Chasing the Kona dream and a Mai Tai cocktail

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Monday
2400mtr swim set
A good session in the pool conisiting of usual warm up and main set of 6x200 as sw,p, B+B with 20s recovery swam as sw easy, p steady and B+B moderate. The sw times came in on 3:45 and 3:42, the steady efforts with pull buoy came in on 3:32 and 3:34 whilst B+B came in on 4:06 and 4:05. I also had 4x50 descending on 58,55,50 and 48 and 4x50s fast on 80 coming in 46,46,47,46.
Time:60mins, Dist:2.4kms

Tuesday
30 min easy spin
Just a quick easy spin whilst the young lad was at football training.
Time:33:13, Dist:16.44kms, Power:AP192/NP194, Cad:79, HR:140, TSS:32

30 min easy run with 5x30sec builds thrown in
Shot down to the club and done a few easy laps. HR and effort was high for the easy pace which was strange. The 5x30sec builds were all around 3:30km pace or below. Not a great run but at least i had no issues with the knee which seems to be causing more bother when not moving or driving in particular. I have decided on not getting it checked out before the race as i don't want to be giving myself an out in Barca!!
Time:30:58, Dist:6.59kms, Pace:4:42km, HR:158:eek:, TSS:59

Dory Dory wrote: »

Yeah...and I imagine it's a fine line between reaching your absolute max potential and crashing and burning.

You made me check over my garmin file for London last year:) I was running at an AHR of 169 until the wheels came off. That is 96.5% of my LTHR of 175 and in no way sustainable for me in a marthon. 90-92% is were it hopefully should be at.

liamo123 wrote: »

JB are u in the same pen as the 3 hr pacers ?? Im most certainally not qualified to give u advice but it might b no harm to tag along with them.. It would let u relax and get into a good rythm without having to constantly check ur watch.. Also nice to run in a group... U can guage how ur feeling from say 30k on and if ur feeling good pick it up a little...
Enjoy the weeks taper ( if thats possible !! ) and best of luck.....

Yeah Liam in the same pen as 3hr pacers, I am going to ease myself into the first 10k and not worry about the pacers as i am a slow starter. the plan is to have overtaken them prior to halfway and run 2:58 pace avg for the lot. And no chance of me enjoying the taper!!

Well missus has come down with a throat infection and flu so i have moved myself into one of the boys room for the week:rolleyes:. In bed for 9:30pm last night and well slept, thats the plan for the rest of the week, just trying to keep rested and healthy for this Sunday which is a job in itself. I hate the week leading up to a big A race, full of nervous energy.

RacoonQueen

Best of luck on Sunday Fran. Don't let me down!

When are you travelling?

theboyblunder

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Best of luck on Sunday Fran. Don't let me down!

When are you travelling?

+1...what she said

Looking forward to the report

Krusty_Clown

Best of luck Fran. We're all rooting for you. Stay relaxed and enjoy the race, and the heart rate and time will look after themselves.

El Director

Hi Fran,

Finding it very difficult to keep my training log on boards up to date never mind following everyone else's!! So only caught up on your last two weeks there now.

You are in great shape dude. Keep posotive thoughts between now and Sunday....accept nothing but 2:xx:xx and just be a bit arrogant about it frankly. You know we just never know what the future may hold for us...for all you know you are in the shape of your life now, how do you know for sure that you will ever be in this shape again? So make it count....make it count now.

Do your very best dude and thats all you can do, for me if I miss my goals then I miss them, so long as I can look at myself in the mirrow and ask myself 'could I have done better?' If the answer is no then I'm content. Best of luck.

catweazle

Good luck Jacky!

Izoard

Best of luck Fran - no bother to ya!

shotgunmcos

Just remember the pain you felt at IMUK, the marathon is nothing. NOTHING!! Pain is weakness leaving the body...

Go get it Chief and best of luck too!

nerraw1111

Best of luck. Stay positive, now isn’t the time to be thinking about anything other than ‘I’ll be a sub three hour marathon runner in 3 days.’

donothoponpop

Best of luck Fran, you've put in some great training, I'll be rooting for you to get under the 3 hr barrier at the weekend (and under the 37sec swim barrier some day;)).

BennyMul

Best of luck, not that you need it, the work is done now is the time to enjoy it.

griffin100

This seems to have crept up really quickly. Good luck with this and remember, the shorter the time you're out there for, the shorter the pain

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Wednesday
2100mtr swim set
Very strong swim, the 4x50 descending came in 58,54,51 and 46secs. The main set was 12x100 as (100sw easy, 100p steady and 100B+B mod).
The easy swims all around 1:48 and 1:52, the pull steady all around 1:39 and 1:44 and the b+b mod effort all around 1:58 and 2:03
I was really snapping the hip (if that makes sense) and felt like i was driving from the hips. Rotation and timing was much better which all lead to having a better forearm pull and generally the feeling of moving quicker through the water.
Time:45mins, Dist:2100mtrs

I was due to have a 40min run with 10mins at MP but the day got away from me as i was working late. Just as well as i have picked up a head cold which i am working furiously to clear for Sunday. Just as well to get it now rather than Saturday or race morning. Sure it will give me an excuse to have a hot whiskey tonight;)

A big thanks for all the words of encouragement and advice on here, via pms and e-mails.
A couple of things

All negative thoughts have been removed

Starting to chill and hopefully get finished work today and take it handy tomorrow before i fly out Saturday morning

I am in the running shape of my life

I am a different runner to last year

I am a faster runner than last year, 30secs per km faster on my long runs for same effort

I have proved to myself a number of times in the past i can and will suffer. Last few kms of UKIM springs to mind amongst other tough training sessions

I

will run a sub 3 on Sunday, anything else is not acceptable

Briandrunner will lose money on his bets;)

Brianderunner

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Briandrunner will lose money on his bets;)

What bets are these now?

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Brianderunner wrote: »

What bets are these now?

Any bet you may have placed on the outcome of Barca will be a losing docket:cool:

Brianderunner

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Any bet you may have placed on the outcome of Barca will be a losing docket:cool:

Hopefully. Best of luck, don't make a run for the finish on the seafront, long way home from there.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

El Director wrote: »

Keep posotive thoughts between now and Sunday....accept nothing but 2:xx:xx and just be a bit arrogant about it frankly.

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Just remember the pain you felt at IMUK, the marathon is nothing. NOTHING!! Pain is weakness leaving the body

Amen to that brothers:) Both of you should be hired for motivational talks:p

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Brianderunner wrote: »

Hopefully. Best of luck, don't make a run for the finish on the seafront, long way home from there.

No i will wait until i turn back into the town to turn the boosters on as the seafront has no shelter and is exposed. It can be a long road from what i can remember last year.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Thursday
Rest day

Friday
I forgot my swim set so just done a mix of 100s and 200s with and without pull buoy. Lost count probably around 1.2k worth for 30mins work. A lot in the lane with some good and some not so good. Starting to hold feet to regulars I could not get near last year.

Really buzzing now, I had to go into work today which was **** but all eyes on the prize now. Thanks to a certain boardsie for the call, well timed and very supportive, you know who you are.

TheRoadRunner

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Amen to that brothers:) Both of you should be hired for motivational talks:p

I love you tri guys you have all the cliches in your locker

Best of luck, remember, 50 nerds tracking you

insinkerator

Good luck!!

big mce

Best of luck

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Saturday
Travel for race
Pre Barca - Short run
Just a short trot to loosen up the legs with the flight this morning and i also wanted to check the hr to see if it was still slightly elevated with the head cold which to me seems to be nearly gone.
I done a few minutes easy, 5mins at MP and a few minutes easy back to the hotel. A total of 20mins of running but i got that "floating feeling" everyone knows the feeling and it does not come around too often. Its the "i am ready" feeling after a good taper and solid block of work for an A race. The legs feel super strong and there is most certainly a sub 3 in them. I was clicking along at 3:45km pace until i realised and slowed it way down in the MP section.
Early night tonight and the small matter of 26.2miles in 2:xx:) in the morning.
Buzzing!!
Time:20:30, Dist:4.65kms, Pace:4:25km, HR:156?? showing as 159 on watch.

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

I love you tri guys you have all the cliches in your locker
Best of luck, remember, 50 nerds tracking you

And we also have the cheesy rocky music on our itunes:) Cheers TRR.

Dory Dory

Kill it, jb. You deserve it!!!

tunney

3:06

A well placed attempted with one bad 5 km block after half way that was 6 minutes slower than pace planned.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

tunney wrote: »

3:06

A well placed attempted with one bad 5 km block after half way that was 6 minutes slower than pace planned.

Tough day at the office. Pain cave was visited numerous times. 3:05:59, not what I wanted but I gave it everything and thats all I can ask of myself and it's still a 14min pb do something salvaged from the day.
Will stick up a report next week.

shotgunmcos

Well done JB, solid effort. The sub3 will come sometime no doubt. Maybe I'll join you next time in the attempt.

Looking forward to the report and you must now be looking forward to Roth

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Barcelona 2012 marathon Report
It’s never really the same writing out a report when you have not hit your A race target time or got the result you believed your training deserved but nonetheless I will have a stab at putting my Barcelona Marathon ramblings down on paper.

I had been creating a sense of positivity both here on the log and to those who know me well in the week leading up to the race. This was to combat a lot of negatitive thoughts that were creeping in along with a head cold in the week leading up to the race. Work was also stressful before I was heading off but again I done my best to keep this out of my thought process.

I was on the early Saturday morning flight with my Father who was running his 2nd marathon and we also had 5 other lads over from the running club to give this a good go. Saturday was spent at the Expo, relaxing, eating, hydrating and trying to stay off my feet, a lesson I had learnt in London. I did go for a quick 20minute run on the Saturday afternoon and whilst I felt good and legs felt great my HR was still elevated and I was sweating much more than usual. We went for a lovely group meal on Saturday night and it helped relax me although the lads commented on how driven and focussed I was…probably overly so.

Alarm went off early on Sunday morning and I did not sleep well. I had my usual brekkie of porridge and I also sipped on a bottle of water with a nuun tablet mixed in. I was starting to get very nervous and already at this stage had 3 loo stops to empty the system. I shared two moments with a club mate that hopefully we can both forget very quickly:). The first moment was 5 minutes before the race and we are both queuing for the portaloos for one last clearing off the system. Queue was not moving and thankfully he had toilet roll with him, we seen a group of bushes and made a run for them. There must have been several in there taking a crap at the same time. I was trying to hold the breath with the stench and the two of us were trying to hold the laughter in as some Spanish lad was uttering words of something along the lines of “this place smells of **** I am going to be sick”. We quickly made our way down to the start line in the sub 3 pen and met up with another one of the club guys who was also targeting the same time. The second moment was when Queens Barcelona music came on and it got me, lump in throat trying to remain manly and stiff upper lip I look over at my ****ting companion and he is doing the same we both let out a “**** this emotional crap lets get running” just before the hooter goes off.

The three of us set off and as I ran the course last year I was the one controlling the pace and we were all targeting a similar time. The plan was to settle into it and I was expecting to be down a little after 5k as it was the hilliest part of the course. The first 5kms went by in 21:47 which was about 30secs off sub 3 pace and a little more from 2:58. It was a little bit more than I wanted to give away but I knew we would reel it back with the downhill section shortly to follow. I took a quick look to see what the hr was like, average 169. Ah sh1t no this is not good, this was about 8-10 beats higher than my MP training runs and I knew from my experience in London not good. I did not let it negatively affect me but I was going to keep an eye on it at the 10km marker. The three of us picked up the pace a little and ran 20:47 for the next 5k section which left us back on pace, splits here were good with a 4:00 and two 4:02s thrown in on the downhill sections. Another quick peek at hr and I was still at 168 average through 10k:(

All three of us found the 10km to 20km difficult in parts and it was starting to get a little warmer. I had taken on 2 gels through 16km and normally I sip water at the aid stations but found I was taking a lot more on as my mouth was very dry. We went through 15km with another 5k split of 21:27 and 21:26 for 15km through 20km. Effort was feeling a little tough here and I found I was working harder than I would have liked, I also had my first thoughts of stopping, and marathons are bullsh1t but used positive thoughts and reinforcement to overcome them quick enough.

We went through half way at 1:30:12, I knew the race was really on and that I needed to pull time back quickly as I was about 40secs down on where I wanted to be at as I was planning on a half split around 1:29:30. Another glance at the watch showed an AHR of 167 and I knew whatever happened the 2nd half would be testing and it would hurt.
The other two lads were starting to suffer a bit as well which I found surprising as they are slightly faster than me and have the results to show for it. Between 20km and 25km we ran a 21:35 and lost another few seconds. Between 25km and 30km the three of us broke up and I started to get into a world of pain and I knew deep down the thoughts of sub 3 were gone. There were a few moments when the target time slipped away that I was just going to pull over onto the grass verge and lie down. I would not let myself though. This 5km came in at 22:37 but the splits had dropped to 4:2x and 4:30 pace.
From 30km to 35kms we headed out along the beachfront and the two other lads were nowhere to be seen as they dropped back. It was really getting warm and I was really getting fvked. I was well and truly firing bananas at the monkey in the pain cave. I was using all the tricks in the book, stop being such a pussy, only a few kms left, think of the training you have put in. Somehow I kept this 5km split at 22:35 but do not ask me how.
I was a dishellved mess entering the last few kms. The 35km to 40km section was the worst I have ever felt in a race, pure pain even worse than the last few kms of the Ironman. Again it was a battle of will not allowing myself to stop and all I was thinking about was London blow up Part 2 if I stop here. I tried to picture my coach Dave on my shoulder roaring “Stop being such a wuss and get on with it”. My calfs and quads were screaming, I was weak and a few kms had dipped into 4:4x territory but I was still moving. This 5km section came in at 23:26.
Into the home straight with 2km to go I had absolutely nothing and even the crowd support and being so close to the finish could not spur me on. It was complete carnage everywhere people running into each other and loads of people stopping, I thought “sure if they can why can I not”. Safe to say I never allowed myself to stop, I turned for the home straight and gave whatever I had left for a sprint crossing over the line in 3:05:59.
The aftermath was bit scary as I was disorientated for a good 10 minutes after the race and was a bit groggy, also my legs kept going on me. My two other club mates crossed over in 3:12 and 3:19 and they both had died a death in the last few kms of the race, perhaps a sign of the mental toughness i took out of the locker. At least I got first home from the club:o

So 24hours on and I cannot hide the disappointment. I do honestly believe I was in shape to go sub 3 and my training had been very good. I can take consolation in the fact that I have found new levels of suffering I did not know I had in the locker. For me the closing stages of Barca were tougher than UKIM and that is saying something. I am not making excuses but the bit of a head cold was perhaps more than I was letting on or led myself to believe. It certainly contributed to the elevated hr.

Some positives to take is the 14min pb, it leaves me with a good platform for Roth and I know in the future I can and will go sub 3. It is unlikely I will be targeting a stand alone marathon in the next two years with what I have planned in an attempt to qualify for Kona and by that time I would expect to be targeting a good bit lower than sub3.
Massive congrats to my Dad who ran his second marathon at 57 and ran a 4:11, a 6min pb from Dublin last year. If only he learnt how to pace himself he could have went sub4.

Body is in bits today like nothing before. My throat is sore and I have the worst case of DOM’s ever. Main aim is to recover as I know I went deep but it will only transpire in the coming days how deep I went. I will do a full post mortem on the race with my coach in the next few days and start planning Roth but recovery will take precedence over that for now.

A massive thanks to everyone on here for all the support via e-mail, FB messages and texts it means a lot and you all played a part in keep me moving when the going got tough. A huge thanks goes to my coach Dave who has literally being keeping me balanced as much as possible over the last few weeks when the mood has been up and down with work/life/training stuff. He has become more of a mate than a coach and without his guidance I would not be at the level I am at now and knocking out 14min pb’s. Whilst it was not the sub 3 we had targeted it was most certainly a huge effort and a step in the right direction.

Hopefully I will have a glass of beer or wine tonight to celebrate along with a chinese with Michelle as I could not or perhaps did not feel like I wanted to or deserved to yesterday in Barca. Onwards and upwards eh!!
Garmin file

pgibbo

Great report Fran.

Savage kudos Fran for sticking it out. I have to admire your tenacity and ability to keep going. 14 minutes is a huge PB. Well done on that. Like you said, you gave it everything you had on the day. You can't ask for anything more. The head cold, etc certainly played it's part and sub 3 is definitely within your grasp. Recover well, get a sports massage and enjoy a meal and beer/wine with Michelle.

Then, let the fun begin and enjoy the lead up to Roth and achieving that sub 10! :cool:

Congrats and congrats to your Dad too. Fair play to him!

donothoponpop

Very hard to say anything but hard luck, you were certainly trained for the sub3 reward. It's hugely positive that you managed to endure the pain for so long, and get that pb, when it would have been so easy to start walking or drop out. That'll stand to you in future races.