Then we take Berlin

ciaranmac

This is my attempt at a training log which will hopefully keep me honest. Failing that it will give the rest of you some motivation of the it-could-be-worse variety.

Background - 41 year old male, started running about 2 years ago and stopped for a few water breaks along the way.

I worked up to DCM this year swearing I wouldn't run another marathon ever, or at least not until I graduate from the part time degree I'm studying. The weekend after Dublin I entered the draw for Berlin 2015, thinking the prestige of the race would mean my chances of getting a place were astronomical. That's what I told my better half too. Anyway the odds weren't so bad, 70000 applicants for 40000 places. Seriously, the chance to compete in the same event as the likes of Dibaba and Kimetto, and 5 world record runs in 10 years must not be the attraction I thought it was. I got the place and now I have to follow through. Not a bad place to be for our 12th wedding anniversary anyway - did I mention that?

Since DCM I've been in maintenance mode, mainly doing strength and flexibility stuff (beginners yoga, cherrypicking the Kinetic Revolution 30 day challenge) with a few short runs thrown in. My knees were sore for a while and I had a virus last week, so I have some excuse. I also did a session with a Chi Running coach and found it very helpful but it's early days still.

I've signed up for the Fields of Athenry 10k and hope to run a PB there, so that'll be my immediate goal race.

Ososlo

What about Manhattan?:cool:
Best of luck with the log and training!

ciaranmac

Monday - 6.17k in 37:41
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - 30 day challenge day 5, plus weights and yoga
Thursday - 5.91k in 36:53

DarByrne1980

da best of luck wit da log. Ive heard a lot of irish lads and girls are headin over to Berlin 2015. so therell be plenty around. Berlin looks like an amazin marathon.

ciaranmac

Here's my race progression so far.

Nov 2012 Corofin 8k - 48:xx
March 2014 Kinvara 10k - 67:03
March 2014 Dunmore 5k - 30:20
April 2014 Kilmovee 10k - 67:xx
May 2014 Clare Burren HM - 2:56:54
Jun 2014 Garrafrauns 5k - 29:54
Jun 2014 Monivea HM - 2:37:xx
Jun 2014 Milltown Run For Ollie 10k - 64:31
Aug 2014 Garrafrauns Dunmore Road Race 6k - 34:xx
Aug 2014 Corrib Mask HM - 2:24:11
Oct 2014 Athlone 3/4 - 3:49:17
Oct 2014 Dublin Marathon - 5:30:00

Apart from the marathon, all my current PBs are from training runs and split times in longer races. So either I need to race more or pace myself better, or both.

5k - 28:10 Split in Corofin 8k - bad pacing.
10k - 61:29 Training run Oct 2012 - beginner's luck, if such a thing exists in running. I haven't broken 63 since.
HM - 2:24:10 Split in Athlone 3/4 - rush of blood to the head.

Anyway I think with some attention to strength and flexibility, form and aerobic capacity I think I can catch up to the back of the field over the next 10 months and run Berlin properly.

ciaranmac

A video for self motivation...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYhGB5FDThQ

ciaranmac

Reeling in the months, part 1 - Clare Burren HM, 24 May 2014:

I made it round in one piece, slow and steady(ish) and injury free for my first ever half marathon. Maybe I should have picked an easier one to start with, but it's a PB I should be able to beat

The description buck65 wrote is pretty accurate, I'd say about 4 miles were on road, 8 on trails of varying difficulty, and 1 mile of "one false move and you're in casualty" hill descent. 1000 feet total ascent and descent, with two mountains climbed and a sea level start/finish.

Very well organised, signed and stewarded, and with a physio at the end to fix my aching calves and an ice bath which was worth the pain.

Happy just to finish the race, happy with 2:58 finishing time. Respect to the young lad who won the full marathon a couple of minutes afterwards.

ciaranmac

Friday - 30 day challenge day 6, plus weights and yoga
Saturday - 3.5k walk, xmas shopping
Sunday - exercise bike, 20k in 43 minutes
Monday - 5.26k in 39:23 on track - 2km getting faster each lap, topped out at 4:15 min/km, then 5x100m sprints, then a slow lap focussing on form with shoes off (nice having the place to myself), then a few more laps to round it off. Peak HR was 169 bpm but I won't take that as a proper max reading because it was 171 a few weeks ago at the top of a hill climb.

https://www.endomondo.com/workouts/446019526

adrian522

Hey, I'm heading towards Berlin too, what time will you be targeting? Best of luck with the log.

ciaranmac

To be honest I haven't a specific time in mind yet. I'd like to go sub 4.30 but I don't know if it's realistic to knock an hour off in the space of less than a year! I'll have a better idea as it gets closer I'm sure.

ciaranmac

Reeling in the months, part 2 - Monivea HM, 8 June 2014:

My second ever Half marathon in Monivea yesterday, lots of local club singlets in evidence. I ignored what everyone else was doing, went at my own pace and came in next to last place with a time of 2.37. That's 21 minutes sliced off my PB

I've only been out running twice in the last 10 days and it showed, as I lost a lot of pace after 17k. I was on track for 2.30 before that. Still happy with the outcome but I've a lot of distance ahead.

ciaranmac

A lot of extra curricular stuff going on this week - I had exams on Friday to study for so that curtailed the running.

Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - 30 day challenge day 7, plus weights and yoga
Thursday - 30 day challenge day 8, plus weights and yoga
Friday - rest
Saturday - 1.5k walk
Sunday - 3.6k walk
Monday - 10.22k in 1:07:33 on track, 3.6k getting faster each lap, topped out at 4:20 km pace followed by form drills and cooldown. Peak HR was 172. I think I'll take that as a max for now at least.

I'm spoiled having a track across the road from work! This time of year it's really handy, floodlit and no need to worry about traffic.

http://app.endomondo.com/workouts/448112598/6891640

ciaranmac

Not much to report...

Tuesday - 30 day challenge day 9
Wednesday - short and sharp on the exercise bike, 6.55k in 13:22
Thursday - 30 day challenge day 10
Friday - rest, work xmas party
Saturday - planned to run 10k but didn't have it in my legs. Dragged out 6.2k in 47:19.
Sunday - Xmas shopping, 2.3k walked

ciaranmac

Race report - Fields of Athenry 10k, 26 Dec 2014

Christmas day was lovely and quiet with just myself and my better half in our own house alone. We're married 11 years and living together for 15, but only had Christmas in our house twice, once with family which was great, and once alone because I was too sick to go anywhere. This time it was deliberately planned this way to be low key and stress free, and it worked wonderfully. We had Lidl's finest Argentinian hare instead of a turkey, and binge watched movies and box sets.

I dragged myself out of bed at 9 am St Stephen's Day and looked out the window into a deluge. It was barely above freezing and the rain never let up all day. I briefly thought of staying in bed but reminded myself this would be my last race of the year and that I'd targeted it for a PB that I knew I had in me. My inner dialogue was something like "I hope I have it in me, but I don't know for certain unless I run it". So I filled up with porridge and a banana, knocked back juice and tea and sailed to the lonely harbour of Athenry. I parked up and queued to collect my number, gawked at the size of the crowd braving the cold and the rain and lined up beside the 60 minute pacers, alternating between dynamic stretches and running on the spot to keep warm.

My best race time over 10k was 64:31 back in June, and I would have been seriously bent out of shape if I didn't beat that. I did 63:03 in a training run in September so anything faster than that would be a best for the year. But two years ago I ran 61:43 when I'd only taken up running and I really wanted to prove to myself I could beat that - I was starting to feel it was a fluke or that no amount of training would make up for being two years older. If I was running well enough around 5k I'd have a go at my alpha goal of a sub 60 finish but I wasn't sure if that was realistic.

I'm not sure how much the weather affected people, but personally once I keep moving I stay warm and the cold and rain don't bother me. I never minded rain on the long runs before the marathon. I have trouble when it gets too warm though. Here people were bunching up to avoid puddles but I figured my feet were wet anyway so I just ran straight though them. Sorry if I splashed anyone! Up until the first water station I was clipping along steadily enough, but I saw it late, doubled back to get water and was a little behind the pacers after that.

5:57, 5:51, 5:46, 6:02, 6:06.

There was a clock at the 5k point and it read 30:15, so when I corrected in my head for chip time vs gun time that seemed good to me and the sub 60 was on. I had no niggles or aches which was also good but I was starting to feel the pace a bit. At the second water station I needed to walk a short distance and lost sight of the pacers altogether. But I reminded myself I had other goals to fall back on if I didn't make the hour and I'd be chuffed if I ran a PB anyway. After all maybe it wasn't realistic in the first place. Still I got myself going and kept the pace up as best I could.

In the last stretch back in to the town I was running on empty until I saw one of the 60 minute pacers - she was shouting encouragement to keep going, we were on 59 minutes and there was only 200m to go. Well I have no idea where the kick came from (maybe the hare for Christmas dinner) but I belted it round the last bend and through to the finish line. The clock read 1:00:46 but my watch told me 59:47 so thank you Pacer, I would have let that slip away by a few seconds if you hadn't been there!

5:44, 6:28, 6:17, 6:26, 5:23

Official chip time 59:52 (PB)

http://app.endomondo.com/workouts/451176086/6891640

PS- My HR topped out at 176 on that final sprint, so I guess 172 wasn't a proper reading after all.

Dubgal72

Fantastic report, really enjoyed reading it. Well done, a smashed PB, no better way to end the year. Argentinian hare on the menu so

ciaranmac

Positives and negatives...

I made a resolution to do some form of exercise every day in January and so far I've kept it. None of it has been running though - I haven't gone for a run since the 26th. I've been doing either stretching/strengthening, exercise bike or walking every day since the 1st.

I think I need a short term goal race to get me fired up

ciaranmac

11km on Salthill prom last night - Between exams, assignments, flu, stomach ache, working full time this was my first proper outdoor run of the year. My legs feel like lead weights today, which is only to be expected.

ciaranmac

With the exams out of the way I decided to jump back in at the deep end and kickstart the marathon plan with a race I hadn't trained for. The inaugural Streets of Castlebar 5k was perfectly timed for that. I decided to aim for sub 28 but without a training base I wasn't sure if it was realistic. My best race over the distance was 29:54 last year, but I had sub 29 a couple of times in training and splits.

It was cold and rainy and the race was a little late getting started for safety reasons, so everyone was huddled at the start line hopping up and down trying to keep warm. When the siren went to start the race I think like everyone else I went off a little fast, but got my pacing steady early on. It was a fairly hilly course so I couldn't keep the pace I wanted but by backing off early I was able to hang on and bag a thoroughly undeserved official PB of 29:22.

https://www.endomondo.com/workouts/532650326/6891640