one man and his dog

Finnt

Hi all!
I've decided to start a training log, I'm currently training for the run mount Juliet half marathon and GLR marathon.

A bit of background!
I'm 29 and in 2009 I was heading for 20st.(I've since lost 7.5st) I joined a gym and done the all the usual crack,
In 2011 I joined boot camp Ireland for a couple of months and one Sunday I decided to go for a run on my own with the idea of doing 10k, I couldn't I did 7 or so but ever since I've always loved taking to the road.
My 10k pb is 45:21.

I hope to do the marathon between 3:30 and 3:40 I'm currently running 4 times a week covering 30-40 miles a week,

I'll gladly accept advise or observations on my running!

Finnt

First run of the week
3x1200m intervals with easy jog between and 1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down,

1st : 4:59
2nd: 5:08
3rd: 5:05

Was aiming for 5:05-5:09 so happy with this mornings run!

Calvin Johnson

Hi Finn,

How far into your plan are you?

Finnt

Hi Calvin
this is the 8th week of the program

Calvin Johnson

How's it going so far?

Do you have any 50 mile weeks?

Finnt

Going grand feeling strong this morning was tough but not to the point I'm killed!

No 50 mile weeks I think the longest week is around 40 miles

Finnt

6 easy miles this morning averaged about 9 min/mile smashing morning for running this morning!

yaboya1

Finnt wrote: »

6 easy miles this morning averaged about 9 min/mile smashing morning for running this morning!

Are you serious? Or is there some sarcasm in there?
I was out this morning and got absolutely saturated in the torrential rain, spent my time running through puddles on the flooded paths and shivering in the freezing cold. My hands were actually numb despite the fact that I was wearing gloves

Finnt

yaboya1 wrote: »

Are you serious? Or is there some sarcasm in there?
I was out this morning and got absolutely saturated in the torrential rain, spent my time running through puddles on the flooded paths and shivering in the freezing cold. My hands were actually numb despite the fact that I was wearing gloves

No seriously! It was cool put no rain or wind and a perfect clear sky!!

yaboya1

I'm guessing you're not in Dublin then?
Or else you were out running at 5am before I woke up

Ososlo

I must be a weirdo as I thanked that post as when I looked out the window this morning and it was lashing rain I though YAY, it's raining, I love running in the rain and it'll be quieter on the roads and paths:o

yaboya1

Ososlo wrote: »

I must be a weirdo as I thanked that post as when I looked out the window this morning and it was lashing rain I though YAY, it's raining, I love running in the rain and it'll be quieter on the roads and paths:o

I wouldn't say that as I normally enjoy it myself, but the rain was torrential and it was bitterly cold. Especially on the cool-down. Maybe I'm just a bit soft?? :pac:

Ososlo

yaboya1 wrote: »

I wouldn't say that as I normally enjoy it myself, but the rain was torrential and it was bitterly cold. Especially on the cool-down. Maybe I'm just a bit soft?? :pac:

yeah maybe that's it. Get yourself some running tights:) (that's a joke btw;))

yaboya1

I do have some, but I'm afraid to wear them. I think I'd rather freeze :P
I put them on to help with recovery after a long run sometimes, but even then I try to avoid mirrors!

Ososlo

yaboya1 wrote: »

I do have some, but I'm afraid to wear them. I think I'd rather freeze :P
I put them on to help with recovery after a long run sometimes, but even then I try to avoid mirrors!

and other people I hope:D

Calvin Johnson

Just got caught in a downpour 20 minutes ago. No problem with rain but it's not much fun when it's as bad as that.

Finnt

yaboya1 wrote: »

I'm guessing you're not in Dublin then?
Or else you were out running at 5am before I woke up

No I'm not in Dublin I'm in tipp but I was out at. 5:30!

Finnt

Ososlo wrote: »

, I love running in the rain and it'll be quieter on the roads and paths:o

I like the rain too! I'd run away in it, can be a bit hard to get up in the mornings when the alarm goes off and you can here the rain hopping of the window!

Finnt

4 mile fartlek this morning should have been a bit longer but was late getting up :-( !

Mostly hills and 100m sprints.

Smashing morning again. Now to try get tickets!

Beef

Finnt wrote: »

Now to try get tickets!

Tickets... For Garth Brooks...? Unfollows. :pac:

Finnt

Beef wrote: »

Tickets... For Garth Brooks...? Unfollows. :pac:

There were for the wife didn't get them anyway !

Beef

Finnt wrote: »

There were for the wife didn't get them anyway !

Sure they were!

SamforMayo

Good luck with the log, is this your 1 st marathon? Do you race much? Fair play to you on your weight loss, you have plenty of discipline anyways. If it s your 1 st marathon check out the DCM 2013 novices thread loads of good advice there.

Finnt

Hi Sam
It'll be my first marathon I've been flicking thru the dcm tread some good stuff in there alright.

I've only ever raced 10ks and I've only done 2 in the past year, I've the mount Juliet half on the 14th of feb and the marathon in May. I haven't thought any further than that yet!

SamforMayo

Finnt wrote: »

Hi Sam
It'll be my first marathon I've been flicking thru the dcm tread some good stuff in there alright.

I've only ever raced 10ks and I've only done 2 in the past year, I've the mount Juliet half on the 14th of feb and the marathon in May. I haven't thought any further than that yet!

The half marathon will give you a good idea of where you are at anyways, plenty of good advice on here so ask lots of questions!

Finnt

13.75 miles today,
Average 8:27min/mile

Was tough going in spots the route I ran today was a lot hillier than I thought it would've been!!

First run ever with a bottle belt and drinking on the move, not as easy as you'd think it might be!!

SamforMayo

Finnt wrote: »

13.75 miles today,
Average 8:27min/mile

Was tough going in spots the route I ran today was a lot hillier than I thought it would've been!!

First run ever with a bottle belt and drinking on the move, not as easy as you'd think it might be!!

Its an acquired skill, nice mileage there.

overpronator

Best of luck with your log and your training, it sounds like you've made serious progress with your fitness, congratulations. Now you can really enjoy those gains!

Finnt

Smashing morning again this morning couldn't be much different from yesterday thankfully!

Anyway! 6 x 800m repeats this morning, with a mile warm up and cool down.

1; 3:17
2; 3:17
3; 3:19
4; 3:19
5; 3:22
6; 3:23

Kind of faded a bit towards the end.

Beginning to think of Sunday week, I'm running the half in mount Juliet, My original plan was to aim for 1:50 now I'm wondering if 1:45 would be possible ? 8min/mile for 13.1 miles

Beef

You should use the half as a gauge for your marathon time. Based on your 10K time you would be looking at sub 1:45 for the half - which in turn would suggest nearer the 3:40 time than the 3:30 you posted about in your first post I think. This is assuming you have done some longer runs also though.
Have you done any half marathon paced miles in training as part of a session or anything?

Finnt

Beef wrote: »

You should use the half as a gauge for your marathon time. Based on your 10K time you would be looking at sub 1:45 for the half - which in turn would suggest nearer the 3:40 time than the 3:30 you posted about in your first post I think. This is assuming you have done some longer runs also though.
Have you done any half marathon paced miles in training as part of a session or anything?

No! As foolish as it sounds now i've not done any half marathon paced training,
I've a 8 mile marathon pace run planed for Thursday morning, I might try the first 6 miles @ 8min or would it be too much to do it all @ 8min?

SamforMayo

I think I read on DCM Graduates 2013 thread Blockic recommending 7 miles at HMP about 10 days before the race, have a look through it in case Im wrong though!

Beef

Finnt wrote: »

No! As foolish as it sounds now i've not done any half marathon paced training,
I've a 8 mile marathon pace run planed for Thursday morning, I might try the first 6 miles @ 8min or would it be too much to do it all @ 8min?

It might be no harm to do 1.5 miles easy, either side of 5 miles at HM pace and see how you get on? If you're feeling good after the 5, you could always do another couple. It will feel tough especially during a marathon training plan, but it's supposed to!

Finnt

5.7 miles today at 9:02 average, going to do tomorrow's pace run at half marathon pace an see how it goes.

Finnt

9 miles this morning done a mile warm up 7 miles @ HM pace and a mile cool down.
7 mile times :

1; 8:00
2; 7:51
3; 7:50
4; 7:59
5; 8:03
6; 7:46
7; 7:57

Average 7:54/min happy with the run, found the first 2 miles tough, but would have done another mile or two at the end but time was against me this morning.

I wasn't really looking forward to this mornings run, once I got started I really enjoyed the run.

I think I'll try run the half at 8min pace hopefully I'll be able to keep on pace for the 13.1 miles!

Calvin Johnson

Well done, nice run indeed.

Beef

Great run - definitely go for the 8 minute miles now. What's your plan for tomorrow?

Finnt

Tomorrow is a planned rest day, with an 8 mile lsr on Saturday. Probably should do a short easy run in the morning?

Beef

A recovery run (as much as I dislike doing them myself) would probably be the conventional wisdom the day after a session like that. It will help your legs, ahead of Saturdays run. Meno and career_move would be so proud of me

overpronator

+1 on the recovery run, its not something I ever took seriously until lately. I find now though if I do say 4 miles at something like 2 mins slower than my hmp after a hard session it really sorts out any residual soreness for the next days run.

SamforMayo

Finnt wrote: »

9 miles this morning done a mile warm up 7 miles @ HM pace and a mile cool down.
7 mile times :

1; 8:00
2; 7:51
3; 7:50
4; 7:59
5; 8:03
6; 7:46
7; 7:57

Average 7:54/min happy with the run, found the first 2 miles tough, but would have done another mile or two at the end but time was against me this morning.

I wasn't really looking forward to this mornings run, once I got started I really enjoyed the run.

I think I'll try run the half at 8min pace hopefully I'll be able to keep on pace for the 13.1 miles!

Nice going, great that you felt you could continue.

Finnt

A recovery run tomorrow it is so!! Got my race number and chip in the post today for mount Juliet all set now!! An easy week next week on the run up to it.

Calvin Johnson

Finn , what pace do you do your tempo and MP sessions at?

Mine can be very close in pace so just interested if you have much separation.

Finnt

Hi calvin,
At the min I'm not doing any tempo runs,
The plan I'm following has me doing MP runs every second Thursday, I do these at 8:14/mile or so.
On the other Thursdays I do a fartlek run which is usually 6-7 miles including warm up cool down,
I normally do some hill sprints in these sessions then I run along a path that's lined with poles and sprint all out from the first to the third, then easy from the third to the fourth and repeat!

I used to do a tempo run when I was training for the last 10k I ran, but usually ran that at about 7:50 mile

Finnt

Well!

8.25 miles yesterday @ avg 8:48/mile.

Made a big mistake yesterday and ate not long before heading out, change of plan meant either getting out after lunch or not getting out at all.
Got a stitch about half way into mile 1 nearly had me turning around.
Was a bit of a slog thru the rest of the run.

I decided before heading out that I'd try run by feel, so I clipped my garmin onto the dogs collar and headed off, the idea being I could record the run and not be able to look at the watch! Tbh I'm not sure I'll do it again! What was supposed to be an easy <9min/mile ended up been a bit too quick!
I wonder what's the implications of running long runs too fast?
I struggle sometimes to run slow miles slow!

Anyway this week is a planned easy week, rest today 6ez Tuesday 4ez Wednesday and 4 ez on Thursday, with the half marathon on Saturday. Well that's the plan anyway!

Finnt

Garmin acting up again today!
About 5-5.5 miles in about 50 mins
Felt a bit tight in my right calf, foam rolling on the cards this evening!

SamforMayo

Finnt wrote: »

Garmin acting up again today!
About 5-5.5 miles in about 50 mins
Felt a bit tight in my right calf, foam rolling on the cards this evening!

Mind yourself, the hard work is done, you want to go into your race with no niggles

Finnt

Didn't run this morning calf still not quite right, maybe I being over cautious.
Will go for a run in the morning if all feels ok.

Finnt

4 miles this morning, woke up with sore throat and feeling like sh*t,
First two miles were at 9 min pace or so wasn't feeling the best but ran the second at 8min/mile or so. Just to remind the legs of what's ahead on Saturday!
Last mile easy, had no choice really got caught in a snow shower. The weather is gone mental!

Finnt

The half got cancelled today, was fair cross about it I rang before I headed off yesterday and they said it was going ahead, the weather was grand last night but they cancelled it at. 9 this morning. I was not impressed!

Anyway what to do now? Think I'll do a long run tomorrow 13 miles+ and skip the easy week next week.
I see there's a half in Wicklow next weekend but I think I'll give it a miss.
I don't think I can afford another easy week.

SamforMayo

Finnt wrote: »

The half got cancelled today, was fair cross about it I rang before I headed off yesterday and they said it was going ahead, the weather was grand last night but they cancelled it at. 9 this morning. I was not impressed!

Anyway what to do now? Think I'll do a long run tomorrow 13 miles+ and skip the easy week next week.
I see there's a half in Wicklow next weekend but I think I'll give it a miss.
I don't think I can afford another easy week.

Ah feck it, you must be gutted, hard to know what to do now really. Would be nice to get a race in for you see how you are progressing especially with training going well.