What difference does a second make?

Peckham

donothoponpop wrote: »

You were looking to go under 30 and you went 5 mins quicker than that?!? Jeez, that's some result, well done.

Thanks, to be honest I actually didn't have a time in mind, which is very unusual for me. I was just going to race based on how I felt and keep in mind the bigger picture (i.e. getting back running consistently). I was very surprised at how comfortable I felt running at that pace.

SUNGOD

i think i can safely say without fear of contridiction............your back

great time peckham you must be very happy with todays race

Slogger Jogger

Its great to read about people coming back from a lay-off and doing well. Great running.

Peckham

Appreciate all the good feedback here. Thanks guys.

Spent about an hour in the gym today doing core and strength, which I think a focus on whilst I was injured was a big contribution to coming back well.

Good week this week. Total of nearly 25 miles, 5 days consecutive running and a speedy race. Very pleased with that.

Sosa

Peckham wrote: »

Appreciate all the good feedback here. Thanks guys.

Spent about an hour in the gym today doing core and strength, which I think a focus on whilst I was injured was a big contribution to coming back well.

Good week this week. Total of nearly 25 miles, 5 days consecutive running and a speedy race. Very pleased with that.

Well done Peckham,great running,after such a long lay off especially

Peckham

8.06 miles @ 7:11 pace.

It is for evenings like today why I run! Went out for a handy 6 miles, but was feeling really, really good. Not sure why, maybe it was the confidence from Saturday's race. Was consistently pacing at 7:15-7:20, and decided to stay out for an extra 2 miles, when I decided to go for a fast finish and did my final two miles at sub-7 pace.

Good start to the week, although I had better slow down the next few days!

ManFromAtlantis

very impressive. wish i could do that. keep it up. actually, garmin and the like bring a new dimension to these logs, take the guess work out of distance and time and make for more interesting reading.
4 months after the '1 second episode' how do u find it has affected your training or mind set. i mean was it a blessing in disguise as the sub 3 must be a big motivating factor for this year. i know for me being just over teh 4 hr mark, theres unfinished business and it helps haveing a blatant goal.

Peckham

Yes, my feeling now is very much that the "one second incident" was a blessing in disguise. If I had gone 2:59:59 I would have met my goal of going sub-3 and would have taken this year off marathon racing as I had intended.

If that had happened, I would have been less eager when coming back from injury (which happened during the marathon itself) and probably would have taken longer than needed to recover, and done less cross-training whilst injured. Basically I would be very unfit now, and probably have put on around a stone in weight.

My next target race would have been London 2010, which I wouldn't have started specific training for until post-Christmas 2009...and it would have been very unlikely I would have gone sub-3 again.

As things stand, I've entered the Berlin marathon to resolve the unfinished business, and who knows, maybe I can take a chunk off my PB.

Or maybe, I'm just trying to justify it to myself!

shels4ever

Peckham wrote: »

Yes, my feeling now is very much that the "one second incident" was a blessing in disguise. If I had gone 2:59:59 I would have met my goal of going sub-3 and would have taken this year off marathon racing as I had intended.

If that had happened, I would have been less eager when coming back from injury (which happened during the marathon itself) and probably would have taken longer than needed to recover, and done less cross-training whilst injured. Basically I would be very unfit now, and probably have put on around a stone in weight.

My next target race would have been London 2010, which I wouldn't have started specific training for until post-Christmas 2009...and it would have been very unlikely I would have gone sub-3 again.

As things stand, I've entered the Berlin marathon to resolve the unfinished business, and who knows, maybe I can take a chunk off my PB.

Or maybe, I'm just trying to justify it to myself!

I met a guy in the park the other day who ran 3:00:00 twice in a row, his third go at a sub 3 was a 2:54 so thats one way to do it

Peckham

Woke up Tuesday morning totally exhausted from Monday evening's run, so Tuesday turned into a rest day, which was probably needed.

Had intended to join Shels and Woddle at the Raheny 2 mile race last night, but a lack of transport prevented me from going. Instead I went for a run/gym combo....

3.25 mile run to gym, 50 minute weights and core session in gym, 1.9 miles home. Felt incredibly strong afterwards! Total run was 5.09 miles @ 7:40 pace.

Out again this morning for 4.17 miles @ 8:02 pace (feeling slightly tired).

Peckham

10.16 miles @ 7:15 pace

Have today off, so headed out for a morning run in the spring sunshine. Went off quite fast, but despite (kind of) wanting to slow down, it just felt good so I went with it. Delighted to get back into double-figure runs.

Peckham

Despite being in picturesque Donegal for the weekend and right beside a lovely lake, I decided to do my scheduled 5 miler on a hotel treadmill! Not sure why I did this - guess I couldn't have been bothered to go out and work out a route for myself.

Silly decision. Gym was too warm and the 5 mile took over 40 minutes and felt a lot more exhausting than it should have. Also the 40 minutes felt like 2 hours as it was so boring!

Still though, weekly mileage of 32.5 miles, so heading in the right direction. Planning on a 30 mile week this week as I've been building for the past few weeks, and then maybe step up above 35 next week.

May introduce some structured speedwork this week.

TheRoadRunner

Coming back nicely Peckham ! That was a great 10+ mile run the other day. How are the injuries coping with the extra mileage load ?

Peckham

Injuries seem to be coping very well with the extra mileage, and am surprising myself how easily I'm finding it to get back into the training mode. Want to take this week as a bit of a recovery week before building up the mileage further.

Peckham

Peckham wrote: »

May introduce some structured speedwork this week.

Well, I've introduced some speedwork this week, but unfortunately it's not structured!

Decided to do a 6 mile session that included a 3 mile warmup, 2 miles worth of intervals and 1 mile cooldown. Intervals were to be a small pyramid of 400-600-800-600-400.

Having been away from interval sessions for quite a while, I had lost all feel for it, and posted the following:
400: 1:11 :eek: (2:03 recovery)
600: 2:02 (1:57 recovery)
800: 2:52 (1:47 recovery)
600: eh, had to quit after 500 metres which I did in 1:40

So, total lack of structure, and two lessons learnt:
1) Work out paces that suit my current fitness
2) Include a "lap time" on my watch display so I can structure recovery times

Enjoyed it though, and feel good now!

Peckham

5.13 @7.37 pace last night

Kept the brakes on as body was a little sensitive after the previous night's poor speedwork session, and I'm hoping to get a short tempo run in this evening.

Plan for weekend:
Tonight: 8 miles with 3 @ 6:50ish pace
Tomorrow: Have to work, so will be a rest day
Sunday: 11 miles

Have decided to start on the Pfitzinger <55 mile plan as base training as I need to introduce some structure in my training. In terms of where it starts off, it's pretty much where I'm at at the moment, and will get 10 weeks of the plan done before I am taking a three week break. Will build back up again after my break and then probably use the 12 week <70 mile plan for Berlin.

cfitz

Peckham wrote: »

400: 1:11 :eek: (2:03 recovery)
600: 2:02 (1:57 recovery)
800: 2:52 (1:47 recovery)
600: eh, had to quit after 500 metres which I did in 1:40

1:40 at 500 - you hadn't fallen off the pace at all, how did you know to stop?! And looking at those times, are you sure you're a marathon runner?

Peckham

cfitz wrote: »

1:40 at 500 - you hadn't fallen off the pace at all, how did you know to stop?! And looking at those times, are you sure you're a marathon runner?

I knew that it was time to stop as my body was screaming at me!

Am definitely a marathon runner - I hate short distance speedwork, but don't mind tempo runs so much.

ManFromAtlantis

out of interest, whats your best 1 mile time on a measured/track tks. and do u think you could go faster?

Peckham

I don't know what my best 1 mile time is, certainly not on a measured track.

I know that part of my marathon training last year involved various 1,600 metre repeats (which I ran on clear stretch of pavement near where I live using a Garmin), but I can't recall what sort of time I would have been doing them (maybe around 5:30?). Certainly haven't gone sub-5 minute though (which I should consider as a goal).

Peckham

Good session this evening. 8 miles with 3 tempo.

3 mile warm-up at 7:35ish
3 mile tempo (6:30, 6:40, 6:26)
2 mile cooldown at 7:55ish

The tempo felt tough, but comfortable...although a fourth mile would have been tough going! The middle mile of the tempo was disrupted by a delay crossing a busy road.

All in all, very happy with that.

donothoponpop

Peckham wrote: »

Good session this evening. 8 miles with 3 tempo.

3 mile warm-up at 7:35ish
3 mile tempo (6:30, 6:40, 6:26)
2 mile cooldown at 7:55ish

The tempo felt tough, but comfortable...although a fourth mile would have been tough going! The middle mile of the tempo was disrupted by a delay crossing a busy road.

All in all, very happy with that.

Yeah, you should be happy. It's like you were never away! Any niggles from the injury left at all?

Peckham

Not feeling anything injury related, but definitely taking longer to recover as I build up mileage.

Peckham

Work-enforced rest day yesterday, but went out this morning for a nice steady 11 mile run. Didn't really have a plan, but to go out and enjoy it - it's a nice route that takes me down along the coast in Rush, before heading up into country lanes around Skerries. Had decided to take the MP3 player with me, which is a rarity for me these days, and had uploaded some good running tunes.

After the first mile I noticed I was moving at a good pace (6:57 for the first mile), tried to slow down a bit but second mile was actually faster (6:53). Was feeling great, so decided to stretch the legs a bit.

Ended up completing the 11 miles at an average pace of 6:45, finishing with a 6:21 mile (albeit on a downhill). Some challenging hills, and although slowing down a little on them, every mile I did was sub-7. Elevation gain 1,456, elevation loss 1,439.

Not sure what's going on with my running, but I'm taking these good times as compensation for my tough winter!

Feeling good, but will take it easy next few days. Will be inviting trouble if I have too many days like today!

shels4ever

Peckham wrote: »

Work-enforced rest day yesterday, but went out this morning for a nice steady 11 mile run. Didn't really have a plan, but to go out and enjoy it - it's a nice route that takes me down along the coast in Rush, before heading up into country lanes around Skerries. Had decided to take the MP3 player with me, which is a rarity for me these days, and had uploaded some good running tunes.

After the first mile I noticed I was moving at a good pace (6:57 for the first mile), tried to slow down a bit but second mile was actually faster (6:53). Was feeling great, so decided to stretch the legs a bit.

Ended up completing the 11 miles at an average pace of 6:45, finishing with a 6:21 mile (albeit on a downhill). Some challenging hills, and although slowing down a little on them, every mile I did was sub-7. Elevation gain 1,456, elevation loss 1,439.

Not sure what's going on with my running, but I'm taking these good times as compensation for my tough winter!

Feeling good, but will take it easy next few days. Will be inviting trouble if I have too many days like today!

Great going , that forced rest might have been a good thing . Your flying at the moment.

TheRoadRunner

Good running Peckham nice and strong.

Racing Flat

shels4ever wrote: »

Great going , that forced rest might have been a good thing . Your flying at the moment.

QFT

After a long break, the first few weeks/months can be tough, but running tends to be very fluid after that, seems easy. Freshness is definitely good. Use the good form to post a few PBs prior to your break so you'll come back to the marathon training good and confident.

Peckham

7 miles @ 7:15 pace. Included 10 x 100m strides at the end, although it's probably more like 75m strides.

I don't like strides! Not sure why, but they're my least favourite training element.

Peckham

Didn't get out the past two days due to work and other commitments, but got out this morning for a scheduled 13 mile run. Had decided to push on for the extra 0.1 of a mile to give the psychological benefit of running the half-marathon distance.

Nice comfortable pace throughout, although was feeling the strain towards the end (kept the pace up though, and finished with a fast mile).

Wasn't trying to set a time or anything like that, but was pleased to get around in 1:33.

Plan is for a 4 mile recovery run tomorrow and then 9 miles (maybe with 4 tempo) on Sunday.

Peckham

4 mile recovery run @ 7:36 pace.

Not much to be said about it - lovely morning for running, bit too windy though.

Peckham

9.1 miles with 4 tempo

Good session:
- 2.55 mile warm-up
- 4 mile at a decent pace (6:20, 6:19, 6:18, 6:08)
- 2.55 mile cooldown

Beautiful day to be out running. Glad I did this rather than the MSB 5k, feel I got more benefit from it.

Peckham

10 sunny miles @ 6:51 pace.

Nice combination of country lanes and seaside (including 1.5 miles on the beach).

Peckham

A not particularly enjoyable 6 miles. Conditions were horrible, and a bit fatigued from yesterday's run maybe.

Plan is to run home from work tomorrow (11ish miles) - haven't done so in a few months, so looking forward to it.

Peckham

11 miles home from work this evening. Felt like a bit of a drag at times, but I think this was getting used to the new back full of work gear. Weighed it when I got home and it's 3.5kg, so I guess that's going to make a bit of a difference. Kept up a decent pace though, averaging at 7:39/mile for the run.

Peckham

5.1 miles recovery. Pleasant enough.

Going to drop out of tomorrow's BHAA race. Other plans that a trip to Maynooth doesn't really fit into.

Peckham

Pyramid session yesterday. 2.5 mile warmup followed by 1-2-3-2-1 with 30 seconds recovery. Wasn't expecting it to be as tough as it was!

Rest day today. Feeling a bit tired!

Peckham

Haven't posted on the last two weeks of running, so thought I would do an update. Mixed report - one poor week due to other commitments and one great week just finished.

Mon 23rd: 4 mile recovery
Fri 27th: 13 mile run home from work in tough conditions with heavy bag
Total for week: 17 miles

Mon 30th: 8 miles
Tue 31st: 7.8 miles with 1-2-3-2-1 pyramid session
Wed 1st: 5.1 miles
Fri 3rd: 5.1 miles
Sat 4th: 15.3 miles
Total for week: 41.3 miles

Happy with how this week went, and couldn't have hoped for much more from it. The speed session on Tuesday went well as I was more sensible with the pace than the previous attempt (kept it at 10k pace for each rep with 30secs recovery). Today's long run was great, and felt strong throughout.

Plan for next week is to up the mileage to 45, and then 50 the following week, with long runs of 16.5 miles and 18 miles respectively. Will also add a few reps to the pyramid session and do at least one tempo run.

SUNGOD

great week's running peckham
your well and truly back now

Peckham

Good start to the week with a 5 mile dawn run this morning. Took it nice and handy as legs still a bit tired from Saturday's exertions.

Peckham

8 miles with 4 tempo.

Kept up a good pace during the tempo session, doing the first 3 miles at 6:15-6:18 and finishing with a blast to do a 5:59 final mile.

Peckham

5 miles recovery this morning. Felt quite tough, but I guess that was because it was only about 12 hours since last night's session (no chance to run later today unfortunately). Think I was averaging pace at around 8:05, and even at that was running low 70%s HRM. Was glad to get home again.

Peckham

17 miles this morning at 7:23 pace. Including a beautiful (but hilly) lap of the grounds around Ardgillan Castle.

Plenty of climbing - total ascent 2,140 feet and descent the same.

Rest day tomorrow, "easy 10" on Sunday will bring my mileage for the week to 45 which was the target for this week. Aiming for 50 next week and then a recovery week.

christeb

Great running, you're flying since coming back off the injury

Sosa

Thats good pace for 17m peckham ...are you just running how you feel at the moment or have you something coming up soon ?
Am i right in saying that Berlin is your big one this year.

Peckham

Sosa wrote: »

Thats good pace for 17m peckham ...are you just running how you feel at the moment or have you something coming up soon ?
Am i right in saying that Berlin is your big one this year.

Just running how I feel, but will be taking a break from mid-May to mid-June that will involve no running, so want to get myself into very good shape before then, so that I am comfortable with 45-50 mile weeks and a good speed and can get back into the flow of it relatively soon after I get back.

Berlin is the main target, but will also be targetting a half marathon or two during the summer.

ManFromAtlantis

good running there. u must be nearly niggle free?

Sosa

Peckham wrote: »

Just running how I feel, but will be taking a break from mid-May to mid-June that will involve no running, so want to get myself into very good shape before then, so that I am comfortable with 45-50 mile weeks and a good speed and can get back into the flow of it relatively soon after I get back.

Berlin is the main target, but will also be targetting a half marathon or two during the summer.

Ah yeah,i remember now,you are getting married...correst ?

Peckham

That "easy 10" never happened. Felt quite tight over the weekend, and even when I went out on Monday I couldn't manage more than 3 miles before I made the sensible decision to quit. I have been letting my core work go a little over the past few weeks, and Mrs Peckham reckons I'm heading down a dangerous path in this regard.

Still aiming for 50 miles this week. Past few days have been as follows:
Monday - 3 miles
Tuesday - 11 miles steady
Wednesday - 8 miles steady

Will do some speedwork tomorrow (extended pyramid session), short recovery session on Friday, then 18 miler on Saturday.

Peckham

6 miles today with a good pyramid session in the middle of it.

2 mile warm-up; 1-2-2-3-2-2-1 with 1min recovery; 1 mile cooldown

The reps went as follows:

1 min @ 5:34/mile pace
2 min @ 6:05/mile pace
2 min @ 5:53/mile pace
3 min @ 5:53/mile pace
2 min @ 5:48/mile pace
2 min @ 5:45/mile pace
1 min @ 5:42/mile pace
(the recovery pace was at about 9:30/mile)

Felt very good about the session. The recovery duration felt about right, so will maintain that. Will repeat this in two weeks time (alternating tempo and pyramid each week), and see how it goes.

Peckham

4 miles recovery this morning. Legs felt a little lethargic given that yesterday's sesssion had only happened 12 hours previously. Kept pace slow and MHR in the low-70%s though, which was good.