Last of the Summer Wine

Murph_D

OOnegative wrote: »

Nice running D, the margin of victory of your Boards award made TbL’s behind look small. 100% deserved also, superb piece of writing.

Working 12 hour shifts over Christmas so very little running happening!!!

Ah here, no margin could do that!

Murph_D

shotgunmcos wrote: »

On a break! Trying to think of a new log name.

Congrats on your boards award! Happy New Year ðŸ˜

I'm sure a wordsmith like yourself will think of something suitable. Enjoy the break.

Murph_D

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Nice going D.

Pleased with my Xmas week despite all the shenanigans. Still managed a 54 mile week with one long run and two quality sessions and a day off. Highlight of the running week was trying out the Endorphin Pros and a surprise gift of infinity react!

Nice mileage for the year by the way. Very solid.

I've been rotating Saucony with Nike myself now for nearly a year and I must say I don't find them very compatible - Nike cushioning seems much softer. However the Endorphins are probably in a whole new league and not comparable with my run of the mill clodhopper Sauconys.

Laineyfrecks

Murph_D wrote: »

Ooh. What are you on? This could get competitive.

Great minds!!! Haha i'm on 2,179 so unless you just don't run for a few days you'll be ahead

Swashbuckler

Murph_D wrote: »

I've been rotating Saucony with Nike myself now for nearly a year and I must say I don't find them very compatible - Nike cushioning seems much softer. However the Endorphins are probably in a whole new league and not comparable with my run of the mill clodhopper Sauconys.

I actually had some conversation with Laineyfrecks and Lambay earlier this week on that subject on strava. I compared the 4% specifically with the endorphin pro. I prefer the cushioning of the endorphin pro. It feels a little more natural. I love the 4% but there's something about the squishy nature of the cushion I'm not a huge fan of. I guess my history of racers is with the adizero adios 3 and 4 which has you feeling every single impact with the road. So that's what I'm used to. Endorphin pro are the best runner I've worn (note I haven't tried the next% yet).
You're right, I used to own a regular pair of saucony. No comparison with the pro. And for 60 quid cheaper than the next% it was a no brainer for me.

Murph_D

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

Great minds!!! Haha i'm on 2,179 so unless you just don't run for a few days you'll be ahead

Think it's about 2,174 after today so you're safe enough. My strava mileage is a bit off because there's a marathon in there twice.

Laineyfrecks

Murph_D wrote: »

Think it's about 2,174 after today so you're safe enough. My strava mileage is a bit off because there's a marathon in there twice.

Fair competition so

Murph_D

Swashbuckler wrote: »

I actually had some conversation with Laineyfrecks and Lambay earlier this week on that subject on strava. I compared the 4% specifically with the endorphin pro. I prefer the cushioning of the endorphin pro. It feels a little more natural. I love the 4% but there's something about the squishy nature of the cushion I'm not a huge fan of. I guess my history of racers is with the adizero adios 3 and 4 which has you feeling every single impact with the road. So that's what I'm used to. Endorphin pro are the best runner I've worn (note I haven't tried the next% yet).
You're right, I used to own a regular pair of saucony. No comparison with the pro. And for 60 quid cheaper than the next% it was a no brainer for me.

But that squishiness is the spring at work!

The vaporfly is in another league of squishiness - have to say I like it, and find the zoom fly very similar in feel, despite the harder foam. I'll definitely try the Endorphins at some point, just have to work my way through the stockpile first - can't justify buying any more shoes at this point, too many in rotation and a couple more still to unbox. :eek:

Murph_D

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

Fair competition so

If it helps get me out the door, you never know...

Swashbuckler

Murph_D wrote: »

But that squishiness is the spring at work!

The vaporfly is in another league of squishiness - have to say I like it, and find the zoom fly very similar in feel, despite the harder foam. I'll definitely try the Endorphins at some point, just have to work my way through the stockpile first - can't justify buying any more shoes at this point, too many in rotation and a couple more still to unbox. :eek:

Yeah I hear you on not being able to justify more shoes.in my defense I've retired three pairs in the last month.

In terms of the squishiness I felt like the return from the endorphin pro was just as good if not better. Effort level was well down for what it would have been with a non carbon plated shoe. Endorphin pro are well worth a look for someone interested in saving a bit of money and getting similar return to the Nikes.

Murph_D

Just seeing out the year. Maybe a session towards the end of the week if I'm feeling adventurous.

Mon 28 Dec

11.6k @ 5:32

Up the Howth Road to St. Anne's and back via the coast. Park jammed with end-of-day walkers and cyclists as usual. Lots of wobbly kids on new bikes. Reminded me that the owner of the local bike shop told me the other day that this had been a record year for xmas bike sales. Ill winds, silver linings.

Tue 29 Dec

8.6k @ 5:41

We are in Donegal for a few days, returning the MIL to her home county. Unloaded the car, grabbed a headtorch and out around the local loop to stretch the legs. The torch must be the same brand as TbL’s ‘glowworm’s mickey’, as it was practically useless for anything except making me slightly more visible, which I suppose is better than nothing. Made it back before total darkness fell, thankfully!

Wed 30 Dec

12.2k easy, with 3k @ MP

A walk on the beach at Muckross, where the sunshine was glorious just after we drove through a sleet shower to get there. On the way home, I hopped out of the car and got in a few hilly miles over the ridges, dialing up to MP on the (very marginally) flatter stuff nearer home. Cold and crisp, with snow on the hills. A great day to be out, as agreed with an elderly walker. Also came across a runner on the back of our local loop, very unusually.

This week: 32k (20m)
This year: 3,519 (2,187)

OOnegative

That’s some photo you posted on Strava, a truly beautiful county.

Murph_D

OOnegative wrote: »

That’s some photo you posted on Strava, a truly beautiful county.

You mean this one? I agree. That's the back of Slieve Liag.

MY BAD

Beautiful.

OOnegative

Murph_D wrote: »

You mean this one? I agree. That's the back of Slieve Liag.

Must resurrect Photo of the Year award........

Swashbuckler

OOnegative wrote: »

Must resurrect Photo of the Year award........

TbL wins that one hands down

OOnegative

Swashbuckler wrote: »

TbL wins that one hands down

No he doesn’t, it was pants down!!!!

MY BAD

You can't beat the western coast line in terms of beauty

Murph_D

Thu 31 Dec

3.5k @ recovery

A pathetic little run to end the year! The roads were icy and after almost going on my ear on some black ice a few hundred metres down the road, I abandoned any plans to do something more substantial. No matter - the legs were a bit tired anyway after the sudden injection of hills over the past two days.

Annual Review

So that brings 2020 to a close. Certainly a memorable year for many reasons, most of them wrong. I was lucky to get a few races in early on, although none of them were notable. As usual, the year kicked off with the annual sufferfest that is the Dublin Masters XC, where I finished a mediocre 196th out of 291, well down on 2019’s result. Little did we know it would be Pat Hooper’s final involvement with a race that never fails to get the blood up, and the terror of letting the singlet down on home turf. An absolutely great event that everyone who is eligible should make it their business to do. A month later I faded badly over the last three laps of the Donadea 50k, falling well short of my ambitious target. The week before I’d togged out at the Trim 10 mile which in retrospect was a mistake, even if I hadn’t raced it, treating it (foolishly) as a 50k pace run. Then a month after Donadea, I snagged a late entry to the Bohermeen Half. In retrospect again, it was too soon after the 50k effort, and I found the last two or three miles very tough indeed, going backwards through the field. The talk before and after that race was all about the looming pandemic, and the pint I had with Ferris and mister paul in Gaffney’s of Fairview, my local pub, would be the last time I set foot in the place. It closed a few days later and is still dark - not the kind of joint that was ever going to be anything but a ‘wet pub’ (a term I despise).

By Paddy’s Day I was in Donegal for a planned few days that turned into three months. I enjoyed exploring every inch of the 2k limit, and got in plenty of hilly miles that would pay off later in the year. Not good TT territory though, but the various Boards and club TT events offered distraction from the gloomy doom. Midsummer and autumn were all about Hanson training with Ferris, FBOT and KennyG, definitely the most enjoyable marathon block ever, which remained sociable and optimistic as races became moving targets - Chicago, Galway, Down Royal, and Ashbourne all falling by the wayside. There was an enjoyable and responsibly organised half marathon TT in the Phoenix Park with clubmates, where we came close to being chased out of it by the rangers. I managed a PB pace for the distance, a good omen for the ongoing Hanson training, which finally culminated in a memorable virtual Dublin Marathon to round off the year.

No point in comparing the year with any others - hopefully we will get back to some sort of normality towards the end of 2021. In the meantime, Happy New Year to all here in the Boards A/R virtual running club. Keep lacing them up and putting in the miles.

A few 2020 stats

Days running: 290 (5.6 per week)
Longest streak: 12 days (twice: first and last 12 days of the year)
Total distance: 3,523 kms (2,189 mi)
Biggest week: 100k (62 mi) (30 Aug)
Biggest month: August - 419 km (260 mi)
Races: 3 (1 cross country, 1 forest trail, 1 road)
Time trials: 7 (3x1m, 2m, 5k, HM, M)
Best mile: 5:52 (St. Anne’s Park, 30 May)
Longest run: 50k (Donadea, 8 Feb)
PBs: Impossible to be sure, but possibly two (HM, M)

Happy new year!

ThebitterLemon

At your age you’d think the sumner wine would be turning to vinegar but you’re continually producing vintage stuff.

Really consistent and a great year, well done

TbL

Murph_D

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

At your age you’d think the sumner wine would be turning to vinegar but you’re continually producing vintage stuff.

Really consistent and a great year, well done

TbL

Aw, thanks, you old charmer.

Although if this lockdown continues I might end up being one of the last of the summer winos. :eek:

Murph_D

So here we go, into another year - my 10th as a runner.

Fri 1 Jan

5.2k @ recovery

Walking/football on Fintra beach with the boys. Very busy by Donegal standards. After a while I put on the runners and completed a couple of laps of the beach and the riverbank behind the dunes, then over a kind of linksland sward back to the start point. Just to keep the Christmas run streak going more than anything else. Enjoyed it all the same.

Sat 2 Jan

3x (3k on, 1k off)

Another cold early afternoon. I headed up towards Croagh crossroads then out through Casheloogary. After a warmup I upped it to around M effort, keeping an eye on heart rate as the terrain was too hilly to judge the effort by pace. Distracted by a thankfully caged barking dog I almost went headlong on a piece of solid ice in a spot on the road that obviously hasn’t seen the sun for some time. That was at the beginning of the second set of 3ks, with 1k recovery between each. Two lads on some sort of souped-up quad, more like a dune buggy really, didn’t bother to slow as they shot by, so they got the ‘German’ death-stare as they passed. Some nice downhill when I turned in the forestry. Gingerly back over the icy patch then back to M effort on the road home. Very enjoyable, although the effort levels are higher than I’d like for this kind of session. Total: 16.4k (10.2 mi)

Sun 3 Jan

12.3k easy

A bright and cold midday run. Headed out the local loop which was quite icy again. Turned down towards Killaghtee to stretch it out a little and by the time I got there I was feeling good, in that sweet spot smack in the middle of zone 2 where you sometimes feel you could run forever. So instead of turning back I braved the main road to lengthen the loop via Bruckless and Darney. Delighted to spot three robins hopping along the road in front of me at one point, near the spot where I bust a gut during one of last spring’s 1-mile TTs. Wonder what this year will bring on the racing front? Will just tick over for now, hoping for the best.

The mileage target this year will be 2,200 miles plus. 43 miles for this week, so off to a decent start.

Happy new year!

MY BAD

Were you involved in any other sports before running?

OOnegative

MY BAD wrote: »

Were you involved in any other sports before running?

Supposedly he would have made Norman Hunter & Ron Harris look like pussy cats in his day!!!!!

Murph_D

MY BAD wrote: »

Were you involved in any other sports before running?

Didn't play any organised sports as a kid. Joined a soccer team in my 20s (actually we started the team ourselves) and played for about five years until emigrating. That was it really. Despite 00neg's information I wasn't a very physical player - more of a speedy left winger type. I wasn't particularly skilful but I was quite fast, which meant I had a good chance of scoring if I was involved in a sprint against the fairly lumpen full backs you'd find in the lower echelons of the Leinster Junior League and later the Amateur League, back in the 80s. For one season my team was based in St. Paul's College in Raheny, and we went unbeaten at home. That was our greatest achievement, apart from avoiding relegation a few times!

No sport at all in my 30s and 40s, apart from the occasional jog that never developed into a habit.

Murph_D

Great to see so many logs active with good discussion going. Long may it continue.

Mon 4 Jan

8.9k @ easy (5:38)

Easy run around the local loop, dodging the icy patches. A chat with neighbours halfway around, who were surprised we hadn’t gone back to Dublin yet. Didn’t give any unnecessary information away.

Tue 5 Jan

Speed: 12 x 90s (90s jog recovery)

Haven’t done a session like this for a while, but the minute I decided on it I was looking forward to it. Jog to the Croagh Road and did the reps on the undulating territory up to the crossroads. I had the HRM on to check later that I was giving it the right amount. Don’t usually do this kind of session by time, so it felt a bit different, and depending on the slope I covered around 340-400m per rep, which seemed about right. Aim was jog recoveries but I found myself walking the first section of most of those in the second half.

Wed 6 Jan

No running. ‘Streak’ ends at 15 days. Still, that’s the longest since April 2019 (17 days).

This week: 20k (13m)
This year: 54 (34)

Swashbuckler

There's a nice progression on that session if you feel up to it down the line 3 x (4x90s) off 90s for set 1/75s for set 2/60s for set 3. 3 mins between sets.

Nasty little session...

Murph_D

Swashbuckler wrote: »

There's a nice progression on that session if you feel up to it down the line 3 x (4x90s) off 90s for set 1/75s for set 2/60s for set 3. 3 mins between sets.

Nasty little session...

Cheers, P, I’ll put that one on the list.

Murph_D

Thu 8 Jan

11.4k easy @ 5:45

Around the local loop again, extending a little to make it 7 miles. A neighbour had warned about some very slippy roads but by the time I got out there was a thaw and most of the ice was gone. Nothing much of note, except afterwards I noticed I’d burst a heel blister, which must have developed during the session the other night - felt nothing until it had popped. This may be the first running blister I have ever had - have been lucky so far, although I’ve gotten a few from hiking.

Fri 8 Jan

No running. Too much to do cleaning up, packing and driving back to Dublin.

Sat 9 Jan

One hour easy @ 5:41

Tried shotgun’s one hour no-looking-at-watch challenge. Only decided this after leaving the house so I hadn’t planned a route beforehand. If the object is to run easy pace without the watch, it was a success as I defaulted to my standard middle of zone 2 easy pace, with appropriate HR. But miscalculated the distance a little and ended up running 85 seconds over the limit.

Very, very busy on the seafront, which added to the challenge as I was constantly trying to avoid people, even on the quite mucky grass where walkers rarely congregate. Seem to be a lot of newbie walkers out there who don’t know how to use the paths - I’ve noticed quite a few posters commenting on this lately and it’s true!

Sun 10 Jan

Long run 23.6k @ 5:38



Decided it was time for one of my ‘town tours’. Wanted to check out some of the James Gate area as I’ve been reading a bit lately about the former section of the Grand Canal that used to serve the Guinness brewery and is still discernible in the urban layout and street names around the back of the complex. So for a bit of balance on the way out I also ran the filled-in section of the Royal Canal from Blessington Street Basin to Broadstone, and took in Arbour Hill and Stoneybatter for good measure. Stopped many times to take pictures so the elapsed time was more than 20 mins longer than the 2:13 of running time. Love being a tourist in my own town.

This week: 66k (41m)
This month/year: 100 (62)

Murph_D

Another thing - maybe I’m a lifestyle runner after all, if self-directed running tours are my favourite way of experiencing places...