Aiming for a sub 45min 10km.

belcarra

Day 26 - Rest Day
Rest day in anticipation of 10k race.

Day 27 – Balla 10k Race - 10km @ 165 bpm
This was my second time doing this race – my first being back in 2009 when I ran 47:55. This time the race start was pushed back to Main St as they had meausred the course this year using a Jones device and needed to find an extra 140m. Looking back at Garmin data and comparing this year’s race versus two years ago and I discovered there was indeed an extra 135m added this year.

There was a good few running today that I knew so for once tactics were gonna come into play a little bit. My only 10k this year so far was a 49min race in Dunshaughlin for which I was pretty tired on the starting line and absolutely knackered at the finish line. Today though I was hoping for much better.
The first two kms whipped by in no time…well, in about 9mins to be more exact! Myself and three friends started off together and it was at this point that two of them pushed on a little. I decided to let them go and settled into a 4:35 or so pace beside my remaining co-runner. It continued in this fashion for the next 4kms with me pushing a little on the downward slopes of a course that was far more undulating than I had remembered. At the 7km mark I noticed the kms were slowing to about 5:00/km and I needed to up it. The longest hill drag was behind me so I upped the HR from an average of 163bpm to approx 168bpm for the remainder. This helped lift the km splits by about 20secs or so, a hefty improvement for 5bpm extra!

At this point I was closing in on one of my mates who had left me at 2km. However, as he passed a straggler the new guy started to run with him and they paced each other all the way to the finish. They remained the 15secs or so ahead of me all the way to the finish.
I had spent too much energy trying to bridge the gap, so when it came to the finish straight I was pretty one-paced, unable to pick it up much.
Finished in 46:40 according to my Garmin – Still awaiting the official results! – this was a 75 second PB for 10km, set on the same course, but 140m longer than last time! Happy with this time as I had forgotten how bumpy this course was.
Now, if I could just get my hands feet on a nice flat 10k course I’d be very close to breaking 45mins!

Time: 00:46:40
Distance: 10.07 km
Av Pace: 4:38 min/km
Avg HR: 165 bpm
Max HR: 173 bpm


Day 28 - Rest Day
Several pints of the black stuff flowed later in the evening after the race so I wasn’t in the mood for anything on Sunday. The drive back to Dublin certainly didn’t help either, so I called it a Rest Day in honour of another PB!

belcarra

Lots of rejigging this week again for the race on Sat. Most of the sessions were fitted in but a 10 mile GA run was lost. I will try and get some miles back next week as a result.
Another PB recorded in Balla and a good week all round with me hitting 25km on the mid week LSR. One more big week before the subsequent Step-Back week at the end of Mesocycle 1.

Day|Week 4 Session Targets|Actual Distance|Av HR|Actual Pace km (Miles)
Mon|Recovery Run 8km (5m) @ <140bpm|9.6|138|5:25 (8:44)
Tue|Medium-Long Run 24km (15m) @ 148bpm|25.0|N/A|5:23 (8:37)
Wed|Recovery Run 6km (4m) @ <140bpm|6.4|136|5:43 (9:09)
Thu|General Aerobic + Speed 13km (8m) w/ 10 x 100m strides|9.6|139|5:34 (8:54)
Fri|Rest Day/Cross Train|-|-|-
Sat|Balla 10km Race|10.1|165|4:38 (7:27)
Sun|Recovery Run 6km (4m) @ <140bpm|-|-|-
|Total|60.7km||

belcarra

Second last week and the biggest amount of miles of this mesocycle. The original plan in the book suggests 72km for this week but I have planned for 80km instead. If I feel it’s too much (Probably on Fri afternoon during the 26km run!) I’ll ease up on the distance. I have the (relatively) easy week coming up next week with only 59km required so head down for this week and recover next week!

Day|Week 5 Session Targets|Actual Distance|Av HR|Actual Pace km (Miles)
Mon|Recovery 8km (5m) @140bpm|9.0|138|5:15 (8:16)
Tue|General Aerobic 16km (10m) @ 144bpm|||
Wed|Recovery 6km (4m) @140bpm|||
Thu|General Aerobic 16km (10m) @ 144bpm|||
Fri|Marathon Pace Run 26km (16m) w/ 16km (10m) @ 155bpm PMP|||
Sat|Recovery 8km (5m) @140bpm (Indiependence Festival)|||
Sun|Rest or cross- training (Indiependence Festival)|||

Day 29 - Recovery Run – 9km @ 138bpm
First run of this week I just wanted to get out and stretch the legs a little. It was late (9:30pm) when I got out but it was nice and cool which I always prefer. Managed 9km in a pace of 5:15/km which was quite fast but I think an indicator of how much fitter I’m getting. I kept the HR to an average of 138bpm so effort wasn’t any more intense and I felt pretty fresh throughout. Long may that continue!

Time: 00:47:19
Distance: 9.00 km
Av Pace: 5:15 min/km
Avg HR: 138 bpm
Max HR: 149 bpm

belcarra

Day 30 - General Aerobic - 16km @ 146bpm
Tonight called for a 10 mile run so I traced the route of the Frank Duffy 10 miler. Decent route and that hill 1km from the finish is very short so I wouldn't be worrying about it too much!
First few ks felt a little tough and I began to curse last nights run! Legs eased out over time and felt much better. Ended up running this too fast but still only a couple of beats over optimal...
I stopped for about 10mins half way round to watch my football teammates training session. This managed to get my HR down to normal again so probably lent itself to a faster pace overall. I put in a good effort over the last mile to try and replicate the 10 miler in a few weeks time!
My time tonight was actually faster than my 10 mile PB! Although I suppose I did stop and gain from a 10 min break!!

Time: 01:20:46
Distance: 16.02 km
Av Pace: 5:02 min/km
Avg HR: 146 bpm
Max HR: 163 bpm

Day|Week 5 Session Targets|Actual Distance|Av HR|Actual Pace km (Miles)
Mon|Recovery 8km (5m) @140bpm|9.0|138|5:15 (8:16)
Tue|General Aerobic 16km (10m) @ 144bpm|16.02|146|5:02 (8:06)
Wed|Recovery 6km (4m) @140bpm|||
Thu|General Aerobic 16km (10m) @ 144bpm|||
Fri|Marathon Pace Run 26km (16m) w/ 16km (10m) @ 155bpm PMP|||
Sat|Recovery 8km (5m) @140bpm (Indiependence Festival)|||
Sun|Rest or cross- training (Indiependence Festival)|||
|Total|25.02||

belcarra

Day 31 - General Aerobic - 14.5km @ 147bpm
Started off just rambling about the neighbourhood without a plan until about 4km into the run. More of a struggle today than the previous similar run the evening before. I guess there would be some after effects of the 'too quick' GA run yesterday! It was also much hotter during today's run in which I always struggle. :rolleyes:

Time: 01:19:02
Distance: 14.50 km
Av Pace: 5:27 min/km
Avg HR: 147 bpm
Max HR: 156 bpm

Day 32 - Recovery Run - 9km @ 136 bpm
Felt much fresher during this run. Simple short run around the usual loop which equates to 9km, so a little longer than prescribed but still in the same general ball park. Still felt good at the end.

Time: 00:47:38
Distance: 8.99 km
Av Pace: 5:17 min/km
Avg HR: 136 bpm
Max HR: 146 bpm

Day 33 - Medium Long Run - 23.5km @ 140bpm
I was putting this run off all day but eventualy decided to bite the bullet and headed to the park around 7pm. First few kms didn't agree too much with me. I diverted over to the War Memorial Gardens for a look for my first time. Managed about 4km over there before returning to the Park. I was getting really tired around now and still only half the run done yet! Kept going against my 'quit now' thoughts and managed most of the required kms before finishing. I'll add the missing 2.5km onto tomorrow's Recovery Run which I intend to do at a remarkably slow pace hopefully!

I have just taken a look back over the past weeks running and have covered 72km since Monday without a break and also had a 10k race on Saturday last so I think all that mileage at this stage has just taken a bit out of me for the moment. Recovery run tomorrow and Rest day on Sunday, followed by a Recovery run again on Monday should allow me get back a bit fresher for next weeks step back end to Mesocycle 1.

Time: 02:10:46
Distance: 23.50 km
Av Pace: 5:31 min/km
Avg HR: 140 bpm
Max HR: 152 bpm

Day|Week 5 Session Targets|Actual Distance|Av HR|Actual Pace km (Miles)
Mon|Recovery 8km (5m) @140bpm|9.0|138|5:15 (8:16)
Tue|General Aerobic 16km (10m) @ 144bpm|16.02|146|5:02 (8:06)
Wed|General Aerobic 16km (10m) @ 144bpm|14.5|147|5:27 (8:46)
Thu|Recovery 6km (4m) @140bpm|8.99|136|5:17 (8:31)
Fri|Marathon Pace Run 26km (16m) w/ 16km (10m) @ 155bpm PMP|23.5|140|5:31 (8:57)
Sat|Recovery 8km (5m) @140bpm (Indiependence Festival)|||
Sun|Rest or cross- training (Indiependence Festival)|||
|Total|72.01||

belcarra

Day 34 - Recovery Run - 8km @ 141 bpm
Just back from my recovery run which was very tough for much of the same reasons as last nights long run - No energy! I tried holding myself back pace-wise but the HR kept rising over the course of the run regardless.
Just going to write it off as being at the end of a tough week of miles and look forward to being refreshed for next week instead.
Also, failed to nail on the extra 2.5km from last night but not too bothered at this stage!

Time: 00:44:55
Distance: 8.06 km
Av Pace: 5:34 min/km
Avg HR: 141 bpm
Max HR: 155 bpm

Day|Week 5 Session Targets|Actual Distance|Av HR|Actual Pace km (Miles)
Mon|Recovery 8km (5m) @140bpm|9.0|138|5:15 (8:16)
Tue|General Aerobic 16km (10m) @ 144bpm|16.02|146|5:02 (8:06)
Wed|General Aerobic 16km (10m) @ 144bpm|14.5|147|5:27 (8:46)
Thu|Recovery 6km (4m) @140bpm|8.99|136|5:17 (8:31)
Fri|Marathon Pace Run 26km (16m) w/ 16km (10m) @ 155bpm PMP|23.5|140|5:31 (8:57)
Sat|Recovery 8km (5m) @140bpm (Indiependence Festival)|8.06|141|5:34 (8:58)
Sun|Rest or cross-training (Indiependence Festival)|||
|Total|80.07||

Woddle

belcarra wrote: »

Also, failed to nail on the extra 2.5km from last night but not too bothered at this stage!

Nice weeks training and you were right not to add the extra on, got to distinguish between junk miles and that's all they'd be, better to get fresh as you said last night and be ready for the following week.
Is 80km a big jump from what you've been doing?
What kms have the last few weeks been? as that could also account for the tirdness.
Great work though, it'll be interesting to see how we get on at the 10 miler with our different training

belcarra

Woddle wrote: »

Is 80km a big jump from what you've been doing?
What kms have the last few weeks been? as that could also account for the tirdness.

My past 6 weeks have been:
20th June - 26th June: 42.3km
27th June - 3rd July: 53.0km
4th July - 10th July: 64.5km
11th July - 17th July: 52.5km
18th July - 24th July: 60.3km
25th July - 31st July: 80.1km
So ya, bit of a jump last week alright.

Woddle wrote: »

Great work though, it'll be interesting to see how we get on at the 10 miler with our different training

Ya, that should be interesting alright. Have you been strictly keeping to the shorter runs or have you managed to keep ticking over with the odd longer run?
I'm hoping to target 78mins, how about yourself?

Woddle

belcarra wrote: »

Ya, that should be interesting alright. Have you been strictly keeping to the shorter runs or have you managed to keep ticking over with the odd longer run?
I'm hoping to target 78mins, how about yourself?

I've been enjoying the shorter stuff and have found myself getting a bit bored on my longer runs. I've still be doing mostly a hilly 8 miler a week and the odd week I'll do 10.

I may try for 75 mins and see how I go but I won't be too disappointed if it goes badly.
I reckon you'd hit your time tomorrow if you had to.

belcarra

This has been the biggest week of training by some distance. I totalled at 50 miles for the week even though it only called for 45 (Extra 5 is due to carryover from last week).
The extra milage made itself known on the long run which I had to finish a couple of kms early – I need to plan my nutrition better for the LSRs as I have a feeling that has been my main issue in previous marathons. Also, some of the damage was probably done earlier in the week on the first, fast GA run. Had I ran at a little easier pace I may have been a little fresher at the end of the week.
Overall though I was happy with the weeks work.

July - Summary.
Count: 25 days out of 31.
Distance: 302.56km (188 Miles)
Time: 26:57:01
Elev Gain: 1,525m
Av Speed: 11.2km/h (7.0m/h)
Av HR: 143

Day|Week 5 Session Targets|Actual Distance|Av HR|Actual Pace km (Miles)
Mon|Recovery 8km (5m) @140bpm|9.0|138|5:15 (8:16)
Tue|General Aerobic 16km (10m) @ 144bpm|16.02|146|5:02 (8:06)
Wed|General Aerobic 16km (10m) @ 144bpm|14.5|147|5:27 (8:46)
Thu|Recovery 6km (4m) @140bpm|8.99|136|5:17 (8:31)
Fri|Marathon Pace Run 26km (16m) w/ 16km (10m) @ 155bpm PMP|23.5|140|5:31 (8:57)
Sat|Recovery 8km (5m) @140bpm (Indiependence Festival)|8.06|141|5:34 (8:58)
Sun|Rest or cross-training (Indiependence Festival)|-|-|-
|Total|80.07||

belcarra

Woddle wrote: »

I may try for 75 mins and see how I go but I won't be too disappointed if it goes badly.
I reckon you'd hit your time tomorrow if you had to.

You may be right but I'm just thinking the Chesterfield Avenue long drag might take a bit of time out of me. PB at the moment is 82:xx which is a bit soft. I suppose I'm thinking 78mins as that would represent a 4 min PB and don't want to set the bar too high in case I blow up later in the race. Having said that it's not that bad a route. Once Chesterfield is dealt with it'll be downhill or flat for most of the way home 'til the steep short hill up Acres Rd (Which I don't think should be much of an issue due to being so short).

belcarra

Step-back week for me so a much easier week than last. Focus will be on the Streets of Galway on Saturday so I’ve left a Rest Day for the Friday. I’ll be hoping to take the GA run on Thursday at an easy pace also…

Day|Week 5 Session Targets|Actual Distance|Av HR|Actual Pace km (Miles)
Mon|Recovery 8km (5m) @140bpm|9.0|138|5:31 (8:52)
Tue|Medium Long run 19km (12m) @ 148bpm|20.2|140|5:17 (8:27)
Wed|Recovery 6km (4m) @140bpm|||
Thu|General Aerobic 13km (8m) @ 144bpm|||
Fri|Rest / Cross Train|||
Sat|Streets of Galway 8km Race|||
Sun|Recovery 8km (5m) @140bpm|||

Day 36 - Recovery 8km (5m) @140bpm
I was still wrecked from 2 nights at Indiependence Festival so I was dreading heading out this evening. As it turns out it was much easier than expected – I guess all that carb loading of beers did some good! Did the usual 9km loop and by the time I was finished I was still relatively fresh.

Time: 00:49:47
Distance: 9.0 km
Pace: 5:31 min/km
Av HR: 138 bpm
Max HR: 147 bpm

Day 37 - Medium Long Run - 20.2km @ 140bpm
Due to SoG I had to get the MLR out of the way much earlier than the weekend so tonight was the night. Not feeling it for the first few ks and was feeling a few phantom niggles. However, all this sorted itself out later and the mid section was very comfortable. When I got towards the end I threw in a couple of quicker ks before easing back down to recovery pace. God run and felt fine at the end. Good to have it out of the way for the week as well!

Time: 01:46:47
Distance: 20.21 km
Av Pace: 5:17 min/km
Avg HR: 140 bpm
Max HR: 155 bpm

outforarun

Good running of late belcarra. I'm running similar enough times to you at the moment but my marathon training is done for the year. Curious to see how you bounce back before Frank Duffy, from those sessions where you had no energy. I'm trying to put some poor sessions behind me as well, focusing at the moment on my pacing discipline, I've been running too fast on too many sessions. Aiming for 74:59 on race day but not as confident about it as I was a few weeks back.

belcarra

outforarun wrote: »

Good running of late belcarra. I'm running similar enough times to you at the moment but my marathon training is done for the year. Curious to see how you bounce back before Frank Duffy, from those sessions where you had no energy. I'm trying to put some poor sessions behind me as well, focusing at the moment on my pacing discipline, I've been running too fast on too many sessions. Aiming for 74:59 on race day but not as confident about it as I was a few weeks back.

Cheers OFAR.
So far this week the energy levels are up so I think it was just the culmination of a tough week with the high mileage. I could well look at aiming for sub 75 also yet. I'm aiming for sub 78 but if training goes well between now and then I may push it to sub 75. Especially now that yourself and Woddle and I think RQ are going for that time also...we could all pace each other round to that time!:P

belcarra

Day 133bpm
Easy 6km loop this evening where I managed to keep the HR low and the pace slow. Nothing else to report.

Time: 00:33:33
Distance: 6.0 km
Pace: 5:35 min/km
Av HR: 133 bpm
Max HR: 142 bpm

Day|Week 5 Session Targets|Actual Distance|Av HR|Actual Pace km (Miles)
Mon|Recovery 8km (5m) @140bpm|9.0|138|5:31 (8:52)
Tue|Medium Long run 19km (12m) @ 148bpm|20.2|140|5:17 (8:27)
Wed|Recovery 6km (4m) @140bpm|6.0|133|5:35 (8:57)
Thu|General Aerobic 13km (8m) @ 144bpm|||
Fri|Rest / Cross Train|||
Sat|Streets of Galway 8km Race|||
Sun|Recovery 8km (5m) @140bpm|||
|Total|35.2||

outforarun

belcarra wrote: »

Cheers OFAR.
So far this week the energy levels are up so I think it was just the culmination of a tough week with the high mileage. I could well look at aiming for sub 75 also yet. I'm aiming for sub 78 but if training goes well between now and then I may push it to sub 75. Especially now that yourself and Woddle and I think RQ are going for that time also...we could all pace each other round to that time!:P

I'd be sh1t company. I know I'm going to be obsessive about pace on this one and I'll be glued to my Garmin while trying to keep to the race-line. I kind off missed that on my last race (Cork), the balloons were handy to follow but not as involving as monitoring and adjusting your own pace.

belcarra

outforarun wrote: »

I'd be sh1t company. I know I'm going to be obsessive about pace on this one and I'll be glued to my Garmin while trying to keep to the race-line. I kind off missed that on my last race (Cork), the balloons were handy to follow but not as involving as monitoring and adjusting your own pace.

No worries!
I'll be keeping an eye out on your log anyway just to be sure you're not edging ahead of me in training anyways!

belcarra

Day 38 - Recovery 6km (4m)133bpm
Link to Garmin session from the last day. Garmin Connect has returned to action...sort of!

Day 39 - Rest Day
Was meant to go for a run this evening but felt too lazy to go out and decided instead to do a few easy miles tomorrow.

Day 40 - Recovery 10.0km (6.2m)136bpm
I met up with my Brother for an easy 10k in the park. First time running with someone else for about a year and it was much easier than normal. The 10k seemed to pass in no time and still felt good afterwards.
We did 2 laps of probably the flattest route in the Park so as not to take too much out of me for tomorrow's race.
Time: 00:55:24
Distance: 10.0 km
Pace: 5:32 min/km
Av HR: 136 bpm
Max HR: 146 bpm

Day 41 - Streets of Galway 8km Race159bpm
This was my 4th time running this race and previous finishes were 42:xx, 41:xx, 38:xx but tonight I was looking for sub 36 with thoughts of getting close to 35mins. I had too big a dinner while watching the rugby match in Monroe's but figured that 3.5hrs before the race should be fine. However, as I was placing myself in the starting area I could still feel the food in my stomach churning about so I wasn't in a great frame of mind starting this race.
The race seemed to start bang on 7pm and the first couple of km flew by. Most of the time in the first 10mins is spent trying to avoid parked cars, bollards, kerbs and jinking around slower runners. It's great to run through Eyre Square but the roads are full of twists and turns before the pack have had a chance to spread out so it really would be much better in my opinion if the race started further back the Claddagh Road by maybe 500m at least. Anyways, I was still feeling decent by km3.
By halfway things were getting a little tougher and I was breathing a little heavier. A quick glance at the garmin and I realised my HR was around the 160bpm level. Two weeks ago in the Balla 10km this was about 6 or 7 bpm higher so I could tell I wasn't as fresh as I would have hoped for this race. At this point I thought back to the 10km I ran in the Park with my Brother yesterday and that maybe that wasn't such a good decision after all. It didn't help that I could feel the coke I had with dinner swishing around my stomach either though!
The incline up towards Pearse Stadium is slight but you still feel it. The good thing is that once you pass the Stadium you know it's downhill and flat all the way to the finish. The last couple of kms along the prom are tougher mentally than physically. Such a long stretch where you can't avoid thinking you are really plodding and making no ground on the finish line. At this point a guy I know called Ross gave me a shout from the luxury of sitting outside Lohan's bar in Salthill with a pint in his hand. I wouldn't have minded switching places with him at that stage! Instead I put the head down and continued before gearing up for the last 100m sprint finish.
The finish is another reason to move the race start back 500m. This would lead to a long straight finish rather than the 90degree corner as you are at full tilt for the finish line. Having done the race a few times I had settled on the tactic of holding back until rounding the bend and then giving it everything. The usual sprint finish was the most competitive I have ever been involved in...about 15 people all upped the pace on that 100m stretch but thankfully I managed to keep strong and none of them kicked on past me. This is quite unusual as I'm a very slow sprinter (If that makes sense!) so perhaps it's a mark that I'm not giving it enough in the last couple of kms instead? I must admit I very nearly threw up again as I passed the line but just about restrained myself this time.
One day someone is gonna be the unwilling recipient of Belcarra's half digested pre race meal!
Happy enough with the race and my performance but can't help thinking that if I had chosen a rest day instead of the 10k slow run on Fri that I'd have gone sub 36mins. As it is 36:06 (Chip time) is another PB by about 2 mins so I guess I have to look at the bright side:rolleyes:
Time: 00:36:06Distance: 8.0 km
Pace: 4:28 min/km
Av HR: 159 bpm
Max HR: 170 bpm

Day 42 - Recovery 9.0km (5.6m)138bpm
Nice easy run to stretch the legs out after the race last night and the booze that followed. Felt good considering the previous evening's energy drain!
Time: 00:48:23
Distance: 9.05 km
Pace: 5:20 min/km
Av HR: 133 bpm
Max HR: 138 bpm

belcarra

This was a stepback week and it was well timed - I guess P&D know a thing or two after all!! After the tough week beforehand, this felt much easier.
The plan had called for 59km this week and I totalled 62km so happy with that. I did run 6 days rather than the prescribed 5 though but to counter that I had a race on Saturday which I reckon balances everything out.

Day|Week 5 Session Targets|Actual Distance|Av HR|Actual Pace km (Miles)
Mon|Recovery 8km (5m) @140bpm|9.0|138|5:31 (8:52)
Tue|Medium Long run 19km (12m) @ 148bpm|20.2|140|5:17 (8:27)
Wed|Recovery 6km (4m) @140bpm|6.0|133|5:35 (8:57)
Thu|General Aerobic 13km (8m) @ 144bpm Rest Day|||
Fri|Rest / Cross Train Recovery Run|10.0|136|5:32 (8:55)
Sat|Streets of Galway 8km Race|8.07|159|4:28 (7:12)
Sun|Recovery 8km (5m) @140bpm|9.05|138|5:20 (8:36)
|Total|62.04||


This also concludes the Mesocycle 1 - Endurance. Tomorrow the 2nd Mesocycle - Lactate Threshold & Endurance - begins, which I believe will bring a bit more speedwork and probably less Recovery paced miles.
The following is a record of the past 6 weeks:

Week|Prescribed distance|Actual Distance
Week 1|53|53
Week 2|58|64.5
Week 3|64|52.5
Week 4|67|60.3
Week 5|72|80
Week 6|59|62
Total|373|372.3

So, almost spot on with the distance ran with many races and PBs thrown in also. I'm looking forward to the speed element of the next phase as have never really trained at this aspect before. I'm thinking the Rest Days will start to become more important now in order to avoid injury.

belcarra

Day 43 - Rest Day
Stuck to the plan and enjoyed a Rest day.

Day 44 - LT 16.0km (10m) @ 148bpm
Today was a weird one...Plan called for a run with 8km @ recovery followed by 8k @ LT (165bpm). I felt good for the 8k recovery portion of the run. After 8km I tried upping the pace to 165bpm or thereabouts. However 3km later I was goosed! I had managed to get to 162bpm but couldn't sustain it for longer than the 3km. The confusing thing is these 3km splits were 4:28, 4:21, 4:31 so faster than the required 10 mile pace. I threw in a couple of more faster intervals towards the end so it ended up more a fartlek/interval session than an LT session.
Part of the reason must have been the 8km race on Saturday still being in the system but I think I have to reevaluate my HR zones for these LT runs.

Any thoughts or feedback on this would be welcome...:)

Time: 01:22:16
Distance: 16.0 km
Pace: 5:08 min/km
Av HR: 148 bpm
Max HR: 163 bpm

menoscemo

belcarra wrote: »

[I think I have to reevaluate my HR zones for these LT runs.

Any thoughts or feedback on this would be welcome...:)

I have to say I was surprised you av hr in your 5 mile race was 159. I would normally be around mid 170's for 5 miles and we are working off the same maxHR.

Here is my garmin link for my last 'short' race (dunshaughlin 10k- 176 av HR)

For my LT runs, I am looking at a HR in the 168-170 zone.

belcarra

menoscemo wrote: »

I have to say I was surprised you av hr in your 5 mile race was 159. I would normally be around mid 170's for 5 miles and we are working off the same maxHR.

Here is my garmin link for my last 'short' race (dunshaughlin 10k- 176 av HR)

For my LT runs, I am looking at a HR in the 168-170 zone.

Yeah, not sure what to make of things at this stage...I've been training to HR ranges rather than paces and have managed pretty big PBs in most races so far so it's working...but I'm just not sure how!:D

menoscemo

belcarra wrote: »

Yeah, not sure what to make of things at this stage...I've been training to HR ranges rather than paces and have managed pretty big PBs in most races so far so it's working...but I'm just not sure how!:D

I am pretty sure your Max HR must be quite a bit lower than mine, maybe 175 or so. That mans your training HR zones should be brought down a bit... It is of course also quite possible that I have a higher max Hr than I thought....

belcarra

menoscemo wrote: »

I am pretty sure your Max HR must be quite a bit lower than mine, maybe 175 or so. That mans your training HR zones should be brought down a bit... It is of course also quite possible that I have a higher max Hr than I thought....

Assuming a decent level of fitness, is the Max HR improveable? Or is it more of a genetic thing?
Also, any correlation between high Max HR/Low resting HR to fitness ability (Again assuming a reasonable level of activity)?

Just taking a look at my Max HRs for races so far this year and they are:
Sun, 15th May: Sportsworld 5 miler - 178 (Max) / 164 (Av)
Sat, 28th May: Donore 5k - 180 / 167
Sat, 25th June: Dunshaughlin 10k - 181 / 166
Wed, 13th July: Kinnegad 5k - 175 / 163
Sat, 16th July: Irish Runner 5 miler - 175 / 163
Sat, 23rd July: Balla 10k - 173 / 165
Sat, 8th August: Streets of Galway 8k - 170 / 159

Interesting reading there...It seems as training has been progressing my HR (Both Av & Max) have been diminishing!! There's a decrease of approx 8bpm since the first couple of races back in May (When I wasn't very fit).
So, what does this mean? Have I been ramping up training too quickly/not quickly enough(:eek:)? Have I ran too many races (PBs keep tumbling at healthy rates)?

I have the 10 miler & the HM in the DCM race series to come and hopefully a couple of 5kms (Tara and Rathfarnham) before I taper off in October so I will be keeping an interested eye on this data over the next couple of months.

belcarra

Day 45 - General Aerobic w/ Strides 8x100m - 10.5k @ 143bpm
The Ireland match was boring as hell up 'til half time so I decided I'd miss nothing by going out for the run and missing the second half...by all accounts I was right!

Started with a 1km warm-up down to the local park and then started into the intervals. The park loop is a 1 mile cicuit so I squeezed in 3 intervals for the first two laps and 2 for the last lap. These were tough enough tonight but that was to be expected given that I had the race at the weekend and yesterday's LT session. Ideally I wouldn't have done this so soon after the LT but due to my session juggling this is the way it worked out. I have to admiit I enjoy these sessions immensely more than the LT sessions.

When doing these intervals i count to 30 by means of 1/1000, 2/1000, 3/1000...etc which can last for anything from 23 secs to 33 secs! These are generally 100m+ and can reach 160m. I time myself off the Garmin but don't really get too bogged down on the duration as long as the effort is there. Which it was :-)

The intervals worked out as:
Interval|Day 25|Day 45
1|4:16|3:25
2|3:40|3:08
3|3:56|3:27
4|3:06|3:29
5|3:09|3:13
6|3:06|3:08
7|3:22|3:08
8|3:46|3:08
9| 3:40|
10| 3:35|
11| 3:31|
Average|3:33|3:15


From the comparison it appears I have improved from the last stride session, going from an average interval of 3:33/km pace to 3:15/km pace.
I also previously did my recovery inbetween strides @ a much slower pace and typically for longer.

On the surface this seems like an excellent improvement so I think I'll leave it at that rather than analyse it to death!

I note my HR maxed at 162bpm as opposed to 165bpm for the last session so there must be something at play there...I'll let it flow for this week and analyse again next week to see if it's back where it should be. Otherwise I may need to readjust ranges (Said this before but still have not addressed it!!)

Time: 00:55:33
Distance: 10.51 km
Av Pace: 5:17 min/km
Avg HR: 143 bpm
Max HR: 162 bpm

Day 46 - Recovery Run - 10km @ 137 bpm
Today was meant to be a rest day but I felt like adding a recovery run instead. Feeling a little tired from the previous couple of sessions but nothing too bad. I made sure this was done at a leisurely pace.
For the second session in a row the HRM was spiking at the beginning of the run...I wonder is this a sign of a bigger hardware issue on the way? :rolleyes:
Nothing else major to report.

Time: 00:55:55
Distance: 10.00 km
Av Pace: 5:35 min/km
Avg HR: 137 bpm
Max HR: 166 bpm

Day|Week 5 Session Targets|Actual Distance|Av HR|Actual Pace km (Miles)
Mon|Rest Day|||
Tue|LT 16.0km (10m) @ 148bpm|16.0|148|5:08 (8:16)
Wed|General Aerobic w/ Strides 8x100m - 11k (7m) @ 143bpm|10.5|143|5:17 (8:30)
Thu|Recovery 10km (6m) @140bpm|10.0|137|5:35 (9.00)
Fri|LSR 29km (18m) @ 148bpm|||
Sat|MLR 18km (11m) @ 148bpm|||
Sun|Recovery 6km (4m) @ 140bpm|||
|Total|36.5||

menoscemo

belcarra wrote: »

Assuming a decent level of fitness, is the Max HR improveable? Or is it more of a genetic thing?
Also, any correlation between high Max HR/Low resting HR to fitness ability (Again assuming a reasonable level of activity)?

AFAIK No, If you improve fitness your resting heart rate will get lower, but your max will not get higher.
Max HR is not a guide to fitness. POssibly if you get fitter you can learn to hold a HR nearer your max for a longer time (i am not sure of this though).

You could have two equally fit and fast guys, with completely different Max Hr's, one could have 160 the other 210.
As I said before, our own Woddle has a Max Hr well over 200, but that doesn't make him more or less fit or faste than someone else.

Woddle

belcarra wrote: »

Assuming a decent level of fitness, is the Max HR improveable? Or is it more of a genetic thing?

AFAIK No, If you improve fitness your resting heart rate will get lower, but your max will not get higher.
Max HR is not a guide to fitness. POssibly if you get fitter you can learn to hold a HR nearer your max for a longer time (i am not sure of this though).

You could have two equally fit and fast guys, with completely different Max Hr's, one could have 160 the other 210.
As I said before, our own Woddle has a Max Hr well over 200, but that doesn't make him more or less fit or faste than someone else.

As meno said you can't improve your max but it can decrease with age. However people who exercise often can either slow down the rate at which their max decreases or can in fact maintain their max with age.

belcarra wrote: »

Also, any correlation between high Max HR/Low resting HR to fitness ability (Again assuming a reasonable level of activity)?

When training by heart rate and zones, you can use zones based on your max or you can use zones which are based on your heart rate reserve which is your max minus your resting heart rate. Pfitzinger and Douglas pg 25 in Advance marathoning reckon it's a more accurate way.

Different distance races will have different average heart rates. If 181 is indeed your max well then your average for the Donore 5km is about right 92.2% of max. My best 5km to date had me at 93% so I think it's safe to say your max is close to 181, probably 1 or 2 beats higher as I don't think you've mastered sprint finishing yet
I think your lower average for the recent 8km can be explained by your increase in mileage. I think you could have worked harder (pure conjecture on my part) but it was your legs that wouldn't let you not your aerobic system.

belcarra

Woddle wrote: »

When training by heart rate and zones, you can use zones based on your max or you can use zones which are based on your heart rate reserve which is your max minus your resting heart rate. Pfitzinger and Douglas pg 25 in Advance marathoning reckon it's a more accurate way.

Yip, I have taken both into account and am using a value for each zone which is a compromise of both.

Woddle wrote: »

Different distance races will have different average heart rates. If 181 is indeed your max well then your average for the Donore 5km is about right 92.2% of max. My best 5km to date had me at 93% so I think it's safe to say your max is close to 181, probably 1 or 2 beats higher as I don't think you've mastered sprint finishing yet .

Next time I'm gonna trip you as you zip past!

Woddle wrote: »

I think your lower average for the recent 8km can be explained by your increase in mileage. I think you could have worked harder (pure conjecture on my part) but it was your legs that wouldn't let you not your aerobic system.

Pretty sure I was more limited by aerobic than legs in that race...I measure my races efforts by how close I get to heaving when over the line and for Galway I was close to unleashing all kinds of nastiness before the finish line

belcarra

Day 47 - LSR Run - 27.4k @ 137bpm
I went down West home to Mayo on Fri afternoon and went for a run in the evening. At the start I was unsure if it was gonna be the LSR or a 11 mile run so I just took it easy (Apart from the first couple of kms which were too fast!) and reckoned I'd make a call on it after an hour into the run.
As it happened I was running good, consistent splits so I still felt frsh enough after an hour and decided I'd kick on and compete the LSR. An hour later and I was getting close to home with the evening beginning to get dark so unfortunately I had to finish up after 27.5km after I literally ran out of road and light! I felt more than confident that I could have done another 1.5km to get the required 29k distance so I was happy enough with the session.
Seeing as I hadn't fully planned on doing the LSR I had brought no water or gels with me so I was parched when I got home. Must start planning ahead better for these important sessions!
Not sure why my run failed to map when I uploaded it onto Garmin Connect, yet it still has all the hard data for the session??

Time: 02:33:14
Distance: 27.38 km
Av Pace: 5:35min/km
Avg HR: 137 bpm
Max HR: 161 bpm

Day 48 - Recovery Run - 8.7km @ 140 bpm
I went for a short recovery run with my Brother. Felt surprisingly good today and even though the legs were a little tired and sore they loosened out after a mile or two.
Max HR was not 1178 really (This was a spike before I really got going)...it was more like 150bpm.

Time: 00:46:46
Distance: 8.7 km
Av Pace: 5:22 min/km
Avg HR: 140 bpm
Max HR: 178 bpm

Day 49 - Recovery Run - 8.0km @ 133 bpm
I finished off the week with another easy recovery run when I returned to Dublin. Even though I was knackered from a few beers last night and the return drive to Dublin, I felt grand when I got out in the evening. My head is getting much more tired these days than my body it seems!
Pretty even paced when you consider max HR was 142bpm with an average of 133bpm even though the return part of the loop involves a long & steady uphill incline from Griffith Avenue to Santry.

Time: 00:44:10
Distance: 8.0 km
Av Pace: 5:31 min/km
Avg HR: 133 bpm
Max HR: 142 bpm

belcarra

Another 6 day week. No race this week which allowed me to concentrate on being fresh for the LSR which worked out well. The week started with speed sessions on tired legs but as the week progressed the legs freshened up. Thankfully, I have had no issues with injury so far and long may that continue!

Day|Week 5 Session Targets|Actual Distance|Av HR|Actual Pace km (Miles)
Mon|Day 43 - Rest Day|||
Tue|Day 44 - LT 16km w/ 8km @ 165bpm|16.0|165|5:08 (8:16)
Wed|Day 45 - General Aerobic w/ Strides 8x100m - 10.5k @ 143bpm|10.5|143|5:17 (8:30)
Thu|Day 46 - Recovery Run - 10km @ 137 bpm|10.0|137|5:35 (9:00)
Fri|Day 47 - LSR Run - 27.5km @ 138 bpm|27.5|138|5:35 (9:00)
Sat|Day 48 - Recovery Run - 8.7km @ 142bpm|8.7|142|5:22 (8:39)
Sun|Day 49 - Recovery Run - 8.0km @ 133 bpm|8.0|133|5:31 (8:53)
|Total|80.6||


The following is a record of the past 7 weeks:

Week|Prescribed distance|Actual Distance
Week 1|53|53
Week 2|58|64.5
Week 3|64|52.5
Week 4|67|60.3
Week 5|72|80
Week 6|59|62
Week 7|80|80.6
Total|453|452.9


Still sticking closely to the plan. This week I deviated once by doing an extra recovery session, thereby splitting the mileage I should have done in one 11mile run into 2 sessions. Another 50 mile week awaits...