The main thing is keeping the main thing, the main thing

ThebitterLemon

Well done Ronseal

I had a chuckle to myself reading your plan for this run and was wondering how much faster you'd run it, you've form here

Was actually surprised that you didn't run quicker

TbL

AuldManKing

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Well done Ronseal

I had a chuckle to myself reading your plan for this run and was wondering how much faster you'd run it, you've form here

Was actually surprised that you didn't run quicker

TbL

Ronseal

The intention was there - the crowd wasn't............ as it turned out I ran most of it on my own anyway. Missed you today - I picked out the spot were you faked a loo break last year 'cos I was going to fast for you then...... :pac:

FBOT01

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Well done Ronseal

I had a chuckle to myself reading your plan for this run and was wondering how much faster you'd run it, you've form here

Was actually surprised that you didn't run quicker

TbL

Ronseal???? Are you slagging his tan again? Will you just leave the lad alone? Each to their own and all that.

Nice workout yesterday, A.

ThebitterLemon

FBOT01 wrote: »

Ronseal???? Are you slagging his tan again? Will you just leave the lad alone? Each to their own and all that.

Nice workout yesterday, A.

Ron Seal, Ron Hill both auld runners but with slightly different skin tone

Nice to see you're still alive Auldbot!

TbL

FBOT01

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Ron Seal, Ron Hill both auld runners but with slightly different skin tone

Nice to see you're still alive Auldbot!

TbL

Still alive and give the odd kick

OOnegative

FBOT01 wrote: »

Still alive and give the odd kick

Well done in Corkagh Park Sat.

AuldManKing

I rushed my race report today - I wanted to take some time to note some things that went well and things I need to be mindful of come DCM.

Bear in mind - I used most of Sat & Sun Morn to mimic the prep for Marathon day.

** What worked well **

Nutrition:
* Good dinner on Friday, an early big lunch on Sat and a lighter dinner that evening. No Sluggishness at all.
* Plenty of water, vit C and electrolytes on Sat evening.
* 2 gels in total (5 & 13 miles) and water at every station. Didn't take 3rd gel as I had a bit of banana
* No issues taking the gels at race pace.
* Breakfast in the morning was 2 Weetabix - Am normally too full/stodgy after porridge (maybe eat earlier?)

Clothes
* The runners and socks - finally settled on a pair - Nike seem to suit me - Vomero is the model.
* The shorts and Singlet worked well - 2 zipped side pockets in the shorts and I'll also carry a belt as I did on Sunday.
* No chafing on the top half - using Body Glide worked.

The Race
* Chasing down people seems to make me race better and keep focused. I was aware of my current pace at all times.
* I knew I wouldn't blow up at any stage and also felt I could have kept going at the end.
* Knowing the course was a huge help v last year - I need to study the DCM route and take note of water stops etc
* I ran the tangents very well - looking at people around me who finished, they ran a little extra on Strava.
* I ran the bones of 9 miles on my own with a sparse crowd - Dublin will be much different.
* I slowed going up some hills/drags and free wheeled down. Net result is even pace for lower effort.

** What I could do Different **

* Vaseline on the nether regions - pouring water down your back wets the shorts a lot, Chafing central - only noticed in the shower later on
* Drink water / electrolytes more often the week of DCM.
* Sip on drink on way into DCM.
* Dont be having chats and wasting energy mid race.
* Dont get caught in 'No Mans Land' - make a decision to move early and do it.
* Watch my cadence on the drags and inclines - increase it and use my arms more.

annapr

Great running yesterday, AMK... you were probably home about an hour by the time I finished :pac:

FBOT had eaten all the donuts by then too....

Peckham

AuldManKing wrote:

* Sip on drink on way into DCM.

But only put a small amount of liquid in the bottle to avoid drinking 1 litre of unnecessary fluid and then needing a pee at the start/in first few miles!

ThePiedPiper

Nice running, Auldman. How're the legs after that? Look after yourself, and give er welly in the marathon.

AuldManKing

Monday: 5m all on grass in the PP. Legs felt better than I thought they'd be!

5m@8.07

Tuesday: Due to a hectic evening planned with a Parent/Teacher meeting followed by a GAA match in Howth at 8pm........8pm for an U15 game.....Jaysus - I knew I had to run early to get it done.

Up and out early, down to the Cricket grounds in the PP and straight back - great to be out running while others going to work.
Actually great getting it done so early - dont know why I didn't do it before now.

(PTM was a success and we won the match )

8.1m @ 7.53

Wednesday: Another bedlam day at work, with early meetings meant I couldn't run early - nothing to do with the rain....I swear......
- with college in the evening meant I had a choice of running at 10pm or canning it - it was a 4m shuffle - so I canned it.

Thursday: Running a 20m race at MP+10seconds isn't anywhere on my training plan (or any training plan that I've read.........and I've read a lot) - so I didn't know how the body would respond to doing a session today.

I purposely left it this late in the week to recover, but didn't want to do it any later.

The session was 30m MP+ 4x5min at10k + 30m MP. In previous similar sessions I've ran the MP segments at MP-10s.

I had a plan to change the session if I felt fatigued during it - in light of Sundays race and the closeness of DCM and I excercised this right as I was really feeling it.

The session became 25min MP-10s / 2x5min + 2x3 min / 25mins Alternating MP/Steady.
Still a tasty workout on a windy day down on the 15 Acres.

2 mile run to the PP as a warm up.
The 1st 25 mins felt grand - in hindsight I should have just ran it at MP and not pushed it.
The 10k paced stuff was very hard and the legs felt very tired in the later stages of each of these - glad I changed it and not can it though.
The 2nd 25 mins was a grind mentally and physically - going up the North Road with a bit of a headwind wasn't pretty.
I was doing alterations for this segment - every 5 mins or so going from steady to MP - the pace still came in better than I thought, but the effort level was high even for the 'steady' portions.

Finished it out and sat for a few mins contemplating this training block - its been very solid and today is the only time that I've felt really fatigued doing a session, so I'll take that.

Paces:
2m WU: 7:50
25min MP-10s: 6:25 (3.9 miles)
2x5min + 2x3min : 5:50 / 5:57 / 5:59 /5:59
25min Alteration: 6:43 ave (3.75 miles)
2m CD: 8:10

Total: 15.08 miles @ 7:15 pace.

So that's the last big midweek session. I've a 16-17 miler at the weekend (to celebrate moving into a new age category ) and next weeks planned session is a light one with a bit of speed work.

I must revisit my taper from last November to see how I handled the last 2 weeks.
From memory, the legs weren't great on the startline, but the travel could have done that...........or maybe it was the previous evening with the Lemon.

hot buttered scones

Happy birthday!

Wubble Wubble

Yes indeed... new age category as well!

AuldManKing

Friday: Short recovery run - 30 mins planned on grass in the PP - knackered.

3.86m@8:30 pace.

Saturday: This is a run I possibly shouldn't have done - tired before, tired during and tired after. No gains here.
The only positives was listening to Paul O'Connell on Off the Ball.
4.8m @ 8:03 miles

Sunday: A better run - still a bit tired in the legs, but all ok - really liked the route and ran with the club for the 1st time in a long time.

14.7m @ 7:35

52m for the week. (and feel remarkably untapered )

AuldManKing

Monday: I had planned an early run to avoid the storm, but ended up just walking the dog instead! - No matter.

Tuesday: My planned session was 10mins MP + 8x2mins@ 5k pace - but I think that the midweek sessions I've been doing I should have a bit more intensity than that.
My normal Tuesday is a 16m run with about 11m at faster than MP running - so I chose a session that reduced both the overall volume and the intensity volume.

I done 3/2/1 mile at faster than MP (HMP).

Drove down to the PP and done a 2mile WU that included some strides - I started off at Farmleigh and went down the OS/Furze road and finished off the 3m section down the Acres.
Both the 2 mile and 1 mile segment - were done on the Acres - I bumped into Murph again - (I've since reported him to the Gaurds for Stalking).

A nice 2m run back to the car.

Paces:
3M: 6.22 / 6.17 / 6.19
2M: 6:11 / 6:19
1M: 6:19

Felt I could have ran forever at that pace - felt strange as normally I find MP very hard 2 weeks out - you know the normal heavy legs that you get.

10.2m @ 7.11

Murph_D

I reported you first!

Nice session. Similar enough to mine if you add a minute per mile.

AuldManKing

I took some time today to reflect on my training for this marathon cycle - in order to reinforce that, 'Yes, I have done enough', argument.

In order to get some relativity, I'm comparing to my 2.58 at Seb Seb last year.

Starting position: Started this cycle on the pack of a significant 5m and 10k PB vrs starting San Seb plan from injury.

Long runs: 8x20m runs (inc 2x23) vrs 8x20m runs (inc 1x22) in favour of this training cycle.
An additional 8 runs of 16-18 miles (same as last year)

Sessions: 3 weeks of JD and 12 weeks of Steve Way at about 10 secs per mile faster than the Steve Way sessions last year.

MP Miles: 171 miles at MP or faster from week 16 til now - vrs 169 last year - so pretty similar volume - but more intensity this year.
Also - I had a good run in the 3/4 Mara which filled me with confidence.

Recovery: I took recovery more serious this year, not pushing the easy runs and sleeping/eating/drinking better.

Taper: Going for a shorter taper this year - getting a good workout 11-12 days prior to the day vrs smaller workouts at similar times last year. Lets see how this goes!

So I think overall - I'm in a good position - the course is obviously different in profile to SS, but the crowds will help with that!

As for my plan for the day - I was reading Dublin Runners update about 'no mans' land territory and I feel similar to that.
I'm not near sub 2:50 yet, but am very confident of bettering my 2:58 PB (weather permitting).

So the A plan will be to aim for 6:35/mile splits (approx 33mins/5 miles) for a 2:53:xx (allowing for a 1min fade )

Plan A: 2:53
Plan B: 2:54:30 (taking a couple of clubmates scalps)
Plan C: 1 sec PB - 2:58:00

Duanington

A - I think you've every reason to be confident of taking a chunk off your PB, I haven't seen many people put in the same kind of quality sessions you've put in over the past few months.

I think you're right not to put a number on it just yet but at the same time, if you get the right conditions on the day, there's no reason why you can't be ambitious with your target, you've put the work in and are in top shape, no question about it.

MisterDrak

Fair plan Alan for nailing your colours to the mast !

Impressive targets, but you have done the required work.

Have a great one :cool:

AuldManKing

Wednesday: A recovery run to Porterstown - 4.24m @ 8.24/mile

Thursday: 7.13m mostly on grass - I included 8-9*20s strides towards the end. - Legs didn't recover as hoped.

7.13m/8.02 pace

Friday: Another easy run and some stretching in the PP - just managed to avoid Murph as I got a call from the Police to say he was in the vicinity.

5.3m @ 8.09

Epsom salts bath on Friday night - legs felt much better.

Saturday: Rest day - My older girl was beaten in her Minor final in Portmarnock in horrible conditions

Sunday: A friend threw up a FB post to do a 10m run on Sunday that took in part of the course - so headed out to that. Met up with about 15 others and ran up to Myos, down tower road and into the park.
Also took in the bit from the bridge on the Quays up to Chesterfield.

I was struck that the entire section from the time you leave the Quays is uphill. I knew about the PP and Myo's - but Manor Street etc really threw me.
The 1st 7m really need to be managed more than I thought.

The wind was strong too - so I might reset my targets accordingly.

10m @ 7.47 - and the legs felt sluggish and dead - so I know I'm doing ok

My younger girl was beaten in her Final today v Clontarf - so a bad weekend of GAA all around....

Still - The mighty Spurs continue to roar.

Annie get your Run

AuldManKing wrote: »

Wednesday:
I was struck that the entire section from the time you leave the Quays is uphill. I knew about the PP and Myo's - but Manor Street etc really threw me.
The 1st 7m really need to be managed more than I thought.

The wind was strong too - so I might reset my targets accordingly.

.

Oh yeah, the whole way up the quays is a drag, I hate the return trip home on the bike until I get to the lights at Castleknock every inch of it is up hill. There's a bit of relief in the park from the Aras roundabout to the next roundabout so take a rest there. And it's not too bad from there to the gates but the gates to the village is a bitch so be extra mindful of that bit. Fingers & toes crossed for a calm windless day..

Murph_D

The problem (with me anyway) is that these sections don’t feel that hard in the initial stages as the adrenaline is still going. Having said that, I tried a grade-adjusted split strategy last year (even bought a spreadsheet marketed for the purpose) and managed the first 10 no problem. If only it had continued in that vein - when the course flattened and the time came to up the pace, I found myself wanting, stuck in the initial groove). I’m sure you’ll do better.

hot buttered scones

Murph_D wrote: »

The problem (with me anyway) is that these sections don’t feel that hard in the initial stages as the adrenaline is still going. Having said that, I tried a grade-adjusted split strategy last year (even bought a spreadsheet marketed for the purpose) and managed the first 10 no problem. If only it had continued in that vein - when the course flattened and the time came to up the pace, I found myself wanting, stuck in the initial groove). I’m sure you’ll do better.

I'd have to agree with you here. I tried the same strategy last year too, and it worked quite well for me. You should definitely be feeling a little too relaxed running up through the Phoenix Park - which also means trying not to panic that your pace is too slow. Even effort, variable pace until mile 15 then go for it.

RedRunner

From the outside looking in at least, I think you are in the best shape you've ever been in. I'm confident you are going to do really well on Sunday if everything falls into place and the uncontrollables play ball.

Best of luck with it and hope to catch up with you in McGrattans.

Kennyg71

Have great race Sunday. You look to be in great PB shape, hope it all comes together.

Annie get your Run

Looking forward to witnessing this epic result on Sunday, you're gonna smash this outta the park, have some fun while you're doing it

FBOT01

Suitably jealous of the excellent training that has been delivered here over the last year really. You are in great shape for an auldfella so now get out there and get it done....and most importantly ENJOY!!!

Singer

You don't need any well wishes with all the great training you've done, you're gonna smash it anyway. Show the novices how it's done

AuldManKing

RedRunner wrote: »

From the outside looking in at least, I think you are in the best shape you've ever been in. I'm confident you are going to do really well on Sunday if everything falls into place and the uncontrollables play ball.

Best of luck with it and hope to catch up with you in McGrattans.

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Have great race Sunday. You look to be in great PB shape, hope it all comes together.

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Looking forward to witnessing this epic result on Sunday, you're gonna smash this outta the park, have some fun while you're doing it

FBOT01 wrote: »

Suitably jealous of the excellent training that has been delivered here over the last year really. You are in great shape for an auldfella so now get out there and get it done....and most importantly ENJOY!!!

Singer wrote: »

You don't need any well wishes with all the great training you've done, you're gonna smash it anyway. Show the novices how it's done

Listen - I'm old - I'll be doing well to finish

Right now I'm regretting putting up those targets.
It didn't seem real back then - it was just something on the interweb.......... :P

Younganne

Best of Luck A, you have done all you can do and you deserve a fantastic run.
Go get em !!!!