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Timber!!

overpronator

As you may have guessed from the title this thread is going to be my training log!

Bad jokes out of the way I have found the training logs on here to be both extremely educational and motivational. Furthermore they brought home to me what required to properly improve and the work people put in to do that, I have great admiration for many posters on here and hopefully with chat and feedback through this thread I can improve bit by bit.

About me, I'm a 30 year old male with a pretty sedentary job. In the past I played GAA at a good, sometimes very good level but succumbed to injury and more accurately apathy and pints in my early to mid twenties. The most exercise I got over a 5 year period consisted of five a side a couple of times a week thinking that was keeping me fit, the usual nonsense.

I started running properly about 18 months ago when I "trained" for the Irish runner 5 miler in the park. That involved going up there once or twice a week for the 3 weeks before the race and tearing around the course as fast as I could:). That progressed to the remaining races in the race series where through the graduates 2012 thread I picked up some basics, got some long runs in and got myself around DCM12 just under the 4 hour mark at 3.54

Last year I got more structured and followed a Hal Higdon type plan for the Limerick marathon. I had a tough day finishing in 3.36 blowing up around 20 miles chasing 3.30. I did the race series again last summer and followed a Hybrid plan of P&D which I supplemented with Meno's midweek long MP sessions in place of VO2 max workouts for the last 5 weeks and got around in a comfortable 3.26.

My current PB's are

5k 19.48
10k 41.00
10 Mile 68.45
Half 1.34.03
Marathon 3.26.51

The goals for this year however ambitious, were (and still are) a sub 40 10k and a sub 1.30 half.
The little matter of the London Marathon 2014 has gotten in the way of specifically focusing on these goals. I hadn't intended on doing a Spring Marathon this year but myself and my GF got offered a spot so I couldn't turn it down really.
I'm currently following the 12 week P&D plan up to 55 miles and have been just doing slow base building for the month before the plan started. I will follow the structure of the plan quite closely but will add more mileage depending on how I feel but will again supplement some of the VO2 max workouts at the end with longer marathon specific efforts as I think it was these sessions from Meno's graduates plan last summer that made the difference for me in DCM 13.

From my PBs its clear that my endurance isn't really where it should be yet so hopefully another marathon cycle with more fast finish long runs, sessions Ive never really gotten to grips with will help with that.
Ill post again later with a summary of what ive been up to for the last 3 or so weeks, hopefully this log will keep me more active on here for feedback as im sporadic enough when it comes to posting but love to lurk!

Comments, feedback and general slagging welcome.

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overpronator

Tuesday 6.6 miles 8.23 pace
Nice easy run in the lashing rain on Tuesday evening, I always enjoy running in the rain but wasn't so impressed when I got drowned by a Bus Eireann bus flying through a puddle up at the N4 at Islandbridge!

Wednesday 6x half mile
This was a session inbetween the 10k specific stuff on McMillan's plan, the idea being to run faster than 10k pace to make subsequent 10k stuff feel a little bit easier. I was going to do 800s but for ease I set the Garmin to 0.5 miles (804 metres). I did a three mile warmup with some strides before starting, splits were

2.50 (5.40)
3.03 (6.07)
2.55 (5.52)
2.57 (5.52)
2.59 (5.59)
2.52 (5.44)
These were done off 1.30 jogged recovery.

I was happy with this apart from the second split where I'm annoyed that I lost a bit of concentration into the wind on the acres and let the pace slip. The most pleasing part was that I completed it without wanting to die and maybe even held myself back a bit in the middle. Last week I did the 10k session in trainers as it turned out to be a 12 mile session I knew flats would be risky, this week I did it in flats for an 8 mile session and my legs are beat to sh*t today! I'm off to Spain tomorrow for a short few days break so ill bring the runners for some light jogs but ill take it fairly easy I think.

overpronator

Haven't logged in ages as there has been nothing to say. A week or so after my last session a calf/upper ankle niggle I have fighting (ignoring :rolleyes:) off since Bohermeen really hit me in a big way, so much so I couldn't walk after easy runs and had dull pain all day long. I thought I could jog through it with easy running but to no avil. After physio visits and starting a strengthening program Im finally feeling myself this week for the first time in about 6 weeks but mileage has fallen off a cliff as every easy jog has been agony and I haven't ran a session in over 6 weeks

I'm glad I just let it run its course though and that I wasn't something serious like a stress fracture as I can look forward to the next few months now hopefully.

Today with physios blessing I did the Griffeen parkrun in 20.01 (6.26 pace) and I found it tough. I didn't look at the watch at all until I finished as I didn't want an eyeballs out chase for a time, it was a see where i'm at run (if that makes sense) so I kept it to effort, I was certainly hurting by the end though and from the splits I slowed up over miles 2&3. To put that into context I ran the Terenure 5 miler at 6.20 pace so I have lost a good bit of ground.

I have a last physio appointment booked for Wednesday and provided I feel 100% and get the OK its the Fingal 10k on Sunday. No chance of a decent time there but luckily it seems like I should be able to get going again from now, fingers crossed.

overpronator

Easy 5 mile recovery on Sunday afternoon through some heavy trail wooded areas, pace was naturally all over the shop but the legs felt good the day after this which is the main thing.

Last night was 10 miles easy in and around the park. I had company for the first 6 which was good as the pace stayed nice and sedate, around 8.45 I think. I was tired enough after this so another indicator of where I am at the minute but I was glad to get something almost approaching long in this week. Thankfully the legs are mostly pain free with a couple of bumps and bruises here and there, nothing drastic. I have the last physio tonight and after a chat with him ill decide on Fingal. I'm pretty sure Ill be good to go for that as I feel ok and there were no after effects whatsoever from the parkrun.
In terms of plans for the rest of the summer ill probably target the Blessington 10k and the Dublin Half, but the main concern now will be to formulate a training plan to get the legs moving again. Anybody got any suggestions?

*edit to say that I hit 1000 for the year at long last yesterday, really tore the arse out of the last couple of months though!

overpronator

I woke up late for this so it was a bit of a mad rush to get up to Swords in time, by the time I got parked and handed the bag in there wasn't a whole lot of time for a warmup, I managed a jog and some strides and the legs felt quite good. I had done 4 miles with 8 or so good fast strides Saturday and I think that really had helped.
Just as I was heading for the start area I ran into Statss and outforarun, we had quick chat before lining up. I let them go ahead as I was planning on running a bit slower than things panned out. The parkrun last week (20.01) put me down for a 41.34, so I just said I wouldn't push too much beyond that in the first 5k at least in case I aggravated my calf again.

I started way too far back as it turned out and was weaving like crazy until we hit the dual carriageway, the pace was around 6.55 here so not great but it was still early. Once we turned onto the main road I got some open space and the pace started to tick down to about 6.35, nice one, but then my right lace came loose, amateur mistake. The really funny thing is that I had tied my left lace right before the race set off, delighted with myself that I had staved off the potential disaster of an open lace during the race! I pulled over to the side and tied it up but lost 7 or 8 seconds I think, you can see the big cadence drop on the garmin file but I cant tell exactly how much time it cost me but I pushed on once I got going again so I likely made a decent bit of it up.
Mile 1 6.43
Mile 2 I settled into a nice rhythm on the downhill and was looking out for a group to run with but I was passing alot of people here, still not feeling overly comfortable but I was getting into my stride
Mile 2 6.26
I was glad to come up the little rise and take the left hand turn onto the relative shelter of the country roads and almost like magic I started to feel good and strong. I pushed the effort on here and continued to pass people, I felt in control for the first time and I think I came through the 5K marker in about 20.25ish.
Mile 3 6.30
The 4th and 5th mile I consciously upped the effort as I was feeling stronger and also ran into Statss somewhere along this stretch. It came at the perfect time as I was starting to think I was cooked, we ran together for the guts of a mile and having someone moving at the same pace at this point was a huge help.
Mile 4 6.31, Mile 5 6.21
The final mile was tough, I had bigged up the drag in my head from last year as it knocked the sh!te out of me then. It wasn't quite as bad as I remembered but by 5.5 miles I got that usual nauseous feeling and the legs really were like lead. Plenty of people skipped parts of the course along here, cutting corners and the like and that definitely spurred me to keep pushing. I glanced at the watch as we rounded the final corner with 39.45 on it, I could see the finish but I knew that sub 40.00 was well out of reach, sub 40.30 was in the bag so I cruised home fairly controlled along the final stretch to finish in 40.16.
Mile 5 6.35

I was really genuinely surprised with the time as its a fairly solid PB, 40 odd seconds. It shows how much of this game really is in the head as I was convinced that I was in terrible shape but still ran a PB despite myself. Maybe with a bit more self belief and conviction early on sub 40 was on, who knows. In saying that though going out too hard early on would probably have lead to a huge blowup. What I do know is that I love this race and this course, fast with a tough finish. Its up there with the Bohermeen half as my favourite race now I think.
Afterwards it was great to meet up with so many people from on here and have a chat. The best part was the great times ran by all with plenty now in the sub 40 club and a marvellous showing from yaboya. That man just gets better!
Next up is the DLR 10k in two weeks, not sure if that's a viable sub 40 shot as I believe its a tough enough course but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless. Blessington is the real target now, if I can hold things together.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/545427403

Bahanaman

Excellent result! Well done!

overpronator

Did a very handy 4 mile recovery run on Monday around 9.25 pace and it was a sore enough effort but that was to be expected. Yesterday I was absolutely wrecked after work so pushed the Mlr r in back to tonight and took a day off.
Tonight was 10 miles in the Phoenix park at 8.12 pace, this was a bit fast due to the immense heat and by the last mile I was puffing a good bit! The legs felt really good though just still a wee bit tired so it's all good.

overpronator

Last Thursday was an easy 5 miler, I threw in some strides in the middle to wake the legs up and felt good after.
On Saturday I made my way down to Naas to meet a mate and take in the parkrun. Its a nice 2.5 lap course, run on the ambulance track around the racecourse. For reference it's probably a bit slower than Griffeen with a couple of longish exposed drags but definitely a fair course as there are some downhill sections. I got around in 19.38 for 5th place and found that tough going, the Garmin measured it as 3.06 but its been acting the maggot alot lately so I'm not sure if the course actually came up short, a good workout nonetheless.
Sunday I was back home in Drogheda and had company for 6 of the 12 miles of a MLR, I took in some of the Oldbridge parkrun course on this one and it looks a tough run, all cross country with some really overgrown sections, I couldn't see myself going under 20 mins on it but id say it would be a good one to toughen you up! The pace was easy apart from a couple of steadier miles in the middle where I was on my own and happily the legs felt good.
Last night I had a rest day as I was at a work conference so tonight ill do some speedwork and get a longer run in probably Thursday ahead of the DLR 10k on the bank holiday Monday.

overpronator

Last night I did my first speed session in ages up on the acres road lap in the phoenix park, a nice and simple 5x1k.
I had originally intended to do the 3x1k session that outforarun did on his log but I somehow didn't cop on that I actually had 6 days to recover from this before the DLR 10k on Monday so I changed to the full 5 at the last minute.
Going on the Fingal 10k my 5k pace by Mcmillan is 6.14. The splits came back as:

3:50 (6.17)
3.45 (6.10)
3.42 (6.04)
3.49 (6.15)
3.39 (5.59)

It was windy as ever up there last night so it was difficult to keep the splits consistent but the effort felt right and I reckon I could have pushed it on a bit more if I needed to, an enjoyable one overall.

overpronator

Wednesday after 1K reps I did an easy 4 miler to shake the session off and thankfully the legs were in good nick, I did this too fast for it to be a true recovery run (8.35) but I had somewhere to be Wednesday evening so was just glad to get it in.
With the DLR 10k on Monday last night was my only chance to get a longer run in for the week so I did 14 miles easy, 8.30 pace. I was in no mood to run this far when I got home from work but I dragged myself out and got it done, really glad its in the tank now as its my longest run in a while.
I'm feeling pretty tired today so I might take a rest this evening, either way it'll be a few days easy running and some strides before the race Monday.

Beef

Good to squeeze in the LSR OP, they can loom over you.

overpronator

Beef wrote: »

Good to squeeze in the LSR OP, they can loom over you.

Yeah Beef, I would have been kicking myself for a week if I had skipped it!

Bahanaman

overpronator wrote: »

Yeah Beef, I would have been kicking myself for a week if I had skipped it!

I was in the same boat a couple of months ago training for Waterford. Had a MLR planned on a Wed but was still sitting watching telly at 10 pm! After another 20 min arguing with myself up I got off my lazy a&se. I didn't get out until around half 10! 13 miles later I was back absolutely thrilled wit myself and I looked on it as a milestone in my training for that race. (I also remember ducking into gateways whenever a car came so that people didn't think I was totally cracked!):D

overpronator

39.52 by the watch in the DLR 10K this morning, delighted!

yaboya1

overpronator wrote: »

39.52 by the watch in the DLR 10K this morning, delighted!

You need to set a new target for Blessington now

Sub 39??
Well done

overpronator

yaboya1 wrote: »

You need to set a new target for Blessington now
Sub 39??
Well done

Thanks, ha ha, if I went and improved that much over the next few weeks I'd be looking for a name change to yaboya2!!

DOCO12

overpronator wrote: »

39.52 by the watch in the DLR 10K this morning, delighted!

Sub 40, sweet

congrats and well done!

Beef

Great result - well done OP!

RedRunner

Brilliant. Well done. Not exactly a flat course I believe either!

overpronator

So yesterday was the DLR bay 10k out in Dun Laoghire and after an being encouraged and fairly surprised by my run in the Fingal 10k (40.16) it was my first "official" attempt at running sub 40.
I knew the course was certainly one of two halfs, i.e the first half hilly and the second fast so I knew I needed a plan! I had been taking a look at the results from this over the last week and had noticed that there was a 5k split time given. When I checked out the people running in and around 40 mins I noticed that generally the people who ran 20.20 ish for the first 5k were either finishing in 39 low or missing the sub 40. There were more people running about 20.40 kinda territory and then getting in under 40, guessing that these runners knew what they were at that's the plan I set out with, first 5k north of 20.35 and see what I had left for the trip home.
It was a really sunny day in the village and standing in the pen the sun really began to beat down so I was glad when we set off.

It was really hard to hold back from 10k pace over the first mile, I kept the pace easy over the gentle rolling drags on this mile and felt good
Mile 1 6.34
Right at the start of Mile 2 we started climbing a bit with the drag turning into a sharp little hill as we turned off the seafront and onto Seafield avenue, I was glad that id started conservatively as this mile finished
Mile 2 6.38
Mile 3 started with the relief of a decent downhill for the first quarter so I picked up a bit of time here and saw that I was moving at close to 6.15 pace for this section, more climbing for the remainder of the mile and I was starting to feel it now
Mile 3 6.37
I came through 5k exactly on schedule, around 20.41 but to be honest I was hoping that I would feel alot better than I did, I knew that id have to run a big 5K pb on the way back to come in under 40 and felt at this stage that it wasn't on. We reached the top of the final, biggest hill at 3.5 miles and the course started to make its was back down to the sea thankfully. There was a bit of a wind in our faces here which made things tough and I didn't feel like I was recovering too well
Mile 3 6.37
We got a nice sheltered downhill as we turned off the main road towards the sea and the legs started to turn over again, I was trying to push as hard as I could but it was really tough going and the mind was telling me to slow up. I started trying to pick people off and the pace ticked down well under 10k pace here but the legs were getting very heavy, I could spot some DSD vests in the distance, a guy and a girl, I focused on them and made up alot of time here passing the guy towards the end of the mile.
Mile 5 6.06
As we weaved our way through Sandycove and hit the seafront I was really hurting, the course had levelled out but the pace was sitting at 6.10 on the watch so I was making up alot of time. I had a field showing average pace for the entire run up and it read as 6.27 half a mile from home. I knew id be gutted if I didn't give it everything here as sub 40 was on. I upped the pace further and hit for for home, there was a little drag at Teddys Ice cream parlour which BeebBeeb 67 had mentioned over on the race thread as

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

9.2k - Finish back through the start line and a cheeky little climb up past Teddy's Ice Cream Parlor which you probably didn't notice 1st time

This part completely took the wind out of my sails, the legs were like blocks of wood and I though I was done here, I was calling it a certain C word alright as I got over it, but not the one BB67 had used:)
I had passed the DSD girl, (I think she finished 3rd woman) before the bump but she got me again past the drag but as I could see the finish gantry way off in the distance I dropped the hammer again and passed her just just before the end. All eyes were on the clock and it ticked just past 40 as I finished so I knew id scraped under. That last mile was a serious mental effort as much as anything. Every bit of me just wanted to slow up but I'm so glad I pushed on and I'm delighted that I could run that mostly flat final mile at the pace I did.
Mile 6 6.04 (5.17)

I had my usual dry retch/splutter and it took me a minute or so to pull myself together, it was nice to see BB67 and clan at the finish but I don't think I made much sense, it took me a good hour before the delight at hitting 39 hit! I think the plan to go out a tad easier is what did it, plus being able to see what looked like the finish from a long way out! A great event, probably the best organised race I've done so Id recommend it to everyone.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/556856735

outforarun

Brilliant running. Very clever planning as well, checking the 5K splits from the previous year, I would never have thought of doing that. Fair play for sticking with it over the last 5K, it cannot be easy to pick up the pace like you did when you weren't feeling as good as you'd hoped at halfway.

See you in Blessington.

overpronator

Cheers man, luckily I had a good day yesterday as it was touch and go really until the 6th mile

Bulmers74

Well done - congrats on the sub 40. Excellent race plan execution.

Tom Joad

Well done on the Sub 40 and the perfectly executed race

statss

savage racing there buddy! super stuff.

overpronator

statss wrote: »

savage racing there buddy! super stuff.

Cheers man, you tempted to tick the box down in Blessington yourself?

statss

overpronator wrote: »

Cheers man, you tempted to tick the box down in Blessington yourself?

at a wedding that weekend unfortunately.

overpronator

Just a quick update to what was a quiet enough week. After the hard effort of 10k on Monday the main goal was to recover this week.

Tuesday
4 mile recovery run, 9.23 pace. The legs didn't feel too bad on this thankfully, there were a few little tight spots but nothing bad. The pace was exactly what the legs gave back to me as I was feeling pretty tired.

Thursday
I took Wednesday as a rest day, Thursday was an easy 10 miler, 8.17 pace. I was still feeling tired but its a long time since I enjoyed a run so much. I kept it really easy and the miles just ticked by. Alot of this was on grass as I ran right across the seven acres in the phoenix park from the top of the upper glen road to the khyber road at the other side to finish the run. Lovely.

Friday
Another easy run, 5 miles 8.15 pace. I threw 7 or 8 good solid strides in here to help wake the legs up and I felt great as this one finished and no complaints from the legs

Sunday
On Sunday I jumped in with the Team Carrie training group down in Dunleer for their long run, 14 miles in spitting rain on the rolling hills of mid Louth. Again the pace was nice and easy, 8.23 and we were running in a group as big as 10 people in places. This was a big novelty for me as I do nearly all my runs alone, I can really see how being in a club would benefit the long runs. 14 miles in total and it was over before I knew it, I had planned on doing 16 this weekend as the long run but I didn't mind missing out on 2 miles in exchange for running in a group with the added bonus of tea and cakes in the clubrooms after. Nice one.

Not a bad week overall with a good race run and just over 40 miles in total.

career move

Hey OP

Well done on the sub 40 and on a tough enough course too. Nice one

outforarun

overpronator wrote: »

Alot of this was on grass as I ran right across the seven acres in the phoenix park from the top of the upper glen road to the khyber road at the other side to finish the run. Lovely.

I've been meaning to try this for some time now. Must be great in nice weather. And could be a real tasty challenge in high winds and rain.

overpronator

career move wrote: »

Hey OP

Well done on the sub 40 and on a tough enough course too. Nice one

Cheers CM, hope you're keeping well. Was really delighted to just about squeak in under the 40. I think it pales in comparison to your achievements in the beast though, I just wouldn't be able for much more than running in straight lines:)!!