Skip to main content

Valencia Marathon Week 7/12

October 23rd - 29th

Monday - Little bit sore on waking and with a travel day ahead, the best decision was to rest.

Tuesday - 10 miles ez (16k) with RCSI, a very therapeutic run for me as I recapped my race performance with the group and unloaded some baggage. 

Wednesday - 7 miles ez (11k) an early start, nice fresh morning.


Thursday - 10 miles ez (16k) with RCSI, a few 400 meter reps in the middle, not at any great pace.

Friday - 5 miles ez (8k) around Bohernabreena reservoir, on the foothills of the Dublin mountains. A beautiful, quiet location to run and gather some thoughts.

Saturday - 20 miles ez (32k) some lingering fatigue in my legs and possibly in my head from the race. I'm normally good at putting disappointment behind me but for some reason negativity is loitering. I spent a lot of the run trying to get to the bottom of it and my assessment is that I'm bordering on overtraining. Some of the signs - feeling a little unmotivated, letting my good nutrition practices fall by the wayside and finally, low heart rate numbers on easy runs that don't equate to an easy perceived effort. Hopefully having an awareness of all this will help me make better decisions and I can turn this ship around.
As mentioned previously I've downgraded my target time by five minutes, however it may still need further adjusting!

Sunday - If I was having a pity party for myself the day before, today was the complete opposite. Super excited to cheer on all the Dublin City Marathoners, with a special interest in the twenty six DBR runners participating. I was at the 17 mile marker (27k) with two of my daughters, cheering and taking pictures Link to photos


Conditions were almost perfect, no wind, cool but with heavy showers. All the DBR guys ran superbly well and they put a smile on my face that is still holding. 
Now all I have to do is bottle their elation and sprinkle it over the next five weeks of my training and I should be good to go, hmm sounds a bit too easy, let's see.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Valencia Marathon - Week 2/12

Feels like the weeks are flying by, maybe a sign I'm in the zone and enjoying myself. Week two was almost an exact replica of the first. The only changes were an extra rep on Friday and a slightly faster long run on Saturday.  Before I go into last week's training in detail, I just want to mention my nutritional changes, they're quite simple really, eat more! For me this is extra bowls of cereal and also toast and jam. My energy levels appear infinite, and as a result I'm looking forward to every run. Monday 8 miles (13K) easy, weather was perfect for running and energy levels were high. Tuesday 8 miles (13k) easy, humid and windy, my least favourite conditions. I also got a reminder from my left quad to foam roll. Wednesday 7 miles (11k), up to Marlay Park for my first session of the week, which included 5 miles (8k) at 160 heart rate. For this run to happen I have to be out the door by 6:30am. I love these early morning starts but it does take the body time to wake up...
Post a Comment
Read more

My Top 12 Running Books

12. "Running with the Buffaloes" by Chris Lear An honest account of renowned coach Mark Wetmore and his winning cross country team.  Coaching philosophy, hard work, personal insights and tragedy all told with a delicate touch, definitely due a reread. 11. "The Art of Running Faster" by Julian Goater & Don Melvin The book is an account of Julian's own running career and almost a case of 'what if?'  He tries to impart wisdom to the reader, all the things he's learnt through experience and reflection with regards to training, technique etc. Things he wished he had applied during his time as a competitive runner. 10. "Can't hurt me" by David Goggins The language in this book is not for the sensitive. This is not your typical running book! For one thing he runs ultras. There's so much more to this former navy seal than meets the eye. I may not agree with some of what he says but his tenacity and mental toughness is to be both admired...
3 comments
Read more

Valencia Marathon Week 8/12

October 30th - November 5th Monday - 5 miles ez (8k) back up to Bohernabreena reservoir for some more peace and quiet. Tuesday - 9 miles ez (15k) I enjoyed the run but was made aware of a slight niggle to my right calf. This was most likely caused by wearing my vaporfly shoes for last week's long run. For me it confirms these are only to be used for 5 and 10k races going forward. This run brought October to a close and although I've felt pretty meh throughout, the volume of work is there, 224 miles (360k) the total. Wednesday - 10 miles (16k) with 5*1 mile (1.6k) at half marathon effort off a 2 minute jog recovery. First session since Valencia half marathon, ten days ago. There was a little bit of dread leading up to this, my confidence needed a strong session. Wore the Mizuno rebellion pro to help with my calf niggle and they did the job just fine. They've now covered 300 miles (500k) and they still feel nice and bouncy, however they do stink and are becoming quite squeaky...
Post a Comment
Read more