Starting again

average_runner

This is my first ever training log and here is my story so far.

I have done two dublin marathons, 08 in 4:07 and 09 in 3:47.
Last year was a year off as my wife had a baby.

This year I am going for 3.30 at the dublin marathon and I am using the P&D 55 mile plan.

My current pb's before this year are as follows:

Dublin marathon 09 3:47
Dublin Half 09 1:42:05
Dublin Series 10 mile 1:19:50
Dublin 5 mile series 09 35:56
Bupa 10k 07 50:50

Targets for 2011:

10k under 45 min
5 mile under 35 mins
10 mile under 1:18 mins
Half Marathon Under 1:40
Dublin Marathon under 3:30


From January till two weeks ago i built a base up and did the following races:

Valentines day run in phoenix park 10k 46:50 a new pb
K club 10k in 44:19 a new pb
RTE 5 mile 35:30 new pb
Wexford Half(extremely windy) 1:42:30

So trying to this all with a 8 month old baby and a very good and understanding wife who thinks I am crazy. Bet all our partners think that.

Last Sunday I did the first general aerobic 9 mile run at a pace of 9 mins per mile. These runs are to be slower than my long runs according to the P&D Book.

slowsteady

Good luck with the log.

Your PBs are in the same ballpark as my own and I would like to think 3:30 in Dublin is possible, if a bit of a stretch, so it will be interesting to track your progress over the summer.

average_runner

Tuesday Night was club training in local park.

I did 2 miles at 8:09 pace just a general run on my own to lossen up.

With the club did 3x1000m on the grass into the wind with a slight hill.
Times were:
1. 3:57
2. 3:59
3. 3:59.


Did 2 miles warm down then.

Nice but tough session especially when running into the wind on the grass with the small incline. Was first session in three weeks with the club.

Next is my LSR 12 miles on thursday. Should be grand as have done this distance quiet a bit in last 2 months.

plodder

Good luck with it. I used the same program to go under 3:30 last year, and based on a similar previous best. It's a pretty comprehensive (and tough) program. But, if you stick to it, and stay free of injury, you'll do it all right.

average_runner

Did my first LSR of the program last night.

The distance was 12 miles at 8:44 pace. In total it was 1:44:56.

Longest amount of time on the road in over two years and even thought pace was slow i forgot how tough it feels. Dont think it helped that it was straight after i got home and no food in me since lunch!!!

Calf muscle a bit sore but will use skins to sort that out.

average_runner

Sat Day

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It was the tempo run today, calf still a bit sore so didnt go all out.

Did a 2 mile warm up.
4 mile tempo at 7:36 per mile
2 mile warm down.

Using my compression skins now after running and working wonders on the calf

average_runner

Monday

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General Aerobic run today. Left home in Lucan at 6.30 and ran to town.
Had bag on my back with lunch and all my clothes in it, weight a bit
Took it easy due to calf so did a 9:11 per mile and 9.60 miles.

Compression skin back on now and calf feeling good.

Waiting on roller to arrive tomorrow

Mr Slow

Good luck with the log, I followed P&D (12 week 55 mile)to a comfortable 3:43 in Cork and will be doing it again for sub 3:30 in Dublin. It's an excellent program!

average_runner

Tuesday

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Got home late from work so did a recovery 5 mile run.

Pace was 9.36 per mile.

Doing these recovery runs are quiet funny as when you finish you feel like you done nothing as your still so fresh!!

average_runner

Thursday "The First Disaster"

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Session 13 mile lsr(5 miles slow and 8 miles pmp)

Route from Eastpoint Businness park via North Circular Rd, through phoenix park to Lucan.

Well it had to happen the first disaster run for me in this years plan(sure there is more to come). Did the first 5 miles at 8:47 pace, legs were a bit dead but nothing to worry about i thought as i was comfortable!!

Started the 8 miles on Chestefield Rd in the park and thats where it all went wrong. From there to the exit in Chaplizod i couldnt get below 8:17 and even when i went faster in my pace on my watch did not respond, well thats what it felt like.

From Chaplizod up Liffey Valley it got worst, my time drifted to 8:35, now this is a long drag of a hill but i was getting closer to my slow lsr pace than my pmp pace.

Frustration was settling in and i pushed more, but the more i pushed the more my legs went slower!!!

After Liffey Valley at Hermitage Clinic(maybe i should of went in there ) i took a 5 min break to get my head right and to do a few stretches.

From there to Lucan up by the Griffeen Park was two miles and i recovered to do them in 8:11 and 8:07. In total i got the PMP to 8:29 so was a good recovery from earlier.

I felt i could of went on for longer and probably got it down to 8:10 or so in another 2 miles but i kept to the training plan.

Went into my house and my wife said you look very fresh since you ran home from work, that frustrated me more


I know 8 min miles for 8 miles or more is no problem to me as did the Wexford half in 7.50 per mile and that was a gale force wind day!!

But looking over my history, June is always a bad run for my LSR's for whatever reason.


Will do the next week LSR run as plan in the P&D schedule which is 14 miles between 8:40 - 8:50 and then i am going back to the 13 mile run the following week to get revenge.

I do think the route was too much of a hill so might keep this route for the LSR with no pmp and medium runs.


Thanks for reading this. Hope it helps some people!!

PhoenixParker

It's probably a dumb question, but have you looked at the map of your run and compared it with where you know you ran? Granted I'm using an iphone GPS but I've found some sections of the park to be particularly bad for pinning you in the wrong place. The wrong side of the road as you run around a bend can make quite a difference.

Mr Slow

Simple mistake to make but your paced runs are about even effort and getting used to running at your PMP, next time pick a flatter course. The workout won't be a waste because you had to work harder than you would had you run a slow warm up followed by a flat 8 @ 8 min miles. Cover hills etc on your standard LSR's.

average_runner

Yeah you are right. I do think it was one of those days also.


Is Phoenix park a good place for a even pace run or am i better off running flat in around lucan?

Thanks

Mr Slow

average_runner wrote: »

Yeah you are right. I do think it was one of those days also.


Is Phoenix park a good place for a even pace run or am i better off running flat in around lucan?

Thanks

You can get routes around the park from the middle to the north side where it's pretty even, slight drag east to west on Chesterfield Ave. It's perfect for LSR's though, plenty of drags and hills if you're looking for them.

You'll also find group runs here, it's always easier running in a group.

average_runner

Sat morning

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The schedule said to do a 8 mile general aerobic run with 10 x 100m strides(i thought it was 7 but only found out 10 afterwards)


Did 7 miles with 7 strides in 8:45, got a bit bored and somehow concern about my speed, so decided to do the 8th mile as a sprint!!!

Did it in 6:58 so that put the mind to rest.

The run was done out locally in lucan.

Next day out is the 8k race on the docks. Wonder will i break the 35 min barrier, did the rte 5 miler in 35:30 so it might be close!! Didnt feel great that day.

Will use this as my lactate run for the week and do a 2 mile warm up to the race and a mile warm down.

Thanks for reading this.

average_runner

Tuesday Evening Docklands 8k race

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First race since i started the P&D program. Previous 5 mile race best was 35:30. So the plan was to run at 4.22 per k pace for 5-6k's and see how things go.

Race pretty much kicked off on schedule.

1km : Started at 4:19 pace but drop back to 4:22 as planned.
2km : Still at the 4:22 and moving on happily.
3km : Pace dropped to 4:24 which was ok nothing to worry about!!!
4km : Pace dropped to 4:28, legs wont speed up and body not happy(trouble ahead)

5km : Pace dropped to 4:31 and legs wont react at all, suddenly realised the race target was over for me so i just i ran the race.
6km - 8km: time kept drifting back, finished on a 4:40 pace average per km.


Finish time was 37:52, worst time in 3 years over that distance.

Not sure whats going on or what I am doing wrong but nothing is clicking for me at the moment.


Thanks for reading this

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

You mention your runs always seem to turn poor around June, do you suffer with alergies or hayfever? I have noticed it does have an impact on my breathing which in turn affects my pace.

Good luck with the 3:30 attempt.

average_runner

Thats a very good point. I do have some minor allegries, nothing to write home about. Havent taken hay fever tablets for a few years but I have taken them this year for the last month.


Thanks for that.

claralara

The pollen count seems to be ridiculously high year and a lot of people seem to be really suffering a bad June. Hopefully a few days rain will help.. but definitely worth taking a non-drowsy tablet here and there.

Well done last night - so it wasn't your best race but so what; it was stil a good time. Another one to chalk down and isn't marathon training the current #1 goal so keep the focus on that... I was holding the 6K marker and jealous of everyone running by as my fingers and toes slowly numbed!

outforarun

I'll be following this log closely. I was trying to go sub 3:30 in Cork this month, fell apart at mile 22 and came in at 3:41. Hope you make your goals. i'm also hoping to go under 1:40 in the adidas series half marathon in September (PB is 1:40 so I'm optimistic on this one).

Best of luck.

average_runner

claralara wrote: »

The pollen count seems to be ridiculously high year and a lot of people seem to be really suffering a bad June. Hopefully a few days rain will help.. but definitely worth taking a non-drowsy tablet here and there.

Well done last night - so it wasn't your best race but so what; it was stil a good time. Another one to chalk down and isn't marathon training the current #1 goal so keep the focus on that... I was holding the 6K marker and jealous of everyone running by as my fingers and toes slowly numbed!

Felt so sorry for the people holding the distance signs but fair play to ye. Once i knew my race was over after the 4k mark i notice the sign holders alot more and how wet ye were. Fair play to ye and thanks.

Mr Slow

average_runner wrote: »

Felt so sorry for the people holding the distance signs but fair play to ye. Once i knew my race was over after the 4k mark i notice the sign holders alot more and how wet ye were. Fair play to ye and thanks.

Whose idea was it to have people holding signs in the rain, surely sticking them to a pole would have been better?;)

Slowbie

Hi Average Ruuner thanks for starting this thread I'll be following it closely! I'm using the same program as you for DCM 2011 and I just started this week. My PBs are all a little slower than yours and realistically I think I'll have to aim for 3:45. Sorry you were disappointed with race Tues night (even though that's still a great time in my books!)
Just wondering do you think you might be running some of your training runs a little too fast at the moment. They say General Aerobic Runs to be run at 15 to 25% slower than MRP. If your MRP is 8MM then GA runs should be run at 9m 12sec pace to 10m pace. Also the Lactate Threshold runs are at HMP around 7m 45sec pace for you. Maybe you had given so much in training your legs were a little tired for the race?
Anyway to be honest you prob know a lot more about it than I do (as you can tell from my enthusiasm I got the book in the post a few days ago!!). Best of luck with it all though and I'll be reading along looking for inspiration!!

average_runner

Slowbie wrote: »

Hi Average Ruuner thanks for starting this thread I'll be following it closely! I'm using the same program as you for DCM 2011 and I just started this week. My PBs are all a little slower than yours and realistically I think I'll have to aim for 3:45. Sorry you were disappointed with race Tues night (even though that's still a great time in my books!)
Just wondering do you think you might be running some of your training runs a little too fast at the moment. They say General Aerobic Runs to be run at 15 to 25% slower than MRP. If your MRP is 8MM then GA runs should be run at 9m 12sec pace to 10m pace. Also the Lactate Threshold runs are at HMP around 7m 45sec pace for you. Maybe you had given so much in training your legs were a little tired for the race?
Anyway to be honest you prob know a lot more about it than I do (as you can tell from my enthusiasm I got the book in the post a few days ago!!). Best of luck with it all though and I'll be reading along looking for inspiration!!

Hi Slowbie;

I am going to change the P&D plan a small bit as time goes on.
Regardign the Generic Aerobic runs, mine should be around 9 min per mile but sometimes if body feels good i just let it go a bit faster or maybe i tweet that run a small bit, as sometimes i feel slow runs hurt my speed more. But general aerobic runs to work will be at 9:10 pace as it be at 6.30 in the morning and a bag on my bck

Regarding Lactacte threshold i was doing them at 7.30 pace before my last half marathon in May so this is why i am going at that pace

You got to do what you feel comfortable at too and listen to your body. 3.45 is a great time to aim for the pacers for that were brillant when i did dublin a few years ago.

As for the race on tuesday i was pretty fresh but just one of those things!!

Keep up the hard work and you will get your time. Hope this log will help you but it will not follow the P&D exactly. But it will have the long runs, medium runs and v02 max and lactacte runs in it.

Thanks for reading the log.

Average Runner

Slowbie

Thanks a million for advice and encouragement average runner. Best of luck with your training. I'll be reading along picking up loads of tips and advice!!

average_runner

Slowbie wrote: »

Thanks a million for advice and encouragement average runner. Best of luck with your training. I'll be reading along picking up loads of tips and advice!!

Any advice or tips you find out as you go along, dont be afraid to post them here too.

average_runner

Thursday Evening

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LSR day 14 miles.

Route was from Eastpoint business partk via North Circular Rd via Phoenix Park via Chaplizod Hill up Palmerstown out to Lucan.

Legs were tired after tuesday's race and when i started off my hamstring was a bit tight in the left leg so took it easy.

Was cruising along to phoenix park at 8:51 pace. In the park pace increased to 8:45 till i hit chaplizod hill. At the hill I eased off as legs were getting heavy so reduce the pace down to 8:57 over the distance home.

Happy enough with the run and legs dont feel too bad today. Calf still sore so more stretching and ice needed. Sat is the 10 mile general aerobic run so will take it easy on this and then on monday another general aerobic run where i also break the 500 mile mark.

My next LSR i will start at slower pace and increase the speed to within 10% of my marathon pace as i go along. Also it wont be the same route as they are switching to a sat/sun morning.

Thanks for reading this.

average_runner

Sat Morning Plan was 10 miles general aerobic run

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Headed out at 7.30 am but 2 miles into the run and my calf flared up.
Started to limp when running so stopped as was afraid this could lead to another injury while compensating for the calf.

Nice walk back home and time to think about what to do. Now i had this injury last year while i wasnt training for marathon and spent 6 weeks at physio. At that time she said I could continue to run on it.

So went to boots and was recommended Voltarol Emugel P. Been applying this and ice since sat and calf coming around, but will drop the medium runs from my schedule and do 3 sessions a week.

Will run with club on the grass tomorrow and see how it goes.

So techincally I aint following the P&D Schedule and the moment but i will keep the LSR going and the tempo sessions.

If no real improvement in next 3 weeks I might have to forget about Dublin.

Slowbie

Sorry to hear about calf average runner. I reckon you did the right thing abandoning the run when it flared up. Hopefully the gel/icing will bring it round. I always find running on grass v helpful when any little niggles flare up aswell. Fingers crossed for you!

average_runner

Tuesday Club night running on Grass mostly

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It was a strange feeling running on Tuesday, wondering would my leg hurt on the first few steps, but it didnt

Forgot my garmin also but i know the distance in the park. Did 1.6 miles warm up not sure what pace but it wasnt important.

Met the club then, I went to press the button on my watch and suddenly realising there is nothing on my arm and how stupid i must of looked

Did a 20 min tempo but not too fast with club and then 1 km warm down.

So in total did arond 5 miles or more and happy enough. Leg seems ok.

average_runner

Thursday 5 mile tempo in the Park

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1 mile warm up.

5 miles @ 7.45 pace

Not too bad, first tempo in awhile so not too bad. Found the pace good and enjoyed it loads. Just did a walk for the warm downa s was lovely envening.
Think these runs are vital to get my pace back and fitness.

Next up is the Long run.

Thanks for reading this.