If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me.

Kellygirl

skyblue46 wrote: »

That's a very interesting read K and your frustrations and annoyance jump right out. Allow me make a couple of points if you don't mind. Because the tracker was acting up I had no idea of your early paces until now. Those paces were your undoing (not the right word after a PB but you know what I mean). I still don't see why you should be afraid of going out at 4 hour pace in Cork or 1:54 in your next half. You set out at 1:47 pace and that was just too fast. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water over 3 miles where enthusiasm got the better of you.

Totally know what you mean and I appreciate your points too. I didn’t realize the speed I went out at until I sat down earlier and went through it myself. I had to add the first three miles together to realize what I was after doing. I was behind the 1:50 guys and did think they were going very fast initially and didn’t pull back hard enough.

I think I have to work hard in planning paces before runs for the next 4 weeks and sticking to those paces and get better at it. Need to think if i’d Be better switching back to kms - 42km creates huge pace bands though!

4 hour pace is 9:09 - not sure I could do it. I think I might play with figures and set myself up for a negative split and start at a 4:10/4:05 but i’d Seriously consider going with the 4:15 guys too.

Kellygirl

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Great report. I feel kinda bad after telling you it was mostly drags. I think maybe the drag up past lidl and back into town plus the gaa grounds would be considered worse than a drag. Tough day. I'd say the aggressive start was a huge factor. Aside from the advice I got on here, anything I've read says to go the first couple of miles five to ten seconds per mile slower than target pace. Every race is a lesson.

Don’t feel bad at all. If I hadn’t taken off like a bullet those drags would have been just fine. Sure I jogged up the hill by Lidl on the way in but at 11:23 pace and didn’t notice it at all!!!

I’ve a feeling I was thinking the flat parts were drags on my way round too.

I think that’s good advice about 5-10 seconds slower initially. Between adrenaline and excitement I found it hard to settle back down where as it would have been much easier to pick up the pace if I’d taken my time starting! Ah well - i’ll Definitely try to do a better job in Cork.

Baby75

Very good report K and still well done on your 2 PB's you will get that sub 2 hours!

On pacing, I have my watch in miles but my pace is in KM it helps somehow not sure if it would help you with keeping to the pace you want

Huzzah!

Logging races is really important, no matter how they go. It helps work through it logically and see what worked and what didn’t. Thanks for taking the time to put pen to paper, as it were.

As for going out too fast in a race, we’ve all been that soldier. I’m still scarred from my first HM and running not an insignificant portion at 10k pace

As others have said, any day you PB is a good day. I’m like you, though, and get frustrated with myself if I feel I haven’t raced well. Do enjoy the PB, though, they can be hard won! That sub-2 is within touching distance now.

Recover well.

Kellygirl

Huzzah! wrote: »

Logging races is really important, no matter how they go. It helps work through it logically and see what worked and what didn’t. Thanks for taking the time to put pen to paper, as it were.

As for going out too fast in a race, we’ve all been that soldier. I’m still scarred from my first HM and running not an insignificant portion at 10k pace

As others have said, any day you PB is a good day. I’m like you, though, and get frustrated with myself if I feel I haven’t raced well. Do enjoy the PB, though, they can be hard won! That sub-2 is within touching distance now.

Recover well.

Thanks Huzzah. It actually took writing it all down and adding up the figures to realize what I had really done. My heart rate was ridiculously high but I wasn’t realizing how fast the paces were till I started looking at them in detail. Writing it down answered a lot of my own questions and having others here say the same thing from my report helps. Just to have to not do the same thing in Cork now!!!

Swashbuckler

If there's one thing I've learned in the last six months it's that racing is a skill and it takes multiple ones to figure stuff out. And they're all different. One of the first things Testosterscone said to me was you can't replicate the decisions you make in a race in training. And he was right. That Limerick half could end up being the best thing that ever happened you in terms of racing. Sometimes the harshest races give the biggest lessons.

Kellygirl

Swashbuckler wrote: »

If there's one thing I've learned in the last six months it's that racing is a skill and it takes multiple ones to figure stuff out. And they're all different. One of the first things Testosterscone said to me was you can't replicate the decisions you make in a race in training. And he was right. That Limerick half could end up being the best thing that ever happened you in terms of racing. Sometimes the harshest races give the biggest lessons.

That makes loads of sense and I agree. I think just by writing the report and looking in detail at what I did has taught me loads already - of what not to do

eyrie

Really good report Kellygirl, and well done on the PB. It sounds like you're going to learn heaps from this one and I'd say it will end up having been a really useful experience, maybe way more than if it had all gone to plan. I have no doubt that this will stand to you for Cork, and you'll have plenty more chances to set even more HM PBs in the future.

Kellygirl

eyrie wrote: »

Really good report Kellygirl, and well done on the PB. It sounds like you're going to learn heaps from this one and I'd say it will end up having been a really useful experience, maybe way more than if it had all gone to plan. I have no doubt that this will stand to you for Cork, and you'll have plenty more chances to set even more HM PBs in the future.

I think so! Definitely putting it down to experience.

Hopefully the last of my Limerick woes are over now. Ate one of the bars from the goodie bag earlier and broke my tooth! Dentist took me straight away and I now have a numb mouth after a filling but I did 5km after while my husband had the kids rather than trying to get back out later.

quickbeam

Kellygirl wrote: »

So Cork in less than 4 weeks. If I didn’t do Limerick I think I’d have chanced going with the 4 hour pacers. I’m abandoning that mad idea now and going back to my original 4:10 plan and I might even start out with the 4:15 guys. I want to enjoy it and get a pb at the same time.

I'd say keep an open mind. It might be about how you feel on the day, and especially how the weather is on the day. Another day like Sunday and you might be right to stick with the 4.10/4.15 guys, but if it's like today (in Dublin anyway, not sure how it is for you), you'd fly in at 4.00. Limerick may have knocked your confidence a bit but it's purely psychological. You definitely have a 4.00 in you.

Swashbuckler

quickbeam is right and its something I meant to clarify. We get very hung up on pacing and statements like "go out at five to ten seconds slower than half marathon pace for the first couple of miles". But...and this is important.....pace and feel are different. On Sunday I went out at 6.20 pace (target pace was maybe 6.15, possibly 6.10 if all the starts aligned). But that 6.20 pace felt fine. On another day 6.20 could feel like a monumental effort after a few miles. So it all depends on how you feel. And for the marathon its even more extreme I imagine.
So it's best to go out a little conservative and then see how it feels on the day and push on to the more aggressive pace if it feels ok. Going out at 4.15 and deciding to push on the 4.00 if you feel fine is ok too. In reality a minute here or there lost while trying to feel out the race is nothing in the grand scheme of a marathon time.

Kellygirl

Thanks a mill guys. You are right. I have to have a good think about Cork now. Whatever happens I’m starting out slower than my intended pace and building it up until I feel comfortable. What paces I even set as target remain to be seen.

I’m not sure when to do my next 20 miler - should be this Saturday but toying with leaving it until next Wednesday and having a 2.5 week taper. Hopefully I’ll be back comfortable enough after that to settle on a target of some sort and plan for it.

Kellygirl

Week 17 Cork City Marathon Training - 3 weeks to go

Sunday: Great Limerick Run Half Marathon
14.17 miles including WarmUp

Report is above but this gave me a lot of food for thought during the week and a reality check too. I’m going back to my original target for Cork which was 4:10 and intend taking it handy for the first two miles and slowly getting to a pace I’m comfortable with (considering I’m now officially at taper stage, mad notions are liable to surface at random moments)

Monday: Rest day
Head may have been a little sore from the shenanigans in Limerick the previous day and rocking home still in my race gear at 11pm or something like that. On a positive note, there was not a twinge of a sore muscle in my legs which I was quite proud of.

Tuesday: 3.1km easy run @ 9:56
Decided I’d just do an easy run. Grabbed one of the nut bars from the Limerick goody bag before going out and broke a tooth! The dentist took me straight away and got a filling and then did my 5km with a numb mouth praying I wasn’t dribbling. Maybe I should stay away from Limerick next year

Wednesday: planned 10 miles
Actual: 10 miles @ 10:19

Wind and rain but no other chance to do this so out I went and was like a drowned rat when I finished. I loved it though. Nice and easy and just relaxed running. Really needed a good run and this was it. Sometimes I need fuel during a 10 mile a had a pack of haribo with me but didn’t need them. Would have happily kept going at the end so upped the pace for the last mile.

Quick shower and off for physio which I’d booked a few weeks ago mainly to make sure I was in ship shape for Cork and I thought after Limerick would be a good time. Had a few little niggles that I wanted checked but nothing major and I was in pretty good shape and for the first time ever my pelvis was still aligned and she didn’t have to fix it. She gave me a serious going over which was agony but body feels great now.

Thursday: Planned: 60 min tempo run
Actual: 6 mile easy

I felt after Limerick that I might be better making this an easy run especially when I was kind of squashing the planned week into a few days. Ran with a friend and threw in a faster mile at the end.

Saturday: planned 20 mile LSR
Actual: 20 miles @ 10:56 min/mile

This was tough going but I blame a negative attitude for that. I’ve not been sleeping very well lately and waking a lot at night and while I was more tired yesterday I had it decided that it was going to affect me. I was kind of bored from the start and should have changed the podcast to the radio but too lazy to get my phone out of my belt! I kept thinking I could stop at 16 miles or 3 hours as other plans do that, or maybe 18 or 19 miles but I knew I’d be disgusted with myself so I kept going. I switched to radio finally as I got onto the marathon route and funnily enough my mood and running picked up round there. Got very hot towards the end but I did it and next time I do 20 miles will be on the 3rd June.

Total miles this week: 53.4 miles

Swashbuckler

Well done on that LSR. Some days are just like that and you trooped on regardless. Fair play. Don't underestimate the mental aspect of running 20 miles seven days after a hard half marathon.

Kellygirl

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Well done on that LSR. Some days are just like that and you trooped on regardless. Fair play. Don't underestimate the mental aspect of running 20 miles seven days after a hard half marathon.

Thanks a mill. It took some effort towards the end but I knew the feeling afterwards would make that worthwhile. Looking forward to doing the distance again on fresh legs - well looking forward in a skeptical kind of way at the moment!

ariana`

Another great week K, well done. That 20 miler will stand to you no doubt about it, if the going gets tough in Cork it'll be one to think back on. You've had a brilliant training block - very consistent, i can't wait to see how Cork goes for. Enjoy the taper now!

ReeReeG

Out of curiosity, how many 20 miles run did you do in this training cycle?

Kellygirl

ReeReeG wrote: »

Out of curiosity, how many 20 miles run did you do in this training cycle?

I did 3 of them ReeReeG. Quite spread out - or felt that way anyway. The first two were two weeks apart and then 2.5 weeks before the 3rd because of the Limerick half stuck in between.

ReeReeG

That's so impressive. Did you do that many for any of your other marathons? They must be such a confidence boost!

Kellygirl

ReeReeG wrote: »

That's so impressive. Did you do that many for any of your other marathons? They must be such a confidence boost!

I did it for Dublin too. Cork was my first last year and I just felt I needed a lot more mileage in my legs for Dublin. I felt so good for all of DCM that I found it hard to veer off and do something totally different this year again. I seem to cope and recover quite well from the long runs. I have a lot of thinking to do before I start training for DCM. Will see what time I do in Cork and think about what I want from Dublin then. Then I’ll have to decide what plan to follow. This plan fit in with my life but kids will be off during the Summer and starting school I’m September so my time is going to change too.

ReeReeG

Wow, that's so good... maybe there's an ultra runner in there somewhere  
I am honestly so impressed by anyone who has children and trains. I know the freedom I have is a plus!

eyrie

ReeReeG wrote: »

Wow, that's so good... maybe there's an ultra runner in there somewhere  
I am honestly so impressed by anyone who has children and trains. I know the freedom I have is a plus!

Couldn't agree more, I'm amazed by anyone who manages it alongside raising kids! It seems hard enough fitting it in around work! :eek:

Kellygirl

Thanks for that. Not sure about the ultra running - I think a marathon is quite long enough!! I seem to be ok with the endurance stuff but I find speed hard. That’s why I dither so much about target times as I want to enjoy it too and terrified if I go as fast as I can I’ll just be in pain for the whole thing. I do get the mentality of people who do marathon after marathon throughout the year for the sake of doing them though and I think that would be more me than just doing one a year and going for a big pb. At the same time, I can’t do as many as I want due to home life.

Baby75

Well done on the 20 miler so has taper madness started to set in yet

Kellygirl

Baby75 wrote: »

Well done on the 20 miler so has taper madness started to set in yet

Think I’m ok so far this time round. Besides fiddling around with numbers and pacebands the other night I think I’m fairly confident that I’ll go out with the 4:10 one and if I can pick up the pace even more in the second half then great.

Trying to watch the Diet a bit as put on a few lbs and want them off before I go into the final week and start carb loading again!

Kellygirl

Oh but I did get my first phantom injury which I decided was plantar fasciitis but miraculously it disappeared again :-)

ariana`

Kellygirl wrote: »

Oh but I did get my first phantom injury which I decided was plantar fasciitis but miraculously it disappeared again :-)

I hope i get to have phantom injuries next time out, it'll be a nice change

Have you booked a physio session or sports massage for early in the last week or will you bother?

I've been repeating myself a lot but i think you've been very consistent in your training, stick with the plan now and hopefully it'll all come together for a great run on June 3rd.

Kellygirl

ariana` wrote: »

I hope i get to have phantom injuries next time out, it'll be a nice change

Have you booked a physio session or sports massage for early in the last week or will you bother?

I've been repeating myself a lot but i think you've been very consistent in your training, stick with the plan now and hopefully it'll all come together for a great run on June 3rd.

Had my physio session last week - 3 weeks out but wanted it after Limerick just in case. Nothing major. Bit tight in a few places and my back in particular so all sorted out now.

Yeah - as long as I can be consistent on the day I should be grand!

Kellygirl

Week 17 Cork City Marathon Training - 2 weeks to go

Sunday - 30 min recovery run; 2.6 miles @ 11:39 min/mile
This was bright and early at around 7am Sunday morning on my way to work. I drive through the city to work and just parked the car and ran around the streets looking at the shops. It was a stunning morning.

Monday - 6 mile pace run; 6.3 miles @ 9:14 min/mile
This run was supposed to be done the previous week but skipped it after Limerick so decided to make it my last fast run on Monda6 night instead. Ran with a friend chatting the whole time. Was all fine until I started getting stomach cramps at mile 4 and 5 and had to stop. Ran mile 6 slower then. Something I’m eating is definitely causing me problems but can’t figure out what.

Wednesday: Planned 6 mile easy
Actual: 7 miles First 3.5 @ 11:50 approx; Second 3.5 @ 10 min/mile

A friend is doing the half in Cork for the first time so wanted to take her on part of the route to show her. We went her pace and as she continued on to do her 10 mile run I left her to jog back to my car. Picked up the pace for that probably a bit more than I had planned. Another stunning day and just loved being out. I was soooo tempted to stick with my friend and do the 10 miles with her but Stick To The Plan was still ringing in my ears from a conversation a night or two earlier :-)

Thursday: Planned 6 mile easy
Actual: 6 miles @ 11:04 min/mile

I worked hard at trying to stick to an even pace for this one and really tried to concentrate on the watch and not let myself pull off faster. It was relatively even but far from perfect.

Saturday: Planned 12 mile LSR
Actual: 12:07 @ 10:26 min/ mile

Did this with a friend. Set out to do 10:30 min/miles so relatively pleased with the pacing. Another beautiful morning out though got very warm towards the end.

Total mileage: 34 miles

I’m entering Killarney Half Marathon on July 28th nd going to give the sub 2another bash. Not quite sure how I’m going to train for it in terms of plans. It’s 8 weeks after Cork with a holiday slap bang in the middle of it. Will need recovery time after Cork and I suppose I can decide then.

Baby75

Kellygirl wrote: »

Week 17 Cork City Marathon Training - 2 weeks to go

I’m entering Killarney Half Marathon on July 28th and going to give the sub 2 another bash. Not quite sure how I’m going to train for it in terms of plans. It’s 8 weeks after Cork with a holiday slap bang in the middle of it. Will need recovery time after Cork and I suppose I can decide then.

You will have a great base after cork, even with accounting for a holiday which I say you will be able to get in a run or two on with some easy running and a mid-week session and long run you will still have 6 good weeks beforehand or have you picked a plan for DCM yet! too soon may be lol