Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

adrian522

Careful now, this is a training log for all the family

OOnegative

All the best in the West tomorrow A, have a great race. Run well!!

Wubble Wubble

Good luck tomorrow Adrian. Guaranteed PB. No pressure! You're running very well lately, so I'm sure you'll take it in your stride #CanAdrianNailTheNats?

adrian522

Thanks, how does one measure Pb's at Cross Country? Finishing Position?

I think we have 40-ish going down on the bus tomorrow so I'll have plenty of people to chase down anyway.

Bungy Girl

adrian522 wrote: »

Thanks, how does one measure Pb's at Cross Country? Finishing Position?

% of winner's time or % of finish position vs. overall field. Both good metrics for XC if you have similar races to compare to.

Have fun tomorrow. Elbows out!

martyboy48

Have a good one tomorrow Adrian, please bring some good weather ☺

adrian522

Ha ha, I'm hoping for a nice bit of west coast sunshine. Should I pack the sunscreen?

martyboy48

adrian522 wrote: »

Ha ha, I'm hoping for a nice bit of west coast sunshine. Should I pack the sunscreen?

Foil blanket, electric blanket, wolly hats, thermal gloves... things like that... and some kind of strong industrial cleaner to disolve the mud from youself... no need for sunscreen ☺

OOnegative

Great performance today A, huge well done to you.

adrian522

As noted elsewhere it was a race to just get through and there wasn't much more to be said other than I got through it, without falling flat on my face at any point!

Annie get your Run

adrian522 wrote: »

As noted elsewhere it was a race to just get through and there wasn't much more to be said other than I got through it, without falling flat on my face at any point!

I sincerely hope that's not the race report!!! Well done!

adrian522

I don't think I can put into words how tough that was. I will try though!

Wubble Wubble

Looking forward to this one. Congrats on a brilliant result, and hopefully we will see a report that does it justice #AdrianNailedTheNats

Duanington

adrian522 wrote: »

I don't think I can put into words how tough that was. I will try though!

I tried - there are no words A, they haven't been invented yet

adrian522

Day|Time|Dist/Pace|Comment
Monday|PM|Off|
Tuesday|PM|4.9 @ 8:41 m/m|Easy
Wednesday|AM|4.7 Miles @ 8:46 m/m|Commute - Easy
Wednesday|PM|5.4 Miles @ 8:47 m/m|Commute - Easy
Thursday|PM|7 Miles @ 8:25|Steady run at the club session
Friday|AM|3.1 @ 9:11 m/m|Very Easy Commute
Friday|PM|4.7 Miles @ 8:45 m/m|Easy Commute
Saturday|AM|3.9 Miles @ 8:42 |Easy with Strides
Sunday|PM|4.23 Miles @ 8:51 m/m|[URL="https://www.strava.com/activities/1402832263]National Masters XC[/URL]

Where to start? I wasn't feeling great, despite an early night and a very easy week, I' developed a sore throat overnight and it had me concerned. Undeterred I packed the gear and headed for the bus at Bushy Park. Weather wasn't great but it seemed to get steadily worse the further west we went. The concern was very real as the snow just kept coming down and I was thinking this could be tough.



Luckily once we arrived in Clarinbridge there wasn't much snow and the sun even came out.

I'm not even going to describe the underfoot conditions. Something like this though.



Sorry for all the photos! Anyway once we were underway it became apparent how tough this was going to be. 1 small lap and 3 large laps. I knew it was going to be a struggle before we were through the first lap. The mud was so deep that actually running in the normal sense just wasn't going to be possible.

All you could do was plod around as best you could. All thoughts of picking up places or performing well went out the window. I just wanted to get through it and get home. It was energy sapping on the legs. Any overtaking that was going on was purely incidental.

At least I wasn't like my unfortunate clubmate who lost one of his spikes in the mud and then discarded the other and then completed the race in a pair of socks.

Once we got onto the last lap I was thinking, right less than a mile to go, but that seemed like it was such a long way that line of thinking was no good. I also remember thinking that marathons seemed easier than this but I guess I'd forgotten the hurt of the marathon. On the second half of the last lap I did pass a few people and did my best to hold off a clubmate who was right behind me.

I was really glad it was over and while glad of the experience I'll be happy to hit the roads again for the next while at least.

Result: 37:26, 206th out of 248.



Mileage total for the week: 40.2

Murph_D

Well done A, by all accounts it was some mudfest. Good going!

Singer

Amazing pics - glad you got to retain your shoes at least.

Wubble Wubble

adrian522 wrote: »

Day|Time|Dist/Pace|Comment

Sunday|PM|4.23 Miles @ 8:51 m/m|[URL="http://"https://www.strava.com/activities/1402832263"]National Masters XC[/URL]


All you could do was plod around as best you could. All thoughts of picking up places or performing well went out the window. I just wanted to get through it and get home. It was energy sapping on the legs. Any overtaking that was going on was purely incidental.

At least I wasn't like my unfortunate clubmate who lost one of his spikes in the mud and then discarded the other and then completed the race in a pair of socks.

Once we got onto the last lap I was thinking, right less than a mile to go, but that seemed like it was such a long way that line of thinking was no good. I also remember thinking that marathons seemed easier than this but I guess I'd forgotten the hurt of the marathon. On the second half of the last lap I did pass a few people and did my best to hold off a clubmate who was right behind me.

I was really glad it was over and while glad of the experience I'll be happy to hit the roads again for the next while at least.

Result: 37:26, 206th out of 248.



Mileage total for the week: 40.2

Congrats, you nailed the Nats! Tough and all as it was, you were still able to pick it up at the end. Plus that's a serious improvement from National Novice. Hope there were a few beers to help you recover on the bus back

There are two more BHAA XC races remaining, the first this Saturday at ALSAA, if you fancy keeping your XC season going a while longer.

adrian522

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

Congrats, you nailed the Nats! Tough and all as it was, you were still able to pick it up at the end. Plus that's a serious improvement from National Novice. Hope there were a few beers to help you recover on the bus back

There are two more BHAA XC races remaining, the first this Saturday at ALSAA, if you fancy keeping your XC season going a while longer.

Yeah, we stopped off in Balinasloe on the way back and then hit up Brady's in Terenure later on

I'm not sure about ALSAA at the moment. I'll see what the club session is on Saturday. I think I've raced 7 times already this year. So much for 1 race per month!

adrian522

Day|Time|Dist/Pace|Comment
Monday|PM|4 Miles @ 9:09 m/m|Recovery/Collect the car from Bushy Park
Tuesday|PM|8.1 @ 8:22 m/m|Easy/Steady run at the club session
Wednesday|PM|7 Miles @ 8:40 m/m|Commute - Easy
Thursday|AM|3.1 Miles @ 8:40 m/m|Commute - Easy
Thursday|PM|Club Session|5 x Bank Lap
Friday|PM|Off|Not feeling great so took a rest day
Saturday|AM|Club Session|3 x 10 Mins
Sunday|AM|13.6 Miles @ 8:18 m/m|Hilly Long Run @ Steady Pace

Thursday session was 5 times around the bank lap in Rathfarnham which is a little short of a mile, around 1500m.

Tried to stick with 10K pace and hold it as best I could. There is a severe hill at the end of the lap; the paces were 6:32/6:25/6:286:37/6:50

The last one may have been one too many, but good session nonetheless.

Thursday was a more straightforward 3 x 10 mins. Again tried to set a good pace and stick with it, again the 3rd one slowed quite a bit but happy with the effort and a few more sessions like this will really be beneficial. (Paces - 7:08/7:02/7:37)

Sunday I went around some country roads in Kilkenny. I was late getting out and ended up going at a fairly steady pace for most of it. Just short of 14 miles, but a good return to the long run after a few weeks without it.

Total for the week :- 51.7 Miles

adrian522

Day|Time|Dist/Pace|Comment
Monday|PM|4.8 Miles @ 9:01 m/m|Recovery/Pick up some coffee on the way home!
Tuesday|AM|3.2 @ 8:47 m/m|Commute - Easy run into work.
Tuesday|PM|Club Session|8 x 800m
Wednesday|PM|Off|Work got in the way of todays run.
Thursday|AM|4.8 Miles @ 8:48 m/m|Commute - Longer than intended but trying to make up for missing Wednesdays run
Thursday|PM|3000M Race|1 more NIA race. 3,000m in 11.35
Friday|PM|8.2 Miles @ 8:56 m/m|Legs feeling the effects of the race so nice and slow.
Saturday|AM|8 Miles @ 9:00 m/m|Legs still not 100%, so recovery pace again.
Sunday|AM|15 Miles @ 8:52 m/m|Hilly Long Run including Waterworks outer loop

Interesting week. I wanted to maintain 50-ish miles per week and get in 2 good sessions. Tuesday night the cub were doing 800's so I had the idea to do 6 really good reps and leave it at that. I got talked into the additional 2 though. I knew this could affect the 3K race but I went with it anyway.

Paces were: 6:13/5:51/6:06/5:52/6:22/5:57/6:23/6:01.

They alternate with slightly uphill/slightly downhill. Good Session.

Thursday went out to Abbotstown again for the years final NIA live. Went with the 3K this time. No idea what to expect but figured 45/46 seconds per lap would have me in a good position to go 11:15 to 11:30 which I'd be happy with. My PB (in my only other 3K race) was 12:26.

I'd purchased a pair of spikes since my last outing, went out at target pace but it soon became obvious that I was going to be the last finisher. I wasn't bothered by this really, but was lapped for the first time around lap 4 or 5.

My pace was falling off a bit around 4 or 5 seconds down on target when I stopped paying attention to the clock. I find these indoor races really hard to get the pace right in. Anyway I kept plugging away, lapped a few more times.

Around 3 or 4 laps to go I notice my lace is undone, flirt with the idea of carrying on but not a good plan so step out to the outside lane to do up the laces. Pretty annoyed by this I burn through the last few laps as best as I can.

The last lap I'm the only one on the track and at least get a shout out from the commentator.

Finish time was 11:35 by the garmin. Happy with this, would have been sub 11:30 without the stoppage.

Sunday I went for another hilly long run. Legs still fairly lethargic, but loosened up during the run. it's a great route and it was nice to get out early morning for it.

Happy with my weeks work, 53.9 Miles ,1 session and 1 race.

Next up will be Bohermeen Half on March 11th.

Murph_D

Fair play on the 3000 - although I think you’re entitled to pull your previous PB from one of your much faster 5ks!

8x800 seems like a long session -is this usual at your club? At the Cru, the accumulated session distance is always around 4.8k (e.g. 6x800).

What’s the Bohermeen target? You fairly killed it last time out in Charleville.

adrian522

Murph_D wrote: »

Fair play on the 3000 - although I think you’re entitled to pull your previous PB from one of your much faster 5ks!

8x800 seems like a long session -is this usual at your club? At the Cru, the accumulated session distance is always around 4.8k (e.g. 6x800).

What’s the Bohermeen target? You fairly killed it last time out in Charleville.

Yeah the 3K equates to around 20:00 5K based on the VDOT tables so happy enough with that.

Most of our sessions are listed as quite long or hard but usually only the tops guys will do the full number of reps. Usually I will do something less than that. In this instance I'd have been happy with 6 but I felt ok so added the extra 2. But the last one was pretty slow so maybe it was too many.

Bohermeen? I'll go out similar to Dungarvan and see how I'm feeling in mile 1. I'd like to think I can go under 90 mins but it may be optimistic.

I also have the Madrid Half in April but that is supposed to be a tougher course so hope to hit my target in Bohermeen!

adrian522

|Month|YTD
Days Running|24/28|53/59
Sessions|4|8
Long Runs|2|3
Commutes|10|23
Doubles|6|13
Races|5|3
PB's|2|4

Month|2013|2014|2015|2016|2017|2018
January|7|0|191|73.5|133.3|216.3
February|10|53|196|104.1|165.9|194.7
March|7|111|207.9|70|186.9
April|26|154|165.2|74.9|203.2
May|69|121|219.7|128.6|193
June|75|93|257.4|183.2|179.3
July|67|212|151.2|236.4|242.1
August|101|233|132.7|279.7|255.7
September|85|261|31.6|191.2|151.1
October|4|179|63.6|106.6|167.4
November|13|28|17.5|154.9|223.3
December|6|163|21|151.3|213.7
Total|471.2|1606.2|1654.8|1757.3|2318.6|411


Distance|PB - Dec 2017|Current PB|2018 Target
Marathon| 3:26:56|3:26:56|3:15:00
10K|41:20|41:20|41:00
10 Miles|71:10|67:03|69:00
Half|1:32:23|1:32:23|1:31:00
5 Miles|32:53|32:13|32:00
5K|19:32|19:32|19:00

Not much to say. Delighted with the 10 Mile PB in Dungarvan, happy enough also with the general consistency. Still not a lot of long runs but that will hopefully improve now.

The indoor races were a nice distraction but the main business will be done on the roads.

Upcoming races:

March 11 - Bohermeen Half
March 18 - MSB 5K
March 24th - K-club 10K
March 29th - Streets of Kilkenny 5K

That might be one race too many so one of the 5k's may have to go.

Testosterscone

Hearing rumours of K club being pushed back a week?

adrian522

Testosterscone wrote: »

Hearing rumours of K club being pushed back a week?

So the 31st? Easter Saturday I think. It's always going to clash with something I guess.

Testosterscone

adrian522 wrote: »

So the 31st? Easter Saturday I think. It's always going to clash with something I guess.

Yeah though that is just through the grape vine haven't heard it confirmed just yet. Could be a Dunboyne/K Club Combo?

adrian522

They could move it to April 7th in a switch with their race in St. Annes Park. Would probably make more sense.

adrian522

Day|Time|Dist/Pace|Comment
Monday|PM|5.3 Miles @ 8:44|Easy
Tuesday|PM|Treadmill Session|6 x 1 Mile @ 10K Pace
Wednesday|PM|Off|Didn't manage to get out, was getting dark by the time I got home and didn't seem like a great idea to head out. Gym helpfully closed early.
Thursday|AM|8 Miles @ 8:39 m/m|Great fun running in the snow in the morning, up to Bushy park and a few laps then home. It was cold and windy but a whole lot of fun.
Friday|PM|Off|Another rest day. Any running today would have just been about ticking the box.
Saturday|AM|16 Miles @ 8:48 m/m|Met a group from the club and this turned into a long run which I wasn't intending, but once I got to around 12 or 13 I decided I'd finish it out to 16.
Sunday|AM|8.27 Miles @ 9:21 m/m|The snow is turning to ice and this was nowhere near as much fun but nice to get a run done at least.

Interesting week. Easy run on monday. Club session was cancelled at the last minute on Tuesday so I hit the treadmill. Unfortunately the Gym hasn't opened since so haven't managed another session though I did get a really good run in on Thursday morning and a good long run yesterday.

Overall not to bad, salvaged 47.9 Miles and a decent session from the week.

OOnegative

All the best in Bohermeen Sunday A, hope it goes to plan. Run well.