Peckham's sub-3 odyssey - Round 3: Berlin

Peckham

tunguska wrote: »

How are you getting on with JDs Q sessions? Any races coming up, gauge your progress?

Am really feeling the benefit from them. I'm preferring them over the Pfitzinger tempo runs which can be quite monotonous. They seem to produce results quite quickly which is satisfying.

No races for me. Nothing that really fits into my schedule. I'd like to do a 10 mile or half marathon race, but there's nothing out there that works for me. Don't fancy dropping a long run in favour of a 10k.

village runner

Peckham wrote: »

Have been slacking a bit in updating my log, and being on boards in general. Have only really had the opportunity to make flying visits.

Anyway, here's the story.


Week 5
35 miles

Monday: 4 miles recovery

Tuesday: 13 miles with 2 x 20min tempo (avg paces: 6:16, 6:25), 10min recovery between each

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 14 miles @ 7:24

Friday: 4 miles recovery

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: Unplanned rest due to hangover, so missed a scheduled 18 mile run. I guess this week turned into an unplanned recovery week.


Week 6
57 miles

Monday: 11 miles @ 7:01, clearing out the frustration of the missed run the previous day

Tuesday: 3 miles recovery

Wednesday: 13.5 miles with 8 x 5 min tempo with 30 secs recovery (paces: 6:23, 6:26, 6:23, 6:19, 6:18, 6:18, 6:27, 6:22). Was delighted with this session, as I wasn't really into it when starting out (and it was the session in my plan that I was dreading) but got into the mood and pushed on. Paces are at the fast end, but am taking it that fitness is improving. Nearly got knocked down by a car on Griffith Avenue during the 6th rep. That would not have been a good result.

Thursday: 4 miles recovery

Friday: 20 miles @ 7:33. Was staying in Castle Leslie in Monaghan for a few nights, so took the opportunity to run around the grounds there whilst Mrs Peckham was using the spa facilities. Had scoped out a nice 6 mile loop that I was going to run repeats of, but about on part of it I got chased by a rather nasty looking dog, so I binned that loop. Ended up figuring out a 6 mile figure of 8 loop, and just did a few repeats of this. Nice session as I was under no time pressure at all, and had a lovely pint of Guinness and tasty ham and cheese sandwich for post-run recovery.

Saturday: 6 miles recovery around one of my favourite trails in Donegal.


This week is 60 miles, ending with 21 miles with 13 PMP on Saturday before jetting off to the sun, and a planned recovery week.

What pace are you planning to run the pmp at ? and how will you run it. 8 first or 4 and 4 ??

Peckham

I have long discarded my great intentions to run PMP and tempo at speeds based on current fitness, rather than where I want to be. My previous PMP session (8 miles) was done at 6:43, so will be trying to keep this PMP session somewhere in the 6:45-6:50 range.

Will run it as 6.5 miles warmup, 13 miles PMP, 1.5 miles cooldown

Peckham

Halfway through training now, and a strong week to celebrate that. One of the very few times I've done a 60 mile week.

Monday: 14 miles home from work - avg pace: 7:42.
Getting pretty bored with the route home from work. I can't vary it much as it's pretty much the most direct route I can take, and I don't fancy doing more than 14 miles in my midweek runs. Will stick with the route for the next few weeks anyway, despite the dull final section (Old Airport Road from Santry to Swords).

Tuesday: 7 miles - avg pace: 7:01
Nice sunny evening on a nice quiet loop from home. Felt good, didn't really want to slow down!

Wednesday: 14 miles with 4 x 12min tempo (avg paces for the tempo segments: 6:25, 6:25, 6:29, 6:31)
The final two tempo segments were uphill and disrupted by having to cross roads. Felt good throughout the session, and really feel that these Daniels tempo sessions are working their magic on my training. Tempo speed is starting to feel relatively straightforward (not necessarily easy though!)

Thursday: 4 miles recovery - avg pace: 7:58

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 21 miles with 13 miles PMP
6.4 miles warmup - avg pace: 7:30
13.1 miles PMP - avg pace: 6:37
1.5 miles cooldown - avg pace: 7:40
Plan was to do the PMP miles around 6:45 pace, which is the pace I held for the first few miles, however felt strong as the session went on and the pace started to get a bit faster. Added on the extra .1 mile at the end to cover half marathon distance, working out at just under 1:27 for the half

Sunday: Rest


Recovery week next, as I'm away for a week - plan is to drop back to 40 miles, with some tempo miles midweek. Nothing extreme though.

Sosa

Very good week for you,Peckham...keep it going

donothoponpop

Peckham wrote: »

Saturday: 21 miles with 13 miles PMP
6.4 miles warmup - avg pace: 7:30
13.1 miles PMP - avg pace: 6:37
1.5 miles cooldown - avg pace: 7:40

That's a great pace, within a 21 miler. You're looking very good at the mid-training-point, keep up the good work!

seanynova

Peckham wrote: »

Saturday: 21 miles with 13 miles PMP
6.4 miles warmup - avg pace: 7:30
13.1 miles PMP - avg pace: 6:37
1.5 miles cooldown - avg pace: 7:40
Plan was to do the PMP miles around 6:45 pace, which is the pace I held for the first few miles, however felt strong as the session went on and the pace started to get a bit faster. Added on the extra .1 mile at the end to cover half marathon distance, working out at just under 1:27 for the half

savage PMP session Peckham! have to do my 1st one on monday :eek:

Krusty_Clown

Very strong week Peckham. Well done! Superb long run, and good to see you targetting a chunk off of 3:00.

misty floyd

+1 great work Peckham. Fair play.

Peckham

Unfortunately a poor week follows what was a great week. Was away in sunny Mallorca for the week, and couldn't get the motivation to get out running that much. The heat was just too off-putting, and I couldn't motivate myself to get up earlier. Managed two runs during the holiday (one 8 miler, and one 5 miler) and then a 7 miler when I got home yesterday....so a grand total of 20 miles for the week, whereas I was aiming for twice that.

At least it was a planned recovery week.

It's behind me now, and looking forward to a strong final two weeks before the taper kicks in.

Peckham

A B+ for this week. Work commitments meant I missed out on Thursday's planned 13 miler, but got my two quality sessions in. Had planned to get out again today to push the mileage over 50 for the week, but could feel the strain in the legs from yesterday, and didn't want to risk any damage.

Monday
7.2 miles @ 7:08/mile

Tuesday
14 miles with 6 x 1 mile @ tempo pace (1 min recovery between each)
Paces for the tempo miles were: 6:26, 6:22, 6:18, 6:22, 6:23, 6:34
The final mile was uphill (that painful stretch through Whitehall from Griffith Ave to Collins Ave), but rest of the paces were on target

Wednesday
4 miles @ 8:04/mile

Thursday
Missed session

Friday
Planned rest, and had made plans which meant that running wasn't feasible

Saturday
22 miles with [4 x 5 min tempo (1 min recovery between each)]x2

2.5 miles @ 7:25/mile
4 x 5 min tempo (paces - 6:24, 6:19, 6:06, 6:07)
10 miles @ 7:21/mile
4 x 5 min tempo (paces - 6:18, 6:07, 6:09, 6:05)
2.3 miles @ 7:50/mile

Was so chuffed at the end of that session, don't think I'll ever have as tough a session as that ever again. The second set of tempos hurt pretty bad, but was determined to push through them knowing that I don't have any more tempo sessions of 5 mins with 1 min recovery!

Sunday
Rest. A few miles would have been nice to push into the low-50s, but there's too much strain in the legs. Risk-reward ratio is skewed towards risk.

47 mile total for this week. 50 next week, and then it's taper time. At that point I'm going to switch to the Pfitzinger taper from the 55 mile/18 week plan. Daniels has served me well, but I think his taper is a bit heavy on mileage.

seanynova

good 22m easy/tempo session!! had one today myself, 2x12mins and a 15min at the end...hard going but good to have it done!

why do you think daniels taper is heavy on mileage? is a progression of 80%/70%/70%/60% of peak mileage....peaking at say 55miles gives: 44/38/38/33m, thats in line with P&D, i do however think daniels race week is a bit much!!!

Peckham

seanynova wrote: »

good 22m easy/tempo session!! had one today myself, 2x12mins and a 15min at the end...hard going but good to have it done!

why do you think daniels taper is heavy on mileage? is a progression of 80%/70%/70%/60% of peak mileage....peaking at say 55miles gives: 44/38/38/33m, thats in line with P&D, i do however think daniels race week is a bit much!!!

Can't remember the exact details of it, but I just felt there were too many running days and too much speedwork. I know I'll feel more confident after P&D, it has served me well in the past.

Peckham

Haven't had much opportunity to update the training log recently. Activity here has been limited recently, but training has been pretty consistent.

Week 9
Reasonable week, although ended up missing a session due to work commitments. Ended up with only four days running totalling 46.5 miles. The two quality sessions were:

Q1
14.3 miles (20min easy, 20min tempo, 20min easy, 20min tempo, 20min easy)
Average pace on the tempo sessions was 6:18 and 6:22, so between them averaging at the 6:20 I was aiming for. The second tempo segment was traffic disrupted as I crossed main roads in the Santry area. This was my final tempo session, so the thought of that kept me going.

Q2
21 miles @ 7:17 pace


Week 10
First week of taper, although didn't really cut back on the miles compared to the previous two weeks, as they each had a missed session. For the first time in four weeks I managed to get 5 days running, which was an achievement in itself as it was a busy week and was away on a stag weekend at the end of it.

The stag weekend was a true test of my running dedication, and managed to get through it without touching a drop of alcohol, and avoided as much rubbish food as possible (despite the chorus of jeers when the other 15 on the stag ordered full English breakfasts on both mornings, whilst I tucked into scrambled eggs on toast).

The two quality sessions were:

Q1
8 miles with 5x600m @ 5k pace. Was apprehensive about this session as I had done no interval work in a good few months (Daniels seems to focus more on tempo miles, but have now switched to Pfitzinger for the taper). Having no recent races to work this pace from, I played around on a 18min 5k which worked out at 2:12 for 600m.
Times for the 5 sets were:
2:01
2:09
2:07
2:10
2:07

Q2
16 miles @ 7:23 pace


So, now it's feet-up (relatively speaking!) for the next 2 weeks and see what happens at the end of it.

Looking forward to pacing the half marathon this weekend.

Krusty_Clown

The most significant achievement is managing to avoid alcohol on the stag! Impressed! Well done on those 600s. That's a cracking pace.

Are you going to run the 3x1 mile @5k pace this week? Promises to be a tough one!

Peckham

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Are you going to run the 3x1 mile @5k pace this week? Promises to be a tough one!

Yep, have that session lined up for this week. I wasn't worried about it until I did the 600s last week and remembered how fast 5k pace actually is! Will need to go out a bit more conservatively on the first mile than I did in the 600s, but I don't mind the sessions where it's three reps of something, as it means the second rep is also the penultimate rep!

Took another rest day yesterday (making it two rest days in a row - but that's acceptable in taper!) as I simply couldn't be ar$ed going out running yesterday evening. In addition, I also need to go to a removal tomorrow evening, so that will have to be another rest day. So week is being shuffled around a bit.

Am thinking:
Mon: Rest
Tues: 8 miles easy
Weds: Rest
Thurs: 8 miles with 3*1mile@5k pace
Fri: 4 miles recovery
Sat: Half-marathon pace duties
Sun: Rest

Peckham

Monday 13th
Should ideally have gotten out for a few miles, but was too tired when I got home and it was miserable and wet out!

Tuesday 14th
7.4 miles @ 7:33 pace. Nice and relaxing run enjoying what is probably one of the last sunny evenings.

Wednesday 15th
Another rest. Had to go to a removal after work, and by the time I got home it was too late to go out.

Thursday 16th
8 miles with 3 x 1 mile at 5k pace
Krusty's big session, and one that I hadn't exactly been looking forward to. Did a 2.5 mile warmup and pace felt nice and easy during that. Found myself drifting easily towards 7:00 pace during the warmup, which I guess is a result of having had 3 rest days in the previous 6 days!

Headed to some football pitches to do the intervals, which I planned to do in 5:45 with a 4 minute recovery. To be honest that felt like a lot, but works out at 70% of the interval time.

Times for the 3 x 1 mile were:
- 5:40
- 5:48
- 5:36

Not sure what happened on the second one. Was cruising, and I guess I switched off. Was very frustrated with myself after it, and really hammered the final interval as a result!

Feel pretty positive after that session. Don't know how anyone runs a 2:30 marathon though. 26 miles at 5:45 pace, yikes! :eek:

4 miles tomorrow evening, then it's into the Phoenix Park on Saturday for pacing duties.

tisnotover

Nice going on the intervals ! Isn't it better ya switched off in training tho, rather than in a 5k

Enjoy the pacing at wknd!

Krusty_Clown

You nailed it. Nice! You should really beat yourself for missing the target by 3 seconds :rolleyes: Can I point out that your average was 5:41!
We're in synch from now until the 27th September.

village runner

What are you aim to hit halfway in............If its in sync I might join you........We will see the clown at the finish.;);)

Peckham

village runner wrote: »

What are you aim to hit halfway in............If its in sync I might join you........We will see the clown at the finish.;);)

Was only thinking about that this morning. Am thinking maybe setting out at 6:50 pace, and then upping it to 6:45 around the 10 mile mark, and then further upping the pace around 20. Not sure though.

What's your plan?

kennyb3

Great session Peckham, prob see you sat morning as will start just behind the 1.40 pacers

village runner

Peckham wrote: »

Was only thinking about that this morning. Am thinking maybe setting out at 6:50 pace, and then upping it to 6:45 around the 10 mile mark, and then further upping the pace around 20. Not sure though.

What's your plan?

2.55 pace to halfway keep an eye on the heart rate.
See what happens after that.
Rem the first 5k are long and last 2.2k are short so dont worry if you are behind at 5k........
The aim is to break 3 hours so go out and break it.
You dont want a 2.57 and risk fcuking it up.....
Learn from previous attempts.

Peckham

Friday 17th
3.5 miles @ 7:51 pace. Kept it nice and handy before the pacing duties.

Peckham

Saturday 18th
Dublin Half Marathon Pacing
Objective: 1:39:30
Achieved: 1:38:46

Perfect exercise for eliminating pre-marathon jitters. Was focussing on today all week, and this felt a lot more productive than just trotting around by myself!

Not exactly mirroring the more precise displays of pacing by the sub-1:30 group, but good enough I suppose. Fantastic experience as noted in the other thread.

5 of the miles (miles 2, 6, 7, 10 & 13) were sub-7:30 but the rest look there or thereabouts on pace.


So, 4 runs left until the big race. Plan is:

Sunday: Rest
Monday: 6 miles easy
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 7 miles with 2 PMP
Thursday: 5 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 26.2 miles!

Aimman

Cheers for the pacing yesterday. Could only hang on over first 3 miles and let you slip ahead towards the 4M mark. Still got a PB out of it and knocked 4 mins off old record.

seanynova

Peckham wrote: »

Saturday 18th
Dublin Half Marathon Pacing
Objective: 1:39:30
Achieved: 1:38:46

Perfect exercise for eliminating pre-marathon jitters. Was focussing on today all week, and this felt a lot more productive than just trotting around by myself!

Not exactly mirroring the more precise displays of pacing by the sub-1:30 group, but good enough I suppose. Fantastic experience as noted in the other thread.

5 of the miles (miles 2, 6, 7, 10 & 13) were sub-7:30 but the rest look there or thereabouts on pace.


So, 4 runs left until the big race. Plan is:

Sunday: Rest
Monday: 6 miles easy
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 7 miles with 2 PMP
Thursday: 5 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 26.2 miles!

is that a sub3 26.2mile training run your going to do next sunday! best of luck with the final week peckam....enjoyed reading the log.

christeb

Good luck final few runs and an early "best of luck" for the big day next week K!

3rd time lucky

Peckham

Monday
4 miles @ 7:42 pace.
Had hoped to get out for 6 miles, but worked a little late and had to cut it short.

Tuesday
Planned rest, and felt a bit dodgy during the day so it was welcomed! Touch of a head cold coming on. It's very unusual for me to get sick, so this is not good timing. Lemsip was order of the day, and got to bed early.

Now, who did I meet on Saturday at the half marathon who had a cold?

Wednesday
Woke up feeling pretty rubbishy, and would have taken the day off work except I had a client presentation, so had to go in. Spent most of the day wondering whether or not to do my planned 8 miles (with 2 PMP) home from work as planned. Was on the lemsips for the day, and felt good come 5.30 so decided to do the run.

Bad decision.

It was a beautiful evening when I left work, but after 30 mins the heavens opened, and continued that way for the rest of the run. Probably not what the headcold needed. Especially given that at the end of my run I had a 30 minute drive home in wet running gear. Stupid.

Hopefully I'm not going to regret tonight's actions.

The run stats:
2 miles @ 7:44
2 miles @ 6:44
4.5 miles @ 7:48

donothoponpop

Peckham wrote: »

Now, who did I meet on Saturday at the half marathon who had a cold?

Some selfish oaf, no doubt... (in my defence I shook no-one's hand, stood well back from everyone, and only wiped my brow in your towel a minimal few times;))

FWIW my cold lasted only a couple of days, that was as bad as it got, and didn't really hinder any running, so if you did catch it from me- which you didn't!- you'll be fine for Berlin. Unless you're getting the excuses in early?:D

Best of luck, you looked in great shape at the weekend, sub 3 is in your hands now.