A Slow Journey to Faster Times

yaboya1

overpronator wrote: »

How are you going to approach taper Peter, 2 or 3 weeks? Will you still follow Hadd with shorter steady session or will you try the sharpen up type sessions from P&D?

I haven't even thought about it yet tbh

FBOT01

yaboya1 wrote: »

I haven't even thought about it yet tbh

Nothing in the last 3 weeks of P&D that you aren't already doing other than one VO2 Max session which at this stage wouldn't make much difference to you, IMO. Anyway the parkrun you are going to do on the 11th to get last week's out of your systems with cover that

You know yourself that the next few weeks are about making sure body is rested (whatever that means in your world) and throwing in a few strides to keep the leg turnover up. You have kept it simple so far so why complicate things now unless the taper madness gets you :pac::pac:

yaboya1

FBOT01 wrote: »

Nothing in the last 3 weeks of P&D that you aren't already doing other than one VO2 Max session which at this stage wouldn't make much difference to you, IMO. Anyway the parkrun you are going to do on the 11th to get last week's out of your systems with cover that

You know yourself that the next few weeks are about making sure body is rested (whatever that means in your world) and throwing in a few strides to keep the leg turnover up. You have kept it simple so far so why complicate things now unless the taper madness gets you :pac::pac:

Grand National day on the 11th.
There's no way I'll get a parkrun in that morning.
This Saturday however..........:rolleyes:

FBOT01

yaboya1 wrote: »

Grand National day on the 11th.
There's no way I'll get a parkrun in that morning.
This Saturday however..........:rolleyes:

Grand National is not on until 16:15 I wasn't suggesting you go to Bere Island to do your parkrun

yaboya1

Friday 3rd April - 45 minutes Easy
6m (with 6 x 100m Strides)
5m @ 7:39p/m average (131bpm avg), 1m @ 6:33p/m (161bpm)

An easy five miles with some strides thrown in to finish.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 7:21
Mile 2 - 7:39
Mile 3 - 7:46
Mile 4 - 7:47
Mile 5 - 7:43
Mile 6 - 6:33

yaboya1

Saturday 4th April -Malahide parkrun
3.08m @ 5:39p/m average (17:22) 3rd finisher

Exorcised last week's demons with a nice blowout at the Malahide parkrun this morning. Always had the 2nd guy in sight, but could never quite get to him. Winner was in a league of his own (16:25-30). Only 7 seconds off my pb of 17:15 with virtually no speedwork done in training. Glad to have that under my belt .


Splits:

Mile 1 - 5:30
Mile 2 - 5:47
Mile 3 - 5:41
0.08 - 0:24

tang1

Well done, some nice redemption there.

MKDTH

How did you find my local track? Enjoyable?

FBOT01

yaboya1 wrote: »

Saturday 4th April -Malahide parkrun
3.08m @ 5:39p/m average (17:22) 3rd finisher

Exorcised last week's demons with a nice blowout at the Malahide parkrun this morning. Always had the 2nd guy in sight, but could never quite get to him. Winner was in a league of his own (16:25-30). Only 7 seconds off my pb of 17:15 with virtually no speedwork done in training. Glad to have that under my belt .


Splits:

Mile 1 - 5:30
Mile 2 - 5:47
Mile 3 - 5:41
0.08 - 0:24

Nice work.

yaboya1

Saturday 4th April - Malahide parkrun
3.08m @ 5:39 average (17:22) 3rd finisher

Not a lot to write about today. I was just out to right last weekend's wrong.


Pre-Race

Due to my recent car trouble, I needed to use public transport this morning. Wasn't the worst thing as it meant I was up earlier and wide awake at the start line than if I'd driven. I'd been debating where to run all week (also keen to try somewhere new) and decided on Malahide as the course looked pretty straightforward and there should be some fast lads to chase (judging by any results I've ever checked).


The Race

Lined up near the front as usual and we set off pretty much bang on time after the usual pre-race briefing from one of the numerous volunteers. In the first 500m I was in about 8th position. I glanced at the watch to see 5:28 pace. Happy enough with that. I had a feeling a few in front wouldn't last, especially the early leader who already seemed to be wobbling despite a 10m lead on the field. Another 200m passed and I gradually started to ease by a few who were already blowing hard and looking over their shoulders. Half a mile in and the leader came back to us as if on the end of a fishing rod. A group of five of us sailed by him. I imagine the last 2.5m were tough for him. Myself and the guy directly in front moved by the third placed runner just before we hit the end of the first mile. I knew I wouldn't be seeing anyone I had overtaken again. The leader had started to stretch on now and looked pretty comfortable. The guy in 2nd started to move away too. My temporary partner seemed happy enough with this, but I felt I could hold onto him. I moved up to 3rd sensing that the other guy didn't want to let me go but he couldn't keep up. As we moved down through the forest I knew first place was out of reach now. The lead bike was struggling to stay ahead of the leader he was moving so powerfully. I was hanging onto the 2nd for dear life, but the gap was always a little too big to challenge him coming in. All the time I knew I was moving farther ahead of 4th as I could no longer hear his footsteps splashing through the unavoidable puddles in the woods. And that's how it stayed. 3rd in 17:22. I'll add the Garmin data when I upload it tomorrow.


Post-Race

Once again, parkrun outdoes itself. The volunteers had a table full of water & tubs of chocolate sweets at the finish. I had to run to catch a train, so couldn't avail of all the complimentary treats but the super effort put in is always appreciated.


Thoughts

Delighted with this effort. Although I gave it everything on the day, I'm confident I can go sub 17 when I do some more specific work. The main thing is I'm only seven seconds off the time I ran last August which predicts a marathon time close to 2:50. Considering my training has been totally focused on improving my aerobic capacity, I'd imagine I should be able to get close to that given favourable circumstances on the day.

yaboya1

MKDTH wrote: »

How did you find my local track? Enjoyable?

Yes, very nice.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone, although I'd say that about every parkrun.

overpronator

Well done, all looking good.

yaboya1

Official time is in: 17:20.
So just one second per km slower than my pb. I'll gladly take that

Duanington

Well done P - making the rest of us doing endless reps each week look like monkeys in wheelbarrows :pac:

Murph_D

Great run. But you chose the wrong one - that time would have been good enough for first finisher at St. Anne's today.

yaboya1

Murph_D wrote: »

Great run. But you chose the wrong one - that time would have been good enough for first finisher at St. Anne's today.

Story of my life

dublin runner

yaboya1 wrote: »

Story of my life

Sounds like you ran well. A nice sharpener before taper. Having someone to chase suited today's mission. The wins will happen. Just don't beat me!

yaboya1

Sunday 5th April - 165 minutes Easy
21m @ 7:53p/m average (135bpm avg)

A satisfactory completion to an 87.52 mile week.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 7:46
Mile 2 - 7:52
Mile 3 - 7:53
Mile 4 - 8:04
Mile 5 - 7:52
Mile 6 - 7:46
Mile 7 - 7:44
Mile 8 - 7:49
Mile 9 - 7:28
Mile 10 - 7:25
Mile 11 - 7:48
Mile 12 - 7:54
Mile 13 - 8:00
Mile 14 - 7:53
Mile 15 - 7:55
Mile 16 - 8:11
Mile 17 - 8:09
Mile 18 - 8:06
Mile 19 - 8:01
Mile 20 - 8:06
Mile 21 - 8:03

yaboya1

Garmin link to yesterday's parkrun for anyone interested:

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/738212461

Duanington

Great week from you P - when do you start to ease off the gas?

yaboya1

Duanington wrote: »

Great week from you P - when do you start to ease off the gas?

Took a rest day yesterday and will probably just fit some easy runs in over the next couple of days to and from work. My main focus is to get one more reasonable long run in this weekend. I can get a couple of steady efforts in the week after, then just keep myself ticking over for the final week or so.

yaboya1

Tuesday 7th April - 60 minutes Easy
8m @ 7:48p/m average (129bpm avg)

Just some easy miles in the beautiful weather this evening before the sun went down.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 7:00
Mile 2 - 7:26
Mile 3 - 8:08
Mile 4 - 7:46
Mile 5 - 8:04
Mile 6 - 7:52
Mile 7 - 8:09
Mile 8 - 8:00

Dubgal72

yaboya1 wrote: »

Took a rest day yesterday and will probably just fit some easy runs in over the next couple of days to and from work. My main focus is to get one more reasonable long run in this weekend. I can get a couple of steady efforts in the week after, then just keep myself ticking over for the final week or so.

So no chance of any taper madness from you? Not even a teensy bit? Go on....

yaboya1

Dubgal72 wrote: »

So no chance of any taper madness from you? Not even a teensy bit? Go on....

I don't think so, this time.
I'm not worried about this race at all tbh.
I've already accepted a long time ago that I can do nothing about the weather, but I'll definitely be taking it into account before I get going.
So I've nothing to be fretting about

Dubgal72

yaboya1 wrote: »

I don't think so, this time.
I'm not worried about this race at all tbh.
I've already accepted a long time ago that I can do nothing about the weather, but I'll definitely be taking it into account before I get going.
So I've nothing to be fretting about

Spoilsport
Seriously, you're on the right track (in more ways than one)

annapr

yaboya1 wrote: »

I don't think so, this time.
I'm not worried about this race at all tbh.
I've already accepted a long time ago that I can do nothing about the weather, but I'll definitely be taking it into account before I get going.
So I've nothing to be fretting about

What did you do with the yaboya we met in Berlin???? :P Is this the new zen version?

yaboya1

Wednesday 8th April - 75 minutes Easy
9.33m @ 8:03p/m average (128bpm avg)

Had intended another double today (in/out of work) but remembered this morning I hadn't left a towel at the office, which was a shame as the chilly conditions early doors were perfect for a run. Had to be satisfied with just the one outing in the glorious sunshine this evening. Paid no heed to the pace/HR the whole way, with the focus on enjoying the all too uncommon sunshine instead.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:05
Mile 2 - 8:04
Mile 3 - 8:02
Mile 4 - 7:57
Mile 5 - 8:01
Mile 6 - 8:05
Mile 7 - 7:53
Mile 8 - 8:10
Mile 9 - 8:00
0.33 - 2:44

yaboya1

Thursday 9th April - 95 minutes Easy
12m @ 7:59p/m average (137bpm avg)

Another beautiful day outside, with temperatures in the 20's as far as I can tell. Had the company of one of next week's Boston runners for this. Nothing like a run with company around the PP in conditions like that. Didn't notice the time going by. Another date for my long run tomorrow.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:14
Mile 2 - 8:36
Mile 3 - 7:53
Mile 4 - 7:43
Mile 5 - 7:59
Mile 6 - 8:11
Mile 7 - 7:59
Mile 8 - 7:46
Mile 9 - 7:44
Mile 10 - 8:12
Mile 11 - 7:40
Mile 12 - 7:50

yaboya1

Friday 10th April - 155 minutes Easy
20.19m @ 7:41p/m average (140bpm avg)

Glad to get this one out of the way. My final LSR of any note. Had company for most of it, which helped a lot. I expected the legs to be stiffer than they were after yesterday's run, but they were fine. I struggled more with dehydration as the run progressed. Towards the end my mouth got really dry and the prospect of a large two litre bottle of water chilling in the fridge was what got me through the last three miles back up the hill. Said bottle of water was the nicest thing I've ever tasted.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:06
Mile 2 - 7:44
Mile 3 - 7:58
Mile 4 - 7:36
Mile 5 - 7:41
Mile 6 - 7:45
Mile 7 - 7:30
Mile 8 - 7:26
Mile 9 - 7:40
Mile 10 - 7:35
Mile 11 - 7:45
Mile 12 - 7:44
Mile 13 - 7:32
Mile 14 - 7:31
Mile 15 - 7:38
Mile 16 - 7:33
Mile 17 - 7:35
Mile 18 - 7:46
Mile 19 - 7:35
Mile 20 - 7:50
0.19 - 1:31

yaboya1

Saturday 11th April - 45 minutes Easy
6m @ 7:42p/m average (130bpm avg)

Squeezed this in right at the end of a long day. Will probably get something similar in tomorrow too. Main aim for next week is to get my last two Steady sessions in, then I'll take it easy for the final week. Ate a load of crap in work today. I wonder would my times improve much if I cleaned up my diet? Food for thought (pun intended )


Splits:

Mile 1 - 7:43
Mile 2 - 7:40
Mile 3 - 8:00
Mile 4 - 7:42
Mile 5 - 7:24
Mile 6 - 7:44

yaboya1

Monday 13th April - 50 minutes Easy
6.09m @ 8:13p/m average (132bpm avg)

An extra five minutes to cover the same distance at a higher average heart rate? I don't feel fantastic, but that's a bit disappointing. Maybe I'm just not as quick in the mornings? I did no running yesterday as I didn't sleep well on Saturday, had a long day in work and wanted to watch the golf. The awful weather also helped convince me a rest day would be better .
The original plan for today was to get a Steady session in later. Legs were still half asleep a good while after I got up though, so I decided an early easy run wouldn't do me any harm. I'm also attempting to break in two new pairs of runners before deciding which one's to use in Hamburg. I think I may have a winner. May still go out later. No harm if not. Will totally depend how I'm feeling around 6-7pm.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:19
Mile 2 - 8:12
Mile 3 - 8:16
Mile 4 - 8:05
Mile 5 - 8:17
Mile 6 - 8:09
0.09 - 0:43

yaboya1

Monday 13th April (P.M) - 75 minutes Steady
11.5m @ 6:31p/m average (155bpm avg)

Felt fine this evening so decided to get this out of the way. Turns out the day off, lie-on this morning and sluggish run earlier didn't do me any harm. A satisfactory day of just under 20 miles. 13 days to Hamburg.


Splits:

W/u mile - 7:02 (132bpm)

Mile 1 - 6:01
Mile 2 - 6:19
Mile 3 - 6:30
Mile 4 - 6:28
Mile 5 - 6:25
Mile 6 - 6:33
Mile 7 - 6:32
Mile 8 - 6:55
Mile 9 - 6:44
Mile 10 - 6:44
Mile 11 - 6:49
0.5 - 3:28

C/d mile - 7:45 (148bpm)

yaboya1

Tuesday 14th April - 35 minutes Easy
4.37m @ 8:00p/m average (124bpm avg)

Legs were pretty sore after yesterday's double, so I reckoned a short run at recovery effort would be just the tonic. Job done. Saw a guy who had set up his own driving range on Sandymount beach while I was out there. Lovely evening for whatever you're doing, running or otherwise.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:04
Mile 2 - 8:01
Mile 3 - 7:53
Mile 4 - 8:10
0.37 - 2:54

yaboya1

No running today.
Although I felt fine throughout the session on Monday evening, I realise now that it was quite an effort and my quads are still sore as a result. I'd also run 24 miles in two days. I figured a rest today was the best option. I have no need to be chasing mileage at this stage, so will also take at least one more day off this week. I've decided to drop the second Steady session I had planned for Thursday/Friday as well, keeping the effort easy from now until race day. I'm thinking anything strenuous will do me more harm than good with only ten days to go. So the current plan is to run home from work tomorrow (9m), into work on Friday (9m), take Saturday off before doing around 12-13m on Sunday. I'll then follow a typical final week approach from any generic plan.

I'm not even paranoid. This is some change to the Seville/Berlin build ups

adrian522

Good call easing back at this stage, as you say nothing you do at this stage will improve your fitness so best not to take any chances.

ThebitterLemon

yaboya1 wrote: »

No running today.
Although I felt fine throughout the session on Monday evening, I realise now that it was quite an effort and my quads are still sore as a result. I'd also run 24 miles in two days. I figured a rest today was the best option. I have no need to be chasing mileage at this stage, so will also take at least one more day off this week. I've decided to drop the second Steady session I had planned for Thursday/Friday as well, keeping the effort easy from now until race day. I'm thinking anything strenuous will do me more harm than good with only ten days to go. So the current plan is to run home from work tomorrow (9m), into work on Friday (9m), take Saturday off before doing around 12-13m on Sunday. I'll then follow a typical final week approach from any generic plan.

I'm not even paranoid. This is some change to the Seville/Berlin build ups

Well I'm paranoid enough for both of us

TbL

TRR_the_turd

Good call on easing back. I've done something similar myself this week too.

Experience trumps paranoia. After a few marathons you know what needs to be done to give yourself the optimum chance of a good run on race day.

yaboya1

Thursday 16th April - 65 minutes Easy
8m @ 8:09p/m average (127bpm avg)

Ran home from work. Legs back to normal.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:47
Mile 2 - 8:13
Mile 3 - 8:03
Mile 4 - 7:15
Mile 5 - 8:05
Mile 6 - 8:13
Mile 7 - 8:20
Mile 8 - 8:19

yaboya1

Friday 17th April - 65 minutes Easy
8.32m @ 7:49p/m average (132bpm avg)

Nice easy run into work. The work is done. Just need to get to the start line healthy now. Of the runs I do have left, Sunday's is the most important but I feel I've done all I have to do in this cycle. Looking forward to flying out now .


Splits:

Mile 1 - 7:44
Mile 2 - 7:36
Mile 3 - 7:49
Mile 4 - 7:55
Mile 5 - 7:53
Mile 6 - 7:48
Mile 7 - 7:56
Mile 8 - 7:52
0.32 - 2:30

yaboya1

Sunday 19th April - 100 minutes Easy
12m @ 8:21p/m average (137bpm avg)

This was absolutely horrible. It's cold & windy outside and the pace is much slower than I'd like. However, it was early(ish) in the morning, I felt pretty awful and I suppose it's better than going too fast. Good thing the race is next Sunday!


Splits:

Mile 1 - 7:43
Mile 2 - 8:13
Mile 3 - 8:29
Mile 4 - 8:25
Mile 5 - 8:14
Mile 6 - 8:32
Mile 7 - 8:31
Mile 8 - 8:32
Mile 9 - 8:40
Mile 10 - 8:28
Mile 11 - 8:09
Mile 12 - 8:13

yaboya1

Tuesday 21st April

A couple of box ticking exercises after a planned rest day yesterday.


A.M. - 40 minutes Easy
5.06m (with 6 x 100m Strides)
4m @ 8:09p/m average (134bpm avg), 1m @ 6:56p/m (157bpm)

Typical morning me. Didn't feel great and everything was worse than it should have been.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 7:38
Mile 2 - 8:15
Mile 3 - 8:14
Mile 4 - 8:27
*Mile 5 - 6:56
0.06 - 0:32


P.M. - 40 minutes Easy
5.18m (with 8 x 100m Strides)
4m @ 7:56p/m average (131bpm avg), 1m @ 6:45p/m (159bpm)

Much better this evening. Going to throw a couple of MP miles into tomorrow's run and that's me done until I get to Germany.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:01
Mile 2 - 7:50
Mile 3 - 8:00
Mile 4 - 7:54
*Mile 5 - 6:45
0.18 - 1:33

*Strides in these miles

annapr

Nearly there, P! Hope all goes well in the next few days.

FBOT01

If only they would run marathons later in the day other than the ungodly hour they all seem to start at:)

When are you heading out?

yaboya1

FBOT01 wrote: »

If only they would run marathons later in the day other than the ungodly hour they all seem to start at:)

When are you heading out?

Flying out Thursday afternoon. Going to take that as a complete rest day, then do some easy miles with strides on Friday. Might do a few very easy on Saturday or the breakfast run if they have one, depending on what time I wake up

overpronator

All the best man, hope you nail it!

paddybarry

Best of luck, you have put in some great work these past few weeks.

FBOT01

yaboya1 wrote: »

Flying out Thursday afternoon. Going to take that as a complete rest day, then do some easy miles with strides on Friday. Might do a few very easy on Saturday or the breakfast run if they have one, depending on what time I wake up

Cool. Sounds like a nice relaxing run in. I hope you have someone with you to keep you distracted and to help you choose your t-shirt for the big day or are you emailing Ferris photos of the options beforehand

tang1

Best of luck Sunday P, hope all goes well for you.

Calvin Johnson

Good luck for Sunday.

No pressure this time so attack it.

Dubgal72

Rooting for ya P I've been really impressed with your paces and training the last few months. It is going to pay off, give it socks and then some