Training Diary 1st-7th April 2013

Kildare Senior Road Race Championships.

Monday Apr 01^st. HRV= 78 White

A good recovery since yesterday and better than expected for race day.  Didn’t do my usual pre breakfast race day run in favour of the extra time in bed as I’m still adjusting to the clocks going forward.  Unsure of my form but confident that I’ll go under 38mins has taken my mindset away from racing and that in itself has helped keep the stress levels controlled plus today’s race is hosted by my club and I don’t have far to travel so even with the lie in I arrive in good time to relax and mingle before the start.   When the race started I was conscious of the possible fast pace and tried not to get caught up in an early sprint. The start seemed slow enough but when I checked my watch I soon realised that it was too much too soon and I purposely dropped back to get closer to my planned pace.  The opening stretch went for 3k on the hard shoulder of a featureless road and was made easy by being amongst a group of 5-10.  At the end of this stretch we turned sharp left and went up and over a humpback bridge crossing a canal and the railway and then the race starts.  This short sharp hill is a killer but local knowledge meant I didn’t attack it hard but waited until I’d cleared it before making a break and then I was on my own and chasing down individual runners with the closest being between 60-100M away.  This section went on for less than 2k and was undulating but sheltered and my plan was to get to the end of this stretch on pace before turning left again for less than 500M and into a headwind when I knew I’d need to dig deep and then as I cleared halfway I’d push on.  I started to gain on the runners ahead and was also caught by someone from behind and then I became part of a group of 3 before reaching the 6K marker, I tried to get comfortable running as a group but as we hit a downhill stretch I was gone.  I’m guessing that the effects of the recent trail race meant my legs just couldn’t cope with the high impact from running downhill and rather than the other competitors picking it up I was simply falling back.  A sizeable gap was created as each time they went out of view on a bend made it harder to regain contact as my concentration was starting to go.  I wasn’t feeling any pain but it was an effort to maintain the pace as my legs were feeling heavy and in my head I was trying to work out my finish time if I eased back from here.  Had I done enough to go under 38 mins?  In the distance I could see a house that I knew was close to the 7k mark and that became my new focus and soon enough after passing it I could see that I was starting to make up some ground.  I caught up with the runner just ahead and made some distance on him on him at a hill just after 8K but what goes up must go down and he tore past me on the downhill and it felt like I was running through quicksand as I tried to maintain contact.  Approaching the finish I get a glimpse of the position behind me and do my best to improve on or at least maintain what I’ve got and make a poor attempt at a sprint finish.  Crossing the line in 37:16 it’s over 2 minutes slower than my PB from this time last year but it’s a faster average pace than my last 5K Parkrun on 29/12/12 (18:38).  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/291743355

Finished the day with an evening 10K recovery run and all is good.

Plan for tomorrow is an early gym session and an undecided run.

Tuesday Apr 02^nd. HRV= 71 White

A good result and the training can continue as normal.  Early gym session including 5*5 squats with 57.5Kg which felt tough enough but still manageable.  Legs feeling better than they should do after a race but then again this is what I want as these shorter races are part of rather than the focus of my training.  I’m expecting the DOMS tomorrow and with that in mind I scaled back my run to a Recovery effort with my son cycling alongside and we took our time with stops to look over bridges and enjoy the start of the brighter evenings.  Covered 10K in just under 1hr not including stoppage time.

Plan for tomorrow is an evening run of 20K +.

Wednesday Apr 03^rd. HRV= 65 White

Slightly lower than expected but I have started to notice a trend with the lower scores after a good lifting session in the Gym.  The recovery run was a good choice last night and I’ll skip the opportunity to do a lunchtime run to be better prepared / recovered for a better quality session this evening.  Legs still feel stiff since yesterday’s gym session and it took a few minutes to warm up.  Didn’t run as far as planned but it was over a hilly route and managed to keep the HR at the upper end of my aerobic zone, finished with 16.1K in just under 70 mins.  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/292868318

Plan for tomorrow is an early gym session and 2 runs with intensity depending on recovery.

Thursday Apr 04^th. HRV=71 White

Gym session changed to lunchtime and with not having the definite morning session I found it hard getting out of bed and hit the snooze button twice even though I was planning on using the opportunity for an early run to work.  Did a mental deal with myself and if I got an Amber reading it was back to bed for another 30 minutes and based on my session last night this was highly likely.  Better than expected result and a deal’s a deal.  Still have the DOMS so I took it nice and easy and less than 10 minutes later I knew I’d made the right decision.  You seldom regret the runs you do but may regret the ones you don’t do!  Lunchtime Gym session of Power Clean: 3*3 @ 40Kg, Deadlift: 3*3 @ 95Kg and finished with an abs circuit.  A cold evening on the track and when my coaching session finished I took the opportunity to do a 5K recovery run made easier with the brighter evening and extra activity still going on.

Plan for tomorrow is a running commute home with a possible detour to add some distance

Friday Apr 05^th. HRV=65 White

Not sure what I was expecting but could be worse.  Legs still feeling the DOMS but not as bad as yesterday

Plan for tomorrow is still being decided and time dependent.  Early morning away match with my son and in the afternoon I’m a guest speaker at the Kildare Marathon open day.  Will try fit in a short fast run of up to 1hr at some stage.

Saturday Apr 06^th. HRV=80 Green

A better than expected result and to make the most of it I head to the Track for an uninterrupted Tempo session.  Mentally it was tough to start and I could fell a tiredness in my legs which didn’t help but thinking on my feet I broke it into manageable chunks and completed a good quality Temp session.  Used my Suunto T6D and forgot about pace but instead concentrated on time in zone.

Plan for tomorrow is a long mixed terrain run with the first 2hrs on the road and then hitting the trails.

Sunday Apr 07^th. HRV=80 White

Better than expected, had a quick cup of coffee and off I went as planned.  First 2hrs were fairly uneventful except for a detour and pit stop and was surprised at how well I was running after a tough week.  Met a club mate just before going off road and the pace increased ever so slightly and when we reached the open mountain I started to bonk.  My pace slowed to a walk at times and I knew every step I took from this moment had to be retraced on the return and I was unsure if I was able for it.  Made a judgement call and decided to turn around rather than risk going too far.  There was still snow on the hills and the trails were covered with a layer of ice which meant more care would be needed on the descent and running on tired legs would mean I’d be less responsive and you don’t always get a second chance.  Covered 35K rather than 50K and finished the day with a 5K recovery run.  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/294486179

Plan for tomorrow will depend on recovery but I’m thinking a lunchtime easy run and a running commute home.

Weekly HRV Summary

This week went almost as planned and it continues into next week as the peak continues.  The runmute (running commute) gets a mention in the current edition of Men’s Running magazine.

Training Diary 25th-31st March 2013

Monday Mar 25^th. HRV= 82 Green.

A good recovery since yesterday but I won’t get carried away because although my engine is showing signs of recovery the chassis might still be a bit fatigued and still under repair.  Started the day with a Recovery run of 5K and all seemed ok and then did a second run of 12K checking out the route for a 10K race next Monday.

Plan for tomorrow is an early gym session and an undecided run.

Tuesday Mar 26^th. HRV= 65 White.

Much lower than expected and maybe I’m still recovering from Saturday.  Gym session went well and increased squat weight to 52.5Kg.  Went for an evening run with the plan being 50 mins @ 145-160bpm and stopped just short but went as planned with an avg HR of 150bpm. Felt really good during this session and didn’t expect to run so well.

Plan for tomorrow is an Interval Session over the 10K Race Route.

Wednesday Mar 27^th. HRV=62 White.

Lower than expected but the session last night was good quality and the White line means I can continue as normal.  Tonight’s session was 3*1600M aiming for race pace off 3 min run recovery over the race route.  Session went ok but slower than race pace on tired legs.

Plan for tomorrow will depend on my recovery but thinking about an Interval session to waken my legs up.

Thursday Mar 28^th. HRV= 79 White.

A good result and hit the Track for 10*400M off 1 min recovery.  Tough session but once I hit the 6th rep it was manageable.  Finished the day with a second recovery run of 6K just because I could and didn’t really want to!

Plan for tomorrow is undecided but I’ll see if any club mates are out and about and I might join in. and just run

Friday Mar 29^th. HRV=67 White.

As expected.  Took it easy for most of the day and then met a club mate to run the race route once again at an easy pace.  Trying to familiarise myself with the route as much as possible and pick out attack and recovery points.

Plan for tomorrow is my usual pre race Interval Session

Saturday Mar 30^th. HRV=68 White.

An ok score but would have liked higher this close to a race but don’t have the time to taper.  Did my usual pre race session of 6* 1 minute fast and ran slightly faster than planned which made the session a bit more of an effort than I would have liked but it was unavoidable due to a strong wind on one side of the Track.  Finished the session with a total distance of 5K and went for a second 5K recovery run meeting up with some club mates for an excuse to break it up.

Plan for tomorrow is a lie in and then a recovery run of 45 minutes keeping my HR below 130bpm.  Clocks go forward tonight and I won’t be setting the alarm.

Sunday Mar 31st. HRV=68 White.

Woke early and stayed in bed but couldn’t get back asleep. Got up, tested and went back to bed.  Still couldn’t sleep so I got up and went for my recovery run and stopped just short of 45 mins having covered 7K.  Will take it easy for rest of today in preparation for tomorrow’s race.

Plan for tomorrow is a 10K Road Race. Kildare Senior Road Race Championships.

Weekly HRV Summary

A good week with reduced volume and normal intensity and it feels like I’ve recovered from the Trail Race.  Recovery week is now over and the long runs will start from next weekend.

Training Diary 18th-24th March 2013.

Monday Mar 18th. HRV= 72 White.

Race day and a good result after yesterday’s low score and race day stress can also lead to a lower than normal result.  Up at 8:35am and after a relaxing few minutes I had a cup of coffee and went out for a short pre breakfast run to loosen out my legs.  Felt terrible during the run but past experience means that’s a good sign as it’s the body preparing for what’s ahead.  Didn’t have my usual breakfast as I was out of pinhead oats but instead had 2 slices of Gluten Free toast with Almond Butter and more coffee, followed this with a shower and then got ready and departed the house at 10:30.  All my kit was ready to go from the night before and that allows for a stress free start to the day.

We had a good turnout from the club including my two training partners Liam & Aidan and our plan was to run together and all going well would help each other as we do in training.  Today’s race is the County Road Race Championships for Intermediate & Masters and n a race like this there’s a better chance of a Team prize so you need to be strategic as every position counts.  Our plan was to try start at 3:30 K pace and hold it for as long as possible but a congested start and an incline meant a first Km of 3:39 and although the next 2 K were either downhill or flat I think we had already felt the effort at the start so there wasn’t too much time made up.  In hindsight I’m thinking that to try get a position at the start we may have started too fast and possibly closer to 3:00 per K rather than the planned paced and then paid the price on the long incline. It might have made more sense to start a little bit easier and speed up but that’s easier said than done.

The next Km (2) split was a slightly faster 3:35 but was aided by a decline and for me it felt more of an effort than it should have .  My training partners were still with me at this point but they too were feeling the effort and started to fall back.  By the time we reached the halfway mark they had fallen off the pace and I was on my own in no man’s land ahead of the mid pack and behind the lead pack.  I hit the 3Km in 3:32 and then began chasing down the tail end of the lead pack that had at least 30 Metres on me.  It started to become more of an effort to stay on pace as the course now climbed gradually for the next 2K and although my HR seemed stable I could feel my legs just didn’t have that zip.  I lost a bit of time and hit the 4Km mark in 3:40 but had also closed the gap on the runners just ahead so my guess is they were falling back and that gave me a slight boost.  It was a looped course so I knew what to soon expect and all I needed to do was stay strong until 5K and then it was almost over as the approach to the finish was relatively flat.  Went through 5K in 3:51 which was also the incline that I’d ran for the first Km and by this time I’d made up about 4 positions and caught one of the faster guys from my club and we dug deep and ran the last K together.  We battled it out and made up one more position and on the final approach to the finish he pulled away and crossed the line about 2 Metres before me but that didn’t matter as we were both on the same team and had done enough to earn a Silver in the Intermediate Team event.  I was first home for my club in the Master’s race helping earn another Silver and to top it off I got Gold in the Master’s 40-44 category.  My finish time was 21:49 with an average pace of 3:38 per Km and my last Km was my fastest at 3:27.  I was happy enough with that as it’s showing a return to where I want to be but it’s still way off what I should be doing.  Finished the day with a 7K steady run on the Track in 28mins.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/286043268  Heart Rate spiking at start and First Beat error correction gave a HR avg =155 / max=158

Plan for tomorrow is an early gym session, a lunchtime MAF session and a short evening Recovery run.

Tuesday Mar 19^th. HRV= 73 White.

Better than expected.  Early gym session of mostly mobility work and stretching with a shorter than usual set of 3* Walking lunges and then it was 2 minutes of hell on the Airdyne Trainer.  Didn’t have time for a lunchtime run today and bad weather meant my son’s football training was cancelled and with it my evening run opportunity.  First non running day in 26 days but I don’t mind as i was planning on taking it slightly easier this week in advance of the weekend’s race.

Plan for tomorrow is an evening Interval Session with shorter but faster reps than usual.

Wednesday Mar 20^th. HRV=68 Amber.

Expected higher after rest and maybe it’s the race catching up on me.  I’ll proceed with caution and stick with the planned intervals as the pace will be much easier than usual.  Session was 6*1K @ 3:45 per K pace and it felt effortless but tomorrow will tell.

Plan for tomorrow will depend on recovery.

Thursday Mar 21st . HRV= 79 White.

An improvement and normal service will resume but I’ll be keeping Saturday’s race in mind.  Did my usual pre race session of 6* 1 minute fast / slow with every second rep into the wind and felt strong.  Had a second opportunity to run as athletics was cancelled due to bad weather so I finished the day with an easy 5K on the track.

Plan for tomorrow is rest in advance of race day.

Friday Mar 22nd. HRV=84 White.

Excellent result and just what I’d want during a Taper.  The weather for tomorrow isn’t great so I’m rethinking my footwear and that got me out for a short run to think on my feet while trying out a pair of Salomon S-lab Fellcross.

Plan for tomorrow is the Wicklow Way Ultra.

Saturday Mar 23rd. HRV= 63 Amber.

Much lower than I’d like but I’m putting it down to race day nerves.  Up at 6:15 and had my usual breakfast finished for just after 6:40 and then relaxed for 30 minutes watching TV and drinking coffee. Got a lift to the race that started at 9:30 and was home again at 6pm.  Will post a seperate Race Report but for the moment I finished slower than planned / expected which was partly due to the underfoot conditions and a few moments of self pity.  Finished in 16th position out of 112 finishers in a time of 5hrs28 with a HR avg of 137bpm / max 155bpm.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/287906962

Plan for tomorrow is a Recovery or Rest day.

Sunday Mar 24^th. HRV=52 Red.

Up at 7:15 and felt good to go but when I got out of bed my feet felt slightly numb but that’s not an issue.  Looked out the window and looking like a nice day so it’s so far so good.  Did my HRV test and the almost expected result meant it was back to bed and with a clear conscience as it’s good to get a Red line after a Race or tough session as it show’s you worked.  Feeling ok as the day progressed but starting to feel some pain in my hamstrings & quads and that confirms the wise choice this morning.  Will take it easy for a few days to help with adaption to the recent stresses.

Weekly HRV Summary

A good week bookended with 2 good races and some quality training that I think will be of benefit as I prepare to get more event specific for my next 24-hr Race.  Next week will be recovery orientated and I’ll reduce the volume but keep some intensity and if I can fit it in I’ll do a Parkrun next Saturday and more than likely I’ll be running a local 10K on Easter Monday and I’d like to be on form for that.