BQ or Bust!

Murph_D

Week 11 cont.

Fri 28 Jul

Rest

Sat 29 Jul

9.3k inc St. Anne’s parkrun @ steady

Pacer Saturday at St. Anne’s. I donned the 25 mins vest, coming in at 24:55.:cool: Great turnout, including some excellent pacer debuts from aquinn and the missus. Most enjoyable and very sociable morning, as always. Did an extra couple of miles with aquinn +1 before the inevitable coffee and tea brack.

Sun 30 Jul

Easy 23 kms (14.2 mi)

The plan had 10 miles but stretched it out to 14 as I'm a little light on miles this week, after downgrading the Tues session. Looped around the city via the Phoenix Park, taking in some interesting smaller parks along the way. A warm morning - missed the rain by minutes. Longest run in some time, and I was quite tired by the end of it. Another decent week in the bag.

WTD: 71k (44m)
MTD: 275 (171)
YTD: 1,679 (1,043)

Murph_D

Charleville HM Week 12 of 18

Week 12 - Getting into Deep Hanson now. :pac:

First ‘strength’ session this week - due to start last week but skipped due to the specificity of the Fingal 10k race (not to mention the recovery). It’s getting to the stage where you know the schedule/plan will bite you, but you feel you can rely on the work you've done to get you through what lies ahead. Trust the plan, in other words.

Mon 31 Jul

Rest.

Traveling to Donegal today so decided to swap out today’s easy run for the Weds rest day.

Tue 1 Aug

Strength: 4 x 2,400m off 800 jog recovery

I have a vague memory of a session like this from deep in the P&D schedule, although that could equally well have been a hallucination. Hanson strength sessions are more or less at LT pace - a pace P&D would call tempo, but Hanson can’t do that because the term ‘tempo’ is reserved for race pace. Confusing? Well, that’s what we're rolling with this summer, and who am I to argue?

Because the strength sessions are slower than the speed sessions they have replaced, they look easy enough on paper, but there was certainly nothing easy about today. I sought out the only flat piece of reasonably quiet and relatively traffic-free road I know around here - a 2 km stretch either side of Mountcharles Pier. This picturesque location is now on the wonderfully marketed Wild Atlantic Way, so I was relieved that there was not too much tourist traffic about and I had the road mainly to myself, along with a few walkers and joggers, some of whom gave hearty encouragement (runners being still relatively thin on the ground on the SW Donegal thoroughfares).

Splits: (Target 4:25/k = 7:06/m = 10:36 /rep)

10:30 10:30 10:31 10:28

The splits suggest I might have found this handy enough, but anything but - a decent headwind in one direction made things very challenging at times, and I was delighted to get through it relatively unscathed. As good a session on the road as I’ve ever had. The kind of run that makes you feel like you’re not completely wasting your time.

WTD: 18k (11m)
MTD: 18 (11)
YTD: 1,697 (1,055)

Kennyg71

nice session D, always hard to run these on your own, and defiantly doesn't look easy even on paper

Murph_D

Week 12 cont.

Wed 2 Aug

8k recovery with the Mrs on the local undulating loop. Tired. Could have done with the rest day on the plan.

Thu 3 Aug

16k+ with 10k @ tempo

What one Hanson brother gives, the other taketh away. :rolleyes:

As I would be doing the session on an up and down route, I wasn't expecting to be able to hit or maintain the target 4:30 (7:18) pace – if I couldn't hit it in flat Donabate last week, what chance did I have in the hills? Not big hills but enough to mess with you. Maybe I should've been more aggressive, but I pretty much decided before starting that MP would be an achievement. Didn't even make that in the end. Horrible run.

Splits (target 4:30)

4:41 4:40 4:51 4:49 5:10
4:43 4:52 4:19 4:26 4:43

Maybe that rest day between sessions is important! Or maybe - and much more likely, I didn't have the ganas today. Was definitely still feeling the Tues session. Must double check my paces and make sure they’re realistic. The only solace was the relatively good final two miles, although even these were assisted by a net downhill. :rolleyes:

Fri 4 Aug

50 mins recovery on local loop, in company of FBOT who is doing Ulster this weekend.

Sat 5 Aug

6.7k (4.1 mi) inc. Dungloe parkrun (21:09)

Delighted to return to one of the friendliest parkruns in Ireland (they all say that but it’s possibly true in this case). After a warm welcome from the RD and volunteers, we set off for a warmup tour of the three-lap course. Beautiful morning with practically no wind, unlike the previous outing. My plan for this was a good tempo+ run, to partially make up for the failed effort earlier in the week. Almost caught on the hop with the sudden start, setting out amidst a pack of kids who had hared off the front. Passed by a couple of lads in first 100m but had a feeling they’d be back fairly soon. FBOT got out well and was soon in the distance, matched by a junior girl with a beautiful stride. By the second bend I’d shaken off the kids and early surgers to take up third place, where I remained for the rest of the three laps. I was gradually gaining on junior and considered pushing a bit more to try to catch her, but that would have put me over the edge. At any rate, the wee girl glanced over her shoulder with about 400m to go and then finished me off for good. Congrats to FBOT on another tourist first finish. Enjoyed the run, which I would rate at about a 95 percent effort. Happy to keep my North West parkrun podium record intact. Good runs from Mrs Mc and A too. In fact we all ended up with a category win, I believe.

Sun 6 Aug

Long Run 23 kms @ 5:33 (14.2 mi @ 8:57))

I thought I’d feel pretty bunched on the long run after this week’s two regular sessions and the added parkrun @ tempo+, but felt great on tonight’s run. Probably benefitted from getting out a bit later than usual, although on the other hand I’d spent a couple of hours in a chilly Bundoran Waterworld earlier, which wouldn’t have helped. Luckily I hadn’t injured myself on the water slides anyway. :pac: So two thirds of the way through the schedule now, with a good strong finish to a decent week – over 50 miles for the first time since January.

WTD: 81k (51m)
MTD: 81 (51)
YTD: 1,760 (1,094)

OOnegative

Was in Waterworld myself last weekend, water was fine but young lad and myself left after just over an hour, chlorine killed the two of us. Kudos on training of late, will be picking your brain on your thoughts after you finish the plan.

Murph_D

OOnegative wrote: »

Was in Waterworld myself last weekend, water was fine but young lad and myself left after just over an hour, chlorine killed the two of us. Kudos on training of late, will be picking your brain on your thoughts after you finish the plan.

Interesting you say that, I spotted them shovelling it in to the wave pool at one point (thought you had to do that when no one was in it!) Didn't think much of it (as I wasn't in that pool at the time) but now that you mention, the boys mentioned chlorine a few times so it might have been bothering them a little. Place was freezing today!

denis b

That is interesting about your Tempo pace. I have adjusted my LT pace by +5 and I am still on the absolute upper of my HR range. I will stick with that but it follows 2 LT sessions where I literally had to sit down for 5 mins after and where my HR was close to 95% of MHR. Pace was just too strong for me and the training session goal was probably lost.

Am more willing to adjust for other factors now to keep my focus and the session goal. Also trying to make sure that I am not wimping out on the pain in gain.

Murph_D

Good reminder about losing the benefit of the training if pace is wrong. I wish my HR monitor was more consistent so I could have some objective data, but not very reliable of late. Must try to fix (I like a relatively loose strap, and the 235 needs to be worn more tightly to get a good read, I think). But I'm confident that 4:19 is LT (based on pinprick test last year), so 4:30 on flat surface should be quite tough but manageable. For now, I'm writing off last Thurs (hills) and the previous (out of sorts), and take solace from the good speed/strength sessions and the other tempos to date. Will be interesting to see how it goes this week all the same. Good point about wimping out too - again, good HR data can help with this analysis, and in your case it looks like you were working! All kinds of other factors to take in too - heat, tiredness, sleep patterns etc etc.

denis b

Its time for me to get that pinprick test done. Just goes out of my head.

Annie get your Run

FWIW Fletch thinks the wrist HR doesn't work as well on skinny folks, I don't have any such issues but he's regularly saying his HR readings are off but yes, you must wear the watch tight (can't get your finger under it) for accurate readings.

hot buttered scones

Murph_D wrote: »

Good reminder about losing the benefit of the training if pace is wrong. I wish my HR monitor was more consistent so I could have some objective data, but not very reliable of late. Must try to fix (I like a relatively loose strap, and the 235 needs to be worn more tightly to get a good read, I think). But I'm confident that 4:19 is LT (based on pinprick test last year), so 4:30 on flat surface should be quite tough but manageable. For now, I'm writing off last Thurs (hills) and the previous (out of sorts), and take solace from the good speed/strength sessions and the other tempos to date. Will be interesting to see how it goes this week all the same. Good point about wimping out too - again, good HR data can help with this analysis, and in your case it looks like you were working! All kinds of other factors to take in too - heat, tiredness, sleep patterns etc etc.

The 235 needs to be worn tight enough to leave an imprint of the strap on your arm afterwards. It also needs to be worn a bit higher up your arm than a conventional watch (about an inch above the wrist bone). Mine can be all over the place a times - especially in the cold, and it just can't handle any sort of intervals. I use it as a general guide - as in I know what the 235 should read during recovery runs - whether or not that's accurate is a different story altogether, but I'm just comparing like with like and it think that's ok. If you have an old strap hanging around you could try wearing that for runs where measuring your HR is very important, or even just for one or two runs so you can get an idea if you can trust the readings from the 235.

Murph_D

Charleville HM Week 13 of 18

Final third of the HM block. All well so far, physically. Tues speed/strength sessions have gone well. Struggling lately with long tempos (HM pace) runs, after a good start. Hopefully will get to grips with them again over next few weeks.

Mon 7 Aug

Recovery 8k. Bit of a mudfest on one of the local road/forest loops.

Tue 8 Aug

Strength: 3 x 3,200m off 800 jog recovery

Looks like a monster session but really just a few back-to-back shortish LT runs. That’s what I told myself anyway, as I headed over to the cinder track at the Glenties GAA pitch. The Hansons suggest doing these on more rolling terrain, but they don’t seem too picky about it, so I opted for the more controlled environment as the two mile reps are just a little too long for the Mountcharles coastal route I used last week.

The GAA pitch was being mowed so there was a pleasant scent of cut grass in the air. A few walkers on the track, just like my previous visit here earlier in the summer. The session went well - apart from the tendency to hare off at the beginning of each rep, it was reasonably controlled and certainly challenging.

Splits: (target = 4:25/k = 7:06/m = 14:08 /rep)

14:05 14:04 14:02

Nothing wrong with that, I suppose. Wouldn’t have fancied a fourth, mind.

Wed 9 Aug

Rest. Logging it in advance to make sure I stick to it.

WTD: 25k (15m)
MTD: 106 (66)
YTD: 1,785 (1,109)

Murph_D

Week 13 cont.

Thu 10 Aug

Tempo Thurs: 15k with 10k @ HMP

This went well for a change - glad to nail the final 6-miler after struggling with the previous ones. Still in Donegal, and chose an undulating but net downhill route, down the arrow-straight road known locally as The Doorin Line, aware that there would be a moderate-to-fresh headwind to cancel out most of the advantage. Not a route I've used before, but hopefully will again - hardly any traffic, which is always a bonus when trying to maintain tempo on narrow roads.

Splits (target 4:30)

4:27 4:26 4:29 4:30 4:26
4:33 4:29 4:31 4:28 4:31

Much better than last week and the week before, when I struggled to make even MP for much of the distance. A confidence boost before tackling the 7-milers coming up over the next few weeks. :eek:

WTD: 40k (25m)
MTD: 121 (75)
YTD: 1,800 (1,118)

Kennyg71

Nice going D, coming together nicely.

Murph_D

Week 13 cont.

Fri 11 Aug

11.9k recovery. Only supposed to be 10 but misjudged the length of the route.

Sat 12 Aug

50 mins recovery on the local loop.

Sun 13 Aug

Long Run 16.9 kms @ 5:41 (10.5 mi @ 9:09))

Final Donegal run for a while. Chose a route I haven’t been on for a long time. I knew it had a big hill but it seemed to go on and on forever. Then I got in another one on the way home. So a harder run than the numbers suggest. Very scenic run, where at one point I crested a ridge and the whole of Donegal Bay unfolded in front of me. Nice way to end the week.

WTD: 77k (48m)
MTD: 158 (98)
YTD: 1,837 (1,142)

Younganne

great training going on here Murph. Looking forward to seeing how it affects race times. There'll be no stopping you.

Is Donadea on the horizon?? I'm tempted again but with London on the cards it may just be a long run....:eek:

Murph_D

Younganne wrote: »

great training going on here Murph. Looking forward to seeing how it affects race times. There'll be no stopping you.

Is Donadea on the horizon?? I'm tempted again but with London on the cards it may just be a long run....:eek:

I am tempted alright. If I was doing London I wouldn't be tempted though.

Younganne

Murph_D wrote: »

I am tempted alright. If I was doing London I wouldn't be tempted though.

I know, have to pick carefully. London will have to be my aim!!! You should aim for it as i think you have unfinished business as 2017 was just a "Feeler"!! I'll come and support you.:D

annapr

Younganne wrote: »

I know, have to pick carefully. London will have to be my aim!!! You should aim for it as i think you have unfinished business as 2017 was just a "Feeler"!! I'll come and support you.:D

Would ya stop encouraging him!!!

Murph_D

Charleville HM Week 14 of 18

Five weeks to go. Hopefully it's working.

Mon 14 Aug

8.7k easy on the seafront. Heavens opened, absolute deluge. Amazing how seldom this happens really. Great fun.

Tue 15 Aug

Plan: 2 x 4800m off 800 jog recovery

Actual: 1 x 4k @ LT, 1 x 2m @ ~5k pace

Decided to mash up planned session with a visit to the Raheny Shamrock Lord Mayor Summer Series. Wanted to get the LT done before the race (it would never work the other way around, would it?) so arrived nice and early to register. Too early in fact, as Mr. Hooper was not there yet, so back out to continue the warmup, bumping into FBOT who joined me for a jog around the village. Signed up then. The Raheny stalwart disarmed me a little by knowing my club before I mentioned, and announcng also that he'd met my missus). :eek:

Back to St Anne's to meet Ferris who was joining the fun. Reeled off the LT without too much bother, slightly under the required pace of 4:25/k (7:06/m). Cut out a bit early to get to the 2-miler start line in time (and then stood around for 10 mins). :rolleyes:

Was planning to do race at LT too but Ferris persuaded me to push it a bit more so I opted for 5k-ish pace. Hared off too fast but settled into a nice rhythm and only got passed once, on lap 2, at which point I'd probably gone past 10 others myself. Completed the 2 miles in 12:56, a de facto PB. Cooldown lap then a cuppa and doughnut in the plush Raheny clubhouse. Highly enjoyable evening. Total 13k (8.1m).

WTD: 22k (14m)
MTD: 180 (112)
YTD: 1,859 (1,156)

Kennyg71

only the best for The Shamrocks

Murph_D

Kennyg71 wrote: »

only the best for The Shamrocks

What can I say. Could the carpets be any deeper, the leather any more... leathery? The gym is impressive too. I especially like the outdoor Garmin holder.

Murph_D

Week 14 cont.

Wed 16 Aug

Rest.

Thu 17 Aug

Tempo: 17.9 kms with 11.3 (7 mi) @ HMP

I was hoping to follow up last week’s good tempo with another decent one, especially with the distance going up to seven miles. Drove to the Phoenix Park and left a bottle of water on the windscreen - water I didn’t get to use until the cooldown was almost over, unfortunately, due to poor car positioning! Warm afternoon - 20 degrees - with a little rain, and glad to note the temperature was not an issue at all. This was tough, especially halfway through at the draggiest, windiest part of the North Road. I’m happy to have kept the wheels on to the end, where I found myself running like an eejit around the Wellington Monument (twice) waiting for the watch to finally beep. :pac: More dodgy HR data, but I appear to have hit close to my max in the final couple of kms, which is a bit worrying.

Splits (target 4:30)

4:31 4:24 4:31 4:31 4:31 4:42
4:28 4:29 4:29 4:24 4:23 (4:25)

It’s interesting to compare plans. The last HM-specific schedule I used, Pfitzinger’s Faster Road Running, was very light on HMP runs, whereas Hanson is the exact opposite. Of course it’s hard to imagine keeping the pace up for another six miles plus, but that always seems to be the case, whatever the schedule, whatever the session.

WTD: 39k (24m)
MTD: 197 (123)
YTD: 1,876 (1,166)

hot buttered scones

Murph_D wrote: »

Week 14 cont.

More dodgy HR data, but I appear to have hit close to my max in the final couple of kms, which is a bit worrying.

Sometimes the FR 235 can get confused and the HR readings are actually your cadence (google "cadence lock"). I'm not sure if that's what's going on here but any sudden jumps in HR can be discounted. Did it feel like you were going at Max HR?

Kennyg71

2 sessions close together, warm day and last couple K pushing on, bound to be tough, I think the margins are very fine at HMP, few sec over pace can put you at the edge. But looks like you should be peaking at just the right time.

Murph_D

hot buttered scones wrote: »

Sometimes the FR 235 can get confused and the HR readings are actually your cadence (google "cadence lock"). I'm not sure if that's what's going on here but any sudden jumps in HR can be discounted. Did it feel like you were going at Max HR?

Thanks M - yes, I've been aware of the cadence issue since I got the watch. I'd imagine the readings were initially too low and are probably accurate for the second half of my run, and yeah, wouldn't be surprised at hitting close to max.

aquinn

Murph_D wrote: »

Thanks M - yes, I've been aware of the cadence issue since I got the watch. I'd imagine the readings were initially too low and are probably accurate for the second half of my run, and yeah, wouldn't be surprised at hitting close to max.

If you had to run around the monument twice does the grass have any effect on readings? I think it used to when I was on grass for pace anyway?

Murph_D

aquinn wrote: »

If you had to run around the momentum twice does the grass have any effect on readings? I think it used to when I was on grass for pace anyway?

Not really - had peaked a little earlier. I'm not going to overthink it!

Murph_D

Week 14 cont.

Fri 18 Aug

9k recovery on the seafront and Fairview Park, Bumped into FBOT and Ferris, who didn’t warn me about the wind until just before I turned for home.

Sat 19 Aug

10k easy, to Irishtown and back via the Docklands.

Sun 20 Aug

Long run 23.3 kms @ 5:22 (14.5 mi @ 8:39)

Out early before the predicted rain. Beautiful morning. Feeling good, so kept this towards the sharper end of the prescribed pace. Favoured the Grand Canal this morning, turning back at Kylemore Road. A good while since I was out that way - some day I’ll make it past the M50! Another decent week at 51 miles.

WTD: 81k (51m)
MTD: 240 (149)
YTD: 1,919 (1,192)

Murph_D

Charleville HM Week 15 of 18

Getting closer to the wire. Funny how it creeps up on you, but if the race was this weekend I'd feel confident. Frank Duffy will have to do instead. Let's hope we can get through the last few weeks without causing any damage.

Mon 21 Aug

Easy 11.5 km @ 5:43 (7.1 mi @ 9:12)

Felt pretty sluggish on this, especially the uphill first half. Ticked off a couple more northside parks (Mayfield, Ellenfield) and wandered through Bertiesford (sic), a much more extensive enclave than I’d imagined.

Tue 22 Aug

3 x 3200m off 800 jog recovery

Jogged over to Irishtown - first time at the club in a good few weeks, nice to see everyone. Track was busy, but not too crowded. The marathon group had a variable speed fartleky session in the outer lanes, so I commandeered the very outside of Lane 8 and tried to stay out of the way and concentrate on my own Hanson strength (LT) session. Ended up pacing a little unevenly as inevitably the presence of other runners passing and being passed at various different speeds tends to have an effect. But in general it felt much easier to hold the pace than the last time I did this session a few weeks ago on me tod at the Glenties GAA track. HR monitor seemed to be behaving itself tonight, recording around 175 (86% HR reserve) during the reps, right where it should be in the middle of my 173-178 LT range.

Splits: (target 4:25/k = 7:06/m = 14:08 /rep)

13:46 13:53 14:00

I knew the watch would probably measure the reps a little short, but decided not to worry about it and just go with the beeps. The slightly speedy splits reflect that. Very happy with this as I felt very strong and in control of the pace. A bit disconcerting to be only starting the final two miles when the faster marathon session runners were completing, but it was nice to have the honour of closing down the track for the evening. Good to see plenty of the boardsie Cru out in force tonight. Jogged home to bring tonight’s total to 20.2 km (12.6 mi).

Wed 23 Aug

Rest.

WTD: 32k (20m)
MTD: 271 (169)
YTD: 1,950 (1,212)