Getting back into it...Dublin Marathon 2015

henners88

For all interested I have been running since 2011 and have one marathon under the belt: Dublin 2012 in 3:00:12.

I have been meaning to run another marathon for quite some time now but never committed to one, so going to go for Dublin this October. Hoping that keeping a log here will be of benefit motivationally and advise wise.

My HM PB is 1:19:56 so ideally would like to target a sub 2:50 marathon this time out. I have set out the plan for the next 5 months, the only thing now is to follow it.

2 miles today easy-moderate in 13:56. Nice short run to start this off, quickened the pace a bit on the downhills. Main goal over the next few weeks is to steadily increase mileage and be consistent.

Chivito550

Not another marathon log!! Best of luck man.

henners88

Was at the Ballinrobe races last night - one winner @ 17/1 had me in a great mood afterwards for the run.

3 easy miles in 22:05 (7:22 pace), had bucket loads of energy left over, but will keep the discipline of slowly building up the miles for now.

henners88

A chilly night for a run this evening, but went out nonetheless. Aim was 4 miles out and back - easy out and moderate back.

Ran along the greenway this evening, was fairly quiet apart from two dogwalkers and a cyclist.

Splits were 7:25, 6:59, 6:42, 6:40 - 4 miles in 27:48. Feeling pleasantly tired now, 2 easier days to follow now, might do a parkrun on Saturday as the next faster paced run.

Murph_D

Hi henners. What kind of stuff have you being doing since 2012? Looks like you've been keeping in shape.

henners88

Murph_D wrote: »

Hi henners. What kind of stuff have you being doing since 2012? Looks like you've been keeping in shape.

Hi Murph, mainly cross country and track in the UK, only moved back to Ireland last April.

Ran a few 5k's last summer as well, but haven't been consistent in training for about 6 months now.

Been doing a fair bit of hiking recently and other sports so the fitness hasn't disappeared completely thankfully.

henners88

Thursday 28th: 3 miles easy, didn't bring the watch out so not sure of the pace. Was sailing in the evening in bad weather and did some damage to the knee. Hasn't proved to be damaging to the running thankfully.

Friday 29th: 2 miles easy again with no watch, nice easy run before the parkrun.

Saturday 30th: 6 miles inc Westport parkrun in 19:42. Good run today, felt in control all the way, had company for the first mile and was solo for the rest of the run. Not a morning person for running, but it's always good to get the run out of the way before the day begins. Will look to improve the time as the weeks go by with the same effort.

henners88

Sunday 31st May: Easy 2 miles, no time taken with some strides afterwards, legs not so bad after the faster paced effort.

Monday 1st June: Easy 3 miles, no time taken. Legs a little bit slower today after the night out on Sunday. Was in Achill for most of the evening, horrible weather for a bank holiday.

Ended up doing 22 miles last week, plan is to increase to about 30 this week. The timed efforts will start again tonight.

henners88

Tuesday 2nd June: Was looking like it was going to rain, so went to the gym for the evening instead. Good strength and conditioning workout followed by 5 miles in 36:00. Worked my way up the speeds on the treadmill, but was surprised to see it maxed out at 14 km/h, maybe a good thing. Right shin felt tightened in the 2nd mile, but was fine thereafter, feeling really good after the session

henners88

Has been quite a busy last few days, hence the lack of updates.

Wed 3rd June: 6 miles in 43:23, nice out and back on the greenway with some drills as well.

Thurs 4th June: 4 miles easy no time. Went to London for the weekend, so no runs for the rest of the week. I'm going to repeat this week next week.

Monday 8th June: 3 miles in 21:01, great run on the beach, but tripped up on a rock near the end and had quite a bad cut on my right knee. All is good today though, so got away luckily.

For anyone reading: How do you deal with "missed weeks" of training? Is it best to just repeat the week?

henners88

Tuesday 9th June: 7 miles including Mayo AC Summer Series 5k in 19:18. Good turnout in Castlebar this evening for the run, about 200 people.

Main aim for the race was to go fast but relaxed. A lot of people went out the first k like the clappers, this was good as it meant a lot of passing out people for me the rest of the race. Happy with the time given there's a few hills on the course. Felt like I was running too slow in parts, but the other runners made sure I didn't take it too easy.

Guess it's an SB too, so can't complain It took a lot longer to get to this level when I started running and now I'm running it for fun after only two weeks of structured training. Time will tell if there's a lot more improvements to be had.

henners88

Wednesday 10th June: Easy 6 miles in 46:03, ran 3 and a bit laps of Brackloon woods, each lap is about 1.75 miles. Legs feeling fine after the 5k, glad that the training is back on track after the wobble at the weekend. Off to Poland for a week's holidays tomorrow, determined to keep the training up as I'll have more free time on holidays than I do at present.

henners88

Apologies for the lack of updates recently, was away in Poland last week, kept the training ticking by since then.

Did a parkrun over in Poland in which I was 6 mins late showing up to the start line, so spent the whole run chasing the field! Running in 35 degree weather isn't fun.

Did about 30 miles of running last week plus a 30km hike of Rysy, Poland's highest mountain. My glutes were in agony the following 2 days.

Back to the real training this week:

Monday 4 miles easy

Tuesday 6 miles inc Brickens 5k in 19:16. Nice undulating course last night, wasn't really sure what shape I was in, so started off at about 6 minute mile pace. The wheels were coming off in the 2nd mile though, so had to keep on plugging until the end, finishing in 19:16. A little disappointed to be honest, should really be in the 18's by now, but the real goal is months away, so have to keep the head down for now.