Becoming a Real Runner

menoscemo

I met up with Aimman this afternoon for a few laps of Cruagh wood.

I don't know what was in my head when I agreed to do this one. I was really looking for a recovery type run after yesterdays 22 with a race tomorrow. I quickly saw how steep this route was, I somehow remembered it as being much flatter. I bailed after one lap as the legs were just not liking it at all.
2.5 miles with 113m climbing :eek:

I headed down to tymon for a lap of that instead. The legs were dead for the first few minutes then it started feeling comfortable again.
3 miles @ 9:17 pace
Total for the day: 5.5 miles

WTD: 5 runs 42.2 miles
MTD: 26 runs, 242.5miles

menoscemo

Based on my waterford half time, Mcmillan had me down for 32:54 today. Given that the conditions were much better today than in waterford and I am normally much faster over short races, I felt 32:30 was achievable. My previuos PB was 33:45 from the Simon race in Ocyober so the main target was to break 33 minutes.

Yesterday I felt very sluggish and so I did today. I did a 1.5 mile warm up and the legs weren't there. I lined up near the front anyway and shot off as usual. I found it difficult within half a mile. Normally I tell myself that it is normal to feel like giving up halfway through a shorter race but today after half a mile I was contemplating quitting :pac:. Anyway, I gutted it out but it wasn't fun. Strangey I felt that dropping my pace by 5 or 10 seconds a mile made it feel comfortable, I just wasn't able to go beyond. I guess it is all the miles in the legs and the lack of speedwork. Still I mustn't grumble. A PB is a PB.
Splits:
6:18, 6:34, 6:38, 6:48, 6:42 for 5 miles in 32:55 (acording to offical results). 6:35/mile average. That's a 50 second PB for the distance.
I am now in the starnge position of having a longer distance race considered better by Mcmillan than a much shorter one. Can it be that with all the long distance training I am actaully becoming an endurance athlete? :eek:

6.5 miles for the day.

Weekly total: 6 runs 48.7 miles
MTD: 27 runs, 249miles

Aimman

menoscemo wrote: »

Based on my waterford half time, Mcmillan had me down for 32:54 today.

5 miles in 32:55

I am now in the starnge position of having a longer distance race considered better by Mcmillan than a much shorter one.

or maybe McMillan's calculator actually works:D
Well dont on the PB, another one notched up.

menoscemo

Aimman wrote: »

or maybe McMillan's calculator actually works:D
Well dont on the PB, another one notched up.

Yep, based on my offical HM time (91:50), mcmillan had me at 32:55, just as I got today. My 5k time is also within 5 seconds. Freaky really. Now I just have to do a 3:13 marathon to complete the set :pac:

chinguetti

Good going on the PB and the ultrarunner in you is breaking out:D

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Nice to have 2 pbs locked up in the first month of the year. The father ran it today in 44 mins and he was chuffed with that.

jcsmum

Well done on your PB. You're on fire!

liamo123

Again fab running M...your really racking up the Pb's....I sincerely hope ur going to race Barcelona now...3.13 or probably nearer to 3.10 is within reach.. Welll done again

MisterDrak

Memo, nice run. As we have mentioned before, our race times are pretty close, with yesterday being no exception...

However your yearly milage total is massive... Respect...

menoscemo

liamo123 wrote: »

Again fab running M...your really racking up the Pb's....I sincerely hope ur going to race Barcelona now...3.13 or probably nearer to 3.10 is within reach.. Welll done again

Still can't see me going for it in barca. the week after a 50k and racing only 5 weeks out from conn it would kill me. It took me about 5 weeks just to recover from racing DCM last year.
I do promise however to race one marathon before the summer just based on ultra training and then do a proper training programme for an autumn assault at that PB.

MisterDrak wrote: »

Memo, nice run. As we have mentioned before, our race times are pretty close, with yesterday being no exception...

However your yearly milage total is massive... Respect...

Cheers, in fairness you were a good minute ahead of me. I have a feeling the big mileage is actually holding me back in these short races through a combination of tired legs and no speedwork. Hopefully i can be well rested and get closer to your time at sportsworld in May.
I'd still class fast times to be more impressive than big mileage so well done to yourself.

pgmcpq

menoscemo wrote: »

.....dropping my pace by 5 or 10 seconds a mile made it feel comfortable, I just wasn't able to go beyond. I guess it is all the miles in the legs and the lack of speedwork. ..... A PB is a PB.
......Can it be that with all the long distance training I am actaully becoming an endurance athlete? :eek:

A PB two days after 22 miles at a decent clip. Fair play ! T answer the question - yup ... think you've got the endurance athlete thing down !

menoscemo

7.3 miles @9:04 pace. I ran home from work which is mostly flat except the first 1.5 miles which are 100m downhill. The good news is I have to run it the other way tomorrow morning . I think I'll run it on empty as it will be good training for the Hell of the west in the Ultra.
Hip a bit stiff today after yesterdays race.

January Total: 28 Runs 256.3 miles (2 races, 2 PB's) a good month all round and my biggest monthly mileage by almost 50 miles.

WTD 1 Run 7.3 miles

claralara

I hope you haven't fallen asleep at your desk already if you managed to run in...that hill is an absolute killer. The only thing that got me to the top the day I cycled it were the thoughts of pints at the summit. That is not a luxury you can take advantage of today...:)

menoscemo

claralara wrote: »

I hope you haven't fallen asleep at your desk already if you managed to run in...that hill is an absolute killer. The only thing that got me to the top the day I cycled it were the thoughts of pints at the summit. That is not a luxury you can take advantage of today...:)

No, I've made it and not asleep yet. The hill's a tough one alright especially when you haven't had anything for breakfast yet. Where did you go for the pints? The Merry ploughboy (used to be Dohertys). Anyway the hill should be good practice for the hell of the west.

7.2 Miles @9:07 pace 106 m climb.

WTD 2 Runs 14.5 miles
MTD 1 Run 7.2 miles

Aimman

menoscemo wrote: »

I think I'll run it on empty as it will be good training for the Hell of the west in the Ultra.

Do you really think you'll have burned off that Jumbo Breakfast Roll and Meanies by the HOTW?

menoscemo

Aimman wrote: »

Do you really think you'll have burned off that Jumbo Breakfast Roll and Meanies by the HOTW?

haha, maybe not. I might actually put on weight during the ultra :pac:

Mr Slow

Well done Meno, another blinder.

menoscemo

mrslow wrote: »

Well done Meno, another blinder.

Are you up for this Operation Transformation 5k on 19th Feb? It's a freebie in the park at our normal group run time. We could tack a few miles on after and make a longish run of it. I just set up a thread in the events forum.

Aimman

menoscemo wrote: »

Are you up for this Operation Transformation 5k on 19th Feb? It's a freebie in the park at our normal group run time. We could tack a few miles on after and make a longish run of it. I just set up a thread in the events forum.

Will we be on the telly?

Mr Slow

menoscemo wrote: »

Are you up for this Operation Transformation 5k on 19th Feb? It's a freebie in the park at our normal group run time. We could tack a few miles on after and make a longish run of it. I just set up a thread in the events forum.

I'd love to but Saturdays are out for me for February

menoscemo

mrslow wrote: »

I'd love to but Saturdays are out for me for February

We are running this sunday morning too if you want to join us?

Mr Slow

menoscemo wrote: »

We are running this sunday morning too if you want to join us?

I'll let you know later in the week chief.

menoscemo

Rest day yesterday, hip a bit stiff from the weekend race so took a day off.

Today: 7.6 miles @8:33/mile av in Tymon with Aimman including 3 miles at his tempo pace (7:49, 7:42, 7:54). Hard to pace the faster miles with the wind blowing all over the place. Really blustery out there tonight. I hope it calms down for the weekend.

WTD 3 Runs 22.1 miles
MTD 2 Runs 14.8 miles

rainbow kirby

menoscemo wrote: »

Rest day yesterday, hip a bit stiff from the weekend race so took a day off.

Weirdly enough, I found that actually doing some faster running at the weekend helped to loosen mine up! :eek:

menoscemo

5.8 miles @ 8:48 pace. Couple of laps of Tymon, this would normally be considered an easy/recovery pace run but I am not sure you could define running in that weather as easy. At times I had to just put my head down and seemed to be running on the spot.

WTD 4 Runs 27.9 miles
MTD 3 Runs 20.6 miles

Hopefuly I'll get 2 long runs in this weekend to bring the weekly mileage up.

menoscemo

26.2 miles in 3:44:20 (8:33 pace).

Geat group run this morning with Oisin, Ral3, Brianderunner, Jackyback and RQ (if only for a bit). After a nice handy first 6 miles we picked up the pace a bit and after dropping Ral3 at 15 Oisin took us on a lovely course including running up the Knockmaroon hill at 20 miles :rolleyes:.

Oisin and Brain had pushed ahead of myself and Jackyback after about 18 miles but we met back at the cars at 22 miles. At this stage the other two lads headed off and myself and Oisin headed back out for another 4.2 to finish off the marathon distance. It all felt nice and easy, but with a mile to go I realised I needed an 8 minute mile to get under 3:45 so I put the boot down and did the last 1.2 in just under 7:30 pace, still feeling fresh. Great run, it'll be my longest before the 50k in 3 weeks. I'll keep up the weekly mileage until then but probably not go over 20 miles.

WTD 5 Runs 54.1 miles
MTD 3 Runs 46.8 miles

rainbow kirby

Savage run

Mr Slow

menoscemo wrote: »

26.2 miles in 3:44:20 (8:33 pace).

Geat group run this morning with Oisin, Ral3, Brianderunner, Jackyback and RQ (if only for a bit). After a nice handy first 6 miles we picked up the pace a bit and after dropping Ral3 at 15 Oisin took us on a lovely course including running up the Knockmaroon hill at 20 miles :rolleyes:.

Oisin and Brain had pushed ahead of myself and Jackyback after about 18 miles but we met back at the cars at 22 miles. At this stage the other two lads headed off and myself and Oisin headed back out for another 4.2 to finish off the marathon distance. It all felt nice and easy, but with a mile to go I realised I needed an 8 minute mile to get under 3:45 so I put the boot down and did the last 1.2 in just under 7:30 pace, still feeling fresh. Great run, it'll be my longest before the 50k in 3 weeks. I'll keep up the weekly mileage until then but probably not go over 20 miles.

WTD 5 Runs 54.1 miles
MTD 3 Runs 46.8 miles

Seriously Dude, you're just showing off now.

menoscemo

mrslow wrote: »

Seriously Dude, you're just showing off now.

This is Ultra training. It's what you need to do.

racheljev

Wow really impressive running Meno, fair play!