Confessions of a never has been.....

Duanington

outforarun wrote: »

Been crazy busy over the last few weeks and I'm only now starting to catch-up on the logs. Turn my back for a few weeks and you only go and post a 37:45 10K!! I'm impressed and envious. With the training that you've been putting in and your very tasty tempo pace I wouldn't have been surprised to see you go sub 39:00, but sub 38:00 is a fantastic result. You're really raising the bar. Out of curiosity how often would you be watching the Garmin during a 10K?

ha ha - thanks OFAR, I was a bit surprised on the day myself...not anymore mind you, onwards and upwards

I tried to stay away from the watch on the day, on a normal day, I would check every km, maybe even more....last time out though, I only remember checking it a couple of times to monitor pace over the first few k and a couple of times going through the middle section when the going was tough

Duanington

28.03.2015


Friday

AM- 4 easy miles on the way into work, as is often the case when running easy miles into work, I had to check myself a couple of times and ease off the gas a bit.

PM - return journey from work, got out at a decent hour thankfully and felt great for the first couple of miles, I did notice that my legs felt jaded towards the end though, in fact I was noticeably tired in general.

Total for the day: 8


Saturday

Up early to run the final tough run of the week this morning, I knew I'd have to be done and dusted before 10 am because I'd a busy day ahead.
The plan was for 10 miles with 8@steady pace.
A quick glance out the bedroom window after dragging myself out of the bed and I knew conditions were going to be p*xy, the treetops were bending in the wind which is never a good sign.

After a cup of tea and a banana, I headed off to get started - 1 mile easy into a very strong wind to warmup then turning around and heading off on the steady section.
Didn't feel the love for this at all to start with, even with the wind at my back for the first couple of miles. I always find that the wind messes my breathing up, even when running with the wind at my back, it took a couple of miles to settle and I felt a lot better when I did.
Turning off the coast road, I had the wind at my side for a little bit but soon found myself running into a wind tunnel coming out of Baldoyle and most of the way back into Raheny - making for a bit of a slog over the 2nd half.

I find it difficult to get the effort levels right in these conditions, I was conscious of running to hard into the wind ( it was a joke at times) but didn't want to ease off too much either - judging that while the wind whips the air away from your face is tough going.

Anyway, I finished up in St Anne's and took in 1.5 miles easy to finish off.


Chin ups in the PM and easy miles tomorrow

Splits were

8.21
6.54
7.02
6.56
6.58
7.06
7.22
7.15
7.08
8.24
4.10 (.5)

Duanington

29.03.2015


Quite a relaxing day for a change today, no family stuff on, no work to get out of the way...so I actually had lots of time to get out for a run for once and had myself down for 5 recovery miles - typical!

Nothing major to report on this one, all nice and handy - legs are a tad tired alright but I would expect that to be fair. Really enjoyed the run, despite the freezing wind.

Stretching and press ups when I got home.

Total for the day: 5

Easier week next week, signed up for the Great Ireland Run and the Brian Boru 10 miler on Easter Monday too, kind of regretted not doing that one last year, even though the course looks a little cray cray

Duanington

31.03.2015

Monday

Run into work - 4 easy miles, it looked beautiful from my bedroom window but it was cold and windy for this one. The roads had that "everyone is off work" feel about them , even though its probably just that the kids are off school

No run in the PM - post work drinks, entertaining guests from the US.

Tuesday

Got the bus in to work this morning for the first time in ages, kept it very sensible last night thankfully. Kept it down to a few bottles of beer and snuck out the door at 10.30 just when things were getting messy !

Sat watching the hail, rain, wind all afternoon, dreading the run home but low and behold by the time I finished up, the sun had come out and the only element to contend with was the wind ( sorry Meno!)
Legs felt great on this one, there's a nice spring in the step - dropped the backpack home and tagged on another 2 miles to bring the total to 6.


Pressups later in the evening

Much easier week this week than the last couple and I'm enjoying it so far

Duanington

04.04.2015

Wednesday

AM - Usual morning trot into work but I actually can't remember a thing about it! 4 miles easy

PM - Run home from work, dropped the backpack off and took in another 3 miles with 10x 80m strides.
Felt really good during this run, especially once I dropped off the backpack, kept the strides to around hmp, all nice and controlled.

Got a nice bit of stretching in when I got home

Total for the day: 11

Thursday

Working from home so I nipped out between meetings around lunchtime to get my session in - 7 with 5 steady miles.

Got started just after mid-day on this one, straight out along the coast to Sutton and back. I normally love these steady sessions but I struggled a little over the first couple of miles on this one, I couldn't put my finger on why ..there was a bit of wind but nothing compared to some of the tougher sessions I'd done in the previous few weeks.
I eventually settled into a nice rhythm and got the session done, maybe the easier week had put the body into recovery mode or something.

7.49
7.05
7.05
7.02
7.05
6.40 ( 5 x 100 metre surges during this mile)
7.48

PM

3 nice and easy recovery miles out on the coast, nice evening for it and not a sinner out on the roads!

Total for the day: 10

Friday


Handy enough day in the office so finished up a bit earlier than I had planned, which gave a bit of time to do some core and stability work before heading out for 5 easy miles on the coast. Legs felt super on this, tempted to tag on a few more miles but kept it sensible and came home for a nice prawn curry :-)

Saturday

St Anne's Parkrun:

I'd penciled in a good crack at a 5k at the end of this easy week way back when I put my current plan together a few months back, giving me a good opportunity to see where I am at the moment. I'd hoped to be in sub 18 territory by now, or at least not far off it and while recent sessions had indicated that I was close, I wasn't convinced - a few decent looking mile reps with a wind at my back doesn't do enough to quieten my built in runners paranoia !

Slept like a log last night, in bed by 11 bells ( after a solitary can of beer) but I was shattered when I woke this morning and had to drag myself out of the bed at 8.30 which is not usual for my Saturday mornings . The weather outside was perfect for running, I had no excuses...but the nerves were at play, maybe it was the prawn curry coming back to haunt me ? Maybe the solitary beer? Either way, there was a jingling in the belly that isn't normally there.

After a quick banana and a cup of tea I headed out the door, running the short distance to St Anne's for a warmup, I did a couple of stretches up and down the avenue to top it up, stopping to chat with Laura_ac3 who was out for her Saturday morning run. Spotted FBOT01 too and said a quick hello ( he was a man in demand today ...25 minute pacing duties) before making my way to the start.

Lined up a couple of rows from the front ( why, oh why do I do this time and time again?!) and without any delay we were off.
Found myself boxed in over the first 500 metres or so, I resisted the urge to look at the pace on the watch at first because I knew it was too slow...I didn't want to get into any panic, things would open up before too long and I'd make time up. Coming down alongside the pitch and putt course though, I stole a glance and the watch flashed 3.55, I stepped onto the grass for a few metres and moved out of the group into a bit of space. F*ck, that was far too slow....never mind though, I'll make it up.
Taking the right turn after the pitch and putt course, I moved into a position just behind a decent looking group of 5 which included the leading lady, I was sitting in maybe 7th position at this stage and decided I'd hold steady for a bit because the increase it pace had left me breathing heavier than I would like. This wasn't the start I had wanted, I had hoped to get into some space fairly quickly and hold a good pace right through to the last k where I would kick on.

Turning out onto the avenue, the group of 5 was now 3 and I was sitting pretty just behind, I opened up a bit on the straight run..as the others did and we dropped a couple of runners in the process, breathing was steadying just a little and my legs felt good but I was worried at this stage. There was even a quick thought of dropping out just before we turned for halfway but I had a word and copped on, turning with the others and my halfway split was called - 9.05....it didn't register with me at all until afterwards that this was pretty good news.

From the halfway point, through the various turns, I was basically hanging onto the back of the group of 3 that became 2 and then just the leading lady. I was still huffing and puffing more than I'd like but I had ignored the watch and knew the pace was better 2nd time around than the first half. Last turn out onto the avenue and I pulled level with the leading lady, running alongside her for a couple of hundred metres, I was hurting badly but home was in sight. My legs were starting to burn a little but I was aware that I had started to kick quite strongly and about 400 metres from home, I put in another surge, moving into 3rd position. 2nd place was maybe too far ahead to catch but I thought that by making an effort to at least try to catch him, I would secure a good PB...
I dug deep ( very f*cking deep!) for the last 400, really pushing myself into the red and lengthening out my stride - this level of effort is a new one on me to be honest...I wasn;t going to catch the 2nd place lad but I knew I had kicked away from the girl in 4th.

Crossed the line with 17.45 on the watch ( later confirmed as 17.46) for a big PB and the sub 18 minute 5k I had wanted this side of the summer. Chuffed with the time to be honest and chuffed with the effort I put in to claw it back after a poor enough start.

Splits:
3.43
3.34
3.36
3.37
3.15

PM - 4.5 recovery miles after some work on the chinup bar to bring the total for the day to 10 miles


Brian Boru 10 mile on Monday and I can relax a little and enjoy that one as its not a target race :-)

Tom Joad

That's fantastic running - well done!

Ososlo

Fair play to you D! That's a great day's work!
congrats on the super new shiny pb!!!
Come over to Poppintree for the next assault! Faster course apparently!

P_Fitz

Congrats. That 3:15 is a hell of a final km.

tang1

Savage running D, well deserved.

pconn062

Well done on the PB, great improvement and good to see all the work pay off.

Edit: I would always go in the front row of a Parkrun, there are really only ever 3-4 guys running under 18 mins so you belong in the front row.

Calvin Johnson

Great stuff DD - there's definitely more time to be found too when you learn how to line up properly!

yaboya1

Well done D.
Didn't realise you were running/racing this weekend.

laura_ac3

Smashing stuff duanington, well done. You really picked up for the last kilometre - an example of how you've said before there's usually something left to dig into even if the mind says there isn't.

And you've still managed to come away with something to improve on - you'll know where to line up next time!

Duanington

Ososlo wrote: »

Fair play to you D! That's a great day's work!
congrats on the super new shiny pb!!!
Come over to Poppintree for the next assault! Faster course apparently!

Thanks A - I was only saying to a pal of mine the other day that I haven't done enough Parkruns around the city - Poppintree next

Duanington

Tom Joad wrote: »

That's fantastic running - well done!

Cheers TJ, fairly happy with it alright

Duanington

P_Fitz wrote: »

Congrats. That 3:15 is a hell of a final km.

Thanks P - yeah , the last bit hurt...a lot

Duanington

tang1 wrote: »

Savage running D, well deserved.

Thanks Tang - great to see you back at it, might see you at a race over the next while

annapr

Great racing, Duanington! At least you didn't go off too fast like most people say they do! Maybe that helped you over the 5k...?

Duanington

pconn062 wrote: »

Well done on the PB, great improvement and good to see all the work pay off.

Edit: I would always go in the front row of a Parkrun, there are really only ever 3-4 guys running under 18 mins so you belong in the front row.

Thanks P - yeah, I don't what I was thinking to be honest - next time!

Duanington

Calvin Johnson wrote: »

Great stuff DD - there's definitely more time to be found too when you learn how to line up properly!

Some day CJ - some day!

Duanington

yaboya1 wrote: »

Well done D.
Didn't realise you were running/racing this weekend.

Thanks P - I hadn't actually decided for sure until Friday . I had myself down for a fast session or a 5k race so just felt like seeing where I'm at ( the beauty of Parkruns really - just turn up and run). Glad you chose the other venue by the way, you would have spoiled my big moment on the podium :pac:

Duanington

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Smashing stuff duanington, well done. You really picked up for the last kilometre - an example of how you've said before there's usually something left to dig into even if the mind says there isn't.

And you've still managed to come away with something to improve on - you'll know where to line up next time!

Thanks Laura - hope the weekend is going well

There's ALWAYS another bit to give, its just a case of whether we can handle the hurt that goes with it !

Bulmers74

Great time man - brilliant last K.

FBOT01

Great running and a super PB, D. Good to see your hard work paying off.

Btw if I looked surprised when you told me you had just run 17:45 it wasn't that I was surprised you had broken 18. I was surprised that you looked no less fresh bouncing down the Avenue afterwards than when I had seen you doing the same thing beforehand

PS...enjoy the parkrun tourism but you won't find a faster course than St Anne's;)

Dubgal72

That was a bloody brilliant run. I am going to copy that finishing kick bit and imprint it on my brain "how to dig deep...and then some"! Well done!

Ososlo

FBOT01 wrote: »

PS...enjoy the parkrun tourism but you won't find a faster course than St Anne's;)

I dunno...having experienced both.
I was speaking to the first lady in Poppintree yesterday and she came especially over our way from Raheny as she heard it was faster.
The paths are definitely a lot narrower in Poppintree so that might slow things a bit.

FBOT01

Ososlo wrote: »

I dunno...having experienced both.
I was speaking to the first lady in Poppintree yesterday and she came especially over our way from Raheny as she heard it was faster.
The paths are definitely a lot narrower in Poppintree so that might slow things a bit.

She came especially over cause she knew she wouldn't be first lady in St Anne's with 19:49:D

Only joking I have run both myself too. While both have their pros and cons I would recommend trying them out to everyone. After all variety is the spice of life:)

annapr

Dubgal72 wrote: »

That was a bloody brilliant run. I am going to copy that finishing kick bit and imprint it on my brain "how to dig deep...and then some"! Well done!

You will have to come visit St Anne's, DG, you would love picking people off on the long finishing straight, it gives you an extra kick!

Dubgal72

annapr wrote: »

You will have to come visit St Anne's, DG, you would love picking people off on the long finishing straight, it gives you an extra kick!

It's on my list Anna! I mean if I can make it to Howth for 9:30am, I really have no excuse do I?!

ThebitterLemon

Class DD, but not at all surprised, great improvement over the last few months.

You're gonna smash all you're PB's.

I reckon you've the ability to go a lot quicker, have you given any thought on how you'll approach your next cycle.

I think you'd really benefit from club sessions or some coaching, how do you know you're leveraging the best of your ability and utilising appropriate plans?

TbL