Running along the road to nowhere

xebec

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Nice running! Planning on doing a 20-miler before Cork?

Plan is for something in the 19-20 mile range for next Sunday morning all going well. Means no Sportsworld race for me but I've gotta finally focus on some marathon specific stuff for a few weeks... That said, might do the Calcutta run on Saturday instead :rolleyes: and there's the 5k beach race on Tuesday - that's pretty marathon specific right?!

rainbow kirby

Well the 5k beach race sounds like a lot of fun anyway

claralara

Cheers for the post on my log - very motivating to hear the similar times. Might I be where you are now sometime in the distant future?? Hope so. You've been doing some great running. Well done on all of the PB's - amazing! Best of luck this coming weekend. I was supposed to do Calcutta but think I'd be best off resting the ankle back to full strength - I think I just help out at the BBQ after instead! Good luck and I'll keep an extra special burger for you at the end!

xebec

claralara wrote: »

Cheers for the post on my log - very motivating to hear the similar times. Might I be where you are now sometime in the distant future?? Hope so. You've been doing some great running. Well done on all of the PB's - amazing! Best of luck this coming weekend. I was supposed to do Calcutta but think I'd be best off resting the ankle back to full strength - I think I just help out at the BBQ after instead! Good luck and I'll keep an extra special burger for you at the end!

Thanks! Won't be racing this one, just doing it cos some people I used to work with are running it and need to prove to them that I actually do a bit of running :rolleyes:

Sher see how the ankle holds up during the week and decide on Friday or Saturday... Now, how will I recognise you to get that extra special burger?! Any pics on racepix from the weekend?

xebec

BHAA ESB 5k Beach Race

2.98 miles 23:07

Well that was pretty tough going... Very wet and slippy in parts, very soft in others. Great crowd out tonight again, BHAA is extremely popular at the moment. Didn't really pace it too well, the middle mile was slow but I really wasn't enjoying it, managed to pick it up over the last mile and finish well though Glad it's over and I managed to not fall on my arse or twist an ankle on the slippy seaweed parts.

claralara

Good work there. The beach in the wind and rain sounds delightful!

There's only one photo of me in a group looking very special and very sweaty so far so I won't flaunt that. I'm still waiting for the result of my 'showing off' to surface somewhere - it better not have been in vain!

xebec

4.80 miles 43:53

Picked up a pair of Mizuno Wave Creation in Runways on Monday, very happy with the service I received there and would advise anyone to use them above other sporting retailors.

Anyway, found it tough going tonight. Plan was for longer but was getting some moderate pain so called it a night...

xebec

Decided to take an extra rest day. Have been wrecked for days and realised that the most important runs for the week are this weekend so no point in killing myself for the sake of keeping my mileage up...

Heading to Wexford tomorrow evening, so it's gonna be a hilly 20 miler on Sunday...

xebec

6.16 miles 54:07

Short and reasonably pacey run around Wexford town... Well I called this medium pace on Garmin Connect, but it is averaging over 20s/mile faster than PMP which I guess is fast, nice that it feels good at the moment though.

'Strong' session tomorrow... :eek:

xebec

13.16 miles 2:00:42

Plan was for 20 miles, let's just say I left my BodyGlide in Dublin and leave it at that... Felt pretty good while running this morning, this 13 miler had more elevation gain than the 18 miles in the Park last week. Despite it being a hilly course, managed 9:10/mile over the distance. Lesson learned, nipples sore (but still intact, just about)...

YTD: 372.21 miles

xebec

3.25 miles 30:10

Unscheduled recovery run this evening... NTL have cut us off so didn't feel like spending the whole evening watching DVDs. Brought the watch with me but decided to run on perceived effort, keeping it very easy. Pleasantly surprised that the run was only a few seconds outside PMP

Other task of the evening was to get out in the new shoes again after the painful attempt last week. Still feel a little weird but no real problems tonight, gonna take a while to get used to them.

menoscemo

So what is the PMP?
Should be good craic down in cork, I hope you are in shape for a blowout on the monday night. Where are you staying? All us relay heads are in the lancaster but I'm sure you know that.
Oh yeah and cheers for all the photos

xebec

PMP is unofficially 9:09/mile which would set me up for sub-4, everything has been going well for so long I'm very tempted to go for it... Although the sensible side of me thinks I should just tag along with the 4:30 pacers and bank another PB...

I'm gonna book into the Lancaster aswell - as long as there's rooms left - just need to wait for the credit card bill to turn over so I've another month to pay for it... Too much on the bill already this month! Was gonna stay with relatives on Sunday night (pretty much my whole family is from Cork) but I think the more sensible idea is to stay in the hotel both nights...

menoscemo

That 4 hour target looks to be easily attainable for you. Given your recent half time, I thought you would be gunning for more but I appreciate that sub 4 is still a great target. As for going with the sub 430 pacers :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: you would be doing yourself a serious injustice and I am sure you know that.

xebec

The speed is definitely there to go sub-4, but my worry is the endurance, longest run in this cycle was 18 miles... A big part of me thinks it would be the more sensible option to bank a PB in Cork (ideally around 4:20) and to give Dublin a good lash - actually decide that I'm definitely running it early enough to put the proper training in. Anyway, decision isn't made yet. On the day I'll prob set out at around 9:00/mile, use the pacers as a guide but focus on my own pacing and see how I'm holding out after 8 miles.

On the plus side, tonight was the first run I've actually enjoyed in over a week. Long may that continue

xebec

5.14 miles 43:07

Plan was for another nice easy recovery run tonight. That went out the window with the first mile. Decided to try to keep it to 9:00/mile pace, that went out the window with the second mile. Got faster after that, finished with two miles at 8:00 pace...

xebec

4.18 miles 38:16

Nice easy run this evening. Break after 2 miles to take photos at the Leg it for you Liver. Then a little over 2 miles home.

xebec

6.35 miles 55:21

Nice run, not much to say about it. Bit faster than planned. 'Eased back' for the last two miles but still average the same pace as first mile, 8:42 pace overall...

xebec

BHAA Intel 10k

6.21 miles 50:12

Wow that was hot! Again started too fast, stupid downhill starts... All going reasonably well for first lap, hill on 2nd lap was the start of the downfall. From 3 miles on was just survival and lets get to the finish, pace had slowed considerably by that stage...

menoscemo

xebec wrote: »

BHAA Intel 10k

6.21 miles 50:12

Wow that was hot! Again started too fast, stupid downhill starts... All going reasonably well for first lap, hill on 2nd lap was the start of the downfall. From 3 miles on was just survival and lets get to the finish, pace had slowed considerably by that stage...

I was feeling a little disheartned after my LSR 'attempt' today but it seesm that the sun has affected everyone. More warm weather training required

rainbow kirby

menoscemo wrote: »

I was feeling a little disheartned after my LSR 'attempt' today but it seesm that the sun has affected everyone. More warm weather training required

Probably doesn't help that we've gone so quickly from months of freezing our butts off to warm, sticky weather! Ended up having to slow quite considerably on my LSR this morning too.

OI

Weather really effected me today aswell, hope its not like that in Cork. I am now also the proud owner of a very red head

RacoonQueen

All the cool people protect their heads with basebell caps!

xebec

RacoonQueen wrote: »

All the cool people protect their heads with basebell caps!

Sunglasses! Don't forget the sunglasses!

menoscemo

I was wearing both a baseball cap and sunglasses today and it still didn't help.

rainbow kirby

menoscemo wrote: »

I was wearing both a baseball cap and sunglasses today and it still didn't help.

Same here :mad: Think I got some sunburn on my face despite using SPF30 suncream too.

xebec

10.5 miles 1:37:59

Last attempt at a long run before Cork, was supposed to be 12 miles... Decided to finish early, my head wasn't in it at all and wasn't gaining anything by being in the heat for longer. Was feeling much stronger mentally a month ago, have found it tough while training and racing since, but hopefully that won't affect me during Cork. Had a few things on my mind today so not too worried by the fact I came up a little short...

YTD: 407.84 miles

xebec

2.5 miles 22:59

First run in London... Was a bit stuck for time so headed for the dreadmill in the hotel. Feck me it was hot in there! Planned on doing 4 miles, but a combination of the heat, boredom and a few niggles meant 2.5 was enough... Gonna try to get outside tomorrow!

xebec

5.13 miles 45:29

Breezy evening but very nice for a run by the Thames. Lots of twisting and turning around narrow streets and along the river walk, but decent enough pace overall. First mile definitely didn't feel as fast as the Garmin has it...

xebec

Donore Summer 5k Phoenix Park

3.11 miles 21:45

Well chuffed with that result! Today everything just came together during the race - in particular my mental state and ability to push through pain...

Despite the crappy weather I decided to go for a PB, my previous mark being 23:45 set over two years ago. So the requirement was averaging below 7:38 pace, figured I'd aim for about 7:30... This all went out the window during the first mile. Clocked 7:03 for the first mile despite being into the wind and felt reasonably comfortable. Going down Chesterfield Ave was very exposed, but once onto the Khyber Road that was the worst of the wind over for the rest of the race.

Powered on down the Khyber to a 6:50 second mile - I'm pretty sure this is the only mile I've done below 7:00 in either a race or training... But I knew what was coming next - the hill up Military Road. That hill was painful, but managed to hold on to most of the pace and by the time I reached the top I had a fair idea that sub-22 was on if I could hold it together. Got through that 3rd mile in 7:07 which was great considering the hill and then 0:44 for last .11 miles to give 21:45 finishing time.

That's the last race before Cork, just a few short runs during the week when I can fit them around flights and work. Bring it on!