Chasing numbers

DigiJem

19th July - 8 miles with 10 x 100m strides.

Started slowly, legs not great. Usual lap of the town then headed back home. Stopped at mile 7 at a spot with little traffic to do the 10 strides, not sure if it was 100m just counted 20 seconds in my head. Avg pace for the GA miles 10:16 min/mile, Avr hr 141

20th July - 4 miles recovery. Avg pace 10:38 min/mile, Avr hr 138

DigiJem

21st July: 10 miles @ general aerobic pace was the plan. I did it a little fast but HR was ok. Avg pace 10:03 min/mile; avg hr 140. Not really loving the longer mid-week run so far, struggling to fit it in time-wise; guess I just have to get more organised.

MTD: 87
YTD: 584

DigiJem

23rd July:

Plan had 16 miles with 10 @ PMP. Lounged around all day in the sun, so late getting this done which left it cooler. 6 easy miles to start; avg pace 9:53 min/mile; avg hr 145. A quick drink and then the pmp miles, last 2 miles were tough but overall not too bad. Avg pace 8:56 min/mile; avg hr 161.


MTD: 103
YTD: 600

DigiJem

24th July: Very close and muggy out this evening, just did 3 recovery miles as legs felt ok after yesterdays run. Ignored the pace and just tried to keep the HR in low 130’s. Headed up to Charleville castle and through some of the fields where they run the cross-country in the winter. No muck but the long grass slowed me down nicely, a lovely relaxing run. Avg pace 10:52 min/mile; avg hr 133.

MTD: 106
YTD: 603

Plan for the week:

Day|Session
Mon|Rest or x-train
Tue|9m w/5m @ LT pace
Wed|Recovery 5m
Thur|GA 10m
Fri|Recovery 5m
Sat & Sun|Rest, HM on the 1st

RubyK

Wow, you are getting in a lot of training! How are you finding the P&D plan. It seems pretty intense :eek: Keep up the great work!

DigiJem

RubyK wrote: »

Wow, you are getting in a lot of training! How are you finding the P&D plan. It seems pretty intense :eek: Keep up the great work!

Thanks, P&D is going ok so far. A lot more runs & miles than Hals plans, but most of it is at a slow pace which feels ok. I see from your log that you leg is still giving you grief, your head must be wrecked with it at this stage.

DigiJem

27th July: No run on Tues, had planned to do the LT run but other stuff messed up my plans. Found it very tough to keep up the pace for the 5 LT miles on this one.

4 easy miles @ 9:43 min/mi pace, avg hr 145
5 LT miles @ 8:14 min/mi pace, avg hr 165

28th July: 5 recovery miles @ 10:32 min/mi pace, avg hr 136

MTD: 120
YTD: 617

DigiJem

29th July: Over in Portlaoise, did some of the hm route after work. Not too bad, a few little drags although I didn’t head out of town which is the hilly bit I think. HR is messed up, it recorded a max hr of 219, I wasn’t working that hard A little too fast for GA miles but the change of scenery for the run was welcome. 10 miles @ 10:08 min/mi pace, avg hr 165.

MTD: 130
YTD: 627

DigiJem

Arrived way too early so scoured portlaoise for a decent coffee. Picked up number, had a brief chat with memo, chinguetti & vagga and then off to do a decent warm-up. Everything was very well organised, surprised how few runners there was at the start.

Off we went, the first few miles went ok, kept it to the planned pace to get home under 1:50 – that was the goal. I knew the initial small hills that were on the way out of town so I was at least prepared for them. Nothing too bad, took a quick sip at the first water station, a cool breeze was welcome as we crossed the motorway flyover and then we turned off in to the countryside.

I had it in my head that the hills were finished at mile 5, so just after the 5 mile marker I got to the end of a hill and though that was it. Turned a sharp corner and felt utter despair to see a very steep hill, really had to fight the urge to stop and walk here. Anyway, it was steep but short, and at the top we went around another bend to be greeted with a lovely downhill section. Despite the hills, this was by far the most enjoyable and scenic part of the route, and the locals were out to give great support. I was told I was a “”great woman” several times

Back onto the hard shoulder of the N80, the sun came out and it got pretty hot for miles 6 to 8. Took a gel and chucked some water over my head which worked a treat, I managed to pick up the pace here to make up some of the time lost on the hills.

Things were a bit manic coming back into town at the roundabouts near the church. Marshalls trying to keep traffic flowing and didn’t see me coming down the hill, I nearly smacked into a Golf – not impressed.

Anyway, straight through the main street of the town; another nice stretch with lots of support. Headed out the opposite side of town next, familiar ground for me. I ran mainly on the paths here, which was a pain, but traffic was just too heavy on the road. Turned off the N80 for the last few miles, and onto a fairly isolated stretch of road. I found this bit very tough, it seemed to go on forever but finally we were back into town and close to the finish. Tried to pick up the pace in the last bit as I knew I was very tight time-wise, but hadn’t much left in the legs. Finished in 1:49:49 according to my watch; very happy with that. Fairly wrecked, had several drinks and chatted to some of the boards runners, a nice atmosphere afterwards.

chinguetti

Good going today DJ and well done on the time. That hill at 5.2 miles was a right stinker and i had the same reaction when we turned left for the downhill that was up the side of a wall.

I also think that we all learnt today that Portlaoise has many roundabouts.:D

brownian

Nice going. Congrats on hitting the target time, and on keeping up the struggle when it got tough!

shazkea

Congrats on the sub 1:50, nice going on what sounds like a tough course.

dolliemix

Great time!

'You're a great woman'

jcsmum

Wow! Super time there J, well done!!!!!

RubyK

Great running DigiJem, congrats

DigiJem

Aug 2nd – 5 mile recovery run, legs felt fine. Avg pace 10:34 min/mi, avg HR 139

Aug 3rd - 8m general aerobic with 10x100 strides. Same as last time, did the strides after 7 miles, then a mile home. A little fast. Avg pace 10:09 min/mi, avg HR 158


MTD: 26
YTD: 653

DigiJem

Aug 4th - Decided to do the LSR midweek, as I’m in Galway for the weekend and doing the 8k there. Thankfully it’s a step back week so it was only 12 miles. Nice enough run, went straight from work out into the heavy rain, 5 minutes later the sun was shining, crazy weather. Avg pace 9:51 min/mi, avg HR 147

MTD: 38
YTD: 665

Aimman

Well done on the Midlands Half DJ.

littlebug

Best of luck in Street of Galway DJ

DigiJem

5m pb was 39:15 so I reckoned under 39 was a good target for 8k.

Got off to a good start, I started nearer the front than last year so avoided most of the walkers. Thru Eyre Square and the crowd thinned out a bit. Did mile 1 in 7:36, faster than planned but I was getting carried along with the crowd. I didn’t slow down much for the remainder, the pace felt fine. It got tough at the drag up Doctor Mannix road and around by Pearse Stadium, but that was the only place I needed to slow down.

Downhill to Salthill, anxious to see which way the wind was blowing. It turned out to be very calm, no wind at all. My travelling fan club of 2 managed to pry themselves away from the hotel bar to give me a shout out here. Along the prom and back towards the quays, the last mile felt fine, even managed a sprint at the end along the pier. No chip time yet, my watch time was 37:51, very happy with that; avg hr 168.

Great race again, hope to be back next year.

DigiJem

Aug 8th: Plan had a 10 mile run with 5m @ LT pace. Did 4 miles @ easy pace, then 5 @ LT pace plus 1 mile cool-down

5 x easy miles avg pace 9:46 min/mi, avg hr 145
5 x LT miles avg pace 8:17 min/mi, avg hr 162

Aug 9th – 4 mile recovery run, a little fast. Avg pace 10:13 min/mi, avg hr 136

18 mile LSR tomorrow, hope to make it to the park after lunch if I can get out of work on time.

MTD: 57
YTD: 684

DigiJem

Aug 10th – 18 mile LSR

3 hours of easy running in the park on a rainy summer day, bliss! Did the 10 mile course, a quick drink at the car and another 8 mile loop. Felt good throughout, took a gel at miles 8 & 13, the first one a High5 gel which made me feel grotty. Took the SiS Go gel for the second one which worked much better, I used these last year so I think I’ll stick with them again.

Avg pace 9:49 min/mi, avg hr 144, max hr 168.

DigiJem

Aug 11th – 7 GA miles with 10 x 100m strides.

Did 6 miles around town, then stopped at the usual spot for the strides; and finished with a mile home. Tired tonight, happy to have a rest day tomorrow. Avg pace for the GA miles 10:03 min/mi, avg hr 140

claralara

Well done on the Midlands run and the 5k DJ! Great stuff. And congrats on the training so far. It's really going great. We're technically at the same point but you're streets ahead of me - though I've been managing to get the miles in, I haven't been pushing the effort at the pace for each session - need to pull my socks up! Keep up the good work!

DigiJem

Aug 13th A rest day, a sports massage and a good night’s sleep left me feeling like a new women today. Plan had an 11m medium-long run, I added a couple of miles so I can reduce the mileage next week. 13 miles done, avg pace 9:51 min/mi, avg hr 139

Rest day tomorrow, hopefully I’ll get out on the bike. Dropped the LT run and re-jigged next week’s plan to allow for the frank duffy on Sat.

Day|Session
Mon|Medium-long run 10m
Tue|Recovery 3m
Wed|Long run 20m
Thur|Recovery 4m & 10x100 strides
Fri|Rest
Sat|10m race
Sun|Recovery 5m

DigiJem

Aug 15th: Medium-long run 10m. Started out in a nice misty drizzle, but the heavens opened at mile 3; got absolutely drenched. Avg Pace 9:46 min/mile, avg HR: 146

Aug 16th: 3 mile recovery shuffle at lunchtime. Avg Pace 10:26 min/mile, avg HR: 132

RubyK

Great work from you DigiJem!

DigiJem

Aug 17th: LSR 20m. Started at 2pm, and it was still pretty hot. Had planned to do the frank duffy course twice, but I started with a 7 mile loop to get back for a drink and suncream. Heat eased off after a while, and everything was fine until mile 14. Got a stitch which lasted for most of that mile after which it disappeared again, maybe it was the gel at mile 13 that caused it. Anyway, no probs after that, finished up acres road, back to the car and a well-earned ice-cream.

Avg pace 9:51 min/mile. Avg HR:146 bpm

belcarra

DigiJem wrote: »

Aug 17th: LSR 20m. Started at 2pm, and it was still pretty hot. Had planned to do the frank duffy course twice, but I started with a 7 mile loop to get back for a drink and suncream. Heat eased off after a while, and everything was fine until mile 14. Got a stitch which lasted for most of that mile after which it disappeared again, maybe it was the gel at mile 13 that caused it. Anyway, no probs after that, finished up acres road, back to the car and a well-earned ice-cream.

Avg pace 9:51 min/mile. Avg HR:146 bpm

Fair play DigiJem, I went for a similarly long run this evening but it was cooler weather than your run, but tough going doing 20 mile runs mid-week!
Do you find the P&D training plan giving you a real sense that you will do well come Marathon day, because I certainly do. A 20 miler this far out has gotta be positive!

DigiJem

Thanks belcarra and well done on your own run. Last year before DCM I only managed one 20 miler so it would be great to get 3 done before this years race. It's tougher doing them on your own, I'm going to try join the weekend group runs for some of the longer runs.