Micilín's Mucky Miles

Micilin Muc

Wednesday

Run: Rathmines to Booterstown

Not feeling particularly fit this week. My abs are sore from jumping across rivers on Monday night and my legs are sore. Switched the plan around a little bit for the last week: did my longest run this morning and doing 3 miles Friday and 2 miles Sunday.

Has the benefit of my taper peaked too soon? I felt much better this time last week!

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 37:48
Pace: 9:27min/mile
Climb: 0m
HR: 161bpm

backspacer

Micilin Muc wrote: »

All 3 I think! Last year I had entered the Connemarathon Half before I had finished Couch to 5 Miles, so the Brave / Crazy / Stupid mentality is not a new thing!

You're well able for the Connemarathon Half Backspacer. Compared to our 12-mile LSR a couple of weeks ago, it's only an extra mile and an extra 45 metres of climbing (we did 155m). It's 22 weeks away (10 weeks of 10-mile training and 12 weeks of Half-Marathon training). Go for it!

Talk about throwing down a pretty big gauntlet:D I won't lie its very tempting at the moment, will definitely something to consider soon.

Micilin Muc

Friday

Run: Rathmines to Sydney Parade

Feeling a lot better today. Found it hard to slow down!

Preparations still ongoing:

Have worked out a mile-by-mile schedule for my family to follow me around the course!

I still don't know what I'm going to do in terms of hydation and gels. I got some Isogels during the week but I don't think they're the same ones I used before on my 20-mile LSR. Hopefully there'll be some at the expo tomorrow.

My brother says I should be self-sufficient in bringing gels & drinks around the course. As there'll be water every 3 miles and some family members in different places in between, I think I'll run without anything except maybe two or three gels for the first 2 hours.

Distance: 3 miles
Time: 26:53
Pace: 8:57min/mile
Climb: 0m
HR: 163bpm

backspacer

Nearly there now, just put the feet up this weekend and relax, you'll be good to go on Monday.

Bally8

Best of luck Monday Micilin. Enjoy it:)

ronanmac

Go n-eirí leat ar an Luain. Beidh gels agus uisce ar iompar agam, má fheiceann tú ar thaobh an bhóthair mé!

Micilin Muc

ronanmac wrote: »

Go n-eirí leat ar an Luain. Beidh gels agus uisce ar iompar agam, má fheiceann tú ar thaobh an bhóthair mé!

Grma! Cén áit a mbeidh tú? Beidh mo t-léine Connemarathon orm. Go n-éirí le Máirín!

tHE vAGGABOND

Good luck mate - a long way we have come since Conn in April

Hope your about for a herbal tea after in McG's :pac:

Micilin Muc

Sunday

Run: Rathmines to Crumlin

Very easy 2 miles. It was quite hot out and when I got home my OH said to me "You look like to ran 10 miles." Great :rolleyes:

Distance: 2 miles
Time: 20:09
Pace: 10:04min/mile
Climb: 0m
HR: 144bpm

Took a taxi down to the Expo as my bike is now permanently locked to the railing with a broken key in it. Must get an angle-grinder so I can cycle for next week's recovery!

Expo was good, a good variety of stands. Got talking to Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh! Bought myself a 25-pack box of Isogels, a long-sleeved DCM technical top and two pairs of running tights. I was quite disappointed with the goody bag from the Expo: a Lucozade sport, a muesli bar and a packet of crisps. There wasn't even a Compeed in there!

I've been sleeping well and eating well and am not too nervous about the race, just excited! I've been carbo-loading for three days and have the carb-sweats, if such a thing exists!

Friday
Porridge
Muller Rice
two pasta salads
soup and nice bread

Saturday
Porridge
Pancakes
Beef and a mushroom Risotto
Two glasses of wine

Sunday
Porridge
Pancakes
Lasagne tonight
Maybe a baked potato later if I feel like it.

Plan for Race Day:
6.30 Porridge
7.00 Pancakes
8.15 Start walking down to race start
9.30 Banana
9.55 Race

I'll start with two Isogels safety-pinned to my shorts and will pick up 4 more from my OH along the way and a banana and a Lucozade Sport from my cousin at the half-way mark.

Thank you everyone for the words of encouragement! I really appreciate the support you gave me in training!

Micilin Muc

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

Good luck mate - a long way we have come since Conn in April

Hope your about for a herbal tea after in McG's :pac:

Was just reading over my log from Connemara this morning and it seems like Conn was a lifetime ago!

I'll have my family in town for a little while after the race so I think I'll go home, have a shower and a nap and then head in to McGrattan's for a pint or two

backspacer

Go n-eireoidh leat amarach. Tá an obair déanta agat, anois bain taitneamh as. Beidh mé ag faire amach le haghaidh na torthaí amarach am a cinnt:D

Micilin Muc

Garmin time of 4:42. Not ideal, but I can now say I've ran a whole marathon without walking Full race report in the morning In the meantime, the garmin profile might give an indication of what happened.

backspacer

Fair play Micilin, very good time for you. Next stop Connemara!!

Micilin Muc

Pre-race
Nerves don’t usually help me so up until Monday morning, I had been procrastinating the nerves and was thinking positive. When I woke up 6.15 having had a good night’s sleep, I was already quite nervous. I put my running gear in the tumble-dryer and made my porridge. On Saturday and Sunday morning, I practised having my race-day breakfast but took over an hour both mornings. The same thing happened on race morning, except I didn’t finish my porridge and didn’t have pancakes. Not good!


The race start was only a mile from my house so I walked down with my OH at 8:45. I didn’t leave my bag with dry clothes at the drop-zone for after the race, but left it with my OH instead. It was a good idea since everybody’s bags were soaked having been left on the ground on Merrion Square with no shelter. We went to the shop on Baggot Street to get plasters for my nips but they didn’t have the ones that I wanted. I decided to wear my base layer long-sleeved top that I got recently as I would have no chafing in that. I also put on my water-resistant running jacket just in case it got very wet. Getting to the pen for my wave was quite difficult. I had to walk all the way down to Government Buildings from Baggot Street and back up Fitzwilliam Lane.


Placing myself near the 4-hour pacers, I met my brother’s friend who took part in the Ironman in Wales. He dropped out of the Ironman during the marathon stage so I was delighted to see he was doing a marathon so soon afterwards. Moved up ahead of him and the 4-hour pacers. Just before my wave started, I took off my jacket and packed it into the little pocket attached.




Miles 1-6
I was already quite hot by the time the gun went and by the time I got to Leeson Street I was sweating. I found it quite difficult to run with so many people around me - I really like my space! It only took me half a mile to find another Gaeilgeoir so I had a small chat with him down to O’Connell Bridge. This guy ran Marathon des Sables and the North Pole Marathon and climbed Everest … in the past year. I would have loved to have kept up with him as I’m sure he had some amazing stories to tell!


I found the first few miles quite difficult and I was really, really hot by the time we got to the Parnell Square. I took my first Isogel at 35 minutes and took a bottle of water from the first water station. Going along the North Circular Road I felt a rumble in my stomach – hunger!! I was also quite worried about the pace as the splits were not what I was expecting from the pacers. I expected a maximum of 9:05min/miles but here’s what I recorded:


9:00
8:58
9:16
9:00
8:43
9:10




Miles 7-12
A nice shower of rain hit us on the Upper Glen Road in the Park so I was glad of the packed jacket still in my hand. I took my second Isogel at this point and it also went down well but I still felt really, really hot. By now the pacers were quite a bit ahead of me but I decided to stick to my Garmin and try and forget about the pacers. The first proper hill going under the N4 flyover was fine, but I was gradually slipping away from the pacers and loads and load of people were passing me out. I didn’t understand what was going on as my pace seemed in line with my calculations of a 4-hour marathon, despite losing ground.


I gave my jacket to my OH at Crumlin Road and picked up an Isogel from her. After this is where I really started to suffer. My stomach went into knots and I started dropping the pace.


9:00
9:02
8:58
9:10
9:06
9:47




Miles 13-18
This is where the mental battle began. Going up Crumlin Road was difficult. The gradual incline didn’t bother me but the heat was getting to me. My cousin was out with her family around mile 14 or so and gave me a Lucozade and a banana. I could only have half of the banana and a little bit of the Lucozade and my pace was still dropping. I knew at this stage that 4 hours was out of reach but that didn’t bother me. I met my sister and her boyfriend just before 16 miles and had an Isogel for me but I knew it would make my stomach worse. Seeing them gave me a boost and I picked up the pace on the downhill to Terenure. My second sister’s family were just before Terenure and had another Isogel for me which I couldn’t take! They ran alongside me for a little bit which was really great!


On the other side of Terenure were my Dad and my third sister’s family. I gave them all high-fives! My pace dropped again on the way down to Rathgar and I kept looking behind me for the 4:15 pacers, not that I wanted to stay with them! They eventually passed me out at the Dropping Well which was not a nice experience: a crowd of 30 people all around me and a few people being quite rude cutting across and elbowing me. I figured that if it took that long for the 4:15 pacers to pass me out that 4:30 would be quite possible. I met my OH again at the top of the hill at Milltown and I took two Isogels off her there.


10:10
10:41
11:25
12:28
11:40
12:01




Miles 19-24
It was quite wet at this stage and my pace was still crap. Got talking to a fella who was running on behalf of the Marie Curie Hospice in Belfast. This gave me another bit of a boost as I remembered why I was running it for my chosen charity and concentrated on that for a while. Hitting the 20-mile marker I congratulated myself for getting this far. The hill before Foster’s Avenue was grand and I quite liked passing out people who couldn’t run it. I felt better now! Turning down the N11 I looked up Foster’s Avenue for the 4:30 pacers and could see them at the top. They eventually passed me at the Flyover. I gave out to the 98FM people who were standing with their arms crossed while Annie Lennox’s Walking on Broken Glass was being played – how inappropriate for marathon runners! Nutley Lane felt really long and there were loads and loads of people stretching against the trees. I was glad to get to Merrion Road which I have ran dozens of times in training.


12:14
12:48
13.27
12:54
13:21
12:41




Miles 24-26.2
I caught up with my brother’s friend at mile 24 and was very happy to see him! I stuck with him and my pace improved a lot. Picked up my last Isogel from my OH at Shelbourne Road. These miles were just about getting to the end. There was no mental battle, just putting one foot in front of the other. The bucketing rain didn’t faze me. The crowds were really great, especially Nassau Street. Seeing the finish line was something I won’t forget! I have now ran a marathon without walking.


11:16
10:58
10:14 pace for .47 mile.




A few tips for myself

• Only chose a time goal that my half-marathon time can convert to.
• Wear appropriate clothing, not 3 fecking layers.
• Look at my heart rate during the race and adjust pace accordingly (10 miles of the race were above 180bpm - way too high for me).
• Work on my demotivational problems.
• Don’t do such a crowded marathon.
• Practise my hydration and nutrition strategy in training.

Official Time
4:42:04

Micilin Muc

Distance|Current PB|Goal PB
5km|00:24:50 (1.1.11)|00:24:00
5 miles|00:41:45 (21.11.10)|00:40:00
10km|00:54:03 (16.1.11)|00:50:00
10 miles|01:27:00 (16.1.11)|01:20:00
Half Marathon|0[FONT=verdana,geneva,lucida,'lucida grande',arial,helvetica,sans-serif]1[/FONT]:56:53 (04.09.11)|01:50:00
Marathon|04:42:04 (31.10.11)|04:30:00

I broke my PB by 1hr 48mins yesterday!

shazkea

Great report Micilin, sorry it didn't go exactly to plan but great attitude on planning your next one. Well done on a great PB

Slogger Jogger

+1. Great report. Any marathon which is ran all the way is a great achievement. You're a target nailed and lessons learned to employ the next time

Micilin Muc

Have had time this week to look at what races I'd like to do next. I won't be running any high mileage over the next 4 weeks but don't want to lose my fitness after that!

Primary Goal Race
I'm all on for doing the Connemarathon Full on April 1st. I'll not be putting any pressure on myself to get sub-4, at least not right now! Sub-4 is not completely impossible for me, but why run such a beautiful race if the sweat gets in my eyes I'd be delighted with an enjoyable sub-4.30. Training should start at the end of November.

Other Races
I spotted the Wild West Run Half-Marathon today. A one-way trail race over the Kerry Way on February 25th. This is one race I'd be mad to miss!

The Leenane 5-mile is on November 20th. I did this last year as my first race after getting back into running so I would love to head back and beat my PB for 5 miles

On November 26th is the Blue Light Mountain Madness 5km, another trail race from the Blue Light pub in Ballyedmonduff up to the summit of Three Rock and back down again. I'll only do this if I don't do Leenane.

MarySamsonite

Micilin Muc wrote: »

I broke my PB by 1hr 48mins yesterday!

That's some feat! That has really encouraged me for next year's attempt

Thanks for a great race report! I don't know how you managed to pick up the pace so much in those last miles - I was dying :eek:

Micilin Muc

I had a whole week off work the week after DCM so I had plenty of time to relax and recover. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were spent on the couch reading books and listening to music I went shopping on Friday, had masters graduation on Saturday, and a hangover on Sunday

I started backing running on Friday, 4 days after DCM, and did just under 2 miles along the canal. I took it very easy and could feel a few niggles, nothing too bad.

Did the same again on Sunday night, keeping my heart rate below 150bpm. Worked out well except for the 180bpm spike when I nearly stood on a rat :eek:

I got a year's membership for the gym and pool in Rathmines on Sunday for myself and my OH, so yesterday I ran to the gym from Booterstown Dart after work and spent about an hour in the pool doing slow lengths, concentrating on my form. I can't wait to do some of the classes, am very interested in Spinning and Masters' Swimming

backspacer

Are ya coming down to Leenane for the 5 Miles? Thinking of doing it, but still trying to shake a flu which ain't helping matters

Micilin Muc

I hope so, I just need to organise a lift from Spiddal!

You've a bit of time yet to get rid of the flu. You don't have to race the 5 miles anyway, it's nice to slow it down sometimes!

backspacer

it'd be nice to just get a race in, I'm still bouncing the idea of the Connemara Half still, so this would be a good way to get a feel for some hill running.

Micilin Muc

Running

Another week of recovery done, well only my running was at recovery pace!

Wednesday: 1.95 miles
Thursday: 4 miles
Friday: 2 miles
Sunday: 6 miles (ran up to Bushy Park, did two laps and back home again.)


Gym

I also went to the gym 3 times since last Monday. I figure it's the best way to improve my fitness without doing too much running mileage after the marathon. I'll break even on the gym membership within a few weeks at this rate!

Wednesday: Rowing machine, resistance bike and swim.
Friday: Rowing machine.
Saturday: Resistance bike (including intervals) and swim.

The rowing machine is quite low intensity, it's hard to get my heart rate going as high as it would be running a steep hill but it's still good to work muscles that don't usually get a good workout, especially in the upper body. I reckon this would be a good recovery workout.

The resistance bike is great but it really brings out the sweat. There wasn't a dry patch left on my top :eek: With the option of this bike in the gym, I can do my harder workout here and take it easy on my cycle to work.

The swimming is grand. I don't push it too hard as I really don't like being breathless in water! A breath every 3 strokes on the front crawl is my comfortable pace. I'd like to build up the number of lengths and then start looking at doing the Masters sessions. My kicking is woeful on front crawl and breast stroke.

I have an induction session with an instructor tomorrow evening. I'll ask him what he thinks is the best way to cross-train and maybe lose another stone weight. I love cardio but am not a big fan of doing weights, even if they are light weights/high reps.

Micilin Muc

Woke up on Monday morning with a bit of a sore throat. Any normal person would take that as a hint and not do the ridiculous amount of exercise I've done in the past week. By Friday, my head was really stuffed up and I had full-on man flu.

On Monday I cycled to work and home again, did a 35-minute interval session on the bike and 3000m on the rowing machine. The gym instructor showed me a few of the machines, mostly weights.

I went to the gym every evening from Tuesday to Friday and I either cycled to work and ran home or vice versa. In all I did 3 swim sessions, 3 interval sessions on the bike and 3 sessions on the rower.

Saturday and Sunday was spent with Uniflu and most of the Olbas Oil range of products. Feeling OK now though having taken it easy.

Tomorrow will be the start of my training programme in the gym and Monday week will be the start of my marathon training plan for the Connemarathon. It looks like I'll be following the Pftizer and Douglas 55-mile plan

backspacer

Thats some serious exercise for the first proper week in the gym. Don't burn yourself out though, can happen very easy from been overly keen to get there.

Have been taking it easy as my knee was at me but hoping to get a few miles in this week and see what happens, went for a 30 minute run last night, slight discomfort in the knee but nothing that would stop me thank God. Taken on some weight training as well just to keep the mind busy.

Good luck the training for the full btw, will see how my knee goes over the next few days before i consider the half again:D

Micilin Muc

I went to the gym on Monday and today can't lift my arms without pain to scratch my nose. The instructor was laughing at how weak I am

Micilin Muc

Monday

Cycle to work (6.3 miles)
Run to gym from work (6.2 miles)
Interval session on rower
Leg press
Shoulder Press
Chest Press
Lateral Pulldown

Tuesday
Run to work (4 miles)
Cycle home (6.3 miles)

Wednesday
Cycle to work and home (12.6 miles)
Spin Class

Feeling very, very sore today in my upper body. My triceps (of what I have) are sore to touch and I struggle to reach the top button on my shirt. I didn't feel like I killed myself on Monday, but I'll definitely have to drop the weight on a few of the machines.

What I'm more worried about is the sick feeling I get when I push myself. I nearly threw up last January after my only ever 5km race. On Monday I felt sick on the 5th and 6th interval of 6 on the rower. And again tonight I felt kind of sick at the end of the spin class. Do I spend too much of my exercising in my comfort zone??

The Pfitzinger and Douglas plan I'll be following from next week talks about lactate threshold and VO2 max among other workouts. Is there a such thing as a puking threshold?!!

Micilin Muc

Thursday
Cycle: 6.34 miles to work
Run: 5 miles home

Friday
Run: 3.7 miles to work
Cycle: 6.34 miles home

Sunday
Run: 4.86 miles in 55:02 on Spiddal bog road. Lovely morning! Stopped for 10 minutes to talk to a former colleague about Irish grammar and dictionaries

Didn't get any of my planned races done. Not too bothered to be honest!

Micilin Muc

18 weeks left to the Connemarathon - I've taken the plunge and will follow the P&D schedule from their book Advanced Marathoning which culminates in 55 miles of weekly mileage in its peak week. My main goal now is a sub-4 marathon.

In the week following the DCM I said I would go for 4:30 for Connemara but left the door open to change my mind. 3 weeks of going to the gym and losing weight have resulted in me feeling better than I have in years. I'm feeling a lot more confident in my fitness from DCM and feel like I'm ready for the challenge that this plan will bring me.

A few minutes of analysis on Garmin Connect today made me realise that my flat runs in training for DCM were a lot slower than my flat runs in training for the Connemarathon Half -over a minute slower. Maybe it was the runner's knee that slowed me down initially, or recovering from hill runs, but whatever the reason, I think I got into a habit of plodding along with no purpose for each run other than to do the mileage and enjoy myself.

I've proved to myself I can run a marathon and now I want to improve. No more junk miles for the next 18 weeks.

I'm also going to change my training log a little bit. For the first few weeks I'm going to describe the various workouts and how I get on so that other novices can gain from my experience and not be overwhelmed with all the jargon that P&D use. I intend to keep a training log as Gaeilge too so I'll post the link here when I've got it set up in case anyone's interested :pac:

In the meantime, here's a link to Claralara's log who followed a good bit of the plan and got a sub-4 a few weeks ago. I'd love to hear anyone else's experience of the plan!

neilc

Best of luck with it Micilin Muc. I followed P&D's 55 mile for the first time in Berlin this year with great success. I'm doing Connemarathon too but think it'll be the 12 week plan this time. Looking forward to following your progress.

Micilin Muc

neilc wrote: »

Best of luck with it Micilin Muc. I followed P&D's 55 mile for the first time in Berlin this year with great success. I'm doing Connemarathon too but think it'll be the 12 week plan this time. Looking forward to following your progress.

Thanks Neil, it's good to hear you're still going back to P&D!

Micilin Muc

Monday

Today was a day of rest/cross training on the plan. What I did was:

Cycle: 12.5 miles to and from work, and 30 minutes of intervals in the gym.
Rower: 3000m of intervals in under 15 minutes (resistance on at 10/10).


Tuesday

Cycle: 6.34 miles to work.

Gym: Strength work with Shoulder Press, Chest Press, Leg Press, Lateral Pull Down and a few ab exercises.

Run: 8 miles (Lactate Threshold run)
The whole point of this kind of session is to work the muscles just hard enough to produce lactate. If the muscles are worked too hard, they won't be trained to work hard without producing lactate. So pacing is key in this kind of exercise. P&D recommend slower runners like me to do these sessions at my current 10-mile race pace which is 8:36min/mile. To be honest, I'm not even sure what lactic acid feels like in my muscles!! :rolleyes:

The plan for tonight was:
2-mile warm-up
4 miles LT
2-mile cool-down

I was very apprehensive of the 4 miles LT, especially because of the wind and my lack of speed in the past few weeks. To be honest the hardest miles of this session was the warm-up as I ran to the end of the West Pier in Dún Laoghaire and back again. Once I got to the coast for my first LT mile, there was plenty of shelter.

Here are my splits:
8:58
9:39 (into the wind)
8:35
8:25
8:27
8:24
9:24
9:26

I may have done those LT miles too quickly, but I'm delighted I could hold the pace.


Wednesday
Another day of rest/cross-training. Guess which I did!

Cycle: 6.34 miles home from work.
Rower: 3,000m with 200m intervals.
Swim: 24 lengths. I took a break every 8 lengths which is an improvement of 2 lengths from last week.

Micilin Muc

Thursday

Cycle: 6.34 miles to work.

Run: 9 miles (General Aerobic)
According to P&D a GA run is 15-25% slower than Planned Marathon Pace. So my GA runs will be done at 10:27 to 11:31min/mile pace.

I got the DART out to Bray after work and ran back up to Killiney, met up with my brother and we did Roche's Hill and Killiney Hill The headtorch was needed, especially for running through Shanganagh Park and the trails around Killiney. The pace was easy enough and I made a great effort not to go faster. I felt quite sore walking home but the sleep must have been good for recovery as I feel fine today. I reckon must of my hill running will be during GA runs as it is more manageable for slower-paced runs.

Micilin Muc

Friday

Cycle: 6.34 miles home.

Swim: 24 lengths
I took fewer and shorter breaks this time. Took a one-minute break at the end of 8 lengths and 16 lengths. Definitely getting easier.


Saturday
Cycle: 35 minutes of intervals in the gym.

Rowing: 3,000m of intervals.

Weights:

• Leg press (3*15 reps of 45kgs)
• Shoulder press (3*15 reps of 14kgs)
• Chest press (3*15 reps of 24 kgs)
• Lateral Pulldown (3*15 reps of 24 kgs)

I find the shoulder press the most difficult.

Weighed myself today - 1.2kgs lighter than two weeks ago.

Running:
Today's plan was to do a recovery run of 4 miles. A recovery run according to P&D has an optimal intensity of 76% of maximal heart rate. For me this was 145bpm.

I ran through Harold's Cross, Terenure, Rathgar and back to Rathmines (3.6 miles as I did 9.4 on Thursday night!). I don't usually keep an eye on my heart rate while running so I didn't really know what to expect tonight. For the first mile I was jogging really slowly because the monitor was reading 170bpm and upwards. I considered walking at one point but remembered that heart monitors are always unreliable for the first few minutes. I was nearly a mile into it when my HR dropped to 130bpm which I knew was more accurate! I kept pushing it until I was just below 145bpm.

Looking at the Garmin stats now, my average pace was 10:17min/mile. For future recovery runs, I'd prefer to just look at my average pace/mile and keep it around that figure.

Tomorrow's plan is 12 miles around the Phoenix Park. I'm tempted to do the Aware 5 miler next Saturday as 5 miles is the only one of my distances I didn't PB in in 2011! The following day has a relatively fast Long Run so I'll have to think about doing the race!

Micilin Muc

Sunday

Running: 12 miles Medium-Long Run

Just like the Long Runs, the MLRs are supposed to be ran at 10% to 20% slower than goal marathon race pace. For me this is 10:00 - 10:55min/miles.

My route was Rathmines to Phoenix Park, up the trail beside Kyber Road, down a peaceful car-free Chesterfield Avenue, anti-clockwise around the perimeter of the Park and back home again. I brought the head-torch and had to turn it on around 6 miles in. I also brought some IsoGels and took one every 30 minutes - no problems digesting them today.

Pace-wise I preferred to stay closer to 10:55min/mile as I'm worried about getting injured during the plan. Average pace was 10:40min/mile.

Very happy with today's running, especially since I didn't eat a proper dinner last night because of a house party and was drinking mulled wine until 4 in the morning A late breakfast consisted of 2 Weetabix and loads of pancakes, I think this did the job!

Week's mileage: 33 miles

Micilin Muc

Monday

Cycle: 12.5 miles to and from work.

Swim: 30 lengths in under 30 minutes. Took 2 breaks - at 10 lengths and at 20 lengths. I checked out a few Livestrong videos about doing a proper turn in the water. Might practice this on Thursday morning before work.


Tuesday

Cycle: 6.34 miles to work.

Gym: 3km in 15 minutes on the rower, then Leg Press, Chest Press, Shoulder Press and Lateral Pull-down.

Run: 8 miles General Aerobic with 10x100m strides

100m strides is 70m of acceleration to full speed and maintaining that speed for the last 30m with 100-200m jog between each interval.

The hardest bit of this was not the session itself, but the preparation: I run in miles and didn't fancy doing too much maths in my head while running, converting everything from metres to a decimal of a mile as my Garmin shows it. So once I figured out that it was easier changing my unit settings from statute to metric, I had to work out what my average pace should be for the 4km warm-up and 5km+ cool-down. It worked out well and I kept my pace to the slower end of the scale for these sections.

Route-wise, I couldn't have chosen a hillier 8 miles from work to the gym. I went down to Blackrock, up Mount Merrion Avenue, down to Foster's Avenue, up Mount Anville, up Taney Hill, Upper and Lower Churchtown Road, up Dartry Hill and down to Rathmines. In fact, 8 of the 10 strides were uphill - hope this isn't a bad idea, but I love it!

Bally8

Wow you meant it when you said you were doing lots!! Fair play to you, make sure to listen to your body though and get rest in when you need it.

Micilin Muc

Your advice was well-timed Bally8! I've missed the gym two days in a row - I feel quite tired and both my knees are sore. Was babysitting last night and have Christmas parties tonight and tomorrow night. Staying away from the gym for a few days will do me good I hope.

I just updated the 1000-mile challenge table and I'm on track to finish it by the end of the year! 863.09 miles!

Micilin Muc

Wednesday

Cycle: 17 miles


Thursday

Cycle: 6.34 miles
Run: 10 miles General Aerobic in 2:01:54


Friday
A big hangover!

Cycle: 6.34 miles


Saturday

Run: 5 miles Recovery


Sunday

Run: 13 miles Marathon Pace Run

I was dreading this run because of the pace required by the plan - 8 miles of a marathon pace with a warm-up and cool-down on either side. Just like my first Lactate Threshold session, it was actually fine and I had trouble slowing down to my marathon pace of 9:05min/mile. It didn't take too much out of me at all and by evening-time I felt like I had fully recovered :cool:

So I have got two weeks done and I have managed to do every run at the required pace without feeling tired or sore. I think I may have been doing a bit too much in the gym for someone on a marathon training plan though as I was lacking in energy by the middle of Week 2. Of all the work I do in the gym, the last thing I want to give up is the swimming, so I'll continue with that and maybe give up the rowing machine and only do weights twice a week.

Micilin Muc

Monday

Cycle: 13.6 miles

Swim: 30 lengths

I looked at a few livestrong.com videos on doing tumbles last week. I tried it out on Monday night and am beginning to get the hang of it now. The first couple of times was hilarious for anyone watching - sometimes I tumbled too far away from the wall and couldn't reach it with my feet. A few other times I ended up pointing towards the side of the pool. I had to practice it when the ropes for the lanes were removed as I didn't want to annoy anyone. In all I spent over 90 minutes in the pool and had a big headache at the end but was delighted I can do tumbles, even though they're crap!

I'll practice it a few more times before I do it in lane swimming.

Here's the video I used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EL3v1saCQw

Micilin Muc

Tuesday

Cycle: 6.34 miles
Run: 10 miles General Aerobic. I really enjoys these runs.
Gym: Leg Press, Shoulder Press, Chest Press, Lateral Pull-down. I'm a lot stronger than I was when I started, but I'm still a weakling!


Wednesday

Run: 4.66 miles Recovery with headtorches around Shanganagh Park with my brother. Lovely evening.


Thursday

Cycle: 6.34 miles
Run: 7.33 miles with 4 miles at 8:36min/mile pace. I really enjoy these runs too
Swim: 30 lengths. I had the lane to myself so I practiced the flip turns. Out of 10, I got 1 right! Properly tired now.

I don't want to be spending up to 3 hours on Christmas day and New Year's Day out for an LSR, so I'm going to shift my runs back 1 day and skip the day of rest tomorrow to do 5 miles Recovery to work. Going to Galway tomorrow, hope the weather's OK.

Micilin Muc

Friday

Run: 4 miles recovery to Booterstown DART. The light snow didn't cause any problems but I missed a train and had to wait 25 minutes on the cold platform wearing only my running gear

Cycle: 6.34 miles home from work.


Saturday

13.5 miles - Medium-Long Run in Galway from Spiddal to Furbo, up to the Moycullen Road and back to Spiddal. Lovely view of Galway City and Lough Corrib. My Garmin died so I didn't know how far I had run or what pace I was doing. Checking it out online I did 13.5 miles in 2 hours 25 minutes - perfect pace. I didn't feel like I could do a better pace though.

I bought my YakTrax and Kahtoolas in preparation for the snow, but I haven't prepared for icy footpaths. Don't know how I'll fit in my runs this week, but I'm seriously considering taking a 2-hour lunch break for tomorrow's run to avoid the ice.

Week 3 and still feeling good, apart from being tired from lack of sleep. Bring on the holidays with lie-ins and midday runs

Micilin Muc

Monday

Cycle: 6.34 miles to work

Run: 8.1 miles General Aerobic to the gym from work with 10 x 100m strides. The strides felt a lot easier than the last time.

Gym: Shoulder Press, Chest Press, Leg Press.


Tuesday

Run: 5 miles recovery home.


Wednesday

Run: 10 miles General Aerobic in to work. Negative splits - I think I'm learning how not to start out too fast!

Cycle: 6.34 miles home from work.


Thursday

Complete rest!


Friday

Run: Was in Belfast so I ran 4 miles recovery. I did a few of the trails in Belvoir Forest Park. It's a nice place to run with lovely views of the City and the Belfast Hills.


Saturday (Christmas Eve)

Run: 15 miles Medium-Long Run

I had a busy day so I only got out to run at 6pm. I wanted something different so I ran from Rathmines up to Cruagh Road and across to Kilakee Road and down by Hell-Fire Club carpark and back to Rathmines. It was my first proper hill run since before DCM. My headtorch started dying after a few minutes so I ran the whole thing in the dark, turning the torch on when cars were approaching. The last few miles were run at a faster pace, just as P&D recommend. I really enjoyed this run. My legs were sore on Christmas Day!

Micilin Muc

Monday (St. Stephen's Day)

Run: 8 miles

Looking over my PBs, the only PB I didn't beat in 2011 was the 5 mile distance. The plan asked for 9 miles today with 5 miles at 10-mile race pace so today was the ideal day to try and break it.

I did 2 miles warmup to Tymon Park and ran in the darkness on my own with my headtorch still dying. On the way up, I tried to figure out what kind of pace I would need to break my PB. Anything under 8.20 min/mile pace would have been fine.

The first mile was done in 8mins 8 seconds. There was a little bit of a hill at the end of this mile so I thought I was doing very well.

The second mile my lungs began to hurt. I did this one slightly faster in 8mins 2 seconds. So far so good.

The third mile was into the wind but a steep downhill opened up my pace and I finished the mile in 7mins 43 seconds. I rarely run at this pace!

The fourth and fifth miles I felt quite sore in my shoulder but confident I could maintain the pace of the third mile. I recorded 7mins 34 seconds and 7mins 26 seconds for these two miles.

I knew from the start of the third mile I was going to break my PB but towards the end of the 5 miles I had a feeling I was going to break 40 minutes for 5 miles. I stopped as soon as I hit the end of the 5 miles, delighted with myself. I walked a bit and then jogged the last mile home.

On the way home I did the maths and had a feeling I had also beaten my time for 10km :eek:. Uploading the stats to Endomondo, I found out I knocked the following off three PBs:

5km: 1 minute 6 seconds
5 miles: 2 minutes 52 seconds
10km: 3 minutes 39 seconds

Distance|Current PB|Goal PB
5km|00:24:50 (1.1.11)|00:24:00
5 miles|00:41:45 (21.11.10)|00:40:00
10km|00:54:03 (16.1.11)|00:50:00
10 miles|01:27:00 (16.1.11)|01:20:00
Half Marathon|0[FONT=verdana,geneva,lucida,'lucida grande',arial,helvetica,sans-serif]1[/FONT]:56:53 (04.09.11)|01:50:00
Marathon|04:42:04 (31.10.11)|04:30:00


Distance|Current PB|Goal PB
5km|00:23:44 (26.12.11)|00:23:00
5 miles|00:38:53 (26.12.11)|00:38:00
10km|00:50:24 (26.12.11)|00:50:00
10 miles|01:27:00 (16.1.11)|01:20:00
Half Marathon|0[FONT=verdana,geneva,lucida,'lucida grande',arial,helvetica,sans-serif]1[/FONT]:56:53 (04.09.11)|01:50:00
Marathon|04:42:04 (31.10.11)|04:30:00

Thanks P&D!

Micilin Muc

Week 5/18

Tuesday
4.85 miles recovery on the treadmill in the gym.

Wednesday
Weights and 24 lengths in gym. Gym was very quiet. 6 miles cycle in the evening. 8 miles to the Phoenix Park withe headtorch.

Friday
5 miles recovery in Spiddal up to Seanmhóinín and Bóthar Trasna and back again.

Saturday
16 miles of misery. In Spiddal, went in as far as Aill an Phréacháin, up to the Moycullen Road, down to Spiddal, up to Seanmhóinín and Bóthar Trasna and back again. Driving wind and rain from start to finish - the whole thing was awful!

This session was supposed to be 3 miles warmup and cooldown with 10 miles marathon pace in the middle. Wind, rain, lack of sleep and eating crap put a stop to any decent pace. Average pace for the PMP miles was 9.45min/mile, not 9.05.

Satisfaction was achieved when my Garmin hit 16 miles. Also hit 1000 miles for the year

Total running in 2011: 1013.52 miles

Micilin Muc

Sunday

Stayed in a hotel in Cork for New Year's so I headed down to the pool first thing to do tumble turns and 30 lengths. I had the pool to myself most of the time


Monday

8 miles General Aerobic with 10 x 100m strides. I did this in the Phoenix Park. I still felt a bit tired from Saturday's LSR so I was surprised I managed the strides as well as I did. Sprinting in mud is interesting!


Tuesday

Cycle to work and 5 miles recovery home from Blackrock DART.


Wednesday

8 miles General Aerobic to work and cycle home.


Thursday

Cycle to and from work. I was going to go to the gym but I was tired and preferred to be cautious.


Friday

4 miles recovery to work.


Saturday

12 miles cycling to Ballymount and Phoenix Park. Was in Base 2 Race in Ballymount to get gel supplies - what a great shop!

Met up with a few Boardsies in the Phoenix Park and did 12 miles with Grahamor and Grizzly (I think!) Having company and conversation really took the mind off the running. In fact I don't think it got particularly tough at any stage! Average pace was 10:22min/mile from Garmin.


Recap on last six weeks:
So that's the end of what P&D call the first mesocycle which was 6 weeks of focusing on endurance. I only ran 1 mile less than the plan (I ran for a PB instead) and only one other session was not on target (last week's 16-miler when I didn't hit marathon pace for the middle ten miles).

To be honest I'm dreading next week's running. Weekly mileage will be 50 miles including 2 long-distance speed sessions and an 18-mile long run. This week was a recovery week and I do feel like it was a bit of a relief, so I'm happy I'm still feeling OK and not injured. I haven't done much crosstraining since before Christmas so I might head to the pool twice next week and do slow lengths.

The next five weeks is the second mesocycle which is just 5 weeks of focusing on my lactate threshold and my endurance. I need more sleep and a better diet too!

Micilin Muc

Monday
Cycle to work, 6.34 miles.
10 miles Lactate Threshold home from work: (2.5 miles warmup, 5 miles @ 8:36min/mile and 2.5 miles cooldown).


Tuesday
Recovery Run to Booterstown DART, 4 miles.
Cycle home from work, 6.34 miles.


Wednesday
Cycle to work, 6.34 miles.

11 miles Medium-Long Run home from work. A perfect run with the last miles run faster than the first few.


Thursday
Cycle home from work, 6.34 miles.


Friday
6.93 miles General Aerobic with 8 x 100m strides. I had a sore left knee again by the end of this run Great sunrise this morning though!


Saturday
I was supposed to do my 18-mile Long Run today but I kept putting it off until it was too late.


Sunday
Again, I was supposed to start running at 7am to be home in time for a class at 12 but I guess I needed the sleep, and more fuel.

I left Rathmines at 1.30 and headed up the mountains via Rathfarnham. I joined the Dublin Mountain Way at Cruagh Wood across from the entrance to Tibradden Wood. It's a hard slog through this wood up to the highest point on the fire road but the views make it all worthwhile. Looking over to the ridge of Tibradden to my left I could see dozens of hikers along the trail, a lovely sight. Descending the fire road heading west towards Kilakee Road I caught a glimpse of the city - it's a shock when you realise how I high up you are!

After Cruagh Wood I headed down through Massey's Estate with it's soft springy surface. I nearly lost control a few times with the speed of the descent! I then headed up Montpelier Hill, aka Hellfire Club. Lots of people out and about . I stopped for about 2 minutes at the top to take in the views and a have a gel.

I don't think I enjoyed the run from Hellfire Club back to Rathmines. I'm never a big fan of downhills. I couldn't wait to get home and be comfortable! I laughed out loud with 7 minutes to go when I realised that my first run 15 months ago was 7 minutes, so I stopped complaining then which made it easier!

Time: 3:20:33
Distance: 18 miles
Average Pace: 10:57min/mile (2 seconds slower than allowed, but run on hills )
Climb: 578m
Garmin Link

I'm not feeling too well now that I'm home. I have the heat on full and plenty of clothes on but I'm shivering. I don't know what that's about !

Recap on the week:

• My biggest weekly mileage so far and my knee is still OK.
• No swimming or gym this week at all. Will aim to go once over the next week.
• I'm sleeping a lot but I don't think it's good quality sleep.
• I'm weezing a bit after today's Long Run. I may have a touch of asthma (it runs in my family) so if it persists I'll have to do something about it.
• My diet was not good, but not bad either. I need more fruit and veg and make sure I get all my vitamins and minerals.

Next week is 54 miles weekly mileage. I'll have to be better prepared for my Long Run of 20 miles next Sunday than I was this week, especially mentally!

Micilin Muc

Monday

Cycling: 12.7 miles to and from work.


Tuesday

Cycling: 6.35 miles to work.

Running: 7 miles with 6 x 100m strides
Was kicked out of the office by the cleaners at 9.30pm so I had a late run without much fuel onboard! I didn't feel like eating when I got home so all I had was a recovery milkshake.


Wednesday

Running: 12 miles @ 10:36min/mile average. I left the house at 5.55am. Didn't have a breakfast, so if I didn't have much food before last night's run, I certainly had none for this run. I brought some gels along with me so they kind of counted as my breakfast. I still made it to the office at 8am and felt OK.

Cycling: 6.34 miles home from office.


Thursday

A day of complete rest My girlfriend locked me into the house and took my keys - by accident! - so I worked from home. The rest did me good.


Friday

Running: 9.97 miles with 6 miles @ 8.35min/mile. Got up at 6am and arrived at work at 8.30am. The nice tailwind all the way to Dún Laoghaire was a nice help! Both my knees kind of seized up when I first sat down at my desk


Saturday

Running: 5 miles recovery in the Phoenix Park.

Cycling: 5 miles


Sunday

Running: 20 miles from Shankill to Hellfire Club.

Just like before my last 20-miler back in October, I felt quite nervous this morning and couldn't finish my breakfast. I met my brother in Shankill and was quite cold waiting for him. The wind was very strong too and it looked like we would have to change our route. Despite running in an East to West direction against the Westerly wind, 90% of the route was quite well-sheltered so it worked out OK.

My brother was on his mountain bike so he brought us around some of the MTB trails up in the Lead Mines. The trails were winding a lot so it was a tough job concentrating on my footing all the time and avoiding the various trees that have fallen in the past couple of days. We decided not to take the Dublin Mountains Way through Barnaslingan but took another trail which was a lot easier to negotiate.

The Scalp to Ballyedmonduff went by very quickly and was up in Three Rock in no time. My brother wanted to do a MTB trail so I climbed Three Rock twice in the meantime. He was quite slow ascending Two Rock/Fairy Castle so I had to go back down and meet him again. Fairy Castle to the entrance to Tibradden was quite difficult again because of all the rocks and hikers but I was 14 miles in and feeling really good. I went alone up to Tibradden. The descent is really tough on the joints though!

Met up with my brother at Cruagh Wood. As every time before, the ascent through Cruagh Wood was quite tough but hitting the top of the forest road I was feeling great again. I went quite fast down through Massy's Wood and finished off with a 7:00min/mile-pace last 0.5 mile on the flat.

We finished in 3:48 which was 14 minutes quicker than the last time we did the route. Average pace was 11:25min/mile which I am very happy with for 918m of climbing! No cramps or stitches today which I put down to drinking water and not Lucozade. This will my second biggest week in terms of mileage and I don't feel too bad at all!

Garmin Link

Micilin Muc

Monday

Cycle: 20km to and from work.


Tuesday

Cycle: 10km to work.
Run: 10km Recovery home from work.
Gym: Weights.


Wednesday

Run: 22.5km from Rathmines, up to Three Rock and down to Dún Laoghaire. There's nothing like a 2.5-hour run up a mountain before work at 8.30am! I got lost once as I took a new route up via Kellystown Road and Ticknock.

Cycle: 10km home from work.

Swim: 24 lengths.


Thursday

Run: 10.2km Recovery home from work. Finished work at 10pm and had a very full bag with me. I had no Garmin so I just ran this on feel.


Saturday

Run: 9.66km Recovery with 6x100m strides. Was in Paris so I ran a longer route from Montparnasse down to the Eiffel Tower and back. My Garmin crashed, I reckon because of lack of satellite coverage.


Sunday

Walk: Did about 6km of walking around the estate of Versailles. What a massive place!


Monday

Run: 25.41km Long Run with 19km at marathon pace. I ran down to the Eiffel Tower again ran along the Seine. It was a nice run, but extremely cold - around -2c. I wouldn't run the exact same route again - the Rive Gauche footpath is crossed by a lot of bridges which was quite annoying, so I crossed over to the other side where the riverside walkway went under most of the bridges. Unfortunately most of it was cobbled so it was quite hard on the ankles. I can't complain though, it was a spectacular run!

I wore a bottle/gel belt for the first time but it caused me a bit of chafing . I only had 2 gels but I felt OK. Maybe I use too many gels on my Long Runs.

Garmin Link