Saturday, January 27, 2007

It’s That Day of the Year again

I’m 37 today. We’re about to tuck into the cake, especially prepared by the master chef, Niamh. I love the party with the family, though the kids are more excited than I am. From a running perspective I do ask myself how long I can continue to improve. I’ve probably hit the age where most people start slowing down, but since I’ve only been running for three years or so I’m confident I’ve still got a few years to go until I hit my personal ceiling.

The promotion at work came as a bit of a surprise. In terms of priorities, work comes behind the family and running presently, and I sometimes felt last year that I wasn’t pulling my full weight. When you get up at 4:30 in the morning to run 20+ miles, your concentration does suffer after several hours in front of the computer. I was never worried about losing my job, but I didn’t think I was at my best there. My boss obviously seemed to disagree. Not that I’m complaining. Hell, we can really use the money. Maybe we can even start to afford the kind of life we’re living here.

Running. Yes. Friday was the second part of my sandwich, the first ever. The first thing that worried me was the early waking time. Thursday’s 5:20 am was still somewhat civilised, but there was nothing civilised about Friday’s 4:40. And to do so on consecutive days invariably meant a sleep deficit. However, as it turns out, I managed just fine. The other thing I was worried about was my right hamstring. It had started hurting over the last 5 miles on Thursday, and I could feel it again before going to bed. Miraculously, it seemed to heal overnight, I didn’t feel a thing wrong on Friday. The weather forecast had been pretty good so you can imagine my dismay when I opened the door to be greeted by rain. On the plus side, it meant a rise in temperature and I didn’t have to worry about the icy patches on the road. I started my long loop around Caragh Lake, counter-clockwise today for a change. I did time myself again after 3 miles, and 8:20 was a pretty good starting pace. I usually start slower than that. The legs felt better than expected, and it went easy enough until mile 8. At that point the road starts climbing, and the thought of 3 miles of continuous uphill can be pretty daunting. However, I managed just fine, and I did enjoy a bit of rest on the downward stretch. By mile 14 I had left the mountains behind me, and the rest of the journey was reasonably flat. I passed our driveway after about 17 miles, and was slightly tempted to leave it at that (as I knew I would be). I felt ok though, and went for a final short 3-mile out-and back section. The whole run went much much better than expected. I had expected to be begging for mercy over the last few miles, instead I felt pretty good all the way. I did time myself for the last 6 miles, and I hit about 7:40 pace, which is quite amazing considering the amount of running from the last few days. I was very pleased with that double header. Next week I’ll increase Thursday’s mileage to 17 miles and leave Friday at 20, and we’ll see how that goes.

What better way to celebrate your birthday than going out for a 90 minutes recovery run? The last few “recovery” runs had all been too fast at sub-8 pace, and I was determined to take it easier today. I still went for the hilly option, and halfway through my climb up the devil’s elbow I thought I should have chosen a flat course instead. But I think that hill was exactly what my legs needed to wake up again, and the turnover increased markedly once I reached the flat section again. I just about managed to avoid sub-8 pace, but to be honest I should have slowed down more. Not because I think it will injure me, but because I think too much effort on those runs might have a negative effect on tomorrow’s tempo run. Having said all that, running does feel nearly effortless at the moment, and since the pace is dropping without any increase in effort, I couldn’t be happier with the way things are going.

26 Jan: 20 miles, 2:06, 8:12 pace, avg. HR 143
27 Jan: 11.5 miles, 1:32, 8:00 pace, avg. HR 149

15 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday! This year I will be 37 as well! Congrats on the promotion.

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  2. Happy Birthday Thomas!!!
    And that's fantastic news about your
    promotion, well done, you are very blessed :)

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  3. Happy birthday. I would like to be 37!

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  4. Happy Birthday Thomas! A few years younger than me...

    I can't remember quite how it goes - maybe someone else will, but I heard somewhere that you have a five to seven year climb to your running peak. No matter when you start - at 16 or at 30, it's about the same. After that, supposedly you level off, then start to slow. Anyone else heard that?

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  5. Enjoy the day, Thomas. And congrats on the promotion, too

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  6. Happy Birthday!!!

    Yay for the promotions!!!

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  7. Happy Birthday and again, congratulation. I enjoyed reading your back-to-back long run report, it brought back memories.

    Enjoy the training.

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  8. Happy b-day, now you caught up with me for a few months:)
    Michelle, it is so I heard as well: you've got 5-7 years rising (if you train properly), then 5 years to hold on to it, then go down. It is not always true, I know of people who reverted it, but may be it meant they found more time to train smarter? I do hope it stays for me, so I can have another year or two. You, obviously (Michelle) are on the rise after 12 years.

    Sorry, Thomas, for discussion. I am just very happy how your pace drops effortlessly, and yes, people are selfish creatures, so I keep fitting it onot myself:) You think reading about you will rob on to me?

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  9. Happy Birthday Thomas! There's no better way to spend a birthday than 1) running and 2) spending it w/family. Sounds like things continue to fall into place for you!

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  10. Happy birthday, Thomas! I turned 37 on the 19th.

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  11. Thomas, well Mr. Thomas - Happy Birthday to you!!! You still Rock. Still makes PR (5 km I guess was the last one) and will make a lot. it sounds like you slightly disappointed (the kids are more excited than I am) or your thoughts about getting a Plateau?! I will join The Club 37 in 5 years, may be I'll be thinking the same? Whatever, I read you blog and run here in Kazakhstan having in mind your races and your results. Think about it - it inspires people all around the world! And we will be glad to hear about your new PRs and Great Races.

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  12. Happy Birthday!

    Great job on the sandwhich, very impressive times.

    Will future sandwiches increase your weekly mileage, or will you adjust the rest of the week to absorb the extra miles, keeping your current weekly mileage the same?

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  13. Happy Birthday! Life begins at 37!! and congrats on the promotion, too! I started running at 47 and I've been getting better every year. So you just never know!

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