Finally A Long Run

The good news is that my back gradually got better with each passing day, to the extent that it is only just about noticeable by Sunday. That's definitely a big bonus - a painful back can be downright debilitating, even if it never stopped me from running (and, in fact, running seemed beneficial).

I also got some good training runs under the belt. Gradually this is starting to feel like actual training rather than just jogging around at easy effort.

Thursday was an easy run but very good in as far as the legs didn't feel any tiredness following the mountain run the previous day. I was also pleased by the fact that I ran at a very easy effort and still was well under 8-minute pace. A couple of months ago that pace would have felt like a tempo run, now it's a recovery effort.

Speaking of tempo runs, that was in store on  Fast Friday. Things have gone up a notch again, with 7 miles at the higher effort (not quite at what would usually be a regarded a tempo run, though). I checked the watch just once or twice at the start and then ran entirely by feel. What came out the end was 7:07 pace at HR 153 - very, very nice numbers. Not so long ago I did an evaluation where I ran 7:11 at HR 161, now I'm running faster than that at a substantially lower heart rate. I'm actually amazed at these numbers - I thought I'd never see the likes again! That's as good a set of numbers as I've ever seen, comparable to 4 years ago when I ran a 2:55 marathon on a very hilly course. And I'm getting closer and closer to 50 - maybe age really is just a number!

Saturday was a return to my old hunting grounds, a loop around Caragh lake. Despite the lake itself being as flat as any other accumulation of  water, this is a very hilly loop with over 500 feet climbing on one hill alone and over 1500 feet along the entire loop. To be honest, I wasn't exactly looking forward to it, not having done a long run for months, and with slightly pre-fatigued legs to boot. However the only way to do it is to - just go and do it. It actually went better than expected. The legs gradually got tired over the second half but were still in reasonably good shape by the time I got back home. I was rather tired for the rest of the day, though, and I could feel the legs all day.

Sunday was probably the most difficult run, this time really on tired legs. I took it as easy as I could and got it done. Running on tired legs is supposed to be good training for an ultra, so chalk up 7 miles on that particular board.

6 Apr

7 miles, 54:38, 7:48 pace, HR 138

7 Apr

10 miles, 1:13:48, 7:11 pace, HR 149

   incl. 7 miles @ 7:07, HR 153

8 Apr

17 miles, 2:13:05, 7:49 pace, HR 147

9 Apr

7 miles, 56:41, 7:05 pace, HR 138

Toil And Reward

On Monday morning my first impression was that the legs felt much better than expected after a fairly tough weekend (which seems to be something I am saying after every weekend). I still took it reasonably easy on my run, though the pace was definitely slower than what I would have expected.  A couple of miles before the finish I somehow manage to trip over nothing but the flat road surface and took a tumble. Nothing was hurt but my pride and I have no idea how that happened. I have always been a bit clumsy, which is one of the main reasons why I prefer road running to trail or mountain running, but stumbling over nothing at all?

Later that day my legs felt really achy - I think it was a very delayed reaction to the tough weekend.

I could of course claim that I therefore decided to take it a bit easier on Tuesday by only running 8 miles but truth is that I overslept and only had time for 8, and if the cat had not woken me shortly after 6 o'clock it would have been even less. It was cold and windy and then it started raining as well - we're definitely heading towards my least favourite weather conditions, icy cold rain and wind, horrible. We're not quite there yet though, thankfully.

The "Run The Kingdom" group had an awards night in Tralee on Tuesday and I was very honoured to receive an achievement award for my races in 2015, specifically the World Championship and the Spartathlon. Funnily enough I'm not entirely happy with my performance in either race as I think I could have done better in both but I accepted the award nevertheless - it was a great honour, thank you very much!

What I am distinctly less grateful for is the fact that we have now firmly moved into the colds and flu season, and with 4 kids at school age we are assured a constant stream of new infections. Maia was very snuffly at the weekend but is already feeling much better. Cian, on the other hand, is at home at the moment, recovering, as are half of his classmates. I'm not sure whose bug I caught but I've got a sore throat and am generally feeling achy and not 100% myself. I didn't sleep too well and wondered if going for a run was a good idea but my default setting is to always go for a run and see how it goes. As it turns out I felt perfectly fine while running, better then when not running in fact. However, I'm sure the very high HR this morning is a direct result of my body having to fight off an infection. The facts that I ran over a very hilly course and had to deal with a blustery wind only added to that. I also managed to take a wrong turn at a junction early on but  luckily noticed it after a minute or so. It would have taken me on a longer route around the lake, which is the road I had used last Sunday. I must have still been half asleep.

23 Nov

10 miles, 1:23:51, 8:23 pace, HR 137

24 Nov

8 miles, 1:06:34, 8:19 pace, HR 137

25 Nov

15.3 miles, 2:07:58, 8:20 pace, HR 147

Things Are Getting Better

I really managed to surprise myself on Monday. I expected a reasonably slow run after Sunday’s tough 30/30 session, but as soon as I took my first step I felt surprisingly good. Even though I managed to avoid peeking at the Garmin I could tell that I was moving well, the big climbs felt flatter and shorter than in previous weeks, and by the time I took a first look at the Garmin (I had to, for pressing the “lap” button) at mile 11 I was already doing under 8:00 pace. That’s when I started to accelerate, like I usually do towards the end of my long runs. Last month I managed 7:24 pace for those last few miles, last week it was down to 7:11, but yesterday I blew my own times out of the water with a 6:48! That was definitely the best “strong finish” I have ever put at the end of a run, better than anything before the Dublin marathon when I felt in really good shape. I also think that it was my fastest time on the Caragh Lake loop ever, but to be honest I didn’t go back and check. Of course, with 11 weeks to go I’m still far away from the marathon and I do hope that I’m not peaking early. I will take notes from this training cycle in the hope to be better at timing my peak next time round; not that I’m complaining. Running fast beats running slowly hands down in the fun department.

The weather provided an unexpected bonus. While most of Western Europe, including the eastern half of this island, is disappearing under a blanket of snow, I got a beautiful clear sky with crisp fresh air, basically my favourite running conditions. I tried not to get too distracted by the millions of starts overhead, but at one stage I witnessed the brightest shooting star I have ever seen. It was up there for many seconds and seemed to explode into plenty of little ones at the end. I did make a wish to that spectacular celestial firework, but of course I can’t tell you.

I took it much easier today, especially after a very rough night with Maia. She was sick and miserable on Sunday and seemed to slowly perk up on Monday only to develop into the baby from hell towards the evening, with hysterical screaming and two parents slowly reaching the end of their tether. By the time she fell asleep, probably from exhaustion, I was more than ready to join her.

Anyway, the snow clouds have put out some tentative feelers towards Kerry, but we got no more than a sprinkling on the fields and driveways. The road was clear, and while I was out running the precipitation slowly turned from snow to sleet to rain, leaving behind a rather frozen runner who was only too glad to be home again. I cut it short by a mile, because the promise of a warm radiator turned out to be too tempting.

At work I probably got put into the “nutcase” category for cycling today, but I guess I was in there all along.

2 Feb

15 miles, 1:53:12, 7:32 pace, HR 152
incl. 4 miles @ 6:48

3 Feb

9 miles, 1:11:51, 7:59 pace, HR 142

Sicknote

I had a quick look at my mile splits on Saturday. As it turns out, my first 3 miles went by in 6:04, 6:11 and 6:17 respectively, meaning that I was well on the way to a new PR (which would have been 6:18 average pace) until I hit that hill. I guess it means that I really have to be satisfied with the way I raced, especially considering the fact that I had come into it with exactly zero speedwork under the belt.

I did have to pay a price though. The legs were not about to let me get away with running 2 minutes per mile faster all of a sudden. My quads were really sore all day on Saturday, and even more so on Sunday, when I went out for a 9 mile recovery run. I suspect the kamikaze style descent from Sunhill towards the end of the race is responsible for most of the discomfort but that’s ok, I gained 10th place that way.

Worse was to come though. As you know, I have spent quite a few miles running through icy cold wind and rain recently, and coupled with the fact that Maia had been sick for several days it does not come as a big surprise that I don’t feel well myself now. I was really cold on Sunday evening, and when I was shivering after going to bed I was all set and ready to cancel today’s run. Last year I started getting sick exactly at that time of the year, and because I didn’t take it seriously enough it developed into full-blown pneumonia that completely knocked me out for several weeks in January. I have sworn never to be so stupid again, and I’m rather keen to avoid that mistake this year.

However, I seemed to improve during the night, even though I did not sleep particularly well. I got up at 5:15 and decided that despite the fact that I definitely was not well I did pass the neck test (i.e. no symptoms beyond the neck), and was therefore ok to run. Maybe doing my long run wasn’t such a good idea, and I decided that I would bail out after 5 miles if I didn’t feel too good. I got another sign that things were not right when I strapped on the HR monitor. Usually my HR is about 65 when I put the thing on; today it was just over 100. That’s a significant difference, and I really wondered if I was about to do something monumentally stupid.

As I set off on the run, I felt ok though. The most recent rain shower had just passed and I was lucky enough to be dry. The first 3 miles were flat, and I noticed a distinctly raised HR level, but I was still able to remain under my self-imposed threshold. Then the climb started, and I was surprised how well I felt, even though the next rain shower caught up with me at that stage. When I passed the bailout junction I did not even consider taking the short cut home. But once you’re past that point it’s all the way around the lake without any further opportunity to bail out. With the quads still rather sore and the fact that I was not entirely healthy heavy on my mind I ran at a very easy level, almost Andrew-esque in its slow pace. On the plus side I did not bother the HR alarm, not even on the climbs, which convinced me that things could not be that bad after all. But I didn’t particularly welcome the next icy cold rain shower, about 5 miles from home.

I reached our driveway after 16.5 miles of an extended Caragh Lake loop feeling fine. But the second I stopped running I felt dizzy and staggered towards our front door like a drunk. I was quite shocked about how bad I felt, but luckily recovered within a minute.

Maia is much better by now, and I expect to feel better soon myself, but maybe running for almost 2.5 hours in the freezing cold today wasn’t such a good idea after all.

30 Nov

9 miles, 1:13:08, 8:08 pace, HR 146

1 Dec

16.5 miles, 2:25:17, 8:48 pace, HR 144
Probably not the smartest thing I’ve ever done

Weekly mileage: 70+
Monthly mileage: 245+

Issues

Real life has a habit of interfering with our running training, doesn't it? Some things that happened on Thursday, and on which I won't elaborate, caused me to spend most of the night sitting on the sofa, stuffing myself with comfort food – which of course meant eating enormous amounts of sugar. The evening ended well after 3 am with Niamh and me feeding each other chocolate, but at least that improved our mood sufficiently to be able to go to bed afterwards. My alarm had been set for 4:50. It did cross my mind that binning the run would be the only sane option, but luckily sanity doesn't rule my training, and after something between 60 and 90 minutes of sleep I got up, got ready, and headed out into the darkness.

I had been a bit worried about it being too dark, because my last headlamp broke and I haven't got a replacement yet, but that proofed unfounded; it was still dark but light enough to run without artificial light. My next worry was the chocolate that must still have been in my stomach at that time, but I felt good. In fact, I took off like a rocket. I guess the sugar coursing through my veins must have acted as booster fuel, in marked contrast to my usual ascetic running preparations, because I usually run on an empty stomach.

Maybe it was the sugar, or maybe the lack of sleep had switched off my brain's rational centre, but I had a fantastic run. I crossed the hills over the first half faster than on any previous run; at the 10 mile point I accelerated to 7:30 pace, which I kept going until I passed our driveway, 15 miles into the run. At that point I had such a good rhythm going that I did not even stop to pick up the drink bottle that I had left there at the outset. I speeded up further, intending to run the final 5 miles at 7:00 pace. I made it, but it felt like I slightly cheated because until half a mile before the end I was at 7:03 pace, and only a very strong final half mile and basically an all-out sprint on the last hill brought the average pace under 7:00. Still, being able to kick it home isn't a bad sign, either.

Maybe stuffing yourself with copious amounts of chocolate is a good preparation for a long run. I wonder if this has been tried by a few ultra runners out there.

I ran much easier on Saturday, with the legs showing unsurprising amounts of soreness after Thursday's mile repeats and Friday's 20-miler. 8 easy miles did enough for me. In the evening we attended a Christening party for a baby boy who had been born only 8 days after Maia, and of course everyone kept calling the two babies boy- and girlfriend, despite the fact that they didn't take much notice of each other. The party was big, and I once again found that I can't resist lovely food, and ate much more than is advisable. Hey, if the food is delicious, it's meant to be eaten! But I did decide to add a few miles onto Sunday's run, to make up for the binge.

Therefore I extended my run today to include the entire loop around Caragh Lake. It's been a while since I had run that loop twice in one week. The legs felt great, but I had some stomach issues (the food? The beer? The ice cream?) that did cause me to slow down a bit over those hills, but I once again sped up a bit over the last 5 miles. I was surprised how easy they felt; that must have been the most comfortable 7:24 pace I have ever run.

We're off on our holidays now, we're spending next week on Valentia Island, and since I don't have an internet connection there I will most likely be incommunicado until after the following weekend. Until then.

8 Aug

20 miles, 2:33:17, 7:39 pace, HR 147
miles 10-15 @ 7:29, miles 15-20 @ 6:59

9 Aug

8 miles, 1:07:49, 8:28 pace, HR 136

10 Aug

15 miles, 2:00:06, 8:00 pace, HR 141
last 5 @ 7:24

Weekly mileage: 82+

Mileage

Honestly, guv, I thought I had increased my mileage really slowly, and I was being good; I did raise my eyebrow when I added this week’s totals, because it was way more than expected. I guess that’s what an extra run does to you, but I’m getting ahead of myself here.

When I left for my run on Friday morning I entertained thought about a faster run. I had awoken in time for 10 miles but the bed felt too nice and warm, and I delayed getting up until I was hard-pressed to finish 8.5. As soon as I did the first few steps I was in for a surprise though, because my quads were rather sore. It must have been a leftover from Wednesday’s 15 mile loop, and a sign that I’m definitely still way off peak shape. 2 months ago 15 miles didn’t even register on my quads (not even 20 miles, really). In the end I sucked it up and didn’t let it affect my miles for the day, but any ideas about a faster run had to be shelved. It went ok, but the soreness in my quads never went away.

Since I got rid of my car in October and I’m not allowed to cycle by doctor’s orders, Niamh had to drive me to and from work each day. The morning drop-offs were no problem because she had to get the kids to school anyway, but the evening pickup was a major inconvenience, because she had to get 4 kids ready and into the car every time, just for a 10-minute drive. On Friday I told her I’d run home from work instead. Initially she was confused (“what, instead of your morning run” “no, in addition”), and I’m sure I heard her mutter something that sounded suspiciously like “nutcase”, but she didn’t protest. On leaving office I packed my work clothes into a backpack and jogged home. It wasn’t ideal; the pack clearly wasn’t designed for running and started swinging wildly. I had to grab the straps with both hands and run with a slightly awkward pose, but I made it home. I had thought about running home in the evening before, it seems an easy way to boost my mileage, but I’ll probably start cycling again next week instead.

The weekend brought some much-needed rest, well, after my Saturday repeat of the Caragh Lake loop, that is. I usually don’t run long on the weekend to spend more time with the family, but I had gotten to bed really early and was up well before sunrise, so 2 hours out of the house when everyone else was still asleep seemed acceptable. I had fun over the hills with my Garmin toy. I ran the downhills aggressively, and it was great to see 5:30 pace displayed in all its glory. So that’s what the fast guys are doing, albeit on the flat rather than half-falling down a cliff. Admittedly, running downhill aggressively isn’t particularly advisable when your quads are sore to start with, and I promise I’ll stop doing that as soon as I’ve grown up. Until then I’ll have some more fun.

Today, Sunday, was a gorgeous clear day, with temperatures around 0C/32F and without any wind for a change. Caragh Lake was incredibly peaceful; I saw a few ducks, one swan, a family of wild goats with some very small babies, and a fish jumping out of the water for insects, apart from the usual collection of birds, sheep and cats. This is a remote road in a remote part of a remote county, and always very quiet. I usually encounter no more than 2 or 3 cars on a morning run, and maybe twice as many on the weekends when I generally run an hour or two later. The sun rose as I was on my way back home and added to the scenery. When I arrived back home I realised that this was the first time since I purchased the Garmin that I hadn’t looked at it even once during my run. The scenery must have been enough to completely take my mind off the effort. I was all the more pleased to see the low heart rate. Things are definitely going the right way.

15 Feb

am: 8.5 miles, 1:08:26, 8:03 pace, HR 154
pm: 5 miles, 41:28, 8:17 pace, HR 151

16 Feb

15.1 miles, 2:01:36, 8:03 pace, HR 153

17 Feb

10 miles, 1:19:59, 8:00 pace, HR 147

Weekly mileage: 73.7 miles in 8 runs

Back in the Loop

I said I would post another chart as soon as I would manage a run around Caragh Lake, and true to my word here it is. When I kept telling you that there are some serious climbs on the way, I wasn’t lying, and here is the proof. The toughest part are the three climbs in succession up to the highest part of the course, then it drops all the way down only to have another, albeit smaller, hill follow immediately. And the rest of the loop isn’t exactly flat either, but I guess that’s all good for me. Since I’m still recovering from pneumonia I took it easy on the climbs, but that’s a rather relative term. The HR was fairly high, but it didn’t feel as high. Oh, and one loop around the lake is just over 15 miles. I used to log 15.5. Ah well. Let’s say I gave myself a bonus half mile for all those hills.

It felt good to be on my old loop again. I hadn’t been there since that death march a few days before Christmas, when I felt like dying for the last 7 miles. Of course now I know that my lung infection was having a big effect on my body, and I should have been able to read the signs back then, but instead I kept ignoring them. I have resolved never to be so stupid again.

The run was great, the legs were fine, especially considering how long it had been since I had managed a run of that length. I felt some fatigue on the last 2 or 3 miles, but that was to be expected. I could easily have managed a bit extra towards the end, but I have to leave something for another run, don’t I?

And I got a phone call from my doctor, my x-ray results came back, and according to them I’m officially pneumonia-free. Actually, I noticed this morning that if I lie on my left side and take a really deep breath I can still feel “something” inside my chest. Apart from the obvious answer (“then don’t do that!”) it tells me that there is still some residue left, even if it didn’t show up in the x-ray. But, 2 weeks ago I was still in constant discomfort, and that’s definitely gone, so I know that I’m getting better. The weather has been spectacular over the last few days, there is not a cloud in the sky and there is no problem with the “no running in the rain” rule. Clear skies in February mean warm days but cold mornings, and the temperatures are always around the freezing point when I do my runs. I have noticed some icy patches on the road the last few days, but nothing major. I still refuse to set my alarm and instead get up whenever I wake up naturally, but I’ll have to change that next week if I want to do some decent mileage. Considering that the ultra is less than 8 weeks away I guess that’s settled.

13 Feb

15.05 miles, 2:04:37, 8:16 pace, HR 154

14 Feb

10.05 miles, 1:24:57, 8:27 pace, HR 149

Running with my Head in the Clouds

Beep! Thursday, 5:10am, and the smoke alarm lets me know that its battery is running low. Which is great in one way, we wouldn’t want to be caught out by a faulty device if worse comes to worse. Problem is, at 5 am in the morning I can’t change the bloody thing, and every 30 seconds ... “beep”. Great. The one night Cian actually sleeps through in his own bed instead of bouncing around in mine, I get this. Beep. I could get up and remove the battery, but it’s 5 am and I’m too tired to get up and surely I’m just about to fall asleep again. Beep. No I’m not. Sigh. This equivalent of Chinese water torture lasts until I finally get up at the planned time of 6:10 am. I’ve just lost an hour of sleep, though the rest of the family kept sleeping peacefully and I remove the offending unit before I go out running – and I do buy a new battery at lunchtime.

The run itself was good; since this is supposed to be a taper I added a second easy day after Tuesday's 800s, and I spend the next 81 minutes trying to keep myself from running too fast. The legs want to go faster but the mind is keeping the breaks on. I ran sub-8:00 on Saturday because it felt so easy, and had a bad workout the next day. I want to avoid the same mistake. It works reasonable well.

Friday is the day of the dress rehearsal. I’m wearing the same shoes, socks, shorts and maybe even the same t-shirt (though that’s weather dependant) that I’m planning to use on race day, and I want to run as much as I can at race effort. I deliberately said effort rather than pace, because I’m going around Caragh Lake, and that’s a lot hillier than the marathon course. The one thing I’m keen on testing are a new pair of insoles in my shoes. The lightweight trainers are notorious for giving me big bad blisters on my left foot, and I’m hoping new insoles will do the trick. Unfortunately it’s raining heavily, but who knows. This may well happen on race day, too.

The first mile goes by in 8:10, which is fast enough for a warm-up mile, but it does leave doubts in my head. I don’t want to lose nearly a minute over the first mile, but I try to keep that thought out of my head for the time being. I try to gradually accelerate over the next two miles, and get the pace down to 7:40. Then the hills start, first 1.5 miles of continuous climbing, then some ups-and-downs, and two or three miles of downhill. At the top of the hills I notice a dense fog, then I realise that it’s the low clouds coverage that’s responsible for that. I’m literally running with my head in the clouds. After about 40 minutes at least it gets bright enough for me to turn off my headlamp. I much prefer running without; whenever the lamp is on I only see the small cone of light in front of me, and I’m much more aware of my surroundings when I can turn the damn thing off, just as long as I can make out the road.

I hammer the climbs and run reasonably hard on the downhill sections, and I reach Blackstones Bridge, slightly over 9 miles into the run, in 1:07. Not bad, considering the terrain. There’s no time to relax, another 200 feet climb is starting, and by mile 12 the worst of the hills is behind me and it’s taken me 1:30 to get that far. The rest of the road isn’t exactly flat, I guess you could describe it as undulating, but that’s where I want to get down to marathon pace. I feel pretty well, the biggest concern is once more the fact that I’m prone to lose focus, and whenever that happens I slow down a bit. But I manage pretty well, and I cover the last 5 miles in 36:25 (7:17 pace). It's close enough for me to be satisfied, with the race-day adrenalin and the hopefully flatter course the same effort should yield at least 7:15. I feel ready. I just have to try and avoid doing anything stupid for the next 16 days.

The new insoles seem to work, I'm officially blister-free. The main area of concern is my right hamstring, which got painfully tight over the last 2 miles, but there's no need to panic just yet.

20 Sep

10 miles, 1:20:57, 8:05 pace, HR 139

21 Sep

17 miles, 2:06:07, 7:25 pace, HR 151
last 5 in 36:25 (7:17 pace)

Not Long Now

Getting up early is definitely the biggest drawback of running all your runs in the morning, especially so if you’re doing your long runs during the week. Once more this meant getting up before even 5am, but I took solace from the fact that this would be the last time for a while.

It was a moonless and cloudy night, and for the first time this year I had to accept the fact that it was pitch dark when I left the house. I literally could not see the hand in front of my eyes; I stumbled around for a minute, hoping that once my eyes got adjusted to the dark I would be able to make out the road, but to no avail. I had to get back home, dig out my headlamp, find some batteries, figure out how to change the batteries in the damn thing, and finally I was ready to go again. The rain had started in the meantime, which was an unwelcome surprise, but turning around and going back to bed never crossed my mind.

I was surprised at my starting pace. The last few weeks have always seen me start at around 9:00 pace, but on Friday I churned out 8:20 from the start, and it was only going to get faster. I ran the same route as for last week’s long run, clockwise around Caragh Lake. Not even the hills slowed me down this morning, or at least I made up for it again on the downhills, and by the time I reached the 13 mile point I was well below 8:00 pace on average. At that point I accelerated again, and hoped to run the next 7 miles at marathon pace, but it didn’t quite turn out that way. I think I could have run faster, but it would have felt faster than marathon pace effort. I thought it would be wiser to stick to an effort that felt like I would be able to keep up for 26 miles rather than force the pace, but if that sounds like a bad excuse then maybe it is. Anyway, I covered the last 7 miles in 52:18, which would equate to 7:28 pace, but I think it was slightly longer than 7 miles, and the pace might have been a tad faster, but not by much. However, the entire workout had only taken me 2:35:01, which is definitely the fastest I have ever covered 20 miles, and that includes any race.

Today (Saturday) called for a recovery effort after that long run, and I duly headed out in the morning sunshine, taking it easy and just letting the legs do their own thing. Each time I checked the watch I was surprised by the pace, but it really was an easy effort. There isn’t much to say about the run apart from the fact that I never had a run at sub-8:00 pace that felt so incredibly easy. Some people measure their fitness by doing tempo runs, or time trials, or speed workouts. I can always tell how well I’m developing by the pace and the heart rate of my easy runs, and with 3 weeks to go to the marathon I’m nearing peak fitness. Before every single one of my marathons (and the one ultra) I have always felt in the best shape ever, and this one is no exception. I can’t wait!

14 Sep

20 miles, 2:35:01, 7:45 pace, HR 147

15 Sep

10 miles, 1:19:55, 7:59 pace, HR 142

Race Preview

I usually don’t spend too much time thinking about my non-marathon races. They are never the focus of my attention, and just there to ultimately support the marathon training. However, with the 10k in August cancelled, this will be my first race in 6 weeks, and the first race of more than 5k in over four months. That’s a long time without a proper race (both 5ks were more fun runs than races; neither had numbers for a start), and I’m itching to get out and feel the pain in my legs. I know I’ll feel differently at mile 10, when I’ll be desperate to stop, and if I’m not then I’m having a bad race. I do expect a PR (I’ll panic over my marathon if I don’t get one), and I have a certain time in mind that I’d really like to hit, but I won’t announce it in advance, so there won't be a need to wipe egg off my face afterwards. I have no real idea how fast I can run 13 miles. I have done very little running at sub-7 pace, but that’s a standard feature of my training. A week before the Bantry half-marathon I was wondering how I could possible run 6:50 pace for 90 minutes when I couldn’t keep that pace for half the distance in training, but race-day adrenaline is powerful stuff indeed and I’m banking on more of the same on Sunday.

There was still a strenuous workout to be done on Wednesday, the second part of my double header. The first part of which had gone well on Tuesday, but Wednesday was a much tougher proposition. The plan was 3 slow miles to warm up, 10 steady miles @ 8:00 pace and 7 @ 7:15. I have done almost all of the previous runs on a flat road, but yesterday I got more ambitions and ran around the lake; climbs, wildlife and all. I ran it clockwise because that way the worst of the hills would be behind me come mile 13 when the MP portion started. I promptly took a wrong turn at the start, realised my mistake 10 seconds later, swore loudly at myself and turned around. I guess it’s been a while since I ran that route, and at 5:20 am the brain wasn’t entirely conscious yet. The first 13 miles were unremarkable and I felt good; maybe a bit too good because I started to accelerate after 10 miles or so, which I shouldn’t have. When the fast segment started I soon came to the realisation that running MP over an undulating terrain is more difficult than doing so on the flat, and the fact that I had well over 1000 feet of elevation change in my legs from the first part of the run didn’t help either. I think I managed to stay on pace for the first half of that segment, but started to fall behind afterwards. When I reached our driveway after 17 miles I still had a 3 miles out-and-back segment to do, and with each step the legs grew ever more weary. The HR wasn’t particularly high, in the low 150s, if I remember correctly, but I didn’t have it in me to push any harder. I felt like I was running on muscle fibers that had never been used before, and that’s probably pretty close to the truth. It’s also the whole point of that workout. When I reached the turnaround point I could at least flick that little Devil off my shoulder that had been urging me to turn around prematurely for the last 10 minutes, but any hopes that the last mile would feel easier remained unfulfilled. I was completely knackered afterwards.

That leaves three more days until race day, and of course they will be easy days. Today was a much-needed recovery run, and I cut off one mile at the end, both in order to save the legs a little bit and to get a few minutes more sleep. The HR keeps going down and down on these runs; I've come to regard my recovery-run HR as the primary indicator of my fitness, and the signs have been improving steadily all summer.

Strictly speaking, my legs probably won’t have recovered entirely from Wednesday’s workout come Sunday. That’s the price I have to pay, but with three easy days until then I’m quietly confident I can run a good race.

5 Sep

20 miles, 2:37:59, 7:53 pace, HR 147
last 7 in 51:47 (7:23 pace)

6 Sep

9 miles, 1:16:13, 8:28 pace, HR 131

Hard and Easy

I have found in the past that I can easily string together two tough workouts in a row as long as they are different, e.g. a hill workout and a long run the next day, or, as it happened this week, an interval workout and a long run. On past evidence I need only one recovery day after those to feel good again, and I guess I’ll know by tomorrow if that still stands.

This is the last week of the kids’ summer holidays, and once they're going back to school I will have to get back home earlier after my runs to help get them ready. This will mean getting up earlier, and therefore I chose this week for one last 22 mile run, while I still have the luxury of sleeping in until 4:45 and still get the workout done. I wasn’t sure how the legs would hold up after Tuesday’s half-mile repeats, so I gave myself permission to bail out after 17 miles (1 loop around Caragh Lake).

The legs felt much better than expected initially, but while I wasn’t nearly as tired as I thought I would be, the first 3 miles were very slow, just a tad faster than 9:00 pace. I did manage to pick it up after that, but crossed Blackstones Bridge (~8 miles) in 1:08, which is as slow as I was a few weeks ago during my sleepwalking run. However, I felt pretty good and the running got stronger the more I got into it. Nature produced a few interesting effects to take my mind off the running, first I ran into a flock of bats; they circled around my head so close that I think I could have touched them had I extended my arm, and then the nearly full moon came out to provide an eerie light to the surroundings. I saw a huge ominous dark cloud around Seefin mountain, which didn’t bode too well because that was the direction I was heading for, but by the time I got there the road was glistening wet (which looked cool in the moonlight), but the rain had already moved on.

I reached our driveway in 2:20, which isn’t particularly fast, but the legs felt as fresh as daisies, and I decided not only to add the 5 miles to Ard-na-Sidhe, I also wanted to run them at marathon pace. I set out strongly, and reached the turnaround point 18 mins and 20 secs later, just a little bit slower than MP. But on the return leg I definitely reached the edge of what I was capable of. I had to slow down, and while I had the feeling that I could run for another 10 miles if only I slowed down a lot more, I found it impossible to keep the old pace going. Mind you, I still managed about 7:35 pace on the way back, which isn’t too shabby for miles 20-22, especially considering the tough workout from the previous day. When I got home I was quite happy with the run, but I was also happy to stop, in all honesty. I had reached my ceiling.

After those two days, today's was always going to be a slow recovery run. The legs were at their heaviest I can remember, and even after the usual three warm-up miles I was still feeling the effects of the previous workouts. I had originally planned 10 miles, but since progress was pretty slow and I had left the house a few minutes late, I turned around after 4.5 miles instead of 5 to make it 9 miles.

My fitness is coming along really well, as shown by yesterday's run, but there is a cloud on the horizon as well. Since Wednesday last week my right shin hurts. It started out as a faint pain, but has grown more pronounced since then. I think it's a mild case of shin splints, and my main worry is not to let it develop into anything more. I know what caused it. My old shoes had almost 600 miles on them (the most I've ever put on a pair), and I had worn my lightweight trainers twice a week for the speed workouts. The increased strain from the lessened cushioning obviously was enough to cause my shin to act up. I've retired the old pair, and I've put the fast shoes back to the back of the wardrobe; all of the faster runs, including Tuesday's 800s were done in heavier trainers. I'm also icing several times a day. There are two-and-a-half weeks of heavy training left before the taper. I think I'll be able to hold off the worst of the shin splints until then, and from then on the reduced mileage should help. At least that's the plan. With 38 days until the marathon I really don't want to get a bad injury, and if the pain gets any worse, I'll cut my mileage.

29 Aug

22 miles, 2:59:22, 8:09 pace, avg. HR 140
last 5 in 37:18 (7:27 pace)

30 Aug

9 miles, 1:17:31, 8:36 pace, avg. HR 132

Midweek

After Tuesday’s tempo run, I expected Wednesday’s long run to be a tough one, on stiff and tired legs. I did indeed feel some of that in the first three miles, but once I got into the groove things started to improve rapidly and I managed to go a good bit faster than expected. Planning a slower run rather than the 20-miles-with-7.5-at-MP one had the advantage that I could run over the hilly Caragh Lake loop without having to worry about preserving the legs for the faster bits later on. Nevertheless, the legs felt pretty good once I had left the hills behind me at mile 14, and I managed to turn up the pace another notch. I didn’t take split times initially, but I did take them for the last 3 miles, which went by in 22:22, which is 7:27 pace, something I was very pleased about. I hadn’t expected to be able to finish the run at such a strong pace.

Since Tuesday and Wednesday had been pretty tough, I took it much easier today. But the legs felt really good, and despite taking it easy all the way I got fairly close to 8:00 pace, something that used to be much tougher. It confirms something that I have noticed before, namely that my legs can handle long runs much better than fast efforts. Today I felt like I could easily have run further or faster, and the easy effort might have been a bit overcautious. Not that I’m second-guessing my schedule, it’s always better to err on the side of caution. But I’m very pleased with the way my fitness is developing. I’ve gotten a few comments stating that they expect me to break my PR in Loch Ness. I don’t want to sound arrogant, but merely breaking my PR would leave me rather disappointed. My goal is still 3:10, which will be tough, but I think it is within reach. If I miss that I’ll definitely want to break 3:15 and qualify for Boston, anything less and I’ll be upset, PR or not.

I nearly forgot, I had a rare encounter with a fox during my long run yesterday. It was in the hills east of the lake, at least 2 miles away from the nearest house, and that fox crossed the road just in front of me. He sat down about 5 meters off the road as I passed and we eyed each other suspiciously, each of us surprised by the presence of the other. I used to see foxes regularly when we were living in London, but around here they are much rarer (or maybe they’re shy). I think it’s only the second time in four years that I have spotted a fox in Kerry.

There are hill repeats on the schedule for tomorrow, but I will have to decide if I want to do the steep-hill running and bounding drills, or run up in a more conventional way. I got so fed up with those drills a couple of weeks ago that I don’t know if I want to perform them again. I’ll see.

22 Aug: 20 miles, 2:38:36, 7:55 pace, avg. HR 147; with 3 miles in 22:22 (7:27 pace)
23 Aug: 10 miles, 1:21:08, 8:06 pace, avg. HR 142

Miracle Cure

It was Wednesday morning, and that meant it was time for yet another hill session. I know I have constantly been whinging about how tired the legs felt, but this time I really groaned as soon as I took my first steps. I couldn’t imagine running up that hill again. Running the two miles towards the hill seemed like a challenge. I managed that (though it took me close to 20 minutes), and as soon as I forced myself to start the first of the hill drills I was surprised that I actually felt ok. I’m not sure if I managed to lift the knees as high as during the previous sessions, but I gave it the same effort and the HR stayed in the usual range. The other thing I had to force myself to do was the first of the windsprints at the bottom of the hill, but that followed the same pattern; the fear was much worse than the act itself. I did the same workout as on Monday in nearly the same time, and I felt just as tired afterwards.

I resolved to put in an easy day for Thursday, because I’m getting those doubts about overtraining again. I still can’t quite reconcile the fact that most of my training runs are getting slower and slower while the races are getting faster and faster. I was so tired after work that I went straight to bed and slept for half an hour. And I took an iron supplement that Niamh uses during her pregnancy. The sleep revived me for the evening (surely it can’t have been the supplement. They don’t work that fast), so much so that I played with the idea of doing a long run on Thursday and have the easy day either on Friday or Saturday. Unfortunately Cian had snuggled in beside me in bed while I was asleep, and unlike me he was down for good. Niamh wasn’t too impressed “If he wakes at 5 am you will be the one to entertain him.” I didn’t tell her that if everything went to plan I wouldn’t be here at that time of the morning to deal with the problem.

I settled on a kind of compromise. I would get up in time for a long run, but if I felt like crap I would go back to bed. Otherwise I would run the 17 miles of the Caragh Lake loop, and according to how I felt then I would either go home, or add any number of miles. The alarm went off at 4:45, I actually felt good and rested and got ready. A minute before heading out it started raining heavily, which I could have taken as a sign from fate to stay at home but didn’t. It was only a temporary shower; by the time I was out of the door the worst had already passed and within a few minutes it was reduced to a drizzle that would stay with me for the next hour or so.

The loop went very well, I ran a bit slower than last week (when I had to prove to myself that I got something in the tank) but faster than two weeks ago (when I was sleepwalking the course). I didn’t meet a soul for the first 12 miles, and even then it was still very quiet. The wind was blowing rather strongly (the weather website says 21 mph/33kmh, but it felt worse than that – I must be getting soft) and I had to fight it for the first 5 miles, but it meant I had the wind on my back later on. Those first miles were a bit on the slow side but I settled into 8:00 pace for most of the run. When I got home I felt good enough to add the whole 5 miles of the Ard-na-Sidhe loop to the workout. I tried to pick up the pace a bit but slipped back again when I lost my concentration. I was still in reasonable shape when I got home. It wasn’t my best long run effort ever but I was pleased, and I sure was glad that I had gone out for the long run instead of chickening out.

I felt rather weary later on in the office and my stomach had a few issues but both those problems sorted themselves out after a few hours, by lunchtime I felt like I could go running again. I won’t, not least because somehow I managed to chafe myself rather badly. I can’t explain why, I wore the same outfit as for the last few long runs. Maybe the fact that it had been raining form the start had some effect. But my energy levels are back to where I want them to be. I don’t know what brought the turnaround. It could have been the iron supplement, it has helped before. Maybe my iron levels are borderline low, but that’s just a wild guess.

Oh, and Cian slept until 7:30. Niamh managed to go back to sleep after giving him some breakfast, and I let her sleep until nearly 9 o'clock when I had to leave for work. Everyone's happy.

8 Aug: 4 hill repeats, 1:42:16, ~11 miles, avg. HR 140
9 Aug: 22 miles, 3:01:55, 8:16 pace, avg. HR 143

Confidence

With the hill workouts pencilled in for Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I moved this week’s long run to Thursday. With my resolve to cut down on the miles still in place I decided to “only” run 20 miles. But, with those doubts about my sluggish legs fresh in my minds, I also chose to push the pace a little bit more than usual and see where that leaves me.

For the first 17 miles I ran my trusty Caragh Lake Loop, with all its ups and downs. It was still quite dark when I left at 5:10 am, and a bit windy, but the conditions were pretty good. After one or two slow miles to warm up I increased the pace ever so slightly, and kept going. Last week it had taken me 68 minutes for the first 8 miles, this time I was 4 minutes faster and still feeling good. At that point the long 3-mile climb started, but my legs are sufficiently strong by now to take that in their stride, so to speak. I felt pretty good on the climbs and the knee held out on the downhills, and when I reached the flat section after 14 miles and still felt good I cranked the pace up a bit more. I decided to turn the run into what coach McMillan calls a fast-finish long run, except that I didn’t go as fast as 10k pace for the last bit, and of course I ran the whole workout on an empty stomach and without any extra carbs on the way. I timed myself for the last 3 miles and covered them in 21:52 (7:17 pace), which I was very pleased about. That’s almost the pace I’d like to run in the marathon, and it didn’t feel outrageously fast. Of course I couldn’t yet hold it for 26 miles, but to crank it out for the last miles of a hilly long run was a very satisfying experience. That was by far the best long run I’ve ever had, and as a result I’m much more confident about the race now. To be honest, I should have trusted my training all along, but when you try something new for the first time you can never be sure about the outcome. I’m definitely much happier now than I was before that run, and gained a lot of confidence.

As mentioned at the beginning, Friday’s workout was supposed to be another hill session, but my legs got stiffer by the minute as Thursday dragged on, and by the end of the day I knew that I had to throw in an easy day. I didn’t mind, and I take the fact that I gave myself a bit of flexibility as a good sign, rather than stubbornly stick to the training plan. 10 miles at a very easy pace felt good, and I just went by whatever felt like recovery pace. The first mile was as slow as 9:20, and the legs felt so heavy that I seriously considered turning around and bagging the run entirely, but they felt a lot better once they warmed up and after the first 5-mile loop settled into a comfortable 8:30 pace without complaining.

I've provisionally pencilled in a hill workout for tomorrow to make up for today, but if I’m still tired I’ll completely scratch it. I’ll head out for the Devil’s Elbow, and once I get there I’ll decide if hills feel like a good idea or not. Whichever way I decide, this week’s mileage will be a lot less than the previous few weeks, somewhere in the mid-80s. Funny, last week I got suckered into running more miles than planned, this weeks I swung the other way much more than planned. That’s fine by me, now that I’ve finally got some reassurance that the training is working I feel a lot more relaxed.

2 Aug: 20 miles, 2:36:59, 7:50 pace; last 3 miles in 21:52 (7:17 pace)
3 Aug: 10 miles, 1:26:55, 8:41 pace, avg. HR 137

Sleepwalking

I know I recently complained about not getting enough sleep. If I had known what was in store, I would have shut up. I guess it’s all down to my whining. Fate has a habit of punishing whiners.

The night from Wednesday to Thursday was bad. I went to bed a bit late (my own fault, of course), but then it really started. At 2 am Shea complained that he didn’t want to sleep in the same room as Cian (after 2 years!). Too tired to argue we let him sleep in our bed. He promptly fell asleep top to toe, and twice viciously kicked me in the face. At 3 am Cian turned up. I carried Shea back into his own bed and Cian stayed with us. At 4 am Lola cried. She needed to go to the bathroom but was scared of the dark, so Daddy had to stand guard. Each time it took ages to fall back asleep again, and what should have been a long sleep until 6.10 am turned out to be much too little.

The run on Thursday was fine. 10 slow and easy miles were on the program, and passed without incident. I can’t think of anything to write, apart from the fact that I managed to get my lowest heart rate for a run ever, despite the fact that I added 8x100 strides towards the end of the run. I was surprised by how quickly the HR came down each time.

The next night was even worse. Niamh had gone out for a concert, and should have been back around midnight. It also meant that bath time, tooth brushing, story time and putting the unruly brood to bed was left to me alone, which was stressful enough. But when Cian woke me at 2:35 am (he wanted to come into our bed) and there was no sign of Niamh I immediately got worried. She didn’t have her mobile phone with her, so I sent some text messages to the friends she had gone out with, and when I didn’t get an answer rang them up after some hesitation (it was nearly 3 am by now). Eventually one of them answered the call and said that Niamh had dropped her off just 5 minutes ago and would be home soon. Sure enough she turned up eventually. I didn’t really say much apart from “never do that to me again” and went back to bed. Unfortunately I was wide awake and couldn’t sleep for another hour. I finally drifted off to sleep around 4 am, but when the alarm went off at 4:30, I didn’t have much more than 4 hours of sleep behind me. I contemplated going back to sleep but eventually got up anyway, got ready and headed out of the door. It was still fairly dark, which is something I haven’t been used to for months, but not enough to require a headlamp.

To be honest, I don’t remember much about the first half of the run. I think I was basically still asleep, but the legs were on autopilot and found the way all by themselves. I had deliberated if I should do a similar run to last week (3 reasonably flat out-and-back segments) or return to my loop around Caragh Lake. I eventually settled for the latter. One loop around the lake is 17 miles and a second loop to Ard-na-Sidhe makes 22 miles, which was just too beautiful to resist. It meant a lot of hills, which worried me because of the pain in my knee on all those downhills, but decided that my knee was getting better and I would be able to run through any pain. This worked out reasonably well. It did hurt, especially on the steep bits, but now I’m convinced that I’m definitely on the way to recovery again, and I need some more hills for my running. All those flat miles won’t cut it.

I kinda woke up for the second half, and started noticing the various life forms around me, apart from the usual assortments of cats, dogs and birds I came across millions of gnats (annoying), sheep (panicked), cows (mating, not a pretty sight), horses (beautiful), rabbits (fast) and one badger (dead). Eventually a few early risers on their way to work appeared on the road as well. The run went well enough, much better than last week when the second half had turned more and more into a death march with each mile. On the other hand I was much slower than anticipated, and certainly slower than it felt like. I guess the sleepwalking first half was mostly responsible for that, I remember looking at my watch after 8 miles, seeing 1:08, managing to calculate the pace (8:30) in my head and being surprised at the slow progress. I resisted the temptation to speed up, especially as the long 3-mile climb was about to start, which didn’t exactly help the average pace. I guess I should be reasonably happy with the second half of the run, which must have been around 8:10 to make up a bit of time. That’s still slow, but it was a long run, and after so little sleep I won’t split hairs. Maybe I should take all those hills into account. They were bound to slow me down.

I think I’ll sleep in on the weekend. Any screaming kids will be Niamh’s problem (yeah, right!).

19 Jul: 10 miles, 1:24:43, 8:28 pace, avg. HR 135
20 Jul: 22 miles, 3:03:41, 8:20 pace, avg. HR 145

Double Header

After all the excitement of being on holiday and exploring foreign cities and running on completely new roads, I’m back home on my familiar roads around Caragh Lake. While it was great to run in so many new places, I do appreciate being back home again. And I certainly prefer the cooler temperatures in Ireland – it makes a big difference, much bigger than I thought it would.

I headed out yesterday morning with the intention of running one hour at a decent pace. After warming up for the first two miles I sharply increased the pace, and held what seemed like reasonably comfortable tempo pace, though I didn’t really know how fast I was; I didn’t check my watch and my internal tachometer seems to be a bit off these days, and was quite surprised when I calculated my pace afterwards, because I had covered the second half of the run in 7:13 pace. Since I had kept the pace pretty much constant for the two preceding miles, this meant 6 miles at or around 7:15 pace, which is of course my planned marathon pace in October. It certainly felt tougher than marathon pace, but with over 16 weeks of training left I’m not too worried yet. I was really pleased with that effort, and it led me to the conclusion that my mileage estimations during the holidays were most likely a bit conservative – the actual distances were probably slightly higher than the ones I wrote down in my previous entry.

Then another thought struck me. At one point I should start doing those double headers I keep reading about in Mystery Coach’s posts. From some formula that he left somewhere I calculated that a double header for me should consist of 7 miles at 7:15 pace on the first day, and 10 miles at 8:00 pace plus 3 miles at 7:15 pace the following day, and don’t forget to add a few miles of warm-up and cool-down to each run. I had inadvertently covered 6 miles at the required pace, and decided to finish the job on Friday for my first ever double header of that kind. It meant that the first day was one mile short, put I can live with that.

I got up at 5:30 this morning, and immediately started to doubt my ability to run the required pace. I felt really tired, and wasn’t sure if I should even attempt such a tough workout. However, after hanging around the kitchen for ages I eventually gave myself a metaphorical kick up the arse and went out. The first few miles were uneventful apart from a dog nearly attacking me, but luckily he turned the other way when I shouted at him. I chose the same route I always do for a 17 mile run, namely the loop around Caragh Lake plus a second loop around the Devil’s Elbow. This is a rather hilly run, after 3 flat miles it’s a series of up- and downhill for the next 3 miles with a net elevation gain of over 550 feet. Then the road drops back all the way only to go over another hill of about 300 feet. By the time I reached the 12-mile point, I was definitely tired, and unsure if I would be able to do 3 fast miles on those weary legs. The topology of the course presented an additional problem, namely the fact that there aren’t 3 flat continuous miles. I had the choice of doing the fast bit between miles 12 and 15, which would mean a very hilly first mile, or between miles 13 and 16, with a hilly last mile. I chose the first option, and decided to go more by even effort rather than even pacing. Of course there aren’t any mile markers, I just have to go by my own imaginary mile markers, but they should be reasonably accurate; I’ve covered that stretch of road often enough by now. The first mile went by in 7:38, which I put down to the hill. The second mile wasn’t as bad, but it was very slightly uphill, and to make matters worse I had to fight against a headwind, though it wasn’t particularly strong. However, I definitely got the effort wrong and covered it in 7:04, way too fast. I tried to ease up just a little bit for the final mile, but the fact that it was slightly downhill and out of the headwind meant I got it even more wrong and covered it in only 6:54. After that I was seriously knackered and struggled for the remaining 2 miles until I got home.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so exhausted after a workout. Maybe my first 20 miler was as tough, but that was too long ago to remember clearly. My right hip flexor had gotten very tight towards the end, and my left calf didn’t feel good either (I’ve been having problems with that for a few weeks now). But the overwhelming feeling was one of complete exhaustion. I definitely overdid it on the fast 3 miles, and will have to work on better pacing in future. In fact I suspect that the first of those miles was actually a bit long, and that I ran faster than 7:38, which compounds my overall pacing error. There is definitely room for improvement here. But I’m glad to have this workout behind me. I hope to make those double headers a weekly part of my training.

14 Jun: 8 miles, 58:36, 7:19 pace, avg. HR 155 (6 miles at ~7:13 pace)
15 Jun: 17 miles, 2:18:16, 8:08 pace, avg. HR 155 (3 miles in 7:38. 7:04, 6:54)

Cold

I had hoped that the cold would disappear within a day, but for once I was wrong. I’ve fought off quite a number of colds during the winter, and none of them bothered me particularly, and all of them very gone within a day or two. This one, however, is a lot more persistent. I felt pretty bad on Thursday evening, and wondered if I should even set my alarm for Friday morning. I eventually did so, reasoning that I could always turn it off and sleep in if I wouldn’t feel up to it.

However, once the alarm went off I got up and got ready. After all, I was awake anyway, so I might as well go out and run. I did make one concession to my lower energy levels, namely that I didn’t force the pace at all, and was happy enough to run easily, even though it meant running at above 8:00 pace for the first time in ages. It’s a bit of a mental barrier, but at the beginning of the training I had resolved that I would not force myself to run under that threshold if I had an off-day, and today was definitely one of those. I did wonder if running 17 miles when feeling like that was a good idea, but once I was on the road I pretty much ran on autopilot for most of the way. After about 5 miles I came across the last crossroad where I had the chance to bail out, but didn’t even glance at it, and continued all the way around Caragh Lake. Just before the halfway point I ran past a sign “Road Closed”, which was a little disconcerting, but I reasoned that the road should always be passable to a runner, even if it’s closed to cars. I was correct. They are in the middle of re-doing the road surface (it’s amazing the amount of work that goes on around here when an election looms). A stretch of nearly 2 miles was covered in a thick layer of dirt, and they hadn’t got round to putting the tarmac on top of it. As far as I’m concerned they could leave it that way, it felt lovely and soft. Mind, had it been raining it would have turned into a massive mudslide. Anyway, after two miles I passed the opposing “Road Closed” sign on the other end of that stretch, and from then on it was back to the hard, unforgiving surface, to the regret of my knees. I also felt some hunger pains around that time, but they went away after a minute or two. I did tire towards the end of the run, but managed to get home just fine.

I still felt like crap on Saturday, and Niamh told me not to go running, but since when do I listen to a non-runner’s advice? I had just gotten a new pair of shoes, and wanted to give them a spin. I was a bit nervous, because my favourite kind of shoe is the Asics Nimbus, and that was my first pair of the new version 9. A new version of your favourite shoe is often hit-and-miss, but after covering 10 miles in the new pair I can report that I’m perfectly happy, they felt just right. What felt less perfect was the fact that it started raining at the halfway point, and coupled with the freezing wind it made for some uncomfortably cold miles on the way back home. Just the thing you don’t need when you’re already suffering from a cold. While the run itself was fine, I felt knocked out for the rest of the day, and once again Niamh asked me not to go running the next morning.

But since when do I listen to a non-runner’s advice? I compromised and only went for 6+ miles, and I’m finally getting better. My energy levels are seeping up again, and my head doesn’t have that horrible stuffed feeling any more. The weather could be better, it’s still raining on and off, and it’s rather windy, but we’re off to Slovenia in 3 days’ time, and the weather there is supposed to be a lot better at the moment. I’m bound to discover a whole new area for running.

25 May: 17 miles, 2:18:33, 8:09 pace, avg. HR 150
26 May: 10 miles, 1:17:18, 7:43 pace, avg. HR 153
27 May: 6.1 miles, 46:52, 7:40 pace, avg. HR 153

Weekly mileage: 73

Long and Windind

I managed to find a spreadsheet with the results from Sunday’s race (Google Docs are cool, btw). I came 43rd out of 200 runners, which isn’t particularly remarkable. What surprised me most was the fact that the fastest woman was over 2 minutes slower than me. I think that’s more a sign of the lack of class in the women’s field rather than my blistering pace.

A few weeks ago I was wondering if I should run that race, as it’s only 3 weeks out from my ultra. Olga advised me to run, and do a long run the day after. I’m in no position to argue with her experience, so I followed her advice to the letter. I wasn’t sure how far a long run was supposed to be – for her, it’s probably in the range of 30 miles, but that’s out of my league. I settled for 22. It meant getting up at 4:25 in the morning, after about 5 hours of sleep, and since the race had started in the afternoon it also meant much less recovery time than I’m accustomed to between runs. No wonder I was tired, but I didn’t notice any soreness from the race and felt in good enough shape to last the distance. One thought did cross my mind though, namely that I was almost definitely the only runner of yesterday’s race that was mad enough to be running again, before even 5am in the morning.

I started with what I thought was about 8:40 pace, but when I checked the time after 3 miles I realised I had been going at 9:00 pace instead. Maybe the race had take more out of me than I thought, but I wasn’t worried about my run. I did worry about being late for work later on, but that’s a different matter. After about an hour my MP3 player went silent – the battery had died. I had meant to change it, but forgot. For the rest of the run I had only the sound of chirping birds to accompany me, which was not a bad option either. The sky had been very clear to start with, with half a moon and plenty of stars, but when I looked up around 6 miles into the run all I could see was black. Uh-oh. Indeed, 5 minutes later the heavens opened and I got a good trenching of freezing cold water (did I mention that it was quite windy). At least it stopped after a few minutes, and when the road entered Ahane woodland I got some shelter from the wind. The next 10 miles seemed to fly by. I think I was still half asleep and didn’t really register anything, just kept going on autopilot. Conscious thoughts didn’t return until the end of the lake loop, 17 miles into the run. Now it was time for an experiment. I had left out a bottle half filled with a mixture of slim-fast powder and soya milk. It’s my usual recovery drink after a long run, and I’m toying with the idea of planting a bottle of that some way along the ultra. This was a test if my stomach would take it. It didn’t taste very nice (the strawberry powder taste is just plain awful – I’ll pass on that in future), and my stomach felt a little bit funny for the next few miles, but on the other hand I kept running for 5 more miles and never felt fatigued. Of course I don’t know for sure if that drink made a difference, but my feeling is that I would have been just fine without it. I haven’t made up my mind yet, but I think I’ll do without on race day.

Anyway, I was very pleased with the way I felt after 22 miles, just half a day after a (for me) storming fast 10k race. Fatigue was never an issue, the legs felt fine, and the hills didn’t bother me, though they were mostly in the first half of the run. My main thought as I entered our driveway again was “training’s over, now I’m tapering”. I hope I can go through that period without going nuts again.

The first run of said taper was today’s 11-miler. My legs were definitely sorer than the day before, but if it’s a delayed reaction from the race or a result of the long run I can’t tell for sure. There’s not much to tell, I started the first 2 miles at 9:00 pace again, did the next 3 at 8:00, and picked it up a bit more further on, but it was still all at easy effort. I started doing strides, mostly as a wake-up call to the stiff muscles. Usually they start feeling much more responsive by the time of the fourth or fifth sprint, but when they still felt as stiff after 7, I gave up and was content to jog home from there. I got lucky, 10 minutes after getting home the heavens opened to a torrential rain shower. Good timing.

12 Mar: 22 miles, 3:03:48, 8:21 pace, HR 142
13 Mar: 11 miles, 1:28:55, 8:05 pace, HR 143, including 7x100 strides

Looking Forward

For the last few months I have focused solely on the ultra, but I guess at some stage I have to look past that. Therefore I decided to sign up for another race, the Bantry Half marathon. I don’t know if I will be able to make it, because it’s only 5 weeks after the ultra, and somehow I can’t imagine being able to run again soon after pounding the roads of Connemara for several hours. But since the entry will close on 31 March I had to decide to sign up now, before I knew how I would feel after the ultra. If I feel like running on stumps (or if the mere thought of running will send me into a tailspin), I’ll forgo the race.

I finished my double headers last week, and I’ll run the last long run on Monday, so I had to decide how far I would run for this week’s long run, and when. I settled on 17 miles, mainly because that’s the length of one loop around Caragh Lake plus the Devil’s Elbow, and ran in on Wednesday to ensure sufficient recovery before Sunday’s 10k. After Tuesday’s tempo run the legs were as dead as expected, and the first mile saw me crawling at 9:10 pace. I did pick it up slightly, and went through the imaginary 3-mile marker in 26 minutes, 8:40 pace average. At that point the legs really wanted to speed up, but I told them to relax and that pace was not an issue today. They grumbled a bit, so I promised them to run the last 3 (flat) miles at a strong effort if they behaved through the series of hills that make up the Caragh Lake loop from miles 5 to 14. As a matter of fact the run went better and better with each passing mile, and when I came down the last hill with 3 miles to go I moved the effort up several notches, as promised. I felt fantastic, and not even the barking dogs could bother me this time. I don’t know how I did it, but I ran those miles in 21:15 (7:05 pace), which was faster than the tempo run the day before. I guess the 14 miles had served as a useful warm-up. Whenever I manage a run like that I question the accuracy of my mileage, but the answer is always the same, namely that it should be reasonably accurate. Even if it’s out, I still know that I’m improving, because I can still compare that time to previous times over the same course.

My achilles tendon started hurting again on Tuesday, which I presume was caused by the two tempo efforts in three days. As a result I decided to take it easy today and run very relaxed. I had planned two miles in a sprint/float fashion, but decided to cut that in half. I ran 4.5 miles at easy pace, then did the fast mile over the same course I had done the mile repeats on Sunday. I bet these workouts are easier on a track. For one thing, the road isn’t entirely flat, and sprinting uphill feels like someone is sucking the strength out of your legs with a straw. Secondly, how was I supposed to know when to stop sprinting and when to restart again? I did them purely by feel, and I guess the sprints were longer than 100 meters and the floats were shorter than the sprints, and the whole mile took 6:32. Interesting, that’s faster than the mile repeats on Sunday, though I have to point out that Sunday’s effort was strictly aerobic. I felt pretty good after that and was tempted to run the return mile in the same way but thought of my achilles and just jogged home.

I’ll take it seriously easy tomorrow and on Saturday, and I’m very much looking forward to Sunday. I have run a lot of miles since my last race, and I can’t wait to update my sidebar again.

7 Mar: 17 miles, 2:20:12, 8:14 pace, avg. HR 141, 3 final miles at 7:05
8 Mar: 8 miles, 1:06:12, 8:16 pace, avg. HR 141, 1 “mile” sprint/float in 6:32

P.S.: Note the heart rate. It’s still dropping!

It’s That Day of the Year again

I’m 37 today. We’re about to tuck into the cake, especially prepared by the master chef, Niamh. I love the party with the family, though the kids are more excited than I am. From a running perspective I do ask myself how long I can continue to improve. I’ve probably hit the age where most people start slowing down, but since I’ve only been running for three years or so I’m confident I’ve still got a few years to go until I hit my personal ceiling.

The promotion at work came as a bit of a surprise. In terms of priorities, work comes behind the family and running presently, and I sometimes felt last year that I wasn’t pulling my full weight. When you get up at 4:30 in the morning to run 20+ miles, your concentration does suffer after several hours in front of the computer. I was never worried about losing my job, but I didn’t think I was at my best there. My boss obviously seemed to disagree. Not that I’m complaining. Hell, we can really use the money. Maybe we can even start to afford the kind of life we’re living here.

Running. Yes. Friday was the second part of my sandwich, the first ever. The first thing that worried me was the early waking time. Thursday’s 5:20 am was still somewhat civilised, but there was nothing civilised about Friday’s 4:40. And to do so on consecutive days invariably meant a sleep deficit. However, as it turns out, I managed just fine. The other thing I was worried about was my right hamstring. It had started hurting over the last 5 miles on Thursday, and I could feel it again before going to bed. Miraculously, it seemed to heal overnight, I didn’t feel a thing wrong on Friday. The weather forecast had been pretty good so you can imagine my dismay when I opened the door to be greeted by rain. On the plus side, it meant a rise in temperature and I didn’t have to worry about the icy patches on the road. I started my long loop around Caragh Lake, counter-clockwise today for a change. I did time myself again after 3 miles, and 8:20 was a pretty good starting pace. I usually start slower than that. The legs felt better than expected, and it went easy enough until mile 8. At that point the road starts climbing, and the thought of 3 miles of continuous uphill can be pretty daunting. However, I managed just fine, and I did enjoy a bit of rest on the downward stretch. By mile 14 I had left the mountains behind me, and the rest of the journey was reasonably flat. I passed our driveway after about 17 miles, and was slightly tempted to leave it at that (as I knew I would be). I felt ok though, and went for a final short 3-mile out-and back section. The whole run went much much better than expected. I had expected to be begging for mercy over the last few miles, instead I felt pretty good all the way. I did time myself for the last 6 miles, and I hit about 7:40 pace, which is quite amazing considering the amount of running from the last few days. I was very pleased with that double header. Next week I’ll increase Thursday’s mileage to 17 miles and leave Friday at 20, and we’ll see how that goes.

What better way to celebrate your birthday than going out for a 90 minutes recovery run? The last few “recovery” runs had all been too fast at sub-8 pace, and I was determined to take it easier today. I still went for the hilly option, and halfway through my climb up the devil’s elbow I thought I should have chosen a flat course instead. But I think that hill was exactly what my legs needed to wake up again, and the turnover increased markedly once I reached the flat section again. I just about managed to avoid sub-8 pace, but to be honest I should have slowed down more. Not because I think it will injure me, but because I think too much effort on those runs might have a negative effect on tomorrow’s tempo run. Having said all that, running does feel nearly effortless at the moment, and since the pace is dropping without any increase in effort, I couldn’t be happier with the way things are going.

26 Jan: 20 miles, 2:06, 8:12 pace, avg. HR 143
27 Jan: 11.5 miles, 1:32, 8:00 pace, avg. HR 149