Patrick Carroll - Running Buddy

Gym Base is the latest programme on the Running Buddy app, designed for runners to build fitness over winter. It features compound lifts with barbells, hex bars, and dumbbells to progressively enhance strength for runners. runningbuddytraining.com

Nice infographic. If I’m helping someone with a muscle injury and we don’t have an MRI I tend not to use G1,2,3. It’s a radiological diagnosis. Language using “Low > high severity amount of damage” based on clinical presentation works better I think.

First long run with blocks of higher intensity this year ✅ 5 x 8s hill strides & 3 x 10mins threshold off 90s Easy warm up & cool down for 90mins total.

Session yesterday ✅ 5 x 1 mile with 1min recoveries ⏱️ Target was to be above LT1 and comfortably under LT2 throughout. Perceived effort was main intensity control method with HR to back that up. Pace not visible on the watch. Good chunk of work done.

@poetwithpace I think this is quite early!

@pacarroll_ You all look so calm 👍🏼

As grim as it gets for race conditions.

@poetwithpace Rain and 30km/hr winds. Photo doesn’t do it justice!

@pacarroll_ Can’t see anything grim there?

11th place finish. A minute slower than my PB.

Would like to fit one more 5k in before a target 10 mile race on April 12th.

First race since last summer (and becoming a dad). Happy with a controlled effort and fast finish. Course and conditions did not make for fast times. Ran with time and distance only on my watch and liked it. If you’re genuinely working on pacing to effort it’s worth trying.

Slow progress but seeing small improvements keeps you going. Main target for the first half of the year is a 10 mile on April 12th ✅

February was more of a regular training month. Aimed for two threshold sessions and a longer run on the weekend. 5 or 6 runs in a week.

Haven’t posted much of my own training lately. December was a write off due to a calf strain. Poor decision making on my part. Chanced a couple of weekend workouts with a friend I wasn’t ready for. Cross trained and rehabbed. January was my return to training phase ⬇️

Even with limited time, it was a very effective session. Other than filming, I stayed off my phone and used rest periods to set up the next exercise.

The calf complex is the biggest contributor to forward propulsion in running, so it deserved focus. I dropped well below the step to load the calves in dorsiflexion, where they produce the most force. No balance demands meant full focus on effort and range.

Short on time, so priorities matter.