Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard

Ososlo

chickey2 wrote: »

Yeah I think I'll stick with that. If I can hold a pace of between 5:30 and 5:35 min/km that would be about right. I'm going to aim for that for all the MP runs left on the plan. I'll be happy with anything under 4 though!
It's getting real now!

Brilliant result Saturday! Delighted for you. Head down now for a few more solid weeks of training, and I look forward to seeing you achieve your goal! You should feel very confident.

chickey2

After my great day on Saturday I haven’t run since
I didn't get a chance for a recovery run on Sunday and then started feeling sick on Monday. I'm off work now and heading to the doctor later. I just feel rubbish, no energy, slight temperature, headache etc. I guess hanging around in wet clothes in the park is not a good idea (I think someone told me that before!)
I don't expect the doctor will cure me but I need a note for work!
At least I have lots of time to read all the race reports.

aquinn

A lot of moany people about in the last few days, myself included. With the weather changing everyone is getting sick.

Rest/hot fluids/vitamins. Mind yourself.

Mrs Mc

Mind yourself everyone seems to be sick deffo the change in weather.

Murph_D

Might as well get the cold out of the way during a recovery week! Don't worry about it.

chickey2

Murph_D wrote: »

Might as well get the cold out of the way during a recovery week! Don't worry about it.

Yeah, at least it's not marathon week!
Back in work now so feeling a lot better. Will get a nice easy run in this weekend.

Bluesquare

Well done on the half - great that you could pb despite feeling poorly . Hope you feel better now and are ready to get stuck to the last week of marathon traing proper ! Now that I'm back in the big smoke for work I'm wondering if any of the runnng commuters are from the boards ! There sure is a lot of them !

chickey2

Well this week's update won't take long! Only one run, today. I was good and listened to the doctor and my body and I'm glad I did as I felt good today.
The plan was for 22 miles but I knew that would be mad after 6 days off so I decided to do an Ososlo special and run loops of a nearby park. That way I was close to home if I needed to stop. It's almost exactly a mile loop so I planned to get 10 done and I'd be happy. My HR was quite high despite a very slow pace. I feel fine but it could be still recovering from the virus or just lost fitness. I set the watch so I could only see my HR and tried to keep it low and not worry about pace. I quite enjoyed the loops, more than I thought I would. Managed 10 then headed home. It was slow and HR was relatively high but I'm glad I got out at all.

Total 18km @6:40 HR 160

chickey2

Midweek and I'm back on track.

Tues 3: easy commute. The dark mornings mean I have to take the long way around tymon rather than through it but the distance was fine although I was quite slow.
Total 12.2km @6:34 HR 153

Wed 4: plan said 14 miles with 10@MP. Clearlier recommended doing 90% of this so I converted to km, calculated 90%, added two apples and a furlong and ended up with 20km with 14@MP! I was a bit nervous of doing this mp session and during the warm up was convincing myself I couldn't do it. Luckily another part of my brain told me to give it a go , if I didn't try I wouldn't do it. So I did it and was delighted. I didn't quite make the full 20km as I was late leaving the house (5:45am ) and was a bit late for work, but I did do the 14@MP. The splits ranged from 5:35 to 5:44.
Total 19.2km, 14@5:39 HR 167

I'll continue the plan as normal now and hope I don't get sick again!

Bungy Girl

chickey2 wrote: »

I was late leaving the house (5:45am )

:eek: That's the middle of the night !

Well done on the MP Kms and especially on the conversion calculations :cool:

chickey2

Thurs 5: recovery run. Nice and slow 7.3km@6:46 HR nice and low at 141.

Fri 6: rest. I needed this. My left foot was feeling sore which was worrying.

Sat 7: last long run of the plan! 22 miles plus stuff. Due the missing the last 22 miler I didn't plan on doing much "stuff". I headed out early again so I could get in a good distance before joining the parkrun at marley. I used this as a dress rehearsal. Wore all the gear I plan on wearing and carried 4 gels (even though I didn't take any). It was a great morning, perfect for a long run. I had a toilet emergency though. Made it to a real toilet in Dundrum seconds before almost disgracing myself. After that I felt great so hit a few MP miles as I was a bit late for the parkrun thanks to the toilet stop. It's been a while since I ran marley parkrun so stupidly forgot there was a new route. Missed the start but caught up soon enough and quite happily plodded along with the 35 min runners which is steady pace for me. I probably got a few funny looks with my belt of gels and water bottle for a 5k run but I knew I'd already done 26! I skipped the funnel as I missed the start so didn't want a time. Met a good friend so had a chat for 10 mins or so and then headed home. Felt really good and it was a real confidence boost. Strangly my foot pain disappeared during the run and hasn't bothered me since. Had a shower, some food and drink and then fell asleep for two hours!
Total 34km@6:13 HR 161. About 4km were at MP and 5 were steady.

72.7km for the week.

ThebitterLemon

Nice long run well done.

TbL

Firedance

You're going great C, nice job on the MP and the 22 miler

Singer

Good going C, nice run there - it did have a bit of "stuff" in it anyway

Mrs Mc

Well done C

RedRunner

Well done on the training. Looks like you got sick at the ideal time and you'll be plenty fresh and strong for the big day. Best of luck over the next few weeks.

chickey2

RedRunner wrote: »

Looks like you got sick at the ideal time and you'll be plenty fresh and strong for the big day.

I think you're right. My unplanned week off did me the world of good.

Tues 11: easy commute. No ill effects from the weekend run but took this slow anyway. I'm really liking this weather, I just hope it stays til the end of the month!
Total 12.2km@6:27 HR 147

Wed 12: 14 miles@MP. I'd been dreading this one. I'd seen it on the plan since the beginning and it was a bit like the 20 minute run when you start the C25k! But like that one, I trusted the plan and nailed it! It was another early start but conditions were perfect and was soon flying along (relatively!) I ended up having to run in circles towards the end to cover the full 22km but I was determined to do the full distance. I was so happy to get this done, I really feel I can give the marathon a good shot now.
Total 22km@5:36 HR 169 if I can keep that pace for the marathon I'd do it in 3:56 which I'd be delighted with.

Finished the day with a rub down from Myles, who reckons I'm in good nick. Now for taper time!

Firedance

chickey2 wrote: »

I really feel I can give the marathon a good shot now.
Total 22km@5:36 HR 169 if I can keep that pace for the marathon I'd do it in 3:56 which I'd be delighted with.

Finished the day with a rub down from Myles, who reckons I'm in good nick. Now for taper time!

You can and you will. Fantastic job on the 14 @mp, look forward to helping you celebrate in McGrattans :P

Murph_D

Well done, C, getting that session done successfully is a key milestone. Looks like you're in great shape for your goal. Nice and steady now over the final 2.5 weeks.

denis b

What a confidence booster C. Very nicely done. Hold that feeling and benefit from the taper.

Bungy Girl

Sub-4 on the cards, woo hoo! +1 on the weather, if it stays like this it'll be perfect.

chickey2

I nearly forgot to finish last weeks update.
I was feeling a bit achy after the MP run on Wednesday so swapped Thursday for Friday.

Fri 14: 6.1km easy @6:19 HR 152. It was pouring rain but it meant I could try out my new rain jacket! I was delighted with it. Got to work with wet hair and wet feet but a perfectly dry torso!

Sun 16: This weeks plan had a 5-10km race. I had great intentions of doing parkrun on Saturday but ended up not being able to make it. Headed to tymon on Sunday and decided to run the parkrun route as a time trial instead. Did a 4km warm up first then 5km in 24:09. A lot better than my last tymon Park run of 24:51. I'll definitely be targeting sub 24 once this marathon is done. Finished off with 10km easy.
Total 19.2km

Younganne

What's the make of your running jacket and where did you purchase please?

I need one for the winter season as I want to avoid the treadmill as much as possible while training over winter!

chickey2

Younganne wrote: »

What's the make of your running jacket and where did you purchase please?

I need one for the winter season as I want to avoid the treadmill as much as possible while training over winter!

I got this one
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/gore-running-wear-womens-mythos-20-windstopper-jacket-aw15/
So last season but great value with the state of sterling these days!

Ososlo

Younganne wrote: »

What's the make of your running jacket and where did you purchase please?

I need one for the winter season as I want to avoid the treadmill as much as possible while training over winter!

I got a great little one in TK Max last year. It has everything I need: very light-weight, hood that stays up, nice long sleeves, waterproof etc. Oh, and it was really cheap! 20 euro or something. The brand is Berghaus. I'd say check out TK Max as their running stuff is brilliant and great quality and they have lots of new stuff in for winter running.

Btw, fair play to you chickey on that 5k TT! Fantastic going on your own. Looking forward to seeing that sub 24 before the year is out!

annapr

Great to catch up here, you're flying C!

And you nailed that mythical mystical 14 miles @mp (even in km!) ... the wise ones say that is the key session and best indicator for performance on the day!

It almost gives me marathon envy thinking of that one.

chickey2

annapr wrote: »

It almost gives me marathon envy thinking of that one.

Almost!

Will you be joining us in Mcgrattans after?

annapr

chickey2 wrote: »

Almost!

Will you be joining us in Mcgrattans after?

i will be... tapering for it now

Planning to get out and do some supporting too so will be watching out for you in the sub-4's!!!

chickey2

I don't know if it's just taper tantrums or hormones or what but I'm in foul mood today! My six year old seems attuned to this and is also in foul form, not a good combination!

Anyway, I haven't logged the last week as it hardly seemed worth it. I'm keeping to the plan though and have no niggles, I just need to get my head sorted. The dreams have started, missing the start etc. Today I was convinced I forgot to register for the marathon. Thankfully I found my acceptance email so it's OK

So the plan has gone quiet well. It's a 17 week plan and I missed one week due to sickness, one long run due to a child with appendicitis and one midweek session due to a melt down. I had originally planned on doing a 5 day week but it soon became clear I'd only manage 4 days a week, but I wasn't far off on the weekly distance. I managed a pb in the Frank Duffy 10 mile, the DCHM and ran a 5k time trial pb. I've no injuries and I'm probably fitter than I've ever been. I can't believe it was only just over 3 years since I did my first 10k in 1:2x!

OK I feel a bit better now

So what's the plan for Sunday?
Goal A: 3:55 given ideal conditions and feeling good on the day I think it's possible
Goal B: 3:59:59 I'll be delighted with anything under 4 hours.
Goal C: Finish with a smile on my face.

Will definitely pop into Mcgrattans after so hope to see some of you there.
I'm off to bed

hillsiderunner

Good luck Chickey, if you throw-up your bib number here (when you have it) we can track your progress. The training has been consistent so you've a great chance of bringing in that 3:55.