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Running Under the Influence of Jack Daniels
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Monday 24th September
A very wet and windy 10 miles at lunchtime out to Blackrock and back. I was half thinking of giving this one a miss when I seen the weather forecast but the marathon won't run itself and I knew I'd regret it if I didn't go out. I have to say I really enjoyed it and found it quite refreshing
10 Miles in 1:23:09. Average Pace 8:19.
Tuesday 25th September
Raining again today but nowhere near as heavy as yesterday for today's lunchtime run out to Clontarf. Tried to do some of this run on the grass area along the seafront but it was quite boggy in places and my feet kept landing in hidden puddles so ended up getting in some cross country training.
8.99 Miles in 1:13:46. Average Pace 8:12.
Month|Miles
September|179.73
Total|1,420.800 -
Wednesday 26th September
Meath Running Group Vo2max session consisting of intervals of 4, 5, 6, 5 and 4 mins. This was a considerably tougher session than this weeks prescribed P&D session of 5 x 600m but felt this would have been a good one to get in and it's always easier to do these sessions in a group. P&D recommend 5k pace for these runs which should be around 6:20 mile ish pace but I usually end up doing these nearer to 3k pace (6:00) as I find 6:20 pace too easy i.e. I feel I'm not working hard enough at that pace. Interestingly even at 3k pace my HR was at the lower end of P&D's recommended HR range for Vo2max 5k pace. The below poster seems to know what he is talking about so I won't try and slow down just yetVo2 Max speed is roughly the speed one can hold for a maximum of 6-12 mins in an all out effort, vo2 Max does not equal 5km pace as is common place in many message boards. Typically it is about 3km race pace for most although famed distance guru Joe Vigil has expressed it as current mile pace. You are safe staying around 3km pace assuming you can run one in 8-12 min range.
According to the Garmin the splits were:
Mins|Distance|Avg Pace
4|0.67|5:58
5|0.86|5:51
6|0.99|6:07
5|0.83|6:06
4|0.67|6:00
Thursday 27th September
Rest/recovery day so just done 30 mins on gym bike followed by some stretching and core work.
Friday 28th September
4 mile recovery run. Took it very easy as I have a busy weekend ahead with 10k time trial tomorrow and 17 mile LSR on Sunday.
Month|Miles
September|193.64
Total|1,434.720 -
Saturday 29th September
Met up wit neilc and we travelled down to Marlay Park to meet theboyblunder and BigBadTom for a handicapped 10k time trial as there was no local 10k races on today which was required as part of the P&D training schedules.
We stated a target time and based on that headstarts were allocated. I went with my Dunshaughlin PB of 41:45. I wasn't sure if my time would have improved since then but considering I didn't taper and it wasn't exactly race conditions I'm used to it seemed like the best option.
My time was the slower of the 4 so I set off first. As the course was 10 1k loops I set the distance and pace on the Garmin to KM's so I could easily work out how many laps done / how many to go as well as keeping account of my lap splits.
I realised just after I had started that I had forgotten to calculate what pace this was in KM's but with some quick thinking I calculated around 4:15k's but it should have actually been 4:10. Either way it didn't make much of a difference as my pace was well under 4:00 for the first 2 laps. I was almost definitely sure this was too fast but it felt comfortable so it would have been counter productive to slow down. I looked at my watch when I completed the first lap and it showed 3:49. tBB hadn't even started at this stage and I wondered had I greatly underestimated how much my fitness has improved.
I gradually began to slow over the next few laps as the lactic acid began to build up and by halfway my pace was around 4:10-4:15. I went through 5k in about 20:10 so I knew barring a complete blow up I was going to better my target time.
I managed to maintain a consistent pace over the next 4 laps despite running into a nasty breeze in one corner of the park as well as trying to avoid a few obstacles like walkers and buggies. My splits for the next 4 laps were 4:14, 4:16, 4:15 and 4:14 which I thought at the time was bang on pace. As I started into my final lap a guy running with headphones pulled out right in front of me but this proved to be blessing in disguise as he just happened to be running at a pace just a little quicker than mine so my plan was to try and catch and try to overtake him (as long as he didn't turn off the route of course). I just about managed to pass him in the last 100m despite having to swerve a buggy or 2. The poor guy had no sprint finish in him at all. It's almost as if he didn't even know he was in a race :pac:
A look at the watch showed an unofficial 10k PB of 41:34 and first across the line :cool: tBB flew past me around the 4th lap but apart from that I didn't see any of the others at all. The plan of all 4 of us sprinting for the line didn't quite work out as we all came in with a bit of a gap between us.
All in all a great session to get in and certainly something I wouldn't have been able to do on my own. Fair play to tBB for coming up with this idea. I think we all benefited from it.
6.28 Miles in 41:34. Average Pace 6:37.
Managed to pass the 200 mile mark for September during the 10k too
Month|Miles
September|203.72
Total|1,444.800 -
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Taper going well. Nothing major to report. Ticking along nicely :cool:
Tuesday 16th October
7 miles recovery with 8 x 100m strides. Always find it hard to adjust to the strides near the end of a recovery run as I get too comfortable running at the slow pace.
Wednesday 17th October
Vo2 max session with the Meath Running Group was 5 x 3 mins with 90 seconds recovery. Managed to run these pretty consistently covering 2 laps of the track on each interval.
Garmin splits were:
Mins|Distance|Avg Pace
3|0.53|5:41
3|0.53|5:44
3|0.51|5:58
3|0.51|5:58
3|0.51|5:55
Thursday 18th October
5 mile recovery with 6 x 100m strides. Grass track in Trinity now out of action for runners for the winter so will have to find a new spot for my recovery runs.
Friday 19th October
Went to the physio on Friday evening just to get the legs checked over and apparently my legs are in pretty good nick so all systems go for DCM
Sunday 21st October
Last long(ish) run of the plan. Easy run around the Phoenix Park taking in part of the marathon course. Nice descent down to the Chapelizod Gate to look forward to on the day.
10.92 Miles in 1:36:01. Average Pace 8:48.
Tuesday 23th October
Today's plan was 7 miles at lunchtime with 2 @ PMP. I was probably supposed to do the MP part at the end but that might have involved stopping at traffic lights etc so ran down to Ringsend Park for the MP miles where I knew I'd get a good crack at them. Plan was to try and keep the MP miles between 7:40 and 7:45 and my splits were 7:42 and 7:33 so happy enough with that.
Weather conditions were perfect for this run. A little bit of drizzle and little or no wind. Will take that on Monday.
7.19 Miles with 2 Miles @ PMP in 1:00:51. Average Pace 8:28 (MP 7:38).
Month|Miles
October|130.73
Total|1,592.660 -
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Dublin Marathon
The final piece of the jigsaw...
Despite having initially been happy to finish my first marathon in Dublin 12 months ago in a time of 4:10 the more I thought about it afterwards the more frustrated and annoyed I got at how unprepared I was and how easily I gave in when the going got tough and adopted a run walk strategy for the last 9 miles. This frustration was the motivation behind starting this log and attempting to structure my training and improve my race times before ultimately leading me back to Dublin for another crack at the marathon.
I gradually started increasing my mileage and started making progress at a much faster rate than I'd initially anticipated as I started recording huge PB's at all distances before committing to a specific training plan for a race for the first time - P&D's 18 week <55 mile plan. I managed to complete almost all of the sessions in the plan without encountering any major injury problems as well as recording some big improvements on my 10 mile and half marathon times.
I knew in the weeks leading up to the marathon I was in about 3:20 - 3:25 shape so rather than try and aim for a specific time and worry about wearing pace bands etc I decided to try and run by feel as much as possible and only look at the pace on the Garmin from time to time to make sure I didn't go paranoid wondering whether I was going too fast or too slow. In the run up to the race I tried to mentally prepare myself for the hurt I was sure to be feeling from around the 17 mile mark as that was the point where the wheels really came off last year. Such was my taper madness I even studied the unfamiliar roads around Milltown and Clonskeagh on Google Street View in order to know exactly what was coming around every corner.
Arrived in wave 1 pretty early which gave me plenty of time to relax and not have to worry about getting into position between the 3:15 and 3:30. Met younganne on her way down to the next wave so we wished each other good luck as the crowds around me started to increase. Before long I was crossing the start line and the race was underway.
Miles 1 - 6
My plan was to try and keep my pace conservative from through the first 6 miles to the Phoenix Park which was helped by the congestion in the early miles. I was conscious of conserving energy for the second half of the race so I tried to relax as much as possible and not to worry about those passing me. In what felt like no time at all I was running over the 10k mat and a look at the watch showed 48:46 so things were pretty much going to plan.
Miles 6 - 11
I knew there was a nice descent down to the Chapelizod gate here so I slightly increased my effort in order to make up some time while letting the hill do some of the work and this saw my pace increase from by 15-20 seconds per mile to just under 7:30 pace. The momentum gained here was carried along to the 11 mile mark around Dolphin's Barn.
Miles 11 - 13.5
I had read Tunguska's course breakdown a couple of days beforehand and remembered that he had said that this was a tough part of the course if there was any sort of wind and sure enough we were running straight into that wind so for the first time ever I decided to tuck in behind a group of runners and do some drafting :eek: The group broke up when we approached a water station on the Crumlin Road where I took on my second gel. Passed through halfway feeling really good in 1:41:26.
Miles 13.5 - 20
Tunguska's course breakdown had told me that the next few miles were a good opportunity to make up some time and as I was feeling really fresh I subconsciously started to get faster as the race progressed. Flew through Terenure like I was out for a stroll. I wasn't watching the mile markers at all at this stage so such was the shock I got when I realised I was passing the dreaded 17 mile marker that I almost forgot to take the gel I had planned to take there! I couldn't believe how good I was feeling and maybe got a little too carried away here as miles 16-19 were my 3 fastest of the race. I moved up 540 places between halfway and 20 miles and passed over the mat in 2:33:22.
Miles 20 - 26.2
Roebuck hill saw the first signs of tiredness hit as it was the first time I felt I was struggling all day. It didn't feel like it at the time but from this point to the Merrion Road my pace gradually started to dip. I was nearly at the RDS when I looked at the pace on the watch and realised it was time to HTFU and put in one last big effort to get to the finish. The stretch from Shelbourne Road to Westland Row seemed to go on forever but I knew when I did turn that corner that I was almost home. Once I turned onto Pearse Street I really put the foot down and was determined to put in a strong finish. I must have been in my own little world on the finishing straight as it felt like there was nobody else near me at the time and everybody was cheering me on. The photos suggest otherwise
Anyways I crossed the finish line, stopped my watch, stumbled over to the nearest railing for something to lean against while I caught my breath and quietly celebrated my new PB of 3:21:13
Dublin Marathon in 3:21:13. Average Pace 7:41.
So there ya go. I've managed to greatly exceed all my expectations from when I started this log almost a year ago. Thanks to everyone who read, contributed and offered advice and encouragement along the way. It was very much appreciated.
Distance | 1 Mile | 3k | 5k | 4 Miles | 6k | 5 Miles | 10k | 10 Miles | Half Marathon | Marathon |
Pre Log PB | 6:41 | 12:57 | 22:52 | 28:44 | 28:53 | 37:32 | 48:31 | 1:21:35 | 1:46:03 | 4:10:01 |
Current PB | 6:10 | 11:58 | 19:47 | 26:13 | 24:20 | 33:23 | 41:45 | 1:08:54 | 1:34:16 | 3:21:13 |
Month|Miles
January|152.95
February|125.45
March|168.66
April|161.43
May|124.79
June|142.35
July|176.25
August|189.19
September|220.86
October|168.20
Total|1,630.130 -
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