La brea brothallach a bhi ann....

nosnagaoithe

I guess we all remember those famous words from our school days, writing Irish short stories and the like for the Junior/Inter Cert....let's hope we see some of them later in the summer...

I've lurked on here for long enough so thought I'd try a proper training log and see how it goes. My main focus is DCM in October which is marathon number 4. Target will be sub 3'15 with current PB of 3'24 from Kildare last year. Injuries are always a concern with me so I have to manage the body somewhat - especially ITB situation.

After a reasonably solid winter followed by 3 week break in March, I have 6 weeks base building in the bag with milage of 35-40 pw. Next up is Terenure 5M on Sunday which I am using as a benchmark to see where I am at. PB from Raheny is 32'40 from January so let's see how it goes.....although not sure I am in PB shape right now.

nosnagaoithe

Week so far:
Mon - 5.5M at lunchtime with 3*1M @ 10k race pace - felt ok, was feeling it a little as first time I've done any speed work for a few weeks

Wed - 12M midweek med/long : this is a staple of my week and is usually a 12-14M easy run to improve aerobic capacity. Felt strong throughout despite headwind coming back up the coast from Dun Laoghaire into the city.

My Garmin 405 packed up after Monday's run so I'm a little stuck at the minute - I've tried all avenues to get it resolved but the screen is frozen with "100% charged" and Monday's date and time locked. Think I'll send it to them and see what they can do.

belcarra

nosnagaoithe wrote: »

My Garmin 405 packed up after Monday's run so I'm a little stuck at the minute - I've tried all avenues to get it resolved but the screen is frozen with "100% charged" and Monday's date and time locked. Think I'll send it to them and see what they can do.

Have you tried raising this as a question over on the garmin thread? Dr. Krusty usually offers tremendously success outcomes!

nosnagaoithe

belcarra wrote: »

Have you tried raising this as a question over on the garmin thread? Dr. Krusty usually offers tremendously success outcomes!

will do thanks !

nosnagaoithe

2nd half of the week was ;

Thursday - 5M recovery run around Irishtown reserve , legs in a jock, very heavy

Friday - 8M easy on grass around Newbridge Demesne, Donabate. Again, legs were like lead and no zip at all. Given I was running the Terenure 5M on Sunday this was a major concern.

Sunday - Sportsworld 5M : 34'46. As expected was v flat today and after a 6'20 first mile I struggled badly. This is 2 mins slower than Raheny this year so not good. Having said that I've upped the intensity and distance in training the last 2 weeks and did not taper for this so not overly worried. Bigger fish to fry this year....

Total for week : 37.5M
Massage tomorrow night and a step back a little in milage this week, before the next push higher.

nosnagaoithe

Monday - fairly full on sports massage , legs were in a jock and badly needed it. Day off today and back out tom night for usual midweek 12M easy. I'm mulling over running the BHAA Dunboyne 5M next Tuesday night....will see how the legs respond over next few days

Peckham

Just spotted your log after you posted on mine. Looks like our training follows similar routes - Lusk, coast road from Dun Laoghaire, Irishtown Nature Reserve. We've probably passed each other along the Lusk bypass many times.

Let me know if you fancy some company on an easy few miles around Lusk!

nosnagaoithe

Peckham wrote: »

Just spotted your log after you posted on mine. Looks like our training follows similar routes - Lusk, coast road from Dun Laoghaire, Irishtown Nature Reserve. We've probably passed each other along the Lusk bypass many times.

Let me know if you fancy some company on an easy few miles around Lusk!

No problem - I certainly will....I'll post that Lusk race in the events section also as I don't think it's getting much publicity at all.

Peckham

nosnagaoithe wrote: »

I'll post that Lusk race in the events section also as I don't think it's getting much publicity at all.

shhh....I finished third in the 12k last year. The less people that know about it, the better the chance of improving my position!

nosnagaoithe

Wed - 12M easy out East Link, Clontarf and back down Dollymount beach, into Ringsend. Decent breeze out which made the way back in tough enough. Finished a shade under 1'36'' or just under 8 min/mile pace. Had forgotten to bring my usual second bagel which I normally have at 3pm on Wed....meant I was low on energy during last 3/4 miles.

Thurs - 4M easy/rec lunchtime run down Sandymount and back. Got caught in a very heavy, squally shower, with strong winds. Meh....

Leg watch : still not great, a real lack of zip and freshness once again.

nosnagaoithe

Fri/Sat - Rest days : had a lot of family stuff on with my 2 year old daughters birthday amongst other things....decided to give the legs a break

Sun - 8M in 60'58 : out in 31'16, back in 29'42 ...happy with this as should have been a bit longer but missed getting out in the AM due to further distractions on home front. As it was a shorter run, I upped the pace to see how the legs were...happy to report feeling much fresher now.

Mon - 5M easy at lunchtime in 39 mins ish : went down to inspect the damage done at merrion gates and it looks like someone took the gate clean off. Hope the train home isn't delayed tonight like this mng....:rolleyes:

Plan for week : 43M to get done this week - will bring midweek 12M forward to tom night due to Ireland match on Wed night. Have scrapped the idea of racing Dunboyne tom night.

nosnagaoithe

Tuesday - 12M easy run : moved this forward one day as wanted to watch match tonight ....tipped out to DL and back to work at Ringsend. Nice evening for a few miles but got hungry again on last 3 or 4 miles as had forgotten my afternoon bagle. Seems to make a big difference to my energy levels. Time was a shade over 1'34.

Wed - OFF : will do a decent stretching session and spend time on the Foam Roller working the ITB.

nosnagaoithe

Wed - spent 30 minutes stretching and foam rolling the damned ITB...feeling reasonably ok

Thursday - 6M tempo at lunchtime out the canal and back. This was great. First decent session in ages. Went out in around 23min and came back in 20'54 (Garmin took forever to lock in so guessing first half). Lots of zip in legs and was up on the toes throughout. Great eye candy along the canal at lunchtime which helped

nosnagaoithe

Over the last week or so I'm finally starting to feel confident again and seeing some of the base miles translating to improved fitness levels. I always find the drop in "easy" pace a good indicator of this and easy pace now feels like 7'40 compared to 8 mins at the start of April when this cycle started.

Friday - 7M after work ....nice and easy out to Rush and back to ease into the long weekend. Felt good after previous day's quicker run.

Sat - rest

Sun - 13M in the afternoon in a handy 1'44. Just a leisurely trot to get the second long run of the week in. No issues and ran the last two miles quicker just to see how it felt...think last was 7'20 which will be MP for me.

Week summary : 43M in the bag which is bang on target. Job done.

Next week : 46M target including midweek 13/14M, and longer run on Sunday of 15M ...again focused on increasing the endurance work.

nosnagaoithe

Monday - 1M easy my 5 yr old has been asking me to go running for a few days so I took him out for a bit. Just some sprints and a lap of the football pitch, finished off with some stretches ....he loved it

Tuesday - 6M steady at lunchtime. Started off 1M easy, then ran 4M @ 7'15ish pace, 1M easy to finish Had been using a mate's Garmin which ran out of steam half way through so guessing at pace on last 2M or so. Nice to run in some decent heat for a change.

Legwatch - a little on the heavy side so a good stretch tonight, and some foam roller action

nosnagaoithe

Wed - plan was a minimum of 12M up to 14M max. Given the heat, was happy to get 12 done. Took it handy, so clocked around 1'38 mark for the distance (just ordered replacement Garmin yest). Mulling over running the Docklands 10k on 20th June as that week is a step back week for me, so milage won' be too high, and I could do a little taper into it to freshen the legs.

nosnagaoithe

Thurs - busy day in work so lunch run was reduced to 4M recovery on grass in Sean Moore Park. Legs tight initially but loosened up after a couple of miles. Looking forward to rest day on Sat.....

nosnagaoithe

Friday - 6M easy at lunctime - pace 7'50 mile. Legs badly in need of some respite and the good news is tomorrow is a rest day. LSR on Sunday to round off a decent week. Have made the call to race the Docklands 10k on June 20th - have a soft PB of 42'10 to address.

blockic

nosnagaoithe wrote: »

Friday - 6M easy at lunctime - pace 7'50 mile. Legs badly in need of some respite and the good news is tomorrow is a rest day. LSR on Sunday to round off a decent week. Have made the call to race the Docklands 10k on June 20th - have a soft PB of 42'10 to address.

Whats the target for Docklands nosnagaoithe? Looking at the training you'll be looking at well under the 40?

nosnagaoithe

blockic wrote: »

Whats the target for Docklands nosnagaoithe? Looking at the training you'll be looking at well under the 40?

Hi Blockic

Not sure tbh - certainly target a sub 40 later in the summer ....I'd say anything sub 41 would be acceptable right now. I've only really cranked it up in last 2 weeks after 7/8 weeks of base building on just easy miles. No real speed work done as such, but aerobic capacity, etc is building from the endurance work. Later in the training I'll do longer tempo runs (10M) and use longer intervals (such as 10M runs inc 3*2M reps off 4 min rec) to aid speed endurance. After a few of those sessions hopefully the sub 40 will come. Could do with shedding half a stone also

Are you running it yourself?

nosnagaoithe

Sat - rest day...although ended up at Greenann Farm at a work family day. Was a great day out and we had a blast....

Sun - 15M LSR (no Garmin/felt like 8min mile effort) : decent effort this, around the undulating terrain of North County Dublin. Lusk-Rush-Loughshinny-Skerries- Lusk loop.... getting some decent hill work during it as well. Felt good throughout, 1 stop in Skerries for a sports drink, no gels taken. Headed out around 5pm as it was starting to cool off a little - had a nice easterly breeze keeping me cool as I tipped around.

Week in review : target 46M / 44M completed. Got the key sessions done so not overly disappointed to miss out by 2 miles. Endurance really improving and feeling much more comfortable doing the quicker stuff also. Will check weight situation in the morning.

Next week : 50M - first 50M week in over a year....week after next will be a step back week so fingers crossed I can hit the 50M which sets me up nicely.

blockic

nosnagaoithe wrote: »

Hi Blockic

Not sure tbh - certainly target a sub 40 later in the summer ....I'd say anything sub 41 would be acceptable right now. I've only really cranked it up in last 2 weeks after 7/8 weeks of base building on just easy miles. No real speed work done as such, but aerobic capacity, etc is building from the endurance work. Later in the training I'll do longer tempo runs (10M) and use longer intervals (such as 10M runs inc 3*2M reps off 4 min rec) to aid speed endurance. After a few of those sessions hopefully the sub 40 will come. Could do with shedding half a stone also

Are you running it yourself?

Good stuff, not running it myself but was interesting in your target. I reckon you'll be hitting sub 40 handy once you get a couple of sessions into ya. As the pace looks to be there.

nosnagaoithe

Mon - 4M recovery on grass at lunchtime. Legs were very heavy from yesterday's effort and I was tired all day, never got going really. Anyway, 4 very slow miles to get the week started. Loosened out after 3 miles or so and did a few stretches. My foam roller cracked last week so need to buy a new one this week as I can sense some tightness in the legs again. Plan is rest on Tuesday and then med/long Wed after work.

nosnagaoithe

Tues - Rest (planned)

Wed - Rest (not planned)

Thurs - 8M easy @ guess 7'50-8'00 pace (no garmin)

Have been feeling poorly all week with sore throat and head cold....think it's doing the rounds. Missed the usual Wed night med/long, as was very lethargic and short on energy. Got out this evening for usual out and back to Rush - caught in a savage heavy shower .5 mile from the gaff. Legs felt good and run was v enjoyable....hopefully am over the worst of the sickness. Highlight of the day was getting tickets sorted for the Liverpool v Celtic match on 10 Aug

nosnagaoithe

A real struggle to get out the last few days - I've just started a building project on my house and it's taken up a lot of my time (no surprises there). A grand total of 12M in the bag last week - there's no point getting beat up about it, and it's sufficiently early in the mara training cycle to write it off. One can normally expect to have 1 or 2 weeks like this in any cycle so let's hope it's not the way of things to come. The next 3 weeks the plan is 3*50M weeks ....I head off on 2 weeks holidays after that, and running 50M p.w. in 35 degree heat in Spain won't be an option. Essential to dig in and get the miles done between now and July 7th.

This week :

Monday - 5M easy at lunchtime....just getting the legs turning over again after a few days off.

SluggerOToole

nosnagaoithe, can u recommend a suitable garmin for an old school slugger like meself? also that's some mileage. I try to get 15-20 a week..I really have some work to do!! (aka Lord McNaughton!)
PS love ur blog!

nosnagaoithe

SluggerOToole wrote: »

nosnagaoithe, can u recommend a suitable garmin for an old school slugger like meself? also that's some mileage. I try to get 15-20 a week..I really have some work to do!! (aka Lord McNaughton!)
PS love ur blog!

Good man Slugger - keep plugging away and you'll be up to running a decent DCM time in October

nosnagaoithe

Tuesday AM - 6M easy at lunchtime , didn't push it at all with the race on Thursday night. Still no watch.

Tuesday PM - got out at 9.30pm for another 4M run at recovery pace of 8.30 min mile.

10M in total, and 15M so far this week. Plan for rest of week is 10k docklands race tom and 16M LSR on Sunday. I'll fill in the rest of the milage Fri/Sat to hit 50M for the week. Back on track it seems.

Got re-conditioned Garmin yesterday evening which is great.

nosnagaoithe

Ran Docklands 10k last night - some crowds doing it and atmosphere was great. Stayed reasonably close to front of wave 1 as was conscious of the tight corners around Grand Canal Dock/South Quays. 1st mile in 6'19 was decent and then the splits drifted up to around 6'40 area which was ok for me. Had a disaster at 7km marker as my left shoelace opened - this took a few seconds to unravel and re-tie which did my head in. Managed to pick it up again and finished strongly for 41'20 (garmin)/41'21 (chip). A decent PB of almost 1 min verus November 2012 on same route (Mark Pollack run). Gonna target the Malahide Park Runs to work on the speed and eventually break the 40 min barrier. Shout out to my work colleague Mark Christie who won well in 29.57.

knockoncd

Well done on the pb nos, always tough when you have something unexpected happen but it,ll strengthen you for the bigger battles ahead I'm sure.

nosnagaoithe

knockoncd wrote: »

Well done on the pb nos, always tough when you have something unexpected happen but it,ll strengthen you for the bigger battles ahead I'm sure.

Thanks Frank. Are you back from the warm weather training?

nosnagaoithe

Friday - 7M v easy around Newbridge Demesne. Legs quite tired after last night so a handy few miles on the grass.

nosnagaoithe

Sat - Scheduled day off

Sun - 16M LSR in 2'09. Meet up with TC at 0930 in Phoenix Pk for this one. It was like a winters day, wet and windy but we trotted out 16M reasonably well. Did a loop up from Papal Cross down to the zoo and up the north road, before crossing over and going down Ordnance Survey Road, up the S-bends and back around to car at Papal Cross to take on some fluids. Second loop was up Chesterfield to Castleknock Gate, down the North Road, over past Magazine Fort and up the nasty, twisty hills at St. Mary's Hospital at 15M mark which was a real tester. Very happy with this, felt strong in last mile and picked it up a little to see what was in the tank.

Week in review : Plan was for 50M , got 47M done so happy enough. Some good quality in there with 10k PB, and a solid LSR. On the right track again.

Plan this week : 50M again, with 14M midweek med/long and 17M LSR. Going to introduce Jack Daniels T-pace session (thanks Peckham!) and also try fit in a sports massage later in the week.

nosnagaoithe

Mon - 5M recovery run in 41'40. On the grass in Sean Moore Park at lunchtime. Nothing to report - legs freed up after a couple of miles and was making sure the splits stayed slow.

Peckham

nosnagaoithe wrote: »

Going to introduce Jack Daniels T-pace session

What's the plan?

Did you buy the book?

nosnagaoithe

Peckham wrote: »

What's the plan?

Did you buy the book?

Plan is to introduce the 2*20 min session and develop it from there. Last year I developed the midweek med/long into a session like : 12-14M inc 3/4*1.5/2M @HMP. I want to get some consistent milage done and work on LT this year. I'm waiting on delivery of a Nook, and heading off on hols in 2 weeks, so I think I know what book I'll be getting first....

nosnagaoithe

Tues - scheduled rest day

Wed - midweek 12M run : did my usual route after work from Ringsend to Dun Laoghaire and back ....but quicker this week with average pace of 7'43. This felt really good and we squeezed out some miles between 7'28 - 7'38 on the way back in. I've been short of energy this week and barking like a dog, so was not looking forward to this but once I got going it was enjoyable. Nice evening for it too which always helps. Am building nicely at the minute and am about 1 month ahead of schedule in DCM training which is exactly where I wanted to be given the holidays, etc coming up in July.

nosnagaoithe

Thursday - handy 6M in 51 min around the back roads of Lusk at 8.45pm. Pace was v easy as have a session later today which will be tough going. Ended up doing a section of this on the hard shoulder of the old N1 which I hate, as it's too busy a road to run on - need must in this instance. Definitely moving into section 2 of the marathon cycle now - building blocks in place and ready to up the ante in terms of PMP miles and longer tempos.

Peckham

nosnagaoithe wrote: »

Ended up doing a section of this on the hard shoulder of the old N1 which I hate, as it's too busy a road to run on

I completely avoid that stretch of road unless I'm running to Lusk from elsewhere (I always associate it with rats which I have an irrational fear of). For a 6ish mile run, my preferred route would be the loop up by the Educate Together school, along the Loughshinny road and back down the road that comes out at Raheny Roundabout. That or two laps of bypass-Chapel Farm-Dun Emer-Treen Hill.

Are you doing the Lusk races next weekend?

nosnagaoithe

[
Are you doing the Lusk races next weekend?[/QUOTE]

Sure am - will give the 12k a lash ....will be sure to say hello. Have a couple of mates coming up to run, so might try sneak in a beer or two afterwards. To be honest, the thought of 3 loops is not very appealing but I missed this last year due to injury after Kildare mara, so I want to do it this year.

nosnagaoithe

Fri - Session : 10M inc 2 *2M @ LT pace (6'40).

Stopped into Newbridge Demesne, Donabate on way home from work for this one. Started off with 3M easy on grass, then hit the tarmac for the first 2M block - not sure what happened here, but think the Garmin lost signal as I ran through a heavily forrested section, and the first mile timed at 7'07, next mile was bang on 6'40. Ran 1M easy and then did the second block 6'38 then 6'36 , and finished off with 2M cool down. A good session all told and one I'll be using again. Legs felt sore and heavy afterwards for the first time in a few months. Badly need to get in for massage next week some stage.

nosnagaoithe

After Friday's session I was feeling good and looking forward to one more tough week before a break as I head off on hols. This left just Sunday's LSR to complete the week.

Sat - scheduled rest day : spent the day looking at floor tiles and wooden floors ...nice .

Sun - 17M LSR (abandoned) : plan was usual route out and back Lusk-Rush-Loughshinny-Skerries. I got out just after 10am and at around 3M felt a twinge on outside of the left knee. Stopped and poked around at it but knew in my heart of hearts it was the ITB acting up. Tried another mile just to see and it got no better. A long 4M walk back to the house and then some foam rolling and icing for the rest of the day. Am going to get it worked on tonight, so hopefully won't be too much of a set back. Was due to run a local race this Sunday but that's unlikely now.

nosnagaoithe

Went in for massage on the dodgy IT band last night and by jaysus was it sore. Got the whole area treated TFL, glutes, lower back, ITB, etc. It's very tender today so I'll just ice it tonight and try do some more stretching and icing tomorrow. Might try an easy 3 or 4M on Thursday and see how it feels. Will make the call on Sunday's race at that stage.

nosnagaoithe

Have been icing the area all week to reduce inflammation and did no running at all. Went to the gym at lunchtime and did 15 mins on the bike to loosen up, before approaching the dreadmill with a sense of foreboding. Did just 15 mins really easy and no ill effects. Followed up with some stretches and further work on the IT Band. Looks as if it is ok now but I will be treading carefully. Am faced with a dilemma : run the 12k race on Sunday and hope for no reaction, or take the rest of the week very easy and do not race. I missed this race last year due to injury, and I'd really like to hammer it out as a benchmark of where I am at. Will make the final call on Saturday.

Peckham

Are you sure you want to race at full tilt? Risks seem high.

If you don't race, can you stand somewhere on the course with a hose?! It's looking like a hot one!

nosnagaoithe

Fri - Gym again : Bike/3M run/stretching combo

Another session in the gym today - started off with some stretches and a bit of foam roller work. Cycled 10 min easy on the bike to warm up and then hit the dreadmill for 3 miles easy. No reaction to speak of, so looking good so far. Will try 5/6M easy tom mng and see how we go. More stretching and icing tonight at home.

nosnagaoithe

After much deliberation I decided to run the 12k race yesterday. Got a 2M warm up done and was pumping sweat as it was roasting hot. Decent enough turn out for a low key local race, and we got going just after 2pm. Got out ok with first mile in 6'37 and then second mile slower at 6'53. Already I was feeling the heat very badly....mile 3 was 6'59. At this stage, I was parched and badly needed water for fear of dehydration. Mentally, I had given up on any decent race time and decided to just finish out best I could. The remaining splits were low 7 mins for a total of 51'30, and I had the course about 400M short. They were the toughest conditions I ever ran in and there seemed to be no relieving wind. Ended up being more of a tempo training run than anything else so some training benefit will have been achieved. The ITB held up well which is great. Off to Spain on Wed for 2 weeks but will be bringing the running gear with me. Plan will be to tick over with just easy miles whilst away.

Peckham

Well done on sticking it out. I dropped out of the race after the first lap. Had developed a bad stitch that wasn’t shifting and was slowing down badly. Didn't see the point in continuing as I'm now planning a heavy week of training.

Given I was so close to home it was too easy to drop out. Ended up watching the race from my garden with my over-excited two year old before walking over to the finish area. Hopefully he gave you a cheer!

nosnagaoithe

Hoping to get back on the horse tom after holiday hiatus. I spent 2 weeks in Nerja with the family and managed 5/6 easy 6 mile runs. DCM being 14 weeks from yesterday I need to pick it up fairly sharpish. I'll give it a lash and see what happens....onwards and upwards....

nosnagaoithe

It's been a mixed few weeks on the training front - the injury situation only really just resolved itself, and I was restricted to 5/6 mile runs , all easy pace. I got 12M done yesterday and no reactions so am going to push on from here. 70 days to DCM from today so going to be v tight - hopefully the base built up over the last 5 years will stand me in good stead. Plan is to get back to focusing on endurance work - midweek 12-14M, LSR at weekend, and one 8-10M tempo run, plus general aerobic/recovery work. Let's see how it goes.

nosnagaoithe

Monday - 5M recovery run in 41'20
Nice lunchtime run on grass in Sean Moore Park. Calves really tight though so needed a good stretch last night. Rest today and midweek 12M tom night.