Ronnie Runs Riot

pconn062

Good luck ronnie!

KielyUnusual

Best of luck Ronnie. You've definitely come on in leaps and bounds since London. You're going to run a well fast time come Monday.

ronnie085

Being staying away from here for the week, staving off taper madness by not thinking about the race to much, worked up to a point as I'm feeling pretty relaxed at the moment ( well until I seen runningkings post ). The weeks running went fairly well, just easy miles most of the time feeling pretty good, although the doubts started to creep in a little with an easy 5 miler which felt pretty tough on thursday. Wednesday was the last session, 4 x 1200 @ tempo, done pretty relaxed, the last one too relaxed chatting for the three laps, ending up 6 seconds slow and then feeling guilty after seeing what Krusty did for the same session. Splits 4:18, 4:18, 4:18, 4:24. Missed Friday and took Saturday off and pretty easy 3 this morning, slight stiffness in the legs but otherwise no real worries.

Sun. 8.01 miles easy @ 6:44 m/m
Mon: 7.6 miles easy @ 7:00 m/m
Tue: 9.16 miles easy @ 6:52 m/m
Wed: 7.68 miles incl 4 x 1200 @ T
Thurs: 5.12 miles easy @ 7:03 m/m
Fri: off
Sat: off
Sun: 3 miles easy @ 7:07 m/m

cianc

All the best tomorrow Ronnie. That's a very solid looking session. Don't worry about KC, he makes everyone feel guilty sooner or later, it's motivational:)

ecoli

Best of luck tomorrow your in serious shape play it smart and all your hard work will pay off

TRR

Good luck tomorrow. I'm sure we will end up running some miles together one way or the other.

wideball

Best of luck tomorrow

ronnie085

2:51, one of them days, beer to forget now

ecoli

ronnie085 wrote: »

2:51, one of them days, beer to forget now

Sorry to hear seemed to be one of them days for a few people. Not to worry still a great effort and just gives you an excuse to start looking at trips abroad for the spring

Plenty of time to worry about it later though in mean time enjoy yourself

ronnie085

Never again

cianc

What was the goal?
Nice meeting you (very briefly) in McG's today, wish I had more time to hang around and swap sob stories

ronnie085

Its being a while since I've being here, had an 'interesting' few weeks. Anyway starting at the Dublin Marathon, selective amnesia is kicking in and I think I'll leave it at that and not do a report. Suffice to say from about 5 miles or so it was a battle just to finish. Somehow I was still on target going through 10 miles but after that it just fell apart, still not really sure what went wrong, maybe a bit of a bug. Looking back I never felt good after the Athlone 3/4 marathon, even feeling tired in the warm up for the Donadea 10K so maybe I hit Athlone too hard. Anyway onwards and well not really upwards. Planned a week off then back out the next Monday for a nice jog. Work trip to Germany then a trip down to Ennis saw no more running for the week. The next week easying back in nicely until the Friday, got some nrws in work that came as a shock and couldn't get my head around running for a few days. So last Thursday I gave myself a kick up the behind and got on with things.

Thurs: 6.2 miles easy @ 6:51 m/m
Fri: 9.01 miles easy @ 6:58 m/m
Sat: 6.2 miles recovery
Sun: 9.8 miles easy @ 6:38 m/m
Mon: 8.0 miles easy @ 7:07 m/m
Tue: 8.1 miles incl 8 mins @ HMP, 2 x 1200 @ 10K, 8 mins @ HMP, 2 mins rec between each.
Tue: pm 3.87 miles recovery
Wed:9.9 miles easy @ 6:50 m/m
Thurs: 7.2 miles Cross Country progression 7:00 m/m - 6:00 m/m
Thurs: PM 3.9 miles recovery
Fri: 6.2 miles recovery
Sat: Rest.

So happy how things going at the moment. I have gone backwards, especially with the higher end stuff. The Tuesday session was really hard work with splits way down, 4:15, 4:14 for the 1200s and approx 2,200 m for each 8 min section. I was pretty happy with Thursdays run, done on a mile lap with a nice hill on it. Racing the county cross tomorrow, not in any shape for it and finding it very hard to get motivated for it but cant handle the guilt of not doing it. The plan after that is to follow a base training program with two sessions a week, one simular to tuesdays with number of repeats building and a hill repeat session. Will also try to keep doing the cross country session maybe every second week and a longish run every Sunday. Then in the new year hit a 5k - 10k program.

Krusty_Clown

Good to see you back. We'll have to have a 10k face-off some time in the new year.

ronnie085

ha ha I owe you one :P

Krusty_Clown

ronnie085 wrote: »

ha ha I owe you one :P

Nah, you've still got 7 seconds on me over 10k.

ronnie085

Sun: Kildare County Cross Country

So after a little bit of a guilt trip laid on me during the week wandered along to give this a shot. Quite an introduction to cross country racing, 10K with only a weeks training in the last month, only one way this is going to go, pain.
Lined up with the plan to take it easy for the first couple of laps and then take it from there. Slotted in the second group feeling comfortable enough when a team mate pushed on so I went after him as I normally finish ahead of him in races so thought I should be ok working together. The next couple of laps were spent taking turns sharing the work, feeling ok. With a Celbridge runner just ahead we were working to try catch him without much success. We entered the last lap and my clubmate raised the pace slightly and I just couldn't respond, more the lungs than the legs. He pulled away and looking behind I had a decent gap so I just settled for the position I was in. Crossed the line and it took a few minutes to catch my breath, lack of fitness showing. Finished in 8th, ok for the circumstances I suppose, good day for newbridge, the team got gold, with 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 7th.

Sun: pm 4.23 miles @ 7:10 m/m

Went out to loosen up in the evening and actually felt great, just floating around and a lovely night for a run, maybe some of the cobwebs have being blown out with the race.

Mon: 7.68 miles easy @ 6:46 m/m

Another great evening run, again feeling good, even pulling back on the pace at times. Feels good not to be struggling on every run which was happening for a while before. The only complaint is a blister on the ball of my foot from not being used to the spikes yesterday.

ronnie085

Tue: 9.54 miles incl 8 mins @ T, 4 x 1200m, 8 mins @ T. 2 mins rec.

Back to the track. Still a little bit tight in the hamstrings after Sunday but not bad either, the biggest problem was the blister on the ball of my foot, not killer sore but an annoyance. A couple of miles of a warm up and then down to business. The first 8 mins done at around HMP felt pretty relaxed, finished up around the same spot as last week but felt more comfortable. After the 2 minutes recovery time it was time to pick it up to 10K pace. Again the first few of these were around the same splits as last week but I wasn't pushing as hard to get the times. A little slip on the last rep, pitch dark at this stage and couldn't see my splits as I went plus the blister was starting to bite, especially on the bends. Splits 4:13, 4:14, 4:13, 4:18. No blister or darkness was going to stop me mid flight today so off I went on the last 8 miinute section, again running within myself and finishing up near enough to 2200m done, nearly to the meter of the first 8 minutes with no guide of how fast I was running, getting the hang of this. When I stopped the blister really acted up and it was a little bit of a hop home. Happy how that went, well apart from one split but cant have everything.

Wed: 11.9 miles easy @ 6:53 m/m

Decided to do this straight from work to take advantage of the winters sun so arout citywest, jobstown and back to crocagh park for good measure. The first few miles were a little tough to get going, a few sneaky uphill drags not helping but once I loosened up I felt pretty good, enjoying running around in brightness for a change. Oh and blister update, sore last couple of miles but improving, only for that would be flying.

ronnie085

Right, letting this slip again, things going pretty well, averaging in around 55-60 a week with some good sessions included. Will just update the big ones which were surrounded by easy running.

Thurs 5/12 - 7.7 miles @ 6:25 incl 4 @ mp

Started off nice and easy and finished with 4 miles @ ~ 6 m/m, felt comfortable.

Sat 7/12 - 9.9 miles @ 7:53 incl 10 x 20 sec hill repeats

5 miles warm up progression run starting around 7 m/m building to HMP in the last half mile or so. Again felt good and pretty comfortable. Tried to concentrate on holding good form on the hill repeats with walk back recoveries so never under real pressure but still worked pretty hard. Felt it the next day with some stiffness in the quads. Finished off with another 3 mile progression run, this time finishing at MP, tired after this.

Thurs: 12/12 - 8.0 miles session, planned 2 x ( 1400 @ HMP, 1400 @ 10K, 800 @ 5K pace) 3 min recovery between set.

Tough one this and slightly adapted, suppose to be no recovery and the 5K paced was suppose to be 1400m as well but really thought this was to much looking at it so chickened out. The HMP section was very comfortable as was the first 1K of the 10K paced stuff, started to work then, felt tough raising the pace to 5K but battled for the 800M and got there just about. The 3 min recovery was really needed at this stage and went for it again. The HMP was again not to bad, although was working harder this time around, the first 800m was ok in the next section but after the I started to work, to hard, battled to get the 1400 done and drove to try pick the pace up for the 5K paced section, the first 200m splt on target then hit by a headwind in the finishing straight I blew, crossing the 400m in 85 sec, slower than 10K pace, time to bail. Happy enough as it was pretty tough session and was tired going into it.

Splits (5:08, 4:53, 2:43)(5:09, 4:59, 85 (400m))

Sat: 10.1 miles @ 7:57 incl 12 x 20 sec hill repeats.

Again the same 'warm up' builing to around HMP although I was going more on feel than pace in the gales that were blowing. Some tirdness from Thursday but not bad. 12 repeats done, could feel the extra 2 in the legs and was pretty tired for the last 3 miles, again a progression, falling short of MP this time.

Sun: 14.01 miles easy @ 6:53

Though one this, the quads were sore after the hills and with the first 7 miles into the wind it was really hard work. The last 7 were not bad with the wind at my back but it was fairly lumpy on the way back so still some work to be done. Tired at the end.

Mon: am 3.9 miles recovery, pm 7.66 miles steady @ 6:35 m/m

Pretty tired for the early morning run, although the 6 o'clock start never helps. It done the trick though as I felt preety good in the evening, 2 of us tipping along at a nice pace but still chatting away, well most of the time.

Tue: 10.1 miles session, planned 8 mins HMP, 2 rec, 2 x 1200m @ 10K, 2 rec, 5 x 300 @ 5K, 1 rec, 2 x 1200 @ 10K, 2 rec, 8 mins @ HMP.

Solid session this. Straight from work to the track and a few laps warm up, no messing today then into the first 8 mins, hard enough to control the pace at the start, closer to 5K for the first lap but soon got myself under control. Finished this fresh enough and a 2 min recovery into the 1200s, again 10K pace was feeling nice and controlled, never pushing to hard, even into the wind on the finishing straight. To the 300s @ 5K pace, these were a dream after all the longer reps, were over before I knew it and again all pretty controlled with 1 min recovery between each. The next set of 1200s were a little bit harder work, especially when the wind hit but still hitting my times without straining for them. After the faster reps HMP felt comfortable again and nearly finished in the exact same spot as the first 8 minutes, Bit of a cool down, delighted how that went.

Splits: ~2200m, 4:11, 4:12, 58, 58, 59, 58, 58, 4:11, 4:12, ~2200m

ronnie085

New years resolution, do a better job updating this. Will start from this day one of 2014.

Wed: 7.64 miles easy 7:08 m/m

A nice easy blow out to get rid of the cobwebs after a pretty bare Christmas running wise. Didn't feel bad at all and it was great to really get going with no interuptions in the near future so hopefully will get a clear run at training for the first time in a little while.

Thurs: 7.69 miles steady @ 6:17 m/m

An unplanned quicker run for no real reason. Out in the rain and wind doing a 2.5 mile lap, couldn't see the watch so basically just ran. I knew I was going a little hard after the first lap but at that stage I was never going to slow down, kept it lit looking now doing consistant 6 m/m after the first two only slowing down for the last .5 of a mile. Looks like I didn't lose to much over the christmas week, fingers crossed the few good hard weeks before has stood to me.

AuldManKing

Ronnie & KC posting in the same day! Must be Christmas................. oh wait

ronnie085

Fri: 8.5 miles easy @ 7:07 m/m
Went out with the attention of a nice easy recovery run, especially with a little bit of soreness in the legs but once I got out I found I was running into the wind and stupidly enough started working into it. The legs loosened out and I was going pretty well, easing back at times. Around 4 miles turned for home with the wind at my back things became very easy and just floated home without pushing at all, getting a little bit of a recovery run inJ.

Sat: 10.3 miles incl 12 x 20 sec hill repeats.
Back to real work after the Christmas. The first 5 miles done as a progression run starting easy and working up to half marathon pace, mile splits 7:18, 6:42, 6:32, 6:14, 5:50. Encouragingly this felt fairly comfortable, even the last fast mile, maybe still a little fresh after the week off. After a minute or two of getting my breath back and playing with my watch to get the interval session on. The first few reps I just tried to concentrate on form and from then on upped the effort still trying to hold good form. All went well, getting a little further with each rep until the 10th where I started to work hard and the legs a little jelly like. At this stage it was just about finishing the session and pushed on for the last rep, probably looking a little all over the place. Again a couple of minutes to settle myself then to another 3 mile progression, the first mile very slow, still recovering from the reps but picked up nicely to marathon pace, splits 7:30, 6:45, 6:03. Tough day but happy with it.

Sun: 13.75 miles easy/steady @ 6:42 m/m
Little bit of an epic run this, rain, wind, cold and a few hills, little bit of sloppy cross country, great crack. Three of us met up at 10 in the morning, rain beating down, waiting on the first to move out of the car, one of us cracked and after a minute or two of whinging off we went on the curragh, getting nice and muddy nearly straight away. The first few miles went ok then we turn back onto the road and into the wind for the first time, nearly driven backwards, heads down and pushed on. Really hard work now until about mile 7, turned off the road the wind at our back but there was no real easing up, the pace just picked up, losing one of the lads at this stage. 3 miles from home and the sting in the tail, a sharp shock of a hill with the wind catching us, the two of us pulling faces going up it pleading for the top of the hill which was no real help as a gust caught us and nearly brought us to a stop. Lucky enough we turned nearly straight away and for the last couple of miles the main work was trying to slow down with us taking off with the wind at our back, pretty tired finishing up, and enjoyable run though.

Mon: 6.2 miles recovery
The first 2 miles were very slow, barely able to move my legs, the tough weekend catching up. Felt better as I went but still tired finishing up, gave the double a miss, a rest probably called for.

Tue: am 8.2 miles incl 8 mins @ T, 2 x 1200m @ 10K, 5 x 300m @ 5K, 1 x 1200m
First time down the track in a couple of weeks and a repeat of the last session down there. This time there was one of them winds blowing that never seemed to do me any favours. Don’t have any splits either as the watch had a hissy fit and wiped the session. The first 8 mins were down pretty comfortably just ticking off the laps finishing up slightly further than I did the last few times, over the 2200m mark. 2 minutes recovery and into the 1200s, the first one down pretty ok, hitting the spits every lap without over stretching. The second one was harder, could fell the wind having an effect and the last lap hurt, think I came in around the target time but a little tougher than it should have being. The 300s @ 5K pace with 1 min recoveray weren’t to bad, seemed to be over before they started with the head bein used to the longer reps, hitting around 58 seconds per lap. Time to go back up the ladder, the first 1200 was really hard with a gust of wind nearly bringing me to a stop. Hit the splits but I did’t have much left at this stage. Went for the next 1200 but only got 400m in and had to stop with nothing left in the tank. An abandoned session but not to upset, still some good work done and I think the weekend runs still in the legs so all in all happy enough.

Pm. 4.76 miles easy @ 7:09 m/m
Went out for a nice handy one and a great night for it. Felt very comfortable with the cobwebs blown away this morning, a little faster than expected but wasn’t pushing so no harm done.

ronnie085

Wed: 12.1 miles easy @ 6:50 m/m

Big change this morning, wind died down and there was even a glimpse of blue sky. The first few miles were a little stiff and sore but I was soon into a nice rhythm. Ended up on a route I didn't run in a while, lumpy enough but a nice run along a quite country road, only passed by one car in five miles. Back onto a mainish road through the curragh, Just enjoying running along at a comfortable enough pace, watching race horses out training all over the place. Only checked my average pace coming back into Newbridge and was surprised to see it was under 7 m/m. Finished up with plenty left in the legs, very enjoyable run.

Thurs: 7.7 miles steady/ kinda progression @ 6:05 m/m

So out to the 2.5 mile lap on the curragh for our club run. Two of us tipped off from the start and I just knew what was going to happen, the first mile ticked off at 6:30 and feeling pretty good, it was going to go downhill from there. Running in the dark and not paying any attention to the pace wasn't helping with the pace just picking up as we went. After a few miles the talking stopped, sure sign we were working although I was still feeling good. The miles went 6:21, 6:12, 5:58 then 6:04. At this stage the other lad dropped off and with just over two miles to go I said feck it and push on. The next miles were 5:47, 5:49 and then about 5:50 easing up for the last .2 of a mile, still a little in the tank. The only problem was some tightness in my right hamstring when I finished up, hopefully some stretching will sort that.

ronnie085

Fri: am - 6.19 miles recovery, pm - 3.89 miles recovery

Two nice and handy well earned recovery runs. Actually didn't feel to bad, still a little bit of tightness in the right hamstring but that was nearly gone for the second run of the day, was nice to just get a few handy miles in after a tough week so far.

ronnie085

May as well post up the plan for the year to keep me honest. At the moment I'm in a base buliding phase which is going to last until the middle of february. Going to sneak in the Raheny 5 miler just to see where I am. Then going to take up the 18 week Daniels 5k-15k plan aiming at Dunshaughlin 10K, aiming high with a 32:xx goal, we'll see. Ballycotton 10 and the county 10K champs will be the main races during this phase. Also going to be a big life change during this phase as I'm being made redundant mid feb so will be a pro athlete for a while , hopefully not to long.
A little unsure of which way to go after this, edging towards a half in september and then concentrating on cross country for the rest of the year, giving the marathon a miss for this year and maybe aiming at London 2015 all going well.

pconn062

Sounds like a great plan Ronnie, 32 minutes for the 10k is a great goal and that type of training can only help your marathon times. Sorry to hear about the redundancy.

KielyUnusual

ronnie085 wrote: »

May as well post up the plan for the year to keep me honest. At the moment I'm in a base buliding phase which is going to last until the middle of february. Going to sneak in the Raheny 5 miler just to see where I am. Then going to take up the 18 week Daniels 5k-15k plan aiming at Dunshaughlin 10K, aiming high with a 32:xx goal, we'll see. Ballycotton 10 and the county 10K champs will be the main races during this phase. Also going to be a big life change during this phase as I'm being made redundant mid feb so will be a pro athlete for a while , hopefully not to long.
A little unsure of which way to go after this, edging towards a half in september and then concentrating on cross country for the rest of the year, giving the marathon a miss for this year and maybe aiming at London 2015 all going well.

32.xx would be well within your sights come the summer, it's just a matter of what two figures are going to appear in the xx part. I'm running the Raheny 5 at the end of the month too so we might have another epic duel to replicate the Dunshaughlin 10k last year. I'm also running the Ballycotton 10 and will most likely run the 10k again this year (it was a brilliant race last time) so looks like our paths will be crossing a bit over the next while. Looking forward to it.

Krusty_Clown

KielyUnusual wrote: »

32.xx would be well within your sights come the summer, it's just a matter of what two figures are going to appear in the xx part. I'm running the Raheny 5 at the end of the month too so we might have another epic duel to replicate the Dunshaughlin 10k last year. I'm also running the Ballycotton 10 and will most likely run the 10k again this year (it was a brilliant race last time) so looks like our paths will be crossing a bit over the next while. Looking forward to it.

Damnit. Wondering if I should sign up for Raheny 5, just so I can hold up the rear, for old times sake. Sorry to hear about the situation Ronnie, but hopefully you'll bounce back fairly quickly and take the opportunity to get some solid training done. I really enjoyed my particular work 'sabbatical', and knocked 30 minutes off my marathon time. Plenty of time for some cross training too.

ronnie085

Thanks pconn, sort of looking forward to finishing up now, been a stressful few months, as for kiely and krusty looking forward to a few battles over the next while, hopefully I'll take full adavantage of my professional status .

Right its being a nuts week, few late nights and early mornings but kept on running although missed out on a couple of doubles, here goes for the record...

Sat: 10.3 miles incl 12 x 20 sec hill reps

Didn't do the usual build run before and after this as I had a club cross country race on Sunday so will get my tempo in there. The first five mile done @ 6:50 pace, feeling ok, not great but not bad either. Finishing up on at the hill expected this to be a little easier than the last few weeks as was a little fresher but no, it still hurt after the 6th rep. Just kept ticking over not slowing down, trying to concentrate on technique, even getting a slagging of a couple of other runners for my walk back recovery, obviously looking shagged. 3 miles cool down @ 7:11 pace again feeling ok.

Sun: 8 miles easy, 4 miles club cross country race, 2 miles cool down.

With the club running the annual race I decided to use it as a tempo or slightly faster training run after a few easy miles. Met up with a lad who wasn't doing the cross country for the first 8 miles, others taking the race more seriously than they were letting on and not liking the look of my plan. The first 8 miles were real tough going, actually feeling tired for all of the run. The gale force wind not helping but still I just didn't seem to have any power in the legs, just a horrible stiff and sore feeling, not good. To make it worse the other lad was just coming back after a couple of weeks of injury and was running fresh and comfortable. Finished up at an average pace of 6:50.
Timed it pretty well with about 10 minutes until the race start, enough time to throw on the spikes and listen to people talk themselves down. I was getting really cold waiting around, but before I knew it we were lining up for the start of 2 laps of 2 miles, with a nice drag up one side, the downhill into the gale force wind and the next mile pretty flat. Started off in the front group of 4, lost touch at the top of the hill and then I found myself on my own into the wind, going downhill feeling like it was up a mountain, really struggling. Then hit a turn to my relief, out of the headwind and gaining on 3rd, catching him fast enough and noticing he was breathing pretty heavy so figured he was struggling I pushed hard past him to blow him away without givning him a chance to regroup. Finishing the lap in a comfortable 3rd but there was a nice gab to the first two who were running strong. Back into the wind I held back a little this time hoping for a strong finish, turning out of the wind I pushed on, gaining slowly on second but never in with a chance of catching him. Crossed the line in a comfortable third. Pretty happy how it went, felt strong towards the end but didn't seem to have another gear, although thats to be expected with the training at the moment. Looking at the mile splits they were pretty even, 6:08, 5:43, 6:13, 5:36, spot the windy miles . Another lap nice and handy to cool down to make 14 for the day.

Mon: 6.2 miles recovery

Just a standard recovery run, felt fairly ok.

Tues: 'session day'

Didn't really work out. Down to the track feeling like poo on a 2 mile warm up. 2K @ HMP first up, this felt like 5K pace, breathing heavy and legs were screaming, completed it and onto 1200m @ 10K, after one lap I blew up. Fairly down hearted at this point and after a lap jog hopped off the track and into the car and home. Looking back now I'd say Sunday had a bigger effect than I thought it would and had a late night, early morning with not much sleep. Went for a nap and ended up sleeping for 2 hours, sure sign I was shattered. Still hate when I mess up a session, 4.5 miles for the day.

Wed: 11.8 miles easy @ 6:54 m/m

Better than yesterday but still tired. The first 4 miles were very tough, could feel the tiredness in the calfs everytime the road went even slightly uphill. Felt better as I went but still never completly 'right'. Another late night followed by early morning on thurs, not great for recovery.

Thurs:7.6 miles progression @ 6:04 m/m

Whats turning into a usual Thursday night club tear up for some reason although I was feeling 100% better tonight. The first mile started at 6:30 and two of us slipped away from the rest building speed as we went but always feeling good and in control soon hitting consistant 5:50 miles. Felt good to get some faster miles in without killing myself and getting over the early weeks tiredness, hopefully just a blip.

Fri: 6.2 miles recovery

Skipped the planned morning run for an extra hour in bed and it was needed. Niced recovery run and felt good again, ended up running a little faster than expected but didnt feel like it. Hopefully ready to push on again.

ronnie085

Right being a few months since I've updated this, just lost the habit. Things having being going pretty well, a few excellant weeks and a couple of poorish ones milage wise while still getting out most days. Since the last update completed races with differing results. Ran the Raheny 5 in 27:55, blowing up in the last mile up the hill, mentally wasnt there and just gave it up. Pushed on from there and ran the Ballycotton 10 at the weekend which went better. Following the Daniels 5k-15k plan at the moment and surprisingly enough enjoying it, the track becoming my second home. Anyway suppose I'll start with last Sunday:

Sun 9th March: Ballycotton 10

With training going pretty well travelled down the night before eyeing up a PB which was 57:45 from Dungarvin the year before, going to be tough but we'll see. Good dinner and an early night with a great sleep waking up refreshed and raring to go. Down to the start, bit of a chat with a good contingent of Newbridge AC runners who made the trip down. Lined up inside the 58 min marker, looking around you could see people who had no right to be anywhere near around us, really cant understand what gets into their heads, things too tight to move any further forward so we just had to take our chances from there. So off we set on the first mad mile, trying to be controlled and patient, even so passing and bumping into these 'front runners', one trying to clip my heals after I bumped into him unable to avoid him, nice (right rant over). After half a mile things cleared and had a quick look at average pace, 6:10, not to bad and actually brought the time down to target 5:37 by the end of the mile thanks to the downhill. Feeling very comfortable now but telling myself not to get carried away, just to keep running within myself, spotted a couple of celebridge runners up the road in a group with a couple more I went about trying to catch them as we are normally there or there abouts in races. Caught them after 2 and a half, then sat in for a minute or so to take a little break but felt a little too comfortable so decided to push to the front of the group and see who would follow, realised nobody so eyed up a group further up the road. This pattern happened a couple more times until coming up to the half way point with two others. Went through noticing the clock just hitting 28 mins, 5 seconds slower than my Raheny time and the doubts started, will I be able to hold this. Struggled for about 800m, nearly hanging on to the group until I took stock, still feeling strong, it was just a mental shut down, take a turn leading this group and see what happens, what did happen, on my own again, this time with only runners strung out ahead file ahead to chase. The hill with a mile and a half to go was growing steeper and longer in my head by the step wanting to just get on with it knowing if I got over it unscathed i was on for a good one. Eventually hit the bend and on the climb, pumping the legs and arms and feeling strong, confidence growing with every stride. Mile to go and over the worst, its in the bag, one runner nearly within catching distance, 40m or so, decision made, push and try to catch him. Emptying the tank with a mile to go, gaining but probably not quick enough, looking for more, picturing a fight for the last t-shirt and how sick I would be if I lost by 1, pulling all sorts of faces, 200 to go and he picks up leaving me with no chance, at this stage just raised as much of a sprint as I'd left for the extra second or two. Crossed the line seeing sub 57, delighted, oh and a very safe t-shirt in the end.

10 miles in 56:49 for 33rd place

Mon: 6.21 miles @ 6:55 easy

Not bad, probably a mistake to meet the club, always seem to end up runing sub 7 pace with them, slight bit of stiffness but nothing major.

Tue: am 8.67 miles easy @ 6:50

Nobody to blame but myself for this one, not paying any attention to pace until the last couple of miles, actually shocking myself when I checked. Felt good

pm: 3.96 miles recovery @ 7:31

Thats better,made it a mission to make sure I was slower than 7:30 pace and did just about, enjoyable run.

Wed: 8.56 miles inc 5 x (200,200,600) @ R pace

In the plan it is down as 800m but went a little easier on myself with the 600s. All went well and splits were pretty even, 34/35 for 200s and 1:52 for 600s with decent recoveries between.

Thurs am 3.96 miles recovery @ 7:41

Another real recovery run and to be honest probably couldn't go any faster if I tried although the longer I went the better I felt.

pm 7.76 miles easy @ 6:49

Another club run, ie sub 7 min miles, comfortable enough again still a little faster than I'd like. Quads a little stiff after the session otherwise all good.

pconn062

Savage run Ronnie, fair play.