Over Pronation

Normal service has resumed.

Following on from my last post I was having flashbacks to August of last year thinking that I was either over training or under recovering.  Making the extra effort to refuel and an early night seemed to do the trick and the next day during a planned easy / recovery run I was feeling a lot fresher so I upped the pace to cover 6 * 7 min miles quite comfortably.
Yesterday's run was just short of 17 miles over a hilly route at a planned 8 min mile pace with Tony and my low heart rate average of 131 bpm was a good confidence booster and a sign that I'm back on track.  Having said that, I still feel that I've a lot of work to do between now and the World Championships and 53 days is seeming like not enough time.

Good run gone bad.

Today should have been an ideal opportunity to fit in a mid week long run by using the extra day off work for St Patrick's Day but it didn't go to plan.  Leaving my house at 8am my legs felt heavy and my hamstrings felt tight for the first time since I can't remember when.  Checking my Garmin I could see my heart rate was very low at 110 bpm but I was finding the 8 minute mile slightly uncomfortable.  I kept going as I had planned on meeting Tony a mile or 2 later and when we did meet up I decided to continue but at the reduced pace.  On my return home after 13 miles I put some extra effort into my recovery routine and probably put on a Kg in weight with all the carbs I've consumed.
If I'm feeling the same tomorrow i'll take a few days off and use the rest period to get a sports massage.

58 days to go.

The Le Cheile Team

Approaching the Finish

Almost all of my recent training has been done at an easy pace in preparation for my next 24-hour race and even though I should be running the occasional run at a faster pace I seem to be getting lazy and happy with the easier pace which makes it harder to step outside the comfort zone.

Yesterday I took part in the Kildare Road Race Championships and wasn't looking forward to it but to make sure I got the most from the day I declared my planned pace of 6 min mile which should be possible based on previous results.  Conditions were as close to perfect as you could wish for and the race went to plan.  Keeping an eye on my heart rate I spent the first mile gradually building up to race pace and as soon as I felt comfortable I made a break.  I ran most of the race on my own and managed to maintain an average 5:55 mile throughout.  Finishing with a short sprint finish I still had something in reserve for an 11 mile recovery run which made up for missing my usual Long Run.

My next race will be the Ballybunion 10K in 3 weeks time and hopefully I'll manage one or two proper speed sessions beforehand.

Dynamic Warmup for Runners