Becoming a Real Runner

plodder wrote: »

Thanks. I'm doing last week's running this week. So, I have that big PMP run this Sunday. I'm not looking forward to it. Not sure if I'll run any more races. If I do one, it'll be the BHAA XC on Oct 9.

Nah, you'll be fine!
Think of it this way- you ran 13.2 miles last saturday sub 7:20, so how hard can it be to run 14 @ sub 8:00 pace?
The worst thing is the thought of doing it. I have to be honest, the hardest part tonight was the 2 mile cooldown, I just wanted to go home at that stage . It might be best to do a 4 mile warm up and end staright after the PMP.

I alsofound being able to practise race day nutrition invaluable tonight. What you can eat during a slow LSR is not the same as what goes down well at PMP.

sideswipe wrote: »

Heard someone else say they found the sports beans great, where can u buy them in Dublin, wouldn't mind giving them a go on the last couple of LSR's.

I picked them up at Irish Fit when i was buying my compression shorts.

Cold seems to have disappeared overnight. Seems like I ran it off in the rain. legs feel fine. I may attempt another run this evening.

gerard65 wrote: »

What are you doing training with a chest infection? Your a plonker! What are ye?

A Plonker!!

No seriously, I definately don't have a chest infection, I'm not that stupid! Just a head cold that goes down as far as the throat. I know I said chesty cough but it is definately coming more from the throat ( I just call every cough a chesty cough). Feel much better these last few days anyway, just a bit of congestion left.....

chinguetti wrote: »

I with xebec. Would you ever go and get rid of the cold. You're going to make yourself worse if you don't. Remember what your main target is.

Jesus lads, I feel like I have 10 mammies on here nagging me:p

I can reassure you all my cold is all but gone and I'll be back to 100% in a few days. I have had colds before and realise when I am getting better

xebec wrote: »

I'd be more worried about the groin, but he won't listen to the multitudes on that one either :rolleyes: Ah well, I'm sure you'll set a nice 5k PB on Sunday, just really hope it doesn't affect the big one!

Groin is feeling 100% at the moment, I have had 4 visits to the physio over the past 3 weeks and been doing strenghtening excercises in the evenings for the past fortnight.
I haven't preregistered so I'll go and do half a mile tomorrow at race pace to make sure all is OK. I'll also wear compression shorts on the day and do a good warm up with strides included.
If I feel anything at all during the race, I assure you I will pull up and jog the rest of the course.
My fast mile on tuesday and 14 @PMP yesterday suggests that everything should be ok.

Just a quick leg loosener/test run ahead of tomorrow.
3 miles along the canal @7:30 pace average, including just over half a mile @ 6:17/mile pace.

Felt great tonight and the legs felt really fresh. I wore my Lunar Racers as I intend to give them their race debut tomorrow, but I didn't wear the compression shorts as I wanted to properly test the groin. I concentrated on relaxed shoulders and long loose stride on the fast bit, now just to repeat that x 6 tomorrow

Cold also clearing up, all the congestion has retreated to the nose area and I got a nasal spray this morning which seesm to have cleared the airwaves. Looking forward to tomorrow now, almost more nervous about this one than the Marathon. I love 5ks :pac:

Thanks Brian for letting the cat out of the bag I had planned on coming on here and telling all the naysayers I had a disaster and Injured myself and managed to cover all the bases after the race except yourself

Met Aimman at regsitration and we had a nice warm up. Got to the start line with about 10 minutes to go and realised I was overdressed as the sun was now slitting the trees- it had been pretty cold in the morning. I was chatting away to Gerard65 near the startline when the gun went off and took us by surprise mid conversation. Gerard shot off through the slow coaches in front of us :mad: and I got stuck behind them for a bout 10 seconds before I found a gap (I heard some of them screaming as they were nearly trampled over and pushed about :rolleyes:).
After 1/4 mile I saw sub 6 pace so decided to settle down and take it easy. I had planned on tracking gerard but he was long gone. I Went through the 1st km (majorly downhill) in 3:40 and the first mile on the garmin bleeped at 6:08. Very comfortable here but well on target. I knew the next mile would be the one to HTFU on. I had a group about 40m in front of me (including Maria McCmabride's sister) who looked like they were chasing sub 20 so decided to keep the gap on them. I actually managed to close it slightly but when I went through 3k in 11:50 so I had lost 10 seconds back. I pushed on to finish the second mile in 6:33. I was a little worried about losing it here and upped the pace.
We finally turned back down the hill at 3.5km and I passed 4k in 15:45 and knew I was good. I had closed the gap on the group at this stage and passed them around the 1k marker. There was a lot of panting and puffing from them just behind so i knew they were working harder than me. I just had to keep them behind me and I'd be fine. My garmin bleeped mile 3 showing 6:20. there was now 200m to go. I could see the shadows of the group behind creeping up on me and the huffing and puffing got louder so I upped the pace to keep them off. I Managed a 'Aeroplane' arms with thumbs up to a photographer as I crossed the finish line.

19:46 by my watch. I probably had another 20 seconds in me today, but was happy to go sub 20 and I'll leave the heroics for another day!

My Garmin actually measured the course at 5:04km (just like last year).

So 3.13 miles in 19:46 Splits: Mile 1 6:08 (165:eek:), 6:33 (176), 6:20 (177) the last .13 @ 5:45 (180)
Avg 6:19 pace (hr173) Last year my av HR was 178.

Warmdown for a mile
6 miles total for the day. I Met Raycun, Aimmam, WB Yeats, Tunguska (for the first time happy with his performance!!) back at the Sportshall over a cup of coffee as we watched the video of the reaply of the race. I have to say I felt like I was running a lot faster than it shows on the video :pac: I also had chat with Martin Fagan (facebook friend don't you know :P). He seesm a lovely chap- he broke the course record today.


Weekly total: 50.3 miles

Forgot to say, well done to Gerard65 for a PB off little training. Amazing. I though I could follow you today but no chance!
Easy training is obviously working for you - ditch all those daniels formulas :pac:

plodder wrote: »

Is that photo near the finish? You look sickeningly at ease if it is ...

I am pretty sure the photo is after the line as I'm easing up and the Guy with the clipboard below the clock is at 'the line'. There wasn't actually a line on the road, so I wasn't sure where to stop my watch.

Yes it felt easy but despite that my no breakfast strategy paid off. I am pretty sure If I had eaten anything it would have come back up, luckliy my stomach was empty

7 miles recovery Pace 8:50 Av HR 139
I bumped into a pal who is also one of the spar Spartans in my first mile tonight in Tymon Park. He was supposed to be on a recovery run too but was flying around (he has similar times to myself). I managed to convice him to slow down, though this was still faster than I planned. He was telling me his coach has him doing 10 x 1 mile a week repeats twice a week as part of his marathon training Programme :eek:

Right calf a little tight. I'll stretch and roll it later.