Anyway, after returning from Trabolgan my legs felt rather heavy on Monday morning. If that was a result of the hours sitting in the car or the numerous hours on my feet over the action-packed weekend I'm not sure, but I was content in taking it easy. I had 10 miles on the program, and settled into a very comfortable pace on the way out which turned out to be around 8:20. I kept the same easy effort on the way back home, and was pleased to find that the pace had quickened slightly to almost 8:10. I was really pleased with that run, it had felt so easy despite the initial heavy legs, and the pace was definitely still decent.
Tuesday saw a return of the Devil's Elbow loop, which meant having to run up the monster climb again. According to the smoothed elevation data from my Garmin the steepest part of the road has a gradient of about 12%, and believe me, that feels steep. This climb is not only a good workout, it's also a good feedback device, telling me how fit I am. As expected, it felt rather tough, but I survived, and I will be back there, undoubtedly. The one thing that went really well in Connemara was running uphill, on all the three major climbs I was flying past dozens of other runners, and I felt completely comfortable on those stretches. I have no doubt that all those hills during my training runs have paid off, and I have no intentions of letting that advantage slip away. Hills are good. However, I caught myself running much too fast on the way home; I was thinking about the tempo run scheduled for the next day, and that must have gotten translated into my legs, because when I glanced at my Garmin at one stage I was doing 7:00 pace, much too fast for an easy day, even if the road was slightly downhill. I did slow down, but was the damage already being done?
At least that would provide an excuse for yet another less-than-stellar performance today. I know, I keep writing that after every faster session these days. Maybe I'm just expecting too much of my tempo runs, but I can never hit the intended pace. What really annoyed me was the fact that I was slower than on my last tempo run 6 days ago. With the additional recovery time since the ultra I would expect to get faster with each run. That's what happened last year, and that's what I expected this year.
Mile splits: 7:36, 7:08, 7:20, 7:20, 7:06, 7:05, 7:15, 7:13
Sure, today's workout saw me running on the Caragh Lake road, which is much hillier than the one I had chosen last Thursday, and the strong wind didn't help either, but I was still unhappy with my performance. A proper recovery day yesterday might have made a difference. Still, there were two good things about today. After 5 miles I finally started to feel more comfortable, which may be related to the fact that all miles up to then were either mostly uphill or against the wind, and secondly, at about the same time the incredibly annoying Barney the Dinosaur tune ("I love you. You love me. We're a happy family") that had been going round and round in my head got replaced by Oasis' Up in the Sky, which was definitely more to my liking, even if Cian would protest vehemently. Running with a kids' tune stuck in your head can drive you mental.
I'm thinking about adopting a pattern of one day tempo, next day long (with maybe a strong finish to make this a double header) and then a proper recovery day, short and slow, on the third day.
Maybe a lack of recovery days is my biggest failing, or maybe I'm just overreacting a bit. I'll think about it same more. Tomorrow I hope to hit the Kerry Way trail, which would give me about 12 miles, the first half very, very hilly, and the second half with a few strong stamina-building faster miles. At least that's the idea.
- 21 Apr
- 10 miles, 1:22:40, 8:16 pace, HR 140
- 22 Apr
- 8.5 miles, 1:09:45, 8:13 pace, HR 154
- 23 Apr
- 8 miles, 58:07, 7:16 pace, HR 161
That Sportstrack plug-in is great! Thanks for providing a link, I probably never would have found it otherwise.
ReplyDeleteYour 3-day plan sounds like a good one to try out.
Yes, thanks for the link. I haven't used Sporttracks in a while, and I never use the elevation info on my Garmin because it is terrible without the SRTM smoothing. Until now, there was no easy way to apply those corrections. Very cool! I'll give it a try tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI've never had success trying both the marathon and ultras in the same season. I really benefit from specificity of training, and it's really a different approach to those two events.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I know some people don't have any problem with it, so maybe you just need to keep plugging away at it.
You're probably not recovered enough from the ultra to be doing hard tempos sessions well... and yes, the day before wasn't easy enough.
ReplyDeleteIf doing a 'key' workout (tempo, progression, interval, marathon pace etc), make the day before easy-paced and relaxed running.
On the other hand... keep flogging yourself and I'll win that bet for Grellan to beat you by 3 minutes in the half ;)
Hi Thomas,
ReplyDeleteI’ll warn you first that my thoughts are coming from a sleep deprived and tired individual. Regarding your training, and I haven’t scanned through your log, but I agree with you and think you would benefit from a) scheduled EASY days or days off, and b) some structured tempo, once or twice a week.
You have a massive base given the huge mileage you’ve laid down the last few years; it’s time to take advantage of it. I wouldn’t be surprised that if you cut the mileage and increased the intensity that you would reap large rewards.
[make sure you’ve recovered 100% from your ultra first]
I wouldn’t begin with two hard days back-to-back. There is no reason why you couldn’t work some structured tempo into your long run (I believe you’d benefit from this if you plan on doing marathons regularly, e.g. 1-3x10’-20’ tempo), but I’d also recommend some additional tempo/speed mid week (mile or kilometer repeats).
Thoughts?