately, can happen. We accept and move forward.
Before the race, it was the holidays. Christmas week will always disrupt training but that is a known and you must do your best to prioritise whatever is most important at that time. Because of the 5K on New Years Day, I had planned to do my best to eat clean, drink little and hopefully give the race a good rattle. All my plans went out the window as Emma’s nana sadly passed away on Christmas Day, a seismic event that puts everything else on the furthest most back burner. I spent the week down in Westmeath with the family and fit in training where and when I could. Considering the circumstances, I managed to get out for some runs and one session, too. The 10 x 400m on the Saturday was to be a primer for the 5K so the paces weren’t too hot and I felt really good through this. The wind was pretty crazy but I was able to hit the paces handy enough without too much of an uptick in the effort. I did the session on the Hall Road in Westmeath, flanked by green fields and friesians – what a delightful setting.
The week after Christmas and after the race was to be a bit easy but because I didn’t race, and the bug was gone by Tuesday evening, I got going again. Thursday’s session was really enjoyable and I cut down the reps as I went on, finishing strong but still really comfortable.
On Saturday, it was back to Khyber and this time for longer reps of 600m. I was really looking forward to this but a cold snap hit Dublin on Friday night and Khyber was very icy the whole way up. There was a small bit of traction on the edge of the path but not enough to get any purchase out of my stride. I was conservative enough for the first 4 reps and then for the last 2 gave it a good bit of welly. The last two reps were around 3:15 pace and felt much harder because of not having traction; maybe because of the hill too… This was also the first morning in a while where I felt a strong sting in my chest from breathing. Thankfully I can attribute this to the cold instead of any anemia related symptoms.
Sunday morning was my favourite run of the past few months, probably since Berlin. Barry moved his marathon session to Sunday to try and avoid the ice (spoiler – he did not) so I decided to jump in. He had 30K with a cut down for the last 10K so I jumped in with him for the last 22K (approx 90 minutes as prescribed). The park was very icy again but there was enough thawing on the verges of the paths that allowed us to run without too much hassle, for the most part. The first 12K were prescribed at 4:10’s and we averaged out at 4:07’s. This type of steady pace is just so enjoyable. You’re moving, it feels like a workout but you’re never actually working. The cut down began with 5K at 3:50 and, although the least hot of the paces for the progression portion of the run, it feels the most dramatic as it is the biggest jump in paces. We made our way to the Acres for this section and knocked out the 5K without any hassle at all. We were single file for most of this because the path wasn’t great with the ice and I was leading. As the gentleman that I am, I let Barry take the lead for the 3K portion at 3:45’s, which we averaged about 3:40, ahead of what was prescribed. The last 2K was the death march (Barry’s words) and we didn’t look at the watches and just let a little loose to the finish. We finished up at the far end of the Acres, the hairs on our legs covered in ice and me being thankful for the cheap under armour I bought in Penny’s circa 7 years ago.
As well as Seville 5K, I am also racing Trim 10 mile on February 4th and I haven’t really thought too much about that race. My 10 mile PB is soft (actual PB of 58:30 but I’ve split low 58 in a half) so no matter what happens, I will be expecting to take a chunk off the time and this weeks Sunday run is a great primer for that.
Buckets of Rain 