Swashbuckler's Marathon Debut?

Haha I did think the same but you know what, its a novelty again at least...Last log update was mid 2020? I cant even remember...

And true on the plan - part of the fun 😂

Thanks again everyone for the interest and inputs..Things have settled a bit in terms of the plan and its actually been four days since I looked at it! I'm not getting a sense of high optimism from people down these parts about it going ahead (not from any official sources I should add - just opinions of some running folks). Please God it will. I've no intention of a virtual attempt.

This weeks training I wanted to change it up slightly. Been a while since I did any raw speedwork and a vanilla long run so thats the route I went. I have a lot of strength based sessions done lately at HMP, MP , Threshold and CV so I wanted some pure turnover stuff added in this week.

This week featured me sampling the many playlists from the Boards playlist thread....More on that later.......

Monday - Easy with strides. (7.1M, 59mins. Avg 8.19min/mile)

This run featured the Donadea 50k playlist. Very eclectic and I must say I really enjoyed the bits I did hear. Will be putting that on shuffle again.

Tuesday - 16 x 1min on/1min off - Hard (8.25M, 65mins)

This used to be a regular one Luke used to throw at me when I was either in a 5k block or if he wanted me to get some fast, pure speed stuff in the middle of a stretch of strength training to help me keep in touch with the faster stuff (basically 16x300m off 60s).

It had been a while since I had done anything like this - infact I pretty much parked up the raw speed sessions when our third arrived. Felt like a good time to throw this in just to make sure the legs and lungs didnt forget what it was like to run "fast fast". Threw on the Endorphin Speeds for these. Did I ever say how much i love them???

Not much to tell about this session apart from it was great to get the lungs going again. The legs certainly felt it the day after. This is normal for me. The main thing for me is to be cautious as they can often trigger the hip issues again.

Paces for the splits were 5.06-5.18 although the 5.18 was an outlier and I was pleasantly surprised at the consistency. Form was good. Happy with this . 2M warmup and cooldown. I really should be addeing some strides and drills when I do these. Lazy.

Wednesday - Easy (55mins, 6.5M - Avg 8.25min/mile)

This one was sponsored by shotguns 90's hits...............................im not gonna speak ill of the man while he's not here so anything I have to say I will say to his face.............................................................................

Thursday - Easy (57mins, 7M - Avg 8.09min/mile)

Took a break from the playlist after the horror show from the day before. The legs were still a bit meh from the session. This is exactly why I shouldnt neglect the speed stuff. Once every two months isnt really enough. I also noted that because the Fuelcell TC are now retired I'm taking some other shoes I have towards retirement. The Pegasus 36 were brought to retirement this week. I have to say, i'm noticing the difference doing my easy/recovery runs on the non fancy shoes...............God forbid the Fuelcell TC would become my recovery shoe 😮

Friday - 14 miles easy, 1hr51mins - Avg 7:57

Firstly I had set out with the option of running a high volume session but with the fallback of a vanilla run. Mentally I was leaning towards the vanilla as I really have neglected easy miles/time on feet since our little girl was born. Also, crapppppppp night sleep so the decision was really made for me. The legs werent able for a session.

Secondly, this run was sponsored by Laineyfrecks Kickass Tunes playlist..........I can confirm that it is indeed a kickass playlist. The miles flew by with almost every song having me reminiscing or putting a smile to my face. Loads of tunes that I havent heard in years. Class stuff. I say "almost every song". I only picked out two duds in the 2hrs running but more to do with my taste than them being awful songs.....Great stuff E. I'll be using that playlist again.

I felt tired on this run. I definitely need to get a few more 14M/15M vanilla runs in before starting the marathon block. Received some sound advice from healy which confirmed the same.

Saturday - Rest day

This was kinda planned/kinda unplanned. I knew in advance it would be a busy day with Santa visit, gingerbread house decorating, watching the toy show with the eldest and basically spoiling her. I figured this would take up most of the day and evening. It worked out that she had zero interest in the toy show beyond the opening number so I did have an opportunity to head out in the evening if I wanted. I just decided not to and spend time chilling with the missus and having a few glasses of wine.

Sunday - Easy (9M, 73mins - Avg 8.03min/mile)

This run was sponsored by healys Lilywhites BBQ playlist. Another cracker. I had visions of relaxing in the sunshine with a beer in my hand and the choons playing away in the background...Magic. The run itself was good. I really needed the mental reset after no run on Saturday. Wore the Pegasus Turbo 2 for this. I just cant warm to them. I cant think of any run I would want to wear these for.

Total for the week: 52 miles

Total time on feet: 7hrs

Total miles year to date: 2593 miles

Decent week albeit a little on the tired and leggy side. Will play it by ear this week and see how the body is. Bad sleep again last night.

I'd like to get another vanilla long run in - maybe 15M if the legs are up to it. Will likely try for a threshold session on Tuesday.

In other news:

Was a great week for shopping wasnt it!? I think at this stage I've built up a reputation on here. I just love a good deal and even if I'm not buying I love sharing a good deal. Was texting Boardsies all weekend.

As for myself, I spent Thursday debating back and forth with myself on three deals and which one to go with: Endorphin Pro for 132, Fuelcell TC for 120, Alphafly for 180. I was this close to going with the Pro. A shoe I really like . I had always planned it as my marathon shoe until I bought the Next% last year. I cant honestly see myself picking the Pro over the Next% for a marathon. However 132 quid for a shoe that good , that can be used for big sessions in training was a super deal. Then the Alphafly with 120 quid off...............Hard to see that happening again any time soon. In the end I went with the Alphafly. Worst case I dont like them (or that awful clomping sound drives me nuts) and i'll pass them on to someone else.

Then AMK texts me Friday to point out the TC have further reduced to 100......Sigh...............

I also invested in a box of SIS gels to try them out. Thanks healy for the heads up (50% off on SIS website). Will try them out and see if they are agreeable. It's probably one of the things i'm most worried about with the marathon. I've a desperately sensitive digestive system when it comes to running. Anything eaten within an hour or two of running usually means acid burps. Hopefully the SIS work out.

Finally, anyone who would like to give a pair of Pegasus Turbo 2 a good home just let me know. Size 44.5 (UK 9.5).

Cheers S. Not sure how well I'm managing it to be honest! Probably non optimal training and the willingness to drop it if necessary....

Also, you're somewhat new to it...it gets easier....and it gets more manageable the more experience you and your missus get....I was in a heap with my first.

You had two young kids so that was probably 25 years ago? Different times. Back then kids were easily entertained by tipping a tyre along the road with a stick.😂 Shur colic didnt even exist back then. Neither did teething coz ye just rubbed whiskey on their gums......Handy work back then.

A solid week although it didnt feel like it would be at the start of the week. Legs took a while to recover from the previous week. Slowly but surely they came back to me. Switched up my shoes a bit and retired the Pegasus 36. Not sure if that made the difference but helped mentally anyway.

As the week went on I was much happier and by the end it was a decent week.

Monday - Easy (6.6M, 54mins. Avg 8.07min/mile)

Legs a little dead. Crappy sleep the night before....A very "meh" run. Questioning how I'll ever manage a marathon block.

Tuesday - 8 x 4min off 2mins - Targeting ~threshold pace (6.00-6.10). (10.4M total. Avg 7.13min/mile)

Continuing to build up the volume at threshold pace this was a progression on the previous 10x3mins.

Was a little apprehensive heading out for this given the way the body felt on the Monday. Was pleasantly surprised. What a difference a decent nights sleep makes. Effort level was pretty spot on for this. I eased into it with the first rep coming in at 6.10 pace. Gradually got slightly quicker so the remaining ones were all between 5.57-6.09 pace. Wore the endorphin pro here. Definitely helps. Heart rate for the reps was in the region of where I'd expect it to be. All in all a good decent days work.

Wednesday - Easy (52mins, 10k - Avg 8.14min/mile)

Nothing major of note here. Took it handy. Felt like a recovery run. Avg HR was 126 which agrees with that theory. Legs a little heavy but not unusually so.

Thursday - Easy (56mins, 7M - Avg 7.58min/mile)

Recovered very well from the Tuesday. Legs felt good again. Tipping away and the miles passed by without much fuss. To be honest, by the end of the week I struggle to remember some of these easy runs.

Friday - 2hrs easy, 15.2M - Avg 7:55

I had noted previously I wanted to get a few more of these vanilla runs in ahead of starting the marathon block. This is my longest run in a while. I must say I really really enjoyed it. Took a nice route around limerick here taking in a section of UL too. I often wonder how other folks feel in the last few miles of these types of runs. I certainly dont feel fresh but not dead either. I presume it should feel like you've done a decent amount of work at the end of a 2hr run? Could have definitely managed a few miles more. I'm looking forward to getting a few of these long vanilla runs in the marathon block. The prospect of 17-20 milers is something new to me and exciting.

Saturday - Easy - (45mins, 5.5M, Avg 8.15min/mile)

Got out in the afternoon which was great. We had been in Elftown with the kids all morning so I was dreading the prospect of having to wait until late evening for this one. Thankfully a window of opportunity opened up earlier.

Sunday - Easy (10k, 51mins - Avg 8.07min/mile)

This run, on the otherhand, felt like it was gonna slip away from me. A day filled with entertaining and minding kids and babies. 8pm hit and I was contemplating skipping it.......Eventually got out at 8.30pm. Dragged myself out the door. Needed the mental reset above all else. Felt surprisingly good here.

Total for the week: 57.1 miles

Total time on feet: 7hrs 31mins (longest in a while)

Total miles year to date: 2650 miles

So all in all I'm happy with that week. Loved seeing all the Jingle Bells results and reports. We also had the Border Half marathon in these parts over the weekend so pretty much everyone I know was racing...........to say I was jealous is an understatement. Delighted for everyone but at the same time its tough to see everyone back out there and running pb's while i'm just ticking away...But my time will come no doubt....Half considering signing up for Mallow 10M in March which could be a decent test of where I'm at ahead of Limerick in May. I dont really see me getting any races in before the end of this year although I'd love to get a crack at getting the 5k pb back off AMK....Fecker has about 3 seconds on me there.

Edit: I tell a lie. I went back and checked and my official 5k PB is actually 17.36. I think the 17.22 was in a TT. Ah well.......

Any 5k's between now and xmas I wonder? 😂

Also, I meant to post earlier but anyone reading this log will you do me a favour and make sure to pop over to Oonegative's AR Awards log and get your votes in. It's a bit quiet around these parts lately but this is an age old tradition so please make the effort....And could you do me a second favour and post the same reminder in your own log updates this week.

Cheers Murph. Thats actually a good way of putting it. Was just starting the fifteenth mile and thought yeah I could do more but I'm glad to be finishing. I'm not sure if the fact I typically do these with zero intake of liquids or food/gels makes a difference too. I expect not though as I'd say thats the case for most people.

Great to see you back running and posting especially in this log!

As you know better than most, the biggest worry for me is balancing it all but I've probably become better at judging that since the early days.

So much of that post resonated with me...lol...the same routes, the kids...Ninja'ing out the door

That's very kind. Thank you!

Glad you're enjoying the log. To be fair its moreso the engagement thats interesting rather than the logging itself!

We always welcome fresh logs on here. Get logging!

Never any issues with asking questions unrelated to my training here. Often there isnt really a place for some of these questions and where better to ask Daniels question than in a log from someone training to a Daniels plan!

Just to add to what AMK said, maybe you've seen this before, but this is an interesting little link comparing plans and ranking them in terms of who they may or may not suit. It's actually what pointed me in the direction of the 2Q Daniels plan;

https://fellrnr.com/wiki/A_Comparison_of_Marathon_Training_Plans

Welcome MisterJinx!

Not sure where you saw 7 days but thats certainly not the case. Basically the way the 2Q plan works is you have two sessions every week. You will also have a target mileage for any given week which is specified in the plan. Once you have your two sessions done, then you can make up the remaining easy miles any way you want. They could be spread across the remaining five days or four days or three days........Obviously the less days you run means the more miles you need to squeeze into your active days.