Mentored thread for Conn Ultra training

griffin100

Hhhmm, things haven't really being going to plan at all with training for this race. 6 weeks of no running in late November and December does not bode well for an ultra, even if its only a baby one;) A foot injury picked up in DCM being the problem.

That said things are starting to look up a wee bit. Started running again Christmas week after the physio gave the all clear and did 2 weeks of 25/30 mile weeks with a longest run of 8 miles. Physio is pushing me hard and last week told me to do a decent run. Saturday managed to get out and do a 12 mile at 9.05 pace and felt comfortable the whole way around with no ill effects on the legs or injured foot today. I had hoped to get to the half marathon distance but it just got too bloody cold (9 min miles aren't great for keeping you warm).

Foot is responding well to all the stretching and exercises the phsyio has prescribed. He suspects I may need orthotics but is not keen to pescribe them just yet so thats good to see - a lot of physios seem to use them as a first reponse to injuries. Key to keeping the foot happy is good running form (upright stance / feet under body / good foot strike) and slowing things down / shortening stride length. Wearing compression socks also seems to help. This is all good as I wasn't planning on doing any speedwork for this race anyway:)

I'm still not certain I can do the ultra and dont want to end up injuring myself by pushing too hard. If I dont feel up to doing the ultra I'll do the full instead, I have until March 1st to change over (I think!).

New plan is now to use HH's Intermediate II plan as a basis for my training with some tweaks. It has 3 x 20 mile runs but I hope to push at least one if not two of these out to 24/26 miles. It also has back to back weekend runs, albeit with short runs on the Saturday. I plan to extend out the Saturday sessions by incorporating these runs into a brick session so hopefully tiring out the legs for the long Sunday run. We'll see how it goes. I'm hoping the increase in weekly mileage will not be too severe on my foot. First sign of a relapse and I'm out of the ultra, I'd rather miss it and do the full marathon if possible rather than miss the rest of the year through injury.

Mick Rice

griffin100 - sorry to hear you've had injury problems, but at least you seem to be getting them under control. I think it was hard for everyone to train through the cold weather. Even if you had all the gear, the Yak Trax and the warm leggings, it was still tough to get out the door in those temperatures. I rarely suffer from any sort of motivational defecit but there were days that even I struggled a bit with the thought of doing ten more miles with icicles hanging off my nose. Hopefully we'll have a clear run for a while now.

Have been training really well for a while myself, have eight or nine really solid weeks done - which I realise is absolutely no guarantee of a good run in Finland - but I supose you've no hope of a good one without that good preparataion. Whether it eventually comes to anything or not I reckon this is the fittest I've been for a long time. Have been itching to race but have taken wiser counsel and avoided short races in preference to getting the heavy work done. I'll let Magnet speak for herself, but good grief has she been making me look like a lightweight :-)

The race site is at http://www.endurance.fi/24/eng.html and they say they'll post live updates. Hopefully we'll have a good support crew there who'll be able to post updates on progress on boards even if the organisers aspirations come to nothing.

If in doubt, go for a run...!

aigster

Crept up to 18 myself satrdAy, early in park and amazed at how many there!!!....pleased as was fairly comfortable ... But no prizes given out at the 18 mile mark!!!....
Mick you're feeling fitter... ?!! Is thAt legal ???!!...fingers crossed for you..
Did magnet do dingle ultra ?...

ultraman1

aigster wrote: »

Did magnet do dingle ultra ?...

only as a warm up for the run back to athenry

aigster

Very Impressive!!!... The full nearly did for me !!!!I'll try Connemara first and see how I go...

Mick Rice

ultraman1 wrote: »

only as a warm up for the run back to athenry

The brilliant part of this post is that it's almost believable..

aigster

Seccond week of my plan (?) for conn ultra...had kept busy over crimbo...lots of short runs.Average week now 45 miles...I stayed with the 18 miles again in park , just under 10 p.m. Really my aim is just to finish conn. First time..not doin any speed work , still mindin groin strain but adding in a few runs up knokmaroon hill ..getting there .... Slowly

griffin100

Foot still hanging in there, a lowish 33 miles for last week but a back to back session over the weekend with a 7 mile saturday / 15 mile sunday. Legs not overly tired on the Sunday but in the last 5 miles the pace dropped of quite a bit from 9.05ish to 10min / mile. Hopefully thats just a sign of my lack of running through November - December and my base fitness will return soon enough. Foot feels ok today apart from the normal twinges so fingers crossed.

Wally Runs

I have worked up to 20 miles, with another 20 tonight, working on up to the magic 30. Mid-week I am putting in two 12’s back to back, some speed work and a 6 mile. This is not what I had planned but it is the way things have panned out. I had few days off last week as I had a tummy bug which I could not shift, but I reckon I am feeling the better for the break (once I got over the should be running feeling).

Problems:
I am finding that my recovery periods are (except for last week) getting longer, I assume this is due the mileage increases and that will pass as I HTFU.
I got bored for the first time while out running, this is new to me. Plan to change some of my routes.

My plan is still just to finish on the day with my head held high.

Question: What if anything are you guys doing by way of weights? I have avoided them to date but feel that I should be working on the upper body. I was looking for something simple to tag on the end of a run, like push ups (http://hundredpushups.com/)?

Aimman

Wally Runs wrote: »

Problems:
I am finding that my recovery periods are (except for last week) getting longer, I assume this is due the mileage increases and that will pass as I HTFU.
I got bored for the first time while out running, this is new to me. Plan to change some of my routes.

My plan is still just to finish on the day with my head held high.

Are you eating/drinking anything after the long runs? Anything from a Recovery powder mix with 4:1 carb to protein ratio, or a milkshake with banana, cocoa powder, honey etc. or Mars recovery drink. Lots of options Optimal time for intake of carbs and protein for muscle repair etc is 20mins after training. You can leave it up to 1 hour, but apparently less effective. Make sure you throw in some slow recovery runs to give the muscles time to repair/recover from a hard session before going for the next one (egg. LSRs, Tempos, interval work need a bit of a break in between or the full effect it not realised)

Definitely change routes often or you'll get too comfortable running a set pace etc around the route. Even going to a different park or head up into a forest for a few miles. Its like a fresh start.

menoscemo

I was thinking of organised that group 30 mile run on St Patricks day morning in Phoenix park (it's a thursday) instead of the weekend. Would there be many takers for that date?

griffin100

Glad to see some activity back here....

Congrats to Mick on the weekends performance, savage stuff, a months running in one day:D

Up to 20 miles yesterday following an 8 mile on Saturday. Done at a very slow speed, averaged 10 min/miles so was on the feet for 3.20hrs. At the moment getting 4 runs a week in, can't seem to get a fifth one in (I'm still trying to kep my swimming up so that takes time as well). Usually a short recovery run early in the week with a midweek 8-10 miles, with the double run on the weekend. Looking at the traning plan projections I would hope to get two weekends of 20/20+ back to back runs in before the taper starts with a peak LSR of close to 30 miles. Foot is holding up well so all good at the minute.

Lex Luther

Good stuff ......keep up the good work !
LL

aigster

I'd love to get in the 30.... If it paddys day and I'm off no bother... But if anybody from outside Dublin it might impact... But sure on other hand maybe that gives a weekend to recover!!!....

I did a 23 mile sat and then I ran walked a final 5 so a 28.... But did stop in tescos around the 27 as I was starving....!....so not exactly a straight 28... I left house at 9 and returned at 2.so notcexactly flying around...

I'm just doing what I can ... At the minute that's 3 runs of around 8/9.... Mon Tuesday wednsday ... Hilly ish
satrday .... Long run.for now it ok...only aim get it done... And maybe some fundraising.... But a bit nervy to fundraiser and fail !!!!!!

Oisin11178

Ah most of the lads are doing a 50k in a few weeks as prep for conn. Did a 50k last week myself, 8.05 a mile. Its a great distance to run in prep for something like conn. Think im in work paddys day so no 30 mile run for moi that day.

aigster

8 minute miles .... One day, way off that now...

Mac Cormaic

menoscemo wrote: »

I was thinking of organised that group 30 mile run on St Patricks day morning in Phoenix park (it's a thursday) instead of the weekend. Would there be many takers for that date?

I'd be interested in meeting up for the 30 mile jog. What kind of pace would you be running it at?

TFBubendorfer

I just want to give out a warning about the planned 30 miler.

I did one for last year's Connemara and had a great race, and I didn't go as far for my first 2 attempts, so I can certainly attest that a 30 mile training run can be a very good thing, based on this highly scientific experiment with a sample size of 1.

However, you do have to build up to that kind of distance and you have to be ready for it. If all you have done beforehand is a maximum of 20 miles, a 30 miler is more likely to knock you down rather than build you up. If you can't recover in time, or even if it will negatively affect your training for weeks to come, it is not worth doing.

I learned that lesson the hard way when training for Dingle last year. I ran significantly more miles on my long runs than for Connemara to prepare myself for the longer race distance. What I ended up with was a cruising pace that was 30 seconds per mile slower than what it had been for Connemara. I am sure I would have run faster in Dingle had I been more conservative in training.

menoscemo

Mac Cormaic wrote: »

I'd be interested in meeting up for the 30 mile jog. What kind of pace would you be running it at?

Probably about 9:30/mile pace.


@TF Bufendorfer, agreed. I'll be doing a 50k race and a marathon as training runs before the 30 miler. The 30 miler will be the last long run before the taper.

hot to trot

What time have you in mind? It will take me about 4 hours to get up from Mayo? Weekend would suit me better or i could possibly take Friday off work if I had to .
With that distance, I would probably be going slower than you guys somewhere between 9.30 and 10.30mm or 9.30 with walk breaks. I dont mind if I dont have someone along side me all the time , its mainly to have company coming and going and to meet up with some friendly faces .

Otherwise it would be quicker for me to go to Connemara and do some of the route there instead.

menoscemo

hot to trot wrote: »

What time have you in mind? It will take me about 4 hours to get up from Mayo? Weekend would suit me better or i could possibly take Friday off work if I had to .

Not sure about a time yet. I would imagine some time in the morning would suit most people best. There will be a few people using this group run as their last 20/10 miler before the Conn Full/half as well so there should be plenty of company for a few laps at least.

The initial plan was the weekend but talking to a few people Paddy's day seems to suit better. personally I would like to get it done then as I would like to run the 5k race in town that sunday and a saturday 30 miler would likely scupper all chances of a decent time.

aigster

I'm definitely looking at the 9.30/10 min mile .....

menoscemo

aigster wrote: »

I'm definitely looking at the 9.30/10 min mile .....

Don't worry about pace. I'd do most long runs on my own at about 8:30/mile but am used to doing group long runs at 9:30-10 min pace. For me, this run will be about getting lots of time on my feet, hopefully about 5 hours.

hot to trot

As a matter of interest , is there anyone down this way who would be interetsed in doing a lsr in Connemara rather than Dublin?
Magnet might fancy a few laps of the ultra course :-)

liamo123

hot to trot wrote: »

As a matter of interest , is there anyone down this way who would be interetsed in doing a lsr in Connemara rather than Dublin?
Magnet might fancy a few laps of the ultra course :-)

Im in Meath but have been thinking about this 4 a while... Depending on my recovery from Barca im going 2 head in that general direction hopefully last or 2nd last week of March and run half marathon course ( hopefully twice) ..... I have 2 c the beast 4 myself From a personal point of view I feel I need to experience running those hills so I know exactly what 2 expect........ It will most likely b on a Wednesday or Thursday...

Aimman

Mick Rice wrote: »

It's already been suggested that a group run in Dublin might be a good idea and I'll certainly try to make that run. There is however one other option that propsective Conn Ultra runners might like to think about. My club organise an informal Connemara training run each year in early February that we call the 'Connemara Fun Run'. It's certainly not a race, just a bit of craic with some training on the side. We hire a bus and leave Galway very early on a Saturday morning and head out onto the course, aiming to be on the road by about 8:30am. We always have loads of people from outside of the club as well. The bus drives the marathon route and lets people off where ever they want and the idea is that we all make it back to Maam Cross at roughly the same time. The only cost is a share of the bus, which is usually very inexpensive. I usually run the full marathon route at an easy pace as a training run. Afterwards, we have a bite to eat in the hotel in Maam Cross or in Oughterard and get bussed back to Galway, usually by about 02:00pm. As well as the actual training involved it's a chance to see the course up close and personal and knowledge of the actual ground to be covered is very useful on the day.

I don't have a firm date yet for the day itself, but anyone here who wants to come along to familiarise themselves with the course and compare training notes would be most welcome. We can either gather a list on this thread or people can PM me directly.

Mick.

I'm just wondering if any date has been set for this? I'd be interested if the day suits. I wont be in running mode on St. Patrick's Day or that weekend, so looking for an alternative and still run with a group.

Mick Rice

Sorry for being a bit absent from here, but hopefully I'll be a bit more available from now on. As some of you'll know I had a bash at 24hrs at the weekend and it all went a tad pearshaped :-) For all you devotees of pain and suffering, I'm doing up a report and will post it on the blog in a day or so. The [EMAIL="cr@piest"]cr@piest[/EMAIL] races always make the best reports.

Anyway, the Connemara fun run is set for Saturday the 19th of February. All are welcome - all you need to do is let me know by PM that you'd like to take part and then I'll send out details of the run. It's all very simple as I outlined the last time. I've been remiss in looking through this thread and will look back through all the contributions today to see if I can contribute anything.

Oisin11178

Aimman wrote: »

I'm just wondering if any date has been set for this? I'd be interested if the day suits. I wont be in running mode on St. Patrick's Day or that weekend, so looking for an alternative and still run with a group.

Propose a few dates Aimann. I cant make paddys day and would be interested in a lng group run

hot to trot

Welcome back Mick and heartiest congratulations on a phenomenal distance , even if it is not as much as you would have liked - it is still a terriffic result. YOu will know for the next time what you would do differently

Im in for feb 19th , please

Wally Runs

I usually do my last long run for marathons from Howth to Killiney along the coast, I reckon if I push it out to Bray it will give me the 30 miles (I live in Bray). The route is quite flat until you hit Dalkey and you have Killiney Hill and some more hills in parts of Bray. I have yet to set a date but I was thinking early March. The reason I like it is because it is a point to point, shops and toilets along the way, great views and if all else fails the Dart to take you home.

If anybody is interested we can set a date and sort out logistics (promise of a dip in the sea and or hot shower at the end). My pace will be slow (going for time on feet) but the route is easy to follow.