Only getting started

rom

Background: I was stick thin before I started college. Then drink and a sedentary lifestyle meant the weight just went on and on. It got me down. I was starting to find it hard to get clothes that fit. My weight maxed out at 98Kg and a BMI of 30.93 which classed me as obese. Family and friends would say things like mussel weighs more than fat and Brian o'Driscoll is classed as obese, I have broad shoulders etc (they were just being kind rather than stating the obvious). At the time I was doing Tae Kwon Do about 4 nights a week and training for my black belt. As the class consisted of teenagers to adults it meant it was very start/stop rather than working up a sweat and there were plenty of other people doing it that were carrying more weight than they should. One of the girl and one of the guys were training to run the Cork marathon. This seemed like an impossible thing to achieve. How could someone do that. One evening in training we did sprints up and down the hall and even being 15 1/2 stone I beat everyone including the super fit guy who was running the Cork marathon. I enjoyed my mini victory. Perhaps I am not that useless after all I thought. This guy had represented Ireland in Tae Kwon Do and was super dedicated. I then started doing Muay Thai for about a year. It didn't have much of an effect on my weight because I ate and drank to make up anything I burned off. Now that was a workout. No more hanging around. The trainer had run a 1:23 in the Bay run (hilly half marathon) and he wouldn't be classed as a runner. It showed me what pure dedication was. He trained about 6 hours a day 6 days a week. Run and gym morning and evening. He won a European title but still he was 6/7 years older than me. Everything he did was to maintain or improve at his sport. My grandmother RIP of 102 would not mince her words. She called me fat to my face every time I visited her. I decided that I wanted to do something about it. Enough was enough. I went out for my first run with my wife, about 2/3k at the time. I nearly died, as I went too fast. This was July 2010

Beginnings: I lost a stone in the first month. I was over the moon as the scales just was going up and up before that. I ran on a treadmill or at night because I was embarrassed at being seen because I was so slow. I would concentrate on going as far as I could and I used to run about 3 times a week. My legs were in bits and constant pain. I just ran every 2nd day and I didn't enjoy it but the little victories on the scales would encourage me to stick with it. Like most people in my position I would pig out and lose 1-2 weeks of weight loss from drinking stout or eating way too much take away. It was a cycle that repeated itself. Or after holidays I would come home and fear going on the scales for good reason. So for the rest of 2010 I ran speratially still eating/drinking too much and not seeing much improvement on the weight but I thought I am still getting fitter and as result I feel better about it all so I kept with it.

New year's resolution: So bored over xmass i decided that I would start a spreadsheet to track what I do just date,miles, distance and it would automatically work out the pace. This was a pivotal moment for me. As I was able to see what I did the week before it gave me great encouragement to see that I was running further, in less time than I did previously. I didn't have a garmin watch or anything like that. I just had a stop watch and used http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/ to see how far I went. I did this for Jan and Feb and felt great.

Start of Racing: Over at my in-laws for dinner my sister-in-law asked me if I wanted to do a 5K on the Sunday. I was very hesitant as I didn't want to make a fool of myself. At the time she was a 20 min 5K runner. So she and her sister convinced me to go. I was very nervous. Everyone was doing warmup's and looking very serious, eating banana's, stretching etc. It was all foreign to me. My plan was to keep with her other sister who was a recreational runner too. She had the experience of doing a few races before and knew what to expect. So the starter goes and I ran as hard as I can for the first mile and try to keep the pace going. I feel faint with 1/2 mile to go but I hold on and get over the line. 23 mins 10 secs . I was hooked. The following week I did a 4 mile race with a work colleague who used to be a sub 80 min half runner when he was younger. Again I was happy with my time of 29min 25secs. Through google I found the corkrunningblog that shows previews of upcoming races. The following week I did the Mallow 10. This was a big step up in distance but I thought I have done it in training so why not. It was hard especially the 2nd half as of course I went out too fast. Was still very pleased with my time 81mins 48secs.

My first half: So I signed up to do the Bay run with someone from the Muay Thai club. It was here where I bit off more that I could chew. I went out hard for the first 3 miles and then they was a crazy hill. I was broken. I stopped and pretended to stretch many times but I was just spent. I hobbled over the line just a minute inside 2 hours. I vowed never to that race again. A month latter I did Cork 1/2 and said to myself not to make the same mistake again (as in going out too fast). I started easy and finished with the crowds on Patrick St. cheering on the marathon finishers. My time was 1hr 52. I was happy with the improvement and I dreamed of being about to run something like a 1hr 4X mins half. It was at this stage I decided that I would do DCM 2011.

DCM 2011: I followed http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51139/Marathon-Intermediate-1-Training-Program almost to the letter, missing a long run or two because of injury. But typically I didn't read all the text above it explaining what pace I should run at for different runs. I ran everything at the same pace. Probably about 8:30-9 per mile. During the middle of the program I did a 5k but I was shocked that I did the exact same time as my first 5K. There was not much difference in race profile. What was happening. That was 6 months ago and a lot of training since. Due to running everything at the same pace I was dogged with injuries and at the physio every 2nd week. This puts my account of the race in perspective http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=81404559&postcount=625

Post DCM: Dejected I didn't know what to do. What was I doing wrong. I thought I was doing everything right. I was dedicated but why is this happening ? It was at this stage that I got help and guidance by accomplished runner that understood what is was and that I could improve with the correct training. I probably felt lower for failing to reach my goal in DCM than before starting to lose weight because I had made so much effort and come up short.

Training smart: So instead of training aimlessly he helped me structure my training so at first I built a base on aerobic fitness and after a while worked in sessions with 2 session during the week and a long run at the weekend and easy running around that. It worked very well I felt. The variety made that I would look forward to some runs and maybe not others but it wasn't the same thing everyday.

Change in mindset: It was at this time I listened two audiobook that changed the way I think about running. Up until this stage is was a chore. Something I didn't like doing but a necessary evil to lose weight and get healthy. These books were What i think about when i think about running and Born to run. The latter is to be taken with a pinch of salt but both encompassed why people run and the enjoyment that can be got from it. You don't need to be winning races to enjoy the sport and if you enjoy something you will probably get better at it as you do it more. It was at this stage that running became an integral part of my day, on par with something like eating or sleep. I needed to run. I was now an addict.

Improving: With hard work in 2012 and well structured training I surpassed goals that I had probably in Jan. My times have come down and I have PB'd in every race except one for the year. I have lost more weight and am now down to 75Kg, BMI 23.7 and I have finished DCM2012 in 3:18 which was the highlight of my year. Now I have a solid marathon time to build on but I am only getting started ...

Krusty_Clown

That's great progress rom. What are the targets for 2013?

jcsmum

That is incredible progress in such a short space of time!!!! Fantastic stuff!
(PS I want your marathon time )

dazza21ie

Fair play Rom. It's great to see that hard work does pay off especially for someone like myself not that long running.

Have been intrigued as to who your mystery coach is (based on your posts on other threads). Is s/he a fellow boardsie?

rom

@Krusty: A races are Berlin in Sept and Ballycotton in March. Times I don't honestly know at this stage. I am doing my first ever track session tonight you will be pleased to know . Never done any real speed work before as 2012 has been more focused on the long stuff.
@dazza21ie: a distance relation of the stig

pistol_75

Good luck with the log Rom. Great progress so far. It seems all the cool people are doing Berlin next year

rom

Tonight was my first track session. First there was 17 indian file. As it was my first night I went with the 7min/mile group. So did 2.57 miles in 17 mins which was 6:36 pace so the pacing was way out. Will go to the 6:30 min/mile group next week and see how that goes.

Then we did a 4,3,2,1 mins with 2 mins recovery.

17 mins @ 6:35 min/mile, HR 183 (felt too slow)
4 mins @ 6:02 min/mile , HR 181
3 mins @ 5:48 min/mile , HR 182
2 mins @ 5:42 min/mile , HR 175
1 min @ 4:54 min/mile , HR 178

Great group of about 100 doing this so that really help. Think this session weekly will really bring me on.

myflipflops

rom wrote: »

Tonight was my first track session. First there was 17 indian file.

What is this?

rom

myflipflops wrote: »

What is this?

An indian run is when a team jogs in a single file line around a playing field/track. It begins when the last person in line sprints to the front. When that person gets there, the next person at the end of the line sprints to the front of the line.

I find when running in a group you don't think about how fast you are running but when is it going to be your turn.

rom

One of the club trainers last night said that I should not be doing any speed work for six weeks after the marathon. This sounds excessive.

rom

Sat 6m @ 8:42 recovery, legs did feel a little battered from the track. Worried about moving to the new track next week as it will have more bounce.
Sun LSR 12.77 @ 8:16, avg HR 152, weight down to 74.9 Kg so happy to break 75.

RayCun

you got a shout out there on Marathon Talk...

rom

I like stats. The first one shows my pace improvement per distance from 2011 to 2012 PB's while the second one is clearly my monthly mileage to date.
Yes I do have a stats fetish

Younganne

Best of Luck Rom with the log and the plans for next year. You're improving all the time and you have made great progress. Keep it up!!

rom

So I went to the doctor on Friday to get a small size of a 1 cent coin cyst removed. Turns out as he says "it was the size of an eye". Got 5 stitches and and can't run for a week because of it. I know it's only a week but I can't cycle or swim either. I tried the elliptical cross trainer today and did 2x20mins which will keep my sanity until I get them out. Would have never got it done if I knew this was going to happen. I need my running fix.

rom

Had a track session tonight and had a 5k PB in the middle of it of 18:53. Might get a pair of spikes. Died a bit in the last min as went down to 7 min pace for the 5k. Felt ok. Was running with a guy who kept surging which didn't help so much more to improve on but it was fun.

Afterwards I did a 3-2-1min with 2 min recovery
3min @ 6:02 pace
2min @ 5:28 pace
1min @ 4:27 pace (really feel like I can improve on this)

ok for my 2nd track session ever.

rom

So I have decided to go Paleo. Reading a book on it at the moment. Don't know if to start if before or after xmas. A Tim Noakes interview really made me start thinking about it a few months ago. Really looking forward to his new book on nutrition. The central governor theory is also something that I have taken on board even though I was very sceptical to being with.

rom

From the chopping block thread.

Distance|Current PB|2013 Goal| Comment
5k|19:10|17:40| Soft PB as ran 18:50 last Friday in training. Can go faster.
10k||36:59| Never ran a 10K
10mile|1:08:16|1:02:XX
13.1m|1:32:24|1:24:59| Soft PB as dying sick when did this.
26.2m|3:18:20|2:59:59| Didn't take any risks in DCM

What am I going to do to achieve this ?
1. Drop Weight from 77 Kg to 68Kg with a low carb diet.
2. No alcohol, no junk food after xmas holiday.
3. 2 sessions a week with one long run.
4. Focus on recovery from each sessions so I am good for the next one with restwise so I don't overtrain.
5. Train 6 days and not 7 a week so I don't get run down.
6. Specificity - have a reason why I am doing every single run, be that sessions, long run, recovery etc to make best use of my time. No more junk miles.
7. Get more sleep and naps.
8. Get sick less often due to more sleep, healthier eating.
9. Run once a week at least on grass after Friday's session.

rom

I am all for joining clubs and this is my experience of it http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=79235855#post79235855 if anyone is interested.
My experience of DCM 2011 http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=81404559&postcount=625
My DCM 2012 race report http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=81512861&postcount=1367

rom

1.5M warmup and cooldown. should have done 2 of each.
16x1min @5:35min/mile pace (300 meters approx) with 1min recovery between each. Felt good.

RunningKing

Hey Rom, great log so far and savage improvements. Your goals for '13 show some real focused dedication.

I'm interested in the sessions you are doing, tied into the comment around 'specificity'.
Are these general sessions from the club or are the build around a specific plan that you are following?

The 16x1mins sound great as do the 4-3-2-1's earlier - both different sessions I'm sure.
Are both geared to drive different things??

rom

The 4-3-2-1 was a club workout and the 16x1min was something I did on my own. When I mean specificity I mean that every single run will have a a "why am I doing this ?"

For example this week I have scheduled in rest days now once a week something I never did all year to be honest.

Monday - Rest Reason: to be fresh for session on Tues.
Tues - Session warmup/cooldown with 16x1min with 1min recovery . Reason: speed work
Wed lunch - 4 Miles easy. Reason: losen out after speed work.
Wed evening - 5 miles with 2 hills that are 100m elevation over .4 of a mile. Reason: Hill work.
Thurs morn - 10 mins with foam roller to soften out a bit
Thurs lunch - 4 Miles easy. Reason : lossen out after hills.
No Thurs evening or Friday lunch to be fresh for session.
Friday evening - Session warmup/cooldown with 2x12mins at 6:30 which I feel will be maybe too easy but we will see. Reason: Speed work.
Sat afternoon : 4M recovery on grass. Reason freshen legs up from speed session. Take it nice and slow so am fresh for Sunday.
Sunday: LSR at easy pace up to maybe 15 miles this week. just to keep ticking over.

Approx 55 Mile week. Will probably do two more doubles on Friday and Tues come the new year to get the mileage up.

rom

Still sore from the hills so will remove them for now and just do an easy 6 mile run instead.

rom

4 Mile race today. I went too hard at the start with prob a 5:30 mile effort for the first mile on a hilly course (if it was flat). Race was run after mile 1. tbh I wanted to suffer in a race as I haven't felt that for a while as the the last race I felt any pain was a 5K in the summer. I think going off too fast will be a good thing and keep me a little fresher race wise. In the end I did a 24:43 for the 4 Miles. Disappointed that I didn't go sub 24 as I had hoped but it was a hilly course is parts and the start that caught everyone off guard (most people were having a chat) didn't help. Another lesson learned.

rom

Did Dungarvan 10 today. On Friday I nearly fainted in the gym. Wasn't doing anything hard just dehydrated / run down so I really need to work on that as calorie counting is making me wrecked. Went back to eating normally. So on the back of that I didn't feel great going into today with a touch of sickness. Think I won't focus too much on the weight loss going forward as it will just happen if I don't drink but slower.

Due to the storm the last few nights I wondered about the race on how it would be effected but it was all good. I did a 3M warmup and felt good at the start. I started off slow (lots of slower runners where in the wrong place) but things were ok after the first mile. Its nice to start slow anyways. I got up to the pace I wanted 6:30/mile which I planned on keeping for the first half (which was a good idea looking back). The wind was a killer. Very similar to mallow last year. It was coming at an angle so very hard to shelter behind people. Damn lace opened like 5 miles in so lost 30/40 secs there. Overall I didn't feel it. I think I could have been 2 mins quicker today if I was fresher without the head cold etc.

Anyways enough of the complaining. I did 64:45~ (according to clock at the end) so happy to go under 65 on an off day. Happy I did but there is lots of room for improvement for Ballycotton. Doing a 5:50 final mile was a nice way to finish, just need to be fresher so I can do that from 3 miles out next time.

blockic

rom wrote: »

Anyways enough of the complaining. I did 64:45~ (according to clock at the end) so happy to go under 65 on an off day. Happy I did but there is lots of room for improvement for Ballycotton. Doing a 5:50 final mile was a nice way to finish, just need to be fresher so I can do that from 3 miles out next time.

Good run rom considering the lead up to it. We must have crossed paths at some point. Another month of training now and you should hit 61-62mins in Ballycotton handy.

career_move

Well done yesterday Rom. Nice to meet you

rom

211 miles for Jan with a race week taper and being sick ain't too bad. Easy week post race this week. Looking forward to getting back to hard sessions next week.

rom

First session back tonight after being sick. Consisted of 7 Miles at 6:50 pace at 161 avg HR for the 7 miles with a w/u and c/d.

rom

Woke up Saturday morning with the goal of doing a 2x3m at RP in a 90min for Ballycotton but had a fever and felt faint. 2 Days in bed

Back is also killing me since Thurs. Could only get an appointment on Tues so hope it gets sorted then.

Gavlor

rom wrote: »

Woke up Saturday morning with the goal of doing a 2x3m at RP in a 90min for Ballycotton but had a fever and felt faint. 2 Days in bed

Back is also killing me since Thurs. Could only get an appointment on Tues so hope it gets sorted then.

Sh!t. Hopefully it clears up

rom

So today was Ballycotton. Spotted my unoffical pacer (TFBubendorfer) at the start and said hello :P He even wore a nice bright orange top which was thoughtful. Was a little chilly and should have taken a black bag with me to keep warm before the start. Arms were quite cold and a 2nd throw away t-shirt was not enough. My goal was 62 mins but was being a bit adventurous so if I kept him in sight I would be doing well. Felt very good up to 5 miles with my official split being 30:23. As the last few weeks I have been sick I did miss one or two key sessions such as a 3x3M @ 10M so in the latter stages into the wind I found it tough but did my best to shelter where I could. I felt really fresh at the end of Dungarvan so I didn't want that happen again. It didn't. I knew that I might lose a bit of time in the hill at the end so I knew with my crude race maths that 62mins is what I was looking at, maybe sneak under. So I maintained pace best I could to finish in 1:02:25. Feel like I have much I can build on after I get some more consistent training. So overall pleased and on track to the improvements I want to be making.

In retrospect I like the pattern:
10M Mallow 2011 82mins
10M Ballycotton 2012 72mins
10M Ballycotton 2013 62mins
10M 2014 ?

rom

So speed training for the shorter stuff that has to happen now. My mile PB is like 5:45 set last summer and my 10M pace was like 6:14 so I am good aerobically which is great with the marathon goal but a bit more focus on leg turnover will benefit me a lot. Going from macmillian popping in my 10M time it say I should be able for a 5:10 mile. No idea here but it will be a nice change to blast off some of fast short stuff. Will continue the pattern of train for a month to six weeks between races so a good training block can be done as I feel I can't race and train at the same time that some people seem to do week in week out.

rom

Weight at 74.2 Kg. Not ideal. Would love to get it down to sub 70 so will be working on doing this over next month or two.

rom

Weight down to 72.9 Kg today so happy about going the right direction. March was a very poor month after Ballycotton losing a full week due to sickness.Mileage of 129 was lowest since Nov 2011 post DCM

rom

Based on comment from some of the ultra guys on here I decided to start doing my LSRs on empty. As my goal race is a long way off my LSR at the moment is only 100 mins. It went quite well. If the point of the LSR is to train my body to burn fat it does makes sense that I don't load up on food before going out and then waiting for those carbs to be depleted before my body can start burning fat.

rom

So did john Buckley 5k tonight. Just back from California on Sunday night. Got 2 hours sleeplast night. Feel I would have another 20/30 secs if I didn't have the extra 3Kg from the US trip and some more sleep. Will be interesting on how much I can improve before the Garda 5k over the same route. Was falling asleep when driving home so had to put down the window. Ran first mile in 5:30 and it felt comfortable. I feel I can hold that pace if I get the above right. ah well. Finish time of 17:54. Much more work to do.

rom

So ran a 5k on the track in CIT the other week. Went slightly faster 17:52. Was too fresh for most of it. Closed the last 400m in 5:04 pace. Had a LSR today . Didn't go well. Need to prepare better and with PMP miles I can't go out without eating. Stopped in the train station in Cork and needed the loo. It was being cleaned. The told me to use the train that was about to leave. Would have been a funny story if it pulled out of the station as it was nearly ready to go. Was the express to Dublin so my long run would have gone from 2 hrs to 8

So anyways the reason for my post is that you have good runs and bad runs (pun not intended) but on thurs I did 12M with 8 at PMP and it was simple but today doing it for alternating K's at the end of my run was very hard. I didn't prepare. Need more fluid etc. it is good to get perspective that a single training session means nothing as you only need to perform on race day. It doesn't matter if you mess up every session if you nail it on race day. It is all about having confidence in your running. I could have run 20miles at PMP on thursday but very little today. I obviously was not recovered. Listening to your body and knowing that is ok is a lesson learned. I will have a good session again next week.

Just started training for Berlin. Going there wednesday for work. hope to try the porridge etc (beer permitting) Getting a massage tomorrow so it will freshen up the legs which is needed. There is nothing better in the middle of a training program to get a deep tissue massage. I like to prepare, make lists on what I am going to do.

The problem I have sometimes is in the middle of marathon training as I only do 1 a year is I invest so much in it. I can find it hard to sleep. With sleep being a major overlooked area for people it is not just the amount of sleep you get but the quality. If you are stressed about the race and are dreaming every night negative thoughts about it then it is not healthy. I personally read a book 10-15 mins before I go to sleep and then listen to http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Relaxation-Divinity-Glenn-Harrold/dp/1901923215 Don't knock if you haven't tried it. I also go for a nap during the day in weekends with the same. Going for a 1hr sleep after work before an evening race is great also.

Overall I must say running is not my top priority at the moment. Family, work and college come first. Hope to move it back up to #2 place where it belongs after Berlin. What can you do ?

rom

Last weekend I ran Berlin. My detailed race report follows.

I booked and stayed in Hotel Sylter Hof Berlin City West, Berlin. It was a nice hotel near the start. An excellent pasta place next door did help also. Flew in from Dublin late on Friday. Got the train to Tiergarden (should have got a taxi as it was crazy busy). Ended up going to Macdonalds from food . Expo on the Sat was excellent. Got to see Haile Gebrselassie up close. Was going to wait around for a picture with him but didn't want to stay there that long. Had some pasta at the expo too. Hotel made quickoats with water (mixed it myself) for me on Sat/Sun. Packet says 2 mins but 90 secs is all that is needed in a 900w microwave. I ate at 6pm on Sat as the all-ireland was on and didn't eat much after that and went to bed early. This was a good idea as it resulted that I didn't need to stop at all in the race this year.

The race: about 2/3k walk from the hotel. Very easy to get to. Super organised. never queuing more than 3 people for a portoloo. Started from D. Almost no congestion. Perfect. The racing line is often in the shade which was nice. It did heat up a little. Went through half way very fresh and 30 secs off sub 3 pace. Felt a neg split would sort that out. took gels at 9/18/27k. Cramped from 34k on. maybe another gel should have been taken? Positive spit to come in at 3:04:45. Close to perfect race. Pitty about the cramping as everything was going well until that but next time I will get it. Nice to have a GFA time now as I would like to do London. All in all great day and really enjoyed it and believe that I got a result reflective of my poor training of late. Time to put the head down and get a bit more serious about it. Note it is well worth bringing 30 euro after the race and getting rickshaw taxi which are just after the finish back to the hotel which is pure bliss.

belcarra

Well done Rom and some useful info there for those of us that are lucky enough to get in through the lottery for next year!

rom

Also eating dinner at 5pm the day before was a great idea as I had no problems on the day then and didn't have to stop once.

rom

Ran sub 3 over the weekend. Now I know I can go much faster. Watch this space.

rom

Not much news since running 2:54 in April in London. Had to drop out of Amsterdam as was sick on raceday.