The Bi-Annual Final Marathon Then Retire Log

and still ricky villa · 05-07-2018 10:22am

Wednesday

Afternoon - Run - 7 Miles Easy
No morning workout. I've been a bit tired so with the short Wednesday morning swim shelved due to the swimming club change of training hours I had contemplated actually leaving the house on the bike. But come Wednesday morning I hadn't the interest so it was breakfast sitting down for once and a little bit of Breaking Bad before leaving for work (I'm slow to adopt cult shows)
The run felt warmer than usual and my legs were heavier than usual. All could imply that it was actually warmer or I'm coming down with something. My 4 year old was in twice during the night after nightmares so that could explain the lethargy today. But, I plodded on and completed the run in about 4:50 pace. It's good to feel like sh!te but still finish what was planned.

Evening - Swim - 800m
This was a bonus. I checked in on the way home from work and was happy to see an empty pool so the morning swim became the evening swim. Loads of 50m repeats at decreasing CSS pace. The water was glorious considering the heat and my hour commute

shotgunmcos · 05-07-2018 10:59am

Good that the run felt better as you ran and you got it done. The first km or 2 of most my runs the last couple of weeks feel rubbish but generally feel good by the end. Its probably down to the muggy, warm weather.

and still ricky villa · 05-07-2018 11:48am

I'm hoping that's the case. It could be similar to the way the 2nd week of a holiday drags. Enough of the sun, let's get back to the normal unpredictable weather

and still ricky villa · 06-07-2018 10:36am

Thursday

Afternoon - Run - 8 Miles Easy
Much better
The temperature was much cooler. 20 degrees according to Garmin compared to 23 the day before.
And a bit cloudy. I ploughed through this in a very comfortable 4:47 per km pace. Slightly faster than planned but it was more to do with running by feel and realising it was too quick than targeting that time specifically.
I happily did nothing else today to let some of that heaviness lift

and still ricky villa · 07-07-2018 11:34pm

Friday

Morning - Swim - 1700m
Not feeling great this morning but slipped down to the pool after starting work early and swam an ever so slightly longer set.
It finished with a 400m rep at slightly higher than CSS pace which I held pace on perfectly. It was slower than what I should be capable of but I usually make a balls of these by starting off too quick so I'm learning pacing a little better

Evening - Gym - 30Mins
Still feeling sluggish so I went for more of a vanity set. I'm conscious of the long run coming up so I did the planned reps and weights above the waist but cut the legs down by 50% so I wouldn't be carrying any fatigue into the weekend

and still ricky villa · 07-07-2018 11:41pm

Saturday

Morning - Run - 16 Miles Steady
I went to bed with a scratchy throat and woke up much the same.
I'm definitely coming down with something.
It was hot and humid even at 9am when I started out. Things were going ok, I chose a route that varied a lot so I would be in and out of shade as much as possible.
About 10km in I felt a little bit...negative is the best way I can put it. I was sweating a lot and drinking often without filling my belly with sloshy water. Inexplicably I stopped at 15km. It was like an out of body experience, I had hit pause on the watch and stopped before I really realised what I was doing. After that the motivation was gone. I struggled on for a bit but made the call to head for home.
I finished on 21km. I'm feeling fairly rotten now so will hopefully get a bit of decent rest tomorrow

and still ricky villa · 09-07-2018 11:56am

Week|Run (Km)|Time|Swim (Km)|Time|Bike (Km)|Time|Gym (hrs)
1|37.83|3:07|1.20|0:38|0.00|0:00|0:44
2|45.07|3:40|1.60|1:10|0:00|0:00|0:20
3|52.32|4:14|4.40|2:22|21.33|0:40|0:50
4|59.56|4:50|0:00|0:00|0:00|0:00|0:00
5|66.77|5:26|1.50|0:49|9.20|0:20|0:41
6|76.44|6:10|3.20|1:30|20.00|0:45|0:00
Total|337.99|27:27|11.9|6:29|50.53|1:45|2:35

Week|Run (Km)|Time|Swim (Km)|Time|Bike (Km)|Time|Gym (hrs)
7|52.77|4:10|3.95|1:55|17.89|0:40|1:01
8|59.99|4:50|4.00|1:56|17.91|0:40|1:05
9|62.30|4:54|4.20|2:02|18.11|0:40|0:51
Total|175.06|13:54|12.15|5:53|53.91|1:20|2:57

and still ricky villa · 09-07-2018 12:05pm

Monday

Sod all.
I was not feeling great towards the end of last week and went with the 4 year old to the teddy bears picnic on Sunday and felt dreadful the whole time. I made the effort so she had a blast but I was sitting/lying/leaning at every opportunity.
I got interrogated by some kid about my watch (920xt). He asked me if I'd go for a swim with him later so he could see how it works with swimming. The older I get the more kids gravitate towards me no matter how unfriendly I try to look - that could be the problem

Slept really badly and sweated more than usual. Woke up feeling underwater so the cold is here in full force. As I'm still technically only building a base (and I think I've got a decent one there already) I'll probably rest up for the bulk of this week.
If the weather cools and my chest isn't too bad I might slip out for a couple of slow plods but I'll err on the side of caution for now. I've pushed through before and carried colds for 3-4 weeks, when a week of rest and Lemsip would have seen me through.
Now, where is that chapter on returning to running after a break?

and still ricky villa · 12-07-2018 12:02pm

Tuesday

Snot

Wednesday

Evening - Gym - 41Mins - 30,200lbs
I started to feel better Tuesday night and slept well so thought I'd give the gym a go in the evening if I still continued to improve.
The strength sessions are now in the Muscular Endurance phase. Me neither but the book says it's light weights to close to fatigue. Weight is dropped to about 30% of max to begin with and reps are x 40.
All went good and I'm glad to be moving again in some form. I'm using the jefit app to track everything. Weight lifted may be way off but it's there purely as a measure.
I might chance a little run on Thursday and see how the lungs feel

and still ricky villa · 13-07-2018 3:34pm

Thursday

Afternoon - Run - 5 Miles Easy
Feeling better still but I'm still quite chesty (I'm not really chesty in the traditional sense but I don't want to go into too much detail of how much snot I'm still producing - damn you overactive sinuses)
Thankfully the weather is starting to calm the feck down so I got back to the plan today with 5 miles of easy pace.
It all felt good at about 4:50 pace and to be super safe my average HR was 144 so about right for a fully fit me.
I'll continue on with this week's plan but will knock some of the speed work for Saturday on the head in favour of long, slow distance

Evening - Bike - 20Mins
I decided I'd do a new ramp test at the start of every month. I'm not overexerting myself on the bike as it is so I see no harm. It's a bit of fun especially when your 4 year old is watching, commenting on how little/much you're sweating, handing you dolls to mind, stealing your water etc.
Anyway, after all that my FTP rose by a massive 1 watt.
I'll take it. I believe in the Sky theory of marginal gains, just without the jiffy bags of unknown contents and radioactive p!ss

and still ricky villa · 17-07-2018 10:10am

Friday

Morning - Swim - 800m
Still pretty chesty. I'm not sure if it's something I do or if all pools are like this but when I finish a length or set and rest at the wall I usually just have my head above the water. I know there's a certain amount of chlorine (gas? steam?) that sits on top of the water so when I'm chesty I tend to struggle with breathing.
Long story short, this swim was cut short for that reason. Bad enough that it's a sport where breathing at all is detrimental, but I still enjoy doing it

Afternoon - Run - 5.5 Miles Easy
This wasn't too bad at all. I'm still coughing a bit but I don't have any flu symptoms, just the after effects

and still ricky villa · 17-07-2018 10:30am

Saturday

Afternoon - Run - 10km Easy
I started to feel a bit worse late on Friday and early on Saturday. Maybe I've started to train again too soon?
I had some family stuff that had to be done early on Saturday so I wound up out in the afternoon.
The plan was 16 miles but I figured I'd play it safe and run 8. Once I started out though I knew it was fruitless.
The heat was at its worst and rather than run a demoralising long run I stopped at 10k. It's not how I would have liked to round out the week but I didn't want to do more damage by ploughing ahead

and still ricky villa · 17-07-2018 10:35am

Week|Run (Km)|Time|Swim (Km)|Time|Bike (Km)|Time|Gym (hrs)
1|37.83|3:07|1.20|0:38|0.00|0:00|0:44
2|45.07|3:40|1.60|1:10|0:00|0:00|0:20
3|52.32|4:14|4.40|2:22|21.33|0:40|0:50
4|59.56|4:50|0:00|0:00|0:00|0:00|0:00
5|66.77|5:26|1.50|0:49|9.20|0:20|0:41
6|76.44|6:10|3.20|1:30|20.00|0:45|0:00
Total|337.99|27:27|11.9|6:29|50.53|1:45|2:35

Week|Run (Km)|Time|Swim (Km)|Time|Bike (Km)|Time|Gym (hrs)
7|52.77|4:10|3.95|1:55|17.89|0:40|1:01
8|59.99|4:50|4.00|1:56|17.91|0:40|1:05
9|62.30|4:54|4.20|2:02|18.11|0:40|0:51
10|26.90|2:09|0.80|0:21|10.90|0:27|0:41
Total|201.96|16:03|12.95|6:14|64.81|1:47|3:38

Not where I'd like to be last week but I've got to accept colds will happen. It's how I manage them that matters

and still ricky villa · 17-07-2018 10:48am

Monday

Morning - Swim - 1800m
New week, new outlook. Feeling refreshed and ready to get back on plan. JD says I can dive straight back in if I've missed less than 5 days so I'll carry on with the plan and see how I hold up. I'm not afraid of taking some total downtime, I just don't want to resort to that yet.
This swim was extended to 1800m as I look to swim more. I spent a decent wedge of cash on getting the video analysis done and am not really getting my money's worth by not swimming. Nothing dramatic but I need to swim more

Afternoon - Run - 6 Miles Easy
At home today so was able to run local. Plus it wasn't too hot today either though I did feel a little heavy legged.
Tomorrow will be a bit of test as it's a lot of intervals

and still ricky villa · 18-07-2018 2:33pm

and still ricky villa · 19-07-2018 11:21am

Wednesday

Afternoon - Run - 6 Miles Easy
I really struggled to keep the pace down today. It's not a bad complaint but I don't want to accidentally overdo it.
Maybe it's the change in weather or the knock on effect of yesterday's beating but this felt very, very easy

Evening - Gym - 30Mins - 26,440lbs
Week 2 of the ME phase. Small weight, big reps. Feeling it a bit this morning but in a good way

and still ricky villa · 20-07-2018 3:31pm

Thursday

Morning - Bike - 20Mins
Another quick, intense session. Tees up the day nicely

Afternoon - Run - 7 Miles Easy
Easier to maintain the pace today. I think the gym session has left the legs heavier than usual

Evening - Swim - 1000m
I experimented with the extra 200m (I've commitments I can't miss) and found I have the time. This was a good mix of drills and quick distance reps. I've got to get in the water more

After all that I was pretty tired. If I ever get the finger out I'll load the start of the week with my extra curricular stuff. My fear is I'll get to Saturday too tired to get the main workout of the week done.
I've said I'll drop other sessions if it comes to this but I'm confident enough that an easy-ish Friday should leave me fairly fresh for Saturday

and still ricky villa · 23-07-2018 4:25pm

Friday

Afternoon - Run - 7 Miles Easy
I went down for a swim in the morning but was not in any mood to do it. I was still convincing myself I would push through and just get it done when I pulled into the car park and noted a few more regulars than usual. Hello, get out of jail card.
The pool is split into 2 lanes and the remainder open. Lane 1 had two backstrokers in it. The open part was full of the regulars. Not enough of a straight line for 'proper' swimming. Lane 2 had one guy in it. Normally I'd slip in and offer to share the lane but this one guy is a coach and although always well meaning he'll tap me on the shoulder at some point and say 'I've been watching you swim'. The rest of the session is spent getting the crap beat out of me. I'll emerge a better, stronger, quicker swimmer but will need to rest for a couple of weeks. So I took my bag of toys and went home to watch Breaking Bad.
At lunchtime I got out for a run for 7 miles. The sun seems to have sodded off but the heat is still there. Even so, I got through this happily and towards the evening was feeling pretty positive about the weekend.

and still ricky villa · 23-07-2018 4:29pm

Sunday

Afternoon - Run - 11isk km Easy
Saturday and Sunday were full of family stuff. I had planned on getting up early on Sunday and running but the bed was too easy to stay in.
I only got out to run at 3pm on Sunday. It started ok but I very quickly faded. I got to about 10km and stopped under some trees. I checked the temp and it was 26 degrees. Suicidal. I had come equipped with water but I was feeling too tired, and being honest, despondent to continue. I looked at my totals for the previous 3 weeks and bargained with myself to get to 11.1km to make 71km for the week and then quit.
Disappointed again but going from 27km last week to 80 odd this week was a brave plan that didn't work out

and still ricky villa · 23-07-2018 4:43pm

Week|Run (Km)|Time|Swim (Km)|Time|Bike (Km)|Time|Gym (hrs)
1|37.83|3:07|1.20|0:38|0.00|0:00|0:44
2|45.07|3:40|1.60|1:10|0:00|0:00|0:20
3|52.32|4:14|4.40|2:22|21.33|0:40|0:50
4|59.56|4:50|0:00|0:00|0:00|0:00|0:00
5|66.77|5:26|1.50|0:49|9.20|0:20|0:41
6|76.44|6:10|3.20|1:30|20.00|0:45|0:00
Total|337.99|27:27|11.9|6:29|50.53|1:45|2:35

Week|Run (Km)|Time|Swim (Km)|Time|Bike (Km)|Time|Gym (hrs)
7|52.77|4:10|3.95|1:55|17.89|0:40|1:01
8|59.99|4:50|4.00|1:56|17.91|0:40|1:05
9|62.30|4:54|4.20|2:02|18.11|0:40|0:51
10|26.90|2:09|0.80|0:21|10.90|0:27|0:41
11|71.00|5:41|3.60|1:51|9.10|0:20|0:31
Total|272.96|21:44|16.55|8:05|73.91|2:07|4:09

Looking at the watch and the failure to complete my long run I saw this week as a failure but stacking it up against previous weeks I'm not far from where I want to be. One more week and base training is done and the real work starts. Then I can start to worry about missed workouts

and still ricky villa · 24-07-2018 10:36am

Monday

Morning - Swim - 1800m
New week, new focus. I want to have a minimum of 2 swims, 2 short bikes and 2 gym sessions a week. The plan is 3 sessions a day until I've met the minimum but without leaving myself wrecked for runs. The gym will be first to get dropped as it involves a drive, followed by the bike which only involves a walk to the end of the garden and finally the swim. If I do this well I may be able to add another short swim to the plan without wearing myself out. Onwards
Nice swim this morning with some challenging sets (deep water turns - no push off) and coping with the distance easily

Afternoon - Run - 6 Miles Easy
Very hot again which I am not getting used to. Still, this was a decent run. I varied the route a little bit just to ease the brain. I'm only ducking in and out of estates but it can be hard to run the same line again and again

Evening - Bike - 20Mins
On Season 5 of Breaking Bad now. One of the few shows I've watched that holds your attention even though most of the characters are unlikeable in some way or another.
More turbo time with watts kicked up a bit to compensate for the reduced time

and still ricky villa · 25-07-2018 11:25am

Tuesday

Morning - Bike - 20Mins
Handy enough session. That should be it for the bike this week. All I have to do now is keep myself restrained from attempting more

Afternoon - Run - 7.5 Miles
I tried to be sensible today knowing I had 3 workouts planned. Plus I want go to the gym on Wednesday evening.
So I moved the interval session planned for Tuesday to Wednesday and ran easy instead.
All felt good and I even finished it out with a Krusty km. I'd seen it mentioned on another log that it's worth attempting the last km at marathon pace. I flew through this so feeling superhuman at the moment. It's also been mentioned elsewhere we may consider drinking Krusty's p!ss. I'll take the fast run thanks

Evening - Swim - 1000m
Nice easy swim with a geansai load of 50m reps at CSS. I could have gone quicker but no sense if I don't have to.
One more swim planned for the week on Friday but if I'm feeling up to it I might try a short one Thursday or Friday too.

and still ricky villa · 26-07-2018 12:15pm

Wednesday

Afternoon - Run - Abandoned Intervals 5km
Time to reassess. I'm a long way from race day but lately the harder workouts have been a lot harder to complete.
I may be pushing the pace more than I'm capable of, I may be pushing the planned weekly mileage more than I'm capable of or this poxy heat is sapping my energy too quickly. Either way I think I'm not ready for the paces I would like to do. The rule in any manual, blog or book I've ready on the subject is to train for where you are now and not for where you'd like to be. I'm guilty of the latter lately so my plan is changing slightly. No panic, just a step back until I'm nailing the workouts again. If I feel good, I'll up the pace or distance gently. If I'm holding on, no need to change anything. If I'm still not able to complete the workouts expect everything to go quiet around here

Evening - Gym - 20Mins - 18,000lbs
Another hot evening, another quick session. I'm not enjoying the high reps but that's probably a good indicator that it is doing some good

and still ricky villa · 27-07-2018 3:25pm

Thursday

Afternoon - Run - 6 Miles Easy
Nothing major to report other than this is the only thing I did today. I'm trying to go into the weekend as fresh as possible

and still ricky villa · 30-07-2018 9:51am

Friday

Afternoon - Run - 7 Miles Easy
I'm feeling a bit nervous about Saturday's long run so this was my only workout today.
Work is a bit hectic too so I'm pushed for time. I dropped the pace as planned and this went without any drama

and still ricky villa · 30-07-2018 10:04am

Saturday

Morning - Run - 15 Miles Easy
As I've been pessimistic about long runs lately I decided to treat this as a race prepped run, albeit at a slower pace.
I packed the Salomon the night before, filled the bladder and put a gel for every 3 miles in the pockets.
I even went as far as laying out race day kit too. Vest, short shorts, compression socks and shoes. I was leaving nothing to chance and leaving myself with no excuses.
The alarm went off at 8, the wife and child stayed asleep, and I tiptoed to the window. Lashing rain and windy as feck. No panic, back to bed for an hour and things were a lot better then.
I had set the Garmin to 5 x 3 miles. I've never been good at looking down at a watch and seeing a huge amount to go plus I don't want to be looking at it constantly. Breaking the run down to shorter lumps is easier on the eye when you do glance down and easier on the mind.
Everything went to plan. My route was an out and back - another trick of the mind to avoid bailing early - with some hilly bits (Arklow to Gorey if anyone knows it) but my pace held steady. There was one moment where I crested a hill just as I was due a gel and contemplated walking but talked myself out of it but head wise I never doubted myself and physically I didn't feel bad at all. I even upped the pace during the last 3 mile block purely because I felt I had more in the tank.
Splits per kilometre for each 3 miles were: 4:56, 4:56, 4:53, 4:55, 4:48
Very happy with this as it caps off the base training nicely before the 'real' plan begins

and still ricky villa · 30-07-2018 10:12am

Week|Run (Km)|Time|Swim (Km)|Time|Bike (Km)|Time|Gym (hrs)
1|37.83|3:07|1.20|0:38|0.00|0:00|0:44
2|45.07|3:40|1.60|1:10|0:00|0:00|0:20
3|52.32|4:14|4.40|2:22|21.33|0:40|0:50
4|59.56|4:50|0:00|0:00|0:00|0:00|0:00
5|66.77|5:26|1.50|0:49|9.20|0:20|0:41
6|76.44|6:10|3.20|1:30|20.00|0:45|0:00
Total|337.99|27:27|11.9|6:29|50.53|1:45|2:35

Week|Run (Km)|Time|Swim (Km)|Time|Bike (Km)|Time|Gym (hrs)
7|52.77|4:10|3.95|1:55|17.89|0:40|1:01
8|59.99|4:50|4.00|1:56|17.91|0:40|1:05
9|62.30|4:54|4.20|2:02|18.11|0:40|0:51
10|26.90|2:09|0.80|0:21|10.90|0:27|0:41
11|71.00|5:41|3.60|1:51|9.10|0:20|0:31
12|71.79|5:47|2.80|1:21|18.27|0:40|0:20
Total|344.75|27:31|19.35|9:26|92.18|2:47|4:29

Second block of base training in the bag. A couple of dodgy weeks due to being sick and then recovering from it gave me more time to assess where I am physically and where I can get in the next 18 weeks.
What I have learned from the last 6 weeks is that you need to get your speed training done on friendly ground. A running track ideally. The 2nd thing is that I am better off getting out of bed early to get the long run done as I'm useless in heat. Rain is fine, wind wouldn't be my favourite, I hope we never see snow again but I cannot function in Irish heat

18 weeks of Jack Daniels Q2 begins Monday

and still ricky villa · 01-08-2018 10:11am

Monday

Morning - Swim - 1800m
Continuing on at 1800m for my 'long' swim though this should increase next week.
This morning's session was a Pink Mist workout. In short, you take you're average pace over 1500m, work it out over 100, 200 etc and then swim sets of that with a couple of seconds added. What you wind up with is trying to beat the beeper (Tempo Trainer tucked under my hat) and the total you beat it by is your rest period.
This starts grand with 300m leaving me with about 30 seconds rest, 200m with about 20 and 100m with about 10. Drop the pace by 2 seconds and as tiredness sets in the rest period gets shorter even though you're swimming quicker. All good fun. Swimmers are sadists

Afternoon - Run - 3 Miles Easy
As I'm in the main program now my mileage won't be as evenly spaced with emphasis being placed on the quality workouts. That's where the mega miles will be. In between that, it's staying fresh and making sure I'm recovered for the big days

Evening - Bike - 20Mins
More of the same, watering down the TrainerRoad workouts but adding a couple of watts. I'm planning an FTP test on Thursday so we'll see if this is having any effect. I don't mind if it holds static either

and still ricky villa · 01-08-2018 10:15am

Tuesday

Afternoon - Stretching and Rolling - 45Mins
I'll bank these as gym time. The aim here is to keep myself as limber and loose as possible to stave off any potential injuries.
Stretching is something I did a lot of during half iron training so I'm used to that. Foam rolling is new but can't hurt if I do it right. It hurts but in the good way

Evening - Run - 4 Miles Easy
I had planned to do this in the afternoon but I'd forgotten to bring any runners with me. Schoolboy error. But the boot of the car usually has something I can use so I was able to substitute a maintenance session in instead. It pays to be prepared. The run was local so all uphill as I live in a town that only seems to have uphills

and still ricky villa · 03-08-2018 11:06am

Wednesday

Morning - Swim - 1000m
Focusing on rotation and breathing

Evening - Run - 3 Miles Easy
This wasn't what I had planned. The plan was a big interval job but Mrs Villa got home late from work so I had to switch things around and did 3 miles in the p!ssing rain rather than nothing

The Bi-Annual Final Marathon Then Retire Log

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