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Run run run run run run run....
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Monday 02/03 - 70 mins recovery (9 miles)
In Kilkenny for a small break so headed out early for a light jog around the castle grounds on a particularly freezing but beautiful morning. Legs felt ok despite the recent hammering.
Tuesday 03/03 - 15 miles @ 6:44 min/mile
Home in Enniscorthy today to say hello to the folks (and eat their food). Another smashing sunny morning in the south east but a stiff breeze out there. Very encouraging run overall, effort felt comfortable and mixed it up a little throwing in a few quicker miles here and there, getting down to marathon pace for a mile or so. One of those runs where no matter what direction you run the wind is in your face but on the whole a very satisfying run.
Heading back to Cork now and then at 6am off to Holland for the rest of the week for work stuff. Training will be hit and miss I'm guessing as it'll just be a case of squeezing in a run whenever I can. I can't wait to do loops around the airport again though
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** Monday 09/03 - 10 miles @ 7:53 **
Final run in Tilburg and happy to have made it through the trip with a lot of good work done both on and off the roads. This was a nice relaxed recovery in the evening, body felt just fine. In an effort to avoid missing my flight due to the early morning traffic, I opted for a late night drive up to Amsterdam and stayed close to the airport, heard some horror stories of guys missing flights so played it safe.
** Tuesday 10/03 - 18.5 miles mixed **
AM: 4.8 miles @ 7:13 min/mile. Got back to Cork mid morning and was so glad to be back I laced up and headed for a 5 miler before heading into work for a few hours. Pace was nippier than expected but just let the legs pick a comfortable pace and that was it.
PM: 13.7 miles @ 6:53 min/mile Good positive run and I've been enjoying these medium long ones in recent weeks. Cracking evening, ran into the city and down to the marina for a loop and back home. Was battling a ridiculous wind for 2 miles around halfway through and then when I turned I picked up the pace for the next 4 miles running around 6:20 min/miles feeling very comfortable. Couple of miles easy before climbing back up to home and happy with this one.
** Wednesday 11/03 - 13 miles mixed **
AM: 5 treadmill miles @ 8 min/mile Contrast to yesterday evening, a horrible wet and extremely windy morning meant I retreated to the gym for this one. Nothing much to say, actually nothing to say about it.
PM: 8 miles @ 7:49 min/mile Met up with a Dutch friend of mine who was down in Cork for a few days. He's a coach with St.Cocoas so had a good running chat as I took him on a nice loop around the city. Feeling pretty fresh for this one and what an evening compared to this morning.
** Thursday 12/03 - 17 miles mixed **
Lunch: 5 treadmill miles @ 8 min/mile A horrible wet and extremely windy morning meant I retreated to the gym for this one. Nothing much to say, actually nothing to say about it. In fact some say I copied and pasted from above.
PM: 12 miles with 6 miles tempo @ 5:49 min/mile avg
Great session on the track tonight and just what I needed coming up to a race week. Overall this week I'd been feeling much better than recent weeks and effort-wise this felt very good. In with my usual group and we eased into a steady effort feeling pretty comfortable. Time just seemed to fly by as we ticked off the miles looping around the track and gradually progressing the pace. I brought along the HR monitor for first time in a while just out of curiosity and looking at it afterwards I was surprised to see it staying very steady averaging 160bpm for the 6 miles - same average HR for my last marathon...only 20 miles less
This session has really given me belief that I'm capable of holding just above 6 min/mile pace for Rotterdam if everything goes well on the day. The glute was giving me a little trouble in the last 5 mins of the session but no real pain, just niggling. Booked for physio tomorrow to finally get it looked at.
Mile splits:6:08, 5:55, 5:51, 5:48, 5:42, 5:36
** Friday 13/03 (AHH!!) - 7 miles recovery @ 7:51 min/mile **
Smashing morning, smashing but baltic. I geared up early and headed into the city before work getting a lovely 7 mile jog in, more than planned but miscalculated the route. The glute was bothering me again and I'm starting to notice a pattern of it flaring up the day after sessions but....
....I finally got to see the physio in the afternoon regarding this blasted glute and she wasn't overly concerned or surprised, it seems like something she's used to seeing with runners. Anyway she ended up tearing me apart a little and then stuck a load of needles in me, or what some like to call dry needling. It's not fun and I don't like it and I don't want to do it again but I'm booked in for next week again. She reckons I'll be fine for Rotterdam but to come back every week leading up to the marathon and in the taper weeks hopefully it'll crawl back into the hole it came from.0 -
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RacoonQueen wrote: »Such a girl...
I'm reporting you. This is a sexist comment and implies girls are somehow weaker than their male counterparts. As a woman and mod yourself I'm shocked at this comment!
Secondly, you are one to talk. The slightest sniffle and you call the centre for disease control and report an outbreak of TB!
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56:02 (chip) and 11th overall
Full Results
So finally I made it to the start line of a race, my first of 2015 and it had been too long since I felt race pain, i.e pain exclusive to racing. Though I would have hoped for a quicker time, I'm very happy with the effort and the overall position (up from 33rd last year), all signs I'm moving in the right direction and the training is paying off. All I really wanted out of this was a PB and an indication I'm on track for Rotterdam, that was achieved so a good day at the office.
A stunner of a Sunday morning in Cork, blue skies, the sun in top form and it was already quite warm by 12pm but a stiff breeze ensured we'd be kept cool (though that wind actually ended up being a bit of a pest). I parked up the car close to race HQ and got a 2 mile warmup done around the town with some club mates, it really was starting to feel warm. I headed down to the starting gantry close to 12:30pm. I was pretty nervous standing around at the start line but was expecting that, I hadn't raced in over 4 months. I chatted with some club mates and decided to work together with one lad as we were aiming for similar targets. There were also 2 clubmates that I knew would be slightly quicker but that we should be keeping them in view.
Mile 1 - 5:37
I lined up a row back, took a deep breadth (well many) and bang we're off. Felt pretty comfortable for the first quarter mile as it was all downhill. The new course change meant we were hit with a pretty tough climb for remainder of the mile but I had packed in a group of about 8-10 including the 3 clubmates and I just focussed on staying with the pack. Worryingly the legs started aching already.
Mile 2 - 5:39
With a tough breeze in our faces, I was still feeing the effort and already starting to think I had underestimated this race. I allowed a lot of negative thoughts enter and it was way too early for that. The legs were still feeling tired but I knew some respite wasn't far as miles 3-4 are downhill. The drag continued up until the end of this mile but I just focussed on staying with the lads and soon we made the turn onto the main road.
Mile 3 - 5:28
It felt as if a mini weight had been lifted here and the group seemed to quickly spread out as a few injected a serious turn of pace. I stuck with clubmate AS as planned and the 2 other clubmates started gaining a few meters on us, as expected. I was suddenly running 5:20ish pace and feeling the energy levels pick up a little. Most of the initial group had fallen off behind us and it was myself, AS and another female clubmate MF who had caught up and worked in with us (she went on to win)
Mile 4 - 5:25
Still working well here and felt I was making up good time from the initial slow start. I was never really comfortable however and it still felt like a big ask as I thought of how long was still left. There was definitely some race sharpness missing today and the head was all over the place at times. We started a bit of a climb at the end of the mile as we approached the end of the main road but this ended up being the quickest mile of the day.
Mile 5 - 5:36
AS had gained about 10-15 meters on me here, I felt he was pushing the pace a bit much so I didn't go with him so it was myself and MF working together along this stretch. She dropped off the pace coming to the 5 mile mark and I was working ok here and ended up eventually catching up with AS. I hit halfway in 27:47 and I remembered the exact same moment last year wondering if I could do it again. Back then I was feeling great at halfway and confident I could do it again, this time I wasn't so sure at all. I was really feeling the burn, I knew it wouldn't be easy but I wasn't giving in.
Mile 6 - 5:38
Myself and AS were back side by side, the field spread out ahead of us and the 2 other clubmates had gained a fair bit of ground on us now. It felt as if I was just enduring these couple of miles mid-race, almost zoning out and the pace showed it as it started to slow up a little. I was glad to have AS working with me here as every now and then one would tire and we'd inject a little pace and drag each other along.
Mile 7 - 5:42
Starting to work very hard here and the wind wasn't helping us one bit. Though not a word was spoken, we got into a routine of taking turns in the wind, switching every few minutes and this made these middle miles at least somewhat manageable. I really felt every drag here but with every step I was getting closer to the finish line so I knew I just had to hang in there, the pain is temporary. I had to remind myself a lot that this is why I train.
Mile 8 - 5:46
Miles 6-8 was the most difficult patch of the day and indeed this was the slowest mile of the day with the drags really taking a lot out of us, can't say I recall much of it. I gave myself a mental milestone of 8 miles though and the last 2 always seem suddenly very manageable when you get there.
Mile 9 - 5:35
So we hit mile 8 and just 2 left. I hadn't been watching the splits but I knew we had been slowing throughout the 2nd half, I wanted a strong finish. I actually started feeling good here for once today, I'm not sure what triggered it but better late than never. I picked up the pace a bit and started gaining a few meters on AS. I had noticed us gaining on a lone runner up ahead for a while and we finally caught him early in this mile. It was fellow club runner who had gone out a bit quick and was fading. Passing someone you know is never enjoyable but passing anyone regardless always gives you a little lift. I was feeling good and confident I'd hold this until the finish so on I motored.
Mile 10 - 5:30
I now had a bit of a lead on AS and as the watch ticked onto 9 miles I had a glance, 50:30 was the time it read and a quick calculation told me I had to run a 5:30 or quicker to dip under 56. I passed another fading runner here who I remembered from the early miles and had a considerable gap on us. Another boost for me but I was seriously putting everything into it now. Quick glance at the watch and half a mile to go, I was actually gaining on the 2 lads ahead of me a Barrs runner and another clubmate. I was breathing so heavy, audible grunts emanating but I was almost there, hanging by a thread. I knew AS wasn't far behind, I could hear the footsteps but I wasn't giving up this position. The finish finally came into view, I saw the watch ticking and knew it was going to be a close one to dip under 56. I gave it my all over the last few meters and made a dash for it but alas it wasn't to be today. 56:01 it read as I looked down. I wasn't disappointed, I knew I had given it my everything today and it was more relief to be over the line having knocked almost a minute off my PB. AS came in about 8 seconds behind me and I was straight over to show my appreciation for his effort in making it easier for both of us.
Overall, yeah I would have hoped to be quicker but that's the time I ran and I don't think I could have done much more. Always take the positives and that's what I'm doing. Nabbed a PB, raced it well, almost top 10
and finished strong. Considering I'm coming off the back of some high milage marathon training I reckon I'm in a pretty good place and it's given me a lot of belief for the upcoming marathon.
Suddenly the 54:30 target I set for 10 miles seems like a long way off but I'll definitely be revisiting the distance again this year and we'll see how close I can get.
I managed to fit 19.5 miles into the day with the warmup/cooldown and then I met some Rotterdam clubmates in the evening for a very leisurely 5+ miles.
Summary: 10 miles in 56:02 @ 5:36 min/mile0 -
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dublin runner wrote: »Crackin' result. Congrats. I think the club environment down there (and Donore previously) has really helped your progression. You are in a good position now heading into Rotterdam.
I'm now off to think of some questions to ask you.......:pac:
Cheers DR. Be careful now, I still have to pick someone for next week :PGreat run.
Well done.
Some Toblerone Cheesecake to celebrate afterwards I hope?
Thanks P! Incredibly, 2015 has not seen a single spoon of Toblerone cheesecake pass my lips. I'm waiting for the right moment. I did however make a fool of a Thai takeaway and then helped myself to the race goodie bag 0
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