Ronnie Runs Riot

AuldManKing

Good to see you back posting.

Great running and still going strong!
Looking fwd to some head to heads with KC.

jfh

great running in ballycotton. That JD plan seems to be getting results.

ronnie085

Fri: am 6.2 miles easy @ 7:12
pm 4.6 miles recovery @ 7:30

Two nice runs, nothing much to say, just trotted along enjoying myself trying to keep things very easy and freshen things up.

Sat: 2 miles w/u, 40 mins tempo, 2.1 miles c/d

So with a time to work off from last Sunday figured Daniels adjusted tempo pace for 40 mins was 5:57 m/m, not to scary considering I was doing 15 miles of this calling it marathon pace 6 months ago, there might be a lesson there somewhere . Anyway as usual before a toughish session felt rubbish on the warm up, wondering how I'd do 5 mins never mind 40, but as soon as I got going I was actually holding back slightly for the first couple of miles.Things got tougher turning into the wind for a mile, still holding pace and not pushing overly hard but still working, a break of a mile with the wind I steadied myself for the final push. I was finding the going tougher as I went, probably still tiredness from last weekend, the stubborness kicked in and the last mile was harder than tempo effort and at the 40 mins I was really feeling it. A minute or two to catch my breath then a couple of miles cool down, a little wobbly for the last mile, more to do with hunger than tiredness, the rest of the day spent eating .

Sun: 13.5 miles easy @ 6:49 m/m

oh never take anything for granted. A nice handy run, feeling great even after a tough one yesterday, floating along, powering up hills, not a worry in the world. With the mind elsewhere (Man u liverpool match ) i turn into the park in Newbridge for the last mile and turned onto a wooden walkway, bang, not a bit of grip and down I went with a slap. Composed myself for a few seconds making sure everything was in the right place and jogged on home looking like I played the rugby match yesterday. No real harm done, sore shoulder, chin a bit skint, sore hands and a few other cuts and grazes stinging a bit, could have been much worse.The result of the match made me feel much better.

ronnie085

Really bad week started with beer on Sunday night, up just in time for the Patricks parade to do my club duty follow by, em more beer. In no mood for anything on tuesday for some reason :rolleyes:, then a couple of days down in Killarney planned with a few things to be sorted on the wed morning didn't get a chance to get out, improved after that, oh the guilt.

Mon: Nothing
Tue: nadda
Wed: zilch

Thurs: 8.16 miles easy @ 6:41 m/m

Lovely run this around the National park, great to get a few miles in somewhere different. Left the hotel and running aimlessly spotted a sign for Ross castle, sure why not go for a look. with fresh legs I was moving pretty well. Past the castle and into the park and a few rolling hills. A few scars of the stormy weather a few weeks ago with some trees down resulted in a little bit of climbing and scrambling. Ended up running down a couple of dead ends but well worth it with the views over the lake. The main loop brought me back to the castle and although tempted to do a different loop I decided to make my way back with the risk of being shot for staying out for to long starting to grow :P. The last mile with the wind ended up very fast and finished feeling great. Followed this up with a bit of a hike up to Torc waterfall and beyond, the run was easier.

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

Made it back home Friday evening, the night before beers out of the system and the runners on and out the door with me. Had no real plan, just out and ran again with the fresh legs the pace felt easy. Nothing much else to say really.

Sat: 8.11 miles incl 5 x (600,1 min rec,300, 30 sec rec, 150, 30 sec rec)

So after a bad week training wise, a great week beer wise not looking forward to this even though it not the toughest session in the world. Down to the track and after a 2 mile warm up set myself up for the first interval. Actually found the correct pace straight away and the first 600 going ok, slight stiffness in the legs while getting used to the pace but nothing unusual there. The 300 and 150 reps were fairly ok, over before I knew about it. This continued for the next few sets until the last one, starting to tire and the weather took a turn for the worse, wind picking up and then the hailstone belting down into my face on the back straight, unfortunately for the 600 I was doing this twice. Somehow despite not being able to see where I was going for 2/3 of the rep I got close to holding the split time. The 300 was easier with the wind at my back, then a blind 150m to finish off.

Splits ( 1:58,57,28)(1:58,58,27)(1:58,55,29)(1:59,58,27)(2:00,57,28)

ronnie085

Sun: 12.28 miles easy @ 6:45 m/m

Out early in the cool sunshine, it felt great though. Picked a pretty hilly route, nothing killer just rolling up and down most of the time. Didn't push hard just tried to keep things comfortable and under control. The second half of the run ended up a very quick with the wind at my back out in the open Curragh which explains the faster average than the effort put in as the first half into the wind was pretty sheltered so got the best of both worlds so to speak.

Mon: am-9.35 miles incl 15 mins @ T, 3 rec, 10 mins @ T, 2 rec, 5 mins @ T

Woke up to the sounds of the wind battering the house, what you really dont want for a tempo session, made the decision to do this on the track to even the effect out, sure the worst section of 15 minutes would be just over 10 laps, not bad. So off with me and a 2 mile warm up, finding out what was ahhead of me on the first lap, nearly blown backwards on the finishing straight of the first lap, lucky enough it was just one back gust. The fact that in horse racing terms the going was heavy on the grass track and with the wind oh and to make calculations easier the slowest splits I was looking for were 90 sec per lap, hopefully faster. Lucky enough things were not that bad and was ticking off 84 second laps nicely, getting a nice tempo rhythm going, after a few laps only checking the odd split to be sure i wwasn't easying off. A good sign at the end of the 15 mins i was still ticking over with the same splits without straining. The next 10 mins followed by 5 mins were done at the same pace, just nicely tired at the end but again never straining. Think I'm getting better at controlling pace instead of what I was doing, going out hard and hanging on for dear life for the last few minutes. A couple of miles to cool down.

PM: - 6.2 miles easy @ 7:06 m/m

Turned up for the club run, I was a little more sensible than usual. The first mile was done pretty fast, 6:40 or so and then I just pulled back and jogged around at a nice handy pace enjoying myself, not worrying about pace. Suprised I wasn't a lot slower, there were a couple of 7:20 miles in there which was still faster than I'd like, still could have been worse.

ronnie085

Tues: 8.96 miles easy @ 6:57 m/m

Everything is easier when the sun is shining and this was a great run out around the Curragh, taking it easy just ticking off the miles and not pushing even though the legs felt good, ready for session day tomorrow.

Wed: 7.26 miles incl 4 x (200,200,400) R pace.

Cut this session down, 400s instead of 800s with the county 10K coming up at the weekend want to freshen things up although after a poor enough few weeks tiredness shouldn't be much of an issue. Out early enough in the morning to the oval office and it was much coldeer than I expected, lucky enough had a jacket stashed in the car. Feeling a little sluggish I got going on my warm up, not in the mood at all, most be getting soft but the cold really gets to me lately. After 2 miles and a few strides I went for the first 200 and actually felt good. same again and then for the 400, after 300m I nearly stopped, dont know what was wrong, legs burning and all and crossed the line, 75 seconds, I nearly cried when I seen that and tempted to bale on the session. The next set of 200s were again pretty comfortable and onto the 400. Told myself to relax and nearly talking to myself for the full lap, trying to keep loose, not worrying about splits and what do you know, 73 secs without pushing. The next two sets kept on in the same vein and ended up happy enough with the session, would have liked to have done more but said I'd better not. A mini taper from now until Sunday, going to be a very poor month milage wise, looking for a big improvement next month.

Splits (33,34,75)(35,34,73)(34,34,72)(34,35,73)

Thurs: 6.2 miles recovery @ 7:16 m/m

A slight feeling of tiredness today, nothing major just not running freely, a little heavy but felt better as the run went.

Fri: 5.7 miles easy @ 7:07 m/m incl strides x 5

Another handy one, feeling better, just looking forward to getting stuck in to some proper miles although heading off next weekend for nearly a week, which will include a half marathon, just doing it on a whim, not going to taper or anything, will run it at 100% and see what happens as dont want to get into the habit of not 'racing' races, regret entering it but at least will keep me on the straight and narrow for a few days at least :rolleyes:, just hungry to get stuck in without distractions, there has been a few lately.

ronnie085

A few race reports to catch up on, training going ok since last update, one poor week while I was away, although it did include a hungover half marathon.

Kildare 10K county road champs:

Came second in this last year but with the standard after risen in the last year in the club never mind the county I had a real fight on my hands to get anywhere near the same result, especially with a massive odds on favorite from Naas back from injury this year and cleaning up all around him. After a nice warm up feeling pretty good and cleared a few nerves toed the line we were off before we knew it. The first couple of K were flat enough and taken at a nice pace, hard but managable a group of 6 formed including 3 Newbridge runners and the favorite, we turned off the main road and over a bridge where the fav slipped into another gear and pulled away without looking like much effort and the group slimmed down to 4, still 3 of us Newbridge runners and a Celbridge runner. We worked together for a few K, still feeling ok with the club in prime position for gold. Then disaster strikes, right at the 5K point I coundn't seem to get any air into my lungs, felt like they closed up, pulled over and after about 10 seconds steadied myself and with another Celebridge runner passing I knew I had to get back at it so tagged onto the back of him and a cocos runner. Just sat in for a couple of K then started working again, dropping the Celebridge runner and then picking up the other one who dropped off the front group although he dug in and stuck with us. With 1 K to go some jocking for position and with the pace picking up with every stride it was really hurting at this point, basically at max the Celebridge runner pulled away, nothing there to reply with, just pushed as hard as I could and just held off the cocos runner for 5th and a pb by 4 seconds (they all count) 34:26 plus a gold for the team, 3 in the top 5 finishers. Dont know what the story with the chest was, used to suffer with astma and can feel it every now and again, chances are thats the problem.

Bratislava Half Marathon:

Shouldn't really be calling this a race report, the main fuel in the body was alcohol, 1.70 a pint to much of a temptation and chips and cake the dinner the night before shows how seriously I was taking this. The half marthon started at the same time as the full and found myself stuck behind the 3 hour pacers, not to worried anyway. A great atmosphere building and the gun goes off. Telling myself to take it easy for the first half but a little bit of competitive instinct kicked in and started moving through the field ticking off 5:50 miles feeling comfortable. found a group running at the pace and joined them for a run on one of the straightest roads I've raced on, must have been 3 miles one way and basically turned around and back the same way. Hit 10K in around 36 mins going ok. Then moving further along we hit the only hill on the course and the drink started to take effect, was only a couple of hundred meters and not to steep but sapped any energy I had in the legs. Going through the old town gave me a boost but we were soon running into the wind by the river and it started to really hurt so eased back with the head or body not in any condition to fight. The last 3 miles were just a matter of taking it home, losing loads of time but not bothered really, crossing the line in 1:19:56 for 31st. At the end I was disappointed in myself because it was a super race with a great atmosphere, as flat as you'll get anywere and organisation was spot on, from registration to bag drop, start and finish, with enough food and water and free beer at the end to keep you going for a week. Would have been a real pb course if I took it seriously.

Emo 8K Good Friday Run:

Did this a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it so decided to give it another go, but with heavy milage and a few hard sessions in the legs since I got back from Braislava wasn't to sure how this would go. With the sun out Emo was looking at its best but maybe a little warm for racing although I would rather that than the cold. Took the lead from the start with one other lad, legs feeling good and after a K we were joined by two others. At this stage we were off road and on the forest gravel trails which seemed to be freshly laid and not very compacted which maid it hard goinog at times. One runner slowly pulled away, just slightly over the limit of pace I could handle but the three of use left were working well enough together, until we got to a sharp turn and then a steady climb up to emo house. One of the other lads slipped in gravel on the turn, holding me up, he was up straight away and we closed the gap to the other lad in the group up the hill pretty quickly but this little extra effort put both of us into the red and we lost touch again over the top of the hill, then the lad that fell losing touch we me.Couldn't pick the pace up enough to make any gains on second so started to concentrated on holding fourth place off as he seemed to be rallying slightly, with the footsteps not disappearing behind me. Another drag at 7K I pushed again and this litte surge seemed to do the trick with the gap opening again. A nice flat run in, getting a couple of sneaky looks behind at a couple of bends and crossed the line safe enough in third, 27:05. Happy enough especially on a course not ideal for fast times and 87 miles in last 7 days in the legs including 2 sessions .

ronnie085

Sat: 7.29 miles easy @ 7:12m/m

Back to training, handy enough one to loosen the legs out although felt grand, no ill effects from last night.

cianc

Legend, great stuff, always enjoy reading your reports Ronnie. How did you wind up doing the Bratislava half on the pisss ? Traveling for other reasons, or just were the cheap pints just too tempting?

ronnie085

cianc wrote: »

Legend, great stuff, always enjoy reading your reports Ronnie. How did you wind up doing the Bratislava half on the pisss ? Traveling for other reasons, or just were the cheap pints just too tempting?

Strated off with a new mrs since Christmas who had entered the full before I met her (only did the half because of injury with 1:53 off feck all training and beer to, has me worried), hearing tales of cheap beer sold the trip and couple of weeks before it was just feck it may as well run, might help me behave myself, unfortunately the touch paper was lit with a couple of pints in Dublin airport friday, didn't look back after that

ronnie085

Sun: 11.4 miles incl 40 mins @ T

2 miles warm up, not really feeling it, seriously tempted just to go for a long easy run, had the watch set for the session so it beeped at two miles to get on with the tempo segement and as if hypnotized off I went, goal pace around 5:57 according to Jack but I was tipping along at 5:50 pace and feeling pretty good. The first half just flew by then had a little bit of a wobble just after half way and was working hard for a couiple of minutes, think it was more of a mental thing as told myself to relax and forget about pace, soon enough flying again and what do you know at the same pace as I was going before. Finished up feeling strong with an average of 5:51 pace, very happy how that went, especially after the race Friday night. A few miles cool down to finish off.

Mon: 11.4 miles easy @ 6:45 m/m

Another great day for a run although got a little carried away. Planned a nice handy run but was feeling great so just tipped along without realising how the pace I was going, ah well enjoyable run around the curragh anyway.

Tue: am 6.2 miles easy @ 7:15 m/m, pm 5.1 miles easy @ 7:10 m/m

A little more disciplined today, just a couple of standard runs, nothing much to else to say.

Wed: am 3.96 miles recovery @ 7:37 m/m

A morning pre race run, nice and handy, feeling good.

pm: Ballinakill 6K

Choice between a race and a track session., went for the race, thinking was trying to get some race sharpness as have being fairly inconsistant racing the last year, the downside of marathon training. Turned up in good time and had a good 3 mile warm up, a little unsure how I was feeling. Lined up at the front and a little confusion with who we thought was the starter giving a lowdown of the course, then he moved to the side, we all watching him, a hooter went off from somewhere, everybody stood there staring at him, realising what happened he started shouting go go so off we went. A couple of young lads went flyng off, a little to keen and a group of 5 of us passed them after 400m and we settled into the race, three of us running side by side and another 2 sitting in. After a couple of K I decided to ease back a little and stay at the back of the group, conserving a little bit of energy. The first move was made about 3K with a little surge of pace put in by one of the other lads, I reacted straight away and found myself sharing the lead again but happy how well I responed, with a couple of lads in trouble falling off the pace, two of us side by side and the lad that made the surge seemed to be just hanging on. An uphill drag and he fell off the pace and then there were two although I noticed the other lads breathing was getting more and more laboured so without making a big move I started to push slightly harder, at first he fell in behind the after another minute or two the elastic snapped and I was on my own. 2K to go, still not having a safe margin hit a short hill and said to myself push really hard up it and break him altogether just in case he had enough of a kick at the finish to do me. Over the top and going around a bend had a sneaky look back and knew I had a safe gap, final k, just 3 and some loose change minutes left, just told myself not to ease up. Crossed the line happy how I raced this, nice to get a win under the belt. A great race organised by Ballyroan Ac with some spread of cake and sambos at the end, needed after no dinner .

6K in 20:07 for first (20:02 by watch, dodgy start cost the 5 seconds I'd say, will go by result for pb.)

Thurs: am 6.1 miles recovery @ 7:29 m/m, pm: 8 miles easy@ 6:57

No ill effects from the race, two nice handy runs feeling good and fresh, going well at the moment despite the milage rising nicely.

ronnie085

Fri: am - 8.3 miles incl 5 x (600,300,150) @ I, 1 min rec,30 sec rec.
pm - 5.2 miles recovery @ 7:17 m/m

Again not the worst of sessions, nice one to do after the race on still in the legs from wed, although didn't feel it. Everything nice and controlled alhough a little to comfortable as i lost a bit of concentration on a couple of shorter intervals which ended a little slower than the rest, otherwise a solid session. Just a nice handy easy/ recovery run in the evening.

splits ( 1:59,56,29)(1:58,58,27)(1:56,57,27) (1:57,57,28)(1:56,56,27)

Sat: 11.6 miles incl 3 x 10 mins @ tempo, 2 mins rec

Two sessions in a row, sure will give it a lash, birthday party to go to so Sunday was a no no. So out the door getting hopped off with wind and rain, tempted to turn back after a mile but kept going with a two mile warm up. Doing this on unfamilar roads around Portlaoise I wasnt sure how I was going to work the route and ended up doing a couple of turnabouts, its a hard town to get out of without ending up on a main road with cars flying at you. Did this mostly on feel as couldnt see the watch with the rain plus was feeling the tough week as well. Still ended up ok, a little slow but with the wind, unfamiular ground and turns, road crossings etc I was happy enough, the effort level was about right.

Splits (5:50 pace)(5:44 pace)(5:50 pace)

Sun: Hungover 6.2 miles recovery @ 7:37 m/m

Nice and handy, felt great after well until I watched Chelsea bore the life out of Liverpool and win with a couple of sneaky goals, had to have a couple of sneaky pints myself after that :rolleyes:.

Mon: 9.01 miles easy @ 7:00 m/m

Just took it noice and hand, enjoyable run,

Tue: am - 8.5 miles incl 3 x 1200, 3 x 800 @ I
pm - 4.4 miles easy @ 7:22 m/m

To the track again and again not to bad a session on paper anyway any it worked out like that. Generous recoveries, 3/4 mins for 1200s and 2 mins for 800s helped and hitting target paces without overstretching myself, starting to wonder am I working hard enough .

Splits ( 3:57,3:56,3:57)(2:37,2:36,2;37).

Wed: am- 5 miles recovery @ 7:30 m/m
pm - 11.2 miles easy @ 6:49 m/m

Just a handy recovery run in the morning, took a little while to get going but improved as I went. A bit of an adventure in the evening, down in Laois again and planned doing around 8 miles easy, not to sure where I was going ended up miles away from where I was aiming after taking a wrong turn somewhere turniing this into a bit of a medium long run, little tired finishing up but not on my knees or anything.

Thurs: 10.2 miles incl 15/10/5 mins @ T, 3/2 mins recovery.

Hit the track for this ready to test my mental arithmetic (nowhere near as organised as Krusty with his pace bands;)), hoping for 86 sec laps or slightly better but again going to try go on feel. The 15 minutes flew by checking splits every 200m and by the time I worked out the next split the next 200 was up hitting very consistant 42 sec 200s everytime without slowing or pushing to hold so thinking i was getting the effort levels right. The 10 min section went along in the same vein then I had to fight with myself in the 5 min section not to turn it into 5K paced interval, it was over in a flash, in and around the same pace as the other two. Just ran laps the to get the miles up to 10 in a world of my own.

Fri: 9.4 miles easy @ 7:01 m/m

Just a standard easy run, little tired today, no harm as going to dial things back a little for the next couple of days, running the leinster novice on Monday so will see how that goes

ronnie085

Sat: 6.91 miles easy @ 7:24 m/m

Nice and handy, legs a little heavy and tired.

Sun: 3.6 miles easy @ 7:21 m/m

Another handy one, just a pre race loosener, felt ok.

Mon: Leinster novice 6K

Arrived down in Gowran with no real plan for this, just try race it and see where it takes me. This is done on a 1500m lap so did a couple as a warm up, a draggy hill for one half but didnt seem to bad and after a few strides lined up on the front ready to go. Got the shout to go and with a downhill start it was hell for leather, me dropping down the field at a rate of knots, a little bit of panic set in at this stage but it didnt last long as we took the turn to the first time up the hill, things settled and found myself in a lead group of 7, looking around was there with a Naas runner who basically wins everything there is to win in Kildare so I knew I was in good company although at this stage working very hard, after I found the reason why when I checked the splits, 4:58 first mile, ouch. Things didnt slow down after that and I was slowly losing touch, back up the hill and the elastic final snapped and a gap opened finding myself on my own. The thing about the short lap was there was never any time to ease back, always somebody shouting encouragement so kept pushing as hard as I could. The front group was splitting on the third lap and two runners were within catching distance to me so I tried to pick it up slightly but found nothing extra, just holding the gap. Around for the final lap, in a world of pain at this stage, was passed at the start of the climb of what now seemed like a mountain, sat in behind him for a few strides but couldnt follow, although one runner came back to me from the front, looked to have blown altogether, passed him and kept the tempo as high as I could, taking the final bend with a quick look behind, position safe, then seen the clock, sub 20 on, so with the last bit of juice left tried to pick the pace up, nearly falling over the line, 19:45 for 7th place, over 20 seconds faster than the 6K a week and a half ago so happy I could have gave no more, especially on a pretty tough course.