Running with the birds or for the birds?

pgmcpq

Marthastew wrote: »

I’m wondering if Anto has some sort of ceremony planned where I hand over my National Champion Tiara from last year to this year’s champ:):) I must start writing my speech;);)

Hey ....what's this handing over nonsense ? I don't come on here to read about handing over titles.

digger2d2

pgmcpq wrote: »

Hey ....what's this handing over nonsense ? I don't come on here to read about handing over titles.

I think newbygirl is moving up from 5k to 50k, even the men's title is under threat, unless rashers/big logger/deirdree love rashid turns up and spoils the party

RacoonQueen

digger2d2 wrote: »

I think newbygirl is moving up from 5k to 50k, even the men's title is under threat, unless rashers/big logger/deirdree love rashid turns up and spoils the party

Are they all the same person?

RubyK

Super training and milage marthastew, you'll be holding onto the title for sure Best of luck and enjoy!!

Deirdree loves Rashid

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Are they all the same person?

Dont mind him RQ. Digger and TRR are setting up fake accounts and trying to frame me

Marthastew

career_move wrote: »

Woah 82 miles ...... that's a lot of miles! No wonder you're never on boards anymore

I'm still keeping an eye on your great progress, good luck with the session tomorrow:)

digger2d2 wrote: »

That plus the Vinyasa, RIP 60'S and countless mocha choca frappa cinos

Always time for mocha choco frappa cinos:D:D

pgmcpq wrote: »

Hey ....what's this handing over nonsense ? I don't come on here to read about handing over titles.

I know, I know..... Very defeatist and not at all Marthastewlike BUT Claralara is running so although I am always extremely optimistic I am also realistic:) It's all good though as Donadea will be a great workout for Barcelona

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Are they all the same person?

How is your ankle? I hope it's on the mend.

RubyK wrote: »

Super training and milage marthastew, you'll be holding onto the title for sure Best of luck and enjoy!!

How lovely to hear from you RubyK, we miss you round here! how are you keeping? I know you had quite a hectic year last year, I'm hoping everything is good with you. Are you running London? I might see you there, Mr Stew and I are hoping to head over for some fun (I presume even non-marathon runners are allowed in the Coal Hole;);))

Deirdree loves Rashid wrote: »

Dont mind him RQ. Digger and TRR are setting up fake accounts and trying to frame me

I think it's part of their elaborate plan to take over the world;) Poor Claralara has been brain-washed by them both;);) I think they are starting some sort of cult, TRR is planning on spiking everyone's drinks in Mulligans this Saturday and digger will be using the guns to catch people as they pass out......

Marthastew

Monday February 10th
Rest
Dip in the 40 Foot
45 minute Body pump class
more and more stretching and rolling
Sunshine:D:D; a lovely high tide dip that cleared the cobwebs and helped with the DOMSy legs. I had been up during the night with a dodgy tummy but I managed to get back to sleep and my breakfast stayed down so whatever it was it has passed. I was tired in the class but I took it very easy, light weights and I avoided the high impact stuff. I felt much better afterwards and my RHR was normal in the evening so all good.

Tuesday February 11th
Tempo session; 6 X 1 mile.
The plan called for 2 X 1 mile @ 7 min pace; 2 X 1 mile @ 6.40 pace; 2 X 1 mile @ 6.20 pace, with 1 min rest/4 min jog. My tummy was still very dodgy on Monday night but I had no problems eating and my RHR was still fine so I took an Imodium and I headed back up to the path that leads to Deansgrange. No Mr Stew to chase after today but there was lots of distraction on the path with lots of dogs and kids out and about and the sun was shining:) Truth be told I was less than optimistic about hitting the paces but I was determined to give it my best. A nice easy 2 mile warm-up and I got going. I knew on the first 2 miles that I was pushing too hard but I’m sure I’ll get better at these sessions with experience. At the moment it’s very hard for me to tell the difference between 7 min and 6.40 pace, I felt I was working hard enough to reach 6.20 pace but clearly my legs didn’t get that message:eek: All in all I’m happy with the session. Had to rush off when I finished so no cool down but Ecoli worked hard at getting my legs back in shape so I’m sure I’ll feel great tomorrow.
splits 6.55, 6.53; 6.45, 6.42; 6.46, 6.38

menoscemo

Marthastew wrote: »

Tuesday February 11th
Tempo session; 6 X 1 mile.

splits 3.13, 3.12, 3.11, 3.07, 3.10, 3.11, 3.11, 3.13, 3.12, 3.11

Wow; those mile reps are exactly the same splits as your 10 x 800m last week. Some improvement

Marthastew

menoscemo wrote: »

Wow; those mile reps are exactly the same splits as your 10 x 800m last week. Some improvement

Ooops;););) Fixed it now.

RubyK

Marthastew wrote: »

How lovely to hear from you RubyK, we miss you round here! how are you keeping? I know you had quite a hectic year last year, I'm hoping everything is good with you. Are you running London? I might see you there, Mr Stew and I are hoping to head over for some fun (I presume even non-marathon runners are allowed in the Coal Hole;);))

Ah thanks marthastew, I'm ok, not able to commit to training/running London this year, due to real life problems unfortunately. I have gotten a place in the Great North Run though, fingers crossed I'll be able to get there Still plodding along myself, more for my head than anything.

You'll have earned your fun in London, what with Donadea and Barca!! Lots of pb's to be celebrating It'll be a lovely weekend.

Marthastew

Wednesday February 12th
45 minute Body Pump class
10.55 easy miles w 10 X 20 sec strides, overall pace 8.55.
Even more stretching and rolling
My legs were tired after the session and the rub down yesterday and with the wind and rain I wasn’t exactly feeling the love on this run. As usual the legs woke up after 5 miles so I decided to throw in some strides and I felt good afterwards. I ran right beside the sea at Seapoint because the tide was in and I was already soaked so it was great fun trying to dodge the waves as they came in on the path (I didn't succeed:)). I managed to make it home before the real wind arrived.Mr S ran home from work and just about made it in the door in one piece:eek:



Thursday February 13th
Dip in the 40 Foot (brrrrrr:eek:)
8.14 easy miles w 10 X 20 sec strides, overall pace 8.52
A bouncy, bouncy dip in the sea woke my legs up nicely and we had the sun to warm us up when we got out. With Donadea 50K coming up on Saturday the latter part of this week is all about easy peasy miles but Holy Merde:eek: the first half of this run was into the wind so I just took it very handy and tried to relax into it, at times I felt I was going backwards and the strides into the wind were interesting to say the least, I’d imagine I covered 10 metres instead of a 100 metres;) An endorphin filled glorious run back home when I turned around with the wind at my back and the sun shining and a huge rainbow over Dublin bay:D:D I love the sea on windy days, choppy strong and an amazing colour.



I’ve promised so many people cake on Saturday that I suspect I’ll be spending tomorrow baking instead of doing any running. I’m hoping the forecast for Saturday miraculously improves more for the volunteers than for us runners; it’s absolutely no fun standing round in the cold and the rain..... I’m off to put The Child Of Prague in the garden (DCM 2013 is empirical evidence that it works;))

SamforMayo

I’m off to put The Child Of Prague in the garden

Don't forget to anchor it down;)

RacoonQueen

Will there be a menu? I might ditch my other duties for your mars bar crispies.

Deirdree loves Rashid

Good luck with your race MS. Id love to read that you won it snd im sure you'll give it your best shot regardless. Looking forward to the report.

TRR

Remember you owe me a dozen of those mars krispie buns!

Dory Dory

Happy baking and have a ball on Saturday. I say wear that tiara proudly and don't give it up until the last minute!! Hell, make them chase you for it! :)

rainbow kirby

Marthastew wrote: »

(I presume even non-marathon runners are allowed in the Coal Hole;);))

We'll be there. :pac:

jcsmum

Best of luck on Saturday champ!

Marthastew

Friday February 15th
Rest
I spent the day baking for Donadea, fun fact; the chocolate in the banana bread was specially imported by Dory Dory when she graced our shores in October to run DCM.



Saturday February 15th
Donadea 50K/Irish National 50K Championships
Total; 31.04 miles avg pace 8.09
Regular readers of my log will know that this would be my 3rd time running this race. 2 years ago I used it as a training run for Connemara Ultra and last year I was lucky enough to win the ladies national title. I would have loved to return to defend my title but with Claralara’s eyes set firmly on the prize I decided to run it as an extra-long training run for Barcelona. Heading into the race I secretly harboured hopes that maybe my LSR would be enough to get me a podium finish but I was also determined to stick to my plan and not overdo it in Donadea. Saturday morning I woke to the sound of rain (yet again), I had slept well and was really looking forward to the day. My pre-race breakfast consisted of a large glass of beetroot and apple juice (a nice habit I picked up from my detox in January), 2 poached eggs, a bagel and 3 cups of coffee., I knew it would be a long day and I know from experience that I do better if I’ve fuelled well.
Mr Stew, Cousin Stew and I collected Meno just after 8 and he proceeded to list off his current ailments:rolleyes: He said he wasn’t too sure whether he would run the full 50K (he didn’t, but he was happy to get a good solid training run in) Mr Stew had planned to run 35K and Cousin S and I were determined to get our 50K medals. The further we got down the motorway the better the weather got and by the time we got there the rain had stopped (I have 3 words for you doubters….. CHILD OF PRAGUE;)) We arrived in perfect time to collect our bibs and catch up with lots and lots of friends.
The start of this race is a very, very relaxed affair and even last year when I was racing I was extremely calm and happy, if Carlsberg did race starts…. (although maybe the weather would be nicer and there wouldn’t be so much muck;)) We lined up a few rows from the back and caught up with some more friends and bang on time we were off…..



Laps 1 -5;
0:26:53; 0:25:24; 0:25:10; 0:25:52; 0:25:34
The course is 10 laps of just under 5K so the start is back down from the starting mat to make the first lap the longest to make up the difference. Mr S, cousin S and I had planned to run approx. 8.15 min/mile pace (Mr S was going to leave us after 20K to pick things up) and Belcarra had mentioned he’d join us so after a while we settled into a nice group with him and FerrisB and a few others. We all remarked how lucky we were with the weather and we glided through the forest enjoying the support from the volunteers and those out supporting their family and friends. The first half of the 5K loop is slightly uphill and any loss in pace is made up in the second half of the loop. We gradually got into a routine of slightly slowing in the first half and speeding up in the second half. Occasionally I’d glance at my Garmin when the miles would beep but I really felt as if I was running by feel.
There were plenty of photographers out taking lots of photos so plenty of opportunity for Mr Stew to do his Bolt impersonation (the resemblance is uncanny;)) The 4.15 bus was motoring along nicely and occasionally we’d pick up a few extra passengers for a short while and then we’d find ourselves back to the core group. At the end of the 4th lap Mr S wished me well and left me in the safe company of belcarra, cousin S and Ferrisb. I’m not sure at what point we started to be lapped by the leaders (lap 3 maybe?) but it was really good fun cheering them on and most of them had words of encouragement for us. We remarked that unless your legs were completely caked in muck you weren’t going fast enough (I’m happy to report I was filthy;)) we also started to lap some other runners and the camaraderie was super. Half way point came and I took a second gel (I had taken the first after 2 laps) and I had another half bottle of Powerade, I was feeling strong and happy, all was well.

Laps 6 – 10
0:25:05; 0:25:29; 0:24:56; 0:24:45; 0:24:14
The support at the finishing area was building now and people were so encouraging and full of cheers and smiles and it was great to see some familiar faces. I saw digger and asked how claralara was doing and he confirmed she was flying along, I knew she’d be lapping us soon enough. Heading round by the pond for the 6th time FB and I heard the ducks quacking and we both mentioned that it sounded like they were laughing at us:D Our group had dwindled to me, cousin S and FB and we were still all in great form. Gary O’Hanlon, Peter Mooney and the other leaders had lapped us yet again and both Gary OH and Peter M were still smiling, making it look easy as they flew past us at sub 6 min/mile pace:eek: As we neared the finish area for the 6th/7th time (it all starts to blend together after half way) Fb remarked that I always sped up approaching the mat, I explained that I couldn’t help myself. It was actually nice to take advantage of the finishing straight and the support around the coffee shop because I was finding the first 2 inclining kilometres tougher each time we got there.
Arriving at the end of our 8th lap (with 10K left to go) we were speeding up to the mat and I noticed a really, really big crowd, I turned round to see Gary O’H on his way to a sub 3 hour 50K, smashing the course record. We had great fun cheering him on and I even ran backwards for a bit, a great achievement for him and we were lucky to be a part of the buzz. The crowd brought back such happy memories from last year when I was lucky enough to have a crowd like that greet me at the finish line and we were all buzzing as we headed off with just 2 Parkruns left to do. Mr S handed me a welcome banana as I felt I needed a little boost to get me home. He confirmed I was now 2nd lady and I was hopeful of staying in that position.
The 9th lap in Donadea is fun because you pass marathon distance so we kept this as our focus as we headed round by the pond, we told the volunteers we’d see them one more time. I think it was this lap (or possibly the lap before?) that we were lapped by the super dooper Claralara, she powered past us giving us a thumbs-up and we cheered and clapped her on. She was closely followed by Killerz, looking resplendent in his pink Dublin marathon race series T-shirt:P. I remembered where the marathon distance marker was from last year so we hit lap on our watches and celebrated a handy 3.35 marathon and the pace was naturally quickening again now.
We were still lapping runners and giving them lots of support and we were delighted to get to the finish area for the last time, it was really buzzing with lots of finishers and their families and they were still so supportive. Mr S asked did I need anything and I told him I was good to go, “only a parkrun left” I told the guys and we were all still motoring along but not talking as much. We thanked the volunteers as we passed them and although the inclines were tough we didn’t slow too much. I told cousin S and FB that all we needed to do was stay upright and keep moving towards that finish line (wise words from Izoard last year when I passed him in a bad way) and that’s what we did! With 2K left to go I was feeling strong so I gradually picked it up a little and I was lucky enough to overtake a few runners here. I passed Izoard and as always he was in good form. I really started to pick it up for the last mile, before the race I had told myself that if I was able to run a PMP mile at the end I’d be in good shape for Barcelona….. My pace for my last mile… 7.18:D As I rounded the corner for the last stretch I could hear Mr S screaming my name (he really is the best supporter in the whole wide world, how lucky am I?:D) and I was pleasantly surprised to see 4.13 on the clock as I wind-milled across the finish mat. Hot on my heels were Paul, David, Ferris B and Cousin S and we were all delighted with ourselves. Mr S had had a really great training run, although like all of us he found the conditions underfoot challenging at times.
I headed straight into the tent to find a very happy Claralara for a congratulatory hug, she had smashed the course record AND qualified for the World Championships, very well deserved as she worked so hard over the past few months As if things couldn’t get any better, Meno had kept some of Racoon Queen’s biscuit cake for me:D I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw the massage plinth was free and I bribed the wonderful Bernie with some rocky road and hopped up for a quick rub down…. The day just kept getting better and better!
I managed to catch up with lots of happy finishers and Mr S was a popular man as he doled out my home-baked goodies. To top off a wonderful day Anto presented me with my 2nd Place trophy AND my Athletics Ireland silver medal and best of all……. I got a congratulatory hug and kiss from him:D 3rd place had gone to the wonderful Donna McLoughlin.
Brian form Sportsmassage took a really great photo of Mr S and I at this time and the happiness is almost palpable when you look at it, it really captures how I felt at the end of the day…… I was so very, very fortunate that my LSR brought me a podium finish with the amazing Claralara and the ever-smiling Donna.

Donadea 50K is such a special race for so many reasons; the organisation, the support, the camaraderie, the scenery, even the distance and as long as they’ll have me I’ll keep going back.

Splits above from chip, 2nd female, 41st finsher.


Sunday February 16th
4.04 slow recovery miles
More stretching and rolling
Despite my best intentions to not drink too much on Saturday I got carried away with the celebrations so I woke dehydrated and a little worse for wear. I had to be up early as I was on duty in the rugby club and Junior2 was playing a match so the time on the side-lines cleared my head. I decided to head out for a few miles to see if I had any niggles to worry about and although the legs were creaky I was fine. I spent the afternoon on the foam roller watching the athletics. I was starving all day and was very bold eating lots of junk:eek:

Total miles for the week 62.5
Just 4 weeks to Barcelona and I’ll be taking it a little easy for the first few days of this next week and if all goes well I’ll jump back into some more hard work followed by a 2 week taper. No more alcohol or goodies till the evening of March 16th (banana bred counts as one of your 5 a day;))

belcarra

*Training run for Connemara Ultra*

Marthastew

belcarra wrote: »

*Training run for Connemara Ultra*

Thanks J, fixed that... I was just checking to see if anyone reads my reports;)


We missed you Saturday night in the pub , we'll have to make up for it in Barcelona

Duanington

Super report as always - congratulations on YET ANOTHER great performance

RubyK

Well done MS, lovely report, and brilliant running as per usual! You're in for a super pb in Barca

belcarra

Marthastew wrote: »

Thanks J, fixed that... I was just checking to see if anyone reads my reports;)

We missed you Saturday night in the pub , we'll have to make up for it in Barcelona

I was hoping to get in for a few drinks but after the gig I was at in Vicar St. we settled on a few quiter drinks! Barcelona for sure, the George Payne will be heaving (...one way or another!!:pac:)

menoscemo

Great report, you even manage to make me sound less grumpy than I really was

career_move

Fantastic

You are a legend.

RedRunner

Well done MS! Brilliant running. Sounds like a deadly event!

Aimman

Well done on a great race! Sadly I missed out on all the cakes.

jcsmum

You're some woman! Some lovely photos of you and MrS from the day!

digger2d2

career_move wrote: »

Fantastic

You are a legend.

Did you fart when you were typing that? :pac::D;)