nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

Chapter 2 - Finding Nemo

Swashbuckler

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

2019 - Chapter Two: Finding Nemo - Post 635 onwards

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

Swashbuckler

AuldManKing wrote:

Maybe you're just mentally weak, P??

I think an accusation like that is unfounded without spending ten pages of this log debating it.

OOnegative

Dunno if it warrants wishing you good luck Sunday, it’s only one leg of a relay marathon you’re running........ run well P!!

Swashbuckler

OOnegative wrote:

Dunno if it warrants wishing you good luck Sunday, itâ€™s only one leg of a relay marathon youâ€™re running........ run well P!!

Haha it's a start. I'm bowing 25% of the way to peer pressure. But cheers B.

skyblue46

Enjoy the run on Sunday P...there should be a great atmosphere for it.

Singer

Have a great marathon!!!

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote:

Enjoy the run on Sunday P...there should be a great atmosphere for it.

Singer wrote:

Have a great marathon!!!

Cheers lads. My plan is to go out at 10k pace and see if I can hold it.

aggressive for my first marathon but nothing ventured..............

ariana`

Run well P, I'm sure you'll nail it!

Swashbuckler

Bib 13024 for anyone interested in tracking the relay teams progress. Splits won't show up for each leg. I'm running the second leg so I'll be carrying the baton from 6 miles to 12.5 miles so I'll be carrying the baton through the 10k split timer and handing off around 20k.

Kellygirl

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Bib 13024 for anyone interested in tracking the relay teams progress. Splits won't show up for each leg. I'm running the second leg so I'll be carrying the baton from 6 miles to 12.5 miles so I'll be carrying the baton through the 10k split timer and handing off around 20k.

Ha ha - I like the team name! Hope it’s true for all of us behind ye

Swashbuckler

Kellygirl wrote:

Ha ha - I like the team name! Hope itâ€™s true for all of us behind ye

Haha. We're a boney bunch I'm afraid. Nothing to write home about.

Swashbuckler

A warning from one of my Boardsie Crusaders buddies would have been nice

Singer

Swashbuckler wrote: »

A warning from one of my Boardsie Crusaders buddies would have been nice

I'm far from the inner circle! It was much as a surprise to me on Whatsapp this afternoon as I'm sure it was for you

Swashbuckler

Singer wrote:

I'm far from the inner circle! It was much as a surprise to me on Whatsapp this afternoon as I'm sure it was for you

Haha that wasn't directed at you by the way. Solid Crusaders team. Good battle.

Lazare

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Thanks for the well wishes everyone. Very excited. If the new arrival is anything like our little girl we're in for some fun!

I worry for the new arrival. Haha. Our girl has a big sprinkling of lunatic.

.

Congrats man. Just on this, we thought our first was a lunatic too. Until her little sis came along to notch up the looney levels.

Swashbuckler

Monday - Easy 7M @8.17
Tuesday - Easy 6.8M @ 8.03
Wednesday - 5x3min at 10k Effort/4.5min Jog/2x(20/30/40s) Hard off 60s.
Thursday - Easy 6M @8.27
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Shakeout and Strides
Sunday - Relay Race

Been a funny old week. The week started with a really good easy run. Felt good. No side effects from the 14 miles the previous Saturday. Then on Tuesday it was the complete opposite. That being said, we have had a sick household for the past week and a half. As is always the case baba gets it first, then my missus and when it comes my turn I seem to get a mild form of it. I seem to have a strong immune system. It's a running joke that everyone in the house could be in bits but I'm complaining of a slight dry throat or a semi blocked nose. So something was hovering from Tuesday but never materialized into anything proper.

It being race week and me being the stubborn runner that I am, I really wanted some sort of tuneup for the race. I genuinely wasn't bad enough to warrant resting. Maybe a lighter session would have been better. I ran the session well albeit it didn't feel particularly easy. A little bit more effort than I'd usually expect.

Paces for the 3min splits were;5.48/5.49/5.49/5.53/5.47
The curious thing here is I'm running all of these 10k effort sessions around 5.50 pace yet it's been over a year since I ran the 36 minute 10k. Recent races would suggest I'm closer to 6min for 10k right now although the effort at 5.50 feels right. Maybe I just need a flat 10k.

The Hard were all around 5min/mile pace. Didn't push those too hard.
Meant to be a 3min Jog between but same session as previous was misprogrammed and forgot to edit it.
As always I felt great after the session. They always have me on a mini high for a while. Was still a little concerned about how I was feeling especially with the relay in 4 days. Confidence was low.

Kept the recovery run the next day nice and easy. Was very much a tired run. Felt crappy. Rested up on Friday and went for a shakeout on Saturday.
So Monday was probably the only day this week where I felt good. Was something brewing/lurking? Maybe. It never materialized into anything other than a scratchy throat or bit of a wheeze and cough.
I'll follow up separately with a race report from the relay. I have plenty of observations and thoughts on that day. Haha.

skyblue46

When it comes to your observations and thoughts on the day please remember everyone doesn't need every little bit of information!

I couldn't face my dinner yesterday :pac:

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote:

When it comes to your observations and thoughts on the day please remember everyone doesn't need every little bit of information! I couldn't face my dinner yesterday

I think this will require a poll. Alright, who wants to hear about my bowel movements? Haha

Swashbuckler

Great Limerick Run Marathon Relay

I have promised S that I will not mention bodily movements in this report and I shall stick to that promise.

For reference my mile 1 was meant to be mile 5.5 of the actual marathon. And I was meant to hand over at my mile 6.5 which was meant to be mile 12 of the actual marathon.

So we're all caught up as far as Saturday. Saturday night I was a bag of nerves to be honest. I dunno what exactly it was, it being my hometown race, the team element of the relay, the fact I was half fighting a dose of something, but I couldn't shake it. Eventually got to sleep at 12.30 and woke again at 2.45am. Had to go to the spare room ad my poor missus was struggling with her dose. Took a while to get back to sleep and when I did it was pretty restless. So there's all the excuses out of the way!

Woke to a beautiful morning and had my usual baba quality time before heading off to the Parkway to drop my car. Lovely crisp morning. Blue skies. Beautiful. Dropped the car and headed out to UL for warmup. Got to the handover point pretty early, around 9am. Did some Drills and stretches. Sized up the opposition and didn't see any singlets. Was thinking we might be in with a chance here. Then a very tall, lanky athletic looking lad took his top off to reveal a Crusaders singlet. Ah bo**ox. Haha. Was a novelty to see Sergiu flying past. Then somewhat surprisingly our lad came flying through not far behind second and third place lads in the marathon. I had expected to see a Crusaders lad coming through first but nope. No time to ask questions. Run P! Run for your feckin life! Took the baton and off I went. I took off pretty quick and settled into pace after around 400m. Caught up with my clubmate who was in third place overall and passed him. Gave him some encouraging words. So I WAS NOW IN THIRD PLACE IN THE LIMERICK MARATHON!!Ã‚Â Yes it counts folks. I'll hear nothing otherwise. Sergiu was on my radar now. Haha. Mile 1 clocked at 5.54. For the most part it was a decent mile. A big drop to the roundabout which unfortunately you have to come back up. Then we headed up towards the other roundabout to Vistakon I think? Around that and back down the road we came. This was my first time seeing the Crusaders lad with the baton. He seemed a fair bit behind me. I guessed about 1min30s. I could hear steps behind me and it was two marathon lads. They passed me but didn't push too far beyond. They would turn out to be a good target and distraction for a few miles.Ã‚Â I'll say it now and probably again later in the report but I really think the marathon route in Limerick is sh*te. So many out and backs. That second mile wasn't the easiest. I was tuning into my effort and it was maybe a tad higher than I'd like for what I was essentially treating as a 10k. Mile 2 clocked at 6.00. We now headed back up towards UL. Loads of marathon runners coming against me was a nice distraction. It was on Mile 3 I really started to feel it. I knew once I entered UL that it would be nice and flat. Effort levels were high. Was starting to have doubts. Can't let the team down P. Keep it going. The gap to the two marathon lads had stayed consistent which told me I must be doing OK. Mile 3 clocked at 6.05. I remember looking at the watch and expected slower. The route in by UL is just odd. Weird and pointless. At one stage we were routed down a cul de sac to run around a cone and back up the hill and out of the cul de sac. Don't want to be overly negative but christ, how do the marathon runners do it. I have a lot of respect for anyone running a decent marathon in Limerick. The route does you absolutely no favours. A couple of weird bridges in UL and running on cobbles for a bit. One wrong turn and a couple of very confused looking volunteers. Mile 4 and 5 clocked at 6.10 and 6.07. Ive combined these two miles as I don't really remember much apart from being directed all around various parts of the campus and eventually making it out to the canal. I know this route very well as I have ran it in the opposite direction on my long run numerous times. This time was different. Effort was high! Hang in there P. The team! The team! Mile 6 is flat. Laces opened. Panic! Ignore P. Just keep going and if you fall you fall. No way can I stop to tie them. Nothing really to say about mile 6 apart from it was tough and was here where I was starting to think maybe the organizers had the distance wrong. It felt like I was more than 0.5 miles from the square although I doubted myself as I have an awful sense of direction and hoped I'd come off the canal and magically see my teammate. Mile 6 clocked at 6.07. Nothing spectacular but I was managing to not fall apart. No sign of any company behind me either which was my main goal, to hand over the baton in first place. Halfway through mile 6 I realised I'm going to be running a fair bit more than planned. Balls. Balls. Balls. 6.5 passed on my watch and I am nowhere near where the handover is meant to be. Keep going P. Kept repeating these words "Good Good Get to Mark Good Good Get to Mark" over and over and over again. Synced it with my cadence. Positive Rhythm. Keep fighting the negative thoughts. I really felt the heat at the point. Effort is high. Form is going a bit. Legs feel pretty dead. Mile 7 clocked at 6.03 and I'm finally off the canal. Volunteers cheering me on. "Where's the fecking handover?" "1km up the road keep going". 1km? are you for f*cling real! I was so annoyed. Struggling. In hindsight I should've stayed focused but it's hard when your mentally putting everything into that distance and then you're asked to keep going. I saw the spire of the church and knew where I was headed. Up and awful drag of a hill on wrecked legs. I finally see my teammate and curse that baton. In my mind I honestly said to myself when I handed over "take the fu"*king thing! ". Dropped to the ground shattered. Last mile was 6.03 and 6.18 for the 0.39. I ran 7.39miles vs the planned 6.5. Crusaders lad right behind me. He had made up the entire 1.5mins on me and we were pretty much level going into the third leg which was our strongest runner. The had a fantastic battle by all accounts. Their splits were crazy. I also had a good laugh later in the day when I saw the online tracker. It looked like our first lad had ran a stunning leg and then I made an utter balls of it. Rest assured the tracker is wrong. Haha.
I recovered for a bit and met some friends. Cheered on the marathon runners. Kept an eye out for my buddy but it turned out he dropped out after 2km with an injury.

Headed down to the Strand which was the meet point for the relay team to all head to the finish together. Met my missus and she checked the tracker for me. We were level going into the last leg. Saw Sergiu pass to win. He was a joy to behold. Complete and utter control and strength. Looked at the tracker and Crusaders had taken a minute lead so we knew we were likely going to be second place. Low and behold we saw Crusaders lad come over the hill and him and his team headed off to the finish. Not too long later our lad came and off we went with him. By God did my legs get a shock going back into race pace. The finish was spectacular as always. Wow. And to finish so far up the field was a cool feeling. Crossed the finish line in 2.33 I think? Pretty soon after the HM winner came in and so did the 6 mile winner. And we were there with them. Surreal. There was a presentation ceremony later where we were in the victors area. Also surreal. The finishers area was super again. Got a massage and a bunch of fruit, water and bars. Met the missus and we had a lovely day in town.

Really felt it last night and also today. Hip flexors are sore which tells me I was losing form.

It's hard to read too much into yesterday. Some thoughts.

I need to get over the fact I ran close to 36 mins for the 10k last year. I'm not there right now. Need to be patient.

It's not a time for overreacting and doubting training. That was just a tough day.

That route is ****e lads.

No more races til dunshaughlin. I want uninterrupted training for the next 6 weeks.

Ye'll laugh at this but the marathon bug is biting. I don't see it happening this year but I would say all going well I'd like to target the marathon next year. God knows people even outside of boards have strong opinions on me and my avoidance of it. Haha. It seems like a challenge that's too good to be missing out on. I think at this stage I'm starting to realize I probably will never be a 31min 10k runner so maybe I can relax about not maximizing potential at 10k while I'm "young".

Anyway final thoughts on yesterday. Solid, unspectacular, fun (despite my negative report), not the breakthrough performance I'm so desperate to get. No panic...... Yet....

skyblue46

Hmmm...controversial! A ****e course? Gotta love your honesty. Luckily it's not something I'll ever have to worry about. No doubt a marathon is in your future but no need to panic. You'll get a 5k and 10k PB this year first. Marathon will suit you, so will the training but enjoy this year first....unless you're being tempted by the resale of DCM entries?

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote:

Hmmm...controversial! A ****e course? Gotta love your honesty. Luckily it's not something I'll ever have to worry about. No doubt a marathon is in your future but no need to panic. You'll get a 5k and 10k PB this year first. Marathon will suit you, so will the training but enjoy this year first....unless you're being tempted by the resale of DCM entries?

I would seriously consider if baba wasn't due in Sept.

Honestly on the course comment. The section out by UL is just not a nice section. In town you're made run up that lidl hill three times. Rossbrien is out and back. UL is out and back. Your plunged in with the start of the HM. North Circular is horrible. Brought into a huge atmosphere in town and then sent out into wilderness. Running around cones and down cul de sacs just seems mental to me. That being said I'll probably run it. Haha

skyblue46

Swashbuckler wrote: »

I would seriously consider if baba wasn't due in Sept.

Honestly on the course comment. The section out by UL is just not a nice section. In town you're made run up that lidl hill three times. Rossbrien is out and back. UL is out and back. Your plunged in with the start of the HM. North Circular is horrible. Brought into a huge atmosphere in town and then sent out into wilderness. Running around cones and down cul de sacs just seems mental to me. That being said I'll probably run it. Haha

I have to say, from the perspective of someone who has a 3:16 PB which I'm looking to improve, that from reading both yours and shotgunmcos's reports I'd be inclined to give Limerick a miss for the fact that I'd most likely meet the chaos of the HM runners.

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote:

I have to say, from the perspective of someone who has a 3:16 PB which I'm looking to improve, that from reading both yours and shotgunmcos's reports I'd be inclined to give Limerick a miss for the fact that I'd most likely meet the chaos of the HM runners.

Easy to avoid it S. Just get into sub 3 shape and you'll pass them before they start

skyblue46

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Easy to avoid it S. Just get into sub 3 shape and you'll pass them before they start

I plan to! All ye lads in your thirties targetting sub 3....soft target! AMK still wins run of the year because of the A in AMK!

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote:

I plan to! All ye lads in your thirties targetting sub 3....soft target! AMK still wins run of the year because of the A in AMK!

It's only May. Give us a chance.

Murph_D

skyblue46 wrote: »

I have to say, from the perspective of someone who has a 3:16 PB which I'm looking to improve, that from reading both yours and shotgunmcos's reports I'd be inclined to give Limerick a miss for the fact that I'd most likely meet the chaos of the HM runners.

Having endured the Cork version of the HM merge a couple of times, I wouldn't worry about it too much - it's a slight distraction for a few minutes but not much more. You could argue that it works in your favour, as it kind of energises you at a point in the race where you might be starting to feel sorry for yourself. In other words - it's possible to use it for what it can do for you.

shotgunmcos

Murph_D wrote: »

Having endured the Cork version of the HM merge a couple of times, I wouldn't worry about it too much - it's a slight distraction for a few minutes but not much more. You could argue that it works in your favour, as it kind of energises you at a point in the race where you might be starting to feel sorry for yourself. In other words - it's possible to use it for what it can do for you.

As long as you hit it amidst runners and not buggies, earphones and 4 abreast off to see the wizard!

Swashbuckler

I really thought they had sorted it out last year or maybe I've got it wrong. I recall there being two separate sides of the road for the HM and Marathon or was that not the case? I guess they have to merge at some point though.

That being said, in response to skyblue's original point I think Limerick probably is one of the better marathons in Ireland despite my giving out, in terms of support anyway. Maybe other people might be able to offer some inputs there. I'd be interested to hear opinions on good marathons in Ireland (now that I'm actively interested in marathons haha)

Tigerandahalf

For me personally I wouldn't like to be running alongside 10k, relay and other events.

I did the Longford half a few years back and the marathon was on lovely country roads. The 2 events diverge after the 1st mile or so.

It is also a very central one to travel to and overnight costs wouldn't be much.

I might do the marathon there as a training run for Dublin.

ariana`

Congratulations on getting into the winners circle in the relay! It's well deserved for a solid performance by the sound of it. Can't imagine the agony of that last .9m, yikes, you did really well to keep it together.

Swashbuckler wrote: »

That being said, in response to skyblue's original point I think Limerick probably is one of the better marathons in Ireland despite my giving out, in terms of support anyway. Maybe other people might be able to offer some inputs there. I'd be interested to hear opinions on good marathons in Ireland (now that I'm actively interested in marathons haha)

I never thought i'd see the day

You should start a thread - you may not be the only one who is interested :P

shotgunmcos

Swashbuckler wrote: »

I really thought they had sorted it out last year or maybe I've got it wrong. I recall there being two separate sides of the road for the HM and Marathon or was that not the case? I guess they have to merge at some point though.

That being said, in response to skyblue's original point I think Limerick probably is one of the better marathons in Ireland despite my giving out, in terms of support anyway. Maybe other people might be able to offer some inputs there. I'd be interested to hear opinions on good marathons in Ireland (now that I'm actively interested in marathons haha)

There was a split for the start of the half marathon but it only went half way up the road to the barracks. If you ran into the tail end of the half marathon start on the Rosbrien Road I could see that bothering you. Different having faster half marathoners join you and inject some energy after 16m of the marathon.

I've done Limerick, Connemara x2 and DCM x5 so can only comment on those 3.

Logistics - Limerick as you are local and support is great in parts

Atmosphere - Dublin hands down. The hairs will stand on the back of your neck. Plus you have more people to run with at the pace you will be running

Course - Connemara hands down. Its beautiful but hilly and a big long hill at 22-22m.