It's now fun to run

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!

dazza21ie

Wednesday 12th September

8.26 miles in 1:22:47 @ 10:01 mins/mile

A bit of wet weather training this morning. It was absolutely pouring down when I got up and unfortunately there is nowhere to hide with this marathon training business. A morning like this this time last year I would just have rolled over in bed and give the (quite limited anyway) run a miss. I put on an extra layer and cap and braved it. Once out the rain didn't bother me. It was the surface water which was impossible to miss and the following squelchy feet. The plan for this week was for this run to be at MP but given that I am due to do the Sligo Half on Saturday I took the executive decision of just doing it easy. Considering how our weather has been all year I have done very well over the last few months not to have a complete washout of a run before now. Anyway its another one done and useful experience as no doubt the heavens will open at some stage for DCM in October.

dazza21ie

Thursday 13th September

5 miles in 49:20 mins @ 9:52 mins/mile

While there was a bit of light rain it was much better conditions than yesterday for this mornings run. Took off at quite handy pace for first two miles, picked it up a little for next two and then ran last one around HMP just for the feel.

So next run is the half in Sligo on Saturday morning. Plan of action is to head off at around 8:40 pace and hopefully hold that for the first half. Then work hard to get up "The Squirrel". Hopefully there will be some more left in the tank and plan would be to just kick on as much as possible. Very easy writing it here so lets see how it goes on Saturday.

dazza21ie

Saturday 15th September Sligo Half Marathon - Beat The Squirell

This was a race that has been in the diary for quite a while. Been a little nervous about it for last couple of weeks as felt it was an important one to access how training for the big one is going.

Day started off quite early as I had to pick up race number beforehand. The organisers had advised that pickup could be done between 7 and 8. I reckon they were still there at 9 when we headed off for the half. Anyway being the obident person that I am I was there at around ten past 7. It took all of one minute to do that so I had time to kill. At around quarter past 8 I started getting ready and headed up to do a warm up. Headed out the road for half a mile and back in. Quick toilet stop and then moved over to the track and done a few laps with a bit of stretching thrown in. Felt quite good and done last lap at around HMP.

There was a decent crowd there for this, the first running of this event. Results have under 200 finishing but I would have sworn there were more starting off. Anyway my plan was to try going for a 1.55 or below. Plan B was to get a sub 2 hr. So I was aiming to head out at 8:40ish pace. I had it in my head to start behind the two hour pacer and overtake them early so that I knew that I had a couple of seconds on them on chip time. But when we lined up, the small crowd that was there, I was behind the 1:45 pacer with the 2hr guy a bit back. I reckon I would head off and do my own thing and hopefully not see the 2hr pacer again.

So away we went, 7 seconds later I decided to start my garmin! Early pace was too fast but I eventually managed to settle myself behind a small group and a guy wearing a camel back. He was my pacer for the rest of the first mile (8:27). Miles 2 and 3 had some on and off climbs (8:45 & 8:57) but I was managing ok. I changed my pacer as he was slowing a little too much on the hills. From memory mile 4 was flattish and then 5 was mainly downhill (8:40 & 8:13). Was feeling quite good at this stage and was really just holding myself back as I knew that "The Squirrel" was coming up after the half way point. Mile 6 probably took a little more effort but time (8:41) was ok and I was feeling quite good. Went through the 10k mark (actually I think they had marked 10.17 km for some reason ) and checked my time and noticed that I had a new (unofficial) 10k pb (which was quite soft anyway).

The scenery along this route was quite impressive at times. But I knew that when the pretty lake that was on our right hand side ran out then it was time for the squirrel. It actually came upon me by surprise. I had just taken a gel in advance and then we were turned to the left and faced with this almost vertical climb. This is where the wheels came off. I thought I had trained over hills but this made me think again. I just do little bumps in training!

It probably only took 30 seconds of climbing for me to throw in the towel and start walking. It wasn't even easy walking up. (Mile 7 10:54, Mile 8 10:39). It was probably shorter than I thought it would be but it was nearly all walked. Mile times don't look too bad but I had most of mile 7 nearly done before the climb start and got running again near end of mile 8. At this stage I was overtaken by someone I didn't want to be anywhere near me. The 2 hr pacer:(. I decided to put the foot down a little and pass him again. Made a little gap on him too but the next climb put an end to that. I tried to hold on but just didn't seem to have the energy to keep with him. Seating here now I reckon I didn't try hard enough but that's easy to say now. Once he started to pull away I mentally just gave up for a while and started walking again. A mixture of walking and running followed (Mile 9 10:22, Mile 10 11:04, Mile 11 11:21) before I decided to put a bit of effort in a savage something from the run and tried to get in under 2:10. (Mile 12 10:19 and Mile 13 9:51). Was starting to feel good again and back in a decent rythm. But when I went through the 13.1 mark (going by my garmin) there was no sign of the finish line. It didn't come until I had clocked 13.86 on my garmin. (Last .86 8:17). Thought it might have just been my watch but spoke with couple of the pacers afterwards and they were all showing over the distance. It was very hard to judge out there as the markers on route were few and far between and when they were there they were in km. Mental maths on the run not so easy.

Whether it was long or not it doesn't really bother me that much. The biggest regret is that I didn't put the work in when the going got tough. I had around 3 minutes on the 2hr pace at mile 6 and lost that on one climb. I should really have tried even a slow pace up that. And then not tagging on to the pacer when he did catch up. I ended up with a time of 2:14:41 which doesn't really help with guiding me for DCM.

dazza21ie

Tuesday 18th September

5.06 miles in 51:47 @ 10:14 mins/mile

Twas time to get back on the horse this morning. Should really have done this run as a recovery run two days ago. A lesson learned not to be so strict when following a plan. Felt grand after the race on Saturday until the next day, started feeling a little stiff and it seemed to get worse yesterday. However, by the time I went out this morning it mostly had passed. Nevertheless I decided to keep this one nice and easy not letting any of the miles (even downhill) to go under 10 mins. An enjoyable run to start another week.

Reflecting on Saturday I probably overlooked a few positives from the race. It has been all but confirmed that the course was long so my time first of all isn't as bad as it first looked. The splits for 6 or so miles were close to the planned pace heading out. A 10k PB should be a sure thing next time I tackle one. The course itself was a tough one which I coped with ok until the major climb which isn't something you will find in most races. My splits near the end were coming back down in the right direction. The hardest part was just getting that first full mile in after the few stop starts. I reckon the run will stand to me in a few weeks time. Most of my difficulties were mental rather than physical and I probably just need to learn to dig that little bit deeper and try and keep going. Only two tough weeks of training left before tapering so just a matter of keeping things going.

rasher_m

dazza21ie wrote: »

Tuesday 18th September

5.06 miles in 51:47 @ 10:14 mins/mile

Twas time to get back on the horse this morning. Should really have done this run as a recovery run two days ago. A lesson learned not to be so strict when following a plan. Felt grand after the race on Saturday until the next day, started feeling a little stiff and it seemed to get worse yesterday. However, by the time I went out this morning it mostly had passed. Nevertheless I decided to keep this one nice and easy not letting any of the miles (even downhill) to go under 10 mins. An enjoyable run to start another week.

Reflecting on Saturday I probably overlooked a few positives from the race. It has been all but confirmed that the course was long so my time first of all isn't as bad as it first looked. The splits for 6 or so miles were close to the planned pace heading out. A 10k PB should be a sure thing next time I tackle one. The course itself was a tough one which I coped with ok until the major climb which isn't something you will find in most races. My splits near the end were coming back down in the right direction. The hardest part was just getting that first full mile in after the few stop starts. I reckon the run will stand to me in a few weeks time. Most of my difficulties were mental rather than physical and I probably just need to learn to dig that little bit deeper and try and keep going. Only two tough weeks of training left before tapering so just a matter of keeping things going.

Yeah read the Sligo thread and seen that. Also looks like you ran the most difficult half out of the three last Saturday.

dazza21ie

rasher_m wrote: »

Yeah read the Sligo thread and seen that. Also looks like you ran the most difficult half out of the three last Saturday.

Going by elevation gained it probably was tougher. There was very little of the course that you could call flat, you were either climbing or descending. Probably a great place to train though!

dazza21ie

Wednesday 19th September

5 miles in 47:25 @ 9:28 mins/mile

Another midweek MP run. Never seem to look forward to these. At first it would be whether you could manage to hold your supposed MP. That was never a problem. More lately it's sometimes difficult to get a set pace going from the start of the run. I definitely run much more freely after a warm up but that just takes more time! Anyways for all my reservations heading out this morning I was able to get into the MP grove almost immediately and once in it wasn't too difficult to hold. Pretty happy with the consistency of the splits too. Bar Mile 3 which was largely downhill, the mile splits were all within 3 seconds of each other.

In the first post of this log I said that I would like to get my weight down to 13:XX for the marathon. At that time I was 15 stone having started the year over 16 1/2 stone. I have been weighing in quite consistently at the 14 stone mark for last few weeks. On Saturday after the half the weight dipped in the the 13's for the first time. Hopefully that is a sign of a milestone on the way. It is not something I am overly focussed on but would be a nice added bonus to arriving to the start line in one piece.

dazza21ie

Thursday 21st September

5.01 miles in 49:27 mins @ 9:52 mins/mile

Easy five miles this morning, usual route, usual pace, only problems with these runs is getting out of bed!

dazza21ie

Saturday 22nd September

19.22 miles in 3:15:55 @ 10:11 mins/mile

Was a chilly morning for this one. The plan heading out was to keep things nice and slow and then pick it up for last four and to do them at MP. For my slow miles the aim was to keep the pace between 10:20 and 10:30 and overall managed to do that quite well. First eight miles went by without much fuss. Took first gel after mile 8 and was going grand and then I developed this twinge or cramp or something along right hamstring/hip. Was just enough to make me think about it but not to make me think about stopping. Kept this going and the discomfort came and went as the run went on. More on the downhill parts than anywhere else.

Must have got lost in my thoughts around mile 10 as I missed a turn off so had to do a bit of thinking on the feet to re-adjust my route. So once mile 16 started it was time to try MP. First mile had a long downhill but a couple of climbs too, similar for second but third and fourth were pretty flat. Was trying to keep pace close to 9:30. The four splits were 9:26, 9:26, 9:26, 9:26. Couldn't have done that had a tried! Felt quite good doing it. It took a little bit more concentration to keep MP but felt like I could have kept it going for a few more miles if needed. My twinge or whatever it was stayed there throughout so spent a few extra minutes after run on stretching and haven't felt it again as of yet (touch wood) so am hoping it was a bit of cramp.

Another longest run and that run puts me over 700 miles for the year. Only one longer run left on the plan before tapering starts.

dazza21ie

Tuesday 25th September

5.04 miles in 49:35 mins @ 9:50 mins/mile

Wet and windy morning this morning. My least favourite combination. This one passed off without incident. No ill effects from Saturday's run. Kept it easy(ish). The last of the midweek 8 milers tomorrow morning. Can't say I will miss them (the early alarm to get up for them anyway!).