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2012 4 Races for 4 PBs
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Not sure what you're expecting on Saturday, but I think you might surprise yourself. A couple of easy days after all that hill work and the legs will be raring to go I reckon
Thanks for the vote of confidence.
Part of me has thought the same, that maybe it will all come together on the day and I'll surprise myself, like on the second 10K TT this year when I ran a 39:13, out of nowhere.
Then another part of me says I'll have one of those days where I'm struggling after a couple of miles and it all unravels in a hurry.
Got to try shut out that second voice.0 -
outforarun wrote: »Thanks for the vote of confidence.
Part of me has thought the same, that maybe it will all come together on the day and I'll surprise myself, like on the second 10K TT this year when I ran a 39:13, out of nowhere.
Got to try shut out that second voice.
What second voice?
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The Lakes 10K 2014
:):) New 10K PB 39:01 :):)
I love this race.
Pre Race
Made the relaxed solitary journey down to Blessington this morning. Luas to Tallaght and Number 65 to Blessington. Arrive at 9:00 and go to the same café as last year for a fruit scone and a cup of tea. Read the paper, no rush, loads of time. I’m already enjoying the morning out. The sun is shining as I walk down to the bridge. Last year it was wet and grey and I barely looked twice at the lakes, this morning instead I could properly appreciate the view down onto the lakes, really beautiful spot.
Collect my number, get into gear, drop my bag, visit the portaloo and set out on my warm-up, heading back along the course to a bit beyond the 9K marker. I’m happy to note that my legs feel much fresher than I expected them to feel. I think just being up and about since before 7:00 has helped wake them up. The conditions seem good, at least at warm-up pace. The sunshine makes me feel more energetic and there’s a slight breeze to keep things cool.
I bump into overpronator on my way back to the bridge, we run together for a while. His plan is to just go with what the body feels like it can manage and see how that brings him home. Wise. Next we’re joined by TJ. He’s shooting for sub 39 but is a bit concerned about a tweak to the groin he picked up on a midweek hill run. He’ll be aiming for 3:52s [6:13s]. I’m targetting 3:53s [6:15s].
We make our way to the starting area. The drummers provide the soundtrack as we follow the sub 40 placard onto the bridge. We wish each other good luck and after an enthusiastic countdown – we’re off.
01K-05K (19:34 on Garmin)
TJ is gone like a hare and is already 20 metres ahead as we leave the bridge! I double check the Garmin a few times over the first 500 metres and it tells me I’m travelling too fast. I ease up slowly and watch the pace move from high 3:3X, to low 3:4X. Up ahead TJ has opened up around a 70 metre lead. He’s flying, I wonder is he banking time ahead of the hill on K7. I finish K1 in 3:44 [6:01]. Too fast. I continue to ease up gently.
I’m feeling ok, maybe not as zippy and light as I’d like but still light-years better than I felt last Tuesday. The shins are not complaining at all. Lungs are working already but they’re under control and not a source of concern. K2 beeps, I’m not watching individual splits so I wait a little before checking average pace, it reads 3:51 [6:12], still too fast. I continue to ease up. I’m not feeling too bad but I know there’s a long way to go. TJ is still around 70 metres up the road, but the gap is holding steady now so he must have applied the brakes as well.
K3 beeps and the average pace is finally showing at 3:53 [6:15]. I’m happy to finally be travelling on target pace but no more brakes now, now I have to maintain it. I’m not feeling as good as I’d hoped at this point, no crisis by any means but I’m just concerned about how I’ll feel later in the race. I’m realising that improving your 10K time is a lot about finding that level of discomfort that you think you can bear for the full 10K, there’s not a lot of scope for cruising along enjoying the scenery. 10Ks are hard work from start to finish, or at least from 2K to finish.
4K beeps. I check average pace, it’s 3:55 [6:18]. That’s no good!! I wish the Garmin would show one decimal place or at least round up. When showing average pace at 3:53 I was actually travelling at 3:53.8, so really much closer to 3:54 [6:17]. Ease off a little and suddenly it can be showing average at 3:55 (I was actually at 3:55.0). So on the road it looks like I’m suddenly travelling 2 seconds slower, when really it’s just a little over 1 second slower. Very unsettling for this Garmin obsessive :rolleyes:
For a while I think TJ is coming back to me, then I realise it’s a yellow and green Brother’s Pearse singlet not a yellow and green Annalee AC singlet. I pass the Brother’s Pearse runner. TJ is still up ahead, maybe only 50 metres now. He’s running behind three other runners, I’m happy enough once they’re still in sight. I try pushing and manage to get 3:54 [6:17] showing again, but I cannot yet get back to 3:53 [6:15].
Go through 5K in 19:35. Didn’t check it at the time I was only focusing on average pace and knew I had to push. One thing I was noticing is that the Garmin was splitting pretty much spot on with the kilometre markers, so I was taking a good racing line, maybe 3:54s [6:17s] would suffice?
06K-10K (19:23 on Garmin)
I see TJ turning around the hairpin shortly after 5K. Some good local support around here. When I turn the corner I see TJ stopped by the roadside. I give some words of encouragement, assuming he was struggling and not realising he had a groin injury. He starts running alongside me and when we reach the water station further up the road he stops up again saying he was alright and telling me to push on.
Go through 6K and start to brace myself for the hill ahead. There’s a bit of a dip down toward the hill and I try to build up a little momentum on this. I glance at the Garmin, back at 3:53 [6:15]. Back on track. And then the ascent starts.
I try visualize the endless forest hairpins in Italy and remind myself how much steeper they were. Course I wasn’t running them at 10K pace. It feels tough. Head down as the effort level increases. I’m breathing hard but slowly gaining on the next runner ahead of me. And then suddenly the hill is over! Already? I remember it being so much longer. So maybe the recent hill-runs weren’t in vain. I overtake the next runner shortly after cresting the hill and begin the downhill stretch.
I don’t want to check the Garmin immediately, I want to try erase whatever damage the hill did to my average pace first. I try push on the downhill. I have this image of a recovering TJ having me in his sights behind and this spurs me on. I am tiring now though and I have to fight the temptation to relax thinking that with the hill behind me there’s no more work to do. I need to keep pushing.
After 8K I glance again at the Garmin, average is showing 3:54 [6:17]. It’s going to be very tight. The Garmin is beeping only a few metres before each marker so I know I’m still on a decent racing line. I’m really feeling it now. Willing the 9K marker to arrive. I’m running along the stretch I ran on my warm-up. Finally I’m on the last K. But I decide to hold back on any push until the 500m marker. I’ve caught up with one of the runners (blue t-shirt) who I think was running with TJ earlier. Seeing me draw level with him he finds an extra gear and eases ahead. I decide it’s too soon to try challenge him and stick with my plan to wait for the 500m marker. I wonder if this cost me gold?
Closing stages I push a little harder, maybe not as hard as I could (though it’s easy to say this hours later from the comfort of your laptop). Then there’s the finishing line. Lungs and legs are wrecked but I find a little extra speed and push for a fast finish. I’d more or less given up hope on the sub 39. I’m squinting and see 3?:5?. I assume it’s 39:5? and think, surely I’m not that close to 40:00! Then I realise it’s showing 38:52.
But it's just that bit too far away. I push. Eyes on the race-clock. Garmin beeps for 10K, a few metres later I’m over the line, I could see 39:01 on the clock overhead.
Post Race
I’d pressed lap on the Garmin instead of stop. And then fumbled some more with the Garmin so I couldn’t get any indication if my chip time might have got me under 39:00. I’d have to wait till I got home to find out.
Moments later overpronator is by my side, having logged a 39:16 PB. He’s obviously left nothing on the road as he stops to dry retch. Great running. TJ comes in just a little while later. Despite knowing he wasn’t going to hit his targets on the day he rallied well, said he saw a runner starting to struggle a bit and decided he’d try catch her and give her something to chase. Happy with his performance aside from the groin injury and finishing with a healthy time despite the two injury stops.
Once I got home (thanks for the drive and the chat TJ) I checked online to find a chip time of 39:01. Ah well, always knew it’d be tight. Still though I’m happy with the performance, a 40 second PB. Over a minute and a half quicker this year than last year. From around 1K onwards I don't remember being overtaken by anyone. I think I need to work on my finishing some more, I have a nagging feeling that I didn’t give it 100% over the last K or 800ms. I was too cautious and waited too long before putting the foot down. I should have been dry retching like overpronator.
I think the mountain runs helped make the hill feel easier (or at least shorter), but I still think I could have benefited from one other speed session last weekend. I’m going to sign up for the Cork Rebel Run next month. Last year I ran 40:37 in Blessington and then 40:16 in Cork. If I can achieve the same percentage improvement I’ll get my 38:XX in Cork. I must try pick a 10K program to follow as well, I’ll have a look at the JD one, but I might also try find one of P&Ds. I’d like to see what I could manage if I followed a 10K specific program from start to finish. But that’s for next year.
KM01 3:44 [6:01] avg 3:44.1 [6:00.7]
KM02 3:58 [6:23] avg 3:51.0 [6:11.8]
KM03 3:59 [6:24] avg 3:53.6 [6:15.9]
KM04 3:59 [6:25] avg 3:55.0 [6:18.1]
KM05 3:55 [6:18] avg 3:54.9 [6:18.1]
KM06 3:47 [6:06] avg 3:53.7 [6:16.1]
KM07 4:12 [6:12] avg 3:56.2 [6:20.2]
KM08 3:50 [6:10] avg 3:55.4 [6:18.9]
KM09 3:44 [6:01] avg 3:54.2 [6:16.9]
KM10 3:51 [6:11] avg 3:53.8 [6:16.3]
Total 10.01K in 39:00 on Garmin.
Chip time 39:01
Position 33 of 473 finishers (or 7th in a race of 100)
Garmin link here, with messed up button presses at end.
And just to add .....
...... why I love this race and am already looking forward to next year’s edition:- beautiful setting
- quick efficient registration
- friendly volunteers
- friendly local community feel
- compact race HQ,
- drummers
- no congestion
- water in bottles
- good quality t-shirt (last year's is still one of my favourites to wear)
- accurately measured course
- accurately placed kilometre markers
- local support along the route
- accurate timing
- and within 200ms of finishing I had received: a tasty muffin, a banana, a bag of popcorn, a packet of Nature Valley bites, a regular Nature Valley bar, a Capri-sun orange juice, a kit-kat chunky, a min-packet of Haribo jellies, a mini-packet of Cheerios, a bag of choc-chip cookie mix, a toothbrush, toothpaste and a shower gel. Plus there were hot drinks back at race HQ.
Thanks again Lakeshore Strides, exemplary.0 -
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