Zero-ish to Connemara Half to Cork Full in 6 months.

Nightowl84

Hey everyone,

I've been reading the training logs here for a while now and i've finally decided to stick one up for myself.

A little background about myself, im a 24 yr old girl, i've always been sporty but only started running before Xmas. I've since started taking it more seriously (gave up the fags, been clean for over a month:)). Well i've signed up for the Connemara 1/2 which I hope im on track for. I gotta bit ahead of myself and then suggested the Cork full....lob in a few exams into the mix and it should be interesting.

(I might add that a foreign marathon has been suggested but I don't want to be gettin ahead of myself........ where do I sign?)

Nightowl84

Went for a 4.4 miler after 5 this evening, twas a lovely run which I haven't done before (incorporated a mile long laneway sans traffic, sweet). No dog incidents to report of (usually at least 1 per day depending upon route).

McConkey

Welcome to the logs Nightowl84, its a great place for advice and to help keep the motivation up

You have worked out your goals well anyhow, I'm still a bit lost as to what I'm doing (I'm new too), haven't managed to give up the ciggies yet (haven't even tried:o ) so well done

Welcome anyway hon and best of luck with your goals

Slogger Jogger

Welcome on board nightowl and good luck with your training. I've done both the Conn half (and full) and the Cork full in recent years and I've thoroughly enjoyed both. Don't forget to tot up your miles and clock them on the 1000 mile challenge thread too

Nightowl84

McConkey and Slogger, cheers for the words of encouragment.

McConkey: I'm set on doing Connemara, cause it sounds savage, after that im easy going, but a marathon is defo on the cards, tis really helping fend of the ciggie cravings (just realised tonight i've spent 1/3 my life puffing away) You're doing really well yourself though, keep up the good work. Doing like a 10k or something similar is a great confidence booster.

Slogger: Thanks for the words of motivation. Im really looking forward to Connemara. Two questions though, how bad are the hills in Connemara? and what was Cork like? As for that blasted 1000 mile challenge............why,why,oh,why.........pure stroke of brillance, if i finish the Connemara half im attributing it to Woddle's challenge.

SUNGOD

hi Nightowl you've set yourself 2 very good challenges, i went to connemara and cork last year and they are great events.
with the right attitude/training they are very doable with the conn half as perfect prep for cork.
best of luck with your training and log...and exams:eek:

Slogger Jogger

The hills in Conn are often exagerated. Theres a steep section coming out of Leenane but its over with before too long. Its undulating enough then til you hit the turn at Maam which brings you over the river Failmore (I jest not) and this hill is testing enough. However, if you do some of your training in the hills and you get the miles in you'll be fine.

Cork is great. Its hilly compared to regular city marathons. My garmin recorded some 383m of ascents. I ran a PB there last June on my 14th marathon, and I've done a lot flatter marathons too. Again if you get the training in and the long runs in particular in the latter stages of your training, you'll be fine. Good luck.

Krusty_Clown

Hi there nightowl84, I'm headed down to Connemara too (for the full) but have done the half a couple of times. Here's the hill profile. The Half is the bottom one. You don't really notice the first hill, as it's right at the start, except that it slows down everyone who obviously hasn't done any hill training (don't make that mistake!) and then as SJ pointed out, the last one, after crossing the bridge over the river, which is the real mountain to climb (thankfully not literally). It's a struggle for 20 mins, then you're over the top, and have a lovely run-down to the finish line. Over, before you know it.

It's a great distraction from the ciggies. Best of luck with the training.

Nightowl84

Cheers Sungod, SJ and Krusty for the advice on both Connemara and Cork.

The trainings going fairly well distance wise so im gonna start to incorporate challenging hills and ''speed''.

This afternoon I went for a 5.3mile run, went really well. Got accosted by a terrier (cue rapid increase in heart rate) but thankfully I had my trusty stick at hand, it drives me nuts the way owners give their dogs free reign of the roads.

chinguetti

Nightowl84 all the best with the training. i'm doing the Connemara half and the Cork marathon so i may see you on route been chased by dogs from the sounds of it.:D

Main thing for connemara is the hill work. Handy to try and find a training route that has a couple of hills, esp one at the end of the run. Gets you used to it and the big day is alot easier whatever happens.

Nightowl84

Hi Chinguetti, thanks for the words of support.

Hope your training for Connemara + Cork is going well (great minds think alike:)).

Thanks for the heads up on the hills, i'll definitely start some intensive hill runs soon enough, feel like mixing it up a little anyway.

Nightowl84

Wednesday 4th Feb

I've decided to choose Wednesday as my day of speed/hill training, in other words, torture day.

I started off with a 2mile warm up, followed by a mile of fartlek and then a fastish mile back home.

Then I approached the hilly field.....
I intended upon doing 10 sprints up the hill followed by a recovery walk back down after each. Didn't quite go that way, I managed 5, it was seriously tough but on a positive note doing that kind of training makes me appreciate the long runs even more.

Rounded it off with a nice jog around the massive field (X country style with mud up to my ankles) and then back home.

So ran just over 5.5 miles in total.

Nightowl84

Thursday 5th Feb

I keep saying to myself that ill go for a run in the morning but Im just not cut out for it.

Saw a great link on one of the threads today regarding core excercises. There were 15 in total I think, so I gave them a go, didn't go too bad except for the hip lifts which were the stuff of nightmares. Gonna definitely incorporate them and a few planks into the regime.

Went for a nice run this evening with my sister, 4.5 miles at a lovely easy pace. Bloody cold though.

Nightowl84

Friday 6th Feb:

I had set the alarm for the ungodly hour of 7am, I woke up and several snooze buttons later it was 8.20. Looking out the window as I was brushing my teeth there was a lovely frost, so i decided screw it, ill go running. So off I went, the chosen route was a toughish relentless uphill slog, but it went well. My ''pace'' is still fairly slow but im happy to get the mileage up at this stage.

Tomorrow's a rest day, so I think I've a date with some Shiraz tonight.

Todays miles: 7.2

Slogger Jogger

Hey Nightowl, for every uphill these must be a downhill. Good plan by the way, shiraz here too.

Nightowl84

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Hey Nightowl, for every uphill these must be a downhill. Good plan by the way, shiraz here too.

Thanks SJ
Its phrases like this that will get me through Connemara and the training.

You've good taste in the vino (trying to limit it to pre-rest day to avoid last weeks hungover long run from hell).

Nightowl84

Didn't really listen to my own advice and slightly overdid it on the alcohol front last night. However after consuming my own body weight in water I felt hydrated enough to go for a good run.

Went for a 7.7 mile loop with my brother and im really happy with how it went. It was a lovely day for it, the pace suited me, managed the hills grand and still felt I had a bit in the tank at the end.

Miles today: 7.7

chinguetti

I didn't have any Shiraz last night and i found my 7 miles tough going in the snow this morning. Good old Springsteen and Sintara on the ipod can make the journey feel somewhat short though.

Nightowl84

chinguetti wrote: »

I didn't have any Shiraz last night and i found my 7 miles tough going in the snow this morning. Good old Springsteen and Sintara on the ipod can make the journey feel somewhat short though.

We only had one day of snow down here and even then it was gone by midday. I'd love to be running in the snow, its still a novelty for me.

I find im more sluggish in the morning, the evening runs seem to suit me better but i will try to do more morning runs.

+1 on the Boss, unfortunately I don't listen to music when im running or else id be mowed down on the road.

Nightowl84

Monday 9th:
As punishment for the excessive weekend I set off on an 8 mile run. It actually wasn't too bad, slow and steady seems to my new mantra.

Tuesday 10th+Wednesday 11th:
I was visiting my sister so went for 2 runs, one on Tue evening and then one on Wed morning. It was nice to have a change of scenery(+bewildered local folk wondering who the hell I was).
Total came to 10.2 miles over the 2 days.

Thursday 12th:
Had a lovely sleep last night so a good morning run was the order of the day. Set off reasonably early, tacked on a few extra laneways and roads onto one of my regular loops and ended up with a testing run over 10 miles, (had visions of bonking on the main road near home but i was grand).

Rest day tomorrow...nothing else to do but study:(

Nightowl84

Saturday 14th February: Cupids Dash 10k

Drove up to Dublin with a few running buddies. Wasn't feeling 100%, felt like I was getting a cold + had a few drinks last night. Great day for a 10k though, the weather was spot on and a far cry from the icy ground on my 10k debut at the Aware run in December. Managed to slice over 4minutes off that time so I was delighted with the run. Thankfully I timed myself and didn't have to rely on the dodgy chip results. All in all though i enjoyed the run, smallish crowd, good atmosphere and some sweet flapjacks at the finish.

Sunday + Monday:
Total write offs/Rest days

Tuesday 17th:
Went for a run of over 7 miles, didn't feel the best at all, slightly feverish and a bit of a niggle in my left quad.

Wednesday 18th:
Today marked a vast improvement over the last few days. So I hit the roads in the afternoon. Ran almost 8 and a half miles and felt I could keep going beyond that. If only every day were like this.

Miles ran since the new year: 154.4
Amount of study done: Absolutely nowt:(

Nightowl84

Thursday 19th Feb:

Went for a lovely run this evening. The pace was slower (if thats possible) but I felt great, even going up some evil hills. Off on a weekend break tomorrow. Hopefully I can report back guilt free on Monday.....highly unlikely:rolleyes:

Miles today: 7.2 miles

Nightowl84

I came back from a weekend break abroad there on Monday. Foolishly I brought over my running gear intending upon running....that was never going to happen.

In hindsight though it was good to recharge/corrupt the batteries.

Last night I set off on on run and I was fairly apprehensive as to how I would fare considering I had taken nearly a week off. The first 20/30 mins weren't the prettiest but after that I felt grand and decided to push the mileage. Ended up completing 12 miles which I was delighted with especially considering that I wasn't totally wiped out at the end (I felt I could go on but I saw my house and couldn't run past).

SunnySideUp

Well done nightowl84! You're doing great;)!
I'm doing the half M in connemara as well and like yourself was a bit freaked out about all the hills but sure it'll be a challenge! The furthest i've run is about 10.5 miles but am including a lot of nasty hills in these runs. Actually myself and a couple of my friends are going to drive out there this weekend and are going to run the last 4miles or so of the route...bit of a cop out i know:o but at least it'll be a psychological boost to know that we have run it previously and maybe it wont be as bad as what we're all expecting.........i'll keep you posted!

You keep the good work though!

Nightowl84

Hi Sunnysideup,

Thanks for the moral support. Sounds like your training is going well and that you're on track nicely for the half.
I've just started the real hill training, i've been training mostly on the flat up until now and fooling myself into thinking that a bump in the road is comparable to what faces us in Connemara....
On a positive note im going to go out and enjoy the race cause ive put enough work in for it. As for the night after...watch this space (i've an exam on the Wednesday:eek: but thats not going to stand in my way;))

Let me know how ye get on with the 4 miler, nothing wrong with a bit of research

Nightowl84

Thursday 26th Feb:
This evening was my first time training on the hills. Respect to the IMRA, it's bloody tough. I went for a 7 miler, I had my dog with me which helped and the absence of traffic was a plus but it really is a mental test. I was very happy with the run though and the scenery up high was second to none.

Friday 27th Feb:
Set out in the late afternoon dangerously close to the consumption of lashings of pasta...bad idea. The run was very tough and my stomach didn't feel too good but I completed a tough 10 miles.

Saturday 28th Feb:
I finally got fitted with new runners today. I had been running in a pair of New Balance which I reckon were abit tight and not suited to me at all. So despite the fact I got back late enough I went for a test drive, and so far so good. Miles today: 7.5

Nightowl84

Sunday 1st March:
Decided to take a rest day today as I've spent the last 3 days shocking my body into the horrors of hill running. Actually im feeling grand, no major aches or pains. I'm finding it increasingly hard to do absolutely nothing on the rest days so I took the dog on a long hike.

Monday 2nd March:
I picked a new route today, the 1st half was very tough, alot of uphills, relentless some of them, and there were mental battles aplenty.
The way back was so much easier. A tough but satisfying 12 miles.

Tuesday 3rd March:
Headed off in shorts and a t-shirt with a clear sky in front of me....5 miles later and the sky has darkened and I know im about to pay for my choice of attire. It started with hailstones (large ones) whipping into the side of my face followed by snow. I had to head for home, what a sight i imagine....Otherwise pretty decent 10 miler.

Wednesday 4th March:
Took it easy today, held off on going for a run as I don't want to overdo it but i'd love to have gone running in the snow this morning. Went for a long hike/walk instead.

chinguetti

Hi Nightowl84, looks like you'll be fine for Connemara half and the hills with those 10 milers. If the wind is blowing at our backs, we'll be sorted.

Feel the same bout the rest days as have loads of energy but i just get myself into doing nothing on those days by going to sit in sauna or get massage done to the legs. The rest is as important as the training i find.

Roddy23

Hi Nightowl, looks like you're flying along with your progress. Am down to do the Half Marathon in Connemara too. Up to about 11miles at this stage, with a twelve miler planned tomorrow. After that, think i'll take it handier next weekend, in some sort of taper.

Do you plan to do any sort of taper yourself?

Nightowl84

Hey Roddy,

Sounds like your on track for the half.
Yeah im definitely going to be doing a taper, i'll probably train hard up until next Sunday and then I'm taking the week nice and easy. I reckon ill be too busy cramming for an exam i've got on the Wednesday after the run anyway.

Good luck with your training and the 12 miler coming up.

Nightowl84

Thursday 5th:
Went for a nice slow paced 12 miler this evening. Very enjoyable run.

Friday 6th:
Another 12 miles today, again I took it fairly slow. Wanted to get a longish run in today as tomorrow will be a total writeoff.

Saturday 7th:
Rest day. Spent the day recovering from a serious session (of the non running vareity) last night.

Sunday 8th:
It would take a few pages to accurately recount the madness of todays run. Think getting lost in the hills/snow/freezing conditions/lack of adequate clothing+general preparation. Ended up running over 14 miles and walking a few more. Won't be doing that again......

Monday 9th:
Definitely taking it easy today, might go for a cycle later on.