Sub 4mile DCM

scheister

Hi Everyone

I am in the middle of training for the Dublin City Marathon this year in hopes of going sub 4. I ran it last year in 4.30 but had issues with me knee along the way so would appreciate any feedback anyone can give me on my training plan and times i have for the marathon. my main worry is that my training times would be wrong and from looking at other thread this appears to be right. at the moment my easy runs are 8-8.10 minute miles with the LSR being in the 8.30-8.40 zone.

This year i have decided to follow the training plan out of the Irish Runner plan that is meant to be the plan that team carrie follow as well. I have a logs for the 1st few weeks and will repost them under this and will start posting the reports here as well in the future.

like i have said any help people can give will be appreciated and hopefully it can also help people avoid making the same mistakes i have made. thanks

scheister

Yes it appears that completing the Dublin City Marathon last year was not enough. I’m going back for more punishment and in search of the sub 4 hours marathon. This year rather then making it up as a go along I have decided to follow the 22 week training plan set out in the Irish Runner.



Week 1


Day Distance planned time
Monday 3 mile 25:25
tuesday rest
Wednesday 3 mile 24:42
Thursday 3 mile 24.03
Friday rest
Saturday 3 mile 23:50
Sunday 4 mile 33.29
At the start of the week it was tough enough as i have not had a proper run in 6/7 weeks but by the end of it I was feeling a lot better about my running and how my body was during the run. For the 3 mile runs i was attempting to average 8 mile miles and for the 4 mile i was looking at 8.30/mile to get my body used to running slower times as well. The one item this week that i feel i need to improve on is my pace and trying to keep it level rather then all over the place. At one stage last year i had this averaging 3 seconds in the difference between markers, at the moment this is closer to 16 seconds.

As next week is the same plan it will be interesting to compare how I at the end of week 1 to the end of week 2. While it is also important to remember that its not all about the running we also have to look at things like diet as well so over the week I will also be talking about the chances in my diet in order to help myself get to the finishline in a fit position as possible.

scheister

Day Distance planned time
Monday 3 mile 23:55
tuesday rest
Wednesday 3 mile 23.58
Thursday 3 mile 23.27
Friday rest
Saturday 3 mile 23.49
Sunday 4 mile 33.14

Monday was a good run weather was nice and calm and a lot of others runners out. I made a special effort to make sure my pace was as good as possible as it was very close with the 3 miles coming in a 7:57, 7:55 and 7:56 is very good for a level pace. This is the way i would like to keep it as the milage goes up over the weeks.

The Pace on Wednesday was similar to that of Monday coming in at 7.57,7.57 and 8.01 but what i finding hardest now is keeping the pace at the 8 minute mile as i run more and more. But feeling alot better now then the weeks b4 where i had to stop during the Wednesday as my body was not able to run the full 3 mile non stop

For the Thursday run i decided to up the pace to see how I would feel so was aiming for 7.50 mile so a pick up in pace of 10 seconds per mile the miles came in at 7.50, 7.47 and 7.48 so fairly close to the 7.50 mile aims i was still feeling very that i had the ability to take it easy on the last mile as my body was again pushing me to go faster.

The Saturday run was the toughest of the week possible as it was the earliest one as i had to run at 8am as i had a christening and work later. Unlike the other days in the week where my body was pushing me to go faster this time my body was not in the best shape where i had to really work to get the first mile done in 7.58 but the body picked it self up to go the other 2 miles in 7.55 and 7.54 which were alot easier then the 1st mile. The one thing that id imagine did not help me on the day was the Humidity which seemed fairly high during this run.

Finally the Sunday run which i was planning to run at 8.30 pace like the week before but my body was back into its faster mood so i decided to try 8.20 mile for this run especially as the milage goes up next week so 4 mile will now be the easy runs rather then the slow runs. So they came in at 8.20,8.17,8.17 for the first 3 mile but the 4th mile the pace seemed to way off not sure was it me or the garmin as no matter how much i tried to slow day. It seemed i would be running the mile in 8-8.10 in the end i came in for a 8.13 mile.

So overall it was a very good week and i feel a lot better then i did last week at this point. Next week will be a fun one as the mileage increases and i have to work it around volunteering at the Special Olympics National Games in Limerick. On the positive side this also means a change of scenery for the running as i know have the river Shannon and UL as my route. Below is the guide for next weeks distances

Monday 3 mile
tuesday rest
Wednesday 4 mile
Thursday4 mile
Fridayrest
Saturday3 mile (Slow mile fast mile slow mile)
Sunday6 mile

scheister

Day Distance planned time
Monday 3 mile 3.01 mile 23:43
tuesday rest
Wednesday 4 mile 31.33
Thursday 4 mile 32.53
Friday rest
Saturday 3mile (mixed) missed
Sunday 6 mile missed

No better way to start of week 3 then getting up before work on your birthday and getting in a 3 mile run must say it was a very enjoyable run with the pacing been consistent at 7.55,7.53,7.52.
Wednesday run was nice as it was along the Shannon and grounds of UL. it was also the 1st time this year going for 4 mile as a easy run. The pace was a little off for this run but that may have been a mix of having to deal with more people on the roads and Limerick decided that this was the week to have a load a roads works in the way. but still a nice average pace of 7.52 per mile.
Thursday run was going to go one of two ways. I planned on going running after my my 8 hours shift at the National Games and after deciding that Papa Jones pizza was a great dinner. I think we can safely say that judging by the time being a full 80 seconds off the night before this was not a good idea but at this stage its more mileage and a constant pace that bother my then the overall time.
Due to working 14 hours shifts at the Special Olympics and spending all of them on my feet the Saturday and Sunday runs got missed. But on the plus side i’m convinced that i walked at least 2 marathons over the 3 days so that makes up for it surely.

So 3 weeks in im feeling very well and hopefully this will be shown in week 5 when we have the 1st race of the series in the Irish Runner 5 Mile.

Running Plan Week 4
Monday 3 mile
Tuesday rest
Wednesday 4 mile
Thursday 4 mile
Friday rest
Saturday 3 Mile (1 slow 1 fast 1 Slow)
Sunday 6 Mile

scheister

Day Distance planned time
Monday 3 mile missed
tuesday rest
Wednesday 4 mile 32.21
Thursday 4 mile 32.13
Friday rest
Saturday 3mile (mixed) 23.49
Sunday 6 mile 49.40

I was still in bits from my weekend in Limerick so the monday run was missed as well so a bad start to the week.
After missing 3 runs in a row i decided other then a put unable to move the wednesday run was not been missed. i decided to go for the evening run hoping it would be a little bit cooler then the rest of the day. If it was it was not much cooler and having not run for nearly a week took a while for my body to get to a decent pace and for the 1st two miles it seems like it was business as normal as the pace was 8.02 and 7.59 but in mile 3 my body slowed down alot for some reason and ended up with a 8.13 3rd mile. For the 4th mile it became a battle to try and finish before my garmin ran out of battery and my body was slowly improving which led to a 8.04 final mile which was not a bad finish considering how i was felling during the 3 mile.

With the Thursday run the pace was all over the place but then again went from a late run Wednesday to a early on Thursday so as expected the 1st mile would be tough but the pace seemed to pick up alot as i was continuing. I think after the 5 mile next weekend i will go back to trying to get my pace on the easier runs to about 7.50 pace as i seem to be left with may to much in the tank at the moment on these runs.
The Saturday run was going to be an interesting one as it was my 1st attempt at doing any sort of speed training. So setting off my aim was to run the first and last mile at the a pace of 8.30 and run at other mile at a comfortable pace but fast this seemed to be a pace hovering between 6.30 and 6.45 mile pace. I found this run alot easier then i was thinking as i was able to slip back into my easy run pace after doing the fast mile so overall as my 1st speed training i cant wait for the next one to see if this one was good or a fluke.
Sunday was a lovely day to go for a 6 mile run it was warm but not to warm. The overall aim was a simple paced 6 mile as i wanted to see how my legs would be for the Irish Runner 5 mile next weekend. While i completed the run fairly easily the pace did not work out the way i planned. it was slightly spoiled by the 8.39 4th mile but this was because i stopped to get a drink of water. Taking that mile out leave a 7 second gap between the fastest and slowest miles. But the real test is how you feel at the end and i felt there was alot left so i cant see any reason why a 35 minute 5 mile cannot be achieved next Saturday

Bulmers74

scheister wrote: »

my main worry is that my training times would be wrong and from looking at other thread this appears to be right. at the moment my easy runs are 8-8.10 minute miles with the LSR being in the 8.30-8.40 zone.

Have you a recent race time that you're basing those training paces off of? If not, I think you're doing all your training way too fast. Marathon pace for 3:59:59 is 9.09 minute miles. You seem to be doing all your easy runs a minute faster than pmp! Easy runs should be about 60 seconds a mile slower than mp with lsr even slower. By my calculation your easy pace should be about 10.10 m/m & your lsr pace between 10.15 & 11.00

scheister

Bulmers74 wrote: »

Have you a recent race time that you're basing those training paces off of? If not, I think you're doing all your training way too fast. Marathon pace for 3:59:59 is 9.09 minute miles. You seem to be doing all your easy runs a minute faster than pmp! Easy runs should be about 60 seconds a mile slower than mp with lsr even slower. By my calculation your easy pace should be about 10.10 m/m & your lsr pace between 10.15 & 11.00

had a feeling the training times are slightly off but the 8/m/mile and 5/m/km are times i have always worked off as a standard

recent race times

5km (park run) 22mins
5 Mile 37:29


last years race series
DCM 4.30:02
HM 1:50:31
10 mile 1:20:18
5 mile 38:37

menoscemo

scheister wrote: »

had a feeling the training times are slightly off but the 8/m/mile and 5/m/km are times i have always worked off as a standard

recent race times

5km (park run) 22mins
5 Mile 37:29


last years race series
DCM 4.30:02
HM 1:50:31
10 mile 1:20:18
5 mile 38:37

Yes then, definitely way too fast.
Your 'easy' pace is basically your 10 mile PB pace which to most athletes is anything but easy. You should be running your easy miles about 30% slower than your 10 mile pace, i.e. about 10 minutes+/mile. None of your results indicate anything different (sorry if this seems harsh).
Don't look at your training runs as time trials rather as mileage building. The slower you do your training runs (in general) the more miles you can do, this is the key to marathon training. Of course mix it up once in a while with a fast run or a race.

You should look at the novice marathon thread for more advice
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057204941

scheister

Going on the feedback from above from the start of week 8 i will slow down my training time to what is suggested above.

Week 7
Monday rest
Tuesday 6 mile at 8.05 pace
Wednesday 6 mile (with 5x50 strides) av pace 8.28
Thursday 6 mile 8.01 pace
Friday rest
Saturday 5km 7.06 pace
Sunday 4 mile 9 minute pace

Tuesday run was a straight forward enough easy run around my normal course pace was all over the pace ranging from a 7.57 to 8.12 which is one area i will have to work on

Wednesday was a 6 mile run with 5x50 strides. Similar to the week before i use a shorter track for this so their was less chance of people getting in my way at the point where i did my strides. Like the week before i found these very hard on the body but strides are never meant to be easy

Thursday Another 6 mile easy run like Tuesday it was a straight forward easy run the pace was a lot better on the Thursday for 4 of the 6 mile going 8,8.01,8,8.01 the 5th mile the pace dropped 8.13 had my earphones fell out and stopped to fix them. As for the 6th mile it was done in 7.53 as i just ran at the level my body was comfortable at.

As the guide has the weekend down as a 3/4 mile easy on the saturday and the dunleer 4 mile on the Sunday which i was not doing. I decided to do a fast park run on the Saturday morning with a easy 4 mile on the sunday night.

Saturday So i set off to do the 5km and try and beat my PB of 21.53. So i set of at a fast enough pace aiming at 7 minute mile (i forget to change the garmin to km before the run). The start was tough as i waiting on the crowd to thin out but the 1st mile was at a 7.03 pace and i was feeling very well. After about a fifth of the 2nd mile i looked at my watch to realise i had taken my foot off the pedal and was running around 7.45/mile so picked up the pace to get it down and mile 2 came in at 7.15. During the 3rd mile i tried my pace to keep the pace around 7 minute pace. But the legs were still feeling ok but knew i would not be able to push on for a late sprint so i stayed around the 7.05 pace and picked up slightly to come over the line in 21.59 and a 7.04 final mile.

Sunday. I ended up with a late run on sunday due to work and was going to wait till after the world cup final but decided that may not be a wise idea as i would be running against the light. So instead of watching the 2nd half i went for my run. I aimed for a 3 mile at 9 minute pace and would see how i felt after the 3 miles to see weather to run the 4th mile. At the end of the 3 mile i was slightly over the 9 minute pace but was feeling grand so went for the 4th mile. On the walk home after the 4 miles my hamstring started tightening up a small bit which as not happened before but stretched it out when i arrived home and still not the best when i was going to sleep but seems to be ok this morning.

beertons

Best of luck with your training. Hoping for a time similar to yourself.

scheister

Day|Distance|Time|Average Pace|Type
Monday|Rest
Tuesday |6 Mile |59:59|9.58|Easy Run
Wednesday |6 Mile |55:05|9.11| interval
Thursday |Rest
Friday|8 Mile |1:18:53|9.43| Easy Run
Saturday |3 Mile |29.35|9.51| Easy Run
Sunday|10 Mile |1:43:58|10.24| LSR


This week the training was strange as i was trying to slow the pace for my easy run down from the 8 minute i was doing to some where around a 10 minute mile. it felt very strange at times as i think the slowest i have run before in training was a 9.30 mile. This week went a little off plan due to few things popping up but still got all runs in.

Tuesday was a nice simple run and i decided to try and different route then i normally do going down the main street in Celbridge and turning onto the oldtown road rather then going down the Maynooth road its adds about a mile onto the route aswell but leave no stop for water in the shorter runs. Only issue with the run was the paces were all over the place ranging from 9:50 to 10:05 miles

Wednesday was my weekly interval run but from researching online over the weekend i realise that 4 x 50 interval the 50 referred to time rather then distance so that's an adjustment that i had to make this week. I decided rather then doing the intervals on the road that i would do them in a field in Castletown which was nice as it was more cross country then road running as well. Only issue im finding with pace work is the paces are all over the place but i assume as i get used to pace work this will improve and level out.

Friday was a nice 8 mile run where i planned to get my body used to things that will be happening on marathon day. So similar to my plan for last years marathon is a gel every 6 mile on the days so in runs of 8 mile i will be taking a gel at the 6 mile mark. this was one run where i could not slow my pace down no matter when i did other then actually stopping and walking part of it so the pace ranges from 9:35 to 9:58. Also need to see about having a way to get a extra drink of water while running this route as it can be needed if its a hot day.

Saturday: This run was meant to be a easy 3 mile as the guide expected people to be running the Fingal 10km tomorrow and this run was planned for the Friday not the Saturday. So i was in two minds weather to go do an easy parkrun or stick to my normal route. In the end the normal route won out. I average 9.51 for the route but found myself having to really slowdown at times to make sure the run was not to fast. It appears talking to myself along the route is one way to slow down but may lead to the men in white coats taking me away :P

Sunday was a nice run but started off looking like another one where my pace would be to fast setting off was hoping around a 10.30 pace but manged slowly of the mile to slow down and end up with a 10.19 mile 4 of the next 5 mile were steady enough at 10.29,11,11,10.28,10.27,10.27 but the 4th mile was a 11.11 due to a stop to get some water. but the last 4 mile the pace picked up a small bit 10.09,10.08,10.06 and a 10.14 to finish off. overall i was happy with how the pace went and very happy with my run and im now a week closer to the big day with a 33mile week the most so far in training.

scheister

Day|Distance|Time|Average Pace|Type
Monday|Rest
Tuesday |6*400m |34:26|9:29|intervals
Wednesday |6 Mile |1:03:06|9:51| easy
Thursday |6 Mile |1:01:10|10:01| Easy Run
Friday|rest
Saturday |4 mile |34:42|8:40| speed training
Sunday|8.5 Mile |1:27:19|10.02| LSR


Overall it was a good week but sunday was a bad day.
Tuesday was a tough day it was 6*400m runs with a 2 minute break. The 1st 3 were grand but the last 3 were very tough. Rather then doing these on the road i went to the track at the local school so i could run them in peace.
Wednesday was a nightmare pacewise not sure why but the body seemed to do the opposite to what i wanted it to do bad was not helped by my phone ringing non stop for the run as well.
Thursday Was alot better run with 5 of the mile falling with a pace of 9:56 to 10:07 with the other mile being slower as it contained a water break.
Saturday was my favourite session of the week. Speed work, this week was a mile slow 2 miles fast and mile slow to finish off. Only issue i had here was and it was the same last time i did this session is slowing the legs down after the 2 miles fast.
Sunday was a go back to bed day. It was meant to be a 14 mile run. 1st 4 mile were grand coming in at 10.14 followed by 3 10.17 mile. halfway into the the 5 mile i stopped for water and as always seems to happen the next section of roughly 2.5 mile always goes at a fast pace as some of it is downhill and also the body is getting an extra lift from the drink. I decided i would then change the route for the 2nd half and try to get 3 mile a pmp in. So i want back to where my drink was and took the bag with me. As soon as i started running again i felt different and could not shake the feeling i decided at the 8 mile mark to shorten the route and finish quicker and soon realised that was a no go and at 8.5 mile i had to stop as i was not feeling well and feared i may faint if continued.
This week coming will be easy enough running wise as i plan to do the RnR half on bank holiday Monday and have the galway races this week which means more hours in work. So till next week enjoy

scheister

Day|Distance|Time|Average Pace|Type
Monday|Rest
Tuesday |8*400m |32:20|9:56|intervals
Wednesday |missed 8 mile |1:03:06|9:51| easy
Thursday |missed 8 mile |1:01:10|10:01| Easy Run
Friday|8 mile |Times to follow| Easy Run
Saturday |rest
Sunday|rest


Safe to say from the table above this was a shocking week mainly due to extra work hours from Galway races. So the only runs i got were the Tuesday intervals which were tough enough as i increase the laps while taking down the rest time but in one or two places i miss read the Garmin and took the wrong rest breaks
On Friday i had to put in an 8 mile run as i had missed both Wednesday and Thursday runs due to work and house hunting. Compare to the run last week where i hit the wall this run was a lot better and enjoyable.
From next week it will be a little more interesting as i am using the Rock N Roll half marathon as my LSR from this so looking at a 2hr to 2hr 15 time. I am also moving to Dundalk after the race to get up a new job so my runs route will move as well the change of scenery may give me an extra boost as the weeks move on. To finish off this weeks entry i will quote another boards member. When i saw this i got slightly frightened and it shows u how close the big day is.

Dub13 wrote: »

Enjoy the bank holiday weekend folks because by the time the next one rolls around, we will all be in super physical condition and on the brink of something special.

scheister

My plan going off was a 10.30 pace that would end with a 2:15 time. But the way to corrals work the 2:15 paces where in a different section. So i planned to slow down and allow then to catch up. But quickly notice this would not happen as the crowd carried me in the 1st mile looking at my garmin i realised i needed to slow down so tried to keep it above 9:50 as the new pace. The 1st mile came in at 9.50 on the nose. As we went further down the quays i had to slow myself down a few times to shop the pace getting faster then i wanted it to be. The 2nd mile came in a little faster at 9.43. As part of the 3rd mile we had the slight decline at Christchurch cathedral so the pace was a little faster in this mile coming in at 9.38. The next 3 mile passing islandbridge inchicore and kilmanagh were striaght forward enough and i was pacing a little better. The pace for these 3 came in at 9:49 9:43, 9.43.

As we entered Phoenix Park i was feeling well but also knew that I would need a little extra for the 2nd half as their was a lot of hills. At i continued the 7th mile the pace starting falling to the wrong side of 10 minutes so i picked the pace up a little to try and keep the other side of 10 minutes. The 7th mile was the slowest of the day at 9:54. But this seemed to be a blimp rather then a sign of things to come as the 8th mile can in 9:38 which i could feel was to fast but sure what can ya do. The 9th and 10th mile were grand but i felt the path was very tight and made it a little hard to over take. Also at this point i was planning to run the last 3.1 at PMP so i did not mind if i had to slow down for a little while the paces came in at 9.43 and 9.37 little fast then the earlier ones but was feeling very well but tired to keep it within 20 seconds of the slowest mile.
So i decided the last 3.1 at pmp so at the 10 mile point picked the pace up but looking at my garmin i could see the pace was a little 2 fast as it showed 7.30 so i slowed down to get it to around 9 per mile which i did. As i started the next mile i could see the lovely hill so i knew the pace would fall a small bit, but pushed to try and keep it close to PMP while this was the hardest mile of the day as a result i was able to run it in 9.15 which was not bad. For the last mile I went I was finding myself nearing closer to 8.50 pace then the 9 so tried to slow but but as i saw the finish line finally appearing this was hard as my body pushed to get the race finished so this mile came in at 8.51. For the last 100 yards i decided to give it socks and see what happens. Only issue at this point was the crowd was spilling onto the course so it was a bit narrow so had to slow down where needed but still finished off with a nice sprint.

Overall I enjoyed the race and found the course a very nice one. While at the start 5 water stations seemed a lot but with the way the heat was today it was actual just enough. While i stuck to only getting the water at the station as i carried my own gels. Also am sorry to the few people I cut in front of at times in the race was not meant.

scheister

Day|Distance|Time|Average Pace|Type
Monday|13.1 miles|2:05:11|9:33|race Rock N Roll
Tuesday |rest
Wednesday | 6 mile |58:55|9:49| easy
Thursday |rest
Friday|4 mile |38:47|9:41| strides
Saturday |4 mile |32:50|8:09| speed
Sunday|14 mile |2:23:50|10:16| LSR


Monday: I ran the Rock n Roll Half marathon to read about this see my earlier post.

Wednesday: This was going to be an interesting run as it would be my 1st run in Dundalk so while running i was all so looking for a route that i could use in the future. The pace was not to bad overall 9:44,9:45,9:37, 9:56,9:53,9:57. So i went out a little fast but the paces are not to bad overall and I now have a nice 2 mile route I use in the rest of my training.

Friday was stride running, it was 4 mile with 5*50 yard strides. normally these are done in a field or running track so I don't run into people when I speed up but I have not found this area in Dundalk yet so it was on a path while trying to time it so I don't knock people over. Normally this is done over 6 miles not 4 so was hard to have less easy running time in between runs but overall it was quite a nice session

Saturday was speed training. It was mile slow 2 mile fast and mile slow. the paces were fairly level here with the 2 slows being 9:00 and 9:05 and the fast miles being 7:11 and 7:18. While in the beginning I did not enjoy these runs I am starting to enjoy them a lot and will be interesting to see how I feel when it goes to 1:3:1. Only bit I did not enjoy was getting soaked for the last mile or so.

Sunday was going to be an interesting run and it would be my second time in the week covering the Half marathon distance. the pace was steady enough staying between 10:11 and 10:30 bar the miles that had water stops in them. Overall while this was a very wet run I did not mind it as i found it a very refreshing run.

The Wednesday figure in bold has to be adjusted as their was not moving time in their that strava has not counted so I will have to check my Garmin connect later and get the real figure. But another week down and my biggest week so far in terms of mileage so not to bad

scheister

Day|Distance|Time|Average Pace|Type
Monday|rest
Tuesday| 6 miles|58:18|9:45|Strides
Wednesday | 10 mile |1:38:19|9:50| easy
Thursday | 6 mile |58:36|9:56| easy
Friday|rest
Saturday |6 mile |59:27|9:54| easy
Sunday|16 mile |2:35:25|9:43| LSR


Tuesday run was back to the 6 miles with 5*50 strides considering the week before this was done over 4 miles and returns to that next week this was a nice simple relaxing run. pace was ok ranging from a 9:29 to a 9:57 in fairness so that no strides during the 9:57 mile

Wednesday was the 1st of 3 easy runs this week but the longest of them. paces ranged from 9:44 to 10:05 which is not to bad but really have to find a new route around dundalk as I feel like i'm on a hamster wheel doing the same 2.5 mile route over and over. But i am finding the pace increasing slightly the more mileage that i do and getting to the stage again 10mile seems like a short run.

Thursday run was an interesting one as i've started a new job that is nights. So i decided to so Thursday run when I finished work at 12.30am while strava is telling me i did it on friday im not listening. As i was running at night i found it at cooler which helps compared to the sun of running during the day. Would be safe to safe i enjoyed this run only issue i had was it harder to see the garmin at night even when using the light. But even with that the pace was stable enough ranging from 9.47 to a 10.04 for the 6 miles

Saturday run was back to my usual route in Celbridge the paces was very stable here ranging from 9:49 to 9:57 for the 6 mile and the little bit of rain that i got helped as it cooled me down at the right stage.

Sunday's run was a 16 mile LSR with 6 miles at pmp. the 1st 12 miles were nice relaxing run even with half of them at pmp. But after this stage i was feeling a little sluggish in places assuming this is down to me only having water with me and not my normal sports drink as I left the mixture in Dundalk. I have already had one DNF for a training session this year so ploughed ahead and finished the run. I got drowned at two stages not sure if they were more a help of hindrance. The paces ranged from 10.09 to 10.25 for the easy run miles and for the 6 pmp 8:48 to 9:05.

So thats week 12 covered and another 44 miles to add to the list. Roll on week 13 where i have the decision to either run the Frank Duffy 10 mile and use a local 5km the next day as a recovery run or take it easy for the Frank Duffy and try and smash my 5km PB sure I have the week to think about it.

scheister

Day|Distance|Time|Average Pace|Type
Monday|rest
Tuesday| 4 miles|37:19|9:18|Strides
Wednesday | 8 mile |1:19:53|9:59| easy
Thursday |missed
Friday|rest
Saturday |5 mile |42:20|8:28| easy
Sunday|16 mile |2:37:18|9:50| LSR


I missed the log for last week i will try and get it done during the week.

Tuesday was a nice speed training. it was a 4 mile run with 5*75yard strides it was a little tougher then normal is up to here it has been only 50 yard strides. But got though it and overall was still an enjoyable run

Wednesday was a 8 mile night time run. was getting odd looks running in Dundalk at 12.30 at night. While my paces for the night are fairly level bar the 5th mile the rest were within the within 5 seconds of each other. but it was a very tough run weather it was because i was running post work im not sure. But getting though runs on days like thats makes the easier run that little bit nicer. finished with a time of 1:19:53 for an average pace of 9:59

I was due to run on thursday after work but the rain was to heavy to go for a run in unless i wanted to get sick afterwards.

Saturday was the weeks speed training rather then the 1:2:1 easy fast easy this week was changed to 1:3:1 with a steady pace rather then fast. the 2 easy miles were run at 9:35 and 9:57 the 3 steady miles were 7:41, 7:45 and 7:40 so this was fun run as i tired a new route just to see if it was easy to follow.

Finally the LSR sunday run nothing better then 16 miles run on a sunday. I used the same route as yesterday as that would mean I would be only doing 4 laps rather then 8-10 using the old route so I would not feel as much like a hamster in a wheel. While this was a very tough run (think the breakie roll instead of wheatabix was not a good idea). on top of this the pace was allover the place ranged from 9:36 to 10:12

Another week over and another week closer to marathon monday. next week will be fun as the LSR moves from 16 to 18 miles while its only 2 miles its feels like alot more at that level.

i will leave this weeks with a quick stat. i cant find the world stat but only 1% of american will run let along complete a marathon in their life time. So finding the finishline of a marathon puts you in a very exclusive club. Remember that when you are meant to go for a run but don't want to.