Raising the bar a little...

aero2k

Just re-read your report.

Your DCM '09 report inspired me to write of my own experience, and now your DCM '11 report is inspiring me to want to emulate that performance, if not the time.

Best of luck with all your goals for 2012.

Re. Seres' comments and your's on helping fellow runners - I think I remember Annette Kealy describing how one runner was struggling in her group and everyone tried to cajole them along. On the rare occasions when I've been passing lots of people in a race I've found giving a pat on the back or a word of encouragement actually helps me as much as the receiver. I read somewhere that the word "compete" has its roots in a Latin word meaning "to seek together", which for me sums up what racing is all about.

Abhainn

aero2k wrote: »

Just re-read your report.

Your DCM '09 report inspired me to write of my own experience, and now your DCM '11 report is inspiring me to want to emulate that performance, if not the time.

Jaysus thanks Sean. Glad to be of help. Never give up on your goals mate.

aero2k wrote: »

Re. Seres' comments and your's on helping fellow runners - I think I remember Annette Kealy describing how one runner was struggling in her group and everyone tried to cajole them along. On the rare occasions when I've been passing lots of people in a race I've found giving a pat on the back or a word of encouragement actually helps me as much as the receiver. I read somewhere that the word "compete" has its roots in a Latin word meaning "to seek together", which for me sums up what racing is all about.

Interesting, will note that one down.

Rest over, ticking over begins.

In the past few years I have taken at least two weeks off to recharge after the Dublin marathon. Two weeks was too long this time. I felt really good in the days after so I forced myself not to run for 10 days. I started back last Thurs with a handy 6 miler and Fri the same.
There was a well overdue visit to Sligeach at the weekend. It, also seen me in Westport early Sat morning. I was supporting one of the younger bro’s (who is just boarding a plane to Oz now in search of a new life) in the Sea2Summit adventure race. The race comprised of a 4.5km run followed by a 9km bike to Croagh Patrick, then a run to the summit and return immediately into an equally challenging 35km bike and 4km run to finish. Oh I was almost frothing at the mouth. I could see myself doing this at some stage.

I love running in new places and after the last wave start had gone I took the opportunity to run the 6 miles from Westport to CP along the coast in the fantastic morning. Clew Bay was something. Went up the mountain a bit to meet the bro coming down in good shape. Ran back again to Westport along the same route. Won’t forget this run in a while or the weekend either.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/128628232

The plan for the next 6 weeks is to tick over with runs and some bikes. May even take 2 rest days per week before the new years’ efforts and another years’ goals begin again.

Krusty_Clown

Abhainn wrote: »

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/128628232

11.99 miles? Come on Joe, that's just lazy.

Abhainn

Its been a while. I'll start off with a summary of my 2011 races

Happiest with DM again on less than ideal preperation. The last 2 5K's of the year are promising for the coming year
The HIM in Swinford result was acceptable. Think I can knock 10 mins off that in 2012

Running Races 2011 Date AVG Pace / Splits Time Placing Comment
Donadae 50 KM 26th Feb 4:10/km 03:29:03 2nd /18 Training run
Fr Murphys Kildalkey 5 mile 17th March 3:30/km 00:28:14 16th / 182 Equals PB
Wicklow 10km 27th March 3:34/km 00:35:43 6th/? Tough course
London Marathon 17th April 3:52/km 02:43:33 233th/34,656
Wicklow Fit for life 5KM 11th May 3:25/km 00:17:07 8th/81 PB by 61 secs
Wicklow way Relay Leg 2 12th June 5:12/km 01:17:03 5th/30 Never again
Dunshaughlin 10km 25th June 3:34/km 00:35:39 42nd/645 Crap
FR.Duffy 10 Mile 20th Aug 3:35/km 00:57:43 48th/5,175 PB by 35 secs
National Half Marathon Waterford 3rd Sept 3:40/km 01:17:28 69th/690
Dublin Marathon 31st Oct 3:52/km 02:43:17 72nd/11,723 Same position as 2011
Bray Runners 5k 15th Dec 3:24/km 00:17:01 1st PB by 5 secs
Wicklow Town 5k 26th Dec 3:21/km 00:16:48 9th/315 PB by 13 secs

Triathlons 2011 Swim/Bike Run
Tri Burgh Olympic 4th June 36:50/1:21:10/37:36 02:37:35 14th/95 Bike 41k, Run 9.5k
Tri Athlone Olympic 2nd July 26:10/1:04:45/39:10 02:17:31 48th /470 Bike 37k, Run 10.6k
Humbert Challenge HIM 24th July 39:04/2:44:30/1:30:01 04:57:34 13th/140 Bike 88k, Run 21.4k

pgibbo

Some sweet results there! :cool:

Have you finalised races for this year?

Abhainn

Summary of sessions (incl races for 2009-2011)
As one can see didn't really give it all for the bike & swim disciplines


Summary 2009-2011 2011 2010 2009
Summary 2009-2011 2011 2010 2009
# Training & Race sessions (Run, Bike ,Swim) 326 288 263
Week Avg 6.2 5.5 5.1
Duration (hh:mm) 340:40:00 316:19:00 298:20:00
Week Avg 06:25 06:04 05:44
Calories (kcal) 298,807 257,239 229,691
Week Avg 5,637 4,946 4,417

Runs
Year Distance (miles) 2209 2001 1778
No of sessions 253 229 204
Total time 251:05:00 238:43:00
Week avg distance (miles) 41.7 37.9 34.2
Session length avg 8.8 8.6 8.7

Bike
Year Distance (km) 1927 1937 1965
No of sessions 39 38 36
Session length avg (road,km) 63 59 55
Session length avg (turbo km) 29 22 n/a

Swims
Year Distance (km) 47.9 40.8 52.5
No of sessions 27 25 29
Session length avg 1.8 1.7 1.8



Interestingly avg run pace for the 2209 miles was 6min 49sec / mile

Abhainn

pgibbo wrote: »

Some sweet results there! :cool:

Have you finalised races for this year?

Heh there pgibbo

So far its looking like this

Jan 29th - Dungarvan 10 mile
March 3rd - Kinvara Half
March 25 - Wicklow Half (At MP)
April 22nd - London:)

July 22nd - Humbert Challenge HIM (hopefully)
Sept 30th - Challaenge Barcelona

I will probably do 3 tri's before Barcel - 2 Oly and 1 Half
Humbert comes 11 weeks before the big one which is a little too far out though. So still not decided 100%.

shotgunmcos

Abhainn wrote: »

Interestingly avg run pace for the 2209 miles was 6min 49sec / mile

Now thats jut rubbing it in!

I agree on Humbert not being relevant as its too far out from Barca. Good reports from last year about it. Galway 70.3 is 4 weeks out

pgibbo

Do you not think that 4 weeks is a little too close for a HIM in the lead up to an IM? I guess it depends on the individual and their ability to recover but I would have thought it's a bit too close if you hammer the 70.3.

Do either of you know anyone that has taken this approach? I can't help thinking of 1 guy I know that did Barca 2 years ago after medalling at the NC in Kenmare 3 weeks earlier may have gone faster had he not hammered Kenmare. He posted a cracking 9:2x IIRC but I think he could have gone a lot faster. I've never spoken to him about if but it's my view from the outside looking in so to speak.

shotgunmcos

pgibbo wrote: »

Do you not think that 4 weeks is a little too close for a HIM in the lead up to an IM? I guess it depends on the individual and their ability to recover but I would have thought it's a bit too close if you hammer the 70.3.

Do either of you know anyone that has taken this approach? I can't help thinking of 1 guy I know that did Barca 2 years ago after medalling at the NC in Kenmare 3 weeks earlier may have gone faster had he not hammered Kenmare. He posted a cracking 9:2x IIRC but I think he could have gone a lot faster. I've never spoken to him about if but it's my view from the outside looking in so to speak.

Yeah i know that case too and agree.

Sorry I should have expanded.

Humbert is 11 weeks out, Galway is 4 weeks. So too far and too close? Depends on the purpose. No harm in racing Humbert but Galway is too expensive for a training session too...

I'm in the same boat as Abhainn... undecided. I've put this to the Coach too

pgibbo

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Yeah i know that case too and agree.

Sorry I should have expanded.

Humbert is 11 weeks out, Galway is 4 weeks. So too far and too close? Depends on the purpose. No harm in racing Humbert but Galway is too expensive for a training session too...

I'm in the same boat as Abhainn... undecided. I've put this to the Coach too

Thx for clarifying Mike. Keep us posted as to what the coach says.

Galway is way too expensive a training day as I found out last year. Had I known I was doing Barca at the time I entered then I wouldn't have bothered!

Abhainn

pgibbo wrote: »

Thx for clarifying Mike. Keep us posted as to what the coach says.

Galway is way too expensive a training day as I found out last year. Had I known I was doing Barca at the time I entered then I wouldn't have bothered!

Agree not interested in paying silly entry fees for a half. Ideally a Half 6 weeks out is what I'll be targeting

I finally decided on tri wheels and got it last night. Blue Triad SP.
I fell in love when I first saw it. At some point I may upgrade the wheels but for now I'm very happy.

Thanks to DOM in Base2Race
Excellent service, and bike fit too

Abhainn

Nov to Dec summary
I’ve ticking over nicely since DM. Was very giddy to get back running straight away but forced myself to take 9 days off. I averaged 5 runs for total around 45 miles per week and 1 long bike up to 2.75 hrs. I incorporated some quicker run reps during this time as I didn’t want to disgrace myself in the club 5k handicap and Wicklow 5k in Dec. Some decent tempo runs also.
So will start off with summary of last week Dec 2011


Weekly Summary 1/1/12
Mon – AM 8.6 miles including Wicklow Town 5K race in 16:48(9th & PB)
Tue – AM 10.1 miles easy (7:37m/m) HR135
Wed – PM 7.1 miles steady (6:44m/m) HR141
Thu – PM 11 miles (6:37m/m)
Fri – AM 7.6 miles steady (6:45m/m)
Sat – Rest
Sun – AM 10.5 miles steady (06:39 m/m)

Total mileage – 54.9 miles

We had fresh prawns with the claws on for Christmas Day starters. I accidently nicked my upper lip with one of the sharp bits and immediately suffered a bit of a reaction. Soon after my face was swelling up and eyes in bad shape. I still ate the prawns.;)
I was looking worse for wear on the morning of the town 5k race. Beepbeep67 commented and I bet he thought I had a hard day on the hard stuff. But the race went very well. I went out steady for the first k. The 2nd k has a nasty climb but made my way past runners to its summit. The 3rd k is fast but twisty as club mate Finn and myself raced side by side. The 4th k was hard against the wind as I move ahead of Finn but starting to feel the pain. However I found something and finished strong . Splits 3:21, 3:32,3:15, 3:27,3:14. PB by 13 secs.
On Tues rans easy laps of Avondale house in Rathdrum with BB67 and Finn and a couple of Parnell guys too.
For the last time on Thurs I ran around Tymon and Tallaght. Weather inclement and awful and just needed to keep pace up to keep warm. Somewhat an effort though.
Sat was rest after 11 years and last day at work. Drinks with colleagues and OH’s. Also a fantastic feed in Jaiper in town.
On Sunday started off New Year with a very enjoyable run.

pgibbo

Nice bike! :cool: Smart call getting a TT bike IMO. Best of luck with it. Keep her between the ditches, as they say.

When you planning to introduce swimming and biking?

catweazle

Abhainn wrote: »

I fell in love when I first saw it. At some point I may upgrade the wheels but for now I'm very happy.

A bit like myself - who cares about the specs as long as it looks good! American Classic wheels from what I can see - you might get a good resale on them - that brand are usually pricy enough

shotgunmcos

Abhainn wrote: »

Agree not interested in paying silly entry fees for a half. Ideally a Half 6 weeks out is what I'll be targeting

Its not nessary to do a HIM in the run up to an IM. I didn't last year and got on ok. In fact I went from Olympic distance to IM. If using a HIM distance to guauge something IM related, then better to do it in training. Do a HIM to race a HIM.
The options without too much travel or cost are
Tri an Mhi - Mid May
Athy Double Olympic - June
Humbert - July
Kenmare - too late
Galway - too lat and too expensive

The IM block of training will only be 10-12 weeks so Humbert is actually a good choice to go out and race and then switch focus to IM training. You could build your base up to the HIM and race off that.

I'd prefer to do Humbert myelf but right now the only one I'm free to do is Athy and that would be the bottom choice for me.

Izoard

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Its not nessary to do a HIM in the run up to an IM. I didn't last year and got on ok. In fact I went from Olympic distance to IM. If using a HIM distance to guauge something IM related, then better to do it in training. Do a HIM to race a HIM.
The options without too much travel or cost are
Tri an Mhi - Mid May
Athy Double Olympic - June
Humbert - July
Kenmare - too late
Galway - too lat and too expensive

The IM block of training will only be 10-12 weeks so Humbert is actually a good choice to go out and race and then switch focus to IM training. You could build your base up to the HIM and race off that.

I'd prefer to do Humbert myelf but right now the only one I'm free to do is Athy and that would be the bottom choice for me.

Not to move the conversation away from Abhainn's hot wheels, but the one benefit of doing the Double Oly in Athy, is that you get away in the first wave, and so you are not hanging around for hours, if that was in your thinking...

Notwitch

Nice bike. Enjoy.

I know this is bad timing but did you ever consider taking a look at one of the Chinese carbon moulding factories and getting a frameset when you were over there working?

pgibbo

Notwitch wrote: »

Nice bike. Enjoy.

I know this is bad timing but did you ever consider taking a look at one of the Chinese carbon moulding factories and getting a frameset when you were over there working?

I've looked at them here. A guy in Mayo imports and does custom builds. They look class! He rides TT's on them and speaks very positively about them.

catweazle

pgibbo wrote: »

I've looked at them here. A guy in Mayo imports and does custom builds. They look class! He rides TT's on them and speaks very positively about them.

They sell the full monty now, not just the frame- came across them on ebay.com a few times. Sram Red groupsets and deep section wheels - something almost evil looking about them - head to toe jet black but they look great.

Abhainn

Notwitch wrote: »

Nice bike. Enjoy.

I know this is bad timing but did you ever consider taking a look at one of the Chinese carbon moulding factories and getting a frameset when you were over there working?

TBH I never actually considered it. Logistically I'm not sure if it was possible though.
No 1. Travelling to the location and actually getting your hands on one and
No 2. Getting items shipped form China can be extremely difficult. Customs are bxxtards getting shipments in and out of the bloody place. Not like Europe, fecking nightmare

pgibbo wrote: »

I've looked at them here. A guy in Mayo imports and does custom builds. They look class! He rides TT's on them and speaks very positively about them.

catweazle wrote: »

They sell the full monty now, not just the frame- came across them on ebay.com a few times. Sram Red groupsets and deep section wheels - something almost evil looking about them - head to toe jet black but they look great.

Wasn't aware of this

pgibbo wrote: »

When you planning to introduce swimming and biking?

This won't go down well with hard tri heads.
Between now and April 22 London will the main focus. As I have more available time now (hopefully only for the short term) from next week I will be introducing up to 2 swims per week and 1-2 bikes. But these will be used as recovery sessions and cross training. I won't start prioper training for Barcelona untill 26th April. That will give me 22 weeks to the challenge

Abhainn

Weekly Summary 8/1/12

Mon – AM 9 miles steady (06:45 m/m) HR139
Tue – PM 9.1 miles steady (06:41m/m) HR142
Wed – PM 14 miles (06:28m/m)
14 @06:28 with 9 x 80secs @5k pace (05:24m/m) HR151
Thu – PM 7.2 miles easy (7:02m/m) with 2 miles on grass. HR 136
Fri – AM 8.1 miles steady (6:50m/m). HR 140.
Sat – AM 6.2 miles easy with pick-ups (06:50m/m). HR 135
Sun – AM 10 miles with 6.2k XC race (05:40m/m) HR 175. Position 1st

Total mileage – 63.6 miles

The Christmas drinks festival lasted from 16th Dec to Jan 2nd. I think I had some form of alcohol every day for 18 days. Pints of stout, special bottled beers (my favorite) wine, whiskey, port. I ended up on in the Porterhouse in Parliament St. on the Mon 2nd in the afternoon drinking a good number of oyster stouts with some former work colleagues. I can’t recall the last time I was drinking pints on a Mon afternoon. Great arm training though. However I didn’t wake up with any hangovers and ran almost every day. And happily my weight barely raised by a kg and my fitness has improved.
There was some very inclement weather this week. The worst was on the Wed evening of my combined midweek medium run (something I am introducing for this marathon schedule) and intervals which I didn’t manage to get in on the previous day. The wind and rain was horrid. First 3 wu @06:50 following by 9, 80 secs spurts at the start of each mile. I think the pace of the first one was 05:50 into the storm. Gladly it improved and I hit most of the remaining splits. The intention was just to do 8 but as the wind was behind me on mile 12 I added on the 9th at about 5:05 pace. Good session and legs turned over very well.

On the Sunday I ran in my first ever XC race- the Wicklow masters championships. Thanks to borrowed spikes from Beepbeep67 (the size 10 felt more like a very snug 9.5 but they were sound) and a very large Bray runners singlet from the same lad . I looked forward to the race. Had a good warm up that included good auld Krusty. As usual he was making excuses about the too many pints the night before. I didn’t tell him my consumption from the previous night though:rolleyes:
Eventually we were off on the 2 lap’s route and the first 2k felt very easy though the pace was nothing soft. Finn from the club and me gradually moved away from the field working together. By 4k I had perhaps 10 yards on the slightly older colleague. I slowed a little on 4 & 5 and by the last k was wanting it to finish. That last 800m was hard. I was on my own, I was trying running against the wind and long drag but held on well to finish ahead of all in 21:42 about 13 secs ahead of Finn. Distance 6.17k. 3:30km pace
Splits 3:25, 3:23, 3:31, 3:33, 3:33, 3:40, 35 sec. PB by 13 secs.

A very good start to the new 2012 and nicely set up for the season

dermCu

You make me sick. The more you drink the faster you get.

BeepBeep67

I'm planning on growing back into that top someday .

Abhainn wrote: »

Distance 6.17k. 3:30km pace
Splits 3:25, 3:23, 3:31, 3:33, 3:33, 3:40, 35 sec. PB by 13 secs.

When's the last time you ran a 6.17k race

Larry Brent

Abhainn wrote: »

Weekly Summary 8/1/12

Mon – AM 9 miles steady (06:45 m/m) HR139
Tue – PM 9.1 miles steady (06:41m/m) HR142
Wed – PM 14 miles (06:28m/m)
14 @06:28 with 9 x 80secs @5k pace (05:24m/m) HR151
Thu – PM 7.2 miles easy (7:02m/m) with 2 miles on grass. HR 136
Fri – AM 8.1 miles steady (6:50m/m). HR 140.
Sat – AM 6.2 miles easy with pick-ups (06:50m/m). HR 135
Sun – AM 10 miles with 6.2k XC race (05:40m/m) HR 175. Position 1st

Total mileage – 63.6 miles
n

And herein lies the blueprint for marathon success. Pace of 6:40s for ~140bpm; 5:45 (albeit xc) for 175bpm. Such a tight relationship = aerobic monster. Hats off to you. I might be somewhere near you at 175bpm but am 90s a mile behind at 140bpm. Don't worry, I'm working on it

Abhainn

Weekly Summary 15/1/12

Mon – PM 7 miles easy (06:54 m/m) HR135
Tue – PM 9.7 miles steady (06:46m/m) HR140
Wed –Unplanned rest.
Thu – PM 10 miles steady (6:41m/m). HR 143
Fri – AM 12 miles with 11 @06:17 HR152. Effort level 7
Sat – PM 8.4 miles easyish (06:49m/m). HR 137
Sun – AM Long steady run . 17 miles @ 06:42. HR142. Max 150.
Efficient. Effort level 6.5-7

Total mileage – 64.1 miles

Another very decent week under the belt. I commenced my MP and long runs workouts this week and both turned out very well. I can see my aerobic fitness and efficiency improving while my mass is reducing nicely - now at 73.5kg from 74.2 kg the previous week. No interval session as the XC race took care of that for this week.
The only slight disappointment was not getting a run in on Wed. But that was an exciting day when I picked up my new machine.
It was all easy / steady runs till Fri when I started my MP sessions for London. While my intended pace for April 22nd is 06:00-06:05 m/ mile, the body not near that now. So the idea is MP sessions to be in the region of 12 miles but start off these workouts at 1 mile easy then 11@ 06:25m/mile and reduce by a small margin perhaps 5 seconds each time. On this first outing I got this slightly off and ended up been 1@06:44 followed by 11@06:17. But it felt good and well under threshold.
Sunday saw my first long run. Plan was to keep HR under 150BPM (81% max) and run steady. And that’s exactly how it turned out. A relatively lumpy route but I was always moving very nicely. A most appealing run.

This week will see me maintaining the mid 60’s mileage, another long run, 4 /5 mile interval session, and introducing a long bike and recovery swim.

Abhainn

Weekly Summary 22/1/12

Mon – Lunch 7.5 miles easy run (06:53 m/m) HR135. PM 31.4k bike. (28.7kph). HR 123
Tue – AM 71.4KM bike (29.1kph) HR 129.
Wed –AM 8.6 mile run very easy (07:25m/m). HR 128
Thu – Lunch 12.1 mile run with 6x1km @5K pace HR148. Effort level 8.5 -9 during reps
Fri – Early AM 8.3 mile run (06:59m/m) HR 133
Sat – AM 21 miles (06:41m/m). HR 145
Sun – AM 7.5 mile easyish (06:52m/m) HR133

Totals
Run – 65 miles
Bike – 102.8km
Time – 10:57

This was my biggest week in a while and I continue to see good improvements. No swims but I am going to sort that thsi week

During easy lunch run on Monday I decided it was a good chance to get on an easy ride on the new TT. So a little over an hour later I was out pushing the pedals. The bike didn’t disappoint and it felt good even though the legs felt tired.
Tuesday I hooked up with Dom and Paul for a good long bike. I usually bike on my own but I couldn’t turn down the offer on a solid ride with experienced Ironmen. Even though it was 5 weeks since my last long bike and the legs felt heavy I was happy with the session.
Wed I met p with Lar from the club for a very easy relaxed run. Time just flew in these miles.
Thursday was supposed to mile intervals but choose km’s instead. I put a decent effort into these (first one only 03:27/km, tough!) but was happy the average came in around 03:22/km in the end. This was slightly slower than 5k pace but very satisfactory in the windy conditions. Got the HR up nicely too during the reps
We finally got home to Sligo in a good while. The inclement conditions again were challenging in the hilly Sat 21 miler but I found a very good rhythm 9 miles in. There were a few unplanned pick- ups in this due to some dodgy looking canines. Even though I took on no water or gels during this I felt very good at the finish
This is a recovery week so I’ll be taking things easier from Thur in preparation for the Dungarvan 10 miler on Sunday. My PB is 57:43 over the distance and I am hoping I can lower that on the day.

Abhainn

Weekly Summary 29/1/12

Mon – Evening 10 mile steady run (06:40m/m) with 10 x 40 sec pick-ups. HR136.
Tue – AM 90KM bike 27.4kph HR 126.
PM – Recovery 4 mile run (07:06m/m)
Wed –Lunch 10.2 mile steady run (06:51m/m). HR 139
Thu – Lunch 2k swim in 45:20
Fri - Lunch 8 mile easy run (06:54m/m) with 8 x 20 sec pick-ups. HR 135
Sat – AM 6.2 mile easy run (06:52m/m) with 6 x 30 sec pick-ups @ 5k pace. HR 134
Sun – 13 miles with Dungarvan 10 mile race in 56:05 PB by 98 secs.HR 167 Dungarvan 10 mile

Totals:
Run – 51.4miles
Bike – 90.4km
Swim – 2k
Total Time – 9:46

It was positives all round.
The main focus this week was a PB crack at my 10 mile time. Report below

On Tues hooked up again with the two iron dot lads and the plan was to lengthen this weeks’ bike ride to 3-3.5 hrs. As it was just my 3rd bike of 2012 I was a little apprehensive going that long before the 10 miler 5 days later. But the ride was very enjoyable and the legs felt very good for apart from 70-80k where I had to work just a little harder. (Still my HR avg was just 135 for that section)
The legs felt so good off the bike I decided on a 4 mile recovery run a couple of hrs later. Wed’s run was rather miserable. Had to work a bit harder in this one as conditions were crap and legs felt a bit heavy.
Thurs was the first outing in the pool since July. I figured 1600m might be manageable with a few 30 sec breaks thrown in. However I surprised myself and swam the full 2k (80 lengths in 45min odd) without a break. Also my pace picked up for the 2nd 1k so a negative split was nice.

Dungarvan 10 Mile Report
We headed down day before and stayed overnight in Waterford. We hooked up Beepbeep 67 and the 2 clans hit the hotel pool before too long. A steak and a few pints of stout was enough to send me into dream land while watching Mrs Brown’s boys while the OH hit the town.
Next morning the pool was also visited bright and early:)
On wards to the venue and during the warm up I didn’t feel I would be firing on all cylinders in the race. Though the conditions were almost ideal (little wind and light rain, though underfoot greasy) I always run well here.
A very strong field had assembled. I was aiming for low 57’s or if possibly high 56’s. So the planned pace was 05:40-45 / mile. Early on club mate Finn and I were running together. The following splits are from mile markers, the Garmin splits are somewhat varied.
We hit mile one in 05:39 during the 2nd mile started to feel very comfortable. To be honest that’s the way things continued until midway through mile 4 when the wet conditions caused both my insoles to curl up inside my shoes. I got very worried thinking this would affect me but continued to push on catching and then pushing on through the various small groups. I went through half way in 28:13 a best for that distance. I was still concerned at my shoes though. But as each mile went by I was gaining in confidence. I continued to pass runners including leading ladies and by mile 7 (05:28 split) spotted lady leader - McCambridge a couple of 100 meters ahead. Still pushing down the pedal with HR barely in red zone territory I knew a mid-56 finish at worst was on the cards. At the same mile 7 I had caught up to a team mate and we worked together for the next 1.5 miles before I moved on. Quickly the route had me back on the main road. My split at 8 miles told me a sub 11 last 2 miles could get me into the 55’s. Jaysus that would be some far- fetched dream 1 hour previously. But the testing mile 9 (05:38) put that off for another day. She was still a bit ahead, just out of reach. I didn’t want to get chicked but the gap was very hard to bridge.
Still as I rounded the last corner with 70 meters to go and the clock saying 55:5X I knew I raced very well today, perhaps my best ever race. On reflection and never 100% satisfied I know I should have ran sub 56
Finish time 56:05. HR 167.

Mile splits:
1. 05:39
2. 05:35
3. 05:39
4. 05:40
5. 05:39
6. 05:35
7. 05:28
8. 05:39
9. 05:38
10. 05:31

0-5 miles – 28:13 (PB)
10k – 34:58 (PB)
5-10 miles – 27:53 (PB)

Krusty_Clown

So did you have a sneaky peek in MacMillan?! You should.

Slogger Jogger

Fair play Joe. You are flying. Richly deserved.