Send in the Clowns - BAC 10K Challenge

Krusty_Clown

dev123 wrote: »

No, I have not gone to one before. There is more info here:

http://www.beerfestival.ie/

It looks like the 3 beers are 150ml samples and you can buy more 150ml samples of each of the beers at €2 each.

The tenner you save with the voucher can go towards 5 extra samples

A full list of last years beers can be found here:

http://www.beerfestival.ie/2012-beers/

I'll give it a miss so, and hold out for the Irish Craft Beer Festival in the RDS, which is a cracking day out. Typically €10 entry which includes your commemorative pint glass. Dates not announced yet, but usually early/middle of September.

ecoli

dev123 wrote: »

No, I have not gone to one before. There is more info here:

http://www.beerfestival.ie/

It looks like the 3 beers are 150ml samples and you can buy more 150ml samples of each of the beers at €2 each.

The tenner you save with the voucher can go towards 5 extra samples

A full list of last years beers can be found here:

http://www.beerfestival.ie/2012-beers/

Went to this one 2 years ago have to say was a great night well woorth the cover charge would highly recommend anyone interested to check it out

Krusty_Clown

ecoli wrote: »

Went to this one 2 years ago have to say was a great night well woorth the cover charge would highly recommend anyone interested to check it out

Nice to be able to taste the beers in 150ml size servings, but a €2 a pop, that's the equivalent of €6.66 a bottle. Ironically, you could pop around to the organizer's off-license, just 200 feet away, and the same bottle would be a third of the price. But I suppose you are paying for the privilege of drinking in company! At the Irish Craft Beer festival, a (typically very generous) half-pint will set you back €2.50, while a pint costs €5, for the best that Irish craft brewers have to offer (and all on draft/cask too). Throw in some bands, good food and it's a cracking night. So go to both!

Pisco Sour

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Nice to be able to taste the beers in 150ml size servings, but a €2 a pop, that's the equivalent of €6.66 a bottle!

You wouldn't enjoy drinking in Australia so. You need to take out a mortgage to head to the pub here.

Krusty_Clown

Pisco Sour wrote: »

You wouldn't enjoy drinking in Australia so. You need to take out a mortgage to head to the pub here.

Really? That's a bit crap. They have some great brewers too. My current home-brew is a Coopers sparkling ale (with a slightly tweaked recipe). Looking forward to trying it in a few weeks. Would love to visit Australia some time. Will just have to save up for longer. Any good point to point ultra-marathons in Oz?

Krusty_Clown

Thursday: 5.3 mile recovery run
Got lucky and managed to sneak out between sheets of rain, for an easy grass recovery run. Kept it very easy, as developed a slight niggle at back of right knee, which needs some nursing. Followed up with an hour of bouldering, but my heart wasn't really in it, after getting drowned on the way out there. Arms were in bits, and the blisters on my hands started tearing, so I'm thinking I need a greater gap between climbs to get the most out of the experience.
Summary: 5.38 miles in 41:44

Friday: 8 recovery miles
Keith was in the mood for a longer run, so we headed out on a really nice country-side loop that we'd run before, taking in Tullyvale and Kilternan, before returning by Glenamuck Road. Ordinarily I'd pick up the pace for the last couple of downhill miles, but it's taper time, so I was happy enough to go with the flow. Blissful, peaceful, pressure-free running.
Summary: 8 miles in 63 mins, @7:54/mile

Saturday: Parkrun Marlay Park - 5k race
Pronator dropped me a mail during the week, with the idea of doing the Marlay Parkrun, instead of his planned intervals/repeats. I had no quality work in my schedule, but figured a 5k run at 90% effort would provide a small bit of stimulus and stop me from going taper-crazy. The plan was just to sneak in under 17 minutes, which I'd have been over the moon with, just 10 months ago, but which on recent form should be hard, but manageable. Met up with Pronator and we jogged a couple of miles to the start. Strong wind coming in off the mountains meant that the uphill portion of the run would be tough.

We lined up at the start and with a quick count-down we were off. I had mentioned something to Pronator about getting out fast to avoid any accidental jostling, tripping or leg tangling which could put an end to London aspirations, but didn't heed my own advice. As the race started a large number of runners went charging forwards at 5 min/mile and I found myself in around 12th place. As we hit the path, I glanced at the watch and couldn't believe it. I was still outside the top 10, and we were running at 5:05/mile. Either a top-class field had been assembled for this week's race, or there were some people running way beyond their means (myself included!). There was a bit of jostling and a few curses as we made our way around the first small loop. I could see that Pronator had found some space up ahead, so I figured the best thing to do would be to break free and join him. One other club runner (Bros Pearse - big frame; looked like a strong runner) was alongside Pronator, so I jumped in just behind them and settled in. We opened a gap on the rest of the runners and I just stayed where I was, happy to let the two lads do the pacing work. Mile 1: 5:20.

Pronator opened a slight gap and I noticed that the Bros Pearse lad was breathing heavy, so caught up with Pronator and we widened the gap on the other runner. With the two of us in 1st and 2nd, it wasn't an all out race, so I eased back a little. The run up the hill at around the half-way mark was very tough, and we slowed quite a bit, with a feeling of running through treacle. Further up the hill, I noticed Pronator intentionally slowing up a bit, so figured that he was playing it safe with his groin niggle. A decent club-mate would have slowed to ask him how he was faring, but all the respectable runners must have stayed home that day. I was well-happy to hit the top of the hill and continue chasing the volunteer on the bicycle, who was doing a sterling job of clearing the path of dog-walkers and ramblers. A glance at the watch showed an average pace of 5:35, so we'd lost a massive chunk on that uphill section (mile 2: 5:40).

On the down-hill, I was happy to keep the legs turning-over in a good rhythm and work my way back towards the start area. A glance back confirmed that Pronator was taking it handy enough and there was no sign of third place. I found the last half loop back to the finish quite tough, but a look at the Garmin stats showed that I ran much of the final flat section under 5 minute/mile, which explains it (mile 3: 5:05) and final 0.12 miles @4:56. Crossed the finish line in 16:42 (unofficial), which I was well happy with, given that it was a good blow-out.

My first Park run experience, was nothing short of fantastic. It's the ideal environment if you want to experiment in a race environment (e.g. pacing, shoes, nutrition, gear), a perfect substitute for a quality session, a good taper blow-out, or just a high quality race experience. I'll be back!

Summary: 5k in 16:42, @5:21/mile, HR=~162

Pronator

Excellent work today Gary. You ran really strongly and another feather in the cap for London. I think there is a fast 5/10k in you this summer after the marathon is out of the legs.

Parkrun is excellent and I'd agree with all your comments above. I'll also be back.

I reckon if Parkrun Marley had a mile challenge there would be a lot of sub 5 min mile guy's:eek:

You were like a young Bernard Lagat today:D

T mins 7 days:eek:

Pisco Sour

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Really? That's a bit crap. They have some great brewers too. My current home-brew is a Coopers sparkling ale (with a slightly tweaked recipe). Looking forward to trying it in a few weeks. Would love to visit Australia some time. Will just have to save up for longer. Any good point to point ultra-marathons in Oz?

It's not too bad once you are earning money here (though some places still take the piss with prices) but as a tourist at the moment coming from Europe I couldn't think of a more expensive place on earth, with the exception of Norway. A bog standard pint of piss (Carlton Draught) in a dive of a bar will set you back $8.50-$9.00. For anything half decent you could be looking in the $9-$10 range, and $8 for a bottle of something like Coopers Pale Ale is very common. These are Melbourne prices, you'd expect to pay a small bit more in Sydney and a noticeable amount more in Western Australia. With 1 euro getting you just AUD$1.25 tourists need to be a bit more selective with their beer drinking here.

Wouldn't have any idea about Ultrarunning here as I don't pay attention to that side of things but I came across this: http://www.ultramarathonrunning.com/races/australia.html

EDIT: Just seen this: http://www.canal-aventure.com/infos/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=135&Itemid=53&lang=en I could think of better ways to see the Outback!

Best of luck next weekend. You look like you are in great form.

average_runner

This time four years ago we went to oz for a month on our honeymoon.
What a place. I would forget the running and just enjoy the place.
Frazier island is amazing, barrier reef cruise amazing, Melbourne is a great spot, Syndey is ok but blue mts was brilliant and good craic on syndey bridge.
Did xxx brewery and lovely beer.

Darwin was 39 degrees and humidity was unreal. Saw two guys running in black tracksuits. The parks are brill as got to see the jumping crocs etc.
Ayers rock is good, they have a marathon around it. Dinner of silence is good.

What a country to visit.

Krusty_Clown

Pisco Sour wrote: »

I came across this: http://www.ultramarathonrunning.com/races/australia.html

Yeah, that's a little hard-core for me! I'm more your fair-weather mini-ultra runner, e.g. <50 miles, < 22'C and all the champagne and foie-gras that can be handed to you, by the volunteers dotted every 500m along the side of the course.

Today: 14 mile easy run
Legs weren't in bad shape after yesterday's 5k race run (fixed it for you Peckham!), but for a niggle in my right calf/hammie, which I need to get sorted. Totting up the miles for the week, I found I was a mile short of my planned target, so set out with the goal of running 14 miles to wrap-up the penultimate week's 60 mile goal. The wind was blowing a gale, so I figured I'd get the head wind over with, and trot back home nice and easy for the second half of the run. This meant a 7 mile run along the coastal trail from Bray to Greystones and back again. Super run, just what I needed to keep the pace handy enough (had to keep an eye on the trail ahead to avoid any ankle twisties) and vent a bit of taper frustration. I'd brought two layers with me, a t-shirt and long sleeved top and was roasted as soon as I started running, but instead of ditching a layer, I opted to zip the long sleeve top fully-closed for a bit of heat acclimatization. I know it'll make feck all difference if things hot up in London, but it made me feel a little bit better, particularly given the freakish conditions the Rotterdam runners faced. Stepping on the scale afterwards, I'd lost about 5lbs of liquids, which is nuts given the pretty sedate 16'C. I'm plainly just pretty sh1te in hot conditions (gotta stop signing up for spring marathons), so can imagine what the Rotterdam posse had to got through.

A quick lunch, and followed up the run with 2 hours of rope-climbing with the boss-ladies, which seemed to stretch the frame out a little. Final week, the wait's nearly over.
Summary: 14 miles in 1:42, @7:16/mile

Pisco Sour

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Yeah, that's a little hard-core for me! I'm more your fair-weather mini-ultra runner, e.g. <50 miles, < 22'C and all the champagne and foie-gras that can be handed to you, by the volunteers dotted every 500m along the side of the course.

Yeh races down here have the extra delight of redbacks, taipans, funnel webs, tiger snakes and other glorious creatures that want you dead. Avoid.

jcsmum

Well done on your parkrun victory. I am considering printing out the course winners page from the website and framing it - I'm sure it will be the only time I will be a winner beside you!!

Krusty_Clown

Today: 1 hour easy

Just ticking boxes. This is the only stage of the JD plan, where you are provided with daily activities, so it's a little unusual following a structured daily plan again and running on someone else's terms, instead of making it up as you go along. 60 minutes easy in the plan, so quickly assembled an 8 mile route that I haven't done before, which included a couple of ugly hills up around Lamb Doyles. Left IT band quite tight/sore, but with physio booked for Wednesday, I'll hold out until then. Lots of foam roller tonight. Final mini-session tomorrow (4x1,200m) then cruise to London.

Summary: 8 miles in 58 mins, @7:17/mile, HR=129.

Krusty_Clown

Today: JD: 4 x 1200m w/2 mins easy

On paper, it should have been one of the easiest sessions of the entire program. 1200m? Sure I did two sessions of 2 mile reps at the same pace last week, and knocked out a 5k significantly faster at the weekend. Piece of pi$$. Headed off in late afternoon, and 100m from work had to remove the extra layer I'd brought along and was glad of the sun-glasses which made their first appearance of the year. Three miles later, arriving at the cinder track, I was parched. Amazing the difference a few degrees in temperature can make. I ran the reps very poorly. The first one was at around 5:32 pace, and each subsequent rep was gradually slower until the final one, which was at the right pace (around 5:42/mile). HR was quite elevated too, compared to last week's longer reps. It was unexpectedly tough. Thankfully the forecast is looking pretty good for London. I just hope it sticks.

Well, I made it! I think I can safely say (barring a freakish illness or injury), that I've made it through another marathon program, and to be honest, that's a chunk of the achievement, right there. The marathon is really important (it's the icing on the cake) but if you have no icing, you still have cake! If things don't go to plan on Sunday, I've racked-up PBs in the mile, 5k, 10 mile and 50k, made some good gains in the last few months and enjoyed all of it.

I printed off my pace band today and just looking at it sends shivers down my spine. Never dreamed I'd be shooting for a goal like this. Never thought I could break three hours. Anything faster was beyond a pipe-dream. Whatever happens on Sunday, I won't have any regrets. Nothing left but to try and get me some icing.

Summary: ~10.25 miles in ~69 mins, ~6:47/mile

wrstan

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Nothing left but to try and get me some icing.

You've had an amazing build up to this one Gary, no reason to believe that you won't come back with the cherry on top of the icing.

All the best over the final couple of days, hope all the arrangements work out smoothly and you get to stand on the start feeling the confidence of being in the form of your life ... so far :cool:

Rolex_

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I printed off my pace band today and just looking at it sends shivers down my spine. Never dreamed I'd be shooting for a goal like this. Never thought I could break three hours. Anything faster was beyond a pipe-dream. Whatever happens on Sunday, I won't have any regrets. Nothing left but to try and get me some icing.

Best of luck with it, the hard work is done - time now to reap the rewards. Would love to be going back to London giving it another crack this year.

belcarra

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I printed off my pace band today and just looking at it sends shivers down my spine. Never dreamed I'd be shooting for a goal like this. Never thought I could break three hours. Anything faster was beyond a pipe-dream. Whatever happens on Sunday, I won't have any regrets. Nothing left but to try and get me some icing.

Good man Krusty, best of luck with it. An inspiration to the rest of us!

Killerz

Enjoy icing the cake - all the very best on Sunday

dev123

Best of luck in london krusty. The pb's you have set over the last few months put you in a cracking position to bag another one. On a different note I seem to remember you mentioning a beer called pliny the elder. I'm on the US west coast and have enjoyed a couple of pints but the real treat is pliny's younger brother. Apparantly the locals start queing overnight. Any other recommendations to try while I'm over here?

average_runner

Best of luck on Sunday, looking forward to the race report.

wideball

Best of luck Gary on Sunday. I hope to meet up in the Coal Hole afterwards where you'll probably be on your 3rd pint by the time I get there :rolleyes:

I hope you get the time you deserve for all the hard work even the weather gods appear to be in alignment for Sunday.

I'm flying out on Friday afternoon with my sister. Going straight to the Expo from the flight. Staying with friends in Battersea. Not sure what start line I'm suppose to be at yet as details with my mate.

shels4ever

Your hard work will pay off on Sunday no doubt, best of luck and enjoy the beers after.. I'd recommend some nice cans of fosters,..

Krusty_Clown

dev123 wrote: »

On a different note I seem to remember you mentioning a beer called pliny the elder. I'm on the US west coast and have enjoyed a couple of pints but the real treat is pliny's younger brother. Apparantly the locals start queing overnight. Any other recommendations to try while I'm over here?

Yeah, it seems a bit mad all right. It's unusual in that most strong beers tend to age quite well, whereas Pliny the Younger seem to need to be consumed as soon as possible (probably because the hop aroma deteriorates over time). Did you get to try some? I didn't, and doubt that I ever will. There's a lot of hype created over these beers, that typically starts when they hit the very top of the beer review lists (Beer Advocate, RateBeer). I mean this particular beer is so sought after, that they don't publicise where it's going to be available until the night before, at which point people queue through the night, and are limited to a single glass size portion, and pay around $10 for the privilege?! Just goes to show, people will buy anything as long as it is expensive! (I'd still pay it though. ).

Best to seek out beers that are not readily available in Ireland (e.g. the Sierra Nevada beers seem to be available everywhere in Ireland these days). I presume you're around California? Anything by Russian River (of Pliny fame) is going to be great (but also pretty expensive). Anything by Stone Brewing will be top-notch, but expect the bitterness levels to be extremely high. I really like some of Speak-easy beers (from San Francisco). Rogue beers (there's a Rogue bar in SF) are a little hit and miss (for me). Not from California, but Bells Brewery and Three Floyds produce some superb beers.

If you have the bag-space/weight allowance, I'd visit a decent liquor store like BevMo (Whole Foods also does a decent craft beer selection), and pick up a couple of 750ml bottles of decent strong beer for around $10-$15 and save them for special occasions. Of course if you're a wine drinker, you'd be better off picking up a few decent Californian wines instead.

Krusty_Clown

Hey Wideball, how's it goin? How are you fixed for Sunday and what's the goal? Might bump into you at the expo (think I still have your number somewhere so I'll fire you off a text on Friday afternoon). Otherwise I'll see you in 'Fast Good for age' along with Pronator, Ronnie085, KielyUnsual, MarthaStew, and the rest of the gang)... Sounds like we'll be taking over most of this starting pen!

Krusty_Clown

shels4ever wrote: »

Your hard work will pay off on Sunday no doubt, best of luck and enjoy the beers after.. I'd recommend some nice cans of fosters,..

I'm looking forward to a nice can of London Pride! After dropping the fridge magnets, they'd better damn-well still have the free can of London Pride!

Kurt Godel

Best of luck young man!

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

decent Californian wines

Ha ha taper-crazed-loon.

Itziger

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Today: JD: 4 x 1200m w/2 mins easy

On paper, it should have been one of the easiest sessions of the entire program. 1200m? Sure I did two sessions of 2 mile reps at the same pace last week, and knocked out a 5k significantly faster at the weekend. Piece of pi$$. Headed off in late afternoon, and 100m from work had to remove the extra layer I'd brought along and was glad of the sun-glasses which made their first appearance of the year. Three miles later, arriving at the cinder track, I was parched. Amazing the difference a few degrees in temperature can make. I ran the reps very poorly. The first one was at around 5:32 pace, and each subsequent rep was gradually slower until the final one, which was at the right pace (around 5:42/mile). HR was quite elevated too, compared to last week's longer reps. It was unexpectedly tough. Thankfully the forecast is looking pretty good for London. I just hope it sticks.

Well, I made it! I think I can safely say (barring a freakish illness or injury), that I've made it through another marathon program, and to be honest, that's a chunk of the achievement, right there. The marathon is really important (it's the icing on the cake) but if you have no icing, you still have cake! If things don't go to plan on Sunday, I've racked-up PBs in the mile, 5k, 10 mile and 50k, made some good gains in the last few months and enjoyed all of it.

I printed off my pace band today and just looking at it sends shivers down my spine. Never dreamed I'd be shooting for a goal like this. Never thought I could break three hours. Anything faster was beyond a pipe-dream. Whatever happens on Sunday, I won't have any regrets. Nothing left but to try and get me some icing.

Summary: ~10.25 miles in ~69 mins, ~6:47/mile

What a great attitude. This should be framed. Best of luck on Sunday. Is there a thread where you Londoners have given bib numbers and so on for the old tracking? Might be able to follow the whole thing if I go for me own trot early.

wideball

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Hey Wideball, how's it goin? How are you fixed for Sunday and what's the goal? Might bump into you at the expo (think I still have your number somewhere so I'll fire you off a text on Friday afternoon). Otherwise I'll see you in 'Fast Good for age' along with Pronator, Ronnie085, KielyUnsual, MarthaStew, and the rest of the gang)... Sounds like we'll be taking over most of this starting pen!

All set at this stage, I missed 6 weeks running due to a foot stress fracture but could cross train. This week is only 3rd week back running. So feeling fit but not sure if the legs will hold out. Plan B is sub 3 followed by plan c & d.... I'll drop you a text at the Expo and probably see you at the start anyway. Best of luck again

Krusty_Clown

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Best of luck young man!
Ha ha taper-crazed-loon.

Ha! My ignorance is showing! There's got to be some good ones though, right?!

Itziger wrote:

What a great attitude.

See, that there's what makes me so sneaky. I make it sound like this marathon means nothing to me, like it doesn't occupy every other thought I've had for the last three months, that I don't look at the clock and see pace numbers instead of time, like I haven't visualized the entire race so many times that now, I just fast forward to the finish. All so that if it doesn't go to plan, I can say 'sniff, it never really mattered to me anyway', while inside, I'm drowning in the tears of a clown.

wideball wrote:

Plan B is sub 3 followed by plan c & d.

You forget to mention what plan A was! That indeed has been a tough break, but hopefully everything holds together on the day. Either way, we shall drink like kings!

wideball

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

You forget to mention what plan A was! That indeed has been a tough break, but hopefully everything holds together on the day. Either way, we shall drink like kings!

Plan A's sub 2-50 ship sailed with the injury :-) probably caused by it!!