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BQ or Bust!
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The only way you could have looked more at ease and relaxed is if you were running with that cigar yaboya1 keeps mentioning. Made it look easy D, massive well done to you.
Ah here, B, you only saw me on the first five or six laps. Which admittedly were quite comfortable.
But it's all about the second half unfortunately! 0 -
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Wubble Wubble wrote: »Chalk it up D, multi marathoner and now retired ultra runner, and of course a PB
FYP 0 -
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Saturday Feb 11
Donadea 50k (4:18:30)
When I signed up for this race I hadn’t really thought about the timing and the fact that the prep would start so soon after the Dublin Marathon, which itself had come at the end of a very long year of more or less constant marathon cycles. The upside of course was that I was starting from a good base, so I’d get away with a 12-week plan, something I hadn’t done before. It certainly helped keep things from getting too monotonous, although I was very loose in applying the specifics. I think I got it more or less right, even if getting a cold a couple of weeks out prevented me from getting in a final long run which would have rounded things off nicely.
Pre-race
I ate and hydrated well in the days leading up to the race and even got a few good nights sleep. Still though, not having run a 50k before, combined with general marathon fatigue, had me feeling a little unenthusiastic about the prospect. The lethargy began to dissipate the night before, when I had a couple of race-anxiety dreams: arriving (twice, as can happen in dreams) to the race to find it already well in progress, people running around and round a giant running track about a mile long.
Luckily, reality was different. I arrived at the Donadea Forest Park in good time, bumping into YoungAnne, tang1 (marshalling today) and belcarra on the way over to the number pickup. Back to the car then to get changed and stay warm in the zero-degree temperatures, eventually strolling over to the gathering area, quick bathroom stop, brief chat with a couple of clubmates and G, a DBRC runner I know from St. Anne’s. G pipped me at DCM so I thought he might be aiming at a similar time, but everyone I asked, including a clubmate who’s a good bit stronger than me at all distances, said they were aiming at 4:30 or slower so there was no obvious company for a race that everyone told me would be much better if I latch on to a group. Still, I figured that would take care of itself out on the course.
After a few minutes of standing around we’re led down to the start line, There would be a 320m run up to the line, to make up for the regular laps being just under 5k, then ten laps of the forest perimeter loop. I say hello to Matt Shields, parkrun country manager for Ireland, on the way down. There’s no congestion, it’s all very civilised, so I line up with G and a few of the DBRC 4:30 runners, not too far from the front, and before we can all freeze to death, we’re off.
Lap 1 (1:26 + 24:03) 51
A very orderly and good humoured start compared to your typical road race, everyone taking their time and settling in. Inevitably at the 1k marker someone says, Only 49 to go. I mention to G that we’re moving at 5:00 (4 hrs 10) pace. He doesn’t seem bothered, so I let them off. My target is 5:06/k, maybe picking up later if I feel good, but I want to be disciplined for the first 25k anyway. Plenty of passing and being passed during this lap. I’m glad of the couple of reccies as I know what to expect on the loop, which climbs gently over the first half then a gently downhill second half. Fairly flat overall but a couple of good bumps. The surface is good, but more sapping than the road, and a little bumpy and uneven in sections.
Lap 2 (24:45) 61
Still settling, still early. It feels like a jog in the park. AGYR has joined tang1 at his marshalling post just before the loop’s 1k marker. Big smiles and thumbs up all round. Still plenty of good vibes. Still swapping places as the field settles. Some people say hello as they draw up and I have a few words with a guy wearing a camelback before moving ahead. Gel 1 at the end of the lap. It’s slightly awkward to pop the top of the water bottle, but all good.
Lap 3 (25:25) 64
Things have settled and I'm on my own now - no one seems to be interested in 4:15 pace, although to be fair I’m still a little ahead of it myself. I’d like to have a few people to run with, and there’s that faster group just a little ahead that I could easily catch, but I’m not going to push the pace early on. In fact I ease off a little. Camelback draws up and says hello again. What kind of time are you shooting for, I ask. 4:30. I tell him we are below 4:15 pace, and he seems surprised (or maybe nonplussed is a better word). We chat - he’s an experienced ultra and mountain runner, but these lads don’t seem too interested in running an even pace. I mention that the tree cover might make the watch unreliable. No it's good, he says. What are you reading, I ask? 13.3k sez he. My watch reads 12.8 or something, which I confirm at the next km marker. QED. We go through the mat just over 75 mins, so still a little ahead of the pace. Feeling great.
Lap 4 (25:16) 67
I stay with camelback but he's determined to chat. I’m not unfriendly but I like to concentrate on the race, and there’s a little bit of an edge starting to creep in. But the chat is certainly helping to pass the time. Shout from behind and we’re lapped by the leaders for the first time, two Clonliffe guys side by side. (Only one in the results later, so maybe a pacer for a lap or two?) Two women come past a little later at a rate of knots. Their pace seems out of sync with the race and I decide they’re just out for a few laps. A potential age rival sidles past with a big wave. I keep an eye on him, he doesn’t move too far ahead. Over the mat, 101 mins. Gel 2: again, I struggle to open the bottle and I’m a little envious of Mr. Camelback and his lack of hydration stress.
Lap 5 (24:49) 66
I figure that Camelback will eventually break, and by now I've had enough chitchat and I want to stop talking. Pass AGYR and tang again and joke about getting some cake on the next lap. The watch is showing 5:04 avg, but I’m not trusting it, checking at the distance markers. Still feeling pretty good. We pull over to let some lappers past and I let Camelback stay in front. After a bit of following I take the front and after a while he starts to drift back. I feel a little guilty but I need to do this my way. Age rival has never been out of sight and I focus on him, eventually going past. Onto the home turn and over the mat for halfway in 2:06. A nod from meno, who is out supporting.
Lap 6 (25:29) 65
So I’m on my own again. It's starting to pinch but ok - after all, it’s “only” steady pace. A nice shout from chickey2 at the lake (think it was this lap anyway). Ahead I can see some of the runners who I’d started with. G is up ahead, and I eventually draw level, running the rest of the lap with him and his DBRC clubmate. A few snow flurries and the temperature drops a little. Some Cru supporters have arrived and give me a bit of a lift with a good shout. I expect Anna and FBOT, Mrs Mc, Ferris and Mrs KennyG will be along soon too. I hope so, because I’ve left Anna in charge of my late-race drinks - lucozade, decanted into a couple of small bottles, which I’m hoping to have on hand over the final three laps. Lapping plenty of people at this stage. But it’s cold. Gel 3 at the end of the lap – I haven’t stomached the stuff since DCM and they are not going down particularly well. 151 mins at the clock, still a little ahead of the pace. Ferris B’s 4:13 training run from 2014 might be beatable.
Lap 7 (26:14) 62
I pass Pacing Mule near the lake at the beginning of the lap. Ask him how he’s doing. Getting tough now, he says. I wish him well and push on, but in truth I’m starting to struggle myself. It hits pretty quickly. The road starts to feel very bumpy. The hills are taking their toll too. I’m isolated at the wrong time, and I can see why everyone said, get into a group. But there are no 4:10-4:20 runners, it seems. I’m still lapping people, though, so there are always targets ahead to focus on. The pace is dropping, but I haven’t been passed for a long time now and I’m starting to think I might be the lead M55. I'm feeling weary and hope Anna has arrived with my lucozade.
Lap 8 (27:05) 62
Anna is there. I get a big shout but the bottle isn’t ready. I have to grab some water instead, and resign myself to a gel. I’m fiddling with the gel belt when I hear footsteps and here’s FBOT saving the day with a personal lucozade delivery. Good man, M. The magic juice doesn’t kick in quickly though. The hill is getting tougher every time. This, and the next lap, are definitely the low point of the race. I’m flagging badly and pull out a gel in the home straight to have it ready for the water station, but my hands are too cold to tear the top off. My clubmates K1 and K2 are at the end of the straight and I hand a gel to one of the Ks and ask her to open it for the next time around. I’m leaking time but 3:24 on the clock is still in the target 4:15-20 range (although Ferris’s PB is starting to look safe).
Lap 9 (27:15) 61
More support in the cheering zone, and Anna has the drink ready so that’ll do nicely. My stride around the lake feels odd - I’m wavering, but so is everyone else, it seems, as I don’t get passed. I continue to lap people. Many of them offer encouragement, which is appreciated - we’re only really competing with those in our immediate ability range, and I’ve encouraged many of those lapping me too. I reel in one or two more stragglers I recognise from the early laps. I had imagined beforehand I’d be focused on the marathon split in this lap but I completely forget. A glance at the watch a little later suggests about 3:37 was the number. The lead woman laps me about 4K into the circuit. K1, bless her, has jogged back with the gel - she asks do I want anything else and I shamelessly say, water (can’t stomach the gel by itself). The water station is the guts of a km away and she tears off. This is the life, I think to myself. Terrific support at the bell.
Lap 10 (26:42) 58
K2 has handed me water at the clock so by the time K1 completes her mercy mission to the water table I’m gelled and watered already. She tells me to make the most of the “victory lap”. It's exactly what I need to hear after the stress of the last few laps and I start to feel better, stronger, realising the end is in sight. Weary, but manage to pick it up a little. Pass Younganne on the little hill just before the 1k mark, where tang had been marshalling earlier, appropriately enough.
She is working hard but looking good and we wave each other on. I just concentrate on catching and passing people, catching and passing. Most of these runners are being lapped so I’m not sure if I’m moving up the places much. A guy steams past - I misidentify him for someone I passed earlier and figure if he’s on his last lap he’s hurting so I go with him. He soon pulls up and starts to walk. Score. (Although later I figure later he was still on lap 9). There are three women lined up in front, probably about 100m apart. I wonder can I catch them all. They seem to be running close to my pace so maybe there’s a couple of places to be taken, maybe not. I get to the first one with maybe a mile left. She resists fiercely enough for the stage of the race but I get past. I’m gaining steadily on the other two, into the final kilometer where there’s a nice downhill stretch. A marshal shouts two turns and then the finish. I have female 2 in the crosshairs and follow her around the turn into the final straight. There’s an almighty cacophony of shouts and roars from the Cru/St.Anne’s contingent as they do their best to suck me over the line. I have the hat off now and pass female 2 and another guy, who looks a bit bewildered at the racket. The results suggest there’s a guy chasing me down too but I never look around, just leg it for the line, although female 3 is wise to what’s going on behind and holds me off. I don’t remember looking at the clock, even thinking about the clock at all during lap 10, but the finish is 4:18:30.
After
UM1 is on the line and makes me and another finisher sit down for a minute with the John’s Ambulance, who hand me another bottle of lucozade. I’m fine and I assume it’s just a routine thing. I dispatch A to the car to get my gear (all this being waited on is starting to give me notions). Quick change in a nearby marquee where someone produces a bottle of whiskey and I bum a capful. This just keeps getting better. Mrs KennyG and daughter and Mrs Mc are on hand with a mug of coffee and a kit kat, and AGYR has saved me a slice of cake. Ferris lends me his gloves. I’m telling you, this is just great. jake1970, who was down to run but pulled out with injury, comes over and says hello. Belcarra comes in with a big smile, Marthastew with her charges, my clubmate D, Younganne, then a little later Joe and his 5-hour group, before a Slaney runner I'd chatted to briefly on the way round has the honour of turning off the clock.
This was some experience that will take a while to sink in. The time is mediocre compared even to my M and HM PBs, and poor compared to the shorter stuff. But then it’s a slower surface and a different kind of race. I didn’t think about time much at all really during the second half of the race, it was more a question of getting home, and there’s definitely a better time (and position) to be had. I was a little miffed to discover later that I had been passed by the lead M55 somewhere in lap 8, which I have no memory of happening at all. So had to settle for second on that front. Out of the three of us.
A super day and I’m very grateful for the encouragement and support from family, clubmates, boardsies and other friends. Hats off.
Previous PB: n/a
Target: 4:15-4:20
Actual: 4:18:30
58th position (of 162 finishers)
2nd M55 (of 3). VDOT: 44.7. Age grade: 67.5
Verdict: Ultra cool.
Sunday 12 Feb
Rest.
WTD: 76k (47m)
MTD: 88k (55m)
YTD: 403 (251)0 -
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Annie get your Run wrote: »Sure it was grand, everyone just turned to M and said *go after him*
With half a scone in his mouth!!!0 -
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