Berlin or bust...

runrabbit · 17-07-2011 11:50pm

Nicely done Emer -looks like the race went to plan.

The crowds were crazy alright - not sure I'll be rushing back next year. I saw someone stop to walk and take a gel before we'd even done half a mile - I looked at my watch and it was reading 3:45!!! madness altogether!

RubyK · 18-07-2011 8:50am

Another great run Emer, well done

shazkea · 18-07-2011 12:26pm

jcsmum and myself did look out for you but we missed you...I think we should retire as cheerleaders

. Well done on race

Emer911 · 18-07-2011 9:45pm

shazkea wrote: »

jcsmum and myself did look out for you but we missed you...I think we should retire as cheerleaders . Well done on race

Well I think with over 6000 or so filing past, you should be commended for spotting anyone!

Emer911 · 18-07-2011 9:52pm

littlebug · 18-07-2011 9:54pm

You're up to the big miles again Emer !! You're really flying these days!

Emer911 · 18-07-2011 9:55pm

runrabbit wrote: »

Nicely done Emer -looks like the race went to plan.

The crowds were crazy alright - not sure I'll be rushing back next year. I saw someone stop to walk and take a gel before we'd even done half a mile - I looked at my watch and it was reading 3:45!!! madness altogether!

Yeah - madness is right!
I'll probably give this one a miss next year too, and stick to the smaller more manageable ones, methinks. Still, it was a fun, interesting day out...:o:rolleyes:

Emer911 · 19-07-2011 9:49pm

Monday 18th July
Pilates at lunchtime. Sub teacher taking the class so it was a bit too easy...

Tuesday 19th July
4 miles on a cool, dry (yes, dry!), calm evening. Did an out and back route. A bit boring. Nothing much else to report.

Summary 4 miles in 00:36:52
Avg Pace: 09:12 min/mi

Emer911 · 20-07-2011 9:50pm

Wednesday 20th July
8 miles :eek:
After a full day at work, then 2 hours doing supervision at the gym club and getting home after 7:30, feeling cold and tired and hungry (no dinner), I put on the gear and bullied myself out the door. I DID NOT WANT TO DO THIS RUN!

"Why am I doing this?" I asked. "So you can drink beer and eat biscuits". Oh yea... :rolleyes:

I convinced myself that I'd go and do "just 6" and do the extra 2 tomorrow with my planned 4. Headed up the road, no real route planned. Felt very tired starting out and naturally it didn't really get any better. Did a circuit and on the way back took another turn off and found myself in the park with 6 miles done. Well I decided to take the long way around which brought me to about 7.5 when I got to the gate. Nice. Another quick loop around the top bit and I got home with the full 8 miles done, feeling very tired but proud of myself for doing the whole lot.

:cool:

Wrecked! Now for some (late) dinner and a nice long shower.

Summary 8 miles in 01:15:29
Avg Pace: 09:25 min/mi

jcsmum · 21-07-2011 12:17pm

Emer911 wrote: »

"Why am I doing this?" I asked. "So you can drink beer and eat biscuits". Oh yea... :rolleyes:

Love it!!

Well done by the way.

Emer911 · 21-07-2011 10:16pm

Thursday 21st July
3.5 miles in the park. Cold and damp. Tight for time so had to cut it short to 3.5 instead of 4 miles.
Fairly uneventful running.

Summary 3.5 miles in 00:32:10
Avg Pace: 09:11 min/mi

Emer911 · 21-07-2011 10:21pm

...finally got my ass in gear and bought a new pair of assics nimbus today. They're very cool looking. I'm a real girl sometimes

I'll take them for their inaugural run on Saturdays 8 miler. Almost looking forward to it

Emer911 · 23-07-2011 7:37pm

Emer911 wrote: »

...finally got my ass in gear and bought a new pair of assics nimbus today. They're very cool looking. I'm a real girl sometimes

I'll take them for their inaugural run on Saturdays 8 miler. Almost looking forward to it

Wore these to work on Friday to try them out and they were pinching something terrible.

:(:mad: Boy was I glad to get home and change!
Brought them back to Amphibian King and exchanged them for the Nimbus 12's instead (these were the new model 13's). I have a pair of the 12's already so there shouldn't be any problem with them (hopefully)
Can you imagine the carnage if I'd wore them for my run today!? :eek:

Emer911 · 23-07-2011 7:53pm

Saturday 23rd July
It was hot, hot, hot today and with my spin to the shop to change my shoes I didn't get to head out for my run until nearly midday.
The 8 planned miles were cut short to 7. I did a half mile warmup (hah, like I really wasn't warm enough) and then upped the pace to my PMP to sub 9 min/mi. The plan was to do 6 at PMP and finish with another half mile or so cool down.
That was a tough run. I actually had to run home after 4 for a quick loo break

, but other than that one pit-stop, I kept things fairly constant.
PMP mile paces were: 08:59/ 08:56/ 09:11/ 08:46/ 08:58/ 08:51
3rd one there was a bit below the pace, but the rest were spot on. Even though it was a hard run, I'm fairly happy with that. Room for improvement, absolutely, but I won't beat myself up too much given the conditions and the tummy interruption.

Summary 7 miles in 01:02:56

Emer911 · 24-07-2011 9:32pm

Sunday 24 July
16 miles LSR
Another hot one (I know, I shouldn't complain!) and with the tummy still feeling a bit off I decided to run this as a loop circuit - just in case. Ran the first 8 mile loop very slowly, but the tummy didn't give me any gip so I kept going to 10 before I headed for the house for a pit stop.
I was sweating buckets and a glass of water & juice with a spoon of sugar and salt went down a treat. Off again to plod around the park for the last 6 miles. I swear my feet were barely leaving the ground for the last 2 of those. Talk about a shuffle!
Done. But very tired, sweaty, and hot finishing. Completely empty too. I'll have to start introducing the gels in training from here on. Nice to know I go 16 on just water though, even if it was painfully slow.

Summary 16 miles in 02:45:33
Avg Pace: 10:20 min/mi

runrabbit · 24-07-2011 9:55pm

Ah your LSRs are officially too long for me now!

Emer911 · 24-07-2011 10:07pm

runrabbit wrote: »

Ah your LSRs are officially too long for me now!

LOL. They're too long for me too!

Emer911 · 25-07-2011 3:37pm

Time to revisit the BIG 8 goals that were thrown about at the beginning of the year.

I've already hit the main goal for the first half of 2011, which was the sub 2 hour half marathon.
The main goal for the second half of 2011 is the 4 hour marathon. (and that's looking like a big ask given the current training times! :eek:)

The Irish Runner 5 mile was a PB, but still a ways off the target sub 40.
The 10k in DunLaoire is next Monday. Don't know if my speed is good enough to hit the goal time of 50 mins, given I'm in the middle of marathon training, but sure I'll give it a good lash.

Distance | Goal time | Current Best @ Jan 2011| 2011 Best
1 mile | 7 mins | 8:06 (at -15C on 25/12/2010) | -
3k | 14 mins| - | -
5k | 25:00| 25:22 (Boards 5k 2010) | -
5miles | 40:00 | 45:51 (Dublin Irish Runner 5mi 2009) | 42:15 (Dublin Irish Runner 5mi 2011)
10k | 50:00| 54:xx* | -
10miles | 01:30:00| 01:40:xx (Dublin adidas 10mi 2009) | 01:29:22 (Ballycotten 2011)
Half Marathon | 02:00:00 | 02:10:xx (Dublin adidas HM 2009) | 01:57:33 (Kildare 2011)
Marathon | 04:00:00 | 04:24:12 (Berlin 2010) | -

*My 10K PB is a bit of a mess. I've a 54:xx from the Roscommon 10K a few years ago, and a 51:26 for the Limerick "10K" in 2010, but as that turned out to be about 9.4K I can't count it.

Emer911 · 25-07-2011 3:46pm

Plan for the next week

Another heavy mileage week.
The Dun Laoghaire 10K is on Monday next week, so I might have to move the days around this week to get me a rest day Sunday in advance of that. I know that running 17 miles the day before a 10K race is probably not the best idea?:p Any advice on that one is welcome.

Monday |Pilates
Tuesday|4 m run
Wednesday|8 m run
Thursday|Pilates & 4 m run
Friday|rest
Saturday|8 m pace
Sunday|17

Krusty_Clown · 25-07-2011 4:11pm

Emer911 wrote: »

I know that running 17 miles the day before a 10K race is probably not the best idea?:p Any advice on that one is welcome.

Ha! Me too. Why did we sign up for this race again?

Emer911 · 25-07-2011 4:13pm

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Ha! Me too. Why did we sign up for this race again?

You told me to?

Emer911 · 25-07-2011 4:19pm

Emer911 wrote: »

Plan for the next week

Another heavy mileage week.
The Dun Laoghaire 10K is on Monday next week, so I might have to move the days around this week to get me a rest day Sunday in advance of that. I know that running 17 miles the day before a 10K race is probably not the best idea?:p Any advice on that one is welcome.

Monday |Pilates
Tuesday|4 m run
Wednesday|8 m run
Thursday|Pilates & 4 m run
Friday|rest
Saturday|8 m pace
Sunday|17

What if I do the 17 on Saturday (very slowly), rest Sunday and the 10K Monday with a warmup / cool-down to take me to the 8 (planned for Saturday)? Would that make more sense?
That will mean I'll be running 4 days in a row the following week but there's no avoiding that...:rolleyes:
Just hope I'm not over-committing

runrabbit · 25-07-2011 9:35pm

That sounds like a decent plan to me. You could always cut out the shorter Tuesday run the following week and replace it with some stretching or a walk - I don't think it'd be any harm to miss that.

I'll be doing a (shorter) LSR on Saturday all going well, I might hook up with you for a few miles. I'm not doing the Dun L race - I have race fatigue at the moment and really need a break! I know I'll be gutted come next Monday though! :rolleyes:

Emer911 · 25-07-2011 9:41pm

runrabbit wrote: »

That sounds like a decent plan to me. You could always cut out the shorter Tuesday run the following week and replace it with some stretching or a walk - I don't think it'd be any harm to miss that.

I'll be doing a (shorter) LSR on Saturday all going well, I might hook up with you for a few miles. I'm not doing the Dun L race - I have race fatigue at the moment and really need a break! I know I'll be gutted come next Monday though! :rolleyes:

That'd be great... as long as you don't mind going slow?

runrabbit · 25-07-2011 9:51pm

Emer911 wrote: »

That'd be great... as long as you don't mind going slow?

I mind terribly, but I'll make that sacrifice

I'm aiming for 14 on Saturday - BUT it's all dependent on my leg feeling a lot better - we shall see later in the week!

Emer911 · 26-07-2011 10:49pm

Tuesday 26th July
4 miles
...does it ever get any easier? I did the same 4 miles last week and it felt SO much harder this week AND it was slower

I guess the 16 miles from Sunday are hanging about in the legs. To be expected, I know, but it doesn't help the motivation or the morale :rolleyes:

Summary 4 miles in 00:36:50
Avg Pace: 09:12 min/mi

Emer911 · 28-07-2011 9:52pm

Wednesday 27th July
7.5 miles as a mid week run. Very warm and humid throughout with rain threatening, but it held off until I'd finished.
I was a bit pushed for time - had to get back for a kid pick-up - so the planned 8 mile run was cut short (marginally) to 7.5. Probably could have fitted in the 8 if I'd planned a better route, 'cause there were loads of stops for some major crossroads.

...still, I felt ok doing this. The tiredness from Tuesday wasn't as evident. Wasn't a fast one, but happy enough.

Summary 7.5 miles in 01:10:55
Avg Pace: 09:27 min/mi

Emer911 · 28-07-2011 10:35pm

Thursday 28th July
Got an opportunity to try out a new yoga class (for free, always good

) so decided to give the 4 miles a miss in place of that.
Great class - tough but exactly what I needed. My hamstrings won't know what hit them tomorrow!
Really happy with the instructor too. It was a trial class, so she's kicking off a course at the end of August. Sign me up

Emer911 · 31-07-2011 9:41pm

Friday - rest day

Saturday 30th July
Did my Long Run today. 17 miles from Shankill to Greystones, and back along the cliff walk, finishing up in Shanganagh park. One tough, tough run! Thankfully I had the delightful company of Runrabbit to keep me distracted

. Much needed, I can tell you!

It was a hot, humid, sunny morning. When I checked the forecast I got overcast and 15c. It was NOT overcast and it was definitely not 15c!! But we both
had the sunscreen on and we carried water with us, so at least we were as prepared as we could be.

The route is a bit of a killer. The first 2 miles are relatively flat, but after that it's uphill for the next 3 out of Bray and up over Windgates. There's a lovely bit of downhill into Greystones and then up again once you hit the cliff walk. It was hot and tiring and the last couple of miles back into Bray and then to Shankill were very tough. It really felt like we were plodding, but looking back on the splits it wasn't actually as slow as it felt.

RR left me at 14 and I headed to the park for the last 3 of my LSR. That was really a mental challenge and the only way I could finish it was to break it into 3 single miles, and just do one mile at a time. I really don't know how I actually finished that run!

...then I went to town with the family and spent a couple of hours walking around the city. Like 17 miles weren't enough...

Summary 17 miles in (moving time) 02:54:56
Avg Moving Pace: 10:17 min/mi

Emer911 · 01-08-2011 3:02pm

Monday 1st August
After the usual pre-race breakfast we headed to the Dart station for the trip along the coast to Dun Laoghaire. It was overcast and grey looking out over Killiney Bay, but we were happy with that. Rather that than having the sun splitting the stones, thank you! Give me the traditional Irish misty summer day for a race anytime!

Got to DL and the organisation was very evident... road closures, cops and marshals dotted everywhere and a big string of balloons indicating the finish line. There was a good buzz about the place too. Spotted the loos with no queue(!) so took advantage before dropping our bags off and jogging to the start area.

Bid the OH adieu as he tripped up the road for a proper warm up and I jogged on to find my start pen. I had signed up for sub 45min (what was I thinking:eek:!?) so I joined the gathering masses and tried to stay towards the back and side of the pen, to try to keep out of the faster runners way. Met RacoonQueen and had a brief chat before the announcer started keying us up for the start.

Given the 17 mile slog in the legs from Saturday I wasn't really sure how this was going to go. I guess the loose goal was in or around 54 minutes, but I decided to just run as I felt rather than running to a pace. I set the Garmin to show time only, no pace, no distance, so no pressure :rolleyes: (in theory)

Off we set. Nice wide start and the road didn't narrow much at all so there was very little weaving or bunching. The first mile was slightly uphill, but went OK. I was passed (as expected - doh! sorry everyone) for the first half mile or so, but the pace more or less settled by the the time we passed the 1km mark. The rain gentle mist that was threatening earlier started coming down almost as soon as we started, but it was perfect for running. Lovely jubley:D.

Mile 2 saw the course turn up to Monkstown road away from the sea. A slight uphill again but nothing to worry about. The road was nice and smooth and was plenty wide enough for everyone. There were marshals at every
junction, Gardaí out in force keeping the traffic at bay, and even some spectators about clapping and shouting at us.

Miles 3 and 4 were where the hills really started to show. There were 2 short sharp ones with flatish bits in between at mile 3, and the 4th mile was the long drag up the glenageary road passed the old DL golf course. Lovely new road, but a bit of a killer at that point in the race.

After the up comes the down, and mile 5 was a lovely downhill as we worked our way back towards the seafront. A few bends here but again, loads of marshals and Gardaí so there was no hope of anyone going astray. I pulled back a few lost seconds on this stretch, which was good, and the spectators were really amassing at each junction, so the atmosphere was great.

The last 1.2 miles were rolling. A couple of turns brought us back to the sea and the last 1km was straight along the to the finish, but with a drag for most of that. Loads of cheering and a great atmosphere along this stretch, and the race announcer must have called out every name as they came past the finish. Nice touch. Came in with 52:53 on the clock so I'm chuffed with that!
The finish was well organised, no queues for medals or water or anything, free glenisk yoghurts and the baggage collection was very easy too.

All in all, a great race. A tough enough course, yes, but really well organised and very well marshalled. Great atmosphere from both spectators and runners. My congrats to the organisers. I will definitely be signing up for this one again next year.

Just got the text from Bay 10k - Chip time 00:52:44, Gun time 00:52:53, 375 place. and a new PB to boot ;D

Summary 6.23 miles in 00:52:44
Avg Pace: 08:28 min/mi

Berlin or bust...

Comments