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Chapter 2 - Finding Nemo
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Swashbuckler wrote: »Barefield 5k - Race Report
(Race 1 of the Run Clare series)
Well its been a few hours and I've had a chance to absorb and reflect so why not get the race report in. Things have been building nicely over the past few months so I went into today with optimism. Being completely honest in my mind I was hoping for sub 18. But today turned out to be a lot more than a time on a clock.
In the run up to the race I wasn't really "feeling it" all week. Hard to explain but I just felt no sort of flow or groove to my running atall. Felt a but lethargic even. Coach and Duanington reassured me it can happen with a taper sometimes. Interesting, and I'll put that down to experience, because I felt anything but lethargic today. Lesson 1 - trust Coach (and Duanington). Speaking of Coach I had an email with words of encouragement yesterday from himself. Those words actually stuck with me before and throughout the race. Something about the words resonated with me. Nice to have some motivational words to keep you going. Funny how sometimes it takes someone else to tell you your strengths. I need to have a bit more faith in myself.
Had a fun night with baby! She was fine but woke for feeds at 1am and 5am. I pretty much didn't go back to sleep after the 5am feed. Got up at 7am and had a good early breakfast. I like to leave a decent gap between eating and racing as food doesn't seem to agree with me so close to running. First experience trying to get a baby ready on a race day. It went surprisingly well.
Got to Barefield pretty early. Got the race number and chilled in the car with the missus, baby and my buddy who was targeting sub 20. Weather conditions weren't great but not horrific either. Rainy and a stiff breeze. Headed out for my warmup. Wasn't sure what direction I was going but it turns out I was going the opposite direction of the last 800m of the race. This would stand to me later.
The start of the race was delayed by 25mins due to feck ups with the registration which was frustrating because by then I had pretty much cooled down. We got a five minute warning so I quickly did some strides to try to warm back up. I was right up front with all of the fast looking guys. Haha. A few last good luck wishes to my buddies and off we went.
Took off pretty quick but nothing crazy. I was surprised how in touch with the leaders I was after 500m which I took as a good sign. I had my watch set up to lap every mile. It's just habit at this stage. First mile was reasonably flat. Into a bit of a headwind with one or two bumps but nothing major. Phone buzzed after a mile. 5.49. Hmm. A little disheartened as it felt quicker. Suddenly I'm a bit conscious of my pace. Start checking the watch a few times (stop looking at your watch Paul). By about halfway I had found myself isolated a bit. The leaders had pulled about 15s ahead and there was a decent gap behind me. Check the watch for pace again as the effort level felt like it had dropped slightly(stop looking at your watch Paul). Got a bit annoyed at myself and made a conscious decision to absolutely not look at the watch under any circumstances for the rest of the race. I know it sounds silly/dramatic but very rarely has looking at my watch ever helped me in a race. It has either made me feel bad that I wasn't meeting my expected pace or I saw a very fast pace and thought I should ease back a bit. I did a good job in my New Years Day 5 miler without using it so I decided to have a bit of faith. So no more watch gazing. By now the gap of 15s had pretty much stayed the same. Turns out my second mile was 5.51. This was a combination of a couple of drags in mile 2 but also a drop in effort level for a bit. I think I just became a bit hypnotized by the group in front and settled in to the pace a bit too much. Don't get me wrong, still tough but maybe not as tough as it could be for that section of that makes sense.
Coach had said to me a few weeks back that nothing replicates a race. Those last second decisions that you can't replicate in training. His was right. I looked ahead and said feck this. I'm chasing the guy at the back of the pack down. I could see the leading car up ahead (a first for me) and counted I was in 6th place. Let's see what I can do. I started to reel in the fifth place lad... As we turned up a hill I saw the next section was the route I had run on my warmup. So I knew exactly the distance to the finish line. That was enough for me to kick on. I took him in the hill (fruits of the strength building over the last few months). He was behind me and I was pushing on by now. Now I have my eye on the guy in fourth. I'm giving it a lot at this stage but I know I'm able. I kick past him and he responded a bit. No way am I giving up this place so I surge again. I manage to establish a little gap. I can see the top three ahead but I can also see the finish line so there's no way I'm catching them (I wouldn't have caught the top two regardless). Look over my shoulder and know I'm not getting caught. The clock reads 17.50 and I'm still a bit from the line. Sub 18 isn't there for me today. I cross the line 18.05 in 4th place. 19s behind the winner. Only a few seconds behind third. Not the pb I hoped for but a pb all the same. Last mile was 5.46. 5.10 for the "bit". Greeted by a cheering wife and sleepy baby at the finish line. Happy days.
Today was a strange one in a good way.
If you had said to me beforehand I'd run 18.05 I'd probably have been a little disappointed. I obviously have notions of myself haha. But I thought about it after and today was much more than a time on a clock. I felt stronger than I ever have in a 5k. The difference in strength especially on and after hills is still surprising me. I was never able to run like this so the training is working.
All in all a good day.
Lessons learned today;
1. Sometimes you'll feel crap on race week and still pull out a result.
2. I'm one of those people that runs better ignoring the watch and running on feel.
3. Coach told me to be aggressive. I was a bit tentative in stages. A bit fearful of not knowing the course and getting a shock with some massive hill. Also a bit fearful of being so close to the leaders. Am I running too hard? Do they know something about this course that I don't. Haha.
4. Having someone to chase down or keep ahead of helps massively. I'm a bit sick of running races in isolation.
5. The training is working. The times mightnt exactly reflect huge improvement so far but the reality is I'm a different runner. Strength has increased massively. And with that I'm gaining confidence.
6. I have a lot of work to do to get to where I want to get. But it's all about doing the right work and I feel I'm getting that with Coach. So the future is bright assuming I can stay healthy.
7. It's fun being in contention
So that's my day today. A few of my buddies ran well. The guy I travelled with got a pb but not the sub 20 he hoped for. His day will come. Work buddy smashed it. 19.40. Delighted for him.
Loving these race days. Great motivation and looking forward to seeing how everyone gets on in Raheny tomorrow. I suspect I'll see some wicked times from some of the lads on here.
Well done, you're coming into super shape.
TbL0 -
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The pep was back in my step last week. Looks like it was just the "taper" for the 5k although it didn't look like much of a taper on paper. Anyway solid week's work last week and good to have the mojo back.
Monday: 7 miles Easy at 8:04/mile. Beautiful day and really enjoyed this one. The easy run is a nice one to kick off the week rather than go straight into the shock of an interval session. Took one of my usual routes around Dooradoyle and then around the back of the Industrial Estate.
Tuesday: A good solid session this week. 6 x 3mins @ 5:50/6:00 target pace (75s off between each) followed by 3 minutes jog and then 5 x 30s Hard. This was a progression of a similar session from 8 weeks previous when I did 5x3mins and 6x30s. Looking back on my notes I had found that tough but controlled. This was similar, if not even more controlled. Felt really good during this. I think the 5k race has sharpened me up a bit.
Paces for the 3mins were 5:53, 5:49, 5:52, 5:46, 5:52, 5:51.
Paces for the 30s were 4:26, 4:44, 4:50, 4:52, 4:55.
Decided not to hold back for the "Hard" and just went for it.
Good session and one that will stand to me no doubt. Total mileage: 8.26 miles.
Wednesday: 7 miles Easy at 8:02/mile. Got absolutely destroyed by the weather on this one. It pelted hailstones down on me. Hands were numb even with the gloves. This prompted me to order proper gloves later in the day. Yeah so the run was fine. Legs felt good (the parts of them I could feel).
Thursday: 7 miles Easy at 8:03/mile. I don't know what it is but my easy pace seems to default to around the 8min mile mark. I tend to ignore the watch on the easy run and only check it to make sure I'm not upping the effort level. So I don't know. Even after a hard session this seems to be what I default to. Anyway the run was good. Learning from the day before I wrapped up very well and of course the sun shone and I roasted in my jacket. Good prep for those warm Summer races
Friday: 2M WU + 4miles Tempo @ 6:20/6:25/mile.
This is one of those sessions that surprises you. It's deceivingly tough. Not because of the pace or even the effort level to be honest but I find it takes a lot of concentration. There's no switching off for me on these as I need to focus on the effort level being consistent for ~25 mins. Add in some uphills and downhills and it keeps things interesting. Comfortably hard as they say. And this was exactly that. I enjoyed it. Total mileage: 8 miles.
Saturday: 14 miles with last three miles at 7:00/mile.
It's been a while since I've done a long run. Race last week, and was recovering from illness the week before so it's been a few weeks. Ran a lovely route in Limerick along the canal and towards UL. Lovely scenic route. Got out nice and early which is always my preference with the long runs as it sets me up for the day. Lots of runners out and about on Saturday. Was a lovely morning for it. Last three miles I surprised myself. Thought id find it tougher but the pick-up was easier than I expected. Finished up at the local store and got myself a nice carton of Moojoo.
Sunday: Rest
Very good week. Another consistent one. If I can string enough of these together I'll be doing well and should see significant improvement.
Some great racing going on from the Boardsies on here and I'm taking a lot of inspiration from that. There's some tough f*ckers out there that's for sure. Hardy runners as they used to say back in the day.
Lahinch 5M in two weeks. I happened to be out there with my wife and baby yesterday for a day trip and took a spin along some of the race route. Yeah it's pretty horrific. There'll be no world beating times but it'll be a hell of a workout that's for sure!0 -
Monday - The usual Easy 7M to settle me into the week. At my usual default Easy pace of 8:02/mile. Nice easy run. Felt fresh and happy to be running.
Tuesday - The dreaded hills. 14 x 40s hill intervals with 90s recovery jog back down the hill in between. When I saw this on my plan for the week there was a sense of dread and excitement. I knew these would be really tough. The advice from T was to keep them smooth and focus on form. The session is meant to wear you down as it goes on (and it certainly did that). Find a point at 40 sec and try to maintain that as finish point as best possible. Great advice as it gave me a focus for each one. Found a suitable hill nearby and hit this session hard. Tough as hell. It has replaced the 300's as my toughest session to date. It really did wear me down. I was bent over for a few seconds after each one and made my way back down the hill for a very short respite and then off again. Was very happy to manage to finish this. I'll be honest that was my main goal after 10 of them, just to finish the session without puking.
Splits were all between 5:14-5:25/mile pace which I'm very happy with.The tip to pick a point and try to hit it every time really helped to make these paces consistent. One session I won't forget in a long while.
Next two days were 7M recovery runs. The usual format. One thing I have started to notice is it usually takes until Thursday before I feel the Tuesday session in the legs.
Friday - 4x1M at 6:00/mile pace. Another one I was pleased with. Felt strong and controlled. Had to work a bit for the second one as there were a few hills but overall it went well. One of those runs where you feel strong (when it goes well).
Saturday - A lovely 14M around Limerick city. Very enjoyable long run and a very solid consistent few weeks put down. If I can string a bunch of these weeks together regularly I'll be a very happy man.
Total mileage for the week was 50.8 miles. Felt tired by the end but that's to be expected.
Next up is Lahinch 5M race this Sunday. Some sh*tty looking hills but i'll give it a good go. This is Race 2 of the Run Clare series. Hopefully conditions play ball and I get to give this one a real lash. Can't wait.0 -
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OOnegative wrote:Best of luck this morning.
Best of luck sitting watching Disney songs with my little baba? Haha. Race is tomorrow but thanks. You're always the second to wish me luck, after coach 0 -
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best of luck!! 
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