Are those my feet?

Huzzah!

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

12th August - 18th August

Monday: 65 mins very easy (6.09 miles @ 10:46). Cadence 157
Technically this run was on Tuesday as I did it after midnight during my nightshift, but body clock wise I'm counting it as Monday. Slightly weird running around the place at this hour, but I'd do it again no problem.

Possibly less doable when the students are back!

ariana` wrote: »

Nice week there A. FWIW I think you're well capable of low 1:40s, no harm in a conservative start but i think you might surprise yourself!

No pressure, but plus one to this.

ariana` wrote: »

Nice result on Sunday. Shame it wasn't a bit more exciting for the viewers but I'm there weren't too many complaining about the result!

It was fairly exciting listening to it on the radio. I thought John Mullane was about to pass out at points

Mr. Guappa

mister paul wrote: »

I've been looking at my weekend runs and counting the miles as I should be doing marathon distance over a weekend soon enough. Well done and nice mileage overall.

It was a really nice confidence booster to get through the 16 miles feeling strong after a decent effort the day before.

mister paul wrote: »

Presume the second Friday run was Saturday and not your second "technical" double of the week

Nice spot - that would really annoy me. Edited now

ariana` wrote: »

Nice week there A. FWIW I think you're well capable of low 1:40s, no harm in a conservative start but i think you might surprise yourself!

Huzzah! wrote: »

No pressure, but plus one to this.

Thanks guys. I've been really looking forward to this race for weeks. It feels like it's been an age since I've done a longer race, and I'm keen to see how far I've progressed since the same race last year. Cheers for the votes of confidence

ariana` wrote: »

Nice result on Sunday. Shame it wasn't a bit more exciting for the viewers but I'm there weren't too many complaining about the result!

Huzzah! wrote: »

It was fairly exciting listening to it on the radio. I thought John Mullane was about to pass out at points

No complaints regarding excitement levels from the Tipp corner anyway :pac:

ReeReeG

Definitely agree with the others, you're well able for low 1.40s I would say. Very interested to see how you go

Kellygirl

Best of luck in Clonmel A.

Bluesquare

Seems like a decent strategy - you will know in the second half how much you have in your legs !

Good luck at the weekend , hope it goes well!

Mr. Guappa

ReeReeG wrote: »

Definitely agree with the others, you're well able for low 1.40s I would say. Very interested to see how you go

Thanks V! Weather is predicted to be pretty warm it seems, which should stop me getting too carried away, at least to start with!

Kellygirl wrote: »

Best of luck in Clonmel A.

Thanks K! Good luck on Sunday yourself!

Bluesquare wrote: »

Seems like a decent strategy - you will know in the second half how much you have in your legs !

Good luck at the weekend , hope it goes well!

Thanks very much! My preferred race strategy is always to start handyish and finish strong. That said, two of my better results were when I went out too hard and had to cling on for dear life. Had to lie down in a corner for 20 minutes after both, horrible experiences!

Dealerz2.0

Run well A

Huzzah!

Best of luck tomorrow.

Wubble Wubble

Congrats on the 10 minute PB. Report, report!

Mr. Guappa

19th August - 25th August

Monday: 65 mins very easy (6.05 miles @ 10:54). Cadence 159
Tired miles around a local loop following Sunday's success in Croker .

Tuesday: 40 mins tempo. Cadence 166
Tempo range = 7:57-7:45
Actual paces (5.1 miles) = 7:56, 43, 53, 50, 55, 30
Did this one in the evening after work. First mile at tempo felt really difficult and I doubted that I could maintain this pace for 40 minutes, nevermind for 13.1 miles on Sunday. It gradually became more manageable, although I was still working plenty hard. Reasonable warm-up and cool-down took me to 8.45 miles for the evening. Cadence for the tempo was ~171.

Wednesday: Rest
Planned rest day.

Thursday: 55 mins very easy (4.81 miles @ 11:32). Cadence 158
Circumstances dictated that I wouldn't be able to get out until very late, so I hopped on the treadmill instead. Had to knock the dust off the treadmill first. Sweated buckets, but HR was below 130 throughout.

Friday: 75 mins very easy (7.07 miles @ 10:38). Cadence 162
Added a bit onto this one as I'd done less than planned the previous day. Not ideal in race week, but figured it wouldn't matter too much. Chucked in a few spur of the moment strides towards the end.

Saturday: Rest
Well, I say rest, and there was no running, but I did work up a decent sweat cutting the lawn (more like a meadow these days) and doing a spot of gardening on what was a very humid day, as those doing the Frank Duffy can confirm. There is an inverse correlation between the amount of miles I run and the state of the garden.


Sunday: Clonmel Half Marathon - Chip Time 1:43:37
As WW mentioned, this was a 10 minute PB! I find sometimes that the more I learn about running the less I savour a good result. Straight away I'm thinking about what I could have done better, and how this result impacts the next goal etc. In this case I've decided that I'm going to give myself a pat on the back for knocking over 10 minutes off my HM time in 12 months. Of course, I'll also look at the race and assess what went right and wrong, but sometimes I think it's useful to stop and look at how far we've come. Anyway, enough with the self-praise.

As I mentioned last week, I was happy enough with a 1:45 target, maybe 1:44. Encouragement from these parts led me to lifting my sights towards 1:42:30, if the day went my way. Got up at 7 and had my overnight oats, plus a bagel, and then discovered that the young fella had completely removed the laces from one of my running shoes. Super. Fixed that up anyway, lashed on some sun cream and off we headed. This race is really well organised, with oodles of parking right at finish line. Conditions were pretty ideal, gentle breeze with a bit of cloud cover holding off the sun. Headed off for a one mile warm-up, which took longer than anticipated due to stopping twice for chats. Did some drills and stretches, before taking my place in the pack with a few minutes to spare. I positioned myself between the 1:40 and 1:50 pacers. At the very last second the 1:50 and 2:00 pacers inexplicably moved up along the outside with huge entourages in tow, and positioned themselves right behind the 1:40 pacers. I had no time to react. GREAT.

Miles 1-2: 8:21, 8:24
The plan was to head out at an average of 8:00 min/mile for the first 6 miles, then pick things up to 7:40 pace for the remainder. Within that I knew the first two miles were uphill so wanted to keep these very controlled. I tried to avoid weaving as much as I could, but with the 2:00 and 1:50 crews now in front of me a certain amount of weaving was unavoidable. Tried my best to keep the racing line as much as possible. I passed the 2:00 pacers early enough in the piece and settled into a decent rhythm heading out the Cahir road. I was very happy with how things were going at this stage.

Miles 3-4: 7:45, 7:19
Into downhill and flatter miles and I picked up the pace to get back to an 8:00 min/mile average overall. Passed by the 1:50 group at the water station at mile 3, and promptly dropped my water bottle. A slight inconvenience, but nothing to get too worried about as I didn't feel I was working too hard at this stage. Mile 4 was probably a bit too fast, but effort felt fine, and it was very much downhill so figured I'd take advantage. Through 4 miles in 31:49, and just a fraction ahead of where I'd planned to be. Motoring nicely.

Miles 5-6: 7:49, 7:23
Mile 5 was a decent drag and in retrospect I went at it too hard. Plan had been to take it a lot handier, but in the moment got a bit carried away, and just stuck with the rhythm of the previous miles. Mile 6 was back downhill where I made hay once again and wondered how far ahead the 1:40 pacers were as I tried to work out what kind of pace I'd need to do to reel them in :rolleyes:. Through 6 miles in 47:01, a full minute ahead of what I'd planned.

Miles 7-9: 7:31, 7:38, 7:40
Picked up a water bottle at the Knocklofty water station and deposited half a zero tab into it. Well wishes here as I passed a runner, who also sounded a warning to watch out for mile 11. I will I replied confidently. :rolleyes:. Mainly flat along this stretch and I was still motoring nicely, and bang on target pace for these miles. Effort had increased significantly by now, although I reasoned that is to be expected at this stage of the race. Took a Maurten gel around the hour mark, for research purposes in a race situation mainly. No ill effects on the stomach, although I did slow down significantly after taking the gel :pac: Through 9 miles in 1:09:50, still a minute up on planned pace.

Miles 10-11: 7:57, 9:00
I was starting to come under pressure now as we came back towards the town, and doubted that I could maintain the effort for much longer. 4 miles to go? Oh god! Thoughts of mile 11 also didn't help. Passed by a jelly station but it was too much effort to reach out for one. I was now being passed for the first time in an hour. Mile 11 was an absolute crawl - I was in bits. It's just a mile long drag, and not all that bad in actual fact, but at this stage of the race it was absolute hell. My legs were roaring and my feet were on fire, something which has never happened before - note to self: don't wear the blue hilly's next race. The sun had also joined the party at this stage - perfect. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other, more out of habit than any great desire. Just get up to the bypass, then it flattens out I told myself. Through 11 miles in 1:26:47. My legs were in bits, and my mind was all over the place as i tried to work out if 1:45 was still within reach.

Miles 12-Finish: 8:30, 7:37 and 7:14 for the 0.1
Onto the bypass, and mercifully the road evened out and a water station provided much needed coolant. These miles are a lovely gentle downhill, but I just could not take advantage. Once I'd recovered a touch from the climb, I very gradually tried to increase the pace, but there was nothing doing. Legs were just not having it. In the final mile I managed to eek a bit of speed back out of the legs, helped by a group of five which I managed to latch onto as they passed. Distances seemed so long, 3/4 of a mile? Ah jesus! So i tried to think in terms of time - just 5 minutes to go seemed more palatable for some reason? I knew 1:45 was in the bag, and reckoned 1:44 was there too if I could keep it going. Not quiet a flat out sprint to the finish, but a decent clip all the same. I couldn't lift the medal over my head at the finish so just left it draped on my wrist. Absolutely wrecked afterwards as I lay on the grass with a couple of banana's, water and chocolate milk. Ideal finish area too - no need to move people on, you can just collapse in a heap yards from the line . Recovered eventually and grabbed a sandwich and cup of tea while watching the presentations. I even managed to squeeze in a very belated and brief cool down after that.

On reflection, I'm really happy with the end result, if not quite as happy with the route I took to get there. I feel I could have found another minute if I'd kept the pace a bit more in check around miles 5 and 6, but overall I'm pleased with how it went. This was my first half since the same race last year, and a huge reminder of the discipline needed at these distances. I think I repeated a mistake I made at DCM, when I did a great job of maintaining a slow pace for the first seven miles, but then lost the run of myself a bit through the middle of the race and paid for it towards the finish. I completed the last 3.1 miles of this race about 25 seconds slower than last year, which is amazing considering I was 10 minutes faster overall. I'm kind of looking at this race as a win-win... I achieved a really good result but also learned some important lessons about pacing a race, and just staying focused through the middle miles.

41.3 miles for the week.

skyblue46

Great report A. Brilliant progress over the year. Well done on digging in and finishing strongly. The more race reports I read on here the more I wonder why we do it to ourselves! If any non runners were to read through the race reports they would find it hard to believe that we actually enjoy it. Hahaha..

Kellygirl

That’s a brilliant report A. Really interesting to read. I think it’s fantastic that it’s clear the progress in fitness and speed over the year but also you learned some important stuff from the race too. Well done. Your hard work is paying off.

Agree with S - why we put ourselves through this pain for ‘enjoyment’ seems pure mad. Can’t beat the buzz after a good race though!

ReeReeG

Enjoyed that report A, well done again. I'd also wonder if getting yourself back to the 8 min average in miles 3 and 4 had an effect later on too, even if they were more downhill. Sounds like a really tough course!

Huzzah!

That's a great report. You've reminded me of how brutal the half distance is. These races in the run up to the main thing are where you should try new things out, so even if you went a bit quicker than planned in places and had a tough finish, no harm done. It'll act as a reminder of what not to do on D day.

Congrats on the myhoosive PB and on all the progress this year. It's really great to see.

eyrie

Well done on the huge PB!

Really interesting report, lots to think about in it. I think what Huzzah! said is spot on, these races in training for the main event are great for learning, and you've managed to do that AND get a huge PB, so not a bad day out I'd say. Well apart from the suffering involved, but hey we must enjoy that in a weird way since we keep coming back for more, right?

ariana`

Brilliant report, enjoyed reading that. As others have said amazing progress in 1 year but also amazing was the little nugget in there that going too fast in early miles cost you so much later on - 25 seconds slower than last year in the last 3 miles in a race where you were 10 mins quicker overall. You definitely have more in you, very exciting times for you A. and very much deserved too.

yido1882

Well done, a great race & report. It's so difficult mentally and physically to get the pace back up after a slump during the race, great character to finish the last couple of miles strong.
Serious progress in a year, well done

Wubble Wubble

Brilliant race and report. You even got to work on the garden. Top work all round :pac:

Mr. Guappa

Thanks for all the nice responses folks, both here and on strava. My legs hate me :pac:

skyblue46 wrote: »

Great report A. Brilliant progress over the year. Well done on digging in and finishing strongly. The more race reports I read on here the more I wonder why we do it to ourselves! If any non runners were to read through the race reports they would find it hard to believe that we actually enjoy it. Hahaha..

Yep - it's madness on the face of it. Typically 6 or more hours training each week, with countless more hours spent thinking about training and improvements, and what's the payoff? - Often utter hell for a large portion of a race :eek:. Fun.

Kellygirl wrote: »

That’s a brilliant report A. Really interesting to read. I think it’s fantastic that it’s clear the progress in fitness and speed over the year but also you learned some important stuff from the race too. Well done. Your hard work is paying off.

Agree with S - why we put ourselves through this pain for ‘enjoyment’ seems pure mad. Can’t beat the buzz after a good race though!

Thanks K! That post-race buzz always makes the suffering worthwhile. Just now I looked back on my report on this race last year - seems like a ran a really controlled race and finished super strong - wish I had read that beforehand!

ReeReeG wrote: »

Enjoyed that report A, well done again. I'd also wonder if getting yourself back to the 8 min average in miles 3 and 4 had an effect later on too, even if they were more downhill. Sounds like a really tough course!

Yeah, you're right. I chased it a bit too soon, even on the downhill parts. It's not an overly tough course really, it's a tough, honest route as OOnegative so accurately described it on strava. Really great race though - organisation is top class. Voted #1 in Munster the last few years they say, and I'd definitely recommend it.

Huzzah! wrote: »

That's a great report. You've reminded me of how brutal the half distance is. These races in the run up to the main thing are where you should try new things out, so even if you went a bit quicker than planned in places and had a tough finish, no harm done. It'll act as a reminder of what not to do on D day.

Congrats on the myhoosive PB and on all the progress this year. It's really great to see.

6 and 7 miles in I was loving the half, thinking "this is a doddle, I love this distance" - then WHAM! :pac:. But, I do think the 10 mile-HM type distance might be my favourite. I've never really followed a dedicated plan with one of those as the main target, so it's definitely something I'm looking at next year, all going well.

eyrie wrote: »

Well done on the huge PB!

Really interesting report, lots to think about in it. I think what Huzzah! said is spot on, these races in training for the main event are great for learning, and you've managed to do that AND get a huge PB, so not a bad day out I'd say. Well apart from the suffering involved, but hey we must enjoy that in a weird way since we keep coming back for more, right?

Yeah, totally agree. I learned/re-learned lots of things that I will take into DCM. That's the main goal right now, and I think this was a really important step along the way. I'll take a little suffering in a HM if it means I learn lessons which make DCM a little less painful :pac:

ariana` wrote: »

Brilliant report, enjoyed reading that. As others have said amazing progress in 1 year but also amazing was the little nugget in there that going too fast in early miles cost you so much later on - 25 seconds slower than last year in the last 3 miles in a race where you were 10 mins quicker overall. You definitely have more in you, very exciting times for you A. and very much deserved too.

Thanks E! It's 12 months since my last half, and nearly 7 months since the Dungarvan 10 miler, and I think I'd underestimated (or forgotten) the different demands of the longer race. I spent all spring and summer racing 5 and 10k's, but this required a different mindset really. Learned a lot, especially about the need to keep the focus mid-race.

yido1882 wrote: »

Well done, a great race & report. It's so difficult mentally and physically to get the pace back up after a slump during the race, great character to finish the last couple of miles strong.
Serious progress in a year, well done

Cheers A! The thoughts of walking for a bit crossed my mind at one stage but I willed myself to plod on.

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

Brilliant race and report. You even got to work on the garden. Top work all round :pac:

Haha, there is A LOT of room for improvement on the gardening front. I might start looking at it as cross-training, that way I'll make myself do it :pac:

Bluesquare

Well done ! Great grit and Pb ! Loved the report - deffo made me think about strategy for half!

Comic Book Guy

Great report A! Well done on the PB, serious improvement in the space of 12 months. Well done on toughing it out late on, great example setting Mr Mentor!

Sorbet

Brilliant race report on a brilliant race - well done. To take 10 minutes off a PB is some achievement.

Mr. Guappa

Bluesquare wrote: »

Well done ! Great grit and Pb ! Loved the report - deffo made me think about strategy for half!

Thank you! It certainly doesn't feel like grit when you are experiencing the worst of it - more like abject failure as people stream past. The mental battle is often as hard as the physical one I find - convincing your mind that your body can drive on.

Comic Book Guy wrote: »

Great report A! Well done on the PB, serious improvement in the space of 12 months. Well done on toughing it out late on, great example setting Mr Mentor!

Cheers J! If only you had a log in which to put your Longford report then we could all shower you with praise for that great performance :pac:

Sorbet wrote: »

Brilliant race report on a brilliant race - well done. To take 10 minutes off a PB is some achievement.

Cheers D - to be fair there is massive scope for improvement when you're new to running, but it definitely helps with the motivation when you can see results.

coogy

That was a really great read, and yes, you SHOULD give yourself a pat on the back.....you've bloody earned it, well done on a great race!


As for "why do we do this?".......to be honest, I'd rather not know the answer to that particular conundrum. :pac:

Mr. Guappa

26th August - 1st September DCM Training Week 6

Monday: 35 mins recovery (3.18 miles @ 11:10). Cadence 157
Heavy legs from the Half and this was very much a plod. Legs felt a bit better after the run.

Tuesday: 65 mins very easy (5.81 miles @ 11:17). Cadence 154
Another plod around a hilly local loop. Legs still heavy, cadence in my boots. Started a set of night shifts the previous evening, which probably contributed to the tiredness. Should be taking up the new role which I mentioned previously in the next few weeks.

Wednesday: 70 mins very easy (6.46 miles @ 10:59). Cadence 159
Now this was more like it. A late night run during lunch break on night shift. Legs felt back to normal.

Thursday: 3 x 10 min Threshold, 4 min recoveries. Cadence 167
Threshold range: 7:23-7:34
Distance|Paces|Cadence
1.30|7:43, 7:31|176
1.35|7:22, 7:35|175
1.31|7:39, 7:28|174

This was pretty hard work in places. First rep was all into the wind which made it doubly difficult and a real struggle to hit the paces, although effort felt appropriate, if not a touch excessive maybe. Mercifully I was shielded from the wind for the second rep and that felt much more manageable. Allowed my mind to wander a bit at the start of the third rep and pace drifted. Overall I was very happy with this one. 8.72 miles in total.

Friday: Rest
Travelling to Dublin. This was our previously cancelled trip to Dublin from a few weeks ago when the whole house got sick.

Saturday: 65 mins moderate(ish). Cadence 165
To say that I was looking forward to running in the Phoenix Park would be an understatement! I entered through the Chapelizod gate and headed up Military Road with an imaginary Wubble Wubble commentary guiding me along. Naturally enough I was barely a mile in when I bumped into a couple of boardsies - skyblue46 and Browneyes79! They were tipping around at 9 min/miles, so I switched things up and went along with them. This was really enjoyable - the miles flew by and the effort seemed much less running with such great company - a rare treat . Thanks again to S and C for asking me to join in! 9.6 miles for the morning, followed by a great afternoon in the zoo.


Sunday: 70 mins very easy (6.74 miles @ 10:25). Cadence 164
Back in the Phoenix Park for this one. So many runners about! I had intended on doing a bit of the DCHM route, but took a wrong turn over by the zoo so just made it up as I went along after that. Didn't bump into any boardsies this time - I see why so many of you love running around there - you are so lucky to have that treasure on your doorstep!

40.5 miles for the week, with the long run pushed out to Monday. It took a day or two but I feel nicely recovered from the Half now. August ends as my highest mileage month ever - 184 miles. I should tip over the 200 mile mark in September. I haven't rolled out the old mileage table in a while:
Month|2016|2017|2018|2019
January|21|5|51|131
February|19||51|119
March|27||62|112
April|3||55|142
May|1|18|74|120
June|2|38|96|135
July||33|129|175
August||49|137|184
September|1|25|179
October|4|42|131
November|6|40|34
December||51|84
Total (mi)|83|301|1083

Mr. Guappa

2nd September - 8th September

Monday: 3 hours easy (18 miles @ 10:03). Cadence 162
I had pushed this one out a day from the previous week, to accommodate the Dublin trip. Took a half day at work and headed out in what was pretty much ideal running conditions - gentle cooling breeze, not particularly warm or cold. No doubt aided by the conditions, my HR stayed nice and low for the first two hours, and picked up a bit on a climb at mile 13, and stayed slightly higher than before after that. The effort levels reflected what the HR data showed - felt fairly comfortable throughout. I was really pleased with how this went.

Tuesday:
Rest

Wednesday: 55 mins very easy (5.51 miles @ 10:30). Cadence 160
Running windows were pretty tight this week, so managed to squeeze this in while the 6 year old was at camogie training. A match, training and a blitz all in the one week - think I need to have a word with the coach about easy days and hard days :pac:. A good bit of the run was on grass, although it wasn't exactly Semple Stadium smooth :rolleyes:.

Thursday: 7 x 4 min CV, 3 min recoveries. Cadence 166
CV range: 7:13-7:04
Actual paces: 7:15, 08, 07, 08, 13, 16, 13
It was after a 12 hour shift when I got around to this, so the mind was pretty tired heading in. As per usual I took a rep to figure out the correct effort level and felt after the first rep that I'd struggle to complete all 7, but grew into the session and found things got "easier" as I went on. Pleased with this one in the end, although I was also glad to note that this was the last session on the plan that requires faster than threshold pace. 9.68 miles in total for the evening.

Friday:
Rest

Saturday: 75 mins very easy (7.05 miles @ 10:45). Cadence 162
A nice early morning trot featuring a small bit of a new route - a touch hilly at times but one I'll come back too.

Sunday: 90 mins progression (14.40 miles @ 9.13). Cadence 166
Pace|Range|Distance|Actual|Cadence
Warm-up|10:56-10:12|2.0|10:43, 10:13|162
Easy|10:09-9:48|3.0|10:05, 10:03, 9:54|164
Moderate|8:53-8:38|3.45|8:46, 8:38, 8:43, 8:39|168
Tempo|7:57-7:45|3.82|7:55, 7:55, 7:49, 7:45|172
Cool Down|10:56-10:12|2.14|9:51, 10:25, 10:40|160


I found this one pretty tough going. Added a couple of miles warm-up to pad the mileage, and got briefly chased by a couple of very angry little dogs who managed to scratch my ankle. The legs felt pretty heavy throughout the easy section, and I had already decided to cut back on the planned 4 cooldown miles. The moderate was tough to start, but felt a lot more manageable once I got off the twisty country roads and onto the straight main road. Mainly downhill for the moderate which helped too. In through town then for the tempo miles and the effort was well up there - terrain was mainly gentle uphill too. Hit the paces anyway, although I ducked off the planned route onto a downhill road for the last 0.2 miles :eek:. As mentioned I knocked a couple of miles off the planned cooldown, in part because I felt the legs had done enough for the week, and also to avoid having to pass the dogs from earlier!


54.6 miles for the week, which is my highest weekly total ever - although it is slightly misleading as it was book-ended by two long runs. I'm happy enough with how the plan is going at the moment - I've tried to build mileage steadily, but not excessively and feel that I've accomplished that pretty well. Definitely feeling a hint of fatigue in the legs at times now, but nothing too bad.

Mr. Guappa

9th September - 15th September

Monday: 30 mins recovery (2.8 miles @ 10:54). Cadence 167
I find these shorter recovery runs suit me much better than anything longer. Consciously tried to keep my cadence higher, and it did produce a better than usual result. I do think I might be too ploddy on the slower paced runs.

Tuesday: 70 mins very easy (6.75 miles @ 10:36). Cadence 163
Felt nice and fresh on this one. Kellygirls "bouncy" mantra from earlier this year pops into my head on the occasional run - this was one of those. Nice miles. I did mY workout DVD that evening - averaging every second week for that, but hopefully I'll make more regular as I do feel I benefit. Just finding the time is the tricky part!

Wednesday: 25 mins threshold. Cadence 167
Threshold range: 7:34-7:23
Actual paces (3.34 miles): 7:34, 23, 30, 26
25 minutes didn't seem too much on paper, but I was glad when this was over! I was cramming it into a tight window so under a bit of pressure from the off. I hit the paces alright but it was pretty hard work - having to stop three times in the second mile for traffic did not help! 2 miles each of warm-up and cool down meant 7.55 miles for the morning.

Thursday: 70 mins very easy (6.50 miles @ 10:54). Cadence 160
Back to one of my staple routes for this one. A pretty hilly route so just tried to keep the effort consistent.

Friday:
Rest

Saturday: 60 mins moderate. Cadence 164
Moderate range: 8:53-8:38
Actual paces (6.84 miles): 8:54, 52, 42, 47, 43, 42, 46
Headed out for this on Saturday afternoon on the back of three night shifts and poor enough sleep during that time. It was also very sunny and warm out - HR was already rising during the warm-up miles. The first 3 or so of the moderate miles were mainly uphill, and it levelled off after that. I felt in control throughout, certainly never under the pressure that the HR readings would suggest. I felt this was a very solid run, although I did worry about the 18 miler to follow! 11.42 miles for the session.

Sunday: 3 hours easy (18.13 miles @ 10:57). Cadence 163
I was very apprehensive heading out for this, following my fourth night shift (one more set of those before I move to 9-5 Mon-Fri). Felt tired, legs heavy and felt sorry for myself. Had a couple of bananas once I woke up and headed off. This was another lumpy enough route and I was convinced for the first hour that this would be a bad run. Felt really hungry after an hour, so took a Maurten gel - felt better literally immediately, so the placebo effect worked anyway! I kept waiting for the pace to fall away but I seemed to be getting stronger. Felt hungry again around the 2 hour mark so took a caffeine gel this time (I wanted to try a Maurten and Hi-5 on the same run), and also stopped quickly at the shop for more water. I felt stronger again during the final hour and the final uphill miles didn't bother me. I was delighted with this in the end - these long run Sundays following a tough Saturday are real confidence builders!

53.1 miles for the week. So, onto the DC HM now this weekend. I wouldn't mind some advice on how to structure my week. The plan has a 50 min tempo on Wednesday. I figure I could:
- swap the tempo for very easy miles?
- move the tempo to Tuesday?
- something like 4 x 10 @ tempo instead on Tues?
Any advice appreciated (my tempo pace is roughly my HM pace FWIW).

OOnegative

Swap the Tempo for easy miles if you are racing the Half.

Mr. Guappa

OOnegative wrote: »

Swap the Tempo for easy miles if you are racing the Half.

Cheers! Makes perfect sense when it's spelled out for you, and is exactly the advice I would give someone else. I just spend endless hours over-thinking it when it's my own plan!

ReeReeG

That's some weekend of running you did. Great stuff!