Darby: racing against time, progression blog

Week 40. Feels productive.

56 miles/8:04/130bpm. TRIMP 664

Tue:

Long intervals inside 12 miles run.

2x3k (3:55, 3:58, 3:55), (3:51, 3:57, 3:59) + 1k (3:55) with 1k jog in between. Unfortunately the watch crashed and I had to stop for a couple minutes after that 1k rest jog to restart it.

Fri:

Long tempo around goal MP 12 miles@6:50 with 10 miles@6:44. Felt pretty good aerobically.

colder and wiser, One year ago (08/16/2021): "Congratulations on being fulyl [sic] vaccinated..."

Don't take anymore "vaccines." Do take Ivermectin plus Zinc every three days for rest of your life, and/or at least Quercetin plus Zinc.

Thank God for every day, because you'll probably be blessed to still be around in 2025. You'll never be someone who wasn't injured by the bioweapon, but rejoice in the life you have left.

Week 41. Disappointing.

23 miles/7:06/142bpm. TRIMP 327 + 75 crosstraining

So I basically only ran one light workout and replaced 2 easy runs with cycling in an attempt to feel fresh for the race on Sunday. However it seems the plan backfired and the race was a disaster. Worst thing I don't know why: either I overtapered or didn't recover from last week's two workouts. Or it could be just a bad day (probably not, because I felt bad signs as far as Wednesday).

Wed:
Light tempo 1k faster than HMP + 1k slower x 2 (3:59, 4:09, 3:58, 4:05). Noticed HR 2-3 beats higher than usual at these paces. Figured I'm not recovered yet.

Sun: Amsterdam half marathon in 1:28:21. Conditions pretty good, I was sure I can PR. Basically I managed 11k at the goal pace, then it was a struggle to keep running at marathon pace, last 4k went even slower. Plus I had some GI issues later in the race (took 1 tab of imodium pre-race, probably needed 2), I guess I could have finished like 30 seconds faster if I risked to sh*t myself, but it wasn't worth it.

I compared power data and heart rate in my last 3 halfs:

Berlin 280w + 278w (153bpm + 152bpm).
Stockholm 280w + 278w (156bpm + 153bpm).
Amsterdam 280w + 263w (156bpm + 151bpm).

So it looks like I both couldn't hold a high heart rate and my efficiency dropped dramatically in the second half of the race in Amsterdam. Felt like glycogen deficiency, only I've been stuffing myself with carbs for several days. After the race I felt like I raced a full marathon, legs very heavy, could barely walk, which is also pretty unusual.

Week 42. Recovery + shifting to marathon training. I had painful and enlarged lymph nodes in my armpits right after last week's race, no other symptoms, but this could explain how I was not feeling so good. So this week I'm taking it easy.

74.5 miles/8:40/123bpm. TRIMP 773

Sun: 18.8 miles@7:26 (9.3 easy + 6.8@GMP/6:50 + cooldown). Felt pretty good. Dramatically low heart rate on the MP part, averaged 145bpm vs my usual 150-151. Not sure what to make of it.

Week 43. Big week, feeling good, considering.

85 miles/8:30/125bpm. TRIMP 907 (new peak this season).

Thu: 11 miles with 10k tempo in 40 minutes flat in the middle. Was not sure I can make it and keep it really a tempo efford, but felt surprisingly good, could have added a few ks if I needed to.

Sun: long run a little over 22 miles in 3:15. Painful muscularily, but aerobically pretty easy.

So you ran 12 miles @MP the weekend before your HM ? Imho, that's too hard too close to the race.

Yes, in the hindsight I think you're right. Figured 9 days would be enough as I normally recover easily from MP. But in this run I got carried away and dipped almost to HMP for a few miles.

Week 44. Another solid week of marathon training.

74.3 miles/8:30/126bpm. TRIMP 825

Thu:
Mile repeats around CV/10k pace inside 12 miler on the roads
5 x mile (6:11, 6:05, 6:08, 6:10, 6:12) w 400 jog (around 2 min)
Nailed the pace, but initial plan was to do 6. Chickened out of the last one to recover in time for Sunday's long run.

Sun:

Peak long run of the season. 15k (9.3 miles) easy + 13k (8 miles) @GMP (averaging 6:49) + 2k easy. Total 18.8 miles averaging 7:40. Loop course similar to target marathon, some parts windy, some gentle climbs. Used one caffeinated Maurten gel before the MP portion. I think I could most likely hold another 2 miles of MP, but decided against it because of the tight schedule in the next weeks. Heart rate over the MP portion averaged 150 (pretty normal for me, 152 is the upper limit of what I can hold in marathon).

Week 45. Another big week. Goal marathon is in 4 weeks and I have a half race next Sat, so next week is going to be down week, then another moderate up and two weeks taper. Not the ideal scenario, but the best plan I can come up with. Good thing is my hip allows me to run 80 mpw with 2 workouts now. Bad thing is that my stride is still very uneven, but I guess I can't do much about it now. After the marathon, I will take as long as needed off running to fix it.

84 miles/8:35/122 bpm. TRIMP 833

Wed: 13.7 miles medium long run (2.5 easy + 10GMP (averaged 6:44) + cooldown).
During the warmup I felt like this workout would be impossible, but when I started running actual MP legs wanted to go even faster! Heart rate was very low (146 average for the MP portion).

Sun: 22.5 miles averaging 9:04. Longest I ever ran in training. Was painful in the last few miles, especially my right psoas and hip muscles, but not that bad and very easy aerobically.

Week 46. Went according to plan, somewhat reduced load and a hard race on Sat.

47.3 miles/7:47/131 bpm. TRIMP 567

Thu: gentle tempo a little less than 5 miles, dipping down to HMP, averaged 6:50.

Fri: 4x200 in 40-41 seconds with 200 jog.

Sat: 2.6 miles warmup, then half marathon race in 1:25:40 (new PR by 1:14!)

First place AC45. 11th overall in men. Got beaten by 3 fast girls, too.

Good flat course, a little windy, about 3 grad celsius. Started too hot (first 1k in 3:50/6:10 mile pace despite "hitting the brakes" constantly) , was hit by side stitches at around 9th km, had to slow down but recovered soon enough (lost about 15 seconds to that). In the 2nd half of the race I was feeling that "low glycogen" feeling and faded significantly, but willed myself to stay a bit faster than marathon pace. The splits for 2 identical halfs of the course (2 times out and back on the same route with sharp U-turns) were: 42:31 + 43:09, but the first half included 15 seconds slowdown for the side stitches, so it was more of a positive split than it looks. Still, I am totally happy with this result, especially after 4 weeks of hard marathon training and I am now a bit more optimistic about my marathon in 3 weeks.

Week 47. Went NOT according to plan. Like totally not. Caught a moderate cold (or a very mild flu). Not his Majesty the Royal bug :) Was in a lot of crowded places shortly after the race, immune system compromised, understandable.

14 miles/8:30/120 bpm. TRIMP 126

So basically two VERY easy 30 minute runs Mon and Tue (I was feeling some symptoms in my throat, but had no fever yet).

Then until Sat I was feverish. Sat felt mostly fine, but weak, took a long walk outside.

Sun ran for an hour easy, but it was a very strange run. Like my legs wanted to go much faster, but my heart couldn't be bothered and the whole body would much rather lie in bed for another day.

So I assume I am pretty much almost recovered from both the race and the illness, but with marathon in 2 weeks I would love to hear opinions on how to proceed after missing most of the week.

My current plan is to have a mini load peak with a few moderate to hard days in a row somewhere in the next week and then do a very exponential taper on the last one. But right now my body tells me I'm not ready for anything close to MP yet. So I might just end up just running 8 min miles as much as I can tolerate this week and then next week there won't be much need for the taper at all.

Week 48. Miserable. I don't have any symptoms besides some mild lingering cough, but my fitness is horrible. Aerobic efficiency is so low. Feel so weak muscularily, too. Don't know what to do other than hope it will be gone in a week. I guess, worst thing is DNS/DNF. Probably not the end of the world, but disappointing.

50 miles/8:40/129bpm. TRIMP 589.

Sun: 12.4 miles averaging 8:25. Felt weak and like I have no endurance. Could have been glycogen depleted.

Week 49. Ran a few times, felt bad. I was contemplating not starting a race then I realized I mixed up the times and I am late for the flight. Almost a sigh of relief.

So this is it for the season. The plan is to take a break from running, do some cycling/gym/whatever and do flexibility/PT stuff to get myself back to normal running gait, if possible at all. I will reintroduce running probably starting from new year and will be back logging the progress. Right now, thanks for reading!

Good job under tough situations. FWIW your 1/2 marathon converts to 2:57, so your fitness is progressing if you can just slow cook things and stay healthy!

So I'm back for another season of this saga :)

Just ran Berlin half marathon to establish a baseline of fitness before starting serious training. 1:34:02. I could comfortably hold sub-3 marathon pace for 5 miles. Have no endurance yet, mileage is low and longest run before that was about 11 miles. Still, it's much better than 1:39.xx that was last year.

My stride is still messed up, maybe even worse because muscles got detrained, but at least last few weeks have been pain free. Will visit another chiro next week.

Week 14. Building up. Chiro visit was a failure, I think. She did not even look at the gait.

46.5 miles/8:32/128bpm. TRIMP 527 + 98 crosstraining.

Sat:
LT intervals
Plan was 5x1k@4 min/km w 3min rest
Started too fast and had to cut it short
3x1k (3:44, 3:52, 3:50)

Sun:
Wanted to do a long run, but stride was too messed up.
Ended up doing a lot of strides on the grass.
Then 7x200 on the track (39, 38, 36, 41, 36, 38, 37) with 200 walk back recovery

Week 15. This week sucked. Felt really tired. By the weekend I was sleeping for 10+ hours and felt like a zombie. Maybe because I switched normal coffee to decaf, maybe because I started weight training after a long break. Hope this will pass.

31 miles/9:20/123bpm. TRIMP 340 + 39 crosstraining

Sun:

12 miles in a bit less than 2 hours

Week 16. Better.

41 miles/8:41/128bpm. TRIMP 472 + 154 crosstraining

Sat:

4x100 in 14-15, 4x200 (36, 34, 34, 42), 300 (63) all with long rest

Sun:

12.8 miles@9:02

Week 17. Fitness increases, but stride still messed up. Booked an appointment for running analysis on 10th of May. They will try to figure out what's wrong with my stride and in any case I will have at least a video I can ask people to analyze for 2nd opinion.

44 miles/8:33/128 bpm. TRIMP 520 + 112 crosstraining

Thu: 10k tempo in 41:51 + 7k cooldown

Sun: 13.8 miles@9:02