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Berlin or bust...
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Sunday 8th Sept
I was a bit scuppered for the rest of the day on Saturday after the 20 miler. Felt totally knackered all day, but when the sun came up on Sunday morning the legs felt surprisingly OK and though I was still tired, the total wreck-ed-ness had lifted a bit.
I went out for 5 very easy miles around the park, late in the morning. Thought it was colder than it actually was, so wore way too much, but as I was going pretty slowly, it wasn't too big an issue.
Checked out the mileage on my favourite Nimbus shoes (nearly 900miles!) and decided it was time to invest in my knees. A Sunday afternoon trip to Amphibian King saw my pocket a good bit lighter but the shoes felt so bouncy that I still walked out with a smile on my face. First trial wear this evening.
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Preamble
Set off for the wild west on Friday evening and dropped by Athlone to pick up the numbers. Really easy to find (great directions given) and, as we got there with only a few minutes to spare (like 8:55 or something!), we had the whole place to ourselves and got everything sorted quick as a flash.
And then on to the Mammy's for a good nights sleep.
Saturday morning we were up bright and early for the usual pre-race breakie of porridge and coffee. Picked up my bro, his misses and a friend and we all travelled together to the race. Got there around 10 and directed to the 'overflow' carpark 20 meters past the school. Parking a-plenty, but it's lucky it was warm and dry, cause that field would've been a nightmare otherwise.
And warm it was, and sunny too. I really wasn't expecting that, and the usually 'go nowhere without sunscreen' girl was actually caught out! At least I had my peaked cap. Met some of the boardsies and lots of the Roscommon runners and everyone seemed in great spirits. Krusty headed off to find some other fast heads and I hung around with the family for a bit. Met RachelJev as I was walking back to the car to dump my extra layers and we did a few minutes warmup to catch up and get the legs moving. Decided to run the race together - with the usual "don't wait around for me if I'm not able to keep up" pact. :rolleyes:
Rachel reckoned we'd need to be running at 8:35 - 8:40 pace to break the 1:55 (PB was 1:56:37 from Dublin HM last year) but I'd printed some pace bands that had 8:46/mi as the even split pace for 1:55, so we decided to stick somewhere around that.
Now my training has been going OK, but not brilliant, so I was doubtful that the 1:56 was even achievable for me. When she mentioned 8:35-8:40 I was having mini-palpitations but must've hidden it fairly well
. Anyway - I was SURE that Rachel would be speeding off into the distance at 6 or 7 miles as I slowly jogged the remaining miles, totally depleted and beaten for going out too hard. Oh the doubts!
Time was called and the marshals led us to the start in a very organised manner. Rach and I sat in between the 1:50 and 2:00 pacers. My big bro and the sis-in-law had decided to stay with the 2 hour guys and hold on / push on as the race progressed. So I bid them adieu and before we knew it, the gun went, and we were off.
The first bit
It was sunny and there were lots of folks out to cheer and send us on our way. We ran south from the school and were on proper country roads in a blink. It was flat, it was sunny (did I say that already?) and Rach and I chatted and ran and chatted, and I kept an eye on the pace every now and again. 8:37 / 8:48 / 8:50 / 8:43 had the pace at the desired 8:45 average for the first 4 miles and we were both feeling fine (or so I thought). Water stop just after mile 3 and I grabbed a bottle for a sip to wet the whistle. Rachel threw a splash over her neck and I decided that was a fantastic idea and followed suit. Wow - that felt good! Well, it was sunny.
The middle
Mile 5 I was chatting away and the pace crept up without me realising it to 8:34. Rachel called me on it and we slowed a bit for the next one. At that stage I should have realised she was hurting a bit but I was sailing and feeling good so didn't pick up on it. Mile 6 was 8:39 and I took a gel as we approached the water station so I could dispose of the wrapper and take a drink with it. Seamless. I usually have to stop to wrestle with the pack but it opened really easy for me and went down like nectar. Everything was going my way!
And then, somewhere around the 7th/ 8th mile, Rachel said she was having cramps and had to stop. I said we'd slow it down - we had time banked - but she was in no mood and I was summarily sent on my way. Felt like SUCH a heel leaving her.
I assumed she meant a stitch or something, but the poor thing had a mare after that and I felt twice the heel when I met her at the finish line and heard her war story. :(:eek:
Mile 7 and 8 were 8:48 and 8:42
The solo miles
I left Rachel and didn't look back (I'm such a bad friend!) I was feeling strong and just ran as I felt not bothering to look at the watch again until the finish. The route took us up onto the a main(ish) road after 8 for almost 2 miles. It was a bit surreal turning out onto it to see the line of single file runners stretched out along the hard shoulder - and very colourful it was too. I was still feeling good and found I was passing runners all along this road. When we turned off again onto the minor roads there was a brief downhill and I think I actually passed about 6 people in a matter of strides. That felt very strange. But I was still motoring... :cool:
Took another water bottle at the water station after 9, and squirted a good bit on my neck/ back. It was sunny and I was getting a bit hot. And still I was passing people. There seemed to be a stretch around 10 / 11 miles where lots of people just fell apart and started walking and I sailed past them all. I did feel like imparting some words of encouragement, but - having been there in the past - I didn't think it'd be well received, so I kept my gob shut and left them to their daemons.
Mile 9 to 11 were 8:27 / 8:17 / 8:25
The last bit
When I passed the 11 mile marker things weren't quite as easy as they had been and the central governor started to complain a bit. I had to concentrate to keep the legs ticking and started to count down the distance left in terms of laps of the park, as you do. Even though I was starting to hurt a bit, I was still passing people wholesale, so I started picking off the person ahead - to distract myself really. When I caught them, I set my sights on the next one. Kept going like this all the way into the town. As I passed the 13 mile marker Krusty and co were going in the other direction for a cool down jog (probably still faster than my sprint pace :rolleyes:) and I got a nod.
Around the corner to the finish and I was in line with 2 others. As we made the bend the girl beside me took off like a rocket! She must've been doing Mo Farrah training with the sprint she put in to the line - and fair play to her. I kicked on and left the guy in my wake, but as I got near the finish gantry someone was coming up fast on my shoulder and I pushed hard for the line. She got there first (out of nowhere) and I stopped my watch and hung onto the barriers to get some air back into my burning lungs.
Mile 11 to 13 were 8:25 / 8:32/ 8:28 with 7:38 pace for the last 0.14
Chip time 1:52:51 (PB by over 3 minutes - woo hoo!)
Garmin stats:
13.14 mi in 1:52:54
Avg Pace: 8:36 min/mi
Boy was I chuffed and totally surprised by that. I did NOT think I was in that kind of shape and was really really really happy with my performance. Bodes well for Dublin - hopefully
The aftermath
The finish chute was busy but organised. I got my medal, water and some orange segment and waited to see if Rachel was coming in behind me. Saw my sis-in-law first, who put in a magnificent performance in her second ever HM to come in just over 1:56 with a 3 minute PB. Her friend came in shortly after and then I spotted Rach. Got her a chair, some water and an orange and she poured out her story of woe and decorating the country roads with her breakfast. After a few minutes we moved on and rejoined the mass of boardsies outside the finish pen - but not until I'd got my beer first, of course. Rachel understandably declined :rolleyes:.
And in summary
Great race, organisation, marshalling, water stations, enthusiastic local support, tshirt, medal and a beer at the finish just to win over any doubters
And a PB to boot!
Sure it's all good:P
...and in case you were following him, the bro finished in 2:02. Hung onto the pacers until about mi 11 when his (dodgy) knees locked up and he had to ease back for the last few mile. It's still a PB (a massive 15 minutes faster than his only other HM).
And Krusty? - well you can just go check out his log of course, but he got a PB too.
PB's all round so that can only mean PB beer Saturday night. Great evening following a great day. 0 -
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Don't know about the 'zooming' part but it's much easier to churn out those midweek long-ish runs when there is company.BeepBeep67 wrote: »Whizzing around the park tonight like nobody's business you've obviously recovered well.
You were looking pretty zooming too 0 -
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Thursday
Late for the club run so just did a few miles on my own-e-oh. Threw in some strides at the end, just to shake u the legs a bit.
3.8 miles
Friday Rest day
Saturday
20 miles in the plan and I'd arranged to meet 3 of the club girls who were doing 16. I brought a 250ml bottle of water with me and packed a gel and a half bag of sports beans. Nice early start again for this as I had a wedding in the afternoon and had to get back to get the hair done before that. Oh the pressure :rolleyes:
Warm one out there too. We headed towards Cabinteely via the back route and we were all planning on using the facilities in the park, but when we got there we noticed the new toilets they've built are all coin operated! :eek: And who carries 20c coins when they're out for a run?! Doh! So onwards to the shopping centre for the loos there. I'm sure we looked a sight walking through the shop, but needs must
On again and around the 12 mile mark I took a gel and was chatting along with one of the girls when, out of nowhere, she got violently and unexpectedly attacked by a lamp post. Boom! and she was flat out on the ground. I know it sounds like a joke, but she got a right bang and we were all a bit worried. We called her hubbie to come get her and walked her up to the corner where he was going to meet us, while she repeatedly told us to go ahead...
- she's fine now, a bit bruised but OK -
...resuming the run, we had an incident with an old dear trying to mow us down at a crossroads (sheesh!) but kept going and got back to home base in one piece and with 16 on the clock for the girls. I headed on for the last 4 on my own, after getting my water bottle refilled by one of the girls. Needed that!
The last few were not pretty (and of course that's when I get a shout out from a work colleague :rolleyes:). I got to the house with 19.58 on the watch, but with the walk earlier (about .5 mile) and the run over to the meet the girls (not on the watch) I was happy enough to call that 20.
Only one more of these before the taper. Woo hoo!
Hopefully the next one will be less exciting! 0 -
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Sunday
Woke up sneezing! And sneezed for most of the day... at which point I thought my head was going to fall off. Even my teeth were sore
So I didn't go for a run. But I did join the crew for some top rope climbing and bouldering in the afternoon. I was still sneezing but managed to hold it off for long enough to get some climbing done.
Monday
Still feeling like sh1te I supped on lemsip for the day and didn't do anything strenuous at all.
Tuesday
I did go to the lunchtime Pilates - with a handful of tissues in tow - and managed to survive it. Feeling a bit better but still took a rest day from the running. Don't want to go pushing myself at this stage and be out for a fortnight later?!0 -
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Saturday
Nice early start (again) to do some of the Dublin route with a few running mates. We only went wrong once - which wasn't bad, considering we hadn't a clue where we were and were taking our directions from the written out road names in my (soggy) back pocket
All was going great and then an old injury made a reappearance for one of the girls and she was doing a bit of walk-running for a mile or so before calling it a day. We left her with some taxi money and headed on, in through Terenure, Rathfarnham, Clonskeagh and finishing up on Fosters Avenue, with 'Heartbreak Hill' conquered (Ah sure it's only a wee thing! What's all the fuss about?)
I had turned off my watch when we stopped and didn't notice it was still off until about 2 miles later, so the Garmin track, time and average pace is a bit off, but according to the others, it was about 15.5 miles covered.
A good run. And all finished and home by 11:30. 0 -
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...and then went to the climbing centre with the family for a few hours just to finish off the day. A spot of bouldering, some really good top rope climbs and I even managed to do two full chin ups, all by myself (whoop whoop!)
Today was a good day.:cool:0 -
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Thursday
Club run day. Easy enough today. We had some juveniles joining us for this, and with the 10K race last sunday for some, and a cross country race this coming sunday for others, it was nothing too strenuous. Some intervals of 30s, 45s, 1min, 2, min, 3 min, 4 min and a few others thrown in too... I wasn't really paying too much attention.
So just shy of 4 miles covered in total.
Post running I headed over to Awesome Walls for an hour and a half of fun bouldering. Hands are in bits now - but it's all good
I even did a few chin ups in the training room - all by myself:cool:
I guess the weedy girly arm muscles are getting stronger 0 -
Friday
Rest day.
Saturday
Last long one. 20 miles done and dusted. Really early again, but as the day wore on the sun got brighter and stronger, so I was very happy to be finished and home by 11am. What is up with the weather? Bright, sunny and 18c on a Saturday in October - in Ireland?!
The girls were doing 22 (:eek:) so the plan was for me join them after 2. But I was late out and they'd done 3 by the time I met them, so ended up doing the last mile solo. Ah well.
An uneventful run this week, thankfully. Aside from a loo stop after 10 or so, it was steady and pleasant enough. Still a bit knackered now but that's to be expected.
23 days to D-Day.
Let the taper (madness) begin 0 -
Sunday
Out for a few recovery miles and I bumped into some of my 'long run' pals who couldn't make it yesterday, so joined them for a bit of a chat and ended up doing a mile or so more than I'd planned. 5 slow ones in total. Boy it was warm out there too. Glad I got my long one out of the way yesterday.
Followed this up with a couple of hours bouldering with mini-me. Got some good climbing in, and even managed to finish a route that has defeated me up to now. Nice feeling to finally conquer my 'nemisis' 0 -
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Saturday
Long Run Day
So this is really the last long(ish) run before the big day. :eek: 16 miles done and dusted this morning with some of the club girls. There was a good gang of us for this one and we caused quite a stir with our array of colourful luminous attire on the back roads of south Dublin.
The legs were feeling very tired this morning and my hamstrings and calf muscles felt tight and stiff. Lets just say I was not feeling the love. They didn't bother me when we got going (except for the tiredness) and I'm going to book a massage for later this week to give myself a bit of a treat (or maybe a torture session would be a better description?).
We did some miles on the grass in the park to start and then headed out on the backroads towards Kilteernan, Carrickmines, Cornlescourt and back along the N11. It's a challenging route with some nice drags and steep bits (both up and down!) but I was happy to see that our last 3 miles were all at around marathon pace. So even though we had a reasonably hard day, on tired legs, we could all up the pace for the last few. Nice to know. :cool:
So some R&R this evening.
16 sleeps to go.0 -
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Monday
Missed the climbing on Sunday so went today instead. Some really good (new) routes on the walls so we had a blast. 2 good hours of top rope climbing and some a good bit more difficult that I thought I'd be able for, so felt really proud of myself for getting them done (though I was SOOO slow and probably made it look SOOO much harder than it was:P)
Tuesday
Pilates at lunchtime and I was wrecked for the afternoon - jelly legs and everything.
Wednesday
6 mile run in the plan. Steady one and decided to do it around the pmp. First one slightly slower, next one slightly faster, and repeat... Found it tough to dial in the correct paces but think I started to feel it towards the end.
I had to do this one later that expected and boy was it dark! At least the rain had stopped though. Looks like the winter is closing in :rolleyes:0 -
Thursday
Club Run. Doing hills - well, mini-hill, but it was good. 6 reps with jog back recovery. Felt good - bit of a blast.
Friday rest day
Saturday
The last LSR before D-day (or should I say M-day?) Nice day for it, and the chat was flowing. Everyone was in good spirits and we finished our 12 miles feeling well up for the big one - NOT! I think the old 'taper madness' sickness has set in, cause we were all doubting ourselves and our planned paces. Sniffles, sore throats, headaches, upset tummies - they were all hitting one or other of us at some stage this week... total phantoms of course! I think we're a crowd of hypochondriacs :P
Sure we'll be grand :rolleyes:
Went top-rope climbing with the OH (we were abandoned by the other pair) and the centre was jammed. There was a juvenile climbing competition on (wow! some very very impressive kids and teenagers out there:eek:) and lots of groups doing tasters. We managed to get some good (new) routes in and I even attempted (badly) a higher level climb - though I had to bail out of it pretty early - but at least I tried it! :cool:0 -
If you and the Clown tear up DCM (and I'm sure you both will!!!), bouldering locations may become mysteriously packed with endurance runners!!!
Looking forward to meeting you and the hubby over happy endurance refreshments. 0 -
If you and the Clown tear up DCM (and I'm sure you both will!!!), bouldering locations may become mysteriously packed with endurance runners!!! Looking forward to meeting you and the hubby over happy endurance refreshments.
Ha Ha - that would be 'new thing' then, would it:D?
Don't think I'll be tearing anything up, but an uneventful, smooth run, unaffected by random injury or freak weather would be nice (for a change;))
Looking forward to meeting you in a week or so.0 -
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Good to hear from you... how's the foot/ back/ body? Any sign of a return to former glories?
The knees... you forgot the knees :pac:
I'm still plodding along. Took to weights and kettle bells + swim, dropped a pile of poundage and have done a couple of parkruns recently so trying to get 5k time back to where I was before and hopefully below. Foot is still a bit bothersome so I'll stick to 5ks for now and see if I can find a magic cure/ footwear:o I'm enjoying the mix of stuff at the minute though despite still being a plodder
Have a blast on Monday... hope the wind take you in the right direction!0 -
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You are going to ROCK tomorrow. Good luck and have a blast
Ta.
How are you feeling about it? Rearing to go?
I'm sure the wind will be at our backs and the rain will will hold off and we'll have a perfect day :rolleyes::p
...or we'll just have to enjoy the mayhem around us and go with it:D0 -
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