Remember when I use to run?

sumsar

Last week I signed up for DCM 18, I've not been running consistently the past few months nor is my weight ideal, but I'm on a mission to change both of those and at the same time I want to track my progress from this week so that by the time of the marathon and after I can see my progress.

I don't plan on stopping this log at the marathon but at the same time, I don't plan on getting injured before the marathon but sometimes things happen we didn't expect.

I'm aware that training logs are usually done by those with a lot more regular mileage than myself but sure at the end of the day I'm doing this log for myself.

Anyways, a bit about me..

I'm 28 years old, I would be considered a yo yo dieter but also in terms of fitness it's been a bit of a yo yo too, last year I started the couch to 5k in january, in July or august some time I ran 15k that was my longest distance, but on my first night runs of the year I fell on my face and that gave me a bit of a scare so I joined the gym.. joining the gym made things worse for my fitness for some reason, I think it's because it felt more like a chore to me than before hand..

So I decided in the last few weeks I'm going to get serious about running once more after having previous spells of running (not just last year but 5 years ago too).

5 years ago was the fittest I've ever been, I was around about 12st 2, running regularly, doing some 10k races too but also I walked the wicklow way in 4 days with some friends.

Right now I weigh 15st, my heaviest weight was 17st and lightest 12st.. so the fact that I am closer to my heaviest than to my lightest is a large part of why I'm doing this but also I want to get to a stage where running is a part of my lifestyle once more and I don't want to get to another stage where I can say to the missus, back when I was running / fit etc etc..

I honestly don't know any of my PB's as I've used different apps at different stages... but I reckon my PB for a 5k was roughly 22/23 mins about 5 years ago but if you ask me... that doesn't count ha

Lastly.. once more.. the point of this log is because I want running to be something I keep doing for years to come and hopefully this log will help encourage me.

PS.. a big shout out to The Muppet who has been a big inspiration to me in terms of running the last year, especially during the couch25k stages.

~~~~~~~~~

To get things started with the log I will post my stats for this week which I'm considering the first week of my build up to Marathon training, which I will be using the DCM Novice thread quite regularly and following the Hal Higdon 1 plan.

Tuesday: 2 miles @ 22:43
Wednesday: 3 miles @ 33:20
Thursday: 2 miles @ 21:24
Saturday: 3.5 miles @ 38 mins

I normally use my Fitbit watch which syncs with Strava but during my jog today it wasn't syncing with it correctly but I will assume the distance is correct.

I will update this thread after each jog / run

Kellygirl

Well done Sumsar. Looking forward to following your progress.

ariana`

Best of luck with your running journey sumsar, you're off to a great start joining the novices and starting this

ahnoyouregrand

My situation is scarily similar to yours Sumsar, and I have also signed up for DCM 2018 also! Will be following this log with interest!!

sumsar

ahnoyouregrand wrote: »

My situation is scarily similar to yours Sumsar, and I have also signed up for DCM 2018 also! Will be following this log with interest!!

Hey, although you might not think so, that's actually cool to hear we have similar situations.. if you're on Strava I'd love to add you?..

sumsar

Tuesday 8th of May

Distance: 3.01 mi
Time: 33:31
Pace: 11:08/mi

Splits
Mile 1: 11:20 /mi
Mile 2: 11:30 /mi
Mile 3: 10:31 /mi

I've been reading a lot lately about how going slow helps to get fast in the long run, it all makes sense to me.. however I decided today to do a 3 mile jog which included slow running for 2 miles and then really just the last .5 mile I attempted to speed things up slightly... not too much but not as slow as before..

I think at the moment I'm still trying to figure out how to approach the runs that aren't LSR's..

Should I..
go at pace slightly faster than my LSR?
go at a pace that I definitely couldn't hold a conversation with
Mix things up
etc etc..

For now I'll keep doing research while also going with the flow during those runs, but at the same time, would love to hear some advice if anyone is willing to share it.

Greg

Kellygirl

sumsar wrote: »

Tuesday 8th of May

Distance: 3.01 mi
Time: 33:31
Pace: 11:08/mi

Splits
Mile 1: 11:20 /mi
Mile 2: 11:30 /mi
Mile 3: 10:31 /mi

I've been reading a lot lately about how going slow helps to get fast in the long run, it all makes sense to me.. however I decided today to do a 3 mile jog which included slow running for 2 miles and then really just the last .5 mile I attempted to speed things up slightly... not too much but not as slow as before..

I think at the moment I'm still trying to figure out how to approach the runs that aren't LSR's..

Should I..
go at pace slightly faster than my LSR?
go at a pace that I definitely couldn't hold a conversation with
Mix things up
etc etc..

For now I'll keep doing research while also going with the flow during those runs, but at the same time, would love to hear some advice if anyone is willing to share it.

Greg

Generally keep them easy and if the day after an LSR I’d say even slower as that should be recovery pace. How is your week planned out? Mine would have an lsr and a mid to long run and I’ll do them at easy pace. I’ll have a speed run of some sort in there too whether it’s at marathon pace, tempo (bit faster) or intervals or hills. Some weeks i’ll have a second speed run of some sort depending on what the first was and any other runs will be very very easy pace. Hope that is of some help.

sumsar

Kellygirl wrote: »

Generally keep them easy and if the day after an LSR I’d say even slower as that should be recovery pace. How is your week planned out? Mine would have an lsr and a mid to long run and I’ll do them at easy pace. I’ll have a speed run of some sort in there too whether it’s at marathon pace, tempo (bit faster) or intervals or hills. Some weeks i’ll have a second speed run of some sort depending on what the first was and any other runs will be very very easy pace. Hope that is of some help.

Thanks for that, yes that is definitely helpful.. my plan between now and the 25th of June includes mainly 2 mile runs, 3 mile runs and then a LSR which according to the plain can either be 4.5 miles, 5 or even 3 etc...

I was going to kinda go off plan and aim for all 3 mile runs during the week but I think now I'll use the 2 mile runs when they happen to mix it up with either hills / tempo / intervals etc rather than my easy pace.

Then start the HH1 plan as per schedule.

skyblue46

sumsar wrote: »

Thanks for that, yes that is definitely helpful.. my plan between now and the 25th of June includes mainly 2 mile runs, 3 mile runs and then a LSR which according to the plain can either be 4.5 miles, 5 or even 3 etc...

I was going to kinda go off plan and aim for all 3 mile runs during the week but I think now I'll use the 2 mile runs when they happen to mix it up with either hills / tempo / intervals etc rather than my easy pace.

Then start the HH1 plan as per schedule.

You'll get used to this over the coming months but I like slow runs and the benefits they accrue. As you improve over the coming months and set out on your marathon plan you will find yourself having to do faster paced runs. These will be sensibly placed in the plan and will be suitable for the level you will be at and will allow for recovery. At this stage of what is effectively base building I would forget intervals, speed or hills in favour of adding half a mile per week to your long run. Crawl before you walk and walk before you run etc etc. Keep everything conversational.

sumsar

Wednesday 9th of May

Distance: 3.00 mi
Time: 35:02
Pace: 11:36/mi

Splits
Mile 1: 11:55 /mi
Mile 2: 11:35 /mi
Mile 3: 11:16 /mi

Took the advice on board, makes sense.. build my baseline.

The Muppet

The best of luck with the log G and and Thanks for the mention in the opening post .

Marathon is all about endurance and the way to build that is plenty of long slow running, that also gives you the best chance of avoiding injury as the mileage ramps up in . Set a realistic goal for yourself but don't get caught up in the whole time thing .

The best of luck with the plans, I will follow with interest.

sumsar

Friday 11th of May

Distance: 2.00 mi
Time: 23:56
Pace: 11:54/mi

Splits
Mile 1: 11:55 /mi
Mile 2: 11:51 /mi

sumsar

Sunday 11th of May

Distance: 4.7 mi
Time: 1:00:05
Pace: 12:41/mi

Splits
Mile 1: 12:32 /mi
Mile 2: 12:08 /mi
Mile 3: 12:53 /mi
Mile 4: 12:51 /mi
0.7 : 13:08 /mi

Went for a very slow run today, enjoyed it.

ahnoyouregrand

sumsar wrote: »

Hey, although you might not think so, that's actually cool to hear we have similar situations.. if you're on Strava I'd love to add you?..

Sorry, just catching up on this now! I'm not on Strava but thinking of migrating to it shortly. Will come back with my username!

sumsar

Tuesday 15th of May

Distance: 3 mi
Time: 34:17
Pace: 11:24/mi

Splits
Mile 1: 11:22 /mi
Mile 2: 11:34 /mi
Mile 3: 11:11 /mi

After my jog tonight I was thinking about how my 5k's are 35 mins these days and last year probably got to a 28 min 5k, so it had me thinking what is my PB for a 5k?

So it turns out you can't view your personal bests on the Strava app which is weird.. so I checked Strava's website and it tells me my 3mile / 5k PB was set back in 2013 in a time of 25 mins.. damnit.. that's a PB I won't be breaking any time soon ha.

Well I'm aware that my 5k is expected to be slow considering I'm essentially base building again.. hopefully I can post at a later stage in this thread that I beat my PB ha.

skyblue46

sumsar wrote: »

Sunday 11th of May

Distance: 3 mi
Time: 34:17
Pace: 11:24/mi

Splits
Mile 1: 11:22 /mi
Mile 2: 11:34 /mi
Mile 3: 11:11 /mi

After my jog tonight I was thinking about how my 5k's are 35 mins these days and last year probably got to a 28 min 5k, so it had me thinking what is my PB for a 5k?

So it turns out you can't view your personal bests on the Strava app which is weird.. so I checked Strava's website and it tells me my 3mile / 5k PB was set back in 2013 in a time of 25 mins.. damnit.. that's a PB I won't be breaking any time soon ha.

Well I'm aware that my 5k is expected to be slow considering I'm essentially base building again.. hopefully I can post at a later stage in this thread that I beat my PB ha.

You'll get there if you follow the plan. Jingle Bells 5k in early December will be the day! It's a great race for a PB and will put the next 6 months of training to good use!

sumsar

skyblue46 wrote: »

You'll get there if you follow the plan. Jingle Bells 5k in early December will be the day! It's a great race for a PB and will put the next 6 months of training to good use!

That's a great idea! Thank you.. I will definitely sign up for that with the aim to hopefully beat it!

Fingers crossed between now and Oct (and Dec) everything goes my way!

ariana`

sumsar wrote: »

Sunday 11th of May

Distance: 3 mi
Time: 34:17
Pace: 11:24/mi

Splits
Mile 1: 11:22 /mi
Mile 2: 11:34 /mi
Mile 3: 11:11 /mi

After my jog tonight I was thinking about how my 5k's are 35 mins these days and last year probably got to a 28 min 5k, so it had me thinking what is my PB for a 5k?

So it turns out you can't view your personal bests on the Strava app which is weird.. so I checked Strava's website and it tells me my 3mile / 5k PB was set back in 2013 in a time of 25 mins.. damnit.. that's a PB I won't be breaking any time soon ha.

Well I'm aware that my 5k is expected to be slow considering I'm essentially base building again.. hopefully I can post at a later stage in this thread that I beat my PB ha.

But the 5ks you are doing now are training 5ks, right? Could go to a Parkrun and go all out to see what your 5k pb is?? Or enter a 5k race? No harm now before training for DCM starts for real. It will be a lot harder then to fit in a race as you won't want to sacrifice training runs for recovery afterwards etc.

sumsar

ariana` wrote: »

sumsar wrote: »

Sunday 11th of May

Distance: 3 mi
Time: 34:17
Pace: 11:24/mi

Splits
Mile 1: 11:22 /mi
Mile 2: 11:34 /mi
Mile 3: 11:11 /mi

After my jog tonight I was thinking about how my 5k's are 35 mins these days and last year probably got to a 28 min 5k, so it had me thinking what is my PB for a 5k?

So it turns out you can't view your personal bests on the Strava app which is weird.. so I checked Strava's website and it tells me my 3mile / 5k PB was set back in 2013 in a time of 25 mins.. damnit.. that's a PB I won't be breaking any time soon ha.

Well I'm aware that my 5k is expected to be slow considering I'm essentially base building again.. hopefully I can post at a later stage in this thread that I beat my PB ha.

But the 5ks you are doing now are training 5ks, right? Could go to a Parkrun and go all out to see what your 5k pb is?? Or enter a 5k race? No harm now before training for DCM starts for real. It will be a lot harder then to fit in a race as you won't want to sacrifice training runs for recovery afterwards etc.

Ah to be honest, I'll have no problem waiting until after the marathon to aim for a pb as it will give me an additional target once the marathon is finished.

sumsar

Wednesday 16th of May

Distance: 3.00 mi
Time: 38:08
Pace: 12:40/mi

Splits
Mile 1: 12:16 /mi
Mile 2: 12:52 /mi
Mile 3: 12:52 /mi

Tonight's time was actually surprising to me, I knew I was going slow but didn't realise I was going this slow..

I have to admit and say that considering the pace it wasn't as easy as similar runs I've done.. I wonder is it because I done a 3miler yesterday and a 4.7mile on Sunday?.. Will have to be cautious on tomorrow's jog I reckon.

Kellygirl

sumsar wrote: »

Wednesday 16th of May

Distance: 3.00 mi
Time: 38:08
Pace: 12:40/mi

Splits
Mile 1: 12:16 /mi
Mile 2: 12:52 /mi
Mile 3: 12:52 /mi

Tonight's time was actually surprising to me, I knew I was going slow but didn't realise I was going this slow..

I have to admit and say that considering the pace it wasn't as easy as similar runs I've done.. I wonder is it because I done a 3miler yesterday and a 4.7mile on Sunday?.. Will have to be cautious on tomorrow's jog I reckon.

Just had a look at this on Strava. A lot of it seemed to be a drag or a climb which would have made it harder? Was it very warm too?

sumsar

Kellygirl wrote: »

Just had a look at this on Strava. A lot of it seemed to be a drag or a climb which would have made it harder? Was it very warm too?

First of all.. big thanks for this comment, I was so confused at how you could tell that from my Strava so was playing around with it and just realized there are a whole load of stats available I never realized.. thank you.

From reflection and from revising the heart rate and other stats.. I suppose you're probably right about the hillier parts..

Strava reckons I spent most my time in zone 2 (70%) .. in fact all my other runs in the last 2 months were mainly zone 3.. so maybe it's all in my mind or a different route to normal (park with grass that I never ran in where as usually I run on road).

Anyways.. I reckon I've learnt a lot tonight between your comment, figuring out more on Strava and reading advice about zones on the marathon thread..

Kellygirl

sumsar wrote: »

First of all.. big thanks for this comment, I was so confused at how you could tell that from my Strava so was playing around with it and just realized there are a whole load of stats available I never realized.. thank you.

From reflection and from revising the heart rate and other stats.. I suppose you're probably right about the hillier parts..

Strava reckons I spent most my time in zone 2 (70%) .. in fact all my other runs in the last 2 months were mainly zone 3.. so maybe it's all in my mind or a different route to normal (park with grass that I never ran in where as usually I run on road).

Anyways.. I reckon I've learnt a lot tonight between your comment, figuring out more on Strava and reading advice about zones on the marathon thread..

Ha ha - that’s gas

You were running on grass? That would be way slower than a hard surface I’d imagine.

sumsar

Thursday 17th of May
Distance: 2.00 mi
Time: 25:10
Pace: 12:31/mi



Splits
Mile 1: 12:19 /mi
Mile 2: 12:43 /mi



Saturday 19th of May
Distance: 5.15 mi
Time: 1:05:03
Pace: 12:38/mi



Splits
Mile 1: 12:39 /mi
Mile 2: 12:02 /mi
Mile 3: 12:54 /mi
Mile 4: 12:38 /mi
Mile 5: 12:51 /mi
0.15 : 13:05 /mi

sumsar

This week I was travelling around Ireland for a week so only got 2 runs in, both for 3 miles each.


Total Distance: 6 miles

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins


Tuesday 22nd of May
Distance: 3.01 mi:
Time: 37:04
Pace: 12:18/mi

Splits
Mile 1: 11:51 /mi
Mile 2: 12:49 /mi
Mile 3: 12:51 /mi


Wednesday 23rd of May
Distance: 3.00 mi
Time: 38:51
Pace: 12:52/mi

Splits
Mile 1: 12:29 /mi
Mile 2: 12:56 /mi
Mile 3: 13:07 /mi

sumsar

I was traveling a lot over the last few weeks so I haven't been able to update this regularly but fully plan on keeping this log going.

I've listed my running logs over the last 3 weeks below;

Week 4
This week I was just back from a week of traveling around Ireland with the girlfriend, so my running was off the plan due to that week, so I took advantage of that and went for a Parkrun on the Saturday to see what sort of speed I could get before things get serious.. so my parkrun was just shy of 29 minutes, essentially 29 minutes but my ego wants to say it was in 28 mins bracket.

I wanted to get this parkrun in anyways because I noticed my Strava race speed was way out of date from a few years back (24mins - 5k) so now I have an accurate race speed for now, 28... 29 mins.

Monday May 28
Distance 2.0 mi
Moving Time 23:29
Avg Pace 11:40/mi
Elev Gain 56 ft


Tuesday May 29
Distance 3.0 mi
Moving Time 36:19
Avg Pace 12:04/mi
Elev Gain 62 ft


Thursday May 31
Distance 6.0 mi
Moving Time 1:18:49
Avg Pace 13:06/mi
Elev Gain 164 ft


Saturday June 2 - Marlay parkrun
Distance 3.0 mi
Elapsed Time 28:53
Avg Pace 9:38/mi
Elev Gain 0 ft


Week 5
I was in London for most of this week with work, so it was nice to get some running in with a different route for a change, although it was kinda confusing running around London city trying to figure out my bearings.. regardless, these runs were enjoyable, I sweat more than I would have liked but thought my runs felt relatively easy..ish.


Tuesday June 5
Distance 3.0 mi
Moving Time 35:19
Avg Pace 11:42/mi
Elev Gain 187 ft


Thursday June 7
Distance 2.5 mi
Moving Time 30:01
Avg Pace 11:58/mi
Elev Gain 92 ft


Saturday June 9
Distance 4.7 mi
Moving Time 1:00:10
Avg Pace 12:37/mi
Elev Gain 92 ft


Week 6
This week I was in a lovely town called Bridgnorth just outside of Birmingham for work, beautiful town but very very hilly, these runs were done at an easy pace however I found that anytime I was going uphill I was trying to keep the same pace I was doing going downhill, so this meant an awful lot of sweat and a high heart rate I'm sure.. not sure if that is the correct approach or not.. regardless.. was lovely.

Tuesday June 12
Distance 3.0 mi
Moving Time 35:59
Avg Pace 11:56/mi
Elev Gain 226 ft


Wednesday June 13
Distance 3.0 mi
Moving Time 37:29
Avg Pace 12:26/mi
Elev Gain 253 ft


Saturday June 16
Distance 6.0 mi
Moving Time 1:14:28
Avg Pace 12:23/mi
Elev Gain 187 ft

sumsar

Today I got my long run in at the Phoenix Park, first time doing a run here, attempted to slow it down as much as possible, which I must admit that I'm confused about how I should be doing my midweek runs if my slow run is an average pace of 13:00/mi.. should my midweek runs be 12:00/mi or quicker?

Distance 6.0 mi
Moving Time 1:18:40
Avg Pace 13:04/mi
Elev Gain 240 ft

sumsar

I'll be updating this log on a weekly basis with my stats for the DCM training, so here goes.

I was in Kent for 2 days for work at the start of this week so I got my first run of the plain in while I was there, made sure to do it early in the morning and it was grand.. a bit warm but doable.

On the way home in the airport I bought myself the Garmin forerunner 235 and have been using it since, I am surprised at how much easier it is for me to stick to a pace while using it, previously I had a Fitbit but it kept bugging me having to tap the screen to see stats or change stats and ultimately it kept distracting me during runs where with the Forerunner its just a flick of the wrist and I love it.

So since its easier for me to keep an eye on the pace I've been finding it much easier to stick to certain paces during my runs and even though it was an incredibly warm week I really enjoyed my runs.. mind you they were all at very slow paces but I'm enjoying it so that's the main thing.

No injuries yet, nothing to get me worried, other than the fact my weight is going up and not down, I'm currently 15st 6 and none of that is muscle so I really need to get my act together with that.


Week 1 Day 1

Distance 3.0 mi
Moving Time 36:15
Avg Pace 11:52/mi
Elev Gain 115 ft


Week 1 Day 2
Distance 3.0 mi
Moving Time 36:27
Avg Pace 12:06/mi
Elev Gain 79 ft


Week 1 Day 3
Distance 3.0 mi
Moving Time 36:48
Avg Pace 12:12/mi
Elev Gain 56 ft


Week 1 Day 4
Distance 6.0 mi
Moving Time 1:22:55
Avg Pace 13:46/mi
Elev Gain 148 ft

sumsar

Week 2 of the DCM training ticked off now, with;

total distance of 16.3 miles
total time of 3hrs 30minutes

I'm surprised to say that this week wasn't as tough as I was expecting, sure it was a bit more challenging with the hot weather but I am enjoying the novelty of that but at the same time trying to time my runs so that I'm not being foolish either (earlier or later runs).

For example it's 22:00 on a Saturday and I'm writing up my running log after hopping out of the shower after my LSR.

It's early days in the training plan, I'm kinda in the honeymoon stage I guess where I'm enjoying every run and doing my runs at slow reasonable paces as I definitely don't want to get injured but also trying to be sensible and not push too hard.

I also bought the forerunner 235 last week, new runners this week.. I wonder what my purchase will be next week

This weeks LSR was 7 miles, that took me 1hr 35 minutes, I used earphones today which I normally don't and that helped alot, however I want to avoid using earphones for the majority of my runs as I think it will be better for me by the time of the marathon.

Well.. I don't want to waffle on too much, below are my logs for Week 2 of the DCM training.

Week 2 Day 1
Distance: 3.1 mi
Moving Time: 37:14
Avg Pace: 12:01/mi
Elev Gain: 112 ft


Week 2 Day 2
Distance: 3.1 mi
Moving Time: 39:09
Avg Pace: 12:37/mi
Elev Gain: 85 ft


Week 2 Day 3
Distance: 3.1 mi
Moving Time: 38:37
Avg Pace: 12:26/mi
Elev Gain: 92 ft


Week 2 Day 4
Distance: 7.0 mi
Moving Time: 1:35:58
Avg Pace: 13:41/mi
Elev Gain: 200 ft

Kellygirl

I wouldn’t worry too much about earphones. They are my treat on long runs and I don’t bother on other runs. On Marathon day the atmosphere is electric with crowds the whole way round. You won’t miss them even if you have trained with them.

sumsar

So week 3 of 18 of the DCM training comes to a close for me, next week is the first race of the Dublin Race Series and I'm getting excited.

I'm struggling to eat healthy these days as nearly every week I'm in a new city for work and it's tough being healthy when I'm not cooking food.. I need to cop on and eat better.

Anyways, about the running, this week I was in Derry for a few days so I had to do two of my runs on a treadmill in the hotel as there were quite a few issues in Derry during my stay so didn't want to risk anything on that front.

The treadmill in the gym was awful and I couldn't control the pace very much, I could only do the preset programs rather than manual speeds so there were times where I was going way too fast but it was either that or no run so I just put up with it.

In a way, I also kinda enjoyed the runs as it was an opportunity to stretch my legs a little but at the same time I was paranoid it was going to harm the main thing, but this early on hopefully no issues there.

Next week I'm in Exeter but will be back in time for the South Dublin 10k, so hopefully all my runs in Exeter are outdoors and not indoors, regardless, can't wait for the 10k!

Total Distance: 15 Miles
Total Time: 3 Hrs 10 Mins


Week 3 Day 1
Distance: 3.0 mi
Moving Time 36:01
Avg Pace: 11:56/mi
Elev Gain: 79 ft


Week 3 Day 2
Distance: 4.0 mi
Moving Time: 51:28
Avg Pace: 12:50/mi
Elev Gain: 0 ft


Week 3 Day 3
Distance: 3.0 mi
Moving Time: 38:37
Avg Pace: 12:50/mi
Elev Gain: 0 ft


Week 3 Day 4
Distance: 5.0 mi
Moving Time: 1:04:20
Avg Pace: 12:52/mi
Elev Gain: 180 ft