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13th-19th August: DCM week -11
The plan: 46miles to include 9miles with 7@MP, fartlek run, 18mile LSR
Had lost Monday to finishing-off week -12, so was starting this week on Tuesday, hoping to get everything done by Sunday 18th.
Tuesday: 4.1miles easy @10:10 avg
Neighbourhood loops in the evening
Wednesday: nothing
Not as planned, I had intended to run today. I'm not sure why I bailed on it but it might have been the weather. Or maybe stuff to do for work.
Thursday: 1mile w/u, 7miles @MP, 1mile c/d
Was not going to bail on this one, needed to get it done with a heavy mileage week and only 6days, not to mention I was travelling early the next morning. Was doing this on the meadows after work, stayed mostly on the tarmac (expect that was due to muddy trails). Was aiming for 9mpm as MP and what I got was 8:55, 8:58, 8:54, 8:56, 8:57, 9:00, 9:03, quite consistent though I slid off the pace a tiny bit towards the end. I think I could have done a few more.
Ended up burning the midnight oil to finish a non-negotiable bit of work till 2:30am, so just as well I took the chance to do this when I did.
Friday: nothing
Rail/Sail Edinburgh to Dublin. Was planning to do 6-7 miles when I arrived to my destination. However, was travelling on about 3hours sleep from the night before and was a bit knackered, I let it go ...
Saturday: 9miles easy @10:19 avg pace
9 easy miles round Kimmage, Terenure, Rathfarnam, Milltown, Rathmines, Harold Cross, fairly enjoyable run though I was glad to be finishing up at 9miles. It was nice enough weather and as I came along Kimmage Road lower in the final mile I passed two young lads ... one of them had a can of Magners and he offered a sip "to stay hydrated" :pac:
Sunday: 2miles easy, 1mile fartlek, 1mile easy, 1mile fartlek, 2miles easy
The plan for today had been the 18miler. Had missed the chance to get the week done in 6days after skipping Fridays run, now the best I could hope would be that the run pushed-to-Monday would only be a shorter run (with fartlek), so I'd be making progress. Had family coming over "at some stage" that afternoon, and a friend to meet later that eve in Ranelagh, texts were sent to encourage the family members across at an appropriate time to allow 3hours free for a run (no, I can't do my runs in the morning!
). After a while I realised how mad this was, not to mention how unlikely to work, and I did the 7miles with fartlek instead.
Fartlek miles were 7:59 avg for the first and 8:13 avg for the second, was putting in a good hard effort. As often the second one was a bit slower but again, despite being on a different route in a different city, the first fartlek mile was as usual on a slight descent! (the stretch along the Dodder from Rathfarnam Cross to Upper Terenure). Happy enough with that.
I hit 1000miles on this run. The 1000mile spreadsheet is now giving 1600miles estimate for 2019 on the spreadsheet and though I've been very wary of writing any "goals" in this log ... well, you know.
Monday: tough-enough 18miles LSR @10:23 avg pace
Did this around South Dublin, and the main thing about this run was that it was harder than expected - was on a less hilly route than my usual but I was starting to feel the legs flagging at 10-11miles as I came up from Ranelagh into Rathmines and towards Rathgar. I'd come out without any jelly-babies or other fuel, but I had some money on me so I had my eye out for a shop at this point .... not pleased to see the Centra near Rathgar church is now a posh Furniture store!!!
It wasn't too much further to Rathgar village and I stopped at the Super Valu and bought a can of Club Orange and drank it before heading off again. Also bought a mini-fudge for later.
After starting again I began to feel a bit better and was able to do the remaining 6-and-a-half miles through Mount Carmel, Dodder, Upper Terenure, Kimmage, and then the last mile and a half as a little out and back near Harolds Cross Park - that last little bit was tough, I was very happy as I hit the 17mile point and only had 1 more mile to grind out.
When I was struggling I did consider cutting this back to about 13miles (the LSR for the upcoming week) and pushing the 18miles to Thursday. I don't like to stop part-way through a run. Am glad now I didn't truncate the run and that I have this out of the way.
weekly total: 47.4miles with 9 w 7MP run, 18miles LSR, fartlek run
*all done* (plus an extra mile) and though it slid onto the following Monday, it still got done in 7 days. The next week is a cut-back of 35miles and I believe I should be able to bring it in in 6days and get things back on plan.0 -
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A super week, well done! You're putting in great training lately. That MP run looks so consistent - great to have under your belt.
I didn't even know there was an 'estimate' feature! *Runs off to look*hillsiderunner wrote: »
I hit 1000miles on this run. The 1000mile spreadsheet is now giving 1600miles estimate for 2019 on the spreadsheet and though I've been very wary of writing any "goals" in this log ... well, you know.
Congrats again on hitting 1000! Great week for it 0 -
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19th-26th Aug: DCM week -10
the plan: 35miles with 13mile LSR, 8miles with 6MP
Nice easy little cutback week
. Again starting this week on a Tuesday, as last week's LSR only got done on Monday 19th.... the hope was that with only 35miles to do, that I would finish on Sunday this week, and back on track (that did not happen)
Tuesday: nothing as planned
Wednesday: nothing
Was still in Dublin. Not sure why, think I shifted the run to the evening and then no longer in the mood.
Thursday: 13miles LSR @10:04 avg pace
Doing the LSR *early* this week as I was flying to Italy on Saturday and knew that running would be tricky once there. Headed out for a nice flat LSR round South Dublin in the evening, feeling great to 'only' have 13miles to do. No struggles or heavy legs this evening, the legs were light and the slightly-quicker pace was comfortable.
Discovered after uploading onto Strava that I had passed Huzzah walking to the Ranelagh Luas.
Friday: nothing
Visit North to a troublesome Aunt, then back to Dublin to meet a friend for dinner. I'd planned to run after dinner, but when it came to it I could not be bothered.
Saturday: 1mile w/u, 3miles MP, 4miles c/d
This was intended to have 6MP miles but was not to be. It was a sunny day and I only headed out at 11:30 and even after a couple of MP miles I was sweating. The effort was getting harder as I continued in the sun, and I decided I would let myself off with just 4MP, but coming up to the end of the 3rd one I was struggling and I knew that would be it. I actually stopped the watch for 1min to take a standing break before I started off again, and did 4 easy miles. Temperature was 22C when I checked back at the house (had also thrown up at midnight the night before, so possibly that could have been part of the trouble). MP miles were 9:01, 8:47, 8:58.
Sunday: nothing
Travelling in Italy, nothing was done.
Monday: 6.1miles @10:17 avg pace
Was staying near the Thermal energy village of Larderello in Tuscany for a few days, today I had a window for an early morning run and took advantage. Had an experience of getting lost in Italy a few years ago (in Rome) so was playing it safe and did these as a few 1mile-out, 1mile-backs near the apartment. Quite hilly in fact. I started at 9am but it was already pretty warm, it was hard in the sunshine and I walked some steps on an uphill in mile 5. Took a photo of the thermal energy towers.
Really I should have been aiming for 12-13miles this morning, but only had an hour. Could not really push the extra miles to Tuesday, that would be getting out of hand, so I ended up 8miles short of the planned 35.
weekly total: 27.1miles incl 13miles LSR, 3miles MP mini-session
27th-2nd Sept: DCM week -9
the plan: 47miles incl 18mile LSR, 10miles with 8@MP, run with 2fartlek miles
Tuesday: nothing
As expected. Still in Tuscany and time was tight. Shopping to do
Wednesday: nothing, not as planned
Flew into Edinburgh this lunchtime, I hoped to head out for 5-7miles this evening but was too lazy, too disorganised, too frazzled.
Thursday: 18miles LSR @10:38 avg pace (1450ft ascent)
I have a HM coming up on the 7th September, so I wanted to make sure to get this weeks LSR done early, so as not to affect the race. Despite the frazzled-ness I managed to plan a bit, and got out of the office at 4:45pm to do the 18miles. As usual I was doing this in Holyrood Park, nice cool sunshine. I had to deviate out of the park after 4miles to find a toilet, then ran back in and did some more loops of the park. I should have had fresh legs after the two days off but I wasn't feeling as energetic as I expected - I walked some steps on an ascent around the 8mile point and later walked some steps (round 11-12 miles) on a lesser ascent. I had gone out with a supply of jelly babies and took some at 10miles, then 13-14miles, but they didn't help too much. Around 14miles I made a decision to come out of the park a bit early and finish the run on flatter terrain. Even still I felt I was grinding out the last few miles, legs felt heavy (though the pace didn't drop).
Not sure what that was about - there was a bit of a wind but nothing major. And a good bit of ascent but less than usual on my LSRs if anything. Both of the 18milers have been difficult.
Friday: 7 miles easy @10:54 avg pace
Run done after 7pm, was not remotely keen but of course I had loads of miles to catch up on after taking Tuesday and Wednesday off. I did this on tarmac from my flat, and finished up at the Thai takeaway.
Saturday: 7miles easy @10:44 avg pace
Watching UTMB via online streaming. I had been planning to do the 10miles w 8MP this evening but was worried the effects of the 18miles Thursday would hamper the pace. So I decided to push the MP session to Sunday, and to drop the fartlek from Mondays's 5mile run (since didn't want to have two sessions back to back). So this evening I just did 7miles easy on the meadows trails and it was enjoyable. The legs were good and I felt like I was moving at a good clip so I was surprised by the slower pace a couple of times when glancing at the watch. But happy to keep it properly easy.
Sunday: 1mile w/u, 8@MP, 1mile c/d
Was not at all sure how this would go and was trying to eat and drink a good bit through the day to have myself well-recovered in advance. I was a bit reluctant, still worried the 18miles would be hiding in the legs. But I got off to a good start and after the 1st MP mile I had the feeling this would go well ... and it did, I got 8:57, 8:57, 8:52, 8:52, 8:52, 8:55, 9:00, 8:53 for the MP. Still don't have a great 'feel' from what MP is, the earlier part of some miles was wrong a few times (mostly too quick), I was hoping to pull back some of those middle miles but after that the aim was to have all the remaining miles within the 5sec window... so was a bit disappointed in the 9:00 for that reason. But overall very happy with this and felt I could have done a few more MP. Best of all I was not at all tired after, felt it took nothing out of me. It was only 13C which will also have helped.
Monday: Yoga class, 5miles easy @10:20 avg pace
More alert this morning than any Monday morning in *ages*. Still I delayed doing the run. I did some (very) late night neighbourhood loops to get all the mileage for the week finished.
weekly total: 47.1miles incl 18miles LSR, 10miles w 8MP run
Very happy with how this week went. One thing that continues to give trouble is the gastric coughing, running definitely aggravates it but I have been putting up with it (much) too long. So need to make a GP appointment so I am not coughing through DCM (and also maybe we will get to the bottom of it this time, let's see). It's a nuisance.
The plan for next week is 35miles to include a HM race.
I am planning to break this up as 7miles easy Wednesday (done), 5miles easy Thurs, nothing Friday, 1mile w/u + HM + 1mile c/d Saturday ... and then 8miles easy on Sunday. I am not sure what to aim for on Saturday as I haven't done any faster stuff in ages - would hope to match/beat the March result of 1hr 49 (so about 8:20 pace), or even knock a couple of minutes off. Will aim for around 8:30 for the first mile and see how that feels. Will not be devastated if I am slower than the time from March ...0 -
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That's a serious week there! I wouldn't worry at all about the 18 milers feeling difficult, I think that's to be expected. Also marathon training is weird - I remember having a brutal 16 miler last year that had me questioning everything, and then did a 20 miler that was (relatively speaking ) grand. But on any given day you can be tired and feeling the cumulative fatigue more.
Good luck in the half!0 -
Great training going on here.
Re the 18m, you flew the day before and that would have an impact that you might not have allowed for. But you got it done and it will stand to you.
I take it the plan is sub 4 for Dublin?
Good luck with the HM on Saturday, I'll be watching strava for the update
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Best of luck with the HM.Good luck for the HM M.That's a serious week there! I wouldn't worry at all about the 18 milers feeling difficult, I think that's to be expected. Also marathon training is weird - I remember having a brutal 16 miler last year that had me questioning everything, and then did a 20 miler that was (relatively speaking ) grand. But on any given day you can be tired and feeling the cumulative fatigue more.
Good luck in the half!Great training going on here.
Re the 18m, you flew the day before and that would have an impact that you might not have allowed for. But you got it done and it will stand to you.
I take it the plan is sub 4 for Dublin?
Good luck with the HM on Saturday, I'll be watching strava for the update
Thank you all for the nice comments and the Good Lucks
YA, yes tentative plan is sub-4hr for Dublin. Am going to wait to see how the HM goes before committing though.0 -
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hillsiderunner wrote: »Thank you all, it went quite well, paced myself well and felt strong throughout - result was 1:49:07 which is a marginal PB. Might have preferred a minute or two less but was a positive race and the sub-4 is still the goal. Denis, you have a point, I think I had some extra strength there for this HM.
Report to follow when I get a bit of time.
A PB is a PB well done! 0 -
First the month totals for July and August - had not bothered putting it up after July but August was excellent, highest ever month total (by a way). Not looking so good for September at this point, however there was a good HM raced earlier in the month.
Month|2013|2014|2015|2016|2017|2018|2019
January|55|85|70|49|29|55| 145
February|69|9|96|30|44|76| 138
March|53|57|134|61|98|106| 136
April|85|61|85|40|118|55| 92
May|65|71|145|26|116|48| 118
June|51|43|89|7|0|93|156
July|25|99 |79|76|7|127|128
August|84|120|26.5|97|15|107|176
September|18|131|0|85|47|116|
October|83|0|15|95|49|114|
November|78|3|62.5|103|2|130|
December|53|56|86|111|29|131|
Total|719|735|888|780|554|1158|1089
3th- 8th September: DCM week -8
the plan: 35miles with HM race
Aim of course being to keep things really easy in advance of the race. Week starting on Tuesday due to Monday having been 'donated' to week -9 as happens sometimes
Tuesday: nothing
The plan will have been to head out Tuesday no doubt.
Wednesday: 7miles easy, 10:45 avg pace
In the evening, mostly trails.
Thursday: 5miles with 5 strides in last mile, avg pace 10:11
Neighbourhood loops done easy, then the last mile faster (obviously) because of the strides. This was done at 7pm when there were plenty of people round, some guys stepped back on the path on my 1st and 2nd stride and watched me go past and commented among themselves (think it was positive, but they were speaking in another language so can't be sure).
Friday: resting the legs
Saturday: Ayr half-marathon (1:49:07)
I had travelled to the West Coast of Scotland to do this one, 1.5hours on the train on a lovely sunny afternoon. Race start not till 5pm, perfect for me.
We started off in the sunshine on the promenade in Ayr, a lovely sunny evening but not too hot (around 15C), hardly any wind. I had checked my bag and just had some jelly babies in my shorts, but never even took them out until after the race. The legs were feeling light and the body rested. Plan was to start around 8:30 pace or even slower and then see if it was feasible to continue to 8:15 for most of the race … or even a bit quicker. PB from 5years back (and maybe from March this year as well, if I can be sure about that route) is 1:49:30 or so, was hoping to be a minute or two under that, but wanted to feel things out.
mile 1 (8:09): Few blocks round the top of the promenade, I was doing a comfortable pace, waited a while to check the watch, it was 8:35 or so. Made sure to keep it easy, looked again - faster ... try to back off a small bit, look again ... faster. Then a little bump before the end of this mile - despite that overall pace was 8:09. I had broken my pace rule but I was feeling absolutely comfortable.
mile 2, 7:59: Same kind of thing again, it was strange (but good) to look down part-way through and see the watch well-below 8mins and feeling really comfortable. Vindication of the run-slow-to-get-faster thing, had a little smile to myself.
mile 3, 8:26: The looping ended and we headed out through town to head south, it was not as easy as the initial miles (looking now I can see a little bit of ascent on the profile) and I was wondering whether I’d overdone it. Maybe I’d been too casual about the heat (yes, it was only 15C) and was going to pay the price...
mile 4, 8:08: A bit slow at the start of this mile. After a while we turned off the main road into a housing estate and I started picking the pace up a bit. There were two friends running together alongside me, just before 4miles one of them dropped back and told her friend to continue alone. I kept my eye on the faster friend in black singlet and shorts, was hoping to use her as a marker as we continued.
mile 5, 8:20: Back on the main road, again losing a bit of time in the first half of this, the girl in the black outfit was getting further away, tried to pick it up after that and the overall pace not too bad. I was doing some calculations and knew this was still ok, but was worried if I could keep it up.
mile 6: 8:45: Turned left just as this mile started and there was an uphill drag and I backed off a bit. Knew I was losing time and it was confirmed when I glanced down at the watch after a few minutes and saw 9:xx, I was very disappointed.... About halfway through the mile it levelled out a bit and I was able to push a bit more so in the end the mile was not as dreadful as it might have been.
mile 7: 8:17 "the one where I start passing people":
We went into a park early in this mile, a short little section on trail. Somehow I had caught up to the woman in the black outfit and I passed her before we turned back onto tarmac. There was another runner just ahead of me at this point, it took a while to catch up with him but I did, passed him too. We were continuing up a stretch of road and I could see about 5 runners ahead, one in a luminous yellow shirt, and just ahead of him three guys running together ahead of him, one in a Newton runners shirt. Took me a good while to work my way to the guy in luminous yellow, he ran alongside me for a while, then dropped off. Soon after I came past the three runners together, they dropped immediately, then one of them caught back up.
mile 8: 8:27: Twisty little turn here and was briefly caught by one of the three, but I dropped him again early in this mile. Then we were going up another drag (and pace slowing), I could see a girl in pink T-shirt with a trail backback ahead. A slower mile pace because of the bit of ascent. I was getting a bit confused by the variability in pace, so I had decided that I’d hold it steady and only push in the final 3 miles.
mile 9: 8:17: Had been seeing the trail runner in pink ahead for ages now, but I caught her at the top of a drag at the start of this mile. “Well done” as I went past, the only person who commented as I passed them. Bits of downhill in the mile as I continued and a nicer pace.
mile 10: 8:48: Now the biggest drag of the race, it went on for quite a while and it was depressing looking ahead at it. Passed a couple near the start of the drag, but they were walking, doesn’t even count. I was following a guy in a EMF T-shirt most of the way up the drag, was not expecting to catch him but I did eventually, overtook him just before the top. We had a 360 degree turn here at 9.7 and I was able to pick up a bit of pace for the rest of the mile, passed a guy in a red T-shirt here, he didn’t speak but he turned a with a surprised look as I went past. Was thinking that with just three miles to go we must be due a bit of descent for the last few miles. At least I was hoping ...
mile 11: 8:06: A lovely welcome mostly-downhill mile, we were now on some cycle-paths with fields either side. I was happy to pick the pace up a bit and I passed a couple of runners here, then later passed a shirtless runner on a mini-climb near the end of the mile. We were coming towards the coast now and there was a ruined tower and nice cropped fields shining yellow under the sun. I was just about good enough to admire it.
mile 12: 8:02: Mini-downhill at the start of this mile, I glanced down early on and the watch was showing 7:xx, nice to see that in the late stages of the race. The rest of the mile was mostly flat, we were getting closer to the sea now and I passed a couple of people here, one girl in a pink Triathlon shirt.
mile 13: 8:08: We were coming up to the promenade now and I was pushing a bit but still feeling strong. Some spectators cheering here in the lovely local accent. I was still passing people, I took 5 runners in this last mile. Towards the end I was chasing down another woman in a black outfit but she seemed strong and I was mainly using her to pull me along.
“bit”: 7:57 pace: She put in an extra spurt at the end and got away from me but I kept going and was happy to finish with 1:49:07 on the watch ... and the “net time” on the website exactly the same.
Should put in a disclaimer here that the total ascent was under 400ft, despite the drags and bumps and hills mentioned above :rolleyes:
A marginal PB, but a a good experience - I was working but I was also in control, even to the end. I passed about 20-25 runners in the second half, not a single one passed me. Was not tired that night or the day after, and apart from slightly tight calves, no after effects. Was describing all this to someone last week, and he thought I went out too slow, but I don't think I would have been much faster, just more miserable. Think the feeling good after was strength from marathon training rather than unused speed.
Sunday: 7.9miles easy @10:53 avg pace
Legs and body were feeling fine, and I had miles to make up, so did this in the evening.
weekly total: 33.3miles
Little bit off the planned mileage but had managed to finish the week on Sunday for once!0 -
9th-15th September: DCM week -7
the plan: 38miles with 15mile LSR
I was feeling really good after the HM, so hopeful to get all these miles done; however, also dealing with horrible backlog at work ...
Monday: nothing as planned
Though I probably went to Yoga at lunchtime I think. Not sure now.
Tuesday: 7miles @10:43 avg pace
Evening run round Holyrood Park and surroundings (as usual!)
Wednesday: nothing
Likely stuck in the office till late, I would expect anyway
Thursday: 8miles @10:52 avg pace
Another evening run, Holyrood Park and a loop through the interior as well, was fairly hilly and at least 5miles on grass/trail. I had gone out a bit later than planned and the sun was going down in the final miles, had a tricky section on lumpy trails in the last mile ... and should not really have done it. Will need to take the headtorch for these expeditions in future.
Friday, Saturday: nothing
Frazzled with work.
Sunday: hilly 16miles @10:47 avg pace
Still up to my eyes in undone work but set aside time for this, and left in sufficient time to avoid the darkness (mostly!). Mostly in Holyrood park, loops and little 'interior loops', happy to get it done. Think all limbs were still feeling good but can't remember for sure.
weekly total: 31.1.miles
So 7miles off the plan. I hoped to do it the day after (foolish me)
16th-22th September: DCM week -6
the plan: 47miles with 10w8MP, run with 2fartlek miles, 19mile LSR
Though I could *never* have believed I'd fall so short....
Monday: nothing
(though this originally was planned to be the catch-up day for last week). Worked late, no run done.
Tuesday, Wednesday: nothing
Up early Tuesday for work travel (no glamour here, midlands of England my destination ). Was still a bit destroyed after the previous days and had the sense not to bother packing my trainers. Had planned to run when I got back to Edinburgh on Wednesday evening but wasn't feeling 100%, had eaten something I think, so left it.
One of my colleagues at the meeting is a great runner and we had a good discussion about our training (as usual!), he had done a HM the same w/e as me but about 28mins faster ....
Thursday: nothing
Trying to catch up with the work backlog.
Friday: 1mile w/u, 4miles MP, 1mile c/d
Did this after work. I can't remember for sure why it was only 4MP (after all the plan had been 8MP this week), I suspect probably general f-ed off-ness and letting myself off the hook. Have no memory of niggles but can't be sure.
Saturday, Sunday: nothing
Catching up on sleep, relaxing. The Sunday laziness was particularly bad as I was back to action by then, but it was that thing of the week ruined anyway.
weekly total: 6miles
Could nearly cry reading that now. It was done in that sense of 'feck it' and it was only one week (extra, there had been one back in July too), and I would get stuck-in again to proper training this week ... except now I have a bit of plantar fasciitis interfering with plans. Particularly annoyed about the missed weekend runs as I might have noticed the trouble a few days earlier if I'd gone out.
Will see how the weekend (and next week) goes before writing off DCM.0 -
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