23Rd June – Saturday
Was slow and reluctant enough to get
up this morning. The schedule called for 15 medium but I wanted to try
something different rather than a ernest plod. I decided to see how I would
feel after 6 miles and try a marathon pace finish. 4/5 of these MP runs are
hugely informative and help the body adjust and adapt accordingly. If I made 15
miles and was able to do 16 miles all well and good if the legs went before 15
miles well at least I knew what I had to build on. I was able in races to run 13.1 miles at 7.15 pace but running at
pace in a training run is always harder. Clocked up 5.5 miles and then started
to lift the pace. I was aiming for a sub 8 pace. At mile 5.5 I was averaging
slightly faster than 9 minute pace (44.45). When I hit the steep climb just
before mile 6 my time was 53.09. Time to test the legs now. Mile 7, 8, 9 and 10
passed in 7.56,7.43,7.49,7.55. Came to a savage hilly part on the road out of
Gerryfine and up to Rathgoggin. You wouldn’t see the like of it in Dublin
that’s for sure and I have to admit i wussed it. I paused the garmin and jogged
gingerly up it before racing again. Mile 11 passed in 8.02. The effort was
becoming difficult but I felt it was more psychological than physical. I was happy enough with the way things were
going but I doubted if I could stretch the pace to 15 miles. Headed down the
railway rd in 7.48 pace for mile 12. Was determined to eek out another mile at
7.44. That 13th mile was probably too fast but I wasn’t strong
enough to run another mile at MP. I stopped and walked jogged the last 2 miles.
I was a bit disappointed in the run in that I couldn’t sustain MP effort for
another 2 miles but on reflection I did ok, not great, not good, just ok. I now
have a building block of MP pace (7 miles out of 13 miles) I can work on. In a
few weeks I will run 16 miles with 8or 9 at MP pace and hope to be able do 15
out of 18 miles at MP pace by October. I will also have run a couple of half
marathons (hopefully sub 1.35) by then so it’s a good situation for week 2 of
my 20 week programme. The thing with MP runs is not to race at a 7.15 pace but
rather train the body to be able to run at my goal pace over a long period of
time. It’s sounds easier than the reality. It’s also obvious I am out of
practice racing...
13 miles with miles 7 to 13 run at
7.50 pace. Over all time 1.48.08. Hr was 153 but over the last 6 miles was 163
which is a crazy high. Hopefully that will improve over time. It did last year
so no worries there yet.
24th June
Finished the week off with 5.5 mile
recovery jog. Walked for a minute or two after every slow mile in order to keep
the heart rate low. Hr was 136. Took around 55 minutes. My weeks running was ok
–ish. My tempo run went well as did my 11 mile medium run but the 9 mile medium
jog and aspects of my long run weren’t all they should be. Still though I have
logged another 50 + plus mile week and feel ready to tackle another week. I will repeat this weeks schedule again but work will be intruding a fair bit.
Monday 18th June – 9 miles
with 4 tempo, 19th June 11 miles medium,20th June 5
recovery,21st June 9 miles
medium, 22nd June rest, 23rd June 13 miles with 7 at
MP, 24th June 5.5 miles recovery.
Total mileage 52.5
Cathal, Dublin is 4 months away so there's plenty of time to get those MP runs in and build up the mileage. Looking good so far.
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