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

Berlin Q or Bust: Road to sub 2:45

healy1835

I've decided to stop trawling through others' logs for tips and information and instead, start my own.

Bio:
I'm 35 and I've been 'running' for just over a year. Played soccer for years, but 2 ACL ruptures and ops put paid to that about 5 years ago. Had gotten into the gym at that point, was in decent enough shape. Got bored of the gym, decided to do Gaelforce West in Aug '14, bought a bike, cross trained for that for about 4 months, enjoyed the running aspect, the bike not so much. Completed the race, started a new job, and promptly sat on my ass until May of last year when I decided I needed to commit to something to get rid of weight I'd put on in the meantime.....so I entered last year's DCM and so began my running career.

Running:
So I was/am lucky enough to work with a friend who is quite an accompolished middle and long distance Irish athlete so once I had entered the Marathon he was kind enough to take over coaching duties.
Without going into too much detail I trained through the summer, and arrived up at the Frank Duffy 10 miler for my debut race...hand held bottle in tow and really really clueless as to what was happening around me! I was looking back at my splits from the race last night and the 1hr 23 I ran seems soft now but I had never ran over 20k prior to that race and wasn't confident in my ability to run 'fast' for extended periods of time. Anyway, I was happy with the race, realised the hand held bottle had to go I wasn't as slow as I thought I'd be. Training really kicked on after that as I got fitter and more confident. I ran 1:37:50 in the Dublin half marathon and a 44min 10k in Blessington....the latter two after joining the DCM Novices thread led by Dubgal....I found the thread a great help, hence I'm belatedly back here starting my own.

DCM 15:
Did it in 3:39 which was my 'B' goal and I was delighted! My goals had changed from just completing it to sub 4 to sub 3:45 to sub 3:30 as training went on. On the day the 3:30 just wasn't in the legs and I definitely think the lack of Long Runs over 30k did for me in the end (I only had a 30k & a 32k under my belt)

Goals:
So having completed the Marathon I had just been tipping away not putting in major mileage maybe 40k a week. This was due to a few minor illnesses I managed to get, a few illnesses in the family, I've 4 & 2 year old boys at home. So when I started this training block at the end of May I wasn't in peak condition but I was waaaaayyyyy ahead of where I started last July. Trainings gone fairly well, missed 2 weeks at end of June/start of July due to a bad dose, but that's cleared up and I'll just jump in here at Week 10 which was last week and start from there.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, any advice or observations are welcome. Johnny

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

Laineyfrecks

I booked Manchester myself earlier after debating about it when I originally could have booked it! Dublin is my 1st choice but we will just have to wait & see what happens...

OOnegative

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

I booked Manchester myself earlier after debating about it when I originally could have booked it!

Make sure you take a trip to Old Trafford, and see the GREATEST club in the world show you how football should be played.......

Laineyfrecks

OOnegative wrote: »

Make sure you take a trip to Old Trafford, and see the GREATEST club in the world show you how football should be played.......

:rolleyes:

AuldManKing

healy1835 wrote: »

Right now I'm not thinking of anything else other than sub 2:45. If training block and maybe a 10 Miler or HM suggested something a bit quicker then maybe there might be a decision, but no, happy to target 2:45!

I'm entered in Amsterdam, but not overly hopeful of that materialising. Maybe a scaled down DCM or something in the UK before the year's end. Like everyone else I'd prefer to not have to wait until next Spring. San Sebastian, Seville....anything that opens up will be looked at!

I'm now rebooked into Manchester for Oct - after claiming my refund initially - I've now paid more - but hey - heres hoping! Its a plan B if Berlin doesn't go ahead. (San Seb will be my plan C)

OOnegative wrote: »

Make sure you take a trip to Old Trafford, and see the GREATEST club in the world show you how football should be played.......

One of the highlights of my last trip to Manchester Marathon was the chance to pi$$ on the wall of OT. :pac:

healy1835

AuldManKing wrote: »

One of the highlights of my last trip to Manchester Marathon was the chance to pi$$ on the wall of OT. :pac:

I never knew you had such a dislike of Lancashire Cricket...

healy1835

Mon: 7 Miles Easy: 56:52 @5:02/km

Tue: 15k Easy: 1:12:51 @4:50/km

Run was mostly spent going through the different scenarios that need to play out for an Autumn marathon to happen for me.....passed away the time anyway. Manchester probably the most likely given the current state of things....

Wed: 18.7k: 1:21:03 @4:20/km inc 6x1 Mile hard off 3 mins jog.

Checked plan just before the off to check the pace only to find the word 'hard' in lieu of a prescribed pace. Right so. Did the first couple on the loop but got bored and decided to head off piste around the Curragh and just take whatever the route elevation and wind gave me....and had a much more enjoyable experience for it. Think I'll do this a bit more. Paused the watch just before starting 4th mile rep at a busy crossroads, only to plough ahead without starting the watch again. Got in another 4/500m before realising it. Ground to a halt, gathered my thoughts, relieved myself in the ditch, and started the rep again

Splits were 5:35, 5:28, 5:24, 5:36, 5:47, 5:30 and could all be described as 'hard', the 5:24 and 5:47 splits impacted by the route profile. I could have stayed on the loop and cranked out some consistent splits, but I just wasn't in the humour... Really put it in to come home with a 5:30 into a bit of a breeze on tiring legs.

healy1835

Thu: 9 Miles Recovery: 1:13:30 @5:05/km

Ambled around the plains after a particularly testing day at work. Run helped.

Fri: 13k Easy: 1:03:34 @4:53/km

Glad to see the back of the week, and got another therapeutic trot in.

Sat: LR 20 Miles: 2:10:38 @4:03/km

Plan of action was to break it down into 5/10/5 mile chunks with 10 Miles of MP (6:17) sandwiched between 2x5 mile @6:50 pace. Day was bright and breezy as I headed up to the camp. Parking there gave me access to some quieter roads and also the option to do some of the MP stuff on the loop. Didn't really want to do too much on the loop and only ended up doing the last 2.5 miles of MP stuff there.
I think I've fallen into the trap of doing a lot there recently and while it's handy for TT's as it's closed to non military traffic or extremely windy days, I'm trying to move away from it as much as possible, which means more varied routes like Saturday's effort.

First 5 miles were a bit of a mix, which allowed me to concentrate on effort rather than pace on the undulating route, and included both a 6:28 & 7:00 mile

the 5 miles averaged 6:44.

Was feeling decent and the enhanced effort in starting the MP section coincided with a downhill stretch which saw me drop a 6:03 mile without too much concentration. 'Steady on here Johnny' I told myself, as the latter miles of this run could get messy if I lose discipline this early! The next 4 miles came in at 6:13, 6:09, 6:13, 6:10 and I settled in to this pace nicely. A little quicker than planned but effort levels felt spot on and I knew there would be a couple of less favourable miles coming back into the Camp.

Made it back to the camp with 6:18 & 6:16 miles and finished off the MP miles on loop after taking on some much needed water. 6:17, 6:14 & 6:06 for the last 3. Was glad to finish the MP miles as was beginning to tire, but had recovered nicely by the end of the final 5 miles (@6:48) which concluded a pretty satisfying run.

Sun: 10k Recovery: 52:39 @5:16/km

Had waaaaaaay too many Erdingers on Saturday night and was really tired & emotional all day. Managed to force myself out the door for this one. I just don't have it anymore....

AuldManKing

these big sessions are becoming far too commonplace - its expected now from you!

Superb training again.

healy1835

AuldManKing wrote: »

these big sessions are becoming far too commonplace - its expected now from you!

Superb training again.

They're getting me through this sh1te and keeping me motivated. There's something about not having a race to train for that makes them easier I think. Not easier actually, that's not the case, but maybe less pressurised. I have this general aim to get stronger and more comfortable in and around those paces before I start an actual marathon block this summer, and it's nice to just tick off the big workouts and not have to worry about races etc.

Saying that though, I want to race again more than anything to put some scores on the board. But I'm enjoying my running right now

healy1835

Mon: 7 Miles Easy: 56:13@4:59/km
Shuffle across the plains listening to the Super League fallout on Second Captains.

Tue: 7 Miles Easy: 53:30 @4:45/km
As yesterday, but on the roads. And also after the most intense day's work I've ever put in. Job satisfaction is through the floor right now. It'll pass though.

Wed: Session: 10x1k @10 Mile race pace off 90 secs.

Hoping to have another craic at a 10 Mile TT on Saturday with at least one clubmate who'd be a very similar standard to myself. With that in mind, plan called for some km reps in and around race pace for the TT.

So on a beautiful afternoon I took off around the back roads of the Curragh on a similar bumpy route that I ran last weekend's LR on. I don't know if it's mental or otherwise, but I'm finding these sessions a lot more satisfying since I've gone off-loop. Was really starting to dial in to the pace and had everything moving along nicely when, at the end of the 6th rep, my watch dies again. If only I had access to some kind of electronic device that allows me to set a reminder or an alarm...

Anyway, I knew the route was just over 10 miles to get back to the car. So I figured I was about 3.5 miles from the car, so I'd enough distance left to finish the workout without having to go on the loop.

The first 6 reps were; 3:37, 3:35, 3:35, 3:36, 3:34, 3:38...and I'm fairly sure that the final 4 were in and around those paces, just not sure of the distances. Good workout though.

16.5k for the day. With a pretty short c/d as I was a little against time.

healy1835

Thu: 7 Miles Easy: 54:41 @4:51/km

Run in the sun across the plains whilst listening to Oisin McConville and Andrew Trimble on Second Captains. Excellent listen. I often struggle to get my head around just how many of us down this side of the border, myself included, really have no concept of a lot of the societal issues in the 6 counties.

Fri: 8 Miles Early

: 1:00:30 @4:42/km

A rare pre-work run on a stunner of a morning.

Sat: 10 Mile TT: 58:48

Decision was made to have another craic at the 10 Mile TT after the failed attempt a couple of weeks back. No pressure, just a hard effort required where I was going to the well for the last couple of miles. The time was going be the time.

Weather was a consideration, and thought about starting a little earlier before things heated up, but decided against it. Was running with a clubmate and we planned to work together for as long as possible.

Really relaxed beforehand and after chatting to a couple of other clubmates who were doing a session up there, we were ready to go. There was even a couple of working portaloos on the route, due to some Defence Forces event, which added to the 'race' atmosphere

Whatever was going to happen, I was not going to set off too aggressively. I wanted to 'run into' this and suss out how I was feeling early on and adjust accordingly.

First mile beeped at 5:53, felt okay, not under a whole lot of pressure. However my clubmate was already losing contact on a couple of occasions. I had to check watch a couple of times to make sure I wasn't pouring it on by accident, but he just wasn't on it yesterday. Next two miles came in at 5:54 & 5:52 & these were enough to snap the cord to my partner and he was out the back from there.

As things progressed, the breeze and heat were becoming more of a factor. Neither was particularly extreme, but when you're running solo in these TT's your head can become cluttered very quickly. Two 5:55's saw me go through halfway at 29:29. Was in good enough spirits and took on about 250ml of water, nearly tripping in the process of stepping in towards the little wall that I'd left the water on

Next objective was to get to 11.1k, at which point I would only have the Boards 5k left! Distracted myself trying to remember what time I'd predicted for that. Got that far with a 5:52 & 5:53. Not feeling amazing but the body is ok. I'm just tired and really really hot at this stage, but with only 3 miles to go I know I'll finish the damn thing and will have put in the required effort. It's funny how the mind works during these things. I wasn't struggling exactly, but I knew the really hard work had still be done. I was fluctuating between 'Right, let's finish strong here' and 'Three 6:15's would still get me under 60 mins'

.

As it happened I finished with a 5:54, 5:51 & 5:49. Was happy that I managed to finish strong when I was tired and overheating badly. It was only on the last mile that I figured if I finish strong I might beat my 58:49 10 Mile TT from last August. Gurned my way home and came in 1 second under the previous mark.

Pretty happy with that effort. A chaotic week in work didn't really affect me too badly. I took a few miles off each run and didn't push unnecessarily hard mid-week.

I know that in a race, all things going well, I can take a significant chunk off that time. But that's for another day. Happy with my day's work.

PS. 18:11 last 5k for the Boards TT which was almost bang on my prediction.

Murph_D

Great point about TT head clutter. So much easier when in a race you can just focus on the runners around and in front of you.

Great 10 miles. Some commitment.

healy1835

Sun: 15 Miles Relaxed: 1:50:09 @4:34/km

Was loading a skip for the morning and didn't give this run too much thought. Was about 8 miles before I thought about my lack of pre run fuelling and lack of hydration. Tiring towards the end but a recovery drink and some food sorted me out once I got home.

110km for the week.

healy1835

Listening to a few pods this week and it was hard not to get a little flutter in the belly at the thoughts of a prospective return to racing. I know all the caveats associated with this return, but my hope is increasing. I've been looking back at my training this year and, since February in particular once I got back on plan, am pretty happy with how things are tipping along.

Long Runs:

These are my bread and butter and, to be honest, have given me something to look forward to at the weekend. They've been a great physical and mental stimulus. I'm just going to dump them down here in order....

Jan:
16 Miles (4x3k @sub 3 pace)
19 Miles (16 Miles on/off @4:08/4:35)
18 Miles (5/4/3/2/1 km @sub 3 pace)
15 Miles

Feb:
20 Miles (3/5/4/5/3 off/on @7:00/6:30)
20 Miles (@6:45 in truly horrendous condtions)
20 Miles (16 Miles @6:23)
20 Miles (5/5/5/5 off/on @6:42/6:11)

Mar:
20 Miles (10/10 off/on @6:47/6:18)
20 Miles (16 Miles @6:17)
16 Miles (4/3/2/1 @sub 3 pace)

Apr:
20 Miles (5/5/5/5 off/on @6:45/6:25)
21 Miles (@6:47)
20 Miles (5/10/5 off/on @6:45/6:12)
15 Miles

You'd swear I was training for a marathon or something looking at those

Sessions:

These are, of course, out of context just lumped together like this, but it gives a good idea of where I've been concentrating things.

*Progressive HM 1:28ish (7:36 > 5:53)
*Hill session
*3x2 Miles Threshold
*6 Mile MP Tempo @6:09
*6 Mile MP Tempo @6:15
*5 Mile Tempo @5:54
*6x1 Mile @5:43 ave
*5x2k @6:52 ave for 2k
*10x1k @3:21 ave (bit scooby doobious re GPS here, prob 3:24/25)
*10 Miles Boards Royal Flush (8:11 > 5:51)
*8x1k @3:20 ave
*6x1 Mile @6:05
*6x1 Mile (5:47 - 5:24)
*10x1k @3:36 ave

MLRs:

A few more of these mideweek efforts are lined up, and I've really enjoyed these steadier runs.

14 Miles @6:55
14 Miles @6:42
14 Miles @6:52
14 Miles @6:47
15 Miles @6:28

Time Trials:

No real focus on these, other than sharpening up/shocking the system and keeping in touch with some race efforts.

5 Mile: 28:17
10 Mile: DNF
10 Mile: 58:48

So all in all its been busy since the start the year

AuldManKing

When are you going to start proper Marathon training

Seriously - good to see the focus on the strength/endurance side - I think this will turn you into a machine when races come back around.

Treviso

I'm tired just reading those long runs. It's incredible to see them all laid out like that.

Is the plan to keep on marathon training until Sept/Oct, no let up on the long runs? When you starting the double days :P

shotgunmcos

:eek: Just simply :eek:

ReeReeG

It's a very bad idea to read your log when one is injured

Amazing. I really hope you get to race this year.

Laineyfrecks

Really solid training, I hope you get to race too

Swashbuckler

Unreal...

healy1835

Mon: 13.2k: 1:05:55 @4:59/km

Listened to James McIlroy on Runner Beans which got me quite excited about the Antrim Coast Half at the end of August

Tue: AM: 7.5k: 38:35 @5:09/km
PM: 9.1k: 45:16 @4:58/km

In and out of work.

Wed: 18.3k inc 10x350 hills: 1:23:30 @4:34/km

Steady run, with a few relaxed hills thrown in. Nothing crazy after last weekends exerts.

Thu: AM: 47:30 @4:45/km
PM: 47:51 @4:47/km

My wife had a few days leave before starting a new job, so took advantage of not having to drop small people places in the morning and got in a double.

Fri: 5 Miles Easy: 39:02 @4:51/km

Very light effort after work.

Sat: 31.5k inc 14 Miles @6:19

Club mate was doing a marathon TT on the Lidl loop so a good few from the club dropped in and out to help him. He ran 2:46:30

some running. I had ran it by the boss about changing my planned LR session in order to help out. I recieved the go ahead with the caveat of 'do not, under any circumstances, do more than 14 Miles with your buddy'.
Managed to maintain discipline although I was very tempted to go further. Felt great during the effort. It was just as well that a couple of lads showed up for the second half which meant he wasn't relying on me too much. Cooled down afterwards and hung around to see the finish.
A little bit of the green eyed monster was stirring in me as I drove away, but I have to trust the process and there will be bigger days to come.

shotgunmcos

Fair play with the the discipline to not run a sub 2:50 today :eek:

healy1835

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Fair play with the the discipline to not run a sub 2:50 today :eek:

Yep! No point to it though Mike. Gonna give a HM a rattle at the end of the month. A couple of down weeks after and then start my marathon block. Doing the full would have just complicated things....Was good to know that the pace felt ok though.

Swashbuckler

Green eyed monster = hunger... Good call resisting temptation. Still. These long sessions continue to blow me away.

healy1835

Sun: 12.5k: 1:02:27 @5:01/km

Recovery ramble. Settled down then for an afternoon of sports watching and beer drinking. Events at OT meant that more beer was drank than sport watched...

121k for the week.

Mon: 11.6k: 58:21 @5:02/km

Tough going to get out the door, but felt a lot better afterwards. No more booze until HM TT at the end of the month.

healy1835

FOUR DAYS!! FOUR DAYS OFF!!...but all is well again now. It's amazing that no matter how fit you might think you are, a few days doing nothing always leads to the feeling that you've lost all fitness.

Anyway, everything was ambling along nicely until Saturday afternoon when an almighty headache entered proceedings, followed by a toothache. I'm no Doctor but they were probably related. By Sunday I thought I was on the way out, got COVID test, came back negative, but was feeling pretty wiped. Came around a bit on Monday, decent by Tuesday, returned to the roads yesterday.

Currently at the helm of two schools that are amalgamating and trying to get a lot of things over the line before June. This no doubt played some role but I was actually thinking how well I was dealing with this added pressure in work...:) Anyway, will keep an eye on things, but hopefully just a little bump in the road. Still planning on HM TT on Sat fortnight and then start marathon training in June.

Anyway, to get up to date...

Tue: 14.5k: 1:10:21 @4:51/km

Don't remember anything about this one.

Wed: 19.3k: 1:17:25 @4:00/km inc 4 x 2 Mile off 5mins float

Took off to the Lidl Loop for this one after a pretty hectic day in work. It was one of those sessions that no matter what direction I ran, the wind seemed to be against me. However, it was more of a cross wind so it didn't effect the splits too much. Splits were
(5:59, 5:58)
(5:56, 5:55)
(5:57, 5:56)
(5:59, 5:52)

and the floats were in the region of 4:35-40/km. Good session. AMK enquired as to whether these would be HM pace and yeah, probably in or around. I don't think I'm going to be too far off my 10 Mile pace from a couple of weeks back which was about 5:52/mile. Depends on the pacemaker on the day I suppose, chances of AMK pulling a Jake Smith are high

May 29th in the Phoenix Park if anyone else on here fancies joining in. Would be good to have a bit of a group.

Thu: 10 Miles Easy: 1:19:00 @4:55/km

Easy on the plains on a glorious afternoon.

Fri: 8 Miles Easy: 1:02:39 @4:52/km

Chats with a good buddy.

Sat - Tue: Nowt. Had a 22 Miler @6:40ish planned the Sunday...

Wed: 7 Miles Easy: 53:23 @4:44/km

Like a Spring Lamb so I was, bounding around the Camp. Will keep it easy until Sunday and then do a LR effort. Good to be back!

AuldManKing

healy1835 wrote: »

AMK enquired as to whether these would be HM pace and yeah, probably in or around. I don't think I'm going to be too far off my 10 Mile pace from a couple of weeks back which was about 5:52/mile. Depends on the pacemaker on the day I suppose, chances of AMK pulling a Jake Smith are high May 29th in the Phoenix Park if anyone else on here fancies joining in. Would be good to have a bit of a group.

5.52!! thats a tad slower than my 10k PB (5.50) - I reckon I can pace for about 5 miles at that pace.

Be good to get a relay of pacers for you!! (or maybe I'll bring the bike and carry your water)

healy1835

AuldManKing wrote: »

5.52!! thats a tad slower than my 10k PB (5.50) - I reckon I can pace for about 5 miles at that pace.

Be good to get a relay of pacers for you!! (or maybe I'll bring the bike and carry your water)

I did say I didn't think I'd be too far away from 5:52...

AuldManKing

healy1835 wrote: »

I did say I didn't think I'd be too far away from 5:52...

Sure, 6 is a nice round number.

Lambay island

Any other weekend I'd love to help/join in. I'd probably only manage a few miles at that pace right now though. I'm turning 40 the previous day and will be boozing all day , so could probably still manage about 200 metres at the required pace for ya