Never say never

Mrs Mc

3rd time to lose my post updating on my phone so keeping this one short and sweet

Mon 3rd Apr rest day
Tues 4th Apr 7 miles easy avg pace 10.16 splits 10.40,9.55, 10.12,10.10,9.57, 10.22, 10.42. Gorgeous evening joined by mrs KennyG and one other from pr for this one.
Wed 4th Apr usual runcommute. Decided I might push the body a bit and do it as a progression run. Splits 10.44, 10.15, 9.51, 9.38, 9.18 5 miles avg pace 9.58. Enjoyed this. Quick change and out to Pilates. Good class and lots of stretching.

Thurs 5th Apr club session hill sprints. They were doing 9*500 sprinting up one hill jogging to the next hill and sprinting down the hill and jogging back to the start. Was told to do 4 and see how I got on .... 4 seemed a waste to come out for so said I'd do 6 that shouldn't take too much out of the legs for Sunday. These sessions are definately helping with form and changed attitude taking on this hill. In relation to pace we are told to sprint them but at a pace you can maintain for all sets. Came to the 6th and final one and we would go in groups so I tried to keep with the first runner in our group as we went up the hill. Probably pushed it a bit as it was my last one. When I got to the top of the hill I got a tightness in my left calf. Tried to loosen it out a bit. Was told to do an easy run around the grass to cool down. Calf was still hurting. 6*500m hill sprints. Home to do some rolling and stretching.

Friday rest day calf still sore but hoping the rest day today and tomorrow will show it just as tiredness and not injury.

Sat rest day. Calf seems ok today quads are tight so definately some foam rolling required today. Lunch out with friends this aft which is bad timing with 10k tomorrow. Will just have to watch food choices and sit over a glass of wine for 3 hours. Both are non runners so would not appreciate a race as an excuse for a non boozey lunch!!!!

Bit nervous about the 10k tomorrow as we get to go out ahead of the rest of the field as it's also a national 10k. Will spend the race being lapped by elites !!! As regards race strategy think I'll just go out and enjoy it. Haven't done a 10k since last years Kclub and I was getting over a flu so haven't given the 10k a good lash in a while. Pb is currently 56.33 for this distance from kclub last year.

hot buttered scones

Best of luck tomorrow. Time to put all those club sessions to the test.

tang1

Best of luck tomorrow A, hope it goes well.

Mrs Mc

hot buttered scones wrote: »

Best of luck tomorrow. Time to put all those club sessions to the test.

No pressure ha ha !!!

Mrs Mc

tang1 wrote: »

Best of luck tomorrow A, hope it goes well.

Me too and sure if it doesn't we can chalk it up and move on

Kennyg71

Best luck tomorrow A, make sure you push right up to the top, have a great run.

Bungy Girl

Have a great race tomorrow! No bother to ya after all the speeds .

Murph_D

Good luck, Anne, run well.

jake1970

Best of luck tomorrow A, have a great race.

Mrs Mc

Thanks for the good wishes folks

Mrs Mc

My first PB of 2017 woh woh Great Ireland Run 10km official time 55.54:D

Was really starting to think that the pb's were never going to come. 10km is the one distance I haven't given a good lash in a while so was hoping for a pb today. The previous pb was 56.33 in the K club last year and the last time I had done this race was in 2015 where I got a time of 57.49 so I felt there should be a pb there this year given that I was recovering from a flu/cold at the K club last year.

As a club runner we get to go out behind the elite women and are followed 20 mins later by the elite and club men and then the rest of the race participants. This was the first time I have found myself in the company of such calibre of runners and looking particularly at the runners from Raheny I started to feel like a complete fraud being in this starting group and feeling very nervous that I was going to be paddy last :eek::eek: I do feel an extra pressure wearing the club vest to perform well and I only have myself to blame for this pressure as I am the only one that puts this pressure on myself. The race started and group belted out. I could feel the pace get fast and had to talk to myself to settle down and not go out too fast regardless of whether I was at the back. Everyone seemed to be fast and I started to think about why didn't I just go to the pace group that was more suited to me.

Mile 1 The plan was to try and keep around 8.52 mins miles but with a flat or decline for the first 5km to try and make up a little bit of time for the hills that were in the 2nd 5km of the race. Tatics from M was to run like F*ck !! Is that a technical term around here. My calf was holding up okay with a slight niggle in it after the hill sprints from Thursday but M had told me to keep going and if it pinged to stop - whatever that meant. The first mile clocked in at 8.27 definately got caught up with the group.

Mile 2 As we turned for the 2nd mile I started to settle a little and the nerves were going now as I started to tell myself who cares if I'm last, another club runner had joined me at this stage and we were running the same stride so I said okay I'm not last on my own and continued to run with her for the next mile. As we turned to head for the roundabout I was really surprised to see that I wasn't in fact last in the group and there was plenty of runners behind me. I started to settle into a pace now, feeling strong and relaxing into the race. Got a shout out from M who was at the roundabout and a few other supporters from the club here. Mile 2 clocked in at 8.51 still on track.

Mile 3 was a bit of a decline and I was well settled into the race at this stage. I had gone ahead of the other club runner now and while the main group of runners were no longer in view there were pockets of groups of runners ahead of me. I had experienced this only once before at the Kclub and it does take a bit of getting used to compared with the other races I would be used to. Mile 3 8.42.

Mile 4 started with an incline and I could feel it in the legs and my calf definately started to notice this and the legs did start to feel heavy. There was some release in places (where theres an up theres a down) but mentally I think the last two weeks of hill sprints with the club has changed my attitude to taking on hills. I watched my form, I used my arms and I tackled it. Was pleased to see 9.03 clock in on this mile.

Mile 5 was hard, the legs were getting tired and I was passed along here by the lead men who whizzed passed me on the hill and looked like it was taking absolutely no effort out of them. They were followed by the rest of the club men so made sure to stay into the side out of their way as they passed. Clocked 9.20 for this mile, again the hills get me every time.

Mile 6 the men were flying passed me now and it started to feel a lot busier than the previous few miles where I was running beside 2 or 3 runners. More of an incline around here and my legs were starting to hurt, but I was near to the finish now and I could see the finish. Mile 6 clocked in at 9.18. Got another shout out from M here to tell me to keep it going and another supporter from PR shouted I was only 200 meters out and to give it socks. I could see a club runner ahead of me approaching the finish and I decided I would take her, I started to lift the legs and increase the pace. I could hear my breathing getting laboured but I was nearly there, gave it all I could, passed her and crossed the finish in 55.54. Delighted with my new pb.:D

Met up with the rest of the Raheny club runners all who seemed to have been happy with their race and a lot of PB's around. Calf started to tighten up as I walked to the baggage area. Definately hurting as I walked.

Went for coffee and post race coffees with M and some runners from the club.

This is a tough race but it was a good race. Definately challenging with the hills in the 2nd half. Going with the club women was a new experience for me, my total lack of confidence being part of this group was totally my own doing and the advantages of not having a congested start is a definate bonus however it does take some getting used to running on your own or with few runners. Great support around the course when you are wearing a club jersey with plenty of shout outs "come on Raheny". A good day at the office.

An appointment with the physio to be made this week to get my calf checked hopefully its not an injury buts its definately hurting. Compression socks on, some bio freeze on it and feet up on the couch watching the dubs match and the masters. M even making the dinner. Life is good

tang1

About time M made use of himself!!! Great running A on a horrible route, nice to PB.

Bungy Girl

Fantastic Anne ! A PB, woo hoo. You've done the club vest proud

Kennyg71

Great result A, happy PB, well deserved and on a tough course.

Mrs Mc

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Great result A, happy PB, well deserved and on a tough course.

Thanks G Mrs KennyG had a great day too

hot buttered scones

Well done and congrats on the PB! It seems like you turned that pressure into motivation, and reaped the rewards.

nop98

Well done Mrs Mc! Well deserved. Good advice from M :rolleyes:

diego_b

Well done Anne, a well deserved pb.
For what it's worth you absolutely did not look anyway out of place when I saw you in the first K there. Great job, hopefully only a minor niggle in the calf after a good bit of work today and you can keep up the form.

Younganne

Congrats on the PB A, delighted for you.

Ferris B

Great result. Well done. Always good to get a PB.

jake1970

Great running Anne, congrats on the PB.

Mrs Mc

Thanks for all the good wishes folks much appreciated

Mrs Mc

No tear in the calf thankfully but it was very tight so got some dry needling on it and no running on it till Saturday with lots of stretching on it for the next few days. Painful but glad with the outcome.

Mrs Mc

Oops haven't posted in a while. Took a week off after the physio visit and have been just getting back into it the last two weeks. Keeping the runs easy have avoided hills or sprints for the last two weeks also as there was still a niggle in the calf. It seems to be sorted now so will start to build back into training this week.

In Summary


Tues 18/4 5 miles easy avg pace 10.56
Wed 19/4 5 miles run mute avg pace 10.29
Thurs 20/4 rest day
Fri 21/4 with a weekend away this weekend decided to do my long run today. Really enjoyed this run and just kept going, was a fabulous evening, didn't look at the watch and ran out by the coast. Legs felt good. 10 miles avg pace 10.37
Away west for the weekend with my mam and sisters, intention was to run twice over the weekend however my plans were not to be after a few too many vinos on Saturday night .... ah well ..........:D:D:D

Mon 24/4 6 miles easy avg pace 10.05 out with Mrs KennyG for this grand bit of chatter and some wise words on how to tackle hills following her training session with Mick Cloheisey the previous week.
Tues 25/4 working late no running
Wed 26/4 5 miles runmute avg pace 10.06
Fri 27/4 rest day supporting Mcjnr in her GAA match
Sat 28/4 30 min pacer in St Anne's parkrun. Really enjoyed this had a group with me looking to go sub 30 pb's so it was great to be able to give some words of wisdom to them, I almost sounded like DG telling them to watch their form and their breathing. Got a great buzz out of this. Even got a hug afterwards after one of the runners managed to get her sub 30 mins. Post run coffees and catch up afterwards. Official time 29.59
Sun 29/4 volunteering and Jnr PR, did tailrunner for this event which is basically walking at a slow pace and making sure no kids are left behind. Great to catch up with TFGR who made her debut as a volunteer and we have discovered loves token sorting !! Went out for 9 miles with Anna Pr and one other from PR afterwards it was very windy so we kept to the inside perimeter of the park. A very enjoyable run. Avg pace 10.09.

Annie get your Run

Well done on the pacing gig!! It's a fab thing to do especially when someone gets their goal

denis b

Nice work Mrs Mc. 29:59....I need to check in with you before I volunteer to pace at Parkrun. Think I was 30+ seconds out

Kennyg71

Yourself and Red runner seemed to have finished spot on I think the rest of us will get the sack. What's on the cards any targets.

Mrs Mc

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Yourself and Red runner seemed to have finished spot on I think the rest of us will get the sack. What's on the cards any targets.

Terenure 5 in May, Irish runner 5 in June, mini marathon in June are all booked and I'll probably do the Frank Duffy and the half marathon is looking like charleville seeing as everyone seems to be doing that. Have decided not to do s marathon this year following wise words from M need to get my niggles sorted and aim for the shorter stuff instead. A sub 2 half marathon is probably the goal with the pb at 2.03 and the sub 1.30 for the 10 mile with the pb at 1.31. So with two weeks of good running behind me and the leg behaving I think it's time to get a plan.

Kennyg71

Pretty full Calender so. Good to see you back in full swing.

Mrs Mc

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Pretty full Calender so. Good to see you back in full swing.

For last week at least !!! Work could put a kybosh on those plans as it has tonight already !!!!