Last of the Summer Wine

Murph_D · 08-01-2022 2:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118407114#Comment_118407114

Thanks Valerie, kind of you to say that! Hopefully not too sensible. Sometimes a leap of faith is required.

Bushy today, so getting closer to Marlay!

Murph_D · 08-01-2022 2:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118407577#Comment_118407577

Yes, that particular 5k 'race' in the park was memorable for all the wrong reasons. But at least I coined the word 'showboateriest'. 😉

Congrats on your own gongs and hope you're back on the road soon.

Murph_D · 08-01-2022 2:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118408087#Comment_118408087

Thanks D, and well done on rebooting your own logging efforts, I think you will find it motivational (I certainly do).

Murph_D · 08-01-2022 2:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118407862#Comment_118407862

Lots of tips there, much appreciated. While I'm not asthmatic, the 37 years of smoking probably took a toll, and I certainly am wheezing hard early on when racing the likes of a 5k. I like some of the thoughts here, and will try implementing.

Murph_D · 08-01-2022 2:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118414795#Comment_118414795

Cheers E - you may not have raced a lot yourself in '21 but what you did do was exceptional, especially that 10 miler.

NYC is to me what Chicago is to you, probably, but I did really like it the one brief time I was there, so yes, that will hopefully be a highlight this year.

Murph_D · 08-01-2022 2:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118430296#Comment_118430296

Well, this kind of made my night, what a thoughtful, kind and absolutely accurate post! 😉

Has everything really, including a wine analogy. I do like that sentence too. But am I Harry Potter or Dumbledore?

Many thanks, A.

Murph_D · 08-01-2022 2:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118432058#Comment_118432058

Jeez, don't mind me, you're a fast learner and have put in a few awesome performances in your relatively short time here. Good idea to drop the GAA. Look forward to your next track race, you'll have learned a huge amount from the last one.

And thanks!

scotindublin · 08-01-2022 5:16pm

Very well done on the award D. Will be following the log with interest in 2022 and best of luck tomorrow. It will be an emotional day for all in Raheny Shamrocks. Dublin Masters XC is handsdown a highlight on the racing calendar.

C

Laineyfrecks · 08-01-2022 6:15pm

I have seen a fair bit on FB about tomorrow & agree with C that it will be an emotional day.

Very best of luck😊

Murph_D · 09-01-2022 10:03pm

Week of 3 Jan cont.

Thurs 6 Jan

35 mins recovery around Marino and Drumcondra.

Fri 7 Jan

No running. Back in the office today and had to leave at lunchtime because the place was so cold! Didn’t feel like going out again after I warmed up at home. Mini-streak ends after 20 days.

Sat 8 Jan

5.6k including Bushy parkrun @ recovery

The quest to complete the Dublin parkrun collection begins. One more off the list. Nice location, but I wouldn’t like to be in search of a PB on this course. Ran with A, the first run we’ve done together in quite a while, which was nice.

Sun 9 Jan

Dublin Masters Cross Country - 213th in 28:20

Glad to be togging out for this race again - it’s the only race I’ve never missed since I became a club runner. This year there would be an extra big turnout from the club in memory of our late talisman Pat Hooper, who built this event up into the huge success it is. A special trophy would be unveiled in Pat's honour, going to the club with the best overall team performance across all categories, and the club would be pulling out all the stops to make sure it stayed in Raheny. Not that this would really impact on my own race, as I wasn't expecting or expected to be a team scorer.

I didn’t feel particularly strong today and the result was a bit of a grind - I held my own reasonably well once settling in, but was disappointed to lose several places in the finishing straight as I didn’t have my usual finishing flourish.

But it was still good to be out there, for a seventh consecutive outing on the venerable St. Anne’s course. Performance-wise I’d put today somewhere in the middle, although it’s difficult to compare from year to year due to differing conditions and course changes. The course was reasonably firm considering the recent rains. Disappointed that the famous log-jump was bypassed this year, replaced by a muddy detour around that part of the woods. My position of 213th is a good bit off my best, and I failed to finish in the top two thirds of the field, which was the modest goal. It’s a tough race with a deep field. I usually get lapped towards the end of lap 3, and today the winner, Mick Clohisey, went by substantially earlier in that lap than usual. Brilliant support as always, on home turf. I’ll be back!

This week: 53k (33m)
This month/year: 83 (52)

MrMacPhisto · 09-01-2022 10:13pm

Why was the log jump section omitted? I walked down by it before arriving at my spectating point, and the pitch was definitely playable! Is the section considered too narrow?

You looked very steady throughout from what I saw. The ground after the turn for the home straight looked like like heavy going. Well done 👏🏼

Murph_D · 09-01-2022 10:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118446337#Comment_118446337

Thanks K (or is it D? Think it's K!)

Don't know why the log was out of play, but I'd suspect it was because of the narrow going alright, maybe. Never noticed myself but I've heard the log sometimes creates a bit of a backup in some parts of the field (not all aul lads aren't great at hurdling, apparently).

Support was much appreciated.

Lambay island · 09-01-2022 10:54pm

Sounds like a great race and fair play to Raheny for the fitting tribute and team performance for Pat Hopper. It must be some sight seeing the Claw gliding pass at race pace?

Murph_D · 09-01-2022 10:58pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118446580#Comment_118446580

It is certainly sobering alright, to experience so closely how different 'race pace' is at the sharp end of the field. He's a lovely guy actually, seemed almost embarrassed at how big the margin of victory was.

ReeReeG · 09-01-2022 11:17pm

I did give you a shout a couple of times but you were very much in the zone! Well done. I did wonder if there was a bit of the dry retching towards the finish line??

Wubble Wubble · 09-01-2022 11:38pm

Seven years in a row is fair going. Hopefully the log will be back in play next year. Well done on Bushy too, I didn't have a great experience of that parkrun back in the day, but to each one's own 😁

Murph_D · 09-01-2022 11:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118446692#Comment_118446692

Thanks for that. There were a couple of opportunities during the race alright to put the dry-retching breathing remedy in place. Not sure if the finish straight was one of them (bit of a blur) but there was a (tiny) bit of wet retching after the finish line. 😮😳

MisterDrak · 10-01-2022 11:07am

Well done yesterday Denis, similar feeling re "Beechers Brook" (log jump), but the narrow route coupeled with the massive turnout meant that there would have been a 2-3 minute wait to take on the big jump... Similar feeling re getting lapped, I can usually hold out until 100/200 M before the finish line, but Mick seemed to fly around this year, with probably 600m to go before me passed us.

Anyway superb support as usual, and even the weather mostly played ball.

Laineyfrecks · 10-01-2022 11:09am

Well done D 😊 I watched Pats daughters speech on fb, quite an emotional thing to do.

Murph_D · 12-01-2022 10:24pm

Week of 10 Jan

This week the aim is to start lengthening the sub-threshold runs (slower than LT ‘tempo’ pace, closer to marathon effort) and adding a second into the schedule. Over the past six or seven weeks, I’ve generally been doing at least one of these a week, on a couple of occasions combined with a 5k race later in the week, so I’m getting used to them.

Mon 10 Jan

40 mins recovery

Very easy around Marino, roads and some grass. No DOMS at all after yesterday’s cross county race. Does this indicate a lack of effort?

Tue 11 Jan

63 mins with 40 @ sub-T

Headed out towards Booterstown from work in the early afternoon. 10 mins warmup to Ringsend then into the 40 mins. I’ll be using the HR monitor to regulate these, but didn’t have it today so kept to marathon pace by watch. Scolded gently afterwards by M for not doing it by feel. Fair point. I got through the 40 without too much trouble, feeling I could have done another 5, but not much more than that without taking the effort levels higher. That seems about right.

Wed 12 Jan

50 mins recovery, up around Beaumont. Kept an eye out for a bump in the footpath near Artaine Castle that @Singer tripped over once (unless I dreamed that?) Didn’t find it, so either my knee lift is getting better or it’s been fixed (if it ever even existed).

This week: 28k (17m)

This month/year: 111 (69)

scotindublin · 13-01-2022 8:27am

Nice steady week after the effort on Sunday. It was a great day for the Dublin Masters XC, it always is great atmosphere out there.

Will you he running the Leinsters in Dunboyne?

Murph_D · 13-01-2022 11:30am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118465639#Comment_118465639

No Leinsters for me - I've never done it. I do intend to race a couple of the BHAA races to get more cross country into the schedule.

Lambay island · 13-01-2022 12:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118466332#Comment_118466332

May have been discussed elsewhere already, but can you still just rock up to a BHAA event as a visitor and pay on the day or has covid changed that?

Murph_D · 13-01-2022 1:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118466564#Comment_118466564

The website says online entry only, but I’d imagine you can sort that out on the morning on your phone - there are contact details on the website and they seem pretty responsive (I had a membership issue to sort out and got immediate email response). I’d email and ask.

Murph_D · 13-01-2022 3:19pm

Thurs 13 Jan

60 mins with 30 @ sub-threshold (75-80% HRR)

The legs were a little tired going into this. Wore the HR monitor with the aim of keeping within the desired range of 161-168, and tried to get used to how that exact effort is supposed to feel - not too uncomfortable, but definitely some catch of the breath and a feeling in the mid-ribcage that work is being done, but sustainable work. It’s hard to describe and I’ll try to dial into it better. I wasn’t at all concerned about the pace, which turned out to be a little slower than Tuesday’s no-HRM run. Windy today which would have affected things a little, but then again I was wearing 'better' shoes than the other day. All told a good illustration of the difference between HR vs pace for gauging effort, although it’ll take a while to establish a reasonable correlation, and hopefully see improvements.

This week: 40k (25m)
This month/year: 123 (77)

Swashbuckler · 13-01-2022 3:27pm

Sorry for the crappy little question but I cant find it online - how do you convert between HRR and max HR. By that I mean, I have a target range of 78-85% max for my marathon pace. Just trying to see how that lines up with your 75-80% HRR.

Murph_D · 13-01-2022 4:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118467864#Comment_118467864

Thanks for asking and it is a good question. To calculate heart rate reserve (HRR) you need to know your max HR (M) and your resting HR (R). The difference is your reserve. I'm working off a M of 196, and a R of 56, so that's a range (reserve) of 140. To express a measured rata as a HRR percentage, you use this formula: .

(Measured HR - R) / (M-R)

So for me, a HR of 161 translates to

161-56 / 196-156 = 105/140 = 75%

These runs are supposed to be in 75-80% HRR range so for me that's 161-168.

The same range expressed in terms of Max HR would be 82-86%

(By the way, I don't calculate these manually, I've set up the ranges in Garmin and in the spreadsheet I log my runs in). 🙂

This range isn't supposed to align exactly to MP by the way, it depends on your conditioning - for Lydiard's elites, it was a little faster than MP. For me, it's probably a little slower (I'll know better when I've logged more HRR runs). The aim is to be 'steady' but comfortably below the lactate threshold.

shotgunmcos · 13-01-2022 6:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118468442#Comment_118468442

Same I set up a spreadsheet where I log runs and it calculates HRR for me, but you can set Garmin to use that as default metric too. The key reason for using HRR over HR is that while you max may not change, your resting heart rate may drop a few beats over the course of a plan. Using HRR is a measure of effort in relation to your resting and threshold HR. Its really much of a muchness whether you track HRR or Max HR as long as you establish your ranges of either and get to know how they feel. Thing about the spreadsheet is it doesn't know when your resting HR drops so the filter you get does it lose a little accuracy? Ultimately knowing the crossing point of bottom and top of your LT zone is really useful to control effort. Even better to do it by RPE and verify with HRR

Murph_D · 13-01-2022 6:41pm

My spreadsheet allows resting HR to be adjusted on a daily basis! 😎 Although I am not in the habit of checking it every morning and frankly will probably never be. I’m moving towards RPE alright, just calibrating at the moment - learning what ‘right’ should feel like.

Murph_D · 16-01-2022 6:09pm

Fri 14 Jan

60 mins easy

Lunchtime run around Dublin 2, taking in Merrion Square, Stephen’s Green and the Iveagh Gardens. Quite a spectacular trio of urban spaces really, most Dubs probably take them for granted.

Sat 15 Jan

100 mins easy

Some volunteering at St. Anne’s parkrun - stressful marshalling duty at ‘Astroturf Corner’ - followed by this week’s LR (moving it to Saturdays when possible). mister paul joined me for the first half back to Drumcondra, and I continued around ‘Glasnevin North’, discovering a couple of new places, amazingly enough at this stage of my existence. This was a bit slower than I normally would do the LR but that’s fine as the mileage is increasing. Was thinking towards the end of this run about the relationship between speed, endurance, and resilience, and how (like the better / faster / cheaper triangle), you can have any two of these, but probably not all three. And then I thought - isn't it enough to have two of these, and to be able to run and be alive, and stay alive, and not feel threatened when I go about the mundane business of going for a run, or going anywhere really. I do think the whole Ashling Murphy reaction has been remarkable, and it's a shame it has taken so long for the regular humiliations faced by half the population to explode in this extraordinary way, because of course this type of thing has happened many many times before. And of course it has nothing to do with running in general, being a far greater problem than that. As a friend of mine once said, I sometimes wonder why the women of this world have not yet burned the place to the f*cking ground (but of course I know why).

Sun 16 Jan

60 mins easy

Afternoon trot out the seafront - not feeling particularly lively, but enjoyed the sunshine and the general air of outdoor recreation that was about the place.

This week: 76k (48m) - 433 mins
This month/year: 160 (99)

Last of the Summer Wine

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