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If I only could, I'd make a deal

  • 27-05-2019 12:55am
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 39


    All right let’s do this thing!! I’ve met a bunch of the folks on here, and enjoy reading the logs. Would love advice and tips along the way. I’m mostly using a brute force approach to training.

    Who am I?
    41 year old male runner. After a couple of false starts I’ve been running pretty consistently for about two and a half years.

    How did I get into it?
    I was looking for some form of regular exercise. I’d done some cycling over the years, but pretty inconsistently. Young childer at home also meant that 4 or 5 hour Saturday cycles were probably off limits!

    2015 - 102 miles
    My initial goal was to run for 30 minutes without stopping, and to not hate it. A lofty target! I listened to the Guardian’s “Beginners guide to running”, completed the 6 week course and went from a completely unfit mess to a moderately unfit mess. I’d also unexpectedly started enjoying it. Unfortunately my initial enthusiasm waned, and I didn’t keep it up past February :(

    2016 - 43.8 miles
    Start of the year was basically a repeat of 2015. New years resolution, get up to running a two or three times a week and pack it in. Boo! I had another go in November, but I think I got shin splints and had to stop.

    2017 - 803 miles
    This is the year it clicked. I started again in the new year as I had done the years previous. I’d put on a bunch of weight the year before and I was determined to lose it in time for my wedding later that year. Nothing like a bit of vanity to motivate you!! I started the year by repeating the pattern of the 2 previous. Jan and Feb I ran 2/3 times a week, then bugger all in March.

    But... I picked it up again in April. Ran 3/4 times a week then pushing the distance out a bit more each week. Then on holidays in west cork ran the marathon distance for the first time… on my own with a bottle of water and a couple of bananas. It was a terrible idea, but somehow didn’t put me off. I signed up then for the Dublin marathon.

    Ran Dublin in 3:54, enjoyed every step, bug had completely taken hold at that point.

    2018 - 1345 miles
    Trained through winter for Connemarathon. Ran it in 3:49. Beautiful place. Miserable wet windy weather. And that hill at the end. :o

    After some gentle encouragement from Singer, I joined Crusaders then in May, and loosely followed their Marathon plan targeting 3:30. Made a bit of a bags of it and went out too fast, finished in 3:32. Ran Jingle Bells, and Christmas Cracker in 20:30, and 20:07 respectively. Pretty happy with both, left nothing behind, they were both decent PBs

    2019
    The end is in sight \o/. This year started with 33:08 in Raheny and then straight into training for the Rotterdam marathon. A gang of us from the Cru went out to it. Training went well, and I ran a respectable 1:33 in the Bohermeen half.

    In Rotterdam I targeted 3:20 on the day, but fell apart a bit at mile 22 due to heat(that’s what I’m blaming anyways), and had to actually stop and just take on a lot of water. Still managed a 3:28 PB and got the 3:30 monkey off my back which was the original aim anyways.

    Most recently(this week) I got my first official sub 20 5k at the Bob Heffernan, finishing in 19:34, feeling very happy with myself :D

    I’ve upped the training a good bit this year as well. We moved house last September and the now longer commute is a great way to get plenty of volume in. Doing 50 miles plus most weeks. Mostly made up by commutes but with a session Tuesday, Parkrun Saturday, and a long run on Sunday.

    Targets for rest of year
    Sub 19 5k
    Sub 40 10k
    Very optimistic Sub 3:10 marathon, happy with anything between 3:10 and 3:20

    If anyone read this far, I salute you


«1

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,421 ✭✭✭Lazare


    Very impressive improvement. Fair play. Will follow this one with interest.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,807 ✭✭✭skyblue46


    Were you with Singer in the 'disco' after the Bob Heffernan? If so it's nice to meet your online self now and interesting to read your story and improvements. Welcome to the logs!


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    skyblue46 wrote: »
    Were you with Singer in the 'disco' after the Bob Heffernan? If so it's nice to meet your online self now and interesting to read your story and improvements. Welcome to the logs!

    Yes that was me all right, nice running, it was a good night for the PBs!


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Last week was one of the most enjoyable running weeks I've had. PB at Bob H on Tuesday, followed by a sub 20 at my local parkrun on Saturday. Given I hadn't run under 20 for 5k before (unless you believe Strava), this was a pretty spectacular result.

    Monday
    I ran to work, took it pretty easy given date with Bob the next night.
    7.2 km 42:22 5:51/km

    Tuesday
    Drove down to Bob H with Singer. Spent about an hour getting from Broombridge to the M50, but made it down with plenty of time all the same. Met up with mister_paul and went for a warm up. Start was a bit nuts but field cleared after a bit. Honestly the first 4 kilometres were kind of boring, I've finished almost every 5k before this a heaving mess so I was keen to be a bit sensible.
    1k - 3:55 - Feel ok, but I've been here before
    2k - 3:56 - Still going nicely, but don't get overconfident.
    3k - 3:58 - A little harder but still feeling ok
    4k - 3:58 - See 3k :D
    5k - 3:40 - Feeling good, it's downhill sprinted over the end line
    Delighted with the result, my first sub 20 5k, a 33 second PB and the feeling that there's more to be had. Lots of good chats afterwards with B,P and D and met some more of youse boardsies too.

    Wednesday
    Double commute, quickest run in to date. I find it hard to move at all generally in the morning. Ran home with B in the evening, got fish and chips on the way home with family in keeping with National chipper day!
    Run in 7.1 km - 39:10 - 5:31/km
    Run home 10.39 km - 59:01 - 5:41/km

    Thursday
    I have no memory of these runs.
    Run in 7.2 km - 42:49 - 5:57/km
    Run home 7.2 km - 43:41 - 6:00/km

    Friday
    Very easy paced run in via polling station near where I used to live. Plan was to give parkrun a good go the next day. Running along the canal is way nicer than this route.
    9.0 km - 56:18 - 6:15/km

    Saturday
    Parkrun day, very little beer the evening before and a decent nights sleep. Got the kids up, fed them and put on the Little Mermaid while I put on my bright Orange runners and headed over to the parkrun. It's about a mile over there so I got my warmup in with a few strides for good measure. It's a bit of an odd course, there's 3 laps, first one is long (3K) and the next two are short(1k). There's a hilly section that you get to do 3 times, and it's on the top of a hill so good luck if it's windy. Fortunately it wasn't on Saturday.

    The run itself went well, I followed a fellow in a DCM 2018 top for the first 3k, but couldn't stick with him. Kept up a decent pace though and finished just under the 20 minutes. Much harder than the run on Tuesday.
    Warm up + Cool down - 4.3k
    Parkrun 5k - 19:58

    Sunday
    Run up the canal, into Castleknock and around the Phoenix park. I feel really privileged to have the park so near by. It's so beautiful this time of year especially in the evenings. Stayed mostly off road and ran up and down every incline I could find.
    24.1 km - 2:12:58 - 5:30/km

    Week's total - 91.6k
    YTD - 1600k (40% of goal for year)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,421 ✭✭✭Lazare


    Some week.

    Have you always ran those commute doubles?


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  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Lazare wrote: »
    Some week.

    Have you always ran those commute doubles?

    Just since the start of this year, find it's a good way to get the volume in without tiring myself out too much on any single run. Takes the same time as the normal luas/walk commute home anyways.


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    End of week and a much lazier one after last week's 5k exertions. Also I'm doing a mini taper. Why? See next week's plan :)

    Monday
    Usual run in to work, stopped watch for some of it, recovery pace
    6.6k 6:06/km 40:28
    Run home with B in pissing rain, sun appeared 5 minutes after I got home. whatevs!
    11k 6:00/km 1:06:00

    Tuesday
    Jog to Cru, and a few laps with B. Then session which was 3 sets of 4*400 with reducing rests of 45/30/15, and 2 minutes between reps. It was rough, the 15 second rest is almost worse than useless. Felt pretty tired, but managed to not do it completely terribly. Noticed I've gotten much better at complaining about sessions :D.
    Splits
    1:38 1:29 1:31 1:30
    1:29 1:32 1:31 1:37
    1:35 1:33 1:36 1:31
    Jogged to Luas after with A, P, and B after, then stuffed face with Burrito before second Luas and short jog home.
    Total for day 15.1k

    Wednesday
    Tired jog home
    7.3k 6:28/km 45:08

    Thursday
    nowt

    Friday
    Lazy run in to work
    7.0 km 6:26/km 45:08

    Saturday/Sunday
    Nae running. Volunteered at local parkrun on Saturday, Tolka Valley. About 70 folks in I think. Then headed down with my wife to cat laughs in Kilkenny. Too many crafty beers meant that running was off the cards this morning. Was going to head out this evening(Sunday) but got home late, and didn't fancy the wind. Shocking lazy!

    A pretty miserly total of 47.1km(about 25 miles) for the week, my lowest this year.

    Plan for next week
    MondayRun somewhere between 5 and 10k
    TuesdaySo, this is why last week was quiet/lazy. The plan is to get the train to Mullingar early on Tuesday morning. I'll make my way to the canal, and try to get home. It's about 75k. I've never attempted anything over marathon distance before, and it's probably a terrible idea. The (very loose) plan is to run about 4hr marathon pace and see how I get on. I'll follow the towpath and the train runs alongside it so I have an escape plan if necessary.
    Rest of week
    Let's see how Tuesday goes…


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,834 ✭✭✭OOnegative


    Your Tuesday plan is plain stupid and I can’t say it any nicer. What are you looking to gain out of it, where does it fit in your plan for rest of the year?

    Truth be told you’ll get through those 75k and be wiped for good 2-3 weeks after. Knock it on the head.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,834 ✭✭✭OOnegative


    If you do choose to follow your Tuesday plan, get onto the canal path at just past the Maxol on Austin Friar Street. Downhill here to Mary Lynch’s, watch the road crossing over here. The next 6-7 miles till you get to Longwood is beautiful, take it all in. Few switch backs but you’ll figure them out.

    Get through Longwood watch out for the Ribbontail Bridge before Fureys, really really nice piece of history here. The path from Fureys to Enfield was very tight and overgrown, may have changed since. The section from Enfield to Kilcock involves a few switch backs, keep the wits about you. Get to Kilcock it’s plain sailing, I miss it!!


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 9,774 Mod ✭✭✭✭DBB


    Just be aware, at the moment the canal path from Furey's to Kilmore Bridge (that's the bridge between Furey's and Enfield, a short enough stretch in any case) is closed as it's being renovated. Gotta get out on the road between Furey's and Kilmore.
    And yes, fully agree, there are some cracking stretches between Mary Lynch's and Longwood and beyond :)


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,421 ✭✭✭Lazare


    Tuesday :eek:

    Give us an idea of why you're doing it.


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Lazare wrote: »
    Tuesday :eek:

    Give us an idea of why you're doing it.

    No particularly good reasons. Mostly the urge to do something a bit ridiculous. I also just like the idea of spending the day on foot in the countryside. The old man used to cycle from our house in Navan to West Cork in a day, so there's probably some genetic disposition towards the ill advised.

    At the pace I plan to do it, I think it should be ok, and I'll likely run/walk lots of it. I can always just get the train if I'm really wrecked. Maynooth at 50k-ish is a definite candidate for just heading home.


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    OOnegative wrote: »
    Your Tuesday plan is plain stupid and I can’t say it any nicer. What are you looking to gain out of it, where does it fit in your plan for rest of the year?

    Truth be told you’ll get through those 75k and be wiped for good 2-3 weeks after. Knock it on the head.

    You're probably right! :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 379 ✭✭mister paul


    You're gonna need more than a bottle of water and a couple of bananas tomorrow.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,489 ✭✭✭✭Murph_D


    Don’t get it either, C. Unlikely to help with any of the master plan, but then again, you’re an adult and can do what you like! :) Hope you enjoy whatever transpires.


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Thought I'd post some version of race utter folly report
    Short version
    53k @ 6:16/km, or 34.95mi @ 10:05/mi
    Moving time 5:30ish, Total time: 6 hours
    I made it as far as Kilcock. Yes I'd do it again, but I'll wait till the towpath work is complete.
    Strava upload of run

    Longer version
    My first thoughts in planning in this were around food. I reckoned that if I wanted to spend more than 5 hours on my feet I'd need to keep myself fed. First part was pre-fueling, so went for 100g plain pasta with some olive oil and scrambled eggs. My plan for the run itself was to combine muesli bars, and a bunch of gross powergel sweets. The thinking was that the muesli bars would provide some longer lasting fuel, while the sweets would give a more instant hit. For water I had a 2K camel back yolk that went into the bag too.

    I didn't sleep great the night before, I was pretty excited to be honest. I've not done a run where the outcome was uncertain in a long time. I also hadn't recce'd a large part of the route, which (rightly) had me a bit nervous about it.

    The first 20k
    So I bailed on doing the run on Tuesday to avoid the torrential downpour forecasted. It was still raining the next day of course, and did so for most of the day. Oh well. The first 10-12k out of Mullingar were ok, there's a hum of traffic from the M4, but it beats running in the city for sure. Then the canal turns away from the road, and it's really nice from there on in. Pace wise, I decided very early to take it easy and just enjoy being in the countryside. Settled into running 10 minute miles which I didn't really deviate from the whole trip.

    The next 20k-ish
    Lots of really lovely countryside through Hill of Down area, and ribbontail on to Furey's Bar. This was definitely the highlight of the day. The rain stayed with me but never really got above a mild soaking level. Still feeling reasonably bullish about how far I could get at this point.

    The last bit
    This is where things went a bit pear shaped. I left the canal at Furey's Bar, and headed up the road towards Enfield. This was a pretty unpleasant main road with more than it's fair share of articulated lorries thundering past. It did stop raining around there, and only went on for about 3k. I turned back down the canal in Enfield and back on to another beautiful section of canal.

    About 3k on disaster strikes. The canal path is fenced off, and I'm faced with the choice of doubling back and then following the road or risking the canal path. I decide to take my chances and climb round the fence. What follows is about 6k of running on road foundations, and bemused looks from construction workers. This was pretty energy sapping, and just plain sore. I came off that path about 3 or 4 kilometers from Kilcock, and was feeling like I'd had enough. Finished out the last bit and then gratefully went to meet the family in Kilcock for a coffee and the drive home.

    The aftermath
    Generally feel OK, legs all good, knees a little sore but no worse than after a marathon. I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't make it to Maynooth, but given a combination of it a) being further away than expected and b) the lousy path between Enfield and Kilcock I'm still delighted with the end result. The canal and path are an amazing resource to have on the doorstep. Look forward to the work completing and trying it again :D But maybe next year.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,489 ✭✭✭✭Murph_D


    Mad. Surprised B didn’t come with you. ;) The Greenway seems to be a bit behind schedule with that construction work. But fair play. Mind your recovery for a while after that.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,834 ✭✭✭OOnegative


    I trained a lot on the section you ran, the section you had issues with between Enfield & Kilcock was the most unkempt and overgrown section of the canal but really a beautiful place to run because of that. Great going to make it that far, take it handy for a while now.


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Thursday
    Rested, right knee felt pretty sore so booked physio for the Friday morning. Slept a lot.

    Friday
    Went to see physio, who in the nicest possible way, basically told me that of course my knee hurts. What did I expect after running 33 odd miles? He also reassured me that there wasn't any damage done which was good. Also slept a lot.

    Saturday
    Tolka Valley Parkrun. About 21 minutes, still no official time. Stuck with a fella who usually runs it just under 20 for the first 3k, but started to feel a bit nauseous around then. Eased off a bit then but picked it up a little for the last one. Felt good. 4th place again, I'm almost always 4th place, no matter who turns up. Oh well…
    Distance: 5k Pace: 6:41/mi Time: 20m 49s HR 173
    Total with wu and cd 6.48mi

    Sunday
    Usual 2 hours up the canal to Castleknock, down to the park with various ins and outs to make up 2 hours. Ran up the Khyber for the first time. I felt great throughout, no pain in knees or elsewhere. Foam rolled for half an hour before which I'm attributing the fact that this went well to.
    Distance: 14.10mi Pace: 8:23/mi Time: 1h 58m HR 158

    I'm feeling pretty good about how the things are going generally, but do feel a bit like I'm lacking a target to focus on. Which is probably why I'm prone to thinking up stupid things to do like trying to run home from Mullingar. I'm not signed up for anything until the Frank Duffy 10 mile on 24th August. Due to combination of travel for work, and holidays this may not change any time soon either.

    Total: 60.6 miles
    Years total: 1084 miles
    Next week: Many commutes, cru session, parkrun and the long run on sunday, aka d'usual


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Couple of weeks since I last updated. Some decent sessions with the club, a not very good attempt at a race, and a minor niggle. Also, I'd been reporting here in miles, but it's to confusing for me as I've been on km since I started running. So I'm going to stick with the metric system.

    Volunteered at Docklands 5k, which was good fun. Very well organised, so well organised in fact that even though the driver delivering water was two hours late, it was still there on time for the runners finishing. The beer and hotdogs were great too, and nice it was nice to meet some more of the boards folks.
    Year to date: 1886km

    Jun 17-23
    Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
    June 17|11k|5:53/km|Run home with A and B via Griffith Avenue and Tolka Valley park.
    June 18|15.2|Mixed paces|Cru session 4 X 600/400/200 off 75/60 2:16 1:23 0:41 / 2:16 1:25 0:40 / 2:18 1:27 0:40 / 2:11 1:27 0:37 This went pretty well, spent most of it running after misterpaul. Plenty of jogs before and after, not to mention an un-recorded legger down O'Connell street to catch the Luas home.
    June 19|7.7k|6:10/km|Easy run into work
    June 19|7.2k|5:56/km|Easy run home from work
    June 19|7.4k|5:44/km|Easy run into work
    June 20|||Rested, sore upper inner thigh. No idea why.
    June 21|||Rested, sore upper inner thigh. stiil no idea why.
    June 22|13.2k|5:33/km|Very wet slow run around the park. I'd been feeling pretty sore since Friday morning. Pain in upper inner left thigh, and sore to walk on it. This was surprising to me given I'd not felt anything while running during the week. Pain continued Saturday and Sunday, and if anything got worse. Decided to go out nonetheless on Sunday evening, and after a short jog to the shop and back to see how it felt I headed out. Run went fine, leg loosened up after about 5-10 minutes and feels much better now. Probably some tightness i the back from carrying bottles of water round at the race on Thursday :shrug:
    Weeks total|62.1k


    Jun 10-16
    Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
    June 10|7.1k|6:17/km|Easy run into work
    June 10|10.4k|5:56/km|Run home with buddy from work through the Phoenix park.
    June 11|11.4k|Mixed paces| Club session 3x800 / 3x600 / 3x300 off 75/60/60 3:06 3:07 3:06 / 2:24 2:23 2:38 / 1:04 1:01 0:59 Started the 800s too fast, and suffered a bit on the 600s. Finished stronger.
    June 12|7.1k|6:01/km|Easy run into work
    June 12|7.1k|6:09/km|Easy run home from work
    June 13| Rest
    June 14| Rest
    June 15|8k|4:15/km|Irish runner 5 mile. Not my best day at the office. Started at what I though was a conservative pace and managed to keep it for about a kilometer and a half. Legs started to feel like lead by the second k and at that point I just wanted to keep the time somewhat respectable. Ground out most of the rest of the race with a reasonable split to finish. First race that I've not gotten a PB in, which is disappointing if understandable given I entered on a bit of a whim, and that my preparation was sub-optimal.
    June 16|23.7km|5:30/km|Joined Singer and the cru for their Sunday long slow run. Very hungover :eek:, but a good way to burn off some homemade whiskey sours from the night before. Bumped into D and A when we were finishing, and then spent a nice afternoon hanging around the visitor centre with family and friends.
    Weeks total|79k


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  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Been a bit lax in updating, some life/travel/work getting in the way. Fortunately I have been less lax in terms of actual running. Which is the main thing I suppose. Here's the last week in June which was mostly made up of commutes. There was a VO2 session too with the Cru which went reasonably well.

    I had my usual showing of 4th in the local parkrun, I think that's five times in a row now. Doesn't seem to matter who turns up :|

    Almost forgot, I'd been feeling a bit of a niggle in my upper thigh most of the week before. Fairly constant running seems to have done the trick of shaking it out.

    Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
    June 24|8.1km|6:21/km|Lazy jog into work
    June 24|8.1km|6:21/km|Slightly less lazy jog home from work with B, leg felt pretty sore :(
    June 25|16.6km|Mixed|Warm ups and session at cru 8*600m off 200m 2:19 2:21 2:20 2:25 2:23 2:28 2:32 2:26 Not terrible, rep 6&7 were a bit off though
    June 26|14.3km|6:00/km|Double commute - Niggle pretty much gone at this point
    June 27|5.09km|6:07/km|Morning commute cut slightly short
    June 28|1.6km|6:08/km|Running late (haha) - had to jump on luas
    June 29|8.5km|Mixed|Tolka Valley parkrun, qualified for champions league
    June 30|14.3km|6:05/km|Not very long, quite slow run
    Total|80.7km


    All in all a pretty unspectacular week, a bit too much socialising two weekends in a row. Finished out June with 319km done, including the long one from Mullingar.
    YTD: 1967km


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    I'm over working in SanFrancisco office for the month of July, which is a good opportunity to make ****e of my calves on the hills over here :D It's also the last week before kicking off marathon training so I didn't really try to put too much structure on it.

    Being a creature of habit I ran over to the local track on Tuesday evening with the intention of joining the local club's session. They folks on the track were doing a tempo session though, and were considerably faster than me so I bailed on the group after joining them for warmup around Golden Gate Park, and just ran my own session.

    Did the parkrun out near Golden Gate bridge which was fun, a nice friendly crowd there. Aside from that, some commutes, and a couple of medium to long runs too. Crossed the 2000k mark for the year.

    Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
    July 1|||Rest, and transatlantic flight
    July 2|16.5km|Mixed|Various warm up and cool down shenanigans
    July 2|6.8km|4:36/km|12*400 off 200 Active Recovery 1:47(forgot to lap watch for AR) 1:32 1:31 1:35 1:34 1:33 1:33 1:37 1:36 1:33 1:35 1:26 Pretty decent, or at least consistent session
    July 3|3.5km|6:01/km|Planned to do more, but was feeling pretty wiped out
    July 4|16.8km|5:58/km|Pace is a bit of a lie, because I had to stop to stretch out the calves many times. Ran up Buena Vista park, then down to sea level and then back to apartment where I'm staying. 249m elevation
    July 5|||Rest day, and several crafty beers
    July 6|5km|4:06/km|Parkrun without the watch, probably could have pushed for sub 20, but not a bad show
    July 6|5.2km|6:57/km|Ran home up and over Pacific Heights, ridiculously steep. Hurt my calf on this route earlier this year. Seems to be ok this time, stopping to stretch it out regularly. 104m elevation
    July 7|21.5km|6:35/km|Buena Vista Park again, then over to and up Twin Peaks. Pretty foggy and very windy but some pretty cool views out over the city from up there. From Twin Peaks, I headed back to the well trodden Golden Gate Park. 413m elevation, this was pretty hard.
    Total 75.4km||976m elevation for the week :eek:


    Reasonable week
    YTD: 2042km

    Plan for next week is to kick off marathon training. I'm going to have a go at the Crusaders plan again, and see how well I can weather the sessions. It's fairly taxing, with 3 sessions per week, and the long run. The total volume is considerably lower than what I've been doing though, so let's see…
    It goes like this
    Monday 45mins easy
    Tuesday 4X(3X400 @ 5k/10k/21k) continuous +wu/cd
    Wednesday 45mins easy
    Thursday 36mins @ (104%MP/Easy 1:00/0:30) continuous + wu/cd
    Friday rest
    Saturday Hill repeats 4*1000m / jogging return + wu/cd
    Sunday 1:35:00 Easy


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,489 ✭✭✭✭Murph_D


    Good luck with the plan. I think you’ll need it!


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    First week of Marathon Training. Managed to get through all the sessions well.

    Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
    July 8th|7.5km|6:09/km|Slightly elongated commute home over Alamo Square, just one stop to stretch out the calves.
    July 9th|10.6km|Mixed|4 * (3X400 @ 5k/10k/21k) 1:43 1:47 1:44 / 1:41 1:44 1:51 / 1:43 1:45 1:47 / 1:40 1:44 1:42 Tuesday evening session, it went pretty well, and hit the prescribed paces
    July 10th|7.1km|5:55|(Not so) easy run home
    July 11th|12.3km|Mixed|36 minutes 1:00/0:30 104% MP / easy. Really should have programmed the watch for this. I ended up spending the entire session looking up and down. Time went pretty fast and it was actually pretty fun. Went down to the track to do it, as I'm pretty sure it's the only flat part of this city :D
    July 13th|14.7k|Mixed|4x1k hill repeats, jog return. The first two were pretty flat. Next 2 were not. This was pretty tough.
    July 14th|18.5km|5:22/km|Long run. Someone put me wise to the wiggle on friday, a cycle route from Market St in the east to Golden Gate park in the which avoids the steepest roads. Made a big difference to be able to ease in to the run rather than feeling like thee calves were locking up right from the start. Rest of the run went really well, very happy with the week.


    Next week
    Similar itinerary for next week, the family arrive over tomorrow which will be great but hope if I can keep up the sessions while they're here.
    Monday Rest
    Tuesday 30 mins fast continuous @ 104% MP with wu/cd
    Wednesday 45mins easy
    Thursday 31mins progressive 102-108% + wu/cd
    Friday 45 mins easy
    Saturday Hill repeats 4*1000m / jogging return + wu/cd
    Sunday 1:40:00 Easy


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    A very late catchup post.

    I spent 5 weeks of July in SF with work, and the family joined me for the last 3. I was a bit worried that this might eat into training time. Which is exactly what happened. Or maybe it was a good excuse to take it easy for a few weeks. Either way between the 15th of July, and the 18th of August I didn't do too much running.

    SF half marathon - 1:46:44

    The main thing of note was the first half of the SF marathon. A friend from work had a spare bib, so I gratefully took it. Getting to the race was a bit of a disaster I'm usually well prepared for a race and try to turn up early. The run started at 6:30, so I set my alarm for 5 and headed to bed. I mostly dreamt about being late for the race, and then woke up just before 6 because I'd set the midweek alarm on my phone - Gah! Ran to the local BART station (which takes 8 minutes into town) but it doesn't run till 8 - Double Gah! Luckily there was a tram that turned up a couple of minutes later. Unfortunately the 80 year old tram took about an hour to get into town. Ran about 2k from there to the start line. Eventually crossed the start line on my own 20 minutes after the last corral set off. Mostly glad I got to start at all.

    The first bit kms 1-5 (4:19, 4:28, 4:37, 4:46, 4:40)
    On my own for the first 2 or so meant I set off quickly enough. Once I hit the traffic and the hill at Fort Mason things started to slow down.

    Past the Golden Gate Bridge kms 6-10 (4:39, 4:51, 5:40, 4:55, 5:28)
    Made the decision not to push too hard at this point. kms 6-8 were flat but with the wind in my face. So I stopped at the water station at 8 to use the loo too. The 10th km brought us to the start and through some of the day's biggest climb.

    Presidio to the park kms 11-15 (6:43, 4:16, 4:36, 5:16)
    Came up Presidio, this was over paths and steps and it got pretty crowded, lots of "excuse me, coming through" and even had to walk some bits. I ended up on my own again for the 14th and 15th, they change the route slightly to allow traffic through, and I was the first through. It was a nice break from running around people and I got to pretend I was winning :D

    Round the park to finish kms 16-21 (5:17, 5:50, 4:47, 4:50, 5:17, 5:19, 5:16)
    The last bit is a loop of the bottom half of Golden Gate park. It's a nice park, but it is not flat!! The last 3k were uphill as well which felt a bit mean. Managed a bit of a sprint at the end.

    All things considered the time wasn't bad, but I was a bit disappointed. Felt like something in the 1:30s should have been possible. Maybe on a different day if I got the prep right.

    Finished July with 253km done and 2819m climbed. Big drop in distance, but a lot of climbing. Hope that counts for something.

    Took the next week pretty easy, and got a massage which was a relief for my aching calves. Total of 14km

    The next 2 weeks I was down in West Cork with the family and some friends. Started to do a bit more but not too much. Some fun runs around the peninsula. Did one trail run on the sheeps head, which was immense fun. Also a bit of parkrun tourism in Glengarriff. I did one session of hill repeats, but it was pretty messy due to gale force winds. 41.7km and 56.2km done on those two.

    Year to date: 2319km


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Back to DCM training

    Not a bad week to start back, Got back into the swing of things with a bunch of commutes, and a decent showing at the Frank Duffy 10 miler. Need to make a plan for the rest of marathon training

    Date|Distance|Notes
    Aug 19th|11km|Monday commute with Singer
    Aug 20th|14.6km|Went down to Crusaders, mostly to be sociable because it's an easy week. Ran round the track to warmup and then did about half an hour on the track on my own.
    Aug 21st|14.5km|Commutes to and from work around about recovery pace. I was feeling pretty tired.
    Aug 22nd|7.5km|Easy pace in to work, felt fine.
    Aug 23rd|0|Day off before FD 10M
    Aug 24th|19.2km total|Frank Duffy 10 mile. 3 minute PB \o/. Race report to follow
    Aug 25th|24.5Km|Slow run around the Phoenix park. Little tired after FD, and associated PB beers later. Not bad though.


    Total for the week: 91.5km
    Year to Date: 2401km

    Next week
    Club session on Tuesday, some MP miles maybe later in the week. Plus usual long run on Sunday and lots of commutes.


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Settled on a my plan for the remaining weeks before DCM. Speed with the club session on Tuesday, MP miles on Thursday, Parkrun Saturday a bit faster than MP, and long run on Sunday. Will try to run the commutes on off days.

    Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
    Mon 26th|11.1k|5:46/km|Easy run home with a couple of folks from work. Bumped into misterpaul on the way home.
    Tue 27th|7.3km|mixed paces|Club W session 5k/21k/10k/21k/5k paced laps with 2 active recovery in between. A bit tired after FD on Saturday, and faded a little during the last set.
    Wed 28th|13.9k|5:44/km|Only planned to go out for about half this distance, but needed to clear the head after work, and went a bit further than I probably should have. Felt pretty good.
    Thu 29th|15.3k|mixed|60 minutes at MP was the plan, felt a bit tired, but stayed reasonably close to the prescribed pace.
    Fri 30th|18.6k|6:00/km ish|Two commutes, in the quick way, with the brother. Home via Griffith Avenue and up through Tolka Valley Park. Nice evening and good chats with Singer on the way home.
    Sat 31st|5k|4:35/km|Tolka Valley Parkrun|Plan was to do it a little quicker than MP, and that's what happened. Finished 5th in 22:47, breaking my streak of 6 4th places.
    Sun 1st Sept|19.5k|5:43/km|Dawn raid on Phoenix park, headed out at about 6:15. Legs felt a bit heavy starting out. Only had 2 hours as I'd to be back to mind the childer. Finished with a couple of miles @ MP and felt all right at it.


    Happy with the sessions this week. Good to get the volume back up too.
    Week's total: 99.6km
    YTD: 2509.7km


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Plan for next week
    More of the same, mini goal of 400k for the month of September


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    A bit up and down this week. Midweek sessions went well, but the long run on Sunday wasn't great. Ran it with the folks from the cru and didn't eat anything before heading out. Ended up feeling pretty wrecked about 2 hours in and slowed down a lot.

    Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
    Mon 2nd|11.2km|5:45/km|Run home with Singer and workmate. Ran under the road bridge in Tolka Valley park, where 2 young fellas had a fire going in a shopping trolley :eek: Hurdled their tray of cans on the way through.
    Tue 3rd|16.5km|Mixed paces|Club sesssion, and runs to/from club. 4x800 off 75 and 4x400 off 60. Faded a bit for the 2nd and 2rd 400. Was a bit annoyed with myself after. I was with a good group, and probably could have stuck out the pace if I'd pushed a bit harder.
    Wed 4th|7.2km|5:51/km|Thought it was Thursday, and got the Luas home to do session later. Went for an easy run in PP.
    Thur 5th|19.6km|Mixed|50/20 progression run from Cru marathon plan. Ran the 50 close to marathon pace at about 4:50/km, and the 20 a little faster at 4:35/km or so. Felt pretty good and was happy to be able to pick up the pace. It was definitely an effort though, and HR was a bit high at 178.
    Fri 6th|14.4km|6:25/km|To and from work nice and easy
    Sat 7th|8.8km|4:28/km for 5km|Tolka Valley Parkrun. Good crowd at it, some fast tourists too. Finished 7th
    Sun 8th|33.8km|5:36/km|Ran the first 10k at 5:36/km, then met up with cru folks again and ran the next 10k just over 5:00/km. Crashed then and was starving and knackered. Took a break and drank some water, before plodding around at around 6:00/km for the remaining time. I think I really need to eat before taking on that kind of distance at that kind of pace. I generally do my Sunday LSRs in the evening after putting the kids to bed so it's not normally an issue.


    So, a bit of a dissatisfying end to what was otherwise a pretty good week. As long as I learn my lesson from it though, it's not so bad. Biggest mileage week ever at 111.7k(69 miles) :)

    Week:111.7km (69 miles)
    Month:131km (81 miles)
    Year:2,621.4km (1628.8 miles)


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  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Sitting watching the Football final replay, Dubs up 0-08 to 0-07. It's a mighty game so far. This weeks running has been really good too. Started the week feeling a bit sorry for myself after the sh1te LSR on Sunday. Left calf was really sore too. Lots of foam rolling, and ice packs after the sessions sorted it out.

    Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
    Mon 9th|11km|5:45/km|The now habitual run home with Singer and A from work.
    Tue 10th|19.7km|Mixed|Cru W mixed pace session 5k/21k/10k/21k/5k laps times 3 with 2 in between. I was really happy with this, hit the intended paces throughout, and finished fast.
    Wed 11th|14.5km|6:08/km|Run to and from work along the canal aka D'usual
    Thur 12th|20km|Mixed|50/15/15 progression run @ 5:00/km, 4:50/km, 4:30/km. Deadly session, really enjoyed it. Ran west along the canal towards the sunset as far as Castleknock. Turned back then down to the PP where the big harvest moon was rising. The races are fun and all, but I think these are the kind of runs are the ones I enjoy most. Felt really good throughout, could maybe have pushed the pace a little earlier.
    Fri 13th|14.5km|6:08/km & 5:45/km|Runmutes
    Sat 14th|9.4km|4:19/km for 5km|Quieter week at parkrun meant I picked up second. Eased off in 3rd and 4th km and heard someone come up behind. Happy that I was able to push on in the 5th.


    Good week so far, still the long run to do tomorrow so we'll see how that goes. Plan in my head is to take the first 2 hours easy enough and then try to push on and hit MP for the last hour 89.3km for the week and on track for another new personal mileage record. Every day running streak now up to 3 weeks and a day :D.

    PS it's now 1-11 to 12 points, Kerry lads hanging in there.


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Sunday 3 hours, 32.2km 5:36/km
    Closed out the week with a reasonable effort at the long run. Got up early(6am) and ate some porridge I'd left soaking in water overnight with peanut butter and apricot jam. Left at about 7:15.
    Pace was consistent if maybe a little slower than it should have been. Felt fine though, and could maybe have pushed on a bit for the last hour. Met up with a couple of the cru folks at 9 and ran with them for an hour before turning home.

    Next week
    I'm roughly following the cru plan, and it's an easy week next week which is good. I'll probably do the short V02 session on Tuesday all the same to keep the sharpness. Doing the half marathon on Saturday, and I'll give 1:30 a shot but more in hope than in expectation. Be interesting to see how much, or if I've come on since FD. I'll also run the commutes, but a few less, and just one way on Friday as a mini taper.

    Weekly total 121.4km(75mi)
    Monthly total 252.7km (157mi)
    Yearly total 2743km (1704mi)


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Log early, log often. The weeks started well, running wise. Which is good cos work is pretty stressful right now. Mini taper plan for the half is as follows. Limit commutes to one per day, VO2 max session on Tuesday, and a few HMP miles on Thursday.

    Monday
    7.2 km 5:24/km
    Commute home from work. Nice evening for it. Quickest run home yet which isn't really saying much.

    Tuesday
    Total 14.2km
    12x400m with 45 seconds static recovery
    1:33 1:31 1:31 1:32
    1:29 1:27 1:26 1:26
    1:25 1:28 1:27 1:23
    This was, by a distance the strongest session I've done down at the track. Started with a group but pushed on a bit about 6 reps in. Felt strong through the session and finished it well. I'm not sure if it's ideal prep for either the half on Saturday, or the Marathon, but it was nice to go fast and a good sign that things are going in the right direction.


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Wednesday 18th
    Bog standard commute 7.3km 6:01/km

    Thursday 19th
    7km round the Phoenix bark with my brother. A few strides here and there. This was good fun. The homebrew beers afterwards were also very tasty. Dangerous having a brother who makes excellent beer live at the other end of the road:eek::D
    7km 5:26/km

    Friday 20th
    Rest shmest, who needs rest days. Easy commute into work, bumped into colleague on his way to the Luas, and then when he was getting off at the other end. He then gave me abuse on Strava!
    7km 6:18/km

    Saturday 21st - Dublin Half Marathon - 1:36:24
    Short version.
    Tried to run with the 1:30 pacers, and failed.

    Slightly longer version whingefest!
    Took off with the 1:30 pacers. Was careful to not try to chase them too hard. I tried to keep to the racing line as much as possible just focus on having them in sight. First 5km felt ok, but not easy and started to get that sinking feeling that my 1:30 hopes were pretty unrealistic.

    Predictably, I fell off the pace properly just after going around the zoo, at about 9km in. Generally unpleasant for most of the rest of the race as I went backwards. Particular lowlights were the hill up past Farmleigh, and the wind blowing me back up Chesterfield Ave.

    Picked up a bit coming towards the last hill when I realised that a course PB was still on the cards. A few people passed me at the bottom of the hill, but I caught up and went by some of them including a clubmate who looked pretty rough. Managed a bit of a sprint finish, and got in about a minute under last years time.

    Looking back at the splits and given the course, conditions and preparation it's actually not a bad run. Looking at my notes from last year where I was really happy with the race, I'd rested properly in the week before.

    PS: Apologies to anyone who saw me after the race and had to listen to me giving out about it.

    21.14km @ 4:34/km 7:21/mi

    Sunday 22nd
    Party for the kids cousins on Saturday and my daughter's birthday on Sunday meant no early run, and that I'd eaten my own body weight in cocktail sausages and cake. Crashed out on the couch then watching the little mermaid, before putting the kids to bed. All in all this meant I didn't get out until about 7:30pm. It was lashing rain, and I almost walked straight back into the house after heading out... almost.

    I didn't and ended up having a really enjoyable run around the PP. Ran one inner loop, and then went out of the park at Castleknock and ran round the outside. Rain stopped about an hour in, and conditions were pretty perfect. I got into running initially heading out around this time and I still really enjoy it. Felt particularly good coming round the bottom of the park. After Saturday's moanfest this was a good boost.

    33.1km @ 5:26/km 8:46/mi

    Weekly total 98.1km(61mi)
    Monthly total 350.8 (218mi)
    Yearly total 2841km (1765mi)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,489 ✭✭✭✭Murph_D


    I enjoyed your giving out about it!

    20 miles the next day? Ouch.


  • Registered Users Posts: 379 ✭✭mister paul


    I wasn't far behind you on Saturday and may well have passed the same clubmate near the top of the hill, just as he started walking. Tried to give him some encouragement but to no avail.

    You were disappointed on Saturday no doubt, but good that you're getting some perspective on it and seeing the positives.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Monday
    Run home with Singer, up along Griffith Avenue. and through Tolka Valley Park. No burning trolleys this time. Felt good still after the half and long run in the previous days. I'm taking encouragement from this in that I was too tired to run a fast enough in the half to necessitate a long recovery.
    11.1km @ 5:49/km

    Tuesday
    Various runnings. Ran the Crusaders marathon session which was a 5/2 fartlek at HMP / HMP + 30s. 6 reps making it 40 minutes in total. Ran the HMP at ~4:15/km which was my attempted HMP on Saturday. Felt manageable, and kicked on to sub 4:00/km for the last rep.
    Total 14.2km

    Wednesday
    Half of it anyway, I'm still at work right now:eek:. Run in to work, had to pick up the phone on the way so it was a bit shorter than it might have been.
    6.3km @ 6:14

    According to Strava I'm just shy of my highest ever fitness score. I recorded that just before probably my best race to date, the Bob Heffernan 5k back in May. Not sure how much faith to put into that, but I am feeling pretty good. About 3 weeks of proper training left to push that up a bit more. Starting to get excited about 27th October. I feel like 3:20 should be achievable given training times, even after the poor show at the weekend.


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Wednesday 25/09 part 2
    Felt pretty sh1te on the run home in the rain. Got home and noticed a recurrence of a bursitis on my elbow. It's an inflammation on my elbow that fills with fluid. I've had it a few times now, and usually clears up in a couple of weeks with anti-inflammatories and antibiotics.

    Thursday and Friday
    Went to the doctor, who reckoned my immune system was probably low due to training load. Got anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. Took them and felt awful :( The anti-inflammatories were particularly bad this time round.
    Didn't run Thursday or Friday, breaking my 5 week streak.

    Saturday
    With the rugby on, I knew there would a low turnout at the local parkrun. So I reckoned I might have a chance of winning it. Went out into the wind at about 20 min pace. Some crafty fecker from Lucan sat in behind me and then sailed off about 2k in. Was feeling effects of pills, so took it easy after that myself and slowed up a lot in the last 1 km. Finished 3rd.

    Sunday
    Long run with the cru folk. Took it handy enough what with still being dosed up. 32.4km @ 5:40/km

    Weekly total 87.5km(55mi)
    Monthly total 438.5km (273mi)
    Yearly total 2928km (1820mi)


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    T minus 3 weeks to DCM 30/09 - 06/10
    This was a reasonable week again. Volume still a bit down partly on account of being a bit under the weather and on antibiotics, and partly due to the storm on Thursday evening. Ran club session Tuesday, progression run on Friday, and then long run sunday with MP bits. All felt hard, but doable. I still have no idea if my 3:20 goal is at all reasonable, but I guess I'll find out somewhere around/after Crumlin :D.

    Monday
    Run home with Singer. Lashing rain. Fell over on way home :eek: Running through Tolka Valley Park there was a 90 degree bend and the path was flooded. I tried to turn on the grass but physics said no and I fell. Not on my inflamed elbow thank fook! Escaped with a few scratches. Last run for September and closed out the month on a satisfyingly round 450km figure. About 100km more than my previous record \o/. Felt good.
    11.5km @ 5:31

    Tuesday
    Cru session, Pyramid Fartlek 3,4,6,8,6,4,3 minute reps with 1 minute in between. Quick bits were at HMP(4:15/km) and the slower bits were about 4:50/km. Not an easy session, but not that hard either. I've been finding the pace at the Tuesday sessions much easier than I ever did in previous training blocks which is a nice sign of progress.
    16.9km total for day

    Wednesday and Thursday
    Storm dodging and rest. Still on antibiotics, so taking it a bit easier.

    Friday
    Did my Thursday night session on friday. It's the long progression run. In the cru plan it's down at warm up, then 40 mins @ 90% MP and 40 mins @ 95% MP. Ran it at MP(4:48/km), then a few seconds faster than MP(4:43/km). Not easy, but hit the paces. Note to self: I really need to buy a headlamp for running around the park at night.
    21.1km @ 5:05/avg 131m elevation

    Saturday
    Another soaking, nice easy run. Ran it against HR rather than pace.
    12.7km @ 5:53/km

    Sunday
    Treated this as a bit of a dress rehearsal. Got up early to eat, wore shorts I plan to wear and took gels(5) for the first time in this training block. Also had a hit of the beetroot juice in the morning. The session was 30 mins easy, 20 mins @MP, 30 mins easy, 30 mins @ MP, 20 mins easy, 40 mins @MP. The last section was made tough through my own masochistic desire to throw a run up the Khyber into the last MP block. Still I got through it, and hit the paces. This is my third go approximately doing the crusaders plan and I've never come close to doing this session well in the past. I'm a little worried about HR which was fairly high, but it's hard to know given I'm on medication, and all that
    35.2km @ 5:07/km avg (MP sections run at 4:48/km avg or so)

    Weekly total 97.6km
    September total 450km(281mi)
    October total 86.5km (54mi)
    Yearly total 3026km (1874mi)

    Next week
    Cru plan tapers next week, but that feels a little early for me. I'll do a speed session on the track on Tuesday, and 16km @ MP on Thursday. Commutes the other days during the week and a shorter long run at the weekend. We're getting close...


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    October 7-13
    Date|Distance|Avg pace|Notes
    7th October|11.1km|5:51/km|Usual Griffith ave, Tolka Valley park monday runmute with B+A
    8th October|14.7km|Mixed|4*8 mins @ HMP. Started this one a bit quick for the first rep. Slowed down for second rep, and picked up as the reps went on. All paces are a little approximate. 4:15, 4:28, 4:20, 4:09. Very much enjoyed the session.
    9th October|7.2km|6:06/km|Weird one, very easy run along thee canal but HR shot up to >180. I didn't feel any different, and can't explain it.
    10th October|Rest
    11th October|Rest||Think this was because of the storm :(
    12th October|20.5km|Mixed|10 miles-ish at race pace. I was a bit nervous going into it with my weird HR readings which had stayed 20 or so above average over the 3 days previous. Even tried someone else's watch to make sure it wasn't some weird glitch. Set out for the run and averaged about 166, which is about normal for me at that pace. Ended up doing 17.2km around Phoenix Park @ 4:46/km and felt reassuringly comfortable. Resting heart rate went back to normal after the run too.
    13th October|20.2km|5:36/km|Had to make a somewhat trip out to SF for work which isn't ideal 2 weeks out from race day. Went for a run in Golden Gate park though which is always nice. Worked pretty well for getting a good nights sleep too :D
    Weeks total: |73.9km


    Not a bad weeks running considering transatlantic flight and a Hurricane

    October 14-20
    Date|Distance|Avg pace|Notes
    14th October|8km|6:01/km|Gentle canter over the hills in GGP
    15th October|14.9km|Mixed|2 * 15 Minutes @ MP off 2 minutes AR. Headed up to Kezar Stadium in GGP to do my session. It's a nice, if pretty busy track. Pretty cool that it's open to all though. Mostly stuck to MP(4:47/km), but did the last 10 minutes of the second rep @ 4:08/km because I have no discipline
    16th October|||Rest
    17th October|8.64km|5:26|2 * 15 Minutes @ MP off 2 minutes AR. Ended up being more like marathon effort bcs there were a lot of hills involved. Didn't have time to go to/from the track.
    18th October|||Rest and flight home
    19th October|5km|4:29/km|Tolka Valley parkrun. Ran round Tolka Valley around at a slowish HMP. Good fun if a little tired after flight and naughty post flight beers. Bumped into misterpaul which was nice too, and there was much sandbagging on both our parts :D
    20th October|11.3km|5:17/km|An hour on Sunday evening up the canal, into the park and home. Very pleasant.
    Weeks total: |47.9km|| A bit low on the mileage for my liking


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Anticipation building now. Feeling excited but paranoid about every pain, tightness, and boil water warning going.

    Spent a couple of hours this evening putting together a race plan. Be interested in folks thoughts on it if any. My goal is to try to run a 2 minute negative split. (btw I don't expect to remember the individual km splits :eek:), but I'll follow the 5km split times.

    Dublin marathon pace plan spreadsheet


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,834 ✭✭✭OOnegative


    crockmac wrote: »
    Anticipation building now. Feeling excited but paranoid about every pain, tightness, and boil water warning going.

    Spent a couple of hours this evening putting together a race plan. Be interested in folks thoughts on it if any. My goal is to try to run a 2 minute negative split. (btw I don't expect to remember the individual km splits :eek:), but I'll follow the 5km split times.

    Dublin marathon pace plan spreadsheet

    Sees good to me C, totally agree with being conservative till Myo’s then upping the pace, get to the RDS or before and let rip man. Nerves are good, embrace them, shows you care & want to do well.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,415 ✭✭✭Singer


    crockmac wrote: »
    Anticipation building now. Feeling excited but paranoid about every pain, tightness, and boil water warning going.

    Spent a couple of hours this evening putting together a race plan. Be interested in folks thoughts on it if any. My goal is to try to run a 2 minute negative split. (btw I don't expect to remember the individual km splits :eek:), but I'll follow the 5km split times.

    Dublin marathon pace plan spreadsheet

    Looks good apart from the use of kilometres :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 379 ✭✭mister paul


    Best of luck tomorrow C. Keep me a seat in McGrattans.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,489 ✭✭✭✭Murph_D


    Best of luck C, see you after (and possibly before). Run well.


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    It’s taken a bit of time to get the report up and I’ll try to do the day justice. It was easily the best days running I’ve had. I massively enjoyed the race, the support was phenomenal and I’m ecstatic with the results. The two big differences between this block and previous ones were 1) shedloads of miles in September (450km total), and all year. I also added running long progression runs into the routine.

    I set out with an A goal of 3:15, B goal of 3:20 and C of anything better than the 3:28 I finished with in Rotterdam in April. 3:15 felt doable give I was kicking off marathon training having put in nearly double the mileage compared with the previous year. Life however had other ideas, and I ended up missing most of the first 5 weeks of training. Reset goal to sub 3:20 and I eventually kicked off properly the week of Frank Duffy. Cobbled together some kind of plan based loosely around the crusaders plan and a bunch of advice from Singer. I think I thanked him a bunch on Sunday in McGrattans, but if I didn’t, I’m doing it now.

    So the race itself...
    Before the race
    The night before the night before the race I got an awful nights sleep. 3 year old daughter decided she didn’t fancy sleeping and ended up getting about 3 or 4 hours myself. Did mean that I totally conked out the actual night before. On the morning I got up about 5AM cooked 100g pasta and 2 scrambled eggs. Washed that all down with about 4 espressos worth of coffee. Family then kindly dropped me down to the Luas where I bumped into a former work colleague which was good for taking my mind off a bit of a foot niggle that I’ve been ignoring for the last couple of weeks. Hopped off the luas and bumped into Singer and after dropping off bags in Fitzwilliam square, we walked, and occasionally warmed up our way over to the wave 1 pen and start.

    I was pretty glad to be starting. I’ve put a lot into the race and running in general this year, and I’d been pretty nervous all week about how it’d go. I set up a good bit back from the 3:20 pacers content to let them go a couple of minutes ahead of me to give myself a target to aim at if things were going well later on. Chugged a couple of gels and was ready to go.

    kms 1-10: 5:00, 4:46, 4:38, 4:54, 4:58, 4:52, 4:51, 4:58, 4:56, 4:52
    Pre-race plan said to run this conservatively, and I stuck pretty close to it. No choice for the first kilometre in the crowds, then got up to pace in the second. Chugged along up through Stoneybatter and up to North Circular road, where I had to dodge someone who took a tumble. He seemed to be OK and got back to his feet. Got a nice shout from aquinn in the park, and then from my family up the top of Chesterfield Avenue. Think I looked down at the HR at this point and was happy that it was hanging around the low 170s. Had another gel at 10k. Based on plan I was 15 seconds behind at this point.

    kms 11-20: 4:54, 4:56, 4:25, 4:34, 4:22, 4:32, 5:06, 4:42, 04:42, 04:45
    This was where some of the fun began. Ran past Myo’s up to the peak of the Castleknock mountains and let rip a bit. Knocked out 4 pretty fast kilometres on the way down through Phoenix Park and down to Chapelizod. Feeling great and passing lots of people on the downhill. Stuck to advice going up to kilmainham and slowed to a snails pace going up the hills. Nice chats with a club mate around there, and a geezer from the Isle of Man over doing his first marathon. Kept the gels coming every 5k. I use the high 5 aqua ones and find them easy enough to get down, and they mean I don’t need to take on too much extra water. Still 15 seconds behind planned time. Not overly worried though.

    kms 21-30: 4:50, 4:40, 4:41, 4:44, 4:27, 4:28, 4:27, 4:30, 4:21, 4:25
    The good times. This started tough with the climb up to Dolphin’s barn, and then the run up to Walkinstown. This was where I started to suffer last year and there were a few negative thoughts creeping in as I went through halfway in 1:40:56. This was only about 3 seconds behind where I’d planned to be but the drag up Crumlin and the wind in my face made it feel hard. I went after a couple of guys for wind cover but they were a bit quick so I let them go. Once I got to the turn at Walkinstown at about 25k I knew I kind of had to go for it. Picked up the pace and ran km 25 in 4:27. Felt great. The rest of these kilometres and to be honest up until about kilometre 34, are a bit of a blur. The euphoria I felt between Walkinstown and Clonskeagh was unlike anything I’ve experienced running. I honestly had to hold myself back from jumping up and down and cheering. Amazing!!! Finished 20-30km a minute ahead of planned time having made up 1:15.

    kms 31-end: 4:21, 4:27, 4:35, 4:55, 4:57, 4:47, 4:19, 4:31, 4:23, 4:42, 4:35, 4:51, 1:17

    I eventually “came down” to earth a little before clonskeagh. I’d asked my sister to meet me there with a couple of gels there in case I needed them. Took the last one I had in my belt shortly before meeting her and almost threw it straight back up. Got to dump the belt there too which felt liberating. Slowed it right down up the hills again, and started to feel the first real twangs of tiredness. Nothing terrible but definitely not buzzing the way I had been not long before. Still had enough to take advantage of the downhill by from Fosters avenue all the way down to the Stillorgan road, but I was wrecked by then. The last 3km then were spent banging out the mantra I can run I can… to keep me going. Sped up a little in the last few hundred metres to get in for 3:17:56. So so happy with the race. I’m literally beaming in almost every photo on the finisherpix website

    The day was amazing, support from friends, clubmates and everyone who turns out to watch makes it a really special experience. It’s amazing to think that so many of us get so much from it all, and I’m very grateful to have discovered this passion for running. 11 minute PB on Rotterdam in April, and 15 minutes on Dublin last year. Also ran a 4 minute negative split. For anyone interested, all the projected and actual numbers can be found here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_HV4VQBlMW3rPoJBMI679QgBq_QXAIKxKVwZe7ARaD4/edit#gid=0

    Afters
    Good craic in McGrattans afterwards, nice to meet a few more boards folks and celebrate so many awesome results with them and the folks I already know. As usual post marathon, I was completely wired, until I eventually crashed out at about 11pm.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,489 ✭✭✭✭Murph_D


    You were still beaming afterwards, and rightly so! Well done again, super race.


  • Registered Users Posts: 39 crockmac


    Been laid low with a bit of the dreaded plantar fasciitis. Do folks have any advice for dealing with it?
    Been doing exercises from physio and rolling the foot on a spiky massage ball. Very slow to improve though. Also trying the night splint, but find it hard to sleep with it on. Been limiting running mostly to the odd slow commute the last couple of weeks.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,834 ✭✭✭OOnegative


    crockmac wrote: »
    Been laid low with a bit of the dreaded plantar fasciitis. Do folks have any advice for dealing with it?
    Been doing exercises from physio and rolling the foot on a spiky massage ball. Very slow to improve though. Also trying the night splint, but find it hard to sleep with it on. Been limiting running mostly to the odd slow commute the last couple of weeks.

    I suffered with it myself and took over 4 months for it to completely disappear, I used a tennis ball for rolling the foot. Also got a couple of sessions of laser treatment on the feet to break down the issue. Might be another consideration. It’s an injury that takes time to clear.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,883 ✭✭✭Younganne


    crockmac wrote: »
    Been laid low with a bit of the dreaded plantar fasciitis. Do folks have any advice for dealing with it?
    Been doing exercises from physio and rolling the foot on a spiky massage ball. Very slow to improve though. Also trying the night splint, but find it hard to sleep with it on. Been limiting running mostly to the odd slow commute the last couple of weeks.

    Took me 12 mth to get rid of mine fully. I had it for 6 mths before I started getting treatment. The first thing I was told was to get back running.
    Calf stretches, calf dips on the stairs are the major one. tennis ball and icing are another 2 important things to constantly do.
    I got needles in my legs & feet and it definitely was the turning point for me.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,415 ✭✭✭Singer


    I think you should not listen to Dr. Singer on this one as his general "just run it off" advice probably won't work here :)


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