Baby steps

village runner

Easy back on the pace of most of your runs ???
EITHER run easy or hard. CONSTANT days of 4.15-4.20 pace doesnt seem to be working. You know you can do that for nearly a marathon.
Gutted for you.:(

dapope

village runner wrote: »

Easy back on the pace of most of your runs ???
EITHER run easy or hard. CONSTANT days of 4.15-4.20 pace doesnt seem to be working. You know you can do that for nearly a marathon.
Gutted for you.:(

I totally agree with this post. I was a little worried about the pace of your "slow" runs before the race and hinted that to you in a PM. 4:20 is almost marathon pace for a sub 3.

Junk runs at 4:50-5:00 can be difficult/boring especially when your in good shape but thats what is required to fill out the weekly milleage. Your better saving yourself and investing more in the two quality sessions you do in the week.

I still think you were unlucky on the day.

Slogger Jogger

Haven't ran since the marathon. Legs less sore with each passing day. Helping out at the trail race in Glendalough today, a magnificent November day, I really wanted to run. Getting home mid afternoon I togged out and headed up the trails. Felt strangely energised and ran as if I was exorcising some ghost. It really was an incredible day for a run. Cool, clear, sunny. The views from top of the hill behind my house were exquisite. Lugnacoille, Croaghanmoira. All calling out. Pace increased on the downhill, obviously, and the legs were strangely unpained. Really enjoyed this run and days like this are why I run.

11.26k, 336m climb, 4:42 pace.
No splits on the garmin as I forgot to move it off the bike setting
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/126605114

Slogger Jogger

A cool one this morning. Legs a wee bit sore after yesterday so took it handy. This was helped by stopping the odd time to take a few snaps of the surrounding area. Super visibility in the cool November morning. Frosty too in places.

16.84k, 502m climb, 5:03 pace
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/126795770



DSC00002 by Mick Hanney, on Flickr


DSC00006 by Mick Hanney, on Flickr

Slogger Jogger

Rested on Monday and Tuesday, but the full moon and clear sky dragged me out for a pleasant run up and down the trail this evening. Splish sploshed a bit on the muddy lower trail before it opened up higher up. Easy up and easy down (can't quite let go even on the downhill as the visibility underfoot isn't a match for daytime and perspective is altered in the eerie dimness). Most of run was done without the need for headtorch.

10.36k, 5:16 pace, 316m climb
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/127611117

Slogger Jogger

I'd a long race report penned for this yesterday evening but a slip of the mouse and it vanished

So a short report will have to do. A great day weather-wise but conditions underfoot were to be testing and so it proved for me. A big crowd had turned out for this race too which was great to see. Starting promptly at 11.30am I ran at a comfortable pace, the body was still not fully recovered from 2 weeks ago so I wasn't going all out. The first big tough forest ride and the steep grassy climb to Maulin most, including my good self, were reduced to a walking pace. Hitting the top of Maulin the descent is enjoyable. Concentration needed on the rocky bits.. you don't want to hit those or your race is game over. With the mucky conditions I was more tentative than previous races but got down to the Dargle without any problems and neutral in terms of places gained or lost.

Much talk during the week about the Dargle crossing and whether we should attempt it etc without the bridge (washed away in the recent flood). The river was low enough though to allow a stepping stone crossing with river marshalls in place to assist if necessary. I found a steady climbing pace on the far side of the river and plugged away with that for most of the Djouce climb. Past some runners reduced to walking in the early stages of the climb. However, was reduced to a walk for the last few hundred metres of the climb to the Djouce cairn

Quite windy on the top of Djouce in contrast to the mild calm conditions down lower. I was quite tentative on the downhill off Djouce to the boardwalk but gained a few places between the boardwalk and the slippery trail around the flank of the mountain.

Coming down the main Djouce path was to bring an end to a reasonable run. I'd a minor slip heading up this path as it was quite greasy. Coming down I lifted the head to acknowledge Jimmy who was taking photos and in doing so I reckon he got a clear shot of me slipping on my backside , and that was despite wearing good honest inov-8s Bounced up from this slip with just pride injured but a minute later another fall was heavier and it knocked the wind out of me. Sore quad, knee and hand after and my downhill running pace was nearly halfed after as I hobbled on. Contemplated DNFing at the prospect of proceeding slowly to the finish being passed by a flood of runners. Didn't though, dug in a bit and carried out. I lost a fair few places on the run in but managed to cling to another runner who was moving at a similar pace and managed to stretch out a small gap before the finish, to finish in a slow time for this race. Happy to have done it even if the body is a bit bruised and tender today.

15.41k, 831m climb, 6:03 pace
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/128159378

nerraw1111

I was right behind you when you slipped the first time. Heard Jimmy slagging ya for looking up at the camera .

Hope nothing is damaged.

Sandwell

Nice report. It must have been you that I was chatting briefly to in the car park after the race. I witnessed a couple of your slips and I think you may have seen me go over at one point too. Fair play to you for racing on.

Slogger Jogger

Had a busy last 2 days which coincided with me avoiding running as the hurt bits from Saturday took to healing. As of today I've a bruised hand and sore hip and calf, all on the right side where I hit the ground off Djouce. The mild weather today was an added incentive to get out and move the legs. When I ran I'd a noticeable ache in the right upper calf but everything else was fine. Ran from Pottery Rd down to the sea at Monkstown and along the coast to Dun Laoghaire and back directly towards Bakers corner and back to work. The pace was in and around the 4:30 min/k pace throughout which was faster than I had expected. Met Pronator towards the end for the last 2k. He slowed to accomodate me . 9.5k total.

Slogger Jogger

Hooked up with Pronator as a brutal wind blew from the south and the sky had rain written all over it. Nice and easy chatty paced loop apart from the against the wind bit. I'm not running comfortably though, right calf is still playing up. Won't push it.
9.12k, 4:31 pace

Slogger Jogger

4 laps of neighbouring trail.
9.66k, 203m climb, 4:39 pace

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/129452116

Slogger Jogger

Argh, didn't get to run today though I so much wanted to. Instead, I ran rings around the kitchen preparing for friends arriving for dinner this evening.

My morning was based on the trail however. I spent a few hours hunkered down hammering u shaped nails into a new boardwalk in our woods. The nails are designed to give grip to otherwise slippy wood. Many thousands of nails hammered into wood will give repetitive strain. Boardwalk coming on great and it'll be fantastic when its finished.

Serious challenge this evening with runners coming to dinner. No distance and no climb to speak of. Luckily yours truly can read a recipe and translate it into something half tasty so the diners came away happy (at least they said so on front of me - whatever about the 'come dine with me scores' on the way home)

Looking forward to the away leg and to the run tomorrow morning when I can run off some of these calories.

Slogger Jogger

A clear the head run if ever there was one. A few laps of the forest was in order. The 1st one was slow, the 2nd one better, the 3rd one I really felt my age but I eked out a 4th one and felt a lot better for it. Great morning out there.

9.8k, 4:43 pace, 210m climb.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/129765442#

donothoponpop

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Serious challenge this evening with runners coming to dinner. No distance and no climb to speak of. Luckily yours truly can read a recipe and translate it into something half tasty so the diners came away happy (at least they said so on front of me - whatever about the 'come dine with me scores' on the way home)

Great evening. Your starter in particular was delicious, and a wonderful contrast of textures and flavours. I give the overall score of 9. It would have been a perfect 10 but you ran this morning, something I'm not capable of just yet:D

Slogger Jogger

Not much going on around these parts. Heres what I got up to this week:-
Mon: 9.5k, 4:31 pace. Pottery Rd, Monkstown, Dun Laoire.
Tue: 9.15k, 4:44 pace. Torchlight trail run in Annacurra forest.
Wed: 9.2k, 4:20 pace. Pottery Rd, Rochestown Ave, Cherrywood, N11.
Thu: -
Fri: 9.14k, 4:53 pace. Torchlight trail run, Annacurra.
Sat: -
Sun: 14.3k, 4:45 pace. 230m climb. Annacurra forest loops.

& 4 (I think) 10 min strength exercise stints.

51k total for the week. Calf still giving me gip so I better watch that. Enjoying the running for running sake with no targets on the horizon at the moment. Particularly like the evening runs. Difficult to get out the door on the dark nights but once you do theres a great sense of well-being for having done it.

PositiveNegativ

How about a few 5.XX and 3.XX days?

Variety and all that.

Slogger Jogger

@pn. Would love to. Short days, so-so weather, and laziness are putting paid to that goal so far, so I need to toughen up and get the 3.xx sessions in in particular.

Slogger Jogger

Mon: 9.22k, 4:43 pace, 114m climb, Trail loops by torchlight
Tue: 9k, 4:58 pace, 285m climb, Road torchlight hill reps
Wed: -
Thu: 9.67k, 4:49 pace, 193m climb, Trail loops early evening
Fri: -
Sat: 11.25k, 5:13 pace, 408m climb, Hill run
Sun: 16k, 5:21 pace, 570m climb, Same as yesterday with more hills with lots of rain. Felt good.
& a couple of strength exercises in there too.

55k for the week.

donothoponpop

That's a good week SJ. I agree with PosNeg in the "unasked for advice" department; its great to see you mixing up the paces a little.

Roll on the WL!

Slogger Jogger

donothoponpop wrote: »

That's a good week SJ. I agree with PosNeg in the "unasked for advice" department; its great to see you mixing up the paces a little.

Roll on the WL!

Cheers. Its not the weather for fast runs and I'm not in the form for it but I'm enjoying getting back into the hills and I could have done a bit more today too. I spun past our new Annacurra trail on the way back home today and its pretty much finished and looking good. It makes for pretty good torch lit running as the surface underfoot is pretty reliable.

Slogger Jogger

Mon: 9.5k, 184m climb, 5:21 pace Torchlight trail running
Tues: -
Weds: 8.84k, 261m climb, 4:55 pace, Moonlit hilly road reps
Thurs: 8.25k, 4:07 pace, Treadmill running.
Fri: 12k, 393m climb, 5:27 pace, Moonlit trail running.
Sat: 7.1k, 110m climb, 4:48 pace, Easy run to and from shops
Sun: Carnew Santa Dash “5k”, actual distance 7.2k, 139m climb, 4:06 pace

53k for the week over 6 running days.
A few strength exercise sessions thrown in.

Slogger Jogger

The first I heard of this race was when donothoponpop triumphed here last year. It was been a secret target of mine since then. I've been counting down the days to this day as my 2011 running has all led to this

Picked up dp early doors on way to Carnew in what was pretty good weather for December. It was fairly mild and the rain held off, thankfully. Running in a wet santa suit wouldn’t have been much fun

On registration we were given our santa suit outfits. A one-size fits all trousers, jacket, hat and beard combination. Trying to tie the 60 inch waist santa trousers around my 30 inch waist was interesting. A spare lace I had did the trick. With dp’s knowledge from last year we benefitted from some well appointed safety pins to tie down the otherwise flappy outfit. The shortest warm up run ever followed to the honking horns of Carnew traffic who must have gotten a laugh from the sight.

At the appointed time myself and dp took our place outside the pint depot (real name) pub in Carnew. No sign of anyone. 20 mins or so later the other entrants arrived out of the pub to form a start line of sorts.

On ‘go’ the young kids in the line up took off sprinting down the street. The first k or so is downhill before swinging up towards the main drag which makes up most of the race. I didn’t think I was fast in the 1st k, but I still managed to take the lead from the young children and the lead 'van' before the main climb. Way to go Mick. I didn’t know the route so I was hoping for some signs along the way to guide me. Paced myself reasonably well on the climb and picked it up whenever the gradient eased up. Hadn’t a clue where I was in the context of the race as I didn’t look behind me at all until the closing stages. At a main junction on the hill the van had just about over-taken me again and stopped to show me the way. The next junction there was no signs, but I guessed it must be downhill as we’d already ran more than 4k of the expected 5k (though dp had reckoned 7 would be nearer the distance by the time we finished). The downhill was pretty good. Straight downhill on a decent road with the town in view below. Happy enough with the downhill splits for a santa claus suit run, as its not exactly something you'd practice . The sting in the tail came at the end of the hill when a short steep hill before the main street beckoned.

Paced the last uphill okay and then onto the home straight on the main street to the pint depot. Crossed the finish line under the gallery of balloons, a happy santa.

Hung around in the pub afterwards with dp and his neighbour who had finished 3rd and 2nd respectively. The 2nd was 1st lady and is surely in contention for a Boards relay place as she seems quite the runner on the hills ;-)

Funds from the race today were shared between Console who are a local suicide prevention charity and carnew afc soccer club. For €15 we got a santa suit which will come in use over future xmas's with the kiddies. We got a medal crossing the line and I got the Carnew santa dash trophy. No-one can ever take that away from me! Okay, if they are bigger than me they might... A great value race and a good social vibe about it.

A slow time for a 7.2k run, but in my defense it was in a santa suit and it was kinda hilly. Training starts in 2012 for the title defence. Can we get more local boardsies out?

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/133961064
7.2k, 139m climb, 4:06 pace, santa suit

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Sun: Carnew Santa Dash “5k”, actual distance 7.2k

Close enough then:rolleyes:

Abhainn

Some lively k's in there even in your 60in size Santa suite:D
Great victory SJ

Slogger Jogger

I've been ticking over nicely over the Christmas keeping the calories in and out nicely balanced. No particular run of any great significance up until today. Left the house with an objective of running to Drumgoff via as much trail and as little road as practically possible, and with a view of keeping the distance c. 25k. Left just before 2 so I couldn't hang around or I'd be hitting daylight problems later if I did. Ran an unavoidable backroads bit of c. 6k before entering forest trails under Rosahane. A nice traily bit followed before I crossed the road and entered more very nice and little travelled trail which brought me past Coolgarrow mountain. The pace was easy enough. The hard bit started next. The climb to Croaghanmoira was steady and slow and heading up towards windy foggy weather. Lots of water streaming down the trail. Touching the trig point I followed the widest trail down towards the road adjacent to Slieve Mann. The 'as the crow flies' path was too water logged so I diverted left for better footing. A short roady section followed before I was onto the Wicklow way which I'd follow to Drumgoff. It was getting pretty dim in the woods at this stage and I was surprised by the climbs encountered as intuitively you'd expect mainly downhill. Legs were getting tired and the very soft ground in sections didn't help. Was glad to see the barrier onto the road and the last road bit to Drumgoff. Met up with Pablo T and a pal who had ran from Marley there today (and they'll do the reverse tomorrow)! A nice bit of grub and couple of drinks followed before the OH collected me. Very mild today. Hard to believe its late December!
24.5k, 779m climb. Pace: handy
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/136850243

BeepBeep67

Nice trot - when are we doing the annual 'newly improved' Annacurragh trail follow by pints in the Salty?

Slogger Jogger

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Nice trot - when are we doing the annual 'newly improved' Annacurragh trail follow by pints in the Salty?

How are you fixed on Thurs mid afternoon? Pub hours are part-time ish but over Christmas I hope it'll be open by the time we've done a few loops.

BeepBeep67

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

How are you fixed on Thurs mid afternoon? Pub hours are part-time ish but over Christmas I hope it'll be open by the time we've done a few loops.

Already have a commitment to run Avondale again at 9am Thurs - but flexible any other day up to the 4th.

Slogger Jogger

Prompted by dp I'll put electronic pen to paper on a new year's log. My training log updates will be mainly of the weekly variety unless there is a particular race or something that I feel the need to give voice to.

After injury impacted 2011 I am glad to be back to injury free running. I've been running most days through Christmas and the new year and all is well on that front.

I'm running for enjoyment at the moment. That said, I'm going to target the Debra Ireland Wicklow Mountains half marathon on 11th March as a race to focus on. I'm following my own schedule which spans the 10 weeks from the start of Jan. Linky: http://www.debraireland.org/

I've been asked to help out with the organisation of this half marathon. After meeting some of the Debra team and seeing the work they do I am only too happy to do so. I'd urge readers of this log to do this race or sponsor someone who is doing it. Funding is desperately needed for their research.

Anyways, onto the actual running stuff. Here's what the first week looked like. A challenging week both weather-wise and short winter days wise.

• Mon 13.5k hill run, moderate effort
• Tue 10k recovery paced run on the treadmill. Too windy to do anything outdoors.
• Wed 30 mins on turbo trainer, followed by another 5k on the treadie, pace easy.
• Thu 10k. An out and back torchlight road run. Moderate pace. 4.31
• Fri 8k torchlight road run inc. a no. of steady hill reps.
• Sat 14.5k road loop, 4:21 pace
• Sun 20.7k road and hill run. Deliberately slow. 5:28 Climb was tough > 500m.

Happy with week 1. 82k for week. Included a couple of strengh sessions. I average 10 mins of exercises. They are handy as they can literally be done on the mat on front of the fireplace while the telly is on. I hope I'll feel the benefit for doing them.

At the weekends I'll need to replicate race conditions which will be 21k of a hilly route. Distance wise and terrain wise its a good fit for me. I'm at home in the hills and whether I like it or not thats where most of my training happens.

Happy running guys.

T runner

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Prompted by dp I'll put electronic pen to paper on a new year's log. My training log updates will be mainly of the weekly variety unless there is a particular race or something that I feel the need to give voice to.

After injury impacted 2011 I am glad to be back to injury free running. I've been running most days through Christmas and the new year and all is well on that front.

I'm running for enjoyment at the moment. That said, I'm going to target the Debra Ireland Wicklow Mountains half marathon on 11th March as a race to focus on. I'm following my own schedule which spans the 10 weeks from the start of Jan. Linky: http://www.debraireland.org/

I've been asked to help out with the organisation of this half marathon. After meeting some of the Debra team and seeing the work they do I am only too happy to do so. I'd urge readers of this log to do this race or sponsor someone who is doing it. Funding is desperately needed for their research.

Anyways, onto the actual running stuff. Here's what the first week looked like. A challenging week both weather-wise and short winter days wise.

• Mon 13.5k hill run, moderate effort
• Tue 10k recovery paced run on the treadmill. Too windy to do anything outdoors.
• Wed 30 mins on turbo trainer, followed by another 5k on the treadie, pace easy.
• Thu 10k. An out and back torchlight road run. Moderate pace. 4.31
• Fri 8k torchlight road run inc. a no. of steady hill reps.
• Sat 14.5k road loop, 4:21 pace
• Sun 20.7k road and hill run. Deliberately slow. 5:28 Climb was tough > 500m.

Happy with week 1. 82k for week. Included a couple of strengh sessions. I average 10 mins of exercises. They are handy as they can literally be done on the mat on front of the fireplace while the telly is on. I hope I'll feel the benefit for doing them.

At the weekends I'll need to replicate race conditions which will be 21k of a hilly route. Distance wise and terrain wise its a good fit for me. I'm at home in the hills and whether I like it or not thats where most of my training happens.

Happy running guys.

Good to see the log back, will follow with interest. Looks like a great course.
Ive always wanted to try a brick sessions. I suppose it teaches the legs to pick up the speed a little again after using the hill running muscles?

Slogger Jogger

I wouldn't call them brick sessions yet - they are too short for that. I couldn't face more than 5k on the treadie again so I divided the time between it and the turbo (which is out in the garden shed, so thats a fairly remote experience )

Slogger Jogger

• Mon: 8.2k. Easy run around Deansgrange. 4:47 pace
• Tue: 9.75k. warm up; 8 x 400m with 1 min recovery; warm down. Unlit track and gale made it difficult. Probably only ran at 90%.
• Wed: 11.5k Torchlit road run. 4:47 pace.
• Thu: 10k. warm up; 8 short hard uphills with full recovery / jog back. Warm down
• Fri 8k Easy Treadmill run.
• Sat: 12.8k Easy trail run with donothoponpop. 5:15 pace
• Sun: 22.2k run over road, trail and hill. 427m climb. 5:04 pace. Cushbawn hill Aughrim. Really I must run here more. Its like an old lost friend this hill. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/141826133

A decent week’s running considering the time of year. Particularly happy with the run today. Wasn't zonked at end of it unlike last week.

Wtd: 82k
Ytd: 177k

Slogger Jogger

• Mon: 10k torchlit run. 5:17 pace
• Tue: 10k torchlit road run with hills. 4:27 pace
• Weds: 10k hill run. 5:27 pace
• Thurs: rest. Left ankle niggling me.
• Fri 8k Treadmill run. Alternating slow and fast pace for 500m a time, and increasing pace throughout. 4:19 pace overall avg.
• Sat: Road and trail loop. 13k. 5:04 pace. Felt rubbish.
• Sun: 17k out and out hill run. Squeezed this in on Sunday late afternoon, http://connect.garmin.com/activity/143781559 Wasn’t thinking about pace, more about time on my feet and getting the hills in. Took a few other trail options and climbed reasonably throughout. Steady and consistent at least. Finished run squinting through the near dark to see where I was going. Body and spirit feeling all the better for it.

Squeezed in some strength training minutes and 2 short Turbo sessions this week too. I could be imagining it but I'm feeling that this is helping the climbing legs.

Happy to have dumped the running streak thing. I need to be sensible and take rest days as and when appropriate. Happy enough with running this week as it was a busy week in work.

Wtd: 68k
Ytd: 245k

Slogger Jogger

Mon: 8k, treadmill run, 5 min k pace
Tue: 8.8k, torchlit road run, inc. 8 x 400s.
Wed: 10k, treadmill run, 4:48 pace
Thu: 10.7k, torchlit road and trail run, 175m climb, 5 min k pace
Fri: 9.3k run on grass in Shangannagh park. 4:35 pace
Sat: 14.25k, 287m climb, 4:51 pace. Cabinteely, Lead Mines, & section of Dublin Mountain way loop.
Sun: 17.65k, 468m climb, 5:11 pace. Hill run in the rain. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/145557786 Really enjoyed this. Ran steady throughout.

Ticking over nicely despite the weather, short evenings and such. Registered for Dingle marathon on 1st September.

wtd: 79k
ytd: 323k

Krusty_Clown

Sounds like a nice run on Saturday. If you head up nearby Mine Hill Road, you'll find it a lot less sloppy and it'll take you to the Smelting Tower too. There's a path up from the top of Quarry Road too (the hill on Quarry Road is fun!) but it too could be quite sloppy. Or just give me a shout, and I'll give you the grand tour.

Slogger Jogger

• Mon: Donated platelets so rested today as a precaution.
• Tue: Torchlit road loop. 9k. 168m climb. 4:32 pace
• Wed: 8k fartlek treadmill run. 4:34 avg pace. 20 mins on Turbo trainer.
• Thu: 9k treadmill run. Escalating pace through. 4:11 pace avg.
• Fri: 11.4k Easy paced torchlit road and trail run. 135m climb. 4:47 pace.
• Sat: 14k. Loops of forest trail. 305m climb. 4:47 pace
• Sun. 10k bike, 9k hill run, 10k bike. Run had 396m climb. 6:46 pace. Pace very easy. Cycles easy paced too.

6 days running. 60k. Pretty good week, with turbo and bike sessions in there too. No niggles to speak of. 5 weeks out from half marathon.

Slogger Jogger

• Mon: 10k, torchlit road and trail run, 154m climb, moderate effort, 4:45 pace
• Tue: 10k, torchlit road run, 167m climb ,moderate effort, 4:43 pace
• Wed: 10k treadmill, easy effort, 4:48 pace
• Thu: 9k, treadmill, hard effort 4:04 pace
• Fri: 8k, treadmill, easy effort, 4:38 pace
• Sat: 16.4k, road, trail and grass, moderate effort, 154m climb, 4:35 pace
• Sun: 5.5k, trail, very easy effort. 105m climb, 5:05 pace. Helping at IMRA race so had to curtail running today.

69k for week. Reasonable week but the novelty of running with torchlight is wearing off. Need more light in the evenings.

ocnoc

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

the novelty of running with torchlight is wearing off. Need more light in the evenings.

Vary the route you run with a head lamp - whip out a map and find a track you have never run up (there is always at least one) and do it at night.
You might a) break your neck or b) find a new awesome route!

Slogger Jogger

Best running week in a while...

• Mon: 10.5k, 4:52 pace, 176m climb. Torchlit mainly road run.
• Tue: 8.47k, Hill reps x 6. 329m climb. 4:54 pace. Torchlit reps. Steady up, fast down. No rest stops.
• Wed: 10.49k, 4:55 pace, 158m climb. Torchlit road and trail run.
• Thu: 10k Treadmill run, 3:57 pace.
• Fri: 15k, 4:36 pace. 192m climb. Mixed road and trail run.
• Sat: 16.1k, 4:58 pace, 364m climb. 4 Trail loops of c. 4k each with lots of undulating hills.
• Sun: 22.19k, 4:49 pace,437m climb. LSR with road, trail and hills. This run had everything. Stopped for half a min to admire the views. Loved it. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/150893428

92k for the week over 7 running days. A very good week for me training wise.

Slogger Jogger

Reckoned on a step back week of sorts after last week.

• Mon: Easy treadmill run, 8k 5 min/k pace
• Tue: Rest day to make & eat pancakes
• Wed: 9.8k torchlit road and trail run. 4:43 pace, 148m climb
• Thu: 10k torchlit road and trail run. 4:31 pace, 167m climb
• Fri: 45 minutes on the Turbo Trainer.
• Sat: 13.43 mainly on trail. Temp ish. 4:23 pace. 208m climb.
• Sun: c. 20k out and out hill run, inc. this Circuit of Glendalough recce. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/152749453 15.5k, 960m climb. 9min/k pace.
  
• 5 days running. 60.5k for the week. & 2 turbo training sessions and a few exercise sessions thrown in.

Circuit of Glendalough:
This race isn't until June but got a txt from Dermot to join him for a recce. Weather conditions looked dodge early on but it ended up being a perfect day for it.

A great run this. Very testing initial climb. Legs sore from yesterday so walked the steep initial climb. The track to the top was very sloppy but visibility was great. Pace was handy, chatting away with Dermot. Reached the top in 45 mins. Veered south. Very slippery and boggy underfoot and this took us down to the river crossing at about 60 mins in. Straight up the other side and met the trail to Lugduff to approach the cairn from the right direction without any back-tracking. Its nice when the visibility is good! Jogged the trail down to the Wicklow way and power-walked the other side to Mullacor. The run from there to Derrybawn was very boggy in places. Watch said 2:10 by the time we got to the end of Derrybawn which was at a very handy chatting pace.

Took the direct line off Derrybawn down towards the bridge at the top of the Polanass waterfall. Race finish will be there or thereabouts near the end of the waterfall trail. Jogged the trail back to the lower lake car park.

Abhainn

Nice pics Mick. The one with you in it is good too but would be better if your hairy face and yourself wasn't in it:D. No razors down there in south Wickla?

Oh nice sessions in there too

donothoponpop

Abhainn wrote: »

No razors down there in south Wickla?

He's in training for next years Santa Dash, reckons the fake beard added too much time.

Great shots Mick, wish I could have joined ya.

Pronator

Abhainn wrote: »

Nice pics Mick. The one with you in it is good too but would be better if your hairy face and yourself wasn't in it:D. No razors down there in south Wickla?

Oh nice sessions in there too

Its cast away Mick, ship wrecked in Annacurra

Slogger Jogger

Taa guys. Hey road runners, join us up in the hills. Its perfect for racing flats Its the only way I'll gain time on ye.

donothoponpop

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Taa guys. Hey road runners, join us up in the hills. Its perfect for racing flats Its the only way I'll gain time on ye.

Stop prosthelytizing! Feck off road runners; keep the hills nice and lonely and goody-bag-free.

Bunch a' self-congratulatory clean-shaven sophisticates.

(Excluding Pronator and Abhainn and anyone else fast who will be part of the Boards WWRelay team)

Slogger Jogger

Today's run got me back in the mood to run in the hills. Bring on the Glacial lakes.

The beardy look will be gone in a month. I reckon the forthcoming half marathon and the Wickla way trail and then its for dispatching Must be worth 1/2 a sec a kilometre at least.

Slogger Jogger

• Mon: 9.43k, 4:51 pace, 173m climb. Easy paced
• Tue: 9.71k, 4:38 pace, 117m climb. Increased pace marginally from yesterday. Still felt easy.
• Wed: 10.39k, 4:34 pace, 164m climb. Torchlit run over trail and road. Fartlek in nature. Pushed pace on and off.
• Thu: 8.39, 4:28 pace,102m climb. Trail loops. Medium intensity.
• Fri: Rested today before race in the morning
• Sat: IMRA Winter League race on Maulin.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/154382945
7.91k, 5:59 pace, 490m climb. 1st race of any sort this year. Wanted to test myself with a race before next week’s half marathon, but didn’t want to go all out. Strided out the climbs and didn’t really lose ground to those around me. Made progress on the downhills and had my sights on picking up places on the fireroad finish. However, forgot the sting in the tail of the last climb, which took that chance away. Was very close to Timaay at the end but didn’t have the young lads road speed. Very happy with the race considering. 11th and 1st M40.

• Sun: 22.16k, 4:51 pace, 428m climb.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/154729904
LSR of sorts on a route that I’ve ran 3 other times in this training block. Kept pace easy and stopped on occasion to take photos. Wanted to cover a half marathon distance but keep the effort low after yesterday’s race, so happy enough with this.

6 running days this week. 70.6k

Will ease the running days over the coming week in the lead up to the half marathon on March 11th.

Slogger Jogger

• Mon: Tired after the weekend, so opted for 30 mins on the Turbo trainer to get the legs going.
• Tue: Comfortable 9k on the treadmill, 4:48 pace
• Wed: 2 runs. 8.75 at 4:34 with Pronator at lunchtime. Then very easy 5.3k on the trails in the evening. 4:54 pace
• Thu: 10.6k hill run at 5:01 pace. Explored a new route which climbs behind Aughrim. Lots of potential up there for further running. I shall go back.
• Fri: 5.47k trail run at 4:39 pace. Easing out the legs.
• Sat: Rested the legs. 30 mins on the Turbo trainer easy enough.

Sun: Debra Ireland Wicklow Mountains Half Marathon.
21.28k at 4:46 pace with 446m of climb. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/156871759

I’ve had a reasonable 10 weeks of training in the lead up to this. Its hard to train on the hard winter nights when the weather is against you so on balance I’m pretty happy with what I’ve managed to do (all things considered work, life, balance and all that).

Felt good this morning and the weather was just brilliant. Couldn’t be better. Having ran this event 2 years ago in a decent time of 1:40ish my hope today was to be there or thereabouts that time. I recognised some familiar faces at the start, the likes of Bernard Fortune and Aengus Burke. Aengus is a quality runner and the route should suit him. Wore my usual inov8s and they worked well on the day. Anyone wearing road shoes would have been slipping and sliding at various stages.

We were ferried to the start by a fleet of buses. The start was delayed as the bus driver didn’t know where the start was. He tried a couple of trail heads before we arrived at the right one. The start was a slightly uphill and I started in a small bunch at the lead. After a few k it had stretched out and Aengus and another runner had moved out a bit. For much of the initial section I ran beside a Sliabh Buithe runner from Ferns that I didn’t recognise but I gathered that it was David Leonard who Rene Borg had mentioned to me. He looked like a good runner. ¼ way in I was probably in 6th place. The underfoot conditions were quite soft and boggy at this stage. Ferns runner lost a shoe in the bog twice in quick succession and this allowed me to move ahead but my momentum was steady if unspectacular. Reached the Wicklow gap where they had a water station. It was around about this time that I first saw Bernard who went past effortlessly as is his want. He told me later though he was suffering. Back pain was causing him some problems. I also found out later that Aengus and 2nd runner had gone astray at the Wicklow gap. It beats me how, but they lost a fair bit of time (unknownst to the rest of us as we hadn’t see them go wrong). Aengus would finish after me but DNFed.

As our race had started late we began to run into the backmarkers of a 10k race that had started at the Wicklow Gap. They were good sports though and moved aside as the faster half marathoners were coming through. As we approached Glendalough and ran along a road the Ferns runner reappeared at my shoulder and moved strongly ahead. The road bit wasn’t filling me with any great love and I lost time here.

We reached Glendalough and another climb up towards trails towards Brockagh beckoned. Whereas 2 years ago I kept the legs turning today I struggled a bit. The unusually warm conditions could have been a factor but I lost time here that I shouldn’t have. Lost another place here too. I fully expected to see Ema Donlon materialise past me on the uphill as she is such a strong uphiller but this didn’t happen. Happily, as the route went around the side of Brockagh my running mojo started to come back and the legs started to move. Only 3k to go. That last 3k went fairly quickly but I was never near enough to challenge for another place. On the run in I saw Bernard Fortune not far ahead so I guess he lost time as I don’t think I gained it. Finished in 1:41:11 by my watch that’s about a minute slower than 2 years back. Results just in and show I'm 5th, just behind Bernard. I know I can do better. My time from 2 years back would have had me 3rd.

Ferns runner David Leonard won in 1:37ish. Thats roughly 2 mins slower than last year's winning time I think. Not sure who was 2nd? Bernard was just pipped into 4th at the line by all accounts.
Ema Donlon was 1st lady home, 2 or so minutes after me. Great result for her.

A great event and glad to see that it was such a success for Debra Ireland who do great work.

DigiJem

Great run today SJ, and good to meet you earlier.

Slogger Jogger

I don't have short term objectives so I'm not motivated enough to keep the log regularly updated. Since the Debra race I've been running 6 days out of 7 and ticking over nicely.

Last weekend I ran the imra Wicklow way trail race. At 25k with 800m of climb its a toughy. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/161035448 Still, I was quietly happy with my days work in the hills. 16th place was pretty good considering. The runners above me were all quality. I ran conservatively as I was protecting a few niggles. Despite that I was within a minute of the last time I ran this 2 years ago so a decent result all in.

This week it was a case of trying in vain to shake of DOMs and further niggles exacerbated by the WWT race. Pronator had talked me into doing the bhaa race this weekend as our work had its annual championship race within the bhaa race and each work location could have a team of 3 so I was volunteered to race . I was walking wounded up to yesterday, including having an ache in the lower back [too much sitting hunched over laptops in work]. Some hot rub on the back helped to dispel the discomfort.

bhaa 4 mile race report

This was a step into the unknown for me. A first bhaa race. A first 4 mile race. And it was flat. Got there early and the pre-race logistics went like clockwork. Fair play bhaa volunteers. Met some of my BOI colleagues / foes I haven't been to St Annes Park in ages. I'd forgotten how nice it was here. Really was pleasant and if you lived around here you have a great resource at your doorstep.

My pre race warm up was more of a pre race hobble. I couldn't get going at all and my running gait was pretty awful from accumulated aches. Toed the line nervously near the front more out of stupid optimism that anything else. As a 2 lap race I was hoping to run within myself and still have something left for the 2nd lap.

This was always going to be a challenge for me. I don't do fast training full stop unless you count using gravity running down a hill.

The wide avenue we ran on was perfectly flat and great for avoiding congestion. I started okay but runners gradually started to drift past me in the first half of lap 1. My breathing was controlled and my stride was reasonably okay too. Over the 2nd half of lap 1 I made up a couple of places. I think the shout for 2 mile was 11.28.

Into the 2nd lap. I improved a couple more places and I got to running in a mini group of 4 which reduced to 3 1/4 of the way in. The loop was nice that you could see the faster runners up ahead of you and also look sideways and see those behind you keen to take your place. My 2nd lap was slower, but I was still running reasonably controlled and as we moved from road to the park for the 2nd time I was in a good position tucked in between on my group of 3. When we hit the avenue with c. 500m to go I felt good enough to stride out and move ahead solo mode towards the finish. Finished just ahead of our 3 group.

1st ever 4 miler and a sub 24 min time (47th place). So happy days. Brief warm down with Pronator (8th place!), Joe and Niall from work. Nice relaxed scene afterwards with tea and lots of fruit cake. Yum.

Thanks bhaa. I'll be back.