Man! I feel like a runner

Week 8: Marathon Training
This was a daunting week in the plan, with a run 6 out of the 7 days. It steps back to 4 days for a few weeks then so I knew if I could get myself through this week, I'd be laughing.

Mon 19th Feb
Plan: 5 easy. Actual: 5.2 easy. Ran home from work, felt really stiff at the start, presumably after the cross country the day before. Stopped off in Rathgar to buy a flipbelt for the marathon, and decided to try lift the legs a little better for the rest of the journey home. Splits were a bit all over the place as a result but it felt good to stretch the legs out. (11.35, 10.25, 11.40, 9.13, 9.00). Also did a yoga class at lunchtime.

Tues 20th Feb
Plan: 6 steady. Actual: 1 easy, 4 steady, 1 easy. Others in the club were doing this as a session so I thought I'd just join them for it instead of the full 6. Splits: 9.58, 8.40,8.28,8.37,8.24,9.18. Felt great to be honest.

Weds 21st Feb
Plan: 5 easy. Actual: 5.3 easy. Another run from work. Such a handy way to collect miles. Avg pace 9.53/m

Thurs 22nd Feb
Plan: 1m w/u, 6 x (1 min, 2 mins off), 1m c/d. Actual: 1m w/u, 6 x (1 min, 2 mins off), 2m c/d. Accidentally added a 2nd mile in cool down but no harm. Paces for the 1 mins were: 6.54, 7.37, 7.00, 7.20, 7.00, 6.38. Bit of a bit mixed bag but a few fell on hillier patches. Avg pace overall was 8.50/m. 
Pilates at lunch also.

Friday 23rd Feb: A much-treasured rest day. Didn't even walk in to or home from work.

Sat 24th Feb
Plan: 6 easy. Actual: 4 easy. Shortened this as I knew I was gonna add a couple miles on the long run on Sunday, plus I'd an early physio appointment booked. Was a lovely morning for a few miles. Avg pace 9.29/m
All good at the physio too for the sports massage, just some tightness in the left leg but nothing a few extra stretches and regular foam rolling won't sort out.

Sun 25th Feb
Plan: 12 steady. Actual: 14 easy to steady. Did this with my brother who is gonna run with me on the day of the marathon. He is faster than me so trying to get him used to my slower pace! This was a lovely run though. Definitely on the easy to steady side, but I felt fine all the way around. My half marathon PB is 2.01 and I got under the 2 hours on this training run while feeling like I was taking it mostly easy, and chatting all the while. Seems promising for Mullingar on Paddy's Day! Avg pace overall was 9.06/m, but the last 4 miles were all in 8.40-8.56 range. 

Total miles: 40.8 
Fingers crossed the weather won't affect my two evening runs this week!

Week 10: Marathon Training
Mon 5th March: No running, yoga at lunchtime.

Tues 6th March
Plan: 5 easy. Actual: Attempted to do the mile repeats I couldn't do in the snow the week before. Felt so tired and legs felt so heavy however, that I stopped after 2. So it was a 2 mile w/u, 2 fast pace miles (7.09, 7.11) and another mile to cool down. Avg pace for the whole run was 9.01/m.

Weds 7th March
Plan: Rest. Actual: 5.6 easy. Ran home from work. Was playing around with run days as I wanted to do my long run on Saturday as opposed to Sunday this week. Was lovely. Avg pace 10.21/m (didn't bother pause the watch at red lights...)

Thurs 8th March
Plan: 5 easy. Actual: 5 easy. Avg pace 9.26/m. Felt great for this once I got going, had been feeling very very tired on the way to training. Funny how that happens sometimes. Also did pilates at lunch time.

Fri 9th March: Rest day. And pizza.

Sat 10th March
Plan: 5 easy (which I had done on Weds instead). Actual: Sunday's long run. Plan was 16 easy for that, but I decided to run to Cabinteely, do parkrun, and run home. I wanted to try out half marathon pace for parkrun, but I went a bit fast, really hard to judge it with the hills. Parkrun miles were 8.18, 7.57 and 7.50. I wanted to aim for 8.10-8.20. Anyway, total run was 17 miles (I was at 16.6 outside my house so obviously I just had to tack on the extra .4!), and average pace overall 9.13/m. I paused for maybe 4/5 mins before parkrun. Felt great in the run overall!

Total miles: 33.7. 

Next week, I am running Mullingar half marathon on St Patrick's Day. Plan is sub 1.50, ideally 1.48 something! My previous PB is 2.01 in September but I'm fairly sure that day I could have been 4 or 5 minutes quicker that day.I had taken a very cautious approach. Hopefully I can attack this one pretty well with all the training since Sept, and sure, I've written it here now to hold myself accountable.

Week 11: Marathon Training
Mon 12th March
Plan: Rest. Actual: rest, and yoga at lunchtime.

Tues 13th March
Plan: 2m jog, 4m steady, 1m jog. Actual: 2m jog, 4m steady, 1.5m jog. Steady miles were 8.40, 8.45, 8.32 and 8.35. Felt pretty good.

Weds 14th March: Rest

Thurs 15th March
Plan: 6 easy. Actual: 6.5 easy. Average pace 9.18/m. Threw in a few strides over the last bit.

Fri 16th March: rest.

Sat 17th March: HALF-MARATHON DAY
I've been reading some excellent race reports on here recently, so I shall attempt to write a more detailed account than I've previously done...

It was bitterly cold arriving in Mullingar and I was frozen collecting the race number, and that was with all my layers still on. I'd decided on a short-sleeve t-shirt under my singlet, as I'd overheated with a long-sleeved one in Raheny, but I was wondering if that was a sill decision. Thankfully I'd chosen 3/4 pants instead of shorts anyway. 
Didn't do a huge warm-up although I didn't track my jogging to keep warm, but probably about 1km total and the usual stretches. Anyway, lined up between the 1.45 and 2.00 hour pacers. As mentioned in my previous post, I was hoping for 1.48.xx so keeping between 8.10-8.20 pace. My plan for the first mile was to stay closer to the 8.20 and not get dragged off by people pelting it by.

Miles 1-3 (8.23, 8.08, 8.07)
Mile 1 went to plan heading up the main street, letting those who wanted to fly off go, and finding my own pace as we went up the slight hill and headed out towards St. Loman's. I couldn't feel my arms within about half a mile so I decided to just accept that and forget about the cold. I can always tell pretty quickly in a race if I'm going to struggle all the way, or if I'm feeling good, and I knew after mile 1 that I was up for this. I was feeling comfortable and strong. Consciously chose to up the pace slightly for mile 2 to even it out at 8.15 or so for the first two miles. Was happy with 25.xx at the 5k point.

Miles 4-6 (8.08, 8.07, 8.04)
I was planning on a gel at Mile 5 so I'd broken the race into 3 blocks in my head (5 miles, 5 miles and a 3 miler). There was a surprise little hill at mile 4 as we headed out into the bog, but otherwise I don't remember a whole lot about these miles, apart from realising I'd been steadily passing people since the second mile. I took the planned gel at mile 5 without any issues. Also noticed here that the pace on the watch couldn't be trusted in some parts where the GPS must have been dodgy; it was dropping to 9.55 pace and I knew my effort hadn't changed! (Or else everyone around me happened to slow at the same rate ) Anyway, got to the 10k mark (to the sounds of Maniac 2000) in about 50 minutes. Gave myself a virtual pat on the back when I thought how hard I'd fought for a 50 min 10k last June, and here I was doing it with relative comfort.

Miles 7-9 (8.12, 8.08, 8.13)
The WIND. The wind hit me hard here I think, especially heading over the flyover, which for some reason I forgot we had to go over, and I also never thought about it being such a hill. There was nice support out here though, people are great. I decided to hit this hill with some extra effort and get past a few people. No idea why, but I generally like to get the hills done with. Once over this, we were onto the canal route and the sun actually made an appearance! I was still feeling pretty good, but was wondering if I should take my second gel sooner than the 10 mile mark, so in the end I took it at 9.5 miles.

Miles 10-12 (8.04, 8.02, 8.07)
In my ideal scenario, I'd have loved to hit it hard after 10 miles, and to be honest I was feeling great at the end of mile 10. It was the end of mile 11 where the demons entered my brain and said I could afford to slow a bit and still hit the 1.48 target. I hate those thoughts, so I did a body check: breath was fine, legs were fine, maybe just some tiredness but that was to be expected. I was just ticking along the canal and did notice now some people had been conserving energy and were passing me back out. I ignored them and stuck to my pace, more worried now about slowing than speeding up!

Mile 13 and .1 (7.59 and 6.56 pace)
I look at those paces and don't understand! I was really giving myself a talking to for the last mile, reminding myself how annoyed I will be later on if I slow down now! We came back into the town, and on the last stretch of road before turning into the park for the finish, was my father ready to cheer me on. Its incredible how that support can really lift you! I turned into the park and bombed it down the last straight, I think I might have passed about 10 people on it (possible exaggeration ), but I definitely didn't hold back! 
Chip time 1.46.54. To say I am pleased is an understatement!!! Approx 15 mins quicker than my last half  It was a mainly flat course, but the conditions weren't perfect so I am very pleased! This also means I might now aim for a sub4 marathon... scary!
Headed to watch the match and enjoy a couple of drinks, and mountains of food...

Sunday 18th March
Plan: 8 miles easy. Actual: 8 miles easy. Wasn't sure I'd be able to do this when I saw the snow, but thankfully it was pretty much gone in the midlands but afternoon, so I headed out. Took it nice and handy, average pace 9.50/m. I suppose the idea of this run on the club plan is to run on tired legs, and also keep the mileage up for the week.

Total mileage: 35.5 (and a new PB )

Kellygirl wrote: »

Try not to worry. One session might fix it. My knee went before Xmas. Suddenly couldn’t run more than 5km. It took one session and it was my hip and IT Band and was back running normally again.

Will hope for the best for you.

Thanks, turns out I am an idiot who never foam rolls her quads.. or stretches them properly.. ever.
Physio session was good and I'm ok to keep running, but will head back to the physio next week to continue getting them loosened out. Mad what even one session can do!

Week 14: Marathon Training
Finding it crazy that I'm into the last 5 weeks of training for Limerick. 
Mon 26 March
Planned rest, and went to the physio after work as mentioned. He fairly lay into my right quad, I actually cursed at him and then he recommended a return visit as he apparently "hadn't gone that hard". Could have fooled me! He also showed me a good quad stretch which I've been trying to do every day a number of times a day, as well as plenty of foam rolling.

Tues 21st March
Plan: 7 miles fartlek. Actual: 7 miles easy, avg pace 9.19/m. Knee / quad felt mostly ok, and I was making sure I kept to easy pace. Was travelling for work so it was laps around a very dull industrial estate... needs must etc. Didn't have my foam roller with me (bit big for a suitcase :ermm:) so I used a glass in the room... not very comfortable but it was definitely doing something!

Weds 22nd March: Rest.

Thurs 23rd March
Plan: Mile repeats. Actual: nothing as I was flying home.

Fri 24th March
Plan: Rest. Actual: Thursday's session. Wasn't sure if it was a good idea given the quad situation, but I attempted it. Canned it after 2 of the mile repeats, as my head wasn't in it at all. Plus the quad was stiffening a little.. the mile repeats I did were 7.27 and 7.10, so I did push a fair bit. Did 7 miles total.

Sat 25th March
Long run day! Plan was 16 easy on Sunday, but I did 18 easy instead!! Was a gorgeous morning for a run, did it with my brother again who'll be running with me on the day. Average pace was 9.08/m but that's skewed a little by the parkrun to finish and as usual, I lost the run of myself :silly: Knee / quad felt funny for the few miles but totally loosened out by the end. I was very stiff by Saturday evening though, so did even more stretching and rolling, and it seemed fine again by Sunday. Didn't do a recovery run though as I just thought I needed that rest for the leg. 

Total mileage: 32. Bit lower than other weeks recently but given the quad issues I don't see any harm, only good. 
Back to the physio today at lunchtime to keep the loosening going well. 
Had an extra boost too in checking the fundraising this morning: €4000!!!! No backing out of this marathon now...

I am thinking 8.55-9.00/m pace. I want to aim for 3.55 or thereabouts.. BUT at the same time I do want to enjoy it. The main reason for this is to fundraise and remember someone very special, so I don't want to be miserable by mile 20. Plenty to ponder on the next few weeks!

Kellygirl wrote: »

Just don’t let yourself get carried away going too fast at the start. Let everybody else belt on past you and you’ll be passing them all out then in the second half. Save your energy as much as you can. 

Yeah, I'm generally ok with not letting that happen, plus my brother is running it with me so he should keep me on the straight and narrow too! Thanks for all the advice! Haven't fully decided on how often to take the gels yet, had been thinking every 50 mins or so but maybe that's too far apart. I don't want a tummy full of them either.

Realised last week was actually week 13, so a repeat title of week 14...!
Week 14: Marathon Training
Mon 2nd Apr: Nice rest day for a bank holiday. Lots of eating too. 

Tues 3rd Apr
Plan: 6 easy. Actual: 6 easy at avg pace 9.31/m. Delighted to have the bright evenings in the park back.
Had returned to the physio at lunchtime that day to check all was still ok with the quads, and rub them out a bit more. All positive thankfully, once I keep rolling and stretching them well! 

Weds 4th Apr: Rest day, but a lovely yoga class at lunchtime.

Thurs 5th Apr
Plan: 7 easy. Actual: 7 tempo. For whatever reason I was itching to run a bit steadier so I just allowed it and enjoyed it. Downside was my right quad was super tight again afterwards, but the rolling and stretching sorted it quick enough. Avg pace 8.51/m. 

Fri 5th Apr: rest day. Had planned for a yoga class at lunchtime but work got in the way unfortunately.

Sat 6th Apr
Plan: 300s and 200s. Actual: 5 easy / steady. I ditched the speedwork given how tight my leg had been after the steady miles on Thursday, didn't think faster pace again would be nice. (Does it really take much persuasion to ditch a speed session though?!). Headed to Poppintree parkrun where my sister regularly runs, couple of handy miles beforehand and then ran steadier than intended while we chatted around parkrun. Lovely parkrun I have say, and the motivational crew near the start/finish area had me feeling like a professional athlete! Parkrun avg pace 8.31/m. Weirdly no tightness after these steady miles. 

Sun 7th Apr
Plan: 18 easy. Actual: 18 easy! Second 18 miler, was way harder but I suspect the higher temps and eh also running up the Wicklow Way for a bit contributed to that! Just have to remind myself that I did it and it's normal (I guess) to be feeling tired at this point. Avg pace 10.10/m, and my leg wasn't as stiff as after last week's 18 miles. 

Total mileage: 36.3. Very happy with that.
4 weeks to go! Insane. Next week is "the big one" i.e. 20 miles. I think I want to run 21 instead though just for my head, but let's see.

Week 15: Marathon Training
Mon 9th Apr: Yoga at lunchtime, no running.

Tues 10th Apr
Plan: 6 steady. Actual: 1 easy, 5 steady, 1 easy. I was so tired for this and my legs felt heavy. Didn't think I'd manage the steady miles but attempted it from mile 2 and somehow found the energy. Did it solo thanks to stupid work stuff. Steady miles were 9.01, 8.40, 8.47, 8.52 and 8.12. 

Weds 11th Apr
Plan: 6 easy. Actual: 6 easy. Ran home from work, always enjoy that. Avg pace 9.33/m. Yoga at lunchtime also.

Thurs 12th Apr
Plan: 2 x 3 MP, plus w/u and c/d. Actual: 3.6 easy. I did a warm up mile but as soon as I tried to push the pace a pain seared through my right knee again, but this time to the point where I was running with a limp. I stopped, cursed a little, stretched a little, and tried it again but no luck. Continued running easy pace for a bit until I felt good again but as soon as I tried to up the pace my leg was screaming no. It's my own fault. I'd run the previous two days but hadn't gone near the foam roller even though I know I'd had quad issues the last two weeks. Spent a lot of time on the foam roller and doing other stretches that night, and there was no pain by the time I finished.

Fri 13th Apr: Rest day.

Sat 14th Apr
Plan: 6 easy. Actual: 2 easy, and a parkrun with easy to steady pace.. Having spent more time Friday night stretching and rolling, my leg felt great on Saturday morning again. I did try keep it easy for parkrun, but into mile 2 of it I just picked up the pace and then decided to go for negative miles. It felt great though, and was a smashing morning. Avg pace on parkrun was 8.25/m.

Sun 15th Apr
Plan: 20 easy. Actual: 21 easy!! Whoop! So happy to have done it and didn't really lose pace at all, averaged at 9.49 which I think is a sensible pace?! The weather was rotten this morning, but to be honest I think I would pick that over being too hot! Took 3 gels (miles 7, 13 and 18), may not have needed the 3rd really but wanted to at least have tried more than 2 gels in a training run before the big day. Knee / quad was a little stiff at the start but overall fine. I can't get over how tired I have been all day though, been pretty useless for anything since! Forced myself on to the foam roller anyway.

Total miles: 43.1. Tired, but feeling good.

I think I'll book a physio trip again this week just to be safe re the quad, would certainly be no harm. I really need to decide on my planned MP too.. I'd had 8.55-9.00 in mind, but my brother reckons I can aim for 8.40 given my Mullingar half time... decisions, decisions.

Kellygirl wrote: »

I sit and play with paces and calculations for hours - bit nerdy that way :-) Anyway, I’d be inclined to say I think you should be conservative for the first 13 miles if not 16 or even upto 20 and do your 8:57 that will give you a 3:55. If you are upto it after that you can pick it up slightly then. Maybe aim for a negative split? As you said yourself before you want to enjoy this one and it is your first marathon - you will learn so much from it that you can then put towards you next marathon which you can kill.

Yeah you're right, been thinking and it does seem nicer to head out at the 8.55-9.00 pace and see how I'm feeling halfway. Even if I can't pick it up but just maintain pace, I'd still be sub 4 hours. 
Next marathon - I told my mother I'd only do the one she thinks they're too extreme!