The Run to Work - Today's Stats

Today's run was slightly shorter than before. It was 8.2 miles instead of 8.5. I didn't include the warm up part. I did it in 79minutes 49seconds which is a massive improvement of 15 minutes from last week. Average pace of 9.44 per mile.

My best mile was mile 6! How weird is that? I've just realised, I pushed it a bit to go until an hour for 10k!!! Makes sense now.

That's a good improvement. Roll on Raheny at the weekend and I hope to go sub 43minutes for 5 miles. I won't be near a personal best but anything until 45 I'll be happy.

A short run

I got out lastnight for my planned 5k. I was lucky that the weather was kind to me. It was icey rain on the warm up walk to the park, but after I'd stretched and was ready to go the rain had stopped. The wind was strong but it wasn't overpowering.

I did 5k in 26.24 which I'm pretty happy with. I had my lap counter checking the mile times which were 8.48, 8.19, 8.22. That is a big improvement on the mile times from my long run, which were nearer 11.

I'm going to do my 8.5 mile run to work on Wednesday or Thursday and I am aiming for around 80 minutes. That is around 9.41 per mile which should be easily managed and it will be a 13 minute improvement on last week.

Then I hope to run the 5 mile in Raheny on Sunday.

Running - Some Stats

I got my new Garmin Forerunner 405 and it is fantastic. I love numbers and stats so here are some from my last run.

Distance	8.53 Miles
Time	94 Minutes 20 Seconds
Avg Pace	11.03/mile
Avg Speed	5.4 MPH
Avg Heart Rate	159 BPM
Max Heart Rate	176 BPM

It's a pretty slow time but it is great to see the stats. Tomorrow I'm doing a 3 mile or 5k run and I intend to have an average pace of 9 minute miles and then on my next 8.5 mile run I would like to take the time down by at least 5 minutes.

The Run to work

It's been a busy week, I haven't had a chance to write much.

Last week I ran into work, I'm not 100% sure what the distance was, I think it was somewhere between 9 and 11 miles. It took about 95 minutes. It was tough going, I think it was more mentally tough than physically tough.

When I'm on a normal run, if you don't feel up to it, you stop and head back home, normally I'm within a few kilometres of the house so it's easy to turn back. Running to work on the other hand, gives you a deadline and a destination. I've got to be in work at 9 and if I turn back I will be very late.

I think it's good practice for a marathon, it will help when I cross the start line with 26 miles to go, it will help me not to be overawed by the distance.

Walking and running

Happy New Year. It has been ages since I last posted but with Christmas there just isn't any time for that sort of thing. I did get out for a few walks and a few runs. I got a couple of 10kms in and a 5k.

Not bad considering. On my most recent 10k I came across a huge grey squirrel. Check him out!

I took a picture of a heron today when I was out for a walk with Junior, but the zoom wan't great. It's a shame but I think I might bring my camera on my next run to see what wildlife I can capture.

10k

21k

I went for a long run on Saturday. I got out in the freezing fog and did about 21k, around a half marathon. It felt good until near the end when I sort of twisted my right knee (it's recovered completely now).

It felt pretty good out there except for the cold and the bit where I nearly killed myself when a squirrel ran in front of me. I would have been suing the Tufty Club had I gone over.

It's a couple of days later now and I feel fine. So it's just a matter of booking a marathon....

Arg

16k

I got out and did a 16k run at the weekend and it felt fine. It was tough at the end, all because of the steep hill that's right at the end of my run.

I think I might try and find a different route to avoid that hill although it's probably better for me.

I went to Lucan Demesne to run and I have to say it is a lovely place to run, no cars no fumes, trees fields the liffey, perfect.

11k

I got out there on Sunday and did an 11k run, I went all over the place and it all felt good. It all felt a bit too easy until I got to a very steep hill and then I remembered how hard this running lark can be.

No real ill affects to report so I hope to do maybe a 15k at the weekend. I know that breaks the 10% rule but needs must.

7kms

I got out on Sunday and did a 7k run. It was a muddy muddy day. I nearly lost my runners at a few points! I did it in a lesiurely 42 minutes. I had some twinges in my knee but nothing major. I cycled into work today, so that is 12k each way so that should keep the fitness levels up.

Hopefully I will get out for a 10k at the weekend and take it from there.

The consensus...

From the 2 comments I got, I'm going to train old school. So watch out for me running up some steps in the snow near you!

Science or Hardwork?

I'm back doing a small bit of training. I'm trying to see if I would be able to do a marathon or perhaps a good half marathon next year.

I'm wondering how I should approach it? Should I be like Rocky and drag some tyres up a hill, run up some steps and punch the air, or should I be like Ivan Drago, using machines, computers and science (let's not even mention the drugs).

How much help will it be to me to know my VO2 max levels or my lactate thresholds, does that really make a difference to me?

Should I just go out and run, or should I do fartlek intervals, and tempo runs, temperatures, graphs, figures?

Or should I just go about building those "Hurting Bombs" by just getting out there and running.

I'm trying to think of a good set of stairs to run up, and the only ones that come to mind are the ones at the foot of the Central Bank in Dublin. I would be like some sort of anti-goth running up those stairs in my running gear!

I think I'm going to be old fashioned, not only because I don't have access to scientific equipment, but also because you can over analyse these things.

3k, it's a start

I got out last for a 3k run last night which is a nice start. I hope to get out for 5k on wednesday. It was about 18:30 when I went into the local park so I was very surprised to see a woman in a wedding dress standing in a muddy field having her picture taken.

It was dark, it was cold, it was mucky and it was weird!

The run was grand though, the cycling has really helped my fitness so my lungs felt comfortable all the way round.

Back Running

I'm making a concerted effort to get back running in the last week or so. I hope to do a few races in the new year, I'll do the rest of the year to get in shape.

I've done 3 runs in the last week, two 3k runs and one 5k run. Each run was pretty slow around 16 minutes for the 3k and 30 minutes for the 5k. I'll bring that down substantially over the next month or so.

I was out last night, in the dark, in the wind, in the rain and the conditions were tough but they were tougher than the run. I've been using my phone as a music player and it took some getting used to and it meant taping the earphones in my ears which was uncomfortable to remove.

I've ordered a pair of wireless bluetooth headphones, I'll review them when they arrive.

More Running

I got out for a brief run tonight. I did a 3km run. It felt really comfortable and within myself. I was doing 5.30 kilometres which isn't particularly fast but it was good to go out and run and not struggle.

I put it down to the fact I have been out twice a week for the past 3 weeks, that really helps. Hopefully I can take it up a notch over the coming weeks and months.

I was running tonight, hooked up to my phone and not my iPod. I need to be contactable at all times at the moment, so I was listening to the radio on my phone. I think I might put some more music on it, because it is lighter than the iPod, so I can run with it in my pocket and I don't have to dig out my iPod armband.

I hope to get out tomorrow morning for a small run too. So I'm off to bed!

More Running

I went out early this morning for a run. I thought since I had a hangover and it was lashing rain it would be the perfect thing to do. It turned out to be a very good idea.

I did a small amount of fartlek sprints which got rid of the hangover but the most amazing thing was that I was followed thoughout by a swallow. The bird looped around me as I ran, getting closer and closer and no matter where I ran the swallow follow.

It was an amazing experience. It was great to see the birds personality and playful nature.

The Monday Mile

I'm going to title my posts about my running on monday's, the monday mile. Catchy, don't you think?

I said yesterday that I hoped for a 7.30 mile. That was wishful thinking. I did it in 7:53. Now that is an improvement of 28 seconds from last Monday, but it still falls short of where I wanted to be this week. So my aim for next week's Monday Mile will be sub 7.30.

How do I intend to achieve that? Well I hope to do 2 runs before then, 5 miles and 3 miles. That should get some stamina in the legs and lungs and I might go crazy and try to get in some fartlek sessions (yeah right!!!!).

As ever, wish me luck!

More Running

I got a 2 mile run in at the weekend, in between painting the nursery. It was a slow 2 miles but that was the plan, it was a kind of tempo run.

I'll be out tomorrow to do a mile to see what difference a week makes. I did 8.21 last week but I really hope to be around 7.30 tomorrow.

Wish me luck!

More Running

I got out last night about 10 o'clock for a run. I only did a mile to check my fitness levels, and because it was late. I did a mile in 8:21 which was very disappointing. I would have expected to be under 8 minutes at least.

I'm going to do the same test next monday and see how much I can improve this week.

Running with Music

I got out for a short run tonight. It was only a mile but with my schedule lately any running I can do is great.

I'm also going to try to get up and do a couple of miles before work tomorrow. Over the coming weeks I intend to do some gym work to build up strength in my thighs to avoid any patella tendonitis flare ups.

Tonight I chose some different music for my run. Check it out.