Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard

chickey2

I saw this quote on Runners world recently and thought it was a good one. I've been lurking around here since just before DCM 2015 and have loved reading the training logs. The thing that stands out is the ones who run consistently and sensibly are the ones who are doing really well, so that's what I want to try and do!

Background
I'm a 39 year old female, with a full time job and two kids (so always short on time!)
I stared running a couple of years ago with the Couch to 5K. I hadn't run since I was in school and even then it was just laps of the pitch during PE and I hated it. When I did the C25K though I loved it. I kept at it and did the womens mini marathon in 2013 (1hr 19 min!) and was thrilled with myself. I went on holidays then and fell out of the habit. In January 2014 I started again, redid the C25K and got up to 10K again. I signed up for the Frank Duffy 10 mile and the half marathon in the Dublin race series as an incentive to keep going and got some plans off the internet and off I went. After the half I was talking to a friend who was running the Dublin marathon and encouraged me to do it too despite the fact it was only 4 weeks away! I thought feck it, I can run half and walk half, so I signed up, and started on week 18 of a 22 week training plan! In hindsight it was madness, but somehow I managed it and finished DCM on a total high. It was just before the marathon I came across this forum. After DCM I joined the graduate thread on here and got some great advice from Clearlier and learnt a huge amount from lots of posters here. So now I want to train properly and consistently and see how well I can do.

PBs
5K-24:19 Tallaght 5K May 2015
10K- 51:36 K Club April 2015
10 mile - 1:33:48 Frank Duffy 10 mile August 2014
1/2 Marathon - 1:57:31 Race series September 2014
Marathon - 4:33:56 DMC October 2014

I've been following Clearliers Graduate plan and my recent goals were to improve my 5 and 10K times (which I did!). I'm going to do the Race series again this year and try and improve on the 2014 times. I've just ordered the P&D book so am looking forward to getting it and having a proper read of it.

Future plans
Do the race series, but this time stop at the half! I'd like to do it in 1:50 if I can. I can't do DCM this year for various reasons but I just put my name in to the London 2016 ballot today. If I don't get in to London (chances are I won't) I'll do Limerick instead so either way I'll be planning for a Spring marathon. My goal would be sub 4h.

laura_ac3

Great to see this chickey. Best of luck. Have you much left on the graduate plan to go?

menoscemo

Was that you I spotted yesterday in a Rathfarnham vest? I think you ran past me in your cool down (I was heading back to the clubhouse after marshalling) but you were gone before it clicked...

chickey2

So yesterday I did the Tallaght AC 5K. I live nearby so jogged over as my warm up. There was a huge line for number pick up but it moved quickly so got my number and headed for the loos. Headed out for a few strides before the race and bumped in to Adrian522 for a quick chat.

The start was fast, too fast really, I checked my garmin and I was going at a 4min/km pace which I knew was way too fast for me. I slowed down as we reached the first corner and tried to settle into a more reasonable pace. It was then I started thinking that I don't really like 5K races and why did I even enter this, I prefer slower longer races. I manged to keep the demons at bay though and told myself if I got a PB I'd start a training log on here! Not sure if that was an incentive or not but I relaxed a bit and kept going. The hill slowed me down a bit but I'm used to hills so I started passing people out at this stage which gave me a boost. Once I saw the clubhouse I felt great and manged to pick up a bit. It was great getting to the track, I really noticed the difference in the surface, it was so bouncy compared to the road. I even managed a bit of a sprint to the finish line and was delighted with 24:19.

My splits were:
1 4:35 HR172
2 4:41 HR180
3 4:52 HR182
4 5:15 HR184
5 4:48 HR186
(6 0:06 HR192)

chickey2

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Great to see this chickey. Best of luck. Have you much left on the graduate plan to go?

I finished the plan but I'm still loosely following it, with intervals or tempo on a Tuesday, hills on Friday, LSR on Sunday and then 55 min easy runs in between.

Firedance

Welcome to the logs look forward to following your progress, lovely to meet you at k club last month too

chickey2

menoscemo wrote: »

Was that you I spotted yesterday in a Rathfarnham vest? I think you ran past me in your cool down (I was heading back to the clubhouse after marshalling) but you were gone before it clicked...

No wasn't me! I was in my Dublin half marathon shirt. Adrian said you were marshalling alright but I was too focused to notice many of the marshals!

I'll have to learn how to do multi quotes in my posts.

menoscemo

chickey2 wrote: »

No wasn't me! I was in my Dublin half marathon shirt. Adrian said you were marshalling alright but I was too focused to notice many of the marshals!

Good job I didn't make a fool of myself so!!

Did you do 23:19 or 24:19 btw? I see you mentioned both times!!

adrian522

Glad to see you've started this log!

Well done on your time yesterday, very impressive. It looks a more impressive time than the K-club time I think.

Sorry to disappear so quickly once people started moving towards the start line yesterday

I'll follow the log with interest!

Dubgal72

Hi there chickey, really glad to see you start this. 1) congrats on the PB 2) congrats on what you have achieved so far 3) join a club, you'll go far

Bungy Girl

Hi Chickey, great you've started this log. Congrats on the 5K PB in Tallaght!

chickey2

menoscemo wrote: »

Good job I didn't make a fool of myself so!!

Did you do 23:19 or 24:19 btw? I see you mentioned both times!!

Eagle eye! 24:19 is correct, thanks for spotting that.

annapr

Welcome Chickey and good luck with the log and the training. Very impressed with your DCM time, considering your late entry... and your race series times, you'll see them come down a lot this year! Looking forward to following your progress... and maybe crossing paths somewhere along the way.

oh, and don't let them talk you out of Km!!!!

chickey2

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Hi there chickey, really glad to see you start this. 1) congrats on the PB 2) congrats on what you have achieved so far 3) join a club, you'll go far

Thanks!
I've thought about joining a club alright and even went to a couple of sessions but I found it hard to get there on time. I work full time and have to do a couple of late days a week, but the days vary from week to week making it hard to set a routine. I may be changing hours once the youngest starts school in September so I'll reassess then and look in to it.

chickey2

annapr wrote: »

Welcome Chickey and good luck with the log and the training. Very impressed with your DCM time, considering your late entry... and your race series times, you'll see them come down a lot this year! Looking forward to following your progress... and maybe crossing paths somewhere along the way.

oh, and don't let them talk you out of Km!!!!

Thanks!
I'm sticking with Km alright, it makes me look a lot faster! I did switch to miles temporarily in the 4 weeks before DCM as I thought it would be better to use miles for a marathon but I ended up switching back as I got so confused.

RedRunner

chickey2 wrote: »

Thanks!
I've thought about joining a club alright and even went to a couple of sessions but I found it hard to get there on time. I work full time and have to do a couple of late days a week, but the days vary from week to week making it hard to set a routine. I may be changing hours once the youngest starts school in September so I'll reassess then and look in to it.

don't let that put you off joining a club. There could be others in similar situation who would be only too glad to meet up at different times. I rarely go to club during the week but still value the membership and very useful for the long runs at the weekend.

Best of luck with your training and your log.

chickey2

I usually do a session on Tuesdays but since I raced on Sunday I was sensible and did an easy run. Lovely evening for it so really enjoyed this run.

55 mins easy (8.96km @6.09 min/km) HR 154

aquinn

Yahoo. A new logger (says the one who is missing weeks from hers and has 40 to catch up on!)
Well done on your 5km.

chickey2

I guess it was a bad idea to start a log the week before my sons communion! A week of shopping /cooking /cleaning /entertaining /eating and drinking left little time for running. Its all over now though so back to a proper plan tomorrow!

I did manage a 10.6km run on Thursday @6.41min/km HR 158. It was a lot slower than Tuesdays run despite the higher HR. It was all uphill though (ran home from work) and I was tired so I guess that was the reason. So total for last week was just under 20km (but only 2 runs). Could definitely do better.

I got my copy of "Faster road running". I've just skimed through it but will try and have a proper read over the next few days. My plan is to continue base building for 6 weeks then start a 12 week half marathon plan to bring me to the race series half in September. It includes a 10 mile race the week of the Frank duffy run. I'm not sure whether to do the 5mile race series race. It falls on week one of the half marathon training.

chickey2

Really pleased with this weeks training. It was the first consistent week where I did every planned run when i was supposed to in a long time! I went back to the beginning of the graduate plan as my milage had been low recently so didn't want to jump back in to it too fast.

Mon 11: Rest

Tues 12: 5*2 min intervals @5Keffort: I was happy enough with this session. Split paces were 4:38/4:18/4:32/4:22/4:32 min/km, you can see which ones were up hill! It's hard to find a flat spot where I live for intervals. Although I read somewhere that it's no harm running intervals on undulating roads if that's what you're going to be racing on.
Total distance: 8.6km including warm up and cool down

Wed 13: Rest

Thurs 14: 55 minutes Easy. Got up early to get this out of the way before work. It's great having the bright mornings these days. This run was just OK. My heart rate was quite high and I kept having to slow down til I felt i was hardly running at all. My easy runs are supposed to have my heart rate at 150-155 but i struggled to keep it under 160. Total distance: 8.75km @6:17pace, HR 159

Fri 15: 7*short hill sprints: I love short hill sprints! I pick a hill and run fast for about 8 seconds, walk back and standing recovery (I wait til my HR is about 120-125) before the next one. I was on my way home from work so ended up doing these on the ramp to the pedestrian bridge at the Red Cow! Not a very scenic location but it's a good hill! I felt a bit stupid during the recoveries as hundreds of cars passed by me probably wondering why I was hanging around the Red Cow. Total distance: 7.19km including warm up and cool down.

Sat 16: Rest

Sun 17: 90 minutes Easy: I wanted to head over to support at the Terenure 5 mile and wasn't sure where to park so decided to kill two birds with one stone and run over as part of my long run. The first half was really easy, all down hill, wind with me. Got to the race and did a bit of clapping and met up with a few boardsies after (lovely to see you all as always!) then headed home. This half was not so easy, all up hill with the wind in my face. My average HR was very high again but most of that was the second half of the run Total distance: 13.75km @6:24pace, HR 163

Total for the week: 38.29km (that's 23.79 miles for the metrically challenged )

Bungy Girl

Lovely to see you today Chickey and thanks for coming out to support us today. Well done on a good week's training. Laughing at your Red Cow hill sprints and thinking someone somewhere is wondering if there's a strange cult of women doing hill sprints in odd places all around Dublin!

Firedance

some nice work there Chickey! good to see you again today too.

Hannibal Smith

Is that the hill by cheeverstown?? That is a killer!!!! I remember during the winter having to tackle that thenwindnin my face :mad:

Dubgal72

Lovely to meet you today! Nice week's work there. Still in awe of your 6am discipline and motivation

chickey2

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Lovely to meet you today! Nice week's work there. Still in awe of your 6am discipline and motivation

Lovely to meet you too. Early morning us the only time I really have to myself. If I don't get out early there's always something else that needs doing. It also means I can treat myself to bacon and eggs for brekkie when I get to the work canteen!

laura_ac3

I find my HR is always a bit higher for the slow pace on my early early prework runs. Think it's common enough for people - ecoli explained the body behaviour behind it to me before, something to do with the body and muscles waking up after the nights sleep I think. The more training I've done and the more early runs the better it's gotten. Still there but not as dramatic a difference. Great to meet you today, thanks for coming down.

chickey2

Mon 18 Rest

Tues 19 60 mins with 20@tempo: I use heart rate to determine my tempo runs so I should be aiming for 166 to 175 BPM. I started off with 20 mins easy which started off slow but got easier (and faster!) as I relaxed in to it. I had to do an evening run which I don't like as there's far more traffic and I hate having to stop especially during a tempo run. I had a bit of a niggle in my right hip and the looming dark clouds didnt improve my mood. Sped up after 20 mins and felt suddenly great! The hailstones and wind slowed me a bit towards the end but I still felt good. My hip felt fine once I got going. I almost forgot to slow down at the end of the 20 mins. Finished up with 20 mins easy, reminiscing about the c25k when I thought I'd never manage to run 20 mins without stopping!
Wu 3.2k HR156
Tempo 3.8k 5:11/5:16/5:15/(5:36) HR 177
CD 3k HR 160
Total 10k exactly!

chickey2

Wed 20: Rest

Thurs 21: 55min Easy: Did exactly that. Well actually it was 53 minutes but I was almost home and just hit 8km. I was out early and was still half asleep so forgot my heart rate monitor. Total 8km @6.36min/km.

Fri 22: 6*30s hills. I'm not sure if I like this session. i love the short hills as they're over before you know it but these are a lot harder. I picked a very gradual hill, more of a gently incline really, but it was still hard. Felt a bit dizzy on the last one, but i hadn't anything to eat before I went out. It never normally causes any problems but I'm not normally running very fast. Total 6.1km including warm up, hills and cool down.

Sat 23: Rest (wasn't really a "rest" as it was a crazy day but didn't to any running!

Sun 24: I usually try and get out early for my long runs but we were away and had to drive from West Cork to Dublin so most of the day was spent in the car. Couldn't wait to get out once we got home. Headed up to the reservoir, my favourite run. It was a great evening for a run. Total 14km @6.26 HR157

Total for the week 38.1km

chickey2

Mon 25: This was supposed to be a rest day but thanks to someone crashing in to a Luas I ended up having to walk part of the way home. I would have run if I had been dressed for it but I was in ballet flats and a raincoat and had a handbag with me so it really wouldn't have worked. OH drove towards me as I walked so he caught up with me after about 3K brisk walking (and lots of swearing under my breath). I think I'll call it cross training

Tues 26: 5*3min@5Keffort: I was up and out early for this one. As I was warming up I heard a load of sirens going off in the distance and noticed the Garda helicopter hovering. As I ran I realised I was heading towards them. I was wondering should I turn around as there was obviously something up, when a convoy of cars passed by at high speed. I didn't realise at the time but it was a high speed chase! Don't know why they needed 8 vehicles to chase one car but I guess the Guards were bored at 6am and fancied a bit of excitement! The rest of my run was not so exciting but it went well! Splits were 4:50/4:51/4:56/4:47/4:56 and I felt like I could do another one.
Total: 9.23Km

Wed 27: Rest

Thurs 28: 55mins Easy: I was dressed for it this time so ran part of the way home from work. Uphill all they way so it was slow but enjoyable.
Total 8.72Km @6:19 HR 158

Fri 29: 7*short hill sprints: My favourite session again. Chose a new hill today for a change. I could have done a few more, but decided to be sensible and trust the plan. Total 6.35Km.

chickey2

Sat 30: Rest

Sun 31: 90 mins easy: Decided on a new route today but got a bit lost so ended up running around tymon park which was eerily quiet today.
Total 14.2 km @ 6.22 HR 157, ever so slightly faster than last weeks 90 min run which was surprising considering the wind.

Total for week: 38.42km
Total for May: 142.3 km.

Not too bad considering the lack of running in the first week. I find the log has helped as I'm less likely to bin a run as I'd have to come up with an excuse on here :-)

chickey2

Mon 31: Rest. I had considered running the WMM but I had to work and as I headed in to work I was quite pleased I wasn't out running!

Tues 01 June: 60 mins with 30@MP. I hadn't done an MP run in ages so wasn't really sure what kind of pace I would end up doing. I used the HR calculator which told me to run at 155-169 so I just tried to stick to that. I decided to run in to work which is kind of cheating as it's all down hill (83m drop in elevation over almost 11k). It was great! So much easier running down hill! Did 15 mins warm up, then 30 mins trying to keep my HR in the zone and then easy for the last 15 mins so did it in 60 minutes exactly.

Split/Avg Pace /Avg HR

1 06:45 146
2 05:58 150
3 (0.47) 05:46 149

4 05:19 161
5 05:14 165
6 05:13 166
7 05:13 168
8 05:15 168
9 (0.88) 05:10 168

10 06:10 158
11 05:32 159
12 (0.42) 05:51 164

Summary 10.77km@ 05:36 Ave HR159

I was delighted with the pace. I didn't really check it while running, just kept an eye on the Heart Rate. Not sure if I could keep it up for 40km though! As I said it was all downhill so that helped. I did the same route a few weeks ago but in reverse and it took me 72 minutes although the average heart rate was the same.