Training Diary 6-12 May 2013

Monday May 06^th. HRV= 59 Red.

Expected after a good weekend.  Rested for most of today and then hit the Track for a short but intense Interval session of 3*1K off 5 min Recovery.  Splits were: 3:15, 3:13, 3:12 followed by a long cool down.

Plan for tomorrow is an early Gym session and an evening recovery run.

Tuesday May 07^th. HRV=66 White.

Moving in the right direction.  Early Gym session of mobility work & stretching followed by a very short recovery run after work.

Plan for tomorrow is a lunchtime rest day.

Wednesday May 08^th. HRV=67 White.

Rest Day

Tomorrow will be spent travelling..

Thursday May 09^th. HRV=67  White.

Early start for a long day travelling to The Netherlands.  No training and an early night

Tomorrow will be spent preparing for the race and trying to relax.

Friday May 10^th. HRV= 72 White.

Higher than expected after a long day of travelling and today will be yet another busy day.  While queuing for breakfast I was approached by an IAAF official and then taken away for interview and drug testing.  Not a pleasant experience but good to see it being carried out.  Busy day with meetings to attend and the Athlete parade with a bit more walking than I’d have preferred.  Finished the day preparing race day food & clothing and had our pre race Team meeting.

Plan for tomorrow is a very long run.

Saturday May 11^th. HRV= 62 White.

Didn’t sleep to well but woke without an alarm clock which is always a bonus.  After a rushed breakfast because of the long queues we made our way to downtown Steenbergen arriving close to 2hrs before the start.  The weather seems very unsettled with some light rain to start and I decide to wear a rain jacket to start.

As the race started I settled into an easy pace with my team mates which was slightly faster than planned but in the early stages it can be more comfortable than slowing down and within an hour we had split up and settled into our own zones.  The race started cold and wet and soon became very warm and sunny meaning the loss of a few layers to prevent overheating.  The change was done quite quickly and for the next 8 or more hours I ran in just my shorts and singlet while occasionally putting on my hat and / or gloves but then it all changed and shortly after starting one of the laps it started to pour rain without warning and I got drenched and very cold.  The wind was also starting to pick up and by the time I got back to the support crew I’d taken a weather beating.  I quickly changed into some warmer clothes and got going again but could feel the energy draining from my body and my pace began to drop.  I kept going but ended up making more stops than planned to try heat up with some shelter and each time it got harder to get going again.

It eventually got to the point where I had to leave the course and go indoors and use a sleeping bag to get warm again but by this time my game plan was gone as too much time had been lost.  I returned to the track and got going as best I could but was still shivering with the cold and after checking the Team Rankings and working out my possible quota based on lap times it was obvious that I wasn’t going to help the Team move up the score board.  I think at this point I had covered approx 140K but decided to keep going until at least 150K and then when I hit that target I thought that 100Miles would be a semi respectable finishing distance and I told myself that I’d keep going until that distance was covered and that’s when it ended.

http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/?p=32060

Tomorrow is still Today.

Sunday May 12^th. HRV= No Reading.

Still running and the race finally finished at midday.

Tomorrow will be spent travelling.

Weekly Summary

Not a great end to my week but I’ll get over it.

Training Diary 29th April-5 May 2013

Monday Apr 29^th. HRV= 66 White.

Same as last Monday but after a tougher day.  Skipped the lunchtime run as I’m running to a meeting with the Athletics Association of Ireland after work.  Ran at an easy pace with a slight detour via a running track and did a set of 6*400 at close to my 3K race pace off 60 second recovery.  Felt fatigued after each rep but recovered quickly and finished the session with a distance of 12K.  Delayed after the meeting and missed my train home which meant a later than planned night.  Resisted the temptation to run home by going for a 1hr walk rather than hanging around the train station.

Plan for tomorrow is an early Gym session and an evening race pace run.

Tuesday Apr 30^th. HRV=73 White.

Moving in the right direction.  Early Gym session of 4* Walking Lunges with 10Kg Dumbells, Hanging knee raises and a short Interval session on the Airdyne.  The Airdyne session was 5 minutes of mostly low intensity with the last 15 seconds of each minute being an all out effort.  Evening recovery run of 10.5K working on my race pace and avoiding hills.  Early night.

Plan for tomorrow is a lunchtime run of 40 mins and an evening run of 60+ mins.

Wednesday May 01^st. HRV=81 White.

Signs of recovery and a big improvement on last week which was partly caused by a night out.  Will try keep my score high while making allowances for some short fast sessions and a 5K race on Saturday.  Most sessions from now will be just enough to keep what I’ve got while still allowing recovery from what I’ve done.  Decided to skip the lunchtime opportunity to run and did some pre race shopping.  Easy 7K after work with 6* 1 min @ 5K race pace to finish and then an even easier 5K at Recovery pace with the club’s Couch to 5K crew.  A long day and although the training was easy I’m feeling tired.  Finished the night with a decent serving of Cherry Active.

Plan for tomorrow is an early Gym session and maybe 2 laps of Saturday’s 5k race route.

Thursday May 02^nd. HRV=71 White.

Lower than expected but still ok and an improvement on last week plus my base line is climbing.  Feeling a slight niggle in my lower left leg and that changes my day that was being decided as I was going to bed.  Took it easy in the gym and did mostly stretching and foam rolling with some light upper body work.  Booked a massage for lunchtime and it was torture.  Didn’t think I was as bad but luckily I went and got it sorted before I got the final warning.  Repeated last night’s session of 6*1 minutes after a long warm up and all seems to be ok.

Plan for tomorrow is medium effort 30 minutes or rest.

Friday May 03^rd. HRV= 66 White.

Lower than expected and left leg feeling tender since massage.  Will rest today and don’t mind as I’ve a race tomorrow.  Took delivery of the Team Kit(see it here!) for next weekend and looking forward to trying it out.  Found it hard not to run but managed to resist the temptation and had an early night in the hope of waking before the alarm.

Plan for tomorrow is a 5K and maybe a little bit extra.

Saturday May 04th. HRV= 75 White.

Expected and would have liked a higher score but it’s a slight improvement on yesterday and a big improvement on last week.  Woke well before the alarm and took my time getting up.  Had a quick cup of coffee and went out for a short easy run before breakfast.  Home for breakfast and then took my time getting ready for the race as hosted by my club.  Arrived an hour before the start and relaxed into my usual pre race warm up before lining up just behind the start line.  My goal time was 17:30 with a worst case finish of sub 19 minutes.  Started of at a relaxed pace and this suited as the first Km included the toughest hill on the course and it would be very easy to do too much too soon and pay the price towards the end.  On the descent of the hill I got caught amongst the pack and found it hard to make a break and by the time i did it was straight into a headwind and I’d lost contact with the group up ahead.  I tried to make up some ground and slowly pulled away from my pack but failed to make up the lost ground.  Hitting the last Km I felt very comfortable and tried to get uncomfortable but the extra gear wasn’t there.  Crossed the finish line way off a Personal Best but it’s my fastest 5K this year and I’m not a 5K runner.  Having said that I won my age group category which was a nice surprise and a confidence boost for next week.

Plan for tomorrow is unplanned.

Sunday May 05^th. HRV= 67 Amber.

An excuse to take it easy but it’s a beautiful day outside and a shame to waste it.  Used the opportunity to practice my pacing for next weekend and had a great run.  Took about 10 minutes to get into a rhythm and then I was locked on.  Ran for 1.5hrs and confidence has increased that little bit more.

Plan for tomorrow is a lie in and maybe a pre breakfast easy run followed by an evening interval session of 3-5 *1K.  This is similar to a session I did this far out from the 24-hr race in Poland.

Weekly HRV Summary

Not sure how the Taper is going as there’s always self doubt at this time but on the plus side my base line is creeping upwards.  Felt a slight niggle in my lower left leg towards the middle of the week and a massage to loosen out my legs was a lot more painful than I’d expected.

http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/?p=31929

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.

Training Diary 07th -13th Jan 2013.

The Spink, Glendalough.

Monday Jan 07th. HRV=64 White.

Expected higher after an easy day yesterday.  I’ll proceed with caution as this could be an advance warning of an illness brewing. Today will be an easy day.  Easy lunchtime run of 40 mins followed by an evening run to a meeting with Athletics Ireland.

Plan for tomorrow is an early strength session and my run will depend on HRV but will be nothing longer than 40 mins.

Tuesday Jan 08th. HRV=65 White.

Only a slight improvement but my HR is slightly higher than yesterday and just as I expected from yesterday’s result I’m coming down with something.  Slightly congested and there’s a pain in my sinuses when I blow my nose.  Today will be another easy day.  Early strength session and surprised myself with a strong session even though I can still feel the DOMS since Saturday.  5 sets of 3 (1 ¼)Squats with 60Kg (New PB) and 3 sets of 3 Deadlift with 95Kg (small decrease).

Plan for tomorrow will depend on HRV but I’m hoping to be on form for a Tempo run.

Wednesday Jan 09th. HRV=75 White.

A great result and I’m feeling a lot better which shows I dodged the bullet by heeding the advance warning.  Legs still not recovered from the recent hill run and that’s partly because my training has continued and not forgetting the squat session yesterday.  Decided against the Temp run and instead I did a variation on my MAF test by running 13K instead of my usual 10K.  Took a few minutes to loosen up and get into the zone and when I finished the results were surprising.

Plan for is an early strength session with Power Clean and a lunchtime recovery run.

Thursday Jan 10th. HRV= 75 White.

Same as yesterday but my HR is slightly less and I managed a good session last night so the signs are good.  Took a step back with the Power Clean with reduced weight but higher volume as I hadn’t done them since before Christmas.  Session consisted of 3 * 5 instead of my usual 5*3 with 40Kg (-7.5Kg) and 3*3 Strict Press with 30Kg (-5Kg) alternated with 3”3 max chins and finished with 2* 1min plank.  Lunchtime recovery run with the DOMS keeping my HR nice and low.  Finished the day with a Team meeting and some good news regarding a kit sponsor.

Plan for tomorrow is a lunchtime run and the effort will depend on how I feel.

Friday Jan 11th. HRV=78 White.

Showing signs of good recovery but I still have the DOMS.  Lunchtime run taking it nice and easy to aid recovery rather than trying for a training effect

Plan for tomorrow is an early trail run in memory of a friend killed on Mt Kilimanjaro last weekend to mark the occasion of his funeral.

Saturday Jan 12th. HRV= 82 White.

An early start for an easy run over one of the most scenic routes in Ireland called theSpink.  Took it nice and easy and enjoyed the moment.

Plan for tomorrow is undecided.

Sunday Jan 13th. HRV=73 White.

Alarm went off at 6:00am and didn’t feel like getting up.  Took the interrupted lie in and almost missed the chance to run but luckily I found time just before it got dark and decided on a MAF test to make the best use of my available time. Session went well and noticed a 1 sec improvement per K since Wednesday using same venue and same conditions.

Plan for tomorrow is an easy lunchtime run followed by an evening Tempo session and I’ve to also find time to back my winter gear for a training camp in Norway.

Weekly Summary

A good week and think I made the right decision to reduce the intensity based on how I was feeling and instead of being knocked backed with an illness I’ve still made some slight improvement.

Next week I’ll be trying to load the first few days if time allows with some high intensity sessions in advance of a Team training week in Norway.  I’d like to head away in an almost over trained state to get the most from the forced rest days which may help with adaptation.