If nice guys finish last, then I'm in training to be a badass!

rob w

Friday 20th

(4m) 5.6km @ 5:50/km – AVG HR 125bpm (65%)

Easy paced run in the evening time, nice and handy!



Sunday 22nd

(11.5m) 18.4km @ 5:53/km – AVG HR 131bpm (68%)

Planned a new route for this which was ~16km. I planned on doing about 15k and then walking the last 1km home......or so I thought! I was about 2km in when I came across a street festival on the route I had planned out, it was black with people so decided to try and go around, but not having a clue where I was. I took the next parallel street I could find (at least I thought it was parallel, but turned out not to be). So a bit of ducking and diving (across a basketball court and through some bushes) I managed to find my way back to where I wanted to be, although covering a bit more distance than planned in the process. Anyway, it was a really enjoyable run, took in a large lap of a beautiful lake on the route and the sun was shining, so I was happy and didn't mind the extra distance!

rob w

Tuesday 24th

(3m) 4.8km @ 5:57/km – AVG HR 131bpm (69%)

First run of the training plan for DCM. Did this before I had breakfast though and it was horrible.....as it always is without breakfast, I have a short memory!!. Too warm and I just cannot run on empty!! Note to self - 'Add breakfast before runs'



Wednesday 25th

(5m) 8km @ 5:29/km – AVG HR 133bpm (70%)

Nice 5 miles in the afternoon, started out at a slower pace but then just felt like picking it up a bit, so I did and just gave up watching the pace and ran by feel. Enjoyable few miles, before heading to the pub to watch the France V Ecuador game (which turned out to be a boring affair)



Friday 27th

3 x HILL REPEATS - (3.2m) 5km @ 5:33/km – AVG HR 134bpm (70%)

Was planning on doing this on Thursday, but woke up with a shocking hangover after Wednesday evening, I just can't drink at all anymore.:o So delayed it for a day till I felt normal again.

I did them on a fairly gentle hill near the house (about 1.5km away), so an easy 1.5km there and back @ 6:00/km and did 3 x 400m hill repeats of 1:53, 1:46, 1:52. Not an ideal location for this session though as the street was a bit narrow and busy, so will scout out somewhere else more suitable for next time!



Saturday 28th

LSR - (8.1m) 13km @ 5:56/km – AVG HR 128bpm (67%)

LSR this morning. Ran from my house into the city, did a 2k lap of a small park and back home again, enjoyed it and plenty of other runners out in the park too!


Will crosstrain tomorrow, a few km on the bike probably. Then next week is a bit disrupted as I will be going to a music festival from Thurs - Mon, so will try and squeeze in 3 runs between Mon - Wed instead, and then get back into the plan again the following Tuesday!

All in all , I am very happy to be back in a position where I am ready to train for my 2nd marathon, with my injury over the winter, it didn't look like I would be back at it again in time. But over the last couple of months I have built up a decent enough base, all things considered, and raced two 10k's quite comfortably improving my PB in both. Looking forward to the rest of the year ahead and hopefully things can continue like this!:)

rob w

Here is a copy of the plan I intend on following, its a mix of 2 Hal Higdon plans, with a few other slight adjustments.....replacing some crosstraining with recovery runs instead!



And a copy of my Vdot Calc results......just off the back of my recent 10k PB (44:15). I am considering the paces suggested as my upper limits, and using the information here conservatively. I don't know if I would be capable of a 3:24 marathon as it suggests (Mcmillan suggest 3:28 - still a push I reckon!). So for now will be aiming to do my LSR's at about 5:55/km - 6:00/km, and will also adjust the interval/pace runs etc. accordingly and see how it goes!

menoscemo

Quick observation:
The week of the two races you have intervals schedlued 2 days before. I would either move them back to the start of the week (tuesday at the latest) or ditch the session altogether. For those 2 weeks, the races themselves should be the main focus.

rob w

menoscemo wrote: »

Quick observation:
The week of the two races you have intervals schedlued 2 days before. I would either move them back to the start of the week (tuesday at the latest) or ditch the session altogether. For those 2 weeks, the races themselves should be the main focus.

Thanks meno,

Still doing a bit of tinkering with it regarding races. Might pull back three 3 midweek runs by a day each and do the session on the Monday if I decide to do it!

rob w

Monday 30th

(5m) 8km @ 5:37/km – AVG HR 128bpm (65%)

Beginning of Wk 2 of my plan. Bit disrupted this week, so doing 5m today, LSR tomorrow and 3m on Wednesday. Decided I am going to skip the session this week (30 min tempo) in favour of the LSR.

This run was grand, aiming for an avg pace of about 5:30/km or so....started out a bit slow, and once the legs loosened up a bit I picked it up. So sort of ended up a progression run.

rob w

Month and YTD totals (made a mistake on last months post, recording some cycling as running! Corrected here!)

Monthly (km)|Year to Date (km)
121|349[/QUOTE]

rob w

Tuesday 1st

LSR - (9m) 14.4km @ 5:57/km – AVG HR 131bpm (68%)

July already, the time is flying by!:eek: Did this weeks LSR today, good run, out nice and early. Busy day afterwards, and quite tired this evening. Planning on 3m easy tomorrow but will see how I feel and how I am for time!

rob w

Wednesday 2nd

(2.5m) 4km @ 6:32/km – AVG HR 118bpm (62%)

2.5 very easy recovery miles today. Thats it for now, until Tuesday!

rob w

No running for a week as I had juggled around days to fit in a weekend away at a festival. Back to it on Wednesday this week, after consuming large amounts of beer and crap food for the few days previous. But I was actually grand getting back out at it again, didn't think I would be though! Also have finally got around to picking up a copy of "Advanced Marathoning" so have been reading through that quite a bit lately, very interesting!


Wednesday 9th

(3.2m) 5km @ 5:35/km – AVG HR 126bpm (67%)

Easy pace 3m in the lashing rain, been ages since Ive been out in the rain, but weather is miserable here at the moment so better get used to it!;)


Thursday 10th

(5m) 8km @ 5:40/km – AVG HR 130bpm (69%)

Easy pace 5m in the evening, nothing special to report!


Friday 11th

Intervals Session - 4 x 800m repeats w/ 400m rest between each

Interval Session, last time I was doing intervals I think I was overdoing it by going too fast and possibly tempting an injury. I have set a more suitable pace for myself this time around, and was aiming to do the 800m @ 4:15/km (= 3m24s/800m). Very happy with this session and my splits and felt good afterwards.

WU and CD of 1.6km @ 6:00/km, and rests of 400m in-between repeats was done at 6:15/km approx!

Split |Time |Distance|Avg Pace (per km)|Avg HR


1 | 3:23 | 800m | 4:14 | 152 (81%)
2 | 3:24 | 800m | 4:15 | 156 (83%)
3 | 3:24 | 800m | 4:15 | 158 (85%)
4 | 3:23 | 800m | 4:13 | 159 (85%)


Summary| 13:54| 3.2km| 4:14| 156 (83%)

rob w

Sunday 13th

LSR - (8m) 12.8km @ 5:59/km – AVG HR 122bpm (65%)

Lovely day for a run this morning, nice and cool with a light rain every so often. Did 8m, but the schedule called for 6 as this was a step back week. As I pretty much had a step back last week with juggling the runs about I decided to tack another 2m onto the end of this one!

rob w

Tuesday 15th

(4m) 6.4km @ 5:28/km – AVG HR 130bpm (70%)

Nice easy run, but unknowingly wore a pair of socks with a hole in the heel, which has left a nice little blister, which I didnt notice until the second I stopped running. Pretty annoying!


Wednesday 16th

(6m) 9.6km @ 5:23/km – AVG HR 138bpm (74%)

Did this one in the evening, had gotten home pretty late and didnt want to eat first before running, although I was starving. Added that the sun was splitting the stones, it was a tough run, and I was knackered by the end of it.

On the last 2km or so I was passed by a group of young lads hanging out of their car windows with water pistols spraying everyone in sight. When passing me they had the choice of getting me or a couple of old biddys walking behind me.....they chose the latter! I was not impressed, I could have done with some cooling down at that point!:pac::pac:



Thursday 17th

Hill Repeats - 4 x 400m repeats w/ 400m rest between each

Like Wednesdays run, it was done in the evening, and was still very hot out. Tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. Aiming for ~4:30/km pace for these, so happy with the results!

WU and CD of 1.6km @ 6:00/km, and rests of 400m in-between repeats was done at 6:15/km approx!

Split |Time |Distance|Avg Pace (per km)|Avg HR


1 | 1:47 | 400m | 4:26 | 151 (81%)
2 | 1:48 | 400m | 4:30 | 154 (83%)
3 | 1:48 | 400m | 4:31 | 153 (82%)
4 | 1:48 | 400m | 4:30 | 155 (83%)


Summary| 7:11| 1.6km| 4:29| 153 (82%)





Sunday 20th

LSR - (11m) 17.6km @ 5:57/km – AVG HR 127bpm (68%)
Was planning on doing this LSR yesterday but the weather was too hot and humid, too difficult to sleep the last couple of nights, let alone attempt an LSR off the back of a bad nights sleep in the heat. So I postponed it until today when there was plenty of rain forecast!

Still couldn’t sleep lastnight, so was awake at 5:30am for breakfast:eek:, and out for the run at 7:45am.....didnt meet a sinner until about half way into my run, had the park all to myself for a while!! Nice cool morning, with a mist still hanging in the air, lovely conditions for a run.....looking out the window now and its lashing down out there! So thats week 4 of the plan ticked off.....Im going for a nap!:cool:

(Had been planning a 10k for today, but decided against it in the end, next race will prob be the FD 10M in August!)

rob w

Tuesday 22nd

(4m) 6.4km @ 5:29/km – AVG HR 133bpm (71%)

Into the 5th week of the DCM 2014 plan now, all going well! Easy couple of miles in the afternoon today!

rob w

Wednesday 23rd

(6m) 9.6km @ 5:28/km – AVG HR 142bpm (76%)

6m today......absolutely baked in the sun, I should have known better than running in the middle of the afternoon, as there was no shade to be found! HR was ever increasing, and going through the roof towards the end due to that, but continued at the target pace, although I probably should have pulled back a bit.....but it’s done now! If I feel a bit tired tomorrow I will substitute a few easy miles into my 35 min tempo seeing as today’s probably counted towards that a bit!!

rob w

Thursday 24th

Session – 35min tempo run

Did the 35mins, but that was including a 1k WU and 1k CD also. I figure I worked myself a bit harder yesterday than I probably should have, so I adjusted this to suit.

It was hot and sunny again doing this, so very tough although there was a bit of shade this evening compared to yesterday! My heart was pounding and kept going up until settling down on the 4th km! I found tonight very difficult but very happy to finish it and maintain pace even though I did struggle halfway through, due to the temperature, but just kept telling myself to keep going and that I PB’d a 10k at a faster pace than this in similar conditions last month!!!! Feels great to finish a run even when you’re feeling like that, good mental boost! Maintained the 4:30/km pace I was aiming for, and hoping I can complete my HM in September at a similar pace!


Split |Time |Distance|Avg Pace (per km)|Avg HR


1 | 6:05 | 1km | 6:05 | 120 (64%)
2 | 4:29 | 1km | 4:29 | 149 (80%)
3 | 4:29 | 1km | 4:29 | 154 (82%)
4 | 4:28 | 1km | 4:28 | 160 (86%)
5 | 4:28 | 1km | 4:28 | 156 (83%)
6 | 4:30 | 1km | 4:30 | 155 (83%)
7 | 6:04 | 1km | 6:04 | 138 (74%)


Summary| 34:35| 7km| 4:56| 145 (82%)

rob w

Sunday 26th

(12m) 19.2km @ 6:00/km – AVG HR 132bpm (71%)

Lovely 12m LSR this morning, great day for it! Same route as last week, but did 2 laps of the lake route rather than 1! A couple of very easy recovery miles tomorrow and that's week 5 of the plan done and dusted!

Just looking over my Garmin records and comparing this year to last year, Im pretty much at the exact same point in distance covered as of 26 July 2013 as 26 July 2014......(to within 1km if my records are right, that's mad!:D) But happy with that considering I was out injured for a while in the New Year and was doing relatively small mileage for a good few weeks when I got back on the road!

rob w

Sunday 27th

(2.5m) 4km @ 6:45/km – AVG HR 120bpm (64%)

2.5 easy peasy recovery miles this evening! :cool:

rob w

This week was due to be a stepback, but as I am on holidays from next Monday I have swapped this week of the plan with next weeks as it will be easier to fit in the smaller mileage week then.......I hope!! Only two more weeks left here before I am back in Dublin again!! Got some races to look forward to though when I return, 1st up is the FD 10mile in the Park (which reminds me I had better get my entry in) and the Athlone Half in September, which Im really looking forward to as I think I am capable of a nice PB, and HM is also my favourite distance to race!


Tuesday 29th

(4m) 6.4km @ 5:29/km – AVG HR 134bpm (76%)

Easy couple of miles in the afternoon. Nice and relaxed, just did 2 loops of a local route by the house!


Wednesday 30th

(7m) 11.2km @ 5:39/km – AVG HR 136bpm (73%)

Quite warm again today, so I dialled back the pace to about 10-15 secs slower than my usual midweek runs to compensate, and just to make sure I am fresh enough for the 5 x 800m repeats tomorrow!

rob w

Thursday 31st

Intervals Session - 5 x 800m repeats w/ 400m rest between each

Hot, sweaty, draining, sadistic, near vomit inducing form of torture.....why is it we do this again?!? :P:P:P All those feelings seem to fade away once the last rep is finished off though! Feel great now, and happy with the session!

WU and CD of 1.6km or so @ 6:30/km, and rests of 400m in-between repeats was done at 6:35/km approx! Also walked another 1k or so home after the cool down. Splits below!

(6m) 9.6k TOTAL

Split |Time |Distance|Avg Pace (per km)|Avg HR


1 | 3:23 | 800m | 4:14 | 155 (83%)
2 | 3:23 | 800m | 4:14 | 160 (86%)
3 | 3:24 | 800m | 4:15 | 163 (87%)
4 | 3:24 | 800m | 4:15 | 163 (87%)
5 | 3:25 | 800m | 4:16 | 164 (88%)


Summary| 16:59| 4km| 4:15| 161 (86%)

rob w

Month and YTD totals!!

Monthly (km)|Year to Date (km)
166|515

rob w

Saturday 2nd

(14m) 22.4km @ 5:50/km – AVG HR 136bpm (73%)

LSR yesterday morning! Found myself picking up the pace about half way through without realising it for a while, that tends to happen when Im doing long runs alone sometimes! So I slowed it back down a bit and promised myself some MP miles at the end! So once I hit 20k, I did the last 2.4k (1.5m) @ 5:05/km, (which is probably in and around my MP for this year, but thats still to be decided!)

On my hols now from tomorrow for 2 weeks, before returning home, so will only be getting in the miles that I am able to sneak off for between now and then!:p

rob w

Just entered the Frank Duffy 10mile today too, should make for a good testing out of my hopeful HM pace!

Skidrow

Hey Rob, training seems to be going well for you in your secret continental coaching hideaway! I haven't done much since Berlin, a few Parkruns - new one close by in Tymon Park is really handy. Might catch you in the Park before the FD 10m. Enjoy the hols! SK

rob w

Skidrow wrote: »

Hey Rob, training seems to be going well for you in your secret continental coaching hideaway! I haven't done much since Berlin, a few Parkruns - new one close by in Tymon Park is really handy. Might catch you in the Park before the FD 10m. Enjoy the hols! SK

Yeah no bother, Ill get in touch when Im back home again! Are you doing the 10m yourself?

Skidrow

rob w wrote: »

Yeah no bother, Ill get in touch when Im back home again! Are you doing the 10m yourself?

I am not doing the FD 10m, I will be away. The end of August might be
the option for an LSR?

rob w

Week 7 of DCM '14 Plan

I have to admit the holidays were a bit of a disaster with regards to running, but as much as I love running....I think I love holidays more, so something had to give! So I only got three forced short runs in in total!:eek: It was very difficult to fit them in, and I was also spending one of the weeks high in the mountains, which made running close to impossible......I know because I tried.....once! I did get a good bit of walking/hiking in though, so I am sure that helped!:rolleyes:

(3.4m) 5.4km @ 5:49/km – AVG HR 130bpm (70%)

Cut short by night falling on dark country roads!:o


(2.3m) 3.7km @ 5:19/km – AVG HR 134bpm (72%)

Cut short by impending doom/thunderstorm arriving so I had to get back in time to dismantle my tent and get on the road before that arrived!:o


(2.7m) 4.3km @ 6:22/km – AVG HR 140bpm (75%)

Cut short by my heart about to explode due to the elevation and altitude I was running at - 185m elevation gain too, which made my HR go like this!!:o





Week 8 of DCM '14 Plan

Back to as close to normal as possible as soon as I arrived home, and got some decent runs in over the weekend!

(6m) 9.6km @ 5:42/km – AVG HR 129bpm (69%)

Literally in the door, rooted through my bags to find my running gear and went out the door! First run back on home soil in a while, and it was a pleasure.....cool weather, friendly runners and familiar territory!:) Its good to be back!:cool:



(3.2m) 5km @ 5:35/km – AVG HR 126bpm (67%)

Easy short run the following day just to get back out again and try make up for lost time!



(15m) 24km @ 6:00/km – AVG HR 135bpm (73%)

Good 15 miler in the Phoenix Park on Sunday morning. Had some good company on this one too, and the miles flew past. picked up the pace for the last 5k to about 5:40/km!



So a little bit behind with the progress due to hols, but what can you do! Only missed out on a 9m LSR and 2 faster sessions really, but have to just put it behind me for now and keep forging ahead! Now into week 9 of the plan, the halfway point....and today I will become a run-commuter for the first time when I don my running gear leaving the office for a 7m run home! :cool:

rob w

Made some changes to this weeks schedule due to the upcoming 10m race on Saturday. So I changed the longer runs to earlier in the week and substituted the 6 x 800m intervals with a 7m run (would have turned out the same distance anyway I think)


Tuesday 19th

(7m) 11.2km @ 5:27/km – AVG HR 143bpm (76%)

Ran home from work for this one, first time doing that! It was lovely, and worked out well as its 7m from door to door, and was a few mins quicker than driving. Great to kill two birds with one stone and have the evening free afterwards…..may become more regular!



Wednesday 20th

(7m) 11.2km @ 5:35/km – AVG HR 139bpm (74%)

This was the return leg of yesterdays run, as I left the car in work overnight and ran back in to collect it! Not usually an early morning runner, but it went well!



Thursday 21st

(3.5m) 5.6km @ 5:54/km – AVG HR 127bpm (68%)

Early morning run again before work. I wanted to get it out of the way as early as possible so that I could get 48hr+ rest for Saturdays race as I was feeling a little tired. The it dawned on me that I have ran 45m in the last 7 days :eek:, which is my highest mileage week in ages…..woops! Thats what I get for trying to play catch up on missed runs!! Hope its not going to cause any problems for Saturday, although I usually tend to recover quite quickly, so we will see what happens!

Putting it out there now, Saturdays race is intended to be a HM pace run to see where I’m at for Athlone HM. Goal pace will be 4:30/km which will hopefully be a finish time of 1:12….and a 10m PB!

Skidrow

Looking good man, best of luck on Saturday.

lmguillou

It looks like you will get a PB on 10 miles and HM! Best of luck anyway on Saturday

rob w

Completed the FD 10M in 1:12:17 on Saturday (will stick up a report during the week when I get chance). It was 17 secs outside what I had predicted but still a 6min PB……and I managed to maintain an avg pace of 4:29/km over 16.14km by my Garmin, so that is exactly what I wanted to do! So hopefully a 1:35 HM in Athlone is on the cards now! :cool:

I am now contemplating skipping DCM for 2014 and concentrating my energy on knocking my HM time down as far as I can before attempting an autumn marathon nest year……..still in two minds and trying to decide though, and any input or advice is appreciated. I know I can do well at the HM distance and I am a little cautious about the Marathon due to the injury I picked up in 2013 (that set me back 3 months…..and I REALLY don’t want a repeat of that!). The injury was due to core/flexibility issues…..which I don’t think have been fully addressed properly before Marathon attempt #2. Having said that I will most definitely be running Marathons again in the future, as endurance is definitely my thing, but Im just not sure if I should build up a bigger base first, as I only have run 400 miles so far this year!


Hmmmm decisions decisions…….