Steady As She Goes

I have a Garmin HRM Pro heart rate strap. You could be onto something about the contacts being wet. I will make sure they are this week and see if it makes any difference. Thanks!

31/01/23 - 13.78K - 1:00:41 (4:24/km) - HR - 148

A session of 5 x 7 mins off 90 secs with a target pace of 3:55/km. The actual paces were 3:57, 3:56, 3:55, 4:02, 3:56. A fraction slower than the goal and the 4th had a decent drag in it which slowed it down. I was able to recover well though and get the pace back down for the last rep. I was pleased with then session, it was a very blustery day which made it hard to keep the pace up in parts but feeling much stronger.

01/02/23 - 13.33K - 1:08:19 (5:08/km) - HR - 133

An easy run but again with the wind it was a bit harder work than it should have been.

02/02/23 - 21.3K - 1:44:59 (4:56/km) - HR - 134

The standard long run although slightly shorter than last week. The average pace for the majority was closer to 5:00/km but I did 6 x 30 secs strides at the end which brought the average down a bit. The strides were good but hard after 19K of running especially the last 3 which were right into a head wind.

03/02/23 - 8.3K - 46:08 (5:34/km) - HR - 123

Another recovery session. A bit longer than previous weeks but all very comfortable.

04/02/23 - 7.88K - 33:26 (4:14/km) - HR - 153 - Elevation 180m

Back to the hills again but this time wearing my regular footwear. Just over 30 secs quicker than the previous week and they definitely made a difference but I was feeling that bit stronger too. Going forward I might start doing a bit longer runs out here at an overall easier pace but with some dedicated hill sprints. There are plenty of parts with a decent gradient for it.

05/02/23 - 8.4K - 42:554 (5:06/km) - HR - 135

Another easy run to finish off the week. I was at a stag this weekend so was feeling that bit more tired and didn't have time to get in the distance that I wanted to.

Another very solid but tough week of training. That's 4 quality weeks of 70K+ running and the body is holding up remarkably well. My knee is no longer really an issue thankfully. After some runs there can be a bit of tightness but it is worlds apart from where it was 6 months ago. My right foot/ankle is probably the only thing giving me any trouble right now. It is very manageable but I have my monthly physio session this week and I'll get a bit of treatment on it.

I hadn't initially planned on it but I am going to take most of this week as a deload week and let the body recover a bit. I can probably get away without it but I'm conscious of my previous experience at this type of mileage and the body breaking down. So mostly easy runs with some strides thrown in on some and a long run of around 16K probably. I am travelling to the UK this weekend to see the GF and there is talks of doing the local parkrun. I'm undecided if I will stick with her or give it a go myself. I don't think it's a particularly fast one but it could be a useful test to see exactly what sort of shape I'm in.

21/02/23 - 6.2K - 24:12 (3:55/km) - HR - 154

A session of 5 x 1K off 90 secs with approx 2K W/U and C/D either side. No other way to put, this was an absolute disaster. I was hoping to be able to keep the pace somewhere between 3:30 to 3:35 but between wind, a few hills and the legs just feeling terrible I wasn't close. The actual intervals were 3:27, 3:33, 3:44, 3:35, 3:48. The two slowest were into the wind and up hill but obviously the opposite then for the others. The average pace isn't far off what I managed in the parkrun a few days prior.

I actually think one of the biggest issues was the run the Sunday prior to this and just running it a bit too hard. After a good effort in the 5K the day prior it was definitely a hard effort than a standard easy run and I think I paid the priced. Same old mistake of running easy runs too fast, some day I will lean.

22/02/23 - 13.56K - 1:08:19 (5:02/km) - HR - 128

Despite the pace being on the quicker side of easy this did actually feel more comfortable.

23/02/23 - 15.03K - 1:13:12 (4:52/km) - HR - 132

This run probably not so much.

24/02/23 - 8K - 45:39 (5:42/km) - HR - 120

A very relaxed recovery run, copped on a bit after again going too fast the previous day and kept the pace slow.

25/02/23 - 7.88K - 32:32 (4:08/km) - HR - 153 - Elevation 180m

I had the chance to get the hills in again. I didn't go into it with any expectations or plan, just go out at a good pace and run by feel. Surprisingly I felt quite fresh and strong and ended up almost 1 minute quicker than the last time I did this and just a few seconds outside my PB for this loop. From the lows of the session earlier in the week to feeling much better here, running can be very strange at times. This did give me a bit of confidence back again for the upcoming race but the overall goal for that is changing slightly as I will explain a bit further below.

26/02/23 - 11.08K - 58:02 (5:14/km) - HR - 130

Finishing the week off with a proper easy run. The legs were definitely tired after the previous days effort and even this felt on the quicker end of easy.

So I've been putting a lot of thought into how I want to approach the marathon and I really want to give it as good a go as I can. With that in mind I've decided to go down the coaching route and I've enlisted the help of someone a few people around these parts are familiar with I believe but I won't give too much away. I'm going to start following his plan from next week which is pretty much base building for the next 4 months. He knows I have a race coming up which we will factor in but I'm not terribly concerned with times for it, it's far from the A goal this year. Come the end of June we will look to do a half marathon and judge my target time based off that. I'll need to have a look at what is on around that time. Marathon specific workouts then after that. The log probably won't have as much variety in it over the while then but I'm going to trust in the process and hopefully it all goes to plan.

28/02/23 - 12.36K - 1:05:01 (5:16/km) - HR - 128

The first session of the base building plan. The structure of the plan is relatively straight forward, 4 easy 65 minutes session and then 2 sessions, one with some tempo pace and one closer to goal race pace. This was the first of the 65 min easy run. I'm really going to make a conscious effort on these to keep truly easy. A good start with this in mind, very comfortable the whole way and heart rate nice and low. I'm back to getting a bit of a spike the first 2K or so and then after this the HR was settling in closer to the low 120's.

01/03/23 - 13.16K - 1:00:53 (4:38/km) - HR - 137

This session was 20' easy, 20' tempo, 20' easy, with the tempo pace at 4:10ish. The actual pace for the tempo part was 4:03 which is faster than planned but we were being very conservative with the 4:10 so I don't mind this. Felt very controlled during the tempo section and certainly never felt like I was over that lactate threshold.

02/03/23 - 12.61K - 1:05:06 (5:20/km) - HR - 127

Another easy 65, Slowed the pace down even more after the session the previous day.

03/03/23 - 13.02K - 1:05:22 (5:01/km) - HR - 130

An easy 65 with 5 x 30 sec strides. I'm not sure if the strides will be a regular thing or just while I still have the 5K race coming up.

04/03/23 - 21.65K - 1:40:07 (4:37/km) - HR - 138

The first long run of the plan, 30' easy, 40' MP, 30' easy. I've done a couple of runs over the 1hr 40 mark already so wasn't particularly concerned about the distance or anything. I was originally due to do this the Sunday but it was going to be much easier to get it done the Saturday so swapped around. It also gave me the chance to get out in the lovely Phoenix Park.

I started in the Visitor centre car park and head up Chesterfield Ave towards the zoo taking a left back along the North Rd for the first 30'. The 40' section started then a small bit before the roundabout and I decided to head towards the Castleknock exit and hang another left taking in the trails behind the OSI. Continue up the Furry Glen, along the Upper Glen Rd, Military Rd and left back down Chesterfield Ave with this part finishing up just short of where it started. The second 30' easy then the opposite way of the first 30'.

Execution wise I was a bit aggressive with my pacing, the plan was for 4:25ish pace but it ended up being around 4:15. Again the 4:25 was a conservative guide but I was still probably a bit too aggressive. I purposefully wanted to do the MP effort over the hills and undulations but I did struggle to find a consistent pace which lead to it being a bit quicker. The GPS going a bit off the rails in some parts also didn't help. Definitely something to improve and a large part of doing this type of session will be learning to control this type of effort.

05/03/23 - 12.75K - 1:05:03 (5:06/km) - HR - 129

Round the week off with the final easy 65. The legs did feel a bit tired as expected but still very comfortable even with the pace being on the quicker side of slow.

Total mileage for the week was 85.6K. My biggest week since early lockdown in Covid when I was doing long runs out of boredom. A pretty successful first week of the plan I think. Having just the two sessions per week at the moment is a nicer balance and gives the legs that bit more recovery. Next weeks plan has a bit more of a focus on the upcoming 5K race so the weekend session isn't as long and is 5K specific. I don't think I'm going to be at my freshest for the 5K but I'm not too concerned about that. I've reset my expectations and I'll be happy with anything close to my PB so basically anything around the 18 min. I also have a session with the physio this week which I'm looking forward to. The knee was getting a bit tight on the long run so it will be good to get a few area's loosened.

14/03/23 - 8.54K - 45:03 (5:17/km) - HR - 125

An easy 45 mins to begin a few days of tapering. I was just conscious to make sure this was a truly easy effort.

15/03/23 - 9K - 45:27 (5:03/km) - HR - 130

Another 45 min easy effort with 5 x strides.

16/03/23 - 7.12K - 36:38 (5:07/km) - HR - 129

A final 35 min easy to finish the short taper.

17/03/23 - 5K - 18:20 (3:40/km) - HR - 159

Race day and to cut a long story short, not the day I wanted. It was an early start as I was helping out before the race but apart from the weather being miserable the body was feeling good. I got finished with my setup duties in plenty of time and did a short 2K warm up followed by some strides. Lining up on the start line it was a bit of a mess. The starting mat didn't stretch across the full length of the road so some people were lined up outside it. Not sure what happened with their times etc but it resulted in a funneling effect which caused a bit of a delayed if you were just a few rows deep which I unfortunately was.

Regardless once I got across the mat I tried to find a bit of space and get up to race pace which thankfully didn't take long. I was conscious not to push hard to try to catch up to a clubmate I was hoping to try to hand and just progressed nicely through the field a bit. Came through the first K in 3:32, ideal pace wise for the plan I had. I continued to try to push my way through the next kilometer navigating a very small climb along the way and the second K in 3:33, again pretty good for pace. Unfortunately this is where it all started to crumble. On the third kilometer I was after catching a lady from Clonmel but just couldn't keep the momentum going and the legs began to stall. There was no real climb or any reason like that, the legs just started to die. Through this K in 3:40, not a complete disaster but the worst was yet to come. The 4th K involved a horrible drag around a corner that ended into the wind. I knew I was slowing down but relative to the people around me I pulled away maybe a meter or two. Any chance of a decent time was well gone though as this K ticked through in 3:53, nightmare stuff. The final K was a repeat of the first and I tried to pick the pace back up here but really struggled. Two guys here passed me out and the lady from Clonmel. I had some good local support from family and friends which picked me up right when I needed it. I passed one of the guys with about 800m left and about 400m left as the final downhill started I went with all I had to pick off the lady from Clonmel and defend against a fast finishing guy from the local triathlon club behind me. The final K in 3:40 with a finish time of 18:20.

Once I regained some composure and stopped feeling like I was going to throw up I slowly jogged back up the final K to find my GF who was also racing. I found her and ran back down the street supporting her on to see her finish with a big PB and was absolutely delighted for her.

I was obviously very disappointed with my run because I simply don't know what happened or why I just didn't have the strength when I needed it. The heart rate tells me I was working equally hard the whole way during the race which I already knew. A few weeks ago I ran about the same in a parkrun in probably worse conditions and had a bit left in the tank that day so I'm struggling to understand it. Before the race I was feeling good and felt like the taper into it was pretty ideal too. I think I'm just going to have to chalk it off as one of those days and continue to fight another day. On a positive side I didn't come away with any injury like last year so I will take that silver lining.

18/03/23 - 12.8K - 1:05:03 (5:05/km) - HR - 126

Back to regular programming with a 65 min easy. The calves were a bit tight after the race the previous day but apart from that the body felt ok.

19/03/23 - 15.14K - 1:30:25 (5:58/km) - HR - 114

A 90 min easy run in two sections really. The first hour or so was with the GF at closer to 6:20 pace and the final 30 mins then closer to 5:15.

This is obviously not the way I wanted to round off this period of training but I can't change that now and I still think I'm in a good spot to move forward. The base building work continues this week and I'm looking forward to seeing the results of this in 12 or so weeks time. I probably won't be running a 5K race again until after the marathon but I definitely have unfinished business with this distance and the 10K too. Hopefully in the winter we can look at these again but for now it is all focus on marathon training. Staying positive and focused.

Thanks marathon2022, maybe it was a bit of fatigue in the legs but I did feel like the taper was enough and I'm following the guidance of the coach here. 5K's are a killer for sure, I would argue one of the most difficult distances to get the pacing right for if you are really trying to go for a PB.

21/03/23 - 12.62K - 1:05:03 (5:09/km) - HR - 128

Back into another full week of base building. Nothing particularly noteworthy about this run, legs ticking over nicely and feeling very comfortable on this.

22/03/23 - 17.88K - 1:20:01 (4:29/km) - HR - 144

Building on a similar session from 3 weeks ago, 20 Easy, 20 Tempo, 5 Easy, 15 Tempo, 20 Easy. This is a good solid workout building up plenty of time in the legs at tempo effort. It was a blustery day and the wind was helping more than hurting on the first 20 Tempo, averaged 3:56/km pace for this nothing feeling quite as comfortable as I would have liked if I'm being honest. Kept the 5 min float on the faster side of easy and then a hard slog for the 15 Tempo, into the wind and a nice long drag. The pace slowed as a result but a respectable 4:03/km average.

I didn't feel as strong as I would have liked on this but still a decent session. I know it helps too but when it is windy I think the hurt does more than damage than when it helps and it does make these sessions that bit more difficult. Or maybe I'm talking rubbish and it's all in my head.

23/03/23 - 12.89K - 1:06:01 (5:07/km) - HR - 126

A nice low effort easy run after the previous day.

24/03/23 - 13.02K - 1:05:30 (5:02/km) - HR - 128

Another easy 65 but with 5 x strides. I did this on a bit of an incline for something different and really just focusing on good form and driving from the glutes.

25/03/23 - 12.4K - 1:05:04 (5:15/km) - HR - 123

The legs felt a bit tired on this one and knowing the long run was coming I eased up a bit more. A nice low HR which is positive to see.

26/03/23 - 23.88K - 1:50:01 (4:36/km) - HR - 138

Starting to approach uncharted territory for me now on these long runs and I'm starting to understand why some people dread them. Again building on 3 weeks ago, 30 Easy, 50 MP, 30 Easy. I was talking in a similar route to the one I used for my tempo session earlier in the week but the wind had switched direction. I do find the 30 mins to start with drags on a bit, I'm just waiting to get the legs going and trying to not waste too much energy for when the MP effort starts. I think this is all part of the design of the session though.

The start of the MP effort today was into the wind and a bit of a drag. I find it tricky to settle into a good pace anyway so this made it a bit more difficult but I eventually settled down after about 2K of running. I was able to keep the pace pretty consistent despite the wind and any little hills/drags. Ended up with an average pace of 4:11/km for this block. I was certainly working but for the most part it felt pretty comfortable. The only negative here was feeling a small twinge in my left quad in parts of this. It did ease off and no pain since then but definitely some tightness. Hopefully nothing a bit of foam rolling and stretching won't resolve.

The 30 mins to finish off felt the toughest of all but maybe that's not too surprising with the full fatigue of the weeks training in the legs by now. I'm also not fueling on my runs yet so when that starts I'm sure it will make a bit of a difference.

Total mileage for the week just shy of 93K and another solid week of training. It is still very early days with this marathon training and I'm under no illusions about how far I have to go to hit the times I want to but if I can keep this level of work up I'll be feeling a bit more confident.

Thanks AMK, I really appreciate the advice. Getting hung up with the paces is definitely something I am likely to do so I will absolutely take that on board!

04/04/23 - 6.98K - 35:02 (5:01/km) - HR - 125

An easy 35 mins after another 2 day break to let the quad rest. It had been feeling pretty good the previous day but still one or two little twinges so I was still a bit nervous before heading out. Thankfully there were no issues on the run itself and no tightness afterwards like the previous run. Later in the day I had a good roll on the foam roller to continue to workout the one particular tight spot.

05/04/23 - 10.41K - 51:39 (4:58/km) - HR - 128

This was due to be a 45 min run but I'm in the UK at the moment and I'm not familiar with enough routes to be able to get accurate times down so just did two laps of the usual one I do when I'm here. Again the quad behaved itself and no ill effects from the previous day thankfully.

06/04/23 - 10.44K - 56:11 (5:23/km) - HR - 121

A run of two halves, the first 5K with the GF at around 6 min pace and then the second 5K around 5 min pace. The last 400m or so I let the legs go and ran around 5K pace to give the quad a final test. Thankfully again it was perfect.

07/04/23 - 12.68K - 1:01:00 (4:49/km) - HR - 134

The GF and I had travelled to a different part of the UK to visit her brother and had a hike planned later in the day but I still wanted to get out for a run so found a road on the map that it looked like I could do a simple out and back. After telling her brother my plan I was told it was actually just straight up a fell and back so a lot of climbing and maybe I should rethink it. But I do enjoy a good climb so it made it all the more appealing.

The first 2.5K was just a bit undulating heading through small village before the real climb started and it was pretty decent I must say. A solid 3.5K and a bit more of a gradient between 5 and 10%. This was supposed to be an easy effort but with a climb like this there is no real easy so I kept it a good effort the whole way. Averaging about 5:20/K with around 60m of climbing for each K but felt pretty comfortable, I could certainly have push a bit harder. Once I reached the top I turned back and started the decent. I had to slow myself down here because it was quite steep and the road quality not great and I didn't want any trips or falls. Still gliding down between 4:00 to 4:10/km feeling very easy.

This run wasn't exactly to plan but it was really enjoyable run after the bit of an injury and some spectacular views on the way back down.

A slow but long hike after this probably wasn't ideal but again well worth it for the views alone.

08/04/23 - 12.12K - 1:17:38 (6:24/km) - HR - 109

This was due to be an easy 65 min so again not exactly to plan but I was getting out with the GF for her long run. This has been 10K in recent weeks but she wants to start increasing the distance and we decided 12K which would mean a bit longer than would be ideal for me but I was more than happy to bend the plan a bit.

The body was definitely feeling it after the previous day, sore quads in both legs (just DOMS) and general stiffness so very pleased to be going at an easier pace. After the first 2K or so things started to limber up and we kept a nice even pace throughout and a great effort by her. This would have been a decent 5K pace for her a few months back so she is really coming on.

09/04/23 - 21.42K - 1:40:01 (4:40/km) - HR - 137

The planned called for a 30 min easy, 30 min marathon pace, 30 min easy but again I knew with the loops I was doing I would either have to add to one of the easy sections or the MP section and of course I went with the MP section so this ended up being 30, 40, 30. The body was still feeling the DOMS from the previous few days so the first 1K was very sluggish but I slowly started to get into a rhythm then. The 40 at MP came in at around 4:10/km which is consistent with my previous runs like this and a good effort considering the DOMS.

74K in total for the week. Obviously down on previous weeks but not bad.

So thankfully the quad issue has cleared up but I am having what I believe is a related issue in what feels like lower left my abdomen, the same side as the quad strain/tightness. Just doing general day to day type stuff I can feel a small DOMS like pain but I know it's not DOMS. Thankfully it isn't really impacting my running. I could feel it a small bit on my run today but it is manageable. The coach thinks it may be the psoas so I'm going to try to release this and see if that helps. I also have another session with the physio booked in 10 days time when I'm back from the UK.

Until then I'm happy to return to normal training and base building. We did get notice our county road races are on over the next few weeks but I'm not going to compete in them this year as I really want to just give 100% focus on my marathon training. I can do races but we wouldn't just be running them while training and would look to taper etc so every race I do will interrupt my regular training by between 1 to 2 weeks. They also increase the risk of injury and I've already had more interruptions than I would like at this early stage.

18/04/23 - 12.76K - 1:05:39 (5:09/km) - HR - 127

The usual easy run to start off the week. My legs were still feeling a bit tired even with a full days rest and I was running along the coast into the wind which didn't make it feel any easier. Even still a very comfortable effort.

19/04/23 - 18.03K - 1:20:01 (4:26/km) - HR - 142

Building on last week again, 20 Easy, 20 Tempo, 5 Easy, 15 Tempo, 20 Easy. This session went really for both tempo blocks I averaged 3:53/km and feeling as comfortable as I've ever done at this sort of pace. I am mostly covering flat ground here but there are some small drags and I'm starting to be able to just power over these not slowing down at all, a really nice feeling. Still experiencing the abdomen issue but manageable, unfortunately the physio got pushed back by a day but at least it is still happening.

20/04/23 - 12.58K - 1:05:07 (5:11/km) - HR - 127

Certainly feeling the previous days run in the legs on this one but again running as easy as the body feels like it needs. It generally just ends up averaging around the 5:10/km pace which seems to be a good easy pace for me right now. I don't really mind what the pace is on these runs as long as the legs are getting the recovery they need.

I did manage to get in with the physio later in the day and after a bit of an initially worry that it could be something more serious he agreed it does seem to be the psoas that is causing my current pain in the abdomen and related tightness in the groin. He did some work to release it which involves quite deep reaching into the abdomen area, very uncomfortable altogether but there was an almost immediate improvement in my pain when moving afterwards. It is still not perfect after the one session but I'll be going back more often over the next while to keep on top of it and hopefully get it fully resolved. At least I can continue running and no break required.

21/04/23 - 12.96K - 1:05:03 (5:01/km) - HR - 129

Another easy 65 mins but I added in the 5 x strides, excluding these the average pace was again closer to 5:10/km. I was a bit nervous doing them but thankfully no issues.

22/04/23 - 26.63K - 2:00:02 (4:30/km) - HR - 142

The long run was scheduled for Sunday but I needed to switch it to Saturday due to time constraints the next day. I'll probably have to do the same again next week. Building on last week to 30 Easy, 60 MP, 30 Easy, although the coach tells me this isn't really MP but for the purposes of this log it's what I'm going to continue to call it. This was by far the longest I've ever ran but again I felt went really well. I averaged 4:09/km for the MP block and the pacing was really consistent on it. Again I felt very strong, eating up any little inclines.

It was definitely a run of two halves weather wise though. The first half, cool, overcast and not much wind, actually pretty decent running conditions. Then after about an hour some weather front moved in, the wind picked up, temps dropped and a nice steady stream of rain set in with no let up. I was soaked right through which I didn't mind as much while motoring along at a decent pace on the MP block, however the 30 min easy at the end was just miserable. I was just counting down the minutes and seconds until it was over making sure at the end of it I was as close to my front door as possible. Despite the weather a really great run.

23/04/23 - 12.58K - 1:05:11 (5:11/km) - HR - 126

The legs were definitely feeling the week so far on this run. Started this slowly until the legs showed a bit more life and then just tipped around nice and easily. Rounded out the week at just over 95K and my longest week to date.

The positive vibes continue thankfully. I'm definitely seeing clear improvements even at this stage in the training although I am running a bit ahead of where the coach wants me to be. In particular on the long run I need to scale the pace back here just by a couple of secs per km. The worry is that I burn out during this phase of the training. This run will scale back next week to 30, 40, 30 and increment back up to 30, 60, 30 as I did this week and cycle through that again with the pace incrementing on each cycle. My pace this week was probably two cycles ahead of what I should be doing. I just need to patient and not push the process.

02/05/23 - 10.38K - 1:05:03 (6:16/km) - HR - 111

My GF was back and we had the opportunity to get out together early in the morning so took advantage of it. She is building towards a 10 mile and I've created a bit of a training plan for her so this was a long run with a mix of pace. It was good to be able to pace her for it and it worked perfectly for me giving the legs even more recovery for the harder sessions coming up.

03/05/23 - 22.34K - 1:40:02 (4:29/km) - HR - 139

There is a bit more variety starting to get added to this session now but I really enjoyed this and a really solid workout. The outline of it went something like, 20 Easy, 20 @ 4:00/km (ish), 5 Easy, 10 @ 3:56/km (ish), 5 Easy, 2 x 5 @ 3:52/km (ish) off 3 min, 20 Easy. I did have a licence to push the pace a bit which I did. The paces were actually 20 @ 3:56, 10 @ 3:51, 2 x 5 @ 3:41 however I was doing this at a flat loop in an industrial estate and I always take the paces on the watch with a pinch of salt here as I've found it can be a bit exaggerated. Even still a really solid session and keeping this on a flat loop I was feeling very comfortable throughout.

04/05/23 - 12.24K - 1:05:34 (5:21/km) - HR - 123

Slowed this down to a bit of a shuffle after the previous days workout, the body certainly needed it.

05/05/23 - 13.01K - 1:05:35 (5:02/km) - HR - 130

Another easy 65 mins but with the 5 x strides added in. The average pace for the majority of the run was closer to 5:10.

06/05/23 - 12.18K - 1:05:03 (5:20/km) - HR - 123

Moved the long run back to the Sunday this weekend so another easy 65 before it. Again I wanted to run very easy here to make sure the body was relatively fresh for the long effort. Unfortunately got a little niggle in the right hip flexor after this. It is just feeling a bit tight and a bit of trouble rotating inwards but nothing too serious.

07/05/23 - 24.11K - 1:50:02 (4:34/km) - HR - 142

This week back up to 30 Easy, 50 MP, 30 Easy. The hip was feeling pretty ok starting off but once the MP effort kicked in I was feeling it a bit. I didn't really feel comfortable pushing quite as much but still tipped along nicely for this part averaging 4:11/km which is what I should be doing for this effort anyway. The hip did loosen up a small bit towards the end of it thankfully. All in all another good session.

Total mileage for the week of 94K and the mileage is really starting to rack up now for my level anyway. At this rate by the end of the month I will have surpassed my total mileage for all of last year. Looking back over the past few weeks there is an obvious trend that I am having to slow down my easy runs to let the body recover but I've no problem with this. Any ego I used to have over the pace of my slow runs is long gone.

It's 2 months out now to the half marathon at the start of July and can't help but think about it. Both excited and a bit anxious but I've just to focus on the weeks ahead, stick with the training plan and trust it will provide the benefits.

16/05/23 - 12.25K - 1:05:20 (5:20/km) - HR - 122

A very relaxed run to start off the week. As expected, legs still tired from the weekends long effort but always good to get the legs moving.

17/05/23 - 23.8K - 1:44:01 (4:22/km) - HR - 142

I'm beginning to look forward more and more to this midweek session as I try to push the pace. This week was fairly straightforward, 20 Easy, 8 x 5 mins off 3 min recovery, 20 Easy. The recovery here is very generous even though I always jog it at a decent sort of pace so this was as much a fartlek as anything else. I wanted to push things again slightly so the goal was to start off around 3:50 pace for the 5 min blocks and try to get progressively quicker and all went exactly to plan, the paces for the reps were: 3:49, 3:48, 3:45, 3:43, 3:39, 3:38, 3:35, 3:34. Again I take the actual paces with a small pinch of salt but just happy to have maintained the progression. Another solid session!

18/05/23 - 12.50K - 1:05:28 (5:14/km) - HR - 124

An easy shuffle with legs feeling the previous days effort. It took a few hundred meters for the legs to warm up and feel like I was actually running but I was out along the coast for this so absolutely no complaints. A really lovely morning for it.

19/05/23 - 12.63K - 1:05:03 (5:09/km) - HR - 127

Another easy effort including the 5 x strides. I was going to have to switch the long run to Saturday so this was the last easy run before and was conscious not to push the strides too much. They were into a headwind anyway and the legs were still feeling quite tired so pace not great for them regardless.

20/05/23 - 21.67K - 1:40:03 (4:37/km) - HR - 135

Dropping back the distance but increasing the pace a bit on the MP or closer to HMP block, a breakdown of 30 Easy, 40 HMP/MP, 30 Easy. I wasn't really feeling great on the warm up for this but once I got moving on the harder block I settled into a decent rhythm thinking off the K's. It's good that 40 mins at this effort is now beginning to feel short. The average pace for this block was 4:05/km so starting to drift more towards HM pace but this was always the plan I believe. The only issue on this run was some GI issues which meant needing a quick break just as the harder block was finishing. Luckily I was running along the coast again and could take a quick detour to some public bathrooms. Not sure what I would have done otherwise, really not a nice feeling and no clue why it happened on this run. Nothing different directly before it or even the few days prior.

21/05/23 - 12.55K - 1:05:13 (5:12/km) - HR - 123

A final easy shuffle to round off the week. The GPS went a bit crazy on this one so I think the actually distance covered was a less and the average pace probably closer to 5:15, maybe even 5:20. Haven't had that issue before on this route so hopefully just a once off.

Total mileage for the week just over 95K and my seventh consecutive week of 90K+ distance covered. It doesn't actually sound like a lot but I'm really happy the body is getting through it so well. The sessions and paces are only heating up so this week will be very interesting. But as I've been told already on this log and by my coach paces are just a guide at this stage in the build up. After this week I should also break the 1000 mile mark for the year which is as much as I managed all of last year.

30/05/23 - 12.34K - 1:05:04 (5:16/km) - HR - 123

After a very active weekend I was expecting to feel a lot worse on this but thankfully the legs felt quite good and motored along on the slightly quicker side of what easy is these days.

31/05/23 - 22.33K - 1:40:02 (4:29/km) - HR - 137

An interesting session lined up for this, 20 Easy, 10 x 3 mins off 3 mins (target 3:37/km), 20 Easy. Only 30 minutes of harder effort this week compared to 40 for the past few weeks however pace is increasing and approaching 5K pace but thankfully the recovery is still very generous.

On the 20 Easy to warm up the legs felt reasonably ok but a bit sluggish and setting off then on the first 3 min rep I struggled to get into a good rhythm and the legs felt like they were just lacking a bit of pop. The next 5 or 6 reps felt like a real slog and mentally just had to grind it out but I was managing to hit the pace. Then finally on the last few reps the legs felt like they came alive and on the final rep I just stepped it up on more gear just to see if I could more than anything else. So the paces for the reps ended up being, 3:34, 3:36, 3:35, 3:35, 3:36, 3:35, 3:34, 3:33, 3:20. It's been a while since I ran any reasonable time at 3:20 so good to know it's still in there somewhere.

Not the best feeling session but executed pretty well.

01/06/23 - 12.51K - 1:05:09 (5:13/km) - HR - 119

Last weekend I purchased myself a new pair of super shoes that I am hoping to use for the marathon and upcoming half marathon and decided to give them a try on this and break them in a bit. They are the Mizuno Wave Rebellion Pro and were selected after trying on a couple of different options. I've struggled to find a pair of super shoes in the past that feel comfortable so I'm hoping these will work.

They are absolutely not designed for slow running but I didn't want to just take them out on a long run as a first proper run in them so this wasn't ideal but it will still give me a good idea of how they would feel comfort wise. First impressions is that they are definitely a bit unstable at slower speeds and there is one potential hot spot I am a bit concerned about but hopefully the runners will loosen out a bit. They are however unbelievably cushioned and I tried a couple of short efforts closer to marathon pace during this run and they felt quick. I'll keep here updated about how I get on with them.

02/06/23 - 12.48K - 1:05:03 (5:13/km) - HR - 124

Another easy run with just 4 x strides this time. Legs were feeling a bit tired so didn't feeling like pushing it too hard.

03/06/23 - 26.13K - 2:00:02 (4:36/km) - HR - 140

Again I needed to get out for the long run on the Saturday and back to the 2 hours of 30 Easy, 60 @ approx HM, 30 Easy. The target pace for the 60 block here was 4:06 and after how I felt last weekend on the 50 block I was feeling good about this. Starting out the 30 Easy and the legs felt really good, cruising around 5:00/km feeling very comfortable. Starting out the 60 block and the first 2K on this route can be a bit slow but I was able to float along feeling strong and the first half of this block I was again averaging 4:05 pace having to slow myself down even.

Unfortunately something happened around this point that I still don't quite understand, I developed almost a stitch but more like a cramp in my lower left abdomen and around the same time was approaching a small bit of an incline. My pace dropped and I just wasn't able to recover it. It felt like my legs had been zapped of any strength they had. Somewhere around the 35 min mark I had ran a 4:22 K and I was prepared to call it a day thinking the session had been ruined. I did however talk myself around and break out of the negative thought spiral. I knew I couldn't get back to target pace but even just keep this pace going and see out the rest of the block. This is something that could easily happen during a race so I treated as much mental training as anything else. I ended up getting back to around marathon pace (4:16/km) but that was all I could do. The average pace for the 60 ended up being 4:11/km.

This is first time since starting with the new coach that I haven't hit my pace in training and I know I shouldn't get too fixated on pace but it is still frustrating, particularly because I just don't quite understand what happened. It's not like I went out too fast and had started to build lactate. It was also a warm day but I started this at 9am so the heat shouldn't have been an issue. But even still maybe it was something simple like an electrolyte imbalance or maybe just simply a bad day at the office.

04/06/23 - 12.30K - 1:06:21 (5:18/km) - HR - 121

I wasn't sure what to expect after what happened the previous day but amazingly I felt ok on this. I wouldn't say fresh by any means but no ill effects and shuffled around at a very comfortable pace.

Even with the disappointing weekend long run I would still count this as a pretty good weeks training and total mileage of 98K. On the mental side of things I'm happy I've been able to keep it going even when it's not pretty and sometimes just awful. I'm not sure if it was an issue or not but I'm going to try keep a better eye on things like electrolytes/general fuelling and refuelling after runs especially with the current heat.

In other news after seeing the opinion of a few people here and chatting to the coach I have decided to change the Half Marathon from Clontarf to Termonfeckin. It is a week later but should still work for the training plan and while there looks to be a small bit of elevation it doesn't seem to be anything too severe. Hopefully it will end up being the right choice but either way a good test.

13/06/23 - 12.5K - 1:05:56 (5:17/km) - HR - 125

A run of the mill easy run. Even getting out early for this it was still 18 degrees and feeling humid. The heart rate reflected it.

14/06/23 - 17.56K - 1:20:01 (4:33/km) - HR - 141

A session of 20 Easy, 20 x 1 min on/off, 20 Easy. This is the shortest this session is going to get before working backwards to the longer intervals. The target pace was 3:30/km and after hitting close to this for most of the 2 min intervals last week I was hoping for a relatively "easy" workout so to speak but it certainly wasn't. I was doing this in a park in Dublin rather than my usual loop of the industrial estate and there is a not insignificant climb in it which definitely had an impact. The shortly recovery of just 1 min off and the volume of doing 20 reps was also challenging.

All this being said I put in a good shift and more or less hit target pace for all, I think two reps were 3:31 but the accuracy of pace for these shorter reps is also questionable. Even though the overall session was quite a bit shorter than what I've been doing over the past few weeks it was a tough one.

15/06/23 - 12.44K - 1:05:06 (5:14/km) - HR - 122

Still in Dublin for the next few days but took a different route for this out along the coast and back. A really pleasant run with the weather we are having and nice and flat too so ideal for recovery.

16/06/23 - 13.01K - 1:08:02 (5:14/km) - HR - 124

Reverted back to my usual Dublin 65 min loop for this but in reverse. I should also have been doing the 5 x strides in this but I had a bit of tightness in my hamstring so decided against it. A bit of rolling afterwards seemed to sort it all out and I've a session with the physio next week for a good massage.

17/06/23 - 24.80K - 1:50:02 (4:26/km) - HR - 140

My weekend plans meant switching the long run back to Saturday and being in Dublin meant the Phoenix Park which is in my top 3 places to run so always a joy. A breakdown of 30 Easy, 50HMP, 30 Easy with target HMP of 4:03/km. The weather had turned a bit with wind and rain and not quite as hot but still feeling relatively humid. I hadn't been sleeping great for a few nights before this and wasn't feeling confident so willing to be a bit flexible on the pace if I needed be.

Starting off on the 30 Easy and again feeling a bit slugglish but just kept ticking along knowing the first 2K or so of the HMP effort was more of less downhill so I could just ease into. In a wonderful turn of events as soon as I picked up to HMP the legs responded fantastically. The first 2K ticked by in 4:00/km pace exactly before heading to up the S bends along military road where my paced actually picked up a bit and I was through the first 5K in 19:50. I was aware I was going a bit too fast compared to target pace but the legs felt so good it was really difficult to not go with it. I just felt like I was able to glide along the whole way and the pace only picked up more for the last few K, averaging closer to 3:50/km and even still not feeling like I was pushing it. Overall the average pace for the 50 block was 3:56/km and absolutely could have just kept going. The coach did tell me at the start of this that my then tempo pace I was working with would eventually be the pace I would do these longer sessions at and I didn't believe him at the time but here we are.

I know I probably should have slowed the pace down a bit despite how good I was feeling but this really was one of those rare unicorn days where running felt amazing and I wanted to enjoy it a bit. A world of difference compared to 2 weeks ago when I struggled to keep up 4:05 pace past 30 mins.

18/06/23 - 12.43K - 1:05:04 (5:14/km) - HR - 121

I still had the good vibes after the previous day and the legs felt surprisingly ok. I started off a bit quicker than this average pace but slowed it down a bit, easy runs still need to be easy.

The run I had on Saturday is the one I've been waiting for since starting this new training program. The coach repeatedly tells me this phase is not designed specifically to have a large training effect but I know it is having some and it is great to finally really feel it. And while it's only one training run, it's also given me a lot more confidence that my targets while ambitious may not be completely unrealistic. The challenge now is to try replicate this feeling in a few weeks come the day of the half marathon and again for the marathon.

27/06/23 - 12.28K - 1:05:23 (5:19/km) - HR - 120

28/06/23 - 22.57K - 1:40:01 (4:26/km) - HR - 137

A session of 20 w/u, 10 x 3 On/Off, 20 c/d. I got to do this on my preferred flat loop of the industrial estate although it was pretty blustery so still not straight forward. Target pace for the 3 min On was 3:33/km which I was a small bit inside for most of them.

The pace for the reps were: 3:33, 3:31, 3:30, 3:30, 3:29, 3:29, 3:28, 3:30, 3:29, 3:25. So compared to about a month ago a couple of seconds quicker per rep although it still felt like a slog but I grinded it out well.

29/06/23 - 11.31K - 1:05:02 (5:45/km) - HR - 112

30/06/23 - 12.67K - 1:05:04 (5:08/km) - HR - 123

01/07/23 - 16.20K - 1:37:16 (6:00/km) - HR - 115

Pacing duties at the Roscommon 10K with my partner. It was tricky conditions again on the day with a strong enough breeze blowing and the course had a few nice little drags on it. I wasn't really sure what sort of pace she could manage for distance and she has only been over this distance once and not at this pace but based on her training I did have 6 min/km in my head so this is what we set off at. As I said there were a few nice pulls over different parts for there was a small bit of variation between some k's but overall she managed to be remarkably consistent. First 5K in 30:02, second 5K in 29:54, 3rd 5K in 30:19 which she really had to dig deep for. Even managed a bit of a sprint finished at the end. Incredibly well done to her.

02/07/23 - 12.56K - 1:05:07 (5:13/km) - HR - 120

04/07/23 - 12.51K - 1:05:07 (5:12/km) - HR - 123

05/07/23 - 25.25K - 1:50:01 (4:21/km) - HR - 142

A session of 20 w/u, 10 x 4 On 3 Off, 20 c/d. Back in Dublin for this one so not as flat a loop around the park but I was able to get consistency by running between the exact same corners for each rep and jog between them for the recoveries. Target pace for the 4 min on was 3:36.

The pace for the reps were: 3:36, 3:34, 3:33, 3:33, 3:31, 3:32, 3:31, 3:32, 3:32, 3:29. Again a noticeable improvement since I did this session a few weeks and apparently another sub 1:30 half during this according to Strava. However I think I pushed this one a bit too hard. My legs haven't felt as tired after a run in a long time and the calves in particular were very tight.

06/07/23 - 12.33K - 1:05:04 (5:17/km) - HR - 123

The legs and body in general were still really feeling drained from the previous day on this. Thankfully I had a session with the physio later to get a bit of treatment and loosened out.

07/07/23 - 12.55K - 1:05:38 (5:14/km) - HR - 124

08/07/23 - 14.45K - 1:05:01 (4:30/km) - HR - 138

Starting to taper for the race next Sunday on this session, 20 Easy, 15 x 1 On/Off, 15 Easy. However I ended up doing this on the treadmill. Going to bed the night before this, all was ok apart from the legs still feeling a bit tired. But when I woke up for some reason I had a very strange pain just above my right knee which is my "better" one. It's not really a pain I was familiar with but did seem to be improving the more I moved but I was still a bit concerned. I decided to use the treadmill so that if there was any signs of an issue I could stop and not be stuck a couple of kilometers from home. Thankfully it went fine and since then no pain at all. A very strange one indeed.

09/07/23 - 11.71K - 1:05:02 (5:33/km) - HR - 116

Again my legs were feeling trashed so I took this one very slow. Of course just as I headed off on the run it started to rain, and rain, and rain some more, even with a bit of thunder and lightning. And just as I came to finish my run it brightened up with blue skies behind me and no rain for the next few hours.

A big week this week with the half marathon on Sunday and I am feeling quite nervous ahead of it. The legs feeling so tired the past week hasn't helped but on my run today they seemed to have recovered well enough and with a nice taper this week I don't think this should be an excuse. I actually took a drive around the loop it is going to take place on and there are some nice little hills especially on the finish but I can't think too much about that. It is what it is and if I wanted a perfectly flat loop I should have stuck with Clontarf last week.

I guess the anxiety is more just about what sort of shape I'm actually in and what pace I should target. This phase of training has been going well and I've executed most of the sessions I've been set. However there have been some of the longer sessions that didn't go to plan and this definitely gives me a bit of self doubt. To be on target for a sub 3hr marathon I would want to be somewhere around the 1:25 mark so about 4 min/km pace. The furthest I've raced before is 10K so it just seems like such a big step up but I have to believe I'm capable of it. I've a call later in the week with the coach to talk about the race and targets etc, so hopefully that will settle the nerves a bit.

I also need to remember this isn't the goal race but even still I want to give a good account of myself. Hopefully I can report back with a positive update next week.