Speed

This week I have put in more effort and I am pleased with
the results.I am getting into work at 8am so I can leave
at 4pm, and with the evenings a bit longer, and the weather
a bit warmer running is good again.
Sunday was an easy 8 miles at 8min pace,Monday 5.5 miles
at 7min pace, Tuesday I got in a 12 mile hilly loop at
7min mile average - this was a good workout and I even
managed to put in a fast mile from miles 10 to 11 (6.20 pace).
Last evening I had the dreaded mile intervals planned so
I was at Hartys Quay at 4.30 and I has a straight mile
mapped out on the new pathway from Hop Island to Passage.
The plan was 4 * 1 mile intervals at 6min miles.
It was strange not being at the track and I had to guess
the pace as at the track the laps help with a consistent pace.
Mile 1 was downwind and I reached the marker in 5.58.
Mile 2 was back into the wind so I put in more effort - 5.46.
That was a bit quick and I donno if I can do 2 more,a few
minutes recovery and I go again - 5.46 again ! - felt a bit
better after this one.
Mile 4 was back into the wind I hit 6.03 .
I have to be happy that the speed is still there anyways
- I am surprised at the 5.46 though - so I can treat myself
to a few beers and a few steaks over the weekend as I am
best man for Mike who is getting married in Bantry on Saturday.

Press Ups

I can`t believe it is almost 6 months since my last road race - a 10k in Courtmacsherry.
I badly need to get back racing to see where I am at fitness and speed wise.
At least I got 2 decent XC races in the last few months and I have kept my fitness ticking over.
I did a 13 mile loop around rafeen,passage and carrigaline last sunday and it went ok at steady 8 min miles. My plan was to run this weekend`s 4 mile race but I injured my lower back on Tuesday doing press-ups and sit-ups and I had to crawl up the stairs on all fours Tuesday night! Fiona was not too impressed, and when I explained I was on press-up number 192 when I felt a twinge in the lower back she threw her eyes to heaven.
So a few days of ICE and Deep Heat seems to have done the trick and I got out yesterday for 7 easy miles.I will not be going back to the press ups though - using proper equipment in the gymn is probably the smarter option.

So my new target race is the Bantry 10 Mile road race, West Cork on Sun 14th Feb.
It will be my first ever 10 mile race so I will have to get in some proper speed work at the track in the next few weeks.I am not sure how to approach the race, maybe a steady first 5 miles and try to kick on for the 2nd 5 miles if I feel ok..
what do you reckon Bricey? you ran some cracking 10 milers last year.

It sounds like a scenic course so it should be a good one.
Time to start putting in some serious work now.

Targets for 2010

For Nov/December I averaged around 30 to 35 miles per week with the odd long run of between 12 and 16 miles and some good steady 5 to 10 mile hilly runs around Rochestown,Carrigaline and Monkstown.Mostly I was aiming for some fast 5 mile races over the x-mas (which were cancelled due to the weather).I was hoping to try to break 30 mins for the BANDON 5 as i hit 30.50 last year so hopefully I'll get the chance at some stage in the Spring.The main thing I am happy with is that I have been injury free for 6 months now,and although I am not doing high mileage I am fairly happy with my fitness.
I reckon this is the year for me to finally tackle a marathon,donno which one yet but I might try for a European Marathon like Valencia (Feb 21st),Barcelona (March 7th), or Madrid (April 25th) but,if getting there is too much hassle I will wait for Limerick or Cork.I guess I should find a good online training program to follow as well...any recommendations ??
So,for now I plan to stay fit and tackle some 5 mile/10k/10 mile races over the next few months and increase the weekend long runs towards 20 miles.
After Grellan`s amazing 33 miles I should not complain about targeting 20 miles!

Hope all ye Runners have an injury free 2010.