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 .

 

Cork marathon 3.59.27- bad race but no regrets......

Cork marathon report 3.59.27

Not a sub 3.30 that’s for sure. In fact this was my  worst marathon time ever but strangely enough I feel proud and defiant at my efforts. Mile 1 to Mile 13 went well. I passed the half marathon mark in 1.42.30 or so and I was feeling very solid. However going over the walkway just after that I begin to feel pretty bad. The sweats started to break out and the legs were feeling very weak. I lost the 3.30 pacers at mile 14 and decided that if i was wasn’t going to make sub 3.30 then a sub 3.40 would be my target. My buddy Aidan was suffering badly too. At mile 15 I was still slightly under 2 hours so all hope was not lost. Went past my cousins by Pairc Ui Choimh wishing Orla congrats on the birth of her daughter . A little after that i spotted Sharon, John, Denis and Aidan from the club cheering us on. I knew I was struggling and it was obvious they could see it too. With Denis’s words of “Dig Deep” still in ears I plodded on. On the Monaghan road though the blow up happened.

Well “feck it anyway” I said to myself. At that stage I contemplated just heading back to my car feeling really sorry for myself. At mile 16 Patrick Buckley jumped out of the crowd with a bottle of water. “My legs are gone, I’m f***d” I said. Pa offered great words of encouragement and you know it worked. I decided then I was going to finish. I reckoned If I walked for 4 minutes and ran for six it would be enough to get me home. A messy strategy I know but attempting to run non stop on a empty tank would probably finish me off.  Aidan was walk running it too and the two of us for the rest of the time were walking past each other and/or jogging past each other. It did make me laugh and I was resolved to get through it. At mile 17 I was on the go for 2hrs20mins with that mile done in 10mins20seconds. Nothing for it but to keep grinding on. I walked up the steep flyover and then back with the running at mile 18 on the Curragh road. Mile 18 was completed in over 10 minutes before It was time for another bout of walking. At this stage there was 2hrs30 minutes up on the watch and I actually wasn’t doing too badly. Maybe a 3hrs52mins was on the cards.

The heat was killing me and a lot of other runners. When I say heat it probably wasn’t that hot at all but any rise in temperatures combined with loss of  body water and  body salts plus the stress of running can effect the body. A lot of runners were reduced to walking pace by the Manhattan Bar but I was happy enough (considering). Kevin and a few others asked me If i was ok and funnily enough I was . Mile 19 took another 10 minutes and I was thinking “Ok you are running/walking a crap race but at least you ain’t quitting. You have had a good six months setting a number of PB’s and you have a sub 3.30 under your belt.” Peader was tipping away ahead of me and at mile 20 I was chatting to two lads who said they enjoyed reading the blog. “Time for a title change” I quipped. At mile 21 going up the Model Farm road the 3.45 pacers caught up with me and I was thinking that maybe it’s worth sticking with them. I assumed they had passed me ages ago and this gave me a lift. However the change in throttle proved beyond me and I was in serious cramping mode. Mile 22 passed in 9.58 with 3.08 up on the clock.I had hoped to be at mile 24 before this but that was all gone now. Mile 23 the cramping got worse and the walking became more pronouced. This mile passed in 10mins55seconds and things were taking a nasty turn. I refused to stop and stretch but each step i walked was agony with each attempt at shuffling marked by a slight tension in my chest.

One poor guy was being strapped up by the medics for heat exhaustion with a lot of us resembling extras from the Walking Dead. Mile 24 passed in a amazing time of 13mins20seconds with John, Denis et al there again. “Come on Cathal you will get under 4 hours!!!” Not at this pace I was thinking!!!  I got chatting to this guy by the Mardyke and he was hoping for a sub 3.15 having done a 3.18 in Dublin beforehand so I was in good company. “This is resembling a charity walk!!!” I quipped and we both laughed. Spotted another guy getting strapped up by the medics, obviously heat exhaustion. Even more worryingly I looked behind me and saw the sub 4 pacers bearing down. I had nothing left in the legs at mile 25, (13mins25seconds) but I was damned if i wasn’t going down with a fight. This last mile was going to be my own little battle. Running over the bridge and up the Mill Race I spotted my buddy Dermot doing the half. All I had to do was stick with him and I would sneak under the 4 hours (he was on course for a 1.58 in the half marathon). Up the North Mall and Popes Quay I was in agony. At mile 26 I got a nasty shock when a seagull dropped his load just in front of my toe. Thankfully it missed but could you imagine finishing the marathon covered in bird dung!!!. (i had to laugh)

At mile 26 the time was 3.58 or so. The announcer was doing 20 seconds to 4 hours and so on but my chip time was enough  to see me home at 3.59.27. Aidan finished in 3.50 - a good debut marathon. Kevin pb'ed in 3.40 or so - a excellent result.

Crossing the line i was glad to get under the 4 hours given the circumstances of the day. I had to give the sub 3.30 a shot but truth be known I picked the wrong race to get under sub 3.30 especially given the course and the conditions. Moreover 10 weeks training was’t the ideal way to train and my long runs in training pointed to a difficult day. Mind you settling for a 8.20 pace and getting there at 3.45 wasn’t something  i wanted either. I was determined to give it a shot and it didn’t work out. No regrets, none at all............

 

Cork marathon chip time 3.59.27

Marathon fashion police

27^th May

Last week before the race and last week of the taper. I was looking through my taper notes from previous marathons and I am more or less following the usual path. Very little running this week, more a case of short workouts at marathon pace dispensing with the recovery runs completely. Tuesday morning was a 4 mile run at marathon pace. Did the workout at a average at 7.50 pace but the effort was quite arduous I was far from achieving that effortless floating feeling one is supposed to feel. No wonder when i saw the HR- 171!!! Crazy stuff altogether and far removed from the low Hr in last weeks tempo run. The HR has been a issue since the mallow ten possibly as a consequence of not running recovery runs at a proper slow pace and running tempo runs at too fast a pace. I suspect my body was also adjusting to recovery from some of the longer races I ran recently . Either way when training for the next marathon it will have to be sorted. Issues at work and one or two other personal things may account for the high HR.

Thursday  morning was another 4 miles at marathon pace, 7.45. The HR was a bit lower- 157 but still too high for the pace i was going at. Rest day scheduled Friday morning and I am stewarding at the Doneraile 5K. Sleep hasn’t been a problem. If anything I feel i am sleeping too much. Appetite remains undimished  but I am resisting (with mixed results) snacking on chocolate and crisps- a bit difficult to be honest. Abstinence off alcohol isn’t a issue either. Last time I had a beer was 4 weeks ago which is about normal for me at the best of times.

Friday evening was a bit different. Heading down to the beautiful setting of Doneraile park for Mallow’s Ac  Dan Byrne 5k memorial race. I ended being roped into registering runners and helped Ger with the finishing times as runners came in. Hectic to say the least. It was the first time I saw how a race is organised from the point of view of the “clipboard” and it is a very busy and exacting business. No room for error either. Anyway i did my job and I think it all went off pretty well.  Running is a far easier business..... John and Denis are real stalwarts at pulling this sort of thing off- a real asset.

Saturday morning headed out the door for a easy 2 mile jog though I made sure to keep at around 8 minute pace running the last ¼ mile at a faster pace. Headed up to Cork meeting my father for a social chat and to collect the numbers for myself, Darragh and Kevin up in city hall.

And that is pretty much that.....Sunday will be just spent lazing around avoiding any attempts by other s to coax me into doing any household/gardening/shopping chores. Hard to figure out what the weather will be like Monday-preferably overcast and cool. In terms of running gear I will make a call on what top or singlet to wear in the morning. If it is warm may dispense with the heavier t-shirt and club singlet in favour of something  less distinctive and lighter. I will have the usual 5 gels in my pocket and the splits for my target time on a piece of paper. Better wear the hat too, taking no chances. Will be up there for 8 am to get the parking sorted. I usually park near Coburg st saving me a long  sore walk back in favour of a shorter sore one instead. 

In terms of race tactics I simply hope to catch up with the 3.30 pacers at some stage and just hang in there. If I can’t manage to catch up or hang in there I hope to fall back on my B goal of sub 3.40.

Miles this week 10 miles