Edinburgh 2010: a backwards marathon training log

RacoonQueen · 21-03-2011 6:30pm

Well done aero. Anymore 10 milers to try for that sub 60, the Frank Duffy isn't the easiest course in the world, though getting sub 60 there will make it all the sweeter.

tunguska · 21-03-2011 9:40pm

Good run Sean, I know you're a bit disappointed about not going sub 60 but Frank duffy will be a different story. You know the course and its on homesoil so Im heading down to Paddy power and putting 50quid on you for saturday august 20th.
Looking forward to hearing how Endinburgh goes for you.

menoscemo · 21-03-2011 10:10pm

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Well done aero. Anymore 10 milers to try for that sub 60, the Frank Duffy isn't the easiest course in the world, though getting sub 60 there will make it all the sweeter.

Mallow this weekend? It's pretty much a downhill course.

aero2k · 22-03-2011 3:15pm

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Well done aero. Anymore 10 milers to try for that sub 60, the Frank Duffy isn't the easiest course in the world, though getting sub 60 there will make it all the sweeter.

Thanks RQ,

Yeah, it's a tough course but I've got loads of time to prepare. I've got the GIR in 3 weeks and Edinburgh is 6 weeks after that, so I might fit in another 10k instead of a tempo session just before I start the taper. Then after Edinburgh I'll take it handy for a while, so realistically Frank Duffy is the best bet.

tunguska wrote: »

Good run Sean, I know you're a bit disappointed about not going sub 60 but Frank duffy will be a different story. You know the course and its on homesoil so Im heading down to Paddy power and putting 50quid on you for saturday august 20th.
Looking forward to hearing how Endinburgh goes for you.

Slightly disappointed, particularly as a number of people in the group I had been with finished in the 58-59 range. I had it in the back of my mind a few weeks ago that I'd run sub 59 - in fact I joked with Git101 about 58:29 being the target - but the combination of niggles, poor sessions, mediocre race results and generally feeling old and decrepit dented my confidence. I think I was taken by surprise when I felt so good during the first 2 1/2 miles and maybe I felt like a bit of a fraud being up with the fast men (and two women). At any rate I wasn't aggressive enough and I paid for it as far as finishing time goes.

However, Git101 loaned me a copy of "Running Within" and there's lots of good philosophical stuff in it, particularly about taking as much as you can out of a race, regardless of time. I've run five 10 milers: Frank Duffy '08, '09, '10, Dungarvan '11 and now Craughwell. The time progression has been 66:28, 64:51, 62:03, 61:21, and 60:43. I haven't been really over the moon about any of the times, but apart from getting a bit quicker I've finished each in progressively better shape, and every time I've felt there's more in the tank. Also, despite making a bit of a mess of it this time, I think I'm a lot closer to running a good race.

I'm looking forward to Edinburgh too. That 15-20 sec slower per mile will make all the difference, and hanging onto a group will be much less significant for me.

Let me know what odds Paddy Power gives you!:D

menoscemo wrote: »

Mallow this weekend? It's pretty much a downhill course.

Ah I'm not as tough as those lunatics who run 50k the week before a marathon PB - oh wait...:D I suppose I could swap it for the tempo session that's planned for this week, but tbh I think I'll just let the body recover a bit. I was thinking I'd taken it a bit easy in the second half of the race as I felt so fresh after it, but I felt mentally smashed yesterday, so maybe I gave it a lash after all. I think I'm making some progress with the osteopath so I won't push my luck with another race just yet. GIR will be time enough, not too far to crawl home after that.

RAL3 · 22-03-2011 5:07pm

Great going Aero, best of luck with the rest of the Edinburgh buildup!

tisnotover · 23-03-2011 9:53pm

Great going again Aero...your def knoking on that sub-60 !

aero2k · 25-03-2011 9:21pm

RAL3 wrote: »

Great going Aero, best of luck with the rest of the Edinburgh buildup!

Cheers. I'm looking forward to an inspirational Boston report from you in the meantime. I lived there many years ago and was there at marathon time - it's definitely on my bucket list.

tisnotover wrote: »

Great going again Aero...your def knocking on that sub-60 !

I should have borrowed that invisible pole you had hooked on to Mick Rice in Cork last year - though considering he ran 58:xx, that would probably have ended badly for me!:D I did get to have a chat with him after the race, and as well as being a legend, he's a gentleman. He was running back to Athenry with a few mates to make it 20 for the day. Amazing.

RacoonQueen · 25-03-2011 10:23pm

[secret code]That thing we discussed the other day, the price of the transport to the location is very cheap. Yeah, I checked straight away, how predictable am I?

[/secret code]

menoscemo · 25-03-2011 10:27pm

RacoonQueen wrote: »

[secret code]That thing we discussed the other day, the price of the transport to the location is very cheap. Yeah, I checked straight away, how predictable am I?
[/secret code]

So, youse two coming to Mallow too then?

aero2k · 27-03-2011 10:16pm

RacoonQueen wrote: »

[secret code]That thing we discussed the other day, the price of the transport to the location is very cheap. Yeah, I checked straight away, how predictable am I?
[/secret code]

I presume, since two days have passed since I've been on here, that you've booked?

aero2k · 27-03-2011 10:20pm

menoscemo wrote: »

So, youse two coming to Mallow too then?

What's Mallow? - Oh yeah - 10 miles - way too short for RQ. She'd have to run there and back to make it worth while!:D

I see you got another PB today - well done - where's the report.:D

RacoonQueen · 27-03-2011 11:06pm

aero2k wrote: »

I presume, since two days have passed since I've been on here, that you've booked?

Nope. There is something else on there that weekend that would give another reason to book said transport, if I ended up not partaking a the particular activity we talked about at least I would have the transport sorted for the other thing. :pac: Hmmmm....

aero2k · 28-03-2011 11:57am

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Nope. There is something else on there that weekend that would give another reason to book said transport, if I ended up not partaking a the particular activity we talked about at least I would have the transport sorted for the other thing. :pac: Hmmmm....

All this nudge-nudge, wink-wink stuff - next you'll be on about hot dates with foam rollers and preferring long and slow to short and fast....

Just do it, you know you want to...book the transport I mean!

Seres · 28-03-2011 12:29pm

aero2k wrote: »

All this nudge-nudge, wink-wink stuff - next you'll be on about hot dates with foam rollers and preferring long and slow to short and fast....

Just do it, you know you want to...book the transport I mean!

Now , Now , whats all this cyber flirtation doin on your RUNNING log , there are other forums for that !!!!

aero2k · 28-03-2011 2:15pm

Seres wrote: »

Now , Now , whats all this cyber flirtation doin on your RUNNING log , there are other forums for that !!!!

Seres, I thought I made it clear that all discussions of physical exercise were welcome here!:D

Besides, I stopped reading your log when a sliothar was mentioned in a dubious context....

Seres · 28-03-2011 4:05pm

aero2k wrote: »

Seres, I thought I made it clear that all discussions of physical exercise were welcome here!:D

Besides, I stopped reading your log when a sliothar was mentioned in a dubious context....

got me worrying wondering too !

RacoonQueen · 28-03-2011 5:43pm

aero2k wrote: »

All this nudge-nudge, wink-wink stuff - next you'll be on about hot dates with foam rollers and preferring long and slow to short and fast....

Just do it, you know you want to...book the transport I mean!

I do have a couple of weeks to make a decision. We'll see, I've become quite accustomed to short and fast in recent times...

aero2k · 28-03-2011 8:34pm

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I do have a couple of weeks to make a decision. We'll see, I've become quite accustomed to short and fast in recent times...

Be careful - Krusty thinks that means a 2:45 marathon.:D

aero2k · 11-04-2011 9:09pm

...and then someone handed me a grand piano!

Ok, no need to make this a long report, you'll all have read about the wait, the heat, the crowds etc.

Based on the fact that I feel much, much fitter than last year, I decided to try to start a bit faster, and then to try not to be as slow over the second half. I have been having some biomechanical problems, so I wasn't going to risk any damage, but as long as I felt ok I was prepared to give it a lash.

The first problem was I started too far back. I ran 5:45 for the first mile which was about right, but I was at 5:51 at the 1k mark and with weaving and accelerating I might have been near 5:30 for long stretches - way too fast. I managed a similar second and third mile, but the writing was on the wall then - last year I had accelerated noticeably going down Khyber Road, but this time I was struggling to maintain the pace. When I hit the hill I was toast. There was no pain, no particular problem other than a feeling of no strength in the legs, and I couldn't believe the slowness of the pace. I considered stopping altogether or just walking several times, however I managed to convince myself that running as fast as I could to the finish was the best possible preparation for Edinburgh.

I finished with 38:51. my slowest time for 2 years, 2 min off my best and 1:44 slower than last year (and I though that time was a bit slow!)

I was amazed when I uploaded the Garmin HR data to see that I had averaged 184 and that each 1 mile lap was within 1 beat of that apart from the first mile. Assuming it's correct then at least I was making a constant effort, however it was very high for the pace. (I averaged 5:39 and 180 bpm for the Liberties race on a similarly warm evening).

I'm assuming that the lack of pace was down to the overly aggressive start, the 23 mile run I did last Tuesday, and the fact that I had used up a lot of nervous energy over the previous days on non-running activities.

I felt great this morning, and while my 8 mile run was a bit slow, my stride felt smooth with no niggles. The quads feel a bit tender though - might be time to break out the foam roller.

I'm a bit undecided about the Edinburgh target - I should be faster than last year, but who knows? I might just have to see what pace I fall into after the first 5 miles.

aero junior managed a very creditable sub 45 in only his second road race, despite a fair bit of walking. Hopefully the experience hasn't scarred him....

aero2k · 02-05-2011 8:18pm

ARC Men's 10k 2nd May

I did this in '09 over a different course, but skipped it last year fearing it was too close to Edinburgh. However, after my poor showing in the GIR I decided to give it a go - my JD program had a 40 min tempo run in for yesterday so I figured today's race would do instead of that.

The plan was to start at a comfortable pace, hopefully get in with a nice group, and not look at the watch too much. The 32km/hr wind ruled out any PB attempt, plus I think it's a tougher course than Dunshaughlin, where I set that PB. Also, I had my last long run - 22 miles - on Tuesday. Okay, 6 days should be enough recovery, but there was a (shortened) speed session on Friday as well..

I went out at 9.15 for a little warm-up, nipped back home to drop off the jacket etc, then after a few strides I lined up at the front with about 5 min. to spare. The Bootcamp guy leading the warm-up probably thought I was being rude not joining in his routine but I wasn't about to risk any jerking or stretching given recent niggles and twinges.

Now, apologies for an abbreviated report but I had typed it all in, hit preview and it all disappeared - fortunately I'd hit ctrl c a few lines ago so there's still some there.

The race went to plan and I finished 5th in 37:52, a minute better than GIR and much easier. Here's some (mile) splits from my last 3 outings over this course:

GIR 2010 5:47 5:44 5:34 6:06 6:10 6:12 5:45
GIR 2011 5:44 (180) 5:49 (184) 5:45 (185) 6:28 (185) 6:39 (183) 6:39 (184) 6:14 (184)
ARC 2011 6:01 (166) 5:54 (178) 5:55 (178) 6:08 (179) 6:08 (180) 6:25 (182) 5:49 (183)

Looks like that first mile 3 weeks ago did some damage - the hills felt so much easier this time even though I was going faster, and the HR was better too.

Not a bad day at the office - now to see how a high intensity taper works out. Less than 20 days to go....

theboyblunder · 02-05-2011 8:34pm

nice one aero - I thought about a late entry for this but wimped out when I saw the wind forecast. Great run on a day like that and a tough course

aero2k · 02-05-2011 9:03pm

theboyblunder wrote: »

nice one aero - I thought about a late entry for this but wimped out when I saw the wind forecast. Great run on a day like that and a tough course

Cheers TBB. My original race report had the bit about taking it handy behind a few lads from 1-4k approx when we had the wind partially or fully against us. After that it wasn't too bad until the finishing straight - they seriously need a few thousand more trees on Furze Rd!:D

I'd hoped to be faster, even on that course, but I think I'd need to train specifically for it. All my races this year have been a case of fnishing them fresh enough to do the same again, but not able to run any faster. I'm hoping that means my training is marathon specific - we'll know in 3 weeks....:eek: