Lurker's Log

mbarr

After lurking for the entirety of the mentored novices thread and being consumed by envy in the run-up to DCM and on the day itself I've decided to keep a log in the hopes of getting myself uninjured to the start line of a marathon in 2016.

Background:
Started running in June this year, I had been walking 20-30km around the city every evening as a way of losing weight (went from 95 to 85kg) then started running (85-75kg) with the sole focus of running the Warriors Run. I grew up on the side of Knocknarea, it's always been in my head to get that done at some stage so I figured why not this year?
Absolutely loved running my route through Drumcondra, Glasnevin and the Royal Canal, and began to take in parts of Phoenix Park on my long runs. I knew I was addicted when I made the decision to move to Stoneybatter mainly to be closer to the park. I picked up a drinking injury during the fleadh in Sligo and ended up not making the Warriors Run, but at that stage I had signed up for the race series half marathon and had something to work towards recovering for.

Current state of affairs:
I've ran 3 races and a parkrun since taking up running;
Ransboro 10k (July): 50:06
Knocknarea 8 mile (August): 1:05:48
Race Series Half Marathon (September): 1:48:26
Sligo Parkrun (September): 21:36

Totally all over the place, and all very soft I think.

Training:
I'm currently making it up as I go along, after reading Jack Daniel Running Formula and P&D Advanced Marathoning, and I'm running just over 40 miles a week (6 runs) with a tempo run, intervals and a long run in there. Long run is currently 13 miles.

Plans:
I'm signed up for the Gingerbread half marathon and the Jingle Bells 5k, and I'm planning on running the Rotterdam Marathon in spring. I'm 90% sure I will use the P&D 33-55 miles/week plan to train for this, as I think I need the structure.

mbarr

Day one of the log: rest day. Spent 20 minutes picking at a black toenail trying unsuccessfully to convince it to come off

kit3

mbarr wrote: »

Day one of the log: rest day. Spent 20 minutes picking at a black toenail trying unsuccessfully to convince it to come off

Leave it - it'll come off in good time & there'll be a new one underneath !

mbarr

Yesterday: 8 miles easyish around phoenix park

Today: 10 miles with 6 alternating between planned HMP (7:35) and possible planned MP (7:55)

Tonight's run felt easy enough after recent tempo runs of 7:25, and the PMP sections actually felt like proper recovery which was great. Upper glen road helped with the last two miles unfortunately, I need to modify my route to remove that assistance!

Murph_D

Ya. That upper glen is a piece of piss. :pac:

mbarr

Murph_D wrote: »

Ya. That upper glen is a piece of piss. :pac:

I think I've been subconsciously avoiding running up it since the half.

mbarr

14 mile run today, 8:49 pace. Rather hungover, not the nicest long run but I got through it, arrived home and took off my shoe and discovered my foot covered in blood, absolutely no idea during the run.

Easy running from now until the Gingerbread Half next weekend

Baggirshorts

The best of luck next week Upper Glen......yeah enough said!!!!.... :-)

mbarr

8 miles easy/recovery, Phoenix Park loop, 9:20 pace. Avg HR: 139

Broke out the tights for this one for the first time. Happy enough with the avg HR, still generally sore after the long run but I guess you'll have that, last week was my highest mileage ever and had my longest long run ever. Glad of a mini-taper this week.

Baggirshorts

mbarr wrote: »

Broke out the tights for this one for the first time.

The tights? Are these the full length ones?
I have never worn them...are they comfortable and do you find any benefit from them?
Good luck....

mbarr

Baggirshorts wrote: »

The tights? Are these the full length ones?
I have never worn them...are they comfortable and do you find any benefit from them?
Good luck....

Yep the full length ones, only bought them because they were going cheap in runways closing down sale. They're grand, seem like they'll be good for cold recovery days where I won't be going fast enough to really warm up.

Baggirshorts

I might pop in there and have a look at what's left in stock. I am sure I have a voucher for spending in there......
Thanks...

mbarr

Tuesday: 9 miles, 8:00/mi, avg HR: 153
Frustration run, too fast, too long but it felt good.

mbarr

Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 6 miles, 8:04/mi avg HR: 152
A 'stretch the legs' fartlek. No more running until the gingerbread half marathon on Sunday

Baggirshorts

mbarr wrote: »

Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 6 miles, 8:04/mi avg HR: 152
A 'stretch the legs' fartlek. No more running until the gingerbread half marathon on Sunday

Good luck on Sunday..... :-)

I did that race last year, it was called Off the Laois then. A really lovely course, would have liked to do it again this year but Dubgal said I wasn't allowed :P

Best of luck with it

mbarr

Deleted User wrote: »

I did that race last year, it was called Off the Laois then. A really lovely course, would have liked to do it again this year but Dubgal said I wasn't allowed :P

Best of luck with it

Thanks Whoopsa! It was a lovely course, will do it next year if I'm allowed by whoever the novice mentor is

1:39:something today, totally delighted, going to go buy some beer (the medal is shaped like a bottle opener, message received loud and clear!) and then have a stab at a race report!

mbarr

So i had a vague plan for this, same plan that worked well in the race series half when I was aiming for 1:50, start slow, warm my way into the race, catch the 1:40 pacers by halfway then stick with them until the final mile and try to pull out ahead.

I settled in early behind two guys that I think were running the half, they were chatting away no bother, rather intimidating! I stuck to them and distracted myself by listening to their conversation. First mile was 8 minutes, second was an on pace 7:35. 1:40 pacers were about 200m up the road.

Around the time the 10k was turning to head back to town I realised my running buddies were probably running a relaxed tempo run preparing for some other race, so I ran by them and started to bridge the gap to the 1:40 group. I think I caught them around the 5 mile mark, a bit earlier than I had intended but I was glad to be tucked in behind a group of stronger runners. The pacers were amazing, it's mad how mentally attached to them you become! I got chatting to a fellow who had run a 30 mile race in Clare last weekend and was running a "stretch the legs" half this week. Fair play!

I had a few Dubgal phrases from the novice thread running around my head during the middle section, most prevalent was "trust the training". I was running tempo runs at 7:25 for 3/4 miles around the park a few weeks ago though, and wrecked after them, so I really wasn't sure that I could keep the pace so close to that for the entire half. Sure enough around the 8 mile mark the fatigue started to kick in. My breathing was fine, my legs and feet were grand, my heart rate was exactly where it should be, but a little part of my brain that I've not heard from very often started suggesting "slow down, just a bit. Stop here, sit down, lie down, sleep" I started dreaming of the finishing line, of sitting down, of not running. I remember thinking a few times that I wasn't sure I actually liked running at all. I had a vague notion that if I stuck with the pacers til 10 miles I would finish with them, so I focused on that and tried to ignore my brain.

10 miles came and went, the pace group was getting a bit thin at this stage. 30 mile last week guy had pushed on up the road, I was running with the pacers and another fella wearing an Edenderry Tri club tshirt that had joined us after halfway having ran the race I had planned and caught the pacers slowly. 5k to go, just a park run to go, 3 miles, 4k, 3k, 2 miles, 2k, these distances seemed like nothing when running around Phoenix Park last week, I was feeling every metre of them this time out! With about a kilometre to go I surprised myself by kicking away from the pacing group and running out on my own, this was the toughest stretch because I knew at this stage the 1:40 was safe, and I wasn't sure why I was pushing it. Delighted to turn into the GAA club where the start/finish line was (the support was amazing here, kept me going all the way to the line) and see 1:39:0x on the clock.

Finished in 1:39:18, 50th place. 9 minute PB, absolutely delighted. After the race series half I felt totally shook, but I could walk. After this race I felt completely fine, except that I was hobbling around like my legs were broken. After checking Mcmillian and Jack Daniels my time was perfectly in line with my 21:36 park run, so my endurance is improving which is great.

Easy running now till Jingle Bells 5k, then P&D 55 mile program for Rotterdam

mbarr

Mad busy week at work, only managed two days running.
Tue: 4.2 miles
Wed: 4.2 miles

I needed a stepback week after the half last weekend anyway, still a bit sore from it. Going a bit crazy in the aftermath of the race, worrying about injury, recovery, fitness, etc, I presume that's normal.

Nothing runners do is normal.

We're all a bit batsh*t crazy

mbarr

Friday: 9 miles @ 8:27
Ran this one with my flatmate's springer spaniel pup in tow for the first 6 miles, God only knows how far she ran. Might get a garmin for her! It was one of the nicest runs I've ever had, she's a total nut job, I was laughing to myself the entire way. Went a wee bit far with her, will take it easy and only take her out for short recovery runs from now on. It was all on grass in the park anyhow.

Saturday: 8 miles @ 8:27
Wasn't paying attention to pace on either Friday's run or Saturday's and they worked out exactly the same (despite Saturday's being sans pup)

Sunday: I was half thinking I'd get a long run in today but still not completely recovered from the half last Sunday, I decided to skip it. Want to get a mini session in tomorrow night to assess if I have any hope of going under 20 minutes in the jingle bells 5k next weekend and thought a rest day was the best thing for that.

I had planned 5x800m at 6:20 pace and then copped myself on. Going to run 1x1k at 6:20 and draw conclusions from that instead.

Baggirshorts

Some times the rest day can be the hardest day in the week....

mbarr

8 miles @7:47 with 2x1k @6:50

Lesson learned the easy way, I'm not going to be able to run under 20 mins for the 5k on the back of a shortened half marathon training cycle where I swapped all interval sessions for tempo runs. No speed in the legs, nowhere near managing 1k at 6:20, 5 of them at that pace this weekend isn't happening. New goal is to get under 21 mins and run a negative split.

mbarr

Tuesday: 8 miles @9:01

Another run with the dog, went off on the trails around the edge of the park and got a taste of cross country muckiness, ended up on my face in a puddle at once stage. Felt a bit niggly, might have been the twisting and turning to accommodate the dog on the lead, or the muddiness underfoot.

Today: Rest day

mbarr

Jingle Bells 5k

With storm Desmond battering the country and a fair few races cancelled (some utterly shambolically by the sounds of it) Donore Harriers did an excellent job managing to get this race completed. It will definitely be a regular fixture for me, great course, lovely mug, good atmosphere despite the conditions.

I had started to guess during the week that my 5k PB wasn't as soft as I thought, and that proved to be the case, gun time was 21:43. Overall given the conditions I'm happy enough, I don't think I'm going to get faster without 5k specific training (or at least reintroducing intervals at 5k pace).

There was a false start (or a false false start I think!) so everyone was called back, I returned to the board for where the 20 minute people were supposed to be but there were a lot of walkers, etc who had moved forward with the false start and didn't move back. I don't think the congestion at the start really affected my time, I wanted to go out a bit conservatively anyhow. 5ks really hit you almost right from the start, I was never comfortable or happy during the race. I felt terrible from pretty much the first minute, and the feeling got steadily worse as the race progressed.

Turning onto OS road was where the wind began to have some effect, and I was slightly isolated at this stage. There was what looked like a 9 year old boy running around my pace but offering very little shelter in his wake. He was wearing what looked like a school uniform, breathing heavily and a bit all over the place so I decided to kick on, see ya later kid. I did see him later, overtaking me at great speed barreling down the upper glen road. Fair play!

The upper glen road is a bit like a magic road, it feels like a mountain when forced to run up it but a barely noticeable gentle drop when running down. I had been pinning my hopes on being able to really pick up the pace on this section, and I did pick it up enough to at least run a negative split. The pain increased to almost unbearable levels and then it was all over.

I ran 3 miles warm up and 2 miles home cool down so that's 8 miles for the day, legs felt instantly fine again after finishing the race which was nice.

Afterwards I went to Ryan's where I met Whoopsa, TFGR, Singer, Dennis, AnnaPR, Aquinn, the wonderful Dubgal, and possibly others. The drinks disappeared as quickly as good intentions, it seems impossible that we were sitting talking about running for 5 hours but there you go. Aquinn seemed genuinely disgusted that I had lurked my way through the novice thread like some sort of silent stalker. And it turns out Whoopsa and I have a rake of friends in common and we basically do the same job. Nice to meet you all!

Today I'm heading out for a gentle 10 miler around the park, tomorrow is a rest day, and then Tuesday I begin training for Rotterdam marathon. Lots of food for thought from conversations with Dubgal in Ryans (the bits I remember!), I will be probably be reexamining my choice of training plan over the next day or so.

annapr

Nice to meet you yesterday M and well done again on running in those conditions! Best of luck with the Rotterdam plan, will follow with interest.

mbarr

annapr wrote: »

Nice to meet you yesterday M and well done again on running in those conditions! Best of luck with the Rotterdam plan, will follow with interest.

Thanks Anna, nice you meet you too

aquinn

10 miles today, head is obviously good. Fair play. I'm on an enforced rest day due to dehydration.

mbarr

aquinn wrote: »

10 miles today, head is obviously good. Fair play. I'm on an enforced rest day due to dehydration.

Lemon and lime nuun tablets in my after midnight G&Ts. Delicious and hydrating.

libelula

mbarr wrote: »

Lemon and lime nuun tablets in my after midnight G&Ts. Delicious and hydrating.

My god this is genius.

mbarr

First marathon training run:
Strava Link

2mi w/u @9:18
4mi threshold @7:18
3mi c/d @9:00

Still very much in two minds about P&D but I haven't found anything else I like the look of yet, so I figure I'll do the first few weeks of this and see how it goes. It looks like it doesn't really get "hard" hard until week 5 or 6. Really lovely run tonight, pace felt hard but manageable for the tempo section. Another mile and I'd have been wrecked but that's next week's problem!

aquinn

Heya, well done on week 1, day 1.

Am certainly no expert on marathon training plans but opinion is that P&D for a novice isn't recommended. I followed the Boards plan, well I thought I had perfectly but don't worry about that bit for the minute. Did you find a meno draft plan or the boards plan for this year. Both excellent plans.

If happy then current plan please ignore as I think you are doing the 30-35 week?

If not or have questions if suitable maybe ask for opinions from experienced folk.

mbarr

aquinn wrote: »

Heya, well done on week 1, day 1.

Am certainly no expert on marathon training plans but opinion is that P&D for a novice isn't recommended.

Thanks A! Yeah, as Dubgal (I think) said over the weekend, the clue is in the name of the book

I've checked out the boards plan, will do some digging for the meno plan this weekend.

Murph_D

mbarr wrote: »

Thanks A! Yeah, as Dubgal (I think) said over the weekend, the clue is in the name of the book

I've checked out the boards plan, will do some digging for the meno plan this weekend.

It was me with the "clue is in the title" comment, but I wouldn't be surprised if DG said that too. P&D is a great plan, and I'm planning to start it myself next week, but a good few boards runners have struggled with it on a second marathon, never mind the first. I'd think if you have the suggested base mileage and are very comfortable with the various sessions/paces you might be OK but agree with aquinn that the novice plan, which is a variation I think of the original "career move" edition of the meno plan, might be a better experience for a first timer. It's certainly enough to deliver the kind of time you probably have in mind.

The Meno plan, which I used myself for my last three marathon cycles, is here. A great plan - lots of marathon pace running in it and it will certainly help build the required endurance.

All the best with it, whatever you decide.

mbarr

That Meno plan looks perfect! Don't know why I didn't come across it before! Loads of variety and lots of tempo while keeping the mileage about where I am now which is what I was looking for.

Thanks everyone for the advice, I'll be transitioning over to that next week for sure.

Firedance

mbarr wrote: »

That Meno plan looks perfect! Don't know why I didn't come across it before! Loads of variety and lots of tempo while keeping the mileage about where I am now which is what I was looking for.

Thanks everyone for the advice, I'll be transitioning over to that next week for sure.

I'm doing that plan too mbarr, good luck with it, a lot of people here have had success with it.

mbarr

First week done, stuck to the first week of P&D slowed down to the paces specified by meno.

Thursday: 9 miles easy (9:43min/mi)
Saturday: 4 miles easy (9:43min/mi)
Sunday: 12 miles easy (9:33min/mi)

Christmas party season has meant very little sleep so I'm glad of the relatively gentle start.

This week is week 1 of my actual plan (which I've more or less stolen from Firedance as I also can't run on Wednesdays). Tune up races will probably be Trim and the Carlingford HM.

Firedance

mbarr wrote: »

First week done, stuck to the first week of P&D slowed down to the paces specified by meno.

Thursday: 9 miles easy (9:43min/mi)
Saturday: 4 miles easy (9:43min/mi)
Sunday: 12 miles easy (9:33min/mi)

Christmas party season has meant very little sleep so I'm glad of the relatively gentle start.

This week is week 1 of my actual plan (which I've more or less stolen from Firedance as I also can't run on Wednesdays). Tune up races will probably be Trim and the Carlingford HM.

possibly the first time anyone's ever stolen anything (running related) from me

I see you're doing Rotterdam? get over here and add your name to the list! http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=98069390#post98069390

mbarr

Week 17.
Monday: 3 miles easy
Tuesday: 4 miles easy
Thursday: Session
2 mi w/u
8 mins @ 8:30
8 mins @ 7:55
8 mins @7:29
8 mins @ 6:57
2 mi c/d

The progressive session went very well, felt comfortable enough throughout and really happy that my last 8 mins was more 5k pace than 10k. Made the decision to skip the Friday recovery run as I was travelling home, and felt fine anyhow.

Saturday: 5 miles easy

My Sunday long run didn't happen due to a horrendous hangover, luckily I had today off work so got 14 easy miles in this morning. Getting the miles in over Christmas is proving as challenging as I imagined it would be. This week has a monster session (3x2miles tempo) on Christmas eve
and a 16 mile run on the day after St. Stephens Day. Hmmmm.

mbarr

Tuesday: 4.3 miles @9:28 avg HR 134 (average HR is definitely coming down for the easy runs which is nice)
Wednesday 5 miles easy with 6x100m strides
Thursday: Session, 3x2mile tempo (target pace 7:20)
2 mi w/u
2 mi @ 7:16
2 mi @ 7:14
2 mi @ 7:10
2 mi c/d

Really enjoyed the session, took a while to warm to the pace but halfway through the second 2 miles it seemed to click and I wasn't dying for it to finish.

Christmas day recovery run, something easy on St Stephen's day, and then 16 miles on Sunday to look forward to. Two laps of Knocknarea. Be grand! :eek:

Firedance

mbarr wrote: »

Tuesday: 4.3 miles @9:28 avg HR 134 (average HR is definitely coming down for the easy runs which is nice)
Wednesday 5 miles easy with 6x100m strides
Thursday: Session, 3x2mile tempo (target pace 7:20)
2 mi w/u
2 mi @ 7:16
2 mi @ 7:14
2 mi @ 7:10
2 mi c/d

Really enjoyed the session, took a while to warm to the pace but halfway through the second 2 miles it seemed to click and I wasn't dying for it to finish.

Christmas day recovery run, something easy on St Stephen's day, and then 16 miles on Sunday to look forward to. Two laps of Knocknarea. Be grand! :eek:

Snap looking forward to the 16 miles, hope the weather plays ball! Happy Christmas

mbarr

Yeah this week has been so nice after the horrendous December we've been having! Happy Christmas to you too, good luck with the long run

Murph_D

Nice going Mark, I always found that progression run session you did last week very tough but you nailed it!

mbarr

Murph_D wrote: »

Nice going Mark, I always found that progression run session you did last week very tough but you nailed it!

Thanks D Happy enough with progress so far.

Week 2 completed, longest run ever, highest mileage week ever, longest session, first time running every day in a week, and it's Christmas!

Friday: 4 recovery
Saturday: 3 steady
Sunday: 16 mile long run @ 8:30

Long run was way too fast, especially given that it was a very hilly route. I did the first 8 miles alone, then my brother joined me for the last 8. I watched Chariots of Fire last night and I had the theme running through my head accompanied by wave after wave of euphoria. Thanks very much! Come for the scenery, stay for the endorphins. Not sure if it's normal to feel off your face as much as I seem to during my long runs but I'll take it

So next week is a mini step back week, then things start getting serious with 18 mile long runs back to back weeks, MP miles during long runs, races.

Murph_D

Love that film, and yes that's way, waay too fast. It's important to get this right early on, I feel. So many runners get it wrong first time out. Careful now!

mbarr

Murph_D wrote: »

Love that film, and yes that's way, waay too fast. It's important to get this right early on, I feel. So many runners get it wrong first time out. Careful now!

Yeah thanks D, I will cop myself on for the next one. 18 miles in early Jan, I'm going to set an alarm to keep the pace correct.

Monday: 4 miles easy
Tuesday: 4 miles easy with 6x10second hill sprints.

Hill sprints were interesting, hadn't done anything like that before. Enjoyable enough, wasn't sure whether to treat them like strides and recover fully or like intervals with timed recovery so ended up jogging slowly back downhill and then starting again, probably 30-45 sec recovery.

mbarr

Thursday: 10x400m @3k pace with 1 min recovery
Set off on the first of these way too quickly but settled in and enjoyed them, haven't done intervals in ages so it was a nice change. Took full standing recovery for the first time, I'd usually jog but with these being run a touch faster than I've gone over 400m I thought spending the minute standing still was the way to go.
Splits
1:31, 1:36, 1:36, 1:36, 1:35, 1:37, 1:37, 1:35, 1:37, 1:34

So a lovely run to finish off my first year of running, 810 miles ran since June, something I started just to try to finish the Warriors Run without dying has turned into what I hope will be a lifelong hobby/minor obsession. Thanks to everyone on here for your advice and encouragement, hoping to see you all out there in 2016

mbarr

Today, 10 miles with 6@PMP (~7:51) in Phoenix Park in the glorious morning weather, it felt amazing to feel the sun on my skin while running again!
went very well, PMP miles flew by, not easy, not hard, not going to torture myself too much with doubts at this stage.

That's the third week of the Meno plan completed, loving every minute of it, looking forward to the 18 miler next weekend so I can set the right (slow) pace for the rest of the LSRs. The idea of a 90 minute progression run scared the living sh1te out of me when I saw the plan, just looked it up and am very relieved to see that includes the warm up and cool down!

mbarr

Monday: 4 miles easy (9:29)
Tuesday: 6 miles easy with strides (9:24)

Thursday: progression session:
20 minutes w/u (9:17)
20 minutes steady (8:22)
20 minutes PMP (7:52)
10 minutes HMP (7:13)
20 minutes c/d (9:03)

All felt well except the steady, which felt neither here nor there and I couldn't get into a rhythm with it, was delighted when the 20 mins was up and I could get up to MP.

My garmin now supports more running dynamics, which now tells me
I spend 52% of my time on my right foot and 48% on my left, getting worse as I ran faster (most of my other run dynamics like vertical oscillation and cadence get "better" with increased pace). As with all garmin run dynamics, I'm not really sure what to do with this new information.

mbarr

Friday: 5 miles recovery
Saturday: 5 miles easy (@8:49)

Sunday: 18 miles easy (@9:21)
Headed off fairly early for this one, met with Firedance reasonably randomly which was lovely, nice to meet you FD! really great to meet one of the Rotterdam-bound crew. First few miles ticked along nicely chatting away.

I'm not sure if it's the training, the week off the drink, or the fact that I ran my 16 mile way too fast over Sligo hills but this felt great. Didn't look at my pace at all, I had the watch set to yell at me if my HR went over 140 (75% of my MHR, Meno's recommendation for easy runs, is 136 which turned out to be my average HR for the run) Occasionally strayed over 80% MHR when going up some of the steeper hills but overall fairly happy this was a good LSR pace.

Realised this evening that my wall schedule that I'm ticking off the runs on is missing a week between now and the Trim 10 mile, delighted about that! Mind you it is the week with the first 20 mile run so maybe I shouldn't be.

Firedance

Good job keeping things nice & easy, it'll make all the difference as the runs get longer! See you next time

13 weeks to go :eek: