PB or not PB...that is the question

Cartman78

Right...New Year New Log

I was going to continue a zombie log I had back in 2013 but a lot has changed since in terms of my running and life in general -

* My number of children has now doubled so training budget is even tighter

* Also have a bunch of exams to do this year so will have to allot some time to getting my head in the books

* Had 6 months off running last year due to illness so pretty much had to start from scratch and am still cautiously operating within boundaries in terms of training load and environment

* I joined a running club last year which has been fantastic for interval training and generally getting to know people, chatting to people at races etc.

* Have come to the realisation (after 13+ years running) that I don't actually like marathons or marathon training - have done a fair few 5 milers and 5ks in recent months and getting a much better buzz off it

*For all the reasons above I don't plan on running further than 10 miles in the immediate or mid-term future

*The majority of my running is now during lunchtime at work so limited a bit on that front - I can probably get away with 1 x 10k on a Friday but the rest of the week it'll be 8k max, with a LSR at the weekend.

*Due to my eternally dodgy calves/Achilles (and wanting to avoid bad weather for the next couple of months) I would say that about 40% of my training will be on a treadmill.

*Current plan is to run at least 1 race a month - next 10K is at the end of January and there's another couple then in late Feb/early March. Target races will be 3 10Ks starting in mid-June to late July.....would expect to be in PB shape by then if all goes well.

***WARNING TO MYSELF***
Like 99.99% of runners I have an inherent propensity for stupidity and/or self-destruction. Gradually getting sense a bit but still prone to trying to PB on every run...so that's something i need to watch out for.


Anyway, my main goals at the minute are to stay fit and healthy (still on some meds but nothing too drastic) and hopefully rack up a few PB's along the way.


Current PB's

Marathon: 3:26 (London 2012)
Half-Marathon: 1:34 (Clonmel 2014)
10 Mile: 63 mins (Dungarvan 2012)
10k: 39:05 (Bilboa 2012)
5 Mile: 32 mins (Mitchelstown 2016)
5k: 18:39 (SMRC 2016)

Plan is to race at least once a month if possible - most recent effort was 41 min 10k on St.Stephens Day so a good marker I think.

Will be interesting (perhaps only to myself ) if the quality over quantity approach pays off with a 10k PB at some stage - my previous one was on the back of a massive training base for London Marathon in 2012

Edit 1:

Might add in a footwear note as another data point – not sure if it’ll add anything really but will wait and see

SK – Saucony Kinvara
AC – Asics Cumulus
AT – Asics DS Trainer (Old)
AD - Asics DS Trainer (New)

Cartman78

02/01/2017:

10K - Road - 44:30 - AC

Decent run in full tights and gloves outfit; felt grand all the way round....10K is pretty much my LSR at the minute


03/01/2017:

5K - Treadmill - 19:22 - AD

A treadmill PB!


04/01/2017

8K - Road - 34:22 - AD

Had been looking to go sub 34 but got a bit leggy around halfway

tailgunner

Recognised your username from the FSA forum and thought I was in the wrong place...

Best of luck with the log and your goals!

Cartman78

tailgunner wrote: »

Recognised your username from the FSA forum and thought I was in the wrong place...

Best of luck with the log and your goals!

Cheers - you now have full oversight over my life's obsessions

Cartman78

05/01/2017

3K - Treadmill - 11:31 - SK

Handy enough lunchtime blitz, did the last 1.5K at >16kmph

Not entirely sure how beneficial treadmill running is (in relation to real running) but it's keeping me injury free so far and a good cardio workout so will stick with it

Cartman78

Splits from the St.Stephens Day 10K - was taking it handy in the first half as I hadn't ran a 10K in yonks. In hindsight I could have put the hammer down a bit earlier but I was more than happy with how it went taking everything into account...

If you'd told me back in May that I'd be p1ssed off at running a 41 minute 10K in December I'd have bitten you're hand off


Splits  Time
1 04:03.7
2 04:09.3
3 04:13.9
4 04:31.5
5 04:23.6
6 03:52.3
7 03:57.2
8 04:04.5
9 04:08.3
10 03:34.9
Summary 40:59:00

Cartman78

07/01/2017

12.5K - Road - 59:34 - AC

Comfortable LSR.

Took a rest day yesterday in the end...maybe I'm finally getting a smidgen of sense.

Also did the Operation Transformation walk in Pallasgreen this morning...was pushing a pram and/or carrying a 4 year old for most of it...deffo the toughest 5K I've done in a while :-)

Got to meet the slightly famous celebrity personal trainer Karl Henry as well....seems to be a nicer bloke than his TV persona suggests.

Anyway no major aches or pains after either event so all good in the hood

Cartman78

Some more superfluous ramblings:

Might add in a weekly weigh-in as part of this blog I think – weight has luckily never been a problem for me really….but have noticed a few rounded edges lately that I’d like to get rid of. Nothing drastic really so hopefully a few minor tweaks will get me sorted.

I would generally be a very healthy eater but portion size (particularly my evening meal) is possibly a problem. Will keep an eye on the portion sizes and see if it has any effect. Also trying to eliminate/cut down my consumption of bread and processed meats (ham especially).

And in the past week I’ve subbed in a herbal tea in the evening to satisfy my sweet tooth – there’s still a few festive biscuits and crap floating around at home so trying to ignore them until they go off 

Don’t have a specific target weight in mind – my last major marathon training (2012) would have seen me down around 75 kg but I wasn’t necessarily in a healthy state…ended up overtrained and looking gaunt (according to my missus).

Anyway, first official weigh-in this morning @ 78.9 kg

Cartman78

09/01/2017

8x 800m Intervals - Road - AT


Aimed to do these at 80-85% max effort…..knocked out 3 at sub 3:05 and the rest at 3:15-3:20 range.

Haven’t done intervals in a while so happy with the workout overall….but….in hindsight I probably shouldn’t have been out

Totally underestimated the conditions outside today…..my office is in a fairly sheltered area so didn’t realise how cold and blustery it was til I was out in the open. Would have deffo hopped on the threadmill if I knew how bad it was….kinda annoyed with myself tbh. Would normally relish running in harsh conditions but given my recent medical history it’s not advised at the minute.

Anyway, fingers crossed no immediate damage done – had a couple of puffs of Ventolin there to sort me out. Might stick to the gym for the rest of the week if there’s a cold snap on the way :pac:

Cartman78

10/01/2017

7K - Threadmill - 27:59 - SK

Ran the first 5K at 15kmph with a 0.5% gradient. Dropped the gradient after that and upped the speed to sneak under the magic 28 minute marker :rolleyes:

Might take a running rest day tomorrow and do some cross-training in the gym I reckon - in great form and feeling good lately but have a tendency to get carried away at times like this and end up over-training.

This log might actually serve as a handy tool in reigning me in.....don't want to be updating here about missed races and physio visits

Cartman78

No run no fun.

Did some cardio in the gym now (rowing, X-Trainer) along with some core and weights. Don't get the same buzz off it at all as running but it's better than sitting around on my hoop in the canteen listening to people whinging about work :pac:

I would generally do some stretching,core, weights every day at home as well - nothing too structured....might hop on the exercise ball and do a few sets while cooking dinner etc. Won't be logging that stuff here as it's just too messy.

Also do a good bit of foam rolling (normally while watching telly) - recently got a BackBaller and find it much better than the traditional roller. Very good on the calves and especially on my upper back which can tighten up after a hard days work on the keyboard.

Anyway, 2 and a bit weeks out from next race (Milford 10K) - feeling in good shape so will deffo get close to 40 mins I think. Definitely have the speed but my shallow training base/low mileage may catch me out

Cartman78

12/01/2017


5K - Threadmill - 19:16 - SK

Ideally would have done a slightly longer less intense run today but the weather this afternoon kinda limited my options.

Did 2.5K @ 15 - 15.5kmph and 0.5% gradient, then did the remainder at 16+kmph and 0% gradient.

Find it mentally impossible to run at anything slower that c.15kmph on the treadmill so it ended up as another speed session.

Mindful that i'm prone to literally lose the run of myself a bit at this stage of fitness...I think I might take a micro running break for a couple of days.

Forecast not great for the next couple of day so flogging myself on the treadmill probably not a great idea....might do some light cardio and weights tomorrow and will be toddler wrangling on Saturday so ideally my next run will be a medium pace 12.5K run on Sunday

El Caballo

Like 99.99% of runners I have an inherent propensity for stupidity and/or self-destruction. Gradually getting sense a bit but still prone to trying to PB on every run...so that's something i need to watch out for.

Had a read through your zombie log there, you were more sensible back then when it came to the above than you are now even though you were still overvooking it back then. I'm 100% sure that your past, present and future tirednes and number of injuries are down to the intensity of your training and will continue to plague you while you adopt the training approach you are right now. There's quality and then there is what you are doing, a good quality based approach still requires recovery and I don't see that besides missing a load of days through injury and/or fatigue.

Just to give you an idea, there's a guy on the letsrun.com strava called Jon Mott, Olympic trials qualifier in the marathon whose average weekly mileage pace is slower than yours, there's a bunch of 14 minute 5k guys there too whose average pace is slower than yours even though some of their workouts are done well below 5min/mile pace. The reason for that is because they understand that the body can only take so much hard/quality running and the rest has to be set off by recovery or otherwise they will break down through injury and/or fatigue. It's just not sustainable training that you are doing. Getting 4/5 days a week of consistent training every week will give you bigger benefits than running really hard 3/4 days one week, missing the next week through injury or tiredness and so on.

What club did you join if you don't mind me asking?

Cartman78

El Caballo wrote: »

Had a read through your zombie log there, you were more sensible back then when it came to the above than you are now even though you were still overvooking it back then. I'm 100% sure that your past, present and future tirednes and number of injuries are down to the intensity of your training and will continue to plague you while you adopt the training approach you are right now. There's quality and then there is what you are doing, a good quality based approach still requires recovery and I don't see that besides missing a load of days through injury and/or fatigue.

Just to give you an idea, there's a guy on the letsrun.com strava called Jon Mott, Olympic trials qualifier in the marathon whose average weekly mileage pace is slower than yours, there's a bunch of 14 minute 5k guys there too whose average pace is slower than yours even though some of their workouts are done well below 5min/mile pace. The reason for that is because they understand that the body can only take so much hard/quality running and the rest has to be set off by recovery or otherwise they will break down through injury and/or fatigue. It's just not sustainable training that you are doing. Getting 4/5 days a week of consistent training every week will give you bigger benefits than running really hard 3/4 days one week, missing the next week through injury or tiredness and so on.

What club did you join if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks for posting...really appreciate the feedback/advice.

Can't argue with anything you've said (and you're not the first person to tell me that or something similar )

I guess I've fallen into a habit in the last couple of years of running shorter and faster and convincing myself that this is a 'quality' approach.

In reality, my training budget is fairly limited and anytime I get out it generally ends up being a flat out effort so that I can maximise the workout, clear my head, stressbust etc. - sounds daft i know...but that pretty much sums up what i've been doing unfortunately.

Actually, starting this log has already highlighted the folly of my approach to me.....this week doesn't look clever on paper but would have done a slower paced 5 miler yesterday outside if the weather had been better.

re: my club - I'd rather not name it here if that's ok. There are loads of training/meetups etc available but I haven't been able to make as many as I'd like to be honest and that's unlikely to change in the coming months.

Anyway, thanks again for the feedback

El Caballo

Cartman78 wrote: »

re: my club - I'd rather not name it here if that's ok. There are loads of training/meetups etc available but I haven't been able to make as many as I'd like to be honest and that's unlikely to change in the coming months.

Fair enough, wasn't being nosey btw:p. Was just going to direct you to someone in your club who might be able to help you figure the best way to get the best out of your training with the time and resources you have now. I know all the club coaches in Limerick fairly well and they'd all only too willing to give you a hand but I understand you wanting to keep it private.

Might be a good idea to find out who the person is to go to about training in your club and go have a chat with them sometime whether in person or over the phone if you can't meet up. Just say to them, this is the time I've got, this is what I've been doing, what can I do to improve with what I've got? They'll be willing to help you out.

Cartman78

El Caballo wrote: »

Fair enough, wasn't being nosey btw:p. Was just going to direct you to someone in your club who might be able to help you figure the best way to get the best out of your training with the time and resources you have now. I know all the club coaches in Limerick fairly well and they'd all only too willing to give you a hand but I understand you wanting to keep it private.

Might be a good idea to find out who the person is to go to about training in your club and go have a chat with them sometime whether in person or over the phone if you can't meet up. Just say to them, this is the time I've got, this is what I've been doing, what can I do to improve with what I've got? They'll be willing to help you out.

I PM'd you there a few mins ago

Yeah...that's probably a good idea to be fair. I was going to weekly sessions in the summer and early autumn but haven't been able to make them lately.

Will be over there registering on Monday night actually so will have a chat about it with someone

Cartman78

15/01/2017

12.5K – Road – 59:13 – AC

4.44 km pace – found the distance and the pace very comfortable.

Resisted the urge to put the hammer down for the last couple of km – maybe the subconscious voice of reason in my head (and the sage words and advice on here) are finally starting to sink in.


Finally made my official Parkrun debut on Saturday as well (almost a year after registering for it) – was on pram and child carrying duty though so it was more of a gentle walk mixed with some upper body conditioning exercises rather than a flat out effort.

The Limerick course consists of 4 laps on tight enough paths & trails so not sure how conducive it would be to running fast anyway. It was very crowded on Saturday actually with all the Operation Transformation gang as well (Dr. Eddie Murphy was the token celeb this week) – noticed a few club guys that started the run but obviously bailed out after the first lap or so due to the congestion.

Took a running break on Friday as well – did 15 mins on the rower and some weights/core work.

This week is going to be tricky due to the work commitments – should be ok today and tomorrow but Weds and Thursday are pretty much blocked out so will see how it goes

Cartman78

Weigh-in Update:


09/01/2016 - 78.9 kg

16/01/2016 - 76.8kg


Not sure where 2kg has gone in a week :eek:

Had a bit of an upset tummy yesterday actually so ended up just having toast in the evening so that may explain some of it.

Have been far more diligent re: portion sizes as well recently but i'd say this morning's reading was a bit of an anomaly either way - will keep an eye on it.

Cartman78

16/01/2017

3K - Treadmill - 14:04 - AD

Had been stuck at my desk solid all morning so this was all about loosening out the legs and getting off my arse to be honest.

Did 2k at 12kmph and upped it a bit for the last 1k.


Probably my last run until Friday - may have a chance to run the Parkrun properly this weekend so will wait and see

Cartman78

17/01/2017

8K - Road - 36:02 - AT

I guess this qualifies as a quasi-tempo run - I actually planned to run at a specific, controlled & steady pace for 5 miles and pretty much nailed it :D:D:D

Anyway, set out to run 8 x 4:30 kms and surprised myself by largely holding the pace throughout. Ran 3 x 4.26, 3 x 4.29, 1 x 4:40 (the first k which is mainly downhill) and 1 x 4:32 (the last k which is back up the same hill).

Found it quite challenging from a concentration point of view - normally would zone out and probably go a bit quicker without really noticing it.

Actually miscalculated my calendar in yesterday's update - tied up with work for the next couple of days so no running/cardio until Friday (unless you count walking the dog as cardio)

Cartman78

20/01/2017

3 x 2 Miles Intervals - Road - AC

After a 4.5 year absence, I decided to revisit the 10K Workouts today - tough going but enjoyed it....great to get out after two days sitting on my arse drinking coffee and eating scones.

Aimed to run at almost 10K race pace (~15kmph)

The interval splits were:
12:52
13:15
13:33

The first interval had the advantage of being both downhill, wind assisted and first, struggled a bit towards the end of the second interval but rallied again on the last one. My km average went from 4:01 to 4:15 which isn't bad I guess at this stage of my training.

I won't be doing Parkrun tomorrow - more toddler wrangling/wrestling in store so looking forward to that

Cartman78

22/01/2017

10K - Road - 45:15 - AC

Not sure what classification this run falls into tbh (maybe a Slow Short Run ).

Was tied up most of the weekend with family stuff - had babysitters on Saturday night so managed to get out of the house for a meal (an historically hot Vindaloo) and a film (the really enjoyable La La Land).

Had planned to do my regular 12.5K LSR but failing light (and a slight niggle in my knee/upper calf) meant that I cut it short

Cartman78

Weigh-in Update:


09/01/2017 - 78.9 kg

16/01/2017 - 76.8kg

23/01/2017 - 77.7kg


All the 7's this morning - still feeling good in general, no colds/flu which is fantastic.

Cartman78

23/01/2017

3K - Threadmill - 11:42 - SK

Good start to the week - really enjoyed my half an hour or so in the gym. Did a mini-circuits of some stretching/warm-up with some pull-ups for 10 mins or so and then hopped on the threadmill.

1K @ 15kmph
2K @ 15.5 kmph
2K-2.5K @ 16.5kmph
Last 500m at 18kmph

The last 500m would have been quicker but 18kmph is the max on the threadmill :rolleyes:

Did some gentle rowing and some core work after to cool down

Cartman78

25/01/2017

8K - Road - 34:38 - AT

Set out to run 8 x 4:20km pace and totally nailed it :D:D

Splits
1. 4:24
2. 4:13
3. 4:20
4. 4:20
5. 4:19
6. 4:21
7. 4:19
8. 4:18

Felt really comfortable and consistent despite very windy conditions in Shannon today.

Took a day off yesterday - popped down to the gym for some x-training and rowing mixed in with stretching/weights.

Should be nicely fixed for 10K race on Sunday I think - have slight niggle/stiffness in my left glute/quad but I think it's manageable with foam rolling at the moment.

Cartman78

So, there's been a slight change of plans :-(

Yesterday and today would normally have been a mix of gentle intervals and stretching to tune up for the Milford 10K tomorrow.

But (and it's a big but) that ain't going to happen now as I'm lying in hospital doped up on morphine.

Got really sick late Thursday night with what we thought was appendix but turned out to be kidney stones....had surgery to remove them last night which wasn't successful so have to go for another procedure next week.

Not sure when I'll be updating here again tbh but at least I'm not over-training :-)

Cartman78

My new Garmin 230 finally arrived today :-)

Originally ordered one from Wiggle after Christmas but An Post managed to somehow lose it in Portlaois so ended up faffing about for a couple of weeks sorting it out.

My old Garmin 305 served me well but has been on its last legs for a while...and is the size of a small laptop.

Anyway, glad to have the new yoke on my wrist now....god knows when I'll actually get to use it in anger. Not in great shape at all right now....mooching around the house dosed up on painkillers...fingers crossed the recovery starts on Friday

Cartman78

Medical update:

Got one of the kidney stones blasted yesterday which is good and also got the stent removed which was a huge relief as it was really painful.....although the procedure for taking it out was both surreal and excruciating.

Still on heavy enough painkillers, an antibiotic and a couple of other kidney tablets.

Running is probably 3-4 weeks off at best so will miss out on the Adare and Castleconnell 10ks that I'd planned on.

Very very very frustrated on a number of levels ....worked really hard to get back on my feet after illness last year :-(

Cartman78

Back in hospital....:-(

Running goals now in complete tatters...will have to recalibrate big time when this eventually gets sorted

Cartman78

Back outta hospital... :-)

Had a load of scans and it seems the stones have cleared. Still in a bit of pain....back home now so hopefully things will get back to normal asap.

Been a nightmare couple of weeks tbh...really hope this sh1t is over

tailgunner

Hope that's the end of it for you, sounds like a nightmare alright!