Speed sessions, week 3, starting 11th of May

I know a few of you are racing at the moment and some have already recorded Pb's so that should help alot with the motivation levels and well done.
This week will be similar to week 1 as we're going to introduce strides again to help with leg turnover and form, so session 1 is 12x100 meters with a comfortable recovery, you do not want to be fatigued doing these as it will defeat the purpose of the session but if you feel good why not consider given the last one a lash.
Session 2 has 2 options again, the first one is from Pfitzinger & Douglas and it's 5x3 mins of a moderately steep hill, recover by slowly jogging back down the hill. The alternative is to repeat the 800 reps of week 1, so 6x800 @ current 5k race pace with either 600 meter recovery or 2:30 . Also aim for consistent pacing, it should be something your body is tuning into now. Best of luck and by next week if you've been following the schedule you should start to see some improvements.

Speed sessions, week 2, starting 4th of May

Well I hope everyone had a good week 1 and learned alot regarding pacing and recovery. There will be two sessions again for next week. The first session will be for improving Vo2 max, again there is a choice. Option 1: 5x600m @ current 5k race pace with an optional recovery time of 400m. Option 2: 6-8x400m @ current 5k race pace with an optional recovery time of 400m. The reason I say optional recovery time is because some of you may have found the recovery time too long. So using last weeks experiences you may want to start using a specific time rather than distance such as a 90 seconds for recovery.
Session 2 is for improving your lactate threshold and again there is two options. Option 1: 2x2 mile @ current 10 mile or half marathon race pace. Option 2: For those new to tempo running you might find the 2x2mile too hard, so for this week you could try 1x15-20 mins @ current half marathon pace. Enjoy.

Boards AC 12 week speed sessions

OK so here is the plan, as a group we're going to try and complete a 12 week speed schedule that will see us racing well come July and on, with the target race being the adidas 5 miler in the phoenix park
The programs we will be following are from books by Alberto Salazar and Pfitzinger/Douglas.
So starting next week there will be 2 sessions. They can be done on whatever day suits throughout the week as long as there not back to back. There are a few choices for the first session depending on your base level and what you feel capable of, they are a 2.5 mile time trial, the reason for this choice is to have a starting point so that in 6 weeks time when we have another 2.5 mile time trial, the improvements will be obvious and a great confidence booster. The next choice is 6x800m @ current 5k race pace, the recovery of which should be 600m and the purpose of which is to improve your vo2 max. Now if that looks like its a bit too taxing well then here is the final choice also aimed at improving your vo2 max, 5x600m @ current 5k race pace with 400m recovery. It's only week 1 so don't worry too much if you can't complete all of the work out.
Session 2 is again depending on your level and this session is about improving running form and leg turnover, each rep should be controlled and if you lose your form at any stage, I suggest you end your session at that point and again don't be worrying it's early days. So the session is 8-12x100m, recovery should be between 30 and 40 seconds.
I have a list of names of who is taking part and I'll get some kind of table format going to chart how many sessions each person has completed and see if this correlates with race time improvement. Feel free to organise group sessions amongst yourselves or do them on your own but check out this forum for any support and guidance that you might need. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055544597
Last of all, always warm up and cool down and enjoy the training.

National road relays

This was my first time as a spectator at the national club road relays and it was fantastic, I hope Boards AC will be able to compete in this next year.

The senior womens title was won by Raheny with a fantastic sprint finish with Rathfarnham. DSD won the seniors women title and they won it quite easily if the truth be told. Tallaght AC won both masters men titles and Raheny shamrocks the host club took the mens senior title in what I think was a record time from Vinny Mulvey, Mark Kirwan, Kevin Moriarty and Richard Corcoran.

Well done to Raheny for putting on such a great event and it was well supported by the locals. A great day out.

More pictures here: http://www.racepix365.com/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/25938822@N07/sets/72157617052939442/

Singlets

There was a county board meeting last Monday and we had previously been asked to bring the club singlet along for inspection and to make sure it did not clash with any other clubs and the good news is, it doesn't, so they are now available for purchase providing your membership fee has been paid.

The rollercoaster of marathon training, summed up in one run

This is an excerpt from one of our runners logs heading to Rotterdam, and I feel it gives a nice little glimpse into the mind of a marathon runner:
Today, 7 miles including at least 2 at PMP. I started off this log way back, talking about how I felt I was a complex group of atoms traversing the Earth's curves, and that was something I felt at the time- it made me feel aware and alive like nothing else- "living in your moment" if you like. Tonight I tried to recapture that, and for a while I was racing the sun as it set along a curving hill on the horizon I ran to. It felt good, but not what I was after. This was to be my last real run before the marathon, and I so wanted it to feel special. (I had even downed a half bottle of nice red to prehydrate). Tried running a few steps witrh my eyes closed, but it still wasn't doing it. Towards the end of the run, I started speeding up, and realized that I was now happiest when running fast, instead of just running. I'm taking this as a good omen, and will bring this feeling with me to Rotterdam.
Credit to Paul Joyce

Good luck

I just want to wish all our runners who are racing this weekend the best of luck in searching for new pbs, we will be well represented in the Great Ireland run (10K) and both the Paris and Rotterdam marathon. The Rotterdam marathon will see a trio of our runners looking to break the magic marker of 2:59:59.
Just do it