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Leader Of The (Mid) Pack
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Wubble Wubble wrote: »If I can't beat 8 minutes for 2k, what chance have I got of going sub-20 for 5k on Sunday, even if it's pacer assisted?
Well certainly none with that attitude!! Okay so it didn't go to plan but don't let that stop you giving Sunday a damn good shot, but, arrive at the start line with a positive mind
. Best of luck! 0 -
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Annie get your Run wrote: »Well certainly none with that attitude!! Okay so it didn't go to plan but don't let that stop you giving Sunday a damn good shot, but, arrive at the start line with a positive mind. Best of luck!
Thanks AM, I was still feeling a bit dejected earlier. Although looking back, I had a lot invested in the 800, so was running on pretty much empty for my second stint. Last year I ran 3:15 for 1000 yards (914m) and then 7:51 for 2000, so the opposite was probably true then.Well you certainly scared the shyte out of me with your 800m pace! Fair play, you were going for it, nothing wrong with that. The second race was all about who was less tired, so wouldn't worry about the time at all. Good racing and good luck on Sunday.
Thanks, well done again yourself! For a first crack at 800 that was great going. Pretty one sided Boardsie smackdown on the night. Next time, next time
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Looking through the photos I found this .
End of Lap 1 in the 800. I'm already blowing out my ar$3, while D is not far behind, looking poised and ready to push on 0 -
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I think the key to running a sub-20 5K is to not run a flat out 800m less than an hour before!
True, A. Or (in my case) even a sub-8 2k
Anyway, I'm feeling more relaxed about Sunday now. Once it doesn't take me too long to get past our new Taoiseach at the start :pac: (assuming he's running - he's run all of the previous three editions of this race) I've definitely got a chance 0 -
Wubble Wubble wrote: »True, A. Or (in my case) even a sub-8 2k
Anyway, I'm feeling more relaxed about Sunday now. Once it doesn't take me too long to get past our new Taoiseach at the start :pac: (assuming he's running - he's run all of the previous three editions of this race) I've definitely got a chance
Ask him if he's planning to finish any of the things he started in any of his ministries over the last few years :pac::pac: or better still, just do a Bishop Brennan as you go past. 0 -
Thu 15/6 - Rest
Fri 16/6 - As I was going for a few scoops this evening, my plan was to get a few easy miles in before going to work. Woke up around the intended time. Computer says no. Turned over.
Sat 17/6 - Porterstown parkrun Event Director
Bit tired this morning as a result of the aforementioned pints. Not much time to rest though, as I had to get up and go bright and early for my RD debut. I enjoyed the experience, and got thanked by lots of runners. A tetchy laptop and barcode scanner technology meant it took longer than expected to upload the results, but eventually we got it done, and I'll give it another go at some stage 0 -
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Annie get your Run wrote: »Congrats on your RD debut welcome to the club!
Nice one AM, glad to be a part of it
Very nervous beforehand, but I ended up doing the briefing on the fly, and sure after that it was grand! I'll definitely do it again.0 -
Sun 18/6 - Castleknock 5k - Sun Is Shining
Pre Race
Today was the fourth running of this race. It's a local one for me, and some clubmates are heavily involved in its organisation, so I've entered every time. Training coming up to this had been patchy; some weeks good, others, shall we say less so? But the key thing about this one was the fact that there was a 20 minute pacer; unusual for a 5k race.
With this in mind, the strategy was fairly straightforward. Keep close to the pacer for as long as possible, and then try push by at the end. Simple, right?
I arrived nice and early at a cloudy Castleknock College, with little or no wind around, and as I shuffled around with some clubmates, I was thinking I could actually get this? So then, as we were walking out to the start area, the sun came out :rolleyes: Ok, I'd got this far. I'd have been more annoyed if I didn't even try.
Km 1
Gun went off, and away went the pacer to my right. I was in a bad position here, having to dodge around loads of kids and slow(er) runners to catch up to him before we reached the crossroads. The right turn was onto a superfast downhill which is part of the DCM route. Even at this stage, I felt like I was working harder than I should have been. Especially as there was much harder work ahead.
Km 2
Continuing downhill for another 500m or so, past Mount Sackville and left into the Phoenix Park at Knockmaroon Gate. There's a deceptive little climb here, but just at the top I spotted AGYR who gave me a shout. Meanwhile, I was still in touch with the pacer, but already finding that I was breathing harder and struggling to hang on. The 2k marker came just as we emerged from the dip, and now alarm bells were seriously going off.
Km 3
A clubmate gave me a shout as we swung left on Ordnance Survey Road, but although I was digging in and trying to stay in touch, it was proving a bit too much on such a warm morning. The balloon was getting smaller and smaller, and by the time we passed OSI headquarters (roughly halfway) I'd been dropped. This was getting really difficult, as I wasn't really running with anyone any more. As we turned left towards Farmleigh, I could see more lads falling off the pacer, but I wasn't making much ground on them either, with maybe one exception before we reached the next marker.
Km 4
This is a very deceptive stretch. If you're walking or cycling it, it probably doesn't feel like anything. But if you're like I was, swimming against the tide in the second half of a 5k, very different story I'm afraid! There's roughly a mile to the finish from when you enter the grounds of Farmleigh. AGYR was here again, and demanded that I go after the pacer Which I did, to be fair. I was trying to pick up speed on the long straight stretch, and for a time I thought I was gaining on the balloon. Or maybe the heat was playing tricks with my mind :pac: One of my clubmates had fallen off the back of the pacer since I got dropped, and he was now in my sights as we passed Farmleigh itself, and I prepared for one last push.
Km 5
I can't remember much about passing or being passed in the rest of Farmleigh. One younger lad got by as we went through the little chicane before you go down the hill and turn right onto Tower Road back towards the start. Knowing there was less than half a mile to go now, I pumped my arms and shortened my stride up the hill. Yet I didn't feel like I was really going anywhere! The road levels off for about 150m, before the last steep rise up to the crossroads and through the Castleknock College delivery entrance. Clubmate was proving to be just out of reach, but I was struggling to get to the top of the hill, and as I went through the gate, I could hear John Todd and some other fella getting shouts behind me. It's downhill from there to the finish though, and I dredged up some extra energy for something resembling a sprint to the line. Clock was well into the 20s now, but I was thinking no way was I getting another 21! Come on FFS! Through the finish line and I knew I at least managed that. I found a spot on the grass to sit down and get my breath back, before catching up with some faster clubmates. Fittingly one of our own won first prize
Time: 20:49 (20:56 gun time)
Position: 40th overall, 12th M40 (a clubmate was first in this one)
Analysis
This was my fastest 5k time this year, on a warm day on a tough course, surpassing the New Year's Day debacle that was the Tom Brennan. It was also a course PB by nearly 50 seconds. So although I didn't reach my target, I'll take those outcomes, although to be honest I never thought about them beforehand. Overall, it meant that after catching up with lots of clubmates and parkrunners, while working my way through coffee, cakes, bananas and water, I walked/shuffled the 1 1/2 miles home with a smile on my face
Was trying to go sub-20 today overly ambitious? Probably. But you will hopefully understand that I had to at least try, especially on home ground. If nothing else, it's shown me that I need to start putting the mileage in over the coming months, if I'm going to achieve anything in the second half of the year. I won't be racing again for a few weeks. The Docklands 5k, in early July, is currently under serious consideration to be next on the list. Thanks for reading!
J.0 -
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Wubble Wubble wrote: »Sun 18/6 - Castleknock 5k - Sun Is Shining
Km 2
Continuing downhill for another 500m or so, past Mount Sackville and left into the Phoenix Park at Knockmaroon Gate. There's a deceptive little climb here, but just at the top I spotted AGYR who gave me a shout.
Km 4
There's roughly a mile to the finish from when you enter the grounds of Farmleigh. AGYR was here again, and demanded that I go after the pacer
J.
Glad you knew that was me again at Farmleigh I may have gone over my prescribed pace for the day to get from km 2 to km 4 before you guys :pac:
Glad to hear you were happy with the result too, I had been out for 4 miles just before 9am and it gloriously cool, as 10am drew closer the sun came out and I didn't envy anyone racing in the heat. Actually looks like a nice route, have never been able to do it but must put in on my list for next year (not an easy route though!).0 -
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If you don't try you never know, but fastest time this year so still moving forward, hard mentally looking at that balloon drifting away, well done today.
Thanks KG, yeah it was a bit dispiriting watching the balloon going further and further ahead, but still I'm pleased with the outcome. Maybe a better 5k time to come soon, on a faster and flatter course?Annie get your Run wrote: »Glad you knew that was me again at Farmleigh I may have gone over my prescribed pace for the day to get from km 2 to km 4 before you guys :pac:
Glad to hear you were happy with the result too, I had been out for 4 miles just before 9am and it gloriously cool, as 10am drew closer the sun came out and I didn't envy anyone racing in the heat. Actually looks like a nice route, have never been able to do it but must put in on my list for next year (not an easy route though!).
I remember on the way home trying to work out how you managed to get around us, given we were on the shortest road route. I hadn't considered the trails at all, even though the Sunday club runs regularly cover them :rolleyes: I highly recommend the race itself. Great atmosphere, challenging course, and so much goodies at the finish; even if anything with chocolate in it was melting rapidly in today's heat :pac:scotindublin wrote: »Tough out there today J;I was actually thinking of you when I was coming towards the end of my morning run and the sun was coming out at about 0930 as I know you don't like the sun/heat!
Life seems to have been pretty mental for you the past couple of months.....get a solid block of training under your belt and that sub 20 will be yours before the end of summer!
Fair play C, a fit me running in the winter would tear it up. Might have to wait a year or two for that one though Don't worry I haven't given up on that sub 20, no way.Well done on your course PB. With that heat and racing it would have been very tough this morning.
Thanks A, it was nice to get a double PB of sorts this morning, even if the one I was really going for didn't materialise. I'm terrible (worse?) running in warm or hot weather. Even in Trinners the other evening, I was parched in the 2000.
Your recovery seems to be going very well, keep it up!Great stuff J. Sounds like a tough finish so that's a great time!
It certainly is A. A friend took photos of lots of us at the top of the last hill, just before we went into the college grounds to the finish. Teeth clenched, I look like I'm trying to run underwater, and it felt like roughly the same speed at that particular moment :pac:0 -
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Good to meet you at Trinity, J... you've had a busy week... sub 20 was probably ambitious today, but I like your ambition, you have to start with that. Docklands should be a good one to give it a lash.
Same as! Busy but enjoyable week, but I reckoned I could manage Wednesday and Sunday racing. In fairness, I did rule out running the Irish Runner 5 Mile straight away. That would have been completely over egging it and besides, parkrun RD turned out to be a fun alternative. My PB for 5k is 20:03 from last year's Jingle Bells, which (a) was a few weeks after DCM, and (b) is a significantly net downhill course. So yeah, Docklands should offer a bit more potential for improvement 0 -
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Sat 24/6 - River Valley parkrun
I fancied a road trip for today's parkrun. Instead of heading to Waterstown for their 3rd birthday celebrations (and lots of cake etc no doubt), I decided to go to a new (for me) Dublin parkrun, as I'm intending to complete the set again this year.
With this in mind, I chose to head for the western edges of Swords. I'd heard it was fairly tough, but that wasn't so much of a problem, as I wouldn't be chasing a time anyway.
After a fairly relaxed stroll to the start for the briefing, we were off. I kept it nice and relaxed on the lightning quick downhill to the bottom of the park. A guy in a Meath GAA jersey tore by me along here, but I resisted the temptation to follow A fella in a Cambridge (marathon?) finisher top rolled up alongside me, and we ran together for a bit. As we turned left before the bridge and headed west into the breeze, Meath man had already come back to us. Cambridge was still alongside, but breathing fairly heavily, so as we caught the 10th place runner, I pushed ahead and didn't see Cambridge again. There was a bit of a gap to the next few runners. Up the hill for the first time, shortening the stride and working the arms here. What they don't tell you, is that when you turn right at what you think is the top of the hill, you're still climbing as the path narrows passing through the bushes
A youngster was clearly weakening, and I caught and passed him easily enough as we started to pass the soccer pitches which bring you to the end of the first lap. About 50-60 metres ahead, I caught the next fella looking behind him to see where I was.
Part of me was thinking "That's it, get him now!" Now if I was racing, it wouldn't have been in doubt. However, it was a case of eyes on the prize, the prize being a sub-6 mile tomorrow.
The second lap turned out to be basically a solo run. I thought I would catch the next guy and the lead female *anyway*, as for a while they seemed to be coming back to me without me pushing the pace. But as we reached the actual top of the hill for the second time, they were pushing each other along, and hence moving clear of me and my trundle speed. With nobody to push me, I eased it out to the end, and cruised over the line in a time of 21:38. 8th overall out of 110, 2nd age cat. Definitely not a PB course, which I would rate 4th in terms of difficulty among the Dublin parkruns, behind Ardgillan, Cabinteely and Waterstown. I'll probably tick another of the parkrun boxes in two weeks; Bushy, Father Collins, and Donabate, are currently outstanding, with Fairview due to come on stream in July.0
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