Fast for 40
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29-09-2022 3:27pm#1
Long time lurker, have toyed with the idea of making a training log for a while and thought I'd give it a go as I'm reading a lot of the marathon threads here at the moment and there seems to be a nice community here so will give this a go, though not sure how regularly I'll update this!!
At 37 I'm about a year into my running journey; a little over a year ago I decided to give the Galway Bay 10km a go after a couple of years of trying t get into running, having never ran a race further than 5km which was about 20 years previous, so absolutely no pedigree here! I always enjoyed running in my early childhood but it was never really something I did consistently, so maybe it was hitting that hump in my 30's which would see me enter the backend of that decade coupled with the fact I had become a Dad and my daughter, was 1 at the time, focused my mind into what sort of role model I wanted to be which brought me back to running.
Growing up I was always fast, my claim to fame probably winning the u-12 100m in my county in the community games (only to get slaughtered in the heats in Mosney!!) I was always fit up until around 16, as I was involved in lots of sports and activities at various stages of adolescence i.e. Gaelic football, soccer, swimming, Irish dancing so all that gave me a fairly good fitness level though none geared towards endurance I suppose!
Though I went the complete opposite direction in the next few years, college, found alcohol, wet out way too much, travelled etc. And during this time never did any sport or activity consistently, every now and again would try and get back into something like 5-a-side but inevitable with no training behind me I'd get injured, lose motivation, rinse and repeat.
Saying that, I still probably retained a decent level of natural fitness. Going from years of nothing structured when I started to get back into running a couple of years ago I could manage a 5km in around 25-26mins so not too bad really.
After some convincing by a friend, I decided to sign up for the 10km about 8 weeks out, thinking I could get a decent training block in to give it a good go, but with life and probably just not used of consistent training or putting running as a priority, I failed miserably and probably only managed around 10 runs I those 8 weeks, if even, I must actually look back! So, with no idea of how to pace a race or what I should target I somehow landed on a plan of trying to hold 4:40/km, though a run in the week leading up to the race I struggled to hold that for around 4km, I decided to go for it on the day.
The day came and I was taken aback by the amount of people, the noise, the buzz around the place, music blaring, I loved it!! I ended up running just under 46mins but it came in 250m short on my GPS so not exactly sure if I can count that as a full 10km even though I'm sure it's measured. I hit 4:40/km exactly so was happy with that even though my HR was sky high for the whole thing and the last 500m I thought my heart was going to jump through my chest!! I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience though and I was hooked. Thinking of what I'd target next is where I suppose the whole fast for 40 idea came from.
With only two road races to my name, a 5km and 10km, both about 20 years apart, the only obvious target was...can I run a sub-3 hour marathon by the time I'm 40? (A very natural jump from where I was, I'm sure you'll agree lol)
Thanks for reading this far, if you've managed to do so. I'll wrap this upas an intro and part 1. Part 2, will be my next post and I'll detail what I've been doing in the past year since that race!
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Part 2
So, how do I go about achieving a goal like this. I mentioned in my previous post I had tried to get back into running in the couple of years prior, but this was really just me trying to run 2-3 times a week and when I did it would be as hard as I could and generally 3-5km, then I might get an injury or not have motivation for a few weeks, so always found myself back where I started, so how do I keep consistency and not get injured.
I thought the best thing to do would be to hire a coach, a friend of mine is a really good distance runner and had started his own coaching business so I signed up with him, a way of delegating the planning of sessions as I found the level of information overwhelming and time consuming, what should I be doing, when, volume, intensity etc. And also to keep me accountable, I'm definitely better when I have to check in with someone rather than left to my own devices. So, I signed up with him with the intention of signing up for a marathon in 2022, but immediately targeted the jingle bells 5km as it was only about 6 weeks away from when I signed up so we thought this would be a good initial target and build on that with more races in 2022.
This was the first time I tried to put any structure into my personal training and I enjoyed getting the sessions done. Nice to not have to worry about planning a session and just going out and trying to execute it, find this works well for me, saves some mental capacity! On the day I ran it in 19:46, was very happy with a sub-20 just about 8 weeks after the 46min 10km in Galway.
Into the new year with renewed optimism and enjoyment in running, and to the news that we were expecting our second child, this was going to be a busy year! I decided to target Dublin, and hope for an entry in the lotto, was so excited I went out and bought a pair of NB RC Elite 2 - this was an investment towards the marathon and these would be the shoes I'd wear for it, felt really motivated by this!!
Had my next 10km race signed up for, Charlestown 10km in Mayo in the middle of February. Ran 137km in January but disaster on the last day of the month, taking my new shoes for a spin in an interval session (their second) before the 10km and had an Achilles flare up, fist time this ever happened. Went to physio to manage it over the next few weeks and was feeling good again by the time the race rolled around but only managed about 20km in the two weeks leading up to it.
Being a novice I wasn't exactly sure what I should be targeting for the race, especially with this period of injury but whatever I tried I completely made a hash of it, went out way too hard. I remember after about 3km cruising along and then turning 90degrees onto a back road and the wind just hitting me, from there I died until he end. A very humbling and disheartening experience but experience and character building, I can say now with the benefit of hindsight, definitely didn't feel that at the time!! Still though a PB in 44:14.
Next 10km was on Paddy's Day, definitely paced this much better, though a hill at the start of the final km killed me it was downhill to the end, a much more enjoyable race on an undulating course in a time of 43:13 - another PB by about a minute in the space of 4 weeks, can feel the progress and it was a good training month.
A month later say me take part in my first ever half marathon, a new event in Carney in Sligo. I was a bit intimidated by this distance as my long runs still weren't that long, less than a week before the race was my longest run scheduled for 18km, this gave me great cause for concern because I went to pieces during it. I remember after about 16km I was really feeling it and my mind got the better of me and I stopped to walk, and again about a km later, stopped the run at 17.4km in 85mins and felt defeated and dreading the race to come.. how can I even complete it if I can't complete a shorter training run was my mindset. I just remembered a week or two before that on a 16km long run I ended up walking too so it definitely got to me.
With all that I decided to not bother targeting a specific time, I just thought no point putting too much pressure on myself, go out and enjoy the first one, take the first few km's easy and just hold a relatively comfortable effort. I knew the course had quite a steep hill around 17km in so I didn't want to have nothing left in the tank by the time I got there so staying conservative until that point and seeing what I had left after that was the plan.
It went perfectly, probably the best I've paced a race so far, did exactly as I had planned and finished really strongly, in a time of 1:37:32, much quicker than what I thought I could achieve, definitely ne of the high points in my journey so far. I drew some comparisons from this race with that first 10km in Galway. I managed to run a quicker average pace per km, at 4:38, than that 10km only 6months previously, and didn't feel nearly as shattered crossing the line in the half than I did in the 10km. The last 4km's of the half after that hill, I ran in 4:14, 4:13, 4:37, 4:10 - the last km being my fastest of the race. I'm still not quite sure how I managed that now!
My next race was about a month later another half, the River Moy half in Ballina. I suffered a setback in the lead up to it and was injured for about a week, and then another week of easing myself back into it on top of a reduced week after the Carney half so probably lost a bit of fitness but definitely didn't gain anything anyway. I decided to approach this one differently just to see how different strategies work. Given I ran 4:38/km average in my first half but by going out conservatively and growing into the race, wanted to see if I could run the same pace but with even splits throughout. In short, I didn't manage this and came in just under the 1:40 mark by a few seconds. Found this one much tougher, not sure if it was the strategy, the fact I had a slight knee injury in the build up or the fact it was a much warmer and more humid day and I didn't allow for this. Last 5km or so I felt really tough, felt dead on my feet and breathing really heavily, though I'm beginning to realise, now when I look back, that these times I feel like I'm blowing up are never really as slow as you think you are going in the moment, as you feel you are nearly walking and world crashing around you!! lol
Next race was about two weeks later, a 10km in Strokestown. A fairly enjoyable race, that I paced fairly well I think, slowed down about in km's 8 and 9 but managed to finish strongly with my fastest km of 4:02 for a time of 43:01 - gave everything going for the line to dip under 43 and thought I crossed at 43 even but just outside it. Still though another PB, so happy with that.
Roll on two more weeks and take part in he Dunshaughlin 10km, by far the most people I've shared a start line with to this point. Was a glorious evening, another factor I had to take into account as all my races so far have been in the morning. Drove down early with a friend and we walked around, we drove the course to get an idea of what was ahead of us. Very happy with how I paced this one, a very enjoyable race and finished strongly with my two fastest km's of 4:11 and 3:58 for an 18second PB in a time of 42:43.
I've only had one more race since but more of a fun run, though very tough, the Warriors Run in Sligo, my first time doing it in just under 1:22. The course is just over 14km with an elevation gain of 400m so fairly tough, enjoyed it that was the las weekend in August.
Training has been ok since the last 10k in Dunshaughlin but I picked up a niggle sometime in July I think that I was managing through July and August and through the last race as well. I feel like that is just behind me now and the last 3-4weeks have been really good, consistent training again after a dip in July and August while I managed this but impacted my long runs and had to miss a few. The niggle was a pain in my groin, but physio diagnosed the issue as hip weakness so I've been rehabbing that and it's gone well as I feel mostly ok now when I'm running. But has highlighted that I've definitely neglected the S&C side of things which I plan to rectify moving forward.
During that period I hit a bit of a mental wobble, found the injury tough and felt like I was going backwards, don't think I was but mentally it felt that way. With the arrival of our second daughter and sleep at a premium, I just found the going tough there for a few weeks and started to question the point of it all, possibly lost a bit of the enjoyment from running as a result. But having said that, I'm feeling much more positive again, this is my fourth good week in a row after a 3 week dip. Have logged my most km's in a month to date since I started this journey with a few more to add tomorrow. Ran my longest run last weekend hitting the 30km mark, and although found the last 5km of this very tough, it was a good session and averaged 5:05/km for the run. I'm planning my runs in advance and around family life so feel like I'm in a better place again and enjoying the build up now.
Only 4 weeks to go to Dublin and my first marathon experience, I have no idea what this will be like or what the outcome will be, still not sure exactly what I'll target on race day but feel like I might try to approach it like I did m first half and just go out and enjoy it and might surprise myself like I did that day! Whatever happens I've enjoyed the journey so far and have already learned a hell of a lot, learn more with each race and with each week of training.
A couple of really long posts there to kick me off, but had to catch you up on the past year!! Hopefully I can keep this log updated as the weeks go on. Thanks for reading this far if you've survived the tsunami of words!!
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Your right, the community here is great, the best thing about the whole of boards.ie. Good luck on your Journey and especially the Dublin Marathon.
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Thanks very much. Are you doing Dublin yourself?
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I am indeed, very much looking forward to it. My first marathon was 2019 Dublin, unforgettable day, the atmosphere, the runners, supporters and of course the culmination of weeks of training.
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Best of luck with it, I'm really looking forward to it myself. I've done two races with large fields but under 1k each, this will be next level, can't wait to be apart of the atmosphere!
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My opinion would definitely try and enjoy your first marathon. Are you part of the mentored novices thread here? You’ll get lots of info and advice about the route etc in the next 4 weeks there.
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Thanks, no I'm not part of it but I have been reading it the past week or so and have already picked up some good advice from it about the course so will follow that closely between now and the race especially while I try to come up with a race strategy!
Also keeping an eye on the marathon improvers thread!!
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Welcome to the logs! Dublin 2019 was my 1st marathon & what an amazing experience. As already said, enjoy it as much as you can.
Best of luck with the log & your training 😊
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Thanks, really looking forward to it now, hard to believe it's just a little over 4 weeks away!
Still not sure how I'll approach it but after reading the novice thread here I'm leaning towards going out conservatively and seeing what I have in the second half.
Some kind soul posted the race profile in the novice thread and looks like the first 11km is mostly hilly and then the next 5km is a reprieve, so thinking the first 11km a bit easier and make up the time in the next 5km and then see what happens from there!
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Yes good to see the profile, there will be a lot more talking about the course over the coming weeks.
I ran a negative split for it, definitely all the advice is a conservative start. It's easy to get caught up in a fast start with all the adrenaline etc but having a plan & sticking to it will be where you will see the discipline! I can't wait to run Dublin again😁
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Sept 26th - October 2nd
Total km's: 61.2
Wednesday: 10mins easy, 10km alternating km's 4:15 & 5:00, 10mins easy - 13.6km
Thursday: 40mins easy - 7km
Friday: 45mins easy - 8km
Sunday: 5km & 5x(4k@4:45/km & 1km float@5:10/km) & 2k - 32km (2hr 39mins)
Longest ever run and most km's in a week, so happy with progress. At 31.2km today both my hamstrings cramped, 60-90 secs to stretch and could walk and was able to jog to the finish.
Just setting to be wary of for next week, don't think I drank enough water yesterday which may have contributed to the cramping. Will adjust things for next week.
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Really enjoyed reading your intro posts. You've an infectious enthusiasm.
You will definitely sub3 by the time you're 40 I feel, if you're clever about it.
Enjoy Dublin, it's a spectacular day. Don't put too much pressure on yourself though. The abosolute optimum play on your first marathon, particularly DCM, is to enjoy every minute of it and to walk (limp lol) away hooked.
A solid year of volume then, aerobic running, engine building will see you smash it next year.
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Thanks very much, great to hear you enjoyed reading my ramblings!! Was worried those posts were too long for anyone to actually read in full!! Appreciate you taking an interest!!
Really looking forward to the marathon now, starting to get excited already. Have had to overcome a few mental struggles with training in the last year but delighted to have gotten this far and now it's just to get to the start line!
Aready looking to potential marathons next year!! Think I've well and truly caught the bug!!
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October 3 - 9
Total weekly km's: 64
A bit late keeping the log up to date but life is busy at the moment so hard to fot everything in. With that in mind I've been having to move around some of my runs to what suits home life a bit more so this week I had a session on Wednesday followed by easy runs Thursday and Friday before the longest run of the block and my longest run ever!
Wednesday - 13.6km @ 4:47/km (10mins easy & 5x(7mins @4:15 off 2mins float @5:10) & 10mins easy)
Thursday - 9km @ 5:34/km
Friday - 6.5km @ 5:22/km
Sunday - 35km @ 5:05/km
Wednesday went well but found the last couple of reps tough, although 4:15 was the pace the reps were more like 4:20. Had to dig deep on the last one.
Long run on Sunday, felt good and controlled up until about 28km, the last 7km was tough. Actually aerobically I felt ok, probably the most comfortable I have felt on one of these runs. The legs just had nothing left I felt at this point, the just felt heavy and could feel I didn't have the same stride length. Last 7km were 5:25-5:35's roughly when I was probably under 5:00/km up until that.
I'm happy with that though, continue to learn from these long runs. I've had to stop during long runs on this block because aerobically I've felt like I pushed too hard so good feeling to have that under control on this run and it's theongest run over ever done so all around happy.
I did have sore and heavy legs for a couple of days afterwards but no ill effects or anything from those runs.
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Well done. How are you fuelling the long runs? Maybe you need more fuel?
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Thanks. Mainly gels, take a gel a few mins before setting off and then one every 35mins, use SIS Beta Fuel so 40g carbs per gel. I only started taking a gel pre-run on my last two long runs but seems to work ok for me.
My last long run before this week I cramped before 32km so I dropped a hydration tab into a water bottle, while running, and took that and tested out using some lucozade sport this week, first time ever trying that on a run but thought it would be good to test as that will be available on the course.
Think the hydration strategy worked a bit better this week rather than my usual which was just gels and water.
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Might be no harm taking some hydration tablets the two days before your long runs too. It does sound a bit like you are running out of energy. From my second marathon on I needed gels every 30 mins. I wasn’t often enough the first marathon. Now I don’t know how many carbs were in mine compare to yours but on marathon day it might help.
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I was taking a hydration tab every day, but ran out at the start of this week so need to get more!
Though they say you can take 2 a day so might start doing that the day or two before a long run.
I used to only take a gel every 40-45mins but have pulled that back to 35mins the last few long runs and have had no issues so might be worth trying every 30mins before the big day. Have 29km coming up on Sunday so could be my last chance to test out these things properly before race day!
Thanks for your suggestions, this is all very new to me and learning as I go!
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A sub-3 marathon at 40, with 3 years to prepare, should be possible for any reasonably dedicated runner willing to work at it. To be honest though, your current times at 5/10k suggest something more in the 3:30 region.
It’s important to be realistic, especially in the beginning. Age is on your side though - make the most of it, and once you've made one milestone, consider the next. Good luck.
Post edited by Murph_D on1 -
Oh yeah, I'm not shooting for sub 3 with this one. I think for this one I'll target sub 3:30. Planning on going out around 3:35 pace and seeing how I feel from then on the day but won't be pushing hard or anything. Would be very happy with anything around 3:30 with my first marathon
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October 10 - 16
Total weekly km's: 50.8
After last week's long run my legs felt the most beat up they have during the whole block so far. Had Doms for 2 days in both my quads, and wasn't sure how I'd fare for my session on Wednesday.
On Wednesday as well I had a sports massage booked in, this helped the legs, loosened them out again I felt. After this, I decided to go ahead with my planned session and if the legs didn't have it to just back off and get a good run in.
Session went better than expected. I did 6x5mins@4:15/km off 2mins float around 5:10/km. I had a similar session the previous week of 5x7mins but I didn't think this week's felt as tough which I was delighted with following the long run on Sunday!
I had two easy runs scheduled this week but only managed one, things were a bit hectic this week. But not too bothered at this stage.
So, only got 3 runs in this week. Managed my long run today, 29km. It was broken into 7km@5:00/km, 5x3k@4:45/km off 1km float@5:00/km and 2k@5:00/km to finish. I decided to dial it back a bit as felt that was probably a bit much at this stage. So went out around 5:15's for the 7km, I set up a workout on my Garmin for these types of runs and set the pace between 4:45-4:55 for the 3k reps.
My plan for the run was to just stay comfortable and in control and if I ever felt I was pushing or chasing the time I'd just back off. Luckily this didn't happen and I felt quite good during the run and felt strong at the finish. By far the best I've felt after a long run over 25km.
Wednesday: 12.8km @ 4:51/km
Friday: 9km @ 5:25/km
Sunday: 29km @ 5:00/km
I've been doing these long runs from my wife's parents house, we visit at the weekends and easier for my wife to have help with the kids while I'm away and the route is nice. Anyway, when I came in the door after my run today my mother in law looked at me and said, "you look better than usual, you must be getting used to them" 🤣🤣 That's one way to measure improvement I guess! 🤣
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October 17 - 23
Total weekly km's: 36.9
4 runs scheduled this week, 2 easy runs @ 40mins each, a midweek session of 800's on/off and a long run 18km.
I missed one of my easy runs like last week but also like last week not too bothered at this stage, home life is fairly hectic so if I get my main runs in at this stage I'm happy.
On Thursday I got my session in. 10mins easy to start and finish with 5x800m on/off @4:00/km and 5:00/km sandwiches between. I enjoyed this session, was comfortably tough and didn't feel like I had to push too hard to maintain paces. I wouldn't have pushed if it wasn't there on the day. Splits of 4:01,3:58,4:02,4:00,4:02/km and 4:53,4:48,4:46,5:03,5:00/km. If anything probably overcooked the recovery reps a little but didn't feel out of my comfort zone.
Got my long run in on Sunday, like many on that day I'm sure, I got caught in a couple of torrential downpours. But I don't mind those so much, so long as they don't last too long and they're not too bad once you're out running, would be a different story trying to start in it!! This was scheduled as 4km @ 5:15/km 12km @5:00 and 2km@5:15. This felt very comfortable for me, aerobically it's the easiest I've ever felt running 18km. I had to keep holding myself back on this run, once I lost a bit of concentration and my mind started to wander a bit, before I'd realise I'd be at 4:45/km pace and would pull myself back but didn't feel like I was pushing or anything!
This run has given me a bit more confidence going into the marathon. I know it's not much on it's own but I've reflected a bit on my journey so far and around 6months ago, about a week before my first half marathon I had an 18km to do and I blew up competely, couldn't manage it walked a couple of times after 14km. I remember thinking how am I going to manage a half if I can't even manage that. Anyway, on the day the half marathon went better than expected so nothing to worry about. But if I look back and contrast that run with the one I did at the weekend, I can really see the progress I've made in those few months and I already consider that a massive win.
Wednesday: 7.1km @ 5:39/km
Thursday: 11.69km @ 4:45/km
Sunday: 18km @ 5:02/km
Really looking forward to the marathon now. A few more runs to do this week, can't believe it less than a week away now!!
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Best of luck on Sunday. Hope it goes well.
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Very best of luck😊
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Thanks very much, excitement starting to build. On the train on my way up to Dublin now, looking forward to getting to the Expo and taking it all in
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Thanks very much, excitement starting to build. On the train on my way up to Dublin now, looking forward to getting to the Expo and taking it all in
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October 24 - 29 final taper week to date
Total weekly km's: 13.82
So this saw my final week of preparation for my first ever marathon. Very light week this week, as has been the case the past few weeks home life has been a bit hectic so I skipped an easy run, so only two runs for the week.
Wednesday saw my final session 10mins ready to start and finish with 3x5mins@4:45/km with 2mins easy recovery. Like last week I found it well within my comfort zone and if anything was hard to try and hold back! Reps ended up being 4:40, 4:36, 4:33/km
Wednesday: 8.27km @ 4:57/km
Thursday: 5.55km @ 5:19/km
Have been getting progressively more excited as the last couple of weeks have gone by. Found it very strange with the reduction in volume and number of days running.
I can't say I've had any negative thoughts about it, I have a target in mind (3:30) which is definitely achievable but it's not something I'm going to chase. The main thing I want to get from my first marathon is to enjoy the experience and get a baseline for where I am and have something to build on going into next year.
Reflecting on the last year when I decided this was going to be a goal and I bit the bullet and signed up for Dublin, not really thinking I'd get a lottery place, having no idea how these things usually work! I have to say I'm proud to have made it this far, setting a goal a year out isn't always achievable and have felt when I've targeted things in the past whether sports, work etc I've given up half way through, not really sure why, maybe self doubt, was always the easier option. To have set a goal, committed and being on the cusp of achieving that goal is definitely something I can be proud of myself for.
So, for me no matter what happens tomorrow I've already succeeded, though finishing would be the cherry on top!
Thanks for reading, already looking ahead to marathons next year, but for now I'm focusing on the here and now and hoping to enjoy every minute of it. Thanks for reading and hope to have a good report when all is said and done!
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The very best of luck tomorrow. It's going to be an amazing day.
I know you have family coming to see you, but if you can squeeze in a visit to McGrattans afterwards that would be cool
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Thanks, will see what I can manage, will all depend on how the little ones are doing at that stage!
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Great read so far 🙂. Sub3 should defo be on before 40. Could even happen @ dcm next year if you train smart and as @Murph_D said at realistic paces.
with tomorrow I would suggest to go out with the 3:40 pacers and stay with them til at least 25k mark. They will usually aim for 3:38 or so anyways. Means you are still fresh and can gain a lot of time over the last 17km.
best of luck though. Hope you will enjoy it 🙂
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