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A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
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Did Kevin7 shag off again when the going got tough??
We had a dietician out at our club and she reckoned 90 minutes is as much as you'll get out of your body working at optimal level. Anything after that and it is time to fuel up. A gel is good for about 20-30 minutes she reckoned
Whats your thinking on trying to drag out the nutrition, I am the opposite I will be liberally downing the gel again this weekend on the LSR, better to be overcooked than undercooked is my thinking.
Note: I know very little about nutrition
Note: I know very little about nutrition too.
McMillan's system on endurance is that "you become more efficient at using fat as a fuel source, decreasing your reliance on your limited carbohydrate stores (muscle glycogen). Speaking of glycogen, Endurance training stimulates the muscles to store more glycogen making this fuel readily available for long duration efforts as well as high intensity workouts".
I thought I saw something about it in the P+D book where you should try to stretch out the distance you run before refuelling so as to also encourage that fuel storage and efficient use. Or maybe its something I read on Boards, maybe posted by one of the Ultra people
. I'll check the book this evening.
Obviously I overdid it and crashed and burned and 90mins is the optimal duration but I thought it would help in the marathon and HIM events. I would intend taking on fuel in a more disciplined way during them but I thought it would help to stretch it during training. My HIM target is 6hrs so thats a long time to be on the go. I get fed up with gels after 2-3 of them but I'm gonna have to go with them a bit more on the long distances.
I struggled to stay with Kevin7 this time as he's clocked up more cycling miles (and swimming) than me but I'm trying to encourage him to do the Lost Sheep so we can tackle another tough day out together. He's in for the HOTW also and should easily be sub3hrs (:D no pressure Kev!) whereas its a stretch for me. On the Lost Sheep I'd be hoping my endurance pigheadedness would outweigh his swimming, cycling and running prowess!0 -
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I struggled to stay with Kevin7 this time as he's clocked up more cycling miles (and swimming) than me but I'm trying to encourage him to do the Lost Sheep so we can tackle another tough day out together. He's in for the HOTW also and should easily be sub3hrs (:D no pressure Kev!) whereas its a stretch for me. On the Lost Sheep I'd be hoping my endurance pigheadedness would outweigh his swimming, cycling and running prowess!
Well his swimming prowess secret is out... spotted him at the pool at lunchtime with the Masters! I was only there because I forgot some running gear for a lunchtime trot and the pool is only down the road. I've no doubt when the wednesday evening cycles start back he will be out there too. No resting on your laurels then RedB.
Another battle ground for you both could be the Club TT league starting up again soon
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RedB and I have had very different training regime's so far this year - RedB's highly weighted on running and endurace, mine plenty of swimming, but not enough bike/run. Will be interesting to see the relative improvements (or otherwise!) at the HOTW!
I'd say we're both focusing on the wrong thing if it were quick improvements we're after as cycling is probably where the greatest inroads can be made given its relative proportion. So its a good thing we're in it for the long haul and not just interested in cherrypicking!
Weds eve cycles won't be on the agenda for me either unless I develop a deathwish involving an inappropraite use of a tennis racket as that's MrsB's evening off.
As for the Sean Kelly and laughing at the climbs of Mahon Falls and Mama Road - well, I think it was them that were laughing at me whilst I did the muttering darkly. See extract below for a more accurate version -"I suppose the weather wasn't the absolute worst but the wind on the main road after the first mountain stretch was a pain and coming down from Mahon with the rain coming in horizontal was an experience as it was coming so hard and at such an angle I actually couldn't keep my eyes open and had to switch from squinting out one eye and then the other. Just what you want to be doing when coming down a bad mountain road at speed with fatigue eating at every part of your mind and body! I managed to follow someone else down that part and so got through unscathed. Well, physically anyway.
Yes, I did stick it out through all the Mahon Falls, Mama Rd, etc but not easily. I got up the woody part of 'Mahon' with extreme difficulty and said to myself as it 'levelled' a bit and I stopped hyperventilating , "Ha - in your face Mahon!!! Is that all you got!!!". And as it turned out I wasn't even at Mahon yet!! I pushed on for as long as I could and eventually spotted a van way off in the clouds and convinced myself to hang in there as that was surely the peak. Ah yes, I'm sure you know how this goes. As I laboured (Hello again hyperventilation!) closer to the van what was to reveal itself 400m beyond it and higher up but a car. "O darn" I said and gave up when I got to the van. Oh well, so near and not so far. A story to tell the kids. A few others were also stopped around the van and it was only when I overheard them speaking and pointing to the summit that I realised that the car wasn't the top either and that the last stretch resembled Patrick's Hill in Cork. After 5 hours and about 120km in the saddle, I knew it wasn't going to happen and resigned myself to the walk of shame. I did manage the 400m to the car but had to walk from it, past the car park with the kids saying 'well done' (cringe), past the photographers (please don't take my picture, cringe, cringe) to the summit where a cohort of cyclists where cheering on their buddies cycling past me (cringe). Fair play to you if you managed that section and I'm sure you did - it was a monster.
The rest of it was so not funny that it was funny. I imagined that it'd be downhill freewheeling all the into Dungarven but the Sean Kelly Tour wasn't done with me yet. Not only did it chew me up and spit me out, it then decided to stamp all over me just for fun. The length of that Mama Road was heartbreaking when all I wanted to do was go home and then those other BirdhillCottage-like hills thrown in just for the craic! OMG. Even when we got back to the main road they managed to squeeze off another one or two. Now I remember why I didn't sign up for the 160km route - I wasn't even close to being prepared!
I don't think you'll be seeing me on a bike for a while yet but thanks to all for the experience especially Kevin as I wouldn't have done it without your suggestion. I had visions of your car being robbed when I got back to car park and couldn't find it. I'll be bringing the mobile with me next time."
I knew Kevin7 was doing the Masters swims and I've even taken my usual position in the 'baby' lane alongside them a few days but I still wouldn't be up for the pace/distances they're doing. Although, the 'baby' lane is looking a bit emptier the last few Thurs evenings as the Coach gave the nod to a few people to move across. I'll have to push the time trial this Thurs to see if I can make that grade.;)0 -
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Days 149 - 141
Mon 15/3 - Tues 16/3
Mon - Thought about a swim....thought about chocolate....thought about life.....did SFA. Recovery day.
Tues
5.56M morning run 43:58 Avg 7:55/M 145bpm
Usually do Track on a tues eve but have something on then re Paddies Day community event so rescheduled. Tried another attempt at a Tempo run with the plan being W.U, 20min at 7:30pace, WD. Reasonable happy with it although a decent hill at the end really stuck it to me and I pulled the plug at the top and recovered from there.
WU - 1.41M, 11:49, 8:23/M
Tempo - 2.63M, 19:48, 7:33/M
WD - 1.52M, 12:21, 8:07/M
Lunchtime swim - 1200m straight in approx 30mins. Nice easy pace. Could've kept going but got turfed out due to end of session.0 -
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I thought I saw something about it in the P+D book where you should try to stretch out the distance you run before refuelling so as to also encourage that fuel storage and efficient use. Or maybe its something I read on Boards, maybe posted by one of the Ultra people. I'll check the book this evening.
Nothing in the book about stretching out nutrition but some of the Ultras seem to do it. Won't be doing it again soon. 90min will be fine from now on.0 -
Days 152 - 154
Wed 17/3 - Fri 19/3
Wed - Felt quite tired today. Maybe the glycogen depletion on Sat caught up with me but fairly wiped for most of the day. Was involved with the parade with the elder lemon for a chunk of the day and MrsB was under the weather also so I took the kids off for the rest of the day = no training done.
Thur - Travelled early with work and only got back in time for food, family stuff and 9pm tri swim session.
100m W.U.
500M time trial 11:26 Avg split 2:17/100m
5 x 50m W.D.
Total 850m
Happy enough with this even though I never felt totally comfortable. I was probably pushing it (believe it or not :rolleyes:) and had a lane to myself so no excuses there. I think the 100m splits were 2:10/2:10/2:17/2:29/2:20 which at least are good numbers to actually have and work with now as I never recorded those before. It was slightly faster than the 400m TT and I can now focus more on targeting improvements on those splits as well as distance work. 1500m works out at 34:15 at that pace and realistically I think I can only hope to get around 33ish in HOTW but we'll see how we go.
Fri - My running has gone to the dogs over the last few weeks with not enough runs or distance being clocked up during the week. I'll have to get it back on track as there's only 6 weeks :eek: to the marathon in the Great Limerick Run. I've clocked up 2 x 20 milers ok to date but my weekly totals are behind the plan for the last 4 weeks
. I have done more swimming and there's been life stuff happening but a big push is required on the running front especially over the next 3 weeks. With that in mind I did a tempo run this morning albeit with 3 unscheduled interuptions so it was more like a tempo interval session.
1M W.U. - 8:20 Avg 152bpm
3.05M - 23:41 Avg 141bpm Avg pace 7:46min/M
3min INTERUPTION
0.67M - 4:56 Avg 134bpm Avg pace 7:23min/M
2min INTERUPTION
1.29M - 9:30 Avg 136bpm Avg pace 7:23min/M
1min INTERUPTION
0.5M - 3:41 Avg 145bpm Avg pace 7:19min/M
0.61M W.D. - 4:52 Avg 137bpm Avg Pace 8:00min/M
Total 7.11M, 55:01, Avg 140bpm, Avg pace 7:44/M (but excl 3 stops)
Doing the Ballycotton 10 with BB on Sunday and hoping to break 80mins chip time with a target pace of 7:50min/M. The plan is hold that pace steady from the start and review at the 10km (6.25M) mark. Maybe then increase it slightly until the hill just before the 9M mark where we either adjust or hang on for dear life and then hit the afterburners with 400m to go. My number hasn't arrived in the post so hopefully I can sort that out without any hassle when we get down there early.
Lunchtime swim - got a suggested 'Goldilocks' routine from a Swim Smooth mail so gave it a go.
100m W.U
100m off 30sec
200m off 30 sec
300m
Do twice with 2 min break between sets.
Could only manage 100m of the final 300m after last nights swim and earlier run as arms and legs were hanging off me by then but will try it again next week as I don't have any detail in my swimming plan apart from gut feeling of what I should be doing. MrsB was looking for a stopwatch for her running so got her a water resistant one with lap functions that she's bound to love and I can steal borrow. Took it for a trial during my swim and came back with the following splits
100m 2:10
200m 4:47
300m 7:09
100m 2:13
200m 4:51
100m 2:25
Total 1100m incl W.U.
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Hey Red!!!!!!!!!
I don't feel such a superhuman after reading your training log. To tell the truth I could only manage a few pages
I feel so small , slow and weak now :P
Yikes - you should check out shotgunmcos's Budapest log if you really want to see impressive stuff - now that's a training log! There are some pretty dedicated people knocking around this place and its good to see how everyone manages it all. I'm dead impressed with your 9M run home after work and the hill work around silvermines. The 'hills' around Limerick aren't in that league at all! 0 -
Days 155 - 156
Sat 20/3 - Sun 21/3
Sat - intended to do a 3-4M run just to keep the legs 'ticking over' but the day got away from me and it didn't happen. I didn't want to do it late in the evening as it would have been counter-productive at that stage. I need to just do those runs first thing without fuss or it gets complicated with family stuff.
Sun - Ballycotton 10
This was one of my few races this year and I was aiming for sub-80mins. I've done it 3 times previously and was always in the 85-90min camp. Those times I was just delighted to finish 10 miles but this year I have been putting in decent training for over 4 months and surprise surprise it did pay off. I'm delighted to record a PB of 77:00mins .
My buddy BB and I got down there for 10:45am and had a wander round, soaking up the atmosphere. We had a light meal of soup, sandwich and a coffee at 11.30am so we'd be ok for the 1.30pm start time. I was sipping away on a 1.5L water bottle also as it was a beautiful, sunny day. Got changed and sorted out my replacement number (long story involving the brother). Did a short warm up and stretch. I would've preferred a longer one but we'd left it a little tight for time as we had to queue for toilets :rolleyes:. Was at the start line for 1.15pm and it was mobbed. Tried to move up as far as possible but it was jammers. I was trying out compression socks, sunglasses and a hat as a trial for the marathon and I was a bit concerned about overheating with the hat but it worked out fine. There was a nice atmosphere all round and the usual start line tension as we all huddled together. It took nearly a minute and a half to cross the start line after the gun went and there was a lot of sorting out going on for the first mile with spurts thru gaps and then delays but generally fine. Things settled down a bit from the bottom of the hill and we were maintaing a 7:45 pace. I was ok with this but BB was overheating and enquiring about water from early on. We kept a steady pace apart from the odd overtaking spurts and congestion holdups and I was feeling strong and happy. I kept to the plan of going steady to 10km even though I felt I could've pushed it on in patches. We got water around then and BB said to head off as he wasn't as happy as I was. I put the foot down over the next 2 miles and was hitting 7:10 pace at times as I reeled in the bodies in front while feeling comfortable. I knew the course so eased up coming to the final hill as its over a mile long and will burn you if you attack it too soon. The tightness started coming in the legs up the hill but I knew I was well on track. I hit the 9M mark in 71:10 clock time so knew sub-80 was in the bag. I caught up with a local runner thru the village and everyone was calling out to her saying ' Come on Michelle' etc. As a cheap motivational aid I pretended that was my name 
and they were shouting for me as the hill was taking its toll and I started to fade a bit. I managed to hold my pace as a result and got another boost at the 400m mark when a finished runner shouted to drive on from there. I increased my cadence and warmed up the afterburners. From about 300m out I thought about all the fast track sessions I had done and decided to put them to use. I hit 200m with visions of coming round the bend in UL and it was Warp Factor 10 from there to the finish line as I gave it everything I'd left and sprinted to the line in a clock time of 1:18:29 and a chip time of 77mins dead. Happy days!
I got my mug and headed for the baggage area to await BB. It seemed like 5minutes until he got there and he was toasted. He said he did it in a time of 80:08 and collapsed on the grass. I got water, bananas and Mars bars for us both while he recovered. When he got his wits back he asked me about about my 'corrected' time as he knew I was Sub-80 and it turned out then that the time he had initially quoted was clock time . I was delighted that he actually ran 78:51 so we both met our target and him on his first attempt!
We soaked up the sun for a bit and did a small bit of stretching before heading back to the car, changing and hoovering off a pile of sandwiches we brought. He even had some mouthwatering homemade Choc Caramal flapjack thingies which I declined as I'm off that sorta thing for Lent and was also keeping my Mars bar safe until Lent is over! Picked up some strong coffee en route home and smiled all the way there :cool:.
Sub 80 Min 10M Check0 -
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I have done that motivational thing as well but names like Usain, Haile, Moses are going through my head not Michelle
Cheers catweazle - Wow, you run in races where people are cheering on those superstars of today and yesteryear. Haven't heard Moses's name in a while. Fair play - hope they'll be there in Connemara!
If not, I'll shout out for you when you pass the HM crowd! Enjoy your taper - don't eat too much.0 -
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Good running RedB, good to see training is paying off - a well deserved PB. What's your goal for Conn?
Well, a wise boardie started a Sub100min HM log that caught my eye and I have that as my next target along with a sub45min 10k.
I haven't done Connemara before but I see from the route profile that there's a few bumps along the way which would make it difficult to achieve my target there. I was also toying with the idea of running on after the HM to clock up a long run as it'd be my final one before the Limerick Marathon. I think I'll wait and see the course before deciding if I'm going to 'race' it or jog it. Maybe jog half and do the second half at pmp.
My bigger dilema is how am I going to get my number, chip, band, etc as I'm going to the Munster match on Sat evening so I won't make it up to Registration in time after that. I might have to get it on Fri or early on Sat and go home again . Someone else can collect them for us if they have our ID so BB is checking out that angle but its messy as we'd only be coming up Sun morning. 0 -
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Just reading your Ballycotton report now. Well done there, great performance on a tough course (so I understand). there looks to be a good bunch of us average runners pushing on to better things this year. next year we will all be talking about sub-3 marathon attempts :eek::D
Thanks menoscemo. I definitely feel the benefit of the better training this year and feeling good about my targets. I can't imagine talking about sub-3 hour marathon attempts next year when last years attempt was nearly 5 hours albeit at late notice and minimal training! Talk to me after May 2nd (Limerick Marathon) and I might be quite happy with where I'm at now............or maybe not. If I can hit Limerick at 3:45ish I'd be gunning for sub 3:30 DCM but the minutes get scarcer at that pace for a slogger like me. One step at a time . 0 -
Days 152 - 153
Sat 27/3 - Sun 28/3
Sat - 20.08M LSR, 2:58:48, Avg 8:54/m, 130bpm
Hooked up with BB for our first LSR together in weeks due to conflicting schedules. It was slightly awkward arranging this one too due to family commitments so we were running by 6:30am in order to get it done. We ran the bulk of the Limerick Marathon route starting and finishing close to UL but without the Ennis road (35-42km) and Living Bridge(12-15km) loops. The route is a little messy along the riverbank but worth it for the scenary. It was a mild morning with no traffic early on, so it was nice running.
Took an iso gel bang on 90mins this time and a power bar gel about 45mins later. The iso gel is noticeably watery compared to the regular gel but each have their advantages. You get approx 25% more from the regular gel than the iso but you need water with it. As we were out very early and off our usual route, we ended up buying water at petrol stations beside the Hospital and again on the Dublin Road (approx 12M + 15.5M). Also had a slight altercation with a taxi coming out of a side street about 15M and him only looking one way before I slid across his bonnet ala Starskey and Hutch :eek: No harm done but was not a happy bunny for a few mins. A slight diversion to an otherwise peaceful morning. The Tri club cycle group passed us near the Parkway and gave a wave as we took on water. BB started to fade as we got back near UL and after we stopped for a min and got going again, he took the shorter way home via Kilmurry as I finished out to Vistacon and home. I was feeling good the whole way and clocked up the last few miles at sub 8:20 pace which I was happy with as most of the run was 9ish pace. Reasonably tired for the rest of the day so took it easy but legs weren't particularly stiff or sore.
Sun Recovery Run, 4.39M, 37:59, Avg 8:39, 129bpm
Met my fellow baby lane swimming buddy Ray from the Tri Club Swim Session mid run as he was out cycling. He's also doing the marathon so we stopped and chatted about where we're at on our schedules. A lot of people around seem to be doing some of the Great Limerick Run and its great to see the roads busy with runners. One of my brothers just signed up for the 10k and MrsB is making shapes in that direction too. I hope she goes for it as she'd be well able for it. Anyway, rambling now so gonna leave it there. Clock change always messes me up. 0 -
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Days 157 - 161
Thurs 1/4 - Mon 5/4
Thurs - On the road early with work so no chance for a run. Evening tri club swim. Can't find the breakdown right now but it was an interval like session focusing on speed with only a few drills but lots of slow/fast and then fast and sprint lengths off short recovery. I felt strong in the water and was happy with the session. I need to do a bit more pool work to capitalise on this but there is a glimmer of hope there regarding improving my speed. I need to start pushing out the distances as well as its only 12 weeks to the HOTW.
Fri - Lazy day, off work but squeezed in a PMP run between chores before going to the Mun v Leinster match.
6.13M, 49:23, 8:03/M, Avg HR 143bpm. Body still a little lifeless.
Sat - Headed down to Tralee to the Mother-in-law's for 2 nights. Went for a run with MrsB. First time in memory :eek:. She's targeting the 10km in the Great Limerick Run and is hoping to get round in about an hour so we did 3M together at 10:00/M pace and then I did another 2.4M at 8:37/M pace. Total 5.4M, 50:57, 9:26/M, 128bpm.
Sun - Was feeling a bit concerned about the lack of 'spark' in this weeks training so decided to push the run a bit. It was miserable weather with constant rain but I couldn't put it off so I geared up and got on with it. Basically I planned on doing 13M with the first half slow and the second half at PMP in anticipation of next weeks HM in Connemara. However I got a green light for a 2 hour run as it was assumed thats how long it would take me so I changed the plan to 1 hour slow, 1 hour fast. I went out the road towards Castleisland for the first hour at a handy pace which came out at 8:26/M and then turned and upped the pace. I was aiming for 8:00/M pace but actually found it hard to hold it at that as I was going faster . My 'fast' pace was bouncing around from 7:30-8:00 so I just tried balancing within that band by feel and using the Garmin and held on for as long as I could. I took an isogel on 90mins and was surprising myself with how long I could maintain such a decent pace with the miles clocking up. I felt strong and fast and narrowed the band closer to 7:45-8:00 as I went on. As I got close to base I could feel the energy starting to drop and then I faded fast over the last mile where I dipped right back to 9:00 pace. Still, it was a decent effort and I was very happy with the feeling of racing most of the second hour in poor conditions. I went through the HM mark in about 1:48 which I'm going to claim as a PB having never clocked it before .
Total 14.75M, 2:00:13, 8:09/M, 144bpm
1st Hr 7.11M, 1:00:01, 8:26/M, 142bpm
2nd Hr 7.64M, 1:00:12, 7:53/M, 146bpm
Slightly over 35M running for the week but only 2 swims and 1 ex bike. Happy to be pushing into 7:xx run territory, slowly but surely .
Mon - Rest day.0 -
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Yep MarieC, all set. Looking forward to it as I've done the miles alright. Limerick is still the main focus though (as it should be). Weather forecast is looking sunny for Connemara so it'll be a far cry from the cold, dark, wet evening runs from the UL Boatclub earlier in the season. Guess we'll have to concern ourselves with hydration and sunscreen.
I'm only traveling up Sun morning so maybe I'll see you out there. Never done it before so don't know the setup. Best of luck if we don't meet up.0 -
Yep MarieC, all set. Looking forward to it as I've done the miles alright. Limerick is still the main focus though (as it should be). Weather forecast is looking sunny for Connemara so it'll be a far cry from the cold, dark, wet evening runs from the UL Boatclub earlier in the season. Guess we'll have to concern ourselves with hydration and sunscreen.
I'm only traveling up Sun morning so maybe I'll see you out there. Never done it before so don't know the setup. Best of luck if we don't meet up.
Only heading up myself on sunday evening. must check up the website for times that we need to be up there by. should be good craic anyway. its well organised, good atmosphere so enjoy it!0 -
Best of luck in Connemara RedB, you're sure to pick up a nice boost for yourself leading into Limerick.
You've been doing both a lot of miles and a lot of good running these past few months
Enjoy HOTW - maybe give catweazle a push if you see him 0 -
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