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Eye of the Tiger Beer.
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Hey B, perhaps time to take a 'back to basics' check?
You are in the middle of heavy marathon training and are going to be running on tired legs. Are you
- getting enough (unbroken) sleep?
Recovery is key and you are going to need min 8 hrs per night, starting as far before midnight as possible.
- cutting back on alcohol? Considering knocking it on the head?
If you are serious about your target, you should start cutting it out. And sorry, this means no PB beers. For example, this weekend you might consider no beers/just one or two after the 10 miles and an early night. Not very super starish I know but it will allow your body to maximise the adaptations to be made from the race. It will also help with general hydration. A heavy night will take a couple of days to flush out and get back on track. You can't afford that at this stage. The months of August and september are crucial, training wise.
- keeping the hard days hard and the easy days easy?
Recovery runs have to be just that, and at recovery pace AND effort. It's all well and good doing these at 8.xx pace but again, you want to be maximising the adaptations from the sessions (ahem, yes, sessions.....). Keep these runs at 9.xx I know a coach whose recovery runs are 10-11 min mile pace and he's a sub 5min miler. It takes discipline and this is something that needs to be trained too.
- keeping to the plan? 'Nuff said
- including strides?
You're doing well but don't forget to go back to basics now and then. Look after the little things and the big stuff will all bind together.0 -
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Hey B, perhaps time to take a 'back to basics' check?
Great idea
Here goes.- getting enough (unbroken) sleep?
Recovery is key and you are going to need min 8 hrs per night, starting as far before midnight as possible.
Hah, not a good start. I'd rarely be in bed before 11, maybe usually asleep by 12 (there's so much Internet to read!), and 6.30 would typically when the kids get up. And of course they can randomly decide to wake up in the middle of the night. The obvious solution here is to dispose of the kids of course... or cut out the Interweb.- cutting back on alcohol? Considering knocking it on the head?
If you are serious about your target, you should start cutting it out.
That's a pretty good observation and idea. It does directly interfere with running at least once a week, nevermind the indirect impacts (hydration, weight, etc.). I'm taking have a short holiday down the country next week, maybe that's a good opportunity to draw a line after.- keeping the hard days hard and the easy days easy?
I used to do some nice proper recovery runs last year, but my obsession with milage this year has interfered with them. Maybe I should try some recovery doubles... Anyway I just got a proper recovery run in, feels great- keeping to the plan? 'Nuff said
Eh... next question please.- including strides?
They've been known to happen... along with hill work. Just not too regularly.
Other stuff:
Niggles: I don't write too much about niggles - after all, they're just niggles!
The shoulder pain that annoyed me last year can still pop up, but it's rarely around these days. I think running with a bag used to aggravate it a bit, but maybe I've done that so many times it's given up.
My left quads have been sore for the last week or so, it's a bit sore walking down stairs, and it's maybe getting a bit worse... They're grand when running though.
I had a sore middle toe on my left foot for about 6 weeks after I ran around Howth a while back, I think I hurt it running fast downhill. Again, not sure when running, just sore while not running, which I guess is most of the time. I didn't do anything about it, and eventually the pain went away.
I have a drinks belt last year that I used with good success... but this year I've used it twice on two of my long runs and it rubbed against my back badly and gave me some grazes by rubbing against the skin for a few hours. The sores went away though! I think the difference this year might be that I'm wearing racing shorts as opposed to longer running shorts. I just brought my run commute bag on my last long run and threw some bottles into it, and avoided all back grazes.
My achilles are quite stiff in the morning, it takes a couple of minutes hobbling around to get back to normality.
There was some weird aches going on in my right upper thigh over the last few weeks. Again, wasn't noticeable when running, and just went away over the weekend there. Yeay!
There hasn't been a peep out of my left groin since the strain earlier in the summer. :cool:
Stretching: none
Cross: none (no gym since injury) :rolleyes:
Food: Actually not too bad, snacks are healthy enough as are the main meals... portion sizes tend to be quite large though. I've been cutting out chocolate and other gunge most weekdays.
Health: Pretty good. I woke up with the sniffles this morning, I had a raw throat yesterday, so maybe that's another factor in yesterday's bonking. That's two colds in 2 or 3 weeks... not a good sign. Only a month or two ago I was thinking that it was ages since I'd had a cold, and the colds so far haven't been too bad. Nothing else going on, waiting to get some blood test results for thyroid stuff, but that's to just monitor levels and stuff.
So, run for improvement all over the gaff. For now I better get to bed!0 -
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Best of everything tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing a new PB. No pressure!
And racing aside, watch those achilles. No harm seeing a physio/physical therapist to advise on maintenance and keeping them and calves stretched. MS yer man there 0 -
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Best of luck tomorrow B.
Thanks!Indeed! good luck B, have a super race and here's to another great finishing pic
Hah! I'm going to try to save the showboating for races that really matter... then again we'll see how I feel sometime after 11 tomorrow :pac:Enjoy the race tomorrow, I'm sure you'll do well off the back of all your recent good work. Best of luck.
Thanks! I haven't tapered that much, so the recent good work might actually interfereThis Fat Girl Runs wrote: »Good luck tomorrow, B. Give it socks!
Thanks, I'll try!Bungy Girl wrote: »All the best for tomorrow, B!
Cheers!Best of luck tomorrow B see ya there
Have a good one yourself! Hopefully cya around.Best Luck tomorrow B, give it socks as usual.
Will do!Have a good one, B. ENJOY!!!
I'll enjoy finishing...Best of everything tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing a new PB. No pressure!
I think something'll have gone wrong if I don't PB! :cool:
A well run race is the main thing for tomorrow. Conditions, hills and not much of a taper mean that I'm not expecting VDOT parity with my recent races... though I might give it a go 0 -
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Frank Duffy 10 mile race report.
I was pretty relaxed going into this race relatively speaking, usually I obsess a little and worry about a race all week proceeding. This week, not so much. I had been worrying a lot more about one of meno's marathon-pace session on Wednesday, especially after the bad long run last weekend, however I did well enough in the session. I just did some recovery miles on Thursday and took a rest day on Friday, so while not totally fresh going into the race, I wouldn't be running on too tired legs. As Saturday drew closer it became apparent that the weather was going to be brutal, ala Jingle Bells last year. My pre-race routine was a little different as my better half was also running it (her first ever time doing 10 miles!), and we were giving a lift to a friend of hers too, so I showed up to the park a little later than usual (i.e. not 1.5 hours before the start time). Showing up late was actually a good thing, as once we got there it was lashing rain and the wind was pretty strong. After parking near Ashtown Gate we hung around the car for a while, but eventually got brave enough to face the elements and headed down to the start. I was in denial about the weather, and had a comically small umbrella which didn't really keep me that dry, but at least gave me something to do. Once we got to the general start area we hung around a large tree with a lot of other freezing runners, and I was reminded of the nature documentaries where the penguins group together to avoid being pummelled by the antarctic weather. We met TFGR, a guy from my work, murph_d and briefly a few of the novices (including wubble wubble and pomplamousse). After drinking some coffee (mostly to stay warm) I did a 7 minute warmup up Chesterfield, then dropped my bag off and headed over to the starting area, which was already filling up. I dumped a sacrificial long-sleeve t-shirt just before the start, after lining up where I thought was appropriate, but actually might have been a bit too far back. I met another guy from work, who finished just ahead of me at the Fingal 10k, which was good as I knew if I kept pace with him I'd be doing fine. Target pace was 6'45, a 1:07:30 finish, though I was happy to miss this depending on the impact of the wind.
Warming up (miles 1-3): 6'38, 6'24, 6'45
Started off slow enough, easing past the usual badly placed slower folks. Not a disaster though possibly got a bit too excited once I hit open road. I was passing a lot of people. Warming up, as in feeling warmer, felt really good. The puddles gave the race a Steeplechase kind of feel, but I generally avoided the excitement of splashing in them to avoid getting my feet even wetter. The second mile was fast, but it was a good downhill, I didn't feel like I was over-doing it. Third mile was smooth enough and settled in with a group of people, which gave a bit of relief from the wind. I caught up with work dude and settled in behind him for a bit.
Some hills and the zoo (miles 4-6): 6'46, 6'48, 6'50
Heading up the first few sharp-ish hills I made a very conscious effort to slow down. I am bad at hills (i.e. I don't run enough of them), so I'm happy to give them some respect. Pace dropped to below 7'00 here and I was passed by a handful of folks, who I then reeled in over the flatter bits. Heading up to towards Chesterfield I noticed tang stricken on the side and was wondering was he ok. The brief drag up Chesterfield was uncomfortable enough with the wind, and I was glad to turn off towards the side of the zoo. Just before hitting North Road I got alongside the guy from work and had a very brief chat about how we were feeling. We then got into a pretty good partnership, running beside each other for a bit over mile, and we overtook a group or two worth of people here.
Downhill and into the wind (miles 7-8): 6'44, 6'54
It felt pretty good getting swinging around and getting back on to Chesterfield. I tried to speed up a bit, but pace on my watch was stubbornly stuck at 6'40, and effort levels were rising. Turning off onto Acres Road and being walloped by the wind was no fun, and I started to seriously struggle. I kept the head down and tried to tuck in behind folks, but I kept losing them. Work dude pulled a good bit ahead of me here, and I passed by a good few people, though there were others around me going through the same hell that I was going through.
Please end (miles 9-10): 7'07, 7'03
So I wasn't in danger of walking, and nothing was sore, but I wasn't feeling particularly strong. The drags continued to drain me of energy, and on the bits that weren't drags I didn't have enough to really take advantage, though I hit target pace on the steep downhills. Breathing started to deteriorate, and when I passed the 9 mile marker I knew I wouldn't hit target time. Pace dropped again on the final few small hills. I was very relieved to be on the home straight, and managed to pick up the pace towards the end.
Gun time: 1:08:33
Chip time: 1:08:10
Position: 281st out of 3916
So, a 2 minutes 20 seconds PB over my last 10 mile race, which was this one last year. I think the wind cost me at least a minute of time, maybe more. This was the toughest race I've done in a good while, probably since Jingle Bells (though the IMRA race up Bray Head was tough, it wasn't all-out). I felt tired sooner than I was expecting, and the hills (as usual) and wind caused me some problems. My relative position in the field was lower compared to the Fingal 10k, and obviously VDOT is a good bit lower. So, overall not a great race... but not terrible. It's a solid enough time given the conditions on the day.
After the race, I immediately went and got my bag to get some vaguely dry clothes on, grabbed another coffee and strolled back to the finish area to catch the wife. I bumped into FBOT, and met FerrisB, and did a bit of supporting the finishers until my wife cruised past (just under 1:45!) so I went and met up wth her and her friend. We hung around outside the Airtricity tent for a few minutes, met Spaceylou and +1, passed around some flapjacks and got even more coffee. We didn't hang around too long though, and split for the relative warmth of the car. I started to feel a bit crappy (weak, headachey) while driving home, and only started to feel half-way good while eating some food typing this race report up, which might be colouring my not-positive thoughts about the race
Gutted to hear that tang pulled up for a reasonably serious injury, my mild race woes pale into insignificance.0 -
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Tough conditions out there today B sorry I didn't get to say hi I think everyone was just getting bags and getting out of there. Great report it's heartening to read that you struggled in the same places as me so at least I know it wasn't just me 0
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Where were ya? I was glaring at lots of marshalls trying to figure out if they were you
The weather was poxy alright, though probably easier to run in than stand around in!
What, you missed us? Anna suggested most of the park heard me.
We were past the water station between 5 and 6. Poxy weather but I did get a fancy stewarding tshirt. Ah, it's the little things.
Well done. Train on hills more! Congratulations to Mrs S.0 -
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