Sub 20, Sub 35, Sub 45

spurscormac

Monday
Cross Training - If you can include a round of golf.
Was pretty crap for most holes, but managed 2 pars in a row. One was a 3rd shot chip to 3 inches, tap in for par. Followed up by a short drive on a par 3, lobbed shot over a bunker to 15 ft, and then a perfect put that looked to be wide of the mark, but turned in the last 4 inches & dropped in.

Considering I was after two nights out in a row, and had a 5am start on Tuesday, that was enough exercise for the day.

Tuesday
Club run - felt my knee again after a while. Stopped & stretched it, joined back up to the group, but the pain was there again.
Thats it for me this week - just gonna stretch it for 3 days, run on Saturday & see if it holds up during the race.
If not, there's a months break from club training starting next week, so I will just use that to recover and hopefully be injury free in September.

ManFromAtlantis

hope it holds up on the night. of all races it woulld be nice to be fit for the streets.are ur hopes of a pb out the window?

spurscormac

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

hope it holds up on the night. of all races it woulld be nice to be fit for the streets.are ur hopes of a pb out the window?

I think so. Just found out I'm likely to have a busy day of work, followed by the race. All that added to the knee complaining looks like there's no hope for the pb.
But, considering the fact that I have a month off afterwards, I'm going to push it, see how the knee holds up, and give it a go.
If it holds up for the whole race, or even 7k, then I might just push through the pain and see if I can do it.
If it goes any earlier, then I'll just ease off & hobble to the finish.

spurscormac

Update:

Well the title of the thread says sub 35 for an 8k, and I've finally done it with a surprising pb in the Streets of Galway on Saturday night. :eek::)
Delighted, but need some time off training to let my knee heal - might do some bike or swimming instead for a few weeks.

Not sure how to cross reference a post, so here's my race report from the Streets of Galway on Saturday - already posted in the SoG Call Your Time thread.



Saturday 4:45am - Alarm woke me for work at 5am.
Took over from a colleague in the US, supporting data systems from home, 12 hour shift til 5pm.
It was one of those days - just non-stop stuff to do, hardly a break and no rest.
After finishing work, got my gear together, but had a last minute panic when I couldn't find my watch - how would I cope with no idea of the splits.
Eventually found it, so was able to calm down.

Saturday 18:10 - left home to go down to the Claddagh for the start. Traffic on the prom was crazy, the good weather had loads of people out and they seem to have priority at the pedestrian lights - as soon as someone requested to cross, the road lights would go red. :mad:

Saturday 18:30 - eventually got parked at Grattan Park, locked the car and made my way towards the finish area for warm-ups on the pitch & roads.
Considering the knee issues of late, I spent a good 6 or 7 minutes solid stretching the ITB in both legs, jogged a few minutes, then did a few strides. Met a few of the usual GCH heads around, everyone in a good mood. Weather was nice, no fierce wind, and there was a lot of talk of people looking for good times.
The Streets has a rep for that, with good weather conditions, its a lovely flat course.
Personally I wasn't sure what to expect, I hadn't felt my knee all day, but was wary about having done a tough 12 hour shift at work, and didnt know how tired I'd be when the race started.
The goal if I feel good is sub 35, if not, just to finish.

18:55 - With the stewards screaming for people to get to the start line, I made my way down, and squeezed in about 6 or 7 rows back from the front at a gap in the barriers. While I was unsure how I'd do, I didn't want any hopes of a good time to be ruined by the charity walkers/fun runners further back, who seem to like to stretch the width of the road.

19:05ish - After getting everyone back to the start, removing the barriers and edging the field up to the start, eventually the race gets under way.

Felt good to start, being up near the top meant it was a fast pace and I felt good initially. Looking for the 1k marker & get an estimate of my time, I can't see it anywhere. This throws me, I don't know how my pace is, too fast or too slow.
Coming over the Salmon Weir bridge towards the Cathedral, I see what I think is the 2k marker, I hit lap on the stopwatch, but I don't trust it, as I thought the 2k mark was further up as you go past the Cathedral itself.
It reads 8:18, which would be a 4:09 for each km (more likely 4:02,4:16), but I think I'm out, think the marker is probably a further 30 secs up the road & I that I'm outside my goal.
I settle into just going steady, hoping the 3k will give me a more accurate reading and I'll be able to assess my time from here.
Again I miss the 3k marker, so I'm completely thrown now, though the support of a training colleague who's marshalling at Cooke's Corner gives me a boost - thanks Jane.
At this point I've all but given up on the sub-35, just hoping to finish with a decent time, maybe sub-36, and just hope the knee holds out.
Approaching halfway, and I finally get definite sight of the 4km marker.
There's also a guy here calling out the time, 17:03, 17:04, 17:05. :eek
I can't believe it, having expected to be outside my time, I now have a chance of that sub-35 again, with about 25 seconds to spare.
I push it as much as I can, but the 5th km is the most uphill section, and I reach the 5k with a 4:37 split in 21:41. Quick calculation says I'm still on track. I push on, thinking I need to gain some time, but not too hard, as this is the point where my knee went on the training run, and I want to have something left for the last km.
Hit 6k in 26:08, taking 9 seconds off my previous km, but now I'm starting to feel my lower back - 12 hours sitting at a chair working on a laptop doesn't seem to have helped.
The 7th km marker passes, and I've been passed by quite a few people who seem to have saved themselves for a strong finish. The watch reads 30:40, a 4:32 split.
I had sensed my pace had dropped, but this is it now, a 4:19 km and I'll get sub-35. I try to push the pain out of my head, not just my lower back, but my feet are blistered, both of them, but if I want this time, I can't let the pain in.
I try to lengthen my strides, begin to go past people - its a great feeling doing that, and I think I can do it. I'm now glancing at my watch every 30 seconds or so, my head tells me its still on, my body is really suffering now, everything aches.
Coming past the 500m to go marker, I think I had 2 minutes to make it, there's no way I'm giving up now.
I push & push, forgetting about the 12 hour work, the first half of missed markers, and stretch out down Grattan Road heading towards the final turn and a glimpse of the finish clock.
I round the bend with about 25secs to get to the finish, and slowly realise that the goal will be achieved, but don't want to slow down now. Its not until about 5 metres from the finish that I ease off, with a mix of surprise & delight that I've finally nailed that 35min barrier.

I get through the finish line & head for the railings - holding on for dear life for a few seconds while I try to get some air.
A while later, I remember I hadn't stopped the watch - d'oh. Not to worry, chip & official time will come later.
On meeting a few others from the club afterwards, everyone is in good form, it seems it was a great day for times, with lots of people reporting pbs.
These times are confirmed by text message to my mobile within an hour of the race - now thats impressive.

Gun Time: 34:53
Chip Time: 34:48

Huge thanks to the club for all the organisation involved, not only in the race itself, but in the training sessions all year. Its amazing how good regular sessions and encouragement from training partners helps you come on in leaps and bounds.

For now though, my knee is killing me, so I'm going to take full advantage of the month's break in training and give it time to heal properly.
Thats one long-term goal achieved, time to aim for the 5k & 10k goals when I return from a well earned break.

Finally, congrats to Josphat Boit of Clonliffe Harriers on equalling the course record in a mind-boggling 22:49 to retain his title, and Rosemary Ryan of Bilboa for also retaining her women's title in 27:22, thats 5 times she's won it now.

pgibbo

Congrats on going sub 35. A great achievement. Always nice to achieve your goals! Congrats. I hope the leg heals well. Be patient with it. Who knows, you might get hooked on the bike & swimming and try some triathlons next season!