Training Log Archive: WhitesheepIn the 29 days ending Feb 29, 2020:
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| Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saturday Feb 29, 2020 #
Running (buggy/bag) 1:11:44 10.16 km (7:04 / km) +40m 6:55 / km
ahr:123 max:143 shoes: New Balance 1500 (iii)
Friday Feb 28, 2020 #
S&C 30:00
Thursday Feb 27, 2020 #
Running (buggy/bag) 41:44 6.01 km (6:57 / km) +62m 6:36 / km
ahr:136 max:158 shoes: inov8 parkclaw
Running (buggy/bag) 22:12 3.17 km (7:00 / km) +84m 6:11 / km
ahr:120 max:135 shoes: inov8 parkclaw
Sunday Feb 23, 2020 #
Road running race 2:52:31 42.38 km (4:04 / km) +83m 4:02 / km
ahr:171 max:182 shoes: Mizuno wave hitogami (ii)
Really enjoyable race. Knew I wasn’t in perfect health (again!) but squeezed out all I could on the day. Can’t complain with 4 mins off the pb.
Longer version...
After holding off the girls’ nursery bugs all through training, I finally caught one early in the taper. I still thought I had plenty of time to recover but just plateaued in the last week. I got a bit down about this early in the week - shades of valencia a couple of years ago which was a bit frustrating - but after a couple of days enjoying the build up with the other six from our Thursday morning training group I was relaxed and ready to take it as it came.
We had a great house in the city and the one mile stroll to the start in the dark with the camaraderie was great. We then set off at seven different paces.
The early signs weren’t good for me. I couldn’t fill my lungs without triggering a cough and for some reason my quads were heavy from the get go. On the plus side I felt fit and could go along at a good pace without being right on the limit. There was one moment where I sped up to close a 10m gap to a group when we turned into the wind, where I felt really good and able to accelerate.
The blow-up I was half expecting just never really came and it gradually dawned on me that i wasn’t getting any worse. Paul motored past me on the way to a 2:48 at about 2/3 distance and around then I had to decide whether to stick or twist. I figured that trying to speed up was super risky and if I played it safe I would almost certainly manage 2:52. It wasn’t really a hard decision.
I did slow down a bit in the last quarter. Perhaps if 2:51 were my lifetime goal I could have eked out a bit more, but it isn’t and I didn’t. Then again perhaps it just got hotter: it was in the 20s when I finished and I was still overtaking people at the same rate.
Favourite bit by far was the plaza espanyol, the liveliest part of the course and also the bit where I realised I would get a pb. Loads of support there gave me a proper boost. It was also nice to finish close to five others who I’ve trained with over the winter - though equally sad that there were three more who should have been enjoying the moment too.
Also worth remembering that I think I got my nutrition bang on. Decent breakfast then I started the race with a 500ml throwaway bottle of beta fuel, took 3 normal and 2 caffeine gels before 35km, and took water at every station. I reasoned though that the water was mainly to sweat out and cool me down, so was less worried about drinking it and happy to throw most of it over me. Compared with previous marathons (where I’ve focused on actually drinking the water) this meant I faffed about less and made better use of the water stations. I seem to be blessed with a fairly tolerant stomach and made more use of that this time than I have done before.
5k splits: 20:30, 08, 15, 08, 20, 17, 43, 59. Halfway in 1:25.30, second half 1:27.
My pacing was pretty good really. From 4km to halfway, apart from one km where I pushed on to shelter in the group from the wind, all km splits were between 3:59 and 4:04. Even once I slowed down I had a stretch of 4:12, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11.
The main thing is though, I enjoyed this a lot and felt significantly more experienced doing this than last time out. I’ll definitely do another in the next year or so, and don’t think I’ve yet run my lifetime pb.
Saturday Feb 22, 2020 #
Road running 22:09 3.75 km (5:54 / km) +14m 5:48 / km
ahr:124 max:139 shoes: Mizuno wave hitogami (ii)
Friday Feb 21, 2020 #
Road running 28:51 5.12 km (5:38 / km) +6m 5:36 / km
ahr:139 max:154 shoes: Mizuno wave hitogami (ii)
Wednesday Feb 19, 2020 #
Running (buggy/bag) 17:00 2.62 km (6:29 / km) +54m 5:53 / km
ahr:132 max:151 shoes: New Balance 1500 (iii)
Running (buggy/bag) 18:12 2.59 km (7:01 / km) +54m 6:21 / km
ahr:122 max:139
S&C 20:00 [0]
Sunday Feb 16, 2020 #
Road running 1:14:18 16.93 km (4:23 / km) +30m 4:21 / km
ahr:159 max:181 shoes: Mizuno wave hitogami
Saturday Feb 15, 2020 #
Road running warm up/down 12:04 1.89 km (6:22 / km) +2m 6:20 / km
ahr:134 max:156 shoes: New Balance 1500 (ii)
Road running 18:37 5.04 km (3:42 / km)
ahr:178 max:185 shoes: New Balance 1500 (ii)
Nice to get a decent run out. Hard conditions and still a bit chesty so didn’t set the world on fire but did get my legs turning over.
Running (buggy/bag) warm up/down 14:34 2.3 km (6:20 / km)
ahr:136 max:146 shoes: New Balance 1500 (ii)
Thursday Feb 13, 2020 #
Road running tempo 42:50 9.84 km (4:21 / km) +69m 4:12 / km
ahr:158 max:177 shoes: Mizuno wave hitogami
Felt like I am a day or two away from being completely clear of this cold. I think I got the balance just about right between resting up to avoid getting really ill and keeping my legs ticking over.
Running (buggy/bag) 34:33 6.01 km (5:45 / km) +64m 5:28 / km
ahr:137 max:155 shoes: New Balance 1500 (iii)
Wednesday Feb 12, 2020 #
Running (buggy/bag) 31:22 5.91 km (5:19 / km) +64m 5:02 / km
ahr:148 max:178 shoes: New Balance 1500 (ii)
Running (buggy/bag) 17:37 3.24 km (5:27 / km) +77m 4:52 / km
ahr:133 max:163 shoes: New Balance 1500 (ii)
S&C 15:00 [2]
Tuesday Feb 11, 2020 #
Running (buggy/bag) 18:27 3.41 km (5:25 / km)
ahr:137 max:148 shoes: New Balance 1500 (ii)
Running (buggy/bag) 16:31 3.39 km (4:53 / km) +84m 4:20 / km
ahr:134 max:146 shoes: New Balance 1500 (ii)
Monday Feb 10, 2020 #
Running (buggy/bag) 18:06 3.4 km (5:19 / km)
ahr:138 max:149 shoes: ASICS 2000 (ii)
Running (buggy/bag) 54:55 10.85 km (5:04 / km) +171m 4:42 / km
ahr:139 max:151 shoes: ASICS 2000 (ii)
Saturday Feb 8, 2020 #
S&C 40:00
(sick)
Friday Feb 7, 2020 #
Running (buggy/bag) 1:21:33 12.38 km (6:35 / km) +91m 6:21 / km
ahr:125 max:142 shoes: New Balance 1500 (ii)
Thursday Feb 6, 2020 #
Road running tempo 1:13:44 17.0 km (4:20 / km) +123m 4:11 / km
ahr:158 max:178 shoes: Mizuno wave hitogami
Wednesday Feb 5, 2020 #
Running (buggy/bag) 34:07 5.12 km (6:40 / km) +68m 6:15 / km
ahr:129 max:145 shoes: ASICS 2000 (ii)
Running (buggy/bag) 37:24 6.3 km (5:56 / km) +97m 5:30 / km
ahr:125 max:141 shoes: New Balance 1500 (ii)
Tuesday Feb 4, 2020 #
Road running intervals 1:01:24 11.19 km (5:29 / km) +45m 5:23 / km
ahr:142 max:183 shoes: Saucony Type A
Ran hard, enjoyed the long recoveries, stopped when it got hard. Nice first taper session.
Just under 3:10 pace so about 75s per 400, good for me.
Monday Feb 3, 2020 #
Note
M - rest/core/yoga - thought I’d do this on weds instead but my knee is sore and tight where I bashed it yesterday)
T - 6-7x 800 hard, aiming for a good pace but fewer reps than before
W - easy double
T - Thursday group tempo, full fat version
F - 90 easy
S - 60 easy, maybe with a steady parkrun
S - 16 miles incl 2x 5 miles marathon pace
Total about 60 miles
M - easy into work
T - steady run plus strides
W - core/yoga/weights
T - Thursday group tempo, 2/3 distance
F - rest
S - 60 easy, maybe with a quickish parkrun
S - 10 miles incl 2x 3 miles marathon pace
Total about 40 miles
M - easy to/from work
T - 3-4x 1 mile marathon pace
W - 30-40 mins easy
T - rest/yoga
F - 30 steady with strides
S - 20 easy
S -give it all I’ve got
Total about 20 miles plus race
Note
Long runs:
24 miles steady
20 miles steady
19 miles mixed
17 miles with 10 marathon pace
24 miles easy
20 miles steady
19 miles steady
24 miles progression
20 miles with h/m marathon pace
18 miles easy/steady
20 miles steady in terrain
2x 16 miles mixed
So 5 longest were about 112 miles/180km. For Valencia I did 106 miles/172km plus a 40km double day. My 6th-10th longest runs come to 96 miles which would not be a bad total for the five longest.
In terms of hours, I’ve had 4 months up at 9-10 hours a week average plus 2 months at a good 7 hours a week. Ive sustained 70 miles per week average for a good 10-12 weeks with some 80-90 mile weeks. For Valencia it was 1 month at 9-10 hours a week plus 4 months at 7-8 hours a week. Mileage peaked at more like 60 miles per week sustained average.
It will be interesting to see how this goes. I’ve done quite a lot more volume in this build up but with a tiny bit less focus on really big sessions. I think again I could be in 2:50 shape, although as ever with marathon build ups it’s hard to be confident as I’ve been running with high mileage for so long.
The best guide is probably the 36:20 10k, which was probably worth more like 36:40-45 without the net downhill. That would predict low 2:50s plus whatever improvement I’ve managed in the 3 months since then. It certainly looks like 2:50 could be realistic.
My original A goal with 6 perfect months was 2:45. I’d happily take a risk chasing that time as it would be a great experience doing the London championship start. But the 3 missing weeks over Christmas plus general poor sleep the last few months have taken me too far away from that perfect 6 months. I think that’s just too much of a stretch to be worth it this time.
Sunday Feb 2, 2020 #
Road running long 3:07:26 39.52 km (4:45 / km) +284m 4:35 / km
ahr:153 max:170 shoes: Mizuno wave hitogami
Didn’t feel the best to begin with but on the plus side I felt pretty much the same 2 hours in after 16 miles at a decent pace.
Slightly frustrating underfoot conditions, with probably 5 miles of thick or greasy mud. Those miles were slow plus had a horizontal moment.
Saturday Feb 1, 2020 #
Running (buggy/bag) 41:51 7.29 km (5:44 / km) +24m 5:39 / km
ahr:131 max:149 shoes: New Balance 1500 (ii)
S&C 25:00 [3]