March 4th – 10th
Mon: 50 min easy + 5 x 15 sec strides + 5 min. Complete. Inclement weather. A sad run. 11.45km. https://www.strava.com/activities/10889247092
Tue: 15 min WU, 5 x 400 @ 90 (30/60 after last) 8 x 1k @ 3:30 (60), 15 min CD. Complete on treadmill. Shortened recovery between km’s. Approx 17km. https://www.strava.com/activities/10896801633
Wed: 70 min. Complete. 15.19km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10904642858
Thur: 15 min WU, 2 x 16 min @ 3:55 km pace (60), 15 min CD. Complete. Treadmill. Uneventful. https://www.strava.com/activities/10908996947
Fri: Off
Sat: 15 min WU, 3 x 600m + 4 x 400 + 2 x 30 sec Hill reps (easy jog back down) get quicker as you go , 15 min CD. Complete. Reps quicker as progressed. 400’s felt best. 15.03km total.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10921606924
Sun: 1 hour 45 min easy. Complete. 1 hour 37 mins. 21.83k
https://www.strava.com/activities/10929909509
I knew before this week even began that I would be chasing my tail trying to fit in everything that needed doing, whilst also trying to prioritise my training. I had a night out planned on Thursday with work colleagues as one of the lads was finishing up for pastures new. With a race in less than three weeks, the inevitable hangover and anxiety that comes with a rake of pints was beginning to outweigh the joy of the pints themselves but I had been looking forward to the night for some time, I had factored it into the week and I decided to accept and move forward.
Mondays easy run was atrocious. The wind, the rain, the feelings of dread; it had it all, like it was straight out of Act II of Macbeth in the most pertinent example of pathetic fallacy known to man. Tuesday wasn’t much better in terms of wind so I did my session on the treadmill. Both sessions this week were on the treadmill as it was a much more convenient option at the time and allowed me to get other things done outside of training without compromising the quality of the sessions. They were both the same as last week as well, only indoors, so it was (almost) a good way to compare the difference a week makes in fitness. Well it would have been, if both weren’t on the treadmill this week as opposed to outside last week. I did feel good last week. And I did feel good this week. As a perennial vibes man, I’m taking this as a sign of progression.
Friday was a rest day and, truth be told, I was victim to the worst hangover ever bestowed upon a human being. I figured my hill session on Saturday was in jeopardy but I somehow found myself able to eat a bowl of porridge on Friday evening and took an extra long lie in on Saturday to give myself every opportunity to perform in training. The hill reps were as follows;
600s in 2:05, 2:03 and 1:59
400s in 1:17, 1:16, 1:16 and 1:14
30 secs were at 2:55 and 2:52 pace.
All of the reps felt really good and especially the 400s. Having spent the last number of weeks doing 600s, the drop in distance for the 400s gave me such a boost. It definitely helps that, on Khyber, there is a very steep incline after 450m so the last section of the 600s are always tough, no matter at what pace you’re going or how you’re feeling. I did have a headwind for the session but I think I escaped the worst of it. Considering the days prior to this, and the pints, this was a very successful session. Thankfully that is the last of that type of social commitment for a while.
On Sunday, I found myself in Westmeath and did my long run around Moate. Although it is the midlands, there are number of sections of rolling hills that can be a bit of a bollix if you’re under the cosh. Mercifully, I wasn’t this day so it was a really enjoyable run. Moate is actually a great place to train as the roads are pretty quiet and you’re on sheltered country lanes for the most part. I had a route planned that I thought would take me up to 105 minutes but I found myself back at the farm after 107 minutes. I decided not to be a solider and call it a day there, knowing that there was a good week of work banked behind me. My pace averaged out at 4:28 and my heart rate averaged at 144bpm, showing, somewhat empirically, that my fitness is increasing and, with that, I’m becoming evermore confident of a PB in Dunboyne in two weeks time.
Buckets of Rain 