The Hardest Mile(s).

elPadrino

In an effort to keep myself motivated (and accountable), I've decided to start a log. I started running around 4 years ago and have been reasonably consistent since that time. I've tended to just keep things ticking over until now.

I completed my first marathon in Dublin last October, and despite swearing for a good ten miles that it would be my last, I'm already signed up for this year's instalment. With that in mind, I've slowly been upping my mileage (have recently switched from kms) and am going to start the P & D plan in June. In the past, I've ignored all strength work, as well as being fairly bad at regular stretching. I've changed this recently and am beginning to feel the benefits. Recently I've been trying to improve my form by using Chi-running technique and wearing more minimalist shoes (Saucony Kinvaras) for some of my training. I'm hoping all of these changes will help me make some big improvements.

In the meantime, I'm doing the Limerick half on Sunday and the Portumna half in June. I'm still not sure at what pace I'll go for but hopefully I'll be able to PB in both. My PBs to date are:

Distance|Time|
5k:|19:33|
5 mile:|33:45|
10k:|43:12|
10 mile:|01:15:52|
Half-marathon:|01:39:00|
Marathon:|03:51:32|


"If it is to be, it is up to me."

elPadrino

Monday:
Started off with the basic core and flexibility routines from the P&D book.

Tuesday:
Ran 30 miles last week so am planning to take it handy leading into next weekend and Limerick. I got out this morning for 4 easy miles at an average of 9:07 pace. Gave the Kinvaras another try out. This is the longest distance I've covered in them so far.

elPadrino

I must admit that back in early March, I didn't think there was any chance of me doing the Marathon this year. I was training for a 10k as well as logging all my runs for Jantastic (Marathon talk challenge). Running most evenings, I was beginning to feel like the whole thing was becoming an obligation. This wasn't what I got into running for! When I started four years ago, I just ran for the sake of it and I loved it. I ran in the mornings before work and felt great throughout the day. Then in March I was sitting on the first bus of my two-bus journey home and dreading the thoughts of doing a session once I got home. I put it off until the morning. The following day I got up early, got ready and opened the front-door. It was lashing rain but that's not the kind of thing that normally stops me. I went back to bed.

I decided at that point that enough was enough and stepped back from my 10k plan and took a week or two off running. I had a week in Spain over Easter and I just ran when I felt like it. I loved it again. That trip really reinvigorated me and I realised that "when i felt like it" happened to be early in the mornings. When I got back, I resolved to get back to early-morning running and it's been great since. I've signed up for the Marathon and am going to follow the plan but I've realised that I have to be more flexible sometimes and just get out for the sake of the pure enjoyment of running. I did the 10k a few weeks after I got back and set a new PB so it was all good.

Anyway, enough of that.

Wednesday

Run: Lovely morning along the coast so I ran slowly to St. Anne's Park and covered a few short trails. Average pace: 08:47/Mile

Strength: Did the P&D suggested strength routine.

Exercise|Reps|
1.Push-up|10|
2.Dumbbell lat row|15/side|
3.Bench dip|15|
4.Swan|10|
5.Step-up|15/leg|
6.Lunge|15/leg|
7.Squat|20|
8.Alternate shoulder press|10/side|
9.Seated triceps press|15|

elPadrino

Thursday

AM: Fairly tired this morning so lucky I only had a slow 2 miler pencilled in. Average pace: 7:49/mile.

PM: P&D Basic core exercise routine.

That's me done until Sunday. Hopefully the weather will be decent and best of luck to everybody doing the races. Bring it on!:cool:

Goal 1: <1:39:00 (PB from Dublin half)
Goal 2: Between 1:39 & 1:43:28 (Best time in Limerick Half)

elPadrino

Saturday:

Did 1 mile on the treadmill and a good half hour of strectching in preparation for Limerick on Sunday.

elPadrino

I must admit that I was quite nervous ahead of this one. I reckon that this was down to the fact that I had only decided to do the race 4 weeks ago. I'd been getting in around 25 miles a week all year but I hadn't done anything specific to the half. As such, I really had no idea what I was capable of.

Anyway I think I'd read on here recently that nervous energy could be a good thing, so I thought I'd try to harness it. I made up a plan to start off at 8:00/mile pace and get up to 7:30/mile after 2 or 3 miles. I'd stick at that pace until around 10 and empty whatever I had left. I figured that would get me around just under my PB time of 1:39 from last year's Dublin Half. In that race I had started behind the 1:40 pacers and made it my goal to catch them by the end. It worked that day (caught them very close to the line) so I figured it would be a good strategy to use again.

So with all of the responsible planning and strategies in place, I took off at 7:35 pace, overtook the pacers at mile three and never saw them again :eek:.

First seven miles looked like this:
1. 7:35
2. 7:23
3. 7:26
4. 7:27
5. 7:10
6. 7:20
7. 7:23

I was feeling fairly strong at this point and as we headed back in towards Limerick City. There were plenty of people around and the atmosphere was great. I was using my chi-running tips to negotiate the hills using more arm swing, and flying down the descents with no extra effort. I new I had sped up as we headed over the bridge for the first time but was surprised to see a split of 6:57 I knew from running this race the last few years that the hills over the next few miles were tough on me. My next split (7:36) was the slowest of the day as I ascended by Thomand Park. The temperature was rising now and I could really feel it. I'd realised from studying the map days earlier that the route had changed a little but I hadn't noticed the new turn just after the Rugby stadium :mad:. The hill looked as daunting as a wall at this stage. I climbed over it using the arm swing again but it was getting more difficult to maintain good form. The payback for that hill was that we came out right beside the GAA stadium and a good part of that hill was cut off. I knew that it was almost all downhill from there on so I dug in. The last few miles were tough going but I managed to gradually speed up and take it home. The hosepipe that family were spraying certainly helped. In fact, I felt that the support was immense this year.

Anyway, the last 6 and a bit miles looked like this:

8. 6:57
9. 7:36
10. 7:31
11. 7:17
12. 7:15
13. 7:03
13.1 1:10

Finishing time: 01:36:34

Previous PB: 01:39:00
Previous best in Limerick: 01:43:28

menoscemo

Well done El Padrino, I was one of the 1:40 pacers, and was keeping an eye out for you, so I am glad to hear your race wen't really well!!

elPadrino

Cheers Meno. I was planning to go and introduce myself but as per usual I ran out of time. Same thing happened last year. I think you were pacing the 1:40 in Dublin last year too.

elPadrino

Tuesday:

AM: 3 Mile Recovery run. At least it was supposed to be 3 miles. Misjudged the distance and did 3.5. Average pace 09:12/Mile.

PM: Some core work followed by some good stretching and foam rolling.

Wednesday:

This morning's run was what I'd class as 'character building'. Cold rain and wind that seemed to be blowing straight into my face no matter which direction I was going. Then I got home and my GPS went Kaput. Blank screen job. I think/hope I'll be able to fix it with a hard reset.

6 miles Easy in the Kinvara's. Think my pace was around 8:40/mile.

Beginning to feel like a human being again after the exertions of the race on Sunday afternoon and the pints on Sunday night.

elPadrino

I´m over in Spain until Tuesday so training presenting some new challenges with the heat. I´ll need the practice though, as Im going to be over here for 8 weeks from the middle of July to the middle of September. I´m really going to have to factor this in to marathon training. I´ll more than likely have to start my long runs at six in the morning to avoid the sun. Even with that, it´s still going to be fairly warm. I´m not sure how this is going to work as I usually have to eat 2 hours before a run to avoid stomach problems. I´ve been doing most of my runs pre-breakfast lately and it hasn´t presented any problems. I´m worried about how this would change as my runs progress towards and over two and three hours.

Have also decided to ditch the P&D plan. I think the mileage may just be a little too much for me at this stage. I´ll concentrate on shorter distances and getting some speed until mid-July and start into Meno´s plan.

Thursday:

Strength work.

Friday:

PM: 3 relaxed miles in the heat.
Average pace: 08:10/mile.

Saturday:

Decided to try a slow(ish) 10 miler as a tester for the summer. Intention was to do the first 5 miles at around 09:20/mile pace and the last five around 08:30. Another mission was to find a water fountain with drinkable water along the way. I took off at 8am and didn´t find it too bad. Found the fountain and managed to keep more or less on pace. Went a little too quick for some of the latter miles.

Average pace: 08:50/mile

elPadrino

Sunday 12th May:

Went for a bit of a hike in the mountains and ran an uphill mile on a trail.

Pace: 10:03/Mile.

Monday 13th May:

6 very easy miles along the coastline. Followed this up by going for a fairly hilly 10k hike in the mountains.

Average pace for 6 miler: 09:25/mile.

elPadrino

Wednesday 16th May:

A.M. 3 Mile recovery run. Pace 9:00/mile
P&D basic core routine.

P.M. P&D Strength routine.

elPadrino

Thursday 17th May:

4.4 Miles @ 8:28/mile

Handy enough run along the cycle track along the coast around blackbanks and up through St. Annes.

Heading out to Malahide for the Parkrun in the morning. Have managed to get down for six of them so far and really look forward to it when I'm around. I've run it flat out some days and just used it as an easy run at other times. Thinking I'll give it a proper lash tomorrow and will volunteer in a few weeks when I have a free weekend.

PM: Core work and Stretching routine.

elPadrino

Saturday 18th May:

Had been looking forward to the Parkrun out in Malahide all week. I got up early and did a short warm-up run followed by a good session of stretches. I decided to make a few change for this run; Kinvaras were getting their first speed outing and I was going to time myself using my casio instead of the usual Garmin. I've been feeling lately that I've been holding back a little in the Parkruns based on the GPS pace. I thought I'd have a crack at just giving it my all and not worry about the distance covered or left.

We were (reasonably) on time for this until we were held up by a Garda checkpoint at Donaghmede. In the end, we parked the car at the Avoca carpark at about 25 past 9. I jogged to the start line and only arrived at the back as the signal to start went off. This wasn't ideal as I now had to get past the backmarkers before I could get going. (Apologies if I bumped anyone on the way through). I was up around the first turn before I knew it and overtaking all the way. After about five minutes I settled into a pace that I figured was about right. I was struggling without the GPS a little but I had a fair idea how long I had left. I pretty much ran the guts of the race with a lad in a purple race-series t-shirt and a few others. I felt like I was just hanging onto their tails as we headed towards the back end of the run. I doubted I had anything left in me for a strong finish but as we approached the final hill, I went for it. To my surprise, I was out on my own at this stage and overtaking a few that had been ahead of me the whole way around. I kept it going to the finish line but I was wrecked. My watch was reading 19:28 but I wasn't very confident in it being accurate. The result came through late last night as 19:32, a colossal 1 second PB

I definitely think that there's more in me over this distance. Although, I improved by 1 second on my time in the pancake flat Paddy's weekend 5k in Dublin, I was 8 seconds quicker than my previous best Parkrun time.

All in all, a good day

elPadrino

Sunday 19th May:

So I was interested to see how I'd manage on my LSR the day after running Parkrun all out. I'd hoped that it wouldn't be a problem and was fairly confident as I usually recover quite quickly after 5ks.

In marathon training last year, I had taken off to Howth village and ran up to the summit (slowly) and back down to Sutton cross on a couple of training runs. I found this tough enough but I really feel like it helped me, particularly when tackling the hills at the back end of the Dublin half in the Phoenix park. I love the hills as I generally find myself overtaking on the ascents.

Anyway, so I planned to tackle this again until I came across an article in Saturday's paper advertising a trail all the way around Howth Head. Somehow, I'd reached 32 years, most of which I've lived reasonably close to Howth, without discovering this trail. I decided (perhaps foolishly) to take it on.

So I set of at 7am on Sunday morning and ran at a pace around 09:15/mile until I reached Howth. I ran down to the end of the pier to get a good view of Ireland's Eye and thats when I started to get a slight niggle to the outside-rear of my left ankle. I decided to keep going for a bit and if it got worse, I'd cancel my plans and make my way home. I took off (slowly) up the hill past the Martello tower and soon found myself in the carpark which led onto the trail. The next 6 miles or so flew by. Ascent after ascent. Descent after descent. Twists. Turns. Rocks. Incredible views. Puddles. Wide paths. Cliffs. Narrow paths. Staircases. More staircases. By the time I'd reached civilisation again I was hooked. The freedom of this kind of off-road running really struck a chord with me. Also, having to concentrate so much on the ground beneath my feet meant that I wasn't focussing on pace or distance. I don't think I looked at my watch once. I had no idea how fast/slow I was going. There was no sign of any pain in my ankle either.

So I got back onto my normal running terrain with about 3 miles to go until home. In my manic state, I decided to try and finish off with a couple of miles at marathon pace. I started off well enough with this goal but found I was going faster and faster. I ended up finishing the last two miles at something closer to 10 mile pace.

As much as I loved this, I don't think I'll be taking it on again before DCM. It was great fun but I reckon the risk of injury is quite high and I would prefer to focus on my goal for the moment. On that front, my shins were quite sore yesterday but seem to me on the mend today. Without doubt though, I'll be investing in a pair of trail runners and going off-road again in the future

Distance: 14 Miles @ 08:43/mile

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/314804724

elPadrino

Time to get a bit of speed work done. I attempted the "Best 10k workouts" by Greg McMillan earlier in the year but bailed out after completing two of the tough sessions. Despite this, I managed to take a few mins of my 10k PB. A glutton for punishment, I'm going back for more. The plan calls for 4 sessions over 8 weeks so I'll be starting with the first in the coming days. This plan should take me up to the middle of July when I'll start focussing on the Marathon.

"BUILDUP WORKOUT NO. 1: 6 X 1 MILE
Eight weeks out from your 10K, run six 1-mile repeats at your goal 10K pace, taking 3 to 4 minutes recovery jog between each. Don't be surprised if you struggle in this workout. Many athletes become worried that their goal is out of reach, but trust me: You just need to complete the workout sequence and you'll be ready. One thing I find helps is to just focus on goal 10K pace, not faster. Some runners try to "beat the workout" by running faster but that isn't the goal. Start at goal pace and simply hang on."

I'm going to shoot for 40 minutes (optimistic) so that'll be 06:26/mile.

Monday 21st May:

P&D Strength and basic core workouts.

elPadrino

Tuesday 22nd May:

A friend of mine called over this evening so we went for a nice run. I generally run on my own but it's nice to have some company once in a while, and it's a great way to catch up.

I decided to try out the old HRM again and to run within the recommended range for a general aerobic run (copyright P&D). Is this supposed to equate to Easy run pace? According to my calculations, I was to get my heart-rate to anywhere between 142 and 161. I averaged out at about 153 over 6.7 miles. I found that I was going a little bit faster than what I would have considered an Easy pace. I'm not feeling any after-affects today so possibly I was running to easily before??

Anyway, happy enough with this run:

Miles: 6.7
Average Pace: 8.02/mile
Average HR: 153

belcarra

elPadrino wrote: »

Sunday 19th May:

So I was interested to see how I'd manage on my LSR the day after running Parkrun all out. I'd hoped that it wouldn't be a problem and was fairly confident as I usually recover quite quickly after 5ks.

In marathon training last year, I had taken off to Howth village and ran up to the summit (slowly) and back down to Sutton cross on a couple of training runs. I found this tough enough but I really feel like it helped me, particularly when tackling the hills at the back end of the Dublin half in the Phoenix park. I love the hills as I generally find myself overtaking on the ascents.

Anyway, so I planned to tackle this again until I came across an article in Saturday's paper advertising a trail all the way around Howth Head. Somehow, I'd reached 32 years, most of which I've lived reasonably close to Howth, without discovering this trail. I decided (perhaps foolishly) to take it on.

So I set of at 7am on Sunday morning and ran at a pace around 09:15/mile until I reached Howth. I ran down to the end of the pier to get a good view of Ireland's Eye and thats when I started to get a slight niggle to the outside-rear of my left ankle. I decided to keep going for a bit and if it got worse, I'd cancel my plans and make my way home. I took off (slowly) up the hill past the Martello tower and soon found myself in the carpark which led onto the trail. The next 6 miles or so flew by. Ascent after ascent. Descent after descent. Twists. Turns. Rocks. Incredible views. Puddles. Wide paths. Cliffs. Narrow paths. Staircases. More staircases. By the time I'd reached civilisation again I was hooked. The freedom of this kind of off-road running really struck a chord with me. Also, having to concentrate so much on the ground beneath my feet meant that I wasn't focussing on pace or distance. I don't think I looked at my watch once. I had no idea how fast/slow I was going. There was no sign of any pain in my ankle either.

So I got back onto my normal running terrain with about 3 miles to go until home. In my manic state, I decided to try and finish off with a couple of miles at marathon pace. I started off well enough with this goal but found I was going faster and faster. I ended up finishing the last two miles at something closer to 10 mile pace.

As much as I loved this, I don't think I'll be taking it on again before DCM. It was great fun but I reckon the risk of injury is quite high and I would prefer to focus on my goal for the moment. On that front, my shins were quite sore yesterday but seem to me on the mend today. Without doubt though, I'll be investing in a pair of trail runners and going off-road again in the future

Distance: 14 Miles @ 08:43/mile

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/314804724

Hey elPadrino, just found this log now so best of luck with things.
You and I are in around the same times although you are a bit quicker at the shorter stuff and I'd be a bit faster at the longer stuff. I'm sure however you'll fly the DCM this October!

In relation to the trail stuff it really is great fun. There are several routes up around Howth with the old tram line route being a particularly benign surface. I understand your fears about getting injured but personally speaking it's well worth the risk in my opinion, especially this far out from DCM. Lots (Including myself) run several marathons per year and still do the IMRA runs, cos in fairness if you avoid them for marathon training then you'll never end up finding the time to do them! You should consider coming along some Wed evening to the Leinster League (www.imra.ie) to give it a go!

elPadrino

Cheers Belcarra. I can't access the IMRA site at the moment but I'll have a look at it when I'm at home later.

Whereabouts is the old tramline route in Howth?

belcarra

elPadrino wrote: »

Cheers Belcarra. I can't access the IMRA site at the moment but I'll have a look at it when I'm at home later.

The site can be tempermental alright but usually fixed and working again within a couple of hours.

elPadrino wrote: »

Whereabouts is the old tramline route in Howth?

See here. There are also a few other routes on here also.

elPadrino

Wednesday 22nd May:

3 miles along the coast was the plan. Legs were feeling particularly heavy for whatever reason.

Total: 3.3 miles
Pace: 08:11/min
Average HR: 141

Did some P&D Core and flexibility routines after the run.

Thursday 23rd May:

Took on the first of the McMillan 10k workouts. This is my second attempt at this. On the first go around, I was shooting for a 41:30 10k so was running the intervals at around 06:40 pace. I actually found last night session easier (aiming for 06:26 pace) a little easier. I think this is down to a combination of factors. Firstly, I've been gradually upping the mileage. Secondly, I've been much more focused on core/strength/flexibility work. Thirdly, I've been trying to adapt my running style using chi-running. Finally, I ran last night with my brother who recently went sub-40 for a 10k. Psychologically I found it a lot easier to keep going with him there.

Anyway, the interval splits ended up as:

1: 6:15
2: 6:21
3: 6:23
4: 6:14
5: 6:13
6: 6:17

Total: 9.68 miles
Pace: 7:17/mile
Average Heart Rate: 165 (Heart rate for intervals tended to range from low 180-186, peaking at 191 as I tried to finish slightly faster).

elPadrino

Had decided to take this one easy after the tough session on Thursday evening. I'd've been happy enough to go around in 21 minutes or so. I wore the heart rate monitor and aimed to keep it at around 170 BPM.

Started off at the front at a fair clip (for me) and the HR started off equally quickly. I wasn't really looking at the watch too often as the time elapsed wasn't displaying. I glanced down after a mile and saw that I had put in a 6 minute/mile. Legs were feeling heavy at this stage so decided to slow it down a little for the second mile. Second mile split flashed up as 6:28 and the thought of a PB flashed across my mind. Split second decision made, and I was speeding up as much as my leaden legs would allow. I gave it my all and crossed the line in 19:00. This was a 32 second improvement on only last week. I've no idea where this came from?!? My 5k goal for the year had been a sub-20 so I'm left wondering how much further I could go with this.

Miles: 3.05
Average Pace: 6:13/mile
Average HR: 186


Headed home after the run and did some strength work, stretching and foam rolling.

elPadrino

Sunday 26th May:

Longest run so far in the Kinvara's so hopefully I won't have any adverse affects. Well-earned step back week coming up.

Miles: 16
Average pace: 8:56
Average HR: 141

elPadrino

Tuesday 28th May:

AM: 4 slow miles. Ankle/lower leg niggle that I mentioned a week or two ago a bit sore at beginning but loosened out fairly quickly.

Miles: 4
Average pace: 10:01/mile

PM: P&D stretching session.

Wednesday 29th May:

AM: Managed a nice easy 8 mile run (apart from the horrendously windy section on Dollymount strand) without any ill-affects. Later in the day, my ankle was at me again. I'm going to a stag weekend in Cork so I'll knock the running on the head until some stage next week to give the injury a chance to improve.

Miles: 8
Average pace: 09:09/mile

Also did P&D core and strength routines.

elPadrino

Friday 31st May:

Strength Routine & Core exercises.

Sunday 2nd June:

A nice slow 3 mile run this evening.

Miles: 3
Average Pace: 09:01/min

Did the P & D strength exercises

elPadrino

Monday 3rd June:

4 miles easy in the early morning heat.

Miles: 4
Average pace: 08:33

In other news, things were going a little too well obviously, and now I've picked up an injury. Right lower leg is a bit sore on the outside with a little swelling. Seems to hurt more when I'm walking rather than running. Anle can be a little stiff too, causing me to limp. Taking a few days off my feet and booked into the physio on Thursday morning.

Also did some stretching.

Tuesday 4th June:

P&D core & Strength routines.

elPadrino

I went to the physio on Thursday morning and she advised me to ice-up any swelling on my lateral lower legs and to just run slowly until I'm fully on the mend. Have some stretches to do also, but overall glad that I can keep going.

Thursday 6th June:

4 miles easy

Miles:4
Average Pace: 09:08/mile
Flexibility/Stretching session

Friday 7th June:

6 miles easy

Miles: 6
Average Pace: 08:51/mile
Strength/Core work

Saturday 8th June:

Parkrun

Miles: 3.06
Average Pace: 09:07

Sunday 9th June:


4 miles easy

Miles: 4
Average Pace: 08:58
Strength/Core work.

elPadrino

Despite my recent travails, I was stil holding out hope of making it to the start-line for Portumna on Saturday. I decided to do 4 miles on Monday evening at a decent pace to see what kind of pain I'd have afterwards (if any). I'd make my decision on that basis. The run went well, so things were looking good.

Then on Monday night, I woke up at 3am with an awful pain in my stomach. My nephew (baby) had been vomiting all weekend and quite a few of my family members picked up whatever virus he had. The long and short of it is that I was in a bad way all day yesterday, and although improving today, I'm still fairly weak and my limbs are quite sore. In the circumstance, I think I'll be knocking portumna on the head. I'm hoping to defer my entry until next year if possible.

Monday 10th June:

AM: Strength/Core workout

PM: 4 mile run

Miles: 4
Average pace: 7.01/mile

elPadrino

Thursday 13th June:

Miles: 7.7
Average Pace/Mile: 08:30

Friday 14th June:

Miles: 4.25
Average Pace/Mile: 08:20

Saturday 15th June: Parkrun Malahide

Decided to take this one handy in the main, running faster for the 3 uphill sections. Didn't bother with the garmin and was surprised to see that I got around in 20:01.

Miles: 3.06
Average Pace/Mile: 06:32

Sunday 16th June:

Miles: 11
Average Pace/Mile: 08:18

I also did a couple of strength/core sessions, as well as some flexibility work and foam rolling throughout the week. Overall, I'm pleased with how the week went, getting back up to 30 miles and no real problems from the injury. Seem to be over that virus now also, although I was very tired during the 4 miler on Friday. There was no way I could have managed Portumna on Saturday so I made the right call on that one. I've signed up for the docklands 5k on Thursday evening so I'm going to see if I can sneak under 19 minutes for that one.