I can see the sun in wintertime

racheljev · 09-05-2012 11:55am

Madness coming along nicely, thanks v much C. Oldest child flipped out one of the the recliner bits of the sofa this morning and caught the inside of my left shin, totally by accident - cue tears and snots in the kitchen while making the school lunches. Woman in school yard was telling me all about her bad cough and how everyone in the house had it - I got her a bell and made her shout "unclean, unclean". (well I actually didn't do that, but I did move away ever so slightly from her line of fire)

Anyway today:
Plan: 5 miles slow
Actual: 8.1 kms @ 5:58 avg pace (9:38 min/mile )
Slightly quicker than intended. Did a 5 mile route that I know quite well so I wouldn't have to keep looking at the watch to see how far I'd gone. And I thought I was slow, I certainly felt quite slow. Anyway, another 5 miles ticked off. 200s tomorrow, hate them...

Got my marathon booklet yesterday in the post, I'm no. 1055... 10 days and counting...

jcsmum · 09-05-2012 5:27pm

10 more days...cue the scary music! Honestly fresh from marathon ups and downs in Limerick, there is no better feeling than crossing that finish line!!! You know you love it all really.

racheljev · 10-05-2012 11:05am

Plan: 12 x 200m fast
Actual: 8.25km - 12 x (200m fast, 200m recovery) with warmup and cooldown

As is usual by this stage, I didn't want to do this one. And it's a miserable day outside. But I went out the door while chanting to myself "I am not a sugar baby, I will not melt in the rain". Warmup of 1.5k to the nearby park to brave the dogs and the 200s. McMillan tells me I should be doing 200s in the range of 45 to 49 secs - not this morning! I got one done in 49 secs, the rest were all between 50 & 53. Legs felt heavy and tired, and while the rain wasn't melting me, it felt like it was just sapping the energy from me. I was pushing as hard as I could but still couldn't bring the times in. Long story short, I knuckled down and got the session finished, but not in a happy way. Cool down of just under 2k home.

Feeling distinctly "meh" about that one. 9 days left...

RubyK · 10-05-2012 11:35am

Great consistant training rachel

You'll run a great one in Lux.

Nules10 · 10-05-2012 6:24pm

Ahh its the rain has us all feeling a bit meh about things i think

you did great to get it done.

racheljev · 12-05-2012 11:21am

Plan: 12 miles, slow
Actual: 19.8 kms @ 5:50 avg pace

Again, too fast. Should have been closer to 6:10/km, just can't judge the stupid kms right. Didn't feel too hard while I was running so that's something I suppose... Would have switched to kms earlier if I'd thought of it.

Anyway a decent enough run. Good bit of ups and downs, kept the pace fairly steady throughout. Quite warm out there, lots of sun and heat, could have worn shorts to try them out for next week if I'd thought of it before I headed out. This morning is full of shouldas, wouldas and couldas :rolleyes:

racheljev · 13-05-2012 9:40am

Plan: 4 miles easy
Actual: 6.4 kms @ 6:06 avg pace

Nice and easy, just as it said on the tin. Legs a bit stiff and heavy this morning - nephew's communion yesterday meant dress and high heels, and legs just not used to high heels at the minute

Luckily, any cramps in the calves were eased by the amount of cupcakes and pavlova I ate - I'm carb loading, ok? :rolleyes: Anyway, nice and easy as required. 6 days left...:eek: Getting nervous now. But.. I have another two supporters coming over - 2 of my sisters-in-law decided yesterday on an impulse to book flights over to Luxembourg (where the 3rd one lives) for the weekend so they're coming as well. OH will have all his sisters to help with the cheering and the children while I'm dragging my sorry a$$ around the 26.2. Good weekend ahead (once I get the bloody marathon out of the way

)

jcsmum · 13-05-2012 10:43am

Carb loading is the business and then after the marathon you can indulge all over again

Pity though about the rest of the time

Slogger Jogger · 13-05-2012 11:38am

I'm well jealous. Some day I'll get to run over in Lux. Best of luck. You'll have loads of support in any event.

Today I can't walk never mind run. I fear kicking an imoveable object in our footy game yesterday will see me having to visit A&E.

racheljev · 13-05-2012 12:13pm

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

I'm well jealous. Some day I'll get to run over in Lux. Best of luck. You'll have loads of support in any event.

Today I can't walk never mind run. I fear kicking an imoveable object in our footy game yesterday will see me having to visit A&E.

Ah no way Mick. Alan was a bit worried he'd crocked you yesterday. He said it wasn't even a tackle. Hope you're ok

Great to see you and Olive and the boys yesterday - Sean jr thought your boys were great craic

racheljev · 15-05-2012 10:30am

Plan: 4 miles easy
Actual: 6.5 kms @ 5:48 avg pace

Again, nice and easy. I followed a route I know that's just 4 miles, so I wouldn't have to keep looking at the watch and getting perturbed with the kms/mile difference. Quite warm out there today, but still mad windy - head blown off me more than once

Apparently the weather in Lux is a bit all over the place as well: forecast for Saturday is 17C with 60% chance of rain - wardrobe dilemma already in full swing. Taper madness doesn't seem to be too bad - haven't actually assaulted anyone yet but came close to it yesterday when one of Youngest Girl's friends sneezed on me, asked for hanky and then sneezed again in the school yard. Honestly, you'd think 6 yr olds would know how to behave around someone doing a marathon in 4 days...:rolleyes: One more run tomorrow and then that's it till Saturday....:eek:

rainbow kirby · 15-05-2012 10:38am

racheljev wrote: »

forecast for Saturday is 17C with 60% chance of rain - wardrobe dilemma already in full swing.

That's actually quite a simple one... light t-shirt or singlet, shorts, and about three times as much Body Glide as normal!

shazkea · 15-05-2012 11:50am

racheljev wrote: »

Plan: 4 miles easy
Actual: 6.5 kms @ 5:48 avg pace

Again, nice and easy. I followed a route I know that's just 4 miles, so I wouldn't have to keep looking at the watch and getting perturbed with the kms/mile difference. Quite warm out there today, but still mad windy - head blown off me more than once Apparently the weather in Lux is a bit all over the place as well: forecast for Saturday is 17C with 60% chance of rain - wardrobe dilemma already in full swing. Taper madness doesn't seem to be too bad - haven't actually assaulted anyone yet but came close to it yesterday when one of Youngest Girl's friends sneezed on me, asked for hanky and then sneezed again in the school yard. Honestly, you'd think 6 yr olds would know how to behave around someone doing a marathon in 4 days...:rolleyes: One more run tomorrow and then that's it till Saturday....:eek:

Ah Rachel, please go back to miles after Saturday, don't understand this fandangled km lark

Oh wow, that race date has come around so quickly...as for Taper Madness, em no comment for fear I'll get a whack

racheljev · 15-05-2012 12:38pm

shazkea wrote: »

Ah Rachel, please go back to miles after Saturday, don't understand this fandangled km lark

Oh wow, that race date has come around so quickly...as for Taper Madness, em no comment for fear I'll get a whack

Don't worry Shaz, I'll be back in miles again as soon as Saturday is over, can't be doing with kms, bloody metric muck

Yes the race date has come mighty fast - was talking to my mam and sister this morning and they both said "THIS weekend?? thought it was next week!" And don't be slagging my (very mild) madness, I'm much better than I was for the last one - sort of

racheljev · 16-05-2012 10:50am

Plan: 6x400m fast
Actual: 6.5kms @ 5:20 avg pace

Yet again I wussed out of the 400s - really have to HTFU for the next program, whatever that may be. Left thigh still feeling a bit achy and not much sleep last night, so used that as an excuse to leave the 400s for this session. Instead I decided I'd try a few PMP kms - PMP for sub 4 should be around 5:38/km (9:01/mile). So this session was warmup of 1k and then 5:22, 5:00, 4:58, 5:20, 5:24, cooldown of 500m. Most of it actually felt ok - I was pushing it a teeny bit but still felt reasonably comfortable. (I consciously slowed down after the 4:58 km so that's why there was a big drop.) Last run done till Saturday night.

(Unless I do a ClaraLara Lucky Mile on Saturday morning

)

So, what's going to happen on Saturday? I would love love love sub4. So I'm going to try - what's the worst that can happen

? My last 5k, 5mile and 10k would suggest sub4, even one of the 10mile training runs would point to close enough to 3:5?. I'm not as nervous as I was for previous marathons. Of course that will probably all change over the next 48 hours, when taper/travel madness descends and takes over my head :rolleyes: A few things might conspire against me - the fact it's a night run, the cobblestones, the last 10k climb, the gaps in my program from sickness - but I have to try to be confident in my own running and pacing. There are 4hour pacers so I may go out with them. Or I may not. I'll decide on the day. Hopefully I'll be happy with whatever happens, come midnight Saturday - fingers crossed

RayCun · 16-05-2012 10:51am

You'll be great, enjoy yourself.

Emer911 · 16-05-2012 11:22am

Don't stress it Rachel. Enjoy the holiday, enjoy the run (as much as possible:rolleyes:) and come back and regale us with talk of your evening, cobblestone marathon in lovely Lux

Good luck!