6Tuesday
October 2026
2 entries
16Friday
Keep a diary like this
Private by default — share only the days you choose.
2 entries
Private by default — share only the days you choose.
6.2 km. That was the run this morning — out along the canal at 6:15, back before the bin lorries started. Pace came in at 5:48/km, which is where easy should be for me right now. Resting heart rate was 54 this morning, up two from Monday. Not alarming, but I wrote it down.
Wednesday session:
Left it at that. No tempo, no extras. The strength block is intentionally dull — same movements every week, small load progressions. I find that easier to sustain than novelty.
The calves were tight in the first two kilometres. Not the Achilles — that's been quiet since I dropped the Tuesday intervals three weeks ago — just the calves themselves, probably from sitting in small chairs all day. By the time I crossed the third lock they had loosened. I kept the pace where it was anyway. There was no reason to push.
Sleep last night was six hours forty. Not ideal. Parent-teacher meetings run long this time of year and I didn't get to bed until half ten. Woke once around 3 a.m., back under quickly enough. The slight HR uptick is probably from the short night more than anything structural. Body weight was 64.1 kg, within the usual range. I had two coffees today. That's worth noting.
Weekly mileage is sitting at 28 km through Wednesday. The target for the week is 40–45, so Friday's run and Sunday's ride into the Wicklow foothills should cover it without needing to force anything in any individual session.
Tomorrow I'll aim for bed at nine. That's the only adjustment worth making right now. The numbers follow the sleep.
#trainingjournal #running #cycling #recovery
7.2 km. That's what I managed before the left Achilles started talking. Not loud, not sharp — more of a tightening below the ankle that I've learned not to ignore. Stopped at the turnaround near the Forty Foot and walked the last eight minutes home.
Session log — Saturday morning run:
The Achilles has been tight since Tuesday. I noticed it on the Thursday strength session — specifically on the calf raises, right at the end of the third set. Didn't push through. Swapped the last set for a stretch and called it done. Today's run confirmed that wasn't enough. The tightness isn't pain exactly, but it's a signal I've watched become something worse when I've chosen not to listen to it.
Came home and made porridge. Two coffees today — the second was at lunchtime while I was marking next week's worksheets, and I won't pretend otherwise. Weight this morning: 63.4 kg. Nothing to flag there. Weekly mileage sits at 34 km against a planned 41. The gap is just the gap. I'm not going to chase it; that's not how recovery arithmetic works, and this week is already done.
Tomorrow was supposed to be the long Wicklow ride — somewhere around 80 km out toward Roundwood. I'm moving that back. Going to do an easy spin on the coast road instead, 50 km at most, heart rate below 140 the whole way. If the Achilles settles by this evening I'll reassess Monday's run then.
#trainingjournal #running #cycling #recovery