A well deserved recovery week. No pressure on parkrun Saturday, you’ve ticked that one off this year, so just go and put in a solid effort. If you wanted to do the 90 mins with Paul’s group Sunday we could just ditch the strides on Saturday or or leave out the leg exercises from Monday’s S&C if they are feeling tired from the marathon session. Always lots of options to tweak things. Any problems just shout but keep up the great work Conal.

125 Points Target
140 Points Achieved

Another good week. I think the level of training is ideal. Of course I feel,I should make the most of the next two weeks when I’m not working but I’m not going for quick gains. I want to build up to Seville in eight weeks time and continue from there. I try not to compare myself with other runners but it is easy to feel a bit lazy when I see others going out for long quick runs when I’m in recovery mode. I need to accept that this is my make up and I tend to do my solo runs at comfort pace.
Training is going well thanks Simon. It’s good to push hard once or twice a week and enjoy the other runs, trying to be in the moment.

You actually ended up hitting 140pts which is pretty much a normal week. But that is fine given the recent time off with the injury. So I’m happy and don’t mind the tweaking of sessions, especially as that Sunday group is almost ideal for your marathon paced miles. I think when you take age as a factor you’re one of the strongest runners on the Team, so don’t forget that. Glad you are enjoying it and I like the mindset too about consistency over the next two weeks. Great work Conal.

MONDAY

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Conal’s S&C

15 POINTS
Step Ups 1 x 70 Secs
Split Squat 3 x12(5kg)
Glute Bridge 2 x 14
Single Leg Deadlift 2 x 12(5kg)
Forward Lunge and Rotation 2 x 12(5kg)
Bent Over Row 2 x 14(5kg)
Russian Twist 2 x 12(5kg)
Squats 2 x 15
Plank 2 x 60 Secs
Bicep Curls 2 x 15(5kg)
Tricep Dips Dumbbells 2 x 15(5kg)
Wall Sits 2 x 60 Secs
Dead Bugs 2 x 15
Did these but rested tired legs after Sunday as I do want to run 90 minutes on Sunday. Will probably go easy on the legs in the next session. They need to be stronger but I’ll rest them this week.
Very sensible to take this a bit easier. The running is the most important thing right now and you’ve built up a good base of strength over the past 6-12 months

TUESDAY

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8 Mins & 60s

26 POINTS

Recoveries: Take 2-3 mins after the 8 min rep and 60s in between the 60 second reps.

A tough 5k session and the challenge is to see if you can hold your 5k pace in the 2nd 8 min rep when the legs are tired and you’re feeling fatigued.

26 Points
That was hard. My pace on the eight minute sections shows I was only running at about 22 minute 5K pace. I was tired on the second one but pushed at the end. My pace on the 60 second part was better, more like typical strides so no complaints there. It shows me I need to keep improving the next few weeks and peak in mid February. I do want to run the HHM On Christmas Eve but will take it easy, nine minute miles. I will also run parkrun on Christmas Day but again I don’t plan to break sweat on that one. Thanks Simon.
Yeah I think it’s just having that understanding that right now you don’t need to be hitting 3:55 per km pace all the time in these sessions. We’ve ticked off that goal and now the focus is Sevilla. So the marathon paced sessions are more important. I’ve tweaked the plan next week and changed it slightly going forward to ease back the target slightly, and hopefully have you fresher for those key sessions. Great work Conal

WEDNESDAY

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Conal’s S&C

15 POINTS
Step Ups 1 x 70 Secs
Split Squat 3 x12(5kg)
Glute Bridge 2 x 14
Single Leg Deadlift 2 x 12(5kg)
Forward Lunge and Rotation 2 x 12(5kg)
Bent Over Row 2 x 14(5kg)
Russian Twist 2 x 12(5kg)
Squats 2 x 15
Plank 2 x 60 Secs
Bicep Curls 2 x 15(5kg)
Tricep Dips Dumbbells 2 x 15(5kg)
Wall Sits 2 x 60 Secs
Dead Bugs 2 x 15
15 Points
Good routine. Did some yoga this week as well
Ah brilliant. The yoga will definitely help as well with the flexibility. Well done Conal

thursday

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60 Mins & Strides

22 POINTS

Keep the RPE down, have a chit chat & Don’t forget those strides 😜

Did this Friday morning and ran ten minute miles so no hurry. Didn’t have time for strides so did them. Rfore parkrun.
Can be good to slow it right down sometimes.

FRIDAY

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Rest Day

0 POINTS

“Rest days are key. Our body adapts and gets stronger when we rest & recovery. Have a good one!”

SATURDAY

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parkrun & Strides

30 POINTS

parkrun is the best!!! Every Saturday at 9am. A great opportunity to push our effort levels and run alongside other people. Make sure you get there nice and early for your WU & Strides. I normally aim for 8:15 to give myself plenty of time.

Strides then a very easy parkrun. 23’30”. Didn’t really feel like going any quicker.
No worries. Well done for getting the strides done. Still a solid time. We don’t really need to be chasing fast parkruns anymore and I’ll bear that in mind going forward.

SUNDAY

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60 Mins

18 POINTS

Keep that RPE down. You want to be able to run and chat, speaking of which, joining a group can add to the enjoyment here.

47 Points
Went for 90’ after going easy in S&C early in the week. In fact I did 100 minutes. HHM route with Jack’s fast group. Started my watch five minutes in to the run. Averaged 7’47” minutes per mile so probably a little over 1 hr 40’. Tired now but satisfied. Ran with Louis, Stu, Mark, Ashley,Kev and Sabrina, and managed to keep up for all but the seafront. Sorry to hear Paul Lambert was on his own. Was planning to run 90’ with his group on Sunday then 90’ on my own. Jack’s team are doing about eleven flat fast miles so I’ll see how I feel about join them nearer the time. Planning to come to track on Monday.
Impressive. I saw this on Strava and was a little confused, but makes sense now and good to make up for some missed training earlier in the week. Hopefully this didn’t feel too demanding as right on your marathon pace. Just be a little careful at track Monday as this wasn’t obviously the original plan. But great work all the same Conal