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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

I headed to Waterford on Saturday on the back of a few weeks of decent enough mileage and a series of tempo sessions which suggested that I could go a bit better than my PB of 1.28.04. Thanks to BeepBeep67 for the guidance there.
As we lined up at the start I was very hopeful of a 1.27 and possibly a 1.26 if it went to well. I had decided to go out around 6.35 pace and hold it as long as I could but this approach was very much out the window almost immediately.
I lined up a row ahead of the 1.30 pacers and straight away we hit a large downhill section for about a third of a mile before hitting a significant drag for well over a mile. A glance at the watch at the bottom of the hill had me at 6.10 pace and feeling easy due to the gradient but this ticked back as the mile progressed into the hill. I didn't care about pace as I made my way up the drag just concentrated on keeping the effort right. At 1.5 miles the course fell away again as me made our way out past Genzyme and into the industrial estate where another drag greeted us. At this point my pace was all over the place with the undulations so I decided to ignore splits from here and go on feel
Miles 1-3 6.31, 6.42, 6.24

Once we exited the windy roads of the industrial estate the course fell away gently with some short drags as we made our way through some residential areas. The relentless up and down of it all had me a bit worried as I didn't feel great and doubted whether I could hold the effort. Around 5ish miles I fell into a small group with a Waterford A.C runner and another from a Cork Club (Green and White Hoops), we got into a solid rhythm and began reeling in others, this helped alot and I began to settle and feel better. Mile 7 began another long steep drag which lasted a full mile, I felt ok going up it and wasn't really too strained, our group had grown to 6 or 7 now and we were all moving well
Miles 4-7 6.38, 6.27, 6.22, 6.36

By mile 8 I was starting to hurt, a sharp dowhill did damage to my quads and a seemingly never ending section along country roads with really poor footing was draining me big time. The demons had started to arrive! Thankfully a gel woke me up in a massive way as we reentered civilization and smooth tarmac again. I found myself moving away from the group gradually here, the section along those small roads had bitten a good few. The Waterford AC runner was still with me but as we hit a long drag back through the housing estate from earlier I dropped him. This was by far the toughest part of the race with a strong headwind and an exposed drag to deal with. I could see a couple of vests ahead and managed to pass 3 runners along here but I was gritting the teeth at this stage. Around mile 10 I spotted Angela McCann off in the distance so she became my target to chase after. Come the end of mile 10 I was really struggling in the wind and could feel my lower legs starting to cramp on the outsides

, I even took a slight speed wobble into a hedge which was coming out onto the road and snagged my watch on it which paused it for a second, things were getting ropey:eek: Once I got back onto a more sheltered section on mile 11 I picked it up and felt better. I have to say I was delighted to see the roundabout at 12 miles after that 2 mile drag as I knew it was a fast finish
Miles 8-12 6.25, 6.33, 6.35, 6.41, 6.32

As I hit the big downhill on the final mile I was running as hard as I could and gaining on Angela McCann, passing her half a mile from home. I could see BeebBeep67 off in the distance too so he became the next person to chase although I made ground into him he was never gonna be caught and would have left me for dust anyway had I got near him.:D. One last little drag up to the finish and I passed another 2 runners before the final turn for home. I was in bits here and the legs were gone. Pushing in that final mile was painful and I couldn't believe that the clock was reading 1.24xx as I rounded the corner onto the straight. I retched and spluttered for a minute or two once I crossed but seeing 1.24.5x on the watch was such a shock in all honesty. Delighted.
Mile 13 5.56 (4.53)

Chip Time 1.24.56 position 103/1511
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/646193490

According to Strava I also ran an unofficial 10 mile PB (64.38) as well as a sub 40 10k to close it out, you gotta love lightening fast closing miles.
Afterwards I met a number of the Boards crew for a quick chat and it was great to meet Murph_D, Ecoli and TRR for the first time. Overall this is a great race, the facilities at WIT are top class and the course is very fair so another one for the calendar.
Personally, it was a nice way to round off a good running year for me, my half pb this time last year was 1.34.04 so all is good. Marathon training beckons now for the Springtime.

Murph_D

I think I remember that bush! Great racing, savage PB, nice report. Good to meet you after.

overpronator

Murph_D wrote: »

I think I remember that bush! Great racing, savage PB, nice report. Good to meet you after.

Likewise D and the bush definitely caught me out aright. Who ever said running in straight lines was easy!

Murph_D

It was a good course for running a good line with all the bends. As long as you didn't get run over! (Or bushwhacked.)

outforarun

Great report. Congrats again. 1:28 to 1:24 in just a few weeks is no mean feat. Hopefully we'll have some overlap on our marathon LSRs.

dintbo

Great report, Nicely done on Saturday!

Duanington

Congrats on a super run Overpronator , very impressive splits - well done

overpronator

Recovery from the half is the name of the game this week so everything I've done since has been easy running.

Sunday 4.3M 8.55 pace
There was a good bit of DOMs in the quads here and fairly tight calf/soleus, all to be expected but I was able to run fine which was good.

Monday 4.2M 8.53 pace
The same run again Monday keeping it at recovery pace. The legs had freshened up a fair bit since Sunday but my quads were still fairly sore.

Took Tuesday off to give the legs a chance and I was feeling wrecked, this tends to happen to me the Tuesday after a weekend race lately.

Wednesday 7.8 M 8.31 pace
I met a mate for this one and we headed into the park, a gale blowing in our faces up the north road kept things nice and sedate before taking advantage of it a bit coming down Chesterfield. A nice run and the legs feel 95% at this stage.

Easy running for the rest of the week and I will do 90 mins or so at the weekend, legs allowing.

Bahanaman

yaboya1 wrote: »

I think AMK, Gavlor & belcarra all followed the BAA plan for their Spring Marathons this year, so maybe ask them what they thought. I'm sure there's a few more who've followed it too, but I can't think of any off hand.

I think if you pb'd off a haphazard version of the 12/55 plan, following the 18/70 plan would make you a certainty to run a significant pb again, especially considering the base building you've been doing.

I followed the BAA plan for Waterford this year. Was in the best shape of my life. Things went well and I finished up injury free which is always a help! I'd recommend it.

overpronator

Bahanaman wrote: »

I followed the BAA plan for Waterford this year. Was in the best shape of my life. Things went well and I finished up injury free which is always a help! I'd recommend it.

Thanks for the heads up Bahanaman, I appreciate it. Ill have a read over your log for sure! I'm leaning towards the BAA plan at the minute I think. What would you say were the things your liked the most and didn't like about it and what kind of mileage did you top out at? Cheers again.

adrian522

Which one are you looking at? I did the BAA Intermediate plan, think I maxed out at 70 miles on that.

overpronator

adrian522 wrote: »

Which one are you looking at? I did the BAA Intermediate plan, think I maxed out at 70 miles on that.

It will be my fifth marathon so Ill go with the advanced I think. I reckon I would top out at 65-70. What were your thoughts on the plan?

adrian522

I enjoyed it, it had a good mix of different paces and didn't repeat the sessions too often. It had runs 6 days a week which was tough going at times but I think it got me to the start line in great shape.

I made a few changes to fit in some races I wanted to do. I also changed around the last few weeks a bit as there wasn't much of a taper in the plan as it is published.

Bahanaman

overpronator wrote: »

Thanks for the heads up Bahanaman, I appreciate it. Ill have a read over your log for sure! I'm leaning towards the BAA plan at the minute I think. What would you say were the things your liked the most and didn't like about it and what kind of mileage did you top out at? Cheers again.

Jaysus I dunno if following my log will be any use op! I used to swap the midweek speed session from the plan for whatever my club was doing on the Wednesday night track session. All I know is that I went from a 3:17:59 pb to being able to have a lash at the sub 3. (2:57 in Waterford but short course :mad:!) I also did the advanced plan as I didn't see too much of a difference between it and the intermediate one as far as I can remember and they were both six days a week. The days is a tough ask but once you get into it it is worth it and you'll find it difficult to actually take the day off! Another thing I liked is that the distances prescribed for each day were flexible so you could do the smaller amount of mileage and not feel too guilty because you'd still be sticking to the plan! Edit: I think the highest mileage I did in a week was 69. Never got to the 70!

overpronator

Thursday 7.5 miles 8.05 pace
I remember nothing about this one!

Friday 5.5 miles 7.58 pace
This was one of the coldest nights I can remember in a good while. Glad when it was over.

Saturday 10.6 miles 7.58 pace
I hit the phoenix park on Saturday morning for a steadish run, where I started easy and picked it up a bit before the end. I really enjoyed this one and the legs felt great. Very cold again but thankfully dry and calm.

Sunday 14.5 hrs 8.08 pace
I met outforarun on this one and the miles ticked by very quickly as we chatted our way through a random tour of Dublin 15 and Dublin 7. The pace ended up being a bit on the steadier side without any deliberate effort as we made our way down the Canal towards Phibbsboro, another enjoyable one hopefully we can get a few of these in during marathon training after Christmas as company makes these runs seem so much easier.

I managed to just make 50 miles for the week with easy running and at this stage I feel well recovered from Waterford. I'm on about 1840ish miles for the year I think so hitting 1900 will be the plan before year end.

ThebitterLemon

Sunday 14.5 hrs 8.08 pace

Over 14 hours at 8 min pace I'm impressed

TbL

overpronator

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Sunday 14.5 hrs 8.08 pace

Over 14 hours at 8 min pace I'm impressed

TbL

Thanks for pointing that out, never realised I was such an animal!

outforarun

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Sunday 14.5 hrs 8.08 pace

Over 14 hours at 8 min pace I'm impressed

TbL

see that's the danger when you're yapping away - no wonder my calves were at me near the end.

overpronator

I better update the log before I forget everything. Last week will have been my final week of ok mileage for the year where I hit just over 50 miles but missed a scheduled recovery run leaving it at 5 runs.

Monday 8.3 miles 8.17 pace
A handy lap of the phoenix park with a mate, 70 mins

Wednesday 12.3 miles 8.09 pace
The last midweek medium run of the year. Headed up to Ashtown and back down blackhorse avenue and then out to Chapelizod. I kept the pace on the easy side and had no interest in dipping under 8 min pace.

Thursday 45 mins@MP (9 miles in all)
I used one of Ecoli's sessions from the continuity thread to get a bit of a session in for the week 45 mins@ MP. My MP according to Vdot is 6.49, now I'm under no illusions about that being my MP come spring but I will train to Vdot paces as much as I can over the next while.
The average pace for the session came in at 6.53 for 6.54 miles. It didn't feel like marathon pace effort but it didn't feel tough like a lactate threshold run either so I feel like I could build this run up over time and make a call on final MP after Bohermeen. Im thinking something between 3:05 and 3:10 is a realistic goal at this stage based on that run.

Friday 4.3 miles 9.16 pace
A nice recovery run with the better half Friday, I kept the HR well under 130 and ignored the pace. Felt tired on this one.

Saturday 17.1 miles 8.11 pace
This one was a bit of a slog after 12 miles, I think I was a bit tired from a poor nights sleep the night before and the session Thursday. I got it done and was very glad once it was in the can on a very windy day

That was 51 or so miles but I ended up missing an easy run on Sunday just down to the season that's in it and yesterday was the same:rolleyes:

Tuesday 8.1 miles 7.33 miles
I hit the roads back home in Drogheda for a 60 minute run today and after 2 days rest the legs felt great so it turned into a bit of a steadier effort along a hilly enough out and back 8 miles. I also passed 1900 miles for the year which was nice as it's now over 500 miles more than last year. Need to do better mileage wise next year though.

overpronator

So 2015 is upon us and after a short break from the log and boards its time to gear up again but first a brief summary of 2014 if anyone is interested. I started the log around this time last year with two goals for 2014, sub 40 10k and a sub 90 half.

The year started with London marathon training where I had a pretty consistent buildup with a couple of very ropey weeks immediately after the Bohermeen half where I picked up a calf niggle that would stay with me until mid summer. I managed to run a good PB in Bohermeen 1.31.04 (despite trying for the sub 90 and not having it) down from 1.34.04, so going into London I was confident of solid PB. In the end I had a dream race, knocking nearly 11 minutes off the PB running 3.15.52 in a 90ish second negative split. The London Marathon is a staggeringly good event and the bits I can remember from the day will stay with me for a long long time.
So to the summer, I jumped back into things a bit quickly and ended up doing speedwork off low weekly mileage so got bitten with that calf complaint rearing up. I ended up jogging 20 or so miles a week for over 6 weeks in severe discomfort until multiple physio visits and eventually dry needling cleared it up, in the weeks before that injury occurred though I managed a 10kPB in the Boyne 10k (40.56) and a solid run in the Terenure 5 mile (31.52) so it certainly wasn't all bad.
I got back into things in July and managed a good run in the Fingal 10k (40.15) and then broke the magic sub 40 10k by the skin of my teeth in Dun Laoighre (39.5x). I was absolutely delighted with this it had been a big goal for mine for a while.
I continued with 10k type training up to the lakes 10k in Blessington where I ran 39.15 to shave another few seconds off. The 10k is probably my favourite distance, just the right balance of speed and pain and I intend to give it a proper Jack Daniels 18 week block in the future. I didn't race again over that distance but was very satisfied to bring the PB down from 41.00 to 39.15 over the year.
The next focus became the Dublin half marathon where I just wanted to make sure of the sub 90, I ran a solid race starting conservatively and finished strong to clock 1.28.04. Job done with both goals for the year:)
I knew at this stage that I would be doing a Spring marathon in 2015 so the focus became building up mileage and consistency in a small base phase and then racing the Waterford half at the end to keep things interesting and round off the year as much as anything. BeepBeep67 gave me some guidance on this and a block of easy running with a weekly tempo resulted in a big PB in Waterford of 1.24.56, I was genuinely amazed by that time especially considering my PB at the start of the year was 1.34.04.
Whenever I have run a PB in the past I have always immediately felt that I could go one better the next time out but that time in Waterford is the first one I'm looking at thinking it will be extremely difficult for me to top.
I saw out the year with a couple of weeks of solid mileage and then 2 weeks over Christmas of mileage in the mid 20s with some steady runs and a half arsed mince pie bloated parkrun of 19.10 thrown in.
So that was 2014, just over 1900 miles run which was up from 1400ish the year before, very enjoyable overall and it was great to finally meet and run with some people on here as another big highlight.

Next up is the London Marathon and having finally gotten my entry sorted yesterday after some sweating its all systems go with training. I'm going to attempt to follow the P&D 55-70 plan having toyed with the idea of a couple of others. The main reason is that I feel that me who has just about 2 proper years of consistent training (if you can call it that) will benefit from the aerobic development P&D offers compared to the more speed oriented stuff in the BAA plan for example, will it work out, time will tell. The main goal over the next 15 or so weeks will be to try and stay consistent and listen to the body at all times with the bigger picture in mind.
Race wise I've signed up to the new Trim 10 miler in February and then ill do Bohermeen but id say that will be it beyond maybe a 10k in late March, very early April.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more......

As always comments, feedback and general slagging are welcome

adrian522

Well done, great year for you in 2014...

dintbo

Sounds like a great 2014 to me! Congrats.

Tom Joad

Great year OP. Some great progress especially over the half marathon. Will see you in Trim.

Netwerk Errer

Well done OP! That's a cracking improvement for the year.

BeepBeep67

Well done buddy, any more weddings after VLM and we'll plan that 10k assault!

overpronator

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Well done buddy, any more weddings after VLM and we'll plan that 10k assault!

We may have to organise an impromptu session (ale based)! :pac::pac:

overpronator

Things have been mad busy over the last couple of days so here's a quick summary of what I was up to last week, Ill hopefully update the log more regularly over the coming weeks to save these block updates.

Monday 8 miles 8.07 pace
An easy run to start the week, I threw in 10 strides as per P&D and they helped to shake the legs up alot.

Tuesday 11 miles 8.24 pace
I had company for 6 of the miles in the middle of this so the pace was nice and handy which was fine by me. We did a lap of a completely pitch black phoenix park, usually there is some light from the moon or whatever in there but it was like entering the gates of hell in places.

Wednesday 5 miles 8.20 pace
An easy "recovery" run but this was far too fast to be a true recovery, Ill slow these down as the weeks go by.

Thursday 12 miles 7.36 pace
This was probably a bit too fast also. After two miles I took a look at the watch and was surprised to see I was moving steadily for not too much effort so I just went with it. It felt grand for the whole run which is encouraging.

Friday 5 miles 8.20 pace
An out and back from home to chapelizod. The out leg was straight into a very strong wind so I was trying to keep the effort very easy. Coming back the wind was so strong at my back it felt like I could have physically sat down into it like a chair and it would have carried me along! Mad conditions.

Saturday 15 miles with 8@MP
The first big session of this years marathon training and I was looking at it with trepidation all week especially as I knew it was going to be massively windy. The plan was to do 6 easy and the 8mp miles with one to cool down at the end. The first 6 were fine and I kept them honest, right on 8 minute pace. I started the MP section into the wind heading up the north road and did an outside lap of the park taking in the castleknock gate, furze road, furry glen and the s bends before cutting across the acres lap, old lamp road and finally back over to the north road heading the opposite way to finish near Garda HQ. I have no real designs on a marathon goal or goal pace at the minute but I decided id be happy if I could keep them all below 7 minute miles

Splits were:
6.59
6.47
6.55
6.46
6.43
6.54
6.51
6.43

No two ways about it, this was tough. The wind was an absolute killer in parts and I was pushing to hold pace into it, the other sections where it was at my back I was just recovering from the windy bits! At one point on the acres road lap it felt like I was in one spot just shadowboxing, pumping the arms but going nowhere. A tough session for me and glad to get it in the can. I don't think it says much about goal marathon pace or how suitable this pace might be for me because with the conditions it felt tougher than marathon effort. Not to worry, week one down and 57 miles, on we go.

overpronator

Tom Joad wrote: »

Great year OP. Some great progress especially over the half marathon. Will see you in Trim.

Brilliant, I reckon we will be going at a similar clip so we can get a group formed:cool:

yaboya1

Looks like a sub 3 bid is on the cards in London based off Saturday's effort

overpronator

yaboya1 wrote: »

Looks like a sub 3 bid is on the cards in London based off Saturday's effort

A nice thought for sure and cheers for the encouragement but its very early days yet. I won't think about targets until after Bohermeen as there is just too much running to be done in the meantime. In reality though as things stand I feel I would need the half pb to come down to 1.22 before I'd feel like I was in with a real shot, currently 1.24(very)high

. I know people say 1.23 is about right to go for it but the way I cramp in marathons id need that extra bit of wiggle room I think.