Confessions of a never has been.....

AuldManKing

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

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

+1
very well done and richly deserved.

rob w

Great running, well done!! Was planning on heading down myself yesterday but decided on a lie in instead! Sounds like you made the most of that nice long finishing straight! Best part of St Annes parkrun that!


Edit: yesterday....forgot what day it was!!!

tang1

Good luck tomorrow D, no doubt another superlative performance awaits.

Duanington

FBOT01 wrote: »

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;)

Ha ha - you didn't look surprised, you looked like a shepherd that had lost his sheep though ! Thanks M

Duanington

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!

Thanks DG - sure you're already doing that by the looks of things!

Duanington

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

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

AuldManKing wrote: »

+1
very well done and richly deserved.

Thanks gents - we'll see on the PB front, smash may be too strong a word but I certainly intend to improve on them all. I'm going to move towards a lot more HMP specific work over the next few months, longer\slower tempos...hmp sections during long runs and yes, more hills / I do feel I've a bit of unfinished business over 10k too but hopefully I can address that in the same cycle.

Re the club sessions - I've been toying with the idea for months now and keep putting it off. Raheny is the obvious choice but the training times don't suit with work so maybe somewhere closer to the city centre is the way to go. Either way, I agree - I know I will come on a hell of a lot better with a coach at the helm.
The plans I put together are very basic really and I have no idea if I am utilising the right sessions for my targets, they've obviously served well up until this point but its probably safe to say that I would be quicker over all distances by now if I was following a plan put together by someone who knows their stuff!

Duanington

rob w wrote: »

Great running, well done!! Was planning on heading down myself yesterday but decided on a lie in instead! Sounds like you made the most of that nice long finishing straight! Best part of St Annes parkrun that!


Edit: yesterday....forgot what day it was!!!

Thanks Rob - perfect day for it too! Might see you down there next time

Duanington

tang1 wrote: »

Good luck tomorrow D, no doubt another superlative performance awaits.

Thanks Tang - the pressure off now so looking forward to it

overpronator

Good luck tomorrow man, you're absolutely flying, great to see it.

NetwerkErrer

Best of luck D! No doubt you'll smash it, have a gud un!

Duanington

05.04.2015


Sunday

4 easy miles on the coast road late enough in the day. Beautiful evening for running and I regretted not leaving the house a little earlier so I could take in another couple of miles, the clock was against me however and I had to settle for the 4 @ 8.10 min\miles.

Stability stuff and stretching at home after

Monday

Battle of Clontarf\Brian Boru 10 Mile

Up and at it early this morning, had a bowl of porridge and a cup of tea before heading around to get my race number ahead of the masses. Stunning morning for running and St Anne's was gleaming in the early morning sun.

Came home for a bit to get the kids organised before getting the gear on and heading off out, running from the house down to St Anne's as part of the warmup.

The plan for today was really just to take in as many HMP miles as my legs would allow for - without stressing things too much, a PB would follow if I did that as it stood at 69.xx coming into today. If I felt strong at the end, I'd push on a bit but only if it felt right - I wanted to keep things as controlled as possible for most of this race.
I was really enjoying doing my warmup around St Anne's, great atmosphere, the sun was out and this was a race where I could relax a little and enjoy. Chatted to a couple of runners in the starting pen ( where I didn't pay too much attention to where I positioned myself !) and before long, we were off.

The early part of the course took us around a 500m loop a couple of times before heading off along the avenue where we would turn at the very end.
I paid little or no attention to the watch over this entire stretch, happy enough to keep things moving nicely along, a couple of shout outs from FBOT01 on the way.
Having turned at the top of the avenue and striding back down into the sun, I had a quick glance at the watch which told me I was probably running closer to tempo pace than half marathon pace - no harm, I've no target races on the horizon so I decided there and then to hold that effort for as long as I could. It felt good and I was pretty sure I'd be alright.
Down the avenue, left at the bottom and into the section of St Anne's with the river and bridges - I had found myself a running buddy at this stage and we chatted back and forth about our various running targets, a local lad who frequents the parkrun - narrowly missed out on sub 18 at the weekend ( I didn't gloat).
The next couple of miles ticked by quickly enough to be honest, the hill on the way back up from the coast put a solid dent in my effort but I recovered quickly enough and looked to move up the field a little to find myself a group ( running buddy had dropped off by this stage).
I was enjoying my run coming up to the half way stage, the effort felt solid, tough but definitely no danger of overcooking things, the heat was increasing but it seemed to be effecting others more than me to be honest - I'm usually victim number one when it comes to the heat. Passed the pitch and putt course ( another shout out from FBOT01) , turned right onto the stretch between the small river and the football pitches, pretty sure I moved just ahead of Meno at the top of the pitches ( gave a thumbs up as I moved by just in case!).


Out onto and back down the avenue again and we took a sharp turn into the outer ring of the rose gardens ( I know them so well!), back out onto the avenue and then back into the bowels of St Anne's - Marshalls located at every turn to guide us on our way. The field had spread out quite a bit now and the sun was smiling down, there was a great buzz all over the park, even at the quieter sections where walkers had stopped to clap us on our way.
The hill on the way back up from the coast was a killer 2nd time around and put manners on me for a little bit, I was closing in on a lad from Sportsword at this stage but it seemed to knock him a little harder as he came back to me fairly quickly.
I decided to stick with Sportsworld for a bit, he seemed to be motoring along nicely and it was probably a notch or two up from my pace levels so I thought it would do me no harm to keep with him till the end. Rounding the pitches on the Raheny side of the park though, I felt strong and we were 2 miles from home so as soon as we stepped back onto the Parkrun route, I stretched the legs a little and move my own effort levels a bit. I can't say this bit was comfortable but it still felt controlled and manageable.
I wasn't bothering with the watch, I knew I would PB and I knew my plan of HMP was left sitting back at the starting line so I decided to try to reel in some fellow runners.
Back out onto the avenue for the last time and we turned for home, there were only a couple of runners within reach up ahead so I put the head down and focused on catching them both.
I was starting to motor now, the effort level had gone up and I knew the pace had too but I had hammered down this stretch on Saturday so why not do the same thing now?! I had built up a nice steady head of steam and passed a couple of runners when I realised that I wouldn't be steaming down the avenue at all, I had to turn right fairly lively and head back into the rose gardens - b*lls....this knocked the momentum I had built up but I ploughed on regardless, did the loop of the garden and came back out onto the avenue.

Spotted FBOT01 again ( or rather heard him) - shouting something about how he thought I'd look great in a skirt or some $hit as I came back out and kicked for home, I wouldn't catch the lad ahead and there was nobody behind but I was enjoying this run so I put the head down, pressed on and crossed the line in 1.03.22.

Gratefully accepted my goodie bag from Mick Clohissey before catching up with one or two of the lads I had run with during the race.

Started off a warmdown and stopped breifly to chat to FBOT01 and J - and the most laid back dog on the planet.

Finished off with 13 miles for the day, smashing day for it and a really enjoyable race. Well done Raheny

Splits:
6.22
6.25
6.26
6.39
6.17
6.18
6.22
6.35
6.12
5.48

menoscemo

Ah Damn!! Sorry I missed you (although in fairness I don't know what you look like..) but yeah it looks like you passed on mile 4 or 5 based on the splits. You really hammered on from there!!

Make sure to say hello (before or after) next time.

annapr

Wow! great weekend for you! 6 minute PB, great running... and lovely description of St Anne's, i felt your dismay as you turned off the avenue at the end

so what PB's are left for next weekend?

P_Fitz

Well done D. I think you might of passed me at about 1.5 mile. There were two lads talking about there planned pace, one of them mentioned 6:20.

You've a serious kick at the end of races, 3:15 final km on Saturday and 5:48 final mile today. Impressive.

FBOT01

I am sure whatever I shout was $hit but I doubt there was a skirt mentioned but now that you bring it up...did you shave your legs for effect or speed:D

Great running again today, D.

laura_ac3

I should just copy and paste my comment from the other day - another great finishing kick well done on the 6 minute pb, St. Anne's has been a happy hunting ground for you this weekend. Well deserved.

Duanington

menoscemo wrote: »

Ah Damn!! Sorry I missed you (although in fairness I don't know what you look like..) but yeah it looks like you passed on mile 4 or 5 based on the splits. You really hammered on from there!!

Make sure to say hello (before or after) next time.

Next time Meno

Duanington

annapr wrote: »

Wow! great weekend for you! 6 minute PB, great running... and lovely description of St Anne's, i felt your dismay as you turned off the avenue at the end

so what PB's are left for next weekend?

Ha ha - thanks Anna, no PB attempt this weekend - I'm doing the Great Ireland Run with a few pals but it'll just be a session really.

Duanington

P_Fitz wrote: »

Well done D. I think you might of passed me at about 1.5 mile. There were two lads talking about there planned pace, one of them mentioned 6:20.

You've a serious kick at the end of races, 3:15 final km on Saturday and 5:48 final mile today. Impressive.

Thanks P - some would say I hold back a bit too much during the other 90% of the race, I like your version though

Duanington

FBOT01 wrote: »

I am sure whatever I shout was $hit but I doubt there was a skirt mentioned but now that you bring it up...did you shave your legs for effect or speed:D

Great running again today, D.

Ah no - I jest of course, great to have the shouts of encouragement M. Real men wax M, get with the programme

Duanington

laura_ac3 wrote: »

I should just copy and paste my comment from the other day - another great finishing kick well done on the 6 minute pb, St. Anne's has been a happy hunting ground for you this weekend. Well deserved.

Thanks Laura

FBOT01

Duanington wrote: »

Ah no - I jest of course, great to have the shouts of encouragement M. Real men wax M, get with the programme

The youth of today:P

yaboya1

Great run D.
Just reward for all the solid training you've been putting in.

Duanington

07.04.2015

Back to business today and the start of a new phase of the plan which called for 5 recovery miles.

Got the bus into work this morning to allow the legs a bit of a breather but my calves definitely tightened up as the day wore on and were fairly stiff by the time I finished work. Beautiful evening for a run though so I got the backpack on and headed for home along the coast.

Tagged on an extra bit at the end which took me down past St Anne's, spotted a couple of lads doing a session on one of "my" many hills in the area....the cheek!

Small bit of core work at home, nothing that involved lifting my legs though !

5.5 miles for the day

Dubgal72

Apologies D, haven't congratulated you on another great run! Congratulations, Tenacious D We must work out some sort of secret boardsie Masonic sign to id each other at races. Waiting for a mutual boardsie to introduce each other is far too ordinary

Duanington

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Apologies D, haven't congratulated you on another great run! Congratulations, Tenacious D We must work out some sort of secret boardsie Masonic sign to id each other at races. Waiting for a mutual boardsie to introduce each other is far too ordinary

ha ha thanks DG - yeah, we'll think of something to ID ourselves, maybe a warcry of some sort at the starting line :pac::pac:

Duanington

yaboya1 wrote: »

Great run D.
Just reward for all the solid training you've been putting in.

Thanks P - might catch you for an easy run before the big one

yaboya1

Duanington wrote: »

ha ha thanks DG - yeah, we'll think of something to ID ourselves, maybe a warcry of some sort at the starting line :pac::pac:

Dubgal is the one with all the sandbags

FBOT01

Best of luck tomorrow, D, in case I don't see you in there...and as always ENJOY!!

tang1

Good luck tomorrow D.