Is it Now?

donothoponpop

Peckham wrote: »

Please don't tell me you were dreaming about Woddle!

No, this was a cold sweat. Dreams I have involving Woddle usually have me waking with a warm, fuzzy, feeling of contentment;)

[QUOTE=Peckham;59313784Good idea to kick back a little and feel positive going into the last few weeks.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, previous marathons at this stage I've been nervous because of lack of training/ missing long runs, so I'm quietly confident now, certainly positive about Rotterdam.

donothoponpop

Woddle wrote: »

Little do you know we were talking about the horizontal dance

Wow:eek: thats true, via PM earlier today!

If you're still suffering from low libido caused by overtraining, come join me and Slogger Jogger as we leave our partners and head out the countryside for one of our Sunday "hill runs":D

We'll bring a new meaning to "Sub 3";)

donothoponpop

3 wtg day 7

19.4 miles lsr, av pace 7:28 min/mile

Ok, so the last week was a zilch, washout. I had flu all week, so didn't get out at all, excepting a bit of mountain biking. Truth be told, I'm quite happy about having a weeks enforced rest, coming as it does at the end of an intense training period which included several hard races. I had started to dream about training, it was getting a bit much, and wasn't enjoying my runs at all. So to get a break now, and get having a cold over and done with, was perfect timing.

Today was a glorious day for running, spring is here and the sun beating down. I met up with SJ and we set off on an out and back course, that left me the option to cut short if I wasn't feeling good during the run. As it happened, I felt great, and was had to purposely hold back the pace. We held a conversation all the way round, managed to get in nearly 20 miles, and could quite easily have gone much faster and further if I had to. The benefits of a taper.

Speaking of taper, mine officially starts now, but theres still a few longish runs and a race to get through, but I'm not going to do anything crazy. 99% of the hard work is done now, I feel great, and am looking forward to Rotterdam.

More importantly, I'm enjoying my running again:)

Peckham

Good to hear the positive attitude despite missing a week's training - others may find it unsettling, but as you say the hard work is done now, so take the benefits from the enforced rest.

Woddle

I just plssed and moaned about my bad weeks, I could def take a page from your book, super attitude and a great session to build the confidence.

donothoponpop

2wtg

As I'm in taper mode, I'm leaving the Garmin at home these days. Best of luck to those doing Conne(ultra)marathon, Paris, London, Boston, Rotterdam, and all others over the next few weeks.

Wed. four mile forest run, fairly sharpish.

Thurs. 13 mile forest run, said "hello'' to everyone I passed as it was a sunny day. Kinda quick, although the legs felt a bit heavy toward the end.

Fri. 5 mile run with Woddle, never met him before, he's about as nice a running partner as you could wish for, ran round Marlay Park and talked about our upcoming marathons, Boards AC (got the singlet, yeah!), and taper madness.

I suspect a lot of people are talking about taper madness right about now, but I've noticed a big difference on boards since the new training logs sub forum. Just before Dub08 marathon, the usual "help I've done too much/too little/my nose hurts/will I break4?" threads appeared, and beyond reassurance there was often little you could say. Now, its handy to look back over peoples logs, and you can almost predict how they will do.

So much of a marathon is ran before the race begins. Looking over the logs of those who have been training steadily for the past few months, the sweet smell of multiple pb's will be blowing around these parts for the next few weeks.

donothoponpop

2 wtg day 7

14 miles on the WW trail run. Lovely morning, set off for this in shorts and singlet, luckily I had a windcheater jacket as we were running in freezing cloud and driving winds from the off. Thankfully, this had disapated by the time we hit the Powerscourt ridge, and its a great view that rewards those who run this route. Lovely to be running over grassy bog in places, although we took some of the granite clambering uphills easy. I let go on the final descent, happy in the knowledge that this was my last tough run before Rotterdam.

I've decided against racing this, as its only 6 days after the marathon, but I'm really looking forward to some of the longer imra races this summer.

donothoponpop

9 days to go

I've done very little this week, and my legs have had some feeling return to them, instead of the dawn to dusk tiredness from the past few weeks training. Doing very little in the two weeks before a marathon has served me well in the past, so the P&D taper plan is out the window. I hasten to add that I'm keeping a good diet, and am not reverting to the general sloth of my pre-running days.

Tonight I did a 5 mile hill run, and it felt great! I ran up Cushbawn in Aughrim, up the start of the route of my first ever mountain run two years ago. Memories came flooding back as I turned each corner, and although I wanted to keep going higher and higher, caution prevailed and I turned for home before dark came. It was a joy to run on fresh legs again, and I'm really looking forward to hill training again after the marathon.

Krusty_Clown

Only 9 sleeps to go? Getting excited?!
What'll the target be, after you get your sub-3?

donothoponpop

8 days to go

Easy 5 round Marlay park, the muscles just want to take off!

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Only 9 sleeps to go? Getting excited?!
What'll the target be, after you get your sub-3?

Starting to get the butterflies. My next target is a good run in Ballybraid in May, a great imra run. Also have to get an official sub 40 10k.

And 501 in nine darts ("there's just one word for that Jim- brilliant darts"):)

--amadeus--

Darts :eek:

It's weird how our training has mirrored each other. I tend to go very easy in the last couple of weeks as well so have been taking extra rest days but when I have run I've tried to keep good intensity, so not quite at the "leaping tall building with a single bound" stage yet. No point getting butterflies at this late stage, que sera, sera (as Terrance would say, showing my age there...)

You'll be well able for a sub 40 - I got that monkey off my back a week ago and your interval times were faster than mine so you'll fly it.

SUNGOD

hi DP best of luck this weekend.
ive been following your progress and youve done all the hard work and preperation , you must be quitely confident and rightly so
visualise running sub 3 and you will

ultraman1

good luck at the weekend.....

Krusty_Clown

Run like the wind (or at least faster than 6:53/mile)!!
Soon I'll be able to tell my grand-kids I chased a sub-3'er over them IMRA hills. Have a fantastic race!

donothoponpop

4 Days to go

Cheers lads, that means a lot, also those who have pm'ed words of encouragement. Sharing my goal so loudly will mean I won't want to come back here with my tail between my legs, and that should help maintaining the pace during the 20something miles.

Yesterday, 5 miles easy, including 5x 100 m hill repeats, omly doing them for company with someone, so easy enough.

Today, 7 miles including at least 2 at PMP.
I started off this log way back, talking about how I felt I was a complex group of atoms traversing the Earth's curves, and that was something I felt at the time- it made me feel aware and alive like nothing else- "living in your moment" if you like. Tonight I tried to recapture that, and for a while I was racing the sun as it set along a curving hill on the horizon I ran to. It felt good, but not what I was after. This was to be my last real run before the marathon, and I so wanted it to feel special. (I had even downed a half bottle of nice red to prehydrate:)). Tried running a few steps witrh my eyes closed, but it still wasn't doing it. Towards the end of the run, I started speeding up, and realized that I was now happiest when running fast, instead of just running. I'm taking this as a good omen, and will bring this feeling with me to Rotterdam.

I've enjoyed this training log, it was a great step up in complexity from the Daily Drudge, I feel I've gained so much knowledge from what people have been so kind to post here, and by reading other training logs. My next entry will be an account of my first sub 3 marathon, something I scarcely believed possible when I first started running to get rid of the beer bellied chain smoker I had become.

Onwards and upwards!

TheRoadRunner

Best of luck the weekend hope you reach all your goals

Abhainn

donothoponpop I think the sub 3 is will just be a small step up for you from the 3:10 finish in marathon in Dublin 2008 (I think you said).
If you and the two other guys can run together and be pay strict attention to your splits it will be a great day out.
Great log BTW. Best of luck

donothoponpop

donothoponpop wrote: »

Cheers lads, that means a lot, also those who have pm'ed words of encouragement. Sharing my goal so loudly will mean I won't want to come back here with my tail between my legs, and that should help maintaining the pace during the 20something miles.

Ouch! Famous last words or wha'. I finished in 3:28, nowhere near where I thought I'd be. We all ran together for the first half, and it was more a case of holding back, and we hit halfway bang on target 1:29. Then, I don't know what happened, the wheels just came off. My mile splits didn't just start falling back, they immediately crashed. From 13 miles, they read as 7:14,7:56,9:20, 10:40, you get the picture. There was nothing in the tank, and after all the training I've done, I'm very surprised by this. The second half was agony, the course loops around itself so as to give you an "out" at 16 miles or so, and I was hurting so bad that I really wanted to pull out. The only thing keeping me going was the thought of the finishers medal that my 6 year old son wants to see (he thinks I've won Dublin the last three years:)). Kept on struggling, even had to walk a bit. It wasn't lactate, not really cramp (although my stomach did feel queasy), just no energy at all. After 38k I passed Slogger Jogger was was likewise suffering. The only excuse I'll use is that when we arrived here, our hotel messed up our bookings and so shunted us off to a faraway airport hotel, which had limited food. We both ate the same greasy lasagne, so maybe picked up something from it. I only say this as its strange we should both mess up so spectacturly in the same race.

Anyway, after I had decided to finish, I set about struggling to finish the last ten miles, just ticking them off. The crowds in Rotterdam are great, little kids handing out orange slices and such, so I spent a few miles just enjoying the athmosphere, and having a bit of banter with the crowds. Eating the oranges did some good, and I finished the last few miles at a decent pace, 7:20, 7:05. Sprinted up the finishing straight, and was very happy to finish, 18 minutes off my last Dublin pb, and nowhere near the sub 3 I had been aiming for. My marathon career is on haitus now, so I'll have to be happy with what I got. I'm a little disappointed in how this training log ended, but thats life, and No doubt I'll live with it.

Thanks to all who posted advice and stuff here. I'll be sticking to shorter stuff and hills. Well done BTW to amadeus, who ran a great race and got a new pb of 3:06.

Now to cure everything with several dozen beers

Abhainn

sorry donothoponpop to hear of your dissappointment. Can't believe both yourself and SJ had almost identical experiences. It seems a bit crazy.
I think put it down to an external factor been the cause as it seems this is the case.
Have those dozen beers and during so plan your next assault on that sub 3

SUNGOD

sorry to hear of your dissapointment
really strange day for you and SJ the travelling and hotel food mix upmust have played its part.
there is a fine line between running sub 3 and running well over 3.
enjoy the few beers and ye can have your race post mortem when the dust has settled.
i suppose no one can PB every race and sometimes we need to go backwards before we can go forward.

Krusty_Clown

Sorry to hear about the very tough finish, but glad to hear that you managed to enjoy some of the race despite your bad luck. Enjoy the well-earned pints.

TheRoadRunner

Hard luck. Your training deserved better. Get locked and move on

Sosa

Sorry to hear that hop the pop....the hotel/food has to have something to do with it.

donothoponpop

Yeah feck it whats done is done. Had a few pints with Amadeus, whos on cloud 9! Bars still open, so here we go. Sometimes you just need a few beers:)

No more marathons for me, but woe betide anyone who thinks they can take me on the hills:D

earlyevening

Sorry to hear about the marathon. Its odd that it went so dramatically wrong at only the half way point. Maybe its too early to rule out another marathon just yet?

In IMRA news, it was just myself and enduro. 2nd and 17th. We needed you guys there with top ten finishes.

MCOS

Wow that was quite bizzare! Sorry to hear the Marathon didn't go to plan for you and SJ. You both deserved so much more that that

Racing Flat

Hard luck, mate. Stupid_Private and amadeus often talk about not worrying about things out of your control and it sounds like there were some things out of ye're control here.

In terms of learning from it...the hotel move was probably out of your control and so nothing could be done. Also, the food choice might have been out of your control - if it was late and there was nowhere else open. However, if there was a choice, IMHO lasagna was a strange choice for a night before the marathon meal. Even if it wasn't 'off' it's too oily, cheesy and heavy. Also typically made in bulk and so reheated later on - always increases the risk. Also, not enough carbs for me. Finally, I worked with a sports team once and they were banned form eating beef for 48hours prior to a match. Not sure the reasoning behind this, but the practice sticks in my mind. So much as I love lasagna, I'd be sticking with rice/pasta with tomato based sauce and veg, maybe some fish the night before. When we went to Berlin we purposely went self catering so we could bring our own pasta and porridge etc. from home and cook it ourselves. Again, none of that might have been an option for you.

How did Roy Keane put it 'I bet Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink isn't eating cheese sandwiches tonight!' Although then he went and ordered a pizza . Why didn't he order something better ?

Look on the bright side, the training went well and you're in good shape. In 5 or 6 weeks you'll run a few good pb's over the shorter distances.

All the best.

donothoponpop

Racing Flat wrote: »

IMHO lasagna was a strange choice for a night before the marathon meal. Even if it wasn't 'off' it's too oily, cheesy and heavy.

+1 to all what you wrote above, very informative.
This lasagne was beef free, described in Dutch, as having potatoes too. It was the only pasta dish on a limited menu from the only restaurant around (the airport had closed, we checked! I'm doubly mad since I had booked the other hotel for also having a very well reviewed Italian restaurant in it.
But who knows, we were talking after to two other Irish lads who also suffered this "double-booking" nonsense and also endured this airport motel, who were likewise on for their sub 3's at half way only to turn in 3:26 and 3:4x? Perhaps some of us just suffered the heat more than others, who knows?

Racing Flat wrote: »

Look on the bright side, the training went well and you're in good shape. In 5 or 6 weeks you'll run a few good pb's over the shorter distances.

All the best.

Cheers. As we drove home tonight back into Wicklow, the hills looked real nice on the horizon. We were talking about the training runs we had done, and some of the best runs were through the snow we had, great experience. I'll look forward to running a few 10k's soon. PB is 40:40 so I should have a bit more luck breaking that;) We made a few loose plans to run the Wicklow Way over a couple of days during the summer. No regrets about anything really, what's done is done, let's learn and move on.

--amadeus--

No point postmortum-ing the race too much I guess, although FWIW I am pretty sure that the dodgy lasagne didn't help. Even without the risk of infection all teh grease and cheese aren't great fuel. Add to that the fact that the race - while not hot - was run in conditions a fair bit warmer than we trained in and there were a lot of circs beyond our control that slowed all of us down.

I fully respect your reasons for dropping down the distances and focussing on hill running. In a lot of ways it's a shame though because you are capable of a significantly faster run, but it'll just have to wait.

And from what you have said - on here and in person - you run because you enjoy it. And hill and mountain running are what you enjoy the most so I fully expect a log full of enjoyment and races full of great results over teh summer!

Daithi BC

Hard luck on a day when you didn't get what you deserved, judging by your training. Hope to see you back in the hills again soon.