from Solo Run The last run of my cut-back week was an off-road session in the Nagle Mountains (hills really) with Paul and James from the club. Paul has spent a lot of his time running off road, having completed a few mountain races. He’s planning on running the Wicklow Way Ultra 2 weeks before Connemara. James isn’t that far behind him, having run this particular route twice before.
That’s if you can call it a route as we climbed gravel roads only to turn off and head back downhill along rock strewn trails, stopping to walk through overgrown paths (Paul had thought about bringing a slash hook to cut back the vegetation – what would it be like during the summer months) – back up a 20%+ gradient where if you reached out in front of you you’d touch the ground (I walked a bit here). Needless to say my 140 heart rate threshold was well and truly exceeded.
I soon discovered what separated me from the 2 guys….weight. They both clock in at about ten and a half stone (67kg) …mountain goats, whereas i’m nearly 3 stone heavier (84kg)… means a lot when trying to drag your sorry ass up a hill. We finished up the run with 3.5 miles on road to get up to 15 miles total. A good strength session. On checking the garmin after I was surprised the average pace was below 9:00.
That was the second of my cutback 15 mile weekend back to back long runs. The first was on another (less) hilly route to the south west of the City between Spur Hill and Ballinora before finishing up for the final mile on the grass of UCC Farm.
A Thursday morning run in the vibrams pushing close to my self imposed 140HR limit yielding a 7:25 average pace over 12.2 miles left my legs feeling tired and achy – just hope they got enough rest before I head into the final 3 weeks of high volume. I still don’t know how I’ll fit next Sunday’s Ballycotton 10 miler into this high volume schedule – needless to say I won’t be aiming for a PB, with my target similar, if not slightly better, than Dungarvan (1:12:03).
Tue 22nd Feb
8.3 miles @ 8:21 pace & 130HR with 5 x 1 mile @ 7:16 pace & 2 min recoveries.
Wed 23rd Feb
2.5 Miles @ 7:56 pace (Treadmill)
Thur 24th Feb
12.2 miles @ 7:25 pace & 137HR – Vibrams
Sat 26th Feb
15.82 miles @ 8:21 pace & 131HR
Sun 27th Feb
15 miles @ 8:45 pace & 134 HR – Off-road hilly run.
https://solorun.blogspot.com/
That’s if you can call it a route as we climbed gravel roads only to turn off and head back downhill along rock strewn trails, stopping to walk through overgrown paths (Paul had thought about bringing a slash hook to cut back the vegetation – what would it be like during the summer months) – back up a 20%+ gradient where if you reached out in front of you you’d touch the ground (I walked a bit here). Needless to say my 140 heart rate threshold was well and truly exceeded.
I soon discovered what separated me from the 2 guys….weight. They both clock in at about ten and a half stone (67kg) …mountain goats, whereas i’m nearly 3 stone heavier (84kg)… means a lot when trying to drag your sorry ass up a hill. We finished up the run with 3.5 miles on road to get up to 15 miles total. A good strength session. On checking the garmin after I was surprised the average pace was below 9:00.
That was the second of my cutback 15 mile weekend back to back long runs. The first was on another (less) hilly route to the south west of the City between Spur Hill and Ballinora before finishing up for the final mile on the grass of UCC Farm.
A Thursday morning run in the vibrams pushing close to my self imposed 140HR limit yielding a 7:25 average pace over 12.2 miles left my legs feeling tired and achy – just hope they got enough rest before I head into the final 3 weeks of high volume. I still don’t know how I’ll fit next Sunday’s Ballycotton 10 miler into this high volume schedule – needless to say I won’t be aiming for a PB, with my target similar, if not slightly better, than Dungarvan (1:12:03).
Tue 22nd Feb
8.3 miles @ 8:21 pace & 130HR with 5 x 1 mile @ 7:16 pace & 2 min recoveries.
Wed 23rd Feb
2.5 Miles @ 7:56 pace (Treadmill)
Thur 24th Feb
12.2 miles @ 7:25 pace & 137HR – Vibrams
Sat 26th Feb
15.82 miles @ 8:21 pace & 131HR
Sun 27th Feb
15 miles @ 8:45 pace & 134 HR – Off-road hilly run.
https://solorun.blogspot.com/
