Berlin Q or Bust: Road to sub 2:45

Off to the UK for a wedding tomorrow so this week is a bit of a step back week. 

Mon: 9 Miles inc 12x12secs hills and 5 Miles Steady

Harder run than usual due to trying to fit in a bit of quality before the little break. Was a little worried that the legs might be heavy after the LR on Sat but that wasn't the case. Hills woke up the legs nicely and was cruising for the 5 Miles Steady @4:24/km

Tue: 10k Easy: 52:37 @5:16/km

Feeling noticably fresher today. Drop in temperatures plus increasing fitness dovetailing nicely I think.

Wed: Session: Alternating Tempo 8x(4mins@4:15/km,4mins @4:00/km)

Biggest session I've probably done in the block and I'm happy to say probably the best and strongest I've felt yet. One of those days when even in the warm up, you know you're on it.

Bit of a GPS glitch saw me have to start a new activity just after halfway. But it was a very brief issue and didn't affect things at all. The sketchy GPS probably saved me from myself.

For the first few sets I was averaging about 3:56/4:08 for the on/off and I was moving so easily through the session that I was giving thought to going completely off plan and segueing into a 10 Mile TT of sorts and banishing some lingering Frank Duffy frustrations. Thankfully I chose not to do that and finished with 64 mins averaging 4:03/km pace, still considerably quicker than my FD pace.

20.5k for the day. Confidence boosting stuff.

Wednesday 20th September: 10k Easy: 52:15@5:13/km

Thursday 21st September: 7 Miles Easy: 59:32@5:17/km

Friday 22nd September: 5 Miles Easy: 40:27@5:02/km

All fairly non-descript stuff. Had the beginnings of a dose on Friday and was slightly worried about getting sick but, spoiler alert, it was fairly mild and seems to have gone on its merry way by now.

Sat 23rd September: LR Session: 22 Miles: 2wu/5St/13.1MP/2cd

Aside from a couple of pacing gigs in the past (ironically one of these was a 90min HM pace job) I'd never toed the line in a race where I wasn't planning a race effort. So Saturday was a new (and very enjoyable) experience.

Got up to the PP in decent time. Got a good parking spot down the bottom of White's Road and decided I'd head in to do the first 7 miles whilst also taking advantage of the Portaloos and pick up some safety pins from the Information tent. Had a running hoody/jacket type thing on as it was a bit nippy. Once I'd gotten the aforementioned couple of bits out of the way, I said I'd just plough on with the steady miles and return to the car near the end to change into race singlet and stick on bib.

Coming down towards the Zoo I was sweating absolute buckets, unsure as to whether it was down to my poor choice of running apparel or actually being sick. As i'd no top underneath this hoody, I spared the my fellow runners the sight of my shimmering torso and got back to the car as quickly as I could. Into the singlet, number on and finished out the steady section just in time to meet AMK who had once again generously agreed to keep me company.

(7:13, 7:16, 7:16, 7:19 & 7:09) 5 Steady

Took up a position in the pen close to the 90min pacers (Killerz from these here parts performed pacing duties admirably throughout) and shot the breeze for a few minutes. The liberation of not racing felt amazing here!

The pace felt very comfortable from the off. The pace group was a little tight to be honest, but I was just using them to zone out and not worry about the pace for the first few miles. Myself and AMK were having the chats and talking about anything and everything here; Ange-ball, United, shoes, races, athletes etc. I'd probably have found the two of us annoying If I was racing beside us! Debated getting ahead of the pace group at a couple of points, but decided to leave it as it was very crowded and didn't really need to. Turning onto Chesterfield was a bit of sh1t show. Really tight corner through the railings at the top and then the tight paths didn't make for a great route. Then again I didn't really mind as I wasn't racing. Ran behind some dude for a mile or so with a bluetooth speaker in his pocket that was thumping out tunes!

Miles 1-5 (6:51, 6:45, 6:50, 6:58, 6:53)

Things opened up a bit as we got to the football pitches and we were able to extricate ourselves from the traffic a bit. Ran with Alistair Higgins? the ultra runner who was out for a run for a mile or so and we peppered him with a few questions about Spartathlon. Turned onto Acres Rd for the first time and was tipping nicely. At this point I think AMK asked me how I was feeling and my answer was along the lines of 'Alan, I feel like I should be pacing the thing' I wasn't working at all and I was feeling very good.

Miles 6-9 (6:36, 6:45, 6:46, 6:44)

Coming down Ordnance Survey rd Alan tells me I'd moved on to 6:30 pace and if I wanted to go, then work away. I hadn't consciously upped the pace, but I was happy enough to finish at a bit of a quicker clip. Upped the pace without pushing too hard, and gave the last 400m a bit of a bash.

Miles 10-13 (6:23, 6:34, 6:30, 6:20)

Official Time was 1:28:26. Was really happy at how easy MP felt and how fresh I was after the run. Was in a great mood afterwards and with 5 weeks left, I can't wait for Oct 29th. I've come a long way since the start of the year. If I can rock into DCM feeling as good as I did on Saturday then I'll take that.

Sun: 10.2k Recovery: 55:17@5:25/km

Rambled around Shelbyville while eldest fella was at a party. There was a 10k & 10 Mile race going on. From what I could ascertain most of it took place on the footpaths of Naas and looked really sketchy from a runner safety point of view.

102k for the week.

Monday 25th September: 10.2k Easy: 53:49@5:18/km

Ramble on the plains.

Tuesday 26th September: 7 Miles inc 12x12sec Hills: 56:00@4:58/km

Around the Camp. Hills woke legs up a bit as I'd felt a bit on the sluggish side during the main body of the run.

Wednesday 27th September: Session 20k inc 64min Alternating Tempo: 1:24:14@4:13/km

This was looming over me all day in work, and as the weather continued to deteriorate outside, so did my mood! I'd made up my mind that it was happening and decided against a suggestion to move it tomorrow. So with horizontal rain sheeting down, I set off onto the trusty loop. I figured the 1.2k loop would at least give me some chance at consistent splits, whatever they may look like. I was willing to go by effort if target times weren't an option. The session was actually meant to be 9x4mins on/off but the condtions were so bad that I said I'd just decide as the session went how wise a move it would be to complete the whole session.

As it turned out things went fairly well. It was character building stuff don't get me wrong, but the loops helped and I felt strong. I nearly got clipped by a falling branch at one juncture and the flooding on one part of the loop nearly saw it become unpassable, but we got out the other side in one piece. I did cap it at 64 mins as I was pretty beaten up by then and had at least matched the length of the previous Alternating Tempo session from a couple of weeks ago. Averaged 3:57/km for the 'on' and 4:12/km for the off, pretty similar to the previous session but in much more challenging conditions. The 'off' stuff in or around MP felt good, so all in all a good effort.

Thursday 28th September: 8.7k Recovery: 48:16/km@5:33/km

Sleepy shuffle at 5:40am. Was wide awake from 5am so figured I might as well get the recovery run in and free up the rest of the day

Listened to the latest episode of Inside Running Podcast this morning. Some great marathon advice in there regarding pacing and negative splits etc. I'd recommend it to everyone. The lads don't do short pods, but the chat at the start of the episode and again at 1hr20mins is golden.

Friday 29th September: 10k Easy: 51:06 @5:06/km

Wore the 1080v12's for this one. I think that the Nike Invincibles have sort of ruined other easy shoes for me. Maybe it's just where I am with my fitness levels at the moment, where I'm either running hard or easy with not much steady or steadier easy stuff in there. It's not that I don't like the shoes, it's just that I spent most of the run thinking I'd prefer if the Invincibles were on the feet.

Saturday 30th September: 5 Miles Easy: 41:13 @5:07/km

Very comfortable run in a downpour. Wore my beloved Invincibles.

Sunday 1st October: LR: 22 Miles: 2E/8MP+10/2E/8MP/2E: 2:34:59 @4:23/km

October has arrived which always focuses the mind when one has Dublin on the agenda. Was looking forward to this one, as I have for the majority of LR's in recent times. I'm just enjoying being back and being lucky enough to do what I love I suppose.

Up at 5:30 to have some porridge. Out the door around 7:30am, and again my injured running buddy was happy to accompany me on the bike. Same route as 21 Miler from a couple of weeks back with a little extra Lidl loop early on to make up the extra distance.

The route for the 8 steady is nice for the first 4 miles and then takes a more sinister turn with a couple of ropey drags. Aiming for 4:20 average, so I tried to bank a little time in those easier miles. (6:53, 6:55, 6:52, 6:51 for a 4:17/km ave). Navigated the trickier miles pretty well, trying not to veer into marathon effort but still working hard up the drags (6:59, 6:58, 7:02, 6:59 for a 4:21/km ave). Sharp downhill at the end of the last mile wasn't really welcome, but I was happy to average 4:19/km whilst simulataneously pondering my ability to up the pace to 4:12/km's (6:46/mile) for the MP section.

At this juncture I ventured to Ferg on the bike that I had some misgivings about the Alphaflys I had chosen to wear. I'd decided a way back, that I would wear the Vaporflys for the HM session and the Alphaflys for this run (which was originally due to be on the DCM course but that just didn't pan out) and decide. There's just too much shoe for me. It's not neccesarily the weight, more the area of the sole. There's too much contact on the ground. I'm not a very elegant runner, more of a plodder, despite the bounce that it is definitely there with the shoes, I feel like I'm plodding the whole time in them.

Anyway, the MP miles would have a long drag at the start and then a killer of hill, about 500m and that I would regularly use for hill sessions, about 2k from the end which was fun. Started into the effort with a 6:46 mile, the next mile up the drag came in at 6:58. As I'd average pace for the step on the watch I set about working my way back up to 4:12/km pace. This was achieved but I went too far the other way! 6:28, 6:31, 6:38, 6:29 & 6:38 miles followed as the average pace gradually went up. These miles didn't feel like it wasn't marathon effort. I was happy to maintain the pace as I didn't feel like I was pushing the boat put. It's the feeling I'm hoping to have in the 2nd half of DCM; tired, working hard but feeling good about holding this effort. Gurned my way up the hill at the end, tough going I have to say, but got moving again later to close with a 6:49 mile for a 4:09/km average for the MP miles.

Ambled down the road for the 2 miles cool down and finished content with my morning's work. I won't be averaging 4:09/km for DCM, but I definitely feel I could finish the race at that pace if we have a good day at the office. But that type of talk and planning is for another day. Still a couple of weeks to navigate my way through.

104km for the week.

That was one time!

Monday 9th October: 8.2k Recovery: 43:24@5:18/km

Tuesday 10th October: 8.2k Easy inc 2x5x20secs strides: 45:26@5:31/km

Wednesday 11th October: Session 4x1k/1k/1k: 10 Miles: 1:08:03@4:13/km

Tight for time due to one or two things cropping up unexpectedly. Decided I'd just shorten the warm up and cool down and leave the planned session intact.

Tentative plan was to make each 3k set progressive with 4:15/4:05/3:55 being the prescribed paces. Had been feeling pretty leggy on the Mon and Tue, but felt great on this one. Each set seemed to fly by and more often than not I found myself having to row back on the pace. Splits were;

1: 4:10, 4:01, 3:51

2. 4:03, 4:00, 3:48

3. 4:04, 4:03, 3:50

4. 4:08, 4:01, 3:48

Cool down to bring up 10 Miles for the day. Tipping nicely.

Thursday 12th October: 8.2k: 45:17 @5:31/km

Shuffle.

Friday 13th October: Rest. I am sort of tapering I suppose. Didn't feel like it this week. 

Saturday 14th October: 8 Miles Inc 4 steady: 1:00:38@4:42/km

Steady miles averaged 4:30/km. Felt decent by the end of the run.

Sunday 15th October: LR: 17Miles: 2WU/6MP/1E/6MP/2CD: 

2:00:17 @4:24/km

Took myself down to Monasterevin to a buddy to do this on the canal towpath. He was on the bike and was on drinks and gels duty. A beautiful morning, crisp and cold with no wind. You'd be happy if there was a repeat of the weather in two weeks time.

The route was a nice change to previous LRs too with the flat towpath, save for a couple of bridges to navigate. Once I got into a rhythm the miles flew by. The two MP sections averaged 4:12/km & 4:09/km and I felt tired and pretty good at the end.

81k for the week. Ready to taper now.

In other news, I'm selling a dog. PM me for details.

Week is dragging a little bit but feeling pretty good. Legs felt great on 3MP + 4x200 mini session yesterday. If you told me in January that I'd be toeing the line in DCM at all, never mind in something resembling a fit state, I probably wouldn't have believed you. I'm not trying to insert an easy failsafe for Sunday by saying that whatever happens in the race is a bonus, but that is 100% the frame of mind I am in. I never felt that getting back into sub 3 shape was a realistic target when I started the block, but I'm definitely in the place now where if I have a good day, I'll dip under.

Not going after sub 2:45 or a PB is liberating to an extent, but you always put a certain amount of pressure on yourself to get a result that does justice to your fitness. The pace doesn't hold any fears for me, I've done it many times in the past. The route doesn't either as I know it well enough at this stage and, barring any late weather events, the race strategy will be very similar to my last DCM in '19.

I've gotten fit enough to run a marathon again. I'm running again and enjoying it. 2024 will be a year where hopefully I can start thinking about doing justice to the title of this log. This Sunday is just about enjoying (well, as much as one can a marathon!) the race and getting the best time the marathon gods allow me on the day. Best of luck to everyone else on here too.

PS: @Lambay island, I expect to see no part of you on the course, but hopefully I won't be too far behing you!

2:58:57

I've run faster. I'll run a lot faster in the future. But that was the most satisfying. A great morning.

Dublin Marathon 2023

I'll post later on in the week about the block and comeback as a whole, but the race report will suffice for today.

Preamble:

Expo passed without drama. Met the great Macphisto in person for the first time on the way back to the car. 

The Friday and Saturday really dragged this time around, and the carb load was tough work. It served its purpose though and had no worries on that side of things.

Very light sleep Saturday, struggled to stay awake watching the rugby but by midnight I was watching the Ngannou Fury fight! 

Up at 5am to organise myself and be ready for a lift at 6am. Buddy who was giving me the lift works on Merrion square directly beside the bag drop so once again I had a pretty sweet set up pre race. About 10 mins before leaving I checked the battery percentage of my watch...90% 'Not bad, but sure I'll just stick it on charge quickly and bring it up to 100%'. You can probably see where this is going. Fast forward to entering the aforementioned office in Merrion Square and me realising that I'd left the watch at home.

Unbelievable. Luckily, my buddy's watch had about 50% battery left and as he was running between a couple of locations with gels and water for me, he didn't need it.

Stressful 10 mins as I tried and failed to change his auto lap to miles instead of KMs. The Garmin connect app on his iPhone was different to the android version, so it was decided for me that I would be running in KMs.

Composed myself, listened to a 7 min segment of an episode of the Inside Running Podcast that I mentioned a while back. It served as just a reminder to leave the ego behind and that real bravery in marathons isn't going out hard and slowing or just clinging on. It's going out conservatively and having the confidence to know that a lot of the runners flying by will be coming back to me later.

The Race:

The plan in a nutshell was, 4:15 kms down to James Joyce bridge and then 4:20's up until the high point of the course in Castleknock. I was prepared to be anything up to a minute behind the 3 hr balloons after 7 miles and gradually up the pace and get ahead and stay ahead of the pacers.

Found myself ahead of the balloons in the pen, and probably was about 8-10 seconds ahead of them over the start line. Kept a mental note of that just in case margins tightened up late in the race.

The usual chaos of the first few hundred metres took place. Kept out of any trouble and made sure the hand brake was firmly applied as the generous course profile down to the Liffey always has the capacity to get one moving too quickly. 

4:14, 4:11 & 4:16 kms got me to Stoneybatter. Managed to avoid a couple of random pedestrians who tried to cross through the throngs of runners and nearly took out a couple of people. These miles were enjoyable and tough at the same time. Was conscious to take in all the atmosphere, but it was difficult slowing up and letting runners go by. Whilst I was confident in my plan, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a couple of fleeting doubts. 4:18 & 4:23 kms through to the PP.

Pace group steamed by me just as we approached Garda HQ. Had another buddy out on the course on a bike and he met me just before the 5 Mile mark with a water and gel. In a glorious coincidence AMK was also here in the PP, so the lads had a quick intro and then cycled next to me for a couple of kms up Chesterfield Avenue cracking jokes at my expense! 4:09 (way off), 4:16, 4:20, 4:16 kms for this section and I really was backing off. I found myself looking forward to getting through Castleknock so I could let the legs go a little

At this point I'll go off on a little tangent. The mile markers seemed to be way out at times, much more than I ever remember in previous years. I know they can't be exact, but they just seemed to be very erratically positioned which made it tricky to judge how far back I was at times.

Official 10km Split of 43:06

That had me 36 seconds down on Sub 3 pace. On the course working off the 7 mile marker I was 63 seconds down. Through Castleknock in 4:14 & 4:12 kms and then took advantage of the downhill. I had to check myself here and not get too excited. The balloons were coming back to me very quickly as I threw in 4:08, 4:07, 4:10 & 4:08 kms down Tower Road and the Upper Glen back inside the PP. Whilst I was wary of winding things up too early, I decided entering Chapelizod that I was going to sit behind the pace group on the couple of drags up to  Kilmainham and then try and get ahead of them.

Took it very handy up St Laurence's, 4:27km. The vista here of the foggy early morning sunshine and steam coming off the runners was pretty cool and even though it's a sharp little drag, I really enjoyed it. Credit to Irish Life too for the cowbells they were handing out too. Made for a great atmosphere.

I'd be dubious about the 4:09, 4:06, 4:06 kms that Strava had me pencilled in for up to 20k, but I was eating up road and feeling very good here.

Official 20k Split 1:25:10 (42:04)

I tipped ahead of the 3 hour group on the South Circular Road. I debated just sitting in with them through Crumlin, but I was feeling amazing and the minute or two I spent in the pack sort of annoyed me, so I made a little move and away I went towards the Half Way point. Official half way split was 1:29:58. The 10k from 20k to 30k were pretty much perfect. Was pulling away from the balloons and passing a lot of people. I'd committed to going for home this early, slightly risky, but it wasn't like I was churning out crazy fast splits either. Wife and Kids were just past the Submarine Bar in Walkinstown so that was a nice distraction. Walkinstown, Terenure all full of great support. 

Official 30k Split 2:07:14 (42:04) How do you like those last two 10 splits?

Heading towards Milltown I found myself, like everyone else, pondering what awaited me at the business end of things. I was beginning to tire a little and my calves were starting to let their feelings known to me. I just tried to keep in a rhythm and work off people around me. Milltown passed without incident, pace still fine. Was doing some mental arithmetic as I approached Clonskeagh and I reckoned I had about 45 seconds in the bag. So I'm thinking that worst case scenario, 4:22's would still see me home. The Clonskeagh/Roebuck stretch was tough and I got a real scare when I got a bit of a stinger in the right calf and for about 20 seconds I thought that my race might be ran. But it bubbled back down and threateningly stayed in the background for the rest of the race. 4:21 and 4:25 kms got me to the top of the hill and thankfully I followed them up with 4:08, 4:09 and 4:04 kms. It was mind over matter at this stage. My mate on the bike observed that I was a bit pale over the last couple of miles which was a sign I was digging very deep. 

Official 40k Split 2:49:17 (42:03) So close to 3 consecutive identical 10k splits!

The last couple of kms in a marathon have never not hurt, and this was no exception. I was tired and the right calf was definitely under a bit of pressure, but I knew I had the A goal in the bag. Enjoyed the Purple Mile and maintained a sub 3 pace until the end.

Crossed the line in 2:58:57, a very satisfied man. Just about to board a plane to Fuerteventura with the family here now, so will maybe post my overview from poolside with a nice cold cerveza at hand.

Finally, a big big hat tip to AMK who kindly and brilliantly took on coaching duties for the block. This whole show was nearly off the road for good, but Alan really did play a massive part in getting me back. A top top man.

You're going about it all wrong. "Johnny came to me on a 5 x 3min walk/1min run schedule" should be the opening line...

Not a whole lot going on since the marathon. This year more than ever, I was amazed at how little recovery time a lot runners take after a marathon. Saw loads of people staright back into sessions the following weekend and then just carrying on as normal, onto the next block. I know that shoe technology has lessened the toll on the legs from racing a marathon, getting back on the horse straight away just seems really risky to me. Anyway, that sort of carry on did not happen here.

Enjoyed a week in Fuerteventura after the marathon. Got in a few easy runs on some super running routes that would have been very nice to run on if I had some actial running to do. 24k, 26k & 58k for the last 3 weeks. Mini session of 6x1min on/off last week. Meant to be 10 but I rinsed myself on the first couple and was out of gas by #6. In my defence I only decided mid run I was going to a session! 11 Miles @4:47/km last Saturday. Have the bones of a block laid out to get me to Raheny in January and recover some type of speed and then hoping to start a marathon block for Limerick. That may change if I decide the 14 weeks to Limerick isn't enough. Humming and hawing a bit there.

Monday 20th November: 8.2km Easy: 43:10 @5:15/km

Had planned on this being the first part of a double but window for run after work disappeared.

Tuesday 21st November: 10.2k Easy: 51:44 @5:04/km

Easy around Kilcullen while young lad had training.

Wednesday 22nd November: Session 3x8mins Threshold off 3min jog: 10k: 42:04 @4:12/km

Almost stayed in the car and didn't do this. Was late starting, weather was sh1t and I wasn't in the humour...but I managed to shoehorn it in and of course I was happy I did. Had to cut down warm up and cool down but still got the full session in. Paces for the 8mins repeats were (3:50/km, 3:49/km, 3:49/km). Probably a little faster than my current threshold and probably benefitted from a second or two in the GPS stakes, but felt pretty strong overall.

Picked up a pair of Pegasus 40's for 62quid in the Nike sale. No interest in the Vaporfly 2's. I have a pair and maybe I just got a dud pair, but they're not a patch on the 1's. Ever since I debuted them in a disastrous HM TT in the Phoenix Park I've had a thing against them :) Will probably pick up a pair of Vaporfly 3's with the gift vouchers that Santa will inevitably bring me.

Was unsuccessful in the Berlin ballot which I'm not overly bothered about. Looking at Frankfurt or Amsterdam instead. GFA entry to Dublin is always an option but I think I'd like to give an overseas marathon another bash and see can I actually put up a half decent run outside of Ireland (Larne doesn't really count does it!?). Entered Limerick so that's the first half of the year set in stone anyway.

December has been hectic as ever. June and December are always mental in my line of work, so I'm just getting in what I can and get to January in as good a nick as possible. Have a plan up until Raheny, but I'm picking and choosing a bit from it at the moment as things are just a bit all over the place. I've a mate running Seville and hoping to break 3 hours so I've been giving him a dig out on his long runs which deviate greatly from the easy LRs on the plan. I don't really mind though and one or two sharper sessions a week and a decent LR workout will do the trick for the moment.

Monday 4th December: 10k Easy: 51:47@5:11/km

Tuesday 5th December: 8 Miles Easy: 1:03:09@4:54/km

Both late enough in the evening after busier than expected days. Had planned a hill session for the Tuesday, but by the the time 9pm came around and I dragged myself out the door, hills weren't happening

Wednesday 6th December: 7 Miles inc 12x30sec hills: 56:02@4:58/km

Horrendous conditions for this one. Actual session was meant to be 10x45secs hills, but the hill I had planned to those on was unrunnable with leaves, puddles, debris etc. Went to another hill in the camp, a shorter sharper hill so I added on a couple of reps. Ran them pretty hard and legs were nice and wobbly by the end.

Thursday 7th December: 6 Miles Easy: 48:47 @5:03/km

Friday 8th December: Didn't get out after work, and with the Santa Steam train on the cards for Saturday, just ran a longer easier effort in the evening.

13.6k Easy: 1:10:57 @5:13/km

Saturday 8th December: Rest

Sunday 9th December: Long Run: 25.3k: 1:52:52 @4:29/km inc 5/4/3/2/1 @4:11/km ave.

Out the door before 7am in absolutely shite conditions. As I mentioned above, I'm helping out a mate who is doing Seville and it keeps me in touch with the longer stuff so I'll do a few more of them with him. Felt great on this one, apart from some horrendous chafing. Forgot to put on body glide, wore a pair of shorts that I'd never worn in the rain...and the result was pretty grim.

83k for the week