PB or not PB...that is the question

Cartman78

24/10/2018



8K - Road - 35:55 - AF



Missed out on planned regular longish run last night due to be totally knackered - previous versions of me would have gone out anyway and inevitably hastened my journey towards burnout and injury.



I'm probably ahead of where I thought I'd be at this stage anyway tbh....still 5 weeks out from the half-marathon and feel like I'm building a half-decent base for potential Spring marathon.



Ran the first couple of km today with a fella on the comeback trail from injury so it was relatively leisurely (~5 min per km) - upped the pace after he turned for home so happy enough with the workout overall.

Cartman78

29/10/2018

18.20K - Road - 85:42 - NB

Flat out for the last few days with various mixtures of work and family stuff so another mini-running hiatus materialised.....again, probably no harm given my oft repeated propensity for over-training when things are going well.

Up in Mayo for the weekend, and all over the place with the clocks changing and kids up at all hours. Had the choice this morning of going back to bed reading or heading out in the Baltic Mayo air.....donned the tights for the first time in yonks and headed out the door at 8:50am :eek::eek:

Deffo the most consistent and enjoyable long run of my current training block - felt strong and solid throughout, kept the pace constant and sprinted the last 1K which was on a very narrow (ie. about 4 inches) on the hard shoulder of the main road.

Not sure what the plan is for the coming days - a couple of short lunchtime runs for sure any maybe another 10+ miler if things go ok

Cartman78

30/10/2018



8K - Road - 35:53 - AF



Move along - nothing to see here :rolleyes:



A bog standard lunchtime pootle - happy to report no niggles after longish run yesterday

Cartman78

01/11/2018



16K - Road - 72:31 - NB



Set out to do a 10 mile tempo run at ~4.30 per km pace and almost nailed it.



Running around UL/Annacotty is pancake flat so that definitely helped - there's no way I could do this on any 10 mile route nearer my house out in the sticks.



Had the pleasure of over-taking a skateboarder and 2 cyclists as well so a great nights work all round really :-)



Will rest today and might sneak in a short run over the weekend if I can get out

Cartman78

04/11/2018



Intervals 8 x 800m - Road - AD



A fairly busy weekend again so only a narrow window for a run.



This was half a decent workout - did the first 4 quite comfortably in 2:53, 2:58, 2:57 and 3:01....and then struggled a bit for the last 4 (3:06, 3:09, 3:14 and 3:13).



Not overly concerned really but should obviously have paced myself a bit better at the start.

Cartman78

Just going to leave this here as a reference for myself:

https://bridgerridgerun.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/how-to-run-a-3-hour-marathon-a-just-enough-training-approach/

Cartman78

05/11/2018



8K - Road - 33:22 - AT



The legs were feeling pretty fresh after yesterday's Yasso workout.



Gave this a fair whack at my potential (and probably far-fetched) marathon pace - felt grand up to 4K and expected to taper off after that but was pleasantly surprised to find that I was still full of running and ended up doing a whopper of a negative split.


This is my 3rd fastest lunchtime 5 mile ever according to the Garmin archives....all good in the hood.



Not sure what the rest of the week holds yet - might take a break tomorrow and possible longer run on Wednesday

Cartman78

07/11/2018



8K - Road - 35:34 - AF



The headline may look like my standard lunchtime plod but hidden behind that is an actual attempt at a Fartlek workout :-)



I'm never sure how hard these sessions should be but I pushed it reasonably hard I think and tried to randomize it as much as possible so as not to veer into intervals territory.



All good still I think - long run planned for tomorrow evening hopefully

Cartman78

10/11/2018



10K - Road - 44:31 - NB



Yet another busy Saturday so it wasn't until late in the afternoon that a run window appeared - thought I might be able to sneak in a 10 miler but daylight was against me so settled for a steady 8K finished off with a fast 2K.



Was generally feeling a bit tired and leggy anyway so was just glad to get out. Thursday and Friday were wipeouts due to combination of work and weather.







11/11/2018



18K - Road - 85:51 - NB



Up again at the crack of dawn thanks to the young fella divebombing in on top of us at an ungodly hour :-)



This was probably the toughest run I've done in the current training block - the long runs I've done around UL are all on very flat roads and tracks; this run was the exact opposite - long challenging drags, twists and turns, sharp uphills/downhills etc.



Kept it going pretty steady throughout and hope it will stand to me.



Had hoped to be running longer distances more comfortably at this stage maybe but overall happy enough right now

Cartman78

13/11/2018



8K - Road - 33:45 - AF



Went at this fairly hard but had too many layers on I think and got a bit hot & bothered halfway round.



Up the walls yesterday so no room for lunchtime or evening run - should be able to get out this afternoon and maybe a longer run tomorrow evening.

Cartman78

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:


So what was shaping up to be a mediocre training week went in to full borderline disaster mode yesterday lunchtime.



Headed out to do some 800m intervals - was halfway through the first one when I realised my watch wasn't turned on properly. Spent a couple of minutes fannying about with it and reset the workout and started again.



Got going again and was pelting along at top speed, came to a small junction then and crossed the road (still going like the clappers) and then aimed to make a sharpish turn back onto the path.



As it transpired, the exact spot where I turning on was laden with mud and leaves and whoooosh....off I went into a spectacular full body plant into the tarmac.



Miraculously didn't bang my head but felt like every other part of my body had been scraped along the road. Was a bit stunned tbh but was only about a mile from the office so decided to jog back to the office. My knee was throbbing a bit but kept up a nice pace :-)



Got back to the car park and bumped into the lads who looked at me like I'd landed from Mars - looked down at myself and realised that both hands were covered in blood, and my left hand had ballooned on one side. Was convinced that I'd broken something - got some top notch first aid in the office, quick shower and then drove over to the Injuries Unit in Nenagh.



Wasn't feeling to hectic at this stage really but a quick x-ray confirmed that nothing was broken thankfully.



Annoyed in hindsight that I was so wreckless - really wanted to blow off some steam



So yeah tldr:...no running for a few days at least.

Cartman78

So it looks like I'll be doing an extreme taper for the half-marathon on December 2nd :-)



Felt pretty stiff and sore all weekend but the road rash/grazes are starting to heal up now a bit so hopefully/possibly/maybe I'll be able to get back out later in the week at some stage.


Feeling more relieved than frustrated now tbh....if i'd banged my head at that speed and with that impact it would have been lights out for a bit :eek:

Cartman78

23/11/2018

8K - Road - 37:11 - NB

Finally back on the road after last week's debacle.
Was still feeling sore and stiff up until Wednesday, so this outing was very much in the recovery run bracket.

24/11/2018

10K - Road - 45:41 - NP

Another recovery run really....feeling a bit pooped and low on energy generally so this was a bit of a grind tbh.

Main highlight was the debut of my shiny new Nike Pegasus. Felt very comfortable throughout and had noticeably better grip than any of my other shoes....although I could be just paranoid after recent tumble.

Cartman78

26/11/2018

Intervals - 4 x 2K @ 4:15 pace - Road - NP

Another outing for the Pegasus - very happy with them so far so will be more than happy to have the back up pair arriving later this week.

Was pretty consistent with these intervals although still feeling a bit leggy tbh - not sure whether to do a midweek long-ish run (~10 miles) ahead of the half on Sunday or just keep tipping away at the shorter stuff and hope I get a bit of zip back at the weekend.

And in breaking Marathon Procrastination News - I've decided to shelve my plans for Rotterdam for the moment. The logistics were already proving stressful so decided to knock it on the head before it got out of hand.

Plan B is instead to do the Limerick Marathon in May as a primer and then have a proper crack at Dublin later in the year. At least if things go t1ts up in Limerick I can hop in the car and be back home in 20 mins :-)

Cartman78

28/11/2018



6.5K - Road - 28:24 - NB



Lashing rain and high winds are normally avoided by me but had to get out today to clear my head.



It wasn't actually that bad once I got out - ran on a relatively sheltered route so ended up doing something approaching a tempo run in the end.

Cartman78

30/11/2018



8.1K - Road - 38:20 - NB



Another mindfulness workout in the lashing rain and wind.



No niggles or injuries to report ahead of the race on Sunday - feeling knackered though generally

Cartman78

02/12/2018

Border Half Marathon

21.1K - Road - 1:33:40 - NP

Well, as expected, I didn't crack the 90 minute marker but happy to report another marginal PB..... a whopping 25 second improvement on my time from Clonmel about 5 years ago

Everything went well really - first outing for the gel belt was grand and the Nike Pegasus is a super shoe, but my lack of mileage came back to haunt me a bit after 10 miles. Had to really dig in to avoid a walking break/stop so was relieved to scramble for a PB in the end.

0-5K

1) 4:17
2) 4:19
3) 4:16
4) 4:20
5) 4:19 --> 5K: 21:32

Settled into a rhythm very quickly and was comfortable at this pace, despite a few challenging hills and drags

5-10K

6) 4:05
7) 4:18
8) 4:14
9) 4:03
10) 4:24 --> 5K: 21:07, Total: 42:39

Felt pretty good in this section too - was running with two other people going for 90mins too so nice to have company for a couple of miles. The faster kms here are down to long downhill sections I think - I certainly wasn't pushing the pace unnecessarily. Had a gel around 9K.

10K-15K
11) 4:20
12) 4:24
13) 4:20
14) 4:30
15) 4:31 --> 5K: 22:02, Total: 64:41

My form started to dip a bit around now - the other two runners I was with broke away although I wasn't panicking and just took a mini breather and hoped that a second wind would arrive. I didn't have any niggles or anything...just started to feel a bit tired.

15K-21K
16) 4:15
17) 4:28
18) 4:32
19) 4:55
20) 4:59 --> 5K: 23:39 , Total: 88:20
21) 4:44
22) 0:35 --> 93:40

Well that second wind never fupping arrived I had another gel around 10 miles but felt I was running in treacle after that. It was fairly torturous stuff tbh....numerous long drags into a strengthening headwind.

Just about toughed it out - I knew that a walking break would be terminal. The sub 90 mins was gone but the consolation prize of a PB (<94 mins) was still in scope.

I was very relieved to get back on the main Corbally Rd and realise that there was no more hills. Finished relatively strongly but was absolutely knackered after crossing the line, not quite falling in a heap style knackered but not far off it :(uckily, there was someone from my club who shoved a banana and a bottle of water into my hand so I came back to myself in a minute or two

Had a decent physio rub down back at race HQ - reckon I could be sore enough for a day or two...those last couple of mile weren't pretty.

Happy enough overall really - I missed/skipped a couple of recent long runs, and that week missed following the fall didn't help either. But no excuses for finishing a race in that condition - better pacing earlier might have help but the lack of mileage was going to be an issue either way. Will have to look at my schedule and see what the options are.

Will probably race again this month - seems to be a squillion events on around Christmas so will pick something that suits.

Cartman78

04/12/2018



8K - Road - 36:37 - AF



Took yesterday off and just did some core work and stretching in the kitchen last night.



Feel remarkably fresh considering how schnattoxed I was at the end of the half on Sunday.



Nothing out of the ordinary today - mainly just some fresh air and headspace.

Cartman78

05/12/2018



5K - Road - 20:03 - NB



A propos of absolutely nothing at all, I decided to do a 5K time trial today



Was hoping to hold it steady at 4 min pace and managed this pretty ok until the last km.



Did a couple of slow kms at the start and end too so it wasn't completely headless chicken stuff.

Cartman78

Just signed up for Dublin Marathon there....the endless updates on Facebook finally worked on me :-)

Looks like it'll be sold out before Christmas

Cartman78

09/12/2018



10.1K - Road - 46:24 - AD



My 3 year got the festive season off to a cracker with a tummy bug, which he kindly shared with me late last week.



I've had worse doses but it was enough to put running on hold for a couple of days.



Made it out on Sunday for some fresh air; bumped into another runner I know so we ran the last 3K home at a leisurely enough pace.

Cartman78

11/12/2018



8K - Road - 34:35 - AF



Another pretty standard lunchtime workout - was quite comfortable at this pace to be honest.



Going to pretty busy this week so not sure if a long run will be possible - will hopefully get back in the groove over the holidays.



Have a 10K penciled in for January 6th and hoping to get a Park Run or two in as well if possible







12/12/2018



Intervals 8 x 800m - Road - AD



Enjoyed the intervals today - kept them all fairly consistent and wasn't wrecked on the last interval for a change.



There was a couple of outliers due to having to stop at junctions, but generally the pace would have average out around 3:15 which would tally with my recent half marathon time I guess.

Cartman78

14/12/2018



8K - Road - 34:52 - NB



So no long run this week :-(



Had half-arsed intentions of heading out last night but was knackered - feels like about 20 years since I had a good night's sleep. Our young fella is going thru a phase of toilet training that involves him waking up at random hours on the night, loudly announcing his plan and then clattering around the bathroom for 10 mins like an elephant :-)



Anyway, tldr, didn't go for a long run last night - fell asleep on the couch instead at 9pm watching Fortitude.



Got out today at lunchtime in pretty poor conditions - cleared the head anyway and got some fresh air. Achilles a bit tight so will be hitting the foam roller tonight

Cartman78

16/12/2018



14.15K - Road - 67:26 - NB

Finally something approaching a slow and steady run - I've been falling back into old habits again lately (ie. short runs at high intensity) so it was actually refreshing to just take it handy yesterday.

Having said that I did do a minor surge for the last 3K at around 4:10 pace :-)

In my defence that section of my run is also the last 3K of the 10K that I'll be doing on January 6th so just wanted to see what it felt like running at a decent clip.



Anyway, rest day today. Will do some core and stretching later on

Cartman78

18/12/2018


8K - Road - 33:35 - AF

A perfect day for running almost - sun was shining, temp around 10 degrees and a cool breeze on my back for the last 3K.

Ran this fairly hard - possibly went out a bit too fast (at ~ 4:05 pace) so had a bit of a dip at halfway but picked up again after that and finished strongly.

Cartman78

20/12/2018

8K - Road - 37:42 - AF

Can’t remember anything about this run but my Garmin tells me it happened :P


23/12/2018

10K - Road - 46:11 - NB

Can’t remember a whole lot about this one either tbh

Have been feeling under the weather a bit for the last few days with quasi flu like symptoms....achey bones, headaches, tired etc. so this run was a bit of a slog but glad to get out anyway.


26/12/2018

10K - Road - 48:01 - NB

As above, but even more of a slog


27/12/2018

Intervals - 15 x 400m - NP

Feeling marginally more energetic today so gave some intervals a lash. Kept them fairly moderately paced and felt ok, hopefully I’m over whatever bug/virus I’ve been battling all week.

Might try a Parkrun on Saturday as a tune up for the local 10K the following weekend.

Cartman78

28/12/2018

18K - Road - 85:01 - NP

Really solid longish steady run - felt I could have run quite comfortably for longer but daylight was against me.

Had planned to round off 2018 with a crack at a 5K PB in the Mungret Parkrun and then continue my good form onto a 10K PB in my local race today,and then ramp it for the John Tracy 10 Miler in early February....but

Once again illness intervened to scupper my plans...a horrible sinus infection this time and an equally horrible antibiotic.

Will be back in action later this week I guess but feeling totally out of shape now altogether. I probably had this bug coming on me for a while in hindsight...anyway hopefully I can bounce back ASAP

Cartman78

09/01/2019


8K - Road - 36:49 - NB

So decided to go out today for the sake of my sanity - it's about 53 hours since I finished antibiotics so that's probably plenty of time...right guys???

Anyway, felt good to be back out after a few days off.....no problems with breathing etc which is good. Calves and right hip a bit stiff but nothing to worry about hopefully.

Cartman78

10/01/2019

8K - Road - 38:12 - AF

Junk miles but still good to get out.

Ran the first 3K or so with another fella from work so was at a fairly leisurely conversational pace - picked it up a little bit after that. Still a bit creaky/achy in places but overall ok

Cartman78

11/01/2019

Intervals 8 x 800m - Road - AT


Was feeling relatively energetic at lunchtime so gave these a decent lash.

8 x 800s fast becoming my favourite workout I think :-)

Kept the effort relatively hard but consistent - everything pretty much around the 3:15 mark (~4.05 per km pace).

Have revised my tenuous double marathon plans - will do the half in Limerick instead of the full I think. Planning to do another 10 miler in March (Duhallow) as well so the diary is filling up nicely.