Am I Running Or Jogging?

Maximus Alexander · 31-10-2016 02:10PM

Was thinking Connemarathon in April?

tailgunner · 31-10-2016 05:29PM

Sorry things didn't go to plan. I was following on the tracker, and you were pacing it perfectly. I was convinced you had the sub-4 in the bag when I saw your halfway split, and was gutted when the 30k split eventually appeared.

I actually don't think you did much wrong. Yeah, maybe you could have dropped back a wave and gone with a different pace group, but it's easy to say that in hindsight, and you'd have had no guarantee of a different outcome anyway. You didn't know your heart rate was up, and you couldn't have accounted for the cramping.

It's cruel how much of this marathon-running business comes down to sheer luck on the day. All you can do is train hard, prepare well, run sensibly, and hope that things go your way.

Glad to hear you're already considering future marathons. I've no doubt you'd have run sub-4 on another day, and you'll be in far better shape again by April.

Neady83 · 31-10-2016 06:37PM

A very honest and humbling report Max, fair play for being so honest. It's a report that I won't forget in a hurry and one that will remind everyone just how tough 26.2 miles really is, it's a distance that demands utmost respected. You did the hard work, you did all the miles you were supposed to but everything didn't go right on the day. For any race, things need to go right for us on the day - I've no doubt that you had the training done for a sub-4. It will make it all the more sweet when it does come ï¿¼

I think there's a few boardsies aiming for Connemara in April, including myself so you'll have company. It's a tough race though, the second half is very hilly, there's little support and the weather can be unforgiving so it's one where you would get to practice adjusting your target to the conditions. The scenery is spectacular though ï¿¼

denis b · 31-10-2016 08:30PM

Max.... you did your absolute best and I firmly belong to the camp that feels that we need a certain amount of luck for everything to go right in a race of these proportions. There is simply no escape with that sort of distance. You did the preparation but the vagaries of health cannot all be planned for.

+1 for the very readable and informative race report. Seems as though your reflection will bring about a more satisfactory result for you in the future. Congrats on your epic finish.

Bluesquare · 01-11-2016 09:15AM

Max - congrats on your marathon - you finished it despite all the obstacles on the day ! The running gods weren't on your side for this one - they are an awful fickle bunch .

Im sure you will settle the score and have your revenge providing I don't get the beepers first!

HS3 · 01-11-2016 09:22AM

Aw man....so sorry things didn't go to plan. Wouldn't know how this marathon business worked...but maybe if you'd dropped back to 4:20 you'd have cramped anyway and you'd be back to 4:50/5:00 wishing you'd given yourself the best of chances by sticking to 4:00? So unlucky to be ill on the day after everything you put into it.

HigginsJ · 01-11-2016 11:36AM

As race reports go that was a real tear jerker, on a positive note you went through hell and came out the other side, I am really impressed by that.

FIFA2004 · 01-11-2016 04:32PM

Ah Max, only getting around to properly reading your report now, so honest but so hard on yourself! Not much to add to why everyone else has said. You did incredibly well to tough it out when things weren't going the way you wanted. When you do get sub4 it will be all the sweeter for the tough day on Sunday! Congratulations on running a Marathon!!!

This Fat Girl Runs · 01-11-2016 04:41PM

Max, you did what you had to do when you had to do it. You adapted to the day and the situation and that shows a great mental ability which will stand you in good stead for the next one. Well done you marathon runner, you!

Maximus Alexander · 02-11-2016 11:53PM

Guys I just wanted to say thanks for all of the above comments. You're all very kind and it has definitely helped me look at things from a different perspective. I'd probably still be beating myself up over it if I didn't have some kind and sensible input from my fellow runners but instead I'm gonna take the positives, take the lessons, and throw away all the bad vibes. There's plenty more running to be done, and I'm sure plenty more highs and lows too. Sure my next marathon will probably feel easy by comparison! :pac:

On that note, I'm turning over plans in my mind. Before Sunday I had a vague idea that I'd revert to shorter distances for a while and perhaps take another run at the marathon come DCM 2017, but I can't leave my business unfinished for that long. I was talking to a colleague today who recommended Tralee in March, as it's less hilly than Connemara, so that might be a goer.

In the mean time, sights are set on Jingle Bells in December, provided my achilles heals up. There should be a 5k pb there for the taking. Oh and breaking 1000 miles for 2016; I'm only about 30 short!

Maximus Alexander · 03-11-2016 02:09PM

I'm trying to invent a plan to bridge between now and Jingle Bells. Does this make any sense or is it a load of crap? Any input is welcome.

tailgunner · 03-11-2016 02:38PM

Just going by my own recovery experience, I wouldn't have been able for that third week. Maybe move the intervals session to the following week and leave the long run at 10 miles?

jake1970 · 04-11-2016 08:43AM

I agree with tailgunner, that 3rd week looks like too much. Leave the LSR at 10 miles and the day after the 8x400 either run 3 mile recovery or rest. Make sure that all your easy miles are easy(5k + 2.30-3 min per mile).

Maximus Alexander · 04-11-2016 10:35AM

Thanks guys. I'd reckon you have a point; I was trying to go with Hal Higdon's idea of a reverse taper but I was going to go for 2 miles last night when I realised that even walking home from work was tiring me out :pac: So yeah those 14 miles are probably a bit soon.

Maximus Alexander · 11-11-2016 12:09AM

A little post DCM log update. Ran once last week, aggravated the achilles again. I decided to finally have some sense and take advantage of the post marathon break to actually recover properly.

A week later and I have been going a little crazy with the lack of activity so I headed over to the gym for 30 minutes on the stationary bike and a sneaky test on the treadmill. The signs are good! There was still a tiny bit of something there but it seems to be well on the mend and I can probably gradually ease back in to things soon.

Sat Nov 5th: 5.0km @ 6:04/km.

Thu Nov 10th: 30 mins bike at ~160bpm heart rate. 2.6km on treadmill at 5:56/km.

It felt pretty good to have the heart pumping again. I may head out and try a couple of miles over the weekend but I'm going to remain cautious.

Maximus Alexander · 15-11-2016 09:32PM

So in great news my achilles finally seems to be healed and I am chomping at the bit to run. On the other hand, I somehow managed to injure my foot by sitting. My girlfriend was away for the weekend and I had no other commitments really, so I spent the majority of the weekend sitting around watching movies and playing video games, and somehow during the course of such wild activities, the heel of my foot got injured and is sore. :rolleyes:

Anyway, I'm not going to stand for it so I went for a run anyway. Did 6k at 6:06/km. It was great to be back out there but it felt like much more work than it ought to have for such a modest pace. It feels like the last month has not been kind to my fitness level!

HS3 · 15-11-2016 09:38PM

You were playing Dance Party weren't you?

Maximus Alexander · 16-11-2016 10:22AM

My secret shame!

Maximus Alexander · 17-11-2016 09:41PM

My weird sitting related foot injury is improving and I was back out tonight for another few miles. Jesus it was awful out there. Freezing cold and a strong enough wind, quite the contrast from the tail end of marathon training and in such a short space of time! Did 7.2km (4.5 miles) at 5:55/km. Felt a little less out of shape than Tuesday, but still nothing like pre-marathon.

Maximus Alexander · 28-11-2016 02:05AM

I was away in the Canaries for a bit of winter sun last week and I got a bit of running in while I was at it.

Sun 20th: We arrived on Saturday and I went out as the sun set on Sunday to explore the coast. We were in Playa Del Ingles and I headed down towards the neighbouring resort of San Augustin until the footpath ran out. The intention was an easy run, but with the heat it didn't work out that way. Also the coast is lined with cliffs with a promenade running along the top most of the way, but there are parts where you've no choice but to descend a couple of large sets of steps and head back up the other side. Let me tell you; this was exhausting work. On the way back my HR hit 197 at the top of a set of steps. I realised I was doing easy wrong and decided to leave it there and walk the last km back. :pac: Total: 8km @ 5:57/km

Tue 22nd: Back out in the evening but with no lessons learned. A shorter easy run was the plan, exploring the opposite direction where the Dunas Maspalomas provide a rather stunning view. The path ran out sooner than expected though and I was back to the steps. I learned nothing and ran up them again. :pac: Total: 6.4km @ 5:54/km

Thu 24th: This time I copped on a bit and avoided any steps, kept to the shade, and ran mostly away from the windy coast through streets filled with villas. It actually felt easy, and I was satisfied that I still knew how to run properly. I also passed 1000 miles for the year on this run! Not bad for my first full calendar year in this game, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself and had reward of lots of beer, cocktails and food. (Who am I kidding I would have had those anyway) Total: 7.4km @ 5:55/km

Sun 27th: Back home.

The 26 days of marathon recovery are officially over and with the much cooler temperatures I decided to get out and run with some semblance of pace for a change. I started out easy but then gradually picked it up until I was going faster than (what was supposed to be) my marathon pace. Coming to the end I decided to pick it up some more and give it a bit of a blast at a comfortably hard pace. At 4:43, it was probably the fastest kilometer I've run in about 6 months. Felt nice and was kinda reassuring to find I could still run at that pace without keeling over. Total: 8km @ 5:32/km

Next up is Jingle Bells on Saturday and I'm hoping for a big PB, considering the last 5k I raced was Jingle Bells last year! I have literally no idea where my expectations should be, so I'm just going to go as quick as I can, hang on, and see what happens.

Maximus Alexander · 01-12-2016 10:56AM

Two easy runs to round out November.

Tue 29th: Finally starting to feel like my fitness is coming back and happy that running actually felt easy at this pace again. It's so cold out, which is nasty for the first few minutes but generally makes running feel like much less effort for me. Total: 6.4km @ 5:57/km

Wed 30th: First time since the marathon that I've run on consecutive days and I felt a bit sluggish for the first few minutes but once I got into it I felt good again. I did a few strides along the way and it felt more comfortable than I would have expected when hitting paces of around 3:40/km however briefly. Total: 6.4km @ 5:53/km

A dismal monthly mileage total, which is the lowest since September 2015; my first month running! :eek: I had made the decision to allow myself to fully recover from the marathon though and I'm glad I did. It's just a matter of getting back on the horse now and back into the habit of running 5 days a week. That's the goal this week, five runs, albeit rather short ones with Jingle Bells on Saturday. Two down.

Maximus Alexander · 03-12-2016 06:14PM

Jingle Bells 5k

When I started running in September last year it was to compete in this race with colleagues from work. It was the first, and only, 5k race that I competed in excluding parkrun and I just had to do it again this year. It's funny, after this race last year my goals were all about getting my 5k time down, yet what really happened was I started training for longer and longer distances all the way up to marathon and never ran another 5k. :pac:

The result of that was that I had no idea what to expect today. I had no real goal in mind because I didn't know what I was capable of over this distance. Last year the chip timing wasn't working but I finished somewhere under 24 minutes, probably around 23:50, and that vague number remained my PB. I knew I could beat that, but I genuinely didn't know if it would be by 20 seconds or by 2 minutes.

This was of course compounded by the fact that I missed 2 weeks of running prior to the marathon and then took 3 weeks of almost complete rest afterwards. 5 weeks of minimal running and no real training (and a disastrous marathon) meant my confidence was in the dirt too.

The plan ended up being go to the Phoenix Park. Run. See what happens.

Morning

On the back of all of the above my motivation for this race was rock bottom. I was always going to go do it, but my normal pre-race routine was abandoned and my efforts were half-arsed to say the least. I didn't prep my gear last night, I didn't go to bed early, I didn't get up as early as I should have. I sort of just bundled my way through the morning and ended up getting to the park 20 minutes before the gun. I parked 2.5km away from the start line... So I had to run there.

I started out at a nice easy warm-up jog but as I went I gradually realised that I was cutting it really tight for time. The Strava pace graph for the warm up is quite amusing because you can actually see it rise continually as I get more and more nervous about missing the start. I was at or above marathon pace for more of this than I'd have liked and felt I had wasted valuable race energy. :pac: I ended up running into the starting pen literally as the first runners were crossing the line; and I was right at the back. Not ideal.

KM 1

I had to jump on the grass and put the boot down to get past the back of the pack, and the first couple of hundred meters ended up being much faster than anything I could hope to sustain for 5k. This race was going exactly as well as the effort I had put into my preparation would suggest. When I got back onto the road I dropped off the pace quite a bit, too much actually and ended up going much too slowly for a couple of hundred meters... 4:45

KM 2

Once we turned onto Chesterfield I pulled out into the middle of the road to get out of the crowds and then settled into a nice rhythm. Finally, I felt like I was running properly. Still, I was going a bit slower than I had imagined I might. I had to be a bit conservative at this stage though because the dash to the start had stolen any freshness from my legs and I didn't know what pace I could realistically sustain. 4:37

KM 3

Once we turned onto Furze Road I relaxed a little. I knew the trend of the race was downhill from here and I felt I could afford to pick it up a bit. From here on out I was more or less accelerating most of the way to the finish as I found my feet and started to feel where the limit was. As we approached the 3km sign I remembered how short 5k races are and my confidence grew again. At this point I heard someone call my name and it was a chap from work approaching over my shoulder. We chatted a bit but I tried to keep it to a minimum as I didn't want to waste any more energy. 4:36

KM 4

Down the Upper Glen and my colleague was staying a couple of paces behind me. He's faster than I am so I couldn't understand why he hadn't passed. It's only afterward I realised he had probably kept an even pace from the start whereas I hadn't and was now going faster than my average pace for the race would be. The 4km marker came along in no time, but I was starting to feel it. 4:21

KM 5

Somewhere in this last stretch I said to my workmate "I think I'm about done". He gave me a funny look and just said "What are you talking about, the finish is only around the bend up here. Just lift your legs". I realised he was right. I was fine. Yeah I was blowing quite hard now, but of course I was, it was the last 600m of a 5k! I've just forgotten what that feels like. Sure enough the bend arrived and there was the line. He passed me then and headed on but I didn't have a kick. At least I didn't think I did, but did I? He finished 3 seconds ahead of me and I probably could have found those 3 seconds to keep with him somewhere, but I've been out of this game for a while and I think I've forgotten how to suffer. 4:09

Afterwards

I was standing there in a daze listening to the brass band and eating a banana when A Neurotic walked up to me, followed shortly by Pomplamousse. We chatted for a few minutes and they both seemed happy enough. Then I headed off for another 2km cool down jog back to the car.

Much later, I got my chip time: 22:19. A PB of about 1:30 which is not too shabby. I do think that with proper prep and better pacing there was probably a sub-22 there for me today, but that can wait. I'm happy enough with that and I enjoyed the race all in all. A big departure from what I've been doing for the last 8 months or so, but a pleasant one. Cool mug too.

Today was the first time it occurred to me that I'm actually going to run a sub-20 at some point. I never thought I could before, but now I do. I just have to start by getting my head back in the game and getting back into a proper training schedule.

The Muppet · 03-12-2016 06:22PM

Great run Max ,well done.

Ososlo · 03-12-2016 06:43PM

That's just brilliant, Max! Loads more to come from you soon too. Really well done!!!!

chickey2 · 03-12-2016 06:44PM

Great run! That's some pb for a 5k!
What's the plan now?

tailgunner · 03-12-2016 07:58PM

Great running, sounds like there's plenty of time to come off that PB yet.

Annie get your Run · 03-12-2016 09:03PM

Brilliant! well done Max, especially as you weren't feeling the love pre prace. Tons more to come off that time now, sub 20 then sub 19 and - the sky is the limit

Maximus Alexander · 03-12-2016 10:48PM

chickey2 wrote: »

Great run! That's some pb for a 5k!
What's the plan now?

Um... I'm not really sure.

I'm kinda waiting to see what the Graduate Plan looks like but the key thing for me is to get back into a solid routine of running 5 days a week and getting the mileage back up above 30 miles a week. If I can get back there by the end of December it will hopefully set me up well for whatever I decide to do in 2017.

HigginsJ · 03-12-2016 11:27PM

Great time, well done

Maximus Alexander · 04-12-2016 08:49PM

So I didn't hit the 5 days this week, settled for 4. Really wasn't feeling it on Thursday and didn't want to risk ruining Jingle Bells by running on Friday evening.

Today: Just a little one to round out the week. It was meant to be recovery but ended up being more like a quick easy. Total: 5km @ 5:51/km

27.1km for the week. Piddly mileage, but still the most I've done since the marathon. I'm going to start the Base Phase from the graduate plan to get things back on track.

Am I Running Or Jogging?

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