BQ or Bust!

Murph_D

menoscemo wrote: »

TBH I wouldn't try to do any kind of long run the day after a race. 45-50 minutes recovery would be my limit. Ditch the session for sure but could you do the longish run (maybe 13 miles??) earlier in the week? Ideally tomorrow but Wednesday might be fine if you keep it really easy.

Thanks meno - sounds good. Don't know what I was thinking there about the "10 mile recovery".

Murph_D

Tue 24 June

21k @ 6:00 (13.1m @ 9:39)

Slow 13 miler as recommended above. Most of this was along the Tolka and the Royal Canal. Glad to see the upgraded section between Ashtown and Castleknock is now open. Lovely surface. Glad this didn't have to be faster - feeling a little heavy legged on another beautiful sunny morning. Had to take a breather towards the end as a pair of swans had commandeered the towpath for their cygnets and were guarding the way zealously - tried to edge past but Daddy Swan raised his wings at me and I backed off.

WTD: 21k (13m)
YTD: 744k (462m)

FBOT01

Good luck tomorrow.

Murph_D

FBOT01 wrote: »

Good luck tomorrow.

Thanks M, you too.

RedRunner

Might see you later. Best of luck.

yaboya1

Good luck Murph

Pacing Mule

Hope it went well mate. Bit late to the party here.

Murph_D

Weds 25 June

50 mins recovery run through The 'Mun. It was hot, and the legs felt like the proverbial lead. The less said about this one the better, but it's out of the way.


Fri 27 June

Skipped yesterday's run because I was due to do a cardiology stress test today - wasn't sure how much treadmill work was due and didn't want to overdo things before Saturday's race.

The test went great - no issues, thanks to Ferris B for the recommendation. I'd been meaning to do this for a good while and the results are a confidence booster as the training ramps up over the summer.

WTD: 29k (18 miles)
YTD: 752k (468 miles)

Murph_D

Sat 28 June

Dublin Race Series: Irish Runner 5-Mile

Last year I had a target of sub-38 for this one, but faded towards the end and ended up with 38:03 – a PB but a slightly disappointing one. This year, with the PB lowered to 37:50 at Terenure, I aimed to take a crack at 37:24, which is what McMillan (I know, I know) suggests is appropriate for my marathon target. So I set up the “virtual pacer” for 7:30/mile (4:40/k) hoping to exceed that by a few seconds over the course of the race.

Mrs M and I arrived in good time, parking at the Polo Grounds which allowed us a nice slow 2k warm-up run up Chesterfield. Parted ways as she ducked into Wave 2 with a 44 min target. I headed up to Wave 1 and continued the warm-up, exchanging a wave with FBOT01 on his way to the line. Lined up behind RedRunner and Tang1, wished them luck and we were off bang on time. Of course while I was chatting with the lads my watch had gone into standby so there was a bit of fiddling with it as I went over the line. Didn’t get it going till about 10 seconds in. Damn Garmins!

Lots of congestion over the first mile, especially at the right turn onto North Road, but I settled into a nice pace and tried to take advantage of the downhill drag. (Mile 1 - 7:21.) Knowing that the race would be downhill for pretty much all the first half, I just tried to relax, lean forward and let gravity give me as much help as possible and hit the second mile marker in the Khyber feeling very good. (Mile 2 – 7:10.)

As anyone familiar with the Phoenix Park knows, this race gets tougher at the halfway point, which begins with the climb up Military Road. So while there was 35 seconds or so in the bank at this point, I wasn’t sure if it would be enough (it wasn’t last year!). The pace slowed a little up the hill but I’ve run it a lot in training and wasn’t worried about it. At the top, however, I got a stitch (probably caused by that last half glass of water before leaving the house) but luckily it passed pretty quickly and I got to the S-bends in pretty good shape, if starting to breathe a little heavily (Mile 3 – 7:14.)


In mile 4, the field was definitely thinning a bit and it was nice to be able to run the tangents through the bends. I like this part of the course and its undulations and when we hit the four-mile marker I could see there was now about 50 seconds in the bank for the final push. (Mile 4 – 7:21.)

The final mile by the Furry Glen and into Furze Road doesn’t look as uphill as it seems to be, and it was starting to feel like a slog. But the rain was providing some relief from the warmth and I was delighted to see the 800m marker sprayed on the road near the Glen Pond. A guy I’d swapping places with blew up at this point, just before the turn into Furze Road and the final straight, which gave me a bit of encouragement – nothing like a bit of schadenfreude towards the end of a friendly race! Hit the final 400 feeling tired but strong and for the first time ever in a race, I wasn’t desperate for the finish line. That seemed to make it appear all the quicker and even I could see from a good way out that the time was in the bag, plus a bit more. (Mile 5 – 7:41)

Previous PB: 37:50 (Terenure, May 2014)
Goal time: 37:24
Chip Time: 36:47
Verdict: Chuffed.

Caught up with FBOT01 and Tang1 just past the finish chute – everyone looked happy. Made my way back to the finish line just in time to catch the missus hitting her target for a decent PB so neither of us minded the soaking we got on the way back to the car.

WTD: 39k (24 miles)
YTD: 762k (474 miles)

tang1

Nice to meet you this morning Murph_D, very well done on the PB, great going on that race route.

Pacing Mule

Smashing run. Big congrats.

Murph_D

tang1 wrote: »

Nice to meet you this morning Murph_D, very well done on the PB, great going on that race route.

Thanks, B - well done yourself, I gather you nailed the sub-35!

tang1

Murph_D wrote: »

Thanks, B - well done yourself, I gather you nailed the sub-35!

34.27 chip time, happy out with that. Its a tough but honest race route, if you PB like yourself, Robbie and AMK your running well.

RedRunner

Great stuff D. That's a nice chunk off the PB. Well done.

pgmcpq

Congrats on the pb!

Murph_D

2014 Goal Times - update

Distance|Goal|Current PB|PB Date
5k|22:35|22:05|Apr 2013
5m|37:26|36:47|June 2014
10k|46:53|50:51|Dec 2012
10m|78:22|78:53|Jul 2013
HM|1:44:32|1:46:25|Mar 2013
M|3:39:59|3:46:15|Oct 2013


Good to have achieved one of these at last. I'll take it as a sign that everything is on track.

Ferris B

Nice work in the p park. Hope you didn't smile too much when the other guy blew up near the finish!

Murph_D

Ferris B wrote: »

Nice work in the p park. Hope you didn't smile too much when the other guy blew up near the finish!

Ha - if he hadn't been breathing heavily down my neck from the S-bends on before making a premature burst on Upper Glen Rd I might have offered a shout of encouragement but yes I have to admit to gloating a little.

Local knowledge is very important in any race I guess - I felt I managed the course well yesterday for a change, varying the effort appropriately on the downhill and uphill stretches.

It all helps - especially the excellent advice and coaching on offer around here - much appreciated.

Sun 29 June

45 mins recovery along the seafront. Squeezed in before a visit to Croke Park. Lots of activity at the Clontarf Yacht Club. Why do their members feel the need to drive on the promenade?

WTD: 46k (29m)
YTD: 769k (478m)

FBOT01

Good running on Saturday, D. Nice PB.

Murph_D

13 Weeks to go...

I was a week ahead in the "meno plan" and given Saturday's race meant making major adjustments I think I'll take last week as the extra week and get back on track. A quick look at the schedule suggests this will line the plan up nicely to take account of the Frank Duffy 10 mile in August, although adjustments will be needed for next month's 10k.

So this is what's on for this week. Will probably hold the session back till Thurs to allow an extra day's easy/recovery after the weekend.

Monday|Tuesday|Wednesday| Thursday| Friday| Saturday| Sunday| Total Mileage
Easy/rest| Easy/rest| 90 minute progression run|recovery |Easy/rest| Easy/rest|Long run-18 miles easy| 44-50 miles

DOCO12

Congrats on the pb Murph, well deserved, looks like your goals table will be getting allot of editing over the next few months

Murph_D

DOCO12 wrote: »

Congrats on the pb Murph, well deserved, looks like your goals table will be getting allot of editing over the next few months

Thanks DOCO12 - I see you've been going pretty well yourself lately - hope the little niggle clears up soon.

Murph_D

Mon 30 June

Rest. Did a few laps of the pool. I'm a crap swimmer, it must be said.

Tue 1 Jul

6.2m @ 9:17 (10k @ 5:53)

A nice out and back from Fairview Park to the wooden bridge, around 6pm. Nice breeze on the way out but baking hot after turning around, sun beating down on the back. Hope the weather cools for anyone doing the Clontarf Half this weekend.

Weds 2 Jul

5.1m @ 9:28 (8:15k @ 5:53)

Another easy one through Glasnevin and Drumcondra. On Hollybank Road, a kinda wild-eyed gent startled me by planting himself in front of me, waving me to stop. "How do you lose weight from running?", he asked. "Run more, eat less" was all I could manage. Hope he wasn't offended (he was a little overweight).

WTD: 11m (18k)
YTD: 489m (788k)

I've been breaking in a new pair of shoes the past couple of weeks - Saucony Omni 12, which is a pronation support shoe. This is the fourth version of the shoe that I've tried, and it feels good: they feel a bit softer than the previous two versions, and more like the first one I used, the Omni 9. I know the jury is out on whether support shoes make any difference or not with regard to injury or performance, but these feel OK to me. I've also got a neutral pair (Triumph Powergrid) which I use with an insole, although I only use these for shorter runs or races (they're a bit lighter). Anyway the new shoes feel good and will be well broken in by September.

Murph_D

Today's scheduled session (delayed from yesterday) was a 90 min progression run, moving from easy through steady, MP and HMP then cooldown/recovery. I extended the cooldown a couple of minutes having slightly miscalculated the turnaround point.

Rep|Target Pace|Actual Pace|Distance
1. 20 mins easy|9:36 (5:58/k)|9:20 (5:48/k)|3.45k
2. 20 mins steady|8:45 (5:26/k)|8:38 (5:22/k)|3.73k
3. 20 Mins MP|8:21 (5:11/k)|8:19 (5:10/k)|3.87k
4. 10 mins HMP|7:56 (4:56/k)|8:06 (5:02/k)|1.98k
5. 22:14 mins cd/recovery|n/a|10:05 (6:16/k)|3.55k


Total: 10.3m @ 8:57 (16.6k @ 5:33)

Pretty happy with this - on the HMP rep I knew I was slow and was about to pick up the pace to bring it into line and suddenly the watch beeped to signal the end of the rep! (That 10 mins certainly flew by.) I wouldn't say that the MP/HMP reps were comfortable. Manageable is probably a better word. They were into the wind and it was hot and humid out there.

Hit 500 miles for the year on this - a bit behind schedule it must be said.

WTD: 35k (22m)
YTD: 804k (500m)

Murph_D

Sat 5 July

Parkrun St. Anne's 5k @ 4:58 (7:59/mi)

Decided to do this without the watch and see if I could hit MP by feel. Was pretty much bang on at halfway when the timer called out the splits so I picked it up a bit in the second half to come in closer to HMP average. Really enjoyed the run.

On the way home we stopped off to check out the nearby Clontarf HM and spotted FBOT01 leading a sizeable pace group. Don't know what happened to his balloon! We drove down to the finishing area and saw the leader coming home through the tail end of the five mile race, which he would have been threading through for several kilometres. Felt a bit sorry for him having to finish like that -- the announcer completely missed him (and the second and third finishers too!) Surely the organisers could stagger these races better?

WTD: 40k (25m)
YTD: 809k (503m)

Ferris B

Murph_D wrote: »

Sat 5 July



On the way home we stopped off to check out the nearby Clontarf HM and spotted FBOT01 leading a sizeable pace group. Don't know what happened to his balloon!

WTD: 40k (25m)
YTD: 809k (503m)

Looks like someone burst his bubble.:)

Murph_D

Sun 6 July

30.4k @ 5:51 (18.9m @ 9:24)
Average HR: 153 (72%)

Longest run of the year so far: from Fairview out to and around Howth Head. Took the old tramline trail up to the summit, emerging just at the Summit Inn. Never been on this path before - thanks to whoever mentioned it to me a while back (Ferris B or FBOT01 I think). It's a much more pleasant route than the main road up from the village. One of the things I love about running - especially long runs - is figuring out new ways to experience familiar places, and new ways to get there.

The rain started as I began to head downhill and pretty much continued for the rest of the run. Good to get some wet weather and hill work done at the same time! It was a hot morning today and I found this tough enough, especially towards the end, but happy to have kept the pace fairly consistent throughout, with some adjustments for the hill of course. I usually pop a gel on the longer runs but didn't have any with me today and when I got down to Sutton Cross I had an overwhelming feeling of hunger or perhaps it was a sugar craving. I had to buy a Snickers Bar and a sports drink. Not sure whether that was a good idea or not but I think it helped me make it home.

I think this was a good week's work - a 44-mile week is a lot for me, and I'm definitely tired after it. A third of the way through this training block already; so far so good.


WTD: 70k (44m)
YTD:840 (522m)

Ferris B

Murph_D wrote: »

Sun 6 July

30.4k @ 5:51 (18.9m @ 9:24)
Average HR: 153 (72%)

Longest run of the year so far: from Fairview out to and around Howth Head. Took the old tramline trail up to the summit, emerging just at the Summit Inn. Never been on this path before - thanks to whoever mentioned it to me a while back (Ferris B or FBOT01 I think). It's a much more pleasant route than the main road up from the village. One of the things I love about running - especially long runs - is figuring out new ways to experience familiar places, and new ways to get there.
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I completely agree with you here, particularly when the weather is nice.

The tramline route is great. I've generally come down it, having run up the graveyard (st fintans) side. Next thing you need to try is the trails around howth. Great for the leg strength and fantastic views.

Murph_D

Do you mean the cliff walk? I've walked it a few times but not sure I'd want to run it. Might stumble and pitch myself over side!

Ferris B

Murph_D wrote: »

Do you mean the cliff walk? I've walked it a few times but not sure I'd want to run it. Might stumble and pitch myself over side!

Yes the cliff walk is good but it can get congested as it's single line traffic a lot of the time. There are other trails a bit inland (and higher up!) which are quieter. Google 'Bog of Frogs Loop' and that should lead to a few new routes.