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26.2, Part two

tbukela

Hi all, this will be my first effort at regular logging of my training. I’ve gotten so much valuable information from reading logs and other posts on the A/R forum over the last year or so and would like to engage a bit more to see if it can spur me on a bit. I apologise in advance for the block of text to follow.

My background is relatively straightforward, I’m in my mid 30s and running since October 2016. I did a 10K and a Half marathon in my first few months and got hooked on it. I’ve been a member of a local club for 18 months now which I find a great motivator to get out. 2017 was all about building a base and enjoying my running and racing, lots of racing. I love races organised by local clubs and the sense of camarderie that goes with them. We're blessed to have a strong club scence in Cork. I think I did 37 races last year, probably too much as my improvement plateaued towards the end of the year. I did races at all distances from 5K to Half marathons. In hindsight, I was really racing to train but still managed to rack up 1,099 miles for the year. I made some improvements on my times, 10K went from 54 to 47 mins, and felt that I was ready to take it more seriously in 2018.

I decided that 2018 was going to be about doing my first marathon and so I signed up for Limerick in April. I followed a bit of a hodgepodge of a plan based on an Asics 4:00 hr plan and mileage from the P&D 55 plan. I was very happy with the way training went, 591 miles before the big day, and my tune up races went very well. I had started off the training with a target of sub 4, based mainly on a 1:48 in the Waterford Half Marathon. As training progressed I started to revise the target downwards based on a 75 min 10-mile result and a comfortable 2:08 in a 25K race.

The marathon itself turned out to be a bit of an eye opener. The May Bank Holiday Sunday was a scorcher in Limerick, temperatures were around 23 degrees. Uncertainty over my target time threw my pacing plan out the window and I effectively ran by feel. I did the first half in 1:54 and got as far as mile 17 before the wheels came off. Massive struggle mentally over the last 8 miles and came in just under 4:15. Surprisingly I wasn’t disappointed with the result, I was delighted to have finished the race, I even did a fist pump going over the line. I knew the heat was a big factor on the day and outside of my control. I did however feel that I got my pacing wrong and didn't give myself the chance to run my best race on the day. I still felt I could go faster and decided to sign up for Dublin (briefly contemplated doing Cork but luckily sanity prevailed).

My Dublin training has been a bit hit and miss to date, finding it harder to get out between the fine weather and other commitments. I am following the P&D 55-mile plan with some minor adjustments for holidays etc. I’m a bit concerned though that things might slip further so I’m hoping that this log, and any feedback given, will keep me accountable and motivated. I would love to think that I could do 3:45 on the 28th October and that is the target at the moment. I am fortunate to have a good group from the club all training for Dublin also with a wide range of targets from sub 3 to 4:30. Last week’s mileage was the most since the start of April with 45 miles in the bag including a 14 miler. I think I've just passed 970 miles for the year.

I’ve listed my PBs to give a bit of indication as to where I’m coming from, most of these have been set in the last couple of months (except 5 miles which is from last summer). I also would like to take a bit off most of these but I’m aware that I can’t have it all. I will try to mix in some speed sessions and will probably race regularly enough at the shorter distances over the remainder of the summer. I would love a sub 20 5K, sub 43 10K, sub 70 10 Mile and Sub 1:40 Half.

1 Mile: 06:01
5K: 20:32
4 Miles: 27:11
5 Mile: 37:45
10K: 44:48
10 Mile: 75:11
Half Marathon: 1:46:20
Marathon: 4:14

To anyone who made it to the end, thanks for reading. Any comments or feedback at any stage would be appreciated.

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Kellygirl

Thanks. Have to try to race it properly next year and get a proper pb!

tbukela

Monday -10th September
8 miles - steady
I didn't manage to get out on the Sunday so I was feeling very creaky at the start of this run. I ran it by effort rather than looking at the watch and went out a bit quick for the first 4/5 miles before a bit of fatigue kicked in. The avg for the run was 8:47 which was a little bit quicker than planned for. I sampled the delicious taste of chocolate milk for the first time after the run. The hype is deserved.

Tuesday - 11th September
6 miles - easy
The plan was for 8 miles but I was caught for time with juvenile training in the evening. The run was nice and handy, legs felt good and I had to really focus on slowing things done. 9:01 avg with a lower than usual HR avg of 129.

Wednesday - 12th September
10 miles - 4* 2 miles
I had been looking forward to this one for awhile as I hadn't done a proper structured session in ages. The plan was for 4 sets of 2 miles at 7:40 with 400m recovery at an easy, easy pace. After the PB in the 10 mile race I've been thinking about Charleville and what I should be aiming for. The consensus from reading some of the other threads is that you should have a rattle off your half prep race before the marathon. With that in mind I'm thinking of going out at 7:25 pace for the half. Considering that my current Half PB is 1:46, this would be quite the jump but I think that the work has been put in over the past couple of months and now it's time to test it.
With that in mind I said i'd run the first mile without looking at the watch and take it from there. As it turned out I cheated a wee bit and saw that I was going way too fast and slowed it down to do the first mile in 7:30 so that was now the bar. The session went very well, I struggled a small bit to get into a rhythm after the recoveries but the second mile of each set was easier. I had to put on a bit of a burst in the last 400m of the last mile to hit the target but the effort didn't feel lung busting. I was very happy with the way it went and it has been a nice confidence booster. The splits were 07:30, 7:24, 7:29, 7:26, 7:30, 7:28, 7:29 & 7:27. The recovery segments were 2:21, 2:21 & 2:33.
The plan for the long run on Sunday is 17-18 miles with an increase in pace over the previous few weeks. I'm thinking first 14 miles @8:55 and then finish in 8:45.

tbukela

Friday -14th September
9 miles - incl 4 mile race

Bit of a strange day, the plan was for a 7 mile tempo run but I had forgotten that our next door neighbours were having their annual 4 mile run. It's important to support the local clubs so I decided to do a bit of a split session. I got a nice 5k run in before school collection in about 26 mins and then headed off to the race in the evening.

The race itself was starting at 7pm, good turnout from our club and managed an easy .5 mile warm up. Unusually for these races the start line was really wide so I found myself in row 3 right up the front with the quick boys! I hadn't really decided on a plan so when the whistle went I just took off. An Irish international who does speed sessions with the host club was in attendance and took off at an incredible pace, hard to believe it really. I was tipping away nicely, saw that I was around the usual suspects and the first mile went in 6:28. The course was fairly undulating with some nice pulls but then a bit of relief on the downhills. I wasn't really pushing myself too much but still fancied a sub 27 in the back of my mind. I was passed by a clubmate at about 1.5 miles and the aim was to hold 2nd place in the internal club pecking order. The second mile went in 6:45 but felt comfortable.

The 3rd mile was a different story. I was starting to come up with excuses not to push on and I really had to focus on the watch to keep the pace honest. There hadn't been much movement around me for awhile, I wasn't gaining but noone had passed me. I could sense a group forming behind me and thought I'd better make them work if they wanted to pass me so picked up the pace slightly but still only squeaked in sub 7 with a 6:53. I knew that the last mile had a decent climb but I completely underestimated the length of it. A good half mile with a constant 3-4% gradient with a tight turn just before the top. I was passed here by about 4 people and tried to slot in behind them. I knew that from the crest of the hill to the finish was about .3 mile and all downhill so I let it all go on this bit. It was probably the best sprint I'd put in for a race in ages, hit 5:40 pace for it. Finish time was 27:14 which ordinarily I would be a bit disappointed with but I think I'd rate my effort at maybe 7.5 or 8/10 so I was happy with the run. It was a decent blow out and as usual with the club races there was a great spread afterwards. I did a decent cool down with the lads so just over 9 miles for the day.

Sunday - 16th September
18.5 miles - Long run

I was kinda looking forward/dreading this one. I think since the hurt of Limerick (mental rather than physical) I've been minding myself on the longer runs due to a lack of confidence. I've been happy with the way training has been going and the 10 mile result last weekend was a bit of a confidence boost. We had a decent turnout, in the almost dark, at 7am, thankfully the wind and rain from last night had abated. The provisional plan was for 8:45/50s and then try push on for the last 4 miles. I was barely 500m out the gate when I realised I'd forgotten my water belt with my gels etc. Cue a sprint back to the car, try find the key and out the gate again. I decided to pace myself sensibly back to the group but it was still almost 2 miles before I got them and a quicker than wanted pace. The group was beginning to split and I said to my usual running buddies would we aim for 8:30 s for as long as we could. They were happy enough and that was the target. We passed the 10 mile mark in 1:25 and everyone was feeling happy, chatting away. The pace was starting to get a bit too sharp for some and the group was reduced to two of us. We kept working away nicely, loads of people out doing long runs for DCM from different local clubs. We passed the Half Marathon point in 1:51 and things were still feeling good. The pace of the miles was gradually starting to build, it wasn't a conscious decision but I think we were both happy to push ourselves a bit. The last four miles were 8:07, 8:13, 8:09, 8:14 and 8:18 for the .5 mile. We finished the 18.5 miles in 2:35 with a 8:24 average.

I was wrecked at the end but not a I can't move wrecked, more like a I gave it a good rattle tiredness. This was probably the best long run that I can recall. According to Strava I did my 3rd fastest half marathon somewhere during it and if I had done another .16 of a mile to get to 30K I would have taken 9 minutes off my previous 30K PB. I'm not going to lose the run of myself and start targeting a mad time for Dublin on the back of this but I don't see why I shouldn't be aiming for 3:45 ish now. I did 52 miles for the week which including 2 rest days is pretty decent. Next week is a mini taper for Charleville but still aiming for 48 miles. The plan remains the same to try and go all out for Charleville next Sunday, aim for sub 1:40.

tbukela

Monday - 17th September
6 miles - recovery incl hills
I wasn't really in the form for this one as the weather was pretty bad. I decided fairly late in the evening that I'd better get the run in so headed off into the wind & rain. The plan was for 7 miles with 15 short hill sprints. I couldn't face that many so decided to do 8 on an incline which makes up my normal town loop. I would do the first one and then use that as the benchmark. It turned out to be 160m in 41s. I jogged back down and repeated another 7 times. Splits turned out to 41s, 36s, 36s, 37s, 38s, 39s, 38s, 36s which was between 5:45 & 6:18 pace. The incline was between 3% -7%. I did a few recovery miles after to clock up 6 miles @9:35 avg.

Tuesday - 18th September
5.5 miles - easy progression run
I enjoyed this run, started with the club run and finished on my own as I was caught for time. It was a nice fairly relaxed increase in pace. 8:41, 8:24, 8:02, 7:59, 7:53 & 4:29. 5.5 miles in 8:14 avg

Wednesday - 19th September
8 miles - Club steady run

I was supposed to do a tempo session but had a bit of company for the run so just enjoyed the chats. We pushed it on the hills but the rest of the run was at an enjoyable pace. In total 8 miles @ 8:35 avg

Friday - 21st September
8 miles - tempo w/intervals

This was an abbreviated version of the session I was supposed to do on Wednesday. I decided it would be better to shorten it with Charleville approaching. Quick warm up then 3 miles at HMP, recovery and then 6 * 800m at 10k pace was the new plan. I did this on the local walking track which was nice and quiet in the middle of the day. The initial tempo miles felt very comfortable and I really had to hold back at the end. They were done in 7:37, 7:33 & 7:26. The recovery was only meant to be 1:45 but I was distracted and it ended up being 2:15. I found the 800m intervals tough enough, I haven't been doing much sub 7 min stuff except for the shorter races and I really had to work hard for these ones. In the end I managed to keep them close enough but it was a really honest effort. The splits were 3:33, 3:28, 3:28, 3:27, 3:31 & 3:28 with 60s recovery. A bit of a cool down which brought the session to 8 miles @ 7:38 avg. I was happy enough with the this, I'm getting a bit more consistent with my paces. I enjoyed doing a bit of quicker work yet the body still felt fresh enough after it.

Saturday - 22nd September
4.25 miles - alternating

Today was supposed to be a rest day but I like getting a few miles in the legs the day before a race. I was up early and actually had to wait for it to brighten up a bit before heading out. The weather was horrible, fingers crossed it won't be like this for Charleville tomorrow. The plan was for a bit of alternating pace change miles. I ran this by feel as it was so wet I just wanted it done. I was also trying out a new pair of runners, Brooks Launch 5, which might end up being the marathon day runners. I've had 3 pairs of Brooks Ghosts which I loved. Currently have the Ghost 11s which are really comfortable, I would like something a wee bit lighter for DCM. The splits for the run were 8:39, 7:48, 8:23 & 7:46. The shoes felt comfortable, I'll try them in a 8-10 mile run during the week and see them what they are like.

I'm happy with the week so far, about 31 miles, with the half marathon being the main target tomorrow. I will try and go out at between 7:25 -7:30 pace and see how long I can hold it. I hope the weather won't be too bad but regardless of the way the race goes tomorrow I'm very happy with this training block and feel that things are very positive for Dublin. Best of luck for all doing the half marathons this weekend.

tbukela

Sunday - 23rd September
Charleville Half Marathon

Apologies to anyone reading but this could be a long one. I've had a hate/hate relationship with Half Marathons since I did my first one in Clonakilty in December 2016. It took me 3 attempts to break 2 hours and my PB as of Cork this June was 1:46:31. Training for DCM has been going well over the last couple of months and recent PBs for 10K & 10M were real confidence boosters. A 73 min 10 mile result a couple of weeks ago forced me to consider what I should be targeting in Charleville as an achievable rather than aspirational target. All the calculators etc were in the realms of 1:38 so I was happy to target a sub 1:40. I had never done Charleville before but everyone had said that it was a fairly fast course so I was happy to have a rattle off it. I headed down to Charleville with a club-mate nice and early. No hassle getting the t shirt and did a bit of a warm up. The place was very busy, seemed to be runners everywhere. I thought the start might be a bit congested so wriggled my way in early, bit late starting and off we went.

Miles 1-4
I had positioned myself in front of the 1:40 with the 1:35 pacers in sight. The start was nuts, like a cavalry charge. I was afraid to even check my watch and just went with the surge of people. Eventually I checked the watch by the factory and saw that it was 6:40 pace :eek: I knew that this was madness but the crowd was still sorting itself out so was happy enough to tag along. Mile 1 was 6:56 which was obviously unsustainable but felt ok. During mile 2 the various groups still hadn't formed so there was a lot of yo yo ing going on. I find this very off putting, the constant surging and slowing down, so I tried to avoid those groups/runners. The second mile was another fast one in 7:04. I had a bit of a chat with myself at this stage and decided that although I was feeling good, this pace was just too sharp. Whether it was consciously or not my pace fell back a small bit and mile 3 was a more manageable 7:14. At this stage the field was pretty much strung out with various groups working together. I had fallen in with another two lads who were going to be my companions for the next 8 miles. The fourth mile was 7:18 and I knew that I was in a race. Splits (6:56, 7:04, 7:14, 7:18)

Miles 5-10
I was trying to tune out slightly and just focus on my form and let the miles slip by. This was proving to be difficult as every few minutes I wondered if I was going to blow up! I kept saying to myself that I can do this for 10 miles so lets get that far and then worry about the finish. I had settled into a nice rhythm now and had clung onto a group of sub 1:35 runners who pulled me along for awhile. Mile 5 & 6 were 7:13 & 7:23. Mile 6 was a toughie as the road turned into the wind for a bit which was strong enough. There was good support as we ran through Killmallock which was a good boost. I checked the watch as we passed the 10k mark and I realised that it was 44:44 ish, my 2nd fastest 10K time. Cue another bit of panic but I manged to put that to one side as the halfway mark came up. I saw that they were trying out live tracking so I said I'd better put a burst on for the masses following me live :rolleyes: We were now running on the country roads and the surface wasn't great. I was passed by a few here but also was passing people as well. I passed a guy who would usually be miles ahead of me so cue some more momentary panic. Miles 7 & 8 were 7:16 & 7:11. I was starting to believe now that I was on for a good time if I could just maintain focus. Mile 9 was a bit of a slog, a ridiculously straight road where a bit of self pity was starting to creep in. I checked the watch and saw that the pace was dropping so put on a bit of a burst in pass the mile marker in 7:27. I was at distraction tactics now and I was trying to calculate what I would pass the 10 mile marker in. I knew I had a chance at a PB so I tried to focus on that and was momentarily delighted to pass the marker on a 7:22 mile and 1:12:35 ish. Splits were 7:13, 7:23, 7:16, 7:11, 7:27, 7:22.

Miles 11-13.1
We were back on the main road now and heading for the finish. The road seemed so straight and felt like it went on forever. I was really pushing myself now and I used the 10 mile PB as a mental crutch. I could feel the HR increasing and I was glad to get over the railway bridge bump and finish the mile in 7:25. This was a real slog now and there were equal amounts of people struggling and others flying by. I knew my pace was dropping but I was picking individuals ahead of me as targets. This kinda of worked as although it was a slower mile, 7:33, I was still moving. The last mile was tough, both physically and mentally. I knew I had a decent PB in the bag and had to stop myself from just jogging in. I was being overtaken by a few at this stage. I was delighted when I saw the Kerry plant and just kept thinking about the finish. The pace dropped dramatically going around the last corner but I could see the runners ahead of me turning into the complex so I just tried to keep going. I got to the final stretch and as soon as I saw the clock at 1:35 odd I just let it all go to the finishing line. I gratefully took a bottle of water and had to sit down as I realised I'd done 1:35:47.

Whatever else I've done running wise so far, I think this is the race that I'm most happy with. It is without question the first time I've really pushed myself in a half. While I'm obviously delighted with the time and a 10 minute PB, I think I'm more happy that I kept on going and trusted that I had the training done to achieve a good time. The results of the DCM training and in particular the group runs is evident from this result. I'm not going to make any knee jerk decision on targets for Dublin after this. I think I'll just enjoy it for today. Two more hard weeks of training left and then taper time.

Kellygirl

Congrats. That’s a brilliant race and pb. You are well set for DCM now.

Wubble Wubble

tbukela wrote: »

Sunday - 23rd September
Charleville Half Marathon
.
Miles 5-10
I was trying to tune out slightly and just focus on my form and let the miles slip by. This was proving to be difficult as every few minutes I wondered if I was going to blow up! I kept saying to myself that I can do this for 10 miles so lets get that far and then worry about the finish. I
although it was a slower mile, 7:33, I was still moving. The last mile was tough, both physically and mentally. I knew I had a decent PB in the bag and had to stop myself from just jogging in. I was being overtaken by a few at this stage. I was delighted when I saw the Kerry plant and just kept thinking about the finish. The pace dropped dramatically going around the last corner but I could see the runners ahead of me turning into the complex so I just tried to keep going. I got to the final stretch and as soon as I saw the clock at 1:35 odd I just let it all go to the finishing line. I gratefully took a bottle of water and had to sit down as I realised I'd done 1:35:47.

Whatever else I've done running wise so far, I think this is the race that I'm most happy with. It is without question the first time I've really pushed myself in a half. While I'm obviously delighted with the time and a 10 minute PB, I think I'm more happy that I kept on going and trusted that I had the training done to achieve a good time. The results of the DCM training and in particular the group runs is evident from this result. I'm not going to make any knee jerk decision on targets for Dublin after this. I think I'll just enjoy it for today. Two more hard weeks of training left and then taper time.

HMs are very hard to judge. Certainly I'm always worrying of I've gone too fast in the early miles, even if it *seems* to be ridiculously easy.

Very disciplined performance from you, with great results.

tbukela

Thanks folks for the comments, I was really happy the way it went.

Monday - 24th September
10 miles - easy
I was still buzzing from the race when I started this run. I went out at lunchtime and it was a lovely day for a run. The original plan was for 6 miles but I was suprised how good I was feeling so I kept going. I was very mindful of the pace and tried to keep it comfortable except for the last mile when I realised I was cutting school collection pretty tight. Very enjoyable run, 10 miles in 9:08 avg

Tuesday - 25th September
6.5 miles - easy
I was in Dublin with work for a couple of days and staying out in Drumcondra. I had spent a few years living here back in the mid 2000s so it was funny to see how it had changed in some ways yet remained the same in others! I did a bit of a slightly messy loop up the Drumcondra road,along Griffith avenue and back around Richmond road. I found the constant dodge the pedestrian/cyclist and traffic lights a bit disconcerting. Slight difference from the country roads at home. I was feeling tired during this one and the pace was almost enforced on me, I don't think I could have pushed it any bit. 6.5 miles in 9:14 avg

Thursday - 27th September
7.5 miles - mini progression
I was supposed to do a tempo session but I was feeling fairly lethargic. I decided to fall in with a club run and see how it went. After two easy warm up miles it turned into a bit of a progression run with a tempo few miles. I found I was working hard to maintain a pace which I had knocked out for 13 miles only a few days previous. I finished it off with a nice handy recovery mile at the end. It was an enjoyable run but tough, mentally and physically. The splits for the pace bits were 8:06, 7:43, 7:31, 7:42.

Friday - 28th September
10 miles - Tempo intervals
In order to stop the pity party that was developing over the week I decided I needed to do a bit of a session so finished work early and headed off to the local park for some tempo intervals. The plan was 4*2 Miles at 7:50 however I thought I could quicken that slightly. It was a glorious afternoon for running and I got straight into my stride. I really enjoyed this session even though it got tough towards the end. I did a bit of a cop out and only did 2*2 miles and 1*3 miles. i thought I'd be able to do 4 miles for the last set but I was working hard and didn't want to push it too much. The splits were (7:45, 7:39, 4:24 (800m rec)), (7:42, 7:37, 4:21(rec)) & (7:43, 7:44, 7:48). Even though the pace is probably at the slower end of my tempo pace currently, it felt like a proper session and a nice change from the easy/steady runs. I did a very relaxed cool down of 2 miles at 10 min pace then to give me the 10 miles. I must admit that mentally I felt a lot better after this run.

So that run has brought me to over 200 miles for the month, already 24 miles more than August which was 41 more than July. I never thought that I'd be able to run that volume of miles. The plan is for a couple of easy miles today then a monster camogie blitz. Tomorrow is Cork to Cobh 15 mile race, after thinking about it a lot I think I will treat it as a progression run and break it into 5 mile blocks. Start off slightly slower than MP, then MP and if possible slightly above MP. I think subject to change :rolleyes:

tbukela

Saturday - 29th September
6 miles - Steady
I had 50 odd mins to get a run in while the girls were in gymnastics so I did a nice two lap loop with a few hills thrown in. This was the first properly cold morning, frost on the car and everything. Beautiful morning for a run and it put me in good form for the day. 6 miles at avg of 8:30. We had our end of season camogie blitz in the afternoon which was a great success. That frees up another evening for a run!

Sunday - 30th September
Cork to Cobh 15 Mile BHAA Race

I had never done this one before but it is a bit of an institution in Cork as a pre DCM warm up. I only signed up on the Monday as I was contemplating doing a 20 miler instead but the thoughts of doing it on my own put paid to that. This is a bit of a logistical challenge as, per the name, is a point to point course. The brain trust managed to come up with a solution and off we headed bright and early. There was some initial talk about doing a few miles warm up but a general lack of enthusiasm put paid to this. I'm not going to labour the point but the start was a bit of a mess with runners everywhere and the race started 10 mins late I think. The plan for this was a 3 block progression run building on the Charleville Result but not pushed myself too much into the red. That plan was not adhered to.

Start
The start was fairly frenetic, we had acquired a good spot reasonably close and got caught up in the cavalry charge. Similar to Charleville i just went with it and two of us decided to stick together. I was a bit surprised with the first mile at just over 8 but it felt comfortable so we went with it. The next couple of miles as we ran out of the city over Dunkettle and towards Glounthane were all 7:50 odd. I hadn't brought any water with me and I'd forgotten that the water was going to be in cups. It turned out that they were polystyrene rather than plastic so when I tried to pinch it to drink, it just cracked. I decided it was easier to walk and take a few sips. We went through the 5 mile mark in 39:47 (8:02, 7:57, 7:52, 7:51, 7:53). The pace felt comfortable and we were starting to pick off groups as we went along.

Middle
The support along the next few miles was great, it never ceases to amaze me when people come out with boxes of jellies and bottles of water to offer to complete strangers. The roads were open so it was mainly single file and running in the sometimes non existent hard shoulder. It was a bit different from running on the closed or quiet roads that I'd usually race on. The route so far had been fairly flat and this section was the same except for a few ramps to cross roads etc. We passed a crowd of supporters from the club which was a nice boost. This was probably the worst stretch for cars passing as the road was busy with no hard shoulder. Luckily common sense seemed to prevail. The pace at this stage was increasing slightly, nothing dramatic, but still I was starting to feel that it was turning into more of a race than originally planned. I was pleasantly surprised when we passed the 10 mile mark just before Fota Wildlife park in 1:18. The splits were 7:50, 7:51, 7:48, 7:42, 7:47.

Finish
I had been told that the last five miles were the hardest and so it proved. We had gathered a nice group of maybe 15 following us, quite happy to let us lead the way. I was glad when someone offered to take the lead as we headed towards Cobh as we were running into a slight headwind. I lost a bit of focus around this part as I was trying to figure out what I wanted from the race. Was sub 2 hours enough or too much? I snapped out of it and just thought run it honest and see what happens. The next couple of miles were a bit undulating and there was a bit of movement between people finishing strong and those who were suffering. My friend was almost at the max at this stage and we said we'd get to mile 13 and then I'd see if I could push on a bit. We went through the half marathon mark in 1:42 (2nd Fastest half for me) and I said I'd try and boot on. This booting was dramatically stopped by another incline and I could feel my stride shortening. I was passed by two local lads at this stage and I tried to keep them within striking distance for the final push. Mile 14 was tough and there was a nasty sharp ramp at about 14.5. However the finish was a steep descent and the support was great. I let fly with what I had left, passed one of the lads and finished in 1:57:07. The final splits were 7:49, 7:47, 7:41, 7:47 & 7:23. The final avg pace was 7:49

I must admit that I am happy with this. I pushed myself, it was a race after all, but I didn't go into the red like I did in Charleville. I feel that I could have maintained the 7:50 ish pace for another block of miles. By no means is this now my race pace but it is another confidence boost. All in all this was an enjoyable race with great volunteers. The worst thing is the walk up a ridiculous hill to get to the community centre for the spread afterwards, it is cruel punishment. I'm happy with 55 miles for the week and 221 miles for the month. I have really enjoyed this training block even thought the mileage and the pace have been challenging. One more hard week.

skyblue46

Great report and really consistent running. Well done.

tbukela

After not updating for awhile I really should have more to include but unfortunately due to a combination of things last week was a quiet one.

Monday - 1st October
7 miles - recovery
After the 15 mile race the body was feeling fairly ropey so this was a nice handy recovery run with the lads. Nothing hectic avg pace was 9:31

Thursday - 4th October
8.5 miles - Steady session
After two days dealing with a bit of a manflu and a couple of genuinely sick kids I forced myself to do a bit of a mini session. I did 4 miles at around 8:45 pace of which the first 3 felt harder then they should have. I took a 60 second recovery and set off on 4 miles aiming for 7:45. The pace initially felt a bit sharp but I got into it as the miles went by. I was happy enough with splits of 7:46, 7:47, 7:45 & 7:48. A small cool down brought the total miles to 8.5. Overall I was glad to get back out logging the miles.

Friday - 5th October
5 miles - easy
Nothing unusual about this one I wanted to get some miles in the legs before the LSR. 5 miles at avg pace of 9:01.

Saturday - 6th
21 miles - Long Run
After two weekends of racing Charleville and the 15 miler at a pace quicker than MP I wasn't overly concerned about the pace for this run, more so getting a good long run in the bag. I had only done one 20 miler a few weeks ago so I decided beforehand I wanted to do 21 miles for the mental lift. Big turnout from the DCM training crew, felt a bit weird going out on a Saturday morning. The roads were a lot busier then a Sunday obviously and there were loads of tractors on the road so it was a bit sketchy in parts.
The run itself turned out to be a bit of a progression one. The first five miles were done in almost exactly 45 mins, 10 mile in 1:29, 15 miles in 2:23. Five of the last six miles were sub 8:30 with two 8:00s. To be honest I felt very happy with this run, I felt that I was running well within myself. I did make a bit of a mess of the refueling, only taking one gel which is silly. I'll need to get this right on the big day. All in 21 miles in 3:02 at an avg pace of 8:41.

I didn't get out on the Sunday from pure laziness, I think this is the only time that this has happened in this training cycle. I was really annoyed with myself that evening. It was supposed to be a 5 mile recovery run which is crucial after a long run. The mileage for the week was a pretty low 41 miles, lowest since July.

Monday - 8th October
9 miles - Steady AM 30 mins Recovery PM
I was heading away with work that lunchtime so I got a nice steady run in that morning. The first 7 miles were between 9:02 & 8:26 and I felt fairly stiff at the start. As seems to be the pattern with these runs I felt more comfortable as I went and did the last 2 miles in 7:53 & 7:54. Nice crisp morning in get a run in and to be honest I felt great after it.
Unusually for me I did a 2nd run that day. As I was bored in the hotel I went down to the gym and did 30 mins on the treadmill. It was a bit of a bake as the machines were in KMs and I nearly gave myself a migraine trying to do the conversion. The indoor running setting on the Garmin was surprisingly close to the treadmill. I think it would take me awhile to get used to treadmills again. All just over 12 miles for the day.

Tuesday - 9th October
7 miles - Tempo Intervals
With an eye on the weather forecast for later in the week, I moved this session up a couple of days. The plan was for six 1 mile intervals at 7:25 with a 60 second jog recovery. This went to plan with the splits of 7:22, 7:25, 7:22, 7:25, 7:23 & 7:22. The last two intervals were tougher as the the wind became a factor. 7 miles at 7:46 avg.

tbukela

Wednesday - 10th October
8 miles - easy
I got out late in the evening for this one and the wind was starting to pick up nicely. Nothing too hectic, got through the miles nice enough with one quick mile thrown in the middle at 7:31. Legs were feeling a bit tired. 8 @ 9:06

Friday - 12th October
6 miles - easy
This was a nice relaxed run with one of the lads, pace was relaxed, few climbs thrown in and lots of chat. 6 @ 9:08

Saturday - 13th October
11 miles - Steady
I was unable to go out on the club Sunday run so the plan was to get out early and get it done myself. The rain put paid to that plan and I spent the whole day making excuses not to go out. Eventually I realised that I was out of time and had to bite the bullet. I started at 6pm in the rain and almost dark. The plan for the long run was 16 miles at a decent pace. I had decided to drop that and do 10 miles at just quicker than MP. About 5 miles in I changed my mind and realised that I should stick to the plan. I slowed down a wee bit but was feeling a bit sluggish. I was drenched through and it was almost pitch black in the park where I was doing laps. I got through 8.5 miles in around 8:20 avg and thought I would tag on some slower miles to get to around 15. I stopped at the car for a drink and a gel and took off again. I don't know if it was the pit stop or what but I just didn't feel comfortable. I got a slight pain in my groin and eventually decided to pack it in around the 10.5 mile mark. Being a bit OCD I decided to do a very slow jog to bring it to 11 miles even. I was feeling a bit deflated when I got home. I did a good bit of stretching afterwards and am putting the discomfort down to a lack of stretching prior to starting the run. I would have liked to have gotten a longer run in but the hard work is done. Caution is the watchword for the next two weeks. 11 @ 8:30

Sunday - 14th October
8 miles - easy/MP
After the previous days run I was anxious to get out and see was there anything serious going on. I started off very easy and whatever mild discomfort disappeared after a short while. I did a lot of stretching prior to starting. It was a lovely Autumn afternoon and I didn't notice the miles going. After 4 miles I decided that I would try some MP miles at the end and if there was any discomfort I'd pull back. Glad to say that I was able to knock out 8:25, 8:09 & 8:19 with no issues. Bit of a confidence boost after the aborted long run. 8 @ 8:47.

So another week over and another week closer. Hard to believe that the race is so close now. I'm trying not to think about it too much but it is getting harder. I'm happy with my gear for the day, still not nailed on with the fueling and happy with the plan for the race pace. I hope that I've learnt from Limerick and that my plan will be adjustable depending on the day itself. 52.5 miles for the week, next week is a drop in intensity and miles with one MP session. Almost there now.

tbukela

Monday - 15th October
7 miles - easy
I headed out with one of the lads for a nice easy recovery run. We were finalising pacing plans for DCM, decided to run together for as long as possible. I'd be a wee bit faster but he has greater marathon experience so we think we can help push each other along. 7 miles @ 9:20 avg

Wednesday - 17th October
10.5 miles - Steady run
This was my last heavy session. I did a half mile warm up and then proceeded to switch off and try knock out 10 miles at 7:55 pace. I did the first 6 miles on the track which was fine. I had to hit the streets for the balance as it was getting dark, there were some patches where I had to push a bit going uphill but over all it felt comfortable. I was happy with the heart rate and there weren't any worrying niggles. Nice confidence boost. 10.5 miles @ 7:59 avg.

Thursday - 18th October
6 miles - easy
Headed out with two of the lads for a very enjoyable easy run. Loads of banter about Dublin and the miles flew by. All about maintaining. 6 miles @ 8:48

Saturday - 20th October
13 miles - Club Long Run
This was going to be the last longish run before Dublin. The plan was for nothing hectic, bit of a chat more than anything. The first few miles flew by with some great slagging re secret training and soft targets. One of the lads got a pain in his foot and eased the pace so I hung back with him and then pushed on for the last few miles when he took a shorter route. I was very happy with this run, the effort felt just about right and the legs felt really good when I upped the pace slightly. The group heading off for a cup of coffee and breakfast afterwards which took longer than the run. Really nice morning and a lovely way to sign off on the training block. 12.5 miles @ 8:30 with .5mile c/d

Sunday - 21st October
4.25 miles - Steady
The plan was actually for a slightly longer tempo run but I just didn't feel like it. I did a handy mile to warm up and three miles at MP range (8:03 - 8:16). Everything felt good, I did a lot of stretching after this run. 4.25 miles @ 8:26

I was very happy with the way that this week went, the mileage was perhaps a bit high but the majority of the miles were easy. One of the things I learned from Limerick was that I eased off too much and was under-cooked on race day. This week is all about keeping things tipping over, I think I have maybe 5 miles at race pace over 3 days. Its hard to believe that we're almost here. It's mad that so much training and effort goes into one race. It's not like a 5K or even a half marathon where if you have a bad day you can always have another rattle off one the following week or fortnight. I feel as fit and prepared as I have ever been for a race and hope it make it count next Sunday.

This has been a great training block for me, I've PB'd at every distance and regardless of what happens next week, it has set me up perfectly for next year. I'm going to consider some fairly aggressive goals for next year but that is another days job. 40 miles for the week.

skyblue46

Great training block. I think your target is very conservative based on training and races. I'll not be surprised to see you come in well under 3:30. Best of luck and enjoy the day.

ReeReeG

You've been flying it! I think you're going to knock a massive amount of time off your Limerick time anyway, that's for sure! Best of luck

tbukela

Sunday - 28th October
Dublin Marathon 2018

Without going into any great detail the lead up to the marathon was fairly good, couple of easy runs. Headed up to Dublin on the Saturday with my wife, leaving the three smallies at home. Hit the expo, grabbed the number, had a quick chat and got out of there. After checking into the hotel we strolled over to the start and finish lines, got caught in a shower of hailstones. I was feeling a load of nervous energy so I headed for an easy run to loosen the legs. To be honest the day before went as good as it could, I had all my gear sorted and got a decent nights sleep.

Race Day

Preamble
I got up in loads of time, no dramas due to the changing of the clocks, and was ready to leave in hotel around 7:45. I met a few club mates in the foyer and we exchanged best wishes before I headed over to the bag drop. For some reason we had to do a massive loop around to the bag drop before I parted company with my OH and went through security. I kept bumping into people I knew as I went along and the atmosphere was buzzing. Bag drop was seamless and I was glad I had a hoodie as I found it pretty cold. I headed off with the throngs for the wave entries and decided that I would go to the first toilets that I found. I ended up queuing for nearly 20 mins, which flew by as there were some right characters around. I was very lucky to literally bump into my club mate that I was going to run with and at 9:15, off we went.

Start - mile 1- 13.1
I knew it was going to be congested but I didn't expect it to be that busy. It was a bit mental, people flying around the place into gaps etc. There was a great buzz though, there was a wave of optimism from everyone. I don't remember much about the first bit except the crowds coming up to Christchurch which would be the first of many great cheering sections. We had gone out before the 3:40 balloon but somehow found ourselves behind it after a mile. It was fairly packed and we were looking for somewhere to extricate ourselves. I passed my wife and a few friends on Ushers Quay and crossed the Liffey for the first of several times. The first water stop was a bit messy, it was like noone was expecting it. The swing into the park was handy enough and we made a burst past the pacers just before Gardai HQ. Even though it was a nice enough acceleration the difference in the crowd was worth it. The run up Chesterfield was actually quite nice, I wasn't sure what I was expecting. Out through the gate and heading towards Castleknock. I could hear the band playing "Shut up and Dance" as we passed which is one of my kids favorite songs so that was nice. The support of the crowd here was spine tingling, it was truly amazing. I knew that this was supposed to be the highest point on the course so I was glad of the downhill and then back into the park. I hadn't been paying too much mind to the watch until this stage but I had a look at mile 9. I wasn't surprised at the pace but more so that I didn't feel overly comfortable. My buddy on the other hand was looking great, I could sense that we would be parting ways at some stage in the next few miles. Great support going through Chapelizod (where does the name come from?). There was a bit of a pull on mile 11 but nothing too hectic. I let my friend go somewhere around Con Colbert House, I just didn't feel comfortable. The gap was only about 100 metres, and it would be like that for a few miles but the tether was broken. I was expecting to see my wife around Webb Motors before Dolphins Barn. I was delighted to see her, I threw her my gel belt and gloves, I said I was ok but I think she knew that the writing was on the wall. Great support in Dolphins Barn and up through to the halfway mark. I passed a few club supporters here and once again I could see that they were a bit concerned, great cheers though. So status check at the halfway, passed 10K in 51:53 and halfway in 1:47:12, about 8:10 average. I had no major aches in my legs and the heart rate was ok. However I had a really sharp pain in my left shoulder which was starting to annoy me. I should have been happy as this was pretty much what I had intended to do. I just wasn't feeling comfortable though.

The Middle - mile 13.1 - 22
I found miles 13 - 18 to be a chore. There was still support but not in the same concentration. People were starting to suffer and people were starting to pass me in numbers. I knew my pace was dropping but I was still clocking around the 8:30s so I wasn't overly concerned. My shoulder was really sore now and I was doing as much as I could to loosen it out and not be as tense. I'll be honest and admit that I don't recall much of these miles. Even when driving home afterwards and we went along some of the route it I couldn't place it. I had it on the back of my head that if I could get past mile 18 (where I fell apart in Limerick) I'd be ok. I kinda clung to the that as I plodded along. My watch was showing that I was a quarter of a mile off the mile markers and mentally I felt that every mile was now 1.25 long. I could feel myself starting to think up excuses. I stopped at the water station on Orwell Road to drink some lucozade and take on some water and walked for about a minute. I felt refreshed though and started running again. I found Milltown Road and the next mile ok and I was able to pick up the pace again, there was great support somewhere along here, I just can't remember where. Mile 22 was a disaster, I stopped 3 times along this mile and clocked an 11:06 for it. I didn't have any major pains so I'm guessing it was just mental. I'm not sure what part was heartbreak hill, I remember one part around here where it was like the Tour de France, with the crowd on top of you, urging you on. I managed to relatively fly up this bit as it was just incredible.

The End
It's funny before the race I had Mile 23 picked out as one to really go after. There is a nice fall in the road and some great support. Needless to say this didn't happen and I had my longest walk of the day just before the turn onto the Stillorgan Road. This was the low point of the race for me, I felt completely frustrated and thought I'd actually cry. One of my club mates passed me here and even though he was in difficulty himself he gave me a pep talk and I managed to get going again. As bad as it was it was still a 9:58 mile so I should have tried to take the positives from it. Miles 24 & 25 were a slog, hovering around the 10 min mile mark with people streaming by. The support from other runners, stewards and the crowds really was great. Such a credit to everyone. I'm familiar with the area around here so I was trying to give myself a pep talk, I was checking the watch now and had switched from lap to total time and trying to calculate if I could get in under 3:50. To my shame and the only time where I walked that I am genuinely disappointed in myself, I stopped just after the 25 mile mark. I was furious with myself, asking myself is the reason why I came to Dublin, is this why I missed breakfast with the family every weekend for the last four months. Just as I was about to start, a runner in his mid 50s, passed me turned around and said " Come on boy, cop yourself on, we're all hurting". He was so serious I had a bit of a laugh, clapped him on the shoulder and shuffled along. I must comment on the support from the Asics people along here, they were excellent with those of us who were struggling. I could see the buildings on Mount street ahead and started to pick up the pace, I was scanning the crowd for my wife and hoping to see her. I spotted her just before the 26 mile mark and she gave a massive shout. The crowds were immense. I managed a decent enough sprint for the finish, about the only bit of pre race visualization that actually happened, and crossed the line in 3:49:53 (chip time).

The Aftermath
My immediate feeling after crossing the finish line was pain, my legs were ruined. I barely got through the medal and goodie bag collection. I took a few swigs of the lucozade which was a big mistake. Three of my club mates were waiting for me and after a quick round of hugs, I had an out of body experience and just walked away and collected my bag. I then proceeded to get sick a few times and just generally felt like crap. I felt like I was drunk, I barely got my tracksuit pants on. I checked my phone and there was a message from my wife as to where she was waiting. I went out through the exit into the throng of people and felt really ill. I hobbled to a portaloo and got sick again. Luckily I found herself after awhile and it was a bit emotional. She asked if I wanted to meet the lads in the pub and I said I just wanted to go home. To be honest I was feeling fine after the walk back to the car, I felt bad about not meeting the lads but decided that I just wanted to go home and see my children. The drive home was fine and there was lots of messages in our whatsapp group. It was great to track the last few club members finish safely. We were fortunate that all of our 15 runners made the finish line safely.

I had a great chat about the experience on the way home in the car and it was a fairly honest appraisal of what happened. It was almost therapeutic to talk about it and not let any negative feelings take over. I'm going to do a detailed positives and learning points list from this at a later stage but my immediate reactions are as follows. Marathons are hard, really hard. Mentally I have a bit to do to trust myself that I can follow through on my potential in the races. I never settled into the race and felt really tense throughout. Big city marathons are the best, the support is such a bonus. I need to have A, B & C goals to focus on during a race to keep the interest there. I got a 25 minute PB in my second marathon, five months after my first and this has been a good year of running thus far.

skyblue46

That's a great and honest report. I'm looking forward to the full appraisal!

Chapelizod, like lots of places in Ireland, got it's name from the English not being able to pronounce place names or prepared to use the Gaelic language. Seipeal Iosoid ( sorry I can't do fadas on the phone) means Iseult's Chapel.

Kellygirl

Well done. I can relate to a lot of what you were feeling. I couldn’t decide it was my head playing games or if I genuinely was struggling at times. Shame you found parts so tough but you did great.

tbukela

What a difference a week makes.

I spent a lot of time last week reading the race reports from various people across the forum which were brilliant. There were some truly epic reports and some really emotive ones. Thank you to everyone for sharing.

Monday - 29th October
1.5 miles - Shuffle
The day after the race and I just wanted to stretch my legs. My shoulder was very sore and severly limited my running action. i think I must have hurt it taking off my top just before the start of the race. I had planned on doing 2 miles but it started to rain so I called it quits early. My legs felt good enough.

Thursday - 1st November
6.2 Miles - Tempo Intervals
I fully realise that this was a stupid session to run. It wasn't my intention when I went out but I think it was in the back of my mind. After a few days of festering over the marathon and two days not running, I had a lot of pent up frustration and I think this session was the release. Ended up doing a mile quick warm up and then 2 miles at 7:15 with 2 min recovery and 2 miles at 7:00 with mile cool down. Luckily I seem to have gotten through it without any aggravations and it drew a line under my disappointment.

Saturday - 3rd November
5.5 Miles - Steady
Our club 10K race is on next weekend so a few of us said that we'd try and run the route and get a few more post DCM miles in the legs. The weather was terrible, I went down early and actually drove the course to see if it was waterlogged. There was one bad spot so we had to alter the route accordingly. Four of us braved the weather and it turned out to be a really enjoyable run, chatting about Dublin and plans for next year. The pace felt manageable and afterwards the legs felt good. 5.5 miles @8:40.

Sunday - 4th November
3.25 Miles - Handy
I wasn't going to run but I was feeling fairly pumped up after watching the NY Marathon so said I'd head out for 30 mins easy running. I didn't realise until I was going out the door that it was torrential outside. I ended up going faster than I would have liked but strangely enough I enjoyed the run. It was 14 laps of a poorly lit track in the rain and very enjoyable. I think I'm just glad to be getting out again. 3.25 miles @ 7:53
16.5 miles for the week which I think is reasonable enough with 3 rest days.

Post DCM thoughts
I spent a lot of time thinking about the marathon during the week, to be honest far too much. I find running is the perfect counter balance to the stresses of work, life etc. I think however in the lead up to Dublin I let the build up and the expectations (self imposed) weigh me down and running became a negative thing. I know I'm never going to win races etc but I would like to operate to the best of my abilities if I am taking it seriously. I just need to balance that correctly so that I don't lose sight of why I'm putting the time into running in the first place.

Anyway Dublin, I'm happy but not happy with the way it went. It's not so much the time but the effort. I realise that dependent on different circumstances any race can have wildly varying results and that some days a 22 min 5k is as good as a 20 min one. I don't feel that I gave an honest effort during Dublin and that is the most disappointing aspect for me. I have no excuses, I did the training, I wasn't injured and nothing dramatic happened. I think I just fell short on the mental aspect of it. This is something I need to address across all my distances, I'm not sure how but I will.

The main positive that I'm taking out of it all is that I know I can do this. I do think that I have another chunk of improvement left in me for the next time. I think that it might take a couple of attempts for me to nail the marathon distance but I'm not afraid of it. I need to trust myself a bit more and just let go, don't worry about the watch and just run.

I hope to finish off the year strongly. It's unfortunate that the club 10K is on so soon after Dublin and whilst I'd hope for a PB I'm not going to push it unduly. The Waterford half on the start of December is a race I really enjoyed last year and I'd be looking to come close to my Charleville time. I'll then start into specific training for the Dungarvan 10 mile where I'll have a rattle off a sub 70. I've entered the lottery for Berlin and have Dublin booked for next year. I would like to do 2 marathons again next year maybe incorporating them into one training cycle but I won't do a spring one. I need a rest after back to back training cycles. The main thing is to try and continue to enjoy my running.

tbukela

Monday - 5th November
5 miles - easy
I headed out with one of the DCM lads for this run, it was his first since the marathon so we took it handy. Really enjoyable run around town. 5 miles @ 9:15

Wednesday - 7th November
6 miles - alternating paces
With the wet weather and kids activities I was working with a narrow window to get a run in. I didn't have a plan for this but wanted to throw in a little bit of quicker stuff with the 10K race coming up. I managed one mile at 6:05 and 1 at 7:13 and 1.5 miles @ 7:50 with easy jogging recoveries in between. I felt good after it but the lack of pace was an eye opener. 6 miles @ 8:09

Thursday - 8th November
3.49 Miles - Handy
I hadn't planned on going for a run but after a really trying day in work I thought it would do me good. Headed down to the local field to do some laps while the juveniles were doing their cross country training. Great to see a big crowd out on a damp, dark evening. I did a few laps with some of the club lads and conversation naturally strayed to plans for 2019. Nice, stress busting run. 3.49 miles @ 8:33

Friday - 9th November
6.14 miles - steady
This was a similar run to Wednesday except a bit slower. I tried a mix of paces to get the legs ready for Sunday. I had company for this run so another nice one. 6.14 miles @8:26. Two days in a row where my OCD habit of always ending on round numbers didn't happen.

Sunday - 11th November
Thomas Kent 10K Race

This was the 3rd running of the clubs main race. The club has been pretty busy this year hosting the Cork & Munster road champs along with a summer 4 mile and a couple of cross country races including the recent county champs. It is a bit of an eye opener to see the amount of organisation which goes into hosting a race especially one with 600 entries. It really is a credit to all the clubs who host races every weekend and are the mainstay of the athletics scence.

This was my first race three years ago so I use it as a bit of a benchmark to my level of progression. I did it in 54:57 in 2016 and 46:18 last year. Even with the marathon in my legs still I was hopeful of beating that and coming close to my 10k PB which I did in the first 10k of Charleville of 44:24. I got down early, gave a bit of a help out and got in a decent warm up. The heavens opened just before the start which unfortunately was to set the scene weather wise for the day. The race attracts a nice mix of club and non club affiliated runners and there was some nice depth at the sharp end this year so expectations were high that a course record would be set. As it happens this was the case with the winner coming home in a great time of 33:4x and I think 20 runners under the 40 mins mark.

Miles 1-2
I lined up about where I normally would, trying to stay out of trouble, and off we went. My plan was to start hard enough and try and bank some time in the first 2 miles which were relatively flat and hope to hang on a bit towards the end. I always know I've gone out too fast when I can hear the race commentary from the lead car. It was probably the nervous excitement of a home race but I flew off. I realised I was only looking for trouble when I saw 6:30 on the watch after half a mile. I eased off slightly and passed the first mile in 6:40. The field had settled down nicely and I was just tucked in behind a good group. I was gradually finding the pace a bit too hot and I wasn't surprised when mile 2 flashed by in 6:58.
Miles 3-4
We were now approaching the hardest part of the course and the only really pull. I found myself caught in no mans land and was starting to struggle a bit now, the pace was dropping towards the high 7s. Two of the lads from the club caught me and tried to get me to work with them but I didn't want to blow up so they moved away very comfortably. I got a bit of a second wind for the rest of mile 3 and managed to claw back some time but it was disappointing to see a 7:35 mile on the watch.
The highest point of the course is at 3.3 miles and I was fairly laboured getting over it. There was an immediate descent then into a nice straight flat bit where I should have been able to make up some time. I could feel my form suffering and really had to work at getting the leg speed going again. I was gradually starting to make some progress on a group ahead. I was suprised to see that it was a 7:28 mile considering it was a net downhill mile.
Miles 5-6.2
I realised now that I needed to dig deep and try and finish it strong.I think I got a bit of a kick up the behind when there was a shower of hailstones. I thought I don't want to be out here any longer than necessary. I picked out two lads ahead of me and started to reel them in. Once I caught up with them I went to move straight past them. One of them was a friend of mine who is just coming back from injury and is usually a sub 38 min guy. He moved up alongside me and said he'd come in with me. I told him the target was 44:24 so we started to push on and mile 5 was a 7:10.
There was a nice downhill section before the final drag. I was working hard now to try keep up with the buddy and could see the field strung out ahead of me. I could hear people approaching behind me and I was really working hard now. As we came into the village there was great support, I really wanted to finish strong. I didn't even notice the mile 6 marker as the buddy said to me 1:24 to break it. I tried to pin back the ears and gave it all that I had. There was great encouragement coming towards the line and I gave it everything. I stopped the watch and thanked my friend for his help in getting me back. I checked the watch and saw 44:23 with Garmin telling me it was a new 10K PB. It transpires that my official time was 44:24 but I'll claim it as a 10K race PB regardless. I checked afterwards and saw that mile 6 was a 6:54.

I didn't get a chance to reflect on the race until that evening as the immediate post race was spent eating cakes and then cleaning up. After the negative publicity following some events earlier in the year we wanted to make sure that the local community didn't have to deal with any litter etc so a big effort was made in that regard. I'm fairly happy with my run as I had to work hard for it. I was a bit surprised at how much effort I had to put in to keep the pace around the 7 minute mark. I'm hoping that it was a direct consequence of the marathon training and that as the weeks go on and I start some speedwork it will get easier. I think that with specific 10K training I can take another chunk off that time. I think that it has shown me where I am right now pace wise and that any expectations for the next couple of months might need to be tempered somewhat. The Waterford Half target has been revised now to a sub 1:40 which I would be very happy with. I'm looking forward to doing the shorter races again. A grand total of 28.3 miles for the week, I'm still on course to run 1,750 miles this year but it will be tight, currently at 1622.

tbukela

Monday - 12th November
7 miles - Easy
Headed out with a couple of the lads for a nice easy run, this was my single longest run since Dublin. The pace was nice and relaxed with some elevation thrown in. Really enjoyable run. 7 miles @9:04

Wednesday - 14th November
5 miles - easy w/hills
This was supposed to be a longer run with some tempo miles but the weather was miserable. It was a real struggle to get out. We started with a few aimless easy miles and then decided that we needed to throw something of substance in. Ended up doing 6 repeats of 160m hill sprints on a 5% gradient. My range was between 37-39 seconds which I was happy with, pace was a bit of a lung buster but good. Delighted to get a bit of variety in with the run. Overall 5 miles @8:55

Thursday - 15th November
3.9 miles - 400M intervals
I headed down to the local field while I was waiting to collect one of the kids to do this one. The idea was to start easing back into sessions and do 5 x 400M intervals at slightly quicker than current estimated 5K effort. One of the lads was also down there and said he'd jump in with me. Even though I had the session set up on the watch I ended up making a bags of it and had to do it by hand. The mini session went well, 1 mile warm up and then 5 repeats with 60 seconds jog recovery. I was very happy with the splits and the effort felt reasonable. I threw one last interval in during my cool down mile out of boldness. Splits were 1:38, 1:35, 1:37, 1:38, 1:37 & 1:37. Total 3.9 miles @8:30 ish

Even though the miles this week are obviously far less than what I was doing pre DCM, it's good to get back out and start running with a purpose again. I have signed up for Dublin 2019 so that along with a potential lottery entry for Berlin would cover me for the latter part of 2019. At the moment it will all be about getting quicker with Dungarvan 10 mile as the main target. I will try and fit in one run of more than 10 miles a week to maintain some level of an endurance base but the sessions will be a mix of short, fast repeats and longer tempo runs. I've completed 29 races so far this year and should approach 32/33 by the end of the year, up from 28 last year. From reading some other logs this would seem like a lot and maybe something to consider next year, I do enjoy the races though and the majority of them are 4 mile or 5Ks.

tbukela

Friday - 16th November
3 miles - easy
I finished work a bit early and headed out for an easy 3 miles around the track. I really enjoyed this one, just ran by feel and had a bit of brain decompress after the week. 3miles@8:45

Saturday - 17th November
12.5 miles - easy
I joined two clubmates for this one nice and early Saturday morning. I was well wrapped up but it turned out to be a perfect morning for running. There was no real plan pace wise for this and we started off with a 10 min mile. We gradually wound it up to just under 9 min pace. These are the types of runs that I really want to keep up so that the next block of half/full marathon training won't be starting from a low base. One of the most enjoyable runs I've had in ages with great chats and a comfortable pace. 12.5 miles @8:57.

I ended up heading out for the rugby and had my first post DCM drinks, well earned I think. despite feeling ok ish on the Sunday, didn't bother with a run and just went for a walk with the kids. Total miles for the week were 31.4, slight increase from the previous week. I think I'm being reasonably cautious in building up the mileage after the marathon.

Monday - 19th November
6 miles - easy
This is becoming the standard Monday run. Headed out with one of the lads for an easy loop of the town. 6 miles @ 8:56

Wednesday - 21st November
8.25 - Tempo Intervals - 3*2 miles
This session was geared towards Waterford half and to try and see where I am speed wise. Two of the lads said they'd chance it with me and it was great to have the company. After an easy warm up we headed into the first set, first mile was too quick but I managed the splits a bit better after that. We chanced the track in town for this one and about 2/3 rds of it was a bit dark but manageable. Next time I'll bring a torch as it's far easier to do these sessions there rather than on the footpaths around the town.

The splits were pretty decent (7:08, 7:21 - 7:26, 7:17 - 7:25, 7:26) with a generous 3 min jog recovery. The HR was slightly up on what it would normally have been but not overly so. I really enjoy this type of a session and will mix up the paces and recovery times as we go along.

tbukela

Very little running to log since Wednesday and no real excuses. I was loving running after the session on wednesday but a combination of kids activities, rain and general lack of motivation meant I didn't run until Sunday. Those three days not running was the biggest gap since the start of July. Pretty poor really.

Sunday -25/11/18
Glenville 4 Mile Race

I was really on the fence for this one but as it was local and being run by a club that is very good to support our races I felt I should go. As soon as we parked I could tell that it was going to be a very competitive race by the lads getting their warm ups in. Registered, picked up a top quality travel mug and had a quick chat with the lads before doing a decent 1.5 mile warm up. I was feeling a bit stiff but that was only to be expected after a couple of days with nothing done.

I headed down to the start line nice and early and got postioned where I thought was a reasonable spot. Lots of kids had headed up to the front but were hunted back by the organisers so I tried to steer clear of them.

The Race
The race started on a down slope which tends to make the first 200m a cavalry charge. There is then a sharp incline with another downhill and another longer pull. It is a very hard first mile to judge pace wise. I went off quick enough but didn't get caught up in a mad sprint and settled into a reasonable pace. I felt comfortable enough on the climb and passed some of the more enthusiastic runners and kids there. I was reasonably happy with a 6:39 for the first mile.

The 2nd mile is a significant net downhill on a rough surface. All I wanted to do here is keep the pace steady and not lose focus while keeping something in reserve for the tough last mile. I was enjoying my run at this stage and clocking who was around me as potential targets. Mile 2 was a 6:42, not as happy as I was for the first mile but things were still on track.

The third mile is another downhill but due to some optical illusion seems to be a climb. I was starting to flag a bit here and got passed by two lads that I would have targeted at the outset to beat. They passed me easily enough and I increased the pace slightly but not enough to fall in with them. I was starting to check the watch at this stage and was a bit concerned to see the average pace for mile was creeping over 7 min pace. I managed to pick things up a bit and passed the 3rd mile marker in 6:50.

The last mile is a drag with about 70 feet elevation gain in the last 800m. I was starting to be passed by a few and I could sense a crowd starting to build behind me.I tried to get the legs moving in anticipation of some sort of a final push towards the line. I rounded the last corner, got a shout from some club members and pushed it out for the last 350m. I knew one lad was right behind me and my goal was not to be passed by him. about 10m from the line another fella come flying by us but I managed to hold off the other guy by 1 second. I checked the watch and did the last mile in 7:17 with a finishing time of 27:43.

I took a moment to get my breath back and then waited around for a few others to finish and chatted to the lads who finished ahead of me. I met the family on the walk back to the hall which was a nice suprise and settled in for a well earned cuppa and some cakes. This was a really well organised race and a credit to the host club.

I was pretty happy with my race, I manged to knock out 3 sub 7 miles and didn't fall apart totally on the tough run in. I was just under a minute faster than the year before but actually finished 6 places lower in what was a competitive field. Lizzie Lee won the ladies race in a course record time. This was actually my seventh four mile race this year. For some reason they seem to have became very popular, more so than the 5 mile races which I would prefer. Strangely enough this was also my slowest 4 mile race of the year. My PB coming into 2018 was 28:37 in this race last year which I subsquently lowered to 26:54 during the summer. I have gone backwards, pace wise since then, but would still expect to be around the 27:20 mark on an average day. It just shows how much work I need to do speed wise. The week ahead is all about Waterford and getting through it in one piece.

tbukela

Once again not a massive amount of miles logged but trying to keep things ticking over.

Monday - 26th November
6 miles - easy
Usual Monday evening route, legs felt a bit stiff but loosened out after awhile. I had company for this one so a good chat and didn't check the watch at all, just kept the pace conversational. 6 miles @8:39

Wednesday - 28th November
4 miles - tempo
I got out for this one pretty late after a long day in the car. I felt like a bit of a blow out so just went for a 7/10 effort. Reasonably happy with the pace and the legs and heart rate were good. Starting to feel a bit of pace coming back. 4 miles @ 7:14

Thursday - 29th November
5 miles - steady
Bit wet for this one and I wasn't really in the form but with Waterford at the week I wanted to do something. Ended up having a really decent run, pace felt comfortable. 5 miles @ 7:58. Almost forgot I got accepted for the lottery for Berlin which is going to be interesting.

Saturday - 1st December
Waterford Half Marathon
I'm not going to go into a big long report for this one. I did it last year in 1:48:05 which was a PB although I stopped twice in the last 2 miles. It was a race which I really enjoyed and was looking forward to. I knew I wasn't going to come near my Charleville PB of 1:35 as my mileage compared to then has been minuscule. The target was sub 1:40 and to try and establish my benchmark for the distance. There was a decent crowd from the club down and everyone was looking forward to it.

The race itself is very busy at the start. They have starting time corrals which overall seem to work reasonably well. I lined up behind the 1:40 pacers and off we went. The pacers were excellent -best I've come across, loads of chat about what the plan was, make up some time on the downhill and ease back on the hills etc. To be honest I had forgotten the undulating nature of the route and I was more than happy to slot into the group. The first 6 miles flew by and I was really happy how I had settled in. The pace was reasonably steady with no mad fluctuations. I was slightly tempted to push on but decided to get over the big climb at mile 10 first. I was glad that I stayed with the group as it is a serious pull. Once again the pacers were excellent and kept the encouragement going. I was really feeling the pain now but tried to just hang in there. There is a small drag before mile 12 which feel worse than what it is and I was close to stopping but once I got over it I managed to push on for the last mile and was pleasantly surprised to finish in 1:39:10.

I got my goodie bag and medal from the very pleasant volunteers. The hat this year is in the Cork colours and has already been claimed by my eldest. Great facilities in WIT afterwards where a welcome shower, cup of coffee and Bla went down great. I am really happy with this race which is unusual for me. Maybe I could have pushed more and took a minute off the time or on the other hand I could have blew up and finished in 1:42. After checking my HR afterwards I think I was on the max effort wise. I haven't done a massive amount in the 5 weeks since DCM so the fact that I was able to knock out a 1:39 is very gratifying. I also improved my placing by around 350 spots. Middling week mileage wise with 29 miles done. Only 110 miles for the month which is the least amount for the year. I'll try and keep tipping away for December as last December I only did 58 miles.

Finally this was my fourth half marathon of the year, as mentioned above I came into 2018 with a PB of 1:48:05 and to be honest this is a distance I have struggled with. I did Cork in June which was a bit of a chore after the full in Limerick and I limped home in 1:46:31. I did Cahir in July on one of warmest days on the year in 1:55 which was a really tough day. Probably my best race of the year was Charleville in September when I did 1:35, taking 10 mins off my PB. That was just one of those days when everything felt right. So my half marathons this year have been pretty varied. It's a distance I'm going to target in 2019 and get as close to 1:30 as I can.

tbukela

Another up and down week

Monday - 3rd December
6 miles - easy
Monday is quickly turning into my favourite running day of the week, nice stress reliever after the first dayback at work. My legs were tired after the half and I kind of just plodded around. 6 miles @8:44

Wednesday - 5th December
7 miles - easy (hard effort)
I had hoped to do a longer run but my groin was feeling a bit sore so kept the miles down. The pace was fairly handy but the effort level was higher than usual. Still good to get out. 7 miles @8:51

Thursday - 6th December
5 miles - intervals
I hadn't planned on going out so it was late before I started this one. The plan had in some tempo miles but I felt like an interval pyramid. I did a handy 3/4 mile warm up and then into a 400m, 800m, 1600m set. I took a generous recovery equal to the interval. The wind and rain really picked up as I ran so the paces are a bit all over the place. I also got totally drenched when an artic lorry drove straight into a puddle next to me. I thought I was snorkeling I got so wet. I was happy enough with the paces, It's starting to feel a bit easier.
400m 1:25 5:40pace
800m 3:15 6:30
1600M 6:11 6:11
5 miles @7:35

Friday - 7th December
5.25 miles - steady w/hills
I had intended on doing a few 1 mile repeats on the flat track and brought along the head torch to try it out but I bumped into, almost literally, one of the lads and ended up running with him for awhile. The mood had fallen off me then and I did a few hill sprints at the end. Enjoyable run though.
The 2 tempo miles were 6:52 & 7:23 and managed a slower than usual 6:30 pace on the hills.
5.25 miles @8:24

Unfortunately that was it for the week, a combination of family activities and lack of motivation meant I didn't get out for the weekend. I'm a bit annoyed about it today as a decent 10 miler would have capped a respectable week.
I hope to do either a 4k or 5K race next weekend to stretch the legs another bit.

tbukela

My mileage has been very slack over the last few weeks so not going to bother logging it. Two things of note though.

Sunday - 16th December
Cloyne 4K Race

This was my first time doing this one and my first race of less than 5K. The forecast was supposed to be have dry and cold but about 10 mins before the start of the race the heavens opened and it felt like the temperature dropped by a few degrees. The race is a loop on country roads and there was no shortage of puddles and muck with all the bad weather. I wasn't sure where to line up but spotted a few who would be around my go and off we went.

I hadn't done a 5k since the summer so I had forgotten the effects of going full throttle from the start. It was a bit of an eye opener. The race went as I thought, went out hard and couldn't sustain it. I was surprised that I couldn't muster any sprint at the end and was passed by two at the death. I was happy enough with a time of 16:47 with mile splits of 6:28, 6:50 & 3:25. I think I just about scraped into the top 10% of finishers which I was happy with. There are three more races in the series over Jan-Mar in 2019 so I'll use it as a measure of my fitness or lack thereof.

The other noteworthy thing was that I passed 1,750 miles on my Thursday run. This is a big increase of over last year when I did 1,099 miles. Obviously training for two marathons helped bump the mileage. I believe that any improvements I've made this year have been a direct result of being able to consistently clock up the mileage with a mix of some good quality sessions. I'd love to think that I might top 2,000 next year but it would be a big ask, of my families patience if nothing else. Next years running plans are starting to fall into place so I'm getting exciting about it. I've a nice bit of time off over Christmas so I'm hoping to keep plugging away with the running and maintain some sort of a decent aerobic base.

tbukela

I spent a bit of time reading through some of the recaps from other logs and it shows that hard work does payoff for the incremental improvements across the forum. Some great reads. I'm going to jump on the bandwagon, if only as a marker for next year.

5K
I had a 4 week window for this early in the year where I made big gains but never really threatened the sub 20 in the end. I need some more distance specific training.
Progress: 20:32 from 22:08

4 mile
I ended up doing a load of 4 mile races this year, it's a bit of a weird distance, enjoyed it though. A 4 mile race in March when I finished ahead of club mates who would usually be miles ahead of me showed that I was on the right track. This is another distance where I slipped back a bit later in the year.
Progress: 26:54 from 28:39

10k
Perhaps the only really disappointed distance for me, never got going on it really. Made a bit of progress but really should be a couple of minutes quicker. I'll hope to take a chunk of it in 2019.
Progress: 44:23 from 46:14

10 mile
This is perhaps my favorite distance, just long enough to be a bit of a stamina test but still almost flat out. I was very happy with my 10 mile races, each one was a real confidence booster. I'm going to chase this one hard in the spring.
Progress: 73:51 (72:24 Charleville Half) from 80:07

Half Marathon
This distance broke me in 2017 but I got the monkey off my back this year. Still a lot to learn but I'm not afraid of it anymore. Charleville was my best days work.
Progress: 1:34:47 from 1:48:08

Marathon
I did my first and second marathons this year and each taught me something about myself, training and the distance. It is a mad undertaking really. Limerick was equal parts brilliant and horrendous while Dublin was a real good day/bad day. I'm entered for Berlin & DCM in 2019 so this distance will be the main focus for the second half of the year.
Progress:N/A - 4:14 - 3:49

Race
I did 32 races this year and could have done another 10, I love racing. I made a bit of progress this year time wise and have selected my nemesis's for next year already as I need bodies to chase. I need to judge my pace better and also want to not be passed at the end of races a bit more. Big increase in mileage from 1,099 in 2017 to over 1,770 this year. I need reasonable mileage to improve but I also need to add more quality workouts into my schedule.
Best Race: Charleville Half - went for it from the start and trusted myself. Loved it.
Worst Race: DCM - not really the worst but a bit of a "what if" day.

I've tried to follow as many logs as possible as there is so much knowledge and endevour on display. Best of luck to all in 2019.

OOnegative

Great progress this year, fair play. Some great improvement across distances, keep it going in 2019.

skyblue46

That's been a great year of running and has set you up brilliantly for 2019. I can see a few landmark times getting taken out pretty soon. Sub 20 for 5k and sub 70 for 10 miles have to be on the plan. I agree that you'll punch a proper hole in that 10k time. Best of luck with it all.

tbukela

OOnegative wrote: »

Great progress this year, fair play. Some great improvement across distances, keep it going in 2019.

skyblue46 wrote: »

That's been a great year of running and has set you up brilliantly for 2019. I can see a few landmark times getting taken out pretty soon. Sub 20 for 5k and sub 70 for 10 miles have to be on the plan. I agree that you'll punch a proper hole in that 10k time. Best of luck with it all.

Thanks for the encouraging words, best of luck to ye for this year.

I've copied in my goals for this year from the 2019 thread below. Fingers crossed I'll be able to chalk off a few of them as the year progresses.

1. Run a PB in Berlin, hopefully sub 3:30, PB 3:49
2. Finish two marathons.
3. Sub 20 5K, PB 20:32
4. Sub 43 10K, PB 44:24
5. Sub 1:30 Half, PB 1:35
6. Sub 70 10M, PB 72:24
7. Do a Cross Country race
8. Do a trail half marathon
9. Run 2,000 miles, Current total for 2018 1,754
10. Try to run a negative split in a meaningful race, I'm tired of being passed by people at the end of races.

I managed to do 4 miles yesterday to kick start the New Year, bit too close to the dinner as I got a savage stitch during it.

I weighed myself this morning and currently at 152lbs, up from 146lbs during DCM training. As I won't be doing massive mileage its something I will need to keep an eye on. Just over 4 weeks to Dungaravan so a bit of vase training and then threw in some quicker stuff. Dungarvan will probably come a bit too quick for me but plenty of good 10 mile races coming up locally.