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A Day at the Races
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3 Weeks to Barca
A pretty crappy week, won't go into detail. Was at physio x 2 and pulled up on the LSR after 8m. Think I ran 27m in total
2 Weeks to Barca
Tues 15th Feb
13m. Easy pace, went out with a good group from the club and I was feeling fresh after the lack of recent mileage. Calf stayed trouble-free so 2 thumbs up. Concked on the sofa after, couldn't even stay awake for the end of the AC Milan v Spurs match
Weds 16th Feb
7m, half with the club. Calf again mostly OK. Was in a rush for this one, so picked the pace up a bit during the 2nd half. Crap weather.
Thurs 17th Feb
Sat 19th Feb
6m @ 8.20 pace with a semi-non running buddy. A superb day, it was Summer-like. Around St Anne's Park and Dollymount Beach.
Sun 20th Feb
17m @ 7.50 pace. Delighted to get around this in one piece *touches wood*, I think the calf is back to normal. Just in time. Felt fairly comfortable for this, even though I needed to take a pit stop at 15m in the house. Got straight back out into the rain, that's not very like me!
14 weeks to go, this week will be a step back (in volume, not intensity) with the exception of the club 2m Winter League race on Weds. I'm leading my division, so need to keep ahead of the lads. Shouldn't be a problem
Not too sure what the ambitions are for Barca time-wise, I may drop the coach an email with a summary of my training to see if he has a suggestion for me....
WTD: 50
MTD: 109.8
YTD: 319.5
I may have mentioned it previously, but the club are doing a Malin to Mizen Relay during the May BH weekend. FB page is here, please "Like" HERE. Drop me a line if you'#d like to participate or help out at all. It's 15 (and a bit) marathons the length of Ireland, non stop. Starts Fri 29th April at sunrise, we should finish on Sunday around noon. All for the Crumlin Children's Hospital.0 -
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Right I've only 1 functional arm but can type OK, so let's give this race report a go. Laptop died recently, so can't upload the Garmin either:
Arrived in BCN an hour + late on Sat PM, which meant I didn't have time to go to the Expo and the match. Had arranged for my clubmate to pick up my number via a manager and a sob story, which thankfully worked. Taxi with jackyback into town, moved hotel (long story) and we made our way to the game. Got to sleep about 0030, didn't sleep well the previous 2 nights either so not ideal.
Race morning, we convinced the hotel to open up the kitchen, there was limited supplies and no porridge. Luckily I packed some extra Alpen as a last resort, so shared this between the clubmate and myself. An energy gel, got ready and we strolled to the start via chatting with a Spanish guy (in Spanish!) who told us a bit about the course.
Went into the 3-3:30 pen with ca. 15 mins to go, I was buzzing, just buzzing. They were blaring "Barcelona" by Freddie and Monserrat and shooting coloured paper into the air. Eveyone was excited (apart from Oisin1178 who was complaining about something). I felt like I was in the Olympics.
First 5k were fine, slightly undulating and ran with the clubmate, bumped into jackybacky too. Let the clubmate go between 6-10k, I knew he was in for a faster time than me. Eventually got talking to a few Danes and ran beside Kim for the next 14k or so. Took a leak somewhere here too but got back to my Danish buddy quickly enough. The aid stations were great every 5k, I stayed on the water as I felt full from breakfast and I had 4 gels too, figured that would be plenty nutrition. The bladder was empty so I also tried to consume as much as each 500ml bottle between stations, as I knew it would get hot later. My Danish buddy only kept the bottle for 500m after the aid station, I thought that might have been a mistake.
We passed by Sagrada Familia at about 16k, first time I'd ever seen it. Breathtaking. Gave macanri a shout at 21k, he was bouncing along nicely I thought, and right on pace. Things went well for me until 24k, when I lost my Danish friend as he was slowing. Things started to hurt about the 30k mark, and from 35k onwards (the beach) it was a real battle. I was riling up the crowds a lot and shouting at every Irish and Danish flag I could see, this gives me a real kick. Plenty of "Go Raheny" and Ireland shouts, they help. Wasn't really running with anyone until this hot black haired chick starts trying to pass me on the beach, I had to keep up with her. Last for about 2k, she had some bounce in her stride - fair play to her. The last few k after the Arc d'Triomphe are a bit of a blur, all narrow streets and tired legs. Went through 21.1k @ 1:37:28, but from 35k onwards I knew it was 3:20 I'd be battling. I was surprised the pace stayed under 8 m/mile until the 25th mile, so I was safe for my target from a long way out.
3:19:16 over the line.
Enjoyed the finish, lots of crowds and waving and what not. There was a nice table spread after the line, although slightly disappointing not to get anything else in a post race goody bag. It's a tricky course overall no doubt, but I can't recommend it enough.
Great race, a perfect experience as far as I'm concerned. Clubmate did 3:14 and could hardly walk after, I was walking more ably after the race. I had a 10er with me (in case we needed a taxi) which paid for the churros con choc on the way back to the hotel, went down very very well.
Great night with the crew after in the GP, football, karaoke and cheap sangría. Congrats to everyone on their great performances, it made the night all the better.
Freddie sums it up nicely for me: "Barcelona | it was the first time that we met | Barcelona | how could I forget?"0 -
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OK now that I'm confirmed to do some pacing in DCM, I better get the log back on track. It's been a quiet enough few weeks, other areas of life have taken priority. Have been averaging ca. 20m / week, so still keeping a good base fitness and for some reason I've dipped under 13st on the scale, I was ca. 13st 3 on the Barcelona start line. I've moved out of home so eating much better which may be the reason.
Recent runs
Fri 1st Jul
5.5m with theboyblunder. Ca. 7:50 pace, he needs the slower runs Good chat, I couldn't do intervals with him as I was out for dinner the night before, didn't get enough sleep.
Tues 7th Jul - Lord Mayors Series Rd 4
Times for the first 2 weeks were 11:37 / 11:54 (hot) / 12:17 (had zero energy), was feeling better after the few days rest. Just did 1 lap wu as opposed to the normal 2, I think it made a difference. Also wore the Marathoners over the Adizero Bostons, the Nikes are a faster shoe which also helped. First lap was 5:38, I was trying to stay as relaxed as possible. Macanri was with me, we did a bit of back and forth. foleyalan was up ahead, he likes his faster 1st laps. 2nd lap I was feeling good, got through the spots where sometimes I go through bad patches in good shape. foleyalan was ahead on the 2nd straight (there's 3 to a lap), and I gave a bit of a kick to get past him so he wouldn;t come back at me. It worked. I led macanri around the corner for the final straight (~300m), but the fecker outkicked me well at the end. 2nd mile 5:32, with 0.04 which took 11 secs. If there were less parked cars on the course the official time surely would have been fast, but I'll take an 11:22 PB any time. Hoping to get close to 11:00 by the ned of the race series in August. Good to see shels4ever looking in good shape at the start too.
Weds 8th Jul
5m @ easy pace. Around the Raheny 5 course at 0615, felt good0 -
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