Every accomplishment starts with a decision to try

Annie get your Run

Mallow 10 Mile race

Who starts a race at 12.30?! Mass was the reason given when I asked at parkrun yesterday - a reason from yesteryear that still remains up and down the country. Up at 8 for a bowl of porridge followed by my usual 'long run' tea and toast with peanut butter and banana at 10.30. Faffed around switching between shorts and 3/4's. No one is ready to see me in shorts so went with the 3/4's. My right leg/hip/knee has been giving me considerably more trouble than usual this week, possibly a combination of sitting in a different chair in work (the chairs/desks in the office are very uncomfortable v what I have at home) and the slow parade march interspersed with runs on Thursday. I used the massage gun yesterday and today but it wasn't having the usual impact. Weather very overcast but mild with a cool breeze.

Jogged down to the start getting there about 12.20ish, the place was buzzing, great to see! Amazingly I only saw one person I know in the 900+ runners lined up. We were off at 12.32 with only a short delay.

I started about 3 rows from the back, the goal here was just to finish it but the first few miles are uphill and I knew that going off too fast here would mean a lot of suffering in the final miles but knowing something and following through are two very different things....

Miles 1 - 3, 9:52, 9:54, 9:41 So at least I know my fitness is improving over 5K distance! This was mostly uphill, dragged along by the crowd despite starting near the very back, I felt fantastic, you know that false 'you'll be grand' feeling you get when you go out too quickly?! Thoroughly enjoyed these miles, taking part in a local race, moving forward + feeling good.

Miles 4-7 10:14, 10:49, 11:25, 11:05. If I'd done the previous 3 miles between 10:15-10:30 I would have made life a lot easier for myself. There was a water station around mile 4, grabbed a bottle and took a few swigs and put some on the back of my neck. Had arranged for S to be at the bottom of our road with a water bottle too which was just before the 5 mile marker so had another few swigs here. I was 6 or 7 minutes ahead of schedule at this point and knew it was only going to get harder. Very glad of the water & the pep talk! From mile 5 onwards this was new territory for me route wise. The road is flat enough but it's along the main Killarney road which wasn't closed off so we had cars passing and pulling in. Finally we got to the turn for Dromohane and the road home. A few folks out in random places supporting, badly needed by now as I was stopping to walk briefly in every mile, a few of us keeping each other going. As I passed the 6 mile marker I knew I could walk 4 miles in under an hour so worst case could walk the rest! The right leg was causing a lot of trouble now. Another water stop around mile 7 and a shout out from one of the parkrun crew.

Miles 8-10 11:52, 11:49 11:46

Still mostly running with a small group, slowed down a good bit so I could keep running as much as possible & trying to keep the leg from ceasing up but still taking some walk breaks. Again some much needed very enthusiastic support around 8.5 miles from some youngsters - fair play to them! A bit lumpy coming in under the railway bridge and up to SV but I knew there was less than a mile and I'd be finished, which was the only goal. Spotted S just before the finish, crossed the line "I did it"! Gotta remember that not much more than 6 months ago I couldn't run 3 miles without feeling awful so this is progress, yes I'm slow but 10 miles is 10 miles.

That was hard! But also enjoyable. Had a little asthma type thing just after I crossed the line and thought I'd be in trouble but it didn't last long. Collected the goody bag and was going to stop briefly but decided it would be better to keep moving so a very slow shuffle home, just over a mile. With the warm up, that was 11 miles running for the day.

Immediate thoughts were that I won't do the Cork half, there's a lot going on, more renovations, busy with work and study, will have to be in the office some of the time - it'd be madness to undertake another plan, I should just do the relay with the SR gang and enjoy it..... A massive well done to the Mallow AC crew, they put on an excellent event, very well organised, super atmosphere and a much needed kitkat in the goody bag 😀.

Back in Black

Well done on the race - brilliant to see you back racing and enjoying it! You've made serious progress since January.

Murph_D

Good stuff AM - more of a battle than I’d realized from the Strava (which is the beauty of race reports).

You’re a tough one! See ya in Cork hopefully, maybe for the relay.

Laineyfrecks

Well done on the race, glad to see you enjoyed it😊

Annie get your Run

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118818524#Comment_118818524

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118817579#Comment_118817579

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118817817#Comment_118817817

Thanks folks ☺️. Tough or stubborn @Murph_D! I'll see you before then, will be over to Cobh to watch the right way to run a 10 miler 😉.

diego_b

Well done AM, you're making great progress. Loved this line"....knowing something and following through are two very different things...." Sometimes you just go with it and feck it!

Wubble Wubble

That's great persistence and resilience to finish it...and then to remember so much for the report 💪👏

Annie get your Run

Not much running going on since 20th, took a week off and went for a tui na massage midweek - very painful but a big help, back for another one this Friday. Was out walking a few miles every day to try and loosen the legs which were quite stiff and the body quite tired.

Saturday 26th March 4.4 mile run

Jogged down to parkrun and got around but it was a bit of a struggle - still managed a 9.50 mile in there 🙄. My pacing radar seems to be a bit broken as this was supposed to be a jog to loosen out the legs, should have put the HR screen on to keep myself honest. Small numbers again so ran this solo although you can see other runners ahead and behind across the park and of course the marshals around the course. Absolutely gorgeous day 🌞.

Sunday 27th March, 22.06 mile cycle

Haven't been on the bike in a while and the Axa gang are doing Ride Dingle in 4 weeks. Lead a group on the Mallow - Doneraile - Mallow route I set up last year. Love this route as it's lots of back country roads with views of the Ballyhouras, no cars and singing birds. Another glorious day. A bit slower than I'd have liked as one of the group was struggling. I'm not concerned about getting around Slea Head, have done it before solo but I need to build up saddle fitness!!!!

I've signed up for the Cork Marathon Relay on June bank holiday weekend. Not sure which leg I'll get and I don't mind so the plan is do a 10k training plan using the Garmin coach plan. I'd like to have a go at getting my 5k time back resembling something I'm happy with. The plan starts next week with some benchmark runs this week.

Laineyfrecks

Best of luck with the new plan😊

Annie get your Run

Wednesday 30th, Benchmark Run

Not sure what the point of these are on the Garmin plans, it's a 9 min run, what can you tell about someone from a 9 min run? 5 min warm up and 5 min cool down. Hardly worth going out the door 😊.

Sunday 3rd April 4.17 miles

Should have done this yesterday but drove to Galway for the day for a family event. It's a long time since I was in Galway but was very surprised at how industrial and built up it is on the road in. No wonder it's on the traffic news every day.. Stopped in Bunratty on the way so ended up with no time for a walk in Salthill which had been the plan. Anyway, up early this morning to head over to Cobh for the 10 miler to welcome some of the Dublin contingent to the real capital. Got parking down by the sea and headed off for my own run before climbing the ridiculously steep hill up to the start line. Really enjoyed this run along by the sea and the only stretch of road on the island without a hill. It was 1 degree when I left the house but there was heat in the sun when I arrived in Cobh. Nearly knocked over The Claw as he exited his hotel! Great buzz around the town and so much fun watching legends like Sonia, Rob and Mick running and of course our very own MurphD and FBOT who was pacing. Thoroughly enjoyable day. Plenty of unrecorded walking throughout the week too.

Looks like next week is just 3 easy runs. Really need to get back to some regular strength/yoga. Have completely fallen off the wagon.

Annie get your Run

Monday 4th April AM Yoga

Off to a good start for the week ahead. Planned to get 3 of these in this week, yet again it didn't happen!

Monday 4th April PM 30 min run

This plan works off time so 5 min warm up followed by 20 mins run 5 min cool down. I didn't make any notes on strava and can't remember if this was good/bad or indifferent.

30 mins @ 11:30 pace

Thursday 7th April train with Olympians 😎

Sanctuary runners have secured a much coveted track spot at the Mardyke on Thursday evenings for anyone training to take part in the Cork city marathon, half marathon or relay. There will be some guest appearances along the way and this week was Rob and Derval, two sounder people you will not meet. Had the chats with Rob while we were waiting for people to arrive. This was not on my plan obviously but a bit of speed will do me good! The session started out being 10 x 200, until he saw how desperately slow most of us were and it was reduced to 6. We did two warm up laps, then the 200's with walked recoveries and a cool down lap at the end. Lots of tips from him on stretching, proper running form etc. Lap times were:

.55, 1:01, 1:03, 1:02, .58.9, 1:01.

This was hard, I have not run at any kind of pace in a long time, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and the social side was a big buzz too.

Sunday 10th April 40 mins easy

This should have been done yesterday but a work night out on Friday meant I was in no state to do anything yesterday, never mind run! Alcohol and HRT do not mix well - one is my limit these days and I should have stuck to that. The new limit will be zero. I don't feel great after even once glass these days so what's the point. Anyway, walked the dog first to loosen out the legs, the calves are feeling very tender either as a result of Thursday's session or the very high heels I was walking around in on Friday night. Then out the door into the blustery wind and down into the park. Ran around on the grass which helped the legs.

warm up 5 mins @ 10:45 (mostly downhill)

30 mins @ 11:09

Cool down 5 mins @ 20:39 (included a stop to chat to a neighbour)

Next weeks runs look interesting, tomorrow is stride repeats, Wednesday is a progression run and 50 mins easy on Saturday.

Annie get your Run

Monday 11th April AM Yoga, PM Run 37 mins

20 mins easy, 10 x 20 sec strides/45 sec recoveries + 10 mins easy. Very enjoyable, loved the strides and noticed improved form for the 10 mins easy after them. Have a memory of similar impact when I did this plan previously.

Tuesday 12th Yoga 15 mins

Wednesday 13th Yoga 17 mins AM, Run 35 mins PM

15 mins easy, 10 mins steady, 10 mins easy.

Thursday 14th April Walk, 2.71 miles

Saturday 16th April, Run 50 mins

Including Mallow Castle parkrun. Jogged down, ran the parkrun, probably at steady rather than easy pace, jogged a cooldown. Only 48 runners this week. Numbers have dropped significantly in the last month or so, not sure why!

Did a bit better with the yoga/stretching this week but both legs have niggles - how do you know if you're having joint v muscular discomfort I wonder, my hips continue to be sore despite stretching, massage gun or massages..