I didn't get this far to get this far.

Bluesquare

Morning

Decided to start a new training log - to keep me honest .

I had a bad bunch of races in September last year that knocked the motivation out of me.

From September to December my mileage really dropped - I wasn't enjoying running and each run was getting more difficult . Got bloods checked etc but I was just found to be a moany git.

Something made me sign up for DCM - extreme sheepism maybe , I'm still not convinced but we will see.

So here I am after a January of good running - getting mileage up , loosing the xmas bulge and enjoying it again.

Current pbs:
5k: 23:43 (2018)
10k 50:48 (2016)
Ten mile: 1:26:15 (2019)
Half Marathon: 1:54.25 (2018)
Marathon: 4:27:19(2016)

I seem to train better than I run which is a bit flakey of me .

My ideal targets for 2019 would be:

5k: 23:30
10k: 49:59
Half marathon: 1:49:59
Marathon: 3:59:59

But happy to just chip away at the numbers. I hate marathons but really want to do a sub 4. We will see !

Some sandbagging: I have a long train commute 3 days a week (work from home other 2). Have a couple of brats to keep my time for running limited. I'm a 43 year old asthmatic with a thyroid problem which can make recovery a bit of a saga. Oh yeah and have to be careful to keep popping those iron pills or the energy wanes. Right that's the excuses out there! Will try not to bring up again

skyblue46

Bluesquare wrote: »

Morning

Decided to start a new training log - to keep me honest .

I had a bad bunch of races in September last year that knocked the motivation out of me.

From September to December my mileage really dropped - I wasn't enjoying running and each run was getting more difficult . Got bloods checked etc but I was just found to be a moany git.

Something made me sign up for DCM - extreme sheepism maybe , I'm still not convinced but we will see.

So here I am after a January of good running - getting mileage up , loosing the xmas bulge and enjoying it again.

Current pbs:
5k: 23:43 (2018)
10k 50:48 (2016)
Ten mile: 1:26:15 (2019)
Half Marathon: 1:54.25 (2018)
Marathon: 4:27:19(2016)

I seem to train better than I run which is a bit flakey of me .

My ideal targets for 2019 would be:

5k: 23:30
10k: 49:59
Half marathon: 1:49:59
Marathon: 3:59:59

But happy to just chip away at the numbers. I hate marathons but really want to do a sub 4. We will see !

Some sandbagging: I have a long train commute 3 days a week (work from home other 2). Have a couple of brats to keep my time for running limited. I'm a 43 year old asthmatic with a thyroid problem which can make recovery a bit of a saga. Oh yeah and have to be careful to keep popping those iron pills or the energy wanes. Right that's the excuses out there! Will try not to bring up again

Best of luck with it. I'll kinda miss the obsession with sub 50!! Excuses are so 2018 so it's time to bin them :-)

Bluesquare

So I'm currently training towards the Bohermeen half marathon . I'm hoping for a pb . My training mates managed to get their sub 1:50 last year so I'm training for that target but not planning my race around it .

That probably makes no sense except in my head .

So to sum it up in January I did 108 miles which coming from about 50 in December was good going .

The training mostly consisted of slow running but with a hmp session thrown in .
These sessions have been building up time spent running at hmp . The latest session was 4*2k@ hmp (5:10) with 1 min slow running in bewteen .

That pace seems more like 5k pace so I'm probably doing great tenk sessions !!

Anyways went along to trim - hadn't planned on racing , supposed to be more of a social thing .

We arrived late and were right at the very back starting .

Took the first two Kms handy then decided to try 4K at hmp. So knocked that out if not a little fast : 5:13,5:00,5:05,5:07. Thought this feels ok I'll do another 2. Managed another 1 @ 5:08 then hit a hill into wind and decided to have a little rest as well it wasn't a race and was struggling regulating breathing in the wind. Ran @ 6:10 for 3 mins then gave it another shot . Did another 2k at hmp then struggled to do a third (5:25). Decided I needed a pick up and tried to get some jelly beans from my pocket - managed to get a nurofen as well and started chewing on it . Had to waste a bit of time coughing and spluttering to get that vile taste gone . So another slow k @ 6:10. I felt OK again and ran the final 5k strong if not at hmp (5:18,5:11,5:18,5:18,4:57).

Finished in 1:26:16. Happy enough I suspose . I did learn 5:10 is not my hmp though. I hadn't tapered for this race non race so wasn't fresh and I think the wind hurt me . Some peeps swear there wasn't any mind. I think 1:53 is definitely achievable . Still have 5 weeks training in store so let's see how it goes .

Did a nice slow 12k last night a recovery type thing (6:10).

ariana`

Hi BS, welcome back to the world of logs and best of luck with your new one!

Your PBs are practically identical to mine, eerily so, within seconds for all except the HM! I will definitely be following you closely!

Are you following a plan or winging it?

Ooops, sorry but i had to laugh at the nurofen experience :P

eyrie

Welcome back BS! Good luck with the new goals. Sounds like you're well on for a PB in Bohermeen

chickey2

Great to see you back logging. Best of luck with the training.

Bluesquare

skyblue46 wrote: »

Best of luck with it. I'll kinda miss the obsession with sub 50!! Excuses are so 2018 so it's time to bin them :-)

I have found the more I obsess the worse the race is! So I'm hoping it might just creep up on me by accident .!!!

Excuses binned for now - trying to adopt a more cheery optimistic face with a bit of grit !!

Bluesquare

ariana` wrote: »

Hi BS, welcome back to the world of logs and best of luck with your new one!

Your PBs are practically identical to mine, eerily so, within seconds for all except the HM! I will definitely be following you closely!

Are you following a plan or winging it?

Ooops, sorry but i had to laugh at the nurofen experience :P

I thought to myself before the race I better not eat that by accident ! Bloody idiot .

I'm using a club half marathon schedule .

It has 4 suggested mandotory runs and 1 recovery that you can do or not as the case may be .It assumes you are up to ten mile already for a long run. I had done 1 or two in December .

So training to date : had been doing bits and pieces before here but this is when I got structured again !!

Week starting 8th Jan :

Tuesday : 11k easy ,strong on hills
Thursday : 5*1k @ hmp with 1 min slow run in between. Wu/cd
Saturday: 16k @ 6:10
Sunday: 6k@ 6:12

Week beginning 14th
Tuesday: 11k easy strong on hills
Thursday: 3*2k@hmp 1 min slow run break w/u and c/d
Saturday: 18k @ 6:12
Sunday 8k @ 6:15

Week Beginning 21st of January :

Tuesday: w/u 2k@ 6:30, 4k@hmp 1 min slow run, 2k@hmp, 10 mins c/d (11k)
Thursday: missed run can't remember why - should have been v02 max
Saturday: 18k @6:15
Sunday: 10k@6:15

Week beginning 28th of Jan

Tuesday : 3k warm up @ 6:25, 2k*4@ hmp ,2.5k c/d (13.31k)
Thursday: 10k easy 6:20
Sat: 4 mile @ 6:10
Sunday: Trim 10 mile

And yesterday did 12k easy . Thursday due to do a 6k hmp pace run, so joy!

Kellygirl

Glad to see you back again. I know what you mean about focusing on a figure and it seemingly being unattainable. Just chip away at each pb this year and take the pressure off.

Huzzah!

Good to have you back

Bluesquare

Thanks all !

On the Monday recovery runs I haven't been doing them - I like to have a break before the Tuesday session .

Also Monday's I'm just plain wrecked .

Anyways what I'm trying to do instead is walk. So on the days I'm not running I have a 40 mins round trip walk from the train plus I scoot around the green at lunch for 2 mile . (35 mins)

This is about 4-6 mile a week and I'm hoping it helps my aerobic capacity . It does give me extra calories for eating as well !!

I'm also doing a random Utube thing to help with piformos muscle stretching and strengthening - which includes Pilates core building . It's about 20 mins long and has been keeping my butt from aching !!!

Bluesquare

Week Beginning 4th February

Monday: 2 mile walk ( I walk another two as part of daily life so leaving that out -just including the excerise I choose to do), stretching and strengthening

Tuesday: 12.25 @ 6:10 on hilly route . This should have been a Vo2 max session but after Sunday’s shenanigans in my delicate legs it just wasn’t an option.

Wednesday : 2 mile walk ( this will be my fifth day running when marathon training)

Thursday: 6k HMP, 4K easy

A bit nervous going into this as it was a gusty evening by the coast. On the flip side it also flat which makes the session handier than in town.

Warm up 10 mins @6:15

HMP splits: 5:09,5:06,5:04,5:06,5:07,5:05

Cool down: 15 mins @ 6:15

My pacing was way off on these . The first one was the hardest - adjusting to the change of pace . First 2.5 wind on back which helped . Slipped into a nice rhythm and pace felt good . I found myself overshooting from the 2nd k - very hard to see watch on dark nights and I have an inbuilt mechanism to get it done. So with 50m to go I could take it handy and recover before the next km started which actually seemed to make the whole session a bit easier . We ran 2.5 into the wind which as it turns out wasn’t that bad, and turned back for the final one . Once done I recovered quickly and chatted non stop on way home .

I’m not convinced it’s my actual half marathon pace. It should be as these are the guys I do all my running with . My tenk time should be taking a beating here at the very least.

Friday: 2 mile walk

Saturday: 20k LSR @ 6:10 ,Beautiful morning for it if not a bit breezy. Was a little naughty and may have had a little taste of wine on Friday night. Had a much bigger breakfast than I normally would washed down with lots of zero. Very chatty run on a curvaceous route .

Tried out some of that Maurten gel at the halfway mark ,weird consistency. It Didnt seem to do much to my energy levels , but I felt ok all the way around. Usually gel gives me an instant obvious boost and didn’t get that here. I bought a box of it so better use the stuff (as I am sucker for marketing and live in hope that there are legal miracles out there. )

We didn’t look at pace and kept the legs moving to what we considered slow and chatty. Looking at the splits after they were all over the place. Must have been depending on how animated the conversation was!

The run felt grand and could have easlily kept going . Afterwards though I did feel a little shaky and a very prune like.

Sunday: stretch and strengthen

Recovery 8k run @drum roll ...............6:40. I’m determined to get this slow running nailed . I had planned to try and keep at 6:30 but half the run was hijacked by a ten year old who kept jumping in puddles or stopping to tie his shoe etc etc . Nasty night for it.

I’m going to try keep solo runs nice and easy as I can’t control the club paces . The group I train with have decided 6:10 is easy and that’s only after a lot of cajoling from me . I think I need to slow it down especially if marathon training so I can handle the mileage .

Anyway total running for the week was 50k/31 miles which is the most I’ve ran in a long time !

ReeReeG

Only just saw this new log now, best of luck with the goals.
Hope you can get out of your head when it comes to races, something I've often struggled with myself so hope you don't mind me saying it that way! The line about training better than racing in your opening post stuck with me...

Bluesquare wrote:

I’m going to try keep solo runs nice and easy as I can’t control the club paces . The group I train with have decided 6:10 is easy and that’s only after a lot of cajoling from me . I think I need to slow it down especially if marathon training so I can handle the mileage .

This is something I struggle with too, so much so I've given up going along to club training a lot as I found it was just frustrating me so much.

Bluesquare

Great Tuesday session . Toughest one done . Felt strong . Tick tick

All irrelevant now . Wednesday fell off curb whilst doing a light jog with the kids.

It hurt . Torn ligaments . Not a happy bunny . Anything from 10 days to 3 months recovery . The doctor was confident it would be sooner rather than later . Currently very distracted by being immobile but I'm sure soon I'll be royally raging !

Kellygirl

Bluesquare wrote: »

Great Tuesday session . Toughest one done . Felt strong . Tick tick

All irrelevant now . Wednesday fell off curb whilst doing a light jog with the kids.

It hurt . Torn ligaments . Not a happy bunny . Anything from 10 days to 3 months recovery . The doctor was confident it would be sooner rather than later . Currently very distracted by being immobile but I'm sure soon I'll be royally raging !

Oh no. That’s awful. Sorry to hear that. Are you in a boot or similar?

Bluesquare

Kellygirl wrote: »

Oh no. That’s awful. Sorry to hear that. Are you in a boot or similar?

Thanks Kellygirl- yeah a boot and crutches ! Trying to enjoy idleness . Hopeful of i can keep rested recovery will be quicker .

Huzzah!

Bluesquare wrote: »

Thanks Kellygirl- yeah a boot and crutches ! Trying to enjoy idleness . Hopeful of i can keep rested recovery will be quicker .

Nightmare. Hope you’re not in too much pain and that it heals quickly.

chickey2

That's rubbish. Hope the doctor is right and you're back running soon.

ReeReeG

Bluesquare wrote:

It hurt . Torn ligaments . Not a happy bunny . Anything from 10 days to 3 months recovery . The doctor was confident it would be sooner rather than later . Currently very distracted by being immobile but I'm sure soon I'll be royally raging !

Awful luck. Hope it heals sooner rather than later.

Bluesquare

ReeReeG wrote: »

Only just saw this new log now, best of luck with the goals.
Hope you can get out of your head when it comes to races, something I've often struggled with myself so hope you don't mind me saying it that way! The line about training better than racing in your opening post stuck with me...




This is something I struggle with too, so much so I've given up going along to club training a lot as I found it was just frustrating me so much.

Your right I need to get me out of my head during races!! My best races are always when I’m not “racing” !I’ve been trying to figure out what makes me better during training . Definitely the race pressure gets to me ( which is odd because work wise etc I work very well under pressure) . I think the interval sessions I can do because I know exactly when they will end . I think In recent training were I have been doing long tempos i have given myself a shortbreather once I hit each km on pace - as in slow slightly for about 5/10 secs . This seems to work for me so maybe I need to try that in a race .

ReeReeG

Bluesquare wrote:

Your right I need to get me out of my head during races!! My best races are always when I’m not “racing†!I’ve been trying to figure out what makes me better during training . Definitely the race pressure gets to me ( which is odd because work wise etc I work very well under pressure) . I think the interval sessions I can do because I know exactly when they will end . I think In recent training were I have been doing long tempos i have given myself a shortbreather once I hit each km on pace - as in slow slightly for about 5/10 secs . This seems to work for me so maybe I need to try that in a race .

One of the women I run with used to do this, lets herself walk/slow at x point in a parkrun and still gets PBs this way. Definitely psychological but I'm fairly sure she's stopped it now, as x point got further and closer to the end every so often.

Bluesquare

Right - have to catch up with everyone's logs now that I have stopped feeling sorry for myself .

I was with the physio on Tuesday - he is of the opionion that I tore 1 tendon , so a grade 2 ankle sprain . However it is healing miracously well. I have full range of motion and can move around grand . Pain is mostly non existent. The ankle is still swollen although not to elephant proportions from previous weeks .

It takes 6-8 weeks for the ligaments to heal fully but active healing is encouraged.
So I am back walking and can add some small jogs into my walk. I have done this twice , the first time ten second jogs and the second time 30 secs . So I have done a 40min 5k!! 7 mins walking warm up ,then 30secs jog, then 1 min walk , so on on so forth. My ankle felt big and lumpy but no pain, calf felt a little tight. I was Deffo running oddly .

Anyways back at physio next week- Hoping to get the green light to be more ambitious in my undertakings and instead of doing my half marathon next week I'll hopefully be completing 5k all running ! If it all goes to plan I'll be back at it in no time .

Yeah I'm annoyed but I'm not up for any heroics as I'd like to keep running for a long time yet ( I know it could be strapped and I could run the half - but don't really see the point , I'm not risking my long term fitness for a medal )

eyrie

That's great that it's healing so well Bluesquare!

ariana`

OMG i missed your last update. So sorry to hear, what a bummer But i'm glad to hear the recovery is going well.

Bluesquare wrote: »

Your right I need to get me out of my head during races!! My best races are always when I’m not “racing” !I’ve been trying to figure out what makes me better during training . Definitely the race pressure gets to me ( which is odd because work wise etc I work very well under pressure) . I think the interval sessions I can do because I know exactly when they will end . I think In recent training were I have been doing long tempos i have given myself a shortbreather once I hit each km on pace - as in slow slightly for about 5/10 secs . This seems to work for me so maybe I need to try that in a race .

I think i'm the same as you and was thinking recently that what might help is longer intervals in training. I have no bother with the 6 x 3 min type sessions because 3 mins is so short i can tolerate the discomfort. I think i'd benefit from longer intervals along the lines of 4 x 1m or 2 x 2m

ReeReeG wrote: »

One of the women I run with used to do this, lets herself walk/slow at x point in a parkrun and still gets PBs this way. Definitely psychological but I'm fairly sure she's stopped it now, as x point got further and closer to the end every so often.

Skyblue gave me advice last year not to be afraid to back-off in a race for a few seconds if you need it - at least i think that's what he meant i could be wrong too so maybe i shouldn't be quoting him I don't think any of us would need to walk but it'd break the race up psychologically to allow ourselves to just ease off the pace slightly every 1k or 1m just maybe for 5-10 seconds. It's worth a try.

Bluesquare wrote: »

Right - have to catch up with everyone's logs now that I have stopped feeling sorry for myself .

I was with the physio on Tuesday - he is of the opionion that I tore 1 tendon , so a grade 2 ankle sprain . However it is healing miracously well. I have full range of motion and can move around grand . Pain is mostly non existent. The ankle is still swollen although not to elephant proportions from previous weeks .

It takes 6-8 weeks for the ligaments to heal fully but active healing is encouraged.
So I am back walking and can add some small jogs into my walk. I have done this twice , the first time ten second jogs and the second time 30 secs . So I have done a 40min 5k!! 7 mins walking warm up ,then 30secs jog, then 1 min walk , so on on so forth. My ankle felt big and lumpy but no pain, calf felt a little tight. I was Deffo running oddly .

Anyways back at physio next week- Hoping to get the green light to be more ambitious in my undertakings and instead of doing my half marathon next week I'll hopefully be completing 5k all running ! If it all goes to plan I'll be back at it in no time .

Yeah I'm annoyed but I'm not up for any heroics as I'd like to keep running for a long time yet ( I know it could be strapped and I could run the half - but don't really see the point , I'm not risking my long term fitness for a medal )

You've every right to be feeling sorry for yourself. Fingers crossed you get the green light next week but you're right to be sensible about it

eyrie

ariana` wrote: »

I think i'm the same as you and was thinking recently that what might help is longer intervals in training. I have no bother with the 6 x 3 min type sessions because 3 mins is so short i can tolerate the discomfort. I think i'd benefit from longer intervals along the lines of 4 x 1m or 2 x 2m

I've been thinking about this lately myself too. With the short intervals it's never that bad, and honestly it takes a little while for the effort to get up to where it should be anyway and then you're nearly finished. I can definitely run a much quicker pace for 6 3 min intervals than I could for a 5k race.

I wonder about the longer intervals like you're saying. Seems like they'd help in that way, but then I'm sure there's a reason they're not included in any of the grads plans.

ariana`

eyrie wrote: »

I've been thinking about this lately myself too. With the short intervals it's never that bad, and honestly it takes a little while for the effort to get up to where it should be anyway and then you're nearly finished. I can definitely run a much quicker pace for 6 3 min intervals than I could for a 5k race.

I wonder about the longer intervals like you're saying. Seems like they'd help in that way, but then I'm sure there's a reason they're not included in any of the grads plans.

Me too. Once upon a time it served as a little confidence boost but now i'm under no illusions that it means very little in terms of 5k pace :cool:

I guess the injury risk is higher with longer intervals but surely if it's possible as part of a well balanced plan

skyblue46

ariana` wrote: »

Me too. Once upon a time it served as a little confidence boost but now i'm under no illusions that it means very little in terms of 5k pace :cool:

I guess the injury risk is higher with longer intervals but surely if it's possible as part of a well balanced plan

Are 8 and 12 minute threshold repeats not long enough? :pac:

skyblue46

eyrie wrote: »

I've been thinking about this lately myself too. With the short intervals it's never that bad, and honestly it takes a little while for the effort to get up to where it should be anyway and then you're nearly finished. I can definitely run a much quicker pace for 6 3 min intervals than I could for a 5k race.

I wonder about the longer intervals like you're saying. Seems like they'd help in that way, but then I'm sure there's a reason they're not included in any of the grads plans.

You are training towards doing that. It's not an overnight thing. I'll tell you what....tell me your pace for the 6 X 3 min intervals. I guarantee that you will run a 5k at that pace or very close in the future.

ariana`

skyblue46 wrote: »

Are 8 and 12 minute threshold repeats not long enough? :pac:

I wasn't referring to threshold intervals, if you read the comment i was responding to eyrie's mention of 6 x 3 mins in relation to 5k pace, which i believe is CV or thereabouts on the grads plans.

Bluesquare

Last year as part of some club sessions we did Vo2 max sessions were we ran VO2 max for 2k *3 but with a km slower jog in between (there was a build up with 1ks, miles etc in previous weeks ) . Was an absolute gem of a session . Completed a tough 5k a couple of weeks later just 5 secs per km slower than VO2 max . That session boosted my confidence strongly .


In training when doing longer repeats I instinctively speed up at the end of each km , so say I'm doing 5k at hmp I will do the first one , once the km pings I relax a little , slow a bit , check my breathing is good , a couple of deep breaths and then I'm off at target pace again . I always run to target no matter how hard it is .

In a race I run to target , and panic like mad if not reaching it, give up too soon, never take little check in rests and don't seem to be Able to tolerate the pain . The longer the race the worse I am .

I give myself some right chats but in one ear and all that .

This year I'm getting over myself . That's the plan ! Not sure how yet but I've had a eureka moment and have realised I'm a better runner than my times suggest and that I've but a limit on my own progress . Maybe racing more is the key so it's not a drama everytime!

hillsiderunner

Bluesquare wrote: »

In training when doing longer repeats I instinctively speed up at the end of each km , so say I'm doing 5k at hmp I will do the first one , once the km pings I relax a little , slow a bit , check my breathing is good , a couple of deep breaths and then I'm off at target pace again.

I have been doing this a bit in recent HMP runs but it's because I am coming in slightly off my target pace for the first two or three miles so I pick it up towards the end of each mile to get closer to the target ... then I'm needing to ease off a bit at the start of the next one! I thought it was funny reading your post a few days ago mentioning it.
Not sure what this means wrt the target pace being appropriate, but will have more info after Sunday!