Fifty miles this week had me feeling pretty good about getting back into the serious marathon training schedule. I ran every day even though I missed Gary's speed work session on Tuesday due to work. I did pretty much a 6 or 7 miler every day, except Tuesday morning which was my own speedwork session, but I never feel I get as much out of doing it on my own.
On Thursday, I did 7 miles tempo, all at 6.35 min miles. Sunday was my long run, which was 2 x 7 mile laps which passed my house. It is quite a hilly lap, so it was good variation training too. It was a pretty consistent 7.25 pace, which is just a little faster than my goal race pace of 7.30 or 3.15 for the marathon. I felt pretty good after the 14 miles, although I did feel the effort towards the end of the run.
I seem to have been picking up more than the usual amount of colds lately, and suspect I may have been over doing it with long days at work and some hard training, so I decided to take Monday off, because I wanted to while I felt good, and not because I had to due fatigue.
Back to speedwork last night which was a gentle two mile warm up, followed by 4x 1200m 5k pace laps, then 2 mile cool down. I really like the speedwork sessions, and could go for alot longer, but the session is only an hour long. Back to work tomorrow on earlies, which are all a 5.20am start, so what enthusiasm I will have for running at 5 pm that evening will be questionable. I also find that the quality of the session after such early starts is not that good, but at least I will cover some distance I suppose.
Wednesday 31 July 2013
Tuesday 23 July 2013
Fingal 10k
I was very confident going into this race of a good time. Clogherhead was a much tougher course, and a 39.35 there would surely leave me in witha good chance of a sub 39? The morning was perfect for running, not sunny, but nice and warm at 22 degrees, and just a light breeze. I had slept reasonably well the night before, had a good breakfast and arrived at the start nice and early. I met up with some of the club members and had a chat, and we made our way to the start line.
The start was divided into two groups, sub 40 and over 40 min finish times. Looking around, I was a bit annoyed at the masses of people in the sub 40 start group who clearly were not sub 40 runners. As usual, at the start gun, these selfish people just get in the way and slow up the faster runners at the start by having to try and navigate around them and draining much needed energy. It should be a fun day out for everybody, and everyone has different abilities, people should just try and be sensible, and start from a position further back, in line with their expectations. Sorry, rant over.
Anyway, off we went. The course was pretty flat. I spotted a clubmate who I figured had similar ability to myself up ahead, so I caught up to him. While I was feeling pretty good, I didn't really feel that I was settling into a comfortable pace, and found myself working harder than I did in Clogherhead to maintain the pace. I dropped back a bit from Brian, my clubmate, as I didn't want to slow him up if my pace dropped. The miles ticked by quickly enough and I settled in to a good stride eventually. I started to pass e few runners who had gone out to fast from mile 3 onwards. I kept Brian about 100 meters ahead, which I figured would place me ahead on time as I had started after him. Looking at the watch, with an average pace of 6.15 min/mile, I was confident sub 39 was on the cards. At 8k I decided to push the pace and started to overtake some runners who I had been trailing behind. At 9k there was a guy calling out the time, 35.10 he called to me, ok, a 3.45 kilometer would do it, no prob, kick it up a gear. As soon as I increased the pace again, I got a sharp pain on my right side. It was a stitch, ok, keep going, no panic. The stich got worse, rapidly, and was probably the worst I have ever had. I rounded the last corner, and could see the finish line. My pace slowed significantly, the stitch got worse, and runners who I had passed began to stream past me. I could see the clock, 38.35, I would never make it! Despair started to set in, I demanded my body to keep going, I was bent over in pain, I honestly can say it was like someone driving a hot poker into my ribcage. I slowed to a crawl, and as one runner who I had passed early went by, he called out to me " don't stop, keep going, your nearly there". That encouragement really inspired me, and I pulled my self upright and burst through the pain to stagger over the finish line. 39.14, a new PB by 6 seconds.
I felt the pain of the stich for at least 30 mins after the race finished. I met up with the other club members, and had the post race chat and photo. I was happy enough with the time, although disapointed not to have achieved the sub 39. When I got home, I went straight out for a 9k recovery at 7.45 min pace. The next 10k race is on the 10th of August, which will be the last chance this season for the sub 39. Back to the track !
Mile 1 - 6.05
mile 2 - 6.05
mile 3 - 6.22
mile 4 - 6.22
mile 5 - 6.17
mile 6 - 6.24
last .2 - 1.35
The start was divided into two groups, sub 40 and over 40 min finish times. Looking around, I was a bit annoyed at the masses of people in the sub 40 start group who clearly were not sub 40 runners. As usual, at the start gun, these selfish people just get in the way and slow up the faster runners at the start by having to try and navigate around them and draining much needed energy. It should be a fun day out for everybody, and everyone has different abilities, people should just try and be sensible, and start from a position further back, in line with their expectations. Sorry, rant over.
Anyway, off we went. The course was pretty flat. I spotted a clubmate who I figured had similar ability to myself up ahead, so I caught up to him. While I was feeling pretty good, I didn't really feel that I was settling into a comfortable pace, and found myself working harder than I did in Clogherhead to maintain the pace. I dropped back a bit from Brian, my clubmate, as I didn't want to slow him up if my pace dropped. The miles ticked by quickly enough and I settled in to a good stride eventually. I started to pass e few runners who had gone out to fast from mile 3 onwards. I kept Brian about 100 meters ahead, which I figured would place me ahead on time as I had started after him. Looking at the watch, with an average pace of 6.15 min/mile, I was confident sub 39 was on the cards. At 8k I decided to push the pace and started to overtake some runners who I had been trailing behind. At 9k there was a guy calling out the time, 35.10 he called to me, ok, a 3.45 kilometer would do it, no prob, kick it up a gear. As soon as I increased the pace again, I got a sharp pain on my right side. It was a stitch, ok, keep going, no panic. The stich got worse, rapidly, and was probably the worst I have ever had. I rounded the last corner, and could see the finish line. My pace slowed significantly, the stitch got worse, and runners who I had passed began to stream past me. I could see the clock, 38.35, I would never make it! Despair started to set in, I demanded my body to keep going, I was bent over in pain, I honestly can say it was like someone driving a hot poker into my ribcage. I slowed to a crawl, and as one runner who I had passed early went by, he called out to me " don't stop, keep going, your nearly there". That encouragement really inspired me, and I pulled my self upright and burst through the pain to stagger over the finish line. 39.14, a new PB by 6 seconds.
I felt the pain of the stich for at least 30 mins after the race finished. I met up with the other club members, and had the post race chat and photo. I was happy enough with the time, although disapointed not to have achieved the sub 39. When I got home, I went straight out for a 9k recovery at 7.45 min pace. The next 10k race is on the 10th of August, which will be the last chance this season for the sub 39. Back to the track !
Mile 1 - 6.05
mile 2 - 6.05
mile 3 - 6.22
mile 4 - 6.22
mile 5 - 6.17
mile 6 - 6.24
last .2 - 1.35
Thursday 18 July 2013
Back to work
So after the high of my new Pb, its back to work. I started back on lates, which was not so bad, and as I had been off for a month, they were all long days planned. Two trips to the canary islands and one to Malta, mixed in with a few uk and Polish flights for good measure.
I have really enjoyed the Tuesday speedwork sessions with Gary O Hanlon, although this week I was suffering with a nasty head cold and had been up since 4.30am for work, so I felt and ran alot slower than I thought I could have. Gary's plan for marathon running training is radically different than any 'conventional' program. Basically, its seems that the longest run will peak at 16 miles. The three cornerstones of the program are the speedwork session on Tuesdays, with a rest day on Wednesday, then gradually increasing tempo runs starting at 6 miles at week one on Thursdays, and then the long runs at weekends, only up to 16 miles. He is advocating training for 6 days a week if possible, and while he hasn't been specific on total weekly mileage yet, I am guessing 50 to 60 min. I would be well up for this type of training, as I enjoy tempo runs and pushing myself. When I started writing this blog, the whole idea was to find a training plan that would work for me, so I will try anything, and to be fair to Gary, he knows what he is talking about.
I have been reading DR Phil Maffetone's big book of endurance training. It is heavy stuff, with alot of detail on nutrition, alot of which I have tried to follow on a daily basis. I have drastically reduced carbs, alot more fresh fruit, no margarine, no potatoes or chips or pasta, no fruit juice or processed ready meals, and reduced salt intake. More eggs, fish and proteins. I can't stick to it 100%, as when I am flying I am a bit limited to what I can take with me, but already I feel I have alot more energy. It makes sense to go back towards a more natural diet, although I have to admit, I still have the odd chocolate bar, but life is for living, and this is a hobby, I am not an elite athlete.
I am running the fingal 10k in swords this Sunday. Hoping for a pb on the course, anything under 39.20. Its forecast for a hot day but the race is at 10 am so here's hoping!
I have really enjoyed the Tuesday speedwork sessions with Gary O Hanlon, although this week I was suffering with a nasty head cold and had been up since 4.30am for work, so I felt and ran alot slower than I thought I could have. Gary's plan for marathon running training is radically different than any 'conventional' program. Basically, its seems that the longest run will peak at 16 miles. The three cornerstones of the program are the speedwork session on Tuesdays, with a rest day on Wednesday, then gradually increasing tempo runs starting at 6 miles at week one on Thursdays, and then the long runs at weekends, only up to 16 miles. He is advocating training for 6 days a week if possible, and while he hasn't been specific on total weekly mileage yet, I am guessing 50 to 60 min. I would be well up for this type of training, as I enjoy tempo runs and pushing myself. When I started writing this blog, the whole idea was to find a training plan that would work for me, so I will try anything, and to be fair to Gary, he knows what he is talking about.
I have been reading DR Phil Maffetone's big book of endurance training. It is heavy stuff, with alot of detail on nutrition, alot of which I have tried to follow on a daily basis. I have drastically reduced carbs, alot more fresh fruit, no margarine, no potatoes or chips or pasta, no fruit juice or processed ready meals, and reduced salt intake. More eggs, fish and proteins. I can't stick to it 100%, as when I am flying I am a bit limited to what I can take with me, but already I feel I have alot more energy. It makes sense to go back towards a more natural diet, although I have to admit, I still have the odd chocolate bar, but life is for living, and this is a hobby, I am not an elite athlete.
I am running the fingal 10k in swords this Sunday. Hoping for a pb on the course, anything under 39.20. Its forecast for a hot day but the race is at 10 am so here's hoping!
Monday 8 July 2013
5k PB.
So straight to it, 18.45, new 5k pb. It was a big field for the south o'hanlon 5k and that time got me a 41st place. I entered the race at the very last minute, only deciding to go at 6pm. We had a pretty tough speedwork session on the Tuesday night with coach Gary, and the legs were pretty tierd, so I wasn't sure it was going to be a great idea, but I love the buzz of a race and it wasn't too far to drive.The course was pretty flat, although I heard others mention that it was too hilly, and the weather was warm and humid. I ran it well, although as three runners made a burst to pass me over the last 500m, I had nothing left in the legs to hold them back. As the finish came into sight and i saw the clock, I tried one last effort at a sprint, but the legs said no, and i was very happy with a new pb.
My speedwork sessions are definately helping improve my times, although I have started to run my longer runs of over 7 miles at a slower 8 min mile pace to compensate the high intensity runs. I am also using a heart rate monitor and reading Dr Phil Maffetones book. His advice for diet is pretty strict, and that unfortunately does not for easy reading given my love of cake! However, things are starting to come together now, and I really believe I can knock at least another 30 seconds of that 5k time. Next race is a 10k. I went back to work this week, and racked up 48 hours in 5 days. They were all late finishes, getting home well after midnight, so I am expecting to feel a bit more strain with the training scheduele from here. marathon training starts son, oh great!!!
My speedwork sessions are definately helping improve my times, although I have started to run my longer runs of over 7 miles at a slower 8 min mile pace to compensate the high intensity runs. I am also using a heart rate monitor and reading Dr Phil Maffetones book. His advice for diet is pretty strict, and that unfortunately does not for easy reading given my love of cake! However, things are starting to come together now, and I really believe I can knock at least another 30 seconds of that 5k time. Next race is a 10k. I went back to work this week, and racked up 48 hours in 5 days. They were all late finishes, getting home well after midnight, so I am expecting to feel a bit more strain with the training scheduele from here. marathon training starts son, oh great!!!
Monday 1 July 2013
10k victory
Well, almost, and a victory to me. 10th place in the clogherhead 10k on Sunday was a great result for me. It was a tough course and the weather wasn't great. Standing at the start, I could see a few familiar faces from the 5k race in Drogheda the previous week. Just before the start, a huge downpour associated with a large cloud and strong wind blew into our faces. This was going to be tough going. The rain eased up after the first mile andthings improved. The course was quite hilly, which suited me somewhat, as my training runs are on quite hilly courses. On the Tuesday night, I had done my first speedwork session with the club, coached by Gary O'Hanlon. It was a tough session, and the legs were quite sore the next morning.
Wednesday was a 5 mile ecovery run, 6 easy miles with the club again on Thursday, and much to the wifes surprise, no run on friday. Three easy miles on Saturday had me in good shape for Sundays run. In the last surge of 1k, I passed 3 other runners who I had been trailing, but keeping just close enough, to finish 10th overall in a time of 39.32. Not a PB, but then it was never going to be on that course.
Training with Gary again tomorrow night, can't believe I can say that, and asses the legs on Wednesday for a 5k local race which will be hotly contested by some very fast runners. If the legs feel good, I would love to try for a PB as the course is quite fast. Here's hoping.
Wednesday was a 5 mile ecovery run, 6 easy miles with the club again on Thursday, and much to the wifes surprise, no run on friday. Three easy miles on Saturday had me in good shape for Sundays run. In the last surge of 1k, I passed 3 other runners who I had been trailing, but keeping just close enough, to finish 10th overall in a time of 39.32. Not a PB, but then it was never going to be on that course.
Training with Gary again tomorrow night, can't believe I can say that, and asses the legs on Wednesday for a 5k local race which will be hotly contested by some very fast runners. If the legs feel good, I would love to try for a PB as the course is quite fast. Here's hoping.
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