On to winter training.

It’s been a quiet few weeks since the marathon but sometimes quiet is good. After the marathon I decided to take 2 weeks solid off from running. Previously I would have got back on the roads after 5 days. Usually meant I ended up getting little niggles that would frustrate me. Now I am fully recovered and looking forward to the winter ahead.

Winter training for me is something I enjoy. Ok I don’t like the thoughts of spending 10 minutes just getting ready before I head out making sure I am lit up enough so that I don’t end up under a car. Also the thoughts of heading out in the cold and rain is not something that would have me singing from the rooftops but all that being said there is nothing like that feeling of finishing a hard session on a cold evening and feeling strong.

So 2 weeks after the marathon I got back on the roads and I have also included cycling into my training to mix things up a bit. My first week back I clocked up 25 miles and this week was a 30 mile week. On the bike I am averaging about 20 miles a week. (Not today though with the weather the way it is)

After the marathon I decided to get some advice from a fellow I work with. He is a 2.39 marathoner and has got his coaching badges so can only do me some good to get a different perspective. A couple of pieces of advice he gave me was to cut back on the amount of races I was doing before the marathons. Reason being was that so many races was making a big impact on my training. Each race would take a minimum of 3 days out of my training. Putting this into perspective I did 11 races in the 16 weeks leading up to my marathon. 33 days training out of 112 days. Nearly 30%. Looking at it now it’s a fact that I need to be more selective in the races I want to run.

Second bit of advice was in regards to the speed work I was doing. Sticking to the one type of speed work will only get me so far but I need to mix things up a bit. Also tempo runs seem to be missing. (What’s really a tempo run I ask) anyway lots of things for me to work on during the winter so here’s to the next few months.
My target for now is to train well over the winter and to do the Munster Spring Classics 10 Mile Series. First race is on the 10th of January. The Mallow AC 10 road race (My own club)

My target is to be running approximately 50 miles week leading up to Christmas. This will be well mixed training. Sunday easy runs. Tuesday and Thursday speed work and Saturday endurance work. Look forward to the hills. (not!) I am hoping for Wednesday to be mid week pacey run and Monday I’ll give this tempo running a go.

My speed sessions will be mixed also. Tuesday night is 10 by 30 second blasts with 30 second recovery in between. 2 mile warm up and cool down. When I was told to try this I have to be honest, I thought easy peasy. Well after 6 30 seconds blasts I was fit to collapse. The 30 second recovery started to feel like 10 seconds and the 30 second blasts were feeling more like 2 minute sprints rather than 30 seconds. Anyway got to the end of them and looking forward to next Tuesday. Thursday night at the moment is 5km runs in Limerick University. It is a winter series that increases to 7km for the next 3 weeks. Pushing it hard during these.

Anyway that’s all my news for now. December ahead and I’ll update hopefully as I go along. Until the next time - Slan.

Marathon report

Before it all seems like a distant memory I think I better scribble some thoughts about last Monday’s marathon.

Tapering had gone well but as I said in a previous post maybe 20 days was a bit much considering I had not gone over the 60 mile mark during my heaviest training period. Anyway that being said I was nice and relaxed for the race day.

If you had a wish for a particular type of weather then your wishes had come true – conditions were perfect. Had a good night’s sleep the night before. Up at 6am had muesli and bagel for breakfast. Headed off to the start of the race around 8:00 am. I always love the great buzz and atmosphere around the start area before the race kicks off.

In fairness to the organisers they had the time zone segregation down to a tee this year. I was in the under 3.5 hour section and I got off to a good start - I believe it took me just over 20 seconds to get over the start line. I think in a race of 12000+ that is brilliant. This year the race took off in the opposite direction to previous years but this had little effect really. I always find the first 2 miles a case of minding my step and keeping out of trouble.

This year rather than keeping track of my time based on every mile I ran I decided to write my target times in 4 mile intervals up to 20 miles and 3 mile intervals for the remainder on my inner arm to help keep my pace on track. Basically I would check my per mile pace at the mile marker but not be thinking on how much time has gone at each mile. It worked well for me and it’s something I think I will do again. During my first 4 mile section my pace was all over the place.

Mile 1 7:38, Mile 2 6:55, Mile 3 7:13 & Mile 4 7:00. Total time 28:47. 29:44 is what I had targeted on my arm. My average page was to be in the 7:20 to 7:25 range. Time to relax and steady myself. I think at this point I had started to fall into old habits. Mile 2 in particular was silly. I was feeling great through this period but was glad to see the start of the phoenix park at the 4 mile mark as I kinda feel that from there you start to get into your stride and the race proper.

Miles 4 to 8. Mile 5 6:58, Mile 6 7:12, Mile 7 7:25 & Mile 8 6:55. Total time 57:16. Target time at 8 miles was 59:29. Huston we have a problem but the big problem was not realising the problem at the time and fixing it. 2 minutes doesn’t sound like much in the large scheme of things but I think it affected me later. I found mile 4 to 8 enjoyable. My brother had come out to cheer me on around the 5.5 mile mark which I wasn’t expecting. Also I met Grellan who was flying it. Hadn’t met him before but always enjoy reading his blog. Strange to see people passing that you know how their training went but would have never had spoke to them. Breaks the journey a bit. Anyway on through the Phoenix park and the 8 mile mark is at the exit of the park. There is a down hill run to the exit gate so there is a great sense of invincibility as the legs are fresh.

Miles 8 to 12. Mile 9. 7:00, Mile 10, 7:20, Mile 11 7:06, Mile 12 7.25. Total time 1.26.07. Target time 1.29.14. Ok I am now hitting closer to my targeted time and it is not from tiredness in the legs. It is because of the fright at the 8 mile mark to be honest. I did tell myself to pull back on the pedal. In the back of my mind I was worrying if I had pushed it too far in the early stages. Time will tell I told myself and just said get on with it now.

Mile 12 to 16. Mile 13 7:33, Mile 14 7:18, Mile 15 7:14, Mile 16 7:37. Total time 1.55.49. Target time 1.58.59. Coming to the halfway point joined in with a couple of runners that were running around the 7:20 pace. This really suited me as I usually don’t like the 13 to 16 mile part of any marathon. After the water stop after the 15 mile mark I lost touch with them. My times were starting to suffer at this point but to be honest I felt good so I wasn’t 100% sure what the story was. I think I slowed down a lot when taking on water and a gel at this point.

Mile 16 to 20. Mile 17 7:21, Mile 18 7:15, Mile 19 7:45, Mile 20 8:11. Total time 2.26.21. Target time 2.28.44. I had got into a great rhythm between miles 16 up to the 19. Just before the 19 mile mark coming up to Milltown I felt my calf starting to cramp. It was on the pull up to the spar shop. It gave me a shock as I wasn’t expecting it at all. I should have expected it as I have not done a marathon yet where I haven’t cramped. The difference this time was that it wasn’t at the 23 mile mark like usual but 19 miles. Ahhhhh!!!. I slowed down my pace straight away and in the back of my mind told myself that the 3:15 would not be on the cards today. By the time I hit the 20 mile mark I was on target but it was not a real indication of how I was. In fact I was ahead of my target but I knew what was ahead. My first marathon I tried to run through cramps and ended up in a bad way by the end. Now I slow down so at least I can jog along.

Mile 20 to 23. Mile 21 8:34, Mile 22 7:52, Mile 23 8:17 Total time 2.51.04. Target time 2.51.03. Ok I have just hit my target time now but my mile splits at this stage are disastrous. I’m gone over the 8 min mile and to be honest I am kicking myself. It was not because of energy or dehydration but any time I would try speed up then my calf would start acting up. At mile 21 on Fosters Avenue I walked for about 20 seconds and it gave a bit of relief. Another gel at this point and some water and on I went again. My pace had well slowed down but by the end of mile 22 I was starting to run rather than jog again. This didn’t last long as another mile down then the calf muscle started cramping again. This was basically the way from this point until the end and my times tell the story.

Mile 24 to Finish. Mile 24 8:25, Mile 25 8:53, Mile 26 8:54. Lastly the last section of the run took me 9.12. This has me baffled to be honest. I understand mile 24 up to Mile 26 but the last section????? 9:12 minutes. Ok my garmin clocked it as half a mile. Always the way with a marathon. There is always more than the 26.2. But 9:12? Ok I cramped bad after turning around Trinity and needed to pull out some Biofreeze to ease the pain on a quad muscle. (Note to self. Why did I not use the bio freeze earlier. Miracle stuff I tell you.) I really don’t know why it took so long. Can’t explain. Aliens abducted me I think for a few minutes. Anyway I crossed the line in a time of 3:21:59. Chip time 3:21:37. A new PB by 50 seconds.

Update 29/10/2009. Follow up. Correction. Last half took me 4.41. Need to open my eyes. Sorry.

Am I happy with my time?? Yes absolutely. Any day you can finish a marathon is a good day. Any day you get a PB in a marathon is a great day. Ok to achieve anything more would have been brilliant but hey you have got to be happy with what happens and I think I learned more from this marathon then any of my previous 4.

Cramping is something I didn’t factor into plans at all and looking back over my schedule over the last few months I think I changed a couple of things that might not have helped. During my training this time I did a lot of track and speed work. I think this held good to me in regards to my energy and feeling good inside all the way around but what suffered was my midweek medium long runs. Also Looking at my long runs only 1 had gone over the 20 mile mark and none of my long runs had gone over the 3 hour mark. I didn’t really cop this but its great to have documented it so I can look back at it. I think next year I will add 2 20 milers and a 22 miler into my plan. Also bring back the midweek medium long runs.

Looking around the internet seems to give way too many causes for cramping and none of them definite. If anybody has any secrets that they want to pass on then please do.

Lastly thanks to the people cheering us all on. My own family were great to travel up and also some of the club mates who would appear at different points of the course really helped.

Till the next Marathon next year sometime - Bye.

Paudie

The time has come.

Well just near the end of the 16 weeks training putting in 624 miles and it all boils down to preparing correctly over the next 3 days. Mess around too much and it could make for a disaster on Monday.

Anyway since my last blog it has just been all about taper taper and taper. My schedule from the beginning was to do 37 miles on week 14, then 25 in week 15 and 13 in week 16. To say I stuck to the plan for the last 3 weeks would be an understatement. Bang on for each week. I have a 2.5 miles stretch the legs tomorrow evening and that’s it. My question though is was the taper correct. Now that it’s done I feel that I started tapering a week too early. Maybe a 14 day taper would have been better. This I will use as learning for my next schedule. What’s done now is done.

The one advantage with pulling back on training is that any niggles that I was carrying have gone away so I can feel confident that I am not carrying an injury into the race. Ok I am getting the phantom pains but at this stage I know that they are my imagination. All will be good on the morning.

My carb loading is well and truly in full swing now. Water and pasta. No doubt by Sunday I will be sick of pasta and rice but let’s not complain about it now. I find the water intake means I am a regular visitor to the toilet at the moment.

Ever since my first marathon where I prepared really badly, I have learned some tricks that work for me in the run up to a marathon. Ok the normal pasta rice and water is on the menu but 2 other things that I now find essential - Pretzel sticks & Dioralyte. I lose a lot of sodium during a long race. I used to cramp a lot. Don’t know the science of how they work but when I use these 2 products in the last 3 days I don’t cramp as much. Pretzels sticks build up my carbs while also increasing the sodium in my body. The nutrition values for 100g Pretzel sticks are Energy 390 kcal, Protein 10.6g Carbs 78.1g and fat 4.0g. This mixed with water always works a treat for me and in the last few days I nibble constantly on them. It also helps to keep my sweet tooth at bay. The Dioralyte is something a club mate told me about a while ago. You can get it at any pharmacy over the counter. What I do is mix up the powder with water and over the space of 3 days I will sip it during the day. It helps with dehydration. I’m not telling anybody to do this but all I can say is that it helps me.

For me I love the last 2 days and I think getting ready is as enjoyable as the race itself. I am meticulous when it comes to prep for a marathon. I tend not to leave anything to chance. My morning breakfast on race day is porridge and a bagel at around 6 o’clock. Anyway learning from the last 2 years, Dublin at the end of October is a cold place. A throw away t-shirt and this time a pair of throw away gloves is a must. (Aldi have handy ones for €3 at the moment)

All the above being said then all I need to do is pack in my gels, 2 biofreeze sachets and get to the start line. I always drink a litre of water with a slow release gel mixed into it in the last hour before the race. I believe it helps me in the first 10 miles. 4 gels is what I use in the marathon. My first marathon I didn’t use any gels and boy did I pay for it. Never again. Now I use the 4 but my forth is usually around mile 23 and I find it hard to get it in to me at that stage but once I’ve taken it I do find the benefits. The Biofreeze sachets are extremely handy if I start to cramp. I rub the Biofreeze into the cramped area and it relieves the cramping.

Lastly my target time for this marathon will be 3:15. If I can do this it will 8 minutes off my time last year. It brings me towards my target of a marathon under 3 hours by the time I’m 40. (Hopefully) I plan on going out at 7:20 per mile and fingers crossed it will work out. I know my last 5 miles will be difficult to keep the pace around 7:25 but I am going to give it a try. A great piece of advice one of the experienced runners in the club told me was that you will have 3 or 4 bad periods in a marathon but you’ve got to remember you will come out of it. If you can bear this in mind during the race it actually works. This is something I always use to pull myself out of bad periods. The crowds all along the way help to spur me on. I always try to thank the people clapping as I run. When the chips are down I find the crowd one of the best ways to get out of it. Every high 5 to a kid brings me one step closer to the end. I’m sure everybody has their own ways to get through the 26 miles 385 yards and God don’t we all need it!

Anyway off I go and best of luck to anybody else who is running a marathon in the upcoming weeks.

Slan

Now the hard work is done.

Now the hard work is done.

The last week of training is what I consider the hardest part of training. Over the last 3 weeks my mileage would be just short of 170 miles. This time last year I would have hit higher mileage but my training last year was on the same road and the same type training every night. This year I have tried to mix it up by including track work on Tuesday nights and hill work on Saturday mornings. The question is, will this work out well for me in 3 weeks time??? Time will tell but it has made my training easier because of the variance.

On to my last week’s training. Well at the start of the week I decided to train hard for the week. The aim was to ensure my legs were a little tired for the Cork to Cobh race on Sunday as I didn’t want to race Cork to Cobh but just run at my marathon pace. So the week started with my regular six and a half miles Monday run and that was followed by a track session on Tuesday. My track session wasn’t as long as I hoped but the dark evenings are starting to come against me and there are no lights on the track. (excuse)

Wednesday was a rest evening but Thursday was a semi -long run. 11.3 miles in total and this was run at 7.16 per mile pace. Follow that on Friday with a 6.7 mile run with every second mile run at my 10k pace (6:30 per mile). Have to say I felt strong and any niggling injuries that I was carrying over the last few weeks seemed to have mostly cleared up. Just in-case I thought I was having it easy on Saturday morning I did an easy 5 miles on grass.

Now on to Sunday. Cork to Cobh 15 mile road race. I like this race. It is the longest race apart from the marathons that I know of in Ireland. It has always helped me with my confidence before the marathon. Last year my time for this race 1:46:47. I pushed myself then and it worked for me. I had a bad experience 3 weeks prior last year in the Blarney half marathon and the confidence boost from the Cork to Cobh race was great.

This year though was a different story. The plan this year was to learn to pace myself. Pick a target and stick to it. I went out with the following plan. My target Marathon pace is 7:25 per mile giving me a time of just under 3 hours 15 minutes. My plan for the 15 mile was to try run the 15 miles at 7:20 per mile. Well after a 2 mile warm up Sunday morning I lined up along with approximately 800 other runners. After the usual announcements before the start of the race the race got underway. A steep downhill is how it started so it was a case of watching my footing to make sure I didn’t trip over anybody. On wards we go and one of my club mates Patryk ended up running beside me from around the 1 mile mark. I hit the first mile at 7:08 so it was time to readjust. Luckily Patryk was running the same pace as me so by mile 2 we had settled and mile 2 has slowed to 7:12. From there on we averaged between 7:13 and 7:22. I felt very comfortable at all times and myself and Patryk were able to have the odd few words as we ran. By the end of the race I felt there was more to give. What I found hardest was holding back in the first 10 miles. Anyway taking the weeks training into account and holding back my time was 1:49:40. Almost 3 minutes slower than last year but a totally different feeling this year. I feel that 3 hours 15 is very realistic at the moment. (Avoiding injury or the flu)

Now the tapering starts. My weekly mileage this week is 40 miles. That is a drop of 15 miles from last week. Last night was an easy 5 mile recovery and tonight I ran my weekly track session which I plan to be the last one before the marathon. Tonight’s session went very well with 10 x 800meters all under 3:10 each. Rest tomorrow night (Wed). Next week is a 25 mile week and my last week will be around 10-15. In some ways I like the tapering period but the thought of getting injured or getting sick always plays on the mind. I am a big believer in what you eat in the last 10 days will be what makes or breaks a marathon. More about that in my last blog the week before the marathon.

That’s all for now and last blog in 2 weeks time.

Cork to Cobh times.

1: 7:08
2: 7:12
3: 7:14
4: 7:15
5: 7:19
6: 7:14
7: 7:13
8: 7:22
9: 7:21
10: 7:06
11: 7:17
12: 7:21
13: 7:05
14: 7:19
15: 7:07

Now the hard work is done.

4 weeks and counting.

Consistency is the key. 4 weeks and counting.

The last 2 weeks of my training has been all about putting in the miles and making sure I stay injury free. No races since the Blarney half marathon which I am well glad of as I don’t think it would have served me any benefit. Since Monday week I have put in approximately 115 miles and I am starting to feel it. I notice the spark was not in my legs today when I was running. To be expected to be honest.

What has pleased me is that I’ve made good progress in my last two trips to the track. My plan at the start of my training 12 weeks ago was to bring my 800meter repeats up to a total of 10 and to run each of them in a time under 3.10. This has been the case for the last 2 weeks so there is definitely progress on that front. I plan to do 1 maybe 2 more track sessions at most before the marathon. I think that’s enough. I have also been putting in a bit of hill work so hopefully that will build up a bit of strength.

Over the last week I have been looking at my training for the Cork marathon earlier this year and it seems like I was running 10 seconds faster in training five weeks from the marathon than I am now. The whys of this I am not sure. Maybe it’s the track sessions or maybe the hill work as I didn’t do these in my training earlier this year, so hopefully as I ease up on the training the speed will pick up again. I hope this is the case as I feel I have put in the training over the last 12 weeks to bring me up to at least the same level of fitness as I was in June. In the last 12 weeks I have 497 miles clocked up in training so I think that’s more than enough at this point. I should be around the 600 mark by the 26th of October. Anything more I think would be counter -productive.

Lastly, last Monday night I went to an AAI road running workshop in the University of Limerick. Guest speaker on the night was Thomas Chamney the Irish 800 meter runner. Interesting to listen to how the pro’s run. Anyway my point on this is one of the recommendations made was that no speed work should be included in marathon training in the final 6 weeks of your program. I didn’t know this and it’s something I will be looking at in my next program. One of the main points of the talk was that consistency in training was the only real way of improving and that the likes of injuries that effect the training are always going to be the block in potential improvements. Listen to your body and if you feel there is something wrong then stop and get it seen to. Let it linger and something bigger will affect you and more than likely set you back long term.

That’s about it for now. More of the same in the week ahead. The next event will be next Sunday Oct 4th. the Cork to Cobh 15 mile road race takes place. This is my last race before the marathon and I will be using it as a training run rather than a race. I will be targeting 7:25 per mile in this race. If I run under 7:20 then I will look at it that I can’t pace myself. Most people have told me that it’s not a good idea to race 15 miles just 3 weeks before a marathon. After this I will set my marathon target time in stone.

Anyway take care and next blog will be after the Cork to Cobh.

P.S Thanks to Fergus for the schedule template and basically most of the content. It has been great to keep my training on track. (I can now blame somebody else if it doesn’t go to plan :-) !!! )

Paudie

6 weeks and counting down fast.

Hi all. It’s been a while since my last update but I was on holidays for a week so that’s my excuse. Plenty of nice easy running on holidays and with lovely weather so happy days.

Lake Garda was the location and morning running was a pleasure there.

Maybe too much as of a pleasure as the section where I ran was a tarmac surface and zero hills.

Approximately 6 miles in length. Morning running a must as the temperature got up to about 30 degrees during the day.

Only problem with this is that I’m not sure if it did me any favours in regards to my marathon training as no hard training was involved (interval, speed, hill) – Still, all work and no play…..

Since my last update I have hit the track to do some 800 meters sessions. These are getting better for me. My last session (2 weeks ago) had me doing 8 x 800 meters at 3.10 with 400 meters recovery in between.

Plan is to hit the track again tomorrow and hopefully bring it up to 10 x 800 meters for the next 3 weeks.

Since my last blog I have had 2 races. Ballycotton 5 was the first. With this I was hoping to get into the top 50 but I only improved 2 places from 62 to 60th so disappointed with that.

Second race was the Blarney Half Marathon yesterday.

Last year I did this race and had the race from hell. From mile 4 I was dead in the water and every mile after that was a struggle. I finished in a time of 1:34:50 last year.

This year was strange. A very hot day and my plan was to try to run 7.05 per mile. This was not to be but at no stage during the race did I feel bad. My finishing time was almost the same as last year at 1:34:49. This while feeling good. I’m really not sure what this is telling me. Did I not push myself enough?? Did the week’s holidays take the kick out of me??? I’m really not sure and I do think that I should have put in a better time than that but how I felt this year compared to last year has no comparison.

My split times are as follows:
Mile 6 was an uphill section so I can understand the 7:54 but mile 12 at 7:39 and mile 13 at 7:22 are a mystery, I felt good so it must be a case of getting lazy close to the end. Something for me to look out for during the Cork to Cobh 15 mile race in 3 weeks time.

1 Mi
6:50.42

2 Mi
6:47.55

3 Mi
7:00.64

4 Mi
7:00.55

5 Mi
7:21.11

6 Mi
7:53.78

7 Mi
7:07.88

8 Mi
7:05.07

9 Mi
6:54.86

10 Mi
7:16.72

11 Mi
7:12.46

12 Mi
7:38.03

13 Mi
7:21.84

0.19 Mi
1:18.33
(Mr Garmin tells me 13.19 sh that why the last interval is 0.19.

At this point I need to look at my training and see where I am. To be honest I am not very happy as of now. I don’t seem to be getting over the 50 mile mark in the week and I think it’s starting to tell. My running is not consistent and if I have any hope of getting under the 3:15 in Dublin then the training needs to improve over the next few weeks.
6 weeks and counting. Tonight is a rest night after yesterday (shins also sore so no harm to rest them). From now ‘till the Cork to Cobh will be crucial in the training for Dublin so fingers crossed.

9 weeks and counting.

9 weeks and counting.

It’s been a while since I have updated my blog so I think it’s time to get the finger out and start updating.

It’s been an interesting few weeks and I have slid well off my original schedule. In the last few weeks I have had injuries, long runs, races with PB’s and also a trip to Berlin to see Mr Bolt running 19.19 for 200mt.

First I’ll start with my injury. Calf muscle gave me a nice bit of trouble some time ago. I think it was the increase in mileage. This ALWAYS happens me when I start my marathon training programs. Not specifically a calf injury but something always goes wrong that knocks me off my schedule. (Note to self - Next schedule needs to have a slower build up in mileage)

In the last few weeks I am happy to have got in a 19 mile run. Some of the lads in the club are running the Longford marathon and it worked out that they were doing a long run a few weeks ago. (Best of luck this Sunday lads).

On the 31st of July I ran a 5 miler in Kinsale. A really fast course (Mostly downhill). Debateable really if it can be considered a PB as there is so much downhill. Anyway for myself I was happy with my time of 31.48. A week later I did an 8k race in Galway. Felt crappy all the way around but still did an ok time for me - 32.49. I’m going through a spell of feeling crap in all my runs so hoping that will go away soon.

Lastly I went to Berlin last week to see the World Championships. An amazing time and to see U Bolt powering up the track to put in a 19.19 for 200mt was something I will always remember. Also to watch Bekele take on the 5000mt after he had picked up the 10000mt medal was unreal. If they could bottle some of what he has then they could make a lot of money. It will be interesting to see if he decides to take on the Marathon in years to come. That is just 2 highlights and I could go on forever. Women’s high jump, Marathon, Women’s 1500mt and on and on. Only disappointment was in relation to the Marathon. No Paula and no runners from Ireland or the UK in either the men’s or women’s Marathon. As Michael Johnson said on the BBC “it is now up to Europe to up its game in regards to track running.” I think it’s not just track runners. No reason why athletes in Ireland can’t compete with the best if they are given the proper funding and support. Fingers crossed. Last item on this is that I can’t wait for London. If it’s half as good as Berlin then it will be top class.

Now on to the running. Up and down all the time but I feel now that I am starting to get in some good miles. Only problem is I’m going through a patch of being tired every time I run. Not sure what this is about as it has never happened me before but hopefully in a few week I’ll be back to normal.

Ballycotton 5 tomorrow night and hoping to get into the top 50 when the 4 races are totalled up. At the moment I am somewhere in the mid 60’s.

Next update will be after the Blarney half marathon on the 13th of September. I’ll have a week’s holidays in Italy in the week leading up to the race, so I will be getting in some warm weather training. :-)

Take care
Paudie

Good start but a worrying end.

Week 3 down. 13 weeks to go.

Good start but a worrying end.

Monday has now turned into my track day and this week was no different. I have increased the amount of 800 meter runs I do up to seven and reduced my recovery time in between. This week after each 800 I would run 500 meters in around 2 minutes 30 seconds. My 800 meters are keeping steady at 3 minutes 10 seconds. Overall it was a good session. One thing about this training is that I do feel very tired the next morning.

Tuesday I had 6.5 miles planned but due to work commitments I couldn’t get out. Don’t like missing sessions but sometimes it happens.

Wednesday was a rest due to a 5 mile race in Churchtown South the following night.

Thursday was race night. 5 mile road race and I had been looking forward to this. I have done this race for the last 2 years and always find it challenging. It’s a double loop run and I always find this hard. I think it’s because you know what’s ahead the second time. Also there are hills on this course around the 2 mile mark and 4.5 mile mark so it takes the wind out of you if you have gone out too fast. Anyway I was happy with this race but I have no mile splits (my watch played up on me). My total time was 32:36. Avg pace per mile was 6.31. Last year’s time was 33:10 so a little improvement. The big plus with this race was that I finished feeling well and strong.

This weekend is a little different than normal as I went to U2 on Friday and Saturday night so Friday morning I decided to get a semi long run done. 9.4 miles at 7:33 per mile pace but looking back I’m not sure if this was the right thing to do so soon after the race the night before.

Saturday morning my plan was to run around 12 miles as I was planning a rest day on Sunday. After about 4.5 miles my calf muscle started to hurt me. I usually don’t have problems with my calves but this felt like trouble. Luckily I was close to home and finished up the run at 5.4 miles. Within an hour I was limping and finding it difficult to walk. I have no idea what happened to be honest. I am thinking that maybe I didn’t give my legs time to recover after Thursday’s race. It now feels a bit like a muscle recovering after a cramp but it didn’t cramp. Today it’s a little better and the limp is gone. Still a bit of discomfort in the calf but nothing like yesterday. I will wait till the morning to see if I will do tomorrow’s track session.

Mileage in total this week was 29 miles. A poor week’s mileage and a bad development in relation to the calf muscle.
The next few days will be really important to see how the leg will hold up to training. I’m keeping my fingers crossed at this point.

Steady week 2 down.

Week 2 down. 14 weeks to go.

My plan for my marathon training this time is to mix up the miles that I do and not just long runs every evening. I think the miles are in me now so it’s time to mix the training up. I have decided to try Yasso 800’s. Ok never heard of it before last week but runner’s world has plenty about it. It’s a type of Interval training where you do repetitive 800m runs. So Monday evening I went to the track in UL. Good facility and not many at the track. I did 4 laps at an easy pace just to warm up and then started my 800’s. In total I completed 6 x 800. In between I would run 600 slow as a recovery. My times for the 800’s were between 3.05 and 3.10 and for the 600’s recovery 3.10. I was really happy that I kept the pace more or less the same for them all. Plan is to do this most Monday’s but try to increase from 6 x 800 to 10 x 800. Increasing 1 800 per week. Also, I will be trying to reduce the recovery time. Fingers crossed. Have to say by the end of the session I was tired and decided to make Tuesday night a rest night to let the legs recover. This just meant that I would do a few easy miles Thursday night instead.

Tuesday night rest.

Wednesday I met up with some of the lads from Mallow AC in Doneraile Park. Interesting session and total mileage was 9.26. A bit more than I had expected but it was a good session. Plenty of hills and mixed with some speed. I always record my heard rate when I train and I noticed that during this run it was up near 175 which is my normal racing speed HR, so felt the session was beneficial.

Thursday night was a nice easy 4 mile jog. 7:23 was my pace. With a 7 mile race the following night this run was really just about loosening the legs.

Friday Donoughmore 7. This was a great race. First time doing it so wasn’t sure what to expect. All I knew was that most people I spoke to before the race had warned about the last 2 miles. Usually when people tell me this it plays in the back of my mind all the way around. Anyway on to the race. Getting ready at the start it was obvious that the last 2 miles were not going to be the only hills. The race started on an uphill and once the gun went off you could feel the pull in the legs. What did take me by surprise was that most of the first mile was uphill. As with all races the first mile is grand considering there is plenty of energy in the legs. Mile pace 6:57. Bit slower than normal but this is a 7 mile race so no worries. On to mile 2. Another breaker. Uphill again. At this point I am wondering what the last 2 miles are going to be like considering nobody seemed concerned about mile 2. I was feeling the pressure at the mile and a half mark but sometimes it’s best just to put the head down and hope for a burst of energy to come from somewhere. Total time mile 2 was 6:42. Bit of an improvement but felt a lot worse. Now Mile 3, what a change. At the 2 mile mark you turn onto a main road and basically you have 3 miles of a gradual downhill run with the wind on your back. What a change in mindset at this point. 5 minutes previously I almost felt like walking where as now I was running strong and talking with Ed (A fellow club mate) beside me. If only all races were downhill. :-) Anyway in mile 4 I started thinking about the last 2 miles and what people had said before the race. So mile 4 to 5 was about keeping a good pace but conserving some energy. Mile 3, 6:17. Mile 4 6:09 and mile 5 6:36. On to mile 6 and once you hit the 5 mile marker then you turn off the main road and the hill starts. The last 2 miles are mostly uphill but to be honest they weren’t as bad as I expected. Ok don’t get me wrong they were tough but sometimes it’s best to expect the worst and anything better is a bonus. On mile 6 to 7 I could feel my calf muscles feeling the strain. Here’s hoping the next few weeks of hill training will help with this. Mile 6, 7:02 and mile 7, 7:14. Ok slower miles but I felt good and while there was not a lot left in the tank to push harder I think I finished with a feeling that I could run another few miles if needed. Total time was 47:22. It’s an unusual distance to race but I like it all the same. It’s nice to have races longer than the standard 4 and 5 milers. http://www.runningahead.com/logs/6a63092905a443028c96bf08df4bd759/workouts/424f78d8e606420580b8c94e6be197bc

Sunday long run day. Nice easy run (Not). Pace was easy but the terrain was not. Total time was 1 hour 41 and the distance was 12.39 miles. The thing about this run is that the first 6 miles are uphill. In fact from mile 1 to mile 6 there is a 635 ft rise. This is a gradual pull up and by mile 6 the legs are getting tired and lungs are feeling the pressure. Avg pace over the first 6 miles was 8:50. Avg pace over the last 6.3 miles was 7:35 - Big difference. Anyway, I think this type of training will help in the long run.

To sum up the week I feel lots of different type training has been introduced. The Marathon feels like a long time away but I am hitting the 40 miles a week mark now and feeling good so fingers crossed. The later part of next week will be a little different. I will probably do my long run Saturday morning as U2 concert is on Saturday night.

That’s all for now. Till next week.

Weekly mileage 42 miles.

A good start to training

Week 1 of training or 16 weeks to go.
That is how I feel about this week.
The Dublin City Marathon is the target race. Date 26-10-2009.

To say that this is my first week of my schedule sounds like I am just starting to run and considering the month of June has been nonstop races its not really a start but more a continuation. Probably too many races considering the Cork marathon was still in my legs. Anyway, it’s good to break up the training sometimes.

Monday started with a race in Co. Limerick. Dromcollogher 4 Mile Road Race. Handy for me as its only a 15 minutes drive for me. Makes a change. Nice race but wouldn’t be the fastest 4 mile around. Not really sure why as there are few hills but it’s one of those courses that takes it out of the legs. I think maybe the fact I had run 13 miles the day before had an effect also. (Never learn). The one big learning factor with this race for me was my splits. My first mile was 6:03. For me that is too fast. All the races in the last month have started like this and I always pay for it later in the race. Mile 2 was 6.37, mile 3 was 6:49 and mile 4 was 6:44. I think if I had held mile 1 to 6.20 I would have had a better finish. Anyway, something for me to work on.
http://www.runningahead.com/logs/6a63092905a443028c96bf08df4bd759/workouts/fb569d9da2164ef4bb9531d72217b798


Tuesday really was just a stretch the legs run. I wanted to keep some bit of life in the legs as the EMC 5k race was on Wednesday night. 4 miles easy.

Wednesday was race day again. This time it was a BHAA 'EMC' 5km road race in Ovens. BHAA are great for all the races they run. Great crowd for this race - 414 in total. So on to the race. I need to start learning to pace myself so plan is 6:20 per mile. Mile 1 6:19, Mile 2 6:17 and mile 3 6:43. Total 5k time was 19:59. I had hoped to run under 20 so happy with my time but the third mile was disappointing. A nice hill from 2.5 miles to 3 but that can’t be an excuse. Always hills so live with it. Anyway couple of miles warm down. Happy enough. At least I didn’t run like a mad man in the first mile. Makes a change.
http://www.runningahead.com/logs/6a63092905a443028c96bf08df4bd759/workouts/9d919d7c529f465898151ab1ca6ef86c

Thursday was just an easy recovery run. 5 miles. 7:13 pace.

Friday rest day.

Saturday despite feeling really lazy this morning I headed off to a place called Doneraile Park. Perfect place for running. Soft ground. Plenty of hills and lots of shelter when needed. The loop of the park is 3.5 miles. Anyway plan this morning was not to run fast but to run hills. Push the heart and see how I feel. 5 miles in total is what I did. First mile was relatively easy but from there the fun starts. There is a 235ft pull up for .8 of a mile. Really tough. Short run down the other side. I use this as recovery time and when at the bottom just turn and up we go again. This side of the hill is .4 of a mile but steeper. My first run up was difficult but I did both sides of the hill twice and the second time around did not feel so bad. Light run back to the car. I plan on increasing this week by week. Max HR was 176. Not bad but considering the hills I would have guessed over 180.

Lastly Sundays run. I always leave Sundays for long runs and usually with my local club - Mallow AC. Today was a little different. The Munster final was on today and with Tipperary playing I would have to go so my long run was early this morning by myself. Don’t really enjoy long ones by myself. 12.6 miles with an avg HR of 149. Pace was 7:44 per mile which is a bit fast maybe for a long run but that always happens when I do a long run by myself. Anyway that finishes my first week. I registered for the Marathon this week so no turning back.

Weekly mileage 40 in total.

2009 marathon schedule

2009 Marathon schedule.
I hope to keep as close as possible to this schedule.
I have not put any weeks into the schedule that the mileage goes more then 55 miles.
This is not a hardened rule but lots of runners have advised me that it’s not as much the quantity of miles that makes the difference but the quality of the miles you do.
Keeping this in mind I plan on mixing up my training during the week with speed, hill and interval training.
Anyway fingers crossed. This plan starts on the 6th of July and the target marathon is Dublin on the 26th of October.
At the moment I don’t have a target marathon time but closer to the time I will target a particular time.
If anybody has suggestions just send them on. I fully believe in listening to people who have done it all before.

Thanks
Paudie

Click on the schedule for a clearer picture