DCM 2015: Mentored Novices Thread

skittles8710 wrote: »

Mine is flagging too struggled for the Cork half ...can new batteries be put into these to sort it out ..or am I talking nonsense?

Oh no, I thought for sure I'd at least get the half out of it. Will re-evaluate after the 10 mile so.

Here's a race report copied from my training log, feel free to skip on past it if you like.

I had a 9k run today that I wasn't looking forward to at all, I knew the area but not the exact route and it's all hills around there, it's 10 months ago since I ran on the roads and the same length of time since I was in a race so not really feeling too keen. I figured I'd do a km or two to warm up then do it at LSR pace, I'd most likely finish last but I wasn't that bothered.

I got there and the atmosphere was pretty good, the organiser thanked me for coming and I met in with a guy I used to work with about 10 years ago, my cousins wife was running and one of the marshals was a work mate so I knew enough people to help me relax. It was due to be 9k but the start line moved a bit so they said it was about 9.2k. I did about 1.2k s a warmup then waited at the start line, people were still arriving so we were a little late kicking off. I lined up in the second row, I figured I didn't want to get in anyones way but at the same time there were walkers there for the shorter run and I didn't want to get stuck behind them.

The race started without us really knowing it, the lad just said "go" in a normal tone and we didn't really hear him, one lad took off though so we all followed. An older fella I know to see went out fairly fast, he does a lot of 5k runs and I knew by his number that he was doing the shorter run. My former work buddy took off with him, he seemed to be the favourite for the 9k, he's a very fit lad. I held back and took it handy enough, keeping pace with my cousins wife and her mate. The 1st km was all down hill but even so, about 10 of us had seperated out from the herd, the first two lads already about 50-100m ahead of us.

Bang on 1k we hit the first hill, it was nothing serious, I'd deal with a bigger hill at the Castle lake on about 90% of my runs. It was enough to slow one other 9k fellow down enough for us (me and the two girls were in a little group) to pass him. One of the girls stopped near the top of the hill and walked the rest, we slowed enough for her to catch us and off we went again. The rest of that 2nd km was flat enough and we settled into a nice, handy pace, the two lads out front had about doubled their lead.

km 3 & km 4 were flat enough and on the main road, we could see the two lads ahead and the older guy turned off for the short loop, leaving my buddy up front on his own, he was about 400m ahead and going strong, the girls started to slow slightly, I maintained my pace and moved off ahead of them, I glanced back and there was a good distance to the next group. It was about then that I started thinking of it as a race, rather than a relaxed run, I was in 2nd, feeling good, and it didn't look like anyone was going to catch me.

km 5 and km 6 weren't too bad, the distance between me and 1st place was closing in slowly as I had decided to up the pace a bit, it had crept into my head that if I could catch him at the 7km mark I'd be able to stay with him until the finish line, I know I'm strong on hills compared to a lot of people and the last 2km was supposed to be all hills. We got to the water station at 5k and there was nobody there, we had to keep running (they showed up at it about a minute after we passed) it was a hot morning so that wasn't great.

At 7km there was another water station, he had stopped for a drink but took off once he saw me, I had closed the distance to about 10sec at that stage, I had a quick sip and dumped the rest over my head, I caught him half way up the next hill. This is where the course got tougher but we knew we were 1st and 2nd so we both slowed it back a bit and had a chat.

After 8km a van stopped with us and gave us another drink, again I drank a little and dumped the rest on my head, it was getting very warm. My buddy told me he always does a sprint finish so I told him to work away when the time came, that I was happy enough if I ened up 2nd, he did sprinting in his younger days so there wasn't much hope of me beating him if it came to that.

Coming to the top of the last hill I said we'd push on and upped the pace but he didn't come with me, I slowed back a little and he kept with me, about 20m later, he made a move, I told him I'd see him at the finish line and off he went, I decided to stretch my legs a bit too and kept right with him, I eased past him and really opened up, I heard him saying "maybe not" and I started to pull away over the last 100m or so. I crossed the finish line in first place at a sprint (maybe a generous term but it was my best version of one after those hills) and got a big cheer, it was only a little local run but it felt great. I got a bottle of wine for my troubles and as the 18 week plan for DCM hasn't started yet, I'm going to share it with my wide tonight. My buddy came over the line about 12 sec brhind me, I don't think either of us could believe I'd beaten him.

My strava messed up because I had it on for the warmup and just aused it and restarted for the race, rather than resetting it, sorting through it my time was tough to figure out, it has km2 at 26mins. I was timed at 44:50ish by my buddy for the 9.2k, a very very poor winning time but considering the heat and the hills, I figure it was a good enough time for me.

I took a few things from it;

Road running and hills aren't too bad after all,

My 52:13 PB for 10k is very poor, I could knock 3 minutes off that easily now and If DCM doesn't work out, sub 50 is a secondary goal for the year.

I'm a lot fitter than I was last summer, the injury over the winter means I'm way behind where I should be but between swimming, walking and cycling, my fitness levels didn't drop that much. The last 8 weeks or so have pushed me way beyond last years fitness levels.

Back to slow, easy runs from tomorrow now, it was great to get that run under my belt, with a few fairly fast km in the middle, that's out of the system now and distance is the focus from here on in.

donglen wrote: »

Amazon do actually have a sale on Garmin's at the mo.

Don't tell me that, my bank balance has taken a hammering due to new runners, gear, etc. this week!!

I'm not looking on purpose

My latest training log update...hope it's okay to copy and paste this from there to here but here goes.....

Week starting 15th Jun

An odd week to be honest as I was away on holidays with my family and also I had a small issue of a blister to allow clear up following a half marathon last Sunday. I hadn't any days planned out for the week really but had hoped to do 20 miles again this week but given I missed Tuesday and Wednesday I said I'd cut back to probably 18miles.

Day/Goal/Actual/Pace/Notes
Mon, None, Rest, Blister still being very tetchy so walking was sore even.

Tue, None, Rest but with a quick 20 mins on the exercise bike in the gym in the hotel, hadn't been on an exercise bike (despite having a nice one at home) in a few months so just did a quick cardio go before the place closed up.

Wed, get a run in, 4m in 41:38 @ 10:22 min/mi, run was grand enough now.....did most of it running around the very nice castle grounds in Kilkenny on what is the parkrun course in the town. Very nice for a short run I have to say. Blister was good throughout and had seemed to subside that day to chance it.

Thurs, get a longer run in but slower, 5m in 55:39m @ 10:39min/mi, again was in Kilkenny for the night so this time I ran down by the path down beside the river there and another lovely route I have to say and would recommend it....it basically goes outside the walls of the castle and seems to be widely used by locals....surface good underfoot for the most part. Looped around that a few times and around the castle grounds perimeter to get 5miles done.

Friday, 3m in new runners and no earphones, 3.5m in 33:17m @ 9:30min/mi (last half mile was a warm down), decided to open it up a bit last night on a run in new runners. Got fitted again in Amphibian King yesterday but ended up buying the exact same pair again. I've liked the Saucony Breakthrus a lot so far and they are serving me well. Now I have two pairs to alternate. Have to say I found the second mile tough enough last night...I think a week of being on hols and not eating great starting to catch up on me.

Saturday, rest (travelling back home)....home today and my stomach is in ribbons. I am fully motivated to start eating better to coordinate with the marathon training. The last few months I've not been good to be honest thinking I could eat what I wanted and when I wanted really as burning off so much with training.
Paying for that today with a reminder of what used to happen previously when overindulging.

Sunday, the plan is do a very easy 5.5 mile or so to bring me up to 18miles for the week.

RonanP77 wrote: »

I'm not long back from my 9k race, it was tough enough, lots and lots of hills. I'll stick up a race report later, I'm off out to buy a Garmin watch now. I won the race so I'm happy enough.[/quote

Very well done on winning the 9k.

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Hi skittles, welcome of course we'll have you You sound very active indeed which will stand to you. However, you will certainly find that you need to prioritise running over your other fitness activities as the weeks tick off. It's good that you are looking ahead to August due to other commitments. You can't really afford to drop any long runs at that stage but at the same time you don't want to slash your mileage during the week either. Let us know here if you'd like help tweaking the plan nearer the time. Your dream goal time will really need five days running and some pacier work which HH2 does to be realistic. This shouldn't bring you into over training territory however you will have to follow the maxim of 'keep the hard days hard and the easy days easy' in order to stay injury free, alongside of course core training. What was the injury btw? Do you stretch and supplement stretching with foam rolling etc? Also what races are you planning to do in this year's build up?
Interrogation over

Thanks so much Dubgal always great to get advice. Understand what you mean completely going to start focusing on the runs and speed work midweek as the plan says.

Injury was calf and hamstring strain which the physio said was due to a weak back and core. Mri showed wear and tear on discs in my lower back. NOW I do 10-15mins stretching on the mat everyday and foam rolling every second say. Wasn't the case last year I did stretch now and then but wasn't disciplined with it and I didn't foam roll.

Racewise I'd like to do Run Killarney half mid July but it's probably too soon? No races lined up just yet to be honest so any suggestions there are welcome too. .

Thanks again!

Dubgal72 wrote: »

THE FOLLOWING IS NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH OR LILY-LIVERED:*


*if you are either of the above, you may need to reconsider attempting the marathon. We haven't even begun to discuss poo......

So far, the body fluid count on this thread is much higher than last year, can't wait til it really gets going :eek:

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Morning skittles. Sounds like you're on the right track this year I wouldn't recommend racing it so early in the schedule, even for a training run. HHN2 plan only has an 11 and 12 miles in weeks 4 and 5 and a HM in week 9. If you read Ronan's race report, you'll see that it is very easy to get carried away in a race situation and ditch all your good intentions to run it at a restrained or training pace. However, if it's the *only* option, we can work around it. You're based in Munster?

Try these links, they might suggest something. A progression along the lines of the Race Series would be ideal (5m in June, 10k in July, 10m in August and HM in September)

http://munsterrunning.blogspot.ie/p/calendar.html


http://www.runireland.com/news/races-cork-munster

I know what you mean, doing a race much earlier than the plan will probably do me no good just one I wanted to do because the scenery is fantastic.
I'm from Kerry living in Cork so will definitely look at those links again to see what will suit better!

Dubgal72 wrote: »

That little conversation about spitting? part of me wants to say geddoverit ...it's what runners do and while it's not the most pleasant thing in the world, it's a necessary part of running and racing. I tune it out and just don't notice it. I've nearly been hawked on and at the time if it had happened, I would have just carried on. Maybe with a filthy look. Ok, definitely

I was in the zoo yesterday with my hands very full keeping the nippers under control, and my nose was clogged from a cold. I absent mindedly / instinctively did a nose hawk to quickly clear things up, and got a very withering look from a respectable looking lady passing at the time (she was in no danger at being hit). I felt like saying "It's ok for me to do this, I'm a runner"

Posted this week's mileage on my training log and uploaded to strava. Should I put the details here too? I had a really good week running, total of 19 miles not counting warmup/cool down miles.

Next week, lots of rest before the IR 5 mile!