Last of the Summer Wine
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Fantastic photo. A new profile photo for all of your accounts. Great racing too.
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That's a great time really and not a million miles from your PB on a day when you say it didn't really happen for you. So well done. Fantastic read as always.
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Super report as always D & only delighted to be part of it, it's great reading the race reports of those around us on the day. Hmm I have a stride you recognise🙂
I think you ran a really good race & should be very proud, I was always expecting you to creep up ahead of me, but sure there's always next time😉The chats & company afterwards really topped off a great day!
Class pic, defo a profiler😎
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Another week, another race. When I signed up for the John Treacy Dungarvan 10 that I don't think I realised it was the week after Raheny. That makes four races in five weeks, which is probably pushing things a bit in my book. But I have the bib and I'll drive down and hope for the best! So this week is just about ticking over with a tiny mini session and a few strides.
Mon 30 Jan
Rest.
Tue 31 Jan
75 mins easy. An all fella told me it's illegal to be running in the bus lane (it was a cycle lane). Good intentions I suppose.
January total: 263 kms (164 mi). A bit less than last year, when I probably had my best start to the year.
Wed 1 Feb
20 mins easy. Not quite with it today. Headed out from work with an hour in mind, but then suddenly remembered the Winter League was on tonight. So cut the run short, but then later realised I couldn't make the scheduled 3-mile race anyway. Would have been treating it as a steady run at best so probably just as well to remove the temptation.
Thu 2 Feb
40 mins inc. 2.5kms @ T
With Sunday's race in mind, I wanted to get a little taste of the pace at least. Headed to St. Anne's and did one lap of the old parkrun course. A bit of a breeze out so I had to be patient and trust the effort until the tailwind in the last four or five mins made it possible to hit the right number. All good really but felt harder than I'd like. Added a few strides at the end of the cooldown.
Fri 3 Feb
65 mins easy, meeting up with M and D on the coast for a few kms en route. M is doing Dungarvan too, seems just as unexpectant as I am. A few strides through Marino towards the end.
- WTD: 36 kms (22 mi)
- MTD: 22 (14)
- YTD: 285 (177)
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Sat 4 Feb
42 mins / 6.8 kms inc. Fairview parkrun
A fifth anniversary Sanctuary Runners celebration at Fairview parkrun this morning. Such an interesting group - got to run with a great bunch of international refugees as well as at least two Irish international athletes. And all just down the road in the local park. There was a celebratory egg and spoon race at the end and although I fancied my chances I ended up giving away my egg and spoon equipment to a kid who ambled up and looked like she wanted to join the action. Avoided the three legged race. Fair play to @Bungy Girl for organising an excellent morning, with plenty of cake too.
- WTD: 42 kms (26 mi)
- MTD: 29 (18)
- YTD: 292 (182)
Post edited by Murph_D on10 -
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Where are we now, where are we now?
The moment you know you know, you know.
(David Bowie)
John Treacy Dungarvan 10 Mile (PB)
I caught the second half of a film a few weeks ago on the telly. A crime thriller in the Se7en tradition, with Denzel Washington in the Morgan Freeman role. It was all about how the basic mistakes find you out. The irony being (spoiler alert)
the bad guy didn't seem to have made any.The Little Things, it was called. Highly recommended. I caught up with the rest of the film on Amazon Prime just the other day, filled in some of the gaps.The little things...
At this stage of my running and racing life, any win feels like a big win. You learn that not all days can be good days. Disappointment trades places with hope, satisfaction with renewed expectation, elation with the near certainty of a soon-to-be-experienced reality check, a return to earth, disappointment. Which of course brings hope back into the equation. A circle of emotions. A cycle that nevertheless can be intermittently extended, expanded, suspended. If you pay attention to the little things. They can keep you in the game. The basics. The controllables. The daily miles, the structure, the discipline. Mostly the miles. The instinct, and also the instinct to know when the instinct is wrong.
Today's race was the fourth in five weeks. Dublin Masters, Leinster Masters, Raheny 5, Dungarvan 10. Obviously this was a January after the best training year ever, 2022. Reasons to be cheerful, hopeful. But those previous races had been mediocre. All I deserved really, after an old man Christmas of drinking beer and eating shite. How long can you get away with this kind of thing? Maybe not long. Certainly not much longer. I had had a great 2022 but felt the strength fall away after the intensity of the long marathon season dwindled. Cross country racing can shore you up a little bit, maybe, but not enough to get away with Raheny, not me anyway. But can you race your way to fitness, that old conundrum? I never thought so, until today. Today I felt the ordinariness of those three outings converted into enough intensity that, combined with the residual strength from last year, came together to deliver an unusual and exhilarating feeling of strength when it mattered most.
A day trip to Dungarvan for an 11am race means leaving Dublin at about 7am. I picked up Mark in Clontarf. He'd done the driving last year, so it was my turn. A cold morning with a beautiful moon rising over the frosty midlands fields. The freezing conditions were hard on the car battery. But Dungarvan's conditions promised to be perfect. We got lucky and were able to plug in at the car park. 40 mins warmup then released the fast charger to the next guy in the queue. Jogged to the start line. Every time I go to a Munster race I seem to bump into @MiketheMechanic, and sure enough he said hello at the start line (and again a couple of miles in). Mark lined up a few rows in front of me and after a while waiting in the crowded start area the siren finally sounded.
Raheny is a good prep for the start of this race, which is similarly crowded during an early loop around some narrow Dungarvan streets lined with parked cars. In mile 2 the congestion eases as the field fans out on the main Youghal road and you can breathe a bit more easily and get down to business, thankful to have survived the throng. I'd put last week's Raheny time into the calculator the previous day and was surprised to see a 10-mile estimate that would actually be a small PB. So despite last week's minor disappointment, I could now take a bit more from it - the confidence that my performance at this race last year (a highlight) could be justifiably challenged. In theory anyway - like all races you have to get the first bit right and put yourself in a position to achieve. So I found myself glancing at the watch in these early miles, pulling it back to 4:23/km pace (about 7:03/mi). No need to be an early hero. I tried to channel a bit of the @skyblue46 here, as S is the master of the sustainable start. Early systems check - feeling good. Discarded the throwaway VHI hat (parkrun sponsor bling in fetching bright orange, never worn before), thrown expertly to the feet of a steward on a roundabout. And soon we were out in the country, heading up the road that last year had a headwind howling down it. Much more benign today in the perfect, cool, calm conditions. I looked around and found myself with plenty of coalescing groups to tow along with, moving when necessary to the next, sometimes dropping back a tad. Starting to becoming aware of a few runners who were sticking around and might become rivals as the race developed. A Clonfliffe Harriers gent who looked like he might be in my age group. A small but powerful looking woman in a Ballintotis Fit for Life tee shirt, reeling off steady seven-minute miles (Ballintotis Fit for Lifers seem to be a hardy bunch). And one or two more.
About four miles in I decided that the stars were aligning for sure as I knuckled down and concentrated on keeping it steady. I felt tall and strong while a few people around were starting to feel the pinch, especially the lad on my shoulder who sounded like he was dying. A little push to get his distracting grunts and splutters out of range. I was moving smoothly, alert enough to run good tangents, trading places with Clonliffe and Ballintotis here and there, enjoying the to and fro of it all, and taking some confidence from the sparse but encouraging support out in the Dungarvan hinterland. Incredibly there seemed to be a Raheny supporter at a lonely intersection and I got a nice encouraging shout. At half way there was a large roadside clock that read about 35:37. A glance at my watch confirmed I had about 24 seconds leeway in terms of chip time. So a feisty enough opening five but feeling good about it, not dying at all (yet).
Into mile six with some bumpy roads and a couple of sharp turns, and I was holding my own with still plenty of runners around to work with. Ballintotis was there, a little in front; Clonliffe just a stride ahead. The odd person ploughing strongly past, but the field pretty established at this point. The course seems to be slightly net uphill but there are some delicious downhills, one of them quite a long drop in mile seven, which I really enjoyed, using it to pass a slew of runners who had the brakes on. I'd been conscious of staying strong through the middle third of the race and suddenly found myself at mile seven still feeling good, even daring to push the pace here and there when the topography suggested it might be OK. I was waiting for the smoother road I remember from last year, mile eight along by the Brickey river. I think a little bit of course knowledge can be so valuable. The expectation of the nicer surface sustained me for a couple of miles before hitting it, and once on it I found myself able to push the pace, at least until the sharp but short little climb up onto the main road and the turn back towards town when inevitably the hurt starts to kick in for sure. To be fair to my fellow competitors, everyone around me in this mile nine seemed to be solidly pushing to the finish, dragging me with them, maybe me dragging the odd one too. I'd passed Ballintotis by the Brickey, but she pulled ahead again on the main road. She reminded me a bit of @Laineyfrecks, similar size, similar strengths, similar conviction in the way she'd passed each time, but I was feeling a lot stronger this week than last and maybe not as easily beaten.
I'd put Clonliffe to bed a good way back and was still trading places with a few lads, but I felt Ballintotis was the target most likely to tow me home. As the 9 mile sign is passed she's maybe eight places in front. There's a noticeable resolve among the whole field as we hit the final mile - really impressive, hardly anyone seemed to be dropping off with people coming through strongly from behind also. I'd been concentrating a lot on my breathing throughout the race, consciously expanding the ribs, getting the air in, refocusing on the drill of it every mile or so. The vaporflys were doing a job (I'd changed to a thinner sock since last week, seems to help me feel the road more and feel the response from the shoe more). Hanging on now but still feeling I have something for the challenging final half mile, now wondering where the hell is that left turn that takes us up the blasted hill that nearly destroyed my race last year. Again, a bit of course knowledge helping. Ballintotis was still in front, so I picked out another strongly running blue singlet to help take me around the corner and up the hill, passing a 600m-to-go mark sprayed on the road. Blue responds and I find myself matching stride for stride and pulling ahead, now half way up the hill, flagging but not as much as I'd feared. Ballintotis seemed to be flagging more - I passed her for maybe the fourth time. Or so I thought, it turned out to be a different but similarly built Ballintotis runner. 😂 Then at the top of the hill, it's a question of pushing through a couple of little turns in the final 250m.
By now it's been obvious for a while that a PB is almost in the bag. But how much of a PB? I'd refused all week to entertain the idea of a sub-70, but then you turn the final corner and can see the clock at last. Jaysis, it's actually on, although the gun time has ticked over the 70 and I'm already eating into the 24-second buffer. A final gathering of steam and an old man unleashing of some sort of faster shuffle towards the gantry. Looking at the numbers all the way, pushing it, begging the clock to slow down. I fairly powered it (in my own mind) over the line, the momentum taking me a good way through the finisher throng before I dropped to the side for a bit of a breather and a gathering of the senses. I'd stopped the watch at 70:01, but how far after the line? Delighted anyway with the big PB as I queued for the goody bag and tee shirt - really excellent swag on all counts. Found Mark who'd had a decent run too. A creaky jog back to the car. M did the honours and looked up the prelim results which confirmed a time of 69:58. Cue PB pints later in Gaffney's. 🍻
How about that? Every second counting, almost nothing to spare. Every mile run, every session run, every race experience contributing a little bit individually and a huge amount collectively to that result. Little things combining to become a big thing, pushing you over the line to a time you'd wondered would you ever achieve. A better performance, relatively, than the marathon I was so delighted with last year. Suggesting of course there's more to push for. I've always said I'm a slow learner, and this was a real moment of discovery.
Isn't that the best thing to take away from a good race?
Splits (approx): 7:06 7:03 6:57 7:04 7:03 7:05 6:57 6:51 7:06 6:46
- Previous PB: 70:44 (Dungarvan 2022)
- Target: 70:35 (from the calculators)
- Actual: 69:58
- 621st place (of 2,743)
- 9th M60 (of 48) - good bit more old man depth this year.
- VDOT: 48.8
- AG: 77.7%
- Verdict: Out of the blue
And there you have it. I'd put this down as one of my best ever races for sure. I don't think I've ever run with such belief in the second half of a race. A rare negative split and a time that shifts the graph a little bit more towards where it should be in terms of converting shorter distances to better endurance. A glimmer of hope that the marathon season can be a success again with the right approach. One that pays attention to the basics. To the little things.
Hats off to the Dungarvan race organisers. They put on some show down there.
- WTD: 67 kms (42 mi)
- MTD: 53 (33)
- YTD: 317 (197)
Post edited by Murph_D on24 -
What a brilliant race report and a fantastic achievement. Great to see you yesterday. As I said to myself at the start line, I can't wait for the race report! It didn't disappoint! Some great times posted yesterday. Conditions were near-perfect. Thoroughly enjoyable day. You gotta celebrate the wins when they come. Beir bua, Denis 💪🙂
See you at the next one.
MtM
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PS - I spotted an orange hat being tossed through the air and landing right by the steward just around the 1 mile marker. It was a few metres ahead of me, so I was wondering if it was you 😂
The start was quite congested all right. Nearly 2450 finishers I think. My first my split was 7.06 - difficult to make progress untill the Youghal road, like you said.
MtM
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Brilliant report D and brilliant race. As always you write so well. Delighted it went so well for you. Did you figure out where the first Ballintotis girl was in relation to you at the end?
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Brilliant report to match an equally impressive race.....very well done 👏
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Haha, yes, I spotted her in the results and photos on the Running in Cork Facebook page. She kicked my ass!
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Cheers, M and a very good result from yourself, was it a PB? It's amazing how we always seem to bump into each other at crowded Munster races alright - Ballycotton, Charleville, Dungarvan, any others? You looked strong when you pulled ahead, I was wondering would I see you in the latter stages but you pushed on well. Yep absolutely perfect conditions as you say, it's good to be able to make them count.
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Wow!!
What an outstanding race you ran, with a report to match.
So so thrilled for you D, so very well deserved.
👏👏👏👏
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Great read and even better racing- congrats
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What a run. Brilliant.
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What a great race report... such an enjoyable read. The final mile is different now to the 3 previous times I did Dungarvan (18,19,20) and that late hill is an addition I won't forget in a hurry. Huge congrats on the sub-70... a fantastic milestone to tick off.
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What a brilliant read D & what a brilliant result! I was already beaming on my drive home from Trim & then when I'd heard your results that smile got wider! I am genuinely so happy for you, your constant hard work is paying off, it's so well deserved. I am also thrilled to be mentioned again in such a well written race report🤗
Congrats again!
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That was an outstanding Read!
Fantastic racing, brilliant running - Delighted that it all come together and no better place than Dungarvan.
Not only are your times and races getting better - the race reports are of 'Krusty' proportions - alsolutley Epic.
How you link the 2nd Paragraph to the film - Bravo.
For me - this is one of the best paragraphs I've read on Boards.
The little things...
At this stage of my running and racing life, any win feels like a big win. You learn that not all days can be good days. Disappointment trades places with hope, satisfaction with renewed expectation, elation with the near certainty of a soon-to-be-experienced reality check, a return to earth, disappointment. Which of course brings hope back into the equation. A circle of emotions. A cycle that nevertheless can be intermittently extended, expanded, suspended. If you pay attention to the little things. They can keep you in the game. The basics. The controllables. The daily miles, the structure, the discipline. Mostly the miles. The instinct, and also the instinct to know when the instinct is wrong.
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I saw that movie over the Christmas and I loved it too.
You just keep on delivering - on your feet and with your pen (figuratively speaking).
Simply amazing!
It's only Feb and we already have two very strong contenders for award nominees in several categories between @Laineyfrecks and your good self 😉
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Brilliant stuff there D, sure we hardly needed the race detail at all after the opening paragraphs...food for thought.
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You had me at 'Denzel'.............😂
D, I know we're all different in our own way, but I always come away from reading your reports with a renewed sense of hope and positivity about my own running and what I might achieve if I had a similar approach to yourself.
That race report had everything a reader would need to almost feel as if they were experiencing the race first hand themselves.
Congrats on another gutsy performance!
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Great read - well done . Love to see it all coming together for a great pb
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Thanks very much everyone for the above comments, all of which are very much appreciated. As I've often said, the race report is a big part of how I process the performance and try to learn from it. I sometimes hesitate before hitting the Submit button, thinking the report could be construed as overblown and/or self-indulgent, but ulitmately it's my log and I can do what I want! 😄
I'm delighted with the somewhat against-the-run-of-play result, which points to more underlying strength than I thought was there, as well as a bit more resolve on the day, something I often struggle with when the going gets tough - the truth is, the going did not get as tough as expected until later than usual, so strength kept the need for the resolve at bay for longer than usual (or something like that). Either that, or changing to a different racing sock made the difference. 😂
As usual after a hard race, I'm taking plenty of recovery and won't do a session at all this week. My left hamstring has been a bit niggly for a while now and although it behaved during the race I've been more aware of it than usual in the aftermath. I don't think it's anything to be unduly worried about but plenty of rest and recovery is what seems to suit me best.
Monday 6 Feb
Rest. Very tired today actually. Fell asleep on the couch in the afternoon.
Tue 7 Feb
50 mins easy on the seafront, some of it with M. Reliving some of the weekend's highlights. Sore legs.
Wed 8 Feb
An hour easy from work out to Poolbeg. I'd toyed with the idea of a steadier session, but the decision above to keep it easy all week was confirmed after the warmup - legs and hamstring still feeling like more rest needed.
- WTD: 20 kms (12 mi)
- MTD: 73 (45)
- YTD: 336 (209)
Signed up recently for the Dunboyne 10k at the end of March. I haven't run a good 10k in a long time and the PB should be vulnerable (probably exceeded it at Dungarvan actually). Also considering joining DD at the Garristown 10k which doubles as the Dublin Championships.
Post edited by Murph_D on10 -
Congrats on your super 10 mile PB.
That race report should defo be bookmarked as a very early contender for race report of the year, epic read!
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No - not a PB in Dungarvan on Sunday, Denis, but a solid sub 70 all the same.
Would you believe I actually ran 66.02 there last year, and would have dipped into the 65's if it wasn't for the wind and that horrible little hill before the finish line :-)
Well done again on a super run and race report!
MtM
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Yep. An incredible piece of writing, a true wordsmith.
D, it's very interesting what you said about how writing about your race experience is an important element of it, how you process it, how you grow from it. I definitely feel that too.
I mentioned to someone the other day about how I struggle to remember more than snippets from a race. Putting it down 'on paper' really helps with recall I feel.
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I really do feel it's very worthwhile getting a race report written no matter what the outcome is. Of course there's nothing like the buzz of writing that race report if you have just ran a really good race but the bad races, even though you don't feel like writing them are so helpful too, if not for anything more than grounding you & letting yourself & others know that they won't always be great races, we learn from them all. Every now & again I read back over my race reports , it takes me back there & sometimes helps me focus for the next race. Reading other people's is so important & helpful to me, just to see what makes them tick, how they deal with the tough parts, how they dig in, how they feel when it's falling into place or when it falls apart, I love it all. So basically my point is (without all this waffle) is for people to keep writing race reports 😊
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Thu 9 Feb
40 mins easy around Marino.
Fri 10 Feb
No running. Put it off earlier and then it became too late.
Sat 11 Feb
50 mins easy.
Arrived in London with my nephew for his/my/our first premiership experience. Managed to get out for a few miles before heading to The Emirates. Run was less controversial than the game and probably had more highlights. But the lad enjoyed the drama. 😀
Sun 12 Feb
Out early for 11 miles or so along both banks of the Thames. Tricky in places, a lot of ups and downs around bridges etc, and not great running surfaces a lot of the time but a most enjoyable run. Gives a taster for London 2024.
- WTD: 54 kms (34 mi)
- MTD: 107 (67)
- YTD: 371 (230)
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I have to admit I'm finding it hard to actually begin to knuckle down and start doing the schedule I've mapped out for the next few months (and beyond). After a week of post-Dungarvan all easy runs, it's time to return to the diet of base-building around steady sub-threshold runs that served me well last year (not that past performance is any guarantee of future returns 😉). But first, there's a Winter League race and a BHAA cross country event at the weekend that I hope to do. Next week...
Mon 13 Feb
63 mins easy/recovery around Dublin Port. Ran some of the new greenway which is coming along nicely - unofficially, as it's still fenced off at both ends but you can jump a low wall and get at a good bit of the part that's laid. A not very energetic outing, feeling quite tired after the weekend's travels (which always introduce even more sleep deprivation into the mix). One of the reasons for the delay referenced above is a general feeling of tiredness while running. It's been a long time - a few years now I think - since I felt genuinely fresh. Maybe that's just the way it's going to be.
Tue 14 Feb
50 mins very easy.
Valentine? Schvalentine. It was fun when I was a teenager but jaysus. Anyway I'll say no before I get into trouble. Luckily the mrs is with me on this, no interest in Hallmark Holidays. In fact she has fecked off to Donegal with the boys for midterm, leaving me to my own devices. The hardship. Spent a good part of the day making a boll*x of putting up some shelves in the home office.
Wed 15 Feb
Winter League Round Six (2 miles) - 10th in 13:09
So when you're feeling jaded, what better option than to head to Raheny on a damp night for a two mile race against your clubmates? A shortish warmup of about 15 mins before ditching the hat and gloves and lining up with a smallish field of 36 for the annual Donagh Lynch Cup, which is a sealed handicap race famously won by @skyblue46 during his brief stint in the green and white. I've no idea what my handicap was, or even if I had one at all having missed the last few rounds of the league, so I just concentrated on trying to knock out a decent couple of laps of the Howth Road / All Saints Road / Wade Ave circuit. It had started to drizzle before I left the house so the road was a little greasy, not conducive to attacking the two left turns on the one-mile loop. First half of lap one was the usual jockeying for position and settling after the early hares start to run out of steam. My strategy tonight was to try to run a first lap around 6:30 and hope to pick up in the second. As usual there were a few cars to avoid on the open roads, as I settled in behind a few runners I was confident I'd be passing before too long, and sure enough I pulled in front of them at about 800 metres, now chasing another couple of lads who were also bound to fade. Passed them, and by the first Wade Ave visit heading towards the end of the lap I was about 10 metres behind a fella with a buff, a runner who didn't look familiar so no idea how he might be feeling at this pace although he was moving at least as well as I was. I'd glanced at the watch average pace field once or twice during the opening lap and knew the pace was not where I'd hoped, the timer calling 6:37 as I passed halfway. Buff was moving about as well as I was, and while I tried to inject a bit of pace at the start of lap two, I didn't make much progress on closing the gap and soon ran out of that early-lap momentum. So by the penultimate turn with about 900m to go, I was probably 25m behind Buff and starting to become aware of footsteps closing from behind, a situation that continued down All Saints Road as Buff continued to dominate our little mini-race.
I have discovered that I am more motivated by not being passed by a chasing runner than being the chaser myself, so as we approached the final turn with 300m to go I'd managed to pick it up a bit to discourage the footsteps, which meant I'd started to close on Buff. I convinced myself he was 'Dying in front of ya', as people like to shout at cross country races, and I also had my dubious 'Never passed on Wade Ave at the end of a race' statistic to worry about. (It's probably not actually true.) I was pretty sure the chaser was going to blow that record out of the water but on the final stretch I found myself able to get close enough to Buff to hear that he was indeed struggling, emitting sounds that you never want someone on your heels to hear. That was enough to prompt a closing blast that took me past and held the chaser at bay as the line thankfully came into view before the wheels came back off.
The lad behind - also an unfamiliar face - was nice enough to shake my hand afterwards and thank me for dragging him home, which is the other way of looking at it. So not a bad little race in the end - not a good time by the standard of some previous outings, but satisfying from a racing point of view to not get passed and take a few runners on the way around. Nice cuppa afterwards (and some leftover Raheny 5 crisps) in the temporary clubhouse. Got nowhere in the Donagh Lynch handicap stakes unfortunately, but great to see one of the older runners get her name on the trophy (which unfortunately hasn't been engraved in several years, so S still has yet to be immortalised).
A good bit of craic tonight. A couple of laps cooldown took the total for the day to about six miles.
- WTD: 29 kms (18 mi)
- MTD: 136 (84)
- YTD: 399 (248)
Post edited by Murph_D on17 -
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It was the Brian Holland cup I won. Have they changed the name or have they two sealed handicap races?
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