3:30 or bust!

belcarra

Monday, 23rd Jan - 14.8km General Aerobic Run
An easy run tonight in pretty good conditions again, if a little nippy. I was wary of just plodding along too much tonight so decided to do a bit of a progression run just to mix things up a little bit. The last few kms were slowed down again to allow extra recovery from the weekend.

Kmtd: 287.1
Runs: 21/23

Woddle

What's the goal time for Raheny?
A sub 35 must be damn close

belcarra

Woddle wrote: »

What's the goal time for Raheny?
A sub 35 must be damn close

I'm actually double-booked for Sunday as I'm doing the Hell&Back 10km in Bray that day as part of a team (of 4). So as much as I would have liked to have done the 5 miler in Raheny I'll have to give it a miss.
There is about a 5% chance I may be back on the Northside in time to go down and have a look though. You doing Raheny?

If I was running it then i think I would have given 35 a bash alright though!

belcarra

Tuesday, 24th Jan - 12.1km General Aerobic Run
Due to runs later in the week I was left with a session today that I wasn't quite sure what to do with! I opted for another GA run in the end just to get a few miles in the legs but not fast enough to tire me out. Very mild out tonight - long may the clement weather last!

On a side note, I'm a bit frustrated with the fact that seeing as I'm doing the Hell&Back on Sunday I won't be able to do the Raheny 5 miler the same day. It appears nearly everyone from this parish is signed up for it! I think I will try and make it down to watch regardless. If I do I will be sure to record plenty of poor quality video and photos through my phone so y'all better bring the perma-smile just in case!!

Kmtd: 299.2
Runs: 22/24

belcarra

Raheny Winter League - 2 Miler - 3.25km @ 156bpm in 13:22.
I was seeking to beat the 13:23 time from before xmas and was really hoping for sub 13min. In the end I got a new PB by a single second, so sorta pleased and sorta disappointed!

It was wet with a chilly breeze last night as opposed to it being frosty and windy at the previous 2 miler. I was thinking of wearing gloves, decided not to in the end and then regretted it the whole 2 miles:rolleyes:.
The first mile lap went well - I tried to keep a little in the tank to go all out on the second mile and was running a solid 4:00/km split for the first km. This eased off slightly hitting the halfway mark and the 1 mile split was announced as 6:35 or so as I was passing through. I figured this would require a huge effort to get that 5 secs back but ploughed on regardless.
For the second mile I could feel that I had aerobic capacity to go faster (and this is probably proven by my av HR of 156bpm for the race, compared to 165bpm last time out for an almost identical time) but I didn't have the leg speed to keep up! I slowed a little over the course of the last lap to make it home in 13:22.

A comparison of other runners performances over the two races show some have improved and some have gone back in their times, so I don't think conditions really made for much of an impact on the times.
EDIT: After doing a more in-depth analysis of people who raced both events I have found out that the average person finished 8 seconds slower in this race compared to before xmas...not so disappointed now:)

So, i guess with all the easy & long miles I have been doing I haven't got any quicker over the short distances which I suppose is easy to accept. It's all about going long at the moment and I will return to the shorter stuff in a big way after Connemara in order to prepare me for Cork.
So be it!

(4.6km warm-up/cool-down + 3.24 race = 7.8km)


Kmtd: 307.0
Runs: 23/25

belcarra

Thursday, 26th Jan – 17.6km LSR - #1 of 2
I was rushed for this run as I had to be in Whelan’s by 8:30 for a comedy gig woth a couple of mates so as soon as I got home I changed into the running gear and was hitting the tarmac by 5:50pm.

2 Miles into the run I got a pretty bad stitch and for the first time ever debated stopping to try and work it out. I decided against it and within a mile it had gone again.
The evening was particularly cold which meant I had freezing moisture on my face for most of the run – unpleasant to say the least! (When I got back to the apt there was some frozen crystals on my cap!) There was also a reasonably strong breeze in my face for a period of about 4 miles which didn’t help matters either!

Finished up after 11 miles. Plan had required 14 but not too bad in the end and just about made the gig on time. Of course afterwards I returned to the car to find it clamped and then had to wait until 1:00am to have it released after being relieved of €80.
Not really the perfect end to the day!!
LSR of 19 miles required today but if I’m feeling decent towards the end I may try to regain some of the lost 3 miles from last night…

Kmtd: 324.6
Runs: 24/26

belcarra

Friday, 27th Jan – 29.0km LSR - #2 of 2
Met up with Philip again today for the long LSR. Started off at a steady, easy pace and by mile three we were confronted with a downpour straight from the Arctic! The rain was almost cold enough to be hail and persisted for about 2 miles. Eventually though when that rain fcuked off the cold breeze still remained.:(

I got a stitch again today at about 5 miles which lasted about ten mins but then again later at about 12 miles it returned for about 20mins this time. I'm putting this down to poor nutrition over the past 24 hrs or so. Hopefully I won't have any more issues with that.

We returned to the cars after 15km to get some water and to change clothing layers as the earlier rain had left us very cold. The second half of the run was tougher given the miles from last night but apart rfrom the recurrence of the stitch I wasn't too bad until the final mile or so when I was beginning to get achy legs/knees. I'm thinking my body is telling me I need a break and that my running streak (25 days) will be coming to an end soon...:(

Good session overall and as these LSRs come and go I'm feeling more confident about Donadea.
ConnUltra on the other hand, may need some extra morale boosting yet!!

Kmtd: 353.6
Runs: 25/27

Marthastew

belcarra wrote: »

Good session overall and as these LSRs come and go I'm feeling more confident about Donadea.
ConnUltra on the other hand, may need some extra morale boosting yet!!

Kmtd: 353.6
Runs: 25/27

That is exactly how I'm feeling at the moment; I keep thinking 50K seems very doable however when you add up two LSRs in a row and you still don't get the total for ConnUltra, :eek::eek:

menoscemo

Marthastew wrote: »

That is exactly how I'm feeling at the moment; I keep thinking 50K seems very doable however when you add up two LSRs in a row and you still don't get the total for ConnUltra, :eek::eek:

Think of it another way: when you've done the 50k, there's only 8 miles to go

belcarra

Saturday, 28th Jan - 9.9km Recovery Run
Met with the Boards group today for my recovery run of approx 6 miles. Nice easy pace and an enjoyable run overall. A few doing the Raheny 5 miler tomorrow (Best of luck to ye!), Digijem doing her 26.2 training run(!) and the rest doing 'normal' training runs!

Menoscemo was acting as the devil on the shoulder telling me to go out ahead of the 5hr gang for Donadea and now the idea is beginning to fester in my head...I will decide after next weekend where I hope to go very long in my b2b LSRs...

In other news, I'm way ahead of my highest ever volume month and will probably hit close to 400km by month end...:D

Kmtd: 363.5
Runs: 26/28

claralara

belcarra wrote: »

Saturday, 28th Jan - 9.9km Recovery Run
Met with the Boards group today for my recovery run of approx 6 miles. Nice easy pace and an enjoyable run overall. A few doing the Raheny 5 miler tomorrow (Best of luck to ye!), Digijem doing her 26.2 training run(!) and the rest doing 'normal' training runs!

Menoscemo was acting as the devil on the shoulder telling me to go out ahead of the 5hr gang for Donadea and now the idea is beginning to fester in my head...I will decide after next weekend where I hope to go very long in my b2b LSRs...

In other news, I'm way ahead of my highest ever volume month and will probably hit close to 400km by month end...:D

Kmtd: 363.5
Runs: 26/28

He is such a demon for putting ideas in your head.... I was only signed up for the Connemara Half before I met him last year. And he steadily broke me down over 8 months to get me to take on this current (highly questionable) ultra goal...

Some good LSRs you've got under your belt. I'm missing them after the last 2 weeks - need a couple of good ones next week to maintain the confidence. Are you tapering for the 50k now or does one not do that when 50k is a mere training run?!

belcarra

No taper for donadea although I may take a rest day the day before if that counts as taper!!

belcarra

Sunday, 29th Jan - 10.25km Hell and Back 10k Race
While most Boardies were basking in the comparitively benign conditions in Raheny and Dungarvan a few hardier souls made their way to Bray for 10km of muddy hill climbing, freezing river crossings and waist deep mud walks!! And gladly, I was one of those few...

I was part of a four man team and we started off in Wave 1 of 3 @ 11:45. Straight up was the shuffle through 'The Pond' - a thigh high stagnant body of water which smellt worse than I could possibly describe! The freezing temperature of the water meant Ice-block feet when exiting which were only partially thawed after the following 2km uphill run.
At this stage we were faced with a couple of easier obstacles, them being three large bales of straw to be overcome and a cargo net to be undercome(?)!
A brief respite followed before we started the tough 1.5km ascent of Little Sugar Loaf. Towards the top the single lane of traffic stopped to a walk but the heather to each side made overtaking a futile effort.
Just shy of the tip of the mountain we turned for back down the mountain and here is where the fun really began. The persistent rain led to treacherous conditions on the mountain descent and I saw several people falling on their ass as I manouevered my way rather more timidly down the mudslide!
The three 'up&downs' didn't seem as tough as last October but that was probably because I wasn't taken by surprise this time round.
Once finished with this we ran on for about 500m before we entered the 'Devil's Pit' where there was a tyre field to be negotiated before we faced two log walls which we had to somehow climb over. A couple of gravel pits half-full of water later and we were on a 10 min run to the final stages of the race.
The swamp lived up to it's name with whole legs getting lost in the black mire. This was the slowest part of the course but at least it allowed us to catch a breath!
After climbing the timber frame we were finished with the swamp but then came the part I'd been dreading the most - 'The River crossing'! I jumped straight in but as we traversed the water got colder. The second half of the crossing was absolutely freezing and left all the men wondering if their genitalia was still attached! The first few steps after exiting the river were gentle to say the least but soon the blood returned to the lower body.
Another 1km of running and we were faced with the pond once more before the final obstacles of more straw bales to climb over with the final 3-tiered obstacle very tough as the legs, and body in general, were now feeling like dead weight!
All that was then left was a final 200m dash and job done.
Everyone seemed to really enjoy the race and our team managed to come 8th overall which we were quite happy with.

I'm sure the 5 miler in Raheny was tough as well but perhaps on a slightly different level!:D

Kmtd: 373.75
Runs: 27/29

belcarra

Monday, 30th Jan - 8.0km Recovery Run
Went for an easy 8km recovery run this evening but without the Garmin. Legs were a little tired/sore from yesterday but nothing too bad. Calves were worst from the mountain ascending.

Only the one day left in Jan for me to hit the 400km mark...I reckon a 19km run may be in store for tomorrow night!!

EDIT: Just worked out that 402.3km = 250miles so may have to do a Half marathon instead!

Kmtd: 381.75
Runs: 28/30

slowsteady

belcarra wrote: »

Only the one day left in Jan for me to hit the 400km mark...I reckon a 19km run may be in store for tomorrow night!!

EDIT: Just worked out that 402.3km = 250miles so may have to do a Half marathon instead!

Kmtd: 381.75
Runs: 28/30

This is all in aid of a 3:30 marathon!!:eek:, makes me tired just reading it.

Puts my paltry 108 miles in perspective:o. Signed up for Waterford at the end of June but I think that will be just a trial for DCM.

Avoid injury and it will be a breeze for you - you even sound like you enjoy it all:p

belcarra

It's all to do with Raycun and a few others that remain ahead of me in the running streak table...once they back down and take a rest day I'll do likewise but at the moment it's a bit of a Mexican stand-off!!

RayCun

belcarra wrote: »

It's all to do with Raycun and a few others that remain ahead of me in the running streak table...once they back down and take a rest day I'll do likewise but at the moment it's a bit of a Mexican stand-off!!

You've a lead of 80k in the 1000 mile challenge table, is that not enough for you? :pac:

belcarra

Tuesday, 31st Jan - 22.0km Medium Slow Run
As chance should have it this evening called for a 13 mile run - just enough to get me to the 250 mile/400km mark for January. The run was remarkable for nothing apart from that milestone.

So, 1/4 of the way to the 1,000 mile mark already and a 29 day running streak that's still going...nice!

Kmtd: 403.75
Runs: 29/31

belcarra

RayCun wrote: »

You've a lead of 80k 100km in the 1000 mile challenge table, is that not enough for you? :pac:

FYP!

belcarra

slowsteady wrote: »

This is all in aid of a 3:30 marathon!!:eek:, makes me tired just reading it.

Puts my paltry 108 miles in perspective:o. Signed up for Waterford at the end of June but I think that will be just a trial for DCM.

Avoid injury and it will be a breeze for you - you even sound like you enjoy it all:p

It really is beginning to get to the point where you could pick a number and I'd head off and run it! For the first time I think I'm comfortable with mileage distances beginning with a 2! As Woddle has mentioned I should have a great endurance base built up by April and then it'll be time to introduce the faster stuff to help get the times down.

Well that's my theory anyways!!

belcarra

Wednesday, 1st Feb - 8.0km Recovery Run
Easy 8km tonight.
The plan actually said to do a 15km run with LT but I was feeling lazy and where once I may have had a rest day, I went for a recovery run instead.

Threw in a 750m pacy bit (@4:00/km) where I was on a downhill and used the chance to get the legs moving quickly without putting much stress on the body. I may do this on more of my recovery runs as it's short enough to not cause issues yet it may help a little with leg speed. I will do real interval work after Connemara.


Kmtd: 411.75
Km-Feb: 8.0
Runs: 30/32
Running Streak: 30

belcarra

Thursday, 2nd Feb - 6.4km Recovery Run
Easy run again just to keep legs ticking over.

Kmtd: 418.1
Km-Feb: 14.4
Runs: 31/33
Running Streak: 31

belcarra

Friday, 3rd Feb - 30.0km LSR Run #1of2
Met with Philip for a LSR in the Park. 30km which for the most part was fine.

Saturday, 4th Feb - 17.4km LSR Run #2of2
LSR #2 was intended to be another 30km run in Mayo but the weather was terrible so at the crucial point where I could turn for home or continue for my final loop I was weak. I couldn't bare running into the freezing rain for the next three miles until I got into a bit of shelter. Anyhow, I was running late for something else so made the decision a little easier to accept. Still though, body felt like it could have continued without too many issues so that was good.

Sunday, 5th Feb - Rest Day :eek:
Running streak over! In Mayo still but just didn't get round to going out for a run today so I guess it had to finish sometime!!

Monday, 6th Feb - 12.5km GA Run
Back on the road again with a 12.5km easy run. Didn't really notice any advantages of taking the day before off though!!

Kmtd: 478.0
Km-Feb: 74.3km
Runs: 33/36
Running Streak: 33 (Finished!)

menoscemo

belcarra wrote: »

Back on the road again with a 12.5km easy run. Didn't really notice any advantages of taking the day before off though!!

Yeah, last time I took a day off I paid the next day for not having done a recovery run. My legs were still wrecked!!

Fair play to phillip He got at least 19 miles in with us on saturday and there didn't look to be a bother on him.

belcarra

Tuesday, 7th Feb - 13.0km Tempo Run
Meant to be a 8km recovery run but by about halfway I was feeling good so i upped the pace a bit and this became a part tempo run. Nothing very fast at all but i was pushing it a little bit for the last 5 or 6ks.

Today's longer than planned session means less miles tomorrow which is good as that is the 3 miler in Raheny. I'll be aiming for pace between 4:20 - 4:30 for the splits with the hope I can push the last km a little harder. Any PB at all would be welcomed at this stage because I really think all the slower running has made me a bit slower than last autumn definitely.

Kmtd: 491.0
Km-Feb: 87.3km
Runs: 34/37

belcarra

Wednesday, 8th Feb - Raheny Winter League 3 Miler
After a 2km warm-up we started just after 8pm. I stuck to my plan and took the first km a little easier than last time. When I saw my pace creeping towards sub 4:10 I decided to settle in with a few others who were going a little slower. This got the pace on track and after the first mle loop i was joined by a local female runner. The pair of us continued pacing each other for the next mile and a half before I decided to up the pace with half a mile to go. I tried to encourage her to stick with me but she had been giving it the max already so was unable to kick. At this point I tried to catch another local female who was about 50m ahead of me. As we turned the final corner I had pulled it back to about 10m but then with the lcal support telling her I was on her tail she managed to hold off all the way to the end and I was undone by my lack of a kick at the end.
As I was crossing the line I was told of my 20:27 finish time which I was well chuffed with. That was 42 secs faster than last time out although conditions tonight were pretty perfect. Still though, I'm really looking forward now to Rathfarnham in September and a crack at getting sub 20mins for the 5km distance!

2km w/u and 2.2km c/d added to 4.8km race distance = 9.0km for the evening...which conveniently brings me up to 500km for the year so far!

Kmtd: 500.0
Km-Feb: 96.3km
Runs: 35/38

belcarra

Thursday, 9th Feb - Rest day
I was fully intent on going out for a run today but after visiting my sister it was almost 9pm when I got home. Then I ended up snoozing on the bed for another hour and when I finally awoke it was waaaay too nasty and too late for the sake of a 5 mile recovery run...these decisions are much easier to happen now that my running streak is over .

Friday, 10th Feb - 32.2km LSR
I managed to get a quick 11.3km lap of the park in before Philip arrived to join me for the remainder of the run. Took a nice route to tack on 21.1km in one blast so I think that's going to be a more regular feature of my long runs. Only had to hit the one hill on the upper Glen Road so it made it a little easier than other possible routes.

I only had a bowl of cereal in the morning and an apple about an hour before I started so wasn't really surprised to be feeling low on energy towards the end. I must get in the groove for carb loading come the back end of next week...something I can often be very poor at!

Kmtd: 532.2
Km-Feb: 128.5km
Runs: 36/40

Woddle

Well done in the 3 miler. I reckon with this base and some quicker work in the summer, sub 20 will be too easy Keep up the solid work.

belcarra

Woddle wrote: »

Well done in the 3 miler. I reckon with this base and some quicker work in the summer, sub 20 will be too easy Keep up the solid work.

Cheers Woddle!
Hopefully you'll be proved right. I was actually surprised I improved so much on last time as I was expecting to be just a few seconds quicker. The Winter League is the only bit of fast running I'm doing these days.

I see you've had to cancel your run in the morning with us. Might catch you over the coming weeks.

belcarra

Saturday, 11th Feb - 21.2km MSR
Met up with Philip at 8:20am for a quick 7km before meeting the rest of the boards crew at 9am. Good crowd out this morning and various paces and distances being done. We settled in with TheBoyWonder and Rainbow Kirby for most of the run. Good chat throughout and before we knew it we were back at the cars (After parting company with RK at the bottom of Chesterfield Ave).
TBW continued on for another 5 miles with Brianderunner and after a brief chat to Aimman, Chinguetti and Pistol I headed off home.

Plan will be to take it relatively easy this week and just the one long run next week albeit quite a long plod! I imagine by this time next Saturday I'll be hitting the pain territory with about 3 x 5km laps remaining before getting my hands on the much anticipated and trained-for medal!
(There is a medal, isn't there??)

Kmtd: 553.4
Km-Feb: 149.7km
Runs: 37/41