Tales of a Tortoise

Concerned2

Hi guys & girls , I've been a long time snooping around these forums. Reading some of the training logs are so inspirational I could'nt help but start one.

I have been exercising sporadically for about the last 6 years . I'm a chronic ITB sufferer so in the past I've followed training plans for a couple of months , the injuries mount up & I give up for a couple of months loosing any fitness gains I had only to restart the cycle again. Consequently I've never improved much over the 6 years but I'm hoping I'll be more focused by keeping this log.

Most of my PB's are very recent as I mainly did triathlons in the past & have pretty much decided to focus solely on the running for the foreseeable future.

To date I've done the following (very unremarkable pb's )

5k : Nov 2010 20:54
8k : Aug 2009 37:30
10K : Jan 2011 45:50
10m : Mar 2011 1:15:25

My main goal this year is to try & complete the marathon. My head says if Oprah can finish 1 so can I , then again the pains in my legs say otherwise ! Still I'll stretch & ice & foam roll the aul legs frequently & try to make the start line at least !

Other than that I'd like to go sub 20 mins in the 5k which I'll hopefully do near the end of the year in the mizuno 5k series through Killarney park.
I want to get the 10k below 45 mins as I'm not overly happy with my pb. I'll be tackling this in the Coole park 10k in a couple of weeks time.
I'll be back in Galway come August to knock perhaps 2 mins 30 secs off my 8k time.
I'm currently following a half-marathon training plan that finishes to coincide with the Kildare half-marathon. I've also paid for the Limerick half-marathon which I'll use as a bit of a pacing experiment for Kildare. After Kildare if the legs are still in working condition I'll start into a marathon plan for the big one in Dublin.

brownian

Welcome to the logs. I think many folk find them a motivational assist.

Your PBs aren't so shabby -with all the usual training advice there's no reason at this stage not to achieve your goals.

Concerned2

brownian wrote: »

Welcome to the logs. I think many folk find them a motivational assist.

Your PBs aren't so shabby -with all the usual training advice there's no reason at this stage not to achieve your goals.

Cheers brownian , I've seen some logs where people are holding a faster pace over a marathon than I do over 5k :eek: If any of them want to spill the beans & let me know the secret I'll be a very happy tortoise

Concerned2

Ok , First run of the week from Week 7 of the half marathon training plan I'm following.
Session was a small w/up followed by 5 * 1 miles @ 10k pace with 800 meters easy in between & a small jog as a cool down to finish.
I normally do interval sessions like these on the track but this session was too long to fit in during my lunch without getting sacked so I did it on the roads .

Mile intervals were done as follows

1: 7:16 min mile , avg hr 151
2: 7:02 min mile , avg hr 160
3: 7:14 min mile, avg hr 163
4: 7:21 min mile , avg hr 165
5: 7:12 min mile , avg hr 165

Total Distance 7.91 miles.

This is probably the longest interval session I've ever had to do & I'm plenty sore after it. During the intervals I couldn't imagine holding 7:14 pace for a whole 10k but I've held a hr of 168 for a 10 mile a couple of weeks back so I may be able to hold the pace in a race environment. I've iced the legs in the sore spots & will take an ibprofen as they are a bit more battered than usual.

brownian

Concerned2 wrote: »

Ok , First run of the week from Week 7 of the half marathon training plan I'm following.
Session was a small w/up followed by 5 * 1 miles @ 10k pace with 800 meters easy in between & a small jog as a cool down to finish.
I normally do interval sessions like these on the track but this session was too long to fit in during my lunch without getting sacked so I did it on the roads .

Mile intervals were done as follows

1: 7:16 min mile , avg hr 151
2: 7:02 min mile , avg hr 160
3: 7:14 min mile, avg hr 163
4: 7:21 min mile , avg hr 165
5: 7:12 min mile , avg hr 165

Total Distance 7.91 miles.

This is probably the longest interval session I've ever had to do & I'm plenty sore after it. During the intervals I couldn't imagine holding 7:14 pace for a whole 10k but I've held a hr of 168 for a 10 mile a couple of weeks back so I may be able to hold the pace in a race environment. I've iced the legs in the sore spots & will take an ibprofen as they are a bit more battered than usual.

Tough old session - you're chuggin away nicely. Keep it up!

Concerned2

The training plan had a 5 mile easy paced run scheduled for today, my legs feel like they belong to someone using a wheelchair so it was no problem keeping the pace slow. If the evening was pouring rain I probably would have just rested them but it was such a lovely evening out it was an easy decision to go for a trot .

So the run was 5 miles at 9:40 min pace with a avg hr of 139. The legs feel a little bit better after the run than before ! The plan has a tough track session for tomorrow which might turn into a rest day if the legs are sore in the morning...

maria74

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Concerned2 wrote: »

The training plan had a 5 mile easy paced run scheduled for today, my legs feel like they belong to someone using a wheelchair so it was no problem keeping the pace slow. ..

My legs definatly felt today like they were belonging to someone else (who incidentally is even slower than me..yes hard to believe I know!!!):D

Welcome to logs... btw your times would suggest to me that you would be more of a hare to my tortoise shell!!

Best of luck with it all.

Concerned2

maria74 wrote: »

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My legs definatly felt today like they were belonging to someone else (who incidentally is even slower than me..yes hard to believe I know!!!):D

Welcome to logs... btw your times would suggest to me that you would be more of a hare to my tortoise shell!!

Best of luck with it all.

Thanks Maria . Sure I think the majority of us fall into the turtoise category , its only the few up front who are ever fighting over the prizes & the rest of us are just trying to do the best with what we've got (damn my glass legs )

Concerned2

Gave the track session a miss yesterday as the legs were a bit on the sore side & i was afraid if I did that session I wouldn't be able for my long run this weekend.

Today the plan had a easy 5 miler planned so thats what I did ! Lovely mild day for running , its hard to believe 2 short months ago I had some runs where I had frost on me when I finished.

Todays run was at 9:06 min/mile pace with a avg hr of 142. Legs were a small bit fresher at the start than earlier in the week after getting yesterday off but were still pretty sore after a couple of miles. Hopefully tomorrows long run (12ish miles) doesn't totally cripple the poor legs.

Concerned2

Training plan had tomorrow penciled in for my long run but I'm on child minding duties tomorrow so had to face into it today. Plan was for 12 miles with the last 2 at half marathon pace (hopefully 7:40 min/miles) . I did 12.6 miles , the first 10.6 were done at 9:02 min/miles with avg hr of 147. The last 2 were done at 7:41 min/miles with avg hr of 166.
I have an addias hydration belt which is a right pain in the ass , the bottles only hold 170 ml of liquid & when full they dig you in the ribs when you are running. I'll have to source something better later in the summer when I am following a marathon plan.
I was also expecting it to be a bit warmer today. There was a really strong wind that didn't bother me for most of the run but my final 2 miles were on a stretch that was straight into the wind which made trying to hold the required pace a real struggle.
Still happy enough as this is the longest run I've ever done & the legs don't feel like someone took a bat to them

Concerned2

10/04/2011. Easy run today of 4.02 miles @ 8:41 min/mile pace with avg hr of 147. It was a lovely warm day for a run. The legs felt good enough considering I had a long run yesterday.

Mileage for the past week was 35 miles which is the most I've ever ran in a week. This week coming the mileage for my half marathon plan is a bit less & instead of a long run at the weekend it has a 10k race penciled in which I'm doing in Coole park in Gort.

Concerned2

On week 8 of my half marathon training plan. Thankfully its a bit lighter on the milage than week 7 although it has a 10k for next Sunday rather than a long run.
Todays session was on the track , 1/2 mile w/up then 2 miles @ 10 k pace followed by 3 miles @ half marathon pace then 1/2 mile cooldown.

I wasn't sure what pace to do for the 10k section as I'm probably in better shape than for either of the 2 10k's I done so far, I'm not in good enough shape to aim for the 10k time the running calculators give me based on my 5k pb so I split the difference & aimed for about 7:10 pace. The 2 miles actually came out at 7:08 pace with an avg hr of 163 & the 3 miles came out at 7:37 pace with avg hr of 168.

I think I encountered all 4 seasons during this run. I was wearing a long sleeved top because I though it was going to be cold out but it was nice & warm at the start. About 20 mins into the session it started to pour rain. I was on Limerick Uni's track & the munster rugby team were training on the grassy area inside the track . When it started raining they dissapeared , come on like they are meant to be professionals & they are afraid of a bit of rain ! It brightened up again for a while & when I was nearly finished it stated pelting hailstones , maybe the pros were right to call it a day when they did !

1 funny thing about this session was I was quicker over the 5 miles after the w/up than my 8k pb which is really soft.

Nules10

hi concerned2 read through your log... some great times there... and great training. What time are you aimimg for in the half in Kildare?

Concerned2

Nules10 wrote: »

hi concerned2 read through your log... some great times there... and great training. What time are you aimimg for in the half in Kildare?

Hi Nules, I'm hoping to break 1:40 but thats a very aggressive goal for me & I have done nothing to suggest I'm capable of that. I've never done a half before , last weeks long run was the longest I've ever run & that wasn't even 13 miles. I did do the Craughwell 10 mile race in 1:15:25 on the back of 3 weeks training, if I put that time into 1 of the running calculators its giving me a predicted time of 1:40:33 for the half . I'll have about 10 solid weeks training for Kildare so hopefully that will get me inside 1:40.
I'm also doing the half in Limerick 2 weeks before Kildare & I intend to experiment with the pace a bit in Limerick so see what might be sustainable in Kildare. If Limerick goes badly I'll move my prediction out to around 1:45.
What kind of time are you hoping for yourself & are you happy with the way your training has been going ?

Nules10

You have great times under your belt already... i am sure you will crack it. 1.40... god i could only dream of a time like that i would love a sub 2hr... but if i am honest i don't really think i have it in me... not for kildare anyway... i am barely getting under the hour for 10k's. If not kildare then I will do it in the Cliffs of moher in sept... love a good old challenge I am loving training at the moment find the shorter runs the hardest :rolleyes:

Concerned2

Easy 5 mile run this evening. I was sure I was going to get soaked wet because there were some awful showers earlier but I was delighted to get home bone dry. I did 5.08 miles @ 9:13 min/miles with an avg hr of 138. The legs felt sluggish enough but the heart rate was low so I obviously wasn't killing myself !

Concerned2

I've no idea what the purpose of todays session on the training plan is for but I blindly do whatever the plan asks for ... so todays session was a small w/up followed by 25 mins of 30 secs @ 5k pace , 30 secs easy , then a small cool down to finish. The workout feels like 25 mins of strides ! Total distance covered was 4.28 miles @ 8:30 min/miles with an avg hr of 144. No aches or pains in the legs which makes a nice change, hopefully they will be raring to go in the Coole park 10k this weekend

Concerned2

Easy paced 5 mile run today at lunch time. The weather was lovely for a run , no wind & sunny . Hopefully it will be nice & warm for my 10k race at the weekend. The run today averaged 8:50 min/mile pace with an avg hr of 144 .Legs felt pretty much pain free so roll on the weekend ...

EdMoses

Best of luck with the 10k at the weekend. By the looks of things you`re definitely in sub 45 shape! Have a good one.

Concerned2

What a lovely day for a run , there wasn't a puff of wind & the sun was out & it was nice & mild. This was a pretty low key race but with the lovely weather a Hugh crowd turned up on the day. The organisers ran out of numbers so some people had their numbers written on scraps of paper with markers , never seen that before in a race! In the past I've lined up a number of rows from the front & always had to weave around people for the first few mins so this time I lined up just behind the first row so I could run unimpeded from the start. The goal for this race was 1) at least below my PB (45:50) & 2) to run sub 45. I planned to take it out hard & try to bank a bit of time & when I'd get tired to try & hold onto 4:30 km's for the rest of the race. So I went off aggressively from the start & the first 4 km's flew by. The legs were a bit creamcrackered at the stage so I intentionally slowed a bit to save a bit of energy for the second half of the race. I hit 5k in 21:30 & I was very confident at this stage of getting well under 45 . Towards the end of km6 I could feel my gut tightening as a stitch took hold. I tried the few remedies I could think of like breathing deeply & coughing but stitch bloody well wouldn't go away. Km's 7 , 8 & 9 were very slow but very painful , I was holding my side jogging along well aware I was leaking time quickly. The stitch easy a lot towards the end of km 9 so I picked it up again as best as I could for the final k. Coming into the last few hundred meters I knew it was going to be desperately close , I crossed the line in 44:57 :pac: so goal achieved. I've kind of mixed feelings about the race , at half way I think a much better time was on the cards . I'm wondering if I started a bit slower could I have avoided the stitch. Probably not though as I tend to get stitches at random when I run regardless of the pace. Split details are below (hopefully they appear in a table !)

Split|Time|Avg Pace|Avg Hr|Max Hr|Best Pace
1|3:59|6:20|153|166|5:29
2|4:17|6:55|169|176|6:07
3|4:07|6:38|173|175|5:27
4|4:29|7:17|173|176|6:23
5|4:38|7:22|172|176|6:05
6|4:39|7:32|171|175|6:08
7|4:50|7:59|169|173|6:30
8|4:47|7:44|169|171|6:41
9|4:49|7:45|171|174|6:35
10|4:19|7:01|174|176|6:03

BrokenMan

Well done especially to tough it out at the end to get under your target.
Stitches can be a real pain and have ruined many the race, best advice I ever got on them was to blow out hard as soon as you feel it coming on, imagine you are blowing up a balloon. Works for me anyway.

Nules10

Well done Concerned2. Sounded tough there towards the end. I am no expert but through trial and lots of errors maybe starting off slower is best and then picking up the pace once you have got into your stride. Someone more experienced might be able to advise better on this.
But well done again

Concerned2

Thanks guys for the advice regarding stitches. Unfortunately I think once a stitch gets hold of you there is no guaranteed way of shaking it off. Its soul destroying to drift off the back of people you've been tracking for a couple of km's & have to jog along clutching your side. Ah well , at least I sneaked under the 45 mins but I cant quite shake the feeling that a great time was there for the taking.

EdMoses

Well done on the PB Concerned2 and congrats on sticking with it to the end. I`m not so sure I`d have been able to brave it in the same circumstances! Looking at your splits I`d say you have a big `stitch-free` PB in you. Being able to cover 10k under 45mins is not too shoddy at all at the best of times never mind carrying a stitch. You should take great confidence from that going forward. Your next one will be well under 44 mins I`d say! Keep at it and best of luck.

Concerned2

Track session for today. Session was 800m w/up then 2 * 2400m @ 10k pace with 800m easy in between & 800m cooldown to finish. It was an absolutely smashing day for a run & I had the whole track in UL to myself My 10k pace is supposed to be 7:14 min/mile but I did the intervals slightly quicker as I think my 10k PB is on the soft side.

The first interval was done at 7:06 pace with avg hr of 159 (heart rate monitor slipped a bit so that fig may not be too accurate).
The second interval was done at 7:09 pace with avg hr of 169.

As far as track sessions go this 1 was easy enough , my training plan has another track session for Thursday which looks very painful on paper

Concerned2

Yesterday I did a easy 5 mile jog in the evening. Avg pace was 9:14 min/miles & avg hr was 140.

Went to the track in UL early this morning for a very tough session...

Session was 800m w/up, 4 * 800m @ 5k pace (suppose to be around 6:45 min/miles) with 400m easy between each interval. 800m easy after the last interval then repeat the intervals again ! Then 400m easy & 1 mile @ 1/2 marathon pace (7:40 min/mile).

Intervals came out as

1) 6:59 min/mile avg hr 146
2) 6:45 min/mile avg hr 155
3) 6:43 min/mile avg hr 158
4) 6:47 min/mile avg hr 159
5) 6:50 min/mile avg hr 159
6) 6:54 min/mile avg hr 162
7) 6:50 min/mile avg hr 162
8) 6:49 min/mile avg hr 163

last mile was in 7:41 pace with avg hr of 160. Total distance was 7.75 miles.
Legs were pretty tired & heavy throughout. I think I've lost abit of top end speed since I was training for a 5k last November. Leg is a bit sore now aswell I've a long run planned this weekend so hopefully the legs are recovered by then.

EdMoses

Concerned2 wrote: »

Yesterday I did a easy 5 mile jog in the evening. Avg pace was 9:14 min/miles & avg hr was 140.

Went to the track in UL early this morning for a very tough session...

Session was 800m w/up, 4 * 800m @ 5k pace (suppose to be around 6:45 min/miles) with 400m easy between each interval. 800m easy after the last interval then repeat the intervals again ! Then 400m easy & 1 mile @ 1/2 marathon pace (7:40 min/mile).

Intervals came out as

1) 6:59 min/mile avg hr 146
2) 6:45 min/mile avg hr 155
3) 6:43 min/mile avg hr 158
4) 6:47 min/mile avg hr 159
5) 6:50 min/mile avg hr 159
6) 6:54 min/mile avg hr 162
7) 6:50 min/mile avg hr 162
8) 6:49 min/mile avg hr 163

last mile was in 7:41 pace with avg hr of 160. Total distance was 7.75 miles.
Legs were pretty tired & heavy throughout. I think I've lost abit of top end speed since I was training for a 5k last November. Leg is a bit sore now aswell I've a long run planned this weekend so hopefully the legs are recovered by then.

Looks like some session! Was knackered just reading about it. How do you judge your pace for track sessions? I have a Garmin but as far as I know it won`t give me pace on the track. I`m looking at starting track sessions next week but the pace thing has me a bit confused. Thanks. Ed.

Concerned2

Hi Ed, I've a garmin forerunner 305 . I'm no garmin expert so there may be a better way of recording pace but what I do is bring up the lap pace display , hit the start button when I start jogging for my w/up , then when you are starting your first interval hit the lap button . The lap pace on the garmin will take about 1/3 of a lap to adjust from your w/up pace to your current pace so dont panic if after 100m your pace on the watch is much slower than what you expect ! When you finish your interval & start your recovery interval hit the lap button again . If you have a different garmin the above might not make much sense , I probably havn't explained it very well anyway If your watch has current pace I would not use that , I find it jumps around too much to be of much use. 1 observation I've noticed from intervals is its easier to get up to the required pace on the 2nd interval. Even though you are fresh for the first it seems like awfully hard work until you get the heart rate up. Of course the few at the end aren't much fun either ! Good luck with the intervals , they are great fun

huskerdu

Thank Concerned. Good advice. I have a 305 and didn't think of using the lap button to accurately measure my interval pace. I've been trying to estimate it from the graph on garmin connect, like an eejit.

Concerned2

huskerdu wrote: »

Thank Concerned. Good advice. I have a 305 and didn't think of using the lap button to accurately measure my interval pace. I've been trying to estimate it from the graph on garmin connect, like an eejit.

If you use the lap button to keep track of your intervals when you upload the session to Garmin Connect take a look at the Splits tab & it will break down the info for each interval , its something I find very useful anyway

Concerned2

Legs were feeling stiff & sore on Friday so to give myself a chance of doing a long run on Sunday I did no run on Friday. Saturday was a very easy 4 miles @ 9:38 min/mile pace with avg hr of 139.
Today was long run day. I did 14.35 miles , first 11 miles averaged out at 9:15 min/mile pace with avg hr of 137 although I did set out at a very slow pace of around 10:30 min/miles. Last 3 miles were supposed to be @ 1/2 marathon pace (7:40 min/miles) but I did them a bit faster @ 7:31 pace with avg hr of 166.
That was the longest I've ever ran & I was pleased to be able to pick the pace up near the end. On the downside my hip started hurting around mile 9 which doesn't bode well for when my marathon training starts to ramp up. I'm sure I could suffer the sore hip for the last bit of a half but I wont be able to finish a marathon if it flares up only 9 miles in.
I've also passed 100 miles for the month of April which is only the 2nd time I've managed such mileage (March was the first)