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Hi all, please see this major site announcement: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058427594/boards-ie-2026
1,000 Miles Later...
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26-02-2014 12:16AM#1This week, all things going to plan, I will clock up my 1,000th mile since I started tracking my runs and running consistently last July. Boards has been key in guiding me through this period having followed the 2013 DCM Novice plan and the subsequent improvers winter plan that's just come to an end. Again I'd like to thank CM, Blockic and any other members who've contributed to these threads.
With that however, there's no better time to start learning how to do this on my own. All input will be greatly appreciated and there will probably be many mistakes made along the way but hopefully the log will serve as a way to focus my training more towards my weaknesses.
Background
I'll try and keep this short. Did athletics when I was very young but had probably given up by 14. Played hurling up until minor, went to college (had a great time
) but got very unfit. Did a bit of running here and there but never anything more than 5 miles and with no consistency what so every. Come summer 2013, I was finished college and decided I'd start training for the Dingle Half Marathon, a race I'd told myself I'd train for the past two summers but didn't even get close to. Then I found boards and ambitions of running DCM crept into my mind. After about 6 weeks of consistent running, my entry was submitted. I haven't looked back since.
Did my first race at the end of July in Killarney, a 10K in 45:50. Stayed at it and exceeded all my expectations with a 1:35:42 in the Dingle Half Marathon in Sept. I'd set myself a target of 3:30 for Dublin and was delighted to go under that without suffering to much (relatively speaking of course.
Over the winter I started doing some more speed and tempo work and it's brought me on quicker than I could even imagine. Was shocked to clock 31:53 at the end of Jan in a 5 miler and just this past weekend I was delighted to go sub 40 for 10K. I honestly thought I'd be luck to hit that by the end of the year.
PBs
5K - N/A
5 mile - 31:53 (Waterford Winter League - Jan 14)
10K - 38:59 (Dungarvan 10K - Feb 14)
Half Marathon - 1:35:42 (Dingle Half Marathon - Sept 13)
Marathon - 3:28:02 (Dublin City Marathon - Oct 13)
Looking ahead
My next race is the Tralee Half Marathon on the 16th of March so the start of my log will be based around the build up to that. From April - July, I want to focus on speed so will be targeting plenty of 5-10K races. Then I'm looking to build towards Dublin once more and hopefully another day to remember.
Getting started
4 miles rec @ 9.00ish.
Get start to the log. Garmin died on this one. It doesn't give much of an alert as to a low battery. Anyway nice handy one after the weekend. Legs feel fresh after the race at the weekend.
Trying to figure out what session to do this week. I'm thinking 6 X 1 mile at 10K pace with 90sec recovery. Is there as much to be gained from this session having just run a 10K though?
Next week I'll be doing 6 miles @ HMP, 10 days out from Tralee so looking for something to complement that.22
Comments
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Best of luck skeleton_boy...you're background is scarily similar to mine..from giving up the hurling at 18, to having dingle half marathon as a first target.
Should be fun to watch you progress as you have come a long way already.
Cheers Blockic looking forward to seeing you back in action too. Hope its sooner rather than later... who else am I going to steal my sessions from?Just from reading your mini background (and Blockic's comments) I think there is a huge amount to come from you over the next 18 months. Take a read of Blockic's log and see what is possible for you.
Your rate of progress is very impressive and huge PBs are inevitable if you manage to stick to consistent training. Even bigger PBs on offer if you avoid some of the rookie mistakes and learn from B's log - He has all the hard work done for you right there!;)
Then in 18 months time you can worry about shaving the few per cent off the much improved PBs as the really hard work of diminishing returns begins to kick in...!
Will be following this with lots of interest! Best of luck!
Thanks Belcarra. When I make it to that stage, as long as I'm still enjoying my running I'll welcome the challenge. Keep away from a spring marathon after a rooking one the previous autumn. Check!Best of luck with the log s_b. Look forward to tracking the progress. What's the revised target for the upcoming half?
Thanks Bulmers. Ran the course two weekends ago as part of my long run. There's a tough enough hill in the 8th or 9th mile. Plan to go as far as there at 6.40 pace. Hopefully I'll be able to power on from there. Sub 1:27 according to McMillian but will try and push for 1:25.0 -
Wednesday 26th - 6.16 miles easy @ 8.01
Got this done yesterday morning. Legs still not showing much signs of the race at the weekend, which is good I guess. Had a 7.40 mile in the middle of this, the quickest mile I've clocked to date at an easy pace.
A more significant aspect of this run was the return of short sleeves and sunglasses. Normally run after work but working the late shift this week so getting them in before work. Avoided the wind and rain on this one due to it.
Thursday 27th - Session 6 X 1 mile @ 10K pace
Wasn't sure if I'd even do a session this week on the back of the race at the weekend. With the legs feeling so good I said I'd go ahead with it. Last week I did 5 X 1K @ 5K and next week I'm looking at 6 miles @ HMP so I though this would be a good go between. Not sure if there's as much to be gained from it having just done a 10K but seemed like a nice fit so went ahead with it. 10K pace = 6.16.
1.5 miles warm up @ 8.20
6 X 1 mile @ 10K pace (6.14, 6.09, 6.12, 6.13, 6.13, 6.13) w/ 90sec jog rec
1.5 miles warm down @ 8.38
Fairly wrecked from this one. Session are certainly getting tougher with the new target times! Found it tough going on the 4th rep. Had a slight stitch but its probably mostly mental because the last rep didn't seem near as tough.
As the thread title promised, this run also brought up my 1,000 tracked mile
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Tuesday 11th March - 5.24 miles easy @ 7.56
Reducing the miles and keeping it easy. Can't concentrate at all in work, want this week to be over and Sunday to be landed already.
Wednesday 12th March - 1 w/up, 2 HMP, 1 w/d
Short little session to remind the legs what's needed on Sunday. HMP miles = 6.30, 6.32.
Thursday 13th March - 4.02 miles easy @ 8.13
Kept this one very easy. Last trot in my build up to Tralee. Hopeful I can get the log off to a very positive start. It's like being a child at christmas all over again 0 -
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Misty, cool morning in Tralee. 10 minutes warm up with a few strides. Lined myself 2-3 rows from the front and away we go. Stayed on the shoulder of the 1.30 pacer for most of the first mile before pushing on slightly to stay stick with target pace. 6.37 opening mile.
Not much to report from the next couple of miles, tucked myself in behind a group of 3 who were traveling at my target pace. Breathing a touch heavy already but feeling very comfortable. I assume this is natural when traveling at these sort of paces. 6.37, 6.41, 6.23.
The fifth mile brought us through the first village along the route where my dad and sister were waiting. Adeline must of hit here as all of a sudden I was moving towards 6 min miles and had forged on a few meters from my group. A quick look at my watch tells me to calm down. Back in a group of 3 including myself now we work our way towards the one big hill on the route. 6.29, 6.35, 6.30
The hill pretty much corresponded with the 8th mile, both in length and its position in the race. Half way up in and I'm feeling very good. Working hard but not getting noticeably tired. Up over the top and it couldn't have gone much better. One person tails off from the group and we overtake another person suffering from cramp 7.02
Here's where my race started in earnest. On the downhill I'm taking it easy at first recovering from the hill but I soon realise I'm still feeling pretty good. I push on and up the tempo. I pass one guy and see a club mate of his in the distance, about 50m ahead. I push ahead holding a strong pace and eventually pass him also. 3 miles to go. 6.05, 5.56
I'm on my own for the next mile trying to get myself on the back of a group of 4 runners. I'm working very hard here but keep telling myself less than 5K to go. I eventually get to the back of them and just sit with them recovering for a while. 6.08, 6.25
Not entirely sure how (I fell gasses getting to the back of these guys) but I've recovered well over the last half mile or so. I'm pushing on from this group of 4 now. I put 20ish meters between us but the pace I'm going at cannot be sustained to the line. I ease to a more tolerable pace and one of the following pace come and overtakes me. I again find something and am able to keep with him and even make one more burst past him on the final turn. Looking up the final straight and I've made my move way too early. My fellow athlete has plenty left in him regardless and make a kick of his own. Still I've just recorded my quickest mile to date. 5.40 + 5.11 (.19 according to my garmin)
Chip Time = 1.24.06:D:D
13th place
I can't say much more than I'm absolutely delighted with today. Over 10 min PB in 6 months!! Only one soft target left now. I've been afraid to even mention it before now but with 7 months still to go, a sub 3 attempt is looking like it could be on the cards.
A week off running for me now. Off to foreign lands for a few days and the body certainly needs the recovery.0 -
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Tuesday 8th - 8.02 miles @ 7.42
A handy easy run after work. Nothing new from the leg so I decided to go ahead with my planned session for the week.
Wednesday 9th - 9.33 miles inc. (3 @ HMP, 3 min rec, 2 @ HMP)
HM target pace = 6.25
2 miles warm up @ 7.35
3 @ HMP = (6.18, 6.17, 6.23)
3 min rec
2 miles @ HMP = (6.22, 6.19)
2 miles warm down @ 7.46
As with most of my faster paced work I found it tough at the beginning to get up to pace. Found my stride well and finished out strong. Delighted to be consistently hitting these lower training targets
Thursday 10th
Physio. I booked on Monday having had issues with my leg lingering for the past 3 weeks. Typically I came out of Wednesdays session ok and everything appeared ok. Still went along and had a look at the hamstring and had a bit of a rub down done on it. The hamstring is a bit weak but no serious damage done.
Saturday 12th - 7.03 miles @ 7.51
A late one this after work. Probably one of my last runs at night for a while. Grown a bit fond of them over the winter but its nice to have the hectic winds behind us with the coming summer months.
Sunday 13th - 16.03 miles @ 7.37
A beautiful run in which I found myself cruising near 7 min a mile pace in places. Most importantly from this week nothing to report on the injury front. Missed out on one run to give the legs a rest after physio but nothing to worry about.
Weekly total = 40.4 miles
Today run also brought me past a big milestone on the year
Yearly miles = 509.6
Next week will see a reduction in mileage but I'm going to race a 5 miler on Easter Sunday. Target will be sub 30 and hopefully my first race with sub 6 miles across the board.0 -
Monday 14th - 7.02 miles @ 7.44
After the perfect flow of the run the day previous this one was not so much fun. Legs were a bit heavy but it was a beautiful evening and that made up for the sluggish legs.
Tuesday 15th - 8.58 miles @ 7.30 inc pyramid session
Before my 10K prep for the Tralee Half marathon, I found this a good but not too laboring session so I said I'd stick it in here again. The session was 1 min hard with half the time recovery (e.g 30 sec here) and so on up to 5 min and then back down again. I should of looked back at my previous attempt at this session because I for some reason though hard = 5K. It was only while in the middle of it I realised last time I did it my target pace was between 5-10K, not sub 5K. It also dawned on me that the furthest I'd done so far at this 5K pace was 400m. The following was the fun that followed. 5K pace = 5.51
1.5 miles warm up @ 8.00
1-5-1 splits = (5.46, 5.47, 5.40, 5.42, 5.45, 5.47, 5.46, 5.48, 5.43)
1.5 miles warm down @ 9.39
It may not look so bad written down, but I was suffering. The jogging recovery pace was up near 12 min a mile. After the 3 min on the way down, I'd to walk the recovery to stop myself from getting sick
You'd think getting that session done and hitting my targets would give me confidence, but I'm worried as to how I'm going to sustain a slightly more gentle (6.00) pace over 5 mile race on Sunday.
Wednesday 16th - 4.03 miles rec @ 8.41
Legs heavy, glad its an easy day.
Thursday 17th - 6.14 miles w/6 X 100m strides
Out early and before work for this one as I'd a friend visiting in the evening. Enjoyed the quite roads and tranquility of an early start. First time running on empty that I can think of also. Didn't feel it made any difference. (over a relatively short distance anyway). Still would be apprehensive about the approach to doing for a long run.
Today and tomorrow I will rest and set out Sunday to take on what will most likely be my most difficult target yet.0 -
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