Monday 17th June - Week 4 Day 1
Plan: Rest Day
Actual: Rest Day
Tuesday 18th June - Week 4 Day 2
Plan: 13K w/10x100M strides
Actual: Club Session
An absolute belter of an evening on Tuesday and down to the College for our weekly speed session.
3.87K warm up including stretches and a couple of laps of bends easy/straights hard.
Gary told us he was taking it handy on us as a lot of people were racing Dunshaughlin at the weekend. The session consisted of 2 sets of (1x1000,2 min rec,1x800, 2 min rec,1x600) w/4 min between sets. These were to be done at 10K pace as opposed to 5K pace as normal.
Splits were (4:21,3:25,2:27,4:22,3:26,2:22)
Happy with how this went and felt controlled enough throughout, except for an eyeballs out sprint with Rosemary for the last 50M of the last rep :-)
2.66K w/d to bring it up to 12K for the session in total.
Wednesday 19th June - Week 4 Day 3
Plan: 8K Recovery
Actual: 16.4K
Avg Pace: 5:40
Avg HR: 127??
Moved this run forward a day as time was going to be tight on Thursday with stuff on. Met with Brian Moore at the college and headed off through Stamullen around by Silverstream out onto the main road near Applegreen and then down the back road onto the beach and eventually back up to the College via the Delvin road. Quite hilly route but we took it handy enough after the session the night before. Legs were tired by the end but great to get the run done. HR reading very low again. Must keep an eye on it for my next run to see is there a fault.
Thursday 20th June - Week 4 Day 4
Plan: 16K General Aerobic
Actual: Rest
Friday 21st June - Week 4 Day 5
Plan: Rest
Actual: 6.4K
Avg Pace: 5:52
Avg HR: 133
Just a couple of loops around Gormanston at recovery pace. I managed to leave this late enough to coincide with the rain starting. Nothing exciting to report apart from that.
Saturday 22nd June - Week 4 Day 6
Plan: 6K Recovery
Actual: 8K incl Malahide Parkrun
5K in 21:48
Avg Pace: 4:21
Avg HR: 145
Headed to Malahide on Sat morning to do the Parkrun for another bit of speed work and to compensate a bit for missing Dunshaughlin. Did about a 2K warm up and was feeling a bit heavy legged and tired. Headed to the start and as usual started fairly promptly. Started a bit too far back and got boxed in a bit for the first few 100 metres, eventually opened up and started passing people gradually.Felt I was running pretty controlled without being flat out. Continued to work my way past people and bridge gaps to groups in front as we completed the first loop. It was now well spread out and just a couple more people to target in front. Was keeping a bit of an eye on the pace and it seemed fine but once you get under the tree cover it seems to drop automatically so didn't bother looking at it. After around 3K there was now a gap of around 50 metres in front of me so I just kept running along at the same steady effort. Came out of the woods with about a K to go and the legs were definitely feeling it now. Got passed by a couple of lads with about 500M to go but kept them in range heading up the last hill and passed them out them with a sprint to the line. Happy enough with the time for not running flat out. Finished 43rd overall.
Sunday 23rd June - Week 4 Day 7
Plan: 24K Long Run
Actual: 24.2K
Avg Pace: 5:40
Tried to muster up some company for this one but most of the usual crew were quite rightly resting up after super races in Dunshaughlin. Decided to head over to Skerries for a change and head off up Flemington lane and across the ring road in Balbriggan. Legs knew there had been a race the day before and I just let them dictate the pace. Noticed on the way over the wind seemed to be picking up all the time and I would have a fight on my hands on the way back. Around Barnageera I started to see the odd cyclist and I copped then that the Skerries Triathlon was on so as I was heading into Skerries there were plenty coming the opposite direction. Reached my turnaround point which also happened to be the transition area so stopped to get some water and have a quick look at what was going on before setting off back where I came from. As got back outside Skerries it was like running in a wind tunnel the whole way home. Pace dropped off slightly but not too much which was good as it felt like walking pace in spots. Around the 20K point I got my first official attack from a Seagull of the year so stopped again and had to take a slight detour again. Nice couple of hills to finish and eventually when I turned for home at the top of Flemington lane the wind was in my favour again. Another long run ticked off and legs felt fine afterwards.
67K for the week which climbs to 72K this week before a step back week. Long run goes up to 26K this week with 16K at Marathon pace so that will be a toughie for sure. The session in the plan this week is 14K w/8K at Half marathon pace. Not sure yet whether to do this or the club session. Might be no harm to do a more endurance based session?
In other news I applied to be a pacer for the Dublin Marathon and was thrilled to be accepted. The pace bands this year will be at 10 minute intervals and I will be hopefully be pacing the 5 hour group. Looking forward to it but also nervous at the same time. No time to worry about that for the moment though.
Monday 24 June 2013
Monday 17 June 2013
16 Weeks to Berlin
Monday 10th June - Week 3 Day 1
Plan: Rest Day
Actual: Rest Day & Gardening
Got the garden in good shape at last but body was aching the next day :-(
Tuesday 11th June - Week 3 Day 2
Plan: 16K General Aerobic
Actual: Club Session
The speed session in the plan this week was planned for Thursday to allow for proper recovery from the Marathon pace run but our Club session was on Tuesday so had to go with that.
Usual warm up loop followed by drills, stretching & strides. We were in the field this week as the track was too wet. Session consisted of (15,30,45,60,75,90,105,120,105,90,75,60,45,30,15) seconds at 5K pace with 35 seconds recovery. Was initially disappointed with how this went but when I looked at the splits they were mostly ok apart from a couple. Walked one of the recoveries to fix my watch which went mental with the rain so spent a bit of the session in no man's land after that.
Another long loop to warm down bringing up 12.1K for the session.
Wednesday 12th June - Week 3 Day 3
Plan: 6K Recovery
Actual: Golf
Had a Golf match after work so no running today. Got absolutely soaked for around 4 hours but thanks to my partner playing well we won on the 17th hole and live to fight another day.
Thursday 13th June - Week 3 Day 4
Plan: 13K w/6K @ Half Marathon Pace
Actual: 16.1K
Avg Pace: 5:13
Avg HR: 136
So this was where I substituted Tuesday's planned run in place of the speed in the plan. Was pretty wrecked mentally & physically during the day from a bit of a slog the night before. The rain was doing it's best to put me off as well but needs must.
Set out from the College around 7:15 through Stamullen and past St Pat's down into Julianstown and around the back roads. Went past my normal turn which brings you past Murphy's Quarry as I was sure there was a turn further on that brought you out at 'The Cock' pub. I must have missed it as I eventually ended up down the beach. Made it back to the college anyway safe from there.
This was one of those runs where you start out not so sure, a couple of easy K's to start and a few hills taken care of. Hit the downhill and the pace dropped naturally but when I reached the flat the pace stayed the same so I stuck with it. Was just running by feel and every time the watch beeped the pace was getting slightly quicker. Just went with it and enjoyed the run.
While the pace is a good bit quicker than normal for a 10 mile training run the HR is pretty bang on what it should be which is a good sign, that while it felt like I wasn't pushing myself this proves that I wasn't.
These runs don't happen all the time though so it's important to enjoy them when they do
Friday 14th June - Week 3 Day 5
Plan: Rest
Actual: 6.05K Recovery Run
Avg Pace: 5:51
Avg HR: 123
Not sure whether the wind or driving rain was worse when I started out on this run but they were both pretty bad, especially for June. Luckily it was only a short run which was basically 3K into the wind and then turnaround and come home again. It can be hard to motivate yourself sometimes for recovery runs but they are important to set you up for your next training day. Running them slow enough can also be a challenge and most people don't.
Saturday 15th June - Week 3 Day 6
Plan: 23K Long Run
Actual: 22.71K Long Run
Avg Pace: 5:39
Avg HR: 123
Met up with a friend on mine close to Croke park and ran along the grand canal as far as Ashtown and then into the Phoenix park for a loop mostly on grass/trail and back again via the Canal. First time running along the canal and enjoyed the various sights on the way. HR is showing as very low for the laps towards the end and not sure if this was the stop start nature of crossing roads or a problem with the reading so will see how it is for my next few runs. Really enjoyable run though and as always Longs runs are made easier with good company.
Sunday 16th June - Week 3 Day 7
Plan: 6K Recovery Run
Actual: 6.06K
Avg Pace: 5.59
Avg HR: 127
Same type of run as Friday without the wind and rain. Legs feeling a little tired but nothing major.
So 63K odd for the week just gone and still following the plan which is always good ;-) Had hoped to do Dunshaughlin 10K this Saturday night but Emma has a work night out. Will look at dropping one of the recovery runs and maybe do the Malahide Parkrun instead on Saturday morning with my Long Run on Sunday this week.
Plan: Rest Day
Actual: Rest Day & Gardening
Got the garden in good shape at last but body was aching the next day :-(
Tuesday 11th June - Week 3 Day 2
Plan: 16K General Aerobic
Actual: Club Session
The speed session in the plan this week was planned for Thursday to allow for proper recovery from the Marathon pace run but our Club session was on Tuesday so had to go with that.
Usual warm up loop followed by drills, stretching & strides. We were in the field this week as the track was too wet. Session consisted of (15,30,45,60,75,90,105,120,105,90,75,60,45,30,15) seconds at 5K pace with 35 seconds recovery. Was initially disappointed with how this went but when I looked at the splits they were mostly ok apart from a couple. Walked one of the recoveries to fix my watch which went mental with the rain so spent a bit of the session in no man's land after that.
Another long loop to warm down bringing up 12.1K for the session.
Wednesday 12th June - Week 3 Day 3
Plan: 6K Recovery
Actual: Golf
Had a Golf match after work so no running today. Got absolutely soaked for around 4 hours but thanks to my partner playing well we won on the 17th hole and live to fight another day.
Thursday 13th June - Week 3 Day 4
Plan: 13K w/6K @ Half Marathon Pace
Actual: 16.1K
Avg Pace: 5:13
Avg HR: 136
So this was where I substituted Tuesday's planned run in place of the speed in the plan. Was pretty wrecked mentally & physically during the day from a bit of a slog the night before. The rain was doing it's best to put me off as well but needs must.
Set out from the College around 7:15 through Stamullen and past St Pat's down into Julianstown and around the back roads. Went past my normal turn which brings you past Murphy's Quarry as I was sure there was a turn further on that brought you out at 'The Cock' pub. I must have missed it as I eventually ended up down the beach. Made it back to the college anyway safe from there.
This was one of those runs where you start out not so sure, a couple of easy K's to start and a few hills taken care of. Hit the downhill and the pace dropped naturally but when I reached the flat the pace stayed the same so I stuck with it. Was just running by feel and every time the watch beeped the pace was getting slightly quicker. Just went with it and enjoyed the run.
While the pace is a good bit quicker than normal for a 10 mile training run the HR is pretty bang on what it should be which is a good sign, that while it felt like I wasn't pushing myself this proves that I wasn't.
These runs don't happen all the time though so it's important to enjoy them when they do
Friday 14th June - Week 3 Day 5
Plan: Rest
Actual: 6.05K Recovery Run
Avg Pace: 5:51
Avg HR: 123
Not sure whether the wind or driving rain was worse when I started out on this run but they were both pretty bad, especially for June. Luckily it was only a short run which was basically 3K into the wind and then turnaround and come home again. It can be hard to motivate yourself sometimes for recovery runs but they are important to set you up for your next training day. Running them slow enough can also be a challenge and most people don't.
Saturday 15th June - Week 3 Day 6
Plan: 23K Long Run
Actual: 22.71K Long Run
Avg Pace: 5:39
Avg HR: 123
Met up with a friend on mine close to Croke park and ran along the grand canal as far as Ashtown and then into the Phoenix park for a loop mostly on grass/trail and back again via the Canal. First time running along the canal and enjoyed the various sights on the way. HR is showing as very low for the laps towards the end and not sure if this was the stop start nature of crossing roads or a problem with the reading so will see how it is for my next few runs. Really enjoyable run though and as always Longs runs are made easier with good company.
Sunday 16th June - Week 3 Day 7
Plan: 6K Recovery Run
Actual: 6.06K
Avg Pace: 5.59
Avg HR: 127
Same type of run as Friday without the wind and rain. Legs feeling a little tired but nothing major.
So 63K odd for the week just gone and still following the plan which is always good ;-) Had hoped to do Dunshaughlin 10K this Saturday night but Emma has a work night out. Will look at dropping one of the recovery runs and maybe do the Malahide Parkrun instead on Saturday morning with my Long Run on Sunday this week.
Monday 10 June 2013
17 Weeks to Berlin
Monday 3rd June - Week 2 Day 1
Plan: Rest Day
Actual: Rest Day
Tuesday 4th June - Week 2 Day 2
Plan: 13K w/10x100M strides
Actual: Club Session
There was no speed specific session plan midweek this week with the Marathon pace run on Sunday. This run had a few strides but as planned this was ditched in favour of the Club session.
Session consisted of just under 3K warm up loop followed by stretching, drills & a few strides. Those of us lucky enough to have missed the Mini Marathon then had to do 5x800M w/75 second recovery while the ladies had a slightly easier session ;-(
Splits for the 800's were (3:13,3:12,3:15,3:17,3:19).
Made a bit of a mess of these. They were meant to be done at 5K race pace. The first 2 were too quick and the legs were feeling it by the 3rd one ans swimming in lactic. Felt like I was threading water for the last 2 and surprised they were not slower. Was also pretty warm which I'm sure made it a bit more difficult. Lesson learnt anyway about pacing better at the start of a session.
Another loop to cool down bringing it up to 10.3K for the session. Slightly less than what is in the plan but sometimes quality is better than quantity.
Wednesday 5th June - Week 2 Day 3
Plan: Rest
Actual: Rest
Thursday 6th June - Week 2 Day 4
Plan: 16K General Aerobic
Actual: 16.01K
Avg Pace: 5:30
Avg HR: 136
Another lovely evening to be out running. Headed down to Gormanston early and did a loop outside the college grounds before meeting up with the Club gang. After a lap around the grounds Rosemary suggested doing the Balscadden loop which although hilly would bring up the distance for me so was thrilled not to have to do laps of the college. Around 8 of us headed off and the pace upped a bit but this was fine. The group eventually split into two and as we got back to Gormanston I only had a K left to make up which was great. Hopefully we can do this more often on our club run night ;-)
Friday 7th June - Week 2 Day 5
Plan: Rest
Actual: Rest
Saturday 8th June - Week 2 Day 6
Plan: 21K w/13K @ Marathon Pace
Actual: 21K w/13K @ Marathon Pace
8K
Avg Pace: 5:36
Avg HR: 134
13K
Avg Pace: 5:01
Avg HR: 141
Was down in Kildare at the weekend for my Sis-In-Laws 30th birthday party so had to get this run done early Saturday morning. Got started just before 9 and most of the early K's were fine although spent most of the time wondering how I was going to maintain Marathon pace in the increasing heat and the usual negative thoughts. Passed by the in-laws after around 6K and picked up my water belt and a couple of gels and set off upping the pace slightly as I reached the 8K point. Stopped here and took a drink and reset the watch.
The next question was what is Marathon pace and how would you know in the 2nd week of the plan. I decided to run at a pace that should feel like I was working a good bit at the end of a weeks training and on tired legs and hopefully this would be between 5 min pace per K & 5:20 at the outset.
The splits for the 13K turned out to be (5:00,4:56,5:00,5:00,4:56,4:59,5:10,5:01,5:16,4:55,5:19,4:48,4:48)
Had a bit of downhill to begin with so it was a case of easing into it and not going too fast. From around 2-7K was along a road connecting Athy to the M9 motorway so was a bit tough mentally just seeing this road in the distance and also being completely exposed to the heat. Towards the end of this road seemed to be into a bit of a breeze which made it a bit more difficult to maintain the pace for the same effort. When I turned off this road I still had another long straight road of around 4K to manage before getting back on country roads. Took a walking drink break after 6K to simulate what it actually felt like and although I lost a small bit of time doing this it helps get the fluids on properly and I was back on pace pretty quickly after it. Was suffering a bit mentally and slowed a bit so I popped a gel after around 8/9K. This seemed to have the desired effect and after negotiating the hills coming off the main road I picked up a bit for the last 2K and finished strong including a significant hill up to my In-laws house.
In the circumstances doing this by myself and in serious heat I was happy enough with how it went. Think the next Marathon pace run is in 3 weeks so will be interesting to see how that goes and compare.
Sunday 9th June - Week 2 Day 7
Plan: 8K Recovery Run
Actual: 8.03K
Avg Pace: 5:52
Avg HR: 131
Back in Balbriggan and feeling wonderful after the party the night before I set out for this run. Legs a bit tender for the first couple of K's but fine after that. Nothing much else to report other than the amount of Seagulls around the place. None swooping at runners yet but I'm sure that will start soon when they are protecting their nests.
So this brought the week to an end with 4 runs and 55.35K covered. Club session and first Marathon pace run out of the way. Up to 5 days running now this week with another recovery run added. Speed session in the plan is set for Thursday but I presume I'll do the Club session on Tuesday.
Plan: Rest Day
Actual: Rest Day
Tuesday 4th June - Week 2 Day 2
Plan: 13K w/10x100M strides
Actual: Club Session
There was no speed specific session plan midweek this week with the Marathon pace run on Sunday. This run had a few strides but as planned this was ditched in favour of the Club session.
Session consisted of just under 3K warm up loop followed by stretching, drills & a few strides. Those of us lucky enough to have missed the Mini Marathon then had to do 5x800M w/75 second recovery while the ladies had a slightly easier session ;-(
Splits for the 800's were (3:13,3:12,3:15,3:17,3:19).
Made a bit of a mess of these. They were meant to be done at 5K race pace. The first 2 were too quick and the legs were feeling it by the 3rd one ans swimming in lactic. Felt like I was threading water for the last 2 and surprised they were not slower. Was also pretty warm which I'm sure made it a bit more difficult. Lesson learnt anyway about pacing better at the start of a session.
Another loop to cool down bringing it up to 10.3K for the session. Slightly less than what is in the plan but sometimes quality is better than quantity.
Wednesday 5th June - Week 2 Day 3
Plan: Rest
Actual: Rest
Thursday 6th June - Week 2 Day 4
Plan: 16K General Aerobic
Actual: 16.01K
Avg Pace: 5:30
Avg HR: 136
Another lovely evening to be out running. Headed down to Gormanston early and did a loop outside the college grounds before meeting up with the Club gang. After a lap around the grounds Rosemary suggested doing the Balscadden loop which although hilly would bring up the distance for me so was thrilled not to have to do laps of the college. Around 8 of us headed off and the pace upped a bit but this was fine. The group eventually split into two and as we got back to Gormanston I only had a K left to make up which was great. Hopefully we can do this more often on our club run night ;-)
Friday 7th June - Week 2 Day 5
Plan: Rest
Actual: Rest
Saturday 8th June - Week 2 Day 6
Plan: 21K w/13K @ Marathon Pace
Actual: 21K w/13K @ Marathon Pace
8K
Avg Pace: 5:36
Avg HR: 134
13K
Avg Pace: 5:01
Avg HR: 141
Was down in Kildare at the weekend for my Sis-In-Laws 30th birthday party so had to get this run done early Saturday morning. Got started just before 9 and most of the early K's were fine although spent most of the time wondering how I was going to maintain Marathon pace in the increasing heat and the usual negative thoughts. Passed by the in-laws after around 6K and picked up my water belt and a couple of gels and set off upping the pace slightly as I reached the 8K point. Stopped here and took a drink and reset the watch.
The next question was what is Marathon pace and how would you know in the 2nd week of the plan. I decided to run at a pace that should feel like I was working a good bit at the end of a weeks training and on tired legs and hopefully this would be between 5 min pace per K & 5:20 at the outset.
The splits for the 13K turned out to be (5:00,4:56,5:00,5:00,4:56,4:59,5:10,5:01,5:16,4:55,5:19,4:48,4:48)
Had a bit of downhill to begin with so it was a case of easing into it and not going too fast. From around 2-7K was along a road connecting Athy to the M9 motorway so was a bit tough mentally just seeing this road in the distance and also being completely exposed to the heat. Towards the end of this road seemed to be into a bit of a breeze which made it a bit more difficult to maintain the pace for the same effort. When I turned off this road I still had another long straight road of around 4K to manage before getting back on country roads. Took a walking drink break after 6K to simulate what it actually felt like and although I lost a small bit of time doing this it helps get the fluids on properly and I was back on pace pretty quickly after it. Was suffering a bit mentally and slowed a bit so I popped a gel after around 8/9K. This seemed to have the desired effect and after negotiating the hills coming off the main road I picked up a bit for the last 2K and finished strong including a significant hill up to my In-laws house.
In the circumstances doing this by myself and in serious heat I was happy enough with how it went. Think the next Marathon pace run is in 3 weeks so will be interesting to see how that goes and compare.
Sunday 9th June - Week 2 Day 7
Plan: 8K Recovery Run
Actual: 8.03K
Avg Pace: 5:52
Avg HR: 131
Back in Balbriggan and feeling wonderful after the party the night before I set out for this run. Legs a bit tender for the first couple of K's but fine after that. Nothing much else to report other than the amount of Seagulls around the place. None swooping at runners yet but I'm sure that will start soon when they are protecting their nests.
So this brought the week to an end with 4 runs and 55.35K covered. Club session and first Marathon pace run out of the way. Up to 5 days running now this week with another recovery run added. Speed session in the plan is set for Thursday but I presume I'll do the Club session on Tuesday.
Monday 3 June 2013
18 Weeks to Berlin & Star of the Sea 5K
As the title suggests Marathon training is now officially underway :-( I will be trying to follow a training plan from the book Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger & Scott Douglas. The plan I have chosen is an 18 week plan up to 55 miles per week. The only difference from the plan is that I will continue to do the weekly club speed sessions in place of the session that week in the plan.
The only goals I have at the moment are to follow the plan and to get to the start injury free which is always easier said than done with Marathon training. As the weeks go by I'll try and give more insight into the different types of runs in the plan and why they are part of the plan. For the moment below is my first weeks training along with the small matter of the Star of the Sea 5K race.
Monday 27th May - Week 1 Day 1
Plan: Rest day
Actual: Rest day
Don't you just love training plans that start off with a rest day :-)
Tuesday 28th May - Week 1 Day 2
Plan: 13K w/6K @ Half Marathon Pace
Actual: 4K Warm up - Star of the Sea 5K - 1K Warm down
4K Warm Up
Avg Pace: 5:24
Avg HR: 136
5K in 21:39
Avg Pace: 4:20
Avg HR: 153
1K Warm Down
Avg Pace: 6:19
Avg HR: 126
So although the plan called for something different tonight was the first running of the Star of the Sea 5K road race so I couldn't miss that. There was speed work on the plan so this was a more than capable replacement. Wasn't sure what to expect having not run since last Wednesday and enjoying my weekend maybe a bit too much on the eating and drinking front but as always was going to give it a go and see what happened.
Got in a good warm up before hand consisting of a few laps of the track in St Pats GAA meeting up with a friend of mine Matt who had come out from town to support the race, and then making my way down to the start about a mile away outside Gormanston college. It was a lovely evening and to use horse racing terminology I was certainly sweating up in the paddock.
Everyone lined up just before the appointed start time and following a minutes silence for Maurice Hackett's mum we were underway. The first K took us over the M1 motorway with a bit of a rise followed by a downhill the far side. Checked the pace to make sure I hadn't gone off too fast and it seemed pretty ok. The road had by now flattened out as we headed towards Stamullen village and I passed the 1K mark in 4:09. This felt ok and didn't feel like I had gone out too fast.
The next K was about trying to keep control of the pace as we made our way into Stamullen and lots of support especially on the way into the village at the turn off for St Pat's. On past here and there was a nice incline through the village which zapped a bit of energy from the legs. As we made our way of the village I passed the 2K in 4:16. Was happy enough with this and hoped to be able to maintain this for the next couple of K.
We were now heading towards the entrance to St Claire's nursing home and although a slight incline it was nothing major. Swung into the grounds and had a nice flat/downhill run towards the actual home. The hill though had taken more out of me than I thought and when I even felt like I was moving slower even on the flat ground. Felt like stopping at this stage but that is pretty normal for a 5K. Plodded on and knew I was in trouble when the 3K split was 4:30.
Had pretty much given up on running a good time at this stage as we headed for the exit of St Claire's and another incline for a couple of hundred metres. Felt dead coming out the gate but knew it was flat/downhill from here to the last couple of hundred metres. Checked the watch and the pace had slipped to am embarrassing 4:50 pace. Tried to dig in as we headed back towards Stamullen and although hurting the pace started to come down. Passed a few people at this stage with the field well spread out by this stage. Recovered a bit to pass the 4K point with a 4:31 split.
Just the 1K to go now and just really wanted to reach the finish. Felt like I was plodding a bit and not making much progress. There was nobody within touching distance in front of me but I could hear a couple of people close behind me. Got down through the village holding them off and swung left for the uphill finish towards St Pats. Great support here again and got a lot of support but as too tired to have a look at where it was coming from. One guy came past me on the uphill but I tagged onto him as we closed in on the last 100 metres. Went past him again and held him off only to be passed by someone else finishing a lot faster than me. Ran the last K in 4:15 to finish overall in 81st place out of 360 odd runners in a time of 21:39.
With no expectations of time or anything I was happy enough with this and I suppose despite wanting to stop or feel like I was slowing down I did manage to dig in a bit and make it a worthwhile run.
Although I am biased this really was such a well run event, from registration to starting on time, marshaling on the route, course accurately measured and results available straight away afterwards. The spread in the clubhouse afterwards had to be seen to be believed with a mountain of food still left over after 360 runners had been fed and watered. Well done to everyone who had any part in making it all happen.
Wednesday 29th May - Week 1 Day 3
Plan: Rest day
Actual: Rest day
Thursday 30th May - Week 1 Day 4
Plan: 14K - General Aerobic
Actual: 14K
Avg Pace: 5:37
Avg HR: 137
Lovely evening for a run in the sun. Headed from Stamullen to Gormanston and a bit of a loop on the beach and back adding on a bit at the end to make up the distance. Bit of tiredness in the legs from the race but nothing major.
Friday 31st May - Week 1 Day 5
Plan: Rest
Actual: Club Session
Didn't think we'd have a session this week with the race but it was moved to Friday night :-(
3.9K warm up included a loop of the college grounds, stretching and a couple of laps of running the straight hard and the bend easy. The session was 3 sets of (1x1200m, 55 sec recovery, 1x300m) with a 3 minute recovery between each set.
Splits were (5:03,1:01;4:57,1:01;4:53,1:00)
A couple of laps then to warm down finishing with 9.33K for the session. This was a tough session but with any session the key is to be able to pace yourself right and run all the intervals close to the same pace/effort. Legs were pretty wrecked afterwards.
Saturday 1st June - Week 1 Day 6
Plan: 6K - Recovery Run
Actual: 5.3K Treadmill Run
As part of the local summer festival the local pub 'The White Hart Inn' was running a 24 hour treadmill run with the proceeds going to Crumlin childrens hospital & Balbriggan Cancer support group. I was assigned the 7am slot so just treated this as a recovery run. Great to get it out of the way so early but legs were in ribbons after the night before.
Sunday 2nd June - Week 1 Day 7
Plan: 19K - Long Run
Actual: 19.6K
Avg Pace: 5:39
Avg HR: 134
Another lovely morning when I set out from Stamullen for my long run. Was worried how the legs would hold up given how they felt the previous morning and while they were tired that is all it was. Headed towards Julianstown and then the back road to Laytown where I swung back and headed back towards Mosney and eventually back onto the main road at Murphy's quarry. From here I headed up towards the Delvin and back up around Gormanston College and back to the car. Probably could have done with a bit of water towards the end but felt fine afterwards.
Plan for the week was 4 runs and 53K, with the session as well as the race it was a tough enough week and ended up doing 5 days and around 58K in total. Back to 4 days this week before moving to 5 from the following week. Have my sister in laws 30th birthday party on Saturday night so will aim to get the runs out of the way and leave Sunday free for a rest day this week.
The only goals I have at the moment are to follow the plan and to get to the start injury free which is always easier said than done with Marathon training. As the weeks go by I'll try and give more insight into the different types of runs in the plan and why they are part of the plan. For the moment below is my first weeks training along with the small matter of the Star of the Sea 5K race.
Monday 27th May - Week 1 Day 1
Plan: Rest day
Actual: Rest day
Don't you just love training plans that start off with a rest day :-)
Tuesday 28th May - Week 1 Day 2
Plan: 13K w/6K @ Half Marathon Pace
Actual: 4K Warm up - Star of the Sea 5K - 1K Warm down
4K Warm Up
Avg Pace: 5:24
Avg HR: 136
5K in 21:39
Avg Pace: 4:20
Avg HR: 153
1K Warm Down
Avg Pace: 6:19
Avg HR: 126
So although the plan called for something different tonight was the first running of the Star of the Sea 5K road race so I couldn't miss that. There was speed work on the plan so this was a more than capable replacement. Wasn't sure what to expect having not run since last Wednesday and enjoying my weekend maybe a bit too much on the eating and drinking front but as always was going to give it a go and see what happened.
Got in a good warm up before hand consisting of a few laps of the track in St Pats GAA meeting up with a friend of mine Matt who had come out from town to support the race, and then making my way down to the start about a mile away outside Gormanston college. It was a lovely evening and to use horse racing terminology I was certainly sweating up in the paddock.
Everyone lined up just before the appointed start time and following a minutes silence for Maurice Hackett's mum we were underway. The first K took us over the M1 motorway with a bit of a rise followed by a downhill the far side. Checked the pace to make sure I hadn't gone off too fast and it seemed pretty ok. The road had by now flattened out as we headed towards Stamullen village and I passed the 1K mark in 4:09. This felt ok and didn't feel like I had gone out too fast.
The next K was about trying to keep control of the pace as we made our way into Stamullen and lots of support especially on the way into the village at the turn off for St Pat's. On past here and there was a nice incline through the village which zapped a bit of energy from the legs. As we made our way of the village I passed the 2K in 4:16. Was happy enough with this and hoped to be able to maintain this for the next couple of K.
We were now heading towards the entrance to St Claire's nursing home and although a slight incline it was nothing major. Swung into the grounds and had a nice flat/downhill run towards the actual home. The hill though had taken more out of me than I thought and when I even felt like I was moving slower even on the flat ground. Felt like stopping at this stage but that is pretty normal for a 5K. Plodded on and knew I was in trouble when the 3K split was 4:30.
Heading into St. Claire's between 2K&3K
Had pretty much given up on running a good time at this stage as we headed for the exit of St Claire's and another incline for a couple of hundred metres. Felt dead coming out the gate but knew it was flat/downhill from here to the last couple of hundred metres. Checked the watch and the pace had slipped to am embarrassing 4:50 pace. Tried to dig in as we headed back towards Stamullen and although hurting the pace started to come down. Passed a few people at this stage with the field well spread out by this stage. Recovered a bit to pass the 4K point with a 4:31 split.
Just the 1K to go now and just really wanted to reach the finish. Felt like I was plodding a bit and not making much progress. There was nobody within touching distance in front of me but I could hear a couple of people close behind me. Got down through the village holding them off and swung left for the uphill finish towards St Pats. Great support here again and got a lot of support but as too tired to have a look at where it was coming from. One guy came past me on the uphill but I tagged onto him as we closed in on the last 100 metres. Went past him again and held him off only to be passed by someone else finishing a lot faster than me. Ran the last K in 4:15 to finish overall in 81st place out of 360 odd runners in a time of 21:39.
With no expectations of time or anything I was happy enough with this and I suppose despite wanting to stop or feel like I was slowing down I did manage to dig in a bit and make it a worthwhile run.
Although I am biased this really was such a well run event, from registration to starting on time, marshaling on the route, course accurately measured and results available straight away afterwards. The spread in the clubhouse afterwards had to be seen to be believed with a mountain of food still left over after 360 runners had been fed and watered. Well done to everyone who had any part in making it all happen.
Wednesday 29th May - Week 1 Day 3
Plan: Rest day
Actual: Rest day
Thursday 30th May - Week 1 Day 4
Plan: 14K - General Aerobic
Actual: 14K
Avg Pace: 5:37
Avg HR: 137
Lovely evening for a run in the sun. Headed from Stamullen to Gormanston and a bit of a loop on the beach and back adding on a bit at the end to make up the distance. Bit of tiredness in the legs from the race but nothing major.
Friday 31st May - Week 1 Day 5
Plan: Rest
Actual: Club Session
Didn't think we'd have a session this week with the race but it was moved to Friday night :-(
3.9K warm up included a loop of the college grounds, stretching and a couple of laps of running the straight hard and the bend easy. The session was 3 sets of (1x1200m, 55 sec recovery, 1x300m) with a 3 minute recovery between each set.
Splits were (5:03,1:01;4:57,1:01;4:53,1:00)
A couple of laps then to warm down finishing with 9.33K for the session. This was a tough session but with any session the key is to be able to pace yourself right and run all the intervals close to the same pace/effort. Legs were pretty wrecked afterwards.
Saturday 1st June - Week 1 Day 6
Plan: 6K - Recovery Run
Actual: 5.3K Treadmill Run
As part of the local summer festival the local pub 'The White Hart Inn' was running a 24 hour treadmill run with the proceeds going to Crumlin childrens hospital & Balbriggan Cancer support group. I was assigned the 7am slot so just treated this as a recovery run. Great to get it out of the way so early but legs were in ribbons after the night before.
Sunday 2nd June - Week 1 Day 7
Plan: 19K - Long Run
Actual: 19.6K
Avg Pace: 5:39
Avg HR: 134
Another lovely morning when I set out from Stamullen for my long run. Was worried how the legs would hold up given how they felt the previous morning and while they were tired that is all it was. Headed towards Julianstown and then the back road to Laytown where I swung back and headed back towards Mosney and eventually back onto the main road at Murphy's quarry. From here I headed up towards the Delvin and back up around Gormanston College and back to the car. Probably could have done with a bit of water towards the end but felt fine afterwards.
Plan for the week was 4 runs and 53K, with the session as well as the race it was a tough enough week and ended up doing 5 days and around 58K in total. Back to 4 days this week before moving to 5 from the following week. Have my sister in laws 30th birthday party on Saturday night so will aim to get the runs out of the way and leave Sunday free for a rest day this week.
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