Mileage: 17.25 miles
AM: 3.75 miles; PM: 13.5 miles
Tonight’s meadow’s session was one of my favourites and I have been looking forward to it all week long. It didn’t disappoint. Tonight’s session was 4*1.47miles (or one complete lap of the meadows) with two and a half minute recoveries in between. I arrived at the meadows after a hard day’s work and I felt a little tired. My legs were still a little stiff and sore after Tuesday’s training session and it is possible that I went a little too hard on my Wednesday recovery run. Despite this (okay sounds like I am getting my excuses in now, but just setting the scene!) I was really hoping to run well. In fact I was pretty much chomping at the bit.
We start these sessions by the barrier at the back of the tennis court, head along to the bottom of the park and then turn left on to Melville Drive before heading the full length back to the other end of the park, a quick sharp turn and then short burst to complete the loop back at the tennis courts. This week we had the same group as last week with myself, Colin, James and new boy Bryan. Jenny, fresh of wining a 5k race the night before, also joined us for the first rep but then moved back a group. We decided to take it in turns to pace the group and I was volunteered first, again. That seems to happen quite a bit on Thursday’s and it always seems to be Colin who is volunteering me. I’ll have to be quick to nominate him next week.
I felt pretty strong, fit and comfortable on the first rep. The stiffness in my legs melted away quite quickly and my chest felt neither tired nor laboured as we moved down towards the bottom of the park and the turn. After a mile I quickly glanced round and saw that Colin, Bryan and James were still with me and we worked really hard together for the last half mile of rep, particularly at the end where we had to fight against a stiff breeze. We crossed the line in 8minutes and 3 seconds. Not bad. I’ve done this session a few times earlier this year, however, I have done 5 not 4 reps. My times have generally been around 7.50-8.05 for each effort, particularly when I was in good form in the run up to my April/May half marathons. So I was pretty pleased with the first rep tonight, as it was just inside what I would call a good time.
Colin led the second rep and straight away I could tell we were pushing a little harder. When we reached the bottom of the meadows and made the turn to come back Colin pushed on. I was determined to not to drop back so forced myself on his shoulder. I could see Bryan just to my left, but James had dropped back. He had also raced last night too and was clearly tired as a result. I don’t know if it was because I was sitting so close to Colin’s shoulder, but he kicked on again as we approached the last half mile and at this point I felt my lungs really start to work hard just to keep me in the group. We held the strong pace right through the last bend and into the wind crossing the line in 7.52. It was a good, fast time and I was delighted. This was the kind of time I would have been expecting of myself before my holiday.
It did, however, come at a cost. My lungs were aching and burned with the effort. My legs actually felt fine, which was good, but I could just feel that my lungs were not quite catching the breath I needed to recover in time for the third rep. It was a bit like Tuesday where I struggled to get myself back together after the first two sets. I think this is because I am still forcing my way back to full fitness and also I have run an awful lot of miles since I have been back (213 miles in 17 days), so undoubtedly my body is tired too. I definitely hadn’t recovered as much as I normally would have by the time our two and half minutes were up. Bryan led us out and he set off at a very fast pace. James decided to drop back a group, so I stuck with Colin and we both tried to hang on to Bryan’s pace. After about a quarter of a mile my mind told me that my lungs were still too sore and shattered to keep up and although my legs felt fine (ish) I dropped back and watched as Colin pulled away from me to catch Bryan and then the two of them pulled further away together. I also think my mind gave up a little too soon here as I think I could have made more of an effort to give chase. Instead I cruised the last half of the rep and eventually crossed the line in 8.15. I was not happy. I wasn’t expecting to run another 7.52, which was what Colin and Bryan managed but I would have expected at least 8.05. I shouted a little bit and then pulled myself together and told myself to put in a little extra effort for the last rep and get back towards the 8 minute mark.
The last rep we set off together and the three of us worked as a team pushing towards the end of the park and then the turn. I knew straight away that I was running better than the third rep and although after half way Colin and Bryan pulled away from me slightly I hung in and forced myself not to let too much of a gap form, which is what I should have done on the third rep. I crossed the line 7 seconds behind them in 8minutes 3 seconds the same time as my first rep. I was a lot happier. I am quite sure I could have done a fifth rep at that pace too. It may be that if I had done my second rep at that pace, instead of the super fast pace of the other two then I would have ran better in the third. Clearly I am capable of the speed, but as I am getting back into my running I still need a bit of time running at slightly slower more consistent speeds rather than one super fast rep followed by a very average one.
Still, overall I am happy with my effort tonight and know that things are slowly getting better. I am certainly loads quicker than I was last Thursday and the Thursday before that. I actually felt better after the session tonight than I did before it and I had to restrain myself on my run home, as I felt my legs turning over very quickly. I am still not sure how quickly, as my Garmin is still looking for a satellite. I wonder if all the Garmin satellites are in France looking after their riders on Le Tour.
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Wednesday 7 July: Loving morning runs again
Mileage: 13.25 miles
AM: 3.75 miles; PM 9.5 miles
I am feeling tired but good as I write this. After yesterday’s track session I was expecting to be a lot stiffer than I was, so my run to work was a pleasant surprise. In fact after the first mile I felt myself speeding up! Morning runs have started to become a joy again and not a chore. Since getting back from holiday I have found it difficult to get back into my morning runs often feeling sore, stiff and tired plodding up the road. If it wasn’t for the fact that I needed to run to work each morning then I might have been tempted to leave it on some mornings. Today, however, it was a lovely run up the road and I didn’t want to stop when I got to work. I just hope tomorrow I feel the same.
This evening I ran to the Meadows and met Dan. We ran the 8 mile route from there that I had ran on Monday after work. My Garmin is still searching for its missing satellite so I was once again dependent on Dan for an accurate measure as well as an idea of pace. We ran quite hard, but fairly consistently. It was a nice bright evening, but the strong breeze seemed to hit us head on no matter which way we turned. Our pace was good too and we comfortably did our 8 miles at an average pace of less than 7 minutes per mile. It was fast, but we managed to chat about our usual rubbish along the way. My right leg did feel a little uncomfortable at times, a little tight around the knee and the hamstring. I sometimes wish I had two left legs, as my left leg always feels as thought it could do a 100 mile a night and never seems to suffer.
We stopped at Ainsley Park for some core and strengthening work before running toward home. It was another good training day and I really am starting to feel good again. I am hopefully going to be running a 15k trail run in Moffat next Tuesday evening and I am looking forward to testing the hard work I have put in over the last 16 days.
AM: 3.75 miles; PM 9.5 miles
I am feeling tired but good as I write this. After yesterday’s track session I was expecting to be a lot stiffer than I was, so my run to work was a pleasant surprise. In fact after the first mile I felt myself speeding up! Morning runs have started to become a joy again and not a chore. Since getting back from holiday I have found it difficult to get back into my morning runs often feeling sore, stiff and tired plodding up the road. If it wasn’t for the fact that I needed to run to work each morning then I might have been tempted to leave it on some mornings. Today, however, it was a lovely run up the road and I didn’t want to stop when I got to work. I just hope tomorrow I feel the same.
This evening I ran to the Meadows and met Dan. We ran the 8 mile route from there that I had ran on Monday after work. My Garmin is still searching for its missing satellite so I was once again dependent on Dan for an accurate measure as well as an idea of pace. We ran quite hard, but fairly consistently. It was a nice bright evening, but the strong breeze seemed to hit us head on no matter which way we turned. Our pace was good too and we comfortably did our 8 miles at an average pace of less than 7 minutes per mile. It was fast, but we managed to chat about our usual rubbish along the way. My right leg did feel a little uncomfortable at times, a little tight around the knee and the hamstring. I sometimes wish I had two left legs, as my left leg always feels as thought it could do a 100 mile a night and never seems to suffer.
We stopped at Ainsley Park for some core and strengthening work before running toward home. It was another good training day and I really am starting to feel good again. I am hopefully going to be running a 15k trail run in Moffat next Tuesday evening and I am looking forward to testing the hard work I have put in over the last 16 days.
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Tuesday 6 July: Tuesday track session and at last some pace!!
Mileage: 13.5 miles
AM: 3.75 miles; PM 9.75 miles (including track session)
Well I am sad to report that my Garmin is still not a happy bunny and refuses to find a satellite. Maybe it’s because they’re no satellites up there? Anyone seen a satellite lately? Thankfully today’s running was exactly the same as last Tuesday’s so I know exactly how many miles I’ve done, phew!
Alex was still on holiday today, but had left the session with us so we could look after ourselves. The session was the same session as I did by myself last week. I was pleased about this, as it allowed me to compare my performance and see if I had made any progress. The session was 3 sets of 400m, 800m, 300m with 1 minute recovery between reps and then a 2 ½ minute recovery between sets.
The first 2 sets went really well for me, I felt comfortable, fit and fast. My times were good too, quicker than last week, but still not quite as quick as I would have expected before my holiday. I was however, really pleased with these 2 sets and for the first time since returning to training I actually felt like I had pace. Unfortunately the third set didn’t go quite as well. I was pretty tired after the first two sets, but I think I switched off mentally too. In my head I decided that as I had ran so well in the first two sets that I had done enough for the evening and the third set didn’t matter too much. During the third 400m instead of starting off strong and pushing straight away as I had done earlier, I just fell in behind Seamus and then when he kicked on instead of going with him I just watched, which let Nick and Colin go by too. Still it wasn’t a terrible time, but I felt I had let myself down a bit. I did exactly the same in the 800m that followed. I was feeling exhausted during this rep, but in my head I gave up way too soon and cruised a little bit too much. I finished this rep angry with myself and this obviously had an effect as I managed to sort my head out for the last 300m, which I pushed hard on and managed to run my fastest time for that 300m.
All in all I felt really good after the session. Alex told me that it would take a couple of weeks to get back to where I was before holiday and although I am not quite there after those two weeks I am not far off. I know what the session is for Thursday and its one that suits me, so I am really looking forward to it.
My times (last week’s times in brackets):
Set 1: 400m – 70secs (72secs) 800m – 2mins29secs (2mins34secs) 300m – 50secs (52secs)
Set 2: 400m – 70secs (71secs) 800m – 2mins31secs (2mins35secs) 300m – 50secs (53secs)
Set 3: 400m – 72secs (72secs) 800m – 2mins38secs (2mins36secs) 300m – 49secs (52secs)
AM: 3.75 miles; PM 9.75 miles (including track session)
Well I am sad to report that my Garmin is still not a happy bunny and refuses to find a satellite. Maybe it’s because they’re no satellites up there? Anyone seen a satellite lately? Thankfully today’s running was exactly the same as last Tuesday’s so I know exactly how many miles I’ve done, phew!
Alex was still on holiday today, but had left the session with us so we could look after ourselves. The session was the same session as I did by myself last week. I was pleased about this, as it allowed me to compare my performance and see if I had made any progress. The session was 3 sets of 400m, 800m, 300m with 1 minute recovery between reps and then a 2 ½ minute recovery between sets.
The first 2 sets went really well for me, I felt comfortable, fit and fast. My times were good too, quicker than last week, but still not quite as quick as I would have expected before my holiday. I was however, really pleased with these 2 sets and for the first time since returning to training I actually felt like I had pace. Unfortunately the third set didn’t go quite as well. I was pretty tired after the first two sets, but I think I switched off mentally too. In my head I decided that as I had ran so well in the first two sets that I had done enough for the evening and the third set didn’t matter too much. During the third 400m instead of starting off strong and pushing straight away as I had done earlier, I just fell in behind Seamus and then when he kicked on instead of going with him I just watched, which let Nick and Colin go by too. Still it wasn’t a terrible time, but I felt I had let myself down a bit. I did exactly the same in the 800m that followed. I was feeling exhausted during this rep, but in my head I gave up way too soon and cruised a little bit too much. I finished this rep angry with myself and this obviously had an effect as I managed to sort my head out for the last 300m, which I pushed hard on and managed to run my fastest time for that 300m.
All in all I felt really good after the session. Alex told me that it would take a couple of weeks to get back to where I was before holiday and although I am not quite there after those two weeks I am not far off. I know what the session is for Thursday and its one that suits me, so I am really looking forward to it.
My times (last week’s times in brackets):
Set 1: 400m – 70secs (72secs) 800m – 2mins29secs (2mins34secs) 300m – 50secs (52secs)
Set 2: 400m – 70secs (71secs) 800m – 2mins31secs (2mins35secs) 300m – 50secs (53secs)
Set 3: 400m – 72secs (72secs) 800m – 2mins38secs (2mins36secs) 300m – 49secs (52secs)
Monday, 5 July 2010
5 July 2010: Feeling good again and my Garmin has drowned!
Mileage 12.5 miles
AM: 3.75 miles; PM: 8.75 miles (appx)
I had a horrendous night’s sleep, so getting up this morning was close to agonising. My eyes were almost half closed as I slid on my kit, pulled on my rucksack and tried to start my Garmin. My Garmin, however, seemed to be just as tired as me, as no matter how hard it tried it couldn’t find a satellite signal. Yesterday it had struggled in the rain and had even stopped working for a while. I think some of the rain got inside and sure enough when I looked at it more closely I could see condensation behind the screen. I am pretty gutted, as I love my Garmin and I have only just got it back working again after replacing the battery charger for it. I love knowing the amount of miles I have done and how fast I have done each mile in. So I had to set off, tired and grumpy with no working Garmin. Thankfully I know how far it is to my work.
After work, despite feeling very tired I had a really strong urge for an extended run home. My Garmin still wasn’t working, so I took a route where I know the length was roughly 9 miles. The wind was quite blustery, but it was really nice running along by the canal. My run took me 2.5 miles along the canal towards Slateford where I joined the path along the Water of Leith for a mile and a half as far as Murrayfield before hitting the cycle path which led me on to Ferry Road area of town and the Ainsley Park Sports Centre where I nipped in for some core strengthening work. For the first four miles of my run I really cut lose and let my legs fly and zipped along at pace. I did start to feel a little tight and niggly after that, so I slowed down, but I did have convince myself that this was the right thing to do, as I was really enjoying my run and I do love running fast.
Today was another day where I felt that little bit fitter and faster. I have now been back in training for 14 days and during that time have run exactly 170 miles. It’s quite a lot, but I do love the miles and feel better for it. I just need to lose a little more weight (4kg) and find a bit more speed and I will be ready to race again. Now I just need to pray to the gods of running that my Garmin will dry and be back to normal tomorrow morning, so can continue to log all those miles for me!
AM: 3.75 miles; PM: 8.75 miles (appx)
I had a horrendous night’s sleep, so getting up this morning was close to agonising. My eyes were almost half closed as I slid on my kit, pulled on my rucksack and tried to start my Garmin. My Garmin, however, seemed to be just as tired as me, as no matter how hard it tried it couldn’t find a satellite signal. Yesterday it had struggled in the rain and had even stopped working for a while. I think some of the rain got inside and sure enough when I looked at it more closely I could see condensation behind the screen. I am pretty gutted, as I love my Garmin and I have only just got it back working again after replacing the battery charger for it. I love knowing the amount of miles I have done and how fast I have done each mile in. So I had to set off, tired and grumpy with no working Garmin. Thankfully I know how far it is to my work.
After work, despite feeling very tired I had a really strong urge for an extended run home. My Garmin still wasn’t working, so I took a route where I know the length was roughly 9 miles. The wind was quite blustery, but it was really nice running along by the canal. My run took me 2.5 miles along the canal towards Slateford where I joined the path along the Water of Leith for a mile and a half as far as Murrayfield before hitting the cycle path which led me on to Ferry Road area of town and the Ainsley Park Sports Centre where I nipped in for some core strengthening work. For the first four miles of my run I really cut lose and let my legs fly and zipped along at pace. I did start to feel a little tight and niggly after that, so I slowed down, but I did have convince myself that this was the right thing to do, as I was really enjoying my run and I do love running fast.
Today was another day where I felt that little bit fitter and faster. I have now been back in training for 14 days and during that time have run exactly 170 miles. It’s quite a lot, but I do love the miles and feel better for it. I just need to lose a little more weight (4kg) and find a bit more speed and I will be ready to race again. Now I just need to pray to the gods of running that my Garmin will dry and be back to normal tomorrow morning, so can continue to log all those miles for me!
Sunday, 4 July 2010
Sunday 4 July 2010: Long Sunday Runs are amazing
Weekly Mileage: 87.5 miles
Mileage: 16 miles in 1 hour 50 minutes
Long Sunday runs are pretty much my favourite run of the week! I love them. Today I had a great day and a great run. The beautiful weather of the last couple of weeks had disappeared and I left the house to a wintery day of heavy rain and strong winds. I picked Dan up and we headed off to Craiglockhart tennis centre to meet up with the rest of the club. It was still blowing and raining hard when we got there and setting off I wished I had brought some gloves.
Over the first mile Dan and I moved away from the others pretty quickly and we were soon alone as we followed the Water of Leith path heading towards Balerno. We both complained about the weather and wondered why we hadn’t brought gloves, but we were soon into a rhythm and running well. In fact we were going at a pretty impressive pace, the first few miles were all around 7 minutes a mile and under, which was faster than I thought I could go, but I was pretty comfortable and happy. My legs were fairly loose and felt strong, which was great after running so many miles and three hard training sessions during the week. I did wonder if our early pace would cost me later on, but I didn’t care too much as I was just happy to be running at a good steady pace.
We got to mile 6 at Balerno in 42 minutes, maintaining our early pace, which was great, however, miles 7 and 8, as we head up to the reservoir, are pretty steep and with the wind blasting into our faces head on we inevitably slowed. It was here, for the first time, that my hamstrings started to tighten and my lower back began to niggle again. It started to feel a little bit of a struggle, but I had the bit between my teeth, so I decided not to back off and I could see that Dan still had plenty of running in him. Dan hadn’t done this run before so he was reliant on me to show him the way, so for his sake I felt I had to keep pushing. We reached the top of the last hill and turned toward the Harlow Resevoir, hitting the halfway mark of a 16 mile run in 57 minutes. Not bad.
The run back was a lot easier than the run out, as we had the wind at our back for the most part and the gradient was on our side too. By mile 10 I did begin to feel tired, I was soaked through, sore in both legs, my lungs were feeling it too, but it just felt great running, so much better than my 14 mile run last Sunday. I’d almost forgotten how beautiful this run was too slipping between the reservoirs, snaking through the forests and along the country roads, past the farm fields and even in the wind and the rain it was glorious to be outdoors.
When we got back on to the Water of Leith for the last couple of miles we cranked up the speed a bit. I am quite certain we were pushing each other a little, testing each other’s speed and endurance, but we both seemed happy with that. Our last mile along the canal disappeared in 5 minutes and 55 seconds, a great way to finish the run. We did the last 8 miles in 53 minutes and 1hour 50minutes for the whole 16 miles, an average of 6minutes and 54seconds per mile. It was much faster than I had hoped for and much more comfortable than I had expected. After a frustrating week of trying to find speed in training sessions it felt great to feel back to normal.
We both felt pretty strong and fresh after we finished. We’ve got 18-20 miles to run next Sunday and I think we’ll be okay for that. I wonder if we’ll be as quick.
Mileage: 16 miles in 1 hour 50 minutes
Long Sunday runs are pretty much my favourite run of the week! I love them. Today I had a great day and a great run. The beautiful weather of the last couple of weeks had disappeared and I left the house to a wintery day of heavy rain and strong winds. I picked Dan up and we headed off to Craiglockhart tennis centre to meet up with the rest of the club. It was still blowing and raining hard when we got there and setting off I wished I had brought some gloves.
Over the first mile Dan and I moved away from the others pretty quickly and we were soon alone as we followed the Water of Leith path heading towards Balerno. We both complained about the weather and wondered why we hadn’t brought gloves, but we were soon into a rhythm and running well. In fact we were going at a pretty impressive pace, the first few miles were all around 7 minutes a mile and under, which was faster than I thought I could go, but I was pretty comfortable and happy. My legs were fairly loose and felt strong, which was great after running so many miles and three hard training sessions during the week. I did wonder if our early pace would cost me later on, but I didn’t care too much as I was just happy to be running at a good steady pace.
We got to mile 6 at Balerno in 42 minutes, maintaining our early pace, which was great, however, miles 7 and 8, as we head up to the reservoir, are pretty steep and with the wind blasting into our faces head on we inevitably slowed. It was here, for the first time, that my hamstrings started to tighten and my lower back began to niggle again. It started to feel a little bit of a struggle, but I had the bit between my teeth, so I decided not to back off and I could see that Dan still had plenty of running in him. Dan hadn’t done this run before so he was reliant on me to show him the way, so for his sake I felt I had to keep pushing. We reached the top of the last hill and turned toward the Harlow Resevoir, hitting the halfway mark of a 16 mile run in 57 minutes. Not bad.
The run back was a lot easier than the run out, as we had the wind at our back for the most part and the gradient was on our side too. By mile 10 I did begin to feel tired, I was soaked through, sore in both legs, my lungs were feeling it too, but it just felt great running, so much better than my 14 mile run last Sunday. I’d almost forgotten how beautiful this run was too slipping between the reservoirs, snaking through the forests and along the country roads, past the farm fields and even in the wind and the rain it was glorious to be outdoors.
When we got back on to the Water of Leith for the last couple of miles we cranked up the speed a bit. I am quite certain we were pushing each other a little, testing each other’s speed and endurance, but we both seemed happy with that. Our last mile along the canal disappeared in 5 minutes and 55 seconds, a great way to finish the run. We did the last 8 miles in 53 minutes and 1hour 50minutes for the whole 16 miles, an average of 6minutes and 54seconds per mile. It was much faster than I had hoped for and much more comfortable than I had expected. After a frustrating week of trying to find speed in training sessions it felt great to feel back to normal.
We both felt pretty strong and fresh after we finished. We’ve got 18-20 miles to run next Sunday and I think we’ll be okay for that. I wonder if we’ll be as quick.
Saturday, 3 July 2010
Friday 2 – Saturday 3 July 2010: Still struggling, but enjoying it!
Friday 2 July
Mileage: 7.5 miles – AM: 3.75 miles; PM: 3.75 miles
Today was a nice easy day. All I did was run to and from work. After the very tough session yesterday my legs were tight and sore, but the gentle sunshine made both runs enjoyable.
Saturday 3 July
Mileage: 12 miles
With Alex away we were left to our devices for training today. Seamus, Dan, Nick (a friend of Seamus) and I met in Holyrood Park for a pyramid session. It was another bright, hot, sunny day in Edinburgh and it was a great day to be running. My legs were feeling pretty good, so I was confident of a good session. The session was planned by Seamus and was one of the sessions he used to do a few years ago back in the day when he used to run 31 minute 10ks.
The session was 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1 minute efforts each with a minute recovery in between. It was tough, a high intensity session with very little recovery. I found it quite frustrating at first as the other 3 were pulled away from me quite easily and I spent each rep struggling to keep up with them. I have to admit to being a little fed up of feeling so slow and unfit. One thing that has recovered quite quickly has been my endurance, which is good. The second half of the session I was a lot closer to the others, as they slowed at a much greater pace than I did.
I am still disappointed that I am not close to being back to my pre-holiday form, but I need to keep telling myself that I have only been back in training for 12 days. I am also quite tired as in those 12 days I have done 141 miles and 5 hard training sessions. I am going to go for a ling run tomorrow and then maybe have another easy day on Monday and consider getting a massage to help my muscles recover.
I am impatient to get back to where I was. I can’t help that. I need to try and temper my enthusiasm a little and train responsibly otherwise I’ll risk an injury. I already have a couple of niggles. I really hope that this time next week I will be much further on.
I also got on the scales today and found myself weighing close to 84kg! I am still 4kg heavier than I was before holiday. I need to shift that, as that is most definitely slowing me down! I have given up alcohol and not had a drop since my holiday nearly 2 weeks ago. I have also managed to eat fairly well and cut out a lot of crap, although not it all. Unfortunately since I have upped my training my appetite has increased tenfold and I have eaten loads and loads! I am sure my high mileage will soon shed the pounds. Well at least I hope it will.
Long run tomorrow and I can’t wait. That’s a good sign.
Mileage: 7.5 miles – AM: 3.75 miles; PM: 3.75 miles
Today was a nice easy day. All I did was run to and from work. After the very tough session yesterday my legs were tight and sore, but the gentle sunshine made both runs enjoyable.
Saturday 3 July
Mileage: 12 miles
With Alex away we were left to our devices for training today. Seamus, Dan, Nick (a friend of Seamus) and I met in Holyrood Park for a pyramid session. It was another bright, hot, sunny day in Edinburgh and it was a great day to be running. My legs were feeling pretty good, so I was confident of a good session. The session was planned by Seamus and was one of the sessions he used to do a few years ago back in the day when he used to run 31 minute 10ks.
The session was 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1 minute efforts each with a minute recovery in between. It was tough, a high intensity session with very little recovery. I found it quite frustrating at first as the other 3 were pulled away from me quite easily and I spent each rep struggling to keep up with them. I have to admit to being a little fed up of feeling so slow and unfit. One thing that has recovered quite quickly has been my endurance, which is good. The second half of the session I was a lot closer to the others, as they slowed at a much greater pace than I did.
I am still disappointed that I am not close to being back to my pre-holiday form, but I need to keep telling myself that I have only been back in training for 12 days. I am also quite tired as in those 12 days I have done 141 miles and 5 hard training sessions. I am going to go for a ling run tomorrow and then maybe have another easy day on Monday and consider getting a massage to help my muscles recover.
I am impatient to get back to where I was. I can’t help that. I need to try and temper my enthusiasm a little and train responsibly otherwise I’ll risk an injury. I already have a couple of niggles. I really hope that this time next week I will be much further on.
I also got on the scales today and found myself weighing close to 84kg! I am still 4kg heavier than I was before holiday. I need to shift that, as that is most definitely slowing me down! I have given up alcohol and not had a drop since my holiday nearly 2 weeks ago. I have also managed to eat fairly well and cut out a lot of crap, although not it all. Unfortunately since I have upped my training my appetite has increased tenfold and I have eaten loads and loads! I am sure my high mileage will soon shed the pounds. Well at least I hope it will.
Long run tomorrow and I can’t wait. That’s a good sign.
Thursday, 1 July 2010
Thursday 1 July 2010: The joy of the meadows, the pain of the midgies!
Mileage: 15 miles
AM: 3.75 miles; PM: 11.25 miles (Including Thursday session)
Tonight’s Meadows session was tough, really tough! By the end of it I was close to broken.
After our usual pre-session chat and exchange of running related gossip and one lap warm-up Alex informed us of the session: 3 minutes faster than 10k pace, followed by 1 minute recovery and then a 30 second all out sprint and then just 30 second recovery before repeating the set. We had to do this five times.
I groaned out loud on hearing this, a little too loud, as Alex heard me to which he responded with: “For those groaning at the thought of the session, you obviously know how tough this will be.” I did, as I have done this session a few times. The fast pace combined with the very short recovery makes it an extremely tough 25minutes. In fact, Alex later told me that it was basically a track session.
For me, still struggling to find the pace I had before holiday it was hard work. We set off in our groups. In mine was Colin, James Ruskin, myself and new boy Brian. Alex had told us to take it in turns to lead the group on the three minute efforts. I was up first. Whenever you are asked to lead/pace a group in a session you always try and up your game. Everyone does it, as no one wants to let the rest of the group down or, as I suspect, everyone wants to impress the rest of the group. I set off today and pushed a hard at a steady pace. I could feel the rest of the group behind me and so continued to push. Even after a minute I could feel my legs tightening and my lungs burning, this was going to be a very tough session! I finished my three minutes and the pace was 5minutes29seconds minutes per mile pace. Not quite my 10k pace, but considering everything recently I was happy with that. The one minute recovery went all too quickly and I was trailing behind the group as I desperately tried to find some pace during the 30 second blast. I managed a 4.36 mpm pace and was pleased enough with that.
For the next three reps I slowed a little, but not too much. I did struggle to hang on to the group a little, as they finished about 25-50 meters ahead of me each time over the 3 minute reps. In some ways it was good motivation, as I told myself repeatedly that I had to chase them down, couldn’t let them get away and that I am as good as them. It helped and I am sure I ran further and faster as a result. I do like those mental battles, where my body tells me one thing and my mind refuses to accept it. I like to defy my body’s desire to slow down or to wait for the next group. It means that when I finish the session, even though I am a fair bit slower than I would normally be, I am still satisfied.
It was agreed that I would take the last 3minute rep and again I knew I had to up my game. I set off and really pushed hard to set a strong pace from the start and then I just tried to hold it and push as I felt the group close on me. I actually felt fitter, looser and stronger on the last set then I did on any of the others. Perhaps this is a sign that I am getting used to training again and that I am slowly regaining my fitness. We finished the session with one final sprint and all four of us were shattered, but pretty pleased with ourselves. Sessions like that need training partners as there is no way you can do them that quickly on your own. I know I couldn’t. Thanks guys!
My session
Set 1: 3 minutes – 5.29 mpm pace; 30 secs – 4.36 mpm pace
Set 2: 3 minutes – 5.37 mpm; 30 secs – 5.05 mpm pace
Set 3: 3 minutes – 5.51 mpm; 30 secs – 5.11 mpm pace
Set 4: 3 minutes – 5.52 mpm; 30 secs – 5.26 mpm pace
Set 5: 3 minutes – 5.42 mpm; 30 secs – 4.48 mpm pace
Now we are at the height of summer the Meadows is glorious, however, I have noticed a very unwelcome visitor in the couple of weeks that I have been back – midgies!! There are loads of them circulating the Meadows and last week a fair few of them latched on to me for some blood sucking fun! I was not impressed. I don’t remember there being too many midgies in Edinburgh a few years ago, but just this last couple of summers they seem to have cropped up more and more and particularly in the Meadows. I hate the little buggers, as much as they seem to love me. They also not content with leaving just a small puncture wound, but rather a big itchy swollen welt that bothers for me days on end!! They are truly evil. Last week was so bad that I have now taken drastic measures to prevent me becoming the all you can eat buffet for the Meadow’s Midgies. Avon’s Skin So Soft is the ultimate midgie repellent. It really works and I have taken a bottle to work and now every evening before running home I lather myself head to toe in it. I smell lovely, but better than that I can keep the midgies away, as I lie here typing this I feel no itchy marks at all! This buffet has closed!
AM: 3.75 miles; PM: 11.25 miles (Including Thursday session)
Tonight’s Meadows session was tough, really tough! By the end of it I was close to broken.
After our usual pre-session chat and exchange of running related gossip and one lap warm-up Alex informed us of the session: 3 minutes faster than 10k pace, followed by 1 minute recovery and then a 30 second all out sprint and then just 30 second recovery before repeating the set. We had to do this five times.
I groaned out loud on hearing this, a little too loud, as Alex heard me to which he responded with: “For those groaning at the thought of the session, you obviously know how tough this will be.” I did, as I have done this session a few times. The fast pace combined with the very short recovery makes it an extremely tough 25minutes. In fact, Alex later told me that it was basically a track session.
For me, still struggling to find the pace I had before holiday it was hard work. We set off in our groups. In mine was Colin, James Ruskin, myself and new boy Brian. Alex had told us to take it in turns to lead the group on the three minute efforts. I was up first. Whenever you are asked to lead/pace a group in a session you always try and up your game. Everyone does it, as no one wants to let the rest of the group down or, as I suspect, everyone wants to impress the rest of the group. I set off today and pushed a hard at a steady pace. I could feel the rest of the group behind me and so continued to push. Even after a minute I could feel my legs tightening and my lungs burning, this was going to be a very tough session! I finished my three minutes and the pace was 5minutes29seconds minutes per mile pace. Not quite my 10k pace, but considering everything recently I was happy with that. The one minute recovery went all too quickly and I was trailing behind the group as I desperately tried to find some pace during the 30 second blast. I managed a 4.36 mpm pace and was pleased enough with that.
For the next three reps I slowed a little, but not too much. I did struggle to hang on to the group a little, as they finished about 25-50 meters ahead of me each time over the 3 minute reps. In some ways it was good motivation, as I told myself repeatedly that I had to chase them down, couldn’t let them get away and that I am as good as them. It helped and I am sure I ran further and faster as a result. I do like those mental battles, where my body tells me one thing and my mind refuses to accept it. I like to defy my body’s desire to slow down or to wait for the next group. It means that when I finish the session, even though I am a fair bit slower than I would normally be, I am still satisfied.
It was agreed that I would take the last 3minute rep and again I knew I had to up my game. I set off and really pushed hard to set a strong pace from the start and then I just tried to hold it and push as I felt the group close on me. I actually felt fitter, looser and stronger on the last set then I did on any of the others. Perhaps this is a sign that I am getting used to training again and that I am slowly regaining my fitness. We finished the session with one final sprint and all four of us were shattered, but pretty pleased with ourselves. Sessions like that need training partners as there is no way you can do them that quickly on your own. I know I couldn’t. Thanks guys!
My session
Set 1: 3 minutes – 5.29 mpm pace; 30 secs – 4.36 mpm pace
Set 2: 3 minutes – 5.37 mpm; 30 secs – 5.05 mpm pace
Set 3: 3 minutes – 5.51 mpm; 30 secs – 5.11 mpm pace
Set 4: 3 minutes – 5.52 mpm; 30 secs – 5.26 mpm pace
Set 5: 3 minutes – 5.42 mpm; 30 secs – 4.48 mpm pace
Now we are at the height of summer the Meadows is glorious, however, I have noticed a very unwelcome visitor in the couple of weeks that I have been back – midgies!! There are loads of them circulating the Meadows and last week a fair few of them latched on to me for some blood sucking fun! I was not impressed. I don’t remember there being too many midgies in Edinburgh a few years ago, but just this last couple of summers they seem to have cropped up more and more and particularly in the Meadows. I hate the little buggers, as much as they seem to love me. They also not content with leaving just a small puncture wound, but rather a big itchy swollen welt that bothers for me days on end!! They are truly evil. Last week was so bad that I have now taken drastic measures to prevent me becoming the all you can eat buffet for the Meadow’s Midgies. Avon’s Skin So Soft is the ultimate midgie repellent. It really works and I have taken a bottle to work and now every evening before running home I lather myself head to toe in it. I smell lovely, but better than that I can keep the midgies away, as I lie here typing this I feel no itchy marks at all! This buffet has closed!
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