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Berlin or bust...
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I'm not committing to ANYTHING at this point missus! My quads are too sore today to let me even think about that! Ouch!
Emer/Rach... The two of you did so well in Dunshaughlin, I know it was tough but look at what you both achieved.
Sub 1:50 by September should definitely be the goal, I know it's a big chunk off your, now new, PB's, but you can definitely both aim for that. Training needs to have lots of faster stuff, perhaps KC can advise, he's a pretty decent runner himself
I'm hoping to officially pace the series half and the Marathon, if that doesn't happen I'd be happy to help you guys to a 1:49:30.
Well done again.
Digger0 -
New 10k PB: 49.42
After running 50:09 in the Roscommon Carers 10k in May, I just had to find another 10k to go for the sub 50 target. Dunshauglin was mentioned very favourably in these here parts so I duly signed up and decided to have a go. At the start of the year my 10k PB was 52:44 and I didn't have any specific goal in mind. Didn't really think a sub-50 was (ever) going to be on the cards, but never say never...
Pre-race prep was a bit unusual as we waited around for evening to come. My usual pre-race food is porridge and coffee, but that was well gone by 5pm!:D Settled for half a bagel and a banana with lots of water and juice. Got the kit together, cooked dinner for the young pair to eat at a more reasonable time, and hit the road with KC at about 6pm.
Easy drive up the M50/M3 and arrived at the car park at 6.30. Registration was easy-peasy (Nice too-shirt) and met up with RachelJev, Digger, Claralara, Meno, RK and too many others to mention. I think nearly everyone on the east coast that posts on the ART thread was there?! Rachel and I were both aiming for the sub-50 so we had decided to run this together. Then a few others who were aiming for the same time threw their hat in the ring and before we knew it, we had our own pacer too. Through colds and injury it ended up just Rachel, RK and I running for the time, but pacer Digger was joined by Meno at the last minute. To say I was not feeling confident of this would be an understatement. I hate pressure - and the pressure was mounting! Oooh!
After a brief warmup and a couple of strides we lined up as the wind whipped around us. The rain had more or less held off though (just a few damp moments) but that wind was a potential hindrance. The lads said they'd line up in front of us and we should tuck in behind for any exposed sections - professionals to the last, the pair of them.
The hooter blasted and we were off. Nice and steady for the first 1k. A bit of congestion, for sure, but nothing too frustrating. We ran up through the village and there were loads of people out shouting and cheeing us on. The lads were great - lots of assuring noises and directions coming from them. "Stay relaxed", "OK we're at pace now - nice and steady", "Keep the race line, don't run further than you need to". Passed the 1k mark and then the 1 mile mark and we were on pace. Lovely. I didn't look at my watch much at all - trusting in the 2 boys to keep us on target. From about the 2k mark I went ahead of the guys for a bit and was motoring nicely, breathing hard but comfortable enough.
The crowds were thinning a bit. I passed a guy at one point, and he immediately sprinted past me and then slowed again, right in front of me. He did this three or more times before he finally ran out of sprints and just let me ahead. Some guys just can't take being overtaken by a girl?! Ego is a wonderful thing, eh? I hope those sprints didn't scupper him later in the race!
Before the 4th Km the guys had reeled me back in (I think I just lost concentration for a bit) so I tucked in behind Meno out of the wind and stuck to his shoulder for the rest of the run. We passed the 5k in 24:xx (so thats a 5k PB too) but it was starting to hurt now. I just kept the head down and concentrated on breathing and keeing the legs ticking over. The guys - once again - were great with their words of encouragement, and Meno did his best to keep me distracted, pratteling on about hills and arms and breathing and pace...
After 7k we rounded a bend and 'the hill' that everyone was worrying about presented itself. [COLOR="Blue"]...nah, it wasn't a hill. Have you guys seen Pucks castle? Quarry Road? Huh! Baby bump described it more appropriately.[/COLOR] But unfortunately, at that point, with everything hurtin, it may as well have been my own personal Everest! Digger was telling us to use our arms, Meno was assuring us that we had plenty of time in the bag and losing 10 seconds on the hill was OK, and all the while I was just staring at the ground, keeping the legs chugging. We crested the hill and Digger and Rachel, who was coping much better than me, stretched the legs and put a few meteres between us.
Meno stuck with me and we kept the others in sight, but the head was starting to tell me that I was finished, and I can honestly say that if I was on my own, I would have been very likely to slow to a walk. Knowing we were on target and with Meno reminding me that there were just 8 minutes left, just 5 minutes... I kept the head out of it, or rather I overruled it. But it was HARD!
With 1km to go Rachel and Digger were still just a few meters ahead and we were still motoring. Meno counted down the meters every time we passed a marker - 800, 600, 400, "OK, just around the corner". We passed a time clock and he told me to go for it, so with about 100 to go I found something (I know not from where) and finished in a sprint, just 2 seconds behind the others. Smashed the 50 minute barrier with 49:42 as the official time (exact same time as on my garmin)
I was totally F00ked and had to lean on the barrier at the finisher chute for a bit. I did still manage to get some strawberries and cream for eating once I got control of my faculties again. Someone asked me how I did and I honestly couldn't speak. I just held up 5 fingers and they went "sub-50?" I nodded back. Honestly couldn't talk for about 2 whole minutes.
Rachel was over the moon with her time. RK, who dropped off the pace earlier was just seconds behind us in the end, but was just over the 50 minute mark, by 5 measly seconds. It was still a PB though, so not all bad!
Great race, great organisation, great atmosphere and a super spread put on in the hall afterwards. Lots of support out all around the course, even though the weather was more suited to the racers than the supporters. I know there were about 3 water stations too, though I didn't take advantage of any of them (takes too much enery to drink when I'm already at the edge). Fantastic race and will definetely recommend this one.
Many many thanks to our personal pacers for the day. I can sincerely say I wouldn't have done it without you guys!Summary 6.22 mi in 49:43 [COLOR="Blue"](woo hoo
)[/COLOR]
Avg Pace: 7:59 min/mi
Fantastic report to match a super dooper race! Well done you! We'll celebrate on Saturday night.0 -
Monday
Lunchtime Pilates. Ouch as usual
Tuesday
6 miles easy. First official Marathon training run. Boy was it humid out there this evening! I was running at an easy pace, but sweating buckets from the 1st mile and the run felt much harder than it should have. I'm chalking that down to the heat, humidity and a bit of leftover fatigue from the race on Saturday.Summary 6.00 mi in 57:23
Avg Pace: 9:33 min/mi0 -
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Wednesday
Diagonals. For 20 minutes. Hell! :eek:
Those last few did not look, I'm sure, and they did't feel to good either, but I was happy that I kept going. No stopping. No walking. Ugly but done.
Some VERY SLOW running to cool down and top me up to 4 miles for the session.
...and another humid muggy day - not that I'm complaining mind! I'll just have to go shopping for some new gear. Almost everything I have is just too heavy for this.Summary 4.05 mi in 40:54
Avg Pace: 10:06 min/mi0 -
Away west for the weekend but still got the running in (sort of :rolleyes:)
Friday
Supposed to do 6, but it was the last day of primary school for the young miss and the tradition is that they all go to Claralara(the funpark, not the boards user:rolleyes:) for the day. I duly took the day off and headed out there with some of the friends in tow. 60 kids and a gang of Mum's... so I went for a run Did 5 on a hilly, winding, rather busier than expected, country road. Had to stand in the ditch when a car went by as there was no hard shoulder, so it was a bit stop-start. Got back to the park as the BBQ was lighting, so had to get to the motherly stuff of cooking sausages and rounding up kids. Summary 5.02 miin 47:22
Avg Pace: 9:26 min/mi
Saturday
Headed west to Doolin for the weekend (after we got back from Claralara - busy day!) and after a 2 hour surf lesson in Lehinch (yea, I was totally brutal, but I loved it) I had some lunch and headed out to get the 4 miles in. Gone from the car 30 seconds when a hail shower pelted holes in my poor bare legs and I dashed back to the car squealing - wussy that I am
That passed in about 5 minutes so I tried again. It was blowing a gale and that place is all hills, so 'steady pace' was not exactly reached. Still, the effort levels felt right. Jumped back into the sea when I was finished, just to top off the day:D "Mad stuff Ted"
Summary 4.08 mi in 37:45
Avg Pace: 9:15 min/m
Sunday
Back home after lunch but totally wiped from the travel & 2 late nights, so was doing everything and anything except going for a run. Procrastination city! I was not really relishing the thought of 10miles... Eventually just decided to go for a couple of laps of the park and see how I felt. Of course, once I had the gear on and was actually outside I changed my mind and headed in a different direction, with options for 4, 5 or 6 mile loops. Kept going for the 'long loop', but swallowed a kamikaze fly at about mi3 and nearly hocked up a lung! :eek: Had to stop for a bit until the breathing went back to normal.
Needed a loo break then, so ran a bit further to the shopping centre. The return leg had a few showers a bit of a headwind, but nothing major. Got back to the home turf after about 7.5 miles and was feeling OK so knew I'd make the 10. To shake things up I decided to push the pace for the last 2 miles (especially as I didn't really get the pace yesterday). Didn't look at the watch at all, but it felt good to pick it up and I felt fine, not lethargic at all. Pace for the first 8 were all between 9:35 and 10:20 (more or less) and the last 2 were 9:05 & 8:32. Really happy with that run, especially given the starting mindset :rolleyes:Summary 10 mi in 1:35:13
Avg Pace: 9:31 min/mi (moving time, so not counting fly stoppage time)
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Wednesday
10x30 sec hills
Disaster! I had the watch set up with the hills program but when I went to put it on I noticed it was at just 18% battery!? What the...
So had to set up a quick interval session on a spare and head out. The quick session was only counting the seconds and the interval number, no pace, no distance, so it was all a bit 'by feel', which turned out to be a bit on the slow side.
So yea, did my 10x30sec hills. Headed to Quarry Road for these, so at least it was a decent hill/ incline, so I know I wasn't wimping out on that score.
Supposed to be at 7:55/mi or faster, but as I couldn't see the pace, I didn't quite manage that. Still it felt fast (and it felt hard) but next time I definitely need to have the target pace so I can make sure I'm pushing hard enough.
1 |9:20 /mi
2 |8:17 /mi
3 |8:00 /mi
4 |8:47 /mi
5 |8:45 /mi
6 |8:13 /mi
7 |8:55 /mi
8 |8:51 /mi
9 |8:14 /mi
10 |8:38 /mi
Doh! All over the place
With the warmup and cooldown included I got to 3.71 - tut! should have checked the mileage before I stopped :rolleyes:Summary 3.71 mi in 37:59
Avg Pace: 10:15 min/mi
(Best Pace: 6:47 min/mi
)
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Thanks Nules.
Thursday
I was supposed to do another 6 easy miles yesterday, but my hip was a bit achy - and I was starving and tired when I got home! - so I switched days and took yesterday as a rest day instead.
Foam rolled the heck out of the hip / butt / hamstrings / etc. and there's no achy-ness today, so PG that's not going to cause me any long term issues over the marathon training program
6 miles later this evening (in that rain! :eek:)0 -
Friday
6 miles easy (?) in the pouring rain - and that's the understatement of the century
That rain was something else this evening.
Definition
Main Entry: rain
Definition: downpour of water or other substance
Synonyms: cat-and-dog weather, cloudburst, condensation, deluge, drencher, drizzle, fall, flood, flurry, hail, heavy dew, liquid sunshine, mist, monsoon, pour, pouring, precip, precipitation, raindrops, rainfall, rainstorm, sheets, shower, showers, sleet, spate, spit, sprinkle, sprinkling, stream, sun shower, torrent, volley, wet stuff, window washer
hmmm... yeah, that's about right
Anyway, after eventually getting myself out there (a battle of will, to be sure) I was ready to head for home again by 2 3 4 miles, but kept going, just to spite the maelstrom that was trying to beat me into submission. Sheesh - this is supposed to be summer?Summary6.00 mi in 55:55
Avg Pace: 9:19 min/m0 -
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Wednesday
Hill repeats - 10 x 30 sec
Got this done between the showers which was nice. One mile warm up and cool down with some loverly hill intervals in between :rolleyes::P
Tough stuff but got it done.
Pace for the 30 sec hills were
7:43 / 8:21 / 7:21 / 7:07 / 7:18 / 7:18 / 7:40 / 7:35 / 9:10 / 7:42
So better than last weeks, but a couple were still off pace. But the 2nd last one was slower because I trying to look at the watch to see how many reps I'd done... Hard work, and I was totally fecked after each one.Summary 4 miles in 44:09
Avg Pace: 11:03 min/mi0 -
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Thursday - Sunday
Took Thursday off and Friday as the hip/glutes were still feeling the effects of the massage. I'm a real bruiser (in that I bruise easily) so everything was really tender and sensitive. Went out on Saturday to see how it felt and it was still sore but I got through 6 miles at a very easy pace without too much hardship.
BUT my leg felt dead for the rest of the day. Not nice
Long run planned for Sunday but I was not feeling very positive about it. The Dead Leg feeling was gone, but I was a bit nervous about going too far, so headed for the park to run on the grass and minimise the impact on my delicate joint/ muscles. 1st mile was okay. Kept it slow. Mile 2 the hip was really sore and I thought I was going to be done by 3, but after a brief loo break I ran back over to the park to just see if I could get a few more in. The hip actually settled a bit and I kept going to 9 before calling it a day. Lots of stretches after and I don't seem to be suffering from the 'dead leg' felling I had yesterday so maybe it's on the mend?
2 VERY SLOW runs but at least its some more miles in the tank.Summary
6.00 mi in 58:54
Avg Pace: 9:49 min/mi
9.10 mi in 1:32:56
Avg Pace: 10:13 min/m0 -
Monday
Lunchtime Pilates. Lots of tummy and oblique work. Tough and sweaty, but good.
Tuesday
4 miles easy around Dalky, down to Bullock Harbour and over to the 40 Foot to watch the lunatics jumping in :rolleyes:, before heading back around to the car. Lovely day for it. It was a bit too humid for running though. No issues with the hip on this one, so I'll stay away from the faster stuff for the week and hopefully it'll stay that way.Summary 4.00 mi in 37:49
Avg Pace: 9:27 min/mi0 -
So since Tuesday... hmmm....
Went for a 6 mile run on Wednesday and was 4.5 miles in when I got a stabbing feeling in my hip that made me stop. Felt nothing like that before! Stretched it out a bit and took off again - albeit a good bit slower, but after another 500 mt I felt it again. Ouch!:eek: Really not happy and I shuffled home after another stretch. Any time I tried to run properly I felt it threatening again so had to ease off. As I said, a shuffle home.
Decided to give the interval session a skip on Thursday and went to the pool instead for some very gentle swimming with the young miss.
Friday rest day.
Saturday had 6 at MP in the plan, but as the Fingal 10K is tomorrow, I reckoned I'd just go easy and make sure the hip didn't act up. So 6.25 very easy miles in the park, on the grass, with (thankfully) no niggles. I did stop after 3 to give it a stretch - just in case, but it was fine. Here's hoping it'll hold up for the race tomorrow. I won't be going for a PB or anything, but it'd be nice to get around at marathon pace at least. Failing that, I'd be happy getting around without any (further) injury. :rolleyes:
Eyes on the prize - DCM is the goal and I don't want to jeopardise that for a tee-shirt! I guess if I do have to take some slower days or rest days, it's probably better to get them now than 5 weeks from the marathon when the big mileage needs to get done.0 -
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OK. Was totally not excited about this race. My hip had been niggling and I was doubtful if I'd even get around... though the easy run on Saturday was positive, I was still feeling a little apprehensive.
But got all ready on Saturday night and set the alarm. Up nice and early, breakfasted, and headed off to the wilds of North County Dublin. Easy peasy driving and parked in the shopping centre with very little fuss. Lots of loos, didn't use the baggage area, but it looked pretty organised, and there was a nice atmosphere about the place.
Did a quick warmup and lined up in the sub 50 pen. A bit cheeky as I wasn't really aiming for sub 50, but I still had to move up through the pen to get past the people in cotton tracksuits and those carrying sports drinks.
On the button at 10am we were off.
First mile was a bit up and down, but felt comfortable. There was a u-turn on the road at about a half mile in that was a bit of a fup-up. A couple of bollards were really not sufficient. I didn't even see them... there were people just generally milling around and heading back down the other side. Very disorganised... tut!
Mile 2 was mostly down hill, and I passed some interesting sights on this one. The guy with the gel belt, 3 gels and a sports drink was a distraction (on a 10k run?), then I went passed the dance army troop in formation - totally in step, in 3 lines, all dressed in black, with a very tasty looking troop leader keeping his eye on everyone. I was tempted to just hang behind them for the rest of the run, but they were a tad slower than my pace so I reluctantly ploughed on.
Mile 3 and 4 were a bit up a bit down. There was a water station, which I didn't make use of, even though the humidity was starting to make itself felt. Other than that they were pretty uneventful.
Mile 5 was a long slow incline. More of a drag than a hill, but the headwind, though blessedly cool, was a bit of a killer. I wasn't pushing too hard, so it didn't affect me that much.
Mile 6 was net downhill, with a killer downhill hairpin turn, followed by a short sharp uphill, before we rounded the hill and cruised down the main street to the finish line.
A tough course, and definitely a challenge as a PB course, but it was well marshalled, well organised and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The fact that the hip didn't complain, and I managed to run faster than the (originally planned) Marathon Pace was just an added bonus:DSummary 6.22 mi in 52:41
Avg Pace: 8:28 min/mi
with warmup and cool down total of 9.75mi for the day.0 -
then I went passed the dance army troop in formation - totally in step, in 3 lines, all dressed in black, with a very tasty looking troop leader keeping his eye on everyone. I was tempted to just hang behind them for the rest of the run, but they were a tad slower than my pace so I reluctantly ploughed on.
Oddly enough you are not the first person to mention the aesthetic quality of this formation group
...is she Nules??
Well done on the race Emer and glad to hear hip help up well0 -
Monday
Didn't do Pilates. Was feeling a bit off so didn't go. Will try to fit it in on Thursday instead.
Tuesday
6 easy miles in the lashings (and lashings) of rain. Lovely
It was just a bit misty when I started and headed over to the bray seafront. By the time I got there the fog had settled in well and the proper rain had started. I mean PROPER rain. Squelshy, squelshy :rolleyes:. My clothes were stuck to me and the peak of my cap had a mini stream rolling off it. Sheesh! Some weather! But it was warm (well, not cold), so I was happy out. It's kinda liberating running in that, and I met a few similarly minded mad runners.Summary 6.00 mi in 57:06
Avg Pace: 9:31 min/mi0 -
Oddly enough you are not the first person to mention the aesthetic quality of this formation group...is she Nules?? guilty as charged.
well done on the 10k Emer. It sure was a tough day there. Was quite windy. I was standing around the two mile mark on the dual carriage way. And a couple of friends who did it found it a tough course.0 -
Wednesday
13 mile LSR
What? on a Wednesday?
Yea... Family stuff at the weekend so I knew I had to get it done early. I went to work early, so I could leave early and get it done before the body realised it was running.
It was a wee bit warm, and to take it easy on the dodgy joints I decided to run in the park on the grass. So 13 miles round, and round, and round, and round. Not the most pleasant of runs, but not as bad as I thought it was going to be. To break up the monotony, I had the kids meet me with a drink after an hour, and again a half hour later. Sure it got them over to the park for a while anyway
It was slow, but it was a Wednesday :rolleyes:
Summary 13.00 mi in 2:09:46
Avg Pace: 9:59 min/mi0 -
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the catch up...
Away for the weekend, but had the gear with me and was definitely going to get in at least 2 runs - or so I thought. But disaster struck, and I picked up some tummy thing on Friday and was in bits on Saturday. Felt a bit better Sunday, but was told I looked too pale and to take it easy - and when Krusty is telling me to take it easy I know I'm looking particularly poorly :rolleyes:
No excuses on Monday though. Felt much more like myself and went for a very easy 4 miles along a canal path. I won't say it felt good... but I was glad I did it.
Today I was dropping the kids to the train for 6 so just headed to the park to let the traffic ease. Did 5 easy miles in the windy and rainy (and hilly) park. Lovely
Disappointed I didn't hit my miles for last week, but at least I got that long run done on Wednesday. Phew! Here's hoping for a better week this week.0 -
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Glad that the hip issue has resolved itself You must be relieved.
Re. mid week LSR. I have to tackle mine this evening too. For some reason, I'm far more nervous about it, than I normally would be on a Saturday :rolleyes:0
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