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A Slow Journey to Faster Times
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London Marathon - Week 8/18
A day early with the update this week. Will explain below....
Monday 23rd January
6m @ 7:49p/m average (127bpm avg)
Handy one on a beautiful evening for a run.
Tuesday 24th January
2.5k w/u @ 7:51p/m average (133bpm avg)
3 x 1600m @ 5:56p/m average with 600m recoveries (159bpm)
2.5k c/d @ 7:59p/m average (136bpm avg)
The rest day is scheduled for the Wednesday of each week during this plan. This means the fastest session you run in each seven day period falls on the sixth day in a row of running. Maybe that's why it always seems so difficult!
Was feeling fairly fatigued heading out but I do like this session, mainly because you can usually hit the first rep of any workout fairly easy and always pick it up for the last one. That only leaves one in the middle that you have to bust a gut in. One is not many
. In the end I didn't have to. It wasn't easy by any means, but very, very manageable.
Wednesday 25th January
Rest
Thursday 26th January
1.5m w/u @ 8:00p/m average (130bpm avg)
7m @ 6:34p/m average (155bpm avg)
1.5m c/d @ 7:34p/m average (140bpm)
Bit of a snivel today and blowing a gale outside, so was wary not to push it too much with Raheny coming up on Sunday. So I didn't and pleasantly surprised myself with how easy I found this. A doddle! In far from ideal conditions too. With more than 12 weeks to go until London and some improvement in fitness, I think it's fairly realistic that MP might quicken up a tad. Looking good for a pb in Raheny. My first in almost 2 years!
Friday 27th January
6m @ 7:57p/m average (125bpm avg)
Easy little trot in the evening after work. Still suffering from a little snivel. Hopefully gone completely by Sunday afternoon.
Saturday 28th January
Rest
So, I've almost completed Week 8 of the Hansons plan. I had deliberately built in a buffer to allow for some prep races which is now coming into play. Saturday & Sunday of this week were supposed to be 2 x 10m Easy. I will do those on Wednesday & Thursday of next week instead. I'll throw in some short recovery runs either side of that (Tuesday & Friday) and take both Monday & Saturday off. Then it's the Trim 10m on Sunday. The following week (beginning February 6th) will be rest & recovery, before getting back into Week 9 of the plan on February 13th.
I believe this way allows me to give both races my best shot and ample opportunity to recover from them properly. At the same time I'm not missing anything I'm scheduled to do, and when I rejoin I'll be 10 weeks out with 10 weeks left on the plan. I just need to work out how I'm going to work around the Ballycotton 10, but on first glance it's just a matter of running hard that day instead of easy (as there's 10m prescribed anyway) and taking the Monday a bit easier than normal.0 -
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Sunday 29th January - Raheny 5 Mile
5m @ 6:01p/m average (168bpm)
Pre-Race
Parked the car at the Red Stables with about 20 minutes to spare and made my way to the start. Had an old jumper with me to stop me getting cold and for once I had very little waiting around to do as I only arrived in the starting pen with less than ten minutes to the gun.
The Race
Was looking out for a few familiar faces to use as possible markers, but I saw nobody I knew until davedanon said hello just before we got going. We wished each other well and were on our way pretty soon afterwards. I have no idea where the actual start line was as I was waiting to cross a mat which we never seemed to?
Mile 1 (6:06)
I knew there would be congestion early on, as the location of the start makes it a virtual certainty with so many runners & such narrow roads along with parked cars and a few turns to negotiate early in the first mile. I didn't panic though, and felt if I dropped five seconds here I'd find it easier to make the time back later than weaving in and out & generally being a slave to the Garmin.
Mile 2 (6:07)
I felt like I was moving ok in this mile, but I kept getting boxed in behind people and it would have taken a bigger effort to try and negotiate a path around them than to sit and suffer for a while. So I tagged on and watched the second mile go by above target pace too, aware that I should have plenty of room to overtake in the second half of the race.
Mile 3 (6:03)
Happy enough starting this mile knowing we had a bit of a downhill to come, but aware I had to use it to make some seconds up. AMK passed me about halfway into this mile and said hello (or something to that effect). I heard him but didn't want to waste any energy talking at this stage (Sorry AMK). I sat in behind him for a minute or two, but then noticed the pace slipping so conciously picked it up to go by again. He gave me another shout as I did so, but again I didn't respond feeling I needed all I had left to try make up the lost time from miles 1 & 2. By my watch I was only about seven seconds down on 30 minute pace going past the 3m pole and I wondered if I'd started it at the wrong place at the start. I knew I could definitely make up seven seconds to break 30 and possibly the extra ten to secure the pb.
Mile 4 (6:03)
This is a tough mile. Very monotonous run up & down the avenue with a sharp U-turn to check your momentum. I had been warned about losing concentration here and don't feel that I did, but the U-turn caused me to go from mid 5:50's pace to above 6:00 again. I passed Raycun here and had mostly been passing people for the whole race so far, so I definitely don't feel I let the mind wander. On the watch I'd yet to run a sub six mile, but passing the 4m the display read 24:00 flat. I thought I was still in the game.
Mile 5 (5:45)
Once I hit the final mile I hit the gas with what I had left thinking that once I went under 6:00 for the mile I'd be under 30 and with a bit more effort might even pb. Turning off the avenue the display was showing 5:4x pace, but by the time I got out the gate it was above 6:00 again. I'm always getting dodgy readings for the parkrun in St Anne's too, so maybe it's the tree cover playing havoc with the Garmin. Anyway, I just put everything I had left into the final stretch until I passed under the gantry with 30:15 on the clock. I was sure I hadn't got sixteen seconds in hand from the start, but was surprised how close I actually was to breaking 30 when I checked the results. I had guessed around 30:10.
Official Time: 30:02
Post-Race
Caught up with FBOT01 who ran a savage pb of 29:11, and shortly after with Ferris B who also pb'd in 30:42. Had a quick coffee in the hall where I also bumped into outforarun (also pb'd) & WithCheesePlease. Dubgal72 was arriving in from supporting duty as I was leaving. A huge showing of boardsies at this race as always.
Thoughts
In the immediate aftermath I felt I could have pushed a bit harder, but my HR data suggests I got it fairly spot on as I haven't even averaged that high in some parkruns lately. Any higher is unlikely to be sustainable. I flogged myself to run 30:16 here last year and ran 14 seconds quicker today feeling much stronger and far more comfortable. I was only 11 seconds off my pb and I'm starting to believe it was a far better run than I originally thought. I actually really fancy a pb in the Trim 10m next week as the extra few seconds per mile leeway will make a massive difference to me.
Watch this space!
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Sunday 5th Febuary - Trim 10 Mile
10m @ 6:12p/m average (163bpm)
Will get this out of the way while it's still fresh in the mind.
Pre-Race
Arose at 9am this morning to witness a cool, crisp morning when I looked out the window. By 12pm we'd have ideal racing conditions. No excuses!
Drove to Trim and arrived in good time to collect my number and then make the return journey to the car, allowing for a nice little warm-up and some gentle stretching. Saw plenty of familiar faces pre-race and lining up just before the gun.
The Race
Lined up fairly close to the front and within a few minutes of doing so we were off.
Mile 1 (6:04)
As with any race, no matter where you line up you'll encounter some early congestion. I had a bit of an altercation on the very first corner with a guy who felt I was too aggressive in holding my inside line. Considering I had people cutting across the front of me to jump up onto the path, I thought it was fair game. Anyway, I got up to speed fairly quickly and didn't have any crowd trouble after that for the rest of the race.
Mile 2 (6:12)
Once I got up to the effort I felt I could sustain for the entire race, I stopped looking at the watch bar the odd glance to gauge how I was going. I was dictating how fast I'd run by the body's feedback rather than being a slave to the *Garmin (which is far from 100% reliable). It felt about right even though it was a couple of seconds outside my pb pace.
Mile 3 (6:16)
Slower again here, but again it felt about right. I caught up with overpronator somewhere in this mile and we'd stay together for a fair bit of the race after this. He commented that he thought the wind was behind us going out which would mean a tough few miles when we turned back, but I tried not to think about that and just worried about the present. Took up the running for our little group here for a few hundred metres, but was passed again before the 4m mark.
Mile 4 (6:13)
We came down into Dunderry and took a sharp left. Definitely felt the breeze was hurting us a bit now as overpronator had predicted. The race was gradually starting to break up and our little group of 4/5 had separated itself from the runners behind, but also lost touch with anyone ahead. I was ok at this point, but far from comfortable and knew I had to hang on here to avoid becoming isolated for what would be more than half of the race.
Mile 5 (6:22)
From memory this is where the route starts to get slightly undulating, having been relatively flat in the opening four miles. I tried to take my mind off any discomfort I was feeling by focusing on what the split needed to be on pb pace. 30:50 was the number. I wasn't far off (c.30:57) which definitely helped me push on a bit.
Mile 6 (6:16)
With a favourable split at halfway, I was just trying to tick off the miles at the required pace to make the pb more and more likely. But in my mind, I knew the effort required to pick it up a bit would be enough to drain me for the final 3/4 miles and leave me blowing out of my a*se. I'd been there in the Bob Heffernan of 2015, where streams of runners overtook me as I decelerated in the final mile. There is nothing more demoralising in a race knowing you're slowing down rapidly and being able to do absolutely nothing about it. You cannot sustain a venture into the red zone for a long period of time. Mile 6 in a 10 mile race is just too early.
Mile 7 (6:24)
Despite what I've said above, I was desperate to stay in the group to avoid isolation and just focused on doing that even though it was becoming more and more difficult. I tried briefly at the beginning of this mile to do my shift at the front, but as soon as I took it up overpronator and one of the other guys came back alongside me and led again. It was too early to start racing so I let them at it. As with the last mile, the pace had slowed a bit but I think that the hills in these middle miles are to blame for that rather than anything else. From around the middle of this mile myself & overpronator started to pull away from the rest of the group. I don't know if he realised it, but he was towing me along with him. If he hadn't gone, I probably wouldn't have either.
Mile 8 (6:19)
I was in op's slipstream for a while here, just the two of us now gradually making up some ground on those ahead. I pulled out alongside him, more because I felt guilty drafting off him than any demonstration of strength. We took a turn late in this mile and I was able to suddenly pick it up a touch. Knowing we were now homeward bound gave me something of a second wind and my pace started to quicken a fair bit.
Mile 9 (6:09)
I had edged ever so slightly ahead of op now and thought we'd have a fair auld battle amongst ourselves between here and the line. I hadn't been clock watching at all during the race and with nobody now leading the group I needed something else to focus on, rather than constantly checking the Garmin. Having briefly spoken to BeepBeep67 at the start, I was aware of what he was wearing and was able to pick him out from behind despite being a good bit back. I made it my mission to catch him. It was the only thing I could think of to keep me from obsessing with the watch. Even if I didn't succeed, it would be a welcome distraction. Right as we passed the 9m pole I struggled by him.
Mile 10 (5:48)
From here to the finish I kept my mind busy by trying to latch onto a Mullingar Harriers runner who was miles ahead of me, while also ensuring neither of the lads from behind got back by me. The paranoia of thinking someone might nab you close to the line is an amazing driver to kick on. I made some ground on the guy in front, but was never going to catch him. The distraction did it's job though and I finished pretty strongly.
Official Time: 62:01
Post-Race
Had to sit down for a couple of minutes after this. Really gave myself a good blowout today. Perfect conditions and absolutely no excuses. That's as fast as I can run ten miles at the moment. A little annoying that I missed out on the sub 62, but I've run 61:39 before and I wasn't near that so I'm not too bothered.
*I'm starting to trust my Garmin less and less. Almost all parkruns I do measure short and now two pretty well regarded races (Raheny 5m & Trim 10m) have measured short too. For what it's worth, I don't doubt the distance of either. The current watch seems to get thrown off pretty easily once there's any tree cover whatsoever. The old FR210 I had could take a while to locate satellites, but was generally pretty reliable when it did. This one is instant, but even on training runs has shown me to be travelling at ridiculous extremes of pace (2:00min/mile - 25:00min/mile), when I can tell myself it's between 8-9:00 pace. Use it as a guide. Nothing more, nothing less. The last miles from this week & last week look pretty fast, but in reality they were probably a few seconds slower with some of the others earlier in the race slightly faster*
Thoughts
I thought I had a fair chance of running my first pb in almost two years this morning. I feel like I gave it every chance and only came up 23 seconds short in the end. I was 12 seconds off my 5m pb last week, which makes both runs look pretty consistent. According to McMillan & VDot, today's race was a better performance than Raheny. That augurs well for the marathon and I've still got 11 weeks until race day. Happy enough with my day's work and looking forward to getting stuck back into the plan. Hopefully the Ballycotton result in 5 weeks will represent further progress and give me a fair idea about what time to target in London.
After today, I may have a partner to run with there, if he's still talking to me 0 -
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London Marathon - Week 9/18
So glad to finally get this week out of the way. It's been a tough one!
Monday 13th February
8m @ 7:17p/m average (151bpm avg)
Decided to go with the 'B' easy pace since I'd been off for a week, expecting to feel refreshed and full of life. Unfortunately the opposite was the case and I felt heavy legged and fairly unfit. Despite not monitoring the live HR, I could feel myself the effort was too much for the type of run I was doing and I should have eased back after the first mile. Unfortunately I was too stupid & stubborn to do that and saw out the rest of the workout at the same pace. I felt I'd probably regret it on Tuesday when I needed to be in good order to do the intervals.
Tuesday 14th February
2.5k w/u @ 8:08p/m average (129bpm avg)
6 x 800m @ 5:55p/m average with 400m recoveries (161bpm)
2.5k c/d @ 8:05p/m average (144bpm avg)
Was absolutely dreading this after Monday's horror show, but ended up overestimating its difficulty so much that I was pleasantly surprised to find it a little bit easier than expected. Solid splits (2:55, 2:57, 2:58, 2:57, 2:55, 2:56) for each rep left me far happier after this session than 24 hours earlier.
Wednesday 15th February
Rest
Thursday 16th February
2m w/u @ 7:38p/m average (140bpm avg)
8m @ 6:33p/m average (164bpm avg)
2m c/d @ 7:51p/m average (150bpm)
I knew this wouldn't be easy, but considering I found an almost identical session a doddle three weeks ago, I wasn't exactly expecting it to give me too many problems. Pace was at it should be, but the HR was 9bpm higher than last time. A real struggle, but delighted to have it out of the way on target. Spotted overpronator and Sean Hehir within 20 yards of each other on the Furze Road towards the end of this. Must be training together now
Friday 17th February
7m @ 7:57p/m average (134bpm avg)
I did the same run three weeks ago at the exact same pace (to the second) with an average HR of 125bpm. Enough said.
Saturday 18th February
8m @ 7:20p/m average (143bpm avg)
Was rushing to get this in before it got dark, so went out on an almost full stomach after my dinner. That really didn't help, but on the positive side the HR has dropped 8bpm from the same run on Monday. Progress!
Sunday 19th February
15m @ 7:00p/m average (152bpm avg)
Yet again, found this more difficult than I should have. Twice in the past six weeks I've completed similar runs at the same pace with the average HR at 145bpm. Both of those came after heavy enough nights on the beer. I wasn't out last night, didn't drink and actually went to bed early!
It's not too far above the previous efforts, but frustrating nonetheless.
If I was to mark myself on this week's training, I'd get an A+ for following the plan and sticking to the pace parameters & a big fat F for listening to the body and adapting accordingly. I don't know what's wrong with me the last seven days. Thought I'd be raring to go after a bit of a rest, but in truth it's been a complete struggle. The last time I went backwards so much in such a short space of time was the week after Christmas where I had also just taken a week off. Maybe there's something in that? :rolleyes:
Luckily, I have no more leeway for recovery weeks. In my case, that seems like it can only be a good thing.0 -
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London Marathon - Week 11/18
Monday 27th February
8.2m @ 8:08p/m average (128bpm avg)
Took a slightly different route home to try make up the full eight miles and ended up adding a bit too much. Came through the PP and up the newly tarmacked Khyber which is a big improvement on the surface that was there beforehand. 8:08p/m seems to be the default BP (Backpack Pace).
Tuesday 28th February
2m w/u @ 7:58p/m average (131bpm avg)
6 x 1m @ 6:18p/m average with 400m recoveries (158bpm)
2m c/d @ 7:55p/m average (132bpm avg)
This was very easy. Didn't feel like I was putting in much effort at all if I'm honest. Surprised myself.
Wednesday 1st March
Rest
Thursday 2nd March
2m w/u @ 7:58p/m average (134bpm avg)
8m @ 6:31p/m average (161bpm avg)
2m c/d @ 7:56p/m average (142bpm)
Having breezed through Tuesday's session, I wasn't too worried about this one. I wasn't naive enough to think it would be easy, but expected it to be comfortable enough. I was wrong! I found it very, very difficult. Total contrast to my most previous run. This plan really tests you. Constantly digging into your reserves to see what you come up with. As painful as it can be at times, I really do like it. Suffice to say though, I wasn't looking forward to Sunday's 16 miler after this!
*I'm beginning to have a theory about my own running. It seems when I put in what seems like a good solid performance (training or racing), that no matter how effortless it may seem at the time, it actually takes a hell of a lot out of me. Raheny is another recent example. Anyway, if I can be guaranteed a nice comfortable run in London achieving the sort of time I want, I'll take being shattered for the following fortnight
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Friday 3rd March
7m @ 8:06p/m average (129bpm avg)
Another easy runmute. BP has increased by two seconds.
Saturday 4th March
8m @ 8:02p/m average (134bpm avg)
This wasn't very pleasant. Woke up feeling a bit under the weather and decided to just get this out of the way asap. Was a bit of a drag if I'm honest and the long run was becoming even less appealing than it had been on Thursday night.
Sunday 5th March
16m @ 7:05p/m average (147bpm avg)
Woke up this morning absolutely dying with a headcold that I seem to have picked up off someone during the week. The symptoms started on Friday evening, but by this morning I had full blown runny nose and streaming eyes. Really wanted to get this done though, and was prepared to drop the pace if necessary to ensure I completed the allocated mileage for the week. The past seven days is almost as tough as it gets in the plan and I felt it would be a nice mental boost for similar weeks in the near future if I boxed this off on target. In the end, it wasn't bad at all. Icy breeze blowing in parts which affected the pace on a few miles, but fairly consistent and the runny nose and streaming eyes were more of a nuisance than anything else. HR looks about right for the pace so seems like I made the right decision to go out in the end.
A tough week, but a very good one. Delighted to have that under the belt and a little proud of myself too. It would have been easy to stay in bed all weekend in the circumstances. I was too stubborn to do that and knew I'd regret it if I did. My mood is also far better than it would have been had I done so. There's a couple more very similar weeks ahead in the plan and although they'll be difficult, I know I'm ready for them.
Next week sees a little bit of switching around. I'm going to call Ballycotton a glorified tempo session, meaning Tempo Thursday will now just contain an easy ten miles. This leaves Tuesday being the only fast work I'll do before Sunday, so should give me every chance of running a good time in Cork. What that will be, I really have no idea. If you asked me last Tuesday, I'd have confidently predicted a pb (<61:39), but two days later I wouldn't have backed myself to beat last year's 63:59. I'm just going to try my best and not bother trying to guess what that will be. Seems like the best policy.0 -
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Official time of 62:38 for me.
Very happy with the run. Very strong throughout and nine of the ten miles went to plan. However, I lost 30-40secs in the first mile due to congestion, mainly because I showed up too late which was my own fault. I think if I'd avoided that, I'd have beaten the Trim time.
Oh well.
On to London.......
We thought you were one of the elites going to join at the front as we saw you running up towards the start
Well done, you looked very much in control with 900m to go.0 -
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