The "what the hell do I call my training log?" training log...

Dilbert75

I wouldn't mind pushing absolutely 100% and getting 3:25 if that's what I'm capable of. But if I'm "only" capable of 3:30 or 3:35, then trying to go for 3:25 early in the race is not going to end well. I'm only running 15 months so I don't think I've yet developed that intuition as to where I am. And I'm happy that a 25 minute marathon improvement - nearly a minute a mile - would be massive so I'm not in a rush to risk everything to eke out an extra couple of minutes which won't proportionally be a huge improvement.

Had no races planned but Waterford AC have a 5k on Friday week that one of my colleagues in work is encouraging me to try - she's doing it as her warmer-upper for the Great Ireland Run (she's a total novice this year). So I might give that a go. Hilly enough course though I think so sub-20 (or Meno's sub-18 for that matter) will have to wait a while longer.

upthe19th

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Had no races planned but Waterford AC have a 5k on Friday week that one of my colleagues in work is encouraging me to try - she's doing it as her warmer-upper for the Great Ireland Run (she's a total novice this year). So I might give that a go. Hilly enough course though I think so sub-20 (or Meno's sub-18 for that matter) will have to wait a while longer.

Was only looking at this last night myself. I've never run a 5k before. Considering it if I can get myself fit soon enough.

It's on at 19:00, so will have to run it by the OH.

menoscemo

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Had no races planned but Waterford AC have a 5k on Friday week that one of my colleagues in work is encouraging me to try - she's doing it as her warmer-upper for the Great Ireland Run (she's a total novice this year). So I might give that a go. Hilly enough course though I think so sub-20 (or Meno's sub-18 for that matter) will have to wait a while longer.

Dilbert, Believe me when i say I just physically could not run those 5 x 1k splits as fast as you did the other day and I haven't not run sub 20 in a 5k for over 2 years now. Perhaps the HR monitor was a good thing for you as it got you out of your comfort zone and made you realise you could do them faster. You'll be selling yourself short if you go for a sub 20 (the 5 x 1k session is a perfect predictor of a 5k race time). But of course if you go for sub 20 that is all you will get.
Why not forget about the garmin and just go out fast and hold the pace. Alternatively you could just put on the HR data (if it is reliable) get your HR into the VO2 max zone over the 1st k and hold it there for the rest of the race. You may surprise yourself (but not me).
The good thing about a 5k is that the recovery is quick. If you blow up, so what? You have nothing to lose.

Gavlor

menoscemo wrote: »

Dilbert, Believe me when i say I just physically could not run those 5 x 1k splits as fast as you did the other day and I haven't not run sub 20 in a 5k for over 2 years now. Perhaps the HR monitor was a good thing for you as it got you out of your comfort zone and made you realise you could do them faster. You'll be selling yourself short if you go for a sub 20 (the 5 x 1k session is a perfect predictor of a 5k race time). But of course if you go for sub 20 that is all you will get.
Why not forget about the garmin and just go out fast and hold the pace. Alternatively you could just put on the HR data (if it is reliable) get your HR into the VO2 max zone over the 1st k and hold it there for the rest of the race. You may surprise yourself (but not me).
The good thing about a 5k is that the recovery is quick. If you blow up, so what? You have nothing to lose.

Dr Phil AKA Meno, is bang on. Whatever about a half, there is no point in holding back on a 5k. I might run that one if it fits in with that weekends lsr and i guarantee I'll be going all out, i'll latch on to someone that I know will be sub 18 and stick to him.

blockic

I also take the stance of Dr Phil and Mr. G above.

Just give it a lash. Nothing to lose. You'll hit 18:XX easy.

Dilbert75

blockic wrote: »

I also take the stance of Dr Phil and Mr. G above.

Just give it a lash. Nothing to lose. You'll hit 18:XX easy.

That's true - little to lose as long as I finish it in one piece.

10k done tonight with 6x100m strides. Avg pace = 5.14, avg HR 138

Same again tomorrow. Thankfully I've taken this week off work so I should be able to run in daylight. It's my heaviest week too, so that should hopefully make it more manageable.

Dilbert75

10k done again tonight, again with 6x100m strides. 50.11 - avg pace 4.58, no HR data because I forgot to charge my 305 and had to borrow Mrs D's FR10 :rolleyes:

Dilbert75

19.3k done with avg pace of 5.00/km and avg HR of 147. Knackered for some reason but appreciated the chance to run midweek in daylight for a change.

Dilbert75

Same 19.3km run done today but in the opposite direction, so I was running up the Climbing Wall near the end rather than down it near the start. Tried very hard to keep the speed down all the way round with only minimal success - avg pace was 5.04/km and avg HR was 141. I've a feeling I was supposed to do 6x100 strides in it but forgot to check the plan before I went out so the opportunity has now passed.

Dilbert75

8km done with Mrs D (3rd run in a week - yay!). Avg pace 5.20/km, avg HR 137. Tomorrow is the first big one...

Dilbert75

8km done with Mrs D (3rd run in a week - yay!). Avg pace 5.20/km, avg HR 137. Tomorrow is the first big one...

upthe19th

Dilbert75 wrote: »

8km done with Mrs D (3rd run in a week - yay!). Avg pace 5.20/km, avg HR 137. Tomorrow is the first big one...

How was Mrs. D after the run. Any improvement.

Dilbert75

upthe19th wrote: »

How was Mrs. D after the run. Any improvement.

Some thankfully - thanks for asking - still hurting a little but she's persisting. Also she's feeling very unfit but after 3 months off running it's no wonder.

Gavlor

What's the distance tomorrow??

And how are you getting a visa to go for a long run on Easter Sunday?!

Dilbert75

Gavlor wrote: »

What's the distance tomorrow??

And how are you getting a visa to go for a long run on Easter Sunday?!

32km - and I didn't ask, I'm just going. Helps being married to a runner I guess!

Gavlor

Dilbert75 wrote: »

32km - and I didn't ask, I'm just going. Helps being married to a runner I guess!

Very manly of you

Good luck with the run, at least you'll have an Easter egg or 2 waiting for you

Dilbert75

Longest week of 12 week P&D 55mile plan completed fully. Had a challenging route set out for myself this morning and had to alter it slightly because there was a classic car run passing along a section of it and I didn't want to be trying to share a narrow road with 200 cars. For the same reason, I needed to get off that stretch of road before they started off at 11am, so was under a bit of pressure to start with.

Day started out poorly enough. There's a guy living in the house next door who's going to get himself dragged by a gang of angry men into a Hiace some day if he doesn't learn to STFU when he gets home from the pub at 3am. :mad: So he woke us up again several times during the night and as a result I wasn't particularly fresh this morning. Got the porridge & toast into me and headed out.

From the start I just wasn't in form for it but popped the iPod on and stuck with it. Being off form is one thing but my left hamstrings started niggling at me around 6km - not enough to worry me yet but a new concern to me. Looks like a sign/reminder I should be more diligent with my stretching routine.

Cleared the 13.5km point just before 11am with no sign of the cars, so the road was nice and safe to run on. Then I hit the main hill on the route - about 2.5km long. When I was driving up it yesterday I looked from my turn-off along the next section and it looked hilly. It was. Not only that but it went on & on and the higher it got the windier it got. Finally summitted and started the long descent back down to sea level. This took a fair amount of time but I finally ran out of downhill. Unfortunately this left me at the bottom of another hill, though this time not too steep.

Not far into it, my left hamstring started at me again so I decided to stop and stretch it out. Got going again and finished a fairly uneventful run home, with only a small detour into an industrial estate to make up the full 32km.

Total distance was 32.15km in 2:44. Average pace was 5:07/km (again a bit faster than planned - really miss my audible alerts from my Garmin 305 - they truly were the STFD that I badly need. What a pity Garmin didn't think it necessary to sweat-proof the speaker). Average HR was 145.

Screenshots of my Garmin data is below. Also below is an updated progress chart.

Wk 11: 36.23km YTD: 616.95km
Wk 12: 57.92km YTD: 674.87km
Wk 13: 88.85km YTD: 763.72km

My son is taking part in an open Track & Field meeting tomorrow and there's a 3k mens race that I was considering trying. However with the tweaky hamstring I'm thinking it's not a good idea. I'll do my planned run and no more. I'm not going to risk anything for a rubber medal from a field in south Kilkenny.:rolleyes:

ncmc

That's serious running C, and under difficult circumstances. You are the king of HTFU! Hope the hamstring is ok, I know how worrying it is to get any new twinge at this stage. Hopefully it's nothing serious. Are you doing your LSR's at 8 min miles? That is seriously impressive! I struggled hugely with 12m at that pace today!

Dilbert75

Thanks N - except for planned PMP runs, I'm actually trying to not do my LSR at 8min miles but I keep falling back close to that pace. Like I said I really miss the STFD of my Garmin alarm.

All that said it is encouraging to know that I can do 32.2km in 2.44 on a tough course with no encouragement and in training I typically do 10km in around 0.50, so that's close to my planned marathon time without any race-day buzz. Or trying to keep up with Career_Move.

ncmc

That is really impressive Dilbert, this is why I think you'll have no problem at all with 3:30 in Limerick, you've done so many miles at pmp, you'll be cruising on race day.

You've come a long way since Clonmel imagine your hmp then was slower than your lsr speed now! And that's just over 7 months ago!

Dilbert75

ncmc wrote: »

You are the king of HTFU!

Nearly forgot to mention this - from the lady who has half the men of this thread running in all weathers just so they couldn't let it be said!

upthe19th

Great work chief. Disappointed i missed this one. You are in great nick for limerick.

Dilbert75

upthe19th wrote: »

Great work chief. Disappointed i missed this one.

Sure you can join me doing it again in 2 weeks time

upthe19th

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Sure you can join me doing it again in 2 weeks time

Im starting to think that i will be lucky to be ok to run wexford in 3 weeks.

Dilbert75

upthe19th wrote: »

Im starting to think that i will be lucky to be ok to run wexford in 3 weeks.

While it makes sense to mentally prepare yourself for that possibility - and there will of course be other races and opportunities to hit your targets - hopefully it will come good in time. All you can do is look after it and give yourself every chance to be back for Wexford and, more importantly, CCM.

Cleanman

There's some impressive training here. 3:30 in Limerick will definitely be achieveable going on your last long run. Just a thought on your hamstring twinge - it seems that it started to hurt both times not long after a decent (going on your garmin data). Could it be that the hamstring was working harder than it should have been going down the hill - maybe there's weakness in your quad or something rather than the hamstring itself? Maybe not either but just something to think about if it continues to give trouble.

Dilbert75

That's certainly plausible - the twinge that prompted me to stop and stretch was just after the longest, steepest downhill section I've run in a long time, possibly ever, so there could well be a connection there. Once GLR is over I'll hopefully be getting out on the bike more and that's supposed to be great for building up the hamstrings.

Dilbert75

Rest day yesterday. Plan for tonight was 13km with 5x600 @5k with 50-90% rest. Based on last session that would be about 2 min run, 1 min rest per cycle. Unfortunately I made a feic of setting up the session on my watch so had to pause in the middle to fix it. Anyway the session went like so:
5k @4.59/km, avg HR 134
600m @3.19/km, avg HR 163
193m @5.11/km, avg HR 157
600m @3.30/km, avg HR 163
108m @5.48/km, avg HR 162
**Fix watch**
122m @5.21/km, avg HR 113
596m @3.30/km, avg HR 157
146m @7.05/km, avg HR 150
603m @3.29/km, avg HR 158
157m @6.49/km, avg HR 152
609m @3.33/km, avg HR 160
1km @5.19/km, avg HR 141
1km @5.23/km, avg HR 138
1km @5.39/km, avg HR 148
1km @5.19/km, avg HR 146
604m @5.14/km, avg HR 133

Total 13.34km in 64.36.

Dilbert75

18.16km done in 1.33.56 - avg pace 5.18/km, avg HR 136. Went fine apart from a woeful pain in my gut for the first few km, due to having had dinner an hour before I went out. Wasn't planning to but it was ready when I got home from work and it smelt so good...

Loving running on these evenings - instead of leggings and a jacket I've got shorts and sunglasses. It's a real treat!

Rest day tomorrow - due to do 6k on Friday and a 10k tune-up race on Saturday but I'll prob do the WIT AC 5k on Friday and make up the distance on Saturday.

Gavlor

Dilbert75 wrote: »

18.16km done in 1.33.56 - avg pace 5.18/km, avg HR 136. Went fine apart from a woeful pain in my gut for the first few km, due to having had dinner an hour before I went out. Wasn't planning to but it was ready when I got home from work and it smelt so good...

Loving running on these evenings - instead of leggings and a jacket I've got shorts and sunglasses. It's a real treat!

Rest day tomorrow - due to do 6k on Friday and a 10k tune-up race on Saturday but I'll prob do the WIT AC 5k on Friday and make up the distance on Saturday.

Good running..... Looks like I'm gonna miss the 5k on Friday