The Sub 210 London Challenge

pistol_75

menoscemo wrote: »

Good mileage P, building nicely.
Can't see the point of even trying to measure the pace of strides though, especially ones as short as 20seconds. GPS will generally take 5-10 seconds to 'kick in' on a new lap and by that stage it's almost done...

Cheers Niall. Agree with you just lapped the first one to get a spot roughly for 20 secs and it's just habit really from the longer ones.

How is your training going? What have you got coming up race wise?

menoscemo

pistol_75 wrote: »

Cheers Niall. Agree with you just lapped the first one to get a spot roughly for 20 secs and it's just habit really from the longer ones.

How is your training going? What have you got coming up race wise?

London for me too, I'll probably do the Meath half again and maybe one or two shorter races.

pistol_75

Sunday 18th Jan

64 mins @ 9:06
50 mins progression @ (7:50,7:34,7:29, 7:27, 7:26)
11 mins @ 8:54

14.77 miles total

Lunge Matrix before
AIS after

Frosty when I woke up this morning but seemed a good thaw before we got going. Had to proceed with caution in spots early on but got back to the car fine after 7 odd miles.

Set out on tempo then and the rough plan was 15 mins @ 8, then 10 mins @7:50,40,30 and hopefully 5 @ 7:20. The first portion was a bit quick even though it didn't feel like it and was into the wind. Because watch won't show me pace I'm running current lap at I was just watching the average pace and hoping for it to drop a bit. As a result the pace came down too quickly and although it did improve was only slightly. Stomach was making itself known in the last 5 mins so was a bit of a containment job. Maybe not quite what the run should be but 50 mins @ 7:36 pace is an effort I'm happy with.

2 hours 5 mins total as per plan.

Month|Mileage|Missed Runs
October | 106.44| 0
November| 148.11| 1
December| 145.47| 4
January| 130.16|0

pistol_75

Monday 19th Jan

44 mins Recovery

Avg Pace: 9:28
Avg HR: 124

4.7 miles total

Recovery run last night. Legs not too bad at all but kept the effort very easy for most of the run anyway. Nice to run without the ice or the wind for a change. Massage booked for this evening.

Month|Mileage|Missed Runs
October | 106.44| 0
November| 148.11| 1
December| 145.47| 4
January| 134.86|0

pistol_75

Tuesday 20th Jan

54 mins maintenance run

Avg Pace: 8:50
Avg HR: 132

6.07 miles total

Maintenance run this evening after a massage. Legs in decent nick apparently, just a couple of tight spots. Legs felt fresher than normal after a battering and was tipping along nicely for an easy effort.

Session day tomorrow which looks like a step up from what I have been doing. Look forward to it.

Month|Mileage|Missed Runs
October | 106.44| 0
November| 148.11| 1
December| 145.47| 4
January| 140.93|0

Ososlo

Have you got a target time in mind at all for London P?
Great to see your training going so seamlessly so far.

pistol_75

Ososlo wrote: »

Have you got a target time in mind at all for London P?
Great to see your training going so seamlessly so far.

Good question. I was going very well last year running 1:36 in Bohermeen with the last 3 miles the quickest and got injured shortly after it. So the first thing is getting to the start line. That could be slightly compromised. I got a medical screening last year as a precaution as I was born with a heart murmur. Of course that showed up so my GP recommended because I was running to get it checked out by a specialist because I was running so much as a precaution.

Did that in early January, no issue with the murmur, it had softened from previous visit to him 10 years ago. Something else showed up on the ECG, which he said is common for people who are very fit but I have to have a CT scan on Friday to check it further. Won't get back to see him until March though unless I get a cancellation. Hopefully it is nothing but it is hanging over me a bit.

Sorry for the long winded reply but felt like just getting that out there. I will be hoping to run sub 3:30 all going well and avoid my hostiry of blowing up towards the end. PB is 3:37:xx.

Ososlo

pistol_75 wrote: »

Good question. I was going very well last year running 1:36 in Bohermeen with the last 3 miles the quickest and got injured shortly after it. So the first thing is getting to the start line. That could be slightly compromised. I got a medical screening last year as a precaution as I was born with a heart murmur. Of course that showed up so my GP recommended because I was running to get it checked out by a specialist because I was running so much as a precaution.

Did that in early January, no issue with the murmur, it had softened from previous visit to him 10 years ago. Something else showed up on the ECG, which he said is common for people who are very fit but I have to have a CT scan on Friday to check it further. Won't get back to see him until March though unless I get a cancellation. Hopefully it is nothing but it is hanging over me a bit.

Sorry for the long winded reply but felt like just getting that out there. I will be hoping to run sub 3:30 all going well and avoid my hostiry of blowing up towards the end. PB is 3:37:xx.

yeah I can understand how you'd be a bit concerned alright even though it's more than likely nothing to be worried about. Really hope you get that cancellation asap. Keep us posted!

pistol_75

Wednesday 21st Jan

3.1 miles w/u @ 9:13

6x1 mile (7:15) w/.5 mile cruise recovery @ 8:30

(7:10,8:28;7:16,8:07;7:18,8:52;7:17,8:26;7:13,8:44;7:08,8:37)

2.2 miles c/d @ 9:09

14.36 miles total

Lunge Matrix before
AIS after

This looked on paper to me like a serious step up session wise on what I have been doing more so because it was 9 miles continuous running with no real recovery. Was determined to give it a good go anyway and at least complete it, even if I couldn't hit the prescribed paces.

Got the warm up in and it was a bonus that there was no wind to speak ok. Headed to an area that is relatively flat and continuous where I could do 1/2 mile and then turn back to where I came from with the recovery taking me to the opposite end to start again. This gave me a chance to check at the turnaround point where I was pace wise as I can't show the current lap pace on my watch.

Got going anyway and with it being a long session the emphasis was on control to start with, as expected the first one was handy enough and judged the recovery pace pretty well and off again. It can be hard switching paces all the time to judge where your at and a couple of times I had to pick it up towards the end I found. All in all it was getting harder and harder but the paces were pretty ok. I think if I had known the paces of the middle ones I could have picked it up a bit as needed. Managed to pick it up a bit for the 5th rep without knowing it and once I hit the last one I knew I'd finish and wound it up a bit. With around 400 to go I saw this group of about 50 walking towards me, wasn't sure if I was hallucinating but must have been something to do with OT and the closer I got to them it was clear there was no moving them. Had to go out on the verge to dodge them and curse them which prob cost a few seconds.

Finished off with what felt like a death march home. Happy with how this session went, in effect running most of the reps on target, I think the turnaround probably costs a couple of seconds in terms of momentum but there are no other real options at night.

Month|Mileage|Missed Runs
October | 106.44| 0
November| 148.11| 1
December| 145.47| 4
January| 155.29|0

Ososlo

Nice long run P! No time to get bored on that one!!!

pistol_75

Ososlo wrote: »

Nice long run P! No time to get bored on that one!!!

I know, 2 hours midweek is a lot. Worse to come apparently.

average_runner

pistol_75 wrote: »

I know, 2 hours midweek is a lot. Worse to come apparently.

What plan are you following, training looks good!

pistol_75

average_runner wrote: »

What plan are you following, training looks good!

It's a personalized plan from a former poster on here

average_runner

pistol_75 wrote: »

It's a personalized plan from a former poster on here

Cool, hopefully it works out for you and you smash 3:30.

barryoneill50

Nice run, well done

pistol_75

Thursday 22nd Jan

39 mins recovery

Avg Pace: 9:43
Avg Hr: 125

4 miles total

Lunge Matrix before


Recovery run this evening. Legs pretty tired but ok. Nothing else exciting to report. Rest day tomorrow.

Month|Mileage|Missed Runs
October | 106.44| 0
November| 148.11| 1
December| 145.47| 4
January| 159.29|0

pistol_75

Saturday 24th Jan

52 mins maintenance inc 6x20 sec strides.

Avg Pace: 9:42

5.4 miles total

Lunge Matrix before
AIS after

Rest day yesterday which happened to coincide with the CT scan. Whole process went fine. Seems they give you a beta blocker if your RHR is not low enough :-) but no problems on that front. All finished before 10.

Was evening before I got out today with wife away all day. Had company which was fine. Pace a little slower but with a long session in the morning nothing to be gained by pushing it. Legs feeling a bit heavy/tired probably after the rest day. Felt fine when I picked up for the strides.

50 miles for the week. Tough session tomorrow but a bit of a step back on Wednesday with race next Sunday.

Month|Mileage|Missed Runs
October | 106.44| 0
November| 148.11| 1
December| 145.47| 4
January| 164.69|0

pistol_75

Sunday 25th Jan

2 hour 25 session (target in brackets)

60 mins (8:15-8:30) @ 8:29

8x1 min on/off (5K pace) @ 6:04, 6:31, 6:16, 6:39, 6:49, 7:03, 6:48, 7:02.

14 mins easy @ 8:48

20 mins tempo (7:30ish) @ 7:37
10 mins easy @ 9:26
20 mins tempo (7:30ish) @ 7:50
5 mins easy @ 9:29

17.4 miles total

Was expecting to have some company for part of this but wasn't to be so just myself & marathon talk headed out the door and along the coast towards Skerries. I try to mentally bear it down to 4 sections where there are targets and tick each of them off.

Wind seemed to be up a bit this morning and I was feeling a bit sluggish as well. Pace was hovering above 8:30 but gradually coming down as I reached Skerries. Found a road there to to the strides on and while the paces are a bit up and down I guess that allows for wind and direction. Maybe the effort was a bit too high I don't know.

The easy portion began the run back towards home again fighting the wind but happy this was in the easy part of the run. Still wasn't looking forward to what was to come.

Got the first tempo started and was moving along ok just keeping on pace knowing I had to do it all again. With about 3-4 mins to go I turned into the wind and it pretty much spat me out. I kept the effort the same but the pace plummeted. Considered during the 10 mins of binning the second tempo as I was fooked and running on fumes but said not to be proud about paces and get it done.

Took a minute or 2 to psych myself up and set off again. After about 5/6 mins the pace was around 7:46 and the only consolation really was that it remained steady enough just dropping a bit on a hill with a couple of mins to go. Death march home to finish.

Not sure what to make of it to be honest. I do like to hit targets but I know that won't always be the case. There's no two ways about it these runs are tough with tempo portions coming after 90 mins steady running. They're trying to make me bonk and it seems to be working :-)

Month|Mileage|Missed Runs
October | 106.44| 0
November| 148.11| 1
December| 145.47| 4
January| 182.09|0

pistol_75

Monday 26th Jan

48 mins recovery run

Avg Pace 9:21

5.13 miles total

Just a very easy one this evening to shake the legs out. Not feeling too bad. Bit of a niggle in right calf but you'd hardly notice it.

The man with the plan thought the session went ok so I'll give up whinging about it.

Looks like I'm on for highest mileage month ever, probably have already hit it to be honest.

Month|Mileage|Missed Runs
October | 106.44| 0
November| 148.11| 1
December| 145.47| 4
January| 187.22|0

Ososlo

pistol_75 wrote: »

Monday 26th Jan

Looks like I'm on for highest mileage month ever, probably have already hit it to be honest.

Month|Mileage|Missed Runs
October | 106.44| 0
November| 148.11| 1
December| 145.47| 4
January| 187.22|0

Nice one P! The main positive being it's all injury free! All that stretching and strengthening stuff paying off!

pistol_75

Ososlo wrote: »

Nice one P! The main positive being it's all injury free! All that stretching and strengthening stuff paying off!

That's the thing to keep on top of. I don't think I'm as diligent as yourself when it comes to it but I try to keep on top of it alright.

pistol_75

Tuesday 27th Jan

53 mins maintenance run

Avg Pace 9:47

5.46 miles total

Not sure about this run. Pace seems a bit on the slow side for the effort, but I was running with someone so maybe it was that pace. There was a lot of tree coverage so maybe that didn't help. Anyway nothing too exciting to report. Legs still a bit tired but ok.

Thoughts starting to turn to Sunday and how to approach the race, usual stuff like wondering how you will hold any sort of pace etc etc. Will get today's reduced session out of the way first anyway.

Month|Mileage|Missed Runs
October | 106.44| 0
November| 148.11| 1
December| 145.47| 4
January| 192.68|0

pistol_75

Wednesday 28th Jan

3 miles w/u @ 9:22

3x(6x40 sec @ mile effort, jb recovery), 600m between sets

(5:53,6:31,6:20,6:16,6,11,6:09
6:16,6:23,6:12,6:14,6,10,6,06
5:55,6:10,6:10,6:16,6:00,6:13)

3 miles c/d @ 9:11

11 miles total

Lovely evening for running this evening :eek: but nothing that an extra layer and wrapping up doesn't solve. Warm up done sluggishly as usual to the area I always do these where there is a bit of shelter. Got going and the legs seemed to be moving ok. Seemed to tick off quicker than normal, maybe because there was nothing coming after it. Happy with how they seemed to turn out.

Just a couple of easy runs between now and Sunday. Need to focus in on nutrition as well, been stressful in work last couple of weeks and been eating a bit crappy as a result. No change in weight but need to eat better. Back at it tomorrow.

Month|Mileage|Missed Runs
October | 106.44| 0
November| 148.11| 1
December| 145.47| 4
January| 203.69|0

pistol_75

Friday 30th Jan

51 mins easy inc 6x20 sec strides

Avg pace 9:20

5.5 miles total

Left shin was in a bit of pain after Wednesday so I was ordered to rest it yesterday which I did as well as doing some stretching and rolling.

That seemed to do the trick and headed out this evening with no problems. Person I was with had done 10 miles earlier so effort was pretty relaxed and not taking anything out of me.

Tomorrow is a planned rest day anyway so that will be it until Sunday. Hoping for an ok day and take it from there.

Month|Mileage|Missed Runs
October | 106.44| 0
November| 148.11| 1
December| 145.47| 4
January| 209.19|1

pistol_75

Sunday 1st Feb

Trim 10 mile race

10 mile PB (2012) 1:17:17

So the last time I raced properly was the Dublin 1/2 last September. That was my only ever dnf where I stepped off the road after 8 miles in a pretty bad way. It has been a slow road back trying to get healthy and at the same time keep training. This was a new race in the calendar which I entered because I couldn't do Bohermeen. I wasn't sure what to expect coming off by far my highest monthly mileage ever. The idea was to set out around 7:30 pace for a few miles and take it from there. While it was cold it seemed like a pretty good day for running with the wind not too bad. Got a bit of a warm up done and a few strides and lined up ready to go.

Bit of congestion to begin with but got into running ok. Was keeping the pace under control I thought but had a glance after a few minuted and noticed I was running around 7:10 pace. Tried to ease back a bit but also felt this part of the course was wind behind and slightly downhill. Turned out to the country and the first mile passed in 7:13. Wasn't sure what was going on but was just trying to keep it controlled without blowing up too early. Having not raced in a while I wasn't sure how I should be feeling to be honest so just tried to keep it controlled. One of my club mates joined me before 2 miles (they should have been in front of me). I was tempted to go with them but let them go on a bit. Next couple of miles passed in 7:18 & 7:11, I was conscious that there was still along way to go and was starting to feel the legs a bit. Turned a corner and the only little bit of frost, another mile covered in 7:18. Not sure what happened next but the wheels seemed to come off. There must have been a good drag, but also it was into the wind and by god I was struggling, to the point where I felt like stopping. Chinguetti came alongside me here and a few words were exchanged, he asked me did I need help. I mush have looked bad but I sent him on his way. I was expecting a death march to the end. Mile 5 passed in 7:39. Really I felt like the fast start had caught up with me and I had nothing left. Team mate was well up the road and I was in no mans land. Turned another corner where there was a bit of support and I seemed to get a bit of a second wind. Legs got going and mile 6 passed in 7:18, I'm guessing the second part was a good bit quicker. From here it was a case of trying to tick off the miles. The runners were now sparse but I was starting to pass a few people, there was one other person picking it up a bit and I tagged on to them a bit. While I was suffering I was just trying to keep going as best I could. Next couple of miles passed in 7:17 & 7:13. I noticed the average pace was starting to drop gradually and then I spotted a decent group a bit ahead including clubmate. They ran over a shadow and I tried to count the seconds until I hit it. It seems like it was around 20 seconds but I couldn't be sure. I was out on my feet now but seemed to be closing gradually. With a mile to go I was still a bit back. Mile 9 was 7:03. I wasn't really that interested in catching them to be honest. I just wanted to get to the finish. Kept trucking along as best I could and coming towards the end the gap was closed. We turned with 400 to go into the wind and I urged them to come with me but they told me to go for it. I tried to but got hit by the wind. Felt like I was running backwards and the end would never come. I was expecting them to come past me but it didn't happen, just about. The last mile was run in 7:01. Crossed the line and wasn't able to stop my watch. Clubmate was right behind me in 1:12:58. I was probably a couple of seconds ahead. Official results have me at 1:13:00 dead so will have to go with that.

10.07 miles in 1:13:00

Avg Pace 7:15

4:17 PB

Happy to be back racing, really happy with the result. Given that I felt wiped out between 4-5 miles I can't be happier. Something seemed to kick in to get me going again. Not sure what it was but even speaking to G'O'H afterwards he said he struggled along the same part of the route.

One thing this run give me is justification for the type of training I have been doing. Nice to run such a big PB early in the year.

Month|Mileage|Missed Runs
October | 106.44| 0
November| 148.11| 1
December| 145.47| 4
January| 209.19|1
February| 11.48| 0

Ososlo

Great racing and super report P! Sets you up nicely for London training over the next few months both physically and mentally.
Congrats on the big pb!

pistol_75

Ososlo wrote: »

Great racing and super report P! Sets you up nicely for London training over the next few months both physically and mentally.
Congrats on the big pb!

Thanks A. Given that I wanted to stop before halfway I think I broke down a few mental barriers in the 2nd half. Last couple of miles would suggest there is some sort of endurance there. Back to training now :rolleyes:

Ososlo

pistol_75 wrote: »

Thanks A. Given that I wanted to stop before halfway I think I broke down a few mental barriers in the 2nd half. Last couple of miles would suggest there is some sort of endurance there. Back to training now :rolleyes:

Great to be able to pick it back up like that. That'll stand to you for London!!!
Ah sure ya love the training really

pistol_75

Monday 2nd Feb

58 mins easy/recovery

Avg Pace: 9:22

6.2 miles total

Very easy effort run this evening and kept going a bit longer as have a lot on tomorrow. Left shin a bit tender after yesterday so have an appt to get it looked at tomorrow evening. It's nearly worse walking than running so hopefully it's nothing serious.

Also got a call from cardiac consultant today saying they had a cancellation tomorrow so I took the appointment to get the results of my CT scan. Fingers crossed and all that.

Month|Mileage|Missed Runs
October | 106.44| 0
November| 148.11| 1
December| 145.47| 4
January| 209.19|1
February| 17.68| 0

RedRunner

That's a great run yesterday. Well done!