A Day at the Races

christeb

Peckham wrote: »

Once a 2:41 marathoner, always a 2:41 marathoner! If I join the sub-3 club, then I always want to be known as a sub-3 marathoner. Was hoping you didn't lose that status, even if you go on to run 4 hour marathons in 10 years time.

I actually thought that when I wrote it - hereby rescinded!

christeb

5.5m easy home from college. untimed

I have been getting some heartburn recently, had to stop once or twice when it got very uncomfortable. Tough underfoot conditions too.
Rewarding myself with a rather large Oreo milkshake, I not feeling guilty about this stuff.

Also I have been thinking about my Raheny 5 target time. Not sure I'm in sub 30 (a blatant plea for someone to come along and say I am!!!). I do plan to give 31 mins a good run for it's money though, especially with some solid weeks training in the pipeline

# Runs: 5
MTD: 35
YTD: 35

misty floyd

Hey I remember you said aaages ago that you are doing the Raheny 5......I haven't been reading your log in ages. Anyway, I think you are good for sub 30

About the heartburn. I've been getting that over xmas because my diet has been total pants. Skipped a run tonight and went to McDonalds with the OH :mad: How is your diet?

christeb

misty floyd wrote: »

Hey I remember you said aaages ago that you are doing the Raheny 5......I haven't been reading your log in ages. Anyway, I think you are good for sub 30

About the heartburn. I've been getting that over xmas because my diet has been total pants. Skipped a run tonight and went to McDonalds with the OH :mad: How is your diet?

Diet is decent enough spare some sugar binges 3-4 times / week (skin gets bad if I eat more than this). Although it has happened only recently, so hopefully I cn just put it down to the time of year.

Sub 30 here I come :eek:

christeb

6m untimed home from work.
By far the best way to get home this evening, shels is right - everyone is insane out there! I helped a poor guy up a slope at the North Strand Bridge, traffic moving nowhere. Little drama to report, a couple of scares in the first mile but after that I was pretty OK. An unintentional fartlek I like to refer to it as.
On a related note, gooing to see Avatar 3D later - I'm not the one driving!

# Runs: 6
MTD: 41
YTD: 41

christeb

Sat 9th: 4m @ 7.55 HR 152
Nice loop of the St. Anne's Park w/ Macanri after Peckham couldn't make it down. A fresh snowfall meant the park was beautiful, I should have kept going.

Sun 10th: 4m @ 8.13 HR 139
Didn't enjoy this as much, the snow was melting and it's slush and messy in places. This now is tiring, looking forward to seeing the back of it.

# Runs: 8
MTD: 49
YTD: 49

kennyb3

didnt do too much myself today either, you managed slightly more tho - horrible day for it. really hate these conditions. cant wait till it improves, what i wouldnt give for some warm weather training

theboyblunder

christeb wrote: »

Sat 9th: 4m @ 7.55 HR 152
Nice loop of the St. Anne's Park w/ Macanri after Peckham couldn't make it down. A fresh snowfall meant the park was beautiful, I should have kept going.

Sun 10th: 4m @ 8.13 HR 139
Didn't enjoy this as much, the snow was melting and it's slush and messy in places. This now is tiring, looking forward to seeing the back of it.

# Runs: 8
MTD: 49
YTD: 49

like the blog (stephen/tcd here)
my shorter-distance goals are similar to yours this year (but im nowhere near as fast over 1-2 miles!)

best of luck with them!

am very jealous that you have howth to run around. where I live we have, well, err, the liffey, as a running amenity

christeb

kennyb3 wrote: »

didnt do too much myself today either, you managed slightly more tho - horrible day for it. really hate these conditions. cant wait till it improves, what i wouldnt give for some warm weather training

Agreed, today was a major pick up though, fingers crossed we'll be fine now.

theboyblunder wrote: »

like the blog (stephen/tcd here)
my shorter-distance goals are similar to yours this year (but im nowhere near as fast over 1-2 miles!)

best of luck with them!

am very jealous that you have howth to run around. where I live we have, well, err, the liffey, as a running amenity

Hey Stephen - good to see you on here. Yeah you can't beat St. Anne's Park / Bull Island / Howth for running, Raheny is where it's at!

I also see you're in the 1,000 mile thread, you're my new #1 target

christeb

8.5m @ 7:43 pace

Roads cleared up nicely today, felt pretty fast and strong for the first 5m or so. As I've been practicing the fore/mid foot land, my calves get quite sore, left especially after ~4-5m. A matter of building it up I suppose. Stopped to stretch @ 5m and ran the rest of the way a lot slower with a distinct lazy heel strike. Amazingly what a difference it makes.

# Runs: 9
MTD: 57.5
YTD: 57.5

christeb

5.5m home from college untimed. Still happy to run in the wind / drizzle as there's no ice around. I had the worst dietary day in ages today - a new colleague brought in a 1kg bar of Dairy Milk. I actually ate 800g of it, it was amazing. This is why I run!

Left calf at me somewhat, it feels pretty weak and "empty" after 3-5 miles. I think I'll run through it! Also 3m Raheny race on tomorrow night, hopefully I can pull out a solid sub 18:30, although there was a serious wind out on the course tonight.

# Runs: 10
MTD: 63
YTD: 63

christeb

Raheny Winter League - round 3

3m @ 6.03 pace - 18.10 finish (PB) HR 165

Just looking at that HR first off - it's very low isn't it?!
Nice one tonight, perfect conditions spare the wet ground, so no excuses. Warmed up with GoHard and Robin. First lap pretty fast although I felt good - 5.46. Robin was already off, it was clear the conditions would produce vastly quicker times than last time. 2nd lap again too slow, 6.15. I was struggling to breath in through my nose, the cold air in through the mouth wasn't doing y muscles any favours. Respectable last lap in 6.09 to give a 30 sec 3m PB from the same race pre-Xmas. Some good times all round, and this was possibly the first sporting event held in Ireland in 2010!

# Runs: 11 (1 race)
MTD: 68.5
YTD: 68.5

theboyblunder

christeb wrote: »

Raheny Winter League - round 3

3m @ 6.03 pace - 18.10 finish (PB) HR 165

Just looking at that HR first off - it's very low isn't it?!
Nice one tonight, perfect conditions spare the wet ground, so no excuses. Warmed up with GoHard and Robin. First lap pretty fast although I felt good - 5.46. Robin was already off, it was clear the conditions would produce vastly quicker times than last time. 2nd lap again too slow, 6.15. I was struggling to breath in through my nose, the cold air in through the mouth wasn't doing y muscles any favours. Respectable last lap in 6.09 to give a 30 sec 3m PB from the same race pre-Xmas. Some good times all round, and this was possibly the first sporting event held in Ireland in 2010!

# Runs: 11 (1 race)
MTD: 68.5
YTD: 68.5

Great time brian, looking very good fora decent pb in the raheny 5! If i did a 5'46 first mile it would lead to a DNF pretty quickly.
HR looks too low to me for a faster than LT race, either that or you have a good deal more untapped in the tank... great run again

christeb

theboyblunder wrote: »

Great time brian, looking very good fora decent pb in the raheny 5! If i did a 5'46 first mile it would lead to a DNF pretty quickly.
HR looks too low to me for a faster than LT race, either that or you have a good deal more untapped in the tank... great run again

Thanks Steve. I think a sub 31 in the 5 would be a satisfying result. The HR thing perplexes me too. It's like my muscles run out of steam before my CV system (I'm not sure that makes sense??). Especially last night when the air was cold and I was struggling to get enough warm air in. Or I'm just a lazy you know what....!

rigal

Nice running last night christeb..

You either have a freakishly low hr or your hrm is on the blink... have you ever had any fitness testing done?

christeb

rigal wrote: »

Nice running last night christeb..

You either have a freakishly low hr or your hrm is on the blink... have you ever had any fitness testing done?

Nothing proper - I went to the Science Gallery to a one-day thing they had on last Summer. In the spinning class my HR was the lowest in the group, but I'm putting that down to being in general amazingly sexy brilliant shape

Something I'll certainly consider though....

Macanri

Well Done Christeb, good running. You'll be in under 18mins on the next 3 miler.

robinph

My HR for last night only averaged at 164 and have been curious about it being lower than I'd expect in races as well for the last while. Maybe we are just not trying hard enough, that's not what it feels like though.

shels4ever

robinph wrote: »

My HR for last night only averaged at 164 and have been curious about it being lower than I'd expect in races as well for the last while. Maybe we are just not trying hard enough, that's not what it feels like though.

What is your max rate, I've only had mine on in one race ever and was shocked at how high it was. But that was a 3k.

Your just a slacker I always knew your holding back

misty floyd

Well done Christeb, thats a brilliant time.

Have you tried somebody elses HR and Garmin? Just to rule it out.

christeb

misty floyd wrote: »

Well done Christeb, thats a brilliant time.

Have you tried somebody elses HR and Garmin? Just to rule it out.

Good idea, I'll give it a shot.

christeb

Thurs 11th Jan
Mr. Black Ice raised his ugly spectre this morning, I too a nice spill on the bike in the estate. Went straight on my knee, busted it fairly bad. A break is in order.
As I have a genetic defect which means I can't say no to the offer of astro football, I limped through an hour in the evening. Tough.

Weekend off at the Winter Music Weekend in Sixmilebridge, Co Clare. Epic.

Sun 14th Jan
Astro in Ringsend. I was knackered after driving straight from Clare hungover, but I cast off the heaviness to put in a respectable performance lilttered with some amazing strikes!

Mon 15th Jan
7.5m @ 7.27 pace HR 148.
Nice run, got into a good rhythm for the first 5.5m or so. Left calf started at me then, its a lot weaker and still moans at me when I try min/forefoot landing. Could have easily knocked out an extra 2.5m but I wanted to put down the nicer pace, as I was slowing. Decent start to the week, it was tough to get out as I've just received a belated package from the G-parents in Denmark - full of amazing goodies.

# Runs: 12 (1 race)
MTD: 76
YTD: 76

theboyblunder

christeb wrote: »

Thurs 11th Jan
Left calf started at me then, its a lot weaker and still moans at me when I try min/forefoot landing.

I found them pretty sore when I switched too. Took me about a month of slower running to break them in - was fine after that.

+1 on the astroball problem - almost incapable of saying no.

christeb

4m untimed home from college. Shortened as I popped in to oversee the end of Raheny Rovers first training session of the new year. 8 new recruits on show, a great turnout. Our Champions League 2020 dream is still alive!

# Runs: 13 (1 race)
MTD: 80
YTD: 80

belcarra

Enjoy your new Today FM Coffee holder!

christeb

belcarra wrote: »

Enjoy your new Today FM Coffee holder!

Thanks, I hope you liked the tune. I won a load of Lynyrd Skynyrd stuff on Today FM the next night too. They rock!

christeb

Thurs 21st Jan
8m @ 8.23
enjoyable run with Greg in tough conditions, he's carrying an injury though we were never getting near any great pace.

Sun 24th Jan
6 a side astro in Ringsend. After a drunken, lazy, unheathy weekend, this was a good way to finish it off. Scored some of my best too!

Mon 25th Jan
8m @ ~8.05
First 3m were with a few Shamrocks heads, rest was solo. Left calf felt pretty dead after 4m, think I got a kick yesterday. Think of Eusebio in '66, then multiply it x2, that's how much I get targeted in the weekly game of astro!

# Runs: 15 (1 race)
MTD: 96
YTD: 96

christeb

Easy 4 home from college untimed. Hit the first 100, that was fairly painless. Leg still not in great shape now, I'll give the 2m race a bash tomorrow and see if I'm OK to do the Raheny 5. I should be fine, I'm justy a moan. Speaking of which, can everyone please stop making new logs so I'm on pg 3 after 24 hours?!

Have been taking MCOS' push-up challenge, I'm up to 38 knucklers (equiv to 55 normal ones!), so progress is being made....

# Runs: 16 (1 race)
MTD: 100
YTD: 100

theboyblunder

christeb wrote: »

Have been taking MCOS' push-up challenge, I'm up to 38 knucklers (equiv to 55 normal ones!), so progress is being made....

Ouch! Id be surprised if i could do ten...

christeb

Wed 27th Jan - Raheny Winter League rnd 4
1st mile 5'37, 2nd mile DNF :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Stomach was at me during the warm up, the pace just amplified this and after the halfway I started cramping. Being the all-or-nothing type person I am, knowing I wasn't going to give my Ob a scare, I dropped out, as live nearby. A quick scamper home and the remorse set in!!

Became a member of Raheny shamrocks also, thanks for eveything BAC. PS: BAC singlet (size L) for sale! Has seen a few PBs....

Thurs 28th Jan
10m @ 7.47 HR 142

Set out to run comfortably within myself, which I did the whole way around. A fartlek-ish run, due to the wind, 3 or so miles ~7.10, last was an 8.35 wd. An enjoyable run, more so as I haven't been feeling it so far this week.


# Runs: 18 (1 race)
MTD: 113
YTD: 113

kennyb3

you ll make up for last night on sunday anyways!!

christeb

Sunday 31st Jan - Raheny 5

Prep wasn't ideal, ended up getting drunk until 3am with the work guys on Friday and then had my Mam's 50th on Friday, sober but still a late night.

Felt OK starting off, found TheBoyBlunder near the front, we had kind of agreed to set out together until he got the pace up (it takes him a while!). First 2 mile @ ca. 6.15 and I could feel I was cooked. I had eaten a large sandwich 2 hrs before (I never eat white bread - why why why) and my stomach was heaving. I laid back and the pace regressed also. I also struggled with my breathing in the cold.

Still it's a PB, and not too big a PB so it's easily enough broken!

32.43

1 hr of astroball in the evening, enjoyable as always. Although the fact that I felt so fresh would suggest I didn't tap the tank enough in the race.

# Runs: 19 (2 races, 1 PB)
MTD: 119 TOTAL FOR JAN
YTD: 119[/QUOTE]

misty floyd

ah dude the prep sucked but well done on the PB, thats the main thing, progress. Am I right in saying (I hope this doesn't bother ya) that you always go out a little too quickly in races?

edit: I reread that, sorry if I come across a know it all there...don't mean to

christeb

misty floyd wrote: »

ah dude the prep sucked but well done on the PB, thats the main thing, progress. Am I right in saying (I hope this doesn't bother ya) that you always go out a little too quickly in races?

edit: I reread that, sorry if I come across a know it all there...don't mean to

Yesterday I actually held back a bit, I wanted to go out at ~6.15 and see how long I could hold on. Turns out that it wasn't long. Normally I would have let the adrenaline get to me more, maybe I'm getting more mature. But yeah you're right now I think of it, the Mara and all of the adidas races last year were the same.

christeb

Tues 2nd Feb
4m home from college

Fri 5th Feb
Tempo session with the club around the Raheny 5 course. First time I could pinpoint a session which I wouldn't have completed solo, which is good. We went off in batches, according to predicted finishing time. I was caught at mile 2 by the 2 faster lads (1 of which is a member of the 30 x DCMs club), but I caught some of the slower guys between mile 3/4. Found it very tough, hands on the knees panting at the end!
5m tempo in 34.09: 6.34 / 6.47 / 6.57 / 6.57 / 6.55. 1.5m wu / cd

Sat 6th Feb
Easy 4, wanted to do an LSR but calves were shot from yesterday

Not a great running week, life stuff getting in the way. All good though so no complaints. Gave blood on Weds too which always knocks the stuffing out of me somewhat
Drinking tonight so doubtful I'll get out tomorrow, although I'm in early stage testing of a hangover cure given by my Med student buddy, early signs are extremely positive.

# Runs: 22 (2 races, 1 PB)
MTD: 16
YTD: 135

christeb

Tues 9nd Feb
5.5m home from college.

Wed 10th Feb - Raheny Winter League Rd 5
3m @ 6.19 - 18.59 finish. Found this very tough, went out @ 6.03 for the first lap but struggled in the 2nd. Took a guy that was a good bit ahead of me in the last lap though, sprinted just to keep things under 19 (and respectable!). 1.5m wu / 1m cd - 5.5 total

Fri 12th Feb
Fartlek 8m with 6 x 2mins (90 secs rest) HR 147 with the club. Tough run, not nearly as tough as last weeks 5m tempo but still a good session. Avg pace was just under 8 but I was a bit ahead of some of the lads after the fast bits. I think the 2 mins were ca. 6.30 avg, maybe 6.40. A satisfying session.

Sat 13th Feb
Easy 5 @8.11 pace HR 141 with Greg, he's in pretty bad shape since the Marathon, a couple of niggles and 3 x McDonald's meals after a night out don't help!

Sun 14th Feb
14m @ 8.02 pace HR 145 Got up for the 0800 Howth session with the club, it's nice to be back in the door before 10 bells.
Found it quite tough, was on my own for some of it. Happy with the time though, the lads pushed me up the hill on the way up.

Happy with the week overall, have an hour of astroball planned for later, it'll keep the cobwebs off. I've been trying to focus on forefoot striking this week, the calves seem to be coping better with it so far. Hopefully I'll really start to feel the effect in the next few weeks.

# Runs: 25 (3 races, 1 PB)
MTD: 55
YTD: 174

misty floyd

Solid week Christeb. I hadn't seen your previous post and was wondering if you were injured. Quite the opposite Is there a track out at Raheny that the club there use?

christeb

misty floyd wrote: »

Solid week Christeb. I hadn't seen your previous post and was wondering if you were injured. Quite the opposite Is there a track out at Raheny that the club there use?

Cheers MF, just trying to keep in touch with you! No track, there's a midweek intervals sesh on grass though (400s) that I should really try to make more often though...

shels4ever

christeb wrote: »

Cheers MF, just trying to keep in touch with you! No track, there's a midweek intervals sesh on grass though (400s) that I should really try to make more often though...

Are they still doing hte 1500's down on the sea front? used to be great sessions.

theboyblunder

christeb wrote: »

Sun 14th Feb
14m @ 8.02 pace HR 145 Got up for the 0800 Howth session with the club, it's nice to be back in the door before 10 bells.
Found it quite tough, was on my own for some of it. Happy with the time though, the lads pushed me up the hill on the way up.

wow - 14 miler in howth at 8am. what time did you have to get breakfast at? Sounds like a good session.

These raheny shamrocks sound like tough cookies.

christeb

shels4ever wrote: »

Are they still doing hte 1500's down on the sea front? used to be great sessions.

Haven't heard of the 1500s, I'm sure they'll arrive...

theboyblunder wrote: »

wow - 14 miler in howth at 8am. what time did you have to get breakfast at? Sounds like a good session.

These raheny shamrocks sound like tough cookies.

Got a banana @ 7 and then some OJ just leaving the house, did the job. Although in reality I have to credit last nights carb loading, ice cream and chocolate while watching the W. Olympics did the trick.
They're decent lads, I need to be pushed

christeb

Tues 16th Feb
5.5m untimed home from college.

Fri 19th Feb
5m @ 6'40 pace HR 161
Tempo 5 around the Raheny 5 course. Only 3 of us out, so basically a solo run. Pace was 10 secs faster than 2 wks ago, so I'm happy with this, I was a lot more controlled and could have been slightly faster at the end if I wanted to kill myself. 1.5m wu / 1.5m cd. A solid session

Sat 20th Feb
5m @ 8.17 HR 134
1.5m down to Bull Island, 2m barefoot in the water and 1.5m home - 5 total. The 2m on the beach were tough, a few stones around and the calves / feet felt VERY tender afterwards, a recovery run this was not. Not to mention the cold of that water!

Sun 21st Feb
13.5m @ 8.46 HR 134 with the club.
Very tempted to turn over when I saw the snow, decided to HTFU and get out though. Nice to get out with a good group, pace was never tough but some of the hills helped, the views this morning over Howth and Dublin Bay were ever more spectacular than usual. The chat and banter was good, always helps. Happy to get the miles in, legs couldn't take a much higher pace after Fri's and especially yesterdays run.

A satisfying week, I've been very busy midweek and I don't see this changing any time soon. I've also booked the Summer hols - 16 days in Colombia with the lads at the start of June.

# Runs: 29 (3 races, 1 PB)
MTD: 87
YTD: 206

christeb

Tues 23th Feb
5.5m untimed home from college.

Wed 24th Feb - Raheny Winter League Rd. 6
Untimed, you had to call your own time.
I did the only logical thing, predicted a 1 sec PB - 11.40. Great runout, 55 people. Finished in 11.43, 5.47 1st lap (your time was called out @ halfway). I actually thought I was going so well in the second lap, I think I could have kicked earlier. Happy with the run though, felt very controlled throughout.
2m wu 1.5 cd

Fri 26th Feb[/URL]
7m with the club, was quite tired so cut the 8miler slightly short.

Not a great week, nothing at the weekend due to a serious 2 nights / days of booze. It's refreshing to know you can still get free beer if you know the barman in some places, in this day and age! And what a game on Sat, thank you Mr. Tommy Bowe

# Runs: 32 (4 races, 1 PB)
MTD: 105
YTD: 224

christeb

Tues 2nd Mar
5.5m untimed home from college.

Thurs 3rd Feb
7.5m solo, pace was around 8min IIRC. Was going very well for 4.5 then collapsed (not lieterally), I blame the Elephant & Castle chicken wings I had for lunch.

Fri 5th Mar[/URL]
5m @ 7.30. Set out on the 5m tempo run with a couple fo the lads from the club, but after a 6.39 / 6.52 miles I was in bad shape and jogged the rest home. I blame the other half of the wings I had for lunch.

Astroball on Sunday, I was pretty sharp if I do say so myself!

Was in college all day Sat AND Sun, so nothing else to report. Knocked out with a cold now, hopefully I can save the week by getting some half-decent weekend runs in, inc. an LSR. Frustrating enough not being able to progress as well as some on here, but time just doesn't allow, and won't until I've got this course done and dusted in June. Till then I'll keep ticking over, not regressing too much and be ready to launch into a solid 18 wk Mara plan then.

# Runs: 35 (4 races, 1 PB)
MTD: 18
YTD: 242

theboyblunder

tough week - sometimes the running gods just take aim and play havoc. Get well soon...

christeb

Sun 14th Mar

Only 1 run this week, was sick at the start, and other things took priority towards the end of the wk.
10m @ 7.54 HR 144 this morn with the club, found it tough going up the "corkscrew" in Howth. Some fast miles in there too though. Afterwards, the lads were short so had to play 90 mins up front, lost 1-0 and now I have 2 small sacks of concrete for calves.

# Runs: 36 (4 races, 1 PB)
MTD: 28
YTD: 252

christeb

Sat 20th Mar
5m @ 8:09 with Greg around the Raheny 5 course. Toughter than it should have been, I;'ve regressed somewhat. Not least of all mentally!

Sunday game of astroball, the lads are learning not to buy what I'm selling on the pitch, so the goals are harder to come by. My excuse is I'm getting more attention which is freeing up my teammates!

Tues 23rd Mar
5.5m untimed home from college. Enjoying the slightly higher temp, there was a perfect drizzle for this one too, very refreshing. Legs felt surprisingly decent.

Mileage has been terrible this month, in college 2 out for the next 3 weekends too, so that shoots any potential LSRs to pieces. I've been eating better though, which is a +ve, and I'll keep trying to get out for a few miles where I can.

# Runs: 38 (4 races, 1 PB)
MTD: 38.5
YTD: 262.5

christeb

Fri 26th Mar
Really enjoyable run with the club, 8.5m in a decent time, ca. 7:35 pace (405 was dead)

Sat 27th Mar
4m @ 8.49 pace HR 131 pre-college. Mucky around the inside of St Anne's Park

Sunday - 1hr astroball this evening. Put a bit more effort in this wk, I'm going to try to do some morning runs this week. Try to get some momentum going into April. Although I'll have more college work to do then....:(

# Runs: 40 (4 races, 1 PB)
MTD: 51
YTD: 275

misty floyd

What are you studying Christeb?...if you don't mind me being nosy.

christeb

misty floyd wrote: »

What are you studying Christeb?...if you don't mind me being nosy.

Doing this MF: ACCA DipFM