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Chapter 2 - Finding Nemo

Swashbuckler

2018 - Chapter One: The Day That Never Comes - Post 1 to 634

2019 - Chapter Two: Finding Nemo - Post 635 onwards

Original Post:
I've decided to set up one of these in the hope that every now and then someone will come along and in their good nature, answer one of my many questions about my training. I find I've been posting a lot of questions in the Random Running thread so maybe this is a better way of going about it.

Background
36 year old male. Been running for 7 years but only started properly focusing my training since January. Only learned what a tempo, LSR etc. were this year! Previous to that I just went out most days and ran 6 miles at as fast as I could manage. No direction or focus to my training. Had ran some half marathons and mixed in circuit training. But this year I really fell in love with running. Thanks to advice from people on here and chatting to some advanced runners I've met at many races this year I've manage to see significant improvements.

PB's;
5k - 18:22 - Parkrun (2017)
10k - 37:44 - Run Killarney (2017)
Half Marathon: 1:31:35 Charleville (2012). Most recent Half was in June - Half Thru the Heart which I did in 1:33. Extremely tough course and the distance was a little short.

Short to Medium term targets (over the next ~10 months);
5k - Sub 18
10k - Sub 37
Half Marathon - Sub 1:30

Long term targets/dreams;
5k - Sub 17
10k - Sub 35
Run my first Full Marathon (maybe by end of next year).
Run a really good Full Marathon.

Myself and my wife have a baby on the way so I'd say the training could be impacted for a while but I really hope I can keep it up to the same level.

I generally do two/three sessions a week (mix of intervals and tempo), one long run and the rest easy runs. Train 5-6 times a week with one day off.

I do all my Mon-Fri training within my one hour lunch break. LSR is either at the weekend or in the morning before work.

I know I should probably join a club. I would love to but we'll see how life changes once baby arrives. Even if I could do one session a week with a club I think it would be of benefit.

Last weeks training;
Mon: 7 miles steady/progressive starting at 7min/mile and finishing at 6:30min/mile. I'm thinking this run isn't of much benefit as it's in no mans land pacewise for me?
Tues: 5 x 1 mile intervals. Intervals at 5:50min/mile average with 3min recovery between.
Wednesday: 10k easy/recovery @ 7:30min/mile. Not sure if this should be slower but I read that it's bad to have easy and LSR paces the same i.e. too much running at the slow pace. The 7:30 pace felt easy.
Thursday: 15 mile LSR @ 8min/mile. Total time: 2 hours.
Friday: 4 mile recovery jog @ 8:50 min/mile.
Saturday: Parkrun 5k - 18:22.
Sunday: Rest

Probably overdid it a bit last week. Not sure to be honest but I feel good. I'm still learning. I'll be giving up the Parkruns in a couple of weeks for a while so I wanted to run a couple of them pretty hard to end up on a good note.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'm looking to improve and still relatively new to proper training so I'm willing to take any advice on board.

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Swashbuckler

Well where do I start on the one... There won't be any heroic tales of sprint finishes and epic battles with this one. This was a race of two halves. The first half was all about survival and the second half was all about.......... survival.... Haha..

I had looked at the race profile for this one a week ago and laughed. Pretty horrific looking by any stretch of the imagination. But how bad. Too many runners these days are avoiding some of these tougher courses. The trick they're missing is its these courses that will truly make a runner out of you. Anyone who was able to run today just had an absolute belter of a workout. The profile didn't even do it justice! It was awful in a weird sadistic brilliant I loved it way. Lol

Anyway the usual pre race routine. No sleep, weetabix, bagel, banana, Disney, quality time with baby, rest for mama etc.

. This time I made the journey on my own. We decided the weather was looking too bad for the two of them to be standing around for as long as it would take me so missus and baba stayed at home. I definitely missed them at the end but on the plus side I spent a nice bit of time mingling with the other runners. Runners are a lovely bunch. Very happy people.

I headed off to Tuamgraney around 11. Got there much too early but met and had a chat with the organisers. They've been taking a lot of flack lately with the whole run clare vs run the Banner battle. I'm sure there's more to it than either side is saying but I've no interest in the politics of it all. Like I said all I want to do is put one foot in front of the other as fast as i can. Collected my t-shirt and headed back to the car. Was there with a few buddies. I don't think any of us had any major expectations in terms of target time. I certainly didn't. This was never going to be a gauge of where I'm at for ten miles. By the end it proved to be something much more valuable than that.

Big crowd at this. The series definitely draws a crowd. Did my usual warmup with some drills and strides. Nice atmosphere at the start line.

I won't go through a mile by mile account so what I'll do is give my splits upfront and give a synopsis of the race.
Mile splits were; 6.18 / 6.56 / 5.59 / 6.15 / 6.24 / 6.27 / 7.05 / 6.23 / 6.11 / 6.14
Total time was 63.09
Distance looked a little short on Garmin at 9.83 miles. I was assured it's spot on at ten but I don't really care. It is what it is. Another 30s on to my time is fairly irrelevant considering.

Some weird looking splits there I know but I shall explain!

We started off pretty conservatively apart from a couple of lads who shot up ahead. I knew that's the last we'd see of them. A group of 5 of us settled together for the first 1km which was the flattest part of the course. Then the unmerciful first hill kicked in. I'm not sure words can do it justice. All I'll say is even with me managing the effort level as best I could (at one stage my pace was 8.16min/mile) I was still pretty wrecked at the top of the hill. Given what happened in Lahinch I was absolutely adamant I'd give myself some sort of recovery on the downhill. The four lads didn't and they bombed on. What followed for the next few miles was endless rolling hills. So bad that I was cursing downhills at one stage. Just give me some flat fu*king road please! Uphill downhill uphill downhill constant.
By halfway I was really feeling it in the legs and knowing worse was yet to come. By mile 5 the group of four started going backwards and were back with me. I couldn't understand it. Was I going better than I thought or were they just wrecked. Turns out they were just wrecked. A few of them complimented me on my race management after. I laughed. I didn't think I was managing anything. Just surviving.

Anyway I pushed on and made them suffer for going too hard on the downhill haha. And then we hit the monster hill at mile 6. It killed me. Just when I thought I was at the top of it I turned a corner and there was more of it. I stopped briefly. A walker started encouraging me to at least walk and the lads behind me were suffering too. This was honestly the kick up the arse I needed. I got into a slow jog and eventually got to the top. Then I knew the worse of it was over. Downhill again. Legs like jelly. Push on and don't give up third place whatever you do! The last two miles felt like forever. More hills but I was mentally in a better place than I was on the hill. Came back into scarriff and more drags. Eventually I heard music and got some encouragement from supporters. Looked over my shoulder and the lad behind me was well behind. Crossed the line at last. Thank God that's over.

I did a bit of mingling. Everyone said the same about the course. Met up with my buddies. Dead bodies everywhere at the line haha. Hung around for a while and proudly collected my third place plaque.

So that's it. An awful but rewarding and mentally and physically challenging route. That will stand to me in Limerick. The mental strength I showed today surprised me a bit. I did stop so I only score myself a B- maybe B+.

Glad the series is done although it was nicely progressive and coach worked my training really well building me all the time.

Summarizing the series Barefield was short of my expectations. Lahinch was a disaster. Ennis was above expectations even adding the 30m it was short by

. Today was punishing but in a weird way the most beneficial.

Roll on Limerick.

OOnegative

Well done on the podium finish.

skyblue46

All the best for Tuamgraney. I'll be looking forward to the report.

hot buttered scones

Best of luck tomorrow and mind those hills!

OOnegative

All the best tomorrow, sounds like a challenging route but as you say you’ll give it a good lash. Run well!!

Swashbuckler

Carrying on nicely from my last log it turned out to be a week of pretty crappy sleep. Twice a night waking baby. Felt like it was catching up with me a bit at last. Surprised it took 6 months to be honest.

Anyway race week!

Monday - Easy 6M in what felt like the warmest day of the year so far. What a pleasure to be running in a bit of heat for a change. Not so much for the Rotterdam folks who had tough conditions looking at the race reports. Some fairly inspiring efforts and mentalities though. And some wicked times...
Anyway back to the run. Yeah it was easy. Legs felt fine. The normal easy running.

Tuesday -session day! 8x1k off 90s targeting 6.00/mile pace. So close enough to 3.44 target for the 1k.
A very nice session. As always the first one felt a little tough. Legs still getting I to it. Second one still a little tough but can feel myself warming into the session nicely. Third to sixth I'm motoring along nicely. Very controlled and honestly effort levels were grand. At a couple of stages I had to remind myself to pull back a little and a couple of the splits ended up on the fast side. Seventh and Eight legs were feeling it a little but by no means over reaching or even struggling. Just a little higher on the effort level scale.
Splits were 5.59/5.55/5.58/5.50/5.54 /5.56/5.57/5.58.
Really happy with how it went.
Total mileage for the session was 8.5 miles.

Wednesday - Easy 7M. Nothing remarkable. Legs were fresher than usual after a session like that. Still crappy sleep.

Thursday - Easy 6M. Nice and handy.

Friday - Off. The runner in me hates these days off. haha.

Today - just about to head for a 20min shakeout with some strides.

Race tomorrow in Tuamgraney. Ten miles with two big hills and God knows what else. A better sleep last night. Wasn't pushed about this race but now it's almost upon me the usual pre race excitement is creeping up on me. Not sure what to expect really. I'll give it a decent crack though.

Swashbuckler

I was going to say how fresh i'm feeling but it only takes one crap night of sleep to reset that! So I'll start by saying I was feeling fresh.

Monday - Easy 6M @ 8:06min/mile to settle back into it after my Ennis exploits. Felt surprisingly ok. Nothing major to report on this one.

Tuesday - Straight back into the sessions!!

2x1200 + 2x1k + 2x800 Off 2min. All targeting 6min/mile pace.
Funny when I look at a session like this now, it looks ok to me. A few months back i'd have feared it a bit.
I expected the legs to be a bit tired for this one but everything felt ok. For once I'm able to say the splits were pretty much bang on the money.
1200's - 5:58/5:58
1000's - 6:00/5:58
800's - 6:00/5:57
Constantly tuning into the body. Repeatedly asking how do I feel compared to how should I feel. Getting the effort levels spot on. About as good a session as it could have been. Bang on the money. Didn't feel overly tired. Small bit fatigued after the 800's.
Total mileage for the session - 8 miles

Wednesday - Easy 7M at 8:11min/mile. Early start here as I knew I wouldn't get out on my lunchbreak. Legs took two or three miles to wake up. I did wonder to myself how hotbutteredscones does so many morning runs - and morning sessions. Can't be easy when the body is still half asleep. Nice run but it was a cold cold one.

Thursday - Easy 7M at 8:04min/mile. Nothing spectacular to report here either apart from the weather was crap. Wind picking up and would pick up more Friday as I was to find out..

Friday - 4x(1M/90s jog/1k) Off 2.30. 6.20 pace for the 1M/6.00 Pace for the 1k
One of those sessions that tells you "You are now preparing for longer distances" haha. With the Tuamgraney 10M and Limerick Half coming up I figured I might be seeing some more "bulky" sessions. Was looking forward to this one as much as you can look forward to the pain of these. I knew looking at the target paces what to expect though. Not spectacularly tough but expecting to have to work a bit and for the legs to feel it more than the lungs. And so that was the case, although I hadn't accounted for the fact the wind would be desperate. This made managing the effort levels particularly difficult. I would usually head out onto the drags and undulations of the roads for my Friday sessions but given the levels of wind I figured i'd keep it within the confines of the Industrial Estate.

Set 1 paces - 6:20/5:57
Set 2 paces - 6:19/5:58
Set 3 paces - 6:17/6:04
Set 4 paces - 6:17/6:04

Pretty happy with that. Seems to hit the headwind at the start of each of the 1M which was a pain. The first and fourth set were the toughest. Maybe the wind dies down a bit in the middle, i'm not sure but the middle two felt ok. Was happy to get this one under my belt.

Total mileage for the session - 10.3 miles. A big session and one that will stand to me.

Saturday - Easy 14M. Nice way to round off the week. My last 14 miler had been a bit of a disaster so I made sure to stay tuned into how I was feeling here. Took the usual lovely route along Shannon bank out to UL, up past the parkrun and back towards home. Felt good. Nothing unusual in the legs really. Tired a bit from mile 11 onwards but given the week behind me that was expected. Saw so many runners out and about it was great.

Got back home and me and the missus and baba headed to Galway for the night. Had a great time. A lovely city. I must look for some races up there in future

. So a good week behind me there.

Total mileage for the week - 52.4 miles.

Heading into a little block for the "longer stuff" now. The last of the Run Clare series is this Sunday. Tuamgraney 10M with some ridiculous hills. I don't really have much expectations or even excitement for this one to be honest. It feels like its been a long series. I've really enjoyed it but in a way I've felt a bit tied to it and seen some races come and go that I would like to have done. But i'll give it a good crack anyway and at worst it will stand to me for the Limerick Half hopefully.

ariana`

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Cheers ariana. I have a couple of friends with similar mentality who I've tried to get around to my way of thinking but with no success. I give up! haha

Don't give up, you may not convert the masses but you may convert 1 and to that 1 it could be a huge difference.

Swashbuckler

ariana` wrote: »

I believe Testosterscone and/or Safiri alluded to this also recently on the Graduates thread with reference to busting a$$ for short term gain... We're a generation of having everything "on demand" where sadly patience is a lost virtue - now i need to go and practice what i preach myself :P

Well done on the recent 10k race P, super report too, great reading.

Cheers ariana. I have a couple of friends with similar mentality who I've tried to get around to my way of thinking but with no success. I give up! haha

ariana`

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Cheers for the well wishes everyone. A nice stepping stone on what is hopefully a long journey ahead.

Meant to post this last week. I get Shane Finns newsletter and he recently spoke to Catherina McKiernan. These were her comments to him on running;

It's important to enjoy it! No matter what level or stage you are at! We tend to forget that we do this to enjoy it after all!

Consistency will get better results than any other technique out there or any fad! Consistency has been and always will be the key!

Toughen up (her words!!) Catherina thinks that we need to toughen up a little! Get outside, train hard, recover and go again. I nodded and smiled!

Make your nutrition simple. Instead of wondering what to eat the day before the race and how many gels to take, look at it as a whole rather than one particular thing.

Train your mind - Catherina believes the harder you train the better your race results are over time.

Be patient. Mix that consistency with patience. Rather than wondering how to cut 3 mins off your half marathon next month, follow the points above and you will not only take 3 mins off but much more over the next 12/18 months!

Some of these I found particularly interesting especially the toughen up one. It's something I'm seeing more and more of. A lot of people I talk to these days skip a race because it has a few hills. Even complaining after a run that it was hiller than they expected. Are we getting softer or is this just because running has grown as a popular sport amongst the general public.

The patience one was also one the struck me and reflects my change in mentality over the last while. Think long term and forget about "target" races and pbs. Easier said than done I guess. Anyway I found it an interesting few bullet points.

I believe Testosterscone and/or Safiri alluded to this also recently on the Graduates thread with reference to busting a$$ for short term gain... We're a generation of having everything "on demand" where sadly patience is a lost virtue - now i need to go and practice what i preach myself :P

Well done on the recent 10k race P, super report too, great reading.

Swashbuckler

Cheers for the well wishes everyone. A nice stepping stone on what is hopefully a long journey ahead.

Meant to post this last week. I get Shane Finns newsletter and he recently spoke to Catherina McKiernan. These were her comments to him on running;

It's important to enjoy it! No matter what level or stage you are at! We tend to forget that we do this to enjoy it after all!

Consistency will get better results than any other technique out there or any fad! Consistency has been and always will be the key!Â

Toughen up (her words!!) Catherina thinks that we need to toughen up a little! Get outside, train hard, recover and go again. I nodded and smiled!

Make your nutrition simple. Instead of wondering what to eat the day before the race and how many gels to take, look at it as a whole rather than one particular thing.

Train your mind - Catherina believes the harder you train the better your race results are over time.

Be patient. Mix that consistency with patience. Rather than wondering how to cut 3 mins off your half marathon next month, follow the points above and you will not only take 3 mins off but much more over the next 12/18 months!

Some of these I found particularly interesting especially the toughen up one. It's something I'm seeing more and more of. A lot of people I talk to these days skip a race because it has a few hills. Even complaining after a run that it was hiller than they expected. Are we getting softer or is this just because running has grown as a popular sport amongst the general public.

The patience one was also one the struck me and reflects my change in mentality over the last while. Think long term and forget about "target" races and pbs. Easier said than done I guess. Anyway I found it an interesting few bullet points.

Wubble Wubble

Belated well done, great report!

Younganne

What a brilliant, well paced race. Great reading in that report. I reckon everyone has an inner dialogue when racing, the demons would win if we didn’t give them some back chat
All your great training is paying off, looking forward to watching you improve more over the coming months.

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote:

Get a room you two!

Charleville Park Hotel. Room 119. Haha

skyblue46

hot buttered scones wrote: »

If we keep this up one of us'll break the world record. ðŸ˜

Get a room you two!

hot buttered scones

Swashbuckler wrote:

Shur by then me and you will both be going for 1:19 anyway right?

If we keep this up one of us'll break the world record. ðŸ˜

Swashbuckler

hot buttered scones wrote:

I know race calculators aren't the be all and end all, but McMillan gives bang on 1:20 for the half off a 36:05 10k. And there's months of training to go yet!

Shur by then me and you will both be going for 1:19 anyway right?

hot buttered scones

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Funny you should ask. Someone mentioned yesterday would I be going for sub 1.20 in Limerick and I was a bit taken aback. Didn't think I was anywhere near that and maybe I'm not. L will know best. Haha

I know race calculators aren't the be all and end all, but McMillan gives bang on 1:20 for the half off a 36:05 10k. And there's months of training to go yet!

Swashbuckler

Haha I think that me and you are very similar when it comes to that inner dialogue. Or maybe it's all runners. Such a mental battle. Part of me never wants to race again during these races haha.

Next up is Tuamgraney 10M in two weeks. It's the last of the Run Clare series and not a race I really care too much about. Limerick Half in May is the next one of real interest and after that I'll have a chat with L about the Summer. Main aim for me is to get the 5k and 10k times down and the halfs are a bonus. Charleville definitely on the radar. Also half thinking about Dunshaughlin.

Funny you should ask. Someone mentioned yesterday would I be going for sub 1.20 in Limerick and I was a bit taken aback. Didn't think I was anywhere near that and maybe I'm not. L will know best. Haha

hot buttered scones

Your dead right - you never know until you go! I don't know how many times I've felt crap the week of a race, even during the warm up and then raced well. Great racing there and a top quality race report to go with it. Love that inner dialogue as you approach the finish line. Love the pic on Strava too - says it all really. I don't think there's anything better in running than when you realise that you're outperforming your expectations in a race and you know that you can keep going. You said yourself it was the most honest effort you've put in on a race day - which is great because now you have an race to gauge future efforts off (if you know what I mean?). Well done.

Anyway - what's next? Sub 17:30 5k?

And you'll be going for sub 1:20 in Charleville now I assume?

Huzzah!

Fantastic report and fantastic racing. Well done!

Murph_D

Super stuff, enjoyed your account of it. Very well run.

eyrie

Epic report there! Congratulations on an incredible run

Swashbuckler

AuldManKing wrote:

Thats a brilliant run. Also - how you paced it is remarkable - the decent start and then getting faster every mile. Super stuff.

Not to underplay it too much but genuinely a combination of the nature of the course (progressively gets faster - second half has some nice downhills) with the fact I was working with another lad really helped. Just one of those days where everything worked. Weather was ideal too.

AuldManKing wrote:

I'm not jealous at all of those 4 seconds that you have on me

I suspect there will be a bit more back and forth ahead

AuldManKing

Thats a brilliant run.
Also - how you paced it is remarkable - the decent start and then getting faster every mile. Super stuff.

I'm not jealous at all of those 4 seconds that you have on me

Swashbuckler

Thanks all. Feeling it today... Is it too early to start panicking my legs aren't fresh for limerick half in May? Haha.

Nice feeling when it all comes together. 4 and a half minutes off my equivalent time there last year.

Duanington

What a performance, P...one to be both be proud of and to take a hell of a lot of confidence from. Massive congrats and well done to you

Singer

Great report, but even better racing. Amazing finish. Well done to your coach

ReeReeG

Great report and race, well done!

Kellygirl

Well done! Your report is great. You ran a fantastic race.