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Time for a New Adventure
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Thursday PM
Really stiffening up from circuits this morning so I put on my runners, left my watch at home and went out for an easy jog, covered about 4 miles at 9ish minute/mile pace.
Friday lunch
Oh so stiff, getting up and sitting back down are a problem. My quads are locked solid, dam lunges. Easy lunch time 5 miles at 9min/miles pace. Home to lots and lots of foam rolling.
Saturday: Eamon Moloney 10km
This was the third race in the Clare race series. Really well run event and not too far from home
Still stiff so not sure what my legs would be capable of so plan was to go out with 50minute pacer and belt on at 5 or 6km.
Found the 50minute pacer or at least I had him and his yellow balloon in my sights in the crowd at the start. The claxon went and we were off and as per usual, I lost the pacer in the crowd. Caught him at the 1km mark and tucked in behind him and his groupies but I felt that this pace was slightly below my 'comfortable pace' so got into my comfortable pace and passed him and his groupies.
I spotted a lady runner up ahead who has been at all my races lately, she wears a GCH singlet so she's distinguishable. She got in ahead of me for the 8km but I passed her at the Craughwell 10 mile last week so I figured we're in or around the same pace. I kept her in my sights but reeled her in around the 4km mark.
I was doing 4:50 min kms so far so was nearly a minute ahead of the 50 minute pacer. Just then I saw a guy up ahead with a few around him and with a red balloon hanging from him (I couldn't read it, don't have the sharpest eyesight). I looked at my watch and though, s**t, that can't be the 45 minute pacer because I'm not going that fast but if it's the 50 minute pacer, I'm all wrong and it was the 55 minute pacer I passed which doesn't make sense either. Reeled in this pacer and saw that he was a/the 50 minute pacer but I was definitely 1 minute under 50 at this point. It really threw me but I figured I'd run my own race and figure out what was happening another time. Caught this pacer and gently passed him out, keeping with my 4:50 minute kms.
There was a tall guy in an Ireland style cycling jersey playing tag with me from the beginning so we kept this up. At around the 5 and a half km mark, we turned onto a road facing into a head wind and this is the way it would stay for the rest of this race. While I love this race, I dislike the second half as it's a loooooooooonnnnngggggggg stretch of road where you can see the runners strung out ahead of you and there's not much to be looking at around you. With less than 2km to go I was beside a nice lady and we exchanged pleasentries. She asked me how much time had lapsed, I said 41, she said she was hoping for a sub-48 finish, I said I was hoping to finish but I thought if she put the boot down she'd make it.
Tall guy in Ireland jersey pulled away and my lady friend and I put the skids on as much as we could, she pulled away a bit but not enough to get in under 48
That head wind took it out of everyone. I got in at 48:18, 129/853 and 22/510 females. Happy enough given my legs were stiff but my next 10km will be a sub-48
As for the pacers. I waited at the finish line to see if I was imagining things. There were two 50 minute pacers and they were about 30 seconds, maybe a bit more apart. I'm not sure if it was because they started in different places in the crowd at the start but it was strange. The first guy didn't seem to have anyone with him at the end but the second had a good group. My gut tells me that the tactic of the first guy was to belt out in under-50min pace and slow it down once everyone turned into the head wind but I think he lost people with that pace in the first 5km.0 -
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Thanks guys, I know I'm not breaking any records but loving the running and the racingNice report neady. points out the pluses and negatives of pacers, some of their tactics can ruin your race as much as make it.
compared to some of your Beast competitors you're doing a serious amount of training.
(that should light some fires..:) )
Ohhhhhhh Mossy, don't set them off, I'm catching up here, the other Beasties have years of AR experience behind them:)
Sunday: Remembering Aoibhe Duathlon
The Remembering Aoibhe Challenge was held out in the beautiful Renville and consisted of a 5km run in the morning, a TT in the early afternoon and a duathlon in the late afternoon. My other half signed up for the 5km run so I signed up for the duathlon, 3km, 15km, 3km.
I cycled the 11ish miles out to Renville just in time to see my other half set off on the 5km and was there to cheer him over the line to yet another pb. There was over 3 hours until my event so we hit for the golf club where all the goodies were and I mean GOODIES. I've never seen such a spread and I was like someone who hasn't had cake in all my life. I sampled more than my fair share of cup cakes without a thought to the race later on.
Game plan for duathlon: Run hard and cycle hard and run hard. There was no pacing game plan or anything. This was a first (without the 4km mountain in the middles of the bike) so I said I'd be content to finish it whatever the time.
Run 1: 3km
66 of us lined out for the duathlon and off we went. There was no problems dodging people getting out of the traps today. Everyone just went for it. Just as we hit off I realised that I was still wearing my trail runners (they fit snuggly into the pedals so I wore them for the cycle out). I forgot to change into my runners, oh well, I figured they'd be grand in Renville and be good on the bike anyway. The group was pelting at a serious pace, I passed a few people but not too many.
I felt I was way way back in the pack, way way back. I didn't even look at the clock coming into transition so I'd no idea how I was doing.
Redtag tells me: R1: 11:39, 25/66. T1: 00:42.
Cycle: 15km
I knew this was going to be tough, the wind was really really strong at this stage and I knew we'd be heading into it at some stage, we were doing a circuit so we had to. Out on the bike and I felt good, I felt much better than I did in Castlebar, I felt like I was racing instead of out for a Sunday cycle. I'm more familiar with my bike and gears now than I was before but still not familiar enough to put proper clippy pedals with clippy shoes on them (sorry about the terminology, I'm not good with cycle stuff). Was peddling as fast as I could and thinking to myself, I must be going fast enough that noone will catch me today, or at least only a few :rolleyes: Think again Néady. I got swallowed up by about 12 or 13 people and on all parts of the 15km. I was getting pretty annoyed at myself and my cycling, chuffed that I felt I'd improved but annoyed that so many were passing me. It was quite windy when we turned onto the main road heading back for Galway and especially when we passed a gate on the wall, the wind just whipped through and nearly knocked me off a few times but I persevered. Into transition and again I didn't look at the clock.
Redtag says: Cycle:39:11 38/66, T2: 0:44.
Run 2: 3km
This time we ran the first 3km loop in reverse. I won't lie, even though all I wanted was to finish the race, I had steam coming out my ears at the thought of how many people had passed me on the bike. I hit off running and my legs were so so heavy, I felt that they were barely going at all, it felt really really slow. I spotted two guys up ahead that had passed me on the bike, the guy in the blue I felt like I had been playing tag with all day so I put targets on their backs. I reeled them in slowly, overtook them and I heard the guy in blue say, 'I've passed that girl about 5 times today'
I did smile at that. Next up was a guy in orange, had him in sight on the bike all day, got him going up a hill. Then there were two guys who were doing it as a team, reeled them in and off I went, next up was a guy in blue shorts and then I spotted the girl in pink who had passed me 10km into the cycle, wasn't letting her get away with that ether. I could only see two more between me and the line but I didn't have enough ground to catch them. The best part of the day for me was making up ground on the run, though it was out of sheer anger. Saw 103 on the clock as I passed it.
Redtag tells me: R2: 11:23 19/66. Race time: 1.03:40. Placed 26/66 and 6th girl home.
I'm not sure if it was the trail runners or the new compression gear that I got off AKW on Friday (thanks AKW, might be getting a second round of it) but I can't believe I did the second leg faster than the first. I really didn't feel like I was going faster than the first leg, running in anger is good. Don't worry, I'm under no illusions that I'm nowhere near the caliber of you guys logging on here but ........... I think I'm getting the bug for this multi-sport stuff. You never know, I could be learning to swim next. Best fix my cycling first though I guess
Weekly Totals
Running: 4:07 (27miles)
Cycling: 3:43
Circuits: 2:00
Total: 9:500 -
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So, what race...or races...will you be doing this weekend??
Ha ha ha I'm so predictable Splitting my time between Galway with himself and West Clare with my family this weekend but there's so much choice, there's races everywhere and they're all centered around Easter Eggs
I'll probably go with a 10km in East Clare tomorrow, it fits well with dropping my brother to South Galway and back up to Galway Monday to do a handy 10km trail run in Portumna Forest park - if I haven't gone stone mad altogether on chocolate and turkey with all the trimmings Easter Sundays dinner is as big a deal as Christmas dinner in our house
Delighted to see you firmly on the mend and getting back on IM track wohooooo0 -
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Thursday PM
Told my C25K (I better stop calling him that now he's up to 16kms) I'd pace him for his 14km long run. Said I'd take him to Connemara to run the stretch of road between Maam Cross and Joe Keans pub, it holds fond memories from my Connemarathon training from a few years back. Got home from work and it looked like it was going bucket down rain. Suggested we postpone until Friday and go for coffee & cake instead. Got veto'd so off we went.
I wasn't wrong, the heavens opened and it lashed rain. Over and hour later we get to to Maam Cross - 'maybe this wasn't such a good idea' he says. 'get out, we're going running' I says.
5km later, squidgy runners and like a drowned rat, I notice that he's limping ever so slightly. I think it's shin splints so I make him turn back and we can call it a day at 10km. Rain is driving into us on the way back, the wind is strong enough and we'd a big hill to climb - it escaped him that we were mostly going down hill on our first 5km. Lots of cursing and tutting but I could tell he was enjoying it all the same. He walked chucks of it back so I used the opportunity to do some strides and jog back to him.
On the way back, lots of cars passed us, beeped and gave us the thumbs up - it was really spirit lifting. An hour and ten minutes later and 7 miles for me, we were drying off in Peacocks hotel beside the roaring fire with steaming cups of hot tea. C25K said it was the worst run of his life but there was something enjoyable about it all the same He's not a fair weather runner anymore
Friday
Easy day today because of C25ks shin splints. Hit for Connemara again and walked from the road into Maumeen, up the mountain at the back of Maumeen, back down and along the Western Way. A 2 - 3 hour easy ramble.
Stopped into the farmers market in Moycullen on the way home. Hand cut chips, goats cheese wrap and the best spelt tiramisu brownie I've ever tasted. I know this isn't a food blog but there's nothing like sitting by the side of the road on a warm sunny day (I know, shocking!!!), eating fresh made local produce that's oh so bad for you 0 -
Saturday AM
The Abbey 10km Run, Quinn. This turned out to be a family affair as my two brothers decided to lace up for this one too. One of them runs all the time, the other is just getting back running again so it was nice to have him out with us. Bit of a panic at the start as the one who runs all the time forgot his runners - as you do - so had to high tail it to a shop and get a new pair (we were too far from home to go back).
This was a great local run with a 7km option. The local support was the best I've seen so far this year though I think the sun really helped. I didn't know the course so I figured I'd go out and run at a comfortable pace and not bother too much about the times.
Splits were: 4:46, 4:43, 4:45, 4:47, 4:55, 4:51, 4:42, 5:01, 4:45, 4:54.
I spied my brother (the return to running one) up ahead at km 5 but it took until km 8 to catch him. Its been years since he did a race and I think he went out too hard so he was loosing pace at this stage - stayed with him for a bit and chatted, he told me to belt on so off I went. The last km took longer than I'd have liked but Garmin tells me it was longer than 1km so not sure what went on there.
Finished in 48:10, 60/168 and 8th girl home. Not too shook after it, I probably could have gone out harder but this was one to enjoy
Saturday PM
Evening cycle rediscovering the high-roads and bi-roads of West Clare. Way back when I used to do a lot of cycling, I knew the hills and road surface of every back road in West Clare so I figured it was time to get reacquainted with them. The smooth surfaced, not too hilly, main road was mental busy with traffic heading to Kilkee so it made sense to stay on the back roads anyway.
There was nothing technical in this, just me enjoying the sun and seeing the sights. Covered 27 miles in 1:45 at 13.9mph. Not earth shattering but happy to be out and getting used to my saddle.
Sunday AM
Got up at stupid o clock to turn on the turkey for Easter dinner so I figured when I was up and everyone else was asleep I'd get out on the bike and be back in time for breakfast.
I had the roads pretty much to myself and the sun was beating down though it was still on the cool side. I had no plan in place, just figured I'd cycle and try to get over 2 hours on the saddle. The first sign of life I met: two donkeys nibbling grass on the side of the road as I was coming into the first village, called the guards to let them know and went on my merry way.
Next up was Doonbeg, nobody up there either so onto Kilrush, half way to Kilrush I figured it would be a nice morning for coffee in Kilkee so cut cross country on some narrow roads and into Moyasta. Met nobody but a lonely guard out with his speed camera He wasn't going to be able to do me for speed. Onto Kilkee - nice coffee sitting on the wall of the prom and then home for breakie. Met a few cyclists on my way home and was chuffed with myself that I was hitting for home when most were going out.
36miles in 2hours 40 @ 13.3mph. Not breaking any records time wise but its all saddle time and there were plenty of hills to boot
Sunday PM
Hadn't planned an evening session as I'd spent the day gorging on turkey, stuffing and all the trimmings followed by copious amounts of chocolate, ice cream and way too much rich foods.
My brother convinced me to keep him company on a run so I agreed on one condition - it would be at my LSR/recovery run pace but he could choose the route. He must have chosen the most mountainous route possible and it was more like him setting the pace than me, I was laboring from the first step. 6.01 miles and 50 minutes later we were home - pace was 8:22 - so much for a recovery run
Monday AM
C25k's turn to pick a race so he choose the 10km tail run in Portumna. I was suffering a serious chocolate hangover so wasn't looking forward to this.
This was a lunchtime kick off and it was quite hot. Wasn't sure if it was going to be on proper trails or smooth ground so not sure whether to wear normal runners or trail runners. Was running late so no time to do any homework, looked around, everyone else was wearing normal runners so I went with that.
There was a 5km option and most families opted for that which meant there was a small contingent for the 10km.
It was super hot, it was trails, proper trails, pot holes, loose gravel, tree roots and all that and quite a lumpy course - should have worn trail runners. A really nice course though I felt like it was the longest 10km I've ever done - the km signs came around painfully slowly. My tummy was screaming at me from 4km, all that chocolate and rich food was not doing me any favors and the unevenness of the trail was making it worse. I wasn't looking at my watch but I could feel myself slowing down. I felt terrible, the worst I've ever felt on a run.
At 5km I decided that this was a training run, the game was over, otherwise I'd end up emptying the contents of my stomach all over the trail - or end up crouched behind a tree (I wasn't sure which end it was going to come from - too much info.?). I must have been keeping a good pace all the same as I was passing one or two people with each km.
Finished in 49:25 without puking or disgracing myself on the course so I considered that a victory in itself. There were no results published so I'm not sure where I came in the pack but I don't think I was too far down.
After a cuppa and some water to settle my tummy, C25k and I warmed down with 3 easy km around the trails followed by a lovely snooze on the warm grass.
While it was the toughest 10km I've done, I loved the trails in Portumna - it's a beautiful spot. It's tempting me to sign up for the 50km there in June. I've never run that distance before but it might be good endurance training?? TBC
Weekly Totals
Running: 5:09 (35.5miles)
Circuits: 2:00
Cycling: 3:35 (64miles)
Wattbike: 0:20
Total: 11:010 -
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It's been a while. Last week was a bit of a write off. Deadlines at work, job applications and life in general got in the way of any serious training. My work contract ends in October so last week was spent trying to figure out what direction I'm going in. This means I have to finally start being a grown up and making, horror of horrors, life choices :O
That and I've been quite tired and lacking in any sort of energy. I had to really dial it back for the week so it ended up being a few 5km runs in the evening and one or two circuit sessions.
I did get to the last run in the Clare run series in Kilnaboy on Sunday though. This was the 10mile race and though the rest of the races in the series have been really well organised and great courses - this one was by far the best for a whole host of reasons.
It's the little things that count ....
1) men standing at the mile markers (not every one but 5 or 6) shouting out the time since the gun and shouting encouragement.
2) The sun was shining but it wasn't too warm
3) At 6 miles, the course goes through Corofin where there was heaps of support - a real booster
4) A very nice lady on a bike shouting support, cycling on, shouting more support - I lost count of the number of times I saw her
5) A not too lumpy course
I figured that as I was still lacking in energy that I'd go our very easy, keep my eyes off my watch and run my own comfortable race. My splits tell a different story - I guess because I was taking it easy all week, my legs were fresh and what felt easy was quite fast - first three miles were 7.40 pace and they went downhill from there.
Swallowed water the wrong way just after mile 3 and had to slow down for a spluttering session
At mile 5 my tummy started to do it's gurgling thing again - I'm not sure of I'm getting my food wrong but about 5 miles into every race my tummy starts to turn a little.
Started to fade a little from mile 6 though running through Corofin was a real boost. I was having to dig really deep then, my legs were quite sore, I knew at this stage that I'd gone out too fast so I just pulled back a bit and tried to loosen out. Finished in 1:20:40 so shaved a little off my times from a few week ago. Happy with that but should have paced it better.
It all made for a great day out anyway. My C25K other half ran it in 1:27 (he's gaining ground way too fast) and my brother did 10 miles for the first time in 1:05 (there's just no catching him) - third man over 40, he gets all the glory
A great series that will hopefully be back next year and great value too. €50 got me a 5km, 5mile, 10km & 10mile race, two nice technical t-shirts, a medal, a mug and a plaque for completing all four races. We all commented that the series pushed people to do distance that they would never have done before - my brother would never have pushed past 10km and now he's found that he prefers the longer distances.
Now to knuckle down this week and get this training back on track 0 -
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If I was to give training advice based on your summer targets it is building big volume at low to moderate intensity that you need to be doing. Key is to get used to working out in a state of mental and physical fatigue from time to time. Double and triple workout days.
If you need help with fatigue I can loan you my kids for a week 0 -
Thanks for the advice guys, it will be headed I think a rest day won't be a problem after this weekend We've a 24 hour ARSE adventure planned.
If you need help with fatigue I can loan you my kids for a week
Ahhhhhhhh thanks AKW ... I couldn't possibly handle that much responsibility
This week - nothing too intense.
Circuits x 2
5 mile lunch time run x 2
Interval session with Athenry AC. 5x6 mins (90 second recovery)0 -
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Saturday Part II: MTBing
Off we went with our bags on our backs and the sun beating down on us as the others were telling us that we were stone mad. Our first checkpoint was Maumeán, where we had been about 9 hours previous, some roads were out of bounds so we headed for Maum cross and took the Western Way up to Mauméan. This is mostly dirt track with some small streams to cross – I could feel something rub against my foot so I stopped to inspect, the tape I had used to strap my feet had come loose and had caused a blister to form. I popped on a blister plaster and reminded myself that I need to try combinations of taping and different tapes, suggestions welcome.
It gets very steep near the checkpoint so I got off and started to hike my bike, my first time having to do this and it’s not as easy as I had thought it would be I could feel it in my calves, especially after all the hiking. We stopped to consult the map at the checkpoint, grab some food and the guys cycled down the path, I mostly hiked the bike down here as the rocks are all over the place and I have an irrational (rational?) fear of falling off and breaking myself. Good call – one of the ARSEs came off and knocked his knee quite badly – we plied him with drugs and after promising us that he was ok to carry on we kept going. We were on narrow road for a bit after this followed by another long section of the Western way. I was finding the hills on the road tough with the MTB, it takes such effort to cycle up them compared to being on the racer, it was push push, thighs burning, push push. The other ARSEs are must stronger than me at MTBing but hopefully with more training I can improve.
The next section of the Western way had lots of pretty bridges, the sun was starting to go down and the Bens on our left were casting their long shadow on us. Next up we came to a main road that was out of bounds but we had to get to the other side of it, one of the ARSEs came to a stop when he was already on it so we deemed him disqualified ☺ . We crossed it and came to another dirt track that was only faintly marked on the map ….. we came to our first locked gate of the evening, with a sign stating that it was private property and to stay out (we met a few of these on this ‘track’, so we passed our bikes over the gate and cycled through the wet marshy field – totally inconspicuous in our florescent jackets I doubt the sheep had ever seen anything like it.
We met about three or four more locked gates so we got plenty of practice at passing bikes over gates, I was doing my best to play my part and lift my bike as much as I could. I didn’t have my glasses so I wasn’t able to read the map – I had to be able to contribute something!!!. It was getting quiet dark by the time we reached our third or fourth checkpoint, Kylemore Abbey. We put on an extra layer and sorted our torches.
We were cycling in pairs at this stage, trying to keep together to shelter each other as it was starting to get quite windy. At about 10.30 or 11, the torch on my bike went. We stopped and assessed the situation, my battery hadn’t been charged, one of my housemates might have turned off the switch before it was fully charged – another lesson learned. Luckily one of the ARSEs had a spare battery – we use the same torches – but it had limited life so we decided to use this as an exercise to conserve battery and cycled in pairs with only one bike of each pair lighting the way. The changing of the battery was a welcome break, I was feeling uncomfortable – AKW, the book you suggested last week came in handy though I could change the title to How to …….. in a field of scrub in the dark with no ditches!!!!!
We hit our next two checkpoints and got to see the beauty of the wildlife in Connemara after dark. We spotted lots of bats and a beautiful white owl. We hit our next checkpoint – I was a bit behind coming into this and by the time I got there the lads said that when we got back to Transition (Leenane) we would go for another cycle instead of the hike/jog. I won’t lie, I wasn’t enthusiastic about this, I was really looking forward to a run or a hike. Though I had managed to relieve myself, I was still super uncomfortable on the saddle …. poor ARSEs, they had to listen to way too many details about my bowel movements.
Last checkpoint bagged at a beach somewhere and it was time to head back to Leenane (I was so happy inside, I was dreaming blissfully of using a toilet in Leenane). It was super cold at this stage and we were cycling against the wind – another mistake I made was not putting on enough layers when the sun went down, I should have put another layer on my legs and changed my socks that had gotten wet when we were in the marshy field. I found the last hour and a half of the cycle very tough mentally. We were all getting tired, there wasn’t much banter, my torch was dead, I was cold and I was starting to sink a bit, I guess it’s par for the course and something I have to deal with.
I was the happiest girl in Connemara when I saw the lights of Leenane up ahead though it seemed to take forever to get to them. We rolled into the car park at 12 or 12.30, I lost track of time. I had mentioned that I wasn’t too keen about going out on the bike again and all of the hike options were going to be super long ones so we made a joint decision to call it a night as we felt we had good training done, 10 and a bit hours on the mountains and 7 and a bit hours on the bike over rough terrain. Plus the bar was still open so we had time for a drink (to quench our thirst) before bed ☺
I was still buzzing so I sorted out my gear for the morning and crawled into bed at around 2. I was awake early the next morning so stayed awake for the rest of Sunday. By Sunday evening, I was hardly able to string a sentence together, god knows what sleep deprivation on the Beast will be like.
All in all, it was a great days training, we worked super well as a team and learned some valuable lessons. It was a good moral booster for the Coast to Coast in May too.
Weekly Totals:
Hiking: 10:30hours
MTBing: 7:00hours
Running: 1:30
Circuits: 2:00
Total: 21:00hours0 -
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Sunday & Monday
Nada - my thighs are tender to the touch so much so that I kept putting off having to stand up from my desk all day which meant that every time I did stad up, there was lots of creaking
Lots and lots of foam rolling and stinking the house out with tiger balm
Tuesday
Intervals with the club. Was not looking forward to these with the state of my legs but it's the last session before the 5km series so I was eager to get out.
10 x 3mins: 45 second recovery
1 mile warm up
split distances:
.40/.41/.40/.40/.40/.42/.40/.38/.39/.39
1 mile warm down
Felt my left leg was dead for the lot of them, it's super tender, not painful but it knows it's been beaten.0 -
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