Marathon Training Week 1 of 9

I have just finished my first structured training week in nearly two years having dusted down the marathon training programme that got me two PBs in the summer of 2013. Back then I had the relative luxury of starting my training plan in April after getting one or two decent races under my belt. This year I was still enjoying the tail end of the Christmas excesses when the programme was scheduled to start.

 

As it is not a beginners programme it does require a good endurance base and a decent anaerobic base before you start. While I had no problem with the endurance base my anaerobic base was largely non-existent so I was prepared for a baptism of fire in that regard. To allow some bit of a lead in I cut the programme from 10 to 9 weeks, still keeping the total number of quality sessions.  I thought it would be a good idea to compare my key training sessions to those of my 2013 marathon build-up, which will give me a better indication of what I could realistically aim for in Barcelona.

January 2015  - Week 1 of 9	April 2013  - Week 1 of 10
Session # 1 - 8 mile warmup followed by 3 x 2 miles @ HM pace with 2 min active recoveries and 2 mile cooldown
I ran from work following a circuitous route in the Straight Road and out the Model Farm Road to the CIT Track. Conditions en-route were icy in places but runnable. However the track was completely iced over and after running a few laps I decided it was too risky to carry on with the speed session and I was all set to run back to work & drive home. However clubmate Vivian (one of 5 who turned up) suggested we could run on on a path that ran around the adjacent football pitches, assuming the floodlights were on. We complete a recce of the 0.8 mile route, which was partially illuminated and consisted of a mixture of gravel, stone and macadam paths with a few ankle deep water features so with 8.65 miles already on the clock Vivian and I struck out on our first 2 miles as snow began to fall - so, long story short, I completed the 3 reps at approximately 6:25 pace - a bit slower than I would have liked, but i'll take it given the conditions. But the effort was certainly on the uncomfortably hard side of the spectrum and I was glad/relieved when I was done.   While I had initially anticipated cadging a lift from a Ballincollig bound clubmate after the track session, the absence of such a session/clubmate meant that my 2 mile cooldown was closer to 4.5 miles, the last 2 of which was in heavy snowfall. Overall one of my tougher sessions. Lets hope it gets/feels easier from here on.	The race (UCC 10k in 39:30) 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.
Session # 2 - 18 miles with the last 2 @ marathon pace.
I planned on keeping a steady 7:30 pace for the first 16 miles so as to make the last 2 a bit more challenging.   Things went reasonably well until I took a tumble after 13 miles (slipped on an icy path while taking a corner without slowing down) - all I could think of when hitting the deck was stopping the Garmin so that my "pace" wouldn't suffer. No harm done, apart from a few scratches so on I went.   I had planned on completing my faster miles on the walkway at the back of CIT but as I approached I saw a wall of a few 100 walkers in front of me, apparently an "operation transformation" event (annual weight loss TV programme for those of you from outside the jurisdiction). I took a detour around Bishopstown where I found a 0.9 mile flattish circuit and after 16 miles @ 2 hours of running I managed to churn out 2 miles at an average pace of 6:33 (Target was sub 6:40). It's wasn't as difficult as I was expecting, but certainly more on the tempo side of things than MP. As my detour took me away from my intended finish I had a few miles cooldown, bumping into club mate Elaine on the way. Week 1 down, 8 to go. Avg Hr 132.	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.

So far so good.



 

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

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.



Practice Makes Perfect

Subject your body to a particular stress often enough and it adapts, gets used to the stress and accepts it as normal. That's what Abina told me on our 21st wedding anniversary last month when explaining the longevity of our marriage ;) I was wondering where my ability to endure came from. It's a fine line obviously - too much stress and the body will sooner or later blow up and break down, necessitating a long period of recovery before further stress can be applied. I have moved away from the marriage analogy and am not referring to divorce and re-marriage, i'm very happy with the stress I have thank you very much.

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As my speed-endurance is in a good place at the moment because of my body's positive adaptation to the stress I have applied over the last two months, I decided to, more or less repeat, last Saturday's Marathon Pace endurance run to see if it felt less stressful than last week (relativity being the key). The route wasn't much different than last week except that I kept away from the City Quays, swapping it for a loop around the less congested Mardyke/College Road and the walkway from Inchagaggin to the Straight Road.

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I did make a couple of changes though.

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First off I decided to start a bit slower than last week but cut-in over 4 miles - 7:20 - 7:10 - 7:00 - 6:50 and then MP @ 6:40 target.

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Second I swapped my 1000 mile+ €13.50 Lidi runners (Paced Limerick and Dingle in them) for my 1000 mile+ €30 red racers I bought in Decathlon Barcelona last year (served me well in my recent HM & 15 mile PBs - although there's a gaping hole in the side mesh - so what). Would I run better in a pair of DS Racers/Kinvaras/Lunar Racers/Saucony ??/NB ??/ and if so why? That's a totally different post.

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Thirdly I didn't fancy the idea of wearing a running belt to carry water so I didn't and left a bottle outside the front door with a half notion of looping back after 10 or 11 miles - I never did.

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Finally, I left the gels at home too (no water anyway and the only gels I had required water for consumption). I was also following advice from Keith Livingston (thanks Rick for the link) who does not appear to be a fan of gels, in fact he recommends using gels only in the last few miles of a marathon, if you have to! Here's some of what he has to say about the marathon:-

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If you want to go as far and as long as possible without hitting the wall, you must have THREE things going for you:

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1. A trained ability to utilize a blend of (‘unlimited’) fatty acids and (‘limited’) carbohydrates for long periods at high aerobic levels, thereby conserving glycogen (high energy) stores for the business end of your race.

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2. Sufficient hydration of the muscles to allow access to the stored glycogen. Glycogen is really an endless starchy chain of glucose molecules. It needs about twice its volume in accessible H2O to be metabolized. So a marathoner who is ready to race will often be slightly heavier than normal.

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3. The patience to start slightly slower than your intended race pace, so as to spare glycogen and come home full of running. The marathon doesn’t ’start’ till the 20 mile/32km mark, so go steadily till then.

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The traditional “wall” that marathoners hit at around 20 miles represents the final unloading of glycogen stores from the type IIA fatigue-resistant (aerobic) fast twitch fibres as they are sequentially recruited while the slow twitch fibres have exhausted their work capacity.

. HOWEVER, if one has trained the fatty acid system properly by many weeks of long runs to depletion, BY ALL MEANS use a carbohydrate gel in the last few kilometres of a race (but test it out in training at least once on one of your weekly long runs!)

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I headed out into the wet morning (first wet run in a while) covering the first mile in a relatively slow 7:25 but was soon up to speed. The first 2 MP miles were in 6:29 (downhill) & 6:44 (uphill) - past the point where I took a gel last week - would I last the pace, when will I feel the inevitable fatigue. The miles came and went, maintaining a steady effort which delivered a pace just under 6:40. All thing going well i'd keep the MP going until mile 16. Things did go reasonably well, except that I hit the incline up past the Carrigrohane Post Office after 15.6 miles and had to push the HR to keep close to the 6:40 target until I had 16 miles under the belt - certainly glad to ease back after that, although the remaining four miles were all under 7:20 pace. I was also beginning to feel the early signs of dehydration (to be expected), deferred perhaps by the light rain that fell from time to time.

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20 miles in 1:16:11 (ps correction 2:16:11 - thanks Rick) - my fastest 20 miles to-date, and I only "raced" 16 of them. During the later MP miles my HR was in the low to mid 150's (with the exception of the mile 16 uphill effort), which would appear to be my sub-threshold MP HR.

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While the table below certainly points towards a sub 3-hour marathon it is worth noting that the standard certified marathon course never measures 26.2 miles on the Garmin and an average of 3 seconds per mile should be added to the splits to get a truer reflection of what is required - about 1:30 minutes or 0.2 miles (i.e. pass the Garmin 26.2 mile mark in 2:58:29 or reach 26.42 Garmin miles in 2:59:59 - take your pick)

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Practice

As my next race is a marathon, I thought I'd get a long run in this weekend. As I had agreed to join the club for the County Novice & Masters Cross Country in Conna on Sunday my long run would have to be today. To add a bit of a challenge I thought i'd test my form and try out a six mile cut-in to a sub-3 hour Marathon Pace and keep the pace going for a few miles. Not the best idea perhaps as my form would surely be compromised by last Sunday's race and I wouldn't be giving myself the best chance for the cross country tomorrow but!...............nah i've no excuse really.....I just wanted to do this.

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The plan was to cover the first mile in 7:10 and reduce the pace by 5 seconds for subsequent miles until I was running 6:40 for mile 7 and maintain than pace for up to 10 miles!!! Yeah I wasn't thinking too clearly on that one. I headed out shortly after 8 having spend the previous 2 hours watching Ireland being outplayed by Wales in the Rugby World Cup Quarter Final. My route into town via the Model Farm Road along the Quays and out the Straight Road, with a few diversions around Ballincollig was reasonably flat. My fueling consisted of a pre-run coffee, a 200ml bottle of water (didn't want to carry anything heavier) and a few gels in my pocket.

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The first 6 miles went reasonably well, if not slightly ahead of pace, although I had to concentrate on keeping pace on some of the rises on the Model Farm Road. I took the HR monitor to see if the gradual increase in pace would see a more controlled rise in HR - unfortunately halfway into mile 1 the Garmin was already showing 199 and did not come good until the end of mile 3. By the time I hit the start of mile 7 I was on a gentle drop towards Dennehys Cross, which was a more gentle introduction to the first "MP" mile. I took my only gel and a swig of water at this stage. The next few miles went reasonably well despite the dodging in and out of early moring traffic along the City Quays and soon I was heading out of town with 10 miles behind me. I knew I wouldn't keep the pace up for another 6 miles and settled on cutting back after 13.11 - 7.11 miles @ MP. Out the Mardyke and onto the Straight Road @ Mile 11, at this stage looking forward to reaching 13.11, struggling to keep the pace for those last 2 miles.

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On reaching the HM mark I cut the pace back towards 7:30 for the journey home, extending my route to get 20 miles in. With a sniff of the finish I dropped the pace back down to 6:40 for the final mile home. Hope there's something left for running around a farmers field tomorrow.

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Focus

During the 13.1 mile run at the end of the Lost Sheep Tri I more or less made up my mind not to sign up for the Dublin Marathon at the end of October. I Know, not the best time to make a decision, but 2 weeks later I'm still of the same mind. My body needed a rest of a week or two and I didn't have enough miles in the running legs to up the ante with only 3 effective weeks of training left. If I was to give Dublin a good shot I'd want plenty of long (and fast) runs in the bag by now.

So where am I headed. I signed up for the Connemara Ultra in April, but that's too far away to keep me focused. Cork to Cobh (15 miles) is only next weekend - kinda crept up on me and while i'll run it (never missed a year since I ran it as my first race in 2006) I can't say I'm in 15 mile race shape. Anyway a 7-day training programme won't keep me focused for long. I have my sights set on the Inaugural Clonakilty Waterfront Marathon on 11th December, after all the route passes within 50 yards of my childhood home. However, the route is quite hilly in places particularly around the 19 mile mark - just when you need hills like a hole in the head - so the attraction isn't the flat fast PB course but the homwtown crowd and the coastal scenery and something to focus my training on. It could also be my first long training run for Connemara. This time round I certainly plan on getting a few more ultra marathon training runs (>26.2 miles) than the single 1 in last years training.

With today's club run clashing with my domestic duties I headed out on my own into town for a long(ish) run. With Cork to Cobh next week I used the run as a sort of tempo test run, with the aim of running about 15.5 miles with 10 at 3 hr marathon pace, hopefully or at least sub-7 minute miles. I wore light weight racers and needless to say I kept away from anything too hilly. So after a cup of coffee and a 2 mile warmup I eased into a faster pace and while the first mile @ 6:58 was just below the 7 target it got more manageable after that.

The first 5 miles passed "relatively" stress free in 33:53 (6:58/45/43/44/43). The next 5 got tougher towards the end and I was glad to call it a day, although I still had 3 plus miles to run home. Second 5 miles in 33:48 (6:41/42/45/47/53) - 10 miles in 1:07:41. If I could manage a 3rd sub 34 minute 5 miler next week (although I couldn't have managed it today) that would get me under 1:42. Still well off the 6:36 PB pace to get under 1:39.

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My weekly mileage is still relatively low at less that 40. I'll slowly ramp this up over the coming month, no rush.

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Tue 21st Sept

6.28 miles in 47:17 (7:32 pace @ 141HR) with 3.5 miles @ 6:30 pace (14 laps of the track)

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Wed 22nd Sept

5.52 miles in 39:58 (7:14 pace @ 140HR)

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Thur 23rd Sept

4.38 miles in 40:33 (9:16 pace @ no HRM) with 5 x 416m (lane 3) in 81/81/81/81/78.

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Sat 25th Sept

15.5 Miles in 1:49:07 (7:02 pace @ 148 HR) with 10 miles in 1:07:41 (6:46 pace)

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Looking back on the week (31:58 miles) I had no easy run, better ease back a little, don't want to burn out.

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Finally best of luck to Joe Roche, Gary Condon and Paudie Birmingham, running in the Berlin Marathon tomorrow.

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3 x 4 Miles @ MP

With no running since Saturday and no exercise at all over the last 2 days my legs were fairly fresh for this evenings session on the grass of UCC Farm with Joe and Norman from the club. Joe who's training for the Berlin Marathon in 3.5 weeks time was planning on 3 x 4 miles @ 3 hour Marathon pace with 3 mile recoveries. I figured it would be good training for the HM in the Lost Sheep Tri in 10 days time. I joined the session late and after a 1 mile warmup ran my opening 4 miles partly with Joe and Norman and then on my own - a tad fast at 6:39 pace. I then joined the others and recovered over a mile before heading into the second 4 miles - 6:48 pace, closer to the 6:50 target.

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A further mile recovery (we decided to scrap the longer recoveries and get the session over with earlier) and we launched into the final 4 miles. This was certainly tougher and a quick check on the pace after 1.5 miles revealed a 6:58 average. It took a lot of work over the next 2 miles to get that down to 6:50 average and when the 4 miles was up I was relieved - certainly much tougher than the 2 previous sessions despite the slightly slower pace. A 3.5 mile warmdown gave me 18.5 miles in total and that stiff post marathon feeling in my legs.

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Wed 1st Sept

18.54 miles in 2:17:57 (7:26 Pace @ 142 HR) with 3 x 4 miles @ 6:39/48/50 pace.

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Good To Go?

A week without running felt a bit weird. I continued to use the foam roller on the calves and went for a sports massage on Monday evening - again the only tight spots appeared to be on my left calf. Still I decided to invest in pair of compression socks yesterday before my trial MP run. Unfortunately when I took them out of the box a magnetic security tag was attached to one of them. Undaunted I ran with the tag still on (couldn't prise it off - had to return to the shop today to get it off) anyone looking on would have thought they fell off the back of a lorry.

I ran for just over 5 miles with 2 at target marathon pace - the garmin was set to instantaneous pace as opposed to lap pace, which resulted in a marginally slower pace of 6:51/56 for the 2 miles, which i'm not bothered about. Nor was I concerned with the harder than normal effort involved (put it down to taper niggles). However of more concern was the tightness in my calves particularly my right during the run and which carried into today and while it was nowhere near uncomfortable that may not be the case over a longer distance. However my intention on Sunday is to give it a go and see what happens. A slower than marathon pace opening mile (7:00 to 7:15 range) will hopefully help me ease into the race and i'll take it from there and see what the road throws at me.

If Gary, who commented on my last post, wishes to meet up before the marathon, send me a mail at grellan.mcgrath@gmail.com or ring me on 087-6394108 or i'll be wearing the black Eagle AC singlet at the start line, if I can find it (although I signed in for the 3 to 3:30 pen - may have to duck under the tape to the sub 3 pen.)

Wed 3rd March

5.30 miles in 38:33 (7:17 pace @ 136HR) with 2 MP miles @ 6:51/56.

Born Under a Bad Sign

I'm finally in taper mode and my last weeks running went pretty good for the most part. After the 20 miler on 14th I had a easy 5 miler on the Monday and managed to churn out 5 x 1 mile repeats at 6 minute pace at the Tuesday track session.

Following 10 miles easy in the vibrams on Wednesday morning and a day off (2.5 miles on the dreadmill) Thursday I was ready for another marathon pace run on Friday morning. As I had the day off and the kids were off school I had a lie-in until 7 am before heading out the door for about 10 miles at MP. The warmup 1.5 mile were at 7:30 pace followed by 10 miles @ 6:41 pace (1:06:50). I kept my warmdown pace pretty steady and upped the distance to get a half marathon in 1:29:22 (6:49 pace overall). A 28 mile bike ride in the afternoon with Adrian left me completely dead - no energy at all, which surprised me - the week was finally catching up with me. The hilly long run with Eagle on Saturday morning was a struggle after about 8 miles, despite the easy pace, as my right calf began to ache and the gel at mile 10 did nothing to lift me energy levels. I cut the run short at 16.3 miles (shortest route home) and rested up Sunday and Monday to get a bit of recovery in. I gave my calves a good going over with the foam roller and surprisingly it was my left calf that appeared to have all the knots in it despite the dull ache in the right.

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I decided to play safe at the track last night and keep the mile repeats close to marathon pace and see how I got on. I fell in with the group running 6:30 pace and covered 2 repeats (actual pace 6:37/35). My right calf began to tighten up during the 2nd mile so I decided to play safe and reverted to easy pace running for the rest of the session. Another easy 5 miler in the park today and while there was no pain I could feel the tightness in my calf, always conscious of it and the fact that I would probably not be able to sustain a hard effort for very long without doing some damage.

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I don't know if there's any benefit in continuing with easy running as it may delay any recovery/repair that is going on and i'm leaning towards resting up for the next week, switching to the bike, and testing the legs again next Wednesday for the traditional "marathon gear test" where i'll do a couple of MP miles in the gear I intend using on the day. I can't say i'm injured as I can run comfortably but I want to be able to race comfortably hard come Sunday week.

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While things are not quite as bad as they seem and i'm still confident i'll be fighting fit come Sunday week the lyrics of Creams "Born Under a Bad Sign" come to mind -"If it wasn't for real bad luck I wouldn't have no luck at all".

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Mon 15th Feb

5.31 miles in 47:58 (9:02 pace @ 114 HR) Vibrams

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Tue 16th Feb

2.5 miles in 19:48 (7:56 pace - Treadmill)

8.78 miles in 1:08:08 (7:45 pace) with 5 x 1,664m in 6:12/10/11/12/08 (target 6:12)

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Wed 17th Feb

10.11 miles in 1:26:16 (8:32 pace @ 118 HR) Vibrams

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Thur 18th Feb

2.5 miles in 19:48 (7:56 pace - Treadmill)

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Fri 19th Feb

13.13 miles in 1:29:22 (6:48 pace @ 144HR?) w/10 miles @ 6:41 pace.

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Sat 20th Feb

16.35 miles in 2:18:09 (8:27 pace @ 119 HR)

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Training week # 13 - 58.68 miles

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Tue 23rd Feb

2.5 miles in 19:48 (7:56 pace - Treadmill)

6.41 miles in 50:54 (7:56 pace @ 122 HR) w/2 x 1,664m in 6:49/47.

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Wed 24th Feb

5.44 miles in 44:33 (8:11 pace @ 117 HR)

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A 20 Mile PB

I had a choice of races this weekend. A 10 miler in Bantry or a 5k cross country in Cork. As Abina was working the Bantry 10 was certainly out and while I could have left the eldest in charge for an hour this morning I wasn't inclined to go to the cross country either despite the fact that I hadn't given my spikes a second outing since I bought them in November. What good is a 5k cross country to me 3 week out from a marathon anyway particularly as a late night on Friday meant Saturday's 11 plus mile run could hardly count as a long run.

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So this morning the plan was to run back to back 10 milers from home, the first 10 at MP plus 10% (7:30 or better) and the second 10 at MP (6:45 - or better???). I figured 6:45 pace is the slowest opening pace required to get a sub 3 hour marathon (6:40 would be better obviously) - that would get you to the 20 mile mark in 2:15 with 45 minutes to cover the closing 10k (7:15 average - piece of piss). to be quite honest the prospect of 7:15 miles over the last stages of a marathon doesn't scare me - it's the 20 x 6:45 miles that has me staring at the ceiling in the middle of the night.

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So with only a cup of coffee and a few swigs of water in my belly and 2 gels in my pocket I headed out into the cold sunshine shortly before 9:30 for my first 10 miler. Needless to say my route did not involve any noticeable hills ( the rise past the guide dogs home at mile 4 being the steepest). All I can say about the first 10 miles is that it went very smoothly and at no stage did I feel under pressure. The opening miles were averaging 7:23 pace and there was little drift from that. I decided to leave my first gel until I got back to the house, which was after 1:13:36 (7:21 pace @ 130HR). Now for the hard bit.

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I took the gel and a drink of water at home and used the bathroom. Abina said that I would have to be back to take Ani to soccer practice at 11:30 as the usual car pool was not available and she would be at work. I looked at my watch - 10:35 -

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"ok i'll cut the second run back to 8 miles" I thought as I headed out the door - "I'll drop her the mile over to soccer practice and run the last 2 miles from there or perhaps 2 warmdown miles".

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I quickly got into the faster pace for the 2nd leg and while it didn't feel too tough I was unsure about maintaining it for 8 miles. The first mile, which is a net downhill, passed in 6:38.

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"Ok the 2nd mile won't be as easy but at least I have a bit of a cushion"

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The 2nd mile passed in 6:37, so I kept plugging away waiting for something to slowly give. The next 2 miles were in 6:33 & 6:32. 4 miles in, time to take my second gel and turn for home. I continued to churn out sub 6:40 miles on the return leg and as I was in a bit of a groove (although the pressure was coming on) I passed the usual turn off for the last half mile home and continued on to get up to 9 miles "Ani won't be that late for soccer practice and i'm on to a good thing here".

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As 10 follows 9 as sure as night follows day I leave the turn for home a bit longer and take a slight detour on the way back - the pace is certainly feeling tough now but I can smell home so I push on for a 6:29 closing mile. 1:05:56 (6:36 pace @ 150HR)

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20 Miles in 2:19:30 (6:58.5 pace @ 140HR) - My fastest 20 miles (The first 20 in Dublin last year passed in 2:22:22 approx).

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I dropped the waiting and ever patient Ani to soccer practice returned home and ran a 2 mile warmdown so that my legs wouldn't stiffen up too much.

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I think that's it now before Barcelona. Next weeks long run will be at an easy pace and not quite so long. All the signs are there that a sub 3 is there for the taking, no excuses. I'll have to start believing in it as it's still difficult to get my head around. The heat is always an excuse I come up with - 3 years ago it was 19 to 22 C when I ran it and while not very hot it's enough to slow you down just a bit - hopefully it'll be 12 C with a light breeze.

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Wed 10th Feb

17.22 miles in 2:12:18 (7:41 pace @ 130HR)

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Thur 11th Feb

5.29 miles in 45:14 (:33 pace @ 111 HR) - Vibrams

2.5 miles in 19:49 (07:56 pace - Treadmill)

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Sat 13th Feb

11.57 miles in 1:33:07 (8:03 pace @ 104 HR??? - HR strap malfunction

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Sun 14th Feb

22.1 miles in 2:36:35 (7:05 pace @ 139 HR) with 10/10 @ 7:21/6:36 pace.

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Training Week #12 71.69 miles

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Dodging Bullets

Having got through my marathon build without an injury I thought I was on the home straight. Then illness hit my family with all four children out sick from school on Monday with varying complaints from colds, headaches & nausea - you name it they got it. To add to my worries I was feeling mild aches, pains and shivers which is a normal indication of worse to come, but I was hoping that it was a mild reaction to the flu jab I got at work last Thursday. As the week went on the feeling subsided and the kids began to drift back to school (not all there yet) so hopefully I have avoided catching anything.

I continued with my taper getting 43 miles in last week culminating in a 12.7 mile run with Eagle AC on Sunday (8 in all with 7 of us running Dublin - 5 of us with targets of between 7:00 and 7:15 pace - interesting!). This is the first year that there will be pacers in the marathon (I assume from 3hr pace and up @ 15 minute intervals) We had a bit of a laugh when someone (who shall remain nameless) concluded that the pacers will guarantee that you come in at a certain time - it'll be hard enough for the pacers to guarantee their own time not to mind yours.

Tuesdays track session was 3 x 1,600m at MP with no recoveries. A further discussion with Pat and Paul after the session on what pace we'll run on Sunday was inconclusive. They'll be heading out at 7:10 to 7:20 pace and perhaps ramp up to 7:00 pace after 2 miles. The advice from the coach (Liam - Laurence to some ;) was to certainly to go out slower than MP so as to avoid the early build up of lactic acid - 5 or 10 seconds per mile too fast could be enough to tip the balance in favour of hitting the wall early and often, and it is easy to make up 20 or 30 seconds from mile 3 to 20 compared to what could be lost later in the race if you head out too fast. Pace should be conversational (but without the conversation).

Wednesday's lunchtime run was an easy recovery run (needless to say Brendan was absent) just to keep my legs ticking over.

This evening was the dress rehearsal with 2 MP miles built into a 7 mile run. I even loaded 6 gels into the pockets of my shorts (3 more could fit on my running belt) for a more realistic simulation. The run went reasonably smoothly - the 2 warmup miles @ 7:30 pace went very smoothly, the 2nd MP mile felt a little tougher than the first although the HR's were similar (144/146) and the 3 warmdown miles felt a little tougher than the 7:5x pace @ 139/144/144 HR. Still I'm not worried as long as I can remain illness free for the next few days. All that's left now is 1 or 2 easy runs before heading to Dublin on Sunday.

Sat 17th Oct

5 miles in 40:20 (08:04 pace - treadmill)

Sun 18th Oct

12.66 miles in 1:43:50 (8:12 pace @ 128 HR)

Marathon Training Week #12/13 - 43.69 miles

Tue 20th Oct

6.39 miles in 48:54 (7:39 pace @ 136 HR) with 4,800m @ MP (07:00)

Wed 21st Oct

5.02 miles in 41:40 (8:18 pace @ 124 HR)

Thur 22nd Oct

7.03 miles in 52:53 (7:32 @ 139 HR) with 2 miles @ MP (7:01 pace)

Walking the walk

While this week sees a cut in running volume, running quality has taken a front seat with an emphasis on race pace - I have to get used to the feel of 7 minute miles. All runs have been in the evening, which is unusual for me. I'm not complaining as it gave me extra rest in the morning.

Tuesday at the track was the first session of the week where I teamed up with John D for what I though would be 1k sets. John suggested we ease up on the speed with 95 second laps (90 seconds in previous weeks) but somehow we ended up doing 2k repeats, 3 in all (the most track speedwork I have done this build). The extra 5 seconds per lap made all the difference and the repeats felt smooth, coming in 5 or 6 seconds under the 7:55 target. Wednesdays run was relatively short at 5 miles so I had decided to test out my marathon pace after the mile warmup - initially intending to run 3 x 7 minute miles but I kept the effort up over the last mile coming in at 28:07 for the 4 miles (07:01 pace) with my HR maxing at 150. Todays run was a 10 miler again with the bulk of it at MP. I figured that this would be my last hard session with plenty of time to recover as I'm still 10 days out from Dublin. I had initiallly planned for 8 MP miles, cut it back to 5 or 6 early in the run and ultimately extended it out to 9 miles as I wanted to see how my HR would vary. Once I got into the 7 minute groove my pace felt comfortable and steady for the bulk of the run with very little deviation except for the few undulations where I kept the effort reasonably even and the pluses and minuses balanced each other out. I didn't want to push the inclines too much just to maintain pace as the price would be too much in a marathon - I knew the average pace would drop again as the rise gave way to a fall. There were a couple of spots where my pace drifted off and I had to concentrate on gradually upping it to get back on track. I covered the 9 miles in 63:02 (07:00 pace) with splits varying with the undulations from 6:53 to 7:07. My avg HR for each mile rose from 136 (low following stretching after warmup mile) to 156, with a max of 161 - similar to the first 9 miles of Cork to Cobh. I would hope to keep my average HR for each mile below 160 for the first half of Dublin which should leave me enough in the tank for the more demanding second half. Tue 13th Oct 2.5 miles in 19:49 (07:56 pace - Treadmill) 8 miles @ about 7:56 pace with 3 x 2k in 07:48/50 (06:17/18 pace) Wed 14th Oct 5.28 miles in 37:37 (7:07 @ 139 HR) with 4 miles in 28:07 (07:01 pace) Fri 16th Oct 10.25 miles in 01:12:31 (07:04 pace @ 147 HR) with 9 miles in 63:02 (07:00 pace)