A Slow Journey to Faster Times

yaboya1

Wednesday 22nd January (Day 52/84) - 11m @ M/L Pace
11 miles @ 8:49p/m average

This was tougher than normal, probably due to the fact that it was less than 12 hours since last night's session. I couldn't have fit it in at any other time though, so just needed to grin and bear it. Looking forward to a couple of easy days now.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:49
Mile 2 - 8:43
Mile 3 - 9:02
Mile 4 - 8:55
Mile 5 - 8:53
Mile 6 - 8:57
Mile 7 - 8:41
Mile 8 - 8:47
Mile 9 - 8:44
Mile 10 - 8:45
Mile 11 - 8:42

yaboya1

Thursday 23rd January (Day 53/84) - Rest/Cross Training

A welcome rest day today. Spent the afternoon in Gowran Park for the Thyestes meeting. Had a couple of winners which covered the food & drink expenses


Friday 24th January (Day 54/84) - 4m Recovery (with 6 x 100m strides)
4 miles @ 9:29p/m average. Strides (19:55, 18:32, 17:60, 18:16, 16:38, 17:57)

Grabbed a quick power nap when I got back from Kilkenny, so it was late in the evening when I got out for this one. Took the recovery miles very easily, especially the first one as I was still a little weary from the previous night's antics. Went to bed early when I got back so I was well rested ahead of tomorrow's tough session.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 9:50
Mile 2 - 9:19
Mile 3 - 9:18
Mile 4 - 9:30


Saturday 25th January (Day 55/84) - 9-13m Race
13.11 miles @ 6:35p/m average (1:26:20)

The plan suggested a 9-13m race today. The only event matching that description was the John Treacy Dungarvan 10 Mile, which had already been sold out when I checked a few weeks ago. That race wouldn't have been ideal for me anyway, as it's a bit of a hike down there and I have a lot of stuff on tomorrow that it would have interfered with. So I decided to just clock myself for the half-marathon distance this morning. The simple plan was to run as fast as I possibly could for the 13.11 miles. I was confident I could go sub 1:30, so set out just below 6:50min/mile. Because of the wind and profile of the course, I knew miles 9,10 & 11 would be the toughest to hold the pace, so made sure to keep a little bit in reserve for those. Managed to execute my plan exactly as intended which I am really happy about. I think I may now target a BQ time in Seville (sub 3:05).

Might reward myself with a nice sports massage on Monday or Tuesday


Splits:

Mile 1 - 6:40
Mile 2 - 6:26
Mile 3 - 6:31
Mile 4 - 6:41
Mile 5 - 6:31
Mile 6 - 6:38
Mile 7 - 6:31
Mile 8 - 6:35
Mile 9 - 6:41
Mile 10 - 6:45
Mile 11 - 6:46
Mile 12 - 6:36
Mile 13 - 6:18
0.11 - 0:44

ThebitterLemon

Yafecker, yaboya, you're on your own in Seville now definitely!

That's absolutely savage improvement.

Have you been drinking pints of Ben Johnson's piss

TbL

statss

Jaysus that's a great run. What's the target gonna be now?!

yaboya1

statss wrote: »

Jaysus that's a great run. What's the target gonna be now?!

Will probably aim for a Boston Qualifier (sub 3:05). I think that should be achievable.

yaboya1

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Yafecker, yaboya, you're on your own in Seville now definitely!

That's absolutely savage improvement.

Have you been drinking pints of Ben Johnson's piss

TbL

Not unless he's been urinating into pint bottles of Bulmers

career_move

Wow that is some pace to do 13m on your own. Nice work

yaboya1

career_move wrote: »

Wow that is some pace to do 13m on your own. Nice work

Thanks. I was under pressure to get to work by 12pm, so I had no choice :eek:

Calvin Johnson

What's going to be the aim in Dublin then?

Sub 2:40?

yaboya1

Sunday 26th January (Day 56/84) - 17m (Long Run)
17 miles @ 8:54p/m average

Was really stiff after yesterday's run going to bed last night, but felt much better getting up this morning. This session really helped to loosen up the legs, and I thoroughly enjoyed it despite the horrible cold, wind & driving rain. Seems to have cleared up a bit now which is good news for all the boardsies running the Raheny 5 later on today.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:51
Mile 2 - 8:57
Mile 3 - 9:11
Mile 4 - 8:55
Mile 5 - 8:57
Mile 6 - 8:58
Mile 7 - 8:55
Mile 8 - 8:53
Mile 9 - 8:51
Mile 10 - 8:47
Mile 11 - 8:55
Mile 12 - 8:57
Mile 13 - 8:58
Mile 14 - 8:56
Mile 15 - 8:44
Mile 16 - 8:45
Mile 17 - 8:52

yaboya1

Monday 27th January (Day 57/84) - Rest/Cross Training

Did the usual cycle of core work before treating myself to a sports massage later in the morning. A bit sore now but I'm sure I'll feel the benefit tomorrow.

yaboya1

Tuesday 28th January (Day 58/84) - 7m Recovery (with 6 x 100m strides)
7 miles @ 9:00p/m average. Strides (16:57, 16:48, 19:20, 18:86, 16:36, 17:77)

A very easy run, probably just the tonic to freshen the legs up for the tough V02 Max session in the morning. Strides felt very good, but got held up with pedestrian traffic on a couple of the middle ones which probably explains the time variations. I just noticed that my run today takes me past the 500 mile mark since I started my log in November. Nice little milestone I thought


Splits:

Mile 1 - 9:00
Mile 2 - 9:00
Mile 3 - 9:19
Mile 4 - 8:48
Mile 5 - 8:48
Mile 6 - 9:02
Mile 7 - 9:03

ger664

Some great improvements got since you started. Going to Seville as well and gunning for a BQ too but my will be a tad slower as in sub 3:25

yaboya1

ger664 wrote: »

Some great improvements got since you started. Going to Seville as well and gunning for a BQ too but my will be a tad slower as in sub 3:25

Thanks. Best of luck for the remaining three and a half weeks. Myself, yourself & TheBitterLemon should arrange to meet up over there for (hopefully) celebratory pints. I'm not familiar with the good drinking holes in Seville as I've never been there, so I'm open to suggestions.

yaboya1

Wednesday 29th January (Day 59/84) - 10m (with 4 x 1200m @ VO2Max)

3m warm-up

4 x 1200m splits (with 3:00min recovery)

1 - 4:07
2 - 4:12
3 - 4:16
4 - 4:14

3m cool down

Going off last week's VO2 Max workout, I was thinking 4 minute intervals would be a good target. Then I remembered how difficult that session was, and that this morning's were double the distance. I also had it in my head that I only had to run three, until I double checked before I went out the door and realised there were four. I had a look back to my 5 x 1000m session two weeks ago where I was running around 3:40min/km average. I decided that they were a better guide to today, so anything averaging around 3:30-3:40min/km would be acceptable. I ended up going: 3:26min/km, 3:30min/km, 3:34min/km, 3:32min/km, so was pretty happy with that especially considering the all too familiar deplorable conditions outside.

yaboya1

Thursday 30th January (Day 60/84) - Rest/Cross Training

Felt really tired and lethargic all day today. Very happy that I didn't have a run planned. Spent some time in the evening foam-rolling and stretching. The physio gave me an additional exercise to perform last Monday to enhance the flexibility in my hips. They're both stiffer than ideal, especially the left side, so I've added this to my stretching cycle.


Friday 31st January (Day 61/84) - 11m @ M/L Pace
11 miles @ 8:51p/m average

Still not feeling 100% today. Probably still suffering from the after effects of the VO2 Max Session on Wednesday. Not the worst thing to be a little tired on these runs though, as it prevents the urge to run too fast.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:55
Mile 2 - 9:00
Mile 3 - 8:49
Mile 4 - 8:56
Mile 5 - 8:49
Mile 6 - 8:50
Mile 7 - 8:42
Mile 8 - 8:53
Mile 9 - 8:49
Mile 10 - 8:50
Mile 11 - 8:46

ger664

Im doing the same plan and feeling the same way. Last weeks race, Long run the night after with the mid week VO2 max have left my legs quite dead/tired as well.

yaboya1

ger664 wrote: »

Im doing the same plan and feeling the same way. Last weeks race, Long run the night after with the mid week VO2 max have left my legs quite dead/tired as well.

And a 20 miler to come on Sunday! Glad to hear it's not just me.
What do you think of the last week of the plan? More than one person has commented to me that the mileage seems pretty high for a race week.

ger664

yaboya1 wrote: »

And a 20 miler to come on Sunday! Glad to hear it's not just me.
What do you think of the last week of the plan? More than one person has commented to me that the mileage seems pretty high for a race week.

There is only one session really in that mileage ie the 3 mile MP. If that's to taxing 5 days before a marathon well then your MP pace is too fast. I wouldn't be too caught up on the mileage of the recovery runs, some in the plan where 7 miles and I only did 5 as I felt at the time 7 was going beyond recovery. I would think if you got in 30 to 40 mins running instead of 6 miles or whatever is prescribed it wont make that much of a difference. From experience (third time doing this plan) you will find the last week too easy and trying not to do more will be the main issue.

yaboya1

Thought that myself to be honest, but was just interested in hearing another opinion.

yaboya1

Saturday 1st February (Day 62/84) - 4m Recovery
4 miles @ 9:22p/m average

A slow run on a drizzly morning. Legs feel a little better than earlier in the week.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 9:51
Mile 2 - 9:05
Mile 3 - 9:09
Mile 4 - 9:25


Sunday 2nd February (Day 63/84) - 20m (Long Run)
20 miles @ 8:44p/m average

I was originally going to do this run in the very early morning, but due to a change in my working hours it ended up being late in the evening. Didn't make much of a difference as it was beautiful outside all day today. The only thing I missed was the daylight. Legs don't feel sore at all now. Kind of looking forward to my next VO2 Max session on Tuesday! :eek:


Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:52
Mile 2 - 8:55
Mile 3 - 8:48
Mile 4 - 8:58
Mile 5 - 8:53
Mile 6 - 8:54
Mile 7 - 8:45
Mile 8 - 8:36
Mile 9 - 8:44
Mile 10 - 8:48
Mile 11 - 8:49
Mile 12 - 8:43
Mile 13 - 8:48
Mile 14 - 8:32
Mile 15 - 8:37
Mile 16 - 8:34
Mile 17 - 8:39
Mile 18 - 8:40
Mile 19 - 8:38
Mile 20 - 8:37

AuldManKing

That's very consistent splits. Nice work.

yaboya1

Next week the plan prescribes a 9-11m race on the Saturday. I can't see anything of that distance taking place, but there is a 10k in Enniscorthy on Sunday 9th. I ran this last year and enjoyed it, and I'd much rather run a real race than just clock myself for the distance again.
Would that be a suitable substitute?

menoscemo

yaboya1 wrote: »

Next week the plan prescribes a 9-11m race on the Saturday. I can't see anything of that distance taking place, but there is a 10k in Enniscorthy on Sunday 9th. I ran this last year and enjoyed it, and I'd much rather run a real race than just clock myself for the distance again.
Would that be a suitable substitute?

I think you are looking at the plan wrongly (i suspected as much when you did your HM time trial a few weeks ago). The P&D book I have says a 8-10k race (9-11m total). The 9-11m includes warm up and cool down.
So yes the enniscorthy 10k is perfect.

yaboya1

menoscemo wrote: »

I think you are looking at the plan wrongly (i suspected as much when you did your HM time trial a few weeks ago). The P&D book I have says a 8-10k race (9-11m total). The 9-11m includes warm up and cool down.
So yes the enniscorthy 10k is perfect.

I've just double checked the book and you are absolutely correct. I obviously just scribbled down the total mileage when I was writing out the plan to stick on my wall!
No harm done though. The HM run gave me a good confidence boost and I'm looking forward to the 10k now knowing that I'm not shirking on the miles

yaboya1

AuldManKing wrote: »

That's very consistent splits. Nice work.

Thanks. You're going very well yourself. Well on target for the main thing by the looks of it

menoscemo

yaboya1 wrote: »

No harm done though. The HM run gave me a good confidence boost and I'm looking forward to the 10k now knowing that I'm not shirking on the miles

Absolutely!! Even though it wasn't in the plan that HM time trial was super.

You should be well able for sub 39 in Enniscorthy btw. My HM PB is 1:26:32 and 10k is 38:29. I think your HM would have been a fair bit quicker if you were in a race...

yaboya1

Sub 39 is the plan. We'll see how it goes....

yaboya1

Monday 3rd February (Day 64/84) - Rest/Cross Training

Spent more than 90 minutes doing my stretching, foam rolling and core work this morning. That should keep the body flexible & strong ahead of the challenges later in the week.

yaboya1

Tuesday 4th Febuary (Day 65/84) - 8m (with 5 x 600m @ VO2Max)

3m warm-up

5 x 600m splits (with 1:30min recovery)

1 - 1:58
2 - 2:00
3 - 2:00
4 - 2:04
5 - 1:57

2m cool down

The times for this session are almost identical to same one I did previously a few weeks ago. However, this was far more comfortable. That's not to say it was easy (it most certainly wasn't!), but I had some reserves in the tank today for the last couple of intervals whereas I was running on empty the last time. Held the pace pretty well each time but slowed prematurely on the second last one, otherwise they'd have all been pretty symmetrical. I won't complain though. Nice easy week now ahead of my first race of 2014 on Sunday

yaboya1

Wednesday 5th February (Day 66/84) - 6m Recovery
6 miles @ 9:17p/m average

Went out for this after I got home today. Got battered and soaked to the skin by the weather on my way to work this morning. I only hope I don't end up with some unwelcome dose as a result.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 9:09
Mile 2 - 9:20
Mile 3 - 9:20
Mile 4 - 9:28
Mile 5 - 9:07
Mile 6 - 9:19

yaboya1

Thursday 6th February (Day 67/84) - Rest/Cross Training

No running today. Did a little bit of foam rolling this morning to loosen up any tight muscles.


Going to have to rejig the plan a bit for the next week or so. This is what's prescribed:

Friday 7th - 4m Recovery (with 6 x 100m strides)
Saturday 8th - 8-10k Tune up Race (9-11m total)
Sunday 9th - 16m Long Run
Monday 10th - Rest/Cross Training
Tuesday 11th - 7m (GA) with 8 x 100m strides
Wednesday 12th - 8m (with 3 x 1600m @ V02 Max)
Thursday 13th - Rest/Cross Training
Friday 14th - 5m Recovery (with 6 x 100m strides)
Saturday 15th - Rest/Cross Training
Sunday 16th - 12m Med/Long Run

Because the tune-up race is on the Sunday and I've been given an extra rest day next week, I'm going to push everything from Saturday back a day so it looks like this:

Friday 7th - 4m Recovery (with 6 x 100m strides)
Saturday 8th - Rest/Cross Training
Sunday 9th - 8-10k Tune up Race (9-11m total)
Monday 10th - 16m Long Run
Tuesday 11th - Rest/Cross Training
Wednesday 12th - 7m (GA) with 8 x 100m strides
Thursday 13th - 8m (with 3 x 1600m @ V02 Max)
Friday 14th - Rest/Cross Training
Saturday 15th - 5m Recovery (with 6 x 100m strides)
Sunday 16th - 12m Med/Long Run

I don't think this will negatively affect my preparation?

menoscemo

Looks fine above^^^
Personally I would just do the 5m recovery run the day after the 3 x1mile VO2 max session (Friday 14th).
I never really understood why P&D has recovery runs the day after a rest day, they are much more useful the day after a session

yaboya1

So take the rest day on the Saturday instead?

menoscemo

yaboya1 wrote: »

So take the rest day on the Saturday instead?

In that case; yes. You could also do the 12 on saturday and rest on Sunday if it suited you better....

yaboya1

Ok thanks. No, the Sunday definitely suits me better for the long run that weekend.

yaboya1

Friday 7th February (Day 68/84) - 4m Recovery (with 6 x 100m strides)
4 miles @ 9:18p/m average. Strides (16:47, 20:57, 16:35, 17:40, 18:36, 18:18)

Nice relaxing run to loosen up the legs ahead of Sunday's race. Great day for it too, which makes a change. Not sure why the second stride is much slower than the rest, as they all felt pretty much the same?


Splits:

Mile 1 - 9:33
Mile 2 - 8:56
Mile 3 - 9:09
Mile 4 - 9:33

ThebitterLemon

Good luck, you'll definitely give it socks

yaboya1

Saturday 8th February (Day 69/84) - Rest/Cross Training

An extra rest day because of the rescheduling. Don't think I'd have been up for a race today. Felt a bit light headed and sluggish. Probably the result of the soaking I got earlier in the week. Did some light stretching before I went to bed.


Sunday 9th February (Day 70/84) - 8-10k Tune up Race (9-11m total)
10k @ 3:55p/km average (39:07)

Got down to Enniscorthy around 10:30, so had 90 minutes to kill before the race. Did some more light stretching before I took a roundabout route to the start for a 3 mile warm up. It was pretty cold despite the pleasant looking sky, but I knew I wouldn't feel that once we got under way. Delighted with my tactics today. I had previous knowledge of the course from last year, so I knew not to panic early as the first 4k are almost all uphill. Once I could hold the splits around 4min/km, I thought I could make up the difference in the second half. Almost everything went exactly to plan apart from the fact that the wind was in our face for the final downhill stretch, which meant I didn't get back as much time as I might have envisaged. Wasn't sure when to stop the Garmin as there were no mats at the finish line, so I played it safe and kept it going for a few seconds afterwards. It showed 39:15 when I eventually hit the button, so I knew I was close to the planned sub 39. An agonising few hours followed while I waited on the official result. Unfortunately, when they finally came in I realised I didn't quite manage the sub 39 (39:07), but I'm still very happy nonetheless .

Met Krusty (34:15) after the race for the first time in person. As helpful in real life as he is on boards, he gave me some sound advice for my race strategy in Seville. He didn't join me for a post-race coffee as he claimed he needed to run a few more miles today before he could justify any treats!

Onto my 16 mile run in the morning, then it's tapering time. Bring on the madness!


Splits:

Km 1 - 4:07
Km 2 - 3:57
Km 3 - 3:57
Km 4 - 4:06
Km 5 - 3:49
Km 6 - 4:01
Km 7 - 3:59
Km 8 - 3:54
Km 9 - 3:57
Km 10 - 3:25

belcarra

Savage time but especially that last km... Where did that come out of??

yaboya1

belcarra wrote: »

Savage time but especially that last km... Where did that come out of??

It's downhill and I could see the finish!

yaboya1

belcarra wrote: »

Savage time but especially that last km... Where did that come out of??

I was also flying: http://www.racepix.com/Enniscorthy-10k/racephotos/1073/photo/165/

belcarra

yaboya1 wrote: »

I was also flying: http://www.racepix.com/Enniscorthy-10k/racephotos/1073/photo/165/

Great photo but one question: do you own any other shirts??!

Krusty_Clown

Good to meet ya, yaboya1! Congrats on the cracking time! All shaping up very nicely for Seville. Shame those thieving feckers stole those vital seconds from you.

yaboya1

belcarra wrote: »

Great photo but one question: do you own any other shirts??!

Haha. That's my racing shirt. I never wear it in training.
Maybe I'll update my running wardrobe for Dublin in October?

ger664

Well done on the time today. At least your race went better then mine yesterday. Now I know what you look like I can stalk you in Sevilie

Calvin Johnson

How would you explain your rapid improvements since Chicago?

Is it the training plan you're following? Or did you always have this in you but were getting injured due to training too fast?

yaboya1

Calvin Johnson wrote: »

How would you explain your rapid improvements since Chicago?

Is it the training plan you're following? Or did you always have this in you but were getting injured due to training too fast?

I suppose a bit of both.

I basically winged my first two marathons, just running as many miles as I could as quickly as possible. I intended to follow a plan for Chicago but injured myself in the first week by stepping up the mileage too quickly and running too fast, so that was immediately shelved.

Lack of pacing knowledge in all my training was probably a big stumbling block. I've never had an issue with putting in the miles, but I was running every training session as fast as I possibly could. This applied whether it was two miles or twenty miles, which in turn led to little niggles or injuries which prevented me running at all. The fact that I pb'd in Chicago having had 7 weeks where I could barely walk (never mind run) copped me on that if I followed a proper plan without getting injured I'd be bound to improve. It was just a matter of how much. I was also the slowest runner of the seven boardsies that made up the team in October, so there was a lot of people I could learn from there. Maybe they didn't know it at the time, but every one of those lads gave me at least a little bit of advice that I took on board. And here we are :-)

Roll on Seville....

yaboya1

Monday 10th February (Day 71/84) - 16m (Long Run)
16 miles @ 8:35p/m average

Needed to get this in early this morning, but ended up going out much sooner than I had originally planned as I just couldn't sleep. Dublin is a very quiet place at 4.30am on a Monday. I wasn't expecting this to be easy, considering I did the 10k race yesterday and still had a 20 miler in my legs from last weekend. I was wrong. The hardest thing about it was the freezing cold which almost numbed both my hands even though I was wearing gloves. Other than that, I sailed through it on an otherwise perfect morning for running.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:41
Mile 2 - 8:38
Mile 3 - 8:33
Mile 4 - 8:48
Mile 5 - 8:30
Mile 6 - 8:39
Mile 7 - 8:31
Mile 8 - 8:59
Mile 9 - 8:29
Mile 10 - 8:35
Mile 11 - 8:34
Mile 12 - 8:37
Mile 13 - 8:38
Mile 14 - 8:30
Mile 15 - 8:24
Mile 16 - 8:19

yaboya1

Tuesday 11th February (Day 72/84) - Rest/Cross Training

Had the most amazing sleep last night, which made up for my ridiculously early start on Monday. Because of this, I didn't leave myself enough time to get my core work done after I got up. I'll fit it in tomorrow at some stage. Got my usual cycle of stretching and foam-rolling in, leaving me feeling incredibly fresh and totally pain free. I'm not sore at all, despite the mileage of the last couple of days. Almost feel guilty not running today :pac: