The end of the road (are we there yet?)

gilmore

Best of luck sunday pgmcpq. You've the hard work done and put yourself in position to achieve your goal time, all that's left to do is go out and get it (the easy bit):)... Run strong.

pgmcpq

Sorry, this is a long (and probably self-indulgent) one - grab a coffee. As much as anything else this is to clear my head and so I can give this link to people rather than repeating it.

Ok - so the aim is 3:30 and a Boston qualifying time.
Preparation was great. Hotel was 1/4 mile from the start. Up at 5am, breakfast, gear all sorted the night before.

It was a 13.1 mile course -the HM being one loop the full being 2. Walking along the seafront the night before we had walked the last 1/4 mile to the finish where the runs divided. Overhead was a sign marking the split between the finish and the start of the second loop that looked like :

---

| Finish .............2nd Loop..|
| This Way.......................|

---

Problem was every time the wind blew (and this is the seafront) the the bottom of the banner folded and the sign now read :

---

| Finish................2nd Loop.. |

---

You had to figure this would cause problems,

Race was to begin at 9am. The weather I had feared so much seemed to be not too bad - it is warmer than I would like but it seems managable. Leaving the hotel at 8am it is 65f (18c), and humid pushing the real feel to 68f (20c). At the back of my mind I did wonder how things would go later on ... but for the moment so far so good.

Warmed up by jogging to the start, left Mrs pgmcpq to her own warmup. Our routines are so different we usually wave each other goodbye 30 minutes before races and go our own way. Felt pretty good. One benefit of the heat was that it was easy to warm up.

Found the 3.30 pacer and went to side of the pen to do my dynamic stretching. All was well. Unfortunately it was a two wave start with both pens lined up beside each other. The first wave was to be up 3:30 pace and was the "inside" pen. Ahead of me I could see the flag for the 3:20 pacer. "Inside" is relative to where the observer is positioned.
In the pre race announcements there was a warning that once away from the seafront things would warmup considerably and a reminder about the 2 wave start. There was a flurry of movement. I was pleasently suprised and please to see slower paced runners moving over to the other pen on my right. After all the 3:30 pacer was in my pen on my left - I had checked on him a few times.
Ok here we go ....3-2-1 ... eh... wait a tick. The other pen is off ... and the 3:30 pacer is ... vanished ? The 3:20 pacers is also not to be seen. Seems the pacers found themselves in the wrong pen and moved over just before the start while I was focused on staying loose.

Ok ... so relax and deal with it - at the end ofthe day I was responsible for my own race. Start in the second wave. With so many people having left it actually might be a blessing. Five minutes later we were off. And the start was not bad at all ...other than the loss of the pace groups I thought were relevant and that the clock time was not helpful things were ok. I set off conservatively running within myself and was pretty happy. But it was true - once off the seafront the humidity soared. And so did the casualty rate. Most seriously at at mile 8 one clearly disorientated runner was staggering around the road. To my amazement someone left him just as I passed and he resumed a doomed attempt to resume running. I was trying to shout at the spectators to find help while watching him overmy shoulder when one of the marshals came sprinting across to grab him. The rest of the first loop was uneventful. Along the route people were spraying their hoses into the street so runners could cool down. Unfortunately one small boy had not quite got the hang of this and blasted me full on in the chest ! Being as humid as it was even in the heat I never did dry out. I was please to see that I was running a very even consistant pace confortable at about 7:54 m/m. My plan was to run the first half by pace as far as possible, then seen how I felt at the start of the second loop and if good try to push a little and run more by feel. I was taking water at every stop. I also had a small sponge tucked away that I plan to use by pouring some cold water on it and using it on my neck. So far the splits were :

Mile Pace
1 8:08
2 7:45
3 7:47
4 7:58
5 7:51
6 7:55
7 7:59
8 7:52
9 7:53
10 7:53
11 8:00
12 7:58
13 7:49

For me this is as good as I could expect - with the extra benefit of running what for me was a stunning consistant pace.

Finishing the first loop I was golden. Felt good, confident, no sign of stress, pace was even, heat was ok. Took a second gel and some electrolyte tablets.

Mile Pace
14 7:47
15 7:47

Turned away from the seafront for the second time - wow now it was really hot.

Mile Pace
16 7:56
17 7:55

By now I am away from the seafront. The heat and humidity have clearly risen. So has the casualty rate. Since the halfway mark I have passed several runners down getting treatment - several getting oxygen - one alarmingly with his/her face covered. I am staring to see abulances more regularly and walkers more often. At the water stops the water I am getting is often warm and not to helpful. I took a gatorade at one stop in view of the heat.

Mile Pace
18 8:10

By now I am aware that I am slowing and I start to think that the BQ time might be a closer than I thought. The heat seems to be getting to me a bit more.

Anatomy of a crash:
In fairness - if you are doing a long distance run soon I give fair warning you might want to skip down to "It's safe to resume reading here"

And then the wheels came off. I became aware that I was really stuggling with the heat and more that my heart was racing - in fact it was pounding in my ears, I became aware that my breathing seemed ... just not to be delivering my enough oxygyen any more. Given what I had seen earlier this freaked me out ... I panicked .....

I stopped running.

Ok - look I have some margin for error here. Six miles miles at 8m/m (as you can see arithmethic skills are the first to go -I had eight to) - comm'n six miles - that a morning jog. Legs feel fine - ok walk for a minute or two ... maybe three - then when the average pace gets to 7:58 start running - get to an 8.00m/m pace and hold on for dear life. Yeah, but look ... everyone else is walking ... I can't breath.

As this debate goes on in my head I am aware of a race marshal on a bike slightly ahead of me talking to another walking runner. "I am a bit worried about this guy here". I look around - I am the only one I can see for some distance. Oh **** is he talking about me ? I didn't think I was in THAT bad shape. Then again neither did that guy back at mile 8 or the the other guys I had seen horizontal since then.

I don't know - because truthfully I cannot clearly remember the chain of events and in reconstructing them I may be rationalizing - if this was the breaking point. I do know that around the time I lost my focus, composure, confidence. I started to think about how I would get to the end at all - could I walk, could I walk run. I mean I had to get to the end anyway.

I tried to run - honestly I don't know if I could not or if I was not just starting to wuss out at the first discomfort. One constant was I could get enough oxgyen from the the sauna I seems to get wading through.

Mile Pace
19 8:46
20 9:59

Never, ever did I think regrouping mentally ... getting to the next water station taking a gel, taking a salt pill, taking a cliff blok, or the amino tables I had taped to a gel in my pocket. Never did I think about regrouping mentally sufficently to restart my stride, my breathing, to try to run slowly instead of walking - to try to use usethe sponge.
To be honest. I just completely lost it - and began to fell sorry for myself and with BQ gone my motivation just sank.

I did convince myself that a DNF I could not live with, and rationalized that a run/walk strategy might see me a guaranteed finish. The rest was just pathetic as I became part of the pitiful walking wounded. Having started to walk the walks became longer and longer - the runs shorter and shorter. It was as much mental and physical block I was battling at this point.

Mile Pace
21 11:09
22 10:05
23 10:21
24 10:24
25 10:40

After the mile 25 marker the 3:45pacer passed me. I later found out the 3:40 pacer had no made it cramping up around half way.

MIle Pace
26 10:46
26+ 10.59

Funny but I ran the last half mile - at least I think I did (though the splits day differently) because I saw the photographer and did not want to be photographed walking in or walk home in front of the crowds. Funnily enough as predicted the guy in front of me mistook the first banner as the finish line. I thought - jeeze. I should really tell him he's not done .... but had nothing left to execute the plan.

Worse was to come. I crossed the line, cramped up immediately and grabbed the barrier - I had to stretch before even contining down the shute. After getting the medal and hat(!) - I found Mrs. pgmcpq. By all expectations I would have expected her to be about another 45-60 minutes out so I was stunned to see her.

She had dropped out at the half way mark. The first time she had ever failed to finish in 9 marathons and innumerable halfs, 20k etc. She had thrown up at mile 8, cramped and reduced to shuffle. The dangers of taking on the second loop given the devastation she had seen around her persuaded her to make the ultimate decision and pull in with the HM runners.

Temperature at the finish was 85f ( 29c), real feel was 90f (32c). But long after the temperature is fogotten the result will remain.

All in all a crushing day.

A day later I find it amazing that I just fell apart like this. I cannot get over the feeling that in the end I bottled it. What I find disappointing is that I really never made a concerted effort to mentally regroup and thus to at least try to physically regroup. I suspect that I looked like a pouty teenager to volunteers at some of the later water stations. I mean I have gone through some rough patches before and been able to pull something out - here I cannot be sure that I simply didn't throw in the towel to soon. Ok 3:30 was gone... but maybe 3:40 might have been there. My question now is - did I freak my self out in the days before the race worrying about the weather and - more importantly having allowed myself stop running once - if I did wuss out can I guarentee I won't do it again ? I mean come on - not breaking a 10 m/m for the last five miles ? I never really was "in pain" at any point - somehow I am not really sure I ever pushed to boundaries....

Dunno - if you're still readin feel free to tell to give myself a good kick in the pants and get on with. Probably in a few days I will come to terms with it. Ironically my legs feel great - very little soreness at at !!!!!!

It's safe to resume reading here !


I finished in a gun time of 3:52:44 (the chip time should be at least 4 minutes better I think but is not available yet - I am hoping for a small miracle). Garmin says 3:48:44 but I forgot to turn it off for a few minutes after I crossed the line.

Afterwards we went out to dinner - hit the wine, demolished a cranberry vanilla bread pudding with whipped cream and had a good whine about the injustice of it all !!

Astoundingly the results place me 154th from about 1,300 finishers (from about 2,300 registered as per the news paper reports, 31 were taken to hospital, 6 admitted ), 14th in my age group. I was epecting to be midway at best. So relatively I guess this was a respectable performance - but I am some distance from feeling that way about it.

PS. I don't know this guy but he sums it up rather well.
http://peanutbutter55.blogspot.com/2010/05/brutal-conditions-not-meant-for-running.html

pgmcpq

Ok results are up:

3:47:37, 138th of 1376 finishers, 12th in AG.

3:47:37.05 8:40 109/805 M45-49:12/116 5Mi: 39:34.25 HM:1:44:01.31 15Mi:1:58:45.53

pgmcpq

Ok so for closure:

WeeksToGo|M|T|W|T|F|Sat|Sun|Total
taper time|6(2hills)| rest |5|rest|4|rest|RACE 26.2| 41


Having obsessed for several days about the events of Sunday - here's my conclusion :

1) Objectively the result was not bad - the latest result show me in the top 10% of finishers, with 40% of the registered field being DNFs. ( there are now 1380 finishers shown, the last being out there for just short 8 hours - 8 hours in those conditions ? Don't care what anyone says that guy earned a medal).
2) Given the conditions 3:30 was probably beyond me. I should have adjusted my goal or at least thought seriously about a secondary goal.
3) Once I found myself in trouble I could have dropped back to a jog instead of walking. Instead once I walked, I had really given up - and I made the decision quickly - without giving myself time to think it through. The few runners visible were mostly already walking - it was just too easy.
4) I did not hydrate enough. I had planned to refill my small water bottle from a water station once it I had gone through the sports drink in it. I completely forgot this plan (or any other!)
5) I cracked mentally. Usually I am pretty disciplined about thinking my way through the 'process' and recovering (as opposed to bemoaning the difficulty of the goal). On Sunday I could not think beyond the heat and how far there was to go. I was truly freaked by the number of runners I had seen down on the ground and overhearing the race marshal made me fear I might be next even though I never felt I was in that much trouble - I doubted that any other of the runners I had seen getting oxygen had seen it coming either - so how do you know, can you really see this state coming ?
6) My aerobic fitness may need work. After race it felt like I had been out the night before and smoked my way thorough a couple pf packs of cigarettes ! I could feel my airways raspy when I was inhaling. My legs on the other hand are fine.
7) I hate making excuses but I'd have to be very unlucky to face conditions this difficult again in a marathon for some time.

So following on from above I need to :

2) I really need to give myself a pre race talking to about goals. I need to remember this experience going forward when I get into trouble.
3) Don't walk - drop back to a jog and try to figure out what the specific problem is and focus on that. Starting to look too far ahead is a recipe for disaster.
4) Hate to do it ... but it might be that a hydration belt might be needed - at least for tough conditions. Never again do I want to be without enough liquid to take a table.
5) Again need to re group - need to stay calm and focus on the specific problem. Need a pre race mental checklist of what what to do if it starts going wrong (although I do not want to sow seeds of doubt - a tough balancing act).
6) Need to do a little more speed work/cross training and try to push out my lung capacity a little.

The focus for the next while is shorter stuff, there is a half in three weeks (which I might just treat as a training run but is part of a HM series so I would like to finish), a 10k at the end of May which I would like to do well at - a top 10 in AG would be great and would require a < 42.00 time.

I have to figure out how to combine racing the shorter runs I want to do and training for Dublin (probably post a question on the main forum).

This week:

Monday, Tuesday : rest
Wendesday: 5 miles at relaxed pace. Came close to saying "one more day" - but quitting once in a week is enough . My legs are a little stiff but this run seems to have shaken much of that out of them.

ronanmac

pgmcpq wrote: »

Sorry, this is a long (and probably self-indulgent) one - grab a coffee. As much as anything else this is to clear my head and so I can give this link to people rather than repeating it.

Bloody hell, that's some race report! What an incredibly nasty day. That was some heat and humidity. Fair play to you for finishing it, and a 12th place age group finish after all that! Great report.

gilmore

+1, great report. Although you didn't get the time you were looking for when you factor in everything that happened on the day you came away with a fantastic result. Just finishing would have been some achievement but to finish 12th in your age group is something else.

pgmcpq

ronanmac wrote: »

Bloody hell, that's some race report! What an incredibly nasty day. That was some heat and humidity. Fair play to you for finishing it, and a 12th place age group finish after all that! Great report.

gilmore wrote: »

+1, great report. Although you didn't get the time you were looking for when you factor in everything that happened on the day you came away with a fantastic result. Just finishing would have been some achievement but to finish 12th in your age group is something else.

Thanks. The morale needs all the help it can get ! It seems many of the pacers failed to make it - so that puts some context on it. I made some practical mistakes, e.g. hydration (should have refilled my bottle) that I can fix ... but what disappoints me is that I failed to regroup and work my way through the problem logically. Might not have ended differently but I could have given myself a chance.

Overhearing the marshal (who might not have been talking about me at all) scared the c*** out of me. I have no idea what the signs are that you are about to go down and clearly enough people that day had already misread the signs and ended up in trouble so even though I felt ok, could I ignore the objective bystander ?

Sorry - by profession I am used to identifying problems and fixing them. It's frustrating as hell not to be sure what the damn problem was !!
I need to go back and re read some of the Connemara reports ( I could have used that mythical 1980s mustachioed man ronanmac !)

Anyway ... going to take the disappointment from here, bottle it and use it to beat the living **** of of the Dublin streets in October !!

PS. Nice going on the 3:21, gilmore.

pgmcpq

Friday: 6 miles. Mrs pgmcpq got me out today .... no real idea of pace just letting the legs do what they choose. Breathing is _still_ rough. I think that I need to do push my respiratory system capacity out a bit.

Somewhat ....."disjointed" run. Grabbed a quick cup of cereal before hitting the road. By accident I grabbed the Oat Bran. I can now confirm that it does indeed contain a great deal of fiber ....:eek:

pgmcpq

Took the weekend off - baring a 1 hour session on the stationary bike. Decided to allow myself a weekend off to recharge.

Monday: 8 miles (3 * 1 miles at LT pace ~6:20m/m). First 'speed' work done since the runup to the marathon - still hate it ! Plan to do more as in the run up to some shorter races. Temperature was just a few degrees above freezing when I went out ~6.45am - DAMN, DAMN, DAMN - where was this temperature a week ago when I could have used it.
Tuesday: 8 miles (3 on grass). As ever a recovery run turns into a PMP-interval pace run. *Sigh*. Still cold in the morning - back to gloves, hat 3 layers and tights. Crazy stuff. I have found that running on grass is actually good for my knees but actually quite demanding on the legs - I like it but it is not really "recovery" material.

Have decided (against all advice, wisdom) to enter a local 5 mile race this weekend, with a HM the following weekend and a 10k the next weekend.
Not expecting any PBs - whether I race or use as a training run will be decided on the day. The 5 mile is put on by a local club I might join, the 10k was founded by the late husband of one of the people who may come to Dublin with us in October - so I have my reasons for this foolishness.

asimonov

Jaysus, that sounded like a tough day out - great race report though. Good luck in the few races coming up, might be a good opportunity to nail a good HM time.

pgmcpq

asimonov wrote: »

Jaysus, that sounded like a tough day out - great race report though. Good luck in the few races coming up, might be a good opportunity to nail a good HM time.

They just put the photos up last night - looking at it brought it back. That's not my happy face !
www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=59256&PWD=&BIB=429

A big part of the problem was that my usual routine for "on the fly recovery" relies on breathing deeply to relax. Once this failed I was not able to adapt on the fly - no plan B. If I had kept my "cool":D and jogged until the next water station I _might_ have salvaged the last eight miles.

It's a bit nuts... but I have four HMs (four of a series of five organized by the NY Road Runners) between now and DCM - so I clearly will not be pushing for time in them all !

pgmcpq

Wednesday: 8 miles ( 1 warm up, 3 temp, 1.5 temp, 0.5 tempo ). Looking back it seems to me that I have neglected tempo runs for quite a while - probably too long - in favor of PMP runs. So will try to fix this ...though again my dodgy mastery of pace is a problem. For tempo trying to keep it below 7m/m - will check this with Macmillian. But really .... the weather is seriously taking the Michael - it's now overcast, cold, showery ... about 50 degrees below what it was for the marathon:mad:. I'd really like to test myself in hot weather again to see if what I can learn on long distance runs (HM+).

Numbers of runners have fallen to the hard core and thos remaining have retreated to their old winter gear.

pgmcpq

Thursday: 7 easy miles. Kept effort easy keeping pace above 8m/m ( did dip to 7:40 at one point). Nice run.

ronanmac

Pardon my ignorance, pgmcpq, but I notice in your photos the straps around your knees and I've always wondered what the purpose of these straps were. So, what do they do?!

pgmcpq

ronanmac wrote: »

Pardon my ignorance, pgmcpq, but I notice in your photos the straps around your knees and I've always wondered what the purpose of these straps were. So, what do they do?!

IT support bands - supposed to help with ITBS problems. Simply they are supposed to keep the IT band a bit more stable and reduce friction. In the interests of fairness I should say many people thing they are useless and nothing more than a placebo.
http://www.pro-tec-athletics.com/Iliotibial-Band-Compression-Wrap--by-Pro-Tec-Athletics_p_9.html
BTW, the did not "solve" my ITBS problems - but I think they did reduce the severity and allow me continue training and reduce the chance of the problem returning. I seem to be over the problem now (chiro, stretching, heat/cold therapy) but still wear them ( or a full compression brace for training.) Similar looking bands _under_ the knee are designed for the more common "runner knee" (cannot remember the correct name for this).

Funny .... I was looking at this myself. If you notice in some photos I have one on each knee and in some I have only one. The photos with 1 were late in the day (post meltdown!).
With apologies to Mr Orwell 2 bands, good; 1 band bad !!!

actwithoutwords

Haven't been here in a few weeks, so just read your race report. Sounded like quite an ordeal, sorry to hear about that. You have excellent training behind you though, so you know what you can do with more favourable conditions. It's very frustrating to not be able to make it count (as I know only too well myself). One of the annoying aspects of marathon running is building up to something for so long and if it goes wrong having to wait ages for the opportunity to set it right. Sounds like you should slaughter Dublin though.

pgmcpq

actwithoutwords wrote: »

Haven't been here in a few weeks, so just read your race report. Sounded like quite an ordeal, sorry to hear about that. You have excellent training behind you though, so you know what you can do with more favourable conditions. It's very frustrating to not be able to make it count (as I know only too well myself). One of the annoying aspects of marathon running is building up to something for so long and if it goes wrong having to wait ages for the opportunity to set it right. Sounds like you should slaughter Dublin though.

Cheers ... but truthfully I did not handle it well at all - I cannot blame the conditions entirely. A learning experience ! I need to get my head around this one before Dublin. - hopefully the upcoming races will clear the head.

Killerz

Just read the race report there. That sounds like it was seriously tough. I think you can take solace from your relative position though - think of all the other people that had issues in the race. Fair play to you anyhow, still a great result.

Four HMs over the next few months? Good to get back on the horse I suppose. Are they all based in around Central Park, or how does that work.

I'll be down in NY at end of June and hopefully will get a lap or two of the Park in.

pgmcpq

Killerz wrote: »

Just read the race report there. That sounds like it was seriously tough. I think you can take solace from your relative position though - think of all the other people that had issues in the race. Fair play to you anyhow, still a great result.

Not to go all "MBA" here .... but my regret is more "process" than goal. Dunno if my time would have been that much better if I had held it together but I am disappointed by the mental crumble. That's the bit I need to fix ... but I'm not sure there's an obvious fix for it ! It leave a nasty nagging doubt behind it ....

On the other hand ...that the 20mile race in Canada you did (name escapes me) is now a real possibility for next year - even if I BQ in Dublin, the Boston marathon fills very quickly.

Killerz wrote: »

Four HMs over the next few months? Good to get back on the horse I suppose. Are they all based in around Central Park, or how does that work.

I'll be down in NY at end of June and hopefully will get a lap or two of the Park in.

The HM series is organized by the NY Road Runners - It is one HM in each of the NYC boroughs. Jan was Manhattan, this month is Brooklyn, August the Bronx, Sept in Queens and a week before Dublin in Staten Island.
Doing all five is just an arbitrary goal that I decided might fit in well with the marathon training while allowing me a crack at lowering the PB. Will "race" two at most I suspect and use the others as PMP runs.

You really need to schedule your trips here a bit more strategically !

When you are coming check out the the NYRR website (www.nyrr.org) - they really are "the guys" in NYC and their runs are really very well run - sometimes a little short of volunteers - e.g at the water stops the water will be in cups but may not be handed to you (this threw me the first time I ran with them so I missed the waterstops completely).

End of June there is the Hope and Possibility run 5m is a fun event (Mrs Pgmcpq has done it) ... it's pretty inspiring to see people with all sorts of issues (blind, limbs missing etc) blazing away over the course. We'd probably be doing it but will be away that week. Bit short by your standards !

pgmcpq

Friday: 6 miles. Tempo-ish run. Decided to try out the legs a bit before a five mile race Sunday. Moring had that heavy pre-storm feel to it. You need to schedule your trips here a bit more strategically ! Perversely I love mornings like this ! Suprised by how slow I am. Never broke 7m/m. Think the legs are just out of gas a bit. I had been doing short (20-30min) cross training/core sessions in the evening last few night which might have been more draining than I expected.

Follwing on some comments elsewhere (e.g. Krusty's log) I am coming around to thinking that a heart monitor might be worth getting. Never really understood how they could be used as a "practical" training tool before.

So that's it until Sunday. Very curious to see how I get on. Have not done anything shorter than a HM in six months so I have no real idea what to expect. There is one steep but short hill in the middle. Hope to start at 7m/m and see what happens.

pgmcpq

Strange race: First short run in six months, and the competitive debut of a lightweight NB shoe (NB-805). Got them last year but had decided they would not work for longer runs, but I wanted to give it a short at shorter distances. First race since the marathon two weeks ago. So ...curious to see how this would go, but lowered expectations.

Two initial problems: 1) On the day the legs definately felt the cost of the tempo runs earlier in the week ... and probably the marathon residual.
2) I had left the the Garmin 205 off the changer the night before. Appearently not a good idea - when I turned it on it soon showed "low battery" and despite attempts to nurse it - it failed within the first mile. (This seems strange to me - anyone have similar experience?) So now having no idea how I would perform - I would have no idea how I was performing !

The race is run by a local running club - and considered fairly comptitive - but without frills. Rather than have clocks on the course they have volunteers call out the times at the mile intervals.

At the congested start the woman in front of me hit a speed bump (literally) on the road and fell. I just managed to stay upright and avoid her. At first mile marker the Garmin was dead. The time called out was 6:54. Then came the start of hills(s). I know the area well but I had not realised that the hills were so long - thankfully they start early. At the second mile the time was a disappointing 14:02. Mile 3 involved a downhill but also a dicey stretch of old cobble stones - the one part of the course they really should change. Mile time was 20:3x. I guess calling out times at the mile marker gets deathly dull. At mile 4 the volunteer seemed to have lost it a bit and was calling out "Mile 4 and 42 seconds" . So now I had no clue how it was going. Last mile was tough - I was no longer overtaking - and it's curious when you are used to knowing your pace to be running blind. I wonder if I am too dependent on the Garmin feedback ?

Finished in 33.18, good enough for 35th place (450+ runners) but oddly only good enough for 10th in the 40-49 age group ( 10 of the first 35 runners were in their forties - seems suprising). 5 miles is an unusual distance here so this was my first attempt at this distance - therefore a PB ! Still need to drop about another minute off this time before the end of the year for the Ashenfelter 8k.

Happy with the outcome but never felt in a "groove" at all. Form seemed to be all over the place - seemed to be heel landing - and felt like I was "muscling" through the run rather than having any "flow" - if that makes any sense

Nice run - good day. Saw a few friends - including the F70+ winner. Way t'go Bev !

Result :
33:18.41 6:39 34/244 M40-49:10/51

pgmcpq

First : To anyone reading who know us - everyone is fine.

In short : Sunday night through Monday morning (7am) was spent in hospital (not as the patient). While it was alarming all is now well and recovery is almost complete. It does seem that my recovery powers from a all-nighters have declined - either it's age or the result of simply sitting around.

So ...
Monday afternoon : Got out for a gentle 7 miles.
Tuesday: Seriously out of gas - turned the alarm off end returned to bed. 1 hour on the stationary bike.
Wednesday: 8 miles ( 1 w/up, 3 tempo, 1.5 hills (4), 2.5 tempo )
A mixed bag.

Still feeling a bit run down and unfocused. This is the situation where heart rate info might be useful.

Anyway ....this removes any remaining temptation to try to race the HM Saturday ( at 7am :eek: so there is no way to make up the sleep deficit ). Of course I might change my mind at the last minute .... but right now Saturday is a PMP training run.

Just got an electronic copy of the P&D Advanced Marathoning book so am staring to look at the 18 week program mentioned in the DCM 3:30 thread.

ronanmac

pgmcpq wrote: »

Just got an electronic copy of the P&D Advanced Marathoning book so am staring to look at the 18 week program mentioned in the DCM 3:30 thread.

Are you planning on doing DCM, pgmcpq?

pgmcpq

ronanmac wrote: »

Are you planning on doing DCM, pgmcpq?

Yes.

My mother-in-law got it into her head ( not sure where exactly) she'd like to make the trip so after six months of arm twisting (with a little water boarding:o) I relented ! I'd have liked to get another few under my belt but ...

Mrs pgmcpq (her 9th?), and brother-in-law will also be running (his 21st) and there's another few people potentially coming ... so there's a bit of pressure not to look like a complete twat !

I think the route goes past the house I lived in as a kid which will be strange ..

ronanmac

pgmcpq wrote: »

Yes.

My mother-in-law got it into her head ( not sure where exactly) she'd like to make the trip so after six months of arm twisting (with a little water boarding:o) I relented ! I'd have liked to get another few under my belt but ...

Mrs pgmcpq (her 9th?), and brother-in-law will also be running (his 21st) and there's another few people potentially coming ... so there's a bit of pressure not to look like a complete twat !

I think the route goes past the house I lived in as a kid which will be strange ..

That sounds like a great homecoming! Serious pressure from the Mrs and the in-laws though:eek:. At least it won't be New Jersey warm!

pgmcpq

ronanmac wrote: »

Serious pressure from the Mrs and the in-laws though:eek:.

Tell me 'bout it !

Thursday: 6 relaxed miles. Feeling pretty worn down. Crisis means late nights at work .... running a serious sleep deficit at this point. This week is going down the drain !

pgmcpq

I said I was not going to race this ... 3 weeks off the marathon, 1 week off a 5 mile race, bad week, a serious sleep deficit, poor nutrition, a 3:30am start to get over to Brooklyn for a 7am start, chaos at the start (very uncharacteristic of the NYRR - one volunteer inadvertently misdirected some of us _away_ from the start line so warmup was a sprint to make the coral before it closed ) , a horribly congested start for the first two miles. At mile 1 the clock showed 9.01. At mile 2 my average pace was 7:50m/m .... well good thing I am not racing this !

After mile 2 thing improved, and the average pace started to drop. First seven miles was two loops of Prospect Park - a few hills, one failrly challanging but on the first loop we were moving so slowly I did not really notice it. On the second loop it slowed me to a 7:21m/m split. Leaving the park I was suprised to see average pace had dropped to around below 7:20. Jeeze ... am I racing this ?

The next five miles were on a four lane dual carriage way down to Coney Island. Some people found this tough as there was little distraction other than pedestrians trying to time crossing the road. Women in full Muslin attire sprinting left while the Hassic family ran a relay left to right ! To me this was ideal - plenty of room, a good surface and flat.
My mile splits dropped to 6:40ish and my average time began to dive - in fact I backed off slightly a couple of times. I know my "average pace" figure was optimistic as I had run nowhere near race line in the park, but suddenly the prospect of a decent time was there. Guess what - yes, I am racing this ! By mile 9 the prospect of a PB was there, by mile 11 I began to wonder if a <1:30 might be on the cards (had no idea of the pace required for this). The clock at mile 12 was slightly misplaced I suspect and really made me thing that sub 1:30 might be possible. The last half mile is on the boardwalk and the climb to the board walk and the wooden surface I think slowed me a little.

Before the mile 13 marker I floored it for all I was worth. I knew that a substantial PB was in the bag. At about 70 yards short of the finish line I could see no one in my path. Abruptly over on the right a runner appeared - I must have completely missed him against the crowd. By the time I become aware of him I am within feet, and he's in a bad way. He's weaving and collapses and rolls on his back in front of me. I slowed, thought about stopping - but saw someone moving towards hims - and carried on. Out on the course I might have chucked the race but so close to the finish... I have a bad conscience about this - no question but that the PB and finish line won over the good intentions. Bit of an ethical dilemma.

Crossed in 1:33:50 and was a little disappointed to see that the Garmin showed only a minute slower. On the other hand if I had narrowly missed a 1:30 I would be cursing the first two miles, etc, etc - so I'll take it.

Final result : 1:32:49 - I'm stunned given how badly things went - but really enjoyed this course.

I do need to run a shorter NYRR race so I can record a faster pace and so get a better coral seeding. Since I have not run anything shorter than a HM with them I am at a disadvantage against those who get seeded based on a 5k pace. Three more HMs in this serious to go. One is too close to the DCM but the other two - if the weather gives me a break a sub 1:30 is now too close no to take a shot.

pgmcpq

Sunday: 6 miles recovery. Left knee started bothering me at mile 4 and needed a couple of 10-16 seconds walk breaks.
Monday: 6 miles. Humid morning. Had planned taking the day off but Mrs P decided to run and I went out for some moral support. Moderately easy run. Again my left knee is giving me some grief. So it gets a day off tomorrow for sure. Not worried about it ... yet.

Focus is now on a quick recovery for a 10k next Monday. Orignally the 10k was the A race in this period but plans changed about 7:40am on Saturday!

P&D Advanced Marathoning arrived this week. Much of it is familiar to me - it feels like I have read quotes from it else where. Considering a modified version of the 18 week 55-70 miles a week plan - with two major changes.
1. Splitting three weeks in the plan so that it becomes a 21 week plan where I would repeat parts of the week but would allow me squeeze in some races and a couple of weekends away. This has me starting to focus training on the DCM next week. 2. I would reduce the milage somewhat .... at the upper end 70 is a stretch for me. The amount off speed work is a bit of a surprise.

Also ordered a Garmin 305. Ny 205 does not have a HRM and I have recently started to understand why a HRM might be useful.

pgmcpq

Have come down with a head cold. Pretty annoying - second time since starting this log which is rare for me. Allergies are my usual problem. But I have been pushing it recently - so I'm probably a bit run down. Took Tuesday off, did a short core work out and promptly strained a shoulder muscle !

Wednesday: Mrs P got me moving this morning - seriously close to rolling over. But following the run it the cold is above the neck rule, 6 miles ... planned a tempo to ramp up to the 10k on Monday, but it turned into a fartlek from mile 4 onwards ! Tough going even for 6 in the heat with congestion.

This is going to be a very light week. Will have to shake the cold and hope "it'll be all right on the night" come the 10k on Monday.

pgmcpq

Wednesday pm: 30 minutes on the bike. Hit the mid 90s (about 35c ) here. It's early in the year and I did not have the a/c started yet. Arrived home to find the house like a sauna! So I cranked up the a/c and retired to the stationary bike in the basement - the coolest place in the house ! Trying to sweat this cold out of me.

Thursday: 6 miles, Very hot and muggy again ... though clouds did come in by 8am cooling things a little. Combined cold and allergies make for a tough run even at a gentle pace. Couple of miles on grass as the right knee continues to bother me. Neatly chalked on the pathway in the park : "God dozen love only the rich".

PS. Did my first every 'strides' today as a prelude to using a P&D plan for Dublin. Ran the straight of the running track and the recovered on the curve. Not sure if this is a long enough recovery.