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Are those my feet?
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Well done A. Sometimes the reason for a less than perfect race is hard to pinpoint and pretty head melting to even try. My HM in Ratoath a few years ago was a similar experience except that I didn't tough it out, I walked. Afterwards I just put it down as one of those things, had belief in the training I was doing and motored on. Only a few weeks later I ran Dublin in a manner I could only have dreamed of.
I'd suggest you park this one, take the PB and look at the super racing and training you have been doing and move on to reap the benefits in future races. It will stand to you.
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Thanks for all the kind post-Limerick words and advice. It's a couple of weeks removed now and I'm able to look at the bigger picture and realise that it was a solid block that will stand me in good stead for what's to come later in the year. I've about a month now before starting into a base block for Dublin and had (briefly) toyed with the idea of doing the Cork Half in a few weeks, to right the perceived wrongs of Limerick. In the end I felt that could lead to the year becoming a mental slog so instead I'll focus on the 5K for the next month - there's a few local races so I'll just have some "fun" with those and fit in the odd session where I can.
Catching up on the past two weeks:
Monday 1st May - 3.14 miles recovery (10:44/mi). A few very handy miles the day after Limerick
Tuesday - Friday - Rest. Tuesday was a planned rest day anyway, but I felt some pain in my right heel that morning, and again on Wednesday morning. Obviously the thought of PF scared the sh*te out of me, so I took a few extra days off to see if the pain would shift. I was hopeful it wasn't PF - but I didn't want to take any chances either. I iced the area regularly, rolled a spiky ball, did calf stretches and bought a pair of Oofos. Found a couple of videos on how to check if it's PF as well and those indicated it was not PF. Maybe it was just some soreness brought on by a stone in the shoe or something?
Saturday - 3.75 miles easy (9:45/mi). Test run - no issues, except for feeling terribly unfit having not run for 4 days!
Saturday - 5.12 miles easy (10:02/mi). Heel felt ok, so went out again to see how it would react to back-to-back days. All good.
Monday 8th - Rest
Tuesday - 5.84 miles easy (9:30/mi). A lap around the local loop. Weirdly strava added 500ft of elevation to this - the garmin trace was fine. Used the report function to flag an error to strava and noticed two days later that the elevation had been corrected.
Wednesday - 5.92 miles easy (9:17/mi). Probably more of a moderate effort in truth with a big climb in the middle balancing out the overall pace. Settled into the faster-than-easy pace from the get-go, so just went with it. A lovely evening's work while the eldest was at gymnastics.
Thursday - 4.55 miles easy (9:35/mi). I was debating pushing this out to Friday but accuweather gave a 0% chance of rain during my Thursday evening window so went with that. It promptly lashed rain and I got thoroughly soaked, but it was one of those this-is-actually-quite-nice, envigorating soakings and not a miserable drenching!
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 3.79 miles recovery (10:10/mi). Scorcher of an afternoon so kept this super easy. A bit too much day-dreaming at one point saw my right foot land very awkwardly on the edge of the road. Calf muscles were quite sore later on but think I escaped anything serious.
Sunday 12.57 miles easy (9:54/mi). Ran this with a friend, so fell in at his easy pace. Probabaly a couple of more miles than I'd have ran if left to my own devices, but really nice to have some company and run in largely unfamiliar territory. Didn't feel the miles tick by and barley looked at the watch. Might try and schedule a few more of these over the summer for some of the vanilla long runs which I found a chore earlier in the year.
So a slow enough start to May, but that's fine to allow for a bit of recovery. The heel seems ok now, so hopefully I'm in the clear, although I'll keep up the ball rolling and calf stretches. Looking forward - there's a local 8km race this weekend, but I'll use it as a session - maybe Tempo pace. I've never really not raced a race before, so interesting to see how that goes. After that there's a 5k the following weekend which I will probably do.
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May 15th - 21st
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - 5.84 miles very easy (9:56/mi). The same local loop as last Tuesday. It was very hot out so kept the pace well under control and tipped around. The countryside roads weren't long shrinking with roadside hedges growing at a quick rate over the past few weeks - just makes visibilty that much poorer for runners and cars alike.
Wednesday - 6.47 miles easy-ish (9:01/mi). A slightly longer version of last weeks gymnastics loop with the same big climb in the middle.
Thursday - 3.47 miles recovery (9:53/mi). Handy lunchtime one.
Friday - Moose Fartlek session - 7.09 miles. I had planned to do the Poulmucka 8km race as a Tempo effort but had to abandon that idea at short notice. So instead I checked out the Fartlek sessions that were mentioned on @ariana`s log a few weeks back and settled on this one. Probably better suited to my 5K plans than the Tempo run would have been anyway. The session was 5 x (3 min 10km, 1 min jog, 1 min 5km, 1 min jog). I'd programmed the watch, and as is customary forgot to start the session. Just went with it anyway and tried to remember the paces, settling on 6:50 for the 10k and 6:30 for the 5k, which was about what I'd planned anyway. It was pretty warm out, but I was happy with how this went. The reps were short and sharp, and the legs felt pretty fresh after a few handy weeks post-Limerick. 10k reps came in at 6:53, 7:04, 6:45, 6:50, 6:49 and the 5k reps were 6:18, 6:32, 6:18, 6:41, 6:11. Tried a new park for these and it was almost ideal, except for one section which featured three 90 degree turns in quick succession around a tennis court. So some of the times were slightly erratic if that section had to be negotiated. Very happy with this though, slightly saucy on a few of the 5k reps but nice to feel the speed in the legs - I was working reasonably hard on the last couple of reps, but could have dug in for more if required.
Saturday - 3.5 miles recovery (9:47/mi). A very busy day but managed to squeeze this in during the only available window. A nice run around Clonmel while Spurs signed off the home season in appropriate fashion.
Sunday - 10.25 miles easy-ish (9:11/mi). On the faster end of the easy range - first few miles came in around there, so after that I just stayed with it but kept an eye on HR, trying to keep it in the 140's. It got warmer as this went on and I paid for the early exuberance as the legs were tired by the final miles.
36.6 miles for the week and I'm feeling back on track now after a couple of handy weeks. The legs feel like they are ready for more work. Which is good, because I hope to have a crack at a 5k on Thursday evening. Would be nice to snag a sub 20 there but we'll see how it goes.
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Best of luck in the 5km!
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Monday May 22nd - Rest
Tuesday - 6.06 easy miles (9:48/mi). A few miles while the eldest had a Camogie match. Some new roads to me, running wise, which always keeps a run interesting. Just did 3 miles out and back from the GAA field on what turned out to be a lumpier route than anticipated. A warm evening out, so kept the pace in check with Thursday in mind.
Wednesday - 3.8 miles very easy, with a few strides. Another warm evening. Pace came out very sedate so just stuck with that for the duration.
Thursday - Fethard AC 5km - 20:14 PB.
It's funny, but in the 2-3 weeks leading up to Limerick I lost a little focus on Limerick and was distracted by planning the next challenge which would be a few weeks of 5k stuff and a couple of goes at sub-20. And now that I'm here in the midst of that 5k mini-block I'm swimming in marathon plans and again looking past the task at hand towards Dublin in October. Maybe a character flaw, or maybe I just like fooling around with running plans!
I'd done a bit of research on the route and thought that it was a fair enough route, with the majority of the climbing in the first 2 km, followed by a favourable 3rd km and flatter final 2. So, the rough plan was to hover at maybe 4:05 for the first couple of kms, then maybe 3:55 for the 3rd and try see it out from there.
Had a busy enough day in work, which prevented any pre-race nerves, but managed to get to Fethard an hour or so before the 7:30 start. It had been a very hot day but the heat eased a touch during the drive over and there was a cooling wind at times during the warm-up. Met plenty of familiar faces and also realised I'd left my watch on miles. Took a fair bit of fumbling to figure out how to change the pace to kms but got it done just in time. I didn't want to be too far back as it was gun time only, and managed to position myself appropriately a few rows back in the field of 184. Tore off at what felt like the right pace and the odd glance at the watch in the early going confirmed I was in or around 4:05 pace. Up through the town we went before keeping left on the Killenaule road. The wind would be into our faces for the next 1.5km of gentle but unrelenting climbing. Passed the first km marker in 4:05, working, but not boiling over. The next km was a grind on dead straight, inclining road as we waited and prayed for the left turn and a downhill release. On and on it seemed to go and the pace drifted out onto the 4:10 and 4:15's. Just kept on plugging away, sometimes isolated, sometimes not. Passed the 2km marker in 8:20 - lots of time leaked there but that should be the worst of the course out of the way.
The third km was a lovely downhill as I moved away from a little pack and hunted down a pair ahead. Got by those just as one of them pulled aside reporting that his quad had gone. On my own now - the watch showed 3:5x for most of this km. Despite the favourable gradient I was now working really hard. Went around a lovely sweeping series of bends and passed the 3km marker in 12:08. Despite my pace being in km, I'd left the splits in miles, so had no idea if the markers lined up to the watch. Still, it seemed I'd clawed back a lot in that 3rd km. Could I keep it going now? I felt like I was at my maximum now though, another 8 minutes is all, I told myself. The 4th km was tricky - lots of undulations. I'd had my sights on a group of four 100m up ahead and had reeled them in nicely. One woman dropped off the back of that group and I tried to focus on her, but the effort was just sky high and as we passed the 4km marker I was fading and she was increasing the gap. I don't remember checking the watch passing the 4k marker, but I'd been seeing 4:0x and higher on the watch too often and knew that the sub 20 was gone. Still, figured I might hold on for a PB. 4 mins to go I told myself. As in Clara a few weeks back, I got a stitch around 4k - a few deep breaths seemed to alleviate it, or at least convinced my mind to ignore it. The 5th k felt tough - felt like I was running in mud at times but the pace hung around 4:0x. At last the final turn came into sight and as I rounded it I saw 19:49 on the clock - briefly dreamed I might somehow get sub 20 after all, but as always the seconds seem to race by and it was 20:14 when I crossed the line. A PB of 2 seconds.
Took my bottle of water and attached myself to the nearest wall for a good 5 minutes to recover. Eventually made my way to the ballroom for an impressive array of buns and sandwiches, followed by 15 mins of a cooldown plod. Everyone I spoke to found it a tough course, with the difficult first 2km proving a difficult start to overcome. Initally I was a bit disappointed, and questioned whether I could have dug in more at various points, but after consideration I'm happy that I gave it a proper effort and gave it everything I had on the night. Another race, another PB - that's 5/5 in 2023, and 7 on the bounce. Not too shabby at all. I've two weeks now until I start into base building for Dublin, so will decide over the weekend whether or not I'll have another go at the 5k in those two weeks, or just let it be.
Post edited by Mr. Guappa on9 -
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Well done A! Another PB! You will get there. If you had come to Cork for the John Buckley 5km last Tuesday you would have had sub 20. Definitely in you.
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Thanks K. Yeah I saw lots of stuff on that race on social media during the week. Looked to be a good one alright. I'd like to think it's in me two on a slightly more favourable course, but then again 15 seconds seems like a lot too!
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Rounding off the week:
Friday - 3.28 miles recovery (10:45/mi). Very easy recovery on tired legs of a very hot day. Mostly on the flat Swiss path.
Saturday - 3.12 miles recovery (10:35/mi). Similar conditions and route to the day before.
Sunday - 10.37 miles easy (9:19/mi). I hadn't intended as such, but this turned out to be a reverse of last weeks 10 mile loop. It's nicer in the other direction I think. Cool starting out but the heat returned towards the end. Tired legs for this, and it was a bit of a struggle, moreso early on and later on.
32.9 miles for the week. Decided yesterday that I'm going to park the 5k stuff for now. Instead I'm going to use the next two weeks to recover and reset before beginning the base block for Dublin. I've a couple of small niggles so figure a couple of handy weeks now will serve me better long term than cramming in a few 5k sessions and a race.
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Congrats on another 5k PB and a very impressive year, so far - that's a great haul of PBs and we're not even half way through it yet!
The 5ks definitely won't help with niggles so you are wise to park it for now. The marathon training will bring you on another leap so maybe the sub 20 will be waiting for you later in the year or early next year. You definitely have it in you, it's a case of getting a few things to align.
Enjoy the bit of rest/recovery now before the focus switches again. It's such an exciting time of year, Summer running and the build up to Dublin!
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Just catching up here. Great racing and some form you are in. Long may it continue!
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Cheers E & D. Yeah I'm very happy with the recent results, some more pleasing than others but an upward trajectory overall which is the main thing.
It'll be all easy stuff for these couple of weeks now. Which is handy as I've no appetite to be doing sessions in that weather! Two runs so far this week to round off May:
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - 4.04 miles very easy (10:01/mi). Lunchtime spin at the office. Headed down to the riverbank path for a bit of shade from the heat.
Wednesday - 6.08 miles very easy (9:55/mi). Gymnastics hour. Kept it flat and shady where possible again. Had a pair of Novablast 2 in the wardrobe since Black Friday so gave them their first spin. Seemed to be a bit more cushioned than the originals, but maybe a touch squishier in the toe box. Happy with them though, they will be seeing a lot of miles over the summer.
Ended up with 124.5 miles in May. That marks 12 consecutive months above the 100 mile mark (average 140). Very pleased with that consistency and I should have a good platform now for what's to come. The small bit of S&C I do has been hit and miss lately, so need to improve there.
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Whatever I read that first I thought 'jaysus he does gymnastics as well, fair play!' 🤣🤣🤣 Great when you can tie in a run with a drop/pick that you'd have to do anyways. I do that a couple of evenings and it works well. Great consistency Adrian, admirable.
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Haha, thanks for that E, gave me a good laugh 🤣🤣🤸♂️. Not sure where the little one gets the flexibility, she spends half her time upside down. You have to be wary of catching a cartwheel leg in the face every time you enter a room.
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Followed through on my plan to take the last fortnight handy. 30 and 36 miles for those weeks with everything easy or recovery bar a few strides last week. Some really nice runs in there in lovely weather. Feel nice and refreshed now, a few niggles have eased and the mind is clear and ready to get stuck into the marathon block.
I'm going to follow the Grads plan, so a 6-week base block starting today and then the 14-week marathon-specific block. All going well I'll hit 60 miles per week in the biggest weeks come September. It's equal parts exciting and daunting - I've spent the last 12 months building towards this point and those 12 months went largely to plan, but now that I'm here looking at a 20-week spreadsheet it seems like a mammoth task. I think I'll just print off the first 6 weeks of the Base phase and put the rest to the back of my mind until later.
Currently debating whether to race in the build-up, and if so when and where. I only want to do one race though, so it'll be a HM and I've narrowed the options to Tullamore or Charleville. Tullamore is 9 weeks out, with Charleville two weeks later (it has moved earlier in the calendar so now more of an option to race than it had been previously). Leaning towards Tullamore as I did Charleville last year and it's just so flat (a rare complaint, I'm sure). Clonmel is the same weekend as Tullamore, but I hated the new route there last year and it seems it'll be the same route this year so ruling that out too.
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You are in a great position heading into the marathon block, best of luck with it.
Interested to see that you thought Charleville was too flat! I'm trying to decide on an Autumn half too though it will be my main focus so I have a bit more flexibility and may even take more than one shot at it.
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Thanks E.
Charleville is a great race - closed roads, good numbers running and a great spread after. I would definitely recommend it as a target race. The persistent flatness is a challenge in itself though - at least for me - I'm used to the rhythm and momentum changes of regular elevation changes in most of my runs. Charelville has the odd drag and minor hill but nothing major, so I'm thinking that something with a little more elevation would suit me better and possibly be a more appropriate test for Dublin.
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It's always a surprise how quickly those weeks will fly by. Best of luck with it.
Why the Grads plan by the way?
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Thanks D. The Grads plan has plenty easy miles, which I like, and I think the ramp up in mileage is enough of a new stimulus with adding too many tough sessions into the mix (not that the grads plan doesn't have decent sessions itself). For the most part I've enjoyed the P&D plans but I'm not sold on the final 6 weeks where a big focus is on tune-up races and VO2 max speed work. I'd like to try Hanson sometime but it just seems a bit too regimented for me right now. I had a good look at Jack Daniels too, and I like the look of it tbh but it just feels a year too soon for that.
I had a good result with the Grads plan 4 years ago (WTF 4 years! 😮), I feel comfortable in tweaking it, adding miles, moving stuff around. Maybe I'd fare a bit better with a more aggressive plan, or maybe I'd burn out before the end of the summer, who knows (may well happen anyway). I'm not one bit fixated on a goal time at this juncture, but would like to think I'd be looking at 3:29:xx hopefully and I have full confidence that the Grads plan can get me there without breaking me.
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I wonder do we over think the choice of training plans sometimes... and when I say "we" I actually mean "me" of course. Surely a big part of a success is the accumulation of training miles over time, layer on top of layers. I doubt the actual 12-14-16 week plan is really going to make that huge a difference, as long as it's sensible - "sensible" most likely being the hardest part for most of us! I had a huge flop with that grads plan but I by no means blame the plan, and hope that I never did, because it was most likely either some other external factor(s) at play and/or the execution of the plan......... Anyhow, I think you will do well on it, you definitely have all the experience to work it to suit.
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Yeah I'd agree with most of that E. No 12/18 week plan is a silver bullet that is going to replace months and years of consistency. There's probably a host of appropriate plans that would fall under the "sensible" heading and they'd undoubtedly all deliver a similar end result too.
It's kind of just what floats your boat at a particular time. Sometimes it's good to try a fresh approach, go outside your comfort zone, learn, push yourself and see what happens. Then other times it's nice to stay with what you know - if you believe and trust the plan it helps if/when it becomes a slog. For me, this feels like a time to stick with what I know (and like).
I forgot to mention in my earlier response to you - good to see the recent uptick in mileage from yourself and best of luck with those HM plans.
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Thanks A. Yeah I'm building back up now, touch wood, after a run of niggles combined with feeling a bit directionless and overwhelmed with life/work etc... Onwards and upwards 🤞
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Base Block: Week 1/6
Monday - 5.84 miles very easy (9:52/mi). Nice and handy around the bread-and-butter local loop in warm conditions. Nice to be officially on a plan again.
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - 7.37 miles at 9:06/mi. This was supposed to be a Progression run from easy to MP. From the off it became clear that HR and effort were way up, even for easy pace. A couple of miles in I decided to just settle in at a moderate pace for the remainder but even then the HR just kept climbing, so I guess it did do a Progression run in the end. I think three factors contributed to the way harder than expected effort, the main one being the heat - it was sweltering out. But I'd also had a rubbish night's sleep due to needing to log into work for a few hours at midnight, and had consumed way too much rubbish the previous day. Anyway a couple of lessons learned, and a tough run in the books but at least I did rein it in and not completely bury myself trying to chase the planned workout.
Thursday - 6.71 miles very easy with strides. Doing my best to avoid the heat I left this one until late in the evening and it was lovely conditions when I did head out. No ill effects of the previous days efforts thankfully. The legs felt nice and loose for the strides. I find myself reaching for the Novablast time after time lately - really liking the 2's.
Friday 3.09 miles recovery (10:16/mi). Nice and easy trot before physio. One or two things to keep an eye on but she reckons I'm in good shape overall. The heel issue I felt after Limerick has eased off completely, and she thinks it was achilles-related rather than PF.
Saturday - 6.34 miles with 40 mins easy, 5 mins threshold, c/d. Started this just after a downpour as the sun emerged, which meant for nice tropical rainforest type conditions on the path to Cahir Castle as the sun heated up the fresh rainwater. 7:10 for the 5 mins threshold, which was bang on.
Sunday - 11.36 miles easy (9:07/mi). Thought I was going to be in for a tough one as the sun came out just after I started and I had decided against bringing water. Thankfully milder conditions prevailed after a couple of miles and this turned into a lovely run. A bit faster than Tinman would have me running for easy pace, but felt comfortable and HR stayed nice and controlled throughout.
40.7 miles for the week and feeling good. I'm looking forward to the LR distance creeping up as the weeks go by. 44 miles planned for the coming week.
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Base Block: Week 2/6
Monday - 3.64 miles recovery (10:26/mi). Nice evening plod during GAA hour. GPS on my trusty Forerunner 235 seems to be taking an age to lock in recently, for whatever reason.
Tuesday - 6.68 miles very easy, with strides (9:52/mi). Legs felt surprisingly heavy starting out, then I remembered that I'd walked 5k at lunchtime, so maybe that was a factor? No point pushing the effort anyway, just went with what the legs gave me for easy effort. I'm trying to get back into the habit of including strides on a weekly basis. 2/2 on that score in this block.
Wednesday - 8.02 miles with 45 mins moderate. Target pace for the moderate was 8:15-8:30. I'd a small, late window for this so was stuck with a very lumpy route. Tried to go by an even effort for the most part although I definitely still pushed too hard on the uphills and eased off a bit much on the downhills. Paces for the moderate miles varied wildly from 8:15 to 8:47, reflective of the undulating route. Happy that the effort was reasonably right overall but will try find a flatter route next time I have some moderate work.
Thursday - Rest
Friday - 6.21 miles easy/very easy (9:54/mi). Local loop with a bit tacked on. Did this in the reverse direction to how I normally run it. It looked pretty dull out but turned out to be quiet humid and breezy, so between conditions and the lumpy route the pace was pretty reserved.
Saturday - 50 min mix (7.4 miles). An old grads plan favourite featuring 5 * (9 mins easy, 1 min hard). The 1 min reps all seemed to arrive on nice, flat or gentle downhill sections, although most were into a headwind too. Went at a good hard clip for them, with the paces coming in at 6:29, 5:55, 6:08, 6:01, 6:24. Good fun and not too taxing at all with the 9 minutes easy in between each rep.
Sunday - 12.33 miles (9:22/mi). A bit weary starting off having over-indulged the night before. A touch hillier than last weeks LR so the pace naturally dropped off. I used be a slave to the watch and paces but these days I'm looking at it less and less, especially on easy runs, and when I do look I'm checking HR more than pace. On my vanilla long runs the HR seems to stay reasonably even throughout, at least to this kind of distance. Will see if that changes as the distances increase over the coming months. I had not-too-distant thunder and lightning for company on the last few miles, so was glad to finish!
A solid 44.3 miles for the week. As the mileage goes up running windows are increasingly trickier to find, especially midweek. I'd gotten into the habit of being able to fit a lot of my running in conveniently at lunchtime but now that the mileage is increasing more creativity is required. 47 miles planned for the week ahead.
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Well done a really solid week A! I'm the same as you with the lunch runs, it's getting harder as the miles ramp up & unfortunately I've gotten used to staying in bed later in the mornings 👀 maybe it's something that's gonna have to change🙈🤣
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Cheers E. Yeah, there's a couple of mornings that would suit me so I think I'm going to have to start taking advantage of those early windows again. Always hate the thoughts of dragging myself up, but once I'm up, out and running early in the day I feel great, both in that moment and for the rest of the day too.
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Catching up after a busy couple of weeks with plenty of drinking, but plenty miles in there too:
Base Block, Week 3/6:
Monday 26th June - 3.88 miles recovery (10:02/mi). Not much recollection fo this one.
Tuesday 27th - 7.11 miles easy with strides (9:43/mi). In the office early, so I could finish a touch earlier and get this in around UL. Worked out well so will use this method again to squeeze in some of the slightly longer midweek runs.
Wednesday 28th - 70 mins progression - 9.03 miles. Started out at 9:40 pace and worked down to 8 min pace in 11/12 minute chunks. I was surprised by just how hard I was working by the time I got to the faster pace. A mile or so cooldown took me past 9 miles for the evening.
Thursday 29th - Rest. Off to a wedding for the day.
Friday 30th - 6.76 miles "easy" (9:34/mi). Pretty ropey after the previous days drinking so this was tough sledding. That rounded off June with 168 miles.
Saturday 1st July - 7.04 miles easy, including 5 mins Threshold. Bags packed and hit the road for our now annual week in the beautiful Dunmore East. Got this in that evening once we'd settled. Not much in the way of flat routes around here, so the week would feature plenty climbing. 45 mins easy to start as I sought out a relatively flat stretch for the 5 mins work, which came in bang on at 7:14/mile.
Sunday 2nd - 13.61 miles easy (9:24/mi). Plenty hills but this felt like a really strong run. The last climb up to the Golf Club was hard work with 2 hours in the legs at that point. 47.4 miles for the week.
Base Block, Week 4/6:
Monday 3rd - 4.03 miles recovery (11:09/mi). Hard to call this recovery given the hilly terrain. Kept the effort and pace in check anyway. Probably a touch longer and faster than recorded due to GPS being a bit off in the forest which I ran through at one point. Would also be true for a couple of other runs during the week.
Tuesday 4th - 8.04 miles easy (10:07/mi). Took the lovely cliff path to Portally Cove then a killer climb up onto the road. This climb emptied me the last time I attempted it. Still hard work this time, but it I weirdly enjoyed it and actually felt a nice strength going up it, passing a couple of walkers who looked at me like I was cracked to be running up here. That spurred me on even more.
Wednesday 5th - 10.06 miles with 55 mins moderate. Tried to keep this reasonably flat, although looking at the profile afterwards the moderate miles were more downhill in the first half and uphill in the second half. Which made sense as this got tougher as it went. I widened the pace range a touch to allow a bit of leeway with the undulations, but all paces came in or around the 8:15-8:30 range anyway (8:21, 8:08, 8:17, 8:07, 8:15, 8:12, 8:27). 1.7 or so miles of w/u and c/d to bulk up the milegae a touch.
Thursday 6th - 6.08 miles very easy (10:45/mi). Don't think the legs had anything faster in them. Definitely feeling the effects of the previous few days climbing in particular.
Friday 7th - 7.78 miles easy with 4 x 200m at 5k effort. Found a suitable 200m stretch for these so used the 5 miles easy at the start to gradually work my way up to the high point I'd be doing them on. Wasn't too sure on what 5K effort meant, so just went pretty hard, but controlled. The 200s came in at 5:54, 5:57, 5:46 and 5:57 and I jogged the 3 minute recoveries. I'd done this one back in January, so compared afterwards. Those reps were 6:06-6:27 and I'd to jog/walk the recoveries. Wore the Gliderides on both occasions too, and my log entry indicates I found that one much tougher. This was grand and I recovered quickly after each rep, so happy to take the little sign of progress.
Saturday 8th - Rest. As we prepared to leave Dunmore East I bumped into @mister paul and @aquinn for a nice little chat - always great to meet fellow Boardsies. Back home and then straight off to Dermot Kennedy in Limerick that evening. He wasn't up to much, but we had mighty craic anyway.
Sunday 9th - 14.1 miles easy (9:18/mi). Severely hungover after the previous evening, so left this as late as possible. Managed to recover just enough to lace up the shoes and in the end this turned out surprisingly well. HR up a touch but nothing major, and bit of a slog in some of the middle miles but once I was over halfway and still feeling ok it started to get mentally easier. 50.1 miles for the week - first time in that range for many a moon.
So a couple of very solid weeks running despite a busy social calendar (by my standards, at least). No major events on the horizon for the next month so should be able to get back to some clean living for a while! I've booked the Tullamore Half, so that's another piece of the puzzle in place for this block. Feeling really strong at the moment and liking the uptick in mileage, so hopefully that feeling continues for a while yet. Step-back week this week however, with just 35 miles on the cards.
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Base Block, week 5/6 (step-back week):
Monday: 3.23 miles recovery (10:14/mi). Pretty non-descript post-work amble.
Tuseday: 5.18 miles very easy (9:58/mi). Got out before work for this. A bog-standard easy run felt like an entirely appropriate way to bring up the 1,000 miles for this year. Earliest I've ever done it too. A nice by-product of the consistency I've been able to build this year.
Wednesday: 60 mins progression (8.02 miles). Did this after work around UL. Nice and quiet over there at the moment. Started off at 9:40 and dropped 20s every 10 mins to get to 8 min pace for the last 10 minutes. Again, found it a touch tougher than I expected - reading back through anytime I've done this type of run I seem to always underestimate it. It wasn't super hard or anything, but I knew I was working for the final 20 minutes. Hottest part of the day too. A mile or so cool down to pad out the mileage.
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 5.58 miles easy/v.easy with strides (9:44/mi). A pre-work one. Got soaked. Went along the river path for this one, just trying to keep most runs this week as flat as possible. Physio in the afternoon - no major concerns, just keeping an eye on the usual suspects (left knee, left hamstring, right foot). I try to book in a visit every 4-6 weeks to stay on top of anything.
Saturday: 10.38 miles easy (9:14/mi). The weather couldn't make up it's mind on this one. Rain, sun, wind on a constant rotation. Had wind and rain to deal with on the sneaky long pull up the bypass, but this was actually a very nice run. Tipped along nicely and effort always felt nice and controlled.
Sunday: 3.03 miles recovery (10:46/mi). Another fairly run-of-the-mill handy one. Did a small bit of S&C after. I've let that slide over the last month so need to start doing a small bit again.
So, a fairly unexciting week. 35.4 miles. Felt wrecked at the start of the week, and knowing it's a step-back week, I found I mentally switched off a bit too and let things like sleep slide, because "well, it's only a handy week". Maybe a good thing to be fair - allowing the mind a refresh from the running as well as the legs. Anyway, by the weekend any tiredness had cleared and I feel ready to kick on again. 52 miles on the cards for the coming week.
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Congrats on the 1000m milestone. You sound like you are thriving on the plan, great to see!
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Thanks E. Yeah, early days of course, and I might be singing a different tune in 2 months time, but right now I'm enjoying everything about marathon training. Really looking forward to the longer runs and bigger weeks to come.
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Base Block (Week 6/6)
Monday: 8.21 miles easy (9:37/mi). Managed to get a helping hand with GAA drop-offs from another parent so was able to squeeze in an extra few miles during GAA hour. A really nice start to the week and the rain held off.
Tuesday: 5.02 miles easy with strides (9:37/mi). Got this in at lunchtime around UL. A European Frisbee championship was taking place in fields as I lapped around. Lots of extremely dedicated and impressive looking athletes for what I would have (previously) barely thought of as a sport. HR was very slow to come down after each stride.
Wednesday: 65 mins moderate, 10.15 miles total. An undulating route, for what was just shy of 8 miles moderate (8:15-8:30). All bar the first mile (uphill) came in within the range, most at the faster end. Again HR was up a few points on what I'd expect and I just seemed to be working a fraction harder than normal for the pace. Both days were quite humid so maybe that was it, or the eldest had a 24 hour bug during the week so maybe I'd caught a stray from that.
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 7.32 miles very easy (9:49/mi). An early morning one before work. Got dropped off and made my way home. A lovely cool morning out and HR was back to where I'd expect. Really nice miles.
Saturday: 45 mins easy, 5 mins tempo, c/d (6.32 miles). The Novablast 2 have been the workhouse of this block for me, so I picked up a second pair when I saw a decent offer on the Asics outlet. This was their debut and I'm happy with them. I suspect the achilles pain I had after Limerick is brought on by the plates in the Endorphin Speeds and the Magic Speeds, so I've been using both very sparingly recently. I do find the heel/achilles gives out after I've worn them, but it does subside after a day or two so happy to reach for them on occasion. I've been mixing in the Glideride 3 as well - they are just a touch less stiff than the Glideride 2, and all the better for it. Tempo was to be 7:30 pace - reckon I hit it the effort spot on but there was lots of tree cover and Garmin recorded 7:44. Felt great and really smooth for the 5 minutes anyway. Plenty Tempo stuff on the cards over the next few months so looking forward to that.
Sunday: 15.35 miles easy (9:28/mi). My next few long runs will be off the back of chunky mileage on the previous day, so decided to add a generous helping of hills to this weeks long run while the legs were relatively fresh. Timed it so that I'd be hitting the worst hills from 10-12 miles. Felt really strong for most of this run, but definitely a bit ploddy for the last few miles which were downhill back towards the car.
52.3 miles for the week. I lurch from feeling extremely comfortable and worrying that I'm not doing enough to thinking that I'll end up over doing it and burning out! But, most of the time I'm feeling really strong and ready for what's to come. Into the 14-week marathon block now this week, with 54 miles on the cards.
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Interested to know how the Novablast and Glideride compare and where they each fit into your rotation? I wear the Glideride a lot - they are my staple. I mix in the Endorphin Speeds maybe once per week (or I have Puma Deviate & NB Elite that I throw in very occasionally) but for holidays, as an example, I just brought the Gliderides as they were the best option from my collection to cover all runs.
I think that niggling feeling of self doubt is normal at this stage, especially when you might be following others' training that is different to yours but just hang on to that over-arching trust in the plan which made you choose it... Super stuff going on really. I love following marathon training. The strength of body and mind that grows over the course of the weeks is amazing to follow, it's some journey when it goes well / is done right.
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If I was taking one pair of shoes on holidays I'd take the Novablast. I'd happily use them for everything from recovery runs up to tempo, and for long runs too. I find them a good all-rounder. For me the Glideride suit best at a steady/moderate/MP type of pace, and after 8-9 miles I find my feet get tired of them. At slower paces I find I'm far more ploddy in the Gliderides.
Yeah, I agree with you on marathon training - really exciting to be in the thick of it again this year I must say. In fairness any doubts I'd have would be no more than I'd have following a 5K or HM plan, it's just when it's the marathon everything feels magnified and I probably over analyse every run-of-the-mill bout of tiredness looking for signs of concern.
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Totally understandable A. Everything is magnified in the marathon, you have have what it takes in spades though; mental strength, commitement, patience... Interesting so about the Novablasts. Sounds like one I should possibly try sometime. I don't love running in the Gliderides, it's more that I find them a very dependable general all rounder although I haven't done anything longer than 90mins (9-10 miles) in a long long time so they're untested on real long runs. Thanks for the feedback.
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Some of the last posts here just go to show how different people are. I'm on my 3rd pair of Gliderides and getting close to 1,700 miles in total. They are bombproof, turn over nicely and I have worn them up to 19 miles and find they just get better the longer a run gets. On the other hand I tried the Novablast and had to give up on them... unstable and squishy, long and narrow. I hated them. I honestly believed the 2 shoes were so different that there wasn't a person alive who could like both! 😂 Then along comes A....
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Marathon Block (Week 1/14)
Monday: Rest. I had an exam in Cork in the morning, nothing too important but had put in a nice bit of study on it over the prior weekends. Passed it anyway but I was absolutely shattered afterwards so shelved plans for a short recovery run. Treated myself to a pair of Endorphin Pros instead. I've yet to take them for a spin, but may do on this weeks session, and hopefully they will be the marathon shoe.
Tuesday: 7.2 miles very easy with strides (9:52/mi). I'm starting to like these post work runs around UL on the office days. Nice and dry for this one and lots of runners out taking advantage of the weather.
Wednesday: 10 x 2 mins CV, 8.71 miles total. Another post work run in and around UL. Alas, it was a lot wetter than the day before. This would be my first bit of sustained faster stuff in a couple of months. I kept to the reasonably flat paths around Maguires Fields for the 10 reps - there is a drag on one side, and there was a decent wind about, so I found it tricky to dial into the right pace/effort. Each rep seemed to start off too fast before settling down. I'd just about have managed one more rep if I had too. Target pace was 6:45 - 6:55 and reps came in at 6:49, 6:50, 6:48, 6:55, 6:56, 6:52, 6:56, 6:52, 6:49, 6:48. Finished this very wet but very happy with a decent evenings work. Went to bed thinking this marathon business is a breeze and maybe I should add more stuff and or/miles to the plan.
Thursday: 5.25 miles very easy (10:06/mi). Any notions of this training being easy were firmly dispelled by this run. The legs, calves in particular, were very heavy from the day before. Nice bit of sun out and it was pretty humid too for a lunch time out-and-back on local roads.
Friday: 7.32 miles very easy (9:58/mi). Had planned to do this early morning, but took the chance of a lie-in instead and went out at lunchtime. Legs still pretty dead after Wednesday's session. Went around the bread-and butter local loop, although it had been a while, so was a nice novelty for a change.
Saturday: w/u, 60 mins moderate, c/d (10.31 miles). Found myself in Clonmel so took the chance to run somewhere slightly different for a change. A few too many footpaths and roundabouts to be negotiated but not a bad route along the bypass then onto the Blueway. There was a tasty headwind at times too, mainly on the warm-up and cool-down, so maybe I had the benefit for most of the moderate miles, although I never felt it. Legs felt nice and fresh anyway and had finally recovered after feeling heavy the previous couple of days. 8:15 - 8:30 was the moderate range and miles came in at 8:20, 8:14, 8:12, 8:16, 8:19, 8:21, 8:19 (8:26). Motored along very nicely for most of this, although the cool down was a bit of a trudge into the wind.
Sunday: 16.24 miles easy (9:24/mi). It started pouring rain as soon as I started this and I was well soaked from the get go. Heavy showers came and went throughout and it was pretty miserable at times, weather wise. I didn't mind that too much though, once I got into my running. It was nice and cool so the effort felt nice and controlled throughout. I brought some water and took an aqua gel around 10 miles in, mainly just to get used to carrying and taking them again. Had a decent climb around 9 miles and a bigger one around 14 miles. Felt really strong working my way up both. The legs were a touch tired starting out, but not wrecked and it felt good putting another 16 miles into them. The last 500m was a bit of a trudge - it had turned miserable again into a headwind and I think I just subconciously shut things down knowing the end was near. Very happy with the days work overall though.
54.1 miles for the week. The whole train in the warmth of summer to gain an advantage for a cooler autumn marathon theory isn't really playing out too well so far. Hopefully August will be better weather wise! A recovery run later today will take me to 216 miles for July - my highest mileage month ever. 56 miles planned for the coming week, with the long run up getting up to 18.
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Congrats on passing the exam. I have to Endorphins Pros too and up until this point have just used them for the long runs. Interested to hear how you get on with them for sessions. Currently using the Speeds for those.
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loving the consistency - Great base block and solid start to Marathon plan.. keep her lit!
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Bumper 2-week update
Week 2/14 (31st July - 6th August)
Monday - 3.62 miles recovery (10:17/mi)
Tuesday - 7.88 miles very easy with strides (10:13/mi). The Tag Rugby World Cup was being held in UL this week. Kicking off from the Wednesday, but plenty people milling around already, and what looked to be an opening ceremony was starting as I completed this post-work run.
Wednesday - 3 x 8 mins threshold, 3 min recoveries. The rugby was in full swing now, and made this run a lot trickier as the action was taking place on 10 pitches around which I normally do these runs. The track was open though as the centre field there was being used as a pitch and a few other runners were doing laps. Did my warm-up miles in there, but the surface was a bit greasy and felt slippy in my Endorphin Pros (debut outing) so moved back to my normal gravel loop for the work. 7:05-7:15 was the target pace here, so would be just over a mile for each 8 minute rep. The first rep was ok, tried to avoid the busiest parts of the pathways. Second rep was trickier as some matches ended and people dispersed everywhere. So I moved back to the track for the final rep, which was pretty windy. Paces came in at 7:11, (6:40), 7:09, (7:13), 7:13, (7:09). It all just felt a bit frantic with the condtions and human traffic, so effort was probably up on what you'd expect, but felt like I made a decent fist of it overall. I wasn't overly impressed with the Endorphin Pros on their first outing - they didn't feel super fast. The shiny white colour didn't last long on them either - covered in muck inside a few minutes. 9.26 miles for the evening.
Thursday - Rest.
Friday - 6.73 miles easy (9:44/mi). Don't recall a whole pile about this Friday afternoon one.
Saturday - 10.54 miles with 60 mins moderate. Gave the Endorphin Pros a second look here and much preferred them at this kind of pace. Cruised along for all the moderate miles, which all came in faster, or at the faster end of the 8:30 - 8:15 range. I'll give the shoes a go in Tullamore, and then maybe one of the faster long runs before committing to them for the big day.
Sunday - 18.26 miles easy (9:26/mi). I always love how the runs getting longer allows me to venture farther field, adding in new or rarely run roads. Took in a fair whack of South Tipperary in a loop for this one. Plenty hills again too. Found it a bit of a mental struggle in that section around miles 7-9 where you've been running for well over an hour but still haven't passed halfway. I took one gel again, around mile 12 I think. Started to feel it in the legs for the last 2 miles, which were largely uphill. I wondered afterwards if it was a week or 2 too soon for this time (2h 50m) and distance, but felt strong for the majority and happy to be knocking out this type of distance again. 56.3 miles for the week.
Week 3/14 (7th Aug - 13th Aug) - Step-back week
Monday - 3.77 miles recovery (9:50/mi). I was pleasantly surprised at how fresh the legs felt after the previous day(s) exertions. Pace came in a good touch faster than my normal recovery pace. Felt great.
Tuesday - 5.13 miles very easy (9:52/mi). Woke up feeling the left hamstring. Not sure if it was something random, or a delayed reaction to seomthing I'd tweaked at the weekend. Decided to do the planned lunchtime run around UL anyway - it would be nice and flat, so shouldn't do much further harm. I was aware of the hamstring during the run, and definitely felt like it was affecting my normal stride. Plenty rest, foam-rolling, icing that evening.
Wednesday - Rest. Brought the planned rest day forward to give the hamstring a bit more time. It was feeling better than it had on the Tuesday. Also shelved plans for anything more than easy runs for the rest of the week.
Thursday - 4.1 miles very easy (10:00/mi). Hamstring feeling another notch better so chanced a few miles. Had planned 5 but settled for 4 in the end, as the hamstring started to feel a bit tired as the run went on.
Friday - 6.01 miles easy (9:36/mi). More progresswith the niggle, so added on a few more flat miles. Felt like it was 95% better.
Saturday - 6.9 miles easy (9:41/mi). Down in Cork for a few nights for a Saturday wedding so drove into Clonakilty for this. Didn't seem like a great town for running around from where I went, but maybe I missed the more running friendly routes. Kept it nice and flat again. No noise from the hamstring.
Sunday - 13.16 miles easy (9:43/mi). A late one following our return from Cork. Ended up changing the route midway through to escape fading light out in the coutryside. Surprised by the pace as it definitely felt faster, although not hard. No complaints from the hamstring anyway, so seems like I'm ok to resume the planned training. Worked out ok that the niggle surfaced on a step-back week as I might have been tempted to test it a bit more if it was an ordinary week. 39 miles for the week in the end, a touch less than planned but more than satisfactory all things considered. 57 miles now for the coming week.
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Week 4/14
Monday 14th - Rest
Tuesday 15th - 9.02 miles very easy (9:53/mi). Post work run around UL and the environs. Legs felt a bit dead throughout, so was re-assured by a twitter thread I saw from Steve Magness later the same day. Basically, a flatness might be expected with a high volume of easy paced work. With the previous week all being easy minding the hamstring, this made some sense to me.
Wednesday 16th - 11.36 miles including 40 mins Tempo. Another post work run over by UL. Warm up and cool down were a chunky 3 miles each. I kept the work to a relatively flat, 1k or so, gravel loop around some pitches. Target pace was 7:25-7:37. It took the first mile or so to settle into the right effort - each lap gave a little helping hand down one side, but you'd a gentle climb over the other side, so just had to figure out an even-ish effort. Paces came in at 7:32, 7:29, 7:30, 7:22, 7:29 (7:22) for the 5.3 miles tempo. The last few times up the little drag were hard going and I was glad to be finished. Surprised that the 4th mile and last bit came in a bit too hot, but bang on for the most part and a nice one to have in the bag.
Thursday 17th - 6.78 miles easy (9:35/mi). Mundane enough post-work local jaunt. Nothing too exciting, but happily the legs felt fresher than earlier in the week. The Tullamore HM top and number arrived - I like the top. A nice bright yellowy green which is ideal for running on country roads.
Friday 18th - 9.02 miles easy (9:42/mi). I didn't have a window early in the day for this, so had to wait until later when it was pouring down. Ran through town to start, and it was pouring rain already, but manageable, and at least the wind was minimal. I decided to stick to the Swiss river path for a (small) bit of shelter - it would make for a boring run, going up and down a few times, but it turned out to be the right decision. Normally you'd pass scores of people out walking, but today it was just myself and one other lunatic. By the time I was going back through town on my way back to base there was water everywhere. Literally no point trying to keep dry as you were soaked anyway. Fun though, once you are out in it, and the absence of too much wind meant it felt perfectly safe.
Saturday - 17.14 miles progression run (8:47/mi). Much nicer conditions today, although it did rain a few times as well during the run. I tried to keep the route reasonably flat, or at least avoid any major climbing. Started off with a few miles very easy, before 4 miles easy, 4 miles moderate, 4 miles tempo and a couple miles cool down. Felt like I nailed this tbh. It'a amazing how much quicker the long run goes when you've digestable chunks to concentrate the mind. Hit the paces pretty much spot on for the moderate and tempo sections. I wore the Endorphin Pro 3's again - they felt a bit off at the easier paces, but once I got into the moderate miles I really enjoyed running in them. I felt like I was cruising along at the 8:15/8:30 moderate pace, and the tempo pace also felt a touch easier than it had done earlier in the week. First two tempo miles were gently uphill, and being kind to myself, the last two tempo miles were gently downhill. I took two gels during this, an aqua gel at mile 7, and a caffeine one at mile 11. Nearly choked on the thickness of the caffeine one - must get used to that consistency again. I must also pick up a few Maurten gels - they worked a treat 4 years ago. Home and showered in plenty time for the Spurs match 😎
Sunday - 3.82 miles recovery (9:58/mi). Gentle recovery trot, on what was a quiet sunny and humid afternoon. Calves a touch tired, but generally feeling good after the previous few days.
57.1 miles for the week. Tullamore now on Saturday morning - I veer from dreading this and wondering why the hell I signed up for a HM mid-block, to being excited to race again and let's see what happens. Not too much in the way of a taper this week, and I'll hopefully throw up a mini-preview on Friday.
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Week 5/14
Monday 21st - 8.28 miles "easy" (9:44/mi). Had to get this in at lunch, which meant I'd have to stay local and take in some hills. Chose a bit of a loop I hadn't done in a while, but forgot how hilly it was. It got progressively hotter as the run went on, and there was a fair bit of wind about so this was a bit of a struggle.
Tuesday 22nd - 10.15 miles with 2 at HMP. Out earlyish for this before we headed to Dublin for the day. Started off with 6 miles easy, for which I cantered along nicely, although the last mile or so was into a nice breeze. Wasn't entirely sure what HMP was, so just aimed for in-or-around the pace I ran in Limerick (7:26). Both miles had a gentle assitance from the wind and the second mile was gently downhill (being kind to myself on raceweek). Paces came in at 7:26 and 7:09. Wore the Glideride 3's for this and it's probably my favourite run I've done in them - they felt great throughout. Happy with this run, although the usual doubts of holding the pace for 13.1 miles were in the back of my mind.
Wednesday 23rd - Rest. We went to
TaytoEmerald Park for the day. Had planned on a run that evening but it was late when we got back and I'd spent plenty time on the feet standing around in queues all day, so gave the run a miss. Great day out though.Thursday 24th - 7.5 miles very easy (9:53/mi). Had to get this in at lunchtime so needed to stay local for this. Tried my best to keep it flat where possible and be kind to the legs ahead of Saturday
Friday 25th - 3.9 miles easy sith strides (9:31/mi). Got out before work for this, but managed to time it perfectly to get caught in a massive downpour for the first 30 minutes. Left glute was a bit tight throughout, but seems to have eased off now afterwards.
29.8 miles for the week so far. I'm not entirely sure what to expect of myself in Tullamore tomorrow. The course looks reasonable - some sustained gradual climbing between miles 2-6, and a few more lumps late on when the legs will be tired, but nothing ridiculous from what I can tell. Weather seems like it will be reasonable too - maybe some showers, but not too windy or sunny. I don't think I've ever raced in the rain, oddly enough. My PB is 1:37:18 from Limerick, so I'd hope to have a go at that. I feel like I've improved since then, but the unknown is how much of that improvement is cancelled out by tired legs? I had went into Limerick with a 1:34 in mind, but that seems like a big leap right now. Maybe if I have a really good day, but it's equally as likely that I have a really bad day! I'll aim for my preferred negative split anyway, taking it handy(ish) early on and seeing what's left in the legs towards the back end of the race.
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Sounds like a solid plan- gd luck!
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Very best of Luck A 😊
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Tullamore Half Marathon Report (1:35:54 PB 😀)
As I mentioned on Friday, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect here. I set off before half 7, listened to a Spurs and then Premier League podcast on the way up and didn't really think about the race. The tragic events in Clonmel on Friday night also put things in perspective. I ended up taking a wrong turn on a detour as the road around Mountmellick was closed, but still arrived with well over an hour to spare before the race. There was ample parking for everyone at the Tullamore Harriers track, which was ideal. Quick trip to the loo and I started getting ready for my warm-up when I noticed that the one and only @Laineyfrecks was parked right beside me! Chatted with her for a bit, before setting off on my warm-up, which ended up taking in the first and last mile of the race. A nice little unplanned recce. Quite a heavy shower during the warm-up, but it had cleared by the time the race started, and would be the worst rain of the day, thankfully. On Friday evening I nailed down my pacing strategy in more detail - basically 7:30 for the first 6 miles (bar the second mile which looked favourable), pick it up to about 7:10 for miles 7-9 which looked to be gentle downhill, and then assess from there. In Limerick I'd faded badly from 10 miles, so was keen to avoid a repeat here.
I settled into my running very quickly and any time I looked at the watch in the early going it showed bang on the 7:30. For the first 6 miles I just tried to run what was in front of me - keeping it nice and controlled on the hills, and being conscious to take advantage of any little downhill sections. Mile 3 was a long gradual uphill into a nice little breeze - found myself quite isolated here but just kept it sensible and didn't panic. Looking back, I feel like I ran the first 6 miles really well, stayed in the moment, didn't get carried away or distracted. The first 6 miles came in at 7:32, 7:11, 7:30, 7:35, 7:27, 7:39. Pretty much bang on where I wanted to be. I hadn't done a load of watch gazing either, the occassional look of course, but I just seemed to be able to judge the effort/pace instinctively on the day. The miles were ticking along really nicely and I felt good. Working, but in control.
The 7th mile started with a bit of a climb, and then after that it was a nice few miles of gentle downhill. After catching my breath on top of the hill I kicked on. Not a masssive lift in effort, just being sure to keep the pace up and take advantage of the gradient. These 3 (7-9) miles came in at 7:21, 7:07, 7:09. Right on plan.
I took my only gel of the day, a caffeine one, just before the mile 10 water stop. The route was more undulating now, and the bits of gradient were becoming more and more unwelcome. I knew I was on for the PB, if I could just maintain a 7:20 or so pace for the final miles. Once we got into the final 3 miles it really started to bite. I was still maintaining the pace, and passing people but definitely working hard and it was a grind now. I considered throwing in a steady mile as a breather but thankfully kept my foot on the gas. Mile 12 was the worst - 15 minutes left and legs feeling heavy. I then managed to miss not one but two water bottles at the last water stop, knocking both out of the volunteers hands. Thankfully the 13th mile was downhill to begin with. I felt like I was slowing and getting slower, but this was actually my fastest mile of the race, and looking back I was definitely passing loads of people and rarely being passed myself. I'd just got into a negative frame of mind and couldn't shake it. We turned into the club grounds and then onto the track - a whole lap left to go. Head down and picked off another one or two. Finished absolutely exhausted and glad it was over. The last few miles came in at 7:23, 7:14, 7:11, 6:55 and 6:28 for the 0.1.
I draped myself over a railing for a few minutes and then sat down on the ground for another few minutes to recover from the efforts. It was only then that I checked the watch and realised I'd dipped under the 1:36. 1:35:54 was the official time - a PB of 1:24.
Made my way back to the car and had a great chat with E when she returned from her cool down. Headed off on my own cooldown then and bumped into R, a fellow 2018 novice, and C, a runner I know from home. The legs felt semi-decent on the cool down and it was far less of a shuffle than these post-race cool downs often are for me. I'm glad I raced mid-block this time - I think I will benefit from feeling that race day pain and hurt again before Dublin, and to get a positive result into the bargain is fantastic. I thought it was a great race - really well organised and a tough, but fair course. Peeking ahead, this result gives me a bit more confidence that 3:30 might be a realistic target for Dublin. Possibly borderline still, but I'm in the ballpark anyway.
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Super run A. You're on target for a great PB at DCM.
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Congrats on the PB A, very well deserved after a really disciplined run. Sub 3:30 at DCM is definitely there for the taking based on that performance,not getting greedy but I'd say sub 3:25 is within your compass too.
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Fantastic A. You're going from strenght to strenght on consistency. Really well deserved, fair play.
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Absolutely delighted for you A, as I said to you afterwards your patience & consistency has been brilliant, a PB well deserved. I think DCM will be a great marathon for you & hopefully I will see you after for a drink (I'll happily support this year!)
Oh I'll put an order in for a sunflower steering wheel cover for you as you really liked mine😜
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Thanks everyone for the nice comments. The legs were tender for a day or two but feel surprisingly fresh and loose again now. Yesterday's threshold session was one of the
most comfortableleast uncomfortable sessions I've ever done - the nice calm, cool evening was a factor no doubt, but the legs felt great during it. Ready to get stuck into the final few weeks of the plan now.Hahaha, thanks a million E. While you've the credit card out you might get yourself a new sarcasm detector - it seems your current one is not working 😜
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Hmm my spidey senses tell me you didn't get my sarcasm either🤣🤣
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Week 6/14
Monday 28th August - Rest
Tuesday 29th - 7.42 miles easy (9:20/mi). Random day off work to sort out some last minute back-to-school bits. Went for a family hike/walk in the morning and then got out for this run in the evening. Legs feeling pretty good after Tullamore.
Wednesday 30th - 3 x 10 min threshold, 4 min recoveries. In the office so got out for this after work. Wasn't sure what to expect after the weekend but it turned out to be one of the smoothest sessions I've ever done. Target pace for threshold was 7:05 - 7:15, so each rep ended up being approx 1.4 miles. Paces came in at 7:11, (7:10), 7:07, (7:12) and 7:07, (7:11). It was a perfect evening for running with a coolness in the air and a gentle enough breeze here and there, so that definitely contributed to how well the session went. I felt very much in control throughout and the 10 min reps whizzed by. HR came back down nice and quickly during the 4 minute recoveries. A real confidence booster of a run on the heels of Tullamore. 3.5 miles warm-up and 2+ miles cool down made it 11.16 miles for the evening.
Thursday 31st - 7.51 miles easy (9:38/mi). Fighting the fading late evening light for most of this one. Sad to see the evenings closing in earlier and earlier. Battery died in the HR strap, but the watch seemed to hold up well, for once. This rounded August off with 225.2 miles - a new high mark (for now 😉).
Friday 1st Sept - 6.56 miles easy, with strides (9:35/mi). An early morning pre-work one. HR strap back in action with a new battery. The watch GPS had been taking a mile or two to kick in on a few runs this week, most noticeably here. Only copped afterwards. Physio in the afternoon - my left hamstring and quad have been a touch tight lately but she's happy enough that it won't be a showstopper.
Saturday 2nd - 7.57 miles easy (9:17/mi). A run in the sun! Glad I didn't have more to do to be fair, as it was turning into a pretty hot afternoon by the time I finished. HR up a few points on normal, due to the heat, presumably.
Sunday 3rd - 18 miles with 12 moderate. Out reasonably early for this as we had a busy day later. Probably an IPA too many the night before, but not in bad shape. Foggy starting out into the 4 miles easy to begin - I've started to prefer keeping the cool downs to 2 miles or so, so tend to add any extra miles to the warm-up instead. It's working well for now. The fog was lifting and the sun was starting to make an appearance by the time I was into the moderate miles. 8:15 - 8:30 pace for those. Took one or two to get into the rhythm and effort, but felt reasonably comfortable then and started to enjoy the run. Weirdly enough I felt really good on a couple of longer uphill stretches but less so on the flowing downhill parts. I took a Hi-5 gel around mile 8, then a SiS gel at mile 12. First time trying the SiS - not bad at all, and not sticky. I was lucky enough to have the benefit of the shade for large parts of the run, as the sun had come out big time for the final hour or so. No avoiding the sun during the cool down though. Felt like getting sick at one stage - possibly the SiS gel, but more likely the heat. That sensation passed quickly though. The moderate miles all came in within the range (give or take a second) and I was pleased with this run. Took a chance on the Gliderides and I really liked them for this pace - definitely prefer the 3's to the 2's.
58.5 miles for the week. A step-back week coming now with 42 miles or thereabouts. Then it's into the biggest 4 weeks of the block. I'm feeling really good at the moment, and had debated dropping the step-back week and ploughing through, but in the end I decided to stick with the plan and approach that has got me this far. An extra 15 miles this week seems unlikely to move the needle too far in a positive direction.
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