London 2010

dermCu

Tuesday 9th March: 14.08 @ 6:42 m/m Was hard enough work after last nights workout.

heffsarmy

Good solid running Dermo, you seem to well over your knee trouble. Have you got a race lined up?

dermCu

Thanks Heff. Yea, the stretches that the physio gave me seem to have done the trick so far. I went from never stretching to at least 30 mins every day. Had my last session of physio this morning, hopefully it will hold up for the next month and a bit.

I'm racing a half marathon this weekend in Windsor. I had to pull out of my last planned race because of the knee so I'm not sure what to expect.

heffsarmy

dermCu wrote: »

I went from never stretching to at least 30 mins every dayexpect.

I went to a physio last night for my first sports massage, I never though it would hurt so much, legs feel brand new today though. He said saying the same to me that I should be strecthing alot more, gave me some basic streches to do. Anyways good luck with the race the weekend.

dermCu

Wed 10th March: Lunch 6 @ 7:14, PM 4 @ 7:35 Had a session of physio in the morning. She found a big knot in my calf. Hurt like hell when she did some work on it.

Thur 11th March: 6 @ 7:18 Nice and easy. Was happy at that point to have a day and a half rest in front of me.

Fri 12th March: Rest

Sat 13th March: Sparks half marathon 1:17:12 for what I think was 4th place. Thats a big PB for me. It wasnt that big of a race - I'd say five to six hundred but I'm really happy with an unexpectedly high place. I'll take a top 10 place any time I can.

I went through the first half mile in about 5:35 and it felt so easy.
Even though I felt great I knew that it would not be sustainable so I purposly slowed down and let a few guys pass me. I should probably thank T runner. I read the race report in his log earlier this week and it really reminded me that going out too fast can be a killer.

I fell in behind 2 guys and we worked togther up the field for a few miles until we had made our way into 4th/5th/6th. One of them fell off the back at about 6. The other guy stayed until about 8. Its funny becasue right as he dropped off I was going through a bad patch. Through 10 in 59:12. At the start of the day I would have taken that for a 10 mile race.
Once I saw the split for 10 there was no way I was going to slow and I even managed the last mile in 5:44

2 mile warmup and 2 mile cooldown.

heffsarmy

Very well done Dermo, a well deserved pb for all your hard work. It sets you up lovely for a great pb in London.

asimonov

Good man, great running. You're going to have to up the pace in your HM workouts now though.

misty floyd

Congrats on the PB, thats a fantastic time.

theboyblunder

amazing time dermcu. congrats!

Sosa

Great running,well done

Krusty_Clown

Well done DermCu. Great time and finish position. Just one off the podium!
We'll be expecting a podium finish for the marathon.

dermCu

Sun 14th March 12.4 @ 7:22 m/m

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

asimonov wrote: »

Good man, great running. You're going to have to up the pace in your HM workouts now though.

You're right. I've done all my planning for a slower pace. The next couple of weeks could be interesting.

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Well done DermCu. Great time and finish position. Just one off the podium!
We'll be expecting a podium finish for the marathon.

3rd was 75 so big jump there.
There were some big half marathons over the last week or two so the field would have been diluted. Of course that's not how I'll sell it to the grand kids. I'll be telling them how I was just squeezed out of 3rd but I did manage to hold off 4 or 5 Kenyans in a sprint finish.....if only

dermCu

Mon 15th March: 10 @7:11 m/m Felt a little tired at the start but came around in the last few miles.

Tue 16th March 10 @ 7:05 m/m Had to reign myself in on a few occasions. Wanted to stay fresh for a bigger session on Wed.

Wed 17th March 15.65 @ 6:35 m/m 3 mile warm-up, 10 @ MP based on last weekends race (6:13 according to McMillan), 2.65 cool-down.

6:19, 6:19, 6:15, 6:10, 6:17, 6:12, 6:12, 6:04, 6:13, 6:10

It's unreal what a little confidence can do.This time last week I wouldn't have even dreamed of doing this session. It wasn't easy by any means but I was in control for all of it. It did feel fast, I don't know if I could do 26 of them. I'll use this MP as much as I can for the remaining training but I think I'll go by feel on race day.

heffsarmy

dermCu wrote: »

Wed 17th March 15.65 @ 6:35 m/m 3 mile warm-up, 10 @ MP based on last weekends race (6:13 according to McMillan), 2.65 cool-down.

6:19, 6:19, 6:15, 6:10, 6:17, 6:12, 6:12, 6:04, 6:13, 6:10

It's unreal what a little confidence can do.This time last week I wouldn't have even dreamed of doing this session.

Nice session Dermo, with a good taper you will be able to hold that pace for the marathon. The half marathon gave you the confidence you just have to believe in yourself on the day and go for it.

Abhainn

Strong MP workout there Dermo. If you are biting at the bit in London you will have all ingrediants for a very strong run

Oh and congrats on great time there on Sat

dermCu

Thur 18th March: AM 4.25 @ 7:17 m/m Felt a bit sluggish, just going through the motions. Lunchtime 6 @ 7:10 m/m Felt much better at lunch got faster the longer the run went on. On the negative side I had a little bit of a niggle at the top of my right calf on both runs. It's just below the kneecap, doesn't really affect me when I'm running but I can feel it when I'm going up stairs. Feels better after stretching but I'd rather be rid of it.

Fri 19th March: Decided to take a days rest to give my calf a chance to heal.

Sat 20th March 23.4 @ 6:37 m/m: I had an open plan going in to this. In a perfect world I would have liked to keep an honest pace to 17.5 and then drop below 6:20 for the remainder. I knew pretty early that there wasn't a spring in my step. It took me a good few miles to warm up. It was pretty blustery as well so I settled for a steady pace throughout but I was tired at the end, the pace did slip a bit. Not too bothered considering the week I've had.

Abhainn wrote: »

Strong MP workout there Dermo. If you are biting at the bit in London you will have all ingrediants for a very strong run

Oh and congrats on great time there on Sat

Thanks Abhainn, I hope the taper will take care of that. It was nice to get an improved PB and see some reward for the hard work. Well done on your recent win.

dermCu

Sun 21st March: Lunchtime 5.5 @ 7:23 Went off road for this one so it kept the pace down. Nice and sunny for a change. PM 6.1 @ 7:16

Mon 22nd March: 10 @ 7:11 Was really tired on this one. Espcially the last couple of miles. I just couldn't get going.

Tue 23rd March: AM 5.1 @ 6:58 Lunchtime 6 @ 7:00 Thankfully I felt much better this morning. I didn't hold back on the food last night, no junk, just more than usual. I'm taking that as a pretty obvious sign that I was depleted on Monday evening. I purposely had all my running done by lunch time today. I wont run my big session tomorrow until the evening so it gives me more than 24 hours to recover. Hope it works.

dermCu

Wed 24th March: 16 @ 6:45 m/m avg

3 wu @ 7:10 m/m
4 x 2 @ HMP with 2 mins rec - 5:52, 5:50, 5:54, 6:03 The last one got away from me a bit. I was tired but I think I switched off a bit mentally when I knew the session was almost in the bag. I didn't realise at the time that I was slowing. I think I could have picked it up if I'd realised.
4.4 cd @ 7:22 m/m

I had a mad idea earlier today that I might try to do the last 2 as a progression starting at 6:45 going down to 6:10 - what a joke, I was just happy to finish.
4 x 2 at HMP looks ok on paper but its a different ball game in the middle of a 16 miler.

misty floyd

dermCu wrote: »

4 x 2 at HMP looks ok on paper but its a different ball game in the middle of a 16 miler.

Nice job DermCu. With those sessions, I find the cool down tough going. I find mentally I give up after the HMP miles and on the last set I say to myself that I'm done after it. Anyway, its a great session that one, I enjoy it.

dermCu

Thur 25th March: lunchtime 6 at 7:16 m/m

Fri 26th March: lunchtime 6 at 7:14 m/m My original plan was to do 8.5 before work but I couldn't drag myself out of bed so only had time for 6 at lunch.

Sat 27th March:
21.2 miles at 6:35 m/m avg
10 easy @ 6:51 m/m then 10 at or under MP. 1 mile cool down.

06:13, 06:14, 06:12, 06:11, 06:19, 06:22(came to full stop to pick up drink), 06:15, 06:23(fulll stop at bin to get rid of drink), 06:13, 06:06

Exactly the session I wanted to do but it wasn't easy. I felt tired after the easy 10. There was no zip in my legs.
I had to work hard to convince myself to go ahead with the 10 at MP. There was was a voice in my head that kept telling me to push it out to tomorrow. I'm glad I didn't.

misty floyd wrote: »

Anyway, its a great session that one, I enjoy it.

What?? enjoy it?? Your hardcore.
Only messing, I know what you mean. Its a real confidence builder when you get it right.

dermCu

Sun 28th March: AM 6 @ 7:08 m/m felt great. PM 5.1 @ 6:55 m/m Still felt good. I was really surprised at
how good I felt as the long run on Sat was hard work.

Mon 29th March: 10 @ 7:05 m/m Ah, so it was just a case of delayed fatigue.... Felt like I was running in treacle.
The weather was miserable, pissing down right from the start. British Summer Time my ass. Not much fun.

Tue 30th March: 10 @ 6:53 m/m Much better although the weather was still crap. Really breezy.

Wed 31st March: 18.2 @ 6:24 m/m Decided it was time to try out the famous 5/4/3/2/1 session.
2 wu miles @ 7:04

05:59
06:04
06:09
06:04
06:08

06:10 (based on rough calculation as I had to remove recovery time)
06:07
06:08
06:09

06:15 (based on rough calculation as I had to remove recovery time)
06:14
06:02

06:10 (based on rough calculation as I had to remove recovery time)
06:14

06:04

I was busy in work so didn't have time to set up an advanced workout on my Garmin - I presume that this is how people track this session?
Just used a 1 mile auto lap and factored out the recovery time on the overlap miles. Not too bothered about the precision, the effort was good throughout.

2 - 3 mins rec between sets. Pretty wrecked towards the end. I'm ok with that as 8 out of the first 9 miles were faster than my best case scenario MP. The wind was gusting in places so that didn't help either.
That's about as hard as I'd like to push a mid week session. I can see why people 'like' this session.

T runner

dermCu wrote: »

Sun 28th March: AM 6 @ 7:08 m/m felt great. PM 5.1 @ 6:55 m/m Still felt good. I was really surprised at
how good I felt as the long run on Sat was hard work.

Mon 29th March: 10 @ 7:05 m/m Ah, so it was just a case of delayed fatigue.... Felt like I was running in treacle.
The weather was miserable, pissing down right from the start. British Summer Time my ass. Not much fun.

Tue 30th March: 10 @ 6:53 m/m Much better although the weather was still crap. Really breezy.

Wed 31st March: 18.2 @ 6:24 m/m Decided it was time to try out the famous 5/4/3/2/1 session.
2 wu miles @ 7:04

05:59
06:04
06:09
06:04
06:08

06:10 (based on rough calculation as I had to remove recovery time)
06:07
06:08
06:09

06:15 (based on rough calculation as I had to remove recovery time)
06:14
06:02

06:10 (based on rough calculation as I had to remove recovery time)
06:14

06:04

I was busy in work so didn't have time to set up an advanced workout on my Garmin - I presume that this is how people track this session?
Just used a 1 mile auto lap and factored out the recovery time on the overlap miles. Not too bothered about the precision, the effort was good throughout.

2 - 3 mins rec between sets. Pretty wrecked towards the end. I'm ok with that as 8 out of the first 9 miles were faster than my best case scenario MP. The wind was gusting in places so that didn't help either.
That's about as hard as I'd like to push a mid week session. I can see why people 'like' this session.

Great session. Average about 6:08-9 pace might bring the 2.40 into the picture?

Your 23 miler at 6.35 was also a vital run I think.

Well done in the HM, excellent run. Glad my recounting of my HM may have helped a bit. Hopefully my Paris marathon report will inspire in a different way!

Abhainn

Wow that was some session yesterday. Your looking very strong and 2:40 it would seem to be within reach.
That would a nice step up though for me. I thought heading out on a 11 at MP was a fair session but then agan I got my 2:47 from low milage so I can be well thankful.

Krusty_Clown

Superb run dermCu. Was it actually enjoyable, or just hard?

Peckham

Super effort on the 5-4-3-2-1. Great pace.

I did a 4-3-2-1 session on Tuesday (as the addition of 5 miles would have made the run too long for where I'm at). I just relied on a mental count of miles to know when to end each set. That said, I did have to double-check once or twice on the first or second set, and would imagine it's more confusing when introducing the 5 mile set into it.

It's a great session, and think it could replace the Predator run as my favoured session. Will do more of these, both within and outside of marathon training. The miles fly by and it was difficult to think at the end that I'd just clocked 10 miles PMP (albeit with some recovery jogs).

dermCu

T runner wrote: »

Great session. Average about 6:08-9 pace might bring the 2.40 into the picture?

Your 23 miler at 6.35 was also a vital run I think.

Well done in the HM, excellent run. Glad my recounting of my HM may have helped a bit. Hopefully my Paris marathon report will inspire in a different way!

I don't think sub 2:40 is on the cards. 6:05 pace is just a bit too quick for me. I can feel a big difference between that pace and 6:15 - 6:20
We'll see how the pace feels on race day.
Your race report was very much at the front of my mind when I was warming up for that HM. A very good lesson that I'm sure you'll take with you to Paris.
That first mile down the Champs-Elysees is a flyer.

Abhainn wrote: »

I thought heading out on a 11 at MP was a fair session.

11 at MP is a great session. In fact If anyone asked my advise I'd tell them not to attempt the 5/4/3/2/1 until you are able to do 10 - 12 at MP

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Superb run dermCu. Was it actually enjoyable, or just hard?

The first 2 sets were enjoyable - It was nice to know that I was moving well even into the wind. Maybe I was being naive but I thought the third and fourth sets would be more enjoyable but they turned out to be the hard ones.
I was pretty cold at the end so maybe that took a little bit of enjoyment out of it. See what I said in reply to Abhainn: I don't think many of us could take any enjoyment out of this session unless you have done a session of 10 -12 at MP before that. I guess that's why it comes at the end of the cycle - you really should be building to it.

Peckham wrote: »

It's a great session, and think it could replace the Predator run as my favoured session. Will do more of these, both within and outside of marathon training. The miles fly by and it was difficult to think at the end that I'd just clocked 10 miles PMP (albeit with some recovery jogs).

Well done on the 4/3/2/1. I told you that there was time to get back on track!! You're right; its a great way of breaking up the session and making it speed by. I'm not too sure if I'd do this session outside of marathon training. Its very specific. In my mind its one of the sessions to hit right at the top of your training. Anyone who could do it outside of marathon training would get a huge amount of respect from me.

misty floyd

dermCu wrote: »

........

What?? enjoy it?? Your hardcore.
Only messing, I know what you mean. Its a real confidence builder when you get it right.

Pot Kettle!

Good job Derm. I done the 4/3/2/1 and enjoyed it too but I had company. Its so much easier with someone else.

heffsarmy

Dermo great running, would you say this is one off your best marathon cycles, because you seem to be getting faster? No pressure but you should have a shot at sub 2.40

dermCu

Thurs 1st April: 6 @ 7:02 m/m Tired at the start, came around towards the end.

Fri 2nd April 10 @ 6:54 m/m felt good and had to hold back in places.

Sat 3rd April 13.57 off road, cough cough.... involved a few hills, enough to make pace irrelevant. Enough said, it was tough.

Sun 4th April: 5 @ 7:07 needed that recovery.

Mon 5th April: 0 Rest - Had planned to do my long run but just didn't feel fresh enough. Looking back over my training log I saw that it was 16 days since I had a full day off. I took that as a sign to rest.

Tue 6th April: 22.32 @ 6:35 m/m Was tried toward the end. Couldn't have picked up the pace over the last 5 even if I wanted to. Happy all the same to have the last long run out of the way. One more big session, maybe on Friday, then I'm done.

heffsarmy wrote: »

Dermo great running, would you say this is one off your best marathon cycles, because you seem to be getting faster? No pressure but you should have a shot at sub 2.40

Yea, its the best pure marathon training I've done. In the past I was always trying to combine running with something else - good for endurance but I had zero speed.

dermCu

Wed 7th April: 6 @ 7:11 m/m Fairly tired for the first 2 or 3 miles. I got the feeling that the 'high' mileage was starting to take it's toll.

Thur 8th April: 6 @ 7:00 m/m: Got out at lunch, felt much better. Was fairly warm. I hope its not like that on race day.

Fri 9th April: 16.6 @ 6:28 m/m

2 wu @ 7:00 m/m
10 @ MP
6:17, 6:18, 6:10, 6:07, 6:13, 6:08, 6:15, 6:13, 6:11, 6:12
4.6 cd, not a real cool down, finished a bit fast.

Felt strong. I tried to keep the first 2 steady. I could have done more but it just didn't seem like the right thing to do. I was happy to finish strong instead.

That's me done. It's just about maintenance and recovery from here on in.
The last 2 weeks felt like they dragged on a bit, time to taper.