London 2010

dermCu

Week ending 27th Dec:

Mon 21st 10 @ 7:16

Tue 22nd 15 @ 6:59 m/m

Wed 23rd 6.5 with 6 x 1/2 mile repeats. All around 5:50 pace. Average pace for the total session 6:45. Was at a wedding on Tuesday so getting out for a run was a bonus, getting some faster stuff in was even better.

Thur 24th 10 @ 6:56

Fri 25th Dec: Nothing. Not a booze related slip, there was real intent. Had a walk outside my front door and the paths were brutal. Nearly fell on my ass a few times. No way I was risking that.

Sat 26th Dec: 10 @ 7:46 - Ran the first 4 miles with some friends. Those miles were well north of 8 m/m but the banter was great. Increased the pace when they dropped off. last 6 ~ 7 m/m

Sun 27th Dec. Nothing. This I confess was completely booze related.

A weak 52 miles with no long run. Cant say I'm really bothered about it.
I don't get home as often as I'd like so where there was an option to forfeit some running to hang around with my family(and have a beer) it was a no-brainer for me.

dermCu

Mon 28th Dec - Nada. Was heading back to London. Much preferred to spend my remaining time at home lazing about the house playing Super Mario with my nephew rather than running.

Tue 29th Dec - 10 @ 6:52 - Nice run even though the rain pissed down the whole way through. Lovely little wind chill as well.

Going to have to do some planning for the the next week or two to fit stuff around running. New years eve might not be pretty.
To add to that I might be heading away for a week hols with Ms dermCu - its one of those 'use your remaining leave time or lose it' scenarios.

dermCu

Wed 30th Dec: 20 @ 6:51 - To be honest that was a bit of a battle. My legs wouldn’t listen to my brain when they were told to ease off the pace. Stubborn dermCu took over. It was cold and wet right from the start so maybe that sapped a bit more energy than normal.

I know that it was a good run for the middle of the week in late December but considering how wrecked I felt at the end the idea of 26 @ 6:30 seems daunting at the moment.

village runner

dermCu wrote: »

Wed 30th Dec: 20 @ 6:51 - To be honest that was a bit of a battle. My legs wouldn’t listen to my brain when they were told to ease off the pace. Stubborn dermCu took over. It was cold and wet right from the start so maybe that sapped a bit more energy than normal.

I know that it was a good run for the middle of the week in late December but considering how wrecked I felt at the end the idea of 26 @ 6:30 seems daunting at the moment.

Considering you ran 10 at the same pace yesterday must count for something.
On your own in the cold its a great clip to be running at 17 weeks before a marathon. You will be fine. You training is going very well.
How many 18s or higher have you done to date ??

TheRoadRunner

dermCu wrote: »

I know that it was a good run for the middle of the week in late December but considering how wrecked I felt at the end the idea of 26 @ 6:30 seems daunting at the moment.

Won't be a problem. Pace may be a little quick this time of the year though. You don't want to peak too early. I'm pretty jealous of that run though

dermCu

Considering you ran 10 at the same pace yesterday must count for something.
On your own in the cold its a great clip to be running at 17 weeks before a marathon. You will be fine. You training is going very well.
How many 18s or higher have you done to date ??

Thanks VR. What threw me a little as well was the contrast between the two runs. The 10 miler the night before was great, felt light on my feet. But you are right it wouldn't have made things any easier.

Since Oct 24th I've had 9 long runs:
2 x 22
4 x 20
3 x 17.4

Won't be a problem. Pace may be a little quick this time of the year though. You don't want to peak too early. I'm pretty jealous of that run though

Appreciate that RR. Up to now I've been keeping an eye out for signs of general over-training rather than my pace being too quick but I take your point.

Peckham

Although we both have the same target race, and my target time is only a few minutes slower than you, our approaches to training are significantly different. It'll be interesting to compare how we both feel come race day and our end-result.

I've done 1x17.5 mile long run, compared with your 3 at this length and 6 at longer distances. :eek:

Note to self: Have faith in my training plan

heffsarmy

Dermot thats more long runs than I have ever ran for a marathon and you have 17 weeks left :eek: From reading your log and tergat comments about the long runs it made me rethink my training. I plan to get at least 9 x 20milers+ in before the Rotterdam marathon, so hopefully all this will pay off.

dermCu

Thur 31 Dec 8.7 @ 7:25 - Legs were a little sore after yesterday but the pace still felt easy. Was nice to be out in the daylight when it wasn't raining.

Peckham wrote: »

our approaches to training are significantly different.

I see it a bit differently. Its more like we're at different stages of our running careers(for want of a better phrase). I ran my first marathon almost 10 years ago. As well as other marathons I've done other endurance events almost every year since. So I didn't just wake up one morning in October and decide to do a shed load of long runs before April.

Same as you I've been building to this point over years rather than weeks. Have faith in the work you've done to get you to this point rather than in a training plan.

Dermot thats more long runs than I have ever ran for a marathon and you have 17 weeks left From reading your log and tergat comments about the long runs it made me rethink my training. I plan to get at least 9 x 20milers+ in before the Rotterdam marathon, so hopefully all this will pay off.

All I'd say Heff is try to get in a long run of some type (workout, progression, step back, easy etc..) every week between now and taper. Its up to you to listen to your body and judge what it is able for.

dermCu

10 @ 7:00 m/m - Nice run. Clear blue sky, no wind or rain.

dermCu

Sat 2nd 6 @ 7:12 - Was out for drinks with some friends last night so I was just happy to run today.

dermCu

Sun 3rd Jan 21.8 @ 6:57 - Last 2 were at MP. Weather has been mild enough since I got back after Christmas but tonight was freezing. Nothing I guess to what most of Ireland is suffering at the moment.

I know that doing 2 long runs in a short timeframe is risking it a bit but I'm off on hols tomorrow. I'll be away next weekend so this gives me the option of cutting back on the long run if I want.

dermCu

those of you suffering in ice and snow might want to stop reading now as it is 26c here on the beach in Oman....sorry

Mon 4th: nothing - straight to airport after work.
Tue 5th: 6 @ around 8 m/m. Lots of hills around the hotel, could not resist.
We'd 6th: 8 @ avg 8:20. Found some even bigger hills. Was right on my limit on a few of them. Can only imagine what my heart rate was, felt more like i had raced a half flat out. Intervals in disguise.

messed_up

Hi DermCu,

Just started my London 2010 this week (not my training thankfully!) so I'll be keeping an eye on both yours and peckham's log for the next 4 months, though I'll be finishing a little later than you guys! Good luck with the training

dermCu

Thur 7th - 10 dont know pace but do know that it hurt like hell. There are some serious hills around here.

Fri 8th - Rest

Sat 9th - 15 of the toughest miles I've ever run on the road. Thought the hills might be more managable if I dropped down a gear before hitting the big ones; wrong, they chewed me up and spat me out regardless of the pace. Still very happy with that. I dont think you can buy that kind of strgenth training.

messed_up wrote: »

Hi DermCu,

Just started my London 2010 this week (not my training thankfully!) so I'll be keeping an eye on both yours and peckham's log for the next 4 months, though I'll be finishing a little later than you guys! Good luck with the training

Thanks messed_up, best of luck with London. Its a really great race. Just saw your log, will keep an eye out for how you are getting along. Its great to see another person on boards in for this race. I know its hard to get in but I'm a little suprised that there are not a few more.

Peckham

dermCu wrote: »

I know its hard to get in but I'm a little suprised that there are not a few more.

I think RoadRunner was the only one from these parts last year. At least the only one who mentioned it anyway.

dermCu

Sun 10th Jan- Rest, needed it.
Mon 11th Jan -Another 8.5 miles of ouch. That was not an easy week. Home tomorrow.

TheRoadRunner

Peckham wrote: »

I think RoadRunner was the only one from these parts last year. At least the only one who mentioned it anyway.

Yep there weren't too many last year. HardWorker did it also. I know a good few people heading over this year (well 4 to be exact). They all qualified through the GFA category using a UK postal address.

village runner

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

Yep there weren't too many last year. HardWorker did it also. I know a good few people heading over this year (well 4 to be exact). They all qualified through the GFA category using a UK postal address.

Does that guarentee you entry ???
The way things are going with the recession its a cheap marathon if one could get in.

TheRoadRunner

village runner wrote: »

Does that guarentee you entry ???
The way things are going with the recession its a cheap marathon if one could get in.

yep if you meet their good for age criteria for your are category and are a resident (or have relations ) in the UK you are guaranteed entry. And you are right it is cheap. I think it cost me 28 pounds sterling. The check has to be issued from a UK based bank as well so worth bearing that in mind also !

woundedknee

dermCu wrote: »

Its great to see another person on boards in for this race. I know its hard to get in but I'm a little suprised that there are not a few more.

Here's one more and looking forward to it. Good luck with your race and must say your training log is quite impressive, hope it all goes to plan.

dermCu

Tue 12th Jan - 0 Spent most of the day in transit. Was too tired when I got home.
Wed 13th jan - 8.7 @ 7:35 Quiet a bit of snow on the ground, didnt really enjoy it. Dont know if it was from travel the day before but felt tired the whole way round.

woundedknee wrote: »

Here's one more and looking forward to it. Good luck with your race and must say your training log is quite impressive, hope it all goes to plan.

Thanks woundedknee, do you have any targets for London?

woundedknee

dermCu wrote: »

do you have any targets for London?

It'll be a day out for me taking it nice and easy for a 4hr20 finish.

dermCu

Thur 14th Jan: 10 @ 6:56 - Thats more like it, felt much better today. A good bit of the snow had melted but there was still a lot of slushy crap in places.

woundedknee wrote: »

It'll be a day out for me taking it nice and easy for a 4hr20 finish.

Hope you enjoy it. I have plans to do the same thing once I've finished running myself into the ground. I have visions of a nice day out in New York.

dermCu

15th Jan 10 @ 7:06 m/m - Took it nice and easy, not much to report.

dermCu

Sat 16th Jan: 10 @ 7:08 m/m The plan was to do 20 but I didn't feel great, my stomach was in a knot the whole way round. Made an on the spot choice to shift this long run to Monday evening. The thought of taking on fluid on the run made me feel sick so it was an easy choice to make.

dermCu

Mon 18th Jan - 20 @ avg 6:47 m/m
The first 15 was at around 6:52 then dropped the pace and averaged the last 5 in 6:32 m/m

I'm pretty happy with that for two reasons. Firstly with the effort; it was hard work at MP. The other thing I'm pleased about is the choice on Saturday. It would have been easy to grind out the 20 miles when I didn't feel great but there's no way I would have done that session.

heffsarmy

Dermot fair play thats a great run, are you going to include mp pace miles in all your long runs now?

Peckham

That's a great session for a Monday!

Were those your first MP miles of this training cycle?

dermCu

heffsarmy wrote: »

Dermot fair play thats a great run, are you going to include mp pace miles in all your long runs now?

I dont think I'll include mp in all long runs as a rule. Maybe in around 75% of them. Even then I might only do one or two mp miles in some long runs. We'll see how it goes but I have a feeling that anything more than 5 mp miles will take an extra bit of recovery.

Peckham wrote: »

That's a great session for a Monday!

Were those your first MP miles of this training cycle?

Thanks Peckam, I've done some mp at the end of long runs but only one or two here and there. Hopefully this is start of a lot more of them.