Over the rainbow...the DCM finish line

shazkea

I have decided that if I am to get to the start line of the DCM that I need all the motivation and help I can get so it's time to start this training log. Also I have lurking around for a while so time to step up!

So a "little" background on my running experience...
I first decided to take up running around this time last year in an effort to get fit and loose weight. My first goal was the Adidas 5 miler. Unfortunately I had no experience or as it turns out common sense when it came to running. I didn't follow a plan and thought I could wing it. This lead to knee twist in mile one but I thought I should at least finish the run. Bad mistake as I ended up tearing ligaments and cartilage and could do nothing for about 6 months after a knee op and physio. During this time I promised I would do the DCM this year but follow a structured program and learn to be patient.

So I started back running in Jan with a plan of run 1 min/walk 1 min and gradually increase. It was hard and I honestly thought I would never be able to run 1 mile let alone 13.1. A half-marathon was my target, the kildare half to be specific. I did finish that albeit in a rubbish time (2:23) but you have to start somewhere I guess. I will admit that I found miles 8 - 12 really tough going and if it wasn't for those jelly beans they handed out who knows!!
Moral of that story though is that LSRs are in the training plan for a reason!!

Next target was a sub 60 in last weeks mini-marathon. I finished it in 55:32 and discovered one thing - I love (perhaps love is too strong a word yet...) running in the rain. I now must be the only person in Ireland hoping for a wet summer...sorry everyone!!
So goals for next 5 months:

1. Complete the 5 miler without making a mess of my knee(s)
2. Get a pb on the 10 miler (shouldn't be too hard as I have never done one)
3. Sept half - marathon: beat Kildare time with a time ~ 2:00
4. Complete the DCM - I would love a time of sub 4:30 which is slightly ambitious but def worth a try. I know it's not an earth shattering time...
5. Remember to enjoy the training and experience (hardest goal I reckon!)

Training Plan this week:
3 x 3 milers with an LSR of 6 miles.
Goal: Rem what the S in LSR is and slow down - don't need a PB in a training run. Thank god for Garmins.

That's my story and goals...so here goes. If I hit Submit that means I am publicly declaring I will do this...omg I must be mad :eek:

RayCun

With a half-marathon and a 55 minute 10k under your belt you should be grand for the 4.30 marathon. Good to see another lunatic stepping up

rainbow kirby

You have similar PBs and goals to where I was at this time last year, and I did the race series half in 1:58 and DCM in just under 4:25. Good luck with it

DigiJem

Good luck with the log and the training. There seems to be a lot of us doing DCM so there's plenty of support.

theduke1

welcome and good luck with the log

shazkea

Thanks guys, I appreciate the support and motivation

shazkea

It's often said work interferes with life but it also interferes with the life of a wannabe marathoner too! I travel alot with work so one of my big challenges is trying to fit in training runs. Now you might say there's an easy answer to that - find a hotel with a gym/treadmill and while that's very true that's where my challenge lies.

To say I have a chequered history with treadmills would be an understatement, in fact I have a deep rooted fear of this item. You see me+running+treadmill = broken hand + complete humiliation previously (don't ask...and yes the gym was packed ). So as a result I don't trust my ability to run (or even stay) on them. Anyway so my goal this eve was to get a simple 3 miler done so it was time to buck up and find the treadmill. Hotel website showed smashing pics of gym with lovely equipment. However in reality this equated to 1 treadmill and 2 bikes in a basement room that was hotter than any hotel kitchen. Deep joy...

Pepped myself up to begin run, stepped on only to find frigging buttons/displays were not in English with no obvious quick start/increase speed capability and also seemed to allow you to run for 15 mins only at a time. I knew in my heart that if that treadmill was to stop after 15 mins, I would be off in a flash back to hotel room and shower. So eventually sorted out what I needed and off I took. To my surprise I stayed on for 4 miles with no broken bones afterwards. I can't say I enjoyed it all that much but then staring at a paint chipped wall for 36 odd mins never appealed to me...

So moral of this story and my motivation item #1 - If I can do 4 miles on a treadmill I don't understand and in a sauna-type room, I can do any 3 miler outside in Ireland that the future schedule tells me - and no excuses will be accepted....

shazkea

What a fantastic eve but prob not the most conducive to running. It was def quite warm out but I had drank plenty of water before so was good to go.

Schedule was for 3 miles and completed it without any problems. 1.5 out and 1.5 back with a nice sea breeze to cool me down on the way back. I'm probably being a bit kind to myself as route is a bit too flat, lovely but no real gradient. I probably should check out some routes with a few hilly parts - keeping in mind those hills for the race series in the Phoneix Park.

Trying to improve my diet as well and some good advice on the mentored thread so thanks for that. I took the drastic move of cutting out chocolate altogether. OMG its hard as I'm addicted to the stuff. 1 week, 2 days and 4 hours off it, not that I'm counting or anything...craving a purple snack now but I'll have to settle for some mixed fruits instead!

littlebug

Best of luck Shazkea.
Your 10k time is great.You'll smash your HM pb next time out!

claralara

Best of luck with the DCM training. Adidas Half will be no bother to you - hopefully the weather will be cooler; Kildare was a hot, tough day!! Great time in it!

jcsmum

Great to see another log which I can relate to! Well done on signing up for the marathon, you're braver than me. I will endeavour to do the half in Sept. I'm not sure I could do the full marathon, I was told by a guy in work (experienced athlete), that I could probably do it, but it would take a lot out of me and recovery could be very tough. He advised me to wait til next year. But who knows.... I may surprise myself.
Good luck with your training.

Dotcomdolly

Well done on braving the treadmill again!
That was a greta time in the wmm, well done & good luck in your training from here.
I am also off the chocolate (and other junk - biscuits, cakes etc.), I'm on day 10

shazkea

Totally lacking in motivation this evening and had talked myself out of run so I went to the gym instead for a spot of cross-training.

However once I got on the bike doing the warm-up I got a severe case of the guilts so decided to venture onto the treadmill (again!). So ended up doing 3 miles on it and this time to break up the monotony I varied the speeds and inclines. I must look up a conversion tool as I don't know whats a good pace for interval training on a treadmill...I think I might be getting the hang of this treadmill lark. It still doesn't beat running outside!

Shins are a bit sore so sitting here with an ice pack on them as I type this. Does Voltarol help with shin splints?

Distance: 3 miles, Time 30:28 Avg min/mile 10.1

Tomorrow is a rest day and then a 6 LSR on Sunday to round off the week

If anyone has any interval training times for a treadmill I would love to get them.

shazkea

jcsmum wrote: »

Great to see another log which I can relate to! Well done on signing up for the marathon, you're braver than me. I will endeavour to do the half in Sept. I'm not sure I could do the full marathon, I was told by a guy in work (experienced athlete), that I could probably do it, but it would take a lot out of me and recovery could be very tough. He advised me to wait til next year. But who knows.... I may surprise myself.
Good luck with your training.

How's your training going for the half and who knows you might end up doing the full yet . Your colleague is probably right but what the hell, we can suffer afterwards with the medal around our necks

shazkea

Dotcomdolly wrote: »

Well done on braving the treadmill again!
That was a greta time in the wmm, well done & good luck in your training from here.
I am also off the chocolate (and other junk - biscuits, cakes etc.), I'm on day 10

Oh I'm so happy to hear someone else is off the junk food too - how is going for you? I promised myself that if there is chocolate or any other junk food in the goody bags after the race series, I can have those but otherwise nothing till after the DCM...

RayCun

Littlebug posted this conversion table earlier

shazkea

Cheers Raycun and Littlebug. Just found another one which has the km conversion but doesn't have the inclines though.

shazkea

So much for yesterday being a rest day...ended out hiking in wicklow. When a certain someone ended up saying "I know a shortcut", I should have known we were out for the day...what is it with men and maps??? So I am counting yesterday as a long cross-training day

LSR scheduled for this eveing was 6 miles and I'll be honest and say I wasn't looking forward to it. However when I got out there it felt great. I choose a route by the sea to have the sea breeze and also plenty to distract me...probably a mile of the run was trying to avoid people and dogs on those bloody long leashes! By the end of the run I felt I could have gone on for more...a feeling which I haven't often had so far so maybe I'm turning a corner!

Distance: 6:01, time 59:55. avg min/mile 09:58
12 days off the chocolate...

Roll on week 1 on marathon training...

shazkea

Distance: 3.00 miles Time 29:00 Min/mile 09:39

For some reason I found this run really tough. I suffered alot in the heat (car said it was 23 degrees out!) and humidity so I prob didn't take on enough water before hand. My pace and running form were all over the place and hence I finished on the dot of 3 miles!!
Hopefully tomorrow will be better...

shazkea

I banned myself from looking at my watch during the run this eve and thought I would go at a comfortable pace and see what happens. As it turns out my comfortable pace is frigging rubbish. On the positive side I added some hills into the route...can't think of any more positives right now other than I finished it.

Have just consoled myself with some Ben & Jerrys Phish food (omg heaven). I'm not counting that as chocolate but it's probably not the best thing to have as I'm lactose intolerant...some things are def worth it tho!!

Distance: 3.45 miles
Time: 34:29
Pace: 09:59 min/mile

shazkea

Right been such a moany cow over the last few posts that I was annoying myself! So had a good talking to myself and basically said to HTFU and stop worrying so much about pace on week 2 of the marathon plan. I think I have a couple of weeks to sort that out yet!!

So set out for a run and see how I went (again banned myself from looking at watch)
Distance 2.61 miles
Time 23.17
Pace 08:55

Thought the route was longer but will know for next time...

7 Miles LSR planned for Sunday

shazkea

Headed West for the weekend so had to bring my running gear with me and I'm still shocked I actually pulled on the gear this morning and out I went for the LSR.
I had to get a recommendation for a route and it was a lovely cross country trail. I needn't have bothered with breakfast as I got all the protein I needed from all the flies I swallowed. Took off at an easy pace and just enjoyed the trail although there was def some sneaky little hills through the forest not to mind the obstacle course of tree roots! It made it interesting though. I had to loop back to the car after 4 miles to top up on water as it was quite warm but generally a really nice run and great recommendation.

Afterwards stopped to watch the community games that were going on in the track area and it was really nice to see all the kids having a great time.
Another week down in marathon training...

Distance: 7.23 miles
Time: 1:15:30
Pace: 10:27

Off now to read the reports of how people got on in the strawberry half - hope everyone had a great race.

shazkea

Plan for this week (Week 3 Novice):

Monday | Tuesday|Wednesday|Thursday|Friday|Saturday|Sunday
rest|3 m|4 m (middle 2 @ PMP)|3 m|rest|5 m|cross


Following the plans that Rainbow Kirby is posting on the sub 4:30 monitored thread - btw cheers RK for that thread, really helpful and motivating.

Headed out for a walk yesterday to stretch the legs after Sunday's LSR so it felt fine today.
To be honest I'm full of the joys of running at the moment. I really enjoyed the last 3 runs mainly because I've relaxed and am just enjoying being out in the fresh air (albeit warm fresh air!). Some great advice on the monitoring thread about pace from RK and raycun (cheers!) so have stopped worrying about the fact I'm a slow runner and just getting the miles in now without any pressure.

Headed out this eve for a 3 miler with some 30 Seconds From Mars on the ipod (good album btw) and had a really comfortable run. I even sprinted up the last hill back the car - a hill that has so far filled me with dread every time I've come across it previously!

Distance: 3.05
Time: 29:30
Avg Pace: 09:41
Split Pace: 1) 09:49 2) 09:37 3) 09:29

BTW Just downloaded SportTracks (tip from a thread on A/T/R forum) and it's much better than Garmin TC imo so far.

shazkea

Plan this eve was 4 miles with 2 at PMP. Trouble is that right now I'm not sure what I'm capable of on a long run and what my PMP is so am going for a range 10:00 - 10:18 with a sub 4:30 marathon in mind.

I choose a route that was hilly and windy to get an idea of whats comfortable-ish!

So in summary:
Distance: 4.05 miles
Time: 39:57
Pace: 09:52
Splits: 1) 09:59 2) 09:52 3) 09:53 4) 09:43

I struggled to keep the pace to around 10:00 as I had a tendency to go quicker the whole time even with a head wind so I need to keep an eye on controlling my pace. Other than that a nice run and it rained....haven't had that since the women's mini-marathon, felt weird but nice.

shazkea

July 2nd

3 Mile run in the rain and wind - felt like normal irish weather again! I was feeling good after the run so I decided to try some strides. Surprisngly I enjoyed them, I don't think I've run fast like that for a long while - felt like a kid again!

Distance: 3.01
Time:28:22
Avg: 09:25
Splits: 1) 09:49 2) 09:28 3) 08:59
Strides: 4 x 100m

Hamstring feels a bit tight this morning so must watch that. Just picked the 5 series race numbers and resisted the temptation to buy anything!!

shazkea

Step back week so a 5 mile today. Should have been easy :-) but as anyone that went out running today knows, that frigging wind was harsh. Normally love running by the sea (not Clontarf!) but there was a couple of times I thought I may be going for an unscheduled swim instead!

Cream crackered after the run but my own fault entirely as I hadn't eaten in ages before I went out and def not enough water - not the wisest move! Week 3 training done and dusted
Distance: 5.07
Time 51:34
Avg Pace:10:10

Congrats to everyone who did the multimarathon earlier, I was down at the finish - really tough conditions out there so hats off to everyone who did it.

shazkea

Week 4
Monday | Tuesday|Wednesday|Thursday|Friday|Saturday|Sunday
rest|3 m|4 m + 4*100m strides|3 m|rest|9 m|cross


Plan for week 4 above.

First 3 miles this eve. I took it easy this eve as hamstring still feeling a bit tight.

Distance: 3.02
Time: 29:14
Pace: 09:41
Splits: 1) 10:03 2) 09:39 3) 09:22

Alternating between looking forward to lsr and panic as that will equal longest training run I've ever done...oh the fun starts here

Emer911

shazkea wrote: »

Alternating between looking forward to lsr and panic as that will equal longest training run I've ever done...oh the fun starts here

Just take it slow and you'll do fine. It's all supposed to be fun, right?

jcsmum

I see you have a 9LSR scheduled for Saturday. I need to go lie down. I can't imagine running that far.
My times may be improving but my distance is well behind yours.

brophya2007

Hi Shazkea

Best of luck with the training for DCM. I'm also in RK's mentored thread and find it very useful. I'm a week behind yourself and just did the 4 miles with 2 miles at PMP.

Have you signed up for the adidas series? Best of luck with the LSR this weekend, like yourself this will be the furthest I've ever run come next weekend.

shazkea

Uuuggghhh horriblle, horrible run. I was just in a really indecisive mood - couldn't decide on a route or the type of run I wanted to do; tempo, pmp or slow. All I knew for certain was that I didn't want to be out there

So finally decided on a route with a few hills at a comfortable pace. I think I must be really tired because every step was accompanied by an ache from some muscle group and they were all complaining this eve. For the first time since starting the training I actually seriously thought about quitting the run.
I didn't and it was 2 things that kept me going - 1) other runners were out so I couldn't be seen to be quitting and 2) the calorie counter on my watch

Summary:
Distance: 4.16 miles
Time: 40:32
Pace: 09:45
Splits: 1) 09:57 2) 09:56 3) 09:31 4) 09:40