Still trying to figure it all out.

hot buttered scones · 06-07-2017 6:46pm

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Great result, amazing what effect a good training block does, and being slightly more relaxed.

100% on being more relaxed - as in just racing for fun and turning up to a race for a bit of socialising on a sunny evening being nearly more important than the running. Also ignoring the watch a lot and racing on feel. I love it!

HigginsJ · 07-07-2017 10:33am

Congrats on the huge PB

Itziger · 07-07-2017 10:40am

This suggests there's quite a bit more to come, and not just at 5k. Like I said a bit earlier, you're still finding out how to do this stuff - most of us are still learning!!

That's a big pb and as you said the prep wasn't exactly top notch. That did take the pressure off though, as you say.

As you probably know I'm a big fan of small incremental improvements. There's two or three reasons for this. A) I can't seem to make big improvements (!!)

It helps for the long time/injury avoiding C) I'm hoping to be semi elite by the time I get to 65.

Good luck now for DCM if you decide to do it, but it's next year and the years after that where you should see real improvement. Train smart and often and it'll all fall into place.

Ososlo · 07-07-2017 12:04pm

Well done on your massive pb, M! Great that the more relaxed approach worked so well for you.
Lots more to come soon for sure!!!

jake1970 · 07-07-2017 9:33pm

Congrats on a massive PB!

Mrs Mc · 09-07-2017 8:10pm

Congrats on the pb

hot buttered scones · 10-07-2017 12:21pm

Thanks for all the positive comments lads. @Itziger - "if" - I'd registered long before the gun went off for Cork!!

Thursday 06/07

Rest day. Legs and that were a bit stiff and sore - my calves were hopping, but that's what I get for wearing flats.

Friday 07/07

Bit of a facked up day. I'd originally planned to do 12 real easy, but the day got away from me, and in the end I did 9.4@8:27 average over a mostly rolling course, with 8x100m strides included in the total mileage (started them bang on 7 miles in). I probably shouldn;t have done the strides as my post-tib was giving out mad during them. I was walking around work with an ice pack down my sock for a few hours afterwards.

Saturday 08/07

5.1 recovery@9:17. Just a plod around the harbour very easy. Legs still heavy - quads very stiff, but loosened out a couple of miles in.

Sunday 09/07

Corcaigh Abú!!!!

I'd been working the night before, so I got up around 2 and then went out just after the Munster Final. Right post-tib (or is it tib-post) was better, but still a bit tender so I slapped on a bit of KT tape, which always helps - not a peep out of it.

12@8:28. Started off slow, and gradually picked up the pace, before going through a bit of a rough patch around miles 6 or 7, before picking it up a bit again to finish. My longest run since CCM and the end of the recovery phase. Being honest, my legs were still feeling heavy after the race and probably also the hilly runs from the previous two weeks - sore quads, tight calves and groin, although they did loosen out after a couple of miles, and feel a lot better today. I probably would have benefited from a very slow 5k the day after the race. It's time for a bit of TLC on the legs, so I'll be breaking out the instruments of torture later. I'll be starting my amended P+D plan tomorrow.

Weekly total: 37.8 miles

denis b · 11-07-2017 10:35pm

Just catching up here M. Delighted with that result for you. Yes, I believe in the science but there is so much in the mix when it comes to performance. Well done.

hot buttered scones · 12-07-2017 12:42am

denis b wrote:

Just catching up here M. Delighted with that result for you. Yes, I believe in the science but there is so much in the mix when it comes to performance. Well done.

I believe in the science too, so I'd be interested to see what I could do after a dedicated 5k training block - I'll possibly tackle this early next year.

hot buttered scones · 15-07-2017 12:28pm

Monday 10/7

Rest

Tuesday 11/7

8@8:12 including 8x100m strides, 1 min jog recovery. Was supposed to be 10 strides but I didn't read the plan properly. Out to Blarney for this. Strides felt a bit hard, but a nice run

Wednesday 12/7

9@8:15. Lunchtime run, was a bit warm but a decent run all the same.

Thursday 13/7

Rest -work day

Friday 14/7

Recovery 5.1@8:57. Didn't sleep well before work for the previous 2 nights. I got up too late to do this in the morning so ended up going out after work. Just going through the motions really.

My first week of DCM training proper is only going ok. I'm not being very disciplined around sleeping which has resulted in me being pretty tired today. I have 13 miles with 8@MP scheduled for today and I've procrastinated for so long about going out that now I'll have to go out this afternoon when it's starting to get quite warm. I'm not in the best of form today, and I'm starting to have second thoughts about launching into another marathon training block. Before I make any rash decisions I'm going to go out and do todays run and then make a big effort to get more sleep - it shouldn't be that hard to just go to bed a bit earlier! Once I have the next 2 night shifts out of the way, that is. I also have to watch my pace on those General Aerobic runs - according to my calculation I should be running these in the range of 9:14 - 8:29. The recovery runs I run based off HR - the max should be 142, so I try and keep it in and around 130 for the first couple of miles, and allow for some creep for the last few - which I have been doing. Enough moaning, I'm sure I'll feel better after a run.

hot buttered scones · 15-07-2017 9:07pm

Saturday 15/7

Well that were rubbish. Serves me right for going out in the hottest part of the day. The first 5 miles were ok - a bit warm, but nothing out of the ordinary. Then the heat and humidity got to me big time - I stopped a couple of times during the first 2 miles@MP. This was with a tailwind too, and I wasn't even getting to MP, so there was no way I was struggling on into the wind after I turned around. I decided to just go for time on my feet and run very easy to make up the mileage. Even that was hard today. My HR went into the redzone during the MP section and was about 20bpm higher than normal for the following easy miles. I had hard time keeping it down, and I stopped a few more times because I was just too hot. Funnily enough, I made a complete mess of this session last year too for exactly the same reason. I hadn't expected it to be that hot today (around 25 deg) and didn't prepare accordingly - I ran too fast for the conditions and didn't have enough water. Of course the sun went in about half an hour after I went home and it cooled down a bit, so I'd have been better off waiting an hour or two. I probably should have just pulled the plug altogether after the 2@MP, but this was my only change to get a longish run in over the weekend.

Splits:
Pace: 8:32; 8:24; 8:43; 8:12; 8:16; 7:29; 7:29; 9:06; 9:02; 9:16; 9:18; 9:17; 8:54; 0.1@9:06
Average HR: 133; 146; 152; 150; 154; 163; 168; 161; 158; 158; 155; 151; 153; 157
Max HR: 146; 152; 160; 160; 166; 172; 179; 173; 169; 163; 172; 163; 170; 160

So beaten by the elements again - this felt harder than some of the runs I did on holidays probably due to the humidity.

Wottle · 15-07-2017 9:12pm

You weren't the only one, a few on strava that I follow and myself had mares. Only starting to feel better now. Line through it and move on swiftly :-)

hot buttered scones · 15-07-2017 9:54pm

Wottle wrote: »

You weren't the only one, a few on strava that I follow and myself had mares. Only starting to feel better now. Line through it and move on swiftly :-)

Absolutely - and plenty of water to rehydrate.

hot buttered scones · 18-07-2017 9:59pm

Sunday 16/7

5 recovery@8:58. Nice and relaxed - lovely run on a sunny evening. Effort levels nice and low. A big, big difference from the day before. (Extra run to bump up the weekly mileage as discussed earlier)

Monday 17/7

11 Medium Long Run@8:03

I decided to move all my runs for the first half of the week forward by a day because it suits me better. I had work this evening, so I headed in early and took a route I hadn't taken before from Ringaskiddy down to Curabinny na back again - at the back of the woods along the water. I was warm, but there was plenty of shade on the route, and there were plenty of small hills and drops. I really enjoyed this run, but I let it get away from me in the second half and the effort levels were slightly above was they should have been (i.e. I ran too fast), although the short climbs were a bit steep on the way back. I ran the last mile@MP - mostly because I was in hurry to clock in! Took 500mls of water with me, which was just about enough. So overall, I was quite happy with this run, even though I could have run it a bit slower. I felt invigorated afterwards and wasn't really tired at all. It was worth it for the psychological boost. Sometimes I think you have to take advantage of those days when your feeling good.

Tuesday 18/9
5.1 recovery@9:26. This ended up being a bit of a plod. I found it hard to keep my HR down in the recovery range (<142), and the pace just kept slowing. Miles 3 and 4 were 9:59 and 9:52 pace!! Why did I find it hard today?
1. Yesterdays MLR followed by the 3rd night shift in a row.
2. Getting up early from said night shift so I could sleep tonight.
3. Didn't eat after getting up - so no food since about 6.30am
4. It was very warm, and I was sweating buckets just sitting down outside before I even started running.
5. I woke up this afternoon completely congested and took half the contents of the medicine cabinet to clear it - which may have contributed to the elevated HR. I don't think I'm sick, it's just the allergies playing up again.

I wasn't sure whether or not I should just pack it in because I wasn't hitting my usual recovery pace. In the end I just decided to run slow and let my HR dictate the pace. In the end it was an enjoyable run, plus it woke me up a bit.

The goal is to get try and get a goods night sleep tonight and then see how I feel about tomorrows scheduled LT run. If I have to postpone it until Thursday then thats no big deal because I'm a day ahead of schedule and can just take a rest day tomorrow.

hot buttered scones · 22-07-2017 11:50am

Wednesday 19/7

8 miles w/4@LT pace.

I wasn't sure what pace to run the LT section at due to bad performances in my most recent 10 mile races. 7min/mile was definitely too slow. I'm hoping to do Charleville at around 6:50 pace so I set the watch for 6:40 to 6:50 and thought I'd aim to run towards the slower end of that range. I headed out to the Straight Road/Lee Fields in the evening for this and I found it cool enough, but there was a bit of wind blowing in towards the city. So 2 miles warmup into the wind felt good enough. I continued on towards the Anglers Rest, sort of into the wind still and turned around after half a mile. The next 3 miles had a good tailwind and were run a bit faster. The last mile was a bit of mess. I slowed to pick up some water, and then sped up a bit too much. At 3.5 miles I turned to face back into the wind and I caught my breath so I had to stop for a few seconds before finishing out the session. A handy 2 miles to cool down to finish it off. Overall I think it was a decent session. It was almost like I could feel the threshold - I knew I was going too fast before I checked the watch. I'm not sure how to describe it really. HR for the LT section stayed pretty much in the calculated range of 153-169, so it wasn't to fast overall, although it did creep a bit above this for the last mile. I didn't feel like I was working very hard until the 3rd mile
Splits: 8:29 (133); 8:18 (143); 6:49 (160); 6:42 (166); 6:39 (167); 6:40 (172); 8:27 (148); 8:20 (144)

Thursday 20/7
Rest day. Dossed around, ate cake and drank a beer or two.

Friday 21/7

Because of shifting things forward earlier in the week I ended up with 2 rest days together, which I don't like doing so I headed out for a short recovery run before work. It was the coolest morning in ages with temps around 10-12 degrees. This felt easy compared to e.g. Tuesdays run, and was a good bit faster.

4 miles@8:48, average HR 131, (120, 131, 134, 140)

Saturday 22/7

Rest. I'd planned on doing a 5 mile easy run this morning, but I was knackered when I woke up after a bad sleep, so I binned it in favour of another hour in bed before work. I'll still have 5 days running this week (after tomorrow) and I'll only have missed my target by 1 mile. It's too early in the training plan to be flogging myself I think.

So a good week so far, but I've done very little about getting my sleep sorted. This has to change.

hot buttered scones · 26-07-2017 12:53am

Sunday 23/7

Long run - 15@8:30

This run was annoying. I was annoyed before I went out because I go up feeling tired and under pressure for time. I was annoyed during the run because it was hot, windy and therefore I couldn't run at my desired pace. I was annoyed at myself for setting out too fast, and I couldn't wait to be finished. I felt stiff and a bit sore at the beginning, but I loosened out and started to enjoy it after mile 4. I felt tired by mile 8 and more so by mile 12. The last 2 miles were just a slog. I ran too hard into the wind with the result that my HR was higher than the recommended range. I wanted to run this as P+D set out which meant starting at around 8:52/mile and finishing at around 8:07/mile. HR range is 138 - 156
Splits:
8:39; 8:34; 8:43; 8:32; 8:25; 8:19; 8:29; 8:32; 8:33; 8:27; 8:33; 8:25; 8:23; 8:27; 8:35
135; 147; 150; 155; 155; 150; 152; 153; 156; 156; 157; 158; 161; 163; 165;

Those last 3 miles were at marathon effort according to my HR. I hate the heat.

Weekly total: 43.3 miles

Monday 24/7

I had a scheduled rest day, but instead I had a nice leisurely recovery run before work - 5 miles@9:11. I really enjoyed this. I think it was warm , but not cloudy and there was a cooling breeze around the harbour. Well worth it.

Tuesday 25/7

8 General Aerobic with 10x100m strides. Just the usual route around the harbour before work. Started the strides a bit after 5 miles and had a mile to do when I was finished for a cool down. It was a bit hot and muggy and I sweated buckets, but overall the effort was where it should be, and the HR was in the right range for most of the run. I felt good during the strides - controlled and trying to keep good form and focused on my breathing. I took a 1 minute recovery jog between each 100m - I think that's what the book says

8:38; 8:20; 8:18; 8:23; 8:20; 8:03 (strides); 8:05( strides); 8:44.

hot buttered scones · 29-07-2017 5:45pm

This week is turning into a bit of a mad week, between one thing and another. This is mostly down to working an extra night shift and make of a mess of getting my sleeping pattern back on a normal schedule, resulting in me being almost jet-lagged (shift lagged??). So I was sleeping until lunch time (even though I'd set the alarm for early and the rest of the house was up) and then lying in bed staring at the ceiling wide awake until 4am!!

Wednesday 26/7

As above - I was late up after my last night shift and felt crap. I headed down to the pitch at the back of the house for some recovery laps on grass - 4.1 miles@9:24. Nice and handy - average HR was 130, but I was still sweating a lot when the sun was out. I just zoned out plodding around on the grass, and felt a lot better afterwards. Still couldn't sleep that night though.

Thursday 27/7

Disaster of a day. I might has well have gone into work and done a shift - I won't even say what time I woke up. I felt off and it never cleared, and I was beginning to wonder whether or not I was actually coming down with something rather than just being tired. I had provisionally pencilled in the Churchtown South 5 mile (Ballycotton Summer Series) with the intention of maybe running it @ LT pace. In the end I didn't bother because I thought better off it - both because I think I needed the rest day but a lot to do with the fact that I think it would have went down like a lead balloon at home (and rightly so). The rest of the gang where going to the cinema so I tagged along with them. So a well needed rest day. Dunkirk was quite good too.
Did a short foam rolling session before bed, where I yet again failed to sleep until around 4am.

Friday 28/7

Another late sleep, but not as bad as before.
11 MLR@8:05 - Took a local route with a few pulls and drags, and the corresponding drops as well. I took delivery of my brand Takumi Rens (2 pairs) during the week, so I took a pair out for a test run in the afternoon. Very comfortable with no bad after affects like I get sometimes with the Sens (i.e. calves would be a bit tender after racing in the Sens). The pace was a bit fast for this, but the effort felt about right and the HR data bears that out - ok, maybe not for the last mile, but I wasn't that far out. Maybe it was the rest day, or the fact that my shoes were a lot lighter than normal or maybe I run more efficiently in the lighter shoes. I probably shouldn't question it and just put it down to just having a good day. A really enjoyable run.
Still couldn't bloody sleep though.

Saturday 29/7

Well it seems I more fearful of being late for work than I am of annoying the better half. Staggered around the house at 6:15am and headed off to work. I managed to squeeze in the planned recovery run - 4@9:05 on a nice cool morning (average HR 128). This felt like a bit of a slog - after yesterdays effort late in the afternoon and only around 2 or 3 hours sleep that was to be expected though. On the other hand, I'd say I'll be sound asleep by 10 tonight, if not earlier. I'm looking at doing tomorrows long run as a commute, but I'll need to be leaving the house just after 5.30. If I miss that window, I'll have to push it forward until Monday.

hot buttered scones · 30-07-2017 6:19pm

Saturday 30/7

Went home last night and was snoring on the couch by 9.30! So I got a decent sleep - about 7 hours.

16 miles with 10@MP (Goal MP 7:23)

8:22; 8:46; 8:30; 8:36; 8:28; 8:26; 7:31; 7:23; 725; 7:23; 7:26; 7:27; 7:30; 7:27; 7:21; 7:12. Average for MP section: 7:25.

I was up just after 5, had some porridge and coffee and got myself ready. I just missed a heavy shower and headed away out the door at 5:45. It was cool, but not freezing and there was no rain, but it did warm up a bit as he run progressed and I was soaked with sweat at the end. I wore a running backpack with 1.5L of water in a bladder (which I finished) and a few small bits for work (I'd left most of my gear there yesterday). Took a gel at mile 8 and 12 - there was no way I was bonking today. I'd be late for work!!
The first mile was nearly all downhill into town and I just took it easy then for the first 6. So the route was down Summerhill, passed Kent Station and then back down Kennedy Quay, over to Centre Park road the down the Marina to Blackrock Castle. I followed the old railway line to Passage and Monkstown and continued on past Raffeen up to the N28, through Shanbally and into work.
The MP miles actually felt harder than the HR data says they were. My HR for MP bit stayed within 147-164 limits, although the it did rise a bit for the last mile.
There was some mental trickery going on too - just one more mile, or just get to 8 and see how you feel kind of stuff. I was bit stiff and didn't fully loosen out. I had set the watch to a range of 7:20 - 7:25, but decided early on that it was ok to let this drift down to 7:30 if necessary.
I'm not too worried about the perceived effort not matching the actual effort - this happens form time to time when I run very early in the morning. It's like the body hasn't fully woken up yet - like it's saying "what the f*** do you think your doing at this hour of the morning!!" Some mornings if I'm really tired I can have trouble getting my HR up, especially it it's really early.
So the MP miles started off feeling quite hard, but when I got a bit more warmed up it felt easier and I ended up enjoying the last 3 miles. I slowed a bit towards the middle, but there was a fairly strong headwind at times - very strong going through Monkstown, so I didn't sweat the lost seconds and just tried to keep the effort even. I'm very happy with this session overall and I'm glad to finally put in a decent long run in this block - well, one that wasn't in the mid afternoon heat anyway.
Recovery wise, I wasn't too well prepared. I'd forgotten my electrolyte tabs. I drank two big mugs of milk as soon as I got into work and had breakfast number 2 about an hour later, followed by a big hot lunch about 3 hours after that and I've been drinking water all day, but I'm still a bit dehydrated. I've been wearing compression socks all day too. Just under 2 hours left before I can go home and put my feet up - thankfully I wasn't too busy today. My calves are a bit tender (maybe wearing those new shoes wasn't the best idea!), so I'll be doing some foam rolling later and tomorrow as well.

Murph_D · 30-07-2017 7:05pm

Nice work, M. That's a great run to have in the bag at this stage.

hot buttered scones · 30-07-2017 7:50pm

Murph_D wrote: »

Nice work, M. That's a great run to have in the bag at this stage.

Cheers. Yeah, I'm happy out especially since I blew up during the 13 with 8@MP a couple of weeks ago. I'm training for the same goal pace, more or less, as I was for Cork so I hoping I can draw on all that training as well.

hot buttered scones · 03-08-2017 12:44am

Monday 31/7

I've said before that I'm going to slot in a extra run a week into the P+D up to 55 plan - basically an easy/recovery 5 miler on one of the Rest/CT days. I'd originally pencilled this in for the midweek rest day, but this week and last week I decided to just go out and do it the day after my long run. I think this is a better idea overall.
So 5.1 recovery@9:21 - 400m to football pitch, 17 laps of pitch then 400m home. Headed out in the late afternoon. I just get really lazy and relaxed plodding around on the grass like that and zone out. Enjoyable and the legs felt nice and loose afterwards. Sleepwise - had a bit of a lie in to get ready for nights, so a good nights sleep.

Tuesday 01/08
5.1 Recovery @ 8:48. The usual pre night shift jaunt. Pace seems a bit hot, but the effort was about right - I'd sleep well during the day.

Wednesday 02/08

10 miles with 5@LT pace

Off around the harbour before work again for his one. The conditions were not ideal - it was humid, it was windy, I'd just eaten and I was on my 3rd night of the week. Anyway, not that the excuses are out of the way here's the splits:

3 mile warm up: 8:26; 8:13; 8:19

5@LT: 6:50; 6:46; 6:51; 6:49; 6:43.

2 mile cool down: 8:41; 8:38

I'll try and be brief (I'm not sure if I;m able

)
The 1st mile was ok - both nto and away from the wind. 2nd mile - The wind mostly at my back here and I was cruising along although the effort felt a bit on the hard side. 3rd mile - over the bridge to Haulbowline, down to the Naval Base and back over the bridge again. There's a bit of a rise to this bridge on both sides, but I was able to hold pace crossing over to the island. When I turned the corner on the way back though the wind was blowing directly into my face. That plus the extra effort (read too much) to climb back up the bridge resulted in a mad coughing fit as the wind literally blew the snot off me - so I had to pause for about 30 seconds Gathered myself and went of again. 4th mile - ok a bit of headwind but the effort levels were rising again. Turned into the ferry port and got sharp stitch. Paused again for about 30 seconds until the pain subsided and finished out with the 5th mile being the fastest of the session.

The pace didn't feel as comfortable as the session I did 2 weeks ago, but of course I wasn't as fresh as I was two weeks ago either. It's on my plan for next week again as I switch from Mesocycle 1 of the 12 week plan to Mesocycle 2 of the 18 week plan, so hopefully I'll have a better time of it next week - hopefully without stoppping! I was actually surprised to see the splits at the end, because I thought I'd dropped down to 7:00min/mile for miles 3 and 4 due to the wind and bridge climb.

hot buttered scones · 07-08-2017 12:29pm

Thursday 03/08

11 miles medium long run @ 8:14
Headed out fairly late for this one. Went from Silversprings to Blackrock village and did a bit of a run around the new Pairc Ui Caoimh - fairly impressive. I did stop for a chat with manager from work about half way through for a few minutes. Started the run about midway through the specified range (8:52 -8:07) and finished it out with 3 miles just under 8min/mile, but again the HR was in the right range throughout - so either I'm fitter than I though or my HR monitor is acting up.

Friday 04/08

Rest day - up to Dubland for the weekend to visit the in laws and do a few things with the kids.

Saturday 05/08

5@8:52 Recovery run. Seeing as I was staying a warmup jog away from both St Annes and Fr Collins parkruns, I had half a thought of popping in, but in the end laziness took over and I didn't end up heading out until nearly 10. A nice handy trot down to the coast, then back up Watermill Road and through Raheny back to the MILs.

Sunday 06/08

Long Run - 17 miles @ 8:27

Headed up through Donaghamede, past Fr Collins Park, then down the coast road past Baldoyle to Sutton. Then headed back along towards Clontarf, heading out to Bull Island and then over the Wooden Bridge before turning back on myself and finished with a lap of Kilbarrack to make up the distance. The first few miles were ok, but it was windy heading down towards Sutton, and very windy heading back towards the City along the walkway. Plenty of people out running, nad I was getting jealous of those with the wind to their backs. Thank God for the interpretative centre on Bull Island - I'd spent the run down the causeway looking for a secluded spot for an emergency stop. I was able to finish out the run with both socks and my dignity in tact. As I was heading down to the Realt na Mara I though I was going to be blow into the sea. I was originally going to head up Vernon avenue to the Howth Road and through Raheny back to base, but I was sick of the wind so when I got back onto the coast road I just ran back the way I came and enjoyed a few wind assisted miles to finish off. So I started off slow and finished up with a few faster miles, but the wind played a big factor in this. On the other hand I finished out the run strong and wasn't flagging. I had a couple of gels with me , but didn't bother with them - I just kept well hydrated, drinking about 1.5 litres of water from my backpack.
Spent the rest of the day in Tayto Park and then drove home to Cork. I was fairly tired by the time I got home.

Weekly mileage: 53.4

Monday 07/08

I had previously decided that my "extra" recovery run was probably best done the day after the long run. But I was really tired last night, I was up early for work etc. so I gave myself a break and just took a rest day from running. So I may do the 5 miles on Friday or I might add a mile or two to some of my midweek runs to make up the distance. I'll play it by ear I think.

denis b · 07-08-2017 4:09pm

As usual M. Lots of very honest work here. Saw your run on Strava so it was good to read your account of the run here. It's more than numbers and confirms to me how hard these sessions can be when you are completing high enough mileage. That Interpretative Centre is more useful than the Life Belts, on occasion.

hot buttered scones · 07-08-2017 5:43pm

denis b wrote: »

As usual M. Lots of very honest work here. Saw your run on Strava so it was good to read your account of the run here. It's more than numbers and confirms to me how hard these sessions can be when you are completing high enough mileage. That Interpretative Centre is more useful than the Life Belts, on occasion.

Thanks D. 100% that it's more than just numbers -that's a great way of putting it. I know what the plan says and what paces I should be running, but some days you feel fresher and others more tired. It's mentally tough sometimes when your tired and also when your stuck for time - but then again isn't the marathon a tough mental battle in itself? And only 9 weeks until the taper :eek: .

hot buttered scones · 08-08-2017 10:36pm

Tuesday 08/08

Plan: 10 miles with 5@LT pace (6:40-6:50)

Actual: 3 miles easy warm, 3@LT. Then I had to pull the plug. Finished up with a 3 mile jog back to the car

Splits: 8:18; 8:17; 8:13; 6:38; 6:46; 6:51. Then 8:43; 8:58; 9:05

A bit of a disaster really. I wasn't feeling right all day - I can't put my finger on it really. I'm just a bit tired and my breathing was a bit off - a small bit wheezy maybe?? Perhaps allergies or maybe I'm coming down with a virus. I was stiff, and a bit sore and most of all I just had a negative attitude going out.
As you can see I went off too fast for the first rep, although there was a bit of a negative gradient here - not a hill just a gradual fall off. I was working too hard during the second mile - I had to pause at about 1.75 miles into the LT session to just calm it down a bit and recover (about a 2 minute pause). I decided to just continue the session and see what happened. I was just battling to get to 3 miles so when the watch beeped for 3 miles I ended the session - I saw no point in finishing it even at a slower pace because I was just wrecked after 3 miles. I got my breath back and recovered a bit and just finished up with a jog back to the car - I actually felt better after some water and tacked another mile of recovery on.

The pace for the LT miles was a bit all over the place - maybe due to tree cover on the route. The route itself while not hilly, wasn't pancake flat either. I seemed to have gone out at the only part of the day that was anyway warm (well the car was reading 20 deg when I got back to it??). But mostly I ran off pace instead off effort on a day where I was feeling tired and maybe a bit sick. Just for contrast I'll list the splits with Hr from the same session last week:

|02/08||08/08|
Mile 1|6:50|160|6:38|170
Mile 2|6:46|167|6:46|170
Mile 3|6:51|167|6:50|175

So this just confirms I went too fast in general, much too fast for the conditions and I didn't recover even when I slowed down (fatigue??). I think I've made an error with my plan. For the 12 week plan this week is a recovery week. But I've moved over to the 18 week plan for Mesocycle 2 where last week was the recovery week and this week is a full week of training - so I've missed a recovery week. I'm going to have to compromise here somehow. I'm thinking maybe I'll drop my extra recovery run and try and do the rest of the runs towards the slower end of the pace range until I feel a bit fresher and hopefully I be able to do justice to the long run this weekend.

hot buttered scones · 15-08-2017 6:08pm

Wednesday 09/08

5 Recovery@9:06. Felt good doing this - just an easy trot before work. There was plenty around warming up for the Army/Navy miler. I probably should have done this as my LT session and just gone into work a bit late - its a hilly course but I could have done it off HR and it would have been a better effort than Tuesdays run.

Thursday 10/08

11 medium long@8:15 average. Started off with a couple of 8:30ish miles and had a nice with a couple of mile near 8:00's. Went on a bit of an explore before work again and found a nice path/trail which added 3 miles out and back - one for dry day though. Happy enough with this again.

Friday 11/08

I was kept busy all day with some DIY and had planned on taking a rest day. I also dropped a great lump of furniture which whacked off my big toe on the way down. I just shrugged it off though.

(by which I mean I sucked in load of air and went off to a quiet corner for a cuppa and a sulk about my "broken" toe, with much wincing and gnashing of teeth. I may have asked to be brought for an x ray. Morto

). It was, and still is, just a bit bruised. By the time I finished around 9pm I just felt a bit stiff, and was anxious to test out my toe so I decided I should just stretch the legs a bit. So 4.1 miles recovery@9:01 just locally. The toe was bit sore, but nothing major. I did a bit of foam rolling and trigger point balling afterwards because I felt a bit stiff.

Saturday 12/08
Woke up with hamstrings like a sailors rope. Headed out in the afternoon for 7 general Aerobic with 8x100m strides. I took it easy and stuck mostly to trails and grass. The hams felt sore throughout, but did loosen up a bit by the time I had to do the strides. Average pace around 8:33 - the strides were done on grass after a couple of laps. There was a lady there with 3 small kids (I was over the other side of the pitch), and by the time I was finishing up they were having their own races up and down the sideline. Made me smile anyway.

Sunday 13/08

Long run - 18@8:27

My hamstrings were still stiff and sore. I came to the conclusion it was not running related - it was DOMs from the DIY on Friday!! I'd spent the best part of 6 or 7 hours kneeling down with then stretched out more than normal - so I need to work on my hamstring flexibility I'd say.
Anyway I felt tired and stiff and a bit sore starting out on this. The plan was to start off very easy and just work my way into it and if things weren't going too well then I was just going to back off to a very comfortable pace and just get the miles in rather than worrying about pace. The first mile or so was fairly creaky, but I soon eased into it. I was able to pick up the pace a bit afetr 5 miles and kept it steady until 14 miles when I picked it up again. I made a mess of the last mile and a bit - the loop was around 8.25 miles and I just ran up and down the road a bit and lost momentum so the last mile was a bit slow. I took on water at 4 mile intervals or so, but when I took a drink at 16.5 miles I had bit of a coughing fit and had to stop for about 30 seconds before taking off again. took a gel around mile 12 because I was feeling tired before I set out and didn't want to crash.

Splits:
8:54; 8:50; 8:48; 8:44; 8:38; 8:25; 8:25; 8:26; 8:27; 8:25; 8:29; 8:30; 8:17; 8:06; 8:03; 7:59; 8:02; 8:28

A couple of miles towards the end there were about 5 seconds too fast, but I felt good and considering how a felt setting out I'm quite pleased with this run - it was fairly warm by the end of it too, so I was happy this didn't really effect me for once.

Weekly total: 54.3 miles

Monday 14/08

Rest

Tuesday 15/08

7 GA with 6 x 100 m strides. 8:48; 8:38; 8:35; 8:40; 8:31; 7:51 (strides included); 8:35. Early morning job - I found it hard to get going, but that happens to me very early sometimes. The strides felt good, I had had no problem picking it up and putting in a good effort. Although 100m is a bit tenuous seeing as how its measured by Garmin - I might change these up to 20 seconds going forward. I currently do them in about 17 to 19 seconds anyway, so at least the timing would be consistent.

hot buttered scones · 20-08-2017 8:57pm

Wednesday 16/08

Medium long run - 12@8:11 - 8:30; 8:19; 8:00; 8:10; 8:07; 8:03; 8:11; 8:17; 8:11; 8:06; 8:01; 8:20.

I didn't get out until the evening so I ended up doing this before going into work. Ran around Ringaskiddy and Carrigaline so not the flattest route. I started off ok, but sped up too quickly - didn't adjust my pace after any slight downhill sections. I didn't feel like I was working too hard until the last couple of miles. So a good solid effort in the right range mostly, but I probably can't afford to do too many of these midweek MLRs like this.

Thursday 17/08

5.6 recovery@8:46 off HR. Average HR 131. Max 146 when climbing a short hill. I was supposed to do 6 but the traffic was horrendous on the way into work and I barely made the clock even though I cut it short. Other than that nothing special about this run.

Friday 18/08

10 miles with 6@LT

I won't lie - I was dreading this. I made a hames of it last year and I made a hames of my last LT session as well. I decided I had been running them too quickly. I choose a range of 6:40-6:50 for this training block, which seemed reasonable, but I kept drifting down towards the faster side of things and having to stop. I moved the slower end of the range up to 6:55 and thought that if I could just sit between 6:50 and 6:55 I might be ok. I also resolved not to fret if things weren't going well and if I needed to slow it down a bit. I was a horrible evening with strong winds and some rain too. I picked a course which meant I would be half running into the wind and half with the wind at my back (more or less) - the 5k course down the Marina. I also reckoned Centre Park Road would be more sheltered because of the tree cover.

The aim was then to settle in to what I felt was the right effort and not worry too much about the pace at the start. I had a 2 mile warm up from Pairc Ui Caoimh down to Blackrock Village and back. The first mile of the LT section would be into the wind - and it was a struggle by the end. Then I just settled in to the session doing 3 laps of Centre Park/Monahan Road, but finished with the last mile back up towards the Pairc and Blackrock - I definitely got the most help from the wind in this mile, although I did push it a bit for this mile and my HR went a bit too high for the last 800m. All the time I was waiting to get into difficulty, waiting for my breathing to get heavy or to have to stop for some reason or other - but it never came. By being more relaxed about my expectations for the session I was better able to complete the session by concentrating on running at the right effort with worrying about straying outside my pace range - and as a result I hit the correct paces?!?
Splits:
2 mile warm up: 8:12; 8:29
LT section: 6:52; 6:50; 6:43; 6:41; 6:45; 6:38
2.4 mile cool down: 8:22; 8:37; 3:19 (8:16 pace)

I'm delighted with this - I got more confident as the session went on and I think I could have run another mile or 2 @LT pace at the end.

Saturday 19/08

5 recovery@9:04 - "extra" run

I'd a few messages to do in town, so once the jobs were done I went for a bit of trot down to the Mardyke, did 6 laps of the track and headed back to the car. This felt really hard - my legs felt really heavy and my feet felt like I was dragging 2 bricks around. The splits on Starva are a bit of a mess. I had to make a quick pitstop after 4 miles and I didn't get a GPS signal locked on when I restarted. Garmin connect gave a more accurate reflection of pace.

Sunday 20/08

Long run - 20 miles@8:25

Another day where I woke up feeling a bit rubbish. I didn't get started until 10:15 or so and had been hoping to get on the road by 8:30. The weather was dire - about an hour of rain and wind, then another of heavy rain and wind and then it had to cheek to get warm for the last 4 miles. I did 2 8.2 miles loops, running them in different directions each time, then 2 laps of the same section from Friday night with the final stretch back to the car bringing it to an even 20. Again I decided to take it easy on myself and not worry too much about picking up the pace due to the conditions and because I was still feeling Friday nights session. The end result was that again I hit the required paces - moving from MP+20% and finishing up with the last few miles@MP+10% (or slightly faster). Basically, I'd just naturally speed up a small bit, the I'd notice and decide to just hold that pace for the next few miles and so on, until I hit mile 15 when I made an effort to get to MP+10% - again my confidence built over the run. I did pull it back a few time for a short climb, if the wind was too strong or if I felt that it was too early in the run to speed up so much. I also tried a new brand of gels (I think someone recommended them over on the novices thread - Kinetica cola flavour) at miles 12 and 16 - I must say they were tasty and went down very well, so I'll be switching over to them. Another run that went as it should when I had it written off in my head before I'd even started.

Splits:
8:53; 8:54; 8:46; 8:48; 8:34; 8:25; 8:31; 8:39; 8:27; 8:23; 8:19; 8:28; 8:19; 8:19; 8:23; 8:09; 7:58; 8:05; 8:01; 7:56.

The correct range was 8:52 - 8:07. I was aware the last few miles were a bit fast but a quick check of the HR showed that I was in the right range (138-156) - in fact it was few bpm lower than the top end, so I just maintained the pace until the end. I was good and tired at the finish, but not as wrecked as I'd usually be after a 20 miler - maybe signs of increasing fitness?

So I'm very happy with how the week went and I'm looking forward to next week already!

Weekly total: 60.3 miles

denis b · 20-08-2017 9:59pm

Well done HBS. Nice control shown on the FR and Sun run in particular. Have also recently discovered the need to tweak pacing in conjunction with HR to allow for hills, wind and how I am feeling.

hot buttered scones · 20-08-2017 10:39pm

denis b wrote:

Well done HBS. Nice control shown on the FR and Sun run in particular. Have also recently discovered the need to tweak pacing in conjunction with HR to allow for hills, wind and how I am feeling.

Yeah, still on a learning curve I suppose. Just trying to dial into the effort and use the watch as a guide rather than be a slave to it. It's very satisfying when the effort results in the right numbers, is you know what I mean.

hot buttered scones · 24-08-2017 10:00pm

Monday 21/08

Rest day. Felt ok after Sundays run - not that tired, although the legs were tired, but not very sore. Energy levels were ok though.

Tuesday 22/08

6 miles recovery@9.11 average. (9:27; 9:15; 9:09; 9:16; 9:04; 9:03). I described this on Strava a "running through soup" - it was raining, humid and with a warm wind too. There was just no air there. Still, I'm well used to these early morning plod abouts, but all the same this just felt a bit difficult.

Wednesday 23/08

Medium Long Run - 14 miles@8:17 (8:52; 8:35; 8:27; 8:23; 8:19; 8:17; 8:11; 8:06; 8:06; 8:08; 8:11; 8;10; 8:05)

Much better weather this morning - it was dry and much fresher and a good bit cooler starting out too. the first mile was very laboured (I was stiff as a board) but as I loosened out, it got easier. I was up at 5 to get out to work for 6 to do this, so I think I was still half asleep for the first 6 or 7 miles, but I woke up about an hour into it. My pace picked up naturally, and I had to reign it from time to time. My heart rate was in the right range for all of this too. I had no food beforehand, but I did have a sugary coffee when I got up. I also ate pretty late the night before, and had had plenty to eat all through the day, so I wouldn't feel right saying this was done on empty. It felt good to get a run like this done so early before a days work, and for it to not take loads out of me. I said last year that the midweek medium long runs were great confidence boosters. It's not exactly the same this year, because I know I'm able for them now - but I am happy whne I do them well because I know the great benefit they bring.

Thursday 24/08

Not my favourite kind of day today. Dunno why- it just felt like a day wasted. Between waiting around for one thing or another I was completely unproductive, but didn't even get the benefit of feeling rested or relaxed.
I eventually got out before work for 6 miles@8:41 (8:35; 7:59; 8:43; 9:00; 8:58; 8:53). This was supposed to be a recovery run but I bumped into someone about half a mile in and ran with them for a bit. My HR stayed up towards the upper limit of recovery range afterwards, if not a bit higher so I'm tagging this run as easy(ish) - in fact it was surprisingly high in places, but it was a bit muggy down here.

I originally had the Ballycotton 5 mile pencilled in for tonight, but thought better of it - stick to the plan and all that. Work and life wouldn't have played ball with doing this race either.

Still trying to figure it all out.

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