Don't stop moving...

MisterJinx

Very best of luck with it and I'm sure you will raise a fair chunk for your charity, make sure to throw the link up here when you start collecting in earnest.

For my second I did a mixed version of the Novices and Graduates plans i.e. I took the additional pace work from the Grads plan during the week and on every second long run but with the distance and build of the Novices plan. For me I felt the Grads plan was a little light in terms of distance as I'm a relatively new runner and could do with the miles in the legs but I did need to start putting more "stuff" into the plan compared to the previous year to progress.

There is a large thread on Hanson's here and quite a few advocates. I'm reviewing that one myself as I like that it's time based but my main concern is fitting in the mid week session as it's not really compatible at home, I'll need to study it more to see if would fit. It also tops out at 18 miles and I'm not sure I've the confidence yet to trust that...

crisco10

So here we go…Week 1 of Marathon Plan. But 1st brief summary of my Spring that proceeded it…

March - total disaster. Didn't run for 4 weeks due to a very persistent chest infection

April - got better, but strangely had a hamstring niggle from February that still wouldn't go away despite a month off due to illness, went to physio and started to up easy mileage slowly.

May - a total of ~200km for the month, mostly easy but consistent. I had chosen my marathon plan (which is actually one from a friend's club in the UK) and was increasing the workload at a rate to match week 1 of it.

The plan itself is an 18 week plan and there is about 21 weeks to DCM, but will miss 1.5 weeks for holidays in July, and I fully expect to get sick at some point in September when kids go back to school. So good to have some spare weeks in there.

I had looked at Hansons plan, and the focus on cumulative fatigue didnt seem to marry well with the above. (I.e the potential for me to just miss a week here or there). So I preferred a more traditional approach; the average week looks like:

• Monday; Kinda Long Run
• Thursday; A little bit of speedwork on alternate weeks
• Saturday; Long Run with MP paced sections on the weeks of no Thursday speedwork

This topped up with 2 or 3 easy runs. Max Mileage week is about 85km.

Week 1 (total weekly mileage; 63km):

Monday; 16km; Lovely easy run at lunchtime in the sunshine

Tuesday; nothing cos with Physio checking up on hamstring. He basically signed me off with a keep doing what your doing.

Wednesday; 9km; 10 x 100m before work. enjoyed this and more importantly hamstring didn't complain.

Thursday; 8km; easy peasy before work

Friday; 24km; LSR brought forward a day because of other commitments, and needed to start at 6am but actually was fine exploring the backroads of Sallynoggin.

Saturday; 5km; Parkrun with Buggy. was supposed to be super easy, but got a bit carried by the crowd and ended up doing a progression run sort of. Was still nice.

crisco10

Week 2 (total weekly mileage; 57km):

Monday; 16km @ 4:58/km; Needed to collect some stuff from parents so did a Run-mute to their house and back to get the miles in. Warm, but pleasant miles.

Tuesday; 7km easy @ 5:02/km . there's a 2km ish lap near my house so did 3 of those at lunchtime.

Wednesday; 9km; 10 x 100m at lunchtime. Another enjoyable set of reps in park nearby, wife had headcold and I started to feel peaky.

Thursday; nothing. I felt fluey so went for nap instead of run.

Friday; Same as Thurs

Saturday; was feeling better, but had kids on my own so nothing

Sunday; 25km@ 4:58/km. Wife got back at 3pm so I squeezed this 2 hour effort in before dinner. I really enjoy the long runs, but this one felt a bit crap. I'm not used to running long in the afternoon/evening and by end of it I felt pretty tired and stiff.

crisco10

I was looking at my plan for summer and trying to work in a few races. I think I can fit the Irish Runner 10 Miler in quite easily as its on the eve of my holidays so I had always planned a break in "the plan" around then. But I'm struggling to fit in other races because it seems like I would need to sacrifice some good training sessions (e.g. LSR) to do them. My default is to just stick to the plan and leave the races, but I know races are great experiences for testing yourself, getting used to raceday routine etc.

I'd ideally like to do a HM in late August early September, but doesnt seem to many of them around.

I assume there is a trick to it, and the internet has answered this question a thousand times so thats my homework.

Week 3 (Total Weekly Mileage; 65km):

Monday: Woke up with an incredibly sore/stiff Right ITB. And started to panic, so foam rolled, stretched and booked physio appointment for Tuesday. I did venture out and do an insanely easy 5km at 6min/km which strangely didn't hurt, and in reassuring way, sort of hurt in a lot of places which made me think maybe I was just very stiff from yesterdays LSR too close to bedtime. Knee only really got sore sitting at my desk when it stiffened up.

Tuesday: The knee felt A LOT better today, went to Physio and he agreed it was inflamed but far from tendonitis or anything. A sore massage and some dry needling later I was sent home, and even suggested doing a shorter Kinda Long Run (had 16km in plan) that day. So I went and did a very local (4 laps of a my "block") 10km at something like 5min/km. It felt ok tbh, bar the tender thighs after the massage and needles.

Wednesday: 8km @ 5/km. Easy lunch run in the sunshine doing some errands

Thursday: WU, 3 x 2km @HM pace, CD. (12km @ 4:21/km)

Got this one a fair bit wrong, was aiming for 4min/km to see how it went. I.e. 8 Min Reps. My actual times were 7:42, 7:47 and 7:31. Really need to practice pacing, it's been a long time since I tried to hold a pace in the HM/Mara pace range. The last split was a bit stupid because I actually said f that and did a 3:35 km for the 2nd half of it.

Enjoyed trying to find paces again, even if I sucked at it.

Friday: 3km @ 5min/km a not-in-the-plan buggy run for logistics reason as I dropped C to creche then went to E's sports day.

There was a parents race at sports day which tbh scared the crap out of me, my pride didn't want to do badly in it because everyone knows that I run a bit, but the risk of injury was there. Anyway, a respectable front of the pack finish and I survived unscathed.

Saturday: 26km @ 4:56/km. up and out early for this LSR. This time exploring Monkstown (surprisingly hilly!). And the climb from Stradbrook to Lambs Cross for the last 5km of the run was a mental test. Couple of nice podcasts and a concerted effort to control my pace, my favourite type of running. After Thursday's pacing fail, I thought it would be good to start working in MP miles on this, so started easy and did a single km at MP toward the end which felt fine.

I also then a had a full day of chasing after kids, which I think helped keep me loose and have no repeats of last weeks messing.

Sunday: Rest day bar some Physio prescribed exercises.

crisco10

Week 4 (Total Weekly Mileage; 63km):

Monday: 17km at 5/km. The Kinda LSR, it was pretty warm. Not helped by doing it at 12pm. Struggled last 2 or 3km and was relieved to have it done.

Tuesday: 9km @ 5/km. An easy run along the Barcelona seafront as was away with work

Wednesday: Nothing. was supposed to be an easy 8km but didn't feel great and had a long work day to get through so stayed in bed for the extra hour instead.

Thursday: 8km @5/km. Average pace is a little misleading here. Did a few errands then did 10 x 100m on local football pitch. Felt like stink, having only gotten home in the small hours on Weds night.

Friday: Nothing. Had hoped to swap in an easy here to make up for Wednesday's miss, but it didn't happen and was also a little conscious about "chasing the plan"

Saturday: 29km LSR @ 4:53/km. Soft morning but love these long runs really, again down around Blackrock and Monkstown which is nice until it comes to heading for home. But I reckon thats good strength training to finish with the drag up from the sea to Sandyford.

crisco10

Week 5 (Total Weekly Mileage; 47.5km):

Monday: 19km at 5/km. Kinda LSR squeezed in at lunch as usual, pretty unexceptional bar my watch battery dying with 1km to go. Luckily I know my local distances well so was confident in my run length. lol

Tuesday: 8km with buggy @ 5:13/km. An unusual one these days, picked up E from gymnastics (she's now almost 6) and ran home with her. She loved being back in the running buggy! Was reflecting that she has been doing it for 5 years now!

Wednesday: 14km @ 4:19/km . 8km at HMP. Split it into 2k, 3k and 3k, chunks with 90s inbetween. Chose a reasonably honest ~1.8km loop with minimal traffic interference. Pacing was much better this time around, 7:56, 11:49 and 11:46 respectively. which is pretty ok, maybe a few seconds a km quick but not worth worrying about. I definitely accelerate at the end of the last interval as I just want it to finish quickly at that point.

Thursday: 7km with buggy @ 5/km. Same job as Tuesday.

Rest of week was a bust, unfortunately. I went to British GP, and had planned to do LSR but it all fell apart with a tummy bug from Saturday to Monday.

crisco10

Week 6 (Total Weekly Mileage; 65.4km):

Monday: Nothing

Tuesday; 7km @ 5/km. Got out at lunch for an easy round the block. only starting to get energy back after illness

Wednesday: 14km @ 4:45/km. Sort of blended my Kinda Long Run into the planned weeks session. Was only 10 x 100m, so did those in the middle of the KLR.

Thursday: 7km @ 5/km. Another Lunch run squeezed between sweaty meetings. lol. Thank god I dont share an office with anyone.

Friday: 5km @5/km. Introducing a run on Friday as another way to add mileage as I progress through the plan. This will always be relatively short and easy. It felt like a cheat code, it was over so quick.

Saturday: 32km LSR @ 4:45/km. The training plan hit a mini peak this week with this one; I broke it down into 5km sections and each section finished with MP effort. Allowing for elevation, the paces were pretty on the money - I was a smidge faster on some downhill splits, and slower on uphill ones. So in total 6 km at MP spread across the run.

This one caught a bit of attention on Strava, but the reality is the training backs away for a few weeks now with a 10 mile race next weekend and 10 days holiday. Then the next stage of the training plan has LSR's in the 25 to 30 range.

Also looking on half marathons in August, was thinking of the Longford Half. the date suits, 90 minute drive isnt ideal, but the things we do for love. :-)

I was more tempted by the Tullamore half the next week, but alas, have a wedding to attend that weekend!

crisco10

Week 7 (Total Weekly Mileage; 46.7km):

Monday: 19km @4:57/km. KLR. This one is always a bit tricky coming as it does about 54 hours after my LSR. Had a slightly sore/stiff calf after Saturday's run, but by 3rd or 4th km of this, it had ironed out. A very tired run, but I sense this is the point of them.

Tuesday; 7km @5/km 3 easy laps of a local route. Bit of a sore lower quad/knee in the last km which wasn't ideal. and it got a bit sorer as day went on.

Wednesday: Disaster. Went to see if my leg had loosened out and had to abandon after 1.5km because it was just very sore. Like I couldn't run on it sore. Overloaded on Deep Heat, Massage Gun, Vegetables and Sleep. Did not want to miss the 10 Miler this weekend.

Thursday: More Deep Heat, Massage Gun, Vegetables and Sleep

Friday: More Deep Heat, Massage Gun, Vegetables and Sleep. Added some prayers at this stage.

Saturday: See Friday, I did try a little jog for about 500m back to the car at some point which didn't feel great. But on the upside, I walked around the zoo all day with no real pain. Had a nap though to help the recovery! lol

Sunday: See next post for Race Report: yay!

I now take 2 weeks off to an extent, family holiday where I hope to go running as much as I can but I'm not chasing the plan. This was the idea all along, hit a peak of a 20 miler LSR last week, then do the 10 mile race this week and unload a little on holidays after all that. Then return to a hopefully uninterrupted ~10 week run into DCM.

Also setup my GoFundMe, as the charity requires minimum amounts be raised by August and then fully raised in September to secure your place. So busy week overall!

crisco10

Race Report - Irish Runner 10 Mile, Phoenix Park.

A funny start to the day, woke up at 6.30am to go for a 5 min walk followed by 10 minute run to see if my quad/knee was still sore after 3 days rest. I didn’t want to drive to Phoenix Park only to break down during warmup! In a pleasant surprise - it all went well, so went home again and had breakfast and headed off to race instead of back to bed.

Did a small warmup by running from car. My target was pretty clear for this one, I wanted to do 64mins or a bit below, so that would require 3 x sub-20 5kms, followed by a push it 1.2km to finish.

I lined up at the start line, about 3 rows back from the top of Coral 2 (the non-national championship group).

First 5km

I was expecting the pace to be hectic in the first km, and was prepared to just find my groove at 3:5x. But in a nice surprise, most of the people around me seemed to think the same. There was no rush-of-blood-to-the-head-3:30 pace or anything which was nice. This section was down by the Furry Glen, so had lots of gentle downhill, and was an enjoyable intro to the race. Once we got out of the park for a bit, on the flat road toward Islandbridge, I concentrated on finding an equal effort groove at 3:5x. My pace having accelerated a smidge on the downhill out of the park. Past the 5km marker, 19:23 for that 5k split. A little quicker than intended, but not bonkers considering it was a net downhill 5km and I felt good. I did however note the 8 mile marker which we would be passing in about 30 mins and realise it was the start of a fairly decent drag, spent a lot of the rest of the race considering my strategy (physical and mental) for the 9th mile.

Second 5km

This section was tricky enough, it contained the steep little hill into the Park from Islandbridge, but at least it was short. Then the subtle drag up Chesterfield Ave toward Acres road. Not going to lie, this drag for km 7 to 9 was tough, required a steady mental effort to keep the pace up, and even improve it. It would have been very easy to settle at the slower pace that was required to climb the short sharp hill which was about 4:05/km. So, was very satisfied each time my watch ticked a split at 3:xx. At this point, as I approached halfway, my average pace was about 3:53 so well ahead of target, so each “good” km just made the weighted average even better. Past through half way at 31:20 so pretty on target for sub 64. Definitely felt my lungs and heart working hard by the time we got to the switchback at Acres road and toward Kyber. My narrative to myself all the way down the hill was that this was the time to work my legs hard but get my heart and breathing under control. This meant my pace was a bit conservative (~3:46 for a very downhill km) but I wanted to be ready to fight my way back through the undulating hills over the rest of the race. 5km split was 19:24. Which given the more hilly nature of this split, was a solid effort to be basically the same as the first 5km.

Third 5km

This was my Everest for the day. I was aware how “easy” the first 5km was, now this was basically it in reverse and I had been quietly preparing for this section in the back of my mind throughout the race. Plenty of little uphills, but took pleasure in the downhills as best I could and just keeping my stride going, with breathing under control. It was around now I realized this was the longest I had ever run in Vaporflys, a thought motivated by a small random pain on the base of my heel. Anyway, pain is temporary, and I’ve put too many km in the bank for that to stop me. (Unless it got lots worse!).

As is frequently the case, the uphill drags weren’t as bad as I had built them up to be, which was great, and in general I was picking off people more than I was being picked off. Just get to the 15km, and then I can go go go to the finish was my mantra. Crossed the 15km with a 5km split of 19:14.

Last 1.2km

As I frequently do in training, I speed up to make the pain finish sooner, so I thoroughly enjoyed being able to just go down Chesterfield Ave, even had the breath to encourage one or two others I was passing by. Finish gantry in site, 16th km ticked by (3:36/km, my fastest split) and a “sprint” to the end (3:12/km for the 200m stretch). I clocked I wouldn’t get quite sub 62, but would be a comfortable sub 62:30 so crossed the line strong in 1:02:21.

Went and got a free ice bath to try and control the various injuries then walked back to the car, pretty happy with myself.

Conclusions:

• A 10 mile PB by about 5 mins – Yay! But tbf, my 10M was an old soft PB.
• According to my watch, I broke my 10km PB in there. (need to check that)
• No km over 4/km so pacing was pretty solid.
• Endurance was pretty good, I finished pretty strong over last 6.2km, and ran about a 20 second negative split on the tougher half of the course.
• Good to be back racing properly for first time since my stroke
• Looking at various race calculators, this 10M time “predicts” a marathon time of between 2:53 and 3:03 (depending on calculator). So with a lot of training to go, my target of “in and around 3” for DCM seems pretty realistic. I’m also aware those calculators are fraught with assumptions and not to be relied upon.

Lambay island

Fair play, some excellent racing there!

ReeReeG

Totally missed you did this, well done! Enjoy the hols!

MisterJinx

Super racing, well done. Must be great confidence to be back racing and then hitting such a big PB

crisco10

Don't wanna get people too excited, but I'm kind of a big deal now...

Lol.

https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/dad-run-dublin-marathon-three-29600626

crisco10

So, back from holidays and back to logging/ :-)

Holidays were lovely, if intense with a 3 and 5 y/o ! Got 7 runs in in 10 days. All easy, and mostly about 7km. Did one 11km but that was it. Didn't particularly enjoy the running as it was very hilly, or tricky to navigate along coastal paths. Typically, I found my favourite route on the last day!

So back to Week 8 of the training plan, it's actually the 2nd highest mileage week in the plan, so perhaps nice that I've had a rest coming into it.

Week 8 (Total Weekly Mileage; 92km):

Monday: 23km @ 4:52/km Tricky one, having gotten back on Sunday evening, up early to get this in early on Bank Holiday. Felt a bit crappy, poorly fueled and tired. It was also really hot, so I had to be that person running topless through Foxrock/Leopardstown, I'm sure my skinny pasty white torso was most unedifying. Despite all this, it felt well within my capability. Didn't feel this for rest of the day either, despite having to help my Dad cut a large hedge in the afternoon.

Tuesday: 7km with buggy @ 5/km. Easy lunch run with a somewhat sick child in buggy.

Wednesday; 16km @4:15/km. (3 x 3.5km at HMP, W/U, C/D) Intervals were 13:51, 13:49 and 13:26. Target being about 14 mins.

This one felt good, I had to do it early in the morning because of fore mentioned sick child not going to creche. Nice warmup on a brisk summers morning and then just 3 solid intervals. The last one was hard, and seemed to take forever. I suspect this mindset is what lead me to speed up and try to finish it off quickly. lol. Took the opportunity in last interval of consciously practicing things I could do to keep me strong when tired. E.g. Positive talk, 3 controlled breaths, stand tall & focus on good running form.

Thursday; 7km easy. Nothing to report here.

Friday; 5km easy

Saturday; 34km @ 4:48/km. Probably a little quicker than I wanted in truth. But still got almost 2:45 hours on my feet.

Experimented with gels and dates for fueling which seemed to work. I also took in some of the DCM route from Crumlin to the N11. Want to get used to the drags in Crumlin and Heartbreak Hill at UCD.

Sunday; rest day

crisco10

Week 9 (Total Weekly Mileage; 81 km):

Monday: 24km @ 4:55/km. A kinda long run at lunchtime, always hard after Saturday's LSR. Survived it anyway and was happy to spend all afternoon eating all around me.

Tuesday: 7km @5/km. Easy with 15 mins of stretching afterward

Wednesday; 8km @4:46/km. Mostly easy with 6 x 100m sprints. These were grand, used Laineyfrecks stone counting method!

Thursday: 7km @5/km. Easy, more youtube video stretching after too

Friday: 5.6km @ 4:54/km. Was away for weekend on west coast, so this was an easy run down to meet the family at the beach.

Saturday: 29km @ 4:40/km (average). A tasty enough session this morning. 12km @ MP. For the city dweller runner, I struggled to find a decent route. Eventually settled on doing three loops between Lahinch and Ennistymon with a few up and downs on the promenade in Lahinch. This also gave me the opportunity to use the car as an aid station and not carry any water or gels.

Lucky I did, because at end of 1st lap, I realised I had dropped car key somewhere on the route. So all eyes out on 2nd lap and found the missing car key in the middle of a boreen. Phew.

My approach was to run 14km at easy pace, then 12 at MP and 2 or 3 at end to warm down. It was windy and a bit hilly so I resolved to go for MP "effort", however was delighted when I calculated the 12km split later to see the average pace was actually 4:15/km. I obviously managed to even out the ups/downs and tailwinds with headwinds. So very nice.

Delighted to bag that session.

Sunday: Rest, bar a bracing dip or two in the Atlantic. :-)

crisco10

..

crisco10

Week 10 (Total Weekly Mileage; 80km):

Monday: 18km @ 4:52/km. Had to squeeze this in before heading to airport to fly to US. nothing to report, which after Saturday's session is probably a victory in itself.

Tuesday: 8km @ 4:52/km. Easy one around upstate New York.

Wednesday: 9km @4:35 /km average. Supposed to be 10 x 100m, but lost count and did 12. Also ran by feel and seems my pace was pretty soft. Maybe only a smidge quicker than 5k pace. Felt good, small bit of stiffness in my glutes after some gym exercises yesterday.

Thursday; 13km @ 4:12/km average.

6 x 800m at 5k pace off 400m.

There's a tar path track 2.5km from hotel so was perfect warm up to run there and do session on the track. Target pace was 3:30/km ish. I missed pace on every interval, was quicker to varying degrees on each. All within 6 second spread (2:47 slowest, 2:41 quickest) and fastest was final 800m. I can't seem to control my desire to finish the interval by just running faster. Lol. Recoveries were pretty honest too; all within 2 or 3 seconds of each other.

Hard to describe but I felt quite fit after this session, really wasn't digging deep, even in final interval. Working hard for sure; but not hanging on.

Friday: 6km @ 5/km. Easy run around Sandyford to shake off Jet lag.

Saturday; 26km @ 4:50/km. Luckily given all the travel this week, the LSR was a step back week. Not surprisingly felt pretty stinky on this one. Just very meh. Anyway, got it done and threw in an MP km in the last km for the craic.

crisco10

Week 11 (Total Weekly Mileage; 100.1 km):

Tricky week this week, a peak mileage week, and a wedding on Saturday to attend so less flexibility for fitting runs in. And on top of that Back to School week so routine is all over the place.

Monday: 22km @ 4:58/km.

My kinda long run, had to start at 6am to fit it in, and for the first time in this training block it was dark-ish when I was setting out. Lovely morning though feeling the suburbs wake up around me as I progress through it.

Tuesday: 8km @4:58/km. A sweaty easy run at lunchtime.

Wednesday: 17km @ 4:12/km.

WU, 5k at HMP, 1k Recovery, 6k at HMP, CD. Up early again for this one, out the door about 6.25. Target was approx 3:55/km pace. So was happy enough for the intervals to be 19:34 (3:55 Avg) and 23:09 (3:52 Avg).

Effort was steady throughout and enjoyed the session overall.

Thursday: Easy 8km at lunchtime. Had a bit of soreness right in the middle of my left quad, so gave it a bit of love with the massage gun and deep heat over the course of the rest of the day.

Friday: 38.4km@ 4:48/km. LSR brought forward a day due to the wedding.

Took a half day from work and just did it at 9.30am after the school run. This allowed me to experiment a with Race Day nutrition. For my LSR's to this point, I have been just wolfing down 2 weetabix with a side of espresso while lacing up then out the door. But tried having a good bowl of porridge w/ honey & nuts with kids at 8:15 and using that as my fuel. Took 4 gels, at 30mins, 65mins, 100mins and 135mins. Along with 8 jellies and 750ml of water (on a warmish day). Felt a little short of fuel tbh, wouldn't have minded another gel. But not sure belly would have taken more than 2 per hour. I might experiment on a Kinda Long Run with a greater consumption rate and see what happens.

This run was long, but very manageable. Even with another steady climb for the last 6km (joys of living on the side of 3 rock I suppose!).

Saturday: 6.5km easy before getting ready for wedding. yeeha! gorgeously relaxed, and delighted I went running instead of trying to get Oasis tickets.

First ever 100km+ week too. A little weary, but nothing mental.

MisterJinx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122573155#Comment_122573155

Fair play to you, huge week there and no negatives in your commentary on the body / injury wise so really good to see that. Paces are really chunky, I'm sure that sub 3 is in reach if you are churning them out like that at the moment :-) . I've never done a long run that long before, I admit I was struggling by the end of 32k yesterday.

crisco10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122573835#Comment_122573835

Cheers - yeah, been ok that most niggles have only lasted less than 48 hours, bar the one the week of the 10 Miler which only lasted 4 days..lol. At one point in June I had 3 simultaneous niggles and was worried but they've all settled down to date. Touch wood my luck continues as we hit the business end of the training plan. Your potentially only 1 run away from you next injury…

Of course the other significant risk is back to school illness at some point. Particularly say in the week of DCM!

Yeah, longest long run I've ever done, and actually if I had just kept running another 4km at similar pace, it would have been a marathon PB. Not 100% sure I would have been able to do that, maybe if you let me run down the hill back to Ranelagh but meh could have all come apart too. Either way, to me showed how much of a base 10 years of relatively consistent running can give you though.

How's your training going overall?

MisterJinx

It's going OK I think. July was light with all the races and August the same with holidays so the base phase was pretty non existent and I jumped straight into buid. A little risky but the body seems to be handling it and hovering around 50 miles per week for the last couple of weeks. Hopefully can keep the show on the road. Trying to hold 4.30m/k for the MP effort and the hr looks OK even if it feels a little rough at times but with a couple of months to go I've time to see where I land.

crisco10

Week 12 (Total Weekly Mileage; 93km)

Monday; 23km @ 4:53/km. Another Monday, another 6am start to run for 2 hours before the school run. This was was pretty wet, and then got drenched again on the bike dropping kids to school. drenched twice before 9am on Monday…lovely. Run felt ok. Strange I'm at the point of not planning run routes, I just go and ramble for the allotted distance.

Tuesday; 8km @ 4:54/km. Easy one. But it felt pretty sh!te. Just really leggy. Anyway got it done, and glad for another easy day tomorrow aswell.

Wednesday; 8km @4:58/km. Easy. Felt better than yesterday.

Thursday: 14km @ 4:16/km. WU, 6 x 1k @5k pace off 2 mins. (3:40, 3:32, 3:33, 3:32, 3:35, 3:34). CD

Big day here, gave the Alphaflys their first run out. They felt really strange on the WU and CD, quite unstable really. But at the interval pace felt normal. Think that will be it for them, I'll put them away until maybe a long run in the taper.

The loop I chose to do was deliberately slightly hilly, but after 2 splits I realised that I was going to have to contrive to be doing at least some of them on uphill sections. This lead to uphill drags for 4th and 5th splits so was happy to keep them in the range. 1st split felt poor as I found my range tbh, I'd say I was 400m in before I hit the target pace.

Friday: 8km easy buggy run with C, dropping him to ECCE.

Saturday: 34km @ 4:27/km (11k Easy, 18k @MP, CD)

Tumultuous build up to this one. E was in and out of hospital on Thurs/Fri so wasn't sure I'd be able for this. Then when I went to plan it, I realised it was supposed to be 12 MILES at MP, not 12k. Anyway, figured it all out just in time on Friday evening to be mentally prepped on Saturday morning.

I don't usually like doing laps of Marlay but it sort of suited today for the 18k segment. I could set up an aid station in a tree, not worry about navigating or crossing roads and just let the km tick away. Also Marlay isn't too flat, so would be an honest enough course. Anyway, lots of feelings in this one -

1 of 18km; "F*cking hell, I cant even get to pace in the 1st k, I'm goosed"

4 of 18km; "Ok feeling a bit of a groove here, even a bit ahead of pace on the downhill km, but still only 14 more to go??!"

9 of 18; "Still not even halfway!!??"

15 of 18; "Jeez where did the last 4km go?"

18 of 18; "Nice one"

Average pace across the 18 was 4:08/km which is probably 3 or 4 seconds quick but in the ballpark. Obviously happy with that. Completes 5 weeks in a row of hitting every session. At this point I feel like I'm living on borrowed time for that consistency to maintain itself.

Signed up for Ratoath half a few days ago on a whim, It's next weekend so will have a readjusted step-back week this week to allow me be a little fresh as I toe the line on that one. Goal will be to try run something like 1:22/1:23 and see what happens. Be a good indicator for DCM either way.

Dubh Geannain

Great 10 miler. You're flying! Best of luck in Ratoath too.

crisco10

Ratoath Half - Race Report

Was looking forward to this, but had a niggle which I saw physio about on Monday. He reckoned as long as I kept the weeks running to easy I'd be fine to toe the line. Provided I backed off full pace if there was any sign of pain in the race. Worked well enough as a mini taper into the race anyway. So by Saturday morning I felt fresh and ready.

Pre race

All grand, very well organised and the choice of Fairyhouse Racecourse as HQ had obvious advantages in terms of facilities and space. Parking was easy, toilets plentiful and loads a space to warmup. I took in a half lap of the racecourse as warmup, and realised it was a bloody windy day. So that last 3km of the race would be fun running around the exposed tar path around Fairyhouse.

Target was to maintain 3:53 to 3:56 pace which would bring me in between 1:22 and 1:23 which would be a good test of whether I'm approaching sub 3 fitness.

1 to 5km:

An overly excited first 2km, in the crowd, down the hill, both km were about 3:50/km. Spent the next few km trying to find my pace and struggling to slow down in a controlled way tbh. Had an insane amount of negative thoughts in my head, but was doing my best to battle them away.

Split:19:21 (about 15 secs ahead)

6 to 10km:

I felt I started to find a rhythm at target pace, and took a gel at the water station at the 5th mile. However, my pace was slipping, and effort increasing. I realised that the faffing with gels and water bottles had distracted me a little, but also remembered that the 9th and 10th km were slightly uphill (in a mostly flat course) so that probably accounted for the effort too. Around now, sort of fell into step in a pack of 4 or 5 of us and we were working well to hide each other from the gusts of wind.

Split: 19:34

11th to 15km:

I don't remember much here, finally the distance started to tick by a bit. I was taking a jelly snake every 10 minutes to just keep the sugar levels up as I approached the final stretch.

Split 19:23

16th to 20th km:

In many ways, this was where the race started. At about 16km we turned left and started running into the wind for about 2km. I tried to tuck in here and there, but in reality I was moving better than most others around me and I didn't want to slow down at this point for the sake of tucking in. Was very relieved to reach the entrance to Fairyhouse at 18km and turn out of the wind for a bit ,sheltered by the buildings of the complex.

I was mentally prepared for a blustery final 3km, and had resolved that if I blew up at this point I'd know it was wind related and I would have a positive day either way. Anyway, very happy with the next 2km, with an undulating course and headwind, managed to keep pace at 3:52 and 3:54/km respectively. I.e. I didn't slow down.

Split: 19:21

20 to 21.1:

At 20th km, turned the corner and the wind on my back was a welcome relief but maintained the hard effort, meaning the 21st km was a 3:37/km split (fastest of the race). In a cruel turn (literally) at the 13 mile marker, you have to turn 90 degrees, and run on sand for 100 yards! Anyway, managed that and realise a strong finish would be sub 1:22. Head down and drifted over thr line about 10 seconds ahead of my "good" target.

Final Time: 1:21:48 (Avg 3:52/km)

Conclusions:

• comfortable HM, 5 or 6 minute, PB for me. And my previous one was hard fought at the time. Chuffed about that.
• At the 10 mile marker, I was only 10 seconds behind my time from the 10 miler in July, so I'm defo fitter than then too!
• Another positive data point that my Marathon target of 3ish is realistic.
• All in all a good days work, and a brilliant event. would recommend.

crisco10

Week 13 (Total Weekly Mileage; 64km)

Not worth a daily log this week. A bunch of easy running every day from Monday to Friday, all less than 10km. Totalling 40km for the 5 days.

I did pass 1000 miles for 2024, the earliest I've ever done it. (beating 2020 by 2 days!)

Week culminated in the Ratoath half above.

Looking forward now, there's 1 more 3 week cycle and then taper. So step back week this week, middling week next, and first week of October the final mini peak.

Struggling with motivation today, but that's part of the mental challenges of the long training cycle for a marathon I suppose.

MisterJinx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122618707#Comment_122618707

Brilliant PB well done. Also sounds like a good race, I've heard other good reports of it too. The PP is accessible to me hence I wind up doing the races there more often than not. Fitness seems to be improving a lot, I'm sure you have a sub 3 in you.

crisco10

Week 14 (Total Weekly Mileage; 82km)

A bit of step back week thank god, after Ratoath and the week was hectic logistically.

Monday: 23.5km @ 4:51/km.

As noted last week, was struggling for motivation here but managed to get out and it was a lovely sunny lunchtime run. Felt a lot more motivated after. Even if I was a little stiff after Saturday's race. But most importantly, the hip/glute pain I had the previous week wasn't made worse by the race effort on Saturday which was great.

Tuesday: 8.4km @ 4:44/km.

Along the seafront in Barcelona, a lovely place to do this one including 6 x 100m efforts. I was incredibly tight for time though so really squeezed it in in between meetings and team dinner.

Wednesday: 5.5km easy.

Again in Barcelona, again quite nice but really squeezed in before breakfast and after a relatively late night before. Came very close to not doing this one.

Thursday: 10.3km @ 4:21/km. (5 x 600 @ 5km pace).

Was very happy with myself for this one. I had gotten home from airport at about 1am on Weds night and was pretty wrecked come Thursday morning. I made a deal with myself that I'd at least get out for a an easy run, and head up toward Fernhill and see how I felt. And as frequently happens, I actually completed the session on target and on time. all the efforts were approx: 2:02 in duration which was a bit quicker than 5k pace but in the ball park. Chuffed with myself to get out and get this one done.

Friday: 28.1km @ 4:45/km

Broke a golden rule and did sessions on back to back days here. But sister's wedding on Friday afternoon meant there was no way I would get LSR done any other time than Friday 1st thing. In consideration of that, kept it all easy and relaxed, bar the climb up Fosters Ave from N11 to Goatstown where I worked to maintain the ~4:45/km pace.

Saturday: nothing. I was a broken man.

Sunday: 6km easy. twice around the block to log some miles.

crisco10

Week 15 (Total Weekly Mileage; 88km)

Monday: 23km @ 4:46/km

My 2nd last >20km Monday run, won't miss them. The run itself was grand.

Tuesday: 7km @ 4:51/km. Easy lunch run

Wednesday: 11km @ 4:10/km

6 x 600 @ 5k off 400m. (2:04, 2:01, 1:58, 1:58, 1:57, 1:58)

Much quicker than they should be, but still very doable. Was a lovely wet day too, and I thoroughly enjoyed. Officially was supposed to be 5 reps, but threw in #6 because I misprogrammed my watch. lol

Thursday: 8km 4:37 (5 x 100m thrown in there)

Absolutely squeezed in, and a great example of why I put my running gear on under my clothes when I get dressed in the morning. Had 45 mins between dropping E back to school after a doctors appointment and my next work meeting. This run took 37 mins so every second counted!

Friday: 6km easy. 1st thing in the morning, it was cold!

Saturday: 30km 11km @ MP, rest easy. Avg Pace 4:31/km.

Had the brainwave on Friday evening to "break" Heartbreak Hill (and to a less degree Clonskeagh Road) in this session. So jogged to and from top of Roebuck road (4.5km) then did 3 loops of Fosters Ave, N11 (to Donnybrook), Eglinton Rd, Clonskeagh Rd, Roebuck Rd. This was a 7km loop. And on each loop, I did the section from the top of Eglinton Rd to bottom of Fosters (~4km) at MP, and floated along the N11 and up Eglinton Rd. This meant I got plenty of practice at the 3km drag ending with Heartbreak Hill at MP, then the 1km downhill on Fosters at MP too. 1st Rep was easy, 2nd rep tricky, 3rd rep fine. Although, I was quicker than target MP on each rep.

I'm glad I did this recky because I actually had forgotten that its a full km from the turn off Clonskeagh Rd to Heartbreak Hill, with a few false dawns for reaching it. Good session, felt smug afterwards. Very noticeable that there were lots of runners out on this seemingly random set of suburban roads too. I guess others are at the same thing.

Though I didn't get to stretch after because I walked into house to hear funny noises from dishwasher and got distracted by troubleshooting that!

Sunday: 4km with buggy @ 5:30/km. Supposed to be a rest day, but E asked me to take her in the running buggy to GAA so I did that at a very leisurely pace. She's looking increasingly ridiculous in the buggy tho, being almost 6. lol.

MiniMonstera

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122668129#Comment_122668129

great mileage.

We have a running buggy. Didn't use it much before they all aged out of it (youngest is 4). Should really put it on Adverts.

I should get out on the marathon course too. Is there a better map than the official one floating around anywhere? Wouldnt mind interrogating it a bit

crisco10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122669099#Comment_122669099

Here's a link to the course on Garmin:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/308708538

We hardly use either runny buggy now (we've a double too). But have gotten great use out of the single OnA Sport. It's done over 2000km with a variety of passengers.