After a fairly hairy trip to Nenagh due to icy roads, I was happy to be running indoors, despite the infamously arctic venue. Wasn't too confident but reckoned with a good run I should get down to around 10 minutes or so.
After discovering that we were being set off with the senior men (I've given up on senior running when masters is available) my fear of being lapped disappeared due to it's inevitability. After making a few introductions to some of the other masters it didn't appear to be too loaded a field.
When the gun went I was happy to remain at the back of the field, in fact I felt very lacksidasical. After a few lads quickly detaching themselves at the front of the field I settled in at the back of the second (and possibly final) group. As there was no counter it was down to ourselves to count down the laps. I knew I hadn't started too quickly but I was still surprised with how quickly I got lapped. I hung on to one of the guys who I knew who was O35 and let another get away. I felt reasonably comfortable but overtaking on the tight track takes a fair bit of energy so once or twice I got held up in traffic and unfortunately due to this and a lapse in concentration I allowed a gap to develop. After 10 laps (2K) I was starting to suffer and started to give up on the notion of catching anyone. I had no idea how I was doing time wise but just struggled on.
I crossed the line in 10.24 which was pretty disappointing, I definitely expected quicker than that. But hopefully with another few weeks of training the performances will start to follow.
One positive I can take from the lightened training over the last few days is that a niggle I had had in my right knee has thankfully disappeared.
Warm up 2.5miles 3K in 10.24 (5th O35 I think) 3.5 miles warm down. Total for week 67miles
Sunday, 18 January 2015
Saturday, 17 January 2015
After last weeks tempo run I was really looking forward to the next one as I was curious to see how it would go on fresh legs, well when I say fresh I mean not having done a long run the previous day - as my legs weren't too fresh after my first 80 mile week since last spring. But all day Monday I have to admit I was dreading it, even considering putting it off until Tuesday. But as I know only too well ’tis a slippery slope - putting off a Tempo off for 24 hours can quickly turn into Pizza, ice cream and a lash of pints and a “sher there's always Autumn” As I was getting changed I remarked to one of my colleagues who also runs my sense of foreboding & he just said, the hard bit is getting out there and with this in mind I headed out into the cold but slightly less windy elements.
My personal philosophy for tempos is to do the first mile no quicker than the average speed of the previous one so in this case 6.13min/mile. Regulating pace was never going to be easy in the still quite windy weather so when I saw 6.16 at around the half mile mark I didn't worry too much. I had a tail wind for the next section though and went through the first mile in 6.10. Shortly after this I entered a section where there was no street lighting so had to go purely off feel, which is no harm at all. I must have sped up though as the second mile was 6.04 and a far cry from the 6.26 of last week. Felt good though and continued like this and by mile 4 my average was 6.05. The wheels came off after this a bit though, despite my best efforts to keep the speed up and miles 5 & 6 were both around 6.15 giving an overall pace of 6.08. Nothing wrong with that but had hoped to be within touching distance of 6 minute miling. Finished with a long cool down giving me 13miles for the day.
By tuesday morning the wind had finally disappeared so I did a very enjoyable 8 miles AM. Had had a very bad nights sleep so by the afternoon I was shattered so struggled through another 4 after work. AM 8.3miles @7.25 HR137 PM 4miles @7.49 HR129
As I am racing on Sunday I decided I would try and do some sort of speedwork on Wednesday. Thankfully I got a good nights sleep but at around 11am the snow started to fall thick and fast and despite the prettiness all I could think of was should I go to the track or do something else? In the end I headed to the track from work. I had foolishly underestimated the distance and had 5 miles done by the time I got there. There was no way I was going to attempt 400’s on an icy track so I decided to revert to my ‘favourite’ mile repeats or 1.609’s as they’re known locally. As it was pitch black after the first 60 seconds of light on my watch I was again running on feel. I was happy enough to clock 5.55 for the first. As I started the second a horde of Golden oldies arrived on the track for some aerobics of some sort. Despite being here long enough to know better I was still a bit incredulous to see them lined up along lane one as I approached. “Lane one, bane et!!” I shouted and they scattered like a flock of hens. By the next lap they were respectfully occupying the 7 free lanes but I had already decided that this was my final repeat and this was compounded by the time of 6.05. I did a longish cool down bringing at total of 12.odd miles.
Despite another night of no sleep I had no option but to run to work on Thursday (Both my jackets were at the office) I’m beginning to think it’s the thought of running to work that makes me sleep badly so I headed off at 4.45am and was surprised to meet a few other runners en route. Despite it only being a 4 mile trip I squeezed in another 4 so’s that I wouldn't have to do anything in the PM if I was going to be as knackered as I was Tuesday. I think I was actually a bit under the weather so had a lemsip as soon as I was showered and started to feel a bit better. Could have managed a few miles but it was raining katten og hunden in the evening so I took it as a sign to do some stretching and foam rolling instead. I didn't read the sign but read a book instead! 8miles @7.50 HR137.
Oddly despite my increased mileage and genuinely only eating healthily all week I managed to put on weight which was a little annoying. I am making a point of trying not obsess about weight during this training cycle but know in my heart and soul I’ll get nowhere weighing as I am, 68kilos. So on thursday my frustration manifested itself in polishing off almost a loaf of ryebread with peanut butter along with dinner. Out of curiosity I weighed myself this morning and it hadn't made a huge difference but felt pretty crap all day. Not surprisingly I wasn't any better as I embarked on what should have been a quite pleasant run in the afternoon. The old “you’ve a race on Sunday” mentality had kicked in aswell so didn't enjoy my little jaunt around Bagsvaerd So (lake) at all. I was quite happy to be on my way to airport and having some time to relax before my flight. 8.1miles @8.32 HR139
Even though I was overnighting in Amsterdam, and not flying until 9.40am on Saturday I resisted the urge to go on the lash. Well to be honest there was n't much resisting I just felt like going to bed. Did a very nice 50minutes on frosty grass near the airport this morning before heading to the airport. All set for the masters indoors in Nenagh tomorrow. Not expecting too much but it'll be nice to have a good blow out. 6.2 miles @7.51 HR 132. First time running below sea level!!
Monday, 12 January 2015
Wet 'n' Wild
The weather in Denmark has been pretty crazy for the last few days and indeed all over Europe it seems. Thankfully however it has n't affect training too much. Managed a session on Friday evening, 12x400 with 400m recovery. I had done a few of these sessions of late with two reasons in mind. Firstly I had delusions of being in great shape in time for the Munster indoors (18th of Jan) and needed some proper speedwork as opposed to my usual mile repeats. Unfortunately I'm not in great shape, but intend running the indoors 3K anyway. The second reason was that when I switched back to mile repeats I'd have a bit more zip in my legs. Time will tell but I'm pretty doubtful that it has worked, especially if Friday's session is anything to go by. While I started reasonably well, with two 76's (the previous sessions had averaged 80 seconds followed by 78) but they rapidly fell off with a few high 70's and low 80's. Now the weather played a part as I had to deal with 24 mph swirling winds but I think it was also just one of those days in conjunction with readjusting to the high mileage weeks so I wasn't too hard on myself.
The high winds became even stronger on Saturday and along with rain made for pretty miserably conditions. Managed a little over 12 miles using the mantra "any mile I do today is one less to do tommorrow". 12.4miles 7.45min/mile HR138bpm.
I had set a goal of breaking 80 miles for the week so only needed a short run on Sunday to reach the target. The rain had gone but the high winds continued to I ventured into a local wood to escape the brunt of it. A number of fallen trees provided some interesting obstacles so it was quite an enjoyable run. 5.6miles 7.37min/mile HR141bpm.
Total for week 80 miles
The high winds became even stronger on Saturday and along with rain made for pretty miserably conditions. Managed a little over 12 miles using the mantra "any mile I do today is one less to do tommorrow". 12.4miles 7.45min/mile HR138bpm.
I had set a goal of breaking 80 miles for the week so only needed a short run on Sunday to reach the target. The rain had gone but the high winds continued to I ventured into a local wood to escape the brunt of it. A number of fallen trees provided some interesting obstacles so it was quite an enjoyable run. 5.6miles 7.37min/mile HR141bpm.
Total for week 80 miles
Thursday, 8 January 2015
Back to work
After having no
problems with a 17 mile long run before Christmas I didn't think I’d have any
major issue with an 18 miler on Monday. As I was flying back to Denmark Monday evening I
thought it would be good to get the week off to a good start. It turned out to
be a bit of a slog though plus I had to put up with a constant drizzle which
felt like it added a few kilos to my running gear even though in reality it didn't.
I think it was more to do with the heavy mileage over Christmas having done the
17 miles on Fresh legs. 18 miles @ 7.40 HR 143
The plan for
Tuesday had been to do a session with some work colleagues but when it was
apparent I would be alone I decided to give it a skip. As the guy who coaches
the session doesn't know me I was nervous that he would push a bit hard and
after all the miles I didn't want to risk injury. If the other guys were there
I could at least have hidden in the pack a. Instead I did a tempo run and after
doing the first two miles in 6.19 and 6.26 I was quite happy to get my average
pace down to 6.13 by the end. This was my fastest tempo run in a while,
although I did manage one at 6.07 in Spain in November, but I was well rested
and the conditions were perfect. From looking back at last year I appear to be
about a month ahead of where I was, which is encouraging, if I can keep it up! 12 miles incl 10K tempo run @ 6.13 HR 168.
Managed a double
yesterday, 5.5 miserable miles in sleet in the morning into a head wind (to
work) and a more agreeable 6.5 on the way home.
Decided I didn't want
to double up again today so took an extended route to work to get 8 miles in. About
to head home now and looking forward to an evening of leisure.
Tuesday, 6 January 2015
Dune and out in County Kerry
After an inauspicious start, the Christmas holidays turned out to be quite productive from a training point of view. After not managing a solitary mile during the first two days, I managed to rack up over 180 miles in the following 16 days. This was especially pleasing as I had only logged one 60 mile week since my last post. On a few occasions I had reached to 50+ by Friday only to be stuck on the same figure come Sunday evening, due partly to circumstance, and partly just not being in the zone. Since the beginning of December I have managed to knuckle down a bit knowing Christmas holidays would provide the perfect opportunity to get back into proper training.
After the initial two day hiatus I did get in a 17 mile long run to kick things off and a reasonable hill session in the Galtees. I followed this up with a race on the 26th with a belly full of turkey during which I thought I was going to die. As it was my first race since May I didn't know how it would go but had 18 minutes in mind. I managed 18.26 for 3rd place on a reasonably challenging
course.
After getting some social "obligations" out of the way that night I knuckled down again amd joined the club for their annual trip to Inch beach in county Kerry for a session on the infamous dunes. Well when I say knuckled down, the night before the session I had a few beers with an old work colleague in Killarney so I was ever so slightly under the weather setting off. The actual weather however was glorious so despite the dunes living up to the their reputation it felt great to let off some steam with some like minded individuals. (70miles total for week)
The session was followed up with a return to the beach for a long run the following day and even though I felt I hadn't given it my all on the dunes I really struggled, especially when we encountered some soft sand. Rather than try and stick with the group I let them go and just pottered my way around for 11 miles. Felt knackered at the end so was surprised that my legs felt much better when we ventured out for another 30 minutes that evening. I guess that it was on tarmac may have had something to do with it.
The first session of the new week was back at the beach. As my Garmin battery had died I have no idea how it went but it felt ok as we went through 6x2minutes with 2 minutes recovery. As I was planning on racing on new years day (2 days later) I didn't want to kill myself. After returning home did an easy hour the following morning pre breakfast. Had planned on being in bed early but low and behold I ended up past midnight eating all sorts of rubbish before finally hitting the sack in the wee hours. Not an ideal way to prepare for a race or see in the new year for that matter.
The race didn't go great - never really got going and felt I was just going through the motions. Still it was a good workout (22nd in 29.52) and when I think I struggled to do 4 miles on the same day last year it was quite encouraging.
Did another double on friday (5miles am; 6miles pm) before another hill session on Saturday. Had hoped to get to the club hill session but a lack of transport meant I had to make do with the Galtees. Finished out the week with a dreary 70minutes on Sunday evening, was just going through the motions but of course that needs to be done too. (76miles total for week)
After the initial two day hiatus I did get in a 17 mile long run to kick things off and a reasonable hill session in the Galtees. I followed this up with a race on the 26th with a belly full of turkey during which I thought I was going to die. As it was my first race since May I didn't know how it would go but had 18 minutes in mind. I managed 18.26 for 3rd place on a reasonably challenging
course.
After getting some social "obligations" out of the way that night I knuckled down again amd joined the club for their annual trip to Inch beach in county Kerry for a session on the infamous dunes. Well when I say knuckled down, the night before the session I had a few beers with an old work colleague in Killarney so I was ever so slightly under the weather setting off. The actual weather however was glorious so despite the dunes living up to the their reputation it felt great to let off some steam with some like minded individuals. (70miles total for week)
Inch Beach
The session was followed up with a return to the beach for a long run the following day and even though I felt I hadn't given it my all on the dunes I really struggled, especially when we encountered some soft sand. Rather than try and stick with the group I let them go and just pottered my way around for 11 miles. Felt knackered at the end so was surprised that my legs felt much better when we ventured out for another 30 minutes that evening. I guess that it was on tarmac may have had something to do with it.
The first session of the new week was back at the beach. As my Garmin battery had died I have no idea how it went but it felt ok as we went through 6x2minutes with 2 minutes recovery. As I was planning on racing on new years day (2 days later) I didn't want to kill myself. After returning home did an easy hour the following morning pre breakfast. Had planned on being in bed early but low and behold I ended up past midnight eating all sorts of rubbish before finally hitting the sack in the wee hours. Not an ideal way to prepare for a race or see in the new year for that matter.
The race didn't go great - never really got going and felt I was just going through the motions. Still it was a good workout (22nd in 29.52) and when I think I struggled to do 4 miles on the same day last year it was quite encouraging.
Did another double on friday (5miles am; 6miles pm) before another hill session on Saturday. Had hoped to get to the club hill session but a lack of transport meant I had to make do with the Galtees. Finished out the week with a dreary 70minutes on Sunday evening, was just going through the motions but of course that needs to be done too. (76miles total for week)
Hill session on the Galtees
Friday, 6 June 2014
Got out for another 50 minutes on Tuesday evening & followed this with my longest run since the marathon on Wednesday with 90 minutes. Took a while to get going & was fairly shattered at the end but getting back into the swing of things at least & it's beginning to feel like running is part of the routine again.
Managed another double yesterday with a tough 40 minutes in the morning and a more pleasant 40 minutes in the evening.
Tuesday: PM 6.7miles @7.43min/mile HR134
Wednesday: 12.5miles @7.19min/mile HR141
Thursday:AM 5miles @7.52min/mile HR133
PM 5miles @7.40min/mile HR140
Managed another double yesterday with a tough 40 minutes in the morning and a more pleasant 40 minutes in the evening.
Tuesday: PM 6.7miles @7.43min/mile HR134
Wednesday: 12.5miles @7.19min/mile HR141
Thursday:AM 5miles @7.52min/mile HR133
PM 5miles @7.40min/mile HR140
Tuesday, 3 June 2014
2 steps back
Since I last blogged not a lot has been happening on the training front. I had hoped to do a session of mile repeats at goal 10K pace (around 5.20min/mile) with 3 to 4 minute recovery. This was based on a recommended training program from Greg McMillan. I used this program in the past in the buildup to the intervarsities track 10k, but never quite succeeded, neither in the workouts or the race!
The difference this time was that I didn't even start well, but I had feared this would be the case and had reassured myself that as the weeks went by I'd get stronger as I recovered more from the marathon.
Started with with a 5.21 but it took more effort than I had hoped. Followed this with a 5.26 and then a 5.28. It was on the 4th effort I really started to struggle and ended up stopping after 2.5 laps (1K). Took a break and did 1x400m in just under 79 seconds and legs felt like lead.
Of course the logical thing to do here would be to rest and recover and have a steak and run easy for a few days. Instead I went on the lash with some colleagues (although I was at least the first to go home). But to make matters worse I didn't run again for almost a week, partly due to apathy and partly due to having to move, yet again. As I was in bad form due to the unplanned move I ended up writing off the week and became reacquainted with the various fast food joints around the town. I went home for the weekend on Thursday (a day earlier than booked thanks to aerlingus' industrial action). Attempted a run on Friday and felt absolutely awful. Managed one solitary mile and decided that it was time to cop on. Did an hour on Saturday (a bit better, but had to stop once or twice) and 50 minutes on Sunday.
Traveled back on Sunday night with an overnight in Milan of all places. As a result was on the road early to complete the journey Monday morning. Have managed to find new accommodation quite close to work and spent the day trying to decide to attempt a session or not, as I was quite tired. But sometimes I find it's easier to do a session when tired rather than trying to do an easy run. In the end I went to the track and got the session done. My mojo seems to be back, even if my fitness isn't. Managed 16x400m in average of 79.5seconds with 70seconds recovery. Almost 2 seconds slower than the last time. The munster championships are now less than 2 weeks away so a good run is out of the question but I can try and make the best of the time I've left.
Always one to take the positive, I've done very little for the bones of a month now so hopefully now I can start rebuilding and won't need another break for the rest of the year... famous last words!
Did a recovery run this morning, struggled through 20 miserable minutes!
Monday: 16x400m in 79 seconds with 70 recovery (10 miles total)
Tueday: AM 2.6miles @8.21 HR123bpm
The difference this time was that I didn't even start well, but I had feared this would be the case and had reassured myself that as the weeks went by I'd get stronger as I recovered more from the marathon.
Started with with a 5.21 but it took more effort than I had hoped. Followed this with a 5.26 and then a 5.28. It was on the 4th effort I really started to struggle and ended up stopping after 2.5 laps (1K). Took a break and did 1x400m in just under 79 seconds and legs felt like lead.
Of course the logical thing to do here would be to rest and recover and have a steak and run easy for a few days. Instead I went on the lash with some colleagues (although I was at least the first to go home). But to make matters worse I didn't run again for almost a week, partly due to apathy and partly due to having to move, yet again. As I was in bad form due to the unplanned move I ended up writing off the week and became reacquainted with the various fast food joints around the town. I went home for the weekend on Thursday (a day earlier than booked thanks to aerlingus' industrial action). Attempted a run on Friday and felt absolutely awful. Managed one solitary mile and decided that it was time to cop on. Did an hour on Saturday (a bit better, but had to stop once or twice) and 50 minutes on Sunday.
Traveled back on Sunday night with an overnight in Milan of all places. As a result was on the road early to complete the journey Monday morning. Have managed to find new accommodation quite close to work and spent the day trying to decide to attempt a session or not, as I was quite tired. But sometimes I find it's easier to do a session when tired rather than trying to do an easy run. In the end I went to the track and got the session done. My mojo seems to be back, even if my fitness isn't. Managed 16x400m in average of 79.5seconds with 70seconds recovery. Almost 2 seconds slower than the last time. The munster championships are now less than 2 weeks away so a good run is out of the question but I can try and make the best of the time I've left.
Always one to take the positive, I've done very little for the bones of a month now so hopefully now I can start rebuilding and won't need another break for the rest of the year... famous last words!
Did a recovery run this morning, struggled through 20 miserable minutes!
Monday: 16x400m in 79 seconds with 70 recovery (10 miles total)
Tueday: AM 2.6miles @8.21 HR123bpm
Thursday, 22 May 2014
Transition week
When making my plan for the track season the 3 races that I wanted to focus on were:
Munster Championships (5K) 15th of June
Cork County Championships (5K) 3rd of July
National Championships (10K) 19th of July
I have no goals in terms of position but I would really like to break 16minutes for the 5K and 33minutes in the 10K. Whilst my 5K PB is 16.09 my best 10K is 34.03 so it's a pretty big ask. But I'm hoping that the mileage from the marathon will stand to me.
As time is ticking I'm in the position now where I need to resume training but at the same time be aware that I'm still recovering from the marathon. There's a saying that you need a day for every mile which is a bit convenient (a Danish guy informed me that it was a day for every kilometre!) so I'm just going to go with how I feel day to day BUT no using "ah sher I'm still recovering" every time things start to get a little tough.
With this in mind I said I'd better start the week well so did an hour after work. I was happy enough with this as I was up at 3.45 to catch a flight back to Denmark.
Tuesday brought a session and it was a bit of a voyage into the unknown after Sunday's abysmal performance. When I got to the track there was a football match about to start so I had a bit of an audience. I had sub 80's in my head and said if the going got tough I'd extend my recovery from 200m to 400m. They started well, with a 76 followed by a barrage of 77's with about 66 recovery. Wasn't really looking at my watch during the session, due to having to keep my eyes peeled for bolddrengen (ball boys) but as I'm constantly finding running on feel is best and there's time enough for counting when the dealings done!
Eventually the times dropped to 78 but was still having the odd 77. The recoveries slipped out to the 70's and then 80's but never felt the need to go to 400m. Ended up doing 16 in total which was very pleasing, the last 4 or 5 were tough but I was holding back that little bit, perhaps out of fear of humiliating myself in front of the masses!
Was pretty sore on Wednesday so although I had planned a "long" but slow run, i only managed the latter part. Took it easy today and will take it very easy tomorrow. I think for now the best thing is to do the sessions and maximise recovery between them. I would think my times should improve quickly if I'm recovery but I know there has been quite a lag in the past after a marathon training cycle & seeing the benefits (and that was without actually doing the marathon!)
Monday: 8miles @7.22 HR142
Tuesday: 16x400mm in 77 with 69 recovery (10miles total)
Wednesday: 10.9miles @7.36 HR135
Thursday:7miles @7.23 HR140
Munster Championships (5K) 15th of June
Cork County Championships (5K) 3rd of July
National Championships (10K) 19th of July
I have no goals in terms of position but I would really like to break 16minutes for the 5K and 33minutes in the 10K. Whilst my 5K PB is 16.09 my best 10K is 34.03 so it's a pretty big ask. But I'm hoping that the mileage from the marathon will stand to me.
As time is ticking I'm in the position now where I need to resume training but at the same time be aware that I'm still recovering from the marathon. There's a saying that you need a day for every mile which is a bit convenient (a Danish guy informed me that it was a day for every kilometre!) so I'm just going to go with how I feel day to day BUT no using "ah sher I'm still recovering" every time things start to get a little tough.
With this in mind I said I'd better start the week well so did an hour after work. I was happy enough with this as I was up at 3.45 to catch a flight back to Denmark.
Tuesday brought a session and it was a bit of a voyage into the unknown after Sunday's abysmal performance. When I got to the track there was a football match about to start so I had a bit of an audience. I had sub 80's in my head and said if the going got tough I'd extend my recovery from 200m to 400m. They started well, with a 76 followed by a barrage of 77's with about 66 recovery. Wasn't really looking at my watch during the session, due to having to keep my eyes peeled for bolddrengen (ball boys) but as I'm constantly finding running on feel is best and there's time enough for counting when the dealings done!
Eventually the times dropped to 78 but was still having the odd 77. The recoveries slipped out to the 70's and then 80's but never felt the need to go to 400m. Ended up doing 16 in total which was very pleasing, the last 4 or 5 were tough but I was holding back that little bit, perhaps out of fear of humiliating myself in front of the masses!
Was pretty sore on Wednesday so although I had planned a "long" but slow run, i only managed the latter part. Took it easy today and will take it very easy tomorrow. I think for now the best thing is to do the sessions and maximise recovery between them. I would think my times should improve quickly if I'm recovery but I know there has been quite a lag in the past after a marathon training cycle & seeing the benefits (and that was without actually doing the marathon!)
Monday: 8miles @7.22 HR142
Tuesday: 16x400mm in 77 with 69 recovery (10miles total)
Wednesday: 10.9miles @7.36 HR135
Thursday:7miles @7.23 HR140
Wednesday, 21 May 2014
Master of none
With Aalborg BK winning the Cup final on Thursday celebrating consisted of drinking until the wee hours and then having *ahem* some soakage afterwards. Amazingly managed to get out for a run Friday morning, mostly due to the blue sky that greeted me when I looked out the window.
As I was heading home & had lots of time to kill in Amsterdam airport, combined with being hungover I ended up in the KLM lounge eating comfort food and drinking copious amounts of coffee. By the time I touched down in Cork I was shattered. Not ideal preparation for the county masters track championships on Sunday. Of course I consoled myself with the notion that there'd be most likely very little competition.
To add to my woes my rental car started spewing smoke within a few minutes of leaving the airport & I had to wait an hour for the AA to arrive. So it was well after midnight before I got to bed.
Took Saturday off and headed to CIT not exactly full of enthusiasm on Sunday morning. After warming (and indeed catching) up with my seldom seen clubmates I made it to the startline. I asked how many O35's there were and the girl at checkin said 3. Well that's a medal sorted anyway I replied, so long as I finish. Oh how the words nearly returned to haunt me! After eyeing up the competition I determined unless the marathon miraculously disappeared from my legs I would have to settle for second.
Sure enough the guy I feared took off, I managed to stay with him for about 150m before admitting it was a lost cause. I still managed the first 800m in 2.30 though which was OK. After another lap or two, of the 3K race (7.5laps) I started really suffering. After being passed by 1 or 2 runners, one of whom was the other O35 I was at a crawl. I had forgotten what pain was like! I decided there and then that it was marathons all the way!! I eventually made it home in 10.30 which I think was only slightly quicker than the last 3K in Limerick!!
Anyway not to worry, as my Mother said afterwards, I knew you weren't taking it too seriously when you had steak and chips for dinner Saturday night. Hmm she might have a point!
As I was heading home & had lots of time to kill in Amsterdam airport, combined with being hungover I ended up in the KLM lounge eating comfort food and drinking copious amounts of coffee. By the time I touched down in Cork I was shattered. Not ideal preparation for the county masters track championships on Sunday. Of course I consoled myself with the notion that there'd be most likely very little competition.
To add to my woes my rental car started spewing smoke within a few minutes of leaving the airport & I had to wait an hour for the AA to arrive. So it was well after midnight before I got to bed.
Took Saturday off and headed to CIT not exactly full of enthusiasm on Sunday morning. After warming (and indeed catching) up with my seldom seen clubmates I made it to the startline. I asked how many O35's there were and the girl at checkin said 3. Well that's a medal sorted anyway I replied, so long as I finish. Oh how the words nearly returned to haunt me! After eyeing up the competition I determined unless the marathon miraculously disappeared from my legs I would have to settle for second.
Sure enough the guy I feared took off, I managed to stay with him for about 150m before admitting it was a lost cause. I still managed the first 800m in 2.30 though which was OK. After another lap or two, of the 3K race (7.5laps) I started really suffering. After being passed by 1 or 2 runners, one of whom was the other O35 I was at a crawl. I had forgotten what pain was like! I decided there and then that it was marathons all the way!! I eventually made it home in 10.30 which I think was only slightly quicker than the last 3K in Limerick!!
Anyway not to worry, as my Mother said afterwards, I knew you weren't taking it too seriously when you had steak and chips for dinner Saturday night. Hmm she might have a point!
Thursday, 15 May 2014
Back on track
So a week and a half has passed since Limerick. My pre marathon post marathon plan was to ensure as speedy a recovery as possible. This would be achieved by:
Nutrition - lots of lean protein and general good diet to avoid piling on the pounds
Stretching/Foam rolling - Stretch regularly to prevent stiffness
Rest - lots of rest and some light runs.
Who was I fooling? From Sunday night I started stuffing myself with all sorts. It started off with chicken sandwiches (good) but as the week progressed it descended to burgers, pizzas, pastries, icecream, chocolate - I just about stopped short of eating lard!
Similarly the stretching etc. went out the window, although I did manage a 3 mile run last friday. It felt like I was carrying a rucksack!
Went for beer Friday night (complete with obligatory kebab and chips to end the night), and off to Copenhagen on Saturday to catch up with friends who I had been avoiding for fear they'd lead me to lead myself astray during the marathon buildup. Sure enough there was a food festival on next door to their apartment. After a pølse (huge sausage) I spotted an Italian dessert stand - (Censored)
As the Eurovision con songtest was on in Copenhagen that evening, my original plan was to head into the city to check out the buzz. But in the end I just had dinner with a friend who's running the Copenhagen Marathon this coming Sunday. He broke 3.30 for the first time last year so is hopeful of knocking a few minutes off this year.
The one area I have been diligent however has been rest, thankfully my sleeping pattern has returned to normal. It's clear (to me at least) that it was partly the knowledge of needing more sleep was preventing me getting any. I also think that when my body weight get's below a certain level it affects me in terms of mood and sleep. So while it's OK (I think) to do it short term, I'll be trying to stay close to but above 60kg for the rest of the summer. Besides I've also come to the conclusion it doesn't make as much difference as I think. Especially if other areas suffer as a result!
I drew a line in the sand on Sunday as I ate my last snegl (rolled pastry snail with icing). From Monday I was getting back down to it, not back into full training but back into the mindset at least.
So with this in mind I went for a light run Monday evening. Even though my pace was 8.30min/mile, it still felt better than Friday's effort. On Tuesday I was moving apartment (again) and decided that I needed to collect my bike, which I had abandoned at work months previously. I ran from the new place and the tailwind inspired me to 20minutes at 7.40pace, wow!
The Cork Masters T&F championships are on Sunday so I knew I needed to do something "fast" this week to see if I was up to it and also to loosen out the legs. Decided that Wednesday was the best day to give it a go and despite motivation being pretty low I managed to drag myself to the track (which happens to be 500m from my new gaff).
After a brief warm up, basically a jog over I got going. The plan was to do 8x400m with 400m recovery. This was n't a proper session hence the long recovery.
Started off with an 86second, which isn't a whole pile quicker than Marathon pace! The next one was 80 flat followed by 79,78 with the remainder all 77's. To me this suggested the session had had the desired effect of loosening out the legs some bit. I originally had lofty ambitions of a PB (9.16) in Sunday's 3K but now I think anything under 10 minutes will be fine. Besides it's a race so I'll be racing the other oul' fellas rather than the clock.
This evening I'm heading back to Copenhagen for the Danish Cup Final and to catch up with a buddy. 'My' Danish team won the league on Sunday last so are aiming for the double. No doubt I'll be having a slight relapse as I'm sure there'll be a pølse or two and maybe a few beers consumed!
Nutrition - lots of lean protein and general good diet to avoid piling on the pounds
Stretching/Foam rolling - Stretch regularly to prevent stiffness
Rest - lots of rest and some light runs.
Who was I fooling? From Sunday night I started stuffing myself with all sorts. It started off with chicken sandwiches (good) but as the week progressed it descended to burgers, pizzas, pastries, icecream, chocolate - I just about stopped short of eating lard!
Similarly the stretching etc. went out the window, although I did manage a 3 mile run last friday. It felt like I was carrying a rucksack!
Went for beer Friday night (complete with obligatory kebab and chips to end the night), and off to Copenhagen on Saturday to catch up with friends who I had been avoiding for fear they'd lead me to lead myself astray during the marathon buildup. Sure enough there was a food festival on next door to their apartment. After a pølse (huge sausage) I spotted an Italian dessert stand - (Censored)
As the Eurovision con songtest was on in Copenhagen that evening, my original plan was to head into the city to check out the buzz. But in the end I just had dinner with a friend who's running the Copenhagen Marathon this coming Sunday. He broke 3.30 for the first time last year so is hopeful of knocking a few minutes off this year.
The one area I have been diligent however has been rest, thankfully my sleeping pattern has returned to normal. It's clear (to me at least) that it was partly the knowledge of needing more sleep was preventing me getting any. I also think that when my body weight get's below a certain level it affects me in terms of mood and sleep. So while it's OK (I think) to do it short term, I'll be trying to stay close to but above 60kg for the rest of the summer. Besides I've also come to the conclusion it doesn't make as much difference as I think. Especially if other areas suffer as a result!
I drew a line in the sand on Sunday as I ate my last snegl (rolled pastry snail with icing). From Monday I was getting back down to it, not back into full training but back into the mindset at least.
One week & 6kilo's later!
So with this in mind I went for a light run Monday evening. Even though my pace was 8.30min/mile, it still felt better than Friday's effort. On Tuesday I was moving apartment (again) and decided that I needed to collect my bike, which I had abandoned at work months previously. I ran from the new place and the tailwind inspired me to 20minutes at 7.40pace, wow!
The Cork Masters T&F championships are on Sunday so I knew I needed to do something "fast" this week to see if I was up to it and also to loosen out the legs. Decided that Wednesday was the best day to give it a go and despite motivation being pretty low I managed to drag myself to the track (which happens to be 500m from my new gaff).
After a brief warm up, basically a jog over I got going. The plan was to do 8x400m with 400m recovery. This was n't a proper session hence the long recovery.
Started off with an 86second, which isn't a whole pile quicker than Marathon pace! The next one was 80 flat followed by 79,78 with the remainder all 77's. To me this suggested the session had had the desired effect of loosening out the legs some bit. I originally had lofty ambitions of a PB (9.16) in Sunday's 3K but now I think anything under 10 minutes will be fine. Besides it's a race so I'll be racing the other oul' fellas rather than the clock.
This evening I'm heading back to Copenhagen for the Danish Cup Final and to catch up with a buddy. 'My' Danish team won the league on Sunday last so are aiming for the double. No doubt I'll be having a slight relapse as I'm sure there'll be a pølse or two and maybe a few beers consumed!
Monday, 5 May 2014
Limerick,you're a Lady
So race weekend finally arrived and began with a huge bowl of Havregryn which translates roughly into english as "I can't believe it's not porridge". Got a final rub down from the work physio, spent a reasonably productive day at work and hit the road for home. Made good time and was in my own bed for 10.30pm. Slept OK and threw on the running shoes one last time. After feeling desperate during a 10 minute warm up I did 3 longish strides, the purpose of which was to get the muscles ready to receive glycogen, and by crikey did they receive some amount of glycogen! Pretty much spent the day stuffing myself with porridge, bread, pasta, rice cakes etc. I worked it out that I took in about 450g of carbs which according to the 8g per kg bodyweight recommendation was about right but to be honest I think I may have slightly overdone it. Hit the hay around 9.45pm and slept for a while but it was a fitful sleep & I only dozed from around 1.30am onwards. Had planned on getting up at 5 but decided to make it a little earlier, had another super sized bowl of porridge followed by 2 weetabix and some bread before going back to bed and miraculously getting about 45minutes sleep.
At 6.15 I was just getting out of bed for the second time when my mother came to check on me thinking I had slept it out, fair play!! Headed down to my brothers place as he was looking after giving me my bottles & gels. Topped up the carbs in the car on the way down.
When I got to his place a pretty foggy head greeted me from the upstairs window. Hmm, is he up to the task? was my first reaction!! Once we (or I rather) had the bike loaded up and he assured me he had “just the few” the night before, we set off. I was feeling pretty good, seems all my nerves had been vented on Saturday and now I was relatively calm. I was also enjoying the buzz from my first cup of coffee in a week since I found abstinence had worked quite well at the Copenhagen half.
I had taken a few minutes to write down my objectives while he was scoffing breakfast:
- Feel really comfortable until at least 10 miles
- Don’t look at my watch too much
- At 16 miles, there’s only 10 miles to go
- Don’t count down miles, just focus on the now.
Thankfully he knows Limerick city pretty well so we parked up close to the baggage area and went over the course map and where I wanted bottles, and where I wanted gels.
We were in plenty of time as I wasn’t planning on doing much of a warm up, the weather was grand so I disrobed and just threw on an old long sleeved T-shirt over my singlet. I left Paul on his way to the first drink station at 4 miles and made my way to the start area. Thankfully it was pretty quiet near the front and there were even toilets easily accessible virtually on the start line.
So on to the plan: I had in my head 3 times. Sub 2.45 - acceptable, Sub 2.40 - my goal time. Sub 2.38 - an absolute dream. One way or another I wanted to pass half way no quicker than 80 minutes (6.06minute miling).
Just as we were about to line up I spotted irish Olympian Pauline Curley, I seized the opportunity to ask her what time she was planning on and she said she hadn’t a clue. Damn, as I knew if she was doing 2.40 she’d be like a metronome. She asked me what I was going for, eh 2.40 to 2.45 I said and she said belt away (incidentally she ran 2.44 for first lady). I hoped she wouldn’t be passing by at mile 20 with me in a heap!!
At this point I noticed Gary O’Hanlon, Phillip Harty and an Athenry AC athlete who appeared to be of East African extraction. Hmm, 2.44 was good for 3rd place last year but I knew this wouldn’t be the case with these guys in town! In one sense I decided it was a good thing as it meant I could concentrate solely on the clock.
After the strangest countdown ever (10,9,8,7 - go!) we were on our way & I found myself settling into around 10th place following a relay runner. I felt nice and relaxed (he was breathing heavily, which was oddly reassuring) and my pace settled around 6 minute milling . So far so good. As we made our way through the city centre, there were one or two drags which I took very handily and my pace dropped to around 6.10 or so. Grand job, for now. I passed the relay guy and another runner on a downhill so was inside the top 10.
Early days (courtesy Doonen AC)
We headed out towards the university on a combination of roads, footpaths and cycle paths. I was feeling OK, not incredible but was just doing my best to relax. Before we entered the campus I managed to pick off another guy. I passed marathon legend Jerry Kiernan (spectating) at one stage which gave me a lift. Through the University was a little tricky as the route wasn’t 100% clear and I was wasting some energy asking for directions. I passed the 10k point in 38:14 which was just behind schedule. My HR was remaining around 150 though so there was no reason to panic. At one point I thought I was gone off course as it wasn’t very clear where I should be going. I was pretty relieved when I finally saw a marshall!
Thankfully I was back onto roads now and on an out and back section of the course. Got another drink from my trusty brother at this stage, who was doing his job to a T so far. At about 8 miles the trio who I had seen at the start came hurtling towards me in tight formation. Another few guys came past and I could see I was in 8th place. As I reached the turn around point and went from being hunter to hunted I could see I had maybe 3 or 4 (including Pauline) spread out within a minute or so behind me. Behind them there were a few groups and it crossed my mind how easily it would be to lose 20 places if they were to pass.
I got back to work, still feeling OK, my pace was 6.08 but I managed to bring it to 6.07 on the way back towards the the city centre. I was still a little behind schedule at 10 miles, I had picked up the effort ever so slightly but was still holding back just a little bit. My plan had been to take a gel at 11 miles but as my stomach was a tiny bit dodgy I decided I just wanted a drink which Paul got to me seamlessly.
Around 12 miles in there was a number of French people (or French speaking at least) and with a few Allez Frank (my name was on my number which is a nice touch). I managed a merci! but stopped short of adding a beaucoup. There was some nice downhill sections before we got to halfway (as we had done a lot more climbing that I had anticipated) and my pace was now bang on 6.06. Passed half way in 79.58. Good man!
The course began to climb again though putting me straight into positive split territory but thankfully once over it there was a nice decent so I made back the ground. We were heading into the countryside and I could see Mike Curley Cunningham up ahead. As we were gradually climbing I was able to use his purple singlet and ponytail as a beacon. I spent about a mile giving chase before finally catching and passing him around the 15 or 16 mile mark. I was soon alone again and after a toughish mile or two I was on my way back into town with the wind at my back. Was feeling relatively comfortable now but resisted the urge to push too hard. I concentrated on my form and sure enough, more due to the course than anything else my pace dropped to 6.05, brilliant stuff I thought. My brother was still handling his task very well, I can’t remember exactly what I took on where but it was doing the job!
At around mile 19 or thereabouts the road began to pull up for a while and I struggled a bit for the first time. I had a short crisis of confidence but thankfully it didn’t last too long. We were back into the city now and my pace was down to 6.03. I had strung together my fastest miles of the race now with a few 5.48’s so hoped I’d banked some time for later on as I knew there was a few hills on the other side of the Shannon. At this stage I was so sick of the lack of direction from the marshals I asked Paul to go ahead and recce the course which was very helpful. Once we got across the bridge the course did indeed get tough, although on one particular climb I could see in Thomond Park which was both a welcome distraction and inspiration not to give up.
After negotiating some tricky housing estates we rounded the Gaelic grounds. I was tiring now but was pretty much sticking to the task. I wasn’t suffering like I was in the Copenhagen half, but didn’t feel I had the wherewithal to push on faster. I could have risked it, but I really didn’t want it to come back and bite me. As we headed in the Ennis road, a road I know quite well from going to GAA matches I knew I had one last loop to do before the final trek back to the city centre. We turned sharp right down a short avenue and I was never so happy to feel the full force of the breeze in my face. I knew this meant that once I got past the next corner it would be blowing across for the rest of the race. I took one last gel at around 23.5 miles and just focused, focused, focused.
My pace had gone back to 6.04 & then 6.05 and I was now doing my slowest miles of the race but I think I was still pretty confident of breaking 2.40. My brain was active enough to note my garmin read 25.05 as I passed the 25 mile marker so I checked my time once I got to 25.30 and it read 2.33.30. OK so I needed to run at least a 6.30 last mile. As I had had a few 6.17’s I knew I couldn’t afford to drop off the pace at all.
And then as if from nowhere, an angel appeared in the form of a yellow singlet up ahead. Straight away I zoned in on it like a heat seeking missile. To be honest I didn’t really care if I caught him or not I just had a target. I could see he was struggling as I focused on his back and nothing else. He kept coming closer to me and the city was coming closer to us both. I could hear the cackle from the announcer but I was in a tunnel, with a yellow light at the end of it, drawing me ever closer. Now I was getting greedy, I knew he was within range. News had filtered through to me a few miles back that one of the guys up ahead had dropped out so I knew 5th place was within reach. Finishing time became immaterial. As we reached the bank of Shannon I finally passed my friend and he didn’t react. I was on the bridge now and could see a gantry and for a second thought it was the finish line. It wasn’t however so I just drove on as hard as I could. I just decided to give it everything and when I finally rounded the last corner and searched desperately for the clock, afraid to look at my wrist in case it lied. 2.39.13 with a few meters to go. I made one final push and crossed the line in 2.39.26. YESSSSSS!!!!!
What followed is a bit of a blur, the emotion caught up with me and it was as if every mile I did since the first of January flooded through me. A steward could see this and she sort of said,you’re happy, aren’t you? I smiled and starting talking what was most likely gibberish.
To cut a long story a little shorter, after a quick rub down, I met Paul and hugged him for probably the first time in my life - sober anyway!! We went for a nice lunch and a few beers and then some of the nice tea and sandwiches I ever had.
The course was definitely harder than I expected so was more than happy to break 2.40. Still pinching myself really!
And now? Well at the risk of being self indulgent, to borrow some lines from Denis Allen (well I was on a 6am flight)
"While waking in the arms of distant watersa new day finds me far away from home
and Limerick You're My Lady
the one true love that I have ever known"
Thursday, 1 May 2014
Time to rest
While still on my exile from carbohydrates I planned on doing one last run yesterday evening. I was still pretty much listless but I said to myself if I can't do 45-50 minutes, how would I survive when the going inevitably gets tough on Sunday?
With this in mind I started off in a positive frame of mind. Once I started off I realised I was feeling a fair bit better than the previous day (admittedly I had a small amount of beetroot & kidney beans at lunch so there was some glycogen in my system!). So after a mile I decided to knock out a bit at marathon pace just to get myself in the mood for running fast on empty. Once I got going the pace dropped to 5.55per mile, it wasn't easy - but it was manageable. After a mile I decided to keep going, it was definitely a good mental exercise and kept it up for another mile which I completed in 6.01. I was pretty spent and shuddered (briefly) at the thought of doing 26.2 miles at not THAT much slower pace!! But then I reassured myself with fueling, rest etc. etc.
Once I slowed down I actually felt pretty good and did another 5 miles.
Wasn't as tired as I had been previously and even today I feel OK. Not sure what that means, I don't think the body can switch to relying on fats so quickly, maybe it's just the knowledge that the carbs are just around the corner :)
Regarding the second reason for the dearth of carbs, weight maintenance, I've actually lost a bit of weight since I started and was at an all time low this morning of 57.5kg. I don't think too much of this was fat loss though and more to do with the lack of carbs meaning less water retention (3g water for ever gramme of glycogen). This will no doubt revert back to normal over the next 2.5 days but this was always part of the plan.
I will now take today and tomorrow off, do a little stretching etc. My shoulder and general right hand side is still a little sore since Monday's bathroom malfunction, but it didn't affect my running. Maybe it's good to have something to worry about!
Wednesday: 8miles @ 6.59 HR 143 including 2miles @5.55,6.01
With this in mind I started off in a positive frame of mind. Once I started off I realised I was feeling a fair bit better than the previous day (admittedly I had a small amount of beetroot & kidney beans at lunch so there was some glycogen in my system!). So after a mile I decided to knock out a bit at marathon pace just to get myself in the mood for running fast on empty. Once I got going the pace dropped to 5.55per mile, it wasn't easy - but it was manageable. After a mile I decided to keep going, it was definitely a good mental exercise and kept it up for another mile which I completed in 6.01. I was pretty spent and shuddered (briefly) at the thought of doing 26.2 miles at not THAT much slower pace!! But then I reassured myself with fueling, rest etc. etc.
Once I slowed down I actually felt pretty good and did another 5 miles.
Wasn't as tired as I had been previously and even today I feel OK. Not sure what that means, I don't think the body can switch to relying on fats so quickly, maybe it's just the knowledge that the carbs are just around the corner :)
Regarding the second reason for the dearth of carbs, weight maintenance, I've actually lost a bit of weight since I started and was at an all time low this morning of 57.5kg. I don't think too much of this was fat loss though and more to do with the lack of carbs meaning less water retention (3g water for ever gramme of glycogen). This will no doubt revert back to normal over the next 2.5 days but this was always part of the plan.
I will now take today and tomorrow off, do a little stretching etc. My shoulder and general right hand side is still a little sore since Monday's bathroom malfunction, but it didn't affect my running. Maybe it's good to have something to worry about!
Wednesday: 8miles @ 6.59 HR 143 including 2miles @5.55,6.01
Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Hunger
Since Sunday I've quite reduced my carbohydrate intake. I had debated with myself long and hard about this and decided in the end to give it a go, for 2 reasons:
I had listened to an interview with the legendary Ron Hill & he reckoned ideal preparation was to deplete the body of carbohydrates so that when you reached the last few days and start to carboload it becomes more effective. He said that this concept originated in Scandinavia and is called the Sultin (I assumed this came from the Scandinavian word sultan meaning "hungry" but it turns out it was from the doctor who developed it!) Whilst I had heard of this concept before while reading about carb loading the general consensus is that it is unnecessary and just the carb loading portion is required. I have read though that it does no harm so my second reason kicks in - not to put on weight.
As my mileage has dropped & due to knowing that I'll pile on a few pounds when I do start carb loading I said it was no harm for a few days to cut down my overall calorie intake and by cutting down on carbs this makes it a lot easier. I haven't had to make any huge changes though. I normally have porridge for breakfast so have been having an omelette instead. I don't normally eat a lot of potatoes, pasta, bread (unless I'm racing or doing a session) so just swapped some of my vegetable intake, spinach instead of carrots for example. The other change is I haven't had any fruit except for an orange yesterday.
The results have been quite stark, it's been much harder than I thought! I haven't been hungry (due to the extra protein) but my energy levels are way down. As I was a little sore monday from my fall I only ran 2 miles and yesterday struggled through 6, there's no way I could have done speedwork! But this means it's working I suppose. On the plus side I have had 2 of the best nights sleep in ages as I'm totally zonked come 8pm.
I will try keep it up until tomorrow evening or friday morning & then comes the best bit of the entire marathon process - CARBO LOADING :)!!!
Monday: 2 miles @7.43 HR 117
Tuesday:6 miles @7.29 HR 132
I had listened to an interview with the legendary Ron Hill & he reckoned ideal preparation was to deplete the body of carbohydrates so that when you reached the last few days and start to carboload it becomes more effective. He said that this concept originated in Scandinavia and is called the Sultin (I assumed this came from the Scandinavian word sultan meaning "hungry" but it turns out it was from the doctor who developed it!) Whilst I had heard of this concept before while reading about carb loading the general consensus is that it is unnecessary and just the carb loading portion is required. I have read though that it does no harm so my second reason kicks in - not to put on weight.
As my mileage has dropped & due to knowing that I'll pile on a few pounds when I do start carb loading I said it was no harm for a few days to cut down my overall calorie intake and by cutting down on carbs this makes it a lot easier. I haven't had to make any huge changes though. I normally have porridge for breakfast so have been having an omelette instead. I don't normally eat a lot of potatoes, pasta, bread (unless I'm racing or doing a session) so just swapped some of my vegetable intake, spinach instead of carrots for example. The other change is I haven't had any fruit except for an orange yesterday.
The results have been quite stark, it's been much harder than I thought! I haven't been hungry (due to the extra protein) but my energy levels are way down. As I was a little sore monday from my fall I only ran 2 miles and yesterday struggled through 6, there's no way I could have done speedwork! But this means it's working I suppose. On the plus side I have had 2 of the best nights sleep in ages as I'm totally zonked come 8pm.
I will try keep it up until tomorrow evening or friday morning & then comes the best bit of the entire marathon process - CARBO LOADING :)!!!
Monday: 2 miles @7.43 HR 117
Tuesday:6 miles @7.29 HR 132
Monday, 28 April 2014
The Start line is in sight...
Had planned on doing an easy run on Friday morning before breakfast & then heading for the airport. Got quite a surprise when I looked out the window & it was lashing rain! Nice weather for travelling I guess. So a quick change of plan, I popped down for breakfast, did most of my packing and headed out for 45 minutes.
Did another easy 35 minutes Saturday at home & finished the week off with 10 miles Sunday, which will be the last "long" run I'll do. Quite shattered today as it was quite late getting back to Denmark.
Being the idiot that I am I slipped on the bathroom floor this morning and banged my hip and knee. Will head out for a run but if it's sore I'll turn back.
Friday 6.6miles @7.12 HR130
Saturday 5miles @7.08 HR134
Sunday 10miles @7.30 HR134
Weekly Total: 75miles
Did another easy 35 minutes Saturday at home & finished the week off with 10 miles Sunday, which will be the last "long" run I'll do. Quite shattered today as it was quite late getting back to Denmark.
Being the idiot that I am I slipped on the bathroom floor this morning and banged my hip and knee. Will head out for a run but if it's sore I'll turn back.
Friday 6.6miles @7.12 HR130
Saturday 5miles @7.08 HR134
Sunday 10miles @7.30 HR134
Weekly Total: 75miles
Thursday, 24 April 2014
Making the best of a bad session
The plan for today was to repeat last Wednesday's pyramid session. I felt that it should in theory be easier considering I didn't have the fast finish long run in my legs as I had last week. I was wrong. Actually as I type this, it has occurred to me that the fast finish was done in the morning whereas Monday's long run took place in the evening. Conversely I was doing the session in the morning whereas last week it was the evening, so I guess I had almost an extra 24 hours recovery in total. Or maybe I was just going better last week!
I had planned on going to the track but it would have meant renting a bike & trying to find the bloody thing! I decided it wasn't worth the hassle as I wanted to get the session in before it got too hot. Besides there's a lovely cycle path running along the seafront in Palma which would do nicely. After warming up and causing a cyclist to crash (just before I got onto the cycle path so there shouldn't be a lawsuit!) I set about the first mile. While I was holding 5.30 pace as planned it felt anything but comfortable. Not to worry I thought, just getting warmed up. Onto the 2mile section and things were definitely not going well. Was digging deep enough to maintain the pace and only managed 11.05. Knew at this stage my lofty hopes of doing the entire session at 5.30 pace was beyond me so I headed into to 3 mile section with an open mind. After a bit I looked down and the pace was around 5.45 and I was under serious pressure. And next thing I knew I had hit the lap button at 0.4miles and was jogging. As I contemplated the jog home and pondered if what I had done justified the chocolate milkshake waiting in the fridge as my recovery drink, I had a bit of a brain wave - Ok so I can't maintain 5.30pace so why not knock out a few miles at target marathon pace. Sher why not? Started off nice and relaxed, at what felt like marathon pace. When I looked down I was doing 5.50 miling. Hmm, it felt so much easier that just a few seconds a mile quicker, obviously being more relaxed helped. Although I thought I was at a pace I could maintain for 30 minutes or so, I had slowed to 6 minute miling by the time I hit 3 miles and by 5 miles I had to push on a bit to maintain this pace. Ok so I was going a little faster than my planned marathon pace but I think I still gave myself a timely reminder that even though a pace might feel comfortable it doesn't mean it's not too fast!
Not the toughest session I've ever done, 10 days out might be a good time to kill yourself before a 5 or 10K but I think for what I would have gained by really burying myself, wouldn't have been worth it. As I neared the end of the warm down it dawned on me - it's done! The training's done, happy days!! I'll do some sort of speed work next week just to break up the inevitable tedium but I won't even bring the watch (who am I kidding?) but nothing too hectic. Ok I guess there's just the small matter of the 26.2 miles to go...
Thursday: 2 mile warmup, 1mile (5.30) 2min recovery, 2mile (5.33) 3.5min recovery. 0.4mile (5.44) 2min recovery, 5mile (6.00), 2 mile warm down. 13.3miles total
I had planned on going to the track but it would have meant renting a bike & trying to find the bloody thing! I decided it wasn't worth the hassle as I wanted to get the session in before it got too hot. Besides there's a lovely cycle path running along the seafront in Palma which would do nicely. After warming up and causing a cyclist to crash (just before I got onto the cycle path so there shouldn't be a lawsuit!) I set about the first mile. While I was holding 5.30 pace as planned it felt anything but comfortable. Not to worry I thought, just getting warmed up. Onto the 2mile section and things were definitely not going well. Was digging deep enough to maintain the pace and only managed 11.05. Knew at this stage my lofty hopes of doing the entire session at 5.30 pace was beyond me so I headed into to 3 mile section with an open mind. After a bit I looked down and the pace was around 5.45 and I was under serious pressure. And next thing I knew I had hit the lap button at 0.4miles and was jogging. As I contemplated the jog home and pondered if what I had done justified the chocolate milkshake waiting in the fridge as my recovery drink, I had a bit of a brain wave - Ok so I can't maintain 5.30pace so why not knock out a few miles at target marathon pace. Sher why not? Started off nice and relaxed, at what felt like marathon pace. When I looked down I was doing 5.50 miling. Hmm, it felt so much easier that just a few seconds a mile quicker, obviously being more relaxed helped. Although I thought I was at a pace I could maintain for 30 minutes or so, I had slowed to 6 minute miling by the time I hit 3 miles and by 5 miles I had to push on a bit to maintain this pace. Ok so I was going a little faster than my planned marathon pace but I think I still gave myself a timely reminder that even though a pace might feel comfortable it doesn't mean it's not too fast!
Not the toughest session I've ever done, 10 days out might be a good time to kill yourself before a 5 or 10K but I think for what I would have gained by really burying myself, wouldn't have been worth it. As I neared the end of the warm down it dawned on me - it's done! The training's done, happy days!! I'll do some sort of speed work next week just to break up the inevitable tedium but I won't even bring the watch (who am I kidding?) but nothing too hectic. Ok I guess there's just the small matter of the 26.2 miles to go...
Thursday: 2 mile warmup, 1mile (5.30) 2min recovery, 2mile (5.33) 3.5min recovery. 0.4mile (5.44) 2min recovery, 5mile (6.00), 2 mile warm down. 13.3miles total
Wednesday, 23 April 2014
Taper Time, well kind of
So in to the home straight now at last. I know there's often a lot of debate about how long the marathon taper should be, with 2 to 3 weeks often considered the optimum duration. As my training had been disrupted I feel that my situation is slightly different. Traditionally one should begin the taper after coming off the hardest training in terms of intensity and mileage & while I got some good quality workouts in, my weekly mileage had been hit or miss. Since Ballycotton (i.e. the recovery week of 57 miles) I had mileage of 77, 67, 23, 41, 57, 77. While I'm hopeful the lack of mileage won't come against me Sunday week, it means at the moment I feel quite fresh, whereas I should be on my hands & knees by this stage.
With this in mind even though I had always planned on doing my last 20 miler 2 weeks out I postponed it by a day as there was no way I was doing it the day after the 10K race. It turned out to be my hardest long run so far, not because of the intensity - it was my slowest one and on dead flat roads, as I've moved to Palma for the last few days. The hangover from the Easter celebrations meant it was mentally tough to keep going. Maybe subconsciously having the few beers was a good idea as I hadn't really suffered mentally on any of the long runs so far, so I needed a bit of "wanting to throw in the towel and just keep the head down". Even after 19 miles I wanted to call it quits but I'm glad I stuck it out. The pace was slow, but that's perfect as it was all about getting time on my feet. I think anyone that knows me well can well understand how I could fully integrate a night on the lash as an essential component of my training plan!
Did a 30 minute recovery run tuesday morning & felt a little stiff. Did another hour in the PM and felt a bit better but still not fully recovered.
Got up this morning with an easy hour in mind but it felt anything but easy. The old familiar big race coming up feeling of lethargy is starting to creep in but I kept the head down in the knowledge I could just relax for the rest of the day.
Tomorrow is 10 days out which means last session and then the taper proper can begin.
Monday: 20 miles @6.58 HR141
Tuesday:AM 4miles @ 7.47
PM 8miles @7.02 HR132
Wednesday: 8miles @ 7.23 HR125
With this in mind even though I had always planned on doing my last 20 miler 2 weeks out I postponed it by a day as there was no way I was doing it the day after the 10K race. It turned out to be my hardest long run so far, not because of the intensity - it was my slowest one and on dead flat roads, as I've moved to Palma for the last few days. The hangover from the Easter celebrations meant it was mentally tough to keep going. Maybe subconsciously having the few beers was a good idea as I hadn't really suffered mentally on any of the long runs so far, so I needed a bit of "wanting to throw in the towel and just keep the head down". Even after 19 miles I wanted to call it quits but I'm glad I stuck it out. The pace was slow, but that's perfect as it was all about getting time on my feet. I think anyone that knows me well can well understand how I could fully integrate a night on the lash as an essential component of my training plan!
Did a 30 minute recovery run tuesday morning & felt a little stiff. Did another hour in the PM and felt a bit better but still not fully recovered.
Got up this morning with an easy hour in mind but it felt anything but easy. The old familiar big race coming up feeling of lethargy is starting to creep in but I kept the head down in the knowledge I could just relax for the rest of the day.
Tomorrow is 10 days out which means last session and then the taper proper can begin.
Monday: 20 miles @6.58 HR141
Tuesday:AM 4miles @ 7.47
PM 8miles @7.02 HR132
Wednesday: 8miles @ 7.23 HR125
Tuesday, 22 April 2014
Warm weather training
So on Monday I had the luxury of heading off to Mallorca for some warm weather training. Not specifically because of the marathon (although if it is an unseasonably hot day it may help!) I had initially booked a week off work due to the 3 Danish bank holidays at Easter, but I was encouraged to take an extra & didn't need too much convincing!
Following Sunday's hard long run, the first 2 days were spent recovering, an easy hour on the treadmill monday, and 2 easy 40ish minute runs on Tuesday (one on the treadmill). On Wednesday I had a session planned. As I said in a previous post I was planning on doing 4x2mile on the road, but due to the hilliness of the area (Porto Cristo) & due to there being a track only 15 minutes away I decided to make the most of it. Rather than the tedium of 4x2 miles I said I'd give a pyramid session a go, 1-2-3-2-1 miles with 2-3-4-4 minutes recovery.
As the day was spent shopping & generally messing about I was in no real form for it and was dreading it by the time I made it to the track. Still I said I hadn't come all this way not to make the most of the weather & facilities!
Found it a bit tougher than I expected to keep the pace (5.30) on the first, but loosened out on the 2 mile and managed 10.58. Decided to decrease the effort for the 3 mile but was still on 5.30 pace after 7 laps. The pace did drop off a bit but not too badly so I ended with 16.50 (5.37 pace). I suffered on the next 2 mile and only managed 11.33 (5.47 pace) and told myself that anything under 6 minutes would be fine for the last mile. Surprised myself with a 5.33 which was very pleasing on tired legs!
Needless to say I was tired the next morning so did an hour easy, or as easy as one can go on the hilly Mallorcan roads. Did another easy 30 minutes that evening.
As I had found a 10K race for Saturday I just did 50 minutes very easy on friday. Although I had Wednesdays session (and Sundays long run) in my legs I was hoping to see how I could go in the 10K but it turned out to be a humbling experience. For some reason I was exceptionally nervous before hand. Almost as soon as we got going I knew I wasn't in the right frame of mind, and that was even before the course started going up & up & up. It was a mix of trails and road so it was very difficult to get into any kind of rhythm. I just hung in and said it's training and ended up in 8th place in just over 38minutes (I know!).
Did 30 minutes easy on Sunday Morning & actually felt better than after the session. Goes to show the effort wasn't there, but probably no harm not to kill myself just over 2 weeks to my A race. Did an easy hour Sunday Evening before treating myself to the nicest steak I've had in years and a few pints. Well it was the end of my last hard week of training & Lent was over after all!
Monday:8miles @7.30
Tuesday:AM 5miles @
PM: 5.6miles @7.30
Wednesday Session: 1-2-3-2-1 miles total :14miles
Thursday: AM 8miles
PM: 5miles
Friday: 6.8miles
Saturday: 10K Race
Sunday: AM: 4.5miles
PM: 8miles
Total for week: 77miles
Following Sunday's hard long run, the first 2 days were spent recovering, an easy hour on the treadmill monday, and 2 easy 40ish minute runs on Tuesday (one on the treadmill). On Wednesday I had a session planned. As I said in a previous post I was planning on doing 4x2mile on the road, but due to the hilliness of the area (Porto Cristo) & due to there being a track only 15 minutes away I decided to make the most of it. Rather than the tedium of 4x2 miles I said I'd give a pyramid session a go, 1-2-3-2-1 miles with 2-3-4-4 minutes recovery.
As the day was spent shopping & generally messing about I was in no real form for it and was dreading it by the time I made it to the track. Still I said I hadn't come all this way not to make the most of the weather & facilities!
Found it a bit tougher than I expected to keep the pace (5.30) on the first, but loosened out on the 2 mile and managed 10.58. Decided to decrease the effort for the 3 mile but was still on 5.30 pace after 7 laps. The pace did drop off a bit but not too badly so I ended with 16.50 (5.37 pace). I suffered on the next 2 mile and only managed 11.33 (5.47 pace) and told myself that anything under 6 minutes would be fine for the last mile. Surprised myself with a 5.33 which was very pleasing on tired legs!
Needless to say I was tired the next morning so did an hour easy, or as easy as one can go on the hilly Mallorcan roads. Did another easy 30 minutes that evening.
As I had found a 10K race for Saturday I just did 50 minutes very easy on friday. Although I had Wednesdays session (and Sundays long run) in my legs I was hoping to see how I could go in the 10K but it turned out to be a humbling experience. For some reason I was exceptionally nervous before hand. Almost as soon as we got going I knew I wasn't in the right frame of mind, and that was even before the course started going up & up & up. It was a mix of trails and road so it was very difficult to get into any kind of rhythm. I just hung in and said it's training and ended up in 8th place in just over 38minutes (I know!).
Did 30 minutes easy on Sunday Morning & actually felt better than after the session. Goes to show the effort wasn't there, but probably no harm not to kill myself just over 2 weeks to my A race. Did an easy hour Sunday Evening before treating myself to the nicest steak I've had in years and a few pints. Well it was the end of my last hard week of training & Lent was over after all!
Monday:8miles @7.30
Tuesday:AM 5miles @
PM: 5.6miles @7.30
Wednesday Session: 1-2-3-2-1 miles total :14miles
Thursday: AM 8miles
PM: 5miles
Friday: 6.8miles
Saturday: 10K Race
Sunday: AM: 4.5miles
PM: 8miles
Total for week: 77miles
Tuesday, 15 April 2014
For Thursday’s session I had planned on best case scenario doing 4x2 mile or else start with 2 miles & drop down to one if necessary. My latest niggle (seems to be touring my body!) was on the tendon that runs just below the ankle on the inside of my foot & I was aware of it during my warm up but hoped once I got up to speed on the track it would disappear. Unfortunately this was n’t to be the case & after getting through the first repeat @5.26 pace (comfortably difficult) I decided to call it at day. Had what I considered my make or break fast finish long run planned for Sunday so didn't want to jeopardise it. Considering how I felt during the repeat I did manage I think I went a little quick, so all going well I will aim to do it this week, maybe start around 5.35pace and also I think I’d be better off doing it away from the track. 8 laps at high pace is mentally quite difficult I discovered!!
I travelled home on friday and was up early enough to get a run in before heading for the airport but decided that running cold was a recipe for disaster. As a result I squeezed in 40minutes when I got home. As I was caught for time I found myself running a little faster than usual, not consciously - I find the difference in time saved between running fast and slow is precious little. But it was nice to see the pace well below 7 minute miling and still feeling comfortable. Managed to do another hour on Saturday, again below 7 minute miling. Both hip and tendon below ankle were quite sore so I gave a good session on the foam roller/boule. Also in the hopes of some devine intervention, my mam lit a candle for my various ailments after mass!
After a really bad nights sleep I was quite nervous heading for my long run. Decided to do a fairly flat loop of about 5 miles in Cork, so I could pick up drinks and bail out if it came to it. The reason for the flat course was so I could practice putting in a consistant effort, but there was two shortish sharp hills just to ensure it wouldn't be too easy :)
The plan was to take it easy for the first 8 miles or so & then pick it up goal marathon pace (6.10) for the next 7 miles before just running as fast as I could for another 5. Sounds straightforward eh?
Started off at around 7.15 pace but as it turned out that was pretty much the slowest part of the loop. By the time I had hit the first mile it had dropped to 6.55 and my HR still below 130bpm, good start! By the time I hit the end of part one at 8 miles I had dropped down to around 6.45 pace with only the odd foray into the 140's. I picked it up towards the end, as per last time in order not to shock the system . When I started at the 6.10 pace section it actually felt a little harder than I expected - I thought to myself 12 miles at this will be a challenge (not to mind 26.2!) but again it started on a tough part. After a few toughish miles, got back into my comfort zone. My HR had gone to 160's but came back to high 150's and started cruising at around 6.07 pace and felt (almost) like I could go like that all day. When I got to my transition point after 7 miles I had half thought of staying at that pace for another 2miles but instinct kicked in & I picked things up. Things started getting tough now but managed to get down to an average of about 6.02. I hit the last mile just at the beginning of the only real hill & by the time I crested it I was at 6.30 for that mile, managed to dig pretty deep to get it back to 6.14 by the end of it. Finished shattered but a different shattered than after say a track session. Met a buddy on the warm down which was nice. Felt I could have ran another 10 miles handy enough, just not very quickly!!Thursday: 4miles incl. 2miles in 10.54
Friday: 5.5miles @ 6.42 HR 138
Saturday: 8miles @ 6.57 HR 137
Sunday: 22.3miles @ 6.33 HR 149 (8 @6.45, 7 @ 6.07, 5 @ 6.02)
Wednesday, 9 April 2014
Despite feeling Ok after Sunday's long run, I was pretty sore on Monday. Thankfully it was a tired muscles sore as opposed to an injury sore. The run Sunday had 248m of ascent and obviously the same in descent, some of the decent's being quite steep. As a result my quads were pretty sore. I understand now why people find the Boston marathon tough! Just got out for 30 minutes or so monday evening. Was happy to note no pain in my hamstring although my hip was a bit sore (as it had been after the 22miler).
Did 75 minutes yesterday and had recovered a bit more but was still a bit tired. Hip still sore but was able to run through it. Did the run on some playing pitches to give the body & the quads in particular a bit of a break. Definitely want to do a session this week, the thought had crossed my mind to do it today, but I think I will just go easy again this evening & hopefully will be fit for fight tomorrow.
Monday: 3.8miles @7.55Min/mile HR118bpm
Tuesday: 10.3miles @7.17Min/mile HR138bpm
Did 75 minutes yesterday and had recovered a bit more but was still a bit tired. Hip still sore but was able to run through it. Did the run on some playing pitches to give the body & the quads in particular a bit of a break. Definitely want to do a session this week, the thought had crossed my mind to do it today, but I think I will just go easy again this evening & hopefully will be fit for fight tomorrow.
Monday: 3.8miles @7.55Min/mile HR118bpm
Tuesday: 10.3miles @7.17Min/mile HR138bpm
Sunday, 6 April 2014
Mind over matter
Took Monday and Tuesday off completely, in order to give my various ailments time to recover. I was starting to worry that the wheels had come off my marathon hopes as this is the crucial time for getting in the mileage/quality really before the taper starts. On Wednesday I did 30 minutes easy and while the tendon was grand during, it was a little sore after. As a result I took Thursday off and had a physio appointment Friday morning. By now I had pretty much said to myself the marathon was a non runner. I even started planning my track season (well googling race dates so I could plan my trips) to take my mind off it.
But towards the end of the massage the physio said something that surprised me - "Are you sure it's as bad as you say it is?" The reason she asked was, because she was able to work on it without causing too much discomfort. Hmm, could she have had a point? I remembered reading another runners blog who developed a problem at a similar point in training for a marathon (I won't mention his ailment in case he ever happened upon this blog, as it was quite a specific and unusual problem) and my immediate thought was that it was at least partly psychological. You get so far in training and everything is looking good, but the fear of failure makes you subconsciously seek an out.
As if by chance I was listening to a marathon talk podcast that afternoon and an interview with a runner who was racing across America. He mentioned how he'd go from one injury to the next and that one of the other competitors told him that running is able to fix most of the problems it causes (a bit like alcohol!) I took this as a sign & also remember that my Achilles managed to right itself not through rest, but by running sensibly (i.e. no killer sessions) and it'll go away of it's own accord.
So with that in mind I decided to HTFU and went out for 5 miles friday evening. I had bought a support but after a mile I realised it was the wrong size and was aggravating the problem but once I took it off I was fine. Managed 8 miles on Saturday, after about 5 felt a pinch in the tendon but once I slowed down it was ok again, it came at me again towards the end so slowed to a crawl.
So with today being 4 weeks to Limerick I had a decision to make, was I going to keep the dream alive? If so there was no doubt in my mind that I simply had to do a long run. I would prefer to quit here than hit the wall at mile 20 due to lack of preparation.
So I got up early and hit the road, into the unknown. I consoled myself in that if I had to turn back I'd be able to see Bekele's marathon debut in Paris.
Of course when I say unknown I'm talking about my body, I had driven a route near my house during the week (just in case) A hillyish 8.5mile loop http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/385461518 with 95m of ascent. This would give me an out if required. The forecast had been for about 3 degrees and light wind but it was foggy, wet and a bit breezy. It was strange but I wasn't overly concerned with would I survive the distance from a stamina point of view and was totally focused on the legs. First few miles went grand, pace was quite fast, around 6.45min/mile but had the breeze with me and a lot of downhill. HR was low 140's which was grand. Typically the hilliest part was directly into the wind but just went steady up it, leg was fine thankfully. On the road back in I started motoring for a bit and the pace dropped as low as 6.41 but was back to 6.46 by the time I was back at the house. Everything was still hunky dory, passed 10miles not a bother with pace still at 6.46. Breeze had picked up a bit. When I got to 15 feeling fine I was thinking how far should I go. As my longest run in time was 2.30 I decided I would do whichever came first of the following:
1. Exhaustion
2. 2hrs45min
3. 24 miles
Still felt grand as the miles passed on, although my HR was creeping up to high 140's with the odd foray into the 150's. Got to 20 miles , pace hovering between 6.46,6.47, still grand. Around 22 miles it finally started to get tough and my pace dropped to 6.48. I decided to increase the effort ever so slightly just to know I could stay strong until the end. Finished off with the pace back at 6.47. Delighted to get through it and satisfied with how it went but won't get too carried away as I've almost had a 2 week taper leading into it. Still it was nice to get it in. The next thing is to see how I recover. I know I'm far from out of the woods, but at least I know I'm still in the game.
Weds: 4.2miles @ 7.39min/mile
Friday: 5miles @ 7.27min/mile
Saturday:8miles @ 7.18min/mile
Sunday: 24miles @ 6.47min/mile HR146bpm
But towards the end of the massage the physio said something that surprised me - "Are you sure it's as bad as you say it is?" The reason she asked was, because she was able to work on it without causing too much discomfort. Hmm, could she have had a point? I remembered reading another runners blog who developed a problem at a similar point in training for a marathon (I won't mention his ailment in case he ever happened upon this blog, as it was quite a specific and unusual problem) and my immediate thought was that it was at least partly psychological. You get so far in training and everything is looking good, but the fear of failure makes you subconsciously seek an out.
As if by chance I was listening to a marathon talk podcast that afternoon and an interview with a runner who was racing across America. He mentioned how he'd go from one injury to the next and that one of the other competitors told him that running is able to fix most of the problems it causes (a bit like alcohol!) I took this as a sign & also remember that my Achilles managed to right itself not through rest, but by running sensibly (i.e. no killer sessions) and it'll go away of it's own accord.
So with that in mind I decided to HTFU and went out for 5 miles friday evening. I had bought a support but after a mile I realised it was the wrong size and was aggravating the problem but once I took it off I was fine. Managed 8 miles on Saturday, after about 5 felt a pinch in the tendon but once I slowed down it was ok again, it came at me again towards the end so slowed to a crawl.
So with today being 4 weeks to Limerick I had a decision to make, was I going to keep the dream alive? If so there was no doubt in my mind that I simply had to do a long run. I would prefer to quit here than hit the wall at mile 20 due to lack of preparation.
So I got up early and hit the road, into the unknown. I consoled myself in that if I had to turn back I'd be able to see Bekele's marathon debut in Paris.
Of course when I say unknown I'm talking about my body, I had driven a route near my house during the week (just in case) A hillyish 8.5mile loop http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/385461518 with 95m of ascent. This would give me an out if required. The forecast had been for about 3 degrees and light wind but it was foggy, wet and a bit breezy. It was strange but I wasn't overly concerned with would I survive the distance from a stamina point of view and was totally focused on the legs. First few miles went grand, pace was quite fast, around 6.45min/mile but had the breeze with me and a lot of downhill. HR was low 140's which was grand. Typically the hilliest part was directly into the wind but just went steady up it, leg was fine thankfully. On the road back in I started motoring for a bit and the pace dropped as low as 6.41 but was back to 6.46 by the time I was back at the house. Everything was still hunky dory, passed 10miles not a bother with pace still at 6.46. Breeze had picked up a bit. When I got to 15 feeling fine I was thinking how far should I go. As my longest run in time was 2.30 I decided I would do whichever came first of the following:
1. Exhaustion
2. 2hrs45min
3. 24 miles
Still felt grand as the miles passed on, although my HR was creeping up to high 140's with the odd foray into the 150's. Got to 20 miles , pace hovering between 6.46,6.47, still grand. Around 22 miles it finally started to get tough and my pace dropped to 6.48. I decided to increase the effort ever so slightly just to know I could stay strong until the end. Finished off with the pace back at 6.47. Delighted to get through it and satisfied with how it went but won't get too carried away as I've almost had a 2 week taper leading into it. Still it was nice to get it in. The next thing is to see how I recover. I know I'm far from out of the woods, but at least I know I'm still in the game.
Weds: 4.2miles @ 7.39min/mile
Friday: 5miles @ 7.27min/mile
Saturday:8miles @ 7.18min/mile
Sunday: 24miles @ 6.47min/mile HR146bpm
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