Training Log Archive: Cjcollins

Drove down to the Belfast forests in the Lagan Valley area - there are several forests/parks along the river Lagan which can all be joined up on a long run - as I thought this area would be more sheltered today with the wind situation. Turned out to be a wise decision as I got good shelter from the wind and noticed how strong it was in some of the more exposed sections. The only downside is that there wasn’t quite as much climb as desired in spite of me running up every hill I could find! Was kinda dreading this run after yesterday as my legs are feeling tired and I think this is my longest ever training run. It wasn’t as bad as I feared though, legs were ok albeit did feel tired on some of the climbs. My groin or hip abductor area was a bit sore and stiff towards the end of the run but not enough to stop me running. Needs stretched out. It was also a bit boring as I had to repeat several loops of the same places. It was a case of getting it done though and I’m pleased with how it went and the training block that it is now behind me. The run was actually slighter longer than this, I stopped to ask for directions at one point and forgot to restart my watch for a while, maybe 5 mins. Feeling very stiff tonight.

Drove up to the car park above Larne which intersects the Antrim Hills Way. Opened the car door which nearly flew off its hinges and thought what have I done. Got back in the car to try to think of somewhere more sheltered I could go to but thought fuck it I’m here so let’s just get this done. Not sure how wise that was as I have never run in wind like this before. It was incessant and at times I had to cover my mouth with my hand so I could actually breathe as the wind was that strong. Made the run fairly unpleasant, the way out wasn’t quite so bad but the way back was horrendous, particularly when climbing into it. At one point had to walk for a while. Decided not to do the full 2 hours and headed home to use the treadmill for half an hour.

Wind aside, my legs felt quite dead from last nights session.

Forecast looks similar for tomorrow so not looking forward to 4 hours in it. Will try to find somewhere more sheltered compared to today which is a really exposed location.

2% incline

Turbo session. Legs feeling fine. Worked up a good sweat

Calf raises - 2 sets of 15 single leg raises with 1 x 10kg kettlebell
Pushups - 2 sets. 20 & 15
Dead bug - 2 sets of 20
Mountain climbers - 2 sets of 10 (still finding these tough)
Swiss ball hamstring curl - 2 sets of 15
Russian twist - 2 sets of 30.
Dumbbell step up - 2 sets of 10 each side with 10 kg kettlebell .
Goblet squats - 2 sets of 10 with 20kg dumbbell.
Runner touch - 2 sets of 10 each side

Feeling a bit stronger generally.

Flew over and back to Bristol today. Was back home reasonably early and fancied something a bit different so headed to Divis and ran a loop taking in the summit trail and ridge trail which are very runnable. Forgot how nice it was up here. Helped that it was a sunny, still evening albeit a bit on the cold side. Felt absolutely fantastic! Some heavier breathing on the main climb up Divis but other than that felt effortless. No issues with the legs after last nights session. I also ran quite hard down from the summit of Divis to test the quads and all felt good.

Session done at Cavehill. Nice sunny clear evening but still cold. Loads of people around.
This section was the initial warmup - mostly downhill run to the start of the hill I was planning to do the long hill reps on. Legs feeling fine although I’ve been feeling a bit tired as haven’t slept that well the last few nights.

First long hill rep, approx 2km on a gravelly / stony trail path. Found this really hard going. Had to grind it out. Felt like I was treading water at times and was breathing hard at the finish.

Easy run back down to the bottom of the hill

Second long hill rep. Similar to the first one although would say I found this one slightly easier. The first one was probably more of a shock to the system, particularly as the warm up was all down hill

Ran back down the hill then ran a longer loop back up to the car park to finish. A good bit more climbing in this

Easy run around Mallusk playing fields with 6 x speed variations. Sunny evening but cold and a little windy. Felt pretty good from the outset although the grass has got a bit longer and was quite soft in places which made it a bit more of an effort at times. Legs seem to have recovered well from the weekend and I could feel no doms or tightness anywhere. Started the speed variations after 25 mins and repeated every 3 to 4 mins, finishing the set of 6 at 47 mins. At the end I had the feeling that I could keep running those loops all night!

Legs feeling a bit beat up again today, particularly in the calf area (both sides). Told myself I would just do 30 mins but ended up staying on for the hour. Started in an easier gear and built up to a good steady spin after 5 or 10 mins. Some periodic standing when I felt like it.

Just a very short session as I didn’t want to overdo things with my legs feeling quite sore from the weekend.
Calf raises - 1 sets of 15 single leg raises with 1 x 10kg kettlebell
Pushups - 2 sets of 15
Dead bug - 2 sets of 15
Goblet squats - 2 sets of 10 with 10kg kettlebell.