Back to the Future

Wubble Wubble

This might be of interest...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgH25u61mag

Fans of RR can skip to 7:40 or thereabouts and watch a not too shabby finish from him

Well done anyway, improvements will certainly continue as the fitness levels increase!

tang1

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

This might be of interest...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgH25u61mag

Fans of RR can skip to 7:40 or thereabouts and watch a not too shabby finish from him

Well done anyway, improvements will certainly continue as the fitness levels increase!

Jaysis he's getting grey!!

Murph_D

tang1 wrote: »

Jaysis he's getting grey!!

Aren't we all. But at least we still have our hair. :pac:

Good to see you back racing, Robbie.

tang1

Murph_D wrote: »

Aren't we all. But at least we still have our hair. :pac:

Good to see you back racing, Robbie.

Touché!!

RedRunner

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Well done on the XC, didn't see you there. I did the 2 mile and it was tough enough all right despite being flat. Wouldn't have fancied the 4 laps now .

The mile on the 16th is part of my plan too, so hopefully catch up with you then.

Ah that's a pity, didn't realise you were running too. See you in Raheny for the mile so....

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

This might be of interest...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgH25u61mag

Fans of RR can skip to 7:40 or thereabouts and watch a not too shabby finish from him

Well done anyway, improvements will certainly continue as the fitness levels increase!

Oh my word, it felt like I was running a lot faster than that! As you can see, I've a long way to go yet to get back to my best.

They say the camera adds about 10lbs too! :eek:

tang1 wrote: »

Jaysis he's getting grey!!

What Murph said

RedRunner

7/3 - Cycled in to work, ran home 6.53 miles in 1:00:54

8/3 - Ran into work. Legs tired from previous evening. This is as close as I'll get to a double for a while yet. 6.55 miles in 1:00:10. Cycled home.

Wubble Wubble

Agreed about the camera Robbie. I thought I was doing well on the weight front. However on that evidence I'm still a lot chunkier than many of the BHAA stalwarts! Happy with my own effort on the day though.

AuldManKing

great to see you giving the XC a bash - I'm terrible at racing- I get anxious when I'm not as fit as I think I should be
I applaud anyone and everyone who does XC, even more so while not expecting a great result.

RedRunner

Am a bit behind in updating partly due to time constraints, partly due to fear of disclosure !:o

9/3 - Cycle Commute

10/3 - Runmute into work 6.56 miles in 58:32

11/3 - Rested. Day off work so had plenty of time to relax go out to lunch with the OH, chill out and try some new Meridian exercises a work colleague put me onto. Will try these for a while to see how they feel.

12/3 - Donabate Park Run - Decided to try this for a bit of a change of scenery. Ran 22:57 last time out in St Annes so goal was to try shave a few seconds off that to give me some confirmation on some progress now that I'm starting to run more regularly. Ran part of the course as a warmup to try and get the lay of the land. Though I had it worked out but realised I hadn't got it quite right as soon as the run started. Not to worry just follow the lead of those in front!

It's a really nice course actually, quite flat, even has a downhill section in it, and brings you through wooded part and open parts so I quite enjoyed it. I didn't look at the watch much during this at all, just once or twice to make sure I wasn't over doing it in the early parts of the run. Kept a nice consistent pace I though throughout and picked off lots of people on the way and only got passed out my one or two in the last half km when I was beginning to tire but very pleased to come in at 22:16 on what was a lovely crisp sunny morning in Donabate. The 21mins is in sight now which is very pleasing since I haven't been doing any speed work apart from the Park Runs and the club Winter league.

Travelled up to Newry in the evening to watch the Dubs beat Down. Handy enough win despite gifting them a goal and never really having to get into top gear.

13/3 - Longish hilly run. Went up around Sutton/Howth for this to take in the "corkscrew" hills which has a really steep section that really gets the heart pumping. Felt really strong throughout this and at times the pace was faster than it really should have taking this run into the verging on a steady run rather than an easy one but slowed it right down for last half mile to drift home to the house for 7.9miles in 1:09:20

Total mileage for week 32 miles. Delira with that!


Operation RedRunner Transformation :

Wednesday Weigh-in (Yes this was from Wednesday 9th)

Starting Weight : 16 St 0lbs

Week 4 Weight : 15st 6lbs

Weight Loss this week : - 1lbs (in other words I put up a pound)

Total weight Loss : 8lbs

Disappointing but I know why and I know what I need to do. That's all you need to know!;)

Bungy Girl

Well done tonight RR !! Couldn't stay for the tea & biscuits after all but will catch up with you at the next one. Super time, well jel :D

RedRunner

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Well done tonight RR !! Couldn't stay for the tea & biscuits after all but will catch up with you at the next one. Super time, well jel :D

Ah thanks BG. Great to catch up again with you. See you at the next one and well done you too. You've set down a nice marker to aim for next time out. I fear I may have set the bar too high for myself!

PS. I treated myself to a lovely drifter with my tea. :-)

Murph_D

Intriguing...

RedRunner

Murph_D wrote: »

Intriguing...

http://www.rahenyshamrock.ie/results

:-)

Ososlo

RedRunner wrote: »

http://www.rahenyshamrock.ie/results

:-)

Nice! Very well done R! 😊

Kennyg71

RedRunner wrote: »

http://www.rahenyshamrock.ie/results

:-)

Well done R, great time, really coming together nicely.

Wubble Wubble

Great stuff. That's a fine return to form, I'll have to be tuned in next time we're running together, to have any chance of keeping up! You taking on the Brian Boru 10?

Murph_D

Nice going R. Careful now

RedRunner

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

Great stuff. That's a fine return to form, I'll have to be tuned in next time we're running together, to have any chance of keeping up! You taking on the Brian Boru 10?

Thanks J. Won't be doing the Brian Boru. Not ready for the distance yet so will give it a miss. Might be there stewarding though.

RedRunner

Murph_D wrote: »

Nice going R. Careful now

Thanks D. I hear ya! :-)

RedRunner

14/3- Rested

15/3 - Ran home the slightly longer but flatter route along the coast today. It also allows for the opportunity to run on the grass and tarmac but that new concrete path on the way out to Howth is killer on the limbs. A bit of a niggle in the left calf/Achilles after this run so I iced it and gave it some added stretching just to be safe. 7.21 miles in 1:03:48

16/3 - Cycled into work this morning and the plan was to leave the bike there and get the Dart home so as to rest the legs as much before the club winter league race tonight that was a 1 mile event. Last time I raced a mile was a couple of years ago at the Trinity BHAA event on the grass track when I ran 6:04 that day. This had been my mile PB since then as I've not run a mile race since. So tonight would be my first road mile race and first attempt at the distance in a couple of years so I didn't really know what to expect. I wasn't sure how I might pace it even, should I just go hell for leather and try hold on or try the wind up method and take it relatively easy at start and then try build up the speed until last stretch and then empty the tank. In then end it was probably closer to the latter that transpired.

It was great to catch up with Bungy Girl and a few clubmates too. I thought in my head if I could stay close to BG I'd be happy and time wise I'd be disappointed if I didn't get sub 6:30. I was a bit delayed at work so was a bit of a rush and just had time to do a leisurely warmup lap before the race, so no strides done. Legs felt a little heavy on the warmup but wasn't sure if that was down to tiredness or just a bit of pre race tension. Anyways we spared a few moments for Jim McNamara RIP who, to be honest I had known little about but by all accounts was a legend in the sport in Ireland so I must read up more on him, then we were off.

Decided I would just try keep a decent pace, above what I'd be doing if it were a two lapper and then when I got to the first corner, just start to try wind it up through the gears a bit. About half way down the first stretch, I found myself surprisingly beside BG and iwas now in a quandary. Should I stay or should I go? If I stay I could do worse than keep up with BG to the end. If I go ahead, will I crash and burn before the finish? I decided to gamble, hey why not, what had I got to lose. Kept ahead of BG till the first corner ( I'm sure she was right behind me at close quarters at that stage) and then started slowly moving up through the field. Was feeling surprisingly ok at this stage all things being considered. Yes I was running faster than what I was used to , yes my breathing was laboured, yes I was unsure as to how long I could keep going.....but I felt like there was some strength there in the legs so if I could manage the breathing I might just do ok here.

I was fully expecting BG to whizz by me but it hadn't happened yet as we reached the last corner and the turn for home, but I knew she wouldn't be far behind. As we turned the corner I focused on pushing,pushing until the end, drawing in a few ahead of me including the second lady, and kept telling myself it would all be over soon, the quicker you get there the quicker it will be over so I dug deep as I have in a long time and kept kicking till I crossed the line and could kick no more. BG came in shortly after me and offered her congratulations. I was in a heap bent over trying to get my breathing under control again so had to ask for a minute to myself while I collected all my faculties again.

Absolutely thrilled to finish in 6:08 , totally beyond my expectations based on the work I've done so far and only 4 secs off my PB. I'm not sure I'll replicate this at the next one but I was really happy with that.

Did a cool down lap afterwards to bring the total to around 4 miles for the night and then headed off to the clubhouse for a deserved cup of tea and a drifter !
Operation RedRunner Transformation :

Wednesday Weigh-in

Starting Weight : 16 St 0lbs

Week 4 Weight : 15st 6lbs:rolleyes:

Weight Loss this week : 0lbs
Total weight Loss : 8lbs


At a bit of a standstill at the moment on weight front so hopefully that will resume the downward trend soon.

17/3 - Rested to be on the safe side.

tang1

Well done on the mile R, nice to see. As D said take it handy, don't get ahead of yourself. Your coming on well, which you deserve in all honesty.

RedRunner

18/3 - cycled home from work

19/3 - Park Run at St Annes. Didn't want to push the body too hard today so did a few minutes warm up and took it handy enough on the first lap. Nice hello from laura_ac3 and chat with KennyG before the run too. it was a case of a slow wind up to a tempo pace for second lap and a bit of a sprint finish at the end just because I can. Happy with a 22:50 and met Murph_D while on my cool down. He was very cool about his PB, impressive running, it has to be said.

5.47 miles total incl w/u and c/d.

20/3 - LSR with Hills.

Didn't get out till late afternoon for this due to kids football matches but this was a blessing in disguise since the temperature was much warmer in the afternoon. Headed up to Howth summit from the house out onto coast road and straight up the hill following the Fat Turkey route. 9.9 miles in 87:56 for my longest run of the year.

Felt good to get it done. A few niggles at the moment so will keep an eye on those and bring out the roller tonight. Have to increase my core work too and exercises for calves as I have lapsed lately.

Total of 26 miles for the week

RedRunner

A bit of catching up to do here.....

22/3 - 7.18 miles in 64:18. Runmute from work

23/3 - 4.21 miles in 35:35 . Lunchtime run from workplace.

24/3- 6.55 miles in 58:17. Runmute into work. Came across Laura_aac3 on the way in. Brief hello before ploughing on. Nice to catch up with the rest of "the gang" at the Raheny Shamrocks quiz that night too.

25/3 - Planned rest

26/3 - Unplanned rest. had planned to do something this morning but it got away from me . Went out to Glasnevin cemetery in the morning for a walking tour which was really interesting. One of the participants father was arrested at Banna strand when the casement arms shipment was supposed to come in. He was back from the US at the invitation on the Government.

In the evening went to see the Dubs teach Donegal a lesson for playing "puke" football. Awful stuff to watch (Sorry Anna!)

27/3- Unplanned rest. Again the day just got away from me due to 1916 events. Two of my Great Grand Uncles fought during Easter week. One at Four Courts garrison (He was shot in the hip on the Saturday) and the other at Cityhall/Dublin castle(he ended up in Frongoch Prison).

28/3 - Tempo/Fartlek Run. Hadn't planned anything like this but since I hadn't done anything since previous Thursday I just went with it. I felt strong so decided on a bit of "speed play":)

6.42 miles in 52:16
Splits: 8:00,8:06,8:10,7:40,8:46,8:16,(7:46)

Wednesday weigh-in went something like this:

Wednesday Weigh-in

Starting Weight : 16 St 0lbs

Week 5 Weight : 15st 4lbs:)

Weight Loss this week : 2lbs

Total weight Loss : 10lbs


Total of 18 miles for week

RedRunner

29/3- 6.44 miles in 57:41 run home from work.

30/3- Club 1 mile race. Was in no mood for this at all. Felt really tired and lethargic beforehand. The thought of not doing it crossed my mind but wanted to keep going till end of league to see how I do in that.

With a 6:08 in the last outing I felt I would not be anywhere near this tonight. My thoughts were really just do what you can and get it over with. Not the best attitude i'd admit.

Anyway the warm-up was done,pleasantries exchanged with clubmates and some from on here and we were off. I took it reasonably handy at the start but I found a rhythm after a couple of hundred metres and started to find myself passing people before we got to first turn. The second stretch was feeling comfortable but hard and I was gaining ground on others ahead of me and so this continued to the last turn and then the long sprint for home. Got good support from Fbot01 on this stretch and also Duanington whom I met for first time tonight. This helped me continue the push for the line and I was delighted to finish in 6:07. Couldn't quite believe it but delighted. I think with some specific work I could go close to a sub 6, who knows we can but dream.
A bit of a cool down to bring total to 4.16 miles

Weighed in today at 15st 3lbs...down 1 from last week.

31/3- recovery run along coast and taking in a bit of grass in St Anne's. 4.34 miles in 41:59

1/4- rested but cycled home from work

2/4 - BHAA 4 mile race. Hadn't raced anything longer than 5k so was unsure what to expect from this. It would be a good fitness test if nothing else. I was asked before race what I was aiming for and I felt ID be happy enuf with sub 30 which would be better than Maynooth outing albeit that was xc.

Got to see BungyGirl charging up the avenue to her pb while I was warming up which was great. Shortly after the ladies race was over we were let off on our two laps of same course. I felt like I started comfortable enough but was hitting 6:50 pace so cooled the jets a bit and got into a nice group which helped find a nice pace which was hard but realistic. Plan was to keep with this group as long as possible and then see what I had left near the end. There was some movement on the back end of course and as a result found myself in a group of three or four coming into the final turn and the long kick for home. I knew one of the guys as he is related to the oh. He does triathlons so knew he'd be strong but enjoyed a ding dong battle all the way to finish from here. I think I went a little early and as a result he pipped me at the line as I ran out of steam just at the end but this battled helped me to a 28:16 finish which I was delighted with . I will have to check my records but this might be a pb over 4 miles. Haven't done many at this distance. Official time though says 28:20??

Either way happy with days work. Some great support along the way by BG and maybe others from here? ( not sure but there was definitely other supporting voices there, so thanks :-) )

3/4- rest. Planned a long run but last minute decision to head for Carrick on Shannon to support the Dubs put an end to that.


Total of 23 miles for week.

aquinn

You're welcome. I was asked why was I supporting a Raheny lad. Eh...................

RedRunner

aquinn wrote: »

You're welcome. I was asked why was I supporting a Raheny lad. Eh...................

Ah thanks A. Couldn't quite catch who everyone was....you know I was running so fast .

So it was the "Cru Crew" then. Always great to get support but even better when its from the "opposition":)

I'll be sure to return the favour at the Road Relays!

Bungy Girl

RedRunner wrote: »

Ah thanks A. Couldn't quite catch who everyone was....you know I was running so fast .

So it was the "Cru Crew" then. Always great to get support but even better when its from the "opposition":)

I'll be sure to return the favour at the Road Relays!

Ha ha, you'd be taken out back and shot :eek:

Annapr was in your cheerleading squad too.

RedRunner

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Ha ha, you'd be taken out back and shot :eek:

Annapr was in your cheerleading squad too.

Nah, it'll be fine, sure the Raheny ladies will be well ahead anyway !

Thanks Annapr!:)

annapr

RedRunner wrote: »

Nah, it'll be fine, sure the Raheny ladies will be well ahead anyway !

Thanks Annapr!:)

You're welcome, can't believe you couldn't identify all of us as you sauntered by . Great time by the way, well done!

Bungy Girl

RedRunner wrote: »

Nah, it'll be fine, sure the Raheny ladies will be well ahead anyway !

Careful now.....