A Tall Order

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Great to see another log starting up.

Sorry that DCM didn't pan out as you wished - great fight shown to see it through though.
You put in a very dedicated and disciplined block of training.

Best of luck with the the year ahead - that's a pretty phenomenal list of targets.

Thanks Mr G. It's been a good learning process throughout the training block, particularly when it comes to the racing side of things. I've said it already but thanks again for all the guidance.

OOnegative wrote: »

Welcome to the logs, what’s the thinking behind running two ultras in first 6 months of next year when you struggled towards the end of DCM? There’s a 5 hour cut off in Donadea which going on Sunday’s time you won’t make. I don’t mean to sound a horrible ba$tard saying that but it’s true.

skyblue46 wrote: »

I'd be with B on this one. Hitting trouble at 20 miles in a marathon isn't a great indicator that taking on 2 ultras and a marathon in the next 12 months is a good idea.

I appreciate the honest comments folks, if I expected sunshine and rainbows I wouldn't have started the log. I went in to DCM with something not right with a hip flexor and it proved to be the catalyst of my downfall during DCM. It's not something that cropped up during the building phase of the training plan but about 10 days out from the race (halfway through taper). I still haven't been able to figure out what caused it as I felt fine on my taper runs but with the increased stress/demands of marathon it couldn't cope at the latter stages.

Does a healed/normal hip flexor mean that everything will go to plan? Absolutely not. If things don't go to plan at Donadea, then the remaining plans will probably get knocked on the head. There's also the hamstring issues at 20 miles which is why I'll be adding S&C to my training twice a week.

Could I do Donadea today (without hip issue) and come in under the time limit? I don't know. I do know there's going to be a lot of progress required. I have the discipline and determination to get done what I think needs to be done to get where I need to be on each of the start lines. I'm not deluding myself in to thinking it's going to be easy during the training or out on any of the courses.

The log is here for feedback, regardless of whether I like/dislike/agree/disagree with it. I've looked at Hal Higdon 50k training plan and also some S&C (This being an example). I am not set on either one so if people have thoughts then I'm open to suggestions.

Good physio session today. Got the hip flexor worked on and there's tightness and weakness on the side that caused issue during DCM. I've been given stretching and strengthening exercises for it to get it up to a level where it's on par with the other side. Back in 10 days for another session. Just going to be on the bike till after that anyway.

Great physio session this evening and think we've got to the cause of the hip issues I suffered in DCM. I'd been racking my brain as to what could've caused the left hip issue and came up with a theory. After running through my S&C exercises looking for tips/guidance on form and showing my struggles on the right side of the single leg deadlifts, my theory was all but confirmed.

I played a lot of basketball (multiple teams across multiple age levels each year) from about 9 till 19 and then sporadically since then till now (mid 30s). If you watch the video below which is one of the more popular moves in the game, I would've done this 000s of times throughout that playing period which left me with a really strong left leg (due to the foot plant and subsequent jump) and not as strong right leg. There would've been a correspoding action on the left side but nowhere even close to 50/50, probably more like 90/10 in favour of the right side. It's not something that would've been corrected since I took up cycling either.



Yay to (hopefully) finding the root cause. The load DCM put on the imbalance in my legs was too much and caused the left side to just say no.

Going forward I need to strengthen the lower right leg which is struggling now to even balance on a single leg deadlift. I've also to get my left hip back up to par with the right which is not too far away. Back to they physio in about 2 weeks.

Cleared for starting a running program this week and going to start into a slightly adjusted version of the Hal Higdon 50K program.

Monday
100% rest as planned. Legs were tired after my first double at the weekend.

Tuesday
8Km at 6:27min/Km, HR 142bpm. Legs still aching a little but got through it just fine. No S&C and no bicycle commute due to work travel later in the day.

Wednesday
16Km at 6:12min/Km, HR 147bpm. Was going well but had to change my route on the fly due to construction work blocking my path along the quays where I was staying. It made the 2nd half quite boring.

Later in the day I started to feel like crud. Early evening is when I knew things were going to go downhill quick. Sick with a usual illness that I would have meds for at home but didn't bring them on this brief work trip.

The rest of the week was a complete write off. I'm still not 100% so glad there's nothing on the running calendar for me tomorrow.

Upcoming week:

• Physio on Monday for hip review
• Pick up decent trail runners in sales
• Perhaps pick up some more road runners
• Finish reading Thinking on My Feet and begin Born to Run

Week of December 2nd-8th

66Km for the week. Couple of tough runs this week - one was from a motivational pov and the other from fatigue. Last 2 weeks have seen an increase in mileage so going to either drop it back or have it stagnate for the week ahead to allow for some recovery. Only one day of S&C this week due to time constraints but with yoga finished till the new year then Friday may be a new S&C day. Finished "Born to Run", highly recommended for anyone who hasn't read it.

Diet this week was pretty terrible. Discipline is required. Need to keep on top of this and prep as much as possible in advance.

Physio tomorrow for a check in on the hip. Last session showed that my strength in the area had improved significantly but still some tightness remained. Hoping it's strong and loose tomorrow.

Donadea 50Km is 9 weeks away. I'm going to get out to there at some stage over the holidays and do a few laps of the course so I'm not going in blind on race day. My fear right now is that even if my hip is ready for the day, that physically something else may go wrong on the day. I feel like I'm prepping sufficiently from a running perspective (diet and S&C need to follow suit and quick) but my experience from DCM has me doubting myself a lot. My Plan A is to to finish within the 5 hour cut off which is 6min/Km which I think is achievable if I am disciplined with my pacing. I think the course lends itself to pacing yourself quite easily. There's also an element that I may just be torturing myself by thinking about it this early.

Monday

My new favourite day of the week, rest day from pretty much everything.

Tuesday

Morning run - 8km @ 6:06min/Km, 144avg HR.

S&C - lateral hip raises, single leg bridge, calf raises, bent leg calf raises, lunges, knee drives and pushups.

Cycle commute of 15Km

Wednesday

Morning run - 9km @ 6:18min/Km, 150avg HR. Struggled to get out the door for this. Main reason is that I didn't have a set plan (distance or hillls etc) nailed down for the run so I faffed about. Eventually got out and I ran, that's about all I can say for it.

Thursday

8Km @ 6:23min/Km, 144avg HR.

Cycle commute of 15Km

Friday

40 mins Yoga.

Cycle commute of 15Km

Saturday

26.5Km @ 6:50min/Km, 161avg HR, 779m of elevation. Another enjoyable run up in the hills, starting to get a better sense of direction up there and recognised more of the RTL route from a weeks ago. Still went the wrong wat a few times though. It was a wild day up there with strong winds and some brief sideways rain. Thankfully I was prepared with buffs, gloves and wind jacket. Covered Three rock, Two rock, Tibradden, Cruagh and Massey woods. I am far from a mountain goat but I really look forward to this run each week now. It's exceptionally tranquil up there with the only thing to be concerned about is where your next step goes.

Sunday

14.5Km @ 6:33min/Km, 144avg HR. Felt a little fatigued for the 13th/14th Km but finished the last .5Km in better shape. Was greatful for the company whilst out on this run as the conversation took my mind away from tired legs.

I've been getting advice from those who have participated/completed Comrades and think I've nailed down my race calendar for first half of 2020. From the guidance I've been given, this will give myself the best chance of reaching the finish line in Durban prior to the 12 hour cut off:

• February 9th - Donadea - 50Km
• March 28th - Maurice Mullins Half - 25Km
• April 19th - Connemarathon Ultra - 63Km
• June 14th - Comrades

Pending body and mind being in good shape, I'll look at doing the DCM race series as prep for DCM. That's a long way away yet so laser focus on February for now.

Treviso wrote: »

5HR LSR :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

skyblue46 wrote: »

I have to agree. A 5 hour LSR is bonkers. Very few go above 3 hours for a marathon and Donadea is only 8kms longer than a marathon.

Thanks for the comments. The 5hour LSR was the one day on the HH plan that I was really unsure of what it's benefits to my training were. I may change that week to a 3 hour LSR on each day as opposed to the 2/5 hour LSR the way it currently is. Again, open to suggestions on what is going to help me the most.

Should I dump the 4 hour LSR too?

skyblue46 wrote: »

To me the schedule for the year is a huge step up from Novice DCM but that aside I think I'd be looking at doubles as a way to up mileage..

Thanks for the suggestion. I'd like to do a runmute double once a week but I want to get a few more one way trips under my belt before attempting a double.

Week of December 23rd-29th

Hope everyone had a nice enjoyable/quiet/happy Christmas/Holiday. Thankfully it was quiet here. Missed a couple of midweek runs due to illness but happy to have got most of the planned distance in the back to back LSRs complete. No S&C :rolleyes: After the few runs I missed, I'll be slightly short of the 1,500Km for the year but not going to start chasing irrelevant targets which may break me physically.

6 weeks till Donadea.

50Km for the week which is 2/3 of what I'd hoped for. Just glad I caught the illness early or it could've been 12Km total. Need to review my plan for the next 3 weeks as they're still the upswing of the plan and I'm away for the last week of that. I also have the possibility of doing a half marathon as an LSR when I'm away so going to start looking at booking my place for that this week.

Parkrun double on Wednesday so might see a few of you about. Still undecided on which double but I think it'll be Griffeen/Brickfields and then over to Tymon.

Monday

Rest day.

Tuesday

Afternoon run - 12Km @ 6:14min/Km, 137avg HR. Can't recall anything about this run... it's on strava so it must have happened.

Wednesday/Thursday

Sick - tonsillitis back once again but caught it very early so only 2 days off my feet instead of 5 like last time.

Friday

Rest day - was tempted to get out after missing a few days but decided to stick to the plan and not chase lost miles.

Saturday

Morning run - 18Km @ 6:19min/Km, 147avg HR. Went out to Donadea forest to see what the route for the 50Km is like...eventually travelled the right route after several attempts Enjoyable enough route with mostly compacted clay/mud and a small amount of tarmac. Dunno if it was the lack of movement during the week after being sick or something else but legs just didn't feel good and started to feel some niggles in my left calf and left hamstring. Had hoped to get 5 laps of the course in but ended up with 3.5. Got home and cleaned up and worked through some stretching and rolling which helped immensely.

Sunday

Afternoon run - 20km @ 6:30min/Km, 144 avg HR. Legs felt a little better throughout but definitely fatigued towards the end. Happy to get back to back LSRs complete after being ill for a few days. More stretching/rolling afterwards.


Edit: just realised Brickfields is on at 11am on NYD so need to rejig my plans for my parkrun double

Week of January 6th-12th

Penultimate week of upswing in this training block. Missed one of LSRs due to travel and the other didn't go great. Upcoming week will go better.

4 weeks till Donadea. If I can replicate the effort from Thursday's run times 5 on race day I'll be happy.

53Km/33 miles.

Monday

Rest day.

Tuesday

Morning run - 10km @ 6:26min/Km, 149avg HR. Incredibly windy run which resulted in slower pace and higher HR. Turned out there was a yellow wind warning in place that I missed the notifications for :pac:

Cycle commute of 15Km.

Wednesday

Morning run - 16Km @ 6:29min/Km, 141avg HR. Longest midweek run to date, nothing memorable about it.

Thursday

Morning run - 10Km @ 5:56min/Km, 149avg HR. I'd planned on doing this a little quicker than normal and it threw up some interesting (to me at least ) numbers. Exact same time of day and route as Tuesday's run but didn't have the yellow wind warning. A quicker pace of 30 seconds per Km. HR was the exact same. First time I've seen weather conditions have a drastic effect on my running where I can compare a like for like run. Quite happy with how I felt throughout the run.

Cycle commute of 15Km

S&C - first standalone S&C workout. I've typically done this straight after a run but I've moved it to lunch time now and it suits much better.
Single leg heel raises, single bent leg heel raises, single leg bridge, lateral hip raises, farmers walk, knee drives, deadlifts, pushups. Run through that 3 times. Felt good afterwards. Glutes and hammies were tender on Friday.

Friday

Cycle commute of 15Km.

Yoga - 45 mins. Doms from the previous day were relieved a little during this.

Saturday

Was supposed to be a 2 hour or ~20-25Km run but I'd 18 hours worth of traveling to do so running. Got a brief few minutes of sprint work in trying to catch my connecting flight whilst carrying 2 hand luggage bags. Since it's not on strava, it didn't happen.

Sunday

Afternoon run - 17Km @ 6:36min/Km, 135avg HR. Legs felt really heavy throughout and both calves felt tight. I'd done some rolling/stretching a few hours beforehand to ease the legs after travel. Perhaps I should've jumped on a bike or treadmill indoors first to loosen them up a little more. Would've liked to have gotten out for 2.5 hours or ~25Km but just wasn't to be.

Week of January 20th-26th

Bit of a meh week in terms of the distance I covered but I'm in the first week of taper and just travelled a few 000Kms so not going to get too down on myself over it. Falling asleep at the computer so trying to keep this brief.

34Km/21miles.

2 weeks till Donadea.

Monday

S&C in the morning - Single leg calf raises, seated calf raises, single leg bridge, lateral hip raises, farmers walk, knee drives, deadlifts, pushups. Run through that 3 times. Body/mind pretty tired after the back to back runs over the weekend just gone but happy to have got this out of the way.

Tuesday

Morning run - 7Km @ 6:23min/Km, 144avg HR. Tough enough run. Legs were still tired from the weekend and the S&C yesterday didn't help.

Wednesday

Morning run - 10Km @ 6:00min/Km, 160avg HR. Legs recovered from the weekend at this stage. HR was a little high at points whlist effort felt fine. Unsure if HR strap is busted or I'm coming down withi something.

S&C in the evening - Single leg calf raises, seated calf raises, single leg bridge, lateral hip raises, farmers walk, knee drives, deadlifts, pushups.

Thursday

Morning run - 5Km @ 6:18min/Km, 147avg HR. Short on time due to work stuff so just got out for as long as I could.

Friday/Saturday

Travel home from the US. Think I was on the move for close to 24 hours between taxis and flights. No running got done. So very tired after all of it.

Sunday

Junior parkrun in the morning - legs felt pretty awful during it. Putting it down to sitting in a cramped airplane seat for about 10-12 hours.

Evening run - 10Km @ 6:25min, 155avg HR. Had to get out after travel curbed yesterday's plans. Was a bit of a meh run but glad to get the legs moving. They felt better during this then this morning in junior parkrun.

Week of February 3rd - 7th

Left hamstring felt off at the start of the week but eventually came around after the S&C session on Tuesday. It's been good since. Thursday morning saw the start of a head cold so I've been 50/50 on whether to take anything for it on the day, unsure if it'll affect my gut.

1 more sleep till Donadea. As it is 5Km per lap I've got my fuel/fluid prepped in a small box which I can hit up at the start of each lap. Got a mixture of nakd bars, banana chips and wine gums to get me through. Still deciding on what attire to wear tomorrow as it's looking like 30-40Km/hr winds for the latter half of the race.

Monday

Cycle commute 15Km.

Tuesday

Morning run - 6.5Km @ 6:10min/Km. 141avg HR.

S&C @ lunchtime. Single leg calf raises, standing bent lef calf raises, single leg bridge, lateral hip raises, farmers walk, deadlifts, pushups. Run through that 3 times. No bands with me so no knee drives.

Cycle commute 15Km.

Wednesday

Lunch run - 7Km @ 5:45min/Km. 152avg HR.

Thursday/Friday

Back to back rest days with a head cold settling in :rolleyes::mad: Was due to have yoga Friday lunch time but decided to skip it and conserve energy.

Donadea 50Km - Official time 5:24:17

Not the time I wanted or under the cutoff time but I had a great time today and came out the other side in much better shape than I was after DCM 2019 - physically and mentally. I'm thinking it's going to be a quick recovery based on how I feel now.

Training block - 13 weeks
Between 2 bouts of sickness and then 2 weeks of work travel close to the event, I missed a bunch of long runs. Longest run I got in was a 27Km trail route with a good bunch of climbing. The move from a 4 day (HH novices) to a 5 day training program (Hal Higdon 50K ... adjusted a bit) was a challenge at times but more to do with logistics of getting 2 LSR sorted without disrupting family time.

I'd a bunch of niggles from around Christmas time so I've been in physio regularly. The S&C has been a great help with remediating issues and making me feel stronger whilst helping those niggles recover. I've been tracking the S&C every session and I've been getting stronger so looking forward moving forward with it but there will be some adjustments for the next training block to include more single leg weighted exercises.

I've been doing a bunch of reading about endurance running trying to pick up as much knowledge as possible and put some of those tidbits to play today. Nothing ground breaking but small stuff I screwed up at DCM.

I'd a plan of a 100mg salt tab per lap and had my fuel/fluid laid out on the table at the finish line for collection. By my calculations I'd take in about 50-60grams every based on my original goal of 4:50.

Race day
Arrived down in the forest at about 8:30am and things were already busy in the car park. It's blooming baltic out. I walk up to the tent and grab my T-shirt and drop it back to the car. Walk back to the facilities close to the finish line, take car of business. Back to the car to collect my bag and think about getting ready based on the todo list I have. I get everything done on the list... apart from taping my nips... tis ok, nothing to report so it's safe to read on. :pac: I throw on a bunch of my non running clothes to try keep warm right up until the off. I get my fuel/fluid setup at the tables provided, all ready for grabbing at the start of each lap. Another quick stop in the facilities prior to the race brief. Race brief happens at about 9:50am so just as it's finishing I strip down to the race kit and drop my bag to the tent before joining the back of pack on the start line.

It's all so vivid during the race but it's a blur now so I'll try my best to recall the race.

Lap 1 - 29:40

Started from the very back of the pack between 4:45 and 5 hour pacers. Fairly uneventful first lap tbh. A lot of chat going on about who's a first timer or who's a vet of the D50. I'm just behind the 4:45 pacers and by my calculations they're a little on the slow side for the first lap. I should state, the pacers were great company and a little slow is like ~5 seconds per Km and sure it's only first lap.

Lap 2 - 28:08

I grab water from the organisers but forget to hit up my own fuel but luckily I'd packed some fuel in my flipbelt to get me through the initial lap or two. Still rolling with the 4:45 pacers and again they're a little behind (I think). Towards the end of the lap I get the feeling I'm going to have to pop in to the woods at some stage for a number 1. Grab some of my electrolyte drink and some banana chips from my box at the finish line. About halfway through this lap the leader comes storming by and he was motoring.

Lap 3 - 27:57

Start munching on the banana chips, which I have to say, taste great. However, they're a bit dry so I'll finish out the supply I have at home but will look for an alternative carb supply for future races. Still on the heels of the 4:45 pacers and the group is still in tact. Chat ongoing, all good natured banter to keep our mind off the task at hand. I'm refusing to pay a visit to the woods this early

Lap 4 - 27:45

As each lap ticks by, I'm saying to myself 10% done, 20% done and so on. It keeps me motivated and focused on what's ahead. 4:45s going strong, group chat is not as frequent now but occasional quips get the laughter going. By the end of the this lap the cracks in the group are starting to show. I'm feeling ok. None of the niggles I've been getting work on are showing any signs of causing issue.

Lap 5 - 28:10

Passing my fuel box, banana chips are ignored and the wine gums are brought out a few laps early. Dunno how or why (being the most important question) but I'm still hanging with the 4:45s. Good few of the original group have dropped out. About halfway through I start to drop back myself and am running alone. I'm also starting to get angsty about the 20 mile mark which is where things went tits up during DCM. I keep on trucking around but the surface during the 1st Km and hills during the 2nd Km taking their toll. Crossing the finish line at the end of this lap means I'm halfway done.

Couple of the DCM 2019 grads are on hand to cheer me on at the finish line for a few laps, it gave me a great boost. Support within the group (not just for me) has been fantastic since we completed the novices program last year. You're all deadly!

Lap 6 - 30:06

Legs are tired now, no injury concerns which is great though. Pace has slowed a bit. Still moving. 20 mile mark approaching soon. Starting to get concerned that I'll suffer like hell as in DCM. Finally take that trip in to the woods :P The "hills" are starting to feel like much larger now. I think I feel like a blister is developing on my baby toe, again another thing that happened in DCM and it was excruciating. Feels like it's going to pop and start causing me issue but it goes away. Later when I get home I find it has indeed popped so I'm guessing my choice of footwear and the anti chafe cream I covered my toes with helped here.

Lap 7 - 33:38

Nerves get the better of me here and I do some run walking during 1st Km of the lap, I really really don't want to suffer like I did in DCM. Pace slowing down further. 4:45 pacers are long gone. Other folks are walking too so we keep each other company whilst doing our run walks. 20 mile mark comes and goes but I'm still moving. I could just about walk at this stage during DCM. 3 more parkruns to get done at the end of this lap. I think it's this lap where I meet Singer. Fairly sure I spotted him several times prior to the start of the race but I was a bag of nerves so I just kept to myself. I've been a bag of nerves since DCM if I'm honest.

Lap 8 - 36:18

Run walking most of the time now. Mind is wandering and to keep it from going to dark/dumb places I look at the watch and based on the Km mark for the lap I picture myself where I'd be in a particular parkrun. This gets me through this lap without much issue. A lot of people are finishing around this time as I'm crossing the line. "1 more parkrun to go" someone shouts... "2 more" :pac: At some stage on this lap the 5 hour pacers go by without me even noticing, I was just in a world of my own.

Lap 9 - 39:18

1 more lap after this is what I tell myself all the way throughout. I meet up with another gent who is walking and we start to work together to get through the final 20% of the race. Run walking at varying times and chatting along the way. The company was most welcome at this stage of the race. Mind is in a great place if I'm honest, I know I'm going to finish. Start to get a little cramp as I'm running in upper hamstring. I stretch as I approach the final 1Km mark and again on the home straight, it doesn't bother me again after this. About midway through I know I've also gotten a marathon PB which puts a smile on my face and gives another mental lift.

Lap 10 - 43:14

Still doing walk run with the gent from the previous lap. We've no chance of making the 5 hour cutoff but that doesn't dampen our spirits. Finishing is very much the goal right now. Get to the final 1Km on the lap and we decide to run the final bit on our own. Was delighted with the company for the past 2 laps. I cross the line running/jogging which is a fantastic feeling. I place my hands on my knees to gather myself to take in what I've achieved.


Post race
Grab my potted plant medal and the remnants of my fuel/fluid setup and get to the tent to queue up for a well earned massage. I locate my bag and as I'm bending down to pick it up I begin to well up but gather myself before losing my sh!t in front of everyone. It has been a journey since a really disappointing and discouraging DCM so emotions were a little high at the end.

After the massage, the walk back to the car felt like it was another 5Km. I'd say the shuffle I carried out was hilarious. At this stage of DCM I was in agony. Hip, hamstrings and feet all took a beating that day but none of those came even close to that feeling during or after the race.


Final thoughts
My fuel/fluid intake was much better this time. I took salt regularly to avoid any issues with cramp/dehydration which seemed to have pretty much worked albeit a brief cramp late in the day. More variety in what I was fueling with helped mentally too.

I wore a more cushioned shoe this time around as opposed to a "race" shoe and it paid dividends in the latter stages when it came to how blisters felt and also being able to do some form of running when I was just exhausted.

I probably started the run walk a little early but I wasn't sure if I could make it through at that stage so on the day it was the right call. I should've got more marathon distance racing done between DCM and Donadea but schedules didn't allow it so I'll try next time to fit them in.

Muscle on the right shin was a little bit tight in the latter stages so going to have that checked on Monday at physio. Feels like it just needs rest but still going to play it safe. Will evaluate a run when I'm done with the physio.

passinginterest wrote: »

Fantastic achievement and a great report. Amazing to keep pushing on after the marathon disappointment. Take your time to recover and you’ve got some huge improvements coming.

Cheers P, looking forward to the recovery.

Lambay island wrote: »

Well done, great achievement and report. Im not sure if i could mentally do the same loop 10 times.

Thanks! The laps were something that concerned me originally but it allowed those running it to plan their lap out later in the race when energy levels were low. You could choose which parts could be run/walk sections and you could use little milestones along the lap to work towards.

healy1835 wrote: »

Fair play yesterday, 50k in tricky conditions is no mean feat, you've packed a lot into your relatively short running career so far you're still doing Comrades right? I'd say after that maybe ease off on the longer stuff and concentrate on getting consistent mileage and quality in without having a big target to aim for.

Thanks! We were fairly isolated from the conditions within the forest so were lucky for it not to be a factor on the day. I reckon I ran about 30 seconds in the rain but that was it for the day. I think had it been scheduled for today it probably wouldn't have gone ahead.

Comrades is still on for sure. I have a small amount of logistical issues to get sorted for the trip but it's a go. The plan (right now anyway) after that is to take 3-4 weeks off and then decide how I'm going to approach DCM (and race series) starting in early July. The 4 miler in the race series may just be used as an easy run prior to Comrades.

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Congrats M - that's a great achievement so early in your running career. I'm glad that you had a positive experience this time. It strikes me reading that report just how much of a mental battle these distances are - it's hard to prepare for that side of things, so this and DCM will stand to you for the battles to come.

Cheers A. I knew going in that there would be suffering and I think this is where I was too naive going in to DCM. I was unsure after DCM how that would manifest so I opted to keep a PMA throughout Donadea and deal as best I could with anything that arose. Between reading race reports and talking to people on the course everyone had their own way of dealing with the suffering. When walking I tried to reaffirm to myself that I was walking strong, perhaps in reality I looked like a waddling overweight duck (:D) but I was moving closer to the finish line.

Physio session on Monday went great and they were happy with how the body had bounced back after just a few days. The massage straight afterwards definitely played a part in that. Nothing to be concerned about bar the usual tight/fatigued muscles after such an effort. Might try some recovery miles in the next few days to see how the body really is. Got an epsom salts bath in tonight and then going to do some rolling/stretching tomorrow.

I've got my plan for the next 4 months laid out in my head after reading the Don Oliver book "Make sure of your Comrades medal". I just need to tweak it a little to fall in line with the races I've got lined up prior to June. Basics of it are a 6 day running week with easy days (6-10Km) from Tue to Sat with an LSR on the weekend. Will post more about it when I have it fully written down.

The few races I've got lined up are just about prepping for the main event in June, not race efforts for the distance bar the Connemarathon which is going to be brutal on the body. What I've got thus far are:

February - Wicklow Hospice Half
March - Maurice Mullins Half
April - Connemarathon Ultra
May - Nothing lined up due to family commitments so I may have to do a solo Ultra early in the month as my last "race" giving me a month of taper.

I may also look at doing one of the "Marathon on a school day" events at the end of February or April depending on family schedule.

ReeReeG wrote: »

Loved that report M! Well done, serious mental strength there and I'm delighted you had a more enjoyable day than DCM!! Hope the recovery goes well now

Thanks V. I can't recover too long, the wine consumption won't help me in the long term.

Huzzah! wrote: »

Really well done. It struck me looking at the Strava results how significant the extra distance is over the marathon. Feet up now for a while and mind the niggles.

Thanks E. I was prepared to finish the 50Km, not a single yard more. I think the same goes for any race distance whether its a 5Km or a marathon, if someone asked you to race (cool down pace is different) another Km immediately afterwards you'd tell them to GTFO :P

Dealerz2.0 wrote: »

Well done M

Thanks F! Got my fingers crossed for you in Manchester.

Week of February 17th - 23rd

First week of training block for the next 17 weeks. Twas going grand till my calf gave up the ghost in the 1/2 at the weekend after it being tight on Friday. Just back from physio and got some calf needling carried out. Will miss my usual Tuesday 8Km but should be back in action on Wednesday. Feel lucky that it's nothing serious. Back on the bike this week too, has been a number of weeks since I've been on it so looking forward to that.

Have started to integrate some walking in to my runs to get the body/mind used to the start/stop part of the goal race. Typically running 4-5Km and will add in 100-200 metres of walking before kicking on again. No issues with it thus far and hasn't affected paces all that much either.

Monday

Rest day.

Tuesday

S&C at lunch. Bit of a change in my usual S&C due to using a a new gym which has better equipment but is busier so I can't commandeer as much equipment at once so I've split my routine up. It was originally a circuit so now I've moved to doubling up exercises. 3 sets of each of the following.

Single leg heel raises & single leg seated heel raises.
Single leg bridge & lateral hip raises
Farmers walk & single leg deadlift
Deadlift & pushups

5Km @ 6:25min/Km, 156avg HR. Straight after S&C. Ouch but good to be back running.

Wednesday

Lunch run. 10Km @ 6:26min/Km. 147avg HR.

Evening yoga.

Thursday

Morning runmute to work. 12km @ 6:28min/Km. 150avg HR.

Lunch S&C. Same as Tuesday.

Friday

Lunch yoga.

Evening runmute home. 8Km @ 6:22min/Km. 154avg HR. Calf was tight during this run. Stopped and stretched during it and got home. Some further stretching later that evening.

Saturday

Wicklow Hospice Half Marathon. Dropped out after 14Km. Sharp pain in the same calf as yesterday. Stretched and tried to go on but after a few steps I knew I had to stop.

Sunday

Was due a 5Km recovery run but did nothing due to the calf.