From slow to slightly less slow

kyomi

I'm starting a training log because some of my friends have them and I've seen how useful they can be, but I know if it's the pen-and-paper type I'll never get around to updating it. Also would appreciate any advice from people who are more experienced!

I'm 37 and female and I've been running for three years, with some breaks for injuries. The main way I want to improve is to get faster, and I'd also like to continue increasing my mileage. In May I increased the amount I run from an average of 12 miles per week to 25 miles per week, usually one long (~10 mile) run, usually one short race (e.g. parkrun) and two medium-length runs of 6 or 7 miles. That has worked quite well - I didn't find the extra run and the extra distance too hard to fit into my schedule, and I've managed to keep it up since.

My best 10K time is 50:50, which I got in the Samsung Night Run in April (it must be a fast course, because every 10K I've done since has been well above 51 minutes). This is the distance I want to work on first. I thought I would give the 10K plan mentioned elsewhere in this forum a try (if you can run 3 x 2-mile repeats at your desired pace, you can do it over a 10K race) with the aim of getting below 50 minutes, but work has been really busy recently, so the nearest I've got has been one training session incorporating 3 x 1km repeats at 7:50 per mile on the treadmill during my lunch break. Not much, I know, but it's a start. I'm signed up for the Fingal 10K next weekend so I won't get much more done before then - will have to look for another 10K later in the year to train towards.

I did a 12.5 mile run this morning as part of my half-marathon training (I'm signed up for both the Rock-n-Roll half and the Phoenix Park race series half-marathon). It was my first time doing that distance since my first (and last) half-marathon last December, and I went out a bit too fast, so I slowed down a good bit in the last 4 miles, and especially near the end. I was quite stiff and tired afterwards compared to my usual 10-mile run, but I'm feeling OK now and considering doing an easy run tomorrow to help recovery (usually I just rest the day after a long run).

Now I've written that down I'll have to go and do it - I suddenly see the use of a training log!

Poncho1964

Hi Kyomi,
Log on to www.mapmyrun.com, it's a brilliant site!!!

HelenAnne

So, did you do your recovery run on Monday?

kyomi

No! This has been a bit of a strange week and between one thing and another I've only managed to do 7 miles so far, which is much less than my usual amount. On Wednesday I did four miles with the meet and train group that I'm part of, and last night I did the Liberties/St. James's Hospital 6k race. I also cycled 10 miles on Monday and Wednesday.

My target time in the Liberties race was under 30 minutes, based on my 5K time of 24:04, and I did it in 29:36 so I'm happy enough. I was being very careful not to go out too fast, as this has caused disasters in other races, and I ended up going out slightly too slow (first mile was 8:12 min, when I was aiming for under 8 minute miles all the way around). But it did mean I was able to speed up later, and my last mile was 7:24 min mile pace, which I'm quite happy with. Some time maybe I'll get the pacing right!

I have the Fingal 10k on Sunday so I'm deliberating whether and when to run in between. I'd like to get one more run done this week, even if it's a short one, but on the other hand, everyone's being very careful not to overdo it before Sunday's race, probably because of the extreme heat that's expected that day!

Darren 83

Well done on the race, I'm also doing the 10k and worried about the race just keep drinking water until two hours before the race.

kyomi

Did the Fingal 10K this morning and was a bit disappointed with my time of 52:01 - I thought I might have had a chance of coming in under 50 minutes as the course was fairly flat (and where I was, not too crowded). I was trying to stay under 8 mins per mile but yet again I went out too slowly (mile 1 was 8:12, exactly the same as in the race on Thursday!) and then, unlike on Thursday, I never really caught up. During the post-race discussion my running pals and I decided that the solution was to start using a Garmin, as the app I use on my phone only updates your pace every mile, and if you find you've gone too slowly, you have a whole other mile to run before you find out if you've sped up enough to make up for it! I might go down this route although I would also really like to improve my own sense of what pace I'm doing.

So, even though I don't have another 10K race planned, I'm going to start working on my plan to get below 50 minutes (the one I didn't really get going on before this race) by doing intervals at 10K race pace on the treadmill. I also need to do one last long run to try to go above 13 miles before the Rock'n'Roll half-marathon on 5 August - possibly on Thursday.

This was not a high-mileage week overall - I did one more short run on Friday evening (4 miles in what I considered extreme heat!) so just less than 18 miles overall. Hopefully will make up for it next week.

Darren 83

What you could, is change to km, I find it handy as you have more reference points in a race or training and have more time to speed up/slow down

kyomi

I think that's a good idea Darren 83, will just have to get used to thinking in mins per km instead of per mile! I already practise measuring my pace in kilometres at parkruns etc., so I will try moving to kilometres for a while and see if I improve at pacing myself. If I do get a Garmin at some point I can switch back to miles if necessary, as you can get updates every half mile and also just check your pace as you go along.

Darren 83

kyomi wrote: »

I think that's a good idea Darren 83, will just have to get used to thinking in mins per km instead of per mile! I already practise measuring my pace in kilometres at parkruns etc., so I will try moving to kilometres for a while and see if I improve at pacing myself. If I do get a Garmin at some point I can switch back to miles if necessary, as you can get updates every half mile and also just check your pace as you go along.

I recently changed to km instead of miles find it a lot better, pace is something that takes time and plenty of practice to get right

kyomi

Not a great running week. I did a 2-mile race on Tuesday which was quite slow compared to my previous times. I skipped my usual training session on Wednesday because I was too busy and missed a planned 10-mile run on Thursday because of all the thunder and lightning (I wanted to go ahead, my more cautious OH refused!). Did a 10K run around Howth Hill on Friday at 6.30 a.m., which was good fun (I don't usually run early so it was a bit of a novelty).

Then on Saturday myself and OH decided to incorporate the Parkrun into an 8K run by doing three extra km as a warm-up before the start. Which was all very well until we got lost among the trees in Malahide Castle and missed the start of the parkrun! We were just running up to the start line when the last of the pack crossed the line so we joined in anyway, but after the mad dash to get to the start line I was quite tired and my time was three minutes slower than usual, even taking into account the extra 44 seconds before crossing the start line.

Then this morning a planned 12-mile run turned into an 8-mile one because of the effects of a late night yesterday and general tiredness. Doing the first three miles at 8:30 rather than 9:10 per mile by mistake didn't help!

I have also been trying to get used to pacing in km rather than miles. For the run this morning I had changed my phone app back to miles by mistake, but for the rest of the week I've been thinking in km. It's not entirely foreign to me as I used km when I first started running, so it's all coming back to me. It's certainly easier to adjust pace when you're getting more frequent feedback.

So overall, I'm not going to make my hundred-mile target for the month of July (as I've managed in May and June). As of today I've done 85 miles. I have been particularly busy recently as we're planning to move house, so hopefully in August things will settle down and I can go back to my usual running routine.

FITZA

Hi Kyomi...your training log title is very apt for me 'slow to slightly less slow'. Have only ran in a couple of 10ks and running about 53min at the moment but really want to get under 50mins in the next 8 months. Have entered the Lakes 10k in Blessington for 7th September but not expecting any great time there!! Hoping theres a really really flat 10k early next year that I can aim for. Will follow your progress. Good luck!

kyomi

Thanks Fitza, unfortunately I haven't been getting any faster recently! I'd say if you've only run a couple of 10Ks so far and you're already at 53 mins you'll have a good chance of going under 50 mins in the next few months. It took me a couple of years to go from 55 mins to 50!

Re training progress, I had an easy week leading up to the Rock'n'Roll half-marathon, with 5 miles on the Wednesday and then the parkrun on the Saturday, so I was feeling quite fresh for the bank holiday Monday. I started out with the 2-hour pacers - found it really useful to follow the pacers as I've never done that before - and managed to keep up with them until around mile 11, when I regretfully allowed them to disappear ahead of me on the basis that if I tried any harder I might have to stop and walk! Luckily I did manage to keep running the whole way but I did need a nice sit-down for a few minutes after crossing the finish line. I ended up finishing in 2:02 - a bit of a disappointment as I was really hoping for under 2 hours, but there's always the race series half-marathon to aim for.

A friend advised me months ago to try to do more than the half-marathon distance (e.g. 15 miles) in at least one training run before running a half, but between one thing and another I only managed to get up to 12 and a half miles, and I think that's what made the difference. I really enjoyed the first ten miles - I've done lots of ten-mile runs so I'm used to them - but it all went a bit screwy after that. My aim is to definitely try to get up to 15 miles before the race series half, even if I don't have a huge amount of time to improve.

Since then I've been back to my usual training schedule of long run (12 miles last Sunday), short run (5 miles at lunchtime last Wednesday), hill run (6 miles around Howth Hill last Friday). I'm in Cork this week so getting lots of hill training - 8 miles yesterday and 5 today, on some quite high/steep hills, although not doing much speed-wise apart from the Route 2 Crook five-mile race next Sunday. Back in Dublin for the Frank Duffy 10 mile on Saturday week!

FITZA

Hi Kyomi, hope your Crook 5 mile went well! Just to clarify I have been running pretty much every other day since Jan 2012 but only entered one 10k last year (57.52mins) and two so far this year, with another two entered for Sept. So getting to 53mins wasn't just after a couple of runs unfortunately....and not getting any faster at the moment! Good luck in Frank Duffy 10mile!