Running Buddy

*Race Day Recap*

I was hoping to race this one and felt I was well prepared. I had a 10 week block of averaging 70-80km with two threshold sessions per week and a decent long run. I had a couple of shorter races in there too.

I don’t think I would have PB’d in those conditions 🥵but I’d like to think I’d have been well up the field (top 20-30).

We had colds in the house during the week which I thought I avoided but I felt fairly rubbish yesterday. Headache, fatigue and a HR about 10 bpm higher than I’d expect for the easy bit of running I did.

It was fairly obvious I had picked something up but there’s always a part of you thinks you’ll be fine in the morning. I was in the same scenario last year before the Charleville half. Maybe I need to take on an immunologist 🤷‍♂️

I felt alright but wasn’t 100%….and colds don’t run their course in 24hrs.

As tempting as it is to pretend there’s nothing there I knew an all out race effort would end poorly. We were also having friends over after the race and there’s a good chance I would have been wiped out for that!

My only plan for the run was to start fairly easily and pick it up a bit if I felt alright. Not digging a hole would be the other way to look at it.

I should be back to regular training in a couple of days and I’ll try to keep this consistency of training rolling until Charleville most likely.

It was a brilliant set up and the support in the town was class. To see so many Running Buddy - Patrick Carroll subscribers running was very cool and it has been a pleasure teaming up with Deirdre Ansbro and Youghal Athletic Club. More on that tomorrow.

Well done to all participants 🙌

Injury free and a new PB 🙌

Ieuan signed up to Running Buddy to help him prepare for the Seville marathon. By working through the Starting Line and Loading Up strength programmes he managed to execute all of his key sessions and hit PB’s in shorter races during the build.

His hard work was rewarded with a brilliant performance in Seville finishing strongly in 3.31.

Strength and conditioning has the potential to help runners of all abilities.

Tag a runner you know who could do with some S&C help!

You can’t treat this like a normal training week.

You need to consider the effect the temperature is having on your body. Hopefully these practical tips can help with your planning and decision making.

It was a pleasure to be at the expo yesterday evening and today. I always enjoy meeting subscribers in person and chatting to people who have come through is equally rewarding. It was great to meet so many people interested in trying the app post race too!

Best of luck to everybody participating tomorrow, getting to the start line is an achievement….you get to show off all your hard work tomorrow 👊

Meeting other business owners is a bonus of the expo, there’s inspiration to take from them too .art

Running Buddy is the official strength and conditioning partner for the Cork City Marathon!

At Running Buddy, our mission is to support runners, and this partnership ensures Cork City Marathon participants have access to high quality strength and conditioning resources.

Running Buddy is an app designed for runners of all strength training levels. Whether you prefer working out at home or in the gym, the app offers flexible programs with sessions ranging from 10 to 45 minutes.

Race week strength training — here’s what you need to know 👇🏃‍♂️💪

As race day gets closer, your number one goal is to show up fresh and ready to perform. That means reducing the fatigue your training has built up and that applies to your strength work just as much as your running.

Here’s how to structure your strength training in the final 2-3 weeks:

2 weeks out:
✅ Keep your usual number of sessions
✅ Start reducing volume
✅ Keep the weights exactly the same
✅ No sets to failure

Final week:
✅ Drop to just 1 strength session, done early in the week
✅ Complete only 1 set of each exercise
✅ Stick to exercises you already know
✅ Avoid prolonged stretching right before the race

Remember the intensity stays, only the volume drops. Trust the process, respect the taper, and back yourself on race day. 🏁

Running Buddy has teamed up with for this Augusts 10K/Half Marathon.

It’s the perfect course to set your PBs and warm up for any Autumn Marathons.

Running Buddy’s programmes will help you prepare tor the big day. As a registered participant to the race you can avail of a free month of our app.

Use the link in bio (runningbuddytraining.com)
and enter the code YOUGHALBAY26 at checkout to use your free month trial.

I’m happy to answer any questions you have via DM or email!

In addition to the 3 main strength programmes the Running Buddy app provides, the following also have a range of supplementary sessions.

Micro work outs provide a framework to completely shorter strength sessions in conjunction with your runs. These are perfect for when time is tight.

from The Run Testers had been using the Running Buddy app and you can hear how he incorporated the sessions into his training.

marathontraining runforlife marathoner

I wrote a blog series in 2023 giving a behind the scenes look at my prep work for the Paris Marathon.

I have given access to the training plan I used, discuss the thinking behind different types of training, look into how S&C work fits in and document the challenges to completing the training I have planned.

The purpose of writing was to challenge my own thinking and ultimately I would like to provide actionable information for fellow runners and have since wrote blogs in similar formats which are also available on my website.

If you think this may help you or other runners I would appreciate you spreading the word.

Tag a runner you know in the comments or share this post 🏃‍♂️

Link in bio+

marathontraining runforlife marathoner