It Chews You Up and Spits You Out

At mile 17 or 18 I thought I would call today's race report “Never Again”, but as you all know, this is never true. Mike and I came up with a few more titles on the way back home, including “Live and Learn”, “Live and Forget” and a few more that I can't remember due to post-marathon dementia. But I settled on the description of what the course is going to do to you, because that's exactly what the course did to me.

After the usual restless pre-marathon night we got ready, and got to Hopkinton in good time. The best tip I had gotten all day was to use the bathroom before entering the buses, I would have been in real trouble otherwise. We split when entering the corrals; I tried to catch the elite women's start but only got a glimpse of them heading off. I started in the middle of corral 3; it took about one minute to cross the start line, and we got up to pace fairly quickly, not too surprising on that steep downhill start. I knew all about starting conservatively and taking it easy on the downhills. I jogged the first few miles, the HR was in the low 160s, certainly pretty much where I would want it to be on your usual marathon. On the uphill stretches I kept checking the Garmin, and slowed down judiciously whenever the HR was too high, not particularly caring about the fact that people kept passing me whenever I did so.

However, I never felt good. My stomach was unsettled, and the legs just were not right. I have done plenty of marathons before (today was my ninth), and I know that it sometimes can take a while to find your rhythm. The pace was good though, and actually kept going down. On the Garmin it went as low as 6:45, but I have learned to add about 3 seconds per mile to that to get your official pace; I reached 10k in 42:23, 6:49 pace, which is what I thought you should aim for if you're heading for a sub-3 marathon. I took my first gel at that point, but unfortunately it seemed to really upset my already dodgy stomach. I stopped drinking Gatorade, and took water at miles 7 and 8, and eventually I felt better. This turned out to be my best stretch. The course is flat for several miles at that stage, and I managed to keep my pace and still felt reasonably fine in the legs while doing so. I certainly did not think that I had overdone it on the first few downhill miles, and I was reasonably optimistic that I might have a good race, even if the sub-3 was still a high-hanging fruit.

By mile 11 or 12 I got more pains in my stomach, and this time it felt like hunger pangs. Since I had not really eaten since 6am, this was of course possible. Despite having earlier decided not to take any more gels I took one, more to put something into my stomach than getting some carbs. I again took water at the next opportunity, and it seemed to work.

I already knew what would come next, and I heard the siren calls from half a mile away. Wellesley all-girl college is known as the tunnel of noise, and it is nothing like you have ever experienced. I tried to tune them out, but got sucked into it and started giving high-fives, but at least resisted temptation to stop for a kiss, despite the open invitations. The screams were so loud that my ears started ringing – no exaggeration. It seemed to go on forever, but eventually I reached the end of the noise. I glanced at the Garmin, and was astonished to see that I had been suckered into running 6:10 pace. Of course I slowed down immediately, but I knew that I might just have f*cked up my race.

I reached the halfway point in 1:29:38, 6:50 pace, the fastest half-distance mark I had ever set in a marathon. However, this still only gave me a 22 seconds cushion, and with the much tougher second half ahead of me I already knew that sub-3 was not on the cards today. However, I was taken completely by surprise by what happened next, and especially how quickly it happened. Within half a mile after crossing the halfway mark my legs started wobbling with every step. I was afraid they would buckle completely, and seemed to have given up the ghost. With supreme effort I was still able to stay on pace, but I knew immediately that this was not sustainable, and started thinking on my feet.

It would have been possible to keep the pace going for another 2 or 3 miles, but then I would have been completely and utterly out of it, and might even have to drop out of the race. I had not come from thousands of miles away to record a DNF, and running myself into the ground was too stupid even for me. I decided the only sensible course of action was to slow down right here and now, and jog towards the finish, however long this would take. I knew I was in for a long hard day, but was determined to make the most of it and take in the incredible atmosphere of the hundreds of thousand of spectators. You could say I was trying to enjoy the occasion, but enjoyment is rather relative when you're in agony.

The next few miles were bad. There is no other way of putting it. Runners kept streaming past me. I thought how many places I would lose between here and the end, 1000, 2000, maybe even 3000? Never mind, I wasn't running for place. I felt embarrassed about my performance. It's perfectly ok to blow up on the hills, but to have your race over and done with before the hills even start is bad. I thought I was in the worst pain ever, but then remembered that the Connemara Ultra had reduced me to 12-minute miles at one point last year, so it must have been worse then. I just had forgotten about it.

When I first started slowing down I thought I might still salvage a personal best, but within half a mile I knew that was out of question. I had slowed down to somewhere around 7:30 pace, and I knew I would slow down more later on, on the hills and on the last few miles. By the time we reached the first hill at Newton Lower Falls I was mightily relieved to be running uphill for a change, because my quads hurt less on the climbs. To my big surprise I actually started overtaking runners again here. Apparently others were suffering even worse than me. That's some sort of consolation, I guess. At one point I realised there was still over an hour of running left, which was rather hard to take; an hour of agony is not something to cherish.

Then the three Newton hills came in succession, culminating in Heartbreak Hill. Since I was basically jogging, the climbs were all manageable, but the downhills hurt, even though the pace at roughly 7:00 was fairly decent. After passing the top of Heartbreak at a Tudor Mansion (Thomas' mansion, as Michael insisted on calling it during our recce on Saturday) we came to Boston College, where the noise reached Wellesley levels, but sadly (or luckily) the spectators there were not nearly as pretty, and I didn't feel the urge to high-five them.

I kept counting down the miles, and by now there were only 5 left, a mere fifth of the marathon. I really wanted to walk, but I thought I would not be able to start running again, and walking 5 miles to the finish was the last thing I wanted to do. Better get that thing over with as soon as possible. Then I remembered that Jeanne would be somewhere around mile 22 or 23, and I started to look out for her. This was actually a very good thing to do, because it took my mind off the agony in my legs. Most of this mile was downhill and passed reasonably quickly. I even seemed to overtake more runners than were passing me. The sheer number of runners in trouble is a clear sign just how brutal that course is. Just as I was starting to worry that I might have missed her, I spotted Jeanne with a sign (my name on a sign. How sweet! Thank you!) I ran up to her and gave her a big hug. I wanted to say something, but no words came out, and I was off again. Later she told me that she had also been at the halfway mark, but I had been so much in my own bubble that I had not noticed a thing.

Disappearing into my own little world is something I do during marathons, and I actually managed to pretty much tune out the crowd from here on. This is quite a feat with the noise, the spectators standing 5 deep and shouting at the top of their voices, but it all became background noise to me. I had actually recovered a bit by now. That's a bonus of my heavy training mileage, I have the ability to pull through a low patch and eventually come back to run stronger again. I spotted the famous Citgo sign from very far away. It disappeared again, but then came into view, and then we spent a mile slowly, very slowly, drawing closer. Somewhere between miles 24 and 25 I took another sip of Gatorade when someone started talking to me. I looked to my left, and there was Michael. I was totally taken aback, he had looked fit and ready on Saturday, and I had expected him to be finished, showered and fed by now. Instead he had an even worse run than me, and he told me to push on, he'd finish a minute or two behind me.

There were 1.5 miles left, and somehow, against all odds, I actually got back on pace again, agony or not. I could smell the finish. A few runners that had been around me for the first half, and that had pulled away when I slowed down, came back to me and turned into roadkill. There was the guy in the green singlet and moeben sleeves, the guy with the great dreadlocks, the girl in pink, and quite a few more. We turned the last corner with about half a mile left, and I could see 5:54 pace on the Garmin (slightly downhill, admittedly). Why now, oh faithless legs, and not when I needed you most! I must have passed dozens of runners between there and the line, and 3:10:36 after crossing the start line I was finally done. I cannot even claim to have taken it easy today, because I had only slowed down in order to allow myself to finish at all. There was nothing left in my legs at the end.

Your first Boston is always a learning experience. I thought I had trained plenty to get ready for the downhills, and I genuinely thought I had run conservatively during the early miles, but to no avail. After Wellesley my legs felt like they each had a brick attached to them, and oh my, it hurt! They wobbled so much that I was worried about them buckling at each step. My calves were close to cramping at a couple of occasions but just about managed to behave. If it didn't involve crossing an entire Ocean in order to get here I would definitely be back to try and get it right, but as it is it might remain my one and only shot at the Newton hills. The spectators are something I had never experienced, they really give the rockstar treatment even to struggling runners, but it is the course itself that would entice me back. But not too soon. I have to forget that one first before I can even think about doing another one.

20 Apr

2009 Boston Marathon, 3:10:36, avg. pace 7:16, HR 165
2849th place out of 23162

Shivering with Anticipation

After half a year of training, we're so close. In a day's time I'll meet up with 25000 of my closest friends and then we'll tear down the road to Boston together. We might have different goals, from running 2:45 to enjoying the race and kissing the girls, but we're all very much looking forward to it now.

Friday's journey had been long, a drive to Tralee, an old coach to Limerick, a newer coach to Shannon, a plane to Boston and a drive to Waltham added up to many, many hours. All the immigration checks had been done in Shannon, which led to the slightly unreal realisation that the departure lounge might have physically been in Ireland, but politically we basically were in the states already.

We (that's me and Mike) picked up our numbers yesterday, and all plans of getting in and out as soon as possible went out of the window when we got sucked into the vortex that is the Boston marathon Expo. I saw all those things that I can't normally get because they're not shipping across the Atlantic, and eventually left with heavy bags and light wallets. I even had to stop Mike from buying a pair of racing flats for Monday's marathon. I thought he was to stop me from doing stupid things, not the other way round!

We picked up Michael and drove to Hopkinton for a recce of the race course. Both me and Michael were surprised by the size of the hills, and I sure am glad to have seen them yesterday rather than getting an unwelcome surprise on Monday. Then again, neither of them are the Hell of the West. The last few miles are sweet in the unlikely event that you still have some working quads left. There's nothing to do now but rest and get mentally prepared for the fun.

We met Mark and his family for dinner. Mark, you must change your blog photo because it makes you look 10 years older than you are in real life. Everyone had a good time, and we never ran out of running gossip. In fact, we could have continued for ages.

I did 5 miles yesterday and kept accusing the Garmin of being broken because it kept insisting I was doing 7:20 pace rather than the 8:30 pace it felt like. Eventually I managed to slow down, and I cut the run short in order not to wear myself out. 3 miles today were at genuinely easy effort, and that's it until tomorrow.

The weather forecast websites are all in agreement. We will have about 50F/10C and cloudy skies, which is perfect, but 20 mph headwinds, which is not. Not much we can do about it. As far as my outlook for the race goes, I have an outside chance of beating 3 hours, but no more than that. I'm determined to enjoy the occasion more than anything, and a great time would be an added, if very welcome, bonus. I assure you, it won't be for lack of trying.

Boston Runner #3780 signing out. See you on the other side.

18 Apr

5 miles, 38:46, 7:45 pace, HR 154

19 Apr

3+ miles, 23:57, 7:52 pace, HR 143

Training Summary

Training (excluding taper):
   21 weeks
Miles:
   1388
Average mpw:
   71
Average mpw if I don’t count the weeks compromised by sickness:
   77
# runs of 20 miles or more:
   6
Highest weekly mileage:
   88
# of PRs:
   only 1 (10 miles), but that was a substantial one
Injuries/ailments:

1. a cold at the start of December
   
2. ankle sprain around New Year
   
3. a severe cold in February
   

I didn’t have to deal with a real injury, the ankle problem was most likely caused by an overenthusiastic application of things like bounding, springing and jumping, and went away by itself without having to rest. The infection I had in February was probably the worst one I’ve had in a while (well, since the pneumonia, for sure), but happened just far enough out from the marathon date that it shouldn’t have an effect.

Various data points I can gather from my logs like the paces and HR on my runs show that I’m in better shape than before Dublin, and if everything goes to plan then maybe, just maybe, I could sneak under 3 hours. If not, then a new PR should still be possible, but I am well aware that Boston is generally not a course to go looking for PR; no need to point that out.

Anyway, I'm in Boston now. More of that later.

Last Workout

I can’t believe this is really happening. Tomorrow I’ll step onto an aeroplane that will take me across the Big Pond, ready to run the race of my live – at least that’s the plan. Time has certainly flown, it seems only like yesterday that I crossed the finish line of the Dublin marathon.

In order to bring my weight down to racing weight I decided to fast for the last three days, taking only water and orange juice on-board. This should ensure that I don’t have to carry excess fat around the Boston marathon course and should get me a few precious seconds per mile.

Just kidding, don’t worry. More than one person has implored me not to undertake any more experiments before the marathon, and for once I’m inclined to listen. I guess the stomach cramps in Dublin were a strong enough hint to stop that kind of behaviour. As an added insurance I have Mike to watch over me, and I get the impression he’s got an attitude-adjusting tool (baseball bat, cattle prod, that kind of thing) handy in case I’ll start doing anything stupid.

I managed to take it easy on Tuesday and Wednesday, as promised. I did 6 easy miles on Tuesday, slowing down each time I looked at the Garmin. I have a tendency to pick up speed as the run goes along, but managed to keep myself in check. On Wednesday I set the alarm for 6:30, 7 miles, and thought that if I woke earlier I could squeeze in an extra mile. But for some reason I was still groggy with sleep at half six, and reset the alarm to get another 15 minutes of sleep, cutting the run down to 5. I’m not sure why I was so tired, I had gone to bed at a reasonable time. Anyway, the run was easy again, even though the rain made for rather miserable conditions, and ideally I would have liked to see the heart rate a few beats lower.

This morning I did my last workout, to blow away the cobwebs that had gathered during the taper. After a warm-up I ran a 5k at about HM pace, followed by an easy mile and 10x100 strides. I had programmed the entire fancy workout into the Garmin, only to discover that a) I kept missing the beeps and b) I had inadvertently set the repeats at 1000 instead of 100 meters. Doh. But I managed just fine doing things without the toy. The legs felt very good at the end, begging me to run further and faster. Sorry guys, you’ll have to wait a bit longer, just 4 more days.

14 Apr

6 miles, 50:34, 8:26 pace, HR 135

15 Apr

5 miles, 40:16, 8:03 pace, HR 141

16 Apr

8 miles, 56:54, 7:07 pace, HR 159
incl. 5k @ 6:29, 10x100 strides

Easy Now, Thomas!

Lola declared Easter Sunday as her third favourite day of the year, behind birthday and Christmas Day. I tend to agree, getting 4 days off work without having to take a single day holiday id something I could get used to. In fact, I only have three days of work left before I'm off to Boston. Blimey, time's moving!

Yesterday I woke earlier than I would have liked ideally, but one look out of the window revealed such a stunningly beautiful blue sky that i didn't mind; I was merely looking forward to hitting the road. I had to wait a bit longer, but once the kids had their breakfast there was no stopping me, I had every intention of running easily but I felt so good that I just let the legs go as they pleased. Maybe it was the fact that I was finally able to wear a singlet rather than a t-shirt, but the miles just seemed to melt away. Looking at the Garmin and seeing that I was doing about marathon race pace I regretted the fact that I was wearing my heavy trainers rather than my racing shoes, but I just kept going. Originally I had planned on running 6 miles, but when I thought of all the Easter chocolate I was bound to eat later on I added two miles just to burn a few additional calories – not that it would make a real difference. Anyway, by the time I was back home less than 55 minutes had passed and I felt great. In marked contrast to some earlier runs I was sorry to be done.

We spent the rest of the day doing Easter things (see the end of this entry for proof). Thankfully the meteorologists had been utterly wrong and we had a beautiful day. They tried to make up for their errors and predicted the rain for today instead. Wrong again. I had been expecting to cover today's mile soaking wet, but again I was out there in a singlet, enjoying the early morning sunshine.

The legs were a bit heavy to start with, which didn't come as much of a surprise. I just intended to take it easy, so I didn't even look at the Garmin until 4 miles later. Then I did a double take, because I was almost at 7:30 pace. The miles had been downhill and, as I found out on the second part of the loop, must have been wind-assisted, but I really hadn't expected the easy effort to be faster than 8:00 pace. I then switched the Garmin into menu mode so that I wouldn't be tempted to peek at the readings and ran just by feel. As it turns out, that feeling was misleading; by the time I was back home I must have sped up even more, despite the second part being uphill and against the wind. Honestly, this was not a tempo effort, I had kept it easy all along. It just shows the effect of this week's reduced mileage.

I remember the same thing happening before Cork and Dublin last year; 7:30 pace suddenly feels like jogging. But I have to be careful, the marathon is only a week away, and I must not get carried away. I now have two easy days ahead of me, and I really have to take it genuinely easy. Thursday will see the last workout, sharp and short, and then it's off to Boston.

Things aren't all hunky dory, though. Cian threw up last night, and while we originally blamed overindulgence of chocolate he did do so again this morning and it looks like he has picked up a tummy bug (some friends of his had it too). I keep my fingers crossed that I won't be affected this close to Boston - or even at Boston. Banish the thought! Not that I would want to leave Niamh on her own with 4 vomiting children on my weekend away, either.

By the way, isn't modern technology amazing? Just a few years ago video calls were still part of science fiction, but on Saturday there I was, skyping with Mike, the two of us sitting on opposite sides of the Atlantic. We're all set for next week.



And if that's not enough, you can also take a video of your family and put it on the internet for the rest of the world to view, if you're so inclined. Fancy, or what?

12 Apr

8 miles, 54:36, 6:49 pace, Hr 161

13 Apr

13 miles, 1:35:57, 7:22 pace, HR 154

Weekly Mileage: 53+

Potential Disaster

I didn’t want to mention it in my last post in the hope that it would go away, but that wish remained unfulfilled. When I woke on Monday morning, I had a sore throat. It wasn’t too bad, and I didn’t notice it again until later in the evening. On Tuesday it was there again, and by now I was getting worried. I need to be in top shape to have any hope of beating 3 hours in Boston, and if I’m fighting off an infection, that’s it. I felt fine on Wednesday, but Thursday morning I awoke with the by now familiar ache; I might have imagined it, but I thought I felt “something” in my chest as well. Friday was fine, and today I’m ok as well, and there’s not much I can do about it - I keep taking my vitamins anyway. I try not to think about it, and hope that everything will be just hunky dory 9 days from now.

Since this is my taper, I took it really easy after Wednesday’s MP run. Running short has the added bonus of extra time in bed, which was very welcome, and the 6 easy miles passed by quickly.

I was supposed to run 3x1 mile on Friday, but I just didn’t feel like it. I was all set to go out and run fast, but I really was not looking forward to it. As I got ready I changed my plans and just ran 7 easy miles (or it would have been 7 if I had remembered to turn around at the right spot). The legs felt very good, but the heart rate was higher that I would have expected. Hmm. Not a good sign.

After two easy days I didn’t have much of an excuse today, and out I went. I still wasn’t looking forward to the pain of running fast, but I thought I would be able to take it. After the warm up I stormed off on the first mile. Just like at last week’s race I was wheezing within a couple of minutes, and by the time I had covered half a mile I felt like collapsing. I don’t have access to a track, and the road has two small hills, but they felt like mountains today. By the time I finished the first mile I couldn’t help it but come to a complete stop and take HOK position, completely shattered. Even though 5:54 was 5 seconds slower than the first mile of last week’s race, I was done for. Incidentally, it was the fastest mile I had ever run in training. I had some faint hopes that 2 minutes of recovery would get me back to life, but as soon as the second repeat started I was immediately wheezing again. I pulled the plug after about 2 minutes. I jogged the rest of that mile, though looking at the time afterwards it must have been close to HMP pace. The third mile was never on the cards.

Ah well. My mind wasn’t in it today. With me being in full taper mode I wasn’t prepared to suffer through the workout, and I was worried about that sore throat. How I managed to run 3 consecutive miles at that pace last week is beyond me. Race day adrenaline is amazing.

I’ll forget about that workout today. The work for the marathon was done in previous weeks, now I feel more like relaxing and taking it easy. The thought that I won’t run a single step at faster than MP for quite some time is rather appealing right now.

9 Apr

6 miles, 49:31, 8:15 pace, HR 142

10 Apr

7.1 miles, 56:32, 7:58 pace, HR 145

11 Apr

6.25 miles, 45:12, 7:15 pace, HR 158
2x1 mile @ 5:54, 6:20

Countdown: 12

Since Sunday’s race was only a 5k in preparation of my real race I won’t spend too much time thinking about it. I had a nagging feeling in my head that I should have run faster, after all I missed my PR by half a minute (an age in a 5k), and I’m sure with a better mindset I could at least have tried to pass the runner in front of me more than twice. Then I remember my HR data and think that no, I was really redlining from start to finish. I guess a faster finishing kick would have been possible, but that would have had a miniscule impact on my time. Time to move on.

As a side note, I definitely won’t be defending my O35 title next year because I’ll be in the next, and vastly more competitive age group by then. As it is I’m mildly embarrassed having won an age group award with my modest time. I’m pretty sure the winners of the 40, 45 and 50 age groups were all way ahead of me.

Enough of that. Since this is my taper I changed my plans and took it easy for two days after the race. I only managed 6 miles on Monday because I reset the alarm when it rang the first time, and then decided to treat myself to an additional recovery day with 8 slow miles on Tuesday. I was surprised to find no soreness at all on Monday and maybe I trifle of fatigue on Tuesday, no more than that. In light of that I’m not worried about fully recovering from the effort come marathon day.

In preceding weeks I had done two 15-milers consisting of 3 segments, the last ones at marathon effort. The schedule had called for a third of those workouts last Friday, but I moved it to this Tuesday in order to be somewhat rested for Sunday’s race. Because of the additional recovery day I pushed it out again to today, and then I felt that with only 12 days to go I should err on the side of caution and cut it down to 12 miles. On the other hand, I didn’t want to sacrifice any time spent at marathon pace, so I decided to warm-up for two miles and run the remaining 10 at ME.

It was a rather blustery day, and the Cromane loop is rather exposed to the wind coming from the Atlantic. Because the road drops by about 90 feet over the warm-up miles, the 10 faster miles had to climb the same elevation up again. Maybe that’s why the effort felt tougher than it should have. Maybe (or, in fact, more likely) the race was having an effect. Maybe the wind wasn’t in my favour. Whatever the reason, I did manage the required pace, but I don’t think I would have been able to keep the effort going for 26 miles. A runner’s confidence is fickle. Run a good workout, like I did on my last aforementioned 15 miler, and I’m sure I can run sub-3. Then have a day like today and I’m back to expecting 3:03 at best.

Even so, I’ll try and go for 2:59:59 in Boston. If I blow up on the Newton hills, so be it. I tried the same tactic in Dublin and paid for it over the last 7 miles, but I have no regrets. I mean, who is going to aim for a 3:02 or 3:03 marathon? That’s too close to the 3 hours mark, and I would forever be left wondering what might have been. I’ll try for the same target again.

6 Apr

6 miles, 48:49, 8:08 pace, HR 139

7 Apr

8 miles, 1:06:04, 8:15 pace, HR 139

8 Apr

12 miles, 1:23:35, 6:58 pace, HR 161
incl. 10 miles @ 6:49 pace

Reigning Kerry 5k Road Champion (O35)

Having been reassured that this race was indeed taking place (whoever looks after the fixtures in the Kerry Athletics website didn’t do a very good job), we set off to Ardfert on Sunday morning. We found first the village and then the primary school after a slight detour. If I hadn’t known there would a race, I would have had serious doubts. Anyway, after signing up and warming up, we assembled at the start line. Niamh had thought this would be a very small and uncompetitive race, but I had checked the times of a few of the competitors and knew I would end up far down the field.

I lined up in the third row, where I usually start from, and was rather surprised to be overtaken by a number of runners early on. The first half mile was downhill but against the wind, and when I looked up I was definitely surprised by the number of runners ahead of me. I checked my pace on the Garmin and it came up with 5:13 (!!!) and there seemed to be at least 20, maybe even 30, runners in front! I have never been in such a competitive race. I knew I would not be able to keep that pace going, but starting like a lunatic can be a good, if painful tactic in a 5k. Despite this, I was still being overtaken by some runners! WTF??

Towards the end of the first mile the course turned off the Tralee road, which was good because it got us out of the traffic but bad because now we had to run uphill. I reached the first mile after 5:49, not my fastest mile in a race ever but close. Another turn pointed us back towards Ardfert, still going uphill. I could see the leaders ahead of me, charging up a steeper incline, though in all honesty the course was fairly flat considering we are in Kerry. I managed to gain one place, and as the course took a long sweeping curve to the right caught up with a group of 3, overtaking 2 of them but not the leader. It struck me that I was already at the halfway point, two steps behind the man in front but unable to go past. We crested the highest point of the course; the second mile had been a bit slower at 6:03, but take the elevation gain into consideration and it was at least even in effort to the first one. The third mile would be net downhill, but most of the drop would not come until the last quarter mile. I expected to be able to pass the man in front at the first downhill section, but as soon as I drew level he put in a surge that took him a couple of steps ahead of me and since I was already going full tilt I could not respond.

One thing I should probably mention is that I had started wheezing after half a mile. I always do that if the effort goes past a certain point, and today I was redlining from the start. I thought that it was a bit early to do that, but even though I might sound like I’m about to keel over in an asthmatic fit I am actually able to run just fine. But as we got into the final third of the race I could not help but notice that the breathing became increasingly loud and laboured. I was definitely looking forward to the finish line but at the same time kept thinking “I can’t believe this is almost over already!”. I tried to draw level once more but my pacer seemed to have found another gear himself. I managed to keep two steps behind him, but couldn’t get any closer. Despite all the effort, the third mile was slightly slower again at 6:04.

The finish line came in sight soon, I managed 5:14 pace on the final (downhill) 0.1 mile and was home in 18:39, 30 seconds behind my best but reasonably pleased all the same. A look at my heart rate in the chart confirms that I had been giving it all. My all-out max HR is about 190, today I had averaged 180 (that’s about 95%), and the avg HR had gone up with each mile, reaching a high of 186. That’s the highest average HR I have ever measured on a run, even including my best 5k from last year. I might have found a few extra seconds had I not run a very fast 20-miler on Tuesday, but marathon training will always get top priority.

Later on I managed a peek at the results and I was 21st overall, so there can’t have been quite as many runners ahead of me early on as I had thought. But the real surprise came at the prize ceremony: I had won the O35 category! I got a medal and my photo taken, and realised that this was the first time I had actually won a medal in running (as opposed to an everyone-gets-a-medal medal). Does that mean I am now the reigning Kerry 5k Road Racing Champion in the O35 category? Considering that there had been 20 guys ahead of me I won’t get too big-headed just yet, but I was very pleased all the same, and maybe the kids were a tiny wincy little bit impressed, but I’m not entirely sure about that.

4 Apr

5 miles, 39:41, 7:56 pace, HR 139

5 Apr

10 miles, including:

Kerry 5km Road Championships, Ardfert
21st overall, 1st O35, 18:39, 5:57 pace

Weekly mileage: 68.5 miles

Like a drowned rat

The heavens opened and I got thoroughly soaked while cycling home today. Add the wind to the equation, and imagine the misery. And while I am moaning already, am I the only one who got increasingly tired of the lame April Fools jokes on just about every web site two days ago? I didn’t see one that I thought was actually funny.

Never mind, that’s still a running blog. After Tuesday’s epic 20 miler I set my sights on recovering and slowly getting into taper mode. The 8 miles on Wednesday followed that blueprint surprisingly well because I ran the slowest pace I can remember in a long time. Funny that, as my workouts became harder my easy days became easier. Another lowest HR was duly recorded, but I thought afterwards that 6 miles would have been plenty, because I had started dragging after about 5.

Before I knew that I would be racing this weekend, and before I had decided to start my taper a bit earlier, I had pencilled 8 mile repeats for this week, but I cut that down to 6. I also decided not to go all-out (well, I decided that during the warm-up), but still give it a half-decent HM effort. I surprised myself by running about a second per mile faster than last week (which itself had been a second per mile than the week before) even though I always felt I had a bit more in me. The temperature didn’t help, it was about 2C/35F, and I was freezing. Nevertheless, it was a decent workout, and I was happy enough. It’s more about keeping what I’ve got rather than trying to squeeze out some extra fitness.

Another easy (if very windy) day today will be followed by an even easier one tomorrow, and I guess I will be fairly rested for Sunday, even taking Tuesday’s run into account. The strange thing is that I tried to find any sign of that race on the web and came up with a complete blank. Not even the Kerry Athletics web site, that supposedly organises the race, does mention it. I’m not entirely convinced that it will indeed take place, but I’ll go there and have a look anyway. If I can’t see any other runners we’ll declare it a family outing instead.

1 Apr

8 miles, 1:09:42, 8:43 pace, HR 130

2 Apr

10 miles, 1:13:14, 7:19 pace, HR 154
incl. 6xmile @ 6:31, 34, 28, 32, 51, 22 (6:33)

3 Apr

8 miles, 1:05:54, 8:14 pace, HR 140

The last long Run

I have this key workout that has been very effective in previous builds, namely 20 miles with the first 10 at 90% marathon pace and the second 10 at marathon pace. I don’t claim coming up with this myself; like all other training runs I got the idea from someone else, and apparently it is a staple in many marathoners’ programs including Ryan Hall's.

When training for Dublin I had done this as part of a back-to-back double, but this time I wanted to run it on fresh legs (remember last week? I do!) and I ran 7.5 very easy miles on Monday. This should have been 8, but because the clocks had just gone forward it felt too early to get up initially. Incidentally, my heart rate for that run was lower than for any other run in the present training cycle, so a) I really did take it easy and b) I’m still gaining fitness.

I had to get up at 5 am today, which is not the earliest I have ever risen, but my body clock is still on winter time, which meant it was basically 4 in the morning for me. My limbs were shaking as I got out of bed, but I slowly managed to wake up properly. It took me a bit longer than normal to get ready (blame the drowsiness), and I was slightly worried about not having enough time to finish the workout.

When I opened the door the light of my headlamp was reflected back by millions of tiny droplets right in front of me. Not only was it still pitch dark, we had the heaviest fog I can remember. It was so thick that I could barely see the road markings, even with the light set to full strength.

I got into the run straight from the off. Normally I run the first one or two miles at leisurely pace, but this was marathon preparation and I tried to get up to speed from the start. I soon discovered that I was doing better than planned. 90% of marathon pace is about 7:30, and I was easily running 7:15 pace. I did dial the effort down a little bit because I wanted to make sure I would not ruin the more important second half of the run. The coolest moment came at about 6 miles when I was passing a field with about 7 horses that all started to run alongside me. Because of the thick fog and the still forbidden darkness I could only catch a few glimpses of them, but I could hear them very clearly. Sadly, their field was fenced off after half a mile of equine companionship and I had to continue on my own. The third quarter of the loop is the toughest with a few climbs; not big or steep but enough to slow you down. I came back to our driveway after 10 miles at 7:18 pace, and the heart rate had mostly stayed in the low 150s, well below marathon effort.

After a gel and a few sips of water I was out for the second loop, sans headlamp, hoping to run at 6:50 pace. Obviously the effort was a lot stronger now, and when I checked the Garmin after about 2 miles I was rather disappointed to see an average pace of 7:15. I pushed a bit harder to make up the lost time, but when I was well past the 3 mile point of that loop and the average pace was still only around 7:10 I finally caught on to the fact that I was looking at the average pace for the entire run rather than just for that loop! Thomas you idiot!! One button later that was rectified and I gazed at an average loop pace of 6:48, much better and well on target. I passed the same group of horses again, finally being able to see the beautiful creatures properly. I lost a few seconds per mile on the climb again but made up for it on the other side and came home a second time, just under 68 minutes later, average pace 6:48.

I am highly pleased with that effort, and who knows, it might even indicate that I’m in shape for a sub-3 marathon in Boston, something that I had doubted beforehand. I can’t really compare the workout to the one I had done before Dublin because of the rested legs, but I was substantially faster today. At the very least this was a great confidence booster.

And now I guess I’m tapering.

There is a change of plan for the weekend. I got a phone call last night inviting me to join a local running club and to turn up on Sunday for a 5k in Ardfert, which is much closer to home than Cork. I pretty much accepted, and we will probably make this a family day out (I wanted the kids to see Ardfert for quite some time anyway), and I have less worries about a 5k 2 weeks before the marathon than I would have with a 10k. It looks like I will have to wait a bit longer to go under 39 minutes. Ah well.

30 Mar

7.5 miles, 1:04:19 pace, HR 131

31 Mar

20 miles, 2:20:57, 7:03 pace, HR 154
incl. 10 miles @ 7:18, 10 miles @ 6:48

Monthly mileage: 353

Signs of Progress

Some workouts you like, some you don't. I’m generally apprehensive before speed workouts, and sometimes before log runs. It doesn’t stop me from doing them, of course, but I’m always glad when they’re done. Friday’s progression run, on the other hand, was one I was really looking forward to. I knew it would be a tough workout, but I was confident I would be able to do well and I love the idea of running strongly over a long distance.

The plan was the same as last week, namely 3x4.5 miles divided by half mile of recovery. I didn’t program this into the Garmin but pressed the lap button manually. The problem was that without the helpful beep of the watch I ran past my slowdown points not just once but twice. However, that was the only thing that went wrong; the rest went swimmingly.

Not even the weather could stop me. I woke several times during the night listening to the wind splashing the rain against our window. I thought I might have to divert the run to the Ard-na-Sidhe road, but it stopped raining just as I got up, and I decided to run the same Cromane loop as last week. The general idea was to run the first segment at 7:30(ish), the second closer to marathon pace, and the third one at marathon pace or a tad faster if I had the legs for it.

From the outset I had to battle the wind, and the rain returned within the first mile. I struggled against the elements, but halfway through the first section I reached a turn, and from there on the wind would be supportive. I checked the watch and was very surprised to see the pace much closer to 7:00 than 7:30. I thought about slowing down, but now, with the wind pushing me on, running 7:00 pace was so comfortable that I kept at it. Admittedly I also benefited from the 60 feet net elevation drop over those miles. As mentioned, I felt so good that I inadvertently ran half a mile longer than planned and decided to cut the second segment accordingly. On the middle part I had to climb those same 60 feet again and the wind wasn’t as helpful any more. I still managed to get close to marathon pace and if that had been on a level road I’m pretty sure the same effort would have yielded 6:52. I was still reasonably comfortable at the beginning of the third segment, though I definitely started to tire during those miles. I managed to hit the pace though, and was so happy to be running at 6:48 that I missed my turn-around point and ended up with an extra half mile – again. Never mind.

I kept wondering why the run went so much better than last week until I remembered that 7 days ago I had done this the day after mile repeats, while today I ran them on fresh legs following a recovery day. Who would have thought that a strong workout is better on rested legs? Another lesson learned, and if I keep improving my training lore at that rate I might even know how to train for a marathon by the time Boston comes round.

I was really happy with the run, and especially with the way the legs felt afterwards. I took an even easier recovery day on Saturday with only 6 slow miles. But I got a real surprise when I assessed my resting heart rate. Despite Shea’s best attempts to disrupt it came up with 37, the lowest number I have ever seen. It had been 43 only six weeks ago and has steadily come down since then. I must be doing something right.

Unfortunately the foul weather returned today, just in time for the daylight saving time to arrive. I got up, had one look at the lousy conditions outside and decided to wait. It could only get better. Niamh eventually joined the rest of the family, slightly puzzled why I was still indoors at 9am, but very understanding of my reasoning. If this had been a recovery day I would have binned the entire workout but I did not want to miss out on half-mile repeats. I eventually ventured out when the rain died down, but I still had to battle the gale force winds. Maybe they were responsible for my slower-than-planned pace, at least that's my excuse. I did 7 repeats, 2 more than last week, but I missed out on the sub-6 target pace I had hoped for (with an eye on Yasso). However, I won’t lose any sleep over it.

I know that opinion has been divided, but I decided to run the 10k in Cork next Sunday. While it is definitely not my target race I still want to do reasonably well and accordingly I’ll take it a bit easier this week. This means that effectively I will be starting my taper soon, earlier than originally planned. I can’t call this a taper just yet because my most telling key workout, 20 miles with half at goal marathon pace, will be on Tuesday. That will be the last of the big workouts, and I’ll think of Wednesday as the start of the taper. I have moved the last of the progression runs to next week, where it will take over the long run. The pieces are falling into place, the hay is in the barn, and I'm running out of clichés.

27 Mar

15.5 miles, 1:49:24, 7:03 pace, HR 157
incl. 5,4,5 miles @ 7:01, 6:54, 6:48 pace

28 Mar

6 miles, 48:59, 8:10 pace, HR 137

29 Mar

9.6 miles, 1:13:20, 7:39 pace, HR 155
incl. 7x800, 6:06 pace avg.

Weekly mileage: 80.6

Windy Weather

Mike isn’t the only one concerned about my lack of sleep on Monday; I’d had the same thoughts already. Luckily I didn’t have to suffer any more sleepless nights, the last three evenings I got rather tired by 9:30 and went to bed, to sleep for about 8 hours each time. On the downside, this meant being awake before 6 am. I’m definitely a morning person.

Of course I took it easy on Tuesday, but I was actually surprised how decent the legs felt. I was exhausted after my 23 mile run on Monday, but the fatigue was more due to lack of sleep, the legs handled the distance just fine. I guess the slow pace just left them with plenty of reserves. I did notice another drop in my HR. I ran 8:12 pace with an average HR of 133; on the same run after lest week’s long run I measured the same average HR but 8:30 pace. That’s quite some difference. I generally tend to notice fitness gains by the low heart rate on recovery runs like these, and the data is promising. At the very least I know that I’m not suffering from overtraining symptoms.

Wednesday’s workout consisted of mile repeats. Last week I had done 6 of them, today I added an extra one. During the second repeat I didn’t think I would be able to finish the workout, but somehow the legs came round. The weather didn’t help, it was very windy, which made me do those repeats on the Ard-na-Sidhe road rather than run my usual loop to Killorglin. Repeatedly running up and down the same stretch of road isn’t the most exciting way to run, but I was so caught up in the effort that it didn’t matter. The workout went reasonably well: 6:28, 6:33, 6:31, 6:31, 6:45, 6:38, 6:21, which meant I slightly improved my average pace compared to last week despite the conditions. The fifth repeat was a bit off, and the first half of the sixth was even slower, but I managed to increase the effort a bit for the rest of the workout.

I was pleasantly surprised once again this morning by how well the legs felt. It looks like I have gotten over the worst of the weekend’s epic training already. I ran 8 miles at 8:00 pace, and would have been incredibly comfortable had it not been for the gale force winds. At one stage I was rounding a corner to see a veil of rain ahead of me, with the wind providing a stunning and clearly visible rippling effect. My appreciation of this natural spectacle was ever so slightly tempered by the fact that I knew I would be enveloped by it within a few seconds.

Apparently the windy conditions will remain with us for at least another week. I tell you what, if we have to battle gale force winds at Boston I’ll be the best prepared runner of them all. With less than 4 weeks to go I had a few thoughts about my racing strategy. The plan is to start slowly and not get caught up in the excitement. Starting from controlled corrals means I should be surrounded by runners of very similar ability, doesn’t it? If I can take it reasonably easy over the first, say, 10k, I should be in good enough shape to run the final 20 miles at a good effort. And with the first downhill miles, I shouldn’t lose much (or any?) time at the start, even if I hold back. All that sounds easy enough. But as they say, no plans survive first contact.

24 Mar

8 miles, 1:05:35, 8:12 pace, HR 133

25 Mar

10.5 miles, 1:18:43, 7:30 pace, HR 155
incl. 7xmile @ 6:28, 33, 31, 31, 45, 38, 21 (6:33 avg)

25 Mar

8 miles, 1:04:02, 8:00 pace, HR 140

Overload Training

For a change the most important sporting event over the weekend wasn’t my training runs but Ireland’s Rugby team win over Wales in the Six nations Tournament, thereby achieving the Grand Slam for the first time in 61 years (and, as one commentator put it, fulfilling their destiny). Even though I much prefer soccer to rugby I got completely sucked into the hype for the game, and the celebratory mood seems to have swept away the general darkness of recession for a while.

I still went running, of course. In fact, I ran a lot.

After two tempo-style workouts a recovery run was the only option for Saturday, and I got up bright and early for my 6 mile run. The rest of the day was mainly spent on chores and looking after Cian and Maia while Niamh was in Cork with the twins. This is at least a tiring as a tough run.

Somehow Sunday has become my traditional speed day. I had done the last of the 60/60 workouts last week, and following this article I moved on to 180/180. I quickly found out that this is a completely different workout. The thing about 60/60s is the short recovery time, and the HR goes up and up. 3 minutes of recovery, on the other hand, unfailingly brought my heart rate down below 140 each time. Unsurprisingly I was not able to run at the same pace, and the entire workout turned out to be a set of half-mile repeats. The average pace was 6:01, but if you left out the first one it would have been 5:57. Maybe I should add more strides to my warm-up routine, because I generally tend to feel stiff and awkward on the first repeat.

Since it was a nice sunny day (the last one for a while, apparently) we went for yet another family hike, this time a shorter trip up to the top of the Devil’s Elbow. This happens to be the place where my header photo had been taken; you should be familiar enough with it by now. We were back at the car within an hour, and I hoped my legs hadn’t taken much extra fatigue onboard.

Last week I had a great 22 mile run, and today called for the last really long run of the schedule, 24 miles. The distance didn’t worry me, after all this was just a bit longer than last week. What I was not looking forward to was the ridiculously early time I had to be out of bed. As it turned out, things were a lot worse than imagined; I was unable to sleep most night, and didn’t even need the alarm at 4:20. I was up 5 minutes early to make a bottle for Maia who didn’t have the best of nights herself. I had gotten less than 3 hours of sleep at that stage, and even those had been interrupted several times. It was so early that I needed the headlamp again for the first time in a few weeks. Once the sky brightened up a little bit I could see a few ominously dark clouds, and the wind was at gale force strength at times. Last week I had started slowly and gotten faster gradually. Today I was merely slow. I think the mental fatigue from lack of sleep was just as much responsible for that as the actual fatigue in my legs. I just kept plodding on, barely awake at times. I did manage to work out that with the slow pace I would have to cut the run short, or I would have been seriously late for work. I reset my expectations to 23 miles. Eventually, after over 13 miles, I finally started to shake myself awake, threw in a few surges and generally upped the pace. Believe it or not, the run felt easier from then on; finally I had something to focus the mind on rather then crawling along on autopilot. Not that I started flying, but at least the pace finally dropped under 8:00 minutes per mile.

I eventually returned home weary and tried after over 190 minutes. I had just spent more time running than I had slept during the entire night, and I remarked to Niamh that finally I might have overdone things. One lesson I learned is that running 22 miles on fresh legs is a completely different task to running 23 miles on tired ones. Starting long runs with heavy legs after a preceding speed or tempo workout is a good way to build your endurance. However, once the distance goes beyond 20 miles I’m better off recovering first.

I have done some savage training over the last 5 days, and the hardest block of training is definitely behind me now. With 4 weeks to go I hopefully have left enough time for the body to absorb the work. I have one more tough long workout in the schedule; next week I’ll try and run 20 miles with 10 miles at 7:30(ish) pace and 10 miles at marathon goal pace. But I’ll slightly re-jig my schedule and make sure to have an easy recovery day prior to that. Don’t say I never learn.

21 Mar

6 miles, 49:53, 8:19 pace, HR 135

22 Mar

8 miles, 1:00:38, 7:36 pace, HR 155
incl. 5x180/180 @ 6:18, 5:57, 5:55, 6:07, 5:50 (6:01 avg)

23 Mar

23 miles, 3:11:03, 8:18 pace, HR 140

Weekly mileage: 81.5

Tempo Training

If you’re reading plenty of runners’ blogs you know that the Boston bib numbers have been allocated. Apparently I ended up in corral 3, which is pretty far forward if you think about it. I can only hope I’ll be able to keep the pace realistic for the first few miles. When travelling thousands of miles to attend a race the last thing I want to do is ruin it with exuberance within the first two!

After feeling so great after my 22 mile on Tuesday, the very, very heavy legs on Wednesday came as a bit of a surprise. I wonder how much my fast last mile was responsible for this, but I guess the sheer distance and time on feet were more accountable. Taking it easy was the only option, and 8 miles at slower than 8:30 pace is what came out of it. On the plus side, the heart rate seemed to be dropping again.

There was still some fatigue in the hamstrings on Thursday, but not enough to stop me from attempting mile repeats. The schedule had them pencilled in for Wednesday, but of course running the 22 miler a day later than planned meant the entire week was a bit jumbled. I deliberated on the pace I should attempt; 10k pace was out of the question, as I had 6 repeats ahead of me, and half-marathon pace seemed a lot more sensible, so I guess about 6:30 should do the trick. As soon as I got up and had a peek out of the window I knew it was going to be a beautiful clear day, but at that time it was still foggy and there was even some frost on the ground. Maybe wearing a singlet was a bit daft, but I got away with it. When I checked the temperatures later it turned out that it had been no more than 4C/40F at 7 am, quite a contrast to the 18C/65F later in the day. Anyway, I managed to hit the pace on the flat or downhill miles, but unsurprisingly not on the uphill ones, and ended up with 6:35 pace on average. Considering that 2 weeks ago I had struggled to run 10k at 6:58 pace on the same course, I was happy enough with the outcome.

For today’s run I was back on the normal schedule, but not without hesitation. The plans was a but unclear, I was to run 15 miles in 3 faster 4.5 miles segments, but unless I missed it he (Ron Daws that is) never mentioned how fast those faster segments were supposed to be. I thought that progression run with the last 5 at marathon pace seemed reasonable enough, but that was purely my own guess. Since I had a tempo workout on Thursday I suspected that running fast again on Friday might not be the best idea, but since the pace was slower I decided to give it a go anyway. If in doubt I generally tend to opt for the tougher workout, not the smart one.

Anyway, I ran the first segment at 7:20 pace which felt incredibly easy, even considering that it was net-downhill. I sped up for the middle on and ended up with 7:03 pace, and since that had been net uphill it must have been pretty close to a marathon effort. I felt quiet tired after that, but had enough in my legs to give the third segment a good go. I did indeed manage to just about beat marathon goal pace with a 6:51, but the effort felt harder than one I expect to be able to hold for 26 miles. Of course I still have 4 weeks to get used to that pace, and on marathon day I hope the old race-day magic will kick in, but in all honesty at the moment I have my doubts about the sub-3 goal. I compared my recent training runs to the ones I did before Dublin and they don’t seem to be any better, maybe even a tad slower. While this doesn’t rule out a better effort on race day, it’s not a particularly good omen.

The day turned into a rather epic one when Niamh brought my bicycle to the repair man, and I ended up running to him after work to pick up my fixed bike. Despite feeling really stiff and sore early on and running at an easy effort, I somehow got faster and faster. The difference between morning and evening runs is absolutely amazing! Maybe they should start marathons at 5pm.

18 Mar

8 miles, 1:08:03, 8:30 pace, HR 133

19 Mar

10 miles, 1:13:02, 7:18 pace, HR 152
incl. 6xmile @ 6:29, 50, 31, 30, 54, 19 (6:35 avg)

20 Mar

am: 15 miles, 1:48:02, 7:12 pace, HR 157
   incl. 3x4.5 miles @ 7:20, 7:03, 6:51
pm: 4.55 miles, 34:42, 7:37 pace, HR 142

A Perfect Paddy's Day

After writing Sunday's entry about my great but strenuous 60/60 workout, Niamh and Lola announced that we would go for another walk in the woods like we had done a few weeks ago. This can be surprisingly tough, especially since I am the one carrying Maia on my back. We chose to walk Rosbeigh Mountain, and even though we never got lost, because we always knew where we were, we often didn't know which way to proceed, and out map turned out to be hopelessly outdated. We returned to the car after over 2 hours, and Cian especially was completely exhausted. It was another nice day with the family though.

The price I paid was very sore sore legs on Monday, just as expected. This would normally have been my long run day, but I had planned a 22 mile run, which would have necessitated a 4:35 alarm call. With Paddy's Day on Tuesday I decided to re-jig my schedule, and a 8 mile run allowed me to sleep in until 6:20. Oh the luxury! The legs were slow and heavy, and I felt surprisingly warm, especially once the sun rose above the horizon.

With that in mind I decided to wear a singlet on Tuesday. While it is technically still winter, the temperatures seemed to call for lighter garments. I didn't want to leave it too late and left the alarm at 6:20, but I woke just after 5:30, and when I was still awake 20 minutes later I got up and got ready. It was quite bright at 6:15 and I had a waning gibbous moon straight ahead of me, and even though it was chilly I knew that problem would not last.

I had been fairly apprehensive about the run because of the distance and started quite conservatively at 8:30 pace, but the climb up the hills went well and I knew I would be ok for the day. The sun joined me on my journey at 7 am, and the temperatures rose significantly. The first half of the run was very hilly, the second half merely undulating. I was really surprised by how fresh I felt. I stopped by our driveway at mile 16.5 for a few sips of water, and then took about half a mile to get back into my rhythm. Because of the length of the run I kept resisting the temptation of speeding up until the last 1.5 miles, when I finally let go of the breaks and did the last bit at 6:50 pace.

Niamh commented that I looked like I had merely run around the block, and that's pretty much how I felt. I could easily have run longer and/or faster. I guess there's nothing wrong with my endurance.

It was still a glorious day, not a cloud in the sky and hardly a breeze, and we set off for the Patrick's Day parade in Glenbeigh. Shea and Cian took part in this as part of their school and Niamh walked with them. I joined the spectators with Lola and Maia. The best thing about small-town parades is that they are over quickly, the kids got some sweets, and we were back home after two hours. For once I declined Niamh's offer for a long walk in the woods, and just stayed behind with Cian for some entertainment in the garden. A few ball games with the twins and a few cuddles with Maia rounded off the day. It couldn't have gone better.

16 Mar

8 miles, 1:06:31, 8:19 pace, HR 136

17 Mar

22 miles, 2:55:29, 7:58 pace, HR 146

Working Out

When I asked for opinions at the end of my last post I should have known that I would get a rather wide array of answers. Thank you to everyone who took the time to write a comment; it just didn’t help me to make up my mind about that 10k. As Grellan pointed out there is actually a race in Beaufort next week, just about 10 miles from here, but I don’t have the brass neck to just turn up and run when I’m not eligible. As for what I would like to get out of one more race, the answer is one final fitness boost before the marathon. Races are excellent workouts, and I can always feel an effect afterwards, be it lower HR or faster subsequent training times.

My legs felt surprisingly fresh on Friday morning as I set off for my 18 mile run. I started out at measured pace, laboured up the big hill, and then just stared feeling better and better. I gradually improved the pace without even noticing, and was pleasantly surprised by my 10-mile split. I put some extra effort into the next few miles that ended up at 7:21 pace, and then ran the last 3 miles at a strong effort coming up with 6:51 pace. For once an effort like that actually yielded faster than marathon goal pace, if only by the smallest of margins. I seemed to get into really good shape at the start of February, but the illness I contracted just then set me back by a significant amount. I think I am finally getting back into that shape, which would be just in time. If things keep improving I’ll probably be at my peak fitness just in time for the marathon. Anyway, I was quite happy with that run, but my quads were very sore for the rest of the day.

Because that soreness was still there on Saturday I started wondering if I had overdone things after the race. I know I didn’t do any real recovery workouts, but I have never done those, and I have always recovered in reasonable time. My run on Saturday was very slow and short, but didn’t alleviate the feeling in the legs. However, I must have a really short memory, because when I felt better on Sunday morning I went ahead with the next 60/60 session as if nothing had been wrong. It was a beautiful morning, and while the temperature of 8C/46F wasn’t exactly balmy I decided to wear a singlet for the first time this year. The wind was still a factor, but nowhere near as strong as it had been in the past week. I had felt slightly apprehensive before the run, but felt surprisingly good at the start of the first interval. The first half of the run was into the wind but with a net downhill, the second half saw be battling uphill but with the wind at my back, and those two elements seemed to cancel each other out. Of course I got tired, and I could have sworn the 10th repeat was way too slow, but when I checked the Garmin I as still doing 5:3x pace. I had never done more than 13, but since I was still on pace I kept going on. Unfortunately I ran out of road after the 15th, because that’s where a big hill awaits. Only afterwards did I realise that I could have turned around and done at least one more repeat going the other way, but at the time my oxygen-starved brain wasn’t capable of producing bright ideas like that, so I stopped after 15 repeats. I was really happy with that workout, I had done more repeats than ever before at a faster pace than ever before, and I still felt like I could have done some more. Maybe the sickness in February prevented me from peaking early. At the moment I feel better every week, and while I’m pretty sure I would not be able to run a 2:59 marathon right now I am hopeful that the next 5 weeks will bring sufficient improvements to do exactly that.

13 Mar

18 miles, 2:18:04, 7:40 pace, HR 150
4 miles @ 7:21 pace, last 3 @ 6:51

14 Mar

6 miles, 49:41, 8:16 pace, HR 138

15 Mar

8.5 miles, 1:03:01, 7:25 pace, HR 158
incl 15x60/60 (5:37 avg)

Weekly mileage: 73.5

Use and Abuse

Of course I still have Sunday's race in the legs, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I'll take it easy. If you've been reading this blog for a while, that won't come as much of a surprise to you.

The legs felt stiff and heavy when I left the house Wednesday morning for my workout. Last week I had tried a 10k time trial and was less than pleased with the result. After some deliberation I decided to attempt 3x2 miles at roughly the same pace. I knew that Sunday's race would have an impact on the legs, and I gave myself permission to bail out any time. During the warm-up I wasn't particularly looking forward to the faster part, but when it started it actually felt ok. The first pace segment was with the wind at my back, and I managed 6:36 pace, which I was quite pleased with. The second was half with the wind and half against it and yielded 6:44. which actually came as a pleasant surprise because I had expected a lot worse. The third segment saw me battling the wind and mounting fatigue, and if there were such a thing as a helpline for abused legs they would have dialled the number at that point. I managed to complete it in 6:58, which meant that I had run those 6 miles a good bit faster than last week, albeit with half-mile breaks in-between. But with the race still in my legs, this was a much better workout than I had dared to hope for. I know I had gotten slower with each segment, but if you take the wind into account, it would explain a lot of the difference.

My training paces are always slower than you would predict from my race results. I prefer to look at it from the other side: my race results are better than my training paces would predict. That's something I can definitely live with, I just have to learn not to have an eye on the training pace all the time.

Despite being sore all day yesterday I did notice a marked improvement in the legs for today's easy run. It looks like I have recovered from the worst bits of fatigue from the race, despite my workouts. I think my heart rate has dropped slightly as well, which is a normal post-race effect.

I was hoping to run another race before Boston, but it's not looking good. There is a 10k in Limerick next week, but I just found out that it's on Saturday, which makes it impossible for me to attend because either Niamh or me will have to drive the twins to Cork that day and the other one has to mind Cian and Maia. The only other race within reach is in Cork on 5 April, but I don't think running a 10k two weeks before the marathon would be a good idea. What do you think?

11 Mar

10 miles, 1:13:14, 7:19 pace, HR 158
incl. 3x2 miles @ 6:36, 6:44, 6:58

12 Mar

8 miles, 1:04:40, 8:05 pace, HR 139

Analyse That

I guess 10 miles races are long enough to deserve a bit of an analysis. I didn’t get round to connecting my Garmin to the computer on Sunday, and I got a real surprise when I finally caught up on Monday. Have a look at it.



Firstly, you can ignore the HR reading over the first mile and a bit, that’s a false reading that happens when the contacts aren’t moist. Secondly, you can see the slow pace at the start. The first quarter had an average pace of 7:20, at least a minute per mile slower than what I would have run on an open road. And since I still had to weave around plenty of people after that point I estimate that the start cost me about 20 seconds. Not enough to get anywhere near my mallow time, but I most likely would have ended up under 64 minutes. Ah well, never mind.

But what really struck me was that HR spike at 3.5 miles. If you remember the race report you can see that I actually noticed something funny happening to my heart at that point. I had no idea this actually showed up on the HR monitor. I googled for tachycardia and hear rate spikes, and the answers are reasonably reassuring, so I don’t think I’m about to drop dead. As I’ve mentioned, this has happened before, but never during a race, and I did have a medical check-up that came up blank. I have no idea what exactly is going on, but I honestly think it’s not as serious as it sounds.

Anyway, the other bit of information I gathered from the data is that I did not run hard enough! I know the HR is not an exact replication of effort, but the average HR of 176 in Mallow was significantly higher than the 172 in Ballycotton, and I can only conclude that I could have pushed an ounce harder. My easiest mile was the fifth, for which I actually have an excuse because I was sheltering from the wind behind a group. Apart from that, most miles should have been a tad harder. I only pushed hard enough on the last 2.

There were some photos as well. I didn’t spot myself at the start, but with 2500 other runners on a narrow street that’s not very surprising. I found one with about half a mile to go, which won’t win a prize for beauty. Well, I was redlining at the time. There was also an official photographer at the finish, where you can see me with the two guys I had just outsprinted. According to the SportTracks software I was doing about 4:40 pace at the time. It looks like I have finally acquired a finishing kick; all those 30/30 workouts have gained me two places on Sunday.

Following the possibly flawed theory that running on tired legs builds your endurance I went out for 15 miles on Monday. I chickened out of doing 20, but resisted the temptation of cutting it even further. Richard had made a comment on Sunday that my bed must be really uncomfortable, otherwise I would never get up so early. Well, that night Maia had been with us since 4 o’clock, and if you have to share a pillow with a thrashing toddler then getting up at 5:30 gets a lot easier, I can assure you. I was labouring badly up the steep hills, and the wind up there was less than inviting, but at least it wasn’t raining at the time. That came at the halfway mark, and for the next 2 miles I was distinctly cold and uncomfortable. I did question what I was doing, and I wondered how many other runners of Sunday’s race were stupid enough to be out and about at this time of morning. I felt a lot better once the rain subsided and had enough willpower to speed up over the last 4 miles, but not enough muscle fibres to do better than 7:25 pace. Coming home was a massive relief, though.

I finally got my recovery run today with 8 easy miles, again ever so slightly compromised by the wind and the odd rain shower. We’ve had it easy, weather wise, in February, and now it’s payback time. According to the weather forecast the worst is already behind us, but it didn’t feel like that today. The legs are as stiff and tired as I expected them to be. Tomorrow’s effort level will depend on how I’ll feel in the morning.

9 Mar

15 miles, 1:59:54, 7:59 pace, HR 146
last 4 @ 7:25 pace

10 Mar

8 miles, 1:05:05, 8:08 pace, HR 141

The Things We Do for Fun

After much deliberation I eventually decided to run 12 miles on Friday, and to run them as a progression run. The first 4 miles were very easy, which eventually turned out to be 8:02 pace. The middle 4 miles were at a better effort and came up at 7:42, though quite a bit of that was uphill., The last 4 miles, still net uphill came out at 7:03 effort, which isn't bad, but I ran them at a higher level than marathon effort, I think, and of course they came out a good bit slower than my goal pace. Never mind.

A parcel arrived during Friday, containing two new pairs of shoes, including a pair of Nike Lunaracers. I had been using a pair of Lunatrainers for a while, and was keen to give the racers a shot, after my previous racers had reached the end of their useful life. I took them out for an easy spin on Saturday, to test if I could wear them on Sunday. The run was fine, the shoes felt good, and I was on for the race.

My recent race preparation includes 3 easy miles in the morning, and I got up reasonably early on Sunday. I managed to wait out a hail storm followed by very heavy rain, and managed to squeeze in my run between two sets of truly nasty conditions. I set off in good time, the weather seemed to improve a bit on my way to Cork, and met Grellan and his neighbour, Pat. Grellan was kind enough to give us all a lift to Ballycotton. The wind there was blowing rather strongly, it was biting cold, and we knew it would not be a particularly easy day. After plenty of waiting around, we went for a warm up. With 15 minutes to go, Grellan went to the start line, but a call to nature delayed me for another 5 minutes. This turned out to be crucial. By the time I approached the start area, a wall of people blocked my way from way back. I followed two more guys who were pushing their way towards the front. Eventually, there were no more gaps to squeeze through, and I was stuck well behind where I wanted to be. I could see Grellan and Brendan well ahead of me, but there was no way to get closer.

The start came soon enough, and it took me 30 seconds to cross the line. The first minute was ridiculous, I was squashed in the crowd, and could not run properly. There were so many others around me, and dozens of morons who had started way ahead of where the should have been. Eventually a few gaps appeared and I managed to speed up. By the half way mile I was pretty much at the pace I was hoping to do. I expected Brendan and Grellan to be so far ahead of me that I would not see them again until the end, but was very surprised to catch up with Grellan just before the first mile mark. We exchanged a few words, and eventually I pulled slightly ahead. As I passed the one mile marker, a guy shouted out the times, and I passed just after 7 minutes. Unlike last year I remembered that I had crossed the start line after a delay, and my net time was just a bit slower than 6:30. By now I had a reasonably free road, and the second mile is the most downhill one, but I did start to notice the strong headwind. It was at that point that I noticed a guy in a white singlet with green and black striped across; we seemed to trade places regularly, as we sped past dozens of slower runners who had started ahead of us. Mile 2 went by in about 6:15, giving me an average pace of 6:25 so far. The next mile continued in much the same way, but the wind really started to bother me. What became clear very quickly that I was slower than in Mallow 2 months ago, but faster than in Ballycotton last year.

I took a drink at the first water station, and must have slowed down, because that's where I lost contact with the guy in the striped singlet. I wondered if I should keep up, but I was already pretty much at the edge. This became very clear when all of a sudden I felt rather odd. It's like my heart just went into overdrive. I was a bit worried; I've had tachycardia before, but never during a run like this. I changed the view of my Garmin to display the heart rate, which came up as 172, certainly not very high. This seemed to reassure me enough to basically forget about it and continue with the race.

With the headwind so strong, I found it basically impossible to keep up the pace. The average pace started slipping, until it reached about 6:30 by the halfway mark. I was still passing people, and eventually I caught up with a group containing Mary Sweeney, a local running legend. I started drafting behind her and her fellow runners. I felt I could have run a tad faster, but it did not seem worthwhile the extra effort in the wind. By the halfway mark we would turn out of the wind, and then it would be coming from behind. I could hardly wait, but until then I was content to sit and wait. Eventually we turned a corner, where Mary got her customary ovation from spectators. I mentioned to her that it must be great to have so many fans, which she agreed on, and then I was ahead and on the way towards the finish.

I heard a runner approaching from behind, and was absolutely convinced that it was Grellan. However, when he drew level it turned out to be someone else, though Grellan later confirmed that he was very close behind and actually saw me looking around. This was just about the only runner who had passed me for a long time, though I think I managed to re-pass him later on. At about the 6-mile mark I took my secret weapon, a gel. This seemed to have worked well in Mallow, and I tried to replicate this. While I was waiting for the boost to kick in I passed the 10k mark in about 40:20, which was slightly disappointing, about a minute slower than in Mallow.

Whether it was the gel or something else, but I started feeling better. By mile 6 I had thought that there must be easier ways to get a mug, by mile 7 I was doing a lot better. The average pace had become faster again, to 6:26. That mile contained a few downhill parts, and on each of those I flew past a few more runners. This is something I have always done. I gain on the downhills, and I used to lose on the climbs. By now I have worked on my climbing strength; I am still able to run the downhills better than most, but I'm now able to keep my position on the uphill sections. Anyway, at one point someone I had just overtaken said something like “I'm going to hitch a ride”. I wasn't able to respond, but didn't mind the company. He didn't manage to stay with me for half a mile, though.

One of the guys I passed was the runner in the white singlet with the green and black stripes, who had pulled away from me 4 miles earlier. That little victory pleased me no end.

The 8 mile marker came earlier than I thought. Normally that's a good sign, but it was also the beginning of the section that I dreaded most. The 9th mile is a bitch, with a steep uphill, and several more smaller ones. However, I could smell the finish, and I had a new target, namely to beat 65 minutes, not just on chip time but also on gun time, which would be about 64:30 chip time. I was still on target, but with the climbs ahead this was less than assured. I gave as much as I could, and I still managed to overtake a few more runners. This was where I had caught up with Brendan last year, but I knew very well that I would see no sign of him today. But, I managed to keep on pace, and that was all that mattered to me.

With one mile to go, I thought our places were pretty much settled, but I heard footsteps approaching from behind. I managed to hold the guy off for a while, and the even higher effort meant I gained another place. But I could not prevent the runner from passing me eventually. With about a quarter of a mile to go I thought I could not possibly gain another place, but I started running like a madman. To my surprise I gained on the guys ahead, and managed to pass not just one but two other runners. The only one of that group who stayed ahead was the guy who had just overtaken me, and I crossed the line at 64:48 on the clock, with a chip time of 64:19. I was a bit disappointed to be over a minute slower than in Mallow. The congestion at the start certainly cost some time, but not enough to make up for the time difference.

One guy came up to me, thanking me for pulling him and his friend along. You're very welcome, mate, but in all honesty I was only looking after myself today.

Results are here. (Looks like a lost a place since the first, unofficial results. I used to be 199th, now I'm 200th)

Grellan came in half a minute later. He thought he had broken 65 minutes, but the official results have him at 65 on the dot. I wonder what he said when he saw that. Brendan, on the other hand, had a chip time of 61:39. Wow! Congratulations, mate! Richard caught up with us and took some photos. Looks like we had some fun.

6 Mar

12 miles, 1:31:29, 7:36 pace, HR 149
incl. 3x4 miles at 8:02, 7:42, 7:03

7 Mar

5 miles, 39:40, 7:56 pace, HR 145

8 Mar

17+ miles, incl:
Ballycotton 10, 1:04:19, 6:25 pace, HR 172
199th out of 2398

Weekly Mileage: 80+
Edited Monday morning to get rid of the worst of the grammatical violations. Writing a race report at 10 o'clock at night does not yield brilliant prose, apparently.

No Tempo

I don’t quite remember how this started, but ever since last year tempo runs and me don’t mix. We just don’t see eye-to-eye, metaphorically speaking. I’ve ranted and raved enough about this by now, and I guess I’ll spare you this time round. Let’s just state that my tempo runs aren’t tempo runs any more, and I’m not entirely sure how to fix this.

Sure, I’ve got the usual excuses. It was early on Wednesday, about 6:30 local time, and early morning hours aren’t conductive to fast running. Plus, the weather didn’t exactly help. In the middle of the warm-up, I started hearing precipitation fall against the trees and for several seconds couldn’t quite figure out why I wasn’t wet from the rain yet, until I finally realised that it was snowing, not raining. According to the weather pages the wind was at gale force levels, and I could never quite figure out where it came from – it usually seemed to come head on, of course. Oh, and it started hail stoning when I was about half a mile away from home, which is why I ended up with 9.9 miles. I did not feel like adding an extra 0.1 miles in those conditions just to get to a round number.

Anyway, I recently did start to worry about an important component missing from my training, namely sustained hard(ish) efforts. I did 2 or 3 runs at marathon effort and some short tempo runs before the hill sprints, but that was it, and it’s not a lot. The training schedule finally included a 10k time trial this week, but I was left wondering at what effort level that should be run. It was never going to be 10k race pace, I simply can’t do that without a number pinned to my chest. I always thought that tempo runs should be run at half-marathon pace, which would be 6:30 according to my PR, but I have run a 10-miler at 6:18 pace 2 months ago, which probably means that my HM PR is a bit soft. Never mind, I can’t seem to hit 6:30 in a training run, so I decided to run mainly by feel, and ideally the HR should be somewhere in the 160s.

What I ended up was 6:40 during the first half, and a big slowdown due to wind, snow, hills, fatigue and probably laziness on the second half, and I ended up with 6:58 average pace for the 10k segment, which is even slower than the planned marathon pace. Slightly worried I checked last year’s log, and was re-assured to find similar paces during the Dublin build-up. At the very least I don’t seem to have slowed down. I might break next week’s tempo run into 2 shorter segments (that’s what I did last year, even though I hated the break in the middle), and I’m thinking about swapping the tempo and speed sessions, i.e. do the speed sessions on Wednesday and the tempos on Sunday, because on Sunday I tend to run 2 hours later in the day, and the legs just feel so different. I do wonder if I should try and run a tempo run after work once a week, rather than do my entire running in the early morning. How I would do that without impacting on my family life I don't know, though. And let’s be clear, family will always come first.

Niamh refused to let my cycle to work because of the weather, and absolutely insisted on driving me. I didn’t think it was quite that bad, but gave in.

Today’s easy run was unremarkable. The weather forecast was bad, and I woke a few times in the night from the wind and rain but got lucky during the run. It remained dry until mile 6, and it only started raining more heavily on the last mile, which I can endure. This time I had to cycle to work, though.

4 Mar

9.9 miles, 1:12:59, 7:22 pace, HR 154
incl. 10k @ 6:58 pace, HR 162

5 Mar

8 miles, 1:07:07, 8:23 pace, HR 138

Back Home

I guess I’m a creature of habit, which is why I don’t even think about getting up early each day any more; I just do it. Being back home in Caragh Lake provided me with my usual roads, which I found comforting. It struck me on Monday that for the last 5 days I had run in different areas of the country each day: Thursday Cork, Friday Kerry, Saturday Cork, Sunday Dublin, Monday Kerry. I don’t particularly want to repeat the insane amount of travel that happened between each of these runs ever again.

With the Ballycotton 10 miler being on Sunday, I did hesitate on the mileage for Monday’s long run. The original plan had said 20 and the revised one 18, but the last thing I did on Sunday evening was to set the alarm for 4:50, time for 20 miles. Things got a bit more complicated when Maia woke as I got ready and I had to spend some time preparing a bottle and settling her back in her cot; I thought I probably wouldn’t have time for 20 miles and would end up doing 18 or 19 after all.

Since I had turned Saturday’s planned easy run into a tempo workout I couldn’t help but wonder how my legs would hold up.

I set off into the very dark night. In marked contrast to all the runs in Cork it was dead still; I did not encounter another human being for the next 2 hours. The weather wasn’t great with plenty of wind and the occasional rain shower, which is never a good combination. But the legs held up much better than they did the previous Monday, and when I reached our driveway after 15 miles I decided to go for the entire 20 miles and to put some extra effort into the final 5. I started that last section at around 7:30 pace but surprisingly managed to gradually increase it until I ended up with an average pace of 7:22 for the last 5 miles, 7:47 pace for the entire run. That’s a decent improvement to last week, but definitely not yet where I want to be.

Cycling to and from work was a chore, with the tired legs and the increasingly strong wind. At times like that I really want to buy a new car, but the journey is over after 20 minutes and then I’m happy enough with my bike again.

I took it really easy today, my first easy run in a few days, and something I really needed. For once I didn’t have to keep an eye on the Garmin to ensure that I wouldn’t speed up unnecessarily, the legs dictated the pace and the rest followed. I should have worn long sleeves though; the temperature of 3C/37 F would have warranted that, especially as the wind was definitely picking up again. One day I’ll learn.

I still haven’t quite decided yet how much I am prepared to compromise the marathon training for Sunday’s race. I’ll definitely do a time trial tomorrow; the question remains how long I should run on Friday. On a normal week this would be 18 miles. I’ll definitely cut this to 15 at most, but I’m thinking about doing no more than 10 or 12. Decisions, decisions.

2 Mar

20 miles, 2:35:34, 7:47 pace, HR 152
last 5 @ 7:22 pace

3 Mar

8 miles, 1:06:56, 8:22 pace, HR 140

Magic Insoles

I'm writing this text in Dublin on my fancy new netbook with Maia sitting on my lap, so I'm a bit distracted. If my thoughts seem disjointed, you know why.

Niamh took a plane to Dublin on Friday evening with Cian and Maia, leaving me in sole charge of the twins. They had to attend their classes in Cork on Saturday, and that's where we drove the following morning. While they spent their 2 hours in UCC I took the opportunity to go for my run. I headed towards the Lough, which I knew from the marathon. I figured that a loop around some water should be a lot flatter than the rest of Cork's roads. Grellan once told me that amongst Cork runners a loop around the Lough equates to one mile, but my Garmin came up with less than 0.7 miles – sorry, guys! I didn't know if there was an etiquette towards the direction you're supposed to run and chose to run counter-clockwise. I met two runners who did it the other way, a girl running fairly slow, and a guy running a lot faster, and from his heavy breathing and the pained expression on his face I figured he was on a hard tempo run. This was supposed to be my easy day and I tried not to get sucked into an imaginary race, but the legs did have a mind of their own and gradually increased the pace with each loop.

Since we would not be heading home after the twins' classes and I was planning some speed work for Sunday, I only brought my racers; Saturday was my first ever “slow” run in flats, and somehow the feet seemed to turn over much quicker, without me telling them to do so. Maybe they put some magic insoles into those shoes, but I found it impossible to slow down. After 7 loops around the Lough it was time to head back to UCC. The fast guy was still doing his tempo run, I guess at about 7:00 pace. Top marks for effort, man! Personally I found it hard to run even 7 loops, from a psychological point of view.

When I was back at the car I realised that I had averaged 7:17 pace – I had done the fastest run of the week on what was supposed to be the easiest day! My first thought was that Ewen and Mike are going to give me grief for this – and that they would be absolutely right. But don't blame me, blame the magic insoles!

When Niamh had explained her plan of flying to Dublin, she apologised for making me miss my weekend runs because nobody would be there to mind the kids. Luckily I figured I could run in Cork on Saturday, and then I had the ingenious idea of driving to Dublin straight from Cork, thus enabling me to get a run on Sunday see my new niece. Everyone seemed to agree that this was a great idea, and we arrived at Nana's and Gaga's at about 7:30, not too late.

In the meantime, Ireland had beaten England at rugby at the historically loaded venue of Croke Park. As the coach said in his interview afterwards, every day you beat England is a good day!

I missed today's 10k race in Adare, but at least I was able to run a 60/60. I programmed the Garmin for 15 repeats, but that is only the max, not necessarily the correct number I'll end up doing. I wondered how much yesterday's much-too-fast run and the 5 hours in the car had cost me, but the things that bothered me most were dodging walkers with dogs and crossing a road. It felt a bit strange, I never felt like the legs were moving as fast than they should, but on the the other hand I felt pretty good for the first 10 repeats. Things deteriorated very, very quickly after that, though, and when the 13th was markedly slower than the previous ones I called it a day. Not one of my better workouts, for various reasons. Not even the magic insoles could save me today.

We're driving back to Kerry tonight, and I hope for a spell of uninterrupted training for a few weeks. There is still room for improvement in my running, which I will need to fill if I want to break 3 hours, and especially for anaerobic workouts I feel the need for my familiar routes in Caragh Lake, otherwise I can't seem to do them.

28 Feb

6 miles, 43:42, 7:17 pace, HR 158

1 Mar

9.4 miles, 1:11:33, 7:37 pace, HR 156
incl 13x60/60 (5:52 avg)

Weekly Mileage: 86.7
February Mileage: 235.5