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Earning my go-faster stripes...
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Testosterscone wrote: »Belated congrats on the PB
Your in good company
https://www.runnersworld.com/advanced/a20797745/paulas-greatest-marathon/
Remember reading this years back and giving it a bash, its a great little trick to use at times.
Ha, I should probably have read that a few races ago and tried it sooner
Definitely helpsAnnie get your Run wrote: »Excellent result!! I love that race! and I'm not at all jealous that you've beaten my PB as well as your own, massive congrats on the sub 50 10k.
Thank you!! How are you getting on yourself?0 -
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Congrats on the PB, it was a fantastic run especially in the heat.
I can identify a little bit with your despondency after the event as i experienced similar the previous week when i hit sub-50 and like you deep down i felt i should have been closer to 49 or even possibly sub-49
BUT in the days since then i've remembered how big of a milestone sub-25 5k was for me, and how long it took me to break it and then to break it consistently was another step. And then to hit sub 50 10km relatively easily, well what a shame not to celebrate it !! I think it's no harm to look back on a race and pin point weakness but we are also very hard on ourselves at times and need to be more cognisant of our achievements 
You are on a major upward trend which is only going to continue for you. You will most likely bypass sub 49 altogether now, it'll be 47:xx next time you race a 10k but other priorities for now right
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You're so right ariana! I was ecstatic to get sub 25 for the 5k. I think I've started to take some of this stuff a bit too seriously since then! But sure if we aren't able to enjoy the achievements then what's the point really.
Yes boss!...but other priorities for now right
Genuinely very excited to get stuck in 0 -
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Ha, I've decided and there's no going back now! I think...Pomplamousse wrote: »Congrats on the PB, well done:)
Did you decide on a marathon plan yet?
Cough meno cough
Going with the grads plan, with a couple of weeks of the accompanying base plan first (started this week). In the end I just thought the meno plan looked too aggressive for me, for a first time out. Technically I shouldn't even be using the grads plan, not being a grad and all, but I'm choosing to defer to people here who told me I could do it! Plus I used the grads half plan last year and had a really positive experience with it.
But I'm already enjoying reading how you're faring with meno. I might follow in your footsteps next time...0 -
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Last week feels like ages ago already, I think the heat is melting my head a bit... Anyway it was an important one in my running life all the same - first week of my first ever marathon training attempt. And probably the most important thing of all: I actually decided on a plan! Hallelujah. The Boards grads plan has been given the honour
This week was the first of a few of the base phase from the same plan.
Monday 25th - Rest
Tuesday 26th - 60 mins very easy (runmute with backpack)
5.45 miles / 11:04 avg pace / 148 (160) HR avg (max)
Enjoyable. Got out before the heat picked up and ran in to work. Kept it nice and easy.
Wednesday 27th - 55 mins moderate
8.5 miles / 9:57 avg pace / 160 (179) HR avg (max)
Splits for 'moderate section' (goal 9:30): 9:33, 9:31, 9:31, 9:28, 9:28 (9:30/7:06)
The heat!!! This one was early evening and wow does it make a difference heatwise. The watch was bit all over the place but focused on effort and seemed to judge it ok. Fairly wiped afterwards but again the heat played a part in that
Thursday 28th - 60 mins very easy (runmute with backpack)
5.75 miles / 10:53 avg pace / 144 (159) HR avg (max)
Copy and paste of Tuesday's run to work but this one felt much hotter! Tired legs.
Friday 29th - 45 mins easy + 5 mins threshold
6.3 miles / 10:25 avg pace / 149 (176) HR avg (max)
Easy section was nice but misjudged the threshold bit. Thought it should have been easier and didn't trust the watch, so just didn't speed up enough. Bit surprised at the effort required as I'd been running quicker reps very recently without difficulty. Pace for that bit was 8:16 (should have been 8:00 - 8:11).
Saturday 30th - Long run: 1hr 45 mins easy
10.5 miles / 10:13 avg pace / 153 (168) HR avg (max)
Splits: 10:27, 10:26, 10:10, 9:44, 9:59, 10:43. 10:19, 10:09, 9:52, 10:20 (10:22/5:23)
Pure joy this, one of the nicest runs in a long time. Up early and into the Phoenix Park. Been too long since I ran there. Quiet morning, birds singing, trees rustling in the breeze. Felt fantastic.
Sunday 1st July - Rest
Weekly mileage: 36.5 miles
A very enjoyable week! If it all continued like this I'd have no complaints 0 -
That's a great week right there eyrie. I've been following on Strava but it's still good to see the week as a whole in your log. Your paces are very similar to mine which makes it all the more interesting for me.
I wouldn't worry about the Threshold pace, it was a tough week with the heat, i expect you hit the right effort level for the session.
I was hoping to do a couple of weeks of the base plan myself but it's not really going to work out, i had so many races between May/June and two more this week :eek: and then a week's holidays next week so in the end it hasn't really possible to do the base plan which i'm a bit sorry about. 0 -
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Ah you've enough of a base anyway! Hope the races this week go well, you'll certainly have earned a holiday from it all afterwards!I was hoping to do a couple of weeks of the base plan myself but it's not really going to work out, i had so many races between May/June and two more this week :eek: and then a week's holidays next week so in the end it hasn't really possible to do the base plan which i'm a bit sorry about.
It's a killer! Still I've never been so motivated to get up early and run so it might turn me into a morning person yet :pac:Swashbuckler wrote: »I ran 2x4mins around my half marathon pace last Friday as part of my session and was wrecked. It's the heat.
I am SO EXCITED!! Ha! Probably need to get out more...Yay! Welcome to marathon training. Good luck with the plan. It looks like a great one.
Ah no to be fair, the run itself wasn't a tough one. Don't be worried about it! My legs were just tired before I started (lingering effect of the race the weekend before I'd say) and the heat finished me off. But by definition you're going for an effort that is, well, moderate. So it can't be too hard! You'll be grandThe 55 mins moderate that wiped you out .... I have it on Wednesday and the thought of it frightens me. A tough session in the heat! Look at it this way, it's nearly an hour at marathon pace in less than ideal conditions and still 17 weeks training to go. That's a positive position to be in. 0 -
Recap time! Theme of the week: it's still hot. You know, in case you hadn't noticed yourself.
Monday 2nd - 60 mins very easy
5.75 miles / 10:32 avg pace / 142 (158) HR avg (max)
Felt fairly sluggish.
Tuesday 3rd - 70 min progression (easy - MP)
8.5 miles / 9:38 avg pace / 157 (181) HR avg (max)
Splits (minus the cool down): 10:38, 10:25, 9:50, 9:31, 9:12, 8:42, 8:31
Enjoyed this. It got challenging towards the end but in a very manageable way, so I reminded myself that it wasn't meant to be an easy run and therefore no reason to react/back off. This is something I need to keep remembering, as I think I've a tendency to freak out a bit when something seems to be getting hard, but actually sometimes that's what's supposed to happen (within reason obviously, appropriate to the intended effort level).
Wednesday 4th - 60 mins very easy + Pilates
5.55 miles / 10:38 avg pace / 147 (156) HR avg (max)
Zombie shuffle first thing in the morning after a fairly terrible night's sleep. Ended up really enjoying Pilates at lunch though (not something I say often! :pac:)
Thursday 5th - 50 mins easy + 4 x 200m @ 5k effort
6.2 miles / 10:33 avg pace / 154 (177) HR avg (max)
Quite a struggle, surprisingly. Due to a late night and a few glasses of wine the night before, then getting up early to do this before work. The 200m reps were a bit off as a result.
Friday 6th - 2 hour LSR
11.8 miles / 10:11 avg pace / 149 (163) HR avg (max)
Splits: 10:25, 10:53, 10:41, 10:09, 9:54, 10:01. 10:12, 10:17, 10:14, 9:40, 9:57 (9:45/7:36)
Possibly the first time I've attempted one of these on a weekday. Could definitely imagine doing this again. I was heading to a wedding on Saturday so wanted to get this done first. It meant getting up early, but once I got going it was very pleasant. Noticed my legs feeling fairly wiped for the rest of the day though.
Saturday 7th - Rest
So. Much. Dancing.
Sunday 8th - 60 mins very easy
5.8 miles / 10:36 avg pace / 145 (157) HR avg (max)
Fairly wrecked after the wedding (and the drive back in the heat), but headed out for an easy run and felt the better for it.
Weekly mileage: 43.6 miles
A good week! Enjoyed the running. Having been so indecisive about what plan to follow for the marathon training, two weeks in now and so far I'm very happy with the choice I made. This is high mileage by my standards but it didn't feel like it at all, so that has to be a good sign.0 -
I'm playing around with moving all the days forward, so this looks all out of whack but we'll see how it goes. For various reasons it suits better at the moment to not be spending so much time out running at the weekend, so I'm going to see if I can manage doing some of the longer stuff before work.
Monday 9th - 65 mins moderate + 15 mins strength training
9 miles / 9:42 avg pace / 155 (167) HR avg (max)
'Moderate' section splits (goal 9:30): 9:31, 9:33, 9:23, 9:33, 9:18, 9:33, 9:25
Amazed myself by getting up to do this before work (fear of the heat later is a brilliant motivator!) I quite like these ones actually, takes a bit of effort but not too much, just enough to keep you paying attention and make it feel different to an easy run.
Did a wee bit of strength training later on, at home with a kettlebell. Must do more!
Tuesday 10th - 60 mins very easy (runmute)
5.75 miles / 10:31 avg pace / 149 (166) HR avg (max)
Ran home from work. Humid!
Wednesday 11th - 60 mins very easy
5.8 miles / 10:19 avg pace / 145 (156) HR avg (max)
Sore muscles last night and this morning from the miniscule strength training session on Monday. Clearly need to do it more often Got out at lunchtime for an easy run. It was cloudy! And cool! What is this strange weather? Felt nice
Thursday 12th - 50 mins easy (last 5 @ tempo) + c/d
6.75 miles / 10:19 avg pace / 150 (176) HR avg (max)
Tempo portion: average pace 8:31 (goal 8:36 to 8:23)
Done first thing in the morning, so the start was fairly sleepy/slow. Once again found speeding up at the end a struggle, which has become a pattern with these ones. I had to keep reminding myself not to slow down, when really this should have been no effort at all.
Went to a dance class that evening - so much fun!
Friday 13th - Long run
13.05 miles / 10:03 avg pace / 150 (168) HR avg (max)
Splits: 10:19, 10:50, 10:48, 10:06, 9:36, 10:01, 10:12, 10:06, 10:19, 9:40, 9:21, 9:24, 9:56
Loved this! And best of all I finished feeling like I had lots of energy left, and wasn't tired during the day later which I have been after the longer ones lately. Ignored the watch and went by effort so the pace fluctuations are down to the hills in the Phoenix Park.
Saturday 14th - Rest
Had college stuff to do
Sunday 15th - 60 mins very easy
5.85 miles / 10:19 avg pace / 141 (155) HR avg (max)
Slow and easy, felt good. But I started to get a migraine straight after getting in from this, which has happened a few times after easy runs in the last few months.
Weekly mileage: 46.2 miles
That's as much of the base plan as I'm doing, on to the official marathon plan now!0 -
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Haha no don't panic! I'm just going to miss a bit later on and I think I also built in a little buffer after a half so I've extended the whole thing slightly. Which hopefully won't have any disastrous consequences! But you're fine as you are, carry onAre you going to be missing a week of training or are you going to double up on a week....,or have I miscounted the number of weeks left?.....Again!! :eek: 0 -
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That sounds like a great buzz Eyrie. It's a while since i've done any of those sessions but i have to say i've always struggled with them, not necessarily to get down to the right pace but more to stay in the right range, i've found myself constantly watching the watch conscious of going too fast, and the pace ends up feeling quite forced, just as you describe. Hopefully we can tune into the effort level required as we're doing them more regularly. I'm looking forward to starting the plan next week now, i must admit i panicked a bit when i saw you'd started, I thought i counted my weeks wrong but good idea to give yourself a buffer. Best of luck with the plan 0
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Finished off the rest of last week and made it down to the sunny South east for the weekend. Too much sitting in a hot car! But lovely to get to walk along the beach, even if I forgot my togs and didn't get into the water.
Wednesday 18th - First ever double! Easy runs x 2
AM: 5.2 miles @ 10:38 (ran to work with backpack)
PM: 3.9 miles @ 10:44 (ran home, also with the backpack )
Thursday 19th - 60 mins very easy
6 miles @ 10:04 avg pace
A very enjoyable easy effort, first thing in the morning.
Friday 20th - 2 hour LSR (including 3 quicker miles at the end)
12.1 miles / 9:52 avg pace / 152 (176) HR avg (max)
Splits: 10:17, 10:50, 10:37, 10:11, 9:48, 9:55, 10:02, 10:20, 8:47, 8:30, 8:32, 10:27
Got soaked to the skin on this one. Felt like a novelty! I felt like trying out a few quicker miles towards the end of this, vaguely in some kind of 'marathon pace' range, but as I was running downhill for them they ended up quicker. Enjoyed this though and speeding up felt fine. Would like to continue to do it on occasion but not sure if it interferes with the plan? Also wonder if you need to do a certain amount of MP miles in a run for it to be beneficial?
Saturday 21st - Rest
Sunday 22nd - 60 mins easy
6 miles / 10:08 avg pace / 155 (170) HR avg (max)
Hot. Humid. Hilly.
Weekly mileage: 40.75 miles0 -
Finished off the rest of last week and made it down to the sunny South east for the weekend. Too much sitting in a hot car! But lovely to get to walk along the beach, even if I forgot my togs and didn't get into the water.
No better placeWednesday 18th - First ever double! Easy runs x 2
AM: 5.2 miles @ 10:38 (ran to work with backpack)
PM: 3.9 miles @ 10:44 (ran home, also with the backpack )
Oooo, a doubler. How'd it go/feel?0 -
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Race Report - Mullingar 10 mile, Saturday 28th July
In the lead up to this I was worried about the heat being a problem but woke up on Saturday morning to find it absolutely lashing rain which didn't look appealing but I'd take it over baking hot or very humid any day. Had breakfast of a bagel with pb and banana plus coffee, and got on the road around 9.00. Very relaxed start to the day really, maybe because of never having raced this distance before and not having a time to try and beat but I was looking forward to this rather than feeling nervous about it.
Arrived, registered, and joined the rest of the poor souls squashing into the school rather than venturing out into the rain any sooner than absolutely necessary. Eventually it had to be done if any kind of warm up was to be had so I went out for a short jog and then it was time to line up. Conveniently, the rain stopped right as the race was going to start.
The Start
I hadn't realised there was no starting mat, so gun time only for this one. I was a bit back from the start line so 5+ seconds maybe. I didn't really know how to pace a 10 mile so I had decided in advance to take the first mile slowly. Rough target pace overall was somewhere around 8:15, and I thought I'd aim for 8:25 for the first mile and just check in with how things were feeling. To be honest though, I wasn't planning to focus too rigidly on pace. Anyway this 'strategy', if it can be called that, meant I got passed by loads of people in the first few minutes (and then satisfyingly reversed the process for the rest of the race )
The Race
The main thing I can say about the first half is simply that I really enjoyed it. Nice country roads, spent most of this time just running comfortably and taking in the surroundings. Donkeys in fields, trees rustling in the wind, all the lovely things you don't get in the inner city
There was a little hill I think around mile 5/6 and at this stage I told myself I had to keep the pace steady and start speeding up a little, no more slowing on thehills. There was an older man just in front who seemed steady as a rock going up it so I imagined a giant rubber band tying me to him and stayed right with him. Worked a charm. From this point until we hit mile 9 I stayed right beside him. He looked like he'd been running for years - no fancy running watch or anything but just kept a nice steady pace the whole time. It was an amazing help just running along beside him. We passed a few people but there weren't too many about. Around mile 7-8 there was a group a fair bit ahead of us, and a women in an orange tshirt at the front of it. I picked her out and half told myself I'd try and catch her before the end, but I wasn't too sure if I meant it.
I kept waiting to start needing to pull out all the mental tricks, ways of distracting myself, etc, but it never came. Everything was working well and feeling good. I suppose if I have lingering questions it's that it probably shouldn't have felt quite so good, but at the same time I wasn't backing off like I often do either. Every so often I'd check in and ask myself, "is this an honest effort?" to make sure I wasn't taking it too easy. I thought it was, so I'm ok with that. Probably I could have worked harder and still made it through just fine and maybe a bit quicker, but now I have something to work on next time.
With a mile to go though I knew I would have been slacking if I didn't pick it up. I went for it, and to my surprise no one else around me seemed to. I passed everyone near me between there and the finish line, including the woman in the orange tshirt with about 200m to go.
As I crossed the line I heard the announcer call out my name and "top 30 finisher" - for the women's section, obviously, but still not something I ever thought I'd hear!
Felt great after finishing, none of the dizziness or needing to sit down straight away that happens after 5k/10k races. Picked up my medal and a banana and that was that. A lovely race, one I would definitely do again.
Gun time: 1:21:39 (a guaranteed PB since I'd never raced the distance before)
Result: 27th female (of 108)
Splits: 8:28, 8:15, 8:12, 8:25, 8:12, 8:08, 7:59, 8:08, 8:13, 7:30
8:09 avg pace / 179 (194) HR avg (max)
I hadn't known what to expect heading into the race but came away thinking I might have a new favourite distance. It's long enough that you can enjoy it but not too long either. Also, and this may be nonsense, but the pace I was running at until the last mile was just below my lactate threshold training pace, so I think this is why it felt so comfortable. I never had the feeling of wanting to slow or stop that you get with the faster stuff.0 -
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That's a fantastic result and the run of a way more experienced runner. The imaginary elastic band is a great way of running particularly if you plan to run in the vicinity of a pacing group in DCM. Another lesson you learned is that as the distances go up it will feel like more of the race is run well within your capabilities if you are pacing it correctly. Again this will be hugely important in DCM when the early miles will feel ridiculously easy and you will need to control the urge to run faster.
Out of curiosity what time had Runcoach predicted for the 10 mile?
Your star in continuing to rise and is hugely well deserved on the back of fantastically consistent training. Long may it continue. 0 -
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As I crossed the line I heard the announcer call out my name and "top 30 finisher" - for the women's section, obviously, but still not something I ever thought I'd hear!
Gun time: 1:21:39 (a guaranteed PB since I'd never raced the distance before)
Result: 27th female (of 108)
Splits: 8:28, 8:15, 8:12, 8:25, 8:12, 8:08, 7:59, 8:08, 8:13, 7:30
8:09 avg pace / 179 (194) HR avg (max)
Fantastic achievement. A really great time. I've a feeling there's a lot more to come, too 0
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