Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
2012 4 Races for 4 PBs
Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
Nice session and long run.outforarun wrote: »But once I come off the North Road and start down Ordnance it all changes. The effort doesn't seem so difficult any more and the pace starts to increase.
This seems to be a pretty familiar feeling for a lot of people around here. I don't know if you saw the thread discussing the North Road a couple of weeks back, but it seems it's some sort of jinx on people's speed, form etc.. Nobody seems to enjoy it, so you're just joining the club
0 -
Nice session and long run.
This seems to be a pretty familiar feeling for a lot of people around here. I don't know if you saw the thread discussing the North Road a couple of weeks back, but it seems it's some sort of jinx on people's speed, form etc.. Nobody seems to enjoy it, so you're just joining the club
saw that thread alright - at least the wind wasn't blowing on that session.0 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
:):) New Half Marathon PB 1:28:52 :):)
Pre Race
I’d underplayed and sandbagged this one so much that come Saturday morning I felt really lethargic about running it. I couldn’t get psyched up at all, just felt duty-bound to turn up and get it done (the race, not necessarily the sub 1:30).
Met up with overpronator and his OH beforehand. I was under no doubt that overpronator would go sub 90, this based on his impressive marathon time earlier in the year and the fact that his pace over 10Ks of late is the same as mine and so McMillan also has him well under 90. Found wowzer behind the 1:30 pacers and wished him the best of luck. Again I was certain he’d go sub 90 as well, based on his impressive recent 5K and more importantly, based on the fact he’d already gone sub 90 this year. Between wowzer, overpronator and the pacers, I wasn’t short of things to chase around the course.
About 30 seconds before the off I started to feel a little excited about the race, finally. Plan was simple, keep the pacers in sight, cross my fingers ahead of the Upper Glen Road, and see what I had left in the tank come Furze Road. On the Garmin I hoped to hold 4:14/4:15 pace [6:49/6:50]. A bad day at the office and I could still target a PB, old PB is 1:37 from 2 years ago.
And we’re off!
To Castleknock
The priority for the first mile was all about staying on my feet. The pacers set off fairly fast and were nearly 100ms ahead by the time we first left Chesterfield. Very very congested but to be fair everyone seemed to be travelling around sub 90 pace. Kept my eyes on the feet in front of me. The Garmin had settled on 4:11 [6:44] so I wasn’t concerned about speeding up. Felt the ground a little slippy underfoot. When we turn up Wellington the congestion ends and I could find space to run freely in. Check in with overpronator as we turn onto Chesterfield. We’re both feeling grand, both of us resisting the urge to run faster. My breathing is fine, but not particularly conversational. I remind myself that last year at this point I was already feeling shaky on my way to my first and only DNF.
Along the North Road overpronator and I swap positions a few times. The pacers are still around 100ms up ahead, but the slowest reading I get from the Garmin is 4:13 [6:47] so no pressure to catch them. Overpronator moves ahead of me as we turn up Chesterfield and would stay ahead of me for the rest of the race. Bit crowded again along the path here, but it ensures I keep the pace in check.
To Half Way
Turn down Chesterfield and notice that overpronator has opened up maybe a 30 metre gap or so. He’s speeding up, the Garmin is telling me that I’m holding steady. Overall I feel ok. We turn into Farmleigh. I run behind some Drogheda & District runners for a while (my favourite club singlet). I feel the effort now, but it’s comfortably hard, no alarm bells. In my head I’m thinking how different the challenge of a HM is to that of a 10K. The emphasis (at least for me) is no longer on lung busting discomfort, instead the race is about leg-strength and about mentally having the confidence that I can maintain this pace for 13.1 miles. I suffer from confidence over longer distances so I’m finding the challenge is more mental than physical. Part of me is deciding that if this race ends in a blow-up, then I’ll knock HM distance on the head.
Out the gates and onto Tower Road. I don’t see overpronator anymore. I let gravity bank some more time for me here. I’d switched the Garmin to metric before starting the race, but I’d forgotten to switch auto-lap to 1K. So I was running with metric pace and lapping every mile. Mile 7 with the Tower descent was my fastest mile of the day at 4:04 [6:33] pace.
The discomfort levels are holding steady. Good. Through the halfway chute and onto Ordnance.
To Park Gate
I actually dare to think that I’m feeling stronger here. I’m definitely overtaking people and I don’t remember being overtaken. In fact I was steadily overtaking people during the whole race. My breathing sounds a lot more controlled that some other runners around me. It’s only hearing other runners breathing heavy that makes me consider my own lungs. It’s in the calves and thighs that I feel the effort. I’m feeling good as we turn back onto Chesterfield and the prospect of a descent as far as Park Gate makes me feel even better. There’s overpronator again, he’s about 20 metres ahead and the pacers are maybe only 20 metres ahead of him.
We pass the embassy where I DNF’d last year. Still the slowest pace I’ve seen on the Garmin is 4:13 [6:47]. Mostly it switches between 4:11 [6:44] and 4:12 [6:46]. The pacers have clearly gone out a little faster than sub 90 pace, I’m guessing to bank something ahead of the hill near the end.
‘The hill near the end’, this is starting to become my main concern, if I can keep this pace going until the start of the hill, then the sub 90 looks on. I catch the back pacer once we re-join Chesterfield after the Papal Cross. I’d seen overpronator right behind the back-pacer only a couple of minutes earlier but I can’t see him now.
It’s crowded here along the path but it’s definitely easier running in a group. I’m constantly waiting for my discomfort level to increase, but it doesn’t.
To the Hill and Furze
I’m right behind the back pacer as we leave the Park. For a while the Garmin is showing 4:10 [6:42]. If it wasn’t for the upcoming hill I’d be feeling very confident of sub 90. The pacer tells people to ignore and forget about the 10 mile marker (i.e. don’t relax now) and we continue along the main road. I’m still overtaking and now, naturally not consciously, I ease past the back pacer and work my way up to the front pacer. Other runners are clearly struggling more than I am. Average pace holding steady at 4:11 [6:44]. Doesn’t feel as tough as the last 5K of a 10K race. I think I can see overpronator around 100ms up the road. I don’t entertain any thoughts of trying to catch him, he’s flying.
I re-enter the Park right behind the front-pacer. Moment of truth is here. Onto the hill. And it’s fine. Yes the legs are working harder, but the lungs aren’t protesting. It doesn’t feel like I’m slowing down. I move ahead of the first pacer, again not consciously, just naturally. Inspired by the fact that I’m overtaking more runners I decide to push a bit. It feels tougher but manageable. The hill is crested. I think maybe I’m reaping the rewards of recent Italian hill running today. For once the stretch from the top of the hill to the start of the Furze Road is not agony.
I enter Furze Road and I hike up the pace again, just a little. I continue to pass people who are hanging on. I’m working for sure but I feel in control. I check my watch, I hardly ever do that at race-end as usually I’m flat-out and I don’t want to see how fast I’m going. I know that sub 90 is in the bag. I realise that sub 89 could be on. Steady acceleration down the road. There’s the finish chute 1:28:5X on the clock. I up the pace to near sprint for the last 100 or so metres and hit stop on the Garmin for 1:28:52. That should give me enough buffer to ensure chip time is under 89 (it does, chip time matched Garmin time at 1:28:52). Thrilled.
Post-Race
Greeted by overpronator who had completed an excellent HM and nearly nearly grabbed a 1:27. He too was buzzed, saying he felt great during the race. We meet statss who also ran a fabulous race logging a low 1:28. I didn’t see wowzer afterwards but heard that he’d also gone well under 1:29. Great day’s running all round.
Saturday’s race was more about caution and honest work than guts and heroics. Maybe I could have improved on this time if I had known how strong I’d feel near the end. But then again maybe I wouldn’t have felt so strong at the end if I’d pushed on earlier. I would have signed for 1:29:59 beforehand, so I’m delighted with the time, the sub 1:29 was the cherry on top.
Between Cork in June and now this, I’ve regained some love for the longer distances, and confidence in my ability to tackle them. I would love to finish a marathon, feeling like I did over the last mile on Saturday. That’s the goal for next year. Checking mile splits afterwards I was also happy to see that all miles were sub 7:00 minute.
A big thank you as well to the 1:30 pacers, especially for the support they were giving from Park Gate to Chapelizod Gate.
The Numbers
Warm-up 1.88M @ 9:01
Mile Splits
M01 6:41 [avg 6:41]
M02 6:51 [avg 6:46]
M03 6:43 [avg 6:45]
M04 6:51 [avg 6:47]
M05 6:46 [avg 6:46]
M06 6:48 [avg 6:47]
M07 6:33 [avg 6:45]
M08 6:37 [avg 6:44]
M09 6:40 [avg 6:43]
M10 6:40 [avg 6:43]
M11 6:39 [avg 6:42]
M12 6:58 [avg 6:44]
M13 6:53 [avg 6:45]
Total 13.20M @ 6:44
Pos 382 of 6129 finishers [or 7th in a race of 100]
Cool-down 2.26M @ 9:07
http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/5949801140 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
Advertisement