Running mad or mad to run?

Slogger Jogger

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8628697

Warm up of 4k, then race of nearly 6k. This was fast and furious stuff. Or in my case more slow and furious. Lots of Boardsies out to run which was great. Lots of competition at the top end of the race too. This race has a manic start along the tarmac before it goes into a tight, twisty single track where you are stuck in your race position with no overtaking opportunities for a good stretch. When it widens out it gets steep, at which case I was walking but keeping up with some runners at the same time. The last bit of the hill is literally a climb. On the way down its a vertigo inducing descent at the top, then a fast and technical run over rocky tracks before it goes into single track stuff again. Very easy to turn on the ankle or fall on these parts. I did just that last year but this year I stayed upright and improved my position by a few places on the downhill. 37 mins or so, nearly a minute ahead of my time from last year. Not bad in a race that really is never going to suit me. Not near long enough and too steep. Nice evening for it though and while there isn't much enjoyment in this race in terms of the uphill, the downhill is great craic. Finished just behind Finbar again, who again had a great race.

Slogger Jogger

After the 10k yesterday which included the 6k or so of the race I was surprised by the body being okay today. Schedule called for a marathon pace run for at least 6 or 7k. Ended up doing 10k at close on marathon pace... 4:16 min/k. Started slow but got progressively faster. Tough going but chuffed to have been able to do it on trails and roads which were far from flat, despite the race in the legs from yesterday. Got the endorphins going thats for sure.

BeepBeep67

You're made of sterner stuff than me running at that pace the day after a race

Slogger Jogger

Today is the scheduled rest day. Decided to run a small bit in any event. I know there'll be other days when I'm scheduled to run and I'll want to rest so it'll balance out.

7k trail run around Avondale House. 4:40 min/k pace on hilly ground.

I'm also looking at getting a road bike to use for cross training. Using the work/bike scheme is tax efficient so a bike up to I'll be catching up with bike reviews over the weekend. I've a quote already for a Trek 7-5 at €749.

BeepBeep67

+1 on Avondale house - in my top 10 places to run.

Slogger Jogger

19k run on hilly backroads (over 350m of hills) in 1h 26. 4:31 min/k pace. Great morning for it. Speeded up as the run went on and the hills eased out. Running along the Ow river out the Aughrim backroads with the forested hills all around is great. No car traffic this morning either which is a nice novelty.

Slogger Jogger

Wasn't sure if the body was recovered from yesterdays run, but headed off with a pal to do a recce of the Mount Leinster route that will be raced next weekend. Tough but enjoyable route this. Over 600m of climb with 13.8k of distance with varying underfoot conditions from fireroad to boggy S***e up higher. The Mast which marks the peak was under cloud today. This messed us up a bit navigationally as we headed off in the wrong direction having reached the peak. It took us a bit of contouring around the mountain to get back on track, so we ended up doing nearer to 16k I reckon in around 1:45. Legs are feeling it now. I should feel the benefit from running the route when it comes to the race next week though.

Ran each day this week and did a total of 86k. I may need to take my rest day tomorrow but if I do I'll be happy I've gotten off to a good start.

Slogger Jogger

Start of week recovery run. 7.4k in 35:20, 4:47min/k pace. Nice and easy and felt okay. 5 laps of a c 1.5k trail loop in Avondale House. Lovely evening. The abundance of nature and the smell of cut grass reawakens the spirits.

Slogger Jogger

Yesterday: wild weather in the morning meant a treadie session. 9k in 37:31, including 2 x 10 mins of tempo with a warm-up, float and warm-down.

Today: imra Kippure handicap race. Wet and windy conditions to start with. Underfoot conditions pretty awful. Muck and bog galore. Garmin measured it as 9.33k. A pretty average time of 55:51

Slogger Jogger

Felt pretty tired today but once I got out running this evening I felt renewed. Even when the rain came lashing down. Started slow, but got some km splits in there at marathon pace or faster.
10k in 43:37. 4:21/min km pace was more than I thought I'd do so happy with that. 150m of hills in there too.

Slogger Jogger

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8661033

Great race on Mount Leinster today. 13k or thereabouts with 627m of ascents. Finished a minute ahead of my time last week and I think in 10th place which I'm well happy with. The field was quite strong and the winning time was a touch over 60 mins :eek:. It was a great day for running with the RTE mast on the mountain in full view and the ground underfoot being better than expected. Wasn't my greatest ascent (something I really need to work on). The descent though is great. The end has a long stretch of fireroad that goes on forever and I felt I was tiring quickly here, but I still knocked out 3 kilometer splits of 3:25, 3:25 and 3:26 so not too bad. A nice gathering and some grub in the local pub afterwards too. A lovely day out.

BeepBeep67

Well done SJ, I must plug a few of these into the schedule next year.

Slogger Jogger

Spent some time admiring John Shields photos from the Mount Leinster race yesterday on the imra site. You can't quite appreciate the view when you're running it!

Even with the best intentions an LSR was out of the question today after yesterday's race and family conditions today. However, managed to do just over 9k over hilly ground down Wexford way on way to inlaws at 4:42 min/k pace. Off work for the next 2 weeks so I'll make up for it with extra LSRs.

Slogger Jogger

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.do?episodePk.pkValue=8667065#

Tired this morning but dragged myself out for a long run of 26k in just over 2 hours worth on hilly backroads. Blustery conditions but otherwise fine. The scenery out towards Aughavannagh and along the river Ow cheered me up. A nice start to the running week.

Slogger Jogger

3 loops of a path that goes around woods beside the house between the heavy showers. Taking it nice and easy. Theres a temptation to go faster than you should on recovery runs and I could have sped up towards the end but held back. I also want to ensure that any run I do is at least over the 30 min mark, so ticked that box too.
6.9k in 36 mins, or 5:13 min/k pace with 134m of hills thrown in for good measure. Nothing flat to run on down this neck of the woods.

Slogger Jogger

Arrived 30 mins beforehand and did 2.5k at a slow-ish 5:20 pace. Was feeling a bit iffy having ate a meal 3 hours beforehand and was wondering if this would affect me.

Garmin details here: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8672668

A good crowd were assembled and the midges were out in force. The rain started to fall too, which was nice. We were started without so much as a 1, 2, 3 before the Go.. I found myself running at a nice pace alongside Finbarr McGurren, who has come on great as a runner in recent races. We didn't know it at the time but we would pace each other nicely for much of the race. He would break away slightly on any downhill. I would venture away on some uphills, but broadly we stayed together and it helped us get past other runners on the outward section, including a couple who are normally ahead of me in the results (hmm, maybe the trail and lesser gradients suit me). The hill is a nice gradient and very runnable (which is a novelty for me). At the turn there were circa 9 runners ahead of us. On the way back we started to meet the rest of the field on the outward section. It was fast and furious down the track. I was in Finbarr's shadow at this stage but the two of us managed to get past Zoran in the early stages of the downhill section. This was an exercise in conserving energy as pushing too early could lead to a blow-out. Despite my feelings before the race I found myself running okay and really enjoying the race. I could see up ahead in the closing section Fin making progress past another runner (Niall?) but I wasn't close enough to look for a similar advantage. Still.. very happy with the race and my time of 37:50, 4:07min/k pace for 9.17k at 265m ascents.

Interestingly, in 2007 I ran 40:10 here. Last year I ran 38:51. If I knocked a minute of last year I'd be made up. I've Fin to thank for helping pace me Roll on Earl's drive next Wednesday.

km Splits here
1 04:32
2 04:16
3 04:32
4 05:03
5 04:24
6 03:30
7 03:41
8 03:51
9 03:27
10 00:30

rigal

Well done SJ - yet another strong performance. You must be happy with how this running season is shaping up for you thus far..

After reading your reports recently I think I'll give the IMRA races a proper whirl once I get amsterdam over me.

Slogger Jogger

Thanks. Very happy with this one alright. A good race gives you the encouragement to keep the training ticking over and I'm looking forward to my run tomorrow already. If any of ye can make the race next week at Earl's drive I'd recommend it as a route. Beepbeep - it would make a nice training route for you if you're not familiar with it already.

BeepBeep67

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Beepbeep - it would make a nice training route for you if you're not familiar with it already.

Have spent many a Sunday mornin' on that one - Djouce is another of my fav places to run - stickin' to the track next week though.

dapope

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

I found myself running at a nice pace alongside Finbarr McGurren, who has come on great as a runner in recent races. We didn't know it at the time but we would pace each other nicely for much of the race.

Cheers SJ. The pace was good, clipping along nicely for the first 3k. I checked the Garmin once or twice on the wayup just to make sure we wern't goin too fast.

Tactically the decent was interesting for me... I knew we could get to Zoran but once we passed him it got complicated. I wasn't sure whether to go after Niall and risk blowing out or settle with my lot. I tossed it round in my head for a few mins and decided to go for it. I went a bit too early but still had enough in the tank to take him and finish strongly. 3 months ago I would have just cruised around this course and not worried about such things but my competitive nature has been reignited by IMRA

earlyevening had a great run so boardies are in good shape for the trail league Roll on Earl's drive indeed.

Finish time 37:35
My km splits were similar
1 04:33
2 04.16
3 04:32
4 05:05
5 04:20
6 03:35
7 03:45
8 03:57
9 03:15
10 00:13

Slogger Jogger

Great splits. Is imra this year your first foray into running? You are making a mockery of your places in the earlier summer races. You should consider some of the weekend races too.. maybe next year.

You had your afterburners turned on for that last k. I could see up ahead that it was nip and tuck between youself and Niall. I didn't realise how close ahead of Daniel I was. Its close results and little battles like this that make imra races such fun.

Slogger Jogger

Set out this morning with a vague intention of doing some intervals a la Beepbeeps 300m session and set the watch up for such. Went over to the track in Arklow, which I've only seen from the car park in Bridgewater shopping centre heretofore and a fine local resource it is too.

From the offset I knew I was in trouble, in terms of not being able to do speed intervals. The race last night having effects on the old frame. So instead of a warmup, splits and warmdown, I did a 10k warmup and that was it. Quite windy and the track was very exposed so some of the home straight sessions were quite slow, allied to my post-race slowness. However, I found myself getting into it and ticking off the 400s and it wasn't long before the 10k was done. Don't have individual splits though, which is probably a good thing. Interesting shape to the training run though.
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.do?episodePk.pkValue=8674011
4:20 min/k pace which isn't too far off marathon pace. Feel good afterwards. I'll be back.

Slogger Jogger

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.do?episodePk.pkValue=8674719#

Headed out on the mountain bike out the hilly backroads and did 28k, with a sneaky coffee and desert in between at Macreddin village. There was even sunshine. Whats the world coming to.

Cycle has nice shape to it - a dog sitting down?

BeepBeep67

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.do?episodePk.pkValue=8674719#

Cycle has nice shape to it - a dog sitting down?

Looks like someone took a chunk off the botton left hand corner of Austrailia!

Did you see this?
MotionBased will no longer accept uploads from Garmin fitness devices after 31 July 2009. Please start using Garmin Connect.

Slogger Jogger

Yeah, its a pain really. I started to use Garmin Connect a while back until I noticed that the elevation figures were way off. Motionbased is almost always totally accurate for me on that score. I emailed garmin and they admit that Garmin Connect has a problem with its elevation figures, but they are still pulling the plug on motionbased. So they're not giving the consumer a fair choice really.

Slogger Jogger

No sign of the rain stopping so out into the wind and rain I went. Did some loops of the trails in Avondale. This was one of those days when fun from running was at a low, but there is still the satisfaction of ticking off another day and the endorphins that come from running. Now wheres that big dinner that I can tuck into (says he wandering out towards the kitchen).

8.14k in 4:48 min/k pace. 200m of hills. Puddles splashed through... too many to mention.

Slogger Jogger

Ran & walked this this morning with Dermot by way of a recce for a forthcoming race. Starts at car park at the end of the Glenmalure valley and ascent is by the Fraughen Rock Glen, a route less frequented by walkers (no one around at all this morning). Conditions were very changeable this morning. We got rain and sunshine, wind and calm in equal doses. After the rain of recent days the streams were quite high and the ground underfoot was at best boggy. We went very slowly, taking in the sights and checking the compass and map to be sure of the right bearing. There is no path to speak of for much of the route but we managed to get out and back without any mishaps and benefitted a lot from the recce. The race here could be quite interesting. Very steep sections of open mountain to 'climb'. The going can be difficult going up and down, particularly in an area where a forest was felled but not cleared some years back. There are a no. of streams to jump over too. All part of the fun. A spot of grub afterwards in the Glenmalure Lodge, one of my fav pubs, was a nice way to wrap it up.

12k run/walk with aprox. 800m climb. C. 2 hrs moving time.

Slogger Jogger

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.do?episodePk.pkValue=8681720

A nice morning for a change demanded me to get out for a run. Headed out the backroads taking it nice and easy heading up hilly roads but avoided the Wicklow way this time to try keep it as flat as possible, so I took a road that I hadn't taken before that skirted Sheilstown hill, which some will know from wicklow way relay leg 7. The sun had come out and it was warm, and for a while I was surrounded, whilst running, by a mini swarm of flies. They must have had their fill, as they disappeared after 20 mins. I was running solidly if unspectacularly. The 2nd half of the LSR is net downhill and my pace picked up. I was quite happy with that and the run overall, particularly after consecutive days running. 28k at 4:55min/k pace with c. 500m of ascents.

9 hours of running this week and 100k. Thats what a week off work does for me.

Slogger Jogger

Easy run this morning around the trails of Devils Glen which will be used in a trail race the week after next. A great place for running.

8.6k. 45 mins aprox.

jlang

Regarding Fraughen Rock Glen, I'm hoping to be free to do the race but almost certainly won't get a chance to recce. The race description seems to recommend a recce but appears to stop short of demanding it. From your run what's your opinion of the safety of the route or the sensibility of running sans recce? Thanks. (I can use a map and I've no problem being cautious or even slow, but don't want to fall down a cliff.)