BQ or Bust!

Bungy Girl

Murph_D wrote: »

the wind didn't seem to be playing ball, more a crosswind than the tailwind I was expecting

What was up with the wind this evening Headwind out, headwind across the Wooden Bridge, and crosswind on the way back! Down with that sort of thing. I kept on waiting for the wind to blow me home and it never happened :rolleyes:

Nice session you, well done.

Dubgal72

Murph_D wrote: »

Ha ha. Ignorance is bliss. Just following the plan. But sure if the recoveries were longer I'd have been out all night! Mind you it went better than the last time I did this particular session, 18 months ago, (when I were a mere lad).

That's an improvement alright! Nice

Murph_D

Thu 9 Apr

~40 mins recovery 4 mi (6.5 km)

Shuffle/plod around Drumcondra. Legs pretty heavy. Cheated on this one by dropping by the Ma's for a cuppa tea in the middle of it!

Fri 10 Apr

Easy 5 mi (8 km)

Enjoyed this teatime run through East Wall and the Docklands. Grand Canal Sq area buzzing with the Fri after work crowd and their pints. Lucky sods. Feeling much better on this run. Mustn't look as fit as I thought though, as near the end of this a guy tried to stop me looking for a smoke. Fairview Park, don't ya love it?

Sat 11 Apr

Rest. First saturday in a long time that I haven't run. Did timekeeper duty at St. Anne's parkrun. Headed up to the Phoenix Park later and watched the National 10k and GIR. Took a few photos, which are here if you're interested. Gave Marthastew and FBOT a shout out on the home stretch. Ferris had to shout at me. Well done all, even if ye didn't make your number.

Sun 12 Apr

Long run 20 mi (32km) in 2:55

This is one of my favourite runs: 10 miles @ MP+15% followed by 10 @ MP+5%. The second half feels really brisk after the handy first half, and it's tough to keep it up, I find, but very exhilerating. Headed back up to the Phoenix Park via the Royal Canal to Ashtown, in a steady shower which lasted for the first half of the run. Park was beautiful and very quiet. Had to take a pee stop behind a tree in the quiet road down into the Glen. My timing was almost very poor but luckily I had everything put safely back away and was back on the road when Catherina McKiernan came sailing around the bend on a recovery run after yesterday's performance. I can confirm she says hello to other runners. (Saw her again later in the distance - her recovery pace seems to be comfortably faster than my MP. The woman is an absolute legend!) Covered a good bit of the park, including most of the GIR route, which would have been tough alright with the wind, which wasn't as strong today. Loved this run, even the last 5km back to D3 where it's always tricky to hit the pace, with the terrible surface on the NCR footpaths.

Good to have 2 twenty-milers in the bag already with seven weeks still to go. 53 miles for the week.


WTD: 53 mi (86 kms)
MTD: 63 (102)
YTD: 520 (837)

Murph_D

Mon 13 Apr

Rest. Needed that!

Tue 14 Apr

45 mins easy 5.2 mi (8.4 km)

Very pleasant run on the Clontarf seafront on a beautiful sunny evening.

Wed 15 Apr

14 miles with 10 @ MP

Well now that I've gotten all these pesky 10 mile and HM races out of the way and am stuck into the plan proper, it seems these monster sessions are coming thick and fast. I was a bit wary of this one, only a few days after a good 20 mile long run. Felt like a change of scenery and headed west, through Glasnevin, Ballymun, Finglas and Blanchardstown, only getting lost once. :pac: Got deep into PM territory before returning via the more familiar surroundings of the Royal Canal and Tolka.

MP is 7:56 (4:56/km) and after the two mile warmup I clicked into it fairly handily, although the undulating route kept me working. This felt pretty good - right hamstring was a bit tender after a few miles, but I think this was a residue from the Sunday long run and it loosened up after a while. Had a slow mile or two as I tried to figure the route through Blanchardstown/Castleknock. Was delighted to finally enter the "other" Tolka Valley Park for a bit, before ending the MP miles in the "real" Tolka Valley and shuffling back to base. Realised later that the 10 MP miles were completed in 78:43, faster than my first three 10-mile races. That's some sort of progress I suppose.

Splits (miles):
7:41 7:48 8:08 7:49 7:55 8:04 8:03 7:46 7:42 7:44

(kms)
4:44 4:54 4:47 4:54 5:06 4:49 4:53 4:57 5:05 5:00 4:57 4:48 4:51 4:46 4:46 4:53 (0:27)

Delighted to have another good one in the bank.

WTD: 19 mi (31 kms)
MTD: 83 (133)
YTD: 539 (868)

adrian522

Good session there...Do you have a target time in mind?

Murph_D

adrian522 wrote: »

Good session there...Do you have a target time in mind?

Sub 3:30 is the main thing, but possibly 3:27?

adrian522

Sounds good, seems very doable

aquinn

Murph_D wrote: »

with the terrible surface on the NCR footpaths.

http://www.fixyourstreet.ie/reports/submit



Great running D with long on Sunday and again Wed. Excellent.

Murph_D

Thu 16 Apr

40 mins recovery 4.3 mi (6.9 km)

Lunchtime recovery on grass around the pitches at the DCU Sports Campus. Hot and sunny weather made this tougher, and in some ways this felt harder than the previous night’s session.

Fri 17 Apr

Easy 3.7 mi @ 8:44 (6 km @ 5:26)

Legs still quite dead on this easy run around Fairview and East Point Business Park.

Sat 18 Apr

Poppintree parkrun 5km @ 4:28 (3.1 mi @ 7:11)

Was not in the best of moods lining up for this. But an exchange of pleasantries with belcarra and his mate Gary helped to snap me out of the funk. The plan, if there was a plan, was to stick to just under marathon pace, i.e. go around in about 24:30. I’d forgotten the Garmin so it would be interesting to see if I could hit that by feel. That was the plan anyway… But a third of the way around the first of the three laps I could see I was in about 24th position and moving very comfortably. What the hell, I said to myself (getting sucked in), I wonder how many can I pick off, maybe improving on my best finishing position (13th at Hartstown in Feb). Certainly the 10 or 11 runners immediately in front looked takeable, so I started to work my way through the field and by the end of the lap was in about 15th position, at what felt like maybe 7:20 pace. Kept it steady in lap two and a few more runners came back to me, so hitting lap three I was pretty sure I was in 11th place. The woman in front was moving well but I was slowly closing in on her, as well as a guy in a red Race Series shirt just in front, who looked like at least an M55. Caught the female runner about half way around. She didn’t like being passed and I could hear her on my heels for a good while as I concentrated on catching Mr. Red and getting down to ninth. He didn’t flinch though, not a glance back at all as he turned up the heat a little in the last 800. The dry retching started just before the final section around the lake so I knew the effort was there, and it became a case of trying to hang on, although I hadn’t yet abandoned the idea of sneaking past Red on the home straight and getting down to the single digits. Having to weave through lapped walkers here made it a bit harder though, and Red (who I discovered later was an M60) was having none of it anyway. He finished strongly as I gagged to a halt at the line, collecting my token before kneeling down for a minute to collect myself. Glanced at the token to see I was 9th finisher after all, so delighted with that. Belcarra finished a few mins later - my auld pacing buddy had done it again, helping his mate to an excellent PB. I mentioned that I thought I’d done about 22:20 as we chatted for a few mins before jogging back to the car. The MP was out the window but at least my estimate of pace turned out to be spot on as the results later gave me 22:20. Very enjoyable outing, as a parkrun always is — thanks and well done to the volunteers.

WTD: 31 mi (49 kms)
MTD: 94 (151)
YTD: 551 (886)

Ososlo

Great running D!!!
How'd you find the Poppintree course compared to St. Anne's?

adrian522

F**king hell, you head out to do a marathon pace parkrun and end up doing an eyeballs out full on 5k and finish 9th, great stuff, who knows what would have happened if you went all out from the start.

Murph_D

Ososlo wrote: »

Great running D!!!
How'd you find the Poppintree course compared to St. Anne's?

I think it's very comparable in many ways, certainly as flat. Probably a little slower because of the three laps, but then again not as congested so that probably evens it out. It's a fast course for sure.

Murph_D

adrian522 wrote: »

F**king hell, you head out to do a marathon pace parkrun and end up doing an eyeballs out full on 5k and finish 9th, great stuff, who knows what would have happened if you went all out from the start.

Well like I say I got sucked in. Not quite eyeballs out - It's a good 30 secs slower than my PB so I'd call it about 95%. And of course finishing 9th is relative - the field is definitely not as deep as the likes of St. Anne's or Malahide. Still counting it as a training run rather than a race! A fun one though.

Dubgal72

I like How tempted are you now for a full-on assault of your 5k PB?! Just you wait til after Cork...it is going to be annihilated!

Murph_D

Dubgal72 wrote: »

I like How tempted are you now for a full-on assault of your 5k PB?! Just you wait til after Cork...it is going to be annihilated!

I'm never that tempted at all on 5ks, to be honest, probably because doing a parkrun has become so routine that I rarely think of it as a race per se. It's why I'm always encouraging ososlo (among others) to do more parkruns - they are brilliant for getting you accustomed to the mechanics of a race without necessarily having to think about the result. In other words, no pressure.

But having said that I do find the distance the most difficult in the 5-42.2 km range, so on the odd occasion when I go for it and do well I find it very satisfying indeed. Today was more about having a bit of fun and trying to catch the people in front of me than "racing", more of an old fashioned chase than a bland time trial. I think I'll leave the watch at home a bit more, although I do miss having the stats to obsess over.

FBOT01

Nice run, D. Sounds like a fun mornings work and just what the doctor ordered!

FYI IMHO the old fashion chase is a race and a bland time trial is exactly that:)

When the going gets tough the will to beat the guy or girl next to you will keep you pushing long after you have consigned your PB attempt to the" next day"

Murph_D

I knew someone would call me on that "chase" v "time trial" statement! You're absolutely right of course. It's a relatively new discovery for me though - I think a lot of relatively inexperienced runners like myself tend to focus on time rather than the cut and thrust of taking people on. Or holding them off, which is just as important!

Murph_D

Sun 19 Apr

18 with 4x2 @ MP

Set out up the Dodder for this. The plan was to alternate 2 easy with 2 at MP. Not the best route for this type of run and I only managed to sustain MP on the first of the four two-mile reps. Not going to worry about it - I think the effort was mostly there though, and this felt better than I thought it would after yesterday. A good week.

WTD: 49mi (78 kms)
MTD: 112 (180)
YTD: 569 (915)

Ed Mc

Murph_D wrote:

Set out up the Dodder for this.

I lived in sandymount as a kid opposite the dodder. Just sayin'

Murph_D

Ed Mc wrote: »

I lived in sandymount as a kid opposite the dodder. Just sayin'

How about that? Coincidence?

Dubgal72

Haha wonder if Ed and your better half ever met before you Murph *whistles innocently*

Murph_D

What happens in Donegal stays in Donegal. :eek:

Ed Mc

Murph_D wrote: »

What happens in Donegal stays in Donegal. :eek:

Fair enough

Murph_D

6 weeks to go...

The meno plan was originally built around the race series and other popular summer races, so there are two options for this week, depending on whether racing a HM this week or recovering from one last week. I think I'll just follow the "racing this week" option, doing 14 easy instead of the race, treating this as a stepback week.

Monday|Tuesday|Wednesday| Thursday| Friday| Saturday| Sunday| Total Mileage
Easy/rest| Easy/rest| 10 miles easy with strides |Easy/rest |Easy/rest| Race HM|Recovery| 30-40 miles

Good luck today to the Boston folks.

Murph_D

Step back week; all easy running as promised. I feel this is a good idea as there have been a couple of creaks and twinges over the past two relatively high-mileage weeks. Around this time in all marathon cycles the right knee seems to protest a little but so far so good.

Mon 20 Apr

Rest. Good start to the week.

Tue 21 Apr

3.1 mi @ 10:23 (5.9 km @ 6:27)

Slow tour of Marino and Drumcondra with Mrs. M (she would have gone faster without me). Fabulous morning, really glorious for a run.

Wed 22 Apr

10 mi @ 9:06 (16.1 @ 5:39)

Felt odd to not be doing a session tonight but enjoyed this little trek out to Booterstown and back. Ran a good bit of the outward part on the beach at Sandymount. Another glorious sunny evening. Added a few sets of strides in the middle of this but nothing too strenuous.

Thu 23 Apr

Rest. Sure why not?

Fri 24 Apr

5.1 mi @ 8:49 (8.2 @ 5:28)

Up at 6:30 for this one along the seafront. Been a while since I've done an early one.

Sat 25 Apr

13.5 mi @ 8:56 (21.7 @ 5:33)

Up the Royal Canal to Castleknock and back for this one. Had planned 14 miles but the fuel gauge was low as I hadn't eaten much during the day so called it off a little early while passing a shop, grabbed a sports drink.

Sun 26 Apr

Easy 5.2 @ 8:35 (8.4 @ 5:20)

This felt great, out to Dollymount and back with ne'er a glance at the watch.


WTD: 37mi (59 kms)
MTD: 149 (240)
YTD: 606 (975)

Dubgal72

"Slow tour of Marino and Drumcondra with Mrs. M (she would have gone faster without me). Fabulous morning, really glorious for a run."

Yup, stop holding her back Murph, she's gonna catch you soon

Murph_D

Naturally! Sure she's only a young wan.

Murph_D

Mon 27 Apr

Easy 6.5 mi @ 8:42 (10.5 km @ 5:24)

Garmin-free outing through Ballymun, then a lap of Santry Demesne and back.

Tue 28 Apr

5.6 mi @ 9:16 (9 km @ 5:45)

Tougher than the numbers suggest - joined the Mrs for her 4x5mins @ 8:00/mi (her 5k pace). This is at the "hard" end of my easy range, and therefore a vigorous enough workout, at the Polo Grounds in the Park. Quite busy today with plenty of lunchtime Garda runners in the vicinity. We hit the numbers and the Mrs was very pleased with herself. An interesting exercise in Garmin inaccuracy as our watches managed to measure pace and distance quite differently despite being side by side the whole time.

Wed 29 Apr

14 mi inc. 10 @ MP (22.74 kms)

Another monster of a midweek session. Back to the park for this. A lap and a half in the wind, especially blowy at then top end of the North Road, which I had to traverse twice before heading home via Cabra and the Royal Canal. I was out last night for a few pints so wasn't looking forward to this as much as usual. Legs reasonably fresh but struggled mightily in the wind to stay at MP, but delighted that I did.

Target for the 10 MP miles was 7:56 (4:56/km). Completed it just under at 7:53 (4:54).

Rightly fooked after this one. Can't take MP for granted but it's supposed to be hard four and a half weeks out, right? Over the thousand kms mark for the year to date, three months earlier than last year.

WTD: 26 mi (42 kms)
MTD: 175 (282)
YTD: 632 (1,017)

FBOT01

Murph_D wrote: »

..................An interesting exercise in Garmin inaccuracy as our watches managed to measure pace and distance quite differently despite being side by side the whole time...........

I presume hers was showing slower pace than yours

Nice one to put in the bag as a midweeker. Did you feel the benefit of the stepback week? Have you got one or two more long runs left? When does taper kick off?

annapr

FBOT01 wrote: »

I presume hers was showing slower pace than yours

well I was ten steps behind as always...i know my p(l)ace

and to be clear, both garmins showed us hitting the pace i needed!