Chapter 2 - Finding Nemo

skyblue46

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Cheers skyblue. And don't doubt for one second just because you run slower that you're not motivation. Yourself and arianas recent race reports spurred me on...this forum is a great place for finding motivation and inspiration.

I agree wholeheartedly. That ariana one just needed a kick in the ass to go for it. Pmsl. Brilliant run. Well best of luck for the weekend. I've no doubt you'll nail it and probably with huge amounts of pain and dry retching!

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote:

I agree wholeheartedly. That ariana one just needed a kick in the ass to go for it. Pmsl. Brilliant run. Well best of luck for the weekend. I've no doubt you'll nail it and probably with huge amounts of pain and dry retching!

Haha dry retching isn't something I've managed yet. Maybe I'm not pushing hard enough!

hot buttered scones

Swashbuckler wrote: »

At the beginning of the year Ennis was very much at the forefront of my mind. It was all about Ennis as the target race. Thankfully my mindset has changed with more long term goals than specific pressure on a single race. That being said, I'm not going to make any excuses and complain that my legs have been tired all week. I plan on going there and really having a crack at this race. I feel like all going well I could do something a little special (special by my standards haha). So I'll throw it out there (no sandbagging like HBS ) I'm hoping to crack sub 37. I know I'm in the shape to do it. Whether the legs play ball is another thing but unless coach advises me otherwise I really think I can have a crack at this one. Let's see i guess. I've thrown this up there to help with motivation. Believe it or not it does help me during a race to think about some of the race reportsfrom people on here and the efforts people have put into races so by throwing my goal up here it will hopefully help when those negative thoughts kick in. So the plan is (without checking with coach haha) to settle into it early and keep it nice and strong and then see what I have to give in the second half of the race. Let's do this!

Having long term goals definitely takes the pressure off from race to race, as does regular racing I find. I think you have a good strategy there for the race itself and remember you'll be running it on fresher legs than you'd have had doing sessions, so just dial into the effort early on and sustain it and you'll achieve your goal. Best of luck.

Swashbuckler

hot buttered scones wrote: »

Having long term goals definitely takes the pressure off from race to race, as does regular racing I find. I think you have a good strategy there for the race itself and remember you'll be running it on fresher legs than you'd have had doing sessions, so just dial into the effort early on and sustain it and you'll achieve your goal. Best of luck.

Did you read my log after Saturday! haha. Legs far from fresh this week but getting there....Cheers for the encouragement..

OOnegative

Best of luck in the morning, run well!!

skyblue46

Amazing time today. There was no sign of heavy legs in that! :pac:

OOnegative

Savage going that, huge well done to you!!

hot buttered scones

Well done, great performance and glad to see the legs held up! Enjoy your Easter and celebrate well.

Swashbuckler

Eamon Moloney 10k Race Report

Sometimes running just surprises you completely.

Not sure where to start on this one so I'll start at the beginning. Last week I was feeling pretty crap after my 14M long run. Legs were dead and I was thinking I've scuppered my chances at a decent performance in Ennis. As the week went on the legs started to come back a bit. As I said in my previous post I had a feeling I was capable of something special by my standards here. But the niggling doubt of how the legs would hold up was always there.

Coach being the decent fella he is got in touch on Friday evening. No need to disclose what we chatted about but he was firm but fair. Haha. One thing he did say was that you don't need to be 100% to have a great performance. That struck me. It's one of the benefits of this forum and coaching. When you're surrounded by all sorts of experienced and beginner runners across all distances there really is a wealth of knowledge at your disposal. I guess I had always just assumed you needed to be fresh on race day to get the best out of yourself.

Anyway race day. I won't bore you with the usual details. Usual bad night sleep. Usual breakfast. Usual family day out. Haha. All good. Got to Ennis. Parked up. Kissed wife and baba and hit the road for warmup. Warmup felt good. Nice buzz. Felt nervous to be honest but kept reminding myself that I've worked my ass off in training consistently. Trust it. I think my mind just fears the pain the body is about to go through. Trotted over to the start line and wished my buddies good luck. Lots of club runners up front today. I had feared I'd be running this in isolation based on barefield and lahinch. Seeing the company surrounding me I had hopes that someone would slot into my pace. Countdown from ten and off we went.

There was a big group of us for the first km. I'd say around twenty.. I focused hard on settling into my own zone. I really thought I approached the first mile in Adare perfectly and I wanted to replicate that here. The group started to spread out a bit and I found myself slightly isolated about five meters off the back of a group ahead. First mile went by handy enough. I was comfortable by racing standards. First mile split was 5.55. Not bad.

At this point I was considering pushing a bit to join the group ahead. I really did not want to get isolated so I put in a bit of extra effort and managed to link in to the back of them. Five runners all running strong. One guy from limerick ac who I had met on new years day. I slotted in with them for what was the toughest mile on the route. I had forgotten that the route isn't as flat as you would think. That second mile has some rolling hills. The group worked well together. By now I was feeling it a little but nothing to worry about I knew and expected the hills would take a little out of me. The mental battle was yet to come. Second mile split was 6.00. Given the hills on this section I was OK with that but towards the end of mile two I was feeling the group were settling into a comfortable pace. A bit too comfortable for me if I'm honest. So at the end of mile two I had made the decision not to settle with them and push on. Thankfully this spurred one of the group to follow me. The Limerick ac guy. Thank God he did. Haha.

So me and limerick ac guy pushed on at the start of mile three. We actually left the group behind us quicker than I thought. We also started to pass a good few along the way. Me and him side my side pushing on. I have to say it helped a lot. I can't remember much about the rest of mile 3. Mile 3 split was 5.54. Not bad. I think I remember looking at my watch at the 5k mark and saw 18.11. Knowing the second half of this route was faster than the first I was very happy with that.

Really starting to hurt a bit now on mile 4. We were pushing the pace a bit and working well together spurring each other on. Could see a few runners up ahead but not anywhere near touching distance...... Yet..... Mile four were just me and him working together. Nice flat section of the course. Mile 4 split was 5.49. That's more like it. Mile 5 was much of the same and we were going really well together. Starting to close the lads up ahead. The group behind us were gone. Mile 5 split was 5.48. Hard to explain but seriously hurting now. This is about as honest an effort as it gets. Negative thoughts, doubts, brain saying stop stop stop. Fair play to limerick ac guy as he managed to mutter "we keep going. Keep it up". I grunted back "****ed". He grunted "yeah.. Keep going". Fair enough. Haha. Those words helped. Only one mile of intense pain left. It's helps when you have a target up ahead and we were closing on the lad. Believe it or not we had actually upped the pace despite the hurt. I knew once we saw the bouncing castle that I wasn't going to die. Haha. Once I see the finish line that's usually when I muster the last bit I have left. In Ennis you finish on a bit of a square so you see the line about 300m from home. So I put the pedal to the floor. I was adamant I was catching the guy ahead. I hoped limerick ac guy would follow me but he didn't. Hit the final stretch of 200m and I was closing closing closing. Got level. This guy had finished ahead of me in Barefield and Lahinch but my mentality has changed since then. I'm not finishing behind him. Got past. He kicked back.. Nope not happening. My face is a contorted mess haha. Pushing hard breathing hard legs lifting and kicking hard. He's stopped kicking back and I'm home free with about 50m left. Looked at the clock and got very confused. Saw 36.00 ticking as I approached the line. What's my target again? Wait a minute. I'm almost one minute ahead of my target. What?? Confused the hell out of me for a sec. Mile 6 split was 5.41. Pace for the last "bit" was 4.56. Official time 36.05 finished in 6th place. Couldn't believe it. Went straight over to limerick ac guy after spending a minute getting my bearings. Gave him a big thanks. Very nice guy and such a strong runner. We genuinely spurred each other on. Went back to check on my buddies. Pbs all around but not the ones they wanted. Met with my missus and baba and she couldn't believe it. Didn't sink in for a while. Went for a bite to eat in one of the locals and headed home to watch Munster just add to the joy today.

So there you have it. The most honest effort I've put in on race day. Everything clicked today between weather, limerick ac guy, it just all worked. I almost skipped the 36's on my way down haha.

I'm not sure what else to say apart from the big big lesson is you don't need to feel 100% to run a great race. That's something I'll take forward. You never know until you go. And by God did I go today.

Kellygirl

Well done! Your report is great. You ran a fantastic race.

ReeReeG

Great report and race, well done!

Singer

Great report, but even better racing. Amazing finish. Well done to your coach

Duanington

What a performance, P...one to be both be proud of and to take a hell of a lot of confidence from. Massive congrats and well done to you

Swashbuckler

Thanks all. Feeling it today... Is it too early to start panicking my legs aren't fresh for limerick half in May? Haha.

Nice feeling when it all comes together. 4 and a half minutes off my equivalent time there last year.

AuldManKing

Thats a brilliant run.
Also - how you paced it is remarkable - the decent start and then getting faster every mile. Super stuff.

I'm not jealous at all of those 4 seconds that you have on me

Swashbuckler

AuldManKing wrote:

Thats a brilliant run. Also - how you paced it is remarkable - the decent start and then getting faster every mile. Super stuff.

Not to underplay it too much but genuinely a combination of the nature of the course (progressively gets faster - second half has some nice downhills) with the fact I was working with another lad really helped. Just one of those days where everything worked. Weather was ideal too.

AuldManKing wrote:

I'm not jealous at all of those 4 seconds that you have on me

I suspect there will be a bit more back and forth ahead

eyrie

Epic report there! Congratulations on an incredible run

Murph_D

Super stuff, enjoyed your account of it. Very well run.

Huzzah!

Fantastic report and fantastic racing. Well done!

hot buttered scones

Your dead right - you never know until you go! I don't know how many times I've felt crap the week of a race, even during the warm up and then raced well. Great racing there and a top quality race report to go with it. Love that inner dialogue as you approach the finish line. Love the pic on Strava too - says it all really. I don't think there's anything better in running than when you realise that you're outperforming your expectations in a race and you know that you can keep going. You said yourself it was the most honest effort you've put in on a race day - which is great because now you have an race to gauge future efforts off (if you know what I mean?). Well done.

Anyway - what's next? Sub 17:30 5k?
And you'll be going for sub 1:20 in Charleville now I assume?

Swashbuckler

Haha I think that me and you are very similar when it comes to that inner dialogue. Or maybe it's all runners. Such a mental battle. Part of me never wants to race again during these races haha.

Next up is Tuamgraney 10M in two weeks. It's the last of the Run Clare series and not a race I really care too much about. Limerick Half in May is the next one of real interest and after that I'll have a chat with L about the Summer. Main aim for me is to get the 5k and 10k times down and the halfs are a bonus. Charleville definitely on the radar. Also half thinking about Dunshaughlin.

Funny you should ask. Someone mentioned yesterday would I be going for sub 1.20 in Limerick and I was a bit taken aback. Didn't think I was anywhere near that and maybe I'm not. L will know best. Haha

hot buttered scones

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Funny you should ask. Someone mentioned yesterday would I be going for sub 1.20 in Limerick and I was a bit taken aback. Didn't think I was anywhere near that and maybe I'm not. L will know best. Haha

I know race calculators aren't the be all and end all, but McMillan gives bang on 1:20 for the half off a 36:05 10k. And there's months of training to go yet!

Swashbuckler

hot buttered scones wrote:

I know race calculators aren't the be all and end all, but McMillan gives bang on 1:20 for the half off a 36:05 10k. And there's months of training to go yet!

Shur by then me and you will both be going for 1:19 anyway right?

hot buttered scones

Swashbuckler wrote:

Shur by then me and you will both be going for 1:19 anyway right?

If we keep this up one of us'll break the world record. ðŸ˜

skyblue46

hot buttered scones wrote: »

If we keep this up one of us'll break the world record. ðŸ˜

Get a room you two!

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote:

Get a room you two!

Charleville Park Hotel. Room 119. Haha

Younganne

What a brilliant, well paced race. Great reading in that report. I reckon everyone has an inner dialogue when racing, the demons would win if we didn’t give them some back chat
All your great training is paying off, looking forward to watching you improve more over the coming months.

Wubble Wubble

Belated well done, great report!

Swashbuckler

Cheers for the well wishes everyone. A nice stepping stone on what is hopefully a long journey ahead.

Meant to post this last week. I get Shane Finns newsletter and he recently spoke to Catherina McKiernan. These were her comments to him on running;

It's important to enjoy it! No matter what level or stage you are at! We tend to forget that we do this to enjoy it after all!

Consistency will get better results than any other technique out there or any fad! Consistency has been and always will be the key! 

Toughen up (her words!!) Catherina thinks that we need to toughen up a little! Get outside, train hard, recover and go again. I nodded and smiled!

Make your nutrition simple. Instead of wondering what to eat the day before the race and how many gels to take, look at it as a whole rather than one particular thing.

Train your mind - Catherina believes the harder you train the better your race results are over time.

Be patient. Mix that consistency with patience. Rather than wondering how to cut 3 mins off your half marathon next month, follow the points above and you will not only take 3 mins off but much more over the next 12/18 months!

Some of these I found particularly interesting especially the toughen up one. It's something I'm seeing more and more of. A lot of people I talk to these days skip a race because it has a few hills. Even complaining after a run that it was hiller than they expected. Are we getting softer or is this just because running has grown as a popular sport amongst the general public.

The patience one was also one the struck me and reflects my change in mentality over the last while. Think long term and forget about "target" races and pbs. Easier said than done I guess. Anyway I found it an interesting few bullet points.

ariana`

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Cheers for the well wishes everyone. A nice stepping stone on what is hopefully a long journey ahead.

Meant to post this last week. I get Shane Finns newsletter and he recently spoke to Catherina McKiernan. These were her comments to him on running;

It's important to enjoy it! No matter what level or stage you are at! We tend to forget that we do this to enjoy it after all!

Consistency will get better results than any other technique out there or any fad! Consistency has been and always will be the key! 

Toughen up (her words!!) Catherina thinks that we need to toughen up a little! Get outside, train hard, recover and go again. I nodded and smiled!

Make your nutrition simple. Instead of wondering what to eat the day before the race and how many gels to take, look at it as a whole rather than one particular thing.

Train your mind - Catherina believes the harder you train the better your race results are over time.

Be patient. Mix that consistency with patience. Rather than wondering how to cut 3 mins off your half marathon next month, follow the points above and you will not only take 3 mins off but much more over the next 12/18 months!

Some of these I found particularly interesting especially the toughen up one. It's something I'm seeing more and more of. A lot of people I talk to these days skip a race because it has a few hills. Even complaining after a run that it was hiller than they expected. Are we getting softer or is this just because running has grown as a popular sport amongst the general public.

The patience one was also one the struck me and reflects my change in mentality over the last while. Think long term and forget about "target" races and pbs. Easier said than done I guess. Anyway I found it an interesting few bullet points.

I believe Testosterscone and/or Safiri alluded to this also recently on the Graduates thread with reference to busting a$$ for short term gain... We're a generation of having everything "on demand" where sadly patience is a lost virtue - now i need to go and practice what i preach myself :P

Well done on the recent 10k race P, super report too, great reading.