So that's "your thing" now is it?

Unthought Known · 17-09-2018 9:55am

Thanks C. Worst case is that I'll get an honest indication for DCM.

Unthought Known · 22-09-2018 9:49pm

18 September: [Planned 8 miles GA]
Ran: 7 mile commute at 9:17. Avg HR 133
Starting the mini taper a little too early maybe. Kept this one very steady in terms of HR. Paces relative to HR seem to have increased slightly over this training block.

19 September: [Planned V02: 9 miles with 5x1000]
Ran: 6.7 miles at 8:44. Avg HR 130
Where to start. My original taper plan was to cut this to 7 miles with 3x1000. Rushed out very soon after getting home from work and realised I hadn't planned where to go. Change of plan to run easy and alternate with a couple of miles at around my planned HM pace of 7:30. Managed that in miles 2 & 4, but had a nightmare from then where I desperately needed the toilet. The last 2 and a half miles were possibly the most uncomfortable running experience I've ever had.

20 September: [Planned 5 mile recovery]
Ran: 6.1 miles at 9:41. Avg HR 126
Pouring rain for the whole run, but I loved it. Since I started running in 2015 this is the first time I have completed a run without once looking at my watch. All I knew was that I wanted this to be really easy and it was. Must do that more often.

22 September: [Planned Dublin Half Marathon]
Ran: 15.2 miles in total incl w/u and c/d
Chip time 1:34:59, an 8:39 PB!
I'd set myself a 1:38 target for this. I had a feeling (and was told) it was a soft target, but honestly didn't know if I could plan to go any faster.

Miles 1-3: 7:30, 7:06, 7:17
For some reason I lined up just behind the 1:40 pacers. This worked nicely to keep the pace steady, but coming up to the mile marker I had to move ahead to get a bit of space. I knew mile 2 would be quick so allowed myself to speed up down the hill. Mile 3 just felt very comfortable and I was thinking then that even a mini taper does wonders. Took water, drank about half the bottle.

Miles 4-6: 7:20, 7:17, 7:22
Ok, so now I know I've got around 4.5 miles of drag. Military Rd has never really bothered me and even though it was early I felt good enough to settle into something more like, maybe a bit faster, my recent 10M pace. Still feeling good around the zoo and up North Rd and I got into a really good stride. Halfway up North Rd I remember thinking that I wasn't noticing any drag which was a great sign.

Miles 7-9: 7:13, 7:24, 7:04
Ticking along, but mile 8 was the first time I felt myself slow a bit. I'd never run Whyte's Rd before and it's true that the unknown can put doubts in your mind. But then we're onto Tower Rd, familiar territory, and I'm thinking the next 4 miles is virtually all downhill. Took water, drank about half the bottle.

Miles 10-12: 7:08, 6:58, 7:05
Made a point of checking my watch as I passed the 10 mile marker. 1:12:43, over a minute faster than FD10. Strangely the official tracker has me crossing 10m in 1:13:47. Passing a few more people, but not loads. Skip the final water station, no time to slow down now.

Miles 13-13.1: 7:17, a sprint at 6:17 pace
I knew mile 13 would be a bit tough, but thought I'd slow down more. Not that I was passing anyone. At this stage I was thinking sub 1:36, but seeing the finish line took me by surprise. Not sure how far out I was, but my watch had a time of 1:34:15. 44 seconds to break 1:35, but it wasn't going to be easy. This is where I really went for it and I stopped the watch bang on 1:35. I know it's only 1 second, but when I got back to the car and saw the official time of 1:34:59 it made my day!

So a much better result than I expected. The weather was absolutely perfect today, but it is still a big confidence boost for DCM.

skyblue46 · 22-09-2018 10:17pm

Delighted for you! Now I'm convinced we'll have the same DCM strategy! Great running. Well done.

Unthought Known · 22-09-2018 11:07pm

skyblue46 wrote: »

Delighted for you! Now I'm convinced we'll have the same DCM strategy! Great running. Well done.

Thanks Sean, not too sure about that though

scotindublin · 23-09-2018 10:41am

Brilliant time A and a great confirmation that your training is coming along nicely for the end of October. That's a nice confidence boost to take into the marathon. Great things coming your way I think

Unthought Known · 23-09-2018 12:31pm

Thanks C. Doing some number crunching now.

Huzzah! · 23-09-2018 12:46pm

Fantastic running. Congrats on the PB.

Unthought Known · 23-09-2018 1:23pm

Huzzah! wrote: »

Fantastic running. Congrats on the PB.

Thanks

Pomplamousse · 23-09-2018 2:35pm

Well done on a brilliant time and HUGE PB!:)

Wubble Wubble · 23-09-2018 6:15pm

Great performance there A, looking forward to seeing that sub 3:30 smashed in DCM

Unthought Known · 23-09-2018 9:22pm

Thanks Pomplamousse, thanks J.

Unthought Known · 24-09-2018 5:24pm

To finish the week....
23 September: [Planned 5 miles Rec]
Ran: 3 easy miles at 9:30

38 miles for the week.

Unthought Known · 01-10-2018 12:25am

25 September: [Planned V02: 8m with 5x600]
Ran: 8 miles easy at 9:16. Avg HR 127
Change of plan after racing on Saturday. Enjoyable easy run.

26 September: [Planned 11m MLR]
Ran: 11.3 mile commute at 9:16. Avg HR 136

28 September: [Planned 4m recovery]
Ran: 5 miles, not easy enough, at 9:20. Avg HR 127

29 September: [Planned 10 miles with 6 @ LT]
Ran: 9.75 miles with middle 6m at LT
Felt great doing this. Definitely finding it easier to hold a faster pace.
LT splits: 7:11, 7:16, 7:06, 7:18, 6:49, 7:09

30 September: [Planned 17 mile LR]
Ran: 17 miles at 9:14. Avg HR 132
Mentally a very tough run, but that was all self-inflicted. Couldn't get out until around 6pm and by then my head just wasn't in the right place. Made a stupid decision to run 6 loops rather than an out and back "in case I want to cut it short". I then spent the first 12 miles literally arguing with myself. One minute I'm telling myself it's fine to give up, go home and have some dinner. Next I'm telling myself this is what marathon training is all about. Anyway, 12 miles of that isn't any fun. On a positive note I felt strong for the whole run.
The watch, at least I hope it was the watch, went a bit mad and showed my HR hitting 160+ for about 10 minutes. I'm pretty sure it wasn't that and once I stopped and cleaned it HR went back down to 130.

205 miles for the month.

scotindublin · 01-10-2018 3:24pm

Another solid week and well done on getting through yesterday.....probably just hitting that time in marathon training where your body and mind is going "why are you doing this to me".

Almost there now so time to keep the focus for another couple of weeks then wrap your self in cotton wool!

Unthought Known · 07-10-2018 10:56pm

2 October: [Planned 7 mile recovery]
Ran: 3 miles easy at 9:16. Avg HR 131
No time for 7 miles so a short easy local loop.

3 October: [Planned VO2: 10 miles with 4x1200 @ 5k pace]
Ran: 10 miles with 4x1200 off 3:45 recovery
The usual Sandyford loop for this one. Found it hard to get up to planned pace for the first rep, but the last 3 were much more like it. Pretty comfortable overall, but I definitely felt the effort increase in the last on.
1200 splits: 5:08, 4:58, 4:59, 4:59. That's time, not pace. Not sure I could run 1200cm at that pace.

5 October: [Planned 11 miles MLR]
Ran: 10.8 miles at 8:51. Avg HR 130
A commute, but this time to work which meant it was mostly downhill. Very easy, but I'm not sure it did much apart from add to the mileage.

6 October: [Planned 20 miles LR]
Ran: 20 miles with 5m at MP. Avg pace 8:45. Avg HR 138
Other commitments meant I had to move the long run to Saturday and miss the 3/4 marathon. Decided to run into town, pick up DCM from Dolphin's Barn to Roebuck Rd, then run the 4 miles back home to make up the 20. 5 MP miles from Crumlin Rd to Orwell Rd were 7:49, 7:46, 7:30, 7:48, 7:46.

Skipped the 4 mile recovery today, too much going on.

Around 44 miles for the week.

Unthought Known · 09-10-2018 5:41pm

Well, If I have to get sick it's better now than in 2 weeks.

Unthought Known · 14-10-2018 11:01pm

No running at all Monday to Friday. Spent most of the week in bed.

13 October: [Planned 10 mile GA with strides]
Ran: 5 miles easy at 9:07. Avg HR 129
Easing back into it. Felt ok, but not too much energy in the legs.

14 October: [Planned 16 mile LR]
Ran: 4.2 miles at 9:37. Avg HR 141
Had planned before going out to run only 8 miles rather than push anything. Within 2 miles I realised my HR was higher than normal so cut this sort and looped back home. Obviously not fully recovered.

9.2 miles for the week! Hopefully next week will be back on plan.

The Black Oil · 16-10-2018 9:02pm

Is illness discussed in books/stuff much you've read at all? Probably not taken into account even in more advanced plans.

aquinn · 17-10-2018 1:47pm

Just catching up on the HM performance. Fantastic going A, really brilliant.

Mind yourself now if the dose is settling. Don't rush back and wreck yourself. Rest is required so take it and don't panic.

Unthought Known · 17-10-2018 11:41pm

The Black Oil wrote: »

Is illness discussed in books/stuff much you've read at all? Probably not taken into account even in more advanced plans.

Not really. They talk about when to consider revising goals depending on the number of days missed and how far you are from race day. I only missed 3 1/2 runs, during taper, though so I'm not too concerned.

Unthought Known · 17-10-2018 11:43pm

aquinn wrote: »

Just catching up on the HM performance. Fantastic going A, really brilliant.

Mind yourself now if the dose is settling. Don't rush back and wreck yourself. Rest is required so take it and don't panic.

Thanks A. The HM was a bit of a surprise, a good one though.
Had the all clear from the doctor on Monday, but you're right, I've cut back on my 2 runs so far this week.

aquinn · 23-10-2018 4:27pm

How are you now, all well?

Unthought Known · 23-10-2018 7:57pm

aquinn wrote: »

How are you now, all well?

All good now thanks A. Just the usual taper madness trying avoid more germs on the Luas.

Unthought Known · 23-10-2018 11:17pm

16 October: [Planned 7 miles GA with strides]
Ran: 8.2 miles easy at 9:16. Avg HR 135
Didn't check the plan, but no harm done.

17 October: [Planned 8 miles with 3x1m at 5k pace]
Ran: 5 miles with 2m at MP
Didn't really fancy the VO2 session so it was an easy run with 2 miles at marathon pace. MP miles felt comfortable.

19 October: [Planned 5 miles rec with strides]
Ran: 5 miles at 9:14. Avg HR 131

21 October: [Planned 12m MLR]
Ran: 8 miles at 9:10. Avg HR 130
Nice and easy. Legs felt full of energy.

26 miles for the week.

23 October: [Planned 5m recovery]
Ran: 3 miles round the block at 9:29
Home from work late so a shorter recovery run.

Probably only 2 more runs for me before Sunday. 6 mile dress rehearsal with 2m at MP tomorrow followed by 3-4 miles easy on Friday.

scotindublin · 27-10-2018 7:12am

Good luck tomorrow Andy another very consistent training block under your belt.

Now go out and get that PB your training deserves!

I will be at the water station at Donore so I will try and spot you on the way past.

Unthought Known · 27-10-2018 1:52pm

scotindublin wrote: »

Good luck tomorrow Andy another very consistent training block under your belt.

Now go out and get that PB your training deserves!

I will be at the water station at Donore so I will try and spot you on the way past.

Thanks Craig. #2601 and all in black tomorrow. I'll say hello if I can speak at that point!

Pomplamousse · 27-10-2018 5:10pm

All black outfits must be in fashion, mine's the same:P
Best of luck tomorrow. Hope this time tomorrow you're celebrating a big PB!

Unthought Known · 27-10-2018 6:49pm

Pomplamousse wrote: »

All black outfits must be in fashion, mine's the same:P
Best of luck tomorrow. Hope this time tomorrow you're celebrating a big PB!

Thanks. Black is the new orange.
Really hope you have an enjoyable day. Best of luck.

Huzzah! · 27-10-2018 8:16pm

Hope you’ve a cracking run tomorrow!

scotindublin · 03-11-2018 8:38am

How is the recovery going Andy? Tough last few miles by the sounds of it but you showed guts to get through it and still run a PB on Sunday.

What's the plan now? Back on another marathon cycle or a change of goals for the next while?

So that's "your thing" now is it?

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