My UltraRunning log

mithril

Monday
Summary: 5.3 KM in 28:38 (5:24 pace) on grass around Carysfort Park.

The training program for Dingle commences with an easy recovery run. It's going to get a lot tougher as the weeks pass.

Good news from Iceland. The volcano seems to have stopped erupting - for the momemnt at least. I may yet get over for my race in July.

Aimman

mithril wrote: »

The training program for Dingle commences with an easy recovery run. It's going to get a lot tougher as the weeks pass.

How will your program differ to Connemara? I'm still putting mine together. Not exactly going to be scientific, I'll probably just multiply all my old training runs by 1.25

mithril

Aimman wrote: »

How will your program differ to Connemara? I'm still putting mine together. Not exactly going to be scientific, I'll probably just multiply all my old training runs by 1.25

Wednesday is going to be a marathon style long run and run a good bit faster than the target pace for the Ultra. I hope to bring this up to around 35 KM.

Rest days will be Friday and Monday as for Connemara.

I hope to get to the point where I am doing 2 marathon length runs back to back on Saturday and Sunday. One will be on a very hilly route in Wicklow and second will be flat. I will be practising planned walking breaks on the hilly day for the steepest sections of the climb which I did not do in Connemara. I will alternate the hilly day between Saturday and Sunday.

Week-end races will be "time on your feet" exercises with no firm pacing goal. I will run the flat run at around 4 hour marathon pace - considerably slower than Connemara - and hillier one will be slower again.

Everything else is optional and will play it by ear. Will fill in the gaps with either a short recovery run, cross training or extra rest depending on how I feel.

I also hope to fit in a shorter 55KM off-road Ultra in Iceland in July but I will not be peaking for this and will not run it flat out (similiar approach as I took for the North Downs Ultra at end of February).

mithril

Tuesday
Summary: 13.51 KM in 1:00 (4:27 pace) aerobic run around UCD campus.
Enjoyable run on a bright evening in nearly ideal conditions for running. Pace might be a bit fast foran aerobic run although I found it easy enough.
I want to do the Wednesday run well and will take this slower next week if I feel tired tomorrow.

mithril

Wednesday
Summary: 21.1 KM in 1:34:25 (4:28 pace) around Blackrock Park.

Wednesday speed session is now gone and have replaced it with a long run.
Only half marathon at the moment but will get longer as the weeks pass.
Ran at about 4:35 pace but added a few KM intervals at 4:10 which brought down the overall pace.

Coped well with the intervals but started to get a bit tired near the end. I have lost some stamina since Connemara.

mithril

Thursday
Summary: 10 KM in 54:19(5:26 pace) recovery run on grass around Carysfort Park.

Checked out qualifying regulations for Boston marathon 2011 and found out that my qualifying time set in Berlin last year has expired - a week later and I would have been OK. Not keen to run another marathon this year just to qualify so I think I will give it a miss.

mithril

Core strengthening session in gym.

mithril

Saturday
Summary: 27.7 KM in 2:23 (5:10 pace) from Mullingar to near Ballynacarrigy and back.

This seemed a good route for a long run according to the map but the road was busier than I realized and was narrow, winding and dangerous.
For some reason, it seems to be the most littered road in Ireland. I passed the return journey looking in wonder at what had been dumped at the side of the road- cans literally every 5 metres, cigarette packets, plastic bags, a house door,a discarded pair of underpants, a coil of rope.
I don't think I will be back again.


Sunday
Summary: 32.4 KM in 2:45 (5:06 pace) Circular route north of the town of Mullingar to Bunbrosna, Multyfarnham, and back then by the N4 and Royal Canal to Mullingar.

I was wondering whether it might be better to build up the distance a bit more before launching into double LSRs but felt quite fresh after yesterdays run and so headed north of the town on what turned out to be a much nicer route than yesterday.

Headed north through Irishtown and then turned east alongside the lower slopes of Frewin Hill beside Lough Owel along a quiet country road. Stopped in the pub at Bunbrosna for a Lucozade and a 5 minute rest and headed off again to the village of Multyfarnham. An attractive stone built new development has been built beside the village with "price reduced" signs in evidence but I wondered whether the developer had also wished he had chosen a different name other than "Cois Abhainn" for the site given the flooding last Autumn.

Turned south then along another nice country road and stopped in the Covert Bar for another refreshing iced Lucozade before headed back to town along the hard shoulder of the N4 - wide and safe at first but got a bit narrower near town. Then finally along the Royal Canal path back to my mother's house.

No real tiredness at the end - the rest breaks and Lucozade might have helped with this - but sole of my right foot felt sore from the pounding. This got quite bad during the Connemara Ultra and I have never properly have recovered from it. Maybe a bit more tinkering with shoes and insoles is required.

Krusty_Clown

Great running Mithril, and a pub-crawl to boot!
I would've thought there might be some nice trail walks/runs around the area?

mithril

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I would've thought there might be some nice trail walks/runs around the area?

There is a variant on the route I took yesterday which avoids the N4 and which I think will be a great run. About 36km so I thought it a bit too long for where I am currently at.
The Royal Canal path way is a nice route. I am going to try running it all the way to Dublin at some point.

Rest day today.
A bit tired and sore but nothing too bad.

mithril

Tuesday
Summary: 19.3 KM in 1:40 (5:12 pace)

Nice hilly run up 3 Rock mountain along the Wicklow Way.

Killerz

Sounds like the prep for Dingle is going well. Have you any idea on a targetted time?

mithril

Killerz wrote: »

Sounds like the prep for Dingle is going well. Have you any idea on a targetted time?

Yes, I am happy with how the training is going.
Yesterday was a good quality run and I seem to be able to recover quicker from the high mileage at the week-end than I was able to at the equivalent stage of training for Connemara.

My best guess at the moment is 7:30.
I don't know how to approach the big climb over the Connor pass.
I am a pretty good up-hill runner and I think I could jog this at a reasonable pace but I am worried about it taking too much out of me early in the race and suffering later. Maybe planned walking might be more sensible.

mithril

Wednesday
Summary: 8 KM in 44:34 (5:33 pace) recovery run on grass around Carysfort Park

Killerz

mithril wrote: »

Yes, I am happy with how the training is going.
Yesterday was a good quality run and I seem to be able to recover quicker from the high mileage at the week-end than I was able to at the equivalent stage of training for Connemara.

My best guess at the moment is 7:30.
I don't know how to approach the big climb over the Connor pass.
I am a pretty good up-hill runner and I think I could jog this at a reasonable pace but I am worried about it taking too much out of me early in the race and suffering later. Maybe planned walking might be more sensible.

Sounds like you're well on track. A 7:30 time would be a great return - indeed the Connor Pass will be tough I would say! You'll know your own capabilities, but I definitely advocate the run-walk strategy, especially for hills. I'd love to do that race (either marathon or above) someday... whenever i return back to the oul sod.

Aimman

mithril wrote: »

I don't know how to approach the big climb over the Connor pass.

Are you planning to have a crack at it during the summer, just to see what it's like (Just the pass, not the whole 50M)

mithril

Thursday
Summary: 16.13 KM in 1:03:38 (3:57 pace) on UCD track.
Plus 3 km warmup and 2 km cool down.

You might think this is a strange run to do for ultra running and you are probably right. I am going to try and fit in an attempt on sub 1:25 for the half marathon over the Summer (probably Clonmel) and I am doing this with that in mind. Hopefully I am not trying to juggle too many balls and let the most important one drop.

Aimman wrote: »

Are you planning to have a crack at it during the summer, just to see what it's like (Just the pass, not the whole 50M)

That would be ideal but Dingle is a long way from Dublin and I have nothing else to bring me in that direction.

The Shay Elliott hill in Glenmalure will be my training ground for it and hopefully someone will post a recce on the Dingle log when this gets going a bit closer to the event.

Krusty_Clown

mithril wrote: »

and let the most important one drop.

You mean the Wicklow Way Relay, right?

BeepBeep67

mithril wrote: »

Thursday
Summary: 16.13 KM in 1:03:38 (3:57 pace) on UCD track.
Plus 3 km warmup and 2 km cool down.

Now I love the track, but tell me you didn't run 52.5 laps :eek:

mithril

Cross training in gym.

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

You mean the Wicklow Way Relay, right?

Different races, different objectives. The goal there is to complete the run without getting lost.

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Now I love the track, but tell me you didn't run 52.5 laps :eek:

I could have gone on for a lot longer. I don't get bored when running on a track provided I vary the pace. There is a lack of good routes where I live - I can't tolerate concrete and the roads are too busy - so this is my best option for a fast run.

mithril

Saturday
Summary: 42.72 KM in 3:47 (5:20 pace) long run around North Westmeath.

The plan was for a shorter 35 KM but I took a detour to head down along the shore of Lough Owel and and got a little lost.

Dropped the pace on this a little compared with earlier runs and felt noticeably easier. Will stick with this for moment since key to this type of training is building up time on the feet.

Sunday
Rest.

mithril

Monday
Summary: 9.25 KM in 36:32 (3:57 pace) on leg C of the relay around Blackpool.

I had fond memories of the Cork marathon since its the first marathon I ever completed, in 2008. At the time, I had decided to protect an ankle injury by substituting a long cycle for most of the long training runs - not a good idea - and finishing the last few miles, was the most difficult, but ultimately rewarding, physical challenge I have ever completed. I had jumped at the challenge of going back and taking part in it again it again and running the relay fitted in well with the training schedule I was doing for the Dingle Ultra.

Got together with the lads the night before for food and drink to pick up the numbers. We noticed that the relay bus times appeared to be wrong so headed out as early as I could on the first bus to Mahon at 9:10

Our best case schedule for the handover was 10:10 so on the way out I had fantasized about finding a nice cafe and reading the newspaper by the banks of the Lee for an hour until Ral3 turned up.
Reality was so different. We were deposited in a howling gale with driving rain in the middle of a housing estate that looked very bleak in the conditions. I dashed for the only shelter I could find which was a portable toilet which normally are pretty uninviting places for long term occupancy but I seriously considered staying inside for the hour.
At least I had a plastic poncho which kept most of the rain off but a lot of runners were wearing the cotton race t-shirts which absorbed the rain and must have got very uncomfortable.

I saw the 3 hour group passing and when I saw Ral3 arriving about 2 minutes later I knew we were in very good shape for a sub 3. I was paranoid before the race about a mix-up at the relay changeovers but Ral3 yelled my name as he approached and we managed it very smoothly.

I will give the Garmin KM splits first since they really tell the story of the race for me.
3:44,4:12,4:09,3:53,4:08,3:51,3:52,3:53,3:53,3:48 remainder

The start of the relay was downhill and I managed to power down it at speed with fresh legs. There was a switchback ahead so I could see the 3 hour pace group in ahead and someone gave a Boards shout from the group. My goal was at least to catch them and I hoped to hand off a minute lead to Robin going into the final leg.

I had built up a fair bit of momentum by the time we got to the Marina over the Lee and was closing at a good rate with the 3 hour group ahead. In normal circumstances this would have been idyllic and in fact I think I got the most scenic section of the route to run.
However, its also very exposed and I was met with gusts of driving wind and rain which I struggled badly with. My light build, which is a big advantage on the longer races, worked against me here and I was thrown badly around by the wind as I tried to work my way up to the 3 hour group ahead huddled tightly together for shelter ahead. A regular middle distance runner would have coped better since they would have been able to power their way through more efficiently.

Eventually, we crossed over a small bridge and I started to get concerned whether I would actually managed to catch the group when I got overtaken by a couple of runners as I kept slipping on the wet path.
That was as bad as it got as we headed into some woods which provided some welcome shelter at last.
I slowly managed to pull myself together and got a few consistent fast laps back to back and finally caught up with the 3 hour group with only about 1 Km left. There were around 15 runners in a tight group like a Roman legions tortoise formation effectively working together against the wind. I was very tempted to stay with them to the end but after taking a breather of around 30 seconds it was time to try and press on.
I only managed to open a gap of about 100 meters before I saw the relay changeover up ahead and shouted to Robin, exchanged the relay band and he was away to glory.
I had hoped to do a bit better - I thought I would get under 36 minutes - but I was fairly confident we now had a sub 3 hour time in the bag.
I met Menesco who had already finished his section and RacoonQueen who was waiting for her leg to start and we hung on until she got started on what was also a very good anchor leg for the Boards B team.
Fortunately, my hotel was close by and I, had time enough for a quick shower and to change out of wet clothes, and still be at the line to watch
Robin come in 2:55:57, the drama of the 3 hour finishers and RacoonQueen breaking 3:30 for the second Boards team.
Then off to the pub for pints and celebrations.

menoscemo

mithril wrote: »

I met Menesco who had already finished his section a

:rolleyes: I would say 'nearly' but that would be a lie
Nice meeting you, cracking leg.
It seems you got the worst of the conditions from reading the race reports. I think in Ideal conditions we might have took another minute per leg off our time! 2:50 next year!!

mithril

Tuesday
Rest

Wednesday
Summary: 10 KM in 49:16 (4:56 pace) around UCD.

Despite a day's rest, still felt very lethargic after Monday's race - the less than textbook recovery might have had something to do with this.
It was an effort to force myself out of the house on a cold and windy evening to U.C.D. track where I attempted a tempo run.
When I was struggling to break 4:00 pace , I decided there was no point in continuing and jogged around U.C.D. for a bit to make up the even 10 km.

mithril

Leg 7
Boards B
21.37 in 1:38:16 (4:35 pace)

Strange leg for me.
I had predicted 1:37 before-hand but it was getting warm by the time my leg was due and I was concerned about the effect of the long leg without water on my running. I have collapsed before in the heat - most recently in the Intel 10K last month. In other races, it does not seem to bother me excessively.

The run started badly for me when I was out of position when in place when JeffonTour came through ahead of schedule and I had to dash quickly over to the bridge, slap his hand and was off.

I had a strong opening KM of 4:11 and headed confidently into the forest for the first up-hill slog. This is never steep but goes on for almost 3 KM and was the section where I suffered worst from the heat. I was disappointed with the 5:32, 5:25 laps but got a lift after the first junction when I overtook a U.C.D. runner. He seemed to have got lost on the way and had burned his reserves getting back on route so I quickly increased my lead on him and never saw him again.

I then saw my next quarry a few hundred metres ahead. I had a lot more difficulty reeling him in since we were evenly matched at this stage in the race. I pulled right up to him and then on a rough downhill track, which was relatively short, he made up a lot of ground again. At the best of times contacts give me only limited vision and my eyes were also starting to water, which was causing double vision. This would not have been an issue if I had properly memorized the route but I really needed a second recce to be confident , ideally on my own, since you get a false sense of security when someone is showing you the way.

We reached the ford together and headed into the final up-hill session and I started to chat to him but he seemed to ignore me. I discovered later that his hearing aid had failed so we made a comical pair of the half-blind and half-deaf.
There was a breeze on the hill which while it did not help my vision by causing my eyes to water did at least keep the temperature down and I found the heat less of an issue on the second half of the leg.
Hard to believe but I managed to wander off route three times in the final section of the course and on each occasion I got a shout from the “Pain Train” runner which put me right, which was very decent of him.
I could only see blurred WW navigation markers as I passed them and I was starting to guess the route with an amazingly poor success rate.

I was tempted to stick with him until the end but he was slowing a lot and I had to push on. I passed the last junction, stopped to double-check the WW marker, and entered what I remembered as a long straightforward route to Derry river. I knew markers were sparse in the final section but I seemed to run for nearly 3 KM without seeing one. I stopped a few times to double-check the GPS which indicated I was still going the correct way and was very relieved when at last I saw Tinahely in the distance.

I had quite a bit in reserve at this point since I was getting quite a bit of recovery from stopping to check the directions so since I was now confident of the route I was able to power down to the Derry River at a good pace and still able to run the final steep up-hill well.

Picked up 2 places and finished in 1:38 which was a reasonable time in the conditions. I estimate though I managed to p**s away about 3 minutes through re-tracing my steps on a few occasions and stopping to re-check the route which cost us a place on the day.

Slogger Jogger

Considering your difficulties that is a brilliant time, well done. Loved the comical reference bit!

mithril

Sunday
Summary: 35.34 KM in 4:04 (6:56 pace) jog along the Wicklow Way from Crone Woods to Oldbridge and back .

I felt wrecked for a couple of days after the Cork relay - maybe the results of excess beer in the aftermath rather than the running - but the WW relay did not seem to take as much out of me, so set-off for my longest run so far in the training cycle at a very sedate pace from Crone Wood along the Wicklow Way.

I had not realised that the IMRA European Trials were on in Crone Wood so it was an added bonus to be able to taken in the action for about 30 minutes. The junior runners were particularly impressive flying down the hill at a speed I could never match. I really regret not having had an opportunity to try out the sport at that age, but in the eighties resources for school activities were very scarce, and what money existed, was directed towards the GAA team which was never my scene.
I stayed for the finish of the junior race and when the senior runners had gone out of sight for another lap headed on along the WW.

I had got quite sunburnt yesterday, so had dumped on a thick layer of factor 60 sun cream earlier as a precaution, but there was a huge change of conditions once I got near the shoulder of Djouce, where it got very blustery. I carried a light Montane windproof layer with me and it made a big difference to my comfort level, so I carried on. If I had known how bad conditions were going to get later, I would have cut the run short at Lough Tay and returned.

I proceeded down to Oldbridge and at that point was getting dehydrated - I had finished the contents of the 2*.6 litre Salomon water bottle I was carrying. I was hoping there might be a coffee shop attached to the nearby Wicklow Way hostel but there was not and I was reluctant to add another 6km to the round trip to head over to Roundwood.
The nearby Inchavore river was inviting so I drank my fill from it and filled the two water bottles. Its possibly psychological but within 10 minutes , my stomach felt a bit funny , so I dumped the water and headed home. I feel fine now but I would not chance river water again without treating it with iodine first.
I ate the Viper bar I had carried for food and got my usual lift from the caffeine and taurine and felt in good shape as I headed up past Luggala.
I experimented with power-walking the very steep section up to Lough Tay but the Garmin indicated I was only doing 12:00 pace, while I was able to jog comfortably at 8:00, which made me realize how much time I would potentially lose if I walked the entire, steep section over the Connor Pass in the Dingle Marathon.
Headed up to the JB Malone memorial for the final climb up Djouce and it got very bad on the exposed section board-walk. The wind was now much stronger than earlier and that combined with heavy, driving rain made it very unpleasant. I forced my way up-hill against the wind and once I left the board-walk it was a lot more sheltered and I headed back as quick as I could to the car and shelter.

mithril

Planned rest day today. DOMS kicking in today not unexpectedly from the weekend’s exertions but more of a concern is that my right hip is painful which has never happened before. This is one I want to be careful with since it could become serious. I added an insert to my right shoe to try and compensate for a fallen arch about 2 weeks ago and I think the lack of symmetry is now putting pressure on the hip.
Out it comes again, and since I have no races for another month, I will give it what rest it needs to recover.

mithril

Cross training in gym.

Slogger Jogger

That was some run on Sunday after your race on Saturday. Pity I missed you as I was spectating in Crone Wood at the time. The speed of the lead runners was unreal.