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Moraghan Training - Stevie G
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Yeah - good session, but god was I running to the station like John Wayne this morning. Think I need to get the missus to finally give me a massage at some point!
Good sessions SG and SC
I'm ginger, although it's mainly all beard now as the hair is getting (not so) gradually thinner on top...
Cracking week of training so far for me.
8x 1000m off 90s followed by 5x 200m off 30s on Monday. Targeting around 3:42 for the 1000s and all came out between 3:40 and 3:42. Went for a bit more control on the 200s than last week. No place for an opener of 33 secs which is I think what knackered my legs! All between 35.8-36.9 secs. Legs weren't screaming anywhere near as much as last week!
45 mins easy yesterday along the Thames Path for a nice change of scenery as I was down in Staines with work... Knocking out 7ish min/mile without any effort following on from a big session on Monday felt good
BAC session this morning of 12 mins @ threshold (3:00): 5x 5 mins @ 10k pace (90s); 12 mins @ threshold.
I wasn't looking forward to it if truth be told but it was so much better than last week. Threshold came out at 3:53/km (aiming for about 3:52, so take that - especially on undulating pavement loop in the pissing rain), then the 10k reps, looking for about 3:42 pace and got 3:42/3:43/3:43/3:44/3:44 - much improved from last week (also on undulating loop) and then the final threshold came out a bit slow at about 3:57/km but mostly due to slipping as I was about to cross a road and landing sprawled out on the road!! Luckily no damage done to anything other than my lap pace and scraped knees!
60 mins easy planned for tomorrow, then a couple of rest days before 90 mins easy on Sunday. 48+ miles last week and this week should be about 46 - definitely feeling more ready by the week to get after those PBs in a few weeks
Best not be beating AG then CC
That's a vey positive start to the week (knees aside!). Please though "Staines Upon Thames" now (who thought of that??)
Tempo effort today. Went for a lower end pace job with the intention of building it up over the next few weeks, but keeping the volume high (ish)
So 8 miles, with the middle 10k @ a bit under MP. Came out as (roughly until I've uploaded!) 7:40 to warm up then 6:30, 6:25, 6:23, 6:47 (up a big hill!) 6:23, 6:17, 0.2 @ 6:20 then a mile warm down. Happy enough with that as a marker.
CC, nice work, although I always view the word "threshold" with disgust, A horrible pace to keep
Bus, nice work, what was the actual pace aim? My MP is a 10sec zone, so was yours similar, say 6.20-6.30 or something? Best to avoid anything but undulations in these kinda sessions I find though!
In my early days adjusting to the big M's session, I posted a MP session, and the splits varied wildly and were all quicker than target. I thought it was decent, and was quickly told it wasn't, and keep to the zone. That was lesson learnt
Originally I'd intended 2 at MP (about 6:30 target) 2 at HMP (just over 6) then 2 at 10M pace (5:55 ish), but thought better of it at this stage. Hills are an issue for a tempo, but they do keep it real. Incidentally, the hill in question turned out to be a Strava segment - top two places are Ian Kimpton and Charlie May!
Well ran AG at Cardiff! More regular consistent mileage and you'll hone in on 1:15 but I do think you'd have to get quite specific to get there and consistent long runs
that definitely sounds one for well down the line Bus! A few weeks of 6-7miles MP straight is a nice start, then maybe mixing in HMP stuff.
few times I did 14milers, ending with 3 miles MP, then 3miles HMP.
Nail that, and you're well on way to a nice half marathon.
In fact the first time I ever did that one I averaged 5.57 for the HMP, then went and did exactly 5.57 for the half!
Thanks Scott
Plan is to aim for Any Reading 10k SG, and maybe the last Battersea 10k of the year at the end of November with the follow on being Wokingham Half in Feb.
Any suggestions for complimentary track based 10k sessions more than welcome! Only stipulation is they have to be doable in a slightly stretched lunch break....
Nice sessions CC, do you follow a specific plan?
Nice Tempo, Bus.
I guess you're right, Scott. My plan is to follow a P&D marathon plan, I've never followed a plan before so hopefully it will make a difference.
What's with all the triathletism, I feel offended but all this stereotyping
I suspect it's all down to jealousy caused by knowing how we would look in a tri suit
8 X 1KM (2:00)
10 X 1KM (90s)
5 X 1m (90s)
3 X 2m (3:00)
AG - Do you mean adapting it for a HM? A plan will 100% help obviously, having a workout repeated sometimes sucks but useful to gauge improvements and stuff. As for long runs, I realise now after doing a few 16/18 milers how under prepared I was for the HMs I have done, having only done a few 13/14 milers before trying to race 13 miles is not a great idea - aside from that having regular "bigger" runs midweek helps too
I wonder what people have done long run wise here when HM training and what they think
A week and a bit away from Brighton 10m. Pretty stacked field. Tomorrow should give me an idea of where I am at (5m easy + 5mtempo) but it'll really be the 12-15 weeks after this that I start the work and hopefully work with the new aerobic base I've been working on, with regular sessions etc.
Anyone see the national relays? JD - 2nd fastest leg! Nice
I couldn't go the full tri suit, maybe I am still a runner at heart.
AG - I get my plans e-mailed to me by my coach, Johnas from these forums who doesn't seem to post on here anymore. He prepares fortnightly plans and I do my best to stick to them! I'm too inexperienced to make up my own plans just yet - I reckon I'd do an okay job and if training for a marathon I'd look to P&D for a starter but I think I generally would have overdone things if left to my own devices!
Question for those who follow a training plan: do you follow it? I have a sort of plan in mind but I adjust it according to how I feel. As an example, I have a 7 mile route which takes me a couple of miles to Hyde Park, a 3 mile loop within the park, all off road and no road crossings, and then 2 miles back.
Some days that 3 mile loop is done as an effort, some days I just enjoy being in the park. I have a general plan but if I don't feel up to a session I won't do one simply as it is on the plan.
Monday was one of the latter days, even stopped to chat to a guy feeds the parakeets and he was suffering "biting the hand that feeds you" with bruises all over his arms.
I think having the flexibility to do what you said is ok though! I think we would all keep it easy / hard alternating anyway. I've learnt not to play catch up though too and if I miss some miles then so be it, overall I've been more consistent
I had a tendency to switch sessions last minute or drop the length of some of the reps which over time I'd regret. I think that's the only thing I wouldn't want to change as it has left me concerned about fitness
agree with scott the purpose of a well made plan is that easy days follow hard days and you are fresh for the quality. if you start moving things around then that is compromised. i followed a 12 week plan religiously in the summer to peak for the 1500m. every session on every day had a purpose. of course if there was a reason a session would be compromised then you looked at it and tried to rearrange for example one of my track speed sessions the weather was biblical. and it would have been a poor session. so i swapped the days around but only worked becausei dropped a steady session to a easy session to fit in recovery.
.
I try to follow the plan religiously. Sometimes life gets in the way or circumstances mean that it's sensible to shift things around to an extent. At the moment, my plans are structured around running 5 days because I was just not managing to run 6 days after a change to working pattern. Monday = track, Tuesday easy, Wednesday = threshold/speed, Thursday easy, Friday/Saturday rest, Sunday long.
Since I've started back on that regime, I don't think I've had to swap any of the midweek days but I regularly run long on a Saturday instead of a Sunday just depending on what's going on.
I also need to be up and about by 5.30am during the week to make sure I fit it in. I often entertain thoughts on a Monday or Wednesday of binning the session in favour of running easy, or think about sleeping a bit longer and hoping I can squeeze the run in later somehow but for whatever reason I manage to give myself a kick up the arse and get on with it. I'm feeling the benefit of that consistency now.
Likewise until the start of the summer, I was nailing everything on the plan in preparation for the marathon. I think I missed something like a total of 3 or 4 runs in 6 months (and they were all short easy runs). Once I get into a routine / rhythm, I tend to not disrupt it for a long time. If I start skipping sessions, or taking that longer lie one morning, I fear that I would slip out of the habit and it would all be downhill from there...
CC - obviously life gets in the way, I think that's the beauty of having a plan as you can build up periods when you never miss runs and then if something crops up then so be it!
Having said that I am working 7-3:30 today. Can I be arsed to run later! Certainly not!
I followed a plan to the letter about 25 years back mainly as one way to avoid the injuries I always had. Worked well, taking my HM pb from 84 minutes down to 76:33 in a year.
Now the chance of following a plan is zilch; unless I set the bar so low as to take no risks with effort. Recovery is the problem, or should I say inconsistent recovery is the problem. It's an old runner issue and even at 40 years old, a lot can be got away with.
So maybe with Phil, I follow a sort of plan but one with a level of flexibility. However, the danger can be that the flexibility is so predominate that the plan becomes no plan at all.
🙂
I'm terrible at following a proper structured and focussed plan, but still do a plan of sorts, but that is more to try and fit the mileage in around work and life.
Typically ends to be a rest Mon, double Tue and Thu as a commute, track Wed, either Fri off and parkrun Sat or, Fri easy and rest Sat with long run Sun. Sometimes I switch the We and Fri. I'm not sure doing the track sandwiched between doubles is the best idea, but track works best from work at lunch and the doubles as a commute just means I can fit them in.
Thanks for the suggestions Scott. I've done the 3x2M before and the 5x1k. Not sure I could face 10x1k though, especially trying to squeeze it in a lunch break!
Any thoughts on doing both a tempo on a Wednesday and reps Friday?
wasnt it daley thompson who says he trained on xmas day because his rivals didnt.
Whilst i wont be doing that (i have 3 kids under 11) i treated this summer as any missed sessions would mean another day that my competion moved ahead of me & another step back for me being able to compete for a medal in lyon, so not going out because i didnt fancy it was not an option.
i had to improve, so i had to follow the plan. I even bought a top end treadmill so i could still do sessions if i got in from work too late or had to look after the kids and couldnt leave the house.
however i get the fact that say ric, bus and Phils motivation will be different to mine. they have been around a lot longer than me, have different goals so a missed session is not the end of the world.
Always wondered Dean, if you had started out with a HM of 1:55 and after a year of training had managed to get it down to 1:40, would you have bothered? If your eyeballs out 1500m had been a 5:15 or your 800m a 2:35, then what?
Half of the motivation is a potential prize at the end of the endeavour. If the prize is suitable then it's worth the effort.
Lets face it, I've run over 100 miles/wk at times, ran 3 sessions/wk at times including hills and pure sprinting. Massive weights sessions and cycling. But it didn't get me even a second rate county vest competing against guys who probably only trained for football.
The motivation I had was being better than slackers with more talent than me but too arrogant to train properly to prove it. I had enough success from my work ethic to make it worth it.
However, It's odds on that if I'd been a back of the field marker, I wouldn't have bothered.
🙂
Ring necked parakeets.
Saw these for the first time in the mid 80's in Kent. Appeared in my area around ten years ago and are now all over the place.
20,000 at the last guestimate. Deafening you some time soon.
Nearest to running today seeing these things. Just walking today after the most bizarre injury going, which is messing things up right now.
A week or so back after a run around the woods I became aware a mosquito had managed to bite me right on a tendon on the outside of my right knee. This area is now inflamed and causing problems.
The bugger seems to have drilled right into the structure.
The git!
🙂
Dean, trained TWICE on Christmas day
Agree on the level determining the effort you put in. You need to be seeing some kind of progress/being somewhere in the mix of the category/events you participate in to keep the levels of training on here going.
I get caught up a little in the way in my local level races I'm at the sharp end, so when I don't consider I'm in that shape, I don't like to compete. I believe RW mag had an article on it by Tonky recently calling it the "precious runner"
Probably 4 different motivations between yourself and the three chaps above. You're still cracking on new ground at an already fast benchmark at distances normally reserved for teens/early 20s, Ric has to manage his training and recovery, with races being an occasional, Phil is much more interested in frequent racing, with only a cursory glance at Wava being his guide now, and Bus still has a chance of pbs, whilst managing constant ragging niggles.
As for me..i'm just waiting for a hotty to come along, so I can stop pretending I love all this nonsense, and I can finally grow up
As someone who only got into running seriously after age 40 I think motivation is more about whether you're competitive against yourself and your age group. I couldn't care less what the fastest guys do, in fact the more of them and the quicker they are the better, but I don't like to be doing badly against others in my age group or my previous times. I imagine most people are like that.
As for schedules surely they should be specific to planned races which in turn should have some sort of schedule to them. For example I would usually train for (reluctantly!) and do a couple of halves early in the year then have all 5k and 10k focus till the autumn when distance of training would step up for maybe an Autumn 10 miler and half (and to get speed endurance fro XC). All this means I've only just started running longer than 10k for the first time since April!
All true chaps. I totally understand why your are so committed Dean - it would be an almost criminal waste of your talent if you weren't, given what you have achieved!!
That said (and bearing in mind most normals think I'm obsessed even at my level!) my commitment to keeping the training going, even in a relatively unstructured way, is not just to try and be competitive in races, but because I just love being able to run! I also tend not to be as structured and focussed as is necessary because I like to do a variety of races.
Getting the work/life/run balance is important for a number of reason though, because otherwise one would give and the others would fall. I'm sure my Mrs would give me more leeway and make more sacrifices if I was racing in an England vest at a world champs, but I can totally understand why she doesn't get overwhelmingly excited about the prospect of missing a family weekend away to help me get a plastic trophy in a local cock and biscuits 10k
Racing is now well down the pecking order although when I do race I love the sense of achievement afterwards. I just can't be arsed with all the hassle leading up to it.
I think it's now safe to say that realisation of innate talent has a great bearing on motivation to train, or train more and better than average.
As for criminal waste of talent. Let's say, I knew I was limited at school, my average position being 10th out of a total of about 50 runners (the entire year group). The fastest could cross the line in a mile race on grass in around 5 minutes and I'd still be 300 yards off. So I knew there wasn't much there, so no loss if I didn't bother. But I did bother. Eventually.
From the ages of 20 to 26, each summer I'd dabble a few miles until a neighbour of mine said if I didn't keep training I'd never know what I could have done, "Don't leave it until you're my age (38). So I kept going. 17 weeks later my first proper race was a 1:29 HM. Ok but nothing special.
The point I'm making is, 'What happened to the guys who were annihilating me at school?', I know their names, they're not on PO10 at any level!
That's criminal waste of talent.
🙂
i wouldnt have bothered...but the reason i would have that attitude is because i wouldnt have tapped out at that level. so it would never have been enough.
I dont like training, its dull. there is nothing fun about a 15m long slow run around stoke on trent on a rainy sunday morning. but i do love track sessions. and i love competition and races to test myself. I used to like taking exams but was bored by the revision....same thing as running for me. i like the challenge but the graft is just a necessary evil i need to do to do my best at the challenge.
Ric - 5 years ago you could have been saying that about me. a very fast youngster who quit and was never seen again. Certainly not on Po10. but the fact is i was off playing another sport to a national level for 15 yrs. we are all different but i would rather have 3 yrs at the top than 30 years in the middle. i know many others will be opposite to that.
At england schools level there was one chap i always raced and he was lightning. one of the few i rarely beat over 800m as a kid. he disappeared at 18 beause he had a kid and worked in a factory on shifts. it made being a top class runner near impossible for him. his was a waste of talent but he found life get in the way. he breifly flickered back to life for one season and made the AAA's racing and getting beat by Cram. but then life got in the way again. If he had a bit more luck with life he would have been a household name over middle distance.