On to winter training.

It’s been a quiet few weeks since the marathon but sometimes quiet is good. After the marathon I decided to take 2 weeks solid off from running. Previously I would have got back on the roads after 5 days. Usually meant I ended up getting little niggles that would frustrate me. Now I am fully recovered and looking forward to the winter ahead.

Winter training for me is something I enjoy. Ok I don’t like the thoughts of spending 10 minutes just getting ready before I head out making sure I am lit up enough so that I don’t end up under a car. Also the thoughts of heading out in the cold and rain is not something that would have me singing from the rooftops but all that being said there is nothing like that feeling of finishing a hard session on a cold evening and feeling strong.

So 2 weeks after the marathon I got back on the roads and I have also included cycling into my training to mix things up a bit. My first week back I clocked up 25 miles and this week was a 30 mile week. On the bike I am averaging about 20 miles a week. (Not today though with the weather the way it is)

After the marathon I decided to get some advice from a fellow I work with. He is a 2.39 marathoner and has got his coaching badges so can only do me some good to get a different perspective. A couple of pieces of advice he gave me was to cut back on the amount of races I was doing before the marathons. Reason being was that so many races was making a big impact on my training. Each race would take a minimum of 3 days out of my training. Putting this into perspective I did 11 races in the 16 weeks leading up to my marathon. 33 days training out of 112 days. Nearly 30%. Looking at it now it’s a fact that I need to be more selective in the races I want to run.

Second bit of advice was in regards to the speed work I was doing. Sticking to the one type of speed work will only get me so far but I need to mix things up a bit. Also tempo runs seem to be missing. (What’s really a tempo run I ask) anyway lots of things for me to work on during the winter so here’s to the next few months.
My target for now is to train well over the winter and to do the Munster Spring Classics 10 Mile Series. First race is on the 10th of January. The Mallow AC 10 road race (My own club)

My target is to be running approximately 50 miles week leading up to Christmas. This will be well mixed training. Sunday easy runs. Tuesday and Thursday speed work and Saturday endurance work. Look forward to the hills. (not!) I am hoping for Wednesday to be mid week pacey run and Monday I’ll give this tempo running a go.

My speed sessions will be mixed also. Tuesday night is 10 by 30 second blasts with 30 second recovery in between. 2 mile warm up and cool down. When I was told to try this I have to be honest, I thought easy peasy. Well after 6 30 seconds blasts I was fit to collapse. The 30 second recovery started to feel like 10 seconds and the 30 second blasts were feeling more like 2 minute sprints rather than 30 seconds. Anyway got to the end of them and looking forward to next Tuesday. Thursday night at the moment is 5km runs in Limerick University. It is a winter series that increases to 7km for the next 3 weeks. Pushing it hard during these.

Anyway that’s all my news for now. December ahead and I’ll update hopefully as I go along. Until the next time - Slan.