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Confessions of a never has been.....
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17.12.2013
The original plan for this evening was for a standard 14 mile LSR BUT...I copped on about 3 miles in that I had promised myself a few weeks ago to wind things down a bit from today until the end of the year in terms of mileage. A few reasons for this:
1 - I only took 2 days off running after DCM ( although I did drop to 5 days running instead of 6 and dropped to 30+ miles per week instead of 40+)
2 - I (re) introduced speedwork into my training and I know that was a bit of a shock to the system
3 - I haven't a tap done for Christmas yet
This of course came as great news to my body\brain when I reminded them that we'd be taking the easy way out tonight. 14 miles reduced to 9 and I had to fight to slow down!
I started off with some core\plank work and a few lightish weights before heading off for the run. Took in the coast road at Clontarf, East Wall, the O2, North Quays, Custom House and back out to Clontarf. Lovely evening for it again
Total 8.9 miles @ 8:370 -
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21.12.2013
St Anne's Parkrun
I went to bed last night with a decision to make - either I head up to St Anne's for today's parkrun or I head out for a tempo run early doors.
To be honest, I let the weather dictate - if it was lashing rain then I'd do the tempo, anything else and I'd give the parkrun a good lash. ( thinking back, I have no idea what my thinking behind this one actually was!)
Woke up this morning with no rain but a fairly strong breeze blowing so I went for the Parkrun option.
I passed on the rashers\sausages that were being served up for breakfast and went for a slice of bread with some almond butter - the good stuff could wait until after the race!
Ran the mile up to St Anne's at a very easy pace and did another few sets of 100m warmups near the starting line. I noticed that there were considerably less people lining up this morning compared to other weeks ( or at least the 1 other week I've ran) - a combination of Christmas parties\shopping and maybe the jingle bells run stealing the masses maybe?.
I had decided on the way up that I needed to push myself hard today to get a PB, I've put in some good sessions recently and while it has only been 4 weeks ( I think) since my last 5k (20:08 - PB), I was also reasonably well rested this week with less miles than previous weeks and while I briefly searched for an excuse or two - I had none!
Anyway, we gathered at the starting line and off we went. I positioned myself towards to front of the pack, close enough to avoid congestion and far enough back to avoid choking under pressure
With the smaller crowd racing today there was little or no congestion at the start and I settled into a steady pace fairly quickly. I had toyed with the idea of keeping the watch off but I just don't know this distance well enough to have the confidence yet - it wasn't long before I gave it a quick glance to check my pace, 06:40...a little slow for I wanted to be after half a mile or so. I was focusing on keeping my form good and my breathing steady and deep and knew that there was plenty of time to push on if needs be, I also suspected that the huge swaying trees along the course could well be playing tricks on my Garmin because the pace felt like it was quicker than the watch was telling me. I reached the straight beside the football pitches and decided to up the pace just a little, squeezing past a couple of runners along the way. I heard lots of watches beeping around me as we moved onto the long straight at the end of the first lap but decided against checking the pace of my first mile, I was in good form now and wanted to stay that way - the wind was at our backs and I could see that there were only a dozen or so people ahead of me.
That straight is long and by the end of it, I was gasping a little. I knew I was going quicker than I had over the first mile and I was starting to have doubts as to whether or not I could keep this pace up. The demons were starting to gather on my shoulder
Approaching half way I could hear the guy giving out split times - 9:57....10:01....10:05 for me...outside PB territory - crap but I knew that I hadn't had a great first .5 mile pace-wise so went back to focusing on breathing right and keeping my stride steady. Approaching the little forest I started to close on 2 more runners that had been a few seconds ahead, I held the momentum and pushed on past, breathing MUCH louder and heavier than they were though...the demons were getting a little louder now. "come on Duanington, if you ease off just a little it won't hurt as much...its nearly Christmas, you deserve to take it a little easy....even better, why not just go for a walk, the park looks lovely this morning"
I had to work hard to fight at this stage, the thoughts of slowing down a little were appealing but I reminded myself that I have worked hard recently and that hard work had a purpose, I need to hurt a little more if I REALLY want to get there, I was well over half way now and could either give in or put it in for another 8 minutes or so and see where it takes me....demons gone, back in the game.
I checked the pace on my Garmin, 06:25, this would be close. I pushed on into the last mile, knowing that a PB was on, my lungs were working very, very hard, my arms pumping but my legs felt strong and I started to feel a but more confident about this one. If I could get my breathing right, my legs would take care of the pace needed. I went back to working on breathing and relaxing my form a little as I moved onto the final straight at St Annes...that is one loooooong stretch of road when your lungs are hurting.
I checked the pace on the watch, 06:15...a PB was on for sure, I just needed to hold on to this pace. I have a tendency to drift mentally when I'm tired and my pace suffers as a result, I was determined not to let this happen over the last 400 metres so I reminded myself of those 400 repeats that I had done recently and how I enjoyed running the last rep hard each time. I pushed and pushed, I couldn't let myself relax too much because I knew I'd slip back, I was breathing too shallow and too quickly at this stage but my legs still felt good . 200 metres to go, it felt good, it felt like a PB was in the bag, the demons were gone, I was in control of this one, another check of the watch - 06:10..and yet the legs felt like they had more to give so I pushed on hard for the last bit, long strides, running tall, my lungs objected but they were f*ck all use to me at this stage anyway! Crossed the line, stopped the watch and got my token from the lads at the finish and had my barcode scanned. I had a quick look at the watch, it looked good - 19:54...PB
( later confirmed by email from the Parkrun guys)
I hung around for a few minutes afterwards while I got my breath back, clapping a few other finishers home then jogged a recovery mile home and made good use of the leftover rashers !
Very happy with this one, I got the PB I wanted, I moved into 19:xx territory and I learned to tell those demons where to go ( although I'm sure they'll be back for more). I also know now that I have to get those tempo runs right over the next few months, my breathing has to get more efficient and work in unison with my legs.
Very happy with today but determined to push on from here at the same time.
Splits from the race looked like this:
Mile 1 - 06:33
Mile 2 - 06:27
Mile 3 - 06:23
Last bit - 0:320 -
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AuldManKing wrote: »A PB and a sub 20 in not ideal conditions - that's a super effort, well done and very well deserved as your training has been strong.
Thanks AMK - much appreciated 0 -
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22.12.2013 (Sunday)
4 miles recovery - nice and early again for this one. Out on the grass at the seafront. The wind was very strong and in my face for the first 2 miles, I spared a thought for the Christmas Cracker runners that would be racing later in the morning, not easy conditions at all.
I've no problem running recovery runs on empty so I snuck out the door this morning before anyone woke up. I kept the pace right down , mindful of the tightness in my calf that developed throughout the day on Saturday.
Felt good throughout this one, no tightness from the race on Saturday and was very happy turn at 2 miles and let the wind take me home ( for porridge, tea and rasher sandwiches)
Total miles: 4 @ average 8:370 -
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Hey Duanington, some good work going on here. Congrats on the recent sub 20. The negative split in those conditions show that there's plenty more to come. It'll all make a big difference to your marathon times too.
Thanks Cleanman, I was happy enough with it afterwards alright. I'll just keep plugging away at the training and see where it lands me come marathon time next year.
I see you're making good progress following a return to training - well done, great to see it 0 -
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I thought it maybe useful to post some of the lessons learned, failures, achievements etc that I've encountered during the course of 2013 and also to look at targets\hopes\aspirations for 2014.
This forum is a super source of information for anyone interested in running, probably the best thing about it is that there is something for everyone - regardless of what stage you are at in your training. I take a lot from reading other logs on Boards and have try to take onboard every scrap of advice I can get ( not everything works for me though, some things get dropped but everything gets tried!) - I would advise others to do the same.
Lessons learned
1 - Miles, miles and more miles - While I read lots of stories about people running super marathon times on relatively low mileage. I am not one of these lucky people that can complete such feats! I need miles...and lots of them. There is no escaping this fact, the more miles I ran in training, the quicker I became over target races. I ran DCM 19 minutes quicker this year than last year, ran a perfectly even split ( down to the second !) and felt reasonably comfortable for all but 2\3 miles of the race. Beneath all of the jargon on my training plan, the key differnece in training between this year and last year was a realisation that no matter how many tempo\speed\MP sessions are on any plan, I simply cannot scrimp on basic\easy miles if I am serious about improving my marathon time, it worked this year and fingers crossed it will work next year.
2- Train "smart" - this has been a recent item on the learning agenda, even though I have probably read over countless logs stating the exact same thing
. For me, there is no need to run easy runs at anything other than easy - and by "easy" I mean a pace that feels easy, not steady, not somewhere in-between - I'll monitor the pace on my watch of course but if it doesn't feel easy, I'll slow down. I tried running easy runs quicker for a stage and just found that it drained my legs and left me short on energy when it came to the key sessions, easy miles should be easy !
3 - Park runs - for anyone looking to improve your times over shorter distances, sign up and do some park-runs, they are free, weekly and a great way to test yourself...against yourself ! I plan on running a lot more of these in 2014 - I hope to race some and run others. There really is nothiung like racing to bring out the best in yourself
4 - Your body tells a much more accurate story than your watch. I became a little obsessed with training paces\times, particularly with tempo runs. Thanks to some advise recieved on boards, I have embraced a different attitude - tempo paces will be different depending on conditions\energy levels\time of day etc...the important thing is effort.
5 - Did not pack in running for 2 months following DCM ! I've kept up some form of training and taken to working on shorter distances, weekly mileage is not great ( 30-38 mpw) but it is certainly better than none. Last year, I stopped completely and paid the price when I went back in January
5 - Garmin - got one and stopped guessing pace\distances at long, long last!
Failures
While 2013 was a good year for me in running terms, there are still races that got away from me throughout the year.
1 - Great Ireland run - 45:54
This was 5 weeks after running my the Kinvara 10k, which I really enjoyed, even though those "rolling hills" came as a bit of a shock - I finished Kinvara in 44:59 which I was happy with, it was a tough course and my first 10k in some time.
I came into the Great Ireland run with hopes of taking a few minutes from my Kinvara time but thinking back, I hadn't rested enough in the days leading up to the race and even though training itself had gone quite well, I hadn't added any miles or sessions to the training done prior to Kinvara so why I expected to see such a significant improvement, I do not know ! The race itself was enjoyable but I found myself in the comfort zone far too often to be serious about getting a PB.
2- Maynooth 10k - I ran my current 10k PB here ( 42:27) and while not a failure, I still do see the race as a missed opportunity. I pulled up with a calf-strain at 4k and had to walk for a minute or two before slowly getting going again ( I was convinced I was a DNF at first), I've no real idea of what time I would have finished in had I not pulled up but it would obviously have been quicker than the eventual time. I fought hard ( which is something I am learning I have to do a lot!) throughout the next 3\4k to make up time and ultimatley was very happy with the time I got in the end. The calf strain itself was more than likely a result of me being a bit cocky at the start and running the first couple of k too quick, I knew the course was flat, knew I had underperformed a bit in my previous 10k ( great Ireland run) and felt that I had more speed in me.
I got carried away on the day, didn't have a watch do keep my first few k in check and probably didn't warm up properly either, I did PB but it could have been significantly better. In hindsight, I should have started steady and finished strong, although that reminds me that I was hanging on for the last mile - I probably hadn't put in an LSR of over 11 miles in training either which was another mistake !!
3-Race Series half Marathon
Again, another PB (1:42) but I still feel that I left a few minutes out on the course for this one, the day itself was unusually warm for September, although anyone training through this summer should have been well used to the heat\conditions. For me, I felt the humitidy of the park got to me on the day, I started brightly but struggled on miles 10,11 and 12....this wasn't a lack of hill training or a lack of miles, it was quite simply a day that I should have and could have done better, with a more positive attitude.
Targets for 2014
1 - Consistent mileage - I am aiming to build on the past 12 months training and try as much possible to have the 3 key sessions per week in my running. I hope to run 60+ mpw at various stages throughout the year and raise expectations of what constitutes a decent week's running.
I will have to get creative about when\where I run to make this happen and will struggle to fit in as much core\strength work as I do at the moment ( but I am convinced this has helped to keep me relatively injury free up until now so will be doing my best!)
2 - Train harder\smarter and therefore race better
3 - Sub 40 10k, 18:xx 5k and a 1:35 half, the ultimate goal though is DCM which I hope\aim to run in under 3:20
4 - To look back at the end of 2014 with a sense of pride and accomplishment, isn't that what running is all about??
Running is a simple sport really, you put one foot in front of the other and repeat....
Happy new year to everyone on the training log forum, I for one have really enjoyed reading the logs and race reports here and take a lot from them. Wishing everyone an injury free 2014 !!
Duanington0 -
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02.01.2014
With no speed\tempo session or LSR done so far this week ( and no real chance to do one again until next week), I decided to do an LSR with a bit of pace thrown in towards the end.
The plan was for 12 miles with 2 @ pace ( tempo\hmp - not quite sure!) to test this one out.
As is the norm, I started off with some core\pressup work at home - Justice live @ Coachella was the music of choice, nice mixture of French\classic house to get the mind set for a run on a p*xy night!
I headed off up the coast road towards Howth, trying to keep the pace nice and easy, as close to 8:50 as possible. The wind was picking up and the rain was starting to fall as I left the house but to be honest, it was more drizzle than rain and felt quite refreshing after a few miles.
I found myself in one of those dreaded situations ( for bloke runners) for a couple of miles, running on a darkened road 5\10 metres or so behind a lone female runner who was glancing ( nervously) over her shoulder every few hundred yards ( and glancing sideways , watching my shadow every few steps). Normally I would put the boot down and overtake when confronted with these scenarios but I when I did, she seemed to speed up and made it difficulty\awkward - I would have to speed up quite a bit to go past and then slow down again...and then she'd pass me ...and then I'm a stalker\kidnapper again !so I backed off hoping that she would glide on up the road but when I backed off , she slowed down! I was on the verge of shouting " its ok, I'm just a runner too" to put her mind at ease but I was afraid I'd freak the poor girl out and send her running off into the sea. Eventually I came to the point that I had intended to turn back and head off up into Kilbarrack and the world became normal again , phew!
I took in some nice hills at Killbarrack\Raheny before making my way back down to the coast again and at the end of mile 9, I put the boot down to see if I could hold any sort of decent pace for a couple of miles. The two mile splits were:
07:12
06:55
I was tired at the end of the second mile but probably could have done another if I pushed it.
I enjoyed this one, it was tough but do-able and I felt like it was a quality session at the end which I always find satisfying. I'll try this type of run again in a few weeks and add on a mile or two to the pace section as I progress
1 mile w\d and home for some Cajun chicken sandwiches
Total miles 12 @ average 08:35 min per mile0 -
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Duanington wrote: »06.01.2014
4 miles easy out on the coast at Clontarf, the place is destroyed at the moment, hundreds\thousands of plastic bottles washed up onto the grass from the sea. Makes you realise how we are actually a manky shower - throwing that much waste into the sea.
Couldn't agree with you more. It's shameful and doesn't seem to be anything can be done about it. Such a beautiful coastline being treated in such a manner. 0 -
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07.01.2014
LSR
Got out of work a little later than I had hoped so rather than sit in traffic for over an hour on the way home and then run, I decided to stay west side, pop down to Mammy D's and run from there ( 10 mins from work) - the traffic would be fine by the time I finished up and there is always the chance of a free dinner out there too
I never run two tough runs one after the other but I'm stuck for time at the minute so I figured the LSR after the tempo is less risky than the tempo after the LSR.
I took in a nice few hills on this one - all around Lucan\Clondalkin\Adamstown , the legs felt tired from last night's tempo run, nothing too serious but tired all the same.
I kept the pace just about right all the way through and by the end I was a little tired but content.
Free dinner was of course on the menu when I finished up :cool:
Total miles 12.8 @ 8:50 min per mile0
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