Not Quite Four Laps

KielyUnusual

Thursday

10.1 miles in 72m35s @7m11s/mile

EauRouge, best of luck in Berlin. Fair play for giving up the football but I don't think I'll be following suit.

KielyUnusual

Friday

2 mile warm up followed by 4x800m (roughly-2 laps of a hurling field, measured on MapMyRun)

Times: 2m45s, 2m42s, 2m42s, 2m39s

1 mile warm down

KielyUnusual

Saturday

2.5 miles @ ~6m45s/mile

Meant to do 6 easy miles but was a bit worse for wear this morning. Happy to get anything in today really. Tomorrow will be the serious run for the week. 13 miles and going to try for 8 at projected marathon pace (A slightly ambitious 6m30s/mile)

KielyUnusual

Sunday

13.1 miles in 96m24s

4 @ 6m30s/mile & 9.1 @ 7m45s/mile

Meant to do 8 at PMP but wasn't happening today.

KielyUnusual

Monday

Rest

Tuesday

5.5 mile cycle to the Kilbarrack Cinder Track

1 mile warm up, 6 x 800m with 2 minute intervals, 1 mile warm down

2'45", 2'44", 2'44", 2'45", 2'43", 2'45"

Cycle home

KielyUnusual

Wednesday

4.84 miles @ 7m17s/mile

Thursday

10.1 miles @ 7m16s/mile

KielyUnusual

Friday

4 miles easy @ 7m30s/mile
3 miles @10k pace (5m58s/mile)
1 mile steady (6m30s/mile)

Wasn't sure what kind of session to do this morning with the 10k on Sunday but decided it was best to get in a few miles at race pace for a confidence boost and to check on my pacing. It's been a while since I ran at this pace. Wasn't too easy but wasn't difficult enough for me to think it impossible that I'd keep it up for another 3 miles. Depends on how I feel on the day. Rest day tomorrow.

KielyUnusual

Ended up having to cycle out to Swords for this one. Luckily there was a mighty breeze that carried me the 12km out to Swords in just under half an hour with little effort on my part. I was less thankful for the same conditions in the race that followed.
The race was really well organised. I've never been to Swords before but finding my way round was a doddle and the start/finish area in the village centre was quality. Really good atmosphere and much better than the other Phoenix Park races. I got a good position at the start and settled in to my pace early on without having to do any real overtaking or been overtaken. First half of the race, I kept a good steady pace and at the halfway point I was just inside my target (hoping for 37m30s). 5K to 8K were really tough though and I lost a bit of time here. There was one long steady incline into the wind that I found particularly energy sapping. Once past this though, I was really flying again and tried to make up the lost time. I was surging up the final short steep hill leading into the village and with 200m to go, I went all out. I overtook five or six people in quick succession and set after a lad from the Raheny Club just about 20 yards ahead. I was eating up the ground between us going at full pelt but the line came about a metre or two too early and I almost careened in to a group of stewards/finishers just beyond the line. Felt really good to be able to full on sprint over the line.
Finish time was 38.01. A little bit disappointed with this but at the same time it wasn't too far off my goal. Conditions weren't ideal but it's rare that they are. Very happy with my kick at the finish. Just have to work on keeping my pace up in the third quarter of races. Often lose a bit of motivation during this portion.

KielyUnusual

Monday

Unscheduled rest day but did do a long 45km cycle in this stinking humidity that left me fairly spent

Tuesday

6.07 miles @ MP (6m28s/mile)

Tried to concentrate on my running form during this run and being as economical with it as possible. Watched Born to Run last night; a BBC documentary about Kenyan runners. Was inspired by David Rudisha's lovely relaxed rhythmic stride. Going to try and get in more marathon paced miles during the week and try and get a few in with every long run.

KielyUnusual

Wednesday

1 mile warm up / 4 x 1600m / 1 mile warm down

Times: 5:37, 5:41, 5:39, 5:36

Happy with this. Was going to do 8 x 800m but thought this might be a more beneficial workout, endurance wise. Bit of a cycle out to Kilbarrack though. Must join a club in the new year. Thinking of going to check out the Crusaders and the Clonliffe Harriers. Both are about equidistant from me.

KielyUnusual

Thursday

9 miles @ 7m50s/mile

Ran this after a massive full Irish in the Lovin' Spoon café. Subsequently, I almost got sick in the Liffey

Friday and Saturday

Unscheduled rest because a friend was back from England for a few days and was staying over

Sunday

6 miles @ 6m29s/mile

Meant to do an 18 mile LSR with 6 @ MP but didn't have the time so will have to do later in the week. This felt very easy today with the few days rest in the legs. Good confidence boost.

KielyUnusual

Monday

18.03 miles @ 7m21s/mile (5@MP)

Got the long run I had planned for yesterday in today. Don't normally do evening runs and went out an hour after a sizeable dinner. My stomach didn't like my decision making too much and I had to stop a couple of times when the cramps got on the severe side. Chalk this one down to experience. Legs felt very good though and got in 5 good miles at the end.

KielyUnusual

Tuesday

6.07miles @ 7m22s/mile

KielyUnusual

Wednesday

Popped down to the cinder track in Kilbarrack for a session. Didn't work out too well though. Had intended on doing 4 X 1600 but only got two done. Headed out too quickly and with the wind and humidity this morning I felt it best not to push myself too hard and leave this one for later in the week.

1 mile w/u, 2 x 1600m off 2min, 1 mile w/d

5m26s, 5m34s

KielyUnusual

Thursday

10.1 miles @ 7m29s/mile

Weak going out, strong coming back. Good running weather for a change.

KielyUnusual

Friday

1 mile w/u, 4 x 1600 off 2 min, 1 mile w/d

5m42s, 5m42s, 5m47s, 5m37s

Happy with the the consistent times in my first two repeats, not so much with the third. Picked it up on the fourth and smoothed out my average nicely. Driving rain into my face on the back straight. Not very nice.:(

KielyUnusual

Saturday

6.27 miles @ 7m11s/mile

Down in Tipp for the weekend. Very hilly run around the back roads. Good for strengthening the legs I hope.

KielyUnusual

Sunday & Monday

Rest. Scheduled on Sunday but had intended on a long run for Monday which had to be delayed to...

Tuesday

15 miles (10 easy(~7m30s/mile), 5 @PMP(~6m30s/mile))
Bit of a mishap with the stopwatch today. Pressed the CLEAR button instead of the SToP/START button. Reasonably confident that my pacing was about right.

KielyUnusual

Wednesday

6 miles @ 7m59s/mile

My legs were in bits after the run yesterday and a game of football in the evening. Creaked around the 6 mile route at a very handy pace.

ThePiedPiper

Well KielyUnusual,

Just having a read through some of your recent posts there, as I was in the land of no internet for a few weeks.
Good work in the Fingal 10k. I was chattin to a few lads in the club who said it was a tough course for fast times, so good work on getting 38 flat.

You're a brave man still doing the soccer with the lads, I don't think I could take the risk of an injury. Do you think you'll keep it up even 3-4 weeks out from your goal marathon?

Your training looks to be going great, nice mix of sessions and longer runs. The 6 x 800 at 2.45 is pretty impressive. There's a session I've done a few times, know as Yasso 800s. It's 10 x 800m, with 2 min intervals. The goal pace in minutes is the same as goal marathon pace in hours. So, if you're going for a sub 3 marathon, then it'd be 800s at 2.55-3.00 minutes each. Pace isn't that difficult I've found, but hard to keep it going on the last couple.

I've been up and down a bit over the past couple of months. Put in a huge block of 315 miles in 3 weeks in July, mostly easy pace around 7.30ish. However, a nasty dogbite put manners on me for a couple of weeks, sort of broke momentum. Managed 5k and 10k PBs in July at 18.10 and 38.12, and 5 mile and 4 mile PBs this month of 29.45 and 23.30 so I'm in ok shape. The next target is a 1.22-1.23 at the National halfs and I'll then assess the marathon goal time in mid-September. If I get in a few good weeks, hopefully sub 3 will be on the cards.

Sorry for the long rambling post.

KielyUnusual

RunForestRun wrote: »

Well KielyUnusual,

You're a brave man still doing the soccer with the lads, I don't think I could take the risk of an injury. Do you think you'll keep it up even 3-4 weeks out from your goal marathon?

Brave man, no I'm a very silly man. Pulled a muscle in my leg playing football last Wednesday. Having being playing Tuesday and Wednesday for the past month or two. Seemed to be okay Friday and I played a game of tennis. Got very stiff after again. Took a few days off and it felt grand again when I went for a run last night. Maybe it was the Olympics or the fact I hadn't run for a while but I was really flying round, running at about 6m/mile pace in stretches. Straight away when I stopped, it stiffened up again and is as bad as ever today. Got a bit carried away and shouldn't have been running that fast at all. Not sure what's best to do now. I'm too broke to go see a physio. I'll just have to rest it up for a while, which I am sure is all it needs. It's just a matter of how long. Want to get in some good sessions before the 10 mile in a fortnight, so I want to get back in to action soon.

That's some really good times you've been getting lately RFR. You seem well on track for putting in a really quality time in Budapest. I've been happy with the track sessions. More so the 1600m ones than the 800m to be honest. I feel if I can get up to 6x1600m at 5:40 pace, I'll be well on track for the marathon in October. I'm not really inclined to go back to doing 800 metre intervals because my endurance is my main issue. I've missed my first 20 mile LSR this week, which is a bit of a pain in the arse. I've a bit of leeway with my running schedule though so I don't see any problem fitting them all in as long as my current issue doesn't linger.

Just to pick your brains RFR. What distance LSRs are you up to at the moment? Would you be getting up to 1600m intervals at some stage before the marathon? Also, I don't run for any specific mileage during the week. My basic plan is to go one day easy, one day hard and one day off a week. The hard sessions being track intervals, long slow run (some miles at marathon pace) and a medium distance marathon pace run, which I'll be building up in distance. The easy days, I just run whatever distance I fancy generally 6,8 or 10 miles. Do you think it might be a better idea to have a specific mileage for each week. Do you have a peak mileage that you're working towards?

KielyUnusual

Monday

8 miles @ 6m27s/mile

ThePiedPiper

I'm not really following any specific training plan, never really have to be honest, but I've a good idea of what has worked and what hasn't worked for me in the past.

In terms of what long runs I've been doing, in July, I did a 20 miler, an 18 and a 17. The dog-induced lay-off put a spanner in the works for a bit, but I got a 17 done today in scorching heat with average pace of 7.18. Put in about 7-8 PMP miles on the uphill stretches of it, so it was a good workout. Next Sunday, I'll probably try to get in a 20 miler, with about 6-7 miles PMP miles.

My mileage would have maxed out in July when I did 112 one week, and 106 the next. I know it's crazy high, but it was stretched over 2 sessions every day and only one or two sessions were under 7.00 pace - most being in the 7.30 - 7.40 range. This stuff wasn't really marathon specific, it was more so general base building. Over the next 6 weeks, I'll do in the range of 50-65 miles a week. I know some people stick rigidly to plans, but I don't think it's totally necessary. As with yourself, I try to do a long run of 17-20, a marathon paced run of 10-14 and an interval session. My easier runs are sometimes easy, or sometimes progressive tempo, but I don't get hung up on them.

As it's a couple of months since I've done any intervals, I'll definitely start doing one session a week of the 800s, and hopefully a few mile reps too.

One thing that worked very well for me in the past was back to back long runs at weekends. Because I'm doing Budapest on 7th October and most of my clubmates are doing Dublin, I'll be 3 weeks ahead of them probably. I'll probably end up doing my own long run on a Saturday, and then doing the long run with the club on Sundays as the club run would probably be shorter and slower. These back to back efforts are tough going, but they've been hugely beneficial to me in the past, and if your legs can take it and you've a group to run with, then I'd recommend it.

Again, sorry for my long, rambling posts. There might be something in there that you might find vaguely interesting!!!!

KielyUnusual

RFR,

That's interesting. Our approach seems very similar in a lot of ways. I don't think my legs are quite ready for that amount of mileage yet. Having been at it for just over the year, my recovery time is getting less and less all the time but the max I've done is about 60 miles in the week and I can't see myself getting over 70 before DCM. The back to back long runs sounds like an interesting concept that I might take up in the future. I could definitely see the benefit in it. I find I get most improvement when I get a few tough sessions done in a row. Then I'm flying it as soon as all those bloody micro tears in my muscles have sorted themselves out. Stupid body, always a few steps behind.

KielyUnusual

Saturday

10.1 miles @ 7m25s/mile

Injury has been getting better bit by bit. After the disaster on Monday, I decided to give it a good long rest and go for a very handy run this morning after a good four days off.

All was going to plan for the first 7 miles. Legs were feeling lovely and strong after the rest. Coming off Bull Island, there was a guy who kept on overtaking me and then slowing down. Getting annoyed by this, I decided to finish off the last three at marathon pace. Bit silly, given my leg really seized up after the quick miles on the Monday.

No ill effects though. Hope to get a few easy miles in tomorrow before the match and hopefully get back to proper training next week.

Hon The Premier!!

Speedy44

KielyUnusual wrote: »

Saturday

10.1 miles @ 7m25s/mile

Injury has been getting better bit by bit. After the disaster on Monday, I decided to give it a good long rest and go for a very handy run this morning after a good four days off.

All was going to plan for the first 7 miles. Legs were feeling lovely and strong after the rest. Coming off Bull Island, there was a guy who kept on overtaking me and then slowing down. Getting annoyed by this, I decided to finish off the last three at marathon pace. Bit silly, given my leg really seized up after the quick miles on the Monday.

No ill effects though. Hope to get a few easy miles in tomorrow before the match and hopefully get back to proper training next week.

Hon The Premier!!

Hiya Kiely,

Just took a quick gander over your training there. As was mentioned, you have natural speed in abundance, and you are getting in the training now with the 1600m intervals.
At this point though, I would start to get a bit more serious about it. What I mean of course is by dropping the footy and run wise instead of hard. Use the easy days as such, get the long runs in, rest when you need to, and you'll get the sub 3 comfortably.
Injuries can be a pisser and knock your momentum. Be careful coming back from them though as the rest you would have had would mean that you are dying to get stuck in, and if you go too fast you end up getting knocked back again.
Not sure if your with a club or have anyone to train with, but if you had someone for the easier longer runs it may make you reign it in a bit, unless it is someone like yourself and you end up trying to outdo each other, something I never do :rolleyes:

Best of luck

KielyUnusual

Sunday

5 miles @ 6m45s/mile

My legs felt very fresh again today and this pace felt a lot easier than normal. Made me think a bit about my taper. I have taken five or six days of rest before a marathon in the past but was thinking of doing some short, slow runs in the week beforehand this time round. The legs feeling strong after the four days off have made me reconsider this.

Thanks for the advice Speedy. These are all issues that I'm debating in my own head at the moment and I appreciate the input. Especially from a recent gold medalist like yourself. You get so used to just competing that you forget there are people that actually win these races:D.

KielyUnusual

Tuesday

10.1 miles @ 6m49s/mile

Injured leg feels like it is almost back to normal. A long cycle yesterday seems to have done it the world of good. Reluctant to do any intervals or anything too fast for the time being.

The two week disruption has me thinking about my 10 mile goal. Was hopeful that I might be able to do it in just under 62 minutes. Might be a bit of a stretch though given my training lately. Will probably just set out at that pace and see how things go. If I slow down towards the end, so be it.

KielyUnusual

Thursday

6 miles @ Easy Pace

Decided not to bring the watch as I just wanted a nice easy run. Worked out well and I think I'll do this in future as I'm a divil for looking at the stopwatch and not letting my pace go too slow. Probably the last run I'll do before the race on Saturday.

KielyUnusual

Saturday

Didn't know what to expect from this race after the interruption in my training lately. Having said that, I woke up this morning and my left thigh felt almost back to normal, just a bit tight. I took this as a good omen but I was fairly sure the ensuing race would set it back a few days. Which it probably has but it was worth it.

The weather for the race today was neigh on perfect. Quite cool and cloudy. A bit of a wind but nothing too bad and no rain. I got up to the start in perfect time. A few minutes standing about and we were off.

I started maybe a few rows back from where I should have but I was in to my pace after about half a mile. I was tagging on to different groups until about 2 miles in, when myself and two or three runners latched on to two club runners from Boyne AC (could be wrong here, something beginning with B and in red and yellow bibs). These guys were running a very steady 6m10s pace and I was with them for most of the race.

I was comfortable for the first half but I was dreading the six to eight mile stretch and knew this would be the making of the race. The first hill at six and a half mile is probably the toughest on paper but I kept the pace up over this and wasn't completely knackered. Promising. The second hill at eight miles, I found even easier and I started to pull away from the group I had been running with.

I really went for it over the last 2 miles. I didn't want to leave anything out there. I passed a runner in a maroon singlet (maybe Athenry or Borrisokane AC) and he upped the pace to stay with me. We were basically swapping the lead (not the actual lead of course) with each other till about half a mile out.

At this point, I thought I saw the finish line out of the corner of my eye, just around the corner (turned out to be a white tent:mad:) and I kicked. Out of kindness, one of the stewards who I think had noticed my hasty kick, shouted out '600 metres to go'. These were not the words I wanted to hear. I reigned it in a bit and my new friend and I were shoulder to shoulder again. Was struggling a bit but I dug in and about 200m from the line, I kicked away again and caught five or six people before the line.

My time was 61:5*, I hope. The clock had just ticked over the 62 but I think my chip time will be just under that mark.

Was delighted with this race. My pace was really even. I had good energy in the second half of the race. In the 10K, my kick was far too strong and I should have been pushing myself harder towards the end. This time, I was incredibly close to relieving my stomach of a few slices of toast and an orange at the finish line. You know you've run your race well when you almost get sick. Under 62 minutes, I thought might have been a bit optimistic and I'm delighted to have acheived it:D. Also a 21 minute PB from the same race last year.