Becoming a Real Runner

So March didn't go quite to plan. I hoped to get up to 280+ miles for the month but never got near that, mainly because I got sick in the middle of the month and that kept me out for the guts of a week.

Otherwise training has gone fine with a few ups and downs.
The plan for the last month was an MP run every midweek, a Long run at the weekend and a few races. Just gonna log the key session here as the Long runs were pretty standard.

The week after Meath Half I was pretty wrecked so I just managed 3 miles @ MP (6:55/mile) with Digger on the Thursday followed by 22 miles with the last 5 steady on the Saturday. (Bray to Howth Run). I had intended running the last 5/6 at 6:50 but didn't have the energy so settled for going with the stews at about 7:20 pace.

The next week I had my first proper MP session midweek and did 10 miles @ 6:59 as part of a 14 miler. That course was mainly downhill so I was a touch disappointed with the pace, though I seemed to do some damage to the quads as they were still wrecked come Saturday and the MSB 5k.

I had a terrible race in MSB. The less said about it the better. I finished in 19:03 when I was fully expecting to go sub 18:30 based on my HM time a few weeks previous. Just felt I had no power in the legs on the day. A feed of pints afterwards so when i woke up the next day I put the crap feeling down to a hangover, but in the end I had a chest infection which kept me out for the guts of the week. Felt a little better by the Sunday so went for a 20 miler with MS, but found myself lacking energy at the end and couldn't finish with 5 @ MP as planned, instead I cut the run short at 17 miles.

Into the next week and the weather was at it's worst. I was really dreading to try the planned 10 miles @ MP with the wind as I knew on all my flattish routes I would be running pretty much 5 miles into a gale force wind which would likely break me. In the end I hatched the idea of going down to the club and doing 40 laps at MP while the others were doing their intervals. I managed 10.2 miles (40 laps from lane 2) @ 6:53 and felt comfortable enough despite snow showers and 40 x a gale force headwind on the back straight. A kind of breakthrough session for the confidence....
Did 19 miles that weekend with Digger and CL with the last 3 steady.

So this week I planned my MP run for Tuesday. The plan was 5,4,3,2,1 miles @ 6:50 pace and I went to the 1k loop in Marlay. After a mile warmup I got into it, but it was apparent immediately I was in no mood or form, managed 5k at 7:03 pace and couldn't go any faster. Called it a day and went home dejected.
I Decided I would have to go again so went out the next day and did 11 miles straight at 6:50 pace. Delighted with that. No idea what happened the day previous but good to out it behind me immediately.

Fast forward to today. I asked Rory Mooney a few weeks ago if there were any races today and he pointed me to a GAA 10k in Longford. I would have loved to have done the 4 miler in Raheny yesterday but I was working so committed to going to Longford this morning for a race I had no idea about, no guarantee it was measured properly and no idea of the profile. That said I figured since Longford Marathon is flat that this might be too, but as I headed from Edgeworthstown to Granard (a few KM from the start) I saw the hills in the area so I knew it was going to be a toughie. As we came into the GAA ground I could see the start line and a long downhill ahead for the first KM and this confirmed that it was not a PB course. Still and all I have a soft PB of 40:00 for a 10k. So even though my HM time says I should run 38:xx I said I would be happy enough to break 40. The two mooneys were in the race and about 100 others though most were doing the 5k which would run 2.2k of the same course before turning off for a loop and running the 2.2 k back again. Our course according to the race director was a straight 5k out and back again.
Anyway the whistle went off unexpectedly and I soon found myself in a group of 3 behind the mooneys. Despite the 5kers doing the first few kms with us, the first 5 runners were all doing the 10k!!
Our group was running well. Although the first half was predominantly downhill and downwind I was still surprised to see we were still running 6:0x pace after 3k and let the 2 boys off. I figured it was still flat enough not to warrant such a fast first half. At the halfway point I was at about 19 minutes flat. The turn came soon after 5k on the watch so I was confident the course was properly measured. At this point I was about 15 seconds behind 4th place with 3rd pulling away. I kept 4th in my sights and was gradually inching him back and I could see his form tiring.
It soon became apparent why we had run the first half so quickly as the wind in our faces was very strong and the inclines were much steeper than the downhill seemed in the first half. The pace dropped considerably but I was closing on 4th place. Then just before the 8k Mark (where the 5k runners had turned off to do their extra 600m loop) I saw the marshall point the 3rd runner off the course to do the same extra loop. A quick look at the garmin and an attempt to remember the course confirmed to me that this was a mistake. I saw the guy in 4th turn off as well and then slowed down to shout at the marshall that this was a mistake. Conversation went like this:

Meno: The 10k is straight on!!
Marshall: Everyone else turned off
Meno: *points ahead* there the 8k marker there. i have already done 8k *flashes garmin* the Race director told us it was out and back
Marshall: Well I don't know but everyone else turned off
Meno: **** this I came to do a 10k race not an 11k race.

I probably lost about 10 seconds here but went straight through regardless Jumping into 3rd place. I actually thought I was in 1st for most of the rest of the race and thought about how embarrassing that would be. I was glad to see the Mooneys had already finished when I got back though. But now I had no-one to chase so the race went out of it a bit and the hills got harder as I neared the end, it became a matter of finishing it out. I Finished up passing the 5k stragglers on the final hill up to the clubhouse and crossed the line in 39:45 (6:23 pace) for an unofficial 3rd place. I think there was a good minute in me on a better course but overall i was Happy with the race. A 15 second PB on a course that was most definitely not a PB course. (Rory Mooney went through 10k in 37 minutes and would normally be a few minutes quicker).
The splits for the race tell the story of the course because I think I paced it well enough effort wise: 6:01, 6:14, 6:16, 6:30, 6:44, 6:44 and 1:21 for the last bit.

month|2012 Run days|Miles|2013 Run days|Miles
January|28/31|290.1|25/31|243
February|27/29|283.2|26/28|237
March|24/31|204.7|26/31|234
April|23/30|187.8|7/7|47
May|29/31|240||
June|20/30|176||
July|30/31|309.2||
August|28/31|257||
September|26/30|227||
October|25/31|171||
November|27/30|201||
December|28/31|210||
Total|317/365|2757.8.5|84/97|761

On a side note, i have been watching the diet for the last 3 weeks or so after reading Krustys log and his recommendation of the myfitnesspal Website. By tracking my food and calories and logging the runs I have managed to drop from 76.4kg to 73.2kg as of this morning. Happy with this development as I haven't had to sacrifice much, just avoid the crap food on easy days. Haven't had much beer since the MSB race which has also helped a lot. Hopefully I can get down below 73kg for London without feeling weak.

KielyUnusual wrote: »

Well done Meno. Good result in what sounded like a bit of a mess of a race.

In fairness for a tenner it was a grand race. No chip timing or any of that but a great feed after and everyone was very friendly. Apart from the marshall pointing lads the wrong way (and the ones who obeyed have much more to complain about than me ) the only minor gripe was having to steer around groups of 40 minute 5k'er up the last hill:


Though a few seemed to be able to up their pace and challenge whenever I went past them. :pac: