12 weeks worth of training are now in the bag, with 14 weeks, 98 days to go to the Big Day. The first phase of my training has been working on my speed, in line with the increase in distance. In this phase I expected to improve my shorter distance times, if and when I raced. I have been doing interval work over 500m, and this has been going well, and this has translated into a few races, improving my 5K times twice in the last 7 weeks, and finally I have managed to get that 10Km time back under 50 minutes, for the first time in 9 years.
The seven weeks of training block, has seen relatively low mileage each week, but the quality of the training has been exactly what was required, as can be seen from the times. 29, 25, 12, 15, 24, 33 & 28 kilometre weeks may not jump off the page as ideal mileage (I'm sorry, I have no idea what noun to replace "mileage" in kilometres, apparently the dictionary has a word "kilometrage", but it sounds {and writes}, terribly, so mileage it is, but in kilometres!), for marathon preparation, but it's the way my plan is set out, and so far, so good.
In addition to the running, I have been watchful with my diet, with a few lapses for chocolate, and I have now been off the alcohol for the whole 12 weeks of the plan. Overall, combining the running, and the detox time, my weight has dropped over 6 kilo's (that's 13lbs to my American readers, and nearly a Stone for those in the UK), which clearly is also helping the times.
So, what about those times.
Well, after a very pleasant parkrun in Waterstown on June 11th, running with my great pal Brendan Brady from the Warriors, the following day I stormed the Irish Runner 5 Miler in the Phoenix Park the following day, clocking 38:21, my fastest 5 Miler since 2008. The following week, it was Hartstown parkrun, and I surprised myself by running 23:19, again, the fastest over this distance since 2008 (a pattern emerging here!).
A couple of weeks later, after missing a few days for Hay Fever, it was out to Clonee and a crack at that elusive 10K #sub50 time, I have been striving for. Given this race was out in the countryside, in hindsight, it might not have been an ideal choice. And that's the way it turned out. I started out with Patrick Downey, with good intentions, but naturally went off too fast for the conditions, and by 3km I was struggling with my breathing, thanks to the fresh air of the Meath Countryside, and the lovely grass pollen still lingering around. I had to let Patrick fly off, and ease back, but even so, I only missed out on the sub 50 by 26 seconds, in itself an age PB in my search for the elusive #sub50 - Have to be another day!
A nice little week away in the Basque country and Madrid, with runs in the sun, certainly helped me feel good, along with a very pleasant surprise in meeting Martin Fis, the former European and World Marathon Champion from the 90's, while in Vitoria-Gastiez. Great chat with him, and an invitation to his home marathon next May, and interesting to note he is now the editor of the Spanish version of Runners World.
Coming home, and back into regular training, led to a trip over to Waterstown on the 16th for another parkrun and a course PB followed without even feeling like I was trying, on the demanding course. A first "long" run the following day, as I start to look at increasing the distance, and a 15Km run, including a nice climb of the Kyber Road in the Phoenix Park, felt nice and easy.
Wednesday of Week 12 saw the latest BHAA Race (having had to miss the last one in the Park due to Hay Fever), and an old favourite in Irishtown, over 5K. I felt really good on the night, and pushed it most of the way, recording 23:04, a further improvement on the 5K time, and my fastest over 5Km since 2005, some 11 years in the making. Amazingly I was actually disappointed not to break 23 minutes - :)
This leads me to the end of Week 12, and today's Fingal 10Km. This race has been my main target of the summer, as I build towards October, as I strived for that #sub50. Everything seemed to be lining up correctly, the weather was ideal for running, overcast, not too warm, and no wind! I had no niggles that could affect me, so no excuses if I failed today. I had my new Asics DS 21's on, lighter than my Nimbus Training shoes, so I had to.... And I did..... Everything went according to plan.
I understood the first Km to be a gradual, if small percentage, climb, and I set off accordingly, planning to run around 5 minutes for this, then ease into a rhythm on the following couple of Kms along the dual carriageway, which I knew to be downhill. Couldn't have got it more right, with a steady 5:07 starting me off, followed by 4:35 and 4:31, and I was cruising along. As the course leveled off, and then continued to be very gently undulating, I knew I had plenty in hand, and stayed steady at 4:43, 4:53, 4:56, 4:54 and 4:46 through the middle of the race. With plenty in the bank, I was able to take a little breather in Km 9, and ran a slow 5:13, before picking it up a little for the finish, where there is a nasty little hill in the last 500m, but I finished comfortably with a 4:57 Km, and a new age PB of 48:35, and my first sub 50 since 2007.
I've mentioned that my recent times over 5Km, 5m, and 10Km have been my fastest in 8/9/11 years, and I have mentioned before that I like to use Age Graded Performance Percentages to compare my times as an old fart with my younger days. These three races over the two 5's and 10Km, have shown age graded scores of 68.56%, 68.12% and 67.74%, all up there near the top of my performances over the years. All of these lead me to believe that I can make my Boston Qualifying time later this year, and I can now move into the middle phase of my plan over the next 8 weeks.
Now the shorter distances have seen their goals achieved, I can concentrate on the longer distances, and get the miles into the bank in full preparation for DCM in October, while not neglecting the speed sessions. Next up will be the Rock n Roll Half in two weeks, with a side trip to Barcelona for some R & R of a different sort in-between.
I'll leave you with a few pictures from the last few weeks - Hope you like them - Feel free to leave a comment on my blog if you so desire - It's nice to know that somebody is reading my scribe!
