[shotgunmcos]

Short run with 4*3min reps
Had a few things to do today so got this done straight after getting out of bed. Simple 30 minutes with 4*3minute reps at sweet spot effort to prepare the legs for a long sweet spot stint tomorrow. 2 mins steady between reps.
3 mins at 3:54 pace, 0.77km
3 mins at 3:50 pace, 0.78km
3 mins at 3:44 pace, 0.80km
3 mins at 3:40 pace, 0.82km
The reps got progressively quicker as I warmed up and I finished with loads left in the tank which was good. Minimum expectation is a PB
Total 7.25km

[Bally8]

Best of luck tomorrow MCOS

[shotgunmcos]

Great Limerick Run Half Marathon Report

Aha revenge on the DNF, it feels good The DNF from last year was a sore point, particularly as it sat literally on my doorstep. I had no intention of silly marathons again this year so I picked the half marathon for some revenge and claimed it.

I awoke to a text from Hunnymonster who was outside my place curb crawling in search of her race number. I pedalled beside her down to the start of the marathon shooting the breeze as RedB would say. I found it rather comforting that even Hunnymonster finds the balance of training and parenting a challenge in itself There were some familiar faces gearing up for the 26.2 so I offered some motivation before pedalling back home to psyche myself up for the half marathon. 2 hours later I was loitering about bouncing my nervous energy off a rather relaxed RedB and Co. As a large crowd meandered over to the start line I joined the slowest portaloo queue in the world and danced about behind a line of walkers in frustration. I ended up scrambling up the footpath beside the park, flanking the mob to get to the front of the line just in time. I ended up in a great position, second row back and beside the corner we were starting on as the final seconds counted down.

The front row tore off up the initial hill and I followed suit. Way too fast. Everyone in front of me was whippet like and we were at 3:30/km so I backed off a bit. The 2 lead ladies came past with some lads on their shoulders for company. It felt more like the start of a 10k than a half marathon. My support was at the top of the hill yelling too which didn't help to rein the pace back. By the time we hit the first mile marker (which was late) I sort of settled to run with a guy in a red tee. The pace was still 3:45/km though and too hot for me. I thought about the fact that I had another 12 miles to go. I glanced behind however to see that there was a gap back to the next group. I didn’t fancy running alone so I stuck with the red tee for company. As the markers were in miles I had established a 6:20 target pace with a worst case scenario of 6:30 pace (that would sneak a pb).

Most of the first few miles are dragging and my heart rate was spending too much time in the low to mid 170s. I couldn’t sustain this. We hit mile 5 in a shade under 31 minutes and I decided to let the red tee go. I only had to back off a fraction to get my heart rate back under 170. We were running downhill after Raheen Church when I was first passed. I was still with the guy running up the short steep hill by the crescent but again I let him go as he was dragging me into the red zone. I had taken a gel at the water station at mile 5 but maybe didn’t drink enough water with it. I felt a bit gooey and was glad for the water at the school at mile 7. I was grateful for the water being provided in bottles too.

The first doubt crept in at mile 8. I was still holding 6:20/mile pace but working pretty hard for it at this stage. I passed some friends with Caz and my Mum with her dog which gave me a lift. I had to shout at walkers at times as they blocked the narrow route and I got rather annoyed with people with earphones, oblivious to what was going on. The noise level increased when we hit town and It was great to have your name on your bib as your name gets called out at every corner. I was passed by another runner on Sarsfield Bridge and he offered some encouragement. I ran with him down to the treaty stone but let him go up the hill alone. I had to focus on my own thing. Miles 9-10 were a bit of a struggled with motivation. I hit 10 miles (marker again late) in 63 and change and asked myself whether I was going to succumb to the pain or embrace it. I figured I just had to run a 20 minute 5k, how hard could it be? I chose to embrace it and chased the runners who had passed me.

I was moving nicely again until I hit the long drag passed the Gaelic Grounds. I had run this route several times in training and this helped a lot here. I felt as though I was struggling badly but I wasn’t losing ground to the 2 guys who passed me. They must have been hurting as much! The watch beeped with my slowest split so far and I had illusions of me battling to get home in with my 1:25:58 pb ebbing away. I even mistook the green stability treaty posters for the 11 mile marker. Another runner from Eagle AC passed me here. It was hard to tell if I was making up any places though as there were marathoners’ zig zagging about the road. By the time we rounded Nessans School and claimed the 12 mile mark I had my breath back and knew I would get home with a pb. I just had to hold it together for another 8 minutes. I worked hard. My old Rowing Coach passed me on a bike and gave me a high five that nearly knocked me to the ground but I had some determination going now. With a half mile to go I knew I was on for a decent pb. My left quad and right calf were starting to cramp but I didn’t care. When I hit the bridge again I mentally discarded my DNF into the river and opened my legs to the finish. It wasn’t the best run as I had gone out too hard and was cramping up for a finish but I crossed the line in 1:23:40 with a 2 minute PB and I was chuffed with that. Last year I walked away sulking with my head down. This time I treated myself to a rub down, a foil blanket, some grub and savoured the atmosphere rather proudly Turned out I bagged top 20 too whch was a bonus. Job Done!

Summary
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/176026889

[Bambaata]

Well done Mike! Good job, 2 min PB is a massive chunk off it!

[El Director]

Ah thats the style Mike. As I always say....."the bitter makes the sweet taste all the sweeter"

[pgibbo]

Nice one Mike. Congrats

[BennyMul]

Great running Mike,

[jackyback]

Massive pb for you, getting it done nicely so far this year Mike.

[shotgunmcos]

Recovery for the legs that is...

Recovery Bike
It was a lovely evening and I was tempted to take the TT bike out for a spin but orders are orders and the only way to ensure that I kept this easy was to roll out on the fat mountain bike tyres. I simply pedalled a high cadence for an hour taking in last weekends run route and anchoring the feeling of suffering. I can suffer in the pool or on the bike but suffering on my feet is something I need to embrace to go faster. I passed a guy on a road bike and I don't think he was pleased. He bombed off ahead after taking a break on my wheel for a while It was an enjoyable enough spin but I could feel the race in my legs still.
Total 25km.

Squad Swim
Back to suffering
I've lost my fins so I just did an easy warm up while the rest of the lane played with swim toys. We bolted into the work with me sandwiched between the technician and my nemesis, not the worst place to be
400 easy
8*200 off 3:30 in on 3:02/3:01/3:01/2:58/2:56/2:57/3:03/3:03
8*100 off 1:40 in on 1:29/1:30/1:32/1:33/1:33/1:34/1:34/1:32
1000 easy
Total 3,800m

I hung onto the tehnician for the first 3 200s and actually felt like I might be able to hang on for the 8 of them. But the screw was turned for the next 3 and it toasted me. Amazing, I was comfortable enough at just under my CSS (threshold) pace but a couple of seconds faster and I was in the redzone and suffering. I was wrecked after the 200s and it felt like we had zero rest before we got into the 100s. I swam these in no mans land as I had dropped my nemesis on the 200s and I couldn't hold onto the fish. After the second rep I copped that the group behind me were going off 1:45 and the group in front were going off 1:40. I went with the 1:40 RT for the rest of the set and continued suffering on my own. The reps were dog rough as I fought with the water and gasped for air but I got them done. I was spent after the main set so to rub that feeling in I swam 1k straight easy

Flights and accomodation booked for Barcelona. I suddenly have focus!

[RedB]

Think you made the front page of the Chronicle

[Izoard]

Nice work on the PB mcos - all that feckin' about with AR is paying off

[shotgunmcos]

Turbo - Aerobic Tempo
Simple, an hour at 85% FTP done as 5 minutes warm up, 50 mins at about 90%, 5 minutes warm down. Very sweaty. My left quad wasn't thrilled about this output an felt the strain of the race cramps still. It wasn't good session as I felt like I had to grind it out. I think I just wasn't in the mood for the turbo and my legs rebelled.
Total 37.5km, avg 276w

Swim Squad
More suffering....
500 warm up at 1:48 pace
6*150 off 2:40 in on 2:16/2:17/2:18/2:17/2:16/2:16
3*100 hard/2*50 hard done in 1:17/35/37, 1:22/38/38, 1:22/37/37
1000 easy at 1:46 pace
Total 3,000m avg swolf 70, avg efficiency 34.3

It wasn't a long main set but the 150s were all too reminiscent of hanging on for dear life in Wednesday's session. The fast bits were done in lactic city and left me hanging over the ropes for a finish. Again, just to rub it in and because I'm not swimming as regularly a I'd like to be, I did a longer 1k swim down.

[El Director]

Your 200 and 100 times are so impressive dude You are going to kill it on the tri scene this year imo. I mean with times like those you will be right at the front of proceedings after the swim and there ain't many that will catch you on a bike and your recent half mara time really stacks up too! Savage stuff Mike.

[Abhainn]

Originally Posted by shotgunmcos

Flights and accomodation booked for Barcelona. I suddenly have focus!

Catching up Mike. 2 mins improvement on your half time is a great PB. Thats 10 sec /mile .

Did you choose Calella or Barca for the accomodation?

[shotgunmcos]

Originally Posted by El Director

Your 200 and 100 times are so impressive dude You are going to kill it on the tri scene this year imo. I mean with times like those you will be right at the front of proceedings after the swim and there ain't many that will catch you on a bike and your recent half mara time really stacks up too! Savage stuff Mike.

Won't be on the scene much El D. Have Athy next, then Kilkee, then on the low down to get into IM shape. Maybe a race in August. Have had to scrap a lot of the summer races for a variety of reasons.

Originally Posted by Abhainn

Catching up Mike. 2 mins improvement on your half time is a great PB. Thats 10 sec /mile .

Did you choose Calella or Barca for the accomodation?

Hey Abhainn, cheers I'm getting there slowly but surely. Im staying in Calella in self catering hotel Miami Park. I fancy cooking my own breakfast etc..

Barcelona is 50km from the start so it would be a bit of a trek on race morning! Easy to get trains to and from Barca/Calella though