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Turning a mule into a race horse.
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How's the body P, quiet this last week?
Was hoping nobody would notice
:D
Not a great week last week B. Sickness swept through the house and Mrs Mule was also out of the house from Thursday to Sunday night making me a single parent of a 2 and 9 year old. Was going to update 2 weeks in 1 so it wouldn't look so bad on paper :pac:
Anyway here's the bad and the ugly of it ...
Tuesday 8th
5 miles easy @ 9:40 pace. Nothing outstanding except that I wasn't feeling too well for this.
Wednesday
8 miles easy @ 9:35 avg pace.
Cracking run this. Had a bit of time to kill in the Clonee area and remembered AMK had a run up on Strava along the canal from Clonsilla to Maynooth. Thought I would do a bit of this. Very scenic and a great spot to run. Really enjoyed it even though wasn't feeling 100%
Thursday
Armageddon begins. Mrs Mule out of the country and 2 year old didn't really feel like sleeping too long which meant I had about 4 hours sleep. Turned out he was sick himself because most of Friday and Saturday night were spent up with him too.
Friday
6 miles @ MP
Was off work. Dropped the kids to school / montessori. Intention was to do a decent run in the 3 hours I had before collecting the youngest but personal circumstances on the day left me with less than 2 hours to myself. Headed for the park and decided I would try to do the 9@MP the plan had originally scheduled for Wednesday. Pulled up after 6. Chest was at me. Nasal drip was chronic and I had stomach cramps / retching going on as a result. Figured it was absolutely pointless flogging it at that stage.
Saturday / Sunday
No chance of a run here at all. Full time single parent. And to be fair sickness / tiredness wise was in no state to either.
New Week !
Was tempted to chase miles yesterday (Monday) It's normally a rest day but I was still feeling lousy myself and elected to let last week go.
Tuesday 15th
Strangest run I've had in a long time. I'm still not 100% at all. Nose is still dripping and it's causing a chesty cough etc. Balancing out the old marker of if it's above the neck it's ok to run with the fact that the cough was being caused by above the neck issues AND it's only 6 feckin weeks to DCM I felt I had to get back out there. Plan was to take it easy and run by feel and not be bothered about the slow pace / not look at the watch. Felt the heart rate rise a bit in first mile so pulled it back a bit. Was really surprised when it beeped in at MP. Pulled it back a bit more. Really took it easy and mile 2 also beeped in at MP. At that stage I stopped caring about the pace / time and just let the run happen. This felt very easy even if it was at MP so left it at it. Legs wise this was very easy. Breathing wise was easy to mild effort with the effort mainly feeling it was because of not being 100% well as opposed to aerobically challenged.
Ended up at 5 @ 9:05 avg pace.
I'm taking it as a damn good sign that after 3 days rest that MP felt so easy. I reckon it bodes well for after taper into the big day.
So there you have it. A crap week to be fair but a decent start to the new one. If I can just shake off this dose before the weekend as 20 miles whilst under par won't be fun.0 -
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Murph you must have a crystal ball
Wednesday
6 miles at 9:23 avg pace
Again ran to feel and easy was a little faster than normal.
Thursday
5 miles easy again 9:21 avg pace
Friday
5.2 miles easy with 6 x strides avg 9:17 pace. Took this a little slower than earlier in the week. Was a bit tired ! but the strides at mile 4 brought the pace down again.
Sunday
Murph foresaw this. :pac:
20 Mile LSR avg 10:11 pace with strong finish
Drove to Blanch and ran down as far as Castleknock to join the DCM course which I followed all the way to Walkinstown before turning right down through Ballyfermot and Chapleizod, back up through the park to Castleknock and finishing off with a lap around the outside of Blanch centre to take it up to 20 miles. Tried to mimic DCM in that I let the pace speed up a bit on the descent to Chapleizod and slow a bit on the drag up to Walkinstown.
Along the way I took 2 gels (brought 3 but lost 1 along the way) and had a few energy sweets. Didn't take on any liquids at all until mile 16 when I stopped briefly at a shop to grab a bottle of lucozade before finishing off the last 4.
Mile 19 came up and I was tempted to throw in a MP mile but decided it may not have been a smart idea injury wise. But the legs felt strong and I kind of regretted it as I wanted to see if I had more in me. It felt like I did ! So when it got to the last quarter of a mile I thought ah feck it will give it a bit of pace for the last bit. Actually hit 7:30 and finished with a 9:37 last mile.
Only really got sore walking back to the car afterwards. During the run it felt grand. Granted it was at LSR pace but I could easily have done another 6 today if needed. Last year I remember doing a 20 mile LSR and being in bits at the end. Must look that up and see what pace it was at ! EDIT: Looked it up and the 2 x 20 milers last year were at 10:47 (the one in bits for the finish) and 10:29 (on a net downhill run which was far easier route wise than today) I suspect given my injury during DCM last year today may have been my fastest ever 20 miles but Strava is borked at the moment so that will also have to wait.
Weekly total 41.2 miles
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Planned step back week mileage wise but a small ramp intensity wise. All part of the balancing act of marathon prep and injury prevention.
Tuesday
5 miles very easy @ 9:55 avg pace. Left quad was very much feeling the effects of the 20 miler on Sunday and at mile 4 I had to ease right back to 10:21 pace.
Wednesday
7 miles @ 9:17 avg pace. Mixture here of faster and easier miles. Not planned that way. I felt really tired and stiff before this run and was fairly close to wussing out of it altogether. When I did actually get out there it was off the back of some motivation that had me off and out fast. Decided just to run to feel on this completely. Some segments were faster than others. Got it done and was very glad I had in the end.
Friday
5 miles @ MP avg 9:00 pace.
Felt quite easy and was very fresh at the end.
Saturday
13.1 miles steady @ MP+5% avg 9:34 pace
Logic behind this step back in mileage but upping the intensity for the LSR as mentioned before is to give an aerobic boost without the bio mechanical stress. So this weekend piggy backed 2 days of faster mileage to give a little fatigue but to allow for a step back in overall mileage.
2 miles into this all was great and feeling very easy compared to the day befores MP. 2.5 miles in and the energy drained from me. Was into a headwind and up a hill but still was a shock to feel so tired. Eased off a little. Chewed up an energy sweet I didn't think I would be taking until much later and picked up the pace again once I was out of the wind. Felt strong again at that point and all was good for the rest of the run. Finished in decent shape. Wasn't hanging on at all.
Sunday
A lot of cross training to be done delivering leaflets for Mrs Mule - will get 3-4 gentle recovery miles done by running back after.
Weekly total 34+ miles.
Next Week
Hadn't planned to but ended up getting an entry into the Athlone 3/4 marathon next weekend. Will be running that at MP + 5% too along with the pacers for a sub 4 DCM. It's set up that way so you don't blow your DCM running the guts of 20 miles at MP too close to the race but that said it's still a solid test of fitness for a sub 4. So only easy miles for the upcoming midweek and will be therefore be dropping the midweek pace run back to easy pace.0 -
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Athlone 3/4 Marathon "Race"
Was caught in two minds on whether or not to do this up as a full report or not as this wasn't raced as such. But still it was a stern test and deserves a few lines to itself
Went into this quite apprehensive and hoping that the legs / left foot in particular would hold up. Got a lift down from Yaboya and we had a good chat about pacing / and how todays run would reflect on DCM in 3 weeks time. Plan was to head off with the DCM 4:00 pacers who were running at MP+5% or 9:40 a mile for a projected 3:10:00 finish. This would be faster than all my LSRs to date and a decent test. Fail at this and sub 4 wouldn't be too feasible. 4 hour pacers are legends by the way with Marthastew and Mr Stew doing the honours here.
Athlone is a hilly course - no that's wrong, it's a very hilly course - actually near mountainous might be better. You get the picture ! Yaboya had warned me too on the way down of a steep hill after 18 miles but there were so many ups and downs along the way.
2 miles in and I'm feeling hungry. Got pre race nutrition wrong. Up at 7 for breakfast and this was a 10:30 start with nothing in between. But the first water station (and indeed all others) had not only water but jellies and bowls of fruit !! I could have kissed Bazman if he was there. Wolved a banana and immediately felt better.
Again not going to go into too much detail as I normally would but things ticked along nicely until about 14 miles in where it got a little uncomfortable for me pain wise. Foot was starting to throb a bit and both hips were also starting to pain. Did question at this point could I run faster for longer in 3 weeks time at DCM. But all along I had Marthastew or Mr Stew chatting away either to myself or someone around me and it was great to be able to zone out a bit and listen to the conversation. More warnings about this epic hill we were to face soon. Before the hill though there was what nobody wants to see - a collapsed runner on the side of the road. Mr Stew immediately stopped to assist the group there and Marthastew herself half stopped too. (This chap I am told was ok after so happy ending to that) But this led straight into the steepest hill I have ever had the "pleasure" of running up. I had pulled away a bit from MS at this point. Seriously contemplated walking this hill - not from an overwhelming tiredness but because I figured it might actually be faster to walk ! But then again that would be a bit of a cop out so I just ploughed up it passing quite a few people. I knew we were slightly behind pace at that point but once over the top of this it was all downhill to the finish.
Crested the hill and there was 1k left to go. Started to speed up a bit and draw further ahead of MS. I was picking off runners all over the place at this stage and there was MS roaring at me from behind - to go on go on, pass 5 more, pass 5 more ! Skipped down a steep downhill at a near sprint. I thought there was an immediate turn into the finish area. No ! Mother of God they've put another fecking hill here beforehand. Having passed so many people I would look really stupid now if I blew up or slowed down on the hill so I had no choice but to maintain pace up it. Turn right into the finish area, down a dip and then up another last little hill - sure why not ! and cross the line in 3:09:16
Splits 1-19 averaged out at 9:40 pace as planned. The last 0.6 of a mile was at 7:19 pace.
Very very happy to get through this in one piece and to have enough in the tank to finish so strong is a real confidence booster.0 -
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Pacing Mule wrote: »In plain sight ! - Right beside MS for most of it. I saw in the Athlone thread you were out marshalling but never spotted you myself
Thanks for that today though - all the marshals were supportive and vocal. Makes such a big difference.
MS more or less handed me an empty bottle as she passed, never seen a bit of you.0 -
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Easing into taper this week - stepped back to 4 runs.
Tuesday
5 miles easy @ 9:29 pace - slightly fast for easy but all felt good
Wednesday
5.7 miles @ 9:57 avg
Slight confidence denter this one. 2.5 miles in and all my energy drained on me, breathing heavy. This is happening way too often at this stage where it all falls apart shortly into the run. Walked the rest of that mile and then got back into it nice and easy. Everything was back to normal at that stage and I ended up knocking out some faster miles to get back to where I needed to be - was on a time deadline. Easily done at that point.
8:57, 9:24, 12:39, 10:09, 9:34, 8:39 (.7)
Friday
5 miles @ 9:07 avg
Bit of an epiphany day. As mentioned above (and in various posts before) everything went south after 2/2.5 miles again on Wednesday. Set off for this one nice and easy. Then just before 2 miles started to think about the blow up - would it happen again today etc. And sure enough the moment it went on my mind, within 10 seconds, I was struggling, breathing was erratic, heart rate rising, energy leaving the legs. And I was like what the actual fcuk - is this purely psychological ? without being too dramatic about it was it a minor panic attack that was happening ? So I dug deep into my mind and went to a happy place and memory. And it all evaporated as quickly as it came on. In fact things went completely the opposite where everything felt so incredibly easy despite the pace faster than planned. It's a strange thing the mind.
9:17, 9:17, 9:09, 8:49, 9:03
Sunday
13.1 mile LSR (7MP, 3ST, 3.1E) @ 9:16 avg
Great run this and a nice way to ease into taper proper this week. First 7 miles were ran at MP effort (slightly faster as a new downhill for first 3) then eased back a little for 3 miles before seeing it off at nice and easy effort. In fairness probably a bit fast on all the splits for the first 7 - got carried away for mile 7 in particular. Ran down to the canal and down as far as Cabra direction before turning back up. Love this route. Early morning runs along the canal have been the highlight of this cycle. Was easy to forget the pace.
9:26, 9:07, 8:58, 9:18, 9:07, 8:59, 8:49, 9:29, 9:19, 9:17, 9:42, 9:35, 9:23, 9.25 (.1)
Some thoughts
So that's it really. Just ticking over and tapering over the next 2 weeks to do and then it's the big day and attempt 3 at a decent marathon. Quite confident though for this one. More so than last year. Feel like I'm in good shape for sub 4 despite the wobbles earlier in the cycle. The niggles are the niggles. They haven't put me out so should hold up ok now for the big day. Quads that let me down last year have had a lot of work done on them to strengthen up and after last weeks 20 miles around the hills of Athlone I'm happy that they will last the distance this time round. I've lost quite a bit more weight since last mentioned here in the log. Mrs Mule posted up a before and after pic of me for her SW group. It certainly shows a bit of progress all be it not all this year
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Not a lot of note to log training wise this week. A little bit of second guessing marathon goal target crept in but will come to that in a minute.
Tuesday
4 easy miles @ 9:14 avg
Wednesday
4 miles @ 8:50 avg
9:15, 9:03, 8:22, 8:38
Thursday
6 easy miles @ 9:22 avg
Saturday
8 miles @ 9:26 avg
This was the last "L" not so long "S" not slow enough R. Had to constantly keep myself in check as natural tendency was to speed up. At this point 9:20 ish is my genuine easy pace and pulling it back to 9:40+ was difficult. I'd feel like I was slowing down / pulling back effort wise and the clock would still beep in too fast.
This was part of the reasons I started thinking about aiming for a faster time than 4:00 for DCM. There's no question that my fitness level has improved substantially recently. A massive factor in that is weight loss. I've dropped down now where for the first time in over 2 decades the stone column reads 11 - quite a distance away from 17. I had been aiming all along to go under 12 stone in time for DCM so this was always planned. 12lbs off in the last 6 weeks has made a big difference to effort levels on the runs. I started to think about maybe shooting for 3:50 and sought some advice on it. The last thing I want would be to finish too fresh and wonder had I sold myself short on the day. Not withstanding the fact that sub 4 was/is considered by some to be a tall order in the first place.
These days I tend to listen to the advice of others a bit more ! Bottom line was that shooting for 3:50 could indeed be doable but would be taking a major gamble of blowing up late in the race and missing the sub 4:00 for it. The suggestion was to run the first half plus at 4:00 pace with the pacers I personally know, don't get trigger happy at halfway, wait some more, evaluate then and begin to push on from mile 17 if all is going well before dropping the hammer for the last 2km if there is still juice in the tank. That could give me a 3:55 or thereabouts time which would still be smashing sub 4 but doing it a little safer. And obviously if things aren't comfortable on the day stick with plan A and hang on for sub 4 thanking the heavens I hadn't gone off after the 3:50 pacers.
So that's the strategy / target.
A Target - Sub 4:00 - Quietly confident of this which is a good place to be.
A+ Target - A strong finish sub 4:00 bringing it in closer to 3:55
B Target - A solid PB0 -
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