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DCM 2012 Graduates - the next step
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I agree with Blockic, you have nothing to lose from racing this and you can see where your at fitness wise after the marathon, make use of your endurance. Best of luck with it, let us know how you get on
Well I followed Menos advice this morn and did 4 miles at 9.45ish pace. Even at that pace legs were being dragged abit but I have to say I felt very refreshed after it. Cheers meno:)
If I get up early enough tomo morn (need to get ready for night away before the Lions game ) Ill go for more easy miles, distance wise will see, may have to leave the lsr until after next weekends race.
Link here DOCO
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=85301913#post85301913
Thanks all for the push/advice this evening 0 -
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Last year my Race Series experience was confined to the August 10-miler, but this year I’ve signed up for the 5-mile, 10-mile and Half Marathon. After all, who needs an excuse to run in the Park?
Being quite familiar with the course from training runs I knew what to expect: a tough course for a short race. It starts and finishes in the highest section of the park, with the half-way point at one of the lowest. In other words, downhill first half, uphill second. Not an ideal negative split course.
After a decent breakfast of porridge, bagel, cream cheese and coffee there was some time to kill so I watched the season finale of Mad Men at the unusual time of 8am before driving to the Park
Parked near the Zoo, and with about 25 mins to spare there was plenty of time for a very slow walk/jog warmup as I made my way to the line. There were about 2,700 runners today, divided into three waves. Wave One was for sub-40, so with a 38-min target, I lined up towards the back. It was a warm morning, quite humid for the early hour.
Smooth start
The race started more or less on time at 10am and the opening mile, while fairly congested, was smooth enough. The announcer had done a good job of guilting people into the appropriate waves and so, for me at least, there wasn’t any weaving and dodging over the opening stretch up Chesterfield Avenue. Things were a little tight at the bottleneck right turn onto North Road but other than that the first mile was uneventful.
Mile 1: 7:27
Here comes The Horse
Around the beginning of the second mile a fellow runner’s increasingly heavy breathing began to seep into my consciousness. I’m exaggerating only slightly when I say the gent was exhaling like a horse, and despite my best efforts to tune it out it started to bother me. The Horse was running at exactly my pace. I considered putting in a spurt to get him out of earshot, but didn’t want to mess with my own pace too much. I hoped he would fade (from his breathing it certainly sounded like he would). But he hung in there, on my shoulder, deep into the Kyber.
Mile 2: 7:19
Bye bye, Horse
As the downhill Kyber section is followed immediately by the climb up Military Road, I tried not to get carried away on the downhill, but to bank a bit of time for the uphill graft. The Horse was still in the vicinity, and I figured I’d lose him on the climb. At the Magazine Fort, with about 40 seconds in the bank, I used the arm-pumping technique advised on this thread a couple of weeks back to negotiate the hill. So far so good – but the pace was starting to take its toll. It was worse for The Horse, however. My strategy worked beautifully as the exhalations faded into the distance.
Mile 3: 7:27
Starting to fade
The race settled into the kind of existential silence that often descends on the stretch through the S-bends and past the Hospital. At the water station just past the bends I grabbed a cup and threw most of it over my head. The humidity was adding to my discomfort as we headed for the business end of the race. The uphill drag was sucking the life out of the legs and as we got to the four-mile mark, most of the banked time was gone. It would be tight.
Mile 4: 7:52
My HTFU just F’d O
The final mile, as is often the case, is a bit of a blur. The view of the Glen pond, a favourite spot, offered a little pick-me-up here, as did the volunteers who were doing a good job on the encouragement side. But after the turn into the Furze Road, I didn’t really have anything to kick with (in marked contrast to the 10-mile and Half Marathon races in the Spring). The “400m to go” sign provided little relief: I felt every one of those strides as the finish line came into view. As the race clock up ahead clicked past 38 minutes, I guessed my chip time would be about half a minute later. There was no point looking at the watch at this point as I just needed to get to the line. I was being passed, but was passing a few others too. I stumbled over the line, had a bit of a gag, but the nauseated feeling passed quickly. I checked the Garmin. 38:02. Would the official time be kinder? Nah.
Mile 5: 7:57
Return of the Horse
As I headed into the chute, there was a bit of a scuffle behind me. I looked over and there was The Horse, being challenged by the marshals. Turned out he had no race number! They tried to prevent him going through the chute but he got pretty aggressive and they wisely let the bandit through. It is a public space, after all. Don’t know if he tried for a goodie bag but without a number it would have been difficult. Nice green shirt in the bag, and I was grateful for the apples and bananas available – they’re usually gone by the time I finish so I must be getting faster.
Walked and jogged back to the car. Checking the phone, rtrt.me had tweeted my time as 38:03, so any hope that the Garmin held out for an official sub-38 was gone. Not to worry though – it was still a 35-second PB, so I can’t complain about that (well actually I could, but I won't)..
More importantly though, I beat The Horse!
Previous PB: 38:38 (Raheny 5, Jan 2013)
Target: <38:00
Time: 38:03
Verdict: More stamina required.0 -
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Yeah I think he ran less than 400 miles over 18 weeks with a peak week of 35 miles :eek:Big Logger wrote: »Was Blocky really doing 20 miles per week...wow. amazing result.Big Logger wrote: »If you're running 50 miles a week and not hitting sub 4 after 18 weeks training then its time to try another sport. .
My Point was a Hypothetical one (although I am sure some people were running that much and did not break 4hrs); but that's a bit harsh. Some people enjoy running and just want to do the best for them. Dare I say it; you are sounding a bit elitist
Big Logger wrote: »By the way meno, i think your plan is very good and i admire your commitment to this group.
Thanks!!!0 -
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Yeah I think he ran less than 400 miles over 18 weeks with a peak week of 35 miles :eek:
Ah yes...35 miles a week...20 at the start...lets get the stats right so that some stranger doesn't read this and try to run sub 3.30 on 20 miles a week
Lets also point out hes a healthy 25 year old male who probably did lots of mileage in secrecy
My Point was a Hypothetical one (although I am sure some people were running that much and did not break 4hrs); but that's a bit harsh. Some people enjoy running and just want to do the best for them. Dare I say it; you are sounding a bit elitist
No, im a caring female, im actually thinking more of their joints when they hit 60 and need a knee replacement from doing too much mileage
Thanks!!!
You're welcome!0 -
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Sorry to hear your still injured Killian, hope your back on the roads soon. I know how frustrating injury is.
Cheers for starting the plan for us Meno. Unfortunately I won't be able to start it rightly until next week. I'm assuming it wouldn't be a good idea to do either a 13mile lsr or 10 x 800 session the week of a race???
Love the flexibility of the plan that we can fill in the other days ourselves. Best of luck everyone 0 -
Sorry to hear your still injured Killian, hope your back on the roads soon. I know how frustrating injury is.
Cheers for starting the plan for us Meno. Unfortunately I won't be able to start it rightly until next week. I'm assuming it wouldn't be a good idea to do either a 13mile lsr or 10 x 800 session the week of a race???
Love the flexibility of the plan that we can fill in the other days ourselves. Best of luck everyone
Yeah, absolutely take it easy this week and join in when you are recovered from the race. What race/distance is it?0 -
Yeah, absolutely take it easy this week and join in when you are recovered from the race. What race/distance is it?
It's 8K, its our local one so the pressure is on to do well in it. An easy mile week for me on the roads it is so I do often wonder how the people who seem to race every week get all their training in around it. 0 -
KillianByrne wrote: »I am still injured and may be for a while yet, I am hoping that my 18wk plan will change to a 12wk plan.
My current circumstances make smarter training even more important as I will have less time to train than I would have liked and will have to start from a low mileage base. I'm gonna give his marathon lark one more chance!
I am keeping fit with 1000m swim 4/5 days a week and 3 strength sessions but its still not mileage in the legs.
Its incredibly frustrating not being able to run, (especially when my novice running wife has just broken my 10k Pb!) but I'll reassess my options when I get back on the roads. I'm not starting your plan Meno as hoped, good luck everyone that is!
Hey Killian best of luck with your recovery, must be very frustrating indeed. Better to happen now I suppose while you still have time to resolve it. Very well done to your wife, she'll be running marathons in no time
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