Time.....is never time at all....v2

tomwaits48

AuldManKing wrote: »

If your legs are in bits the 800's might be a bit much as well.
take a look at week 6 of the plan - it caters for a race that week. Although you are a day out, do the 600's today and a recovery run tomorrow. Leave out the MLR as the race will be a super session either way.

doing 600s instead is a sensible compromise.

tomwaits48

Did the 600s - cheers RK - felt fine and controlled at 5k pace - pace on each split was

1. 6.11
2. 6.09
3. 6.06
4. 6.09
5. 5.59

In truth it felt a little too easy so I might look to do a 5k soon to see if I should be upping the paces or alternativly reduce the recovery times next time out.

Just doing short recovery runs today and tommorw then all set for Saturday. I'm trying to figure out if the new route looks easier or not but it's hard to tell. If I get anywhere close to my 2014 time of 65:44 / 6.33 pace I'll be a happy man.

tang1

Best of luck tomorrow, run well.

adrian522

Best of luck S, Is this going to be an all out effort yeah?

tomwaits48

adrian522 wrote: »

Best of luck S, Is this going to be an all out effort yeah?

yep - full throttle 100% - looks like it will be wet and windy, should be interesting.

snailsong

Good luck, S.
I predict 64:40.
No pressure

tomwaits48

snailsong wrote: »

Good luck, S.
I predict 64:40.
No pressure

Ah here...!

tomwaits48

70 mins :-( . Felt I was running fine up to half way in 34 minutes, then a stitch destabilised me and it all went south. I'll do up a proper report tommorow, still sulking about it today!!

AuldManKing

tomwaits48 wrote: »

70 mins :-( . Felt I was running fine up to half way in 34 minutes, then a stitch destabilised me and it all went south. I'll do up a proper report tommorow, still sulking about it today!!

I just looked at your splits and you can take a lot of positives from that performance.
You got a great 5m tempo in followed by 5 miles steady.
On the 2nd 5 - the pace held up well enough, with only small variation, given how you much distress you were in.

Also - your legs wont be as beat up this week as the would have been had you of raced the whole thing.

I reckon you should run a HM at MP to get a gauge on the stitch - maybe MP is the sweet spot?
Still bodes well for you in Dublin.

The other positive is that by the time I caught you at 7 miles, the hair still looked great.

tomwaits48

Race Report – Frank Duffy 10 mile – 1:10:17 Pos 373

I’d been looking forward to this race for a few weeks. I’ve had a consistent training block with clear progression in the P&D plan so far – 200 miles ran in July and all sessions completed. After hitting 6.35ish pace in my recent LT sessions the thoughts of doing 10 x 6.35 held no fear for me.

Unfortunately, the weather did not play ball. Howling wind and rain would make a PB nigh on possible. The conditions didn’t bother me though and I left the car 20 minutes before the start for my usual warm up, in good spirits, embracing the elements.

The P&D book mentions that LT pace is the pace you can run for about an hour. Readers of my previous log might recall I actually had a Vo2 max test done before, which gave me exact BPM readings for my HR Max (197) and LT (174). My new watch comes with a built in HR so I said to myself I start off around 6.45ish pace and keep an eye on the HR to make sure it doesn’t go too much beyond 174. This might have been a mistake in retrospect as I might have been working too hard too early, maybe 170 BPM would have more realistic.

In any case I started well – miles 1-3

1 6.41 164
2 6.30 174
3 6.47 176

Felt fine throughout and was enjoying the new route. Bumped into Wowzer who was pacing a few lads to sub 68 and some training buddies around my level so all was good.

I soon became aware of a familiar discomfort to my right side - a stitch was brewing. I really don’t know why this continues to happen in races – my diet all week was clean, I was fully hydrated (not excessively either), and had done plenty of stretching routines during the week. To make matters worse, we were now running into the exposed and hated North Road so as I tried to maintain pace by increasing effort the pain grew strong. Wowzers group overtook me – I really wanted to stay with them but couldn’t do much about it.

4 6.49 173
5 6.53 174
6 7.05 181

All hope of a decent time was out the window now so after the split for mile 6 flashed up I consciously gave up a little and dialled the effort level down to see if I can get some relief from the discomfort. My stride and posture was by now severely compromised. Just as I was starting to feel a little sorry for myself someone behind me shouted “ I hope you’re not feeling sorry for yourself”….and low and behold it was AulmanKing :-) Brief chat picked up the spirits and I tried to up the pace but soon had to reign myself back as the pain got very acute.

So that was the end of the race really, I felt like pulling out but I’m glad now I continued – looking on the brightside it’s a decent 10mile LT session.

7 7.15 174
8 7.11 171
9 7.18 170
10 7.10 171

Afterthoughts

I know I keep harping on about how I’d love to get back to my 2014 form. When you compare my times you can see why:

Distance 2016 2014
5m 32.32 31.43
10k 42.53 40.41
10m 1.10.17 1.05.44

So I am firmly in 3.15-3.20 marathon shape.

It’s frustrating, especially more so when some of my buddies who I was alongside with in 2014 are now in sub3 territory while I am going backwards. The mileage I am doing is broadly similar, the only major different thing I am not doing now is the runners strength class I was doing in 2014. I probably didn’t appreciate how much that was benefiting me in 2014.

Amway I won’t let this deter me – I have been really enjoying the plan so far – my legs didn’t take too much a battering in the end on Saturday so I was out again yesterday doing 7 miles @ 8.45. I’ll see if I can get to the gym regularly for some proper specific core work over the next few weeks and I’ll likely let the new HR watch dictate the training paces. I’ll be running the half and will give that a good rattle. Also need to research into the reason for the stitch. My gut is telling me I was simply trying too hard / went out too fast but looking at the HR I wasn’t in the redzone so it’s hard to say really.

tomwaits48

Week 10

A low key start to this recovery week so far

• Monday - Recovery 3 miles @ 8.58 137HR
• Tuesday - Recovery 3 miles @ 8.52 129HR
• Thursday AM - Recovery 5 @ 8.43 132HR
• Thursday PM - General Aeroobic 9@ 7.28 150HR

The plan called for a 14 MLR this Thursday but I knew I wouldnt get out till after 9pm so did 5 recovery at lunch and 9 at a decent clip in the evening. Very happy with the evening run as it confirms that my recent upturn in pace has been achieved in the right HR zone. Splits and HR last night are below - bear in my my marathon pace HR is circa 165BPM


1 7.22 134
2 7.26 152
3 7.39 153
4 7.24 155
5 7.18 149
6 6.58 152
7 7.18 153
8 7.31 150
9 7.51 148

I'm doing a monster session on Sunday - 16 with 12 @ MP. I will run the MP section at 165BPM and see what pace that gives me.

tomwaits48

Week 10

Sunday - 15 miles @ 7.35

Ok so in the end I managed 11 miles MP @ 7.23 at my marathon HR. This doesnt quite tell the full story though, splits are below. I kicked off the MP section after 3 miles easy and I started briskly. After 8 miles however the heat started to get to me (it was midday at this point) and as I headed up the North Road in the park I lost my pace and couldn't get it back to what it was. I ran by Sean Hehir at one point who had his top off, so I said why not, and I got the guns out myself..ha...it did help me cool down.

I was absolutely spent by mile 15 and I couldn't close it out for the prescribed 12 miles at MP - I was going by my car and the brain just gave up on me, so just did a 1 mile recovery to cool down.

Split Pace Avg HR
1 08:33 123
2 07:52 148
3 08:03 148
4 06:58 163
5 07:02 163
6 07:10 164
7 07:05 169
8 07:38 168
9 07:51 167
10 07:44 168
11 07:18 171
12 07:32 167
13 07:32 168
14 07:54 169
15 08:55 153
16 00:33 156


Thoughts? Having run 9 miles @ 7.28 at HR 150 on Thursday I was expecting a run at HR 165 to yield closer to 7.10-7.15 pace. I won't draw too much conclusions though from 1 isolated session so I'll truck on. Different weather, fewer sleep, poorer hyrdation and a myriad of other factors can effect sessions.

I was happy with the effort all the same - it was all in the right intensity range, so it'll provide a good training stimulus.

As a sidenote, I do feel a little off kilter having tweaked the schedule a little to race the Frank Duffy. I don't think I'll do the same next year. Although I am planning to race the half, I have a buffer week built in so I plan to take the week after the half as recovery and resume the plan as prescribed for the final 6 weeks.

Big session tonight - 7 miles LT. My LT is 174 so god knows what pace I'll run tonight!! Recent LT sessions have been around 6.30-6.45ish.

AuldManKing

that's a great session on your own - was a very warm day and you had a big session in the previous Thursday.

I know you are going to race it and you know what advice I'm going to give

Personally, I wouldn't race the half - I'd do it at MP or even MP-10s with a few miles before hand.
Whens the last time you had a good race?
The danger is your confidence will take a good knock, the stitch returns and you've no idea where you are.

a good 13@MP in a race env on tired legs will set you up nicely. (or even split it up and just do 13 but as an alternating session with MP/HMP each mile or 2.

But I know you'll just go out and race it

AuldManKing

that's a great session on your own - was a very warm day and you had a big session in the previous Thursday.

I know you are going to race it and you know what advice I'm going to give

Personally, I wouldn't race the half - I'd do it at MP or even MP-10s with a few miles before hand.
Whens the last time you had a good race?
The danger is your confidence will take a good knock, the stitch returns and you've no idea where you are.

a good 13@MP in a race env on tired legs will set you up nicely. (or even split it up and just do 13 but as an alternating session with MP/HMP each mile or 2.

But I know you'll just go out and race it

tomwaits48

AuldManKing wrote: »

that's a great session on your own - was a very warm day and you had a big session in the previous Thursday.

I know you are going to race it and you know what advice I'm going to give

Personally, I wouldn't race the half - I'd do it at MP or even MP-10s with a few miles before hand.
Whens the last time you had a good race?
The danger is your confidence will take a good knock, the stitch returns and you've no idea where you are.

a good 13@MP in a race env on tired legs will set you up nicely. (or even split it up and just do 13 but as an alternating session with MP/HMP each mile or 2.

But I know you'll just go out and race it

None this summer or in this cycle. Last year's Dunsaughlin 10k when I went sub 40 is the last decent one.

I'll mull over your throughts - always appreciated. I doubt I'll get near my half PB of 1:28 so your suggestion has plenty of merit. I do get a bit annoyed when races dont go my way!

My only concern with not racing it is that I wouldn't have had a decent race to gauage what my MP pace "should be"....but then I do have excellent HR feedback now with the new watch & knowing that my zones are accurate having been lab tested...so the remaining MP sessions can act as the gauge....

...and having said the the P & D plan does not prescribe races above 15k so maybe I should just stick to the bleedin' plan!!

tomwaits48

Week 11

• Monday – 4 recovery @ 9.03
• Tuesday – 11 with 7 @ LT – abandoned 5 miles in
• Wednesday -3 Recovery @ 9.19
• Thursday - 12 medium long run @ 8.31
• Friday – 3.5 Recovery@ 8.46
• Saturday – 17 long run @ 8.29
• Sunday 3.5 Recovery @ 8.47

51 in total.

A gruelling week truth be told. I pulled up on the LT run on Tuesday with a stitch 1.5 miles into the fast section, the harder I pushed the worse the pain got…so I pulled the plug….was pretty annoyed about it at the time as I had no other window in the week to get this done without compromising another session….looking back thought at least I can say the Frank Duffy race the previous week worked out at 10 miles at my LT effort so not all is lost…I might try and get this done again during my buffer week.

Thursday's medium long run was a slog-fest, not really feeling the grá for the training at the moment. It was a case of just get the head down and get on with it.

Same can be said for the long run on Saturday….the plan called for a 20 miler but I noticed the club are organising a paced 20 miler next Sunday so I swapped around the long runs and did 17 miles this week instead. All I can say about this is that it was character building….running in the sloshing’s of rain around a deserted Phoenix Park (save for some promiscuous activity in the Furry Glen that I accidently disturbed ) I upped the effort for the final 6 miles of this run to get close to -10% MP pace as per instructions in the book....happy with the effort.



1 08:38 129
2 08:31 141
3 08:04 145
4 08:13 151
5 08:07 145
6 08:23 145
7 08:09 149
8 08:35 147
9 08:55 142
10 08:48 145
11 09:11 144
12 07:49 154
13 07:59 156
14 08:06 153
15 08:08 152
16 08:30 153
17 09.04 157

I suppose I am feeling the effects of being into the meaty section of the plan – cumulative fatigue is a factor. I’ll watch the diet, rest and hydration carefully this week to aid recovery between hard sessions.

tomwaits48

Really into the thick of things at the moment

• Monday - 3 miles recovey @ 8.59
• Tuesday - 4 x 1 mile off 2 min recovery - 6.19, 6.16, 6.27, 6.38
• Wednesday - 12 miles medium long run @ 8.32
• Thursday am - 3 miles recovery @ 9.11

I opted for the speed session on Tuesday in place of an 8k-15k race called for in the plan - I thought this session would offer a similar stimulus and to be honest I was glad to do this with a group - confidence is a little on the low side currently. Happy to say the session went well, albeit a slower 4th rep. Felt I ran well and was well able to keep up with some lads who are usually ahead of me.

Last night I did the MLR - God, it nearly killed me. Clearly a 24 hour turnaround time from the speed session is not ideal but work commitments mean I can't get out tonight. I kept the pace and HR at the lower end of my zones but after 6/7 miles the legs felt very heavy indeed. Despite the fact I was out running after 9pm it was roasting outside and I was sweating buckets. Had to dig really deep to keep going and resist the urge to cut it short and go home. Very happy to get it done in the end and I am glad I didn't give up - this should make me mentally stronger ahead of the big day in October.

Nice slow and smug recovery run into work this morning passing all the extra traffic.

tomwaits48

Week 12

• Friday am - 3 miles recovery @ 8.57
• Friday pm - 3 miles recovery @ 8.58
• Saturday - 3.5 miles easy @ 8.49
• Sunday - 20 miles long run @ 7.35

Well well well, talk about a confidence booster with yesterday's long run :eek:

The club organised a 20 mile marathon prep run in the park, manning a water station and taking splits, running a 5 mile loop, 4 times. I was determined to make this session as recent solo long runs have been mentally draining - really good of the club to organise something like this.

The route begins outside the Zoo carpark, then onto the grass trails behind the polo grounds, up by the Aras, then along the trails on the inside of the North Road, right up to the Castleknock gate, then straight back down Chesterfield avenue all the way back to the Zoo - 5 miles. Mentally this was interesting as it pretty much works out as a 2.5 slight climb at the start followed by a gentle decline down back to the Zoo, so in my head I was "working hard" for half the loop and "recovering" for half, albeit trying to keep a steady pace.

I didn't have a specific pace in mind - plan called for a straightforward 20 mile run, so I opted to keep it in my HR easy zone for the first 10 miles and then see what I could give for the second half.

I was in a group of 4 for the first lap - and I couldn't get over how easy it felt compared to running the same trails as last Saturday on my own. Lap 1 : 7.43

For the second lap, our group was down to 2, so myself and another lad took turns driving on. This worked well and it tandem with the conversation the time was really flying by - I was 10 miles in before I even noticed an percieved "effort" on my part. Lap 2 : 7.33

My running mate was only doing 10 miles so I headed into Lap 3 on my toblerone and now it began to feel like hard work. To maintain the pace I was running at, I needed to up the intensity levels and now I was firmly in MP HR territory. I tried to dissasociate my mind from how I was feeling and kept the legs ticking over while trying to keep as steady a stride as possible. To me this felt like the deadzone in a marathon, that section between 13 -20 miles when you are starting to feel tired but a long way from home. This is where the simplicity of the club organsing this run came in, the thoughts of having to pass the water station and coach taking splits kept me good and honest Lap 3 : 7.26

Into the final lap now and I was in good spirits - "just 2.5 more hard miles up the North road and you can enjoy the final 2.5 down Chesterfield Avenue"...luckily there was a clubmate about 30 seconds ahead of me who served as a useful target to drive me on. I was still amazed to see 7:XX splits on the North Road, last week I was touching 9:XX...! and I was running some of these miles faster than a specific MP session on the same route 2 weeks earlier...eventually got to the Castleknock gate, turned around and gave it as much welly as I could to close out the run Lap 4 : 7.28

Total time : 2 hours 30 minutes

Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4
1 7.53 7.46 7.31 7.38
2 7.38 7.43 7.39 7.43
3 7.36 7.31 7.26 7.31
4 7.45 7.24 7.25 7.22
5 7.43 7.2 7.08 7.08
AVG 7.43 7.33 7.26 7.28

A good day's work. Surely with further training to come and a taper I have the potential to hit 7.10-7.15 as a marathon pace for the big day, which puts me in the 3.10-3.15 range. Given my PB is 3.17, I'd take shaving 2 minutes off that if offered to me today.

AuldManKing

that's a super run and a massive confidence builder. Great idea by the club to do that.

PaulieC

That's a super run. Looking good for the PB I'd say. If you dip below mine I'll have to go again :-)

tomwaits48

• Monday - 3 miles recovery @ 8.42
• Tuesday - 8 miles general aerobic @ 8.40
• Wednesday - 12 miles medium long run @ 7.26 :eek:

I set out last night on the MLR in good spirts, legs felt good and mentally I've had a spring in my step all week following last Sunday's long run. This translated into a very fast MLR, I dialled into my MP HR zone (160-165 BPM) and let fly for an hour or so. I really enjoyed it and I was seeing splits I'd rarely see on a solo mid week run. One of those runs where everything goes your way...pedastrians move out of the way, the green man appears on cue at lights and there was no breeze to contend with.

Splits  Avg Moving Pace Avg HR
1 07:38 135
2 07:20 159
3 07:44 162
4 07:18 165
5 07:00 164
6 07:02 161
7 06:54 164
8 07:22 165
9 07:39 156
10 07:49 155
11 07:47 155
12 07:47 153
Summary 07:26 158


Need to make a call on whether to race the half Saturday week. I keep changing my mind. Help me decide, please!

Reasons for :

• I have a buffer week built in to the plan to recover afterwards
• By all accounts (bar races) I'm in good form...and I'm due a good race day
• Rarely get a chance to race at HM distance (last was 2014)
• Will help me gauge a realistic marathon goal
• More practise dealing with or avoiding the dreaded race stitch
  

Reasons againts :

• A bad run will no doubt jolt my confidence like the Frank Duffy did
• I'll need to taper and so skip some sessions next week
• I'll still need to do the actual planned session of 18 with 14 @ MP at some point
• Going on race times all summer I'm unlikely to beat my PB of 88 minutes

overpronator

Very strong long run there man, nothing like those to get the confidence going and the calculator out! Great to see you getting back to where you should be aswell. Plenty left in the tank.

If it was me id keep the training momentum up and do the half at MP. Beast of a session if its an 18-20 mile day. Thats just me though. I dont recover well from halfs. Seems to be somewhat of a sweet spot for me.

AuldManKing

Id agree with OP here regarding doing it at MP - Don't have to taper for it, less risk of injury, build on the fitness and leave enough to start next week with good momentum.
There is a HM in November (Gingerbread HM - Nov 20th) that you can race with zero risk if you want a crack at your PB.

Other options are to use it as a session 1MP/1HMPx6 or do 1st 6.5 at MP and 2nd 6.5 at HMP any variation is good - but as Shane says, 13miles at MP with 5-7 before hand is a beast of a session.

My plan is to do 7 before and 13 @ MP.

tomwaits48

Thanks guys - decision made - MP session is it, appreciate the advice.

2 solid sessions since my last post

• Friday - 7 w/ 5 x 1000 (3.46, 3.42, 3.36, 3.49, 3.39). Flew by Adrian during the 4th rep who have seen me with a bright red face)
• Saturday - 3 recovery @ 9.20
• Sunday - 17 mile long run @ 7.52 HR 151
  

50 for the week.

If my maths are right that's another solid long run well within the MP (7.10) + 10% instructed by P & D. I had plently left in the tank afterwards.

I think next week's session of 18 with 14 @ MP I should perhaps aim to hit 7.10 pace exactly rather than MP HR, just to see what it feels like after 5/6 easy miles.

tomwaits48

I had an excellent session this Tuesday - 3 x 2k off 2 minutes recovery

1st Rep - 8.08 minutes / 6.03 pace
2nd Rep - 8.10 minutes / 6.07 pace
3rd Rep - 8.00 minutes / 6.01 pace

These were done as 5 laps each around the track in Trinity and I can tell you I was working very hard to maintain pace for the latter of each rep. Very happy all told as I was mixing with a faster than usual (for me) group.

Unfortunatly though I have been laid low since Tuesday evening having picked up a heavy cold & cough. Just gentle running since with no midweek MLR :-( I don't know if I will run the half tommorow now, the thoughts of an MP session is quite duanting, I still feel pretty weak AND I've lost my bloody race number.

Also I am away abroad with work Mon-Wed next week - I had factored this into my scehdule as a buffer week. Maybe a few days off running will give me a mental and physical rest which would service me well for the final 5 weeks.

tomwaits48

Saturday - MP session - 20 miles (including 11 @ MP) @ 7.42

Went to sleep last night not sure if I was going to run at all today given the recent cold. Decided when I awoke that I would jog 4/5 miles to the Park and see how I felt on the way and if ok,I would try 10/11 miles at MP and jog 4/5 miles home to make up a 20 miler.

Headed over the Dublin Half and lined up - I was feeling a little tired to be honest but the weeks are running out now so decided to give it a good go at as close to 7.10 pace as I could. Kept a low profile today, no club vest on which might have tempted me to line up with the lads and race it. Parked myself right behind the 1.40 pacers too to purposly give me a conjested (and thus slow) start.

Was delighted with the first 3 miles - 7.04, 7.09 and 7.09. Running this pace felt very easy indeed, a good sign. I know the P & D plan gets a bit of stick because of the speed sessions towards the end of the plan but having done a fast speed session during the week the legs thought 7:10 pace felt grand....

....but only for a while....ha..... by Mile 4 on the route I started to feel like I was working a a little hard....the watch was giving unrealiable HR readings so just opted to continue to run "comfortably hard" up the North Road and see where it got me Miles 4-6 7.19, 7.12, 7.14.....a little drop sure, but I was feeing in control.

Miles 6-9 of this MP section were the toughest as the route took us by Farmleigh and around by Mount Sackville...I was defo working pretty hard now...7.15, 7.19, 7.13.....but at all times I felt totally in control and was taking in my surroudnings and chatting to people around me.... I was nowhere near the pain zone....

....as I didn't actually have my race number on me (long story) I didnt want to to actually finish the race course so I had planned to turn off the route around mile 11 and head home....last couple of MP miles were strong as we headed back down Chesterfield Avenue....7.08.7.14

...and then I jogged home the remaining miles around 8.30 pace.

Happy with the day's work - that's 3 good 20 milers in the bag with the Athlone 3/4 still to come. I'm pretty confident I can run 26.2 miles on 30th Oct at a mimumum of 7.25 pace....the trick will be to see how many miles I can run closer to the 7.10 pace...to take outforarun's medal approach...here's the targets:

Bronze Medal - A PB (beat 3.17)
Silver Medal - Minimum 3.14:XX
Gold Medal - 3:09:XX

AuldManKing

How u doin'

tomwaits48

AuldManKing wrote: »

How u doin'

Not bad chief. Week 15 was tough to be honest. I was abroad with work doing 3 x 18 hour days meaning I had to squeeze the guts of all my running in Thursday to Sunday. I also still haven't shaken my cold, quite conjested. This is what I managed :

• Monday - 3 recovery @ 9.16
• Thursday - 11.5 MLR @ 8.11
• Friday - 8 miles with 7 Lactacte Threshold @ 7.00
• Saturday - 5 miles easy @ 8.51
• Sunday - 12 miles @ 8.00

I had planned to do 17 on Sunday but was totally out on my feet - wrecked. Tried to get going at 9am, barely made it 800m before turning home. Went back to bed and tried again in the evening - good result getting an MLR in, despite it all.

I feel a little better now, but work is into the crazy busy season in terms of events I need to attend (which involve heavy meals & alcohol and networking until the early hours). Another overnight this Friday so I'll be doing my best to limit any damage ahead of the Irish 3/4 on Sunday.

Rather than a straightforward 20 miler, my current thinking is to do 6 easy, 6 steady and 8 @ MP. Looking back on DCM 13 I do feel I left a little bit of my race out on the Athlone 3/4 course so I'll judge the effort levels carefully.

AuldManKing

See you on Sunday!

tomwaits48

So the last week of tough training has drawn to a close....I feel like I've executed a solid training cycle, as best as can be expected, and now its time to decide on a race strategy....

• Monday - 5.5 miles recovery @ 8.58
• Tuesday - 3 x 1 miles - 6.20, 6.22, 6.20
• Wednesday - 11 mile medium long run @ 8.34
• Thursday - 3 miles recovery @ 8.26
• Friday - 4k on treadmill in 20 minutes
• Sunday - Irish 3/4 - 2.29.36

Splits for Sunday's race

1/3 - 50.04 - @ 7.47
2/3 - 50.54 - @ 7.50
3/3 - 48.36 - @ 7.34

A decent run if I do say so myself. Ran the first two thirds in my easy HR zone and pushed up to MP HR for the final third. Made sure not to run this too hard and risk not recovering fully for three weeks time.

*In the interests of full disclosure I was not at 100% having stayed up drinking till 4am at a work thing on the Friday night. Idiot. I reckon properly rested I would have been close to 7.15 for the final third.

Anyway, I need to decide what MP to run at for DCM. I'm at a bit of a quandary as I've no recent all out races to go by.

To recap, my primary goal is to beat my PB of 3.17, which was 7.27 pace in 2013.

I do know that, all my other race times from 2014/15 line up with a 3.10 marathon, which I reckon needs a pace of 7.10-7.12 to get under the line given I'll likely run 26.4 miles or close to that.

I have't really hit that pace consistently in my MP sessions to date, let's have a recap, in order from first to most recent

13 @ 7.17
10 @ 7.24
11 @ 7.23
20 @ 7.25
12 @ 7.26
11 @ 7.12

So guys, what would your target pace be looking objectively at the MP sessions?

1. Would you play it safe @ 7.25 to aim to beat 3.17
2. Would you nudge it up to 7.15 - 7.20 to get under 3.15
3. Would you go all out @ 7.10 hoping the taper period will freshen up the legs to grab the 3.10?
4. Would you run with the 3.10 pace group?
5. Would you decide on the morning of the race based on how you feel in first 3/4 miles?