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A Slow Journey to Faster Times

yaboya1

So I finally decided on Seville for my Spring Marathon. The date & costs suit me well and the race seems to be pretty well reviewed by anyone who's previously run it.

This is my first attempt at a training log so please go easy on me!

I've run three previous marathons (3:39, 3:35, 3:34). The aim in Seville is to finally go below 3:30. I've had various things go wrong on me in all of the above, so I think my target is pretty achievable. I haven't done any running since Chicago last month, so I plan to ease back into it gradually for the next month by doing a couple of short/medium runs during the week with a long one at the weekend. Then from the beginning of December I've decided to follow the 12 week 'Up to 55 miles per week' marathon schedule from the Advanced Marathoning book by Pfitzinger & Douglas.

My biggest problem in the past has been going too quickly on my long runs. There are 7 different paces in this plan. I have estimated what pace I should be running them at as follows:

MP runs: 8 min/mile
Long runs: 9 min/mile
Med-long runs: 8:45-9 min/mile
General aerobic runs: 9:30 min/mile
LT runs: 7:35 min/mile
Recovery runs: 12 min/mile
VO2 max intervals: 7 min/mile

If anyone has any comments/observations, I'd be delighted to hear them. Otherwise I'll be back as soon as I get back out on the road.

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DukeOfDromada

Great run. Sub 3 will be easy. Don't suppose you wore your heart rate monitor for this?

yaboya1

DukeOfDromada wrote: »

Don't suppose you wore your heart rate monitor for this?

No, haven't worn it since it started playing up at the end of July.

yaboya1

Monday 8th September (Day 36/56) - Rest/Cross Training

I spent the morning foam rolling and getting in some much needed core work. I'll try and do more of this than normal in the final couple of weeks. Legs were stiff & sore last night, but feel brand new again now. The foam rolling obviously helped, but it's amazing how effective a good night's sleep can be. I must ensure to get far more of these :rolleyes:.

yaboya1

Tuesday 9th September (Day 37/56) - 7m Recovery (with 8 x 100m Strides)
7 miles @ 8:21p/m average

A nice morning jog in the sunshine. Was feeling a bit chesty yesterday, but put some rub on before I went to bed which seemed to help. I also got another amazing night's sleep. 19 days.......

Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:45
Mile 2 - 8:28
Mile 3 - 8:55
Mile 4 - 8:49
Mile 5 - 8:32
Mile 6 - 8:26
Mile 7 - 6:32*

*Strides in the last mile

Ferris B

yaboya1 wrote: »

Monday 8th September (Day 36/56) - Rest/Cross Training

I spent the morning foam rolling and getting in some much needed core work.I'll try and do more of this than normal in the final couple of weeks. Legs were stiff & sore last night, but feel brand new again now. The foam rolling obviously helped, but it's amazing how effective a good night's sleep can be. I must ensure to get far more of these :rolleyes:.

Watch out P, If it's not broke....

A bit of foam rolling yes but don't start introducing anything new at this stage.

yaboya1

Wednesday 10th September (Day 38/56) - 12m Med/Long
12 miles @ 7:37p/m average

Didn't feel great this morning, so decided I'd run the first mile at a comfortable pace and try and match that with the rest of them. Got lost in Kilbarrack after taking a wrong turn in the middle of this, but managed to find my way back out so no harm done. Slowed up prematurely at the end to let the last mile slip above the average :mad:, but otherwise mission accomplished. Felt a bit of a twinge in my left quad while I was out there, so gave it a good stretch when I got back. Seems fine now.

Splits:

Mile 1 - 7:41
Mile 2 - 7:25
Mile 3 - 7:37
Mile 4 - 7:37
Mile 5 - 7:38
Mile 6 - 7:32
Mile 7 - 7:39
Mile 8 - 7:40
Mile 9 - 7:37
Mile 10 - 7:38
Mile 11 - 7:31
Mile 12 - 7:46

yaboya1

Thursday 11th September (Day 39/56) - 5m Recovery (with 6 x 100m Strides), 5m Recovery

I made this a double recovery day as I'm unable to run at all on Saturday, so will fit that session in tomorrow and get back to normal on Sunday.

A.M.
5m Recovery (with 6 x 100m Strides)
5 miles @ 8:18p/m average

Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:45
Mile 2 - 8:30
Mile 3 - 8:33
Mile 4 - 8:36
Mile 5 - 7:05*

*Strides in the last mile

Had to get out pretty early for this one. The beautiful weather we're having lately makes it fairly easy to get out of bed though. No issues from the quad which I felt a bit of a twinge in yesterday.

P.M.
5m Recovery
5 miles @ 8:41p/m average

Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:26
Mile 2 - 8:43
Mile 3 - 8:54
Mile 4 - 8:52
Mile 5 - 8:32

Back out on the road again this evening as soon as I got in from work. Legs felt pretty tight & stiff, so I took it very easy and even stopped for a bit of a stretch after warming up in the first mile. Felt good when I finished though. Looking forward to tomorrow

.

I might do another double recovery day next Friday. Not only is this more practical for me, but it allows me to get my final double figure run in on Saturday giving me an extra running rest day on the Sunday which can't be a bad thing.

yaboya1

Friday 12th September (Day 40/56) - 8-10k Tune up Race (9-11m total)
Yasso 800 Session (9.72 miles total)

1.2m warm-up

(Rep Target: 2:55, Actual: 2:53 average)

Rep 1 - 2:54
Rep 2 - 2:53
Rep 3 - 2:54
Rep 4 - 2:53
Rep 5 - 2:52
Rep 6 - 2:53
Rep 7 - 2:53
Rep 8 - 2:52
Rep 9 - 2:53
Rep 10 - 2:52

*I took 400m active recoveries between reps

1.06m cool down

After some more good advice on here I decided to complete this session rather than the recommended race, as I felt I'd done enough racing in this cycle and would get similar benefits from this workout with a quicker recovery. When I awoke this morning, my legs were like two wooden planks. Very, very stiff. I made sure to give them a good going over with the foam roller, as I didn't want to take any chances and was willing to leave it until this evening before going out for this if necessary. However, the results after rolling the right spots for 20-30mins were amazing and I felt like I'd been given a new pair of legs when I was finished. Decided to hit the road straight after that. Had originally been thinking of heading to the track again for this, but looking outside it seemed like we had another pleasant morning upon us with minimal wind, so I chanced doing it along the coast. I should have known that was a pretty unwise decision!
This was a far more difficult workout than I had given it credit for. I was hoping for individual splits of 2:55 (3:38min/km) to mirror my Berlin Marathon target and mistakenly thought this would be pretty handy, considering I only had to complete half a mile at a time going slower than 5k pace. After little over a mile warm-up, I got stuck into the first rep. The usual strong breeze was present along the coast and I immediately realised this wouldn't be anywhere near as easy as I had expected. The East of Ireland Marathon series (10 in 10?) seemed to be taking place this morning along the promenade, so I moved out to the footpath so I wouldn't be mistaken for a competitor in that. What makes this workout so tough is the fact that once you go beyond your comfort zone, you know you've still got a huge amount of reps ahead of you, so it's vital to conserve energy while trying to hit the target splits at the same time. I suppose it stops you getting complacent though. I certainly didn't and stuck with my race attitude of digging in to hold pace, knowing that the further I held it together on target, the harder it then becomes to f*ck it up! It wasn't until I completed the 8th rep that I knew I had the session in the bag on target. Final average for the splits was 2:53. Very happy with this. Really enjoyed the last mile or so cooling down, knowing I had gotten this under my belt. I didn't need to walk any of the recoveries either which was additionally pleasing

. That's the last of my hard running in this plan, apart from the final VO2 Max session in the middle of next week. In the meantime, I've basically got two rest days ahead of me now as I won't be attempting my long run until Sunday evening sometime.

yaboya1

Saturday 13th September (Day 41/56) - Rest/Cross Training

Might as well stick this up here now, in case I don't get a chance tomorrow....

Not exactly a rest day, with golf early in the morning followed by a wedding later in the day. Does carrying my clubs count as cross training?

FBOT01

yaboya1 wrote: »

Saturday 13th September (Day 41/56) - Rest/Cross Training

Might as well stick this up here now, in case I don't get a chance tomorrow....

Not exactly a rest day, with golf early in the morning followed by a wedding later in the day. Does carrying my clubs count as cross training?

As a very wise auld man once said "Absa fcukin' lutley."

Murph_D

Great session. You're in fine shape for your goal time. Even more impressively, you lasted a long time on the foam roller. What's the secret?

yaboya1

Murph_D wrote: »

Great session. You're in fine shape for your goal time. Even more impressively, you lasted a long time on the foam roller. What's the secret?

No secret. Think I just like pain

SamforMayo

yaboya1 wrote: »

Saturday 13th September (Day 41/56) - Rest/Cross Training

Might as well stick this up here now, in case I don't get a chance tomorrow....

Not exactly a rest day, with golf early in the morning followed by a wedding later in the day. Does carrying my clubs count as cross training?

No but the dancing at the wedding might!
Be careful and don't injury yourself!

blockic

You're like James Bond now. Tomorrow's news today! :pac:

skeleton_boy

Reminds me a bit of:

yaboya1

Sunday 14th September (Day 42/56) - 17m Long Run
17 miles @ 7:52p/m average

This was one of the most difficult runs I have ever completed. I always knew it was going to be a struggle, after a very long & over-indulgent (but thoroughly enjoyable) day yesterday. But that would be a complete understatement. I had the mother of all hangovers today and couldn't even move until around 4pm. I toyed with the idea of pushing it back to tomorrow, but really didn't want to do that if at all possible. At around 6:30pm, I manned up enough to go out the door. The best way I can describe it is: 2 hours, 13 minutes and 47 seconds of hell! I don't feel like I'm exaggerating. But it's done.

Splits:

Mile 1 - 7:59
Mile 2 - 7:58
Mile 3 - 7:49
Mile 4 - 7:58
Mile 5 - 7:55
Mile 6 - 7:52
Mile 7 - 7:53
Mile 8 - 7:53
Mile 9 - 7:54
Mile 10 - 7:51
Mile 11 - 7:53
Mile 12 - 7:47
Mile 13 - 7:57
Mile 14 - 7:52
Mile 15 - 7:50
Mile 16 - 7:43
Mile 17 - 7:44

Pacing Mule

LOL 17 miles with a massive hangover.

Yaboya Before ...

Yaboya after

yaboya1

Pacing Mule wrote: »

LOL 17 miles with a massive hangover.

Yaboya Before ...

Yaboya after

I still feel like the top one......

yaboya1

Monday 15th September (Day 43/56) - Rest

Continuing to get over my weekend exploits today. Slept well last night, but was still tired & sluggish when I hit the golf course late this morning. Eighteen holes has always been a good curer for me after a rough day/night, usually ridding me of any lingering effects and leaving me feeling refreshed afterwards. I was physically and mentally drained during this round and was starting to let some loose shots/missed putts get to me, when I noticed that the guy in the group ahead had Cerebral Palsy. This gave me a bit of a reality check and I immediately stopped feeling sorry for myself, considering any suffering I've done lately is completely self-inflicted. Makes you realise how lucky you are to be in a position to run marathons etc.
No more self pity on this log!

yaboya1

Tuesday 16th September (Day 44/56) - 7m General Aerobic (with 8 x 100m Strides)
7 miles @ 7:25p/m average

I hate these runs! They should be relatively comfortable considering the pace I'm doing them at, but I've had to complete two of these sessions in the past fortnight and found them both horrible. As much as I'm looking forward to Berlin, I'm glad it's 12 days away as I wouldn't fancy myself at all if it was on this Sunday.

Splits:

Mile 1 - 7:40
Mile 2 - 7:28
Mile 3 - 7:30
Mile 4 - 7:38
Mile 5 - 7:37
Mile 6 - 6:26*
Mile 7 - 7:36

*Strides in Mile 6 (so I could use the lamp posts along the promenade as markers)

yaboya1

Wednesday 17th September (Day 45/56) - 4m Recovery
4 miles @ 8:44p/m average

I spent the morning doing core work, with some cross training (golf

) in the afternoon. It was this evening before I got out for these very boring recovery miles. I suppose no news is good news though? Last VO2 Max session tomorrow.

Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:42
Mile 2 - 8:40
Mile 3 - 8:55
Mile 4 - 8:43

yaboya1

Thursday 18th September (Day 46/56) - 8m (with 3 x 1,600m @ VO2Max)

2.02m warm-up

3 x 1,600m splits (with 4:00min recovery)

1 - 5:30
2 - 5:28
3 - 5:27

1.83m cool down

I've been dreading this session all week. I haven't done anything quick since last week and was afraid I wouldn't be able to hit the targets. Anyway I literally felt sick before I went out and was already making excuses in my head. I'm not sure how much of this was mental, but I was sweating during the warm up and felt I was going to vomit if I went any faster. I knew it would do me no favours (especially confidence wise) if this didn't go well though, with virtually nothing else to test me between now and the big day. This was my final mock exam. I decided sick or not, I'd be doing my best to nail this. 3:27min/km is the current 5k pb pace, so splits of 5:31 for the 1600m were the targets. After jogging for two miles I began the first interval. 400m in I was already starting to feel it. but when I looked at the watch that was because I was moving at 3:10min/km pace

. Knowing I could afford to slow a bit and still hit the target definitely helped my mental state and I relaxed after that. The other two followed a pretty similar pattern, and although I did feel like vomiting (I didn't :P) I managed to get through them all on target without any walking recoveries. Amazingly I now feel much better physically after completing that. Maybe it was all in my head???

Cleanman

Great session! You're all set now. Hard work complete. Time to kick back, tick off the easy miles and get ready for a great race. Your improvements in 2014 have been massive and it's been great to follow. Here's hoping Berlin follows in the same vein as the rest of the year....and there's no reason it shouldn't given the excellent prep you've put in.

Killerz

Great stuff yaboya. You're right about stuff being all in the head and that will try play tricks with you over the next week or so. And don't worry, I made sure FBOT was worn out yesterday after the miles he joined me for, so he'll be no competition for ya!

dukeraoul

Hay in barn. All you can do now is **** it up- but you aren't gonna do that. Whatever workouts are left in your plan do them but forget about hitting splits or any of that... The work is done, you're gonna nail Berlin now just get those legs rested and ready !

FBOT01

Killerz wrote: »

Great stuff yaboya. You're right about stuff being all in the head and that will try play tricks with you over the next week or so. And don't worry, I made sure FBOT was worn out yesterday after the miles he joined me for, so he'll be no competition for ya!

Thanks J. I am not sure I was ever competition. I did have aspirations at an early point in the cycle that I might be able to still see him when he crossed the line. Those evaporated as soon as he started jogging 6:30 min/mile at the end of his LSR @ 140 BPM

yaboya1

FBOT01 wrote: »

Thanks J. I am not sure I was ever competition. I did have aspirations at an early point in the cycle that I might be able to still see him when he crossed the line. Those evaporated as soon as he started jogging 6:30 min/mile at the end of his LSR @ 140 BPM

We'll see. Yourself & TbL love talking yourself down, then beating your pre-race target with minutes to spare :pac:

FBOT01

yaboya1 wrote: »

We'll see. Yourself & TbL love talking yourself down, then beating your pre-race target with minutes to spare :pac:

If I can beat it by seconds on the 28th I will be a very happy camper!

yaboya1

Friday 19th September (Day 47/56) - 5m Recovery
5 miles @ 8:46p/m average

Just a few easy recovery miles after work. Legs felt very heavy & weary this evening. Must be saving themselves for what they know is coming next week

. Gave myself a going over with the foam roller, along with a good stretch afterwards to loosen me out. Only 47 miles left to cover between now and toeing the start line in nine days

.

Splits:

Mile 1 - 9:00
Mile 2 - 8:53
Mile 3 - 8:30
Mile 4 - 8:44
Mile 5 - 8:42

p.s. I see TbL must have been in Dublin again today. There are some fresh sandbags discarded along the coast in Clontarf he seems to have left behind

ThebitterLemon

Not mine, isn't that Statlers neck of the woods, check with him

Taper madness gettin to you P!

TbL