Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Plodder alert
Options
Comments
-
Monday Sept 24
6.41k @ 6:34
A day late yet again with the recovery run, but a lot of yesterday was spent in Croke Park (does standing on the Hill for three and a half hours count as cross training?). Up the Dubs.
Tues Sept 25
6.76k @ 5.45
Trouble sleeping so got up early and out for a few easy kilometres in the mist and fog. Would have been lovely to have had those conditions on Sat.
WTD: 13k
YTD: 1,605k0 -
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
Tues 1 Oct
5k @ 6:00
It was cold, wet and late. My desk is 100m from the gym. Treadmill time.
Weds 2 Oct
9.37k @ 6:07
Late home. Too late for this week's session so just an easy trot out to Dollymount in the dark. Lovely balmy night.
Thurs 3 Oct
Session time. 22.1k @ 5:39 avg.
This was supposed to be a 2-mile warmup, 10 miles alternating MP +/- 5%, 2 mile cooldown.
The complicated arithmethic got the better of me and I set up the slower miles correctly at 8:46 and the faster miles at 8:32 instead of 8:16 :P Needless to say I found the easy miles easy enough and the faster miles easy enough too! Oh well. That's why I hope to follow the pacers on the day.
8:45 8:40 8:44 8:30 8:41 8:28 8:46 8:35 8:32 8:06
At least it was a fast finish
This was all in the pissing rain so I was pleased enough with myself. The meno plan is really interesting to do - fair play to him.
WTD: 36k
YTD: 1,705k0 -
Sat 5 Oct
Easy 8k in Donegal with Mrs M.
Mon 7 Oct
35.13k in 3:18:17. (Easy/MP section here.)
Postponed the long run till today as I didn't feel like being 4 hours in the car after a 35k run. The "meno plan" calls for 20 miles with 2 mile cooldown. The 20 could be all at steady pace (MP+5%) or alternatively 10 easy (MP+10%) and 10 MP. I chose the latter option and set off on the same course as the last long run- i.e. through town to join the Dublin marathon course at Kilmainham Gaol and follow the course almost to the end before heading back across the Liffey to Dublin 3.
Target pace was 9:23 per mile for the easy 10 miles and 8:32 for the MP 10 miles.
Miles 1-10:
9:16 9:09 9:24 9:14 9:22 9:09 9:23 9:38 9:31 9:19
Avg 9:20, Avg HR 152 (71%)
Miles 11-20:
8:31 8:33 8:37 8:31 8:33 8:31 8:33 8:32 8:28 8:35
Avg 8:32, Avg HR 172 (86%)
Pleased with that. Felt really good. The MP part got tough towards the end but this was partly due to having to weave through crowded pavements at lunchtime. Paced off the watch but tried to look at it less than usual. The MP felt natural - "tough but fair"
Now if only there was a 3:45 pacer on the day...
WTD: 75k
YTD: 1,748k0 -
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
Big Logger wrote: »If that's the park im thinking of across from the Glasnever ind estate, I was walking through there with an ex years ago and he was mugged and assaulted. just sayin :pac:
Ha! Well sure you can get mugged in the best places these days. Sure didn't I get a bottle thrown at me in Deep Torf last week?
Actually it wasn't that park (Tolka Valley), which I know well. The one I'm talking about is on the other side of the Finglas Road, behind Washerwoman's Hill (actually, technically it's probably part of Tolka Valley park. It follows the river for a couple of hundred yards and ends up behind the Botanic Gardens.0 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
Monday 28 October
Dublin Marathon 2013
The build-up to DCM 2013 feels endless. I’ve tweaked a muscle in the lower back, and with a slight knee pain in the last couple of runs, I take it very easy in the final week. Just an easy 8k on Weds and 3k the day before the race. Try to concentrate on being relaxed, hydrated and properly fed. Haven’t been sleeping too well but that improves on the Friday and Saturday nights, so I wake up on Monday feeling fresh and have a good 6am breakfast of porridge and bagel. A cup of coffee does its magic and when I pull on the Boards shirt I’m at fighting weight and raring to go. Pin on the number, rub some Voltarol into the lower back and get a lift right to Merrion Sq. from Mrs. M. At the Davenport, a guy in full race gear is having a smoke. “That’s the way to do it, boy”, he says, catching my eye, but I don’t think so. The bag drop takes seconds, and I enjoy the atmosphere as I walk around to Baggot St. and enter the Wave One corral well before 8:30am. It’s not as cold as last year, and there’s plenty of room for a little warm up. The pacers stream in and I say hello to meno, who gives me some last minute advice. “You know what you’re doing”, he says, which is a great encouragement.
I drop to the back of the wave and finally, it’s on. I love to run through the city centre and try to soak up as much of the occasion as I can. The crowds are in fine form, my 8:32 pace seems ridiculously easy and before I know it I am high-fiving Mrs M and my sister at the turn onto North Circular Road. At Hanlon’s Corner, the sun comes out, something that seemed very unlikely 24 hours earlier. I chat to a guy wearing a vest that says “100 Marathon Club” but it turns out this is only his fourth. There’s no congestion – maybe a little too much room as we enter the park and feel the headwind up Chesterfield. One of my pins has come undone and is stabbing me in the stomach. I fix that and go through the 10k point bang on time at 53:09. So far so good.
Miles 1-6
8:30 8:34 8:27 8:21 8:29 8:48
As we near the park exit I consider a pitstop but decide against it. The feeling soon passes. Great support outside Donore Harriers and through Chapelizod. On the bridge, I am passed by a guy dressed as Sonic The Hedgehog. For a hedgehog he’s going at a nice even 3:45 clip so I use him as my pacer for the next five miles or so – a good strategy as he’s getting a great reaction from the crowds. All well through Inchicore, SCR and Dolphins Barn and onto the Crumlin Road.
Miles 7-12
8:24 8:23 8:19 8:33 8:29 8:39
As meno had warned, there’s a bit of headwind through Crumlin and Drimnagh so I lose a few seconds here but nothing to worry about. By the half-way point, I’m back on track and over the mat in 1:52:11. Huge crowds at the Walkinstown Roundabout. I hear the first of many “come on Boards” shouts somewhere around here. They all help. Sonic is starting to fade (don’t blame him, the suit looks uncomfortable and the sunshine isn’t doing him any favours), so I leave him behind. Soon I can hear shouts behind of “C’mon Batman” and for a few minutes I think I might have another costumed pacer but alas, the Caped Crusader never overtakes. By now, there are plenty of us at the same steady pace so it is relatively easy to settle in. I’m trying to be careful about not depending on the Garmin for pace so doing the arithmetic at the various mile markers is a good distraction as the legs start to tire. My lower right calf starts to ache slightly around Kimmage which is a slight worry. Lovely running though through KCR and down to Bushy Park. Through Terenure village, I spot Mick Dowling in the crowd; so another high five is in order. A respite from the noise through leafy Orwell Park but the legs are definitely protesting now. The downhill grade to the Dropping Well provides some welcome relief. I’m still more or less on time, but there’s nothing in the bank.
Miles 13-18
8:51 8:38 8:30 8:39 8:23 8:26
Clonskeagh Road doesn’t feel too bad. I’ve been pacing myself for a while off a woman called Faye but she stops to fix her shoe. My right foot is starting to feel a bit funny - like it’s hitting the road at an angle. Calves getting sorer, quads fine, but hamstrings tightening a little. This section broke my sub-4 attempt last year, but this time, it feels much less difficult (although the Garmin data suggests I am definitely starting to fade). Through the 20 mile point about 25 seconds behind schedule. It will have to be some final 10k, but the downhill on Fosters doesn’t offer as much relief as it should. Then it’s into the wind again on the dual carriageway as we head for home. I pop a fifth and final gel at the end of Nutley Lane, and just about manage to keep it down. On Merrion Road, my least favourite part of the whole course for some reason, I just put the head down, eye the road, and try to keep it together. By now, it’s very tough indeed.
Miles 19-24
8:42 9:03 8:50 8:38 8:48 9:00
I run with a guy in an Ironman shirt and his GF for a while but she’s struggling and I push on again at Shelbourne Road. The spirits lift a little. I know the Mrs is waiting on the bridge at Grand Canal St., and spot her from a way off. Lots of encouragement, but all I can manage to say is “I’m struggling”. By now the 3:45 is definitely gone but the crowds are amazing and somehow I manage to up the pace a bit for the last couple of miles. The crowds spill out into the middle of the road on Fenian Street and Westland Row, but Pearse St. and the stretch around Trinity feel endless. I try to stick with a guy called Sparky but he has a better kick than me and leaves me in the dust. On Nassau St. I try to relax a little and enjoy the atmosphere, which is really electric. I applaud the crowd as the finish line comes into view at last. Mrs M has made it over to Clare St. for a final shout – fair play to her. Over the line in 3:46:15 for a 16-min PB.
Miles 25-26.2
8:40 8:40 (2:27)
Despite being a bit over target I am pleased with the fast(ish) finish. The atmosphere was terrific - even better than last year. I didn’t leave much out there, and was passing people consistently over the last eight or nine miles. The Merrion headwind made for a difficult finish, for me at least, and under the circumstances, the last 10k of 54:30 wasn’t too bad. So all told, a great day and a very satisfying PB – ample reward for a long year of solid training and great mentorship from menoscemo and all the “Class of 2012” group.
Headed into McGrattan’s for some very enjoyable pints indeed. Nice to meet up with some of the Boards crowd: Runchick, meno, MiketheMechanic, Woden, tomred, blockic and Killerz who I know from parkrun. (Apologies again for messing up the tokens on Saturday, Killian!)
Off to the West of Ireland now for a few days recovery. Will take a little break and think about what’s next: probably the Aware 10k in December, Raheny 5-mile again in Jan and think about a target for next year. But for now, I’ll enjoy the recovery.
Oh, and the fact that apparently my 3:46 equates to an age-adjusted 3:21.
Previous PB: 4:02:26
Target: 3:45:00
Time: 3:46:15
Sign of the day: Do It for Lou Reed (Nutley Lane).
WTD: 53k
YTD: 1,923k0 -
-
-
-
Brilliant report Murph, really enjoyed reading that. You should be very proud of what you have achieved in a short space of time It was great to meet Mrs Murph too - let her know that her enthusiasm for Parkrun has got me really wanting to do these now! Enjoy the break 0
-
-
-
Brilliant report Murph, really enjoyed reading that. You should be very proud of what you have achieved in a short space of time It was great to meet Mrs Murph too - let her know that her enthusiasm for Parkrun has got me really wanting to do these now! Enjoy the break
That's the spirit, A - you can easily fit a few parkruns into your schedule, either gently as part of a longer run, or for the odd speedy tune-up! Good luck with the London training.0 -
-
Advertisement
-
Glad you're on the mend and with London to look forward to as well. Cool. 
Advertisement