Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard

Firedance

Great work going on here chickey, bit early maybe but good luck for Saturday

Murph_D

Sorry to hear about your difficulties on Fri, C - I find that kind of session (not that I do too many of them outside of a club setting) really needs plenty of mental/logistical preparation - might have been a better idea to postpone it till the next day when you might have had more time to get to the track or other suitable (hopefully flat) location! But hey, we've all those "sitting on the grass wondering what I was doing" moments (or at least I have anyway!) Sounds like you bounced back nicely.

chickey2

Firedance wrote: »

Great work going on here chickey, bit early maybe but good luck for Saturday

Thanks! It's never too early. Hope to see you there.

Murph_D wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your difficulties on Fri, C - I find that kind of session (not that I do too many of them outside of a club setting) really needs plenty of mental/logistical preparation - might have been a better idea to postpone it till the next day when you might have had more time to get to the track or other suitable (hopefully flat) location! But hey, we've all those "sitting on the grass wondering what I was doing" moments (or at least I have anyway!) Sounds like you bounced back nicely.

Thanks, I think that was it, I just wasn't mentally prepared and then I just kept chopping and changing the plan so I was all over the place. Lesson learnt!

Thought I'd update my lovely table. Another record this month! And, I've already done more distance than the whole of lsat year (despite doing a marathon In hindsight it was madness but I didn't know any better not having the fantasic source of all knowlege that is Boards! I'm not sure how September will be since the plan started to reduce distance over trhe next few weeks.

Month|2014(km)|2015(km)
January|23.4|112.6
February|19.1|124.1
March|64.4|83.1
April|112.7|97.5
May|105|142.3
June|120|146.6
July|68.7|217.4
August|128.6|241.9
September|134.3
October|181.9
November|78.4
December|83.5
Total|1120|1165.5


I'm undecided what to do after the half. I've entered the ballot for London so I should know by October 7th whether I'm in or not. It's unlikely I'll get it though. If I do I'll definitely go for it, but if I don't I'm not sure. I was going to do Limerick instead if I didn't get London but now I'm wondering do I want to do a marathon at all. I'm always so short of time and it's going to get worse with the shorter days. I might just concentrate on the 5-10Ks for a bit.

Just edited my post as I realised I never included the 18km run where my GPS went mad and told me I'd done 150m!

annapr

ha, I had exactly the same reaction when i looked at my mileage for last year leading up to the marathon... what were we thinking!?!

How are you feeling about Saturday now? We will be looking out for you on the course!

chickey2

annapr wrote: »

ha, I had exactly the same reaction when i looked at my mileage for last year leading up to the marathon... what were we thinking!?!

How are you feeling about Saturday now? We will be looking out for you on the course!

I'm not sure I was thinking at all! Although I was very relaxed about the whole thing and so wasn't really stressed and ran the marathon like an lsr and finished with a smile on my face so it wasn't too bad.

Looking forward to Saturday (especially the muffins!) I'd said I was going to try sub 50 but was reading up on tune up races and think I'll just take it at slightly faster than HM race pace which would give me 51-52 minutes so I'd be happy with that.

annapr

Best of luck tomorrow C! we will be looking out for you...

Tom Joad

Best of luck tomorrow - you've been doing great work lately and it will stand to you tomorrow.

aquinn

All the very best. See you at the finish.

Murph_D

Best of luck C.

laura_ac3

Good luck today C.

annapr

Well done today, C!!! You looked very strong on that last hill

chickey2

Thanks! And thanks for the support, it really gave me a boost. Will write up a report later when I don't have my nephew on my knee.

aquinn

You looked great. Strong and happy with 500m to go. Well done.

chickey2

Tues 1: 13km with strides. Easy enough run and no niggles from the lsr in Sunday which was good. HR was nice and low too. It's getting dark these mornings though. My route through tymon in the mornings might have to change if I can't see where I'm going!
Total :13.3km @6:02 HR 150

Wed 2: 11km general aerobic. My first thought when I looked the plan was I "only" had to do 11km. This time last year I wouldn't have thought that! Nothing of note.
Total: 11.3 km @5:58 HR 152

Thurs 3: rest

Fri 4: 5km with 4x100m strides. Hopped off the luas and ran along the canal for this. Seemed to fly by. HR a bit higher than Wednesday despite running slower and shorter.
Total: 5.3 km @6:21 HR 153

chickey2

Saturday 5: Lakes 10k
This was in the plan as a tune up race. I was supposed to run it at "slightly less" than planned half marathon pace. I wasn't sure what to aim for so decided to see how I felt on the day. I was secretly hoping for sub 50!
Got down quicker than I thought and had loads of time to park and pick up my number. Took my pace just between the sub 50 and sub 55 group where I bumped into Firedance. Had a quick chat before the gun sounded and of we went. Started off easy enough and first km was in 5:08. This is slightly faster than my planned half marathon pace, but it felt easy enough so i decided to slightly speed up. Glanced at my watch at the 5km marker and it was just over 25 minutes so wasn't sure if I'd make 50 minutes but it was still possible.
Hit the hill at 6km and decided to go for it! It was tough but tried to keep the pace. Once I reached the top (phew!) I tried to keep the momentum going. The downhill was great and I felt really good.
At 500m to go I got an extra boost from the cheer leaders and got a good giggle from aquinns roar of "nice arse!". As I approached the finish I could see the timer at 49:05. All I wanted was sub 50 so I just ran as fast as I could. Final garmin time 49:12 but my chip time (or was it gun time?) was 49:29. Either way it's sub 50 so I'm happy! :-) It was a really well organised race, everything went so smoothly from the parking to the number collection, start and finish. Would have liked to stay longer and chat after but had to dash home to visitors.


Total: 10k @4:55 (49:12) garmin
Splits
5:08
4:56
5:04
5:07
4:57
4:49
5:15
4:36
4:45
4:31

Bungy Girl

Lol, she never told me I'd a nice arse :rolleyes:

Well done today, there was no chip timing due to 'technical issues' so I'd go the watch time for sure.

See you in two weeks for the half!

Firedance

Well done again! You looked like you were out for a jog look forward to seeing you smash the half

Dubgal72

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Lol, she never told me I'd a nice arse :rolleyes:

I know, me neither.... / :mad: / ??? Feel like going back for a replay in case I missed something??

Seriously, chickey, well done! You must be buzzing after breaking smashing that barrier!

annapr

Dubgal72 wrote: »

I know, me neither.... / :mad: / ??? Feel like going back for a replay in case I missed something??

Seriously, chickey, well done! You must be buzzing after breaking smashing that barrier!

It was an inside joke, you have to read Chickey's log to understand

Dubgal72

Ah....my log backlog has come back to bite me


but still wouldn't have bloody hurt...two.bloody.words.....

Bungy Girl

annapr wrote: »

It was an inside joke, you have to read Chickey's log to understand

I know, and I do so it was an inside joke within an inside joke

Dubgal72

*diverts to you tube for a Father Ted fest*

chickey2

Double post

chickey2

Only just getting a chance to update this week. The day after the lakes 10 k I was feeling grand and should have done a 16 k run but due to visitors didn't make it. Headed out on Monday which should have been a rest day but it worked out well as I have to adjust the plan to take in to account the hm is on a Saturday not a Sunday.
Anyway, Monday 7: 16 km endurance. Did this straight after the school drop off to was a slightly different route. Felt good but was approaching the house at 15 k so gave in.
Total: 15.2 km @6:03 HR 157

Tues 8: 6 km recovery: ran part of the way home from work. I was all dressed for a cold wet run but it turned out to be a gorgeous warm afternoon. Went a bit fast for a recovery but i was feeling good and the hr was ok.
Total: 5.8 km @6:03 HR 152

Wed 9: rest

Thurs 10: plan was for a V02max session. Due to bad experience I really dread these. I slept terribly the night before, partly due to worrying and partly due to poor oh getting several phone calls from work between 2 and 4am 😣 . I ended up with only about 3 hours sleep so decided to can the session. I started running home from work hoping to do the prescribed 14 km as an easy run but after a 10 hour shift after 3 hours sleep I just couldn't do it so rang oh to come get me. I was really annoyed but my body just needed sleep. Was in bed by 9 and slept like the dead til 6am.
Total: 6.6km@6:19 HR 153

Fri 11: 5km recovery. Since I didn't have too much to recover from I did slightly more, but after reading the novice's thread about not trying to make up for missed sessions, I was sensible. I got lots of advice about dealing with bad runs too so didn't feel as bad about my rubbish week.
Total: 6.6 km @6:03 HR 160

Sat 12: 16 km endurance: headed up to the reservoir for this one, my favourite place to run. It's handy for a progression run as its uphill for the first half and downhill for the second. Is that cheating? Anyway started off slow and ended up at Lt pace and felt great. Stupidly thought I was supposed to do 15 km so was really annoyed when I got home and saw it was supposed to be 16. Could have easily done it but wasn't going out again once I was in.
Total: 15km @6:07 HR 161

Sun 13: rest

So on the taper now! I'm starting to get a bit nervous now. After the sub 50 10 k last week I've decided to aim for 1:50 in the half. I think I'll start out with the 1:50 pacers and depending on how I feel I might try and break away. I'll be delighted with 1:50 though.

Murph_D

It's a better week than you think - you got some work done every day you were supposed to, that's the most important thing.

chickey2

Murph_D wrote: »

It's a better week than you think - you got some work done every day you were supposed to, that's the most important thing.

Ah thanks D. I was just reading your good advice to Anna too. I always feel bad if I go off plan but it probably won't make any difference at this stage.

Managed to stick to the plan today though (almost!) It read "11km, 4x 100m strides, 2 miles (3km)@HM race pace. So off I went to tymon park and picked a route where I'd have a hill during the race pace section to make sure I could stick to the pace on a hill. Thought it might be mental preparation for the hill near the end of the half. I usually run by a mixture of HR and effort, rarely pace, but decided for the three km I'd stick to pace. I picked 5:11 min per km as that's what McMillan says I should be able to do a half in going on my 10km time last week. Did a good progressive 5km warm up then did the race pace 3 km in 5:04/5:12/5:12. First was a bit fast, second was going up a hill, and third was going downhill. It was only during my cool down I remembered the strides doh! Threw them in at the end and felt surprisingly good. Overall I was happy, good to know I could hold the pace on a hill, although its shorter than the one in phoenix park (but steeper!) and obviously it'll be harder after 16 or 17 km.
Just a few short runs now for the week and thats it.

Did I hear rumour of points in Ryan's on Saturday? A pint of bulmers would be a great incentive to the finish line!

Bungy Girl

That's great prep for Saturday, Chickey! I saw that session on Murph_D's training plan and I'm hoping to give it a shot on Wednesday. It's a bit closer to race day than ideal but I succumbed to BG Jr's bug yesterday and have a lot of eating to catch up on before I attempt a decent run!

See you on race day!

aquinn

Fair play to you, for remembering this - 11km, 4x 100m strides, 2 miles (3km)@HM race pace, and getting paces.

You are going to have a great race.

Murph_D

You nailed it, nice going. Threw in a hill too - classy!

Bungy Girl

Best of luck tomorrow, Chickey, and see you afterwards. It seems like your training has gone really well so go smash your target.