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Making every mile count
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Forget the negatives, what are the positives you can take from the 10k, there are a few.
- It was a warm night, you weren't feeling your best but you stuck with it and persevered, it's a great attitude and one that can take you far
- you ran that 35:xx not so long ago so you have it in you, no-one can take that PB from you. There's no reason why you can't run that again and beyond, in fact I've no doubt you will this year
- see it as a good hard session, it'll benefit you immensely
- you came 5th and it's not good enough. That's a sign of high standards you've set yourself, you want it bad and that's a good thing, it'll fuel you to continue putting in the hard work and the rewards will be reaped.
Now 4 positive things, how about that!!
I think Gary Barlow's right, have a little patience. Keep plugging away at training, you seem to have a great work ethic and you'll be rewarded for all the hard work eventually. Enjoy this weekend, take your mind off it and you'll come back ready to rock n roll again!!
Excellent post, thanks. Funnily enough I don't really compare myself to others. even if I came first with that time i'd still feel the same. Looking back on that PB I got a bit lucky. It was horrible day but that suits me, the colder the better! I had someone to run with a fellow the whole way around (huge huge help). Very disappointed I didn't run with the 5km group/10km leaders ahead, no matter how bad I was feeling. Latching on to other runners makes the effort a lot easier. I have ran with behind my coach during fast tempo runs (5.40p/m), it just helps you pull through when struggling. I think I lack a bit of confidence and importantly, race sharpness.
Anyway, looking forward to the mini break/all day stag drinking weekend!
Thanks again for the input, it's great to have. Seriously impressive how you pulled out an impressive 2.59 on an off day and the manner in which you have run and raced since. You're gonna be one tough nut to crack
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paddybarry wrote: »You have made truly phenomenal progress these past few months. From reading your log, it appears your early gains came with little or no sense of expectation upon your shoulders.
However, once you started to knock chunks off PBs, it seems that you began running with more expectation which put more pressure upon you mentally. This can be draining physically and to me it began with your run at Rotterdam and has continued with each subsequent race.
With each race, you are now adding more pressure upon yourself as you cant understand why your progress has stalled and why your training/ability is not being reflected in the times you are running.
I think you need a break from posting on boards and just get back to running without expectation.
All the best DR, you have a serious talent.
A very kind post, thank you.
I think you hit the nail on the head there. Without knowing it, I have put more and more pressure on myself. I just need to relax. The odd thing is this strongest I have maybe ever felt but as you said, my progressed has stalled, no question.
I will follow your advice about posting. I will leave it for the next few days
Thanks again.0 -
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jdunne_ire wrote: »A club mate of mine is currently studying/running in the UK and he said the English lads reckon we do "The hard stuff too easy and the easy stuff too hard". From what I can make of your posts the latter of that statement seems to be true in your case. A major red flag for me is the day after a race you did 2 x 1 hour runs averaging 7:30 per mile pace. The day after a race is all about recovery I'd never run for more than 45 minutes and that would be averaging 8:30 per mile. All the long runs you are doing is negating from the fast stuff you are doing in your sessions. Marathon runners have a tendency to overdo it on the miles front and it’s hard to break that habit, trust me I almost fell into that trap myself.
You need to arm yourself with the right tools before you can go attacking a marathon schedule to hit the times you are aspiring for. The one thing you are currently lacking in your armoury is speed and once you have that in the legs you can then work on the endurance side of things. Reduce your mileage and pace on the easy stuff, I recall from earlier posts you referred to the easy runs you were doing averaging in the mid 8’s per mile pace and you said it yourself that ideally you should be going slower!!
Look where you are now with regards your pace for the easy runs...What’s changed since then, why the faster tempo?
I did my first marathon in 2012 and I think I only got over 50 miles once while training for it. Mainly due to the fact I was new to running and making sure I got to the start line after hearing a few horror stories of injuries etc. Last year I averaged in the 70’s low 80’s I never hit nowhere near to what you were doing and with you being a relative newcomer to running maybe the high mileage was too much too soon for the body!!
Take it back a notch or two, work on your speed and reduce the mileage and I guarantee you’ll be smashing PB’s again.
Keep the faith.
You have read my mind. Sorry, deliberately didn't look at my log for the past week so excuse the lateness of the reply.
I get what you mean about the 2*1hr runs the day after the race. The truth was that the race took nothing out of the legs. I hate saying it but I raced the race but the splits were tempoeffort. I simply cannot run in the heat. I estimate (and mentioned to Ecoli) that the I estimate a hot day makes things 15 seconds a mile harder for me.
People are probably sick of me saying it but everything I do is effort based. I don't wear nor own a Garmin or wear a heart rate monitor. I simply wear a 12 euro Casio watch My easy run time fluctuate between 7.00-7.35 a mile usually. I never concentrate on hitting a certain time. The legs decide the pace, not me (if that makes sense!) The one caveat to this is I don't do recovery runs. This is a big flaw of mine.
Now, let me discuss mileage! The point you made about reducing the mileage is a fair one and an issue I brought up with my coach. I questioned whether it would beneficial to reduce the mileage (50 miles a week for now) and increase the quality. His view on the matter was that I should be currently hitting 70+ mpw (''to get strong'') before adding the quality. The peak mileage later in the year will be 110 miles a week so I am comfortably under. I will trust him on the matter simply because he is almost always right!
Thanks for the post. Food for thought.0 -
Monday 23/6
70 Minutes Easy
-10 Miles @7.01p/m in 1.10:09
Back to normality after a three day break. What happens on a stag, stays on a stag :pac:
I am not really a believer in rest days. The body responds better to recovery runs rather than a day or two off but I felt I needed a mental break from running. It was great to not worry about getting sleep, eating well and trying to fit in a run for once.
I did have a moment though. I had to jump off the beer bike, leaving my friends to peddle away like lunatics to have, well, a 'pit-stop'. As the bus slowly moved away I had to run to catch up with my beer friends . For those 20 seconds of drunken running I realised how much I enjoyed the sport. Sad, I know
The legs felt refreshed but the 3 days of solely eating and drinking kebabs, beer and tequila left the body in a heap.
Tuesday 24/6
60 Minutes Easy
-8.2+ Miles
Managed to squeeze this run in on a busy day. Wasn't too sure where I was or where I was running to but enjoyed the hilly route between Stamullen and Julianstown, Co. Meath.
Wednesday 25/6
11.70+ Miles Various
AM
40 Minutes Easy
-5.65 Miles @7.09p/m in 40:09
PM
40 Minutes Easy
-5.45 Miles @7.21p/m in 40:02
~inc. 10x30 seconds @1 mile effort (30 sec rec)
Tagged on these strides at the end of the run. Usually, I include them in the run but I wanted to mix things up and wanted to try them on semi-fatigued legs. Underestimated the toughness and was working very hard by the end.
Thursday 26/6
8+ Miles Easy
Met up with Ecoli for what should have been a nice easy run. The humidity and heat had me working a bit too hard for an easy effort run.
Friday 27/6
100 Minutes MLR Easy
-14 Miles @7.14p/m in 1.41:29
Boy it was hot out there today. As per usual, my run coincided with the hottest part of the day. I was kind of worried how I would get on, particularly as I found the 'easy' run the previous day a bit of a struggle. All in all a decent run and much enjoyed.
Saturday 28/6
60 Minutes Very Easy
-8.32Miles @7.19p/m in 1.00:53
A late night working coupled with a punctured tyre meant sleep was at a premium on Friday night. If I got even two hours in total I would have being doing well. With that in mind, I decided to keep the effort very easy for this run. Happy to see the quickish pace, seen as the effort was always controlled and the effort always remained very easy throughout. Hopefully this is a good sign. When I see my easy run pace coming down naturally, despite expending the same effort, it usually signals a return to some sort of form. Here is hoping.
Sleep, sleep, sleep.......it's important kids!
PM
The Irish Beer Mile......the big one. Details to follow :cool:0 -
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Monday 30/5
75 Minutes Easy
-10.25 Miles @7.19p/m in 1.15:00
Tuesday 1/6
9+ Miles
CLUB SESSION
-2 Mile W/U
-8x400m (72-74 secs)
-5+ Mile W/D
The written plan was 600m reps but I knew this wasn't the best call for me so I decided to do 400m reps instead, taking advantage of the extra recovery. Even though this was an evening session the heat and humidity made things hard, very hard. The 600m lads called it a day after 8 so I took the easy option and bailed. In hindsight I should have persisted but the thoughts of running solo didn't really float my boat. I could have completed the 10, no doubt but they had me working hard. Hopefully later in the year, when it's cold and rainy, these sessions will be that much easier
Good to be back on the track after a two week break. I am very tempted to take up the javelin for some reason (don't ask me!) I might give it a bash but to be fair, I probably shouldn't bother. My upper body strength is that of a weak 6 year old girl. That's being very unfair on the 6 year old girl though, before you ask :rolleyes:
Wednesday 2/6
10.79 Miles Various
AM
40 Minutes Very Easy
-5.26 Miles @7.36p/m in 40:00
Nice and easy to stretch out the legs.
PM
YOGA
I took the plunge and went to my first yoga class after bangin' on for so long about taking it up. Delighted I did. I won't sugarcoat it, it was quite hard. It's amazing how tense the body can become from constantly pounding the roads. I only realised how tense I really was when we started off with the relaxation techniques. The class was a bit of an eye opener. I am a typical Irish man, awkward when put into new situations, particularly when being out stretched by men and women much much older
Some of the poses (if that's the right word) had me in a spot of bother as the body really felt them. After attempting the hamstring stretch/pose the instructor asked whether I ran or cycled. This illustrates how bad I was at it.
I can really see the benefit in yoga for runners and will be back regularly. The body and legs felt great afterwards. I highly recommend.
40 Minutes Easy
-5.53 Miles @7.21p/m in 40:40
Started this one pretty about half an hour after the yoga class. While the legs felt brilliant, I hit a big metaphorical wall about 20 minutes in. The next ten minutes were a bit of a wobble fest. I don't drink soft drinks but an empty bottle of 7up on the ground looked like the most appealing thing ever, probably signalling low sugar levels.
Yoga chewed me up and spat me out! I won't underestimate it again, I promise.
Thursday 3/6
60 Minutes Easy
-8.22 Miles @7.18p/m in 1.00:00
~inc. 5x30 second strides @1 mile effort (30 sec rec)
A strange run. The legs felt good but tired, a good tired (yoga tired? :pac:) The 5 strides at the end of the run were tough. I won't even mention the humiditywar.0 -
Friday 4/7
5 Miles Very Easy
Took this one down to the gym and did a pretty boring 5 miles on the treadmill. This type of run is better than a day off in my opinion. The swim after nicely loosened the creaky body.
Saturday 5/7
19.20+ Miles
Clontarf Half Marathon
1.29:21
My first pacing gig.
A really enjoyable day and a job well done if you don't mind me saying :pac: I planned to run 1.29:30 but I won't get hung up about smashing that (i'll call it a pacing PB!) Having run and relied on pacers to previously hit 1.25, 1.30 (HM) and 3.00 twice (M), I was all too aware of their importance. With this in mind I was a tad bit nervous heading into my first pacing engagement. Runners really rely on pacers and I didn't want to let anyone down. The previous nights Kings Of Leon concert with four hours of standing in the rain wasn't the best pre-nights preperarion but it was well worth it. Crackin' concert
The Clontarf Half is a race like no others. The combination of the beach and wind can kill off the most prepared runners. The soft sand to get onto the hard hard sand has to be negotiated four times and is a real lap sapper. The wind on the return beach leg will always be bad, you can hang your hat on that. How hard it will be is anyone's guess because it really can be as bad as running against a wall at times.
A quick chat with Ecoli confirmed how I would pace this race .We both agreed that to give people the greatest chance of hitting their targets you have to bank a bit of time on the out leg. If you ran even splits I think you would burn off even the best runners on the return leg.
The weather setting out was picturesque but fortunately temperature dropped a bit a few miles in. After the usual congested first mile the pace settled and a large group formed. The miles flew by, particularly on the turnabout section were you meet the leaders running for home. The wind on the return beach leg was challenging and our group lost a good few runners. I tried to tell them to draft in behind me and let me do the work! The last mile and bit were preety grim as the heavens briefly opened. One or two pushed on to hit 1.29 while myself and the other pacer tried to motivate people to push on. I am happy that we got as many people under the 1.30 as possible.
I am sorry to the runner I shouted at.....''CATCH ME, COME ON!!'' He did indeed catch me and ran a fine race, finishing strong.
Delighted to get my first pacing gig under my belt. I hope to do a few more, particularly as running 1.30 gives me a decent workout so it can have it's training benefits. A big thanks to my fellow pacer. He did a great job and it was nice to have a bit of experience to call on.
Two years ago this was my very first race, running 1.48. How things can change over such a short period of time.
A pint of Erdinger and I was off home......
-6.05 Miles @7.33 in 45.40
One thing to note is my timekeeping. I arrived quite late and was lucky everything went smoothly. Time to sort myself out on that front!
And yes, I wore a Garmin for the first time in over a year
Sunday 6/7
60 Minutes Easy
-8.57 @7.26 in 1.03:47
A weekend in Carlingford gave me the excuse to eat too much and drink way too much. Finishing my run the previous day before 1pm gave the body a good 30hr break before I set out. I think some runners forget that if you are sensible in the scheduling of your run times you can essentially give the body a days rest even though running on consecutive days.
WEEK TOTAL: 71.03+ MILES
Mileage is exactly what it should be at the moment so I am happy with that. True to form I registered for the Fingal 10km at the last possible moment. I am looking forward to running it. Hopefully I will right the few wrongs of late. Tempted to do a parkrun on Saturday but I will wait and see on that front.0 -
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Monday 7/7
75 Minutes Easy
-10.28 Miles @7.18p/m in 1.15:04
I live quite near Dublin city centre, Ireland's capital city apparently. I say that for two reasons. The first being the lack of phone coverage and the second being the distinct lack of Garmin coverage. If I lived in the West fair enough but seriously, whats going on?! I must just live in a black spot. I still have the Garmin which makes the run interesting to analyse. The one thing I notice is that I get faster going up hills. Why? I really don't know. The last mile up to my house is all up hill and it was by some distance the quickest mile. Hopefully this bodes well for challenging climb up Ticknock on Thursday.
Tuesday 8/7
15+ Miles Various
AM
Session - Floating Miles
8.5+ Miles Various
-W/U
MILE:
1. @10k effort (5.32)
2. @6.50
3. @10k effort (5.44-Definitely a Garmin mistake)
4. @6.4x
5. @10k effort (5.34)
6. @6.4x
7. @10k effort (5.29)
8. @6.5x
-W/D
I met up with my coach and a fellow runner he trains for this session. As we warmed up by heading out to the Phoenix Park he kindly informed us what was in store. Sometimes not knowing the session until the very last minute is a good thing. In this case it definitely was. No time to back out The first rep felt nice and controlled but I knew four would be tough, very tough. The mile recovery isn't really a recovery as it was at a decent clip heading directly into the wind on the North Road. Reps 2&3 followed the same pattern with the effort level quite high. On the third rep I started to really feel the effort and just about hung on to their coattails. Time to dig deep. I lost them completely on the 4th rep. It felt like a 6 minute mile. I wasn't tired but the legs just wouldn't turn over. They finished a good 15+ seconds ahead of me. I was quite p1ssed off until I realised that they put the boot down and hit a 5.09 mile. I felt like I was going backwards but in reality I maintained the effort and pace whilst they hammered it :cool:
In reflection it was a good testing session and something to build on. The splits indicate a 34.3x 10km time or thereabouts. This is a time I can definitely aim to hit if I ease up slightly heading into a race over the summer.
AM
6 Mile Very Easy
-6.5 Miles @7.45p/m in 50:24
This took a lot of concentration to keep the time in check. Any brief slip had me running a bit too fast. I have to remember that in order to run fast, you have to run slow.........sometimes :pac:0 -
Wednesday 9/7
-10.20 Miles @7.26p/m in 1.15:50
Trying to keep the pace down for the easy runs. Getting there.
Thursday 10/7
Hill Run
-10.50 Miles @8.07p/m in 1.25:09
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/538404134
I really looked forward to this run. I knew it was going to a tough one but I do enjoy the odd challenge. I was relishing the prospect of pushing myself today but the run chewed me up and spat me out. I really can't remember the last time, if there even was a last time, I was reduced to walking. In hindsight I completely underestimated the difficulty of the climb. I learnt quite a valuable lesson today. The experience will live long in the memory and while it won't have left a scare it has definitely left a mark.
The legs are in a constant state of fatigue at the moment but you get used to that whilst marathon training. I felt quite fresh setting out with Ecoli and the much missed Dr Quirky
After an easy mile the climb began. It was hard work straight away. I stopped for a quick pit stop and knew I was in for a tough one today. The climb was relentless in nature with only the briefest respite. The climb from mile 1.5-2.5 (500ft+) nearly killed me. I was willing to push it today and go to tempo effort but no further. I wasn't prepared to go into the red and risk injury or risk not being able to walk the next day.
The sight of DrQ running into the distance as myself and Ecoli stopped will last long in the memory :eek: I can report he is in great nick and showed us up today
I will give this a go again hopefully in a few weeks. I will be back.
If anyone has any advice fire away or PM me.0 -
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SamforMayo wrote: »With God s help ye will get a shoe up the ..... before that!!!!!!! Nice running by the way.
Haha! I just call it as I see it. Playing Mayo in the final will be easy pickings.....just like last year 0 -
dublin runner wrote: »Haha! I just call it as I see it. Playing Mayo in the final will be easy pickings.....just like last year
Ah the humble Mayo people are only looking to the quarter final.0 -
SamforMayo wrote: »Ah the humble Mayo people are only looking to the quarter final.
weren't so humble last year
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dublin runner wrote: »Sure you are still waiting for Ciaran McDonald to come out of retirement and save your cursed asses!
Either that or wait until the remaining members of the 1951 team snuff it. I'm surprise there isn't a bounty on their heads actually 0 -
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