The Sub 210 London Challenge

pistol_75

A quick catch up

Sat 14th June: 9 miles @ 8:51. Hilly route with pick up for last 20 mins or so.

Monday 16th June: S&C class

Tuesday: Session 8x3 mins @ 10K pace w/90 sec recovery. Went well enough.


Thurs- Sat: Lads trip to Irish Open. Great craic.

Sat night popped out to Dunshaughlin to support some of my training partners and say lots of boardsies run great times.

Sun 22nd June: 9 miles @ 9:11 Another hilly run. Sweated a serious amount of alcohol out of the system.

Back to more structured training this week.

pistol_75

Monday 23rd June


4 miles @ 10:04

Recovery run. Couple of loops mainly on grass. Nothing exciting to report.

pistol_75

Tuesday 24th June - Session

Club session last night which was a ladder session starting off with 15 secs, moving up in 15 sec intervals till we reached 2 minutes and then back down again. 35 sec jog recovery between each interval.

This doesn't seem like a lot but it works out at 16 minutes of faster running all told. Kept the pace around 7 mins or just under on the way up and dropped it down to around 6:40 on the way back down. A good testing session with the overcast conditions making it feel very warm.

Just over 6 miles in total.

pistol_75

Wednesday 25th June

30 mins S&C class + 6.26 miles @ 9:07

Good class yesterday evening with sets including front raises, spiderman, bench press, weighted squats, hand cycle and knee tucks.

Followed later on by an easy run. Took a couple of miles to get into it with the legs a bit tired. Nice to have a bit of drizzly rain to cool things down a bit. Going to do the 5 miler in the park on Saturday purely because I have a number for it. Not expecting too much at the moment.

pistol_75

Been a while since I posted here so just popped along to give a quick update. Have had a lot going on outside of running in the last couple of weeks (nothing bad) so haven't been doing a whole lot. Did the 5 miler in the park at a hard effort without killing myself and finished just under 36 mins, also knocked out a decent tempo run at the weekend with 6.5 miles around 7:30 pace.

I'm reluctant to commit myself to doing Dublin this year, at least to being able to train 5/6 days like I have in the past. Everyone is different but for me I always seem to get to the point where something breaks down. With London 2015 being the long term goal I'm gonna use Dublin as an experiment and see what happens.

In summary I'm committing to 3 runs per week (2 sessions + long run) along with conditioning at least once a week. Where this will take me I don't know but hopefully it will get me to the start line in one piece at least.

Probably most of the high mileage junkies won't agree with this approach but we'll see how it goes.

average_runner

pistol_75 wrote: »

Been a while since I posted here so just popped along to give a quick update. Have had a lot going on outside of running in the last couple of weeks (nothing bad) so haven't been doing a whole lot. Did the 5 miler in the park at a hard effort without killing myself and finished just under 36 mins, also knocked out a decent tempo run at the weekend with 6.5 miles around 7:30 pace.

I'm reluctant to commit myself to doing Dublin this year, at least to being able to train 5/6 days like I have in the past. Everyone is different but for me I always seem to get to the point where something breaks down. With London 2015 being the long term goal I'm gonna use Dublin as an experiment and see what happens.

In summary I'm committing to 3 runs per week (2 sessions + long run) along with conditioning at least once a week. Where this will take me I don't know but hopefully it will get me to the start line in one piece at least.

Probably most of the high mileage junkies won't agree with this approach but we'll see how it goes.

Maybe look at the runnersworld book of 3 runs a week for a marathon!!

pistol_75

average_runner wrote: »

Maybe look at the runnersworld book of 3 runs a week for a marathon!!

Have a plan worked out already but I'm sure it's pretty similar.

RedRunner

pistol_75 wrote: »

Been a while since I posted here so just popped along to give a quick update. Have had a lot going on outside of running in the last couple of weeks (nothing bad) so haven't been doing a whole lot. Did the 5 miler in the park at a hard effort without killing myself and finished just under 36 mins, also knocked out a decent tempo run at the weekend with 6.5 miles around 7:30 pace.

I'm reluctant to commit myself to doing Dublin this year, at least to being able to train 5/6 days like I have in the past. Everyone is different but for me I always seem to get to the point where something breaks down. With London 2015 being the long term goal I'm gonna use Dublin as an experiment and see what happens.

In summary I'm committing to 3 runs per week (2 sessions + long run) along with conditioning at least once a week. Where this will take me I don't know but hopefully it will get me to the start line in one piece at least.

Probably most of the high mileage junkies won't agree with this approach but we'll see how it goes.

That explains why I was able to pass you that day!:)

Good luck with the new training approach.

pistol_75

RedRunner wrote: »

That explains why I was able to pass you that day!:)

Good luck with the new training approach.

No not at all, you passed me fair and square. I'm not sure I would have caught you even in full race mode.

chinguetti

As a low mileage junkie, I'm with you all the way:D, think you've the right idea Too many miles turn it all into a dreadful task, wreck the body and then you just get sick or injuried or both.

Must try and meet up and do a LSR one of these days. Oh yeah, I'm not doing Dublin btw.

pistol_75

Session 1 of 48

1.46 miles w/u @ 8:54 HR 125

3x8 mins @ threshold intensity w/90 sec recovery.

7:07 Hr 144
7:09 Hr 146
7:13 Hr 140

1.44 miles c/d @ 9:14 Hr 134

First session this evening. Had planned to do it on grass but there was a downpour as I headed out so went out to a back road and did it over an out and back route with a few inclines but not much in the way of hills.

Plan was to run around 80-85% effort which was a bit hard to judge but I tried to keep the effort between 5K & 10K pace.

First rep went ok and then after 4 mins of the 2nd one I turned around. Pace increased on garmin as usual but I just kept the intensity the same.

Bit of a boo boo with the 2nd recovery being set to 8 mins :-( noticed after about 50 secs but took a while to sort out watch. As a result stiffened up a bit but got up to effort soon enough.

Finished off with a slow cool down. Happy enough with how it went as a start.

Next session is the same except it's to be done on hills.

pistol_75

Session 2 of 48

3 x 8 mins hills threshold run

10 mins w/u

3 x 8 mins w/90 sec recovery

7:24 Avg HR 147
7:28 Avg HR 148
7:38 Avg HR 149

10 mins c/d


First time doing this time of run where the effort was continous throughout. Found a hill with a gradual incline and basically ran up it for roughly 65 seconds and back down for 55 to bring me back to the same spot. Up and down 4 times was the 8 minutes rep keeping the same intensity uphill and downhill.

Wasn't sure how to pace this so just worked off keeping the intensity high again without being flat out. Definitely got tougher as it went on, not helped by it being so clammy. Had to take the top off for the last one (lucky it was out in the country) and got through it in the end.

Paces show as dropping off a bit but I wasn't trying to hit a set pace. HR shows me that the effort was around the same which is what it felt like to me.

A very testing but enjoyable session.

pistol_75

Session 3 of 48

60 Mins

60 mins @ 9:00

After the intensity of the first couple of sessions this was a chance to relax and take in the views. Got out Sat morning early before the wedding after spending Fri evening at the Morton Games. Good to catch up with a few people and see Digger showing off his latest racing flats

This run was pretty uneventful apart from struggling a bit with tightness in right achilees which I'm trying to manage at the moment with a bit of foam rolling. I'm hoping it clears up sooner rather than later.

First week down and just over 18 miles for the week

Not much change this week apart from the threshold intervals moving from 8 mins to 10 mins for both sessions. Long run remains at 60 mins

pistol_75

Session 4 of 48

3 x 10 mins @ threshold pace

4 x 2K @ threshold pace w/3 min recovery

1.88 mile w/u

4x2K @ (6:58, 7:01, 6:58, 6:47)

.59 mile c/d

Hadn't been down to the club session in a couple of weeks and with holidays coming up I decided to head down in the hope the session would be something similar to the plan. It turned out to be pretty much the same in regards of overall time (2-3 mins longer) with longer recoveries.

Right calf still at me a bit before and during but loosened out enough that I could run without any issue (getting it checked out tomorrow).

Enjoyed these again focussing on intensity rather than trying to hit an exact pace. Sat in at the back of my usual group for the first rep, paced the 2nd one, some of them gradually fell off on the 3rd rep as I got closer to the group in front. On the last rep I finished just behind the group in front.

Although a tough session (32-33 mins around 10K pace) I felt strong and Gary commented on the same pointing out the splits were very consistent across all of the reps.

Probably won't be in a position to make a club session for 3 weeks with holidays and a wedding after the BH so it will be back to solo sessions.

pistol_75

Session 5 of 48

65 mins @ 8:54

Paid a trip to the physio yesterday evening and on the way back decided to get my easy run out of the way as there would be company available to run with. Nothing much to report other that it was really sticky and legs were like blocks after the physio visit.

Probably would have been better to do nothing but busy enough couple of days coming up getting ready for holidays

Hilly threshold run to finish off the week on Sat/Sun

pistol_75

Ok so I'll give this a go again.

The last couple of months have been difficult mainly with stuff on and at the same time striving to get back to where I felt where I was at months ago. Haven't been as dedicated as I could/should have been but most training has been going ok.

With just over 4 weeks to go I am definitely intending to do Dublin and will sign up on Monday.

A typical training week (2 weeks ago) would be speed on Tuesday (2x400, 4 x 1 mile @ 10K pace), Thursday 10 mile tempo @ 8:00, Sunday 18 mile long run, with a couple of easy runs thrown in elsewhere.

Hadn't raced in a while and picked up a number for the 1/2 last week but pulled out after 8 miles feeling wiped. Ended up with a bug and apparently looked like I had been on the beer before the race (not the case).

This weeks training so far has been:

Monday - 5 miles @ 8:43

Tuesday - 20 mins tempo @ 7:21, 6x400 w/1 min recovery between 1:28-1:31). 7 miles total

Wednesday - 5.17 miles on grass @ 9:41


Tempo Thursday today with 10.5 miles on the menu.

Thanks for reading the log again

belcarra

Hard luck about the HM, P - Everybody seems to have been sick in the past couple of weeks, myself included.
What sort of time are you targeting in Dublin?

pistol_75

belcarra wrote: »

Hard luck about the HM, P - Everybody seems to have been sick in the past couple of weeks, myself included.
What sort of time are you targeting in Dublin?

I know it's doing the rounds alright. Re:Dublin I honestly haven't a clue. See update below.

pistol_75

Thursday 26th September

Plan called for 10.5 mile tempo @ 5 secs faster than MP.

Did a mile w/u and then set off. Have been finding these tough, a lot tougher than last year at the same pace. Lost contact with the other 2 after around 1.5 miles. By 2.5 miles my avg pace had slowed to 8:10 and my legs were spent. Was just gradually slowing so called it quits and decided to make it an easy run. Even that became a struggle after 6/7 miles and I felt pretty spent. Breathing etc were fine but legs just like lead.

Got back to the car to find a voicemail with results of a blood test from last week. Cholesterol, Blood Glucose etc very good. Iron low and a prescription to be left out for me for a course of iron tablets.

I'm hoping this is what is affecting me. I don't seem to have any problem with shorter efforts but long endurance is just too difficult for what it should be. Have also been feeling pretty tired the last couple of weeks and sleeping more.

Have entered the Kilomarathon in Moone tomorrow and was only doing it as a long run as it is close to the inlaws. Hopefully keeping the effort easy will let me get round ok.

Anybody any experience of low iron and how long it takes to see an improvement?

belcarra

pistol_75 wrote: »

Anybody any experience of low iron and how long it takes to see an improvement?

Claralara came back well after suffering from Iron deficiency there a few years back!:cool:

I also had a similar blood test result as you a year or two ago. A 30 day course of supplements and you'll gradually overcome it. You probably already know but a lack of iron means it's more difficult to get the oxygen to the muscles and therefore to run quicker/longer/easier.

I could be wrong but I think that your current difficult training could stand to you when iron levels return to normal, and that things will appear that much easier. You just need to be mentally tough until that starts happening.

pistol_75

Saturday 27th Sep

Moone Kilomarathon

After resting up on Friday and watching the Ryder Cup I headed off to Moone with the family in tow for a combination of my long run and a visit to the inlaws who live close to the course.

Was feeling fresh and well but for some reason with a bad case of DOM's in my quads which was very strange given I had done nothing too taxing on Thursday compared to normal??

Did around 2.5 miles beforehand and got to the start with a few minutes to spare. The singular aim for this was just to run it as a long run and see could I handle the miles. I got going grand and let although feeling pretty slow I was running at the right pace for a long run. The miles ticked off ok and I was met by the family after around 7K and all was going well. It was warm in spots so the water stations were welcome when they came and there was plenty of them. The run towards halfway seemed to be mainly into the wind but again I was in no hurry only to keep the effort easy and sensible.

Over the next few K I could feel my legs draining of any energy and after around 17/18K they were gone completly, devoid of any energy. I suppose if you feel normal on a long run you will have another 2 or 3 gears you could move up if you had to even for a short period. At the moment I'm just getting to a point in a run where the only other gear is reverse.

The last 5 or so miles were a death march to the finish with a walk/jog strategy enforced. Even slowing down to a crawl I was unable to keep jogging for a prolonged period. Finally got to the finish and I think it said around 2:30 on the clock when I finished.

With that in mind my main focus for the early part of this week is to keep off the Dublin Marathon website and hopefully get back to full fitness soon. I would only be tormenting myself trying to do Dublin. I can't do training runs now that I was knocking out easily 6 weeks ago so I have no right in thinking of doing the Marathon.

London 2015 is still the main goal.

career move

I think maybe it's a wise decision to skip DCM. It takes 4-6 weeks to build up iron stores usually but if they're measuring the iron in your red blood cells and that's low then your iron stores could be low as well so it could take a bit longer.

pistol_75

career move wrote: »

I think maybe it's a wise decision to skip DCM. It takes 4-6 weeks to build up iron stores usually but if they're measuring the iron in your red blood cells and that's low then your iron stores could be low as well so it could take a bit longer.

It's one race where you have to really respect the distance, especially if struggling endurance wise in what should be peak weeks of training.

Could be a lot worse.

pistol_75

Monday 29th Sep

3.7 miles @ 10:04

Just a leg loosener this evening shaking off the effects of Ryder cup Sunday.

Doc rang me this evening and said my Iron level was 10.2 so not drastically low it seems. 12 is normal. Still recommends a course of iron for 2-3 months to build it back up.

66_Lad

career move wrote: »

I think maybe it's a wise decision to skip DCM. It takes 4-6 weeks to build up iron stores usually but if they're measuring the iron in your red blood cells and that's low then your iron stores could be low as well so it could take a bit longer.

Wife suffered from v low iron levels and has had couple of iron infusions...made a massive difference to her. She recommends taking 2 galfer daily as well as complex b vitamins and vitamin c. As CM states, at least 6 wks to see much of an improvement but it will come

pistol_75

Tuesday 30th Sep

Club Session

Session tonight was 2 miles, 1 mile, 2 miles @ hmp w/ 2 mins recovery.

The aim was just to try and complete the session and not worry about pace I should be hitting and concentrate on even effort. Was also pretty windy so didn't want to overcook things either and not be able to finish.

Paces for the reps were (7:48, 7:46, 7:40).

In the context of where these should be they should probably be around 7:20 pace and not so long ago I was able to knock out 4x2K around 7 min pace. All in all though the first one was probably the only one I felt like quitting on and I wasn't as far behind my normal group for the last one.

7.45 miles in total for the night.

pistol_75

Thursday 2nd Oct

8.5 miles @ 8:37 pace

Rest day yesterday with a massage thrown it that I had booked from a couple of weeks ago. Legs are generally fine with just a few tight spots.Was telling her about blood tests and results and all of that and she started doing some tests on me as well. I was a bit sceptical at first how someone touching a certain part of your body and checking a muscles reaction could tell anything but she basically diagnosed my immune system was very low at the moment at around 50% and to take a B complex vitamin as well as Iron. She did a few other things to free up stresses etc from the body. I think this all goes under the name of Kinesiology.

Anyway getting back to running I headed out yesterday evening to get a few decent miles in but at an easy pace. Just had the HR on display and it was showing around 130 or very low 130's most of the time. I was surprised with the mile splits being shown up and I was even able to get up the few hills on the route without any problem.

A lovely run after a few weeks hardship.

average_runner

Good call Pete on skipping dublin, maybe set back in distance till Jan, work on speed and concentrate on 5k-10k races.

meathrunner

I discovered I was very low in iron levels about four years ago. I was training away but legs always feeling heavy and tired even after resting & also some breathlessness after very little exertion. I took course of iron tablets and it sorted me out but make sure to take some vitamin C with the Galfer, as this helps absorb iron. Also avoid drinking tea or coffee for about an hour after taking them, as caffeine prevents absorption.

I would advise taking two a day for first week or two with a soluble Rubex or other Vitamin C supplement. It is also very important to take Vitamin C with your red meat, etc. Have levels checked again then in 6-8 weeks to check if working.

pistol_75

Monday 6th Oct

44 mins easy (9:07, 8:43, 8:42, 8:40, 8:30)

5.05 miles
Avg HR: 134

Hadn't run since last Thursday due to a few things going on, mainly college all day Saturday and Sunday with Saturday evening having a chat with a man about a plan and a funeral yesterday evening.

Plan for the next few weeks it to start building up again and get consistency into my running in terms of getting up to running 5/6 days a week regularly again. Will be a slow process for a few weeks but I'm prepared for that.

Had company for this run so it was a little longer than planned (sorry boss). Just ran without looking at the watch but the splits were consistent anyway. Nice few hills taken in as well.

Now to have a look at the plan.