Wecovewee

6 miles, 43:06

Gym

Ran nice and slow today, and the legs weren't sore, but definitely did not have much life in them. By the end of the run though, everything was feeling good and enjoyed the run. Managed to atone for Tuesday's embarrassment in the gym afterward.

Went to the midget horse guy this evening, although he didn't touch the bones this evening. Apparently my quad was 'a little twisted' and he found a wicked knot in the right calf. Altogether I was there for about 5 mins, but everything is feeling good and ready to roll for the weekend.

Ooii that's a good one

Target: 4 x 2 miles, 3 min rec.

Splits: 10:37 (5:21, 5:16), 10:36 (5:21, 5:15), 10:38 (5:22, 5:16), 10:40 (5:23, 5:17).

This was a good 'un. Was debating between this and 3x3 mile for the workout. Went for this because

a) Didn't trust my pacemaking to do the 3x3 properly

b) Longest workout so far had 6 miles of work, so thought this was a better transition

c) I'm a pussy

Going through the first mile, I thought I'd made a balls of it, and was very surprised to see that I'd negative split. However, the last 2/3 of the loop is a slight downhill, that I was very grateful for later in the workout. Struggled mentally after 2, thinking that I wouldn't get through 4 but the 3rd one was a good strong outing that made starting the 4th easy, and felt great through 3/4 of a mile. However, the wind got up coming to the mile marker, and I was rigging badly on the next half mile. But thankfully the sun went behind some cloud cover and I hit the downhill for the last 1000 or so, and managed to get through it ok.

While I was definitely in the hurt locker by the end of the last one, the workout in general was very solid, and am very pleased. Was much quicker than I was expecting (goal was just sub 11's), and at this stage I can say I'm well ahead of where I was anticipating in training. Am not revising any marathon goals until at least after the half in September, just going to keep taking it day by day. But its easily the best shape I've been in for a number of years, and am just hopeful I can keep it going. Seeing the midget horse guy tomorrow for a hip cracking, and already looking forward to getting a long one in on Sunday.

Like a wheel, I'm tired

10 miles, 66:32

Gym

Wore the new kicks for the first time today and had no idea how beat down the old pair were because these felt like clouds on my feet. Put me in a great mood for the run, which was going swimmingly until about 50mins, when the legs decided they were pretty knackered. I guess Sunday's effort not quite out of the legs yet, but to be expected. Finished up nice and relaxed before hitting the gym. The gym was like freshman year all over, i.e. a bit of an embarrassment. Really struggled with the weights today, managing to put up a set of 3, yes 3, on the final set of bench which is usually pretty easy. That aside, got through it and am happy to have the day off tomorrow to recover for Thursday's workout.

Easy Like Monday Morning

5.6 miles, 40:00

Had a nice easy trot around the fields at home today as it was a bank holiday here in Ireland. Legs felt surprisingly decent after the long haul yesterday, and enjoyed the run quite a bit. Spent the rest of the day watching Kerry tear Dublin apart in the GAA before returning to the big schmoke. Very relaxing weekend comes to an end.

12 Weeks to go

6 runs, 55.1 miles

Pretty easy week the long run aside. Was due to be a down week but given the shenanigans of last weekend made the long run up today. Will be interested to see how the legs respond tomorrow. Feeling pretty good in general, but need to get my hips sorted as left quad is very tight and get twinges in the right hammy going uphill. A visit to the midget horse guy could be on the cards tomorrow evening.

Our Father, who art in heaven

19.1 (ish) miles, 127:02

Map

Fucking GMAPs. A look at the map will show that instead of looping around the roads around 10-11 miles, I doubled back. The reason being is that the road on the map doesn't exist. The hybrid view shows that the so-called road apparently runs through the middle of 10 fields of farmland. The consequence was that this run was quite a bit longer than I had planned on. Also, the hybrid image shows that the roads on the map image don't line up with the roads on the satellite image, meaning that the distances are not quite right. Doesn't necessarily mean that the runs are measuring short, but I've had that suspicion on a few occasions. Using mile markers I know to be accurate, passed through 3 miles in 21:03, 9 miles in 61:10, and ran the last 3 in 19:15.

Around the 1:45 mark I started to feel a little light headed due to dehydration. Lost the shirt which helped cool me down a lot as the humidity was high. But having not taken on any fluids/gels at any stage I was afraid of bonking big time. As if sensing my discomfort, the da magically appeared around 17.5 miles in the car, providing a bottle of cold water. Between drinking some and dousing the head, I felt a ton better finishing up the run. Won't be going this long again without arranging for water/gels enroute. Longest ever run, and the first time over 2 hours. Pretty happy.

Livin for the weekend

Fri: 6 miles + Gym

Sat: 8 miles easy

No time for either run. Going back to the watch tomorrow for the long run. Will either go 16 or 18 tomorrow depending on the condition of the legs. Starting to feel some aches and pains in the left quad/right hammy which suggests my hips need cracking again. Also due to get into a new pair of shoes as having tallied the miles I'm at about 475 and am regretting leaving the new kicks in Dublin. Will have to wait till Tuesday.

Otherwise its a holiday weekend here in Ireland. Nothing to really get excited about. Glad its August as it officially rained every single day during July. August isn't off to a much better start so far.