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Chucky ár Lá... DigDig's gonna get you!
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Just back from a 6 miler with CL and Meno... The pavements smacked of smack down... The plan for all three of us was 2 miles easy followed by 2 miles MP and then 2 easy...
The first two went by with a little ''he said'', ''she said'' between CL and Meno. Then it was time for the MP miles, Meno went off and did 2 x 6.50 approx (even though his MP, he swears, is 7 min/mile) CL did 7.07 (even though she swears her MP is 7.15) and trailing in behind them was a chuckling, if a little sweaty, dig dig at 7.12 pace (even though my MP is closer to 7.35) It was all quite funny...:D
I'd love to be fast enough just to follow these two at close quarters around Berlin. Meno is so worried that he's considering skipping his now customary Dublin Airport carb loading breakfast of a Bacon Double Cheeseburger, Onion Rings, Large Fries and full fat coke with extra lard
:D 0 -
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Rest day today... Went to Ciaran Fitz to get the once over. Then we met up this evening for a pint of diluted blackcurrant
with coach for our final Berlin instructions, pheew,, if it wasn't for him we may have neglected to bring money and passports:D;)
Really looking forward to stretching the legs for a few miles tomorrow.0 -
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Rest day today... Went to Ciaran Fitz to get the once over. Then we met up this evening for a pint of diluted blackcurrant with coach for our final Berlin instructions, pheew,, if it wasn't for him we may have neglected to bring money and passports:D;)
I'm making you a packed lunch and ironing your underpants as we speak
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Hi all, the thank you button won't work for me so thanks all for the good wishes.
I'm trying to get this eejit to stop packing ****e, we are going away for two nights, it's unlikely we'll need a tent, emergency water purification tablets and a compass, the airport staff will think we have a small family in the case! You've caused this Dave 0 -
Hi all, the thank you button won't work for me so thanks all for the good wishes.
I'm trying to get this eejit to stop packing ****e, we are going away for two nights, it's unlikely we'll need a tent, emergency water purification tablets and a compass, the airport staff will think we have a small family in the case! You've caused this Dave
Ha ha, I don't think I'm to blame fully but I probably didn't help. Now get to bed you have an early flight tomorrow and a marathon to run Sunday.0 -
The Berlin Dossier
The latest odyssey began with a relaxed check in at Dublin Airport, T1. I decided to ignore the Lord our saviour’s (aka TRR) advice to eat well and instead adopt the carb loading methodology of another God complex candidate, Meno, and headed off to Burger King. Here I had their version of a bacon and egg McMuffin with tasty little hash browns. CL, ever the perfectionist, just had tea with Soya milk infused with essence of coconut, nettle and mint.
Onto the plane and we had the seats in the final row, Marthastew and Herr Stew were at the very front, was this an omen? Portents of things to follow? The flight was very comfortable and we remarked on how thin a lot of the passengers were, if the plane hadn’t been heading to Berlin you would be forgiven for thinking it was a high altitude experiment for HIV sufferers.
A swift taxi journey to a very busy Expo with the above mentioned Stews, we got our numbers etc. Had a pasta lunch with Martha and got out of there pretty lively. A short enough taxi ride to our apartment and a quick change saw us out on the pavements of Berlin for an easy 2 miles. Luckily this coincided with the In-Line skating race, the first two men went through the 35k mark in about 51 minutes, that pace had CL questioning her goals for next year What became apparent on this run was the warmth of the locals toward their visiting competitors and also the camaraderie amongst fellow runners. The rest of the day was about sleep, eating, sleep, in that order.
Sunday morning and we awoke to a bright, almost clear sky. I had bacon and eggs, CL had, actually, I don’t know, probably chocolate and wine J We walked to the start where we began a gentle warm up alongside the park. Coming from the opposite direction we were passed by Geoffrey Mutai and his Kenyan entourage, they spotted CL and looked genuinely worried. There was great colour about and a crackle of anticipation in the crisp air. We took our place in Corral E and with a few minutes to go to the start we said our ‘’Good lucks’’ and a quick kiss saw CL move a few metres further up. The music and the MC cranked up the excitement and looking around you could see many nationalities raring to go but with a clear sense of respect for what we were about to embark on.
The gun went and immediately hundreds of balloons were released upwards, Racoon Queen had nothing to do with that on this occasion J I started on the left side and although a little fast early on I found my rhythm pretty quickly. I moved through the first 5k in 23:14 and then eased off a little to get toward goal pace. Soon after this I got a shout from Meno who unfortunately had to pull out early (a handy birth control aid). I then ran by two Danish guys in excited conversation, no need for me to speak their native tongue, it was clear as day, alongside them was a Venezuelan girl with the best top tens I’ve seen for a while, compliments of the surgeon, but it gave me a chuckle all the same as I shared a knowing laugh with the Danes.
The 10k split was 23:31 and the 15k was 23:30 so all was good apart from a little tightness in my hamstrings. I went through the 20k split in 23:37 and the HM at 1.39.00 and this is where the hamstrings got worse. I had raced the Rathfarnham 5k the previous Sunday and although very happy with the run and the new pb in 18:47 my hamstrings were very tender the whole week leading up to Berlin. The next few miles were a total blur, 25k split was 23:42 and increasingly I was focussing on my legs, were they going to cramp? How could I have been so stupid to race a 5k a week before my goal race!?? With cramp threatening I was faced with the awful reality of not making a sub 3:30 despite being well ahead on time. I had no choice but to ease back a little, 30k split was 24:15 and 35k was 24:13. I was very aware of the festivities and the fantastic crowds but I was consumed by the psychological and physical battle ensuing. Through these miles I missed the major km markers and began to rely more heavily on my Garmin. Going through 20 miles at a 7.30 average I was going to come in under 3:20 providing there were no late mishaps. With about a half mile to go I was at 7:32 pace, tired from the sheer anxiety of threatening cramp for the second half of the race I was still positive, that’s when I saw the 40k marker (24:43 split). I assumed I had missed it and a quick calculation left me realising that there’d be no sub 3:20. I pushed hard and ran the last 2.195 k in about 10.45 to finish in 3:20:48.
My legs were dead as I limped away to receive my medal, there were four things that were now pressing, to see CL, find out if she’d broken 3.10, get some water and finally, get some Erdinger. All four were quickly obtained, I was absolutely delighted that CL ran a 3:08, and although it did make me feel even more that I’d underachieved, it was an absolutely amazing effort and a credit to her hard work, discipline and emerging talent. We then met up with Meno and had alcohol free beers in the sun whilst I nursed some feeling back into my hamstrings. Later, we headed off to Oscar Wilde and had great craic and lots of beers with the usual crew and also met some new faces, Pre, Pronator and Sideswipe.
So, five days on and a few easy runs later my legs are feeling pretty good. I’ve recovered quicker than my previous marathons which should be a good sign. I am now more impressed with my 3:20 having put things into perspective – It’s a 22 minute pb and qualifies me for Boston so it must be a reasonably decent time. I’ve decided to do the XC Series and have my first practice session with the club in the Phoenix Park tomorrow. I'll take it pretty easy up until DCM where I'm pacing the 4:15 group and then the next phase for myself and CL with the help of the Evil Doctor TRR will be to start again on 5k and 10k work, get those times down further and look at 7:30 - 7.45/mile being the 'easy' pace for our next Marathon training cycle. Regarding that next race Marathon, it remains to be seen, but we do have the qualifying time for Boston :D 0 -
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Thanks. I purchased the DVD.Check out Annabelle at F6255!!
Well done Digs, really great result (your copy of the DVD is in the post). I'd be very wary about doing an XC session tomorrow. As you know yourself, you are more likely to give yourself an injury this week, than any other period of your marathon training.0 -
After some brief research to find out what I might have to do with my teeny tens in order to keep him satisfied, I've discovered that I'm basically screwed!!
Check out Annabelle at F6255!!
Fantastic, great research. Can you please find other examples. It's like watching Baywatch does Berlin. I reckon if she lost those bad boys she could run considerably faster. Productivity for the afternoon has been shot to pieces now 0 -
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Krusty_Clown wrote: »Thanks. I purchased the DVD.
Well done Digs, really great result (your copy of the DVD is in the post). I'd be very wary about doing an XC session tomorrow. As you know yourself, you are more likely to give yourself an injury this week, than any other period of your marathon training.
Thanks, I hope you got the 3Dd version Tomorrow's run is just a recce and will be all at recovery pace. We are under instructions from Our Lord and Master as well as Emily in Sportsworld:D 0 -
After some brief research to find out what I might have to do with my teeny tens in order to keep him satisfied, I've discovered that I'm basically screwed!!
Check out Annabelle at F6255!!Fantastic, great research. Can you please find other examples. It's like watching Baywatch does Berlin. I reckon if she lost those bad boys she could run considerably faster. Productivity for the afternoon has been shot to pieces now
Hands above the desk TRR They were classic, hard as rock too, at least that's how they felt at the 25k mark 
:D;) 0 -
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I can't seem to make Anabelle's pictures any bigger :mad: Can anyone help?
Congrats on Boston I see there is some advantage to being as old as you- you get an extra 15 minutes to qualify
(damn those 42 seconds- again)
Edit: Doh, just found the 'enlarge' button :eek::D0 -
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