A Day at the Races

claralara

Christeb I just want to pledge a huge thanks to you for your help yesterday. I didn't realise you were a boardsie! I got a pacing wristband from you before the race and jumped in with the group to start. It was first Half and my personal goal was 2:10. I managed to keep up with you guys until mile 6 before I started dropping back. Finished in 2:04:54 which I was delighted with. I was the little shortie with a teeny blonde ponytail wearing a pink hair clip and runkildare t-shirt...haha - very memorable I'm sure!

Anyway many many thanks for making my first experience a very enjoyable one and helping me reach my goal. Hopefully I'll be finishing with you as a 2 hour pacer in the near future!

christeb

Tues 11th May
5m untimed home from college.

Fri 14th May
6m home from work, 4.2 w/ theboyblunder. Ca. 7.15 pace overall, we got lashed on again.

Sat 15th May
6m into work @ easy pace. Full day of college

Sun 16th May
7.5m @ ca. 8.44 pave. HR 145. Howth Cliff Run with Greg, considering I was out til 5am the night before and had a full day of college, pretty proud of this one. We did the run starting in Howth village first, it truly is breathtaking. Like being in Connemara 10 mins from my front door.
Aside: I've (well in a flaming Moe sense, I popularised it but not the original discoverer!) discovered an amazing hangover solution if anyone wants to give it a go, scientifically proved to work!
1 pint water + 1/2 tbsp salt + 4 tbsp sugar. Need to heat the water to make sure it all dissolves. 2 glasses of this, combined with a couple of solpadeine (ideally before AND after bed) will ensure you're brand new.

Mon 17th May
4.5m with the club @ 7.49 pace, HR 141. Was tired before and after this, really tired. No one around at the pace I wanted to run so kept with the faster lads for the loop, felt it at the end though.

Exams 7/8 June and then off to Colombia for 2.5 weeks with the lads, so won't be dooing too much running between now and the end of June, hopefully I won't have regressed too much by then. Not that I have too far to regress until I'm and square one though!

# Runs: 71 (8 races, 3 PB)
MTD: 49
YTD: 480.5

christeb

Tues 18th May
5m untimed home from college.

Fri 14th May
8.5m @ 7.24 pace. Home from work at a healthy pace, 7 with theboyblulnder. Had some 'stomach problems' on the way, but apart from that the weather was magnifico and the company was top drawer!

Sat 15th May AM
6m @8.06 pace into work - easy pace, inspired by HM to HTFU as I knew she had been out on the rd for 2 hrs already. Amazing sunshine. Full day of college.

Sat 22nd May PM
7m @ ca. 8.40 pave. HR 145. Howth Cliff Run with Greg, legs were tired from the last 2 runs but the sun was splitting the stones. 4th time we've done this run in almost as many weeks, it's head and shoulders my fav route of anywhere. If you are in the area and haven't done it, I stringly urge you to give it an hour of your time.

Sun 23rd May
Astroball after a houseparty the nt before and a full day of college. I need sleep.

# Runs: 74 (8 races, 3 PB)
MTD: 75.5
YTD: 507

christeb

Tues 25th May
5m untimed home from college after a mock exam.

Fri 28th May
7m @ 7.16 with theboyblunder. Wind at our backs and I had over indulged at the BBQ earlier in the day, so I was VERY happy to arrive at my door.

Sat 29th May
5.5m into work pre-college - on a Saturday. I know, the pain is nearly over!

Sun 30th May
7m around the Cliffs of Howth with Greg. Coming to the realisation that if I was to run fast in October, I'll have to cut this run out of my schedule. It's just too different to the Baystate Marathon course profile. Found this one very tough for some reason, maybe it's the fact that I'm quite sure I'll fail my exams and I should have been studying instead!
Astroball in the evening, enjoyable.

Tough sched this week, study study and more study when not at work. Dublin Duathlon on Weds will be the only shining light in my week, I should really skip it but it's too much fun. Running will be taking a backseat in the next few weeks. Exams on Bank Holiday Monday and the day after, then Weds 9th June it's off to Colombia with the lads for 2.5 weeks. Bring it.

# Runs: 78 (8 races, 3 PB)
MTD: 100
YTD: 531.5

theboyblunder

good luck in the duathlon!

Macanri

+1 Enjoy it and the study break!!

Peckham

christeb wrote: »

then Weds 9th June it's off to Colombia with the lads for 2.5 weeks.

Easy to tell you don't travel on an Irish passport! Isn't that the one country where it's a nightmare for us Paddies?

christeb

theboyblunder wrote: »

good luck in the duathlon!

Macanri wrote: »

+1 Enjoy it and the study break!!

Cheers lads - Stephen, I might be running on Friday if you want to carry me for a few miles as usual. Will email...

Peckham wrote: »

Easy to tell you don't travel on an Irish passport! Isn't that the one country where it's a nightmare for us Paddies?

It's Irish, but they've loosened things in recent times, shouldn't be a problem. There's an American and a doctor in the travelling pack, if they need hostages they can take them!

christeb

Don't think I reported on the June Duathlon, got around in 42:43 IIRC, forgot the Garmin which wasn't a huge distraction in the end. 10 secs off the PB, enjoyed the race as usual.

Got through exams and Colombia in 1 piece, managed 1 run while over there, it was 30 deg by 7 am and I wasn't always feeling fresh.

This week:

Fri 25th June
8.5m @ 7.44 pace. 3 hours after jumping off the flight I rocked up to the Shamrocks clubhouse, ready for some punishment. Got around the Park in pretty good shape, legs we relatively fresh although I was running on fumes.

Sat 26th June
4m @ 8.22, a recovery run but should havee left it, didn't help.

Was hoping to LSR it today but the calves were too sore from too much too soon. I've got July Duath on Weds, will be interesting to see how much I've regressed while on the break. I'll go semi-long tomorrow night, maybe 10-12 miles if I'm feelin' good.

# Runs: 82 (9 races, 3 PB)
MTD: 14.5
YTD: 552

theboyblunder

Best of luck with the marathon training brian! Im afraid after your holidays in columbia we're going to have to insist on a drug test before your next few PBs can be ratified.

christeb

Mon 28th June
4.5m @ 8.04. Found it tough, calves were very sore the whole way around from my exploits on the previous Friday.

Thurs 1st July
5m very slow, lots of stretching on the way around. I think I had a small tear in my calf, on Weds I tried to get out but the pain was too much. Felt better today though.

Fri 2nd July
8.5m @ 7.54
Good aerobic run - 2 x laps of the Park with the club. Barefoot cool down / stretch

Sat 3rd July
Intervals 4 x 800. My first coached session, a great turnout with the club in Santry Demesne. Different groups do different distances, so we all finish at a similar time with the same recovery. 2 min jog recovery I believe it was. Garmin died but I think our times were near the 3 min mark. I skipped the second last, everyone else did 5.
3.5m total wu / cd - total 6.5m.

Exchanged a couple of pleasantries with figs who was out walking his kid.

Sun 4th July
6.5m @ 7.57
Arch in bits and legs were pretty cooked from last night. Heading down to steward the Multimarathon along the seafront now, glad I'm not running it. Looks rough out

# Runs: 87 (9 races, 3 PB)
MTD: 31
YTD: 583

Trying to learn some Spanish which explains the post title. This week I've got the Duathlon on Weds, planned a cycle with macanri tomorrow which fits in quite well after the last few days.

tunguska

Thanks again for today dude. See you at the 5 miler(If not the Duathlon).

christeb

Not a great week overall.

Monday 5th July
Howth spin w/ macanri. 2 x laps of the hill - church side up. He's in good shape but I got my own back after he burned me on the final interval last time we were out!

Weds 7th July - DUATH
Duathlon in the Park - 42:39. Finished 40 / 273. (slightly) Faster than last month in tougher conditions. Enjoyable race, and I got home for the 2nd half of the match, result all round then.

Thurs 8th - 7.5m @ 7.47 pace. With the club guys, the arch of my foot started to hurt on the way back, gave up 0.5m from home. I hope it's not serious

Sat 10th July - Intervals w/ Club
5 x 0.55m @ 5.50 pace. This is a tough session - we all start simultaneously and jog recovery, there ain't no hidin'! Was struggling on the 4th but got some great encouragement from my start buddy to get me through the last one. I had eaten crap food that night / morning which didn't help matter. Good to get through it. 3m wu / no wd :P

Sun 11th July
Astroball for 1 hr. Dreadfully hungover, I unleashed some pain on my opponents - I missed the footy the last few weeks. Strained a muscle at the top of my leg though, so I'm out for a few days. Damn it!

Another week, another no LSR, I need to start focussing if I want to give BQ a run for it's money in October....

# Runs: 90 (10 races, 3 PB)
MTD: 48
YTD: 601

Macanri

Ah sh1t man, hope the strained muscle heals up quick for you.

Re the marathon, I would think your synopsis is fairly accurate. There's a lot of lads on here at the minute a few weeks into their marathon plans. Time to knuckle down to marathon training if that's your goal!

christeb

Weds 14th July
4m in the AM
PM I went to the physio. She found my dodgy hip flexor pretty quickly, combined with a slightly fallen / inflamed arch. Nothing to be overly concerned about, I should really go to that biomechanics specialist over near UCD...

Fri 16th - 8m total.
4 am and 4 pm. I had envisioned that I'd miss the race in the Park due to other activities - turns out I was right. I pre-hydrated to the max. An easy run in the morning and a harder one in the evening with some of the clubs better runners, they were on an infamous "easy day".

Sat 17th July
4.5m hungover. Happy I battled through this one, I was nay feelin' the Mae West.

Sun 18th July
10m @ 8.15
Missed my early morning wake-up, so had to do an LSR solo. Got 10m done at an easy pace, which I was happy with as I hadn't touched double digits in a while. Took some advice from theboyblunder on this one, as Baystate is 2 laps, I think it's important to exercise the mind also. So for this I just did loops of the famous 1m lap in Raheny. Worked out quite well, I could pick up electrolyte drink every mile. Got lashed on in miles 6 / 7 which was really nice

Motivation hasn't been superb - combined with the niggly injuries which are just enough to keep me indoors on some nights. I need to turn things around, especilaly in terms of distance, if I've any hope of fulfilling this years goal. In other news I'm in the process of building my Canyon bike which will help off-day training. Also I've been keeping with core / strength work up somewhat, an average of 2 sessions / week in the mornings. It helps.


# Runs: 95 (10 races, 3 PB)
MTD: 74.5
YTD: 627.5

kennyb3

Hi christeb,

How is the bike build going? like the canyon's myself, prob going to chose between that and either a storck or a scott next spring when i get a new bike. look forward to seeing yours at some stage. Are you going to use it for TT's or whats the story? just saw you were looking for aero mavic cosmic carbon wheels.

you keeping the yellow space ship too?

christeb

kennyb3 wrote: »

Hi christeb,

How is the bike build going? like the canyon's myself, prob going to chose between that and either a storck or a scott next spring when i get a new bike. look forward to seeing yours at some stage. Are you going to use it for TT's or whats the story? just saw you were looking for aero mavic cosmic carbon wheels.

you keeping the yellow space ship too?

Hey - BK. Yep keeping the yellow spaceship, have some (look away here purists) yellow aerospokes on order and will have her transformed into the Yellow Fixed Spaceship by Oct.

The Canyon is coming on, have everything (Dura-ace gruppo - sweet!) except the wheels. I'll probs just use the standard ones from the Spaceship until I get the ones I want. Gonna use it for spins around Howth and general fitness, as well as the Duathlons. It'll be getting fair weather use only - running will still be my #1.

christeb

Monday 19th
5.5m with the club

Tues 20th
4m easy AM

Thurs 22nd
10m @ 7.26 pace. A great run with 2 of the lads from the club, out to Howth, took in the first part of the hill at the Corkscrew (past Sutton Dinghy club) and back. Happy with pace and some good abnter along the way. Best run in a while

Sat 24th July
7m semi-hungover. Great spin around Howth with MisterDrak, climbhigh and macanri. Nice day, figs took some a-mazin' photos, he is a legend. This one is my current desktop, looks good on the 21" monitor.
I was sore at the end.

Sun 25th July
7m at slow pace with the club, I was sore so retired early. PM 1 hr of astroball, enjoyed it and I had moments but I was mostly mediocre.

An OK week, no injuries to speak of which is good. A couple of core / weights sessions were in there too, so I feel in pretty god shape. Could do with some more distance though and this'll be my main downfall in this training cycle.

# Runs: 100 (10 races, 3 PB)
MTD: 117.5
YTD: 660.5

christeb

Monday 26th Jul
11m solo around Howth. Hilly but glad I got out, was VERY sore at the end and had to walk the last mile

Tues 27th
5m easy

Thurs 29th Jul
5m w/ 2 @ tempo (ca. 6.50 pace). Was aiming for 4 but wasn't feeling great. I need some Jens Voigt-esque self motivation, also known as HTFU

Fri 30th Jul
1 1hour of football with my neighbour and his buddies. I was wearing my Danish Bendter 11 shirt, there was one shout of "GET BENDTNER." That made me smile!

Sat 31st July
Morning: 1 lap of Howth, church side up, on the new bike. She's a beauty

Later: club intervalws. 5 x 800 @ 5.32 pace. I was put in a more modest group this week, and pace was correspondingly good. Found it tough, especially after eating crap since Friday night, but battled through it. Drove straight up to Sligo after for the Cohen Lissadell gig.
1m wu, no wd

Sun 1st Aug
2m. Drove home fro Len in Sligo (AMAAAAAZIN' CONCERT) straight after so wasn't back til 3am. Tired for most of the day and when I did get out it was a big fat fail.

Mon 2nd Auk - Bank Hol LSR
14m @ 8.09 pace. Good spin, included the Howth Cliff Run which was as stunning as ever. Took a couple of breaks to stretch as the terrain was hard and this was my longest run in ~10 weeks. I know. Not good.

Tues 3rd Aug
5 miles around St Anne's Park with the club, legs in bits after. Pace ca. 7.30 I suspect (watch battery is dead). Formula 1 Duathlon tomorrow, didn;t want to push it further.

# Runs: 107 (10 races, 3 PB)
MTD: 163.4
YTD: 706.5

Macanri

Well christeb, I like the bike - dura-ace too, v nice.

You have me contemplating doing the duathlon tomorrow evening as my speed session for the week!

christeb

Macanri wrote: »

Well christeb, I like the bike - dura-ace too, v nice.

You have me contemplating doing the duathlon tomorrow evening as my speed session for the week!

Oh YEAH c'mon down, I'd love to see if I could take ya (doubtful)! It's 3 runs interspersed with 2 bikes, I've changed my pedals to normal ones so I don't have to change shoes x 4 - MINUTES saved!

Macanri

What times it at?

christeb

Macanri wrote: »

What times it at?

Fast wave start is at 1915. I don't want to see you if you're not going in the fast wave!

theboyblunder

good stuff getting the 14 miler in. There is time to stretch that out before the taper. good luck in the duathlon today!

christeb wrote: »

Monday 26th Jul
11m solo around Howth. Hilly but glad I got out, was VERY sore at the end and had to walk the last mile

Tues 27th
5m easy

Thurs 29th Jul
5m w/ 2 @ tempo (ca. 6.50 pace). Was aiming for 4 but wasn't feeling great. I need some Jens Voigt-esque self motivation, also known as HTFU

Fri 30th Jul
1 1hour of football with my neighbour and his buddies. I was wearing my Danish Bendter 11 shirt, there was one shout of "GET BENDTNER." That made me smile!

Sat 31st July
Morning: 1 lap of Howth, church side up, on the new bike. She's a beauty

Later: club intervalws. 5 x 800 @ 5.32 pace. I was put in a more modest group this week, and pace was correspondingly good. Found it tough, especially after eating crap since Friday night, but battled through it. Drove straight up to Sligo after for the Cohen Lissadell gig.
1m wu, no wd

Sun 1st Aug
2m. Drove home fro Len in Sligo (AMAAAAAZIN' CONCERT) straight after so wasn't back til 3am. Tired for most of the day and when I did get out it was a big fat fail.

Mon 2nd Auk - Bank Hol LSR
14m @ 8.09 pace. Good spin, included the Howth Cliff Run which was as stunning as ever. Took a couple of breaks to stretch as the terrain was hard and this was my longest run in ~10 weeks. I know. Not good.

Tues 3rd Aug
5 miles around St Anne's Park with the club, legs in bits after. Pace ca. 7.30 I suspect (watch battery is dead). Formula 1 Duathlon tomorrow, didn;t want to push it further.

# Runs: 107 (10 races, 3 PB)
MTD: 163.4
YTD: 706.5

claralara

Best of luck tonight. I love the way your race build up consisted of the guts of 20miles running and mine consisted of 2 days rest.. Ah the joys of being a beginner!

Macanri

Well done on the duathlon race the other night, a great time.

christeb

Thanks guys

Catching up on the last few days.

Weds 4th - Duathlon
Formula 1 style. Report here, I may have gone slightly too slow in the middle run but apart from that I'm very happy with how it went. The new bike felt good. And it counts as a PB as I've never done that distance before!

Fri 6th Aug
Arrived into Denmark on the Thursday for a long weekend to see the family - Grandparents Golden Wedding Anniv. Got a 7m @ 7.19 pace run in, sunshine and deserted beautiful country roads trails. I took a couple of breaks during this one, was tired and didn't eat great that day. When I got up to speed however, I felt good. Last 2 miles were 6'55 and 6'33

Sun 8th Aug
Arrived from Denmark via 2 flights, slept on both so felt pretty good. 14.5m @ unknown pace, Garmin was dead after the trip. Took the route around the Cliffs in Howth, felt stronger than last week.

Feeling OK about things atm, looking forward to beating last years 10m PB (70.47) in the Park in 2 weeks, although it's far from a guarantee! I hope to up the mileage this week, something 40+ would be nice...

# Runs: 107 (11 races, 4 PB)
MTD: 48.5
YTD: 734

christeb

Monday 9th Aug
AM: Core / weights work in the garage-gym
PM: 5m @ 7.47, legs tired from Sunday's exertions
followed with a 2 x lapper of Howth (church side up) with macanri, it was nice to pass nice to pass him on the hill both times, but he has me on the descents, I'll put that down to his tribars

Weds 11th Aug
Core / weights work in the garage-gym AM

Thurs 12th Aug
10m @ 7.16, HR 150. First 4m were with esteemed company, as there was a small turnout tonight. So we kept to their easy pace of 6.45, took the last 6 solo. A good run, happy with the pace considering my PMP will be about 7.40

Fri 13th Aug
4m easy in the AM.

Sat 14th Aug
Itnervals. Got to bed at 5am, woke up @ 1010 buzzing for somoe reason. I definitely wasn't sober but the weather outside and the fact the intervals had moved to St Ann'e Park 5 mins away made up my mind for me. Got 3 x 1m in, most others did 4. Avg pace 6.18, 2 mins rest. wu, no wd.

Later got some Par 3 golf in with some old friends and a lap of Howth (church side up of course) with Greg, a good day.

Sun 15th Aug
15.5 @ 8.10 pace, HR 146.
Flat ands quite consistent, although I really struggled the last couple of miles. Picked up a guy for 2 miles ca. mile 10 / 11 and upped the pace to keep with him, ca. 7.30. VERY hot out, was vestless the whole way and sweated a lot. Brought a bottle but this was empty by 13 and the last couple were hard.
Great day in Croker afterward, my first time there this season

# Runs: 112 (11 races, 4 PB)
MTD: 88
YTD: 773.5

RacoonQueen

I love the new bike by the way, it's pretty.

And really impressive training, you seem to have made massive improvements this year. Whats the goal for the frank duffy?

christeb

Yeah the new bike is a rolling pleasure. I'll be happy with 68 in the FD, it means I'm in shape for something like 3:20 if I run a clever marathon and get the LSRs in for the next few weeks...