Becoming a Real Runner

RayCun

menoscemo wrote: »

For a shot at sub 3 I'll have to be hitting 1:25:xx at a minimum so I'll be heading out at 6:30 pace and seeing what happens.

Will be watching with interest

claralara

menoscemo wrote: »

Saturday
20 miles in the Park at Just over 8 min/mile. I felt guilty about not finishing my 20 miles a few weeks ago so even though I was down for 16 I wanted to make up. Luckily Digger and CL were doing 20 so I met up with them in the Park. I had to endure lots of moaning and bitching from the boards glamour couple. That's unusual as I am normally the biggest moaner out there . Anyway after 8 miles Digger was ditched due to him moaning about feeling **** and instructed to do his miles on his own at a slower pace while myself and CL went off and sped up a bit. We got back to the cars after 20 Miles to discover digger had done his miles alone but at the same pace . Cue more moaning and bitching .

Nice run all the same. I strangely enjoyed it.

Most people pay Sky TV fees for that kind of east-end entertainment...

And as I said at the time, my reasons for giving out were well founded - you had to listen to the pain and trauma of a hard 20 miles for 5 minutes, I have to listen to it every minute of every day...!

Mr Slow

claralara wrote: »

Most people pay Sky TV fees for that kind of east-end entertainment...

And as I said at the time, my reasons for giving out were well founded - you had to listen to the pain and trauma of a hard 20 miles for 5 minutes, I have to listen to it every minute of every day...!

Don't push him too hard O, you don't want to send him over the edge and then end up stuck in at the weekend chewing his food for him now do ya?

claralara

Mr Slow wrote: »

Don't push him too hard O, you don't want to send him over the edge and then end up stuck in at the weekend chewing his food for him now do ya?

Enough of your cheek!!

VaderMLK

Best of luck in longford today meno. hope you get the time all your training deserves. see you for some final pmp kms over the coming weeks.

menoscemo

This week was a total easy/taper week for the Longoford Half. I told myself I wanted to run my best time in order to get a good refelection of where I am so treated it like a goal race. I even followed the coaches advice for once and took a couple of rest days

Monday
Rest :eek:

Tuesday
8 miles easy

Wednesday
Mini Session: 9 miles with 4 x 1k at Race pace (6:25/mile)

Thursday
7 miles easy back into work. Went to the physio for a rub down in the evening

Friday
Rest :eek:

Saturday
Spent the morning volunteering at the 10 miler. I was landed with goodybag duty which I figured would be the easy gig :rolleyes:. A piece of advice for anyone doing this again: don't give out the small t-shirts. We ran out pretty quickly and got dogs abuse. I think half the problem is that a lot of people (female especially) insist on a small t-shirt even when they are more like Medium.

4.5 miles easy in the afternoon to freshen the legs.

Sunday

Longford Half Marathon
Got a lift down with Digger and CL and we were pretty relaxed. I figured there was no point being nervous; It was a 'setting a goal race' not a goal race, so really I just wanted to see where I was rather than chase a target. I saw that CL had the splits written on her arm for a 1:29:30 Half, but she told me it was just a 'dream time' :rolleyes:.

Anyways reg etc went quickly and we got up the front of the field for the start.
I allowed myself to go off a little quick to get ahead of the field and the first mile went by in 6:24, followed by a 6:30 so well on my dream time of 1:25. At 2 mile Better than Hoyte came alongside as we spilt from the marathon field. I commented to him That Claralara would win this race as there were no ladies in front (I had just passed the lead Lady but it was the same one who RQ had easily beaten in the midlands half. I knew she would fade).
I could see that BTH was in better condition aerobically than me so I urged him to go on. The third mile was a little uphill and into the wind so I wasn't concerned that It was a little slower (6:40) I concentrated on maintaining position and trying to reel in the guys in front. The field was very sparse and we were al running in 1's and 2's.
We rejoined the Marathon field after 5 miles and it was a little boring up the main Rd. Also it was hard to make out competitors as we were constantly passing Marathon stragglers (they were 2 miles behind us). So I was quite happy to turn off the main rd and Marathon route at mile 7. I managed to pass 2 or 3 runners here. BTH who had gone 300m ahead was also coming back to me now so I had a target for the rest of the race. I had been checking my garmin against mile markers and I knew I was still on 6:30 pace here. I gave up looking at the pace of miles TBH because my garmin was measuring everything short (as usual) and I realised it was best to run this at even effort rather than at what my watch was telling me.

Unfortunately the turn off brought a lot of unexpected little hills. No monsters but definitely enough to hurt you when running at HM pace. I was reeling in BTH but at the same stage knew my Pace was dropping. At one stage at the 8 mile water station I passed a runner and closed to within 10m of BTH, but he seemed to sense my presence and sped up a bit to stay ahead. The next 3 miles were really tough, mentally and physically. The hills continued and I was putting in 6:50 miles now. I passed the 10 mile marker at 65:40ish ( a near 4 minute PB) so I knew I was still on for 1:25:xx If I dug in and ran a 20 minute last 5k, But I felt really wrecked. We reached a turnaround point just after 10 miles where we ran 150m on direction and then back before taking a left and heading back to Longford. I found that pretty soul destroying. I was looking out for CL and glad I got turned before I saw her (I knew she wouldn't be far behind) because I would be looking over my shoulder all the way otherwise I knew I wouldn't have a kick today.

BTH was now pulling away again and I was really on my last legs and yet we still had hills for a few more miles. I took a gel more for a psychological benefit than anything and it seemed to help a bit as did the 11 mile marker. I just hung on and soon we were back into the town. The last mile was pretty downhill and looking at the splits I was finally able to speed up a bit after 4 6:5x miles.
Crossed the line eventually in 1:26:28 which means 20:40ish for the last 5k, a little disappointing I couldn't hold the 1:25:xx pace but I have to be happy as I gave it my all and that's the best I could do today.

Had a chat with BTH who was a s wrecked as me and almost Immediately the announcer called the lead lady coming home and sure enough we looked up and saw Claralara cruising down the home straight for the win. Great result for her and I think I will have a pacing buddy for Berlin as she has a great engine.


Summary: 13.1 miles in 1:26:28 (6:36/mile) a mcmillan and VDot PB but probably not enough to realistically go for sub 3 in Berlin. I'll talk to the coach and come up with a plan.



Weekly total: 5 days running and 43 miles

2011|No. of days Running|Miles|2012 |No. of days Running|Miles
January|28/31|256.3|January|28/31|290.1
February|24/28|236.9|February|27/29|283.2
March|23/31|221.9|March|24/31|204.7
April|22/30|176.4|April|23/30|187.8
May|25/31|198.5|May|29/31|240
June|24/30|180.6|June|20/30|176
July|28/31|269.4|July|30/31|309.2
August|23/31|244.6|August|23/26|223
September|22/30|200|||
October|26/31|187.5|||
November|28/30|210.1|||
December|24/31|194.3|||
Total|297/365|2576.5|Total|205/239|1914.5

theboyblunder

Hard luck meno. I know you didnt hit your target exactly, but 1:26 is a super time and presumably a huge PB! It was quite hot today and longford isnt a great course if youre not feeling good (had a nightmare last 8 milles myself there in the marathon in 2010 - the N5 is a lonely place )

well done

menoscemo

theboyblunder wrote: »

Hard luck meno. I know you didnt hit your target exactly, but 1:26 is a super time and presumably a huge PB! It was quite hot today and longford isnt a great course if youre not feeling good (had a nightmare last 8 milles myself there in the marathon in 2010 - the N5 is a lonely place )

well done

I am very happy with the result, it's a 3 minute PB from december. I have no complaints and feel the preparation was perfect. No complaints whatsoever

tang1

Superb running meno as always. Your in serious shape. Just quick question if you dont mind, is it harder or easier course than Portlaoise a few weeks back?

menoscemo

tang1 wrote: »

Superb running meno as always. Your in serious shape. Just quick question if you dont mind, is it harder or easier course than Portlaoise a few weeks back?

No comparison Tang. It is much easier. It is more on a par with the likes of Waterford or Kildare. The midlands course is one of the more difficult ones in the country.

Aimman

menoscemo wrote: »

The midlands course is one of the more difficult ones in the country.

That's because its an Ultra Half Marathon @ 14.3M

Well done on the PB, still time for everything to slot into place for a sub 3 PB in Berlin.

BTH

Good to meet you again yesterday Meno and congrats on the PB. We both took massive chunks out of our PBs yesterday, but neither got exactly what we wanted. Its an odd feeling! Best of luck in Berlin, on what is actually my birthday!!

Oh, and have a word with that other pair, still no sign of any race report...

RubyK

Congrats on a great time and pb meno! Brilliant running.

Krusty_Clown

Well done Meno. Your HM time is within touching distance of a sub-3, so don't get disheartened. Don't forget your training has been for the marathon and not for the Half, so Macmillan will always be slightly inaccurate (given that it assumes you trained specifically for the result you submitted). A cool, windless day in Berlin might be all you need.

menoscemo

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Well done Meno. Your HM time is within touching distance of a sub-3, so don't get disheartened. Don't forget your training has been for the marathon and not for the Half, so Macmillan will always be slightly inaccurate (given that it assumes you trained specifically for the result you submitted). A cool, windless day in Berlin might be all you need.

Not disheartned at all.

Sub 3 was always a stretch Goal for Berlin and Ideally I would have been in better shape long in advance of Berlin to have gotten the specific training done. Truth be told I have never been comfortable running any of the PMP miles in training so far and have had to bail on a few of the sessions when targetting 6:50 pace ( I couldn't finish a 4 x 5k session a few weeks ago.) When I ran at marathon effort last week I managed only 6:56/mile and i will need to be doing 6:46 in berlin to make sub 3 (allowing for the course being 26.45 miles as it was last year.).
So the plan will be to go out at around 7 min mile pace and hopefully negative Split. If I turn in 92 minutes and am feeling good, a 88 min return is feasible.
If not I will set a solid PB and target the sub 3 in the spring. Obviously I will see how training goes over the next few weeks before making a definite commitment.

TRR

menoscemo wrote: »

Not disheartned at all.

Sub 3 was always a stretch Goal for Berlin and Ideally I would have been in better shape long in advance of Berlin to have gotten the specific training done. Truth be told I have never been comfortable running any of the PMP miles in training so far and have had to bail on a few of the sessions when targetting 6:50 pace ( I couldn't finish a 4 x 5k session a few weeks ago.) When I ran at marathon effort last week I managed only 6:56/mile and i will need to be doing 6:46 in berlin to make sub 3 (allowing for the course being 26.45 miles as it was last year.).
So the plan will be to go out at around 7 min mile pace and hopefully negative Split. If I turn in 92 minutes and am feeling good, a 88 min return is feasible.
If not I will set a solid PB and target the sub 3 in the spring. Obviously I will see how training goes over the next few weeks before making a definite commitment.

sounds like a very good plan. As KC says if you get a good day weather wise you could pull it out of the bag. A 91-92 first half would put you in a great position. Negative slitting is the way to go especially in big city marathons where you will literally pass 100s of people in the second half.

menoscemo

TRR wrote: »

sounds like a very good plan. As KC says if you get a good day weather wise you could pull it out of the bag. A 91-92 first half would put you in a great position. Negative slitting is the way to go especially in big city marathons where you will literally pass 100s of people in the second half.

Yeah, I love negative splitting marathons as you feel like you are really flying in the 2nd half; passing out all the stragglers gives you a real boost psycologically.

Now just to convince one of your trainees to come along with me in Berlin

chinguetti

Well done on yesterday.

7 weeks to go isn't it. Become a monk for it, clean living and give it one big effort.

If you fail, at least you tried. None of the 'if, 'maybe' stuff, just go for it.

menoscemo

chinguetti wrote: »

If you fail, at least you tried. None of the 'if, 'maybe' stuff, just go for it.

Of course I am going to give it absolutely everything but it is always best to be pragmatic. Last year I refused to recognise all the warning signs that I wasn't in 3:10 shape and stuck with it anyway, running the first 17 at that pace until I was in a bundle and then ended up hobbling home in 3:26, 2 minutes outside my PB.
That will not happen this year unless something goes badly wrong (injury etc).
The strategy of starting at 7 min/mile allows me to speed up if possible while ensuring I won't totally blow up and will still post a good PB ( London and Boston Qualifier), I think it is the sensible way to go, it has nothing to do with not trying hard enough.

Mr Slow

menoscemo wrote: »

Of course I am going to give it absolutely everything but it is always best to be pragmatic. Last year I refused to recognise all the warning signs that I wasn't in 3:10 shape and stuck with it anyway, running the first 17 at that pace until I was in a bundle and then ended up hobbling home in 3:26, 2 minutes outside my PB.
That will not happen this year unless something goes badly wrong (injury etc).
The strategy of starting at 7 min/mile allows me to speed up if possible while ensuring I won't totally blow up and will still post a good PB ( London and Boston Qualifier), I think it is the sensible way to go, it has nothing to do with not trying hard enough.

I think Chinguetti is talking about lifestyle as opposed to race effort, ie drop the sneaky smoke and the takeaway.

Oisin11178

menoscemo wrote: »

Not disheartned at all.

Sub 3 was always a stretch Goal for Berlin and Ideally I would have been in better shape long in advance of Berlin to have gotten the specific training done. Truth be told I have never been comfortable running any of the PMP miles in training so far and have had to bail on a few of the sessions when targetting 6:50 pace ( I couldn't finish a 4 x 5k session a few weeks ago.) When I ran at marathon effort last week I managed only 6:56/mile and i will need to be doing 6:46 in berlin to make sub 3 (allowing for the course being 26.45 miles as it was last year.).
So the plan will be to go out at around 7 min mile pace and hopefully negative Split. If I turn in 92 minutes and am feeling good, a 88 min return is feasible.
If not I will set a solid PB and target the sub 3 in the spring. Obviously I will see how training goes over the next few weeks before making a definite commitment.

Deffo the best approach imo.

pgmcpq

Cracking result Meno. You might not have made your target but that's some improvement in PB. With that rate of progress and a flat Berlin course ......

chinguetti

Mr Slow wrote: »

I think Chinguetti is talking about lifestyle as opposed to race effort, ie drop the sneaky smoke and the takeaway.

Got it in one Mr S.

I don't doubt your race effort Meno or the great training that you're doing as yesterday shows. Eat healthly to give yourself every possible chance for the day as we discussed down in Limerick.

shels4ever

chinguetti wrote: »

Got it in one Mr S.

I don't doubt your race effort Meno or the great training that you're doing as yesterday shows. Eat healthly to give yourself every possible chance for the day as we discussed down in Limerick.

Chicken balls are vital for any marathon training.

Mr Slow

shels4ever wrote: »

Chicken balls are vital for any marathon training.

There was a question over whether they came from the feathered kind or some cowardly young fella! :eek:

opus

menoscemo wrote: »

Summary: 13.1 miles in 1:26:28 (6:36/mile) a mcmillan and VDot PB but probably not enough to realistically go for sub 3 in Berlin. I'll talk to the coach and come up with a plan.

Nice run! I wouldn't be writing off your goal for Berlin just yet IMHO.

BeepBeep67

Nice running at the weekend - the 1:40 group are in safe hands.

menoscemo

chinguetti wrote: »

Got it in one Mr S.

I don't doubt your race effort Meno or the great training that you're doing as yesterday shows. Eat healthly to give yourself every possible chance for the day as we discussed down in Limerick.

Sorry Man, got you wrong
No sneaky smokes since Poland, at my lowest weight at the minute in years and barring London (when I really needed a break to be honest), I haven't had a night on the booze in months. I know you will never believe me but I am actually already doing what you suggest. Deffo gonna try to get down a few more Kilos before Berlin, but there is a fine line between dropping a few pounds while running loads of miles and leaving your body close to burnout.

Mr Slow

menoscemo wrote: »

Sorry Man, got you wrong
No sneaky smokes since Poland, at my lowest weight at the minute in years and barring London (when I really needed a break to be honest), I haven't had a night on the booze in months. I know you will never believe me but I am actually already doing what you suggest. Deffo gonna try to get down a few more Kilos before Berlin, but there is a fine line between dropping a few pounds while running loads of miles and leaving your body close to burnout.

Good stuff

average_runner

Mr Slow wrote: »

menoscemo wrote: »

Sorry Man, got you wrong
No sneaky smokes since Poland, at my lowest weight at the minute in years and barring London (when I really needed a break to be honest), I haven't had a night on the booze in months. I know you will never believe me but I am actually already doing what you suggest. Deffo gonna try to get down a few more Kilos before Berlin, but there is a fine line between dropping a few pounds while running loads of miles and leaving your body close to burnout.

Good stuff

Make sure to enjoy the after party in Berlin so.