Keep Improving

PDCAT

Saturday 08/03/14

8.00 - 1.10.13 (8.46) Easy

Wasn't really sure what distance to run this. Plan for the weekend was to run 6 mile Saturday and 12 mile Sunday as it was a step back week.

But had planned a night hike in Slievenamon for Sat night with the walking club. Ran this 8 miler fairly handy and legs felt good.

Slievenamon Night Hike

Left Kilkenny at 7pm and was ready to start hiking at 8pm Saturday evening from Kilcash. Six of us headed off for this including my better half.
Really great evening, first time i'd done a night hike, went over a couple of summit's and legs were pushed hard a couple of times during the night. Total 6 hours of walking, back at the car at 2am, and home in bed by 3.30am.
Shelved plans for the 12 miler, legs and body were very tired after the night before.
Overall, really enjoyed the walk and wouldn't mind doing another night hike in the future.

PDCAT

Monday 10/03/14

4.00 - 38.39 - Recovery

On treadmill. Legs feeling good. 10 miler tomorrow morning.

PDCAT

Tuesday 11/03/14

10.00 - 1.28.29 (8.51) Easy

First time since Amsterdam Marathon last October that i ran in shorts outside. Felt a little naked......
Legs felt a little tired. Only got to bed at 2.30am last night after work, and on the road as soon as i could drag myself out of bed.

PDCAT

Thursday 12/03/14

4.00 - 38.39 - Recovery

On treadmill.
Heading to Liverpool for a stag on Friday for two nights, then will probably drink with the lads on Sunday when we get home. So three nights with savage amounts of Alcohol & probably cigarettes.
Not a great way to prepare three weeks out from a Marathon.
Lucky i'm only running Connemara at training pace.

Haven't had a drink since Christmas so i'm not prepared for this weekend at all. Will have to pace myself big time.

Plan was to run 10 mile on Saturday and my last 20 mile on Sunday. Not going to happen obviously. Have taken tomorrow off work and will run the 20 miler. Hope the weather stays good. Will have to shelve the 10 miler as not enough days in the week.

Begin the taper next week, hopefully i won't be too long coming around after the weekend.

PDCAT

Thursday 13/03/14

20.00 - 2.59.31 (8.57) LSR

Took the day off work, as lots to do before heading on the stag. Ran this 20 miler early enough in the morning. Lovely day for it and felt good most of the way during it.

Headed to Liverpool at 4am Friday morning. Two days of pure overindulgence followed. By Sunday, i was sick of it, had about 3/4 drinks Sunday and headed home early to bed.
Only problem, is i seem to have hurt my back on Saturday night doing my John Travvolta impression on the dancefloor. Could not walk upright on Saturday night after this. Was alot better on Sunday morning, but still feels pretty sore. Plan to do a 4 mile at recovery pace tonight. Will see how the back is after work.

PDCAT

Wednesday 19/03/14

4.00 - 38.39 - Recovery

On treadmill in work. Right hand side/back area still a little sore. Got through this ok. Glad to be back on the straight and narrow.

PDCAT

Thursday 20/03/14

8.00 - 1.06.09 (8.16) Easy

Trying to catch up on missed run's due to my weekend away last week.
Ran this 8 miles too fast, but legs felt good. Another 4 miler on Friday.

PDCAT

Friday 21/03/14

4.00 - 38.38 - Recovery

Another 4 mile on the treadmill in work this morning. Legs ok.
Plan for weekend is Saturday 4 mile, Sunday 12 mile.
Looking forward to getting out on the road at home again.

PDCAT

Saturday 22/03/14

4.00 - 34.57 (8.44) Easy

Nice and short run on Saturday morning. Legs a little tired.

Sunday 23/03/14

12.00 - 1.45.06 (8.45) LSR

Found this really tough. Probably the toughest run i've had this year. Legs tired, upper body really tired. No energy. Dont' know why. Beautiful morning for running and was looking forward to a great run. Put it behind me and see if legs improve this week.

PDCAT

Monday 24/03/14

4.00 - 38.39 - Recovery

On treadmill tonight in work. Not feeling the love at the moment. Body feels abit tired the last few day's.

PDCAT

Wednesday 26/03/14

6.00 - 51.38 (8.36) - Easy

A little sluggish at the start, partially due to only home from work at 2.30am and up at 10am to run. After first mile, legs loosened out and enjoyed the run. A beautiful morning for it. When i got home, it was the wife's turn to run and it pi**ed out of the heaven's.:p

PDCAT

Thursday 27/03/14

4.00 - 38.38 - Recovery

On treadmill in work. Time flew for once and legs felt good.

PDCAT

Friday 28/03/14

4.00 - 34.56 (8.43) - Easy

Lovely short run this morning on the road. Normally leave this run until Saturday, but long day of babysitting duties tomorrow and had to get this out of the way this morning. 8 miler due on Sunday.

PDCAT

Sunday 30/03/14

8.00 - 1.18.05 (9.45) LSR

Last LSR before Connemara. Ran this with the missus, took it easy at her pace. Legs felt good. Easy few days this week, some very short slow runs.

PDCAT

Monday 31/03/14

3.00 - 28.59 - Recovery

On treadmill this morning in work.

PDCAT

Tuesday 01/04/14

4.00 - 35.47 - Recovery

On treadmill in work. Legs feeling good, looking forward to the weekend.

dazza21ie

How you set for 2moro PDCAT? Enjoy the scenery and the hills

PDCAT

Friday 04/04/14

2.00 - 17.45 - (8.53) Easy

PDCAT

Sunday 06/04/14

Connemara Marathon

Well, the day finally arrived. Bit of backround - i started to train for this using a 14 week Hal Hidgon Intermediate 1 Plan, similar to what i used in Florence 2012. It was my fourth marathon (Dublin 2011 - 4.13, Florence 2012 - 3.43, Amsterdam 2013 - 3.36).
Plan was to enjoy this a bit more and run a bit easier, achieve a sub 4.00 and then focus on the main target this year Berlin.
i had completed the half marathon here in 2012 and loved it. The marathon was a bit of a bucket list job, that i wanted to tick off.
Whilst my mileage so far this year has increased on last year, the marathon plan had no MP miles or speed work and only two 20 mile runs compared to three for Amsterdam.
Was hoping just to enjoy the scenery and for once get to the finish line without suffering too much.

Arrived in Galway on Saturday, went to the expo and listened to all the speakers, Wasn't as nervous as normal, probably as i didn't really have a definite target time. My wife was running the half and was trying for sub 2 hours.

I stayed in B&B near the cathedral, went down to Fat Freddie's for pasta on Saturday night and had a good nights sleep.

Race

Miles 1 -5
I started at the very back of the field. I waited for everyone to line up and went to the back. My plan was just to jog along at about 8.45 pace and pass out groups as i went.
Before i knew it, we were off as i was going to the jacks at the side of the road. I walked up to the start line and at this stage the leader was a dot in the distance to me.
The first 5 miles went ok, my legs felt a little heavy. i was passing out lots of people. A couple of Ultra runners, Thomas from boards fame, and Gerry Duffy passed me at about 3.5 miles. I had drank lots of water in the 24 hours before the run and was going to the toilet quick regularly (miles 2, 6 & 12). I made three pit stops in the first half of the race.
Average pace for these miles was approx 8.45.

Miles 5 - 10

Started to speed up a little here, whilst still holding back a fair bit. These miles were my favourite part of the race, my legs felt good, was passing lots of people, running at approx 8.20 pace. My average pace at 10 mile was approx 8.32. Took my first gel at mile 6.

Miles 10 - 15

Went through a bit of a rough patch for some reason at mile 11. This lasted about a mile. About mile 11 a bunch of 8 of us started running together. i took another Gel at mile 11. i stopped to go the toilet at mile 12 and they went ahead. By Leenane at mile 13 i had caught up with the group again. I went through half way in 1.52.XX, about 3.45 pace.
At this stage, everything was going to plan, maybe a few minutes quicker than i'd wanted, but was feeling ok.
Leaving Leenane, running up the hill, seemed to smash the group of 8 of us all over the place. I was surprised how strong some of them had looked a mile earlier and how they really struggled heading out of the village.

Myself and one of the girls went ahead, and we didnt see any of the rest for the remainder of the race. Average pace at mile 15 was still 8.35.

Miles 15 - 20

My plan was to slow down for the second half of the rest slightly and not kill myself. However, i was feeling ok at 8.35 pace, so i kept at that pace, which meant staying with a couple of other runner's and ensuring i wasn't dropped by them.

Next few miles went by ok, around mile 18 i started to feel it a little, but not too bad. Throughout the second half of the race, their were huge gusts of wind which nearly blew me over. Together with a shower of heavy rain, made conditions miserable. Took a third gel at mile 15 and a fourth at mile 19. Still holding 8.35 pace at mile 20.

Miles 20 - 26

As usual, these were the tough miles. Was feeling relatively ok until about mile 23, when we started heading up the second hill. Between the gradual incline and especially the wind, i ended up having to walk on about 3/4 occasions during this 1.5mile/ 2mile. The wind was so strong, i was just as quick walking fast. My pace dropped going up this hill and my average pace fell to 8.50. About 1/2 mile from the top of the hill, the wind dropped and i ran the rest of the way.

The last couple of miles went ok for me. Because i had'nt pushed myself at 100% during the race, my legs felt a little stronger than normal coming towards the finish. I passed the group of runner's that were around me and headed for the finish line.
Crossed the finish line in time of 3.51.39 - achieved the sub 4. Job done.

Overall happy with how it went. Plan was to complete the Connemara Marathon in under 4 hours and this was done.
Didn't go all out especially in the first 15 miles. However, the last 10 miles or so, i have to say, i don't feel i had much more to give. It's hard to tell as i didn't have the motivation to push myself as sub 4 was always safe.
It's a tough marathon course, especially with the adverse conditions on Sunday, but well worth doing.

dazza21ie

Well done PDCAT, when you take into account the conditions, course and the fact you weren't pushing yourself that's a pretty handy time. Berlin will be such a contrast for you course wise anyway.

PDCAT

dazza21ie wrote: »

Well done PDCAT, when you take into account the conditions, course and the fact you weren't pushing yourself that's a pretty handy time. Berlin will be such a contrast for you course wise anyway.

Thanks Dazza

I'm still a little unsure of how much i had in the tank. First 15 miles, i felt i wasn't giving it my all and was holding back a little. Have used Hal hidgon plans for my first four marathon's. Going to switch to P&D 55 mile plan and see do i see an improvement.

PDCAT

Monday 14/04/14

4.00 - 38.39 - Recovery

On treadmill in work. Took last week off after Connemara. i find it helps the legs recovery quickly by taking the following week off after a marathon. Taking it relatively easy this week. 5 runs, total of 26 miles. Next week back to normal. Have done up a 6 week plan to take me to start of Berlin Marathon training.

PDCAT

Tuesday 15/04/14

6.00 - 51.42 - (8.37) Easy

First run on the road Tuesday evening since Connemara in beautiful conditions if a little hot for me.
Legs felt good, although the calf muscles were very tight. Lovely run and had a good stretch of the calves afterwards.

PDCAT

Thursday 17/04/14

4.00 - 38.38 - Recovery

On treadmill in work. Legs feeling good.

PDCAT

Saturday 19/04/14

4.00 - 34.36 - (8.39) Easy

Beautiful morning. The plan called for 4 miles, but i would have like to have done more such was the conditions.

Sunday 20/04/14

8.00 - 1.21.48 - (10.03) LSR

Another cracking morning, up at 7am to run this with the wife. Hilly route that i had practiced for connemara. Wife had never done this route, so ran with her at her pace.

Reading P&D advanced marathoning book at the moment. Very interesting read.

PDCAT

Tuesday 22/04/14

4.00 - 38.38 - Recovery

On treadmill in work. 8 miler planned for tomorrow.

PDCAT

Wednesday 23/04/14

8.00 with 4 @MP.

For the next 4/5 weeks, coming up to starting Training for Berlin, i'm tipping away with a similiar plan that i used post Amsterdam.
Today was 2 mile easy, 4 mile @MP, 2 mile easy.

2m - 8.44 pace

4m - 7.51

2m - 8.43

Felt absolute rubbish for this run. Got home from work last night at 2.30am. Woke up this morning feeling like i had a hangover. Got up at 10am and straight out to do this run. Was fairly warm outside at this time and i was feeling it. Right from the start, even the easy miles felt tough. Anyway got through it, that's all that can be said about it.

PDCAT

Thursday 24/04/14

4.00 - 38.39 - Recovery

On treadmill in work. Stressful few weeks in work, finding it hard to focus on enjoying the running.

PDCAT

Saturday 26/04/14

8.00 - 1.08.42 - (8.35) Easy

Was working late Friday night, then had to get up at 6.30am for work on Saturday. Was feeling pretty tired when i got home Sat evening.
Plan was to run 6 miles at 9.00 pace as i'm pacing Limerick half marathon next Sunday for 2 hour group. Thought i'd practice running at this pace. Last 2 miles i ran at 7.15 pace. Reading P&D book at the moment. Planning to use the 55 mile plan for Berlin and the Lactate Threshold run's will be at this pace for me. So thought i'd give it a go to see how it felt. Went well and felt good.

Sunday 27/04/14

10.00 - 1.29.58 - (8.59) LSR

Very busy day on Sunday, so was up at 5.30am to run this. Again planned to run it around 9.00 pace, getting some practice in for next Sunday. Bit of an up and down route so difficult to keep the pace steady.

Monday 28/04/14

4.00 - 38.43 - Recovery

On treadmill in work. Felt ok, if a little bored.

PDCAT

Wednesday 30/04/14

Kilkenny Road Race Series - 4 Miles

Have done very little racing in the past 12 months due to very little time at the weekends to get away from the two little girls at home.
However, decided to enter this last night after work. Last short race i ran was Heart of Laois 10k last June.
Since then, have completed two Marathons and the stook 10mile which i ran with the missus.

My PB was 27.21 from last June (Little South Run). On that run, my target time was sub 27.00 which i failed. Decided to give it another go last night. Wasn't sure what i would run as i haven't raced in so long.

Decided to target sub 27.00 and run close to 6.40 - 6.45 pace. Approx 150 people lined up for the start of this. Done about 1 mile warm up with the missus to take us to the start line. Her PB was 34.07 and was trying to beat this.

We started off on a very narrow road. I was at the back of the field and i was afraid i'd get blocked up. For some reason, this was'nt really a problem. For the first mile, it was downhill and then flattened out. I passed out quiet a number of people on this mile, in particular two people i knew from work, whom i wanted to finish ahead of. Ran this mile in 6.40 - on target and happy enough. I'm not particularly used to running at this pace due to having not enough speed work done and probably wasn't as comfortable as i should have been.

At the start of the second mile, we started to up onto the main road and the gradient started to rise a little. Their was a nice pull up for this mile. The pace started to get harder to keep. Their were three different groups of about 4 fella's in each group ahead. i started to move through these groups. Basically i'd catch a group, hold with them for about 10 seconds then move to the next group. Passed these runners and then turned left off the main road. Second mile was ran in 6.48 which i think was affected due to the uphill nature of the mile.

I wasn't prepared at all for the third mile. Having never ran this course before i wasn't aware there was a very steep hill for most of the third mile. I was thinking maybe that's why i had passed the three groups of lads earlier. They were probably holding a bit in reserve for the hill.
Nevertheless, i just pushed as hard as i could going up this hill. I passed two more runner's and nobody passed from behind. Mentally i was finding it tough. At times, i just wanted to stop, but i knew that the hill couldn't be that long and there would be a steep downhill at the top to get back to the finish line.

Lost a bit of time here and i'd say at this stage i was outside my goal. I remember looking at my watch and seeing average pace 6.46. I was too wrecked to notice what pace i was at three mile marker. But it was all downhill and flat from here on in and i decided to plug away and get a PB if not sub 27.

Two fella's that i had passed earlier, passed me on the last mile going downhill. I hung onto the back of them for a few minutes. i looked at the watch and my pace was moving between 6.20 - 6.40 for this mile. I just dug in as best i could, trying to keep the pace up. Nobody else past me for the last mile and when i crossed the line was happy to see 26.43 (PB by 38 seconds).
Actually happy with this improvement. I think when official results are posted up, i'll probably be a few seconds slower as i was slow to start the garmin, but still should be half a minute PB.
It was a tough course and think on a flat course, i may knock a few seconds off.

Plan now is pace Limerick Half on Sunday, will race the Kilkenny Road Series 6 mile race in two weeks. Hoping over the next month or so i can get a couple more race's for a few more PB's.
The wife completed her race in 33.08 - PB of 59 seconds. She's happy out and going for sub 2hr in Limerick on Sunday.