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This is getting addictive

HigginsJ

Hi,

Not too sure where to begin here but let's start with a little about me, then my running to date, what I have learnt so far & a few goals that I have set myself.

I am a 33 year old male, 2 kids (2 year old boy & 9 month old daughter), married 3 years. As a much much younger man I was fairly fit, never did any running just playing sports. About 6 years ago I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, had an op 5 years ago after drugs didn't fully do the trick to remove part of my bowel & intestines. Get the occasional flair up & have a few trigger foods (nuts, apples & just recently found out that Rhubard also doesn't like me).

So I haven't had any real exercise in about 8 years & when I started c25k nearly 3 months ago now I was 14 stone 11lbs. Initially I started the c25k to lose a bit of weight. It turns out once you get into it, this running lark is really addictive. I took part in my 1st ever race 2 weeks ago (5k, 26 minutes 10seconds). I typically run 3 to 4 days a week with a day off in between every running day.

I have learnt a few things courtesy of this forum & from my 1st race
- Relax your shoulders & carry your hands a bit lower. I had tension in my shoulders after my runs but since adopting this I don't seem to have this issue any more.
- Don't try to make every run as fast as possible. Honestly this is advice that I am going to try to put into action in the next week so fingers crossed.
- Apparently you keep your number when you finish a race, no need to hand it back somewhere. Wasted a good 20 minutes looking for somewhere obvious to hand it back, then asked an older lady who said " no sweetie you keep the number!!"

After about 6 weeks of c25k I decided to set myself some goals for the rest of the summer

- Run 10k on my own at my own pace
- Run a 5k race (done)
- Run a 10k race
- Run a sub 25 minute 5k
- Run a sub 53 minute 10k

My training at the moment is every 2nd day out going short pace run (either 5 or 6 k at a good pace) and then a long run at a slower pace (adding about .5k each time)

I am aiming to complete the 10k on my own this day next week (ran 8.5k there on Thursday just gone).

I am aiming to run the Bruff 5 mile road race at the start of July (part of the Ballyhoura series) & then my big goal is the 10K in Curragh Chase in August. I found the race there 2 weeks ago to be really rewarding, felt strong throughout.

Long term goal would be the Great Limerick Run next May, not to the front of my mind right now as a marathon seems inconceivable but I'll get there.

I have had a look at some of the training plans out there but not sure which one to commit to yet.

So that's me (oh I am now 13st 10lbs, go running!!)

Will update when I do my runs and if you have any advice for someone just starting out fire away.

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gramar

Sounds like you're more than ready to have a good run at the weekend J.
If you manage it like the last 10km you should have no trouble getting around in under 1hr 50min. All the best.

HigginsJ

gramar wrote: »

Sounds like you're more than ready to have a good run at the weekend J.
If you manage it like the last 10km you should have no trouble getting around in under 1hr 50min. All the best.

Thanks G, really looking forward to it but also have a degree of trepidation about it.

gramar

HigginsJ wrote: »

Thanks G, really looking forward to it but also have a degree of trepidation about it.

There's always going to be that when you're going a little further or a little faster than before. That's all part of the challenge and adds to the sense of acheivement when you do it.

ariana`

Have you a plan or a target for the half? You've all the training done, all you need now is a decent day and you'll be well set.

HigginsJ

ariana` wrote: »

Have you a plan or a target for the half? You've all the training done, all you need now is a decent day and you'll be well set.

Yea the target is 1 hour & 50 minutes. The McMillan calculator says that I come in in 1 hour 46 minutes 25 seconds based on my recent 47:44 10k but that was not a well-paced race to be honest and I was fairly empty by the end.

My plan is 26 minutes per 5km. Going to take a mental approach of 4 5km blocks and then all out for the last 1.1km. In theory it is good and I think the key will be pacing that 1st 5km properly.

ariana`

HigginsJ wrote: »

Yea the target is 1 hour & 50 minutes. The McMillan calculator says that I come in in 1 hour 46 minutes 25 seconds based on my recent 47:44 10k but that was not a well-paced race to be honest and I was fairly empty by the end.

My plan is 26 minutes per 5km. Going to take a mental approach of 4 5km blocks and then all out for the last 1.1km. In theory it is good and I think the key will be pacing that 1st 5km properly.

Sounds like a good plan to me. I think you're right about the first 5km, use it to settle into a rhythm. You'll do great. Looking forward to hearing the report. Best of luck.

tailgunner

The first 5km is definitely key. It's easy to get carried away at the start, but you're better off being 10 seconds behind your target pace than 10 seconds ahead in the early stages. Good luck!

Kennyg71

Best luck Saturday, think I would be little conservative over first half of race
and push on depending on how you feel, your milage looks light enough and
it's big step up from 10k to half, think first mile is down hill but then second
into a climb so watch pace at begining as it may seem to easy. Never done this
race before but reading another log there's a long climb at 9/10 mile mark
And last 100m to finish is climb, but let's all done then anyway.

HigginsJ

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Best luck Saturday, think I would be little conservative over first half of race
and push on depending on how you feel, your milage looks light enough and
it's big step up from 10k to half, think first mile is down hill but then second
into a climb so watch pace at begining as it may seem to easy. Never done this
race before but reading another log there's a long climb at 9/10 mile mark
And last 100m to finish is climb, but let's all done then anyway.

Thanks Kennyg, fairly used to climbs around where I run so that is 2nd nature to me at this stage. I agree the mileage has been a little light, have def not hit what I wanted (life tends to cause these things but have been happy with my "long runs") so that is why I think the McMillan prediction is unlikely to come anywhere close.

ariana`

I did my first/only half in Oct and i printed a pace band which i wore around my wrist. I found i had to really hold back for the first half but the 2nd half then i had to work much harder to stay at pace and by the last couple of kms it was tough going. Overall without the pace band (and a conservative target time) i think i could have had a miserable experience going out too fast and hitting a major wall halfway through. Definitely recommend the pace band.

http://www.marathonguide.com/fitnesscalcs/PaceBandCreator.cfm

HigginsJ

ariana` wrote: »

I did my first/only half in Oct and i printed a pace band which i wore around my wrist. I found i had to really hold back for the first half but the 2nd half then i had to work much harder to stay at pace and by the last couple of kms it was tough going. Overall without the pace band (and a conservative target time) i think i could have had a miserable experience going out too fast and hitting a major wall halfway through. Definitely recommend the pace band.

http://www.marathonguide.com/fitnesscalcs/PaceBandCreator.cfm

That is a cool little thing, I'll print it off and decide Sunday whether to bring it along.

HigginsJ

2nd of December

6.94km in 44 minutes 6 seconds (6:21 average)

A day late but took it very handy. Need to get my jelly beans in Tesco tomorrow & that aside cant wait for Sunday.

1 hour 50 minutes is the goal. I'm varying between thoughts of being confident & no hope depending on the minute of the day.

Work night out tonight, nice dinner but no alcohol. Will do the race write up Sunday evening/Monday morning

The Muppet

HigginsJ wrote: »

2nd of December

6.94km in 44 minutes 6 seconds (6:21 average)

A day late but took it very handy. Need to get my jelly beans in Tesco tomorrow & that aside cant wait for Sunday.

1 hour 50 minutes is the goal. I'm varying between thoughts of being confident & no hope depending on the minute of the day.

Work night out tonight, nice dinner but no alcohol. Will do the race write up Sunday evening/Monday morning

The best of luck for Sunday

Maximus Alexander

How'd you get on? All good I hope.

HigginsJ

Birdhill Turkey Run Half Marathon

Had a good nights sleep Saturday night, feel like I tweaked my calf on my run Friday evening, stretched it out on Saturday and some foam rolling. Was still a little bit tender Sunday morning but a few more stretches and it felt OK.

Had toast, sausages and scrambled eggs about half 8 on Sunday morning. Arrived out in Birdhill about 20 past 10 and collected my number. It was really fecking cold, alot colder than the 4 degrees it was meant to be.

About 20 past 11 had a bathroom break and did 2.27km in 15 minutes 33 seconds for warm up, teeth were chattering with the cold for the 1st KM so my hat and gloves were staying on for the race.

The race got going at 12:08pm so I lined up towards the back of the half marathon starters. I tried to take things handy for the 1st 5km as planned, I was just off the back of a group of about 20 runners that felt as though they were going a decent pace. After about 2-3 KM they seemed to be picking up the pace a bit more so I started to leave them off, picked off one of two who tried to keep the pace around the 5km mark. I was feeling great at this point, really comfortable. 5km in 24 minutes 50 seconds

I was pretty much on my own at about 6km but was joined by a lady at this point and she was hoping to come in under 1 hour and 50 minutes. We were together for about 2km but I started to pull away again. As we will see later and in hindsight I should have hung with her and paced with her for alot longer than I did. About 9km I fumbled with my gloves and got out my jelly beans. I could see a water station on the other side of the road about 1.5km away on the loop back so started to chew away and would wash them down on the other side. 5km in 25 minutes 27 seconds

The next 5km-7km was really tough, there were a number of hard climbs that I reall dug in and fought through. Again hindsight I should probably have gone a fair bit easier through these climbs as I think I put too much effort into this part of the race and was left with very little in the tank for the last few KM. 5km in 25 minutes 40 seconds

In my mind once you hit 18km there were a couple of gentle downhill KM's which I felt I would cruise through but my quads were not obliging me, even the downhill parts were a huge effort and the time was dropping right off. A guy passed me just after the 15km point and he was gliding, it was the most disheartening experience I have ever felt. Considering it is a fairly straight piece of road I lost sight of the guy in about 2km 5km in 27 minutes 29 seconds

The lady I mentioned earlier joined me again with about 2.5km to go, she was very encouraging and she just got away from me, I couldn't quiet keep her pace which would have helped me get in just under the goal time. I tried a couple of times to even do a few strides to pick up the needed time but my quads were crying enough. About 30 metres from the finish line I could see the clock ticking up to 1 hour 50 minutes and I crossed in a time of 1 hour 50 minutes and 6 seconds. So close but yet so far.

Overall fairly pleased but plenty of lessons to take out from it, I definitely feel if I had taken the 1st 5km in the target pace I might have had enough in the tank but I lack the confidence I feel at this point to adopt that approach. I also feel Kennyg was spot on that the lack of mileage in training prevented me from hitting the goal, but that is life. Overall not too disappointed to just miss out but not the best paced race. The 10-15km section could have been taken 30 seconds slower and I would have been better able to take advantage of the downhill sections.

I need to learn to pace myself better and thinking that I would love another go at a half sometime early next year before I run the full marathon in Limerick.

gramar

Great run none the less....6 seconds out on a 1hr 50min target is a fine run.
Maybe your mileage was light but seeing as you got so close on the day that wasn't why you were just on the wrong side of your target. I think it was going too hard on the hills just caught up with you towards the end.
Excellent performance regardless of the time.

tailgunner

That's a really great result for your first half, and you'll learn a lot from the experience.

If you increase your mid-week mileage a bit, and get the long runs in consistently each week, I reckon you'll take a big chunk out of that time in the new year without having to do much else.

HigginsJ

gramar wrote: »

Great run none the less....6 seconds out on a 1hr 50min target is a fine run.
Maybe your mileage was light but seeing as you got so close on the day that wasn't why you were just on the wrong side of your target. I think it was going too hard on the hills just caught up with you towards the end.
Excellent performance regardless of the time.

Thanks G, yea think you are spot on here.

tailgunner wrote: »

That's a really great result for your first half, and you'll learn a lot from the experience.

If you increase your mid-week mileage a bit, and get the long runs in consistently each week, I reckon you'll take a big chunk out of that time in the new year without having to do much else.

Thanks tailgunner, yea I think the mid week runs need to up in distance, now that is part of the marathon plan anyway so will definitely make a big difference OK.

ariana`

Well done, brilliant time for a 1st half, so close to your goal time too.

You will go under 1:50 in the Spring no doubt about it, Kinvara 'Rock and Road' might suit on March 4th

Maximus Alexander

Well done. Your target is an arbitrary number at the end of the day, and that's a great result for your first half.

HigginsJ

ariana` wrote: »

Well done, brilliant time for a 1st half, so close to your goal time too.

You will go under 1:50 in the Sprint no doubt about it, Kinvara 'Rock and Road' might suit on March 4th

Thanks ariana. That would be a good date for a race ok as the marathon is April 30th.

HigginsJ

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

Well done. Your target is an arbitrary number at the end of the day, and that's a great result for your first half.

Thank you

Kennyg71

Well done, good market for next one. Best luck with training for Limerick, what plan are you using.

HigginsJ

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Well done, good market for next one. Best luck with training for Limerick.

Thank you

HigginsJ

So not been a fun two weeks since the half marathon. Was fairly stiff up to about the Thursday after the race and was then smothered with a cold for a few days. Wasn't too pushed and thought 1 week off would be fine and I would get out for a few runs last week. However came down with a bad dose of gastro at the start of last week and was completely drawn by the end of the week. Back to as close as possible to full health now though so hope will get out later on this week for about 8km.

HigginsJ

28th of December

3.78 miles in 38 minutes 58 seconds (10:18 average mile)

Laziness, stiffness & illness has made this my 1st run since the Half Marathon, poor I know.

Got the Polar m400 for christmas so going to log in miles going forward. I took it very handy today, the polar flow app looks very good as well, loaded with info.

I got a few vouchers for JD sports as well so going to look to pick up a good deal on a new pair of runners for marathon training..

gramar

HigginsJ wrote: »

28th of December

3.78 miles in 38 minutes 58 seconds (10:18 average mile)

Laziness, stiffness & illness has made this my 1st run since the Half Marathon, poor I know.

Got the Polar m400 for christmas so going to log in miles going forward. I took it very handy today, the polar flow app looks very good as well, loaded with info.

I got a few vouchers for JD sports as well so going to look to pick up a good deal on a new pair of runners for marathon training..

You're back in the saddle J that's the main thing. I have the same watch and it's easy to use and it's easy to keep track of things on the app.

On the runners, I left my pair in the parents house in the summer for when I'm over and got a new pair that cost twice as much but are only half as good. On the runs over Christmas I realised how much better they were and I think I'll go out and get the same ones again and relegate the 'good' pair to occasional use.

HigginsJ

gramar wrote: »

You're back in the saddle J that's the main thing. I have the same watch and it's easy to use and it's easy to keep track of things on the app.

On the runners, I left my pair in the parents house in the summer for when I'm over and got a new pair that cost twice as much but are only half as good. On the runs over Christmas I realised how much better they were and I think I'll go out and get the same ones again and relegate the 'good' pair to occasional use.

Went in today & neither of the stores in Limerick stock "running shoes". Can't use the vouchers online so I'm a bit miffed ðŸ˜‘ They had an adidas energy cloud which is a running shoe but only a fairly basic one.

HigginsJ

2 runs to log here.

Friday 30th of December

3.48 miles in 32 minutes 57 seconds (9:28 average)

Monday 2nd of January

6.41 miles in 58 minutes 56 seconds (9:12 average)

Good to start getting back into a bit of rhythm before the marathon plan kicks in next week. Picked up a pair of Adidas Energy Cloud runners at the weekend and tried them out on the run yesterday. Really like the polar flow app that comes with the M400, especially the Heart Rate zones and the run report that shows the benefit of the runs.

HigginsJ

4th January

3.48 miles in 28 minutes 38 seconds (8:13 average)

The marathon training plan isn't kicking in till next week so just trying a few things out this week. Went for a run at lunch time just to trial if I could do 2 runs a day.

Really loving the polar flow app and desktop site.

I know you are using it Grammar so what notice do you pay to the "Training Benefit" section?