19th August – Clonmel half marathon.
Was dreading this a bit but I knew despite the struggle I was
going to face it was a race that needed to be run. I had aimed for a modest
goal – 1.44 to 1.45, in other words run this as a long run at marathon pace.
Bumped into a few lads from Mallow AC, they all had their own goals ranging
from 1.25 to 1.50. Warmed up with 2 miles. When the race started I stayed in
behind the 1.44 pacer and for the first 2 miles I was slightly out of breath.
By mile 3 I felt a lot more comfortable and while the legs were hardly fresh i
was content enough to rumble along at approx 7.40 pace. After 60 minutes I had
covered 8 miles which was on the slow side for me but was feeling optimistic
that I might do better than I thought. By mile 9 the legs were feeling really
h-e-a-v-y and I knew I was in trouble. I hit mile 10 in 1.17 ish and my race
was run. I walked ran jogged the next 2 miles something I have only done twice
before. The sight of the 1.44 pacer was enough to get me going again but by
12.57 miles (Aine the pacer informed me of this) I was back walking for a few minutes. I managed to revive myself
enough to jog gingerly over the finishing line for a chip time of 1.45.16. The Mallow lads did very well with most of them coming in well ahead of me.
So what lessons have I learned? I know I am well out of shape
in terms of achieving a sub 3.30. I know I will manage to improve on this poor
effort for 2 upcoming half marathons in September. I also know I need to focus
on my LT threshold and in particular on my long runs. The next 7 weeks will be
crucial in this regard. As a training run I did manage the first 10 miles at MP
pace but the last 3 miles were poor efforts. That said my body and legs will
benefit from this workout. A work in progress...
Mileage for the week 52 miles
Sounds like a tough day out. May just be a holiday hangover ... You're missing the sun!!!
ReplyDeleteThings may not be as bad as you think ... I remember a couple of years back blowing up badly in the blarney hm and being reduced to walk jogging from mile 10. But 3 weeks later I ran a good PB in the cork to cobh 15m breaking my hm PB along the way! So keep at it your goal is still a couple of months away.....
I agree with Brendan. I'd aim for the Cork to Cobh at MP (but you need to be strong not to go off faster). This time of year is all about aerobic base, heat management & long slow runs. Anytime I did well in a marathon I always came off a training plan that had an 8-12 or 15 mile run in the middle of the week (with a long run on the weekends). If your MP target is 7:40 you should be trying to run the long stuff at 8:30-8:45. It will feel very slow but it's about time on your feet, not the pace. You should be up at over 3 hrs on your feet by the end of your long runs.
ReplyDeleteThanks Richard. Was chatting to my cousin Don and he was having the same conflict over the Cork Cobh as I'm having. It falls 3 weeks and a day before the Dublin marathon - the very day I supposed to be doing my 22 mile LSR that day. What to do? I did CorkCobh last year 4 weeks out and it saved my bacon setting me up for my Dublin PB. Now i am wondering how can I work around this particular problem - i want to run 22 miles slow but also do the cork to cobh race at MP pace. Do I do my 22 miler on wednesday after it or just forget te Cork Cobh? Decisions...decisions....
ReplyDeleteI've had that dilemma.The bigger issue is whether a 3 week taper is enough or too much (it's too much for me; I go off form too quickly).
ReplyDeleteI've just done the 22 miles after the race (a few days later if you can fit it in - it'll be mid week).
Your call in the end.