Often becomes easy when the easy is often..

Lazare

Hedgehoggy wrote: »

Well done! Great time!

Great to see you there, how did you get on?

Lazare

Thanks so much ^^^^, I'm a very happy fella tonight.

The Black Oil

Lazare wrote: »

I did it.

19:56.

Over the moon.

Print.
Stick on fridge. :pac:

Lazare

The Black Oil wrote: »

Print.
Stick on fridge. :pac:

Haha, I may do.

If I didn't start 8 secs after the gun I'd be sticking my finisher pic up :P

Hedgehoggy

Lazare wrote: »

Great to see you there, how did you get on?

Happy enough. Got in under the 21min which was the target, but could have managed my pacing btr... Shot off way too fast but happy to have clung on I guess!

Nice to see ye there and hope ye enjoyed the sandwiches!

skyblue46

Hedgehoggy wrote: »

Happy enough. Got in under the 21min which was the target, but could have managed my pacing btr... Shot off way too fast but happy to have clung on I guess!

Nice to see ye there and hope ye enjoyed the sandwiches!

Yeah I saw you in a pic close to the finish alongside one of the Raheny girls who got in under 21 so guessed you had a good chance alright. Really well done. 30 seconds is a huge PB.

mister paul

Congrats C. Good to meet you afterwards.

Hedgehoggy

skyblue46 wrote: »

Yeah I saw you in a pic close to the finish alongside one of the Raheny girls who got in under 21 so guessed you had a good chance alright. Really well done. 30 seconds is a huge PB.

Ran alongside her for a good bit! Helped me keep the pace up over the middle bit!!!!!!

Lazare

Hedgehoggy wrote: »

Happy enough. Got in under the 21min which was the target, but could have managed my pacing btr... Shot off way too fast but happy to have clung on I guess!

Nice to see ye there and hope ye enjoyed the sandwiches!

Excellent stuff, delighted. Was hoping to see you afterwards to find out. Great to hear.

Egg sambos were awesome

Lazare

mister paul wrote: »

Congrats C. Good to meet you afterwards.

You too buddy, best of luck with choosing that plan.

Wubble Wubble

Delighted for you C, all those early morning sessions finally paying off.

Now, the most important part of it all.....get that report up

Lazare

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

Delighted for you C, all those early morning sessions finally paying off.

Now, the most important part of it all.....get that report up

Thanks J, it's so satisfying. I'll try get a report up tonight.

shotgunmcos

Boom! <20 Nice one, well done!

scotindublin

Had to laugh at this after our talk about race reports last night! A perfect 6 word report right there.

Brilliant achievement C and plenty more to come over the summer.

Lazare wrote: »

I did it.

19:56.

Over the moon.

Lazare

scotindublin wrote: »

Had to laugh at this after our talk about race reports last night! A perfect 6 word report right there.

Brilliant achievement C and plenty more to come over the summer.

Haha C, thought I'd just cut to the chase. :P

Actually do want to post up a bit of a tl;dr about it and the journey to it. Not looking like I'll have time tonight to though.

Really great to spend a bit of time with you last night, you're such a sound guy. I was so happy to see you'd done it at the end. Really inspiring stuff C.

Lazare

I'm still buzzing.


Tapered from a week out, all short recovery paced stuff bar some strides and 800 at race pace on Thursday.

Had an easy night on Friday, had a couple of beers but bed early. No beer & early nights Sat and Sunday had me feeling amazing. Took a half day on Monday and Tuesday off. Monday night was tough though. Was helping my wife get a college project over the line, her big day was Tue too. Was very irritable and irrational, proper taper madness. She asked me to paint a model spiral staircase with red nail varnish and I was convinced the fumes were knocking double digits off my Vo2max Mad stuff.

Got to bed late and had a rough sleep. Felt wrecked on Tuesday. Mother in law saved the day though, she came up to look after the kids and I rocked off for an hour's sleep at about 3pm.

Had a good laugh after when I told our whattsapp group I just had a nap, Omeceron replied 'good man, that's what the Kenyans do' :pac:


Left good and early, listened to my go to playlist on the way down to get revved up, went over all my training in my head convincing myself that this was doable.

Met Sean and C (Scotindublin) in the car park and we had a look at the map of the route, Sean giving great guidance. Went for a warm up recce of the last 2k with Sean, then on up to the start area. Just shy of 4 miles total. Met up with Murph there for a nice nervous chat about our expectations.

Did a couple of strides then got into the pack with Sean. Was a bit concerned about how tight it seemed. Looked like we were gonna be forced to run a bit in this knee high grass verge. Not good. Just then there was a bit of commotion as the lead car was trying to inch through the packed crowd.
This worked out great for us, the car caused the crowd to part and we got sucked in in it's wake and ended up in the middle of the road about 20 feet back from the start. Perfect.

Gun went and we took off. Was congested but it was fine, everyone around was running my pace or faster, no getting hemmed, no hold ups, no dodging.

Checked the watch and I was bang on, 4:00 pace. Slight drag up the dual carriageway but felt really comfortable.
Sean arrived at my side after 400m or so. No words. Can't afford words.
We turned the bend, which wasn't as tight as I had been warned, no slow down at all. First km beeped 3:59. Brilliant.

Everything still felt comfortable enough but I knew the pain was in the post. Sean had moved on from me by about 20 yards, I let him go as I was still bang on pace and on target. Km 2 beeped 3:56. Inner fist pump. This is on. Jesus.

Pain came around 2.5k. Got held up a touch by a car on the road and a line of runners I couldn't get past. Got by them then and turned to see Murph on my left shoulder, I muttered hello D, but probably sounded more like 'mauhayoo desh'. Km 3 beeped 4:02.

Real pain now. Flicking between doubt and belief. We're into familiar road now from the warm up recce. I'm telling myself how close we are. Can hear the MSB 20 min pacer helping his comrades right behind me. It's helping me. Try to glance around at him to, I don't know why, nothing is making sense, my brain is boiling. I want this so bad. Watch beeps 4:06. Balls.

It's downhill from here. I can do this. So much expectation, can't let everyone down. I'm thinking about ariana, kellygirl, baby75, everyone here, don't want to fail, don't want a damp squib after all my hard work. Want it so bad.
I make some quick calculations and incorrectly deduce that I need a 4min last km to get there. I pick it up and dig deep. 3:55 on the watch. Then 3:53. Humpback bridge that feels like a mountain. People all around me gunning for it, we're animals. Pain. 500 to go. Kick. Pain. I can do this. 3:50 on the watch. Can't stop checking the watch. I'm looking at the distance and the pace. Weirdly, not the time. Stride by stride with a girl who's also kicking hard. Gantry comes into view and 20 is flashing, not counting, flashing. I'm confused. Guy on the mike is shouting 'give these guys a round of applause, the last of the sub 20s' about the guys ahead crossing. I don't know what's happening. Crossed the mat and pressed the button.

Looked down at 19:58, punched the air and let out a roar. Then died. 19:56 chip.

Km 5 clocked in at 3:51. Turned out I needed a 3:54 last km. I'm not sure how I would have handled it had I not got the maths wrong. Who knows.

Met Sean straight after for a fist bump after his incredible performance, then C came along dripping in sweat with a massive smile on his face after cracking 18. Singer then joined us again with a massive smile after a cracking pb.

Day of Irish pbs came early. What a night. Drove home with tunes and fists pumping.

I'm so so happy. I said upthread that I wouldn't be too disheartened if I didn't crack it at BH but truth be told, I would have been. I've put 20 weeks of hard work into it and had a lot of patience. To actually pull it off gives me immense satisfaction.


I want to thank all you guys, on here and in our little whattsapp group for giving me such great positive vibes, encouragement and self belief.

Believe.

Lazare

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Do you have the faster road racing book by pfitzinger and that other fella?
It's the route id probably go down if I wasn't lucky enough to have coaching. Gives you the option of keeping up mileage.

P, you've no idea how much of a game changer this post was for me. I can't thank you enough.

Kellygirl

Ah brilliant C. That’s a great read. I wonder did the nail varnish fumes send you a little mad

I know what you mean about thinking about others during the race. It keeps me going or gives me an extra shove sometimes too.

Lazare

Kellygirl wrote: »

Ah brilliant C. That’s a great read. I wonder did the nail varnish fumes send you a little mad

I know what you mean about thinking about others during the race. It keeps me going or gives me an extra shove sometimes too.

Haha, they probably did

The weight of expectation is definitely a great driver. Obviously everyone will always be 100% supportive either way.

Kellygirl

Lazare wrote: »

Haha, they probably did

The weight of expectation is definitely a great driver. Obviously everyone will always be 100% supportive either way.

Of course but you don’t want people disappointed for you either.

Lazare

Kellygirl wrote: »

Of course but you don’t want people disappointed for you either.

Oh for sure.

Such a great feeling being able to give good news.

Swashbuckler

Lazare wrote:

P, you've no idea how much of a game changer this post was for me. I can't thank you enough.

Brilliant report. And super run. Now you have that monkey off your back it will hopefully get "easier" to break the 20 more regularly. No worries on the book recommendation. I had a look at it recently myself to help me plan my path to dunshaughlin!

Murph_D

In my experience the 5k sub-20 is the prince of achievements. Simply congrats.

Lazare

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Murph_D wrote: »

In my experience the 5k sub-20 is the prince of achievements. Simply congrats.

Cheers D, and as you so poetically said the other day, nice to share the road with you.

aquinn

Absolutely brilliant. Massive congratulations. Well done.

scotindublin

Congrats again C; breaking 20 is a huge achievement; delighted for you and just rewards for all your early morning sessions!

Just to clarify my "sweatfest" moment I had just chucked a cup over water over myself to cool down!

Bring on Kilcock now!

Lazare

scotindublin wrote: »

Congrats again C; breaking 20 is a huge achievement; delighted for you and just rewards for all your early morning sessions!

Just to clarify my "sweatfest" moment I had just chucked a cup over water over myself to cool down!

Bring on Kilcock now!

Haha, that explains it. You looked like you just stepped out of the shower.

Wubble Wubble

"20 weeks of hard work, and a lot of patience"

Brilliant account of your first sub-20. Hopefully the second one will follow shortly. Fingers crossed for your wife with her project as well - all the real life stuff doesn't make for dream preparation, but we make the best of it

chickey2

Well done! Sub 20 is some achievement.

Omeceron

Well done, i'm delighted for you. You have really attacked your training since the marathon and its great seeing it pay off.

Baby75

Great report C, I enjoyed that

I get you on thinking about everyone but no matter what the result was we would of had your back

Lazare

Wednesday May 22nd:

Got out for a rare evening run, 3m recovery, 6:03km. Legs felt really good, post race cool down did it's job.

Friday May 24th:

5 easy miles in the Phoenix park after work, another rare evening one, two in the one week. 5:44km

Saturday May 25th:

Corkagh parkrun with the buggy, 5:21km

Sunday May 26th:

Drove to Lyons estate with the 1 year old and took her for another spin, 10k up and down the canal. 5:30km. Lovely run.

29.55 miles total for the week.

Tuesday May 28th:

7m aerobic with 8x 100m strides. Was looking forward to this all week, dying to get back at it. Back into the early morning routine, and a bit of quick stuff. Solid run. Had reviewed my pace ranges and upped them after last week's result. Felt strong at the new pace.

Wednesday May 29th:

6m aerobic. 5:41km. Struggled hard to get out of bed for this one, legs were heavy for a mile or so but loosened up then.


Posted this at the start of this block..

Lazare wrote:

The year's goals are sub 20 in a race and sub 20 at Corkagh parkrun.

Got a new pb last weekend at Corkagh so current pbs are as follows..

parkrun 21:39

5k 20:51

I'm confident it's doable.

Gonna run 3 or 4 miles tomorrow morning at recovery pace then have a crack at my 2nd goal on Saturday morning. PB there now is 20:26. Feeling way more relaxed about it than I did about BH, monkey's off the back I suppose. Looking forward to it.

Lazare

Really struggled today. Way off target. 20:39.

Have to have a think about what was wrong, wasn't feeling it this morning anyway. Wasn't confident. I really think it's vital to be.

Kellygirl

Lazare wrote: »

Really struggled today. Way off target. 20:39.

Have to have a think about what was wrong, wasn't feeling it this morning anyway. Wasn't confident. I really think it's vital to be.

That’s a shame C.

Lazare

Kellygirl wrote: »

That’s a shame C.

Thanks K, one of those days I suppose.

Next target is Cocas on the 28th. I'll put the work in and get that buzz back.

scotindublin

C just my thoughts here

1. You ran a great race in Enfield to break 20 minutes you have done it already and will do it again sooner rather than later I have no doubt in that.

2. No matter how much you try and convince yourself Park Run is not the same as a race situation. Look at the standard in Enfield;running with others that you can use for pace/ a bit of competition is huge as well as being in a race situation......I doubt you get that same feeling at the start of a parkrun.

3. You mentioned this yourself "confidence"; this is something that a lot of us runners lack in....having enough confidence in our own ability....back to point 1 you have done sub 20 and no doubt will lower that over the summer.

I remember the first 5k I ran after breaking 20 minutes; I ran the MSB 5K not feeling great and ran 20.3x I think and was doubting myself again afterwards; to be honest probably used the remains of a lingering cold to justify not running sub 20.

Confidence and committing to any race is massive before you toe the start line......I wouldn't be getting to hung up on the sub 20 Parkrun. A solid couple of weeks training and a confidence filled run in Kilcock will see you go under 20 again; absolutely no doubts in my mind on that one.

C

Lazare wrote: »

Really struggled today. Way off target. 20:39.

Have to have a think about what was wrong, wasn't feeling it this morning anyway. Wasn't confident. I really think it's vital to be.

skyblue46

It's all about point 2 isn't it C.

scotindublin

100% and having the confidence to back yourself!

skyblue46 wrote: »

It's all about point 2 isn't it C.

Lazare

Thanks so much for that C, what I wanted to hear.

Paranoid here that I've lost fitness, your experience at MSB is giving me a big boost, especially given where you are now.

I do get the point about parkrun, and I do obv much prefer a race situation for all the reasons mentioned. I really want to crack it there though simply because it is a little bit more of a test, again for all those reasons.

scotindublin

Sub 20 will come at Park Run over the summer at some point though.

A little bit of natural ability (which you undoubtedly have); hard work (again you have!) and a bit more confidence (like I said something I think most of us struggle with) go a long way in this running lark.

Lazare wrote: »

Thanks so much for that C, what I wanted to hear.

Paranoid here that I've lost fitness, your experience at MSB is giving me a big boost, especially given where you are now.

I do get the point about parkrun, and I do obv much prefer a race situation for all the reasons mentioned. I really want to crack it there though simply because it is a little bit more of a test, again for all those reasons.

Lazare

C's comments above gave me a huge lift after a poor performance at Corkagh, and the doubts it brought.

I looked at Kilcock on the calendar on Sunday, opened the plan and worked back.

That meant jumping into week 9, the 40 mile peak week. Bring it on, seemed perfect. That experience at parkrun made me hungry. This isn't gonna be handed to me, yeah I've worked hard but I need to keep working.

Tuesday June 4:

6:30am - 8 miles aerobic with 2x sets of 5x 100m strides. Soaking rain. Great run though, ran to Citywest hotel, strided, then ran home. Was soaked as a frog but felt awesome.

Wednesday June 5:

6:50am - 9 miles endurance. Have upped the pace range. Built from 5:46km to 5:04.

Friday June 7:

6:50am - Vo2max session. 9 miles total with wu/cd.

2x sets of 1200, 800, 800. Similar to last time, pace faded on each but unlike last time I'm not worried at all about it. Range was quicker anyway.

Saturday June 8:

Corkagh parkrun with the buggy, recovery. Had planned on 4 miles but ran with a good friend new to running and was too awkward to do another mile afterwards with all the chattin and huggin.

Sunday June 9:

10 mile endurance.

On a whim I changed plans and drove to Clontarf. Parked the van and headed out the coast. Plan was to increase gradually every 4k, from 5:35/40km to 4:55/5:00. Felt so so good though. First quarter was in the 5:20/25 range so I built from there. Turned around at Sutton, at 8k, then picked it up. Have never felt so strong. I was running at what last year was LT pace and it was easy. Super easy. I was on a high. Was singing. Actually singing.
Such an amazing run. One of those runs that will always be remembered.
Built to 4:47km, lifting it a little every 4k, finished really strong. Have never in my life felt fitter. Feeling awesome right now.

Experimenting with a diet change the last couple of days, purely plant based since steak and eggs at lunch on Friday. Could it have such an effect so soon? I honestly felt like a different person today on that run. Who knows.

Total mileage: 39.36m

Lazare

Tapering now for Kilcock on Friday night.

Feeling good about it.

Did Hell & Back last Saturday week, but other than that I've just been following the plan.

H&B was amazing craic but more importantly I reckon it's been a great boost to my fitness. Had doms all over after it, particularly in my abs and glutes.

On Sunday I ran the pre taper mini session, same as last time. 4x strides and 800 at race pace. A little over 10k total.

Last time I struggled to hold 4:00 pace, ran it at 4:04km. This time I held 3:45 for it. It's given me great confidence for Friday. Aiming for 5x sub 4 min kms. Hopefully I can do it.

scotindublin

Good luck on Friday C; go into it with confidence and attack the course. It is probably my favourite 5k; it is a brilliant race; great course and a great standard at it.

Hopefully see you there; planning to go out and watch.

Lazare

scotindublin wrote: »

Good luck on Friday C; go into it with confidence and attack the course. It is probably my favourite 5k; it is a brilliant race; great course and a great standard at it.

Hopefully see you there; planning to go out and watch.

Cheers C, great stuff. Have heard tons of good things about it. Excited now. Looking forward to seeing you there.

Murph_D

All the best tonight!

Lazare

Murph_D wrote: »

All the best tonight!

Cheers D. Had a good sleep last night and took today off work. Feel ready.

Will you be there yourself?

Lazare

Disappointment last night.

20:15 chip. Picking through the ashes of it this morning to figure out what went wrong. I went into this full of confidence, cocky almost, internally. Was so sure of myself, so sure I was gonna run 19:xx with a decent chunk off the pb.

Arrived around 6:40pm, picked up the number and jogged about the place until I met Damo. We set off on a proper warm up around 7:15 out the first mile of the course. 3.6m total finishing with a couple of strides.

Met WubbleWubble at the start for a big bear hug, gutted afterwards for him that things didn't go to plan, his calf popped at 2k.

I had planned to start just in front of the 20min pacer but couldn't get close to him with the crowd, started about 15 feet back from him. That wasn't a big deal.
Gun went and we set off, was quite congested for the first 500m or so, a lot of checking and squeezing. As I said above I had planned for 5x sub 4 min kms. Pace was good now, 3:55. A bit of a drag going up the motorway bridge.
First km clocks 3:59. Shoulder to shoulder with Damo now, he's looking really comfortable, I'm feeling ok now too. Starts to hurt though early into the 2nd km.
The 2nd km is mostly under tree cover so the pace on the watch is all over the place, I knew to expect that from the warm up. Km 2 clocks in at 3:52 which shocks me a little. Still with Damo, but not feeling as good as he looks, feeling like I've overcooked it. Drag then going up the second motorway bridge punched me. Dropped back from Damo on it, looked down at 4:40 pace and felt like crying. Km 3 clocks in at 4:16. Soul destroying. So much work to do, and so much pain.

I pick it up a little but can't get below 4 min pace, want it to end so bad, run km 4 in 4:04. Work out that I need a 3:48 last km, try to kick, pick it up a little but just can't get the pace up. Agony. Manage a bit of a kick in the last 100m but it's nowhere near enough. 4:03 for the last km.

The Terenure 5mile last year was the only other time I've felt disappointment after a race. Wasn't trained well for that though, so this was tougher to take.

Not a great feeling.

I think it all boils down to going out too hard. I ran the first mile at sub 19 pace. Sean pointed that out to me last night shortly after the race before I'd had a look at the stats and tbh, it made me feel good. Good that I had something to blame. I think my plan to run 5x sub 4 min kms was a bad idea too. Was too concerned with it. When the watch beeped 3:59 on the first km that was all I cared about, probably shoudn't have been a focus at all. I think it led to running the second one too fast. A better plan would have been to run even 4 min splits and kick.

Bit despairing right afterwards last night thinking I'd done everything right and had nothing to learn. Glad now though that I know what to do next time.

Win or learn.

Lazare

Lazare wrote: »

The Terenure 5mile last year was the only other time I've felt disappointment after a race. Wasn't trained well for that though, so this was tougher to take.

Purging DCM2018 from my memory has obv been quite effective. Don't know how I forgot about that catastrophe lol.

Wubble Wubble

Nice report. First 2k were like lightning - I'd no idea we were going that fast. Great to catch up again. Minor correction - my calf didn't pop, that was just a combination of my vivid imagination and the usual mid race doubts coming together. I'll live to fight another day. So will you. Look forward to the next one.

scotindublin

I know you are disappointed C but I think on reflection you can look back at last night and take some good constructive feedback for yourself from it.

You have recognised that you went out to fast (lesson 1 learned) and maybe a better strategy would have been to hit 4 mins even for the first 4km and try and kick from there (lesson 2). Running 5ks are not easy and it is a constant learning process; we are all different in how we approach them. I was told by one of the lads in the club to know my 3k split hit that and hang on from there; you will find what works for you

Take this one on the chin and move on; the cumulative affect of the training will click soon enough and you will look back and wonder what all the fuss about breaking 20 again was about.

C