Sub 2:50 DCM '11

seanynova

thurs: 3m easy before 9holes of golf

fri: 12m easy, was supposed to be 14m but started late and it was dark...did 1m at PMP and my knee of all things gave me trouble!

sat: decided to rest, havent had a day off in a while and with my knee if-y, didnt want to risk it. was going to go for a cycle but in the end i had no time, was a busy day, played golf, went to mates for dinner etc...

sun: 19m, 2:11:12mins @6:54m/m HR 162/175
17-21degs morning

12.96m @ PMP:
6:24m/m (169/175)

very happy with this session, was unsure how my knee was going to react but it was fine and is fine now. very happy with how the run went, very consistant pace, a little tired towards the end. only thing is i didnt know how far i had ran as i stated the lap mid mile @ 2.6Xish but i ran most of a half route so thought id be 13m....close enough i suppose.
so these last 7days have been a bit of a breakthrough, just a matter of keeping injury free and ill be ok for the marathon id say...may not get sub2:50 but ill be fit enough to have a good race if the next few weeks go well.
again, to TBB, cheers.

total weekly mileage: 59m

Speedy44

impressive session today Seany, must be great to be back in the thick of it after all those months of frustration.

smmoore79

Well run Seany, thats a nice session!

theboyblunder

wow, impressed with that seany - you have serious endurance. 6:24 for 13 steady off 6:10 tempo runs is really great. Keep the faith....its a shame you are not doing the DCM, would have been good to stay together on the course.

Sosa

Looks like your back in the groove Seany....be sensible though...recover from these workouts before you hit a hard one again...well done

seanynova

theboyblunder wrote: »

wow, impressed with that seany - you have serious endurance. 6:24 for 13 steady off 6:10 tempo runs is really great. Keep the faith....its a shame you are not doing the DCM, would have been good to stay together on the course.

well, i guess i didnt tell the whole truth above, i did stop twice to take on water and toilet stop but honestly, i didnt 'need' to stop, but what are you gonna do without water!!! wasnt too hot, but was as hot as some of my other long runs...so i stopped after 5m PMP (8.Xm total), then did 3m PMP, stoped for more water, and finished with 5m PMP.

the stops were laid out to suit the water fountain and its the same course im racing next week, kind of a 3lap course, only bit i missed was the start line to the loop (hense the short distance) and also on the stop/starts i prob lost a few meters.

wish i was doing DCM but its just not feasable anymore, anyway id only be looking at your back for 26.2 1m!

any ideas on a half pace for next week? im thinking 82/81mins as the field might be thin at that pace, be like today - running on my own! my PB is 81:56mins, be nice to break that now after all my doom and gloom, last week i was thinking 84/83mins

seanynova

Sosa wrote: »

Looks like your back in the groove Seany....be sensible though...recover from these workouts before you hit a hard one again...well done

ya i know, next week is a recovery week but im racing a half the following monday....so am stuck to get my session down on tuesday and med long on thurs....otherwise ill run very handy and short inbetween.

i reckon sub80 is well doable for you even though, like myself, you have been finding it hard recently. different type of race to the 10k though so 6:05m/m will feel comfortable enough for you i reckon....good luck with it anyway, will check out your pre race session this week, im going for 25/20/15/5mins tempo but i know ill end up cutting them short by a min or 2 or cut out the last 5mins as its kind of a lot at tempo!

theboyblunder

Id agree with sosa and aim for 1:21 at least (unless its very hot etc). If you started out at 6:10 ish and picked it up later you know youd be able to handle the pace for a good while, and then theres the bonus you get from pinning on a race number......

seanynova

theboyblunder wrote: »

Id agree with sosa and aim for 1:21 at least (unless its very hot etc). If you started out at 6:10 ish and picked it up later you know youd be able to handle the pace for a good while, and then theres the bonus you get from pinning on a race number......

ya, ill see on the day, starting to look at the pace v time comparison and wouldnt mind going out at 6:10's but might be more sensible to run 6:15's and if i have a kick make it with 3/4 to go....a lot will depend on the weather/people, although i know one guy running it as PMP and he will be aiming for around 81 so that could be handy!!!

will see how the tempo goes tomorrow and decide later in the week.

i remember last year before the cork half, saying the aim was 83:XX for a sub3 indicator and waking up on race day, i said to tisnotover, 'im going to try for 82:XX', and i ended up with 81:XX without knowing it...i thought the clock was reading 82:5X as i was approaching lol....moral of the story, i need to get in the race zone next monday and just race the F-ing thing!

seanynova

mon:5m easy

tues: 6m easy

wed: 10m, 1:16:53mins @7:41m/m HR 154/178
22degs evening humid!

12/10/4min Tempo Splits:
6:10m/m (170/176)
6:12m/m (172/178)
6:17m/m (166/172)

thurs: 13.5m easy (with a few quicker miles)

original plan was to do 25/20/15/5mins at tempo on wednesday but decided before hand to do 4x12mins as thats what i did the week before the half last year, running:
6:09(177/182)
6:06(176/181)
6:11(177/186)
6:07(175/181)

this time, im a little disappointed not to at least finish the session, i ran 12mins, 10mins and stopped after 4mins on the third with avHR nowhere near where they were last year.

not looking too good again for the half, the pace/time diff is roughly:
6:09m/m->80:34mins
6:12->81:13
6:15->81:53
6:18->82:32

was hoping to be somewhere around 6:09-6:12 region with a view to going 80:XX but i dont think its on now...be nice to get a PB but even 6:15s sound tough for 13m now...ill see, take it easy the next few days and hopefully be able to pace with people on the day and race it outright...just need to get the head and legs ready now and give it a bash.

total weekly mileage: 34.5m

Speedy44

seanynova wrote: »

mon:5m easy

tues: 6m easy

wed: 10m, 1:16:53mins @7:41m/m HR 154/178
22degs evening humid!

12/10/4min Tempo Splits:
6:10m/m (170/176)
6:12m/m (172/178)
6:17m/m (166/172)

thurs: 13.5m easy (with a few quicker miles)

original plan was to do 25/20/15/5mins at tempo on wednesday but decided before hand to do 4x12mins as thats what i did the week before the half last year, running:
6:09(177/182)
6:06(176/181)
6:11(177/186)
6:07(175/181)

this time, im a little disappointed not to at least finish the session, i ran 12mins, 10mins and stopped after 4mins on the third with avHR nowhere near where they were last year.

not looking too good again for the half, the pace/time diff is roughly:
6:09m/m->80:34mins
6:12->81:13
6:15->81:53
6:18->82:32

was hoping to be somewhere around 6:09-6:12 region with a view to going 80:XX but i dont think its on now...be nice to get a PB but even 6:15s sound tough for 13m now...ill see, take it easy the next few days and hopefully be able to pace with people on the day and race it outright...just need to get the head and legs ready now and give it a bash.

total weekly mileage: 34.5m

first of all Seany, lose the negative b/s , you have some good sessions under your belt, see what the conditions are like on the day and go for the 6:09's, at least you will be able to say you gave it a good lash if, that's IF, it doesn't turn out as planned.

seanynova

Speedy44 wrote: »

first of all Seany, lose the negative b/s , you have some good sessions under your belt, see what the conditions are like on the day and go for the 6:09's, at least you will be able to say you gave it a good lash if, that's IF, it doesn't turn out as planned.

just looked at the forcast, fri/sat/sun - highs of 19/20degs(perfect) monday, race day high of 22degs...tues 26degs....hope it stays cool monday morning.

not a chance will i take on 6:09m/m, most of my tempo runs have been mid teens so it would be madness to go out at 6:09, i 'may' get a few faster miles in if im able towards the end of the race....but will prob take it out at 6:15m/m and go from there. sure a half @6:15m/m is a 2:52 marathon, id take that!! lol

as i say, i need to get head right and try and get the legs fresh....but rest assured, ill be racing on monday.

cheers for the vote of confidence, its well needed.

seanynova

fri: 5.5m incl some hills

sat: 6m easy

total weekly mileage: 46m

i have 40 somethin hours to rest up for the half on monday now so will just do a bit of stretching and stuff, take it easy etc.
have two things to ponder about until then though:

• what pace to start off at
• what shoes to wear

thinking 6:15s and see how i handle it but regarding the shoes...i have three options, racing(mana), fast training(tempo), or long distance training(ravenna).
if i go with a racing shoe i risk injury, and increased recovery but better chance of a faster time....and obviosuly the opposite for the ravenna so might go with the tempo's...

weather is looking ok, highs of 22degs, today is only high of 18degs though so wish it was that but next week looks warm again...but you never know, keep the fingers crossed!

seanynova

mon: 13.23m 1:21:34mins @6:09m/m HR175/183
15degs cool/sunny

Splits:
6:05(169/177)
6:12(175/177)
6:06(175/177)
6:05(176/177)
6:08(175/177)
6:11(176/177)
6:07(176/179)
6:13(175/177)
6:06(176/178)
6:11(176/178)
6:22(175/177)
6:20(177/180)
6:07(178/180)
5:32(181/183)

finish time is 1:21:34mins, a PB by 22 secs so happy about that but not very happy with the run.

The weather today was good enough, it was cool this morning but as the sun rose the temps soon followed but I’d say 15degs is a good account of where is was for most of the race.
My warm-up didn’t go great, I didn’t have much time to run and stretch so that was a bit rushed but couldn’t do anything about that really.

Lined up on the 1st row of the start line and the horn went, settled into a group of 6/7 people, all following one guy who was clearly a step ahead of the rest. The pace was lively, didn’t bother me too much as I didn’t feel under pressure but I slowed down a little and slipped into the back of the group, by half a mile there was no one really following so if I dropped off completely then id be running solo so kept going. By mile 2 the group thinned out a little, another 2 broke in front and two dropped off the back, so I was sitting in 5th place behind one runner…we stayed like that for another mile until a small downhill section where he picked up the pace, I used it as a way of getting the HR down and didn’t speed up much, so from mile 4 onwards I was running solo with one guy to aim at about 8-10secs ahead…this part of the course is an out and back section, but I closed the gap a little on the return part but still 4-5secs behind. Was running like that for another couple of miles, although running into some gusts and up drags, it brings us to mile9 and I close the gap on a downhill section there. When the Garmin beeped for 10m the pace was 6:08m/m average then, I was thinking another 3 of those with a kick and I’m sub80, but I got a small stitch and had to back off, the next two miles were the same as the 1st two, slightly uphill but my times reflect badly on me(or my pacing) they were 6:22 & 6:20, so much for 6:06’s there….it was a real struggle and I tried to pick up the pace but just couldn't run faster….managed to regroup for the last mile odd to finish with 6:07 and a 5:35paces home stretch but at that stage I was disappointed I was finishing a race weak, my pre-race plan was to try and pick it up for the last 2miles but couldn’t do it… I did manage to hold off the guy I had passed and finished 4th today.

All of the front runners were saying the course was long, my Garmin read 13.23m and I was diligent with the racing line but others were reading closer to 13.3m….make what you want of that. I’d like to think I ran my 6:09m/m but by race time it was closer to 6:13m/m I think.

Another interesting race fact, was that my HR levels were much lower on last year’s half, 180/19X last year and 175/183 this year, maybe I should revise down my marathon pace HR also to suit.

All in all, good to get a PB on a possibly long course, thought I was running strong enough at sub6:10m/m, but disappointed to finish poorly, would have been nice to go sub81.

McMillan marathon pace: 2:52:01mins @6:34m/m
Daniels marathon pace: 2:50:04mins @6:29m/m

Still plan on hitting sub2:50 then….buy only 5weeks to improve/get stronger for it.

Caprica

Congratulations Seany on the new PB. You went for it from the first mile, since you were so far up the field you ran a lot of it on your own, if you had company you would probably have knocked of a few more seconds. Reading your log you are definitely capable of getting sub 2:50. You have been putting in some pretty impressive training sessions.

seanynova

Caprica wrote: »

Congratulations Seany on the new PB. You went for it from the first mile, since you were so far up the field you ran a lot of it on your own, if you had company you would probably have knocked of a few more seconds. Reading your log you are definitely capable of getting sub 2:50. You have been putting in some pretty impressive training sessions.

cheers caprica, guess im going ok even with my moaning....would have been nice to hit the mcmillan equivalent time for a sub2:50 attempt in the half although by garmin i did hit mcmillan equivalent sub2:50 pace in the half.
but *if* the course was long and i did get my pacing strategy wrong, then id assume i could go sub81(maybe 80:45?) at current fitness levels which would be worthy of a sub2:50 attempt...

sure we will see what happens.

seanynova

tues: 3m easy

wed: Rest

thurs: 10m easy

total weekly mileage: 31m

legs begining to feel ok now after the race, weather not helping though. the 30year average daily highs(not average daily temps) for this time of year are 19degs, this week its typically 31ish until monday...have to do another long Q session in high temps..sigh....and then on monday the temps drop to 22degs and cooler for the week..

seanynova

fri: rest

sat: 8m am and 4m pm both easy

sun: 22m, 2:46:19mins @7:33m/m HR 156/174
12-19degs morning sunny

4x 6min Tempo Splits:
6:10(165/170)
6:09(166/172)
6:08(167/173)
6:08(169/174)

10m Easy @ 7:44m/m
(154/163)

1x 6min Tempo &
3x 5min Tempo Splits:
6:21(169/172)
6:26(168/173)
6:20(168/173)
6:23(169/173)

good to get my 1st 22miler done of the training, it will be 20m+ from now on until taper id say...small bit of catching up to do on the very long stuff.

felt tired at the end, couldnt run much faster on the second set of tempos but was going at a nice pace all the same, good to see the 1st set ot tempos were more in line with my half, if i can keep that up id be very happy!

so had a week to think about the half, funny i said to speedy 'no way can i run 6:10s', sorry speedy...ill be getting PMP pace advice from you i think! i still think im very hit and miss for sub2:50, not far off it as the course was defo long, ran the leg i missed when doing the 13m PMP the week prior and that section was 0.25m, which means i basically did the run twice at approx 13:23m, once on my own(running the racing line).
new predictions, as such:
mcmillan: 2:50:20mins
daniels:2:48:24mins

but if i allow for better pacing pacing(slowed badly at the end), then i may have gotten my half time in line with 2:50:00..happy days. will have to be careful though....

anyway total weekly mileage: 65m

another high one next week, then i may have a low one...work excursion(going 1km underground into a mine! :eek: hope that doesnt have the opposite to high altitude training lol) and a weekend away the same week but will get a few runs in id say...

theboyblunder

those runs with the tempo miles at the end are a killer, nice one seany. I'm in the same boat as yourself. Not quite sure what to do pace wise yet. Theres a good bit of time to decide and improve though. The half is a good indication that you are in very good shape, especially if it was long.

seanynova

mon: 4m easy

tues: 13.5m easy

wed: rest

thurs: 13m, 1:32:58mins @7:09m/m HR 156/174
13degs evening cold!

2x 20min Tempo Splits:
6:14m/m (171/174)
6:16m/m (169/174

so, good news and bad news...good news is its getting cooler(if not a little too cold, tues was freezing! was -1 at night..lol) bad news, i have no more excuses....

did a tempo run tonight, dont know why i cant run as fast as in the half two weeks ago, legs feel very heavy but at least i didnt stop early in the run. happy enough to get it done but looking at the splits, the pace was in no-mans land, and to think im supposed to do 15m at 6:30ish this weekend....hmmm....we'll see.

i like the new garmin split times, they have the millisec also, which makes my half time a solid 6:09:9m/m pace, last week it read 6:09....so might have to revise a bit there.

anyway, total weekly mileage: 30.5m

seanynova

fri: 3.5m easy

sat: 8m easy

sun: 20m, 2:17:40mins @6:53m/m HR 159/172
13-16degs morning cloudy/humid

15m @ PMP Splits:
6:29m/m (166/172)

was a tough run today, felt like i was running the last 15m of a marathon not the 1st 15m tbh, id say the last mile was a 6:4X'er was fadig badly. only stopped once today, ran it in 10m, 5m with a water stop for 60-90sec max. HR etc look to be well low, lower than the 13 i did a few weeks ago, today was 5sec per mile slower but its shows pace/HR consistancy.
legs werent as heavy today but defo not loose either, a few trips to the physio might be in order....
so as i say it felt hard, cant remember if the 15 i did on my own before dcm was as hard, hr etc are lower this time but they are across the board so not the best indication any more. stopped less times and a shorter stop also. might be ok with low 6:3Xs come race day, may even be ok with 6:29/30, but prob not enough to get me in under 2:50.

saw a few half marathons uploads recently(excluding national half) and most were in the region of 13.high teens, 13.low 20's, 2 competitive times were 13.23m also, so maybe the race i did wasnt as long as first thought but i maintain i had zero conjestion and ran the racing line to the tangent(twice) so prob should have been less than 13.23 but still nothing major.

if toronto is the race, then its 4weeks, phase 4 and will revert back to plan A(daniels) for some of the tempo runs also as i want to get good mileage in for 2week and taper for 2...would like more but when you take 2weeks out of your schedule, somethings got to give.

total weekly mileage: 62m
phase 2 ave was 49m/wk(6wks)
phase 3 ave was 57m/wk(6wks)

theboyblunder

super running seany. Very tough session. You have some stamina.

Feck you anyway, i'll have to keep trying now

seanynova

ill swop my *stamina*, for your tempo pace

you'll be grand, have no fear of it.

seanynova

mon: 6m easy

tues: 14m easy

wed: 5m easy

thurs: 12m, 1:27:40mins @7:18m/m HR 154/174
12degs cool evening

6x 1m Tempo Splits:
6:07(167/172)
6:06(168/174)
6:05(169/174)
6:08(167/174)
(0.75m) 6:10(166/172) ran out of trail
6:06(168/173)

happy enough with the pace of these but if they were longer id imagine the pace would be a little slower, didnt feel like the legs were too heavy tonight or anything but dont think id have kept up the pace if they were longer than 1m reps.....from now on(2more weeks!) ill be doing longer tempo reps, 2x20min or something like that after switching back to Plan A sessions.
will try to hit 60+ this week but away this weekend and the 22 on sunday will be in the evening....fingers crossed ill get it done.

total weekly mileage: 37m

seanynova

fri: 3m easy

sat: 6m easy

sun: 22m easy in 2:49....its a sign

total weekly mileage: 68m

glad to get a few runs in this weekend, although 5m of that was on a tredmill, i hate those things now (used to like em).
then when we got back i did the 22m this evening, a small change of plan which i didnt like, was supposed to do 22m with tempo miles but i was just too tired, eat/drank poorly all weekend and was tired, also had a 2hour flight in the early afternoon so the thought of doing tempo miles didnt go down well....so decided after 2miles warm up to revert to 22m easy instead. was tired towards the end, but i dont mind that, i was tired at the start too lol.

so next week is like a 1/2 taper, bringing the mileage down but still doing a hard run at the weekend, plan is toronto marathon but havent booked yet, might do that this week...

pity i had to drop the harder session today but without a days rest this week, i figured running hard on a high mileage week would be too risky as i was fatigued, its a matter of getting to the start line without dropping days now and ill have a chance.

seanynova

mon: 4m easy

tues: rest

wed: 10.6m, 1:19:17mins @7:28m/m HR 152/176
22degs evening warm

Tempo Splits:
15mins @ 6:14(172/176)
10mins @ 6:10(166/175)

thurs: 5.5m easy

im a disaster, loosing motivation again(happened in both other marathons around this time of training) couldnt run faster on wednesday, dont know what was worng with me....planning on running 15m at 6:30m/m on sat and i couldnt finish a session of 2x20min at 6:10m/m....only realised afterwards that i have only one more mid-week tempo session left, so really should ahve finished the session on wednesday...ah well, cant do anything about that now. going to fall into taper now and not try and make up for lost time or sessions...

total weekly mileage: 20m

Speedy44

seanynova wrote: »

mon: 4m easy

tues: rest

wed: 10.6m, 1:19:17mins @7:28m/m HR 152/176
22degs evening warm

Tempo Splits:
15mins @ 6:14(172/176)
10mins @ 6:10(166/175)

thurs: 5.5m easy

im a disaster, loosing motivation again(happened in both other marathons around this time of training) couldnt run faster on wednesday, dont know what was worng with me....planning on running 15m at 6:30m/m on sat and i couldnt finish a session of 2x20min at 6:10m/m....only realised afterwards that i have only one more mid-week tempo session left, so really should ahve finished the session on wednesday...ah well, cant do anything about that now. going to fall into taper now and not try and make up for lost time or sessions...

total weekly mileage: 20m

wel, the hardest part is admitting your a disaster and that you know why;)

seriously though, you know yourself how you can feel crap one day and be flying it the next. Put the tempo behind you, and just go out and relax and do the 15 PMP. Step back from it for a bit and try to do something fun to take your mind off it, go see a movie or something. Try and pick up a good book that may help, you'll be surprised how quick the appetite comes back.

theboyblunder

Speedy44 wrote: »

wel, the hardest part is admitting your a disaster and that you know why;)

seriously though, you know yourself how you can feel crap one day and be flying it the next. Put the tempo behind you, and just go out and relax and do the 15 PMP. Step back from it for a bit and try to do something fun to take your mind off it, go see a movie or something. Try and pick up a good book that may help, you'll be surprised how quick the appetite comes back.

+1 put it out of your mind. we all have bad days. It can become a needless monkey on your back if you let it!

You are running well and nailing the key PMP sessions. If you were nailing the tempos but couldnt hold PMP you would be way more concerned.

seanynova

cheers lads,
yup, not going to let it get to me but i waffled a lot last year about how tempos were my key sessions....pity i have only done about two or three secent one this time round...cant do anything about it now...will set out on the 15m tomorrow as usual dreading the session but got the last two done so hopefully tomorrows one will be no differrent.
im hoping the PMP sessions are the most important ones but ill stay a beliver in the tempos unless i have a good race in two weeks

seanynova

fri: 4m easy

sat:20m, 2:16:56mins @6:50m/m HR 162/174
8-12degs morning Windy!!! (15-20mph)

15m @ PMP Splits:
6:27m/m (168/174)

another successful PMP run, stopped once again but after 11m this time...needed the water so couldnt do anything about it. didnt stop long though. pace was a little faster than last time, it was cold, wore my arm skins today as i might wear them in the marathon depending on the temps but the wind today was very strong, was more or less running loops so i guess the wind was with as much as it was againts me but it never feels that way. finished stronger than the last 15m pmp run which is positive although HR levels were a little more(prob down to the wind) as always, its hard to imagine running tha pace for 26.4 ish miles but i havent decided on a pace plan yet...want to enjoy the race above all else at this stage.

total weekly mileage: 44m......about 4-5 less than i wanted but prob wont run tomorrow.

was a very hard run only 2weeks out for the race so need to rest up when i can now. next week my plans are hampered by a work trip so will have to take tues/wed off. which means ill be running tempo on thurs and sat....prob not the best scheduling but what can i do. also going over 1k under ground to a mine so will be hot! and need to keep hydrated, that coupled with very long days its not the best preb...both those are the cards im delt.
full taper time now! tomorrow will bring the 1st look at the 14day weather schedule(sat already look around 17degs i think and rising from the previous day...very early yet though)