Running's not just for New Year's, it's for life!

vitani

That's very true! I started in the 46-55 minute group, so should have been one of the slowest runners in it, and I still spent the first 2km weaving around people.

Darren 83

vitani wrote: »

That's very true! I started in the 46-55 minute group, so should have been one of the slowest runners in it, and I still spent the first 2km weaving around people.

I've a race this week and I know there will plenty of time weaving in and out.

vitani

Took it handy enough this morning and ran 3 miles this morning in just over 30 minutes. I'm a little tired after the Samsung run but for the first time after a race, I have no muscle soreness. That probably means I didn't run fast enough... :pac:

Going out for another easy 3 tomorrow, and then two days of rest before the Leixlip 5k on Saturday. My previous 5k time is 27.27 (from the Operation Transformation 5k) which I'm confident of beating. The question is by how much.

Darren 83

vitani wrote: »

Took it handy enough this morning and ran 3 miles this morning in just over 30 minutes. I'm a little tired after the Samsung run but for the first time after a race, I have no muscle soreness. That probably means I didn't run fast enough... :pac:

Going out for another easy 3 tomorrow, and then two days of rest before the Leixlip 5k on Saturday. My previous 5k time is 27.27 (from the Operation Transformation 5k) which I'm confident of beating. The question is by how much.

Round it off to 20:00

vitani

Darren 83 wrote: »

Round it off to 20:00

Couple of cans of Red Bull beforehand... should be no bother...

vitani

4.97km this morning in about 29.22. Was so, so tempted to run up and down the road just to get an extra 30m in but managed to refrain. I also debuted my new running shorts - I wasn't expecting them to rise quite so much while I was running and I ended up flashing a lot more leg than I'd planned. Ah well, hopefully I made some driver's morning :pac:

It was my first time to run two days in a row and I found it slightly harder than expected. The effort level needed to get a 6 minute per km pace was more than usual, although that could be down to the after effects of the Samsung run as well. Two days of rest ahead - I won't be running again until Saturday, but I do plan on going for a swim tomorrow (for the first time in about 15 years).

vitani

Just back from the pool. Swam 500 metres in about 25 minutes - a combination of front crawl and breaststroke with a lot of breaks in between.

I couldn't believe how much swimming a lap was taking out of me but I loved it all the same. I used to be a decent swimmer when I was younger so it was great to finally get back in the pool. I'm going to stick with it once a week for the next while, building up the laps each week and reducing the breaks. I'm hoping it will help strengthen my core and my upper body.

vitani

Bit of a mixed race for me. I got a new PB of 25.41 but the mental demons played a large part in preventing me from getting an even better time. I started off strong (first mile was 7.53, second was 8.06) but couldn't sustain that pace and it wasn't anything physical that was stopping me. The last lap around the track was torture. Only for my mother and daughter coming along to support me, I don't know if I would have kept going.

On reflection, I think 3 races within the space of 3 weeks was too much to take on and I knew that coming up to this one. I feel like I didn't have enough time to mentally psyche myself up for it.

But I'm glad I ran it - it was a great experience and my time still puts me on track for a sub-2 half marathon, according to McMillan

Darren 83

vitani wrote: »

Bit of a mixed race for me. I got a new PB of 25.41 but the mental demons played a large part in preventing me from getting an even better time. I started off strong (first mile was 7.53, second was 8.06) but couldn't sustain that pace and it wasn't anything physical that was stopping me. The last lap around the track was torture. Only for my mother and daughter coming along to support me, I don't know if I would have kept going.

On reflection, I think 3 races within the space of 3 weeks was too much to take on and I knew that coming up to this one. I feel like I didn't have enough time to mentally psyche myself up for it.

But I'm glad I ran it - it was a great experience and my time still puts me on track for a sub-2 half marathon, according to McMillan

Didn't take the red bull before the race?:D Well done Vitani great time I think a lot of races are a mental test. For me doing the course helps before hand and planing the race.

vitani

Darren 83 wrote: »

Didn't take the red bull before the race?:D Well done Vitani great time I think a lot of races are a mental test. For me doing the course helps before hand and planing the race.

Thanks!

Yeah, if I'd had a couple of weeks to really build up to it in my mind, I would have felt more prepared. But it's only 6 days since the Samsung Run and tbh, I'm still coming down from that.

But all the same, it's nice to start a Half Marathon training program with an official 5k time. It'll help me pace some of the training sessions.

vitani

After a lot of deliberation, I decided to use the Runner's World Sub-2 hour HM training plan.

I'll admit that some of the later sessions do look daunting, but I had a bit of an epiphany moment and I remembered feeling the same way about some of the later sessions in the Couch to 5k plan. So, I'm taking them one run at a time, and I'm going to trust in the plan. Some of the later sessions also look quite interesting, which I hope will help keep my motivation up.

The schedule for Week 1 is as follows:

Monday:| Rest
Tuesday:| 1M jog, then 8 x 400m (or 2 mins) fast, with 200m (90-sec) recoveries, then 1M jog
Wednesday:| Rest
Thursday:| 3M (approx 29 mins) steady
Friday:| Rest
Saturday:| 3M (approx 29 mins) steady
Sunday:| 6M (approx 66 mins) easy

Yesterday's rest day went perfectly. Lots of toast and lying down as I nursed a hangover - my first in quite a while

Up before 6am this morning, for my first ever speedwork session. Truth be told, I'd been a little worried about it beforehand, but I actually ended up enjoying it.

My Garmin is quite basic and doesn't display pace on the same screen as either distance or time, so I chose to run by time this morning and just ignore the pace. I knew I was aiming for somewhere between 8 and 9 minute miles, but I had to just go by feel.

I headed to one of the local parks, so that I wouldn't be held up by any lights or junctions. Coincidentally, it's also about a mile from my house so the run there fit perfectly.

My pace for each interval hovered around the 8.30 mark, which is in between my 5k and 10k pace. The recovery jogs seemed to stay at between 10.45 and 11 minute miles. So, I didn't quite manage the 400m for each interval, but I wouldn't have been too far off, and I'm pleased by the consistency. My last interval was at an 8.20 pace, so I'm happy to have finished strongly.

I also chose to leave my phone at home. Up until now, most of my runs have been with music or listening to the radio. While it's great for training, I wonder if that's why I can find racing to be so tough mentally. I didn't miss it at all this morning, but I suppose the intervals and all the mental maths kept me focussed. I think I'll continue to use my radio for LSRs but for the sessions during the week, I won't.

Another day of rest tomorrow although I may incorporate some strength training in.

Overall, today's run was:

5.02 miles in 00:48:52 - Average pace of 9.44 min/mile

statss

I found I made a big jump in training improvements when I ditched the music on runs. I learned to concentrate more on my running form and be more aware of body signals & breathing. I'd certainly recommend it.

vitani

statss wrote: »

I found I made a big jump in training improvements when I ditched the music on runs. I learned to concentrate more on my running form and be more aware of body signals & breathing. I'd certainly recommend it.

That would be a nice bonus, if that was to happen.

I find it a bit too easy to just zone out when I have the radio on. It was great when I first started because I needed the extra push to keep going but I do think it's becoming more of a hindrance than a help now.

I'm definitely ditching it for the sessions during the week and I'll decide later about LSRs. On the one hand, they might be a bit boring without anything, but otoh, maybe that's what I need to train myself mentally for racing.

vitani

Rest day scheduled for yesterday, but I did do some strength work in the evening. I followed the first video in this link: http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/video-general-strength-exercises

I'm not sure how often strength work should be done... I'm thinking I may do the full video on two of the rest days I have each week (leaving Monday as a complete rest day) and then maybe the shorter Myrtl routine after each run. It only takes a few extra minutes and if it can help keep me injury-free, it'll be worth it.

3 mile run this morning at a 'steady' pace, which I ran without music. Again, I didn't miss it too much at all. I certainly would have found the run easier if I'd had my radio with me, but I guess if I wanted an 'easy' fitness routine, I shouldn't have taken up running... :pac:

Set the virtual pacer on my Garmin for 9.35 minute miles, and then spent most of the run watching it beep as despite my best efforts, I seemed to vary between 'Ahead of Pace' and 'On Pace' quite frequently. And that's with the 20 second buffer either side of the target pace. Mile splits were 9.32, 9.20, 9.26 and 2.53 for the last bit.

Summary: 3.3 miles in 00:31:11 - Average pace of 9.26 min/mile

I plan on going for another swim this evening. I'm not sure of the wisdom of two sessions of cardio on the one day, but as there'll be over 15 hours between them, I'll chance it. There'd be a smaller gap if I ran in the morning following a swim the previous evening.

Darren 83

vitani wrote: »

Rest day scheduled for yesterday, but I did do some strength work in the evening. I followed the first video in this link: http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/video-general-strength-exercises

I'm not sure how often strength work should be done... I'm thinking I may do the full video on two of the rest days I have each week (leaving Monday as a complete rest day) and then maybe the shorter Myrtl routine after each run. It only takes a few extra minutes and if it can help keep me injury-free, it'll be worth it.

3 mile run this morning at a 'steady' pace, which I ran without music. Again, I didn't miss it too much at all. I certainly would have found the run easier if I'd had my radio with me, but I guess if I wanted an 'easy' fitness routine, I shouldn't have taken up running... :pac:

Set the virtual pacer on my Garmin for 9.35 minute miles, and then spent most of the run watching it beep as despite my best efforts, I seemed to vary between 'Ahead of Pace' and 'On Pace' quite frequently. And that's with the 20 second buffer either side of the target pace. Mile splits were 9.32, 9.20, 9.26 and 2.53 for the last bit.

Summary: 3.3 miles in 00:31:11 - Average pace of 9.26 min/mile

I plan on going for another swim this evening. I'm not sure of the wisdom of two sessions of cardio on the one day, but as there'll be over 15 hours between them, I'll chance it. There'd be a smaller gap if I ran in the morning following a swim the previous evening.

When I started running I always had music with me, I dumped the iPod this year and don't regret it, When you listen to the music it distracts you from running

vitani

Went swimming again on Thursday. I lost count of how many lengths I swam, but I went steadily, with fewer breaks, for about half an hour.

Strength work again on Friday. I noticed this time that during some of the hip rotations, the muscles being worked most were the ones that went into spasm a few weeks ago after the Great Ireland Run. I've found a yoga class that starts next week, so I'd hope between that and the strength work, I won't have a repeat of the spasms.

So, on to today. I usually run in the morning, but found it hard to wake up today so put it off. The more it dragged on during the day, the less I wanted to run. So of course, by the time I did go out, it ended up being the run I've felt most comfortable on in weeks.

Probably the fact that I'd had the chance to eat beforehand made a big difference. I covered three miles again at just slightly faster than the recommended pace - first was 9.14, second was 9.23 and third was 9.25.

Overall: 3.01 miles in 00:28:11 - Average pace of 9.21 minute/mile

vitani

Had my longest run so far to date, both in terms of distance and time on my feet. The plan called for 6 miles easy at approximately 11 minute miles. I ended up going a little faster and a little further than the plan, but hopefully not enough to affect me negatively.

I generally find running slowly (in relative terms) to be quite difficult. I feel like I'm going up and down more than I am forward. It wasn't until my fourth mile today that I finally found a way of running at that pace that was comfortable. And unfortunately, that was to the beat of 'da do run run...' which got stuck in my head. I even found myself singing it out loud at one point to check if I could talk.

I shouldn't be admitting things like that...

Ran for an hour and ten minutes in total, apart from two brief stops to give drivers directions to the local golf club. A lesser person than me would have sent them the wrong way for stopping me mid-run. :pac:

So, first week of training over and I'm happy with how it went. I got a bit of a reality check today though to realise that my entire run was only half of the half marathon distance. While I'm confident that I will go out in August and complete it, I'm also not going to set my heart too much on getting in under a certain time. I'm training for under 2 hours, and I hope that's what I'll manage, but my ultimate goal is just to run it and enjoy it. It's going to be my first half marathon and that will be achievement enough in itself. I'll have plenty of opportunities after it to achieve time goals.

Today's Summary: 6.57 miles in 01:10:00 - Average pace of 10:39 minute/mile

Weekly Total: 17.9 miles

Darren 83

Well done on the first week, you have come a long way with you're running. Have you thought about using gels for the half?

vitani

Thanks!

I'm going to experiment with gels once I'm running longer LSRs. My first 10 mile run is in about three weeks and it should have me on my feet for close to two hours - it'll be a good opportunity to see what suits me.

vitani

Have had to change things around this week due to laziness on my part yesterday morning and a busy weekend. Schedule now will be as follows:

Monday:| Rest
Tuesday:| Yoga
Wednesday:| 1M jog, then 8 x 400m (or 2 mins) fast, with 200m (90-sec) recoveries, then 1M jog
Thursday:| Morning: 3M (approx 29 mins) steady. Evening: Swimming
Friday:| Rest
Saturday:| 6M (approx 57 mins) steady
Sunday:| 3M (approx 29 mins) steady

The three mile run on Sunday may or may not happen, depending on how hungover I'll be.

The interval session this morning well and truly kicked my ass. I took off like a bat out of hell and was seriously suffering after the first three intervals. Had to include some walking in the recovery sections, and a couple of times had to pause the Garmin and just stop for a few seconds.

Lesson learned: faster =/= better.

My first five intervals were all around the 7.30 minute/mile pace which is beyond what I'm capable of right now. I finally managed to slow them down to 7.55 (ish) for the last three and it's amazing how comfortable that felt after the fast start.

Overall: 4.95 miles in 00:48:01 - Average pace of 9.42 min/mile

I'm heading off now to read 'The Tortoise and the Hare'.

vitani

Slight change of plan today. A restless night made me reluctant to get up this morning so I packed my running gear and brought it into work. The plan was to get the train halfway home and then run the rest of the way. I then realised that I could use the opportunity to get this week's six miler in, which in turn would take a lot of pressure off me this weekend.

My training plan called for me to run this at a steady pace (around 9.30 min/mile) and tbh, I was quite nervous about this. I know I've ran the distance before, a few times, but it's always been either with someone else, in a race, or at a much slower pace. So, not only was I not sure how I'd find it, it's almost like I deliberately set out to sabotage myself by running it today - only one day after a tough(ish) interval session, wearing a backpack and to top things off, I had a huge chocolate brownie after lunch. Not ideal in terms of fuel...

I got the Luas as far as the Phoenix Park and eventually started to run when I reached the first roundabout. I spent the first mile reassuring myself I was fine. The Garmin occasionally beeped to let me know I was slipping behind pace but I managed to ignore it for the most part. Apart from swearing at it once and muttering 'you try running with a backpack' at it a different time.

First two miles were a steady, long climb and I covered these in 9.45 and 9.40. I was pleasantly surprised with that pace and once I hit the end of the third mile, it's like something switched on in my head - the running became easier and I just knew that I could finish the run strongly. I had to stop at road crossings a handful of times and to adjust my sock another time, but my pace never went over 10 min/mile. It turned out to be one of my most enjoyable runs yet.

Overall, I ran 6.1 miles in 01:00:17 - Average pace of 9.53 min/mile

This has turned out longer than a race report... I think I'm just especially proud because I went from somewhere in particular to home. Most of my runs are circular or out and back - this actually feels like a real distance.

vitani

3 miles this morning, which I ran at close to my target HM pace. All I can say is thank god I've 11 weeks of training left before I've to do 10 more on top of that.

3.01 miles in 00:27.43 - Average pace of 9.13 min/mile

vitani

It feels like I haven't updated this in ages. As predicted, Sunday's run didn't happen as I was just too tired after a late night on Saturday. And then, I ended up postponing yesterday's scheduled run until today. I haven't been completely inactive though - I did do an hour of yoga yesterday. New plan for this week:

Monday:| Rest
Tuesday:| Yoga
Wednesday:| 5 mile easy (Approx 55 min)
Thursday:| 1M jog, then 10 x 2 mins up hill, jog back. Then 1M jog at end of session
Friday:| Rest
Saturday:| 5M (approx 55 mins) easy
Sunday:| 8M (approx 88 mins) easy

It's a bit of a jump up in mileage, but apart from the hill repeats, all of the miles are easy miles. For the hill session tomorrow, the only hill near me that I can use in the morning takes me a minute to run up, so I'll have to shorten it and run 10 x 1 mins. Unless I do more repeats... Hmm...

5 easy miles this morning. Ran each one between 10.14 and 10.22 minutes, so came in slightly faster than the suggested time on the plan. However, the pace was easy and comfortable throughout - the last two miles in particular were a dream to run. It was like I couldn't even feel my body, everything was just working so smoothly together. As much fun as all the planning races and thinking about sessions and talking/dreaming/reading about running is, nothing compares to that feeling where your mind and body are just completely in sync.

Overall 5.01 miles in 00:51:42 - Average pace of 10.19 min/mile

vitani

First ever hill session this morning. I used a bridge near me that links Clonsilla with Carpenterstown. I have no idea how steep it is as the Garmin records it as being flat.

Each run from bottom to top took me about 1.22 minutes, and that was with me taking it easy. The jog to the bottom took about the same time.

As sessions go, I enjoyed the novelty of it. I had been nervous about it as usually running up that hill once leaves me out of breath but maybe because I took it easy, it felt fine. Actually, if anything, running on the flat afterwards felt very strange.

Because it was slightly shorter than the planned session, I'll probably add 2 or 3 reps next week if I use that bridge again, and the same the following week.

4.47 miles in 00:43:43 - Average pace of 9.46 min/mile

vitani

Nice and easy 5 miles this morning. Glorious weather for running.

Splits of 10.24, 10.17, 10.30, 10.25 and 10.31.

Overall, 5.04 miles in 00:52:33 - Average pace of 10.25 min/mile

Tomorrow, I have my longest run to date - 8 miles. I'm looking forward to it, just hope that the weather stays like this.

vitani

8.01 miles in 1:24:18 - Average pace of 10:31 min/mile

I'm feeling it in my legs now but it's a good kind of ache

I'm delighted to have my longest run ever under my belt. But not as delighted as I'll be this time next week, when I'll be sitting down to recover after 10 miles. :eek:

vitani

This has not been a good running week for me. Had 5 miles scheduled for Tuesday morning, but only got around to it this evening. Combination of a few things, but tbh, nothing that would have stopped me if I'd really been determined to get out. I don't want to skip any runs though so I'm going to shuffle things forward by a day for the rest of the week and take advantage of the bank holiday to get my long run in.

New plan for the rest of the week:

Monday:| Rest
Tuesday:| Yoga
Wednesday:| Rest
Thursday:| 5M (approx 48 mins) steady
Friday:|1M jog, then 10 x 2 mins up hill, jog back. Then 1M jog at end of session
Saturday:| Rest
Sunday:| 5M (approx 55 mins) easy
Monday:| 10M (approx 1hr 50) easy

Steady 5 miles this evening. I left it until 8pm because of the heat, but stupidly wore a cotton vest top out which became uncomfortable quite quickly.

Because I was running on fresh legs, the first mile was far too quick - about 9.10. I slowed it down to about 9.30 for the next three, but I have to admit, I'm not fully enjoying keeping my running to a certain pace. It's breaking up the flow to have to keep checking my watch, because I keep veering ahead of pace. I guess it is a necessary evil for the moment though, because I need more experience in pacing myself evenly.

About 3 and a half miles in, I suddenly became aware of my body and not in a good way. I could feel the impact of each step and the part of my mind that sounds like Kevin the Teenager was moaning at me to stop. The other, more mature part decided to use the opportunity to practise some mental strategies to keep myself going, in the hope that I'd find something I could use to shut Kevin up in races.

I was running beside a line of trees at the time so I started focussing on each second tree and concentrating on making my way to it, before shifting to the next. After a few minutes, this really started to work. I almost felt like I was being pulled along and it distracted me enough to get to 4.5 miles, at which point I felt great. I then sped up a bit for the last half mile, bringing the last mile to 9.11.

Overall, it was 5 miles in 00:47:00 - Average pace of 9.24 min/mile

FrClintPower

i think i'll have to start working on some mental strategies myself, i found myself counting paces when i was doing intervals the other week, but once you get to 300 it gets a bit boring!

vitani

FrClintPower wrote: »

i think i'll have to start working on some mental strategies myself, i found myself counting paces when i was doing intervals the other week, but once you get to 300 it gets a bit boring!

I tried that in one of my last races but it just irritated me. Then again, I was counting to 20 over and over again, so I'm not surprised I got bored.

vitani

Hills, glorious hills.

Back to the bridge this evening for another hill session. Decided to change things a little - rather than running up and down the same side, I went up and across, and down the other side before coming back across. It made things a little easier than last week because I had quite a flat top section to run along each time.

Had set myself a minimum goal of 10 reps, but planned on pushing that to 12 if I was feeling good. In the end, got to 12 and decided to do one more for luck so 13 in total. I honestly felt like I could have kept going for a lot longer though. Maybe because I was running by feel and not pace, which meant my head was more in the zone.

Overall, 5.69 miles in 00:54:51 - Average pace of 9.38 min/mile

~

This brings my monthly mileage to 71.38, and 180.39 since I finished C25k in February. I ran 15 out of 31 days in May.