Resisting the urge

There were a couple of times during todays Cork to Cobh 15 miler that the urge came on me to break out of the 7 minute miles I was running and chase after a few "hares". I resisted until about the last mile and a half which was too late to do any real damage to my plans for a trial marathon paced (fingers crossed) run. I headed into town with Pat O'Connor, my next door neighbour, with plenty of time to get in 5 miles before the race, but ended up warming up over 2.5 miles. Pat was planning on heading out at 7:00 pace also. I was a few rows behind him and Pat Twomey at the start. Pat Twomey was aiming for 7:10 pace, so I thought I would see them both once we settled into our paces. Some of the other Eagles were heading out at 6:45 pace (the sub-3 club) and others at 7:30 pace. I settled into a comfortable pace from the start covering the first mile in 7:03. No sign of the 2 Pats. They must have headed out at a faster pace, which should not have surprised me. I tried to mimic my plan for Dublin by taking on plenty of gels to see if I could stomach them - no issue there - I took 4 in all. For the first 8 miles I settled into a small group of runners that appeared to be yo-yoing back and forth against my steady pace. I passed halfway in 52:18 (06:58 pace - 12 seconds ahead of target) and the half marathon point in 1:31:12 (06:57 pace - 34 seconds ahead of target).

My pace upped slightly after 13.5 miles as I heard a few runners on my heels and basic instinct kicked in. Shortly before the 14 mile mark I caught up with Pat Twomey and could see Pat O'Connor ahead. As my legs were relatively fresh I decided to go for it over the last mile - "can't hurt me that much". I don't think Pat was too happy as I came up behind him with half a mile to go. I pushed on passing a few more and down the hill for a sprint finish to the line stopping my watch at 1:43:15 - 6:01 for the last mile and 105 seconds ahead of target. A slow 2.5 mile warmdown with Pat gave us 20 miles for the day. Well done to Brendan who had a "Cork to Cobh" to remember! Can I hold 7 minute pace for a marathon - I don't know but i'll give it a good shot if the first 15 miles feel anything like today.

Splits as follows:-

Mile	Pace	Time	HR
1	00:07:03	00:07:03	132
2	00:06:54	00:13:57	143
3	00:06:57	00:20:54	142
4	00:06:59	00:27:53	144
5	00:06:54	00:34:47	148
6	00:06:57	00:41:44	154
7	00:07:02	00:48:46	155
8	00:06:57	00:55:43	156
9	00:06:57	01:02:40	152
10	00:06:55	01:09:35	153
11	00:07:01	01:16:36	158
12	00:06:47	01:23:23	159
13	00:07:04	01:30:27	165
14	00:06:47	01:37:14	165
15	00:06:01	01:43:15	169

Sun 4th Oct 20.12 miles in 2:25:46 (07:15 pace @ 147 HR) with 15 miles in 1:43:15 (06:53 pace @ 153 HR) Marathon Training Week 10/13 - 67.08 miles. Postscript:- Photos at 100m to go. .

How much speed do I need

The rebel cycle tour last Sunday is the longest lasting endurance event I have completed - just under 4.5 hours in the saddle with a break in the middle for tea, sandwiches and cake (and of course the obligatory banana). A very enjoyable day out in glorious sunshine with a couple of tough challenges thrown in - the 1,000 foot climb from Millstreet up over Mushera and the less daunting (but later in the day) long drag up to Nadd. The difference between drafting in a group and going solo is huge - like riding a train (provided you can jump aboard as it doesn't stop to pick up passengers).

With Monday as a rest day Tuesday saw me back at the track for the first time in months with 6 x 800m (832m in lane 3 to be exact) in 3:00 as my target. Shouldn't be too difficult surely. Given that it was a long time since I did track intervals I was less than confident starting off. My legs felt good but an overall sluggish feeling enveloped me as the intervals progressed. The first 2 went off fine in 2:59 & 2:58 but the remaining 4 pushed over the 3 minute mark 3:03/02/02/03 and any thought of extending the number to 8 that I had entertained at the outset quickly disappeared. Still I was reasonably happy with my effort and put the sluggishness down to residual tiredness from Sundays cycle and lack of recent track experience. Despite this sluggishness I was up at 5 on Wednesday morning for a 14 mile medium long run that went off without a hitch, although the tenderness in my left PF surfaced from the 10 mile mark on. It did not get any worse and there was no discomfort walking after the run. Thursday was my second speed session with a plan to run 2 x 3 miles @ about HM pace (6:40). I changed this to 3, 2 & 1 mile tempo runs with 0.5 mile recoveries as I convinced myself to take it easier lest I get an injury. The 6 tempo miles went off without a hitch although I was glad of the extra recovery before the final mile: 6:41/37/34 - 6:39/34 - 6:27. Average 6:36. Certainly my speedwork has been better in the past. In April I did 6 straight miles @ 6:29 pace, then again 8 days later I was pulled up with a calf tear. This time last year 2 x 4 miles @ 6:34 average pace followed 14 days later with a calf strain/tear. There's certainly a trend developing. I'm very conscious of this and my priority is to get to Dublin on 26th October injury free.

My weekly long run this morning included the hilly Maglin, Knockburden, Ballinora loop with Eagle AC. I decided to get my extra miles in first so I started from home shorty after 7 and ran 5 miles to UCC farm where I met up with the group and ran 11 miles of the loop with them before heading back to Ballincollig. On leaving the group I decided to stress the body with some marathon pace running from mile 16 to 20 settling for 7 minute pace which felt tough but manageable (I had taken 2 gels at miles 8.5 and 15 ) I extended the MP section to 5 miles which I covered in 34:45 (06:57 avg) and warmed down over a further 1.25 miles back home getting 22.25 miles in total. As I have a triathlon in Castlegregory next weekend my next long run is likely to be Cork to Cobh which I will use for longer MP training. Tomorrow will either be a recovery run or more than likely a bit of bike cross training. Tue 15th Sept 6.82 miles in 51:35 (07:34 pace @ 143HR) with 6 x 832m in 2:58 to 3:03. Wed 16th Sept 14.02 miles in 1:46:33 (07:36 pace @ 139HR) Thur 17th Sept 10 miles in 1:12:10 (07:13 @ 146HR) with 3 + 2 + 1 miles @ 6:36 avg pace Fri 18th Sept 2.5 miles in 19:49 (07:56 pace on the treadmill) Sat 19th Sept 22.25 miles in 2:50:09 (07:39 pace @ 143HR) with 5 miles @ MP Marathon Training Week 8/13 - 55.6 miles Postscript Sun 20th Sept 5.34 miles in 43:09 (8:04 pace @ 122HR) - following 21.3 mile cycle. 60.9 miles for the week.