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Ah very good. I’m not sure if I’ll make it down myself as it’s my husbands birthday but if I do hopefully we’ll get to say hello! That’s brilliant you are coaching the kids. I took mine to athletics a couple of years ago and didn’t work out at the time. The younger guy would love it now but too many other activities.
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Good stuff sure he might fancy a trip to Tralee! You should negotiate a discount on the race from your coach ;-) It's for a good cause in fairness so nice to support if possible. Yeah I have been coaching juvenile athlete for 6-7 years now, usually a few sessions a week from 6 to 17 year olds so a broad range! I enjoy it and my daughter takes part so when I joined my athletic club I was asked by the head coach at the time would I like to help out/do assistant coaching. I knew my daughter would be joining the club in a few years thought it nice to get involved and learn the ropes. Plus when you work from home as I have been doing since 2015 it's a good way to get out and meet people. It's through running and athletics is how I know pretty much anyone I know in Kerry.
Kids have some range of activities to chose from, in your case there I'd always say to the child and the parent if I saw them around the area that you're always welcome to come back. We've had a few athletes who were with the club at a young age, went off to other sports or no sports for a few years but have came back now so good to let them know the option is there.
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Log update, been 6 weeks since the last update so better catch up and get into the habit of a weekly update hopefully!
Completed my first 10K since early November last night and thankfully all appears to be okay on the niggle front, been quite frustrating since early Sept when I picked up the foot injury and from then it went from one niggle to the next...all the time whilst having the foot issue. Maybe I should just have stopped running completely for a time. My foot seems to be okay at the moment, it's not 100% yet but far better in the last month whilst I have been building up slowly again. I have been be able to get up to running 4/5 days a week at a variety of paces (no intervals yet mind). Distance wise, I am running 5-8K most frequently these days and usually at easy pace or steady pace. I did a few parkruns/races over the Christmas period. Mid 24min pace for the 5K, this takes a bit more work than I would like but finished these runs with final K my fastest K in each time so sandbagging at the start a bit. My fitness is not where I'd like to be but that will come in time with consistency. My club is hosting an 8K race next weekend on Sunday 15th so I am planning to race that, sub 40 is my target. Following that on the running front I am going to target 5Ks for the first half of the year, will do a few races here and there and use parkruns to gauge progress. I am hoping the scheduling of the county road race is confirmed soon as would like to target one. Usually it's on in late Feb/early March. On the throws side of things I have playing around with discus a little bit and also the shot, so will train across a few throws disciplines this season (including javelin and weight for distance). Shot and WFD is what I focused on last year but javelin is my favourite of all but did not compete in it last year due to a lack of training and practice....feel I have the most unfinished business there but I want to crack 6 meters with the shot this year too (5.99m is my pb which was set in 2022).
I finished 2022 with 1932.9km so at least an improvement on 2021 but not as high as previous years. I'd like to get my mileage back up to hopefully 2019/2018 levels again but I need to increase supplementary work like S&C to support that. Rather than simply chasing miles I also am considering changing some of my easy mileage to getting out on the bike in an effort to hopefully get through a year injury free. I can manage 4/5 days a week running and would like to run 6 days a week but that might not work for me at the moment so twice a week on the bike could work well.
2021 - 1798.4km
2020 - 2301.6km
2019 - 2331.60km
2018 - 2436.5km
2017 - 2333km
2016 - 1814km
No running PBs in 2022, looking back if I discount some of the time trial efforts I recorded 2020 the last racing pb I set was back in 2019, not sure realistically what I can target this year but the parkrun one might be one I could have a try over the first half of the year if things go well.
1 Mile 00:06:07 Time trial 2020
3K 00:12:09 Time trial 2020
5K 00:20:58 Time trial 2020
parkrun 00:21:42 Tralee parkrun 2019
4 Miles 00:28:31 Munster Road Championships 2017
5 Miles 00:36:25 Raheny 5 mile 2017
10K 00:44:41 Rose of Tralee 10K 2019
10 Mile 01:13:53 Kingdom Come 10 Miler 2018
Half Marathon 01:40:23 Charleville Half Marathon 2017
Marathon 03:43:41 Tralee Marathon 2017
50K 04:33:58 Donadea 50K 2018
I have entry for DCM again, will focus on that come June/July. Maybe a different training plan this time as Hanson's hasn't worked out for me in the last two marathon cycles I had tried in that I got injured both times and failed to make the start line. Probably not the plan I use next time even if I did enjoy it.
On the coaching side of things I am head coach for the juvenile side of my club this year, it's a new role for me with my club. I have been contributing to some aspects of the head coach function for a few years so hopefully will go okay. We have agreed a goal for the year for the club so generally now it's just planning and coordinating training sessions to that goal, resources (coaches and parents) and facilities (we don't own our own) and it is a challenge at times. I recently completed the AAI Level 2 coaching course for throws, this took place in Athlone over the course of the 3 weekends (one in Oct and the first two in Dec) and really enjoyed it. I felt I got a lot from it which hopefully will be make me a better coach (and a better master's athlete in my own events). I very much enjoy meeting people at these courses and sharing experiences and knowledge. Athletics is a pretty small community in Ireland so it's brilliant to get to chat with coaches of some high profile athletes and hear how they do things. If things go well this year I'll probably look to complete the AAI Level 2 coaching course for endurance next year.
Outside of sport work is in a bit of weird limbo place at the moment, my role is changing but as of yet not defined so I'm currently in a role supporting those doing the work rather than do the work I have doing for the last 12 years. I am looking forward to what comes next and hoping retraining is not too far away. I have a few courses coming up over the next few months, will take a few hours per week but hopefully manageable.
I have enjoyed following a number of logs this year on boards, I'm a regular kudoser/thanks buttoner even if I don't actually comment much on things barring a thanks and well done. Thanks for sharing your experiences and please keep it up and special well done to all the award winners in the yearly polls.
Best of luck to all for the year ahead.
Post edited by diego_b on12 -
Best of luck to you D in 2023. I really hope you stay injury free and make Dublin this year.
Fair play taking on the head coach roll. That’s a lot of work I’d say and I hope plenty people show their appreciation.
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Good to see you on the mend. Fair play on stepping up on the coaching front. I'll probably see you next week at the Tom Kelly 8k.
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Thanks K, well done on your great year of PBs and hopefully you get over your recent injury soon. There is a bit to it alright but in fairness you do get thanked here and there.
Thanks D, thankfully seem to be motoring well enough now. Have to be careful not to overdo it so will be an easy week this week and hopefully try for sub 40 at the race. Great stuff, will see you there no doubt.
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Mon 2nd Jan
After parkrunning efforts on Sat & Sun I took today off, happy with both runs as it was 24:34 in Tralee on Sat and 24:40 in Listowel on Sun (NYD). Listowel is a tougher/slower course than Tralee I find but I always enjoy the run there. Having to dig in tough on the 3rd lap at that hill always means you seem to get an extra drive back down the hill on the last K. I was happy with my time in Listowel as ran it mostly to effort and didn't check my watch after the first lap.
Tues 3rd Jan
Last day of the Christmas hols for me before back to work on Wed so got a nice mid morning run at 11am. Just the 8K easy in 46:10 @ 5:45min/km.
Wed 4th Jan
Originally was planning to run at lunchtime but didn't happen so said I'd run after coaching in the evening but by the time I got home it was 8:45pm so decided to leave it off and try for a longer run on Thursday.
Thurs 4th Jan
First 10K since early November, back then I was still running longer distances but it wasn't comfortable and was still getting pain/discomfort in my foot and elsewhere but thankfully no issues on this run. I had a little fist pump when I finished my run reminding me of my first ever 10K run back in early 2014. 10K easy in 58:45 @ 5:51min/km.
Fri 4th Jan
Planned rest day ahead of giving the parkrun a decent crack the next day.
Sat 5th Jan
Best laid plans would have had me arriving at Tralee parkrun probably 9/9:10am to do a decent warmup ahead of a planning harder run (aiming for sub 24) so naturally arrived at 9:25am approx with just time for about a 300m jog. So hard to get everyone out of the house some mornings.
Lined up on 2/3rd row and away we went, I had decided that I would start off a bit faster than recently and see how it would play out over the run, Tralee is a 3 lap course of equal distance for each lap so I like check my cumulative time on each lap as the GPS doesn't work so great with the trees. Lap 1, felt good and clocked 7:54. Second lap...kept the effort the same and checking the watch at the end of the lap I saw 15:47 so still on target. Lap 3, everything feels like it's slowing down but for the last K I pushed on the effort a little bit more, was happy to find it was there when I went for it and ran hard all the through to the finish. Hit the watch and checked the time, 23:30. Meant I had managed to run the last lap quicker than the first two which was good pretty good pacing. A cool down lap with a clubmate then was good and then caught up with my wife and daughter who were walking.
Sun 6th Jan
Few options for running meetups today, local running group were doing a run in town in the morning which I would have done only my club were doing a director's run of the Tom Kelly 8K race we're hosting next week so said I'd do that instead. The director's run wasn't on till 3pm which was a small pain being in the middle of the day as rather run in the mornings at weekend. Beforehand I went around the course and touched up the KM markers when due to the volume of linemarker I put down last year were still visible in most places and I had taken photos for reference from last year to be able to ensure to get the exact same markings from the course measurer. For the run itself it was a small affair with just 6 of us as it turned out but an enjoyable run. 8K in 41:24 @ 5:07min/km.
Late night staying up to see the Packers unfortunately not make the playoffs. Disappointing end to a strange season which seemed to have got new life in the last month but pretty sure it would have ended next weekend anyways even if they had got through.
Weekly total: 33.4K
Year to date: 41.6K
Post edited by diego_b on4 -
Nice run at Tralee Parkrun. Well done!!
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Thanks, a little bit of a peak before a new niggle unfortunately (my old friend the calf muscle checked in to remind me they are still there) but will grand in a few weeks.
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Mon 9th Jan
Easy paced club run in Tralee with a mix of my AC and Tralee Triathlon Club. A shade over 5K pace at very easy pace, much easier than I'd normally run on my own but I keep with the group pace on their recovery run. A few of my club's juniors joined for this run too so I spent a bit of the run "encouraging" them to give the club's 8K race a go at the upcoming weekend. 5.4K in 38:13 @ 7:13min/km.
Tues 10th Jan
Rest day from running but did some practice with shot putt, weight for distance (I use a 10K kettlebell for throwing at home) and discus and worked a bit with my daughter on her turbo jav and shot put. Then when planning the S&C portion of training for tomorrow evening's training I did two rounds of it with my daughter. Nothing crazy but lunges, squats, various planks, russian twists were completed.
Wed 11th Jan
Lunchtime run, 6.5K easy incl strides. With the planned race coming up at the weekend I wanted to add some strides into this easy run. Just did 4x15secs, just focusing on getting up to a good pace and watching form. Unfortunately due to horrendous wind and rain club training had to be cancelled this evening.
Thurs 12th Jan
10K easy in 63mins @ 6:17min/km, very windy run this and for the first half I was being blown along the road. In the last 2K I could feel a small bit of tightness in my right calf but just kept running. Ordered myself an olympic bar and a few 5K bumper plates as a new toy for home to work on a bit of strength work.
Fri 13th Jan
Rest day and unfortunately could feel might right calf a little bit so was a bit concerned with the club's 8K race coming up on Sunday.
Sat 14th Jan
Ahead of the race I had signed up for tailwalking at parkrun this weekend with my daughter. It's one of the volunteer roles I have not done to date so wanted to check it off the list. It was grand to do now, little bit boring on the 3rd/last lap as most of the runners have finished at that stage so it gets quiet with only a few walkers ahead of you. Home then to see United beat city, delighted with the result and finally we appear to have a manager. Also I no longer understand offside. Later that evening I assisted at number collection for the race in Ardfert. When I got home I said I may check the calf to see if any hope of doing the race tomorrow, I could feel it slightly on the walk but not much. I did around 800m on the treadmill and knew I wouldn't be running. Still there was plenty of work for the club tomorrow so could slot in where needed.
Sun 15th Jan
Arrived in Ardfert with my wife and daughter at 7:45 to facilitate number collection. A busy time in fits and bursts but got to meet many of those planning to run or walk in the race...@DeepBlue of these parts was looking forward to it. We were packing up to leave the community centre and had a few last minute people for entry and collection but just got the stuff into the car on time and got up to see the start of the race take off. The weather looked like it was going to play ball for the timeslot of the race thankfully, we only need around an hour of a window for it really. Once the race started I headed over to finish line to assist my wife with number recording and results processing. Small bit of a challenge to process manual results of a live race and work out the various age category prizes which were aiming to present if possible. Originally I planned to do this at the finish line whilst watching the runners come in but after the first 10mins of finishers (26min-36min approx) the weather changed so I had to scarper to the car with the sheet of results to work on. Horror of horror then somewhere in the middle of it all the first sheet of the results went missing on me and I could not find it for love or money. I felt proper sick and what would I do, I searching high and low in and around the car but no luck. Before going to make my confession of horror to the race directors with one final look I went around the corner of the school and about 10 meters up the footpath I spotted an A4 sheet of paper lying facedown in a puddle of water...I was like oh sweet f, first please be the sheet and secondly I was so worried when I turned it around what would it look like (having been freshly written on) and then being in a puddle of water for a good 5-10mins (or moreso what felt like an eternity until I found it) but when I picked it up carefully and turned it around my prayers were answered that it was the sheet I was missing and it looked okay with nothing missing. I quickly and carefully brought it back to my car and took a picture of it (and the subsequent sheets that came my way) to begin processing. Never again will I do results processing!!
Weekly total: 21.9K
Year to date: 63.5K
Post edited by diego_b on7 -
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And you looked so calm and relaxed while all that was happening - I'd never have guessed. If it was me I think I'd probably have aged 10 years.
Best of luck with the recovery from the niggle. Hopefully it's swift.
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Seem to have got over the calf niggle now so time for a catchup
Mon 16th Jan
5.2K in 38:43 @ 7:25mim/km. Very club run in Tralee. Calf felt fine enough here.
Tue 17th Jan
5K in 31:35 @ 6:17min/km. Things do not feel so good here so decided a break from running for a bit was needed and to try rehab the calf....have had a few of these over the years around marathon training so didn't feel the need for a physio visit as pretty confident I could get it sorted in a few weeks with some rest and strength work.
Sat 21st Jan
With the National indoor masters coming up in two weeks I have been working on my throws every 2nd/3rd day. Being unable to do my regular running meant I had more time and motivation to spend time on throws. Spent around an hour at the club's training field training on my own covering shot putt, weight for distance, discus and javelin. I also threw a hammer for the first time...bit of (dangerous) fun that one. I record myself taking the throws then watch them back and try use an impartial coaches eye on corrections I need to make. Shot Put is my main focus at the moment and the big thing I have to work on is my speed and footwork going from the back to the front of the circle. For those anyway familiar with the event I use a glide movement (same as what you see most multi eventers using) but experimenting a little bit with rotation....what you'll normally see watching international throwers. Rotation takes a lot of work (years) to get the balance right but it's easier on the body and it allows more throws in training the force required (plus the way you hold the shot) is different. Happy with this session as I was within striking distance of my pbs in Shot & WFD and aiming to break them at the nationals.
Sun 22nd Jan
Hike with some running mates who I haven't actually managed to run with in ages, this was in Tonevane which is an area going out the Dingle peinsula starting a little bit out the road and up the hills from Blenerville. Nice area for some trial running which I've done a few times over the years and you can go all the way along this route (known as the Kerry Camino) to Dingle. In this case it was a walk/hike of 11K that took around 2.5 hours.
Thurs 26th Jan
First attempt at a run. Just used a local 5K loop that is pretty flat. Could feel my calf after just over 3K so just stopped and walked the rest of the loop. Disappointed but realistic this will take a bit more time. 3.7K in 22:21 @ 6min/km.
Sat 28th Jan
Tralee parkrun's 8th birthday so didn't want to miss it, my daughter got a nice award for being a junior volunteer this year. We walked it together and took us 53:14.
Sun 29th Jan
Some early morning coaching at An Riocht assisting our hurdles coach with two of our juvenile athletes who will be competing in hurldes at the upcoming Munster indoors. After their session ended I used the shot put circle for around 45mins to work on my throws...forgot my measuring tape unfortunately so had to guestimate my distances by stepping it out and also using an app on my phone and happy with how it went. Again set up my phone/tripod for videoing/self coaching and finding that working well. Just as a I was finishing up a coach who was arriving with his athlete to coach gave me some tips on things he'd noticed in my throws so that was good as well for a big of reenforcment to what I see myself.
Tues 31st Jan
Time for another test run, just running from home after work I said I'd be conservative and not try for 5K (which I usually consider the shortest run I would do training), so tentative steps out and did 3.5K in 21:29 @ 6:03min/km. Felt okay, fitness not good at all but expect that as it drops off so fast unfortunately I find.
Thurs 2nd Feb
Okay a 5K test this time, my college course ends at 6pm on a Thursday so would be running in the dark but just took it nice and easy and ran to Causeway and back home again. 30:17 @ 6:02min/km. I joked on Strava about this that my calf muscle transplant has been completed and building up again so chalked off the niggle then to focus more on building up again.
Fri 3rd Feb
Some shot put and weight for distance training at home at lunchtime and feeling good for the national masters on Sunday. That evening my club held a training session for the Ukrainian children staying at Banna resort. It was pretty special to be honest and fun which was the main aim of the session. As head coach I'd set the plan for the session and it was great seeing it come together and the kids enjoy it. It was a challenge to coach young kids when we don't speak each other's language it's amazing how you find a way and it just worked. We'll be doing a few of these in the coming weeks and our own members are invited to attend as it's a club training session.
Sun 4th Feb
National Masters Indoors
First time competing at this event in Athlone as I have always shied away from it but given I'd put a good stint of throws training in particularly in the last month I was looking forward to it. Having researched those entered in my age category...there was four of us in the o40s on the day (same 4 in shot and wfd) I knew I was unlikely to be getting some medals but that's fine. Over the last few years I've accumumlated a full set of gold/silver/bronze in county, provencial and national level masters and in some cases it's because there is only a few competing in your age category so just turning up means a medal. So with those on the medal my target was to break my pbs in Shot (5.99m from the outdoor National Masters last Aug) and WFD (3.05m from the same event).
Clubmates were competing across a range of events before me so I watched them compete in High Jump, Long Jump and Racewalk before my event. For the warmup throws I deliberately threw a lighter shot (6kg) in warmup as I've messed up in warmup previously with throwing my weight (7.26kg shot) and due to lack of training probably wasted my best throw. In this case I have built up more endurance through volume work so was curious to see could I improve through the rounds instead of my best throwing being my first and then dropping off. The results for the shot throws were as follows, 6.41, 6.52, foul on the third, 6.58. Absolutely delighed with that series of throws, probably my best ever set in any throws event and a great way to finally crack 6 meters. For the foul on the third through my arm had just dropped away so it was called foul but I had got it out to over 6 again. 3 clean throws and each one further than the previous was a great buzz for me and reward for work done.
After a few hours wait I took part in the weight for distance event with the same set of competitors, the 56lbs (25kg) weight is a beast of a thing but like the 7.26kg in the shot that's weight I'll throw until I hit 50 (in 9 years). Again it would be 4 throws and the series went as follows, 3.25, 3.32, 3.23, 3.55. Again delighted with those throws and to manage to get it out further again with my final throw was a great buzz.
In both competitions I finished 4th out of the 4 competitors but I didn't think it could have went any better as I broke my pbs in both events by half a meter which is massive in these types of events, I am coming from a low enough level to be able to do that but it was great to see progress. I love these events and would recommend anyone who is a member of an athletics club to get involved with the track and field side also, as road runners we often shy away from track and field but like shying away from cross country you are missing a massive aspect to our sport and the masters competitions are very accessible whatever your age or background. In fact the people I get to meet at these events from clubs from around the county are without doubt the nicest and more supportive people you could ever meet.
Mon 6th Feb
Up home in Laois, 6.5K easy in 37:28 @ 5:45min/km. Used a regular loop for this which takes me through my home village of Borris-in-Ossory. Glad to hear recently that a ghost estate that was left idle for over 10 years now is being taken over by the council and will be completed. The village looks very tired in some areas these days in many of the older building such as the local hotel (where the buses used to stop) and a few pubs & shops that have closed for a number of years and in some cases gone to ruin. The population has grown in the village but I do wonder what will become of it all at times as services just don't seem to be in place that used to be there. It does give me hope when I hear of regeneration projects in social or business scenarios and they are coming. Work on playground for the village is progressing well and will be a great addition.
Tues 7th Feb
Some shot put and weight for distance training at home.
Wed 8th Feb
Lunchtime run and feels like normalilty of running has returned. 6.5K easy in 36:47 @ 5:38min/km. Very windy day down here so blown out of it a bit. Absolute soaking at training in the evening time, in my case I was assisting with race walking and hurdles for the young age group and then coaching sprints, shot put, relay and some s&c work with the older age group. A busy two hours but good fun.
Year to date: 93.9K
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Congrats on that National Masters performance, D, unlucky not to get a medal with that level of improvement in both events. I agree with the sentiment about track and field, having embraced the track a bit myself a few years ago for a while, it certainly gives you a different perspective and expands your experience of what it means to be a runner/athlete.
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Thurs 9th Feb
23K approx cycle after work in 56mins. First cycle in ages and was only so so with a few loose dogs on the route spooking me a small bit.
Sat 11th Feb
Tralee 10mile/5K for Kerry Hospice.
Bit of an funny one around this race with two 10 milers taking place in Tralee in little over a week of each other. Like waiting for a bus and two come along at the same time. In my case I'm not ready to go anywhere near the 10mile distance yet so wasn't going to be able to do either race but as the first one had the option of the 5K I went with that. It suited where I am at the moment and it was for a good cause too.
I ran this one about as hard as I can at the moment, checking the HRM at a few stages for the most confirmed I was in the max zone so had no more to give. The route is flat and the wind was favourably in bit quite a calm morning. I did slow in the final K of the race a little bit but having gone out hard that was to be expected. So a good test of where fitness at this distance is at the moment. I crossed the finish line in 23:30 and no ill effects to the recently injured calf which was great.
Hung around for a good while afterwards to watch the 10mile race, winning time was super sub 52min run from Oisin Spillane....smashing the course record which was held by the second place finisher Derek Griffin.
Sun 12th Feb
Munster Masters Indoors
Competing in the indoors in Nenagh this time around, I arrived early around 10am to watch the racewalkers from the club competing and putting in serious efforts throughout. I didn't realise that David Kenny and Brendan Boyce were doing a 5K race before that so missed that but Kate Veale was taking part in the women's race and set a new CBP. Some speed those top walkers can move at.
First event for me wasn't until around lunchtime and I was competing in the shot put again, I was delighted with the previous weekends effort where I got a new pb of 6.58m so figure probably not much more to come at the moment but it was another good day. Four throws again, 6.49, 6.73, 6.89, 6.68. Again I was thrilled to be improving through the rounds and for the last one I gave it my best in the hope of maybe cracking 7m but it came off my hand a bit awkward (thought I had fouled the throw) but all the same came away with a gold medal in the o40s (only one in my age category) but nice to get it and a new pb of 6.89. Speaking with a coach in another club afterwards who I have a lot of time for he reckons I can get to 8m so have a target that will take a bit of work!
Second event for me was the weight for distance, not as good a series of throws this time, 3.20, 3.38, 3.39, 3.45. Having got a new pb of 3.55 in the wfd the previous weekend and the shot having gone so well I was getting selfish thinking I'd see improvements here but no such luck. Anyways, another gold medal in the o40s. I was a little bit distracted during the rounds here as my daughter was in my vicinity so my focus was not right so something to work on for next time.
My wife also competed on the day, in the women's weight for distance and also got a shiny gold medal for her troubles. My Da was also competing in shot (o70) and wfd (o70) and took home some medals too so a good day all around.
Mon 13th Feb
Club run in Tralee, 5.4K in 36min @ 6:39min/km.
Tue 14th Feb
Bit of S&C work. Heel raises, lunges and squats are what I am generally doing at the moment.
Wed 15th Feb
Lunchtime run, 7K steady in 40min @ 5:42min/km.
Fri 17th Feb
Lunchtime run, 6K easy in 36min @ 6min/km
Sat 18th Feb
Tralee parkrun with my daughter, 5K in 41:40.
Spent a lot of the afternoon watching the National Senior Indoor Championshipson the youtube stream. Some great action, the live stream works well for running events but field events suffer big time not having a proper upclose camera on them.
Sun 19th Feb
Tralee Triathlon Club come & try duathlon
These events by the local tri club have been on my radar for a long time but have often clashed with athletics events but nicely this one didn't so said I'd give it a go.
Last time I did a multi sport event was the Dingle Adventure Race back in 2017 and I have no memory of doing a "brick" (bike and cycle) session in many years, and with one cycle so far this year I was ideally prepared for this. Anyways something different, so arrived to Ballyseedy an hour before the event and racked my bike. Laid out my cycle shoes to change into after the run, little towel to stand one to not bring stones into my shoe.
After a briefing the race kicked off at 10am, first part of the race was an out and back run. I decided not to go out too hard here as with the unknown of it all. Of the 25 participants I think I was in around 7th or 8th place after the first run.
3.3K run in 15:56 @ 4:46min/km
Just over a minute in transition, onto the bike. On the cycle I managed to pass two people and was passed by two also so no net gain in position. Figured the cycling would be my weaker aspect to such an event. One of the guys that passed me on his bike passed me at a rate of knots with around 2K to go to transition but said I'd try keep him in sight and catch him on the run.
14.1K cycle in 30:20 @ 28kph
Final part of the event was back to running, this was the part that concerned me most was going from the run to the bike as your legs feel very odd here. Bit of downhill to the start of the out and back course probably didn't help but after a K the legs started to feel a bit more normal. Plenty of fatigue in the system now but I focused on catching the two up ahead of me who passed me on the bike. I caught one guys after 1.5K and the other guy (young chap) I passed around 2K. Keep the effort up as didn't want to get passed by anyone.
3.3K run in 15:45 @ 4:43min/km
In the end finished maybe 7th or 8th overall, no results for this as just an introductory event but it was good fun for something different.
Home then to watch United keep up the momentum which is making me happy these days and then catching up the National Senior Indoor Championships on the youtube stream.
Year to date: 125.90K
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Congrats on the whole B family for the impressive medal haul.
Is that Come & Try duathlon event a yearly thing? If so I must give it a lash next year.
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Thanks D.
Certainly that one is as they've done it a few times previously that I have seen, they advertise their events on the Tralee Triathlon Club fb page so keep an eye on that. They hold a Spring and Summer series of different things. They have a trail version coming up soon that involves trial running and trail cycling but whilst the former would be fine, the trail cycle really would not be at all plus I don't have a bike for it. I signed up for this though -> https://hardman.ie/races/hardman-duathlon-killarney/
Doing a few different things in the first half of this year, my plan is a shorter marathon cycle for Dublin and hopefully make it this time!
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Mon 20th Feb
Club run in Tralee, 5.8K in 43min @ 7:31min/km.
Tue 21st Feb
Some calf strengthening work.
Wed 22nd Feb
Lunchtime run, 7.5K easy in 46:26min @ 6:11min/km.
Fri 24th Feb
Lunchtime run, 5.2K easy in 31min @ 5:56min/km
Sun 26th Feb
After two long days at indoor track in Nenagh for the Munster Indoor for U12s-U19s, busy days but good success for our athletes. Personal bests across the board for all competing and a few medalists too which is a good sign that things are going well ahead of the county championships at the start of May. Few things to work on as ever but that is always the case with competition.
10K easy in 62mins @ 6:11min/km, up at my parents place for the night before working in Dublin for a few days. First 10K run in 6 weeks and it went fine so nice to be getting up the distance again.
Very similar week to last week and it will be the same again for the week ahead albeit Sunday will have a bit of variety as I need to get the bike out again and do some run bike run sessions.
Year to date: 154.4K
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Mon 27th Feb
Up in Dublin for work so first run in the Phoenix Park in around 6 months, just a 6K out and back up Chesterfield Ave. 6K in 37min @ 6:10min/km.
Wed 29th Feb
Lunchtime run, 7.5K steady in 38:24min @ 5:28min/km.
Thur 1st Mar
S&C work for my calves.
Fri 2nd Mar
Post work run, 8K easy in 47:50min @ 5:58min/km. Off to see Kerry FC play Treaty United then in the evening with my daughter. Bit of a novelty having a League of Ireland team so near to where I live now so guess I can support my local team now as well. They drew 1-1 which is the first league points they have ever won.
Sat 3rd Mar
Nenagh indoors with our young relay teams, 3x teams on the day and they did great. It's a good way for them to experience competing at that level and getting used to the facility. Back again to Nenagh for the final time on Sunday coming. It'll be the 5th trip to indoors there since mid Feb.
Sun 4th Mar
Brick session, Run, Cycle, Run
I have a duathlon coming up on 1st April so that's the focus for now. That event will be 10K run, 40K cycle, 5K run so I wanted to get some practice in and get my distances up a bit. Prescribed myself a 6K run, 30K approx cycle (distances are a bit more approx in cycling), 5K run...and with transition practice too.
6K in 32mins @ 5:20min/km (kept this at steady pace and would plan to do the same on race day, I'm not going to win the thing and it's outside my comfort zone)
2min transition (unlock the house, change of footwear, helmut on, lights turned on on bike, cycling jacket on, bring bike outside, lock the house, gloves on, watch started, go)
28.99K cycle in 65mins @ 26.7kph (found this tough going over the last 5-10K, effort was high)
1:56min transition (gloves off, unlock the house, put the bike inside, change of footwear, jacket off, helmut off, lock the house, watch started, go)
5K in 24:15mins @ 4:51min/km, last two Ks here with 4:34 and 4:27 so around my best 10K pace so was very happy with that.
With the duathlon I did a few weeks back in a race I can get through transition from running to bike in 1-1.5 minutes and around the same from bike to running (doesn't involve unlocking and locking the front door of the house!). I think the average time is around 2.5 minutes so not doing too bad with that stuff. My wife and daughter think I am nuts as they watched me each time but it's fun.
Will be easy running this week mainly but I might try give the parkrun a blast on Saturday. Missing the county road race on Sunday which is a big disappointment but with 25 young athletes due to compete in Munster indoors the same day that's the priority.
Watched as much of the European Indoors as I could over the weekend, either live or after recording it. Bit of a disappointment for Ireland really, missing English, Mageean and Adeleke meant the medal contenders were out but still I don't think it was a great competition with the performances of many below what they would have expected. Darragh McElhinney was so close to nicking a medal you have to wonder if he had gone a little bit earlier but the drop off of the 3rd place runner in that race was exceptional and given Darragh got a pb I don't think he could have done anymore. So close though.
Year to date: 186.4K
Post edited by diego_b on6 -
Mon 6th Mar
Club run in Tralee, 8.1K in 59:23 @ 7:19min/km. Got a decent soaking during this but still went ahead with my plan to the cinema afterwards to see Creed III....after changing out of my running gear in my car. At an event I was at recently I saw someone going to get changed in the back of their van (Ford Transit) and thought that must be very handy...portable changing room that you can stand in. Creed III was good stuff, formulaic but you get what you came with this movie and expectations around this series and the Rocky series it was spun off from are generally met (expect for Rocky V which is simply bad). Seeing Rocky Balboa in the cinema when that came out was brilliant back in the day, so many good quotes from it.
"...it ain't about how hard you can hit, it's about how you can get hit and keep moving forward" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJHkTtvnUqA&ab_channel=pi1.com
Wed 8th Feb
Lunchtime run, 6K easy in 35:51 @ 5:57min/km.
Thur 9th Mar
Some S&C calf work. Was planning to possibly go for a cycle after work and then college this evening but didn't work out. Can't remember my excuse but if I recall right there was a good bit of slush on the roads from the snow overnight that had since melted. Really didn't fancy a potential fall.
Did some throws practice at home instead, shot putt went okay...wrist a little sore after but the weight for distance went great. Always find that with throws it's hard to get all things working well on the same day.
Fri 10th Mar
Lunchtime run, 7K easy in 41:11@ 5:52min/km. Could feel my right calf a little bit here which was disappointing. I had been planning giving parkrun a good run the next day so canned that.
That was it for the week then, no parkrun on Sat and ended up going to Killarney for a few hours with my wife and daughter. By the time we got back it was late in the evening and I had some baking to do. My club were hosting the county road race the next day so I made some 3x batches of Gilly bars (see David Gillick's Good food from the Track to the Table book)...they always go down well. Was missing a few ingredients I'd normally have but had the key one which are essentially oats, peanut butter, honey, raisins, coconut oil.
Sunday morning was out the door at 7am to head for the Nenagh Indoors for what turned out to be a very successful day for our juvenile athletes where they came away with 2x gold, 1x silver and 1x bronze. This adding to the 3x medals (1x silver, 2x bronze) won a few weeks back by our U12-U19s capped off a very successful Munster Indoor seasons. After 5x trips to Nenagh in the last 5 weekends it's nice to be finished there for this year.
Planning to go for a run on the greenway in Listowel on my way home but it was 6:30pm by the time I got in the vicinity and getting dark so just left it for the evening. Poor week of running but hopefully back on track next week.
The county road race went off great which I was delighted to see and hear, I had proposed it around this time last year that the club would host it (knowing we would do a good job as we have a good reputation for road races) and it was a record entry for the event. We'll hopefully see all the club runners back for the Banna run on 6th of August when we'll have our annual 10K and 5K road race on the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Year to date: 207.5K
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Mon 13th Mar
Club run in Tralee, 8K in 55mins @ 6:52min/km. First 5K of this was with the tri club and then the last 3K was on my own. Avg pace for the first 5K was around 7:10min/km, last 3K was around 6:20min/km.
Tues 14th Feb
Cycle after work, 24.2K in 58min @ 25.2kph.
Wed 15th Mar
Due to the yellow weather rainfall warning training from 6-7pm for the U8-U12s was cancelled so meant I had an extra half an hour after work so did my Wed run then before heading over for the 6:30pm session with the U13+. 5.2K in 29:54 @ 5:45min/km. Ran the reverse of a regular loop I use near home, can't recall the last time I ran it backwards so was quite strange to me given how familiar I am with running it the clockwise direction.
Thurs 16th Mar
My parents were down for the weekend and with my ac running it's C25K session in Tralee this evening I said I'd go in and run with my wife on her run. My father who's also a member of club came too....given he lives in Laois it's rare he gets to attend a club training run so it was good that he around to be able to. 5K in 38:38 @ 7:42min/km (with approx 5mins walking as part of that).
Fri 17th Mar
Was planning to do another cycle here but ended up not happening, so said I'll give the parkrun a good push the next day.
Sat 18th Mar
Tralee parkrun in 23:18, this felt pretty tough....avg heart rate 186bpm. Now wrist based hrm can be questionable at times but I knew I was at max effort and could not run any faster. Going on the second of the three laps a club mate of mine came right up behind me and then stayed behind for half a lap before passing me and then beckoning me to stay with him for the rest of the run. I hadn't told anyone of my plan to run it hard but guess he spotted that I was running faster than recently so was assisting....tbh I doubt I would have got the time without him but still at least once when he was a bit ahead of me I was tempted to walk to try get rid of him. It's my fastest parkrun since around this time last year when I recorded 22:49. It would be nice to get down into the 22s again over the next few months.
Warmup before this was very short, less than a K (the challenges of trying to get people out of the house in the morning) and did a 1K cool down afterwards.
Sun 19th Mar
Another club run, this time in Ballyheigue using the local 10K race route there. One of the coaches in the club due to attend was sick so asked would I do VI guide with a VI runner in our club. It's been a while since I did it but I was happy to do it as very familiar with the route we'd be running. My guidee is a faster runner than me so said I'd like to try keep it to around 6min/km if possible as I'd ran the parkrun hard (for me) the previous day...he was grand with that but as we ran we chatted away and then it was lashing raining at times so ended up being 10.4K in 57:26 @ 5:31min/km on what is a hilly course.
Club training this evening then between 6-8pm for our U9-U12s ahead of the county development games next weekend.
For the week ahead there is a charity cycle on Saturday morning that I might do with some friends. Sunday will be a busy day with our young athletes competing again so will have to work around that to get a run in. Planning to keep things easy for the week ahead after Saturday and Sunday's effort. Been thinking more about the rest of the year so thinking of doing the graduates 5-10K plan after I have the duathlon completed in two weeks. Including the base phase before hand that would take me to August and all being well I would commence marathon training with a 12 week plan then. I am looking at revisiting the training plan I last used back in 2018 which I ran 3:51 with in Dublin back then. After two failed attempts with Hanson Marathon Method's I won't be using it this time, it's not you it's me Hanson Marathon Method.
Weekly total: 35.3K, highest total so far this year.
Year to date: 242.8K
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Mon 20th Mar
Club run in Tralee, 8K easy in 54:40mins @ 6:49min/km. First 4K of this was with the tri club and then the last 4K was on my own.
Tues 21th Feb
Calf work.
Wed 22nd Mar
Ahead of juvenile coaching that evening I started work earlier so I could finish work earlier. Got out at 4pm for 8K easy in 48mins @ 6min/km on an out/back route from home. I bought my first pair of carbon plated shoes the previous week and they arrived that morning so was keen to try them out. Puma Deviate Nitro 2 that cost 90 quid delivered so I considered that a good price and the reviews for the shoe were good. They felt good on the run, pretty firm underneath so would like to probably keep them for faster work than easy runs.
Thurs 23rd Mar
Some resistance band work for throws events.
Fri 24th Mar
5K easy in 30:36 @ 6:06min/km. I was going to track in Castleisland that evening for training with our national indoors bound juveniles so again started work early so I could finish early. I was going to go on the treadmill but then it looked like it was clearing so got out the door and onto the road as the heavens opened up again. I was only going to be running for half an hour so just got going. Funnily enough about 5mins into the run a car pulled up beside my and asked did I need a lift anywhere as I was soaked. I said I was grand thanks. I enjoy running in the rain...once chaffing is avoided!
Training at the track then where I was first looking after the racewalkers and then a middle distance runner. Job done and off to see Kerry FC (met my wife and daughter there) play at home. They lost again unfortunately, hopefully that first win comes soon.
Sat 25th Mar
Fenit Coastal Cycle 60K (62K in 2hr 43mins cycling, a few breaks in there as was with a group)
After horrendous weather the previous evening it was a lovely day for this, starting off in Fenit we cycled towards Tralee before out to Ardfert and Ballyheigue (almost home territory for me really) and then around the Kerryhead before back to Ardfert and back to Fenit. Lovely event this and glad to have done it, a few running mates were doing it so cycled with them for the most part with pushing on here or there and then stopping as we caught up together.
Sun 26th Mar
Sportshall Games this morning for my club's U9-12s. This was taking place over in Killorglin (45/50min drive away) so I was over there for just after 9am to be ready for when the athletes would arrive at 9:30. Warmed up, group photo and then into the action with sprints, standing jump, speed bounce, shot put and relays the events of the day. A very busy day getting everyone to where they needed to be. It was done by 2pm which was good going. It was a great as the club finished in second place overall which was a good result for an event where we didn't focus on it this year as much as previous years, our relay teams did very well again with 3 golds and one bronze scored from 8 teams that ran. Bodes well for the weeks ahead with more competitions to come for them.
What was a good day now didn't end so well for me unfortunately. Went for food on the way home with my wife and daughter and then took it handy for a few hours to let dinner settle and then did some coaching with my daughter in turbo jav in the back yard. She got some great throws in with her throwing further than ever before by a few meters so that was great. Chat with my brother in law then for some planning around the gardens of our houses for work that needs to be done. Come 8pm and thinking the long evenings are great I'll got for my run now, figuring I'll get 10K done nice and easy and be back for 9pm. Around 7K into the run I felt something not so good in my left calf (opposite side to the most recent injury) so I just stopped and rang my missus to collect me. Can feel it since walking around so guess it's back to being injured for a bit and I find it hard to see being able to do the duathlon that was coming up on Sat (10K run, 40K cycle, 5K run).
Weekly total: 28K
Year to date: 270.8K
Post edited by diego_b on10 -
Sorry to hear this, hopefully it doesn't last too long!
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Oh no. How is it coming along now?
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Sorry to hear this D, hopefully nothing too serious.
Fantastic work with the club, by the way, and congrats on the excellent results.
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Thanks, two weeks down now....getting there!
It's okay K, it's starting to feel a bit better now. Not sure about chancing a run on it, might try something short in the next few days as off work for a week so will see how it reacts.
Thanks D, unfortunately something I've become accustomed to....frustrating that my running load is nowhere near where it was that have caused issues in the past. Thanks on the club stuff too, coming into a very busy period with a triangular match between us and two other clubs coming up on 22nd April....this was my idea, I think I might need my head examined as had enough going on but wanted to get competition experience for as a many of our athletes as possible ahead of the county track and field champs on 1st of May and 14th May.
Hoping to be back on the road this week, certainly will be on the bike at least. I did some throws with the weight last Thursday and no ill effects. On the way back home to Kerry (Wedding in Carlingford on Sat, Christening in Dublin on Sun) I got some shot put training done in Templemore today and whilst a little bit tentative when moving across the circle it was fine really. I bought a massage gun (the influencers and their discount codes eventually worked, I went with the mini gun from Massage Gun Ireland) and I do find it helping.
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An overdue catchup, been a very busy time on the athletics front for quite a number of months now but it's on a summer break for the next few weeks so best to get up to date and get the log going again.
On the coaching side my club met our target this year when increased our points total in the juvenile county track and field championship and maintained our 3rd place overall. It's our highest points total since 2012, we've been on an upward trajectory post covid so great to maintain that. We also managed to win more Munster medals and qualified a relay team through to Nationals for the first time in over 15 years. That added to more athletes individually qualifying to Nationals this year for many years was great. A break for a few weeks now and the coaches will meet up again to plan for next year. The first cross county events of the new season will take place towards the end of Sept so not long before back on the merry go round again for another 11 months!
In my own field events I competed in shot put, javelin and weight for distance at counties....managed to get a big pb in the weight for distance where I threw 4.44m. At county level a medal is pretty much a guarantee in these events at the different masters age groups as rarely 3 competitors so got a gold medal in each of those events. Going into Munster there was a change this year where some of the masters and seniors event were spread over two days so there was an option to compete as a Senior on one day and a Master on another day. For info, in the throws events the implement weights as the same as the seniors up to the age of 50 so no concerns with throwing something heavier. I competed in the o40 shot and weight for distance at Munster and got silver medals (only 3 in my age category including a new team mate who will soon be throwing further than me I think) but I didn't get the pbs I was looking for. I decided to go back to Templemore again for the Seniors day and competed (my first time as a Senior in a throws event). Shot put went even worse that day but I had my best even day at the weight for distance when I won a Senior bronze medal with a throw of 4.43m (just one cm off my pb), there was only 4 competitors on the day as 2/3 didn't show up so of course an element of luck but it was a nice thing to win and quite proud of it as my first ever Senior medal.
I will be giving the National Seniors a go on Sunday in the weight for distance. There are 9 competitors entered in for the event and based off the research I have done I know at least 6 can throw further than me but looking forward to it even if I come last I am aiming for a pb. I figured that having won the senior medal at Munster I am entitled to give it a go this year...I must have notions!
Running has been going well for the last 6-8 weeks and I have started off training for Dublin marathon. I'm using a training plan (Running Shoe Guru's Intermediate plan) that I used for my 2nd marathon onwards. I tried Hanson's the last two marathons and didn't make the start line unfortunately...I would like to revisit Hanson's at some point but I'd like to try get a safer plan (for me) under my belt and another marathon done first. I don't have any real expectations around times and having not raced anything other than a few 5Ks earlier this season I'm just training away using 4hrs as a guide. The massage gun was a great buy I think and using it a few times a week on my calves seems to have helped things, I've also started using compression socks if I am feeling anything anyway off and seem to be helping. I also believe in the placebo effect with such things but whatever works works.
Dublin Marathon - Running Shoe Guru Wk3
Sun 23rd Jul
10.5K easy in 65min @ 6:15min/km. Back home after a day in Tullamore on Saturday I took a lie so didn't get out until near 10:30. I ran a slightly different loop from home which was nice....very up and down which made in more interesting that the loop I was going to run. Unfortunately had some hassles with some dogs coming towards the end of the run, had just said hello to their elderly owner as I ran past him on the road but the three dogs he had with him weren't so keen on me with one of them having a bit of a go....took a minute (or can seem an eternity with these things) for him to back off but he did. I'll know next time to avoid that situation as clearly they were just being overprotective....and I'll have to add on around 4K to my loop to double back and run a different road.
Mon 24th Jul
Some throws training, 3x with the 28lbs to warm up and then 6x with the 56lbs. Managed to get a 4.33m which is my best throw of the weight in training. Will train again a few more times this week ahead of the competition on Sunday.
Tue 25th Jul
Fartlek
20min warm up, 8x30 sec fast with 90 sec recovery, 10min cool down.
Put on my Endorphin speeds for the first time in months for this and within 15min I could feel a blister forming on my heel so I finished off the warm up and called my wife to see could she collect me. Back home then and changed into Brooks hyperions I picked up in the last few months (really like them) and completed the rest of the run with them. For the fast bits I ran these around 5-10K effort...it's only for 30 seconds but Strava picks them up varying between 4:14-4:30 pace.
7.5K in total for the run.
Year to date: 551.5K
Post edited by diego_b on10 -
Dublin Marathon - Running Shoe Guru Wk3 cont'd
Wed 26th Jul
A wonderful blister came up following the previous days run, I burst it and dressed it so was able to get my 35min easy run done. Heel felt fine enough throughout. 5.7K in 35mins @ 6:07min/km
Thurs 27th Jul
Rest day from running so final throws practice ahead of Nationals at the weekend. Consistently hit quite a few around the 4.3m mark so feeling good going forward into the competition at the weekend.
Fri 28th Jul
Unscheduled rest day, was scheduled to be doing an easy run with some hill sprints but my heel was pretty sore. Tried a few different pairs of runners to see which would least irritate it but not to be.
Sat 29th Jul
Up home to my parents place in Laois ahead of the Nationals on Sunday. Was feeling good but my heel was itching me a bit so decided to take my mind off it and see could I get my missed run in from the day previous. 45min easy and 5 x 12 sec hill sprints with 5 min cool down. After about 5-10mins into the run my heel stopped itching so I took that as a good sign and got the run completed as plan. Sprints felt good, controlled efforts and not overcooking them which I have done in the past. 9K in total for the session.
Sun 30th Jul
With another All Ireland event taking place in Dublin on the same day I planned traveling up to miss the match traffic and worked out nicely. I arrived into the park beside Morton Stadium around 3ish. Got something to eat in the area and heading in to collect my number, it needed to be collected 90mins before the event but I was planning to watch a lot of the competition anyways. Weather wasn't great with intermittent shows, I had a quick word with Eric Favors at one point. I had just been listening to the Athletics Ireland podcast he featured on recently, nice guy so just wished him well.
Anyways the few hours passed as I watched the track action from the stands and then I headed for the dressing room to put on my singlet and bib numbers (first time putting a number on front and back of a singlet for me). Was starting to feel a bit nervous now tbh as was seeing the great and good of Irish track and field action here there and everywhere. I headed into the warm up area for 6pm as the detailed schedule said we had to be there for 6:10pm. Seeing some of our top sprinters/hurdlers practicing their starts off the blocks...wow. Thomas Barr just over there doing his warmup, nod the head at people here and there. Anyways I was glad to meet up with the weight for distance group...as it turned over there was only 8 of us (1 no show) and of those there, 4 of the others I would know well from masters competitions with another one from Munster and just the two from Dublin that I didn't know. We then headed into the call room area for about 20mins until 6:30pm, plenty of chat here but I took a few mins to start my warmup here...nothing crazy...most exciting part of the warmup would be squat jumps...to try get some explosiveness going. Then we were lead out to the track to the competition area. More warmup here and time chalk up my hands. Any nerves I had seemed to be going now and was more excited to get going at, as there was only 8 of it meant we would each get 6 throws. I took two warmup throws and was very happy with them as everything felt smooth and not forced.
Competition begins, the throwing order had me going 7th which was fine....often I get to go first at Masters events...having the letter B as the first initial of your surname isn't always a help. So I go collect the weight from the previous thrower, go through my practiced routine, clean the handle, pick up the weight with my right hand, raise it up and drop it down again. Step forward to the board, feet in position, deep breath, start the swing, ball swing back between the legs...repeat my mantra for the throw "delay, delay, delay"...ball comes forward, pull and then release...and away it goes. Feels good...measured and recorded 4.45m...a new pb by 1cm. Delighted with the opening. Round 1 finishes and I know I'm going to be 8th here based on how the others are going but fine with that as knew that would be the case, just want to get more good throws out. Second round, some people improve on their throws and some don't, in my case...I slightly clip my leg with the ball coming forward but just a glance and didn't hurt, 4.42m. Okay more to come... Round 3, trying to keep concentration here as got distracted talking to a competitor here...got a clean throw out, 4.45m again so still going the right way. After round 3 we're reorganized into the order for the top 8 with the lowest thrower to go first so that would be me. Stepped up, same mantra and got a little bit more height into the throw this time, measure, 4.5m. Delighted with that now and clapped my hands together. Congratulated by a few of my competitors, this is the norm at throwing events (and it's something I really like) is that competitors congratulate each other during the competition if someone gets a pb and having got two new ones today it was nice. The other guys were throwing great, Michael Healy from Leevale in particular was close to 9m on a few occasions...brilliant stuff. For my 5th throw then it went a bit wrong, I tried to add a bit more speed into the throw but it ended up going out very flat..4.04m for that. A lot of action on track now with the 400mH and 400m mens and women's race taking place so the atmosphere was hotting up and challenging to keep focus. Last round then, 6th and final throw...you have to go for it. Stepped up and got a good throw out but I knew it wasn't a new pb again, 4.3m on the button so that closed out my competition. 8th place in Ireland overall and a new pb of 4.5m. I felt a bit funny about going forward to compete in the National Seniors but coming away with having broke my old pb 3 times during the competition I am proud to having given it my best.
Afterwards there was still time to watch some of the track action with the 100m finals and the 1500m finals, great buzz and even if I had not have been competing I was delighted to be there to watch the action.
Weekly total: 32.7K
Year to date: 566.2K
Post edited by diego_b on11 -
Congrats on the PB's! and what an amazing experience that must have been. I was watching on the tele, didn't realise you were right there in the tick of it 🙌. I've often wondered how the midfield eventers manage to focus when there's a race going on on the track. You must have seen Sophie & Sarah in the 1500? Thomas Barr is just amazing, his 11th national title and surely the nicest person in Irish Athletics (maybe tied with Sarah Lavin).
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A great read there, well done on your PB! It must be a great feeling competing & seeing all the different talents!
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Wow fair play. I loved reading that. Like @Annie get your Run I was watching it at home, it must have been amazing to be there in the thick of it, rubbing shoulders with the stars of track & field and being a star yourself - to break your PB twice in a pressurised environment is a super result, really well done.
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Thanks very much, pretty cool alright. We were in action whilst the 800m's, 400m's, 400mH finals took place. The WFD was taken place up at the end where the pole vault was on so we had a prime view as they came around the final bend. The action on track itself isn't too distracting but the crowd reaction and commentary does draw your attention to it. Once we finished up and left the track the first of the 100m finals was due to take place so got to watch those and the 1500m. Great battle with Sophie and Sarah again there, hopefully we'll be seeing that for years to come...certainly seemed to draw the loudest response from the crowd! Indeed I have seen Sarah Lavin interacting with young kids on a few occasions after races. Very inspirational person with what she is doing this season in particular.
Thanks very much, I enjoyed it now. The National masters took place in Santry 2 years ago so I had competed there before but this was a very different experience. I was delighted to get the pbs for sure, least I knew I had done my best and can't ask for much more on a day.
It was alright, I thought I'd try add in as much detail as I could...the experience of going into the warmup area and call area was something new to me. Whilst I knew I'd be seeing top athletes out in action on track I hadn't given any consideration to seeing them proper up close in the warmup area but there they were. I saw Sarah Lavin and Molly Scott doing some blocks practice....lightning stuff! Thanks very much, one of the young guys in my club that I coach broke his javelin pb 3 times in one competition recently so he crossed my mind as the competition started so will be thanking him for the inspiration when I meet him in a few weeks.
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Congrats on your PBs, I was there on Sunday watching but must confess I didn't see any of your competition. I was sitting down near the finish line, and barely even noticed the pole vaulters tbh.
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No worries, track action always draws the attention over field events. I always feel sorry for the long jumpers in the stadium there as they seemed to very removed from the action being on the far side of the stadium to the main stand...see also the hammer and discus throwers who normally compete in the throws area outside the stadium and only those who follow those events get to see them.
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Well done D, super performance on the day having stepped up to the big event! Takes courage to do that and you certainly delivered. Congrats on the big PBs.
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Dublin Marathon - Running Shoe Guru Wk4
My log is a gone a bit screwy as my marathon plan has the week starting on a Sunday, having listened to Shona Heaslip on the runner's diary podcast recently I am in good company as that's what she follows usually. Anyways Sunday 30th July covered in the previous entry so...
Mon 31st Jul
70 min easy run completed up at my parents place in Laois before heading down home for Kerry. 11.6K in 70mins @ 6:03min/km. Pace a little bit quick on this so something I need to be more conscious of as ever. Shona Heaslip's interview on the Runner's Diary podcast was what I listened to for this run. As a local athlete down here have been tracking her career a number of years so great to see her make her recent comeback
Tues 1st Aug
The plan had "Easy 20min Warm-Up, Fartlek Strides: 10x 30sec ‘Fast’, 90sec ‘Easy’, Easy 10min Warm-Down" so that was done after work and before I was going cross country coaching. The route I used for this has a few hills so not ideal and could feel a small bit of soreness in my right calf afterwards.
Wed 2nd Aug
Small bit of calf soreness persisting so took a rest day, working the calf muscle with tiger balm and got the thumbs in there...not sure whether that helped or not.
Thurs 3rd Aug
Whilst my daughter was at football training, I did the 35min easy run that was planned for yesterday, 5.5K in 35min @ 6:22min/km. I ran out the road for 10mins and stopped to check how things felt and felt okay so said I'd continue with the run, another check after 25mins and felt the same so finished it out.
Fri 4th Aug
Plan has 45min easy, 6x12 short hill sprint and 5min easy cool down. Decided that seeing as yesterday's run went well that I'd leave it off as was still feeling my calf slightly, not much but something there. Some throws practice at lunchtime and headed up the country after work again to my parents place as was due to compete in the Templemore Throws festival the next day.
Sat 5th Aug
I was considering doing the Templemore parkrun in the morning but figured the day would be long enough at the throws festival and I had noted some brusing finally came up on the calf that had me concerned during the week....I guess it was a minor tear but all seems fine now but said I'd stick to the throwing and back on the plan for next week all going well. On the day my shot putt didn't go great at all, a best throw of 6.4m with the 7.26kg shot....back a bit since the start of the outdoor season but got a few tips so at least something to work on ahead of the National masters next weekend. I am lacking practice at the event as really focused more on the weight for distance in the last number of weeks. On the wfd side of things, I had four throws in my competition...all got above the 4m mark which I was happy with but felt only one of my throws (3rd throw) got out properly with the other ones I had pulled a bit too early. Nicely enough the one I got out well was a new pb of 4.57m (up from 4.5m last weekend at Nationals). Be nice to get another pb next weekend in the event if possible and give myself a chance at the podium at the National masters.
Weekly total: 25.4K
Year to date: 591.6K
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Your plan starts on a Sunday!! I think that's an American thing? Either way, why! 😂🙈
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It does alright and I think the American origins of it is the probably the only explanation for it as can't find a reason for it. I actually quite like it as it means I can check off the long run at the start of the weekly plan and the rest follow that. In non running life, the week starts on a Monday of course.
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Dublin Marathon - Running Shoe Guru Wk5
Sun 6th Aug
This phase of the plan introduces some marathon paced sections into the long run and I enjoy doing my long runs that. The plan had 20min easy, 30min marathon tempo pace, 20min easy. This worked out as 3K in 20min @ 6:28min/km, 5.35K in 30min @ 5:36min/km, 3.25K in 20min @ 6:12min/km. Got an absolute soaking during the last 15mins of this run. Back home to Kerry after this run.
Mon 7th Aug
Choice of 20min/30min cross training or Rest so with the National Masters coming up at the end of the weekend I worked on some throws training. Wasn't happy with how my shot put went over the weekend so figured to go back to basics (standing throw) and see how that would go.
Tues 8th Aug
35min easy running, got this done after work. 5.6K in 35min @ 6:14min/km
Wed 9th Aug
Fartlek session,
Easy 20min Warm-Up, Strides: 5x 60sec ‘Fast’, 120sec ‘Easy’, Easy 10min Warm-Down.
Back up the country to my parents place in Laois as was going to be working in Dublin for the next few days. So between packing, driving up there it was after 8pm before I got out but enjoyed this run.
Covered 8K in the run with the fast parts varying between 5:02min/km - 5:29min/km pace.
Thurs 10th Aug
Rest on the plan but just did a final throws sessions with my father (who would also be competing in the National Masters at the weekend).
Fri 11th Aug
Easy 45min, 6x 12sec Short Hill Sprints (full recovery between each), Easy 5min Jogging Warm-Down on the plan. Home from Dublin after work (and two weeks holidays ahead) so was nearly 8pm before getting out for this. Always a little bit wary of hill sprints so I make sure I have a good warmup and some drills done as part of the 45min run and then trying to maintain form and not overcook on the first few reps. Session went well, 8.6K in total. Picked some blackberries from the bushes for breakfast in the morning.
Sat 12th Aug
National Masters in Tullamore
Final T&F competition this year for me. Always enjoy this day catching up with friends from clubs around the country. You also meet some very inspirational figures at these events when you get chatting to them. This M85 shot putter for example was someone I was talking to about weight lifting (not something I do yet but I bought an Olympic bar and some weights for it this year that I plan to do some work with over the winter) and amazed at what he can lift. https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/people/eighty-three-year-old-ernest-is-tuff-by-name-and-tough-by-nature-deadlifting-almost-500lbs-3080767
On the day Shot Put went great for me. I had my best ever indoor season this year but just never clicked with the outdoor season and felt I was going backwards in particular in the last few competitions I did. But going back to basics I found form and hit a great run of throws for me. 6.73, 6.91, 6.29, 6.96 the series I put in. It meant I had broken my pb three times to finish with a new pb of 6.96m with the 7.26kg senior shot. This time last year my pb stood at 5.99m from the same competition so nice to finish on a high! I placed in 5th place of the 5 competitors in my age category of M40. My Da came away with a bronze medal in the shot put in the M70 age cat, he was delighted with it as he first National medal in athletics.
In the afternoon then the weight for distance competition took place, this proved to be a tough competition as I was in with a chance for a medal throughout here but the throws didn't come good for me. I was a bit worried after pb'ing in the shot put earlier in the day as rarely do I have a good day at both events on the same days. My best throw on the day was 4.3m and after a 4.5m and a 4.57m throws in the last few weekends I was disappointed to come away empty handed. If I'd kept one of those throws from the previous weekends I'd have closed the season with a National medal but still it's been a great season with the weight for distance for me. This time last year I was only just gone over the 3m mark with 3.04m from National Masters but I am looking towards getting to the 5m mark for next season so great to be making progress.
Home to Kerry after that and finished the day at the Revivial Festival in Listowel with my wife where we caught half of the Pillows Queens set, Damien Dempsey and Bell X1. Long time fan of the latter two, been lucky enough to have seen both quite a few times (10 times for Damien now and 8 times for Bell X1) and they always put on a great show.
Weekly total: 33.8K
Year to date: 624.9K
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Great read in that little article, shows you are never too old & he says consistency & hard work is key just like all sports! Well done on the shot put PB & your dad getting a medal, nice.
That's a great way to finish the day too, a fan of both myself. I remember going to watch Bell X1 when they were known as Juniper with Damien Rice singing, was sad they split up but love Damien Rice as a singer & them as Bell X1.
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Yup, impressive stuff from the guy! Thanks very much, yes my Da was very happy...he's always been very competitive in any sports he's done (former hurler) so it's great to still have an outlet for the fire that still burns.
I never caught Juniper live but I did see Damien Rice live a few times and I've seen Paul Noonan in a few guises. He was playing drums and backing vocals with my favourite singer Gemma Hayes when I first saw her back in 2001. It's a pity Juniper broke up but we ended up getting two great acts out of that with Damien on his own and Bell X1.
Something else music wise I never mentioned on my log here was that I was very upset with Sinead O'Connor's passing, on the evening it was announced I was just home from a run. just read it on my phone and felt completely deflated. Her death really affected my mood and form for quite a few days after thinking we'd never hear from her again. I read some amazing tributes, both here and elsewhere but I held off chiming in with my own words on the topic. Just to say I think she's the best singer this country has ever produced, a voice of no equal in many ways and the world is all the poorer for her loss.
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Dublin Marathon - Running Shoe Guru Wk6
Sun 13th Aug
Plan had 20min easy, 40min marathon tempo pace, 20min easy. We were due to be heading back up the country as as going up the North for a few days but with a pitstop for a night at my parents place in Laois. The previous night had been late enough so took a little lie in so it was almost 10am before starting out. Run brokedown as 3.15K in 20min @ 6:17min/km, 7.1K in 40min @ 5:38min/km, 3.25K in 20min @ 6:08min/km.
Mon 14th Aug
Rest day, drove up to Belfast as we'd be staying there for a few nights at the start of the holidays. Highly recommend the Titanic Belfast. Spent around 5 hours there as found it very interesting and well done.
Tues 15th Aug
40min easy running, 6.3K in 40min @ 6:34min/km. Got out just after 8am as the city is getting going for the day. First two K was a small loop of the city centre to get my bearings a little (only been in Belfast once before briefly so no clue of it at all) before heading across the river back down the Titanic Quarter. I had noted quite a few people running around that area the previous area so thought it would be a good option and worked out well.
Hop on/off tour of Belfast in the afternoon and an availed of a visit to the City Hall (free) to see the free exhibition of the city history there. Excellent.
Wed 16th Aug
Aerobic Power Intervals,
20min Warm-Up, 3x 1600m (one mile) @ 105-110% of Goal Marathon Pace w/ 90sec Recovery Jogging Between Each, Easy 10min Warm-Down
Out again for 8am and with a similar route to yesterday, with the 20min warmup bringing over to the Titanic Quarter again. Used the paths beside the Titanic Studios (where Game of Thrones was filmed) for the first rep and that brought me down to Thompson Graving Dock where Titanic was fitted out when it's hull had been completed. The size of the dock gives a good perspective on the size of the ship. The next two reps I did along the riverwalk going back towards the city centre direction and included a lap of the outside of the Odyssey Arena. 10min jog back to hotel then.
Session broke down as 2.9K in 20min @ 6:50min/K, 1600m in 8:38@ 5:22min/km, 90 sec walking recovery, 1600m in 9min @ 5:35min/km , 90 sec walking recovery, 1600m in 8:58 @ 5:35min/km, 90 sec walking recovery, 1.5K in 10:38 @ 7:20min/km
9.5K in total
Checked out from the hotel around 11 and headed off on the Causeway Coastal Drive an on to Giants Causeway over much of the rest of the day with a few stops enroute. Carrickfergus Castle was one we preplanned and thought it was excellent. Very impressed in general with Antrim as a county, lovely scenery, people very friendly and plenty to see. Walked down to the Giants Causeway from the nearby hotel we stayed in that evening and closed off the day with a Chinese takeaway.
Thurs 17th Aug
Rest day but with an early start as we were out to Carrick-a-Rede ropebridge for a 9am booking (my wife meant to book it for 11am). The bridge and the area was lovely but more unnerving going across it than I thought it would. After that we drove over to the Dark Hedges as seen in Game of Thrones. After that we completed the rest of the Causeway Coastal Drive for the next few hours, passing through Portrush and Portstewart and then stopping in Derry for the night. We walked around the city walls in the evening time which was the main thing I wanted to do there.
Fri 18th Aug
Easy 45min, 8x 12sec Short Hill Sprints (full recovery between each), Easy 10min Jogging Warm-Down on the plan but was looking to do parkrun in the morning so decided not to take an extra rest day.
We traveled from Derry to Sligo today, spent a few hours on various stops in Letterkenny, Ballybofey and Bundoran enroute. My parents tell me I was in Donegal as a child but have no memory of it but we plan to go up there another time for sure as.
Sat 19th Aug
Sligo parkrun, 24:58.
First parkrun since early June and it felt pretty horrible thoughout. 1K warmup with a few drills and figured I'd try run it around 25mins. The first K was fast but seemed manageable I thought so stuck with it. After 2K I really wasn't enjoying it that much and with a second lap of the park to do I was regretting doing the parkrun at all and should have taken a lie in. I always like to try get in new ones wherever I can and been looking forward to it. Effort wise for running around 5min/km it just felt too much, heart rate was fine enough but between all the going of the week was feeling fairly tired so I just stopped for a walk break for a minute around 2.8K into the run. Once I got going again then I felt better and finished strong enough with my last K in 4:44 pace.
Just half a K cooldown taking in a small loop back to the car. Was under small bit of pressure to get back to the hotel and get breakfast before checking out and continuing our journey through Galway for the day.
Weekly total: 35.8K
Year to date: 660.7K
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Dublin Marathon - Running Shoe Guru Wk7
Sun 20th Aug
On the plan was 20min easy, 50min @ 95-100% of goal marathon tempo pace, 15-20min easy. Back home in Kerry today, and left my run until evening time so had got unpacking out of the way and the first few loads of washing done. Run brokedown as 3.33K in 20min @ 6min/km, 9.07K in 50min @ 5:31min/km, 3.7K in 22:25min @ 6:03min/km.
Mon 21st Aug
Rest day
Tues 22nd Aug
45min easy running, 7.1K in 45:37min @ 6:26min/km. Simple out and back run from home in the morning. At home/off for the week so just catching up on a few jobs around home.
Wed 23rd Aug
Lactic Resistance Intervals,
20min Warm-Up, 6x 800m @ Yasso 800m Pace w/ 90sec Recovery Jogging Between Each, Easy 10min Warm-Down
Took a lie in the this morning as was a bit tired after some monumental grass cutting yesterday that took over 3 hours. Heading out for my run at lunchtime and drove over to the line road in Causeway for a good flat stretch where I could do the 800s without getting disruputed by traffic. Warmup went fine, my plan for the 800s was to run them in 4mins but found them very hard to pace right. The splits for the 800s were as follows, 3:40, 3:46, 3:43, 3:49. I was starting to feel a small bit of tightness in my right calf during the 4th interval so instead of pushing on for a 5th and 6th rep I left it at 4. 5 min cooldown jog back to the car then. 8K in total for the session.
Thurs 24th Aug
Rest day, no ill effects from the run yesterday thankfully.
Fri 25th Aug
Easy 45min, 8x 12sec Short Hill Sprints (full recovery between each), Easy 10min Jogging Warm-Down on the plan, again taking in parkrun in the morning so took an extra rest day.
Sat 26th Aug
Tralee parkrun, 24:33.
Much better than last week's effort in Sligo. It was pacer week this week in Tralee, my parents down visting for the weekend so myself and my Da headed in for parkrun. Got there around 9:15 so just time for a 1K warmup before the briefing. Nice to catch up with a few people who I haven't seen for a while. Lined up a few rows back at the start, pretty quickly the 24min pacer went past me, left him go and then the next pacer came past which was 25mins so I slotted in behind her. Around half way into the 2nd lap I pushed on past the pacer as did another guy, Keeping the pace up going onto the 3rd lap I was feeling it tough but a manageable effort...good push in the last half a K as wanted to be quicker than last week. Strava segments for each of the 3 laps were 8:29, 8:11, 7:55. 1K warmup before and a 1K cooldown afterwards.
Weekly total: 38.2K
Year to date: 699.6K
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Dublin Marathon - Running Shoe Guru Wk8
Sun 27th Aug
80min easy on the plan for today, my daughter was attending a music & drama class in Tralee so I got a lift in with my wife and ran a bit of a made up loop to meet them 80mins later in Dunnes carpark. I ran down to the canal that leads out towards Blennerville then out to the Cockleshell Road and on towards Spa. When the greenway type surface ended it was onto trails and through fields over to Spa. Strava's heatmap tells it's a reasonably well used route but I'd expect by walkers than runners going by the underfoot surface but there is talks to put a proper path in place sometime. Once in Spa I had to figure a way to get onto the new greenway, it wasn't too easy as had to climb over a wall near one of the old stone roadbridges that cross the greenway and shimmy down a bank onto the greenway itself....from there it was just back towards Tralee. Enjoyable run with a bit of exploring.
Mon 28th Aug
Rest day
Tues 29th Aug
45min easy running on the plan but was awake coughing and spluttering much of the night so no running.
Wed 30th Aug
Fartlek session for today but wasn't feeling great at all and after a second night keeping myself awake coughing I called in sick to work and got a GP visit in the morning. Thankfully only a head cold (had done a covid test) but chest sore from coughing. Back home then and tried up on sleep for the afternoon.
Thurs 31st Aug
Feeling better today and with the Dingle Half marathon supposed to be on the cards for Saturday I decided to get a short run in. 6.6K in 40min @ 6:03min/km. Run felt fine and figured should be even better for Saturday.
Fri 1st Sept
Easy 45min, 6x 12sec Short Hill Sprints (full recovery between each), Easy 10min Jogging Warm-Down on the plan. Took a rest day here ahead of the race in the morning.
Sun 2nd Sept
Dingle Half marathon, 2:14:46.
Not sure how much I want to write on this but here goes, arrived to Dingle for 8am on the morning. Time enough to avail to use local knowledge to avail of parking a few hundred meters from the startline. The half and full start both at the marina in Dingle and then you head off around the Slea Head. The half marathon finishes at Dunquin where you are bused back to the startline with the full marathon coming all the way back to the start at the marina in Dingle. This race gets around 2000 runners each year so the town is very busy! It's an expensive race as races go for a half marathon with the entry fee costing 73 euro but it sells out almost as soon as it goes on sale, typically 10/11 months in advance. It's a very enjoyable race and one I've done every year since 2015 so back again for 2023 edition. I've ran various times on the course with my best time of 1:46:48 set back in 2017 and last year I ran it in 1:54. This year I was planning for a marathon paced run and aiming to do it under 2 hours...5:35-5:40min/km approx.
Dropped my bag off around 8:15 to the drop van that would bring it to Dunquin, back to my car then and then a 1K warm up in 6:34min.
Met a few club mates then around the start area and got into position with them around 8:50 with a 9am start. It was pretty warm already at that stage, I think I noted 16 degrees in the car before I started...not my kind of weather for running. Anyways back to the start I ended up being positioned around 8-10 rows back from the front so pretty much right at the front (maybe 50 people in front of us). I planned to pace the race myself so didn't mind being ahead of the pace groups.
Once the race started I was holding myself back for the first KM (5:21). First climb comes in the 2nd K (5:28) with a fastest section immediately afterwards so try to keep the pace where it should be. Then steady climbing over the next 4-5K (5:39, 5:35, 5:32, 5:31, 5:19) to Ventry. Things were feeling pretty good here for the most part, little bit strange as always seemed to be someone going passed me, every so often I'd see a pace group for either the full or the half as they motored by. I can recall 1:30, 1:45 hm pace groups going by me before Ventry. Over the K, the 8th K (5:37) I started not feeling to great, couldn't put my finger on it but I decided to ease back in the 9K (5:55) as I figured I'd like to just get this to feel a bit more comfortable. Just going by the next water station outside Ventry I stopped to walk as I took on some water. I could feel my left hamstring a bit here, like the start of a cramp or something but took a minute and got going again. Not happy at all here now and quickly stopped to walk again before the 10K marker (6:33 for the 10th K). I knew I was in trouble here but just kept walking.....
The 2hr pace group went past me here then so that was that for that sort of time, now it was figuring out could I finish the race or not and if not how do you get back to the start or (Dunquin) so just kept moving. 11th K (8:15), 12th K (9:56), somewhere along here I ran my wife for a chat as was not happy at all with the thoughts of how far I had to go to get to finish. She was telling me she was concerned with me doing it after having been sick during the week and sure here I was a bit fecked...I was just feeling sorry for myself and saying maybe I am not able for this sort of stuff anymore. I walked and jogged a little for much of the next two K splits of 13th K (7:30), 14th K (7:08). Into the 15th K (5:53) I managed to run much of this but then back to walking in the 16th K (6:49). I really like this section of the course as it's simply stunning as it was on a clear (albeit way too warm day) and managed to get back running again, 17th K (5:42) and 18th K (5:39). I was thinking I'm back in business now and my leg felt the same walking or running so will try keep it going over the last few K. But with the toughest climb of the HM course in the 19th K I was back to walking for much of it (8:09). Last two K and the sounds of the finish line in the distance, couldn't wait for the race to be done. Meet a Kerry runner here who I was chatting with a recent juvenile training session, she was having a bad day as well so said we'd just finish it out together. 20th K (6:09), into the last K now and my colleague said she was stopping to walk and beckoned me to keep going, a few hundred meters and I stopped to walk as well myself, such a bloody slog and with just 500m to go and needing another walk, feck sake. Anyways going now and looking at the watch I could see I was going to get in under 2hr 15mins. 21st K (5:34). Race over and met a few running mates to compare notes with on their experiences of the day, all found it very warm and were a bit slower than they hoped. I changed out of my running gear completely and got the bus back to Dingle watching all the full runners we passed on the second half of the course, I was keeping an eye out for one runner I know who would be around 4 hours and when we passed here she had less than 2K to go and looked very strong. Her finishing time was 3:52 which was a great time on that course.
Once I got back to Dingle I didn't head down to the finish area of the full marathon as usually would do. I just headed for my car and hit the road for home with many thoughts of what used to be and what is now in relation to my running ability, what can I do about it in the short term and long term wise how can I get back to fitness I used to have....and what can I do about the Dublin marathon to avoid a repeat performance of today.
Weekly total: 41.95K
Year to date: 741.55K
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I think you're being way too hard on yourself D, it's been extremely humid this past week (as well as the heat!) you were unwell and while you've been training consistently for the last 7/8 weeks, you had a few injury breaks before that to contend with. I heard a few reports that Dingle was tough this year and having cycled that course, it is far from easy. You always seem to be so busy too, I often wonder where you get your energy from! Recover this week and give your body a chance to get some rest and back to training on plan from next week. What is your goal for Dublin?
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Thanks AM, for sure there are a few external factors that wouldn't have helped but there's a few things I need to work on myself. Suppose naively I figured with some training I could just get back on the long distance running train where I got off. In regards being busy, it feels like that alright at times as not much downtime really.
Originally I was hoping and training towards the 4 hour mark in Dublin but that is surely a bridge too far and possibly need to be look more at 4hr 30mins. It's been 5 years ago since I last ran the marathon at my own race pace and did 3:51 back in 2018 but my times then across the other race distances from 5K up were a lot faster than they are at the moment.
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I'm really sorry that you had such a sh*tty race experience, it's a horrible feeling. Regarding Dublin it's a tough one to call as Dingle doesn't seem like a true reflection of your fitness and I assume you have no more races between now and then to guage current fitness? I can identify with you quite a bit with having had similar times to you in the past which one part of my brains knows i can't do now but another part (the louder part) thinks I should be able to just pick up where I once was! It's frustrating but accepting where we are now is half the battle and then working with that. You still have a good 6 weeks training for Dublin, that's quite a chunk so don't panic yet! Don't let Dingle knock your confidence, you know you're not a 2:15 HM guy (not that there'd be anything wrong with that) but on a better week and less lumpy course it'd be a different story. See how the next 6 weeks go before making a pace plan for Dublin, I bet things will look different then. Recover well ☺️
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I'd agree with what's already been said. You're definitely being extremely hard on yourself considering you did a half marathon after being sick from a respiratory infection just a few days earlier. It's not really possible to draw conclusions from that race in the circumstances especially since it's basically an uphill half marathon. I guess it's part of this game - having good days and bad days and the bad days always seem worse at the time but are an essential part of making the good days feel so good.
Rest, recover and go again.
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I have to agree with everyone else here, I too think you are being too hard on yourself! Days after being sick you ran a very difficult course (from what I've heard!) I'd park it now (like I have done with my own😉) & move forward with your training, make these last few weeks count then make a decision!
I'll leave you with this quote...
"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall."
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Thanks E, the funny thing with it is that I have done very few races this year as it has worked out. I missed my club's 8K race in Jan due to injury, missed a duathlon earlier in April due to injury and was away for another local HM I had signed up for so was looking forward to it and that probably compounded my feelings of disappointment really instead where in a regular year I'd have a good few races done and a be a bit more hardened to it all! At the moment I don't have anymore races between now and Dublin, I did consider Charleville this weekend but I feel it's too soon and I still have a touch of that cold hanging around so not sure the point. There are a few 10Ks on that might be an option to work into a long run but would like to get back up on the horse to boost the confidence a bit even if the time is not what I'd like that I can manage the race better.
Thanks D, I probably should have just have taken that more into consideration and been more conservative at the start and forgot about times, worked my way into the race and then if things were well got down to marathon pace over the second half of the race. I look forward to racing again and hopefully a good day!
Thanks E, indeed I have put it behind me now and being honest I haven't actually thought much about the race after my post on Sunday evening so feel like I have at least got it out of my system. Nice quote that, I do wonder when he came up with those if he could predict how much many of his quotes would resonate through time and applicable to many things and simply help people!
Thanks for the comments all, I really do appreciate them all and helped my form post race to get back to a more regular disposition than moping about too much about it. For sure I might just have to reset some goals but I can recall last year at one stage when trying to make the start line and talking about race times one of the coaches in my club...in his delightfully frank way (English is his second language) and said to me "David, you are not going to win the race". This wasn't meant an insult but more to relax about things and do what you can.
Also I thought Sonia was outstanding on the Irishman Running Abroad podcast this week in relation to marathon training and the time between now and then where sometimes you just may have to readjust your training and goal and simply do the work you can to meet the goal you have set....and as above I know I won't win the Dublin marathon this year! I have to say I was a big fan of Sonia as an athlete through her career but another brilliant achievement of her's is what she has done in the last number of years in regards how accessible she is and particularly through the podcast we get to hear from her every week. Jarlath has created something very special there giving a platform to Sonia to share with the public her thoughts, opinions and experiences through her pro career and recreational career for me only elevates her greatness and I always enjoy her wit too.
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