The Road to Berlin

macinalli

LSR today and a pretty uneventful one at that. This is a step-back week so only 14miles today. No idea of the time, around about 2hrs. The good thing about this run was how easy the start of it was - I was about 9 miles in before I knew it and no real tiredness in the legs today. Must be doing something right:)

macinalli

Monday was a nice recovery run - 11.8k with a set of strides late on. Today then was my next LT session, the plan was 11 miles with 7 at around 7min/mile pace. For my previous effort, the session turned out to be 6 miles at 7.13 average pace. Today the splits were 7.05, 7.05, 7.00, 7.00, 7.04, 7.12 and 7.01 - an average pace of 7.04. A very tough session, delighted to have got through it and a nice pace improvement in a month. Warm-up and down brought the session to 17k.

Have also been struggling a little of late with my achilles. Due to a stiff ankle (football related:rolleyes:) I've very little flexibility and find it tough to stretch the achilles. Got a physio appointment today and feel better after it. Am now wearing some fetching pink tape on my calf and will be doing heel lifts/drops for the next while. We compromised on me taking a day off tomorrow - back to the grind on Thursday!

macinalli

Thursday was indeed back to the grind - 19.8k after work. After the day off on Wed this felt v easy - a relaxed run in 1.47.

Friday was to be some easy miles, but the guys at work were doing a time trial. We do this every now and again - a 1.5 mile run at a fast pace. Did a nice warm up before running the course in 8.33 - an average pace of 5.42/mile. Lovely conditions and we paced it well.

Today then was LSR - the plan was 20miles in the Park. Met up with Aimman and TheBoyWonder who had made an early start and had run a bunch of miles before I met them. The run ticked by nicely but by 13 miles into my run, the lads had their work done and I was on my own. Started to struggle at the end of the run, partly I think due to the heat but I'm sure yesterdays fast run also contributed. I knew that I shouldn't have done than run, but fcuk it, sometimes it's good to run fast:)

Looking back then on the week I had 5 days running for 87k, including a strong LT session, a mentally tough 20miler and some easy runs in between. A good week, now only 50 days to Berlin!

Aimman

Good to meet you yesterday. I ran into a bit of difficulty myself after I trailed back at my 16M point. not sure if it was the heat, the gel or suspect food from the night before.

macinalli

Cheers for the company, definitely makes the miles go by quicker. I think that it was deceptively warm out there yesterday - from looking at logs/race reports there were a lot of people struggling...

macinalli

Back to the hard work today - P&Ds VO2 max session #2. Consisted of a 7k warm-up followed by 5 x 600 reps off 2 mins recovery. These were supposed to be at 5k pace, which would be about 2.20 per 600m. Times came out at 2.13, 2.21, 2.13, 2.20 and 2.15. There was a slight uphill on the course which hurt on legs 2&4, but was in my favour for the other legs. Followed it up with a 1.2k warm down - about 12k in total. Didn't realise how hard I worked on that session til later that afternoon - was flagging big time at work. Not good, but a sure sign of a hard session.

Have also decided to do the 10k in Donadea at the weekend. From looking at the events forum the organisers don't seem to be the most popular, but will do it all the same. P&D are demanding a race and there doesn't seem to be any other options for next Saturday!

macinalli

A 19.5k easy run after work, I've forgotten the time but it was something like 1.42:rolleyes: A gorgeous evening for a run, felt great to be out in conditions like that. Was also my first time wearing my new shorts that I ordered off wiggle, and they feel indecently short! I know that runners have strange standards for these things - I guess that I'll get used to them...

P&D say that tomorrow should be a rest day, and with the weathermen predicting the apocalypse to arrive tomorrow morning, I'm inclined to agree!

macinalli

Thurs & Fri were both easy running days. 6k on Thurs, 5k with some strides on Fri - nothing really to report. They were in preparation for what should be a fairly hard weekend - P&D demand a race today, followed by a 17miler tomorrow - should be interesting.

So with that in mind I headed off to Donadea to do a 10k this morning. Initially I thought it was run by Donadea AC, but found out later it was a private run event and was being run alongside a duathlon. I normally wouldn't have run this (I prefer the BHAA/club races) but I needed a 10k so off I went. Got there in good time this morning, armed with the 4 euro that the organizers said we'd need for the Coillte car park. Turned up the prices went up last week and I was left 1 euro short for the machine:o Had to sheepishly go to to the car behind and they kindly bailed me out. Registration was fine, did a 1.5 mile warm-up with some strides and the race started shortly after. I was looking at the field before hand and there were 3 obvious stand-out runners; other than that it didn't look too intimidating! As expected the 3 guys at the front disappeared straight away and I settled into my running in about 15th place. My target was (still!) sub 40 and I aimed for 4min/k to see how it went. I've done limited speedwork lately but am feeling strong with the marathon training. First k was 4.00, lost 10 seconds on a hilly 2nd k but gradually pegged that back and went through 5k in 20.04. Was happy with that as I thought it left me the chance of breaking 40 and getting that monkey off my back. The problem though was that at this stage I'd passed about 8-10 runners and was pretty much running on my own. I'd occasionally see a guy ahead of me (about 100m) but otherwise nothing. Not such a big deal, but when I checked the pace at the 6k mark, the clock was now 24.55 - I'd lost concentration and let the pace drop big time. Was pretty annoyed at this point - I knew the sub 40 was gone and that it'd be a struggle to get the pace back up again. Managed to do so, but was joined by 2 guys at the 8k mark. Made a big effort on the last k, dropped one of the guys but was outkicked by the other in the last 400. Turned out that he was the guy that gave me the euro at the parking gate so I can't complain - karma works both ways! Crossed the line in 41.01, happy with my effort but annoyed about that 1km lapse in the middle.

All in all it was a good race, but also a good example of why club races are better. By my reckoning I finished in 7th place :eek: but am sure that I wouldn't have had my mid-race slow down if there was some other people to run against. Runners like me just shouldn't be coming in the top 10, and if there was a proper depth of field, I wouldn't have. Still, am kind of happy with that as it's my highest ever race finish. Plan now is to feel smug for the rest of the day, before P&D beat that out of me with 17 miles tomorrow.

TRR

macinalli wrote: »

So with that in mind I headed off to Donadea to do a 10k this morning. Initially I thought it was run by Donadea AC, but found out later it was a private run event and was being run alongside a duathlon. I normally wouldn't have run this (I prefer the BHAA/club races) but I needed a 10k so off I went. Got there in good time this morning, armed with the 4 euro that the organizers said we'd need for the Coillte car park. Turned up the prices went up last week and I was left 1 euro short for the machine:o

Same as myself but in fairness to them it was well run. Regards the car park I flew down t the entrance that the cyclists were going to use and drove down there much to the annoyance of 2 marshals. Free parking for TRR, oh yeah

macinalli

This was my first time doing 2 hard sessions back to back and I was a bit unsure about how I would do. After yesterdays race the plan was a 17mile LSR but the bloody Garmin took 15mins to find a satellite so the distance was going to be a guess - turns out I ran 16.75 mies in 2.24. The run itself was a bit mixed. First 4 miles felt easy, abut after that I started to struggle. My average pace was at 8.30/mile but that was gradually dropping away and at the half way mark had hit 8.38. Legs were just stiff - I think that I was paying the price for doing a half-assed warm down after yesterdays race. At this stage I turned around and followed my route back home, except this time i felt a lot better. Was speeding up at the end, my average pace for the 2nd half of the run was 8.27/mile.

I also weighed myself before and after the run - the scales say that I'm 2.6kg lighter after the run:eek: Was pretty shocked to read that - plan for the rest of the day is rehydration.

Looking back on the week I had 6 days running for 82k, including a VO2max session, a 10k race and an LSR. From looking at my running schedule I see that I've hit every session for the last 5 weeks and am averaging over 50 miles/week. Am delighted with that as it justifies a lazy week ahead! Am off for the coming week and I know that with travel etc I'm going to get a max of 3-4 days running done. Seeing as I've some good work done, my conscience is pretty clear:)

beeduybe

Good running. Those P&D weekends with races followed by a long run look horrific

macinalli

beeduybe wrote: »

Good running. Those P&D weekends with races followed by a long run look horrific

It wasn't too bad actually! It's not easy, but I felt no more tired than after a 20mile run for example. I'm starting to think that the training is working;)

macinalli

After 3 days off it was back to normality today. Due to travel at the weekend I decided to bring the LSR forward - plan for this week was 18 miles with 14 at PMP (7.30/mile). Did a 3 mile warm-up before launching into these, and as expected I struggled with the pace. Too much wine/beer/good food when I was away meant that this was always going to be tough. Despite that I was happy with the run overall - for the first 7 miles out my average pace was 7.35; for the 2nd seven miles the pace was 7.36. A 1.2 mile jog home brought me to 18.2 miles for the day and happy to say that I barely noticed the distance. Plan is easy running for Fri/Sat before rejoining the plan next week.

macinalli

Lesson learned - if you've been off for a few days, don't come back with a hard session. Thursdays run (18 miles with 14@MP) was one of the tougher ones on the programme and I paid for it afterwards. Tight achilles and multiple other niggles, did a very easy 5k on Friday to try and ease them out. Still sore today - an easy 10k which seems to have done the trick. Next week is back on the P&D plan, which will mean a more balanced approach to each weeks work.

macinalli

The achilles was still sore coming into this week, so some modifications were needed. Monday was supposed to be a VO2 max session, but instead decided to go for Tuesdays medium run. Was supposed to be 18k easy and off I went in lovely weather. Half an hour later it was all change and I was running in torrential downpours without any wet gear. Rain didn't last too long, but I was soaked, freezing, and decided to cut the run short. Not worth catching a cold, ended up as a 14k run.

Achilles still not right on Tuesday - an easy 10k at lunch followed by lots of calf stretching. This actually worked wonders on the achilles and felt great afterwards.

The gang at work do fartlek on Wednesdays but I've been missing it all summer due to the demands of P&D. Seeing as I missed the VO2 max earlier this week I decided to join in and it was great! Conditions were perfect, we had a good group and there was a nice bite to some of the legs. At least I thought there was! For one of the legs at the end we averaged 5.40 mile pace which felt fast; found out then that this was marathon pace for one of our senior guys:eek: Unreal!

TRR

macinalli wrote: »

The gang at work do fartlek on Wednesdays but I've been missing it all summer due to the demands of P&D. Seeing as I missed the VO2 max earlier this week I decided to join in and it was great! Conditions were perfect, we had a good group and there was a nice bite to some of the legs. At least I thought there was! For one of the legs at the end we averaged 5.40 mile pace which felt fast; found out then that this was marathon pace for one of our senior guys:eek: Unreal!

Would that be Prof Barry use to train with the lads myself when I worked out there. Say hello to room 22 for me

macinalli

TRR wrote: »

Would that be Prof Barry use to train with the lads myself when I worked out there. Say hello to room 22 for me

It is indeed! They're following your progress with interest, although they were a bit unimpressed when I reported your 35 mins for Donadea 10k recently;)

TRR

macinalli wrote: »

It is indeed! They're following your progress with interest, although they were a bit unimpressed when I reported your 35 mins for Donadea 10k recently;)

ha ha they're a hard bunch to impress all right. All your times are compared to their PBs, surely they had some off days too :P

macinalli

TRR wrote: »

ha ha they're a hard bunch to impress all right. All your times are compared to their PBs, surely they had some off days too :P

I think that I do the same, the only thing is that my PBs are soooo much slower than theirs!

Today was a nice easy 7k at lunchtime, just to loosen the legs out after yesterdays fartlek. The extra stretching is starting to work - legs are feeling great:)

macinalli

Picked up a really annoying head cold. Loads of energy, but the nose is just running non-stop. Took Friday off in the hope of getting my LSR in with the Boards crew on Sat, but had to bail on that and stick to the lemsip. Was still feeling it this morning but not much when I sat down to watch Mayo almost blow it against the Dubs. Nerves were shot by the end, went for a nice relaxed 9k run around the park. Felt really fresh after the couple of days off, the sun was shining, head cold gone and Mayo back in an all Ireland final - what a day:)

macinalli

Schedule is a bit all over the place at the moment. Supposed to be doing a recovery run today, but no LSR at the weekend so no point really. The guys at work were doing a tempo run so decided to join that today. The tempo part was 4 miles in 29mins, happy enough after a slow start. Warm up/down brought the day to about 9.5k - nice to be running again!

macinalli

Tuesday was an easy 10.3k, nothing to report really.

Today I had planned on a longish run after work but I kept meeting people! Made for a pretty daft session as I started off too fast then stopped for a chat after about 2 miles. Would then race off again too fast before stopping again after 2 miles for my next chat. All in all it came to 9 miles too fast with recovery/chat at 2 mile intervals. Stupid. :rolleyes:

macinalli

An easy 9.5k today at lunch, the legs were tired after yesterdays silliness. Plan now is a day off tomorrow, before the BHAA 10k on Sat and my 2nd last LSR on Sunday. Nearly there!

macinalli

My 2nd and final race in prep for Berlin was another 10k, this time the BHAA event in Firhouse. It was a great day for a race - the sun was beating down and if anything it was too hot - a rare complaint! Got to the race in good time, registration as ever was super fast and did my usual warm up. It was my first time running the course so I wasn't really prepared for the hilly nature of it. The race started and the first 1.5k were all downhill, and I did the first 2k in 7.40 and was feeling great. The next 2k were all uphill and this really became a struggle - my pace for those 2k was 8.25. The 5th k was pretty flat but I really had to work to get the pace back up - I'm guessing that this just a side effect of the marathon training. Was feeling strong, but just couldn't find any pace. The 6th k was downhill again - my time for that 2k was 8.03 and I knew at that stage that I was in trouble as I didn't make use of the downhill. the next 2k were all uphill again and I was fading badly - 9.10 for that split:eek: It was a bit odd, because even though I was in trouble I was still passing people. Managed to pick it up at the end, did the last 2k in 8.26 for a 41.34 finish.

A tough day out, it definitely served it's purpose of tiring me out in advance of tomorrows 17mile LSR. Met Raycun afterwards - he made it look easy as he carved another chunk off his PB! And it goes without saying - well done to the BHAA on another well run race!

macinalli

Today was my last official LSR of the programme, 17miles on legs tired from yesterdays 10k race. Was v tired getting up this morning but the legs felt fine once I got going. Was aiming for 8.20 miles, but I seemed to be ahead of that all the way and feeling comfortable. At the half way point I was on 8.15/mile average pace and then turned around to retrace my steps. At the 11 mile mark I was feeling funny, took me a while to realise that I was starving! This wasn't good as I had no gels, no money for a drink - just a bottle of water. From here on it was all a struggle but I was pretty focussed and was picking up pace over the last 5 miles - average pace for the home leg was 8.10 per mile. I'm guessing that yesterdays race took more out of me than I thought and the energy reserves were down a bit before I even started. Happy with my run, but tired now.

Looking back at the week it was good to be back on track after last weeks cold; finished up on 53miles. I'm not supposed to have a LSR next weekend, but am thinking that I could do with one more. I missed last weeks LSR due to that cold, so maybe something like 18miles this weekend would stand to me. That would leave me with a 2 week taper to Berlin - any feedback on this would be appreciated!

claralara

I don't see any harm in it if you think it will be good for your confidence and you're happy with a two week taper. I think my original plan had an 18-20 miler this weekend but now that I'm pacing the Half, it's been amended to 13.1 miles (1:50) on Saturday and 10 miles (with some MP miles thrown in) on Sunday. Just make sure you're well rested and fueled going into it - you don't want it to completely wreck you. I have one more decent week and then into a magical 2 week taper where wonderful magical recovering things are going to happen to my legs and body...:rolleyes::pac:

Obviously my thoughts come with a disclaimer that I know nothing about devising marathon plans or optimising training sessions...:rolleyes:

menoscemo

claralara wrote: »

I don't see any harm in it if you think it will be good for your confidence and you're happy with a two week taper. I think my original plan had an 18-20 miler this weekend but now that I'm pacing the Half, it's been amended to 13.1 miles (1:50) on Saturday and 10 miles (with some MP miles thrown in) on Sunday. Just make sure you're well rested and fueled going into it - you don't want it to completely wreck you. I have one more decent week and then into a magical 2 week taper where wonderful magical recovering things are going to happen to my legs and body...:rolleyes::pac:

Obviously my thoughts come with a disclaimer that I know nothing about devising marathon plans or optimising training sessions...:rolleyes:

+1, 18 miles is no harm if you figure you need a last endurance boost. You don't have to cover as many miles midweek and so effectively still be on taper...

Unlike CL, my plan still says 16 miles for the weekend and I am pacing the half too. I guess I'll just have to jog down to Ryans after the race

macinalli

Ok, will go for an 18 miler at the weekend. That head cold the other week meant that I only did about 30 miles that week. Also, the cold never went below the neck so there was no energy loss - meant that I felt really fresh coming back from it and think that I could handle one more tough week before this magical recovery taper. And it's always interesting doing an LSR in the park on a race day!

macinalli

A very easy 5mile recovery run at lunchtime, legs were quite stiff after the weekend. Started off in a light misty shower which had turned into a full-blown deluge by the end. Day off tomorrow, hopefully the sun will be back for Wednesday!

tHE vAGGABOND

Im hoping to be able to get out or a run at the weekend, maybe let me know your plans and we could get out together, since we are both going for around the same ballpark time in Berlin and therefore should be sorta going the same pace..

There is a chance I wont be able to join you due to this back thing I have [seeing Physio late on Friday for weekend go/no go], but no harm in being prepared..