A fourth major - Chicago 2013

Peckham

Thursday 9th May
Wasn't too sure what to do on this run. 10k training plan doesn't start until next week, so I was in limbo. I knew I wanted to do some kind of session, but hadn't fully decided on tempo, 10k pace or whatever. The rubbish weather and slightly iffy tummy didn't help the decision process.

In the end I settled on doing 3 x 1 mile at 10k pace in preparation for next week's session of 6 x 1 mile at the same pace. It really didn't matter what I chose, as it would have been a rubbish session anyway.

As my run home from work is effectively a straight line in one direction, if the wind is against you, it's painful the whole way. Today was one of those days and it was hard work maintaining 7:30 pace. After a 2 mile warm-up I hit the lap button and started into the first mile at 5:50 pace. After about a quarter of a mile I glanced at the watch and was surprised to see it reading 7:30 and realised I had hit the stop button by mistake. Rubbish start. Recovered and started again. Felt like too much hard work with a backpack and into the wind, but scraped through it in 5:54. 4 minutes recovery, and off again. Gave up after about half a mile when the pace refused to drop under 6:00. Jogged to the bus, annoyed and frustrated.

Doubt that the excessive pace on Monday and Tuesday helped either

Lessons learned:
- Can't do these sessions with a backback
- Can't do these sessions into a wind like this evening
- Check that the watch has started a new lap after hitting the button
- Run easy on easy days (a lesson I struggle to learn)

Glad I learned them this week.

6 miles @ 7:36 pace

Peckham

Friday 10th May
Fridays are a good day for long runs for me, so this will become the focus for long runs. All going well, I'm out of work at 4 so can hit the road from the office and get decent mileage done and still be home in time for putting Peckham Jnr to bed.

This route was a nice one that I've done a good few times previously. Blackrock-Sandymount-Bath Avenue-Canal-Kilmainham-Phoenix Park - North Circular Road - Sherrif Street-IFSC. Plan was for 13 or 14, so needed a few loops in IFSC to round it off to 13, and then still had enough time before my bus to squeeze in a final mile to bring it up to 14.

Felt it in the latter miles, so a few weeks of 15 or 16 mile long runs needed.

14 miles @ 7:16 pace

Sunday 12th May
This was due to be done yesterday, but was at a christening and ate far too much junk so didn't have the energy when I got home.

So after a core session that involved chasing a two year old up and down various climbing implements in a soft play centre, I hit the road for 6 miles to round off a 50 mile week. Threw in 10 strides at the end.

6 miles @ 7:28 pace (including 10 strides)


Weekly totals
50 miles (50 planned)
6 runs (6 planned)
1 abandoned session
Long run: 14 miles

Peckham

Monday 13th May
Time was not on my side today, and would have been easy to skip this run but want to keep up the momentum and with a 50 mile week planned I didn't want to leave myself with too many miles at the end of the week.

3.9 miles @ 7:13 pace

Peckham

Tuesday 14th May
McMillan 10k plan - Week 1 session
6 x 1 mile at target 10k pace (4 min recovery)

Have started this plan a few times and it has slipped by the wayside, so am determined to complete it this time and use it as a springboard into the marathon training phase. Looking for something in the first week of July, but can't find anything really suitable. There's a race that goes right by my house with options of 8k or 12k, but I feel doing one of those would leave me feeling a little shortchanged as I won't be able to target a 10k PB. If anyone knows of any good 10ks (ideally in Dublin or surrounding counties) that week, please let me know!

After last week's aborted trial at this session, I was a little apprehensive of the pace I'm setting myself (which is optimistic, but achieveable). However, last week's galeforce wind was replaced with a gentle breeze, Sandymount Strand was replaced with country lanes near where I live and there was no backpack.

There's a nice one mile stretch for this session which is on a gentle incline, so half of the reps are slightly uphill and half slightly downhill. Started with a downhill one, so it meant that reps 1, 3 and 5 were downhill and 2, 4 and 6 were uphill (with both starting and finishing on the flat). Had in my mind that the recovery for this was set as 4 to 5 minutes, and thought I was being the hardman by going for 4 minute recover, but it's only this morning I've noticed that it should be 3 to 4 minutes, so I was being generous. But I guess it's more important to finish the session, than push too hard and drop out on the 5th rep.

Overall, felt fine. Reps 4 and 6 (uphill) were certainly tough, but never felt like I was going to abandon. Not sure whether I would have finished it on 3 minute recoveries, who knows. Will be attempting minimum recoveries in later sessions.

2 mile warmup
6 x 1 mile (5:50, 5:50, 5:49, 5:51, 5:50, 5:52)
1.5 mile cooldown
Total 11.2 miles

Peckham

Wednesday 15th May
Had to get out early for this one (only 8 hours after taking off the runners after last night's session), but felt the benefits in loosening up the legs.

4 miles @ 7:36 pace

blockic

Peckham wrote: »

Tuesday 14th May
Looking for something in the first week of July, but can't find anything really suitable. There's a race that goes right by my house with options of 8k or 12k, but I feel doing one of those would leave me feeling a little shortchanged as I won't be able to target a 10k PB. If anyone knows of any good 10ks (ideally in Dublin or surrounding counties) that week, please let me know!

I'm in the exact same situation. Looking for a 10km on the first two weeks in July but their seems to be nothing around! if ya hear of any decent, let me know also!

TRR

blockic wrote: »

I'm in the exact same situation. Looking for a 10km on the first two weeks in July but their seems to be nothing around! if ya hear of any decent, let me know also!

Have you tried this running calendar?

http://www.runningcalendar.eu/

Nothing the first 2 weeks that looks decent but fit magazine 10k in Cork on the 21st and Fingal 10k on the same Day in Dublin

blockic

TRR wrote: »

Have you tried this running calendar?

http://www.runningcalendar.eu/

Nothing the first 2 weeks that looks decent but fit magazine 10k in Cork on the 21st and Fingal 10k on the same Day in Dublin

Nice one will check it out.

Peckham

Thanks TRR - might be making a trip to Obama's ancesteral home!

Peckham

Thursday 16th May
Ran home from work. Plodding.

7.2 miles @ 7:23 pace

Peckham

Friday 17th May
Plan was 16 miles home from work. Throwing stuff in the bag this morning I checked the battery on the Garmin and noticed it was down to 30%. No time to charge it, so chucked a charger in the bag in order to charge it during the day. Of course I remembered this when I noticed the charger in the bag when getting changed for the run (along with the now warm yoghurt I bought on my way into work). Battery down to 26%.

Off I headed listening to Marathon Talk, along the coast into Sandymount and then up the canal and into Phoenix Park. A lap of part of the Park, which always reminds me of racing and pace picked up accordingly from 7:20s to 7:00s. After exiting the park I noticed the watch was dead, without any knowledge of the distance before it went dead. Took a guess at the distance, but disappointed this evening that it only adds up to a 15 mile total. To make matters worse, train delayed by 20 minutes going home, but that was probably more unfortunate for the woman who decided to sit beside me than it was for me.

A shuffled 1.4 miles home after sitting on a train for almost an hour.

11.2 miles @ 7:17 pace
3.7 miles @ ???
1.4 miles @ ???

Peckham

Saturday 18th May
parkrun day, and having missed the previous two weeks it was nice to be back and great to see the event handling big numbers without much strain. I had 8 miles scheduled for today, which is perfect for a run home from Malahide, but time didn't allow for that as myself and Mrs P were heading away for the night for our wedding anniversary.

After dropping Peckham Jnr into his Grandparents, it was off to Seafield near Gorey. Plan was for me to head out for an hour running whilst Mrs P was getting a pedicure. Legs were feeling quite tired, and after an hour relaxing in the spa area the mind didn't feel in the right place for an hour of running on strange roads. I had half a mind to do 20 minutes tempo during the run, but plans for that were abandoned before leaving the spa.

Back to the room to change into the running gear, and was hoping that I'd forgotten to back some key item of gear so that I could skip the run and head to the bar for a pint. But alas, it was all there so no excuses.

Off out and down the path towards the beach. Was hoping the beach would be suited for running, but on reaching it it was smaller than hoped, so about turn and back up the path again. Hit the road at the front of the hotel and eventually found another beach to run on. Very relaxed running, and pace was quite slow. Found myself back at the hotel after 6 or so miles, so headed back in and had a pint!

6.1 miles @ 8:01 pace


Weekly totals
49 miles (50 planned)
6 runs (6 planned)
1 session
Long run: 15 miles

Peckham

Monday 20th May
McMillan 10k plan - Week 2 session
12 x 400 metre @ 5k pace (200 metre recovery)

I tend to dislike these types of sessions as 12 is a big number to count towards, and I lose interest when there are still 5 or 6 reps left to go. So, I decided to try something new and program the session into the Garmin so that I wouldn't need to worry about keeping a tally in my head. What a great function - just listen to the beeps and off you go (it even plays you a little electronic song when you complete the workout!). It keeps the tally and all you need to do is the running bit!

Did a 2.5 mile warm-up in regular shoes, before switching to flats for the reps.

Target 5k pace would have me doing the each rep in 85 seconds, so this was the objective for the session. I run these on stretch of footpath which tends to equate to 2 reps in each direction, and as it was a bit blustery yesterday evening this meant a mixture of headwind and tailwind reps. First two reps had the wind at my back, and it felt very easy. Was expecting the headwind reps to be a bit tougher, but they weren't really.

Reps went as follows
79-82-81-83-82-83-82-83-82-84-81-81
To give a 82 second average

Great session, and was buzzing afterwards. Not sure what went so well given that I wasn't looking forward to it - maybe it was the rest and easy days that preceded it, maybe it was doing the session in flats.

Home afterwards to make some protein bars which was as straightforward as the running (not certain yet about the taste though!).

Given the lack of 10k races on the weekend when this training plan will end I'm considering squeezing the final four weeks into three, and doing the 5 mile iin the Park instead. Given that my sessions are at the start of the week, this works well. It also has the added benefit of allowing me to have a bit of fun at a local race the following week, and also having two unstructured weeks before heading into marathon specific training.

2.5 miles @ 7:45 pace
12 x 400 @ 5:27 pace
1.2 miles @ 8:13 pace
(Total 8 miles)

nosnagaoithe

Peckham - I'm a Lusk man myself ....what's on? Haven't see anything advertised?

Peckham

nosnagaoithe wrote: »

Peckham - I'm a Lusk man myself ....what's on? Haven't see anything advertised?

Link.

I ran the 12k last year. Good event for its first year.

It's a lap race that starts on the Village Green, then it's down Treen Hill, out past the Garda Station and up the bypass, back up past the National School to the Green again. One lap is 4k, two laps 8k, three laps 12k.

Peckham

Tuesday 21st May
A great evening for running home from work along one of my favourite routes. One of those occasions where you realise how nice Dublin is. Where else do you get to run on pavement, grass, beach, forest trail and road all within 2 miles of the city centre.

Lovely.

7 miles @ 7:29 pace

Peckham

Thursday 24th May
2 x 20 minute Threshold pace

This session was supposed to happen on Wednesday, but workload issues and a slightly sore calf meant Wednesday was taken as a rest day and this was pushed out to Thursday. Calf had recovered somewhat at this stage following a dry needling session whilst lying on my sitting room floor watching TV. Painful, but effective.

Want to build a solid block of Threshold pace training before marathon training proper kicks off fully, as this will be a core element of the training. Decided to start off with one of my favourite versions of this training with 2 x 20 minutes at pace within some easy running in between.

Looking out the window before heading out wasn't exactly inspiring as the wind howled around, but it didn't seem too bad once I got out. An easy 10 minute run to a nice stretch of road that would give me a peaceful 10 minute stretch that would give me an out-and-back session. Target was 6:20 pace, and managed to hold this consistently throughout - comfortably hard which is how it's supposed to feel. Fun times.

Two thoughts during my run home:

1) This isn't a million miles away from target marathon pace. A long road ahead.
2) The disruption in my schedule means that I'll be doing 36 miles in almost as many hours which isn't ideal. 16 miles this evening, 9 miles tomorrow late morning.

10 minutes @ 7:27 pace
20 minutes @ 6:18 pace
10 minutes @ 8:26 pace
20 minutes @ 6:18 pace
15 minutes @ 7:42 pace
(Total 11 miles)

nosnagaoithe

Nice session that one - what's the recovery between the two threshold blocks? and do you run the 20 minute blocks at a steady effort or is it more progression style?

I'll prob do 10/12M Sunday morning out to Rush/Loughshinny and back if it suits you? Around 7.40/45 pace I'd expect.....

Peckham

nosnagaoithe wrote: »

Nice session that one - what's the recovery between the two threshold blocks? and do you run the 20 minute blocks at a steady effort or is it more progression style?

It's a 10 minute recovery. The 20 minute blocks are run at steady effort at about the pace that you could hold for 60 minutes in a race setting. It's all based on the Jack Daniels' training philosophy. More details here.

nosnagaoithe wrote: »

I'll prob do 10/12M Sunday morning out to Rush/Loughshinny and back if it suits you? Around 7.40/45 pace I'd expect.....

I try to keep Sundays free from running and focus on family stuff instead. My weekend running generally involves running home from Malahide as I'm often volunteering at parkrun there.

Peckham

Friday 24th May
Not ideal to be doing this the day after yesterday's session, but Friday evening is the only way I can get a long run done without disrupting family life.

Not a great start when I realised there were no socks in my gear bag, so had to wear work socks for the run. Once I got out running all was good. Lovely weather for it, although a bit blustery along Sandymount Strand. As I stopped at a set of traffic lights I felt a stabbing sensation in my left foot. Didn't realise what it was at the time, but taking my shoes off after the run showed a now red toe area and a messy looking foot underneath the socks (much to the concern of Peckham Jnr!).

Legs were tired, and not helped by the stop-start run along the canal as every set of lights were against me. Nice run around Phoenix Park before heading down NCR and down to Connolly Station for my train home.

Felt really depleted by the time I got home, and still fairly tired now. Early to bed and hopefully will be fine for my jog home after parkrun tomorrow. Will be paying more attention to scheduling in the future.

16 miles @ 7:16 pace

Peckham

Saturday 25th May
Another glorious Saturday morning at Malahide parkrun. Finish line had to be moved due to another event in the normal finish area which meant that it finished in a nicer grassy area and everyone could chill out in the sun on the cricket pitch afterwards.

Following the quickest post-run admin yet, I hit the road for the almost 9 mile run home. Coincidentally I was left with 8.7 miles in order to bring my mileage total for the last 3 weeks to 150 miles (bang on the target 50 mile average), which is the exact distance from Avoca Cafe in Malahide to my house! Plan was to run that distance, and no more.

Legs were definitely tired and need tomorrow's rest day. Bit of a slave to the miles over past few days, and undoubtedly some junk miles in there. But it's done.

8.8 miles @ 7:19 pace


Weekly totals
51 miles (51 planned)
5 runs (6 planned)
2 sessions
Long run: 16 miles

Peckham

Monday 27th May
McMillan 10k plan - Week 3 session
1 x 2 mile, 4 x 1 mile at planned 10k pace

There were early signs that this wasn't going to go so well. I glanced at my watch after about half a mile and noticed that my warm-up pace was about 8:30, when normally it would be ticking along about 45-60 minutes quicker than that. Legs felt a little lethargic, but I put that down to the previous day's rest.

After a 10 minute warm-up it was time to kick into the 2 mile segment. Decided to do these on the same route where I did my threshold run last week as it was flatter than where I had done the first week's session. Meant I would have to turn at some stage and come back on myself, which made sense to do after just over a mile. First mile was tough enough going, and was hanging on by the end of the second mile (avg pace: 5:53). Was bent over at the start of the recovery (5 mins) but ready to go again when the watch hit 5 minutes. A bit of frustration from the first segment meant that I went flying out of the blocks on the first mile (was averaging 5:35 after 0.25 miles) and finished the segment in 5:48. Legs were really feeling the strain of the end of last week during this one, and I was wondering whether I could go on. 3 minutes recovery and got the will to keep going and complete the third segment in 5:50 (assisted by being chased by barking dog towards the end).

Only two more to go, and I was hurting. The recovery minutes ticked by. I needed to change plan. I couldn't turn around and run back towards the barking dog, and the route ahead of me had some strong downhills so unsuited for this session. I figured there was a flat out and back 0.5 mile I could do if I changed the route slightly. Just needed to wait until an approaching car went past me before hitting the lap button, but lost the motivation. I was shattered. Time to go home.

Jogged home. 4 out of the 6 miles completed. Very disappointing, and the mileage of the past few weeks is catching up with me. Should really have taken this week as a recovery week, but want to do this next week and have a shot at a 5k PB at parkrun.

Maybe a few easy days, maybe a threshold session on Wednesday to compensate for Monday.

10 minutes warm-up @ 7:40 pace
2 miles @ 5:53 pace
2 x 1 mile (5:48, 5:50)
15 minutes @ 8:40 pace
(Total: 7.7 miles)

belcarra

Peckham wrote: »

10 minutes warm-up @ 7:40 pace
2 miles @ 5:53 pace
2 x 1 mile (5:48, 5:50)
15 minutes @ 8:40 pace
(Total: 7.7 miles)

What are all those paces in metric?:P
Tough session on tired legs but even those 4 miles alone will have been of benefit.

Peckham

Tuesday 28th May
Nice run home from work. Not much more to say about it than that.

Only 16 miles away from a 200 mile month. Current mileage record is 204 miles in March 2012.

6.5 miles @ 7:26 pace

Krusty_Clown

Aer Lingus USA Winter sales being advertised now.
*edit*: Actually, scratch that. Travel period is from 1st November (and doesn't seem that cheap).

belcarra

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Aer Lingus USA Winter sales being advertised now.

Just saw that myself. Too late for Chicago on Oct 13th though...
Travel: 01 November 2013 to 31 March 2014

Peckham

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Aer Lingus USA Winter sales being advertised now.
*edit*: Actually, scratch that. Travel period is from 1st November (and doesn't seem that cheap).

Thanks - got a very good deal in their previous sale: €980 all in for two of us. (the Peckham travelling entourage is a little depleted this time around!) With free accomodation out there, this is a good value for money trip.

blockic

Peckham wrote: »

Thanks - got a very good deal in their previous sale: €980 all in for two of us. (the Peckham travelling entourage is a little depleted this time around!) With free accomodation out there, this is a good value for money trip.

What day are you flying Peckham? Thinknig the Friday myself...

Peckham

blockic wrote: »

What day are you flying Peckham? Thinknig the Friday myself...

Yeah, out Friday and leaving Chicago on Wednesday. Arrived in Boston on Friday to run on Monday and it felt like too much hanging around.

Peckham

Wednesday 29th May
Had great plans for this run - 6 x 1 mile at threshold pace along quiet country roads in the glorious evening sunshine.

Out the door and whilst lacing up my shoes and waiting for a satellite reception on the Garmin I heard the dreaded four beeps indicating a low battery. Damnit, that's the 2nd time in two weeks I've made that error. Need to look at my Garmin set-up to see if I can get a more prominent battery level indicator. A quick check of the battery power indicated that there was only a small amount of power remaining, unlikely to be enough for a 1 hour session.

Anyway, off I went into the sunshine hoping I could get a few threshold miles done, but after less than a mile there were the dreaded four beeps again followed shortly afterwards by a blank screen.

Part of me thought of turning around and heading home in annoyance, another part of me thought of doing the session anyway and guessing paces and distances. I settled somewhere in between and decided to just do an out and back run, turning at a point that I guessed to be about four miles from home. Measuring it subsequently on gmap pedometer indicates it's slightly less than this.

Was amazed (worried?) how many times I looked at the watch even though it wasn't working.

7.6 miles @ ???? pace