Evaluation

With nothing on the cards for my track session this Tuesday I decided to run a 5 mile MAFF evaluation run. Not the best timing perhaps, just 3 days after a race. Still, a good improvement, as I would have expected, given my weight loss since my earlier evaluations.

My best evaluation from previous years was a 34:17 five miler @ 140.6 average heartrate back in August 2011 - equivalent to 599 Hb/Km - so, allowing for a 2 BPM reduction in Maximum Heartrate due to increasing age, I have been able to maintain my perk aerobic capacity in terms of pace, partly (if not primarily) due to reducing my weight (about 2 kg in this case).

Marathon Training Week 5 of 10

Session 1 - Tuesday (1830hrs - 2030hrs)


4 x 1 mile @ 10k Pace with 2 minute recoveries between 5 mile easy warmup and 5-6 mile moderate cooldown.

I wasn't worried about this session too much as I was coming down from last weeks 4 x 8 laps of the track to 4 x 4 laps this week with 30 second more recovery - ok the pace was going to be 10 to 15 seconds per mile faster, but how tough could that be. Quite a bit as I found out.

While last months UCC 10k race was @ 6:21 pace average, I had already completed last weeks 4 x 2 miles @ HMP in 6:16/17 pace so I set my minimum target at my 10k PB pace of 6:09. With lane 1 open I had 6 minutes 1,600s in mind (90 second laps - 6:02 pace). Ok a bit faster that 10k pace, but surely i'm capable of churning out 6 minute mile repeats - not quite as it turned out - hitting repeats in 6:03/05/06/04 close enough but mildly dissappointing - it's a fine line between the 2 mile repeats @ 6:16 pace last week and mile repeats at 6:02 pace. Perhaps if I had an additional days rest after Sunday's marathon I might have done better. Then again I wanted to maximise the number of easy/rest days before my second session of the week.

15.97 miles in 1:55:44 (7:14 pace @ 136 Hr = 611 Hb/Km) with 4 x 1 Mile @ 6:03/05/06/04 pace.

Session 2 - Saturday (0930hrs - 1053:30 hrs)

Half Marathon Race

This is the only scheduled race in the programme and therefore took on a significance all of it's own - the only real test of how my training has gone and what i'm capable of. The timing was perfect for the Bandon Half Marathon (& 10k). The only issue is that it's a hilly half and I couldn't shouldn't compare the result against my HM PB of 1:22:32. How else was I going to rate my result though? The only thing I could think of was to compare it against last years results. Two of my clubmates had run this race last year and gone on to run sub 3 hour marathons in Cork, 3 weeks later. Pat ran the half in 1:24:05 and went on to run a relatively comfortable 2:58:18 in Cork, while Ann-Marie ran a 1:26:03 in Bandon and went on to a 2:59:51 in Cork. So my baseline target was half way between these 2 results - 1:25 (6:30 pace) with an eye on getting under 1:24 if things went well. Although the plan was to average 6:30 pace to the top of the hill at mile 6.


 I headed out with Clubmates John and Tony, with John also planning on 6:30 pace (but more as a hard training run than a race) and Tony fresh from his 2:56 marathon PB in Limerick on Sunday (I know where I would be the weekend after a 2:56 Marathon PB - and this was his second race since the marathon, having completed the Pfizer 6 miler on Wednesday evening!!!).

Mile 3 - No sign of a hill yet.

We stayed more or less together until Mile 6 (39:08), just 8 seconds off target 6:30 pace average - although mile 6 was @ 7:04 pace (slowest of the day). I opened up the throttle on the downhill Miles 7 (5:56 - my fastest of the day) and 8 (6:04) and kept a pretty good 6:15 pace for the next 2 miles, passing Mile 10 in 1:03:37 - 6:22 pace (about a minute down on my HM PB  - 1:02:46 @ Mile 10). The going got tough on the long rise between miles 10 and 11 (6:50) as I passed Carmel Crowley (leading female) with my legs turning to jelly, but thankfully turning back towards normal as the road levelled out and dropped steeply to give me a pretty decent mile 12 (6:15). The drop gives way to an energy zapping short but jelly leg climb, where I get passed by a 10k runner (I could hear him coming for a while and had assumed he was a HM runner). The 10k started 45 minutes after the HM - so if I was finishing in 1:25 say (6:30 pace), I should be in the company of 40 minute 10k runners (6:26 pace). Great Idea because a flagging HM runner could get pulled along by the 10k runners - although he was the only 10k runner that I saw (not many sub-40s today).

The last half mile was a steady drop to the finish line where I could open up the pace a little - Mile 13 in 6:11 and a final push to the finish - 1:23:30 for a 15th place finish and first M45 (worth €50). Delighted. John was just behind me with Tony a few seconds over 1:24 (and 2nd M45 - lucky for me he had a 2:56 marathon in his legs). Just under a minute (58s) outside my PB, but that was never going to be challenged on todays hilly course.

17.7 miles in 2:01:12, with HM race in 1:23:30 - 6:22 pace @ 160Hr - 633 Hb/Km (Max 167)

Weekly mileage - 60 Miles
Avg Weight - 77.6 Kg
RHR 37

Great Limerick Run - Guest Race Report

Kate Harrison, Whom John and I paced to a sub 3:30 (3:28:43) on Sunday, wrote a great race report on Boards.ie and kindly let me publish it here. It gives a good insight into what it takes to achieve your marathon goal, provided it is realistic - and to be fair to Kate she had done her sums and had set a tough but achievable target (very often we tend to base out marathon targets on dreams rather that reality - it may work for a half marathon, but the marathon is an unforgiving distance)

Kate's last race before Limerick, the K Club 10k (42:54), was the best result in her training programme (if times are plugged into mcmillanrunning.com), closely followed by her HM (1:36:34) and 5k (20:52). All these results suggest a marathon time of between 3:21:17 and 3:23:17 - although I am a bit skeptical about Mcmillan marathon time predictions, particularly for those that do not have a solid endurance base of 5+ years - for example, in 2011 my HM PB predicted a 2:53 marathon ahead of my 2:59 PB. 

Anyway Kate, pulled off a fantastic result in only her second marathon, improving her marathon PB by a massive 29 minutes from 3:57 and here's how she did it -  Enjoy

Great Limerick Run 2013

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Training:

I think the HM in Waterford was my springboard for 2013. It really cemented the work I had put in for DCM 2012 and gave me a heap of confidence. My plan was to do Limerick as a training run for the 50k in Portumna and I can’t really remember when or why that changed and Limerick became my goal race. Shortly before Christmas I started trying to put a plan together but it was not as easy as I anticipated. While most of the people on the graduate thread were keen to follow P&D I had taken a quick look at the plan and decided that I hated it. So I asked Meno to help and he did up my own plan for me. It was basically a session on a Wed, a lsr at the w/e and whatever I liked for the rest of the week to make up the mileage and I loved it. I really enjoyed the training and I think that took a lot of the pressure off when I was aiming for a time. I could see myself improving every week and I even managed to look forward to the Wed sessions. P

Training weeks: 18

Total miles = 763

Max weekly miles = 62

Av weekly miles = 42.4

Long runs = 22 x 3, 20 x 1, 18 x 2

MP runs = 75m in 12 runs

HMP runs = 12m in 2 runs

5 runs with strides included

4 runs with hill sprints

1 interval session at 10m pace

Races:

- Tom Brennan 5k: 20:52

- Dungarvan 10m : 1:17:32

- Bohermeen HM: 1:36:34

- Kclub 10k: 42:54

Missed days:

I was sick twice

– the first time before Dungarvan I missed 5 running days completely

- the second time wasn’t as bad but I had to swop all the runs for easy runs, forgo a session and shorten the lsr

So all in all I was pretty delighted with the training. My RHR was down to 43 and my weight was 9st 3lb (compared to 54 and 9st 10lbs for DCM)

Prerace:

Drove down to Limerick early on Saturday. The expo was a bit of a non event but at least I was able to get my car parked in the hotel car park. And I had an afternoon power nap. Saturday evening I met up with Dilbert, Gavlor and his buddy, Runchick and family, Killian and family and runwithme and we had a lovely dinner at an Italian. I was in bed early enough although with the fireworks and the general city noise it was hard enough to sleep.

I woke up several times and at half 6 I decided I might as well get up. I don’t normally eat before I run in the mornings so I decided to go with what I had in Dublin for breakfast – coffee,cheerios and a banana. When I got up and I looked out the window it was misty and cloudy but as the morning went on it looked like it might get sunny. I lashed on factor 50 suncream just to be sure grabbed half a mars bar and headed to the start. It was 8:10 when I got there and they were only just putting up the start at that stage. It was so relaxed compared to Dublin. And everyone was so friendly. I even got to talk to a leprachaun who was cycling his bike round the marathon. I do admit to thinking "he better not get in my way"

 

I made a beeline for the pacers as soon as I saw them. John and Grellan were pacing 3:30 so I introduced myself and we had a good chat about how I was going to run my race. Can’t say they were overly impressed when I told them it was my 2nd marathon and that my pb was 3:57. In fact John was giving me a few concerned looks and I think it was a bit of a relief to him when I told him I did the Meath HM in 1:36. He warned me though to keep it handy early on and to stay with them till at least mile 20!

The Race:

Mile 1 – 5:

Lined up shadowing John and Grellan and pretty much stayed on their heels for the first few miles. Big cheer from Meno and Blockic round the corner from the start and again on O’ Connell St. Happy that my breathing was nice and controlled. I had brought half a bottle of water with me and was sipping it for the first few miles just to keep my mouth from getting too dry. Didn’t bother with water from the first station at Mile 3 and I took a gel around mile 4. It made my stomach feel a bit queasy but it passed after a few minutes. Had a few words with Dilbert around mile 4 but we weren’t talking much. In fact our group was quiet enough....all very business-like

Splits: 7:56, 7:51, 7:45, 7:55, 7:50

 

Mile 6- 10:

Crossed over the 10k mat in 49:17 (Position 231) and then we had to go over this horrible bridge. I didn’t like it at all and I was hoping we didn’t have to go over it a second time. It's called the living bridge and its awful to run over because you’re legs go all wobbly. Didn’t see much of Dilbert in UL. He had gone on ahead of the group and I was still shadowing J and G but we caught up to him again going down the dual carriageway.

I took my second gel around the 60 min mark. It was cool seeing the guys ahead of us between mile 7 and 8. The two lead guys looked to be cruising as did Angela Mc Cann, the winning lady. Think I saw Gavlor with the 3 hr group but it was hard to pick him out in the group On the way back up around mile 10 I spotted Killian going well with the 4:15’s and I gave him a shout. Few slower splits here because we had a good bit of time banked. I was hardly looking at my watch at all but J and G were calling out how much time we had banked at every mile. I was good and comfortable and I even felt a bit Marthastew-ish running along with a big smile on my face

Splits: 8:13, 8:13, 7:53, 7:47, 8:03

Mile 10- 15:

Passed halfway in 1:44:07 (Position 217). Still feeling strong and breathing was well under control. About this time the marshals started shouting at me that I was the 8th female.....happy days. Another girl in a purple top joined our little band of pacees here. She had run Dublin in 3:33 and I was getting a bit competitive thinking she is not finishing in front of me.

Took a 3rd gel sometime around the halfway mark. They were going down well now and I was sipping water at all the stations. Our group was sound passing around water and getting each other water from the stations. It was like a big happy family run. Now and again when the sun broke through the clouds it was quite hot and I was glad I had the sun cream on.

Splits: 7:47, 8:02, 8:15, 8:08, 8:03

Mile 16 – 20:

I was telling myself at 16 miles ok just 10m to go. Same as the race in Dungarvan and you’re in better shape now. You can do it! Dropped the girl in the purple top around mile 17 and one of the girls further up must have slowed too because I was now in 7th position. Took my last gel with caffeine in it after the 2 hour mark.

30k split 2:28:02 (Position 184). Running up O Connell street was great with the support and I was thinking I’m going well. Someone yelled ‘Its all downhill from here’ lying bastid

 

Splits: 8:09, 7:57, 7:43, 7:40, 7:55

Mile 21 – Finish:

Got a tiny bit carried away here with the downhill and the crowds and opened up a small gap ahead of the pacers. I was telling myself you’ve still 5 miles to go nice and easy now, don’t go too fast and I think I was only ever a small bit in front of the lads. I was having a little race with a guy in a grey shirt and we were swopping the lead a good bit.

I grabbed some lucozade sport and some water from the station at mile 22. I was squirting the water over my head and down the back of my neck and it was helping a bit to keep me focused. The hills around Thomond Park were a killer. They were only small but it was one after another after another. Around mile 23 I was in a good bit of pain. Legs were heavy and it was a big effort to keep the pace up. All I could focus on were the constant inclines.

Guy in the grey shirt opened up a 10m gap on me and then I heard the dreaded “3:30 pacers coming through” Fcuk how did that happen. John and Grellan were brilliant with the encouragement though. When they said step by step you can do it, I was thinking of the inch by inch clip of Al Pacino that Guinang had mentioned on my log

I stayed with the pace group in a good position until a little hill around mile 24 knocked me back about 30m off them. I could still hear J and G shouting at me. Come on Kate, Pick it up Kate. Where are you Kate but I was fighting really hard to hang on and not slow down. Central governor was saying ya, ya on you go lads about your business I’m grand here and racer Kate was like come on faster, faster, keep with them.

It was at a stalemate and I was just able to maintain my position when I heard the lads at the top of a little incline going “Casualty. She’s down. Kate you’re up a position”. It didn’t register with me though. My mind was fuzzy and so I was still thinking I was in 7th place

 

When I got to the top of the incline the lads were roaring at me Kate there’s a woman in front of you down there. Hunt her down Kate. You can take her. It’s funny the effect it had on me. It was like someone had switched on a light in my brain I got a burst of adrenaline and my legs got a new lease of life. Imagine a cat fast asleep and then in the corner of its eye it spots a mouse and its like every muscle and nerve is immediately on high alert. That’s what it felt like.

That last two miles was the best ever. I caught up with the pace group and the lads were still on with this hunt her down Kate which nearly made me burst out laughing. Then Grellan went beyond the pacer call of duty when he told me to follow him. So we’re going down this little hill and there’s two women about 100m and 200m in front of me and Grellan is like right we have to burst past them now Kate. So the first one is easy. She’s under pressure and I pass her out no bother and then to add insult to injury I cut in front of her and take her racing line Also pass the guy in the grey shirt

The next lady is stronger and she has a companion encouraging her. She’s still 50m in front of me and I can see this blue thing that looks like the finish but Grellan tells me no you have to go through that then over the bridge and up O’ Connell street about 50m to the finish. So I move to the outside of Grellan and we overtake her before the blue thing and then Grellan is like “Go Kate Put it all in now. If you have to collapse over the finish line so be it” ......... and then I’m round the corner, over the bridge and when I see the finish I give it everything I’ve got. I cross the line and the first emotion that hits me is pure relief. Yes I can stop now. My legs are like jelly. The last mile is my fastest and the fourth lady is 13 sec behind me

Splits: 7:47, 8:15, 8:30, 8:15, 7:46, 7:34 (1:36)

Chip time: 3:28:43

Garmin: 3:28:48 26.22 miles Pace: 7:58/mi

Gender Position: 4 The 3rd lady finished in 3:14 though so a bit of work to do yet!!

Overall Position: 123

Didn’t get any prize.....but who needs a prize when you have the glory and honour

I got a lovely massage after. It was heaven and then I headed back to the hotel for a shower. I didn’t bother bringing a bag because our hotel was very near the finish. I was going so slowly though and a lovely ambulance man saw the goosebumps on my arms and brought me one of those foil blanket things. That was nice I had a shower and a little rest and then I walked up to the Clarion to meet the others. I was still walking like a geriatric but I had improved a good bit.


End



PS - John and I did get a bit carried away over the closing mile, running alongside Kate and temporarily neglecting our other Pacee's (apologies) until Kate was safely in 4th position. To put it in perspective the last person we encouraged over the line was the 6th Female in 3:29:59 (Clock)

Marathon Training Week 4 of 10

Session 1 - Tuesday (1800hrs - 2000hrs)

4 x 2 miles @ HMP with 90 second recoveries between 4 mile warmup and cooldown.

A repeat of the session I did 2 weeks ago. It felt less stressful (relatively) this time out - the benefit of adaptation. Like 2 weeks ago my reference time was 13 minutes for 8 laps in lane 3 (equivalent to 6:17 pace). After the 4 mile warmup I was at the track,  ready for my first 8 laps, which went by in 13 minutes even. Following the 90 second walking recovery i was off for my 2nd 8 laps and while the pace was challenging, it was manageable. Long story short the remaining 3 intervals went by in 12:58/58/47 (6:16/16/11 pace) pushing the last one over the last few laps just to emulate the closing stages of a race. The 4 mile moderate warmdown was at a steady 7:10 pace (flat route compared to 2 weeks ago)

16.87 miles in 1:59:52 (7:02 pace @ 144 Hr) with 4 x 2 Miles @ 6:17/16/16/11 pace.


Session 2 - Sunday (0900hrs - 1230hrs)

22 Mile easy long run.

This is the longest run on the programme. My long runs todate have averaved around 7:20 pace. This time out I decided to cut back on the pace and increase the mileage - so that I could head to Limerick and pace today's Marathon. Perhaps if I wanted to keep the pace similar to my previous long runs I should have headed out with the sole 3:15 pacer (7:25 pace) but instead decided to stay with clubmate John pulling a few along, including Kate, who was with us all the way from the start. We got a bit carried away over the last mile as Kate was gaining on two girls in front of her and with our encouragement (and injection of a bit of pace) she passed them both and hung on for a 3:28:xx finish, with John and I hanging back until the clock was counting down the last second to 3:30. Another great day out. 37 minute after finishing I received a text with my official chip time (3:29:30) - that must be some sort of record.


26.22 miles in 3:29:30 (7:59 pace @ 125Hr - 620 Hb/Km)

This certainly was one of my most effortless pacing gigs. Don't get me wrong, there were times when the going felt a little tough but overall I was very confortable with my Hr below my MAFF hr of 138 for all but a few minutes.

I took no rest day this week as I made it my highest mileage week of the programme, with the aim of gradually cutting back the mileage in favour of faster paces. 



Weekly mileage - 79 Miles
Avg Weight - 78.1 Kg
RHR 39

Marathon Training Week 3 of 10

Session 1 - Tuesday (1800hrs - 2000hrs)


16 Mile "Wave Run" - 8 x (1 mile moderate + 1 mile Marathon pace)

Compared to last weeks speed session of 4 x 2 miles @ HM pace the 8 miles at MP this week should be easier - it was billed as the easiest of all the speed sessions. How easy would depend on how hard I ran the moderate miles in between. To make it interesting I targeted 7:20 for the "moderate" miles and 6:40 for the MP miles so as to average 7:00 pace (or less) for the full 16 miles.

I decided to stay away from the track this week as I didn't fancy running 64 laps. I ran from home instead - 7.5 miles out and back and the last MP mile and a 1.1 mile cooldown around a 2.1 mile loop from home. The Garmin was low on power but I could only afford 10 minute of charging as I was already late heading out - hence the out and back, where I had a good idea of all the mile markers and if the Garmin died I'd run hard every second mile and check the overall time on the clock at home. 

The 6:40 pace for the first MP mile felt reasonably comfortable although I had a bit of a race with another guy as he increased his pace when I passed him out and he surged past me. Perhaps he had noticed my increase in pace after my opening mile and thought  I was putting it up to him. I let him off but was contemplating a game of cat and mouse if we were to share the same course but thankfully he pulled off into a cul de sac a quarter of a mile down the road and I was back on my own. While the change in pace was noticeable between the fast and slow miles the effort was very manageable, although by MP mile 5 I had to concentrate to keep the pace from slipping.

The Garmin died at mile 10 (5 miles from home) but I knew where the mile markers were and just ran every second mile fast - probably too fast as I was feeling the pressure a bit more. I made it home with 1 MP mile to do - popped in and checked the wall clock, switched the Garmin for a stopwatch and was out the door again within 30 seconds for a 2.1 mile loop, covering the first mile in about 6:30 before cooling down over the last 1.1 miles. 

My 5 blind miles (11 to 15) were covered in the same time as miles 1 to 5, so I just used the same splits. My average paces were 7:15/6:34 for the moderate/MP miles - a bit on the fast side, which explains why it was not as easy as it should have been, especially over the last few MP miles.

17.1 miles in 1:59:20 (6:58 pace @ 146 Hr for first 10 miles) with 16 alternate miles @ 7:15/6:34 pace.

Session 2 - Saturday (0800hrs - 1030hrs)

21 Mile easy with 3 miles @ MP from mile 12.
 

A beautiful sunny morning with a bit of a nip in the air. 8 of us headed out from UCC Farm for a 12.5 mile club run, with a pace in the  7:20's. Same route as two weeks ago - following the walkway along the the Curraheen River to the Straight Road for a 6 mile loop out to the Anglers Rest and in the Lee Road, then back along the river walk to the Farm, with a few eager beavers forging ahead over the closing stages to sharpen up on their racing tactics.

The last 8.5 miles on my run were on the grass circuit at the Farm - starting into my 3 mile MP section after 13 miles. The northerly wind was a bit off putting when running directly into it but my pace was consistently in the 6:30's (target 6:40) and even dropped into the 6:20s for a spell (with the wind at my back). I had felt a bit apprehensive about how these faster miles would go, given the fatigue in my legs from the first 13 miles and the fact that running fast on grass generally takes a bit more effort. But the increase in pace didn't feel too bad once I got into my stride, although by the time the 3 miles were up I was glad to ease back the pace, which had averaged 6:32.

I also pushed a bit over the closing 5 miles to complete the 21 miles in two and a half hours.

21 miles in 2:30:00 (7:09 pace @ 140 Hr) with miles 14/15/16 @ 6:32 pace & 153 Hr


Weekly mileage - 72 Miles
Avg Weight - 78.9 Kg
RHR - 38 bpm

Marathon Training Week 2 of 10

Session 1 - Tuesday (1800hrs - 2000hrs)

4 x 2 miles @ HMP with 90 second recoveries between 4 mile warmup and cooldown.

This was by far the toughest session of the week. The 4 mile warmup was from work to the track @ about 7:40 pace. A few stretches and I was off on the first 8 lap section (lane 3 = 2.07 miles). My plan was to run slightly slower than last weeks sub 6:20 pace, using 1:37.5 (6:30 for 4 laps = 6:17 pace) as my guide. The challenge was to keep the pace

• Manageable enough so that I would not only last the 8 laps but recover sufficiently during the brief 90 second walking recoveries to last the full 32 laps - all at the same pace and

• Challenging enough so that I was running HMP. While my eye was on my PB pace of 6:18, I knew I wasn't in that shape, yet! so I was looking for a pace that somewhere between that and 6:25.

The first 8 laps came in at 13:05 a few seconds over my 13 minute reference point giving me a 6:20  average pace. I walked the 100m to the next 1/4 point on the track and while my Hr had come down from the low 160s into the mid 120s I didn't feel recovered enough to cover another 2 miles @ 6:20 pace, let alone another 4 miles after that. I had to push these negative thoughts to the back of my mind and concentrate on the current lap and trust in my body's ability to complete the session.

It was a struggle at times to keep the pace as the headwind down the home straight didn't help my concentration, coming as it did every 1/4 mile, but the laps passed by and despite the brief recoveries my legs and body held up pretty well to deliver a consistent pace of 6:19 for the remaining 2 mile repeats. I paced myself over the last mile with clubmates, Keith, James and Pat, who had just started one of their mile repeats 10 yards ahead of me. This helped greatly in pulling me along and taking my mind off the rising fatigue.

The 4 mile cooldown back to work @ 7:30 pace completed the workout, with the effects of depleted fuel reserves (carbs) beginning to show over the last mile - a good overall test to see how much fuel I actually need to run hard, as my sole food intake since rising at 7 was a banana, plum and 2 apples about an hour and a half before the session.

16.79 miles in 2:00:12 (7:09 pace @ 148 Hr) with 4 x 2 Miles @ 6:20/19/19/19 pace.

Session 2 - Saturday (0730hrs - 1000hrs)

20 Mile easy long run on grass.

The programme was quite specific that this run be on grass (the only one of the programme?) I opted for the 2.3 mile grass circuit at UCC Farm, running 9 laps to give me 20.7 miles. The opening laps were a bit slower than my planned 7:20/30 pace although I wasn't too concerned as all the programme called for was "easy" running.

I had the company of clubmate, Vivian for the first 6 laps, with Ronan joining me from laps 2 to 7, with the average pace coming down from the initial 7:38 to 7:30 and below. The pace increased for lap 7 and before Ronan left we were joined by Clubmate Pat, who stayed with me to the end taking the pace for the last 2 laps below 7:10 and 7:00 - perhaps not "easy" running but finishing strong is always a good mentally.

20.7 miles in 2:31:40 (7:18 pace @ 133Hr)

The remaining weekly mileage consisted of 4 short easy runs.

Weekly mileage - 63 Miles

Avg Weight - 79.4 Kg

New Era

The Plan

It’s been a long time since I followed any sort of training programme. In 2011 I had a loose adhoc programme for my Sub 3 hour marathon in Dublin all based around a weekly tempo run and a couple of marathon pace long runs. This week I started a slightly more structured 10 week programme for the Portumna Marathon on 15th June – more like the skeleton of a programme with 6 weeks of 2 quality sessions per week (speedwork & long run) culminating in a half Marathon Race – the Bandon Half on 11th May fits in perfectly – although I heard it’s not the fastest of courses. I’ll have to fill in the rest of the programme with 1 hour to 90 minute easy/steady/recovery runs depending on how I feel and when my next quality session is.

A week after the HM is the key workout of the programme – 3 x 4 miles @ MP with 3 miles easy between each MP effort all between 2 miles warmup and cooldown. It is only 12 miles @ MP but the quality of the session will all depend on how hard I run the “recoveries”. The last 22 days of the programme are pretty specific and no easy ride either - starting with a 22 mile long run and including a 15 mile MP run and mile repeats @ 10k pace – so interesting times ahead, something to keep me focussed.

The Form

Given the shortness of the programme I needed to be in reasonable shape from both an endurance and speed perspective. With 6 marathons/ultras under my belt so far this year my endurance base is pretty good. It was my speed that needed (and still does need) a little work. I had completed mile repeats at 6:20 to 6:40 pace at the track on and off since the start of the year but the real test would be an evaluation run. Two week ago I ran a 20 minute tempo run with the Club and managed to get over 5k (6:16 Garmin pace). I hoped to double this to a sub 40 minute 10K at last weekend’s UCC 10k. I had missed this race for the last 3 years as I was away racing the Connemara Ultra the same weekend.

I knew I wasn’t in PB shape - 38:15 on the same course 5 years ago! Funnily enough back then my Marathon PB was 3:22, which I dropped to 3:17 in Cork two months later – still way off 3 hours and yet up to speed on the shorter races. The race doubled as a long run with my neighbour Ian, who wanted to get an 18 mile training run in for his first marathon - so the plan was to run 6 miles in, register for the race, run it and cooldown over the 6 miles home. The strong easterly wind was going to make the second half of the race challenging.

The opening mile and a half was a bit of a head-wrecker as the world and its father were passing me out. I guess I’m not used to fast starts and was in energy preservation mode. I managed to steady my place in the field and reel a few in - passing the 2 mile mark a few seconds under 13 minutes, already short of the 6:24 pace I'd need for the sub-40. Top of the hill at mile 2.5 and I was able to open up my stride a little along with Clubmate Keith - reeling in a group in front, passing the 3 mile mark in about 19:08 (6:23 avg) - just about on target. Left past the Anglers Rest and left again onto the straight road past the 4 mile mark - 25:24 (6:21 avg). Into a headwind for the last 2.2. Over the next half mile I managed to reel in a group of five in front and tucked in at the back to get pulled along. The Garmin was showing an average 6:19 pace, which told me I was on target, even allowing a few seconds for error. The effort was much more manageable tucked in behind the group and with half a mile to go I prematurely left the relative comfort of the group as they were going a bit slower than I wanted and I forged ahead on my own - much tougher now. Mile 6 in 38:08 keeping the pace steady but no kick to hold back the three guys who went surging past before I crossed the line in 39:33. Job done, well off my PB but on target.

The First Steps

The race kind of scuppered the first speed session of my training programme 2 days later (too close but I had no other opportunity to get it in) – 8 mile warmup up followed by 6 x 1 mile @ HMP with 1 minute recoveries and 2 mile warmdown. I converted the 6 x 1 to 4 x 1.5 (90 second recoveries) and managed to complete 3 @ 6:14/17/23 pace before calling it a day as I was progressively slowing down during the 3rd rep and the 4th would not have been worth the pain and effort – anyway 6.2 straight miles @ 6:21 pace 2 days beforehand was enough of a training benefit.

My first scheduled long run on Saturday went a bit better – 18 miles with the last 2 at MP. I integrated it with a 13 mile club run at 7:20/30 pace, getting 3 miles in beforehand and heading off on my own for the last 2, for which I had targeted a 6:40 pace, to see how I’d get on after 16 miles of steady running. I ran them a little faster and certainly harder than marathon pace/effort in 6:32/34 – it certainly felt more like a tempo run than a pace I could sustain for more than 20 minutes. All good training. 1 week down – 9 to go.

The Experiment

I’m 5 weeks into my intermittent fasting regime and on balance it appears to be delivering on my main goal of shedding a few pounds without serious food withdrawal symptoms. It does take a bit of getting used to, not eating every day until 5 in the evening, but it is very simple to follow – there’s a time for eating and a time for not eating – no counting calories, weighing out food or such nonsense - I would never be any good at that sort of control anyway – too much thinking for my likening .

I still managed to down a pound of black magic chocolates the week after Easter and generally have included more fat and protein in my diet and cut back on carbs (particularly in the form of grains) – I haven’t seen a bowl of porridge in over a month – doesn’t seem right eating porridge after dinner in the evening ;-) I was a little worried about cutting back on carbs and how it would impact on my hard runs but have not seen a noticeable impact yet (early days perhaps), although running back from last weekends 10k (with all my Glycogen reserves gone) both Ian and I felt a bonk coming on and we stopped 2 miles from home so that Ian could refuel on a Granola bar while I looked on, wondering how I was going to pass the following 4 hours..…….pain is temporary – how may times have I heard that since I started running.



The First Steps Are Always The Easiest.