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Man! I feel like a runner

ReeReeG

I’ve been considering starting a log for some time now, having read quite a number of them on here regularly. (I’m a lurker coming out of hiding). It seems like a good way to keep track of progress, but more importantly for me, how each run feels. Regular stats on Strava don’t do that for me!
My background
I had tried running with friends in 2012 / 2013, and did a couple of 5km and 10km races, but never enjoyed them. I tried again in January 2015 and realised I enjoyed it this time around, especially after I went along to parkrun that February. I started signing up for a few 10k races (best at that stage was approx. 55 mins).
Continued running off and on in 2015 and 2016, but as I had slowed a lot by November 2016 (struggled to run 10k under an hour), I realised I needed to get a routine going if I wanted to improve. And I wanted to improve. I had joined a club in summer 2016 but never made it along to train with them until May this year due to personal circumstances. Since starting to run consistently (i.e. 4/5 times a week) last November, my times have dropped, my easy pace has quickened, my form has improved (I think) and my overall sense of well-being (and smugness) has grown! Club running has certainly helped, as well as introducing speedwork into my training.
My week is typically 4 easy runs (incl. 1 longer run) and 1 speed session / faster run (e.g. parkrun). Some weeks go to plan more than others ðŸ˜Š
My PBs to date
5k:    23:46 (Twilight Challenge, Sept 2017)
5 mile: 43:04 (Raheny 5 Mile, Jan 2017)
10k:     50:31 (Dunshaughlin, June 2017)
10 mile:   1:30:xx (Ballycotton, March 2017 [Goodbye my old friend])
Half-marathon:  2:01:xx (Donabate, Sept 2017)
My struggles
I still struggle mentally in longer runs, doubting if I can maintain pace or complete the distance. I know I need to slow up more in my longer runs, and I am still figuring out how to start a race at the right pace ðŸ˜Š I do use a Garmin but am terrible for checking my pace; I often run by feel but sometimes that goes all wrong.
My goals
1.   Aiming to go sub-50 in a 10k by the end of the year.
2.  Targeting a marathon in May next year. As part of this, I am going to try stay at 30 miles-ish) per week so I have a decent base heading into marathon training after Christmas.
3 Update this log weekly and hopefully receive and review advice given by the lovely boards runners!
And that’s enough for an intro post I think…

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ReeReeG

Aug 13 - 19th
Mon 13th
Planned: 5 easy. Actual: 5 easy / recovery. Average pace 9.53/m. Legs were a little stiff to start with after RnR but mainly okay.

Tues 14th
Planned: 6 steady. Actual: 3 steady, 1 easy, 2 steady. Really felt tired after 3 miles at a reasonably steady pace, so went for 1 easy with the intention of picking it up again for the last 2. Managed that for the most part. Avg pace 8.48/m.

Weds 15th: Yoga at lunchtime. Tag in the evening. Fair amount of sprinting.

Thurs 16th
Plan: 6 x 1 mins, 2 mins off. Actual: Did the session. Was with the club for this one, and I floated the idea of doing a couple of miles as warm-up but was voted down as people wanted to get home for their dinners... would prefer to cushion these sessions in at least 2 easy miles either side to be honest but oh well. Was really pleased with the session itself. I checked what distance is roughly 1 min long for me in terms of the MacMillan stuff, so my pace range should be 5.50-6.30ish for these. Reps were: 5.39 / 6.23 / 5.51 / 6.09 / 6.10 / 5.38. So the first and last were a bit too quick, but fairly happy. I was leading the group for all of them, but one clubmate would catch me in the last 20 secs of each. After about 3 I had to check if I was fading, but he said he was choosing to hold back and push the last 20 secs of each, so I may trust that he was telling the truth!
Had also done a fairly tough pilates class at lunch, so extra happy I could get the legs moving that quickly.

Fri 17th: Had toyed with the idea of a gentle few miles, but I was feeling very tired so allowed myself a night on the couch.

Sat 18th
Planned: tempo parkrun plus a couple extra. Actual: Long run.
Switched the long run to Saturday as I had my goddaughter's birthday party to attend on Sunday. 14 miles, avg pace 9.50, with Marlay parkrun in the middle of it. Uphill to Marlay but they felt like nothing compared to RnR! Took at gel about halfway, just before parkrun started. Did parkrun too fast, but not too wild. I did sprint at the end because I heard someone sprinting up behind me and I didn't want them to pass me... so stupid! Ended up stopped for 5 mins-ish before and after parkrun, due to chatting / getting the barcode scanned. Ran home again which was mainly downhill, nice for finishing a long run. Felt good overall, was a lovely morning for a run.

Sun 19th
Planned: 14 LSR: Actual: 5 easy / recovery. Avg pace 10:05. Handy few miles around my hometown before heading west and eating so much cake.

Total miles: 34.3. Happy enough. Calves are a bit tight so I need to cop on with the foam rolling. Should probably watch my quads too, they suffered before Limerick and I haven't exactly been doing my exercises.

ReeReeG

Aug 20 - 26th
Mon 20th: Would had liked to sneak in a few miles but went to the Britney concert, and out dancing afterwards. Great night, she didn't sing a single word live but it was some atmosphere!

Tues 21st: Had booked the day off work thankfully.. ahem. Forced myself out for some miles. There were mile repeats on the plan, but I knew I was not hydrated enough let alone feeling too sharp so stuck with 6 easy. Avg pace 10.22/m. Actually enjoyed it once the first couple of miles were done.

Weds 22nd: Jogged a couple miles to tag, avg pace 9.28/m. Plenty of sprinting as per.
Yoga at lunchtime.

Thurs 23rd: Woke with a cold. Assessed it throughout the day, just a head cold so knew I'd head out running. Had a really horrible day at work, so I decided not to join club training, needed to have an angry run on my own. Thought about doing the mile repeats from Tuesday, but decided to shake it up a bit more, and alternate hard / easy miles. It was fun actually, and the hard miles got my workday out of me. Wasn't sure heading into the 3rd hard one, but it started to lash from the heavens (great for the cold) so the best way home was to run hard again! Loved the looks people were giving me

Splits: 9.43 / 7.40 / 9.46 / 7.26 / 10.24 / 7.43 / 9.42 / 9.17 - this last one was actually half steady / half easy, so 8.30ish into recovery pace.
Had done pilates at lunchtime also.

Fri 24th: Planned on an easy 5k run home from work, but got caught in more rain at lunchtime which left me slightly miserable, and knew I was driving down the country so decided to leave it to allow more time.

Sat 25th: Was visiting my brother in Kilkenny, so we did his local parkrun which is in fact in Co. Waterford! 2 mile warm-up with him, he's super fast so at one point I had to tell him we had gotten to my actual 5k pace!! My incentive then to run hard on the parkrun itself was to not allow him to lap him - job done. Happy with the 23.45 finish time, given my cold. Another mile or so for cool down, sans brother, let him zip off on his own one! 6.5 miles total for the morning.

Sun 26th: Long run day, and on a morning like this, it was safe to assume most runners out and about are prepping for DCM! Plan had 12 steady, but I wanted to do 14 with some MP miles at the end. I did 12 easy... just couldn't muster anything up after 9 miles and was feeling rough enough. Suppose the cold had to affect my running at some point this week, even if it is only a head cold. Avg pace 9.51/m.
And to be honest, I actually think I might prefer long runs on my own?? As indisciplined as I can be at times with my pace, it was extra hard trying to keep people from tearing off when we've said we're doing x pace and they just can't keep it down. Not to mention, laps of the same park for all those miles is doing my head in! Give me a city loop any day!

Total miles: 34.6. Would have liked a couple more tbh.
I am running Frank Duffy 10 mile next Sunday. Probably will do it as a training run, but maybe some MP miles, and tack on a few extra either end or something. I have a 10 mile in Amsterdam with work later in Sept, so want to race that one. Trying to be sensible and know my limits!
In other news, as I seem to have also tracked his progress here a lot, my Dad ran his first half-marathon in Tullamore yesterday... 2.24! My first half was 2.22! I think we need to drug test him. Hopefully now that's the upper limits of his long-distance running, I don't know if my mother could handle the stress of him doing a marathon, or any of us really!

eyrie

Well done to your dad!
I like the sound of that hard/easy miles session - must try it sometime. I'm always impressed/envious of how well you manage to fit in other stuff along with your running - I keep trying to make myself better at doing yoga/pilates/etc and failing miserably! I'd count that as a good week definitely, especially considering you weren't well either.

ReeReeG

eyrie wrote: »

Well done to your dad!
I like the sound of that hard/easy miles session - must try it sometime. I'm always impressed/envious of how well you manage to fit in other stuff along with your running - I keep trying to make myself better at doing yoga/pilates/etc and failing miserably! I'd count that as a good week definitely, especially considering you weren't well either.

Well I think the yoga and pilates do so much for me mentally that it makes it easier to go along to them rather than miss them. Took a while to see those benefits, but it's an important part of the week for me now.

ariana`

ReeReeG wrote: »

Well I think the yoga and pilates do so much for me mentally that it makes it easier to go along to them rather than miss them. Took a while to see those benefits, but it's an important part of the week for me now.

We run a Pilates class in work but it stopped for the Summer, i've really missed it i must say, looking forward to it starting back up again. Racing in Amsterdam sounds exciting! Your dad is amazing, major kudos to him. And well done on a strong week yourself

ReeReeG

27 Aug - 2 Sept
Mon 27th: My cold was feeling a good bit better so I decided to proceed with the planned runmute. 6.2 miles @ 10:04/m. Really enjoyable.

Tues 28th: Had been thinking of speed work, but when there was a planned club picnic for after training, easy miles were preferred

5.2 miles @ 9.43/m. Cake, cake and more cake.

Weds 29th: My now usual 2 miles to tag. 10.00/m. Yoga at lunchtime.

Thurs 30th: Went up considering 800s but felt so tired I was easily talked into 5 easy with some strides. 9.21/m
My pilates instructor is away, so there was a core yoga class instead. It was tough but felt pretty good!

Fri 31st: Nothing, strolled home from work was the height of activity.

Sat 1st: Parkrun with the family. Couple of easy miles (9.54/m), followed by parkrun at the upper end of my easy pace (8.20/m) range... well apart from the last half a mile. I didn't want someone to pass me out so went a bit fast...

Sun 2nd: Frank Duffy 10 mile day! I had been thinking about doing this at a steady 8.30 pace or something, seeing as I wasn't going to race it, but I hadn't done any sort of session all week so sometime on Friday I decided to do an easy/hard mile session in it.
Headed over early to get some easy miles in beforehand, and keep the mileage where I wanted it for the week. 10.04/m for 3.3 miles.
Started on an easy mile, and knew when I went into the first hard mile, I could not do my usual attack of 7.20 pace and pay for it later! First rep: 9.01 (found it hard to go slower with so many around me) and 7.54. I'd expected my easy miles to settle about 9.45 but weirdly I ran 9.04 in the second rep, spotted the super-supportive Skyblue46 just before I hit my next hard mile, 7.47. Was feeling very warm into the 3rd rep, and gladly took some water at the next station (one to drink and one to pour over my head), and took a gel before I hit the hard mile here. Paces were 9.20 and 7.56 here. Started to feel fairly tired now, so really enjoyed easy mile no.4 (9.18 - still not slowing enough weirdly) and wondered could I hit the next hard rep. Decided to up the pace gently to start, and eventually I settled into sub-8 pace again. Watch beeped 7.59 here but Strava is showing 8.00 dammit. Was glad to hit another easy mile and kinda thought I'd be nice to myself and make this last 1.5 miles.. anyway, 9.26 and 8.35 as I slowly increased the last mile (another hello to skyblue) and absolutely sprinted the hell out of the last bit. Chip time 1.26.47 which is actually a PB (previous was 1.30 in Ballycotton 2017).
Really, really enjoyed today! It's been a while since I left a race feeling so good, which is nice. The course was basically flat, the sun was annoying but thankfully plenty of water on the route. The organisation was good - a functioning bag drop was a pleasure after the mess of R'n'R! The atmosphere around the castle was really lovely, a good buzz! Sorry I didn't meet any boardsies but I had volunteered to get the club group together for a warm-up etc.
I had been thinking I can target the Amsterdam 10 mile in under 80 mins, but I think that's too ambitious. I'm all for setting challenges but I don't want to feel like an eejit! But maybe 80 mins flat?

Total miles: 37.3, delighted with that! I've only one more week of tag left, so hopefully can increase the Weds miles by 1 or 2. Nothing crazy though.

skyblue46

ReeReeG wrote: »

27 Aug - 2 Sept
Mon 27th: My cold was feeling a good bit better so I decided to proceed with the planned runmute. 6.2 miles @ 10:04/m. Really enjoyable.

Tues 28th: Had been thinking of speed work, but when there was a planned club picnic for after training, easy miles were preferred 5.2 miles @ 9.43/m. Cake, cake and more cake.

Weds 29th: My now usual 2 miles to tag. 10.00/m. Yoga at lunchtime.

Thurs 30th: Went up considering 800s but felt so tired I was easily talked into 5 easy with some strides. 9.21/m
My pilates instructor is away, so there was a core yoga class instead. It was tough but felt pretty good!

Fri 31st: Nothing, strolled home from work was the height of activity.

Sat 1st: Parkrun with the family. Couple of easy miles (9.54/m), followed by parkrun at the upper end of my easy pace (8.20/m) range... well apart from the last half a mile. I didn't want someone to pass me out so went a bit fast...

Sun 2nd: Frank Duffy 10 mile day! I had been thinking about doing this at a steady 8.30 pace or something, seeing as I wasn't going to race it, but I hadn't done any sort of session all week so sometime on Friday I decided to do an easy/hard mile session in it.
Headed over early to get some easy miles in beforehand, and keep the mileage where I wanted it for the week. 10.04/m for 3.3 miles.
Started on an easy mile, and knew when I went into the first hard mile, I could not do my usual attack of 7.20 pace and pay for it later! First rep: 9.01 (found it hard to go slower with so many around me) and 7.54. I'd expected my easy miles to settle about 9.45 but weirdly I ran 9.04 in the second rep, spotted the super-supportive Skyblue46 just before I hit my next hard mile, 7.47. Was feeling very warm into the 3rd rep, and gladly took some water at the next station (one to drink and one to pour over my head), and took a gel before I hit the hard mile here. Paces were 9.20 and 7.56 here. Started to feel fairly tired now, so really enjoyed easy mile no.4 (9.18 - still not slowing enough weirdly) and wondered could I hit the next hard rep. Decided to up the pace gently to start, and eventually I settled into sub-8 pace again. Watch beeped 7.59 here but Strava is showing 8.00 dammit. Was glad to hit another easy mile and kinda thought I'd be nice to myself and make this last 1.5 miles.. anyway, 9.26 and 8.35 as I slowly increased the last mile (another hello to skyblue) and absolutely sprinted the hell out of the last bit. Chip time 1.26.47 which is actually a PB (previous was 1.30 in Ballycotton 2017).
Really, really enjoyed today! It's been a while since I left a race feeling so good, which is nice. The course was basically flat, the sun was annoying but thankfully plenty of water on the route. The organisation was good - a functioning bag drop was a pleasure after the mess of R'n'R! The atmosphere around the castle was really lovely, a good buzz! Sorry I didn't meet any boardsies but I had volunteered to get the club group together for a warm-up etc.
I had been thinking I can target the Amsterdam 10 mile in under 80 mins, but I think that's too ambitious. I'm all for setting challenges but I don't want to feel like an eejit! But maybe 80 mins flat?

Total miles: 37.3, delighted with that! I've only one more week of tag left, so hopefully can increase the Weds miles by 1 or 2. Nothing crazy though.

Am I not right in thinking there is only 1 second difference between sub 80 and 80 mins flat? No need to give up on that.

ReeReeG

Hahahaha yeah there is but I suppose I had notions of 1.18 or something to be honest

skyblue46

ReeReeG wrote: »

Hahahaha yeah there is but I suppose I had notions of 1.18 or something to be honest

Notions.. the kind of things that had me pissed off after Kilcock! Break 80 mins and enjoy it. :-))

eyrie

I'd have thought sub 80 wouldn't be a bit too ambitious for you! I don't know anything about the course for the Amsterdam race but you're speedy! Certainly see how you feel on the day but even if you don't go for it this time I'm sure you're well able. It's a really nice distance to race too (say I, who has run the grand total of one ten mile race

)

ReeReeG wrote: »

Sat 1st: Parkrun with the family.

Love how running is a whole-family activity in your clan!

ReeReeG

eyrie wrote: »

Love how running is a whole-family activity in your clan!

Yes, until multiple siblings are present and it all gets a bit too competitive...

ReeReeG

3 - 9th Sept
Mon 3rd: Recovery paced run home from work. 5 miles at 10.25/m. Legs were quite tight after the run from the day before and had a pain just under my bum! Decided to book a sports massage for later in the week, but spent the evening basically sitting on a sliotar.. the joys of running.

Tues 4th: Club run, 7 miles fartlek. To be honest, none of us in the group were 100% certain on the best way to execute a fartlek run, so it was quite haphazard. We decided one person would signal when we up the pace and everyone else wasn't supposed to pass them out, but rather let that person dictate the pace and distance of the fartlek... someone had said 5 or 10k pace as an indicator, but the 1st and 2nd were close to 6.30/m pace which I know for a fact is not anyone in the group's 5k pace! It was a bit mad so myself and another woman decided we'd drop off and try do it ourselves in a more sensible manner. The down side was a couple of the lads came back looking for us thinking they'd lost us, not realising we were trying our best to get lost :silly:. anyway, avg pace for the run was 9.16, the first and last mile had no fartlek sections.
Any tips on proper fartlek running gladly welcome!

Weds 5th: The usual (and final) 2 mile jog to tag! Avg pace 10.11/m. Intense game so lots of sprinting, but sadly we lost

That's that for another year!
Had booked yoga for lunchtime but annoyingly a work call got delayed and I missed it.

Thurs 6th: Plan had 4 x1 mile... always gonna be a toughie but I do enjoy these! Got a bit delayed in work so would have been late to club training, but part of me was glad I would be able to dictate my own mile paces easier. Or so I thought. 2.5 mile warmup, and then hit a local housing estate with lovely quiet and flat roads, and in typical me fashion, overcooked my first mile repeat anyway! 4 mins rec, and I walked the first 30 secs of those but forced myself to jog the remainder. Was heavily tempted to stop after 3, and was set to, until I talked myself into just giving a 4th ago during my 3rd recovery. Was chuffed with myself when I did! Reps were: 6.56 (bold), 7.39, 7.21, 7.42. For the record, I was trying to target 7.40ish pace for them. Cool down then, so total for the session 9.2.
Had done core yoga at lunchtime as my pilates instructor is still away.. and likely to be for a while now. Poor lady had an accident on holidays.

Fri 7th: A delightful rest day... until a hellish sports massage. Holy cow, my calves. I need to cop the hell on with my foam rolling. Booked another for next Friday to try get them normal-ish again! Followed by a haircut so I am lighter and faster... :P

Sat 8th: My sister came over to Marlay to join me for parkrun. I did a couple miles around the park beforehand, and legs were tender enough, so I said I'd just run with her which would be a decent clip but not overdoing it (especially after the mile repeats on Thursday). My sister has a interesting technique of spurts past people and then slowing again! It works though. We were averaging maybe 8.30 pace, and then got to the last corner and the big child in me said "race ya"... killed myself on the sprint! (and left her for dust, mwaahahaha). 5 miles for the morning.

Sun 9th: 16 mile LSR. I decided I'd try out the southside parts of the DCM route seeing as I live on it pretty much. I could have done with a little less sunshine at the start, but hey, it was a lovely morning to be out, and plenty of other folk out too! I got lost at the roundabout on Walkinstown road, took the wrong road off it looking at maps since. Got back on track from Templeogue road though. It was quite tough in the 10-13 mile section, I was lagging a little but was fine again then. Took a gel at 8 miles, and then decided to take a 2nd at 13. Nice to have it done, was a little worried I didn't have long run legs on me at all this time around. It does seem harder than earlier in the year though. Might need to look at my fueling the day before maybe. Avg pace 9.56/m.

Total miles: 44.9. I am so p*ssed off about the 0.1 ! Still my highest mileage week ever though

Kellygirl

Great week and well done on the highest ever mileage. You are well on track for DCM!

Huzzah!

That's a really nice week of running and your highest ever mileage - nice going.

I feel your pain on the calves. I went for a non-sports massage on Saturday and told the (teenytiny) masseuse that she could be firm. I nearly lept off the table at one point when she was doing my legs.

eyrie

ReeReeG wrote: »

spent the evening basically sitting on a sliotar.. the joys of running.

This is my life lately! Or rather it should be, but I still don't do as much of it as I should. I find it helps massively though. I really need to follow your example and go for a sports massage though - I've never had one and I'm apprehensive to say the least :eek:
That's a great week - congrats on your highest ever one!

ReeReeG

eyrie wrote:

This is my life lately! Or rather it should be, but I still don't do as much of it as I should. I find it helps massively though. I really need to follow your example and go for a sports massage though - I've never had one and I'm apprehensive to say the least That's a great week - congrats on your highest ever one!

I'm reading this from my sliotar perch !! I find leaving it and the foam roller beside the telly helps.
Sports massages are not fun in my experience but are definitely a necessary evil. Especially with the mileage you've been hitting these last months I reckon...

ReeReeG

Huzzah! wrote:

I feel your pain on the calves. I went for a non-sports massage on Saturday and told the (teenytiny) masseuse that she could be firm. I nearly lept off the table at one point when she was doing my legs.

I curse at the physios so much I'm surprised any have had me back!

ReeReeG

10 - 16th Sept
Mon 10th: Lovely recovery run home from work. 5 miles at 10.22/m. Was feeling really good after the long run the previous day which was a nice surprise!

Tues 11th: Another 7 mile fartlek. I had done some googling.. a lot of varied articles but it seemed like hitting HMP for a fartlek in marathon was sensible enough? Shared this with my pace group at the club.. all agreed, and off we went. Yeah. Didn't work out. The only one around that pace was the one I lead. Anyway, gave up complaining and just went with it, rightly or wrongly. I did drop off them for the cool down mile however, as it was being run at their PMP. Nein danke.
Avg pace for the run was 9.02/m.

Weds 12th: Ran into work, handy 5km @ 9.58/m. Took the legs a little while to wake up, but was grand by the 3rd mile.
Yoga at lunchtime.

Thurs 13th: Had toyed with the idea of doing 800s, but the club plan had 6 easy, so in the end I stuck with that and said I'd do the planned speedwork on Saturday. Avg pace 9.22/m. I felt great in this, and the miles flew by with good chats!
Core yoga at lunchtime.

Fri 14th: Rest day.

Sat 15th: Ended up doing a hard parkrun instead of the 500s and 200s. I was disappointed with this to be quite frank. I was really hoping to finally break 23 mins, but with the parkrun near my parents house being on a wind farm, the wind can really affect the pace. I was keeping my effort up for the middle mile, but that bit was into a really strong wind and the pace just slipped despite my best efforts. Once I saw I wasn't going to break 23, I didn't bother dig deeper for the final straight. 23.32 which is a PB for that particular parkrun, but I'm starting to feel I'm never going to break 23 mins!! Did a couple of handy miles before it as warm-up.

Sun 16th: BUZZING. The club had arranged for Maria McCambridge to take us for a long run session up in the Phoenix Park, and I did not want to miss this opportunity!
60 mins easy: 6 miles @ 9.34/m
The session bit (for which we will switch to speaking in kilometres)! We were instructed to do 1k laps around the polo grounds, with a 200m recovery after each.
The first 5 x 1k were to be at our planned marathon pace. So for 4 hour group, 5.41/km. Alas I never thought to hit lap on each one, so can't see clear stats but I do know what pace I was settling at for these! For this initial 5 x 1k, I was wavering a bit tbh, I was struggling to keep the pace down (which can only be a good thing???), but mostly in the 5.35 - 5.40 range when I really concentrated.

The next 5 x 1k were to be 5-10 seconds quicker per km than PMP. We were a little bold - settled at 5.20 pace for the most part, but it felt okay. Kept this pace very even, actually found it easier to maintain for whatever reason.

The last set were again supposed to be just 5 seconds per km quicker... but I consciously made a bold decision. I wanted to try out my 10 mile pace for next week. After some quick maths, 5/km seemed to be the target pace. Bizarrely... I was settling at 4.45/km! For all 5 reps!

Such a confidence booster, hitting that pace after having run 13 miles-ish already seems to be a good indicator? I said it to Maria (well actually ... she commented on how strong I looked for the last set, damn that felt good!), and she seemed to think sub80 is there for the taking

but recommended easy miles and some strides for the week now!

Just did a km cool down, brought us to almost 3 hours total running, and just under 18 miles for the morning.

100% my favourite session / long run I have ever done. It was just fantastic. Also the first time I have ever enjoyed running in the Phoenix Park, usually hate it. I also 1000 miles for the year in this! Last year I hit that just before Christmas, so all good.

Total miles: 44.7.
Definitely taking it down a notch this week before next weekend's race. Less mileage, and keeping the effort easy. And we shall see what happens...

Kellygirl

Wow that sounds like a great session and love the fact you are buzzing. It’s such a great feeling. Well done!!

Have you a target in mind for DCM or waiting for another few weeks to decide?

ReeReeG

Kellygirl wrote:

Have you a target in mind for DCM or waiting for another few weeks to decide?

I had been saying I'll decide after the 10 mile next Sunday, but I got the confirmation email for DCM the other day. Wave 2. I know what I am like so I might as well just face the fact that I will end up going out with the 3.50 pacers (probably).
Sure we'll see what happens!

Kellygirl

ReeReeG wrote: »

I had been saying I'll decide after the 10 mile next Sunday, but I got the confirmation email for DCM the other day. Wave 2. I know what I am like so I might as well just face the fact that I will end up going out with the 3.50 pacers (probably).
Sure we'll see what happens!

Yeah I got Wave 2 as well but I reckon I’ll drop back to Wave 3. Will decide closer to the time.

eyrie

What a week!! Brilliant, that sounds like an amazing experience on Sunday, and clearly you were in flying form! Nice way to pass 1000 miles too. Sounds like you deserve to be feeling confident going into the 10 miler!

ReeReeG

Some musings:

I don't understand my legs. I was playing around in a pace calculator with the paces I was doing at the end of the long run session. The watch was in kms for it so I didn't really know what pace that was in miles(7.38/m). It was pretty close to the pace I was hitting the day before in parkrun (7.34/m) - so 5k pace. After 13.5 miles.
Surely this means I should be hitting a much better 5k time? Or is it just my limit i.e. my legs won't move any quicker?! It's very confusing. I just looked back at my 10km PB and it was average 7.38/m also...

I think I need 5k training after this bloody marathon!

ariana`

ReeReeG wrote: »

Some musings:

I don't understand my legs. I was playing around in a pace calculator with the paces I was doing at the end of the long run session. The watch was in kms for it so I didn't really know what pace that was in miles(7.38/m). It was pretty close to the pace I was hitting the day before in parkrun (7.34/m) - so 5k pace. After 13.5 miles.
Surely this means I should be hitting a much better 5k time? Or is it just my limit i.e. my legs won't move any quicker?! It's very confusing. I just looked back at my 10km PB and it was average 7.38/m also...

I think I need 5k training after this bloody marathon!

You'll never hit 5k pace during marathon training! Give yourself a few weeks to recover from DCM, then follow a 6-8 week 5k training plan and all going well you'll have yourself a shiny new 5k PB at the end of it. A lot of people target Jingle Bells in December as an opportunity to get a 5k PB off the back of marathon training but you will need a few weeks of specific 5k training to sharpen up, marathon training does not lend itself well to speed.

You're flying it lately, well done. That session with Marie McC sounds tough and you nailed it.

Huzzah!

Good luck on Sunday!

eyrie

Sorry to hear about the migraine - they're the worst. Hope you're recovered now.
Good luck in the race!!

ReeReeG

Huzzah! wrote:

Good luck on Sunday!

eyrie wrote:

Sorry to hear about the migraine - they're the worst. Hope you're recovered now. Good luck in the race!!

Thanks! I'm looking forward to the race!

I rarely get migraines tbh and I think that one was brought on by yoga inversions at lunchtime yesterday! Good to know though...

ReeReeG

17 - 23 Sept
Mon 17th: Recovery run home from work. I had been doing 5 miles for these in recent weeks, but I was very tired from the long run session the day before, so was happy enough to keep it to 5k this week. 10.20/m.

Tues 18th: The club plan had a steady miles run, but I wasn't sure about doing the full 4 given my race on Sunday, and the fact I was still pretty tired from the Sunday before. In the end, myself and a clubmate did 2 easy, 2 steady and back to 2 easy for a lovely evening's run. 9.12/m average.
I'd done yoga at lunchtime too, because I knew I couldn't make my Wednesday class.

Weds 19th: I'd planned on skipping my usual Wednesday easy 20-30 miles this week anyway, which worked out well as I ended up with a hectic workday.

Thurs 20th: Hmmm. I went to the core yoga class (pilates woman is back next week, yay) and am getting ever closer to achieving the crow pose. We did a lot of inverted stuff however, and I really went for it. Within 30-40 minutes of getting back to work, I had the beginnings of an optical migraine (only able to see out half of each eye), which is isn't sore, but bloody annoying. I knew if the headache followed, I was done for... and it did

left work early, Luas was down and no bus for 40 mins.. and then it drove right past because it was full! Somehow got a taxi which took forever, and straight into bed when I finally got home. So yeah, I missed my planned run with a friend. Think I'll be more cautious of this in yoga in future!

Fri 21st: Ended up not trying to chase miles, thanks to sage advice from the Mentored Novices Thread

Sat 22nd: Easy, easy parkrun. Averaged 9.11/m which isn't really easy enough but the effort honestly felt very low. At around 3.5km I came across a man up from Tralee who was starting to struggle so I tried to help him along. He was doing fine from my viewpoint as he was still chatting.. but then he ended up light headed on the last straight. Felt a bit bad then :-/

Flew to Amsterdam later that day. The race was organised through work (our HQ is there), and I was staying with a friend from the office, who very kindly picked me up from the airport and had a carbo-licious dinner prepared for me

Sun 23rd: RACE DAY

The Dam tot Damloop is a huge event in Amsterdam. I think the numbers throughout the weekend are in the region of 45,000 participants (there is a 5 mile on the Saturday evening). There are a series of waves, so the event runs really smoothly. Our wave was a Business, and wasn't until 13.45, so I watched some of the elites from the comfort of my friend's couch that morning. The men's was won in 45 mins (sick) and the women's had an exciting sprint finish where one woman basically elbowed the other out of the way!! You could cut the tension with a knife on the podium by the looks of it!

Anyway, made our way over to Centraal Station where the rest of the work crew were, and the bag drop etc. The weather was MISERABLE - rain, wind, kind of cold due to the rain... proper Irish weather. I wasn't too bothered by it though, prefer that to lots of sun for running! Did a bit of a warm-up with one of the lads who runs a lot and appreciated the value of a warm up. Some of the guys would be hitting 10 miles for the first time ever, which is so great! Hope they catch the bug

Lined up and listened to the Dutch race briefing and understanding nothing. I was determined to keep the first mile close to 8 mins so I wasn't in danger of going too hard too soon. The ideal would be 8 mins all the way, with a hard last mile to nip under the 80 mins.
Miles 1 - 3: 8.00, 8.03, 7.54
The start was smooth enough, as bizarrely everyone walked to the start line and only ran once you crossed it? So it meant very little bunching... not sure I am describing it well but it was good! Concentrated on getting the effort right as I knew 700 metres down the road we were heading into a tunnel which lasts about 1km - and presumed no GPS to guide my pace there! The tunnel was horrible. It was nice to be out of the rain, but it was bloody stuffy by the time we came out of it. The slope up out of it was about the extent of any hill on the entire course too which was nice... Somewhere in mile 2 I got chatting to two Irish girls briefly, who live over there. I didn't want to be rude but they were going a tad slow for me so had to push on.. I knew I was feeling able by this point, and did have to catch my pace sometimes when I noticed I'd be creeping up to 7.45 pace. I think we started to get to the prettier roads around mile 3.. hit the 5k mark in 24.45 which I knew was bang on target really and felt good.

Miles 4 - 6: 7.54 / 7.53 / 7.54
Into mile 4, ignored a water station as I was feeling totally fine. Can't remember much about the 4th and 5th mile really? I know there was plenty of local support out, which was amazing, and in that weather too! There were random bands, choirs and DJs about the place too. Mile 6, I started to lag a little.. I was finding a niggle in my glute, then my hip.. but really it all came from a mental weakness! Still, was happy to keep the pace up to the end of mile 6.

Miles 7 - 9: 8.13 / 8.02 / 7.51
Just after mile 6, I took a gel and slowed for some water (was in cups, great for the environment but bloody hard). I felt like my effort was still high but I just couldn't get above 8.30 pace. I was thinking, well I should still get a PB if you stay at this pace etc etc. Then I thought about the session last week with Maria, and remembered how I didn't think I could up the pace for the last 5k but had done so. I told myself to just TRY lift the legs a little higher, and inject some pace, and see how it feels. I did. And lo and behold, I COULD run back at sub 8 pace again. I was still a little mindful that I wanted energy for the finish, but to be honest I was gunning for sub 80 now. I was going to give it everything I had. Once I was into the second last mile, I was happy to let the pace be 7.40 / 7.45 in the parts where I was hitting it, and I was telling myself that I just had to kill it on the last mile (I was doing the maths like no tomorrow).

Last mile: 7.34
I mean, the last mile should be the quickest right?! I was exhuasted, but still hitting the pace I needed. Started coming across a lot of runners from the previous wave here, which was so annoying as it meant more weaving when I didn't need it and I didn't want to miss my goal! My watch buzzed for 10 miles less than 100 metres (I am bad at judging) before the line but I knew if I hit the line with 1.19 still on my watch I should be safe!
Chip time: 1.19.47

Could not wipe the smile off my face after I finished! I was so, so happy to hit my goal time! I know I would have been devastated if that was even 1 second over 80 minutes. But really, its not so much the time that I am buzzing about, its the fact I finally dug deep in a race and really gave it everything. I came so close to quitting the goal, and talked myself back into it, which is not something I've ever really managed before. That training session last week helped me so much.
I do have to admit also that reading all the HM reports from Saturday inspired me too - I wanted my own success story!!
I loved the race, pretty route even in the rain, and the locals were amazing. There was one street in particular where everyone was boozing in their front gardens and having the best time! I loved them. Pretty much a flat course which is always helpful too.

Total miles: 24... low enough, but given the migraine, the taper for the race.. I'll allow it.
Missed a recovery run tonight due to a late-ish flight home, but c'est la vie. Back to business tomorrow.

Kellygirl

Brilliant! Fantastic race. Well done for digging deep and getting your goal.

Huzzah!

Great report. So good, I read it twice. Well done on digging deep, something I need to re-learn myself. Fantastic racing and a great PB to boot!