My UltraRunning log

mithril

Thursday
Summary: 3.88KM aerobic 18:35 (4:48) aerobic run around Blackrock park.
Hip seems to have stabilised so decided to try it out with a short run. Comfortable at this pace but the real test will be whether I get a reaction tomorrow. Seem also to have lost a lot of fitness since Saturday. Suspect I have put on a couple of pounds with with eating through boredom to fill in the gap in the evening.

mithril

Saturday
Summary: 5.03KM in 21:32 (4:48) around 4 laps of Maynooth University Campus.
That's the only time I ever have run the distance so new PB.

Took this easy enough with a mind to the CC race next day and upcoming marathon.

Well organized event by Woddle,Roadrunner and Menesco with hot showers and super feed afterwards and I think we would have have got a bigger turnout if we had charged for it. Some people won't believe they can get anything good for free.

Spent the first lap at back of field (4:51 KM pace) and gradually increased pace as the race progressed until I ran the final KM at 3:49.

mithril

Sunday
Summary: 8.83? KM aerobic 34:27 (3:54) cross country run around Tymon Park.
38/57 winning time 29:48

I watched last year's race as a spectator so I had an idea of what to expect. Only 57 running, but the standard of the field is very high, since athletics talent is concentrated in the clubs and they send their best runners out in inter-club competition.
I lined up at the start with Peckham, Alan, and donothonpop to form the 4 man Boards team with plenty of vocal support on the side-lines from other Boards A.C. members.

I had worried that I might have another reaction after yesterday's time trial in Maynooth, but a lot of work to loosen out the hip muscles the night before seemed to have done the trick, and I felt in pretty good shape.

First Lap. (3.51, 3.51)
The gun went and immediately I headed to the very back of the field. These were actually the fastest splits I ran in the race so you can gauge the pace that others were running at. I knew I would need some reserves for later in the race as I tired and I was not prepared to go too much outside my comfort zone at this point.

Second Lap. (4:02, 3.54)
I started to make slower progress up the field on the second lap and caught up with Peckham and DonothonPop so we had 3 boardsies running together for a bit. Then I very gradually crept forward by maintaining the same pace as others recovered from an unsustainable start, until I caught up with Alan.

Third Lap. (3:57,3:56)
The plan was to burn the reserves on lap 3 and then rely on adrenaline to see me over the finishing line on the final lap. Looking at the splits I realize now that the speed injection I thought I was adding never really happened and all I was doing was maintaining a roughly constant pace. This was good enough though to make good progress up the field and I picked up about 7 or 8 places on this lap, speeding up for a brief period to overtake, then recovering, and then trying to close the gap to the next runner enough to repeat the same thing again.


Final Lap. (3:54,4:00,3:39 remnant)
The final lap was really about holding on and preserving what I had. I was feeling fairly comfortable but by this time the runners were a lot more spaced out and I found it difficult to output enough power to maintain pace. I caught one of the Liffey Valley runners on the final lap, but could not pull away and we ran together into the final closing 200 M section. It came down to a final sprint, and if I am honest, I think it was greater mental strength that got him his place back.
I saw Woddle up ahead with the camera, and then was over the line, followed by a succession of the other Boards runners in close proximity.

I enjoyed the race more than I expected, the dynamic of team competition and focussing on race position rather than time adds a new dimension.
Boards A.C. were last on the day but the achievement was in getting out a team in the first place , which some of the more established clubs like Dundrum and Tallaght did not manage to do.

Surprised by how much my Garmin differed from the official race distance. I think it was a little longer than the official distance but I also probably need to be more conscious of the shortest line.


Focus moves now towards Florence Marathon next Sunday. Possibly this was a little too intense to be ideal during a taper but I have no firm goal targets for that race, and as long as I finish the race uninjured I think I will be happy.

Woddle

Super job mithrill, I for one was delighted to see you turn up and I really thought you ran a very smart race and your report confirmed it. Good job.

mithril

Monday
Summary: 8.63KM in 51:20 (5:57) recovery around Blackrock Park.

Met my physio who did some work to loosen up the hip. Motion is a bit restricted which is affecting stride length, but nothing too serious. He said a X-Country race would be
more likely to aggravate it than a marathon and since I came though Sunday’s race fine, I should OK next week-end.

Tuesday
Summary: 7KM in 29:10 (4:10) MP run around U.C.D. track while a crack Boards A.C. selection powered through their 400M intervals. We are trying to make this a weekly session.

That completes the training for Florence. After this point, I will either rest, or do short recovery. The goal will be to try and slip under the 3 hour mark on the day.
I am inclined to try and link up with the 3 hour pace group for at least the first half of the race provided they are not going too fast. In general, I favour roughly even splits as a strategy and even though there is more downhill in the first half, I think I will drop off if it looks to be heading faster than 1:29.
I commenced training after injury in mid-September and the training plan was necessarily sub-optimal due to the compressed window. I prioritized my training around performing a lot of running around target MP since I figured this would give me the best return on my limited time by lowering the lactate threshold which is supposed to be the most important constituent of marathon performance.
Endurance has never been a problem for me and I am gambling that the stamina gains, I picked up with the double LSRs for the Ultras earlier in the year are largely preserved.
I would have liked to do more intervals starting at 400M and lengthening the distance as the week' progress since I think these are key in eking out performance improvement but the training cycle was not long enough and in the early sessions I was cautious about the risk of aggravating the hip.
I have not done tempo runs either but fitted 3 short races into the schedule with mixed results. I was however breathing a lot easier in the final one at the week-end than the initial race, which must be a good sign.
I have avoided hills totally (Florence is pretty flat) but will be hitting them immediately after I recovered from the marathon in preparation for the Art O'Neill Ultra in January.
I have realized that I was doing my recovery runs too fast and I have slowed them down drastically from around 5:10 to 5:45 pace or even slower. As a result, most of my quality runs have been completed feeling much fresher than in previous marathon attempts and hopefully generating a better training stimulus.

mithril

Summary: 42.2 KM in 2:58:39 (4:14 Pace)
Ranking: 344/7773
Winning Time: 2:12:40

Prolog
I was very lucky to make it to the starting line in the first place for this. Our flight was delayed for 3 hours on Saturday morning ,and when the pilot announced that we were seventh in the queue for the only de-icing machine Aer Rianta had available, with no ETA, it looked very close to cancellation. Ryanair have their own agenda in bad-mouthing Aer Rianta but this seemed farcical since the snow was quite light, and the traffic was moving freely on the road to the airport. We were saved by a slight thaw as the day progressed, which meant the de-icing procedure became unnecessary. I met HTT and a few other Irish runners on the flight and we headed to the expo together and had picked up the numbers with plenty of time to spare, before it closed at 8.

Start
We really had dreadful luck with the weather. Saturday in Florence, was a little cool to walk around but would have been fine for marathon running, while it was positively balmy by Monday, and it was comfortable to eat and drink outside until 10.
Sunday though was cold with persistent heavy rain that never let up, kept the crowds off the streets, and sucked most of the atmosphere out of the event.
At least we had plenty of advance warning from an accurate weather forecast. I had paid a pre-race trip to Dunnes Stores for the disposable kit to keep me comfortable (Fleece 9 Euro, Hat 4 Euro and Gloves 3 Euro) and with a plastic bag over me to keep most of the water off, I managed to stay dry and warm before the start.
The race route had changed this year to make it flatter, we had a long walk down the hill, a few false starts before the gun went, and we were finally off.

Km 1-10 (4:14 and 4:15 pace) I located the balloons of the 3 hour pace group and tucked myself about 100 metres behind for the first half of the race.
I was really taken back by how congested the race was around me. Even though there was only a sixth of the runners as at Berlin, the narrow streets funnelled the racers closer together, particularly around the 3 hour pace group, where we had around 100 in tight formation. I held back a bit to avoid the worst of the jostling but nearly got knocked on a couple of occasions and it was a real scrum at the drink stations.
Even though we had a downhill to help, I found the first 5K the toughest of the race. I normally am a slow starter since I don’t acquire fluidity in the running action until I am well warmed up. I had not been able to resist the temptation of a few glasses of wine to wash down the pasta the night before and I was mildly hung over. I was breathing easily though and I knew I would be able to ease myself into it.
I met Asimonov after about 5K, and he was looking very comfortable at this point, and when he said the knee was not bothering him, I know he would shortly be opening the throttle and heading out of sight.

Km 10-21 (4:15 and 4:16 pace)
Normally I rely heavily on a Garmin to maintain an even pace which I believe is key to completing a race optimally. However the Garmin was showing an elapsed average pace of 4:08 which would have brought me to the halfway point in around 1:28, a good bit faster than I wanted. I considered dropping off the pace but then decided to trust that the pace makers knew what they were doing. Once I passed the halfway clock in 1:29:52, I knew I had made the correct call.
Afterwards, I realized what had happened . We had run through a tunnel early in the race and the satellite signal had been lost. The Garmin had timed KM 6 as 3:15 and this had messed up the overall race pace calculation. Lesson learned for the future. If I am running a fast goal marathon again, and I have no plans to do it at the moment, I will tape a pace band around my wrist as a backup.


Km 21-35 (4:08, 4:15, 4:13 pace)
After the half-way point I was running comfortably so I implemented my pre-race plan of breaking clear of the 3 hour group and building up a buffer in case I needed it later. KM 21-30 have always been the best part of a marathon for me, psychologically you feel better since you are heading home, and at this time I have fully warmed up without starting to tire. The other consideration was it was still very congested around the 3 hour mark and I was afraid of taking a tumble or getting an elbow in the face. I speeded up to 4:08 pace for the next few KMs and gradually pulled away.

Km 35 –Finish (4:14 and 4:15 pace)
The hip started to niggle at this point, and I was concerned that if it worsened, I would have to drop out of the race ,so I slowed down again to 3 hour pace. I was about 100m ahead of the lead runner in the pace group, and assumed that 3 hour pace would be driven by the final pacer who was another 100 m behind. The lace on my right shoe got very loose, but I knew that if I stopped to re-tie it, I would be caught, and I doubted I had the acceleration to catch up. I felt I had an extra gear in Berlin last year which I did not have on Sunday, perhaps due to the fact I did not do tempo runs in this training cycle or maybe the x-country race a week earlier was still a little in the legs.
Conditions were not remotely as bad as in the Cork Marathon in June, where the driving rain was horrendous, but as we crossed the final bridge I slowed noticeably, and I knew the head-wind was having an impact.
The last few KMs were in the historic centre of the town and you run alongside the major sites such as the cathedral. I was disappointed though with the level of support. The crowds on the streets were sparse and not nearly as vocal as I expected. I ran into a pot-hole and stumbled (perhaps the same one as Dermot entered 15 minutes earlier) but there was no damage done. We were now running on cobblestones and very narrow streets but the KMs were counting down. Last year In Berlin it was a big deal for me to go under 3 hours for the first time but this time the only thing I could think of was getting out of the rain and I visualized the walk back from the finishing line to a hot shower to encourage myself.
We passed the 42 KM marker but I could not hear the usual roar from the finish. I turned the corner saw the clock ahead and sprinted to cross under the line in 2:58:57, 2:58:39 on the chip system - a new PB by about 40 seconds. The organization was very good at the finish, and needed to be since as soon as I stopped, I was shivering badly. The chip was quickly removed and a foil blanket did provide a surprising amount of warmth. Luckily my hotel was only a short distance away, so II headed immediately away out of the rain to get to the longed for hot shower.


Aftermath
30 minutes later I felt a different man.
I think a longer , more balanced, training program would have given me another couple of minutes, with the PBs eventually converging on 2:55, if I persisted with marathon running on a flat course. Next year though the focus will be on Ultras, and if I do run a marathon, it’s more likely to be on a tougher course in Ireland where the goal will be to break 3 hours again rather than extend the PB.
Next up, Art O' Neill Ultra at start of January. I feel in pretty good shape already. There is a recce planned for the week-end which I am hoping to complete. Hopefully Glenmalure won't be cut off with snow since this weather would be an ideal opportunity to test out kit and practise navigation in challenging conditions..

Aimman

Well done on the Sub 3, and the new PB. Great report! Sounds fairly congested around the 3 hour pacers.

How did you get on with Gels/nutrition along the route?

tisnotover

Great stuff on the sub-3!

nice report too, tough conditions running into the headwind for second half i'd say and I see you got a PB too, well done

donothoponpop

Great report mithril, congrats on the pb. You're hitting a good streak of form now, looking good for the Art O'Neill. You may bring your snowshoes if you are recce'ing this weekend, huge amounts of snow are still falling in Wicklow at the moment.

Abhainn

donothoponpop wrote: »

Great report mithril, congrats on the pb. You're hitting a good streak of form now, looking good for the Art O'Neill. You may bring your snowshoes if you are recce'ing this weekend, huge amounts of snow are still falling in Wicklow at the moment.

Snow shoes donothoponpop?? Skis more like it. Cross country skiing is waht we will be all at soon

Congrats mithril. Well run race in those conditions. And a PB to. Well worth the trip

asimonov

Great stuff Mithril; both the report and the race , we couldn't have picked a grimmer day to run a marathon, either the saturday or the monday would have been perfect.

Nice to meet you over there, and if i learned one thing its never underestimate the power of thinsulate...the technology that drives penney's gloves.

aero2k

Congratulations Mithril, you had a few niggles leading up to the race and a few hiccups during it, and the weather wasn't great, but you managed to keep your wits about you and record a great PB. Well done; I look forward to reading about your ultra exploits next year.

mithril

Aimman wrote: »

How did you get on with Gels/nutrition along the route?

I only took one Powergel at 21 KM and then threw away the belt since it was cutting into me. I regretted not having a second one at around KM 35. I also took anything that was offered at the fuel stations without problems.


Thursday
Summary: 5.74KM in 34:52 (6:05 pace) recovery run on snow with the Inov 8 Mudclaws around Carysfort park.
A little sluggish still from the race but no obvious signs of any injury.

mithril

Friday
Summary: 6.44KM in 39:32 (6:08 pace) recovery run on snow with the Inov 8 Mudclaws around Carysfort park.


Saturday
Summary: 12.78KM in 1:31:19 (7:09 pace) lovely run up snow clad 3 Rock Mountain. Very little sign of fatigue now left in the legs but the hip is still niggling a bit.

mithril

Sunday
Cross-training in gym.

Monday
Summary: 11.55KM in 1:10:23 (6:06 pace) in U.C.D.
I was hoping the students would have got out their shovels and have cleared at least one lane of the track but it was covered in deep snow throughout and impossible to move through with anything like a normal running action. Found a muddy trail near near NovaUCD which had frozen solid and the rough surface gave reasonably traction with the Mudclaws.
Even though it was -2, felt very comfortable wearing just a pair of tights, long sleeved shirt and light wind proof layer. These conditions are far from the worst; driving rain or hail are much nastier to be out in.

Tuesday
Summary: 4.98KM in 28:33 (5:44 pace) in U.C.D.
Same route as before but a bit slippier since there was more black ice. I don't remember going over the ankle but after 5 KM I noticed that I was getting twinges of pain in it and immediately abandoned the run. The MudClaws provide great grip but minimal support when running over rough ground. Some tenderness afterwards but I don't think its serious. A couple of days rest and should be back running again.

mithril

Thursday
Summary: 5.07KM in 23:49 (4:43 pace) in U.C.D.


Saturday
Summary: 22.89KM in 1:54:36 (5:00 pace) in North Westmeath.
Horrible run this. The Midlands got the big freeze worst than in Dublin where a general thaw was well progressed by the morning. My normal route along the Royal Canal was still iced over so diverted out along the shoulder of the busy Castlepollard road. Really reckless driving on the still iced road made this deadly. The only consolation was the recently installed speed cameras that the idiots did not seem aware of along the route.
On the running side have taken it easy and put on a bit of weight since Florence Marathon and noticed the drop in conditioning. Slight niggle from the hip but otherwise seem to be fine.

Sunday
Summary: 8.94KM in 48:59 (5:29 pace) recovery run around Sandyford.

mithril

Tuesday
Summary: Met up with Menosco, Rainbow Kirby and Clara Lara for at U.C.D. track. Opted out of the 400M repeats since suffering from a head cold and found breathing very laboured anytime I tried to go faster than marathon pace. Rqn around with the others for about 15 minutes and then another 20 by myself at a fairly easy pace. Forgot to set the Garmin so did not capture the pace or distance.

Wednesday
Summary: 16 KM in 1:09:20 (4:20 pace) around Blackrock park.
Cold a good bit improved and decided to take advantage of probably the last good evening before the weather deteriorates again for fastish run around Blackrock Park. Legs felt very light and springy after the long rest, but breathing still a bit laboured; this felt more like a 4:10 effort.
Hip started giving trouble after about 13 Km and I foolishly continued to make up the planned 16 KM and thought I had injured myself again when I stopped. The problem went away though after I stretched; step-ups seem to target the problem area specifically. I considered running the Waterford Half before it got re-scheduled and if this was a race , I would have to drop out.
Not sure whether there is any benefit in trying to train through a cold but at least it kept me away from the red wine and pizza for an evening and I enjoyed it.

mithril

Thursday
Summary: 12 KM in 58:14 (4:51 pace) aerobic run along the bike lane around Sandyford and Stillorgan dual carriage way.
Still have a bit of a head cold and surprised by how much the temperature had dropped by the evening. Around 2 degrees at 6PM but a stiff breeze along the dual carriageway brought the perceived level below zero with the wind-chill. Surprisingly comfortable in shorts and a warm base layer but hands really suffered from the cold.

Prediction of -12 Monday night in Dublin.
Starting to realize how tough the Art O'Neill Ultra could be if this weather persists into early January. I did a hill walk in Glenmalure a few years back. A toasty zero at the bottom of the valley but close to -8 at the top of Lugnaquilla and I really suffered because I was underdressed for conditions. I have fairly decent cold weather kit if I need it, but I would prefer to carry as little weight as possible on a run that length.

Magnet

mithril wrote: »

Prediction of -12 Monday night in Dublin.
Starting to realize how tough the Art O'Neill Ultra could be if this weather persists into early January. I did a hill walk in Glenmalure a few years back. A toasty zero at the bottom of the valley but close to -8 at the top of Lugnaquilla and I really suffered because I was underdressed for conditions. I have fairly decent cold weather kit if I need it, but I would prefer to carry as little weight as possible on a run that length.

What do you wear for the cold weather?

mithril

Depends how cold.

I am comfortable running up to a couple of degrees under with a Helly Hansen "Cold" Merino base layer, Montane light windproof layer and Mizuno tights. The coldest part of me is my hands, so will wear gloves anytime its approaching 0. I don't need a hat at this temperature.

For colder still, Lowe Alpine fleece hat, Goretex wind proof leggings over the tights, extra fleece layer and replace the Montane wind-proof layer with a Marmot paclite jacket. Will probably carry two pairs of gloves on Art O'Neill if it's very cold -one as a lining and wear the second over it.

mithril

Saturday
Summary: 13.18 KM in 1:47: (8:07 pace ) on Wicklow Way from Crone Woods Car Park to shoulder of Djouce and back again.
Approx 600m height gain.

Conditions surprisingly good in this section of Wicklow. Just minor dustings of snow and fire road very runnable. Some hill walkers told me further up Maulin was very icy but did not venture that way.
Temperature around -1 but dry and very little wind-chill so quite pleasant to be out on with hands only area of discomfort until they warmed up. For the very rough sections which I will be walking,I think I will wear a liner inside the gloves as well or investb in a bettter pair. Hoping to climb Kilimanjaro next Autumn so warm glooves will be something I will need.
Used this as dry run for Art O'Neill so running with 25 litre back-pack containing all the recommended gear.
Only 3 cars in the car park and very conscious of need to be careful even though I had a survival bag, extra fleece and mobile phone with me, so kept the pace down. I think I made pretty good choice of kit for the conditions; the one change is probably to wear a balaclava instead of a cap and then put the hood of the jacket up if I need extra warmth.

mithril

Sunday
Summary: 16.40 KM in 1:47: (6:29 pace)

Back again to the hills, this time to 3 Rock mountain with the backpack and survival gear, and tried out a few more combinations of kit.
Parked at Taylor's Pub, headed over past Marley Park and followed the Wicklow Way up to the mast of 3 Rock and headed over the other side of the mountain until I retraced my steps. Had planned to do another ascent of the mountain, but left knee cap was getting inflamed so as a precaution cut the run short early. I have not been near hills for a few months and want to ease myself back gradually.
Conditions on the trail still good and would be able to run quite fast without danger of slipping only for the weight of the back-pack. I suspect it will slow me down disproportionately more than others since I have a pretty light build. I am inclining towards the Montrail Continental Divide as the shoe for the run. It provides very good ankle support and shock absorption and I have used it before for an Ultra in Iceland. Grip is not great but my expectation is most of the off-road sections will be walked since some of the terrain is very difficult particularly, between Art’s cross and the Three Lakes.

Magnet

mithril wrote: »

Depends how cold.

I am comfortable running up to a couple of degrees under with a Helly Hansen "Cold" Merino base layer, Montane light windproof layer and Mizuno tights. The coldest part of me is my hands, so will wear gloves anytime its approaching 0. I don't need a hat at this temperature.

For colder still, Lowe Alpine fleece hat, Goretex wind proof leggings over the tights, extra fleece layer and replace the Montane wind-proof layer with a Marmot paclite jacket. Will probably carry two pairs of gloves on Art O'Neill if it's very cold -one as a lining and wear the second over it.

Thanks for that, I wore 2 pairs of gloves saturday morning and it was the only part of me warmish...;)

mithril

Magnet wrote: »

Thanks for that, I wore 2 pairs of gloves saturday morning and it was the only part of me warmish...;)

I give myself a fail on this my the advice if only your hands were warm.
Around Dublin, the conditions are actually quite nice at the moment.
A couple of degrees below is easy to handle when its dry. It's the exposure of a strong wind and driving rain or hail that would be really difficult to handle and 9-10 hours of that would be very tough.

John O'Regan's blog is a good read if you have not already seen it.
http://johnoregan.blogspot.com/2010/11/cold-weather-running.html

mithril

Monday
Summary: 5.97 KM in 33:23 (5:35 pace) from Sandyford Industrial Estate to Blackrock.

The early afternoon snow brought chaos to the ungritted roads in Sandyford Industrial estate. 90 minutes to get out of it in similar conditions earlier in the year. So put on the MudClaws, skipped past the stand-still traffic, and home in a half hour with my recovery run completed.

mithril

Tuesday Morning
Summary: 4.15 KM in 23:29 (5:39 pace) run from home to work from Blackrock to Sandyford through the snow.

Tuesday Evening
Summary: 12.41 KM in 1:07 (5:24 pace) in Blackrock Park.

Both runs a lot tougher than pace indicates becuase there is a complete absence of "rebound" when running in fairly deep snow and instead extra effort is required from the Achilles to lift the foot out of the ground.I estimate equivalent effort on road would be about 45 seconds per KM faster.

mithril

Wednesday.
Cross training in the gym for about an hour including 5K at about 4:50 pace. That was as far as I could tolerate the boredom without a MP3 player for company.


Thursday.
Summary: 21.1 KM in 1:41:50 (4:50 pace) in circuits of Carysfort Park.

The packed snow around Carysfort Park offered a surprisingly decent surface for an aerobic run so decided to take advantage. I am expecting conditions to be a good deal worse down in Mullingar for Christmas. Still some slipping with the MudClaws -I am sorry I did not invest in a pair of YakTrax Pro while I had the chance earlier in the year - but never came close to a fall. The hazard on the run came from an unexpected source. A small dog came out of frozen waste and went for my hand. I think it was playful rather than meaning any real harm and the gloves managed to protect me from any bite. The very apologetic owner soon had it under control and I was off again with no damage done.

mithril

Summary 13.86 in 1:06 (4:47 pace) along Royal Canal

Much less snow in midlands than Dublin and conditions underfoot good as I tried out my new Rocklite 315s before dinner well wrapped up against the minus 6 temperature.

mithril

Summary
14 km in 1:02:39 (4:28 pace) along Royal Canal tow path

9 degrees warmer than yesterday but ground frozen so solid no sign of melt yet so was able to belt out a good pace again with the Roclites

mithril

Summary 24.54 in 2:02(4:59 pace) easy run on with my new Brooks Adrenaline 10 runners.