Barca bound...
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Week 16 Marathon plan 18/02/24
Mon – 45 mins recovery (4.54m/HR128/9:55p/m) So after my long run on Saturday my only new ache or pain was an ache in my left leg (right side of my shin), not sore to the touch, not sore to weight bear – just a new minor niggle, but one that I’ve never had before. Maybe a tendon/muscle issue, only really noticed it when there was a twinge in my leg when changing gears driving on Sunday, then it was a bit of a dull ache after that. So I was down to do a tempo run (with 30 mins in zone 3) originally, but decided better safe than sorry and put this off till later in the week and did a 45 min recovery run instead. The run went fine and there was no discomfort during the run, and it didn’t feel any worse after it either. So I am being over-cautious I know but I’ve never had this specific issue ever so will just keep an eye on it, iced it that evening also.
Tues 50 mins easy (5.7m/HR139/8:45p/m) No residual discomfort on this run, leg felt good and overall I felt surprisingly fresh, felt I had to slow down my pace a bit at times. I was waiting for DOMs to hit after the long run on Sat but didn’t feel too bad overall, certainly I've had worse.
Wed 55 mins easy (6.1m/HR141/8:59p/m). Did a loop up around sandymount and back to docklands for this, leg felt good again so hopefully that is the end of that. Also HRV is back in normal range after dropping a good bit last Thursday & Friday.
Thurs – 50 mins tempo, (10 min warm up, 30 mins zone 3, 10min cool down) (6.1m/HR151/8:10p/m) Plan had originally had an interval session here (mix of short efforts in zone 3/4/5), but I did this postponed tempo session from Monday instead. Not sorry I missed the mixed interval run as I remember it being particularly challenging from a half marathon block in the past! Tempo went fine, HR in the middle of zone 3 and paces consistent with what I would normally see, averaged 7:19min per mile for the 30 min segment, last mile in this segment was a bit slower than the first 3 though.
Fri – 45 mins recovery (4.65m/HR127/9:40p/m). Nice easy recovery run and nice crisp morning for it. Did some light resistance band work later in the day.
Sat – 16 miles with short zone 3 intervals. (1.5m warm up, then 14 x(.25 mile Zone 3/.75 mile zone 2) (2hrs 19 mins/HR147/8:42p/m) Same run as I did a few weeks ago, did the same loop through a few local villages also. Paced the zone 3 segments a bit quicker than last time but similar HR, and enjoyed the run overall. Kind of surreal that this is my last long run and race day is in two weeks! Dropping mileage a good bit this week, down to about 32 miles.
Weekly mileage 43.1 (6hrs 25 mins, 1hr 10min (18%) above zone 2)
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Always a relief to get to taper in good shape, best of luck.
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Week 17 Marathon plan 26/02/24
Mon – 60 mins with zone 3 intervals (5mins Z1, 21 mins Z2, 3x(5min Z3/3min Z1), 5 mins Z2, 5 mins z1)(7.1miles/HR144/8:28p/m) Felt really good on this run, paced the zone 3 segments very consistently (7.10p/m) and HR in the right spot. However I did an out and back route for this and misjudged the turn so did an extra three quarters of a mile cool down to get home, on top of the planned 60 mins.
Tues - 35 mins easy (3.9m/HR136/8:55p/m). Ran this up in docklands, forgot HR strap for once so used watch heart rate, seemed to be in the right range for an easy run. In my triumph 21s for this, about 40 miles on them so far and they are wearing in nicely, already think I’ll get another pair, triumph 22s are out in May so may be some deals going on the 21s before then.
Wed - 35 mins easy (3.95m/HR138/8:52p/m). At home for this, bit of rain about but nothing too heavy. Definitely conscious of not going too fast on these short runs, just about keeping running frequency consistent at this stage.
Thurs – 36 mins mixed intervals.(10 min warm up, then 1minZ5/2minZ1, 3minZ4/2minZ1, 5minZ3/2minZ1, 3minZ4/2minZ1, 1minZ5/5min warm down). (4.3 miles/HR149/8:23 p/m). Paced the intervals fairly well overall I think, good to get the legs moving a bit faster. Kind of a finicky session but something different at least.
Fri – 35 mins recovery (3.6m/HR129/9:48p/m). First run I’ve done in the snow, and hopefully the last! Plodded around the local village, and was absolutely soaked by slush by a passing car at one point also, which was delightful.
Sat – 10 miles, with last mile in zone 3, (1hr26/HR143/8:36p/m). Perhaps ran bits of this a bit too quick but effort felt fine, 7.07 p/m for the last mile. Haven’t felt any negative taper side effects so far, perhaps that is more likely this week when the mileage really drops – just 5 runs left before the race next Sunday, all short.
Weekly mileage 33.6 (4hrs 54 mins, 41min (14%) above zone 2)
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Week 18 Marathon plan 3/03/24
Mon – 40 mins fast finish, last 10 mins zone 3 (4.82m/HR141/8:18p/m) Perhaps went a bit quick for the easy pace segment, but really felt good on this run overall. 7:09 p/m for zone 3 bit.
Tues – 30 mins easy (3.36m/HR135/8:56p/m). Loop around docklands, windy and wet.
Wed – 30 mins easy (3.4m/HR134/8:48p/m) Reverse of the same docklands loop as the previous day, dry and crisp.
Thurs – 31 mins, short zone 4 intervals (10 min warm up, 4 x (2min Z4/2min Z1), 5 min cool down). (3.6m/HR145/8:43p/m) Last run in the plan! Usual pacing of the zone 4 segments – just around 5k pace, but didn’t overdo it.
Overall legs feeling ok, sleep going ok so far as well and not noticing any change in resting HR or HRV (compared to the mini taper I did a few weeks back for my last 20 miler where they jumped up a bit). I’m travelling tomorrow and doing a 20 min run on Sat as my last bit of race prep – will get stuck into some carbs in the meantime. Reflecting on the block I’m happy that I kept the consistency up, I moved some sessions around but managed to run 6 days a week the whole way through. Having a long lead in to the actual plan starting in Nov (running 6 days per week since last August) definitely worked for me to get my legs ready for running higher mileage than I’ve ever done. So we’ll see where it takes me on Sunday – will try and do a repeat of the simulation run I did a few weeks back, see how I’m fixed after 16 miles and take it from there. Best of luck to anyone else on here running it!
Weekly mileage 15.2 (2hrs 31 mins, 19min (13%) above zone 2)
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Best of luck!
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Best of luck, hope it all goes to plan!
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Have a great race, you've put in solid work and deserve the result you want. Looking forward to reading your report!!
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Give it your all and best of luck.
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Thanks for the messages! Got round in chip time of 3:36:33 in the end, so a bit off what i was hoping for. But some buzz running this I have to say, good crowds, flat course (although it got fairly warm by the end) and a great experience all round. Will put up a race report when I'm back home
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Barcelona Race weekend
So myself and my family flew over Friday night, I’d booked an airbnb last year just off passeig de gracia, which was less than 10 mins walk to the start line at placa catalunya, it made for a very hassle free race morning. Slept terrible on the Friday night (only 4.5 hrs), but managed to keep Saturday a relaxing day, I went to the expo and then went home to get some power naps in, I left my wife and my two girls to go off to the montjuc cable car and they got in a bit of shopping after on the way home. I’d seen Barcelona a good bit before and it rained the entire day on Saturday so I didn’t feel like I was missing much! Pre-race meal was mid-afternoon pizza (sartoria panatieri which I can recommend) which did the job with some tasty carbs. Anyway thankfully I got a decent kip Saturday night and woke up very positive on Sun morning, got the toilet situation sorted early (oddly obsessed by this) and was just a bundle of nervous energy from that point on. Left the apartment at 7:45am and were down at the start before 8, bit of a warm up run and dynamic stretches and into the coral about 8.20, for start time of 8:35. I had booked into the 3.45-4hr wave when I originally signed up last August, and I’d since sent an email to change my wave to 3.15-3.30 but they had no record of me making the change request when I collected my bib, but the very helpful admin staff sorted that out at the expo without any problem. As it happened they weren’t checking bibs too closely at the wave entrance anyway.
Miles 1-5 (8:22,8:22,8:07,8:05,8:01 – total 40:57) HR avg 155
So with my only big scale race prior to this being Dublin in 2011 it had been a long time since I’d had any experience like this, really great atmosphere at the start, a few singers belting out Barcelona before each wave started off, just a great buzz around the place. Set myself at the back of the wave and away we went, perfect blue skies and temp about 9 degrees. I mentioned my intention to follow the pacers in my last update – they weren’t in this wave as it turned out, they were at the top of the 3.30-3.45 one so I didn’t see them until they passed me later (but not that much later!) in the race. Anyway my first couple of miles were a bit ropey to say the least – my legs just felt heavy and thinking back to the simulator run I’d done a few weeks ago (which I did fair bit!), while that session felt Iike I was cruising through the miles, this did not! So took the first couple of miles handy and then got closer to what I’d hoped would be race pace by the end of the first 5 miles. Small bit of a long slow hill after the first mile in there also, about 50 feet of elevation gain.
Mile 6-10 (7:57,8:18,7:54,7:56,7:55 – total 40:00) HR avg 159
It was during this stretch that the 3.30 pacers caught up with me, around mile 7. Their arrival coincided with a some very gradual uphill bits, but in the race I didn’t really notice any incline, just tried to lock in with the back of the pace group and see how I went. Again looking back at it after the fact, my HR at this point in the race was already higher than my average for the entire 16 miles in the simulator run (155)…mmm, not too promising. My watch was giving me an estimated finish time of 3hrs 33 or something at this stage I think. But I was really enjoying it – saw my wife and kids twice during the first 10 miles which was great, and the crowds in general were really good on some of the narrower roads in particular. But there weren’t many barriers so pedestrians were regularly just crossing the road at times during the race – saw some near misses with runners on a good few occasions in this section.
Mile 11-15 (7:41,7:55, 7:54, 7:52, 7:59 – total 39:21) avg HR 161
This stretch went back down past the start line, all on a slight downhill so paces reflected that (100 feet of elevation drop in this section). This course is is really flat once you hit mile 15, and from then to mile 25 its almost completely flat. Some good crowds in this part too. I’m feeling ok at this point, but by the end of this stretch I’m a good bit behind the 3.30 pacers and I’m not really sure if catching them is feasible.
Mile 16-20 (8:12, 8:10, 8:20, 8:13, 8:17 – total 41:13) avg HR 166
Here’s where the sun started to make its presence felt, this bit of the course skirts the bottom of la ramblas, goes past parc de la ciutadella and then out towards the massive convention centre and diagonal mar. So the sun was properly up and there was no shade whatsoever for this bit – I think the forecast had it for about 16 degrees but it felt hotter to me. Here’s where in my pre-race wisdom I’d said – I’ll do 16 miles and see where I’m at, thinking about perhaps pushing on at this point if things went well. So while looking back on it, I actually covered the first 16 miles of the marathon in a very similar time (only 30 seconds in the difference) to the simulator run 3 weeks ago, the effort levels did not feel any way similar and I’d had to work a lot harder. My breathing was fine but my legs were getting heavier, and I was consciously slowing the pace a bit to reflect that. At this stage I was just thinking could I sneak 3.35 perhaps.
Mile 21-25 (8:29, 8:22, 8:35, 8:35, 8:44 – total 42:45) avg HR 165
I had made a conscious effort to run the race with a smile on my face (clichéd as that sounds), and I’d managed this fairly well I think up till mile 20, but from then but from here on the smile became a grimace. Here’s also where the devil on my shoulder was saying “what harm would walking do, give yourself a break”. Whatever else I was thinking about goals etc. I really, really, really wanted to just run the whole thing this time around, so I kept plodding on and ignoring this inner voice as best I could. I had walked/hobbled a good 8 miles of the Dublin 2011 marathon with a dodgy knee (caused in part by dodgy pacing!) so I really didn’t want to go down that road. Plus the way my right hip had tightened up by this point I wasn’t so sure I would get going again easily! So this bit really felt like me just putting one leg in front of the other – there was a long straight around the 22 mile mark that felt like it would never end. I’d been taking precision fuel gels all the way around, along with their electrolyte tablets (planning for 6 gels during the race). But I’d got through them all at this point and so I tried one of the race gels (finisher it was called, wouldn’t be rushing back for another but no ill effects from it thankfully). I also missed seeing my family at the 25 mile mark – we’d planned a few points to meet but this wasn’t one of them so I wasn’t watching out for them – they had tracked me on the app but only saw the back of me as I shuffled past. I wish my wife had a pedometer on the kids for the day, they were fairly marched around the city trying to see me!
Mile 26 + the finish (8:34, 3:51 for the “bit” which turned out to be .52 miles!) avg HR 170
The support was fantastic the last couple of miles but the crowd were really encroaching on the road at times – I think at one point there was so many people that there was only room for 3-4 runners to run abreast and with some of the runners stopping to walk etc there was a little bit of dodging to do at times. This got bad at one particular patch with a mile to go, but there were barriers up from then on. Anyway once I hit 26 miles on the watch I tried to get the legs moving a bit faster – think I clocked 7:10 per mile pace for the last half mile. And close to the end I looked at my watch and it had my estimated finish time at 3.37 so I just said lets try and beat that and put it a bit of a spurt on for the last 200 metres, under the arc de triomf and over the line for a chip time of 3:36:33 (3:36:41 on my garmin). So got my medal, had a very sweaty hug with the family and walked around a bit to get my hips to start working again, which they did eventually.
Total distance (garmin) 26.52/HR162/8.10p/m
So that is my second marathon done, over 12 years after the first one. A lot of positives to take from it despite feeling flat on race day, still curious about that thinking back on it but I was happy that I kept plugging away in the circumstances. The other side of it is I’ve probably never been fitter, I got through the block and race injury free and I’ve got a stronger running base to build on for whatever’s ahead.
Anyway thanks to anyone who’s taken the time to read this, really good and positive running community on here which is part of the reason why I started logging. We’ll see what is next, no running for a couple of weeks and then over the next year or so I think a 5k and a half marathon will be put in the diary.
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Great report. I ran it myself on Sunday and can relate to it. The part where the crowd encroached was unreal. I was buzzing off it until someone with a scooter tried to cross on front of me.
Thank god we didnt travel all that way to run in the rain!!
Well done on your result and your training block
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Thanks very much, and agree on the rain - I couldn't help but watch the weather forecast all week in the build up but thankfully the rain on Sat didn't follow us till Sunday! Hope you had a good race yourself!
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I really enjoyed your report, thats a great improvement on your time.
So many other things could've gone wrong like the weather, not getting any sleep on Saturday night, bad reaction to the gel, cramps etc.
It sounds like you had a good experience which can be more rewarding than the digits on the clock.
I remember on the old Dublin marathon route the crowds full of strangers coming in on you towards town and being resolved to running single file for a stretch.
I actually found that very intimidating, all it takes is some nut in the crowd to whack you in the face or something.
Anyway, hope you're enoying the break now and putting the feet up.
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Thanks @Runster, on the timing/targets side I suppose the first few miles of a marathon should ideally feel like you are holding yourself back a bit, when I didn't have that feeling on the day I just kind of mentally parked my goal and got over it. I still tried to run my paces because you never know unless you try (looking at it objectively this was perhaps to my detriment in the second half of the race). And on the many things that could go really wrong, I agree, getting through without any disasters makes me reflect well on the whole thing and I'm proud of the run overall.
Anyway the feet are up for now, as of today I can climb a stairs without looking like a 90 year old, so onwards and upwards!
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So I’ve gotten through the worst of the post marathon limbo since my last entry. DOMS persisted until about 3 days after the race but eased off after that thankfully. Caught the obligatory head-cold also in the first week after the marathon, first time having so much as a sniffle in the last 6 months but body obviously dealing with the stresses of the marathon. Golf is my other addiction/hobby and as I pretty much took this winter off golf completely for the marathon block (two very time intensive pursuits + family do not mix well), I’ve since returned to the golf course with predictably terrible results.
Legs were feeling back to normal again, so this week just gone I ran twice as test runs – 2 easy runs of 40 and 60 mins and all seems fine, very happy to be back running! Easy runs for the next little while before considering anything speed related. Plan is to build back up to a new baseline weekly mileage of around 30 miles over 4/5 runs, with a 90 min long run to be part of this also – just feel like keeping a longer run in the regular rotation is no harm.
In my post-marathon week of despair/no running I bought the hansons half marathon book (will be reading the hansons thread on here with interest) and also downloaded a 9 week 5k plan from trainingpeaks (its an 80/20 plan again, but some of the workouts seem to be updated from the 80/20 book I already have so there will be something new in this at least). So will aim to do the 5k plan over May/June (might just do a local parkrun or see if there is a 5k race that lines up), and then probably a half marathon early next year. I think there may be another marathon in my future but for now I’m happy to focus on shorter stuff. Having also been through regular 40+ mile weeks of running for the first I’m hopeful that if I applied that kind of mileage to a half marathon block I could take my half time down a bit (current 1.43 from 2020). Will post up a bit more when I get into my 5k block, never specifically trained for this distance before so will be interesting to see how it goes.
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