Gumshoe runs again

--amadeus--

The name’s Marlowe. Gumshoe extraordinaire. What’s a guy like me doing on the West Coast of Ireland? Heck I had to get out of SoCal pretty quick after things went south over a broad and some diamonds. I didn’t like Frisco anyway, too many alternative uses for my cuffs.

So there I was, counting the threads in the carpet when this smokin’ redhead walks in. “Sorry M’am but that’s been illegal here since 2004”. She just looked at me with eyes sharper than the crease on her expensive silk blouse. “Nice legs” I said “are you a tap dancer?” “Not anymore, bad injury put paid to that. I fell in the sink”

Rain drummed on my window. “Get outta here you bum, can’t you see I got a client here!” Rain hadn’t worked since the accident with the bowler hat and the sash and new opportunities for percussionists were thin on the ground. As he slunk out the door I offered my client a seat and cracked the seal on a fifth of bourbon. I could tell I would need help finding the common denominator in this case.

“I need help – my best friend amadeus has gone missing!” as she said this she collapsed into a sobbing heap on the floor. Thankfully the heap wasn’t hurt and went about its business.

“Amadeus, huh, tell me about him”

“Ohhh he’s dreamy – tall, handsome, devilish wit and soooo clever – guys want to know him and girls wanna be with him”

“Yea, he sounds like a real hero alright, what’s the skinny?”

“Well, he is. He’s a runner you see, 2:58:07 in Amsterdam last Oct but he’s been missing ever since! ”

“Any suspects?”

“Just one – a guy who looks just like the dreamboat but is fatter and never runs, Ohhh Marlowe what will we do????”

“I suspect that the answer may be closer than you think babycakes, I reckon your hero is right under your nose. And I won’t rest until I find the truth – we will strain every sinew and pop every synapse to solve this riddle. Now lets me and you go grab some lunch”

~~~
So amadeus the old was a sub 3 marathoner, amadeus the new is a couple of kilos over race weight and has not run properly since crossing the line in Amsterdam exactly a year ago. So it’s time to get serious. A log may not be a great idea (I’ve never kept one properly before) but it can’t hurt and so we will see how it goes – if it is a distraction I’ll bin it but all help and advice welcome…

So, the goals.

MACRO GOALS:

• 2:45 marathon Spring 2013
• HIM Autumn 2013 (Time TBD)

WTF is he thinking explanation:
I’m looking at a three marathon cycle for the 2:45. Spring 2012 – 2:55. Autumn 2012 – 2:50. Spring 2013 – 2:45. Huge jumps and I doubt I’ll get within an asses roar but my marathon history suggests steady improvement suits me better than dramatic gains. Last 5 races for example have been roughly 2:58 / 3:00 / 3:06 / 3:11 / 3:15. After that 3:15 I decided to target 3:00 and that seemed as remote then as 2:45 does now so who knows.

Additionally that 2:58 is soft. I ran easy in the second half of the race and missed chunks of training. In particular I didn’t do enough speed work or PMP miles so smarter and more consistent training and a more disciplined race and I should get to 2:55. From there…

The HIM is a different thing and – I suspect – harder. I quite literally cannot swim (apart from a weak backstroke). But mixing up the training should build fitness and address my biggest weakness which is a lack of focus and training attention.

MICRO GOALS:
• 5km Stevens Day in Donegal
• 10km or half in the early season (no later than March)
• Marathon in April, probably Rotterdam
• Duathlon in Limerick in the Spring
• Sprint or “Try a Tri” before the summer

Where I currently am:
I am horrifically unfit by the standards of the last couple of years. I weighed myself this morning and clocked at 71kgs dead. At 6’ tall I’m far from a porker but I suspect I have lost muscle and gained fat and for the first time ever I can see a belly (:eek:) Race weight is 68kgs but that will come from more training. Fitness wise I ran ~6 miles yesterday in just under 48 mins (Garmin battery was flat so a route I know and stopwatch timed). I ran at normal pace, conversational rather than easy, and 8 min miles isn’t a million miles from my old regular speed. Legs felt fine, no real trouble and no aches or stiffness today. I suspect it is speed I have lost – I feel confident I could slow down to 9 min miles and run 18 or 20 now if I had to (although I’d slow towards the end no doubt!) but I doubt I could do 3 or 4 at 6:45/mile.

The Plan:
Steady base mileage this week, 6 – 8 mile runs just to get the legs moving again and a focussed 5km plan from next week. That should bring the speed back into my legs and give me sharpness and a weekly longer run will see my stamina build ready for a marathon program in the new year. Min of 70 mpw average in the marathon program but not sure of the plan yet; either P&D, Daniels or a self written one I expect.

For the tri’s I am going to try and layer that training on top of the rest, biking and swimming as active recovery and double sessions. Goals here are limited, just finishing a Sprint Tri in the Spring and I suspect it’s technique I will need to learn rather than fitness I’ll have to build. Suggestions on goal times welcome btw.

So there we go. Let the training begin!

shotgunmcos

Welcome back --amadeus--, nice narcissistic entry too

Funky programme you have laid out. 5 mins off per Marathon at the sharper end is a big ask IMO but hey thats how to set goal. A self proclaimed wise man once said to me "MCOS, time to get hard on yourself" and so he too now walks that walk it seems!

2 local events to tick off some of those benchmarks.
10k, early March in Adare. I'll run with you
Sprint Tri (I'll slap you if you enter the try-a-tri!) - Joey

Looking forward to your 2013 log already

Best of luck and please do updae with your blend of banter regularly, thanks

--amadeus--

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Welcome back --amadeus--, nice narcissistic entry too

Funky programme you have laid out. 5 mins off per Marathon at the sharper end is a big ask IMO but hey thats how to set goal. A self proclaimed wise man once said to me "MCOS, time to get hard on yourself" and so he too now walks that walk it seems!

2 local events to tick off some of those benchmarks.
10k, early March in Adare. I'll run with you
Sprint Tri (I'll slap you if you enter the try-a-tri!) - Joey

Looking forward to your 2013 log already

Best of luck and please do updae with your blend of banter regularly, thanks

Hey if I don't love me who else will?!

5 mins is a decent chunk; 11 secs per mile on average. But I've done it before and I'm still a long way back from the real sharp end where gains are in seconds rather than minutes. And my god man don't you know by now that I am far better at giving advice than following it?!

2 good shouts on events though. Adare's a great race; it's a date (for teh first 8kms anyway)

RacoonQueen

LOL Amadeus is fat.

Edit: Best of luck with the goals. You didn't do Amsterdam at the weekend then? I've a vague memory of you talking about it at the Limerick marathon. I'm mulling it over for next year...

Sosa

Welcome back amadeus,best of luck with the goals !

smmoore79

Welcome back Amadeus. Your marathon goals are well thought out and above all, very realistic. Good luck!!

Bally8

Welcome back amadeus- great so see you back in these parts. Hows about the North Tipp Sprint next April? Im aiming for that one myself.

By the way you are mental:D

Krusty_Clown

Amadeus wrote:

So there we go. Let the training begin!

It's been 24 hours. No runs to report?
Best of luck with the new set of goals.

--amadeus--

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

It's been 24 hours. No runs to report?

Nah, I'm bored of this running / multi-sport malarkey and I'm taking up birdwatching. Apparently "Birds gone wild at Mardi Gras" has some particularly fine specimens... Reminds me of a gag I heard actually. You know why it's called "Girls go wild"? Cos when Girls go wild they flash thier boobs. When women go wild they bury thier hubby in the back garden...

Anyhoo cheers for all the good wishes. I would like to point out for teh record that I am NOT fat, I have simply enhanced my upholstery. And nope I dropped Am'dam, just didn't have the training done.

North Tipp Tri I haven't heard of before, I shall Google and revert

And I have been running actually. As usual I planned more than I managed - supposed to be 8 but Jnr Ms A had trouble with her maths homework so that takes priority. Wound up doing a lazy 5 @ avg 8 min mile by the river with WonderHound and JuniorHound. Great night for running, tiny bit of drizzle but just a nice temperature, hounds slowed me down at times but it's great craic running with them. I was wearing one of my new base layers from Aldi as well - they look woeful (I look like a refugee from the Village People; Construction Worker, Indian, "Athlete") but cracking bit of kit, little bit of compression and nice bit of toasty warm. Did a little bit of strength & core work at home afterwards - nothing dramatic just some bodyweight stuff (pull ups, push ups, dips, situps), I figure I'll need more upper body strength when I get in the pool.

So there, ye of little faith!

--amadeus--

As someone once said "Just the facts please, M'am"...

8 miles in 01:04:46, avg pace 8:08/mile.

Tougher than it sounds though! I haven't run on consecutive days in months and I could feel a tiny bit of heaviness and stiffness, nothing I would have thought twice about during peak training but when you aren't used to it it can be a shock to the system! I figured I would just run at a comfortable effort and let time take care of itself (easy days easy, hard days hard) and by the homeward leg I had settled into that magical "active meditation" phase you get on runs sometimes - out by the river, very few people around and just the wind and the birds to be heard. I'm not a believer in the "10,000 hours to mastery" theory but muscle memory does kick in at a certain point where the effort is effortless (very Zen!) - you can feel the muscles working and know that it is taking effort to keep moving but you feel strong and good and able to run forever. I've been "out of love" with running for a very long time - probably a couple of years - and today reminded me a little bit why I used to run so much.

Scores on the doors were very erratic - 7:51 / 8:17 (?) / 7:29 / 8:09 / 8:20 / 8:21 / 8:14 / 8:19 so a fair bit slower on average than I would like but that's not the important thing here. In my mind I am still in sub 3 shape and expect to be able to churn out effortless sub 7:30s on runs like this. The reality is I am pretty much back to where I started and since Sunday (when I did a stop / start 6 miler with kids on bikes & the hounds) I have run 25 miles, which isn't far off a regular weeks training on one of the HH novice schedules. So I think I need to accept that I'm back at that level and rebuilding rather than trying to rush back.

Gringo78

--amadeus-- wrote: »

The reality is I am pretty much back to where I started and since Sunday (when I did a stop / start 6 miler with kids on bikes & the hounds) I have run 25 miles, which isn't far off a regular weeks training on one of the HH novice schedules. So I think I need to accept that I'm back at that level and rebuilding rather than trying to rush back.

Based on this dawning reality, whats the rush with a spring marathon? It would seem to be putting a lot of pressure on yourself. Would you not just ease yourself back into running, learn to swim, do a few sprint tri's/duathlons, 5k's/10k's and get the shorter race times down to <2:50 marathon level and then hit into training in 12 months time - you've done a fair few marathons and I think you ain't gonna learn a whole lot more from running a 2:55 marathon. Neither will training for a 2:55 marathon improve your 10k time to what is required for a 2:45 marathon.

Training for triathlons/duathlons will actually probably get you further along the road to a 2:45 marathon than training for a 2:55 marathon if that makes any sense??

theboyblunder

Good luck andrew. Will have similar marathon goals to yourself so will watch with interest

donothoponpop

--amadeus-- wrote: »

I've been "out of love" with running for a very long time - probably a couple of years - and today reminded me a little bit why I used to run so much.

Good to see you back at it, and back loving it. Never mind the belly from your opening post, that ego you're carrying around must be adding a minute a mile;)
Best of luck for your targets.

--amadeus--

donothoponpop wrote: »

Good to see you back at it, and back loving it. Never mind the belly from your opening post, that ego you're carrying around must be adding a minute a mile;)
Best of luck for your targets.

Cheers Big Man, that's appreciated. And you have it the wrong way round, the ego makes me faster (as well as better looking and more charming, etc... )

theboyblunder wrote: »

Good luck andrew. Will have similar marathon goals to yourself so will watch with interest

Thanks, but I've a funny feeling that one of us is more realistic about his abilities than the other (hint, I've never been known for my grasp on reality)

Gringo78 wrote: »

Based on this dawning reality, whats the rush with a spring marathon? It would seem to be putting a lot of pressure on yourself. Would you not just ease yourself back into running, learn to swim, do a few sprint tri's/duathlons, 5k's/10k's and get the shorter race times down to <2:50 marathon level and then hit into training in 12 months time - you've done a fair few marathons and I think you ain't gonna learn a whole lot more from running a 2:55 marathon. Neither will training for a 2:55 marathon improve your 10k time to what is required for a 2:45 marathon.

Training for triathlons/duathlons will actually probably get you further along the road to a 2:45 marathon than training for a 2:55 marathon if that makes
any sense??

That's a really good post and it makes a lot of sense and echoes a lot of what I had thought myself.

I began running in mid 2005 and was in marathon training consistently until the end of 2009. I missed the first half of 2010 but put in a lot of good mileage and tough (although patchy) training to race last October and managed to get back faster than I had been before the break. This year I actually started a marathon program for Am'dam and did a couple of weeks pretty much from cold including a 16 miler in mid June. So I am pretty sure that I have retained a lot of base endurance but have lost all (or most) of whatever speed I had.

Which is why I decided to go for the 5k race, something that short I will need to really push outside my comfort zone in terms of speedwork and that should push my average pace on my GA runs up a bit. After that I will be able to sit down and make a proper, informed decision about a marathon and if I am able to commit to the program or not.

I genuinely do see where you are coming from with the argument that I will learn nothing by running 2:55 and a year of intense short stuff might springboard me to 2:45 in one leap. It's a good argument, grounded in science and experiences from a lot of credible runners and posters here. My problem is that I feel I work better with progressive goals and I need confidence in my training and ability to really deliver on targets - I don't know if I would get that confidence by going in one jump rather than taking baby bites. I will certainly be keeping an eye on it though.

Maybe the best thing is to draw a line in the sand. If I can run under xx for the 5k (bearing in mind it is Stephens day!) then I have gained the speed for a crack at 2:55 and will train accordingly. Miss that and I commit to a year of short fast races. Sound fair? If so what should xx be? McMillan suggests sub 18 which would be 2 mins off my PB and maybe a stretch too far so how about sub 19?

Gringo78

--amadeus-- wrote: »

If I can run under xx for the 5k (bearing in mind it is Stephens day!) then I have gained the speed for a crack at 2:55 and will train accordingly. Miss that and I commit to a year of short fast races. Sound fair? If so what should xx be? McMillan suggests sub 18 which would be 2 mins off my PB and maybe a stretch too far so how about sub 19?

Agreed. Meet halfway, 18:30 it is.

--amadeus--

Gringo78 wrote: »

Agreed. Meet halfway, 18:30 it is.

You know in my "proper" job I write software that calculates and reports on performance data for manufacturing facilities. So you would think I would do the maths *before* casually throwing out a number wouldn't you?

AN 18:30 5K IS 5:58 PER MILE!!!! :eek:

That is going to hurt. But yea, bring it on, how hard can it be??

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Best of luck Andrew in particular with the new tri ventures.

--amadeus--

Cheers - I think the tri ventures are going to need luck!

Right I didn't run today because I am planning a short run tomorrow with a quicker pace element but I wanted to do a quick update...

After posting up the log I had a message from an experienced poster and coach on here offering to "remote coach" me (I'm not sure if they want to out themselves / me to reveal them or if they want to stay anonymous in case I bomb on my targets!). It was a hard decision in some ways - I have always been self coached and I am diabolically bad at being told what to do but this guy knows his stuff, in particular at the shorter distances, so I figure I have nothing to lose and potentially a lot to gain.

So here is the plan for next week:

Monday 6 miles easy (GA)

Tuesday 4 miles easy

Wednesday 6 miles easy + 6x80m strides (5k-10k pace w/ walk back full recovery)

Thursday 6 easy

Friday 4 miles recovery (9.30+ pace)

Saturday 1 mile easy, 3 miles up tempo (7-7.10 min mile pace), 1 mile easy

Sunday 10 miles easy

Total mileage: 41

It will feel a bit strange for a couple of reasons but I'm really looking forward to it; feeling much more motivated now than I have for a long time.

--amadeus--

I had planned 6 with 3 tempo but in line with the coaches plan for next week I decided to do 4 with 2 @ tempo.

First mile nice and easy in 8:03, watch beeps and off I go. Insta-regret as I had made the dumbest rookie mistake - rather than easing up to tempo pace over 1/4 or 1/2 a mile like I should have to get my body used to it I just kicked off straight away which of course puts a huge strain on your CV / CR systems. Funny how all the little tricks and proper techniques get forgotten when you are out of training for a while.

Anyhoo 1st tempo mile was 6:41, which was a tiny bit spicy for my current fitness (I was aiming at 7:00 - 7:10) so I backed off (or my lungs backed off for me ) to 7:05 for the second mile. I was bloody glad the fast section was over but the limiter was my breathing rather than my legs, which I was a bit surprised by. CV fitness is first to build so a few weeks hard training should see rapid progress on that front at which stage I'll be able to see where the limits are on my leg strength and speed. Final mile was a recovery 8:55.

I was a tiny bit daunted about knocking 2 mins a mile off and running a mile further in ~8 weeks but if it was easy there wouldn't be a lot of point now, would there

ecoli

--amadeus-- wrote: »

After posting up the log I had a message from an experienced poster and coach on here offering to "remote coach" me (I'm not sure if they want to out themselves / me to reveal them or if they want to stay anonymous in case I bomb on my targets!)

Where is the optimism?:D

That target will be taken care of before long dont you worry;)

Gringo78

--amadeus-- wrote: »

You know in my "proper" job I write software that calculates and reports on performance data for manufacturing facilities. So you would think I would do the maths *before* casually throwing out a number wouldn't you?

AN 18:30 5K IS 5:58 PER MILE!!!! :eek:

That is going to hurt. But yea, bring it on, how hard can it be??

The fact that you find that pace scary shows that its speed you need to work on....an 18:30 5k would correspond to a sub 3 marathon by both Daniels VDOT & McMillan so with the right training it should be no trouble to you. If the final target is a 2:45 marathon in 2013 (6:17p) then you will need to work towards getting comfortable at much faster paces, i.e 2:45 training will require doing 1km intervals & Yasso 800's at better than 5:30p & 4-6m tempo runs at better than the current 5k pace target.

--amadeus--

Gringo78 wrote: »

The fact that you find that pace scary shows that its speed you need to work on....an 18:30 5k would correspond to a sub 3 marathon by both Daniels VDOT & McMillan so with the right training it should be no trouble to you. If the final target is a 2:45 marathon in 2013 (6:17p) then you will need to work towards getting comfortable at much faster paces, i.e 2:45 training will require doing 1km intervals & Yasso 800's at better than 5:30p & 4-6m tempo runs at better than the current 5k pace target.

You can take a day off from being right you know

Despite the bluff and bluster I am actually fairly modest about my running abilities and very aware of my relative strengths and weaknesses. As far as I can see anyone can build endurance, that's just a case of plodding out the miles and endurance naturally follows. Speed is different, you can improve it but everyone has a natural limit dictated by genetics / talent / what have you. I don't consider myself a particularly talented runner so I have concentrated on making the most of my strengths (endurance) and I've ignored the speed side. I agree 100% with you though - to go beyond 3 hours I need more than brute endurance, I need speed, which takes us back to the 5k target... A lot of it is in my head as well - when I started running long runs were at 10 min/miles so 6:50/mile *sounds* freakishly fast, even though is was my PMP.

Anyhoo I had to do a full days work today instead of sneaking off early for a run and when I looked out into the gathering gloom and biblical rain my first thought was "bugger this, I'll run tomorrow". Wimping out of Day 1 of the coached program though would have been a new low even by my uncommitted standards so I gritted my teeth, promised myself that skin is waterproof and off out the door.

I ran an "undulating" route through town and there were a few stops for traffic and what have you and pace was 7:58 / 8:00 / 8:30 / 8:38 / 8:27 / 8:14. Easy days easy and a steady effort throughout. Felt great actually, great to be out and about!

Gringo78

--amadeus-- wrote: »

As far as I can see anyone can build endurance, that's just a case of plodding out the miles and endurance naturally follows. Speed is different, you can improve it but everyone has a natural limit dictated by genetics / talent / what have you. I don't consider myself a particularly talented runner so I have concentrated on making the most of my strengths (endurance) and I've ignored the speed side. I agree 100% with you though - to go beyond 3 hours I need more than brute endurance, I need speed, which takes us back to the 5k target... A lot of it is in my head as well - when I started running long runs were at 10 min/miles so 6:50/mile *sounds* freakishly fast, even though is was my PMP.

Apply your thinking on endurance to speed and maybe things will seem less difficult. Everybody accepts endurance is something that just needs to worked on. Comes easier to some people so a 12 week marathon training plan does the trick, other people will go for 18 weeks. Commonly accepted approach is start at long run of 12 miles and add one or 2 each week with a couple of step back weeks. No problem.

Then we get to Speed and we try to knock out 10 x 1km at our aspirational 5k pace and die after 3 reps and think "damn, I'm just naturally slow". It just takes work just like endurance and we lose speed just as quick as endurance. The great thing about speed though is it doesn't take as much time on a weekly basis to build as endurance. Just takes patience.

Well done for getting out in the rain tonight. Didn't feel like going out this evening myself either and nearly cried off telling myself I'm tapering so there was no need....ended up having one of those runs where I felt I could have hit any target set for me, absolute magic, total runners high. Just hope that wasn't me peaking tonight 7 days early.

--amadeus--

Gringo78 wrote: »

Well done for getting out in the rain tonight. Didn't feel like going out this evening myself either and nearly cried off telling myself I'm tapering so there was no need....ended up having one of those runs where I felt I could have hit any target set for me, absolute magic, total runners high. Just hope that wasn't me peaking tonight 7 days early.

Those runs are magical - that's what keeps me coming back for more, just keep that feeling bottled for another week and don't let it out early!

4 miles easy tonight. I have no idea when I last laced up my trainers to run 4 miles was - I think even my taper runs last Oct were longer than 4 miles! Took WonderHound and JuniorHound with me and the first mile was 7:41 (as I tried to convince myself that this was the speed I was setting, not the pace that a hyperactive springer spaniel had decided on). Once down by the river and with my pacemaker (who would fit right in with the DCM pacers actually, she also has issues with balloons) more interested in the swans than flaking off into the middle distance I was able to back off to a couple of 8:25 - 8:30ish miles. Bizarrely they felt far tougher on my legs than teh faster mile - in teh first mile I felt I had real zip, spring and bounce but as soon as I slowed I felt heavy legged. Strange. 8:14 on the last mile and home to be greeted by Father In Law who says "Well you can't have run far!". Sigh. I gets no respect from anyone. I sniffly pointed out that I was on a coached program and I was simply doing as I was told before retiring to the East Wing of Amadeus Mansions and going to my gym for some body weight core & upper body stuff.

If only others knew just how horrifically difficult my life is.

Sosa

Gringo78 wrote: »

Just hope that wasn't me peaking tonight 7 days early.

Apologies for hijacking Amadeus....whats the target Gringo ?
I presume its Dublin your doing....

Gringo78

Sosa wrote: »

Apologies for hijacking Amadeus....whats the target Gringo ?
I presume its Dublin your doing....

2:50 pace to 20 miles and then empty the tank for the last 10k.

--amadeus--

Yea, we will allow that target, it's respectable!

I was supposed to run yesterday but it just didn't happen, too much real life going on so it was an unscheduled rest day. That meant bumping the 6 w 6*80m strides to today.

Beautiful day for it, crisp but bright and still. As I am planning on running my next mara in lightweight shoes I used my Asics Hyperspeeds (ooooh, sexy!) for this one. Headed off and one of the first things I noticed was how strong my core felt - I have been doing specific training for it but I am pretty sure it is too early to see much in teh way of an advantage from that yet. Still it felt really solid and I really just left the legs to click away automatically at whatever pace they wanted. Once I settled in I noticed my breathing as well - slow and steady but really deep, sucking air in deeply using my diaphragm. I was going to be doing strides for form but I had somehow clicked back into the kind of technical running I was doing at peak training. Amazing how quickly it all comes flooding back even after such a long break, it just goes to show build that base people!

But the question is did all this steady rhythm, good arm swing and deep breathing have any effect on my speed? Easy 7:50 / 7:49 first two miles and I saw a runner in front. Accidentally picked the speed up to 7:10 to go past and still felt fine but realised I was at the edge of the pace Coach has set as my tempo speed so I allowed it to drift back to a pair of 7:20's. Still feeling great but knowing I had strides I cut it back to 8:30 for the last mile to get ready for the speed stuff.

I needed to be at 5k race pace for the 6*80s and I screwed up with the garmin and didn't time the second one but pace (min mile) / time were:

5:15 / 00:00:15.6
?????
5:15 / 00:00:15.6
5:02 / 00:15:00
4:41 / 00:14:00
5:00 / 00:14.9
4:51 / 00:14.4

It was only 80m with full recovery but I'm happy with the consistency of the effort and the pace. Great days training and I'm really starting to believe in the targets again. Tough few days coming up - unexpected trip by car to the UK - so how I will train I don't know, but I'll manage!

--amadeus--

Well that didn't go according to plan!

A last minute trip by car to the UK cropped up so I had to leave home at 4:30am on Friday morning and drive non-stop to Surrey. We had an appointment that horrific roadworks on the M6 and M25 kept us 45 mins late for and that then dragged on for hours so it was after 10pm when I got into the hotel. The last thing I wanted to do at that stage was run but I did head out on Saturday morning. I wasn't sure if I should do the 6 easy or the 5 w/3 at tempo but the first half mile with very tight quads made up my mind and I ran an easy 5 in the end (around the mean streets of Croyden!) average pace 8 min / miles and it was nice to see so many other runners out.

Sunday was a washout running-wise, major stuff going on and priorities were elsewhere and then on Bank Holiday Monday the long drive back. Able to take our time this time but didn't get home till after 3am.

Tuesday was an easy 4 (well easy 3.96 apparently!) with pace 7:28 / 7:48 / 7:35 / 7:33. Dark out so had to run on the lit pavement which at least put some hills on it.

Then today 6 easy w 6*80m strides. This session left me feeling great last week but it was all catching up a tiny bit tonight. I ran at a steady RPE but hills, traffic, crossing roads and the like kept either slowing me down, stopping me or otherwise disrupting my rhythm. 7:43 / 7:30 / 7:48 / 8:06 / 7:59 / 7:59. The 80m reps weren't red hot either - in secs 19 (I didn't think it was recording so I ran easy!) / 15.5 / 16.2 / 17 / 16.3 / 16.1 with pace varying from 5:13 - 5:42/mile.

6 easy tommorow and 4 recovery Friday and I am going to run them sssllllllloooooowwwwwllllyyyy - I need to get some bounce back after the trip. Off to Switzerland on Sunday (will probably need to juggle the schedule and do my longer run on Sat rather than Sunday, especially as its a killer Daniels style mixed tempo one) and I'm away until Thursday so who knows what training I'll get done. Still it's been great talking to people who ran DCM and hearing how hyped they were, very jealous that I wasn't there in some capacity. So I'm off to mooch the logs and see who hit what targets!

shotgunmcos

--amadeus-- wrote: »

.... very jealous that I wasn't there in some capacity.

That makes 2 of us Hey, good stuff on the log so far, a bit busier than your last one, keep it up

--amadeus--

Grüsse aus der Schweiz!

Flying home today having come here late on Sunday - well I left the house at 8am but didn't get to me hotel until well after 10pm. I knew I would find it tough to get any runs in but I have managed 2 so satisfactory rather than exceptional I suppose.

The first one was Tuesday evening. I was staying in a small town about an hour by train from Zurich, in a hotel by the river. I went out and took a right up the river (not having a clue where I was or where it led!) Path turned to residential street turned to perfect running - a flat gravel walkway by the river leading out of town. The water was crystal clear - literally you could see through several feet of it to the bottom - and the trees were in full autumnal glory. Slightly chilly but clear and dry and I was loving it, took it pretty handy as the path got further out of town and I had to run under low railway bridges and through forest. I was planning on 6 and I was pretty glad when the turnaround was reached - the path had increasing numbers of branches and sideshoots and I have a long and distinguished history of getting lost when running overseas (one highlight being a recovery 6 at HMs wedding in Portugal turning into a 13+ with no water in teh midday sun!). Full moon came up and dusk was falling fast so I picked up the pace from the ~8 mins or so of teh first mile, back past the herd of cattle with thier cacophony of bells (I didn't think they really did that) and running at a controlled faster pace. It was too dark to see my watch so I just ran steady and was surprised to see that I had progressively sped up. Mile splits were 8:02 / 7:51 / 8:20 (lots of low bridges and trail branches!) / 7:42 / 7:14 / 7:09. Def could have run at that speed for a lot longer.

And today a slow touristy lap of Zurich. Roughly 4 miles but I lost satellite reception so who knows! 8:09 average for the tracked bits. Strange city this one - very germanic, straight laced and quietly prosperous. The people - both here and in the smaller town - are perfectly polite but not particularly warm. Damn good english though. And it's obvious where all that prosperity comes from - there are factories everywhere. When I was running I went past a big industrial complex that must have covered an acre or two of prime city centre, river front real estate. In Dublin that would have been shut down, leveled and turned into "executive" shoebox apartments lying unsold at €500K each. Here it's still full of heavy machinery and people in overalls making things and earning wages. Ireland could learn a huge amount from here - thier manufacturing cost per unit is very high in comparison with China but the factory I spent time working at has just had a multi million dollar investment by it's US owner because of the quality and productivity standards. If we spent less time chasing call centre and services sector investment and writing off manufacturing because we can't compete on wages with the likes of China and instead starting looking at producing German standard work and output on lower wages we would be significantly better off.

Anyway home late tonight and hoping to run Fri / Sat (couple of key sessions from the coach) and flying to Hamburg on Sunday. I pity my credit card.

--amadeus--

It dawned on me that that ^ might sound like I am having a dig at call centres, etc. I'm not, I'm just saying that there are huge chunks of the unemployed at the minute who will never qualify for a job in a call centre no matter how many FAS courses they do because the service industry needs a certain skillset that they don't have. 20 years ago these people would have worked in factories, more recently in construction. Now they don't work.

Anyway, enough off topic, I'm going to read about running

village runner

What marathons have you set yourself up for ?
Grin go makes a great point about a 10k will get you better suited to a 2.45 than another marathon but whats the point in that. Whats the fun in that.
I laughed my nads off when I read you were gone fat. But i nearly fcukes the computer of the wall when you were 7ibs off race weight. Try fcuking 30ibs.
Great to have you back.

--amadeus--

Almost at the midpoint of my Grand European Tour (just like the Victorians did but with fewer manservant's)

Coach Boss tells me I have to run 5 w/3@ tempo 7:00 - 7:10/mile. So off I sets out of the door of my snug hotel room into the Kiel night (well evening). Now you may not know Kiel so let me tell you that it is bog arse cold. And when I say cold I mean winds howling direct from Santas Grotto cold. And there I was in my shorts and T shirt (although fully kitted out with Aldi's best base layer and a pair of woolly gloves!). I had been told taht a great and popular route to run was by the harbour - and it was, flat enough, wide and a fair few runners out. Locals, you know, people who live there all year round and are adapted to the weather. And were wearing (and I kid you not) bobble hats, scarves, hooded fleecy jumpers and heavy leggings. But when has a hardy buck from Donegal ever let that phase him? Sure if you are too cold you need to speed up!

So off I trotted and knocked off mile one in a warm up 7:49. And when I say warm up I mean just above freezing as the wind whipped in from the Baltic. Beep goes the Garmin. I'm not in the mood for this crap goes I but up the pace goes. Now as one of the founder members (albeit lapsed) of teh Boards pacing crew I used to pride myself on being able to run a given pace with or without a watch. 7 was the target for mile 2, 6:25 was the time. Guess I need to look for a different way of scamming free entry to Irish races cos pacing is a no go for a while... I backed off loads for mile 3 and ran 6:48 and backed off further for mile 4 and ran 6:51. And I was so hot I had to take my woollen gloves off. Easy recovery mile and off to an Irish bar to try and catch the match - except it was an Irish bar without Guinness, run by a German and with 100% German customers. Great craic was had watching Holland v Germany and talking history and politics and ****e - thankfully their English was better than my German!

Probably doing a half day tomorrow and then off to Hamburg - stranded until Friday as they don't fly daily to Dublin so a day and a bit mooching around teh City and then home, hope to cram in some running as I wander the Reeperbahn snorting coke off hookers boobs (by which I mean going to overpriced Beatles memorabilia shops and blushing if a doll in a window smiles at me)

village runner wrote: »

What marathons have you set yourself up for ?
Grin go makes a great point about a 10k will get you better suited to a 2.45 than another marathon but whats the point in that. Whats the fun in that.
I laughed my nads off when I read you were gone fat. But i nearly fcukes the computer of the wall when you were 7ibs off race weight. Try fcuking 30ibs.
Great to have you back.

All Man Utd fans are 30lbs over race weight. It's mostly between the ears

Race plans are up in a heap to be honest - teh 5k is in tatters as I am writing off Nov because of the travel but I am hoping for Rotterdam. Great race, good course and I know it so feel good that I could run well there. For once in my life though I am taking advice so we will see...

--amadeus--

Sigh. Always the same, great plans undone by real life...

I did a couple of runs of various lengths and intensities but it really has barely been maintenance. At long last though I am back in Amadeus Mansions for a while and hopefully I can get down to some serious training (at least until Xmas week!). 6 miler easy yesterday - I had forgotten to recharge my Garmin so untimed but ran with the WonderHounds which is always a pleasure. 5 easy later today and a speed session on Wed (not sure when, I'm in Cork all day...)

The one bright spot on the horizon is that the little bit of training coupled with a disciplined diet while away (2/3 proper meals a day and no crap) has got my weight back down to ~70kgs (I was 69.2 after my run yesterday but I'm assuming some dehydration).

So onwards and upwards...

--amadeus--

Well I did my 5 easy down by the river with the WonderHounds. They are digging the trail up and a particular highlight was watching JnrHound tearing along and spot a huge deep hole at the last moment. With commendable agility she hurdled it with style, grace and aplomb. Pity that the next deep hole was full of water and she ran straight into it for a dirty great dunking... I didn't laugh, honest.

Yesterday was supposed to be my strides session (2 mile warm up 20 mins on track and 2 mile warm down) but I left the house not long after 7 to drive to Cork and wasn't home till after 8 (mammoth delays on the road for some reason) and I wasn't getting out at that stage. Today was a planned easy 4 so I did what you aren't supposed to do and doubled them up, adding the 4 easy to my warm up warm down. In my defence I had mentioned to The Big C that I might do a longer run that day as the track is a 4 mile run from my house and he seemed ok with it.

So 4 miles easy there. At least the speed was easy but it was anything but - a real "other guy" session* Wind so strong I could hardly breath and raindrops the size of golf balls that were coming down horizontally. Made it to the track as darkness fell and thankfully the rain eased and eventually stopped but the wind on the exposed bends was pretty horrific at times. 20 mins on the track running the bends easy (but not recovery) and striding the straights (5-10k pace, not sprints). Slow enough to start but really got into it in the end. Didn't think to lap the watch to track the splits but felt stronger the more strides I did. Then back in teh pitch black on an unlit trail by the river with no torch - might excite you hippy mountain runners (you know who you are!) but didn't fill me with the joys of spring. A bright moon in a now clear sky meant I missed the worst of the potholes at least for the 4 home. Ended up doing 10.75 in 1:27.

Only minor worry is a slight strain in my right leg, sort of quad but more to the side. Loads of deep heat and fingers crossed!


* I can't remember which writer mentioned "the other guy". When you hit snooze and skip that early morning run the other guy doesn't. When you blow off a run because you are tired / it's wet / you can't be bothered the other guy is out training. The other guy never cuts a session short and he always puts in 100%. He might be an Olympic champion or just the guy next door but we all have that "other guy" we want to beat. Ever since reading that my tough sessions have been "other guy" sessions - I need to tough them out because I know he will.

shotgunmcos

I like that 'other guy' metaphor and think I will adopt, thanks

--amadeus--

shotgunmcos wrote: »

I like that 'other guy' metaphor and think I will adopt, thanks

No worries, half the time you are the "other guy"!

Missed Friday's run because of a series of major explosions in work. Not literally but they might as well have been - for the first time in almost 10 years of being self employed some code of mine didn't do what it was supposed to. Not a major issue in the grand scheme but I was the link between two other companies and my code not working caused a hitch that knocked the whole thing back. In my defence there were reasons and miscommunications but still not fun. And when the dust settled on all of that herself reminded me we had to go shopping because we had guests coming that night. I mentioned running and I got the impression I was welcome to go but the locks would be changed when I got back...

So I ran my easy 6 on Sat and shoved my 3 mile tempo into the middle of today's 10. Tough enough today, esp with the wind, and so the tempo miles weren't as quick as they could have been (6:56 / 6:57 / 6:47) but at least I had no reaction from that little muscle tweak the other night.

*Sigh* And now off to play Santa. My poor credit card is taking a woeful battering.

shotgunmcos

--amadeus-- wrote: »

No worries, half the time you are the "other guy"!
.

Ha, as scattered as your form may be right now, its better than mine lad'. I've orderd a secret weapon though...

Gringo78

shotgunmcos wrote: »

I've orderd a secret weapon though...

A Trionz bracelet with extra holograms?

--amadeus--

Gringo78 wrote: »

A Trionz bracelet with extra holograms?

Haven't you seen the photos of his new gaff? No way he has enough money left to buy anything too fancy!

5m easy yesterday - a client call just as I was walking out the door held me up so rather than running by the river I ran into town under the lights. Slightly hillier run than normal because of that and 5 down in just under 8 min/mile. Same again today before a progression run on Wed. Mileage is pretty light at the moment so I'm enjoying the fact that my legs are feeling fresh for the majority of the runs and I'm just wishing that the howling wind and biting sleet would hold off for long enough for me to get round in peace...

shotgunmcos

Gringo78 wrote: »

A Trionz bracelet with extra holograms?

... and 'go faster' stickers to boot nah...

--amadeus-- wrote: »

No way he has enough money left to buy anything too fancy!
..

Yep... everyone getting socks for their secret santa's this year. On the upside I may just throw a BBQ if the weather plays ball after the GLR next summer The house is on the course and walkable fom the finish (even with bandy legs!)

--amadeus--

shotgunmcos wrote: »

I may just throw a BBQ if the weather plays ball after the GLR next summer The house is on the course and walkable fom the finish (even with bandy legs!)

Result, I'm half thinking of racing the half this year so a big beery BBQ afterwards would go down very well! Just make sure you get plenty of veggie burgers/bangers in

shotgunmcos

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Result, I'm half thinking of racing the half this year so a big beery BBQ afterwards would go down very well! Just make sure you get plenty of veggie burgers/bangers in

Interesting as that was my intention for it too. You just became the "other guy" Any idea on our target?!

--amadeus--

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Interesting as that was my intention for it too. You just became the "other guy" Any idea on our target?!

Ooooohhh very interesting, we should be roughly the same pace so this could be fun...

I'm hoping to run Rotterdam in April as an A race so this will be a B race off the back of recovery. Preliminary target for Rott. is sub 2:50 so I guess sub 1:25 for a half but will take all advice going. And if I am racing the "other guy" that could change! What were you thinking? Your race plans look a bit scattered at the minute, how will this fit with your other commitments? A, B or C race?

shotgunmcos

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Ooooohhh very interesting, we should be roughly the same pace so this could be fun...

I'm hoping to run Rotterdam in April as an A race so this will be a B race off the back of recovery. Preliminary target for Rott. is sub 2:50 so I guess sub 1:25 for a half but will take all advice going. And if I am racing the "other guy" that could change! What were you thinking? Your race plans look a bit scattered at the minute, how will this fit with your other commitments? A, B or C race?

You are right, scattered is the apt description. I've no idea yet. GLR HM would be a C priority or B at best. I feel shame about the DNF I'd lke to nab a PB for the half to get that monkey off my back PB is a shade under 86 so it it be at least an assault on 84. I'll give a 10k a proper go in the spring and see what McMillan suggests. If you are in sub 2:50 shape I'd imagine 84 will be a keen stroll for you

--amadeus--

If I am in that condition... A lot of running between now and then!

Easy 5 with the WonderHounds on Tuesday, just 5 and as always it's a bit stop start running with them but a nice run. Then the usual problems hit, sniffles and snuffles and lethargy and all of a sudden it's Saturday and I haven't run.

So I went out on Saturday morning and forced myself to do the progression run that I had missed. A couple of warm up miles that didn't exactly see me ripping up the tarmac and then into the progression element - a mile at PMP was just about managed in 6:54 but the HMP pace mile was a bit sluggish at 6:41. The wheels totally fell off during the half mile at 10k pace which saw me slow right down to 7:11. Legs just lacked zip and bounce and I dragged myself home for a total distance of 8.

So feeling peeved and frustrated I laced up again that evening and took the dogs out for a moonlight run by the river. It was all a bit Blair Witch with the dogs eyes glowing ominously outside the torchlight and strange rustlings in the undergrowth. Pace was nothing to write home about but miles are miles.

And then 10 today. Again took the hounds but realised that this meant a change of route to avoid the roads. So I ended up doing 2 miles in the mud and filth of the fields behind the Tech Park in UL. I had hoped it was cold enough for the mud to be frozen (wrong) and it was wet and bloody slippy. An added joy was the flooded stretch of 50 - 60m with water knee deep and with a heavy skin of ice on the top. With no way around it had to be through... Pace was obviously highly variable but averaged 8:22.

And so into Xmas week, who knows what mileage I'll get in but hey, any mileage is good mileage, right?!

shotgunmcos

--amadeus-- wrote: »

but hey, any mileage is good mileage, right?!

Nope. No purpose is no good

--amadeus--

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Nope. No purpose is no good

Ohhhh controversial!

Multi sport training yes, aimless running is pointless. Time limited training yes, if you have a set time each week for training then it needs to have a focus and be productive.

But choosing between feet up watching TV or a recovery 6? Or deciding to run 6 miles with the dogs rather than walk 4? Or just popping out for top up mileage during a holiday week rather than stuffing your face?

I suppose it depends on if you subscribe to the idea of junk miles or not. At this stage of my training all miles are beneficial simply because I am so unfit and it's only when I have rebuilt the base and am sharpening a bit that the idea of junk miles comes into play, I reckon.

And as it turns out The Big C has other ideas for next week anyway and has laid out a tough week that doesn't have any room for a hangover at all. Boo! Hiss!

--amadeus--

*sigh* maybe I did overdo it a bit 5 miles easy that was more like recovery. Legs were like lead the whole way round and had phantom aches and pains all over the place. Too depressed to even look at the average pace so I'm going to feed the MiniMonsters and have a long soak in the bath with my book (the rather excellent Dunkirk) and wallow in self pity for a while. Might even open the bottle of this that I bought recently to see if it cheers me up

--amadeus--

The ever fragrant MrsA decided she wanted to have a glass as well so the wine was switched to this (special offer from Dunnes, very gulpable ) but otherwise all went as planned last night and tucked up in bed watching Hangover 2 at a nice early hour (not a patch on the original, avoid)

Despite that my legs still felt a bit heavy today. 7 mile easy on the plan. I'm on semi-holiday so I spent a couple of hours at a client and then came home and spent the afternoon waiting for the English FA to take thier thumb out of thier backsides and declare Luis innocent while telling MrsA that I was taking a recovery day, I didn't want to compromise my speed session tomm. So I was a bit surprised to find my trainers on, especially as it was throwing rain down. "I'm just doing 5" I told her as I headed out the door.

Legs felt fine once I started running - though they were a little less peppy on the way home than on the way out - so I ended up doing the 7 anyway. Legs feel better for it, actually.

--amadeus--

I survived a family Xmas in Donegal!

Training has been patchy over the holidays really, 42 miles logged on the Garmin but a few more that weren't on there. The good thing is that the runs in Donegal were very hilly - one 6 miler had 205m of ascent for example. I did do a good speed session on the old gravel track we used when I was at school. It was never great but it's in very poor nick now, muddy and flooded in parts and I found out later there is a state of the art new track that Letterkenny AC uses but hey ho. The speed session was a toughie - 2 miles downhill and easy to the track then 3 miles tempo (6:34 / 6:45 / 6:38) followed by a mile recovery then 6 sets of 1 min @ 5k/10k pace with just under a minute recovery. Sets were good with pace of 6:19 / 5:58 / 6:07 / 6:01 / 6:00 / 6:00. Not a lot else to report really - steady diet of 6 & 8 mile easy runs and the usual missed days at this time of year. I had hoped to do a 13 miler today but several Budvars, quite a few Erdingers, egg-nog (I didn't even think that was a real drink) and brandy (I *hate* brandy) put paid to that. At least I avoided the cigars that had been brought along...

I also collected my shiny bike at long last. Now it may not come across online but in real life I am a broadly confident person - a kind of "how hard can it be" attitude. And I have been riding bikes since I was a youngster, did over 200kms on a road bike during the M2M adventure and even have a proper grown up bike with an engine so I didn't think twice about jumping on it to ride it the 3 miles home. But holy jumping jesus that is a twitchy bike. The tyres are skinny and slick and the slightest tiny movement on the bars had the bike hopping around. The pedals have the cage thing on them so my feet were held in which I've never had before and didn't help. And of course it was wet - at one point I was spinning down a hill at a decent clip when a couple of pedestrians stepped in front of me and when I braked the rear wheel locked and decided it wanted to be the front wheel instead. Had it not been for my godlike bike control and sheer natural talent I would have been A over T half a mile after getting on the bloody thing. I said way back that I thought that a début tri would be about learning technical skills because I have the basic fitness. I was really thinking about swimming but I think I might have a lot to learn on the bike as well. Oh joy!