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
Confessions of a never has been.....
Comments
-
14.02.2015
Thursday ( ...contd)
A very late recovery run, consisting of 3 very slow miles. I got out close enough to 11 for this which is usually well past bed time but I had myself down for these few miles - kept the pace down in the recovery zone and really enjoyed it
3 miles @ 9.17
Friday
AM - run into work, got soaked - enjoyed the run all the same. Kept the pace nice and easy and didn't bother with the watch. Legs felt good, I suspect the recovery run the night before helped with that.
PM - used the hairdryer in work to dry off the running gear, packed the pack then set off for home. No watch but this one was possibly a little quick, head racing with work stuff which tends to have me running a bit too quick when I don't focus
Total for the day: 8 miles
Saturday
I had signed up for the BHAA XC today last week - actually I had rejected the offer first, stating my lack of spikes as the reason...until the rest of the team told me that they had none either...shamed into running I guess!
When I put my current plan together, I had hoped to get in a couple of XC races around this time of the year - run them at a quick tempo pace and see how I fair...I knew this one had a few hills on the course so it actually fit the bill perfectly ( except for the fact that I got the distance wrong - it was 4 miles, not 5 as KielyUnusual pointed out to me on Yaboya1's log
)
No harm, 4 tough, muddyish, hilly miles would do the trick this week!
Met up nice and early at the meeting point, got the race numbers sorted then headed off for a couple of easy miles ( the other lads had no interest in doing 2 so I did 1 with them and another solo). We made our way up to the starting point in the park and I was immediately thrown by the size of the crowd taking part - great atmosphere around the place...had a quick look around the course and it seemed to have a fair few hills alright, the ground underfoot seemed ok though, slippy in places but not the slopfest I had feared.
Lined up at the start ( a bit too far back) and we were off. I had planned to try to maintain 10k effort for the 4 miles for this one - I wasn't sure where that would put me in terms of pace given the terrain but if the effort was there, I'd be happy. I found myself boxed in for the first few hundred metres and took to running away from the racing line to get myself in front of a large group, before settling nicely into a smaller group of club runners - pace felt a little quick as approached the first downhill section, so I reeled it back just a tad. The first downhill section was quite sharp, the course dipping to the right then dropping for a hundred metres or so, before another sharp left and a hard climb back up a slippy hill -I seemed to be the only spike free dope around the place but I navigated both downhill and uphill sections quite well.
Through the little forest, down another very slippy section, sharp left and short\steep climb then flat all the way for the end of the first lap.
I was enjoying this, the effort was tough but I knew the pace wouldn't reflect that, I was completely out of my comfort zone here and winging it a little bit to be honest.
The watch beeped for the first lap and I didn't look, I decided I'd check it just before we got back to the hills to make sure I wasn't overcooking things.
Another mile of up, down, slip, slide, huff and puff and then we were onto the last 2 longer laps, which was a bit of a shock - instead of leaving the little forest, bouncing down the hill and climbing left for the nice easy straight, the course turned right for a real little bastid of a climb. This seemed to knock a lot of people back and while it was tough, I was motoring my way up through the field, blowing a little but I still felt like I had a little more in the tank.
On the last lap, the surface had cut up a little and I found myself easing off the pedal a little coming down the first sharp hill, I wanted to make it home in one piece so I took a line that was just wide of the main line, giving me a more grassy surface to run on. My legs were feeling the burn when we moved onto the climb up to the forest again for the last time, I could feel the system working to keep the pace up and was possibly working a little harder than I would have liked at this stage.
Another series of slippy downhills, poxy uphills, one last drag up towards the cross then a sharp left, wrapping around the forest and then straight for home. I was in a group of 4\5 now and just opened the stride up a little to move away - I had no need for a big finish but I just wanted to be able to see the ground in front of me to allow me to pick landing points etc.
Held the pace nice and quick right to the finish, without the usual burst for the line and crossed in 26.17
Took a minute or two to catch my breath then made my way over to watch the rest of the lads finish.
After making everyone agree to do more of these, I headed off for a couple of easy miles to warm down before heading off home to watch the rugby :-)
Really enjoyed this one - I found the going very tough at stages which was expected but I can see the attraction of xc , its a different animal to road running and I'll hopefully squeeze in another 1 or 2 soon enough. They're painful enough at the time but there's something very satisfactory about finishing a session with a bit of muck on the legs!
Best session in a while
Splits were;
8.17
8.10
6.25
6.30
6.29
6.38
8.10
8.07
( core work later in the day)
8 for the day0 -
-
-
-
AuldManKing wrote: »super work. I've ran there a lot, but never at pace. Its a different beast alright.
I must get my a$$ in gear for some xc - maybe start early next year.
One of my MSB colleagues won the ladies race
Thanks AMK - I saw a couple of super performances from some ladies there yesterday, really impressive stuff. A win there is well earned!0 -
Advertisement
-
-
16.02.2015
No AM run today, had to drop the youngwan to work experience which meant a later than usual start for work. Brought the gear with me though and headed off for home at closing.
The plan for tonight was for 9 miles steady but with no time for a warmup, I decided to ignore the watch for the first while and just run by feel - the backpack and jacket would distort things anyway so once the effort was right, I'd be happy.
Got just beyond the 4 mile mark, dropped off the backpack and jacket at home and got back to it, not ideal to take a 2 minute pit-stop but I have to get creative with when\where I run these days.
Headed up the coast towards Howth, turned around and ran back the 3 miles or so to finish off the steady section, using the bike lane all the way - much to the annoyance of our lycra-wearing cousins I'm sure. I try to step off the lane when I spot an on-coming bike though, I'm a lover, not a fighter
Felt really strong throughout this one, even with the backpack on which is unusual for me.
Splits:
7.45
7.30
7.35
7.27
7.17
7.06
6.58
7.15
7.23
8.16 ( warm-down)
Pressups\core work to finish
10 miles for the day0 -
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
Duanington wrote: »22.02.2015
Got home, did some core work and stretching and settled down to watch the athletics from Athlone which I had recorded earlier - Jeremy bleedin Clarkson appears on the screen....wha?!?!!:eek::mad:
Total miles:6
66 miles for the week
moved to 11:05 rte tonight.
Nice week 0 -
-
-
-
-
24.02.2015
Monday
AM - time and time again, running presents us with those moments - do I take the sensible, dry, not-exposed to the chilling death wind option, or do I put the shorts and runners on....
After refusing to allow the warm and cozy thoughts to linger at all, I got the gear on, packed the bag and went off out into the death GALE which threatened to split my face in two at times during the run into work. The best thing about this run was the shower at the end
PM - We have visitors in the office this week ( which I completely forgot about) and while I was tempted to turn down the invitation to dinner and drinks after work, I thought I'd be all clever and obsessive runner like - bring the gear...have dinner, skip the wine and run home.
A massive steak, a healthy serving of ( twice cooked) chips and a couple of glasses of wine later, I was making my way home through the wind and rain with a sloshing stomach and a slightly intoxicated head for company. I hit the hay as soon as I got in.
Clever indeed
Total for the day: 8
Tuesday
Woke up this morning with a drier than usual mouth and a slightly woolly head ( lightweight). Flirted for a minute with the idea of running to work but with a long run planned for tonight, I thankfully canned that idea.
Busy day at work, ate quite well and got ready for the road at 6 ish...headed off for home as usual where I dropped the backpack off then carried on along my chosen route.
I tried to work some more hills\climbs into the route tonight which meant doing some loops around Raheny\Kilbarrack - seemed to do the trick because I could feel the legs tiring after running down the Kilbarrack road, turning and "climbing" back up. I find running downhill almost as taxing on the legs as running uphill - different muscles at play I would imagine but both tiring.
Anyway, the streets were reasonably quiet tonight, a couple of "hellos" from people that are probably sick of the sight of my skinny legs at this stage.
Splits were:
7.51
8.17
8.18
8.05
8.06
8.06
7.55
8.05
8.00
8.01
8.03
8.04
7.56
8.05
7.51
15 miles for the day0 -
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
Duanington wrote: »28.02.2015
The trend of running my tempos on a Saturday morning continued today. I'm travelling with work early on Monday morning so with little chance of getting a long enough window tomorrow I headed out this morning at the first chance
The plan was for 3m easy, 3m steady, 2m tempo and 2m easy. ( similar to last week but with no recovery and a slightly different structure
Dragged myself out the door this morning, giving myself no time to argue about the pros and cons of running the tempo today! Started the easy section along the coast ( spotted FBOT01 cruising by again) into a bit of a headwind which couldn't make it's mind up on which way to blow.
Once the easy section was complete, I moved straight into the steady section, lapping Fairview park and heading back out the coast towards Howth.
I love steady running and settled into a nice groove pretty quickly, picked it up a little towards the end of the steady section to make the transition to Tempo a little less of a shock.
Tempo section was tough enough without being too painful, I could feel the miles and hills in the legs but tried to keep the effort just right, easing off the gas every now and then.
Finished off the tempo section good and tired, turned around and ran the 2 miles easy home.
Paces were distorted a little by the breeze towards the end but very happy to have moved up through the gears.
8.09
8.04
8.14
7.03
7.09
7.02
6.22
6.19
7.54
7.56
chin-up bar in the PM
Always nice to see a friendly face on an early morning run but we will have to stop meeting like this or people will begin to talk:)
I was taking the long way around to St Anne's as a warm-up to parkrun. After I saw you I spent the next mile lamenting the fact that I probably have to do two strides to every one of yours 0 -
Always nice to see a friendly face on an early morning run but we will have to stop meeting like this or people will begin to talk:)
I was taking the long way around to St Anne's as a warm-up to parkrun. After I saw you I spent the next mile lamenting the fact that I probably have to do two strides to every one of yours
ha ha - sure that just means you're more efficient with your compact stride so M !0 -
-
-
Calvin Johnson wrote: »The new TbL
no chance CJ - he'd have managed a 22 LSR in Cambridge while waiting on his driver to arrive in the blacked out vehicle 0 -
-
Advertisement
-
Advertisement