Marato de Barcelona 2011

dare2be

Hi all,

Since joining boards last year i have been in and out of threads, posting the odd bit but mostly reading training logs with the most recent being all the marathon logs. The reason for that being i have entered (along with it seems a lot of other boardies) for the Barcelona Marathon 2011.

In relation to recent A/R/T history well i ran the London Marathon back in 2004 in a time of 3:45:xx with no plan in place, no structure, nothing. Happy enough with that, box ticked and all, i never really done much else bar your standard 5-a-side soccer with the lads, bit of golf, trail running and the odd 10k race just to keep the interest. Last summer was my first year competing in triathlon with me doing 6 sprint races but a lot of training. With that i have built up a base level of fitness and so why not try another marathon? (and the OH gets a nice wend away)

Here are a few stats about myself

Gender: Male
Age: 32
Weight: 74kgs
Height: 5'10''

I haven't really recorded any PB's of 5k/10k's recently completed.I have a Garmin so no real excuse there but haven't used it in a race situation yet. The plan i will be following is the Daniels Marathon Plan A. A spreadsheet i have devised to keep me on course over the next 17 weeks will be posted up later so any opinions/advice on that will be most welcomed. I would be keen to hear what others who are doing Barcelona have to say, especially those who are also following Daniels. Peak mileage according to Daniels Plan is estimated at 50 miles a week. The boyblunder assures me that this could/should get me a sub 3:15:00 which is my aim. I would love to go a bit closer to 3:00:00 but it may be a tough ask for only my second attempt at this distance.

I will summarise week 18 later

Enjoy the log

d2b

theboyblunder

Good luck with the training and the goals d2b

dare2be

theboyblunder wrote: »

Good luck with the training and the goals d2b

Thanks,

Had a good 1st week last week; just shy of the peak mileage as one night was totally taken up with going over sections of Daniels book again & again. However, got there in the end.

dare2be

Week 7 Summary attached

As said before, not a bad week in terms of mileage. Didn't hit target but was more running in a week than ever done before. The LSR on Saturday was confortable until the last 5k or so when the legs started to tire. Happy with recovery from that as Sundays run was steady.

Oisin11178

Good luck with the log bud. Im smack bang in the middle of yourself and theboyblunder. should be interesesting watching your log progress. Im also doing barcelona.

dare2be

Oisin11178 wrote: »

Good luck with the log bud. Im smack bang in the middle of yourself and theboyblunder. should be interesesting watching your log progress. Im also doing barcelona.

Thanks Oisin,

Yeah should be interesting alright. The thing about spring marathons as i found out tonight is that some tough sessions are to come over some tough wintry nights. What you put in you will get out (hopefully!)

Tonight

6.22km Easy
Time: 37:30.73
Avg pace 6.01/km
HR: 152bpm

Not the most enjoyable run. Feeling the effects of last weeks mileage. Legs felt heavy; no energy. Glad it was an easy run. More time on the feet though.

dare2be

Tues 09.11.10 (pm run)

Easy Run. Tried to keep the pace between 5:21/km - 5:40/km. Focus on running form & breathing. Felt strong although calf muscles sore for about the first km or so. 1st of the weeks Quality session coming up tomorrow according to Daniels Plan. Interesting to ses how last weeks mileage stacks up against tempo running.

Tonights Stats

7.87 km
42:09.11
05:21/km avg pace
HR: 152 bpm

dare2be

Weds 10.11.10 (pm run)

Q2 workout: 'Hard' run session. Basically sets of 4-min hard running with 3-min recovery jogs to total 8% of weekly mileage.

Warm up lap 1.02km 05:37.03mins {05:31/km}

Sets of a 1km loop x 3nr + 1 cool down lap 4.19km 21:01.20 mins

Total distance 5.21km

Note to self: Do not eat Indian Spicy chicken soup for lunch on training days!!

Could have done another couple of these but sticking to the plan

dare2be

Following on from the 'sleep' thread that's exactly what i did. Anybody heading out in that weather last night was a header so off to bed early.

Hopefully an easy run tonight as things settle down on the weather front.

dare2be

Sat 13.11.10

Late home from work on Friday night so this weekend was always going to be catch-up mileage. Anyway,

13.09km easy run
1:07:31
Avg 5:09/km
HR: 161bpm

Enjoyable run in the rain. Got a head torch so a new route was planned out to take me away from the ever increasingly boring trek on week nights. Could turn out to be a good investment.

Sun 14.11.10

18.05km easy run
1:36:30
Avg 5:20/km
HR; 156bpm

Happy enough with this run. Plenty of hills throughout. Running form must be getting better as i'm feeling more comfortable on LSR's. Will post up a summary of the weeks mileage tomorrow.

theboyblunder

good start d2b

dare2be

Week 8 summary. 10 miles off target distance due to abandoned run on Thursday and late home from work on Friday. Not a real concern at this stage but shows that i cannot afford to miss scheduled days/nights and playing catch up will most likely result in injury.

dare2be

15.11.10 pm run

Supposed to be an easy run but went out and stayed a bit faster than normal easy pace. Thought my 2 weekend runs would have caught up with me tonight but held off the fatigue. Hopefully a good sign

7.63km
38:00 mins
4.58/k
HR: 156bpm

dare2be

Tuesday 16.11.10 pm run

Easy run 10.75km
56:50 mins
5:17/k
HR 157bpm

Felt this in the legs tonight. Calf muscles took a few k to sort themselves out. First 6km of this with wind at my back. Not as tough as I thought on the way back into headwind.

Interval session planned for tomorrow. At the minute I'm not so sure whether this will be of the quality it should be, but we will see.

dare2be

Thursday 18.11.10 pm run

Quality Session - Intervals.

Switched my rest days about as i took yesterday to give the legs a break as they were starting to feel the mileage. Read on another post to always listen to your body, so tonight say the first of this weeks quality session as per JD's Marathon Plan. 8 x 1km intervals with 250m jogs, 1km warm up and finished with 1km cool down

My interval pace according to the VDOT tables is 4:12/km

Here's how it went

Warmup 1.03km - 05:30
Lap 1 - 04:13
Lap 2 - 04:20
Lap 3 - 04:15
Lap 4 - 04:26
Lap 5 - 04:24
Lap 6: 04:25
Lap 7: 04:22
Lap 8: 04:14
Cool Down - 06:18

Total Distance: 12.09km (bang on target with planned distance)
Total Time: 1:01:50
Avg HR: 153bpm, Max HR: 174bpm

Bit off the VDOT pace in most of the laps as i tried to run by feel and not look at the Garmin all the time but very happy with the session overall.

dare2be

Friday 19.11.10

Rest Day. No big weekly mileage this week so could afford to take this and give the legs another rest.

Saturday 20.11.10

Planned to be an easy run but ran a little quicker than my E pace. Didn't get out until late (i.e just before the rugby!!) so that had a little bit of influence on the pace.

10.6km
54:37
05:09/km avg pace

Sunday 21.11.10

Busy day. Bit of work to be done around home so that took up the morning so when i did get out it was this weeks Quality session, my 2nd of the week following on from Thursdays intervals.

3.57km Easy Pace in 18.01mins (05:03/km)
5 x 5min Tempo Pace with 1 minute rests in between (i walked these )

Lap 1: 1.15km @ 4.20/km
Lap 2: 1.13km @ 4.25/km
Lap 3: 1.13km @ 4.25/km
Lap 4: 1.10km @ 4.32/km
Lap 5: 1.09km @ 4:36/km

Followed by an Easy run of 47mins. JD called for an hour E pace but had to cut short as the in-laws came round for dinner (which i had to cook)

Felt good in this session. Rain came on when i was on the way back home. Love running in the rain. Those quality sessions really give you a lift.

Another week down (week 9 of the plan), 15 weeks to race. Need to look for a few races in Dec/New year to test myself.

dare2be

Monday 22.11.10

Easy run. Nearly taken out of it by a motorist :mad: Why oh why do they see you and still turn into a side road just as you are about to cross. I was going to draw my boot into the side panel of his car but decided i would take out my anger on the next hill climb

7.32km
38:42 mins
Avg pace 5:17/km

I had planned to re-assess my Vdot value this week but will leave it until i do a 5k/10k TT next week. It should come down a bit as i feel i have progreseed but we shall see.

dare2be

Tuesday 23.11.10

Rest day. Can't really afford it this week as higher mileage is called up in the plan but took it anyway

Wednesday 24.11.10

Quality session - Intervals

8 X 1k laps
250m jogs in between
1k warm-up
1k cool down

Total Distance 12.13km
Total Time 1:03:22

Warmup Lap: 1.11km in 06:44
Lap 1: 04:11
Lap 2: 04:13
Lap 3: 04:10
Lap 4: 04:09
Lap 5: 04:05
Lap 6: 04:09
Lap 7: 04:09
Lap 8: 04:11
Cool Down Lap: 1.03km in 06:31

Delighted with this session as my current interval pace is calculated at 4:12/km and so bettered this on every lap bar lap #2. Again, didn't look at the Garmin once through these so the feeling of pace is there or thereabouts for me at present.

dare2be

Thursday 25.11.10

Missed session/unplanned rest day. Had to go to a wake on thursday night so couldn't go for a run.

Friday 26.11.10

The missed session on Thursday put pressure on the following days in order to meet this weeks mileage target so i did the following workout

Easy Run
56:31 mins
11.2km
Avg pace 5:02/km

Was supposed to be easy but icy conditions made some parts tricky. V happy with the run but going a bit faster didn't help Saturdays quality session.

Saturday 27.11.10

Quality session #2
1:19:18
15.7km
Avg Pace 5:03/km
Avg HR: 154bpm

Felt sluggish and tired on this run. Thought Friday night was the cause for me feeling like that but just a bad run i guess and i was bound to have one of those along the line sometime. Planned to go about 19km but cut it a bit short as i wasn't enjoying it at all.

Sunday 28.11.10

Was at a birthday party on Saturday night so didn't know how i would get on here. Hungover in the morning but by 2pm i was raring to go

Easy Run
51:04 mins
10.01km
Avg pace 5:05/km

So, an increase in mileage this week. Will post up summary later when i update it.

All in all another good week. Happy with progress to date. Really feel the quality sessions are helping with all other runs backing up that work.

14 weeks to race

dare2be

Summary from Week 10 (last week) attached. Missed mileage target and will miss this weeks also due to weather conditions round my area. Will have to get out tonight to get my Quality session done though as i don't want to be missing those, the easy runs i can live with (for now!)

dare2be

No run last night either, 1st quality session missed since the plan started. Took a drive down to the industrial estate where i do my tempo/interval workouts and it was packed hard with Sundays snow storm. Had a bit of fun with the rear wheel drive though on a deserted 1.5km stretch of roadway.

So, should i revert back to this weeks plan next week or just move on and forget about it, stick to the planned week number and hopefully everything around home thaws out over the wend?

dare2be

Just in case those of you who thought i had given up on the log and indeed the journey to Barcelona i'm please to say that i haven't. Although i did get a swift and hard kick in the ass from a virus which knocked me for 6 all of last week; coinciding with the state of my part of the nation with ice and snow. It has been almost 2 weeks since my last training session and boy did i notice it. Here's the latest update.

Saturday 11.12.10

Got myself together and pulled on the gear for an LSR. I didn't quite know what to expect and how the effects of the virus would have on my running which up to now was tipping along ok imho. Anyway bit sluggish which wasn't a surprise but got through it and felt all the better to get it out of the system.

15.26k
1.18:33
5.08/km avg pace
165 bpm. Higher than normal but expected it to be

Sunday 12.12.10

Cold morning but rejuvenated after saturdays run got me out no problem.

21.59k
1.52:42
5.13/km avg pace
169bpm

Suffered on the homeward journey with about 5k to go, held on for dear life but was glad to get into the car. My longest run to date, probably not the best of situations to do it but hopefully i can build on it and move on from these last 2weeks of horror show. I will re-set my Vdot limits this evening as i want to increase some of the paces for the next stage of the plan. It should have been done about 2 weeks ago but situations change plans unfortunately.

another world

Just seeing your log now dare2be. I have a similar goal to yourself (Barcelona, hoping for just under the 3hrs), so I'll be following with interest. Best of luck.

dare2be

another world wrote: »

Just seeing your log now dare2be. I have a similar goal to yourself (Barcelona, hoping for just under the 3hrs), so I'll be following with interest. Best of luck.

Ah, good. Another follower.

Feel free to comment/leave opinion/criticise etc etc.

Best of luck with your own goals & training.

dare2be

Monday 13.12.10 pm run

I wanted to re-evaluate my VDOT values for the next batch of training programmes under the Daniels plan so i took the opportunity last night to see what i could run 10k wise. Started out a bit too fast early on but reeled it in after about 2k, felt good but was conscious of the fact that after a near 2 week lay off and the 36.85km split over the Saturday & Sunday that i may not be as fresh for this as i would have liked.

Anyway, enough excuses. Give her dixie i said to myself, dig deep and imagine you are in Barca 10k from home and going for the 3.15:00. I had the head torch on for a couple of k's along this route. Love running with it on, gives a real sense of only you and the open road at night. 2 k from home i had a real chance of a pb for the distance (sub 45mins). Don't think i have ever gone sub45 as i've never really trained that way previously. Coming down the home strait i gave it everything but was undone by 50secs (f*ck it i said to myself). Maybe some other of these nights i will get you!!

Summary:

10.5km
47:52 (45:49 for 10k)
Avg Pace: 4.33/km
No HR monitor on last night.

catweazle

You are doing some nice interval runs there, its something i am going to try myself next year. I would have thought from those interval sessions you would have broke 45 mins but the weekends running wouldnt have been helpful at all. Its hard to do a fast time on your own with no-one in front or behind to motivate you as well

I see you are still doing a bit of cycling.......I thought I had you out of the way

dare2be

catweazle wrote: »

You are doing some nice interval runs there, its something i am going to try myself next year. I would have thought from those interval sessions you would have broke 45 mins but the weekends running wouldnt have been helpful at all. Its hard to do a fast time on your own with no-one in front or behind to motivate you as well

I see you are still doing a bit of cycling.......I thought I had you out of the way

Yes Cat i thought i would have broken the 45mins at this stage and confident that i would have last night only for the 2 long runs at the weekend. All running is on my own and probably shall be on my own up until race day but i don't mind it tbh.

Haven't done any cycling since mid October, those were banked km's that i hadn't logged on the challenge so i think you are safe

shotgunmcos

Good stuff D2B the training is going well, I like the 8*1kms session. What is your Barcelona target?

dare2be

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Good stuff D2B the training is going well, I like the 8*1kms session. What is your Barcelona target?

Cheers MCOS. Yep, love the 8X1Kms but coming to an end as i progress further down the plan.

Well this is the thing. I have had a small rethink regarding the targets. A mate of mine recently ran Dublin in 3:15:xx so i want to beat him let the fox see the hare sorta thing. Desperate for this as he needs a bit of a trimming!!

However, i thought to myself why not set a gold, silver and bronze target for the race and see how it pans out. Haven't firmed up on the actual times over and above the 3:15:00 but maybe shave 5 mins off for the silver and a further couple of mins for the gold (3:08:00) or something.

Maybe a little advice from more experienced long distancers would help me decide. I don't mind aiming high but would need to sort this fast in order to have my sights set on them.

pgmcpq

dare2be wrote: »

Ah, good. Another follower.

I'm keeping an eye on this log too (but I'm a miles guy - all these kms have me baffled!). I've got similar goals for Barcelona but am following a P&D schedule. I skimmed Daniels but decided it seemed too much thinking in to little time to go with it. Looking at those 1k intervals I'm a little relieved !

Good luck.

dare2be

pgmcpq wrote: »

I'm keeping an eye on this log too (but I'm a miles guy - all these kms have me baffled!). I've got similar goals for Barcelona but am following a P&D schedule. I skimmed Daniels but decided it seemed too much thinking in to little time to go with it. Looking at those 1k intervals I'm a little relieved !

Good luck.

Yes i do realise that most people on here are still on the 'old money' (i.e miles) whereas i am a km's man probably from tri racing over the summer. Anyhow i might post in both units so more people can have an understanding of distances and times and may prove more beneficial to me anyway in terms of getting good advice on here. Also, most European marathons etc are clocked in km's as far as i'm aware so helps keep the focus and wil benefit come race day (hopefully he says)