#trainingjournal

6:41 per kilometre. That was the pace on this morning's canal run, and it felt exactly where a Friday run should sit.

Resting heart rate was 52 when I checked it before getting up — one beat above Wednesday's, which is fine. Sleep was 6 hours 40 minutes, which is less fine. The alarm went off at 5:50 and I lay there a few minutes before moving. By Friday the school week has its full weight on, and this week had a swimming trip with the junior infants on Wednesday and parent-teacher letters to draft yesterday evening. The legs on the canal felt heavy in the first kilometre, then settled.

Session log:

7:04 — the average pace on the Wicklow climb this morning, one minute eleven seconds slower than last Sunday. I had the numbers before I had an explanation.

Sunday long ride. Route: Rathfarnham out to Sally Gap and back. Distance: 74 km. Moving time: 3h 09. Elevation: 1,140 m. Perceived effort: 7/10. Average HR: 152 bpm. Sleep last night: 6.2 hours.

The legs were flat from the first pedal stroke out of the city. Not painful, just absent — that particular kind of tired where the power simply isn't there and pushing harder doesn't summon it. I noticed it most on the lower slopes of the Gap, where I usually find a rhythm. Today I dropped to the small chainring around the first bend and stayed there all the way up. No drama in that. It was the correct gear. The descent was fine. The wind had come round to the southwest by the time I turned for home, which helped.

7.2 hours sleep last night. That was the number I noted first this morning — not exceptional, but enough to feel functional.

Up at 6:40. The plan was a longer ride into the Wicklow foothills: roughly 70 km, around 900 m of climbing. Rolled out by 7:15. Overcast, about 11°C, a light headwind from the south-west on the way out toward Kilmacanogue.

Session log: