It's now fun to run

dazza21ie

Okay so have been gearing up towards DCM 2012 since the start of the year. Have already posted and am following religously the mentored novices. Gonna keep a seperate log to track progress in training and other races that tickle my fancy.

Background
Have always been naturally unfit! Very much a sport fanatic but never really matched it with effort or fitness. Took up leisurely running in college for a couple of years and managed to lose around 5 stone in weight. However a change in locations, loss of easy running routes along footpaths and the running stopped altogether.

Fast forward to last year. I decided that I was going to get back running a for a challenge decided I would do the DCM 2011 before even taking to the roads. At that stage all the weight had piled back on. Training was hillariously bad with runs never really going beyound 40 mins and no real schedule, timing or measure of what was being done. If I could go back in time I would just tell myself to log into boards and see what is actually involved. Had I posted this time last year I would no doubt have been told that i was mad. Anyway as the marathon approached I decided to do some research and it dawned on me that I hadn't done anything close to proper training. A new plan was devised I would run as far as I could and then try and carry on running and walking in intervals.

DCM 2011 was actually my first organised road race. Might as well start at the top! I managed to get around in 6:14:03. It didn't take too long after the whole thing was over for me to want to do it right and give it a proper go. Didn't get straight back into training as I had a few war wounds from my marathon debut and then the weather didn't seem to appealing.

So got back out onto the road last January and started to build things up slowly from their. Took part in a couple of local 5k & 10 road races along the way. So far have managed 285 miles this year. PB for 5K stands at 26:21 and 10k 58:03. Weekly mileage has been building up slowly as far as 25 miles per week. Training had been Monday to Friday with runs early in the morning. However I plan to follow the HH Novice 2 plan so this Saturday morning will be the first weekend LSR. Plan to take up week 1 of the plan from next week so as to have a few spare weeks in the bank. I know of two potential weekends in august which might conflict with running.

Goals

My goal for DCM 2012 is a sub 4:15 and ideally a sub 4:14:03 which would give a 2 hour PB.

Outside of that I would like to get my 5k time under 25 mins, 10k time is quite soft too and if i can find a local race would like to get a sub 55 mins.

Weight now stands at 15 stone even. Thats is a loss of 1 1/2 stone since January. I would hope with increased training between now and October that I would have a DCM racing weight starting with a 13..

Wed 6/6/2012

After an extended long weekend this morning was the first run of the week. Done 5 miles at a comfortable 10:16/mil pace. Same again planned for tomorrow.

dazza21ie

Thursday 7th June

5.06 miles this morning at 9:37mins/mile pace. Pacing was quite uneven and hadn't really planned to go out so quick. Something that I am going to have to work on over the summer.
Plan for tomorrow morning is a easy 3 mile run ahead of LSR on Saturday.

dazza21ie

Friday 8th June

3.05 miles at 10:48 mins/mile and I got absolutely soaked! Glad it was only a short run planned today. Hope it lets up a bit tomorrow morning for LSR.

dazza21ie

Saturday 9th June

Plan starting out this morning was a 10 mile LSR. When I was heading out it was wet and windy and didn't feel too warm so I put on my light running jacket. Was glad of the extra layer for the first two miles but was looking forward to dumping the jacket after that. Run planned was two loops of a 5 mile circuit that I had done a few times now.

First 5 miles went by very smoothly and dumped the jacket over the wall when passing our estate. Had done another half a mile before I noticed a large patched of red staining on my white tee shirt over my right moob. It looked like I had been shot! A quick peek under the t-shirt revealed the dreaded bleeding nipple that I had seen warnings for on boards. The annoying thing was that I had put body glide on them before going out. Obviously not enough!

At first I thought the damage was already done and I carried on. However, unlike my first lap around when I had meet nobody, there were people starting to appear and this made me much more uncomfortable. I decided to change plan and done a shorter second loop of two miles given me a total of 7 miles at 10:48 mins/mile pace.

Thats a total of 20 miles this week. Next week starting week 1 of Hal's Novice 2 plan.

Must look for some nipple guards now!

dazza21ie

Tuesday 12th June

3 Mile run as per plan today. Went out aiming to pace my first two miles in 9:5x mins/mile and then do the usual pick up for last mile home. First Mile was a 9:48 and second one 9:49 so quite consistent. Last mile was a breezy (for me!) 8:47.

Total was 3:06 miles @ 9:26 mins pace

5 Mile MP run tomorrow

dazza21ie

Wednesday 13th June

5 Mile Run at MP this morning. Goal MP is 9:44 so target this morning to keep pace somewhere between 9:3x and 9:4x with the usual pick up in pace for last mile if it was there.

Splits were:
Mile 1 @ 9:40
Mile 2 @ 9:47
Mile 3 @ 9:27
Mile 4 @ 9:32
Mile 5 @ 8:44

Total was 5:05 miles in 47:31 @ 9:25 pace. Overall an enjoyable run, happy enough with pacing. Obviously its a work in progress. 3 Mile Run tomorrow is the plan.

dazza21ie

Thursday 14th June

3.05 Mile Run @ 10:06/mile. Just took things nice and easy this morning after the last two days. A welcomed lie in tomorrow before 8 Mile LSR on Saturday.

dazza21ie

Saturday 16th June

8 Mile LSR this morning. It was wet and windy but I didn't bother with the jacket this week after the bloodbath last weekend! Aim was to pace around 10:30/mile for first 6 miles and pick up nearer MP for the last two. 8 miles @ 10:15/mile was the final reading.

That's 19.16 miles for the week and week 1 of the program done.

dazza21ie

Tuesday 19th June

Start of Week 2, with a 3 mile run. Totals were 3.05 miles @ 10:03/mile. Was quite cold out this morning, took a while to get warmed up. Must be a good thing that 3 mile runs now seem too short.

dazza21ie

Wednesday 20th June

Another cold and foggy this morning when I headed out. It brightened up as I went on. Plan was for a 5 mile run so I decided on the route that is 5 miles long as opposed to a couple of loops. Only down side to my 5 mile route is the b"""h of a hill that lasts for half of the second mile. However once you get to the top of that hill the rest of the run seems quite easy.

End result was 5 miles @ 10:08/mile which felt easy pacing.

dazza21ie

Thursday 21st June

Felt like I had two lead legs starting off this morning. Took the first mile before I could loosen up a bit. Was able to pick up for the second mile and again for the last.

3:05 miles in 28:29 minutes @ 9:20/mile. Actually a personal PB over the route used this morning which is pleasing given the first mile was a 10:22 mins (and the only mile without any hills).

dazza21ie

Saturday 23rd June

Twas nice and dry this morning as I headed out for my LSR. Plan said I had a 9 Mile run to do. Problem was I hadn't any routes in my head that added up to 9 miles. I head off on my now usual 5 mile route with it in mind that I could think of how to add to it when I came back around.

First 5 miles went by quite easily. Plan was to run at a 10:30 mins/mile pace but was slightly ahead of that most of the time. When I came back around I decided to do another loop of the same route, an extra mile would do no harm. The only thing was the hill that I mentioned previously which is quite steep. It was the first time that I was trying to do it twice. The mistake that I made was I attacked the initial climb a bit too fast and paid for that for the gradual climb that lasted another half a mile.

I picked up the pace for mile 9 and again for mile 10 and it felt good being able to push a little despite having a few miles already in the legs.

Final reading was 10.12 miles in 1:42:46 @ 10:09/mile. And thats 21.22 miles for the week.

dazza21ie

Tuesday 26th June

3.06 miles in 26:40 mins @ 8:43/mile

Plan for today was a 3 Mile Run. Was testing out new runners for the first time. First mile took it easy enough to warm up, picked it up for the second mile and wasn't too hard to keep the pace up and then kicked a bit more for the last mile. Another course record and nearly two minutes quicker than last weeks previous best. Clearly the longer runs are having a benefit already as it doesn't seem too long ago for me that I really struggled to break 29 mins over this route.

The pace obviously is too quick for overall marathon training given a target of sub 4hrs 15. However I have entered in a 10k for Saturday week so I was using the run to see how I could hold the pace. At the moment plan for 10k would be to aim sub 55. Would love to give a sub 50 a crack but think I am just a bit too far away from that. Somewhere in the middle would be nice.

Plan tomorrow is a 5 miler at MP. Should feel like an easy run now.

dazza21ie

Wednesday 27th June

5.03 miles in 48:38 @ 9.40 mins/mile

Plan provided for a 5 mile run at MP. Just took off and done my now usual 5 mile route. Only worry was keeping close to MP for the climb in mile 2. Took a bit of extra effort but kept the pace close to MP safe in the knowledge that Mile 3 was mainly downhill so any lost time would be easily made up without any extra effort.

For some reason the run didn't feel easy comfortable today. Probably a combination of factors, the faster run yesterday, it was quite warm this morning and I didn't drink the usual amount of water yesterday either. The extra effort over mile 2 probably took a bit more than expected also.

In any event the aim heading off was to keep the pace between 9:3x and 9:4x and that was successfully achieved.

dazza21ie

Thursday 28th June

3.04 Miles in 30:59 mins @ 10:11 mins/mile

Took it nice and easy this morning in the pouring rain. I guess that is the benefit of a scheduled training plan. In the past I would have looked out the door and went back to bed!! Now I would feel far too guilty for missing a run and just see it as wet weather training.

dazza21ie

Saturday 30th June

11:07 Miles in 1:52:21 @ 10:09 mins/mile

Switched around this week's LSR with next week's planned run as I plan to be doing a 10k race next week instead.

Was a nice and dry this morning heading out although that didn't last too long. Don't really mind rain too much when out running its just not nice to look at before you head out. As 11 miles was on the menu I decided to extend my 5 mile route which basically meant adding 6 miles after the usual first 3 miles. Overall it felt pretty good the whole way through. Was able to pick up the pace for the last 3 miles without having to work that much harder, legs were actually wanting to stride it out a bit more.

22.20 miles for the week.

dazza21ie

Tuesday 3rd Jule

3.06 Miles in 29:26 mins @ 9:37 mins/mile

A nice easy run this morning to start another week. 3 mile runs all seem the same now have done so many this year.

dazza21ie

Wednesday 4th July

7:08 Miles in 1:08:23 @ 9:39 mins/mile

Plan for this morning was a 6 mile run at MP. At the begining of the second mile I came to a junction where I would normally go left but always was curious of the route if i carried straight on. I wasn't overly familiar with it but knew it would lead back onto my usual route. I just didn't know how long it would take. I took the plunge this morning for some reason. The road just seemed to go up and up and up. The only good thing in my head about the constant climb was the knowledge what goes up must come down. When the down hill stretch came it was more than welcomed. My detour added an extra two miles to my usual 5 mile route. So I ended up doing a mile extra. A nice easy run tomorrow I think.

dazza21ie

Thursday 5th July
3.07 miles in 33:55 mins @ 11:03 mins/mile

Made myself do this one at a slow pace as first two runs this week were both below marathon pace and had 10k race to come on Saturday.

Saturday 7th July - Strabane 10K

A localish race and probably the last chance to do a 10k this year so I signed up. A PB of course was a target but felt that the PB of 58:03 was a bit softish anyway. Primary target therefore was to get under 55 mins. Have been feeling quite good in runs over last few weeks and had it in the back of my head that it would be nice to have a crack at a sub 50. The rational side of my brain was saying that I just wasn't ready for that.

Took a longer route down to the start line as a warm up. It wasn't a massive crowd for a race in this area. Results say just over 300 runners finishing. So when the the gun went off there wasn't a problem getting away at your own pace. If anything ardrenaline kick in and I went off too quickly. I had set my garmin to alert me when I went over 9:00 mins pace, didn't think it was necessary to set one to slow me down! At the start I was just concentrating on getting into my stride. I then realised that my pace was staying under 8:00 mins/mile, ideal for a sub 50 attempt! Once the thought got into my head it was hard to get it out. First mile was done in 8:04 which was close to a sub 50k pace. Kept it up for the second mile which came in at same pace. Reality however started to set in and the pace was taking its toll. Third mile was 8:29 which is probably the pace I should have started with.

The wind was quickly taken out of my sails after the 3 mile mark as a few steep climbs took their toll. I reckoned had I not gone out as hard the hills would have been manageable.Twice i ended up walking which really annoyed me. The sub 50 thoughts had quickly left my head. My main concern was now whether I would even get under 55 mins. Mile 4 came in at 9:37 and the pace didn't improve for mile 5 which was done in 9:42. Thoughts started to come into my head that I wouldn't even manage a PB. I think this spurned me on and the pace picked up again and I managed to keep it going to the end.

End result a new PB with offical time in 54:13 mins. Nearly a four minute PB so can't complain too much with that. And that's one of the goals from the start of this log of the list.

Looking at my times I have realised that I have most likely set a new 5K PB from the first 5k of the race. A sub 25 over that distance should be very much achievable whenever I give it a go next.

dazza21ie

Tuesday 10th July

3:08 miles in 31:29 mins @ 10:13/mile

First time out this week after saturday's race. Not much to report after another easy 3 mile run.

dazza21ie

Wednesday 11th July

7.04 miles in 1:10:58 @ 10:07 mins /mile

The plan for today's run was only for a 6 mile run. However, with the likelihood that I may not get out for a run tomorrow I decided to simply do the same route as last Wednesday's run albeit not at marathon pace. It was a pleasant morning for running, dry but not too warm. Unlike last week I am now a bit more familiar with the route so I was able to relax much more and take in the scenery without being worried about getting lost! The climb between miles 2 and 3 still took their toll but I reckon they will be of benefit in the long run.

Hoping my plans change a bit tomorrow to allow me to get out for a run because it is a bit annoying miss one now!

dazza21ie

Saturday 14th June

13.10 miles in 2:16:09 @ 10:24 mins/mile

Didn't make it out on Thursday so was determined to make it out for this one. Work meant a couple of long days Thursday and Friday so it could have been for easy to just have a sleep in on Saturday morning. Once up the main concern was the lack of hydration for the day and evening before. My planned route was one long loop so it didn't help for leaving a bottle of water out. I toyed with the idea of carrying water with me but as I hadn't anything planned and had managed ok on the last LSR I decided to just carry on without it.

Although the plan provided for 12 miles I settled on a route that was going to be 13 miles. Didn't think the extra mile would make too much of a difference. It was a very pleasant morning for a run, dry with a nice breeze. First bit of effort came in miles 2 and 3 with a steady climb. Miles 4 & 5 were quite easy with long downhill streches. Miles 6-8 had a number of small climbs but they were all very comfortable. Hardest thing was keeping pace even as alot of this part was under tree cover and as I have learned my Garmin goes a bit haywire when under trees.

Start of Mile 9 was the turn onto a main road and start of loop back home. Most of the run before this was on quiet country roads. Like the last time I done this stretch it took my legs a little while to get used to running on the main road. It just seems to be that bit harder under foot. After getting over this the next 3 miles were fine. At the start of mile 12 I felt like I was struggling a bit. Not sure was it because of the distance, hydration, tiredness starting out or a combination of them all. At one stage I briefly slowed to a walk but just as I done this two lads went running past so I picked it up again. I took it easy for the 13th mile which took me back to our estate. Once the 13 came up on the Garmin I kept going just to get that extra .10 up so I could say I covered a half marathon distance!

My 1st half of DCM 2011 took 2 hrs and 47 mins so I have technically managed a 31 mins PB.

Lessons learned after this LSR is that must ensure I get plenty of water to drink the day before and organise either water to carry or pick up during run.

dazza21ie

Tuesday 17th July

3.07 mile in 33:49 mins at 11:01 mins/mile

Headed off trying to keep the pace for this one very easy. It wasn't really a problem for a change to keep it slow. Legs decided that they would set the pace. It was a very warm morning and maybe some of the effects of Saturdays LSR were still being felt. Was glad to get this one over.

Wednesday 18th July

6.27 miles in 1:00:47 at 9:41 mins/mile

Plan provided for a 6 mile run at MP. Took it easy for the first mile which came in just over MP. Second mile really warmed the legs up with a couple of climbs. Got some of the time back in the third mile which was mostly downhill, kept the pace just under MP for the last 3 miles. Had an extra quarter mile at the end to take me home. Overall legs felt much better than on Tuesday and the run was much more comfortable and enjoyable.

Thursday 19th July

3.06 miles in 31:43 mins @ 10:21 mins/mile

An easy 3 mile run that did feel easy. Despite the quicker pace than Tuesdays run it took much less effort to get around this morning. Have done more 3 mile runs than any other distance this year. Interestingly that is the last one on the HHN2 Plan until the second last week.

Have finally got around to registering for the DCM 2012. Entered for the Sligo half too which is on the 15th of September. Have also pencilled in a 5k run and another 10k over the next few weeks to have some short term targets to look forward too.

dazza21ie

Saturday 21st July

9.05 miles in 1:36:21 @ 10:38 mins/mile

Its funny that 9 miles doesn't seem daunting anymore when you have already done a 13 mile run and are due to do 14 and 15 miles over the next two weeks. It was a lovely morning for a run this morning. The main focus heading off was to keep the pace easy. I was aiming to keep the miles close to 10:4x. And I managed to keep six of the nine miles at or above this pace. The 3 offenders were miles 3, 6, and 9. Mile 3 was mainly downhill, mile 9 was obviously the last one and a little pick up here was acceptable. I remember mile 6 where I was plodding along getting into a comfortable grove and lost concentration on pace. Managed to ease off and in the end it wasnt too far off the goal pace.

Overall it was a comfortable and enjoyable run and nice week. Bit of a jump in mileage due this week to look forward to.

dazza21ie

Tuesday 24th July

4.16 miles in 43:19 mins @ 10:24 mins/mile

Shorter runs are now up to 4 miles. The only difficuty this morning was deciding which route to do as I don't really have a 4 mile route. Decided to do two loops of 2 miles(ish). Route was pretty flat and I just took it easy for about 3.75 miles before going through the gears to just have the feel of running at various paces.

dazza21ie

Wednesday 25th

7.02 miles in 1:06:54 @ 10:32 mins/mile

Nice run this morning. Hardest part was getting off at MP and keeping as close to that as possible for miles 2 and 3 which had the usual climb. Once through that it was pretty much plain sailing. Still haven't learned the lesson to ignore garmin when running under tree cover. Sends the pace haywire and usually means I end up running at least a minute pace quicker than planned.

dazza21ie

Thursday 26th July

4.18 miles in 43:43 mins @ 10:27 mins/mile

Another nice morning for a run. Done the same route as Tuesday. Pacing was quite steady and was controlled by effort more than anything else. A day off tomorrow before 14 mile LSR on Saturday.

dazza21ie

Saturday 28th July

14 miles in 2:27:21 @ 10:32 mins/mile

Start off run this morning it was nice, dry and cool. Took a bottle of water with me after the problems two weeks ago. After about 10 secs I knew it wasn't going to work carrying it so put it down somewhere to pick up later in the run. Decided to split my run into 3 loops, 7 miles, 2 miles and 5 miles. So each time coming back to the start I could take some water on board. First 7 miles went by quite easily, an occassional light drizzle that was more refreshing than annoying. The skies opened up during mile 9 which didn't make the next 5 miles too appealing but it quickly passed. Was able to carry the water from 9 onwards as it had been lightened at this stage. A little extra effort was needed for mile 11 with a short climb but once over that it was quite comfortable to the end. A small pick up in pace for the last two miles was an added bonus.

Longest run to date and hightest weekly mileage at 29.36 miles for the week.

dazza21ie

Monday 30th July

4.16 miles in 44:51 mins @ 10:46 mins/mile

Out on a Monday morning for a change. Away for the coming weekend so going to fit in LSR on Friday morning. So pushed midweek runs back by a day. And have a 5k race planned for tomorrow evening so made sure to take this mornings run quite easy. Done the first three miles very slow and the fourth one just slow.

Looking forwad to the 5k tomorrow evening. Don't really know where I am at for the distance. My last 5k race time was 27:05 but that was back at the end of March. I have since done a timetrial over the same course which was 26:21 but again that was at the end of May. I am pretty confident that I went quicker than that time for the first 5K of my most recent 10k race but don't have a proper split. My target at the start of this log was for sub 25 mins. Feel though that I probably could do a bit better than that if i give it a good go. Plan at the moment would be to go out for the first mile at around 8 mins pace and then see is there a pick up there for next two and a bit.

dazza21ie

Tuesday 31st July

Dungloe 5K

Nearly missed this race by forgetting my running gear when heading off to work. It popped into my head as I was driving away so a quick u-turn solved that. The rest of the day it was the weather that was being watched. It just kept coming down all day. I was never going to pull out because of the weather though. If I did I would still have to do a run when I got home.

The weather didn't make me too eager to get up to the start point too early. I should have been a little more punctual. By the time I got up, parked and registered I had only a few minutes for a warm up. I really should have just left the car at the office and jogged up as it would have been a decent warm up.

After my short warm up we were away. There were just over 200 doing the race. Not a bad crowd for a wet and windy Tuesday evening in west Donegal. I was at the back of the crowd and didn't have too much difficulty in making a way through. The early pace heading off was very quick which was a help for everyone getting away. Shortly after the start we headed down the main street which was a short downhill before we started to climb up before turning off and heading out from the town. I didn't know the route but once we had taken a couple of turns I had a fair idea of where we were heading. I kept the quick starting pace up and altough my garmin recorded my splits in miles I check my watch going through the 1k mark and it was showing 4:30ish. The rain was still coming down but it wasn't really bothering me. It was the surface water that caused the most difficulty, sometimes you just had to splash through the puddles. I didn't even mind this it was the splash those running beside me that I felt guilty about

2nd K had a bit of a climb before flattening out. At this stage we were heading further away from the hotel and towards back roads. I tried to get into a comfortable stride pattern. The crowd had strung out quite a bit and I started to pace myself off a girl in front while keeping an occasional eye on the garmin. It was more a pace by effort. My first mile split was 7:33 which was a bit quicker than I had expected to go out. I would be lying if I said I didnt feel the effort being put in. I knew that it was going to be hard work keeping it going. I went through the 2k mark in around 9:30 and at that stage knew that there was a decent time on if I could keep it going.

Mile two really was a case of just keeping it going. The split was 8:20 which was a little disappointing given the good start made. At this stage I would have settled for anything under 25 mins or a PB of any kind for that matter. However as I got closer to the finish I found a bit more. As we came near the 4k mark there were 3 girls lined out in front of me. I think each of them had passed me over the last couple of k but hadn't pulled too far away. I managed to get the stride going again and made up ground on them on a sharp downhill before a similar climb. I got by the first two easily enough and was now chasing the last one. We were still on a bit of an ascent going around a right hand bend. I was on the outside and starting a overtaking push but the seen a car come in the opposite direction that didn't make any effort to move out of our way so I had to check my run and let it past. Once around the corner I made my way past her. But I couldn't kick on and the route meant we had to cross to the other side of the road and I then see her overtaking me on the inside, she was running on the footpath and got ahead of me quickly. I try to respond but we come over the brow of a small hill and I get hit by a strong head wind that just throws me off for a short bit. She quickly gets away from me and I start to just concentrate on getting to the finish line. I pass the start line again this time with only 500 metres to go. I try to push on as much as I can. Like the start of the race we had a short downhill before a climb. This time the finish was a little bit more up the climb. I got a little distracted on the way down as I couldn't see a definite finish line. As i was looking ahead I hear a few cheers from the crowds gathered along the main st. and noticed a woman was passing me on my inside. I responded with a kick of my own and held her off to the line. If anything she done me a big favour. Split for the 3rd mile was 8:07 and my offical time was 24:26, a new PB!:)

Quite happy with the time, its nearly 2 minutes quicker than my previous best over the distance so cannot really complain about that.

Wednesday 1st August

7:01 miles @ 1:11:56 @ 10:15 mins/mile

Just wanted to have a nice easy run this morning after the race yesterday evening. Didn't turn out that way.

Got a new pair of runners on Monday and decided to use them for first time this morning. Very satisfied with them. Quite noticeable how much more comfort and support they were giving.

On the down side after about half a mile I started to feel a stitch and had to stop nd walk briefly to see would it ease off. I got through the first mile but it came on strong again. I had to slow to walking again early in the second mile before I could start a slow jog. At this stage I was wondering whether I should abort the run. But I was determine to get around one way or another. By the end of mile two it had gone away and I was back up to a reasonable pace. I didn't overly focus on my pace but more on the effort being used. Miles 4 and 5 were mostly downhill so the effort was minimal and no stitch issues. It came back on during mile 6 but at this stage I knew I was close to home and just kept going and it went away.

Glad to get this run over given the problems early one. Not sure what the cause was but hoping its not something that will reoccur to often.

dazza21ie

Friday 3rd August

15.20 Miles in 2:39:57 @ 10:31 mins/mile

My longest LSR to date. Started the run off early with a nice bit of sunshine. Took it easy for the first mile to warm up. Worked a little harder for next two miles to get over my usual climb. From there up to the 7 mile point it was very comfortable. Had left water out at the start to pick up after the first 7 miles. Decided to walk while I took a drink. My legs didn't like this idea. Once I set off again they felt like lead. Took the next two miles to feel comfortable again. After that the only mile that was in any way difficult was No. 12 which had a shorter climb on a bit more tired legs. Once over that it was quite comfortable although I could feel the mileage in the legs.

Need to remember in future to be careful what I eat the evening/night before a LSR. Had eaten some fresh cream birthday cake on Thursday night (went for seconds too!!) and got that urge to go to the toilet during LSR. Felt it first around mile 5 but luckily it went away and didn't come back to strong until I was finished.

Happy with the weeks work. Total mileage of 29.82 (nearly a 30 mile week!!) which is the highest to date, longest LRS of 15 miles and a new 5K PB too. A step back week ahead now.

dazza21ie

Tuesday 7th August

4.15 miles in 43.49 mins @ 10:33 mins/mile

A easy 4ish mile run this morning to start another week. Usual route, just eased my way into the run with a little pick up at the end.

dazza21ie

8th August

7.02 miles in 1 hr 6:32 mins @ 9.28 mins/mile

Another nice morning for a run. It was dry but not too warm. Plan called for a pace run this morning. Overall it felt quite comfortable with the only real extra effort need along the usual early climbs. After this it was real a cruise mode run. It was a case of keeping concentration right to keep the pace steady.

dazza21ie

Thursday 9th August

4.25 Miles in 42.47 mins @ 10:03 mins/mile

Took off at an easy pace for this one and tried to keep it that way by feel. Got a little quick for the last couple of miles without any increased effort.

Big milestone of the run was breaking 500 miles for the year.

dazza21ie

Saturday 11th August

13.1 miles in 2 hrs 15:19 mins @ 10:19 mins/mile

Decided to try a belt to carry water this morning to see if it would work. Took a while to get it to sit right before it felt comfortable. Once it was in the right position it didn't really bother me too much. Bar a couple of dropped bottles when taking them out (my butter fingers to blame!) it worked quite well. Definitely give it another go anyway.

The other thing that kept the mind occupied around was which route I was taking. I headed off my usual 7 mile route with a view of extended it at the end to get an extra mile in so I could do my usual 5 mile route then. However, when I got back to my start point I was around .25 of a mile down. I didn't want to be having to make up distance at the end of my run so I changed plan and done a made up route of 3.25 miles leaving a final lap of a 2 mile route. Doing the maths while running but it passed a bit of time.

Pacing was probably a little too quick in places. Average probably a bit off as have two miles which are mainly downhill. These are usually offset by slower uphill miles but managed to keep the pace on those miles today. Overall felt good throughout the run, much better when I last done the same distance. Although I wouldn't have said it when the alarm went off this morning was very thankful that I was getting my run finished early this morning as it was getting warmer and warmer near the end.

dazza21ie

Tuesday 14th August

4.26 miles in 46:13 mins @ 10:51 mins/mile

Kept it very easy this morning as due to holiday plans probably will have to do runs over 4 straight days due to holiday plans. Same holiday plans made me start the HHN2 Plan 2 weeks early. Now I had to figure out where to repeat weeks to fall back in line with the plan. Decided to repeat weeks eight and nine over this and next week.

dazza21ie

Wednesday 15th August

7.05 miles in 68:47 mins @ 9:45 mins/mile

Not really sure how to describe this run. It wasn't meant to be a pace run. In fact as I said yesterday I planned to take it easy this week as doing all runs over 4 days which will take its toll.

Took of at an easy pace for first mile (10:42). Second Mile was slightly slower but included usual climbs. Easy enough again for third mile and then 4 and 5 were mainly downhill so I let the legs open up for these. After that I should have forced myself to slow a bit but I got into a nice groove, it wasn't taking too much effort so I continued. So mile 6 was a minute quicker than the earlier miles. That was fine but then for some reason I allowed the legs to quicken a little bit more. First I was down to 9 minute pace which felt grand so said I would go with it to the end, next check and I was close to 8:30 pace and as the mile went on the pace seemed to keep increasing. In the end mile 7 was done in 8:24. What the point of going at that pace is I couldn't really say.

I guess what I did get from the run was that I am feeling quite good and despite the moments of madness really enjoyed the run which has to be a good sign. Had ear marked a 10k to do which is on next Friday, however over the last couple of weeks wasn't really bothered about doing it as didn't think it was going to serve any point in terms of marathon prep. However after the recent 5k PB my 10K PB looks quite softish and makes setting a half marathon goal time a bit harder. Will see what happens over next week.

dazza21ie

Thursday 16th August

4.25 miles in 45:54 minutes @ 10:47 mins/mile

Kept this one nice and slow with Fridays run in mind. A nice comfortable run.

Friday 17th August

13 miles in 2:15:22 @ 10:24 mins/mile

Had planned to do 15 miles for this run. However, the heavens opened during the night and I heard the rain pound the roof any time I woke up. So when the alarm went off I wasn't too keen on getting up as the rain was still falling quite heavily. Eventually I dragged myself up and got out. By the time I did get out it actually stopped raining and I ended up having a lovely morning for a run.

Going around I had to reset my target for the run and decided to do 13 miles this week and reschedule the 15 next week. After all these two weeks are repeat weeks so not really going off plan.

First mile was quite slow with legs feeling a wee bit heavy. But once they were warmed up by my usual hills they were fine and the pace picked up from then onwards. No real issues after that and was just glad to get this run done as it could so easily have been missed altogether.

Going to give next Friday's 10k a miss. Want to just get back into the proper routine again (no more 4 runs in 4 days!) and concentrate on the bigger picture at the end of October.

dazza21ie

Tuesday 21st August

4.26 miles in 42:24 mins @ 9:57 mins/mile

A nice and easy run to start another week. Hard to believe only 10 weeks training to do till DCM2012.

dazza21ie

Wednesday 22nd August

7.05 miles in 1:05:05 @ 9:14 mins/mile

Paced run this morning. It was raining when I headed out and just after the first mile mark the heavens really opened. My aim was to keep the pace at 9:30 mins/mile. First mile was bang on. Aim for miles 2 and 3 was to keep pace as close to target pace as possible without having to work too hard. Seem to be getting much better at tackling the hills as mile 2 was 9:45 so very little time lost on the climb. The same for the third mile which ends with a start of a decline so actually made up the time lost. Downhill for mile 4 and 5 and both were under 9 mins and cruised home for the last 2 miles.

While the overall average pace was quicker than the target it was due to not losing time as much as before on the climbs and gaining time on the declines. Run felt quite comfortable which I guess is the biggest measure.

dazza21ie

Thursday 23rd August

4.26 miles in 42:20 @ 9.56 mins/mile

Legs felt a bit heavy starting off and only really felt back to normal after 1 1/2 miles. Apart from that it was a comfortable run and managed to get back to the house before the heavy rain started to fall which was a bonus.

dazza21ie

Sunday 26th August

15.07 miles in 2:32:45 @ 10:08 mins/mile

Meant to do this run yesterday morning but a fight with an internet modem on Friday night (which I lost!) which delayed getting to bed and the main reason I reckon I slept in yesterday morning. Was quite annoyed about it but at least I had the fallback option of doing it today.

Made up my run of loops of 7, 3 and then 5 miles. Water pick up was after the first 7 and took a gel after 10 miles. A High 5 Isogel, berry flavour, was grand, no ill effects, cant say whether it made a huge difference but then did have two quick miles at the end.

Overall run felt quite comfortable. Really made progress over the last couple of months when dealing with hills. Able to keep the required pace up now. Does take that bit of extra effort. Makes a big difference with the average rates as I have always been making up time on the declines while still taking it easy. Felt a bit of a stitch coming on at the start of mile 13 but that passed as did a few twinges in the left leg.

30.64 miles for the week, a new PB as such.

dazza21ie

Tuesday 28th August

4.25 miles in 43:20 @ 10:12 mins/mile

Thought this run might be harder than it actually was as only had one day rest since LSR as opposed to the normal two. Kept it easy and felt pretty good. Now to get through an eight mile run tomorrow morning. Glad the plan doesn't have any longer mid week runs as time starting to become an issue!

dazza21ie

Wednesday 29th August

8.12 miles in 1:17:11 @ 9:30 mins/mile

This felt like quite a strange run. When I headed out it was still dark. That in itself doesn't bother me but it did affect keeping an eye on my pace as once I got out in the country side I couldn't make out much on my garmin. I knew it was going to be like this heading off after Saturday's run so spent the first mile trying to remember the feel of the effort required for my goal pace. Again I was trying to get around at 9:30 pace.

To add to that my legs felt a little heavier than the last few weeks. After my recent boasts about being able to tackle hills better I can say I felt it much more today. My pace dropped a little over these miles compared to last weeks pace run.

As I didn't have my garmin tell me how I was going every now and then the pace dropped. It was more a lapse of concentration than anything else.

Anyways as can be seen from the times the end result was a run done exactly at goal pace. Funny how times can be somewhat misleading!

dazza21ie

Thursday 30th August

4.25 miles in 42:17 mins @ 9:56 mins/mile

Another four mile run ticked off. Nothing out of the ordinary with this one.

dazza21ie

Saturday 1st September

17 miles in 2:55:34 @ 10:20 mins/mile

One more run done! Have had it in my head since the start of this week that this is when things are going to get tough with the LSR's creeping up to the 20 mark and weekly mileage going up too. Think I probably over thought it a bit.

The week past had gone very well so was looking forward (in a way) to this run to see how I would fair. Got everything ready and laid out last night before hitting the sack nice and early. Aim these days is to make sure to get the 7 hours that the body is used to before getting up for the run. However last night the plan went up in the air somewhat when our little princess woke from a nightmare and couldn't get back to sleep. Two hours later I was looking at my phone (everyone still awake) realising the alarm was going to go off in a few minutes. I bit the bullet and got up. Not sure when the little darling dozed off again after that. Will ask her when she wakes up!

Like last week and my midweek pace run it was pretty dark out when I got started. Had some light for the first mile with the street lighting but even this was a task to read the garmin with. It didn't really bother me too much for this run because I reckoned I would more than likely go too slow rather than too fast. Miles 2-5 were in mostly darkness. And looking at the splits now I can't really fault them. Aim was to keep pace between 10:20 & 10:30 miles.

As I came back into civilisation the sun rose and give me some lighting. My route was a loop of 7 miles, a loop of 3 miles and the 7 mile loop again. I picked my water bottle up after mile 7 and started sipping every mile. Had taken a gel with me but the plan was not to take it unless I felt I needed to. Felt pretty good when I got around to the 10 mile mark. Knew I had a bit of effort to put in for miles 12 & 13 which are the usual uphills that I do. Pace for these miles didn't drop but I did feel it a bit. Once over these two I had two downhill miles and a flat last two to stroll home. Felt pretty good throughout. Tired a little for the last two miles without any drop in the pace. A good one to have done.

33.62 miles for the week. Next week is the peak mileage under the plan. Looking forward to it!!

dazza21ie

4th September

5.04 miles in 49:51 @ 9:53 mins/mile

A little step up for these shorter runs this week. As it turns out much prefer doing 5 miles instead of 4 as I have a set 5 mile route whereas I do 2 two mile loops to make up 4 miles. Nice run this morning with no ill effects felt from Saturday.

dazza21ie

5th September

8.03 miles in 1:18:30 @ 9:46 mins/mile

This was planned to be easy and apart from 3 quicker middle miles (without downhill stretches) I was bang on target pace.

dazza21ie

6th September 2012

5 miles in 49:40 @ 9:56 mins/mile

A couple of heavy legs to start this run of with but after first two miles that went and was just another morning run. And after all my complaining of not being able to judge my pace will running in the dark I finally coped on how to use the backlight in my garmin .

dazza21ie

Saturday 8th September

18.01 miles in 3:02:25 @ 10:08 mins/mile

Felt a little off heading when headed out for this one. Not sure what it was but it quickly left after a a few minutes of running. The loose aim for pacing this run was to keep things between 10:20 and 10:30 pace. Plan was for 3 loops of 8, 3 and 7 miles to bring up the distance. I took two gels with me and decided to take them at miles 10 and 14. I reckon they gave me a bit of a boost as the last five miles were done at 10 min pace or quicker with no real increase in effort. The only mile that felt in anyway difficult was probably the last one and even that was just a case of get it done as opposed to be working too hard.

36.09 miles for the week which is the peak week for the HHN2 plan. Just a few more weeks of hard work left before taper begins!

dazza21ie

Tuesday 11th September

5 miles in 49:30 mins @ 9:54 mins/mile

It was pouring overnight but I thought I was lucky enough as it had stopped when I was heading out this morning. Good thing too as it was quite cold and it took the first two miles to warm up. I wasn't long warmed up when the heavens opened to cool me down again. Spent the last couple of miles trying my best not to run into the large puddles of water on the ground. Quite unsuccessfully I might add. So apart from the cold, rain and wet feet it was quite a comfy run!