Plodder's progress

plodder · 13-06-2010 9:54pm

plodder · 20-06-2010 10:14pm

Week of June 14
===========

Day|Distance|Pace|Comments
Tue|10 miles|8:11|
Thu|4.3 mile|9:00|
Fri|8 mile|8:10|
Sat|13.5 mile|8:15|

Total: 33

Had a warning shot across the bows this week, injury wise. Last Sunday, I did 10-12 miles PMP and on Tuesday, did another ten close to PMP, but felt a nasty pain behind the knee afterwards, which didn't go away for two days. Went to a sports therapist my daughter goes to, and she says I am just "pre-injury" there.

This is very frustrating because the work done over the last month has got me feeling very comfortable running 8:00 min miles for a reasonable distance. The problem I think, is two things. 1) hilly terrain - one of my favourite long routes includes a 3 mile downhill section, which is very enjoyable, but hard on the knees obviously and 2) running on cambered country roads. The physio says this is really bad!

So, this week, I missed the tempo run, but seem to have recovered ok otherwise.

It's a bit worrying since tomorrow is the start of the official 18 week program for the DCM. Even though, I'm a bit ahead of it now, I worry that I'll be able to keep up with it when it gets a bit more intense.

plodder · 27-06-2010 11:20pm

Week of June 21
===========

Day|Distance|Pace|Comments
Mon|4.5 miles|8.8 m/mile
Tue|8.7 miles|7.3 mph| 4 miles @7:35
Thu|10.4 mile|7.3 mph|
Sat|5.4 mile|7 mph|
Sun|13 mile|6.8 mph|last 3 miles at 8:00 min/mile

Total: 42

Missed last Sunday's run so had extra run on Monday. Had two heavy duty sports massage sessions since knee problem appeared. It hasn't gotten any worse, and is actually feeling a bit better, except the dreaded "clicking" of the kneecap, which is a sign of it not tracking properly. I have a pile of exercises to do, which I hope will sort that out. Tuesday's tempo run felt ok. Long run on Sunday was enjoyable, if a bit slow. So, that's the first week of the schedule "officially" done. I'm glad to move on now, and start building it up a bit.

plodder · 04-07-2010 3:28pm

Week of June 28
===========

Day|Distance|Pace|Comments
Tue|8 miles|easy| incl. 10 x 100m strides
Thu|10 mile|7:45|Clontarf and Dollymount. Nice flat route.
Sat|4.5 mile|8:50|
Sun|14 mile|8:34|Windy! Tried a Hi5 isogel

Total: 36.5

Made a big effort to avoid the hills and crappy country roads this week.
Tuesday went to Newbridge house in Donabate. I've never run there before, but found an approx 3.5 mile circuit on grass and tarmac. The grass wasn't the most level, but it felt good anyway.

Thursday was a lovely run along seafront at Clontarf following course of the 1/2 marathon today - mostly grass and sand, with some tarmac/concrete paths as well.

Am down the West for a few weeks now, so it's back onto the roads again. At least, the knees felt ok today. But, it was very windy, and hard to keep an even pace.

plodder · 11-07-2010 11:47pm

plodder · 13-07-2010 8:33pm

Tue July 13

After the knee scare last weekend, I was on the point of not running at all this week. But, I went to the gym last night, and did some good work with lunges using light weights, and a pile of other exercises/stretches, for the glutes, quads, hips. And about 3 lengths in the pool (a future in triathlons, I think not). The day's rest helped obviously as well. So, the knee wasn't hurting at all this morning and I decided to head out (on holiday this week).

Was supposed to be 8 miles with 10x100m strides. So, I warmed up for about 1.5 miles and tried one stride. Felt a bit of a twinge, so decided to forget the strides. Ended up covering the 8 miles fairly well, as a kind of fartlek session. I'm avoiding the busier country roads, and sticking to the tiny boreens where you can run along the flattest part, which is usually in the middle.

If the knee gets any worse, I'm going to start dropping recovery runs, and go to the gym instead. Tomorrow supposed to be 5 miles recovery. I think I'll play it by ear and see how the knee is first.

pgmcpq · 13-07-2010 9:37pm

Hello fellow-sub-3:30-for-Dublin-er ! I've just been catching up on this log - since we're looking at similar goals for Dublin I'm interested to see how your getting on. That's a handy 5k time - that would do me right now (10k time is not shabby either)!

I'm prone to the odd knee niggle myself. Moving my recovery runs to grass and slowing down has made a difference (though keeping good form requires a bit more concentration). The P&D plans space the PMP miles out to once every two weeks.

Fair number of those runs look look pretty fast - I've been tinkering with different pacings while trying to follow the spirit of P&D. Are you targetting specific paces are you running for PMP, GA, LT etc ?

Good luck.

plodder · 13-07-2010 11:57pm

pgmcpq wrote: »

Hello fellow-sub-3:30-for-Dublin-er ! I've just been catching up on this log - since we're looking at similar goals for Dublin I'm interested to see how your getting on. That's a handy 5k time - that would do me right now (10k time is not shabby either)!

I'm prone to the odd knee niggle myself. Moving my recovery runs to grass and slowing down has made a difference (though keeping good form requires a bit more concentration). The P&D plans space the PMP miles out to once every two weeks.

Fair number of those runs look look pretty fast - I've been tinkering with different pacings while trying to follow the spirit of P&D. Are you targetting specific paces are you running for PMP, GA, LT etc ?

Good luck.

Hey, thanks. Well PMP is 8:00mm, so I've been trying to do a fair bit of that for my long runs. I know that is possibly over-doing it. Based on the 5K race I did (which surprised me) I thought my LT pace should have been 7:10 to 7:20, but frankly, I haven't been able to manage that and it's more like 7:35 and even that seems fast.

I'm quite heavy - well over 14 st. So, I've always felt that all my miles cause stress on the knees. So, I do push myself quite hard, thinking I might as well, because it makes little difference one way or the other. I'm running a lot on hills at the moment (unavoidably) so I try to work hard going up and take it easy going down. But, what's killing me is busy roads with bad camber.

I totally agree on concentrating on good form. Even today, it helped to think about how I was running. As soon as I can run on grass again, I'd like to get doing strides, as they do seem to help with that.

pgmcpq · 14-07-2010 7:40pm

plodder wrote: »

So, I do push myself quite hard, thinking I might as well, because it makes little difference one way or the other.

Interesting - I wonder if that's true. It might also be that you might benefit more than most from slower recovery runs if you could keep goo form. I don't know - it might be worth polling some of the more experienced opinions on that.

plodder wrote: »

But, what's killing me is busy roads with bad camber.

Ouch - that will do it. You have to run facing the traffic for safety so one leg is always has a longer reach ? Yes - that will lead to problems. I had a bout of ITBS last year and this is something I really pay attention to now. No alternative routes.

There's a couple of guys (one in my AG) I know who would be around your size who kick my butt every time. To be honest the first time I saw the guy in my AG - he pushed my out of medal position

my reaction was "Are you kidding me?" - but he flys (18.xx 5ks, 3x.xx 10ks) and I have to assume that he's getting the miles in. (Wish he'd take up American football

).

plodder · 18-07-2010 11:32pm

pgmcpq wrote: »

Interesting - I wonder if that's true.

It's probably complete bo**ocks to be honest. It's all very well if you can get away with it. But I feel I'm on the brink of injury right now. So, I'm obviously not (getting away with it).

It might also be that you might benefit more than most from slower recovery runs if you could keep goo form. I don't know - it might be worth polling some of the more experienced opinions on that.

Yes. Frankly, I'm so wrecked after this week's running, it won't be hard to do recovery runs at recovery pace.

Wednesday
5 miles recovery (9:25 pace). Knee was ok.

Thursday
10 miles with 8 @ 8:13. I'm not sure what this was supposed to be - probably LT, but a bit slow for that. Again, I was concentrating on foot placement, not to exacerbate the knee issue. Got lost on a bog trail, which slowed me down a bit too. Overall, was happy enough with it.

Saturday
4 miles recovery on grass at ALSAA (9:00 pace). Made mistake of going to gym afterwards and doing a bit too much with weights, ostensibly to work on knee strength, but I don't think it helped my long Sunday run.

Sunday
15 miles around Malahide, Portmarnock, Baldoyle, Donaghmede, Kinsealy. Weather was unexpectedly warm, and hadn't made a great effort with (pre)hydration or fueling. Result was at 11 miles, I felt a serious thirst. So, surviving the last 4 miles was quite a challenge. Amazing how the mind works to try and convince you to stop in situations like that. I started arguing with myself whether next week's training would be adversely affected by continuing on. Managed to finish it without stopping. But, that was definitely the toughest run I've done this year. (8:33 avg. pace)

Total for week: 42 miles

plodder · 23-07-2010 9:25am

Tuesday 20 July
10 miles with 5 @ 7:30

Wednesday
5 miles recovery (9:30) Really getting the hang of recovery runs now

Thursday
10 milles with 8 @ 8:00. a bit faster than intended, but it felt ok, and I've three days before the big pmp run on Sunday.

plodder · 25-07-2010 5:22pm

Sat 24 July
5 miles recovery (@ 9:17)

Sun 25 July
16 miles PMP. 5 miles @ 8:40, 10 miles @7:57, and 1 mile 9:40. First really challenging workout of the plan. I can't say I found it easy or even comfortable, but I got it done. It was an out and back 8 mile course. The nice tail wind I had for the start was quite a breeze in the face for 7 of the pmp miles. Also, I was glad to have done the pmp part close to the end. This is what P&D reccommend and I figured one mile is enough of a cool down at the end.

Miles for week 46

plodder · 02-08-2010 10:16pm

Recovery week.
Tuesday 27 July
8 miles @ 8:30 (mostly @ 8:00)

Wed 28 July
Missed 5 mile recovery run.

My bad!

Thu 29 July
9 miles, 6.5 @ 8:00

Sat 31 July
5.8 miles @ 9:15

Sun 1 Aug
13.1 miles @ 8:38

Total 36 miles

pgmcpq · 03-08-2010 4:47pm

plodder wrote: »

Sun 25 July
16 miles PMP. 5 miles @ 8:40, 10 miles @7:57, and 1 mile 9:40. First really challenging workout of the plan. I can't say I found it easy or even comfortable...

Nice going. Don't worry it is neither comfortable or easy for anyone !

plodder · 09-08-2010 10:13pm

Week starting Monday August 3rd

Tuesday
10 miles: 2.5 @ 8:30, 5 @ 7:30, 2.5 @ 8:20
Started out very lethargic, but feeling ok by the end.

Wed
4.5 recovery @ 9:20

Thu
11 @ 8:17

Sat
7 miles @ 8:44. Didn't feel good on Saturday at all. I developed a weird stiffness/pain in right side of shoulder/neck and the pain is excruciating when I twist my head at all. Also, had a fair number of pints on Friday night. So, it didn't sound great for the weekend's running. Barely managed 5 or 6 strides as part of a slow 7 miles. Not good.

Sunday
18 mile long run. Neck was quite sore but felt I could stll chance the long run. So, I dropped a bottle of powerade out on the route at about 12 miles, and took off comfortably enough. Was struggling a bit by the time I got to the bottle and was able to drink about half of it. I ended up pouring out the rest because running with a half bottle of sports drink sloshing around just turns it into froth. Anyway, long story short, was getting very thirsty by 14 miles and had to stop for a while. Last 2 miles were a nightmare. I just wanted to walk. So, overall it was a disaster. last week the 16 miles were nothing like as difficult. I can only conclude that the drinks on Friday night left me a bit dehydrated. Also, this is the first 18 mile run I've done in 2 years. So, it's bound to be a bit harder. But, I didn't think it would be this bad. Will have to be better prepared for this weeks 20 miler.

Total for week: 50 miles

plodder · 30-08-2010 12:19am

Haven't updated in a while due to illness and losing my frickin Garmin USB stick.

Week Aug 16

Mon 7 miles @ 8:40
Tue 5.5 miles @ 8:35
Wed 12.5 miles @ 8:20
Thu 5.3 miles @ 8:50
Sun 20 miles @ 9:00

Total 50.3

Week Aug 23

Tuesday 7 miles @ 8:00
Wednesday 8.7 @ 8:06
Thursday 6.5 @ 8:40
Saturday 5 @ 9:00
Sunday 14 w 11 @ 8:07

Total 41.2

Been trying to catch up on plan after nearly week's layoff due to chest infection. This week was supposed to be a recovery week, but tried to do last week's PMP run today. It was a few miles short but it was ok.

plodder · 02-09-2010 2:44pm

Week Aug 30

Tuesday 7 miles @ 8:20
Wednesday 11 miles @ 8:05 (7 @ 7:45)

Yesterday's run should have been faster, but about 4 miles were on the beach at Dollymount, which was quite a (foot) drag (very enjoyable though). I really feel I should be doing more tempo runs, as they have been very much lacking the last few weeks.

plodder · 05-09-2010 10:00pm

Thursday

Rest day. Went for sports massage. Left hip was quite sore afterwards.

Friday

12 miles medium long run @ 8:25. Left hip was still quite sore after massge and I could feel it right through this run.

Saturday

Decided not to do recovery run as hip was still sore. A bit pissed off actually, that I was feeling worse after a physio session than before. Well actually, I know some bits of me are feeling better. There were some serious knots in both quads that are flattened out now and the ITBs are probably better as well, but whatever she did with my left hip was hurting. Though, in fairness she did say I might not feel great before Sunday.

Sunday

20 mile LSR @ 8:32. Quite happy with this run. Legs felt strong, though breathing was very laboured towards the end. Took 2 gels, and 500ml water.
Physio was probably right but will know for sure tomorrow morning :pac:

plodder · 07-09-2010 7:15pm

Week Sep 8

Monday

rest

Tuesday

8.5 miles including 6 x 600m (0.38 miles) with 600m rest

First attempt at a VO2 max session. Also, I never set up an interval session on the Garmin before, so like everything else with this thing, made a balls of it, the first time. Anyway:

Warmup 2 miles approx (unknown pace)

Laps
2 6:55 141bpm
3 8:10 144
4 6:40 152
5 8:30 146
6 6:30 150
7 8:09 146
8 6:32 155
9 8:25 147
10 6:33 150
11 8:09 139

Warm down 2.7 miles @ 8:00

Need to check if those paces are ok, but they seem to be around my last 5k race pace.

plodder · 08-09-2010 9:15pm

Wednesday

Christ on a bike! My quads were bloody sore after yesterdays session. Did 12 miles today @ 8:40 (131 bpm). and it took about 5miles for the pain to subside. Was caught out by the dark this evening as well. Lovely evening as I left, and complete darkness when I got back a few minutes ago. Will have to dig out the lights and stuff now.

plodder · 12-09-2010 7:08pm

Thursday
Rest/sports massage

Friday
5 miles @ 9:00. Supposed to do strides but left them out. Hip feeling a bit dodgy.

Saturday
10k BHAA Firhouse 42:57 (6:54 mile pace, 4:17 km) 147 bpm avg. Was happy with that - a new PB - first race in ages. Though actually I thought I was averaging more like 4:10, but on the last uphill stretch I slowed a lot. The left hip was a bit sore before the race, but as soon as we got going it didn't bother me.

Sunday
17.5 miles @ 9:12. Hard to motivate myself after the race yesterday, but got it done anyway. Was worried about hip but it was fine after a mile or two, and the other one started acting up - which I think is often a sign that not too much is wrong. Watch reported BPM as 73 (if only :rolleyes:) Something wrong there I think.
Took a gel before I went out, and 2 en-route (at about 8 miles and 12).

Total for week: 50

menoscemo · 12-09-2010 8:13pm

That's a great weeks training. I think you have no worries about sub 3:30, you are bang on target. All the heavy 50+ mile weeks are taking their toll on me at this stage and as a result the legs are constantly tired and there is an odd bad run thrown in as a result.

But come taper time, we'll be flying!

plodder · 19-09-2010 5:01pm

Had a bit of a strange health scare this week. I got a medical checkup done on Monday and my blood pressure was way up. Doctor wasn't all that worried about it (even after mentioning the marathion training). But I was completely gobsmacked. He suggested getting it checked again in 2 months. Anyway, long story short, got it checked again the next day (:rolleyes:) and it was back down a good bit, though still high-ish. So, went out and bought a home BP monitor in Argos on Friday. And this is showing much more normal levels (at home). I was wondering if the skinful of pints I had on Sunday night had something to do with it, as alcohol is a known problem factor. I'm going to keep a close eye on it, and have given up the sauce for the forseeable future as well.

Anyway to this week's running.

Week of Sept 13

Tuesday

8.7 miles @ 8:20 (was supposed to be LT session, but didn't feel like pushing it, after Monday's travails)

Wednesday

9 miles @ 8:25

Thursday & Friday

Decided to rest on Friday as well, as left hip still acting up.

Saturday

Dublin half marathon. 13.1 miles in 1:35:51 (7:15 pace). Really pleased with this as it means the 3:30 for the DCM should be do-able, so long as everything else goes to plan.

Sunday

I've switched this weekend's running with next week's in the P&D plan. So, I did a 17 mile run (very slowly) today, and hope I can do the last big PMP run next Sunday. I was completely shattered today, even though it was slow and I took a few walking breaks as well. I don't think I've ever run 30 miles in 2 days before.

Total miles for week: 48

plodder · 23-09-2010 9:37am

Week of Sep 20

Monday
rest

Tuesday
9 miles @ 8:25 (hip still sore for first 2 miles)

Wednesday
Am avoiding the VO2 max sessions, partly because I'm too lazy to push myself that hard. So, I'm trying to do tempo runs instead. 8.7 miles (with 4.5 @ 7:30). The hip is still sore. Though I did the 4.5 on the beach at Portmarnock, so hopefully the stress is reduced a bit.

Thursday
Rest

pgmcpq · 23-09-2010 4:46pm

Knocking the booze on the head is probably a good idea on the run into DCM anyway.

If the hip is bothering you easing back on the V02 sessions is also probably a good idea - though I find them easier than the tempo sessions. It's a week top taper so the odd niggle is to expected. A few recovery paced runs (9.00+ pace) on grass might help.

plodder · 26-09-2010 11:03pm

Friday
12 miles @ 8:20. Started out very enjoyable, probably a good bit faster than pace I averaged, but with about 4 miles to go, got some bad stomach cramps. The last mile in particular needed a lot of walking breaks, to stop all hell breaking loose. Enough said I think, suffice to say, I was glad to make it back.

Saturday
Decided to try a few easy miles on the treadmill. Jesus, how boring, even with four TV channels on in front of you. Won't be doing that again.

Sunday
18 miles (2 @ 8:30, 14 @ 8:01, 2 @ 9:10). That's the last big PMP run. Thank God! Found it very hard. I knew my average pace was one second off from 4 miles to go, but I literally could not gain that extra second back. I started out at a comfortable 7:50 for first 6 miles (albeit slightly downhill). Lost a lot of time at my two gel/water stops, and crossing a couple of roads, but I was a bit disappointed to not stay ahead of planned marathon pace. Anyway, it's done now.

Another interesting thing, is considering how 13 miles at 7:15 seemed a lot easier last week, partly I guess it's down to racing vs training on your own, but last week was a fairly easy week, with two full days rest before the race. Lesson learnt on the benefits of tapering/resting before races.

Total miles for week: 51

plodder · 29-09-2010 10:37pm

Week of Sep 27

Monday
rest

Tuesday
7 miles @ 8:40 including 6 x 100m strides

Wednesday
10 miles @ 8:20 incl. 5 x 1200m, on beach, supposedly at 5k pace, actually turned out to be around 7:20 for each, which is ridiculously slow. Just felt tired. Was a lovely evening though.

Taper can't come soon enough at this rate ...

plodder · 03-10-2010 4:47pm

Thursday
rest

Friday
11 miles @ 8:00. Enjoyable run along coast at Clontarf. Probably went a bit too fast.

Saturday
Decided to rest instead of recovery run

Sunday
20 miles @ 8:45. Took 500ml water and two gels. Could have used more water I think as it was very mild. Was ok, if a little slow, but was feeling effects of Friday's run still. But made it anyway. It's hard to imagine doing 26 at 8:00 to be honest, but you have to have faith in the program I suppose. Looking forward to some serious/dedicated tapering now :pac:

Total for week: 48 miles

plodder · 07-10-2010 10:30am

Week of Oct 4

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
8.5 miles with 5x600m (6:50 avg pace, with 400m between at about 8:00 pace). Avg. pace for whole run 8:00. Very enjoyable run on seafront in Clontarf, in sun shine. Windy though.

Wednesday
6 miles recovery. Very slow, but left leg ached throughout.

Thursday
Rest.

Plan has 4 miles recovery tomorrow, and I hope to do the teachers XC on Saturday. It's only 4 miles, but a short race is better than any junk run at this stage.

kennyb3 · 07-10-2010 1:10pm

Hi Plodder,

I think the 10k and half marathon show you have the speed for 8m/m to feel very easy on the day and you ve plenty of good quality long runs done so thats the stamina covered. Best of luck with it. The training has gone well so have faith.