Confessions of a never has been.....

Duanington

10.06.2014

A little late getting home from work tonight which always leaves me feeling more tired than normal.

Tonight was LSR night - the plan was for 17 miles with a few steady miles towards the end if I felt ok.

To snap myself out of the tiredness I decided on a last minute change of route to freshen the mind a little - the long straight road on the way back from Howth can be very draining mentally.

The course of choice was down the coast , over to East Wall, the O2, down the quays, back out through Fairview, up the Malahide road ( good climb here) and down into Raheny St Anne's, finishing back on the coast road.

I really enjoyed the change of course and am glad I made the decision, I still felt tired over the first 8 miles or so but once I got back into Raheny, I stumbled across a road race ( Raheny 2 mile maybe?) ...I found myself running alongside some of the people at the back of the field for half a mile or so and it worked a treat...all signs of tiredness were magically gone!

THe field turned left while I carried on ahead , despite the protests of a lady on the street watching the race, she started yelling at me to tell me I had gone the wrong way

Into St Anne's for a lap of the trails and I picked the pace up to steady ( 7:45ish) for the last 4 miles.

Total miles: [EMAIL="17@8:14"]17@8:14[/EMAIL] min\miles

Tough run but delighted to have another good long run in the bag

Duanington

12.06.2014

Wednesday - rest

Thursday

AM
4 miles easy before work, very warm even at 07:30 this morning, lovely morning for a run although I don't remember much else - kept the pace right down

PM

11 miles with 7x1k repeats (@10k pace) - 2 minute jogging recovery

I had to work a little late today to sort a few things out so rather than head home , I headed straight to St Anne's to get this session done.
I started off with some core\pressup work ( in a quiet corner of the park!) then headed off for a 3 mile warmup.
It was the warmest evening of the year so far by my reckoning, I could feel the sweat running down my face after 2 or so miles.

Got the warm up done and started off the first rep , using the trail around the GAA pitches as a route.
The plan was to ease into each rep a little, start off just off the pace and make it up on the way around but I really wanted to keep the averages consistent. 10k pace for me is just under 4:00 per km ( pb = 39:41)
Reps went as follows:

3:56
3:57
3:57
3:58
3:56
3:58
3:54

This was a tough bastid of a session, there's no getting away from it. The heat, the jogged recovery ( 2 minutes) and the miles in the legs from a tough week. Once again, I always felt I could make the pace ok but my legs were really complaining toward the end of the last two reps - funnily enough my breathing and form seemed fine.

Running this on grass made sense for me tonight, I find the cushioning that bit easier on my legs.

I finished off with a couple of easy miles to bring the total to 11

Reasonably happy with this one - glad to have got the consistency and I had to really work the system to get going after the jogged recoveries.

Total for the day 15

cianc

Solid session, especially in this weather. You're really motoring these days, what's the next big goal?

Ososlo

jaysus! be still my beating heart reading that! 7 x 1k at 10k:eek: In the heat! 2nd run of the day:eek::eek: and all well below target pace:eek::eek::eek: The biggest eek of all is that you did it all on grass:eek: Well done:D

Duanington

cianc wrote: »

Solid session, especially in this weather. You're really motoring these days, what's the next big goal?

cheers cianc - I signed up for the Achill half at the start of July so that's the next big race I suppose but as far as the next big goal - I'm hoping to knock a bit off my 5k and 10k PBs over the next 6 weeks or so, I haven't picked the races just yet though ( know any downhill races? :pac: )

ThebitterLemon

Excellent session DD,

You're putting yourself in an excellent position for some big PB's.

I signed up for the half too.

TbL

Duanington

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

I signed up for the half too.

TbL

great stuff TbL

cianc

Duanington wrote: »

cheers cianc - I signed up for the Achill half at the start of July so that's the next big race I suppose but as far as the next big goal - I'm hoping to knock a bit off my 5k and 10k PBs over the next 6 weeks or so, I haven't picked the races just yet though ( know any downhill races? :pac: )

None downhill I'm afraid just dunshaughlin in a week, and Fingal at the end of July (and Kildare this weekend but that's probably a bit close).

Duanington

cianc wrote: »

None downhill I'm afraid just dunshaughlin in a week, and Fingal at the end of July (and Kildare this weekend but that's probably a bit close).

Thanks, I was thinking about Kildare alright but the timing was just a bit off, I might give Dunshaughlin a rattle to see how it goes.

SamforMayo

You are depressing me with all the hard work!!!! Achill is hilly I believe but worth it for the stunning setting!

Duanington

SamforMayo wrote: »

You are depressing me with all the hard work!!!! Achill is hilly I believe but worth it for the stunning setting!

You put in a few hefty shifts yourself before your recent PB SfM!

Yeah, I believe its rough enough but like you say, its supposed to be a great setting so I'm looking forward to it - even if it is going to hurt !

ThebitterLemon

Duanington wrote: »

You put in a few hefty shifts yourself before your recent PB SfM!

Yeah, I believe its rough enough but like you say, its supposed to be a great setting so I'm looking forward to it - even if it is going to hurt !

DD, I promise to be gentle

TbL

outforarun

Stuck in marathon recovery limbo I'm finding it hard to read all the fast stuff on here over the last while. Legs are itching. Some great sessions there, 7 x 1K @ 10K comes fairly close to replicating a 10K race day.

Duanington

outforarun wrote: »

Stuck in marathon recovery limbo I'm finding it hard to read all the fast stuff on here over the last while. Legs are itching. Some great sessions there, 7 x 1K @ 10K comes fairly close to replicating a 10K race day.

Cheers Outforarun - yeah I suppose its a fine line between too much of it and not enough easy stuff but I'm trying to get a fair bit of that in too...we'll see how it goes

You're right to stay in limbo for a little while though, you had a great training block\race last time around

Duanington

14.06.2014

Friday - 5 miles at recovery pace before work. Legs felt better than expected on this one, perhaps the longer cool down on the previous night's session? I won't complain anyway!
Took Friday PM off to go for a few scoops in town

Saturday - 5 miles easy

Very fragile run on the coast road - I felt every last bit of the humidity out there today, the over-indulgence from the night before coming back to haunt me.

Duanington

15.06.2014

Finding it very hard to get out running with all of this football on - its relentless ! I did however get myself organised and bite the bullet this evening, heading out for some easy miles.
I normally run a tempo session of some sort on Sundays but I decided to just enjoy the evening instead , run easy\steady and throw in some strides. I've had a good run of completed sessions over the past few weeks and plan on a few more tough ones over the next 10 days so I could probably do with the easier run tonight.

Threw in 8x100 metre strides, splits ranging between 20-22 seconds so not record breaking stuff but enough to have me panting a bit by the end of the last one.

Finished off with some chin ups and stretching at home then got back to the football.

Total miles: [EMAIL="8@7:55"]8@7:55[/EMAIL]

Duanington

17.06.2014



Monday

Stopped off again on the way home from work to run - to save precious time and took in 7 very easy miles around St Anne's, the heat in the park made these miles anything but easy....I was sweating by the bucket load after a few minutes - the trees offered a little shelter from the sun so I stuck to the shade where possible. Headed home for some core\pressup work to finish off.

Total miles: 7@ 8:15 min\miles


Tuesday

Kilbride GAA 5k road race

Signed up for this last night and decided to run it as one of my sessions for the week, I had planned to run a 5k over the next few weeks anyway and wasn't sure when I'd have the chance to do so.
What a beautiful day today was, skipped this morning's planned run to leave something in the legs for tonight, knowing that the heat in the office would be a drain on energy levels.
I ate well today, keeping the water levels up etc - had a splendid Ice berger too to get in the summer mood.

I had planned to go to Kilbride straight after work but realised at around 4 pm that I'd left my gear at home - 5:30 came and I dashed off across the M50 in the glorious sunshine to get my gear on....got home, got changed turned around and went straight back out the door.

My non-existant sat nav skills meant that I was a little later than planned getting to Kilbride so I ran a few laps of the GAA pitch to warm up, I had wanted to do a lap of the 5k route to warm up but time was against me. The heat had eased a little from earlier in the day but it was still exceptionally warm, a nice crowd had gathered at the clubhouse and most people were sitting around, letting the sun do the warming up.


The race organisers talked us through the 5k and 10k routes, lined us up at the start line ( on a hill!) and off we went. I had told myself that I was going to aim to keep each km split in and around the 3:45 mark and that I'd check the watch every km and no more frequent than that. If I did that , I'd comfortably PB and go into 18:xx territory for the first time.

As always I huffed and puffed over the first km, starting out nice and fast ( as opposed to my usual reluctant, conservative start) and moving up the field to find my level. The hill at the start was quite small and I found myself about 20 or so runners from the front of the pack, noticing the leader had already developed a huge lead. The setting was very picturesque, real country roads , mid summer sun and a field of runners stretched out in front ....1k down and feeling ok

Sharp turn left took us into the 2nd kilometre and the road narrowed a bit, I was holding my pace well and noticing that more and more people were drifting back towards me, some blowing very hard in the heat. The road surface turned a bit uneven at this stage and I did have to concentrate a bit to avoid some potholes and lose patches of gravel.

I think the first set of little rolling hills came towards the end of the 2nd k, I was moving well here...injecting a little more effort to keep the pace going up and then capitalising on the way back down ( which seemed waaaaay shorter than going up!). I declined water at the water station and focused on the group of runners ahead of me, one or two of which looked like decent club runners , they had 10 metres or so on me so I worked on maintaining the pace on bends and little hills and gradually they got closer and closer.

The 3km marker came and went and I found myself side by side with a guy who was moving very well, we were basically on our own at this stage, he had come with me as I moved past the group of club runners and seemed to be breathing\moving quite comfortably - I on the other hand was starting to hurt. I was on course to PB, I knew that now, I was also on course to go under 19 minutes for the first time but the heat was beginning to get to me , even though we had a little shade from the trees on the side of the roads. I decided to hold onto the pace that I was running at until we left the current set of little hills, they were small but felt like mountains at this stage in the game.
"hold on until the last k D, you know you'll finish strong" - f*ck this was starting to really hurt, I was starting to lose my breathing a little and caught a glimpse of my shadow, which looked like I was breakdancing...not running!

My running buddy was starting to breath heavily too now and as we came out of the 4k mark, turning down a little hill onto the last (looong) straight for home, I used the momentum of the hill to put the pace back into things, moving back up to what I knew was at least 3:45. I knew immediately he wasn't going with me - which surprised me because he really did seem capable. I pushed on regardless onto that unforgiving last km

The sun was beating down on the side of my face now and I was well aware that I was on course for a good PB and probably a sub 19 minute time, 800 metres to....f*ck 800 metres of this ?!?!
I spotted the small crowd ahead on the road and focused on kicking a little harder again, funny how we always think we're done until we try a little harder - 500 metres to go. I started to relax just a little, keeping the pace up but enjoying the adrenaline rush that comes with nearing the end...300 metres to go and I kicked on for home...pumping my arms, sweat pouring down my forehead and my thighs screaming at me to ease up. No chance, turning into the GAA club, a quick glance up at the clock tells me that its job well done.

My Garman had it as 18:46 but official chip time was 18:47

A 30 second PB and sub 19 for the first time....a good day's work


Splits worked out as

3:43
3:44
3:44
3:50
3:39

But my Garmin beeped for the last k about 50 metres shy of the finish line ( which explains the difference when adding up the split times)

Ran a couple of miles easy to warm down and had a nice chat with the winner - Raheny lad, I run past him all the time on the coast - he ran a super time in that heat and gave a few nice words of advice\encouragement

RedRunner

Well done D. Brilliant time

martyboy48

That's some going D, well done. A nice chunk taken off your old PB

yaboya1

Duanington wrote: »

"hold on until the last k D, you know you'll finish strong"

You stole my tactics

Well done. Nice PB.

Duanington

yaboya1 wrote: »

You stole my tactics

Well done. Nice PB.

isn't that what these logs are for? :D

tang1

Great running and a nice PB, your thoughts towards the end of the race echo mine. Heat was a killer on the run in for the finish.

Ososlo

Well done D! All those rose garden track sessions paying off !

career_move

Super stuff. That's a savage time

SamforMayo

Fantastic run and an even better result, well earned.:D

Stazza

Congrats on the pb and going sub 19. Great to see the work paying off. More pb's to come...

ThebitterLemon

DD the chin up man,

you're flying, great run and congrats on the PB.

I'd want to say hello to you at the Achil Half start coz I dont think I'll be seeing much of you after that!!

TbL

cianc

Nice report, great result. You've a summer of PBs ahead of you by the sound of things!

W.B. Yeats

Well done- you came home 2 places ahead of me. Were you in the green singlet?
I was trying to break 19 but just missed out- while suffering in the last mile I went asleep and didn't pay enough attention to my time so ended up slightly over.
I clocked it at 3.12 so a tad long- based on the sparse field it wasn't for weaving in and out of people.
A good result by you for the night that was in it.

Duanington

W.B. Yeats wrote: »

Well done- you came home 2 places ahead of me. Were you in the green singlet?
I was trying to break 19 but just missed out- while suffering in the last mile I went asleep and didn't pay enough attention to my time so ended up slightly over.
I clocked it at 3.12 so a tad long- based on the sparse field it wasn't for weaving in and out of people.
A good result by you for the night that was in it.

Thanks W.B. - I was wearing a green top alright , I was in the club colours ( Club Aldi ) . Just checking the times there, you were so close to getting in under the 19 minute mark, a few degrees cooler and you'd have surely got in under. Am I right in thinking you PB'd ? No mean achievement with the warm weather, well done !