Confessions of a Comrade Cailin

hot to trot

Just missed my flight to Barcelona by a whisker. Got to Longford when I realised I didnt have my passport. By the time I got it and got back to airport carpark it was 5.15 for a 5.50 flight. Long wait for carpark bus to take off . Wouldnt have made it through security. Feckedy feck.

so , its either run 26.2 here and try not feel totally stupid in an Irish vest and white skirt or fork out 214 euro for a flight tomorrow and go after all. NOt sure what to do .

G-Money

So did you make it to Barcelona in the end?

sarsfieldsrock

Heard you ran a PB in Galway. Well done. Barcelona will still be there next year.

hot to trot

Debated whether to go or not on a transfer ticket , ( thanks for the offer lads) for one night or stay put. When I got to Dublin I went for something to eat and a few drinks, Had a sleep in the car and then met a friend and went on the beer. Got to bed at 1am and didnt sleep much, so at 5am I thought I might as well head for Galway. Struggled to stay away on the way down but scoffed a scone and had lots of fluids.

Met a bunch of 10 runners in Salthill on a beautiful hazy morning with zero wind.Temperature was 8-10 degrees and my first time in shorts this year. Comrades coach said that I could push the pace a bit for this marathon as I wasnt going to do a back to back long run this weekend and it was still far enough out to give it a bit of a blast ...but not to go eyeballs out for a PB.

I felt a bit ropey in the stomach but there was zero pressure and I planned on an enjoyable training run. And off we went. Nice and steady with plenty of chat if you wanted it . I thought the lads were a tad to quick for me after the first couple of miles so I let them run on although they never strayed too far ahead. My heart rate was still very comfortable at this point so I was happy enough that I was coping.
At mile 7 -I thought I was going to puke, I wasnt sure was I still a bit drunk or just a hangover kicking in . All the giggling around of my giblets was having an ill effect all the same. I knew a gel would make me sick so I had a kelloggs elevenses bar with me for half way and I took it then as I thought solid food might help. It certainly did . I had also bought some of the lemon sis powder mix to make a drink (tried it after the 50 k last weekend) and which went down very well and I sipped regularly at that too.
I was thoroughly enjoying myself and apart from a quick P stop behind a wall i kept going to the turnaround point. Then straight back running and chatting with a few others . I felt a bit tired and thought Id suck on a gel for a bit. It must have done the job as I had struggled to stay with one of the guys and before long I had passed him and a few others on the way. As the race went on I felt stronger and stronger and by mile 22 the heart rate was starting to up a notch but the legs werent having any problem. I was afraid I had missed/would miss the turn back to the final leg of the route as there was no one in front to follow at that stage. But even if I had to run excess miles , it would all be useful for the big C so I wasnt worried apart from the fact that I might get lost.
Mile 25 , finally the turn, and I headed up towards the last stretch. I upped the pace a bit and kept going. I really should get used to looking at the clock when I run, I didnt think to look at the turn around point or again heading into the last mile. It was only when I finished at a pb of 3:57:12 ( whoohoo) that I knew there is better time still available in the old doll yet.
It was one of the most enjoyable marathons I have done and I dont feel cheated for not going to Barcelona. I dont think I would have had as good a run there .
A Small field of 10 and being left to your own devices in a completely relaxed atmosphere , devoid of any external stress or pressure and running with like minded individuals doing what they love, just suited me down to the ground. Cant wait to go back for more.
Just dying to hear all the Barcelona race reports now.

3:57:12 26.2 M ( 160) WHR/HRR~77%

Aimman

Well done on the PB and fair play for finding an alternative marathon at short notice. Barcelona is too hot anyway, you're better off here in the colder climate

hot to trot

Legs were a bit restless after all the driving this weekend and seeing as there was no after effects of yesterday decided to go for a little jog.

6M 9.54mm :59 (143) /65%

hot to trot

Couldnt find the workout suggested by WK when I was leaving work . Knew there was some 85% work in it , so I did warm up of 6 miles before I remembered the tempo stuff so I threw in 3 miles at 85% with about a minute or two rest in between, then jogged home the rest.

Overall 10.32 avg pace 8:58 ( 156)

hot to trot

Decided to do a loop in the town with a smallish hill,( hardly a hill at all really but the only one with streetlight) as I forgot my headtorch .After a number of loops I got fed up dodging around people, avoiding car doors opening in front of me and crossing roads . I had planned for longer and was in the mood but when I got to 7 miles I just couldnt face any more.

7M 1:04 9:17mm ( 153)

menoscemo

Congrats on the new PB and with a hangover :eek: I thought I was mad for having a few drinks in barca on the friday night, but didn't dare the night before. I reckon you would have went even faster in barca.

With all the marathons you are doing, have you ever considered pacing a few? I'd say a bit of 4:30 pacing would suit you perfectly, great to get the long runs in but as part of a big city marathon atmosphere...

hot to trot

Quiet at work this week due to phone out of action. So few appointments. ducked out for a run early afternoon. 2 deg, wet and miserable. Forgot gloves and I barely warmed up for the whole run.
Listened to Prof Noakes on marathon talk podcast while running. Was interested to hear him say that you need to cover 2/3rds of your target distance in training , ideally. When asked about splitting a 8 hour on the feet walk/run versus a back to back approach , he said that you need to train your brain to keep you going through the boredom and ache etc and that if 10 hours was your race target that only running regular 5's was going to prove tough on the day .
Also about the run walk strategy , which he felt was vital for 5 hour marathonnners or long events.... a routine of 3,6,9 followed by 1 mile walk , whichever suited. He said that you needed to walk the full mile to really get the benefit rather than just a few minutes. YOu will be as fresh as when you started if you do this.
Interesting to listen to on many fronts. worth Downloading

10.7M 1:44 9:45mm (151) 70%

hot to trot

menoscemo wrote: »

Congrats on the new PB and with a hangover :eek: I thought I was mad for having a few drinks in barca on the friday night, but didn't dare the night before. I reckon you would have went even faster in barca.

With all the marathons you are doing, have you ever considered pacing a few? I'd say a bit of 4:30 pacing would suit you perfectly, great to get the long runs in but as part of a big city marathon atmosphere...

I usually have a drink or two the night or two before a marathon as I rarely get away from home on my own and really want to make the most of it .I think it might effect elites but at my end of the pack , it doesnt really matter. I dont usually get to drink after as I normally have to drive back.

I wouldnt be able to pace anything other than 5 hour I dont think. Also I wouldnt be able to guarantee a complete run without a loo stop. I'd freak with all those people following me as well.:eek: So ,I dont think Im your man. But how flattering nonetheless:P

hot to trot

Forced myself up early and got out to do the reverse run of my new favourite ultra scenic location. There was snow all over the place but it hadnt stuck on the road surface thankfully. 1 degree and dry starting off.
Ran up the first hill ( hadnt managed it before ) and enjoyed the awesome snowy scenery, wanted to go to the shop at half way so I had to go an extra mile. Decided I needed to practice walking hills so I tried to do that on the way back. Blimey its hard on the calf muscles. Will have to do LOADS more of this as I will have 5 biggies to walk on the day. once I got to the top of the last hill , the hail on the other side was violent , I though id end up with a head like a golfball it was so hard and sore but thankfully by the time I galloped to the bottom , it was soft snow. Was thoroughly soaked and cold by the end.
Legs feel fine after scaldy hot shower.I must be doing some thing right:)

28M (153) 4;19 for 25.5 miles before garmin died.

hot to trot

Recovery run, 10 flat miles. Calf muscles were tight today for the first time in months and months- I reckon it was the walking . Not used to that. Will have to do some walking only sessions I think.
Weather still crappy, hailstones and almost gale force winds. At one stage I didnt even know was I moving forward , when heading into the wind. Cant be too many crappy days left
Anyone know what kind of weather has been organised for Connemara:rolleyes:

10M 1:37 9:47mm ( 147= 68%)

Aimman

They were a couple of good runs over the weekend. Well done. The good thing about training in such bad conditions is that if the weather is bad on the race day, you'll have been through it already

hot to trot

Annoyed that I didnt get out yesterday but probably was for the best as shins were tender for a few days after walking on Saturday.
Didnt manage to get out til 10pm. Was a beautiful warm sunny day earlier . Couldnt believe my luck that it started to rain 10 mins into my run. Grrr
3 mile warm up , 3 miles at 85% then another 3 cool down. Soaked and cold so went home then.

Overall 9 M 1:23 9:13mm ( 157)-

hot to trot

Had massive feed and ended up going for a run almost immediately afterwards. There is no smilie to describe how ugh I felt . I decided to start the run /walk strategy at last and the slow run suited my guts.
Did one mile followed by a minute walk. Ten times. Dont think it slowed me much overall but the heart rate stayed very low throughout. Will try to incorporate this for all my remaining long runs and see how it works out.
Sunny and dry , couldnt belive it . Whoohoo:D
Another flat run though.

10M 1:41 9:40mm ( 146) 67% whr/hrr

Aimman

Tried running earlier this week on a full stomach after dinner, not fun, running or walking.

Have you sorted out a pace for Connemara yet?

hot to trot

Have you sorted out a pace for Connemara yet?

I will be doing it as a training run so likely something similar to what I have started to do ..run one mile and walk one minute right from the start. Will also need to practice walking the bigger hills so will end up close to a 10mm probably ( or maybe upwards from 9.40?). Not worth wrecking myself going for a good time with Comrades being my main target. The slower the better as I need time on my feet really.
Im quite a bit slower than you . I wouldnt dream of ever being able to target a 3.30

Hit the roads in Connemara today. Did 5 miles before the gang arrived and then bussed to the start of the marathon. Did the walk /run thing and didnt find it so bad. Dont think it really slows you , surprisingly enough as you can run faster for the rest of the mile and the lowering of the heart rate seems to stop eating into the glycogen reserves. For all the miles I did today , my legs dont feel too bad.
So did the marathon and then when I got to Peakocks I turned around and went back up the hill and reran back down to finish my target of 56k/35 miles. Ended up being .7 over but was too hungry and thirsty to be bothered rounding it up to the 36!

35.7M 5:55 9:57mm (152)=71%

hot to trot

Legs felt fine all day with zero stiffness so after dithering all day I went out for a fun run. Was lashing down a small road singing my head off and playing air guitar when I encountered a cloud of small flies. Unfortunately I didnt plan on going far enough to bring water so was coughing and chewing on them for another mile or two. Didnt start to feel tired until about mile 9 and then not by much so finished with a final easy mile.
Pace was much faster but still within recovery heart range. Guess yesterday exercised the slow twitch fibres and today the few faster twitch that I have

10M 1:28 8:48 (153) 71%

Might revisit the 1000 mile board and see how I am fixed for an update

menoscemo

hot to trot wrote: »

Might revisit the 1000 mile board and see how I am fixed for an update

let me know if you need any help

hot to trot

5 x 1 mile at 86% and 1:20 minute breaks in between; with warm up and cool down 3 + miles. Legs tired at the end.
1:17 8:68M

Aimman

Did you figure out the autolap and average lap pace on the garmin to record the time etc for each interval?

hot to trot

Looked at them when I got back. Decided to go with the heart rate effort. The pace isn't really that important , Not sure I could have run any faster per mile anyway. Road wasnt flat and had to go through the odd electronic gate so they were:
7:30
7:38
7:43
7:46
7:43

Aimman

hot to trot wrote: »

Looked at them when I got back. Decided to go with the heart rate effort. The pace isn't really that important , Not sure I could have run any faster per mile anyway. Road wasnt flat and had to go through the odd electronic gate so they were:
7:30
7:38
7:43
7:46
7:43

Thats a good pace and you probably arent even up near lactate threshold. Its more of a matter of getting the body used to running at that pace by repeating that same session a few times. Then as the body learns to cope with it, you should find the capacity to bring up the pace a bit more. Throw in a few short races too, to see what you can do under race conditions, the road race season is under way, You can throw a stone and hit a cheap road race these days.

Is the 71% based on Maximum Heart Rate or Heart Rate Reserve?

Woundedknee.

hot to trot wrote: »

Looked at them when I got back. Decided to go with the heart rate effort. The pace isn't really that important

A wise decision because as you get fitter you need to work harder to get into the same HR zone so your pace will get faster as you get fitter. Let it happen..

hot to trot

Ran along the canal path near Killucan towards Mullingar. Was lovely but hadnt bargained for how much earlier the light disappears compared with the Western seaboard so had to turnaround at half way and come back in the dark with no head torch. Pace was upped on the way back to get home quicker.Was comfortable throughout. Overall then ..

11M 1:38 8:58mm (154)..... 65% outward, 75% homeward

hot to trot

Was asked to accompany visitor home from USA on a run . Took her to my current favourite spot as she said she was happy to do hills. Er... very scenic but she was shocked at the effort required so we walked a lot. Slowest and easiest run ever but it is so pretty and walking is good training so happy out.

Had a lot of muscles releases and core balancing done on a work course this week. With deep structures and diaphragm and abdominals , hips and legs all released and balancing corrections done I was rock steady in my middle and felt so easy to breath very deeply. Totally physically grounded.

10M 1:58 11:49mm (136) 59%

hot to trot

Well after last weks run my foot was very tender. I think I hurt it /bruised it on a stone in Donadea . It didnt stop me running but never went away either. So I did absolutely nothing on it this week except walk and stand at work and cart boxes and bags up and down stairs for hours moving house.
It was no better or worse at the end of the week so thought I might as well go back running. Confidence had got very low.

So Did 10.5 miles. easy enough pace but the heart rate I know must have been higher and the effort a fair bit more than if I hadnt taken the week off. couldnt find hear rate strap in the move.
10.5M 1:36 9:12mm

hot to trot

Went out again this evening , bit worried after yesterdays effort . Decided to try the run/ walk again. Ended up in much better form. Was faster than running alone. Really enjoyed the run along the North mayo coast.

11M 1:39 9:03mm (150) 70%

Foot no worse after it , so think I may just take a few pills this week and leave it at that.

hot to trot

Thursday 7th April
7.5M 1:06 8:53mm ( 161)

bit of an effort to get going after very little running the last two weeks but loosened up at the end.

Sunday 10th April Connemara Ultra

39.5 M 6:45 , 10.15 mm ( 155) 73% WHR/HRR Will do race report later

Monday 11th April
5.5M :51 9:15mm ( 141) enjoyed this easy run. No aches or pains or stiffness after yesterday so I guesss the walk/ run strategy did its thing.


Thursday 14th April
12M 1:40 Forgot garmin. Upped the pace in the second half. Foot a bit tender still. I couldnt get my head around Eddie in ICU and found it very hard to work this week. Somehow a blast around the roads just helped a bit and was more settled when I got back.

Saturday 16th April 10pm
Didnt get out yesterday as toenail blisters needed to be drained again and toes were bright red from the pressure and throbbing like mad. Figured better to sort them and just run freely at the weekend.
so, 17M in the dark 2:38 9:20mm ( 148) <70%

Sunday 17th April
Back to my favourite route with the hills but did a bit of a detour and found another exquisitely stunning scene at the back of one of the hills as well. Imagined I was with Eddie and was showing him around and enjoying the run together. Im sure he would have left me for dead in the last few miles as the two hills on the way back had me doing lots of walk practice. Average pace for the run dropped after mile 18 from 9.35mm to over 10mm. Temperature had gone from 18 degrees at the start to 7 at the end in the dark and I was freezing.
( How do you manage to get your garmin route up on boards?)
25.5M 4:19 10.10mm ( 154)