2008/10/31
Marathon Wrap-up
I will try to keep ths simple...
I went into the marathon doubting my ability to run sub-3. I just wasn't feeling good during the taper and assumed that the taper wasn't working and that I had lost a lot of fitness.
My rae day prediction was 3:05 but I also planned to hold 4:16/km for the first 14km and then decide if it was sustainable or not.
I held this pace comfortably but was a little concerned that my HR was a little too high and by km 14 I hasd crossed my 4mmol LT (168bpm) three times!
Nonetheless, I decided that I would go for the sub-3 and gave it full comitment.
The two kilometers that preceded the half way poing were difficult and I had to let go of a nice group and run it alone, eventually crosing the half way point at 1:30:04.
This disheartened me and for a moment or two I thought that sub-3 was, once again, to be a distant dream.
Almost immediately however, my legs came good again and I hit a 5km long straight road with the wind directly behind me and was holding 4:05/km with ease. I must have made up a minute there and was almost convinced that I had the sub-3 in the bag.
I then decided that I would hold back until the 20 mile mark and from then on would ignore my HR and run for all I was worth.
Just before the 20 mile mark a group that contained the F35 runner up came by so I decided to latch on to them and try to hang on. At this stage my HR was over 170 pretty much all the time, but I reckoned -and hoped- that I could sustain it for annother 40 minutes.
Crossing the 10km to go mark with 43 minutes to spare I smiled and knew I had done it... 43 minutes and some considreable discomfort later, I crossed the line in 2:59:46. I don't thing the smile left my face for two days.
Here is the data:
Here is the specific Dublin City Marathon training:
Here is my run training for the year:
And all my training for the year
2008/10/30
Still resting. I might go the the gym tonight... I'm not sure.
I'll also do a season wrap-up and see what I did right and wrong this year. During the next few days I'll also decide on a goal for next year.
2008/10/29
The Marathon was ysterday ad I'm still on a high... I did three things that I thought were impossible:
1/ Break three hours
2/ Do it with a negative split
3/ Run it with an average HR of 165
My basic plan at the start line was to run at 3 hour pace for the first 14km and then decide if the pace is sustainable or not.
14 km came and went and I felt pretty good so I decided to go for it. Just before the half way stage I went through a bit of a bad patch and had to let go of the 3 hour group.
When I crossed the half way point I saw 1:30:04 on the clock and thougt that was the end of the sub-3 dream for this year. I decided to keep running at the limit and see how close I could come to 3 hours.
I started to feel good again and from then on I was actually holding back for the final 10k push to the finish. With just over 10km to go I decided to start the push and went for the finish as hard as I could. I then started to believe that I could go sub-3 and with the help of a sub 4 minute final kilometer I crossed the line in a time of 2:59:46
I'll post the polar graph and the splits tomorrow and then I'll take a break and start the off-season blog... I'll also have to decide what the goal is for next year.
2008/10/25
Travel day today and I still have not predicted a time. During my run last night my HR was around 4-5bpm higher than usual so it's ost likely that a small bit of fitness has been lost from my none too perfect taper.
I have managed to handle the (life) stress that I have been experiencing of late, so it's still too soon to predict a time yet. I'll do the flight, run tomorrow morning and then I'll make a prediction.
2008/10/24
Well, things haven't gone very well training wise. My taper is looking like:
5 days off after the Long Run
12km with 3x1200m at T-pace (3:48/km)
Day off
Today I'll probably run 40 minutes Easy with some strides
Tomorrow travel
Sunday 20 minutes, with some strides
Monday race... I'll predict a time tonight
2008/10/16
That's it - with the exception of the not so small matter of the Dublin City Marathon, the long runs are done for this year.
Tonights run: 2:30, 31.4km, av. HR 145, pace 4:48/km
I added 6 strides in at around the 2 hour mark and then suffered for the remaining 30 minutes of the run... Anyway, that's that - DONE!
2008/10/15
Not earned, but a rest nonetheless.
2008/10/14
Did an intercal set tonight:
10 min w/u
5x1200 with 400 walk/jog recovery
10 min w/d
and it looked like this:
It was hard and, truth be told, I intended to do six sets but I quit at five because it was too hard! A quick read of Jack Daniels upon returning home showed that he does not use interval sets thi close to a Marathon - It should all be E and T paced running at this late stage... Well I know now!
2008/10/12
I still feel a bit strange. I'll decide about running later.
I still fel odd in the evening but decided to go for a run anyway.
It was my usual 1 hour course and the numbers surprised me. I didn't feel good at all when I began to run so I decided to run on HR -since what I felt was way out of whack with what was going on.
I tried to keep my HR between 145 and 150 and ignored the perceived exertion -which was high with respect to the HR I was hitting. I had good and not-so-good moments during the run, but all in all it was not as bad as I expected.
The surprise came when I downloaded the session:
Distance: 14.3km
Av.HR: 149
Av. Pace: 4:18/km
Running INdex: 75
Not too shabby at all!
2008/10/11
A rest... I feel a bit off. Not sure what it is.
2008/10/10
I had a quality workout planned today and was not feeling good before it. I decided to do it anyway:
20 minutes warm up
2 x (15 min at T pace (3:55/km) with 3 mins recovery)
15 minutes easy run home
This was very difficult for me and many times during the first set I considered not doing the second. I bit the bullet and finished the two sets and now hope to get some real benefit from it - I'm not looking f orward to the next one.
I think -if weather permits- I'll go out on the bike tomorrow. A nice two fresh Autumn on the bike would be a nice break from running and could also have some recovery benefits too.
2008/10/09
It's lunchtime now, I've walked 90 minutes this morning and I feel good. I feel the run in the legs, but I could certainly do a pretty good run today if I wanted... and I do want to, but my rules say no!
2008/10/08
Just back from the long run. It is getting to the stage where I now consider it 'not torture' -just tough- this is progress. Also, last night's run showed four year bests:
My longest to date (I won't go any longer in training this year)
The lowest average HR (this, considering that last night's gym session was tough)
The highest average speed (this makes me happy)
The highest Running Index (I put no weight in this at all - except for bragging rights!)
So, it seems that I'm on track to a good marathon. I'll see how I recover tomorrow and on Friday I'll do annother quality session. Either 10x800 with 400 jog recovery at the track or 30 min steady,then 2 x 15min at 4:00/km with 3 min between sets. Neither will be easy.
2008/10/07
Gym time: 1 hour on the Concept2 at Aerobic threshold: av. HR 149 bpm, distance 14004m
Then some random weights followed by 15 mins at 13km/h on the threadmill... simple as that!
2008/10/06
A reluctant rest.
2008/10/05
I finished off my week with an easy run: 15.1km, av. HR 145, av. Pace 4:23/km.
That's 62km for the week and I'm feeling pretty fresh... which means I should be carefull I'm probably entering my injury danger zone where my confidence engourages me to do something stupid in training. I hope being aware of it and actually typing it will help me to keep a level head.
Next week I'll do 2 quality runs: The long one and about 70 mins with 2 x 20min T-paced sets with 3 mins recovery. I'll pad those runs with two easy ones... this will be my last hard week before Dublin.
2008/10/04
I'm tired today and will probably not train. Maybe I'll do some weights for 30 minutes... I'm not sure.
My season will be over in three weeks so it will be then time to examine what went right and wrong. I was tempted to do that now however, I have one (or two) more races left this year so I can't draw any conclusions just yet...
1/ A 10k race next week in which I would hope to set a new PB: under 38:07
2/ Dublin City marathon, in which I would like to get as close to 3:00 as is possible.
3 weeks left to the marathon. That means just 2 long runs and 2 big weeks training to go.
I went to the gym: 10 mins run, leg and arm weighs, chin-ups and 2k on the concept2 (7:38). All done in 44 minutes.
2008/10/03
I headed to the track today to do some intervals.
Run there, 5x1200, run back.
It looked like this:
Lap1:4:36, av. HR 160
Lap2:4:38, av. HR 162
Lap3:4:38, av. HR 163
Lap4:4:38, av. HR 165
Lap5:4:19, av. HR 171
I felt good all the way through but my legs were finished afterwards and I took a short-cut home.
2008/10/02
While the long runs are not getting easier, I can safely say that the recovery is quicker with each one. I feel pretty good today and would even consider going for a run if the chance arose - I don't thing that chance will arise, however it's good to feel this way after a long one.
2008/10/01
Long run: 30.7km, 2:26:46, av. HR 145, 4:46/km
The best thing I can say about it is that it wasn't torture until about the 27th kilometer... after that however every step was unpleasant. And, two good points: 1/ It's done, 2/ There are only two more long runs left before the big long run in Dublin.
I've been looking at my Stockholm Marathon prep and am surprised to see the lack of long runs. In the last 14 weeks I did the following long runs: 22,24,24,27,26,30,18,19
That's just over one long run every two weeks... no wonder I really felt the pain in the last 10km. It seems that I'm better prepared for Dublin at the moment. By the time I start Dublin, I will have done 9 long runs in 9 weeks - that seems more like it. Race-day will however have the last word.
2008/09/29
I'm just back in from the gym. I took it pretty easy today from an intensity POV... Here's what I did:
12k on the Concept2: 50:47, 147 av. HR, 171W av. Power
Some chest presses, chin-ups, leg curls.
20 mins on the threadmill
Sauna, shower and home.
I'm not sure what I'll do tomorrow. Rest and do the long run on Wednesday or run and do the long run on Thursday... I'll see how I feel tomrrow and decide then.
2008/09/28
I took two rest days and finaly got out tonight. I had no idea what to do so I jut ran. It first turned into a fartlek run for the first 35 minutes and then as I passed Kristinebergs IP I thought I'd drop in and do some intervals.
I did 4x800 with a 400m recovery.
The 800s were done in 3:00,2:59,2:58,2:57 and the recoveries were all under 2:00 ...
This left me with a 2.5km easy run home and a total of 15km for the day and 68km for the week... I think that this is my biggest run-week ever.
2008/09/25
I went for what was supposed to be an easy run today - a slow and steady 8.5km. It turned out that my recovery from yesterday was not nearly complete... at least I got away with it. I won't do that again!
2008/09/24
The long run is coming today ... I don't look forward to it!
Done, and it wasn't too bad at all:
30.55km, 2:27:29, av. HR 143, 4:49/km
The new runners felt great today, so the worries about them is now gone.
That's the long run now as long as I want it... in theory, I have three more long ones left before Dublin City Marathon. For these I'll just hope they get easier with each one and I'll begin to add more intensity on the other runs during the week.
I feel I'm very close to reaching the first start-line of my life without any injuries or ailments... the most important thing now is to just stay sensible and don't over reach in training.
2008/09/23
Gym today. 10 min run as a warm up, 10k on the Concept2 (new PB: 39:58, av. HR167, av. Power 204W), some chest presses and then a 10min run to finish with.
2008/09/22
I did my usual 15km M-Paced run today... The M-Paced part was 57 minutes, av. HR 151, 4:11/km. I started to feel my run-form was slipping after about 40-45 minutes but with a bit of concentration, I kept the pace up.
I had a new pair of runners today and -probably as a result of that- my left knee now feels a little tender... I'll keep an eye on it and see how it develops.
2008/09/21
Because of famisl visitors, nothing done since Wednesday... enough said!
2008/09/18
I feel really good today. I don't feel the effects of last night's run at all. I suppose the training is paying off at last.
Nevertheless, a rest is in order.
2008/09/17
I don't feel too good today, during my morning walk my legs felt pretty dead... I'm not sure how to procede.
There are two possibilities that come to mind.
1/ Skip the long run today and do a medium distance Fartlek. Then do the long run on Friday.
2/ Bite the bullet and just do the long run.
Option two scares me since the previous two long runs have been pure torture and the thoughts of starting a long one not-fresh seems like a recipe for extreme torture.
I'll try to take it easy for the rest of the day, sleep when Nola sleeps (between 14:00 and 15:00) and make a final decision at run-time.
Yesterday, I finished a project that started over two years ago:
It ended up being a long run:
28.9km, 2:18, av. HR 140, 4:51/km
Didn't feel too bad except for the fact that it took over two hours... I'm glad it's done!
2008/09/16
I feel really good today, my legs feel no effects from last night's run- I might attempt a return to swimming tonight and see what happens. I'm sure I will display neither speed nor salmon-like grace. It will be a start though!
In the end I decided to hit the gym and did the following:
5 min running to warm up
10k on the Concept2 in 40:39 (av. HR 161, av. Power 193W)
Some chest press type machines
20 mins at M-pace to 'cool down'.
Done!
2008/09/15
I did my medium distance M-paced run tonight. I found it pretty tough going for the last 20 minutes. Details were: 15.2km in 1:05, av. HR 156. the M-paced part was 13.72km, 58:27, 4:15/km, av. HR 157.
Wednesday is my next run -the dreaded long one of 27-29km- I'm not looking forward to it at all!
2008/09/13
I had two unplanned rest days before today's 5k race...
The time wasn't what I hoped for, but looking at the HR plot, I see that the effort was solid from start to finish.
The lack of specific speed training is clearly evident. Last year I did the same race in around the same time with very little run training. This leads me to believe that one must specificaly train for this distance to see any significant improvement at the distance and since I'm not sure if it will ever make it onto my priority list, I will probably never go under 18 min for the 5k.
2008/09/11
I'm tired today - very tired! Last night's run has wiped me out. My legs are heavily fatigued, I also get dizzy every time I stand up. I took my PB and it read a tepid 103/63 - quite low...
Perhaps a rest day is in order.
2008/09/10
I managed to get my long run in today, but it was not planned so well. I had a hectic day and simply headed out running when the chance arose -which was at 19:20. Eight km into the run I started to feel bad and then remembered that I hadn't eaten since 3 o'clock. I stopped off in the nearest petrol station, fuelled up and continued on my way.
Just like last week, the run was pure torture. It rained for the entire time and my legs didn't seem to want to co-operate with my mind - which luckily enough for me is pretty stubborn! As before, the best part ofthe run was finishing it... Done!
In summary: Run, 2:10:52, 26.87km, 142 av. HR, 4:52/km
2008/09/09
A well earned rest... possible a long run tomorrow.
The plan for the rest of the week is:
I will not b fresh for the race on Saturday, but that does not matter - it's not serious, and running 5k fatigued might actually help in my marathon preparation.
2008/09/08
I went to the gym today to do some rowing on the Concept2. I had intended to experiment with a higher resistance setting to see what result it yielded. It turned out that after 4km of my 10km set I was on for a new PB so I was forced to hold pace -which became increasingly difficuly- and get that PB: 40:02.8 with an average power of 202W and average HR of 163 (max 182). From this session I can deduce that I can go a lot quicker in the medium to long term. My HR was hovering around the 150 mark for the first 5 minutes and from there it began to climb ntil it eventually setteled on 168 from 5000m to the end. This suggests to me that a deeper aerobic base -specific to rowing- is all that stands between me and a much quicker time. Unfortunately, a deep aerobic base takes a long time to develop... let's see how long I can stick at this.
In summary: 10,000m on the concept2: 40:02.8, av. Power 202W, av. HR 163
2008/09/07
I headed out to do my soon to be usuall 10x800m track session. Unfortunately there was soccer training on in the ground and I was not allowed in - yet annother reason to dislike the sport! I just headed out to do a longer run with longer intervals instead. 15km with 2x8min @ 3:52/km with 1:30 between the sets... it was pretty easy.
In summary: Run, 1:07, 14.7km, 145 av. HR, 4:33/km. 2x8 mins at T (1st 3:55/km (161 av HR), 2nd 3:50/km (161 av HR))
2008/09/05
I just decided to run today - I didn't decide how long or how fast - I just ran. The results were absolutely incredible: 1:05, 15.6km, 154 av HR, 4:11/km
Never in my life have I felt so strong during a run... I hope it's a sign of things to come.
2008/09/03
I got my long run in and managed: 24.5km, 146 av. HR, 4:52/km
This is still slow and I was in extreme discomfort from the 17km mark onwards... there are two good things about it:
I hope that I recover soon and that the next long run -which I am not looking forward to- will not feel so hard
Here's the data:
2008/09/02
I decided to take a rest day today. I didn't feel fatigued, but the previous two days sessions had a considerable amount of threshold work and some over threshold work so I figured the best thing to do was to rest up for my long run tomorrow. I hope to run 26km - if I can do that pain free and recover in a couple of days I'll be pleased.
2008/09/01
I went to the gym tonight to do an easy-ish 10km on the Concept2 followed by a 20 min run.
The row resulted in a new PB: 40:36
The run was just easy warm-down: Stary at 4:30/km, build to 3:55/km and ease back down to 4:30/km.
2008/08/31
Short 2.5km run to the track, then down to business.
The goal was: 10x800 on 1:30 rest, all 800s under 3:00
The splits were (Split,Av.HR, HR max):
- 2:57.9, 155, 166
- 2:55.9, 160, 170
- 2:53.7, 161, 173
- 2:57.9, 161, 170
- 2:57.2, 160, 172
- 2:55.3, 163, 171
- 2:57.7, 163, 173
- 2:54.9, 165, 174
- 2:56.5, 164, 174
- 2:48.8, 167, 177
I'm surprised and delighted to say that it was not that difficult at all - as can be seen by the last 800 split. I attempted this very same workout seven weeks out from Stokholm Marathon and failed on the sixth 800... This confuses me somewhat, since I thought I was much fitter then than I am now. It proves that I have more to learn if nothing else!
2008/08/30
I didn't run -or do any training- yesterday or today. Nothing more to say!
2008/08/29
The knee feels good today - let's see if I get a chance to train today. I'd likre to run but that would be breaking the rules
2008/08/28
I got my 'long' run done today: 20.1km, 148 av. HR, 4:55/km
I'll admit that I was pretty tired ny the end of it and was also a littly dissapointed to see that the watch showed relatively little distance, high HR and slow pace... However, there was 20 minutes running on Långholmen which is trails and has 280m of climbing in only 4km; This is bound to account for a reduction in pace and also, since it was at the start of the run it's also going to slow the rest of the run down. My final excue is thta it was also very windy.
Let's see how the knees feel tomorrow - the left one was sore -on the patella- the day after my last long run.
2008/08/27
I feel good today. I'll see what oportunity arises for training today...
...there was none. However, it's probably a good thing since yesterday's training was just under two hours and over an hour of that was HARD!
2008/08/26
Quite a bit of training -in both intensity and duration- done today.
I started out with a challenge. Johan had ran a new PB on the Ursvik 5k track and I decided that I was going to go out and try to beat it. I ran it pretty much as hard as I could and ended up with 20:12 for a difficult hilly 5k... I was very happy with that and am happy to go on father's leave and leave that time behind.
Here's the graph:
The second part of my day was in the gym:
10 min on the threadmill - building to 3:45/km
10km on the Concept2 - 41:57, av. HR 161, Av Power 177W
10 min on the threadmill - start at 13km/h, cool down to 11km/h
2008/08/23-25
Nothing!
2008/08/22
I got a pretty long run in today: 18.9km, 145 av. HR, 4:49/km
I felt pretty good all the way - no issues at all, except for that fact that I'd like to have gone a little faster at that HR, but there was nothing I could do about that... I'll keep to the HR cap of 152 for annother couple of weeks and then I'll start to hit the track at Kristineberg IP. The new plan is to get the distance safely up to about 28km before doing anything at the reack, then start out with 6 x 800m sets and ,hopefully, build to 10x800 2 weeks before Dublin Marathon.
Monday being 9 weeks out, that would mean:
- Week 9: Long run 22km, weekly total 55
- Week 8: Long run 26km, weekly total 60
- Week 7: Long run 29km, weekly total 65
- Week 6: Long run 22km, 6x800 track, weekly total 55
- Week 5: Long run 28km, 7x800 track, weekly total 65
- Week 4: Long run 28km, 8x800 track, weekly total 70
- Week 3: Long run 30km, 9x800 track, weekly total 70
- Week 2: Long run 30km, 10x800 track, weekly total 55
- Week 1: Long run 22km, 6x800 track - twice, weekly total 55
- Week 0: Race - 3:05 is my current prediction
I just noticed that I have 818km on my Kayanos - so It's time to spend more money!
2008/08/21
I decided on a rest day today. I felt tired and my blood pressure was very very low. I'll recover instead and do a relatively long run tomorrow.
2008/08/20
Since I am on fathers leave I will have no access to a gym until next year. To remedy this problem I joined my local gym today.
I went there tonight to do my leg exercises however, upon seeing the five shiny new Concept2 Model E rowers I hopped aboard and decided to to 10,000m. There are a number of hard facts relating to this session:
1/ It took 40:54, Av. Power 190W, Av. HR 168, and hurt quite a bit.
2/ I should not have done it!
It's done now and I have a benchmark at that particular distance, although, I don't I'll be doing it too often.
So, it's a run or a swim tomorrow.
2008/08/19
Run: 14.3km, 146 av. HR, 4:29/km
Today I felt like I was running. At times - on the flat- I was running sub-4 minute kms with my HR well below MAF, there were also times when I was running up a very shallow incline at 5:30/km ABOVE MAF... I'll keep the easy running going for annother week and might have to do something about the hills later - I don't think that the Dublin Marathon course is so flat.
2008/08/18
Run: 11.5km, 146 av. HR, 4:27/km
I fely better than yesterday but towards the end of the run I slowed don quite a bit - once again, not from tiredness, that 'legs don't want to run' feeling... Tomorrow's annother day.
2008/08/17
I'm just back from holidays and if I were the diligent sort, I'd have a lot of typing to do... since I'm not I'll be pretty brief.
It was pretty difficult to schedule regular cycles while having a 10 month old baby girl so I had to just get out when I could for however long I could. In the end that turned into 5 times on the bike for a total of 11 hours (and 260km - the km/s don't fly by too fast over there - I'll get to that later). I also managed to get one descent run done... Not an amount of training that will get my to Kona, but certainly enough to have madi it worth while bringing the bike.
Cycle 1: This was just a quickie. After putting the bike together I had very little time to cycle so I headed out towards Amalfi and took a left turn after about 5km (towards Algero). I had the Garmin with me but because the City Navigator Maps don't have topology information I did not know that I had begun an 11.8km climb.
Cycle 2: This was the same as the first except on the way down the hill I took two detors that led me up two short but steep climbs. The first one was 1.5km @ an average gradient of about 10% - I saw 16% on the Garmin at one stage. The second was 2.5km and not too difficult - it varied from 3% to 11% - probaby averaging 8%. At the base of the climb I then just TT it for the 7.5km remaining kms home.
Cycle 3: Same as the previous days cycle - I pushed the hill a little harder today and found a nice rhythm while climbing.
Cycle 4: Same again - except I thought I'd go quite hard up the 11.8km hill... I kept the HR at just under 160 all the way up. I averaged 18km/h and the file shows that I spent 9,6km with HR over 152bpm... a solid ride.
Cycle 5: I went up and over the back of the climb. I took it very easy up the front side, down the back, turned around and headed back up and over... It's a little harder on the way back and since it was around noon I was feeling the 32 degrees of heat on the way up. This was to be my last ride of the holiday - and all the rides were sufficiently short to indeed call it a holliday... Just enough to feel like I'm doing something.
Back to today... I'm back home and I thought I'd go out for an easy one hour run. I arrived in the door after 38 minutes. I didn't feel tired as such, I just couldn't keep my legs turning over - they didn't 'want' to run! I'll try again tomorrow.
2008/07/31
It's turning into a pretty big week on the training front. Today's entry was a 19km hilly lunch time run in the forrest. I didn't have a HRM on so all I can say is that it was ran in 1:37 and knew I had done enough by the time I finished... I think I will now enter Dublin City Marathon. I'm 12.5 weeks out and am having no problems with my run volume so I think I can give sub-3 a good attempt. I plan to do 4 or 5 more weeks building volume and if that goes ok, I'll then start to add some intnesity in the form of both Marathon paced and Threshold runs. My hope -or wish- is that I will be running close to sub-3 hour pace at my MAF HR after the volume phase. I can only hope this since I have no previous experience in this type of training, only hearsay and conjecture - and not realy conjecture if I'm to be completely honest!
I'm off to Italy tomorrow and am currently debating whether or not to take the bike - I know two things for sure:
- It's a pain in the ass to bring it.
- I'll regret not taking it if I don't.
I'm not sure how I'm going to keep this page updated while away - the most likely possibility is that won't... Also, my Polar memory is bound to fill up over the two weeks, so the archivest/data freak in me is going to be somewhat tested. Anyway, not to worry, it's a holiday after all.
2008/07/30
Morning swim:
8x400: 6:56 / 6:57 / 7:01 / 7:04 / 7:05 / 7:11 / 7:23 / 7:12
Best 400: 6:56, fade:27 sec
My form never felt correct - the timing of the roll and the catch was off, there was no smooth transitions between the roll to catch or the catch to pull phases... I'm tempted to have a think about it tonight and go back tomorrow and see what happens. I'm not distraught, but at the same time I'm not over the moon either... On the positive side of things though - It's done!
Lunchtime chjallenge with Don... a sort of mini-Superstars
2k on the Concept2
Chin-ups to exhaustion
Dips to exhaustion
I got a PB on the C2, but was still easily beaten: 7:27.1 (249.9W), av.HR 164, 8 chins and 20 dips
2008/07/29
Lunch time run - they're getting easier now, but not any faster: 15.9km, 1:20, 5:04/km, 145 av.HR
My glutes were quite sore from yesterday's gym session so I headed out for what I supposed would be a short run. I started to feel better and better as the run progressed so I added on an extra few kilometers. It's also worth noting that I no longer have to walk up the hills to stay at my MAF HR - admittadely, it's not real running or even real jogging... it's something between walking and jogging: wogging? or wagging? Either way, I'm quite happy and would be confident to do annother run tomorow since I don't believe it was a hard run... I'm also tempted to do the concept2 2,000m fresh -instead of the run- and see what I could do.
2008/07/28
Run to the gym.
30 minutes in the weights room - mainly eccentric knee exercises
2k ont he Concept2 in 7:36.3 (236.4W), av.HR ???, HR max ??? (new PB)
This time, I tried to keep the power at 230-240W the entire way through. It felt easy for the first 750m - from there it was just a matter of concentration along with a little bit of determination. This was -as it always is- done after the gym session and at a sub-maximal effort... that being said, I doubt if going all out would be significantly faster.
Run back to work
2008/07/27
Despite my tired body and the 27 degree advising against it, I decided to head out for a run - my first run on pavement/asphalt in quite a while.
It ended up at 13.5km, 4:32/km, av.HR 145 - this is my current MAF pace. I'd like to think that the same run done fresh in more comfortable conditions would be at least 10 seconds per km faster. I can think this, but until I prove it I'll have to contend with 4:32 as the current number. A medium ro long term goal would be to get my MAF pace down to somewhere between 4:10 and 4:16. This wold, in theory, mean that a sub-3 hour marathon would be 'easy'.
Nothing more to say for the moment - I'll probably hit the gym tomorrow if I don't feel too tired.
Week training total: 9:39, Running total: 47km, Cycling total: 125km
2008/07/26
I headed out for what should have been my long ride... It was windless and hot hot hot! I've never felt the heat on the bike before, it's normaly not a problem for me. Today however I just couldn't get going at all. I thought I'd warm up after a while but I just went from what felt like a not warmed up state straight to tired. My legs were stinging if my HR went over about 145 - this could be fatigue from two consecutive 'big weeks'... Maybe a rest is due soon.
2008/07/25
Long lunchtime run: 17.5km, 1:29, av.HR 144, 5:07/km - once again, a very slow run, but this is what it takes in order to keep the HR at or below MAF HR.
I felt pretty good during the entire run and felt only a little fatigued by the time it finished. The real effort will be judged tomorow - I'll see if I feel it during my cycle tomorrow.
2008/07/24
I woke up this morning and immediately felt the weight of all the training over the past few days. I sometimes forget that I'm not used to 10 hours per week any more - it's time to back off and recover. I had planned to do a long run today but that's scrapped until at least tomorrow: Eat, Drink and Rest is the new plan for the day.
Maybe just a little resistance training instead...
2008/07/23
Morning swim:
8x400:6:45 / 6:52 / 6:52 / 6:55 / 7:02 / 7:01 / 7:05 / 6:59
Best 400: 6:45, fade:20 sec
The 5th set felt the worst - my timing was all over the place and there seemed to be no power coming from my arms. The next 3 sets felt ok but the times show that they were far from stellar.
The figures show improvement and lead me to believe that there is hope! I'll try to plug away at it at least twice a week and see what happens. In the short term, maybe even for my next swim, I want to have all the sets under 7:00 -this I believe is just about a 'swimmer's' speed. In the not so short term, I want all the sets to be under 6:45. Long term, I want to be able to knock out a 6:00 for the last set!
Coming back from a lay-off is a punishing endeavour - more on the mental side than the physical side. No matter how fit you are, the workouts should still be somewhat physically punishing - the difference is that when you are fit you get the buzz of knowing it after the workout. When you are not fit the times just highlight how much faster you were... I suppose all one can do is 'know' that soon enough you'll be faster and better.
I managed to get out for a quick cycle after work. 20 mins w/u followed by a 55 minute mod-hard interval during which I averaged 35km/h. I'm pretty happy with that but should note that I felt somewhat flat and would not have been able to go harder.
2008/07/22
I'm currently trying to get the motivation to go out running. Once I get out there if all feels well I'll do a difficult hilly 16km.
I'm just back from my run: 16km, 1:19 , Av.HR 144, 5:05/km ... this is SLOW but the course is very hilly and the terrain at times is very difficult. Staying MAF makes this a very very slow run and I think I only crossed my MAF HR twice in the entire run - all in all I did what I set out to do and am quite pleased.
Here's the data from the run:
I have been reading over the past few entries in the blog and see that they contain neither much content nor any direction -the former is a result of the latter- I'm pretty much drifting through my training without cause. With that in mind, I will therefore state some short, mid and long term goals.
Last weekend's bike ride was the start of a long term goal. My cycling has been almost a non-event this year and my decision to get riding again is based on the fact that the riding I do between now and end of season will benefit next years cycling. The same goes for the swimming - I have worked too hard over the past three years to let the swimming slip any more than it already has. It's time to build it back up and then maintain it.
And why should I do this? Well, I want a crack at Kona. I figure this will take two or seven years depending on weather or not we decide to have another child.
The two year plan is to get to a stage where ten hours training per week is easy and build intensity on that platform.
The seven year plan is impossible to specify - but the basics of it are to keep training going in the background. I can't specify it more than that.
The short term goal still is the illusive sub-three hour marathon. I know I have this inside me, I just have to get it out somehow. I'm taking a slightly differnt approach than last time - I'm not doing any M paced runs until I can manage 25km without any pain. Stockholm marathon's training included a marathon pased session in allmost every runs except the weekly long run, as a result I suffered some minor setbacks each time I increased the distance. The combination of hard runs and increased distance took it's toll and on hindsight seems a little silly now. The potential problems with the new method is that I will not be running Marathon speed at all until 6 to 8 weeks before the marathon (Dublin)- this is a risk. To gain some confidence -and to have some progress markers- I'll measure my MAF pace whenever possible (on a track wherever possible)...
So there we have it - I now have direction!
2008/07/21
Run to the gym.
25 minutes in the weights room - mainly eccentric knee exercises
2k ont he Concept2 in 7:40 (230W), HR av. 156, HR max 171 (new PB)
For a change I tried to keep the watts low at the start in the hope of reducing the fade in the middle section - It seems that this was successful.
Run back to work
I'm tired... I need a rest!
2008/07/20
8km easy run with Jerome. 4:44/km av. HR 140-ish...
Weekly total: 9:30, Running total: 36.5km, Cycling total: 145km
2008/07/19
I did my longest cycle of the year today - 105km in 3:29 at 29km/h average speed. It was a new route for me so there was a bit of start-stop navigating involved for the first hour but since it was an out and back the return part was non-stop and considerable faster than the out section. I felt fresh afterwards - I could have gone longer.
2008/07/18
Morning swim:
8x400: 6:40 / 6:53 / 6:56 / 6:56 / 7:02 / 7:04 / 7:17 / 7:00
Best 400: 6:40, fade:37 sec
During this swim I noticed that I don't roll particularly well to my left side. I started to concentrate on this and find that driving my right shoulder deeper seems to help - doing this however means that I have to adjust the timing of the pull-to-catch phase of the left arm. I also seem to get more power in the right arm stroke ... I'm just putting this down to remind myself.
2008/07/17
Ran 14km in Ursvik. I'm still sticking to MAF pace even though the hilly terrain of Ursvik makes the going pretty slow. Most of the hills must be walked up in order to keep below my MAF HR (147). The strange thing is that I am actually letting my pride go and am walking when I should. The fact that I could still feel last night's bike ride in the legs today may also have slowed me down somewhat.
2008/07/16
I planned to get up early and get a swim in before work. It didn't happen... I'm trying to come up with an alternative plan now.
I ended up going out on the bike for a 40k spin: 10k w/u, 20k mod-hard, 10k w/d.
I'm trying out new training s/w - TrainingPeaks WKO+. Below are some screenshots for last night's ride.
It's better than the Garmin s/w but I'm not sold on it just yet!
As for the session, I averaged 34km/h for the mod-hard set with an average HR of 147. That was on a windy out and back course... not stellar but not too bad either. I'll run 10-14km tomorrow and see if I can feel it in the legs
2008/07/15
The legs are a bit tired today so I'm not sure if I can get the not-so-long long-run done. I'll coffee-up, get changed, head on out and see how my legs are carrying me on the trail. Worse case I'll do 9km, best case 16km.
Managed a 14km MAF run - I had to walk the hills to keep to MAF pace so the overall pace was quite slow: 14km, 1:07:17, 4:50/km, 146 av. HR, av. Cad 90.
Why MAF this week? I'm reasoning that if I refrain from doing the harder efforts that I tend towards, I'll then be able to add distance to my running in a safer manner. My goal is to get to a 2.15 MAF run in between 4 to 5 weeks. That will leave me 10 weeks out from Dublin Marathon in pretty good shape, ready to do some harder and faster running... It's a different approach than the one I used for Stockholm marathon, but that method had me slightly injured every 4 weeks and resulted in runners knee 5 weeks out - so it wasn't too successful!
The new Rules:
2008/07/14
Run to the gym.
30 minutes in the weights room - mainly eccentric knee exercises
2k ont he Concept2 in 7:44 (226W)
Run back to work
2008/07/13
Run, 8.5km easy-mod hard. Didn't feel good at all. Week total: 42km
I'll probably do one more week like this and then start to add in some longer runs... Get on track for Dublin City Marathon.
Got the new shades this wekend... Oakley Ratar Path Polorised:
2008/07/12
Rest.
2008/07/11
Did an easy 10km run at lunch. The legs felt good but I held back the pace and ressit the urge to tack on 5km. I'll take 2 days off running and try to do 16km next week.
2008/07/10
Nice steady 14km run in the forrest. The legs were pretty heavy from yesterday's weights session but it was pain free from a knee/injury point of view - I think I'm in a good position to enter Dublin City Marathon.
2008/07/09
Run to the gym.
30 minutes in the weights room - mainly eccentric knee exercises
2k ont he Concept2 in 7:42 (223W) (new PB)
Run back to work
2008/07/08
It was pissing rain all day so I decided to hop on the bike indoors. I then discoveres annother wonderful feature of the EDGE 705: Because the speed sensor is on the back wheel it also gives speed/cadence while on the trainer... now if I could only find a way to get the data into Polar Software I'd be 100% happy!
Trainer workout was:
10min w/u, 3x [10min hard (HR 165bpm/Cad. 100rpm), 4min easy (HR 145bpm/Cad. 95rpm)]
10 min v.hard (HR 170bpm, alternate cadence every 2 mins between 95 and 100rpm)
6min w/d
Done for day... found it hard to sleep at night - this happens after hard indoor training.
2008/07/07
Run 10km - The left knee pain has disappeared, unfortunately, the f*ck*ng RIGHT knee now hurts - same symptom, different knee... sounds like a bad joke!
2008/07/06
What a day! I planed to get out on the bike, but upon waking , I remembered that it wasto be one of the most sport-packed days of the year
IM European Champoinships - the most exciting male races I hae seen and the most dominant female performance I have ever seen.
TDF stage 2 - a great attempt by the escapees that nearly made it, the mighty Thor's sprint was unbelieveable
Silverstone GP - or was it slverstone ice skating... either way a three way tie this late in the season has made F1 almost interesting for the first time in years
Wimbeldon - Amazing final! I never thought tennis players were fit, but how do you train for four and a half hours of that? Impressive!
2008/07/05
Recovering from things done in Glasgow.
2008/07/03-4
Was in Glasgow - doing things that in no way help mt athletic goals!
2008/07/02
Ran a little over 10k. The last 1.2k was 3:45/km.
2008/07/01
Ran with Jerome last night. 8km in 39min 135 av. HR. Pretty pedestrian, but a run is a run and it was completely pain free - that's a first since the marathon.
2008/06/30
Missed my swim this morning. I will do my -now regular- gym session during lunch and probably run later with Jerome.
2008/06/29
Not earned, but nontheless a rest day!
2008/06/28
13km run. 4:26/km av. HR 150. Felt good all the way - I'm beginning to warm to the idea of Dublin City Marathon.
2008/06/27
Run with Johan - approx 11km and relatively pain free. 10 minuts of stretch-cords later in the evening. That's that!"
2008/06/26
A well earned rest.
2008/06/25
Not only has the meteoric improvement in swimming stopped, I have now started to regress. I do however have an explanation - the temperature. It is colder this week that it was last week and it was colder this morning than it was yesterday - so maybe that's why I'm slowing down... After swimming today, I was 10 minutes in the sauna and left it feeling cold. Anyway, that's the excuses out of the way, here's the gory details:
Morning swim:
9x400,2x100: 7:02 / 7:04 / 7:03 / 7:15 / 7:16 / 7:19 / 7:27 / 7:28 / 7:30 / 1:42 /1:45
Best 400: 7:02, fade:28 sec
2008/06/24
Morning swim:
400,2x1000,2x400: 6:50 / 17:52 / 18:20 / 7:09 / 7:11
Best 400: 6:50, fade: 21 sec
I'm not too happy with that - I expected much better. I should not be doing the 400s in over 7 minutes... That's the goal for this week: remove all 7s from my swim sessions!
Lunchtime run - the usual approx. 9k route. We agreed to take it easy:
It turned out being easy-ish and the second fastest this year... not bad eh?
2008/06/23
Run to the gym.
20 minutes in the weights room - mainly eccentric knee exercises
2k ont he Concept2 in 7:49
Run back to work
2008/06/22
Out on the MTB for the first time this year. Very nice until about two hours in I took a wrong turn, or should I say I took the first of many wrong turns and ended up being eaten alive by mosquitoes in the forest for god knows how long... Finally managed to 'find' my way out and get home. All in all a 2.5 hour MTB route turned into 3.5 hours - better training I suppose!
On a positive note, I pushed the hills very hard all day and never once felt any pain or discomfort in my knee - I'm very happy with that!
The ironic thing is that I have a perfectly good Garmin EDGE 705 at home which would have prevented a lot of bother
Weekly training total: 9 hours. That's the longest in a long time.
2008/06/21
Run - approx 10km pretty much pain free. I intended to do 13-15km but the knee started to heat up so I called it a day.
2008/06/20
Rest and some midsummer celebrations
2008/06/19
Morning swim:
400,1000,400,1000,400: 6:57 / 17:28 / 6:58 / 17:58 / 7:03
Best 400: 6:57, fade: 6 sec
It's getting better all the time and it's starting to feel more like swimming again. I was absolutely convinced that my last 400 would be the fastest - it felt smooth, controlled and fast... alas it was not what it seemed!
It's run-time now - see if I can get 9k done pain-free.
The run was successful on one level and n utter failure on another. Three seemingly intelligent guys went out for an easy run one of them recovering from injury (me!) and we ran seven shades of shit out of the 5k course... clever!
2008/06/18
Morning swim:
8x400: 6:58 / 7:04 / 7:05 / 7:02 / 7:08 / 7:15 / 7:18 / 7:08
Best 400: 6:58, fade: 20 sec
2008/06/17
Morning swim - 3k:
4x400,1x1000,1x400: 7:01/6:59/7:07/7:09/18:34/7:23
Best 400: 6:59, fade: 24 sec
Gym session at lunch follwoed by 2000m on the C2 in 7:50
2008/06/16
Weekend totals:
Swim: 0
Bike: 0
Run: 0
I could agrue that I was absorbing my training from last week! I'll head off for a run in an hour or so... see if I can do it pain-free.
########################
Run complete - pain free for about 30 minutes, and then not too much pain after that.
9km, 41:41, 153 av. HR
Middle 5k section: 22:32, 155 av. HR - felt easy.
Tomorrow is Swim/Gym day...
2008/06/13
This mornings swim:
6x400: 7:06/7:03/7:08/7:23/7:20/7:32.
Best 400: 7:03, fade: 29 sec
The fade is less pronounced and it is begining to feel better. This, I believe, is nothing to do with fitness - just practice. I expect the fitness benefits to kick in maybe this time next week - possibly later, only then will I be able to see what I am capable of this year... I was doing 10x400 last year with each 400 taking 6:15 - I'd like to think I can get back to that this year.
Did a tough gym set today:
5 min run to gym
3x12 Leg press
3x (8chin-ups followed by 16 calf raises)
3x [10 leg extensions (single leg eccentric recovery) followd by 10 back extensions]
3x (10 bench press followed by 20 tricep curls)
2km on the Concept 2 rower: 8:00
Run 5mins
Stretch/Shower/lunch
All in all a tough 4 days. I hope I can cycle without pain over the weekend - I'd like to get 200km done if possible.
One last thought for this week - I'd like one of these...
...I have a sickness that will most likely never be cured!
2008/06/12
Another swim this morning and unsurprisingly it was pretty much the same as yesterday. 3x400, 1x1000 : 7:06/7:22/7:24/19:31 . So no miracles!
I'm not getting upset just yet - I know I'll bounce back quick - but merely an observation is that the 1000m split is only 33 seconds faster than my best 1500m time! There is work to be done.
My expectation is that all the 400s will be under 7:00 by next week and in 3 weeks I hope to do a stand-alone 400 in 5:50... Ambitious? Probably so, but that's how I roll!
I'll give running annother go tonight - I'm not expecting much, but I just want to try since I miss running... Could this be yet annother bad choice? We'll see.
################
The run wasn't great - better than Tuesday, but not great! I'll get there in time.
2008/06/11
I tried to run yesterday but the bain kicked in on my left knee after only 800m! I took a detour to the gym and did about a 30 minute superset - alternating between legs/arms and mid-section with no rest. It went something like this:
[10xSingle Leg eccentric leg press (left leg) ]x3
10xchin-ups
10xcalf raises
10xdips
10xcalf-raises
10xchin-ups
15xlunges ... etc...
Since I can't run I headed back to the pool this morning - I have to check my training log, but I think it has been 6-8 weeks since my last swim - and I was the slowest I have been in YEARS. I knew this would be the case, and in anticipation of this I considered leaving my watch at home and just swimming, alas, the anal-minded-triathlete in my would not allow this so I was faced with the brutal reality of my swimming -and I now use that term loosely! 5x400 : 7:03/7:16/7:26/7:33/7:42 - the only good thing is that it actually felt even slower! Let's see what a couple of visits to the pool brings
2008/06/09
I'm still not recovered from the Marathon. I did three cycles this week and my knee was hurting quite a bit during and after them: Thursday it hurt during the ride, Friday it didn't hurt, Sunday it hurt during and after... I haven't even started running yet! I think It's time to start swimming again.
I'll have to start to fully concentrate on fixing this knee... back onto the full excentric training program starting now: Twice a day, every day and try ro run on Friday. I'll re-adjust the plan from there
All in all, I'm not too happy!
2008/06/04
Looking good:
Looking good but not feeling good:
Neither looking nor feeling good:
2008/05/31
Part I
I'm sitting and waiting and getting very nervous... I thought I'd pass some time and type something here just to see if how I feel now has any bearing on how the race will go.
The facts are:
I'm nervous.
It's hot out.
My training didn't go as planned (I wonder if there is ANYONE on the startline who can say it has!)
I'm concerned for my knee
I still have the reminants of the nastiest cold I was ever afflicted with
Having said all that, I'm going for broke... I just hope I have the ability -or the temprement- to dig as deep as I know I will have to.
Eating/Drinking plan is: Drink something every aid station (every 4-5km).
Pace plan is: Go out at 4:14/km pace and adjust accordingly after 5km.
If I feel not too bad, I'll go for broke at 32km.
I'll see in about 6-7 hours how things pan out... Did I mention that I'm nervous?
.......................
Part II
I was too tired to do this. 03:15:26 was the end result.
Distans - Totaltid - Sträcktid - Min/km - Plac
5 km - 0.21.30 - 21.30 - 4.17/km - 596
10 km - 0.43.41 - 22.10 - 4.26/km - 682
15 km - 1.06.32 - 22.51 - 4.34/km - 729
20 km - 1.29.39 - 23.07 - 4.37/km - 726
Halvmara - 1.34.42 - 5.02 - 4.35/km - 717
25 km - 1.53.23 - 18.41 - 4.47/km - 749
30 km - 2.16.57 - 23.33 - 4.42/km - 705
35 km - 2.41.15 - 24.17 - 4.51/km - 671
40 km - 3.05.28 - 24.13 - 4.50/km - 608
Mål - 3.15.26 - 9.57 - 4.32/km - 577
2008/05/30
Decisions decisions. Tomorrow is D-Day, or should I say M-Day. I still have no idea what pace I should go out at. I did a 25min run at 4:14 pace on Wednesday and it was 7bpm higher than before I was struck with all my alements 5 weeks ago. So, the question is - is starting at 159bpm wise? I'd say probably not, but wiseness will probably not be a factor tomorrow...
Time will tell what my time will be!
I almost forgot - I have to make a prediction: 03:09:50
2008/05/27
My special treat came today.
What could it be...
I'm still not sure...
Yippee!!
Now you'll never get lost daddy!
If only that were true! The maps that come preloaded are about as good as my instinct, and that said instinct has turned many a recovery cycle into a mammoth struggle. Also, the cadence/speed sensor (which comes as an optional extra) is pretty mych an essential piece if kit. I have now ordered one. The display contains more information than the most information conscience person on the planet could ever wish for - so in that regard, I'm just about satisfied! We'll see how it behaves tonight on it's maiden voyage.
2008/05/26
I finally recovered enough to manage a 19km run at about 4:45/km with relative ease on Saturday. I was a little stiff and my muscles felt odd - as if they were wondering what I was up to - but I survived and am not too worried about Saturdy now. I backed that up with an easy 15km on Sunday and today feel pretty good.
The current plan is now to do a long cycle tomorrow, a short fast run on Thursday and that's that - done!
Tick tock, tick tock ... all I can do now is wait:
2008/05/23
I didn't run - it was just a mixture desperation,frustration and obsession I suppose... Time is ticking away and the marathon is begining to seem like a daunting task. There is however nothing I can do: I'll run when I feel better, not before. What makes it all the more tragic is those skinny hairless white legs at the bottom of the page have been in hiding for over a week now, so they'll be skinnier and a bit harier (I don't think there is a possibility that they could get whiter) when they see the light of day again.
In the meantime some retail therapy will have to do - maybe the Garmin Edge 705 might ease the pain. I doubt it, but I will most likely not resist!
This could be possibly be part one of a two part purchase... maybe adding this when it matures a little and if the reviews match up to the expectations:
2008/05/22
I'm still sick, and am sick of being sick! One week now withont ANY training ... F* that, I'll run for an hour tonight and see what happens.
2008/05/20
I've been sick as a dog since I did my Lactate test on Thursday... No training and lots or worrying. Anyway, here's the results of the test:
2mmol - 155bmp
3mmol - 162bmp
4mmol - 166bmp
2008/05/15
Did a long-ish run yesterday: 18km in about 1:24. I started at 08:00 and never really got moving. My legs felt stiff and tired and I was glad to call it a day at 18km.
Today I have my first ever Lactate Threshold test. I'm still a little stiff in the legs but should be ok by the time of the test at 19:30. No point in babbling on, we'll see what happens tonight.
2008/05/11
Nice run with 4 T sets ...
Lap --Time ---- Lap Time-- HR --Max --Avg --Min --Dist --min/km
2. --0:12:20,0 --0:10:01,0 --164 --170 --159 --139 --2,595 --3:53
5. --0:27:27,6 --0:10:05,7 --163 --167 --163 --153 --2,499 --4:04
8. --0:45:12,8 --0:10:00,2 --164 --168 --161 --144 --2,545 --3:57
11. --1:00:21,5 --0:10:02,3 --166 --167 --163 --152 --2,473 --4:06
Times vary on alternate laps because they were with wind, into wind, with wind, into wind. I was quite tired at the end but glad to come through it injury and pain free!
2008/05/10
Relatively fast and relatively short PC ride today. Johan led the pace and it has to be said, he put some manners on me. We parted ways after 66km and I was glad to see the back of him. I was grateful afterwards for the fact that he made me go harder than I would have -or could have?- on my own.
2008/05/09
I ran in 22 degrees this lunchtime so have decided to close the off-season blog and begin the 2008 season one...
Most people actually do a race at the satrt of their season ... because I'm trying to be careful with my knee I skipped my planned race and marked the season start annother way:
LM Loppet is 2 weeks away, the marathon is 3 weeks and my allmost-anual 300km bike ride is 5 weeks away - roll on 2008!