Training Diary 20th - 26th May 2013.

Monday May 20^th. HRV= 74 White.

A good start to the week and my new training cycle.  Easy lunchtime run of 30 minutes keeping my HR below 130bpm, legs feeling heavy since the session last night but apart from that I’m feeling good.  Met some club mates after work and did a repeat of yesterday’s session but ran for pace rather than heart rate as that’s the compromise when running with others.  Only 2 minutes slower than yesterday but average heart rate was 8 beats lower which has me thinking that the pace for this run might be more economical.

Plan for tomorrow is an early Gym session and a run of 10-20K.

Tuesday May 21^st. HRV=62 White.

Change of plan as my Gym session is cancelled so I used the opportunity for a long recovery run to work keeping my HR below 130bpm.  Wasn’t really on form for this run and tried to convince myself to stay in bed but the guilt was keeping me awake.  Made a deal with myself as and if this morning’s reading was an Amber it was back to bed for a few more minutes.  Here’s a few tips from Men’s Running magazine about the running commute with a little contribution from myself:  http://www.mensrunninguk.co.uk/runningforoffice.obyx

Plan for tomorrow is a long easy run.

Wednesday May 22^nd. HRV=62 White.

Lower than expected and HR higher than usual even though I think yesterday was a good recovery day.  Skipped the opportunity to run during lunch but instead ran home at an easy pace and went a little bit longer after meeting a club mate running towards my direction as planned.

Plan for tomorrow is an early gym session and a steady run after coaching.

Thursday May 23^rd. HRV=55 Amber.

Before going to bed last night I wasn’t expecting this result but when waking I felt tired.  Easy Gym session of single leg squats and an abdominal routine.  Will decide this evening whether to run or not.  Normally I’d just skip the run but chances are my weekend could be a write off so I want to maximise my available time but will be cautious not to overdo it.  Didn’t run.

Tomorrow is still in the planning stages and includes a 4hr drive to Kerry for a wedding.

Friday May 24^th. HRV= 70 Green.

A great result and I tried to make the most of it with a long Tempo run but the DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) were starting to kick in and the effort felt a little bit too much.  Decided to do a longer warm up but in my mind I was torn between a hard session to make up for what I might miss over the weekend but also wanted to listen to my body and not negate the training effect from the strength session by working weak muscles that were trying to repair and adapt.  Finished meters short of 16K in 62 minutes after a long lazy warm up and walked to cool down.  The long drive didn’t do my legs any favours and the hours of inactivity meant serious cramping by the time I reached my destination.

Plan for tomorrow is an early run before the wedding but I might be pushing my luck.

Saturday May 25^th. HRV= 69 White.

A good result after yesterday but my legs feel totally seized up.  Went for an early run of 10K and felt like I was running on the spot for the first half but managed to get going on the return and finished in 41 minutes.  Would have liked a longer session as my thinking is the extra miles will cancel out some of the damage I might do at the wedding.

Plan for tomorrow is undecided but I’d like to do a long run.

Sunday May 26^th. HRV= 69 White.

Delighted with this result after a long day yesterday.  Only got to bed at 4:00am and was up again at 9:00am.  Dreading the drive home and in advance I pre planned to stop if suffering from cramps.  Journey went ok but felt tired when I got home, wanted to run but had all the reasons why I deserved the day off but also knew I needed to get out.  Weighed myself and the one day damage became visibly obvious and without any further thought I was out.  Took it easy and finished with 25K in just under 2hrs, better than nothing and during the run I thought about a few long sessions I might do over the coming days and weeks.

Plan for tomorrow is a lunchtime recovery run and either a steady hilly run or a longer trail run..

Weekly Summary

Could have been worse as the weekend was a possible write off but managed to salvage 45K.

Training Diary May 13th - 19th 2013.

Monday May 13^th. HRV= 56 Amber.

Expected after almost 20hrs of running, 37 waking hours and very little sleep.  Early start for the long journey home and I’m feeling fine but will only do what I need to do and try to rest as much as possible while travelling and that means sitting in coffee shops rather than walking around shops.  For the journey I’m wearing Under Armour Recharge recovery tights and on my feet I’m wearing Salomon RX Recovery Shoes.  The recovery tights minimise muscle vibration while walking and support fatigued muscles while moving and this in turn aids recovery.  The shoes are very light, cushioned and don’t restrict movement while allowing for any swelling.  Putting the effort into recovering can ensure you benefit from the Training Effect of the race by not needing so much time off that you begin to de-train.

Plan for tomorrow is an acceleration of my recovery plan.

Tuesday May 14^th. HRV=69 Green.

Today I’m in Recovery mode and my way of switching off is to wear a normal watch rather than a sports one.  Good result and if I hadn’t planned a trip to a Contrast Therapy Pool there might be a temptation to run!  Spent close to 1hr alternating between a cold and hot bath which was only half enjoyable (the hot half) and felt great when it finished.

Plan for tomorrow is a test run with an escape route.

Wednesday May 15^th. HRV=72 White.

Recovering well and met with some club mates for an easy run of just over 7K with two options to cut it short if required.  When making a comeback it’s advisable to ease back in and don’t test yourself to breaking point.  Set a maximum distance to run but not a minimum and this is when a treadmill run can be an advantage as you can always just step off without worrying about getting back to the start.

Tomorrow will be a repeat of today..

Thursday May 16^th. HRV=79 Amber.

A sure sign that I’m recovering very quickly and I’m assuming the Amber reading is caused by the rapid rise in HRV.  I won’t get carried away as I’m sure my muscles are still in a state of repair.  Easy lunchtime run of 8K keeping my HR below 130bpm and paying attention to how I’m feeling

Tomorrow is undecided but I might rest.

Friday May 17^th. HRV= 60 Amber.

Much lower than expected and confirms my decision to rest today.

Plan for tomorrow is an early flat course run of up to 20K with escape routes.

Saturday May 18^th. HRV= 64 White.

Not much of an improvement and with a busy day ahead I decide to rest again.

Plan for tomorrow is undecided but I’d like to do a long run.

Sunday May 19^th. HRV= 60 White.

Not a good start to the day and doesn’t help with my motivation.  Found it hard getting my mind in gear and think I’m still suffering from mental fatigue.  Decided to feed the hunger by going to watch a local race and spectate rather than participate and before the race had even started I was wanting to run.  Got to witness some great performances from my club mates and although they might not know it their actions caused my reaction and I finished the day with a 16K run that started easy but finished a little bit faster.

Plan for tomorrow is something similar to today and I feel ready to resume training.

Weekly Summary

Recovery seems to be going ok and I feel ready to start again.

Here’s a piece I did for a Women’s Magazine recently: http://www.image.ie/Beauty-Health/Health-Fitness/Jog-On/

Training Diary 8-14th April 2013

Monday Apr 08^th. HRV= 70 White.

Lower than expected.  Easy lunchtime 10K and feeling slightly fatigued, decided to cancel my run home.  Went to watch my son play a match and then took the opportunity to run a recovery 5K with the Couch to 5K group from my club.  Legs still feeling tired and think this was a good decision as it prevents the temptation to run faster / longer.  Cancelled my Gym session tomorrow as there’s no point in digging the hole any deeper.

Plan for tomorrow is undecided and will depend on my recovery.

Tuesday Apr 09^th. HRV= 85 Green.

Stress / Rest / Adapt and this is my highest score in quite a while.  Woke at my usual Gym time and same scenario as last Thursday, if the signs of a recovery were there I’d use the available time productively.  Ran to work taking it nice and easy and added a second recovery run during my lunchtime of 8K.  An unexpected window of opportunity meant I could add in a 3^rd session of just under 10K at Recovery pace and this is ideal in the build-up to a 24-hr race as the cumulative fatigue is similar to what I’ll experience during the race.

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

Wednesday Apr 10^th . HRV= 81 White.

Higher than expected and today’s plan has slightly changed to quality over quantity based on my HRV.  Legs feeling heavy so I skipped the opportunity to run during lunch and instead saved myself for a later session of 3*2K intervals off 90 seconds recovery.  I was aiming for 3:30-3:35 per K but spent most of the first rep warming up and maybe next time I’ll include a throwaway rep of close to planned pace at the start.  Average pace per 2K of: 3:38K, 3:34K & 3:35K and a total distance of 13K with warm up and cool down.

Plan for tomorrow is an early Gym session plus a lunchtime 10K and hopefully a second run if time allows.

Thursday Apr 11^th. HRV=73 White.

Early Gym session of mobility work and did 3*5 Back Squats with 60Kg and 3* max chin ups.  Lunchtime easy run of 10K in just under 42 mins and I can feel my right ITB starting to feel the effects of the recent workload.  Think it’s time for a massage.

Plan for tomorrow is medium effort 30-40K run.

Friday Apr 12^th. HRV= 69 Amber.

Plan for today is slightly changed and rather than a tiring long run I opt for a shorter but more intense interval session.  An interval session isn’t as tiring because of the recovery between reps and the reps are short enough that the HR isn’t elevated for too long.  Session was 10*1K at average pace of 3:35K off 60 second recovery.

Plan for tomorrow is a Tempo Run of 15-25K.

Saturday Apr 13^th. HRV=61 Red.

Today is now a rest day so it’s back to bed.

Plan for tomorrow is similar to last week with a long mixed terrain run.

Sunday Apr 14^th. HRV=61 Red.

Unexpected after resting and taking it easy yesterday.  Today is now a rest day and I’m not happy.  Sent a text to my club mates cancelling a planned meet up halfway through my run and then it was back to bed.

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

 Weekly Summary

A bad end to my peak week as I’m close to 100K short of my plan but then again it could be a good end as the double Red show’s that if I’m not coming down with an illness then I may have been training to my max and peaking just in time.  With less than 4 weeks until the 24-hr World & European Championships I’d like to think that it’s the latter.  Tomorrow will tell.

I’m still awaiting the official Team announcement for this event and expect it will be made next week, fingers crossed.

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.