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Berlin or bust...
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Sunday 04 Match
Headed to Cork yesterday evening and arrived at the Garryvoe hotel with an unfamiliar sun shining in the sky and glinting off the sea. What a beautiful location! :cool: Off to bed early after a walk on the beach and a lovely dinner, hoping the weather would hold for the morning.
Up bright and early and the weather was still fab, so packed the gear and got on the shuttle bus to the race location. It was a tad chilly hanging around and I was sorry I hadn't paced another layer in my kit bag. Met up with a few people for a chat and some good wishes and everyone went their own way to change, warm up and get to the appropriate start spot. I had my windbreak jacket on over my t-shirt and it was so cold I was seriously thinking of running with it. At the last minute I thought better of this and dashed back to the bag drop area to stuff it in my bag. Back to the start area with a few minutes to go thinking "all grand"
...and then, just as the gun went, I noticed I forgot to start my GPS
:eek:
Mad fumbling of buttons and bezel (with gloves on, of course:rolleyes:) but it was taking what seemed like AGES to pick up the satellites. At this stage I was almost last
in the start area, so I just hit go and went. What a disaster.
This fup-up meant that I spent the first 3 or so miles weaving around slower runners. It was funny really and in a bit I was being followed by another (novice) runner who reckoned it'd be better received for me to 'make a hole' rather than him. We ran together for about the first 5 miles and he kept me distracted and entertained with stories of 200k cycle races and other such nonsense
.
We turned a corner at about mile 5 and the wind picked up and hit us straight in the face. This was accompanied by a LOVELY hail shower for a few very cold minutes. My buddy powered on and I fell off the pace slightly at this point, so I ran the last few miles solo. The hail and spitty rain stopped after a bit, and I settled into my pace again. Around the 7 mile mark I could hear the crowds cheering for "Rachel" - obviously a local, I though. It wasn't until I passed Rachel Allen around the 7 mile mark that I realised how come everyone knew "Rachel" :P
The run from mile 8 to the finish is a doozy, but I knew what was coming from last year, so I just put the head down, concentrating on the breathing and keeping the pace as even as possible. Lots of great support for this section too, which was great - much needed
. Even got a shout out from RunRabbit with about 600mt to go (she ran a great time - very impressed!)
Pumped the arms and legs to the finish line - didn't really know my time with my stoopid watch mistake, but I though I'd done better than last year. Checking the official results I came home in 1:28:17, which is not a PB, but is a minute faster than last years Ballycotton run, so I'm happy with that.
It was a good morale booster for Connemara Half, and the hill at the end didn't kill me. Don't get me wrong - I felt it, but it didn't take it out of me THAT much.
Met my running buddy from the start of the race in the finisher chute, so I didn't drop off the pace too much. I think he got in 20 or so seconds ahead of me.
Collected my lovely mug, my gear and my OH (t-shirt in hand and a big grin on his face) and we shivered our way back to the shuttle bus to the hotel. They let us use the leisure centre to shower and change (lovely place, lovely people and highly recommended) before we got into the car for the trek back to the big shmoke.
Another successful running weekend.
Hearty congratulation to the race organisers for a great race in a beautiful location. Aside from the arctic chill (which they can't REALLY effect) it was a near perfect day. Can't believe they do all that so smoothly and efficiently for a mere 15 euro (including shuttle buses in from the outlying areas!) Brilliant.
Summary 10 miles in 1:28:17
Avg Time 08:50(ish)/mi0 -
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Awww shucks, thanks for all the comments...
Monday 5th
Pilates at lunchtime. Missed my pilates last week due to work stuff, and managed to almost do the same this week. Left work a bit later than I should have and got there when the class was already underway - but at least I got there :rolleyes:. The concentration was firmly on arms this week so lots of pushups and weights - which I'm feeling in the shoulder region today!
Just as well it wasn't all bum/leg work though. After Sunday that might not have been very pretty 0 -
Tuesday
Too Cold so I chickened out of my run and did a yoga session instead. Bold, I know:o
Wednesday
Went out for 5 miles, but I mis-calculated my route and ended up doing 6
Nothing too spectacular. A couple of hills/inclines to keep me honest, but otherwise a nice run.Summary 6 miles in 57:55
Avg Pace: 9:38 min/mi0 -
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Saturday
3.25 miles in the evening. Busy day. By the time I got out it was dark but still really warm. Even had to stop to take off my (very light) jacket after a half mile! Strange weather we're having recently
Summary 3.25 miles in 29:45
Avg Pace: 9:10 min/mi0 -
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Tuesday
1 mile Fit4Life race
1st time I've really done a mile race so a PB was guaranteed
This was run as part of the Wicklow Fit4Life League and it was on the track in Greystones. It's a really lovely facility with floodlights and all!
Loads of people turned out for this. I didn't know what sort of pace I should be doing, but I reckoned (on a good day) I should be able for about 7:45 /mi so I tentatively joined the 06:30 - 08:00 group.
BANG (starter pistol)
Off we went. Hadn't a clue what I should be doing, how fast I should be going (or how slow), so settled into a hardish but doable pace and just kept plugging. 4 laps around the track. I was towards the end of the pack but was ok with that - I was never going to be winning anything
On the last lap I decided to try to catch the girl ahead and just went for it. Though she might be just that far away to catch, but just got her with about 5mt's to go. Happy out.
And get this - Garmin time says 07:10
I didn't think I had that in the legs!
Did a couple of miles warmup before that so totals up to about 3 milesSummary
1 mile in 07:10 07:11 Official Time
total about 3 miles in about 08:10/mi pace
...and as I expected given recent training runs, I got beaten by my 11year old. She ran in the kids races. Did a 07:03:rolleyes: Obviously gets her speed from her Daddy then He ran a 04:57!:eek: 0 -
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Wednesday
No running today. Was doing supervision at the gym so I'm home now drinking hot tea still trying to warm up... birrr. Two hours sitting stationary in a warehouse is not good.
A pilates (catch up) class tomorrow and an evening run should even out the off-day (hopefully) 0 -
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Thursday 15th Mar
Did a pilates class at lunchtime. None Monday (for the bank holiday) so thought I'd fit it in early. Playing on deflated balls today - press-ups balancing on the ball :eek:, squats and crunches holding it between the knees / ankles / etc. Lovely!
Evening run: Left work a bit later than I should have, so I was pushed for time because had to collect the young one when her club was finished. Parked up and legged it. Did a 3(ish) mile loop, back to the car to check the time, had another 10 minutes so ran out again for a bit more. Back again at the car with seconds to spare... phew! :cool:Summary 4.29 mi in 37:39
Avg Pace: 8:46 min/mi0 -
Saturday 17th March
Another weekend, another race. What's going on around here?!
The OH signed up for this one, so I kinda got pulled into this without knowing much about it. Had to do 5 miles today anyway, so why not? The idea was to do it at HM pace(about 9min/mi) and that should fit well with my long run tomorrow.
Left Dublin with the sun shining, but I brought my gloves/hat/etc. just in case, more of a habit than any forward thinking... Half way up the M3 the black clouds rolled in and the heavens opened, and I started to feel the 'chicken' rising. "I'm not going out in that!" Got to Kildalkey Community Centre in plenty of time and collected the number, still declaring that I wasn't running if the rain hadn't subsided. Sat in the car until 10 minutes before the off and decided the rain had died down enough so I had no excuse .
It was a half mile jog over to the start line from where we were, which I took as my (mini) warm up. It was still drizzling so I wore my jacket and gloves, but opted for the peaked running cap instead of the hat. (Did I mention that I hate the rain?:rolleyes:)
The runners were gathered on the roadway with a couple of marshals and some gardaí managing the waiting cars. Everything was drenched and there were puddles as big as paddling pools up and down the road. Chatted to a few familiar faces before the off. There was a clang, and off we went. I tried to settle into my HM pace, but when I looked at the watch after about a quarter mile I was doing just over 8 minute pace and told myself to slow the heck down! This was a training run, after all. I settled myself a bit and let the faster people pass me. Found someone running a steady pace of about 8:40 so ran along with her for a bit.
After about a mile and a half I felt she was struggling and the pace was slowing, so set my sights on a runner just ahead and picked up the pace a bit. Grand. Caught her easy enough and just kept that pace going and found myself picking off runner after runner.
As the miles ticked off, the weather got better and by the third mile I was a bit sorry I wore that jacket. But it is very light, so I didn't get overheated or anything - just a bit uncomfortable. The rain had done it's bit though. Several places there were puddles the whole way across with road (for road read boreen) with no option but to get the feet wet (did I mention I hate getting wet?:rolleyes:) I'm sure the folks behind me were laughing at the little screeches as I splashed my way through. :P
With soggy feet and too many clothes, I kept plodding, setting my sights on the next runner ahead and just picking them off, but making sure I wasn't working too hard (this is a training/pace run...). There were lots of marshals at every turn, and even a few hardy souls out cheering us on, and I felt it was way too early when we ran back into the village. I guess I must've missed the 4 mile marker then.
I was a bit confused when the marshals directed me into a housing estate, but then noticed the Finish Line gantry at the other end of the road. I had thought we would be arriving at it from the other direction!? As I rounded the bend to the finish I heard the announcer say we were just over 41 minutes.
Stopped the garmin when I passed under the gantry. 41:27, which - surprise surprise - is a new 5 mile PB! Cool :cool: There was loads left in the tank but that's for another day. Connemara is the goal. Only 2 weeks now.
Still, nice way to spend a rainy Saturday. And a handy unexpected PB too.Summary 5 miles in 41:27
Plus 0.58 mi warmup jog0 -
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Well done Emer. Another pb in the bag :cool: What's the goal in Connemara?
Thanks littlebug.
The goal for the Connemara half is to beat my previous (very soft) Connemara time of 02:16:xx. My HM PB is 01:57:33 and I don't think that course is going to let me get anywhere near that :rolleyes:
Hoping to get in under 02:10:00.
Closer to 02:00 would be great.
Under 02:00 would be unbelievable.
So lots of targets there...
How about you? Sounds like you're in the zone again.0 -
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