Over the hill

May 14, 2024

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Location:

Baden-Württemberg,Germany

Member Since:

Oct 29, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:

Started running in 2004.

PR's

10k 37:44 Sülzbach May 08

Half 1:24:22 Bottwartal Oct 06

Marathon: 3:06:18 Antalya Mar 08

Short-Term Running Goals:

Train consistently.

Sub 37:30 10k

Finally break that longstanding 1/2M time

Run a sub 3:00 marathon.

Have a crack at a 5k, an uphill only race, a 50k.

Long-Term Running Goals:

2:55 marathon

37:00 10k

1:22 1/2 marathon

Place 1st in my age category.

Personal:

I'm a Brit living in a small town in the south west of Germany, on the edge of a nature park, the Schwäbisch-Fränkischer Wald. The landscape is very hilly with vineyards & orchards on the lower slopes merging into forest above. 42 years young, married since 1997 to my lovely wife.

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00

Mon, Dec 31, 2007

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
3.40	12.40	0.00	0.00	15.80

A.M. 2°C and ice-rain throughout the run. One of those days where I questioned myself half way through the run what I was doing out there on New Year's eve, soaked through, slipping on ice and no one else in sight. My goal today was 5k warmup, then 20k at gmp (4:15/k) which would be a 4 x 5k split time of 21:15. My 5k splits, warmup 24:34, then 21:10, 21:07, 21:10, 21:11, with a short jog to finish. Object was achieved but this was supposed to be a confidence builder and the truth is I struggled, it felt more like 1/2 marathon pace today and I was fighting at the end to stay on pace. I didn't have much left in me at the end, certainly not enough to finish a marathon at this pace. I have another test run end of Jan so I'll see how that goes. Anyway, 2nd holiday week and hardest run out of the way. Now to enjoy New Year's Eve/Silvester.

Happy New Year/ Guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr to one and all.

Comments

From MichelleL on Mon, Dec 31, 2007 at 11:44:27

Will you be running your marathon in ice-rain and 2C? Likely not. I think it was a great run, will all of your splits below your goal. A twelve mile tempo should leave you feeling spent, and at your level, marathon pace is difficult and won't be that much slower than a half marathon pace. You also run these tempos alone, which would be so difficult for me to pull off. You are stronger than you know. When is your race in Turkey? Feb?

From Ian on Mon, Dec 31, 2007 at 12:04:27

2nd March, it still was a pretty awful run. The Pfizinger book had promised "a great confidence booster". Can I get my money back?

From Dale on Mon, Dec 31, 2007 at 20:42:56

Ian, Don't sweat it. Here's my logbook entry for my Pfitz 14MP/17tot "confidence builder" last August.

...

Bad run! Supposed to be 17 mi run, w/ 14 mi at Marathon Pace (2nd marathon pace run). Started out with high HR and just got higher. Possible causes: not enough rest (?), waited too long in the day (run earlier!), too hot out (car temp said 85 on return, but online said high 78???), windy conditions (stiff wind on front side of Gray Army Airfield). Don't know whether to try to make this up, or to just focus on the Half-Marathon next Saturday...Argh!!!!

...

I almost thing Pfitz builds the suspense too much. The 1/2 I ran the next weekend turned out great...the confidence builder was just a fluke. You've been putting in high mileage, stress from the holidays, icy/rainy conditions....need I say more? Truly, don't sweat this one, but if you need the confidence boost, go find a 1/2 marathon to run. A race always gives you a better indicator of fitness. Plus, you've got 2 more full months of training ahead of you.

Oh yeah, plus, it's not like you didn't finish the run! Much better than my "confidence builder"!!!

From Ian on Tue, Jan 01, 2008 at 06:27:27

Thanks both of you for the comments. It's helped put it into perspective. Dale I'm sorry you had a bad M.P. run last Aug but thanks for writing about it, that made me feel a heap better. I haven't felt fresh legs since last Thur's awful run. The rest of this week is fairly easy, I was thinking about adding on to try and improve but now I think I'll just stick to the plan. I have my 2nd x-race on the 12th Jan, it's only 10k but it will give me an indicator of my condition.

From Dale on Tue, Jan 01, 2008 at 09:20:43

Definitely don't try to "make up for it". Chalk it up to a not so great day, which still helps improve your fitness oh by the way....Anything 10k and up will help you get an idea of your fitness IMHO. I wound up substituting a 1/2 mar for one of the 10k's in Pfitz's schedule, but that's because I like 1/2s much better and was just personal preference. Anyway, you're doing fine based on your day-to-day pacing, mileage, et al. Keep up the consistency in your training, and you're times will come back to you.

From Dale on Tue, Jan 01, 2008 at 09:23:02

Oh yeah. I didn't realize that my logbook entry didn't contain the minor fact that at the 8.5 mile mark, I stopped! That probably makes my comment about completing it make more sense.

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