Running mad or mad to run?

donothoponpop

Awesome run man. Kudos. I told you Xmas was coming early for you.:D

racheljev

Brilliant run, and congrats on your PB (and your new bike)!

BeepBeep67

Great run yesterday SJ - you were a spot on the horizon on the Firhouse road.

Slogger Jogger

Legs were tired after yesterday's exertions but an LSR was on the cards and this was the preferred method - a slow run in the hills beats the roads with me any day. This was going to be a time on yer feet challenge, as the distance was 'only' going to be 21k (if you did it optimally).

We grouped up just outside Laragh at the junction of the to Glenmalure. The controls were as follows:
a trail entrance to bring us up towards Derrybawn ridge.
Derrybawn peak
Cullentragh peak
a trail junction across from the Shay Elliot monument between Kirikee and Carriglineen (overlooking Glenmalure)
a crag near the Glenmalure cross roads up from Coolingo bridge
a trail junction / foresters hut on trails up from here (this would be familiar to those that have ran the Ballybraid imra race as this hut marks the spot where you break from the trail out into open mountain.

Weather was glorious. Too good really, as it was going to be warm for a long run in the hills.

I was about 4th at the Derrybawn peak and similar at Cullentragh. Got to the next control 1st and thats when my nav savvy let me down, as instread of either backtracking on the trail to the road, or going a longer way around on trails, I took the birds eye route of going up and over Carriglineen peak. Slow going up and slow over the other side to the Glenmalure/Glendalough road as I had to bate through thick forest.
Found the next control at the crag fairly directly but I reckoned I'd lost a few places with my 'long' cut.
For the next control I decided to stick to what I know and take the long trail up (basically the first few k of the Ballybraid race), to the hut in question. Had to walk some stretches as legs were hurting.
From here to the finish was going to be the decider, a longgg distance to cover and lots of route choice. Contoured a bit to get over towards the Derrybawn ridge and headed up along here. Made a mistake by coming off the ridge too soon and ended up losing a lot of time (a lot!) trashing through hip high ferns and nasty gorse. Got to the permeter of some property which had No Trespassing signs outside so went the long way around to avoid... over the Derrybawn river, through nasty undergrouth and sloppy boggy ground.. Had to cross back the river to get to a trail beyond the aforementioned property :rolleyes:. Got moving on the trail, onto the road, then down to the finish.
5th place. 2hrs 55 on the tired and sore feet. Over 23k done. Over 1,000m of climb done. Absolutely wrecked after. Nearly too tired to drive. I don't think I've been that tired after doing marathons.
The winner was about 20 mins in ahead of me. Navigation choice on the last route proving decisive. A runner that finished ahead of me went directly from the last control to the main road I think, and made up lots of places that way. Not much fun in that though :P

Garmin Connect: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/13226530

Sosa

Well done on the PB slogger

another world

Excellent PB, I´ll have to get into this hill training you do, it definitely got you a great result yesterday

stmochtas

Wow! well done on getting out for the Nav challenge on Sunday. I spent the day on the couch blowing my nose!. :eek:

Slogger Jogger

I was hours stretched out on the sofa after yesterday's outing in the hills. Zero energy and I reckon I was dehydrated despite having taken some water with me. Still, after lots of food and drink I steadily recovered some go.

This evening, an easy 5k by way of recovery in 4:45k pace. Legs starting to forgive me.

Slogger Jogger

Yesterday, rested for various reasons. Still jaded, feeling a bit of a niggle and stuck for time with work etc. Little point trying to run in situations like that.

Today, got out for a hill run this evening, feeling all the better for having rested yesterday. 12k at 4:45 pace, 367m ascent. Definitely think the tough uphills and fast downhills were a deciding factor in my being able to PB at 10k last weekend. Glorious evening for running.

Slogger Jogger

Trail jog with the dog. 4:35 pace for 10.2k. 250m of climb.

Slogger Jogger

13k hill run with 515m of climb in 65 mins. Tough going but felt good. Very lucky to have the likes of this run literally on the doorstep. Saw a big stag and some deer in the forest. Dog doesn't quite know what to make of them. LSR in the morning, touch wood.

Slogger Jogger

Got out before 9 this morning into a lovely autumn (late summer even?) morning. A bit of chill in the air but once you were moving it was comfortable even just wearing a tee-shirt. Where I live I'm lucky to have roads which go hither and yon, so theres lots of running options. Today I took a route I never did before and it worked out very nicely.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/13635593
This was an out and back run, which consisted of 7k or so on quiet country roads which led to a forest entrance, Carrick forest opening onto the flanks of Croaghan mountain. I've run on these trails recently and they are a treat and there lots more to explore. There was a sign up this morning saying no entry, guns in use or words to that effect. For half a second I considered doing more running on the road, but I said feck it and headed into the trails. Who stops people using a public hill on a weekend morning :mad:? I reckoned that if there was shooting going on (for the poor old deer most likely), they'd have better things to do 1st thing on a Sunday morning and they were more than likely hunting last night or later today. Anyway, I'd be too skinny to get a fix on.
Did just over 10k on the trails here. Checked the map when I uploaded my route later and realised that I'd nearly run to Clonroe which is near the old Wicklow gap.. I'll know the next time that a half a k more would have gotten me to that forest entrance and thats worth knowing for other potential runs. It was another 7k on the roads back to Annacurra, mainly downhill. Mileage wise it wasn't a spectacular run, but it was more about quality that quantity for me this morning with 2:06 done at 4:50 pace and over 500m of hills. That effectively translates into a longer run on the flat, and flat ground is hard to find around where I live. Finished the run in good shape and I could have run further.
Ireland can be a great place when we get the weather

Slogger Jogger

This good weather can't last forever, so despite the run this morning I was eager to road test the new bike, so took it out for a spin to Woodenbridge and up past Avoca and Meeting of the Waters towards Rathdrum, turning in towards Ballinaclash and back towards Aughrim and home. 32k in 80 mins. Very happy with new machine. Pity about the person cycling it.

Slogger Jogger

Felt surprisingly good today despite the run and cycle yesterday, so I think the cycle helped stretch out the legs which is a good sign.

Met up with Beepbeep and did a nice run around trails on the Little Sugar Loaf. 11.45k with nearly 300m of climb at a comparatively easy pace. Another great evening.

Slogger Jogger

Stuck for time this evening so just fitted in a 7k trail run around the grounds of Avondale house in Autumnal sunshine in just under 30 mins.

Slogger Jogger

Yesterday evening I found I only had 30 mins or so to run, so I squeezed in a quick session around the track at Charlesland. Found myself running comfortably sub 4 per k and getting faster progressively until I was averaging above my 10k race PB from 2 weeks ago :eek: Wasn't planned.. just happened. If I planned to do this I probably couldn't. I had the track to myself except for another guy who was jogging slowly around. Found that he acted as a nice target, each time I passed him it was a case of trying to do it again and again. Laps towards the end seemed shorter and shorter. Happy days.

Splits
1 3:59
2 3:50
3 3:50
4 3:51
5 3:49
6 3:47
7 3:46
8 3:31
3:47 avg.

Krusty_Clown

So all you need now is a marathon run entirely on a track, with only one other (slower) competitor. Sounds like you should be giving Enduro's 24 hour races a go!

BeepBeep67

Nice interval session 8 x 1k with NO recovery :eek:

Slogger Jogger

Cool, bright and no wind this evening, so just about perfect. Less than a minute from the house is a trail with loop options, with some hilly bits. Headed in there this evening and did 4 of the same loop each progressively faster covering 9k and almost 100m of ascents. 4:13 pace overall. Slowest split - 1st: 5:07; Fastest split - Last: 3:37

Slogger Jogger

OH is away this weekend so I needed to bring forward my long run to today that I took off. Lovely morning for it, again. Headed out from Annacurra along backroads to Aughavannagh, 14k worth of a run. Then, turned tail and came back the same way. Was faster on the way back which was net down hill. 28.11k, 4:38 pace. 500m of hills. 2 hours 10 mins on the feet. Quite tired after, but I have the weekend to rest.

Krusty_Clown

Great pace for a hilly LSR (and after a hard run yesterday too!). You must be very confident about hitting whatever target you're aiming for.

Slogger Jogger

Would you believe I've no target in the DCM, just to do it and enjoy it. I've the 3:01 in the bag for this year already and I'm well happy with that. If a good thing happens in the DCM then well and good.

Krusty_Clown

Even better! Your target is 'enjoy the day'. Hope it doesn't rain!

Slogger Jogger

OH was away at the weekend so no running for me whilst the kids were looked after. Can't remember when I had 2 days off running not accounting for the odd injury, but overall 2 days rest is liable to do me more good than harm.

This evening did a 10k hill run (334m climb) in 4:28k pace in perfect conditions. Pushed the pace and was well happy with it. Certainly benefitted from having had the rest. 5 consecutive sub 4 min kms on the backward half inc. a 3:19. All good for leg speed and a speed/stamina perspective.

Slogger Jogger

Felt like something a bit easy after yesterday evenings hill run. Was restricted to running in Charlesland track which became a problem as when I hit the track I couldn't run easy if I wanted to. Ended up running 8k at 4 min k pace. It felt comparatively easy (last week I did 8k at 3:47 pace), so thats no doubt a good thing. A fantastic facility this is too.

Slogger Jogger

Late home and fading light curtailed any possibility of a decent sized run this evening. Happy enough though to do 7.2 k in 4.28 pace on a hilly track near the gaff. Next time the head torch will need to be brought as a backup.

Incidentally, belatedly picked up a copy of Irish runner and read a nice article on the great John Lenihan by the ageless Con Houlihan.

Slogger Jogger

Nice and easy jog and chat with donothoponpop on trails on slopes of Croaghan mountain near Aughrim. 7.6k, 5:18 pace, 222 metres of climb. D'pop put me to shame by cycling there and back (lit up like Christmas tree) in the fading light. Good to have company for a change on a run.

donothoponpop

Yeah, it was a great run all right, just at the right end of the evening, and I'm happy to say my ankle feels fine right now. Great fun cycling back too, flying downhill just before the last of the light went, magical!

You gonna bring that runner dog of yours to the marathon? He'd put Haile to shame.:)

Slogger Jogger

Yesterday: easy run with a pal before work 7.5k at 4:40 pace.
Today: LSR postponed til tomorrow as had the kids to mind, so no option but to use the dreaded tready. 10k in just under 40 mins. Obviously not the same as running outdoors but still knackered after it!
50k so far this week with the guts of 30k to cover tomorrow.

BeepBeep67

So no 'guest' appearance in Avondale tomorrow . Ran once o the thready last week as I wasn't back to hotel until late, I don't know how people do it .