Things will come to those who wait...

pconn062

Timmaay wrote: »

I'd say I've only ever done more than 54 miles in a week 3 or 4 times ever, max was 69 while warm weather training! I love middle distance running for that reason

Ha, I know man, the middle distance stuff definitely has it's advantages! Unfortunately low mileage and lots of sessions on the track won't cut it for the cross country!! Looking forward to next summer already though!

jfh wrote: »

Hi Pconn, some great consistency here, whats the plan.

Thanks jfh, the plan for now is the cross country season. I'm trying to build up the miles a bit to get ready for that. We have three county championships races in October and November so will be trying to put together some good teams. After that I might run a few road races before taking a break over in December. How's your own training going at the moment?

jfh

pconn062 wrote: »

Ha, I know man, the middle distance stuff definitely has it's advantages! Unfortunately low mileage and lots of sessions on the track won't cut it for the cross country!! Looking forward to next summer already though!



Thanks jfh, the plan for now is the cross country season. I'm trying to build up the miles a bit to get ready for that. We have three county championships races in October and November so will be trying to put together some good teams. After that I might run a few road races before taking a break over in December. How's your own training going at the moment?

my training is going good, i think! in the depths of marathon schedule at the moment & actually loving it, i've noticed it's quiet similiar to some sessions your doing thats why i asked, small bit worried TBH time will tell.
the hills really do pay off, never felt stronger.

pconn062

jfh wrote: »

my training is going good, i think! in the depths of marathon schedule at the moment & actually loving it, i've noticed it's quiet similiar to some sessions your doing thats why i asked, small bit worried TBH time will tell.
the hills really do pay off, never felt stronger.

Totally agree, have been including hills in all my easy runs now and I can really feel the difference in races. Good luck with the marathon training, pretty brutal stuff, will keep and good eye on your log.

jfh

my training is a little different to a traditional, no real long runs, up to 14 miles so far on hilly trail, TBH it's an experiment, my mileage is low too, have yet to hit 60. some of the marathon purists would not agree but i know it'll be a PB anyway as my previous exploits were a few years ago. i've yet to have a bad training session so maybe not pushing myself as hard as i should.
you were following the JD 10k plan earlier in the year weren't you, i started that too & found it much tougher !

pconn062

jfh wrote: »

my training is a little different to a traditional, no real long runs, up to 14 miles so far on hilly trail, TBH it's an experiment, my mileage is low too, have yet to hit 60. some of the marathon purists would not agree but i know it'll be a PB anyway as my previous exploits were a few years ago. i've yet to have a bad training session so maybe not pushing myself as hard as i should.
you were following the JD 10k plan earlier in the year weren't you, i started that too & found it much tougher !

Yup I did it earlier in the year, well most of it. I found it too much for me to be honest, too intense and it left me a bit burnt out. I didn't have the mileage or aerobic capacity for it to be to effective either.

pconn062

Thursday: 7 miles @ 8.10 pace

Very easy run on the grass to try and help the legs recover from the previous night.

Friday


AM: 3 miles very easy
PM 6.5 miles w/5,000m time trial

A bit of a balls up this evening, I had organised this time trial for a bit of fun and because none of us had ever run 5k on the track. We had a good group looking for around 18 minutes and we were going to take turns running on the front. It wasn't a very good evening for it, very windy down the back straight and I think we all felt tired after a long week. I had my Garmin with me which usually is very accurate on the track (more on that later).

We started off and got into 5.45 pace straight away according to my Garmin, we were looking for 86 second laps but it's very hard to keep count when you're trying to race. The first few laps were grand with each of us running one lap and the pace dropped to 5.41 by the first mile (again, according to my Garmin). Over the next mile the group broke up a bit and three of us went off, pace now dropped to 5.38. I thought, Jesus I'm having the run of my life!!! Into the last mile and I moved into second place, still feeling great and hammering it around the track, the average pace now showing 5.35.

I lost track of the laps but checked the watch on what I thought was my last lap, I had 2.85 miles on the Garmin so one lap would bring it up to 3.10, perfect, and a new PB. I couldn't believe it, it felt so easy and was only running at about 80% effort. Then the guy counting laps said I had two left, not one. WTF???? I was sure I only had one, this couldn't be right because it would take me over 18 minutes but my watch said I was averaging 5.34 pace now, good for a 17:20 finish. I couldn't believe it, the Garmin had obviously fucked up, telling me I was running much quicker than I was. I was really pissed and just ran the last two laps to finish in 18:1X I think.

The Garmin at the end told me I ran 3.34 miles at the end, I don't know what was up with the damn thing. I was gutted at the end, I thought I was running the race of my life. No wonder 5.35 pace felt so easy, it was actually 5.50 pace! And the most frustrating part is that I never felt under real pressure, I had so much more in the tank and if the watch was given me the correct info I could have broken 18 with ease. Stupid technology!! Even checked my splits when I got home: 5.41, 5.35, 5.27 and 5.40 for the last bit?? Normally my Garmin is great on a track, I use it for my tempo runs every week and it is usually very accurate, anyway lesson learned, never rely on technology.

Back to training.

belcarra

Hey P, when I ran the midnight marathon in leixlip it registered 2km long! Also, a good bit out on the 24hr race on the track in Belfast so I think the GPS really can't be trusted on the track.
Instead, just go by lap time as it's a safer bet.

pconn062

belcarra wrote: »

Hey P, when I ran the midnight marathon in leixlip it registered 2km long! Also, a good bit out on the 24hr race on the track in Belfast so I think the GPS really can't be trusted on the track.
Instead, just go by lap time as it's a safer bet.

Thanks J, I just couldn't believe how badly it let me down, usually it is very good on the track, out by 400m over a 5k race seems like a lot! Next time I will go by lap splits although I don't know how good I will be at counting 86 second laps in my head!

belcarra

pconn062 wrote: »

Thanks J, I just couldn't believe how badly it let me down, usually it is very good on the track, out by 400m over a 5k race seems like a lot! Next time I will go by lap splits although I don't know how good I will be at counting 86 second laps in my head!

You can do the auto lap 'by position' which means it will automatically split each time you pass the start position so it will count your laps.
So, as long as you now what your lap split is you should be good to go!

ThePiedPiper

$hit PConn, that's a balls. The same thing happened me in the 3,000 at the Louths, for a 3,000 metre race, I measured 1.99 miles on the garmin, which would be 3,184 metres!
That's a real pity for you, because, as you said, you felt like you'd plenty more in the tank. On the plus side, it felt easy, so sub-18 should be a doddle next time.

ecoli

pconn062 wrote: »

Thanks J, I just couldn't believe how badly it let me down, usually it is very good on the track, out by 400m over a 5k race seems like a lot! Next time I will go by lap splits although I don't know how good I will be at counting 86 second laps in my head!

Surprised by this I thought Garmins never read accurate one track simply because it is a straight line measurement and the oval is too small.

I know personally my watch always reads .26 per lap so I always ignore this and pace on the watch and just use it as a stop watch when on track.

Its not a bad idea to get used to working out pace splits in the head for track races (even just up to 1600 and split each mile roughly)

Still that sort of effort is a good work out and will stand to you. Keep it up man

pconn062

ecoli wrote: »

Surprised by this I thought Garmins never read accurate one track simply because it is a straight line measurement and the oval is too small.

I know personally my watch always reads .26 per lap so I always ignore this and pace on the watch and just use it as a stop watch when on track.

Its not a bad idea to get used to working out pace splits in the head for track races (even just up to 1600 and split each mile roughly)

Still that sort of effort is a good work out and will stand to you. Keep it up man

Thanks man, usually the distance can be out a little but the pace reading is usually correct (as in all our watches have the same pace reading). I just couldn't believe how much it was out by, got my hopes up for a massive PB! Lesson learned now anyway, we are going to run another one next month so I'm going to do up a pace band for that will all the different splits and just use a stopwatch. Good to see you back training, you'll be back flying again in no time.

pconn062

Saturday

AM: 4 miles @ 8.30 pace
PM: 5 miles @ 7.45 pace

4 very easy, recovery miles in the morning on the treadmill. Headed up to thirstyworks's new venture in Ashtown for new runners. Great service and I picked up a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline 13's, a mild stability shoe for a slight overpronator like myself. Did 5 miles easy in the evening to test them out and they felt pretty good. A bit firmer that the Pegasus I am familiar with but nice all the same.

Sunday: 13 miles @ 8.00 pace

Tired, tired run this morning. Did this on the grass and running the loops became a bit wearisome. Felt good at the start but could not get the legs moving and doing our last few miles in the hill field was a bad idea, the legs were like lead weights.

Another week over, with 54.5 miles in total. The body is a bit tender in places but seem to be holding up OK so far. The next few weeks are the last two base building weeks and I hope to hit 60 each week. Then I will drop the mileage a bit and start with a few sessions to leave us in decent shape for the start of October. The muck awaits us in a few weeks.

BeepBeep67

I do enjoy a bit of XC, leave the watch at home and get on with a bit of racing.

pconn062

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

I do enjoy a bit of XC, leave the watch at home and get on with a bit of racing.

Absolutely, I was absolutely fried at the end of the cross season last year, can't believe it's that time of the year again! Some solid miles you're getting in now, I'd say you are itching to get racing!

BeepBeep67

pconn062 wrote: »

Absolutely, I was absolutely fried at the end of the cross season last year, can't believe it's that time of the year again! Some solid miles you're getting in now, I'd say you are itching to get racing!

I'll be using them as sessions - but yes looking forward to it all kicking off!

pconn062

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 8 miles @ 7.36 pace

Hectic day at work, didn't get home until 6.30 and had a committee meeting @ 8.15 so had to squeeze this in. Usually do my Tuesday run on the grass but had to settle for the road for most of this, did manage to squeeze in about 2.5 miles doing laps of the football pitch.

Wednesday

AM: 3 miles @ 8.20 pace
PM: 7 miles with 4 mile time trial in 23:55

Had to get a few miles in early this morning to try and get near this weeks mileage target, just did these on the treadmill before work.
Then this evening I went in and did my coaches 4 mile time trial, which is run over the Dunleer 4 mile route. There was a massive group of about 100 doing it but to be honest, not very many good runners (and I include myself in the not good runner section!). Four of us went off at the start but the pace was fairly handy so me and my brother pushed on, as this is possibly he easiest part o the course). He ran with me until the 1 mile mark but dropped back a bit. From then on I ran on my own, just following the lead car (yes, a lead car, it's a very fancy time trial!). Ran comfortably hard, I was aware of the group behind me but just wanted to maintain the gap without killing myself. A quick glance behind me after the 3 mile mark and I could see the next guy about 20 seconds behind. Just kept it steady over the last mile and rolled down the final hill. Very happy with how I felt, I kept the effort steady and the mile splits reflect the undulating nature of the course, 6.00, 5.55, 6.12, 5.54.

I could have run faster if I had have had some company to push me on but it was a good run out and I enjoyed it. It's nice to be the only runner with a lead car even if it's not a real race! The rest of the week is all about steady mileage and trying to keep the body in check.

pa4

Your in good shape judging by your 5000m and 4 mile timetrial, are you training for any races in particular at the moment?

pconn062

pa4 wrote: »

Your in good shape judging by your 5000m and 4 mile timetrial, are you training for any races in particular at the moment?

Hi pa4, yeah I suppose I'm training now for the cross country season, we have 3 county races (novice, intermediate and senior) within the space of a month starting on the first week of November so all the training at the moment is geared towards that. Might give one more road race a bash this month as well. From reading your log you seem to be getting ready for the x-country too?

ThePiedPiper

First week of October you mean, is it? Was BS and D not closer to your pace?

pa4

pconn062 wrote: »

Hi pa4, yeah I suppose I'm training now for the cross country season, we have 3 county races (novice, intermediate and senior) within the space of a month starting on the first week of November so all the training at the moment is geared towards that. Might give one more road race a bash this month as well. From reading your log you seem to be getting ready for the x-country too?

Ya training for cross country at the moment. I've my county novice on the 6th of October and the intermediate the 20th so those two are the main aims for the moment. Munster novice is on the 27th afaik so October will be a busy month of races, kinda quietens down after that. For some reason our senior champs aren't until the end of December so that rules that out because I'll be in the middle of college exams unfortunately.

Will you give the regionals and nationals a go?

pconn062

RunForestRun wrote: »

First week of October you mean, is it? Was BS and D not closer to your pace?

Yup, October sorry! No BS wasn't there and I presume you mean DC? He wasn't running. A few lads in a group behind me but I was all out on my own!

pa4 wrote: »

Ya training for cross country at the moment. I've my county novice on the 6th of October and the intermediate the 20th so those two are the main aims for the moment. Munster novice is on the 27th afaik so October will be a busy month of races, kinda quietens down after that. For some reason our senior champs aren't until the end of December so that rules that out because I'll be in the middle of college exams unfortunately.

Will you give the regionals and nationals a go?

Good stuff, plenty of races coming up to keep you busy! Yeah I think I will run the Leinster novice this year, didn't do it last year but feeling a bit stronger this year and it's close enough to me. Will prob leave the nationals though, I think I'd be a bit out of my league this year!

pa4

pconn062 wrote: »

Good stuff, plenty of races coming up to keep you busy! Yeah I think I will run the Leinster novice this year, didn't do it last year but feeling a bit stronger this year and it's close enough to me. Will prob leave the nationals though, I think I'd be a bit out of my league this year!

Yep, spoilt for choice this year! I could run 7 races in total but that would be a bit much so its probably for the best that I'm leaving out the county seniors and I doubt I'll do the inter-counties. I did the national novice last year, ended up way down the field in around 84th but it was a good experience, not bad considering there was nearly 200 finishers! If you do happen to do it you certainly won't be last!

pconn062

Getting it hard to remember all these runs!

Thursday: 9 miles @ 7.43 pace

Had no enthusiasm for this run, a long day at work and didn't get out until half six. Would like to say my enthusiasm increased as I went on.....but it didn't. A slog on the grass!

Friday

AM: 6 miles @ 7.41 pace
PM: 4 miles @ 8.30 pace

First one was done on grass, felt really good. I called into the track on the way from work only to discover that I left my shorts at home. Nearly bitched out and called it a day but my running OCD took over and I hopped on the treadmill instead when I got home. Hopefully it's these little decisions that will make the difference.

Saturday: 15.2 miles @ 7.27 pace

Long run with the group this morning, did the first 8 or so miles with my coach and a friend of mine before turning off as they were doing 18-20 miles (I love not doing marathons!). I only planned on doing 14 but as usual my coach was economical with the truth when it came to the true length on the course! The run back in on my own was tough, was mostly uphill and directly into the wind for 7 miles. Was nice to have the company for the first few miles, I don't usually do my LSR's this quick so made a nice change. Just to show a difference of class, the guy I ran with at the start pushed on at 10 miles and ran the last ten miles "steady" in 58 minutes. That's not 10 mile MP or 10 mile tempo, just ten mile steady into the wind, mostly uphill in 58 minutes on his own. He's gonna run some marathon.

52 miles for the week so far so - or 7 miles very easy tomorrow will round off a good week hopefully.

ThePiedPiper

Good work PConn. Very decent long run, at a pace that I think is more suitable for you than 7:45-8:00 and weekly total.

pconn062

RunForestRun wrote: »

Good work PConn. Very decent long run, at a pace that I think is more suitable for you than 7:45-8:00 and weekly total.

Ha, you're probably right but I hate doing long runs (15 mile is very long for me!) and I can get a bit lazy with them! Might try and do my next few with the group as well.

ThePiedPiper

It'd be good for you unquestionably. Give you that stamina for the tail end of races that has bitten you a couple of times. Lydiard had his middle distance runners doing 20+ mile long runs back in the day. I think some of his 800m guys even did those type of long runs at certain points to build stamina. Doing it with the lads will make it easier.

pconn062

Sunday: 6 miles @ 7.49 pace

An easy run in the glorious evening sunshine to round off a good week. 58 miles in total, again my highest ever. The body in general feels pretty good, I didn't get as much running done on the grass this week as I would have liked so will try and rectify that next week. I have small twinge in my right shin, no pain, just a feeling like there is extra pressure on it. I have a physio session booked for the morning before work so hopefully a good rub will sort me out.

This week is going to be my last higher mileage week, I hope to hit to big six zero. After talking to the coach, the plan after that will be to drop the mileage down to about 50 but include a hard session on the track once a week, and then an easier short session or maybe only a few strides on another day on the grass. The hard session will probably be 1k-1 mile reps, my coach loves mile reps. Then the shorter session will be a few 200's or some hill sprints for leg turnover work. I have a good few race options coming up, Star of the Sea x-country on the 22nd, Rathfarnham 5k on the 29th and then out novice and intermediate x-country on the first two weekends of October.

One thing that isn't going so great is the diet and I'll mention here to remind me to keep it in check. The higher mileage is making me crave all the bad stuff and I keep caving in. While I'm not gaining weight I would like to drop 3-4 pounds by the start of October so am going to try and clean up the diet this week. Please feel free to drop a comment on the log anytime calling me a porker or a fat bastard for that extra bit of added motivation! :pac:

ThePiedPiper

You're a fat bo!!ocks. State of ya..

pconn062

RunForestRun wrote: »

You're a fat bo!!ocks. State of ya..

Should have known you'd have been the first to drop in!