Dream big, work hard, achieve your goals - My DCM '19 Journey

Thanks a mill, you know yourself any little boost is always very welcome 😊

Haha let's just say I could feel his eyes rolling when I mentioned it for the 3rd time🤣if anyone will keep me grounded it's him & rightly so!

All joking aside it has put a pep in my step & I feel like I'm enjoying the jucier runs more! With all of us runners on here it's all about balance & doing whatever we can to make this enjoyable 🙂

My VO2 max on my Garmin is a very generous 62 & my score was 54. Also the race times calculated on the Garmin are very generous indeed!

I never look at that, it was only someone asked about them & they were way off🤣🤣

Thurs 19th - 65mins moderate/easy

Was happy to get this done at lunchtime, it was cold but with the sun it actually felt nice, a really good running day😊

I ran this based on my HR with the info from my VO2 test as I was very interested to see if the paces would match up to the HR. It felt really good & the paces were very simular to what I have been doing for this run, pleased to know this!

Fri 20th - W/u, 3*1k eim, C/D

I had a choice to do 45mins easy or the eim run, not much of a choice really, the eim is just way more interesting so that's what I went with.

Sat 21st - W/u, 6*3mins@5k off 90secs, 3mins easy, 4*150m strides off 1min, C/D

Set off a bit later than I originally eanted but thankfully the weather was ok & it actually seemed a lot milder. I went to the Fettercairn park, on the tarmac loop. Started off really well, very controlled but loved doing the faster stuff. Was on my 4th rep & a young lad was there with his dog, he let him off his lead & the dog ran off. He didn't seem to have huge control over him so as I'm nervous of dogs anyway I decided to leavd the park & head across to the Jobstown one. Was hit straight away with a very strong headwind, I knew this park was more open but it was a big difference. I finished off the last 2 reps at the same effort even if the paces were slightly slower. The strides felt really strong & controlled, loved finishing so strongly.

Sun 22nd - Long run

Had a couple of options to do this but decided to get up early & do it around Tallaght. Made the route up as I went but very similar to previous routes. Caught up on a few podcasts then put on my da's playlist which I haven't listened to in a while, felt great & comforting listening to it as I ran to his grave, a quick tidy & a kiss blown to his plaque & off I went. Finished this run feeling very content🤗

Miles this week 47.7 miles

Overall very happy & feeling more confident with this weeks training 😁

Mon 23rd - Rest

Tues 24th - 45 mins easy steady

Did this at lunchtime, just gradually increasing the HR.

Weds 25th - W/U, 2*10MINS@LT off 3mins, 2min rec, 15min HM, C/D

Set off to the Fettercairn park/loop for this. Eased into it nicely & set off on the LT reps. My aim is to keep the HR at about 165ish & not max out at 167bpm. The 1st rep came in at 6:52 pace & the 2nd 6:43 - really happy with how comfortably hard this felt! Once the recovery was done I set off on the 15min @HM, again I settled into this nicely & the 15mins came in at 6:57 pace - happy with this session😊

Thurs 26th - W/U, 4*1k eim plus 4 strides, C/D

I choose to do this as I do enjoy the eim reps but I kept it at the lower end of the HR range which is now 154 to 159bpm. The run went by so quickly lost in my music & thoughts of my da on what would have been his 74th birthday💛

Fri 27th - 40mins easy with strides

Sat 28th - Few easy miles with strides

Sun 29th - Raheny 5 mile chip time 33.44 PB 😊

Was really looking forward to this as I absolutely love the atmosphere of this race! Had arranged to meet S & D for a warm up so met at the baggage drop area. Got changed & set off. The weather wasn't too bad, a bit blustery in parts but overall a nice running day. Had a few chats & felt like we were running with royalty as everyone was shouting hello to @Murph_D 😉 Finished the warm up & met @Lazare who was clearly on a mission today! We got a nice spot in the starting pen & the banter was good craic, great to start a race so relaxed. My plan was simple enough today, no pressure on myself with where my head has been all I wanted was to be able to stick to my own plan & execute it well, if I did that then I knew it would be a good day. We set off, quite congested but not as bad as the last time I did it. I looked at my watch & I was happy with how it was going. D & C were up ahead then @scotindublin passed by with a quick hello & @skyblue46 passed also. I knew I had a decision to make, do I try keep up with them now or let them away, I looked again at my watch & was satisfied I was where I needed to be comfortably for now so decided to wish them all well in my head but to just focus on my own head & running. The 1st 2 miles passed quickly enough, D was ahead at some stage here & I overtook him by a small amount, my mindset here was to gradually increase the pace to see how it felt as there was still a fair bit to go. We came around a corner & as I was running along I spotted D ahead of me again, I laughed out loud thinking where did that fecker come from😅 it gave me a giggle but again I just got back into the zone then passed him again at some stage but not by much. At some stage I also became aware(sorry I didn't recognise you at 1st) that I was running alongside @MisterJinx we exchanged a few words then both back into the zone. I felt good here, strong, hurting but not overly hurting. I was sticking to my plan & that felt really good. Both myself & P used each other well for the remainder of the race, we took power & determination from each other, taking it in turns to go ahead, especially for the part in the park which to me feels like it goes on forever. The drag out of the park was a killer too but I knew I had a PB in sight so dug in for the final straight, also wondering if D was gonna just zoom past me!! I finished really strong which is something I love doing if I have it left in me! Delighted to see I got myself a PB but more than that I ran the race I had planned to race & I really enjoyed it😊 I stuck to my plan, I ran & felt so strong for the whole race, yes it was hard but a good manageable hard if that makes sense. I have gained great confidence from my performance & I feel very proud of it.

Went for a C/D run with S along the causeway, god the views were amazing, anyone that has somewhere so beautiful to run should really count their blessings absolutely stunning!

The day was finished off with drinks(lucozade for me) chicken wings & chips with some really amazing company, lot's of chats with Mrs D & Mrs C which was lovely, I love meeting new people! A great day all round.

Super well done to everyone who ran yesterday😊

Edit: forgot to add I came 11th out of approx 350 in the F40 category- not a bad result at all😉

Miles this week 38.3 miles

Mon 30th - Rest

Tues 31st - Easy miles

Weds 1st Feb - W/U, 4*1k Eim, C/D

Thurs 2nd - 60 mins @ approx 140bpm

Fri 3rd - Easy with strides

Sat 4th - A few miles shakout with strides

A relatively easy week having raced Raheny on Sunday & then having Trim 10mile this week. It's a small sacrifice with Bohermeen being the target but I did want to try replicate the feeling from last weeks race.

Sun 5th Trim 10mile - Chip time 69:55

The week went by well, I was still really happy with how I ran Raheny & knew I wanted to feel that way again this week so didn't try put unnecessary pressure on myself. I had a good think & decided I would really be happy with 71mins & to run a good strong race. My FD 10mile PB was 72:44 so it would be a nice official PB. I decide again on quite a simple plan like last week, I think I have been guilty of over complicating things, something unfortunately I do a lot with other things in my life. My plan was in place & I felt quite happy with it!

I set off giving myself enough time to get parking etc. Parked in the multistorey carpark & just followed all the runners heading to the bagdrop. It was a few kms away so I used this as my warm up. Put my bag away after changing into my Alphas & then met @scotindublin . We chatted on the way to the start line discussing our goals for the race. We parted here & I settled into the crowd. It was a nice day for a race, a little chilly but the sun was shining. And we were off! I settled nicely and could see the 70min pacers ahead bit by bit getting further away. I felt really good & seen 7:04 for the 1st mile so was happy I was running how I had planned. The 2nd & 3rd miles went by nicely too, felt I could take the pace up a tiny bit as it felt quite comfortable. I had latched on to a nice group too, 3 men from St Coaca's running club who seemed to be pacing 2 girls. One of the girls had a long brown pony tail & in my mind I had set my sights on beating her. Then coming into mile 5 I had heard one of them say they were going for sub 70 & they seemed to be picking up the pace to catch the pacers. I decided here that I needed to ease off on the pace a bit, I was running well but I still had 5 more miles to go & I wanted a good race, not to blow up. I let them go ahead & settled behind with a few others. C had told me there was a hill in mile 6 so I knew I needed to see how I felt after this. I can't say I noticed it too much as in that it made me slow down. In fact I felt like I was getting stronger & listening to some runners around me I definitely wasn't struggling or hurting as much as them. This really made me feel very confident, I knew I'd get the 71mins or possibly under it. The miles were going by so quickly and I was really enjoying this race! I had caught up with the 3 lads but they only had the brown haired pony girl with them & they were really trying to will her on, I ran side by side with her & felt I could pick up even more. She said well done to me, keep going & I told her to hang on too. I then ended up running along side 2 of her paces for a bit. They too encouraged me which was really nice!

Mile 8 clicked on my race & I genuinely couldn't believe how strong I was feeling, the headwind was very noticeable now but it didn't seem to affect me much at all, it was as if I decided fook you wind, you are not going to slow me down!! I was getting closer to the 70 min pacers but didn't really believe I could catch them but that was ok because I was really happy to be racing as strongly as I was!! Mile 9 came up on my watch & I nearly had to pinch myself, I felt like I was picking up the pace & felt so strong, I was digging deep here & really believed I could not empty myself anymore but then with about half a mile to go one of the 70min pacers had slowed down a bit as we turned into the industrial estate, Cmon girl I'm gonna get you under 70mins, push yourself, cmon. Oh my god I thought, is it really possible that I will go sub 70mins, I pushed even harder, the adrenaline was pumping my heart so hard which in turn made my legs pump even harder. The pacer urged the crowd to cheer too, cmon he said, we'll get it on chip time!! The whole crowd were cheering, was I dreaming, this was amazing, this is what the elites must feel all the time, all most there were the shouts from the crowd, one final push & I was over the line!! Oh my fookin god I did it, I absolutely smashed it!!! This was the stuff dreams are made of! After composing myself I found the pacer & I thanked him so much, he was amazing, without him I wouldn't have pushed as hard because I honestly believed I couldn't. He said he did the easy bit as I hadn't been in his group so he said to be able to catch them showed I ran a good strong race, I almost cried, feeling so so proud & happy.

I met C afterwards & he was so happy for me while dealing with his own dissapointment of 1 bloody second!! I told him I was in awe of his racing & that it was ok to feel that sense of not quite getting what you wanted on the day. We set off for a cool down with 2 of his friends which I was delighted about as it's always nicer running with others especially when you don't know an area. We headed back then to the carpark & said goodbye.

I was grinning all the way home & had a few really happy conversations to anyone who would take my call🤣@skyblue46 was absolutely thrilled for me, even when I didn't believe in myself he did & I do appreciate his really good training plans & support he gives me.

My plan again was to run a nice strong race. I had an average pace in mind but this was not set in stone. I felt I learned a bit more about racing again. I was able to judge the efforts a lot better in this race, the paces kept me honest but the efforts were what made me believe I could go a bit harder at times & still feel comfortable. I have gained huge confidence from the last 2 races, going sub 70 was never the plan but Jesus did it feel amazing emptying myself with seconds to go to get it, it's a feeling I won't forget for a long time, it's up there with my 19:33 5k race!

I was thrilled then to hear @Murph_D had also gone sub 70, what an absolute legend😉

Looking over my splits I genuinely couldn't believe I ran the last mile in 6:36😲my fastest mile of the race!! My splits came in at 7:04, 7:01, 6:58, 6:59, 7:10, 6:58, 7:01, 7:02, 6:55 & 6:36.

My confidence has been very shaky for a while now but these last few weeks have really made me believe in myself again. I have enjoyed the high but now I want to get stuck into my plan for Bohermeen & give it my all, at the end of the day that's all we can do!