We're on the road again ......... to who knows where.

RonanP77

So after a long injury lay-off I'm back in action, I figure a new start needs a new log. Too many false starts and negativity in my old one





So, a brief history before I start;

I decided early 2014 that I was fed up being in such poor shape. Years on shift work and general laziness left me bang on 13 stone at only 5' 6". Something had to change. (I'm now down to 147 lbs and have gone from a 36" waist to 30")

I started to walk, cycle and run, I loved it. I tried to compete with mates that had been running for years, tried to get too fast too soon and paid the price. I tore my talofibular ligament. I happened mid summer and after a few long rests and trying again, I finally gave in, saw a physio, had a scan and was told there was no more running. My last 5k was November 1st 2014. It's been a long 5 months but I'm fairly confident at this stage that it's behind me and I can move on. I've had a few good test runs this month and all have gone well so far, even down the side of a mountain in Spain (that one may not have been advisable and wasn't really planned)

PBs;

I didn't run long enough to get terribly fit or terribly fast but I think I did alright for a beginner.

5k - 22:00
10k - 52:**

Any PB set at shorter distances was only as part of a longer run so there's very little point including them here.

That covers where I've been, now for where I want to go;

This year is going to be all about slowly building up a good fitness base, I need to increase the miles gradually and not concern myself with pace. This will hopefully benefit me when I eventually think about improving on my PBs.

Goals;

2015

All going well I have my eye on the Dublin race series, my longest runs to date were a few 12ks in training and that was 6 months ago so I may just do the 5 mile and 10k. I know any distance beyond that shouldn't be taken lightly so the 10 mile and HM may need to wait until next spring, 5 months of training should take me a long way but I'm not sure it'd take me up to HM levels. I have no intention of pushing myself too far and having to sit out for another 5 months.

Edit; I saw the Waterford HM mentioned elsewhere, it's in December so that may be a realistic target if I stay fit. If not then I'll wait till Spring.

If I end up going too fast this year I hope someone gives me a virtual slap and refers me back to this post. I don't want to dip much below 30 mins for a 5k (certainly not below 28mins) or 60 mins for a 10k.


2016 and beyond

DCM is a big goal for me, I'd love to do it next year but I suppose that all depends on when I do my first HM. I've been paying close attention to what people have been saying on here and it seems too many people go into it unprepared. I'm determined not to add my name to that list.

Why limit myself to a full marathon though, that's why the title says who knows where. If I hate it I'll drop back to shorter distances but if I love it maybe I'll go beyond that distance in 2, 3 or 4 years.

Pace - I'm sure I'll get good advice on this, I don't know if working on improving pace and distance in the one year is advisable. If it's a bad idea the I'll push some of my goals out to a later date.

5k - sub 20 mins - once I get there it'll be a case of seeing how low I can go. I think it's very realistic and I would've expected to be at or near that pace by now if I hadn't gotten injured.

10k - sub 45 minutes - again, see how low I can take it if I ever get to this time. I see this as a tougher goal that a 20 min 5k but that's probably because my fitness levels were never really high enough for running 10k in the first place.

Shorter distances would interest me once I start to work on pace, I have skinny legs so I may not really be suited to them. I was very fast in my early 20s over short distances though so who knows. If I get to that stage I'll speak to some of the shorter distance runners on here and ask for advice on realistic goals for anything under 5k.

Outside of running

To keep active during my enforced break I took up swimming and kept up a little cycling. I did a few duathlons last year and the local kayak run, they were really good. The aim is now to do a triathlon in 18 months - 2 years, it may take longer depending on how fast/slow I progress with swimming. I can comfortably do lengths with the front crawl and back crawl now but that's like saying if you can jog 100m you can run a 10k. Obviously I'd be going for the smaller try-a-tri events first to see how I get on. I still have a fear of water so that's a bit of a hindrance. I must ask on the swimming forums how much buoyancy a wet suit gives you to see if that gives me added confidence.

So, hopefully this is not another false start, I'll be taking advice from my physio every time I want to step things up and I'll pay closer attention to what people say on here. That should steer me in the right direction.

My current training plan is very basic.

Monday;

Rest.

Tuesday;

Strength and core work. 15-20 mins

Wednesday;

Swimming lesson.

Thurdsay;

Rest.

Friday;

5.4k run/walk - yesterday was walk 500m, run 1k, walk 500m, run 1.5k, walk 500m run 1.3k, walk 100m.
Increase the amount of running by 10% per week until running the full 5.4k

Saturday;

Strength and core work. 15- 20 mins

Sunday;

Cycle 18 - 19k on the Merida hybrid, about 50% on forrest trails.

I will add an extra day of running in there in about 3 or 4 weeks and another 4 or 5 weeks after that. At that stage it'll be 5 - 6 k runs mid week and an LSR at weekends, again, adding about 10% to the LSR each week. The cycling will go up too once I take the road bike out again. All I'm doing at the minute is based on advice from my physio.

My first planned event of the year, Darkness into light, is in 3 weeks time. Other than the race series, a few local duathlons and maybe 1 Parkrun a month, I have nothing else planned.

RonanP77

Sun 19th - 4th.

Cycle - 18.6k - 1:08:29 - 16.3 Km/h avg.

A spin around the Town lake and Castle lake, cycling in and out from the house, it's the longest cycle of the year so far.

RonanP77

I was very tempted to go for a walk on the way home from work, it was a class evening. I spent a good few hours standing in the office today working on a project and my hamstring was already a little tight so I figured I'd give it a miss.

Another good session on the foam roller tonight seems to have sorted that out for me. It's feeling a lot better than last night. Last year I would've gone for the walk/run so I am learning from previous mistakes. I've heard it said many times that rest days are as important as training days so I need to keep reminding myself of that.

21 - 4th

Strength and core workout + foam roller.

RonanP77

Swimming lesson tonight, I found it tough going at times again. My arms were like Jelly after sprints. I finished off with 15 mins if the back crawl so that was like a rest for me. My fitness levels are still very low but that will improve. I did a little more swimming tonight than any other night, 26 lengths. I managed a length in 17 sec during the sprints. It's only a 20m pool though and we were wearing fliooers so that's not terribly impressive.

I'm getting more confident in the water now, I not sticking to the sides any more and I was learning to switch from my front to my back and back to front. I occasionally ask what level I'm at in kids terms and tonight she said between level 6 and 7. That's showing progress so I'm happy enough.

I'm wrecked after it and can feel it in my hamstring a little so I spent a few minutes on the foam roller again.

22 - 4th

Swim - 50 mins - 520m

annapr

Good luck with the log and the training and well done on the weight loss!

RonanP77

Just in from my run, it went fairly well until I got back to the car. It was drizzling rain but still very warm. I had niggles in my right upper leg - thigh, hamstring, glute and hip, for a few days. Foam rolling was sorting it out but I wasn't sure how it would stand up to a run. It was fine, no problems at all.

My left ankle - the dodgy one - was grand most of the time buy there were a few little twinges. I copped on that I was really slouching so straightened myself up and everything felt better.

I got back to the car and was having a bit of a stretch, I got a very sharp stab of pain in the ankle, I must have over stretched it. I took a few steps and every one was painful. I wasn't too bothered though because it was a different part of the ankle to the original injury. I'm home now and it feels fine, I just did a bit of flexing and it seems to have sorted it out. I'll have another session on the foam roller tonight and get the tennis ball at my feet.

Fri 24 - 4th

5.3k run - 6:30ish pace on the running sections.

500m walk - 1k run - 500m walk - 2k run - 200m walk - 1k run - 100m slow walk.

RonanP77

I had a nice early-ish cycle this morning, I left the house at 9:00. It was my first spin of the year on my road bike. I had a few niggles after Fridays run but the cycle left me feeling a lot better. There are a lot of hills around here so I ended up with a very low average speed.

26 - 4th

Cycle - 29.4k @ 19.5 kph avg speed.

RonanP77

Another swimming lesson tonight, we're all in together again, beginners and intermediate. Because of that it was back to basics so no flippers. I had forgotten how hard it is to do lengths without them. There's a different instructor now and get said every week hell take me to one side for 10 minutes to see how many full lengths I can do with the front crawl. I only managed 4 and I was wrecked. I had done 1 about 2 minutes earlier though along with a few half lengths. I was back to half lengths with the others then for a while.

We spent the last 15 minutes down the deep end doing confidence building stuff. We were treading water and diving for rings on the bottom of the pool. I enjoyed that.

Injury wise I feel good. I intend doing a very short walk tomorrow evening after work and hopefully I'll run at least 4k on Friday.

29th - 4th

Swim - 260m - 50 minutes.

RonanP77

I went for a short walk on the way home from work yesterday, it was a class evening and I just felt like stretching my legs out a bit.

This evening I went for my usual Friday run, I felt dodgy as soon as I started running and thought it was going to be a disaster. That passed soon enough and the rest of it went really well. I kept to a slow pace as usual.


Thursday 30th - 4th

Walk - 1.7k.


Friday 1st - 5th

Run - 5.3k - 36 mins.

500m walk - 2k run - 500m walk - 2.3k run. The running sections were done at 6:00 / k, the walking was kept nice and relaxed.

RonanP77

Sundays are set aside for 30k ish cycles but that was never going to happen today, the weather was far too bad and there was too much water on the road.

I decided the best thing to do was repeat Fridays run with the exact same amount of walking and running involved. After that I'd hop on the hybrid bike and do 10k around the forest paths & trails.

I got there and had to alter my plans a little. 1k into my run the path was flooded, it went on for about 30' and I couldn't tell how deep it was so I turned back and went around the high path the other side of the lake. After my two walking sections were done it started to spill rain, I got soaked to the skin. My phone gave up talking to me so I had no idea of distances, I picked a point and just ran to it and back to the car. I ended up running 1k more than I intended.

I got back to the car and had a quick change then headed on on the bike in the direction of the flood. It was just above the height of the pedals so I got my feet a little wet. The next flood was a lot longer and over 1' deep, my feet got soaked. It started to rain again and my new clothes were soaked through again. I cut the cycle short and headed back to the car.

My ankle and hamstring felt good, I felt fit and strong, I could've run the whole thing. I'm not getting carried away though, I'll keep including walking sections for a least the next few weeks. From tomorrow I'm adding an extra day of exercise, the plan for the next few weeks is;

Mon.
5.3k run/walk or 10k cycle - offroad.

Tue.
Rest.

Wed.
Swim.

Thurs.
Rest.

Fri.
5.3k run/walk

Sat.
Rest.

Sun.
30k cycle - roads.


3/5/15

Run; 500m walk - 2k run - 250m walk - 3.35k run. Pace on the running sections was roughly 6:00/km.

Cycle - offroad; 6.7k @ 15.6 kmph

Tomorrow is scheduled as a run or cycle but after two runs in three days and being on the bike today, I may decide to just go for a relaxed walk of 6k or so instead. I'll see how I am in the morning, I have to listen to what my body is telling me.

RonanP77

It's been a fairly active week for me and no I'll effects.

Monday - 04/05

Walk - 6.5k
I was glad I went for a walk instead of a run, I could feel blisters coming on at the end. Other than that it was fine.


Wednesday - 06/05

Swim - 0.3k
Another lesson, probably only two left until it's over for the summer. It was very tiring but went alright. We did a bit of diving at the end, that was fun.


Thursday - 07/05

Cycle - offroad - 6.9k @ 17.1 kmph
Time was an issue so kept it short.



Friday - 08/05

Run - 5.3k (5k running) @ 5.30 pace.
The first k was slower because I walked for a little warmup. I ran at almost my 10k speed. My phone wasn't talking to me so I had no idea of my pace. I want to keep it at around 6.00 / km. Today just felt like a natural slow pace. When I get used to running again I'll be better at pacing without the phone.

My hamstring was a little tight at the start but it didn't take long until it sorted itself out. Other than that I felt good.


Saturday 09/05

Rest.


Sunday 10/05

Run - 6k @ 5:45 pace
300m warmup walk - 5.5k run - 200m cooldown walk.
My legs felt very tired and heavy this morning and it was really wet and windy so for the second week in a row I gave my cycle a miss. If this continues I'll have to reconsider this Duathlon in three weeks. I'll run in any conditions at all but cycling on the road is different, I only like cycling when it's calm and dry.

This was my longest continuous run of the year so far and it felt like it, I had to keep telling myself it was nearly over and to keep going. I wasn't in any pain or struggling to breath but I had a discomfort in my shoulder that I normally get on longer runs and I just felt like taking a walking break constantly. If I'm going to do the race series at the end of the year I can't be going for walks though, I need to get as many miles under my belt as possible. Again I was slightly faster than the pace I said I'd stick to for the year but it's what feels comfortable so I'll stick with it, it's easier than constantly reminding myself to slow down.

RonanP77

Not a bad week for me, although I only had 4 workout days instead of the planned 5.


Monday 11/05

Planned to run 6k but I was stiff and sore after being so active last week and didn't want to push my luck so took it as a rest day.


Wednesday 13/05

Swimming lesson.
It went fairly well, did a few lengths to start then on to drills, finished off with some diving again. I think my technique is fairly good but endurance is still very poor. We had 10 minutes to see how many lengths we could do and I only managed 7. It's an improvement on 5 last week and 4 the week before.


Thursday 14/05

Cycle - 7.6k - offroad.
Nothing really notable here.


Friday 15/05

Run 6.1k @ 5:45 or so.
300m warmup - 5.6k run 200m cooldown. No problems with this really, I was feeling very tired between 2k and 3k but got over that. There's one good hill on the run and I took it on at a good pace, changing my breathing and lengthening my stride. It might be the cycling but I'm finding hills a lot easier than I used to.


Sunday 17/05

I met up with my sister in Deerpark forest Virginia and she doesn't run so I decided to get a short run in before she arrived.

Run - 2.4k @ 5:12/km
I ran this at a nice enough pace, happy enough to do that over short distances. I stopped to take a look at the map because I took a wrong turn so pace was actually quicker than than that average.

Walk/run - 5.5k @ 8:42/km (6:00/km on running sections)
This was with my sister, she doesn't run and is only getting over an operation so there were only 3 running sections of 0.5k.

Cycle - 5.7k @ 12.8 km/h (offroad)
This really was offroad compared to my spins around the castle lake, I loved it. I'll head for Virginia more often now. There are narrow trails through the trees, over roots and fallen trees and it's what a bike with suspension is meant to deal with. I stuck to low gears and pedalled like crazy on the level. I need to drop the bike in and get it looked at. The last few times I had it out certain gears are slipping. That's normal on new bikes after a certain amount of mileage.

I was tempted to do another short run after this but decided that might be pushing it at this stage so decided against it. I haven't been on the foam roller in a week so there's a little tightness in the legs. I'll go at it this evening and then have a bath. All in all it was another good week.

RonanP77

I'm fairly happy with how things have been going so I think it's time to put an actual plan in place. I'm struggling to figure it out though.

I do swimming lessons on Wednesdays and that's not going to change. I want two rest days a week and I've been using Tuesday as one to leave me fresh enough for swimming. I want to cycle one day a week, I have two good bikes and want to get a bit of use out of both. That leaves 3 days of running.

At the minute I run Friday - 6k easy - I'm starting to speed this up a little but not too much for now, I'm trying to ease my body back very gently into running. I finish work at 3 on Fridays so it's the best day for running.

Saturday is a rest day but I'll do a small amount of strength and core work.

Sunday - 7k and rising LSR. (increasing by 10% per week) I'm still not sure what speed that's supposed to be at, I'm keeping it around 5:45 - 6:00/km at the minute.

Monday - 5k ish recovery run, I know I shouldn't need a recovery run when I'm doing such short distances but last Monday I felt exhausted when I went out to run. Again, not sure of the pace I should be setting here in comparison to my LSR.

So that's 3 runs in 4 days, I can't really space it out much better because swimming is on Wednesdays.

So that's

Sunday - LSR - 7k+
Monday - Recovery run 5k
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - Swim - 50 mins.
Thursday - cycle - 30/40 mins on or offroad, depending on weather.
Friday - Easy run - 6k - changing to tempo shortly.
Saturday - Strength and core work.

I know pretty much nobody reads this but on the off-chance that someone looks in, I could really do with some advice, even if it's fairly harsh.

nop98

RonanP77 wrote: »

I'm fairly happy with how things have been going so I think it's time to put an actual plan in place. I'm struggling to figure it out though.

....

I know pretty much nobody reads this but on the off-chance that someone looks in, I could really do with some advice, even if it's fairly harsh.

Hey Ronan - well done getting stuck with it and committing to a training plan. Are your targets still the DCM race series? I can recommend it very much, the 10M and HM in the Phoenix Park were amazing last year.

As for advice, I am probably not the best qualified. However, I would note the following reading through your log:

• Run your long runs slower. 5:45-6.00 min/km is not much over 2h HM pace. I am not sure if that's your target time - but if it is, your LSRs need to be slower. Try running at 6:20 or so. It can be maddening to go slow, but the objective is to build up the endurance while minimizing the risk of injury. You gradually increase the distance on these runs while maintaining the slow speed. You should be able to breath comfortably during these runs.
• You use your other, shorter, runs to work on your speed.
• By the way, for your first HM, do not get hung up on a time. Its hard enough to complete it. There'll be other halfs after that to knock out a PB!
• Consider fitting in 4th run a week, that would be great. Check out the many training programs available online - I followed this loosely for my first half. The theory is all the same: 1 long slow run, 1 recovery runs, 1-2 speedier runs, 1 day for cross-training, and REST!
• For inspiration and GREAT advice, bookmark the DCM novice thread here on this forum. Lots of questions and answers, and a real incentive to stick with the training.

Hope this helps.

RonanP77

Hi and thanks for the advice,

I've decided that my first event this year will be a local kayak run, 5k run - 1k kayak - 20 or 30k cycle, it's early August. That will see me miss the start of the race series but I intend doing the 10M, I have a 10M in Monaghan a week beforehand too. I'll be looking at a HM probably later in the year, the race series one is probably a little early for me.

It's probably not great to have 3 big enough events in 3 weeks but I won't be pushing myself too hard on any of them.

So if I run my LSR at 6:20, what pace would my recovery run be? For my first HM I don't intend setting any real goals other than finish it. 2 hours is the time I'd be thinking of for my second or third one, if I get that far.

I've had a look at that training plan, it looks good, I'll just need to fit any plan in around swimming.

nop98

RonanP77 wrote: »

So if I run my LSR at 6:20, what pace would my recovery run be? For my first HM I don't intend setting any real goals other than finish it. 2 hours is the time I'd be thinking of for my second or third one, if I get that far.

Have a read at this great post by Ososlo: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=90266028&postcount=2

It talks about recovery runs (even slower than your LSR), should you do them at all, etc.

Don't give up on the DCM HM just yet I loved it even tho I didn't run it very well. See how you get on. If it doesn't work, there's always Clontarf in November (and many others).

RonanP77 wrote: »

I've had a look at that training plan, it looks good, I'll just need to fit any plan in around swimming.

Yes, real-life has a habit of getting in the way of training plans.

RonanP77

RonanP77 wrote:

If I end up going too fast this year I hope someone gives me a virtual slap and refers me back to this post. I don't want to dip much below 30 mins for a 5k (certainly not below 28mins) or 60 mins for a 10k.

Well that's out the window.

I don't have announcements on the phone any more, I just run by feel. I decided to step today's 6k up a bit, I wanted to be a bit quicker than 5:45/km, I ended up doing 5k sub 24. I wasn't aiming for a fast time, just started running until it felt a little tough and held it at that. I'm not sure what to call this one....... Maybe tempo run or just a hard run.

RonanP77

Monday 18/05

Run - 5k - Recovery.
I couldn't take another step on this one, legs were feeling very tired and a little sore.

Wednesday 20/05

Swimming lesson.
It went well enough, I only managed 6 lengths in the 10 minutes though, which was disappointing. We did drills after that and they went really well.

Thursday 21/05

Cycle - 12.5k - Road bike.
Went alright, I'll never be as keen on cycling as running though or even swimming.

Friday 22/05

Run - 6k - hard (5k @ 4:45 - ish)
5.5k run plus a short warmup and cool down. I had no intention of running this fast but it felt good. I said I wanted Friday to be a faster day and I do need one day of pace but maybe not this pace.

Sunday 24/05

Run - 7k - LSR @ 6:26/km
I found it tough to find a level pace this slow. It felt good and I'm sure I had another few km in my legs. I had planned for 7k though so I stuck to it. Next week I'll do 8k, at this pace I definitely should be able to build the mileage very comfortably. I should be at 10k in 3 or 4 weeks and that had me back near enough to where I was before injury.

Walk - 6.1k
Not part of training or anything, I just met my sister after the run for a nice handy sociable walk.

All in all another pretty good week, feeling fitter and stronger as the weeks go by. I have a better idea of what I'm at this year after listening to people on here all winter, I have more structure than I did last year and I'm doing things more intelligently. I'm confident I'll be fit enough for the few 10M runs in August and a HM a few months after that.

Swimming is still tough, I know how to do it but my endurance is poor. I'm a few years away from a Triathlon. Hopefully the lessons keep going for the summer.

Firedance

Hi Ronan, well done keeping your long run pace down, the fact you said you could do more miles means you've done it right you should still watch you're other paces though, know which days (one will do) that you're doing a tempo run & all other days should be easy pace. I think (and someone might correct me) you don't need a recovery run unless you're doing a speed session so do that run at easy pace instead. Lastly, I think its a bad idea to do 2 10 mile races a week apart, pick one & target it.

RonanP77

Firedance wrote:

Hi Ronan, well done keeping your long run pace down, the fact you said you could do more miles means you've done it right you should still watch you're other paces though, know which days (one will do) that you're doing a tempo run & all other days should be easy pace. I think (and someone might correct me) you don't need a recovery run unless you're doing a speed session so do that run at easy pace instead. Lastly, I think its a bad idea to do 2 10 mile races a week apart, pick one & target it.

I was afraid someone would point that out. I intend running them at a training pace so figured I'd be able for both. I know you're right though, I'd be risking injury and I want to avoid that at all costs.

You're probably right on the recovery run too. My Sunday LSR will be getting a lot longer though and I'm finding the Monday runs tough. Now that I've slowed the pace back, Mondays should be easier I suppose, I hope so anyway.

RonanP77

Last week I figured out the types of runs I'll be doing, now I've figured out what pace to do them all at.

Friday;
I had this down as a fast run, I've decided on 5:00 - 5:30/km, I don't know if you'd call that tempo or steady, its a good bit slower than my 5k pace but faster than my 10k. Every second Friday then I'll do intervals, I might have this wrong but I figure I'll start out at my tempo/steady pace then do faster sections of 4:30 - 4:45/km, maybe 1km - 500m fast and on like that. Maybe intervals should be longer or shorter, maybe the slower pace for intervals should be closer to easy pace than tempo/steady or the faster sections should be at my 5k pace, I haven't figured that out yet. Every 5th Friday I'll pull this back and do an easy run instead.

Sunday;
I was happy with my LSR pace so I'll stick to 6:20 - 6:40/km.

Monday;
Last night started out with me really not wanting to be there, that's the case most Mondays, but ended up really enjoyable, with all the stiffness leaving my legs. I had a big smile on my face by the time I got back to the car because I've found my Easy pace, 6:30 - 6:50, I had plenty left in the tank again.

I've been on a few running sites that work out training paces once you enter in a PB or desired race result, they all have incredibly slow training paces, so slow that I'm not sure I could even call it running. I've based these times on advice I got here along with reading through various training logs and the DCM novices thread.

As always, if this looks idiotic I hope someone points that out.

Murph_D

RonanP77 wrote: »

I've been on a few running sites that work out training paces once you enter in a PB or desired race result, they all have incredibly slow training paces, so slow that I'm not sure I could even call it running.

Well if you take your recent 24-min time trial as an approximation of your race pace, a calculator like this Jack Daniels-based one suggests 6:06-6:27/km as your easy pace, so you're in the ballpark. You should put some structure on your planned fast runs, make sure to warm up and cool down, know your targets and don't just go out and lash out a session at race pace. Plenty of suggested sessions on the 2014 Marathon graduate thread, or elsewhere around here. Good luck.

RonanP77

I'll have a read through the graduates thread at work tomorrow and see what I come up with. I was just doing a very short walk for warmup and cool down but I may change that to a km at easy pace. I'll have a look and see what others are doing, cheers.

RonanP77

Monday 25/05

Run - 6.1k Easy @ 6:40/km
Started out horrible, my legs were stiff and sore and running was the last thing I wanted to be doing. I settled into it fairly quickly, my legs started feeling better and it went great from there. A really enjoyable run at a very comfortable pace.

Wednesday 27/05

Swim - 0.3km ish
Some brand new people in the class so we were left to our own devices for a while. Only managed 6 lengths in the 10 mins again but the drills went really well. My legs are getting a bit stronger.

Thursday 28/05

Run - 7.5k Easy @ 6:45/km
I decided to try out a new route and it was a little longer than expected. I found it hard to stay at a steady pace but felt good. This was planned as a cycle but was too wet and windy for the road bike and the hybrid was in getting serviced.

Friday 29/05

Run - 5k tempo @ 5:10 ish (7.5k total)
A nice slow warm up then upped the pace but not too much. No problems to report, I could keep this pace going for a good bit longer.

Saturday 30/05

Strength and core work.
I'm getting a multigym and spent the day clearing a section of the garage for it, a heavy bag (I did boxing, kick boxing and karate so I know what I'm at with it) and my treadmill. I have a pilates mat for floor work as well as dumbells (might be getting a free barbell) so I should be fine. I'm putting down a laminate wood floor to keep me off the cold concrete. My brother in law has been at the gym for years and is looking into becoming a personal trainer so he's calling over to show me a few things to do.

Sunday 31/05

Run - 8 LSR @ 6:20 (8.8k total)
A short warmup then settled into my LSR pace, it couldn't have gone better. I planned for 8k but when I got to that I was still a bit away from the car so I slowed down and jogged back to cool down.
My legs probably had a few more km in them at most, my lungs were 100% Fitness levels are at least as high now as before I got injured. I'm definitely capable of doing well over 10k. I'll still progress slowly though. Adding the normal 1k next week will put me at about 10k anyway, that'll include a short warmup and cooldown.

All in all things are going brilliantly, I'm considering adding a few strides to the end of my easy run to open the legs up a bit. It'll just add something extra and shouldn't do any harm.

nop98

Good work - glad to see you're differentiating the pace of your runs.

A last suggestion might be to do one of the parkruns for a tempo run (Saturday mornings). The other runners and race setting always seem to help squeeze out the km's that little bit faster!

RonanP77

nop98 wrote:

A last suggestion might be to do one of the parkruns for a tempo run (Saturday mornings). The other runners and race setting always seem to help squeeze out the km's that little bit faster!

Cootehill is only 20 minutes away from me, I did their first official one last November. I have it in mind to do soon, I could swap the strength work to the Friday. It's not a terribly flat course from what I remember but no big hills either.

My only concern is that I'll get caught up in it and end up going around in 22 or 23 minutes, then end up limping back to the car. I do seem to be better at reigning myself in this year so I might be safe enough.

RonanP77

A bit of a mixed week for me, I didn't really get sticking to the plan.

Monday 01/06

Run - 2.7k @ 7:04/km
I had a touch of food poisoning and was up half the night so this was easily the worst run I've ever done, I hated every minute of it.

Walk - 6k
A charity walk organised by work, I was with my wife and daughter, we were very slow and it rained for about half the walk.

Tuesday 02/06

Run - 7.5k Easy - @ 6:42/km
This went really well, I added some strides in for something a little different, although I'm fairly sure I didn't do it exactly how I'm supposed to, 4 x 30 sec.

Wednesday 03/06

Swimming
Everything went fairly well, I can see an improvement in endurance.

Thursday 04/06

Rest;
I was meant to cycle but had too much on at home so had to give it a miss.

Friday 05/06

Run - 7.5k tempo @ 5:30/km
About 6k at tempo + wu/cd. No complaints.

Saturday 06/06

Strength and core work.
I cleared out a section of the garage and put down laminate flooring. This will be my gym, I set up the heavy bag, the treadmill is there for warming up, there's a sit-up bench, exercise mat for floor work, skipping rope, dumbells and the new Multi gym is coming mid week.

Sunday 07/06

Run - 16.5k LSR @ 6:20/km
Scheduled for 10k this week but I felt so good that I ignored the turn off for the car and kept going.

I saw ThisFatGirlRuns being told that 10 mile is no big deal, to just go out and do it, her LSR wasn't that far ahead of mine so I figured I'd put it to the test. Whoever told her that was right, I wasn't under any pressure at all, my legs would've held out for a few more km anyway and I was nowhere near out of breath. I had arranged to meet my sister so I had to stop for that, otherwise I would've kept going to 21km. That probably wouldn't have been wise but I definitely had it in me.

I stopped at the house on the way to my sister to have a protein shake and a snack, there was a lot of stretching too. The distance felt fine but I could really feel it in my glutes.



Walk - 5.5k

Met my sister for our weekly walk around the woods. She was just out of the gym so we both needed to take it nice and slow to ease out the muscles. Lots more stretching after the walk followed by a short session on the foam roller when I got home.

I'll most likely drop my LSR back to about 12k next week and build slowly on it from there. This will be a bad week for training, I'm away Tuesday and Wednesday in England for work, if I'm lucky I'll grab a quick swim Wednesday morning before heading to work. I'll probably swap Thursdays cycle to an Easy run to keep the miles up.

RonanP77

I know we're not meant to be setting PBs in training but I decided today that I would try a 6 minute mile for the first time. Another poster on here told me I should go for it just before I got injured but I didn't get trying back then. I was told on the DCM novices thread that if I have any doubts about my ankle I shouldn't even consider doing a marathon. I tested it over a good distance at the weekend (just over 10 mile) and I tested it at a good pace today, if it's alright after both of those I'll be happy to say it's fully healed.

I know nothing about shorter distances so when I was told to push myself for a 6 minute mile I made the mistake of saying I thought the average runner should definitely be capable of it.

This week probably wasn't an ideal time to try, I ran my longest ever run Sunday, I flew out to England on Tuesday and it was a very late night, I flew back on Wednesday and it was another very late night, I ate too much over there and had a few drinks so I'm definitely not in ideal shape.

I did it on forest paths around the Castle lake, some bends but nothing much, only a few people and dogs got in the way so that didn't slow me down more than a second or two. I ran 3.6k at an easy pace (6:20/km) to get me ready, a few very short bursts of pace mixed in to so it wouldn't be a shock to the system when I went for the faster run. I have no idea of pacing for shorter distances so probably started out a little fast, I certainly slowed down for the second half. I wasn't actually sure I was going to be able to keep going at the end, I was exhausted, it was harder than running a 10 mile LSR. I set 4 new PBs - these are taken from strava.

400m - 1:19
1/2 mile - 2:46
1k - 3:39
1 mile 6:00 (although it says 5:59 as my split time)

It's definitely not easy and even under better conditions I doubt I could shave more than a few seconds off it without specifically training for short distances. That's left me in two minds now over my previous statement, it's certainly not going to be easy for the average runner but then I managed it on my first try and I'd definitely rate myself as just about average.

That's my last attempt at it this year too, I'll concentrate on building my miles up slowly now and start my marathon training. The only records I'll be setting for the rest of the year are new longest runs.

Myles Splitz

Hi Ronan,

Well done on the time trial. Looking at the splits there seems to be a bit of natural speed that could be nurtured and developed.

I was having a look through your log and noticed talk about a HM and injury history and looked through some of your older posts and saw this.

RonanP77 wrote: »

Best of luck everyone getting involved here, I had hoped to be joining you all this year but an entire winter out means that's not going to happen. At best I'm hoping to find a HM somewhere in December or early next year, I'd like to do at least 3 of those before attempting the full. With any luck I'll be on the novices thread for DCM 2016. I'll keep an eye on this to see what I'm letting myself in for.

Just wondering when you changed your mind on the marathon and is there a particular reason your decided on targeting Dublin Marathon this year?

Personally I feel you would be better suited to get some good 5k/10k training under your belt to set you up for a better marathon next year. It could help you build up bio mechanically, aerobically and allow you do yourself justice.

I see the words "tested" a fair bit in your post's which sets off alarm bells for me personally given you injury history and your low mileage starting point going into your first marathon plan.

Hope you don't mind me being honest here but I think people underestimate the good training which can be put into the shorter distances and how that can translate to better performance long term across all distances including the marathon.

RonanP77

Myles Splitz wrote: »

Hi Ronan,

Just wondering when you changed your mind on the marathon and is there a particular reason your decided on targeting Dublin Marathon this year?

I suppose there were a number of reasons,

Recovery has gone a lot better than I thought it would.

I kept an eye on the novices thread and noticed that some of them were doing lower mileage than me, I figured if they could do it then surely I can too.

I spoke to running buddies and they figured I should go for it.

I'll visit my physio and doctor over the next few weeks and have a chat with them too. They'll really have the final say.

Myles Splitz

RonanP77 wrote: »

Recovery has gone a lot better than I thought it would.

May have gone better than thought but the fact is it was still a long term injury and should be taken into account

RonanP77 wrote: »

I kept an eye on the novices thread and noticed that some of them were doing lower mileage than me, I figured if they could do it then surely I can too.

Some may be doing smaller mileage but are they coming back from injury? Also they could be 1st time runners so there is a chance they could pick up injuries themselves that just haven't started to manifest until they step up the mileage.

RonanP77 wrote: »

I spoke to running buddies and they figured I should go for it.

Running buddies can be great for encouragement sometimes but other times they can just bounce back what you are telling them because they know it is what you want to hear. They also don't have to live with the consequences.


I have found for every one person who will tell you what you need to hear there generally tends to be five or six who will tell you what you want to hear.

RonanP77 wrote: »

I'll visit my physio and doctor over the next few weeks and have a chat with them too. They'll really have the final say.

Again here alot of the time they are concerned with the current issue (i.e the recovery from your injury) once they are sure that you are over it they will rarely tell you the best approach going forward long term. So while it may be safe in terms of marathon training not causing a recurrence it doesn't mean that there may not be high injury risk of something else with a poor build up.

Apologies if I am coming across as negative I just think you could enjoy your running more and improve more long term by taking a more sensible approach to training. You tend to hear about those who make it to the taper of a marathon plan but that number is a fraction of those who start out on week one that no one ever hears about.

RonanP77

Myles Splitz wrote: »

Apologies if I am coming across as negative I just think you could enjoy your running more and improve more long term by taking a more sensible approach to training. You tend to hear about those who make it to the taper of a marathon plan but that number is a fraction of those who start out on week one that no one ever hears about.

You're not really being negative, just giving honest advice, it's advice I know I should be listening to.

If I think it's becoming too much for me at any time I'll pull back and put it off until next year. The last thing I want is to miss another big chunk of time.

RonanP77

Not a great week for me in terms of sleep and diet, mileage was about 5k lower than planned too, all due to two late flights.

Monday 08/06

Run - 2.7k @ 7:00/km
A short recovery run, all went well enough, I struggle a little on recovery runs though, it's hard to run so slowly.


Tuesday 09/06

Run - 2.5k @ 6:20/km
Probably shouldn't have run at all, we got to the hotel late and it was 10:30 by the time dinner was finished, I didn't want to go drinking with the others so went for a walk and ended up doing an easy run instead.


Wednesday 10/06

Swim - 200m
I got up at 7 to go to hotel pool before breakfast, it was only a 10m pool but it did the job, I got in enough lengths to pull up for missing my lesson.


Thursday 11/06

Cycle - 6km @ 18.5 kmph
A short spin around the castle lake on the hybrid.


Friday 12/06

Run - 7.2km @ 6:20/km
I ran this one easy, did a fast mile (well it was fast for me - 5:59/6:00) in the middle and finished off easy, full report of the mile is in an earlier post.


Saturday 13/06

Strength and core.
I got my mulit-gym put together so my gym is complete now. I did some weights and floor work but need to put a structured workout in place, I only want to be doing about 30 minute sessions or thereabouts.


Sunday 14/06

Run - 12.5km @ 6:30/km (LSR)
Last weeks LSR was over 10 mile but that was a one off, I dropped back to where I would have been if I stuck to my schedule and I'll continue to build from here. It has me about the right distance for the start of the Boards 2015 Marathon plan. I found it hard to maintain a steady pace so went from 6:02 - 6:43, I tend to automatically speed up a little when I meet people and there were a lot of people about today. I felt pretty good on this, no aches, breathing was good and I finished up with plenty still in the tank.

Walk - 6k @ 9:07/km
My regular Sunday stroll with my sister.


I'm in good enough shape but can feel my legs getting stiff when I sit down for a while, they free up after a few steps though. It's my lower calves/achilles on both legs. A go on the foam roller and a bath will sort it out, a few nights with plenty of sleep should help too.

RonanP77

I had a 9k run today that I wasn't looking forward to at all, I knew the area but not the exact route and it's all hills around there, it's 10 months ago since I ran on the roads and the same length of time since I was in a race so not really feeling too keen. I figured I'd do a km or two to warm up then do it at LSR pace, I'd most likely finish last but I wasn't that bothered.

I got there and the atmosphere was pretty good, the organiser thanked me for coming and I met in with a guy I used to work with about 10 years ago, my cousins wife was running and one of the marshals was a work mate so I knew enough people to help me relax. It was due to be 9k but the start line moved a bit so they said it was about 9.2k. I did about 1.2k s a warmup then waited at the start line, people were still arriving so we were a little late kicking off. I lined up in the second row, I figured I didn't want to get in anyones way but at the same time there were walkers there for the shorter run and I didn't want to get stuck behind them.

The race started without us really knowing it, the lad just said "go" in a normal tone and we didn't really hear him, one lad took off though so we all followed. An older fella I know to see went out fairly fast, he does a lot of 5k runs and I knew by his number that he was doing the shorter run. My former work buddy took off with him, he seemed to be the favourite for the 9k, he's a very fit lad. I held back and took it handy enough, keeping pace with my cousins wife and her mate. The 1st km was all down hill but even so, about 10 of us had seperated out from the herd, the first two lads already about 50-100m ahead of us.

Bang on 1k we hit the first hill, it was nothing serious, I'd deal with a bigger hill at the Castle lake on about 90% of my runs. It was enough to slow one other 9k fellow down enough for us (me and the two girls were in a little group) to pass him. One of the girls stopped near the top of the hill and walked the rest, we slowed enough for her to catch us and off we went again. The rest of that 2nd km was flat enough and we settled into a nice, handy pace, the two lads out front had about doubled their lead.

km 3 & km 4 were flat enough and on the main road, we could see the two lads ahead and the older guy turned off for the short loop, leaving my buddy up front on his own, he was about 400m ahead and going strong, the girls started to slow slightly, I maintained my pace and moved off ahead of them, I glanced back and there was a good distance to the next group. It was about then that I started thinking of it as a race, rather than a relaxed run, I was in 2nd, feeling good, and it didn't look like anyone was going to catch me.

km 5 and km 6 weren't too bad, the distance between me and 1st place was closing in slowly as I had decided to up the pace a bit, it had crept into my head that if I could catch him at the 7km mark I'd be able to stay with him until the finish line, I know I'm strong on hills compared to a lot of people and the last 2km was supposed to be all hills. We got to the water station at 5k and there was nobody there, we had to keep running (they showed up at it about a minute after we passed) it was a hot morning so that wasn't great.

At 7km there was another water station, he had stopped for a drink but took off once he saw me, I had closed the distance to about 10sec at that stage, I had a quick sip and dumped the rest over my head, I caught him half way up the next hill. This is where the course got tougher but we knew we were 1st and 2nd so we both slowed it back a bit and had a chat.

After 8km a van stopped with us and gave us another drink, again I drank a little and dumped the rest on my head, it was getting very warm. My buddy told me he always does a sprint finish so I told him to work away when the time came, that I was happy enough if I ened up 2nd, he did sprinting in his younger days so there wasn't much hope of me beating him if it came to that.

Coming to the top of the last hill I said we'd push on and upped the pace but he didn't come with me, I slowed back a little and he kept with me, about 20m later, he made a move, I told him I'd see him at the finish line and off he went, I decided to stretch my legs a bit too and kept right with him, I eased past him and really opened up, I heard him saying "maybe not" and I started to pull away over the last 100m or so. I crossed the finish line in first place at a sprint (maybe a generous term but it was my best version of one after those hills) and got a big cheer, it was only a little local run but it felt great. I got a bottle of wine for my troubles and as the 18 week plan for DCM hasn't started yet, I'm going to share it with my wide tonight. My buddy came over the line about 12 sec brhind me, I don't think either of us could believe I'd beaten him.

My strava messed up because I had it on for the warmup and just aused it and restarted for the race, rather than resetting it, sorting through it my time was tough to figure out, it has km2 at 26mins. I was timed at 44:50ish by my buddy for the 9.2k, a very very poor winning time but considering the heat and the hills, I figure it was a good enough time for me.

I took a few things from it;

Road running and hills aren't too bad after all,

My 52:13 PB for 10k is very poor, I could knock 3 minutes off that easily now and If DCM doesn't work out, sub 50 is a secondary goal for the year.

I'm a lot fitter than I was last summer, the injury over the winter means I'm way behind where I should be but between swimming, walking and cycling, my fitness levels didn't drop that much. The last 8 weeks or so have pushed me way beyond last years fitness levels.

Back to slow, easy runs from tomorrow now, it was great to get that run under my belt, with a few fairly fast km in the middle, that's out of the system now and distance is the focus from here on in.

annapr

Well done Ronan, that's an epic report... You make it sound like an accidental win but you had plenty of competitive spirit at the end there!

RonanP77

Not a bad week regarding training, struggling with sleep though, I've only been getting 5hrs a night.

Monday 15/06

Run - 4.4k
A very easy, short recovery run, I didn't enjoy it at all, I don't like these recovery runs.


Tuesday 16/06

Rest


Wednesday 17/06

Swimming lesson.
I was late getting there because I was working on my training plan. My endurance is slightly improved but my technique is the same as it was a few months ago, I never get told to correct anything in the front crawl. Either I'm doing it right or the instructor is getting lazy.


Thursday 18/06

Run - 7.7k @ 6:24
I could feel the benefit of taking a rest day on Tuesday.


Friday 19/06

Run - 3.8k @ 6:48
This was an odd one, I went on a path I haven't been on in over a year, it's all overgrown now and I ended up running in through bushes and young trees so I turned back.


Saturday 20/06

Run 9.2k @ 4:53ish - 1.1k warmup.
My 1st ever race win, the full report is above.


Sunday 21/06

Run - 6.3k @ 6:38
An easy run to get the miles up, no LSR this week because of the race yesterday.

Walk/jog - 5.6k
A walk with my sister, 200m at an easy pace after every km.

Strength
A few minutes doing upper body work, I think my legs got enough work already.


My legs are tired and a little sore this evening, both thighs as well as my right hamstring and achilles are the worst offenders. I'll hop on the foam roller before bed, I'm expecting it to be a fairly unpleasant experience.

Tomorrow is the start of my new plan;

Monday - rest
Tuesday - 7.5k easy
Wednesday - swim
Thursday - 4.9k easy + splits
Friday - 4.9k easy
Saturday - Strength and core
Sunday - 13.3k LSR

It stays like that for 4 weeks with only the LSR increasing.

Murph_D

Nice win in the 9.2k. You didn't let the sprint finish trash talk get to you!

RonanP77

I did my first ever pre-work run this morning, I keep waking up around 5:30 so this morning I figured there was no point staying in bed as I rarely get back to sleep. I was out the door at 6, did some stretching and warmup and off I went.

It was my most consistent run ever in terms of pace. I did the first km very slow as a good warmup then settled in around 6:30 and didn't stray more than about 5 sec from it. It was on the road so a much harder surface than I'm used to, more hills than usual too, although none of them are too bad.

I can feel my right achilles or lower calf is very tight on even gradual hills, there's no pain but it's something I need to keep an eye on. The lower calf is very sore on the foam roller but foam rolling is kind of like self torture anyway.

7.87k @ 6:35

RonanP77

This evenings run wasn't great, I got chased by 5 dogs, they all came out if the same house. I ignored them and kept going but on tye way back one of them got very close to my ankle and was snarling rather than barking. I had to turn on him and let a few shouts, he went to come again as soon as I turned my back so I picked up a stone, did some more shouting and he backed off. This is one of the reasons I don't run on roads, along with traffic and it being harder on the joints.

My lower calf was bugging me again, I'd say it's progressed to a niggle now. It's fine when I'm not running and it's grand for a while if I stop and stretch it but it came back on every incline. I had a good go at it there with the foam roller, a tennis ball and then a very hard massage with a massage balm with calendula. I'll do the same tomorrow and then see how it is for my LSR on Sunday. If it's still at me I'll go to the physio. It's not all that sore and I'm confident it's nothing serious but I'd rather err on the side of caution. I did have a slight tear in the same area last year but that felt a lot worse than this.

5.28k easy @ 6:10

RonanP77

My 1st official week of my DCM training plan is over, it didn't go too badly.

Monday 22/06

Rest.


Tuesday 23/06

Run - 7.87k Easy @ 6:35
I did up a short report on this already, the only thing worth mentioning is a tightness in my right lower calf or achilles.


Wednesday 24/06

Swimming lesson.
Concentrated more on technique this week and that will be the focus for the next 4 weeks. I'm treating it like running, I need to become more efficient so I can do more lengths than now but only need to put in the same effort I'm doing now - 10 lengths for the effort of 7 kind of thing.


Thursday 25/06

Run - 5.11k Easy @ 6;20 + 4 x 100m strides.
This went well, I did a very slow warm-up 1km then settled into an even pace, the strides went fairly well. This was my 2nd early morning run of the week, I really like getting a run in before work.


Friday 26/06

Run - 5.28k easy @ 6:10
I covered this above so no point going into detail again, it was my 4th run on the road in a week I intend switching Friday runs back to the woods from next week. One or two runs on the road per week is enough for me for now, those will be my early morning runs on Tuesday and Thursday. My calf/achilles was at me again, I had to stop a few times to stretch it.


Saturday 27/06

Cycle - 10.1 k @ 21.3 km/h
I woke up early again and was out the door around 6, I wanted to check a route for when my Tuesday run goes up to 10k in a few weeks, this one seems alright but I'll have a good few hills to deal with, it might be a bit slow of a route for early morning running, I'll try it once and see.

Strength and core - 30 mins.
Some weights, leg lifts, planking, squats, stretching and a few minutes on the heavy bag. I need to have a chat with someone that actually goes to the gym so I can put some structure into this, hopefully by next week.


Sunday 28/06

Run - 14.07 km LSR
Started out with a slow km as always then settled at about 6:20ish but my pace went all over the place, km 4, 7 & 13 were all slightly above the upper limit of my LSR pace, km 8, 9, 10 & 11 were all about 30 sec above it. It kept consciously slowing myself down but then sped up without noticing. My calf felt fine through the whole run so that was good, it felt fairly tight in the stretches afterwards though. I tried some jelly babies and jelly beans at a few stages throughout this run, not that I'd need them on such short runs, more to get used to them. They didn't effect my breathing at all but the first few were after 7k and my pace was very unsettled from then on, so maybe the small bit of chewing was enough to distract me and that's why I sped up. I'll keep an eye on this.
Fitness wise I could've kept going all day, my legs were getting a little tired though and only had a few more km in them. It was a week with very little sleep and then heading out early this morning, without eating, left me a little drained. I'll push my Sunday LSR to slightly later in the day from next week on, that way I can eat before it and I can try out what foods suit me best for long runs and I figure that's something I'll definitely need to know on the big day.

Walk - 1.13 km
Just did a little walk to cool down. I felt a small niggle in my calf/achilles once or twice on this and stretched again afterwards.

I was straight on the foam roller when I got home and it was quite sore in that one particular spot, I put ice on it and I'll ring the physio tomorrow to book an appointment just as a precaution, a massage of both legs is probably needed anyway. It'll be a week before I get to see her so I'll stick to the plan for next week but leave out the strides. I'll do Tuesday and Thursday on the roads with Friday and Sunday in the woods.

RonanP77

So that's week 2 over and it went alright, nothing major to report.

Tuesday 30/06

Run - 7.6k @ 6:34/km
Another early morning run on the back roads beside the house, all went well.


Wednesday 01/07

Swimming lesson - more work on technique, it's going well.


Thursday 02/07

Run - 5.1k @ 6:35/km
Out on the roads early again, sleep has been really poor for a few weeks so it's good to be taking something positive from that.


Friday 03/07

Run - 5.2k @ 6:34/km
I stuck to the lower, flat end of the lake and then doubled back, I actually felt really sluggish on this one and couldn't wait for it to end, it was another early morning run after yet another poor nights sleep.


Saturday 04/07

Strength and core work, I had a noisy 3 year old "helping" me so kept losing count and forgetting what I was meant to be at. I got a bit done but had to give up.


Sunday 05/07

Run - 16.2k-17k @ 6:34
I'm not entirely sure of the distance or times on today's LSR, my Garmin says 16.3km but Strava and Runkeeper would both have measured it at 17. My pace was steady enough, although it was around the upper limit of my planned pace for a good few km's. Garmin has it all over the place but I think its all down to tree cover. I was in Deerpark forest Virginia and the canopy completely covers the path most of the way around. I felt good but the legs were getting a little tired at the end. That was only my 2nd time crossing 10 mile so that was to be expected. No problems other than that though and things are progressing nicely.

Edit; I've just had another look at the run and the same section is being marked down as too fast every time I went around, I know I didn't run it anything like the pace it's saying so I figure it was measuring that particular stretch short each time. That would explain being short a few hundred meters each time and those faster stretches.


So now that I'm putting it all down, I see it was kind of a mixed week for me. Poor sleep is becoming a bit of a worry, I do suffer from a mild case of insomnia but I had been sleeping well for the past 12 months or more, it's only since I upped the miles that I've been getting a little less sleep. I'm still getting 5 - 6 hours a night (I went for 7 or 8 years on 3hrs a night and ended up sick because of it) so it's not terrible. My calf/achilles seems to have sorted itself out now so that's good.

hillsiderunner

Hi Ronan, commenting here rather than on the Novices thread.
Might be better to do just one half-marathon rather than 3 ... the half is still a significant distance and a race always puts more stress on your body. I agree with DG about your speed over short distances ... I've have been running for years and a sub-22 is my *goal* for the 5k.

Anyway you are very wise, a shining example! I hope the injuries stay quiet throughout the training.

Ososlo

Really respect you for making that call. I 100% think you're doing the right thing.
Slowly build a strong solid base and take it from there. You'll do a great first marathon when the time is right and enjoy it so much more than slogging the first being under prepared and with injury worries which could set you back months.
There is no rush!
Best of luck with your training.

RonanP77

hillsiderunner wrote:

Hi Ronan, commenting here rather than on the Novices thread. Might be better to do just one half-marathon rather than 3 ... the half is still a significant distance and a race always puts more stress on your body. I agree with DG about your speed over short distances ... I've have been running for years and a sub-22 is my *goal* for the 5k.

I have a charity HM in three weeks that I'll do slightly above LSR pace, a 10 mile in Monaghan a while after that and then I was going to pick a HM a month or so after the 10 mile, I'll focus on shorter distances after that. I'll keep the miles up and look at a HM then next Spring, I'd hope to be ready at that stage to really take it on, instead of doing it just for fun.

I decided this morning to do the local Parkrun, it's a tough enough course and I said before that it's not suited for a PB but I cut about 3 minutes off my course time and set a new unofficial 5k PB of 21:27. The official results should be up in the next day or two.

My Garmin doesn't seem to handle trees well, it measured the course short (did the same on an LSR a few weeks back) I've run it before so I know it's 5k.

Ososlo

^^^^ Fantastic!!! Congrats Ronan! Only the beginning of great things for you!!!

hillsiderunner

RonanP77 wrote: »

I have a charity HM in three weeks that I'll do slightly above LSR pace, a 10 mile in Monaghan a while after that and then I was going to pick a HM a month or so after the 10 mile, I'll focus on shorter distances after that. I'll keep the miles up and look at a HM then next Spring, I'd hope to be ready at that stage to really take it on, instead of doing it just for fun.

I think if you're able to be disciplined with the races that is grand. I always push in a race setting no matter what. Even the parkruns ...

RonanP77 wrote: »

I decided this morning to do the local Parkrun, it's a tough enough course and I said before that it's not suited for a PB but I cut about 3 minutes off my course time and set a new unofficial 5k PB of 21:27. The official results should be up in the next day or two.

My Garmin doesn't seem to handle trees well, it measured the course short (did the same on an LSR a few weeks back) I've run it before so I know it's 5k.

All Garmins measure short when there is tree cover with turns ... there are gaps in the GPS signal in spaces where there is lots of tree cover, then the Garmin takes the straight line between the points it does have (which will decrease the distance if there was a turn under the trees). I had the same thing happen at St Annes a few weeks ago.

Well done on the time , that's very impressive given the amount of time you've been running (impressive never mind the time you've been running as far as I'm concerned!).

menoscemo

Good man Ronan, lots to come off that 5k time. Keep it consistent and you'll be under 20 before the end of the year.

Good decision on the marathon too, leave it off until next year and you'll be going for sub 3:30 or better.

RonanP77

menoscemo wrote: »

Good man Ronan, lots to come off that 5k time. Keep it consistent and you'll be under 20 before the end of the year.

Good decision on the marathon too, leave it off until next year and you'll be going for sub 3:30 or better.

That may be a bit ambitious :eek: but I think with a good solid fitness base I should be fit for sub 4:00

laura_ac3

Well done on the pb. Tough call on the marathon but seems like it's the sensible choice and you'll see the benefits in the long term. Good luck with the new goals

menoscemo

RonanP77 wrote: »

That may be a bit ambitious :eek: but I think with a good solid fitness base I should be fit for sub 4:00

Not really, things happen quick and you are on an improvement curve.
your current 5k time suggests a 3:30ish marathon is already feasible and your current mile time suggests a sub 20 5k is too. Lots of slow steady miles to build up endurance and you'll be surprised at how quickly the unthinkable becomes realistic.

Good luck with it.

RonanP77

I'm drawing up my plan now for the rest of the year, initially basing it roughly on Hal Higdon HM Novice 2, while on the marathon plan I was going to do the days with pace at my planned marathon pace, now that that's gone, what pace do I do them at?

I've googled training pace calculators so I can probably figure out what the training pace should be for each distance but do I switch it up depending on what type of event I have coming up? They're giving me a speed to do for tempo, do I count that the same, or maybe substitute it for pace?

Do I do them at planned HM pace now for the next while, due to having a HM and 10 mile coming up? (6:07/km for a 2:15 target HM time in 3 weeks (I told you I'm doing it nice and easy), 5:55/km for a 2:10 target (still nice and handy but a bit more ambitious) in 10 weeks) I'd be looking to go sub 2:00 next spring.

After that I'd like to work on my 10k time, so do I spend the weeks leading up to a 10k doing my "pace" days at 10k tempo pace? (5:04/km if I'm going sub 50)

Parkrun is all I'll have from mid October on so I'll be chipping away at that 5k time, do I start doing one day a week at near the relevant pace for that? (4:33/km tempo for my current PB time)

One more thing I'm unsure of, for the HM plan, the second longest run of the week (Tuesdays for me) are the pace days, now when I switch my focus back to 5k, surely I'll be doing my shortest run of the week (Fridays) as my pace day?


I have the rest of my training covered, all at easy pace with a LSR every Sunday (unless there's an event) averaging about 18km but only 10k if I've done a 5k on the Saturday. I'll be keeping the mileage around 20 mile per week, other than the occasional shorter or longer one, so that should help build up stamina nicely.

The official Parkrun times are in and it's 21:26, so I'm a whole second faster than I thought I was 11th out of 41 people, the winning time was 18:30, course record is about 17:00.