Getting Back To My Best

menoscemo · 03-09-2011 08:51PM

Mr Slow wrote: »

Meno'd want to get his wallet ready methinks!

Feck off, remember if we both make target no-one pays anything. You saying I can't make sub 3'10? Put your money where your mouth is :pac:

Great going Brian, you have really pulled it out in the last month.

Brianderunner · 04-09-2011 05:15PM

Sun 4th Sept, 5 mls recovery out in UL after Daegu in 43'11 (8'40). Bit slow away but fine after. Travel back to LDN tonight, i picked the perfect week to take off i think.

Weekly Review, 55 mls and 6 runs. Tempo was the highlight, glad to get the 22 miler done, another good week.

Yearly Mileage, 1346.5 mls

Mr Slow · 04-09-2011 05:29PM

menoscemo wrote: »

Feck off, remember if we both make target no-one pays anything. You saying I can't make sub 3'10? Put your money where your mouth is :pac:

Jesus, take it easy! Grumpy Bastard!

Brianderunner · 05-09-2011 08:36PM

Mon 5th Sept, usual Monday night Regents Park 6.5 mls easy in 54'42 (8'25), followed by 8 x 100m strides in the heath. Windy and drizzly during the strides and easily could have bailed, Dark at 8pm, winter is coming. Berlin is disurbingly close now also.

Broke in my new 2160's tonight and there's a chance i'll run Berlin in them, depending on how the new DS trainers feel. I've ran in the 2000 series for years and its no coincidence they are the world's best selling running shoe.

shazkea · 05-09-2011 08:49PM

Nice going Brian, keep up the good work.

When are you back in Dub to spend all your winnings from the Worlds...:D

Brianderunner · 05-09-2011 09:20PM

shazkea wrote: »

Nice going Brian, keep up the good work.

When are you back in Dub to spend all your winnings from the Worlds...:D

DCM by the looks of it, my winnings will be spent in Berlin

I'll make a few more bets on the DCM and score a free night on the booze, that's the plan anyway

Brianderunner · 06-09-2011 09:08PM

Tues 6th Sept, Ran the 2.5 mls over to Finsbury Park for the club session of 10 x 800m starting every 4:00. Felt good from the outset and settled at the head of the B group. Reps were mostly in the 2'47-2'50 range (recoveries were about 70 secs) and I got stronger as the session went on, in contrast to my clubmates. A few people remarked at how well i was running and how skinny i've gotten (haven't been at a club session in 4 weeks), i've no problem with either

Sub 3 is a formality for me in their eyes, i wish i felt the same.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/112434403

2.5 mls w/d back to my house into a strong headwind for 10 mls total.

Brianderunner · 08-09-2011 08:01AM

Weds 7th Sept, headed to the club for the easy run option. Hilly 7 mls in 59'40 (8'31) in the Heath. Bit slow to get moving after Tuesdays track session.

Rest day today, watching Zurich

Brianderunner · 09-09-2011 09:11PM

Fri 9th Sept, 9 mls inc 5 at tempo pace (6'24). 2 mls w/u down to Regents Park outer circle and 2 laps of it. Didnt feel great tonight after a couple of fast miles and it was a bit of a grind to get though this run, nothing like last weeks one in Limerick when i was cruising. I was never all out though, 5 tempo mls in 31'59 (6'24), followed by 2 mls w/d for 9 mls total.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113061183

Not too many tough runs left to do between now and Berlin, hard to believe in 2 weeks time i'll be landing in Berlin Airport.

Brianderunner · 11-09-2011 08:30PM

Sat 10th Sept, 4.5 mls recovery in 38'50 (8'38). Legs werent too bad after Friday's tempo and didnt feel like i needed this one but best to err on the side of caution i think.

Sun 11th Sept, 16 mile LSR in 2'14'25 (8'25). Did my usual LSR route but threw in the glamour lap of the mall, london eye, big ben and buck. palace. This run was a bit of a slugfest and didnt enjoy it, despite hearing "leave right now" being performed live by Will Young at a pop concert in Hyde Park. Got a load of gels yesterday and i've settled on the ones to use for Berlin. Pissed down with 2 mls to go and legs were sore after.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113610177

Weekly Review, 53.5 mls and 6 runs. That's 4 good weeks in a row now (55, 59.5, 55, 53.5), that's something I havent done before. Taper time now i guess.

Yearly Mileage, 1400 mls.

TheRoadRunner · 11-09-2011 08:34PM

What gels are you going with? Going with the Powerbar ones myself. Ran out of them yesterday so tried a couple of other brands I had lying around the house. Absolutely minging. I've decided that any gel with added caffeine is evil.

BeepBeep67 · 11-09-2011 09:27PM

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

What gels are you going with? Going with the Powerbar ones myself. Ran out of them yesterday so tried a couple of other brands I had lying around the house. Absolutely minging. I've decided that any gel with added caffeine is evil.

I've beeb experimenting with high5 iso and kinetica, berry flavours work for me and iso seems to go down easier.

Brianderunner · 11-09-2011 09:33PM

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

What gels are you going with? Going with the Powerbar ones myself. Ran out of them yesterday so tried a couple of other brands I had lying around the house. Absolutely minging. I've decided that any gel with added caffeine is evil.

Like Beepbeep isogels are my favourite ones and they worked for me in Barca and they're the ones i'm using for Berlin too. The added caffeine ones seem ok and i'll be using them in the 2nd half of the race.

Brianderunner · 12-09-2011 07:54PM

Mon 12th Sept, 5 mls easy/recovery in 44'30 (8'54). Painful stuff, legs felt like after the 16 miler yesterday. Tried to do strides but bailed after the first one, reckoned they would do me more harm than good. Not the end of the world anyway, tonight was only ever gonna be an easy one. Track session tomorrow and the last bit of hard running planned between now and Berlin. I'll do a few MP miles at the weekend alright but no tempo.

Did 25 mins core after which rescued the evening a bit for me. Hope to feel better tomorrow.

Mr Slow · 12-09-2011 08:08PM

Excited?

Brianderunner · 12-09-2011 08:19PM

Mr Slow wrote: »

Excited?

About Berlin? I didnt show it tonight if i was. No i'm quite subdued this time round, plenty of time for the taper madness to kick in i suppose

Mr Slow · 12-09-2011 08:30PM

Brianderunner wrote: »

About Berlin? I didnt show it tonight if i was. No i'm quite subdued this time round, plenty of time for the taper madness to kick in i suppose

I wouldn't know anything about taper madness, I believe it's a myth :rolleyes:

Brianderunner · 13-09-2011 09:52PM

Tues 13th Sept, Club session tonight, 5 x 1200m. Pretty much what i would have done anyway so the perfect type of session. Only 400m w/u (fell asleep on the couch after work and nearly missed the session

that'll happen if you stay up watching Djokovic Nadal past midnight)

Times were; 4'18, 4'16, 4'16, 4'17, 4'18. Felt great throughout, left the B group well behind after a couple of reps, i will make the step up to the big boys in Oct. The new DS trainers are great to run in and now look like being the Berlin shoes. Cant remember the last time i felt that good on a session.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/114153224 (garmin is still taking 2 mins to regain the signal, seriously annoying)

Krusty_Clown · 13-09-2011 10:00PM

Tasty pace Brian. Looks like you are peaking nicely for Berlin.
The watch looks like it's behaving ok too.

Brianderunner · 14-09-2011 11:02PM

Weds 14th Sept, 8 mls nice and easy with the club in and around the heath. 70'10 (8'48) although we stopped at a lot of crossroads etc and i didnt bother stopping the watch. Hilly course and the pace picked up at the end on the downhill last mile. Got "chicked" at the end by a girl who's going for sub 4 in Berlin, not good

, not that i was trying very hard

There's a good few of us heading over actually.

My clubmate (who i ran with for a lot of the Newark half) blew up in his sub 3 attempt at the weekend in Nottingham and finished in 3'10. He's been ahead of me in every club session since i joined, hardly encouraging for my own attempt.

shotgunmcos · 14-09-2011 11:06PM

Brianderunner wrote: »

My clubmate (who i ran with for a lot of the Newark half) blew up in his sub 3 attempt at the weekend in Nottingham and finished in 3'10. He's been ahead of me in every club session since i joined, hardly encouraging for my own attempt.

Ask him how he approached it and avoid that! Good interval sessions going on in this log. It may be your coat tails I hang onto instead of the pacers

Brianderunner · 14-09-2011 11:15PM

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Ask him how he approached it and avoid that! Good interval sessions going on in this log. It may be your coat tails I hang onto instead of the pacers

I always suspected he ran the intervals too fast and he only ran 4 or 5 days a week. He was on about going for 2'50 as well so maybe he set the bar too high.

Its easy for a former sprinter to knock out a good interval session, means little at mile 22 in a marathon though.

Brianderunner · 15-09-2011 09:54PM

Thurs 15th Sept, 4 mls easy in 34'30 (8'37), no real effort put in just cruised round. The BT tower was turned into a star wars lightsaber, which was pretty cool.

ddel · 16-09-2011 09:21AM

Brianderunner wrote: »

Weds 14th Sept, 8 mls nice and easy with the club in and around the heath. 70'10 (8'48) although we stopped at a lot of crossroads etc and i didnt bother stopping the watch. Hilly course and the pace picked up at the end on the downhill last mile. Got "chicked" at the end by a girl who's going for sub 4 in Berlin, not good , not that i was trying very hard There's a good few of us heading over actually.

My clubmate (who i ran with for a lot of the Newark half) blew up in his sub 3 attempt at the weekend in Nottingham and finished in 3'10. He's been ahead of me in every club session since i joined, hardly encouraging for my own attempt.

What type of time did he knock out in the half - assuming he ran hard and didn't feel he had a bad day?

Brianderunner · 16-09-2011 09:52AM

ddel wrote: »

What type of time did he knock out in the half - assuming he ran hard and didn't feel he had a bad day?

1'26'20 or thereabouts. He's done 1'22 a few months back though. It was quite hot on the day (i finished in 1'31 after blowing up at halfway)

ddel · 16-09-2011 11:19AM

Brianderunner wrote: »

1'26'20 or thereabouts. He's done 1'22 a few months back though. It was quite hot on the day (i finished in 1'31 after blowing up at halfway)

Interesting on the 1.26. If the guy wanted a 2.50 shot he would have needed to be very close to 80 mins in that half. If he tried 2.50 or even 2.55 pace for anything beyond the first 10k, hanging on for a 3.10 was great going!

I've been following your log for a good while and you're 1.31 wasn't even close to reality. The 5k earlier in the week and the training you were doing just had you drained. I bet in hindsight not flogging yourself in that half and murdering your body will be of benefit in the long run for your sub 3 attempt. I know from having done a few sports - if the stomach isn't in it because of tiredness/fatigue/not recovered from a recent race then performing well is virtually impossible.
You're in great shape - sub 3 is there, I hope things click on the day for you!

Brianderunner · 17-09-2011 05:30PM

Fri 16th Sept, 4.5 mls in 39'21 (8'40)followed by 8 x 100m strides.

Sat 17th Sept, 12 mls in 1'41'51 (8'29) through the heath then down to regents. Garmin is still losing its signal at the start of the run and regaining it 2-3 mins later which is annoying. This run felt ok, tried out the calf guards for the first time, they seem ok. Its quite noticable how fresh the calves feel now afterwards. Rest day tomorrow.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/114998304

Weekly Review, 38.5 mls and 6 runs. Happy with the track session Tuesday and the rest was just easy running. Into the final week now.

Yearly Mileage, 1438.5 mls

Mr Slow · 17-09-2011 08:39PM

Not long now Brian, sub 3 and a big shiny medal, just stay focused and don't do a Meno!

Brianderunner · 19-09-2011 09:45PM

Mon 19th Sept, 4 mls easy in the heath in about 34 mins (fcked up garmin makes it difficult to be sure of pace). Felt really good tonight.

Ok, so 4 mls in 34 mins is barely worth logging but there was something in the air tonight that changed my outlook for Sunday. Since Newark to be honest i havent given myself much of a chance of the sub 3. Not sure what it was, maybe the olympic stadium illuminated in the distance as i ran down the long hill over the last mile, but i decided tonight THAT I CAN break 3 hrs in Berlin and i should be confident of it, why not? I just hope the body follows suit.

Track sesssion tomorrow and i'll do a half session just to blow away the cobwebs along with an easy mile w/u and w/d.

TheRoadRunner · 19-09-2011 10:15PM

Brianderunner wrote: »

[
Ok, so 4 mls in 34 mins is barely worth logging but there was something in the air tonight that changed my outlook for Sunday. Since Newark to be honest i havent given myself much of a chance of the sub 3. Not sure what it was, maybe the olympic stadium illuminated in the distance as i ran down the long hill over the last mile, but i decided tonight THAT I CAN break 3 hrs in Berlin and i should be confident of it, why not? I just hope the body follows suit.

Had a similar revelation this evening. Doubts starting to creep in regarding goal time. It's achievable but not guaranteed, same as yourself. I'd rather reassess 10 miles into the race then set the bar too low. They do say the marathon is 90% mental and I can buy into that.

Getting Back To My Best

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