Eye of the Tiger Beer.

Singer

A good session, an ok long run, a plan made for the next 16 weeks and some crumby runs thanks to a cold and generally feeling tired for a few days.

I had my first decent session on the track with the club! It had a few qualities that suited me - only one pace and not too fast! 4 x 8 mins @ HM with 1 minute jogging in between. After all the usual warmup, strides and announcements, I went with the usual marathon gang and did the first two laps around 6:40 pace. I left the pack behind on the third rep, they had slowed down but I didn't. It also felt fun being chased a bit. I joined them again for the recovery, and then the same happened for the 4th rep. Cooled down jogging to the quays and was caught by aquinn and we had a nice natter over to North Strand. The only other run of note was an ok 18 miles this morning, slowed down during the last few miles - felt like I had plenty of energy but would have to increase the effort a good bit to hold pace so just slowed down. All good.

I made something resembling a plan for Disney/Donadea, based mostly on P&D with less emphasis on MP running and other changes to work around life stuff. The reality is I'll end up doing whatever random stuff is going on in the club from time to time so there's a good bit of wiggle room in it.

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
9th October|9.6 miles|8:56|Nice and easy commute home, getting excited listening to the preview of the Wales match.
10th October|9.6 miles|?|Cru warmup, session and cooldown.
11th October|9.1 miles|8:47|A commute
12th October|5.7 miles|8:52|Feeling a bit meh, so some easy miles after work instead of a commute
13th October|5 miles|9:10|Still feeling meh, and not in the mood for a morning commute, so hopped off the bus to town at The Point and ran via D4 to work.
14th October|5 miles|8:40|Feeling even more meh thanks to a mild hangover and cold. Some miles around Malahide.
15th October|18 miles|8:15|Ok long run! Ran around Rivervalley, Kinsealy, Malahide, Portmarnock and back to Swords along the coast.


Total: 62.3 miles

Next week: More of the same.

Singer

I wussed out of running during the ex-hurricane, but really should have gotten out in the morning. I was busy with work all day anyway, despite being stuck at home. I had been considering how a run commute would go given the winds would be on my back, but the red weather alert caused work to shut, probably for the best

On Tuesday I went down to the club but did my own thing for the first time, 5 miles at HMP. I decided to actually figure out what this pace was around lane 8 of the track rather than trust my watch to keep speed, half out of curiosity to see what the difference would be like between hand-measuring the splits and what the watch thought I was doing, and half out of general trust issues of my watch when running around the track. 1:52 was the split I needed to hit in lane 8 to be at HMP (6:41/mile - arguably could be lower on a track due to the flatness, but that's the pace of my recent HM). It turns out I can reliably hit HMP on a track for 17 laps, after 1 lap of over-excitement.

Timed splits: 1:44, 1:52, 1:50, 1:50, 1:51, 1:52, 1:52, 1:50, 1:51, 1:52, 1:51, 1:52, 1:52, 1:51, 1:52, 1:51, 1:51, 1:50
Watch pace: 6:05, 6:46, 6:38, 6:36, 6:49, 6:42, 6:42, 6:36, 6:32, 6:41, 6:34, 6:48, 6:45, 6:44, 6:47, 6:38, 6:37, 6:29



Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
17th October|10.3 miles|?|Club session, warmup, cooldown etc.
18th October|10 miles|8:54|Commute home. Wore a long-sleeve and pretty much immediately regretted it. Looked like a dork running along with rolled up sleeves.
19th October|10 miles|8:38|Another commute, featuring a chat with Ososlo who was running outside Ososlo Demense, as well as getting utterly soaked on the way back to Swords.
20th October|5.3 miles|8:19|Run to a hospital appointment in Beaumont
20th October|5.1 miles|8:45|Run back from the appointment
21st October|4.7 miles|9:25|Out at St. Vincent the night before, so a little groggy... did some hillsprints in Malahide while the older kid was in speech and drama.
22nd October|7.3 miles|10:47|A few miles with a former work colleague who's doing DCM next week
22nd October|14.6 miles|8:12|A few more miles with my usual company for Sunday morning runs (Cerys Matthews on BBC Radio 6 Music). There was a 20 minute or so gap between the two runs, so this was a bit harder than it sounds!


Total: 67.5 miles
Next week: Similar enough, except Sunday's long-run will be to support folks at DCM, followed by pints in McGrattan's!

Murph_D

Singer wrote: »

I decided to actually figure out what this pace was around lane 8 of the track rather than trust my watch to keep speed, half out of curiosity to see what the difference would be like between hand-measuring the splits and what the watch thought I was doing, and half out of general trust issues of my watch when running around the track.

Interesting experiment. If I read this right, and taking Lane 8 to be 453.66m, it looks like your watch pace was pretty accurate then?

Oh, and rolled-up sleeves is a look I cultivate all winter. Calling me a dork? :pac:

Singer

Murph_D wrote: »

Interesting experiment. If I read this right, and taking Lane 8 to be 453.66m, it looks like your watch pace was pretty accurate then?

Oh, and rolled-up sleeves is a look I cultivate all winter. Calling me a dork? :pac:

Yeh, it worked out pretty accurate over the course of the session, but on a per-lap level it was a good bit out.

Apologies to all sleeve-rollers. Some of my best friends are sleeve rollers

The Muppet

Nice going B . The long sleeve/ short sleeve dilema is a tough call of late . I had the same issue Wednesday , went long when short would have suited better., so I went short yesterday which was also the wrong call, I,ll live though.

Mrs Mc

Whatever about rolled up sleeves I’ve had the hat and gloves some evenings ended up carrying them !!

Annie get your Run

Hat & Gloves?!!! It's feckin roasting

Arm warmers FTW, I live in mine over the winter, they're even better on the bike but perfect for a runmute where it's chillyish starting off, then you can just roll them down to your wrists for a less dork like look

Singer

So... On Monday morning I was feeling satisfyingly stiff and creaky after Sunday's two runs (a combined 21.9 miles and 3 hours 20 minutes on my feet). I was faffing about in work when a message appeared on the club's WhatsApp about a DCM wave 2 entry going... and I started thinking of taking it on a whim. I started to get quite excited about the thoughts of a no pressure big city marathon this weekend. Sure, it'd be fun long run. Then, a another offer of an entry going came in, this time wave 1. I immediately replied. So, basically because I had no meetings or whatever in work on Monday morning, I'm running DCM on Sunday on a whim. This of course contradicts everything I've been telling everybody, including myself about running DCM 2017. "No," I'd answer, "I'm not running it this year. I'll do it next year." "I'm doing Donadea, and don't want to go from one long distance training plan to another". "I'll enjoy going out and supporting." The whole time my wife was telling me "you're going to run Dublin". Even on Sunday after I got in after my run she was like "so was that your last big training run for Dublin". I retorted with something along the lines of "why on earth would I be running 22 miles 7 days before a marathon? Gotya there! How could you be so clueless about what I'd be doing 7 days before a marathon!".

With a 6 day taper, no 20 mile runs and no MP running done, what could possibly go wrong? Well, I could do what I did last year I guess, but running hard and blowing up is not the plan. I guess I'm not totally plunging into this unprepared though, my milage has been reasonably consistent, the long runs have been longish for somebody not training for a marathon, and I've been doing a few sessions with the marathoners in the club, so things could be a lot worse. So, I'm not *racing* DCM, as I haven't trained for DCM. But it's the same as showing up for a parkrun after not having followed a 5k plan and in the middle of a running week - I'll give it my best shot on the day. And so this needs something of a target and plan. Here is where I disrespect the marathon distance and delude myself into a target time

If I had a few 20 milers, a taper and a bit more MP stuff under my belt, I'd probably be going for something like 3:05? A bit under 3:10 anyway. 3:32:04 is my PB, and that seems very beatable. So, I think around 3:15 is possible if everything goes well, but I'll do it conservatively. Arguably this is the pace I should have done last year given my pre-DCM calf hiccup. It's very possible that even running conservatively I'll blow up.

A: 3:15 (well, I used pi on the DCM thread - a nice round number )
B: A PB!
C: Not end up with a 33% marathon completion rate.

I'm immensely looking forward to Sunday. I was moaning a bit recently about my race times being a bit too predictable, not like a few years ago when I was improving quickly and didn't know my limits. This feels like that again, dipping into the unknown. I possibly do deserve to blow up due to the lack of respect I'm showing to the distance, but with a recent 1:27 half and nearly 2,500 miles done this year, 3:15 doesn't seem crazy aggressive. I'll also be donning my club singlet for the first time ever for that extra bit of support on the day, while also making a mockery of the advice that you shouldn't do anything on a race day that you haven't done before

eyrie

Had to butt in and comment as this made me smile. Love your wife's total certainty - seems like she knew what she was on about Hope it goes well and that you thoroughly enjoy it!

hot buttered scones

I was wondering what that trip to the expo was all about on Strava! Your wife sounds like mine btw. Plenty of Vaseline on the nipples!

chickey2

Lol, why am I not surprised! Best of luck with it!

The Muppet

The best of luck B if i had to bet on anyone running a pb off zero dedicated training it would be you.

healy1835

Hope it goes well for you mate. You have thought it through properly though yeah? I don't want to rain on any parade here but I'd hate if you got injured due to a decision you made on a whim......

clickerquicklic

Wow cool , I was wondering had you gotten injured as you haven't been on Strava in a day . Your training is excellent sure you do 100km most weeks , you in much better shape than I am and I am going for a similar time. Best of luck I think you could run 3.05 if you had of targeted it i'd settle for been 10 minutes behind you on Sunday I think you'll surprise yourself.

OOnegative

*Crazy man are you well? Most stupid thing I have seen on Boards!! Nothing good can become of you doing this for gods sake!!

Eh I would have done the EXACT same thing B if the opportunity was afforded me, hope it goes well for you. I know you'll give it your all, run well.

El Caballo

3:14.15 eh? Showdown no.2;)

scotindublin

Good luck B....plenty of miles in the legs to give this a bash! Explains the Expo trip on Strava!

Singer

El Caballo wrote: »

3:14.15 eh? Showdown no.2;)

A++ goal, beat El Caballo in a sprint finish :pac:

Murph_D

Pi looks more like 3:08:30 to me.

Hmm. I’d wondered if you’d pick up one of those numbers. Lot of them this year. Sensible steady pace is what I’d recommend, but you’re an adult and can do what you like. :pac: Better than doing that Mickey Mouse marathon anyway (or are you still planning that too?)

Enjoy the singlet - there has to be a first time. And enjoy the race - has to be better than the last one!

Edit: Oh, and good luck! All the best.

diego_b

Haha love this, your good wife was bang on the money! Best of luck B, class now you’ve not had to be fretting too much about it and just tipping away with your mileage, catch you in McGrattans to discuss your super showing (that pb is going bye bye anyways).

denis b

Was not sure which sentence to pick out of your post, so I won't . Brian, the very best of luck on Sunday. You have monster mileage and plenty of form and experience to know what you are doing. Have a ball and no street beers until McGrattans. See ya there.

Wubble Wubble

Well best of luck so! Hard to say no :pac: see you at some stage I'm sure

Annie get your Run

Feck ya B! There's no more room for anyone on my tracker list you'd better stick close to El Caballo if you want a cheer

You're mad but sure we know that already hope it goes well tomorrow and have fun!

Unthought Known

Best of luck B. 6 days notice, no problem!

annapr

"it's the same as showing up for a parkrun after not having followed a 5k plan "

:pac: :pac: :pac:

"I'm not racing it... I'll be conservative.... 3:15 doesn't seem crazy aggressive.. "

Nope.... just crazy .

Good luck all the same, you're just mad enough to pull it off!!!!

Testosterscone

Just catching up. Best of luck B. Looking at your consistency and strength this year I have no doubt there will be a happier head in McGrattans this time round Enjoy it and give it socks

Can't wait till you release the Swords to DCM 7 day training plan book in the future :P

hot buttered scones

I forgot too wish you good luck in my post - so good luck! It's not often you'll get to the toe the line at a marathon and lead the pack out with open road in front you. Enjoy.

Younganne

Ha ha it had crossed my mind over the last few weeks that your mileage was good enough to get you to a marathon so not in the least bit surprised when I seen the runs to the Expo yesterday and your declaration above. Have a great run B and enjoy the "no pressure:eek:run."

jake1970

The very best of luck tomorrow B. Your consistency in training and the high mileage will see you through for the PB. Enjoy!!

AuldManKing

Best of luke B - Hope it all goes well!