Confessions of a never has been.....

Duanington · 03-10-2015 2:09pm

Murph_D wrote: »

Think our paths crossed no less than three times this morning? Clontarf, Bayside, Donaghmede. That was me with the "hello again" the third time!

Nice run!

thats gas Murph! You were looking nice and chilled, fair play to you

Murph_D · 03-10-2015 3:59pm

Duanington wrote: »

thats gas Murph! You were looking nice and chilled, fair play to you

Ha ha - chilled is right, barely moving fast enough to stay warm. Glad I wore the long sleeves. You, on the other hand...

Duanington · 04-10-2015 9:30pm

04.10.2015

Mental day at work today, early start, home for a couple of hours and back in to the office.

I got out just after lunchtime to get my 5 easy miles in - used a straightforward loop around St Anne's for this. Very enjoyable run, nice day for it, even if I did have to break out the longsleeve top to counter the chill in the breeze!

Just managed to fit in a little core\stretching session in the evening.

5 miles@7.55 to bring an end to a good week's work

Duanington · 06-10-2015 8:26pm

06.10.2015

Monday

No run in the morning so I brought the gear into work with me and after getting out a little early, I headed off for home - passing the house, heading into St Anne's to get the extra 2 miles in. Lovey run, lovely evening for it

6 miles @8.10 min\miles

Tuesday

Session night tonight and despite having the day off work, I left this until around 5.30 to get going.

Plan for today was to run 16 miles @ 6.40-6.45 pace and to be honest, I didn't know what to expect from this one, the pace isn't exactly quick but when you throw in 16 miles worth of it, you get a different proposition altogether.

After a busy enough day off, driving here , there and everywhere and squeezing in food when and where I could get it ( including a burrito, spicy...schoolboy error really!)

When I got home, managed to squeeze a quick 20 minute nap in before getting ready to head off. Perfect evening for it really, mild, a little bit of breeze and even a bit of drizzle to keep things cool.

Got a 1 mile warmup done on the coast before getting started on the faster stuff. I was pretty daunted by the thoughts of running 16 miles at that pace, or at least trying to but I told myself I'd give it a good lash and see how long I could hang on for.

Picked a route that was pretty flat for the first half and full of bumps and drags over the 2nd half. Similar route to last week's 22 miler, a lap of Fairvew Park, back up the coast, a lap of the outside of St Anne's, up the coast towards Howth, turn in at Baldoyle, into Donaghmede and up into Raheny.

The first couple of miles were a little tricky to find any real rhythm but once I did, I really felt started to feel strong, easing my way into the session and just working to keep my legs stretched enough to maintain the pace. The coast road really is great for running, the long stretches let you find and keep your stride well but I'm always mindful of training too much on the flat so purposely picked a route that had some ups ( and downs) to keep things realistic.
Lapped St Anne's, heading up the hill into Raheny and actually had to ease up at times to prevent myself overcooking things and getting carried away, by mile 10 I was starting to enjoy the session.
Heading back up the coast, it was pretty much more of the same - I was really holding things together well, working away of course but always in control. Once I turned into Baldoyle , things got noticeably more difficult with the wind tunnel and the first of the big hills, still, I was holding steady.
Traffic was a but of an issue going through Donaghmede - although I was pleasantly surprised at how many drivers stopped to let me run by, really helped me keep things moving. Had a bit of stomach cramps around this stage too but there was no way I was letting it mess this up, I put it to the back of my mind and got on with things ( damn Burrito!)
Worked harder over the last 2 miles, heading through the bumps into Raheny , working up the hills and easing off slightly on the way down but I tried to keep things controlled and let my stride do the work rather than me trying to grab my way through the air with flailing arms !
Finished up with a nice downhill stretch at the corner of St Anne's, chuffed with this one, I surprised myself by holding the pace for the duration of the run and while I was definitely working hard at the end, the strength was most definitely there too.

Walked for a little bit then ran .75 miles as a warm down

7.52
6.36
6.35
6.36
6.37
6.40
6.41
6.41
6.38
6.44
6.40
6.38
6.42
6.40
6.44
6.44
6.31
8.20 (pace 0.75)

17.75 miles for the day

ThebitterLemon · 06-10-2015 8:28pm

That's a massive session, real confidence booster.

How are you feeling after it?

TbL

Myles Splitz · 06-10-2015 8:38pm

Duanington · 06-10-2015 8:41pm

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

That's a massive session, real confidence booster.

How are you feeling after it?

TbL

Thanks C - feeling good actually, slightly surprised and very happy with how it went. I wasn't wiped out at the end either which was maybe the most surprising bit!

Duanington · 06-10-2015 8:46pm

Myles Splitz wrote: »

Ha ha - if its good enough for JC, its good enough for me

ThebitterLemon · 06-10-2015 8:53pm

Duanington wrote: »

Thanks C - feeling good actually, slightly surprised and very happy with how it went. I wasn't wiped out at the end either which was maybe the most surprising bit!

Ah fcuk off Double D, now I'm just envious and Bitter

TbL

annapr · 06-10-2015 9:30pm

I'm in awe of your splits for that session, so consistent all the way. (And eh, fast too

)

Duanington · 06-10-2015 9:40pm

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Ah fcuk off Double D, now I'm just envious and Bitter

TbL

ok, let me re-phrase...I was tired of course but not flat on my back !

Duanington · 06-10-2015 9:40pm

annapr wrote: »

I'm in awe of your splits for that session, so consistent all the way. (And eh, fast too )

Thanks Anna - pretty happy with it alright

yaboya1 · 06-10-2015 9:44pm

Great session D.
Looking very good for the marathon.
Just keep yourself healthy for the next few weeks and you'll have a great race.

Bulmers74 · 06-10-2015 9:53pm

Great session that, nice work.

Duanington · 06-10-2015 10:09pm

yaboya1 wrote: »

Great session D.
Looking very good for the marathon.
Just keep yourself healthy for the next few weeks and you'll have a great race.

Thanks P - thats the plan, I won't be reading too much into it yet either, its one good session but something I picked up from running with the likes of yourself, FBOT, TbL etc ( and even from a chat with one of the 2.15 Berliners last week), you just cannot take anything for granted with a marathon.

Duanington · 06-10-2015 10:10pm

Bulmers74 wrote: »

Great session that, nice work.

Thanks Bulmers

FBOT01 · 07-10-2015 12:08pm

Duanington wrote: »

ok, let me re-phrase...I was tired of course but not flat on my back !

You are not making him feel any better, D

That's a great run to bag at this stage. Fairplay to you.

Keep it between the ditches and I am sure JC will guide you home on the big day....if he can keep up that is :pac::pac:

Duanington · 10-10-2015 4:21pm

10.10.2015

Wednesday

No morning run planned for the day so I brought the gear with me into work and enjoyed the morning off. Ate well and drank well throughout the day but I could feel the legs getting a little tighter as the day wore on and by the time I was ready to hit the road, I was feeling the effects of the previous night's session.

Enjoyed this one though, kept the pace way down and just enjoyed pottering along the coast on the way home.

4.1 miles@ 8.45 ish

Thursday

AM - working from home so I took a spare hour between meetings to get my usual 8 miles in around St Anne's\coast road. One of those funny runs where my legs were tired but the run was enjoyable so I largely ignored the watch and let the legs take care of the pace.
Got a good core session in afterwards

8 miles @ 7.51 min\miles

PM - late out for this, straightforward out and back along the coast. Lovely evening for it with the crisp air and a belly full of stew

Tired legs but an energetic mind make for an interesting run

4 miles @ 8.10 min\miles

Friday

AM - 5 miles called for an extra mile on the way into work so I got this done on the coast and pottered on into the office, nice run from memory but it feels like a year ago at this stage

PM - run home from work and some extras in St Anne's, the backpack felt like it was really weighing me down by the end of this although I felt good for the first half. Another day where I ate and ate and drank and drank...all good stuff of course. Tired by the end of this one

7 miles @ 8.15 min\miles

Saturday

Session day today and the plan was for;

2 miles easy, 7x1 mile @ 6.20-6.25 ( 90sec recovery), 2 miles easy

I usually skip over Saturday morning sessions when reading through the plan, taking them for granted almost and assuming I'll get through them ok but as soon as I woke this morning, I knew it was going to be tough. My legs were heavy, I could have slept for another hour easily and I could hear the wind starting to pick up on the coast.
Rather than try to talk myself into \out of anything, I didn't take the risk and got up, had a sip of water, got the gear on and headed out.
Got the 2 miles easy in on the coast and went straight into the first rep.

I decided to run all of this up and down the coast with a loop of Fairview park thrown in for good measure, there was no escaping the breeze which was picking up at this stage so in my wisdom I decided to use it to up the challenge a little but and run into the breeze for 5 of the 7 and see how I get on.

Each rep was tough, each one had me working hard throughout and each one into the wind gave me an excuse to pull up or ease off, I was tired and my legs were happy but I gritted the teeth each time and worked through to the end.

90 seconds felt like 2 , 7 reps felt like 12 but I got there in the end.

Coming towards the end of a tough week and while I am feeling it in the legs for sure, today was about mental toughness again - of course I could hit the pace and hold the pace but my legs took a bit of convincing !

8.26
7.56
6.17
6.12
6.18
6.20
6.15
6.19
6.17
8.30
8.30
8.25(pace .5 mile)

12.36 miles ( incl recoveries)

Weights planned for later

Duanington · 13-10-2015 10:29pm

13.10.2015

Sunday

What a day of sport, thankfully I got to watch the vast majority of it - I never played rugby in my life but the more I watch it, the more I am enthralled by the game - the commitment levels must be insane at that standard, intensity, guts, determination, skill, passion, drama ......then we had the football ...ahem.

Got out for 6 easy miles in the evening, cold aul night - pretty nice for running. Legs felt fine.

6 miles @ 8.00 min\miles

Monday

Had a day trip to London planned so was up at stupid o clock to get to London for 9.30. Meetings and lunch and a few more meetings and I was on the way home again. Tired and late getting home but I got out for my planned run anyway, hitting the hay pretty much straight after

5 miles easy

Tuesday

Session night tonight;
6 easy, 4 steady, 3 MP
On paper it looked easy but as it approached with the passing of the day, I started to dread the thoughts to be honest.
Having said that, I was fine once I got going - dumped the backpack at 4.5 miles and headed off to finish the run around St Anne's\Raheny\coast road.
Took a gel around 7 miles to test it out and felt good.
Upped the effort levels towards the end for sure but always felt in control of things and felt good at the end
Pressups and stretching afterwards

8.13
8.20
8.15
8.11
8.12
7.59
7.34
7.30
7.22
7.14
6.38
6.43
6.42
8.20 ( pace - .5 mile)

13.5 in total

Duanington · 18-10-2015 9:39pm

18.10.2015

Wednesday

A very straighforward 4 recovery miles in the plan, ran home from work - didn't bother with the watch but kept the effort way back.
Enjoyed this, felt pretty good but I usually do during recovery runs.

Small bit of stretching and core work after

4.1 miles @ 8.45ish

Thursday

Working from home so nipped out in the early afternoon to get this done around St Anne's, felt great for this one and really enjoyed heading around the trails - quite a few people out running too which was nice.

Did some weights after

6 miles @ 7.57 min\miles

Got out again later on Thursday night for 4 easy miles, very late though so it wasn't quite as enjoyable.

4 miles ( no watch)

10 for the day

Friday

Ended up working from home again, couldn't head to the office because of tight deadlines on some work I had to get sorted - got it done earlier than I thought so headed out for my planned 7 easy miles - coast road, Raheny, St Anne's

7 miles @ 8.10 min\miles

Saturday

Up and out before dawn to get today's session in:

2 easy
3 miles@MP
3 min easy
3 miles@MP
2 easy

Ran this along my usual loop, had the wind for the first 4 or 5 miles and then ran into the wind and through in the drags\bumps coming from the coast in through Raheny\St Anne's to toughen it up a little.

First half was fine, 2nd half was far from easy but I tried to stay clear of pushing things too much and think I just about managed that. I had to work hard at times and was fairly tired at the end though - pretty glad it was out of the way too.

8.12
7.40
6.38
6.42
6.35
3 min easy ( 8.20 pace)
6.39
6.47
6.39

Sunday

Great sleep last night - have a slight headcold coming on me which I'll have to watch. Got out this evening just after a downpour for 5 easy miles - no watch so no idea of pace. Pressups, core and stretching after - lovely run, felling good

The end of the first taper week and while there was still a bit of work to do on Tuesday and Saturday, I'm starting to feel good. I've cut back a little on the other stuff I normally do ( core, weights, pressups, chinups etc) - really just to let the mind relax a little as much as anything. Roll on next week !

tang1 · 18-10-2015 9:44pm

Keep it between the ditches D, in total awe of your training. Great to read.

Duanington · 18-10-2015 10:55pm

tang1 wrote: »

Keep it between the ditches D, in total awe of your training. Great to read.

Cheers Tang - its gone about as well as could be expected really. Good look with the new plan by the way, I'll be following with interest

tang1 · 23-10-2015 11:29pm

Best of luck Monday D, your log is my go to reading anytime you post. Your in savage shape and I hope you run the race you want.

FBOT01 · 23-10-2015 11:45pm

tang1 wrote: »

Best of luck Monday D, your log is my go to reading anytime you post. Your in savage shape and I hope you run the race you want.

Bumped into him this evening, B and he is, as they say "looking as fit as a Butcher's dog!".....pretty relaxed looking too which is good to see.

Duanington · 24-10-2015 9:02pm

24.10.2015

Monday

First of the real easy days this week - 4 miles easy and I took it in on the way home from work. Enjoyed every step to be honest if I remember correctly!

4.1 miles @ 8.15ish

Tuesday

Usual LSR cut right back to 10 miles easy with the last at MP.
Took the easy stuff very easy and had a bit of a creaking in my left knee for a bit which was worrying, seemed to ease off as the run went on though.

Enjoyed the run all the same, kept it on the flat and enjoyed the MP mile at the end

8.20
8.15
8.15
8.10
8.12
8.05
8.10
8.09
8.12
6.42

Wednesday

4 miles recovery, usual story - ran home from work. Actually can't remember this run but I know I took it very handy, stretched the body out after.

4.1 miles@ 8.45ish

Thursday

Plan today was for 1 easy, 3 MP, 1 easy.

Used the opportunity to trial all the marathon gear, gel belt included ( I hate them). Headed down to St Anne's to run the MP stuff around the parkrun route with the belt loaded up with 4 gels. Running wise, everything was spot on but I found myself checking the gels every few minutes - they were definitely slipping out of the loops that are designed to hold them in place.

Got through the running fine, legs felt great and energy levels were good too but I was a little perplexed as to how I would sort the belt out so I ran the easy mile home to conjure up a solution !

7.55
6.38
6.44
6.39
7.45

A few weights and some pretty easy core work afterwards.

Friday

AM - 4 miles easy, loved this run, nice morning for it and felt good all the way

PM - 5 miles easy, didn't love this, I was tired and a little drained after work but I still enjoyed the easy pace and fact that this was the last real run of the plan. Bumped into FBOT01 on the coast who was putting himself through the paces, great to see you back at it M.

9 miles for the day

Today was the first rest day in 70 odd days and I thoroughly enjoyed the lie in - even if I was awake, I read a book for an hour instead of getting up and running for a change!

So its all over bar the running now, I feel good, relaxed and ready to run my race on Monday - who knows what the day itself holds in store for us with weather, nerves, whatever, I've a pretty good idea of where I want to be at various stages throughout the race and should have company for most of it which should help. There was a great buzz at the expo earlier today and you cannot help but get caught up in the emotion of the marathon - it just is that bit special.