Still trying to figure it all out.

Younganne

hot buttered scones wrote: »

You know when you have a bad race and you can't figure out what went wrong? Well this is like that, only the opposite!! I have no idea where that performance today came from. I certainly wasn't expecting it (I thought I might just break 1:30 if I was lucky). I'll certainly take it and not question it too much.
I also hit the 10k mark in 40:24 according to Strava (PB is 41:28) and 10 miles in 1:05:41 (PB 1:08:53). So not a bad days work.

Dedication, hard work & great training....that's where it came from. Congrats, well deserved...

hot buttered scones

diego_b wrote: »

Excellent report and serious well done on superb running. Massive damage (collateral to the other distances too) on your previous pbs. Bodes very well for Dublin.

Kennyg71 wrote: »

That is some PB, brilliant result and great racing today. Enjoyed reading that.

Younganne wrote: »

Dedication, hard work & great training....that's where it came from. Congrats, well deserved...

Thanks all. Looking forward to the Big One now.

hot buttered scones

Itziger wrote: »

HBS, congrats on a great run yesterday. Should you rethink the M goal? It kinda looks that way, but first see how the next two or three big workouts go. What's left, 6 weeks? I take it you're not doing too much till next weekend.

It does sound like you could do 1.35x2 in Dublin, no? It's almost 9 minutes per Half slower than yesterday.

How many 20 or 20+ mile runs will you have done before Dub? You could take the 3.10 pace for a spin in a tough workout in a couple of weeks' time and see how it goes.

Congrats again.

I've one 20 miler next week that (despite me saying otherwise on other threads) I'm considering making a 3 hour run. I've 2 x 20 milers done in about 2:48 or so. As well as 16,17,18 long runs a 16 with 10@MP and a 16 with 12@MP (the 12@MP did not go well due to the heat). I've numerous midweek 12 milers done and one 14 miler. I've one 18 miles with 14@MP to do as well - I'm thinking of doing the MP section@ 3:10 pace now. I also have 2x10k races, the first with a 17 miler the next day and the second with a 16 miler the next day.

Did the same plan last year with a 3:30 goal in mind. Ran a good Charleville and ended up doing just under 3:22 on the day. I actually aimed for 3:22 believe it or not as I thought 3:20 was just out of my reach, and I was right.

This time McMillan gives me 3:03 based on this half. Add 5 minutes for the the course profile of DCM + 2 minutes buffer for not running the line gives 3:10. So I'll think about revising my goal, but I'll run my own race and not go with the pacers because running even splits in DCM isn't the best strategy for me. And I'll give myself a window too. Something like 3:10 to 3:13 so I'm not under pressure in the first half of the race if things don't go my way.

Although Cork didn't go well for me, I think all the training I did for it plus the fact that I recovered properly still stands to me. By the time DCM comes around I'll have done 7 x20+ milers this year (including CCM), and 17 runs of 16 miles+. Taking a few weeks off easy running after CCM doesn't appear to have had much (if any) impact on my endurance. So I'm sort of looking it like I've been training for this since February really. Here's hoping.

FBOT01

That was a seriously good performance yesterday, M. Between Ferris and yourself they had to bring in a JCB to clear away the sandbags left at the start line :P

Keep up the good work. Take confidence from this that the training is yielding the results and don't go trying to change too much. 3:10 seems very realistic off the base you have built but you are right to give yourself a little headroom to avoid pushing too hard too early. Plenty of opportunity to pick up time in the second half of DCM if you get the first half right. See you in October!!

hot buttered scones

FBOT01 wrote: »

That was a seriously good performance yesterday, M. Between Ferris and yourself they had to bring in a JCB to clear away the sandbags left at the start line :P

Keep up the good work. Take confidence from this that the training is yielding the results and don't go trying to change too much. 3:10 seems very realistic off the base you have built but you are right to give yourself a little headroom to avoid pushing too hard too early. Plenty of opportunity to pick up time in the second half of DCM if you get the first half right. See you in October!!

I think you might be my good luck charm!! You had a decent day yourself I see - target achieved. Was it you who gave me a shout as I approached the finish? I wandered up to catch you after I had caught my breath - but no glasses so if you weren't 5 feet away I couldn't see ya.

FBOT01

hot buttered scones wrote: »

I think you might be my good luck charm!! You had a decent day yourself I see - target achieved. Was it you who gave me a shout as I approached the finish? I wandered up to catch you after I had caught my breath - but no glasses so if you weren't 5 feet away I couldn't see ya.

Yep that was me alright but we headed back to the carpark to get changed straight after that as we had to hit the road to be back in the home county for the big game!!

Didn't quite hit my target was some 8secs short but sure what a few seconds either way :eek:

Classic21

hot buttered scones wrote: »

:D:D:D:D:D
Now tell me how I'm going to get on in Dublin!!

Sunday 17/9

The big day arrived (note: not the Big Day, that's in October). It was Charleville half marathon time again for the third year in a row. I love this race and its probably my second favourite race after DCM. I woke up feeling a bit crap - but about as crap as I felt on Saturday, if not a tiny bit better. So coffee, porridge, the 3s's, changed and out the gap by 8am. It was a gorgeous morning in the city - 6 or 7 degrees and clear skies, but got overcast after Mallow. Even though I know exactly where the best place to park is, I allowed myself to be distracted by Hi Vis vest man and parked about half a mile away from registration. So about a mile walk up and down to pick up my race pack, and then got togged off by the car because I was too lazy to carry my bag with me. I did an very easy two mile warmup with a few attempts at some drills and some dynamic stuff. Honestly. I felt like I was running a bit faster than the watch was telling me doing this. Bumped into a couple of Boardsies at the start and after a quick chat we were off. Oh yeah - I broke my good glasses during the week and I cant run in my spare pair because they keep slipping, so I was pretty much not able to recognise any faces that were further than 4 of 5 feet away.

Miles 1-3

6:38; 6:44; 6:40

I'd started a bit back from the 1:30 pacers ,but I caught up with them fairly quickly. The first mile in Charleville is a fast mile because although its the "flattest half marathon in Ireland" that doesn't mean there's no change in gradient - you loose about 75ft in the first mile (or 22.86 metres in the first 1.6km). Even still I though the 1:30 pacers were going too fast for me, so I backed off and held a steady effort. Mile 2 was still a bit fast, but everything felt ok so I decided to go with it. I'd run with a group and then moved onto the next group and so on. Mile 3 has to only "hill" if you can call it that - a bridge over the railway line. I maintained my pace and used the gentle slope on the other side to gain a few seconds. I think somewhere around here is where I got in with a group of about 3 or 4 West Limerick AC runners and 3 or 4 more. They were all going at a decent clip, but again it felt ok, so I just ran at their pace for a while.

Miles 4-6

6:41; 6:44; 6:46

I was well settled in a this stage. I was very thirsty though already and was glad of a drink at the 5k mark I stuck with the little group that had formed, just occasionally glancing at the watch, just trying to run relaxed, breathe easy and focus on keeping my effort levels constant. I was comfortable and gaining in confidence. This part of the course is long and straight and to be honest there is nothing much to report. I just ran. I wanted to try the Kinetica gels in a race situation, so I took one at 4.5 miles with no ill effects. We caught up with the 1:30 group around 5.5 miles (I think) and sort of merged into them. I was feeling a bit boxed in though so managed to work my out to the front of the group before we turned up the approach road to Kilmallock. I had open road in front of me now, and I picked it up a small bit and decided that I was feeling good and Id go for it and see what happened. There'd been a bit of breeze into our faces all the way which I felt was a bit more noticeable here, so I was conscious not to push it too much for now.

Miles 7-10

6:31; 6:25; 6:37; 6:33

Mile 7 is my favourite part of the race and always results in a fast mile. We reached Kilmallock and ran under the arch, turned onto the main street and then turned again at the church to start running back to Charleville. Think of it like a spacecraft doing a slingshot manoeuvre around the moon. There were a few out cheering on the runners and it always gives me a great boost. More water after the church then, and the half way point too. The road falls off a bit for the last half of mile 7. I noticed the lap pace on my watch, but instead of freaking out and putting the brakes on, I just went with it. Mile 8 - still "downhill" - it's only 20 feet over 1 mile (6m/1.6km), but I could feel the benefit of it. These roads were back roads, so the surface wasn't the best, but I've raced on worse. I was motoring now, my form felt good and I was starting to pass people, catch groups, move on a bit etc. until I suppose I came to a point were everyone was running at the same pace as me. Just before the 9 mile marker I briefly chatted to a guy in a green singlet (I could speak in short sentences), but he moved off fairly sharpish. I tried to keep up with him for a bit, but I could feel the effort levels rising so I backed off. I started doing mental calculations here and it was here I figured I was on for PB even if I had a horrendous last 2 miles. I felt like I had nothing to loose and everything to gain by pushing it. I took another gel at mile 9 - again - no ill effects. I can't remember much about mile 10 - I know I hit the 10 mile marker faster than Id ever run a 10 mile race and still felt like I could keep going. We turned back onto the main road and had the last water stop - half of which went over my head. Effort levels were very high now and I had to keep telling myself to hold on and the end was in sight.

Miles 11-13.1

6:32; 6:29; 6:32; 48s for the bit (5:48 pace)

The last 3 miles of Charleville are tough. I suppose the last 3 miles of any half are tough, but Charleville is a fast half. The very very gradual gain in elevation feels like a proper drag in parts and this was the first time I felt like I was pushing the effort levels above where they should be - but it was all or nothing now. I don'think I was in a group here, but I could recognise the t-shirts or singlets of the people around me and knew if I just kept it together I'd be on for a large PB. I could see the guy with the green singlet a bit ahead and tired to just maintain the distance between us. Again I don't remember much about these last few miles other than I was getting warmer. I'd also figured out I was on for a at least a sub 1:28 even if I dropped down to 7min/mile, which I was tempted to do. I was definitely still passing people here - just picking a target, closing in and passing an then easing off a bit again.
Why is the last mile the hardest mile?
No more passing, getting passed or mental gymnastics. I was dying to get finished. The last mile is tough and as you turn the corner to run the last half mile to the finish, the little drop in the road that gained you a few seconds at the start seems like a mountain. I lost a few seconds here, but pushed on. It's a bit mad when your dying on your feet to run at a pace that 3 or 4 miles ago was comfortably hard. I'd lost sight of the green singlet guy, but saw him again as we approached the turn to the finish line and the gap was closing. I was knackered and had used him as sort of an unnofficial pacer for a bit, so was debating briefly whether to just follow him in or to empty the tank. Then I heard someone shout my name (sounded like an boardsie kind of voice to me) and then head the announcer call out my name, and I got a mad rush of blood to the head and thought to myself "f#ck it, it's race" and "sprinted" to the finish, passing yer man just before the line.

Chip time: 1:26:37 Gun Time: 1:26:46
Previous PB: Charleville 2016 - 1:31:53

You know when you have a bad race and you can't figure out what went wrong? Well this is like that, only the opposite!! I have no idea where that performance today came from. I certainly wasn't expecting it (I thought I might just break 1:30 if I was lucky). I'll certainly take it and not question it too much.
I also hit the 10k mark in 40:24 according to Strava (PB is 41:28) and 10 miles in 1:05:41 (PB 1:08:53). So not a bad days work.

What does this mean for my marathon goal. My goal is 3:15. McMillan gives me something crazy like 3:03. Should I have a cut off 3:10?

Great running, I had an almost identical race and was a couple of places behind you at the end. I spent the last mile and a half passing people which felt great. Like you, I don't know where that run came from but it's a great feeling when it happens. That run is a timely boost - Roll on DCM

hot buttered scones

Classic21 wrote: »

Great running, I had an almost identical race and was a couple of places behind you at the end. I spent the last mile and a half passing people which felt great. Like you, I don't know where that run came from but it's a great feeling when it happens. That run is a timely boost - Roll on DCM

Yeah, it was a great day for it. Best of luck in Dublin.

Edit: Actually if I have the right person, we were pretty close to each other for a lot of the race. Athenry singlet? I was wearing all black.

Bluesquare

Well done ! Great pb . Loved the race report

jake1970

Well done and congrats on a brilliant PB, great to see your hard work paying off. It must be a great confidence boost for DCM.
My initial target for DCM last year was sub 3:15 but as training progressed and as my confidence grew I changed my target to sub 3:10 which was ambitious but I thought it was within my reach. My plan for the marathon was to line up behind the pacers and keep them in sight till halfway and then slowly reel them in for a sub 3:10. It nearly worked but I tired in the last 5 miles and finished in 3:11:58 which I was delighted with. As Itziger has said take the 3:10 pace out for a spin and see how it goes. I do think that you are capable of sub 3:10 but whatever target you decide on make sure you leave it all out there and have no regrets.

OOnegative

Great PB, delighted for you with the dedication you give to your training, bravo.

Singer

Fantastic running and report. sub-3:10 for sure. You're very well setup for Dublin!

ThebitterLemon

Incredible and well deserved improvement, congrats.

Yes, you should definitely attempt a sub 3.10

TbL

hot buttered scones

Yerrah shur, why not. DCM 2017 new goal: 3:09:59.

adrian522

Great stuff. Great run, and a brilliant sign in the run up to Dublin!

denis b

Well done M. You deserved that result. All those shifts couldn't knock you out of your stride these days. Incredible dedication and always a log I look up to for inspiration. Keep her lit.

hot buttered scones

Ah lads - I'm getting all misty eyed here!! Seriously though thanks everyone. Tis funny really - you never see yourself as others do. Anyway I've finally gotten to relax and enjoy a PB beer or two after working the last two nights. I'll enjoy this feeling for a little bit more then it's back to serious stuff tomorrow. 3 big weeks and then the taper. And still room to improve.

snailsong

Well done on a fantastic pb. That's a huge chunk off.

I'd say 3:10 in Dublin is not only realistic but slightly conservative. If you stay with the pacers to 20 miles you might even knock a bit off that.

hot buttered scones

snailsong wrote: »

Well done on a fantastic pb. That's a huge chunk off.

I'd say 3:10 in Dublin is not only realistic but slightly conservative. If you stay with the pacers to 20 miles you might even knock a bit off that.

The plan would be to start behind them, leave them off up the drags in the first ten miles, steady the boat and keep them in sight until mile 14 or 15, then try to reel them in before mile 20, and hopefully pass them after Foster Avenue if I'm still feeling good, or cling on to them for dear life if I'm struggling,

snailsong

That's a good strategy given the course. Normally I'd suggest 1:36/ 1:34 splits or thereabouts. In your case 1:35/ 1:33 is on.
Fwiw our half pbs are almost identical, 4 secs difference I think. My last marathon was 3:03:4x and I'll target sub 3 before long I hope.

hot buttered scones

snailsong wrote:

That's a good strategy given the course. Normally I'd suggest 1:36/ 1:34 splits or thereabouts. In your case 1:35/ 1:33 is on. Fwiw our half pbs are almost identical, 4 secs difference I think. My last marathon was 3:03:4x and I'll target sub 3 before long I hope.

Where was your last marathon? Your giving me notions now. Your times match up very well with McMillans predictor btw.

healy1835

hot buttered scones wrote: »

The plan would be to start behind them, leave them off up the drags in the first ten miles, steady the boat and keep them in sight until mile 14 or 15, then try to reel them in before mile 20, and hopefully pass them after Foster Avenue if I'm still feeling good, or cling on to them for dear life if I'm struggling,

I'd say if you're giving 3:10 a rattle then maybe consider going in the pace group rather than start behind them. You'll be in a decent sized group, more shelter from wind and/or rain, easier to get into a rhythm + the DCM pacers are reliable. If you're behind them you could get caught in no man's land and if you are struggling towards the end to keep on pace, that won't help. I went with 3:20 pacers last year and it really went like clockwork. Now admittedly 3:20 maybe wasn't as aggressive a target for me last year as 3:10 is for you this year, I was a little conservative, but don't rule out going with the pace group just yet you're flying at the moment!

hot buttered scones

healy1835 wrote:

I'd say if you're giving 3:10 a rattle then maybe consider going in the pace group rather than start behind them. You'll be in a decent sized group, more shelter from wind and/or rain, easier to get into a rhythm + the DCM pacers are reliable. If you're behind them you could get caught in no man's land and if you are struggling towards the end to keep on pace, that won't help. I went with 3:20 pacers last year and it really went like clockwork. Now admittedly 3:20 maybe wasn't as aggressive a target for me last year as 3:10 is for you this year, I was a little conservative, but don't rule out going with the pace group just yet you're flying at the moment!

I know what your saying but even pacing doesn't suit me. I'm not keen on pace groups either. It's been my experience that I find it more difficult to relax and tune in to running at the right effort. One of two things will happen. Either I won't back off if the effort gets to high or I'll get frustrated at the lack of space and push ahead to soon. I'll have a think about it.

snailsong

hot buttered scones wrote: »

Where was your last marathon? Your giving me notions now. Your times match up very well with McMillans predictor btw.

Yes, Macmillan has always been a good predictor for me.
My last marathon was Rotterdam off a 1:27 half in Kinvara on a windy day.
Last year I ran 3:06:52 in Rotterdam when my half was 1:28 or so. I think Dublin might be 2 minutes slower with optimum pacing.

Murph_D

Terrific stuff, M, great report too. Should you have a go at 3:10? I would! (If Dublin was flatter, maybe even a bit lower). Well done again, good to bump into you in the hall.

hot buttered scones

Murph_D wrote: »

Terrific stuff, M, great report too. Should you have a go at 3:10? I would! (If Dublin was flatter, maybe even a bit lower). Well done again, good to bump into you in the hall.

I am!

hot buttered scones

Sunday 17/9/17
For the sake of completeness (as in it would annoy me if it wasn't here)

2 mile cooldown@8:55. Basically - finished race, had a small walk, egg sandwiches and coffee, went over to the hall for a massage, had a quick chat with Murph_D. Saw the queue for the massages, CBA (just wanted to keep moving), so jogged back to the car with a detour to make up the miles. Last year I suffered through a 1 mile cool down for the sake of it. This year - yeah the legs felt tired, but it felt good. In to work for the night - was like an extra from the Walking Dead by 4am.

Daily total: 17.1
Weekly total: 48.3

Monday 18/9/17

Rest day. In between night shifts. Fatigue hits.


Tuesday 19/9/17
I wanted to get up early and get out and get this done, but was wrecked when I got up. Didn't get out then until nearly 4.

8 miles General Aerobic@8:22

Way too fast. I ran this over a relatively hilly/rolling route and got carried away after a big downhill section. I should have opted for slow loops of the local park, with a few football pitch laps for about an hour and just forget about the prescribed miles. The slow end of GA pace is very close too (if not the same as) recovery pace. I suppose I was under pressure for time and let that get to me.

Wednesday 20/9/17

To paraphrase P+D "If your too tired to do your workouts, your doing your GA runs too fast". Also, who does km repeats 3 days after a half marathon PB?? Also ran yesterdays run to late. I was, quite rightly, told to be careful on Strava after I'd uploaded this session.

Plan: 9 Miles including 5x1000m@ 5K pace. 5k pace being around 6:12. In theory. On a good day, well rested. So obviously I binned this session and....:o . Attempt 2: I ran this session, but adjusted the paces downwards from the off...eh no, I'll try again.

Ran a 2.4 mile warm up and just felt sluggish. 8:36; 8:45; 8:58 pace for the bit. Pace reflects gradient and I also like to do the last bit slowly. Did the intervals in a park with a flat tarmac path about 500m long, so 2 laps. Original plan was 2:30 jogged recoveries - which for me means stop for 10-20 seconds, jog to water, quick drink and then jog up and down very slowly

Splits:
1000m - 3:50 (6:11 pace). Tore off way too fast, and had to adjust pace downawards. Last 400m were hard - like the end of a 5k, so not ideal for the first rep.
1000m - 3:52 (6:13 pace). Rinse and repeat. I have to do 2 laps?? WTF am I doing? This is stupid.
approx 500m - 1:55@6:12 pace. Sweet mother of Divine Jesus what in the name of all that is holy am I doing??? Just ran out of air and legs, heart was bursting out of my chest, so I just pressed the lap button after one lap of the park and stopped.

It was a this stage I decided to pull the plug on the whole thing and jog the mile or so home. - don't be daft, there's no way I'd do that. That would be sensible.:rolleyes:
So plan B was enacted. Recoveries became 2:30 of standing/walking/drinking. Pace was going to be hard, but what I felt I could maintain for 1km.

1000m - 3:58 (6:23 pace). Ok - tough but doable, definitely hard over the last 3 or 400m
1000m - 3:54 (6:17 pace). Tough again, but probably how the last rep should have felt had I have done this session properly.

Took a 2:30 recovery after the last rep but jogged most of it.

Cool down: a few laps of the park and the last mile home, roughly 3 miles at around 8:44 or so.

I was also absolutely soaked due to it being psising down for most of it. Which made the tarmac a bit slippy (Yeah right - it woz the slippy path wot did it)

Total 9 miles.

Thursday 21/09

My week should have been full of these.

6 recovery @9:16 on a beautiful sunny morning from Blacrock castle to Hop Island and back. Didn't care about pace, but the HR was bit high by maybe 4 or 5 bpm. Lovely day altogether, but felt warm in the direct sunlight. Had a Physio session around lunch time - the dreaded dry needles in the calves again.

Friday 22/09

Medium long run - 12 miles.

Went from home down the hill into Blackpool, then town, along the Lee fields, before turning at 6 miles and retracing my steps. The plan was to take it really easy and get the miles in. Fairly decent headwind for the first half of the run, so I got the benefit on the home leg. I knew the last 2 miles would be tough, so it was a to be a good 10 miler, and get back up the hills the best I could. Effort was fairly even for most of this, except for one short sharp baxtard of a hill during mile 11. Stopped here when I climbed this for a few seconds.

8:46; 8:24; 8:40; 8:43; 8:20; 8:34; 8:19; 8:14; 8:22; 8:17; 8:51; 8:16.

Fairly stiff for the first mile, and still a bit sore from the needling, but it soon eased out. Felt like a decent enough run by the end of it.

Saturday 23/09

Windy morning recovery 6 miles@9:06. Another windy run around the harbour before work. Just a "switch off and move the legs" sort of run. Feeling tired still, but good. A proper recovery run, where I felt better by the end than at the start. Setup for the day.

hot buttered scones

Sunday 24/09

I came home from work last night almost crying to get into bed. But the girls were going out, so I chilled on the couch with the young lad and eventually go to bed at 11. Asleep by half past I'd say. Awake at 12. Back to sleep soon after. Awake at 2:30. ffs. Back to sleep. Awake again at exactly 3:36. Gave up at 4:05 and got up and had porridge and coffee and took my time getting ready. The plan was to runmute to work which meant leaving at 5:30, and as much and all as I love doing that, it's logistically a PIA trying to get home afterwards with no real public transport and I hate cadging lifts. So seeing as how I was up early, I drove into work, stashed some water down in Ringaskiddy and did loops and laps of Shanbally, Ringaskiddy, the ferry port and Haulbowline to make up the distance. I was a bit anxious about this run because I had decided to try out 3:10 pace for the first time in the longest MP session of the plan. I know Dublin is hilly, but I choose a flat route, although I did do the bridge over and back to Haulbowline twice!! Weather wise - dry, with temps in the low teens and a cooling breeze that didn't interfere with running.

18 miles with the last 14@3:10 MP.

I gave myself an out here. I had programmed the Garmin so that the MP sections were anything from 7:10 to 7:25, in case I wanted to drop back to 3:15 pace at anytime. The first 4 warmup easy miles felt only ok - out and back from work to just past Shanbally and down the hill into Ringaskiddy. I broke the MP bit up into sections - the first 4 miles were just loops of the ferryport road and car queueing area, and back to my water stash. 2nd 4 were out to Haulbowline to the dockyard gates and back, 3rd 4 more or less the same as the 2nd and then the last 2 back around the ferry. I found the first mile hard, and the pace just felt too hot. I was able to get up too pace over the next 2 miles, but it was a bit erratic - the averages were ok, but I found it hard to get a feel for the right pace. I finally found my rhythm then and started too feel comfortable and just banged out the next few miles, feeling more confident as the session went on. I was nicely focused, working hard (but not too hard) and feeling good. The last 2.5-3 miles were tough as the legs started to feel tired - my quads were tight and so were my calves, but I was able to finish out the run with plenty of wind left in the sails. The funny thing was at mile 12 of the MP section I was looking forward to finishing, but as I was running the last 200m I found myself wishing I had a mile or 2 left to do.

Splits:

8:35; 8:23; 8:37; 8:39; 7:21; 7:14; 7:10; 7:15; 7:15; 7:16; 7:14; 7:12; 7:15; 7:10; 7:10; 7:14; 7:09; 7:04

I did speed up a bit (not consciously - just naturally) towards the end, but that's ok because I'd hope to be able to do that on the day anyway. My HR was very low for me for the MP section. I'd be expecting a range of 160-172bpm, but the averages ranged from 149-161 bpm. Maybe it was the cool conditions, or even the time of day (circadian rhythms and all that jazz), but I wonder do I have a bit more in me?

I don't want to tempt fate, but things do seem to be falling nicely into place. My one concern at this stage is my choice of footwear. I've been getting on great with the Takumi Ren 3's for MP+LT stuff and my recent HM - but the do leave the calves bit tight afterwards. I do have a pair of Glide Boost 8s to break in, but to be honest my current old pair feel really heavy compared to the Rens. Also the Rens look waaaayyyy cooler, and therefore make me cool, which (as we all know) is the number one priority for marathon day. :cool:

Also I just happened to finish up a mile away from work, so after a brief rest I jogged back up the hill - 1@8:59 (I may or may not have planned this for a nice round weekly total....)

Undid all my good work be lashing a load of processed pork and beans into me at breakfast. Well I did have some brown bread and a boiled egg too - so surely they'll just cancel each other out. Yep, that's definitely how it works.

Daily total:19
Weekly total: 60

Swashbuckler

Fantastic session and a big confidence booster. 3.10 looks on the cards all going well.

hot buttered scones

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Fantastic session and a big confidence booster. 3.10 looks on the cards all going well.

Yep, it was a good one alright. I still had Wednesday's session and last Sunday's half marathon in my legs, and I felt it too during the closing stages. That's the last hard long run, and probably the hardest session of the last 6 weeks before the big day done. I have 2 hard VO2 max sessions, 2 10k races and one 20 miler left to do in terms of hard sessions, and plenty of easy miles. I hope to get a bit of freshness back into the legs in the next few weeks all going well.