BQ or Bust!

RedRunner

A great year for you D. You're sure to raise the bar again in 2015.good luck with the training and I'm sure I'll bump into you again soon.

Murph_D

Sat 3 Jan

St. Anne's parkrun "tempo sandwich" - Easy/tempo/easy
Total 10.1 mi @ 9:00 avg (16.2 km @ 5:36)

After a couple of days rest it was time to hit the road for the first outing of the year. Wet morning so I splashed along the seafront to St. Anne's park where I took part in the parkrun and then dried off on the way home. The parkrun itself was run at about tempo pace: avg. 7:34 m (4:42 km) but the second lap was a minute faster than the first as I picked it up and picked off 20 or so of my fellow mid-pack runners to finish in 23:32.

WTD: 21 (34 km)
MTD: 10 (16 km)
YTD: 10 (16 km)

Murph_D

Sun 4 Jan

Easy 4m @ 9:34 (6.5 km @ 5:57)

The spikes are still looking embarrasingly new so I took them up to the Phoenix Park for a few miles. After Saturday's rain, the trails were a mixture of marsh, mud and ice. Stayed well away from the "friendly" part of the Furry Glen this time.


WTD: 25 (41 km)
MTD/YTD: 14 (23 km)

Murph_D

Mon 5 Jan

Rest

Tue 6 Jan

60 mins easy: 7m @ 8:37 (11.2 km @ 5:21)

Up through Ballymun for a lap of Santry Demesne (no sign of ososlo) and back to DCU. Forgot the watch but managed to hit the 60 mins on the nose. I've signed up for Marathon Talk's Jantastic thingie as an extra incentive to get out five times a week so this is the first of the series.

WTD: 7 (11 km)
MTD/YTD: 21 (34 km)

Murph_D

Weds 7 Jan

AM Easy 2.5 mi (4km)
PM Easy 2.5 mi (4km)

I am experimenting with run commuting this week. Felt like a sherpa carrying a backpack full of clothes, toiletries and assorted accesories into the office. The return journey was a bit easier, but so far backpack running isn't yanking my chain.

Thu 8 Jan

AM Easy 2.5 mi (4km)
PM Easy 2.5 mi (4km)

Fast learning curve on this run commute business. I'm a skinny lad who doesn't sweat much and normally have no problem getting a second use out of the running gear. But got soaked on the way in this morning and hadn't stashed any spares so that meant climbing into the damp gear for the homeward leg, as setting up a clothes line in my cubicle probably would have been taking it a bit far.

A few little niggles and a small bit of tightness in right hamstring and knee. This might have something to do with carrying the pack. Another problem with carrying stuff is that I so far I've had little stomach for extending the runs a bit longer. Not a problem this week as I don't want to overdo things in advance of Sunday's race. Next week I'm going to try backpack-free commuting, which means more planning and organisation.

WTD: 17 (27 km)
MTD/YTD: 31 (50 km)

FBOT01

Is tomorrow your XC Debut? If so good luck and of course, ENJOY!!!

yaboya1

FBOT01 wrote: »

Is tomorrow your XC Debut? If so good luck and of course, ENJOY!!!

+1

Do it for the Class of Berlin 14

SamforMayo

Best of luck Murph!

Murph_D

FBOT01 wrote: »

Is tomorrow your XC Debut? If so good luck and of course, ENJOY!!!

Thanks. It's 6k so guaranteed a PB.

ThebitterLemon

Murph_D wrote: »

Thanks. It's 6k so guaranteed a PB.

PB chasing auld glory hunter!

What sort of of distance is that to be running, and you had the audacity to be slagging my Kilomarathon

I'm off to look for a 4k race!

TbL

Murph_D

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

PB chasing auld glory hunter!

What sort of of distance is that to be running, and you had the audacity to be slagging my Kilomarathon

I'm off to look for a 4k race!

TbL

Ha ha. I knew you'd be the first to admonish me. It seems these XC folks run strange distances.

Murph_D

Sun 11 Jan

Dublin Masters Cross Country Championships, St. Anne's Park.

I was delighted to be asked to join the club's M50+ team to take part in this event, my first attempt at a cross country race. It was a chilly enough day and I arrived at St. Anne's with plenty of layers, unsure about how many to wear in the actual race. In the end I opted for a short sleeve tee under the singlet, which I won't do again as it immediately marked me out as a newb.

It was a four lap course, and although it was a windy afternoon a lot of the course was through the trees so the effect was minimised. A really pleasant track actually. According to the announcer at the start it was a bigger field than usual, and glancing around at all these club runners I knew I'd have my work cut out to achieve my usual respectable mid-pack finish.

The results haven't been published yet so I don't know how many participants there were today, maybe 120 in the men's race. I lined up about two thirds of the way back and it was probably about right as I didn't feel like I was in in anybody's way over the first 150m or so which was kind of a dash through a marsh to reach the course proper. Once past it was into a stiff headwind before reaching the tree coverage. There wasn't a lot of room for passing but I managed to pick a few off during each lap, while being passed by one or two as well. Based on recent races I knew a time of 26:30 would be a very good result, so I tried not to overcook things and stick to a 4:25/km pace, which was tough enough in the conditions, too tough as it turned out.

Half way through lap three I was feeling pretty finished, and being passed by the race leaders towards the end of the lap didn't help, although I knew it was inevitable that this would happen on a four-lap course. On the bell I just tried to hang in and passed another couple of aul lads on the final circuit before being passed by a Clonliffe Harrier gent with a very impressive suntan. Dry-retched my way through the final 400m before finishing in about 26:41 (forgot to stop the watch so can't be sure). Not sure about my position, but it was well towards the back end, that's for sure.

Enjoyable? Yeah, now that I've had time to recover. It definitely felt like one of the toughest races to date, and that was with relatively good conditions underfoot (and only one fallen tree to hurdle each time round). Will I do it again, hell yeah.

Approx lap splits: 6:40 6:30 6:45 6:46

Target: 26:30
PB: n/a
Time: 26:49 (180th posn.)
Verdict: Didn't run very well, but happy to have held position through the race.

WTD: 22 (36 km)
MTD/YTD: 36 (58 km)

yaboya1

Great PB Murph
Well done

Murph_D

Official result in - turns out there were 216 finishers, so much for my field-size estimating skills.

Finished 180th, which is pretty humbling! About 30th out of 40 or so M50s. Plenty of room for improvement.

PaulieYifter

Well done yesterday and nice to finally say hello.

The XC races are a high standard alright - whereas there's road races to choose from everywhere the championship xc stuff brings all the fast lads together in one place.

Hope you enjoyed it. I was kinda sorry I didn't line up meself. There was a great buzz about the place.

Murph_D

Tue 13 Jan

Easy 5 mi (8.1 km)

Cold one tonight but I was chomping at the bit to get out. Slow 5 miles around the East Wall, Liffey and North Strand. Was wearing the missus's watch and it seems I've developed an allergy to it - itching like hell after a couple of miles and had to slap on the Tiger Balm miracle potion afterwards.

WTD: 5 (8 km)
MTD/YTD: 41 (66 km)

annapr

Murph_D wrote: »

Tue 13 Jan

Easy 5 mi (8.1 km)

Cold one tonight but I was chomping at the bit to get out. Slow 5 miles around the East Wall, Liffey and North Strand. Was wearing the missus's watch and it seems I've developed an allergy to it - itching like hell after a couple of miles and had to slap on the Tiger Balm miracle potion afterwards.

WTD: 5 (8 km)
MTD/YTD: 41 (66 km)

Glad to see you're finally conceding that watch is mine!

Ososlo

annapr wrote: »

Glad to see you're finally conceding that watch is mine!

When are you starting the log missus? How's the training? (sorry for the log hijack murph!)

FBOT01

Murph_D wrote: »

Tue 13 Jan

Easy 5 mi (8.1 km)

................Was wearing the missus's ................ itching like hell after a couple of miles and had to slap on the Tiger Balm miracle potion afterwards.

WTD: 5 (8 km)
MTD/YTD: 41 (6trand.6 km)

Can't believe that TbL hasn't being on here to comment on that yet even if it is 2am in Dubai at this stage:D

RedRunner

Well done D with the XC debut at the weekend. The field is always very strong in those alright. Hopefully I'll make next year's one and I'll join you at the back!

annapr

Ososlo wrote: »

When are you starting the log missus? How's the training? (sorry for the log hijack murph!)

Whatever about liberating his garmin, I'm definitely not allowed to hijack his log

My training has been on hold for last couple of weeks coz haven't been well, but started my 2015 running career today with a highly impressive 30 min easy, just about exceeding 5k!!!

I'm superstitious about starting a log... Tempting fate, will probably break a leg after one entry.

Have been following your drinking/running exploits with interest!

Murph_D

Weds 14 Jan

Diagonals session with WU/CD: 5 mi (8 km).

I haven't being paying much attention to speed work of any kind lately, so I decided to do the diagonals session from Ecoli's Continuity Training Thread. After a lap and a half of Albert College Park to warm up I headed over the somewhat grandiosely titled DCU Sports Campus where there are a number of football pitches to choose from. It's usually pretty quiet there, but the place was packed as it turned out there was a schools cross country event going on, meaning I had plenty of spectators for my pitch-running exploits. Enjoyed the session, which is tougher than it looks on paper. Didn't run the diagonals flat out, having raced Sunday and mindful of extra recovery time required by those of us who are more, eh, mature (according to this article I found over in Quirkyland). Cooled down with another lap and a bit of "Albo", as my daughter called it during her fondly remembered al fresco underage vodka guzzling days.


Thu 15 Jan

50 mins easy on the mean streets of Dublin 9. Cold and windy - very glad of my Waterford AC woolly hat, a souvenir from the recent HM. I've been surgically attached to it all winter. Easily the best piece of goody bag kit to date.

WTD: 15 (24 km)
MTD/YTD: 51 (82 km)


2015 Race Plans

Been thinking a little about what events I might do this year. The Bundoran 10-mile in March is on the list, because of my Donegal connections. Would also like to to the Omagh HM again, although it's only two weeks after Bundoran (really enjoyed it in 2013). Terenure 5 mile again in May. Marathon wise I have a deferred entry for Cork which I'm thinking about doing, although I might downgrade to HM and save the marathon for effort for Dublin. Then again I might race Cork and do Dublin as a pacer, if at all. And of course the Race Series in the summer. Of course I also have to try and finish my PhD dissertation as well, which really should be prioritised at this stage, so we'll see...

overpronator

Best of luck with the writing D, I found running kept me sane when I was doing mine, I used it to bribe myself to sit down at the computer and get it done!

ThebitterLemon

Murph_Dr



TbL

ECOLII

Best of luck with the dissertation, just remember to refer to you runs as you "brainstorming session" and you can manage to do well in both guilt free

Murph_D

Sat 17 Jan

Easy 5.2 mi @ 9:04 (8.3 km @ 5:38)

In Donegal for the weekend, so headed out on the local five mile loop for this one. The missus refused to join me due to the "blizzard out there". I braved the conditions, which were soon downgraded to flurry status, and the precipitation stopped completely after a few minutes. Stopped to chat to one of the neighbours who warned me about icy roads but the conditions weren't too bad. Very little traffic out there. Came across another runner for the first time ever on this route. It'll be full of strava segments next!

WTD: 20 (32 km)
MTD/YTD: 56 (90 km)

Murph_D

Sun 18 Jan

50 mins easy 5.4 mi (8.3 km)

Wanted to do a long run in Donegal today but it was just too icy to even consider it, so had to settle for a shorter outing once back in Dublin. Instead of the hills I chose the Howth Road drag, returning via Sybill Hill and the seafront. Good to get this one done - probably would have canned it if wasn't taking part in the Marathon Talk Jantastic thing.

Time to start upping the mileage a bit, methinks.

WTD: 25 (41 km)
MTD/YTD: 62 (99 km)

FBOT01

Murph_D wrote: »

Sun 18 Jan

50 mins easy 5.4 mi (8.3 km)

Wanted to do a long run in Donegal today but it was just too icy to even consider it, so had to settle for a shorter outing once back in Dublin. Instead of the hills I chose the Howth Road drag, returning via Sybill Hill and the seafront. Good to get this one done - probably would have canned it if wasn't taking part in the Marathon Talk Jantastic thing.

Time to start upping the mileage a bit, methinks.

WTD: 25 (41 km)
MTD/YTD: 62 (99 km)

Good man D. Can't let the jantastic side down.......or your team mates would be not be happy;)

Murph_D

FBOT01 wrote: »

Good man D. Can't let the jantastic side down.......or your team mates would be not be happy;)

I know. The peer pressure is too much, even if we already have that Best Irish parkrun Large Team title wrapped up already. By the way, I see you've chosen your Spring 2016 marathon. Excellent!

FBOT01

Murph_D wrote: »

I know. The peer pressure is too much, even if we already have that Best Irish parkrun Large Team title wrapped up already. By the way, I see you've chosen your Spring 2016 marathon. Excellent!

Just need to get a few good tips from Yaboya to pay for it now:D