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BQ or Bust!
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NYC Week 2 of 10 cont.
Thu 6 Sep
10k easy, up to Albert College and back.
Fri 7 Sep
20.2k inc. 13k (8m) @ MP
Had put this off a day to allow for some extra recovery. Bumped into FBOT on the warmup and he helped me get up to pace for the MP bit. Left him to complete the 13k around St. Anne’s Park. Thought I was struggling to hit the pace, but I’d actually miscalculated (MP is 4:44/k, not 4:40!) and the final numbers were pretty much right on the average. Amazing how the body can overrule the mind sometimes.
Splits (approx):
4:40 4:47 4:36 4:33 4:49 4:53
4:36 4:48 4:47 4:38 4:42 4:50 4:40
Tough going but another one in the bank.
Sat 8 Sep
16.7k easy
Some things to do at home so no parkrun this week. Got out a bit later for an easy run over to Poolbeg. Tired legs made this a slog, but the 5:30/k pace was respectable enough, and importantly in the required range.
Sun 9 Sep
17.1k easy
Junior parkrun funnel management (always a challenge!) then a ten miler with aquinn who was also volunteering. We headed out from St. Anne’s to Sutton and halfway up Howth Head. Enjoyed this despite the headwind on the way home. Felt good and always nice to get updated on the wedding plans.
Good week - first 50 miler since May, and only the second of the year.
WTD: 81k (50m)
MTD: 100 (62)
YTD: 2,167 (1,347)0 -
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NYC Week 4 of 10 cont.
Thu 20 Sep
10k easy. Same route as Monday, but in reverse. Got a good soaking and it was refreshingly cold for a change.
Fri 21 Sep
11k easy
Into town where I hooked up with Singer for some very pleasant lunchtime laps of Stephen’s Green, followed an excellent free lunch in his workplace. Almost had a Yosser Hughes moment.
Sat 22 Sep
6k easy in the Phoenix Park. Timed this to have a look at the top end of the Dublin Half, although I missed the leaders. Waved at AMK and later saw him cross the line, looking like he’d just run down the shops for a bottle of milk. Waved at some former club mates also, including Singer who I thought was struggling but when I saw him again seemed to have moved through the field. And my neighbour running a sub-1:40 in only her second or third half. Looked like an excellent race and whetted my appetite for tomorrow.
Sun 23 Sep
Charleville Half Marathon (1:34:23)
The original plan was to run this at MP but rethought that over the past couple of weeks as I was feeling the marathon transition was going well and might as well give it a bit of a lash. Decided on a conservative start, aiming to run the first half at 95-minute pace and push on from there. Couldn’t get near the 95-minute pacers at the start and also after the start as they tore off at a blistering pace: they were a good 20 seconds ahead after my own slightly too fast opening km of 4:24. At this point I said to myself, “What would you do if you were the pacer?” and settled in with a solid looking group, taking turns at laying down some pretty perfect splits over the opening miles. Passed the first blowups around the 3 mile mark - this race has a very fast opening section and I suppose it can do that to you. Of course at the end, you have to retrace that opening downhill in the opposite direction.
Splits 1-5 (km):
4:24 4:33 4:31 4:31 4:31
The group started to break up around 6km, leaving me and a guy in a yellow souvenir shirt from a triathlon event. Mental note to dig in for the middle third from 7k. I was feeling great and had no trouble doing this. Ahead was a veteran Mallow AC runner with a lovely running style. He was getting slightly away but I kept my eye on him as the next target. We were starting to pass some flagging runners already (probably burned off that 95 group!) All good through 10k as we entered Kilmallock and its arches.
6-10k:
4:28 4:30 4:33 4:28 4:34
Some good support through Kilmallock, then the left turn towards the halfway mat. Took on water at the station (well manned by local kids, very smooth). Glanced at watch at the halfway point - 47:36, all good. Now to up the pace and bring it home. I caught up to Mallow AC and sat on his shoulder for a bit, but he seemed to be flagging, so I moved on, passing a few more runners, posting the fastest split of the day on the narrow downhill roads here. One of the passed runners, wearing an Ennis Track shirt, wasn’t going to be bested and moved in front again, so I tracked her for another while before eventually easing past. Almost immediately another female runner jumped out of a field just in front of me. Another good stride, picking up the feet very cleanly, which mesmerised me for a little while, then again I found myself going past. In fact I’d been going past people all day, and it felt great. On 15k, Yellow Tri guy pulled alongside again and we exchanged some encouraging words.
11-15k
4:24 4:16 4:28 4:26 4:27
I’d been looking forward to hitting the main road again, where the final 5k would retrace the opening 5k. It seemed there had been a headwind on the way out, so the reverse might take some of the pinch out of the final miles. But as often happens, the wind seemed to have changed and if anything there was a stronger breeze to contend with - not that it was anything to really worry about, but the lack of expected tailwind was a bit of a psychological blow, just as things started to hurt for the first time. Tri Guy had let me do most of the work so far and now pulled ahead a little. I tucked in for a while, but he started to pull away. I tried to summon DD’s “turnover and form” mantra, while choosing my final target of the day, a tall Cobh runner with a water bottle in his arse pocket. Turnover and form, turnover, form. And what's this - was I getting a stitch? Yes, but thankfully it never developed and passed quite quickly, although I checked that my alternate side breathing was still intact. It was.
There’s a nasty little bridge with three kms to go and I struggled up it, realising now that I was losing touch with the runners around me. Found myself isolated over the next stretch, falling well behind Tri Guy, although I think I managed to get ahead of Cobh. Charleville is a flat race but the last km is uphill. I dug in as best I could, passing a few more, but tellingly only runners who were really struggling. I did some mental arithmetic and told myself I needed to hit 20k around 99 mins to be in PB territory. The mark beeped at around 99:25 but I still thought I might be OK, digging in but as the splits later revealed I’d shot my bolt and at this stage was only hanging on rather than getting ahead. A terrific shout from Anna and the boys on the second last corner which helped me pick up the pace for the final 600. Around the last corner into the finish area and the clock is finally in view, and it's disappointingly well past 1:34. A decent sprint to the line, but too little too late in the end. Watch stopped at 1:34:25, chip time later confirmed as 1:34:23, six seconds outside my PB.
16-21.1k
4:33 4:23 4:34 4:25 4:30 4:31 (0:25)
Tri Guy came over and shook my hand, two mins off his PB apparently. if I’d been pacing I’d have been delighted for him, but of course I had let him best me and was disappointed I didn’t respond when he finally started doing some of the work. :P Yaboya was waiting - tough day for him. We grabbed some water and bananas (passed on the Cheesestrings) and went back to the finish to see Mr Paul and aquinn finish close together for two terrific PBs. Good spread in the hall afterwards, where I was delighted to meet Swashbuckler and Diego B, both of whom had an excellent day.
Can’t fault anything about this race. Only quibble would be the road surface, which felt very hard in places, but no worse than any other road race, I suppose (might be a track fairy complaint). :pac: I was happy with the performance - a decent negative split, managed the pace very well - just a little lacking in endurance. On the other hand, the PB, from this race last year, came after a dedicated HM cycle with full taper and the full commitment that that entails, so to be within a few seconds of that result is very encouraging. I’ll take it.
Previous PB: 1:34:17 (Charleville 2017)
Target: 1:34:16
Actual: 1:34:23
367th posn (of 1,275)
8th M55 (of 35)
VDOT 48.3
Age Grade 73.5%
Verdict: Almost perfect...
WTD: 80k (50m)
MTD: 282 (175)
YTD: 2,349 (1,460)0 -
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