[RANT] Country roads take me home (& to work)...

My commute, daily, in and out is mostly along country roads.

Quiet country roads.

At least, that is, until there are roadworks on the main roads.

Then every divil in the County uses my road as a bolt hole, an escape route, a rat run.

Going for goal - Sub40 10k

In the absence of an Autumn marathon goal - it was to be +TCS Amsterdam Marathon - due to circumstances this year these plans were shelved early and I've been drifting along with no structure or training format.

Things have changed recently which means I can be a little more structured in my approach to work and exercise so I have decided to train towards a sub 40 minute 10k in November.

The +Amphibian King West - Galway Clarinbridge 10k will be a bit ambitious, with just 7 weeks to go, but I need a target. Aiming for Fields of Athenry while suiting most training plans is not imminent enough to motivate me.

Doing proper speedwork is going to be new to me, I've never really tackled it properly in the past. I at least have an advantage of having the course literally on my doorstep so come 7 weeks I will know every single step and stone on that course.

Here we go....Week 1 awaits!!

Creating workouts on Polar Flow

Tinkering around a bit with @PolarGlobal Flow website at the moment (it's still in Beta) trying to be creative with a few workouts and set up a Training Diary again.

Unfortunately it is no ProTrainer5 software nor is it like the setup on PolarPersonalTrainer.com where phase limited but advanced workouts could be created. Hopefully this will change when the next firmaware update on the #V800 includes cycling metrics like power and cadence.

For now I am working with time based phases with Heart Rate limits to bring my turbo sessions back on stream. Anything is better than nothing at the moment and if I give the bike a good 45 mins this evening sure it can do me no harm.

Can it?

[RACE REPORT] Not Fit to #AchillROAR

From time to time -as a result of sponsorship arrangements - I get invited to partake in events and #AchillROAR was one of these events which I have a new interest in on account of my exploits in adventure racing this year.

Seasonal Slump

Often at this stage of the year your body can go into a little bit of a slump. The weather is changing, the days are getting shorter, you're tired after a long summer with the kids under your feet, work has been hectic and you have been squeezing exercise into an ever decreasing time slot.

You're bound to be tired. You are bound to be demotivated somewhat.

But do you know what?

Forgetting about the plan for one or two runs won't spoil your overall goals. Head out for something different, if you are road running go to a trail for a few runs to find the gra for it again.

By taking the pressure off and changing the route you will be amazed at the difference it makes and how quickly you will find that running mojo again.