The Windy Road to Nowhere

KielyUnusual

RunForestRun wrote: »

Céadaoin: 12ú: Sos

I read Sos and suddenly I feel a compulsion to drop everything, run out the door and play some games out in the yard for 15 minutes. Strange that;).

ThePiedPiper

Déardaoin 13ú: Aoine 14ú, 4 mhíle, Domhnach 16ú, 3 mhíle ag 7:25 meánluas

Muileann coise do na chinn seo. An-ghnóthach sa bhaile agus l'obair ar feadh cúpla lá ansin. Le chúnamh Dé, beidh deis amárach agam 20 mhíle nó mar sin de a dhéanamh.

Amárach an lá deireanach de Seachtain na Gaeilge!

ThePiedPiper

Luan 17ú Máirt: 20 míle i 2:32 (7:37 meánluas)

Rinne mé seo go luath ar maidin, gan aon rud le h-ithe. Chuaigh mé thart ar Tearmann Feichín agus Ceann Chlochair. Bhí sé deas éasca suas chuige sin, ach nuair a chas mé thiar tar éis Ceann Chlochair, bhí an ghaoth i m'aghaidh ar feadh deich míle. Ní dhearna mé mórán iarracht luas a bhaint amach sa tréimhse seo, agus ní raibh mé ag fulaingt an iomarca, ach bhíos ag obair. Thart ar Tígh an Iúir, chas mé thoir arís, agus bhí fadhb na gaoithe imithe láithreach. Phioc mé suas an luas réasúnta maith ag an bpointe seo.

Ar an iomlán, bhí mé sásta le seo. I gceann cúpla seachtaine, beidh orm PMP a chur isteach sna chinn mar seo, ach ní raibh an béim sin ann inniu.

Beidh mé ag malairt ar ais chuig an Béarla amárach ar an log seo. Measaim, bhí an turgnamh seo go maith. Nílim cinnte an raibh tionchar dearfach ansin do a lán daoine, ach má spreag sé fiú duine nó béirt, ba fhiú é.

Micilin Muc

RunForestRun wrote: »

Beidh mé ag malairt ar ais chuig an Béarla amárach ar an log seo. Measaim, bhí an turgnamh seo go maith. Nílim cinnte an raibh tionchar dearfach ansin do a lán daoine, ach má spreag sé fiú duine nó béirt, ba fhiú é.

Boo (bú). Ní fhaca mé seo go dtí anois. Ní raibh a fhios agam go raibh Gaeilge agat!

ThePiedPiper

Tues and Weds 18th and 19th March: Rest

Thur 20th March: 7.5 miles at 6:56 avg pace

Hadn't particularly planned on taking two rest days, but was just so bloody wrecked on Wednesday, in particular, I could barely stand up, never mind run.

Anyway, headed off on the roads yesterday evening for one of my favourite routes, down over the railway line and towards Sandpit. It was a bit breezy, with the wind at my back on the way down the hill, so tipped along very handily for the first couple of miles at 6:30ish pace. I was always going to have to pay for the wind on the way back, but I was happy enough to dig in a bit, as I'd had the couple of days rest. Kept the pace reasonably ok on the way back up the hills, and felt pretty strong.

Fri 21st March: 4 miles in 30 mins (7:30 pace)

I'd planned on running around the roads this evening for a bit, but just as I was getting in from work, the heavens were opening and the wind was howling. Decided on the treadmill instead. I wasn't planning a faster, or longer workout, so there was no real downside to staying on the treadmill, and the upside was not being blown away. (Over-dramatic I know)

My big plans of being free from the constant threat of Dept of Education inspectors have actually turned out to be the exact opposite. As well as my own inspector coming back to me at some stage between now and the end of June, we're also having the dreaded Whole School Evaluation at the end of April. Absolutely typical that my first year in the job, and my school would get its first inspection in 15 years. The problem with this is my planned marathon in June was meant to be a walk-in-the-park type effort.. Anyway, I know I'm lucky to have a job, and that this time 6 weeks, work load will decrease. Will enter this marathon now and forget the whining.

ThePiedPiper

Sat 22nd March: 4 miles in 29:20 (7:20 pace)

Treadmill late at night, but happy enough to get anything done, after a busy enough day.

Sun 23rd March: 16 miles at 6:46 pace

I love these longer runs. I set off, fairly tired and without any clue of what I was going to do, but as soon as I got out on the road, the legs felt great, pace very handy. Conditions were lovely when I was going off at 5 in the evening, cool and sunny. Went through Drogheda, out the Boyne estuary towards Baltray, and on towards Termonfeckin. I did 12 of the miles at 6:30-6:45 pace, and kept the workrate going right the way home.

The difference between the 20 miler last Monday and this was huge. I felt great on this today, feeling confident enough about Cork based on these longer runs.

Decent enough week this week, mileage is just about finding its way up, not consistently hitting 50 mpw yet, and doubt I will do any huge mileage until June/July, but anything I'm doing is feeling good, and the long runs are my bread and butter stuff.

yaboya1

This so much more informative now that I can understand the language it's written in :P

ThePiedPiper

Mon 24th Mar: Rest

Tues: 7.5 miles at 7:40 pace

Took it really nice and handy on this one, as planned. However, legs felt very sore and heavy, even at 8:00 pace on the way back up the hill, the run on Sunday must've taken a bit out of me. Also, I walked into a table in work yesterday, the pointy angular bit, and my quad is very tender. Think it's a really bad dead leg. Didn't feel half as bad until after I'd ran on it today, but obviously a bit of scar tissue in there somewhere.

This is real typical RFR stuff, my injuries always come from lifting things, dropping concrete blocks on myself, walking into things, or anything that doesn't involve actual running training. Was planning a track session tomorrow, but not sure now, see how it feels then.

ThePiedPiper

Weds 26th Mar: 4 miles at 7:30 pace
Fri 28th Mar: 2 miles at 7:50 pace

Just a couple of easy ones on the treadmill. Quad was sore there for a few days but grand now.

Sat: 12.5 miles at 7:27 pace

Was down in Kilkenny for the weekend. Was slow enough to shake off the cobwebs for the first couple of miles of this one, but got going nicely after a few miles, doing 6 or 7 miles at 6:40-50 pace. Took in a few back roads and country lanes out from the town for this, was very enjoyable.

Sun 30th Mar: 6 miles at 7:40 pace

Nice and easy run around the ringroad in Kilkenny. Was feeling a bit iffy after the previous night, so didn't push it much.

ThePiedPiper

Mon 31st Mar: Rest

Tues 1st Apr: 4 miles at 7: pace
Quick run around the block. Quite a warm evening for it. Definitely feeling like spring was in the air.

Weds: Rest
Had planned to go to the track, but the weather was beyond lousy, and was on top of my head with work, so gave it a miss.

Thurs: 4 miles in 29:25 (7:25 pace)
Treadmill for this one. Mrs RFR was off for a couple of days, and I didn't get back from work/courses til nearly 8. Happy enough to get in a couple of miles after 10 at night.

Friday: 7.5 miles in 6:58 pace.
One of my favourite routes down quiet country lanes by the railway. After what's seemed like a couple of weeks of very little faster running, I clicked up the pace a bit on this one, tipping along at 6:20-30 for a good bit, before having to take it easier going back up the hills. Was properly sweating and feeling the heat, I can nearly smell the summer.

Hopefully I'll do a couple of easy miles later, before doing a 20 mile run tomorrow. Can't believe its only 8 weeks til the Cork marathon, training has not been great, but unfortunately, I have no choice but to keep 100% on top of work until inspectors come and go. I'll need to do a good block of training over the Easter break in order that I'm not under leaving all the harder training until May. This supposed dead cert sub-3 is starting to look a bit of a stretch!! We'll see.

ThePiedPiper

May as well keep this table going.

Based on my plans at the start of the year, I'd wanted 100 miles for each of Jan and Feb, and 150 for March, so despite feeling like I've been just about doing enough, I suppose I actually just about have been doing enough!!!

No races in March, but 3 long runs of between 16-20 miles, with a lot of MP miles in there.

Month|Runs|Av Speed|Mileage
January|19/31|8.7|109
February|19/28|8.2|104
March|21/31|8.5|148
[/QUOTE]

ThePiedPiper

Sun 6th Apr: 20 miles in 2:21 (7:05 pace)

Damn good run this. Really got stuck into it. Delayed going out on it until the rain had eased down, but there was no getting away from the wind. Took what I hoped would be a good route for this one. The first five miles were easy, downhill, with the wind blowing across me. Then, from Dunleer over to Collon was a nightmare. Steadily climbing, but getting absolutely beaten with a headwind. I kept pace about 7:30 for those few miles, but could really feel it in the legs.

Was delighted to finally reach Collon and turn to have the wind going across me again, although it sort of died down, I think. Managed to stick in some very good miles around here, with a couple of miles that I would hope would be MP in October. Died a bit of a death on the last two warmdown miles up the hills, but overall delighted with the workout.

The fast mile splits were as follows:
6:57 / 6:55 / 6:49 / 6:58 / 6:54 / 6:44 / 6:45 / 6;36 / 6:22 / 6:14 / 6:33 / 6:56

pconn062

Are you doing PK5k next Saturday, could really do with you for the team.

ThePiedPiper

pconn062 wrote: »

Are you doing PK5k next Saturday, could really do with you for the team.

yeah, I should be there. Haven't entered yet but will enter online today. Its at 6:30?

pconn062

RunForestRun wrote: »

yeah, I should be there. Haven't entered yet but will enter online today. Its at 6:30?

Yeah 6.30, always a great race. Looks like we have a decent team for it.

ThePiedPiper

Mon 7th Apr: Rest

Tues 8th Apr: 4 miles in 30:xx

Was on the treadmill that evening, nothing interesting.

Weds 9th Apr: 5x1k & 2x300m

Back into the track for the first time in a good few weeks. PConn said the plan was 3x1k at 5k pace, then a few 300m reps. Did a couple laps warmup and jumped in with the group for the first 1k. Pace felt comfortable, and the time was 3:34 I think for that. For the second one, I wanted to just push it on a little bit, so I went to the front, took that one down to 3:30 I think. By this stage, I was already thinking I'd have to break ranks and do another couple of reps by myself, but kept it handy on the 3rd 1k, I think in and around 3:28 or so.

Nobody else seemed to be biting on another couple of reps, apart from our National Indoor 800m and 1,500m champion, who seemed to magically appear on people's shoulders all evening as soon as they started running faster. Anyway, I thought I'd push things on a little bit faster for these last couple, think we ran about 3:24/5 for those two, maybe a bit faster, I didn't hit the lap button on the watch.

Was planning just a bit of a warmdown, then decided on a whim to jump in with the lads who were still on their 300s. Did two of those, at I think about 55s each. Felt handy enough. Did about a mile or so of a warmdown then.

Overall, 6.5 miles in 39:48 (6:08 avg pace)

Friday: 4 miles at 7:08 pace

Spent couple of hours working in the garden, then decided to get this done before settling down for the evening. Didn't particularly mean to run this pace, but effort levels were low, so don't think I took much out of myself.

Doing a 5k race in Dundalk later on today. I'd hope to run around or slightly under 17:30. I haven't much to be basing this on, apart from how well I felt on the 20 miler last week, and the relative ease of the midweek session. Good few lads from the club seem to be in 17:30-59 shape at the minute, so might be a bit of bragging rights on this one. Ultimately though, it's just going to be a guide as to where I am. Not sure what long run I'll do on Monday, might possibly do a 23 miler at easy pace. Been a while since I've done that one, and want to push the aerobic base.

ThePiedPiper

First race in a while, and was hoping to sneak under 17:30, to get a good idea of where fitness is, and see could we get a team prize.

Got up to Dundalk with about half hour to go before the start. Getting out of my car, Luke Ming Flanagan parks up beside me, looking very lean and fit in fairness. Headed down to the Clans to get race number sorted. Did a bit of a warmup with Simon Ryan, who went on to finish 3rd. Up at the start line, I saw we'd a huge crowd from the club, which was great, and around 1,000 running in total. Had a wee word with Conor Duffy from Monaghan, who has been improving hugely lately under the guidance of my cousin and went on to finish 2nd.

Got going right on time, and the pace was frantic enough for the first 1k. Probably about 5 seconds faster than what I wanted to do but it was downhill, and I didn't want to get swallowed up. It was fairly windy out there, and in the second km, I found the wind a bit of a challenge, but I cleared myself of a few people, and probably sat just outside the top 20.

The third km was through the Ice House Hill Park, and on gravel. There were a few tight little turns in here, along with a bit of a hill, so it was harder to keep pace. Out of here, I passed a couple of people and tried to get a bit of a move on.

On the 4th km, there was a lad getting plenty of shout outs from the crowd, and when I caught up with him, he kept with me. Over the entire last mile of the race, the two of us were shoulder to shoulder, pushing each other on, both going through iffy patches, but keeping the pace reasonably good. With 800m to go, I got a good ol shout out from the club coach, but was starting to struggle there. Was going to be very close to the 17:30. Turned the corner with about 70 metres to run and 17:17 or so on the clock. Got blitzed by somebody from behind me with a serious finishing kick, but got about 5-10m on the lad who'd been with me for the last 2k to finish in 17:28 in 18th place.

Very happy with that. Course was tough and conditions not ideal, so was good to run the time I was looking for. We picked up 3rd place team. After a drop of soup and sandwiches, and a bit of apple tart, hit the road. Great race, very well organised.

ThePiedPiper

Sun 13th Apr: 10 miles at 7:10 pace

Intended this as a sort of easy run, but the pace came very easy, and I felt fine after Saturday's effort so went with it. Think I did about 5 or 6 of the miles at MP (which these days is anything in the range from 6:15-6:55!!). There was a fair bit of wind out there, so didn't really fight it, just slowed down when it was in my face.

Mon 14th Apr: 16 miles in 1:51 (6:58 avg pace)

Was feeling a bit tired prior to heading out on this, after having spent most of the afternoon working in the garden. Wasn't sure what my plan was when I was heading off apart from the fact that I was going around the Drogheda estuary and Termonfeckin, but I loosened up very quickly and after the first warm-up mile, did 12 at MP, before easing back up the hills. Very pleased with this, as I was definitely running on close to empty. Pace felt comfortable.

MP splits: 6:44, 6:49, 6:49, 6:27, 6:48, 6:46, 6:51, 6:42, 6:43, 6:35, 6:43, 6:42

pconn062

Nice session tonight, you were really motoring, would be interested to see your splits. I pulled out of the 4th rep, felt like muck. Still not recovered from the race I'm guessing.

ThePiedPiper

pconn062 wrote: »

Nice session tonight, you were really motoring, would be interested to see your splits. I pulled out of the 4th rep, felt like muck. Still not recovered from the race I'm guessing.

Cheers pconn, the first one was 5:55, then all the rest between 5:35 - 5:40. Was a bit of a struggle on the last one.. Wouldn't worry too much about your evening, you lost a bit of your momentum for a few weeks, so recovering from the race would be longer.

Was thinking about that 10 mile race, but might hold off until Monday. You racing that one?

pconn062

RunForestRun wrote: »

Cheers pconn, the first one was 5:55, then all the rest between 5:35 - 5:40. Was a bit of a struggle on the last one.. Wouldn't worry too much about your evening, you lost a bit of your momentum for a few weeks, so recovering from the race would be longer.

Was thinking about that 10 mile race, but might hold off until Monday. You racing that one?

Yeah hoping to get down to that one on Monday, it's a good race. We should be in with a shout in the team race too if we can get a few lads down.

ThePiedPiper

Tues 15th Apr: 4 miles in 30:30 (7:37 pace)

Late in the evening easy run on treadmill. Was just my self and the young fella at home for a few days there, couldn't be offloading him to the inlaws three days on the trot!

Weds 16th Apr: 5 x 1 mile

Beautiful evening, and took the chance to get in for another track session, mile reps I heard, so happy with that. Did a bit of a warm-up, before meeting up with the lads. On the first rep, there were collective groans of discomfort as we all started off, which was funny, but also indicative of the fact that Saturday's race and/or subsequent training was still in the legs for a few of us. Anyway, I behaved myself and sat nicely in the group for the first one, which we did in 5:55. On the second one, I moved to the front, upping the pace a little bit. Three of us stayed together for this one, and the pace dropped down to 5:40. I'd felt fairly stiff on the first rep, but loosened out nicely on the second.

For the 3rd and 4th rep, our smaller little group of 3 plugged away together, pace was around 5:37ish for each of them, which felt fast, but manageable. The original plan for most had been just the 4 reps, and most of the group were happy to see the back of them. Two of the other lads still had a bit of grunt left in them, so after maybe a 3 minute rest, we got going again. Kept the time for this one under 5:40 as well, but was huffing and puffing a bit towards the end. Did a mile or so of a warmdown, very happy with the session.

I've too many race options this weekend. Was considering the Brian Boru 10 mile tomorrow, but not sure yesterday's session would be out've the legs in time. Other options are a 5k 'fun run' type effort down in Termonfeckin on Sunday. Most likely is the 5k in Mountpleasant on Monday. Only problem with this one being that I want to do a 20+ mile long run at some stage over the weekend. Somebody about here once mentioned something about the main thing being the main thing, so the long run should be in pole position.. I'll see what happens.

drquirky

RunForestRun wrote: »

Was considering the Brian Boru 10 mile tomorrow

Brian Boru 10mile is Monday! Good session btw.

pconn062

I'm sure you know but that race in Termonfeckin is a bit of a jogger-fest, it's not a race as far as I'm aware and it's all on grass. If I was you and I was running 5x1 mile in the 5:35-40 range I would do the 5k on Monday and really go and give it a lash. Go out with one of the NER groups and let them drag your round, I think you could get close to 17:10-15.

ThePiedPiper

Thurs 17th Apr: 5.25 miles in 7:18 pace

Up in Monaghan for the day and took the chance to get out for an easy paced run around a hilly enough little loop out close to the border.

Fri 18th Apr: 3 miles in 7:49 pace

Was working outside in the garden a lot of the day, so just did a very handy easy paced run down by Cros an Pápa.

Sat 19th Apr: 23 miles in 2:54 (7:35 pace)

Very long run today. Took what is a tough enough old route, with over 1,300 of elevation gain over the whole distance. First 11 miles through Dunleer and on ahead to Ardee were very easy with a breeze on my back. But, climbing out of Ardee on the N2, with a strengthening wind now in my face was tough, and by the time I was at 20/21 miles after Collon, was really tiring with the constant resistance into the wind. Kept the pace nice and steady, and really enjoyed the sunshine and getting out for a good decent long run, but the wind in my face for 12 or 13 miles was a nuisance. Anyway, I only usually do this one once every training cycle, so glad to get it done. Can feel it in my legs a wee bit now, but it should be good for the aerobic endurance.

Hopefully, just a couple of easy miles tomorrow will freshen me up for a race on Monday. There's a small chance I won't be totally over that long run my early Monday afternoon, but I'll 99% go racing anyway. Worst case scenario, I put myself in the crosshairs of some of the other lads in the club and eat some cake!

ThePiedPiper

Got up to Mountpleasant about half an hour before the race was due to start. Got registered quickly and got out to do a bit of a warmup. Legs felt in an absolute state, very heavy. Plus, the weather was very warm, 17 degrees I think. Got up to the start line, not particularly feeling full of life, despite PConn's assertions that I should be running 17 low!!

The race got off, and with the first 800m or so a bit downhill, it was always going to be fast. I headed off in the first group of about 20 runners, but felt the pace was just that bit fast, a quick glance at the watch confirmed we were running 5:05 pace. So, with only 500-600 metres run, I had to make a bit of a decision, go with a group of about 5 or 6 that was running that pace, or hold back and run effectively on my own! My legs more or less made the decision for me, and by the time I went through the first 1k in 3:20, I had already backed off and was on my own.

As we turned onto the Carlingford road, a bit of a breeze got into our faces, which made my strategy a bit of a pain. There was a group just 30 metres up the road from me, but all I was doing was catching people who were falling off the pace and passing them, not really getting the advantages of working with people. Battled on anyway, and with the pace in the second and third km dropping off a bit, I knew it'd be touch and go for the 17:30. As we turned into the section with a bit of a slope, I caught another few lads, including one of the lads from our own club (a real find this buck, ex professional cyclist). One person passed me, but I made about 5 or 6 places overall. The heat was a bit of a killer so I was happy enough to finish in 17:36 for 14th place.

Did a bit of a warmdown, and then myself, Mrs RFR and kids headed inside to the hall for what was an almighty spread. There was only a team prize for the winning team, but the soup, cakes and sandwiches made up for this completely. Good day out.

pconn062

Great run, it's a tough course and the conditions yesterday were tough. You got a couple of nice scalps as well. I kaboomed at the 3k mark, still lacking a bit of fitness.

ThePiedPiper

Tues 22nd: 4 miles in 30 mins on treadmill

Thurs 24th: 7.5 miles in 6:57 pace

Enjoyed this run down by the railway. Pushed the pace on a little bit, on what was an absolutely beautiful afternoon. Followed it up with going on the tear in the big smoke.

Fri 25th Apr: 4 miles in 6:44 pace

Can't remember much of this one

Sun 27th Apr: 13.1 miles in 1:29 (6:51 pace)

Took a very hilly route on what was a windy enough evening for this run. Had planned on doing about 9 or 10 miles at sub-3 pace, and in the end did 12, which was good. Beautiful afternoon in sunny and breezy conditions banging out the miles, really love this time of the year.

ThePiedPiper

Time for a bit of a catchup after what was a fairly cr@ppy couple of weeks. Work took over life completely there for a bit, but thankfully, the end is nigh, and normal service should resume soon! Training has been $h!te, but managed a couple of reasonably decent runs down in Connemara last weekend.

Thursday 1st May: 4 miles at 7:56 pace

The slowest, most uncomfortable 4 mile run I'd done in a while. Decided on a whim to go out and do it, after eating too much dinner. Had an awful stitch the whole way around, really struggled. I spent the entire time wondering how I'd ever manage myself in ultra races where you have to be taking on food throughout!!

Saturday 3rd May: 7 miles at 6:45 pace

Lovely evening for running after what was a fairly miserable day in the mountains. Pace felt fairly comfortable.

Sunday 4th May: 17 miles at 7:10 avg pace (10 at MP)

This was a bloody nasty one, if I'm totally honest about it. Started it off in Oughterard, headed a few miles out the Clifden road, running at MP into the wind. Didn't feel too bad. The run back into Oughterard was handy, as the wind was on my back, but I nearly got killed by some gob$hite who drove straight at me, forcing me to jump into the ditch. There was no oncoming traffic, I was not on a blind corner, there was absolutely no reason for him trying to mow me down, probably on his phone or something ridiculous. Anyway, this shook me up a bit, but motored on anyway, keeping up the pace as long as I could, before climbing 1,000 feet or so back up and over the mountain to Shanafesteen with the wind in my face. Character building, and all that.. Took me about an hour to warm up after.

This weekend's looking like a challenging one, between a wedding, a First Communion and a Fleadh all thrown into it. Unlikely to find the time to scratch myself, never mind going running.

ThePiedPiper

Decent enough April. Couple of 5k races, including a PB, a 16, 20 and 23 mile long run, with plenty of MP miles. The 20 miler with the 14 at MP was by far the best marathon specific workout, but the couple of nights at the track didn't do any harm either I suppose.

I had planned 190 miles for the month, so was well off that with only 157, but I'll get over that. My 'plan' has 200 miles for this month, that's already looking highly unlikely!

Month|Runs|Av Speed|Mileage
January|19/31|8.7|109
February|19/28|8.2|104
March|21/31|8.5|148
April|20/30|8.5|157