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S'pose this is supposed to be a training log so I'd better log some training!
Thursday 26/06
Run 11.35km @5:08/km, avg 130bpm
Friday 27/06
Run 11.95km @ 5:10/km, avg 131bpm
Sunday 29/06
Run 27.14km @ 4:53/km, avg 145bpm. This was supposed to be a long slow run but the further I went the more comfortable I was feeling going a bit faster. 1km splits were 5:18. 5:11, 5:14, 5:07, 5:03, 4:58, 4:49, 4:56, 4:54, 4:51, 4:49, 4:50, 4:57, 4:51, 5:07, 5:00, 5:02, 4:53, 4:40, 4:41, 4:38, 4:53, 4:43, 4:39, 4:39, 4:35, 4:30 with 5:04 avg for the last bit.
When Mrs. D asked me what pace I went at I "couldn't remember" - I knew she'd give me hell for bursting it out of it. But I was just feeling good and, as we were in Dublin for the weekend, it was nice to run on different roads. Had intended running out and back on part of the marathon course but (for the second time) I took a wrong turn and missed a chunk of it. Just as well I have people to follow on the day.
Took the opportunity to try out ShotBlox on this run - got them in Spokes Cycles in Waterford as an alternative to gels and I really liked them. Seemed to work too.
Monday 30/06
Run 11km with 8x100str - avg 5:06/km, 134bpm
Wednesday 02/07
Interval run 13.3km:
3k@5:04, 129bpm
1.6k@3:57, 153bpm
0.8k@5:11, 144bpm
1.6k@4:03, 163bpm
0.8k@5:04, 144bpm
1.6k@3:58, 164bpm
0.8k@5:19, 149bpm
3.1k@5:18, 150bpm
Thursday 03/07
Run 7.52k (in the woods) @ 6:20/km, avg 123bpm. This is a twice-weekly run with some people from work. It's nice to run on different surfaces at a relaxed pace with some company. And there's a nice hill in the middle of the 1.5km loop that I treat as a 100m stride ('cos the HR raises nicely for it each time!)
Sunday 06/07
Run 18.93km @5:05/km, avg 138bpm
Monday 07/07
Run 10.14km @6:08/km, avg 126bpm
Thursday 10/07
Run 9.11km @6:23/km, avg 125bpm0 -
OK so this was on the cards for a long time but I purposely wasn't making a big song & dance about it. Was being organised by The Boardsie Formerly Known As Elvis Jones (formerly of the TDAR parish) and two friends of his - also responsible for the Up & Over Triathlon of a couple of weeks ago - in aid of Irish Autism Action and LARCC Cancer Care. So the whole year so far has been building towards this.
Marathon history
Edinburgh '12 4:58, DCM '12 3:54:21, GLR '13 DNF (@41.6km:mad:), DCM '13 4:19 (off almost no running following 2 months of injury)
The goal
To hit a target I might have set if I had succeeded in getting around two more corners in GLR13 (target then was
:30). So :29 in other words. This time I didn't train for exactly what I wanted to get - I was doing my MP sections at 3:20 pace, 'cos I knew it was going to get hard and I knew I was going to get tired, so I wanted to have a bit in reserve.
The week before
It was all going pretty well for the most part. Nerves were starting to build though and, prone as I am to digestive upset, I was starting to feel it. Towards the end of the week I upped my water intake and started including electrolyte tabs in the water, both to flavour it and to ensure I kept the balance right. Thursday night, when I really wanted to sleep well, I didn't and woke early. This worried me - I don't function well, and especially don't run well, unless I'm fully rested.
The night before
The tranditional big bowl of pasta before leaving home. Went to Portarlington to collect my number and then on to the B&B for a sleep (Barrow View B&B just outside Mountmellick - highly recommended if you ever need to stay around there). Still skulling the electrolyte-loaded water.
Ironically the tiredness from the night before seemed to help me as I was conked out by 10pm (wasn't much company for poor Mrs. D
) Slept like a log and, though I probably stirred once or twice, it was the alarm that woke me at 6:30.
Pre-race
The most humungous bowl of organic porridge I've ever seen (granted I haven't a long history of looking at bowls of organic porridge but you know what I mean). People have drowned in less. Was topped with what I think the B&B lady said were tayberries - like a cross between gooseberries and raspberries. This was followed by scrambled eggs (from their own hens) on toast with much tea. Packed up and ready to go - got to Portarlington just before 9 for a 9:30 start. Strangely I didn't need to join the queue for the cublicles - quick pee and ready to go. (Sorry if that's TMI:o)
Quick warm-up around the pitch and race briefing at 9:15 - all sounds fine. Out to the road for the start. Off to the other side of the road from everyone else and gave myself a pep talk - all the things I'd done right, all the things I'd done better than before, all the reasons why it was going to go well. Watch was set up as I wanted it (mostly).
And we're off
Bang on 9:30 we were off. 100 entrants in the full marathon, including some walkers who'd gone off an hour before the runners (many of them wearing Marathon Club shirts). First couple of hundred metres I was trying to get my pace right and settled at around 4:40ish (first km nerves). Passed a good few people at the start and was passed by a good few others but none of that was bothering me - I was set to run the whole thing by myself and against myself, not anybody else. There was a bit of a hill (when you live where I live it takes quite a hill to be described as a proper hill) around 3km and we were promised that that was the worst of it over and done with.
The kms (the great thing about running a marathon organised by triathletes is that they use 21st century distance measurements!) fell by quite quickly and comfortably. I was in a group of 5 guys and, despite going a good few seconds per km quicker than planned, I was feeling good. 14km passed in 1:07 but I was happy that 3:21 was not going to be my final result and I was comfortable with that. The guy nearest to me wasn't - he reckoned that if we were on for 3:21 near the end we'd scrape in under 3:20 whatever it took. Let's see, shall we? Long way to go.
Km splits: 4:42, 4:51, 4:51, 4:35, 4:44, 4:49, 4:45, 4:44, 4:46, 4:43, 4:44, 4:41, 4:47, 4:47
The middle third
Took my first shotblok around the start of the middle third. It coincided with a step in my HR, which I'd managed to keep mostly in the low-mid 150's for the first third. It seemed at the time that swinging my gel belt around from back to front (it was at the back because I was so loaded with gels and jellies that it was clattering against my stomach when it was on the front) had required an extra 8bpm to achieve. But the HR data shows that it didn't step back after that. Because of my GLR experience, and not having kept an eye on my HR as it tried to tell me that stuff was going wrong, I was watching it quite closely this time. Started using deep breathing techniques to bring it down under control any time it peaked. The one thing about running in this part of the world is that there are quite a few bridges over rivers and railway lines - they're short but severe. Anyway was still running pretty comfortably by the time I got to 28km.
Km splits: 4.41, 4:45, 4:46, 4:47, 4:40, 4:42, 4:38, 4:41, 4:42, 4:45, 4:35, 4:45, 4:46, 5:15 (stopped for a pee on the last one, an encouraging sign that I was well hydrated).
The last third
I can't lie - it was in my head that I'd trained up to 35.2km and that was at a slower pace than this, and I was pooped afterwards. I argued against that with the knowledge that I'd done long runs at faster than this pace and that I'd rested enough during the week to make the final 7km unexceptional. But 35km was looming larger in my mind than in my legs. Time to build a bridge and get over it. I was slowing a little at this stage but I reminded myself I had a lot in hand and that I was comfortable and that nothing mattered except making sure I didn't give up and that I left nothing on the course.
Had to walk through the next water station as I wanted to take a salt capsule and I'd not done a great job of packing my gel belt, so it took a bit of foostering. Think I'd five shot blox on board at this stage and I was telling myself that it was plenty - the porridge and eggs were enough to get me to 35km or more and that the shot blox were only needed for the end. Each km was a few seconds behind target now but what the hell. If I walked the rest of it I'd still have a PB, so all was good. Kept on keeping on.
The half and the full courses merged at about 37km, so there was a bit more company from here on. And there were runners going a bit a faster too, which helped to keep the motivation up. I fixed my sights (in a good way) on one girl up ahead who had the most perfect running posture I've seen in a long time. She ran perfectly upright, good arm movement, etc, although her feet were splaying a little bit on landing. I decided I'd tell her this if I saw her afterwards but, as it happened, she disappeared into the distance and I was too bet later to even think about complimenting strangers.
It was getting really tough now. The guy I'd been running with, the last of the group of 5 of us, was gone out the back now. I was watching the watch - HR was still in the 160's mostly, legs were still ok (considering), the distance was counting down. I missed the 41k mark on the road but knew it was only 1.5km to the finish.
Because I'd set the watch to current lap (current lap pace, current HR, no of laps, current lap distance) I didn't know what my overall time was looking like, nor did I care. I decided long ago that I could only run the km I was on. If the last one was slow, I could do nothing about it. I'll worry about the next one when I get there. Stay in the here & now.
Then the roundabout on Station Road came into view. Halle-flipping-lujah. Only a couple of hundred metres left. Across the junction, onto the path, into the GAA grounds, over the line. Water and banana and a "well done" from TBFKA Elvis Jones. And the medal, most importantly, the medal. I'd like to say it wasn't but I really needed to race my marathon and pick up one of these. And I think it's a pretty cool one.
Km splits: 4:55, 4:54, 5:11, 4:51, 5:00, 4:58, 4:54, 4:56, 5:11, 4:50, 4:47, 4:49, 4:35, 4:47, 4:26.
After
Sandwiches, biscuits, buns, a massage from a Physio, tea, water, more sandwiches, more tea. Changed into flip flops and hobbled back to the car. Over to the pool for a long shower, a quick swim (discovered that with a float my front kicking is absolutely useless - it's like I was anchored in the pool:eek: - and it was nothing to do with having just run a marathon) and another long shower, then into the car & home.
A successful day. A monkey off my back, a demon banished - call it what you will. Turns out I was 8th finisher in the full but that doesn't matter a jot to me. I did this to prove to me that I was good enough to run sub-3:30. No disrespect to anyone but my big lesson from GLR13 was that nobody else's expectation matters. I'm not competing with them. If everyone else in the world runs <2:00 marathons I'll be delighted for them (and will happily tell the world that I met you once). But I'm answerable only to me. And yesterday this was my best and I'm proud to have done it.
Data is here
Hit the hay before 10pm last night (I honestly don't know how people go boozing after racing a marathon) and was a wake before 5 this morning, ravenous. What was I going to do but get up and update my log?
Next up? Hookamuck challenge in two weeks, though there might be a 60k sportive next week in aid of St. Lukes Hospital. It has a 5.2km Cat 4 and a 6km Cat 2 climb on it so we'll see. My 12 y.o. son wants to do it if he's not playing music that day and he reckons hills are why God invented Granny Gears - ignoring the fact that he's the only one of us who has Granny Gears.:(
Then two weeks on holiday (lots of music, lots of wine - hopefully!) and on Saturday August 30th there's a walk on in Galway organised by a colleague of mine, in memory of her son who died from cancer, raising money for Pieta House. I said I'd go up for the Saturday and, if there are a few people running the 30k I'd run it with them. If any of you are up that way, or know people up that way, please spread the word. I'm not a big GAA fanatic but for those who are it seems like it might be of interest. Back to Hell & Back on September 13th and there's talk of an Adventure Race at the start of October. Let's see how that all goes.0 -
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But you could've gone a 3:23:xx if only you had peed on the go! This is the triathlon forum, you know.
Haha - I might have considered it but I had my new runners on and didn't want them to end up stinking (as someone on tdar said recently happened to them).
Actually when I was drifting around in the pool afterwards I was just thinking about the dude in your tri camp - and if it was a 50m pool x 2m deep x 10m wide then that's 1000 cubic metres or 1,000,000 litres. If yer man's capacity was even a half litre then, even though it's a gank thing to do, it'd be diluted to a negligible level.
Yes doing pointless mathematical puzzles is how I occupy myself when I'm exercising!0 -
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OK so it seems another month has passed by since my last update. Don't worry - that doesn't mean this will take long. It won't. Very leisurely, by and large.
Took the week off after Portarlington. Combination of choice and (work-related) necessity. This nearly turned into two weeks, for the same reasons (I was going to be on holidays the 3rd week after Portarlington so that was a 60-hour week). I did get a gentle 8k run and a swim in before work (in Galway) on the Tuesday morning of this week. Nice to do it though.
July 26th, 1st day of my hols, I did the Hookamuck challenge. Twas a local mud run / obstacle course thing, 10k, 1 loop and from a fitness point of view I was grand. From a not-injuring myself point of view I didn't do so well - I slipped on one obstacle and picked up a soft tissue injury :eek: (we'll leave it at that) that persisted for the following week. Let's just say I wasn't going near my racing bike till it was better.
Couple of days then tricking around and then on Thursday off to France with Dilbert Óg, the pipe band he plays with and about 100 other musicians and dancers from Ireland to the Festival Interceltique de Lorient. 10 days of music, craic, etc. We were staying in dormitory accommodation in Lorient and there was a tartan track outside our door - like 15m from our door. It was the 2nd Friday before I either had time or confidence to pull on the runners and, when many of the group were nursing "tired" heads, I went out and did 40 laps of the track (I think it was 250m) before breakfast.
There was method in my madness. On Sunday morning there was a race as part of the festival, the 10m Interceltique (I know, how Celtic to use an imperial measurement:eek:). Previous best was at the John Treacy 10m in Dungarvan 2013, 72:07. No plans to beat this. Nevertheless, you never know what's going to happen so I set my virtual pacer to 70 minute time and said I'd see how I went. Ran the 2km into town as a warmup.
Course was 1 block in the city, then 3 laps of a route around the city centre. Watch beeped for 1km and there was no sign of a marker. It turned up around 1.2km. Figured the built-up city was going to play havoc so just ran to HR from then on. Was trying to figure out as I passed each marker whether I might be on target but the maths were making me confuddled. Was busting for a pee from about 8km on but Dory Dory's advice to pee on the run, conflicting with her practise of stopping, made me more confuddled. So I held it. Anyway, in the wind up, I crossed the line in 1:09:02 (by my watch, no chip, no records that I can find - but my French is still lousy). Really shouldn't have walked through the water stations but, you know, plastic cups... Ran home then.
Since then I've only done 1 run, just under 8km around the woods yesterday. Work is manic again but I need to start getting my ass in gear for the Killarney Adventure Race in October, preceded by H&B in September.
See - it could have been longer.0 -
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career move wrote: »Nice work in the 10m!
Hope your injury is all better
P.S how do you feel about pacing me around Killarney??
P.P.S your garmin linky isn't working and I wanted to make sure you ran the full ten miles
Thanks K - link seems fine to me, even on my phone. Sure you can have a look through Connect if you want. It's metric though, albeit in English...16.38km for the record.
All back in working order alright :P - like I said I have to start preparing for drafting, sorry, keeping up with, sorry pacing you in Killarney. As long as you're in the second wave (I think I am!)0 -
Thanks K - link seems fine to me, even on my phone. Sure you can have a look through Connect if you want. It's metric though, albeit in English...16.38km for the record.
All back in working order alright :P - like I said I have to start preparing for drafting, sorry, keeping up with, sorry pacing you in Killarney. As long as you're in the second wave (I think I am!)
Oh ya forgot about that. I'm not on garmin connect much these days!
I haven't entered Killarney yet so will you double check what wave you're in and I'll go in the same
we can pace/encourage/drag each other around 0 -
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