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

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

Bluesquare

Morning

Decided to start a new training log - to keep me honest .

I had a bad bunch of races in September last year that knocked the motivation out of me.

From September to December my mileage really dropped - I wasn't enjoying running and each run was getting more difficult . Got bloods checked etc but I was just found to be a moany git.

Something made me sign up for DCM - extreme sheepism maybe , I'm still not convinced but we will see.

So here I am after a January of good running - getting mileage up , loosing the xmas bulge and enjoying it again.

Current pbs:
5k: 23:43 (2018)
10k 50:48 (2016)
Ten mile: 1:26:15 (2019)
Half Marathon: 1:54.25 (2018)
Marathon: 4:27:19(2016)

I seem to train better than I run which is a bit flakey of me .

My ideal targets for 2019 would be:

5k: 23:30
10k: 49:59
Half marathon: 1:49:59
Marathon: 3:59:59

But happy to just chip away at the numbers. I hate marathons but really want to do a sub 4. We will see !

Some sandbagging: I have a long train commute 3 days a week (work from home other 2). Have a couple of brats to keep my time for running limited. I'm a 43 year old asthmatic with a thyroid problem which can make recovery a bit of a saga. Oh yeah and have to be careful to keep popping those iron pills or the energy wanes. Right that's the excuses out there! Will try not to bring up again

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

eyrie

Very nice week there Bluesquare, great to see you feeling good and confident with the training! Good luck with FD however you decide to approach it - hope it treats you better this time

ariana`

Lovely week... That midweek MP session was nicely done!

Good luck with the week ahead whatever you decide!

Huzzah!

eyrie wrote: »

Very nice week there Bluesquare, great to see you feeling good and confident with the training! Good luck with FD however you decide to approach it - hope it treats you better this time

+1 - lovely to hear the confidence.

Kellygirl

Best of luck tomorrow R. Have you decided on a plan of attack?

Bluesquare

Kellygirl wrote: »

Best of luck tomorrow R. Have you decided on a plan of attack?

Thanks ! Lol - no , still on the fence discussing the weather .

Maybe Ill just mutter the all encompassing “tempo” and leave it at that .

You will know from my heart rate straight up if I decide to go for it - no pretend tempos will disguise that !

Huzzah!

Good luck tomorrow!

Bluesquare

Before i burn the memory from my brain I thought I’d better log it.

So I had a fulfill for breakfast . This fact might be important later or maybe it won’t. Felt ok . Lovely day for it . Was going to to see how legs like a 5:10 pace - had looked at the course so had a fair idea of the ups and downs . Started slow 5:29 and eased myself into it , 2nd, 3rd and 4th Kms 5:10,4:59,5:09 so far so good so down hill . Once the downhill bit stopped wheels started to come off ,breathing became labored , 5:23,5:16, pushing hard but not really going fast enough for the effort . Felt a bit wobbly , and legs were shakey , walked a little , then ran again a 6:25 followed by 5:21. It got harder and harder next k clocked at 5:41, then walked again , legs jellied (7:15). 4 miles loomed ahead, it was going to be a long walk to the end . Tucked into a few chocs and some jellies ,felt a little revived , told myself to pretend it was a long slow run and just amble to end - turned the watch to the clock face and kept motoring . Very proud that I got to end without stopping and seemed to do it in marathon pace .
131 something finishing time - obviously not happy , hands down worse race ever and the best reason I have is I had no decent breakfast. I have a fulfill before every long run , works fine normally . Felt like low iron but think I’m grasping at straws.

I’ll analyze again tomorrow . For now cake and beer!

Kellygirl

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?

skyblue46

K is spot on. As a fuel source a Fulfill bar is pretty hopeless. It has about as many carbs as half of a decent sized banana. Remember it's carbs for energy and protein for recovery.

Bluesquare

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.

average_runner

Alot people fell apart at 7k ish. So dont worry about it. It was a tough day

Bluesquare

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

Wubble Wubble

Sorry you'd a tough day out there R. Plus point - you stuck it out and crossed the finish line, in spite of all that went wrong. Hope you enjoyed the cake and beer

Best of luck with the next few weeks training!

Bluesquare

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 !

Kellygirl

Bluesquare wrote: »

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.

:D Ah how well I know that glare! Hope the stomach is better tomorrow and good luck with your big week.

Younganne

I though mile 4 was like mile 20 of the marathon, it was like the walking dead!! I was just very thankful that i wasn't racing or running too hard and even i found that stretch on the North road horrible and then the water when we got to it was warm as it had been sitting in the sun all morning. It was poured into the cups when i was running past it on my warmup at 9.30:eek: I suppose there's not much they can do about the sun but there was tree shade 100m further back so would have been better to set up water tables there.

Well done for sticking it out. Sounds like a tough run.

eyrie

Really sorry to hear it was such a horrible experience, and it sounds like you were by no means alone in that! Tough day for it, definitely, and it sounds like maybe something else underlying was up if you were feeling bad later and the next day too. Fair play to you for toughing it out.

Bluesquare

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 ????

Kellygirl

Glad the week got better as it went on. Well done on the high mileage week.

Bluesquare

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 .

Bluesquare

I have decided I’ll race Ratoath but not aggressively . My pb is 154:27 from the Dublin half last year . I’m just going to try to dip slightly under that . I don’t think my ego can take another Frank Duffy .

My plan is to run a conservative first 10k and if feeling ok will put the foot down in the second half. Practicing this pacing strategy is beneficial for DCM as this will be my plan there too.

I know the first 5k in Ratoath is downhill so holding back will hopefully require will power lol!

Kellygirl

That was a great 20 miler. Well done. Will you just run Rathoath yourself or with pacers?

Bluesquare

Kellygirl wrote: »

That was a great 20 miler. Well done. Will you just run Rathoath yourself or with pacers?

I’m bringing a personal pacer- my training buddy is robotic - I just tell her the paces and she will keep me honest . She’s not trying to pb so happy enough to run with me . ! I’m not even going to attempt to go anywhere near 150 - baby steps for me this time .

eyrie

Well you absolutely flew that 20 miler, well done! Glad to hear it's given you some confidence back too, as it should.
Good luck in Ratoath!

Bluesquare

Not feeling very confident ahead of Saturday .

I know my training is going well, I know I haven’t missed a session , I know I have hit all the paces ( mostly with no bother). I know in paper my half marathon target should be very attainable.

The thing I have the issue with (apart from slightly elevated asthma symptoms, which I’m hoping will disappear before Saturday) is that I haven’t ran anywhere near what my PHMP should be for more then 2k in ages. I tried to do 2k last night (down a hill) to make myself feel better and only ended slightly coughy after. And it wasn’t even an aggressive pace. So how does your head just turn around those paces without practice ?

hillsiderunner

Bluesquare wrote: »

Not feeling very confident ahead of Saturday .

I know my training is going well, I know I haven’t missed a session , I know I have hit all the paces ( mostly with no bother). I know in paper my half marathon target should be very attainable.

The thing I have the issue with (apart from slightly elevated asthma symptoms, which I’m hoping will disappear before Saturday) is that I haven’t ran anywhere near what my PHMP should be for more then 2k in ages. I tried to do 2k last night (down a hill) to make myself feel better and only ended slightly coughy after. And it wasn’t even an aggressive pace. So how does your head just turn around those paces without practice ?

I'm not sure what the answer is in general, but I haven't done HMP since spring and I was able to meet it last weekend in my race, I was surprised (in a good way). Somehow the body was able to do it when asked, even though apart from little bits of fartlek every few weeks I have otherwise only run "easy" or MP for months now.

I think maybe just guess a HMP and then go out a little bit slower than that for the first couple of miles and see how it goes. Maybe a little more conservative than usual because of the asthma.

Good luck!

Kellygirl

Bluesquare wrote: »

Not feeling very confident ahead of Saturday .

I know my training is going well, I know I haven’t missed a session , I know I have hit all the paces ( mostly with no bother). I know in paper my half marathon target should be very attainable.

The thing I have the issue with (apart from slightly elevated asthma symptoms, which I’m hoping will disappear before Saturday) is that I haven’t ran anywhere near what my PHMP should be for more then 2k in ages. I tried to do 2k last night (down a hill) to make myself feel better and only ended slightly coughy after. And it wasn’t even an aggressive pace. So how does your head just turn around those paces without practice ?

What is your phmp compare to pmp?

Bluesquare

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 .

Bluesquare

hillsiderunner wrote: »

I'm not sure what the answer is in general, but I haven't done HMP since spring and I was able to meet it last weekend in my race, I was surprised (in a good way). Somehow the body was able to do it when asked, even though apart from little bits of fartlek every few weeks I have otherwise only run "easy" or MP for months now.

I think maybe just guess a HMP and then go out a little bit slower than that for the first couple of miles and see how it goes. Maybe a little more conservative than usual because of the asthma.

Good luck!

Thanks - great race last week . I’m going to aim for a pb which theoretically should well be within range .

Kellygirl

Bluesquare wrote: »

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 .

I think keep it nice and conservative for the first half of it anyway given the asthma symptoms and the object of it being more of a confidence boost than a huge pb. If you feel like picking up the pace then great, if you don’t then just enjoy it and I think finishing strong and enjoying yourself will do wonders for you.