Ronnie Runs Riot

theboyblunder

Youre flying ronnie. Great 12 with 7 during the week. Enjoy rome!

ronnie085

Mon 17th sep: 6.2 miles recovery

Tue 18th Sep: 7.3 miles incl 5 x 600, splits 2:04, 2:02, 2:02, 2:00, 2:01.

Wed 19th sep: am 15.65 miles med/long @ 6:55 m/m
Pm: 3.89 miles recovery

Fri 21st Sep: 5 miles recovery.

Mon 1st oct: am 6.2 miles recovery
Pm 3.88 miles recovery

Tue: 9.0 miles easy @ 7:04 m/m

Wed: 10.25 miles incl 6 x 1000, splits 3:30, 3:29, 3:29, 3:29, 3:31, 3:30.

So everything was going well until I went on holidays for a week and a half, turned into a great holiday but a diaster running wise with only 5 miles done. A challenging goal of 2:50 is probably out of reach now, will have to see how the next couple of weeks go. Feeling ok since I came back so will just keep tipping away and see how it goes

KielyUnusual

ronnie085 wrote: »

A challenging goal of 2:50 is probably out of reach now, will have to see how the next couple of weeks go. Feeling ok since I came back so will just keep tipping away and see how it goes

Maybe I'm being a bit naive but I doubt a weeks gap in training will have too much of an effect on you. Just think of it as a dramatic step back week;). If you keep the same kind of quality that you've been doing recently over the next week or two, I reckon you'll be well on track.

ronnie085

KielyUnusual wrote: »

Maybe I'm being a bit naive but I doubt a weeks gap in training will have too much of an effect on you. Just think of it as a dramatic step back week;). If you keep the same kind of quality that you've been doing recently over the next week or two, I reckon you'll be well on track.

Yeah your probably right, at this stage I always start to doubt myself and get ' the fear', plenty more pessimism to come in the next three weeks or so...

Thurs: 15.67 miles med/long @ 6:48 m/m

The week off might have done me some good after all. Legs felt light as a feather today and was constantly pulling back from it being an MP run. Sub 7 pace felt very easy, oh if everyday was like this. Hopefully its a sign of things to come and not just a result of freshness after the rest.

Fri: 10.11 miles easy @ 7:19 m/m

Decided before I went out to lift off the gas a little today after a couple of tougher days. Had no choice for the first mile, while the beathing felt easy the legs were stiff and sore. Not bothered as I was taking it easy anyway and the first mile came in around 7:45. Then started to loosen out and felt easy and ~7:15 pace or so, only checking the pace at the beep every mile. Finished up feeling like a new man. Enjoyable run and a lovely morning for it.

ronnie085

Sat: 7.3 miles easy @ 7:36 m/m

Another easy easy run, getting ready for a big one tomorrow, felt ok.

Sun: 22.2 miles long @ 6:54 m/m

A good day. Started off feeling fresh and feeling comfortable at 7:00 minute miles. Pushed on a little for the last few miles but felt stong.

Mon: am 3.91 miles recovery
pm: 6.18 miles recovery

A little sore today but felt better after the the two runs.

Tue: 8 miles incl 5 x 600m

2 miles warm up feeling ok then down to business. Found it a little hard to get into the rhythm for the first interval but got stronger as the session went on, finishing up very strong.
Splits: 2:04, 2:02, 2:01, 2:01, 2:00

Wed: 11.89 miles easy @ 7:00 m/m

The normal mid week 15/16 mile run turned into a 12 miler. Felt tired in the first half of the run, glad there would be 3 or 4 miles less. Felt better after about 7 miles and with the wind at my back which always helps felt better. Finished up feeling ok.

Thurs: 5.76 miles recovery incl strides x 6

Nice handy run with a few strides at the end to stretch the legs.

Another handy run tomorrow and then going to give the Donadea 10k a blast to see where I am.

ronnie085

Fri: 3.96 miles recovery

Nice and fresh, uneventful 4 mile recovery run. Running with a world champ chicken (feathered kind) for a few hundred meters, didn't realise they could move at faster than 8 min miles, live and learn ...

ronnie085

Donadea 10k

I was suppose to do 2 warm up races leading up to the marathon according to the P&D bible but holidays got in the way of the first planned one so ready to give this one and only race a good blast to get some kind of indication where I was at. I was hoping for in and around the 36 min mark, with 38:37 my offical PB although a couple of short 10ks earlier in the year would have had me finishing around 37 mins if measured proberly.
So a couple of miles warm up with a few strides thrown in, feeling good and down to the start. Great being called an 'elite' for a change, lined up in the second row with the rest of the sub 40 elites in and around me. And off we went. It was a pretty quick start a settled into a good rhythm with a small group fairly quickly, although a few of them where breathing pretty heavy so I had a feeling they wouldn't be around for long. Hit the first mile at 5:36, way to fast but feeling good so just kept going, where we hit the first little hill which left only 3 in our group, just running side by side at this stage. 5:42 for the next mile and still feeling ok. Turning into the forest there was only two of us left, and I was only following at this stage, a little gap appearing at every rise in the road then I making up the gap on the downhill to the other lad. 5:53 for the next mile and then we went through 5k in 17:26, not far off my 5k PB. I started to feel it at this stage but kept the pace up. Every rise in the road seemed to be sucking the power out of my legs. The worries were starting about blowing up but all I could do was grit my teeth and get on with it. 4th mile in 5:48 but things were about to get painful. Dropped off the pace at this stage, running on my own, the little hills burning my legs. I was caught by the lead lady at this stage, stuck with her and another lad for half a k and was dropped by them. Really suffering coming up to the 8k marker, lucky enough there was a crowd of people shouting encouradement at this stage helped. Told myself to relax and regroup on a slight downhill, 5 mile split 6:07, I recovered enough to feel slightly more comfortable. I could see the 9k marker in the distance which perked me up more and pushed again, up the final hill, feeling stronger again, although had to take a detour into the ditch for a second when an ipod wearer couldn't hear me shouting while overtaking her, while she was on the wrong side of the trail :mad:. 6 mile split 6:07. Passed a 400m to go sign, 1 lap of the track, push on, looked at the watch, going to be close for sub 36, turned a corner and could see the clock at 35:30, stared to sprint as much as i could watching the clock, crossed the line and knew it was close. My watch said 35:55 but offical result was 35:59 so I'll go with that for 9th place.
Another couple of miles cool down to finish off the day. Fairly happy how the race went, pacing a bit all over the place but for the first race in three months not a bad result. Sub 36 ticked off, next target sub 35, next year

ronnie085

Sun: 17.03 miles long @ 6:49 m/m

So after the race yesterday and the apple tart, couldn't leave without that, it was home, shower, bite to eat and off to Mayo for some visiting. Changed man, everybody out for a few pints and I stayed on the water, so up bright and early and found a 7.5 mile loop around the bogs of Claremorris that I was told about. Felt a little tired for the first mile or 2 but the pace soon picked up and while I was never fully comfortable was feeling ok. Felt good to get a run in in different surroundings and the miles just flew by. Tagged on an extra couple of miles into the town to make up the 17 for the day. The only worry was a twinge in my back in the area that was injured earlier on in the year, something to keep an eye on.

Mon: 6.2 miles recovery

Back home and a recovery day in every sense of the word. Felling tired and heavy legged, to be expected after a tough weekend. Back still not right. Plenty of stretching of the glutes and lower back and some foam rolling for good measure. Everything was feeling very tight, neglected stretches the last while, always seem to pick up something when I don't keep them up.

Tue: 8.04 miles easy @ 7:20 m/m incl strides x 8

Feeling a lot better today, although still a little tiredness left, the effort levels higher on a few hills than it should have being. Big improvement in the niggly back, more stretching today to free things out.

ronnie085

Wed: 6.1 miles recovery

Wet, wet, wet but refreshing run, feeling good and fresh.

Thurs: 8.25 miles incl 3 x 1 mile

So the last session of the training block and not a killer either. Jogged down the the sloppy wet track, nearly would have being better off with cross country spikes on. 2 easy miles and then into the first repeat. Usual went off a little fast but got into a good rhythm without killing myself. First rep over before I knew it. 400m jog recovery and off again. Paced this alot better and the lap spilts were pretty even, still holding back a little. Then into the last rep. Didn't get over excited and just held the same pace as the last two. Fell asleep a little on the middle two laps so had to make up a couple of seconds on the last lap, which I did without over doing it.
Splits: 5:41, 5:40, 5:41.

The last time I did this session before the Kildare marathon I was averaging 5:50s with a longer recovery so very happy with this one. Just keep my nose clean for the next week and a half and should be in good shape.

ronnie085

Fri: 5.1 miles recovery
Sat: 7.2 miles easy @ 7:11 m/m incl strides x 10
Sun: 13.4 miles easy @ 7:03 m/m
Mon: 6.2 miles recovery
Tue: 6.2 miles easy @ 7:02 m/m

Nothing much to say about these, just ticking over nicely. These runs were a little slow to get going but once I warmed up was flying along. Feeling pretty fresh, just the normal taper head issues, am I doing enough, I should be fresher than this, why is that muscle sore, have I enough done, and so on......

ronnie085

Wed: 6.2 miles incl 2 @ MP

Strange on this, did 2 miles easy @ 7:10 pace, feeling ok then into the MP miles. I felt like I was working harder than I should have being. Averaged 6:23 m/m for the 2 miles. Then slowed down to easy pace, when I checked the pace on the watch it was 6:40 m/m feeling very easy. Slowed down to 7 m/m pace which was extremly easy, dont know what to think of that one.

KielyUnusual

Have a great race tomorrow. You're training has been at a consistently high level and you'll reap the dividends tomorrow.

ronnie085

Fri: 4.65 miles recovery incl strides x 6

Nice and handy one, feeling good.

Sat: Rest

Sun: 2.3 miles recovery

The last loosener, just to keep things ticking over, no complaints.

So thats it, all thats left to do is nail it tomorrow ......

RacoonQueen

Best of luck.

theboyblunder

Good luck tmrw ronnie!

Micilin Muc

Best of luck tomorrow Ronnie!

ronnie085

2:47:59 watch tine :-) :-)

ecoli

ronnie085 wrote: »

2:47:59 watch tine :-) :-)

Super running man well deserved

Ron's OH here.

Have to say I'm super proud of this man. The work he puts in every day has really paid off. You can all see from his training log the work he has put in but his result from today just shocked everyone.

Congratlations to everyone who ran today but mostly congratulations to Ron who has put everything on hold for the last couple of months and produced a result better than anyone of us could have expected.

Here''s to more years of being a marathon widow!!!! :D:D

theboyblunder

Starla_o0 wrote: »

Ron's OH here.

Have to say I'm super proud of this man. The work he puts in every day has really paid off. You can all see from his training log the work he has put in but his result from today just shocked everyone.

Congratlations to everyone who ran today but mostly congratulations to Ron who has put everything on hold for the last couple of months and produced a result better than anyone of us could have expected.

Here''s to more years of being a marathon widow!!!! :D:D

My money is on that being a (deservedly) drunk ronnie with his missus' password

Well done on a super time btw!

Nah it was all me! Sure he was still in the pub at that stage!!

cwgatling

Super running Ronnie! Well-deserved after a solid summer's training.

We must have been running very near each other at some points. Well done again; plenty more to come.

KielyUnusual

Great race Ronnie. That's a superb time and well deserved.

ronnie085

DUBLIN MARATHON 2012


BUILD UP:


So after running 2:56:47 in the Kildare marathon in May I took it easy for a couple of weeks and then followed a loose 5k to 10k plan for the summer, running a few races and finishing up with a big pb in a Kilcock 5K (17:15). So a couple of weeks later feeling in good shape I jumped into the 70-85 mpw P & D plan, aiming for the low 2:50s. Some of the faster work during the summer really helped as the faster sessions felt more comfortable than before and I think I was mentally tougher doing them as well. The only downside to training was two weddings in September, the first one causing me to miss 2 days plus another day or two to recover from it and the second had a week’s holidays tagged on, great time but with no running done. I came back from that going well so maybe no real harm done. Only got one warm up race done in the Donadea 10k but another big pb (35:59) there gave me confidence two weeks before the big one. A fairly uneventful taper, the way I like it, and was all set.

RACE:


Arrived in town around 8:15 of the luas and wandered down to the baggage drop, good buzz around the place. Took my place at the start, just in front of the 3 hour pacers with about 15 minutes to, nerves building. Discarded my €10 pennys fleece and hat over the fence when the wheelchairs started and began to feel very cold, luck enough it was only another minute or two till we were off.

MILES 0-5:


The first few miles were a little bit of a worry. The first half mile was spent doing a little bit of dodging and weaving but soon found a clear run and the first mile done before I knew it, on pace or so at 6:23. With a clear road and starting on pace I thought it things were going pretty well, the only thing was I felt like I was working very hard to maintain this pace. The next couple of miles were on pace but legs didn’t feel good and even my breathing was heavy, looked at the HRM but that was having a hissy fit so no feedback from that. It was crossing my mind now that I could be on a bad day and it could be a long one. Slowing down was crossing my mind but I was getting stubborn, telling myself I’d come right, it’s just the legs being lazy after the taper and hoping the decision to keep at this pace doesn’t come back to bite me


Splits 6:23, 6:25, 6:22, 6:18, and 6:21.


MILES 5-10:


Chesterfield avenue seemed to go on forever with what felt like a stiff enough breeze in our faces, probably just me, then we turned off and hit the 10k point, sub 40 so pace was good. Relaxed on the downhill section through the park and tagged on a few faster miles. This section really helped and the faster turnover seemed to wake up the legs. Started to feel comfortable, even passing a few people. At this stage a big group was forming with everybody looking happy at the pace we were travelling. Settled nicely into the race at this stage, about time.


Splits 6:27, 6:18, 6:11, 6:16, 6:23


Miles 10-15


At this stage I was feeling great, holding myself back a little, running at or near the front of our group most of the time. Before I realised myself and a chap from Raheny got a little gap from the group without even trying so without saying a word we stopped running side by side and started working together taking turns at the front, not pushing overly hard but keeping a nice pace. This really helped keep pace along the Crumlin road and we were catching and passing a few at this stage. Took the front around the fifteenth mile and my Raheny mate seemed to drop away. Looking at my split for that mile I realise now why.


Splits: 6:17, 6:26, 6:24, 6:23, 6:14 (13.1 miles 1:23:3x)


MILES 15-20


When I realise how fast I’d done the last mile I had a decision to make, slow up or push on. Feeling great at this stage and didn’t want to leave anything out there so I went for it, know this could be a big mistake but you have to take a gamble every now and then. I was catching and passing small groups with ease and seeing the miles tick down nicely I was starting to get a little cocky. There was a little nagging feeling at the back of my mind that I might pay for this but I kept on saying that the last 5 or six miles are flat or downhill, keep it going. Hit the drag up Roebuck road staring to tire a little but not bad and over the top I was thinking that’s the worst of it done…


Splits: 6:18, 6:08, 6:04, 6:13, 6:27.


MILES 20-23


Took a little breather over the last hill and eased back a little, for the next mile, readying myself for a final push. Picked up the pace again in the next mile but could feel I was tiring at this stage. Got into a little group going up the UCD flyover and just hung onto the back, taking as much shelter as I could. Then we took the right turn up Nutley lane and there was carnage, few blew up, few pushed ahead and me stuck in the middle, struggling.


Splits: 6:24, 6:13, 6:26


MILES 23- 26.2


And Bang, how quick it happens, legs gone, paying for the over enthusiasm of the middle miles. It was more of a shuffle than a run. Getting passed at this stage, with an odd shout of encouragement which helped. Mile 24 onwards seemed never ending, missed the 25 mile marker and never heard the mile alert on the watch. Didn’t want to look to see how slow I was going. Got it into my mind, make Doyle’s pub at the back of Trinity and I’m home. Could see it in the distance but didn’t seem to be getting closer. Just full concentration on going forward, the crowds giving great encouragement and dug in. Passed the pub, around the corner at Trinity. Pushed harder at this stage, probably no faster but still, seen the clock, 2:47: xx, onto the green carpet and raised a “sprint” to try get under 2:48. Crossed the line, punching the air with a big smile.
Splits: 6:45, 6:44, 6:54 and 6:28 pace for last bit. (2nd 13.1 miles 1:24:3x)


Time: Watch 2:47:59, Gun time 2:48:06 116 place.




http://connect.garmin.com/activity/239039451


Chip didn’t seem to pick me up at the start line so suppose will go with gun time for PB. Delighted with how the race went. Maybe I was a little stupid with them quicker miles in the middle, lost a minute in the last three miles because of it but took a risk and it didn’t end in disaster. The support on the course was unbelievable, don’t know if it was just me but there seemed to be lots more out than when I done this race in 2010. Oh and good to meet Krusty, looking fresh at the finish, don’t think I was making much sense talking to him, slightly delirious at that stage :P.


WHATS NEXT:
I don’t think I mentioned it yet but I got a GFA entry into the London Marathon so A goal for next year picked. Going to take it easy for a few weeks and then going to start to build towards Dugarvin 10 mile or Raheny 5 mile and then probably back with the old reliable P & D 12 week plan for London.

KielyUnusual

ronnie085 wrote: »

Discarded my €10 pennys fleece and hat over the fence

I'd say half the starters were decked out in diposable Penney's garb at the start line. They must have made a killing. I had meant to discard my 75c gloves after a few miles but I'm just too goddamn thrifty. Nice report Ronnie.

nellocono

I'd say half the starters were decked out in diposable Penney's garb at the start line. They must have made a killing. I had meant to discard my 75c gloves after a few miles but I'm just too goddamn thrifty. Nice report Ronnie.

All the refugees in Dublin must have though Christmas had come early. They went around picking up all the discarded clothes at the finish line...:D

macinalli

ronnie085 wrote: »

Maybe I was a little stupid with them quicker miles in the middle, lost a minute in the last three miles because of it but took a risk and it didn’t end in disaster.

From looking at your splits, it looks like you gained about a minute between miles 15-19 so it probably balanced out in the end. And this way you don't have to second guess yourself about taking it too easy in the middle - you know you left it all on the course!

ronnie085

macinalli wrote: »

From looking at your splits, it looks like you gained about a minute between miles 15-19 so it probably balanced out in the end. And this way you don't have to second guess yourself about taking it too easy in the middle - you know you left it all on the course!

Ah yeah I'm very happy how I ran knowing I had no more to give is a good feeling. I suppose every race you do there is going to be decisions you make mid race that you wonder if you did right or not. This time I don't think I went to far wrong.

ronnie085

Sat: 4 miles trot to check the legs. Nothing to worry about, actually felt pretty good. Easy running for the next couple of weeks and then back into the real stuff.

Sun: Rest

ronnie085

Mon: am 3.41 miles easy @ 7:07 m/m
pm 4.89 miles easy @ 6:59 m/m

An early morning eye opener before work to start the day off. Felt very good and it was over before I woke up. Had a long day in work so got out at dinner time and blasted around. Felt good again, going a little to fast but what the hell.

Tue: 8.34 miles easy @ 7:19 m/m

Food off the gas a little more today. Still felt pretty good although the calfs got a little tight towards the end, nothing to worry about, still recovering from last Monday