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Once in a Lifetime....for now
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March 4th-10th
Monday 4th: Planned rest day.
Tuesday 5th: 6.4 miles easy locally. 8:50 per mile. HR 130
Wednesday 6th: 2 mile warm up, 1 mile @ 7.10 pace , 3 min rec, 3x2 min @ 6.45 (90 sec), 2 mile cooldown. A nice easy 'session' of sorts. I did this on a loop I have started using for sessions. It's relatively flat, a mile nearly to the yard and only involves crossing 2 minor roads. Paces were 7:08, 6:43,6:43 and 6:43
All was ticketyboo!
Thursday 7th: 6.4 miles. Same loop as Tuesday. 8:49 per mile. Forgot HR strap
Friday 8th: Planned rest day
Saturday 9th: 3 mile shakeout with a few 20 second strides. The 4th very windy run of the week.
Sunday 10th: Bohermeen Half Marathon
Apologies in advance..this could be a long one!!! Why? For many reasons. Firstly it's the usual race report, secondly I'll probably throw in a few details that only coach might pick up anything from and thirdly to ramble a little bit.
I was looking forward to this as a chance to get back to the buzz of these type of races, I love them. I was a bit nervous too in that I was wearing the Raheny vest for the first time and didn't want a blowout on the day. Things didn't get off to a great start when I realised I had left my runners at home. Luckily I had packed another pair which I had planned to change into afterwards. They aren't ones I generally like for longer runs but on the day they were grand. Mileage and intensity in training has been quite low so coach suggested a 7:15 pace so as not to go into the red early in the race and to kick on if I could later in the day. Caught a brief word with Craig who is looking a damn sight meaner and leaner than last June. He ran a great race as it turned out. Pre race prep involved staying in the community centre hiding from the snow until it cleared and then jogging the km or so down to the start. I didn't get as close to the front as I would have liked as its a narrow road and I was one of the last to leave the warmth of the Community Centre :pac:
Miles 1-3 It was a very congested start and I didn't do a great job of cutting my way through it. Looked at the watch at half a mile and it ticked through 4 minutes. I made a huge mistake here of chasing back to target pace too quickly. I still got through the first mile in 7:09! Looking at HR data afterwards I hit my race long high of 170 here. So much for taking it easy early on. I caught up with Coogy here and had a grand chat for a couple of miles. These clocked in at 7:16 and 7:08. I felt really easy and tipped along at this pace.
Miles 4-6 7:10,7:15 and 7:19. Turned into the wind on the Athboy road and thankfully it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. Met up with Michael C from Trim on this stretch and had a bit of a chat. He was planning a 7:20/7:25 MP run to pace a club mate so after a few minutes I moved on again. The social aspect of the day continued shortly after as I found myself running alongside another Raheny runner who ended up winning the F50 category. We did on course introductions and had a little chat. Congrats to her on a very solid run. Shortly after this I saw J giving me a shout from the roadside and taking my new Strava profile pic!
Miles 7-11 This was where the first change in my day happened. What had been a chatty tempo run started to feel hard. There is a slight drag after you turn right off the back road onto the long start/ finish road and I felt it. My slow start meant I had failed to do as coach suggested and find a group to run in. I had been moving through the field, on pace yes but very exposed to the elements. When I got onto the straight I saw a little group ahead and made the effort to bridge the gap, thankfully successfully as it would have been a long second lap without them. They seemed to be running exactly the way I wanted to be. They weren't getting carried away by the downhill/ downwind straight and tipped along at 7:09 pace for both of the easier miles. The 2 pace setters were from Lucan Harriers and were running really well. The group swelled to about 12 as others took more advantage of the elements and caught up to us. After about 9 miles the group thinned back down to 5 as we hit the cross winds. The two lads from Lucan continued to set the pace with myself, a Bohermeen runner and R from Raheny tucked in. In terms of effort it was feeling like miles 18-22 of DCM for me...a tough but steady run, catching people and nobody making it back to the group. Mile 9 was 7:13. Shortly after this one of the Lucan lads turned around and made a comment about feeling used and abused! :pac: It was a fair comment but none of the 3 of us moved past them. We then hit a slight downhill before the Athboy road, I felt good and thought it might be time to pick the pace up for home. I was also guilted into doing a turn! :eek: Turned right onto the Trim Road and sweet Jesus it was like hitting a wall! A bit later the watch beeped for a 7:15 10th mile.
Miles 11-13.1Phase 3 of the race. Absolutely horrible! I was committed. I felt I owed the lads a decent stint at the front. I'd pick a runner ahead and push to catch him before tucking in behind for shelter, then the next one and the next one...too much effort, too hard! I pulled over and the 2 Lucan runners came through again. I got in behind them but was fooked! Saw Niamh's hubby Paul here again and he gave another shout from the roadside. I hadn't the energy to reply. This mile was a 7:37.....7:37 of grief and wondering why I was running a HM off zero HM training!! Our little group of 5 split to bits here. One of the Lucan lads and R moved ahead and the other 2 fell behind. Could I have hung on? Maybe. Maybe not. Long story short I just concentrated on making it home without slowing too much. 7:21 and 7:13 for the last 2 miles and a 6:22 pace for the last bits shows clearly there was no kicking on at the end
Chip time 1:34:59
Afterwards I said a quick goodbye to Coogy who ran a super solid PB, met Browneyes and congratulated her on a super sub 1:45 PB....another step on the way to realising her full potential
I also got a quick hello with Baby75 after her comeback HM run, a very successful one. Missed Sheep afterwards but congrats on the continued improvement. Very impressive and well deserved pal. I also have to say that running in a Raheny vest leads to lots of on course support. They had a small but very vocal crew in attendance and even though none of them know me yet they gave me great shouts and congrats afterwards.
A quick walk over to get a picture of the plaque commemorating the opening of the track. I had been unaware that my dad had performed the opening in 2006....a great NACA man and a great NACA club!
So...my thoughts....I suppose the "meh" comment on my Strava reeks of negativity. In the aftermath there was a bit. Some people's perceptions of my runs last year led to them making sandbagging conclusions :cool: but I never did really. I simply exceeded my expectations. This time I guess I kinda hoped it would happen like magic again. What I got was a good run considering the lack of running in November and December and the gradual build up I have been doing. I have no goal races ahead. I will run plenty of races but for the next few months most will probably be slower than last year. Short term pain for long term gain and all that. Next week is the MSB 5k...it won't be a PB or close to it. Running a HM in Bohermeen is not in any training manual for 5k running 8 days later. It's just my little bit of support for AMK and WW's club, both of whom gave so much support to me as mentors in 2017 and on the threads since then. Once again I will love the buzz of the build up, the race and meeting friends old and new! Thanks for getting this far....if anyone did! :pac: 0 -
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