Remember the Red Lion

dermCu

Thur 24th Feb: 6.44 @ 7:55 - Took a detour into a park that I don't normally use. I remember why I don't use it now; full on mudbath. It did however leave me with a longing to run some x-country. Thankfully that passed when I got back on the footpath.

Fri 25th Feb: AM 6.2 @ 7:19 I was really tired so I was just happy that I dragged myself out of bed. Its amazing how far you can run with your eyes closed.
Fri 25th Feb: Lunchtime 6 @ 7:01 I started the first 2 miles off pretty slow then kept winding it up until I hit 6:15 for the last half mile.

Sat 26th Feb: 7 @ 7:41 Was away in Bath on Sat so got out for an early morning jog around the outskirts of the town then out along the river Avon and back again. Nice part of the world. As is usual when running around an area for the first time the pace was a bit slower than normal.

Sun 27th Feb 20 @ 6:59: Took this as a stepback long run. Nice and easy, no dramas. I'd love to go out and hammer every long run but that's not always on. Ballycotton is next weekend and then there are 3 long runs that I want to hit hard. So if I didn't take it easy on this long run I wouldn't be taking my foot off the pedal again until the taper kicks in.

@RR, Heff & BB. Thanks for the vote of confidence but the truth of the matter is that lately I'm finding sub 6 m/m to be very hard work. I know those sessions are not meant to be easy but I've run the last few of them on pure stubbornness. I'm not too worried, I know I'm on the right track. If I was offered a sub 59 right now I'd bite your hand off for it.

Abhainn wrote: »

Catching up dermCu. Nice running there and good discipline, you have to be happy with those last 4.4miles. Do you take any gels etc on LFR's (Long Fast Runs?;))

Cheers Abhainn, yeah its always a nice feeling when you start to hit MP on a long run. I usually take on 500ml of Lucozade sport maybe an extra 200ml of water if its warm. Its probably no secret by now that I'm a fan of the LFRs (like yourself by the look of your training log) I hate that LSR acronym. I mean if you've been around the block a bit and you know your body can handle the long runs then its a bit of a waste to plod along every Sunday whistling as you go looking over hedges at the scenery. If you want want to race long and fast then at some point you need to train long and fast.

thirstywork2 wrote: »

Agree with Heffsarmy here,very common in runners.What club did you do the session with?
Nothing like the feeling of doing a session in a group.

Cheers thirstywork. I live just outside of London so my local club is St Alban Striders. I'd like to get down to the track more but I'm stretched for time right now. I run pretty much everything on my own. I'd like to think I push myself on workouts but you just cant get those extra few % that you do in a group.

dermCu

Mon 28th Feb: 8.7 @ 7:43 Even though Sunday's long run wasnt that hard I felt pretty tired.

Tue 1st March: 10 @ 7:12 Legs were tender again, not sure what that was about. Didnt push it.

Wed 2nd March: 15 @ 6:45 - Same session as last week, much different outcome.
3 w/u @ 7:29, 4 x 2 with 3 min rec, 2.6 c/d @ 7:27

5:57
5:58
5:55
5:56

Yeah, thats more like it. Felt totally different this week. I know I keep repeating myself and talking about being 'in control' on tempo runs but that was the big difference between this week and last - not the times. Every time I came to the end of each rep I asked myself - "Could you go on for another bit?" The answer was always "yip, no problem" Happy days. Easy running until Ballycotton.

Speedy44

dermCu wrote: »

Mon 28th Feb: 8.7 @ 7:43 Even though Sunday's long run wasnt that hard I felt pretty tired.

Tue 1st March: 10 @ 7:12 Legs were tender again, not sure what that was about. Didnt push it.

Wed 2nd March: 15 @ 6:45 - Same session as last week, much different outcome.
3 w/u @ 7:29, 4 x 2 with 3 min rec, 2.6 c/d @ 7:27

5:57
5:58
5:55
5:56

Yeah, thats more like it. Felt totally different this week. I know I keep repeating myself and talking about being 'in control' on tempo runs but that was the big difference between this week and last - not the times. Every time I came to the end of each rep I asked myself - "Could you go on for another bit?" The answer was always "yip, no problem" Happy days. Easy running until Ballycotton.

Just catching up on your log Derm, some impressive sessions in there.
Agree with the lads that Ballyc sub 60 should be on. Any idea what pace your going to go out at?

With all these LFR's, I assume you have a marathon lined up in the not to distant future?

Speedy44

ignore the last question, if I had bothered to read your initial log entry first rather than last I would have answered my own question :-)

Best of luck with it.

dermCu

Speedy44 wrote: »

Any idea what pace your going to go out at?

Cheers Speedy. From half marathon distance down I dont generally tend to have a set in stone pace for myself. I'll know I dont want to go slower than 6 m/m if I can. After that I'll go by feel. At a guess I'd say 5:50 - 5:55 for the first few miles and then take it from there.

Are you running Ballycotton? Any targets?

Speedy44

dermCu wrote: »

Cheers Speedy. From half marathon distance down I dont generally tend to have a set in stone pace for myself. I'll know I dont want to go slower than 6 m/m if I can. After that I'll go by feel. At a guess I'd say 5:50 - 5:55 for the first few miles and then take it from there.

Are you running Ballycotton? Any targets?

Not doing Bally Derm, doing Craughwell 10 on March 20th instead. Did it last year and its a good course with a quality field. Would like to get under 61 for it.

dermCu

Thur 5th March: 6 @ 7:48 Legs a little heavy but not sore at all.

Fri 4th March: 6 @ 7:38 I was in two minds at the start of this one. Legs were ok and they wanted to kick on at times but it was too close to the race to do anything stupid so I threw on the brakes and took the cautious route.

Sat 5th March: 5 easy ones @ 7:35

Sun 6th March: Ballycotton 10 @ 5:49 ~ 58:22

Only for a good workout last Wednesday I would have been fairly nervous lining up for this one. Funny how one workout can change your attitude going into a race. In the end it turned out pretty well. My brother came along and we had a good game of 'guess the random persons finish time' as people were milling about. Did a nice easy 2 miles to warm up with a couple of strides thrown in. Got a good position at the start so I only had about a minute or two of crowded running before things opened up. There were a lot of people up around the front who should not have been there. People don't seem to realise the chaos this causes behind them.

Its a tricky start/finish. You need to take something out of the first 2 miles but it's a fine line not to over do it. Then you need to have just a little bit in the tank for the last uphill bit. First two went to plan, I was being very cautious not to over do it. From about 2 to 5 there was a small group of about 5 or 6 with another 5 about 20 meters ahead. I just couldn't bridge the gap to them. Keeping them in sight was dragging me along but to catch them would have been too much so I had to let them go. At about 5 - 6 our group split up. A West Waterford guy went powering ahead and the rest fell back so I was on my own until I caught up with the leading lady and an Athenry guy at 8. The 3 of us hit the hill together. I was ready for a good battle so I was a bit surprised when I opened a gap on them almost straight away. I was determined to stay ahead of them but by the time I hit 600 to go I was suffering pretty bad. Thankfully the worst was over by then and I was able to pick it up to the finish and stay ahead of them.

Couldn't fault the race in any way. Very well organised. As a nice bonus I ended up doing a bit of my warm down with 3 of the top 10 guys totally by accident. I just happened to be jogging along beside them and got chatting. As well as being class runners they were sound guys and were happy enough to answer my dumb questions and offer some encouragement. It was nothing to them but it was a treat for me. All in all a good day.

5:35, 5:42, 5:45, 5:50, 5:48, 5:46, 5:51, 5:56, 6:05, 5:55

theboyblunder

Fantastic time! Well done. Its all looking good for london.

Krusty_Clown

Well done dermCU, cracking time. That wasn't you who said hello to me at one point while we were walking up to the start?

dermCu

Mon 7th March 6 @ 7:47 Feeling the usual aches and pains the day after a race.

Tue 8th March 6 @ 7:27 Not feeling well. Very lethargic and sore all over. Put it down to slower than expected recovery.

Wed 9th March 0: Tuesday night it became clear that I was coming down with something - lots of sneezing and rivers of snot. Aches and pains all over so took the day off. This is the 3rd time in a row that I've got sick the week after a race. Seems to be a recurring issue.

Thur 10th March 0: Still not fully better. No way did I want to risk this moving into my chest. I didn't like missing a session but the alternative might have been missing the marathon.

Fri 11th March 6 @ 7:09 Used this a little test to see how I was. Not too bad.

Sat 12th March 10 @ 7:03 Got up at 5:30am with the intention of getting my long run done early. The alternative was late on Sunday. Nope, within a mile I knew I didn't have full strength back in my legs. Took a snap decision to cut this one short and give myself another 24 hours to recover.

Sun 13th March 22 @ 6:55 Its not much fun heading out after 8pm on a freezing Sunday evening knowing that you have 22 miles in front of you. I would have liked to get in some M pace miles but it just wasn't on. All things considered keeping the 22 under 7 m/m was ok.

Mon 14th March 6 @ 7:33 lunch time. Really felt that shorter than usual recovery time. That was a bit of a struggle at times.

theboyblunder wrote: »

Fantastic time! Well done. Its all looking good for london.

Cheers, I got so caught up in the whole Ballycotton event that I didn't even think about what it meant for London until a few days afterwards!

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Well done dermCU, cracking time. That wasn't you who said hello to me at one point while we were walking up to the start?

Thanks Krusty. I don't think so. As far as I remember I didn't see any faces I recognized all day.

brownian

Jaysus Dermot, that's some level of commitment, heading out at night for 22 miles in the rain. I'd have been tempted to sit back and toast my ego in the glow from Ballycotton. Fair play to you.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

I also hope to be in The Red Lion celebrating a pb although you will probably be on your 2nd or 3rd pint judging from your pace:)

dermCu

brownian wrote: »

Jaysus Dermot, that's some level of commitment, heading out at night for 22 miles in the rain. I'd have been tempted to sit back and toast my ego in the glow from Ballycotton. Fair play to you.

Its only 5 weeks to the marathon so I shouldn't really be moaning about having to go out late on a Sunday.
My ego didn't even make back to the car park after Ballycotton. It got put in its rightful place during my cool down which went as follows:

Elite No 1: "How did you get on today chief?"
Me: "Delighted, ran 58:** really happy with that. How about you?"
Elite No 1: "Well done that's good going, ahh I ran 50 something"
Me: "Christ on a bike that's fast. And you?"
Elite No 2: "In around 51"
Me: "Ah this is taking the piss. And you?"
Elite No 3: "Yeah, I was happy enough to break 52"
Me [internal monologue] "So my 58 isn't going to get me a shoe deal then?"

Rayna Defeated Cube wrote: »

I also hope to be in The Red Lion celebrating a pb although you will probably be on your 2nd or 3rd pint judging from your pace:)

Tell you what Rayna Defeated Cube, if I am there before you and you run a pb then the first round is on me!! I might even buy the second round if I run a pb as well
Do you get a pack with your number yet? Got mine yesterday. Red start.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

dermCu wrote: »

Tell you what jackyback, if I am there before you and you run a pb then the first round is on me!! I might even buy the second round if I run a pb as well
Do you get a pack with your number yet? Got mine yesterday. Red start.

If you hit your sub 2.45 i shall be buying you serveral pints:) No sign of my pack yet but it should be here shortly. Best of luck over there.

Abhainn

dermCu wrote: »

Tell you what jackyback, if I am there before you and you run a pb then the first round is on me!! I might even buy the second round if I run a pb as well
Do you get a pack with your number yet? Got mine yesterday. Red start.

You might save me a high stool too:). Looked up that Red Lion spot,seems to be A1.

I assume you are starting from zone 1 red?

dermCu

Tue 15th March: am 6 @ ?? watch was dead. pm 6 @ 7:03

Wed 16th March: 16.1 @ 6:35
3 w/u @ 7:18, 3 x 3 with 4 min rec, 2.7 c/d @ 6:52
5:52, 5:57, 6:02
Fairly happy with the way this turned out since I felt pretty crappy all day. Even on my warm up my legs felt dead so I was a bit worried that trying 3 x 3 might end up in carnage. I slipped a bit on the last one but I think I was close enough to getting it right. The effort was good enough.

Abhainn wrote: »

You might save me a high stool too:). Looked up that Red Lion spot,seems to be A1.

I assume you are starting from zone 1 red?

Ha ha, we're safe enough jackyback. Abhainn will will be there first buying pints left right and centre. I'm in the good for age in the red start, you?

brownian

heffsarmy wrote: »

Dermo get your Iron levels checked out by a doctor, if your have low iron or saturation levels this would cause these symptoms. There tones of info on the web, here a link.

http://www.running.net/read_feature/low-iron-may-have-you-feeling-fatigued

I get low iron levels occasionally and feel less chirpy than usual. If it's not lack of sleep then it's worth checking the iron

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

dermCu wrote: »

Ha ha, we're safe enough jackyback. Abhainn will will be there first buying pints left right and centre. I'm in the good for age in the red start, you?

I forgot Abhainn was running this aswell, he will probably have time for a massage and two Sunday dinners before i make an appearance:) Anyhow i will be the guy wearing the Children with Leukaemia singlet.

dermCu

Thur 17th March: 6 @ 7:40 lunchtime plod.

Fri 18th March: lunchtime 9 @ 7:02, pm 5 @ 6:58
The lunchtime run was pretty hilly. Took the first few miles pretty slow then ran the middle few at a good clip. Finished strong. Saw the chance for a sneaky few miles in the evening and couldn't resist.

Sat 19th March: 5 @ ?? Damn, I left the charger for my watch in work and it'll be locked up for the weekend. It was pretty slow, I was treating it almost as an off day.

Sun 20th March: 22 @ 6:34
11 @ 6:58, 10 @ m pace and 1 mile @ 6:41 to get me home.

I managed to get my hands on a 205 so I didn't have to guess the pace.
Parts of that were pretty hard. I felt very flat right from the start. My thighs and quads were pretty sore. Around the 7 or 8 mile mark I started to get pissed off with myself -
"Dermot you f***wit, you better not have messed this up because you got greedy on Friday"

I did the 10 on a 2.5 mile loop that's fairly uninterrupted. Once I got on the loop and could get stuck into the work I didn't feel as bad as I thought I would. Very happy that's done. Keeping them all under 6:20 was a surprise and a bit of a bonus.

6:16, 6:15, 6:11, 6:12, 6:16, 6:19, 6:12, 6:15, 6:03, 6:03

village runner

How do you know which start you are at ? Does it go by your number ? I happen to be over for the footie that weekend. By the way where is the red start ?

dermCu

village runner wrote: »

How do you know which start you are at ? Does it go by your number ? I happen to be over for the footie that weekend. By the way where is the red start ?

Yeah, it goes by number. The red start is on Charlton way. The fast good for age area is great. It's fenced off and there is loads of space, loos, water, etc... Who are you over to see? It could be tricky getting around. I presume you'll be having a look at the race. You know where to go for some rehydration.

village runner

dermCu wrote: »

Yeah, it goes by number. The red start is on Charlton way. The fast good for age area is great. It's fenced off and there is loads of space, loos, water, etc... Who are you over to see? It could be tricky getting around. I presume you'll be having a look at the race. You know where to go for some rehydration.

Where would number 28000 odd get you. Friend of mine is running. Same lad that ran last year. City v Utd on the sat in wembley. I reckon alot of marathon runners will be trying to get tickets. The group of us will be shooting of early after the race but if we could pop in it wouls be great.

dermCu

village runner wrote: »

Where would number 28000 odd get you. Friend of mine is running. Same lad that ran last year. City v Utd on the sat in wembley. I reckon alot of marathon runners will be trying to get tickets. The group of us will be shooting of early after the race but if we could pop in it wouls be great.

1000 to 28100 are blue start. 28101 to 31100 are green start.

village runner

Is the green start the same stop at blackheath and to the left of the blue as you are going up...........

village runner

ignore previous q. What is the fgfa red start like ? How long will it take you to get over the start line.....

dermCu

Mon 21st March 6.4 @ 7:43 No soreness but I was very lethargic. Happy to be taking it easy.

Tue 22nd March am 8.7 @ 6:51, pm 6 @ 7:19 Got the shock of my life on my am run when I saw 3 young kids nearly being wiped out at a pedestrian crossing. The driver just shot straight through. I guess the kids use it every day for school and they just expected the car to stop. It was inches from disaster. It happened so quick i didn't even have time to get a warning shout in. Took it easy on the pm run, saving a bit for Wednesdays workout.

Wed 23rd March 16.1 @ 6:33 - Same workout as last week.

3 w/u @ 7:17, 3 x 3 with 4 min rec, 2.65 c/d @ 7:03
5:50, 5:53, 5:54

Call me stubborn but I just couldn't leave this session without getting it right. I knew I was close last week, the execution was just a bit off. The nice weather and extra daylight makes it a bit more pleasant. Really happy with that. Yip - it hurt but I was never gasping for the end of any of the repeats.

village runner wrote: »

ignore previous q. What is the fgfa red start like ? How long will it take you to get over the start line.....

Its very good. Its fenced off from the masses and there are 2 pens right at the front. It probably took me 10 or 20 seconds to get over the start (and I was late going into the pen) Within about 1/2 a mile you have all the room you need.
A bit like flying business class long haul - once you've been there you don't really want to go back.

dermCu

Thur 24th March: Lunchtime 6 @ 7:31 They are all begining to merge in to one now, I cant remember anything about this run.

Fr 25th March: am 8.7 @ 6:46, lunchtime 6 @ 7:12
Feeling pretty good on the am run and had to regin myself in on a few occasions. Not so smart at lunchtime. I was really slow to get into it. My first mile was 8+ m/m

Sat 26th March: 6 @ 7:20 This felt so easy. It was actually an effort to stop myself from kicking on.

Sun 27th March 21 @ 6:29
3 @ 7:15, 15 @ MP(6:13 avg), 3 @ 6:59

Last LFR, only one thing for it - 15 @ MP. Its a brute of a session. As always its back to my 2.5 mile loop for this kind of session so it was 6 laps. Yeah, I was right to be nervous, that hurt. Right from the start my breathing was a bit more laboured than I would have liked. I was trying trying to find a comfortable pace on mile 2 and I ended up taking my eye off the ball a little bit. Came to a full stop on mile 7 to pick up a drink. It was starting to get warm on the last mile or two so I was happy to get it over and done with.
Can I hold 6:13s for a full marathon? I honestly dont know but I can try.
Just one more big session and then thats as much as I can do for this one.

6:11, 6:22, 6:13, 6:12, 6:20, 6:09, 6:25, 6:19, 6:07, 6:19, 6:06, 6:14, 6:08, 6:10, 6:09

heffsarmy

Can I hold 6:13s for a full marathon?

That's pants your in full training and your doing 21 in 6.29pace. With a taper 6 min/mile will be your pace, you will fly on the day. Good taper makes the difference.

Abhainn

heffsarmy wrote: »

Can I hold 6:13s for a full marathon?

That's pants your in full training and your doing 21 in 6.29pace. With a taper 6 min/mile will be your pace, you will fly on the day. Good taper makes the difference.

Heff I wish we had your talent:)


Derm, great session. You should take great confidence from this. All in the head man. Last year is forgotton

I'll see you in the fast starting pen. I'm 31667

heffsarmy

Abhainn wrote: »

Heff I wish we had your talent:)

Joe if I had talent I would have found it years ago, running is a pleasure I found out that I like the last 3 years and I love it