3:30 or bust!

belcarra

Monday, 1st October – 8.9km Recovery Run.
Recovery run around the Ballymun/Santry loop. Took it handy at about 5:22 pace. Even allowing for a HR spike at the beginning the av HR was still only 133bpm.

Tuesday, 2nd October – 22.3km MLR run.
Met VaderMLK in the Phoenix park this evening for a Medium Long Run. Neither of us were feeling particularly fresh at the start but without much fuss we decided to do 2 large laps taking in the War Memorial gardens and the North Road of the park. 1st lap completed and it showed as >12km. The conversation was flowing and meant the k’s ticked off quick enough. Towards the end of the second lap we detoured down Chesterfield as daylight was disappearing rapidly. Got back to our cars in total darkness (those streetlights in the park are worse than useless!!).

A good run which averaged 5:16/km and 136bpm again with a spike at the beginning of the run. Decided to reassess my strategy for Sunday again(!) and now plan for a solid 4:44/km pace for the entire race. This will mean I start off with the 3hr pacing group but will then be on my own from 6 miles til the end. I figure give this a bash and see how it goes as it’ll be 10secs/km slower than Eco2Run at the weekend and that should allow a reasonable amount of extra distance/range. This would be 3h20m pace for the marathon.


Month|No. of Runs|Kms Run
January|29/31|405.7
February|24/29|365.6
March|22/31|310.0
April|21/30|277.5
May|20/31|252.1
June|2/30|47.4
July|16/31|189.7
August|22/31|290.6
September|21/30|366.6
October|2/2|31.2
Total|178/275|2,571.2

belcarra

Wednesday, 3rd October – 8.9km Recovery Run.
Another easy recovery run. Went a little too fast i a couple of sections but still nothing too taxing.

Thursday, 4th October – 6km Raheny Mini Marathon(!) Race with 1km warm-up and 4.7km Cool down.
This race was only a fiver and advertised as a 4miler mini marathon so I thought I'd give it a shot as a VO2 session replacement this week. Too good a value to turn down! After a short warm-up I met with my buddy (Kieran) and we waited for the start. This race should have equated to 6.4km so I had targeted a sub 27min time. Kieran's tactic was nashamedly sit on my shoulder and then overtake me on the finishing straight!:rolleyes:

The race was a lap of the roads outside St. Anne's Park so pretty much flat the whole way apart from a slight incline doen at the Coast Rd. and then again an uphill back towards the finishing straight. There was a small filed for this with about 30 people running. As the race began we found ourselves in about 10th spot as we rounded the first corner. I stuck by my plan and held a consistent 4:10 pace for the first km where I passed one person. There was now 2 guys about 10m and 20m ahead and Kieran behind so plenty to focus the mind! Things remained pretty much the same for the next couple of kms before I noticed I no longer heard Kieran's steps behind me. I was feeling strong here but the two guys ahead were starting to increase the gap. I put in a mini-surge around km 4 and managed to close back up to the guy in front but the second guy was well gone by now and had a 100m gap on us.

I fell in behind my nemesis for the next km but when we were about 1200m from home I thought he was beginning to fade a little so jumped past on the Coast Road. A 5m-10m gap opened up pretty quickly and I knew he was beaten given the sound of his footfall. He was obviously just holding on.

I rounded the last corner at Watermill Rd. and here the only real uphill began. I shortened the stride and increased the cadence and before long I was cresting the mini-hill and being informed that the finish was only a couple hundred metres ahead. Kept pumping away at the legs and crossed the line in 25:13 which confused me a little before looking at the distance...6.05km! Half a km short almost. Kieran rolled in a couple of positions and about 22 seconds later. He'll argue that he had to tie his laces twice but we all know that's just a cover!:D:D

I think they used to run this as a 6km in the past so maybe the 4mile was a simple misnomer and they never intended that distance? Either way i was happy enough as that would have equated to about a 26:50 for 4miles so target beaten.

I actually still felt pretty strong towards the end so I could probably have gone at a faster effort out on the course which leaves me thinking maybe I could break 20mins for 5km right now without any specific 5k training. I might try seeking one out over the next couple of weeks to give it a bash!

Month|No. of Runs|Kms Run
January|29/31|405.7
February|24/29|365.6
March|22/31|310.0
April|21/30|277.5
May|20/31|252.1
June|2/30|47.4
July|16/31|189.7
August|22/31|290.6
September|21/30|366.6
October|4/4|51.9
Total|178/275|2,591.9

belcarra

Friday, 5th October – 17.0km MLR
In the Park again and just clocked up the miles with nothing major to report.

Saturday, 6th October - 10.8km Reovery Run
Very easy run around Northwood this morning. Lovely morning for it. Little bit of niggle in my back so did some core exercises. Hopefully nothing serious in it though. I'm half thinking it was because the pace was so slow that I wasn't running with the proper form.

Month|No. of Runs|Kms Run
January|29/31|405.7
February|24/29|365.6
March|22/31|310.0
April|21/30|277.5
May|20/31|252.1
June|2/30|47.4
July|16/31|189.7
August|22/31|290.6
September|21/30|366.6
October|6/6|79.7
Total|178/275|2,619.7

belcarra

Sunday, 7th October – 31.7km Athlone 3/4 Marathon with 1km w/u and 1km c/d.
Travelled down to this run with VaderMLK in what we though was plenty of time but in the heel of the hunt we parked up with just 20mins to race start. This meant a jog down the km or so to registration and by the time chips and numbers were attached everyone was being marched to the start. 5mins later and we'd probably be chasing the pack down the road!

My plan was to go with the 3hr group for the first 1/3rd @ 4:44/km and then let them off as I stuck to this pace to the end. I wasn't sure if I would last all the way though so I was keeping an eye on the HR and aim was to avoid going above 155bpm for more than a minute. VaderMLK was running alongside me as his plan was to stick with the 3hr pacer the whole way round.

Before we knew it we were away and immediately there was lots of shuffling in the crowd on a very narrow laneway. I was happy to just trot along behind, out of danger. After the first km the road opened out and things became a lot less congested. The first few kms were much faster than 4:44 though with 4:34, 4:19, 4:22 and 4:28 being the first four splits. At this stage i decided to let them off as I'd already banked over a minute! I latched onto another guy who was falling off the back and we kept each other company for the next few km.

The first of the three 'big' climbs arrived around the 5mile mark. I told my new mate to push on as I was intent on taking the bigger hills a little easier. The second big hill arrived at mile 7.5 and this was probably a bit tougher but again I paced myself well going up it. I found that I was able to maximise the descents and catch up and pass people who maybe had given the hills too much effort.

The mid-section was the flattest third of the race and this meant just plodding along and ticking off the kms. I really noticed how quickly the markers appeared to be ticking over which felt good. I was still feeling very strong here.

After crossing the Longford road for the second time we had only about 7.5 miles to go. There was a water stop here so I decided to take on a energy bar I had in my belt wallet. Unfortunately though my hands were so sweaty at this point I failed to rip open the damn bar!! I actually stopped for about 5secs at the water stop but my fingers just kept slipping! I decided to abandon the plan and tuck it back into the wallet. I was still hungry though so a couple of kms later when I was sure my hands were dry of sweat I managed to succeed. But there was no water available at this stage so after a couple of nibbles of the bar I had a very dry mouth full of energy bar that was going nowhere! It took about 500m to actually swallow the few crumbs! Good that it was happening here rather than on D-Day though.

After passing over the mat for the second 'quarter' split things were beginning to get tough. A few people passed me here which showed the av pace was slipping a little. Within a couple of kms there was another water stop but this time I made use of the lemon drink and the sliced watermelon. This worked a treat and managed to freshen me up so I was now back to normal. The pace picked up a little but before long I was faced with the final climb at mile 17.5. Afterwards everyone was saying how they couldn't remember it being so tough last year and i was in total agreement! It seemed to go on forever. I thought it was particularly sadistic of the cameramen to be perched near the top of this climb!

Eventually I managed to drest the damn thing and just afterwards I passed another runner. There was a quick section down to the final km and I now had two guys in my sights. The first was 40m ahead and I managed to pass him just after entering the hotel grounds on the final 400m. The second guy was a further 40m ahead and I though I had no chance but somehow I managed to pip him right before the line!

So, job done and I was happy to be finished. I had kept the HR to plan but allowed it some freedom on the hill climbs. It was only after finishing that I looked at my time. I'd been hoping for 2:30 but from seeing some of my splits I knew I'd beaten that. I was still pleasantly surprised to see 2:25:48 on my watch though - way inside target! Last year I managed to get around in 2:39:xx so well chuffed with a 14min pb!
I'm now thinking that if I manage 3 good weeks of training before DCM I should be close to the 3:15 bus in Valencia 3 weeks later. 3:20 is probably the realistic target at the moment though so I guess I just need to keep plugging away now.

As for Vader MLK I forecast we will be seeing a 12 month marathon pb improvement every bit as impressive as Claralara's! He finished in 2:17 today and it was just a training run pace!

Finished with a 1km warm-down run frantically searching for his car keys all over Glasson but we eventually found them thankfully!

Month|No. of Runs|Kms Run
January|29/31|405.7
February|24/29|365.6
March|22/31|310.0
April|21/30|277.5
May|20/31|252.1
June|2/30|47.4
July|16/31|189.7
August|22/31|290.6
September|21/30|366.6
October|7/7|113.4
Total|179/276|2,653.4

menoscemo

Great run there, great improvement!! I have been saying it all summer about Phillip but he really should have a bash at sub3 in DCM. Hopefully today's run has convinced him of that fact!!

Oh and edit to say, a very flat HR graph for an even pace . Things are looking up for sure...

The_Boy_Wonder

Great run there. Looks like things are coming together nicely

belcarra

menoscemo wrote: »

Great run there, great improvement!! I have been saying it all summer about Phillip but he really should have a bash at sub3 in DCM. Hopefully today's run has convinced him of that fact!!

Oh and edit to say, a very flat HR graph for an even pace . Things are looking up for sure...

I think he knows he'd be very close to it but it's a fair jump from 3:51 so I think for the time being his main target is to confirm a sub 3:10 qualifying time for next year and anything after that is a bonus but the next one out after that and I'd say he'll defo be sub 3!

Ya, happy with the HR graph alright - That's how a long distance race should be run! It was raised towards the last few miles but that was when I knew it was time to give it socks on the hill and then the sprint finish.
I'll do some nerdy excel comparisons to my last few marathons to see how it compares but I'd definitely take those kind of numbers in Valencia!!:D

belcarra

The_Boy_Wonder wrote: »

Great run there. Looks like things are coming together nicely

Thanks TBW! Happy with where I am right now so if I can make the last 3 weeks before my taper really count and avoid getting sick like I did the last couple of marathons then I'll be in with a shot of a great time alright. There's a nice few of us who were originally aiming for sub 3:30 that have pushed onto 3:20 and even 3:15 targets instead like Digger, Beeduybe, Micilin Muc, and the pair of us. Of course you then have the 'super developers' like Claralara and VaderMLK but they are just freaks!!:p

belcarra

A quick shout out to the Duke of Dromada who managed to get his Boston qualifier time over in Scranton, Pennsylvania yesterday...3:06:35 is an excellent time and no doubt you'll be sub 3 soon enough, probably in Boston itself!

Now....I'm off to find a nice downhill marathon this side of the World that I might fluke my way to join y'all next April!

jcsmum

Well done J, great time there (oh and Philip too!)

The_Boy_Wonder

belcarra wrote: »

Thanks TBW! Happy with where I am right now so if I can make the last 3 weeks before my taper really count and avoid getting sick like I did the last couple of marathons then I'll be in with a shot of a great time alright. There's a nice few of us who were originally aiming for sub 3:30 that have pushed onto 3:20 and even 3:15 targets instead like Digger, Beeduybe, Micilin Muc, and the pair of us. Of course you then have the 'super developers' like Claralara and VaderMLK but they are just freaks!!:p

Yeah there's been some pretty good progress being made. I think CL and VaderMLK have that bit of talent that makes all the difference. But certainly for me the volume of miles and building on previous marathon programmes is delivering the improvement. Lets hope we all keep it together and deliver on the day!

belcarra

Monday, 8th October – 11.7km Recovery Run
Very gentle recovery run this evening. Thought it was going to be a struggle but the legs were surprisingly co-operative so kept going for almost 12k.

Month|No. of Runs|Kms Run
January|29/31|405.7
February|24/29|365.6
March|22/31|310.0
April|21/30|277.5
May|20/31|252.1
June|2/30|47.4
July|16/31|189.7
August|22/31|290.6
September|21/30|366.6
October|8/8|125.1
Total|180/277|2,665.1

belcarra

Tuesday, 8th October – 13.2km Easy Run
Nice handy pace again for this run. Legs were fine til 5km and then they started to become heavy and dead. Sunday is only slowly leaving the body!!

Wednesday, 9th October – 13.0km Easy Run with 5 x 1,000m Intervals
Went to the Park after work and after almost 2km warm-up I started into the Intervals session. Plan was 3:55/km pace but after the first Interval decided to relax this back to 4:00/km as the body was still feeling the effects of Sunday and no rest day since. Managed the remainder just about though! Felt like I was flat out for the last few but HR was just around 163bpm (expected to be 170bpm) so perhaps it was just lethargy in the legs. Finished off with a few more kms to cool down. Nice evening for a run.

Date:|Interval 1:| Interval 2:| Interval 3:| Interval 4:| Interval 5:|Average:
18th Sept (5x800m)|3:52|3:53|3:51|3:59|3:51|3:53
9th Oct (5x1,000m)|3:56|3:54|4:03|4:01|3:59|3:59

Month|No. of Runs|Kms Run
January|29/31|405.7
February|24/29|365.6
March|22/31|310.0
April|21/30|277.5
May|20/31|252.1
June|2/30|47.4
July|16/31|189.7
August|22/31|290.6
September|21/30|366.6
October|10/10|151.3
Total|182/279|2,691.3

belcarra

Thursday, 11th October – 17.0km MLR Run
This was a very loopy course of North Dublin. Every avenue was looped around in a figure of 8 style until I got back home. A great way tin increase distance without really noticing!

Friday, 12th October – 8.5km MLR Run
Ended up leaving myself short for time on this run so just snuck in 8.5km before having to drive in to watch Ireland heroically going down to those German cheats with their ruthless efficiency, ability, organisation and non-senile manager!

Saturday, 13th October - Run 1 – 5.3km DLR 5k Race
I knew to expect a very laid back race for this and at a fiver who could really complain about that? Well I may have a little…!
Very enjoyable in fairness and great to see everyone out and about on a lovely afternoon. Two laps of Kilbogget Park in Ballybrack but it was announced just before the start the race was in fact 5.3km. Lots of kids so the first few hundred metres involved passing about 25 of them before I noticed I was in 10th spot. That kinda tells a lot about the strength of the field! Kept plugging away and got past another toungster and a few adults before finsing myself in 5th spot by the end of the first lap. By km3 however we were catching up on the backmarkers with their buggies, etc. so pace slowed down around here onwards to get round them. I tried shouting ahead, politely asking people to move to one side but they were all caught up in conversation that not many of them noticed me at all. After a few shout outs I realised it was easier just to go round them instead. This was not before three other guys managed to fly on by past me, obviously in their own mini-race. They kept a good pace and I couldn’t tag on to the back of them. Then with about 500m to go another lad went past (who I had passed about 2km beforehand) and he sailed on by. Probably a very decent runner if he can just sort out his overall race pacing. I ended up getting across the line in about 9th spot or thereabouts. So, happy with the position but chances of sub 20 gone when I had to pass the traffic on the course. Ended up doing the first 5km in about 20:25 so technically that’s a 7 second pb but on a clear course I’d be reasonably confident of the sub 20 at this stage. This served as a good blow-out no matter.


Saturday, 13th October - Run 2 – 19.6km Mountain Run
After the 5k I had arranged to meet a friend for a run in the Dublin Mountains. A shorter than planned loop around the Fairy Castle (we had intended to continue along Tibradden and then double-back but took a wrong turn) we then ran out the road towards Cruagh before doubling back again. Almost 20km but felt like longer, possibly due to the 5km earlier but it threw doubt into my mind about whether I really should be considering Comrades next year at all! I might head up that ways again this weekend to see if things are quite as tough…hopefully won’t be!

Sunday, 14th October – Run 1 – 15.1km Easy Run
Late Sat evening I agreed to meet VaderMLK and Meno in the park at 8am for a run. When I woke first I was certain work was the reason I was awake so early and was halfway to putting on the suit before I realised it was just a run! It didn’t take long for the weather to turn nasty and with the constant soaking we were getting I decided to skip town on the first return to the cars just because it was so miserable (I swear that was no reflection on Meno’s company!! ) I clocked it at 15.1km.

Sunday, 14th October – Run 2 – 11.7km Easy Run
I just lazed around home for the rest of the day before heading out in the evening for another run to bring up the mileage for the week. This was just a gentle trot with the HR staying very low but nevertheless the limbs were a bit dead, obviously a result of the 230-odd kms over the past two weeks. I’m now into day 21 of a running streak (308km) so if a bit of life doesn’t come back to the legs I’ll take the rest day I’m sure most people will say I should have taken already!

Weekly total = 115.1km. My highest weekly distance ever (beating last week’s PB!).

Month|No. of Runs|Kms Run
January|29/31|405.7
February|24/29|365.6
March|22/31|310.0
April|21/30|277.5
May|20/31|252.1
June|2/30|47.4
July|16/31|189.7
August|22/31|290.6
September|21/30|366.6
October|14/14|228.5
Total|186/283|2,768.5

belcarra

Monday, 15th October – 9.0km Recovery run
Feeling pretty tired after the past couple of days so just kept this to a nice easy recovery run.

Tuesday, 16th October – 6.5km Easy Run
Wore a pair of Kayano 16’s for this which I haven’t worn in a long time (>12 months). They look fresh enough and the soles certainly don’t appear worn out but from the very first step they were a disaster! Every footfall felt so heavy and loud! Whatever about the physical impact it definitely had a mental bearing on this run. I was kinda stuck for time (wanting to watch Trap get the sack…disappointed there too!) but I could have just about got the usual 8 or 9 km routes in, but no chance this evening and I took the shortest route back home. These runners have been stood back down again (Probably for another 12 months til I wonder why I don’t wear them again!!).

Wednesday, 17th October – 23.3km with 16.1km @ 4:41/km
Before heading out I checked the weather from the balcony and things seemed pretty placid with a chance of a bit of rain so I threw on the cap and gloves just in case. I also changed back to the normal trusty blue Kayanos this evening and the difference was so huge! Headed out on a big loop which was to take in a LT section. After about 10mins I started into the faster stuff. This was into a slight headwind but downhill so nothing bad. I then turned Eastwards on Griffith Avenue and there was a bit stronger of a wind but still nothing that coldn’t be handled. The faster stuff was in & around 4:40/km or so. Next stop was Clontarf promenade. As I got closer the wind started to pick up and around the same time the first few drops of rain appeared. 30 seconds later I was being pushed across the path by an almighty gale coming in off the sea! I had to battle into this for another 3km while only meeting a handfull of other runners daft enough to be out in that weather! Once I hit Dollymount the back was broken and the storm now started to push me along. This was effortless running with a HR in the low 140’s and pace of 4:3x! Even if the heart was getting a free ride the legs had to keep turning so it was a great workout from that point of view. About 1km from the Kilbarrack Rd saw the worst of the storm. The rain was now horizontal and icy cold. Each drop felt like being shot with an air rifle! Nothing to be done for it though but grit the teeth and see out the last km. Eventually I found sanctuary with the houses of Kilbarrack Rd to shield me. All that was left now was a simple 9km run to home with the wind at my back but the rain having eased off considerably. Great session but far more impressive angry weather!!
I’d be pretty surprised if Valencia has anything like that!!

Month|No. of Runs|Kms Run
January|29/31|405.7
February|24/29|365.6
March|22/31|310.0
April|21/30|277.5
May|20/31|252.1
June|2/30|47.4
July|16/31|189.7
August|22/31|290.6
September|21/30|366.6
October|17/17|267.3
Total|189/286|2,807.3

The_Boy_Wonder

Nuts weather alright. And we still the real winter in front of us!
I'm like a stuck record telling the non-running folk that we have to go out in all weathers, cos it might happen on the day of DCM. You have less of an excuse to put yourself through that. Character building stuff!

belcarra

Thursday, 18th October – 11.8km Recovery Run
Just an easy recovery run around the usual loop with an extra little bit thrown in. Can't remember much about it tbh!

Friday, 19th October - 18.8km Mountain Run (Prince William's Seat)
Great run this evening. Parked the car in Johnny Fox's and ran along the road til I came across the Wicklow Way and joined that route over Prince William's Seat and down into Curtlestown Woods trail head before doubling back to the car. This is the first portion of the wicklow Way Trail/Ultra held in Spring. Over 18km and once I left the main road I only saw one person out for a walk near Curtlestown. Most of the trail is top notch too so I hope to be back here for lots more runs over the next few months. Elevation gain = just over 500m.

Saturday, 20th October - 13.8km MSR
Met TBW in the Park for this run before I had to head to Loughrea for a wedding later in the day. Due to being on a tight schedule one large loop of the park brought up 13.8km before I got back to the car. What was an easy pace felt a fair bit tougher goven the hill run the day before but more to the fact I had no breakfast and was running on empty for the last few kms!

Sunday, 21st October - 8.9km Easy Run
I had planned on catching a 5km race in Longwood on my return to Dublin but I was too knackered so eventually managed to get out for this run in the evening. What started as a shuffle became a canter towards the end.

Month|No. of Runs|Kms Run
January|29/31|405.7
February|24/29|365.6
March|22/31|310.0
April|21/30|277.5
May|20/31|252.1
June|2/30|47.4
July|16/31|189.7
August|22/31|290.6
September|21/30|366.6
October|21/21|320.6
Total|193/290|2,860.6

belcarra

Monday, 22nd October - 9.0km Easy Run
Just about managed to persuade myself to go out for this run but not before I had a bit of a lie-down after work. Whatever about the running aspect of training my one major failing is still not getting enough sleep by going to bed at silly o'clock! At least this day next week I'll have my pacing duties completed and it'll be taper time...that seems a very odd sentence!!

Tuesday, 23rd October - 30.7km LSR with 20km @ MP or faster
I decided I needed a quality LSR early this week given the slow paced nature of the marathon next monday so out I went this evening for a 30k run. I wanted to get at least 15-20km of faster kms in also but my first 3kms @ pace were more LT than MP. I decided to ease off a bit for a mile or so as the path around here is quite dark but once I got to the end of Griffith Avenue I was back out in brightness so I picked it up again. Given that I'm still unsure at jest what pace I'll be aiming for the following 13km varied between 4:57 and 4:33 with most in the 4:40 range. Some of these were into a breeze so would have accounted for a few secs extra but my HR was averaging 147 for these faster kms which I was genuinely astonished at. I would have expected at least 10bpm higher so I'm taking that as a great sign.

Once I turned off the Coast Rd I eased off a little back to an easy pace for about a mile before going again for 3 more kms @ 4:50 or so. I trotted around for another 7km then at easy pace (5:20ish) before doing another final fast km and I was done. Just under 31km in total with an av moving pace of 4:53 so very happy with that.:)

Wednesday, 24th October - 8.0km Recovery Run
At home this morning so managed to get out for a 8km recovery run. Body felt a little tired but thankfully no aches or niggles to report. Might try and get another similar run in tonight.

Month|No. of Runs|Kms Run
January|29/31|405.7
February|24/29|365.6
March|22/31|310.0
April|21/30|277.5
May|20/31|252.1
June|2/30|47.4
July|16/31|189.7
August|22/31|290.6
September|21/30|366.6
October|24/24|368.3
Total|197/294|2,908.3

jcsmum

Best of luck on Monday.

ultraman1

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/8109263711/in/set-72157631820732362
hi j will u share with pn.......wats the story with usin the kms in training,

belcarra

ultraman1 wrote: »

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/8109263711/in/set-72157631820732362
hi j will u share with pn.......wats the story with usin the kms in training,

He forwarded that photo to me on Sunday evening so knows all about it!!
Really happy with himself but won't settle until he's in a shootout with Gary Crossan with the buggies. In fairness to P he has two kids to push rather than only the one for that slacker Crossan!!:D

KMs all the way...it was part of the conditions of the bailout from our Francogermanic overlords!
You might be up on 1,800miles but i've almost topped 3,000kms!!

ultraman1

can i count in distance from swimmin and cyclin

belcarra

Thursday, 25th October - 17.8km Tempo Run (Av mov pace = 4:48)
Felt well recovered after Tuesday night's session so wanted to do something faster again tonight. After a couple of easier kms I decided to up the pace gradually and before I knew it I was up again at MP. A couple of slower splits but there were some issues with traffic lights and a breeze so not worried about that. Av Hr was 145bpm so well below MP HR.
Overall, feeling pretty good about V-Day in just over 3 weeks!

Month|No. of Runs|Kms Run
January|29/31|405.7
February|24/29|365.6
March|22/31|310.0
April|21/30|277.5
May|20/31|252.1
June|2/30|47.4
July|16/31|189.7
August|22/31|290.6
September|21/30|366.6
October|25/25|386.1
Total|198/295|2,926.1

Itziger

Belcarra,

Sounds like you're doing very well in the training. As we're the only two doing it, I've decided to post here directly. Closer to the day, I'll pm you my mobile number. After my Oct. 14th effort I haven't been feeling too good. Still nursing a tight/tender hamstring or two. I've been for a couple of short slow runs and at least the pain is gone and I can get out. I'm hoping to get in a couple of half decent efforts before Valencia. I see you're having a spot of bother settling on a target. If training has gone well, you could be a bit optimistic I suppose. Normally, I'd be going for 3:10 but this is my first time doing 2 marathons in quick succession and I genuinely don't know what to expect. I'll see what the next two weeks hold and I'll have a much better idea closer to V day!

Keep up the good work. Hard stuff nearly finished now anyway..

belcarra

Itziger wrote: »

Belcarra,

Sounds like you're doing very well in the training. As we're the only two doing it, I've decided to post here directly. Closer to the day, I'll pm you my mobile number. After my Oct. 14th effort I haven't been feeling too good. Still nursing a tight/tender hamstring or two. I've been for a couple of short slow runs and at least the pain is gone and I can get out. I'm hoping to get in a couple of half decent efforts before Valencia. I see you're having a spot of bother settling on a target. If training has gone well, you could be a bit optimistic I suppose. Normally, I'd be going for 3:10 but this is my first time doing 2 marathons in quick succession and I genuinely don't know what to expect. I'll see what the next two weeks hold and I'll have a much better idea closer to V day!

Keep up the good work. Hard stuff nearly finished now anyway..

Did I hear someone offer to pace me around the course in that comment...? ;-)
Seriously, what would be the slowest time you'd be happy with...I think that might be my new goal pace!

Itziger

belcarra wrote: »

Did I hear someone offer to pace me around the course in that comment...? ;-)
Seriously, what would be the slowest time you'd be happy with...I think that might be my new goal pace!

I don't know who's going to be pacing who! I went out this morning and did 12 @ 5min/k pace. Hamstring has almost got back to normal. As I says above, I really don't know what to expect to tell you the truth. How many of these yokes have you done?

To give you an idea of my ability or lack of it, here are the following: 10 k pb - 38.26, Half - 1:26:23 and Full - 3:14:02. On most charts that says I should be a bit faster for the marathon but charts don't get you around as we all know.

Best case scenario - 3:10
Wouldn't be too upset - 3:15
Was it worth the trip? - over 3:20
I'm glad I bumped into Lance Armstrong last night and took those phials - 3:00
But all the above is irrelevant if legs give out after 14k.

belcarra

Itziger wrote: »

Best case scenario - 3:10
Wouldn't be too upset - 3:15
Was it worth the trip? - over 3:20
I'm glad I bumped into Lance Armstrong last night and took those phials - 3:00
But all the above is irrelevant if legs give out after 14k.

I haven't decided on strategy yet but will probably head off at 3:20 pace and see how I'm feeling by about 18 miles. If I can I'd like to push on at that stage but if not I'd be reasonably happy to 'just' beat 3:30!
So, you never know, depending on where each of us start from in the race we may well end up running a few miles together at some stage before you kick on!

Looking forward to it now but have the little matter of Sea2Summit in Westport this Saturday to get over first. After that, taper all the way!!

belcarra

Friday, 26th October - 7.3km Recovery Run
Run-of-the-mill recovery run with nothing exciting to happen!

Saturday, 27th & Sunday 28th October - Rest Days
After being in McGowan's in Phibsboro til 3am Fri night I gave in to a rest day on the Saturday. Then with my resolve weakened having seen my perfect month evaporate, I gave in to another rest day on Sunday with the excuse I was letting myself rest up for the DCM the next day...:(

Monday, October 29th - Dublin City Marathon, 5hr pacing duties
Day one of my taper for Valencia and only a marathon to contend with! I reckoned going around in the 5hr slot allotted to me by Kurt Godel would be fine as it's a much easier effort than many long runs I would otherwise have done. So it was that I got to share the duties with Digijem, HotToTrot and Clareman07.

The morning was a little on the nippy side but I had come prepared with two long sleeve tops, a short sleeve top and a light jacket! As it turns out the collar of the jacket appears to have prevented the backpack from chafing my neck and shoulders so that was an extra unintended benefit! After some photos and a bit of waiting around we were off at 9:19 as part of the third and final wave.

The first few miles ticked along surprisingly quickly given our pace. I was deperaely trying to keep in check with Clareman07 as he was the most experienced of us for pacing 5hrs. By the NCR I had to take a temporary diversion down a side street to water the plants and I got the expected cheer from the rest of the pacees! Before long we were making our way through the Phoenix Park and thru the 10km mat in good time.

The next ten miles were mainly consisting of gently coaxing people up the hills under the bridges between Chapelizod and Kilmainham and then similarly along the Crumlin Road drag. It was pretty flat and nice after that until we got to Milltown and again I was persuading hesitant minds that the hill was just a very short steepish bump and so it was! Most of the way round there was only a few people chatting even though there was probably about 20 people with me (I had temporarily moved about 100m ahead of the remaining 3 pacers but I was comfortable with this as the aim was to take it handy on roebuck). I think the reminder of the pacees were just in their own little World struggling to keep the legs turning over to be fair to them.

Along Clonskeagh and all the way to the top of Roebuck I was offering a running commentary outlining why this hill wasn't at all as bad as it's reputation and for the most part I think it worked as most of my gang kept the running going to the top, passing lots of walkers on the way. We gave a big cheer as we crested the hill but I was sure to tell everyone to take it handy going down the far side as that had the possibility of doing much more damage to tender quads.

After that it was plain sailing all the way back to Town. A number of my pacees started to drift ahead further from Nutley Lane onwards so I eased off and managed to get back in contact with the rest of the gang just before the Canal. From there we encouraged everyone we could to keep going or alternatively to get back running and join us to the finish. When we got to Nassau St. myself and Digijem were doing everything short of physically pushing people to the finish line and it was a great feeling to hear all the pacees panting furiously to make the line where otherwise they may have just strolled to the finish and ruined their race video!!

Over the line in a chip time of 5:00:01 which wasn't bad considering the watch didn't show seconds and we pretty much stopped and ran back for stragglers along the final 500m. Very enjoyable run and my fellow pacers were a great bunch for the journey!

Tuesday, 30th October - Rest Day
Surprisingly my legs were in bits on Tuesday even with the easy pace. I think it was because it was so slow that I was running with a sloppy gait and that may have caused the issues.

Wednesday, 31st October - 7.3km Progression Run
Legs had recovered a bit by today so went out for a run. Took it handy for the first bit but then kept getting quicker mainly because the legs were less sore the faster I ran! Ended up with 2km @ LT pace.

Month|No. of Runs|Kms Run
January|29/31|405.7
February|24/29|365.6
March|22/31|310.0
April|21/30|277.5
May|20/31|252.1
June|2/30|47.4
July|16/31|189.7
August|22/31|290.6
September|21/30|366.6
October|28/31|452.9
Total|201/301|2,982.9

menoscemo

Fair play on the pacing. The toughest gig of all on Monday. I see you weren't joking about the HR, it was down to 100 in the middle of the run :eek:

Itziger

Belcarra, here's a link to my Garmin. You can look at some of the runs and decide for yourself. You don't fancy going out at 3:10 pace and see how far we get?

http://connect.garmin.com/dashboard