Still trying to figure it all out.

hot buttered scones

Thursday 13/4

Started to feel signs of getting over what was possibly the worst chest infection anyone as ever had ever (might be exaggerating a small bit here ) . I decided to go for a short run in the afternoon just to see where I was at. Managed 6@8:27. The first 4 felt handy enough, but I was fairly tired for the last mile alright. Felt a lot better afterwards.

Rolling 7 day total: 26.1 miles

Friday 14/4

Back in business - almost. This beggar is still hanging around annoying me, especially in the morning but I don't feel sick anymore, just a bit congested. Headed to a local park for a few loops while I had spare hour. 8.3@8:08 - I got a bit carried away as I always do when running these 500m loops, but the effort felt right. I'd say I'm at about 95%.

Rolling 7 day total: 24.4 miles

Saturday 15/4

Woke up feeling a bit tired from yesterdays effort. My stomach was a bit unsettled too so I skipped breakfast and just a had a few cups of coffee until it was time to head out. I didn't want to do a long run yet so I decided to just do the session I had planned which was 4x2@HMP. I reckoned HMP was about 7min/mile so I set the Garmin to 6:55 to 7:05 and headed out the Straight Road. The first and last intervals were fine because I had a tailwind. I did a loop for the 2nd interval - the first mile was into the wind, and while I held pace, the effort was too high for HMP. The 3rd interval was way too tough - into the wind, I couldn't hit the required pace and I pushed too hard. I had too stop for about 20 seconds just as I started the second mile to cough!!

Splits:
Warm up: 8:26; 8:35
Rep 1: 7:02; 6:59
0.5 rec: 4:29
Rep 2: 7:02; 6:59
0.5 rec: 4:42
Rep 3: 7:08; 7:07
0.5 rec: 4:46
Rep 4: 7:00; 6:59
0.5 rec: 4:31
Cool down: 8:42; 8:33; 0.2 in 2:04

Total:14.2 miles.

In hindsight, this was probably not the best idea. I was fairly wrecked afterwards and the effort was definitely too hard for a good bit of those reps. I should probably have just done 2 hours easy, but I'm sort of glad I got the session done all the same. Passed by Rob Heffernan twice (going in the opposite direction I might add) which was a bit motivating.

EDIT: More than happy also to have completed this session with nothing in my stomach other than what I'd eaten the night before (fish and chips!)

Rolling 7 day total: 38.6 miles

Kennyg71

I always find it a bit disconcerting when someone can walk faster than, I can run:D , good HM session but as you said don't push to hard on return, system is not fully recovered and may come back to bite you. But good to see some normality returning for you

hot buttered scones

Kennyg71 wrote: »

I always find it a bit disconcerting when someone can walk faster than, I can run:D , good HM session but as you said don't push to hard on return, system is not fully recovered and may come back to bite you. But good to see some normality returning for you

Yeah - I kind of figured that out about an hour ago :eek: !! I'll post in log format just because and all that.

Sunday 16/4

Easter Sunday and I'm stuck in work on my own. I'd set the alarm last night but forgot to switch it on, so I was late getting up. I just grabbed my gear and headed into work. I was a bit stiff and sore after yesterday's effort, so I was going to write off the day, but then I did my log, I read Krusty's log and a few others (it's fierce quiet here, honest) and just decided to take a longer lunch and get a recovery run in.

5 miles@9:00. A bit stiff to be honest, but I enjoyed getting out all the same. HR was only slightly higher than it should be (maybe 3 or 4 bpm), but it was a very tired run. A good sign of a recovery run (ripped from P+D kinda) is when you feel more energised as the run progresses. If this doesn't happen to me it's a sure sign that I've over done it over the previous few days.

There's a trail about half a mile long that runs along the waterfront behind the new car compound were you can look across the harbour to Cobh and down to Haulbowline. I love running down there in good bright weather. Juts sayin'. Once finished I had time for a quick shower and then a feed of canteen Turkey and Ham. I've load of tight spots now though so I'll have to foam roll the bejaysus out of myself tonight.

Rolling 7 day/weekly total: 33.5 miles

hot buttered scones

Monday 17/4

6 early easy miles @8:20. Ran the Pfizer 6 route before work - a bit of a rolling course, and a change from the normal pre work route. HR average 140bpm (watch seems to be behaving itself again) - so I'm happy with effort

Rolling 7 day total: 39.6

Tuesday 18/4

Long run day. I had a choice of this weeks run (18 alternating around MP every 2 miles) or last weeks (10 easy, 10 steady) so I opted for last weeks to get the 20 miler done. In hindsight I should have just run the 20 easy. I headed out early enough to do the 5 mile loop from Blackrock Castle around to the Marina. I also took in the marathon course around Mahon. In short this run was a bit of a disaster. I started out well enough. I found steady pace a bit harder than expected - still not over the illness from last week, but a headwind had also picked up on the Mahon walkway. There was GI distress (requiring pitstops - damn antibiotics), stomach cramps, a coughing fit when I inhaled some saliva and stitches over the last few miles. All of this totally pissed me off because my legs felt fine and I felt like I had enough energy to do the run as scheduled. I stupidly took a gel a mile 10 which probably increase my discomfort (but not immediately I might add). I packed in the steady mile after about 7.5 and because I kept getting a stitch when I ran faster than easy pace. I got the miles done, but not the session I wanted. Weather it was a good approximation of marathon day - started out quite cool but was fairly warm (maybe 15 deg) by the time I finished, and for once the temperature did not add to my woes. I felt well recovered after a couple of hours and was well able for work that night as well with no real aches and pains that I would expect after a long run.

Goal paces: Easy - 8:34-8:56 Steady: 7:40-7:49

20 miles@8:18
Splits:
Easy: 8:42; 8:36; 8:39; 8:42; 8:43; 8:39; 8:34; 8:43; 8:22; 8:34
Steady: 7:52; 7:48; 7:49; 7:41; 7:50; 7:54; 7:55; 8:08; 8:29; 8:25

tldr: This run was a bit sh1tty

Rolling 7 day total: 59.6

Wednesday 19/4

Got a decent sleep between night shifts for once. Decided to re-explore some lesser trodden back roads in Ringaskiddy which you can only run on when the evenings and mornings are bright. Nice little boreens with no traffic on a lovely warm evening.
6 miles@8:50, HR average = 141 - compared to Monday mornings run, this run was slower, but effort levels were about the same. if not a bit higher, but I suppose that's to be expected due to yesterdays long run and working night shifts. Imodium rocks.

Rolling 7 day total: 65.6

Travelling tomorrow so probably no running. Negotiations ongoing for further runs while away - but half my suitcase is running gear so I'll sneak a few in I'd say.

denis b

That was some recovery M. Was surprised to see the LR on strava. They make them tough in the Rebel County.

hot buttered scones

denis b wrote:

That was some recovery M. Was surprised to see the LR on strava. They make them tough in the Rebel County.

Either tough or stupid, but definitely stubborn!! Although being honest the only thing which stops me generally is a high temperature or very bad congestion on the chest. I smoked for over 20 years and also had asthma as a kid and still can get bad hayfever so if I was to take a day off every time my breathing was a bit off I'd rarely run. Running seems to help clear the airways though.

denis b

hot buttered scones wrote: »

Running seems to help clear the airways though.

Adopted the very same approach 3 weeks ago. I would normally have sat it out for a week or two but lost a lot of running time last year when I had 3 bouts. Hard to call but I think I was confusing congestion with ability to do some training. Just dialling it back for a few days seemed to work very well.

hot buttered scones

denis b wrote:

Adopted the very same approach 3 weeks ago. I would normally have sat it out for a week or two but lost a lot of running time last year when I had 3 bouts. Hard to call but I think I was confusing congestion with ability to do some training. Just dialling it back for a few days seemed to work very well.

It can be a hard one to call - if it's on your chest a hard session can drive it deeper (if you know what I mean?) and leave you worse off, but an easy session can help you clear your head. It's a balancing act where you try and push it to the limit without falling over the edge, but try to do so wisely. I'm afraid I don't always get it right, but I'm learning!

hot buttered scones

I'm deep into the tunnel that is marathon training now. Tired, but still running. Running, running, running - life has to fit around running and not the other way around it seems. I'm completely blinkered. I don't daydream anymore - I try to calculate splits, I think about strategies for different parts of the course. Last thing at night and first thing in morning - what am I going to run and where? But (almost) every run is a pleasure. Anyway.....

Thursday 20/4

Travel with the family. No running

Rolling 7 day total: 59.6

Friday 21/4

10@8:15 - out and back along the Mersey before anyone else had gotten up. There's a really nice wide walk/cycleway there, around the docks and then out about 5 miles or so along the river - a bit windy though. Felt great doing this.

Rolling 7 day total: 61.4

Saturday 22/4

3.1@8:19. A few pints in the early evening on Friday put any notions of an early start out the window. Slipped out for a quick run around the Liverpool docks while the lads were getting ready.

Rolling 7 day total: 50.3

Sunday 23/4

14 miles with 10@MP. Another early start and I was back to the hotel before the lads had even gotten out of there pits. Took in Albert Dock, Princes Dock and the previously mentioned walkway. The MP section was an out and back - to was quite windy again with a tailwind out and a headwind back. I felt comfortable for most of the MP section, but the last 2 miles or so were a bit tough with the headwind picking up a bit - even still they were still a touch too fast - I seem to be pushing to hard when I feel something is slowing me down (like a wind or an incline), rather just putting in an even effort. Another good run. I had nothing to eat before this - I had eaten late (around 10:30) the night before though, so that was fuel enough, but I demolished the breakfast buffet at the hotel afterwards. My Garmin says my VO2 max is now 57. I;m not sure if this is an accurate representation of my VO2 max but I can compare to previous values - its up from 51 in January so I just be doing something right.

8:17; 8:23; 7:26; 7:27; 7:22; 7:22; 7:26; 7:23; 7:25; 7:25; 7:22; 7:23; 8:25; 8:26. Average HR for MP miles - 153 to 164.

As for the rest of the day - well, it started out good enough and then went downhill - but the least said about that the better. Had a mahoosive burger and a couple of beers watching El Classico later.

Rolling 7 day total/Weekly total: 59.3

Monday 24/4

Up with the larks again. Surprisingly enough I got loads of sleep on this trip away and just seemed to be waking naturally at around 7am. Left everyone sleeping again and headed out for one more loop of the docks before catching the plan home.

Recovery run: 5@9:05 Just a nice plod about really

Rolling 7 day total: 58.3

Tuesday 25/4

Back to normal - work today, but I didn't sleep too well, so I ran after work instead.

6 miles with 6x100m stride. 8:05 average pace including the strides

Rolling 7 day total: 44.3

Wednesday 26/4

I'd jiggled around the plan for a few weeks, moving the long runs to midweek and the sessions to the weekends because it suited work and travel better, but this week I'd had planned to get back with the programme. So todays workout was the same as Sunday's. This all seemed perfectly sensible a few weeks ago, but this morning it seemed kinda nuts. After much deliberation I said I'd give it a crack with the notion that I'd slow down if I felt too tired. In the end I completed the session but I ended going with a "just one more mile" strategy for the last 3@MP. I headed down the Marina for this and decided to do the 10@MP on the John Buckley 10 miler course - so one small hill and that footbridge that goes over the N40, but flat otherwise. I nearly burst myself going over the footbridge only too find that the walkway was closed at the other side so I had to do a 180 and go back over the footbridge again. I must have inhaled a fly or something because I had a woeful coughing fit and couldn't catch my breath so I had to stop to compose myself. I had to 2 the last 2 miles@MP into a strong headwind again because of this and it felt more like LT effort. So overall not as good as Sunday's effort, but I'd run late yesterday evening and the wind was much stronger in parts than on Sunday and I was much more tired. I also fell into the trap of paying too much attention to my watch in sections where I knew the GPS could be a bit flakey due to trees and such, so my pace was a bit less consistent than on Sunday too.

8:31; 8:32; 7:25; 7:25; 7:17; 7:24; 7:23; 7:22; 7:23; 7:32; 7:26; 7:24; 8:25; 8:41.

HRM decided to start playing up again - it locked into my cadence at about 6.4 miles and stayed there, so the HR data is pretty much useless. HR for MP miles before it played up - 158 - 162.

Rolling 7 day total: 52.3

Haven't had a rubbish run in a while, so I'm due one. I'm hoping it's tomorrows recovery run

hot buttered scones

Thursday 27/4

Recovery run - 5.1@9:09 and it did indeed feel rubbish! Had a crap sleep between nights.

Rolling 7 day total: 57.4

Friday 28/4

10@8:19 from Blackrock castle to Passage and back. Nice run to break in a pair of Glide boost 8s I'd bought before Christmas in a sale. I bought two pairs and I have pretty much worn out the first pair in training, so these will possibly be my marathon shoes, although I do have a pair of Pegasus 33 on the way to be tested out too. An ok run, but I was bit tired due to not having slept well today either.

Rolling 7 day total: 57.3

Saturday 29/4

Took me brand new Takumi Sens with added go faster stripes out for an "easy run" - 6.4@7:52 but it felt effortless (average HR 141 -which is the lower end of easy for me). God, I'd love to run in these shoes all the time, but I strongly suspect this will lead to big physio bills. To be reserved for shorter races only (maybe half's?) Or maybe it was the good nights sleep??

Rolling 7 day total: 60.6

Sunday

18 miles - alternating between 2 easy, 2@MP x 4, with 2 easy to finish

Another ok run. I took in all the changes of the new CCM 17 course, which I've laid out in the CCM thread. Overcooked some of the MP sections again, so this was a little bit tougher than it should have been. The first few miles were tough - I just felt tired this morning and it took me a while to get into it. Took one gel just before the 10 mile mark.

8:29; 8:20; 7:28; 7:23; 8:31; 8:28; 7:27; 7:18; 8:25; 8:25; 7:23 (uphill); 7:15 (mostly downhill); 8:19; 8:05; 7:24; 7:20; 8:14; 8:25.

A decent enough session, but I felt it over the last MP rep - but then again I was doing 5 secs over MP for the last mile. I don't why I keep doing this - I just seem to drift down to that pace. I went home and had a feed of scrambled eggs and spent most of the day watching footy and snooker. I'm starting to feel a bit confident now, but I'm also starting to look forward to the taper. Two more big weeks left, with 2 22 milers and a 6 mile race and then it's taper time.

Rolling 7 day total/weekly total:64.6
Monthly total: 228.4
YTD: 798.8

Singer

Solid work down the marathon mines recently. Not long to go!

hot buttered scones

Singer wrote: »

Solid work down the marathon mines recently. Not long to go!

Cheers. I'm in the obsessive zone now - just two or three big sessions left.

hot buttered scones

Monday 01/05

5.2 recovery@8:54. Bread and butter pre work job.

Rolling 7 day miles: 64.9

Tuesday 02/05

7 including 6x100m strides@8:11 (Mile 6 was 7:25 because of the strides which brought the average pace up a bit). Another decent easy pace run where I felt good. I don't remember too much about it. The only thing of note for that day is that I almost did a pre Berlin Krusty on myself. I reached down to pick up the shower gel from the floor of the shower in work and when I stood up I felt a strong twinge across my middle back which got worse as the day went on. I wasn't too bad - not crippling, but enough to get me a bit worried.

Rolling 7 day miles: 65.9

Wednesday 03/05

I had a big session planned for this morning so I set the alarm for 5am. When I woke I felt like crap. My back was very sore and I just felt a bit wrecked. I dossed around in bed for another hour until finally deciding to just go for an easy run and see how the back held out. I slapped some tiger balm on it and drove out to Ringaskiddy, by which time the tiger balm seemed to have eased it somewhat. It was a beautiful sunny morning - cool with no wind to speak off and you could see that the water in the Harbour was very still. My back gave me absolutely no trouble as I knocked out 8 miles@8:09 with the average HR being 139 for the whole run (more like 144 for the last 3 miles) which is almost recovery range for me. I wished I could have kept on going but duty called unfortunately. I sort of regretted not getting up and doing the planned session to be honest.

Rolling 7 day miles: 60.0

Thursday 04/05

Session: 14 miles - 2 miles warmup then 10 miles alternating between MP+3% and MP-3%, 2 miles cool down.

I was right to regret not doing this yesterday as today proved to be quite windy. My pacing was a bit all over the place because of this, but I think I got the effort levels almost right. Targets: MP+3%=7:40, MP-3%=7:13. I set a range on my watch my taking a time of 3:15 and figuring the average pace for 26.2 miles for the slower end and average for 26.6 miles (because thats what my watch measured in Cork on 2015)., so for the most part my paces fell somewhere in between these.
Splits:
Warm up: 8:35; 8:28
Alternating bit:7:34; 7:07; 7:33; 6:58 (wind assisted); 7:35; 7:04; 7:39; 7:07; 7:35; 7:02
Cool down: 8:49; 8:26

The MP+3% bits felt very comfortable after the faster miles and the cool down felt like a plod! I was quite pleased with the session overall, but I could have taken it easier on the 4th rep due to the headwind really picking up for this. Of course I chose to do this on the Blackrock to Passage walkway - I couldn't have picked a more exposed spot in the whole city.

Rolling 7 day miles: 68.8

Friday 05/05

5 recovery@ 8:51. A real meh run. I was tired and couldn't wait to be finished. This was in between night shifts. I'd gotten up a bit early for a physio appointment - loads of needling into the back which was knotted to f0ck, so I'd gotten very little sleep.

Rolling 7 day miles: 63.9

Saturday 06/05

Up early after nights again and I just dossed around the house until about 3:30pm. Went out then and did 6.2@8:15 over the usual local rolling course. The first mile felt awful, but I soon got into it after that. Not much to see here, just an everyday easy run.

Rolling 7 day miles: 63.7


Sunday 07/05

Long Run - 22 miles - 16 miles of running, 4 miles of yogging and 2 miles of pointlessness.

I knew from the get go that this was not going to be a great run. I'd been looking forward to it for the whole week, planning routes and so forth, but boy was I tired this morning. I set the alarm for 8. I got up around 10:30. Then me dad called in, the lads got up, I needed the loo, I had just one more coffee etc etc. I really didn't want to do this, which is never a good attitude before a long run. I ended up starting at just before 1pm - it was about 14 deg with a nice breeze and overcast, but not too humid - so far so good. I parked the car in the Lee Fields and ran from there to the finish line of CCM, then cut across town to Turners Cross to join back onto the CCM course and take in the new sections again. The climb up to Tory Top park still felt ok, but Farranlea Road was still a killer. I followed the course back to the car to make 10 miles and set off on the same loop again. The hills just killed me on the second loop. The sun came out and felt quite strong and it was like kryptonite. My breathing was laboured, my legs and back got stiff and I just felt awful. I kept going but had to stop on Farranlea road to stretch and take my t shirt off (the shame!) - but I was roasting. It was weird. It didn't feel like I'd ran out of juice (a bonk) - it was more like my legs just went dead. I had to stop a few more times on the way back to the car, but instead of stopping at just over 20 miles I stupidly did lap of the Lee Field to make it up to 22. The last mile was a joke - I had to stop 3 times. I think I felt better after DCM. This was definitely a confidence knocker. No run over 18 miles has gone well in this training block. I'm running them too fast I think and not taking on enough fuel. For this run I put the contents of a gel and half a zero tab into a 250ml bottle and filled with water. I made two of these. I took 250ml plain water a 5 miles and 20 miles. I took half a bottle of the gel mix at 10 miles, half at 13 and the other full bottle at 16. btw the car said it was 20 deg when I finished. These 22 milers have never worked out for me. Next weeks long run is the 22 with stuff - I'm seriously considering ditching it in favour of a P+D style 20 miler, with maybe the last 2 miles@MP just to boost my confidence. I was totally bate after it - I felt dizzy and had to sit down for a few minutes. I feel a bit daft know - I could have just turned off after 17 miles and jogged back to the car for a handy 18 miler. This probably would have been more beneficial than slogging it out for the last 4 miles - I would have recovered quicker for starters. I have bad feeling I left it all out there today.

Anyway the splits in case your interested:
8:36; 8:35; 8:37; 8:29; 8:31; 8:23; 8:09 (downhill); 8:35; 8:20; 8:32; 8:34; 8:30; 8:18; 8:31; 8:39; 8:41; 8:40 (downhill) ; 9:16; 8:52; 9:09 ; 9:39 ; 9:57 :eek:

Rolling 7 day miles/weekly total: 67.7

hot buttered scones

It's as if the running gods are having a good laugh at me today. Straight above my sh1te 22@8:42 (actually if I'd have evenly paced it I'd have been quite happy with that....hmmmm) on my Strava feed is Steve Way's 40 mile Wings For Life "training run" @6:28. It's like comparing a Honda 50 to a Porsche 911.

Kennyg71

Defiantly need more water, on days like to day and any disruption to sleep will play havoc, maybe a progression run starting nice and easy and see how it goes, the stuff bit gives a lot of flexibility.

hot buttered scones

Kennyg71 wrote:

Defiantly need more water, on days like to day and any disruption to sleep will play havoc, maybe a progression run starting nice and easy and see how it goes, the stuff bit gives a lot of flexibility.

Gah! Had a long post typed out and I've only just noticed it didn't post. For the stuff - a progression run is a good call - very easy to easy to steady to MP, with a fast finish if I'm feeling up to it. Or 2 x 5 @MP with a mile or 2 recovery and the rest easy. Definitely won't be doing 10 easy, 10 MP, 2 easy though.

HigginsJ

hot buttered scones wrote: »

It's like comparing a Honda 50 to a Porsche 911.

I'd be some sort of arthritic donkey in comparison to your Honda 50 then!! Great work.

hot buttered scones

Ah jaysus. Went to bed happy enough with my plan for the week. Woke up this morning and for some reason I've no idea what to do.

Here's the plan:

Monday|Tuesday|Wednesday|Thursday|Friday|Saturday|Sunday|Total
Off|Off|Days|Days|Nights|Nights|Off
6 recovery|5 easy|6 mile race|5 recovery|10 easy+strides|6 easy|22 with stuff (pm)|60
Off|Off|Off|Days|Days|Nights|Nights
5 recovery|5 easy|14@MP|4 recovery|REST :eek:|16 easy|5 easy|49


The 22 with stuff has to be done in the evening - I'm not finished work until 8am. I could do it Friday - but is that too close to Wednesday's race and Sunday just gone's long run? I'm not to concerned about getting a long MP section done for the "stuff" because I have the 14@MP on Wednesday. So I'm thinking a progression run as Kennyg71 suggested above or MP reps - maybe 3x3 mile with 0.5 mile easy recovery?? I dunno. Maranoia is setting in early this year.

Kennyg71

hot buttered scones wrote: »

Ah jaysus. Went to bed happy enough with my plan for the week. Woke up this morning and for some reason I've no idea what to do.

Here's the plan:

Monday|Tuesday|Wednesday|Thursday|Friday|Saturday|Sunday|Total
Off|Off|Days|Days|Nights|Nights|Off
6 recovery|5 easy|6 mile race|5 recovery|10 easy+strides|6 easy|22 with stuff (pm)|60
Off|Off|Off|Days|Days|Nights|Nights
5 recovery|5 easy|14@MP|4 recovery|REST :eek:|16 easy|5 easy|49


The 22 with stuff has to be done in the evening - I'm not finished work until 8am. I could do it Friday - but is that too close to Wednesday's race and Sunday just gone's long run? I'm not to concerned about getting a long MP section done for the "stuff" because I have the 14@MP on Wednesday. So I'm thinking a progression run as Kennyg71 suggested above or MP reps - maybe 3x3 mile with 0.5 mile easy recovery?? I dunno. Maranoia is setting in early this year.

3x3 sounds like a plan, becarefulll racing on Wednesday particularly if you are fatigued, that extra race effort can take it out of you. Don't want to get in your head to much, just be honest with yourself before you start,just a lot of signs of tired body at the moment and the ultimate goal is getting to start line.

hot buttered scones

Kennyg71 wrote: »

3x3 sounds like a plan, becarefulll racing on Wednesday particularly if you are fatigued, that extra race effort can take it out of you. Don't want to get in your head to much, just be honest with yourself before you start,just a lot of signs of tired body at the moment and the ultimate goal is getting to start line.

Yeah, the race is a bit tricky because is my workplace BHAA race and I've committed to running it and doing a bit of helping out afterwards. Like you said I'll have to see how I feel. I'm sure they could do with a few more sandwich makers if I decide not to do it! The body is very tired alright - I've never run this high mileage before, but to be honest I've felt worse on lower mileage. This'll be the last big week before the taper though and I'll be taking rest days. Don't worry about getting into my head - there's no room in there with all my own doubts at this stage!! One mediocre run and my heads all over the shop. What am I like? :rolleyes:

hot buttered scones

Monday 08/05

5 Recovery@9:26 - very easy run on mostly trails in the local park. Nice sunny day. Felt better as the run proceeded, so a proper recovery run.
Rolling 7 day miles: 67.5

Tuesday 09/05

5 easy@ 8:21 – did the local loop, but skipped a big hill just because I was feeling tired and lazy

Rolling 7 day miles: 65.5

Wednesday 10/05

Race: BHAA Pfizer 6 mile.

Pre race:
Left work a bit early and jogged up to the registration (just under a mile) – it was hot and I felt rubbish – tired and stiff. I was able to finagle a cup of tea and a few jaffa cakes which perked me up a bit. All the setting up was done so I just hung around chatting for bit. I did a couple of mile with one of the lads from work to warm up and felt much better during this. It had cooled down a good bit in just an hour. So there was some last minute toilet visits, random stretches, squats and a few strides up and down the car park before we were off.


Mile 1: 6:22

I lined up about 3 or 4 rows back which felt about right. I felt comfortable from the off, although I looked down at the watch after about 30 seconds and saw a number starting with 5 so I cooled off a bit and let the group ahead pull away. From the start the road drops off for half a mile, then there’s a slight pull for 400m the another drop off – so a fast mile. It was a bit of a blur really and the sun was in my eyes. I just wanted to settle in to a good position and ran by feel for a bit.

Mile 2: 6:30

Just after the start of mile 2 was the first proper hill for about half a mile. I dropped the group I was with and caught up with another. There was lad in a black singlet overtook me here and we’d stay with each for a good bit of the race. I took off on the next bit of downhill, leaving black singlet behind me, but he passed me again on the next sharp pull before the 2 mile marker. I did pass a few in this mile by running a good line rather than sticking to the ditch.

Mile 3: 6:16

Nearly all downhill, so I just legged it down the hill. I dropped off the pace a bit when we turned the corner into Carrigaline and black singlet guy pulled alongside here I think. We ran together for a bit.

Mile 4: 6:36

This was the flattest mile (but still a small bit lumpy), but there was also a good few bends in the road. I ran the best line I could, but was aware that the road was open, so I had to go wide on one or two bends. I kept a close eye on the watch after we passed the 3 mile marker – when the watch read 3.11 I saw I’d run a 5k PB (Strava and Garmin have it as 19:47). Sure it starting to feel tough, but I’d normally be ready to puke after a 5k PB. I could hear yer man breathing on my shoulder and that just spurred me on. I did a quick systems check at 5k – sure I was hurting, but my breathing was not too laboured. I corrected my stride a bit. Took a few deep breaths and drove on – ignore the numbers and concentrate on how you feel I told myself. Black singlet would take the lead if the road rose, and then I’d pull ahead if it dropped, and we were fairly even on the flat. But I knew what was coming in the next mile, having had the luxury of running the course in training several times. About 400m before the 4 mile marker, the road started to rise and black singlet pulled ahead again. I caught black singlet guy at the bottom of the hill going up to Novartis (about 0.5 miles long) and pulled level just at the 4 mile mark.

Mile 5: 6:37

I pulled level with the other lad at the 4 mile mark and decided to pace myself off him for a bit – he had the measure of me on the hills, but I had the advantage going down and on the flat. I think I pulled ahead of him slightly as we crested the hill and dropped again as the road dropped off. I didn’t see him again until the finish. Grey t shirt had passed me a while back and was running with another lad so I tried to close the gap on the short downhill section, but it wasn’t to be, so I worked at just maintaining the gap. Another small hill before sharp drop to the 5 mile marker - I just opened the legs and pegged it again – saw me close the gap a bit. By this stage I was really starting to hurt, but I was concentrating hard.

Mile 6: 6:29

Mile 6 starts with another hill. I must run up this hill 3 or 4 times every week – I knew it was about 600m to my work, where the road levelled out so I increased the effort to try and maintain the pace. The next 3 or 400m then I knew the road dropped off again so I maintained the effort and upped the a pace. With about half a mile left I looked at my watch and knew I’d be well within my goal time, but I couldn’t do the calculations. I knew there was a sneaky rise to the roundabout, so I dug deep. For the last 400m to the finish the road falls off, so while I did speed up, this was no sprint finish. I was overtaken on the right by a guy with about 300m to go, but I just couldn’t go after him. I saw 38:4x on the clock and just summoned the power to get over the line. No empty reaching or breathing difficulties at finish like I usually get, but I had jelly legs and my head was spinning. I had well and truly emptied the tank. My goal for this race was to break 40 minutes, and given the hilly nature of the course, and the fact that this was day 20 of a streak, I thought it was going to be a big ask.

Official time: 38:50 Overall position 38/402. Age Group position: 9/43 Team: Category B, 2nd

So I surpassed my goal easily (ok, I was dying on my feet for the last mile and a half , but I didn’t drop any time) on a hilly course. I had a good race with black singlet guy (although I think there was only 10 seconds between us at the end). I got some great race experience and pacing practice on a hilly course. This was the first outing for my new Takumi Sens as well – they are great to race in, but not for much longer than this distance for me
I made a mistake of heading in for a cup of coffee and a sandwich before doing my cool down, and I hung around for the prizes – so I did a late cool down of a slow mile around 10.30pm back down to work to get a shower before heading home. Daily total: 10 miles

Rolling 7 day miles: 67.4

Thursday 11/5

Nothing yet. Woke up late - didn’t get into bed until after midnight. I might do a 20-30 minute recovery run later if I feel like it. My legs were fairly sore this morning after wearing the flats last night, but it eased out as the day went on. I think I need a short run just to sort them out.

Kennyg71

Great racing, well done, make sure and recover well.

Wubble Wubble

Excellent work there, seems like you gave it the best you could, and you won your battle with black singlet. Keep it up!

Singer

Woah, great going! You should have kept going for another .2 miles and broken sub-40 10k while you were at it

hot buttered scones

Singer wrote:

Woah, great going! You should have kept going for another .2 miles and broken sub-40 10k while you were at it

Don't worry, it's now my biggest target. I just have 2 marathons to take care of first!!

hot buttered scones

Thursday 11/5

Got home from work at 8.30pm. FIFA in the front room, Eurovision in the back. Recovery run it is so!! 3.2@9:16. I felt great after this. The streak lives - 21 days now and the longest streak I've ever had. It's going to be hard to take a rest day during the taper.

Rolling 7 day miles - 56.6

Friday 12/5

So- I had a major crisis of confidence after last weeks long run. I reached out for help and advice. So with the benefit of of some sage wisdom from a superman, I changed things up a bit. The 22 with stuff became a 21 mile progression. 5 miles at recovery pace, then 2 mile blocks increasing the pace by 15s/mile for the block, with mile 17 being just outside MP and mile 18@MP then 2 miles cool down. I headed out to Blarney for this. From the car park to Tower and back was 8 miles - flat, but with a few rises and dips so not pancake flat. Did that twice and for the last bit headed down to the village and did a lap of the square and back to the car. Stopped around mile 9 to give some American tourists directions. I also had to stop around mile 16 - I felt a bit sick after taking a gel so I just need to catch my breath for 10 or 15 seconds. I had a bit of a dodgy stomach this morning before heading out but fortunately no mercy dashes were needed. The day itself was fairly warm - around 15 deg - but there was a cooling breeze. All the same, I usual wilt badly when it gets warm, but not today
Splits: 9:19; 9:17; 9:16; 9:16; 9:10; 8:59; 8:59; 8:40; 8:37; 8:30; 8:23; 8:10; 8:08; 7:58; 7:59; 7:46; 7:47; 7:33; 7:20; 9:10; 8:58.

The last 5 miles or so of the progression were tough enough. I probably ran each mile a bit too fast - MP is actually 7:25. But overall a good run, and another boost to the confidence.
Nutrition and hydration: High 5 gel at miles 8, 12 and 16. Salt Stick chew every 3 miles or so. 250mls water at 4,8,12 and 16 miles.

I had plenty of time to think as well - the 6 miler the other night is giving me a marathon time of 3:05 to 3:10 depending on what predictor I use (well it equates to a 40:12 10k which McMillan gives a 3:08:36 marathon). So dare I change my 3:15 goal at this stage? Or do I stick to my goal and try to step it up a notch for Dublin??
And when should I start posting in the sub 3 thread for real??

No harm in dreaming!

Rolling 7 day total: 72.6 miles

Kennyg71

What a difference a week makes, great week, good to see confidence back.

Itziger

Don't change 3.15 goal. Just don't.

hot buttered scones

Itziger wrote:

Don't change 3.15 goal. Just don't.

Yeah, I know :-) . I'm just daydreaming! Respect the distance and all that. In all seriousness though, it might actually be a course for a slight positive split. In reality I think I'll do very well to make 3:15. I'll have to have a really good race to do so. My B goal is 3:20 which is still a PB of almost 2 minutes. So 3:15 is a good day. Failing that, a PB would be great. Failing that - have a good race in my home town build on this training block with a view to more improvements for DCM.

Singer

hot buttered scones wrote: »

Yeah, I know :-) . I'm just daydreaming! Respect the distance and all that. In all seriousness though, it might actually be a course for a slight positive split. In reality I think I'll do very well to make 3:15. I'll have to have a really good race to do so. My B goal is 3:20 which is still a PB of almost 2 minutes. So 3:15 is a good day. Failing that, a PB would be great. Failing that - have a good race in my home town build on this training block with a view to more improvements for DCM.

Based on my experience at last year's DCM, don't change the goal.

Maybe it's ok to change it up around 22 miles in