DCM 2013-5 Time Marathoner,1st Time Dad

Cartman78

Fri 30th - 10.05k - 42:39 mins

Felt like a million dollars during this run - I reckon this would have been a sub-40 style effort on a flat course during a race. Probably haven't felt that good since Dungarvan 10 mile last January

Sun 1st - 17.76k - 81:37 mins

Busy all day so no proper long run - happy enough with this though.

Tues 3rd - 8.25k - 37:05 mins

Can't remember this run now so must have been fairly humdrum :P

Fri 6th - 15k - 68:21 mins
Again, similar to last Friday, felt very strong and 15k seemed like a short run.

Sun 8th - 30k - 149:52 mins

Out at the crack of dawn (well around 9ish)...first morning trying my proposed marathon breakfast of weetabix, banana and natural yogurt and it worked a treat thankfully. Also first time in yonks having a gel which also did the business. Happy enough with the run and consistent pacing. Interestingly, both this and my last LSR both had avg.speed at 5min kmh exactly, so maybe after 10 years of running, I've finally figured out how to run at a steady pace.

My plan for DCM is to aim to run 4 x 10ks at sub 50 min pace - that gets me to 40k at ~ 3 hrs 20 mins (hopefully a few mins less) and then, if there's anything left in the tank, I push on for a PB/Course PB....foolproof eh??

Cartman78

Goals for 2013:

1) Make it to DCM Startline in one piece - Should be ok for this one hopefully; calves starting to tighten a bit though so might book in for some dry needling in the next week or two

2) Sub 3:45 would be nice - this is well within range; would take a bad niggle or bad blow up on the day to miss out

3) Sub 3:30 would be nicer - possible I think if I can get my pacing right on the day; tempted to go with the pacing group and see how it feels

4) PB (< 3:26) would be great - outside chance but not impossible; would need everything to go really well on the day but realistically, given the year I've had re: training, scraping in under 3:30 would be a major success.

5) Get under 40mins for 10k again - not sure if this is going to happen now; have done zero specific speed training this year and that's deffo whats missing. Tempted to do a 10k this Friday - would be happy with a sub-41 and would really need to bust a nut to get near 40 mins.

6) Half-Marathon PB (<1:35) if I can find a race that suits - all signed up for Galway Bay Half in a couple of weeks. Should be achievable I think but will be closer to 1:35 than 1:30

Cartman78

Tues 10th - 8k - 40:29 mins

Really had to drag myself out for this one but glad (as always) that I did in the end.
Treated it as a recovery type run from the LSR so hence the slow pace - also taking it easy in the dark and on badly worn paths. Would be spectacularly stupid to pick up an injury pushing myself to hard in the dark for the sake of a few seconds per km

Cartman78

Fri 13th - 10k - 42:53 mins

Went out a bit later than planned so this ended up being a race against darkness - felt really good and this was probably in my top 3 or 4 times for this particular route.


Weekend - was a write off - felt burned out and sick...achey all over :mad:

No long run so spent Sunday on the couch watching the Great North Run and the Triathlon final.

The slight niggle in my hip/glute/lower back flared up too quite badly - managed to get physio on Monday evening. Basically my hip flexors & glutes are on strike, therefore resuliting in back pain and probably overloading my calves/achilles as well.

Have a few exercises to do so hopefully they do the trick. Felt like shoite yesterday too but much better today so might try a gentle jog tonight if i get a chance

Cartman78

Thurs 19th - 6k - 28:45 mins

This was basically an am-I-still-injured-or-not run ; took it very very easy and was just glad to be out and about after what transpired to be a stressful week.

Have the usual raft of new exercises to do - there's a couple of Pilates style movements involved too.

Struck me eventually that I'd be give a couple of very similar exercises to do about 4 years ago by my previous physio but they obviously got dropped along the way. I guess if I was to try and do all the exercises/stretches I've been told to do over the years, I probably wouldn't have much time for anything (work etc.) let alone running

Cartman78

Sun 22nd - 32k - 163:45 mins

Drove out to UL early yesterday morning - couldn't face doing another long run in the punishing hills near where I live.

Went ok - fell off my goal pace a bit and no major injury concerns during the run itself. The breakfast worked a treat again, and the gel and Lucozade Sport did the biz too.

Left achilles was starting to ache yesterday evening and quite tender this morning (but glad to not that right hip/lower back a-ok) - might ice it later and stretch the shoyte out of it.

Looks like I'll be hobbling onto the start line yet again...I think a sub-3.30 is probably beyond me right now. Sub-3.40 is probably a more realistic target tbh.

Mayo losing yet again yesterday has filled me with confidence :rolleyes:

Cartman78

Tues 24th - 6k - ~28 mins

Gentle evening jog to test out the various niggles after the weekend run. Went ok.

Thurs 26th - 5k - 22:45 mins

Tight on time so ended up doing some sort of tune up run ahead of half marathon on Saturday. Slightly concerned about my lack of mileage but I think getting to the start line in Dublin in half-decent shape is probably my main goal now

Cartman78

Saturday 28th - Galway Bay Half Marathon - 96:35 mins

Gorgeous day in Galway; had a very broken night's sleep due to Cartman Jnr. teething but arrived at the start line feeling pretty ok.

My aim was to run 2 x 45 mins 10k and see how that felt. I think my official half marathon PB is around 1:35 from Bantry a good few years ago so thought there might be an outside chance of beating that if the day went well.

Started off grand and felt comfortable for first 5k (was eerily bang on target pace). Found it a bit harder heading back towards town with the headwind so lost a few secs off pace at 10k (45:10).

Had a gel at half-way and felt like a million dollars Picked up the pace a bit and ran very strongly from halfway thru to ~ 17k. Started to struggle a bit then and found the last few km's a bit tought tbh.

In hindsight, I should have probably gone with 2 gels at 5 and 10 miles. Might have avoided feeling so zonked at the end. Or maybe it was the heat? Or the crappy night's sleep

Who knows - as usual this year, I finished a race in a time that I would have been happy with at the start but feeling like I didn't do myself 100% justice on the road. Still though, it's a possible PB (can't find the results online or in my archives) and deffo my fastest half in 8 years or so.

All the online calculators extrapolate my time out to a 3:22 marathon which is both encouraging and ridiculous at the same time. I know my mileage is waaaay to low - I think a sub 3:40 is more realistic at this stage.