The road least taken
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Rambling Race report, probably should have done it earlier but with being in the states and then travelling meh,
This Boston race really started last year in Manchester with a 3.18 solid run on a lovely course, I wasn’t focusing on Boston but as I now had a BQ in my age category I applied, got accepted on the 29th of September. Happy days.
I was gently tapping away at DCM training after my first hamstring tear at the Fingal 10K a few weeks earlier, so I didn’t get too excited. DCM was lovely, great conditions and I was in good shape for what felt like a very easy 3.17 finish time. Had a little breath and dived into the online Boston BAA plan. It’s a 20-week training plan with 3-week prep, 6-week build, 9-week Marathon specific and 2-week taper. Pretty standard. I add two down weeks for Christmas and maybe recovery after a Donadea attempt.
+2000 for 2022, this made me very happy and confident I had a good base.
Did I mention I started a Bsc degree as well last year? so I had winter exams and as I hadn’t done applied maths/stats since my leaving cert in 1990 I had to allocate a shed load of time to this as well. The misses is a saint, no way I could do all this **** without her ever expanding patience.
All going fine till Christmas, my favourite time of year, much merriment and gluttony followed, Santa brough me new shoes (Although black Friday was also kind to me, rocking new Alphaflys, Vaporfly and tempos, later to add Hoka mach 5 to my rotation in place of retired speed 2) so I was all set. The first week in January was simply sweating the badness out of me then I got the worse chest infection, I expect it to bugger of after a few days, but it didn’t so after five nights of no sleep it forced me to the doctor for a course of anti-biotics, steroids, inhalers and various other meds. By mid feb I reckon I back on track, slight niggles mainly with the hammer during intervals but that’s running.
One thing I remember about spring in Ireland this year was how awesome it was for training outdoors, feck all rain, and not particularly cold. I was in a few groups online for Boston and some of the guys in the states didn’t get a decent day till April. In March I also had a glute issue after hill repeats which forced me into a couple of weeks step back training with no intensity. All in all, the training wasn’t bad, no bad injuries and I felt ready come April for my first Major.
So Boston, what can I say, amazing city, amazing people. I had been to New York in the autumn and although it was awesome the people are not particularly friendly. My faith in the good old US of A was reinvigorated by the sheer goodness of the Bostonians. We flew on Thursday arriving at lunch and went straight to the Hotel, which was lovely. Off we went exploring Boston in a lovely 28C, Friday was the same, upper 20s and record temps for that time of the year. Found some great restaurants, visited the sights. Probably over did the touristy stuff but feck it, 20,000 steps Thursday, 35,000 steps Friday (a 10 k final run included) 20,000 Saturday including the expo which was mainly adidas (got the jacket 😉 and a few other stands, pretty underwhelming if I’m being honest. Sunday lots of walking as well, not clever but we had fun.
Get to the race already!
Race day Monday, the weather was cold, into a headwind all the way, mist and rain. Those are the cards I suppose, got up at 5.45am, had some crackers and a Maurten drink. Vaselined the nipples and other bits and then went to the lobby to get a cab, but as often happened while we were in Boston, a guy beside me in the lobby offered to bring me to the bag drop. Love Boston. The bag drop was easy, rows of buses with bib numbers on them, you matched your bib number and handed the race bag in the window and off ye went. Then a queue for the buses to Hopkinton, about 15 minutes then onto the bus, lovely and warm to start but some **** mutant (London accent) opened the window to allow the wind in, even though I had two extra layers I shivered all the way to Hopkinton which takes about an hour, got to the start area, drizzling and foggy, sat in a tent for over an hour also shivering.
At about 9.45am I readied myself and got in the queue for the start pen which was scheduled for a 10.25 start, I was happy to be moving, lots of toilets, water and bananas available. Exceptional organisation by the BAA. The start line is on a lovely street at the lip of a hill and by this time all my shivering had stopped, the excitement had overtaken me. Woops and smiles where the order of the day.
I wore a decathlon hydration belt with only a 250ml bottle as backup as I knew there was water cups at nearly every mile, I also had 3 x Maurten blacks and three Decathlon (two caffeine) gels to fuel the run.
10.27, off we go, straight downhill surrounded by thousands of likeminded people. I had decided just then that 7.20 pace was the order of the day. One thing to note is that your starting pen is in order of your qualifying time, so everyone starting at my time had run a qualifying race around 3.15 to 3.25 (7.25 to 7.35 ish)
Mile 1- 7.45
The first mile was mayhem, mainly downhill but not all, the rolling hills as they call them had started and there was no way to hit the pace. The crowd didn’t ease at all so after the first mile I decided to push on with the hope it would open, a couple of near misses, trips and should bumping ensued. I would discover that the race doesn’t open up until after 10K.
Mile 1 to Mile 5 averaging 7.32 per mile
Mad crowds and runners going at 7.30 pace made it hard to push. The support along this stretch was amazing, between the fog and rain this was not a pleasant day for spectating but there they were, cheering, offering candy, shouting names and generally being the best supporters in the world.
Mile 6 to Mile 10 averaging 7.11 per mile
Off we go, this is the pace I trained at, and I reckoned I was capable, felt the hammer from about 4 mile but I had made my mind up to run through any pains, and if it went it went.
Fvck off cups, the worst fvcking hydration method ever, a load of absolute boll0x, can’t describe how much I hate cups.
Mile 11 to Mile 15 averaging 7.23 per mile
Did I mention how much I hate cups- on the other hand it was nice to see the Maurten gels handed out on course, at the cost of these bad boys I was nearly going to keep taking them for home. This stretch was fine. The crowd in the towns and the famous scream tunnel were unreal. Mad buzz
Mile 16 to Mile 20 averaging 7.27 per mile.
Rookie error, seen a stall on the side of the road with a big banner, - “prevent cramping try this amazing blah blab la”, over I weave towards the table and grab a cup(grrrrr) and neck it. Holy sh1t, this stuff was foul, like drinking tobacco sauce, rank. Took me a mile not to get sick. The crowds only got better and then we hit the newton hills. The course is described as net down hill, but it is never flat or down hill for long as there are many little hills even before the four famous Newton hills culminating in Heartbreak hill. If I’m being honest, I reckon on a good day I could have done them at 6.30 per mile, nothing really too bad but it became apparent quickly that my quads were banjaxed from all the ups and downs in the previous 16 miles, I decided to run on feel from here.
Mile 21 to Mile 25 averaging 7.58 per mile
I had nothing left, my coma pace is 8.00 to 8.15 and this is where I my effort stayed even with a decline in elevation. I have never been so close to walking as I was in the last 3 miles of Boston, but the crowds got even better, they swept me into the city. The Citgo sign is not as close as I would have liked. There was a small bridge on the last bit of the course, which is like a dip, the pain here was on a new level but I had seen some clips of the course and knew there was only two small turns to come before the finish straight.
Last bit- 8.11 per mile and what a finish this race has. In flitters, leg gone, never been so thirsty, the shivers returned but this time they had a smile. Unbelievable experience.
Went to McDonalds for a celebration big mac and coffee, what a tasty burger that was.
When I look back to what I could have done better to finish the race faster there are loads, I put 6kgs on between Manchester and Boston, I didn’t taper properly, I had some niggles and I didn’t plan the race strategy properly, but I wouldn’t change a thing, what a journey. Best race in the world.
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Great account of a great race. So many things to take away and it sounds like you learned a lot as well as having a lot of fun. That's three marathons now with a similar finish time - all very different though in terms of the conditions and the courses. I found Boston brutally difficult. Well done, you kept the wheels on!
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Well done. Sounds a very tough route. Deceptively so with the net downhill? Great you kept going. Recover well now.
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Thanks Guys, most certainly the toughest one yet. Spent the morning looking for my next race, we are all a bit mad I think.
Anyone done Amsterdam?
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Thanks Murph, should have guessed there would be one, 👍️
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Sounds like a great and memorable weekend, and still plenty scope for improvement.
Maybe don't give yourself too much time to "experience" Amsterdam before that race 😉
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👍️I think your right, the plan is to fly in the day before and leave the sightseeing till Monday :-)
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I’ve done the half over there. It’s very flat obviously! I’d do it again as so easy to fly there and flight times are good. It’s not the most exciting route ever though I think the full is probably better as goes through some of the more well known locations. The half was a little industrial in parts.
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Nice one, 👍️ Ive signed up for this now so here's to a good clean training block. Leaning towards doing the Pfitzinger plan. Will buy Advanced Marathoning and see what it looks like.
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Anything I've ever heard about Boston sounds tough so well done! Does doing a major inspire you to do more of them? Or is it more about chasing your next PB?
I've also done Amsterdam Half (with @Kellygirl as it happens), it's a super city to visit, we had a blast. Ate in some lovely restaurants (thanks to @Kellygirl's other half for recommendations) and did all the sites. I think we flew in on Saturday and home Tuesday, race was Sunday. The finish in the stadium is pretty cool, though we didn't hang around as we were quite Covid conscious (2021). There wasn't much of an Expo which was disappointing and the t-shirt situation wasn't great, they were small fitting and they were very low on sizes when we were picking ours up so there was limited options to exchange them and everyone was looking to size up! But these are small things, it's a fab city and flat 😁
Recover well and good luck with the next block.
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Thanks Ariana, the misses was very quick to ask how and when I can do another Major when she discovered that Tokyo, New York, Chicago and Berlin were on the list ;-)
For now I am thinking about giving Amsterdam a good go, trying to learn from mistakes of the past and with a bit of luck get a block in without injury, Ive done three official marathons the twelve months
Manchester 2022 - 3.18.34
Dublin 2022 - 3.17.52
Boston 2023 - 3.18.13
A spread of 42 seconds, I will drop my hat in the ring for London and Berlin 2024 when the ballot opens, I think I have a Chicago 2024 GFA with the Boston result but we will see.
Edit, seems London is open, just applied ;-)
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Wow, last post was last April. Time does indeed fly
Where do I start. New age category 50-55 :-)
After running the Boston Marathon I completed half a block for Amsterdam before some niggles became unsustainable injuries, decided to knock the running on the head. Had a complete break in the late summer and started slow with no real purpose in autumn. No races, haven't even done a parkrun for 15 months. I had a scan on my hip before Christmas which showed no ongoing damage, the SI joint is still sore-ish, just general wear and tear but it still likes to talk when I'm running, going to put a strength and conditioning plan in place during the spring to try and tackle this.
Last run of 2023 was the week before Christmas then I went on holidays, went skiing (on my arse more than skiing) and injured my knee, came home to Ireland, contracted covid and spent three days in bed, then had a week to cram 5 months of coursework for end of semester exams.
Yesterday was my first run of 2024. very happy with that
3.13 miles at 8.45- slight knee pain but fine - heartrate was averaging 136 which is high but expected after covid and a few weeks off.
and today 3.12 miles at 8.14 - bit of knee pain as with a slight increase in intensity from easy to medium, heartrate still high averaging 144.
Hoping the logging will keep me honest, my priority is college and work for now but with a little bit of smart training probably maxing out at 30 mile weeks my short term plan is to get to an injury free 5k or 10k start line some time in early summer and then decide if I want to do Chicago. Lets go.
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Week 1/8 easy return.
My plan is to take it very slow, an 8 week easy running with S&C plan before looking at other improvements.
I'm using an 8 week S&C conditioning plan from Coros, if you use a coros watch go to the website and upload it for free to the watch and device, the whole plan is set on the watch by day and instruction with visual "how to" on the app. Some cracking plans for free on coros.
14th - 6.24 miles at 8.48/m 144bpm
15th - S&C - Lower body 48 minutes 88bpm
16th - 5.61 miles at 8.56/m 143bpm
17th - S&C - full body - 1.08 minutes 94bpm
18th - 6.35 miles at 8.59/m 140bpm
19th -S&C - upper body 47 minutes 89bpm
20th - 9 miles at 8.51/m 140bpm
The knee pain form the skiing injury dissipated as the week went on, hip still talking to me on the runs but over all very happy to be tapping away again.
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Week 2/8 easy return
Second week of easy running low milage with S&C
22nd - Lower body S&C 49 minutes - 93bpm
23rd - 6.61 miles at 9.00 per mile 136bpm
24th - Full body S&C - 1.09 hours at 100bpm
25th 6.57 miles at 8.43 per mile 138bpm
26th Core S&C 45 minutes 101bpm
27th 10.5 miles at 8.45 per mile 142bpm
This was pretty much the same as last week, probably be a few weeks before I try some intensity. The joys
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Week 3/8 easy return
Third week of easy running with S&C, did dip my toe into tempo Tuesday cause too much time in zone 2 is no fun.
29th Lower body S&C 39 minutes at 99bpm
30th 6.23 miles at 7.55/mi averaging 150bpm
31st Full body S&C 70 minutes at 104bpm
1st 6.6 miles at 8.55/mi averaging 138bpm
2nd Upper body/core S&C 47 minutes at 94bpm
3rd 10.51 miles at 8.59/mi averaging 141bpm
Looking back at my HR metrics for the last 4 weeks, 80% Zone 2/ 19% zone 3/ 1% in Zone 4, easy peezy lemon sqeezy. I reckon another week of base before I try a short threshold, then see where I'm at, no hurry is my motto for this spring.
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Week 4/8 easy return
4 weeks into this, easy all week, no work as such.
5th Lower body S&C 46 minutes, 112bpm average
6th 6.6 miles at 8.45/mile, 138 bpm average
7th 6.6 miles at 9.00/mile, 134 bpm average
8th Full body S&C, 66 minutes at 94 bpm
9th upper body S&C, 45 minutes at 96 bpm
10th 11.9 miles at 8.45/mile, 139 bpm average
All easy, not even 5% zone 3.
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Week 5/8 easy return,
Side bar - I've been wearing Saucony Triumph 20 for the last 470 miles, over 90% easy running after an injury in early august. These are a fantastic sturdy shoe, still feeing Ok ish and probably another 100 miles in them but I figured since I don't have another pair of daily trainers in my draw I better invest. My running life just missed the halcyon days of Asics so the recent brand rejuvenation peaked my interest and at €92 the Novablast 3 seemed like a bargain considering how well they were received. They arrived last Sunday, glorious illuminous yellow(not clever in winter). This changed my easy program slightly because I wanted to see if they were what I needed.
12th - lower body S&C 47 minutes, 92bpm average
13th- took the new shoes for a tempo run- 6.1 miles at 7.37 per mile, averaging 155 bpm
14th - Full body S&C -80 minutes at 91 bpm
15th - easy run in the new shoes - 7 miles at 9.00 per mile and 135 bpm
16th Upper body S&C- 46 minutes at 90bpm
17th did a steady 11.8 miles in the new shoes at 8.30 per mile averaging 142bpm. My glorious illuminous yellow shoes are now a muddy brown from the Saturday morning deluge. Although I do love running in the rain when its not cold.
The shoes will do the trick, easy to steady and even tempo they feel fine with the cushion still active up to 100 minutes. This week I took the S&C easy, the activities are getting harder so I'm taking my time. Probably put the Saucony back to work next week with an all easy week.
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Week 6/8 easy return
Since the beginning of September I have only worn one pair of trainers, every run for 5 months was in the Saucony triumph 20, just shy of 500 miles, they didn't feel bad even a couple of weeks ago, that is until I tried some new shoes. I put them back on Tuesday and realise very quickly they had indeed lost some of their vim and vaguer, out to pasture I think.
On the subject of shoes; my hip/ hamstring and SI joint have really impacted my running since last summer, after some long breaks its been slower, less milage and very little intensity, and as such I've had no need to put the super shoes. For the road I have two good pairs of Alphafly next%, one with only 40 miles (Boston marathon and a long run prior), a pair of Vaporfly and a pair of Nike Tempo next%. When I'm finish this easy return I will try some intensity, strides, 5k intervals, hill repeats, I'm tempted to leave them there and keep the Novoblast on feet till I increase my VO2 max by a couple of points but then again maybe they will help with the biomechanics, higher cadence, faster reps better form during the rebuild phase. mmm
19th - lower body S&C 45 minutes, 95bpm average
20th- 6.6 miles at 8.45 per mile - averaging 137 bpm
21th - Full body S&C -70 minutes at 96 bpm
22nd - 6.6 miles at 8.24 per mile averaging 143bpm
23rd - Upper body S&C- 46 minutes at 95bpm
24th - 12 miles with the first 10 steady at 7.55 per mile, averaging 145bpm and two warm down. Happy with this, some progress.
If you've gone to the trouble of reading this , thank you, have a lovely day
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Week 7/8 easy return
26th - Lower Body -S&C - 51 minutes 102bpm
27th - 6.6 miles at 9.00/mi, averaging 132bpm
28th - Full body S&C - 72 minutes averaging 98bpm
29th - 6.3 miles - 3.1 miles threshold at 6.58/mi averaging 156bpm and 3.1 steady at 8.24 averaging 146bpm
01st - Upper body S&C - 47 minutes at 98bpm
02nd - 13.1 miles tempo at 8.09/mi averaging 152 bpm
This weeks 5k threshold and half distance tempo have given me a clear idea of my current form. There's a good deal of improvement to be had once I get into more targeted work.
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Week 8/8, last week easy return
4th - S&C lower body 50 minutes with 93bpm average
5th - 6.6 miles at 8.53 with 136bpm
6th - full body workout at 99bpm average
7th 7 miles with strides - HR not recording properly
8th - too busy for anything
9th - did some actual work today :-) windy out so I went to Newbridge house to get some tree cover and use one of two decent 500m straights for reps. Used the easy warm ups to figure out which one of the long straights was least impacted by the wind and then put the Alphfly on. 10 x 500m averaging 6.15/mile with an easy jog float back to the start. These worked out close enough to 2 minutes with the float 3 minutes. Its mad how fantastic the super shoes feel after a 6 month siesta.
12.5 miles in total
So now I have the beginning of a decent base I think I will have to slip a work day in every week, I'm still sticking with 3 running days for now but will reassess in 4 weeks, might add a 4th. Keeping the S&C to the current schedule.
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Week 1/8 base with work
I'm going to continue with the base training but adding some work to my running, this block will have alternating week, hill and flat rep and interval session days so all in all 3 days of S&C and 3 days running. I will continue this for the first half and an option on a 4th day of running if I feel OK after 4 weeks. The work will be basic makey uppy as I go along intervals and hill repeats with an eye on increasing speed for a bit of fun racing after May.
11th - Lower body S&C for 49 minutes at 89bpm average
12th - Steady 6.3 miles at 8.12/mile averaging 142bpm
13th - Full body S&C for 71 minutes at 95bpm average
14th - 7.9 miles hilly route with 5 x 40 second hill repeats at 6.20/mile. 8.16/mile average with 141bpm
15th - Upper body and core S&C for 46 minutes at 98bpm average
16th - 13 easy miles at 9.00/mile averaging 129bpm
17th - extra session to plan - 30 minute cross training on exercise bike as I felt a bit stiff.
Onward and upward
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Week 2/8 base with work
This week I mainly focused on speed for 5-10k, two sessions to reintroduce myself to the pain(in the hole that these distances are). On Tuesday I put on a old pair of vaporfly and did a threshold 10k, landed exactly at 44 minutes which I'm happy with. Today I put on an old pair of alphafly for a medium run with 4 x mile reps at 6.30/mile in the middle. Both sessions gave me something to think on for this block. I wont be adding a 4th day for a few weeks and will probably stick to the current 23- 25 mile week totals until late May. This milage gives me lots of rest days to recover from zone 3-5 workouts so lets be having you.
Monday - Wednesday - Friday S&C
Tuesday - 6.6 miles at 7.10/mile averaging 155bpm. Plated shoes to get an idea of my current race threshold.
Thursday - 6.5 miles at 8.45/mile averaging 129bpm. chilling with the Novablast 3, Nice comfy every day shoe but kinda slippy in wet conditions, probably the least grip of any shoe I've had for a few years but at 8.45 to 9.00, perfecto.
Today - Up and at em at 6.30am as the not so little one was away down the country with her mother to a competition. Had my usual porridge, peanut butter, honey and blueberry breakfast and sat on the chair for two hours readying myself for this, watched that sheeeeit with mcgregar in it(Roadhouse- rubbish of the highest order) the headed out at about 9.30 for 12.7 miles, overall 8.00 per mile. 2.2 miles warmup then 4 miles at 6.30/mile with mile floats and 3 miles cooldown to wrap it up. Windy as a mudda but used this to get clean 6.30s.
So there it is, back to work
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Week 3/8 base with work
With speed work last week and the hamstrings feeling tight, this week was mainly elevation gain, not much in the way of hills out here but we do have the River Valley Parkrun route. Nice bit of up and down on Tuesday and Thursday in the park and a tempo half on Saturday to top it off.
Missed Wednesday S&C with work and other stuff so only Monday legs and Friday upper body.
Tuesday - 8.7 miles averaging 8.40 per mile and HR 138BPM on the hilly Rivervalley parkrun route
Thursday - 8.7 miles averaging 8.30 per mile and HR 137BPM on the same route.
Saturday - Tempo 13.8 miles at 7.45 pace with HR averaging 147 BPM
Going to keep the three day running schedule for now, steady the ship
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Week 4/8 Easy with work
Still rocking 3 runs a week. Before this block its been a couple of years since I did any 5k focused sessions so my speed work still feels clunky. Ran my last Parkrun in 2022.
Tuesday was a good starter session with 8 x 200m at 6min/mile pace with a 3 minute float and then a couple of 7 minute miles with 400 meter floats. The hamstrings felt that one. Today I had to fit the session into the daughters schedule. Dropped her to Coolock for training and had 80 minutes to squeeze in a session. Down to St Annes for a few KM repeats at 6.10 -6.20 min /mile pace. The wind sideways and not so bad from the gates to the farmers market made them almost pleasant.
I did have a sort of tech epiphany today - been using the Coros 2 for a couple of years and other brands before but never tried the navigation function. As I don't really know the rat runs between Beamont/Coolock and Raheny I decided to give it a bash today, fantastic stuff- made the easy 1.8 mile warmup to and from St Annes park a lot easier. its the little things.
Monday - Wednesday - Friday - usual S&C
Tuesday - 9.58 miles with a 5K speed improvement session taken from the Coros Training hub. Hamstrings very tight on the 8x200s (6min/mile pace), by the time I got to the 2 x 7 minute miles to close it out I was feeling it. Nice to get it done
Thursday - 9.4 miles at a leisurely 8.50min per mile
Today - 9 miles with 4 x 6.15min/mile pace kms
Next week I have a tricky week with work and college so might just take what I can, a down week of sorts. 20 easy miles with some strides and leave it at that.
I you find it confusing with my imperial pace range over metric distances its because I have a place at Chicago Marathon later this year and want to go there with my head on miles. psych. Picked the yank marathon as I always thought 26 miles was easier to run than 42 km. Controversial I know.
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Week 5/8 Easy with work
This week I just went with by feel, mostly working on college assignments and fitting everything around that
Monday and Wednesday S&C
Tuesday - 6.5 miles at 8.40/mile, averaging 130BPM
Thursday - 7.6 miles with a 5k threshold in the middle (20.50).
Today - 16 miles at 7.55 per mile averaging 143BPM, first long run of the year
Overall it was better than expected for the week that was in it. Happy to get a fast 5k and long run in.
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Week 6/8 Easy with work
This week I just went with it, a little 5k focus on Thursday and a nice long steady run on Saturday.
Mon - Wed - Fri S&C. The strength and conditioning structure hasn't changed from the pre loaded Coros plan. I warmup and cool down on the bike for 10 minutes then focus for in and around 20 minutes on legs, uppers or all over. I'm a good bit off where I should so I will try to incrementally increase the quality of my reps.
Tuesday - 6.6 miles easy at 8.40/mi averaging 133BPM
Thursday - 9.25 miles with a 5K speed improvement session taken from the Coros Training hub(I did this a couple of weeks ago). Hamstring on the left was drumming right form the start on the 8x200s (6min/mile pace), the 2 x 7 minute miles to close it out felt a bit better than the last time. Nice to get it done.
Saturday - 16 miles at 7.58 per mile averaging 140BPM, I really enjoyed this. I wore an old pair of Vaporfly for both these sessions for a couple of reasons, recovery is way better with carbon and they just feel nice.
Bought a new watch :-) My trusty Coros pace 2 had recently started to record dubious heart rate data so I had to wear the chest strap for all sessions and as such I decided to upgrade to the Coros pace 3. Pretty much the same build, very light and easy to use. As usual I will probably miss most of the good functionality until I really need it.
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Week 7/8 easy with some work
This week was mainly long steady rolling footpath/hilly type activities, my normal elevation gain for the three running days is a lowly 600 to 800ft so this week I ran on what hills we have locally for 1700ft, mainly just loops of the local park. To top it all off I got a parkrun in for the first time since 2022, its been a while. Gave it a lash. The 5k is my least favorite distance, even though its short, racing this distance is all hell, start to finish, it puts manners on ye.
Monday and Wednesday usual S&C
Tuesday - 8.5 miles averaging 8.35/mile with 132BPM, just a steady run
Thursday - 6.3 miles averaging 8.43/mile with 140BPM, this included 5 x 1 minute hill repeats on a fairly steep hill. Tough
Saturday - Newbridge House(Donabate Parkrun) - A good VO2 max session - 20.08 to finish a respectable 5th.
Today - 9.2 miles averaging 8.33/mile and 136BPM, had a lay in so I went out without breakfast. This will leave me hungry all day :-)
4 days running. Back to three next week. *Targeting late May to add an ongoing 4th day. I do like the recovery aspect of three days running. This lets me get the work in, as I feel it and not worry how it will effect the rest of the week. But things change and the next 4-8 weeks have a few forks in the road.
I have a place in the Chicago Marathon on the 13th October, if I use the P&D 18/55 plan the 10th of June is day 0.
The Pfitzinger plan - Week 1 and 2 have 4 days of running(33,36 miles) with three rest days. This will bring me into July before I would have to add a 5th day. Im ok with dropping the race if I don't feel strong enough to get through it but I would like to give it a go.
My last three Marathons
Manchester 2022 - 3.18.34
Dublin 2022 - 3.17.52
Boston 2023 - 3.18.13
I do wonder where I am compared to these races.
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Week 8/8 easy with work
Two blocks of 8 weeks since mid January to get me started again. Mainly easy and later adding some quality sessions has me at a good starting point for the summer. Apart from improving my fitness I was delighted getting a few 16 milers and a 20.08 Parkrun done during this base building.
The next couple of weeks are probably just about keeping what I've got, I have exams at the end of May and really busy in work. Then the fun starts, I have my first race since last years Boston 😀~ 5k in Balbriggan(Summerfest) on a Thursday evening, 30th May. I also registered for the 10k in Dunsaughlin next month but the misses tells me we are going to Pearl Jam that day so anyone wants an entry drop me a pm. Then the Fingal 10k, then Chicago in October. If things go OK I will add a few more to that roster.
Training this week was a bit odd, first thing my Coros App lowered my Training Load recommendation from a range of 630-945 last week to 322-515 this week. Almost half, as I'm not following a strict plan I thought why not, maybe with all the metrics HRV, TL, HR, overnight HR/HRV and recovery data that the app gets from my watch the algorithm reckons I need a down week.
Monday - 6 hours driving and busy - no activity
Tuesday - VO2 max session - (10 minutes zone 2, 7 minutes zone 3, 3 minutes zone 2) then 6 x (4 minutes zone 4, 4 minutes zone 2) and a 10 minute cooldown in zone 2. Tough
Wednesday - 60 minutes S&C
Thursday - 30 minutes indoor bike
Friday - nada
Yesterday - was traveling all day again, got home for a couple of hours study then out for a maky uppy 5.7 miles in the evening - 1.5 miles easy, 2 miles at 6.30/mile pace, 1 mile easy, 5 x 100m strides, and a mile easy.
Time to hit the books.
4 -
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No plan last week, just running. Exams next week which I really need to study for so very little if any running till the end of next week.
Monday and Wed S&C
Tuesday, 10 mile at 7.15/mile
Thursday, 6.6 miles progression from 8.30/mile to 6.50/mile
Sunday - 12 miles steady at 7.45/mile
10 day break to focus on study.
Such is life
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