Pushing my boundaries and making my physio rich...

tHE vAGGABOND

8.5 Miles in just over 1 hour 20

Average Pace 9.31 Min/Miles

Up to phoenix park, down acres road, around s bends, up kyber and home..

tHE vAGGABOND

not quite 5 mile tempo - 45 mins - 4 miles at just faster than 9 min mile pace

tHE vAGGABOND

18.5 Mile LSR around a simply stunning phoenix park, sunny and all the leaves starting to turn!

Time 2.56..First 2/3's odd were done in or around around 9.45 min mile pace, and the last 1/3'rd odd was done in and around 9.15 min mile pace.

Wrecked now - but could have easily gone on and done 20 if I wanted - but did not want to push it and over do it at all.

Missed the boards LSR crew, despite being in the car park at 9am on the button, hung around for 6 or 7 mins and went off and did it on my own, mostly on the trails around the edges of the park

digger2d2

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

18.5 Mile LSR around a simply stunning phoenix park, sunny and all the leaves starting to turn!

Time 2.56..First 2/3's odd were done in or around around 9.45 min mile pace, and the last 1/3'rd odd was done in and around 9.15 min mile pace.

Wrecked now - but could have easily gone on and done 20 if I wanted - but did not want to push it and over do it at all.

Missed the boards LSR crew, despite being in the car park at 9am on the button, hung around for 6 or 7 mins and went off and did it on my own, mostly on the trails around the edges of the park

Good running Vagga....

Mr Slow

Sub 3:45 for DCM?

tHE vAGGABOND

Mr Slow wrote: »

Sub 3:45 for DCM?

Unlikely, but a good problem to have :cool:

tHE vAGGABOND

I think I am coming down with the start of man flu, which is a pain in the arse for it to happen this week, as I have a busy running week and a busy social week [I hit the big Three Five this week, but dont tell anyone :eek:].

So to be a touch conservative I did the recovery run in the gym, where I could also spend small bit of time in pool and steam room.

3 miles in 35 mins [on treadmill]

rainbow kirby

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

[I hit the big Three Five this week, but dont tell anyone :eek:].

Old grey Vagga, he ain't what he used to be :pac:

Woddle

Happy birthday, I think that means you're a veteran or maybe they've changed it back to 40

tHE vAGGABOND

My birthday today, so Im in a great mood. Alas still need to do the miles, so got them out of the way nice and early!

5 miles on the nose, in fraction over 43 minutes - so 8.40 pace

Stealing the advice given to ClaraLara in her log over the weekend, Im going to run these shorter mid-week runs a fracton quicker than I used to. So while Im not sprinting or anything here, Im going a decent clip for a midweek run, a bit faster than my planned marathon pace [....pace for the start of the race anyway ]

Im in a new Boston Qualifying bracket now, equally impossible, but those 5 extra minutes may matter one day :pac:

Mr Slow

Happy Birthday Mister!

tHE vAGGABOND

Really could not be bothered going out for a run last night for no real reason at all tbh - by the time I had pretty much guilt tripped myself into it, it was dark, so I went to bed and did the session I was going to do last night - this morning.

Just over 7 miles in 1.02 - so average pace of 8.42 min/miles - my standard route down the canal etc etc

Feeling amazing to be honest, at times I was feeling like i was slowing down and was still going 8.5* min miles. :eek:

A couple of busy social days and nights now, so next running will be a short slow run on Saturday morning, and then Athlone 3/4 on Sunday.

RubyK

You seem to be right back on track after your knee problem. Nice going on the mornings run, and best of luck for Sundays 3/4.

tHE vAGGABOND

Mr Slow's log reminded me that one of my pairs of shoes is shot [the original Glycerin 8's], somewhere around 400 odd miles in them I would guess and I'm starting to get aches and pains in them [and not the others, as I rotate 3 pairs now] sooooooooooo I need to replace them.

At the same time I had it in my mind to get a new pair of something for the marathon itself anyway and have time to put a couple of miles in them before the big day. I guess its maybe a fraction early, but taking zero chances month away from Dublin [after injury wobble due to worn shoes before conn] - but I will just make them my gym runners, so not going in the bin or anything for the time being.

So I have just ordered my 3rd and last ever pair of Brooks Glycerin 8's [as they have 9's out now a short while and hard to find 8's on sale - dont you hate how they do that!.

€95, as they runners themselves were deadly value, but I got molested on the shipping costs. But beggers cant be choosers and I wanted the 8's for the marathon and nothing else [after a moment of madness on Mr Slows log].

Mr Slow

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

[after a moment of madness on Mr Slows log].

Madness? In my log? Lies I tell you!

tHE vAGGABOND

easy 6 miles around town in just under an hour

average_runner

You missed the rain so, i got soaked and i mean soaked.

tHE vAGGABOND

I was blessed, I got it with some drizzle while running - but I really got out and got it done in the only window in the day where it was not lashing it down

DigiJem

Good running today, on a tough course. I was glad of the company and the chat on the way around.

tHE vAGGABOND

DigiJem wrote: »

Good running today, on a tough course. I was glad of the company and the chat on the way around.

Thanks a million, for letting me tag along with you.

Good hard work. Maybe we can do it again in the race itself

PS: Firefox just crashed with a huge race report written and Im not sure Im arsed to do another one for a short while.

Athlone 3/4 - this is my splits

283 524 O'Reilly Joe MS 0:56:40 0:56:27 1:02:24 2:55:59 2:55:31

Mr Slow

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

Thanks a million, for letting me tag along with you.

Good hard work. Maybe we can do it again in the race itself

PS: Firefox just crashed with a huge race report written and Im not sure Im arsed to do another one for a short while.

Athlone 3/4 - this is my splits

283 524 O'Reilly Joe MS 0:56:40 0:56:27 1:02:24 2:55:59 2:55:31

Great race report Vagga, felt like I was there with you :rolleyes:

tHE vAGGABOND

I had written the worlds greatest ever [and far to detailed] race report on poxy firefox and the damn thing crashed and lost it. So Firefox can burn in hell, and Im on Chrome now and I will do a shortened report.

Athlone 3/4
Preface:
Aimann picked me up this morning at the crack of down to Athlone for the 3/4 Marathon. I had entered with early bird price ages ago, so it was great value and I heard great things about the race last year. We picked up ultraman and another who does not hang around these parts.

We got down there and picked up our stuff, no drama at all. It was all very smooth and well run.

The Race:
My plan was to venture around with the 4 hour pacers, take it a bit easy and have a chat with a few folks. :cool:

Outside the hotel where things were being run I met DigiJem, and she said that she was doing 15 miles PMP [8.4* min mile pace]. My first thought [to myself] was "feck that" but pretty quickly I started to wonder if I should head around with her for a few miles keep her company and see how I do, and give myself a good test and see if I could really do it. So I hung around the poor girl like a bad smell for the next 3+ hours

We start off and get into our running pretty quickly. The first 4 or 5 miles are uneventful, tiny undulating hills giving us a warning of what awaits us later in the course! We are still on schedule at this point, the miles ticking off no bother. Indeed we passed the 3.30 pace group at an early part of this section, which was a bit of a worry.

The drink stations were every 4 miles and deserve a quick mention. Not only did they have bottled water [yay], but also bananas, cake and jelly sweets. As good a selection of stuff as I have ever seen in any race.

At mile 5 we started to climb, and while it was not a huge climb, it was more of a series of small climbs on top of each other. So climb for a bit, a short descent, climb again and rinse and repeat. It was tough on the legs, but our pace never wavered.

We had been chatting big time up to this point, but at some point of these hills it all but vanished. I was focused on keeping going, getting one foot in front of the other over and over again :P

At mile 8 I took my only gel of the day, along with water and a banana!

We kept going, it was tough work but I could hold on no bother. My body was fine bar by legs which were just wondering what the hell I was doing to them! They will get revenge in the morning I would think! :eek: Its times like this I regret living in an apartment, and wish I had a decent sized bathtub, to have a cold/ice bath!

Around mile 11/12 I was starting to suffer a bit, and things were starting to get sore/painful. I was starting to get on the verge of being in serious pain, we get to food station, we drink water, eat a banana and take some fizzy cola bottles and I was brand new pretty instantly. It was amazing how quickly it turned around, I was fresh as a daisy in only a few steps. Amazing how it works! Again, we keep on pace during all this time, which is amazing looking back, as I felt like I was suffering.

The last 3 PMP miles were up a long drag, not a huge hill at all, but those long slow straight hills are annoying when your suffering a tiny bit. We kept at it, our pace did not drop [which was brilliant in itself].

We got our 15 miles PMP done, which was brilliant - well DigiJem done them, I just stalked her for the length of the course :pac:

Could I keep doing that pace for 11 more miles I have no idea? I will be fresh as a daisy in Dublin, I will consume more gel/food/water, the course has less hills. I really dont know as I have not run the full marathon before! Even more food for thought for the next few weeks :eek:

The last few miles of the course, we slowed down and were passed by a load of people, but you dont know what kind of race folks are doing in training like that, as some people clearly were doing their PMP miles at the very end [as I did in my run last week].

The race ends with a nasty and long hill, and I was glad I did not have to do the 8.4* min miles up there, we slipped to just over 10 min miles going up there, but our race was run by then.

I finished in 2.55 for 19.6 miles [or whatever the distance is] and I made it 20 by a very slow run indeed [almost a fast walk] a bit at the start and at the end - so overall it was 20 miles on the nose in a few seconds over 3 hours.

I'm very happy indeed as that is the furthest I have ever run, and while my legs are sore, they are not too bad at all to be honest.

Other
Wore a HR Monitor strap for the first time in ages:

Avg HR: 139 bpm
Max HR: 171 bpm

Elevation Gain: 664 ft
Elevation Loss: 664 ft

digger2d2

Good man Vagmeister... I'm glad to see you dispensed with the idea of jumping into racing flats for the DCM..... :eek:

tHE vAGGABOND

digger2d2 wrote: »

I'm glad to see you dispensed with the idea of jumping into racing flats for the DCM..... :eek:

a 5 minute moment of insanity - too much time on my hands at work as this is my last week and I therefore have zero to do :rolleyes:

digger2d2

digger2d2 wrote: »

Good man Vagmeister... I'm glad to see you dispensed with the idea of jumping into racing flats for the DCM..... :eek:

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

a 5 minute moment of insanity - too much time on my hands at work as this is my last week and I therefore have zero to do :rolleyes:

I was getting worried, you were starting to sound like a mixture of our great leader, our threshold expert and our giver of happy endings...:D

Menoslowqueen

Mr Slow

digger2d2 wrote: »

I was getting worried, you were starting to sound like a mixture of our great leader, our threshold expert and our giver of happy endings...:D

Menoslowqueen

It just goes to show, keep plugging away and after 1,309 attempts, you'll say something funny

Well done Vagga, no longer a 20 mile virgin, all downhill from here!

Aimman

Well done today, you seemed to be in good condition at the end of the race, You're on good course for Dublin.

tHE vAGGABOND

digger2d2 wrote: »

I was getting worried, you were starting to sound like a mixture of our great leader, our threshold expert and our giver of happy endings...:D

Menoslowqueen

I suspect a username change could be on the cards :eek:

tHE vAGGABOND

DigiJem and Myself somewhere between mile 18 and 19, smiling and laughing going up the hill - we love this sh1t :cool:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/320518_10150402238552664_646657663_10244241_409754069_n.jpg

or [ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150402238552664&set=at.8111322663.24551.646657663.646657663&type=1&theater ]

Well worth €1.50 cost of the digital photo for the positive motivation

brownian

good going, Vagga. That should give you some confidence for Dublin. I think the very steady pace (keeping each other sensible, maybe?) really stood to you.