april 22nd – april 28th
Mon: 50 min easy + 5 x 15 sec strides + 5 min. Complete. 12.02km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/11239970588
Tue: 15 min WU, 2k @ 3:45 km pace (2 min) 2 x (10 x 300. Set 1 @ 55 (45) Set 2 @ 52 (60-70) (2:30 between sets)), 15 min CD. Complete. Last couple 300’s of second set a struggle. 17.30km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/11247874968
Wed: 60 min. Treadmill 40 mins.
https://www.strava.com/activities/11256676860
Thur: 15 min WU, 20 min @ 3:55 km pace (90) 4 x 4 min @ 3:45 (60), 15 min CD. Complete in Cavan. 3:50’s for 20, 3:38’s for 4 mins. 14.38km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/11263620722
Fri: Off
Sat: 15 min WU, 5 x 600m hill reps + 3 x 30 sec hills (easy jog back), 15 min CD. Complete. 600’s average 2:07. 13.39km total.
https://www.strava.com/activities/11273601359
Sun: 90 min. Complete. 21km. https://www.strava.com/activities/11281413504
Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been two weeks since my last update. The previous week was a down week. Not one that was planned, but it was forced from the Italy trip. I don’t think this was due to any tiredness in the legs; it was a more full body tiredness than just the legs. Italy was much more than a race, with most of the time spent being a tourist and eating copious amounts of pasta and pizza. I felt a crash when I came home and felt there was no need to force any sessions to chase fitness. The next race is Dunshaughlin 10K on June 22nd so I am under no pressure to flog myself needlessly.
The week that just was, however, was much more productive. Tuesday’s session was a proper track work out with 2K around threshold and then 2 sets of 10 x 300’s at or below 3:00 m/km. I don’t ever really run that fast so I was a little apprehensive about this session. My apprehension was misplaced, however, as what I should have been worried about was the cyclist who took me out on the Acres at the beginning of my 2K threshold. I was running on the pathway and about to take the left hand turn to start the loop at the Acres. I can’t really remember the feeling of being hit but I just remember being on the deck, lying on my side after scraping the entirety of my right hip and busting up my hands. I took out my earphones and, standing over me, was the enemy cyclist. The first thing I heard him say was “I rang the bell! Why didn’t you move!?”. It is hard to accurately describe my anger at this point but any pain I felt was gone and my only thoughts now were “I’m gonna fuck this guy up”. I sprung to my feet and grabbed his handlebars, screaming, “You’re after running me over from behind and they’re the first fucking words out of your mouth?” The enemy cyclist could see I meant business and said the words that saved the situation from being escalated any further. He took a couple seconds, was staring at what I’m sure was utter fury in my eyes, and proclaimed, “I’m really sorry, I was going too fast and didn’t brake in time. Are you ok?” The enemy cyclist’s new found contrition completely caught me off guard. How could I fuck this guy up now? He had wholeheartedly backed down from being the aggressor and offered a full apology. I slowly took my hands off the bike and told him I was grand, it was ok. He checked on me a couple more times, pointing to my bloody knees, but I insisted he was ok to fuck off and I was fine. My only focus now was on the session and those 300’s! He cycled off to the right, I went off to the left and finished my 2K rep.
The first set of 300s went good. The recovery was only 45 seconds so it the set went by super quick. I felt this helped keep me going at the right pace as, ultimately, anyone can hurt for 54 seconds. It was a little windy and I was doing three reps out and three reps back so the effort was more on every second three reps. The first 10 flew by and then I hit a wall after the 2:30 recovery before the next set. I felt the recovery between sets was a little too long and there were 75 seconds between the faster reps of this set of 10 x 300s, again making me feel a little stale and almost too well recovered. In saying that, the second set were a bit of a struggle and I didn’t progress the way I would have liked but was happy to bank the session as it was, especially considering the act of grievous bodily harm that I was subjected to at the beginning.
Wednesday was an easy 60 minutes and Thursday had me in Cavan for the funeral of my friends granny, meaning a new spot for the Thursday session. I messaged Ben Brunton, Bounce Running Alumni, who suggested a 370m gravel track at Breffni Park, where the Cavan inter country team train. I did my session around the track while I dodged the wayward shooting of the senior hurling team. Cavan is definitely a football county. The gravel track was great and it was nice to do a session away from the usual haunts. When it comes to training in the Phoenix Park, familiarity doesn’t necessarily breed contempt but a change is always good.
For the hills on Saturday, I met up with my boy Paddy and we did the session together. Paddy is coming back from a long term injury and was great to link in with him. The hills have been some of my favourite sessions in recent months and it was great to finally have company for them. I don’t think it’ll be the last time that we link in like that. I did an extended cool down back to the car and away I went for some Saturday merriment.
Sunday was 90 minutes and I decided to not check the watch at all for this run, only to see the time elapsed. My goal was to keep it controlled, whatever controlled would feel like at that particular moment. I also turned off lap splits so was completely in the dark for how fast or slow I was going, save for how it felt. I’m a pretty bad judge at pacing without using the watch so this was a nice little exercise for my brain. I deliberately chose a hilly route, taking in the hill in the Memorial Gardens and the climb from the Quays up through Stoneybatter. Overall, my pace averaged out at 4:18 per kilometre and I thought I was doing about 4:30s or a touch slower. The hilly portions had a similar pace as most of the flat sections so that will tell you how bad a judge I am at how fast I am going. The effort did feel easy overall so that is mainly what I was looking to do. I am not stupid enough to think that my easy pace is 4:18 though so do not worry, dear reader.
The week rounded out at 85.3K and that is there or thereabouts with the same volume as the last few weeks, save for the previous. Moving forward.
Buckets of Rain 