Had a good run yesterday evening, just off the bike from college & straight into it. 6.7km loop in 28:05, a new pb for the course. hit wrong button on watch intending to stop it at a junction so I hadn't my usual markers to indicate how well I was doing.
I'm one of those runners who can't do anything (when I'm on my own & not running regularly) mentally when running (trying to add, in this case 7:05 onto the time I see upon glancing down at the watch periodically to track progress - forget it!).
There is literally just a void in my head for the duration of the exercise - same with cycling, my brain 100% switches everything else off & I'm focusing entirely on the job at hand. Some people use exercise as their "thinking time" etc, to them I say that they're not trying hard enough!
was struggling for pace initially & got my second wind very quickly (normally it takes 7-10 minutes I was there in under 5 today...) but felt really good nonetheless. Got faster as the session went on, not feeling amazing but that zing was there having ran on friday too (on the grass in dangan - 4 laps 13:25 & struggling big time, decided I wasn't enjoying it at all along with only planning the run an hour before hand with no race in sight for at least 2 months & work early the following day, I said I'd forgive myself for cutting it short, be happy I gave it a go & forget about it!)
would've easily broke 28 if I could do basic arithmetic, adding the 7 mins was clearly too much for me! Heck I reckon I could've done 27:30 easily if I'd known where I was, I was slowing down at seapoint just cruising & took the last km far too leisurely, having fun... just glad to be out running, never taking the sport for granted. Always still slightly amazed that I can run this "fast", its amazing really, maybe that's why I'll never crack the big times because I'm too much in awe of it, I don't know...
I certainly have the raw ability to do it though. a 35 minute 10km is not out of the question from me, I just can't quite believe I can do it yet. But I know theoretically I could do it, no problem. 34 minutes, yes thats unknown but sub 35 mins for a 10km, absolutely, I know I can. (granted I don't get injured & get the opportunity to train at that level once my job allows me the free time etc, & that I really commit to it & I make that my goal for a couple of years of my life & am on 50-60 miles a week (or cycling a lot!!!)
I'm in Ok shape these days, there or there abouts for a 33:30 8km (6:45 min/mile pace all the time) all year really. Not bad considering I'm not even running 15 miles a week, last year I was running 35 miles a week (or running at least 3 times a week anyway) & only managing to be 1 minute faster, so I'm certainly improving (thanks to cycling). All I'm lacking now is some longer runs - 8-14 mile tempo runs with some hard 10-12 km runs too & some 2 hour cycles also...
I won't be running in the streets this year as I'd be struggling for a sub 33 & wish to put my focus on my studies alongside the fact that I really would prefer not running that race again until I'm in sub 30 minute shape. I respect the race too much...
Running for the next month now will be maintenance stuff, some sprints (6.7km loop) & maybe the odd 10km here & there coming up to the exams...
Once college is done in septemner, I'm gonna make it my business to focus for the 10km on st stephens day & be in under 40, at the very least. with plenty of cycling (& running 3 times a week minimum) - I can't wait!!!
Goodluck with your running & I hope your training is going well to anybody who might be reading...
Wednesday, 27 July 2016
Tuesday, 19 July 2016
No Joke
A bit of fun tonight. Had been working 30+ hours at the shop covering for people along with college work in the evenings etc, so only exercise was the bike each day, Not terrible but after 10 days that raw edge that you only get from running I find starts to vanish.
Hadn't ran in almost 3 weeks (but cycling every day) until tonight for my 6.7km loop - 28:37. Not bad at all - except for pedestrians, very hot today so tends to make people dozy & consequently had a few run ins (quite literally with some very inconsiderate people...) well at least it wasn't getting bit by a dog, I guess, but ahh people in general are very unaware of their surroundings, it pissed me off...
Thoroughly enjoyed the run though. felt good going out & well rested but lacking that raw speed, endurance & sharpness that I (or anybody who runs regularly) normally have so delighted with the time. The whole thing felt very slow but not laboured, it just felt natural - comfortably hard in sections & for the rest of it I took my time really - so indeed my fitness is actually rising? Always a great feeling to get back into it, any runner will tell you. Those runs that you do when you've been not runing for more than 2 weeks are like "welcome home" runs - celebrations, almost like finding the sport again. Makes you appreciate your body & the fact that you havn't lost that resilience/work ethic, etc. It's truly great & as the saying goes what a feeling
Makes me realise that if I'd the training I can whittle down that time easily... a bit of work to do for the streets, but college work comes 1st. once sept 1st comes, I can go back into some proper training 30 miles a week running with the other days on the bike with the fields as the goal on St Stevens day a sub 40 for sure (whilst looking for a job & coding etc...)
Hope to run thursday now - an hour on the grass perhaps, who knows. Focused on college work though as I've mentioned. Running to keep me sane currently. & oh boy, is it working!
75-76kgs all the time - go up to 78 on a bad day although I have been behaving myself in recent times diet wise - strarted an awful habit not so long ago where I'd be tending to chomp through a whole bag (average 15 sweets thats alot) of riesen - dark chocolate chewy sweets... them & bagels are my big sin but have since been replacing it with bananas apples brown bread & more water, & a nice cup of hot sweet tea before bed - normally don't have sugar in tea.
What a gift, running. Thank you...
Hadn't ran in almost 3 weeks (but cycling every day) until tonight for my 6.7km loop - 28:37. Not bad at all - except for pedestrians, very hot today so tends to make people dozy & consequently had a few run ins (quite literally with some very inconsiderate people...) well at least it wasn't getting bit by a dog, I guess, but ahh people in general are very unaware of their surroundings, it pissed me off...
Thoroughly enjoyed the run though. felt good going out & well rested but lacking that raw speed, endurance & sharpness that I (or anybody who runs regularly) normally have so delighted with the time. The whole thing felt very slow but not laboured, it just felt natural - comfortably hard in sections & for the rest of it I took my time really - so indeed my fitness is actually rising? Always a great feeling to get back into it, any runner will tell you. Those runs that you do when you've been not runing for more than 2 weeks are like "welcome home" runs - celebrations, almost like finding the sport again. Makes you appreciate your body & the fact that you havn't lost that resilience/work ethic, etc. It's truly great & as the saying goes what a feeling
Makes me realise that if I'd the training I can whittle down that time easily... a bit of work to do for the streets, but college work comes 1st. once sept 1st comes, I can go back into some proper training 30 miles a week running with the other days on the bike with the fields as the goal on St Stevens day a sub 40 for sure (whilst looking for a job & coding etc...)
Hope to run thursday now - an hour on the grass perhaps, who knows. Focused on college work though as I've mentioned. Running to keep me sane currently. & oh boy, is it working!
75-76kgs all the time - go up to 78 on a bad day although I have been behaving myself in recent times diet wise - strarted an awful habit not so long ago where I'd be tending to chomp through a whole bag (average 15 sweets thats alot) of riesen - dark chocolate chewy sweets... them & bagels are my big sin but have since been replacing it with bananas apples brown bread & more water, & a nice cup of hot sweet tea before bed - normally don't have sugar in tea.
What a gift, running. Thank you...
Saturday, 2 July 2016
Speed session & Headford 8km
On wednesday I did a sort of a track session. Cycled in & out of college & then to the track later on in the evening. Up every day at 12:30pm & going to bed round 3:30am - recipe for disaster.
did a 1 mile in 5:58 (& on the 3rd lap felt like I was crawling along though really (& really noticing the sheer lack of endurance I have)). That was ok then went & did 2 400 meters off jogging rests (at least 2 mins each) did in about 1:17 each - terrible really, was hoping for 1:10's but it wasnt happening - again from even 150 (250 to go I was hanging on...). then did a few 100m sprints (easing up at 80) & this time not from the 110m line - thats why my times were so slow previously! managed 14.5 secs for those... then did a 1km repeat, tried to but lost count of laps & sorta gave up, then I went to do it again & at 400m & decided to call it a day - a weird session but I was very tired & could really feel it in my chest -like the beginning of an onset of a cold type thing...
The race then was good. working 7:30-4 but dad was taxi for the day so that was refreshing! (I'll be cycling to work tomorrow though!) then the race at 7.
Overall I can't complain only we got soaked at around the 2.5km mark... it's odd weather recently - just really heavy showers on & off occasionally throughout the day.
was knackard & never really got going at all in the race, 1st km in 3:30 flat & didn't feel like I was moving at all so that's a good sign, that was the track session paying off I guess - either that or just 1st km ambitions - my efforts put me into 3rd place which I held until about the 1km mark, then the usual suspects passed me one by one...
The early pace felt right - I was even taking my time & I just by default found myself chasing the 2 leaders - this keeps happening - it's obvious that the better athletes are in no rush - but its as if (because the running community in galway is so insular by nature - you go to a race & you can almost tell whose gonna come where even before the gun goes off) they're all out for a training run with each other. to me a race is a race - it's almost too friendly I dunno...
The guy who won it (no Bidwell tonight) from ennis track, was unbelieveable! 24:48 was the wining time, phenomenal & the fact that I've never heard of him either - that's scary to know that you can be that good & yet be an absolute nobody at the same time... it's shocking really
It was a good field tonight, plenty under 30 mins but as they passed me & I still reckon if I trained right I'm convinced that I could have gotten 3rd place - would've required a sub 29 finish - but it's in me. Just so many average runners passing me tonight - it didn't annoy me as such but just to realise how beatable they are. But I'm focused on other things really with college & work etc... but so too are these other people juggling family life & jobs etc so fair play to them...
It's just that sub 30 pace, if fit isn't that bad really, it's just that when your on say 27:30- 28 flat range to improve from there then takes a significant increase in milage etc.. you need to become a very different athlete for that sort of caper...
As for my own performance, 33:18 in the end. not a disaster but not great either... The 4th km I went through in 15:20 so that was good, But I just didn't have it in me tonight at all. I didn't really get my second wind at all & I was toast at the 4th km & never really recovered, went through 5km in 20:18 & I wasn't hurting that bad but I knew that my chest just was't gonna let me dig into my reserves for the last 3 kms
I am in sub 32 shape, & I should get it in the streets alright next month, but I gotta go to bed earlier etc, drop the weight & do some more running itself. The bike is marvellous but at the end of the day there is no substitute for an 8 mile tempo run - which I intend on doing soon...
I am getting fitter all the time though. As in fairness I am only 40 seconds off my PB & in parts felt like I was going awful slow. I just didn't have the edge tonight at all - I treated it as if it was a training run really... When it rained I felt like sneezing - onset of a cold developing so I subconsciously pulled back - I was wheezing a good bit too (asthma from my childhood playing up), just felt weak as a cat overall... tied I guess from biking it 7 days a week either to college or to work...
I'm happy overall though - a few battles on the road with Brendan & Martin etc. Good to speak with them again, their the best of people...
might run on tuesday - don't know what distance yet - maybe an hour on the grass, we'll see...
did a 1 mile in 5:58 (& on the 3rd lap felt like I was crawling along though really (& really noticing the sheer lack of endurance I have)). That was ok then went & did 2 400 meters off jogging rests (at least 2 mins each) did in about 1:17 each - terrible really, was hoping for 1:10's but it wasnt happening - again from even 150 (250 to go I was hanging on...). then did a few 100m sprints (easing up at 80) & this time not from the 110m line - thats why my times were so slow previously! managed 14.5 secs for those... then did a 1km repeat, tried to but lost count of laps & sorta gave up, then I went to do it again & at 400m & decided to call it a day - a weird session but I was very tired & could really feel it in my chest -like the beginning of an onset of a cold type thing...
The race then was good. working 7:30-4 but dad was taxi for the day so that was refreshing! (I'll be cycling to work tomorrow though!) then the race at 7.
Overall I can't complain only we got soaked at around the 2.5km mark... it's odd weather recently - just really heavy showers on & off occasionally throughout the day.
was knackard & never really got going at all in the race, 1st km in 3:30 flat & didn't feel like I was moving at all so that's a good sign, that was the track session paying off I guess - either that or just 1st km ambitions - my efforts put me into 3rd place which I held until about the 1km mark, then the usual suspects passed me one by one...
The early pace felt right - I was even taking my time & I just by default found myself chasing the 2 leaders - this keeps happening - it's obvious that the better athletes are in no rush - but its as if (because the running community in galway is so insular by nature - you go to a race & you can almost tell whose gonna come where even before the gun goes off) they're all out for a training run with each other. to me a race is a race - it's almost too friendly I dunno...
The guy who won it (no Bidwell tonight) from ennis track, was unbelieveable! 24:48 was the wining time, phenomenal & the fact that I've never heard of him either - that's scary to know that you can be that good & yet be an absolute nobody at the same time... it's shocking really
It was a good field tonight, plenty under 30 mins but as they passed me & I still reckon if I trained right I'm convinced that I could have gotten 3rd place - would've required a sub 29 finish - but it's in me. Just so many average runners passing me tonight - it didn't annoy me as such but just to realise how beatable they are. But I'm focused on other things really with college & work etc... but so too are these other people juggling family life & jobs etc so fair play to them...
It's just that sub 30 pace, if fit isn't that bad really, it's just that when your on say 27:30- 28 flat range to improve from there then takes a significant increase in milage etc.. you need to become a very different athlete for that sort of caper...
As for my own performance, 33:18 in the end. not a disaster but not great either... The 4th km I went through in 15:20 so that was good, But I just didn't have it in me tonight at all. I didn't really get my second wind at all & I was toast at the 4th km & never really recovered, went through 5km in 20:18 & I wasn't hurting that bad but I knew that my chest just was't gonna let me dig into my reserves for the last 3 kms
I am in sub 32 shape, & I should get it in the streets alright next month, but I gotta go to bed earlier etc, drop the weight & do some more running itself. The bike is marvellous but at the end of the day there is no substitute for an 8 mile tempo run - which I intend on doing soon...
I am getting fitter all the time though. As in fairness I am only 40 seconds off my PB & in parts felt like I was going awful slow. I just didn't have the edge tonight at all - I treated it as if it was a training run really... When it rained I felt like sneezing - onset of a cold developing so I subconsciously pulled back - I was wheezing a good bit too (asthma from my childhood playing up), just felt weak as a cat overall... tied I guess from biking it 7 days a week either to college or to work...
I'm happy overall though - a few battles on the road with Brendan & Martin etc. Good to speak with them again, their the best of people...
might run on tuesday - don't know what distance yet - maybe an hour on the grass, we'll see...
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