"The dream is alive, I can run up the hills every night..."

rainbow kirby

I did a 10k race 3 months ago, the Aware 10k in the Phoenix Park. I finished in 1.05.59, which wasn't too bad considering the course was like an ice rink and I'd done a lot less running in preparation for it than I've done now. I haven't properly timed a 10k run since then, though I did have a long slow run of nearly 7 miles that took me 1 hour 16 minutes.

rainbow kirby

4 miles in just under 41 minutes this afternoon. Felt pretty tired towards the end, but the wind down the Firhouse Road really wasn't helping matters there.

I think I need to buy some shorts sometime soon... It's getting a little too mild to be wearing trackie bottoms while running! I can't even switch to my capris at the moment because I bought them about 35lbs ago... they're a big size 16 and I'm down to a 14 now.

rainbow kirby

10k in 1.07 this evening, through Woddle country and ****ing awful weather. It was drizzling lightly when I left my house, and absolutely chucking it down by the time I got home.

After chickening out of a long run yesterday due to weather, I really had to get a decent run today, and despite more crap weather I got one.

rainbow kirby

So... I think good things might happen if I enter this 5k on Sunday. Went out for 3 miles today in what was intended to be a relatively easy run, but ended up being just slightly faster than I intended

3 miles - 28 minutes.

I blame the fact that I wore shorts today while running for the first time ever. I'm starting to feel like a real runner :pac:

accensi0n

rainbow kirby wrote: »

So... I think good things might happen if I enter this 5k on Sunday. Went out for 3 miles today in what was intended to be a relatively easy run, but ended up being just slightly faster than I intended

3 miles - 28 minutes.

I blame the fact that I wore shorts today while running for the first time ever. I'm starting to feel like a real runner :pac:

Well done. Well done on the 10K as well.

Pretty much did the same run as you today in the same time. I pushed pretty hard though so I don't expect to improve my time too much in the 5K on Sunday.

Good luck if you do it.

rainbow kirby

5 miles today in 52 minutes, was grand most of the way through it but felt like I was fading a little at the end. Wind blowing straight down the Firhouse Road really doesn't help.

Have entered the 5k on Sunday, out loud anything sub-30 will make me happy, quiet goal is 27.30 - but we'll have to wait and see.

rainbow kirby

Um, tomorrow is probably going to suck. I've had an extremely bad toothache last night and all day today, and I can't get to a dentist that I can afford until Monday. I'm still planning to run in the morning, but I won't be surprised if my time is somewhere up in the 33-35 minute range due to the effects of huge quantities of painkillers. :mad::(

rainbow kirby

Just home from the St Patrick's Festival 5k...

By my watch: 26.22

*bounces*

McConkey

Yea Rainbow, good on you, running through the pain of a toothache too :eek: Glad to hear you beat all the times you had suggested, well done

Bally8

Excellent time. Well done:D

Woddle

Well done way ahead of your sub 30

RacoonQueen

Well done Kirby. Great time.

rainbow kirby

Chip time 26.22, my watch timing was exactly correct.

I'm mildly amused that the "Boards AC" on my registration form was magically converted to "Brothers Pearse AC" on the site for the chip timing...

Running Bing

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Chip time 26.22, my watch timing was exactly correct.

I'm mildly amused that the "Boards AC" on my registration form was magically converted to "Brothers Pearse AC" on the site for the chip timing...

Well done RK.

Looking at your training times I was 100% sure you'd go a fair bit under 30.


Great progress.

accensi0n

Well done.

Next up, sub 60 for the 10K.

rainbow kirby

Reality (and painful dentistry) strikes. Had to have a tooth extracted this morning, have been told not to run today. A little annoying, because I wanted to get out for a few miles just to loosen the legs out a bit, but there's not much I can do about that.

shels4ever

Well done all your hard training is really paying of . Really well done

rainbow kirby

Dear Kirby,
Learn to listen to your body. Seriously.
Yours Sincerely, Legs.

6 miles this morning, when I really didn't have it in me. I'm on 2 kinds of strong antibiotics and I totally underestimated how much that would take out of me. Was ok for the first 3 miles, but faded very bad afterwards. First 3 miles was 29 minutes, second 3 was 35 minutes - so I went out too quick too. It's also warm today, and I had a very dry mouth from about 2 miles onwards, which is caused by my painkillers (which I am currently trying to get off before I develop a nice opiate tolerance...).

Time overall was 1.03.59 according to my watch, hopefully I won't be dying on my feet this much at the Great Ireland Run!

dna_leri

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Dear Kirby,
Learn to listen to your body. Seriously.
Yours Sincerely, Legs.

6 miles this morning, when I really didn't have it in me. I'm on 2 kinds of strong antibiotics and I totally underestimated how much that would take out of me. Was ok for the first 3 miles, but faded very bad afterwards. First 3 miles was 29 minutes, second 3 was 35 minutes - so I went out too quick too. It's also warm today, and I had a very dry mouth from about 2 miles onwards, which is caused by my painkillers (which I am currently trying to get off before I develop a nice opiate tolerance...).

Time overall was 1.03.59 according to my watch, hopefully I won't be dying on my feet this much at the Great Ireland Run!

When your body starts talking to you, listen! Painkillers, antibiotics & running don't mix. Go easy or rest until they are finished or you will still be recovering when the GIR comes around.

On the plus side, bet you did not think you would do something like that when you started running just a few months ago.:)

Roddy23

Great run in the St Patrick's race. Hope to do the Great Ireland run too, but whereas you'll probably be looking to break the 50mins for the 10k, think i'll be still trying to break the 60mins.

Good stuff

rainbow kirby

Hahaha, I haven't a hope of going sub-50 for the GIR. The McMillan calculator suggests a time of 54 minutes for 10k, so I'm targeting 55 minutes as a quiet to-myself goal, and 60 minutes as my main goal. I've never run sub-hour for the distance before, so I'll be very happy to go sub-60 here.

rainbow kirby

3 slow as hell miles along the Dodder. Couldn't concentrate on studying, so I needed to get out for some air. Not going to be able to get out much next week, got finals

accensi0n

rainbow kirby wrote: »

3 slow as hell miles along the Dodder. Couldn't concentrate on studying, so I needed to get out for some air. Not going to be able to get out much next week, got finals

If you want a running partner anytime over the next couple of weeks and you're along this section of the dodder let me know.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/ie/dublin/178123755293997912

rainbow kirby

Sure, I'm up in Firhouse but would be happy to nip over.

rainbow kirby

4 miles in 37 minutes. Didn't intend to go out as hard as I did!

rainbow kirby

4 miles in 40 minutes. Felt very tired all the way around, though that'll learn me for heading straight from 4 hours of studying into my running shoes. Glad I got out though, needed the break.

Exams start tomorrow, taking it easy next week - pretty much any running I do will be 3-4 miles at a very slow pace. I'll be leaving my watch at home and putting some damn good music on my iPod.

rainbow kirby

Wow, I take a couple of exams and my log is on page 3!

5 miles in 51 minutes this morning, felt very comfortable. My Great Ireland Run stuff arrived this morning (finally!) - starting to get excited now!

Now back to Multi-Agent Systems, one of the most obnoxiously annoying subjects known to humanity. :mad:

rainbow kirby

First of all... Finished my exams, only final year project to go! I celebrated this by getting quite drunk last night, then sleeping for 14 hours.

4 miles in just over 40 minutes this evening, felt quite comfortable. Planning on getting in a decently long run either tomorrow or Monday, then taking it easy (shorter runs) for most of the week to try and make sure I'm bouncing on the morning of the Great Ireland Run.

Starting to think I'll be really annoyed if I'm not sub-hour, because 10 min/mile pace is starting to feel quite comfortable indeed! (yes, I know a 1:00:00 10k is 9.37/mile, but blargle, details)

rainbow kirby

7 miles in 72 minutes. Felt bloody tired towards the end, but a really cool part to one of my favourite songs came on and that helped to psyche me up and keep me going

rainbow kirby

Well, that sucked. Only 3 miles, but I felt flat as a pancake all the way around. I think I'm still feeling Sunday's run in my legs a bit, plus I felt a little niggle in my left knee, which is a bit worrying.

*sigh*

67 miles for March. In one way I would have liked to have done a bit more, but it's still a fairly decent increase over my January and February mileage. Probably going to shoot for 75-80 in April, but my final year project may have something to say about that.

accensi0n

Just so you know...

Since we're both aiming for sub 60 minutes, another goal of mine is to do a better sub 60 than rainbow kirby.

Good luck on Sunday.

rainbow kirby

accensi0n wrote: »

Since we're both aiming for sub 60 minutes, another goal of mine is to do a better sub 60 than rainbow kirby.

Hehe, you probably will too - you did a much better 5k than me a couple of weeks ago. That said, I could just tuck in behind you and be drafted to a sub-60

rainbow kirby

Slightly unintentional tempo run - 3 miles in 27 minutes. Covered the first mile in 10 minutes, then somehow started going rather quickly!
Knee feels fine, maybe it's all in the mind...

rainbow kirby

*drumroll*

58.02

Happy kirby is (mostly) happy.

I've spent most of this week doubting myself and being horribly negative, and letting a little knee niggle get to me quite a bit. "Sure that's me ****ed now" etc. Somehow managed to end up roughly in the middle of the 45-55 minute group at the start, due to trying to come in off the side of the group to the front of the 55-65 minute group and things getting messy. Almost tripped over walkers ( :eek: ) about 5 or 6 times in the first 2km. I knew that if I kept to a pace of less than 6 mins per km I'd be fine for sub-hour, and it all pretty much went that way. Thought I was falling behind after 4km, but I'd actually done my mental sums a bit wrong.

Went through 5k in 28.07 (by my watch). Felt by about 7km that I was starting to fall behind, that all my energy was gone - just kept repeating to myself "6 min km and it'll be fine". And it was - though I barely had the energy to pick up at all towards the finish.

Absolutely delighted to have finally gone sub-hour, but I have a *lot* of work to do in terms of my base-building. I don't have as much of a base as I'd like to have, and I felt I really didn't have much strength towards the end of the race. I wonder if training for a half would sort that out :pac:

RacoonQueen

Well done RK.

shels4ever

rainbow kirby wrote: »

*drumroll*

58.02

Happy kirby is (mostly) happy.

I've spent most of this week doubting myself and being horribly negative, and letting a little knee niggle get to me quite a bit. "Sure that's me ****ed now" etc. Somehow managed to end up roughly in the middle of the 45-55 minute group at the start, due to trying to come in off the side of the group to the front of the 55-65 minute group and things getting messy. Almost tripped over walkers ( :eek: ) about 5 or 6 times in the first 2km. I knew that if I kept to a pace of less than 6 mins per km I'd be fine for sub-hour, and it all pretty much went that way. Thought I was falling behind after 4km, but I'd actually done my mental sums a bit wrong.

Went through 5k in 28.07 (by my watch). Felt by about 7km that I was starting to fall behind, that all my energy was gone - just kept repeating to myself "6 min km and it'll be fine". And it was - though I barely had the energy to pick up at all towards the finish.

Absolutely delighted to have finally gone sub-hour, but I have a *lot* of work to do in terms of my base-building. I don't have as much of a base as I'd like to have, and I felt I really didn't have much strength towards the end of the race. I wonder if training for a half would sort that out :pac:

Well done all your hard work is paying off, congrats.. next stop sub 50

accensi0n

Really well done RK.

You'll fit right into that 45-55 group next.

Krusty_Clown

Great running, and congrats on the new PB! What's the next target? 55 or 50?

xebec

That's fantastic, congratulations!

rainbow kirby

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Great running, and congrats on the new PB! What's the next target? 55 or 50?

55 first. I think it'll be a long time before I can do a 50 minute 10k, considering my 5k race pace is somewhere around 8.30/mile. As I said, I have a lot of base-building work to do, I could really feel it hurting by the 7k mark, and I think I can do a better 10k if I can build a much stronger aerobic base. Time to increase the weekly mileage, methinks.

MoonDancer

Wow, well done!!!!
Looking back a year ago & you didn't even start the couch to 5k yet, and look at you now!!! Congrats!! You are an inspiration!!

rainbow kirby

Woke up this morning and it felt like someone had taken a hammer to my quads. Good ol' "Morning after the race before" feeling! No running today, but I wanted to do *something*, so I went swimming. 1,500m in the pool and some fearsome goggle marks later, I do feel quite a bit better! I'd forgotten how much I like swimming, and I'd like to try and fit in a swim once a week from now on.

I think I'm going to do that half in Clontarf on 28 June. 12 weeks to stretch a 7-8 mile long run to 13.1 - I figure the training for it will help me to build a decent base to have a really good go at the shorter races over the summer. I'm currently looking at training plans for the half, playing around with the Runner's World SmartCoach and looking at the Hal Higdon novice and intermediate plans. The mileage I was doing in training for the GIR would be somewhere around week 7-8 of the novice HH program, and around week 2-3 of the intermediate program. I'd have no particular time in mind, just to get my fat ass across the finish line, preferably without having to take a break to walk.

One shall have to wait and see!

McConkey

Fair play hon, Well done on the sub 60....maybe I should claim your time as my target for the 1st June race that cannot be named

Great to hear that the training is paying off Wonder what the summer weather will be like-are we newbies going to drown in a flood on these first half marathons-or are we going to bake and dry-out in the sun

rainbow kirby

Procrastination ftw!

Bastardised Hal Higdon intermediate plan, Google Docs style

Opinions appreciated.

Krusty_Clown

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Bastardised Hal Higdon intermediate plan, Google Docs style
Opinions appreciated.

Is this just a veiled attempt to remind us of your up-coming birthday?
You're but a spring-chicken!

Plan looks good, but why not find a 10k race, like he suggests in the schedule? Handy to help you to fix on your ideal race pace for the half marathon. Your pace will definitely pick up on a schedule with that much mileage and speedwork.

rainbow kirby

I'm doing the Cork relays on 1 June - I don't know what leg I'll be doing but it'll most likely be a leg of about 5 miles. I'd be shooting for a 5 mile time of around 45 minutes. That's about as close as I'll probably get during this few months.

any of the stuff in yellow on the plan is a reason why I may miss a run!

shels4ever

rainbow kirby wrote: »

55 first. I think it'll be a long time before I can do a 50 minute 10k, considering my 5k race pace is somewhere around 8.30/mile. As I said, I have a lot of base-building work to do, I could really feel it hurting by the 7k mark, and I think I can do a better 10k if I can build a much stronger aerobic base. Time to increase the weekly mileage, methinks.

I think you might suprise yourself actually , you have the right attitude and put in the hard work so you may improve faster then you expect, just keep working the way you have been and the times will come. I ran 63 mins in bupa last year, and fount that I improved in spurts so once you get sub 60 it becomes easier. Your also getting close to that in training too i noticed a 72 min 7 mile last week so the stamina is there just a bit of speed work needed

dna_leri

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Procrastination ftw!

Bastardised Hal Higdon intermediate plan, Google Docs style

Opinions appreciated.

Well done on your GIR 10K time - great progress.

Your plan looks good, some serious mileage there. You might want to add up your weekly mileages, so you are sure you are not increasing too fast, especially around the time of the Cork relays.

Best of luck.

rainbow kirby

3 miles today. Didn't get to run yesterday because of the **** weather, so I decided to replace the speedwork session today with yesterday's run because I'm still feeling slight after-effects from Sunday. Felt good to be back out, but my legs didn't feel right until I'd done a mile and felt very flat in the last mile.

rainbow kirby

4 miles today, in just over 38 minutes. Went out way too quickly, straight down the road for the first mile with the wind at my back! Started feeling the effects when I turned to go back uphill, but kept the pace up decently.

On the downside, I felt my knee niggling a bit while in the shower afterwards, but it seems to be ok now. I'll have to keep an eye on that though. :eek: