The Windy Road to Nowhere

ThePiedPiper

Sun 21 Feb: 17.5 miles at 7:52 avg pace

A run of two halves this. Spent the first 8 miles to Termonfeckin and Clogherhead holding back, going as easy as the strong tail wind would allow. Passed 8 miles just over the hour. I knew I would have to pick up the effort levels running into the wind and back up the hills, but didn't want to blow a gasket either so let the pace drop back to 8+ min/miles for a couple of the more exposed and steeper hills.

That was 33.5 miles of running inside of 24 hours, which I'm pretty happy with. I've got to admit the consistently strong winds on nearly every single one of my long runs is starting to become a bit of a pain. No doubt it's building up strength , but I'd just like to concentrate on distance as opposed to getting hammered by the wind on every run. Moan over, bad weather is a given training for a spring marathon.

ThePiedPiper

Tues 23rd Feb: 4 miles in 28:30

Treadmill for this one. Progressive effort, increasing pace every 200m from 12-16kmph. Effort levels comfortable. Also engaged in a good 20 minutes of hard core tag with the family. I fear my 4 year old is going to destroy me for speed by the time he's 7. The handicap sprint race was telling!!!

ThePiedPiper

Thursday 25 Feb: 4 miles in 30:30

Friday 26 Feb: 8 in 58:30 and 5 in 38

All on the treadmill. Mrs Tpp away for a couple of days, so any running today or tomorrow confined to indoors. Nothing exciting

ThePiedPiper

Sat 27 Feb: 10 miles in 68 and 4 in 30:30

Both of these were on the treadmill. The first one was obviously a harder effort, pyramid type effort. 12-16 and back to 12. Intended on a longer second run than 4 miles, but wanted to watch a movie. Might get out on the road tomorrow evening, been far too dependent on the treadmill this week.

ThePiedPiper

Mon 29 Feb: 4 miles in 30:20

I was on the road up and down to Monaghan yesterday and was wrecked by the time I got home, couldn't face running.

Just an easy progressive on treadmill this evening. Hammers a bit tight, but nothing to be concerned about

ThePiedPiper

Mon 29 Feb: 4 miles in 30:20

I was on the road up and down to Monaghan yesterday and was wrecked by the time I got home, couldn't face running.

Just an easy progressive on treadmill this evening. Hammers a bit tight, but nothing to be concerned about

ThePiedPiper

Tues 1st March: 6 miles in 45 minutes

Treadmill at 4 o clock. Hammers still tight.

pconn062

ThePiedPiper wrote: »

Tues 1st March: 6 miles in 45 minutes

Treadmill at 4 o clock. Hammers still tight.

Drop me a message if you want a rub on the hammies, free of course.

ThePiedPiper

pconn062 wrote: »

Drop me a message if you want a rub on the hammies, free of course.

Sorry for not replying PConn, didn't log on for a couple of days. Hammers sorted themselves out alright.

Thurs: 4 miles in 30:30

Bog standard run on treadmill

ThePiedPiper

Sat 5th March: 26.2 miles in 3:23 (7:42 pace)

Out nice and early at 7:30, just had a small bowl of cereal and a glass of water. Took 2 gels with me just in case. Took it really easy the first 4 miles down to Grangebellew, about 8:00 pace. Was running into a pretty strong breeze, but kept it very relaxed. On over through Dunleer, before the first long steady climb out through Dromin and towards Ardee. Felt a bit of tightening in my chest near Ardee, but after a couple of minutes of focusing on breathing that went away. Turning onto the N2 in Ardee, I'd another long climb but had the benefit of the wind on my back, so was able to drop the pace into 7:20s with little extra effort. The family had come out to give me a few shouts of support whilst doing a few messages, so the next few miles through Collon and back towards home passed by quickly. I only really tired a bit after 25 miles where there is 180 feet elevation gain in the last mile. Hit the front door of the house with garmin at 25.95 miles, the kids and Mrs Tpp joined me for 4 laps around the house to bring up the distance.

Felt very good on this run, the longest time on my feet since 2010 I think. Good days work before 11am

ThePiedPiper

Sun 6th Mar: 5 miles in 39:45

Easy recovery run on the treadmill. Legs a bit stiff after yesterday's workout, but pretty close to normal long run fatigue.

ThePiedPiper

Tues 8th Mar: 4 miles in 29 minutes

Nice easy pace for the first 3 miles on treadmill and I then lost the run of myself and ran the last mile at about 10k pace. There's been an awful lot of restraint in running at easy pace this past while, bit of speed felt good.

ThePiedPiper

Weds 9th Mar: 4 miles in 30:30

Easy pace, but felt a little lethargic. I donated blood yesterday evening, so I suppose red blood cells are slightly down today.

pconn062

ThePiedPiper wrote: »

Weds 9th Mar: 4 miles in 30:30

Easy pace, but felt a little lethargic. I donated blood yesterday evening, so I suppose red blood cells are slightly down today.

Very low mileage mid week A, are you hoping to increase this or are the weekend runs the main focus?

ThePiedPiper

pconn062 wrote: »

Very low mileage mid week A, are you hoping to increase this or are the weekend runs the main focus?

Too low, I agree. Just busy life I suppose, I should really be doing a medium length run during the week, but tomorrow's out too with first confession. Ideally I'd prefer to be running 60 miles per week instead of scraping 45-50, but it is what it is. Weekend long back to back runs and one run of >25 miles were the main aims and I feel like I've achieved those.

This weekend I might just do one long run, and hopefully next weekend 20-20 or 20-22 if I'm feeling good. With Easter holidays coming, I should put in a couple of good weeks before backing off by 31st March.

I'd say my training is pretty crap or atypical at best for an ultra, but I'm still of the view that training and running comes behind other priorities so in the medium term, I'm not going to be reaching my potential at any distance. Hardly inspirational!

Your body holding up lately? Up to racing or is it softly does it?

ThePiedPiper

Sat 12th Mar: 20 miles in 2:21 (7:05 pace)

This was supposed to be a nice relaxed run out along Donore and Newgrange. Was really enjoying it until I realised I was getting tight for time to make it back to Drogheda on time to pick one of the kids up from a birthday party. By this stage, I was out near Kentstown, with a goal of 10 miles in 65 minutes to get back to Drogheda 5 minutes late. Put the hammer down and ran damn hard, down in 6:20s and a couple under that. Out through Duleek and the horrendously polluting factories, I was starting to run out of steam, but kept working away.

An unplanned MP segment, first in a long time, but really enjoyed the extra effort and pace. Most importantly, there was no effect in the legs from last weeks 26 miler.

ThePiedPiper

Better throw an update here, was planning a big couple of weeks there, but a couple of issues got in the way.

Weds 15th Mar: 7.7 miles at 7:29 avg pace

This was a nice comfortable run, before flying off to Essex for a short break.

16 & 17 Mar: 4.1 miles at 6:45 and 7:19 pace

Enjoyed a few pints over the couple of days, a friend of ours has two pubs in a little village in Essex, great food and company. Did a gym session and bit of swimming in the hotel, was feeling pretty pleased with my start to the Easter break.

When I woke on Saturday morning, I was in absolute bits, stomach was in a hoop, I'd a temperature and had zero energy. I thought at first it was just a hangover, but the high temperature and the state I was in suggested food poisoning. A microwave cooked strange tasting breakfast roll bought from a petrol station at the side of a motorway was given the blame, and I spent the next few days recovering. I was initially a bit peeved losing out on planned heavy training, but accepted the advice of those around me that I was in no fit state to stress the body's defences.

Thursday 24th: 9.4 miles at 7:29 pace

I was finally feeling back to normal and chomping at the bit for a run. I suggested a medium length run of 16 miles, Mrs tpp thought 4 might be better in case I was still sick. Settled on 8 miles, and based on having to jump into a field for a toileting issue halfway around, probably a reasonable decision. Close to fully healthy, but not quite enough for longer run for another couple of days.

I'd intended 20 miles on Saturday, but we'd a few family things on, and I really didn't want to be the black sheep arriving an hour late so put it on hold.

Sunday 27th Mar: 20 miles at 7:33 pace

Weather was fairly damn miserable up here on Sunday, very windy, with the odd blast of heavy rain. Decided on a route through Dunleer, Collon and Drogheda. First few miles were handy, downhill with the wind at my back. Turning into the wind in Dunleer, I'd to up the effort a bit and dropped the pace to 7:40s. The first rain shower was light enough, but it was only a short reprieve. Out onto the N2 in Collon, the rain was driving sideways in sheets, howling wind, freezing cold. My hands were nearly purple. Not much fun for those 20 minutes.

Beautiful sunshine suddenly broke out around Tullyallen, and a I got a bit carried away with the pace, running a couple of 6:5x miles. Took a gel just to test the stomach out, no issues.

Running back up the hill to home, pace dropped back to 8:00+, but I didn't bother forcing it. The weather was a major issue on that run, but I was happy to cover the distance in relative comfort.

So, not quite the pre-taper fortnight I wanted, but sometimes life just goes like that. I feel like I'm in reasonable shape for a good ultra in Connemara. Looking forward to tackling it, hopefully the weather will play ball.

ThePiedPiper

The weather beat me today. 11 years running and my first DNF. Suppose it had to come sometime. I thought I'd be more annoyed when this day finally came, but the state I was in after I withdrew wasn't pretty. I genuinely feel like I could have ended up in hospital with hypothermia if I'd forced myself past Leenaun, and the ambulances were having a very busy time of it.

I'll be back in Connemara for another crack at the ultra, I've been blessed with weather in races over the years. Couple of easy weeks now, and I'll move on.

Ed Mc Groarty

Sorry to hear that Tpp.
At one point I also felt dangerously cold and contemplated flagging an ambulance down.
It was a tough day for running.
Nice to meet you.

ThePiedPiper

I considered writing a race report for the Conn Ultra but might just go with bullet points of what went wrong, in order that I learn from it.
1. I was cold from the get go - I should have kept my extra layer on for longer than the first mile.
2. As I discussed with EdG mid race, I was quite aware that my body temperature was falling, even in the first hour. In hindsight, I could have picked up the pace for a couple of miles to get my body working a bit more.
3. When the wind whipped my hat off, a fellow runner handed it back to me. I don't know why I didn't put it back on, I might have stayed warmer for longer.
4 I needed to be in some sort of rain gear. I knew the forecast, but totally ignored it. Even my hi-viz vest would have been of help. Utterly naive.
5. Training wasn't perfect, but it rarely is. Plenty of things I could have done differently there, but I don't feel like the length of the race was any issue. I will however, try a 50k in preparation for a future Conn Ultra.

What have I taken from it? Aerobic condition is good after a decent bank of long runs. I got a bit bored with doing most of my training at slower pace, in any future ultra training, I'll vary the paces a bit more. The DNF is gnawing at me a bit, I won't know how well I can run ultras until I actually finish a race, so there's a question mark over a couple of races on my bucket list that needs answering.

As a final thought, the slide in my race times over the last year and a half is finally pi$$ing me off. I haven't hit a target in 16 months. Life is like that sometimes, but I need to improve my attitude, and get more quality.

I've entered a September marathon, before I go about thinking about targets, I'm going to get back to some faster running, a bit of racing and more focus and structure. I'd do well to have a look back over the first few months of this log.

ThePiedPiper

Sat 16th Apr: 6 miles in 40 minutes (6:41)

I gave the legs a couple of days to get over Conn, no real fatigue, just decided to play safe. I was chomping at the bit by the time I got out, and after a handy start, decided to motor on. Ran 2 miles at MP, and 1 at 10k pace. It felt fantastic to be running hard.

Sun 17 April: 4.25 miles in 27:50 (6:33)

Again, more reckless abandon type running for sheer enjoyment.

Tuesday 19 Apr: 7.6 miles in 52:40 (6:56)

Down one of my favourite routes by Sandpit, wasn't particularly pushing it on the way down the hill, but put in a good effort on way home, where sub 7s are hard work. A bit of hill springing in 2 bursts of about 400m apiece were tough, a reminder of the total lack of speed work over the past few months.

Thursday 21 April: 5 miles in 36-37 minutes.

Started on the treadmill and headed out on the road for 4 miles.

Friday: 30 minutes of sprinting playing games with the kids.
as tough as any long run

ThePiedPiper

Sun 24th Apr: 4.2 miles in 28:20 (6:45)

I was going to do a longer run this evening, but I decided to wash the two cars instead for some reason. Got out about 8:45 and despite hamstrings crying from working in the garden and running about with the kids, the legs were turning over nicely.

I've taken my own advice, and looked back at my training from a couple of years ago, and have resolved to run a couple of faster miles on most runs, need to get my body used to 6:25-6:30 pace again. Did the middle two miles of this run at 6:25 each.

Longer evenings are great, no reason not to be able to head out for 7-12 miles on school nights after 8 o clock, going to work on building up my mileage and pace for the next couple of months.

ThePiedPiper

Mon 25 Apr: 10.1 miles in 73 minutes (7:16)

Out on the roads at 8pm, cold and windy, more like January as opposed to the last week of spring. Ah well, happy enough that it was bright and dry.

Kept the pace handy enough, tried working harder on the hills.

ThePiedPiper

Weds 25 April: 4 miles in 30:30

Easy run on treadmill

ThePiedPiper

Thursday 27 April: 4.1 miles in 28:25 (6:46)

First interval type session in I don't know how long. Out on the road, half mile warmup, 0.5 mile repeats with 0.25 recoveries. Went way too fast on the first two 1/2 miles, and was near goosed on the last couple uphill. Given the hilly terrain, the splits mean nothing, but here they are:
2:41, 2:42, 2:48, 3:00, 3:14

youngrun

ThePiedPiper wrote: »

Thursday 27 April: 4.1 miles in 28:25 (6:46)

First interval type session in I don't know how long. Out on the road, half mile warmup, 0.5 mile repeats with 0.25 recoveries. Went way too fast on the first two 1/2 miles, and was near goosed on the last couple uphill. Given the hilly terrain, the splits mean nothing, but here they are:
2:41, 2:42, 2:48, 3:00, 3:14

All your mileage is at a very good clip and better than you are racing , why do you think that is? Perhaps a bit more structure in your training eg tempo/reps/long run some with a club each week with a race every 6 weeks or so ? You look to have the potential for low to mid 2.40s marathon and maybe get a couple of ten k s in and wit a bit of a planet you can definitely run 35 min in next 6 months.

ThePiedPiper

youngrun wrote: »

All your mileage is at a very good clip and better than you are racing , why do you think that is? Perhaps a bit more structure in your training eg tempo/reps/long run some with a club each week with a race every 6 weeks or so ? You look to have the potential for low to mid 2.40s marathon and maybe get a couple of ten k s in and wit a bit of a planet you can definitely run 35 min in next 6 months.

Cheers for the feedback youngrun. You're about right with absolutely everything there (the low 2:40s aside maybe). I've not been racing nearly enough, or for that matter, doing any really hard sessions in training. Structure has been poor due to family issues mostly, kids are 6, 5 and 1, and I don't prioritise running much.

However, the training that took me to 36:xx 10k and 2:49 marathon is doable again, and I'm feeling sufficiently motivated to do what's required to shake off the recent slump. More races and alternating weekly tempo/interval sessions are a must, and definitely part of the plan for the summer. I'm not sure whether that'll take me below 2:48 for the marathon, but I hope to give it a try.

ThePiedPiper

Sat 30th Apr: 10 miles in 1:12 (7:12)

Got a window of an hour and a half with the youngest in bed, so headed on a tough enough route, into Drogheda and home by the Hill of Rath. Kept the pace nice and steady up the hills. First sign of a bit of decent weather hopefully.

ThePiedPiper

Sun 1st May: 3.1 miles in 21:40 (6:59)

Was up at stupid o'clock with the kid, teething like mad, so was sort of zonked all day, just headed out at 9 for a quick one down by the Popes Cross. 1 mile at MP

Mon 2nd May: 8 miles in 55:30 (6:56)

Ran home from Drogheda via Tullyallen. Winds were gusting strong enough in places, and it was quite hilly. Hammered it on hard enough, 2 miles at MP

ThePiedPiper

Tues 3 May: 4 miles in 31:30 (7:52)

Extra day off school, but our two oldest had scho and were up early so I headed off on this one bright and early. Legs were tired, so took it very easy.

Wednesday 4 May: 4 miles in 30:30 treadmill

Thursday 5 May: 3.1 miles in 23 (7:26)

Uninspiring slow run just to stretch the legs

Saturday: 4.2 miles in 30:15 (7:12)

Unintentionally ran a 6:43 and 6:56 in the middle of this. Lovely evening for it