Send in the Clowns - BAC 10K Challenge

Slogger Jogger

Loved the report. You under-estimated your achievement. 54th in your first mountain marathon is huge. If memory serves a few years ago you wore trail shoes to a road 10k, and this time you wore road runners to a trail marathon Details like training specifically for the terrain will stand to you if you do it again. A season of the tougher IMRA races would also stand to you. Inc. the longer distance challenges, which while boggier will get the body acclimatisated somewhat. A training weekend on the Kerry peaks would be good prep. Lots of 'mountain' reps. The Galtees peaks would also be good for up and down conditioning. In a recent race there I could hardly run downhill towards the end - due to terrain changes (and my general lack of fitness).
The Snowdon race in Wales is on a hard surface - 5 miles up, 5 down.
A hill local to me has a very hard trail surface if reps were called for.

Very well done!

mithril

Enjoyed the report as always. Top 5% given your lack of specific training or altitude acclimatisation is excellent.

What kit would you have used if you were doing it again and did not need to worry about luggage restrictions? Would you have carried water in a hydration pack even though it feels very heavy in a mountain race and there were water stations on the route?

Krusty_Clown

mithril wrote: »

Enjoyed the report as always. Top 5% given your lack of specific training or altitude acclimatisation is excellent.

What kit would you have used if you were doing it again and did not need to worry about luggage restrictions? Would you have carried water in a hydration pack even though it feels very heavy in a mountain race and there were water stations on the route?

Not sure what you mean by luggage restrictions. You mean on a plane, or carrying over the mountain? If you were doing the 78k, you could have some gear transported to a single point somewhere along the route, but otherwise you carry what you need. I wouldn't have carried water, as I wasn't taking the race too seriously. I reckon a pair of trail shoes (or hybrid, like my Salomon Crossmax) would have made a big difference, but some salt tablets would have had the most significant impact. I was sweating massively on the 16 mile uphill climb in the heat, and didn't really take on anything to redress the chemical imbalance (hence the cramps, dizziness etc.). As I headed down on the descent, I was really suffering and started to clip rocks with my feet, nearly having a race-ending fall. After this happened 5/6 times, I realized I had to slow-down, which in turn hammered the quads (forced breaking).

But everyone suffered. 54th position was 36 minutes down on last year, so the extraordinary weather had the largest impact on everyone's performances. I think if it had been cooler, I wouldn't have suffered as much, but I'd still have struggled on the down-hills in my no-grip runners.

Krusty_Clown

Thursday: 6.58 miles + 6.23 miles
Club was having a championship 5k event, but had to collect my youngster from gymnastics, so it was ruled out. Previous day's tough session would have made it a bad idea anyway, so instead, I ran a recovery 6.5 miles at lunch-time and followed it up with a second recovery run while waiting for gym to finish. Total: 12.8 miles, @average pace: ~@8:10/mile.

Friday: 7 mile cycle + 8 mile run + 5 mile cycle + 5 mile run
Easy cycle to work via the fl atter/longer route seemed to stretch out the muscles, so by lunch-time, I was running comfortably again, ad picked up the pace from an easy to a steady run, @7:04/mile. Very soggy cycle home (while running in rain is lovely, cycling in the rain strikes me as quite an unpleasant experience), and seeing as I was soaking already, hit the park for a very easy recovery run, @8:16/mile.

Saturday: 8 mile easy/steady run
In the midlands for the weekend, so hit the Roscommon 10k route, lashing on an extra mile or two to hit this week's mileage target. Started out as the usual arthritic affair, before loosening up after around 3 miles. Starting to think that I can't run properly until I've 2-3 miles under the belt.

Sunday: Longford Half Marathon
Had originally planned running the full Longford marathon with Pronator at a steady pace (2:50 marathon) , as a steady training run for Dublin, but unfortunately Pronator had to pull out because of a knock and I reconsidered my options. My endurance levels seems to be in good shape (thanks largely to the 5 hour marathon), while my speed is pretty poor at the moment. The schedule called for 12-13 miles at marathon pace, so I figured the half marathon in Longford would fit the bill nicely. The late registration fee was €54, which is a hell of a lot for a half, and incredibly expensive for a training run, so I was in two minds about racing it instead of using it as a training run. In the end, I figured I'd decide after a mile or two, once I figured what my position was, and if there was anything to be gained by pushing hard, instead of staying at marathon pace. Met up with wrstan (half) and another club-mate (full) and we did a couple of warm-up miles, before heading to the start. Freddy Situk and Gary O'H were in attendance, but they both had full marathon race numbers, and I could only see a couple of other half-marathon club-looking types.

It's a strange race, as everyone starts together at 10am, both full and half marathoners, so you have no idea whether the people ahead are in the full or the half. I started out at a relatively comfortable 6 min/mile, and could see a group of 8-10 speedy lads breaking off into the distance and almost immediately I was on my own. Surprisingly, I was caught by 2-3 runners, but looking around, they were full-marathon runners. I felt like telling them to cop on, as they were definitely not sub 2:40 marathoners (panting heavily), yet here they were starting their race at sub 6 minute miles. Craziness.

After 2.5 miles the course splits with half-marathoners turning left, while marathon runners continued straight. I couldn't see anyone ahead of me though, so it was difficult to figure out where I was supposed to turn (and the resident marshal wasn't too bothered to let anyone know). I shouted at him and took the left turn. Other half-marathoners in my wake were shouting at me, to see if I too was in the half-marathon and were they going the right way. I remember this setup from my first marathon in Longford in 2008, and thought that in the intervening 5 years they'd have found a solution, but no, there's still an expectation that runners should know where they're going.

As we hit the country-side, the noise from the half-marathoners behind me dropped off and I was on my own. On long straights, I could see a runner in a red singlet and another in a green running top ahead. Occasionally I could make out some other bobbing heads in the distance, but that was it. Because of the split between the two races, I had absolutely no idea if I was in 5th place, or 50th place, which was an unusual situation, but glancing at the watch, the miles were ticking off comfortably enough at sub-6 pace, so I was happy enough to stick with it (5:58, 5:55, 5:54, 5:46). Eventually, I noticed a blue running top coming back at me, and as I neared the runner, I noticed he had around 5/6 gels attached to a gel belt. Either he was doing the ultra (having started earlier that morning) or he'd gotten his race strategy very wrong. After another few minutes I passed another ultra-runner.

Gradually, I was reeling in the runner in the red singlet (who I knew was in the half) and after a quick 'hey' I pushed past, happy to have made up a spot. Then there was just one other runner visible ahead of me and he seemed to have slowed down quite a bit, as I went past fairly quick. There were no more runners visible ahead, and I was pretty confused about where I stood in the race. After the fifth mile, the half-marathon rejoins the full marathon route, but having run an extra couple of miles, we're at the back of the marathon procession. Thankfully, the marathon runners stick to the hard-shoulder, so despite the long queue of held-up angry Mayo fans making their way to Croke Park in their cars, it's easy enough to run alongside the cars on the national road. Very strange feeling overtaking 230 marathon runners, when you're doing sub 6 minute/miles and they're doing 9 minute miles, but after a mile and a half, there was another turn-off and I was on my own once more (5:48, 5:53, 5:53).

Even on the long straights, I couldn't see anyone ahead, so I started to wonder if I had taken a wrong turn, of if indeed I was actually winning the race . But I soon figured out there'd be some kind of lead car if I was up front, so there must be runners ahead (or I was lost). When finally I arrived at a water-station, I was informed that 2-3 runners had gone through already. I was kind of relieved, as didn't relish winning a half-marathon in the worst ever time, and was still well up the field. At the next water-station I asked again, and was told definitively, that four runners had gone past previously, so I was lying in fifth position. Happy enough with that, I kept the pace steady.

From mile 8 onwards, that are a number of undulating small hills that sap the strength and the pace (6:09, 6:03, 6:07, 6:12) but overall I was still well under my target average pace (6 minute/mile), so wasn't pushed about surrendering a few seconds here and there. Eventually I emerged out on the national road (that I recognised from my marathon 5 years previously), which signalled that I was close to the end. On the flatter more forgiving road surface, the pace picked up again (5:57, 5:48), before I hit the finish line at a decent clip, in 1:17:30 for 5th place.

With just a few rough spots, I was a little confused to find that I was just 11 seconds outside of my half marathon PB, but I reckon the course was probably around 30 seconds shorts, so think 1:18 would be a fairer reflection for the full distance. Still, happy enough with how that went, as I will hopefully be able to take a couple of minutes off in a few weeks time in Athlone, when it's more 'race' and less 'training'. I was happier still when I got handed an envelope for 5th place, which covered my entry fee and some beer money. Happy is the day you get paid for training (even if you have to pose for photos with a guy in a sandwich costume!). A couple of uncomfortable warm-down miles with wrstan afterwards were followed up with a drive back to Dublin and a couple of hours of top-rope rock climbing. A solid week with 83 miles of running, and 15 hours of training (running, climbing cycling).

Summary: 13.01 miles in 1:17:30 @5:58/mile

Marthastew

Another great run by the Clown:) But once again I find myself having to ask for photographic evidence;) PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE post a photo of you with the Sandwich:D

nerraw1111

Marthastew wrote: »

Another great run by the Clown:) But once again I find myself having to ask for photographic evidence;) PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE post a photo of you with the Sandwich:D

Yup, pics or stfu.
Great stuff, the consistency here is something else.

Krusty_Clown

Marthastew wrote: »

Another great run by the Clown:) But once again I find myself having to ask for photographic evidence;) PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE post a photo of you with the Sandwich:D

Photographic evidence of Pat the Pan. For anything else, we'll have to wait with baited breath for the upcoming release of the Longford Leader.

cianc

Race sponsored by baker, no wonder they gave you some dough...
Thank you thank you, I'll be here all week.

Itziger

The report and the run as good as we've come to expect but I can't believe there would be that much confusion and mess over distance and direction in a bloody half that cost 54 euro!! I know that was late entry but Christ a couple of coloured arrows with '26.2' and '13.1' wouldn't kill em.

Krusty_Clown

ciancullinan wrote: »

Thank you thank you, I'll be here all week.

Too high-brow for this crowd. We're more Benny Hill, than Stephen Fry.

Itziger wrote:

The report and the run as good as we've come to expect but I can't believe there would be that much confusion and mess over distance and direction in a bloody half that cost 54 euro!! I know that was late entry but Christ a couple of coloured arrows with '26.2' and '13.1' wouldn't kill em.

To be fair, they did have a sign pointing half marathoners left, and full marathoners right. It just wasn't clear whether half runners should stay left on the road (which had been divided by traffic cones) and continue straight (like the marathon runners) or take a nearby left turn. Not a problem if you were further back in the field, as you'd just follow all of the other half marathoners.

FrClintPower

outforarun wrote: »

Finished.

It’s taken more than a few weeks but I’ve read from page 1 through to page 419. Best read I’ve had in a long long time. I’m a bit disappointed now because I’ve reached the end. It’s like gorging on a box-set of series 1. 2 and 3 of a cracking tv show only to now suddenly have to wait for weekly updates to get you through series 4 (course I could just start over from page 1 again!).

Thanks for the entertaining, generous, laugh out loud funny, informative and super-motivating log. The highlight for me has to be the Championship runners cheering you on at the end of London. Crazy stuff. I’m curious to see what soundtrack they’ll use for that scene when they make the film of the log.

This - other than I read from page 1 to page 425! Both the log itself and the reading of it have been epic, really entertaining the whole way through, and absolutely page-turning stuff in the run up to each marathon. As a relatively new runner I've learned a lot reading it, particularly about the importance of just getting out the door, getting enough sleep and how lucky I am not to have a dodgy stomach! (Maybe I'm just not trying hard enough). I think I've bookmarked 20-odd posts and links, but a lot of what I've taken from it was from your generous responses to all manner of questions, and I have a couple myself if you don't mind.

You mention stretching only in passing, usually between warming up and starting into a session, whereas you refer to core work a lot more. Do you actually stretch much before or after running? Do you do dynamic or static stretches? I've been laid up with an achilles problem for 3 weeks so I'm interested in how you distinguish between the general ongoing soreness and injuries, and how I might avoid a recurrence.

And you use a headlamp a lot - any recommendations? I live beside the Phoenix Park and even the lit parts of it get pretty dark in the winter, so I'm on the lookout.

By the way, it was nice to read all the references to Rathmichael and Shanganagh etc, my mother was born and raised on Crinken Lane, so I spent a lot of time up there visiting the relatives growing up, I've great memories from that area.

antomagoo

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Haha! What's more relaxing than a nice easy 8 mile run in the sunshine, followed by a goblet of finest German beer?!

Speaking of German beer have you come across this one, Crew Munich Summer Ale, very nice with plenty of flavour unlike some summer ales (I'm looking at you Sam Adams) or bitter sweet like others

Krusty_Clown

FrClintPower wrote: »

This - other than I read from page 1 to page 425!

Thanks for the kind words, but I'll be honest... I get a little alarmed when I think that someone has read back through my training log. (stalker alert :eek:). But more seriously, I get a little worried as it's not the collective wisdom of a successful runner, but rather the random musings and errors of a slightly obsessive average runner, trying to become a slightly less average runner. The only lesson to be learned is that there's little point in reading back through 425 pages of waffle!

Case in point, is your comments/questions on sleeping and stretching, neither of which I do in sufficient amounts. These days, I do most of my running before, after or during work, under time pressure, so most of the time stretching = zilch. I have no idea what plyometric stretching looks like, so if I had the time to stretch, it would be static. I've given up the core stuff too, but am instead hitting the climbing gym twice a week, which seems to fulfil both my core and stretching goals. At the moment, I climb, because it improves my running, but being honest, I foresee a time in the near future when I will be running, because it improves my climbing. An injury is anything that prevents you from running., while soreness is anything that makes running uncomfortable! S'funny, I got a quick sports massage after the Longford half marathon, and the nice massage guy tried to massage my achilles. I nearly screamed at him! The next person to touch my achilles will either be a surgeon or a coroner.

Head-torches? I've had a Petzl Tikka2 for a couple of years that does the job, but the cheapy Chinese knock-off UltraFire UF769 gives off far more light, at the cost of slightly more weight (but far less cost!). Maybe try DealExtreme? Haven't used mine since last winter though. I did my first dark run in ages a couple of weeks back, and it was great to see the bats spiralling overhead in Shangannagh Park. I missed the furry little critters. We're really spoilt rotten in Shankill/Rathmichael as runners. Hills and trails, sea and cliff runs, parks, fields, and flat paths, all on our doorstep. We're living there 15 years now, but I reckon it was three or four years before we ventured into Shanganagh Park. The good 'ol days when exercise was walking to the shop for another pack of 20.

antomagoo wrote:

Speaking of German beer have you come across this one, Crew Munich Summer Ale, very nice with plenty of flavour unlike some summer ales (I'm looking at you Sam Adams) or bitter sweet like others

Finally some beer talk! I've had the Crew IPA, which was actually really good, but there doesn't seem to be anything particularly German about the company or the beers they create. There are so many good German beers, and so many good Irish beer companies making similar products to Crew, that it's hard to find a reason to try any more of their products. Speaking of which, the All-Ireland Craft Beerfest is on in the RDS next week. Might make this my last beer outing until after the Dublin marathon. Some nice recovery pints after the Lakes 10k!

antomagoo

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Finally some beer talk! I've had the Crew IPA, which was actually really good, but there doesn't seem to be anything particularly German about the company or the beers they create. There are so many good German beers, and so many good Irish beer companies making similar products to Crew, that it's hard to find a reason to try any more of their products. Speaking of which, the All-Ireland Craft Beerfest is on in the RDS next week. Might make this my last beer outing until after the Dublin marathon. Some nice recovery pints after the Lakes 10k!

Yeah probably not your typical German style brew but I think they are based in Germany alright, unless I misunderstand what you're saying.

Would love to hit the Beerfest, I wonder is it toddler friendly or maybe they have a creché/play area at it :pac:

Krusty_Clown

Monday: 9.7 miles + 5.5 miles easy
Knew it was going to be tough the day after Longford, so when I suffered a whitey 2.5 miles into my run, I wasn't terribly surprised. I had to stop and take a break for two minutes, while I exploded into a ball of sweat. After a brief break (while I conspicuously pretended to study my watch) the dizzies passed and I was back on the go. Even stretched out the run for a couple of extra miles. Followed up with a run home and another small whitey, but didn't have to stop this time.
Total: ~15.2 miles ~@7:24/mile

aero2k

Hi Krusty,

Let me add my congratulations on your recent performances and the obsessiveness consistency of your training. I bumped into RQ last night when I was out kerbcrawling on the way to Aldi and we were chatting about how boards can be a hard place to look when you're not feeling 100%, and also how most people go through a couple of years of prolific posting before tapering off - you being the most notable exception.

Others have mentioned beer, so I'll post a link to one of your other interests. I sent the Killian Jornet link to a work colleague, and he responded with this - might be a way to replace the core work?!!

Krusty_Clown

aero2k wrote: »

and also how most people go through a couple of years of prolific posting before tapering off - you being the most notable exception.

Haha. Don't worry. My time will come (and soon, the way I'm feeling at the moment!).

aero2k wrote: »

Others have mentioned beer, so I'll post a link to one of your other interests. I sent the Killian Jornet link to a work colleague, and he responded with this - might be a way to replace the core work?!!

That's absolutely nuts. It's just as well it's a pretty easy climb (by climbers standards, not by my standards!). Hard to see how something like that will not eventually end up in a fatality. What'll be next, speed chess climbing, while playing Frisbee golf? Those 'merkins be crazy!

*Edit*: Based on the comments in the video, he did go to a better place, while practising his own particular brand of crazy.

Krusty_Clown

Tuesday: 5.5 miles + 5 miles + 5.5 miles
I was a little dismayed arriving back from Longford after checking the training schedule to find that it's another of those 100% weeks, but sure what can you do, but just put the head down and start ticking off miles. My general philosophy on 100 mile weeks is that the key sessions are golden, after that you just get the miles done any way you can. Run steady when you can run steady and run recovery when you can't run steady. There are no junk miles, as you are sticking to the plan, and the plan is to stress the system, and still get the quality sessions done.

One thing is for certain, my next marathon (and it could be as soon as February, if I get into a certain lottery) will be a low-mileage affair. I'm feeling a general weariness at the moment about marathon training, and it's beginning to feel like a bit of a chore. It can be a hard graft running 10-15 hours per week, when there are no significant signs of improvement, when it looks like the best you can hope for, is to gain a few seconds on your PB, if everything goes well. The tune-up races have been great fun, but the positive reinforcement isn't there, so a minute or two is about as much as I can expect, if I have a good day. But there's still 9.5 weeks to go (and sooo many miles!)....

Summary: 16 miles ~@7:32/mile

belcarra

February? Lottery? Must be Donadea??!

Krusty_Clown

Wednesday lunch: 15 miles including 2 x 20 minute tempo
Still feeling the effects of recent sessions/mileage, my expectations were not great for this session. Still, on paper (as ronnie085 also pointed out) it should be easier than some of the other recent sessions in the program. I don't think I faired quite as well as Ronnie though (useful to have a comparator!), as I found this pretty tough. Ronnie ran faster, I ran slightly longer.

Session consisted of:
3 mile warm-up, @7:44, down to the cinder track
20 minutes @5:48/mile (actual: 5:47/mile pace)
10 minutes easy @~7:16/mile
20 minutes @5:48/mile (actual: ~5:49/mile pace)
3 mile warm-down

First tempo section went fine, though I felt the extra 2 minutes (last time I stopped at 5k (18 mins)). Second tempo was significantly tougher. The first 12 minutes were fine, but after that I fell behind my lap splits by a second. A second is nothing in the grand scheme of things, but I'm so used to being a couple of seconds ahead of my lap splits that it made me uncomfortable. Try as I might, I just couldn't make up that second, over the next 8 minutes. The cardio system felt fine, even the legs felt reasonably ok (if a little stiff) but today, they just didn't want to go any faster. Eventually I just stopped looking at the splits and focussed on making it to the end. I think that helped, as but the time I hit the last bend, I was more or less on track again, finishing (I would guess, around a second down on target). The 3 mile uphill warm-down wasn't as uncomfortable as for other sessions, so I'm guessing it's some stiffness in the legs that was hampering my progress today.
Summary: 15 miles in ~1:39, @~6:37/mile

Wednesday evening: 5 mile recovery
Forced to leave work early because of a power-cut in the locality, I took the opportunity to run a few recovery miles that were actually a lot easier than expected, to wrap up 20 miles for the day.
Summary: 5 miles @8:06/mile

belcarra wrote:

February? Lottery? Must be Donadea??!

If I'm lucky enough to get into Donadea, I'll immediately drop all plans to run any other races. Tokyo is just a back-up.

antomagoo

You've probably been asked this before, but do you use any other training software to analyse your runs other than Garmin connect?

Krusty_Clown

antomagoo wrote: »

You've probably been asked this before, but do you use any other training software to analyse your runs other than Garmin connect?

Other than Garmin training centre, no.. In fact, I haven't worn a HR monitor strap for a couple of months, so I don't really analyze my workouts in any significant way after a session or workout. I either hit the session, or I don't. It tends to be pretty black and white.

TRR

I'm officially stopping reading your log until after the Dublin marathon. No joke, you have me feeling like a lazy bastard. I actually don't know how you run those sessions and miles and don't get injured. I mean you're old all joking aside on top of work and home it's amazing. Don't bother replying to this as I won't be around to read it

Krusty_Clown

TRR wrote: »

I actually don't know how you run those sessions and miles and don't get injured. I mean you're old Don't bother replying to this as I won't be around to read it

I have a high threshold for boredom, and a low threshold for pain, which means I slow down when things start to hurt. It's a great combination!

Shame you won't be around to read my response, because if you were, I would have let you know that you've been a massive inspiration, and that that your wisdom, charm, humour and physical prowess are the motivating factors that have kept me going for all of these years. Also, I think if you lost around 90 pounds, you could be a pretty good runner.

Krusty_Clown

Thursday: 6 + 5 miles recovery
Everything quite stiff and sore from Wednesday's session (which was probably had a little too much in common with the Longford half marathon), so just stuck to easy recovery pace, with 6 miles at lunch time and 5 after work, just missing out on the club session (which I couldn't have run anyway). Followed up with 70-80 minutes of bouldering, just to ensure that the top half of my body would be similarly sore to the bottom half. Everything hurts now. Life in harmony.

Friday: 6 recovery miles + 5 easy
Body was just as sore in the morning, and struggled to walk comfortably (got quite a slagging in work), despite hitting the foam roller. So the lunch run was the usual stiff affair on the grass. Realizing that I wouldn't be able to join Peckham for some fast miles on Saturday unless I loosened up first, I included some strides in my second run, and that really did the job. I tend to forget the value of strides for loosening out the limbs and just breaking the monotony of recovery runs.

Saturday: 22.5 miles with 15.5 miles @6:25
Was looking for a steady long run in Phoenix Park, but with no takers, Peckham's PMP session seemed like a good alternative. Probably a little harder than I wanted to go at the tail end of a hundred mile week, but if I could get through it, it'd be a solid session. We started out with three easy miles, before ditching jackets on a cool but breezy day. Park was full of pink for the Pink run, but we were fortunate enough to largely avoid the race route, sticking to the North end of the park.

3 Miles @7:38: I think I was breathing harder for the warm-up than I was for the faster miles. I'm really crap for the first few miles of every run.

10.5 miles @6:25: Could feel some tiredness in the legs, but breathing and HR (perceived) were top notch. I'm in really solid cardio shape at the moment. If the legs would just co-operate, I'd be really looking forward to Dublin. We looped back to the cars for a quick gel/drink, but I reckon we might have been better off pushing on for the remaining 4.5 miles, as getting going again was pretty tough.

4.93 miles @6:21: We took a couple of minutes and then headed back down Chesterfield Avenue. After a couple more miles Peckham had done enough, but I plugged on for another bit just to complete the loop.

Ticked off another mile to get back to the car for a drink, and then spied Emer, woden and rob, so joined them for 10 minutes for an easy warm-down, stopping with 22.5 miles on the clock. A better session than I could have hoped for, in the midst of a high mileage week, so a solid result.

Summary: 22/5 miles in 2:36, @6:56/mile

ronnie085

Feck ye Krusty, me planning to do a nice handy 22 mile amble around the curragh tomorrow to get my mileage for the week and you go hammer a dose of 6:25 miles, talk about making somebody feel guilty, you have me thinking now....

Peckham

Thanks for the company, and nice to see you as always. Whilst I missed my PMP mileage target I would have missed it by a lot more if I didn't have you to hide behind into the North Road headwind, so am especially grateful for that!

Sorry I couldn't work a few more miles.

pa4

That's some session/long run, whens your next marathon?

Krusty_Clown

ronnie085 wrote: »

Feck ye Krusty, me planning to do a nice handy 22 mile amble around the curragh tomorrow to get my mileage for the week and you go hammer a dose of 6:25 miles, talk about making somebody feel guilty, you have me thinking now....

You're doing a 100 mile week too, right? I reckon given the high mileage, a progression run would have been a better result (e.g. increase the pace every 4/5 miles). Either way, look after them legs!

Peckham wrote:

Whilst I missed my PMP mileage target I would have missed it by a lot more if I didn't have you to hide behind into the North Road headwind, so am especially grateful for that!

Just as I'd have run a lot slower if I hadn't joined you for that run. It was a tough day for a pmp session, and I know I'd have struggled to run at pmp this morning. Still, I liked that loop. Love running in the park. Thanks for the company.

pa4 wrote:

That's some session/long run, whens your next marathon?

Hey pa4, Dublin marathon, 8 weeks on Monday.

pa4

Not far to go so, looking at your training you seem well prepared, you're getting some good quality mileage in the legs! Will you be going for a PB?