The Blood and Bandage

Week  ending 28^th July

Whatever thoughts I have had of entering the Dublin marathon and maybe getting a sub 3.40 time were well and truly blown out of the water this week. My form has been poor since the Cork marathon marked by sluggish running and very streaky HR readings. Previously i had little problem after one marathon  going into one training cycle after another. This year is different.  I don’t really want to be putting myself under constant pressure aiming for a race where i am not prepared to accept less than my best. Also we have booked tickets to see Primal Scream on the weekend of the marathon so Bobby Gillespie wins out this time

I had made some noises via friends and social media about tackling Dublin but in truth it was ringing hollow. I am trying to persist with the long runs if only to be in shape to get around for the Achill half marathon at the end of August. My buddies organised  it as my 40^th is on in a few weeks after that so i can hardly not finish it.

In previous entries I placed a lot of emphasis on the Hr monitor and using aspects of Maffetone training. That hasn’t changed but nothing wrong with the occasional race either.

Monday was a recovery run. 3 miles at 136 HR rate. On Tuesday did 5 miles with the newer running group in Mallow. Hr was under 140 yet pace was slow 9.20 per mile. On Wednesday i did 5 miles at a “faster” pace (8.30 pace) with a 150 Hr. Thursday marked by first 5 mile race in 12 weeks since i hit a 33.08 PB in Midleton. The  race took place in Churchtown South .This time I started wobbling at mile 3.5 coming in my slowest five mile time ever – 37.03 (7.27 pace).  Nevertheless I enjoyed the race and it was good to see my friends run well.

By Friday the cold i had picked up had really and truly kicked in not helped by the race on Thursday and possibly worsened by a night out with friends Friday night. No regrets on that score though a meeting with friends is always a valued occasion. On Saturday most of the snotty symptoms had gone but the barking chest stuff was still present. It meant sleeping out the long run with the club on Sunday morning.

By Sunday evening emboldened by the hurlers epic win against Kilkenny i decided to hit and see could I manage 10 miles. By mile 2 the chest was burning and whether it was the lungs , the heart or whatever  i had to pack it in after 3.5 miles.  I no energy what so ever in the body, a problem that has been there in one form or the other since June. This time it was probably worsened by the cold.

As tends to be the way with plan my goals and objectives are changing constantly. This time the plan for the next 2 months will be simple. Get the fitness back and get some races up on my belt. Times or more specifically PB’s are of secondary importance. I know my next planned marathon won’t be until April so plenty of time to build it up again.

Meanwhile let's enjoy the hurling.

Anyway mileage for the week 22 miles with one 5 mile race.

 

Donoughamore 7 race and other musings

It was seriously warm Friday night as we stood around the start line. One of the stewards said his phone stated it was 28 to 30 degrees Celsius despite it being 8 pm in the evening. The field was down on entries too around 212 but still some very good runners at the pointy end of things. Mallow was well represented too with the usual notables present and one or two new faces. My own expectations were very modest. I just wanted to get around in around 7.30 pace. This is a tough course, allied with the heat and my limited training, my target was a reasonable one. My friend Tim O'Connor new to the world of road racing shot off ahead of me and that was the last I saw of him until the finish. He finished in a excellent debut time of 49.10. I ran the first two hilly miles in 7.50 pace anticipating a faster effort over the next downhill 3 miles. I ran at a controlled pace hitting the next two miles at around 7.30 pace. To be fair I had no garmin but the stewards at the mile markers did a excellent job of keeping time. At mile 5 things started to get hairy enough with the mile passing in 7.30 facing into 2 very tough uphill miles. A number of runners were walking it at this stage and I must have overtook a good dozen at this stage with two runners in front of me proving elusive.  A number of locals had set up impromptu water stations and in particular one lovely old lady was a great help. By mile 6 I was feeling shagged and that mile passed in 8.00 or so. The legs were feeling the burn but I managed to squeeze enough out to over take two more runners  before the legs started to feel really heavy. By the times i faced the last pull at 800 metres I had nothing left to give and I lost some ground to some runners. The time for the last mile was  8.20 ish but I had nothing left to give and came in at 53.20 according to my watch. I think the chip time had me down for 53.11 but I didn't give it much investigation. I didn't match or beat my first race back in 2010 but all in all was reasonably happy with the workout. Last year I ran very comfortably in 49.51, a indicator of how fit I was.

Some of the lads from Mallow did very well indeed in particular club trainer Shane who finished 3rd.  As I say a tough race and a good workout.




By Sunday morning I was feeling Friday's race during the long run. The lads picked a very hilly  route - Caherduggan. All hills and pulls. I was last man in running 13 miles in around 2 hours. Not a great long run by any means but HR was respectable enough 147.

The chances of a respectable time in the Dublin marathon seem a long way away at the moment but I will persevere and see how things turn out by September. I really have little interest in turning up for at best a sub 4 finish.

Miles for week 33 miles. Monday 3, Tuesday 5 miles, Thursday 5 miles, Friday 7 mile race, Sunday 13 miles.

Heart rate V pace rate

Still enjoying the heat wave that has been hitting the country for nearly two weeks. Forecasters are predicting we could actually go another week like this which given weather in the past is nothing short of amazing.

What it means for running is that I have to try to get my running done in the morning. No chance of me running in the heat that's for sure. Tuesday morning  I was scheduled to run a fast 5 miler with the middle 3 miles at a faster pace than the first mile. At the moment fast is a relative term. Did the usual 5 mile route in Charleville. It's fast and flat. Did mile 1 in 7.55 with the fast portion in 7.34, 7.34, 7.41. I was feeling solid enough at that point running the last mile home in 7.30 with a easy 2 minute cool down jog afterwards.Hr worked out as 160. Again that is high for what was for me a slow tempo run. Previously I would have run the same tempo at around 7 to 7.15 pace with a Hr reading of 150 but it was the best workout since the marathon 6 weeks previously.

Wednesday was by contrast a bit of a wipeout. I over slept and considering I had a bit of work to catch up on I never managed to get out at all. In hindsight that was pretty dumb and probably had more to do with me reacting in a lazy manner. Will know better next time. Thursday morning decided to run a 5 mile jog at heart rate rather than by pace. The target heart race was 144. Mile 1 took 8.45 but the other miles were run slower and slower in order to keep the Hr to 144 with the last one passing in around 10 minutes. I will persist with this midweek method for a while yet hopefully sandwiching it between two pacier workouts.

I was reading with interest a article debating the merits of running by pace or running by HR. Both sides of the argument are very strong but I like to think that running recovery, long runs and midweek runs by Hr and tempo and interval workouts by pace might strike a happy medium. Of course the ideal outcome would be to run at a fast pace but within the correct HR parameters. That I am sure will come back in time. That is why I feel committing to another marathon cycle would be unwise. For the moment I will just commit to training.

Anyway it's time to get back to entering a race. I decided to do the Donoughamore 7 tomorrow evening. Last year I ran this at a handy enough clip of 49.52 or so and I had hoped to get under 49 minutes this year. It is a hilly course with 2 miles uphill, 3 downhill and 2 uphill again.It's a tough race and probably not the most ideal one to be racing as a comeback race but at the very worst it will be a good chance to get 7 miles up on my legs. I won't be predicting a time either I will just see how it goes

Munster final loss

Monday 15th July

Just writing this a few hours after a 3 mile recovery jog at9.20 pace. Before I even started I knew this would be a poor effort as the Hr was up to 90 beats before I even went running. Anyway it averaged out as 150, about 20 beats higher than normal. Easy explanation - 12 mile long run the day before instead of a planned 10 followed by very long and fruitless day watching the Cork hurlers implode against Limerick in the Munster final followed by a 3 hour car journey home. It normally takes 30 minutes. Having to deal with some clown who decided to block any chance of me getting out of the car park despite me having right of way wasnt great either. P. Reidy of the blue contractor van, you sir are a pillock.

To be fair though the previous week had gone well. Solid stuff all the way. Recovery run on the 15th July at 136 hr, 5 miles with 3 mile tempo @ 7.36 pace on the 16th July, 5 miles @ 144 hr on Wednesday, 4 mile club session with sprints on Thursday with the long run with the club on Sunday. Massive room for improvement on all those workouts but at the moment it's the best I can manage.



Mileage for week ending 14th July, 29 miles

Getting back to my roots

The fact that I am contemplating entering a few races over the next month or so is a good sign that the hunger is coming back. The mental and physical recovery from my Cork marathon has been very difficult marked by mileage exceeding no more than 20 odd miles a week over the last 4 weeks. It probably means running the Dublin marathon in 16 weeks may be unlikely unless the long runs start increasing at a quicker rate. One must remember that this time last year I was running 55 miles a week with a low Hr in long runs and able to run 4 mile tempos at a strong pace. This time things are different being preoccupied with getting that blasted Hr down. The Maffetone method is one for the most patient but I am trying to apply during Monday, Wednesday, Sunday long runs. Thursday is put aside for a club session with the possibility of running a race or two over the next month. Tuesday is a scheduled tempo session.The road back will be hard but it's good to be back.

Monday 3 miles, Tuesday 5 miles, Thursday 5 miles, Sunday 8 miles.

Building from the ground up and running with a HR monitor

10^th June

I have put any thoughts of running the Dublin marathon to the back of my mind for the moment and will just concentrate on building from the ground up. In otherwords spend 4 weeks running slowly and surely. I will be paying a lot of attention to the HR monitor. Nothing fast and nothing spectacular. In fact everything from on till end of the month is slow, slow, slow. This is of course will be highly frustrating at times as i will be comparing very slow jogs to what i could manage when at peak training. Of particular interest will be my long runs. Long in this case no more than 8-10 miles.

As I said Dublin will be put to the back of my mind. If pace and HR improves then it might be back on the agenda but if not that’s ok too. I do have the Connemara marathon or ultra lined up next April so no panic there with a possible another crack off a marathon PB later next year.

Did 4 painful miles on Tuesday and Thursday. The effort wasn’t just physical but mental too. Pace was in the 9.15 area with a high HR 146 and a whooping 155 respectively. By Friday morning though I still felt enthused enough to attempt a 8 mile recovery jog  on a out and back course in Charleville town. I preset the garmin’s alarm to beep if the Hr strayed into high readings in this case 155 plus. Therefore the whole run was one of slow jogging punctuated by bouts of walking if the alarm sounded off. The walking enabled the HR to drop to under 150 before I went off jogging again. Running all out would have spelt doom for any chance of recovery. Completed the 8 miles in 9.30 pace with a Hr of 150. The pace was still very slow and the HR too high for my liking. Ideally I would favour a long run pace of 8.45 with average Hr of 145 or less but at the moment i will have to stick with it. Will try another 8 mile next week and I hope to see a improvement. Saturday morning i tagged another 4 miles up on the legs -144 Hr @ 9.35 pace. Mileage for week 20 miles

18^th June

Progress has been rather slow and painful at the moment. Sometimes it goes that way I guess. Usually a week after a marathon i tend to able to up the base mileage pretty quickly but this time things are different. Daniels and Pftizinger swear that patience and running according to ones recovery Hr is the key to a successful comeback so I’m giving myself 4 weeks recovery and see where I stand after that. Unfortunately that means no races and no long runs with the club at the weekends. I hope to ease into club training on Thursday with the less intensive workouts.if anything I hate to miss up on the social interaction associated with club running. At best I am a infrequent attendee so it’s no harm to pop in now and again. Anyway 3 miles at 10.30 pace. Hr 138. Resting heart is now 54 BPM, around 4 beats lower than last week but still way off my low of 45 BPM.

Anyway based on my ideal resting HR (50 BPM), my max HR (180-185) I try to run at the following intensities. Races don’t count as they are run as all out efforts but the below intensities are very instructive for me in particular the figures for  recovery and LSR’s. Paying more attention to these when training for Cork 2013 might have helped me. I see a lot of sub 3 runners (2hr55 to 2hrs58) are able to to run recovery runs at a Hr of 131 and still maintain a pace of under 8 minutes a mile. Again we will see how it goes. Just concentrating on recovery, building base and getting the hunger back.

	Heart rate reserve%	Hr  training rate	My ideal target pace (mis/sec)
VO2 max	91-94	170-171	6mins40secs
Lactate Threshold	77-78	148-163	7mins to7.15
Marathon pace	73-84	142-157	7.40 to 7.50
LSR pace	65-78	131-150	8.30 to 9.00
General Aerobic	62-75	127-145	7.45 to 8.05
Recovery pace	Less than 70	138 or less	9.30 to 10.30

 

Resting

9^th June

Sunday evening. Ireland is enjoying it’s best week of sunshine in years and today is probably the hottest day in a number of years. 25 degrees is nothing compared to what other parts of the world enjoy but here in rainy Ireland it’s amounts to a cause of national celebration. It certainly makes our garden look well and contributed to a lovely mellow mood in Cork city on Friday night when I ventured out for a few beers. However from a running point of view (and I know I will get slaughtered here) it’s nothing short of a nightmare. Watching the club members take part in a 2 mile time trial last Thursday I didn’t envy them one bit. A good crowd turned up (51 or so) with a number of runners from other clubs taking part. Some of times were in the really high range – 10 minute to 12 minute miles with my own personal time (12mins33seconds) blown out of the water by some excellent efforts from club members. As I say the heat was savage that night so I was delighted to watch and observe.

Anyway I attempted my first run today on a glorious Sunday morning. It was all i could do to manage a slow 3 mile effort and that’s where I will be for a few weeks 3 miles, 4 miles, 5 miles. Hopefully I can make some inroads by August and be in a position to tackle the Dublin city marathon. I know I am better than my awfully poor time in Cork. After all any one who can run a 3.27 marathon, a sub 70 ten mile time and a 13.1 Pb of 1.34 is pretty useful. This summer will be a case of seeing if i have it in mind to put the record straight. Then again If i don't make Dublin, no fault either. 6 marathons in 26 months is a fair amount of running so maybe a break is needed. I am comitted to Connemara in April of next year, no chance of a PB there but looking forward to the challenge of doing it. My mind and body will tell me when i am ready.

By the way thanks to all the lovely comments left after my last blog entry. The comments were very nice and to be honest i felt slightly embarrassed at having to write such a tough report after such a poor run. One feels like a terrible eejit. Lets be honest I ran a stinker.

 The people in Mallow AC were very kind too. It's always a bit embarrassing chatting to people who are excellent runners explaining why one has bombed when they reach high standards.. I just hope I don’t come across as being some kind of bluffer. I never claimed to be fast just merely ambitious.... Such are joys of blogging and putting it out there....

3 miles Sunday plus 26.2 miles Cork city marathon .