Running Under the Influence of Jack Daniels

neilc

Great race Barry, delighted for you, some improvement in 12 months!

beeduybe

Part 2 - Running Under the Influence of Jack Daniels

No I haven't changed my training focus to the beer (or whiskey!) mile

After the success of Part 1 of my log '2012 - A PB Odyssey' where I managed to meet and surpass all my goals for the year I'm now moving onto Part 2 'Running Under the Influence of Jack Daniels'. Despite having been very happy with how my training went for DCM I don't have much of an appetite to go straight back into a marathon training plan so have decided to go a different direction and follow Daniels 24 week 5k-15k plan with the principal aim of knocking some more chunks off my PB's.

The Season Plan (Provisional)

Phase 1 - Recovery / Foundation & Injury Prevention Phase
October 30 - December 30
Marathon recovery / base building phase.
This phase will consist of predominantly easy running with a few races thrown in and the odd speed session to keep me sane. Plan is to get some 50ish mile weeks before starting phase 2 in the new year.

Phase 2 - Early Quality Training
December 31 - February 10
Lots of strides and reps to introduce faster workouts and build good mechanics. Trying to get in at least 2 of Daniels quality sessions in these weeks as well as a few XC races.

Phase 3 - Transition Quality Training
February 11 - March 31
The most stressful, event specific phase of the plan. Lots of vo2max training with a strong emphasis on intervals. Planning on doing the Meath Half in early March so plan at the moment is to extend this phase by a week to allow for a taper and recovery period.

Phase 4 - Final Quality Training
April 1 - May 12
The period where my performances should peak if all goes well. Strong emphasis on threshold training in this phase.

I won’t commit to any goal races towards the end of the plan just yet or target specific times as it will be a lot easier to predict these things on how training is going instead of trying to overreach or possibly limit myself by aiming for what may become a soft target.

pconn062

Great plan beeduybe, it's nice not to see "i've run a marathon, now I need to run another one straight away!" I am doing the Daniel's 5-15k plan myself, sort of in the middle of phase 1 at the minute. Will be starting phase 2 in a few weeks so will be a few weeks ahead of you, you can see how much I'm struggling with the sessions before attempting them yourself!

The_Boy_Wonder

Nice plan there Beeduybe. I was considering something similar to work on pace, but unfortunately I'm a marathon junkie so going for a Spring marathon again.

I'm not very familiar with Daniel's plans so it'll be interesting to see what it entails and how well it'll serve you. No doubt you be taking lumps off 2012's PBs

beeduybe

Post DCM:

Sunday 4th November - Tuesday 20th November
Easy running. Nothing too exciting.

Wednesday 21st November
Decided to go up to Claremont Stadium in Navan for the South O'Hanlon 3k time trial. Wasn't hugely motivated for this but decided to try and introduce some speed of some sort back into my running. Just before the start it was announced that there would also run a 1 mile race after the 3k and if it wasn't for the fact I was already lining up for the 3k I may opted to just do that instead as I was planning a sub 6 minute mile attempt in February but the race was cancelled and I never got around to doing another one.

Despite the fact I actually set a stand alone 3k PB of 11:52 I felt really rusty and struggled the whole way through and really when I should have been digging in over the last few laps I was too happy to sit in where I was and count down the laps as I was too far behind those in front and too far ahead of those behind. With proper preparation and training I should be able to lower that time considerably.

A couple of minutes later the runners in the mile race were lining up so I made a spur of the moment decision to join them. I knew I needed the speed work after the 3k and I was interested to see if I could pull out a sub 6 min mile on tired legs. There was a considerably smaller field for the mile - 7 people I think. The whistle went off and the standard was quite high in this one as the front 5 went off at a ferocious pace. I tried to hang onto the group but they gradually started to drift way. Went through the first lap in 84 seconds. Too fast? Probably. Was well behind the leaders and well in front of last place for the rest of the race so I was effectively on my own from here on in. 2:58 was called when I passed halfway. I was knackered now and the lactic acid buildup wasn't making me run any faster. Anyway two 95ish second laps later I struggled home in a time of 6:11...

Friday 23rd November
6.5 mile recovery run around Ringsend Park at lunchtime before the BHAA XC in Santry tomorrow.

Month|Miles
November|128.49
Total|1,758.62

beeduybe

pconn062 wrote: »

you can see how much I'm struggling with the sessions before attempting them yourself!

Hmm I think I'll be unfollowing your log with immediate effect

The_Boy_Wonder wrote: »

Nice plan there Beeduybe. I was considering something similar to work on pace, but unfortunately I'm a marathon junkie so going for a Spring marathon again.

I'm not very familiar with Daniel's plans so it'll be interesting to see what it entails and how well it'll serve you. No doubt you be taking lumps off 2012's PBs

Thanks. I can see you pulling off some big PB's in the not too distant future yourself. Did I read on your log that you're doing the Jingle Bells 5k? Going to give it a go myself. Looks like a very fast course for the Phoenix Park.

neilc

love the new title Barry, best of luck with it !!!

The_Boy_Wonder

beeduybe wrote: »

Thanks. I can see you pulling off some big PB's in the not too distant future yourself. Did I read on your log that you're doing the Jingle Bells 5k? Going to give it a go myself. Looks like a very fast course for the Phoenix Park.

Yeah that's the plan. Prob as fast a 5k as the park could serve up, so I won't be able to blame S bends or the hills in and out of the glen for a poor run! I'm sure I can find a different excuse though! Best of luck in it. I think there's a good few other boardsies doing it.

beeduybe

BHAA Irish Life 6k XC
Pretty cold conditions when I arrived at Santry Demesne this morning but a couple of warm up laps before the start and I didn't notice the cold any more. The spikes were definitely needed for this one as there was no shortage of muck to get through on the 4 lap course.

First lap was pretty crowded in places but this seemed to suit me as it didn't allow me to take off too fast. Once the field opened out a little I settled into a consistent pace and tried to stay on the dryer ground if possible but this was getting harder to find as the race progressed.

Without having to significantly increase my intensity or pace in the last 2 laps I started picking off runners up ahead and passing them as they really started to tire in the tough conditions. With about half a lap to go I made an attempt to try and catch a group that were a good bit ahead and managed to catch two of them coming up towards the last bend before the finish. I made an early attempt at a sprint finish as I thought I'd be able to hold them off if they tried to go with me but one of them stayed on my shoulder and managed to pip me on the line.

The watch showed a time of 26:30 which I'm quite happy with. My mile splits were 7:07, 7:03, 7:01 and 6:52 (average pace for last .78 mile) so shows an unusually consistent run for me gradually getting faster as the race progressed. The marathon training has definitely improved my stamina and endurance as it was very apparent how much stronger I was than those I was passing in the closing stages.

3.78 Miles in 26:30. Average Pace 7:01.

Month|Miles
November|137.86
Total|1,768.00

beeduybe

Sunday 25th November
6.33 Miles @ 8:54. Recovery Run.

Tuesday 27th November
9 miles at lunchtime out by Clontarf. Mix of footpath and grass.

Wednesday 28th November
7.69 Miles @ 8:06
With the Jingle Bells 5k on Saturday I wanted to get my legs used to some sort of fast running so decided to do a fartlek type run. After a couple of miles warm up I started doing a few speed bursts of about 100m or so around Sean Moore Park before having to cut that short as I needed the bathroom so made a pit stop at Irishtown Stadium. As I was now next door to Ringsend Park I decided to move the session there and do a few laps of the park at tempo pace before a couple of miles cool down on the way back to work. I'd adjusted too well to the faster running though and ended up doing the cool down miles closer to MP.

Thursday 29th November
30 minute cycle on gym bike followed by some core work.

Friday 30th November
5.12 Miles @ 8:53.
Ran at recovery pace to keep the legs fresh for the race.

Sat 1st December
Jingle Bells 5k - 19:40
Signed up for this a couple of weeks ago to help get me back into the habit of fast running / racing before I start into the 5-15k Daniels Plan. Wasn't exactly sure what to expect given my lack of 5k specific training but plan A was a PB of sub 19:47 with Plan B being at least sub 20.

Was warming up on the grass to the side of the start line when I'm pretty sure I heard it announced that there was 10 minutes to the start so decided to discard my extra layers, put them in a bag and drop them in the baggage van which was behind the start area. What couldn't have been any more than 5 minutes later I was jogging my way back to the start line towards the sub 20 pen. Just as I was about to enter the pen I realised that the sub 20 runners were gone and the race had already started :eek:
I hopped in to the pen and by looking at the Santa hats etc around me I realised that I was a hell of a lot further back down the field than I would have liked. Thankfully there was a mat on the start line so my time wouldn't be registered as the gun time. Once I passed the start line I immediately took to the grass on the side on the road in order to avoid getting caught up in congestion behind Rudolph and Co...

I was back on the road by the turn towards the Papal Cross car park as the crowd had thinned out a lot. Passed the 1k marker in 3:57 so was still on target but I had nobody to run with down Chesterfield Avenue as I constantly overtaking people. Both the 2nd and 3rd k saw me picking out runners up ahead and overtaking them with ease while maintaining an even pace as both splits were exactly 4 mins.

I knew the last 2k had a lot of downhill so this kept me going as I knew I could push a little harder and still let the hill do some of the work. I was now running alongside a girl who seemed to increase her effort just as I was about to pass her and she started to move ahead of me and despite my best efforts to keep with her she gradually started to increase the gap so for the first time in the race I had a proper target to chase. The 4k split was 3:5x so knew I was going pretty well with a strong downhill last k to go.

She was absolutely flying now and I knew I wasn't going to catch her or anybody else up ahead and I wasn't going to be caught by those behind either so kept my focus on reaching the turn onto the finishing straight which was coming into view in the distance. With about 50m to go I could see the clock was showing 20:15 but I had no idea how far back I had started to gauge what sort of time I was on for. Stopped my watch on crossing the line and was pleasantly surprised to see 19:41 (chip time 19:40). My gun time was 20:25 which really showed how far back I had started especially when comparing my chip time to everyone who finished around me. Couldn't believe it when I seen that the girl who left me for dead over the last 2k had a chip time 31 seconds slower than me! No wonder she had such a strong finish. She must have seriously held back at the start as from what I seen she was easily in Sub 20 shape.

Very happy with how the race went and the PB but will have to be conscious of time in the future as this could have turned into a real disaster if I hadn't been able to have a free run on the grass alongside the main field at the start.

Sunday 2nd December
12.70 Miles @ 8:47
Had been meaning to go for a run along the Royal Canal for ages but never quite got around to it but having been reminded about it by a thread in the main forum during the week and being in the area on Sunday I decided to venture out. Ran from Clonsilla to Carton House just outside Maynooth and back totaling about 12.7 miles. Route was a real mix of path, trail and cross country. Enjoyed it and will definitely try and get out and run along there again.

Monday 3rd December
9.25 Miles @ 8:29
Lunchtime run along the seafront from the Custom House to Booterstown and back. The problem with an out and back route like this is that on a windy day like today I had a nice and easy first half with the wind behind me and a tough trek back straight into the breeze.

Month|Miles
November|166.05
December|29.42
Total|1,825.61

beeduybe

Tuesday 4th December
7.51 Miles @ 8:44
Lunchtime Run out to Sean Moore Park where I done a few laps of the grass football fields.

Wednesday 5th December
Cross training day. 20 mins on gym bike followed by some core work.

Thursday 6th December
8.41 Miles @ 8:24
Despite the wet and windy conditions I dragged myself out for this run from the city centre out to Clontarf via East Wall and back in by Fairview Park. Some real tough sections in this one running the wind along the promenade.

Friday 7th December
8.61 Miles @ 8:32
Lunchtime run out by the Irishtown Nature Reserve. Despite having been running around the area for a couple of years now I had no idea of the existence of this trail until I read about smmoore running around here in his log. Could do with some signage...

Saturday 8th December
9.54 Miles @ 8:35
Nice morning for a run around Hartstown Park.

Sunday 9th December
BHAA Vodafone 5k XC
Marlay Park was the venue for the last BHAA race of the year which was a 3 lap course with each lap being just over a mile. The course was pretty dry but did have a particularly boggy section in one corner of the park. The first half lap was just about getting into position before the crowd thinned out. The next lap and a half followed the theme of my last XC race where despite my pace not increasing I started passing out others who had gone out too fast and slowed down. Entering the final lap I had a guy on my shoulder but I knew he was killing himself to stay with me so knew I had to push on a little so targeted 2 other guys up ahead. I gradually started to close the gap on them until I was right up with them with half the lap to go and was feeling good so knowing the boggy section was up ahead I overtook them so I wouldn't lose too much momentum at this stage. After we came out of the boggy area and turned the corner I spotted a woman about 10-15 seconds up ahead who had narrowly finished ahead of me in the last BHAA race. I decided to make her my target for the rest of the race and in my attempt to chase her I must have passed about 5 or 6 people but couldn't quite catch her and crossed the line in a time of 20:45.

Month|Miles
December|70.51
Total|1,866.70

beeduybe

Monday 10th December
9.36 Miles @ 8:13
Lunchtime run out to Booterstown and back.

Tuesday 11th December
Rest Day.

Wednesday 12th December
7.80 Miles @ 7:56
I decided to do a test run of one of the sessions in the first week of the Daniels Plan - 5 x 1 mile cruise intervals with 1 min recovery. Went down to Ringsend Park to do this which is about a loop of 0.7 miles so each interval would be just over a lap. My Jingle Bells 5k time gave me a VDOT of 50 which gives me a threshold pace of 6:51 so this was the target.

After a couple of miles warm up I started into the intervals. Took me a little while to get going but was happy enough with a first mile of 6:54. Started off the second mile pretty well but I noticed my foot was starting to feel numb and it was causing me some discomfort. Completed the interval in a somewhat fast 6:42. Thought the problem might have something to do with circulation in my feet so I took off my socks and runners for a few minutes and they seemed to feel back to normal so I started into the third mile but the problem started again so decided to abandon the session. The foot seemed to improve on the jog back to work so I guess this may have been an issue with running faster than I had been in a while on a hard surface but I'm not going to worry too much about it yet unless it becomes a regular occurance.

Thursday 13th December
6.13 Miles @ 8:35
Decided to do a bit of exploring on my lunchtime run and ended up running around the East Wall area which is an area I wouldn't have run around before. Found a nice incline beside Docklands station too which would be good for hill reps.

Friday 14th December
9.57 Miles @ 9:02
A rare nightime run for me around the streets of Navan.

Saturday 15th December
3.80 Miles @ 9:10
A bit short on time so done a few laps of a very soggy football pitch.

Sunday 16th December
Meath Senior XC
Despite last years results suggesting I could have a fight on my hands to avoid the wooden spoon I decided to take on the challenge of tackling a pretty undulating 8k course around the Porchfields in Trim. The course consisted of 1 small lap followed by 5 big ones which also took in the outer fields. Lining up beforehand I spotted somebody who had ran a similar time to me in the BHAA race the previous weekend as well as somebody I had finished ahead of in most of the road races this year so this assured me I wasn't going to be left behind when the gun went off.

On the first mini lap I tried to avoid getting caught trying to match the speed of the leading pack so held myself back a little to stick in with a group of 4 or 5. I was finding this pace a little bit too easy so when a Dunshauglin runner split away from the group I went with him. Ended up running with him for about 2 laps as the pace suited me but I noticed he was starting to struggle on the hills and I started to open up a big gap ahead of him on one of the uphill sections and did not see him again after that.

I spent most of the rest of the race running on my own as there was a big gap up in front and nobody going to catch me from behind. I did pass one person who had clearly gone out way too fast and was almost crawling when I passed.

One of the Dunboyne runners had fallen off the back of the pack up ahead so I decided to try and catch him and over the course of the next lap I gradually closed the gap until I was right up with him. I was feeling rough around this point and with nobody in sight up ahead or behind I just sat in with him and continued to cover ground. Just after we passed the finish line with 2 laps to go I heard the bell go so I knew we were about to be passed by the leaders. Darragh Rennicks flew past like a train and I expected an avalanche of others to come past too but such was the dominance of his victory it was almost a full lap before I was passed by the second and third place runners.

With just over a lap to go I decided to try and put in a big effort from here to the finish and started to pull away. Dunboyne didn't/couldn't respond so I was now running the last lap solo. I could see 2 others about 200m ahead of me but I wasn't going to catch them so just concentrated on maintaining my pace and making it to the finish line. As I entered the field which brought me onto the finishing straight I could see one runner up ahead who appeared to me moving quite slowly so I thought I might be able to pip him just before the line so I put in a big sprint finish only to see him turn off to start his final lap just as I was about to pass him :rolleyes: Crossed the line in a time of 34:30 to finish much further up the field than expected - 36th out of 50.

Month|Miles
December|115.87
Total|1,912.06

RunningKing

Nice training log with great detail. Well done on the race reports - I can learn a thing or 2 from you!

beeduybe

I've been a bit busy lately so haven't been logging but have been getting in a run whenever I could to keep me going.

Monday 17th December
8.75 Miles @ 8:37

Tuesday 18th December
8.14 Miles @ 8:13

Wednesday 19th December
9.13 Miles @ 7:57

Thursday 20th December
8.33 Miles @ 8:04

Saturday 22nd December
4.97 Miles @ 8:08

Sunday 23th December
4.23 Miles @ 8:04

Monday 24th December
5.48 Miles @ 8:00

Tuesday 25th December
Had planned on getting out for a Christmas day run but things kept getting in the way so never happened.

Wednesday 26th December
8.42 Miles @ 8:41
A nice run along a very muddy Royal Canal. Great cross country training.

Month|Miles
December|173.57
Total|1,969.75

RunningKing

Great mileage for December, good push for the next few days for the magic numbe?

beeduybe

RunningKing wrote: »

Great mileage for December, good push for the next few days for the magic numbe?

Thanks, I thought there was no way I'd keep up the mileage after DCM but just kept knocking out the miles so barring a disaster looks like I'll hit the 2000 mile mark by the end of the year

beeduybe

Thursday 27th December
12.35 Miles @ 8:31
Early morning trot around the Phoenix Park and War Memorial Gardens to celebrate my last day of freedom before going back to work.

Friday 28th December
5.56 Miles @ 8:19
A horrible run. One of those rare days where I just didn't enjoy being out there at all. Was glad to get it over with in the end.

Saturday 29th December
10.88 Miles @ 8:41
JD Phase 2 - Week 1 - Q1 Session
5 x (2 x 200m with 200m rec + 1 x 400m with 400m rec)

My first session of the Daniels plan. Didn't have access to a track for this so headed down to the local kids soccer pitch for this one. Set up the session on the Garmin to beep at the end of each interval and recovery as a lap of the pitch only covered around 320m so I wouldn't be able to work out when to stop myself. Pitch was pretty dry considering the recent rain apart from one corner but only really noticed running through it on the recoveries.

Splits according to the watch were:
43, 49, 94
47, 47, 97
48, 48, 97
47, 49, 99
49, 48, 97

A bit slower than the pace Daniels recommends for my Vdot but considering it was on grass and I couldn't trust the exact distance on the Garmin with all the sharp corners I had to take I'm pretty happy with how it went as a starting point for phase 2 of the plan. Warm up and cool down brought the days running close to 11 miles.

Month|Miles
December|202.35
Total|1,998.54

pconn062

What is your vDot if you don't mind me asking beeduybe? Also, what race or time did you base it off?

beeduybe

pconn062 wrote: »

What is your vDot if you don't mind me asking beeduybe? Also, what race or time did you base it off?

My VDot is 50 based off my Jingle Bells 5k time of 19:40. I didn't check the watch to look at my pace today. Just ran the reps and looked at the splits afterwards.

pconn062

beeduybe wrote: »

My VDot is 50 based off my Jingle Bells 5k time of 19:40. I didn't check the watch to look at my pace today. Just ran the reps and looked at the splits afterwards.

Ah very good, very solid running with those reps, very consistent. Looking forward to seeing how you get on with the JD plan over the next few months, will you be doing some of the BHAA CC races?

beeduybe

pconn062 wrote: »

Ah very good, very solid running with those reps, very consistent. Looking forward to seeing how you get on with the JD plan over the next few months, will you be doing some of the BHAA CC races?

Thanks. Fingers crossed your foot injury is not too serious. Looks like I'll only be a week behind you when you get back into the plan on the 14th so I'll have the advantage of seeing how you're getting on with the sessions before I attempt them. I'll do most of the BHAA races. Should be good to build up strength and stamina to complement the Daniels sessions. Will you be doing a few of them yourself?

RunningKing

That's a super session. Might take a look at that plan.

pconn062

beeduybe wrote: »

Thanks. Fingers crossed your foot injury is not too serious. Looks like I'll only be a week behind you when you get back into the plan on the 14th so I'll have the advantage of seeing how you're getting on with the sessions before I attempt them. I'll do most of the BHAA races. Should be good to build up strength and stamina to complement the Daniels sessions. Will you be doing a few of them yourself?

Yeah I will miss the first one but will be up at the Eircom one in Cherryfield Park, looking forward to it! Hope the foot is OK by then!

beeduybe

RunningKing wrote: »

That's a super session. Might take a look at that plan.

I didn't realise how clueless about running I was until I started reading the Daniels Running Formula and Advanced Marathoning books. Even if you don't follow any of the plans I'd still recommend the books. I've learned so much from them and posters here on boards.

RedRunner

Great log. A really interesting read. I'm not far off the kind of times you had at the start so seeing how you have improved is inspiring. Hopefully I can get to your level in next year or so too. I've bought the Advanced marathoning and already was thinking of getting the JDaniels book for improving at shorter distances. I'm guessing you'd recommend it at this stage?

RedRunner

RedRunner wrote: »

Great log. A really interesting read. I'm not far off the kind of times you had at the start so seeing how you have improved is inspiring. Hopefully I can get to your level in next year or so too. I've bought the Advanced marathoning and already was thinking of getting the JDaniels book for improving at shorter distances. I'm guessing you'd recommend it at this stage?

Yes , clearly you would if I had of read the previous post properly!:rolleyes:

beeduybe

RedRunner wrote: »

Great log. A really interesting read. I'm not far off the kind of times you had at the start so seeing how you have improved is inspiring. Hopefully I can get to your level in next year or so too. I've bought the Advanced marathoning and already was thinking of getting the JDaniels book for improving at shorter distances. I'm guessing you'd recommend it at this stage?

RedRunner wrote: »

Yes , clearly you would if I had of read the previous post properly!:rolleyes:

Thanks RedRunner. Yes the Daniels book is a good read for any runner racing any distance so I'd definitely recommend. I took a lot of inspiration from reading other peoples logs when I started posting here as it showed me that anybody can make big improvements with hard work and a positive attitude whereas before that I probably felt I was never going to get much faster and definitely not run anywhere near the times I am doing now. Best of luck with your training. I'll be expecting to be reading about all your PB's in 2013

beeduybe

Sunday 30th December
5.67 Miles @ 8:39
Just a few easy miles which also took me over the 2000 mile mark for the year.

Monday 31st December
8.15 Miles @ 8:33
Sunday's run brought me up to 2004 miles so I didn't need much incentive for an 8 mile New Years Eve run to bring the curtain down on a great year with 2012 miles for 2012 :cool: Here's hoping for more of the same in 2013. Happy new year everybody

Month|Miles
January|152.95
February|125.45
March|168.66
April|161.43
May|124.79
June|142.35
July|176.25
August|189.19
September|220.86
October|168.20
November|166.05
December|216.17
Total|2,012.35

beeduybe

Tuesday 1st January
6.35 Miles @ 8:26
Had some company for this one. Originally only planned about 4 miles but we were feeling good so stretched it out a bit.

Wednesday 2nd January
10.38 Miles @ 7:57
JD Phase 2 - Week 1 - Q2 Session
5 x 1 Mile T pace with 1 min rest

Made my way over to Sean Moore Park for my second quality session of the week - 5 x 1 mile cruise intervals at threshold pace with 1 min rest. A lap of the two GAA pitches is half a mile so I knew that each interval would be exactly 2 laps. However on one stretch of the lap which must have been about 250 - 300 meters long I would have to run straight into a very strong breeze which wasn't exactly an exciting proposition especially as I'd have to do it 10 times...

Plan was to try and keep each interval between 6:50 and 7:00 which I was managing pretty well for the first 3 but I couldn't help but feel I was working at a harder effort than Daniels intended for this session when trying to maintain pace going into the wind. There was a slight drop in pace for the last 2 intervals but got through the session pretty well. Not looking forward to next weeks 40 minute tempo run

Mile splits were:
6:53, 6:53, 6:50, 7:03, 6:59

Month|Miles
January|16.73
Total|16.73

beeduybe

Thursday 3rd January
5.10 Miles @ 8:30
Easy lunchtime run around Ringsend Park.

Friday 4th January
4.37 Miles @ 9:27
Calf was feeling a bit tight so went out for a few slow miles to loosen it out.

Saturday 5th January
BHAA SDCC XC 4 Miles
Tymon Park was the venue for the first BHAA race of the year. The recent dry spell left the 3 lap course in great nick as in the previous years I've ran this race it was a real mud bath. First lap was pretty congested in places but as usual I found myself gradually moving up through the field as people started to slow. Stuck in and around a group for the second lap but just before the turn onto the final lap I moved to the front of the group and was feeling good so I decided to take a gung-ho approach to the last lap and run it very aggressively and see how I'd get on. Very well as it turned out as I must have passed at least 10 people in the last lap without being passed including passing the leading lady just before the finish to avoid being chicked Finished with an official time of 27:43 - a 3 minute improvement on the same race last year.

Sunday 6th December
12.79 Miles @ 8:27
Sunday afternoon LSR around Hartstown Park. Legs felt a bit heavy for the last few miles of this as I brought my biggest mileage week since September to a close.

Month|Miles
January|47.88
Total|47.88