The Next Step

theboyblunder

Just cracks out another marathon (sub 4) 3 weeks after a ten min pb and shin splints.
Man of steel....

Fair play neil.

beeduybe

From a suspected stress fracture to pacing the NY marathon in a matter of weeks. It's funny how things work out

The_Boy_Wonder

Nice to meet you on Sunday and it was a really enjoyable pacing job. Really positive atmosphere.
Best of luck with the Barcelona prep

neilc

Long time no log.

Haven't done too much this last six weeks or so. Done more socialising (drinking) in that time than the previous 11 months, throw in a bit of sickness and a general lack of mojo, the time has now come to get back into it.
Having abandoned my Barcelona 18 week training plan weeks ago I restarted Barcelona training 2.0 with the 12 week version this week.
The week started with an eight miler w/ 10x100m strides brought forward to Monday to avoid having to sneak out for a run Christmas day.
Got out for a nice nine miler on St. Stephen's day with my brother in law. The company was good but both of us spent the first 2 or 3 miles coughing our guts up :eek:.
Got a couple of 5 milers in Friday and Saturday down home around the trails of Slishwood and Hazelwood. Definitely much easier on the legs than the roads.
That left the tough session of the week for today. 13 miles w/ 8 miles @ marathon pace. This run really showed me how much I've lost over the last 6 weeks. The quickest of the eight was 7:12 with the slowest 7:36. With the initial goal pace of 7 min/miles I might just have to revise that, we'll see.

Summary of 2012
In general I've had a good year, more miles than I've ever run before and PB's in every distance raced.
Total Miles: 2233.21
Total Time: 310hrs 09mins 00secs
Avg Pace: 8:20 mins/mile
Avg Speed: 7.2 mph
Calories Burned: 252,283

theboyblunder

A great running year Neil. Today was a tough day for pmp miles! Woulnt read too much into the times just yet.

Good to see you back - best of luck with the plan.

neilc

Finding it harder and harder to get the time to log miles lately.
The new year has got of to a decent enough start and I'm happy enough with the way things have gone. While I haven't got up to the paces yet that justifies 7:00 min goal marathon pace, comparing now to last years Connemarathon training when I last did the 55 mile 12 week P&D schedule I'm well ahead of then.

Jan 1 Distance: 11.31 mi Time: 1:31:14 Avg Pace: 8:04 min/mi

Jan 3 Distance: 7.58 mi Time: 59:23 Avg Pace: 7:50 min/mi This was a session with 4 at LT pace. I should really be doing these somewhere in the 6:4X's but for tonight I hoped for anywhere 6:xx. Didn't quite make it though 6:58, 7:03, 7:03, 6:59. Room for improvement.

Jan 5 Recovery run 5 miles

Jan 6 Distance: 14.88 mi Time: 2:06:41 Avg Pace: 8:31 min/mi Good to be increasing the length of the long runs, pace not great though.

Jan 8 Distance: 7.42 mi Time: 57:46 Avg Pace: 7:47 min/mi Nice pacy run with 10 x 100m strides near the end.

Jan 9 treadmill recovery run 4 miles

Jan 10 Distance: 10.88 mi Time: 1:27:08 Avg Pace: 8:01 min/mi Felt fantastic on this run, first time in a while felt like I was cruising and getting the fitness back.

Jan 11 Rest day today cause our fabulous little man turned 2

Jan 12 Recovery 5 miles with my brother in law.

Jan 13 Distance: 16.03 mi Time: 2:03:52 Avg Pace: 7:44 min/mi Tough 16 miler with 10 at MP. Conditions were very rough, first snow, then some hail and for the last 4 miles or so freezing rain right in the face. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!! Never got to the required pace today at all, quickest MP'd mile was 7:09, slowest 7:29. More room for improvement!!

Still feel things are improving though. Another thing to note, have been having problems with my left achilles/heel area for months now which finally is showing somereal signs of improvement.

neilc

Jan 15 Distance: 5.00 mi Time: 42:33 Avg Pace: 8:30 min/mi

Jan 16 Distance: 10.01 mi Time: 1:17:12 Avg Pace: 7:43 min/mi
Lactate Threshold session with 5 at LT pace. Was dreading this one all day. Again the target should be in the 6:40's but decided again I'd be happy enough to get them anywhere in the 6:50's. Just about managed it with 6:53, 6:50, 6:56, 6:50 & 6:58. A tough run on a tough route so happy enough with the result.

Jan 17 Distance: 11.23 mi Time: 1:32:08 Avg Pace: 8:12 min/mi
Long midweek run.

Jan 19 Distance: 5.34 mi Time: 44:29 Avg Pace: 8:20 min/mi

Jan 20 Distance: 17.15 mi Time: 2:24:18 Avg Pace: 8:25 min/mi
Very hard long run today. Opted for my hilly route over Tara and Skyrne. Legs felt dead for the first 6 or 7 miles, got a bit better after that but not by much.

neilc

This week was meant to be a step back week in the P&D 12 week 55 mile plan with three planned rest days. So adding 10 miles including a marathon to that was maybe a bit risky!

Jan 22 Distance: 12.02 mi Time: 1:37:46 Avg Pace: 8:08 min/mi
Brought forward from Wednesday to accommodate Saturdays run. Standard medium long run, time wise it's starting to get awkward squeezing these in mid week.

Jan 24 Distance: 8.90 mi Time: 1:09:29 Avg Pace: 7:49 min/mi
Lactate Threshold session with 4 at LT pace. Another tough LT run, the four speedy ones came in at 6:57, 6:51, 6:52 & 6:51. Improving every week so happy enough.

Jan 26 Distance: 26.30 mi Time: 3:34:50 Avg Pace: 8:10 min/mi
West of Ireland series marathon, Killeigh, Co. Offaly. This is the first time I've ran a marathon as part of training for another marathon so hopefully I won't come to regret it. Killeigh is a tough course which is made up of roughly six 4.5 mile laps. I decided from the off to run this at a fairly comfortable pace targeting a finish time somewhere around 3:45. Ran the first lap on my own and got a good lie of the land. Ran the next lap and a half with another lad who by coincidence was also running his eighth marathon. It was good to chat and the time flew by. By the start of the fourth lap I caught another couple of lads and even though I was starting to wane a bit, with the company the tiredness was soon forgotten. Unbelievably the two lads had 158 marathons between them :eek: The last lap was a tough one, the hills of the previous five laps had definitely taken their toll. My running partner at that stage pushed on strong and didn't have the legs at that stage to stick with him. Finished off the last lap on my own coming in just under 3:35. Happy with the days run, not sure if I'll be able to take 30 minutes off it in Barcelona in 7 weeks though, 25 might be more realistic.

Jan 27 Distance: 5.00 mi Time: 49:26 Avg Pace: 9:53 min/mi
Very easy recovery run. The weather outside was shocking so decided to watch the end of the tennis on the treadmill instead of braving the elements!

The_Boy_Wonder

Fair play on the marathon training run. I did something similarish before DCM last year. You'd be surprised home much improvement will come in the next few weeks. It's great to be able to churn out a 3.35 and say it was just a training run. Good going!:cool::)

Oisin11178

neilc wrote: »

This week was meant to be a step back week in the P&D 12 week 55 mile plan with three planned rest days. So adding 10 miles including a marathon to that was maybe a bit risky!

Jan 22 Distance: 12.02 mi Time: 1:37:46 Avg Pace: 8:08 min/mi
Brought forward from Wednesday to accommodate Saturdays run. Standard medium long run, time wise it's starting to get awkward squeezing these in mid week.

Jan 24 Distance: 8.90 mi Time: 1:09:29 Avg Pace: 7:49 min/mi
Lactate Threshold session with 4 at LT pace. Another tough LT run, the four speedy ones came in at 6:57, 6:51, 6:52 & 6:51. Improving every week so happy enough.

Jan 26 Distance: 26.30 mi Time: 3:34:50 Avg Pace: 8:10 min/mi
West of Ireland series marathon, Killeigh, Co. Offaly. This is the first time I've ran a marathon as part of training for another marathon so hopefully I won't come to regret it. Killeigh is a tough course which is made up of roughly six 4.5 mile laps. I decided from the off to run this at a fairly comfortable pace targeting a finish time somewhere around 3:45. Ran the first lap on my own and got a good lie of the land. Ran the next lap and a half with another lad who by coincidence was also running his eighth marathon. It was good to chat and the time flew by. By the start of the fourth lap I caught another couple of lads and even though I was starting to wane a bit, with the company the tiredness was soon forgotten. Unbelievably the two lads had 158 marathons between them :eek: The last lap was a tough one, the hills of the previous five laps had definitely taken their toll. My running partner at that stage pushed on strong and didn't have the legs at that stage to stick with him. Finished off the last lap on my own coming in just under 3:35. Happy with the days run, not sure if I'll be able to take 30 minutes off it in Barcelona in 7 weeks though, 25 might be more realistic.

Jan 27 Distance: 5.00 mi Time: 49:26 Avg Pace: 9:53 min/mi
Very easy recovery run. The weather outside was shocking so decided to watch the end of the tennis on the treadmill instead of braving the elements!

well done bud, killeigh is a bitch of a course

Younganne

Well Done Neil...3.35 as a training run....fancy doing London as a training run and drag me around with you!!!!;)

PaulieYifter

Nice training Neil.
I ran 2 marathons as 'training' runs for my 2 goal marathons last year. I felt they were of great benefit physically and mentally. Just make sure the body is ok for the week after before doing any speed stuff.

neilc

Jan 29 Distance: 5.00 mi Time: 45:49 Avg Pace: 9:10 min/mi. Easy 5 recovery on the treadmill.
Jan 30 Distance: 10.00 mi Time: 1:22:31 Avg Pace: 8:15 min/mi. 5 x 1000m intervals. Probably should have and could have done this one a bit faster. 4:02, 4:03, 4:02, 4:03 & 4:02. Again done this one on the treadmill.
Jan 31 Distance: 12.02 mi Time: 1:37:13 Avg Pace: 8:05 min/mi. Long midweek run. This kind of pace is starting to get nice and comfortable now which I think is a good sign.
Feb 2 Distance: 6.40 mi Time: 54:02 Avg Pace: 8:26 min/mi. Easy run with a few strides at the end.
Feb 3 Distance: 15.01 mi Time: 1:53:47 Avg Pace: 7:35 min/mi. Hard MP run today. Conditions were very windy so delighted with the way it went, definitely HTFU time today. 7.5 miles to 11 miles I had a particularly strong head wind. Too lazy to work out a 15 mile loop so just did an out and back.
Feb 5 Distance: 6.00 mi Time: 53:39 Avg Pace: 8:56 min/mi. Very easy 6 recovery on the treadmill.
Feb 6 Distance: 12.02 mi Time: 1:37:13 Avg Pace: 7:50 min/mi. Long midweek run. Felt absolutely fantastic on this run, really floating. Had a nice chance meeting with YoungAnne, brief chat and off we went.
Feb 8 Distance: 12.00 mi Time: 1:31:47 Avg Pace: 7:39 min/mi. LT 12 miles with 7@15k/HM pace. Really wasn't looking forward to this all day. Decided to do it on the treadmill, went with 8.8 mph (6:49 pace). Hard sessions like this are exactly what treadmills are made for. If I was out on the road it would have been all too easy to let up the pace but on the treadmill I always seem to manage to avoid hitting that speed button. Had to interrupt the cool down cause of a visit from the gingerbreadman, handy just been out in the garage .
Feb 9 Distance: 5.34 mi Time: 47:07 Avg Pace: 8:49 min/mi. Another easy run.
Feb 10 Distance: 20.09 mi Time: 2:45:50 Avg Pace: 8:15 min/mi. Went wrong after three miles on my normal 20 mile route, went too far into Trim (senior moment). Spent the next few miles trying to work out an alternative to bring me as close as possible to 20 miles. Didn't do too bad at 20.09 for the day. Conditions were sh1te, normally I don't get too many problems on the nip front, got tore of me today .

beeduybe

Great training Neil. Any tune up races planned before Barcelona?

neilc

beeduybe wrote: »

Great training Neil. Any tune up races planned before Barcelona?

Thanks Barry, starting to feel its all coming together now alright. Not sure if its 3:05 good though, but hopefully definitely sub 3:10. Two 10k races planned, next Saturday in Mount Juliet, think there one really bad hill so maybe no PB there. Then Carlingford 2 weeks later.

neilc

Feb 12 Distance: 7.44 Time: 1:00:41 Avg Pace: 8:09 min/mi.
Meant to be VO2 Max 8 miles with 5 x 600m @ 5kM pace. Found this run pretty hard, pace was all over the place. Came in at 2:15(6:05 pace), 2:25(6:30 pace), 2:18(6:12 pace), 2:20(6:16 pace), 2:15(6:04 pace). Both calves really tightened up after the last interval and didn’t ease up till the end of the cooldown. Don’t usually get tightening in my calves so putting it down to the sports massage I had Monday night. Have this exact same session again in two weeks so will be looking for an improvement.

Feb 13 Distance: 11.00 Time: 1:29:51 Avg Pace: 8:10 min/mi.
Couldn’t resist the lure of the United, Real match so did tonight’s run on the treadmill.

Feb 15 Distance: 4.00 Time: 37:14 Avg Pace: 9:19 min/mi.
Another boring treadmill run.

Feb 16 Distance: 10kM Time: 42:39 Avg Pace: 6:52 min/mi.
Mount Juliet 10kM tune up race. Before arriving in Kilkenny I would have been gutted at the thought of this time. I knew it was a challenging course but never realised how tough. The race starts off straight into a hill which lasts the first mile and a half, lost a lot of time here so early in the race. Then you have pretty close to another mile and a half of downhill. I tried to pick up time lost here which meant by the time I got to the bottom my legs were fairly trashed. That brought us to the half way stage where we were greeted to another whore of a hill. At this stage I really began to question why I was into this running craic at all. Took everything I had not to slow to a walk. All thoughts of sub 40 at this stage were well and truly shattered. Spent the next couple of k’s just trying to stay in touch with the guy in front of me only to be hit with another hill just before the 7k mark which went on till 8k. After a bit of a downhill the last k and a half was fairly flat and was delighted to put in my two quickest k’s of the race at 3:57 & 3:55. Anyone I talked with afterwards reckoned it was the hardest 10k they’ve ever done. Finishing 19th out of 624 overall with that time and third O40 I think proves the point.

Feb 17 Distance: 17:15 Time: 2:21:04 Avg Pace: 8:14 min/mi.
Wasn’t looking forward to this after yesterday’s race. Went with my usual 17 mile route which takes in both the hills of Tara and Skryne. Hadn’t a clue of my pace as my watch was still setup in k’s from yesterday so just went by feel, was delighted went I got home and seen the stats.

Younganne

Neil, that sounds like a tough course so congrats on the time and the position...i bet mentally that will stand to you as you resisted the urge to give up!!!:D Well done!!

theboyblunder

+1 that looks like a killer of a course. Hill at 2.5 miles looks like a heart breaker in a short race. Great running....

neilc

Younganne wrote: »

Neil, that sounds like a tough course so congrats on the time and the position...i bet mentally that will stand to you as you resisted the urge to give up!!!:D Well done!!

Here's hoping Anne!

theboyblunder wrote: »

+1 that looks like a killer of a course. Hill at 2.5 miles looks like a heart breaker in a short race. Great running....

Thanks Stephen, didn't feel like great running at the time but thinking about it today I'm happy enough. Hopefully Carlingford will be a bit more accommodating in a couple of weeks! Are you still doing it?

theboyblunder

neilc wrote: »

Thanks Stephen, didn't feel like great running at the time but thinking about it today I'm happy enough. Hopefully Carlingford will be a bit more accommodating in a couple of weeks! Are you still doing it?

Prob not. Im thinking about trying the shorter distances for a while before training for Dublin. Will be interested to see how you get on on a fair course, some great training there recently in tough conditions

beeduybe

Well done on the sub 40 10k :-)

Younganne

beeduybe wrote: »

Well done on the sub 40 10k :-)

+1 well done...Barra will be a walk in the park (well a run in the park:D) for you!!!

The_Boy_Wonder

Best of luck next weekend Neil

How are you feeling about it?

neilc

The_Boy_Wonder wrote: »

Best of luck next weekend Neil

How are you feeling about it?

Kinda have mixed feelings about it Stephen. Training went pretty well overall but I only did the 12 week 55 mile plan this time rather than the 18/70 I did before Dublin. Saying that I broke 40 minutes for the 10k for the first time last week in Carlingford but after a few pints Saturday night and a 16 mile LSR last Sunday I've been feeling wrecked all week. Really need to get good sleep all this week. I'd be delighted to go sub 3:10 but it'll be a big ask!
Great to see you got Chicago and are gradually coming back after your injury.

The_Boy_Wonder

Wouldn't mind going in to a marathon off the back of a sub 40 10k. Pace is definitely there, and you'll have the stamina from the P&D's plan. 55 mile plan might have been better seeing as the shin issues you had before DCM. And this programme was just building on that.
I'd be happy about all that. Better to be feeling wrecked now than at the weekend. Easy week and you'll be golden.
Looking forward to hear how you get on. Good luck

PaulieYifter

Best of luck this weekend Neil. Well done on going sub 40 for the 10k. You've plenty of miles in the legs - to be honest I prefer the 12 week plans - 18 weeks is a long time to be a slave to a plan. You'll likely line up fresher and raring to go as a result. Above all, enjoy it.

Marthastew

More well wishes...
from Mr Stew and Me. All the hard work is in the bank so you can relax now(I know it's hard to relax during marathon week )
Very, very best of luck Neil, I'm sure you'll be back here next Sunday with fantastic news to report. Enjoy it:)

irfrm

Best of luck with the run, hope all the training pays off, nice and easy till Sunday. What can go wrong it will be Paddys day:D

menoscemo

Good luck Neil. No pressure but we are expecting a report :pac:

neilc

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys, it really means a lot.
Had a very handy 6 miler last night, tonight I've a 7 miler with 2 at race pace. Think I'll drop the dress rehearsal bit of it though, bit nippy to be running around Navan in a vest at the minute!! So that'll be it till the breakfast run in Barcelona Saturday morning which should be cool finishing on the Olympic stadium track :cool: