Running away

ReeReeG

Lovely update! Glad everything has gone well in that week, the 3/4 sounds like good fun!

eyrie

Great to hear! Sounds like you're in a really strong position now.

Kellygirl

A great week. So delighted the 3/4 went well for you after all the nerves. You should be nicely confident for DCM at this stage now.

ariana`

Sheep1978 wrote: »

Well done Elaine, great to see you have a good final week (pre-taper), with all your efforts on the novices thread.

Thanks Daz. And a great week yourself too

ReeReeG wrote: »

Lovely update! Glad everything has gone well in that week, the 3/4 sounds like good fun!

It was fun ReeReeG, it surprised me. The crowd wasn't massive, probably only a couple of hundred runners so the last few miles were lonely but i was happy with my own company at that stage, it was nice to have the banter in the early miles. It was a strange atmosphere because nobody there was racing, a bit surreal for want of a better word, it was like a big group run among strangers

eyrie wrote: »

Great to hear! Sounds like you're in a really strong position now.

Thank eyrie. I feel very content now coming into the taper. It's very easy to look back on particular runs/sessions or even on whole weeks and think that you could have done more or done that one better but it's a pointless waste of energy, for the most part i did my best and i'm happy with where i am.

Kellygirl wrote: »

A great week. So delighted the 3/4 went well for you after all the nerves. You should be nicely confident for DCM at this stage now.

Thanks K. And thanks for the encouragement to do it! I do feel reasonably confident now - I've done the best i can anyhow and been fortunate that my body has held together so hopefully things will go well on the day

Baby75

Well done Ariana I am so happy the 3/4 went so well such a boost before DCM
and now ....... Taper ........

Swashbuckler

Don't want to congratulate you on a great block yet and jinx it but well done on a great pre taper block.

ariana`

Baby75 wrote: »

Well done Ariana I am so happy the 3/4 went so well such a boost before DCM
and now ....... Taper ........

Thank N. And yes now taper... and not a minute too soon either! I have a little Halloween project which kicks off around now to fill the spare time too so hopefully not too much time for taper madness, just Halloween madness instead

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Don't want to congratulate you on a great block yet and jinx it but well done on a great pre taper block.

Thanks P. I appreciate it. I'm really very happy with the training, like last year it has been a step up in mileage, intensity and possibly most importantly consistency which hopefully i can bring forward to the next goal. I'm trying to adopt your attitude to the race itself, the training is banked whatever happens on Oct 28th which is helping a lot to take the pressure off so thank you for that nugget

Swashbuckler

ariana` wrote:

Thanks P. I appreciate it. I'm really very happy with the training, like last year it has been a step up in mileage, intensity and possibly most importantly consistency which hopefully i can bring forward to the next goal. I'm trying to adopt your attitude to the race itself, the training is banked whatever happens on Oct 28th which is helping a lot to take the pressure off so thank you for that nugget

Haha you're welcome. The way I look at it is it's just a race. In all honesty it means nothing (not to dismiss your hard work) but if you can take a long term approach and view to running then all the short term stuff is just for keeping you motivated and interested. The real important thing is consistently running week on week month on month year on year. Then the gains will come long term. Well done again.

ariana`

No proper log from me this week - just a very busy week and not really a whole lot to write about either.

Here's what i remember from first week of taper time:

Monday
2.5m/25mins recovery run after the 3/4 marathon the day before, right heel/ankle quite tight starting off but seemed to loosen a bit on this run. Followed by 1hr Pilates class.

Tuesday
Heel was tight again when i got out of bed but loosened a bit as the day went on. Took a rest day to err on the side of caution with it.

Wednesday
Session - 3x15 mins tempo @ 8:40-9:00 min/m, first & last were in range @ 8:41 & 8:51 respectively, the middle one was a bit fast @ 8:28. Very windy and hard to control the pace on any of these reps. Total was about 8miles.

Thursday
Another rest day.

Friday
50 mins easy / 5 miles nothing to report.

Saturday
2hrs easy - 11.8 miles in the torrential rain :cool:

Sunday
Planned to do 50 mins easy in the evening but after a day spent on my feet that right heel/ankle area was feeling tight again and a niggle on the top part of the foot along the outside as well - taper madness perhaps but i wasn't taking any chances so rested.

About 28 miles in total for the week

eyrie

Mind the heel/foot. Rest sounds like the right option anyway given the niggles.



Have you decided whether to change your goal or not?

ariana`

eyrie wrote: »

Mind the heel/foot. Rest sounds like the right option anyway given the niggles.



Have you decided whether to change your goal or not?

No change eyrie, at the moment it's still 4:05. I take the point made that 4:05 is so close to 4 why not stop being a wuss and just go for 4 but i started this training cycle targeting 4:15 so i feel 4:05 is as close to my limit as i want to go. To be honest i'd still be happy under 4:15 - for better or worse i'm just not very driven by time goals when it comes to the marathon, i'd prefer a good all round experience, the time is just the icing on the cake and unless something goes very badly wrong i should get a PB at least :cool:

eyrie

ariana` wrote: »

No change eyrie, at the moment it's still 4:05. I take the point made that 4:05 is so close to 4 why not stop being a wuss and just go for 4 but i started this training cycle targeting 4:15 so i feel 4:05 is as close to my limit as i want to go. To be honest i'd still be happy under 4:15 - for better or worse i'm just not very driven by time goals when it comes to the marathon, i'd prefer a good all round experience, the time is just the icing on the cake and unless something goes very badly wrong i should get a PB at least :cool:

Sounds eminently sensible when you put it like that - not "wuss"-like at all. We're all doing this for fun, so why wouldn't any of us approach it in the way that is the most fun or gives the most personal satisfaction?

ariana`

eyrie wrote: »

Sounds eminently sensible when you put it like that - not "wuss"-like at all. We're all doing this for fun, so why wouldn't any of us approach it in the way that is the most fun or gives the most personal satisfaction?

I guess personal satisfaction is usually tied to achieving a time goal. And i don't deny that the time is still important to me too despite being unwilling to push to my absolute limit or beyond it even! I'll be disappointed if i don't achieve a big PB - thankfully my PB is soft )

ariana`

Nothing worthy of a report this week. A couple of 40 minute easy ones mid week and a 75 min run at the weekend.

Tuesday Oct 16th
3.83m @ 11:05 min/m, avg HR 145 (mostly on grass)

Wed Oct 17th
4.2m @ 9:39 min/m, avg HR 151 (few strides thrown in)

Sat Oct 20th
7.72m @ 10:02 min/m, avg HR 145

I've been fighting off a head cold for the past week, my glands in my neck are swollen which is always the first sign for me and just generally feeling the cold and some ear & sinus pain. Not ideal but i'm trying to stay relaxed and get the basics right - eat well, plenty of fluids and rest - still loads of time to start feeling better :cool:

ReeReeG

ariana` wrote: »

I've been fighting off a head cold for the past week, my glands in my neck are swollen which is always the first sign for me and just generally feeling the cold and some ear & sinus pain. Not ideal but i'm trying to stay relaxed and get the basics right - eat well, plenty of fluids and rest - still loads of time to start feeling better :cool:

Same here, minus the swollen glands thankfully, hope it clears up swiftly! 

Not to sound like a weirdo but I can't wait to meet you (and many others) on Sunday! One of the very encouraging boardsies when I was training for Limerick

ariana`

ReeReeG wrote: »

Same here, minus the swollen glands thankfully, hope it clears up swiftly! 

Not to sound like a weirdo but I can't wait to meet you (and many others) on Sunday! One of the very encouraging boardsies when I was training for Limerick

Ah likewise, it'll be a great weekend. I wasn't in a position to hang around for very long afterward last year (i probably broke a record for the shortest visit to McGrattans ever :rolleyes:) but i fully intend to make up for that this year

Hope you feel better very soon too x

Swashbuckler

ariana` wrote:

I've been fighting off a head cold for the past week, my glands in my neck are swollen which is always the first sign for me and just generally feeling the cold and some ear & sinus pain. Not ideal but i'm trying to stay relaxed and get the basics right - eat well, plenty of fluids and rest - still loads of time to start feeling better

Hot whiskey with a lemsip

eyrie

ReeReeG wrote: »

Not to sound like a weirdo but I can't wait to meet you (and many others) on Sunday! One of the very encouraging boardsies when I was training for Limerick

Me too! I think I'm as excited/nervous about meeting everyone as about the race!

Mind yourselves the two of you, hope the various ailments clear up quickly!

Kellygirl

ariana` wrote: »

Ah likewise, it'll be a great weekend. I wasn't in a position to hang around for very long afterward last year (i probably broke a record for the shortest visit to McGrattans ever :rolleyes:) but i fully intend to make up for that this year

Hope you feel better very soon too x

Last man standing this year so!

ariana`

Kellygirl wrote: »

Last man standing this year so!

You're on ; )

Swashbuckler

After 42k of running, one drink and ye'll be floored lads!

skyblue46

Swashbuckler wrote: »

After 42k of running, one drink and ye'll be floored lads!

Oh Paul that's a serious piece of underestimation :pac:

Kellygirl

Swashbuckler wrote: »

After 42k of running, one drink and ye'll be floored lads!

skyblue46 wrote: »

Oh Paul that's a serious piece of underestimation :pac:

I wouldn’t bet it on it P! Myself, Skyblue and Lazare were pretty much the last people there last year :-)

Swashbuckler

Kellygirl wrote:

I wouldn’t bet it on it P! Myself, Skyblue and Lazare were pretty much the last people there last year :-)

I've seriously underestimated ye! Like I've said before, ye marathon runners are mad.

Kellygirl

Swashbuckler wrote: »

I've seriously underestimated ye! Like I've said before, ye marathon runners are mad.

Maybe it’s the longer distance stuff - gives you more stamina? Do you think that could be it?

Swashbuckler

Kellygirl wrote:

Maybe it’s the longer distance stuff - gives you more stamina? Do you think that could be it?

Maybe. I'm a fast drinker. Suited to the shorter stuff. Haha

Kellygirl

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Maybe. I'm a fast drinker. Suited to the shorter stuff. Haha

Cool - you can do all the sprinting to the bar so!

ariana`

Swashbuckler wrote: »

After 42k of running, one drink and ye'll be floored lads!

That sounds like a challenge... and i'd hate to turn down a challenge

Swashbuckler

First round of Jaeger bombs on whoever comes in the quickest so.

The Black Oil

Swashbuckler wrote: »

After 42k of running, one drink and ye'll be floored lads!

Keep waiting for puns...