After an easy Friday I was ready for a few faster miles on Saturday. Normally that would have meant a 10 mile loop through Killorglin with 8 miles at tempo pace, but we had a yellow wind warning and the strong gale force winds would have meant 5 miles where 6-minute miles would have felt reasonably easy and 5 miles home where 8-minute miles would have been a challenge, so I opted for a different workout.
The Ard-na-Sidhe road always provides a little bit of shelter, at the very least it takes the worst of the sting out of the wind. It is just over a mile long which makes it suitable for mile repeats but it's not particularly flat which makes it a bit more challenging. I ran 2 miles in each direction, with the odd numbered ones with the wind but slightly uphill and the even numbered ones against the wind but slightly downhill, though the wind was so strong that it definitely had a greater effect than the gradient that day.
6:13 (168), 6:19 (171), 6:17 (170), 6:18 (166)
I got the first two slightly wrong by running too hard, especially towards the end, but the last two felt just spot on, just the right intensity level I wanted to hit. I don't do a lot of speedwork, usually just 2 or 3 sessions closer to a race when I want to sharpen up, and I never try to give it my all. Running their speed workouts too hard is one of the most common mistakes runners make and I generally try to avoid falling into the same trap myself.
The legs definitely felt the effort for the rest of the day and I binned an eventual second run that day. Playing with the kids was a better way to spend the Saturday in every regard possible.
On Sunday I ran up to Windy Gap again. It was an unexpectedly beautiful day, even if it was still fairly cold and windy nearer the top of the mountain, as the name implies. Two weeks ago I had felt like dying on that climb so I decided to run up once and see how I would feel, and only if all systems were green would I descend into Glenbeigh and tackle the mountain once more from the other side. I was actually surprised by how well I felt (I was tired but nothing like last time), so I did indeed do the second climb, alright. I didn't particularly push the effort, there is no need to do so on such a prolonged and very steep climb, and once more felt okay when I reached the top, though I was not at all tempted to add a third repeat.
The mileage over the weekend was only just a touch over 20 miles, which I'm sure is a lot less than most or all of my fellow competitors have been doing, but I feel more tired than if I had done a long run today. I did 52 miles last weekend and I'll do another marathon next week, so the long runs are there as well; this time was more a "quality" based weekend, though I hate that term.
I was still recovering from Limerick this week. Next week will see bigger mileage again.
- 6 Mar
- 8 miles, 1:02:54, 7:59 pace, HR 143
- 7 Mar
- 8.25 miles, 1:01:32, 7:27 pace, HR 155
- incl 4 x 1 miles in 6:13 (168), 6:19 (171), 6:17 (170), 6:18 (166)
- 8 Mar
- 12.15 miles, 1:53:54, 9:22 pace, HR 147
- Windy Gap x 2
Your training is going well Thomas. Have you figured out any goals for Torino - either time or place-based?
ReplyDeleteTop 50 in the worlds would seem to be achievable on a good day. Time wise I'll go for 24 hrs :) hopefully over 220km again but we'll just have to see how it goes on the day
Delete24 hours would be a great time Thomas - hope you can do it ;-)
DeleteHi Thomas. Love the blog. Do you take any rest between the speedwork miles.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks.
A.R.
Yes, in that case I recovered for a third of a mile at about 10-minute pace
DeleteThanks for the info Thomas--trying to get my speed improved for 5 and 10 K's coming up and the mile repeats look like a good option foe me-Cheers A.R.
ReplyDelete