semper currere

scriba

Hi all,

I've been lurking on A/R/T forums for the last two and a half weeks, as I've resolved to shift the last couple of stone off my frame, and attain a decent level of fitness in the process. I'm 34 years old, and weigh 201 lbs, the excess of which is mostly around my belly and chest - I have shifted around 44lbs slowly over the last six years, through better eating habits. I play 6-a-side soccer once or twice a week, and walk 2k to work and back every morning. While browsing over the forums I came across several threads on the C25K, which I immediately resolved to do. But in my initial run, I ended up doing the 5k in 30 mins, which was a real surprise. I always hated running before, and found it extremely difficult mentally, even when training for teams as a younger man. So after running three 5ks last week and a 5k and a 6k this week, despite a huge hike up Carrauntoohil on Sunday, I think I'm ready to actually apply myself to a program. It was so nice to run 6k tonight, and feel my legs actually loosen up and enjoy it in parts.

Anyway, from what I can gather, the trick is to get miles and distance into your legs, and not worry too much about pace. I'm going to follow Hal Higdon's novice program for the 10 mile/15k, repeating weeks if required, and I'm going to jump in at week 2 next week, keeping this week and last week as trial runs. I think my goal is to reach the distance milestones first, before worrying about speed. If my legs or joints start to complain, then I'll take it down a notch. TBH, I'd be perfectly happy to run 5k every day for the rest of my life, but I'm interested to see what my body can do, even at this stage.

So here I go, armed with mittens, an iPhone for GPS data, an MP3 player with offensively aggressive out-of-date metal and some manky training gear. Any advice/support/chastisement would be gratefully appreciated!

Goals are to run a race in May (5k or 10k), to lose a pound every 1-2 weeks, to be healthy and to live forever, and to run until I can't run any more. Despite what I've read online, I'll be keeping on soccer as a cross training night, because I love it so much, and I could never do without it. I'll also continue to fit in 2-3 basic 30 min weight sessions throughout the week.

Tue 21/2/2012

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3 sets of 15 reps of various dumbbell exercises.
Evening road run: 5.05 km, @ 6'08"/km

Felt good, loosened out my legs. It was a bit windy and wet, and I found I was trying to run faster automatically sometimes. I tried keep it controlled around the 6'10" mark, and was happy enough to just get another 5k under my belt.

Wed 22/2/2012 (Gym)

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6km in 35'58" on treadmill
5km in 12'23" on bike
2.5km @ 9kph on treadmill.

I go to the gym once a week to accompany my girlfriend so that she'll go. Felt great to do 6km, I could have kept plodding on at that pace for another 1km, but I'm trying not to do too much, too soon. The bike was just to keep moving, and kill some time. When I got off that, I felt like doing a little more jogging, so I did another 2.5km (ignoring my previously sensible attitude). Feel great tonight though, spent extra time stretching out my legs, and hopefully I'll be fit and able tomorrow!

LarMan

Best of luck Scriba, it should be no problem for you to meet your goals

scriba

Sound, Larman! I just hope this isn't the honeymoon period...

scriba

Today will be a day of rest, towards a light run tomorrow and a longer run on Sunday. Played football last night, and found my legs heavy after Tuesday and Wednesday's activities. Blowing hard at the end of it, but I think I put in a fair effort. It'll be interesting to see how the next few weeks go. Looking forward to the weekend, it'll probably be treadmill running on Saturday, and the great outdoors on Sunday.

Thurs 23/2/2012 (Ball)

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1 hour

Fri 24/2/2012 (Rest)

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1st weekly weigh in: 199.3 lbs.

scriba

Back from the gym, started with a 6km run on the treadmill, did 400m at 9kph, then up to 5k at 10.5kph, 5k-5.6k at 11kph, and the last 400m at 12kph. I was sweaty but also felt that I could have given much more in terms of distance. I feel ready to take on longer distances now. I then did 25 mins on the bike covering 12k to finish up.

I think I'll try one of those 'long' slow runs tomorrow, another 6km at least anyway, on the roads. Looking forward to it.

Sat 25/2 Gym

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Treadmill 6km, 34'25", under 6' per km, hurray!
Bike 12km in 25'.

scriba

Sun 26/2/2012 Run

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6.82km in 39'18", 5'46"/km, with a bit of a hill at the end.


It's fascinating how the body can flit between feeling heavy and light in the space of a few steps. I must have been on my seventh wind by the time I was hitting the last 500m. Funny too how the presence of people makes you pick up the pace a little too.

Very happy to get a longer run in, happier too to be running outdoors at well under 6' per km. I need to get more control though, I started off way too quick and found it very difficult to slow my pace to a steady one for the start. Regardless, I think I'm set to start Higdon novice 15k training next week.

I've seen other people keep track of their run distances and days running, so I'm going to borrow their idea and do it here. Yoink!


Week | Sessions | Distance | (Treadmill)
Feb 20th-26th | 4 | 26.3 km | 13.5 km

scriba

Mon 27/2/2012 Treadmill

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10.0 km in 56'03"; avg 5'36"/km, varied pace between 10.5kph and 13kph.

I meant to take this day as a rest day, but decided to go to the gym with my partner instead, since she was keen to go. Originally meant to do 7km on the treadmill, but was feeling good around 6.5km and decided to extend it to 8km. Reaching 8km, I was still feeling good, albeit sweaty and breathing heavier, so I went for it. Felt great to hit the 10km, albeit I know it'll be a good bit tougher outdoors.

Finished up with 7km on the bike in 20 mins, more to get my ass used to sitting on a saddle again.

Tomorrow will be weights and stretching I think, and I've a run planned with a friend for Wednesday. So far so good. So glad I decided to start this, it's hard to believe its only my fourth week. Running is amazing, it's like every distance you run opens a door to a further distance. Long may it continue!

scriba

Too busy with work to do anything today, except enter in my first race! I'm going to tackle the 10 mile Great Island Run in Cobh on April 15th.

I'm currently following the Hal Higdon novice 2 half-marathon training schedule, which calls for a 10 mile long run that very day. If I'm tired, i'll treat it as a slightly quicker LSR, if I feel good I'll try do it at calculated race pace. I'll try find a 10k a few weeks beforehand just to get the feel of racing too.

I feel much more solid about this now that there's a target. Should be motivating too when the runs start to get longer. :eek:

5k run (at race pace) and some weights tomorrow, huzzah!

scriba

The plan tonight was to do a medium length slow run with a friend, but to run at a quick pace (at least for me) to and from his place. Hence the overall distance was split into three runs, with half a minute to a minute's arseing around between each run. The middle run was especially slow, due to my friend's relative lack of fitness, but to be fair to him, he kept going, and he'll be much better for it next time. It was nice to have some company too, really helped the time pass.

Distance | Duration | Pace
2.63km | 14'22" | 5'28"/km
7.84km | 54'46" | 6'59"/km
2.63km | 14'06" | 5'22"/km

While not exactly ground breaking stuff, the positives were that I felt I could have run on another few km if I had to. I'm going to try aim for 5'15-5'20/km for my race times when I do my first 'quick' 5k next week. Running with someone else who was traditionally fitter than me also gave me confidence in my own levels of fitness which felt good. Finally, it's another 13km deposited in my leg bank

I've football tomorrow night, and I'll try fit in some sets of dumbbell exercises sometime tomorrow afternoon. Otherwise, I'll be keeping it very handy. Plan for the rest of the week is a run on Friday and on Sunday, but I might keep them to 5k, and maybe try one of them at 5'20-5'30. I'll probably be able to do it, but it'll cross an important psychological hurdle when I do it.

Once again, the hardest kilometres of the entire night were the first 2km. Opening my lungs was like sliding the lid off a tomb sealed for millennia.

red face dave

Scriba good work. Why don't you have a look at this log a group of us who finished the marathon last year follow a weekly training programme set out be Ecoli which is posted every Monday might be able to give you a few tips. Most of us are either training for 10k or half marthons its a good read.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056440724.

Good luck and keep up the good work

scriba

red face dave wrote: »

Scriba good work. Why don't you have a look at this log a group of us who finished the marathon last year follow a weekly training programme set out be Ecoli which is posted every Monday might be able to give you a few tips. Most of us are either training for 10k or half marthons its a good read.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056440724.

Good luck and keep up the good work

Thanks for that Red face Dave, and for the wishes. I'm only now getting around the wealth of information and threads on A/R/T, it's a great forum! I'll plow through that thread on my lunchbreak.

scriba

Sun 04/2/2012 Run

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7.49km in 48'54", 6'32"/km.

Friday was hectic with a birthday and work, and Saturday found me up in the midlands for the day, so today was my first exercise since Thursday's football. This was another social run with a friend, fit in before the rugby game this afternoon in some glorious Cork sunshine. Slow enough pace, but fit in some nice hilly terrain in that run too, the only time I was breathing anyway hard. Hoping to do some intervals either tomorrow or Tuesday, and step things up. I'm also going to start following the DCM Class 2011 thread.

Week | Sessions | Distance | (Treadmill)
Feb 27th-Mar 4th | 3 | 30.5 km | 10.0 km

scriba

Mon 5/2/2012 Run

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10.31km in 57'30", 5'35"/km (climb of 115 m involved)

Ok, it's finally sunk in. Slow down to do more. I wanted one more test at what I would consider close to my best effort in a training setting, so I decided to do 10k and try keep it to 5'30"/km (no giggling!). I picked a route with a mixture of inclines, and set off at what I thought was a reasonable pace. The difference between this run and other runs was that I didn't settle into a steady breathing rhythm after 2k (I always find the first two hard on the lungs, unless the pace is very slow), and it was a fight for much of the race. Lots of positives, I got to test my resolve, I tried push it up hills when my legs said no, another 10km in the bank, and a healthy dose of realism (follow a program properly for proper results!). I was glad when I reached 10k and with only a third of a kilometre to go to reach home. This tells me I need lots of long slow distance work if I want to survive 10 miles at something like this pace.

I've a similar distance planned for a 6'30"/km run on Wednesday. Tuesday, I might do 5k with some intervals if I make it to the gym that evening.

Week (3) | Sessions | Distance | (Treadmill)
Mar 5th-11th | 1 | 10.31 km | 0.0 km

red face dave

Good stuff welcome to the team:D. We are a very friendly team over at DCM Class 2011 thread.

Its great each week we get new training schedule. Hopefully it will bring some of us to the marathon in October

scriba

Wed 7/3/2012

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8.28km in 45'40", 5'31"/km (climb of 57 m involved).

After Monday's dose of realism, I decided to follow Ecoli's schedule for the week on the DCM class of 2011 thread, albeit juggling the order to fit my own life schedule.

ecoli wrote: »

|Mon|Tue|Wed|Thur|Fri|Sat|Sun|
|Rest|4m|1 mile easy, 6x600m (.37 on Garmin) @ 10k pace with 2 min recovery between reps , 1 mile easy|4m|rest|1mile easy, 8x1 min hills 1 mile easy|90 min easy

The plan for today thus included 6x600 intervals at 10k pace. I was a little apprehensive about the intervals, since I haven't done them before. But it went pretty well. I was hoping to manage 6 intervals at around 5'/km pace, which is my target pace for 10k. To recover from each interval, I jogged along somewhere between easy and recovery pace. Interval results:

|Interval|1|2|3|4|5|6|
|Pace/km|4'48"|4'32"|4'39"|4'35"|4'44"|4'32"

I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to do the six after completing the third interval, but a handy second wind carried me over. Very pleased with the work out, and I had just enough in the tank to run home at around 5'45"/km pace.

Week (3) | Sessions | Distance | (Treadmill)
Mar 5th-11th | 2 | 18.59 km | 0.0 km

Plan for the rest of the week, I have football tomorrow night, I'll do the 4 mile on Friday, the LSR on Saturday morning. I'm hopefully going hillwalking on Sunday, so I'll try do some hill repeats while on that!

Loving the running so far, only downside is that I don't seem to have shifted any weight since I started running. But on the plus side, I feel better, and I think I look better, so maybe it'll just take a little bit of time to kick in.

scriba

Hmm. Barely worth an update. Took a couple of knocks at football on Thursday night, leaving me with a sore right knee and dead leg symptoms on my left quad. Walking the 2k to work this morning was agony, but the more I moved it today, the looser it seemed to get. I decided not to run this evening, so the plan is to get up early tomorrow morning and do 12-13 km of an LSR, and hope that it holds up. At least that will get me to 32km/20 miles for the week, along with a hillwalk on Sunday. Stupid legs.

scriba

Sat 10/3/2012

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13.65km in 1:19:27, 5'49"/km (climb of 113m involved).

Did this a little quicker than I meant to, I think I need to do the longer runs with a partner, just to keep it at slower pace through conversation. No real problems though. My calf muscles didn't get stiff, for the first time ever, and my left quad eased up the more I ran. Knee felt fine also.

Got a hill walk tomorrow morning, at an as-yet undecided location. Should be good for strengthening the legs. I also calculated that I can make 1000 miles if I do between 38k and 40k a week for the rest of the year. I think I'll make that another goal. :pac:

For the week so far:

Week (3) | Sessions | Distance | (Treadmill)
Mar 5th-11th | 3 | 32.24 km | 0.0 km

scriba

Mon 12/3/2012

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5.65km in 28:14

My first early morning run in years, the goal was to run 5k at sub 5' pace, which was manageable. I must try get some food into me first next time, was tired, heavy legged and hungry for the last .65km. All in all though, I'm pleased. Good start to the week.

For the week so far:

Week (4) | Sessions | Distance | (Treadmill)
Mar 12th-18th | 1 | 5.65 km | 0.0 km

scriba

Wed 14/3/2012

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Tempo run 7.91km in 38:45 @ 4'54"/km

Program dictated a 40 min tempo run, which I planned originally to do this morning. However, late nights and encroaching deadlines meant my willpower was hovering around zero when my alarm went off, so I had to reschedule for lunchtime. Every cloud has a silver lining though, and at least I was able to eat before this, which helped.

I'm very pleased with these numbers, I'm definitely closing in on the ability to do a 50min 10k run, and the amount of air I'm getting into my lungs has definitely improved. My legs aren't feeling any pain, although I can definitely feel their tired protests on occasion. I feel they'll probably be my biggest obstacle when I eventually get to 'race'.

Tomorrow is football night, but I'll try get up and do the requested slow 6.5k tomorrow morning depending on how much midnight oil is wasted this evening. I've a 10k planned for Friday, and hoping to do 13-14k on Sunday. 5 sessions this week would be great (and required), but 4 wouldn't be a disaster.

For the week so far:

Week (4) | Sessions | Distance | (Treadmill)
Mar 12th-18th | 2 | 13.56 km | 0.0 km

scriba

Sun 18/3/2012

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LSR 16.04km in 1:46:25 @ 6'38"/km (climb 146m)

The only exercise I got between Wednesday and this morning was football on Thursday night. The plan was to fit in a 6.5k and a 10k on Friday and Saturday, but the combination of bad weather, real world demands, and my own laziness conspired to leave me with nothing done till this morning. Thankfully, it was a gorgeous morning, and I had a wonderful long run, the longest I've ever ran, and I could have kept going forever(-ish).

So another 3 session week, not a disaster, but I'd like to up it a little, 40k a week would be a nice target. This week's results.

Week (4) | Sessions | Distance | (Treadmill) | MTD | YTD
Mar 12th-18th | 3 | 29.6 km | 0.0 km | 69.33 km | 124.22 km

Next week's plan is an easy week in the schedule. 5k + strength on Monday, 6.5km on Tuesday, 7 x 800m intervals on Wednesday, 3.2km + strength on Thursday, 6.5km on Saturday, and 10k race on Sunday (I might do a decent pace 10k for this, rather than an actual race).

scriba

Tue 20/3/2012

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9.7 km in 52:10 @ avg 5'23"/km (climb 66m), including 7 x 800 intervals @ 5k pace.

I've recently managed sub 25' 5k in my tempo running, so I decided to aim for around 4'45" as a 5k pace. Adventurous, but I figured it would guarantee a good effort, while not be completely unattainable. I was worried about the 800m distance of the intervals as opposed to the 600m, but all in all, it was tough but good. I got a threatened stitch in my warm up run which I thought would scupper the entire thing, but thankfully it went away after the first interval and recovery. Recovery consisted of slow jogging for about 1'30" to 1'45".

|Interval|1|2|3|4|5|6|7
|Pace/km|4'34"|4'26"|4'40"|4'45"|4'43"|4'40"|4'43"

Head felt clear, calves felt fine, left hamstring protested a little, but no pain.

Week (5) | Sessions | Distance | MTD | YTD
Mar 19th-25th | 1 | 9.7 km | 79.03 km | 133.92 km

Plan for the rest of the week: 6.5km easy run tomorrow, 3.2km run with strength on Thursday (and football that night), 5km easy run on Friday, 5km easy run on Saturday with strength, and LSR on Sunday.

scriba

Wed 21/3/2012

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6.73 km in 47:14 @ avg 7'01"/km (climb 53m).

Tonight was really just about getting out there again, so I went out with a friend just starting out. Enjoyed being out in the fresh air and the chat. Pace obviously nothing to write home about, but then again, seeing that I wouldn't even have considered doing this a couple of months ago, I'll take it and be glad of it! After leaving my friend at hers, I did the last 0.6km @ 4'30 pace uphill, just to make the run a little more 'legit'.

Week (5) | Sessions | Distance | MTD | YTD
Mar 19th-25th | 2 | 16.43 km | 85.76 km | 140.65 km

Plan for the rest of the week: 3.2km run with strength on Thursday (and football that night), 5km easy run on Friday, 5km easy run on Saturday with strength, and LSR on Sunday.

scriba

Fri 23/3/2012

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6.44 km in 36:16 @ avg 5:38/km (climb 51m).

Played an hour of hectic six-a-side last night, so my legs were a little stiff and heavy, loosened up by this relatively short run. I'm still doing my 'easy' runs a bit too quick, but I'm pleased that I could at least keep this run consistent at this pace. Last 0.5km was a nice sapping rise up a hill to my house. More km in the bank. Job.

Still can't find time for strength training at the moment, but I'm hoping once I have passed my latest deadline with college, I can divvy up my time a bit better.

Week (5) | Sessions | Distance | MTD | YTD
Mar 19th-25th | 3 | 22.87 km | 92.2 km | 147.09 km

Plan for the rest of the week: 5km easy run on Saturday with strength, and LSR on Sunday.

scriba

Sun 25/3/2012

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17.41 km in 1:41:26 @ avg 5:50/km (climb 159m).

Another 10+ mile LSR.

I was feeling a little heavy legged on Saturday, and pressed for time from 'real-world issues', so I decided to rest up. A good decision as it turns out, felt refreshed and ready to run this morning. My usual running partner cried off with a sore knee, so that gave me an opportunity to run this at the quicker end of my McMillan-suggested-LSR pace (5'47-6'24).

The run itself was a good sweat-out, and it was good to get another run at this distance. It also showed me just how much work there is still to do if I want to be closer to a 1:20:00 - 1:30:00 10 mile time in mid-April. :P

The last couple of kms were tough, especially since there was some sapping elevation involved. But I needed to do 17km to hit 40km for the week. Huzzah!

Week (5) | Sessions | Distance | MTD | YTD
Mar 19th-25th | 4 | 40.28 km | 109.61 km | 164.5 km

scriba

Fri 30/3/2012

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8.03 km in 45:57 @ avg 5:43/km (climb 68m).

A very busy week, combined with extreme guilt at not fulfilling running obligations meant motivation was a real issue by the time Friday came along. Then once I threw my runners on and went out, I forgot all about it. Annoyed I didn't get out earlier in the week, but I've another 8-10k planned this evening, and an LSR for tomorrow, which should get my 'kilometreage' up to something like what I want. But I really wanted to hit 5 sessions this week. Fail. :mad:

Week (6) | Sessions | Distance | MTD | YTD
Mar 26th-Apr 1st | 1 | 8.03 km | 117.64 km | 172.53 km

scriba

Sat 30/3/2012

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8.65 km in 42:39 @ avg 4:56/km (climb 68m).

One of the runs I skipped earlier in the week was a 45 min tempo run, so it stood to reason that it had to be fit in sometime over the weekend. This was a good mixture of tough yet manageable, and there was a spell there over the third to sixth kilometres where I felt I could run at 4:50 pace forever. But all good things must come to an end (usually preceded by the advent of a long slow climb). Still, I'm very happy with this overall, although I honestly thought 2km in that I'd do well to keep that pace even for 20 mins. The individual km times for the first 8 km were, 4:52; 4:50; 4:42; 4:47; 4:47; 4:45; 4:58; 5:09

Week (6) | Sessions | WTD | MTD | YTD
Mar 26th-Apr 1st | 2 | 16.68 km | 126.29 km | 181.18 km

And that's it for March. 126.29km. If I want to reach 1,600km for the year, I need an average of 164km per month till the end of the year. That means 40k p/w, no exceptions. April's target is 165km for the month, along with a return to some strength training with my dumbbells.

scriba

Mon 2/3/2012

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8.02 km in 44:55 @ avg 5:36/km (climb 61m).

I was feeling a bit sore and stiff yesterday, along with being pressed for time, so I didn't complete last week with an LSR. But a new week (and month) brings a clean slate. Went out this evening looking to do 8k at 5:50 pace. Ran it slightly quicker, as I usually end up doing, but my body seems to be evening out at around 5:20-5:40 when I run, which at the very least is consistent.

Week (7) | Sessions | WTD | MTD | YTD
Apr 2nd - 8th | 1 | 8.02 km | 8.02 km | 189.2 km

My plan this week is:
Tue: 8 x 800 intervals tomorrow at 5k pace.
Wed: 10k
Thurs: (football)
Fri: Rest
Sat: 6.5k
Sun: 16k LSR

We'll see how it goes.

scriba

Tue 3/3/2012

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8.84 km in 52:17 @ avg 5:55/km (climb 70m).

Another easy-ish run, I'm really trying to keep my pace a bit slower. I've a long run arranged tomorrow with a friend, so I didn't fancy the intervals today. So I did Saturday's run today, and I'll do the intervals on Saturday.

Weighed in today, and my weight is finally beginning to move (in the right direction!), 195.2 lbs, nearly six pounds lost since I started this log. Huzzah! :P My target is a pound a week, so long may it continue (or at least for another 15-20 weeks at this rate!)

Week (7) | Sessions | WTD | MTD | YTD
Apr 2nd - 8th | 2 | 16.86 km | 16.86 km | 198.04 km

My plan for the rest of the week:

Wed: 10k+
Thurs: (football)
Fri: Rest
Sat: 8 x 800 intervals at 5k pace.
Sun: 16k LSR

scriba

Wed 4/3/2012

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16.04 km in 1:49:37

Another easy and slow run, this time an LSR with a friend. We originally intended 10-11k, but took a little detour to bring it up to 16k. Delighted to get more km down, and it felt good, conversation pace all the way. The sun was out in patches, and the North Wind only pierced occasionally. Very happy coming home after this!

Other good news, my coin jar has enough for a new pair of runners (with a little subsidising from my own wallet). Just in time, my old runners (which had only been used sparingly over the 7 years of their lifetime, until February this year) were surprisingly comfy and suited to my feet, with no pain whatsoever out of them, but they seem a little flat in the last week and a half. So gait analysis and shiny new shoes for the weekend.

Week (7) | Sessions | WTD | MTD | YTD
Apr 2nd - 8th | 3 | 32.9 km | 32.9 km | 214.08 km

My plan for the rest of the week:

Thurs: (football) [I'm going to take it very handy at this!]
Fri: Rest
Sat: 8 x 800 intervals at 5k pace.
Sun: 16k LSR

scriba

Sun 8/3/2012

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9.51 km in 1:03:06 @ 6:40/km

Another easy and slow run with a friend. Nice morning for it, and an opportunity to break in my new Asics GT 2170s, and Aldi-supplied running gear. Everything worked to purpose, and it felt very easy (which it was!)

Week (7) | Sessions | WTD | MTD | YTD
Apr 2nd - 8th | 4 | 42.41 km | 42.41 km | 223.59 km

Next week, I'm doing the 10 mile Great Island Race in Cobh on Sunday morning, so I'm going to follow the last week of Hal Higdon's intermediate plan (which I've been mostly following for the last five weeks). If I manage under 1:30 for that, I'll be very happy for my first race.

scriba

Wed 11/4/2012

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9.81 km in 55:09 incorporating 6km at tempo

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
4:57 | 4.58 | 5.04 | 4.59 | 4.55 | 4.53

This was really difficult. My breathing was heavy and I had to work way too hard. Much more difficult than my tempo run two weeks ago, which was for 45 mins at the same pace. On this showing, I definitely need to reconsider my approach for Sunday's 10 mile. Having said that, as I was completing the 6th km at tempo, my breathing was back online, but my legs were whingeing. I think I really need to look at my stretching, my warm up and my overall prep.

Week (8) | Sessions | WTD | MTD | YTD
Apr 9th - 15th | 1 | 9.81 km | 52.22 km | 233.40 km

My warm up for this was all over the place, I had a stitch, and I went out too quick. I could not settle on a pace at all. Things weren't helped by the fact that I decided on this tempo at the last minute - originally it was scheduled for tomorrow and I was going to do a slow 8k with a friend, who cancelled.

What's done is done. I'm going to do the first half of next week at 5.30/km, and then pick up for the end, towards a time of 1:2x.

scriba

^^^

Meh, add 'cheer up' to the above list of things to fix. It's only week 8, 8 full weeks since you staggered your way to 5k in the hope you could maybe do it a few times a week. Cop yourself on and enjoy it. And push it! :pac:

scriba

Fri 13/4/2012

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4.05 km in 22:30 @ 5:33/km

My running week schedule asked for a 2 mile easy run today, just to keep me ticking over, so I kept an eye on the variable conditions, and darted out during a clear spell. Motivation was helped somewhat by writer's block for the current PhD chapter. This was nice and easy, my breathing was controlled and my legs felt much lighter than Wednesday. After this, I'm a bit more confident of kicking on for Sunday. I think the target will be 1:25 for the 10 miles, anything under will be a bonus. Apart from that, I have everything set up including a cheerleader for the finish line! Roll on Sunday.

Week (8) | Sessions | WTD | MTD | YTD
Apr 9th - 15th | 2 | 13.86 km | 56.27 km | 237.45 km

scriba

Sun 13/4/2012

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Warm up run +
Great Island Run 10 miles in 81:58.7 seconds.

(Total 17.13km)

I honestly thought this was going to be a disaster, with a poor tempo run on Wednesday. I got up early, had some porridge and berries, and drank loads of water, before heading down to Cobh about an hour before the start time. Had my first experience of toilet queues, friendly locals with tasty cakes, and the general buzz of a community race event. The weather was gorgeous, and I got myself set up in no time. On advice from folks on the DCM continuation thread, I did some warm up running, which really helped, and I was all set. I decided in my head that I would keep things calm for the first four miles, and then try as hard as I could to get somewhere around 1:25, but the main thing was to beat 1:30. I positioned myself towards the rear of the throng, and waited for the whistle.

About a minute before hand, I suddenly needed to 'go'. 'Too late!', my brain cried, as everyone shuffled off in pursuit of the starting runners. The first four miles consisted of wistful glances at narrow country lanes and internal debates on the ethics of going in public. I held strong, and it went away by the fourth mile. By that stage, I had two draining hills to distract me. I finally settled into a rhythm, helped by some kindly positioned downward slopes, and by the time I hit 5 miles, I was feeling pretty good. The split time was 42 minutes and 7 seconds, so once I grasped the significance of that (that a 1:22 time was possible and all I had to do was run a time I had done a few times before), I started to work harder from mile 6 to mile 9. At this stage, I was running with the same people mile by mile, so I was able to concentrate on keeping up with them. The tenth mile, I would have given my left hand for a single haribo or jelly baby, but I had nothing, so I had to rely on stupid old willpower. Suddenly it was all over, I was holding a mars bar and a bottle of water, and it was like it never happened at all!

It was beautifully sunny, running by the water was fantastic, and we were well looked after by the locals. And it felt magnificent to finish!


Week (8) | Sessions | WTD | MTD | YTD
Apr 9th - 15th | 3 | 30.99 km | 73.4 km | 254.8 km

Younganne

Congrats and fantastic time.... great report, location of race sounds beautiful. Well Done!

scriba

Wed 25/4/2012

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Easy/Recovery paced run: 9.34km in 58:16.

My first run since the Great Island Run, some 10 days beforehand, due to a family bereavement up the country last week, which took 4 days out of my PhD writing time. All my spare time since was dedicated to catching up, while making it harder to go out each time. Throw in the rainy weather, and I was seriously unmotivated and stressed by yesterday. Somethingh had to give!

I ran this straight after my lunch, and had a permanent(if manageable) stitch throughout. It wasn't a particularly pleasureable run, akin to cycling a bike in top gear up a hill, but I knew it had to be done, and that things will improve from here on in. Plus, I got to test out my aldi rain running jacket, which worked out just fine.

Table skips to week 10, since week 9 has a grand total of zilch.

Week (10) | Sessions | WTD | MTD | YTD
Apr 23rd - 29th | 1 | 9.34 km | 82.74 km | 264.14 km

scriba

Sat 28/4/2012

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Easy Run incorporating some hills: 11.11km in 1:05:22 @ 5:53/km, climb 198

Nice morning in Cork and I felt like running somewhere new. I was also conscious of the need to do some hills in my runs, so I did this morning's run up the north side. Big testing hills and easy downhill recovery. Could have stayed out longer, but have an LSR tomorrow, so reigned it in. Nice morning, breathing easier, and my legs feel worked. After tomorrow, I'll be back in the groove (hopefully!)

Bandon Half is two weeks from today, so tomorrows LSR will be 12 miles, and 13 next week. Since I haven't done any half-specific training, the plan is just to run it at a decent speed and experience running that distance. I'm glad I didn't enter the Bay Run!


Week (10) | Sessions | WTD | MTD | YTD
Apr 23rd - 29th | 2 | 20.45 km | 93.85 km | 275.03 km

scriba

Sun 29/4/2012

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18.68km in 1:47:21 @ 5'45"/km

Happy with this, very comfortable, ran at the quicker limit of my McMillan-proposed LSR speed. Getting used to running in damper conditions too, which, judging by current evidence, may be here to stay for the summer.

Week (10) | Sessions | WTD | MTD | YTD
Apr 23rd - 29th | 3 | 39.13 km | 112.53 km | 293.71 km

End of the month time, only managed 10 runs out of 30 available days, which is still less than what I want. The goal for May is hit at least 16 days. Next running day will be tomorrow morning, an easy 8k.

scriba

Sat 5/5/2012

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8.57km in 45:16 @ 5'17"km

This was grand, stuck a few 4:15-4:25 1km intervals in here to get the blood pumping. I've missed getting out running, under the cosh a bit, which is getting in the way. But I must make time.

Week (11) | Sessions | WTD | MTD | YTD
Apr 30th - May 6th | 1 | 8.57 km | 8.57km | 302.28 km

scriba

Sun 6/5/2012

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16.67km in 1:38:41 @ 5:55/km, 140m climb

This was lovely until the thirteenth kilometre, where I lost all energy. I went out on an empty stomach and a glass of water, which no doubt contributed. The plan was to do 20km, with the half marathon next Saturday, but this was still useful. More miles, some of them good.

Week (11) | Sessions | WTD | MTD | YTD
Apr 30th - May 6th | 2 | 16.67 km | 16.67 km | 318.95 km

Very light week next week, following Hal Higdon's Intermediate Half:
Tue: 6.5km
Wed: 30 min tempo
Thurs: 3.2km
Fri: rest
Sat: Half Marathon

Slightly worried that I've never ran this distance before, but hopefully I'll have enough to get by. The aim is to get in under 1:50, which means sub 8:25 miles. Should be manageable, although the last mile and a half will be unknown territory! Looking forward to it!

scriba

Wed 9/5/2012

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1.51km warm up, followed by 6.34 km in 30:06 @ 4.45/km

Appalling weather, but this was a really good tempo run. Felt very strong, and the thinking was to give the body a bit of a jolt before the race on Saturday. Breathing and control was good, and I'm much more confident of maintaining around 5:10/km for a sub 1:50 half on Saturday.

However, I'm going to have to take every precaution in protecting my nipples. Two owies.

Week (12) | Sessions | WTD | MTD | YTD
May 7th - 13th | 1 | 7.85 km | 33.09 km | 326.8 km

Maybe a light couple of miles on Thursday, but otherwise ready for Saturday morning.

red face dave

Good stuff Scriba. Best of luck you will smash it

scriba

red face dave wrote: »

Good stuff Scriba. Best of luck you will smash it

Ha, thanks Dave. The best part about running a new distance is I could be dragged across the finish line dead by sherpas, and still pb. Hopefully I enjoy it. If so, I'll try do a few over the 'summer' months, regardless of training for a marathon.

red face dave

I like running half marathons its a distance that you can enjoy. 13 miles is far but you should be able to enjoy it. The best thing about the marathon training is that especially up until mid September all your LSR are in or around 13 miles so plenty of opportunities to do half marathons.

scriba

red face dave wrote: »

I like running half marathons its a distance that you can enjoy. 13 miles is far but you should be able to enjoy it. The best thing about the marathon training is that especially up until mid September all your LSR are in or around 13 miles so plenty of opportunities to do half marathons.

Well that's the plan. I think I will really like the sub 2 hour nature of them (touch wood) also. I'm in two minds whether to commit to a marathon this year, since it coincides with a remarkably busy period of my life - but there's no harm in training for one anyway, and fitting a load of halves in!

scriba

Gnngh! Felt a slight twinge in my right hamstring towards the end of tonight's game of five-o-side, hope it's gone for Saturday!

It's just a really minor twinge, that would normally be gone in 1-3 days. Hopefully lots of frequent gentle stretching should see me right.

Otherwise a long distance to do one-legged.

Younganne

And if the marathon doesn't suit you could always go for teh Athlone 3/4:D

scriba

Younganne wrote: »

And if the marathon doesn't suit you could always go for teh Athlone 3/4:D

Ha! Sure I'll fool myself into ever-increasing distances, it's worked so far!

scriba

Sat 12/5/2012

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1.6km warm up, followed by Bandon HM in 1:49:01 official time.

(Warning: report may involve use of mileage rather than km, I knew I wouldn't be able to handle the mental arithmetic gymnastics converting one to the other after half way through the race - normal coverage resumes next run )

The weather has been shocking in Cork since God knows when, but I was greeted at 6.30am by the sun streaming in through the blind this morning. Helped with the hopping out of bed, and the general clumsy dressing that usually accompanies any of my early morning activities. Got some porridge, berries, banana and water in me, and headed down to Bandon. Being particularly noobish, I was ridiculously early, but it allowed me relax and think about what sort of pace I wanted to do. Plus the start time wasn't long coming. Did my 1 mile warm up, fumbled with safety pins, and made my way to the line. Chatted to a couple of familiar faces, and compiled an image (almost completely incorrect) of what the course would be like ("grand, no big hills, like!").

Started off the first 4.5 miles fairly comfortable, at a pace of about 8:05/mile. Got more difficult in the middle section, I even got a stitch on a long hill around mile 7 marker which took a few minutes to shake off. I found the course challenging, every time I crested a hill and went downhill, I thought that was it, but there always seemed another hill in reserve! There was a lovely fast downhill around mile 11 which I thought was the end of them, but another long one came up, which nearly killed me. I felt like hailing a cab! I was running a bit slow at that point, so I had to put in two near 8 min miles to come in at my target. Which was sub 1:50.

The end involved a crazy sprint race with another guy who thundered up behind me out of nowhere. I was matching him stride for stride, but then there was a steward in the way, trying to point me onto the first mat. I hadn't a clue what was going on, went around him, then went back to hit the mat, then went on towards the line (again, noobish behaviour!). I lost, but it was fun! And the sprint finish certainly helped with the time!

On the race itself, while I'm not qualified to comment on how quick a route would be, I've a feeling Bandon might not be a place for hunting PBs. Having said that, it was well organised, with lots of locals manning water tables (a mix of cups, and little bottles). Stewards were good craic too. Tea and sandwiches were great at the end, as were the oranges. Everyone was friendly, and the parking seemed well organised. I'll definitely be back next year, hopefully with a stronger base to deal with its particular challenges!

Week (12) | Sessions | WTD | MTD | YTD
May 7th - 13th | 2 | 30.54 km | 55.78 km | 349.49 km

red face dave

Well done Scriba great running and great report. Flatter course you probably could have knocked off another 1 or 2 minutes.

scriba

red face dave wrote: »

Well done Scriba great running and great report. Flatter course you probably could have knocked off another 1 or 2 minutes.

Thanks Dave, I'm very pleased, I don't think I had much left to give come the finish, which is all I can ask. The two races I've done so far have gone as well as I could have hoped, it can't possibly last!