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Lavaredo Ultra Trail: 120km across the Dolomites

  • 27-02-2013 5:13pm
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭


    I’m going to run across the country, well that’s the plan anyway ;). Training for Bay2Bray2013 is now in full swing!

    The run starts in Galway on the 26th of July and finishes (hopefully) in Bray on Sunday the 28th. Me and 3-4 other lads are doing this to raise awareness for the Irish charity Suicide or Survive. Bay2Bray2012 raised an incredible €16,000 for the charity after their run last October. The entire distance of the run is 250km. The plan is to run 105km on the first day, 95km on the second day and 50k on the final day.

    Aside from the charitable aspects I am doing as I think it will be an amazing achievement and something that not many people will ever be able to say they have done.

    As regards training I know the LSR, and back-to-back LSRs will be the most important runs to complete. However, I’m not going to skimp on the intervals/speed work. I have a long standing goal of running a 35 minute 10k so I will have to wait and see if training for two different distances at vastly different speeds is possible (or sane!). I’m going to give it a go and see if it’s doable, if it’s not, I will have to adjust my priorities. My thinking on this is pretty simple: I believe the faster and fitter I am, the easier I will find the slower pace of ultra-running.

    I met up with two of the other lads who are doing it last night for a run, they have already done a huge amount as regards organizing transport, hotels, sponsorship etc… I really need to get the finger out! The run was a flat 10k around Bray. The one thing I was worried about before committing to this thing was that I wouldn’t be able to run at the slow pace needed to cover huge distances. I really don’t mean for that to sound big-headed but I just never run that slow! We ran at the pace we plan to run Bay2Bray at and it was grand, around 11 minutes per mile. Enduro gave me some great advice regarding this: don't think "run slow", think "run long". Keep yourself focused on positive targets, rather than negative effects.

    I’m 13 weeks into P&Ds 70 mpw marathon schedule which should take me up to the Wicklow Way Ultra at the end of March. After that the training will shift in focus to one or two interval sessions during the week and stretching out the length of the long runs on Saturday and Sundays. I know I already have a log here but I thought a more specific training log for this event might get more attention for the charity. So please like our facebook page and please chip in with any advice you might have!

    Right, time to hit the bricks!!!


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Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,196 ✭✭✭PaulieC


    Best of luck there DSS, great challenge for a great cause.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,818 ✭✭✭nerraw1111


    Best of luck, sounds like a great challenge.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Tuesday - this was the only day where I had a chance to do intervals, but it turned out that it was also the only day that I could meet up with the other B2B lads as well, so I thought it would be better to meet them and discuss this running across the country lark and leave the intervals for another day. P&D called for 4x1200m @ 5k pace, I was going to meet the lads in Shankill so I did some 400m reps @ 10k pace on the way there instead. The times of the reps are all over the place as pace was dictated in the main by hills, crossing roads etc. Once there we did a slow 10k and hashed out a plan re food, accommodation, breaks etc. On the way home I did the same 400m reps as on the way down.

    Av pace for the splits (to Shankill): 5:59, 5:43, 5:28, 6:39, 6:14
    Av pace for the splits (from Shankill): 6:14, 5:48, 6:00, 6:24, 5:36

    11 miles in total for the day.

    Friday - I had the morning off work so headed to the track for some mixed intervals. I havent done this session in a while, it makes you work but doesn't leave you overtired. Did a 2 mile warm up followed by: 2k @ HM pace, 1m @ 10k pace, and 1k @ 5k pace with 90 seconds recovery jog in between reps. Topped it off with a 2mile warm down.

    Splits:
    2k @ HM pace: 7:38
    1m @ 10k pace: 5:46
    1k @ 5k pace: 3:25

    Im doing the IMRA race tomorrow, plenty of hills so good for building strength. Its probably not the best idea to do intervals the day before a race but I have to get used to stacking hard days on top of each other (followed by the appropriate rest of course ;) )


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Saturday- IMRA Maulin

    Beautiful day for race, not puff of wind and lovely and fresh. Nerraw1111 gave me a lift down to this one and as we set off on a wee recce of the first climbs of this race we knew it was going to be a tough one. I made a plan to hang back for the first mile or so and then push on if I was feeling good. This is the last race in the IMRA winter league so I wanted to finish in a good position after finishing 4th in Howth and 11th in Ticknock.

    The race started. I suddenly found myself in about 50th position starting the first climb through the trees. I passed maybe one or two people on that first climb and then a few more on the short flat section before the second climb through the trees. I was beginning to think that I may have started too conservatively and given myself too much to do in the rest of the race! I knew the toughest climb of the race was coming up soon so I quickly made up a few places on the flat fire road section to be in a decent position climbing Maulin. This part was a b*tch! Everybody slowed to hike this section, it was very hard on the quads and I vowed to start taking the stairs in work more often! :0 there was a nice fast trail section following this but it was hard to get the legs going again. It was very tight here which made passing hard. Life eventually returned to my legs just in time to summit Maulin and I took a few more places on the way.

    The descent was hairy!! There was a narrow trail that ran along a wall all the way down but it looked very sloppy, the guy in front of me fell so I decided to run in the brush (heather?) stuff beside the trail. This wasn't easy as in some places it was knee high. I pretty much jumped all the way down the hill side. I landed with my right foot then jumped with my left foot. It would have been very easy to turn your ankle here as there was no way to know what sort of surface you were placing your foot on. I fell twice on this descent but it was great craic! Following this there was a couple of steep switch backs to descend and then the trail widened out and I could push a good pace.

    Things turned sour from here on in. With about 3k to go I met a runner on the trail going in the opposite direction who was saying that we had all missed a turn. I wasn't really sure if I should believe him as every turn I took during the race was taped or marshalled. I recognised this part of the trail so me and another runner kept following the taped route. After a while we met two more people going the opposite direction, they were going back to do the section that apparently everybody had missed. At this point I was tired but I was enjoying the run, and all this stopping to talk to people was messing with my rhythm. So I continued on following the course with the other guy behind me. There was a final steep climb here, I was blowing hard at this stage so I ran for 20 breaths and walked for 20 breaths until I got to the final fire road descent. The last bit was hard going. It was all downhill but my legs were tired from all the climbing so I really had to work to get to the finish line.

    It was a great run, really enjoyed it and I thought I paced it well which is a rarity for me! Don't know what's going to happen with the results, the IMRA site has been down since yesterday morning so we'll wait and see. When I got home I did a 3m warm down around Killbogget to loosen out the legs.

    10m total for the day.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Week 14

    Mon, 25 Feb - 4m recovery in morning, 6m recovery in evening.

    Tue, 26 Feb - 11m with 10x400m @ 10k effort.

    Wed, 27 Feb - 4m in morning and 4m in evening.

    Thur, 28 Feb - Rest day.

    Fri, 1 Mar - Mixed intervals: 2k @ HM pace, 1m @ 10k pace, and 1k @ 5k pace with 90 seconds recovery jog in between reps.

    Sat, 2 Mar - IMRA Maulin. Finished "2nd" in 40:39. I thought I ran this race really well, so it's unfortunate that all the marking trouble and the possibility of times/positions being changed will affect that. But it's only fair I suppose.

    Sun, 3 Mar - 17m run. I had to force myself out the door for this one, really wasn't arsed and knackered from the race. But I told myself that this is how I'll feel during B2B so I need to get used to it! Felt better once I was out the door. Headed down to do the bray-greystones trail as it was a nice day but it was very busy so I cut up the back of bray head towards the cross and then down along the golf course and back into bray. My legs didn't like the downhills one bit, a flatter route defo would have been the better option. But I'm trying to focus on the positives and think this is all good prep for the WW ultra. 1265ft of elevation gain today, which isn't far off the elevation gain of the Maulin race.

    Total running: 64m

    Slightly lower mileage week than usual, the P&D plan mileage will gently drop off as I get closer to the end of the plan. Only 3 weeks till the ultra!!! That has really crept up on me! Overall this has been a decent week, it's great to have a big goal like B2B off in the distance to keep me motivated and keep my mind occupied during runs.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Wednesday - 10 mile tempo. This wasn't supposed to be a tempo run, the plan called for a general aerobic run (around 7:30m/m) but when I stepped out the doors of work I was feeling good and decided to push the pace a bit.

    Legs had recovered from the hills of Saturday and Sunday and felt stronger because of it. Tempo runs are a good chance for me to work on my stride a bit more, I think I'm getting the hang of it now, I can get a good long stride where I feel like I'm gliding along and not working hard at all. At times I would switch off and revert back to a more scrambling style stride but its easier now to get back into a good rhythm.

    Some nice long downhills and a few tough climbs along the way but I finished off 10 miles in 67:45, I felt fresh after which is a good sign. that time is only a couple of minutes outside my 10m PB so I think I can make some progress at this distance.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Week 15 - Two weeks until the WW Ultra

    Mon, 4 Mar – Rest Day

    Tue, 5 Mar – 4m in the morning, 4m in the evening with 8 x 100m strides thrown in. I’ve never really liked strides. For me, they are too short to really have any effect on my running so I never see the point in doing them. During this run though they felt great, really felt strong and like I was building on previous work and getting somewhere.

    Wed, 6 Mar – 4m easy in the morning and 10 tempo run (67:45) in evening.

    Thur, 7 Mar – 5m recovery. I was exhausted during this run. I was supposed to do 6 strides but I just didn’t have the energy. I did an out-and-back run and at the 2.5m turnaround I had to (had to) take a break. Felt light headed too, the tempo run must have taken more out of me than I thought.

    Fri, 8 Mar – Vo2 max intervals. 2.5m warm up / 5 x 1200m @ 5k pace / 2.5m warm down. This was a hard session. I was looking forward to it because my last V02 max session had gone so well, but this was a grit-your-teeth-and-fight-through kinda session! I found the first interval pretty hard and I was questioning if I’d be able to do four more. But I always find that whenever you have a number of intervals to do (in this case, I had 5 intervals), once you get past the half-way point (in this case, 3 intervals), it’s a lot easier to finish off the set no matter how hard they are or how tired you are.
    Splits were very even: 4:08, 4:08, 4:07, 4:08, 4:08.

    Sat, 9 Mar – Met up with a couple of the lads doing B2B for a run. It’s hard for us to meet up for a run so anytime we do we usually use it as a chance to make plans, pitch ideas etc for B2B. It’s all starting to come together, the lads’ training is coming along. They are starting from a smaller base than I am and are building slowly increasing by 4k per week (following the advice of the legend Gerry Duffy who was nice enough to give us some tips :)) . And the list of runners doing the event is almost finalized. We have four definite runners with two “maybes”. When we are doing the event itself the plan at the moment is to run 60 miles on the first day with a few small breaks interspersed throughout so we can eat, change clothes etc. I pitched the idea that it would be much easier on us physically and mentally if we ran 30 miles in the morning and then took a long break during the day (around 4 hours – to relax, see physio, eat, sleep etc) and then do 30 miles in the evening. To me (a person who has ZERO ultra experience!:pac:) this sounds a lot easier than doing the whole 60 miles in one go. But the lads didn’t go for it, which is fair enough. During the run we will be inviting people to come and do sections with us, so if we took a long break during the day we would miss out on this. Also, even if we ran 60 miles in one go and took no breaks whatsoever it would still take us about 11 hours to do it!:eek: So to add a four hour break into the middle of that would mean we would be running into the night and getting to bed very late before an early start the next day… Anyway, back to todays run. We did a two hour run along the N11. We really couldn’t have picked a worse route for conversation...:(

    Sun, 10 Mar – Picked up my new Brooks Cascade 7 from Amphibian King so went for a wee 5 mile jaunt around my local park. I tried on the Cascade 8 as well as the 7, the 8 felt OK but kinda rigid on my feet. The 7 felt much more comfortable so I went for them. Felt great on the run and didn’t really feel like they needed to be broken in at all. Slight hot-spot on the outside of my toe after the run but that could have been caused by my sock, I’ll keep an eye on it anyway on further runs.

    Total Running: 56 miles

    So, a decent week. The mileage is creeping down in prep for the ultra but I still got two sessions in which is good. The only negative would be that I had to break my long run into two runs in order to meet up with the B2B lads. I’m looking forward to the ultra now. I’ll be on my feet for 5+ hrs so it will be good prep for B2B and I’ll learn a lot about how my body reacts to longer runs, food on the run, hydration, blisters etc so there are a lot of positives to doing it. I clocked up just under 30 miles on the bike as well this week. I’m thinking that as B2B gets closer I’ll reduce the number of runs I do a week from 6 to 4 and do a session on Tuesday and Thursday with a longish run on Saturday and a longer run on Sunday. On the days I’m not running I’ll cycle instead.

    137 days to go.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Tuesday – Vo2 Max Intervals. 3 x 1600m @ 5k pace with 50-90% of interval recoveries.

    I wasn’t looking forward to this as Fridays 1200m intervals were tough so I was sure that 1600m intervals would be horrible! I left work at four and jogged four miles home with a couple of downhill strides thrown in to get the legs used to turning over at a fast pace. Once home I dropped off my work bag and headed for the track. No hanging around I got straight into the intervals. I’m still not sure how hard 5k pace feels so I was checking the garmin here and there (the garmin was telling me that my pace was swinging wildly from 5m/m to >6m/m!:eek:) so I just tried to keep the effort even and check my splits at the end of each rep.

    Splits were: 5:34, 5:34, and 5:32. So just a few seconds slower than goal 5k pace.

    This session was a lot easier than last Fridays, and I wasn’t that tired after either which is good. 9 miles total for the day.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    P&D Week 16

    Mon, 11 Mar - 4m easy in the morning and evening. The evening run had to be cut short due to a bad blister developing due to my new runners (more on that later).

    Tue, 12 Mar - Vo2 max intervals - 3x1600m @ 5k pace.

    Wed, 13 Mar - 4m easy, just a gentle jog home from work.

    Thur, 14 Mar - 5m easy with 8x100m strides.

    Fri, 15 Mar - Rest day

    Sat, 16 Mar - 6m easy with 8x100m strides.

    Sun, 17 Mar - 13m on the DMW. As I mentioned the new Cascadia 7s were giving me blisters. Gave amphibian king a quick ring and they told me to drop down and said they'd replace them no problem. Tried on two pairs of trail runners, the Cascadia 8 (which I wasn't too mad on last week) and the Saucony Peregrine. The Saucony felt really comfortable on, grips felt great and they were quite light. The only thing was the heel was a lot smaller than I'm used to, so they would take some time to adapt to. I will definitely try them again in the future. I tried on a size 9 in the cascadia 8 (usually a 10) and they felt really good. I opted for them because the heel-toe drop is more similar to what I'm used to. They also provided better cushioning on concrete. So anyway, wasn't I describing my run?? Headed down to Shankill to take in some of the DMW. This route has nearly everything that the WW Ultra will have so its a good place to try out my new runners. First impressions were good, they were very comfortable on the road run to Shankill. But when I hit the trail they were fantastic. The grips toward the toe are fantastic and made climbing a lot easier. I hammered a few downhills too and they held up very well. Thick mud was the only surface where they didn't provide good grip but I'd say that is true of most trail runners. Hammering the descent from the tower towards pucks castle I thought I better ease off as the trail here was very muddy. Just as I stepped on a wooden post half-buried in the trail (which, ironically was put there to aid footing) I lost my grip and fell badly on my side. Whacked my knee on some rocks and have several deep scrapes on my shin and eh, glute :0 covered in muck too, thank god I found a stream to wash off In as I wasn't looking forward to running through Shankill village and ballybrack village looking like swamp thing!! Knee is pretty sore after but should be grand for the race next week.

    Toatal running: 45m

    One week to go until the ultra and another reduction in mileage this week. But I'm kinda feeling like I should be doing more? Also little nagging doubts are beginning to surface, like did I do a long enough Long run? Think my longest run was 21m, and I have to add another 10m to that in the ultra!!! Also I never managed to get out for a proper recce of the route, hope that doesn't come back to bite me on the ass come race day! There seems to be conflicting advice as to how important a recce is for this race. On the IMRA forum for the Trail run the advice seems to be that recce's aren't essential, but in discussion about the ultra the consensus seems to be that they are needed. Both races are on the same route so it's all a bit confusing :/ anyway, nothing I can do about it now...all I can do is rest up, get a few easy runs in and hit the start line as fresh as is possible.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,310 ✭✭✭jfh


    Good consistent training dss, what do you make of the P&D schedule?


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Cheers. I really enjoyed the P&D plan. I did the 55-70mpw schedule, its just a shame I dont have a nice flat road marathon in the next few weeks to see if the training has all paid off!! In the marathon pace runs I was hitting consistent 6:30 miles so I was training to go for a 2:50 marathon. I'll probably do the last 8 weeks of this schedule in prep for DCM.

    IMHO, the only draw back of this plan is a lack of 10k/5k pace runs. 5k pace runs are included in the last 6 weeks of the plan but if I was trying to run a <2:45 mara I probably wouldnt use the 55-70mpw program. Maybe the 70-85mpw program is different and has more speedwork, I'm not sure I dont have the book in front of me.

    Overall I've never felt fitter and stronger as a result of following this plan, I'd definitely recommend it. I still have a week left but its looking like I havent peaked too early or anything like that. I'll have to wait and see how the race goes on Saturday to get a proper idea of where it has left me.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,818 ✭✭✭nerraw1111


    How did you find the increase in mileage? I'm hoping to steadily increase mine over the following months in prep for a 55 - 70 programme.

    Best of luck on Saturday. Should be a tough day in the hills.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    I didn’t really notice the increase in distance at all tbh. After DCM I did 3 weeks of easy running, this consisted of 2 short runs a day of 4 miles each Monday-Friday and 8-10 miles on Sunday. So I was doing around 50 miles per week of easy running for the 3 weeks before I started P&D. And the first three weeks of the P&D plan were 53m, 56m, 58m and so on, so it was never that big of a jump in distance.

    The only tough thing about the P&D plan is finding time for the midweek medium-long run. This was 10-15 miles on a Wednesday usually so it didn’t really leave you with much time for doing anything else that day. I tried for a while to do it before work, so I was up at 5 and getting it done before starting work at 8. I was like a zombie on those days in work but it was good knowing that you got your run for the day out of the way. This might be a good option for you if you are thinking of doing the whole ‘making your body adapt to using fat for energy’ thing.

    Some good info about the P&D plan here and here for anyone that is interested.

    Which plan did you follow for DCM?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    P&D Week 17

    18, Mar - 8m. 4m in the morning, 4m in the evening.

    19 Mar - 5m. Felt very sluggish even though I kept the pace very slow.

    20, Mar - 5m. Again I felt knackered during this run as well. I was spent after 5m, the thoughts of adding on another 26m.....:eek:

    21, Mar - 4m. Felt slightly more energetic during this one but still not back to normal.

    22, Mar - Rest Day

    23 mar - Wicklow Way Ultra

    I had a terrible nights sleep before this one, but it didn't seem to effect me on the morning of the race as I was excited to take a step into the unknown and do my first ultra. Breakfast was muesli with banana, lucozade, 3 cups of coffee and Rage Against the Machine! Clothing choice was a real head scratcher for this one - I must have changed my mind 5 or 6 times... In the end I went for shorts, long sleeve top from lidl, cycling jersey, a moremile thermal top, hat and gloves.

    The food I would bring also required quite a bit of thought. I considered doing it with just drinks and gels, but I figured that there would be about 7 hours between my breakfast and the next time I would eat so it made sense to put some real food in the drop bags. I've never eaten on a run before so I went with small things I thought would work.

    Drop bags: 1x banana, 1x nutri grain, 1x half a rolled up nuttela sambo, 1x 500mls electrolyte drink, and 1x 250mls of high5 sports drink (crone drop bag had 2 high5 drinks because I would visit crone twice). I also brought 2 isogels to only be used in emergencies.

    I did no warm up before the race as I planned to use the first couple of miles of the race to warm up. The race started and I settled into an easy pace. It was hard to hold back but I knew this was going to be a long day and I knew very little of the course so it was better to be cautious starting off. I had a very general plan of finishing in about 5 hours, so I kept an eye on the mile splits - an average of 9:40m/m would bring me round in 5 hours. I planned to do the first half nice and easy, walk wherever was needed and hopefully up the pace on the return leg. The first couple of miles just felt like a Sunday jog. We hit the snow earlier than I was expecting toward prince Williams seat. The descent from here to the river was very mucky, a few lads around me slipped a few times.

    During the race briefing we were warned to stick with someone who knew the course around djouce. As we were getting close to crone I settled into a group with a few lads who have done the race before so I decided to stick with them. At crone I switched out my drink bottles, drank half of the electrolyte drink and grabbed a Nutella sambo and a banana. I wasn't hungry at all but I told myself to eat now for later in the race. The sambo wasn't great, too much chewing required. The banana was much easier to handle and more satisfying. While at crone the view of the surrounding hills cleared but the summit of djouce remained covered in mist giving an indication of what lay ahead. The djouce climb was very hard. The normally runnable trail was covered in a thick layer of snow that hid puddles of icy water beneath. My feet were frozen, I tried to run wherever I could just to keep warm but the snow was very thick in places. I have faced similar conditions in the IMRA Ticknock race earlier in the year. That time my head really dropped and it made the rest of the race a struggle. This time I was determined to stay positive as I knew I had to return to this part of the course and these conditions later in the race. I also began to formulate an ingenious plan for warming up my frozen feet should i need to on the return leg - I could piss on them!! :eek: look, desperate times call for desperate measures! ;) I knew at this point that the hope of finishing in 5 hours wasnt going to happen. I wasnt too concerned about that anymore as just finishing in these conditions would be an achievement.

    Along the shoulder of djouce the icy puddles continued. The view here was incredible, all I could see was white. No horizon could be distinguished from the snow. The group I was with had slacked off here and I broke away on the boardwalk. It was hard to stay on the boardwalk though as it was hard to see with all the snow. I just tried to steer clear of the white stuff and stay on the greyish white stuff ;). The boardwalk was also very icy so I made very slow progress here. I hit the turn at Lough Tay and started the long descent towards Ballinastoe. I passed a few of the ultra runners leaving for their return leg and the I passed the trail runners starting their race. In ballinastoe I drank nearly all of the 500ml electrolyte drink, grabbed a banana and a nutri grain - but most importantly changed into a fresh pair of gloves!!:cool:

    The climb out of ballinastoe was very hard. After a long downhill and standing around getting my drinks sorted heading back up hill was a struggle. My watch said 2:40 here so a 5 hour finish was well out the window. For the rest of the race i didn't look at my watch, I just focused on getting through the remaining miles one step at a time. On the climb I psyched myself up for what was facing me. I quickly got a banana in and passed another ultra runner before we hit the snow again. Towards Lough Tay I started to pass some of the trail runners on the boardwalk. This was a good thing and a bad thing. It was good because its always a nice boost to pass someone on the run. But it was a bad thing because it meant I had to leave the boardwalk and run in the thick snow to pass them, tiring me out. This was especially hard along the shoulder of djouce as the track was so thin and sandwiched between two slippery slopes. The decent was good fun - I tried to run in the soft powdery snow as much as I could. Thankfully I didn't need to implement the "piss plan" :D

    I had to walk the climb after the dargle crossing and I was really feeling the strain in my calfs at this point. Following this was a long descent towards crone which was tough on the legs. In crone I grabbed my remaining drink bottle, pocketed my last nutri grain and downed the rest of my electrolyte drink. My stride was getting very loud at this stage but I just focused on catching one runner at a time. The long fire road climb to Williams seat was a killer. I was breathing hard now so I ran for 30 seconds then walked for 30 seconds. As I began to feel better I stretched it out to a 40 second run and 20 second walk. I was so tempted to look at my watch and see how far i had gone (i wanted to see if I had passed 26.2miles!) but I resisted because I really didn't want to know how far I had left to go! Finally got to the summit and began the long snowy descent before hitting tarmac. The road downhill section was tough, a bit too steep after running for so long. There's no rest here as the course swings right back up into a fecker of a climb. Some great support along this part of the route though. Eventually I hit the top of the last climb and was surprised to see that I could easily shift gears and hit HM pace for the last mile. Crossed the line in 5:07:25. Absolutely thrilled to complete my first ultra on what was a spectacular course! I finished in 8th position too which I suppose ain't too shabby for a first timer ;)


    Things that worked:
    • P&D 55-70 - Amazing program, my endurance has tripled since I began this 17 weeks ago.
    • Clothes - I was worried my thermal top would be too warm, I've never raced with it before so was unsure. Turned out to be the perfect choice. Wearing a cycling jersey was also a great choice as I could carry so much in the back pockets on the run. My new trail runners worked out as well. My toes are quite sore today from them, but then again they might be sore from the 5 hours of running!
    • Drop bags - In the race I was surrounded by guys wearing back packs and carrying all their food and drink. I thought I might have missed a trick here. But reaching the drop bags gave me something to look forward to on the run and had the added bonus of dividing a long run into 4 shorter runs, which was was a boost mentally.
    • Core work - the bit of core work I do everyday seems to have had a big benefit for me. I had been worried about the long downhills as i usually get pains in my mid section, but nothing of the sort happened yesterday. Happy days.
    • Downhill technique- like the core work, the extra bit of attention I gave to downhill technique really paid off. I was a lot more comfortable than I usually am and felt like I floated the downhills rather than fought them.
    • I didn't do a recce - I didn't need to do one in the end as the course was well marked. Gambled and won!! :)

    Things I would do differently:
    • Glasses - it rained. I had to take them off. How many times must I learn this lesson!!??
    • Do a warm up - not a jogging warm up but some dynamic stretches and twists etc as my back, shoulders and arms are very stiff today.
    • Have spare hat at ballinastoe - being able to change into a fresh pair of gloves was a big boost in what was horrendous weather. A new dry hat would have been nice to change into.
    • Wear compression socks / calf guards - this would have given my legs some relief on the longer climbs and also protected my shins from the ice. My shins were covered in blood by the end and are red raw now.

    Total running: 54m

    So me being so tired during the midweek runs must have been a touch of 'taper madness' I suppose as I was raring to go on race day. I'm really happy with how the race turned out and chuffed to get a top ten place! I'm also delighted with where the P&D plan has brought me, I've really improved in several areas of my running and this made it possible for me to enjoy every second of the ultra. Completing the ultra in a good time has also given me a big confidence boost going forward and tackling B2B.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,818 ✭✭✭nerraw1111


    That's a savage result. 8th in your first ultra, in those conditions.

    I passed you on my way up to the boardwalks as you were coming and you looked v comfortable. I'd say that climb up Djouce was a killer. Hard enough on fresh legs coming down it. I reckon the conditions added around 15 mins to course


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,802 ✭✭✭statss


    great write up.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,759 ✭✭✭belcarra


    The mental toughness displayed out there should be a great help for the trip across Ireland.
    Well done!


  • Registered Users Posts: 228 ✭✭Walkedit


    belcarra wrote: »
    The mental toughness displayed out there should be a great help for the trip across Ireland.
    Well done!

    +1 DogSlySmile
    Just found this and as a newbie 5 HR DCM guy I'm in awe!
    Great report, and good luck in B2B


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,548 ✭✭✭Marthastew


    Congratulations on a top 10 Finish and a fantastic race. I really enjoyed your report, you actually make it sound enjoyable in spite of the conditions:)
    As belcarra says you'll be able to draw from this experience this summer. I imagine the conditions will be much better also. Best of luck with the rest of your training and well done on taking on such a challenge in aid of such a great cause.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Cheers guys :)

    Just looking at the results there, that was an incredible performance by the winner to finish 20 minutes ahead of Paul Tierney, who is no slouch :eek:

    Then again, with a name like Jonny Steede he was either going to be an amazing ultra runner or a pornstar!!!:pac:


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Did my first run since the ultra today. A handy 4 miles into work. My legs werent too bad after the race, there was the usual stiffness for a couple of days but they were back to normal by Wednesday. I suppose thats another benefit of following P&D...

    I'm considering doing the trailblazer in Bray next Saturday. I've run the route a few times so would be nice to do a race on it. The trail is very tight most of the way so it will be an interesting course for a race. I'll keep doing easy miles for the rest of this week and see how the legs are next week before I make a decision about it. Entry on the day is €25, and to enter online its €23 so it wont hurt the bank to wait until the day of the race to make a decision about it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,310 ✭✭✭jfh


    great report, just getting around to catching up on your log.
    well done, it's all been said before, but your one tough nut. you'll do serious damage to that marathon PB.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    jfh wrote: »
    great report, just getting around to catching up on your log.
    well done, it's all been said before, but your one tough nut. you'll do serious damage to that marathon PB.

    Thanks man, looking forward to jfh vs DSS in October!:P


  • Registered Users Posts: 767 ✭✭✭wrstan


    Fantastic run over the hills DSS. Savage result for your first ultra. Sounds like amazing conditions and experience. I'm only just catching up on it all now - I had been looking out for a report on the "6.2 miles in ..." log, and was getting worried that you might still be up Maulin trying to find the path in the snow. :o

    Looking forward to a decent catch up over a few miles around Killiney/Bray/Enniskerry some weekend.

    Keep up the great form.

    B


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Cheers Bill! I'm still buzzing from it and every know and then I think to myself 'feckin hell I actually didthat!' :eek:

    Let me know if you or any of the other Sunday run guys are up for doing the trailblazer race next week. I'd say you guys know every inch of the bray-greystones trail so you would have an almost unfair advantage over the rest of the field!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Fri, 29 Mar - Just did the usual 4m into work. Took it nice and handy as it was my first run since the ultra.

    Sat, 30 Mar - Had to do a few hours in work so I ran there and back. I had to reign myself back during this one as at times I was hitting <7m/m easily. Its a good sign I suppose, but recovery is the name of the game this week.

    Sun, 31 Mar - Had my first hangover in about 3 months so I headed to Killiney to let the hills sort me out :p Havent ran this route in a while, in the past I ran it ~3 times a week. Its still a good run, good to be back on it.

    Mon, 1 Apr - A handy 8m in the wind. Did this one all on grass in Killbogget and Clonkeen park to take it easy on the joints after all the hills yesterday.


    With the ultra behind me I've started looking ahead to the summer and races I want to do. Obviously B2B will be the central focus of my running this year but Im still determined to hit 34:XX for 10k. I just cracked the spine on Daniels running formula and his plan is 24 weeks long. I was looking for 10ks to target that are roughly 24 weeks away. Theres not many races that will suit, especially not in Dublin. Maybe I'm looking a bit too early??

    Looking at something a bit closer the Docklands 10k and Dunshaughlin are both 12 weeks away. Both look like good candidates for a pop at my pb but I would have to cut Daniels plan to bits to peak for a 10k in twelve weeks. Also with B2B at the end of July and the tapering and recovery that will go with that I'll be missing out on a big chunk of the racing season. The Lakes 10k in Blessington is at the start of September (so 23 weeks away, 6 weeks after B2B), looks like a good course and is for charity too. This might be the race I'm looking for, but I've targeted charity races before and been let down with timing, organisation etc. So far from what I've read The Lakes 10k is getting very good reviews so it looks promising.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,526 ✭✭✭Killerz


    Great running in the ultra, nice report - and excellent finish position. Making me giddy ahead of Conn Ultra, thought I wont be putting in a performance anything like that! More good things ahead for you, DSS!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Thanks, I'm chuffed with the finishing position! Wouldnt be surprised if you pulled a great run out of the bag in conn, your training has been going fantastic in the last few months by the looks of things. Best of luck in the race :)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Tue, 2 Apr – Tuesday seems to be the day when all the lads doing B2B can get together. I was almost late for this run, the plan for these runs is always to run at a relaxed pace but because I was late I had to do a couple of 6 minute miles to get me to Shankill. Once we all met up and got going it was a nice relaxed run. We kept it around 9:30m/m which is a bit faster than we usually do (we usually do 11m/m) and ran 10 kilometers. Once we were finished I started to run home and was hitting 6ish minutes per mile. After a while I copped on and slowed down. Did 10m in all.

    Wed, 3 Apr – I wore my adizeros last night and woke up for this run feeling quite stiff in my ankles and calfs. Maybe 10 miles is too much for me in racing flats? This was the usual in-and-out of work run. 8.6m.

    Thu, 4 Apr – Same as the previous run - 8.6m but with a few 100m strides thrown in.

    Sat, 6 Apr – Gaelforce Trailblazer 10k

    I was looking forward to this race but left it until the last minute to sign up as I wasn’t sure how recovered I was after the ultra. I made the plan to start off at about 6:30 m/m and then push on after 5k if I was feeling OK.

    The race starts on Greystones beach with about 800m of running in soft sand. This was a hard section to pace as you want to start quickly to keep contact with the leaders but it required a bit of effort just to keep a fast jog. After that the route climbs away from the beach onto the road going towards Greystones harbor. I took a quick glance at the watch here and saw I was pushing 5:30m/m. I was feeling ok but decided to ease off a bit as I wasn’t sure how much I had in the tank after the ultra. I was in 10th place at this point.

    I recognized the guy just in front of me, he has finished ahead of me in a couple of 10ks so I knew if I could stick with him until the end I would be doing well. By mile 2 I was running alongside him and we got to chatting (probably an indication that I could be running harder!). We made a plan to work together. We started to approach the first few climbs of the race; he took the lead for the first hill and I jumped in behind him. At the next hill I took the lead and he got in behind me. We did this a few times, exchanging the lead between us. He warned me that there was a steep climb coming up. It was my turn to take the front so I accelerated and climbed the hill at a good pace and continued on the descent. When the route flattened out I realized I couldn’t hear the other guys footsteps anymore. As I was rounding a turn I looked back and he was about 30ft behind me. I didn’t know what to do! We had made a plan to work together and now I was out in front of him, didn’t really know if I should hang back and wait for him or push on? ? In the end I decided to keep going, I told myself that he was a good runner and would probably catch me on the next downhill section anyway…

    Following this I enjoyed the trails and took in the sights of Dalkey island in the distance. Passing a cameraman he said I was in 8th place. The guy in 7th was about 30 seconds ahead of me and I knew it would take a huge effort to cut that distance. Rounding the final corner of the trail before the steep descent to the seafront gave the best view of the day. The sun was dropping down behind the Dublin mountains, I almost stopped to take it in! The descent to the sea front is a real quad buster and my quads got no respite as the final section of the race was a full length run of Bray beach. This part was extremely tough. The last mile of any race is usually hard but the stones on the beach made it a real challenge. It was hard to build any momentum as my feet would slide off in different directions as the stones shifted under my weight. What is also tough about is that you have to run PAST the finish line and then loop back around for the home straight on the prom. Gave it one final push and finished in 37:34 and 7th place.

    Splits: 6:22, 6:08, 6:37, 6:22, 5:44, 6:12, 0:13 (for 0.4m).

    Its too bad the course was short (6.04m) as it would have been quite easy to move the start/finish line back a few hundred meters.

    Sun, 7 Apr – 6.5m. Got out and did a slow run on grass to shake the legs out after the race. Still a bit stiff after the run.

    Total Running: 51m

    Looking forward to getting back to 10k running in the next few weeks. Planning on doing the McMillan 10k workouts with a view to setting a new PB in about 12 weeks time. I had a look at Daniels but his sessions build over 24 weeks so it would be hard to pick and choose which ones would be the most appropriate as the goal race comes closer.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,759 ✭✭✭belcarra


    Tue, 2 Apr – Tuesday seems to be the day when all the lads doing B2B can get together. I was almost late for this run, the plan for these runs is always to run at a relaxed pace but because I was late I had to do a couple of 6 minute miles to get me to Shankill. Once we all met up and got going it was a nice relaxed run. We kept it around 9:30m/m which is a bit faster than we usually do (we usually do 11m/m) and ran 10 kilometers. Once we were finished I started to run home and was hitting 6ish minutes per mile. After a while I copped on and slowed down. Did 10m in all.

    Well done on the 10km 6 miler DSS!
    Just looking at that pace for the long run strategy...Is it a bit too slow? I ask because you are much faster than me and anytime I've ran at that slow pace it has felt really unnatural to me. I paced 5hrs last year in DCM and the pace involved meant it was almost as tough as a fast marathon because I found I was using different muscles and also using other muscles to brake when I was going too fast.
    I'm no expert in the 'Ultra-Ultra running' like you are planning but have you considered running at a slightly faster pace which is a little more natural and then maybe taking short walking breaks every 45mins or so to allow the body to rest?? Just a thought.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    I'm no expert either! But yeah I agree with you, I feel a lot more comfortable running around 8m/m than 11ish. But i sought the advice of the great and wise Enduro before i started this thing and he said that slower is better when covering the distances we are going to be doing. So it's just something I'm going to have to get used to. He also said that as we are doing This run over 3 days, the easy pace will feel alot faster when we are getting closer to dublin. I've only done 2 or 3 runs at that pace and every time it gets a bit easier (well, it's always easy, but you know what I mean!)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,818 ✭✭✭nerraw1111


    Nice running. That’s a good result. Was half thinking of giving that race a go. Sounds like a nice course.

    On another note, going back to when you did your 10km training programme, how did you choose what times to target in races?

    I’m looking at McMillan calculator and it’s a bit all over the place. Giving me faster/slower times based on different PBs.


  • Registered Users Posts: 570 ✭✭✭Perkina3


    Had similar problem when I used the calculator... :/


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    nerraw1111 wrote: »

    On another note, going back to when you did your 10km training programem, how did you choose what times to target in races?

    Cheers man. I just had a look back over my garmin history there and I only did two road races during my 10k training (DLR Bay 10k and Great Pink run 10k). Other than that I did a few IMRA's which as you know are impossible to run with a specific pace in mind. The DLR Bay 10k came early in my training program so I used a conservative pace of 6m/m to set a new PB and see how I was fixed going forward in the plan. In the Great pink 10k I went for 5:36m/m. A few things went against me that day but in hindsight it was too aggressive a target.

    Starting this week I'll be doing 10k reps at 5:45-5:50m/m pace for a few weeks and then 5:35m/m in about 6 weeks if I feel like I can manage it. If not I’ll stick with 5:45-5:50m/m pace and hopefully get my 10k time down to under 36 minutes.

    What pace are you targeting for 10k? Have you a goal race in mind?
    nerraw1111 wrote: »
    I’m looking at McMillan calculator and it’s a bit all over the place. Giving me faster/slower times based on different PBs.
    Perkina3 wrote: »
    Had similar problem when I used the calculator... :/

    I just saw today that Jack Daniels has a calculator - http://www.runsmartproject.com/calculator/

    Its probably similar to McMillan but it might be interesting to see what results you get with it


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,818 ✭✭✭nerraw1111


    Cheers. Very little road races myself so feck all to base it on. Thinking of targeting sub 37. That's based on a garmin measured i.e. short, net downhill 10km time trial a few before weeks before DCM. That was 37.20. Will give the park runs a bash and find my level. JD plan has races this weekend and next.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Tuesday – Short Intervals (11x400m)

    This was my first interval session for a long while and I was looking forward to getting back to some hard running. My warm-up was more of a struggle, however. The plan was to jog the 4 miles home from work and then head straight over to the track. 4 miles is long for a warm-up I know but I have to get home somehow! Anyway, on the jog home I was keeping it nice and easy. I was running on a strip of grass that lined the path and just as I was about to leave the grass I tripped on something and hit the ground pretty hard. Nice gash on my knee and elbow and wallop to my ribs (again!). I got up pretty winded and found that the screen on my garmin 305 had been completely smashed!!! :mad: FFS!!! Pissed off and holding my ribs I hobbled the rest of the way home trying to find a stride that didn’t hurt my ribs too much. When I got home I thought about abandoning the intervals but I’m a complete moron so I dusted myself off and headed over to the track :pac:.

    The plan was to do the 400s in about 77-78 seconds. Starting each interval made me wince as the movement of swinging my arms wasn’t too kind on my bruised ribs. It eased after about 100m though. I bumped into wrstan and his pal Joe who were also doing 400s. We were planning on different paces so I let them do their thing. After a few intervals I suggested doing them together, with me starting 10 seconds after the lads. I overdid it on the first one and chased the lads too hard but after that I tried to keep it more consistent. I was supposed to do 12 intervals but lost count so only did 11 in the end.

    Splits: 78, 76, 76, 77, 75, 75, 75, 70 (chasing wrstan :P), 77, 77, 78.

    Did a bit of a warm down then headed home to price up a new garmin. Looking at the Forerunner 310xt, looks to be getting very good reviews and is well priced compared to other models. I like the look of the 405, 405cx and 410 but the reviews of the bezel are putting me off. A definite advantage of the 310xt is the 20hour battery life which will be great for the long days of B2B.

    10.7m in total.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,196 ✭✭✭PaulieC


    I hope the first thing you did when you fell was to look around to see if anyone saw you ! You're always fine if someone saw you as you just HTFU and get on with it. If nobody saw you then you're free to feel the booboo and have a little cry to yourself :D


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    I was on Leopardstown rd when it happened, as you know its a pretty busy road so I'm sure plenty of people saw!:o Morto, as the kids say...


  • Registered Users Posts: 767 ✭✭✭wrstan


    That was a nasty looking gash alright. Hope the ribs especially are feeling a good bit better 24hrs on. It didn't seem to be impeding you too much!

    I have the 405 and am very happy with it. No issues with the bezel apart from when it rains and I have a long sleeve top on, in which case I just lock the bezel. I got the cx but my recollection is that the only difference between the 405 and the 405cx is the other stuff that's in the box - maybe someone else can confirm, and you probably have the other stuff from your current watch!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Thanks for that, I was actually admiring your 405 at the track on Tuesday! Its a smart looking watch, a lot easier on the eye than some of the other models! But I think I'll go for the 310xt mainly for the 20hr battery life. We'll be doing some long days during B2B and I want to have a garmin trace of the whole route so I can get it tattoo'd across on my back as a memento when I'm finished*

    *I will definitely not do this:pac:


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,310 ✭✭✭jfh


    you must have hit the ground fairly hard if you broke the screen & then to continue with the 400's that dedication:eek:


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    jfh wrote: »
    you must have hit the ground fairly hard if you broke the screen & then to continue with the 400's that dedication:eek:

    My girlfriend called me a 'complete and utter gobsh1te' for falling and then heading out to do 400s :confused: I think I prefer your appraisal of the incident!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Nice article for anybody interested in training for an ultra - http://runhappens.com/quality-vs-quantity/

    It discusses quality vs quantity with regard to ultra training and seems to favour a high intensity - low mileage approach.

    This is good news for me and anyone else trying to set a new 10k PB while training for an ultra :D
    basically have it in mind that over time you should aim to increase the *intensity* of your running, even if this means actually reducing your total mileage, and not just aim to add to the gross number of miles you run each week.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,310 ✭✭✭jfh


    they just don't understand ..

    see you going back to the 10km, i completed the macmillan ultimate plan with the odd tempo and it worked for me. plus it's only 7 weeks so not too long, i couldn't tie myself into a 24 week plan.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    jfh wrote: »
    they just don't understand ..

    see you going back to the 10km, i completed the macmillan ultimate plan with the odd tempo and it worked for me. plus it's only 7 weeks so not too long, i couldn't tie myself into a 24 week plan.

    Thats good to hear, and you only did 7 weeks? did you do each session once a week, once every two weeks or how did you plan them out?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Friday - McMillan 10k Intervals no.1 (6x1m@ 5:45m/m)

    I must have done something awful to Mr Garmin in a previous life. After my 305 was smashed on Tuesday I have been using my old 110. The 110 was fine. It got me through Tuesdays interval session, about an hour of running on Wednesday and an hour and a half on Thursday. I turned it on as I was heading to the track and... nothing, no response, dead :( I knew there was enough juice in the battery but I ran back inside to see if a quick charge would jolt it back into life ER style. Again, nothing :mad:. I tried all manner of hard resets, and tips provided by others in a similar situation but nothing worked. I have 2 garmins, and they are both f*cked.

    Thankfully, I had received an email this morning saying that my new 310xt was being delivered today. So I changed clothes and waited for the doorbell to ring. About an hour of nervous agonizing and peeking out the curtains passed before I had my new garmin charged up and ready to rock :)


    Now to the intervals. I've tried these intervals before, I've never completed the whole set however and I'm adamant I'm going to complete them this time around. The first set in the series of workouts is 6 x 1m @ goal 10k pace with 3-4 mins recovery (more info on the McMillan intervals here). My goal pace for these intervals is 5:45. I will increase that pace to 5:35 in a few weeks if I feel I am able. But for now 5:45 pace is where I'm at.

    The first interval went fine. Blowing a bit, and the rib is still sore which isnt helping anything. Interval 2 was slightly easier. On the third one I lengthened my stride (I keep forgetting to do this!) so I was working less but keeping the same pace. Over the 4 and 5 rep I tired and 'forgot' how to lengthen my stride. The 6th one was the easiest of the lot.

    Splits: 5:39, 5:39, 5:34, 5:39, 5:36, 5:34

    So a bit faster than I wanted, but its a good indication that I can probably move up to 5:35 pace in a few weeks. But for now I'll stick with (aiming for) 5:45 pace.

    The new watch is great! I was trying to get the virtual partner thing set up but I didnt manage it. I think that would be a great thing to have during intervals and tempos, it would stop me from deviating from goal pace like I did today. I just hope the f*cking thing doesn't break!!!! :pac:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,526 ✭✭✭Killerz


    Nice article for anybody interested in training for an ultra - http://runhappens.com/quality-vs-quantity/

    It discusses quality vs quantity with regard to ultra training and seems to favour a high intensity - low mileage approach.

    This is good news for me and anyone else trying to set a new 10k PB while training for an ultra :D

    Totally agree with the idea of quality vs quantity in training for not just ultras but all races. Everyone is different, but I've seen many people suffer from just building up 'junk' miles in training, expecting great results solely because they've notched up x amount of miles. I think even the discipline in the shorter sessions will be beneficial to you, mentally as well as physically, imho.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    15 Weeks to go:

    Tue, 9 Apr - 4m recovery pace in the morning. 11x400m in evening.

    Wed, 10 Apr - 5m Recovery to work

    Thu, 11 Apr - 6m run to work in the morning, 4m run in evening.

    Fri, 12 Apr - 11m w/ 6x1m @ 10k pace.

    Sat, 13 Apr - LSR. Met up with two of the other lads doing B2B down in Shankill. We headed off at a slow pace through Dalkey, Dun Laoghaire, and Blackrock before turning at Nutley lane and returning along the n11. I nearly had to turn back after a mile as my ribs are still pretty sore, it made it hard to breathe naturally. Despite the easy pace I was feeling the 10k pace intervals in my legs, especially my hips and glutes. But this was a good run. At 3.5hrs long it gave an insight into what will be faced while doing B2B. I had my usual bowl of muesli before the run but was getting pretty hungry by about 15m. I resisted the urge to eat the emergency bar I had in my pocket - I think these runs are the perfect opportunity to get my body used to burning fat for fuel. I was starving my the time I finished and ate the house down as a result! 21m in total.

    Sun, 14 Apr - Headed out for another slow run to round off the week. I've never listened to audiobooks before on the run but I had 'Born to Run' loaded up for this one. I think it will help with the boredom of the LSR as we get closer to B2B. Headed down to Shankill and ran some of the trails of the DMW. Ribs still at me. 13.5m.

    Total Running: 72m

    A pretty good week. Well, apart from the 2 broken Garmins and the bruised ribs! Things are starting to come together for B2B as well. We have the accommodation sorted :) A hostel in Galway, hotel in Athlone and NUIM in Maynooth! Now we just have to start raising some money for the charity. I'm putting the final touches on a training program that will bring me up to the end of July. Its mostly based on P&D's schedules but with more intervals and back-to-back long runs on the weekend. Will post up here when its ready for your opinions and suggestions.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭DogSlySmile


    Tuesday - 4m recovery in morning. 10m with 6 x 800m @ 5k pace in evening.

    Good session this. It was pretty windy but it was only in my face going around one bend of the track and was behind me/in my side for the rest. Bumped into wrstan again who was doing 400s and running well.

    The plan was to try and do each 800 in 2:40 each. Struggled on the 4th rep and contemplated calling it a day, I took a long recovery after that rep and continued on to 5 and 6. Tough session. But thats the point.

    Splits: 2:38, 2:40, 2:38, 2:41, 2:43, 2:41.

    Planning on doing the second McMillan session tomorrow (1x2m + 4x1m @10k pace) if I can get out of work early enough. The wind is crazy out there right now so I hope it calms down! :eek:


  • Registered Users Posts: 767 ✭✭✭wrstan


    Good luck with that McMillan session today, thankfully wind seems to have died down a bit. Are targetting 05:45 miles?

    You're looking very strong, that is despite the cuts n bruises, busted ribs and broken watches! Dangerous sport this :D


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