1,000 Miles Later...

Bulmers74

skeleton_boy wrote: »

Cheers TbL. A very good luck for the coming year to yourself also.

No definite plans for a marathon. I'll be focusing on up to HM for the first half of the year and I'm not sure where I'll be/what I'll be doing in the second half of the year. I'm trying to find a new job but if that fails, I'll probably go do a postgrad in the autumn.

Even if I do have time to train for an autumn marathon, I'm contemplating sticking to shorter stuff for the whole year. I've only been training for 18 months so I'm thinking there might be an advantage to banking 2 and a half to 3 years of running before return for another aggressive marathon target. The marathon is an event like no other but I enjoy racing across all distances equally.

With a bit of luck you'll have goals 1 to 5 ticked off by June & then you can make definite plans to tear up DCM

skeleton_boy

Bulmers74 wrote: »

With a bit of luck you'll have goals 1 to 5 ticked off by June & then you can make definite plans to tear up DCM

DCM 3 : DCM With A Vengeance

jebuz

Nice targets skeleton lad, similar enough to what I aimed for last year and I think you have the talent and attitude to exceed those targets. 6 min/miles for a half was a scary prospect for me early in the year but keep plugging away and you'll get there, consistency and patience are key.

You have a decent aerobic base from the marathon last year so I think you're right to focus on the shorter quality stuff. I ran a 1:18 only months after joining the club last year when the focus was mainly speed (mix of short/long intervals 3 sessions a week), and I surprised myself being able to hold 6 min/miles for a half off that training. This translates well in terms of race performance from 5k up to the half, for me it did anyway

Milage doesn't need to be high when you're getting such quality work in, plus you absolutely need to relax on the recovery days, I was hitting maybe 55-65 a week. Best of luck.

skeleton_boy

Promised myself to write this up on Sunday but got too caught up watching NFL. Better late than never.

Monday 5th - 8.9 miles (inc 10X2min @10K)
2 miles warm up
10 x 2 min @10K (5.51, 5.50, 5.57, 5.44, 5.47, 5.54, 5.52, 5.50, 5.51, 5.40)
2 miles warm down

Went at it a bit to hard in places but a good session to start the new year with.

Tuesday 6th - 10 miles @ 7.45
Wednesday 7th - 6 miles @ 7.49
Easy miles. Keeping these easy runs on the very easy side of things as I ramp the mileage back up over the next few weeks

Thursday 8th - 10.8 miles (inc 45min @MP)
2 miles warm up
45 min @ MP (6.39)
2 miles warm down

This was done on a very blustery evening and I had my doubts over maintaining MP in these conditions. Took in a loop which is somewhat sheltered and has an uphill and opposite downhill section. On the downhill section I was into the wind and vice versa. This made for a nice complement. A little battered, I was happy to get it in.

Friday 9th - 5 miles @ 8.32 recovery
Easy recovery miles. I did treat myself to a new pair of runners however. Will be bashing out the coming sessions/races in a pair of Muzino Wave Hitogamis.

I also attempted some strength work. A few lungs, squats, side lunges, planks etc. Boy was I sore after these. Just shows how neglected other muscle groups in my legs must be.

Saturday 10th - 12.18 miles @ 8.00
I had significant doms from the strength work on Friday so I cut this from a 15 to a 12 and took it very easy. I was happy once I clocked over 1hr30 and thought I'd give my legs a bit extra rest for Mondays session.

First full week of January and my first week over 50 miles since DCM training. Happy out.

Monday 12th - 9.7 miles (inc 5 X 6min @HMP)
2 miles w/u
5 X 6min @ HM (6.12, 6.11, 6.13, 6.12, 6.12)
2 miles w/d

I found stretches of this tough going and felt like I was working harder than I should be. Still some doms from the weekend and my body is bound to take a week or two to adjust to higher mileage again so I'm going to put the heavy legs down to that for now.

Tuesday 13th - 7.02 miles @ 7.49
Easy does it

Wednesday 14 - 6.03 stormy miles @ 8.00
The gales kept this pace very easy. I was moving quite slowly when working straight into the wind. This was kept to a minimum as I was able to zig zag a route that avoid as much of a head on collision as possible. I do enjoy running in the rain but this run had a get it done feel to it when the wind was blowing like that.

skeleton_boy

jebuz wrote: »

Nice targets skeleton lad, similar enough to what I aimed for last year and I think you have the talent and attitude to exceed those targets. 6 min/miles for a half was a scary prospect for me early in the year but keep plugging away and you'll get there, consistency and patience are key.

You have a decent aerobic base from the marathon last year so I think you're right to focus on the shorter quality stuff. I ran a 1:18 only months after joining the club last year when the focus was mainly speed (mix of short/long intervals 3 sessions a week), and I surprised myself being able to hold 6 min/miles for a half off that training. This translates well in terms of race performance from 5k up to the half, for me it did anyway

Milage doesn't need to be high when you're getting such quality work in, plus you absolutely need to relax on the recovery days, I was hitting maybe 55-65 a week. Best of luck.

Cheers jebuz. When I had a read of your end of year summary I did notice I'm not a whole pile behind where you were 12 months ago. If I can get even halfway towards where you ended the year I'll be quite pleased. Excited to see how the body responds/holds up.

I'll definitely be looking towards getting in a good block of 5/10K training after Ballycotton right through the summer. Interest to take on this quality over quantity approach. Sounds tough but very rewarding. Also I do enjoy a very easy recovery stroll after a taxing session.