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Gone in 60 minutes... My 10 mile goal
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Day: Saturday 24/9
Time of day: 11:30
Pace/type of workout: Adventure Race
Distance: 6k Run, 30k Cycle, 2k Kayak
Time: 02:10.2
Where did that weather come from!!!??? Absolutely cracking day for a race that had some jaw-dropping views!:D
I was a bit worried coming into this race as I had a cold that I just couldnt shift. Felt pretty crap on the morning of the race (started the day with a fit of sneezes) so I dosed myself up good with lemsip, strepsils and otrivine. When I started concentrating on getting ready to leave I didnt notice the cold as much.
Got down to powerscourt in plenty of time, but with all my faffing about I didnt really have time to get a proper warm up done!
Cycle 1
The rolling start was a completely new process to me and I wasnt really sure how hard to push at all. It seemed the people who had done a rolling start before raced up behind the lead car and waited for it to get out of the way. I was in the middle of the pack somewhere waiting for the lead car to sound its horn indicating the start of the "race". When I did hear the horn I was probably 2-3 minutes behind the lead guys already!! There was some tough hills on the first cycle. Alot of my training is done on hills so I was pleased to see it is benefiting me as I passed a few people struggling up the inclines. Passed a mate of mine who usually does the long course (and is a member of a cycling club) and dropped him about a mile before the run. Finished the first cycle in about 15th place. Cycle 1 time: 18.41
Sugarloaf Run
Got into transition, racked my bike, changed shoes and started running. Straight from the start of the run I got in behind some big fella from Covey Wheelers. He was going at a good pace so I was happy to shadow him for for the start of the run. Gradually we started catching up and passing lads running through the fields at the foot of the mountain. As we hit the really steep stuff he started walking so I kept running and got away from him, gradually picked off a couple more runners on the way to the top. There was one guy in black that I just couldnt catch, he was some climber! Got to the summit, I was 4th fastest to the summit, and headed back down (Cheers to the Aussie guy at the summit who gave me some water!!!
) I could see the guy in black about 50 yards ahead of me and I didnt think I'd be able to catch him. Eventually I caught up to him on the grass before the carpark and I tried to run as fast as I could on the tarmac back to transition. I did the 6th fastest descent from the sugaloaf. Sugarloaf run time: 26:38
Cycle 2
Back in transition I put my helmet on and changed shoes. I had a tough decision to make at this point as my hands wouldnt do what I was telling them and I couldnt get my runners back in my bag, so I decided to leave them there and hopefully collect them later (bad decision, runners are in Ranelagh now). On the bike I rehydrated as its usually at this stage that I start to cramp. No sign of cramp yet so I ploughed on That Covey Wheelers guy flew past me about a Km into this cycle, a couple of guys working as a team also passed me. Not much else to say about this cycle except the traffic was terrible, I lost count of the amount of buses that overtook me! :eek: Did the 4th fastest cycle 2. Cycle 2 time: 9.52
Kayak
In transition I took my bag off, but left my helmet on for some reason
I ran down to the shore and saw there was anther racer waitning at the shore for me so I jumped into a kayak with him (he turned out to be Noel Brady, winner of the Vet category). The Kayak went ok, alot better than in some other races. Usually I get cramp in my legs and hip-flexors but my core work seems to have helped that. We were going across the current so it was tough to stay on course. Back on shore I jumped up, said thanks to Noel, got back on my bike and dibbed out just behind Noel. I'm a bit confused by my kayak time, somehow Noel Brady's time is nearly 2 and a half minutes faster than mine Surely his time should be longer than mine considering he was standing at the shore waiting for a partner??? Kayak time: 18.25
Cycle 3
The last cycle was tough going. I was pretty tired at this stage of the race and my cold was definitely playing a part in that. Tried to keep Noel in my sights ahead of me but he crept away eventually (that bike of his is fairly swanky!) Again I was passed by 2 lads working as a team, they were flying, it must be great to have someone beside ya 2 hours into a race pushing you on. Another cyclist flew past me and this time I was determined to stay with him. I chased him for about 2 miles and eventually I caught up with him on a long hill. As I was passing him I got talking to him and I found out he wasnt even doing the race!! he was just out for a cycle!! Thankfullly there was a bit of downhill towards the end of the race so I pushed as hard as I could and tried to keep up a good pace. And there was still no sign of cramp which is a miracle! In through the gates of powerscourt I thought I was nearly finished. A steward told me I had 1km of hills ahead of me :mad: I was pretty deflated by that but I persevered and kept my legs spinning up the hill. With that hill over another steward told me that I "had just one little hill to go" :mad: FFS this was a steep fecker of a hill! (Well, at the end of the race it seemed steep) Finally got over that hill and racked my bike and ran to the finish line. Cycle 3 time: 46:46
Overall finish time: 02:10.2
Finished in 11th position which I'm very happy with! All the more so as I did it with a cold! I'm very happy with how this race went, I had a good run and the first 2 cycle were good too but I faded on the last cycle which I'll have to work on.
This is my last planned race of the year so I'm glad I finished on a positive. Well, I say its the last race, but I'm sure something will come up!!:D0 -
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Day: Thursday 29/9
Time of day: 14:21
Pace/type of workout: Av 7:45 m/m
Distance: 13.3m
Time: 1:43:07
Took a few days off after WAR to let my legs recover (I was fairly sore!) and to properly get over a cold. With no races/goals on the horizon I started think about what I could train for in the next few months. The obvious choice to me was the Dublin Marathon... I know that training for such a race takes months of specific training and dedication, and my training has been all over the place with adventure races and shorter road races as my main targets. But I thought that I might have a good enough level of base fitness to get me through a marathon. I haven't ran more than 10k in the last month, so I thought if I could get a 13mile run and an 18-20 mile run in before Monday 3rd of October I could sign up for the DM. So I headed out the door for a 13m run yesterday.
Decided to take a route from my place into deansgrange, ballybrack, killiney (where I could stop for a drink), dalkey, Dun Loaghaire, monkstown and then home. I went out too fast, I was doing a 7m/m which is too fast considering the amount of running Ive gotten in the last month. Felt fine about 5-6miles in when I stopped for a drink. At about 9 miles in I was struggling though really needed a drink, but I had no money and didnt want to go into a pub drenched in sweat! 
So I trudged on home.
Legs are super stiff today. Clearly I should have started back with an 8ish mile run then 13 on the wkend. Obviously a 20m run this wkend would really hurt! So thoughts about the marathon will have to wait until next year when I can put a proper training regime in place. It doesnt matter how fit you are (I would consider myself to be pretty fit) if you havent put in the training, running something like marathon distances are really going to lead to injury.
So I really need a new goal, something to work towards. I dont think training for next years adventure race season will keep me motivated through the winter months 0 -
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Day: Wednesday 5/10
Time of day: 20:09
Pace/type of workout: 6:22m/m average
Distance: 4.5m
Time: 30:14
First "proper" run since WAR. I have been looking at races to do and the Hunters Trail run is next week. I did that race last year and finished 2nd in the 5k:D Not sure if I'll try and go for the win in the 5k or slog it out with the big boys in the 10k :rolleyes:
Anyway, with that in mind I went out for a run last night. Had planned on doing 6miles @6:15 but 2miles in I was struggling and throttled back to around 6:30m/m. After 4 miles I was thoroughly bored (doing laps of that park in deansgrange with no music) so I made for home.
Legs were stiff after, really need to get back into a regular routine for the winter. Speaking of which it might be time for a new log... this "10 mile" thing isnt going to happen anytime soon what with me doing 4th year in college and trying to write a thesis 0 -
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Day: Thursday 6/10
Time of day: 16:27
Pace/type of workout: hills
Distance: 7.7m
Time: 58:32
Got around my usual Killiney route yesterday. Its probably my favourite run route right now. Its still a good challenge and its definitely improving my running Killiney hill was looking particularly lovely yesterday too, the leaves have turned brown and fallen off the trees - its always nice to have something to look at!
Ive started wearing the HRM on runs now because I want to get used to it before I get a turbo trainer (I'll be training mostly by HR) for the winter. On this run my max HR was 186bpm, yesterdays run got it up to 190bpm0 -
Day: Sunday 9/10
Time of day: 13:06
Pace/type of workout: 2 intervals and a.... general run
Distance: 6.6m
Time: 46:04
Had planned on doing track intervals today but when I got to the track in Kilbogget there was a football match on the pitch in the centre of the track, so I did 1 mile laps of Kilbogget instead.
The laps started fine, its essentially one long loop of the park. About half a mile was into a fierce wind so I was nowhere near the pace I wanted to be at :mad: Did this twice before I got so pissed off with the wind that I quit doing intervals and just ran around the park.
Pretty crap run I havent been able to run 'properly' since WAR. I feel like I cant run fast without trying really hard, and when I am running fast it just doesnt feel natural like it used to . On the plus-side my new Adidas Kanadia 4 are a dream to run in:D (even if they are now covered in dog poop:mad:) 0 -
Think its time for change of logs. With 4th year in college in full swing I wont have the time to get back to my 10 mile goal anytime soon I did make huge progress with my 10mile time though, my first attempt at the distance was about 1:30:00 ish and I got that down to 01:04:47 (Frank Duffy) in only a few months so I'm delighted with my progress
Maybe I could have done better, but the distraction of Adventure racing was just too much fun to resist!
Anyway, if you have been reading this, thanks a million. Thanks especially to everyone who replied to the log and gave me suggestions, it was much appreciated!!!
I'll link here to my new log as soon as its up. Link
Bye!0
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