Tempo Limits

First things first, I did indeed run the 12.5 mile Kerry Way loop on Friday morning, and to my relief my right foot held up just fine. The thought of a neuroma was just paranoia on my part, and I guess the ones amongst you who commented that it was just bruising were probably right. The run went pretty well for the most part, but there is a long climb, starting at mile 5 and going for, I guess, three miles, climbing over 250 meters (800 feet) in the process. That was seriously hard work, and I kept thinking, “This used to be easier”. However, once the worst of the climb was behind me I really started to enjoy myself; running up there with the view across Caragh Lake and towards the mountains is just magical. I even brought the camera to capture some of the magic, but it was a dreary, cloudy day and the lighting conditions weren’t right. Besides, I got such a good rhythm going that I felt loath to stop for a photo.

Niamh had to go off early on Saturday morning, and I decided to take a rest day. I didn’t fancy getting up early on the weekend, and running in the evening doesn’t appeal to me any more. However, I woke at 6:20, and I was still awake at 6:30, 6:40 and 6:50, and then I got fed up with tossing and turning, and went for a short run after all. I tell you, there’s a part of my subconscious that really doesn’t want me to rest. I kept it easy enough, because I didn’t want it to interfere with Sunday’s planned tempo run.

Today is exactly three weeks after the ultra and two weeks before the half, and since I really wanted to get the legs used to running at a faster pace, it was high time to do so. I haven’t done too many tempo runs through my ultra training; the long run double-headers didn’t leave much room for faster running. Of course I haven’t got much time before the half to get my legs used to the desired pace, and I guess I won’t be at my very best. I’ll still try to do as well as I can. Anyway, the day didn’t start too well; I woke with a sore throat and a chesty cough. That’s supposed to be a sign that I should run at all, but after taking some medicine and hanging around for two hours I convinced myself that I was well enough to run. I used the first two miles to gradually up the pace, and the following 2.5 miles out and then back again constituted the main part of the run. The warm up miles took just under 15 minutes (~ 7:30 pace) and the 5 mile tempo effort took 34:22 (17:38 and 16:44 respectively), which equates to a pace of 6:52 (7:03 and 6:41 for the two halves). To be honest I’m slightly disappointed with that. The headwind on the outward stretch had been pretty strong, so much so that I kept thinking that I should have opted for mile repeats on the more sheltered Ard-na-Sidhe road instead. But I kept going, and obviously the return leg was wind-assisted. I had planned to decide at mile 7 if I fancied two more miles at tempo pace or if I would slow down to a cool-down effort instead, but I was seriously hanging on at that point and two more miles of torture didn’t seem palatable. The calves had been singing the ode to pain for quite some time and by that point the quads had joined the choir, and I just had to slow down. The final two miles went by in a comparatively pedestrian 15:52, giving me a combined time of 1:05:12 for the entire 9 miles; not my best by any means, but all I had in me today.

I’ll have to decide if I can add one or two more tempo efforts before the race. It’s a balance between getting the sustainable pace up (or the aerobic threshold, even though that’s physiologically incorrect) and being well rested for the race itself. I usually don’t taper for anything less that a marathon, but since this will be my last race of the “season” I don’t have an incentive of training all the way through.

20 Apr: 12.5 miles, 1:41:18, 8:06 pace
21 Apr: 6 miles, 50:12, 8:22 pace, avg. HR 147
22 Apr: 9 miles, 1:05:12, 7:14 pace, avg. HR 166, with 5 miles in 34:22 (6:52 pace)

Weekly mileage: 57.5 miles