I just can't seem to pick a distance, or train...

Ron DMC

I'm hoping that putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard even) will help get me taking training seriously as I've really been slacking lately.

Story so far
Around this time two years ago, we were in the midst of the London Olympics and I spent the duration of the games staring in awe at the television at these incredible athletes at the top of their game.

At 26 years old, the only running I had ever done at this point in my life was a few school cross-country races as a teenager (which I never trained for) and I was average at best in these at the time. More recently, the only running I did was for the bus, or to the bar for last orders, although my fitness was still above average I reckoned as I cycled to work and back every day.

Watching the Olympic games changed my mindset on running. Although I dismissed ever getting to the level these athletes were competing at, they inspired me to at least attempt getting out there and getting a few miles under me. I knew I wasn't a sprinter (I only ever caught the bus some of the time), but my Dad has a few dozen marathons under his belt so I figured distance running might be worth a punt.

The DLR Bay 10K 2012 was coming up, and I figured if I could run 10K slowly without stopping on my own, it'd be worth the attempt. The Wednesday evening before the Bank Holiday, I threw on my runners and headed out the door. An hour and ten minutes later I fell back in the door - 10km completed. I'd passed my own test, albeit slowly so I signed up for the race.

Race day rolled around, and from the moment the gun went off, I was in my element, having other runners around me gave me an indescribable rush, as I paced off them, ran past them, chased them as they passed me. I charged up hills past fellow runners, I flew past more on the way down. This was so much more fun than going out running on my own.

47 minutes, 40 seconds later, I had completed my first 10km race.

I couldn't get enough, I started signing up for every 5 and 10k I could find. With only a little training between races, I even ran the Race Series half marathon that September in 1:36.

I kept up some training over that winter sprinkled with a few more 5 and 10k races, and just over 13 months ago I ran my first marathon in Waterford in 3:33.

I've now ran 5 marathons (incl. Connemara Ultra) and my PB is 3:24 (Belfast 2014).

Dilemma
I love marathons, or more specifically I love the buzz of a race regardless of distance. In the next year, I want to break 18 minutes in my 5k. I want to break 40 in my 10k. I want to break 1:25 for a half marathon, and I want to aim towards a 3:15 marathon.
That's my problem, I can't seem to pick a distance to focus on, hell, I had so much fun doing the Connemara Ultra, I feel that maybe I should be looking at marathons and above only.

The second main issue I have is motivation to train. Don't get me wrong, I love running, but running on my own lacks that buzz you only get at races. I still go out about a half dozen times a month and run anything between 15 and 25k in one go, but without supplementing this with shorter speed runs, I don't think I'm going to get any faster.

Conclusion (for now)
I'm happy with my marathon progress, although my times haven't improved hugely, completing 5 marathons in the space of a year is a worthy accomplishment and I'm finding them easier every time and my recovery has reduced to under two days before I can run again, so things bode well for improving on my times there.

Time and motivation to train is still a huge factor, so much so that when I do find myself going out for a run, shorter distances seem like a waste of effort and I end up doing miles more than intended.

Any tips to get me out on the road on my own more often, any tips for intervals etc to improve my times?

All in all, I'm confident that I have potential to be reasonably fast, but by golly am I lazy...

RayCun

join a club!

Join Brothers Pearse Blackrock (they're probably handier)

Regular scheduled training sessions will help with motivation - you can't just say "I'll get out sometime", you have to go to the session or admit you're skipping it - the speed work will bring you on, you'll find people to run with, and it'll help you choose target races.

JOIN A CLUB ALREADY!

Ron DMC

RayCun wrote: »

JOIN A CLUB ALREADY!

Considered that, but I only moved back to Dublin last year, and now that I'm getting around to the idea of it, looks like I'm moving down the country again soon. Must look up clubs in the area I suppose.

Thanks.

This Fat Girl Runs

Well done on your PB, that's brillliant!

I'm the last person you probably want to hear from (me being a far less experienced runner), but sometimes I find if I go on autopilot it's easier to get out running. I usually run after work and if I think about it on my walk home, I'll try to talk myself out of it! So I just shut my brain off for a bit and before I know it I'm out the door again and happily running.

Also, if you love the buzz of races and running with others and want to improve your times, then you'll just have to grit your teeth and train on your own if you can't find a club or a parkrun. See it as a necessary evil to achieve your goals, even the shorter recovery runs.

Dunno if that helps or not. Only you can really motivate yourself; I hope you find what you need.

yaboya1

A 3:15 marathon is a very soft target if you can run a sub 1:25 half-marathon, especially with five marathons already under your belt.

Ron DMC

yaboya1 wrote: »

A 3:15 marathon is a very soft target if you can run a sub 1:25 half-marathon, especially with five marathons already under your belt.

I haven't hit 1:25 yet, I'm just above the 1:30 for the half still.

Long term (next 2-3 years), I want to get sub 3, but for this year, 3:15 seems do-able.

yaboya1

Ron DMC wrote: »

I haven't hit 1:25 yet, I'm just above the 1:30 for the half still.

Long term (next 2-3 years), I want to get sub 3, but for this year, 3:15 seems do-able.

Fair enough. I thought they were all long term targets, and the marathon just seems a bit out of line with the others.

Ron DMC

Week ending July 27th

Monday 21st - nothing
Tuesday 22nd - ran to the beach (2km), swam for 15 minutes.
Wednesday 23rd - ran to the beach (2km) swam for 20 minutes, then ran another 7km.
Thursday 24th - ran to the beach (2km), only swam for 5 minutes (loads of jellyfish).
Friday 25th - swam for 20 minutes.
Saturday 26th - Race - East of Ireland Marathon, Roundwood. 26.2miles. Very warm day, much hillier course than I expected. Finished slower than intended after walking a lot of the last lap. Time: 3hrs, 52minutes.
Sunday 27th - ran to the beach (2km), swam for 35 minutes.

Ron DMC

Week ending August 3rd (+ bank holiday Monday 4th)

Monday 28th - nothing
Tuesday 29th - nothing
Wednesday 30th - Cycled 50km
Thursday 31st - nothing (and went out for pints :mad: )
Friday 1st - nothing (and went out for pints :mad: )
Saturday 2nd - nothing
Sunday 3rd - Race Sheelin Challenge, Cavan, Westmeath & Meath. 16 miles. Beautiful course, awful weather: wet, warm, windy. Ran fine, pretty happy with it. Came seventh in 1:56:00 on the nose.
Monday 4th - Race DLR Bay 10k, Dún Laoghaire. 10km. Great morning for it with the sun out and big numbers, third year in a row doing this one and a new course PB which I was surprised at, having done the 16 miles the day before. 41:53 total.

Ron DMC

I've decided to sign up for a 10km on Saturday and I'm already down for a triathlon (mini-swim) on Sunday.

Half tempted to do the duathlon in the park this evening as well. Looks like nice weather for it.

EDIT: Yep, just registered for the duathlon this evening as well. I think there's something wrong with me.

Ron DMC

Week ending 10th August

Tuesday 5th
- commuted in and out on the bike (8km x 2)

Wednesday 6th
- commuted in on the bike (8km)
- Race Phoenix Park Formula 1 Duathlon
Lovely evening for the race in the park, was thrown in the first wave as I registered late, but it meant I was up there with the pros so did my very best to keep up. Not used to cycling in the park, so wasn't as fast as I'd have liked, and even the run seemed sluggish, not used to evening races I guess.
Total Position Run 1 (2.5km) T1 Bike 1 (8km) T2 Run 2 (2.7km) T3 Bike 2 (8km) T4 Run 3 (2.7km)
1:11:15 60 10:05 0:57 16:49 0:55 11:55 0:53 17:21 0:55 11:29

Thursday 7th
- commuted home on the bike (8km)

Friday 8th
- nothing

Saturday 9th
- Race Summer Summit 10K, Sutton.
Lucky with the weather for this one, no sign of the storm that was due to hit. Great little jaunt up one of my favourite hills to Howth summit and back down again. Very similar time to DLR Bay last Monday. 42:02 (raging I didn't sprint faster at the end to get under the 42). 9th place overall.

- Jogged another 10km, easy pace, with DogSlySmile on the way home (insane ultra-training for him, fair play) as far as Clontarf Road where I decided to get a Dart the rest of the way to save the legs for Sunday.

Sunday 10th
- Race King of Greystones (baby swim)
Amazingly, the rain overnight cleared up and the whole race was dry as a bone. The sea was incredibly rough however and both the long and short swims were cut shorter (500m or so for the long swim and about 170m for us baby-swimmers). Even with the swim as short as it was, it was still the bit I was most nervous about, but luckily the current and other swimmers drove me through and I made it back to shore in one piece. A combination of fatigue from having given the swim my all, and shock that I completed it as quick as I did resulted in a very slow first transition (embarassingly so), but happy enough with the bike time considering the wind, and I managed to get the fastest run in out of all the baby-swimmers!
Total Position Swim (~170m) T1 Bike (18km) T2 Run (4.8km)
01:12:02 6 00:07:28 00:03:26 00:39:50 00:00:53 00:20:27

Ron DMC

Week ending August 17th

Been fairly busy with work stuff so wrecked by the time I get home. Aside from the odd cycle in/out of the office, I did nothing.


Nothing so far this week either.