Monday June 24th. HRV= 59 White.
A slight improvement and unexpected after the long day yesterday. Today is yet another long day as the journey home begins.
Plan for tomorrow is a return to training run…
Tuesday June 25th. HRV=53 White.
Not bad considering I only arrived home at 1:00 am after an action packed day trying to fit in some last minute sightseeing between a train journey to Milan and the flight home. Tried an easy run of 6K before breakfast and found it very tough mentally. Took it easy for the rest of the morning / afternoon and finished the day with a slightly faster 10K over a hilly route
Plan for tomorrow is to make the most of my last day off before going back to work but depends on recovery.
Wednesday June 26th. HRV=71 Green.
Back in the game and normal services will resume. Started the day with an easy 10K to test the legs and prepare for a more intense hilly 13K in the afternoon. Finished the day with a controlled Fartlek run of just over 5K as part of a coached session with the club. This consisted of 2*90 seconds, 4*60 seconds, 4*30 seconds and 4*15 seconds with same time as recovery between reps. Rather than running these as max efforts I stuck with my 5K pace based on my PB.
Plan for tomorrow is an early gym session and a lunchtime 10K.
Thursday June 27th. HRV=68 White.
Easy Gym session of back squats taking a step back but still doing enough to bring on an exercise induced training response and the DOMS. Skipped the lunchtime run in favour of a later 6* 1 minute interval session in advance of tomorrow’s race which I’ve still to enter. Session went well and was slightly faster than my race pace as I’m already feeling the effects of this morning’s gym session. The gym session may seem badly timed being so close to a race but this is a race of lesser importance as I don’t have the luxury of a taper being so close to my next 24-hr Race (22 days). Signed up for the 5K race before going to bed.
I’m expecting my legs to be sore / stiff tomorrow morning so the plan is an easy lunchtime recovery run to prepare for the race.
Friday June 28th. HRV= 78 White.
A great result and the baseline is heading in the right direction again. Easy lunchtime run of 5K in just over 25 minutes to loosen out the legs in advance of this evenings race. Not feeling great in advance of the race and I hate just running for the sake of it but will still give it a good shot and hope to go at least sub 19 mins. Decide to start slightly back from the start to avoid going off too fast and it works. I settle into a nice pace before the first K passes and running better than expected and from here to 4K I’m making up lots of places and think I was only passed once before the finish line. Official results give me a 17:56 and an unexpected season’s best. Don’t think I could have run any faster but I’ve no doubt that I could have maintained the pace for longer.
Plan for tomorrow is a local Parkrun in the morning followed by a short Trail Run in the afternoon but as always it will depend on recovery…
Saturday June 29th. HRV=69 White.
Perfect and I woke before the alarm. Stuck with the plan and drove to a local Parkrun (5K) with the intention being to run hard for as long as I can and then just hold on for a little bit longer. Found myself on the start line although I’d planned to position myself a bit further back but didn’t get caught up at the start and let myself settle behind the lead pack and over the first K I fell back to about 20th position by not chasing. Got comfortable quite quick and was surprised to see my 1K split of 3:33 and kind of guessed it might be hard to sustain so I decided to hold rather than try increase the effort. My pace did falter by a few seconds but I was also starting to make up places and by the time we started the second of the two laps I was in 6th position with all but the lead runner within reach. On the home stretch I managed to position myself comfortably in 4th position and think I may have relaxed slightly as it was seeming like a good result but then I saw the 3rd placed runner look behind which made me wish I’d kicked a bit more. Crossed the line in 4th and forgot to stop my watch but the official time has me at 18:25. Very happy with this result so soon after the last race. Finished the training day a few hours later with a shorter than usual trail run.
Plan for tomorrow is a medium distance long run.
Sunday June 30th. HRV=56 White.
A great result but legs not feeling great. Decided to keep the route flat to work on endurance without overdoing it and stayed on the canal for 35.5K in just over 3hrs.Weekly Summary:
A great week and a good return to form after last week. My base line is moving upwards again and I think the right decisions were made last based on my training volume / intensity and race results for this week.
Happy with this result as it shows a Training Effect from the weekend and makes me feel a bit better about finishing short yesterday. On a half day and used the opportunity for a running commute home. Only had time for my usual distance as there’s a reason for the half day with things to do.
A good result followed by a bad start to the day as my train was delayed and that meant missing the Gym session. Legs feeling heavy and not really on form for a run but got a call asking if I was available for Runch (Running Lunch) and off I went for what I thought would be an easy 8K but turned into a Steady 11K. A good run and just what I needed as it’s not often I get the opportunity to train with a faster partner (sub 35 min 10K). Finished the day with a 9K recovery run shortly after getting home from work.
A good result although my legs are feeling fatigued but that’s a more manageable complaint than cardio fatigue. Busy during lunch with no opportunity to run but had time for the runmute in a heavy downpour of rain. Conditions far from ideal but if there’s a chance you could be racing in the rain then you need to train in the rain. Luckily you don’t need to dodge umbrellas during races. Finished the day with a recovery run while coaching.
Decided last might to cancel the Gym session as I’m on holidays next week and might benefit more from a heavy running week and because I haven’t been to the Gym too often over the past few weeks I’d surely have the DOMS in advance of my weekend. Easy run to work keeping the pace slow and heart rate low and followed that with an altered lunchtime run of 8K at a faster pace. A good day with the extra emphasis on recovery.
A good result but may not get the chance to get the most from it as I’m committed to coaching and pacing this evening but will still get a decent session.
A good result but found it hard getting out of bed and paid the price with a shorter than planned run. Settled for 20K rather the 30-40K I was dreaming about. Dropped my wife to the train station and stopped off to watch the finish of a Parkrun to help feed the hunger and looking at the pain on the finish line faces makes you feel a little bit less sorry for yourself.
Perfect. Got a shock when the alarm went off and must admit if I wasn’t meeting someone I’d have stayed in bed. Started the run from home shortly after 7am and the plan was to run along the canal for 27K and turn at a village called Enfield to retrace our steps back to the start. Took it nice and easy but needed to make an early pit stop before 8K at a hotel in a town along the route called Maynooth. No other issues and the run went to plan with my only complaint being I wish it was longer. The run was fuelled with 1 cup of coffee, 1 banana and less than 400ml of water. Refuelled with Porridge made with pre-soaked pinhead oats, coconut oil, Chia bia seeds, crushed almonds, blueberries and Cherryactive.
Another good week but would have liked a longer run on Saturday and maybe a bit longer on Sunday. Next week could be a bit hit and miss and I’ll need to just take what I can.
A good result but I’m feeling physically tired so I decided to stay in bed a little bit longer. The lie in cost some time and instead of a long easy run I went for a shorter hilly run at a steady pace. Followed this with an evening recovery run of Track laps.
A great result but still feeling physically tired which could be caused by a spell of warm weather and dehydration. Ran to work as planned and happy with the effort on a very warm / sunny morning. Skipped the opportunity for a lunchtime run but ran home instead with a slight detour for a total of 40K for the day. Weighed myself when I got home and had lost 2Kg in bodyweight. Made a conscious effort to rehydrate before going to bed
Happy with this result as yesterday turned out to be a tough day with the high temperatures and running with a pack (commute). Feeling good but I’ll take the warning and skip the running commute to work. Lunchtime Recovery run but feeling good and the pace was a little bit faster than expected or planned. Followed that with an evening session of an easy paced run that got progressively faster as the terrain allowed and my legs started to warm up. A good run but probably too hard with the high temperatures and I know it’ll cause some dehydration. Finished the day with a coaching session after finishing my own training which didn’t help with recovery but it was a good finish to the day.
Bad timing but not surprised and putting this down to dehydration and insufficient recovery. Don’t want to waste the day as tomorrow might be a forced rest day so compromised with a short recovery run taking time to stop and take in the scenery whenever my heart rate started to climb. Cancelled the speed session I was considering.
A double Red and far from ideal. I don’t mind red lining when I know it’s the result of a hard session but this is caused by the warm weather and I’m guessing it’s more dehydration than a training effect. Will take it easy today to be ready for the weekend. Instead of my own session I went out as a pacer with a club mate and that meant a disciplined easy run for less than 1hr and almost as good as a rest day.
A better than expected result and if I had the time I’d have abandoned my long run for a Tempo or Interval session but at this stage I need to stay event specific. Started early to finish early with an out and back along the canal with the plan being to turn at 15K and when I got back to the starting point I’d run in the opposite direction for as long as I had left of my available time. Turned into a social run as I met a some friends & club mates at different points along the route unplanned and had company for some part. Finished with 40K and a little bit of sunburn on a dehydrating morning.
Alarm went off at 05:10am. Great result but the legs are feeling tired and an early morning isn’t helping. Grabbed a quick cup of coffee and drove to the hills to meet a club mate. Parked close to the climbing and it was straight down to business with a 5K climb. Probably started a little too fast and felt it on the next climb which went on for 3K but apart from that I felt fairly ok and recovered quickly and was moving well on the flat. Decided to take a short cut on the return which cut out 20K but considering how fatigued my legs were feeling I think it was a good call as there were promises to keep.
A great week and increased on last week’s distance by 20K but would have liked to increase the long run distance. Next weekend will be my last opportunity for a decent long run.
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). 
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.
