Lurker's Log

mbarr

Sunday: Long run, 18 miles with the last three @MP

Ran the second half of the DCM route, got lost and ended up going through Dundrum instead of Milltown but got back on track. Last three @ MP was rough enough, but managed to get through it. 14 mile session midweek, 20 mile LR on Christmas Eve, then a much needed stepback week (off to the Canaries again )

mbarr

Great session, 8 miles alternating, splits:
8:15
7:26
8:13
7:16
8:14
7:23
8:09
7:13

13.1 miles total for the run.
Reread my post about this one in January and got an illustration of how useful keeping a log is; I began to have toenail problems around now in my Rotterdam cycle. Noticed on inspection that that's started to happen again, spent a bit of time taking care of that now so hopefully that's nipped it in the bud.

Getting excited about the 20 mile run this weekend, going to do it on Christmas eve in Sligo all going well.

mbarr

Horrendous 20 miles today, desperately hungover, hillyish, too pacy for my condition, really hated this and felt in terrible mood after it. Wanted to stop multiple times after 17 miles, the last three were just a massive slog.

However, in retrospect, really glad to get it done, crossed 1500 miles for the year, and I know it will stand to me in the new year.

Happy Christmas everyone, hope you have a great one

Singer

mbarr wrote: »

Horrendous 20 miles today, desperately hungover, hillyish, too pacy for my condition, really hated this and felt in terrible mood after it. Wanted to stop multiple times after 17 miles, the last three were just a massive slog.

However, in retrospect, really glad to get it done, crossed 1500 miles for the year, and I know it will stand to me in the new year.

Happy Christmas everyone, hope you have a great one

Ha, it looked like a good run on Strava! Nice run to get in today, setting yourself up well. Enjoy the crimbo!

mbarr

No running since a 6 mile hilly holiday run on La Gomera last week. Looking forward to getting back into it now. Realised that this week on the plan was supposed to be a 10 mile race, so has pretty low mileage and no session, perfect opportunity to get the mileage back up safely.

In other news I bought myself a touring bike for Christmas, which has led me to target a triathlon for the summer (I know, sorry)

mbarr

Frustrating start to the year, continuing a rather stop/start training cycle for Barcelona. Just as I was getting ready to get stuck back in last week, I had a horrendous toothache which led to 4 sleepless nights and an extraction of a tooth. Was too wiped with pain and painkillers to run. Lots of time to reflect on a block that has felt a bit disastrous so far.

But this morning I checked the schedule and realised that on the plus side, I haven't missed any long runs, the main point of the first half of the training is to push the long runs up to the 20+ mark and I've done that, I'm not injured and am actually very well rested now. Around this point of the Rotterdam training I was injured after Trim and missed a fair few MP miles.

9 weeks to go, it's in the balance but there's still time

mbarr

Mon: 4 miles easy
Tue: 6 miles easy
Wed 13.3 miles easy (@ 9:32)

HR way too high for all of these, probably the painkillers, lack of adequate nutrition and lack of activity for the past week or so. Gonna start logging my weight here too as I have a feeling it'll be the crucial factor in how I fare in Barcelona.

Weight: 81.9kg (down from 84.9kg this time last week, that's what eating only yogurt for 3 days does for ya)

13 mile run last night was manageable enough all things considered, 20 mile (10 easy 10 steady) this weekend should give me a good impression of where I am and kick things on a bit.

mbarr

Well, the 10 easy 10 steady certainly did give me an impression of where I am; not up to scratch yet at all. Tried this as 8 miles easy, 10 miles steady, 2 miles easy as I'm in Sligo for the weekend, my parents live on a big hill and I didn't fancy the last two steady miles up steep hills.

Left the house feeling reasonably good, the plan was to run through town to Hazelwood on Lough Gill, it's around 8 miles away, do three laps there steady (about 4 miles) then retrace my steps back. Felt grand on arrival at Hazelwood, the loop there through the woods is really lovely. Picked up the pace then for the 3 laps, in retrospect I picked up the pace too quickly, especially on trail, didn't pull it back enough going uphill at the back of the loop and was wrecked after the 4 miles. Started back towards town but had to stop for a break after 13 miles. Managed to get moving again, it was very stop start back to the 18 mile mark, I kept the pace up while running until the last of the 10 miles steady where it all fell apart completely.

I was now about 2.5 miles from home, uphill all the way. Contemplated calling for a lift, but decided to stick it out, ran/walked the hills and managed to finish with about 800m of running.

I suppose I can't be too unhappy with that, it's a semi-failed long run but what else could I expect after more than 2 weeks off running over Christmas? Ran 4 miles today to bring it up to 52.6 miles for the week, decent mileage considering last week was 6 miles and the same the week before.

mbarr

Tuesday: 2 mile w/u, 4-3-2-1 miles MP with 0.5 miles recovery between.

A successful session to write about finally! The 4-3 part was fine, found the 2 miles tough and getting back up to speed for the last one was very hard. Found myself further from home than I had anticipated so ended up running 16.6 miles, great midweek session. Totally banjaxed after it, running 10MP miles straight next Tuesday will be interesting. Still, fitness definitely coming back.

Weight: 81.1, still moving in the right direction.

mbarr

Saturday: 18 miles, 2 miles easy 2 miles MP alternating.

Ran this one near my girlfriend's place in Kildare, lovely frosty morning for running around country lanes. MP felt ok, and looking at the last time I did this session the heart rates are very similar, which is encouraging given I feel less fit.

55 miles for the week, my highest mileage week that didn't include a previous week's long run.

I think shifting everything one day earlier in the week suits me very well, doing my long run Saturday and session Tuesday, rest day Friday. This means I get a medium length run on Thursday which helps bring the mileage up.

Took a notion this afternoon and went for a 26 mile cycle over to Howth and back, that hill up to the Summit from Sutton is much hillier than I remember.

mbarr

Tonight: 14 miles with 10@MP.

Tough enough session, got through it though. Averaged 7:57 min/miles for the 10 miles. Was kinda dying towards the end. Just reread my post from after the time I did this session last year, I feel like reaching back in time and slapping the sh1t out of myself for being so happy and optimistic.

Still 3kg up on this time last cycle, figure that's probably got a lot to do with the extra effort. Weight is moving in the right direction but it's a balancing act dropping that sort of weight and leaving myself in fit state for the sessions and long runs. This time last cycle I was actually gaining weight despite the mileage as I was stuffing my face with carbs constantly.

Really looking forward to the 22 miles easy at the weekend, not really sure why!

mbarr

22 miles this Saturday, easy enough, wanted it to finish at about mile 20 but I guess that's about right. Took a spill around then too but managed to roll into it, didn't do any damage.

4 miles on Sunday brought things up to 57 for the week. 3 weeks in a row with over 50 miles for the first time ever. Step back for Trim 10 mile this week.

Weight 80.6, slowing down but still moving down towards the 70s.

Annie get your Run

Best of luck tomorrow M

FBOT01

Best of luck tomorrow. Have a good one....ENJOY!!!

tang1

All the best tomorrow M, hopefully bump into you, run well.

Annie get your Run

That was me screaming in your ear at about 700m to go well done M, hope it went well, sorry I missed you afterwards too.

mbarr

Thanks everyone! Great day for a race, clear sky, cold, still. Got a surprise lift up to Trim which was amazing.

I wasn't feeling optimistic for this race; I haven't run anything faster than marathon pace (8 min miles) this year yet, did very minimal half marathon pace tempos in early December and nothing faster than that since September. I hadn't done a road race since Rotterdam (!), and finally my Trim 10 mile from last year was my best PB according to the calculators.

Still, I was well rested, no injury, and nothing to lose by pushing a bit early on and seeing how it went. I didn't really have a time or a pace in mind, but I knew if I went out hardish that would be low 7 minute miles and we'd see if I could hang on in the second half.

First half: 7:05, 7:07, 7:03, 7:06, 7:15

The first two miles were pleasant, after that things got uncomfortable, a record for me for a distance longer than 5k. Around mile 4 my thoughts started to get very negative, I didn't feel I could hold this pace till 10k distance let alone the full way. I started making excuses for myself to drop back to HMP or MP after 10k, live to fight another day, a good 6 miles tempo and a quick recovery will stand to me better than flogging myself for another 4 miles. I mentally gave up on the PB, then during mile 5 mentally gave up on a sub 3:30 marathon in Barcelona, mentally gave up on running in general. So that was the first half of the race! 35:36

Second half: 7:05, 7:11, 7:11, 7:09, 6:50
After mile 6.2 I knew that would be my fastest ever 10k, 44 mins roughly, that gave me a bit of a boost. Hang on for two more miles and I'd be on the home stretch, thus having much less of a walk back to town after I broke down and stopped running. I started counting my footfalls, get to 100 and start again, keep going, get as close to town as you can. Mile 8 came and went, at this stage I thought my pace was well down, saw 7:3x on the watch every time I glanced down. I knew I had around a minute in the bank from the first half, and when I reached mile 9 I knew a MP mile would do for a PB. I tried to pick up the pace cos I thought I'd be walking over the finish line for sure, might as well get as much of this mile ran quickly. Huge shout out from AGYR at exactly the right time kept me moving, and I crossed the line in 1:11:12 chip time, 59 second PB over the same race last year. The last mile turned out to be 6:50, was hoping for a sub 7 min mile somewhere on the course, didn't think it would be the last one.

Second half in 35:26, 10 second negative split. One of those races you hate almost every minute of but is totally worth it immediately after finishing.

Met up with Tang, YoungAnne and FBOT afterwards, savage run from Tang and Anne looking good for Donnadea. FBOT hilariously mistook my girlfriend for my ex-girlfriend who was at Trim last year, prompting questions.

My main takeaway from my performance in Trim is a reiteration that I need to race more, gotta cultivate the mental toughness to be able to banish the negativity and enjoy racing more. Secondary takeaway is that I'm in better shape than I would have imagined, after last year's race my feet were fooked and I had to take a week off pace work, feel totally grand this year.

So that's the only race before Barcelona, feeling unexpectedly great after it!

tang1

Great going M, great confidence boost for you for the rest of the training cycle, kudos.

tailgunner

Well done. Nice marker to lay down before Barcelona.

Ososlo

Delighted for ya! Well done!

Singer

Great going! Shame I didn't bump into you.

Should you fit in a 5k parkrun or something along those lines for race sharpness pre-Barca? I'm starting to come around to the school of thinking that shorter races are good mental prep for longer ones (well, longer ones would be good prep too, but would take a lot more out of you for recovery etc.), and a 5k is a good way of building some mental toughness.

annapr

Well done, M, shaping up well for Barcelona.

Murph_D

On track. Well run!

Mrs Mc

Great race well done. FBOT he can't be trusted when let out unsupervised .... will have to follow up on that story.

mbarr

Singer wrote: »

Great going! Shame I didn't bump into you.

Should you fit in a 5k parkrun or something along those lines for race sharpness pre-Barca? I'm starting to come around to the school of thinking that shorter races are good mental prep for longer ones (well, longer ones would be good prep too, but would take a lot more out of you for recovery etc.), and a 5k is a good way of building some mental toughness.

Well done yourself B, flying along esp considering the cold. Good thinking on the extra race for sharpness, I may throw in a parkrun early in the taper. If I run the 3.1 miles at the same pace as the final mile in Trim I'd be on for a 20 second PB without killing myself.

Thanks again everyone!

denis b

Well done M. Plenty of resilience on display there.

mbarr

Recovered well from Trim, ran 13 miles easy midweek and felt fully fit for the weekend. 18 miles with 10@ MP on the plan, and a weekend away in Carlingford meant I could explore around the peninsula and throw in a few hills. Headed off on Saturday morning from the B&B, straight up the side of a mountain so the first couple of miles were rather slow. Blowing a gale and snowing at the top, pretty hardcore but short-lived as I descended quickly down the far side and into Carlingford. Lovely little town. Started into the MP miles around mile 4, ran some of the Carlingford half marathon route, good recce as I'd love to race that sometime. Was a bit wrecked after them but happy enough. Miscalculated the mileage and ended up running almost 19.5 miles.

4 miles easy in the hills then on Sunday, and I'm crazy stiff this morning. I think it's the hill running using different muscles as I don't tend to get stiff muscles after running.

Annie get your Run

Carlingford half marathon was my first HM a few years ago, I thoroughly enjoyed it Carlingford is beautiful.

mbarr

14 miles with 10 alternating around MP (+15 -15), good session, flew by. HR a bit higher than when I did this last year, again hoping that means I'm peaking later.

Looking forward to Saturday and 10 miles easy, 10 miles MP, 2 miles c/d, laps of the park with the MP stuff mostly on the flat, hoping to have a better time of it than this session last year.

I ordered some Kinvara 7s this evening, then did some research and scared myself a bit. I've been running in Brooks Ghost 9s which I love, and Adidas Supernova glide 8s which are amazing but a small bit tight. The brooks are already really worn down and not an option for the marathon, I might get away with the adidas (I've worn them for a long run already, will be wearing them for the 22 this weekend too). Reckon I'll try the Kinvara for a few shorter runs, if they're comfortable try the final 16 mile run in them and then make a decision.

mbarr

Today: 22 miles, 10 easy, 10 MP, 2 c/d. For the easy I averaged 9:28min/mi with avg HR 132, for the MP averaged 7:53 with HR 156. So proper easy pace followed by proper marathon pace.

Fecked up this session good and proper last year by over-cooking both easy and MP sections, and not having any water or fuel. Made sure this didn't happen this run, really took the easy properly easy (borderline recovery). Did a lap of Phoenix Park and a few extra loops bringing me up to 10 miles, just before hitting the MP section picked up a bottle of water I had stashed behind a tree and got 500ml water. I could see there was some sort of a race going to kick off in the park, was a bit worried as the bulk of my 10 miles at MP I was planning on doing on the triangle of OS road, Chesterfield, and Furze which seemed to be where the race was routed.

Ended up working out really well, I was returning to the park after around 4 miles MP, picked up the tail end of the 5k and ran through the field, nipping out at the corner of Furze road and joining the 23 minute finishers running up the home stretch roughly the same pace as me, then the second loop I ran through the 34min finishers, it provided a nice distraction and kept me positive and focused. Finished the 10MP at the top of the S-Bends, shuffled home delighted with myself.

Feel like I got the session just right, it was obviously very tough but wasn't struggling to hold the pace. Gonna sleep for the rest of the day now!