I didn't get this far to get this far.

Week 2 Marathon Training

Monday 15th July

I never usually run on Mondays but with the club race on Tuesday and the fact I was going down the country for the weekend looming I had to do something . Unfortunately that something was an LT session. Not ideal 12 hours after a long run after a flight home . Oh it it was a bit humid . Irish humidity is special !

Schedule: 3*(1k easy ,1LT) - with 2k warm up and warm down

Actual : 3*(1k easy ,1LT) - with 3.2k warm up and 2.2 warm down (7mile)

Paces for LT : 5:05,4:58,5;04. Easy paces all done between 6:10 and 6:20

I won’t lie , this was a tough session , last rep hurt I was exhausted for the whole day after .

Tuesday 16th

Sports massage - this hurt bad ! Apparently my left calf was very tight - hadn’t noticed to be honest .

Club race- It always nice to watch a race and see how other people focus and to see the effort required etc in their face and movements. The leaders always look almost serene though . Good to see to wubble wubble who cruised by !


Wed17th July

Schedule : 5 mile easy
Actual: 6 mile easy @ 6:22

I tried to leave the run for 24 hours after massage to avoid any issues but still felt fairly tender

Thurs 18th July
Schedule: 7 mile easy with strides
Actual: 7 mile easy with strides @ 6:21

Legs namely left calf really achey on this run.

Friday 19th of July
Schedule: 13 mile easy
Actual: 13 mile easy @ 6:10

Was dreading the long one as legs were aching so much on Thursday - but it was ok in the end . It was too fast and I couldn’t slow the gang down. I was trailing behind trying to do my own pace but had to keep them in sight cause was in the middle of no where and well I have zero sense of direction.

This was my longest run since last September . Haven’t fueled on a training run in long time so decided I’d start practicing this real food lark. I had a mini mars bar at 10k and a date at 16k . They tasted much better the gel - not sure of effectiveness but they were nice rewards for the trudging .

Second week done and dusted @ 32.3 mile

Nice two days rest

Monday 22nd
Plan : nothing
Actual :10k on grass @6:10

Tuesday 23rd

Plan: 4*1k@LT with 90 secs easy between reps (6 mile)
Actual: 4*1k@LT with 90 secs easy between reps (7mile)

Warm up: 2.5k@ 6:10
LT paces : 5:05,5:01,5:04,5:00
Cool down: 4.4k@6:15

The session felt good despite the heat and 90 secs slow seemed like a perfect time to recover.

Thursday 25th

Plan: 2 mile easy ,3 mile MP, 2 mile easy and strides (8 mile)
Actual: 4 mile easy @ 10:07

By the time hubby got home from work it was too late to do an 8 mile session so improvised.

Friday 26th

Plan: nothing
Actual : 2k easy (@6:20)5k MP(@5:31,5:33,5:32,5:24,5:36) 3k easy(@6:11)


An attempt to make up for previous nights missed session. I’m really struggling to hit MP . It should be about 5:37/9 min mile but my legs do not like that pace . They insist on LT pace or easy pace. So I’m constantly speeding up and slowing down . And the last 100m of each km is generally me crawling on hands and knees to slow enough to hit the pace . So the first 2.5 of the MP is on an incline and the last 2.5 the reverse . I think maybe next time I’ll slow the first half by ten secs and speed up the second half but keep effort consistent .

Saturday 27th

Plan : LSR 15 mile
Actual: nothing

Sunday: 6 mile easy
Actual: 15 mile easy@ approx 6:05

9.6k warm up, 10k race, 4.8k cool down .

The plan this week originally was to mini taper and to race today . Changed plan mid week as weather silly warm for racing and the course not particularly pleasant or Pb producing . I decided that my shiny new Dunshaughlin 10k pb would work for me better from a mental perspective then blowing up in a race today on hills and heat.

I still ran the race but as part of a long run and couldn’t resist dipping under 60 mins @ 59:50.

The plan prescribed 34 miles and I managed 38. Very happy with that despite very tired legs. Back at work tomorrow after a month off so I expect slippage on my energy levels and mileage . Good job it’s a step back week and a bank holiday the next week !!

I thought in 2016 I was doing great mileage turns out I’ve done more mileage in June and July this year than July and August before a September marathon in 2016!

I’ve upped my protein intake slightly so hoping that helps with recovery . As I said today is the first day I was zonked after a run !

Step back week - week 4

Back at work after 5 weeks of parental leave so a step back week was well placed. Off on my travels again to Cork this weekend so was keen not to bring runners and get a few days chilling .

Tuesday 30th July
—————————

Schedule : 5*1k@LT pace with 90 secs AT (easy pace )between reps . Total : 6 mile

Actual :5*1k@LT pace with 90 secs AT (easy pace )between reps . Total : 7.5 mile . LT reps (4:58,4:58,4:58,5:01,4:54)

Reps a bit on fast side - hard to control pace with group training sessions . First four felt ok - a bit of chatter - (bursts here and there) so it seemed controlled. Last K was tough enough. Heart rate a bit higher here than normal for these type of sessions.


Wednesday 31st of July
—————————————

Not on schedule but doing Sunday’s miles

4 mile easy @ 6:25

Legs tired after previous session.


Thursday 1st of August ( wtf????? August ??)

Schedule : 1 mile AT, 2 mile MP, 1mile AT, 2 mile MP, 1 mile AT with strides

Actual : as above but forgot to do strides eek!
Paces : are in km cause can’t work friggin watch

First batch MP:5:31,5:31,5:32,5:42(.2)
Second Batch MP: 5:35,5:29,5:33,5:36(.2)

Found this work out tough , tired and achey after last few weeks . Happy to have it done and pacing for MP a bit better.

Came home from work on Friday exhausted and with a dodgy tummy . Not dodgy enough to stop me running this morning but was a bit concerned so made sure route had toilet options.

Saturday 3rd of August
——————————-

Schedule: 13 miles AT
Actual : 13.1 miles AT @ 6:27

Was a lovely pace and a nice chatty run
Did need the bathroom stop though .

I tried the Osmo hydration in 600 ml . My energy levels were fine after but I still felt thirsty . It’s not unlike lucazade sport texture wise and tasted like green zero with sugar . I drank a lot of water when I got home . My buddy used the tailwind mixture and had the same sensation as me re feeling thirsty . It was a very humid morning but still . I think there will be a need to bring money for water next time or hide some on route .

I’m tired and achey and glad to be resting until Tuesday evening .

Brought my foam roller to cork and might try dip in cold sea (eh unlikely ).

Hopefully this is normal tiredness after building mileage for a month !

31.7 miles . 7 miles less than last week and I’m very happy with not having to run those miles !

Kellygirl wrote: »

Enjoy your trip to Cork. The sea was nice and warm a few weeks ago when I went in upto my ankles ;-)

Can’t see it happening . I hate hate cold water . But we will see......

Posting this morning as on the train and a bit bored.

Last weeks running which was a step back week ended on Saturday . I have yet to fit in recovery run after the actual long run as have been front loading miles for a few weeks.

On Sunday and Monday I didn’t run .Shock horror . I did walk for 40 mins a day though and also indulged in a mini hike for an hour or so. I ate loads and may have indulged in 1/2 alcoholic beverages over the long weekend !

Tuesday 6th August
——————————
Plan : 8 mile easy (prescribed easy pace 6:20/10:15)
Actual: A very exciting 9 mile easy run. ( 6:10/10:00)

Ok I’m back to old tricks I admit it - doing slow too fast but club runs are hard to manage . Unlike previous marathon training I’m now running with my peers - as in same fitness levels so not struggling to keep pace with faster folk. Just people who refuse to listen - I think they maybe going faster to get me to shut up . I just spent all my time muttering slow down , slow down , and then running slower and slower forcing them to follow suit . They will thank me in the end lol! It wasn’t a complete disaster I know and it was a chatty albeit evil muttering run.

Thursday 8th August
——————————-

Schedule : 2 easy, 3 MP,2 easy and 4*30 sec strides with 90 sec easy recovery

Actual :8 mile: 2 easy , 3 fantasy MP, 2 easy and strides

Paces for easy bits : 6:00, 6:05 ish
Paces for MP: 5:38,5:23,5:26,5:33,5,28

Again with club and again with the muttering .
This time was I chatting non stop during MP to get them to slow - but I was told no talking during the tempo bit - c’mon!.Then we would regress to bloody Hmp pace and I would start chatting again . So pace all over the place . Quite an undulating route for half of it so hard to get a Rhythm.

Rest day today and will do a bit of S+C. Long run tomorrow with some MP so that’s going to be fun .

Legs starting to get a little stiff —and calf was complaining after strides last night . Going to be a long creaky autumn .

I’m in the hairdressers so again find myself idle and not really so decided to update log on my fantastical snorkelly long run.

So the plan was originally 15 miles with 2 easy,4MP,2 easy,4 MP, 3 easy

Didn’t exactly go as planned :

So it was wet. But we are not sugar and all that . So first two mile grand : 10:13,9:31

Next 4 mile at MP.

This wasn’t ideal - first 2 mile @ MP was into the wind and rain running against traffic on a coastal country dodgy road. Nerves were shot , felt wobbly everytime car zoomed by . Pace felt ok but I was holding back because every instinct wanted to peg it out of there cause didn’t feel safe.

2nd two mile better for sure apart from the giant hill in the middle . Kept the pace so happy with that . We decided to change the route as it was sending us up a ridiculously twisty country road. It wasn’t the best day to die .

MP splits: 9:02,8:46,9:02,8:59

Stopped briefly (2 mins tops)for a water buying glasses cleaning episode and then continued with two mile easy . 10:27,9:54

Realized that our four mile was going to take us up the hill of death as we had to change route once again due to the weather . So stopped doing marathon pace after 2 mile . ( 9:01,9:01) . I could feel blisters forming on heels and they were singing to me. We then decided ah let’s get covered in mud because being soaking wet was hardly hardcore enough. So we went back to original route and ran by the river - at this stage just running through muddy puddles and making no attempt to avoid . Peppa eat your heart out !

Ticked off three more miles including a lovely km uphill . We knew at this stage we would have to run past cars as distance short so lack of death wish earlier on was destroying our souls so close to finish !! (9:55,10:08, 10:26)

After the hill somebody suggested doing last two miles at marathon pace. So off we went again. At this point I seemed like the only one keeping the pace . (MP/9:00) The decision maker then decided screw this lets slow down for last mile . I was happy to do this but somehow it felt harder .

We finished with a ten min mile . It’s done . It wasn’t pleasant , it was a ‘bit’ wet and I was soaked to the skin . Actually I’d say you could see my skin through the top. Anyways I felt like a legend by the end ! Go me

A race report on a long run ! Wha

Week beginning 12th of August

Tuesday 13th of August
————————————

Plan: 5*(1kLT, 1 k easy)
Actual : 12k with session as listed

LT paces: 4:58,4:58,5:00,4:59,4:57
Easy paces: 6:25-6:30

Felt much harder then should have been - kept the pace no problem though. Maybe I just disliked the effort -nah that’s not true - on last rep breathing was way too labored.

Wednesday 14th
—————————

Plan: nada
Actual: 4 mile recovery @ 10:20

Heart rate average 141 - started high but most of it was under 140


Thursday 15th
————————

Plan: 2m AT, 4 mile MP, 2 mile AT with strides
Actual: as above well 8.3 miles

Paces: 10:00,10:10,8:50,8:50,8:45,8:45,10:10,10:10 and strides

Obviously marathon pace was too speedy but was also complete whilst in the middle of deep conversation. It was also shocking warm. Anyways wasn’t paying attention to pace and just following group in front. So session wasn’t handy - and the MP not MP felt tough.

Sat 17th
——————-
I was supposed to do LSR on Sunday as I was out after work on Friday . After the soaking last week I just couldn’t face another one . Also on Sunday I would be solo. Shock horror. So I stayed in the pub for like 4/5 bottles and then legged it when no one was looking. ( it was still only 9!) Unfortunately I have an hour long train journey home and by the time I got there well I was hungover . I drank zero ,had crisps , toast and tea and went to bed . Not a chance could I sleep , drifted off about 3 and wide awake for 7. So I got up and joined the gang for 28k.

Thankfully it was slow. I wasn’t very prepared , and had shoved a great selection of sweets and choc in my belt . Anyways run was grand , ran out of water though and god was I thirsty . Didn’t think about pace or look at watch - just took it handy and chatted . Last 4K I was on my lonesome so struggled a little , energy levels were fine ( those mini kinder egg things are the job) but legs ached. I plodded into the wind feeling sorry for self then last K picked up and finished fast .

Over all pace was 6:14 or 10:03

Lovely run and 17 is so close to 20 and 20 is like the longest run I have to do . So how hard can it be !

Sunday 17th
Plan: 6 mile recovery
Actual: 5 mile recovery @ 10:03

As I had gone over on 1/2 runs during the week a 5 mile recovery was plenty! This was a nice run. Legs and energy levels were ticidy boo and I was constantly pulling myself back . Heart rate was stupid low (130) for me .

Biggest weekly mileage coming in at 42.2 miles.

I feel in control of the training which has boosted my confidence in the whole process. Usually the training takes control of me ! I had a peek at my last log for Berlin - eek. Everything was done at top speed or whatever energy I had left on a given day !

Step back next week - doing frank on Saturday - not sure what my strategy should be . I’ll be running it on the back of two big mileage weeks . I plan to do my LT session on Tuesday but swap a MP interval session for an easy run on Thursday .

A ten mile pb is really not worth getting that excited about right now - the half though will be a different story!

Didn’t really think about it that much - i knew it wasn’t particularly carb dense but I had eaten enough carbs to sink a battleship the day before - and thought it’s only ten mile sure I’ll be grand .

Anyways it seemed to be part of the problem because I settled into a 5:36 average after that -whilst not ideal was not walking.

The heat was factor , perhaps tired legs from the mileage . I’m asking myself a lot of questions - did I really feel that bad , could I have actually pushed through but was feeling too sorry for myself. Like child birth I’ve forgotten now though.

I had planned to go to doctor for a check up next week on thyroid/iron to make sure all levels are good so that’s timely .

Ive decided to ignore the race for now and move forward with training as planned . It will probably offer some weight in deciding to my final dcm target though. I’m training towards the sub4 but logically I think I need the experience of a nice marathon with no time pressure before a big target.

Kellygirl wrote: »

Sorry it didn’t go so well. Judging by Strava people suffered with the heat so may have been a combination of things. Good job continuing on though.

For what it’s worth I think a bowl of porridge made with milk and some stewed apple / couple of medjool dates would be better for giving you energy on long runs I think. Not sure what carbs are in fulfil bars but can’t imagine they’d be as good as a proper breakfast. What would you plan on having before DCM?

I’d normally have porridge with milk for breakfast and before a race - just couldn’t face it yesterday -didn’t really think it through . I’m not good eating straight up out of bed.

For long runs though I would run after just a protein bar - I better swap for a flapjack or something

Thanks guys .

I didn’t enjoy the beer or the cake - felt very dodgy for rest of the day . Woke up this morning feeling like I had a huge hangover (only had 2 bottles of beer) and stomach very not good .

Napped in the afternoon and felt ok and then succumbed to my addiction and went for a run under the disapproving glare of the hubby.

Run was grand ,fabulous evening , heart barely beating , no sign of heavy legs . Was like yesterday never happened.

Stomach was good whilst running . Now I feel very dodgy again .

Anyways my week of running :

Tuesday 20th
———————-
12k ish
2 mile w/u @ 6:20 average
2 mile LT @4:56
90 secs @ 6:50
1 mile LT@ 4:56
2 mile c/d @ 6:15 average

It felt ok - maybe last 600m LT hurt a bit - it’s vague now .

Wednesday 21st
—————————-
7k easy @ 6:18

Thursday 22nd
—————————-
5k easy @ 6:16

Saturday 24th
—————————
FD @ 5:36 average on garmin .

Sunday 25th
———————
5 mile recovery @ 6:16


30 miles in total - 1 mile short - eek

Anyways was a step back week , next week full throttle ahead and some big miles !

Week Beginning 26th August

I let the Frank Duffy race get under my skin and spent the week feeling sorry for myself , and readjusting plans. I thought I’d just keep turning up for training and see where it took me. Legs really achey and feeling tired during the start of the week .


Monday 26th
———————
2 mile Walk/run @ 8 mink . (Recovery)

Tuesday 27th
———————
10 mile easy @ 6:06 mink

Group run with club , not as easy as I would have liked.

Wednesday 28th
———————
Solo 4 mile easy @ 6:27 mink . (141 ppm) Felt harder than in should and difficult to to keep heart rate down

Thursday 29th
———————
9 mile easy @ 6:10
Again with club - really nice run though and felt handy . (HR 138 bpm) . Thoughts of frank dimming.

Saturday 31st
_____________

18 mile @ 5:56

5k AT, 5k MP,5k AT, 5k MP,6k AT, 3k MP

5k easy @ approx 6:20 average
5k MP @ 5:29,5:27,5:33,5:26,5:31
5k easy @ Approx 6:12 average
5k MP @ 5:31,5:31,5:30,5:29,5:27
6k easy @approx 6:15 average
3k MP@ 5:33,5:33,5:23

Run a little adventurous. We found a toddler roaming around shoeless after first two mile - had escaped through a downstairs window in his house and was attempting to walk to his granny’s . We followed him for a bit thinking granny could be near by but we ran out of houses and the footpath ended . We hadn’t a mobile phone between us and were debating next steps when the distraught mother arrived with 3 other small kids in pjs . Anyways it all ended well and we went on our way .

We were supposed to do 4k at the end MP but route planning wasn’t the best - the 26th km was at the end of a 1 mile ridiculous hill and trying to do MP would have destroyed us . Found it hard to pick up the pace after the hill but managed it and finished strong - go glucose tablets !

Felt so thirsty for the day after the run - and also starving like I had a hangover !!

Anyways still think I need to work on my mid run fueling and sort out caffeine intake .

Happy with the run and especially the strong finish .

Sunday 1st of Sep
—————————

Skipped the recovery run today to do a local 5k with my ten year old .

5k @ 28 mins

Lovely run - A bit fast for recovery but fun to run !

Biggest week in mileage ever : 46 miles
Biggest Month ever : 174 miles. Eek are we there yet ????

Week beginning 2nd of September

Monday
—————-

Sports massage . Hurt bad . Quads and hammers very tight . Was left with a few thumb print bruises on calves . Drank a lot of water after and ate decent amount of protein .

Tuesday
—————
Legs still felt sore and very heavy

Session was 2 mile AT , 2kLT, 90secs AT, 2kLT , 2 mile AT

Managed 6.6 mile all in

Warm up was grand felt normal (average 9:50 )
First 2k LT @ average 8:05 , Felt a little tougher then it should but first hard repeat always hard .

Second 2k was horrific - chest very tight It was like the last sprint to the finish line when your all in. Probably should have pulled back but no I had to get the splits right (average 8:00).

Once I finished the 2k , I was floored , wheezy and it took a while to get running again ( until I remembered the inhaler in my pocket ). I was dragging my legs along , they felt like lead. I didn’t do the last km with the group just couldn’t run another cm.

Not a happy bunny , and a bunny with a dodgy chest .


Wednesday
——————-

Schedule said 5 mile easy . I did 4 @ 10:20. Chest felt ok whilst I was going slow. Upped the preventive inhaler for a few days.

Thursday
——————

Schedule had 2 mile AT , 4 mile MP, 2 mile AT

Was a bit dubious that I could do marathon pace but thought I would try 1 mile. Found a flat route for the MP ,meant I’d to climb back up a big hill after but hey .

I didn’t account for the crazy wind . First two mile was into the wind and very tough . Managed MP so was happy with that (8:59,8:56) . Second 2 mile was in opposite direction, cruised along with the tailwind and kept having to pull back, even took a few photos without stopping the watch !(8:50,8:46). Felt ok and breathing seemed ok .

Ran back up hill and legs started feeling like heavy lumps again , Didn't stop me adding an extra half mile to make up for some missed mileage! Baffling

Saturday
—————

The big one - first twenty miler ! Was dreading this all week , and wasn’t sure I could manage it .

I brought a 500 ML bottle of OSMO ( like a diluted tailwind 70 calories) . A few glucose sweets and 6 kinder bon bons. They are the job . Individually packaged and each one has 35 calories . I put them in freezer so they started out nice and hard but melted in mouth by time they got eaten .

First 16k was quite hilly and scenic - we sauntered along talking nonsense and solving the worlds problems . Wasn’t looking at pace at all , it felt easy and looking at paces after we managed to be speed up and slow down depending on terrain.

Topped up drinks at car at 16k and took caffenine shot thing and then went 8k to beach and back . First 3k down hill so pleasant - started to panic slightly as knew I’d have to go back up same hill. The 5k by the coast was ok but legs starting to ache a wee bit , ate a few more sweets , and powered up for the long climb home .

We decided to shut up and just get up the hill and home . ( after taking Glucose tablet). I think the caffeine kicked in because I started to speed up - it’s also it’s a dodgy road and it makes me nervous and gives me a tendency to try and get to safety as quickly as possible ! Anyways I pulled back a few times to keep with the gang but definitely had more in my legs . Finished strong up a hill : 9:50,9:38,9:15 ( for last 800m) .

20 mile @ 10:03. Faster then I had expected but wasn’t pacing

Gave me my mojo back until the next run anyway lol!

Sunday
———-

5 mile recovery @ 10:20

Legs in good shape. Massage benefits kicking in maybe .

I ate a lot of protein yesterday . And carbs . And anything I could could my hands on. Also took some BCAAS which an iron woman in work recommended. This may have been the game changer .

44.2 miles for the week .

I was training to do a sub 1:50 in March before I tore the ligaments in my ankle at 5:10. After a horrible frank and no real hm specific training I want to run a conservative race . I am aiming for a 5:20 pace which I should be able to do considering I’ve done ten mile @ 5:30 in the middle of an 18 miler. Based on my tenk time and my current training I know my goal isn’t that lofty . But I think another bad race will kill my marathon aspirations .