Como Una Cabra

aquinn

Massive congratulations, well done.

Diablo Verde

aquinn wrote: »

Massive congratulations, well done.

Thanks a million. Nice when the training pays off like that.

Diablo Verde

Day|Run Type|Planned|Actual
1|Easy|10|10.02
2|Easy|8|8.4
3|Rest|0|0
4|Easy|10|9.61
5|Easy|10|0
6|Easy|5|5.04
7|Marathon|42.2|42.51


Accumulated
week|Planned kms|Actual kms
1|63|65.74
2|66.6|66.86
3|73|73.49
4|73.2|74.38
5|80|81.38
6|74.4|75.24
7|87.2|87.72
8|76.6|76.66
9|92.2|92.49
10|78.6|79.96
11|101.4|101.21
-|42|42.73
12|80.8|83.84
13|100|100.05
14|85.8|87.24
15|101|101.45
-|10|10.08
16|88.8|88.96
17|86|80.43
18|85.2|75.58
Total|1545.8|1545.49

aquinn

I hope the report is to follow seperately and that's just not it?

Diablo Verde

aquinn wrote: »

I hope the report is to follow seperately and that's just not it?

Will take a bit of time to gather my thoughts on it but I'll be putting a report together. I also want to write something about the Hansons plan too, as it was the first time I moved away from P & D.

Diablo Verde

Everything that I did in the lead up to this race was focused on doing a better job than last year. In 2017 I went to pieces at the 30km mark and suffered all the way to the finish. I felt that I had unfinished business and the plan was to rectify that. The goal this year was to enjoy the marathon, run it well, and, hopefully, come in under three hours.

Pre-race: My legs were knackered on the Friday and the Saturday. I had pains in my shins, calves, knees, and was just generally tired. The Hansons plan really doesn’t have as big a taper as P & D, and I was wondering if I had given myself enough time to rest and recover. Honestly, I wasn’t feeling all that confident about hitting my target pace of around 04:15/km.

On Sunday morning, I was feeling quite a bit sharper which was a good sign. We arrived at the starting area in plenty of time, and I was able to go to the bathroom for the third time. Three seems to be the magic number for me pre-marathon so it was good to hit my first target of the day.

After dropping off my bag, I did a light jog for a few hundred metres and did a few minutes of dynamic stretching. I then made my way to the 03:15-03:00 pen. I stayed a little bit back from the pacers at the front, intending to ease into things with a few kms at slower than Marathon Pace. My thinking was that I’d prefer to be hunting them down towards the end, rather than getting that sinking feeling if they were catching me. I was in the pen with ten minutes to spare, and spent that time reviewing my strategy in terms of gels and zero tabs. I usually take four Gu gels, but opted for 5 this year, planning to take them at the 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 km markers. I also wanted to keep my salt levels higher so had planned to use Zero tabs at 10, 20 and 30. Finally I’d struggled with upper-body stiffness in previous races, so decided to try to shake out my arms a little after every water station.

Start - km 5 – 04:23/km

This was all about getting comfortable and not panicking. I had told myself beforehand that I’d be happy to hit 04:30/km for the first kilometre, and slowly up the pace from there. I hit 04:32 for the first, but for the next while I was stuck in a group going around 04:25/km. I was starting to get a little worried, but told myself to keep calm and to avoid wasting energy by weaving in and out of other runners, as I had last year. I crossed the 5k mat quickly calculated that I was 45 seconds down on target pace.

To km 10 – 04:16/km

Things were spreading out at this stage and I started to move up a gear. I settled into a nice pace, and I crossed the mat with the 45 second deficit still intact.

To km 15 – 04:15/km

At this stage, I had to start telling myself to slow down. At this part of the course on my previous attempt, I sped up too quickly and it cost me further up the road. I noticed that I was actually telling myself to slow down out loud. This would continue for the next 20k. They have the racing line marked out in Valencia, and I started to follow it as the crowd began to spread out.

To Half – 04:14/km – Through half way at 01:30:22

I continued at a steady pace up until the half way point and did a quick scan to see how I was feeling. I was happy that I had kept to the plan in terms of the gels, zero tabs and arm loosening. I checked my face and found that there was a bit of salt building up, so decided to drink more of the water with the zero tabs for the remainder of the run. I felt that I probably could have sped up slightly here, but I decided to be a little more cautious, knowing what was to come. I noticed that most of the local runners had moved away from the blue line and into the more shaded areas at the side of the course and I had the sense to do the same. Maintaining pace during the sunnier parts of the course was just that little bit more tiring, and I figured that I’d need every ounce of energy. I really like the challenge of managing yourself during the Marathon, and was glad that I was keeping on top of things and making good decisions.

To km 25 – 04:13/km

This was my third time doing this race and I had always found this part of the course a little tough. It’s not like there are any hills or anything, and the support is great, but for some reason it gets to me. I think it’s maybe because I really enjoy from half way until around 30k in the Dublin Marathon, and I just don’t get that same boost here.

To km 30 – 04:14/km

I had set a few distance goals beforehand and the first was 30km, the place where things went wrong last year. Also, the longest distance I had run in training was 30km (the plan only prescribed 27), so now I was entering unknown territory. The pace for kilometre number 30 was 04:15 and I told myself that I was feeling decent.

Around this point, I met a Japanese guy who was clearly enjoying himself, flexing his biceps to the crowd as he went and cheering on other runners. I remember being grateful for the boost that his energy and enthusiasm gave me, but was a little pissed off that he was finding it so easy.

To km 35 – 04:16/km

The next target in my head was 32km and I was still with my Japanese friend as it approached. For some reason I decided that this was a good time to see if holding a conversation was a good idea. We established that we were both feeling decent. He told me that we could support each other to the finish. I remember telling him that I blew up at 30km last year and felt much better this time. I also told him that I had no doubt that today was going to be the day. Just then, I noticed my pace slipping a little with a 04:18 followed by a 04:20, maybe brought on by the effort of talking. It was time to refocus, so I upped the pace slightly and before I knew it I’d lost my new running partner and I was back on pace by km 35.

To km 40 – 04:10/km

From experience, I knew that the last 7.2kms were quite friendly if you have anything left in the tank. During training, I was focused on the goal of getting to 35 at a steady pace, and then giving everything that I had left to bring home the sub 3. I knew this was when this attempt would be won or lost. The problem was that the tiredness was finally coming, and the quads were starting to give out. I upped the pace slightly, but worryingly I was getting a twinge in my left calf. It felt like it was very close to cramping up and I knew the game would be up if that happened, considering I hadn’t left myself much of a margin for error. I slowed down again but I was still hitting 04:10 pace, and the pain receded. There are some unavoidable metal grills/grates across the road at some stages during this part of the course and I felt every single one of them on the soles of my feet. These kilometres were beginning to feel longer and longer as I kept glancing at my watch. I wasn’t concerned about the pace anymore, but rather kept checking how long was left. Then, from nowhere I got an unexpected lift.

I heard a couple of Spanish lads talking to each other, and one was trying to encourage his clearly-exhausted friend by telling him that they were catching the 3-hour pacers. It’s probably a darker side of my personality that I always get a boost when I see that someone else is suffering more than me, but I didn’t give a damn about that at that point. Also, the pacers? I had completely forgotten about them and had just assumed they’d get in ahead of me as they had started ahead, and I’d lost plenty of time over the first five kilometres. I knew that the sub-3 was in the bag if I finished in front of them, and out of nowhere I felt strong again. I started to speed up at the 38k marker, and with zero bother from the calf, I glided past them at 40.

To Finish – 04:06/km

It’s hard not to enjoy the last few kms of a Marathon when you’re feeling strong, and the crowds here make this one even better. It’s quite tight with people on the left and right all the way down the long straight towards the finish area. I was in a good mood now, feeling like I had energy to spare, and I, perhaps foolishly, used it to throw the arms in the air and get the crowd going. The last kilometre is rough enough as there is a change from the regular surface to these uncomfortable cobble-like stones, and then onto the bouncy blue platform that makes up the last straight to the finish. I took it all in for the last hundred metres. The sun was shining, the crowds were roaring, and ‘A Kind of Magic’ was blaring on the speakers. I decided that, for once, I wasn’t going to have a finish-line photo of me stopping my watch so went for the arms up in the air as I crossed the line.

My watch read 02:59:11, but my official time was 02:59:09, meaning I covered the second half in 1:28:47 for a lovely negative split.

Post-race:

I really enjoyed the few beers with all the lads from here, although it made the journey home through Madrid yesterday extra tiring.

In terms of whether I’ll have another go at the marathon. Well I’m not sure. This was my sixth and my intention was to stop at five but felt that I had unfinished business after last year. Now that I’ve met my goal, and enjoyed it, I’m just not sure how motivated I am to try and take more time off this PB. In any case, I know enough to not try to make that decision right now, and am just going to enjoy the fact that I set out to do something, and executed it as well as I could have.

Itziger

Good report, lad. Better race though!!

As for running more marathons, Jeez, you're a young fella. You have loads more in you.

Congratulations again.

AuldManKing

Thats a super improvement, congrats - the consistency in your splits is amazing.

How did you find the Hansons plan compared to P&D.

(I found you on Strava - eventually.)

Itziger

AuldManKing wrote: »

Thats a super improvement, congrats - the consistency in your splits is amazing.

How did you find the Hansons plan compared to P&D.

(I found you on Strava - eventually.)

I meant to ask you this. In the pub that night we didn't seem to do much shop talk, mostly just b.s.

I do wonder about Hansons and I have some reservations. Mostly, would I be able to do sessions on Tues and Thurs........? And of course the other big one... would a 17 mile LR be enough?

Both answered in the positive for you obviously.

Diablo Verde

Cheers. I'm going to write something longer on the Hansons experience but I found it to be a positive experience overall. I never felt the same levels of tiredness that I got with P & D, and found that the weeks were flying by with all the midweek sessions. I used to feel very grateful by the time the taper came around as I was exhausted. Didn't get that this time. On the other hand, I really didn't feel that I was rested going into the last few days of this. I suppose that doesn't matter when I had the energy during the actual race.

In fairness to P&D, I improved with every marathon I did using it, so maybe I would have gone sub-3 if I'd used it again. Maybe the real benefit of the Hansons plan was that it was just something different.

If I go again, I'll use the same plan.

Diablo Verde

Itziger wrote: »

I do wonder about Hansons and I have some reservations. Mostly, would I be able to do sessions on Tues and Thurs........? And of course the other big one... would a 17 mile LR be enough?

I think that the question about the sessions is valid and depends the individual. I seem to have decent recovery and didn't find it a problem, but I imagine it would cause problems for some. I suppose it might be worth trying it for a few weeks when you're not training for something specific to see how the body reacts.

17 miles? I worried about that too and threw in two sly 19/20 milers. I think this was just a psychological hangover from other plans, and I just felt that it wouldn't do any harm. I will say that the weeks after I did these 30km runs were those were I felt I might be close to the edge injury-wise.

Diablo Verde

Things have been fairly quiet on the running front for a while, as I had decided to pull back a little in the New Year. After hitting my target in Valencia, following the Hansons plan, I then ran PBs over the 5k and Half distances, before putting the brakes on for a bit. I did a good chunk of strength training earlier in the year, and have recently been out on the bike quite a bit ahead of a 100km sponsored cycle this weekend.

Despite the lower mileage, I’ve kept things ticking over and have been involved in the Raheny 2-mile race series over the summer. It finishes up tonight, so I’m going to give it a good lash to see how I go.

The weekend before last, I finally got around to doing the Warriors Run up in Strandhill. This was certainly an experience, and one I’d like to repeat again next year. I might even take the unusual step of running up a few hills beforehand in preparation. I had to walk a lot of the ascent, and I found the downhill section was much harder on the body than anything else. I definitely think there is room for improvement there with some focused training.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2647492945

Anyway, the plan for the next while is to start increasing the mileage again, before taking on the Seville half in January and , qualification times permitting, the Boston marathon in April. I've also pretty much given my word that I'll join the local running club, so that will be an interesting change. Lots to look forward to, so I’m excited to see how the next few months turn out.

Diablo Verde

Diablo Verde wrote: »

Anyway, the plan for the next while is to start increasing the mileage again, before taking on the Seville half in January and , qualification times permitting, the Boston marathon in April. I've also pretty much given my word that I'll join the local running club, so that will be an interesting change. Lots to look forward to, so I’m excited to see how the next few months turn out.

Well I did take on the Seville half back in early 2020 and managed a PB, with great plans to train for Boston, which I did. Once, twice, three times, before the plug was finally and definitively pulled by the organisers. I did run the 42.2 'virtually', but it was nothing more than a long training run, and if I'm honest, the concept of the virtual run does little for me.

Training has been going well for me since a year ago. I've just focused on doing things simply, building up my weekly kms as it felt right. I spent a lot of time in 2020 doing S&C work but have scaled that back a bit now. Maybe it was the lack of racing, or the increased S&C, or just the sensible approach to building up distances, but there were no injuries last year. As well as the marathon training, I did a good block of 5k and 10k type training, and am in the middle of half training at the moment, and am now up to comfortably running 100k/week. I'm also on a bit of a streak having run every day in 2021.

So what next? I'm dying to get back racing to see where I'm at. My favourite distances are the half and marathon so that will be my main goal. All of my PBs look soft based on my current training, though, so I'd expect them all to fall. I'm going to try to keep a record of the kind of training that I'm up to as we, hopefully, start heading towards the magical world of racing again, and hopefully there'll be something that somebody, somewhere can take from it.

The below are my current best times, but in the interest of honesty, I ran a couple of 5k TTs at around 17:17 a few months back.

Current

Distance|Time
5k|17:57
5 mile|29:57
10k|37:36
10 mile|1:03:07
Half|1:21:44
Marathon|2:59:11

Itziger

The return of the Green Devil. You're right about those official PBs - they are all soft. You will lower them all if you stay in good shape and get a few races in the Autumn/Winter. Good luck, will keep an eye on the training.

Diablo Verde

Monday 8th March– A big change in my training over the past year has been the introduction of plenty of kilometres on trails and grass. A regular run is out along the coast from Clontarf, across the wooden bridge and a few kms in the dunes at Dollymount before turning back.

Distance – 13.5km
Average pace: 5:00/km

S&C – Yoga – 30 minute session from P90x3

Tuesday 9th – The Hansons plan that I follow has two sessions each week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Today was supposed to be 3x2 miles but I ended up doing the Thursday session today. I headed down to my usual spot where the Raheny Shamrocks 2 mile/mile races normally take place.

Distance – 20km
Session – 10k @ 3:52/km

S&C – The Challenge – Push and Pull routine from P90x3

Wednesday 10th – This used to be my day for total rest, but I’ve been finding lately that the Thursday session feels easier if I throw in a few recovery kms on a Wednesday.

Distance – 5km
Average Pace: 5:12/km

Thursday 11th – Tuesday’s 3x2 miles was shifted to today. I was sorely tempted to give it a miss given the wind, but the brother agreed to do a bit of pacing for me, and I headed back out to the Shamrocks’ loop.

Distance – 21km
Session – 3x3.2km @ 03:42 with 800m recovery

I found this tough, with some stomach ‘issues’ threatening to derail me completely during the second rep. I rallied for the third, and although absolutely ruined towards the end of the third, I dragged it home. Character builder!

S&C – I started back into doing some leg strength exercises last week, so trying to keep it going.

Friday 12th – Fierce tired starting out on this one. Back to the dunes and up through the trails in St. Anne’s. The ground is wet and muddy again after it seemed to be drying out last week.

Distance – 13.5km
Average pace: 4:58/km

Saturday 13th – Similar run to yesterday’s on the dunes/trails but much sprightlier. Glad to see that the legs haven’t been ruined by Thursday’s S&C.

Distance – 14.5km
Average pace: 4:56/km

Sunday 14th– Nice run out the Royal Canal as far as Broombridge, then from Glasnevin to town, and back to Clontarf. A slight twinge in my right calf after about ten miles, so I'll need to keep an eye on that.

Distance – 22km
Average pace: 4:43/km

S&C – Isometrix – Balance routine from P90x3

Total Weekly Distance – 110km
Thoughts for next week: I’d like to slow down my pace on both the Monday and Friday runs.

Diablo Verde

Monday 15th March – Nice recovery paced effort into Fairview Park, out the coast and back through a fairly muddy St. Anne’s. Mostly trails and grass.

Distance – 14km
Average pace: 5:13/km

S&C – The Challenge – Fourth week back doing this push and pull routine. Beginning to feel stronger again.

Tuesday 16th - Session – 2x4.8kms with 1.2km recovery

I slowed the pace down a little from around 3:42/km to 3:44/km given the reps were increased from 3,200m to 4,800m this week. To be honest, I think it would have been a whole lot tougher if I hadn’t. The under armour wasn’t necessary for the first time in ages and it was nice to feel a little bit of heat at first, but then predictably, it felt like I was getting too hot. I think the 1,200m recovery was just about right.

Rep 1: 18:00 @3:44/km
Rep 2: 17:57 @3:44/km

Total Distance - 20km

AuldManKing

Nice to see this log back & running.

Diablo Verde

Wednesday 17th – Recovery run through Fairview Park, and back home via the Alfie Byrne Road.

Distance – 5km
Average Pace: 5:33/km

Thursday 18th – 11.2k @ Tempo pace
Total distance – 19km

11.2k in 43:19
Average pace: 3:52min/km

I have moved up from 6.4km to 8km to 10km and now to 11.2km at Tempo pace over the course of this training plan. The last km was tough today but I’d say it was no tougher than the last km felt when I was doing the 6.4km back in January. The training seems to be working! I’m really looking forward to getting back to Marathon-Pace workouts all the same. They should feel a whole lot easier after this.

healy1835

Didn't do the 10k with the brother?

Diablo Verde

healy1835 wrote: »

Didn't do the 10k with the brother?

Nope, but I could be tempted to give it a lash in a few weeks. I'd be interested to see what I could manage. He's flying it!

ThebitterLemon

Diablo Verde wrote: »

Nope, but I could be tempted to give it a lash in a few weeks. I'd be interested to see what I could manage. He's flying it!

Who’s faster.

My moneys on Phisto

TbL

Diablo Verde

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Who’s faster.

My moneys on Phisto

TbL

Your money's safe.

ThebitterLemon

Diablo Verde wrote: »

Your money's safe.

Jazus, that was too easy, what’s your excuse, you got the brains in the family?

TbL

Diablo Verde

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Jazus, that was too easy, what’s your excuse, you got the brains in the family?

TbL

I'll let him answer that I keep getting faster each year, and the ****er does the same

Diablo Verde

Friday 19th – Mostly grass run Fairview Park – Coast – St. Anne’s

Distance – 13.km
Average pace: 5:06/km

S&C – Leg routine

Saturday 20th – Trail run in the dunes and St. Anne’s

Distance – 14.5km
Average pace: 5:04/km

Sunday 21st– Lumpy long-run taking in Glasnevin, some of the Royal Canal, and Fairview park

I was tired from the start today as a fairly tough week of training came to an end. Two fairly hard sessions and the largest weekly distance I’ve ever covered all contributed to this. Having said that, the second half of this run was faster than the first. Four more weeks of this plan and I’ll try to lash out a TT over the half-distance so I’m looking forward to a mini-taper before that.

Distance – 26.5km
Average pace: 4:35/km

Total Weekly Distance – 113km

Diablo Verde

Monday 22nd March – The Dunes with MacPhisto.

Distance – 13.5km
Average pace: 5:05/km

S&C – Isometrix

Tuesday 23rd March – Easy

The intention today was 3x2 miles but after 2 terrible sleeps, I decided to push the session back a day. Felt like a zombie as I ran to Fairview, back along the coast and through St. Anne’s. About 8k in, I glanced at my watch, clipped a root and down I went. The good news is that my reactions were sharp and my hands broke the fall, leaving me with only a slightly bruised ego. This is not my first fall, so I knew to expertly bounce up and bound away without even checking to see if anyone had witnessed it. Legend!

Distance – 13km
Average pace: 5:14/km

Diablo Verde

Wednesday 24th - Session – 3x2Miles with 800m recovery

I did this same session a few weeks back and it felt a lot, much, somewhat, a fraction easier this time. It was still bloody hard but slightly less bloody hard all the same. Headed in the right direction!

Rep 1: 12:00 @3:45/km
Rep 2: 11:56 @3:44/km
Rep 3: 11:57 @3:44/km

Total Distance – 19.5km

Thursday 25th – 5k recovery @ 5:10/km

S&C – The challenge (10/15) and 100 core

Diablo Verde

Friday 26th – Session – 11.2km@Tempo

This was the second of three 11.2km Tempo runs on the current plan. At around 9k in, I felt strong and decided to push it out to 12k. Good that I was able for this, but I guess I’ll feel obliged to do at least 12 again next week.

Distance – 19.5km
Tempo: 12km @ 3:52/km average

S&C – Leg routine

Saturday 27th – Easy run into town and back

Distance – 14km
Average pace: 4:55km

Sunday 28th – Long run 22km @ 4:41/km

A shorter effort this week on a similar route to last Sunday. Felt very handy overall.

Distance – 22km
Average pace: 4:41/km

S&C – Yoga

Total Weekly Distance – 107km

Thoughts for next week:
Keep the consistency going. There are only a few weeks left on the plan and then it’ll be time for a TT over the half distance. I’ll be interested to see how that goes given the higher mileage I’ve been putting in. Also, having watched a video from Luke Humphrey on strides this week, I think it’s time to re-introduce these to my training.

Diablo Verde

Monday 29th March – Easy 13km

Average pace: 5:08/km

S&C – The Challenge and core

Tuesday 30th March – Easy 13km

Average pace: 5:10/km

Wednesday 31st - Session – 4x2,400 with 600m recovery

I decided on a change of scenery for this one and started the first rep in Clontarf. After about 1km running along the coast during the first rep, I had a change of heart. I was constantly avoiding walkers, runners and dogs, and felt that it just wasn’t fair to be running past people at pace, so I cut up through St. Anne’s for the second rep. Soon, I was back on the familiar territory of my usual loop, and managed to see out the session at a steady pace.

Rep 1: 08:58 @3:44/km
Rep 2: 08:59 @3:45/km
Rep 3: 08:57 @3:44/km
Rep 4: 08:58 @3:44/km

Total Distance – 19.5km

Thursday 1st April – 5.5k recovery

Average pace: 5:15/km

Friday 2nd – Session – 12km@Tempo

As predicted, I didn’t fancy jumping back down to 11.2@tempo after knocking out 12 last week. I was joined by MacPhisto for 7 and a bit laps of the usual mile route. I was definitely tiring as we got to the end, but the effort definitely felt easier with company.

Tempo: 12km @ 3:51/km average
Distance – 20.5km

S&C – Legs and core

Diablo Verde

Saturday 3rd – Easy

St. Anne’s and the dunes

Distance – 14.5km
Average pace: 4:53km

Sunday 4th – Long (ish) run

A change of scenery today, as I headed out towards the Pigeon House before getting lost. Then headed along the coast, cutting up towards Herbert Park, where I did 2 laps, before heading for home. Sped up for the last 2 or 3 kms.

Distance – 21.5km
Average pace: 4:48km

S&C – Isometrix and core

Total Weekly Distance – 107km