Training over Christmas

Another very solid week in the bank totalling 50 miles for the week with 6 days of running consisting of 2 decent sessions. Like everyone I have days that I feel really strong and days where it’s a struggle to get out the door for a run. However I know I’m going to feel much better after it so get out get it done then move onto the next one!

So as mentioned I completed 2 sessions this past week. The first one was a 5 mile Tempo in Phoenix Park covering 5 miles in 27.30 averaging 5.30 per mile. Last week I started out at around 5.40 pace then progressively worked it down each mile, this week I wanted an even effort throughout so knocked off the following mile splits:

· 5.31

· 5.32

· 5.33

· 5.29

· 5.23

Picked it up a bit towards the end without having to push too hard so really happy with this effort and starting to feel strong again! I had another session planned for Friday which meant 2 days of very easy running in between. Readers of this blog will know how much I stress the importance of running your easy days easy. So despite the fact I averaged 5.30 for the tempo effort on Tuesday the next 2 days paces were 7.34 and 7.30 respectively. That’s what my body needed to recover and flush Tuesday’s efforts out of the legs. If this is not something your following in your own training I’d highly recommend it! Friday was a simple Fartlek session in a very blustery Phoenix Park. Session consisted of 5 mins, 4 mins, 3 mins, 2 mins, 1 min efforts with 1 min jog recovery in between. On the last recovery min it felt as though I had just stopped my watch and a second later it was suddenly at 55 seconds 😉 Really good session to get the Heart rate up and also a bit of fun with mixed efforts. I don’t worry too much about hitting target paces during the hard efforts on this type of a session, I run at a pace that I know is pushing me but also that I can sustain throughout the session.

I got asked last week will I train much over Christmas and also should you train much over Christmas? My approach is always to keep things ticking over without going to mental with specific hard training sessions. I tend to usually get out running every day but don’t worry too much about paces or miles, now don’t get me wrong I won’t stop training completely however I also won’t stop myself from eating and drinking as much as I want. I know some people may differ in opinion on this and might stress the need for discipline over the Christmas period and the opportunity for increased training gains. My opinion would be and I stress this is my opinion that its good to let the hair down and not worry or stress about the next training session or pass up the celebrations box or an extra glass of wine, its good to enjoy this period and relax. This is the approach I follow but I always make sure I get out for a run the next day to clear the head and sweat off the excess food and alcohol. In other years I would run the Stephens Day Run in Bailieborough and this acts as a solid tempo session and an opportunity to catch up with runners from all over the area. Obviously this is not possible this year but I still intend to get some sort of a tempo type session over the next week or so if the body is feeling up to it! For some who are worried that their normal training runs won’t be at the pace or standard that they usually are just leave the watch at home and don’t worry about the pace or time just get out refresh the head and you’ll feel the better for it 😊

Have a great Christmas folks 😊

Noel