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The Windy Road to Nowhere

ThePiedPiper

I've finally given in and decided to start up a log here.

The main reason for the log is that I feel I'll need any advice and extra motivation I can get for the fairly ambitious target I've set for this Autumn. Currently, my marathon PB is 2:58:16 from Budapest last year, and I'm setting the target of a sub 2:50 for Chicago in October.

My marathon history is one of good progress in the first 4 races, going from a 3:36 debut in Dublin 2005 to a 3:00:21 in April 2008. For one reason or another, that sort of stalled for a couple of years, until I finally got the 3 hour monkey off my back in Spring 2011 with a 2:58:23 in Seville. A very poorly exectuted 3:07 that October and an underprepared London were followed by last October's run in Budapest.

College and work committments have meant that since January, I've struggled to do more than 25-30 miles per week at best. But, anything I have done has been of fairly good quality, and the results in races have remained fairly good, with 17:50 in a 5k and 1:22:55 in a tough half marathon being the running highlights of 2013 to date.

Thankfully, time will start freeing itself up in about a week, so I'll be able to get back to some more regular training, hence the start of the log.

The goal for June and July is to run fairly high mileage at a low enough intensity to build myself up for the specific phase work in August/September. Initally, I hope to jump up to about 50 miles a week fairly rapidly, and if possible, max out close out at around 90-100 for a couple of weeks. There'll be a few races in there, but short enough. The National Half at the start of August will signal the end of base building at the start of specific marathon training.

I don't follow any particular plan, but I plan my running around my life as much as possible. The rigidity of some of the plans puts me off, but I borrow what I want from lots of sources and make it suit my own life as best as possible.

Right, that's all the introductions out've the way. Now I've just got to follow through with it, do the work and get to Chicago in good shape. If I can be honest with my efforts, I'll be happy with the result.

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ThePiedPiper

Mon 7th July: 7.5 miles in 7:14 pace

Went out about 9pm for this run, was still nice and warm. Didn't do anything fast, just kept the pace between 7:00-7:15 the whole way.

Tues 8th July: 7 miles in 48:55 (6:59 pace)

Did progressive run on the treadmill first thing in the morning. Was heading off with the kids for a couple of days, so wanted to do something halfway decent on the treadmill. A couple of miles warming up, then steadily increasing it through 6:50 pace, up to 5:20 pace by the end. 3,000m pace feels very fast on a treadmill.

Weds 9th July: 7 miles in 53 mins (7:35 pace I think)

Was staying in my sister's house, and as luck would have it, she has a decent treadmill herself, so jumped on it to get the few miles done. Didn't go too crazy on it, as I tend to pour sweat when I'm running faster on a treadmill, and my sister's treadmill is on a carpeted floor upstairs in hers. Anyway, delighted to get it done.

Thurs 10th July: Rest

I need to get myself to Monaghan this evening. Thinking about getting a lift halfway and running 20 miles on ahead up the road. It probably won't help the racing on Sunday, but the next couple of weeks might be a little awkward with regards to long runs, so want to make sure I've one decent one done. Regarding the race Sunday, I ran 22:5x for the 4 miles last year, so would hope to be in similar sort of shape.

blockic

Best of luck with the ail race Sunday A. Hope you're keeping well.

ThePiedPiper

blockic wrote: »

Best of luck with the ail race Sunday A. Hope you're keeping well.

keeping great thanks blockie, enjoying my first summer off in 12 years, and great knowing my job still there for me next year. Not quite hitting the running heights of last summer I don't think, but it's a long time til the end of October.

You loving life in the Windy City by the looks of things

ThePiedPiper

Sat 11th July: 12.5 miles at 6:29 avg pace

We were a bit late getting on the road yesterday evening, so 20 miles was off the agenda. Jumped out of the car at Clontibret, and headed on. Sort of knew it would be getting dark so didn't hang around. First couple of miles were downhill, but the fourth mile is very tough, uphill the whole way at Castleshane, did it in 6:42 but working hard. Got the pace back to 6:2xs heading for Monaghan town before having some company for about half a mile.
A heifer bolted out onto the road right in front of me, now it was about 9:15, but the N2 was busy, it was drizzly and darkening, dangerous situation. The cow ran out across to the other side then, with traffic all stopping, I stayed my side. Next thing she heads off into the middle of the road for a wander. I switched sides as I felt she may have been scared of me as well as the traffic. By this stage, she was a good 500-600 metres down the road from where she bolted, so I didn't think it safe to take her back up the road. Thankfully she jumped into an entrance to a school and emergency was over.

After the drama, I motored on holding 6:30 pace until Scotstown. Good session, but tough at the tail end, hard to believe I held that for a marathon last year, think I'm a few minutes away from that shape, but a decent effort at this point

ThePiedPiper

Sunday 12th July: 7.5 miles at 7:48 pace

Very easy paced recovery run. Was really feeling Friday's MP session, so just trying to loosen the legs up, not sure I did.

ThePiedPiper

Didn't really feel good heading down to Dunleer for the race today. Was working in the garden for a couple of hours during the afternoon, and was still feeling Friday's run in the legs. Was feeling a bit concerned about getting my ass handed to me on a plate by a couple of the lads in the club. Conditions were warm and muggy, and I was sweating gallons even doing a gentle warm-up.

Got ourselves going, with the usual mad dash down the fast first few hundred yards. Couple of NER runners were close enough to me, and one of the lads from our club got off to a very good start. Was in and around 12-14th place. First mile was 5:38, bit on the fast side.

I more or less was running by myself at this stage, about 20 metres behind a group of 3, and about 15 metres in front of another group, not ideal, but anyway. The second mile was 5:48, I was gaining on the little group in front of me, but the ones behind were catching up too. We all seemed to stretch out again, so I was left by myself working my way up the slopey 3rd mile, which I did in 6:02. Three NER runners were on my shoulder and two went by me here, which was a bit of a pain. Regrouped myself for a couple of minutes, trying to stay with the faster of the two, but he got away on me.

Had feck all left in the tank really in the last mile, so not quite so sure how I ran that one in 5:46. But, it was just about enough, as there were two of my clubmates just about 10 seconds behind me, and I was the fourth place runner from our club. Think I finished about 12th overall in 23:23. That's 25 seconds down from last year's time, which was on a much hotter day, but I was much fresher that day.

Happy enough with the time, and a decent enough session. First bit of speed work in a while. Great spread up in the clubhouse. Was hoping to go for pints straight after the race, but the lads were going a bit later, so will enjoy a couple watching the match in the house.

pconn062

Well done man, that's a solid result on a day where you weren't feeling good. And it helped us win the team prize, good day for the club.

ThePiedPiper

Was off on holidays for a couple of weeks in France, got in plenty of running.

Tues 15th July: 2 miles at 7:15 pace

Weds 16th July: 7 miles at 7:14 pace

Fri 18th July: 9.25 miles at 7:27 pace

Sat 19th: 9.25 miles at 7:21 pace

Sun 20th: 7.2 miles at 7:51 pace

Mon 21st: 5 miles at 7:28 pace

Tues 22nd: 7 miles at 7:41 pace

Weds 23rd: 20 miles at 7:28 pace

Thurs 24th: 5 miles at 7:41 pace

Fri 25th: 8 miles at 7:27 pace

Sat 26th: 7 miles at 7:30 pace

Sun 27th: 7 miles at 7:35 pace

Tues 29th: 15 miles at 6:58 pace

Weds 30th: 2 miles at 7:15 pace

Very happy to have done so much when away. Most of it was at easy pace, with the exception of a few fast miles here and there. Good to get the two long runs in, even if I was actually technically lost when I was doing them, and never intended them being that long!

I'm scrapping the R&R half, just don't feel like I'd do myself justice at the moment on a tough course, and will instead wait til early September to see where I'm at. Plan on getting in another decent month of long enough mileage in August.

cianc

Very nice chunk of mileage.

ThePiedPiper

Thurs 31st July: 9 miles in 7:05 pace

Was very hot and windy this afternoon when I got out. Was running at 6:30 pace for a couple of miles, but when I turned into the wind, and into the hills, I found 7:10 pace was hard work. It's not the sort of run that really inspires any confidence for what the marathon target is, but from experience, I know I can make up a hell of a lot of time in 3 months, so hopefully the steady mileage will bear fruit.

ThePiedPiper

Big improvement, mileage wise. I don't feel a hell of a lot fitter, but I know that it'll stand to me in the long term.

Month|Runs|Av Speed|Mileage
January|19/31|8.7|109
February|19/28|8.2|104
March|21/31|8.5|148
April|20/30|8.5|157
May|15/31|8.4|101
June|26/30|8.3|160
July|28/31|8.2|221

Year to date: 1,000

Just realised when I checked reports on Garmin that I hit the 1,000th mile today.

pconn062

5k race in Carlingford tomorrow if you fancy a bit of a blow out, big crew heading down. Good consistency recently, plenty of time to get into top shape for the Louth senior marathon.

ThePiedPiper

5k maybe. Don't feel like I've much speed in my legs, so could be a good thing to give myself a bit of a kick on.

I'll get back to you.

pconn062

RunForestRun wrote: »

5k maybe. Don't feel like I've much speed in my legs, so could be a good thing to give myself a bit of a kick on.

I'll get back to you.

Driving from Dunleer if you want a lift, leaving at about 6pm.

ThePiedPiper

Yeah, just chatting about it here, we'll probably all go up, Mrs RFR is getting nostalgic thinking about her glory days. is there an U-6 or an U-3 race? ;-) I'll text you tomorrow.

ThePiedPiper

Fri 1st Aug: 5 miles in 36 mins

Treadmill in the evening for this. Scrapped the 5k race as the weather was rubbish, I was a bit wrecked, and simple as, just didn't feel like I'd make a good enough account of myself.

Did 2 miles at MP on the treadmill at the tail end of this run, felt reasonably comfortable.

Sat 2nd Aug: 8 miles in 58 mins, 4 miles in 30 mins

Was going to head out the door first thing this morning, but the weather was beyond rotten, so chickened out and got on the treddy. Decent enough run. Did 4 miles this evening while listening to the Monaghan match on the radio. Wasn't really concentrating on the running at all, but great to see Monaghan finally break their Croker championship jinx. Not before time.

ThePiedPiper

Sun 3rd Aug: 2 miles at 7:52 pace

Was actually contemplating doing 20 odd miles on Sunday on the way home from a kids party in Dublin, but was absolutely wrecked, and the weather was rubbish, so decided it'd be counter-productive, so shelved it, and just did 2 very easy miles in the evening. Even this was a struggle, definitely a good call do abandon the 20.

Mon 4th Aug: 20 miles at 7:15 pace

Was up in Tayto Park for a good part of the morning and afternoon, and got out of the car on the N2 between Ashbourne and Slane on the way home. The weather was hot and heavy, but I felt very comfortable most of the way. Did the run without any water or fuel, and definitely started feeling it on the tail end. Didn't bother pushing the pace down to MP, but did 6 sub-7 minute miles in the middle of it. Tough enough old route, with some very tough drags, especially out of Slane. Pleased to get the long miles in.

Tues 5th Aug: 5 miles in 39 mins

Was up in Monaghan most of the day, so just fitted in a slow 5 miles on the treadmill. Legs a bit tired and heavy after yesterday.

Thinking about doing a 5 mile race up in Monaghan on Friday night. For one reason or another, I've not done a lot of racing this summer, so feel like I could do with a bit of a blow-out before launching into marathon training proper. We'll see.

ThePiedPiper

Tues 6th Aug: 7 miles with 6 x 800m at 5:35 pace

First time in at the track in a long time. The club has use of the track from 7-9 on Wednesdays, so I presumed there'd be at least somebody to jump in with, but when I went down at 8, a few of the boys were just finishing up their session. Turned out there'd be nobody hanging around at all for the second hour, but since I'd actually made the effort to go to the track, I should do a proper session.

Normally, I'd like to do 10 x 800m, but as I was still feeling Monday's long run slightly in the legs, and with a mind to racing on Friday evening, I was thinking I'd do 6-8 of them. The idea is that if a marathon goal is 2:45, the 10 800m repeats should be approx 2:45 each. It's know as Yasso 800s, and although quite a rough measure, but I've always found it a very good workout, and it has always been a reasonable indication of how achievable the marathon goal is.

The session was comfortably difficult, and without trying to bomb it, I was hitting the 800s in 2:45-2:48. By the time I was finishing the 6th one, the caretaker at the track was looking out the door. Decided to not bother doing any more, let the guy get away, and keep myself fresher for Friday evening. Did a couple mile warmdown on the road. Happy with the session, I know I could've done another two definitely at the pace, might have struggled for the full ten, but that would be about what I'd expect at this moment in time. Will hopefully get out for a recovery run at some point today.

ThePiedPiper

Thurs 7th Aug: 6 miles at 7:28 pace

Treadmill for this. On the treadmill a fair bit lately for recovery runs mostly, but it doesn't particularly bother me. I'm still keeping the mileage fairly high, and by running indoors, I'm running in hot and humid conditions, which can be a good preparation for possible race day conditions.

pconn062

That's not a recovery run, that's just a run.

Unless you're Seán Hehir then your recovery pace is too fast.

ThePiedPiper

Yeah, I don't really believe in recovery runs unless I'm trying to recover from something. I meant easy run. You must be having awful withdrawal symptoms from not running if you've nothing better to be doing than analysing my running terminology vs paces!! How's Germany going anyway? Du hast an guden timen?

ThePiedPiper

I placed 3rd in this last year with a vey good run of 27:55 for the five miles, didn't really feel like I was in that sort of shape, but hope to run 28:xx and see where that'd get me in the places.

The race got underway at quarter to eight, a change from the afternoon start of other years. It was clear within half a mile that Conor Duffy would only be racing the clock, and I thought that the other ten people in front of me started a bit fast. By the end of the first mile in 5:40, I was in 10th place and already doubting seriously whether I'd make the top 5, unlikely that that number of people could get their pacing so badly wrong!

The second mile of the race is the toughest, with the only real uphill section, and with the breeze blowing into us that mile, pace dropped back to 5:52, but I made up a place or two. In the 3rd mile, I started getting a move on, made up another place into seventh, with a 5:44 mile.

I was about 50 metres back from the guy in sixth, with the next three runners about the same in front of that. Try as I did to up the pace and hoping for their pace to fall away, neither happened, and I had to content myself with my 7th place in 28:59.

I'm a bit disappointed with that effort in comparison to last year, but it's not the worst thing really. Last year, I felt like I peaked in early to mid August, and fell back a bit from that peak by mid October. In that respect, it's clear that I have work to do , but it might be a good thing, as I want to peak in late October, not August.

With the warm up and down, did eight miles in total, so a good days work I suppose.

ThePiedPiper

Sat 9th Aug: 13.1 miles in 1:29:50

Got up this morning feeling very fresh after yesterday's race. Decided on a route over the border into Fermanagh that's a bit challenging in places. Hadn't decided on a pace when I was heading, but after a couple of easy miles, was feeling very fresh and dropped the pace down to 6:3x to 6:5x for the last ten miles.

I've got to structure my running a bit more now for the next while, I'm slightly behind where I want to be, but I have lots of time to sort that out.

ThePiedPiper

Sun 10th: 4 miles at 7:43 pace

This actually was a recovery run. Nice and handy. Felt a bit sore after the efforts of the previous couple of days.

Mon and Tues: Off

Had an extra couple of kids in the house for a few days there, so was busy and too tired to run. No harm.

Weds 13th Aug: 20 miles in 2:15 (6:47 avg pace)

This was a tough old run. I was over in Sligo, so took to the back roads out near Ballintogher and Sooey. Had planned on doing around 5 MP miles, with maybe 10 more in MP + 20-30 seconds. I felt very good for the most of it, struggled a bit on the last couple of MP miles, but delighted with what was the toughest long run since last September.

Thurs 14th: 8 miles at 7:58 pace

Absolutely wrecked after yesterday's effort, so this was ran very slow and easy.

yaboya1

What are you targeting in Frankfurt RFR? 2:45?

pconn062

RunForestRun wrote: »

Yeah, I don't really believe in recovery runs unless I'm trying to recover from something. I meant easy run. You must be having awful withdrawal symptoms from not running if you've nothing better to be doing than analysing my running terminology vs paces!! How's Germany going anyway? Du hast an guden timen?

Slow getting around to this, yeah had a ball here, home tomorrow. Must get out for a run soon to catch up. Any races coming up, Monaghan 10 miler at the weekend?

ThePiedPiper

Well yaboya,
The A goal is 2:45, but it is a stretch, I'll hopefully get myself in shape to run 2:47/8 and see what happens. Sub 2:50 would be fantastic.

Pconn, not doing Monaghan 10, music plans over the weekend. No race planned apart from the half in the phoenix park.

ThePiedPiper

Fri 15th: 4 miles at 7:42 pace

Got out early in the morning for a very slow recovery type run. Was heading to Galway and to Sligo Friday, so hadn't really the time for much more.

Sun 17th: 4 miles at 7:16 pace

I was back over in Sligo for the weekend, and got out early. It was very blustery for this run, making it quite hard work. Not a huge amount of mileage last week, but it was a busy one, so just accept it as such.

Mon 18th: 5 miles in 38 mins

Treadmill at night time for this. Kept the pace easy, as I'm hoping to put in a decent week of it, so no point pushing it on the easy stuff.

Tues 19th: 10 miles in 1:10 in the morning

Headed out about 10 this morning for a relatively fast run around by Gallstown. Took it easy on the first and the last two miles, and for the rest, did about 6:20-6:50 pace. At this stage, I'll need to start honing in on planned MP, I'm relatively happy with how training is going, but there's a fair bit of work to do yet, and MP still feels fast.

Tues 19th: 5 miles in 38 in the evening.

It was either this or watching the Rose of Tralee. Tough choice. Just a nice handy one on the treadmill.

ThePiedPiper

Weds 20th Aug, am: 4 miles in 31 mins (7:45 pace)

Nice handy run on the treadmill at a very easy pace.

Weds 20th Aug: pm, 11 miles with Yasso 800 session

Into the track, where thankfully people were warming up this week instead of going home when I got there. Did a gentle warmup on the road with the lads before trying to get an idea of what they were planning to do tonight. The group were planning a tempo session that I felt wouldn't be what I was looking for, so decided on my old reliable Yasso session. Got a couple of the splits slightly wrong, but only really a couple of seconds out either way. Felt fairly comfortable right up until about the 7th rep, at which point I was having to work much harder. I was doing them with 300m active recovery, after the 9th, I did a 400m recovery, as I was fecked. However, hit every split well right til the end. Bit of a jog with the lads to finish off the evening.
Splits: 2:47, 2:45, 2:45, 2:43, 2:45, 2:46, 2:45, 2:44, 2:45, 2:45

Thurs 21st: 7.5 miles at 7:51 pace

Out first thing this morning for an easy recovery run. Fresh and breezy morning. With school going back in a week, I think its definitely nearing the end of summer.

yaboya1

How reliable a marathon predictor do you find the Yasso 800 sessions RFR? You must be pleased with the results considering you took shorter recoveries than recommended?