Leader Of The (Mid) Pack

jake1970

Best of luck tomorrow J.

Kennyg71

Best of luck tomorrow, have a great race.

hot buttered scones

Best of luck tomorrow.

Wubble Wubble

Thanks for all your good wishes and kind words. Now hopefully I can find out what makes this run "Great"

annapr

Hope all goes well for you in the PP today!

Wubble Wubble

Sun 9/4 - Great Ireland Run 10k, Phoenix Park

Pre Race
I had never attempted this one before today, as it invariably clashed with something or other. This year, I was doing it as a result of the K-Club race date being changed, with the Dunboyne 4 mile losing out as a result. Training over the last few months could best be described as intermittent, and the hamstring felt very tight when I was stretching it beforehand. All in all, not ideal when taking on one of the tougher 10k courses on the calendar. Strategy would have to be highly conservative!

Oddly enough, I don't recall catching too many Boardsies today. adrian522 gave me a shout as he was making his way through the starting pen, but he's the only one that springs to mind at the moment (sorry if I left someone out). I found the happy clappy warmup by Lifestyle Sports a bit of a buzzkill to be honest. I've done lots of 10k races before, and this was one to get out of the way, rather than the culmination of some life journey or other a la Operation Transformation.

1
I set off at a *very* slow pace as we headed northwest along Chesterfield Avenue. A clubmate passed me here, but I let him off, as I know he's much faster than me even if I'm anyway fit (he got sub-42). We went the long way around the little roundabout, and headed for the Ashtown Gate as we passed through the 1k marker.

2
Sticking to the plan, as we used to say back in the old DCM Novices days. Every so often I'd get a bit boxed in with the traffic, but resisted the temptation to surge. Patience was a virtue, and sure enough gaps appeared. Very slight uphill here, but nothing that concerned me.

3
Somewhere here I pulled up alongside a guy who was absolutely gasping already. I felt like advising him to slow down a bit; it was a bit worrying that he thought he could carry on like that for another 35-40 minutes. Next thing a fella in a British Lions rugby top absolutely barged his way through some young wan for no reason at all. Not clever. I'm watching you! Coming up to the Phoenix Monument, I'm still in cruise control mode, and thankfully nothing's acting up.

4
Time for a super fast k to make things even easier. Lots of lads were still clearly going way too fast, and I knew I'd make up those places soon enough. In fact, the hardest part about the Acres Road and the start of the Khyber was keeping the brakes on!

5
For most of the race so far, I'd been using a friend from our local parkrun as a marker. He'd be ahead of me most days normally, but today he was pacing his sister around. Half way down the Khyber, I decided to push on a tiny bit and leave them to it. The start of the Military Road actually felt great, the best I've ever felt racing it. I was passing people for fun, and still feeling comfortable and in control as I progressed up the hill.

6
Working my way through the S bends, it's mainly downhill. I was still passing people, but at the same time taking a small breather as I prepared for the next climb. Four to go and no pain in the hammer yet.

7
This km starts with a downhill towards Chapelizod Gate and through the Jingle Bells finish, before ascending the Glen Road. I started to pick up the pace a bit here. It's usually a climb I hate, but here there were still plenty of targets to pick off. One was a guy from Raheny Shamrocks, who's only back from injury and who ran the BHAA race yesterday. Fair play to him, but my first thought was I should have got him long before I actually did.

8
Halfway through this kilometre, another descent towards the Glen Pond. I'm more used to running up this slope (twice in my next race actually). I passed my old Trinity Track nemesis here, and was still in good shape as we reached the pond and the 8k marker.

9
This was the climb I was least looking forward to. A steep hill away from the pond, with a couple of twists included. I reckoned it would catch a lot of the newbies out, and I was right. Fish in a barrel, as I shot up the slope. Well well well, guess who I saw stopping near the top of the hill? Our friend the Lion. Dearie me! I must confess, that brought a smile as I passed him and continued on towards Knockmaroon Gate. Still climbing on turning right, but I caught and passed a guy in a Milan marathon top, and had plenty of energy for the down and up through the crossroads.

10
Our captain gave me a shout here (as did someone else from the club who I didn't spot) and I picked up the pace more with only a few minutes to go. Knowing the feel of the straight on the Furze Road from so many other races was an advantage here. I was still passing people out, and anyone that tried taking me on, I was up for the challenge. There was this couple ahead of me, and I heard her say to him "Do you want to cross the line together?" Holding hands probably. Come on now! I made it my business to get ahead of those two. There was a fella draped in a Derry GAA flag to my left. I passed him with about 800 to go, but he then surged ahead and probably thought he'd got me. Unfortunately for him, he had miscalculated his own speed (and mine) and I soon got back ahead for good. The finish line always appears closer on this road than it actually is. But once I went through the spot where the barriers normally are, I was going all the way. Flying past people here, it probably looks good on the video. Over the line in a chiptime of 45:56, and I felt like I could have gone around again, hamstring and general fitness notwithstanding.

Analysis

"The insurgency began and you missed it"

Sugarcoat it any way you want, that time is desperate. I wasn't consoled in any way when I looked at the results a while ago, and saw a good few people finished ahead of me who wouldn't normally get anywhere near a fit Wubble Wubble. I think I was more concerned with minding my hamstring and getting to the hilly second half with plenty in the tank, that when it came to it I knew somewhere in my mind that I was going way too slow for it to matter. I don't know what my splits were, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if I had a considerable negative split. When you take the course profile into account, as Crockett used to say in Miami Vice, "Something's not right".

Next
But then again, it's another race in the bag (my 9th this year) and the end of the first phase of my 2017 running year. I'll be scaling back my activity (even) further for the next couple of weeks, with exams coming up later this month. Next race is back in the Phoenix Park, for the ARC Cancer Support 10k on the May Bank Holiday. Thanks for reading.
J.

scotindublin

Chin up J;as you say you have not been training as well as you can due to other commitments; get the exams out the way enjoy the break then crank it up over the summer. Back flying it in no time.

diego_b

I think to be honest with a hamstring issue you had and a pretty tough 10K course coming away from it one piece is a good sign there J.
We must have been awful close to each other but I never spotted you, my chip time was 46:02. Even though I had an orange number on I ducked under the rope to start with the club runners...I don't seem to have registered myself for the AAI championships.

Kennyg71

As you mentioned before you've been racing to train a bit lately, so take for what it is a decent session, when life settles running will start to come together, onwards and upwards.

AuldManKing

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

When you take the course profile into account, as Crockett used to say in Miami Vice, "Something's not right".

yep - you race too much and train too little.
With the mileage you are doing I wouldn't race anything more than 5k's until you can commit to more - if you want to enter more than 5k's - I'd do them at tempo pace - as a session.

10k's are a different beast and you need to be doing 12-16m long runs to support them. Along with decent sessions of 4m (6k).

If you want to race loads - race some of them at your proper tempo pace and use it as a session, otherwise you are at nothing by training at the wrong paces.

However - if you are one of these individuals who use races as a means to get fit - then its all good.

But just throwing in my 2cents worth.

Wubble Wubble

scotindublin wrote: »

Chin up J;as you say you have not been training as well as you can due to other commitments; get the exams out the way enjoy the break then crank it up over the summer. Back flying it in no time.

Thanks C, I'm looking forward to the summer from a running point of view. Results so far this year have in general been roughly in line with the low advance expectations!

diego_b wrote: »

I think to be honest with a hamstring issue you had and a pretty tough 10K course coming away from it one piece is a good sign there J.
We must have been awful close to each other but I never spotted you, my chip time was 46:02. Even though I had an orange number on I ducked under the rope to start with the club runners...I don't seem to have registered myself for the AAI championships.

Thanks D, although TBH I ran this race in such a way that it was nearly impossible for me not to finish? If that makes sense.

FWIW (without seeing the gun times) I don't think we were near each other at all. I deliberately started way back in the orange pen. Now, had I been fully fit and feeling strong, I would have pushed a lot closer to the front. Can't remember what kind of a head start elites/AAI had, but I think I would have had to be at least 30 seconds faster to have any chance of finishing ahead of you. Well done on your run, racing that one as a fourth race in consecutive weekends can't have been easy.

Kennyg71 wrote: »

As you mentioned before you've been racing to train a bit lately, so take for what it is a decent session, when life settles running will start to come together, onwards and upwards.

Thanks, this is almost certainly true. I'm confident however, that once I have exams etc out of the way, and I can put a decent structure (not to mention considerably more mileage) into my training, the results will follow.

AuldManKing wrote: »

yep - you race too much and train too little.
With the mileage you are doing I wouldn't race anything more than 5k's until you can commit to more - if you want to enter more than 5k's - I'd do them at tempo pace - as a session.


10k's are a different beast and you need to be doing 12-16m long runs to support them. Along with decent sessions of 4m (6k).

If you want to race loads - race some of them at your proper tempo pace and use it as a session, otherwise you are at nothing by training at the wrong paces.

However - if you are one of these individuals who use races as a means to get fit - then its all good.

But just throwing in my 2cents worth.

This is true. Or was earlier in the year, IMO. If I had the time again, I would have let the Tom Brennan go (and maybe one of the XCs, much as it would have galled me) However, this is something that has been changing, and will continue to change. 5 races in the first 6 weekends of 2017, 4 in 9 weekends since. With work, study etc, added to the fact that I hate early morning or lunchtime runs without a purpose (i.e. goal race) behind them, the races have largely played themselves up to now. There's about 10 between now and DCM at the moment, and some will be taken a bit more seriously than others

The reason I did the Carlingford 10k (and not the HM) was because I recognised I hadn't enough in the bank for the longer distance. Unfortunately we're not all like jmcmen who just turns up and eats those lads for breakfast

All or any constructive criticism is welcome. One of the reasons why I started off this log? Thanks as always see you in May!

Murph_D

Well done, J. You're in my ballpark so I agree it's a disappointing time, but you seemed to enjoy the day, and little evidence of going harder for a better time, so I assume it wasn't a surprise. At least you nailed ruggerman.

AMK will keep you honest so no need for any more input from me! See you out there.

Wubble Wubble

Sat 15/4 - Porterstown parkrun

Even though I hadn't run at all since last Sunday, I was glad to get out for this. I'm going a bit stir crazy with the study, any excuse to get out of the house

I didn't feel great on the warmup lap, as I was still dragging my left leg a bit. Hamstring is still a bit tight, so this was never going to be a PB attempt, or an attempt on anything really, other than chalking up another parkrun.

In spite of some of the faster regulars being away, overall it was competitive enough by Porterstown standards. One of our young club runners shot off into the distance, but having seen him in action before, I knew that wouldn't last. I kept John Todd in sight, and settled into about 10th-12th on the opening lap. It might have been more comfortable, were it not for the fact that one of our lady athletes (National Senior Champions ) was there to make sure I didn't slack off too much (her brother was running, as I discovered afterwards) I made up a couple of places on the way back up to the car park, with a guy in a dark blue top a little bit ahead and a heavy breather on my shoulder.

Lap 2 and I caught dark top along the bottom of the park. Still hadn't quite managed to shake off the heavy breather. Got a shout on the way back up the hill, and started to put some time into the other fella by shortening the stride and getting the arms going. On the path alongside the car park, and feeling comfortable about where I am positions wise.

Lap 3 I was still in good shape. No point trying to go after John Todd, as he was gone through the gap in the trees just after I got to the bottom of the start/finish straight. JT caught our young lad at the start of the first little climb back up, while I was confident I'd got rid of the heavy breather. Hamstring was a bit sore, but I could feel hardly any burn otherwise. Coming round the final corner, I got another shout and decided to just go for it anyway. Only when I was within 50 yards of the line, did I realise I could have caught the young fella had I pushed a bit earlier. I honestly had no idea he was coming back to me that quickly; between negotiating lapped runners and the general human traffic at that time, I never thought about him. Still and all, surprised with a time of 21:17. This is my fastest parkrun time in 9 months. I'll take it, considering how unfit I am. Thanks for reading. Happy Easter!
J.

Murph_D

Nice run, J. I knew by paragraph 3 that the result would be better than the intro suggested.

The Muppet

Nice one . Happy Easter J

AuldManKing

Nice work.
John Todd is an absolute animal - he's O65 age category and he ran 41.56 at the K-Club (& was still 2nd O65).

Good to see progress at Porterstown - a change of venue might do you the world of good for a faster time.

Wubble Wubble

Thanks, yes indeed, the man still has class in abundance. Between club races, BHAA etc, and now parkruns, we've run in a lot of the same events. I'm pretty sure I've only finished ahead of him once.

It was Porterstown or nothing yesterday, due to time constraints and not having the car. To be fair, I'm probably due a change of parkrun scenery - at least temporarily - much as I enjoy running there. Father Collins is (a) a fast course, and (b) one of the four in Dublin that I haven't run yet - I'm planning to fill up the set again over the summer months. I much prefer Waterstown (not a PB course though!) to Hartstown, although I haven't run the "new" St Anne's parkrun yet. Another one to add to the list perhaps.

After my exams, I might do an easy parkrun on the 29th. I'm down to run the ARC 10k on the Bank Holiday, but that might end up being some kind of a session or progression run, as opposed to all out effort. We shall see!
J.

Wubble Wubble

Thu 27/4 - 4 (ish) very slow miles

This was my first run in 12 days, due to a studying cramfest, and then the exams themselves, which started on Friday last and finished yesterday. Post exam scoops were a must, which meant I had a fairly manky looking head on me as I shuffled up to Porterstown this morning.

I seriously thought of bailing out after two laps, instead of the intended three. However, common sense (insanity?) prevailed, and I completed the planned stint. Tired but delighted that I got out and got it done.

Out - 4:56
Lap 1 - 9:35
Lap 2 - 9:24
Lap 3 - 8:50
In - 4:57

Annie get your Run

Congrats on finishing your examsI Hope they went well Does this mean you're get let rip on the racing calendar in the coming months

Wubble Wubble

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Congrats on finishing your examsI Hope they went well Does this mean you're get let rip on the racing calendar in the coming months

Thanks AM, I'm delighted they're over. Very relieved as well. I think I got the four passes I needed to progress to the final year, but I won't know for sure until late June. Frustrating to have to wait that long, but I'll have enough to keep me occupied in the meantime.

Yeah I can't wait to get training properly at last. Hopefully I won't try and build up the mileage too quickly and get injured. So far this year, I've 9 races and 6 parkruns in the bag. I've 10-12 races planned for the rest of the year. Subject to amendment of course one or two there at the moment will probably be dropped.
Fingers crossed for a vast improvement in results. I've been catching up on the logs and reading of some superb performances in London, Connemara, Raheny and elsewhere. Soon it'll be my turn?

Wubble Wubble

Sat 29/4 - St. Anne's parkrun - The Importance Of Being Idle

After a relatively lengthy period of inactivity, I decided that it was time for a parkrun road trip, for a change of scenery while blowing the cobwebs off. Incredibly, the last time I ran a parkrun here was in January 2015, when I couldn't hang on to christeb's 22 minute pacing on the old course.

On a sunny but windy morning, I had a chat with Murph_D and RedRunner (both pacing today) before we set off. Not sure about the laps of honour for milestone runners during the briefing, just glad it wasn't me

I lined up about eight or nine rows back as we headed up the same start as the old course. On turning right, the path narrowed considerably and I then realised that up ahead was FBOT, with a scrum around him as he paced 23 minutes. I had to take to the grass to clear that group. The sections around the GAA pitches slope downward gently until the steep drop to the bottom corner at the sculpture, when you turn right parallel to the coast road. Still quite packed through here, but I was making progress through the field, and the hill through the arch wasn't too bad first time. 10:40 as we passed half way; there was a guy calling out times. Second half I was still passing people, and only got passed by one or two. It was very windy along the section from the sculpture to the hill, and I did manage to get isolated in the worst of it.

The hill at the end was much tougher second time around, and a guy sprinted by me coming up to the funnel, passing me when it was too late to respond.

Still though, 21:19 was a good return today. 7th in age cat, 38th overall out of 399. 10:40 for the first half, 10:39 for the second half. In a way, that pleases me most, as consistency is one of my biggest weaknesses usually.

The same time in Porterstown today would have got me 6th. Interestingly enough, it equalled my best time on the easier old course, which I set nearly 3 years ago ; almost to the day, in fact. I had a chat with FBOT afterwards, and said that I'd be back. It'll be good to return in a couple of months to get an idea of progress. It's a nice course anyway.

April Review

Not a whole pile to add really. The only "Great" thing about the GIR was our club's ladies winning the National Senior Championships. For me personally, it was a race to forget.

I just feel like the last few months I've been doing so much the wrong way round, racing with little or no mileage built up, and results generally reflecting this. Now, with this set of exams behind me, I'm ready to start pushing ahead, and hopefully with a structured training plan the gains will come.

This month: 1 race, 2 parkruns
Year to date: 9 races, 7 parkruns

In other news, I've been offered a new and challenging, but very
interesting job, which I've decided to accept! Stay tuned

Murph_D

Good to see you this morning, J. Excellent run, fair play.

That guy calling out the times was Ferris B.

Paced mile next Sun?

Bungy Girl

Congrats on finishing your exams AND the new job! Exciting times ahead by the sounds of things.

Murph_D

Oops, missed the new job bit. Intriguing. Congrats!

denis b

Very nice post exam workout. Always nice to have some space in front of you to fill with all those ideas floating around when you are exam bound. Enjoy the summer.

The Black Oil

Future DCM mentor, I wonder...

Wubble Wubble

Murph_D wrote: »

Good to see you this morning, J. Excellent run, fair play.

That guy calling out the times was Ferris B.

Paced mile next Sun?

No hassle, nice to be back running over there, long overdue!
I'd no idea that was Ferris....one of many whose logs I'm following a long time but who I haven't met IRL.
As for the paced mile.....I think I'll have to decline your offer/challenge on this occasion. At this stage, I would be doing this purely because I can

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Congrats on finishing your exams AND the new job! Exciting times ahead by the sounds of things.

Thanks G, weight off the mind and hopefully weight off the body to come. More and better training and quality races to follow.

Murph_D wrote: »

Oops, missed the new job bit. Intriguing. Congrats!

Yes it is. And thanks again!

denis b wrote: »

Very nice post exam workout. Always nice to have some space in front of you to fill with all those ideas floating around when you are exam bound. Enjoy the summer.

Thanks Denis, you're going great guns yourself of late. A race win can't be far off? Alternatively, some of those country parkruns can maybe be handy pickings depending on who turns up.

The Black Oil wrote: »

Future DCM mentor, I wonder...

So you're ruling yourself out of the running then? And as I type I note three other 2016 Graduates thanking the post (not including me) all of whom would be fine candidates for such a role....

Wubble Wubble

Sun 30/4 - Rest

Mon 1/5 - ARC Cancer Support 10k, Phoenix Park

Pre Race

This was my fifth year in a row to run this. In my first attempt, I bagged a PB which stood for over 3 years. However, I wasn't thinking along those lines as I made my way to Furze Road to collect my bib. It's always a very relaxed atmosphere here, and as far as I can recall, they are the only people who have ever phoned me (as a past participant) and asked if I would be entering.

I ran a Chesterfield Avenue/Ordnance Survey Road/Furze Road triangle to warm up, and made it back for a few stretches before we were off to our respective starting points (there was also a 5k taking place).

Lap 1

The race is a two loop course, starting on Chesterfield Avenue, left on to OS Road, right at the crossroads to Knockmaroon Gate, in and out of the Furry Glen, sharp left back to the crossroads and along Furze Road. I'd spotted a work colleague (P) beforehand who's normally a 43/44 minute 10k man, and tagged along a few metres behind as we headed for the Glen Pond. I reckoned I could take him on the hill back up, and was successful in this attempt as we turned left. However, I wasn't able to make it stick, and he got the place back before we turned onto Furze Road. A girl passed me as well, but as we headed down the start/finish straight, it turned out she was running the 5k. A lad in a blue Kingspan (sponsors) top had been in my sights for a while, and I passed him coming down the start/finish straight. Through 5k in 21:xx. Chance of a PB after all?

Lap 2

Much to my annoyance, I'd left my cap behind as I was rushing to get to PP earlier. At that stage, I didn't think it would be much of an issue. However, now the sun was out, and I stopped to walk as I took a water bottle at the half way point. Kingspan passed me here, but before we'd passed the 10k start along Chesterfield, I regained my place, and didn't see him again. So now P was about the gap between two lampposts ahead of me, and he passed the second lady before the roundabout. She was now my target. I was gaining gradually on her for quite a while, and as we pushed away from the Glen Pond and up the hill for the second time, I got ahead of her and would stay there. Or so I thought. Before we'd even reached the sharp left hander, she'd passed me back, and began to edge further away as we headed for home. A young lad who I know from BHAA (think he runs with CSH) decided he would have a go too. Even though I navigated my way through the walkers better than him, he got past me before the home straight, and I was on my own for the rest of it. A clubmate gave me a shout halfway down the straight, but all I could think of at that stage was finishing.

44:31 chip time, 15th overall.

Post Race

As I passed under the gantry, one of the ladies from ARC saw me, said I looked really pale, and advised me to sit down while she found a medic to take my pulse and generally keep an eye on me. I didn't feel *that* bad at any stage during the race, yet now I was feeling more than a bit woozy. I waited about fifteen minutes, and then, with two bottles of water and a banana on board, gingerly shuffled (almost literally) back to the car. That's as in walking. No way was I going to risk running back. I sat in the car for a few minutes, and finally, once I'd got myself together a bit more, drove home as slow as I could get away with. Home for a shower and a lie down!

Next

I feel a lot better now, but even so, I'm thinking I might skip tomorrow's recovery run. Not sure about Wednesday's club session yet. I'm planning to run the BHAA RTÉ 5 Mile on Saturday, but there's a stags to be negotiated on Friday night first. We shall see. Thanks for reading!
J.

annapr

That's a good time in St Anne's... was that at 'race' effort? Could doing the 10k two days later be the reason for your wooziness....?

Wubble Wubble

annapr wrote: »

That's a good time in St Anne's... was that at 'race' effort? Could doing the 10k two days later be the reason for your wooziness....?

Thanks A, I'm not sure that's the reason though? I've done back to backs, including 5k/10k, on numerous occasions, and at harder effort than this combo. Last year, over Easter weekend, I ran a hungover parkrun in 21:42, and then on the Monday I set a new 10 mile PB in the Brian Boru. Couple of other things spring to mind regarding today.

(1) Not enough water this morning or in the day(s) previous.
(2) No cap - even by Irish standards, I have a shocking inability to run in anything approaching warm weather.
(3) Even had (1) and (2) above been in order, I definitely ran this one harder than I had planned beforehand. I look desperate in the photos.

Overall, (another) one to learn the lessons from!