Kona Can Wait!

zico10

Monday 20th January
a.m.
Recovery Run; 6.01km in 34.08
Avg. Pace = 5.41/km

p.m.
Recovery Run 1; 5.01km in. 27.44
Avg. Pace = 5.33/km

Recovery Run 2; 5km in 29.07
Avg. Pace = 5.49/km

I was busy all evening and only had time to do half of the second scheduled recovery run before swimming 7.30. I wasn't much in the mood for a third recovery run when I got back home after swimming, but because of how ardently I'm sticking to the schedule, not going out didn't really cross my mind. Unlike the other two runs of the day though, which were both done alongside the canal, I headed to The Park for this one. I ran until I had 2.5km clocked, then turned around and ran home.

Tuesday 21st January
General Aerobic Run; 14.01km in 1.10.06
Average Pace = 5.00/km

I ran this along the Royal Canal Way. I started in Clonsilla and got to the train station in Leixlip. It was dark when I was doing this run, so I took my head torch with me. I'd never ran this path in the dark before, and it turned out to be very enjoyable.

Wednesday 22nd January
Medium Long Run; 24.01/km
Average Pace = 4.30/km

I was at a friend's house earlier in the evening and I was very late starting this run. It was around 11 o'clock in the night when I finished. I scoffed a handful of jellies before heading out, and I think they helped. I felt strong throughout and was happy with how I ran. As usual I ran to the Park. I took a roundabout route to Chapelizod Gate, ran up Knockmaroon Hill, past Mount Sackville, to White's Road and back.

Thursday 23rd January
Recovery Run; 11.01km in 1.03.47
Average Pace = 5.48/km

I did this before work. I ran to the Park and luckily didn't get caught at the level crossing I have to pass on either my way out or back.

Friday 24th January
Recovery Run; 11km in 1.05.24
Average Pace = 5.57/km

I was meant to do a 19km lactate threshold run today, but I was wrecked when I got home from work and I went to bed. When I woke up it was 7 p.m. and I couldn't face into a run of this distance that late on a Friday night, so I swapped it with Saturday's recovery run. It was my second day doing a recovery run and it meant two tough days in a row on Saturday and Sunday, but I think it was the right decision.

Saturday 25th January
Lactate Threshold Run; 19.31km w. 10km @ HM pace
Warm up; 6km in 32.02 (Avg. Pace = 5.20/km)
HM Pace; 10k in 37.22 (Avg. Pace = 3.44/km)
Cool down; 3.31k. In 18.19 (Avg. Pace = 5.32/km)

To fuel myself for the hard work to come I started eating a bag of jelly babies 5km into my warm up and had them all eaten by 6km. I was on the Furze Road at this point. The weather looked fine, and as I have to work extra hard to hit my HM pace, I stuffed my jacket in a tree, and set off on the HM paced section wearing just a base layer. This wasn't a problem though as I was working hard and the weather was holding up. I was running well below my target of .45/km for the first 5km. I was running along the S-bends on the Lower Glen Road and towards the Wellington Monument. When I got to 5km it was time to turn around, and it was here the pace first became a struggle. It became a real struggle when I started my seventh kilometre. It started with a run uphill, the headwind became a real struggle at this point, and then it started to rain. The rain was pelting into my face throughout and I was heading uphill for practically the entire distance. When I finished the kilometre, my Garmin showed me it was ran at an average pace of 4.15/km. I wasn't sure of my average pace for the 7km, but despite the quick pace I'd ran the first 5 in, I was pretty sure it was going to be a hard ask to get my average pace under 3.45/km for this 10k. The next split showed an average pace of 4.47/km, which didn't help. I put the hammer down after this and finished up running the final kilometre in 3.40. It was tough work, and I was soaked to the skin, but I was very happy to see an average pace of 3.44/km for the entire 10 kilometres.
I was back at the tree where I stuffed my jacket, so that went back on. I was happy with the extra layer of insulation and the easy jog home was very welcome after the earlier exertions.

Sunday 26th January
Long Run; 35km in 2.37.03
Avg. Pace = 4.29/km

I was down home in Roscrea today and ran on the old N7 from Roscrea out to the blink and you'd miss Pike of Rushall. I'd done 34km on the same stretch of road during my preparation for Connemara 5 years ago and although I don't remember my time, I remember it being one of those long runs where I wasn't too far from breaking down in tears. I was carrying water and gels that day, whereas today I just went out with jellies and wine gums. I had a €2 coin as well, in case I needed to purchase water on the return leg through Borris-in-Ossory.
I was very happy with how the run went. I had the wind at my back on the way out, but I didn't really realise how strong it was until I was running against it on the way back. I felt the wind straight away after turning around and I found myself having to work harder to hold the same pace. I wasn't killing myself though and still felt good until driving rain, then sleet made things uncomfortable. This lasted for about 4km, but I got through it without a significant drop off in pace.
I was glad to see an average pace of 4.29/km when I stopped the clock after what has been the longest run I have done so far. This pace is towards the faster end of the pace scale I've set for my long runs, but I was running it off feel and it didn't feel any harder than earlier and slower long runs I've done in this training block.



Weekly Totals;
130.37km
10.40.08

zico10

Monday 27th January
Recovery Run; 10km in 54.54
Average Pace = 5.29/km

a.m.
I stayed down in Roscrea last night and drove up to Dublin this morning. That meant waking up at 5 a.m. So as I would be able to get up to Dublin in time for a 10km run before work. I had breakfast before the drive and was up in Dublin less than two hours later.
I parked at my school and went for a run along the Royal Canal Way. After running 5km, I turned off my Garmin, as the battery was low and I needed to save it for today's evening run.
The totals above are based on those from my 5 kilometres run multiplied by two.

p.m.

Recovery Run; 6km in 34.15
Average Pace = 5.43/km

Tuesday 28th January
General Aerobic Run; 14.01km in 1.08.08
Average Pace = 4.52/km

Wednesday 29th January
Medium Long Run; 24.01/km in 1.49.51
Average Pace = 24.01km

I left this until late enough in the evening. I ran it in the Park, but avoided the more hilly parts. I had jellies with me, but didn't eat them.

Thursday 30th January
Recovery Run; 13km in 1.10.00 (approximately)

I did this on a treadmill in the NAC. The treadmills automatically stop after an hour, and I had to restart the the treadmill after about 11km. The above is just a guess, but as it was only a recovery run, I'm not all that concerned about the stats anyway.

Friday 31st January
Recovery Run w. Speed; 12.21km w. 10 x 100m strides in 1.06.27
Average Pace = 5.26/km

I moved Saturday's scheduled run to today, today's run to Sunday, and Sunday's run to Saturday. I'd planned to meet friends on Saturday, and all this was done to avoid having to run 19km at race pace after a night out drinking.
Anyway tonight's run was fine, these strides aren't hard and are over almost as soon as they start.

Saturday 1st February
Long Run w. 19km @ PMP; 29.03km in 1.59.21

8.01km in 36.40 (4.35/km)
19.01km in 1.13.24 (3.52/km)
2.01km in 9.17(4.38/km)

I was worried what the weather was gong to be like for this run, it was windy at times, but luckily it didn't rain. I ate a good few jellies before beginning the 19 kilometres at race pace. I took three gels with me to consume during the 19km and took one every 5km. This seemed to work well, as I felt strong and managed to stay well under my target pace. I did the entire run inside the Park and out of all the 19km, only one of them was outside the target. It was against the wind though, at at 4.01/km wasn't too far out.

Sunday 2nd February
Medium Long Run; 21.01km in 1.37.11
Average Pace = 4.38/km

After yesterday's hard run I wasn't pushing too hard on this run. I finished feeling comfortable and was happy to be done for the week.


Weekly Totals;
129.27km
10.20.07

zico10

Monday 3rd February
a.m.
Recovery Run;
6.01km in 33.34
Average Pace = 5.37/km

p.m.
Recovery Run;
10.00km in 55.19
Average Pace = 5.32/km

Not much to be said about either of today's runs. Took it nice and easy for both.

Tuesday 4th February
General Aerobic Run;
14.01km in 1.06.33
Average Pace = 4.45/km

I think I ran this after school, along the Royal Canal Path from Clonsilla to Leixlip, but it's so long ago I forget. I have it scribbled down in a diary though with the above vital stats.

Wednesday 5th February
General Aerobic Run + Speed;
13.04km w. 10 x 100m strides in 1.04.23
4.56/km
Average Pace = 4.56/km

I was supposed to be doing intervals today, but the weather was lousy. And I was in no mood to be stripped down to a base layer, running intervals along with the subsequent recoveries, in such conditions. Instead I swapped it for the easier session on Saturday. I was in The Phoenix Park, the path I was running on was flooded and I was running through ankle deep water in places. It wasn't ideal, but still nicer than running intervals.

Thursday 6th February
Recovery Run;
11.05km in 1.01.41
Average Pace = 5.35/km

I went to The Park for this. I always run on the pedestrian path when running along Chesterfield Avenue, but with it being flooded last night, I stayed off it tonight and ran on the cycle path instead.

Friday 7th February
a.m.
Recovery Run;
6.15km in 35.49 (Average pace = 5.50km)

I ran along by the canal. Brighter mornings are starting to become more noticeable. I should be able to do without my flashing LED red lights soon enough.

p.m.
Medium Long Run;
18.01km in 1.22.33
Average pace = 4.35/km

The weather wasn't great and when I finished my scheduled 18km, I was still quite a distance from my home. I'd usually walk it, but I wanted to be inside, so I stopped my watch and jogged a little over 1km to get to my front door.

Saturday 8th February
Intervals;
14km w. 6x800m @ 5k race pace

6.56km warm up in 31.58 (Average pace = 4.53km)

Intervals;
1 - 3.12/km
2 - 3.22/km
3 - 3.15/km
4 - 3.25/km
5 - 3.13/km
6 - 3.20/km
Totals; 4.83km in 15.54 (Average Pace = 3.18/km)

I didn't record the times for these efforts, but as I'm far more concerned with pace, I made a mental note of this, which it recorded when I got home. I was running along the path beside the Playing Fields in the Park. I was going in opposite directions for each alternate interval, and the wind was with me for the first, third and fifth efforts, and against me for the other ones. It was raining as well, which made my first speed work in this plan a pretty miserable affair. My target 5k pace was .20/km, and given the conditions I was happy to finish on target. The wind might have eased off slightly on my sixth and final effort, but I also knew with it being my last interval that I could give it slightly more welly.

1.71km cool down in 9.03 (Average pace = 5.17/km)

Sunday 9th February
Long Run;
26.01km in 1.56.50
Average Pace = 4.29/km

I went out with my housemate, who just gotten back from a week long cycling trip in Gran Canaria last night. I didn't think he'd be up for a run, but I asked him regardless and he came with me. He stuck out the entire 26km, which sort of impressed me. We ran up the Khyber three times managing to maintain a good speed each time.
I practically always run on my own, so it was good to have the company. Pace was slightly faster than I had intended, but no great harm in that.


Weekly Totals;
118.97km
9 hours 42 minutes approximately

It's been a long time since I've done proper speed work, so I'm glad I've started it. Like other things in the plan, even though I know I should be well capable of hitting the correct speed, it's one thing writing it down and another thing doing it. I'm glad I managed to do my intervals at the correct intensity, on what wasn't a nice evening.
Just on the plan in general, it seems to take little account of real life. Why it schedules easy runs on Saturday I don't really know. I'm having to switch around sessions to more practical times, but apart from that I've so far done practically everything the plan has called for.

zico10

Monday 10th February
a.m.
Recovery Run;
6.09km in 35.21
Average Pace = 5.48/km

p.m.
Recovery Run;
10.00km in 53.55
Average Pace = 5.23/km

Tuesday 11th February
General Aerobic Run;
13km in 1.05.00 approximately

The weather forecast in the morning wasn't too promising, and I brought my running gear to work, so as I'd have gear for afterwards. I went to the NAC and ran the 13km on the treadmill. I set to incline to 1%, so as not to be completely wasting my time. I could see snow falling outside and I didn't know whether To be happy or sad. I was definitively happy to be able to jump into a jacuzzi afterwards though, undoubtedly one of the great advantages of running on a treadmill.

Wednesday 12th February
Medium Long Run;
24.01km in 1.47.17
Average Pace = 4.28/km

The weather was quiet bad today, not as bad in Dublin as other parts of the country, but still bad enough that I didn't want to go out in it. I was hearing reports throughout the evening that things were improving down in Munster, so I decided to sit out the strong winds in Dublin and wait for the storm to pass.
There is a crossover between the two paces I've prescribed myself for my long runs and aerobic runs. It was nearly half past 8 when I set out with the intention of only doing a 13km general aerobic run. Nonetheless I kept my initial pace under 4.48/km, should I change my mind and run the scheduled 24 kilometres. About 3km into my run, this is indeed what I decided to do. I felt strong throughout and even though it was well after 10 when I got home, I was glad with my decision to do the longer run. And after the strong winds earlier in the evening, the weather wasn't too bad either.

Thursday 13th February
Recovery Run;
10.01km in 58.18
Average Pace = 5.50km

I did this before work. I ran to the Zoo and back to my house. I was supposed to do another 6km recovery run today, but was busy come evening time, so I put it off until Saturday.

Friday 14th February
Long Run;
27.40km in 2.07.47
Average Pace = 4.39/km

I set out hoping to get 39km covered, but a violent onset of diarrhea put paid to that. I was moving along fine up until the 18km mark. My insides were starting to play up by this point though. I crossed Chesterfield Avenue shortly after this and took my first toilet break in the trench by the footpath. 2km later I stopped again. I thought this would be the end of it, but I had 3km later had to stop again. I'd initially planned to leave the Park and run up Knockmaroon Hill. This would allow me stop in Chapelizod Village, where I could pick up a bottle of water. In my condition though, the risk of another chocolate syrup surprise in Chapelizod was highly probable. I had Imodium back in the house, and I hoped one or two of these would be a miracle cure. Just before leaving the Park, I jumped into the bushes for one final time. About an hour earlier than planned I got back to my apartment, used a proper toilet, took the Imodium, drank some water, and headed back out. I'd lost a lot of water though and felt like crap. I ran another 500m, before changing my mind and stopping. I'm sure I'd have been able to slog through another 12km at the right pace, but thought it would have taken me a few days to recover from it. Discretion is sometimes the better part of valour.

Saturday 15th February
a.m.
General Aerobic Run;
13km on treadmill in 1.04.00 approximately
Average Pace = 4.55/km

I was in the NAC for a morning swim. Once they closed down the 50m pool at 10 p.m., I went upstairs to the gym, got on a treadmill, and did the above run.

p.m.
Recovery Run;
6.01km in 31.17
Average Pace = 5.13/km

I was driving to Roscrea today, and got a second run in before going down. This was supposed to done on Thursday, but somehow it was easier find time on Saturday.

Sunday 16th February
Lactate Threshold Run;
19.02km w. 11km @ HM Pace in 1.08.24

Warm up;
8.01km in 38.35
Average Pace = 4.49/km
Threshold;
11.01km in 39.49
Average Pace = 3.37/km

I ran this out at Mount St. Joseph Abbey in Roscrea. I was running on a 1.75km loop, that took me out the main gate and in a side gate. My run coincided with midday Mass, but Mass here isn't as popular as it used to be and I think I avoided the worst of the the cars at both the start and end of Mass. It was all old people driving, who aren't generally in as much of a rush as most motorists seem to be. Coming out of the main gate, I moved out in front of the slow moving cars and held my position till I was out the gate, without anyone beeping their horn.
This is the last time in the plan I have to run at HM pace. I've found these the toughest sessions I have to do. I struggled with the pace at the start of this training block, and maybe that's what filled me with a sense of dread whenever I saw them at the start of a week. I'm glad to have ran today's 11 kilometres well under my HM pace, and though I'm confident now I can tune into the pace when necessary, I'm glad the lactate threshold runs are finished.


Weekly Totals;
128.54km
9 hours 24 minutes approximately

I'm disappointed with the way the 39km run on Friday went. It's the longest run in my plan, and it would have been nice to have it out of the way. I want to fit 39km in at some point, but next weekend I've to do a tune-up race, (which will likely be the duathlon in Limerick), the following weekend's long run includes 23km at PMP, and the weekend after that also has another tune-up race. It's going to be hard fit it in on any of those weekends. So the likely hood is I'll be doing it in four weeks. I think I should extend one of the long runs over the next three weekends as well, so as I'll have done two long runs near enough 42.195km.
If I hadn't missed out on those 12km on Friday's run, this would have been the highest volume week.
Intervals are going to be a weekly occurrence from now on. I hadn't been done proper speed work for a while until two weeks ago, and I think it's timely that I'm starting now. Intervals are certainly tough, but I've never had a huge problem with pacing them before. I expect I'll manage to hold my 5k pace for all the intervals over the next few weeks. I feel I have the hardest work out of the way.
6 weeks to race week and all seems to be going well.

zico10

I'm due to do a 8-15km tune-up race next weekend and I've signed up for the Limerick Duathlon on Sunday. I would ideally like to have found a straight running race, but with two 4km runs I'll at least get the minimum distance in. I'll definitively be able to run the first leg at desired race pace, but after 6 months of no cycling the second one should be more problematic. It will be interesting if nothing else.

BTH

zico10 wrote: »

I'm due to do a 8-15km tune-up race next weekend and I've signed up for the Limerick Duathlon on Sunday. I would ideally like to have found a straight running race, but with two 4km runs I'll at least get the minimum distance in. I'll definitively be able to run the first leg at desired race pace, but after 6 months of no cycling the second one should be more problematic. It will be interesting if nothing else.

Looks like that went well then. Nice work young man.

zico10

BTH wrote: »

Looks like that went well then. Nice work young man.

How do you know? Where did you see the results?

BTH

zico10 wrote: »

How do you know? Where did you see the results?

Limerick tri club on Facebook had the top three up. See they have the full results now.

Chartsengrafs

Nice work indeed. Spoiler alert with their profile pic!

pgibbo

Just saw the results there. Nice going off no biking!!!! :eek:

RacoonQueen

Nice. Well done.

It's obviously down to the book!

zico10

Monday 17th February
Recovery Run;
10.04km in 51.50
5.10/km

I did this down in Roscrea before driving back up to Dublin in the afternoon. It was very comfortable.
I was meant to do a second 6km recovery run today, but I left for another evening in the week, when I won't be stuck in a car for nearly two hours of the day.

Tuesday 18th February
Intervals;
14km w. 6x800m @ 5k race pace

4.40km warm up in 23.44 (Average pace = 5.24km)

Intervals;
1 - 0.61km in 2.15 (3.42/km)
2 - 0.61km in 2.12 (3.40/km)
3 - 0.61km in 2.05 (3.29/km)
4 - 0.61km in 2.09 (3.33/km)
5 - 0.61km in 2.12 (3.39/km)

Ordinarily I would do intervals on a flat surface, but I'm not getting in as much hill work as I'd like for Connemara, so I did this session as a set of hill reps. I was running these up the Kyhber, where they have intervals of 100 metres marked out. I was running uphill, so I wasn't expecting to hit 5k pace, so I won't read too much into the numbers. Effort was the same though. I held back on the first one, got annoyed by a dog on the third one and pushed harder. Overall pace was a bit all over the place, will do the session again in two weeks and make comparisons then.

3.71km cool down in 20.23 (5.30/km)

I ran home from the Kyhber to finish off the session. I looked at my watch when I got back onto the path by the canal, saw I had in excess of 14km covered, so stopped my watch, and walked the remaining distance home.

Wednesday 19th February
Long Run;
39.01km in 2.56.43
Average Pace = 4.32/km

I was originally going to make up for last week's 39km run I cut short in a few weeks. When I decided this it hadn't crossed my mind that I had this week off work. I do my long runs on the weekends, but with a race on Sunday, I thought it wiser to get it out of the way midweek
The run I took included 6 or 7 runs up the Khyber and a section of Eamon Coughlan's Munich mile. Whether uphill or down I managed to keep a good pace throughout. I took 5 gels over the three hours, and stopped for a bottle to water and a pack of Wine Gums in Chapelizod. This is a lot more fuel than I usually take and I was the better for it. It was very mild out and I felt good throughout the run.

Thursday 20th February
Recovery Run;
10.01km in 53.28
Average Pace = 5.20/km

I left this until late enough in the afternoon. I had to pick up a gilet I'd hidden in a tree in the Park during yesterday's run. Thankfully it was still there today. Conveniently the tree was almost exactly 5km from my door. I literally got to the tree, then turned around and ran for home.

Friday 21st February
Medium Long Run; (supposed to be 24km)
23.60km (20.01km in 1.30.37)
Average Pace = 4.32/km

I forgot to restart my watch after stopping to water the plants. I was deliberately not looking at my watch for long stretches and a long time had passed before I realised I hadn't restarted it. By the time I looked at my watch again I estimated that it had been off for about 4 kilometres, so I stopped running after clocking 20km. I got home and made a better estimation using mapmyrun. According to this I was 400m short, but I had showered and was switched off at this stage, and there was no way in hell I was going out to make up the deficit.

Saturday 22nd February
Recovery Run w. Speed
11km w. 6 x 100m strides in 59.47
Average Pace = 5.26km

I was supposed to do this earlier in the week, but figured recovery with a bit of speed thrown into the mix would be a better thing to do on the eve of a race.

Sunday 23rd February
Limerick Duathlon;

1.04km warm up w. drills

Race;
Run 1 and T1; 00:11:31
Cycle; 00:24:57
T2; 00.00:510
Run 2; 00:11:24

Total Time; 00:48:45

Report to follow


Weekly Totals;
115.5km approximately
8 hours 36 minutes approximately

Dory Dory

Congrats on the race. Of course I went lurking to see your photo on fb....but without any visible tattoos I have no idea who I'm looking for. ;):)

Oh, wine gum? What is wine gum?

shotgunmcos

Congrats on the duathlon podium and with zero biking so far this year... kudos!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Nicely done on the duathlon, not a bad return with no bike training:).

What is the thought and reasoning behind such a long 3hr run/39k in the plan? I would have thought you do not need to be running for 3hrs considering you are likely going to hit a 2:4x in Conn?

Bambaata

Where's the report? WHERE'S THE REPORT!! Its Tuesday god dammit!

zico10

Dory Dory wrote: »

Congrats on the race. Of course I went lurking to see your photo on fb....but without any visible tattoos I have no idea who I'm looking for. ;):)

Oh, wine gum? What is wine gum?

I think I'm the third one in that cover photo. I can't access Facebook at work, so I can't be sure. I'm dressed all in black, wearing compression tights and top, and a red/yellow/orange bandana type thing.

"Wine gums?" Good Lord, you don't know what wine gums are?

zico10

Dax Colossal Body wrote: »

What is the thought and reasoning behind such a long 3hr run/39k in the plan? I would have thought you do not need to be running for 3hrs considering you are likely hopefully going to hit a 2:4x in Conn?

FYP

I'm not thinking about my run training. That's the beauty of it. I'm just following the program exactly as Pfitzinger and Douglas have laid it out. I might move sessions from day to day, but except for that I'm literally opening the book and going out and doing the exact runs that they prescribe. Sure it's a generic plan, but it suits me.

Just to give my own thoughts on running for three hours though, I don't necessarily see the harm in it. I think runs like this make me more resilient. Being able to run this distance is a good thing as far as I make out. Getting through this run without any ill effects, bodes well for the rest of the training I 'm doing. I think I'm less likely to break down for having done it.

It's something I have done before and will probably continue to do in the years to come.

Besides, weren't you doing a 50km race there recently. What was that about?:p

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

zico10 wrote: »

FYP

I'm not thinking about my run training. That's the beauty of it. I'm just following the program exactly as Pfitzinger and Douglas have laid it out. I might move sessions from day to day, but except for that I'm literally opening the book and going out and doing the exact runs that they prescribe. Sure it's a generic plan, but it suits me.

Just to give my own thoughts on running for three hours though, I don't necessarily see the harm in it. I think runs like this make me more resilient. Being able to run this distance is a good thing as far as I make out. Getting through this run without any ill effects, bodes well for the rest of the training I 'm doing. I think I'm less likely to break down for having done it.

It's something I have done before and will probably continue to do in the years to come.

Besides, weren't you doing a 50km race there recently. What was that about?:p

Never read over P&D approach to marathon training but a few things stand out for me (you probably know most of this yourself, but i will ramble on anyway:))

Whilst i can see some of the mental benefits to running that long/for that distance to me it is counter productive for a number of reasons
> Research has shown that you will see very little if any aerobic develepment when running distances any longer than 90mins to 2hrs. In fact the aerobic development achieved on a 2hr run would likely be the same as running for 3hrs.
> Whilst probably more directed towards beginners, the risk of injury greatly increases the longer the run as form breaks down
> Overuse injuries tend to pop up, even with experienced runners.
> Added fatigue to the legs, impacting on other sessions, in particular any quality sessions you have lined up the following week

There is probably another few which i cannot think of right now. In short i am not a fan of having people run close to or over 3hrs. One of the main issues i have training some folk, i am talking about 4-5hr type finishers here. Is balancing the long run distance/duration and what i have listed above. Sometimes the risk can be reduced by running a 25 and a 10 for example as a 2nd run.
I must read up on some P&D and see what the thinking/logic is behind such a long session. You are cracking along nicely (jealous;)) so take the above with a pinch of salt.

BTW that 50k was being used as a long run with the original plan capping at 30/35k.:)

menoscemo

I have to say I totally disagree with that JB.
I don't have any scientific evidence to back it up but from personal experience 3hr (or more) training runs have a massive positive benefit on marathon conditioning. It might not have aerobic benefits (not sure about that btw) but can definitely improve fuelling efficiency (i.e. not bonking) and help make you more resilient to fatigue (not cramping up). If you plan on being close to 3hrs on your feet in a marathon then to me it's a no brainer to practise that in training at a lower intenstity (speed).

zico10

Bambaata wrote: »

Where's the report? WHERE'S THE REPORT!! Its Tuesday god dammit!

The plan I’m following called for an 8-15km tune up race at this point. I couldn’t find any running races that were convenient, and I was sort of curious to see how I’d fare in a duathlon.

With that I registered for Limerick Duathlon. My marathon is not until April 6th and with the duathlon being so far out, I didn’t think 14km on the bike was going to cause too much harm. It would serve as a nice blowout, if nothing else.

On Saturday I went into Wheelworx to get a torque wrench and some carbon paste, to readjust and tighten my saddle that had collapsed on me in Kenmare. Instead I came out with a €240 TT helmet and the good people in Wheelworx took care of the bike for me.

Ideally I would like to have gotten out for a spin on Saturday. However I wanted to watch the rugby game, and I also had to fit in a run, which right now is way more important.

So I arrived down in Limerick having not cycled my TT bike in over 5 months. I didn’t have any great ambitions of posting a great bike split. And once I didn’t fall off the bike, I was going to consider it a success.

After signing on, I went out for a spin. I just went up to the crest of the first hill on the cycle route and back. I checked the gears and breaks and everything seemed to be in working order. It was getting close to the start time when I got back and racked my bike, and I only had time for a short 1km warm up run. I pushed up the hills and relaxed on the other parts.

Once that was done, I took my place at the start and waited for the gun to go. Having not raced in Ireland for a few years, I didn’t recognise any faces on the starting line. Although from racing here previously I reckoned I was fully entitled to take a position right at the front.

There were a few surges at the very start, but the runners weren’t long calming down and most athletes soon settled into position. Nobody went charging off the front and I was leading soon enough. I could hear people right behind me. I never turned to look though and I thought I’d opened a bit of a gap at one point. When I got to the turnaround, I was surprised to see two people right behind me.

Because of the underfoot conditions, he run was shortened. Instead of turning at 2km, we turned somewhere between 1.5 and 1.6km. I was hoping to get an 8km run in, so it was a little disappointing from that point of view. It had no bearing on the overall result though, and I’m sure shortening the course was the correct call.

We got back to T1 and the two other guys were still with me, they put in a final surge and got into T1 just ahead of me. There wasn’t even a second in the difference though, and I wasn’t bothered fighting for the honours.

They both got out of T1 well ahead of me, along with one other guy. The two leaders were gone well up the road and I only caught glimpses of them in the distance as the bike leg progressed. I passed the other guy who made it out ahead of me and moved into third spot, but when I saw the two guys cycling back after the turnaround, I knew any hopes of a first or second place finish were gone.

Although I didn’t feel very powerful on the bike, I was pretty sure I was going to be able to hold onto third spot. The road sweeps down before a left turn into transition and it was here someone caught me. I was surprised as well to see a woman go by me at some speed, not because she’s a woman, but because I hadn’t noticed her up to that point. It was Siobhan Horgan, who had moved up from 23rd to 3rd with the quickest bike split of the day.

She took her feet out of her shoes, which I didn’t bother doing and we crossed the dismount line within 2 seconds of each other. Four of five other cyclists came in soon after us and most of them as well as Siobhan got out before me. Provided I didn’t have ‘jelly legs’, I was pretty sure I’d run them down. I haven’t run off the bike since September, but I’ve done enough of it over the years and wasn’t overly concerned about an onset of ‘jelly legs’ today.

I’d moved back into third well before the turnaround and now it was just a case of maintaining speed and seeing how far ahead persons 1 and 2 were. This moment duly came and it was a little bit disheartening to see how much of a gap they had opened up. Still after two months no cycling, I wasn’t expecting to be where I was and I was very happy to finish in third.

I’m not sure of the merits of doing a duathlon in the middle of a focussed marathon training block. I was meant to be doing a running race, and while I was racing, there wasn’t as much at stake. I knew I had 3rd sewn up, there was no chance of me finishing second, and there was no incentive to push. I eased off towards the end, whereas if it had been a 10km running race, at least I would’ve been racing the clock regardless of where I was going to finish. I’ve two more races to do before Connemara, and I’ll do a 10km TT if I can’t get into anything. But as I said in the opening paragraph, this was only meant to be a bit of fun, which it was. There’s still plenty of suffering to do between now and April 6th, and looking ahead to the tri season, it’s nice to know my biking isn’t gone to total sh!t.

Kudos to Limerick Tri for organising this, for a short race they had a huge number of volunteers on hand. The spread afterwards was a lot better than a lot of triathlons I’ve done for three times the price. I got €30 as well for coming 3rd, which while not a huge amount, is still a very nice touch. (7 more 3rd place finishes between now and 2021 and my new TT helmet will have paid for itself.) It’s a great little event and one I hope to be back to for many more to come.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

menoscemo wrote: »

I have to say I totally disagree with that JB.
I don't have any scientific evidence to back it up but from personal experience 3hr (or more) training runs have a massive positive benefit on marathon conditioning. It might not have aerobic benefits (not sure about that btw) but can definitely improve fuelling efficiency (i.e. not bonking) and help make you more resilient to fatigue (not cramping up). If you plan on being close to 3hrs on your feet in a marathon then to me it's a no brainer to practise that in training at a lower intenstity (speed).

If you are thinking that way then extrapolating it out, if racing a 50k or a 100k ultra would you be going out doing a 50k or a 100k training run in preparation?

You dont need to run the actual marathon distance to do well at it, better ways of structuring a long run that will simulate fatigue faced at the end of a marathon. No doubt we will argue this point during the Bohermeen half, of course i will be proved correct:)

Kurt Godel

zico10 wrote: »

So I arrived down in Limerick having not cycled my TT bike in over 5 months.

3rd in a Duathlon off no biking; great result, well done. I foresee a stampede to Wheelworx looking to buy that €240 TT helmet!

shotgunmcos

All respect due..fastest bike split to a girl, wow :eek:

Enjoyed the report thanks

Dory Dory

zico10 wrote: »

I think I'm the third one in that cover photo. I can't access Facebook at work, so I can't be sure. I'm dressed all in black, wearing compression tights and top, and a red/yellow/orange bandana type thing.

Beard???

(and I don't think we have wine gum over here)

zico10

Dory Dory wrote: »

Beard???

(and I don't think we have wine gum over here)

Yeah that's me with the beard.

No wine gums in America! I'm shocked.

pgibbo

Nice report. What helmet did you buy?

zico10

pgibbo wrote: »

Nice report. What helmet did you buy?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/spiuk-aizea-time-trial-road-helmet/

The white one, the green was too garish for my liking.

Intersting to note it was cheaper in Wheelworx than on wiggle.

RacoonQueen

Dory Dory wrote: »

Beard???

(and I don't think we have wine gum over here)

lol...always checking out the men Dory!

We'll have to send you some wine gums, you're missing out.

catweazle

Dory Dory wrote: »

Beard???

(and I don't think we have wine gum over here)

Wine is synonymous with France Dory so perhaps check the shop for Freedom gums instead