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ultrapercy

ecoli wrote: »

Just a pity the GAA team can't match the athletes:D

Well if some of these young athletes can take some of the local media spotlight away from GAA it could go a long way to sorting that prolem. The media obsession with Gaelic sports, especially in rural counties is damaging to sporting and social development I believe. I don't mean this in a bitter way as I think every sport deserves its share of the limelight but with GAA its disproportionate. Today our local paper carried 18(eighteen) pages of Gaelic football and just a single page of soccer. The FAI junior cup early rounds were on yesterday and all Mayo clubs were involved but couldn't compete with County senior semi finals and the county junior final which were also broadcast live on local radio!!!. I asks ya, if soccer cant compete what chance is there for the so called minority sports? I get it hard to swallow this "63 years of hurt" bull**** from 30 year old sports journalists. End of rant. You must forgive me, its taper time. Look what it did to Quirky!

ecoli

ultrapercy wrote: »

Well if some of these young athletes can take some of the local media spotlight away from GAA it could go a long way to sorting that prolem. The media obsession with Gaelic sports, especially in rural counties is damaging to sporting and social development I believe. I don't mean this in a bitter way as I think every sport deserves its share of the limelight but with GAA its disproportionate. Today our local paper carried 18(eighteen) pages of Gaelic football and just a single page of soccer. The FAI junior cup early rounds were on yesterday and all Mayo clubs were involved but couldn't compete with County senior semi finals and the county junior final which were also broadcast live on local radio!!!. I asks ya, if soccer cant compete what chance is there for the so called minority sports? I get it hard to swallow this "63 years of hurt" bull**** from 30 year old sports journalists. End of rant. You must forgive me, its taper time. Look what it did to Quirky!

Me thinks I am going to have to take a sabbatical from Boards till the 29th for fear of being attacked with Taper madness soon to be rampant amongst these parts

I do agree with what you are saying though while the GAA have often done alot of good for rural communities, the success can have some major impact on development of sport and fitness as a whole as the all or nothing mentality of you do GAA or hurling and they are your options.

I always look to Finland as a contrasting parallel To Ireland regarding the approach to sport. Both used sport as a driving force after independence (both occurred around the same time) but while Ireland focused on sport as a way of giving us our own cultural identity, Finlands efforts were towards using sport to give the nation an international identity. The result? two Golden eras of distance running and a long line of sporting success across a wide variety of sports (Motor Sports, Swimming, Rowing, Strongman to name a few)

ultrapercy

Oct 14

3.33 miles 24:39(7:25p)
45 mins stretching/core/strength

Oct 15

4.39 miles 31:37(7:13p)
45 mins stretching/core/strength

Oct 16

10.32 miles 1:04:47(6:17p)

1.4 mi w/up 9:54, 2 miles 10:56, 4x 800 2:26 2:31 2:2:29 2:35, 2 miles 10:56. 1.7 mi c/dn 12:54

ultrapercy

Oct 17

3.33 miles 23:50(7:10p)
30 mins strength/core work

Oct 18

Rest day- 69 day training streak comes to an end as I ran out of time after a busy morning and an early evening shift at work.

Oct 19

Westport Parkrun 16:00 1st
4 mile w/up 29:38 2.6 mile c/dn 21:02
This run is nice steady downhill for the first 2k, and I started nicely 3:06, 3:05. Then it was round a bollard which I negotiated like a milk truck turning in a tight yard. Then back up the "nice" downhill which was now a not so nice incline for the next 2k 3:17 3:26 which were also into a breeze. Around another bollard then, like a ship trying to dock on a stormy night this time and onto the finnish in 3:06. Happy to run 16 flat without ever digging very deep and the first downhill 2k at 5 min mile pace actually felt like a jog. First time doing this Parkrun or indeed any Parkrun and I really enjoyed it. Brilliant concept and a nice atmosphere with a cuppa and in a nearby hotel afterwards.
30 mins strength

ultrapercy

Oct 20

6.38 miles 45:07(7:05p)

Oct 21

4.38 miles 31:46(7:15p)
30 mins core/strength

Oct 22

5.12 miles 34:00(6:38p)
inc 8x 1min hard 1min easy @ 5:20 to 5:00 pace
30 min strength

Oct 23

Jogged 2.5 miles to get a massage and 2.5 miles home @ 7:30 pace

Oct 24

4.35 miles 33:16(7:39p)

Oct 25

3.21 miles 22:54(7:08p)

Oct 26

25:30 minutes run in Phoenix Park


So taper week draws to a close and race day draws near. The usual doubts about preparation and concerns about outside factors like weather surface. This is all normal and experience tells me it will be alright on the day. The training is done and its now all about how I apply it on the day.The weather will be what it will be, no point wasting energy on factors outside my control and Im just thankfull for the health and fitness to toe the line, many are not so lucky and would gladly trade places with me. Best of luck to everyone running, volunteering or supporting on Monday.

KielyUnusual

You've really gotten in a phenomenal block of training for this one. Best of luck on Monday.

ronnie085

Good luck tomorrow, in great shape

pconn062

Good luck, have been following your log, hope it goes well for you.

RacoonQueen

Enjoy it J.

john mayo 10

Best of luck 2morro j

belcarra

Well done on your time UP and it was good to meet yourself and Sarah in McGrattan's afterwards.

ultrapercy

Oct 27

22 minute jog in phoenix park

Oct 28

Dublin City Marathon 2:35:10 26th

The much hoped for 2:30 was never on the cards. I was close to the pace until 10k but wasn't comfortable enough to maintain it. When I settled I ran quite strong up to 24 miles where I hit the wall I suppose and leaked 2 minutes at least on the home stretch. I took on only one gel and 300 ml of water max in the race and that cost me in the final push. If im honest I think I never believed Id hit the 2:30 and It may be a failure of courage as much or more than of the body. The conditions were tough but not extreme. Not sure where Il go from here but Il go somewhere. Great craic in McGs after the race, as ever, and nice to put some faces to names.Krusty Clown is as famous as the Pope,(the real one,JP, not the last 2 imposters.) Pints flowed and took their toll combined with lack of food but I still staggered on till 2am. Thanks to everyone for support and well wishes. Well done to all who ran this great event. Not sure how I feel about the absence of overseas elites but I was delighted to see Sean Heir win the race, that was one very positive aspect of it.

drquirky

Seriously impressive running.

Krusty_Clown

Great to meet you before and afterwards, and hope your trip back to Mayo the next morning wasn't as painful as my bus out to Shankill. :)Congrats again. Not the time you wanted, but a super performance nonetheless.

I think you mentioned before that without the pressure to hit a specific time goal, you've come very close to breaking 2:30 before. Do you think it would be worth your while just giving one a lash at some point, to see what happens? Would you ever consider giving London a try?

ultrapercy

great to meet you too Gary and the atmosphere was good again in McGs. An overseas marathon may have to be considered. Since 05 I have ran 5 DCM between 2:34:58 and 2:35:45 also 2:32:46 in 08 and 2:37:24 last year 9 days after a tough 50k. Add to all that 2:33:45 twice In Longford and cork a 2:37:xx in eddingburgh and Longford and it seems Im kind of stalled in a mid 2:30s twilight zone. I could be stalled in worse places. I know that, but I feel 2:30 is possible. Im missing the final piece of the jigsaw, what thatpiece is Im not sure. Maybe its coaching or training partners, maybe its diet which I know I should pay some attention to, maybe I over race or time my races poorly. Whatever It is I know Im not getting the best out on Marathon race day, sub 2:30 is no joke and may be a stretch for me anyway but all indicators lead me to think I should be at least knocking on the door and not continually running much the same times. If I decide on another attempt Il do something majorly different, this was to be the **** or burst try but I ended up falling back to the familiar 2:35. Next time will have to be 2:29:xx or DNF.

jfh

hi john, didn't realise i was in the presence of a fellow boards member, there's not many on here with your time, so i was kinda thinking it might be you.
cheers for the invite to tag along with ye, always good to celebrate the successes.
wish you all the best in the quest for that elusive goal.

ultrapercy

jfh wrote: »

hi john, didn't realise i was in the presence of a fellow boards member, there's not many on here with your time, so i was kinda thinking it might be you.
cheers for the invite to tag along with ye, always good to celebrate the successes.
wish you all the best in the quest for that elusive goal.

No bother at all and good to meet you. Well done yourself you ran a great race.

snailsong

Hi John, Paul in Westport here if you don't know my boards name. Good to have a pint with yourself and Sarah on Monday. You were obviously disappointed but of course it's still a time the rest of us can't even contemplate. We were all a few minutes off our targets for some reason. Sorry I missed ye later, I was in another pub with the Ballinrobe contingent and others. Are ye back to defend your titles in the Leenane 5 mile this year? That's the event that really matters. . Might catch ye there.

ultrapercy

snailsong wrote: »

Hi John, Paul in Westport here if you don't know my boards name. Good to have a pint with yourself and Sarah on Monday. You were obviously disappointed but of course it's still a time the rest of us can't even contemplate. We were all a few minutes off our targets for some reason. Sorry I missed ye later, I was in another pub with the Ballinrobe contingent and others. Are ye back to defend your titles in the Leenane 5 mile this year? That's the event that really matters. . Might catch ye there.

Thanks Paul, it was good having a pint with you too. I had quite a few pints with quite a few people! Not sure about Leenane yet but its a race that really impressed me last year so I might give it a lash if motivation picks up soon.
Well done on your own race you were very close to your target and the blustery conditions were no help. Sarah says thanks for all the encouragement you gave her on the course, she was disappointed too but she has time on her side. Keep at it, the parkruns are great speed work and if you use them properly this time next year you can be a 2:xx marathon runner, you have the endurance.

T runner

ultrapercy wrote: »

great to meet you too Gary and the atmosphere was good again in McGs. An overseas marathon may have to be considered. Since 05 I have ran 5 DCM between 2:34:58 and 2:35:45 also 2:32:46 in 08 and 2:37:24 last year 9 days after a tough 50k. Add to all that 2:33:45 twice In Longford and cork a 2:37:xx in eddingburgh and Longford and it seems Im kind of stalled in a mid 2:30s twilight zone. I could be stalled in worse places. I know that, but I feel 2:30 is possible. Im missing the final piece of the jigsaw, what thatpiece is Im not sure. Maybe its coaching or training partners, maybe its diet which I know I should pay some attention to, maybe I over race or time my races poorly. Whatever It is I know Im not getting the best out on Marathon race day, sub 2:30 is no joke and may be a stretch for me anyway but all indicators lead me to think I should be at least knocking on the door and not continually running much the same times. If I decide on another attempt Il do something majorly different, this was to be the **** or burst try but I ended up falling back to the familiar 2:35. Next time will have to be 2:29:xx or DNF.

Hi JB. Well done ion Dublin, a strong run.

I'd recommend Rotterdam for a foreign one.

Fastest marathon in Europe. Your guranteed a group of 20-30 running at an even pace and gunning for 2:30. Its a cheap entry and trip. With an entry of 20,000 you can warm up how you like and pop into your pen with 5-10 mins to go. Because of the big group any threat of wind is not really a factor.
Its bone flat so that simplifies training.
I managed 2:35:02 on a windy day and could have done a little better (started slow...mistake.. and missed my group..making the wind a bigger factor than its hould be). Race was won in 2:04 and sergiu Ciobanu ran 2:15.

Youre faster than me.Its easy to project but Rotterdam on a good day would run 2 mins at least faster than Dublin last monday. That and assuming you can save the 2 mins at the end puts you near 2:31. You dont have far to go.

I blasted my aerobic system with 2-3 months of 100 mile week at all paces from sub-threshold to easy. I did a lot of longer faster runs within 5-10% of race pace. They were useful in that your teaching the body the right mix fat and carbs, and those runs might sort the 2 mins at the end..or might not.

That said i rarely ran faster than that and should have done some of the deadly sessions i see in your build up.

But if you feel in a rut with the time, then your idea of a change is right.

You can hold 5:40 for under 2.5 hrs on a bone flat course on excellent tarmac in good conditions, and being able to that would get you your target in rotterdam in all weathers (bar a scorcher). Anyway, Im not an expert, so take any thoughts/advice with pinch of salt, best of luck with it and im sure youll get your goal.

i might have a crack at 2:30 again myself...Rotterdam 2014 it might be.

Patrick_K

I know you posted it as a bad thing John but "Since 05 I have ran 5 DCM between 2:34:58 and 2:35:45 also 2:32:46 in 08 and 2:37:24 last year 9 days after a tough 50k. Add to all that 2:33:45 twice In Longford and cork a 2:37:xx in edingburgh and Longford" is obviously incredible running but even more so is incredible consistency. Fair play to you.

I'm not even gonna try to give you advice but maybe Einstein can, he defines insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Best of luck with whatever you try next.

PK

ultrapercy

T runner wrote: »

Hi JB. Well done ion Dublin, a strong run.

I'd recommend Rotterdam for a foreign one.

Fastest marathon in Europe. Your guranteed a group of 20-30 running at an even pace and gunning for 2:30. Its a cheap entry and trip. With an entry of 20,000 you can warm up how you like and pop into your pen with 5-10 mins to go. Because of the big group any threat of wind is not really a factor.
Its bone flat so that simplifies training.
I managed 2:35:02 on a windy day and could have done a little better (started slow...mistake.. and missed my group..making the wind a bigger factor than its hould be). Race was won in 2:04 and sergiu Ciobanu ran 2:15.

Youre faster than me.Its easy to project but Rotterdam on a good day would run 2 mins at least faster than Dublin last monday. That and assuming you can save the 2 mins at the end puts you near 2:31. You dont have far to go.

I blasted my aerobic system with 2-3 months of 100 mile week at all paces from sub-threshold to easy. I did a lot of longer faster runs within 5-10% of race pace. They were useful in that your teaching the body the right mix fat and carbs, and those runs might sort the 2 mins at the end..or might not.

That said i rarely ran faster than that and should have done some of the deadly sessions i see in your build up.

But if you feel in a rut with the time, then your idea of a change is right.

You can hold 5:40 for under 2.5 hrs on a bone flat course on excellent tarmac in good conditions, and being able to that would get you your target in rotterdam in all weathers (bar a scorcher). Anyway, Im not an expert, so take any thoughts/advice with pinch of salt, best of luck with it and im sure youll get your goal.

i might have a crack at 2:30 again myself...Rotterdam 2014 it might be.

Thanks T for taking the time to provide detailed advice. Your not the first person to suggest Rottterdam and Il definitely consider it when I start to plan again. I think my approach lacks some of the technical/scientific aspect that yourself and some others have and thrive on, and that is something Il also look into. Anyway thanks again and good luck in your own plans, who knows we may crack the code together in Rotterdam 14!!

Marthastew

John, I'm sorry things didn't go to plan for in DCM. It was good to catch up with you both very briefly in McGrattans, I made the mistake of asking Sarah if she has entered Donadea:eek: Probably not a good question to ask someone who has just finished a marathon, especially when it didn't yield the time she deserved.
Best of luck with the recovery

menoscemo

Marthastew wrote: »

John, I'm sorry things didn't go to plan for in DCM. It was good to catch up with you both very briefly in McGrattans, I made the mistake of asking Sarah if she has entered Donadea:eek: Probably not a good question to ask someone who has just finished a marathon, especially when it didn't yield the time she deserved.
Best of luck with the recovery

You couldn't resist scoping out the competition

ultrapercy

Marthastew wrote: »

John, I'm sorry things didn't go to plan for in DCM. It was good to catch up with you both very briefly in McGrattans, I made the mistake of asking Sarah if she has entered Donadea:eek: Probably not a good question to ask someone who has just finished a marathon, especially when it didn't yield the time she deserved.
Best of luck with the recovery

No worries Olwyn. We are both dealing with the disappointments. Sarah did well I think to hold onto a decent time when her 3:10 target had gone. It would have been easy to throw the towel and leak more time than she did. It will stand to her. As for me I entered Rotterdam today so it all starts again.As a neighbour of mine used to say Im going fast but I wont go easy.

Fri 1st Nov

5.36 miles 37:30

Sat and Sunday

ag ol no running

Monday 4

3.5miles 25 mins

ultrapercy

Tue 5

5.36 miles 37:35(7:00p)

Wed 6

3.33 miles @6:35p
a few 90 sec efforts

Thu 7

5.36 miles no time

Fri 8

4.37 miles 29:19(6:42p)

Sat 9

3.32 mi w/up 22:54(6:54p) 3 miles Tempo 16:16(5:30,5:22,5:20)
3.56 c/dn 25:12(7:05p)

So building up slowly again after yet more marathon disappointment. Its hard to keep going but its harder not to it seems! Entered Rotterdam on Monday as a knee jerk pick me up. Havent been feeling good all week but felt great today and surprised myself with a healthy session. I would have been happy with 6min miles but averaged 5:24, not much point hitting the high notes around the back roads of Mayo but still good to feel good and enjoy it. Hollymount 10k tomorrow a race I never enjoy, a tough 3 lapper with a draggy hill on each one. Not expecting much, ran just under 35 last year so 34:30 would be grand. Onwards and upwards/sideways.

ultrapercy

Sun 10

Hollymount 10k 34:12 1st

4 mile warm up 28:30 1.2 mile c/dn 10 mins

Very poor turnout of just 49 men for the 48th edition of this famous race. I was delighted to get the win, never having done so before. It was only the 2nd time a Mayo man has won the race and 1st time ever that a Mayo man won while representing a Mayo club.So a little bit of history but the time was nothing to shout about. Its a tough 3 lapper with a drag of a hill that must be negotiated 4 times and this year there was also a dirty wind to be dealt with, so not a fast course by any means. Id imagine it was the slowest winning time in the race history and its sad to see a great old race dying on its feet.

ultrapercy

Mon 11
5.37 miles no time

Tue 12
5.37 miles 38:45(7:14p)

Wed 13
5.38 miles 36:53(6:51p)

Thu 14
7.44 miles 45:36(6:08p)
inc 4 mile tempo 22:14(splits5:46,5:30,5:30,5:28)

Fri 15
7.44 miles 48:38(6:33p)
inc 4 miles 23:45

Sat 16
Westport parkrun 5k 1st 17:37
1mile w/up 2.75 miles c/dn

Sun 17
15.5 miles@ 7:05 pace aprox watch battery low

Mon 18
8.47 miles 62:08(7:20p)
35 min core/strength

Tue 19
4.46 miles w/up 33:19(7:29p)
5x1mile 5:27,5:24,5:28,5:28,5:27 75 sec recoveries

Wed 20
6.45 miles46:14(7:10p)
40 min core/strength

Thu 21
9.74 miles 62:27
inc 29 mins of 2min hard/imin cruise

Fri 22
6.46 miles 46:34(7:13p)
40 mins core/strength

belcarra

You doing the manulla 4 miler again this year? See ya there if so.

ultrapercy

belcarra wrote: »

You doing the manulla 4 miler again this year? See ya there if so.

Ya Il be doing that Id say. Tough enough course but a nice blowout, See you there.