Eye of the Tiger Beer.

annapr

I thought for a minute the fall was related to the post-PB beers.

Sure look at all those Kenyans falling and getting up and winning races with bloody knees and banged heads, no bother to ya.

jamule

Singer wrote: »

So, the Boyne 10k. My 3rd 10k, and as with basically every serious run I've done since, I was expecting a PB.

I arrived ludicrously early in Drogheda, parking near enough to the start and picked up my race number and goodie bag well over an hour before the race. I picked up my number, went back to the car and faffed around on my phone for a bit, got dressed into a singlet and race shorts (with a sacrificial long sleeve t-shirt) and made my way to the race start. I did a bit of a warm up around the town, and got a feel for what the first km. A small bit of digging around the previous year's results reckoned my target time would be in the first 100 or so finishers, so I tried to place myself accordingly in the start. I tied my long sleeve t-shirt to a railing, and lined up. A few minutes before the start, it drizzled a fair bit. I was feeling a little annoyed and uncomfortable, but ready to go. A friend of mine from work showed up on the side and we wished each other well wishes. I couldn't hear anything of the commentary from the start, and pretty much on time the race began.

Mile 1: 6:28

I started fairly slowly, despite reasonable placement there were a lot of slower runners around me. I didn't get too stressed and passed a lot of people once the roads started to open up. I was a little worried that my runners would slip and not provide enough grip, but when running fast I didn't notice any problems. The road out of the town was quite up and down, I was making pace on the flats and uphills and passing a lot of people in general, however I was being passed a lot on the downhills.

Mile 2: 6:31

Lots of downhills here, and I was overtaken by a lot of folks. 6:45 or so was my target overall split, at this stage I was very conscious that I might be overdoing things, so I held back a little. I was comfortable enough, breathing was getting a little laboured but generally doing fine.

Mile 3: 6:34

Up and down a bit here, the most dramatic part being an uphill drag towards a 180 before a plunge down towards the Boyne. It was clear that the race was very well marshalled, all the potholes and other dangerous road features were spraypainted so they were easy to avoid. I headed over the Boyne happy with my time. I grabbed a bottle of water, poured a bit over myself and took a sup, then threw it at a bin and missed wildly. There was a man walking a dog beside the bin, when I shouted "****e" he responded with "you were pretty close!". It fortunately didn't end up in the canal.

Mile 4: 6:43

When I passed 5k I did a quick check of my watch and it was <20:00 (Strava disagrees, but I reckon the 180 threw it out). At this stage I was pretty much on my own, and when heading down under the M1 and beside the canal I tried to speed up and catch a few runners ahead of me, but I was very aware that there was a killer hill coming up. The noise of the cars going over the M1 freaked me out a few times, I was convinced there were cars bearing down on me. I was very much on my own here.

Mile 5: 7:17

One of my uncles is in a local club, and when I turned the corner towards the big climb uphill he gave me a great shout-out which helped for a few seconds... but OMG this hill was tough. My watch reckoned I was doing 7:40 or so, and it was just generally awful. My running stance moved from a confident stride to a miserable skulk up the hill. The support was pretty great here, there was music, jellies and water all over the place, though I ignored it all.

Mile 6: 6:27

Once over the hill of doom, a glorious downhill was next. I slowly sped up as I got over the exhaustion of the hill, and sped down towards Drogheda town. I wasn't expecting to go off the road, the race course ended up taking in a bit of a park beside the Boyne, which included a short but sharp hill, then across a bridge, and finally up the hill into Drogheda town.

... (6:24 pace)

Battled up the hill, then attempted something like a sprint finish, but failed badly. I was overtaken by a few here, just about jogging over the line in the end, and immediately grabbing a barrier to flunk over and get my breath together. I found my long-sleeve t-shirt, grabbed a banana and water, and headed back up the street, providing a little encouragement to random runners and waited for my friend to finish before meeting up with her, and headed back south to Swords.

Chip: 41:16
Gun: 41:29
Position: 85/1534

Overall - I'm totally delighted with this time. It was a very tough course. I think I suffer a bit from hills (both up and down), but that should be fixable. I reckon sub-40 in the Fingal 10k might still be do-able if everything goes really well between now and July.

I ran most of the race beside you, passed you in the sprint to the line.

i seen you throw the bottle towards the bin and was laughing to myself as it sailed towards the canal, I of course managed to get it in the canal!

Chartsengrafs

Flunking over a barrier at the finish: a sign of an honest effort! Well done, sounds a tough course.

Singer

jamule wrote: »

I ran most of the race beside you, passed you in the sprint to the line.

i seen you throw the bottle towards the bin and was laughing to myself as it sailed towards the canal, I of course managed to get it in the canal!

Nice running! Not quite so nice throwing though :pac:

Hope you enjoyed the race. Looking at Strava's Flyby I definitely wasn't hallucinating losing a few places at the end, I gotta work on my finishing kick!

Singer

Good enough milage this week, though no long-long run. A little tired at the start of the week from the 10k race, I was starting to get a little concerned that it was all very mono-paced until I squeezed in an opportunistic Parkrun!

As I've mentioned before, the 5 year old has started speech and drama in Malahide at 9AM, which is handy timing for the Malahide parkrun. As is now tradition, I prepped for this by being mildly hungover, and not having slept well due to the 2 year old suffering from a bout of tonsillitis. I also woke up around 8.15, so was rushing around and barely got breakfast and coffee into me before speeding down to Malahide. I was still feeling quite groggy and was entertaining just doing an easy run along the coast, but I convinced myself to head down. I tried to do a few strides, but they weren't really happening. As folks were gathering for the pre-run announcements it started to piddle rain. After a few rounds of applause for various trivia, we were off. The numbers were seriously down compared to the other time I was there, I guess the rainclouds and Darkness Into Light kept folks away. I had lined up a lot closer to the start this time, and there was no melee and chaos. I got into a fairly good position at the back of a pack. Pace was good, but I wasn't trying to totally wreck myself, and I slowly overtook a few people. My left lace untied itself somewhere around here, but I just ploughed on, it wasn't making any difference. Once we went into the woods I knew my watch would be useless for pace, so I just paced myself according to those around me. As we were getting up to the cricket club I started to get a slight stitch and held back a little. On the hill up beside the club I was overtaken, but once we turned the corner and the finish-line was visible I checked my watch, saw that sub-20 was pretty close, so tore past him and finished in 19:50. I caught my breath and jogged back to Malahide pick up the kid. I'm pretty happy I can knock out a hungover sub-20 and not at 100% effort, I would have killed for that 6 months ago The day got even better when I took the kid to gymnastics and got a sneaky double in :cool:

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
May 2nd|6 miles|9'54|An hour recovery around Swords. Definitely feeling the previous day's race even though it was late on.
May 3rd|5.8 miles|8'25|Heading out to Crumlin after work to watch some football on the telly, so ran out via Kilmainham. Still felt a little laboured, though some of that was down to running the last mile with some beer in hand :pac:
May 4th|10.3 miles|7'56|A faster run commute. It'd be nice to do one of these a little faster each week (i.e. PMP).
May 5th|1.7 miles|10'29|Slow laps of St. Stephen's Green at lunch
May 5th|7.6 miles|8'35|Not too easy, not too taxing late miles. Took on a new route to Kinsealy via Malahide.
May 6th|10 miles|8'25|A not spectacular run commute. Starting to get familiar with some of the planes taking off/landing at the time I'm passing - "Oh, there's the Lufthansa, must be late today..."
May 7th|4.6 miles|?|Parkrun and some warmup/warmdown.
May 7th|6.2 miles|8'47|Jog around the environs of D9/D5 while the kid's at gym.
May 8th|10.6 miles|9'10|A nice boards.ie meetup canal run! This was very enjoyable, nattering away made the miles fly by and the first time I've been running in what feels like summer (i.e. I was sweating a lot!). Some pretty nice pancakes in Enfield afterwards too. Hopefully there'll be a few more of these over the summer.


Total: 63.5 miles (it's tempting to do another double later to get it to 70 for the week - but I'll be a little sensible and take it easy later on).

Next week: There's a chance I might make the 2 mile Clonliffe Harriers race in Santry on Tuesday, not too upset if I don't.

Singer

Not an amazing week. Didn't make the Clonliffe 2, milage on the lower side, no real sessions, a bit mono-paced. Thursday wasn't planned to be a rest day, I had a late meeting in work which meant I couldn't run home, and my wife ended up going out that night. That said, I did a faster run commute (edging towards PMP) and the long run was nice and fast.

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
10th May|10.2 miles|7'55|Warm and windy runmute, not amazingly comfortable but legs were fresh after a rest day.
11th May|9 miles|8'23|A regular run commute. Nothing interesting.
13th May|10.1 miles|7'45|Fastest ever run commute. I did have PB beers that night (ok, they were just beers)
14th May|7 miles|8'25|Suffering a bit from the beers, so dropped the kid at Malahide and went for a run to Portmarnock and back, taking in some of the beach on the way. Utterly glorious morning to be out running. Parkrun wouldn't have been too much fun.
15th May|15 miles|7'56|This was good. A few slower miles at the start, then kept it quick enough or until the last 2. I took a drink along for the first time this year, it was warm but there was a nice cooling breeze in the second half as I approached Malahide. Route was out to Santry, down to Coolock, past Clare Hall, into Malahide and back to Swords along the estuary.


Weekly total: 51.5 miles

Next week: I'm taking part in the Dublin Staff Relay 5k in The Phoenix Park on Thursday. My work is sending along 3 teams, though we're not being competitive at all and just mixing up folks randomly across the teams. It's mostly an opportunity to go knacker drinking in the park after work with a bit of running thrown in, I don't think the course or setup is worth trying to PB on or anything, hopefully the weather will hold up Other than that, the usual run commutes etc.

annapr

We're doing the Staff Relay too... Half our team have never run 5k before so we could be there till midnight!! . Might see you there!

Singer

annapr wrote: »

We're doing the Staff Relay too... Half our team have never run 5k before so we could be there till midnight!! . Might see you there!

Oh nice! Yeh, my gang has some 5k newbs in it too. I'll hold back on telling them to go out hard, hang on, battle through 3-4k and speed up to the finish...

Singer

Interesting enough week, with a race, a timed run and a decent long run (longest since DCM).

First up was the Staff Relay 5k in the Phoenix Park on Thursday. I didn't really have too high expectations of this race, the course is looked a little tough for a 5k with a load of hills between 3-4k, and some zigzagging around tents. It was also going to be the first time I've run a commercial race, breaking my snobby run of races organised by clubs etc. Got there without too much time before things started. I was third up on my team, we just chose people randomly across three teams. As it happens my team got the best runner in work (3:05 in last year's DCM, though he claims to have not really run since(!)), and a couple of 5k newbs. After the relay started I got dressed into running gear and stood around chatting. After the second runner started 3 of us headed over to the handover point. My 5k newb teammate surprised me by showing up a few minutes before I expected! I took the baton and tore down a short hill and joined the path. At this stage my quads started burning! I hadn't actually warmed up at all, and now my legs were telling me through the medium of pain how stupid this was. I'd never felt this kind of pain before other than the day after the marathon, but I kept going reckoning it'd wear off, which it did after a km or so, though my quads were a bit achy throughout. Flew down Khyber and was overtaking a lot of people, turned up towards the S bends and got hit by a stiff breeze. Felt like I was going backwards at times, and my pace definitely slumped. I was overtaken my a whippet thin auld lad on the hill up to the hospital who looked very comfortable, and then on next hill I heard some footsteps approaching and an orange-topped runner pulled up beside me. We ran together for a bit (as in overtaking lots of people together), but once we were on the exposed field running into the wind he pulled ahead. The run through the tents was a bit of a laugh, I got a few shout-outs including some from this parish. Handed the baton off and stopped my watch at 19:53. Drank some beer, cheered on some co-workers and eventually bumped into annapr and BG, we had a quick chat about this and that. Eventually strolled down through the park while sipping on some cans to Ryans where I had a couple of pints before heading home. Overall a great evening, the race was organised better than I expected (despite being short ), there was a good atmosphere and it's not every day I can knacker drink in a park on a nice enough summer evening while getting some running in.

I headed out to Malahide Parkrun again as I was in Malahide with the older kid. Devoid of a hangover for once on a Saturday morning, I was looking forward to this. The start was a bit messy, there was a false start which meant I wasn't very well positioned by the time everybody lined back up. Once things got underway I made my way up the field and got into a decent enough pace. My quads again ached a little, but nowhere near the pain on Thursday. The obvious target a few places ahead of me was a guy pushing a buggy By the time we headed into the forest I was pretty isolated, nobody particularly close ahead or behind. I made up some ground and eventually overtook another runner. Just as were at the bottom of the cricket ground around 3.5k in I went past the buggy, past another runner and started to make ground on another. Once we were heading up the hill towards the end he switched gears and went way ahead. I kept my position until the end, finishing 8th in 19:51. I was a little disappointed with the time as I thought I had run a lot better than the last time I was there (where I finished 1 second faster). Caught my breath, briefly chatted with the guy who finished behind me, and jogged back to pick up the kid from drama.

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
16th May|9.1 miles|8'49|Easy run home.
17th May|10 miles|7'40|My fast run home of the week, this got very sweaty in the heat. I was also carrying two laptops in my bag which didn't help. Passed 1000 miles for the year on the way up the Swords Road
18th May|9 miles|8'56|Nice and easy home...
19th May|2.9 miles|6'43|Slightly under 5k in slightly under 20.
21st May|5.3 miles|?|Malahide Parkrun and jogging to/back the Grand Hotel.
22nd May|18.1 miles|8'14|A very enjoyable run in the sunshine and rain. Inspired by The Muppet's LSR earlier in the day, I decided to go up the estuary and see if it was possible to get the Newbridge House on foot (it's not, there's a narrow fast road that's impossible to run on). I took the long way to the estuary via Malahide, then afterwards swung around the Fingal 10k course and then stretched out the run home to get to 18. The last couple of miles were a bit taxing, but otherwise felt great throughout.


Total: 54.6 miles.

Next week: Just keep running!

annapr

You're just casually cranking out sub-20 5ks these days... No bother to you!

Found out after the relays that one of our colleagues on another team actually WON DCM in his day! Some range of runners...

The Muppet

Singer wrote: »

Interesting enough week, with a race, a timed run and a decent long run (longest since DCM).




Date|Distance|Pace|Notes

22nd May|18.1 miles|8'14|A very enjoyable run in the sunshine and rain. Inspired by The Muppet's LSR earlier in the day, I decided to go up the estuary and see if it was possible to get the Newbridge House on foot (it's not, there's a narrow fast road that's impossible to run on). I took the long way to the estuary via Malahide, then afterwards swung around the Fingal 10k course and then stretched out the run home to get to 18. The last couple of miles were a bit taxing, but otherwise felt great throughout.


Total: 54.6 miles.

Next week: Just keep running!

Wow that's some Run B. was the tide out? Its years since I was down there but I definitely walked along the estuary from swords to kilcrea admittedly many moons ago. if you went straigh on where you turned up towards the hearse road I think theres road just around that corner. The tide would have to be out though

I work out that direction so If it was possible it would open up a runmute option for me, I hoped to get to the kilcrea gate of newbridge and then to Donabate station through the park but the tide was right up to that big wall this morning so there was no way of getting any further.

Singer

annapr wrote: »

You're just casually cranking out sub-20 5ks these days... No bother to you!

They're just Planned 10k Pace training runs... :pac:

Singer

The Muppet wrote: »

Wow that's some Run B. was the tide out? Its years since I was down there but I definitely walked along the estuary from swords to kilcrea admittedly many moons ago. if you went straigh on where you turned up towards the hearse road I think theres road just around that corner. The tide would have to be out though

I work out that direction so If it was possible it would open up a runmute option for me, I hoped to get to the kilcrea gate of newbridge and then to Donabate station through the park but the tide was right up to that big wall this morning so there was no way of getting any further.

Yeh, tide was in, no way of getting past without getting very wet. It was good fun running in new places, and the country roads were nice for a change of scenery. I hope the proposed cycle/walk lane between Malahide and Newbridge House sees the light of day, it'd open up a load of new routes.

Mrs Mc

You and your cans !! Hope you had some food !:D

denis b

Singer wrote: »

They're just Planned 10k Pace training runs... :pac:

With ya on that. Great practice.

Singer

I am injured. I mentioned here feeling some pain last week during the relay. It repeated a few times, but mostly went away as I ran it off. Today on my run into work I felt soreness in both thighs from the start of my run, however my left thigh was constantly sore throughout. I hoped the pain would go away once I stopped running, but it didn't. It's now aching me all the time. I think my body is trying to tell me something Dr. Google reckons it's a strain, and I should rest it before I do even more damage. So, here's my weekly checkin. There'll be nowt until I can run without pain (probably 1 or 2 weeks away). Morale of the story - listen to your body!

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
23rd May|5.9 miles|9'09|Slow run home.
24th May|10 miles|8'05|Runmute including 3x1miles @ 10k pace, which didn't happen (6'51, 7'11, 6'59)
25th May|9.1 miles|8'51|A run home that felt like running through treacle. The last couple of miles felt better.
26th May|2.3 miles|?|Some slow laps of St. Stephen's Green, followed by a fast lap.
27th May|9.7 miles|7'54|A decent run into work for once!


Total: 36.9 miles
Next week:

Kennyg71

Sorry to hear that B, you have been doing some impressive stuff of late
but caution definitely way to go, hope it all sorts it's self out, think S&C
really important as well.

The Muppet

Really sorry to read that . Hope it heals quickly for you.

This Fat Girl Runs

Sorry to hear that. You're doing the right thing and you've a wicked base built up which will do you good when you get back to running. Which will be soon, I hope!

diego_b

Yikes hope a bit of rest sorts that out B!

Murph_D

Ouch. Have it looked at if you can. You've had a good spell, but maybe not enough rest and recovery built in among all those sub-20s you've been running. Hopefully it's nothing much.

Maximus Alexander

Terrible news, hope it heals up nice and quickly for you.

Dubgal72

Singer. I am signing in - langers - especially to talk to you. Fwck Dr Google. See an expert. Tomorrow. (or Monday. Monday will do) It won't be as bad as Dr Google says.

Dubgal72

And yes, listen to your body

annapr

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Singer. I am signing in - langers - especially to talk to you. Fwck Dr Google. See an expert. Tomorrow. (or Monday. Monday will do) It won't be as bad as Dr Google says.

Lol... Although to be fair to Dr Google, it's recommending rest so that's sensible.

Hope it clears up quickly for you, B. The rest won't do you any harm anyway.

denis b

Sorry to hear that B and hope it just amounts to a mid cycle rest and recovery period of a week or two. Would definitely recommend a visit to the doctor etc and might not be a bad idea to get your bloods checked. You've been working hard and consistently for a long time. Take care.

Singer

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Singer. I am signing in - langers - especially to talk to you. Fwck Dr Google. See an expert. Tomorrow. (or Monday. Monday will do) It won't be as bad as Dr Google says.

How could I ignore this level of dedication - I've booked myself into a local physio this morning!

Thanks all for the well wishes. I was feeling very sorry for myself last night (especially after the obligatory Friday beers), but it's (likely) just a minor thing that I need to be sensible with

Now, what to do with all this time...

Singer

It's a groin strain! It's not bad, and I should be able to run again in a few days. I won't be rushing back too quickly though.

Mrs Mc

Well that's better news than you expected rest up now and do what you're told

Murph_D

Not too bad. Used to get them in my football days. They can be persistent enough though so do what you're told.

jake1970

Mrs Mc wrote: »

Well that's better news than you expected rest up now and do what you're told

Murph_D wrote: »

Not too bad. Used to get them in my football days. They can be persistent enough though so do what you're told.

Great to hear the injury is not too serious, now recover well and do what you're told.

annapr

jake1970 wrote: »

Great to hear the injury is not too serious, now recover well and do what you're told.

B... I know your inner rebel is getting revved up here... Resist!!

This Fat Girl Runs

annapr wrote: »

B... I know your inner rebel is getting revved up here... Resist!!

We could try reverse psychology?

Singer, do what you want! It's worked before, right?

diego_b

Glad to hear it's nothing major, used to get them a bit a few years back playing football (when I was heavy) but rest seemed to sort them. Odd one to get running, not something I would think of as running injury.

Maximus Alexander

diego_b wrote: »

Glad to hear it's nothing major, used to get them a bit a few years back playing football (when I was heavy) but rest seemed to sort them. Odd one to get running, not something I would think of as running injury.

I bet he bobs and weaves in between people like a footballer on his run commutes.

Firedance

I'm a bit behind here - sorry to hear about the injury, LOL to getting dubgal to drunk post and glad to hear it's not quite as bad as you thought initially. Hope you are actually doing what you're told and resting up!!!

PaulieYifter

The Muppet wrote: »

Wow that's some Run B. was the tide out? Its years since I was down there but I definitely walked along the estuary from swords to kilcrea admittedly many moons ago. if you went straigh on where you turned up towards the hearse road I think theres road just around that corner. The tide would have to be out though

I work out that direction so If it was possible it would open up a runmute option for me, I hoped to get to the kilcrea gate of newbridge and then to Donabate station through the park but the tide was right up to that big wall this morning so there was no way of getting any further.

Singer wrote: »

Yeh, tide was in, no way of getting past without getting very wet. It was good fun running in new places, and the country roads were nice for a change of scenery. I hope the proposed cycle/walk lane between Malahide and Newbridge House sees the light of day, it'd open up a load of new routes.

Singer has already seen it on Strava but for the record I went that way on Saturday morning - tide was half way out so managed to keep the feet dry - had to hug the wall on the out journey but had a few more inches to work with on the return. Beautiful morning for it.

The Muppet

PaulieYifter wrote: »

The Muppet wrote: »

Wow that's some Run B. was the tide out? Its years since I was down there but I definitely walked along the estuary from swords to kilcrea admittedly many moons ago. if you went straigh on where you turned up towards the hearse road I think theres road just around that corner. The tide would have to be out though

I work out that direction so If it was possible it would open up a runmute option for me, I hoped to get to the kilcrea gate of newbridge and then to Donabate station through the park but the tide was right up to that big wall this morning so there was no way of getting any further.

Singer wrote: »

Yeh, tide was in, no way of getting past without getting very wet. It was good fun running in new places, and the country roads were nice for a change of scenery. I hope the proposed cycle/walk lane between Malahide and Newbridge House sees the light of day, it'd open up a load of new routes.

Singer has already seen it on Strava but for the record I went that way on Saturday morning - tide was half way out so managed to keep the feet dry - had to hug the wall on the out journey but had a few more inches to work with on the return. Beautiful morning for it.

Oh. Did you get all the way around to Kilcrea and the road up to Newbridge?

If so it it would certainly be worth checking the tides and heading out that way for long runs when they permit

The Muppet

PaulieYifter wrote: »

The Muppet wrote: »

Wow that's some Run B. was the tide out? Its years since I was down there but I definitely walked along the estuary from swords to kilcrea admittedly many moons ago. if you went straigh on where you turned up towards the hearse road I think theres road just around that corner. The tide would have to be out though

I work out that direction so If it was possible it would open up a runmute option for me, I hoped to get to the kilcrea gate of newbridge and then to Donabate station through the park but the tide was right up to that big wall this morning so there was no way of getting any further.

Singer wrote: »

Yeh, tide was in, no way of getting past without getting very wet. It was good fun running in new places, and the country roads were nice for a change of scenery. I hope the proposed cycle/walk lane between Malahide and Newbridge House sees the light of day, it'd open up a load of new routes.

Singer has already seen it on Strava but for the record I went that way on Saturday morning - tide was half way out so managed to keep the feet dry - had to hug the wall on the out journey but had a few more inches to work with on the return. Beautiful morning for it.

Oh. Did you get all the way around to Kilcrea and the road up to Newbridge?

If so it it would certainly be worth checking the tides and heading out that way for long runs when they permit

PaulieYifter

The Muppet wrote: »

Oh. Did you get all the way around to Kilcrea and the road up to Newbridge?

If so it it would certainly be worth checking the tides and heading out that way for long runs when they permit

Yep - then in through the Kilcrea gate.

The Muppet

PaulieYifter wrote: »

Yep - then in through the Kilcrea gate.

Brilliant that opens up some nice routes if the tides were right.

Singer

7 days without running :eek: As it happens, it wasn't the worst 7 days to be running, life more than made up for all my new found time - work was very busy, and my now 6 year old had a birthday which involved multiple social events. The injury itself went as hoped - by Wednesday or so I was walking normally and not feeling any pain. For the first time in a long time I hit the gym to do some weights. Predictably I over did it, and suffered for a couple of days from pains from muscles that haven't been worked on in yonks - at least it covered up the pain from my hamstring! One other thing this week was that I was conscious not to continue eating like a horse doing marathon training. Since I stepped up the mileage this time last year I've been eating whatever I want, YOLO style, but my weight has been pretty stable. Obviously this is not sustainable when not running all the time to burn off the food.

Despite being busy, I spent a lot of time mulling over the injury in my head. There were some warning signs, but even more interesting is that all my injuries so far have been on my left hand side. Sore shoulder? Left side. Sore foot that kept me out for a few weeks last year? Left side. Strain during the marathon? Left side. Hamstring injury? Left side. I guess there's a chance it's coincidence, but more than likely there's something common in some of these. (As it happens, last year's bout of pleurisy and the previous year's thyroid woes were also on the left hand side!). During my long runs up to and including the marathon last year, my left leg would get tired a lot sooner than my right - I mentioned it a few times (it's really cool to have logs to read through for this kind of thing):

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=97513235&postcount=7546 "my left leg was a bit stiff"
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=95961804&postcount=10 "I  noticed a *lot* of stiffness in my left leg"


So, what to do… I did actually enjoy the gym session, so maybe I'll do more strength training? We'll see.

The mind wanders when you're injured, even when you're not really badly injured. Have I lost all my fitness? Do I remember how to run? What if my hamstring flares back up immediately? How will I know if I'm doing myself damage? Will this be a disaster? In the end the only way to answer all these questions is to just get back out. After an enjoyable Saturday afternoon in Jumpzone as part of the birthday celebrations (not participating in the jumping around unfortunately, probably not the best recovery for the hamstring), I managed to squeeze in a run during the afternoon when it was gloriously sunny and warm. By now I was just getting very excited to be running again and not worrying about my hamstring. I set off around Swords, and did a glorious 5 miles in the heat. I felt amazingly fresh and like I was gliding along. My hamstring was a noticeably tight at times but there was no pain. It's very refreshing just running for the joy of it, not worrying about pace or purpose or anything at all. Just running.

Of course I slightly overdid it :pac: running 5 miles instead of 5k, and the pace didn't go below 8'30. Later on in the day my hamstring was noticeably tight again, but not sore to move or touch.

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
4th June|5 miles|8'24|Wonderful miles around Swords
5th June|8 miles|8'12|Dropped the 6 year old at another birthday party in Malahide, and set off for a lovely run along the coast, including a mile or so on Portmarnock beach. Not only was it wonderfully warm, there was some sort of swimming event on there, as well as a few serious looking volleyball courts setup - very idyllic stuff altogether


Total: 13 miles

May Total: 214 miles

Next week: Easy miles, including actual rest days, and maybe a gym visit or two. I'm off to Porto for the smaller Primavera Sound festival (well, 2 days of it) on Friday, and Bungy style I of course checked out were there any races on while away. It turns out there's a pretty good race on that I signed up for! The Corrida de S. Joao looks like a decent 15k, I think it goes along the river/coast, avoiding Porto's notorious hills. It looks like this is Porto's equivalent of the Frank Duffy, it's part of a load of races put on by "RunPorto". Obviously coming off an injury I'd be nuts to go all out on this, it's definitely more just to experience a race in another country and an excuse to get out running. That is, if I make it at all - it's on 10AM on a Sunday morning after two days on the beer at a music festival, there's a reasonable chance I might still be in bed / still out

I may show up to support in the WMM - my better half is doing it, she's been doing a bit of jogging with some of the parents from school. She also got herself signed up for the Fingal 10k, so the running bug is spreading...

annapr

Singer wrote: »

Of course I slightly overdid it :pac: running 5 miles instead of 5k, and the pace didn't go below 8'30. Later on in the day my hamstring was noticeably tight again, but not sore to move or touch.

... It looks like this is Porto's equivalent of the Frank Duffy, it's part of a load of races put on by "RunPorto". Obviously coming off an injury I'd be nuts to go all out on this, it's definitely more just to experience a race in another country and an excuse to get out running.

..

You're gas

Murph_D

Hamstring? What happened to the groin strain?

Singer

I meant my groin. Total brainfart. My hamstring is grand

Anyway, it's holding up great, zero discomfort or pain after running 10 and 11 miles home over the last two days. I did avoid an opportunity to do an IMRA race this evening, so I'm still being slightly sensible

If I'm sober enough on Sunday I might do the 15k at PMP, but no promises.

Singer

Last week was interesting enough, and as threatened included a not-all-out 15k race.

After last Sunday's run my <strike>hamstring</strike>groin was a little tender, so I took Monday easy and hit the gym instead. Tuesday and Wednesday both had wonderful discomfort-free run commutes home. I took it easy enough again on Thursday and Friday, and flew over to Porto for a Friday evening involving Brian Wilson, Savages, PJ Harvey and Beach House.

On Saturday lunchtime I trotted down to collect my race pack in a local mall which was handily beside FC Porto's stadium, around which I did a few laps. That afternoon we happened to be heading down to Foz, which is where Sunday morning's race was - the last time we were in Porto a couple of years ago, we found an amazing restaurant there and had a nice stroll to the festival along a promenade, so we decided to do the same again this year, and it happened to be a decent recce for the race - the start/finish line was being setup while we were there. The food in Foz was amazing, as was the sangria, as were the beers in the bars we popped into on the way to the festival, as were the 3.50 pints of Super Bock at the festival, and finally as were the 3 "caipirilitros" I had (giant caipirinhas). We crashed back home about... 1AM? I was sensible and had just one beer in the apartment before heading to bed. Needless to say I wasn't in a great state on race morning, however I peeled myself out of bed, slowly got dressed and caught the metro into town and then a cab to Foz. I did a worryingly warm warm-up, bucketing sweat but not feeling too quesy. It was a gorgeous morning, about 20 degrees with a bit of a cooling wind off the Atlantic. There was a decent buzz around the race start, with a nice carnival atmosphere, as the race tied in with a local festival. I lined up in the first non-elite wave and continued to bucket sweat. I knew well there was no chance of running this at 100% effort due to being on the piss for the previous couple of days, and I also didn't want to do any damage to my groin. Race goals were:
1) finish without fainting, puking or getting injured (mostly worried about hangover)
2) justify being in the first wave by finishing < 1:15 and
3) run it sub-7:30/mile.

The first mile started off slow due to congestion, a mild climb and running on cobblestones. I wasn't worrying at all about getting past people, just hoping to be able to run at a reasonable pace without getting sick due to the hangover and heat. Once the road opened up the breeze was nice and cooling, and I got into a decent pace without pushing myself too hard. The course itself was two out and backs, the first shorter one of about a mile and a half up the coast. By mile 2 and 3 I was doing fine, a little faster than planned and started to use the watch to keep me at 7'30. There were water stations every couple of miles and I got through a couple of bottles during the race. It was a good bit warmer on the second out and back, which was along the river into Porto. There were bits of entertainment during the race - plenty of speakers, a band, some crowd support, firemen spraying their hose over the participants etc. The course went by a sweaty techno warehouse rave, and there was some very enthusiastic support from very weary looking people - I wondered were there more people in there from the festival than out racing

With a couple of miles to go on the way back in I decided that I was feeling grand and stepped up the pace. I had been passing a lot of people by just keeping a solid pace, once I stepped it up I was passing a lot of people... I totally kicked and ended up running something like 5k pace for a bit, finally felt a bit of pinch towards the line and slowed down to smile crossing the finish line in 1:07:39 (chip) - 7'20/mile. Picked up a medal, grabbed an apple and then enjoyed a free beer (!!!) at the finish - there were a few beer stalls in the area for athletes to socialise afterwards! I gulped back the beer and strolled back into town along the race course.

Overall, happy with how it went - it was a decent enough workout, I got to feel pretty smug about going out running instead of being hungover in bed, and I got to finish strong and pass a lot of people which isn't usually how I finish races Totally miles off the pace for full effort, hopefully I'll hit that time in the Frank Duffy, but that's fine.

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
7th June|10.1 miles|8'08|A very enjoyable fast run home
8th June|11 miles|8'21|A slightly longer run home via Malahide
9th June|7.4 miles|8'40|Malahide and back
10th June|3.3 miles|8'19|Pre-flight jog around "the valley"
11th June|4.1 miles|8'35 or so|Lunch time run to the mall and stadium in Porto
12th June|9.2 miles|7'20|15k race as above


Total: 45.9 miles

Next week: Get back in the game! I took a rest day today though :rolleyes:

Kennyg71

A medal and the hair of the dog, nice run.

Singer

A decent week, milage stepped back up without any problems from the groin, though nothing done at fast pace. I had a couple of days off work on Tuesday and Wednesday, so on Tuesday morning I got the bus out to Sutton, did a lap of Howth and back to Swords... all was going well until I started getting pretty hungry, constantly thinking of food throughout. I made it until the outskirts of Swords when I just couldn't keep going. First time in bonkvile since DCM I walked the rest of the way, demolished as much food as I could get my hands on and then had to sit down for a bit feeling a lot of nausea (from the bonking, not the eating, I think). I also hurt a toe (on my left foot, of course), it was a bit swollen and sore to walk on but not run on. I'm guessing it probably happened on the steep downhills on Howth. The rest of the week wasn't quite as dramatic. I got a decent long run in - I was feeling a bit of LSR guilt having not done one in a few weeks, and I have to travel to NYC next weekend for work which puts another long run at risk...

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
June 14th|8 miles|8'04|A nice enough afternoon run, legs felt fresh after a rest day.
June 15th|15 miles|8'07|Got 102 to Sutton Cross, went up Howth and ran back to Swords via Baldoyle, Clare Hall and Malahide. Hunger bonked as mentioned above.
June 16th|9.3 miles|8'16|Nice run home, felt really good. No chance of a bonk
June 17th|7.3 miles|8'37|Groggy pre-work miles, out at 6:22AM... It was that or not go on the beer at a work BBQ.
June 18th|6 miles|8'25|Out at 11:12PM after a day spent at a family do. Did a bunch of strides.
June 19th|18 miles|7'51|Nice long run, went out to Malahide then up past Clare Hall to Collins Ave, then followed it to the Swords Rd. and back to Swords. Last few miles were faster. Took no bonk risks, ate lots all day and brought out a bottle of watered down Lucozade Sport to sip on.


Total: 63.9 miles

Next week: As much as I can fit in around work, the Euros, transatlantic travel and most importantly, my wife's birthday

Murph_D

Nice week. Do you need a bit of recovery? Maybe not.

denis b

Very nice week B. Not sure what the composition of those runs are like but you sure get the mileage in. LSR's are back on my agenda as well. Timely reminder for me out of your Beer Log