Le Cheile A.C Novice & Masters Team.
Monday September 30th. HRV= 62 White.
A good jump since yesterday and shows signs of recovery but I know my legs are still repairing and I won’t rush back into normal training. Went for an easy 5K after work and had a relaxing evening which included an online Q&A for http://www.runinthedark.org/training/. I’ll avoid the Gym until next week to allow the race recovery and adaption.
Plan for tomorrow is unsure but I expect to run.
Tuesday October 01st. HRV= 66 White.
Didn’t feel like I had a lie in and woke feeling tired. Took the opportunity for an easy / short lunchtime run and could feel my legs starting to loosen up towards the end, 8.5K in 37 minutes. Got text message after work to ask if I was running and ended up with a second easy run of 9K in 40 minutes. It was an effort to stay slow with the second run and had to watch the pace rather than heart rate as that seems to be back to normal and remained low for the most part. The dark evenings are becoming more obvious and I’ll soon need to work on a winter plan as routes will need to be changed.
Plan for tomorrow is a lunchtime run and I’ll go be feel.
Wednesday October 02nd. HRV= 73 White.
A great result but still feel like my legs are recovering so I’ll continue to take it easy for the next few days which means no Sprinting but may increase the pace slightly. I’m hoping to get back into the hills on Saturday to build on the Training Effect from last Saturday and try hold onto that improved leg strength by maintaining what I’ve got. Easy lunchtime run but finished a bit faster than planned partly because I can feel the legs getting back to normal and sometimes it can be hard to stay disciplined. Out for dinner after work and had a few drinks seeing as it’s an easy week.
Plan for tomorrow is undecided but I’m hoping for an early night.
Thursday October 03rd. HRV=65 White.
Not surprised with the drop after the day I had yesterday and I expect that this is more because of the night out than the training. Easy lunchtime run similar to yesterday and finished the day with 5K on the Track after coaching and included 6* 100M strides to loosen out the legs. Feeling good and surprised to cover the distance in just under 20 minutes.
Plan for tomorrow is undecided as I’m thinking about the Parkrun on Saturday and there’s also the Cross Country on Sunday. Parkrun would be leisurely but the XC is a Race..
Friday October 04th. HRV= 59 White.
Much lower than expected. Easy lunchtime run of 5K with the weekend in mind. Relaxed for the evening and went to bed early
Plan for tomorrow is the Parkrun as I’m committed to volunteering after finishing. Intensity will be decided tomorrow.
Saturday October 05th. HRV= 77 Green.
The early night paid off and I woke before the alarm to a great result. Plan for today is a bit mixed as I’m unsure of what to expect but I’m hopeful of a sub 18 finish. Stood towards the front and expected a fast race as there were quite a few new faces and a lot of club singlets. Started conservatively with the aim of going through the first k in 3:30 but felt the pace was a bit slow so I took the chance and went to the front and pushed it to suit what I wanted. Went through the 2nd K in 3:35 and that’s close to my usual and I’m still feeling ok with an extended gap. Slowed down to 3:39 as I hit the 3K mark and then dug deep to try keep the lead in preparation for the slow drag to the finish. Hit the 4K in 3:32 and from here to the finish I just tried not to slow too much and did just enough to keep the lead. Crossed the line, changed my Tshirt and helped out with scanning the rest of the field. Stayed around for a few minutes after it was all over to chat and eat biscuits and then it was off to the hills for an 8.5K Recovery run while my daughter was training. Probably not ideal prep for tomorrow’s race but the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing and my main thing is a few months away and I can’t afford detours every other week.
Plan for tomorrow is the Novice & Masters Cross Country County Championships..
Sunday October 06th. HRV= 75 White.
Perfect and all is good. Went out for a short run before breakfast to loosen out the legs and work up an appetite as the best time to consume carbs is post exercise because glycogen uptake is an exercise induced response and the muscles are more responsive post exercise. Finished with a walking cool down and then it was my usual porridge mix of a volume relative to the time to race. Got a lift to the venue and arrived in plenty of time to watch the junior athletes put in some great performances while still having time to check out the course and watch the Novice & Masters Ladies race start. Had a quick Team chat and then found my position close to the front and got into a good position quite quickly. Shortly after the first straight I found myself bunched in with a group of 5 and struggled to break free and when a gap presented itself I sprinted through and forced the pace a bit too much and felt the pressure as I tried to recover without losing my position. The course was 2 3/4 laps with a few sharp hills and tight turns and on the start of the second lap I remember thinking how glad I was that it was only 1 more full lap before the short lap. It’s a bad sign when these thoughts enter your head so I tried to focus on improving my position with the limited time available rather than wishing it to end. I started to close the gap on a pack up ahead and knowing that I’m always caught on the sprint finish I made an attack on one of the hills, recovered at the top and attacked again on the next hill to really push it out. Made up a few places and before I knew it I was heading down the straight to the finish. Conscious of how many times I’d lost ground at this point in a race I tried to put in a finishing kick and managed to hold it to the end. Crossed the line in 5th place (I think) and led my Team to Silver in the Novices Race, Bronze in the Masters Race and an individual Gold in the Masters 40-44 category.
My son was watching and he later told me that I was in 11th place starting the last lap and he was hoping I’d make up a position to get a top 10 finish and was surprised to see how strong I was towards the end but he also told me that if the finish line was 10-20 meters further away then I’d have been caught as the gap was closing fast. Must do more speed work!
Plan for tomorrow will depend on Recovery and includes the online Q&A .
Weekly Summary:
A great week and finished with 2 good races. Low volume but high intensity and Recovering really well.
