My Back Pages

ultrapercy

Ive decided to start a log. This might help recover my motivation which has slowly slipped away since running a very disappointing race in Donadea 50k in Feb. Ive ran most days but aimlessly and quality has been hit and miss. The long term aim now is Dublin marathon in October.

SUN 28 April
12.25 miles inc. 8x 800 1x mile 800, 2.33 2.30 2.32 2.33 2.32 2.30 3.32 2.32 5.28. Very windy on track, first 6 800s were 200m recoveries in about 60s then took 600 meter recovery before tackling last 2 then another 400 meter before the cruise mile. Did I mention the wind???:mad:

Krusty_Clown

Any target time in mind? Any ultra goals in the interim, or are you solely focused on Dublin? Also what's your PB for the distance? I'd imagine without having an ultra the week before the marathon, you'll run an insane time. Best of luck with it. Will definitely be keeping an eye on the log.

ultrapercy

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Any target time in mind? Any ultra goals in the interim, or are you solely focused on Dublin? Also what's your PB for the distance? I'd imagine without having an ultra the week before the marathon, you'll run an insane time. Best of luck with it. Will definitely be keeping an eye on the log.

Hi KC well done in London, big break tru and more to follow for you I think. Yes I think Il solely focus on Dublin this year with 2.30 the goal. Ive ran sub 2.38 13 times now 3 of those in 50k races. My pb is 2.32.45 from Dublin 2008. Im not convinced that the 50k made all that much diference, running long races close together seems to be something I can do. 2.30 is a long standing aim and Im 38 now so time is not on my side. Now or never. The ultra career is on ice for now but hopefull Il get back to it in time, 50k is a distance that I seem suited to for some reason, the 100k is a whole different ball of wax!

TRR

ultrapercy wrote: »

Yes I think Il solely focus on Dublin this year with 2.30 the goal.

Great stuff, myself and a friend were wondering the other day would you be running Dublin this year as you would be somebody we could try and pace ourselves off. Hope your ears weren't burning

RacoonQueen

Savage. Great to see you with a log on here J. Best of luck with the sub 2:30 goal, don't let a marathon pansie like TRR beat you though.

TRR

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Savage. Great to see you with a log on here J. Best of luck with the sub 3:30 goal, don't let a marathon pansie like TRR beat you though.

Well if 3.30 is his goal I reckon he should hit it

excalibur the swordsman

Good luck

belcarra

Looking forward to following this training log.
I was wondering were you injured from your stagnation on the 1,000 mile thread but I guess you just hadn't been updating it?

ultrapercy

Thanks for the encouragement folks. TRR: be nice if we could drag each other into the 2.20s, you held a good line last October and left me trailing. If we can run as steady a few secs a mile quicker, job done. Belcarra: havent updated the 1000 mile thread in a while although I stumbled over the 1000 mile mark last sunday.
Mon 29
8 miles @ 7 min pace aprox and 30 min Strength in gym.

ultrapercy

Arril 30:

The Abortion debate.

Had to call a halt to a run after twice failing to get more than 5 meters because of severe back pain. Tried to tough it out but not happening.

May 1:

Mayday, Mayday.

!.4 mi(10 min) w/up 4x1mi (75-80 sec rec) 1.4(10 min) c/dn
miles 5:30, 5:17, 5:19, 5:22. Disappointing ,surprisingly tough was sending out some distress signals.. Seeing as I couldnt run at all yesterday however, Il call it progress. Total 7.3 miles 45:15

ultrapercy

May 2

7.57 miles 51:09 (6:43p) felt good, starting to enjoy it again. Il get serious next week.

ultrapercy

May 3

1.33 mi w/up (10min) 10 mi 58.22(5.50p) 1 mi c/dn 7.45 total 12.4 mi 76.40

ran this on a fairly flat 5 mile loop, 2 loops. Splits were 29.46 28.36, last mile was 5.30. Conditions were windy and wet so not too bad a session.

TRR

ultrapercy wrote: »

May 3
1.33 mi w/up (10min) 10 mi 58.22(5.50p) 1 mi c/dn 7.45 total 12.4 mi 76.40

nicely, do you do this sort of a session weekly and does the distance increase as the summer goes on?

ultrapercy

TRR wrote: »

nicely, do you do this sort of a session weekly and does the distance increase as the summer goes on?

ya Il get this up to 20 by september if things go ok. Did a 21 miler in early feb at this pace roughly, last 10 was sub 58 so if I can get back to that itl be good. I think 10 miles at a hard pace is a good session at any time for any distance.I wouldnt do it every week tho every 2 or 3 maybe, I always start steady and try to pick it up without going too deep into the well.

ultrapercy

Sat 4

6.47 miles 42:22(6:33p)

Sun 5

11 miles easy

Mon 6

5.84 miles 38.52(6.40p)Evening run pints last night and they took a toll.

ultrapercy

Tue 7

7.3 miles 51 mins inc 2 x 600 in 1.52 another aborted speed session.

Wed 8

5.38 miles 38.47(7:13p)

Thu 9
Rest

Fri 10

6.46 miles 44:30 (6:53p)

Things not going well at the minute and any marathon let alone a sub 2:30 seem a long way off. Il keep plugging away and try to get a path out of this rut Im in. Hopefully things will turn around again soon.

Krusty_Clown

Any tune-up races on the horizon? Might help with the motivation?

ultrapercy

Yes KC Ballina half in 2 weeks, training has been below par and I havent been myself lately but nothing like a race to shock you back to the training routine.

Sat 11

1.46 w/up 10:33 10 miles 56:42(5:40p) 1.81 c/dn 14:10

This went well, conditions were windy but not too bad otherwise. Done on a 2k loop with 1 dig of a hill of about 15 secs every loop. Split 28:24 28:16 was working quite hard at the end to maintain. This is just about 2:28 marathon pace and gives an indication of how tough a target it is, I was more than happy to wrap things up at 10 miles. Another 16.2 miles at this pace would be difficult to say the least, not impossible tho. When I went to get my training top where I had (sort of) hidden it I found it gone, as the man said. Why someone would steal an old sweaty raggy hardly ever washed running jacket is beyond me. May the fleas of a thousand Camels infest their armpits. Sub 74 is the target for Ballina Half, anything else will be a bonus

TRR

Lovely session. You're disappointed with training at the moment and can still bang out 10 @ marathon pace. I'm happy with the way things are going and I'd be pushed to do that at the moment and have a similar target to yourself. There's a lot of training to be done so I wouldn't worry but sure you know that deep down

ultrapercy

sun 12

15.17 miles 1:46:16 (7:00p) 2 x 7.5 hilly loops in windy conditions.

The wind is a real pain in the hole, we havent had 1 calm day in the last 3 months. Happy enough with this, legs were a bit tender after yesterdays hard run but it was enjoyable none the less.

ultrapercy

Mon 13

6.46 miles 46:20(7:10p) easy recovery run.

Tue 14

1.76 mi w/up 12:15 5 x 1.53 mi 2min recovery 1.76 c/dn 12:45

5 x1.53: 8:33(5:34p) 8:29(5:31p) 8:27(5:30p) 8:25(5:28p) 8:31(5:33p)

This was ran on a road loop with 2 toughish hills but some nice steady downhill on it. 90 sec -2min recoveries. Disappointed with the pace target was 10 sec per mile quicker at least.
The weather was awfull tho and the intervals felt comfortable to the point of cruising, having said that I still couldnt lift the pace.
Was soaked at the finnish top stuck to me, shoes squelshing. Just another summer day in the west of Ireland.
The positive is I got it done in rough conditions. The negetives Not even 72 min half marathon pace. Filed now and forgotten, another step on the long road back to where I want to be.

ultrapercy

May 15

6.46 miles easy jog 46:27(7:12p)

TRR

Few questions I'd be interested in hearing the answers to if you don't mind.

1) when you are normally in the full swing of marathon training what would a typical week look like?

2) What would be peak mileage week?

3) Will you be doing anything significantly different this year relative to previous marathon training cycles?

4) You've obviously been knocking on the 2.30 door for a number of years. Do you feel you were ever in sub 2.30 shape before and due to one thing or another it just didn't work out on the day?

ultrapercy

TRR wrote: »

Few questions I'd be interested in hearing the answers to if you don't mind.

1) when you are normally in the full swing of marathon training what would a typical week look like?

2) What would be peak mileage week?

3) Will you be doing anything significantly different this year relative to previous marathon training cycles?

4) You've obviously been knocking on the 2.30 door for a number of years. Do you feel you were ever in sub 2.30 shape before and due to one thing or another it just didn't work out on the day?

No bother. I normaly train much the same week in week out but put in 10 weeks ,in the lead up to a marathon or other major race, of training specific to that race. Any longer than 12 weeks and I lose focus.Typical week would be 75 miles maybe with a long run 2 quality sessions and tempo run as well. Ive been 2:30 shape last year and this year but ran 50k races instead. Ive began doing high volume quality sessions eg 5k 5x1k 5k increasing the 5k up to 10k as weeks progress, half marathon and 10k pace efforts for these sessions. Something I picked up from the ultra running is the long long run, Il definitely do a few 30 milers in my build up this time and I always throw a few marathon pace segments into those runs to keep it interesting. I ran a 20 miler in London 2 years ago as part of prep for a 100k and had no real target other than sub 2 hours. Trained hard right up to it, done a 37 minute 10k the day before on hotel treadmill,ran 1:51 in the race 2:26 marathon pace. If it were a marathon that day Id have smashed 2:30. Point being if I could treat the marathon as just another race Id probably have no problem but its an monkey on my back now and that makes it harder. People often say to run sub 2:30 you need to run a sub 70 half but I dont agree. Matt Bidwell ran 2:28 off 72 minute half so it can be done. My peak mileage will prob 100 or over but I dont focus too much on weekly mileag e realy, the important thing I think is tickimg off the quality sessions and long runs. Sorry if this post is a bit of a ramble and I hope you can pick out the info you asked for.

TRR

Great stuff, yep everything answered thanks. The long run is something I'll be looking to increase myself. Maybe not as high as 30 miles but will do a few marathon distance runs something I've never done before.

ultrapercy

May 16

8.60 miles 56:04(6:31p) inc 5 x 1mile at 5:40 80 sec jog recoveries.

didnt feel great today but didnt want to just jog so I did this token effort. Its a place holder I suppose, a rough template of a proper training week.Good to be in the rythem of hard days long days and recovery days, the paces arent what Id like but hopefully that will turn around soon.

ultrapercy

Fri 17

6.47 miles 44:50 (6:56p) easy recovery run.

ultrapercy

May 18
Balindine 4 mile, predict your time race.

4.58 w/up 28:15(6:10p) 4mle race 21:32(5:23p) 4.5 c/dn 30:57(6:53p)


Wasnt looking forward to this race, feeling lazy and the evening was very wet.
This is something of a novelty event as you predict the time you think youl run and watches are not allowed. Got to race HQ and decided to run the course as a warm up. It was still pouring rain but once I got going I felt good and did the warm up at a brisk pace.
On the start line the rain had stopped but it was cold. I had 22mins as a target even though I had predicted 20:50. I new I wouldnt run under 21 as Ive ran this race twice before with a best time of 21:12 and I was in top shape at that time.
Set off and into the lead after 150m and felt I was going well for first mile which is straight and slightly downhill. The middle 2 miles have some tough climbs and the road surface is very poor. At 2 miles, roughly there are no mile markers, I started to work hard but held on strong and finnished well on the straight flat last mile. Found out my time later at the afters.
Ran the course again to warm down. 13.5 miles for the day in 84 mins.
This is a fantastic race on a permited course. The finest spread of homemade cake pie and scones. Plenty of prizes and spots. Unfortunately the fowl weather and a rearranged race localy had an effect on turnout. All funds went to The West of Ireland Alzheimers association.
Im happy enough with that evenings work despite Mcmillan predicting 77 mins for the half off my time today. Realy disappointed with Gregs attitude lately, hes showing no faith at all.

thirstywork2

Where are you doing most of your training?

Have to agree that 10mile session is a good indicator of fitness.
I try do it out and back and come back a little quicker.Will be doing this in 2 weeks time

ultrapercy

thirstywork2 wrote: »

Where are you doing most of your training?

Have to agree that 10mile session is a good indicator of fitness.
I try do it out and back and come back a little quicker.Will be doing this in 2 weeks time

I do all my training on road or on an asphalt path around a lake. The 10 mile effort last week was ran at the lake, mostly flat 1.15 mile loop. I like to start fairly easily and pick up every mile or at least not fall off more than a few seconds.It can be hard to quicken once Ive reached 5:3x. I think effort level is the key in a session like this and not starting fast. some days Il knock out a mid 50s but another day Id be happy enough with low 60s. Good luck with it yourself.

ultrapercy

May 19

12 miles 1:20:46 (6:43p) good steady run, legs a little tired after yesterday. Things heading in the right direction.