Barca bound...

BOB81

So...I am signed up for the Barcelona marathon (10 March 2024), so I've decided to start a log to keep me honest. By way of background I'm 42, have been running since 2011 when I went from couch to marathon (DCM) over the course of 7 months or so, finished the marathon in 4.39:14 but was walking/hobbling for last 10k of that, my IT band pretty much exploded and that was that. I had been injury free during training so it was disappointing (was hoping to simply run the entire thing and maybe go around in 4/4:15), but with benefit of hindsight I didn't have a strong enough base mileage before starting and I also paced the race incredibly badly (no garmin for myself back in those days, I wonder now how I ever managed without it!). Just looked up the splits and I did my first 10k of the marathon in 46 mins which I'm fairly sure was a 10k PB at the time, and at least 10 mins ahead of any pace I should have been even half considering which was madness. So I was setting myself up for a disastrous 2nd half which is what happened (last 10k took 1hr 20!).

So I feel like there is unfinished business there, want to give the marathon another go, feel like now is the time. Was looking at early season races in 2024, wanted some time to build up mileage and also somewhere reasonably flat and March timing with winter training suits me in general so Barcelona here I come! Also going over with my wife and kids so will make a family weekend of it. In terms of recent experience my last go at a proper racing plan was in 2020 when I was signed up to run the Cork marathon (Covid obviously put paid to that). Instead I ended up doing some virtual "races" myself - did a half marathon and 10k over the second half of 2020, and did two solid training blocks for those (15 weeks for half marathon and 12 weeks for 10k). I used the level 2 plans for both distances from Matt Fitzgerald's book, 80/20 running, and found them good, so I'm all in on heart rate based training. Also thankfully ran both blocks injury free so felt like the plans allowed me to build up miles safely. Mileage has tailed off since 2020 though (where I did 1300 miles), to 2022 where I only covered 640m. Recently I've been running 3/4 days per week, 15-20 miles in total with the odd fast finish run or fartlek thrown in, nothing too structured. 

However I've not done a race or specific racing block since 2020, so my PBs are all quite dated:

HM PB - 1:43:10 (Sept 2020)

10k - 43:57 (Dec 2020)

5k - 21:10 (Dec 2020, first half of above 10k)

For the marathon plan I'm going with a Matt Fitzgerald plan again (the level 2 plan from his 80/20 running book) - 18 weeks starting 5 Nov. To build up to that I've got a 80/20 running maintenance plan from training peaks which will take me just up to the end of October. This should get me to gradually up my mileage to around 32 miles per week (from starting point of 20), increase running frequency from 4 to 5/6 days per week (may include a recovery cycle instead of one of the easy run days depending on how the legs feel) and I'm aiming to get my baseline LSR up to 1.5 hrs. The maintenance plan has longest run at 1hr 20 but will aim to add 10 mins to a few of the runs to hit this time more often, and to finish with a 1hr 30 min run as the longest effort, which will tie in better with first few long runs of the marathon plan (7-9 miles). Plan from now till end October in general has 2 days with fartlek/fast finish runs/intervals (Mon & Thurs), 3 days short easy runs (Tues/Wed/Fri) and 1 day with a longer run at easy pace (Sat), similar structure to the 80/20 plans I've run before. I'll no doubt tweak the scheduling of a few sessions here and there but will try and do as much of it as a I possibly can. Marathon plan has similar structure (will post that up closer to when I'm starting it), sometimes has 7 days running but a number of the easy run days can be done as cross training which I think I'll do twice a week as a cycle, 5 days running is plenty for me I think.

For my heart rate training zones I did a 30 min lactate threshold test a few weeks ago as a best guess for heart rate zones for now (I use HR strap rather than relying on the garmin wrist based sensor). Am planning on doing a 10k time trial/race at the end of the maintenance block to see where my fitness has got to and then to use that to reassess training paces before starting the marathon plan. 

Main concerns are at this stage how I get on in upping weekly mileage for the LSRs (not really done many long runs over 1hr this year), but hopefully my planned 30 week lead in before the marathon will give me enough time to ramp up the mileage safely. The other bit I'm thinking about is of course a time target, sub 4hrs is certainly in my head but that is all based on 2020 guesswork, so time will tell if I can get back to that kind of shape. Very long intro there but will keep updates more brief! And thanks in advance for any and all advice, been some great reading going through individual logs and sub-4 support thread so hopefully can pick up some more nuggets of advice along the way.

BOB81

Week 1 log (will probably post every couple of weeks)

Plan is to map out my running broadly in line with 80/20 principles - so at least 80% of my run time should be at easy pace (avg HR of 145 or so or below - so Zone 2 in 80/20 speak.) Most of my runs will be done on country roads, with a few down around docklands/ringsend when I'm in Dublin for work.  

Mon - 42 min fartlek (15 min warm up Zone 1 & 2, then 6 x 0:20 sec in Zone 5/ 1:40 in zone 2, followed by 15 min warm down. Had been unknowingly running these too fast in the past (all out for 20 seconds), but training peaks instructions were to run the intervals at a pace you could sustain for 5 mins, which meant a more comfortably hard workout. (avg HR 142) 

Tues/Wed - 34/30 mins easy runs (HR 136/137) - usual out and back route near my house

Thurs - 30 min fast finish run (last 5 mins Zone 4 - HR 170)

Fri - 30 mins foundation run (HR 135)

Sat - 45 mins easy run (HR 139)

Weekly miles - 22 - (3hrs 22min of running with 17 mins (8%) above zone 2)

Week 2 (switched 1hr run to mid-week as it suited me to run it as part of my commute)

Mon - 44 min Fartlek (15 min warm up - then alternating efforts of Zone 4 (1 min), Zone 3 (2 min), Zone X (3 min) with 1 min in Zone 2 in between each up-tempo effort - 15 min warm down. Hadn't done this workout before and was fiddly to get pacing right but ran the up-tempo zones by pace mainly. (HR 

Tues/Wed - 30 min easy (HR 134/139) 

Thurs - 60 min easy (HR 135) - ran down navan road into docklands (downhill almost all the way!) so perhaps avg heart rate a little generous

Fri - 40 min very easy (HR 128) meant to do 35mins with fast finish but spent 7.5 hrs in A&E overnight with my wife who sprained her ankle, so decided to do an easy/recovery effort instead!) 

Sat - 32 min easy - (HR 139)

Weekly miles - 24 - (3hrs 59min of running with 24 mins (10%) above zone 2)

BOB81

Week 3 - 28/08/23

Mon - 45 min fartlek:

15 min warm up, 

6 x (1 min zone 4/2 min zone 2),  

15 min cool down. 

Pace suggestion for the 1 min zone 4 was max pace you could run for 15 mins, so ran between 6.50-7min per mile as guesstimate. (avg HR 142 for the run, HR in the 1 min intervals got up to 170 which was on target).

Definitely felt a little heavy in the legs before starting this run, but grand once I got going

Tues - 30 min easy (HR 133, kept this handy after the fartlek previous day)

Wed - 32 min easy (HR 133, nice run into docklands along the coast from ballsbridge)

Thurs - 44 min progression run: 

25 min zone 1/2,  

8 min steady (zone x)/4min threshold (zone 3)/2 min cv (zone 4), 

5 min warm down

Hadn't done this exact run before but tried to pace the three sections as suggested by trainingpeaks - 9:00 min/m, 8:10 min/m and 7.20 min/m. This went better than expected, ran the zone 3 segment a bit faster than I should but ok all in all

Fri - did cycle in place of 30 min easy run, will have some cross training days in marathon plan so just building this in here too. Also conscious that I'm getting used to a number of days consecutive running again, so no harm having a non-running recovery day

Sat - 72 mins easy (HR 139) out backroads out to killallon and back , nice early morning run 

Weekly mileage 23.1 (4hrs 17 mins total activity, 33mins (13%) mins HR above zone 2)

Week 4 - 4/09/23

Mon - 45 min progression intervals - so 

5:00 in Zone 1

10:00 in Zone 2

5 x (0:30 in Zone 3/0:20 in Zone 4/0:10 in Zone 5)

5:00 in Zone 1

5 x (0:30 in Zone 3/0:20 in Zone 4/0:10 in Zone 5)

15:00 in Zone 1

Found the very short intervals tricky to pace right, erred on the side of too fast for the most part

Tues/Wed 30 & 34 min easy runs (HR 133 for both)

Thurs - 35 min fast finish run (30 mins in zone 1/2, 5 mins zone 4) (avg HR 137 overall, HR 170 in the zone 4 run which was on target)

Fri - 30 min easy (HR 131)

Sat - 60 mins easy (HR 135), shorter long run this week, plan has me doing 2 weeks where I up the mileage slightly and then one scaled back week which this week was. Really enjoying being back out running consistently, (so far - albeit I'm only a month in!)

Weekly mileage 24.3 (3hrs 55 mins, 21 mins (9%) mins above zone 2)

BOB81

Week 5 -11/09/23

Mon - 46 mins Fartlek

5:00 in Zone 1

10:00 in Zone 2

8 x 0:20 in Zone 5/1:40 in Zone 2

15:00 in Zone 1

Went well, first outing for new runners (reebok floatride energy 5) seems like they'll do perfectly for this kind of run. (HR 138)

 Tues & Wed - 35 mins easy (HR 131/133)

Thurs - 40 mins fast finish (30 mins zone 1/2, 10 mins zone 3)

Overall HR 140, HR of 164 in the last 10 mins which was just at top of range but on target.

Fri - 35 mins easy (HR 137, heavy rain all the way for this run (somehow this was only the first time since starting plan, running jacket definitely on the shopping list for longer winter runs ahead)

Sat – 9 miles easy (1hr 28 mins, HR 136)

This was a loop near my house that I haven't run since January, glad to see recent mileage paying off, lower average HR and spent a lot less time above zone 2 than the last time I did it)

 Weekly mileage - 29 (4hrs 39 mins, 22 mins (8%) above Zone 2)

 

Week 6 – 18/09/23

Shorter mileage this week due to a long planned weekend away with friends. There was some talk of bringing running gear in the group, but I decided the hills of Lisbon would be more pleasant to look at rather than run up... So only got 4 runs done instead of 6 this week, but made sure to get a longer run in, and one fartlek also.

Mon - 54 min Fartlek

5:00 in Zone 1

10:00 in Zone 2

8 x 1:00 in Zone 4/2:00 in Zone 2

15:00 in Zone 1

(HR 144, paced the intervals around 6.30/6.40 m per mile which was a bit fast with hindsight, HR around 170 for most of the intervals but crept up a bit higher for the last 3 reps)

Tues - 35 mins easy (HR 131)

Wed – 10 miles easy (1hr 39 mins, HR 137, happy with this, kept heart rate in zone 2 almost entirely)

Thurs - 35 mins recovery (HR 125)

Did some bodyweight S&C exercises after this run, going to try and do this twice weekly from now on

 Weekly mileage - 22.6 (3hrs 43 mins, 19 mins (9%) above zone 2)

BOB81

Week 7 – 25/09/23

Mon - 35 mins fast finish run (30 mins zone 1/2, 5 mins zone 4) HR 139, HR 170 in the zone 4 segment

Tues - 35 min easy (HR 139)

Wed - 35 min easy (HR 134)

Thurs – 55 min progression intervals

5:00 in Zone 1/10:00 in Zone 2

5 x (0:30 in Zone 3/0:20 in Zone 4/0:10 in Zone 5), 5:00 in Zone 1

5 x (0:30 in Zone 3/0:20 in Zone 4/0:10 in Zone 5), 5:00 in Zone 1

5 x (0:30 in Zone 3/0:20 in Zone 4/0:10 in Zone 5), 15:00 in Zone 1

Extra set of reps compared to last time I did this, didn’t pace it any better however, started off way too quick for first 5 reps and just about hung on for subsequent 2 sets (HR 145 for the session)

Fri - 35 min easy (HR 135)

Sat - 11 miles easy, (HR 139, 1hr 47 mins)

Felt comfortable with this week’s mileage, 30-35 miles will be kind of baseline for the first few weeks of the marathon plan I’m starting in November so this gives me some comfort that it shouldn’t be too overwhelming to start with at least.

Weekly mileage 31.5 (5hrs 5mins, 29 mins (10%) above zone 2)

Week 8 - 2/10/23

Switched longer run to midweek this week and did a 5k on Sat in place of second speed workout. 

Mon - 54 min Fartlek

5:00 in Zone 1/15:00 in Zone 2,

1:00 in Zone 4/1:00 in Zone 2/2:00 in Zone 3

1:00 in Zone 2/3:00 in Zone X/1:00 in Zone 2

2:00 in Zone 3/1:00 in Zone 2/1:00 in Zone 4

1:00 in Zone 2/20:00 in Zone 1

(HR 142, paced this one fairly well overall)

Tues - 35 min easy (HR 131 – ambled into docklands from phoenix park)

Wed - 35 min easy (HR 134, very early morning at home run before heading to dublin for work, got the head-torch and hi-viz out for this one)

Thurs – 8 miles easy (HR 139 – in the navan road to docklands with a loop around ringsend to finish off. Was raining a bit so wore recently purchased proviz waterproof jacket. It certainly kept the rain out, but I didn’t find it in any way breathable (which is what most reviews had said to be fair) so its confirmed as a winter running jacket only. Will be testing it in a proper downpour in the near future no doubt…

Fri - 30 min recovery (HR 128)

Sat – 5k (+1m warm up/1m cool down), just wanted to see how I got on with an all-out effort, also handy to judge max heart rate (used chest HR strap for this run).

Time 21:50 (35 seconds off pb which was in 2020), (Avg HR 174, max HR 190)

happy enough overall but definitely went off a bit too quick, felt like I was just hanging on at the end, mile splits were 6:56, 7:02, 7:04. 

Haven't kept up the S&C work, need to build this into routine, perhaps just after a short easy run or on an off day.

BOB81

Week 9 - 9/10/23

Mon - 56 min Fartlek

5:00 in Zone 1/15:00 in Zone 2

8 x 0:20 in Zone 5/1:40 in Zone 2

20:00 in Zone 1

(HR 137) Did some bodyweight strength exercises in the evening

Tues - 40 min easy (HR 141)

Wed - 40 min easy (HR 137)

Thurs – 54 mins progression

5 min zone 1/30 min zone 2

8 min zone 3 /4 min zone LT TH/ 2 min zone 2

5 min zone 1

(HR 135) – came in navan rd to docklands. Enjoyed this run except that the quicker paced segments coincided with a load of traffic lights so was a bit stop start, HR was a little bit below target overall for these segments, pacing felt ok

Fri - 30 min recovery (HR 126)

Sat – 12.6 miles easy (2hrs 1min, HR 143)

Just wanted to get a 2hr run under my belt before starting marathon plan next month, happy with how this went. Overall felt good after a solid weeks running, highest weekly mileage since 2020.

Weekly mileage 36.1 (5hrs 44mins, 23 mins (7%) above zone 2) 

Week 10 - 16/10/23

Mon – 65 min progression intervals

5:00 in Zone 1/15:00 in Zone 2

5 x (0:30 in Zone 3/0:20 in Zone 4/0:10 in Zone 5)/5:00 in Zone 1

5 x (0:30 in Zone 3/0:20 in Zone 4/0:10 in Zone 5)/5:00 in Zone 1

5 x (0:30 in Zone 3/0:20 in Zone 4/0:10 in Zone 5)/20:00 in Zone 1

HR 145 - Last few reps in the 3rd set were hard, paced the early reps a bit quick and paid for it in the end, definitely a pattern forming with this session.

Tues - 40 min easy (HR 136)

Wed - 40 min easy (HR 136, out very early at home with head torch for this one)

Thurs – 40 mins fast finish run (last 5 mins zone 4), (HR 143)

Fri – 40 mins easy (HR 133), did bodyweight exercises after this run

Sat – 1hr easy (6.7 miles, HR 137)– did this in what I think will be my marathon shoes (saucony endorphin pro 3, far too early to have bought these perhaps but saw them on sportsshoes for what looked like a good price and here we are). Anyway first ever time running in a carbon shoe and it felt a little strange, but I get what people say in the reviews now about them being propulsive – felt like it would be a difficult shoe to just plod along in. Ran unintentionally faster than my normal easy pace (9min/mile vs usual  9.30min/mile) but HR was in the same normal range. Will be using these very sparingly in the months ahead – a couple of long runs and some speedwork to get used to them is the plan.

Weekly mileage 30.9 miles (4hrs 45 mins, 25 mins (9%) above zone 2) 

ismisecraic

Great and well done. Ive booked Barcelona for next year too. I think i might start a training log here once i finish Dublin. My aim is to work to a programme too.

Have really pivoted to the HR training this year and running easy and it has paid dividends and (touch wood) kept me injury free.

Is there someone you run with , a buddy or a club? It's so much easier for the motivation and the accountability when you train with others, especially on the long runs.

Also, if you are on Strava , https://8020training.app/dashboard/ this is a great little tool to highlight if you are hitting the 80/20 principles on your strava data.

BOB81

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121281538#Comment_121281538

Thanks very much - I'm running solo and have pretty much done since I started running, majority of my runs are done at home (out in deepest darkest Westmeath) and I'm happy just to set my own timetable - tend to run early in the morning as much as I can. Found it great during Covid times (the last time I was running as much as I am now) to get out of the house and clear the head, running solo was actually a welcome change (managing kids at home while working at various points etc). And thanks for the strava tip!

BOB81

Week 11 - 23/10/23

Mon – 35 mins fast finish run, 10 mins zone 3

Was planning on running a longer fartlek this morning but felt a bit sluggish after a bad night’s sleep so switched it to Wed. So did this fast finish run instead, went well and HR in the 10 min block was bang on target, 162bpm. Overall HR 144

Tues - 40 min easy (HR 139)

Wed – 64 mins fartlek

5:00 in Zone 1/15:00 in Zone 2

8 x (1:00 in Zone 4/2:00 in Zone 2), 20:00 in Zone 1

HR 145 – felt this went well overall, paced the reps at slightly quicker than 5k pace and this got HR in the right zone

Thurs - 40 min easy (HR 138)

Fri – 40 mins easy (HR 135) – very early start for this one, had to get back by 7am before my wife headed up to Dublin for work)

Sat – 12 miles easy (HR 141 – 1hr 54mins)

Perfect morning for a run – did a nice loop out through a couple of local villages. Bought a soft water flask with me to practice taking a bit of water on board – fell out of my running belt 3 times in the first mile, so left it in the ditch and picked it up on the way back. Will be on the look-out for a hydration vest in the black Friday sales methinks…

So that is my base building training block done (340 miles since the start of August), I’m taking a down week next week, just a couple of short runs planned and then I’m starting an 18 week marathon plan on Sunday 5th of Nov. Will post up the plan early next week. Also best of luck to everyone running Dublin tomorrow, some great reading in the running logs on here recently, excellent motivational material!

Weekly mileage 36 ( 5hrs 33mins, 34mins (10%) above zone 2) 

BOB81

Week 12

Marathon plan kicks off this Sunday (starting Sunday so I can do my long runs on a Sat which just suits me better). I’m doing a plan that is broadly based on the level 2 marathon plan from the “80/20 running” book, and have outlined it below for anyone interested. It’s a bit of a pain to figure out from the book but basically each run/workout name maps to a specific time based session (in the 80/20 run library) which is broken down by the suggested time to spend in each heart rate zone. Most of the easy miles are made up of recovery runs (HR zone 1), foundation/easy runs (zone 2) and long runs (mainly in zone 2, with some variations in the peak phase of the plan). And for the speedwork (Mondays & Thursdays) there are hill reps (6 weeks of these), tempos (usually with 20-30 mins in zone 3), fast finish runs (40-60 mins with 10-15 mins in zone 3) and varying types of intervals/fartleks. Mileage starts around 33 miles in week 1 and peaks around 48 miles, and every 3rd week is a step back week where mileage/duration drops by 10-25%.

The original plan from the book has 14 days consecutive running followed by a rest day every 3rd week, but while I’ve been managing 6 days running in a row in the last while and I’m getting on ok, I think on reflection 14 consecutive days may be a step too far! So I’ve done away with the Sunday run from the plan (which was usually 45 mins easy/recovery pace) for the most part, and tweaked the duration of the midweek easy runs slightly to accommodate this. Overall I reckon a full rest day most weeks will be preferable, especially as I’ll be entering into higher mileage weeks than I’ve done before. I’ve a few Sundays later in the plan down for a short run or cycle depending on how I’m getting on, more thinking of active recovery than adding meaningful miles. And the race is actually on a Sunday, so I’ll have an extra rest day in the last week, compared to what I have up above. Also on the race itself - they’ve just announced a new route for the Barcelona marathon for 2024, it has slightly less elevation on what I think was already a fairly flat course. As an extra bonus the Airbnb I booked a couple of months ago is now only 1km from the new start line so getting there is one less thing to worry about on race day.

For the longer runs in the plan, the marathon simulator run is the only type of run I’ve not done before - 20 miles with 16 miles at marathon pace. So I’m a bit unsure about this one at this stage. But as there are no tune-up races in the plan then this kind of takes the place of one of those, and I suppose being able do 16 miles at goal pace 3 weeks out from the race would be essential (assuming you’ve got the right goal pace..). Aside from the simulator run there isn’t a lot of direct marathon pace miles in the plan, which a lot of other plans seem to have from reading running logs on here. But there are tempo runs and longer runs with quicker paces later in the plan so perhaps the overall effect of these is similar. The 80/20 half marathon plan I did a few years back was structured like this, and got me a time I was happy with, so we’ll see.

I’d be interested though if anyone else has done an 80/20 marathon plan in the past and how they found it (or if they made any tweaks to it), so thanks in advance for any and all opinions on this (if you’ve managed to keep reading this long that is…)

BOB81

Week 1 Marathon plan – 5/11/23

Sun – 40 mins easy (4.27 miles/HR 136/9:23 p/m), legs felt a little bit sluggish starting off this, after a few days off running completely the previous week

Mon – 41 min fast finish run (last 10 mins zone 3), (4.67 miles/HR 144/8:42 p/m) – did this around ringsend/docklands, got the zone 3 HR and pace right despite the best efforts of my garmin (was giving me some strange paces at times). Did the zone 2 part of this run a bit fast in hindsight, but HR was ok.

Tues - 40 min easy (4.3 miles/HR 136/9:21 p/m) Kept this nice and handy through sandymount and back to docklands.

Wed – 40 min easy (4.3 miles/HR 137/9:19/m) did this down in portlaoise, down home for a quick visit

Thurs – 31 mins fartlek (3.56 miles/HR 145/8:43p/m)

10 mins warm up (Z1/2), 4 x (2mins Zone 4/2mins Zone 1), 5 min cool down

Went fine, did some S&C after this

Fri – 35 mins easy (3.7 miles/HR 134/9:28 p/m)

Sat – 10 miles easy (1hr34mins/HR 137/9:25 p/m) – perfect crisp morning for a run, did usual loop through a few local villages for this.

Weekly mileage 34.8 (5hrs 26mins, 24mins (7%) above zone 2) 

BOB81

Week 2 Marathon plan – 12/11/23

Mon– 38 mins fartlek - 15 mins warm up (Z1/2), 6 x (1mins Zone 4/2mins Zone 1), 5 min cool down

(4.00 miles/HR137/9:32 p/m). Moved this fartlek to Monday (from Thursday in the plan), Storm Debi winds were still hanging around when I did this - ran 3 of the intervals with the wind and 3 into the wind, felt like I might has well have been standing still running into the wind..

Tues - 45 min easy, did some S&C after this.(4.77miles/HR138/9:27 p/m).

Wed – 50 min easy. (5.37 miles/HR136/9:20 p/m) This run is the exact reason I do my runs in the morning where I can, felt like I had a very poor sleep but got out running while I still had the energy for it. Run itself went grand, out through sandymount and back to docklands.

Thurs – 47 min fast finish run (last 12 mins zone 3), (5.4 miles/HR 139/8:42 p/m), felt good on this run, particularly the zone 3 portion, much better sleep thankfully.

Fri – 50 mins easy (5.36 miles/HR134/9:20 p/m), nothing to report, nice early morning run, did some S&C later in the day

Sat – 11 miles easy (HR 140/9:35p/m), down in portlaoise again for this one, family gathering Saturday evening. First long run I’ve done in the last few months that felt a bit like hard work, some rolling hills on the route and windy. Also took a SIS go gel during the run to test it out, not one I’ll take again I think, but I need to get used to the consistency of gels in general, I doubt there is that much difference between all the varieties..

Weekly mileage 35.9 (5hrs 36mins, 33mins (10%) above zone 2) 

BOB81

Week 3 Marathon plan – 19/11/23

Mon – 40 fast finish (10 mins zone 3) (4.52 miles/HR145/8:50 p/m). Used watch heart rate for this so was a bit higher than I’d expect in last 10 mins, effort felt ok though

Tues – 40 mins easy (4.27 miles/HR129/9:20p/m), nothing much to report

Wed – 40 mins easy (4.29 miles/HR129/9:20p/m), away in Frankfurt with work so had a nice early morning run along the river

Thurs – 31 mins fartlek - 10 mins Z1/2, 4x(2mins Z4/2mins Z1),5 mins Z1

(3.5 miles/HR146/8:53p/m) also did this in Frankfurt, proper cold for this run with the wind chill, probably -2/3.

Fri – 35 mins easy (3.7 miles/HR134/9:25p/m), back home for this one, got a decent sleep after a couple of poor nights when I was away.

Sat – 9 miles easy (1hr 25mins/HR137/9:25p/m), cold and early start for this run but went well. 

BOB81

Week 4 Marathon plan – 26/11/23

Mon – 47 fast finish (12 mins zone 3) (5.35 miles/HR144/8:44 p/m). Effort felt ok for this overall, but HR for the end of the zone 3 segment went slightly above, also paced the easy part of the run a bit quick.

Tues – 50 mins easy (5.3 miles/HR134/9:26p/m), nothing much to report, down in docklands again for this one

Wed – 50 mins easy (5.30 miles/HR138/9:27p/m), -2 degrees starting out this run at home

Thurs – Hill repeats - 10 mins Z1/2, 6x(1mins Z5/2mins Z1),17 mins Z1/2 (4.5 miles/HR138/10:04p/m)

Did this down home, got dropped off near the perfect hill for these sprints, ran home after so warm down a little longer than planned. Remembering now why this was my least favourite workout from previous running plans I did, 5 more weeks of these to look forward to

Fri – 45 mins recovery (all zone 1) (4.54 miles/HR127/9:56 p/m), kept this in zone 1 for the most part, nice easy run.

Sat – 12 miles easy (1hr 54 mins/HR 141/9:28 p/m). Just an out an back route for this one at home, proper cold heading out (think the gel I was carrying nearly froze in my pocket, consistency of the gel was more like the end of a mr freeze than a normal gel by the time I took it). Tried the SIS cherry one with caffeine this time, a lot nicer than than the standard orange SIS go.

Weekly mileage 37 (5hrs 51mins, 30 mins (9%) above zone 2) 

Runster

If you can pace yourself properly this time around you could do a great time. Maybe think about following pacers if needs be.

BOB81

Week 5 Marathon plan – 3/12/23

Moved some runs around this week to fit in hill sprints, did them at home on Wed instead of Thurs as originally planned.

Mon – 52 mins fast finish (12 mins zone 3) (5.84miles/HR140/8:56/mi)

This went well, got the pacing in the early part better than last week and nailed the zone 3 segment, felt strong on this run overall  

Tues – 50 mins easy (5.4 miles/HR136/9:15p/m), nothing much to report, did this down home

Wed – Hill repeats - 10 mins Z1/2, 10x(30 seconds Z5/1.5mins Z1),7 mins Z1 (3.6 miles/HR143/10:20p/m), felt it went a bit better than previous week, found the shorter sprints a little easier to manage, still tough though

Thurs – 60 mins easy (6.35 miles/HR139/9:27p/m), usual sandymount, ringsend, docklands loop for this – definitely felt it a bit in the legs after hills the previous day.

Fri – 46 mins recovery, all zone 1 (4.31 miles/HR 127/10:40 p/m) – did almost all of this in zone 1 which is the plan for a recovery run, but had to slow down a lot to manage this. Was out for a few drinks with work the night before, so expected to be a bit sluggish with poor sleep etc, and I was!

Sat – 13 miles easy (2hrs 3 mins/HR140/9:27 p/m) This went better than expected given the weather conditions, extremely windy but avoided the heavy rain for the most part. Also kept my gel trials going this week, tried some precision fuel gels this time, they are very sweet tasting but consistency wise were easier to consume than SIS. Probably still needed to wash them down with water but these seem like a contender for race day. Wore my endorphin pro 3s for their first longer run, felt good even at a slower pace. 

Weekly mileage 38.5 (6hrs 7mins, 42 mins (12%) above zone 2) 

BOB81

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121477011#Comment_121477011

Thanks definitely something I'll be considering this time around (at least I'll have a garmin this time to fall back on!), following a group would be one less thing to be worry about. And I've a bit of time to try and figure out which time and pace group to aim for...

BOB81

Week 6 Marathon plan – 10/12/23

Mon – 47 mins fast finish (12 mins zone 3) 5.32 miles/HR 141/8:50 p/m) This went fine overall, avg HR in the zone 3 segment was at upper end of zone 3. 5 weeks done and I am very glad I gave myself a full rest day on a Sunday (compared with running most Sundays as well which the plan originally had). After the long run on Sat and a few drinks that evening I really needed the rest and a decent nights sleep on Sunday to get ready for another week’s running.

Tues – 35 mins easy – (3.77 miles/HR134/9:17 p/m), nothing to report

Wed 35 mins easy – (3.70 miles/HR138/9:29 p/m) very early run down home before heading to Dublin for work

Thurs – 40 mins hill repeats (6x 1min Z5/2min Z1) (4 miles/HR144/9:58p/m). Went a little better than the previous time I did this, was able to get the HR up a bit higher during the hills.

Fri – 35 mins recovery (3.52 miles/HR127/9:59p/m), nothing much to report on this, did some S&C afterwards, gotten out of the habit of this too easily, must do better..

Sat – 10 miles easy (1hr 35 mins/HR141/9:30p/m), nothing much to report on this – kept this almost all in zone 2 so happy enough. 

Weekly mileage 30.3 (4hrs 43mins, 30 mins (11%) above zone 2) 

BOB81

Mon – 55 min fast finish run (last 15 mins zone 3), (6.46miles/HR140/8:31 p/mile)

This went well got the HR spot on, wore endorphin pro 3 for this (normally in reebok floatride for this kind of run), definitely felt like I benefit from the change in footwear, pace was good in the last segment.

Was able to WFH all week so did all my runs down home, very thankful for this flexibility.  I think its probably fair to say I wouldn’t be doing this marathon if it wasn’t for hybrid working. Back in 2011 I did all my weekday training runs after work, no chance I’d have the time or motivation now to do that, these days if I haven’t run by lunchtime I’m probably not running that day.

Tues – 55 mins easy (6 miles/HR135/9:11p/m). Paced this a bit faster than normal perhaps but felt fine. Did small bit of S&C after this – focussing on some knee specific exercises, just conscious that is where things went wrong in the past and as I’m into new mileage territory, only been over 40 miles a week a handful of times.

Wed – 60 mins easy (6.33 miles/HR 136/9:29p/m), paced this a bit slower than previous day, went fine overall

Thurs  - 40 mins hill repeats (warm up then 12x (30 sec Zone 5/1:30 zone 1) – fairly strong winds out for this one but actually went ok, got HR up where I wanted it for the hills, (4 miles/HR148/9:56p/m)

Fri – 45 mins recovery, (4.3 miles/HR 129/10:28 p/m) had to slow right down to keep HR in zone 1, which I mostly did. Did some S&C after this also.

Sat – 14 miles easy (14.1 miles/HR141/9:40p/m) This started off tough, rolling hills and mostly into a good strong breeze until about mile 7. Had done part of this route before but I severely underestimated the elevation change in the first half, thankfully second half was a bit more forgiving. Highest mileage week since the last time I did a marathon in 2011, also ticked over the 1000 miles for the year during my long run, so very happy with that.

Weekly mileage 41.2 (6hrs 31mins, 51 mins (13%) above zone 2) 

BOB81

Week 8 Marathon plan 25/12/23

Mon 60 min easy run (6.34 miles/HR139/9:29 p/mile)

Waited for the kids to get up to unwrap presents, then did some dinner prep, then out the door as early as I could. I’ve never run on Christmas day before, but not a bad idea in future, made for some guilt free gluttony with a few calories burned off to start the day!

Tues – 5k race (Avg HR 172/6:43/per mile).

There was a 5k race/fun run in our village (clonmellon) on stephen’s day so decided to do this in place of both my planned session days this week (plan originally had fast finish run on Monday and hills on Thursday). Figured 5k race would be more than enough to keep me going for the week that was in it, and also wanted to see where my fitness was at.

My garmin prediction was 21:54, my prediction from runalyze (I use this instead of strava) was 20:30 and my PB was 21:15 so somewhere around 21 mins was where I was hoping for. Ended up with 20:52 which I was happy with – nearly a minute faster than my last race effort for this distance which was at the start of October (21:50). Wouldn’t give you a whole pile of confidence in the garmin race predictions however, but this seems to be a common enough trend. Mile splits were 6:51/6:44/6:35 so was able to pick the pace up a bit as I went, fairly gassed at the end but HR didn’t get up as high as the last time I ran a 5k. Overall though this was a good validation of my fitness level and good signs of progress considering this isn’t a distance I’m training specifically for.

Did 20 min warm up with some strides and a 1 mile cool down)  – so 6.34 miles total for the day. Also put the race result into the 80/20 pace calculator and readjusted my training paces accordingly.

Wed - 32 min recovery (3 miles/HR 130/10:46 p/mile) had to keep this v slow to keep HR down, was out for a few drinks stephen’s night so just got out to keep the legs moving.

Thurs – 60 mins easy - (6.45 miles/HR136/9:18 p/mile). Somehow since starting my running plans in August this was only my first time running in a full downpour for the entire run – wet and miserable and glad to have this behind me.

Fri 50 mins easy (5.55 miles/HR 134/9:00 p/mile), nothing much to report, nice crisp morning, HR seemed a bit low for this pace but effort wise it felt fine. Did some S&C after this.

Sat 16 miles easy (2hrs 31 mins/HR 142/9:27 p/mile). Was trying to get out in the least amount of rain possible so started running a little later than normal for my long run, managed to get around relatively dry. Took 3 gels on route (still sticking with precision fuel) but oddly I’ve never been as hungry during a run, particularly the second half. Overall it went ok, definitely my legs were sluggish at times – fairly sure this is my highest mileage week ever so to be expected I guess.

Weekly mileage 43.7 (6hrs 44mins, 40 mins (10%) above zone 2) 

Runster

Lovely running, well done with the race as well. 16 miles at this stage is great.

BOB81

Week 8 Marathon plan 31/12/23

Mon – 40 mins easy (4.39/HR 137/9:08 p/m) was in friends house for dinner and drinks for new years so got out early while I still had the energy. Last drinks for a good while thankfully, thinking about going alcohol free till the marathon but we’ll see. Next 2 weeks are my peak mileage weeks (18 & 20 mile long runs) so good quality sleep will be key, booze obviously does no favours there.

Tues – 47 mins fast finish (12 mins zone 3)(5.4 miles/HR142/8:43 p/m) This went ok only, HR was above Zone 3 for the second half of the last segment.

Wed – 40 mins easy (4.5 miles/HR139/8:52p/m). Nothing much to report, pace a bit quicker than normal for an easy run (but in range for my revised HR zones) and effort felt fine. Did some S&C after this.

Thurs – Hills (10 min warm up then 12x (30 sec Zone 5/1:30 zone 1). (4.1 miles/HR145/9:44p/m). Last set of hills sprints in the plan, not sorry to see the back of them, session went ok overall. Thursday sessions for the next few weeks are short zone 5 intervals.

Fri – 35 mins recovery  (3.5 miles/HR129/10 min p/m). Used wrist heart rate on my garmin for this (HR spiked a little randomly at times which doesn’t tend to happen with the chest strap). Did some S&C after this, with a bit of knee specific exercises included, just precautionary at this stage but have felt the odd twinge in my left knee – not sore enough to call it a niggle.

Sat – 12 miles easy (1hr 51/HR142/9:14p/m), perfect crisp cold morning for a run, did a nice loop which aside from having the ankles eaten off me by some terriers half way around, was uneventful. Didn’t bother with water or gels for this run, didn’t feel any worse off for this.

Weekly mileage 33.9 (5hrs 16mins, 33 mins (10%) above zone 2) 

BOB81

Week 9 Marathon plan 07/01/24

Mon – Intervals, 60 mins (5min Z1,21min Z2, 3x(5min Z3/3min Z1), 10 min cool down) (6.8miles/HR141/8:49p/m). Down home for this run, first attempt to run it at 9am was not a success, turned back after 2 mins as roads were lethal with black ice so I went out at lunchtime instead. Went well, felt strong on the zone 3 segments and kept the HR in the right zone for these.

Tues – 50 mins easy/recovery (5.1 miles/HR133/9:48p/m). First time back in Dublin for work since before Christmas, can’t say I missed the commute. Did usual docklands/ringsend/sandymount loop.

Wed – 70 mins easy (7.7 miles/HR 139/9:05p/m). Came in the navan road to docklands for this, first 4 miles are a gentle downhill so pace and HR reflected that bit of a boost.

Thurs – 45 mins short intervals (10 mins Z1/2, 10x(1min Z5/2min Z1), 5min Z1.(4.9 miles/HR149/9:08p/m). Hard to say that I enjoyed this, but put in a pretty good effort overall I felt. Averaged 5.30p/m pace (3.25 p/km) for the zone 5 intervals, its been a few years since I did this session but looking back on it the paces for the speedy segments are a good bit quicker than when I last did it which is promising.

Fri – 45 mins recovery (4.31 miles/HR127/10:28p/m). Kept this as a proper recovery effort, wanted to keep HR below 130 for the whole thing which I mostly did. Did some S&C after this.

Sat – 18 miles easy (2hrs 47/HR144/9:18p/m)– picked a fairly flat out and back route at home for this. Went well, no niggles (particularly pleased there was no knee concerns) and tired legs aside felt strong enough, and overall felt it went better than the 16 miler a couple of weeks back. HR was near the top end of zone 2 for a good bit of this but the effort felt ok so didn’t worry about it too much. New longest run on garmin connect clocked also (previous was 17 miler in 2020).

Weekly mileage 46.8 (7hrs 17mins, 58 mins (13%) above zone 2) 

Runster

Thats great getting the 18 miler in at this stage. Whats the plan for the long runs, do you intend on going any further or adding any race pace to them?

Where are you driving in from for work in Dublin, is it hybrid or onsite?

BOB81

Thanks, for the long runs I've one more standard LSR next week, and after that the plan has some quicker pace stuff in the long runs, fast finish runs, zone 3 intervals etc. And I've one long run with 16 miles at m-pace 3 weeks out from the marathon. For work I'm doing 2 days onsite mostly, coming in from near Kells in Meath so I get the m3 parkway train a fair bit

Runster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121611156#Comment_121611156

Sounds good, looking forward to seeing the progress.

Thats not to bad re: the working situation. It shouldnt impede your running.

BOB81

Week 11 Marathon plan 15/01/24

Mon – 45 mins Tempo (10 min Z1,21min Z2, 24 min zone 3, 11 min cool down) 5.49 miles/HR150/8:11p/m). Pretty cold starting out this but roads were dry at least, also wore my endorphin pro 3s for a change for this. Not sure if cold temperatures impact HR to a great extent – did a bit of reading on it and there would seem to be a sweet spot for distance running (colder is better up to a point). I don’t think temps here would get so cold that HR would be overly affected (some articles saying heart works harder in v low temps). Anyway, HR was in the right zone overall for the tempo segment, pace seemed fine also (around 20/30 seconds slower than 5k pace).

Tues – 50 mins easy/recovery (5.1 miles/HR130/9:50p/m). Nothing much to report on this – legs a bit stiff/sluggish perhaps but went fine. Did some S&C later in the day.

Wed – 70 mins easy (7.66 miles/HR 138/9:09p/m). Did this down home v early before going to work, temp was probably -2/-3, but roads were ok actually.  

Thurs – 47 mins short intervals (10 mins Z1/2, 10x(1:30 min Z5/2:30 min Z1), 5min Z1.(5.51 miles/HR151/8:32p/m). Happy with this compared to last weeks session, got the HR up in the right zone but paced the 90 second intervals more evenly (avg 5.50 p/m pace for the 8 reps) than the 60 second ones last week. Kept the pace more consistent throughout each rep rather than having too quick a pace at the start and being completely gassed by the end.

Fri – 45 mins recovery (4.43 miles/HR128/10:10p/m).Cold, that is all I have to say on this one. Did a quick bit of resistance band work on the legs/knees later in the day.

Sat – 20 miles easy (3hrs 4mins/HR144/9:13p/m)– Did a different route this week, some hilly bits in the first 10 miles and a fairly flat 2nd half. Got away with this weather wise I felt, was mostly dry and although there was a bit of wind in the last few miles, it was nice to run in. Longest time on feet run in the plan done, and barring a bit of left knee tightness around mile 15 (which passed after a few mins) I felt ok. Brought a combo of carb drink mix and gels (precision fuel) for this run, had all the drinks and gels gone with 50 mins to go, could maybe have done with one more bit of fuel to get me through this last section. HR was mostly fine but cardiac drift definitely came into play for the last couple of miles, they were almost all just above zone 2. Also that is my biggest mileage week in the plan done, it’s a lower mileage week next week thankfully and then mileage builds back up a bit for a 3 week stretch before the taper.

Weekly mileage 48.2 (7hrs 20 mins, 1hr 22 mins (19%) above zone 2) 

BOB81

Week 12 Marathon plan 22/01/24

Cutback week this week, back down to about 33 miles

Mon – 40 mins Tempo (20 mins zone 3). 4.8 miles/HR 150/8:18 p/m. Went fine overall, very windy in patches, back in “normal” runners (reebok floatride) for this compared to wearing carbon shoes for a similar session the previous week, pace in the tempo segment pace dropped slightly, could be shoe related, or just tired legs!

Tues 40 mins recovery (3.96 miles/HR 127/10:08p/m. Kept this as a very easy effort, legs also feeling a bit slow, similar theme to this day the previous week.

Wed 45 mins easy (5 miles/HR 137/8:47p/m). In the navan road again, a bit more life in the legs for this one, but also downhill stretches helped make this an easy effort.  

Thurs – 39 mins short intervals (10 mins Z1/2, 6x(1:30 min Z5/2:30 min Z1), warm down). (4.54m/HR149/8:36p/m). Went fine –paced intervals similarly to previous week and got HR in the right spot.

Fri –30 mins recovery (3.06 miles/HR 128/9:49p/m), nothing much to report, kept this fairly easy.

Sat – 12 miles easy (1hr 50mins/HR143/9:08p/m) did an out and back route for this one which went fine, had some small hills on the route for a bit of variety. Feel like the body has recovered from the 20 miler last week. Last “standard” LSR of the plan, every long run from now on has some form of pace-work in it.

Weekly mileage 33.5 (5hrs 04 mins, 40 mins (13%) above zone 2) 

BOB81

Week 13 Marathon plan 29/01/24

Mon – 48 mins Tempo (10min warm up, 28 min zone 3, 10 min cool down). 5.88 miles/HR 150/8:11 p/m. This went well overall, coming off an easy week last week and legs felt fairly fresh. Avg HR was 163 for the tempo segment which was on target, 7:19/m avg pace but this dropped a bit in the last mile of the zone 3 bit, few small hills to contend with. Did some leg focussed resistance band work later in the day.

Tues 45 mins recovery (4.55 miles/HR127/9:54p/m). Nothing much to report on this.  

Wed 70 mins easy. (7.67 miles/HR140/9:08p/m). Early start to get this done before heading to Dublin for work, went ok. Wore my usual daily trainers, saucony guide 15, for this and the first time I felt like they are feeling a bit dead underfoot. Not done massive miles in them (340), feel like there should be a bit more life in them than this. Went out in reebok floatrides (with about half the miles on them) the next day and I felt a big difference in cushioning, and the reeboks are not super soft to start with. So the saucony’s day is done. I’m not taking any chances of inducing injuries at this stage, and it didn’t take long to find a replacement (nor did I need much excuse!) a pair of triumph 21s are on the way.

Thurs – 45 mins, Z4 intervals (15 min warm up, 3x(5min Z4/3min Z1), cool down). (5.31 miles/HR 142/8:29 p/m). Haven’t done any zone 4 intervals recently, so paced them at about 5k pace (6:45p/m), felt like this was about right. Enjoyed this run, definitely prefer this kind of longer interval work to the hills/shorter intervals that I had been doing on Thursdays for the past while.

Fri – 45 mins recovery (4.48 miles/HR128/10:03p/m). Nice easy run, did some light S&C work after.

Sat – 16 miles (1.5m warm up, then 14 x(.25 mile Zone 3/.75 mile zone 2), .5m warm down). (HR147/8:48p/m) I’ve done a shorter version (10 miles) of this workout for a half marathon plan in the past so was interested to see how this would go in a longer effort. Did a loop I hadn’t done in a while, a few small rolling hills but nothing too serious. Overall I enjoyed this, the bit of change of pace for the zone 3 segments (most of them in the 7-7:20 p/m pace) felt good at the start and obviously got harder as the run went on, but was do-able. Also took gels on this run, tried a precision fuel caffeine as my second last one, probably the worst tasting gel I’ve ever tried and I couldn’t honestly notice any difference after it, so that won’t be used again! I’m doing this same run again as my last long run 2 weeks out from the race, so I’ll have another go at this (the plan has me down for an 18 mile version of this run but I’ve been thinking I’ll drop that to 16 miles, that will be plenty as a last long run 2 weeks out I reckon).

Weekly mileage 43.9 (6hrs 35 mins, 1hr 25 mins (22%) above zone 2) 

BOB81

Week 14 Marathon plan 5/02/24

Mon – 52 mins cruise intervals (10min warm up, 4x(5mins Z3/3 mins Z1) 10 min cool down) (5.98 miles/HR 144/8:42p/m). Had one window in the day to get this done which meant a 6am start, head torch battery was not the best so visibility was sketchy at times. However run itself went fine, better than I was expecting setting off anyway,

Tues 46 mins recovery (4.65m/HR129/9:56p/m), slow plod around ringsend in the rain.

Wed 70 mins easy (7.7/HR141/9:07p/m). Came into docklands on my usual route for this, along navan road. Run went fine but HR reading went all over the place for about 10 mins midway through (too high initially, then way below normal), without effort level feeling any different. My HR strap (coospo) is usually fairly consistent so will put it down to a one-off.

Thurs – 50 mins, Zone 4 intervals (15 min warm up, 6x(3min Z4/2min Z1), 5 min cool down). 5.8 miles/HR148/8:35p/m). Wet and windy morning and rain was to get worse as the day went on, so got out early just to get it done. I put new batteries in my head torch but even still visibility wasn’t great. So ran most of this through the local village to take advantage of streetlights. I am not self-conscious when running but I wonder if someone looked out their window and saw me plodding/fast-plodding up and down the street in the sideways rain at 6.30am, they might (rightly!) think what is that eejit at. Anyway the run itself was actually ok considering the conditions, did some of the intervals into the wind, some with the wind, and paced them just a bit quicker than 5k pace (6:35p/m) for the most part, worked out fine HR-wise.

Fri – 45 mins recovery (4.58m/HR129/9:50p/m) First run in new saucony triumph 21s, very comfy underfoot straight out of the box with a nice bit of bounce, will do nicely for easy days and long runs also I think. However there was a very slight bit of heel rub, so just need to get lacing figured out a bit better for the next run, and maybe wear them in a bit around the house in the meantime. Did some light S&C work later in the day.

Sat – 16 miles with fast finish (14.5m Zone 2/1.5m Z3). (2hrs22mins/HR144/8:52p/m). Nice morning for this thankfully, dry and no wind to contend with. Did the same loop as last Saturday. Kept almost all the first 14.5 miles in zone 2 which I was pleased with, and then tried to pick up the pace for the last 1.5miles, HR averaged at the top end of zone 3 for this (pace around 7:15p/m), although it was definitely drifting up in the last half mile. So happy enough with how this went. Just two more long runs left!

Weekly mileage 44.7 (6hrs 45 mins, 1hr 1min (15%) above zone 2) 

BOB81

Week 15 Marathon plan 12/01/24

Mon – 44 mins Tempo (10min warm up, 24 min zone 3, 10 min cool down) 5.4m/HR151/8:09p/m. Really nice morning for this, run went fine overall, similar to previous tempo runs. This week was my “marathon simulator” run on Sat to it’s a mini taper in advance of this, shorter sessions and weekday mileage overall.

Tues 40 mins recovery (4.1m/HR128/9:46p/m). Easy recovery effort in docklands.

Wed 40 mins easy (4.5m/HR138/8:55p/m). Nice easy run, tried the triumph 21s again for this, they seem to be breaking in a bit and really like the cushioning on them, a lot better than the guide 15s I had been using.

Thurs – 35 mins, intervals (10 min warm up, 4x(3min Z4/2min Z1), 5min cool down). (4.1m/HR153/8:35pm). This didn’t go great, kept avg HR just about in zone 4 for the intervals (was getting a bit high overall), but I just paced the first two reps a bit quick and had to slow down a bit for the last one to keep HR in the right zone. Also wore my running jacket as it was raining heavily when I left the house (but had stopped by the time I got to Dublin) and I absolutely melted in it, way too warm.

Fri – 30 mins recovery (3m/HR127/10:01p/m) Just a slow plod to get the legs moving ahead of the Saturday long run.

Sat – 20 miles, marathon simulator run, 1.5m warm up/16m marathon pace/ 1m Z2/1.5m cool down) (HR151/2hrs 48mins/8:23 per mile).

Never done this type of run before so I must admit I was a bit apprehensive of this before starting the plan. Plan was to run 8/8:05min per mile for the 16 mile segment – targeting somewhere in the 3:30-3:35 range for the race. Runalyze is currently predicting my marathon time at 3.36 (garmin is at 3:31). Putting my last race, a 5k in December into a calculator (not a good distance comparison I admit) gives some times lower than that (3:20/3:23) but I’m not sure how realistic they are for me now. I’m doing faster paces at the same heart rate compared to the last time I had a comparable level of fitness to now (2020) so I’m fitter, just a case of seeing if it will translate to the distance.

So got my race day kit and shoes on (endorphin pro 3, I really regret not picking another pair of these up in the sales, especially seeing the price of the new version!) I left water out on the route and I was all set. Took precision fuel gels and some of their electrolyte tabs on the run also. No headphones this time, normally I’ve a podcast going on a long run but in the spirit of a proper race prep I left them off. I did an extended version of a recent route – small few hills in there in the first half but elevation gain around 100m in total only, should be similar enough to the new Barcelona marathon course I think.

Had very poor sleep the previous two nights so resting HR was up a bit and HRV overnight was down a good bit also, so wasn’t feeling fantastic about this getting up. The run itself also got off to an inauspicious start, had a stitch after half a mile, this faded away over the next couple of miles thankfully. And my weather luck finally ran out, after getting through a winter training block with very few soaking wet runs, the rain arrived on this one and stayed for the last 2hrs, was soaked to the skin. Thankfully a combination of bodyglide and runderwear got me through free of chafing! On the run I settled into a nice steady pace after 2 or 3 miles and I averaged 8 mins per mile for the 16 mile segment which was what I was hoping for, mile splits were mostly in the 7:55-8:05 range. I didn’t focus on HR too much during the run, was mainly keen to see where my average HR was over the m-pace segment afterwards, would reconsider race pacing if it was crazy high. So HR was 155 (just below zone 3 under the 80/20 zones) for the 16 mile segment which I think was ok considering the conditions, there is a bit of wriggle room there hopefully to get me through the last 10 miles on race day, .

Apologies for the long post, but just in case anyone is faced with this run in a plan (I think this run is in all the 80/20 running plans), it did seem daunting to me before starting the plan but I suppose trusting in the gradual build-up of mileage, combined with the speedier sessions (all my recent speedwork has been at faster than marathon pace) did help make the marathon pace seem easier. In terms of the breakdown of weekly mileage – I’ve gone a long way off the 80/20 split for this week but I’m not sure there was any way around this – avg HR for the long run was 151 which is just a bit above the top end of zone 2 for me.

Weekly mileage 41.1 (5hrs 57 mins, 2hr 35min (44%) above zone 2)