A Tall Order

py

Following on from DCM 2019 and being part of the Boards novices squad, I've got entries to the first two and then waiting on lottery for the last:

Donadea 50k
Comrades (Down year from Pietermaritzburg to Durban)
DCM 2020

To get things started, this is taken from my DCM 2019 race report:

What's next

• Rest. I might get some really light cycling done over the next few weeks to get the blood circulating in the legs a bit more.
• I've been watching my diet a good bit for the past 12 weeks after a bit of a panic after almost reaching 105Kg early in the training plan. I was 95Kg at the start of week 18. I've definitely got more changes that I can make to lower the body mass, in a healthy way though. This week will be lax though, still ensuring I get protein consumed to help the body recover.
• Run the Line is in a few weeks but I need to see how the body is. If I'm still in pain or my hip flexor is not close to 100% then I'll skip it.
• I need to start doing S&C and mobility work as soon as my body has recovered. My aerobic system (recent lab based VO2 result proved that) is good but my durability is what let me down yesterday.
• Next year's plans start early with Donadea 50k in February and then Comrades in June. I might get another marathon/ultra in between those to prep my legs for June. Pending how that goes I think I'd like to do another DCM training cycle so I may just pick up an entry this month to ensure that is a possibility.
• I'm a little unsure on my training paces moving forward so if someone has guidance that would be great.

DCM 2019 is done. It didn't go to plan. I'm happy to have completed my first marathon but 2020 has moved to the forefront of my mind. There's a lot to get done in terms of strength and conditioning to get me through Comrades. I need to make a decision on whether to do separate training blocks for Donadea and Comrades which may be easier mentally having a few weeks break after Donadea. Or have one large training block from December to June with a brief taper before Donadea. I'll also need to factor in at least another Ultra prior to June, perhaps Connamarathon if it's not too far out from June.

A high priority is shifting unneeded mass from my body. The week of DCM 2019, I weighed in at 95Kg (at 195cm tall). It's a long way from the ~130Kg I was at 5 years ago but if I'm to do marathon/ultra running then I need to get that down to somewhere between 80-85Kg whilst remaining physically and aerobically strong. During this rest period after DCM 2019 I'll be having some wine and bread and probably not stringently adhering to my usual 8 hour window of intermittent fasting so there'll probably be a few more Kg on top of that 95Kg when my training starts.

For the S&C side of things, I don't like gyms. They bore me to death. If it's not fun, I won't do it. I've got some light kettle bells at home and happy to buy heavier if required. I'd also like to be able to do the workout anywhere so bodyweight exercises would be a great addition too.

Huzzah!

Excellent.

Mr. Guappa

Great to see another log starting up.

Sorry that DCM didn't pan out as you wished - great fight shown to see it through though.
You put in a very dedicated and disciplined block of training.

Best of luck with the the year ahead - that's a pretty phenomenal list of targets.

OOnegative

Welcome to the logs, what’s the thinking behind running two ultras in first 6 months of next year when you struggled towards the end of DCM? There’s a 5 hour cut off in Donadea which going on Sunday’s time you won’t make. I don’t mean to sound a horrible ba$tard saying that but it’s true.

skyblue46

I'd be with B on this one. Hitting trouble at 20 miles in a marathon isn't a great indicator that taking on 2 ultras and a marathon in the next 12 months is a good idea.

py

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Great to see another log starting up.

Sorry that DCM didn't pan out as you wished - great fight shown to see it through though.
You put in a very dedicated and disciplined block of training.

Best of luck with the the year ahead - that's a pretty phenomenal list of targets.

Thanks Mr G. It's been a good learning process throughout the training block, particularly when it comes to the racing side of things. I've said it already but thanks again for all the guidance.

OOnegative wrote: »

Welcome to the logs, what’s the thinking behind running two ultras in first 6 months of next year when you struggled towards the end of DCM? There’s a 5 hour cut off in Donadea which going on Sunday’s time you won’t make. I don’t mean to sound a horrible ba$tard saying that but it’s true.

skyblue46 wrote: »

I'd be with B on this one. Hitting trouble at 20 miles in a marathon isn't a great indicator that taking on 2 ultras and a marathon in the next 12 months is a good idea.

I appreciate the honest comments folks, if I expected sunshine and rainbows I wouldn't have started the log. I went in to DCM with something not right with a hip flexor and it proved to be the catalyst of my downfall during DCM. It's not something that cropped up during the building phase of the training plan but about 10 days out from the race (halfway through taper). I still haven't been able to figure out what caused it as I felt fine on my taper runs but with the increased stress/demands of marathon it couldn't cope at the latter stages.

Does a healed/normal hip flexor mean that everything will go to plan? Absolutely not. If things don't go to plan at Donadea, then the remaining plans will probably get knocked on the head. There's also the hamstring issues at 20 miles which is why I'll be adding S&C to my training twice a week.

Could I do Donadea today (without hip issue) and come in under the time limit? I don't know. I do know there's going to be a lot of progress required. I have the discipline and determination to get done what I think needs to be done to get where I need to be on each of the start lines. I'm not deluding myself in to thinking it's going to be easy during the training or out on any of the courses.

The log is here for feedback, regardless of whether I like/dislike/agree/disagree with it. I've looked at Hal Higdon 50k training plan and also some S&C (This being an example). I am not set on either one so if people have thoughts then I'm open to suggestions.

skyblue46

Speaking as someone who is out of action after ignoring/ running through a hip issue I'd say your first step should be physio. Make sure you deal with injuries before taking on tough training schedules.

OOnegative

And as another who suffered the consequences of a hip injury for a number of months, I would be letting Donadea slide and get the hip and hamstrings strong then start slowly building towards Comrades.

ReeReeG

Welcome to the logs! You've really gotten the bug anyway judging by those goals.

Look, nothing wrong with having big targets but definitely listen to your body along the way.

py

Good physio session today. Got the hip flexor worked on and there's tightness and weakness on the side that caused issue during DCM. I've been given stretching and strengthening exercises for it to get it up to a level where it's on par with the other side. Back in 10 days for another session. Just going to be on the bike till after that anyway.

py

Making progress with the rehab exercises. Started some S&C after guidance from physio. Got out for a few runs which was great for the mind. Back in physio tomorrow for a follow up on the hip and to see if I can kick on with a training program for Donadea. Looking forward to the week ahead and RTL on Saturday.

Monday
RRehab exercises - 2 sets, no additional resistance
Lateral hip raises
Single leg bridges
Knee drive

Bicycle commute.

Tuesday
S&C - 2 sets
Single leg bridges - bw
Single leg deadlifts - bw
Lateral hip raises - bw
Knee drives - bw
Lunges - bw
Calf raises + 10Kg
Bent leg calf raises + 10Kg

Bicycle commute.

Wednesday
Rehab exercises - 2 sets, no additional resistance
Lateral hip raises
Single leg bridges
Knee drive

Mega doms in hams/glutes from yesterday... and I barely lifted anything.

Thursday
S&C - 2 sets
Single leg bridges - bw
Single leg deadlifts - bw
Lateral hip raises - bw
Knee drives - bw
Lunges + 6Kg
Calf raises + 10Kg
Bent leg calf raises + 10Kg

Bicycle commute.

Friday
10Km run, 6:25min/Km, HR 145bpm. Felt ok during this. Neither fresh or fatigued. Had "run" with the young lad during his junior parkrun the previous Sunday and body was ok-ish so waited a few more days to do this run.

Yoga - 40 minutes. Only 5 classes in to this but really enjoying it.

Bicycle commute.

Minimal doms from yesterday's S&C

Saturday
S&C - 2 sets
Single leg bridges - bw
Single leg deadlifts - bw
Lateral hip raises - bw
Knee drives + band (I couldn't do 1 rep with band at original physio appointment on the bad side. 2 sets of 10 with band is big progress)
Lunges + 6Kg
Calf raises + 10Kg
Bent leg calf raises + 10Kg

Walked around our local parkrun with the young lad. He was delighted to get his first 5Km parkrun under his belt, 9 more to get that t-shirt for him :P

Sunday
10Km run, 6:09min/Km, HR 148bpm - yay for running more.

No doms from yesterday.

py

Great physio session this evening and think we've got to the cause of the hip issues I suffered in DCM. I'd been racking my brain as to what could've caused the left hip issue and came up with a theory. After running through my S&C exercises looking for tips/guidance on form and showing my struggles on the right side of the single leg deadlifts, my theory was all but confirmed.

I played a lot of basketball (multiple teams across multiple age levels each year) from about 9 till 19 and then sporadically since then till now (mid 30s). If you watch the video below which is one of the more popular moves in the game, I would've done this 000s of times throughout that playing period which left me with a really strong left leg (due to the foot plant and subsequent jump) and not as strong right leg. There would've been a correspoding action on the left side but nowhere even close to 50/50, probably more like 90/10 in favour of the right side. It's not something that would've been corrected since I took up cycling either.

Yay to (hopefully) finding the root cause. The load DCM put on the imbalance in my legs was too much and caused the left side to just say no.

Going forward I need to strengthen the lower right leg which is struggling now to even balance on a single leg deadlift. I've also to get my left hip back up to par with the right which is not too far away. Back to they physio in about 2 weeks.

Cleared for starting a running program this week and going to start into a slightly adjusted version of the Hal Higdon 50K program.

py

Monday
Physio - detailed above, great breakthrough in rehab and root cause of issues in DCM.

Tuesday
8km at 6:19min/Km, HR 157bpm. HR a little high, think I may have been too wrapped up and started to get too hot.

S&C - 2 sets
Single leg bridges - bw
Single leg balance - bw
Lateral hip raises - bw
Knee drives + band
Lunges - +6Kg
Calf raises + 16Kg
Bent leg calf raises + 16Kg

Bicycle commute.

Wednesday
10Km at 6:19min/Km, HR 150bpm.

Rehab exercises - 2 sets
Lateral hip raises
Single leg bridges
Knee drive + band
Single leg balance - bw

Bicycle commute.

Thursday
8Km at 6:19min/Km, HR 150bpm. I've no idea how the 3 midweek runs were ran at the exact same pace. :P

S&C - 2 sets
Single leg bridges - bw
Single leg balance - bw
Lateral hip raises - bw
Knee drives + band
Lunges - +6Kg
Calf raises + 16Kg
Bent leg calf raises + 16Kg

Bicycle commute.

Friday
Yoga - 40 minutes

Rehab exercises - 2 sets
Lateral hip raises
Single leg bridges
Knee drive + band
Single leg balance - bw

Saturday
12.2Km with 511m elevation at 7:05min/Km, HR 171bpm. Run the Line - short course. First time dipping my toe... or entire foot ankle deep in to what trails has to offer. Had a pair of trail runners which I used to run on the road with so I opted to use them for the event. They did ok but I could've done with something more sturdy with better grip for some sections. A pair of decent trail runners has been added to the shopping list. HR shows I went too hard for it but I was just having a lot of fun. I'd changed the display settings on my Garmin to just show distance as pace/avg pace/total duration would've meant nothing to me with it being my first trail run.

No S&C today on account of being pretty tired.

Sunday
Junior parkrun in the morning. This was recovery pace.

18Km with 422m elevation at 6:37min/Km, HR 150bpm. This was supposed to be a 2 hour lsr but opted to take a shot at reaching Three Rock masts after being inspired by RTL on Saturday. Thoroughly enjoyed the run, very peaceful compared to my usual road running even if there was a good few people on the way up there. Need to learn my way around up there, got a wee bit lost on the descent and ended up running a long the same stream from yesterday's RTL where I tweaked my ankle a little and then ended up exiting the trail in to an equestrian centre's yard :P Pegasus road shoes held up ok but could've done with perhaps some more cushioning and grip to feel that bit more confident on the descent. There were some brief walking moments on the ascent when the gradient must have been hitting 20% gradients and it wasn't worth the effort to run and also when I was getting over eager.


Hoping to incorporate trail runs in to my sessions going forward but it may be tough during the winter months when it's pitch black and I've to get my runs completed prior to the little ones at home arising and causing havoc. Today was an exception where I got to get out running in the middle of the day.


Good to be back training. Got a training buddy that will come with me a few times on the midweek runs so I've been dictating the pace/distance/route and they're happy to have someone to remind/motivate them to get out and at it. Legs are feeling it after yesterday/today so I'm looking forward to the best part of 48 hours rest (no cycling/S&C/rehab...nadda) now before my next session. Got work related travel later in the week but will be bringing my gear with me to get the sessions done.

py

Monday
100% rest as planned. Legs were tired after my first double at the weekend.

Tuesday
8Km at 6:27min/Km, HR 142bpm. Legs still aching a little but got through it just fine. No S&C and no bicycle commute due to work travel later in the day.

Wednesday
16Km at 6:12min/Km, HR 147bpm. Was going well but had to change my route on the fly due to construction work blocking my path along the quays where I was staying. It made the 2nd half quite boring.

Later in the day I started to feel like crud. Early evening is when I knew things were going to go downhill quick. Sick with a usual illness that I would have meds for at home but didn't bring them on this brief work trip.

The rest of the week was a complete write off. I'm still not 100% so glad there's nothing on the running calendar for me tomorrow.

Upcoming week:

• Physio on Monday for hip review
• Pick up decent trail runners in sales
• Perhaps pick up some more road runners
• Finish reading Thinking on My Feet and begin Born to Run

py

Week of November 25th-December 1st.

Much better week this week with illness pretty much behind me. Energy levels not 100% and my routine was all over the place due to a few things going on at home this week (hence the evening runs) so no S&C. Need to look at my training program for the 50K again and tweak it a little. Will post that up here when I've got it ready for review. Also made really good progress in Born to Run, well over 50% through and enjoying it.

57Km for the week.

Monday
Still sick. 100% rest once again. Main illness pretty much gone by the end of the day but a few minor side effects of the meds lasted in to the next few days.

Physio - wee bit of tightness still in the hip. Felt much better afterwards and throughout the week.

Tuesday

Cycle commute - usual 15-16Km round trip at easy pace, this is pretty much my cycle every day during winter. It only really changes if the mornings are bright or the weather is nice. I might go on an early morning excursion. no fear of that until April/May 2020 at the earliest.

Evening run - 8Km, 6:30/Km,  151avg HR. As I've mentioned in the grad thread, evening runs are not my thing, much prefer them in the morning for a multitude of reasons, normal service will resume next week.


Wedneday

Cycle commute.

Evening run - 10Km,  6:10/Km,  157avg HR - hill repeats. First time doing hill repeats and found somewhere which was 5-7% gradient throughout. They were not too long, about 100 metres (30 seconds ish) per repeat but felt like a good workout. A couple of other hills I was looking at locally are the full distance of this or part (surely not all of it?!) of this.


Thursday

Evening run - 9Km,  6:18/Km,  147avg HR. Different to one of my usual routes, going to have to start running in different areas to alleviate the boredom of running in the dark.

Friday

Cycle commute.

Yoga.


Saturday

Early morning run - 10Km, 6:43/Km,  148avg HR. Quite an easy run, HR a bit higher as I was way overdressed so overheated a little. Still finding it difficult to know what to wear for these longer winter runs as I was only really doing 3-5Km runs this time last year and they were at a higher pace too. Any advice welcome.


Sunday

Junior parkrun in the morning. Young lad enjoyed it a lot and he's halfway to his Ultra wristband. Trying to instill some good habits of getting outdoors and being active at a young age but unsure how much to push him to get out the door to get to parkrun. When the actual event is done he's thrilled he's done it, can be a struggle at times to get there though. Cake at the end helped

Afternoon run - 20Km, 6:18/Km,  161avg HR - 587m elevation. Got new trail shoes in the post during the week so was itching to try them out. Plan was to run up past Three rock, go around to the back of The Gap, up to Two Rock and back down the Wicklow Way on to Kilmashogue Lane. Took a wrong turn at a fork on the road on the way up to Two Rock and and ended up back at Three Rock. No harm as at least I wasn't too lost and I know the exact point I went wrong for next time. Really enjoyable run up in the hills and the new kicks held up really well in providing stability and grip on the trails.

py

Week of December 2nd-8th

66Km for the week. Couple of tough runs this week - one was from a motivational pov and the other from fatigue. Last 2 weeks have seen an increase in mileage so going to either drop it back or have it stagnate for the week ahead to allow for some recovery. Only one day of S&C this week due to time constraints but with yoga finished till the new year then Friday may be a new S&C day. Finished "Born to Run", highly recommended for anyone who hasn't read it.

Diet this week was pretty terrible. Discipline is required. Need to keep on top of this and prep as much as possible in advance.

Physio tomorrow for a check in on the hip. Last session showed that my strength in the area had improved significantly but still some tightness remained. Hoping it's strong and loose tomorrow.

Donadea 50Km is 9 weeks away. I'm going to get out to there at some stage over the holidays and do a few laps of the course so I'm not going in blind on race day. My fear right now is that even if my hip is ready for the day, that physically something else may go wrong on the day. I feel like I'm prepping sufficiently from a running perspective (diet and S&C need to follow suit and quick) but my experience from DCM has me doubting myself a lot. My Plan A is to to finish within the 5 hour cut off which is 6min/Km which I think is achievable if I am disciplined with my pacing. I think the course lends itself to pacing yourself quite easily. There's also an element that I may just be torturing myself by thinking about it this early.

Monday

My new favourite day of the week, rest day from pretty much everything.

Tuesday

Morning run - 8km @ 6:06min/Km, 144avg HR.

S&C - lateral hip raises, single leg bridge, calf raises, bent leg calf raises, lunges, knee drives and pushups.

Cycle commute of 15Km

Wednesday

Morning run - 9km @ 6:18min/Km, 150avg HR. Struggled to get out the door for this. Main reason is that I didn't have a set plan (distance or hillls etc) nailed down for the run so I faffed about. Eventually got out and I ran, that's about all I can say for it.

Thursday

8Km @ 6:23min/Km, 144avg HR.

Cycle commute of 15Km

Friday

40 mins Yoga.

Cycle commute of 15Km

Saturday

26.5Km @ 6:50min/Km, 161avg HR, 779m of elevation. Another enjoyable run up in the hills, starting to get a better sense of direction up there and recognised more of the RTL route from a weeks ago. Still went the wrong wat a few times though. It was a wild day up there with strong winds and some brief sideways rain. Thankfully I was prepared with buffs, gloves and wind jacket. Covered Three rock, Two rock, Tibradden, Cruagh and Massey woods. I am far from a mountain goat but I really look forward to this run each week now. It's exceptionally tranquil up there with the only thing to be concerned about is where your next step goes.

Sunday

14.5Km @ 6:33min/Km, 144avg HR. Felt a little fatigued for the 13th/14th Km but finished the last .5Km in better shape. Was greatful for the company whilst out on this run as the conversation took my mind away from tired legs.

py

Week of December 9th-16th

This week went mostly to plan. Got my rest when I was supposed to. Also managed to have a step back week for more recovery. Diet great at the start but poor at the end. 2 S&C sessions this week was positive. Cold weather this week was horrid. Next week is a bump up in mileage, heading for 73Km/45miles.

8 weeks to go to Donadea. 6 months till Comrades.

56Km for the week.

Monday

Rest day as planned. Physio for check in on hip. It's much improved since DCM, little bit more to go and I feel I'll be 100%.

Tuesday

Morning run - 8Km @ 6:15/Km, 153avg HR.

S&C - lateral hip raises, single leg bridge, calf raises, bent leg calf raises, lunges, knee drives and pushups.

Cycle commute of 15Km

Wednesday

Morning run - 8Km @ ; 6:24/Km,  149avg HR - 30 second hill sprints with ~100 seconds recovery * 10.

Thursday

Morning run - 8Km @ ; 6:13/Km,  146avg HR.

Cycle commute of 15Km

Friday

Cycle commute of 15Km

S&C - lateral hip raises, single leg bridge, calf raises, bent leg calf raises, lunges, knee drives and pushups. Bumped the reps and weight up on a few of these. Making progress.

Saturday

Morning run - 16Km @ 6:28/Km,  138avg HR. Included a parkrun in this but kept it low intensity.

Sunday

Afternoon run - 16Km @ 6:06/Km,  143avg HR. Included 20 minutes at planned race pace just to see how the body would handle it and seemed to go ok.

py

I've been getting advice from those who have participated/completed Comrades and think I've nailed down my race calendar for first half of 2020. From the guidance I've been given, this will give myself the best chance of reaching the finish line in Durban prior to the 12 hour cut off:

• February 9th - Donadea - 50Km
• March 28th - Maurice Mullins Half - 25Km
• April 19th - Connemarathon Ultra - 63Km
• June 14th - Comrades

Pending body and mind being in good shape, I'll look at doing the DCM race series as prep for DCM. That's a long way away yet so laser focus on February for now.

py

Keep forgetting to post this. This is my training plan for Donadea. It's an abridged version of the Hal Higdon 50Km ultra plan. I've had to adjust it as I'll be traveling with about 3-4 weeks prior to the race and also because I'm not going to be racing a marathon prior to Donadea.

For every other middle midweek run I'm hoping to do hill repeats. For the non step back/recovery weeks I'm planning on doing at least one of my LSRs on trails/hilly terrain. Donadea is pan flat but this rotation in addition to the S&C has helped me build leg strength thus far.

Comments and opinions welcome as always.

Treviso

5HR LSR :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

skyblue46

Treviso wrote: »

5HR LSR :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

I have to agree. A 5 hour LSR is bonkers. Very few go above 3 hours for a marathon and Donadea is only 8kms longer than a marathon.

To me the schedule for the year is a huge step up from Novice DCM but that aside I think I'd be looking at doubles as a way to up mileage..

skyblue46

Treviso wrote: »

5HR LSR :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

I have to agree. A 5 hour LSR is bonkers. Very few go above 3 hours for a marathon and Donadea is only 8kms longer than a marathon.

To me the schedule for the year is a huge step up from Novice DCM but that aside I think I'd be looking at doubles as a way to up mileage..

skyblue46

Treviso wrote: »

5HR LSR :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

You're more polite than I am...

py

Treviso wrote: »

5HR LSR :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

skyblue46 wrote: »

I have to agree. A 5 hour LSR is bonkers. Very few go above 3 hours for a marathon and Donadea is only 8kms longer than a marathon.

Thanks for the comments. The 5hour LSR was the one day on the HH plan that I was really unsure of what it's benefits to my training were. I may change that week to a 3 hour LSR on each day as opposed to the 2/5 hour LSR the way it currently is. Again, open to suggestions on what is going to help me the most.

Should I dump the 4 hour LSR too?

skyblue46 wrote: »

To me the schedule for the year is a huge step up from Novice DCM but that aside I think I'd be looking at doubles as a way to up mileage..

Thanks for the suggestion. I'd like to do a runmute double once a week but I want to get a few more one way trips under my belt before attempting a double.

py

Week of December 16th-22nd

A good week of running. Enjoyed my first runmute so I'm hoping to get some more of these in to my routine in the new year. Tough back to back long runs this weekend but happy to have completed them without any physical issues. If the upcoming week goes to plan I'll have completed 1,500Km for the year.

7 weeks till Donadea.

73Km for the week. Biggest week I've ever done. Slight increase for the upcoming week too.

Monday

Rest day

Physio was really happy with how hip strength is, will probably get a follow up in mid January just to make sure I'm in good shape prior to taper.

Tuesday

Morning run - 7.5Km @ 6:16min/Km, 146avg HR.

S&C - lateral hip raises, single leg bridge, calf raises, bent leg calf raises, lunges, knee drives and pushups.

Cycle commute of 15Km

Wednesday

Morning runmute - 10.5Km @ 6:07min/Km, 153avg HR. First runmute, this was enjoyable and will not be my last one. Pace should've been slower by 15-20 seconds for the runmute so will monitor it the next time I do it. Didn't take a direct route as I'd to to get at least 10Km done.

Thursday

Morning run - 8Km @ 6:12min/Km, 144avg HR.

Friday

Cycle commute of 15Km

Saturday

Afternoon run - 27Km @ 6:40min/Km, 157avg HR, 804m elevation. Back on the trails this week and managed not to get lost this time. More elevation than I've done to date so last ascent was tough so ended up doing some run/walk to avoid stopping. Recent book I've been read recommended run 100 steps and walk 50 when going uphill during Comrades and this worked really well and didn't result in too much drop off in Km/min.

Sunday

Morning run - 20Km @ 6:43min/Km, 136avg HR. After yesterday's run, this was a physical and mentally tough run. I'd the company for the first half and then I'd podcasts for the 2nd half. Delighted to get through it.

py

Week of December 23rd-29th

Hope everyone had a nice enjoyable/quiet/happy Christmas/Holiday. Thankfully it was quiet here. Missed a couple of midweek runs due to illness but happy to have got most of the planned distance in the back to back LSRs complete. No S&C :rolleyes: After the few runs I missed, I'll be slightly short of the 1,500Km for the year but not going to start chasing irrelevant targets which may break me physically.

6 weeks till Donadea.

50Km for the week which is 2/3 of what I'd hoped for. Just glad I caught the illness early or it could've been 12Km total. Need to review my plan for the next 3 weeks as they're still the upswing of the plan and I'm away for the last week of that. I also have the possibility of doing a half marathon as an LSR when I'm away so going to start looking at booking my place for that this week.

Parkrun double on Wednesday so might see a few of you about. Still undecided on which double but I think it'll be Griffeen/Brickfields and then over to Tymon.

Monday

Rest day.

Tuesday

Afternoon run - 12Km @ 6:14min/Km, 137avg HR. Can't recall anything about this run... it's on strava so it must have happened.

Wednesday/Thursday

Sick - tonsillitis back once again but caught it very early so only 2 days off my feet instead of 5 like last time.

Friday

Rest day - was tempted to get out after missing a few days but decided to stick to the plan and not chase lost miles.

Saturday

Morning run - 18Km @ 6:19min/Km, 147avg HR. Went out to Donadea forest to see what the route for the 50Km is like...eventually travelled the right route after several attempts Enjoyable enough route with mostly compacted clay/mud and a small amount of tarmac. Dunno if it was the lack of movement during the week after being sick or something else but legs just didn't feel good and started to feel some niggles in my left calf and left hamstring. Had hoped to get 5 laps of the course in but ended up with 3.5. Got home and cleaned up and worked through some stretching and rolling which helped immensely.

Sunday

Afternoon run - 20km @ 6:30min/Km, 144 avg HR. Legs felt a little better throughout but definitely fatigued towards the end. Happy to get back to back LSRs complete after being ill for a few days. More stretching/rolling afterwards.


Edit: just realised Brickfields is on at 11am on NYD so need to rejig my plans for my parkrun double

py

Week of December 30th - January 5th

(sorry, a lot of words this week)

Happy new year everyone, wishing you all the best for 2020.

2019 review - I ran almost 1500Km which is pretty much 1500Km more than I'd ever run before. Completed a few races - some went well, others did not. Had a blast being a member of the DCM Novices group and learned a huge amount from the mentors (thanks again Mr G, ReeReeg and Huzzah) and also the other novices.

This week felt great to finish out 2019 and kick start 2020 with the NYD double run. Few issues with stomach this week but putting it down to poor eating choices though I'll be keeping an eye on it for a few weeks. Looking forward to the routine of the work week moving forward. I've got work travel next Saturday morning. Should I get my LSR out of the way earlier (5am?) on the Saturday or move it to the Friday to get it done? I'm leaning towards the Friday as I'm concerned that an LSR plus about 12hours of flights will have my immune system shot to sh!t.

I got signed up to the 3M Half Marathon which is taking place whilst I'm traveling so I'm looking forward to participating in my first foreign running event. It looks like a nice fast course but I'll be running it as my last longish LSR prior to taper for Donadea. So looking forward to taper.

5 weeks till Donadea. Unsure how I feel about the 50Km right now. I need to get these niggles in my left leg sorted which have been occurring the past 10 days. Hoping they're nothing serious and just a sign of fatigue with the increased mileage which will ease during the taper in 2 weeks. Hoping. :o:( Physio tomorrow to be sure.

76Km/47miles for the week.

Monday

Usually a rest day but took the road bike out for the first time in months for a quick spin in and out of the city to take care of some personal stuff. Roads were really quiet which made for an enjoyable spin. 17Km return at moderate effort.

Tuesday

Morning run - 10Km @ 6:25min/Km, 136avg HR. Enjoyable 10Km and a little slower than my usual easy pace due to the parkrun double the next day.

Wednesday

Morning run - 24Km @ 5:47min/Km, 146avg HR. Parkrun double at Griffeen and Tymon was a great start to the year and my first goal of the year ticked off. I knew the transition between the two was going to be tight so I'd to pace myself well at Griffeen, get barcode scanned as quick as possible and then hit the road to make it in time for the RD chat at Tymon. Griffeen was 27.44 which felt easy and my HR was at a good level for the duration of it. I hit the road after grabbing a lucozade sport from the car and started my 10-11km transition between the two. Roads were relatively quiet so I tried to stay on them as much as possible instead of the undulating or off camber paths. Made good time even with a quick toilet break in the trees just before arriving at the RD chat. Caught the tail end of the RD stuff and then we're off. Stomach started to feel off and I'm unsure if it was the lucozade sport which is unusual for me to drink or whether it was food from a NYE party the night before. I was on the dry and in bed at 11pm but it's unusual for me to eat past 7pm so I'm putting it down to a combination of both. Had to ease up on pace due to the stomach and one or two niggles in my leg that have shown up over the holidays. Got around Tymon in 31:28. Grabbed some water and some sweets at the end and hit the road home to finish out the rest of the run. Delighted to get my first NYD double done though I might not put myself under so much pressure next year and do two that are a little closer.

Thursday
Late afternoon recovery buggy run - 6Km @ 7:02min/Km, 137avg HR. Had the youngest in the buggy with me for this and it was windy as hell out. Short and sweet to get the blood flowing to the legs after the NYD escapades.

Friday

Rest day.

Saturday
Morning run - 19Km @ 6:43min/Km, 146avg HR. Average run was average. Few niggles still about. No stomach issues.

Sunday
Evening run - 16Km @ 6:51min/Km, 135avg HR. Due to issues out of my control I'd to push this run from the morning to the evening. I really dislike running in the evening time due to a number of factors, the main one being that it puts me out of routine when it comes to diet. Had to slow down to a walk twice in the last 5Km due to stomach issues. Got home without incident :P

Treviso

That 3m Half marathon course is my sort of elevation profile! Enjoy it

https://secureservercdn.net/184.168.47.225/74c.8a1.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/3M-Elevation-2018.pdf

py

Spotted some swish graphs over on mister paul's log recently. They're from the Elevate chrome browser plugin which links in to Strava. it took multiple syncs with the app until I got my own data loaded in.

Very little running data. Started running "regularly" in Nov 2018. There's a very small blip for 2017 when I tried to run/jog 5Km as a once off.



Smallest distance for a full calendar year of cycling since I started 6 years ago. If there was no other exercise in going on I might be annoyed but running really took off last year. Should hit a total of 30,000Km on the bike in the first half of the year.

Mr. Guappa

Is running something you think you'll stick with long term, or is it more of a bucket list thing, i.e. do a marathon, do a 50k, do Comrades, then move onto the next big challenge, in whatever discipline that may be? Triathlon?

py

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Is running something you think you'll stick with long term, or is it more of a bucket list thing, i.e. do a marathon, do a 50k, do Comrades, then move onto the next big challenge, in whatever discipline that may be? Triathlon?

I don't know sorry . Running has kind of caught me off guard if I'm honest, in a good way. I'm enjoying it, it fits in with family/work/college(last year) life much easier than cycling (imo anyway), it's cheaper (vaporfly at $250 or carbon wheels at $000s :P), it's safer (no motor vehicles on paths/trails) and it still gets me out in the fresh air like cycling does. Unsure on triathlons. I almost signed up to some Duathlons in spring 2019 so that may be something for early 2021.

I had plans in my head for cycling for 2020 and beyond (LEL in 2021 and PBP in 2023). If I were to tackle those I would have used 2020 as a starting point for building endurance on the bike and testing out a new bike along with new gear/equipment to get me ready for the big distances to ensure I was completely ready for all weather/terrain. I'm in no way disappointed that those plans have been delayed, just delighted to be enjoying what I'm doing while getting fit/healthy.