Becoming a Real Runner

menoscemo

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I'm a 6.5 UK sizes by the way, I hope you have a big suitcase. :pac:

Did I promise you something when I was drunk:p

Got a Sneaky little run in this morning round the streets of Phildelphia.

4.2 miles @just under 9 min pace. Not sure going much faster than that will be possible in this heat. It was 28c at 8am.

Now I'm off to an Irish Bar to see Tyrone hammer the Dubs

RacoonQueen

menoscemo wrote: »

Now I'm off to an Irish Bar to see Tyrone hammer the Dubs

Hmmmm.... :pac:

racheljev

Teehee, hope THE DUBS winning doesn't mess your hols...

gerard65

menoscemo wrote: »

Now I'm off to an Irish Bar to see Tyrone hammer the Dubs

So how did that work out for ya?

rainbow kirby

menoscemo wrote: »

Now I'm off to an Irish Bar to see Tyrone hammer the Dubs

Famous last words

menoscemo

:mad::mad::o:o
I will say nothing about the match.

Up at 8 am this morning and out without food despite several beers last night. It was already around 28 celcius and rising :eek:. I headed up by the famous steps that rocky climbed in Rocky 3 and found a wonderful little river trail by the side, full of runners and joggers. I was a little worried about dehydration and was determied to take it easy, but immediately got myself into a battle with an asian girl who seemed to be going the same pace as myself. When I passed her out she seemed to up the pace and I had to keep it going to hold her off. The mile splits droped from 8:50 down to 8:15. Finally after about 5 miles I looked back and she wasn't there so I stopped at a water fountain had a drink and jogged back at a much slower pace.

Saturated in sweat by the end.

8.1 miles @ 8:40 pace

rainbow kirby

menoscemo wrote: »

:mad::mad::o:o
I will say nothing about the match.

Probably for the best if you don't. :pac:

menoscemo

6.8 miles @ 8:40 pace
I went out this evening down to the city centre and up to the famous rocky steps. The sun was down but amazingly it was still 82f (about 29c). I had planned about 10 but the trails along the river were badly lit and I fell not 100% safe so I was forced back tot he streets which were again badly lit and uneven in camber. I was going at around 8:20 pace but with the deteriorating conditions I slowed the last two and called it a day early. Breathing was incredibly good and the effort felt minimal but the sweat was just lashing off me. I only wore a little singlet but it must now weigh a few pounds!!

Today i managed to pick up a nice shiny new pair of lunarglides for just $80:

RK are they the same ones as yours?

Nice to get a new colour as back home I only had charcoal and flourescent green. I plan get a pair of Lunar racers in a the niketown in New York for speed sessions and short races

Edit: Just under 28 miles to go now in the 1000 mile challenge. Barring disaster I should definately be finishing it next week in Central Park

rainbow kirby

They're not quite the same as mine, mine have white laces and the sole is blue. Very similar though.

pgmcpq

menoscemo wrote: »

6.8 miles @ 8:40 pace
I went out this evening down to the city centre and up to the famous rocky steps. The sun was down but amazingly it was still 82f (about 29c). I had planned about 10 but the trails along the river were badly lit and I fell not 100% safe so I was forced back tot he streets which were again badly lit and uneven in camber. I was going at around 8:20 pace but with the deteriorating conditions I slowed the last two and called it a day early. Breathing was incredibly good and the effort felt minimal but the sweat was just lashing off me. I only wore a little singlet but it must now weigh a few pounds!!

....

Edit: Just under 28 miles to go now in the 1000 mile challenge. Barring disaster I should definately be finishing it next week in Central Park

Early mornings are usually a better bet to avoid the heat - doesn't go well with later nights though ! Hat's off to your lungs - that usually the first thing to go. That route in the park from the museum is part of the Philly marathon route. Surprised to hear it is poorly lit - no other runners about ?

menoscemo

pgmcpq wrote: »

Early mornings are usually a better bet to avoid the heat - doesn't go well with later nights though ! Hat's off to your lungs - that usually the first thing to go. That route in the park from the museum is part of the Philly marathon route. Surprised to hear it is poorly lit - no other runners about ?

The little trail back towards the city centre from the museum was well lit and full of runners, but once I continued on beyond the museum, up towards fairmount park, there were few people about and I couldn't see much so I decided to turn around.
I will try again in the morning, I should be getting use of a treadmill this evening.

Yeah I am surprised at the lungs, I don't seem to be breathing heavy at all, everyone I pass sounds like they are panting though. I didn't bring out my HRM so I cannot really compare the effort to back home.

menoscemo

Today the heat was just too opressive for a run outside. I was walking around the city and it was over 90f (about 34 c) with high humidity. Just being outside meant sweating buckets.
Luckily my friend has gotten me a free 3 day trial at his Gym. Just back now from 7 miles on the old dreadmill at around about 7:30/mile. I actually did this as an interval session, alternating miles between 8.5 mph (about 7min/miles) and about 7.5 mph (about 8 min/miles)

7 miles @ 7:30 min/miles

menoscemo

Life caught up with me there for a few days (specifically 4 days of boozing, partying and eating cr*p food ) well, it is my Holidays after all.
Since I last updated I have moved up to New York until friday.
Anyway, I got a shock reading some of the logs in my hungover state last night, with the likes of RQ and Sarsfield Rock creeping ever closer in the 1000 mile challenge. I am meeting pgmcpq for a few miles tomorrow evening so I decided to go down to central park and test out the legs. It was 85f at 7:30pm :eek:. I really felt this and had a bad run. Despite the lungs feeling fine and everyone around me panting and puffing, I really died after a few miles and my pace droped to a crawl. To make matters worse I got lost and despite scoping out several water foutains earlier in the day, couldn't find one for love nor money. Eventually got one after 6 miles and drained it dry, now I had to get my way back.
To cut a long story short, ended up doing 8.5 miles instead of a planned 4 or 5, pace was very slow though:
8.5 miles@ almost 9:30 pace
This was my toughest run in months, I guess it is mainly down to the bad living Hopefully will run better tomorrow night.

The bright side of the story is that I am now just 12.2 miles short of the magical 1000 for the year, so should be finished up by Wednesday.

menoscemo

As I said yesterday, I was meeting up with pgmcpq (a New York Resident, but apparently a true Dub) this evening in central park. Now my original idea was to do about 6 tonight and 6 tomorrow to finish up the challenge. All this looked like it was gonna come to fruition when I spent the best part of 7 hours on a guided foot tour through the city and met pgmcpq for him to tell me he had already done 10 that morning. At 6 we decided to do another mile or two and I was feeling a lot better than yesterday, however as we stopped at a tap, my running partner whipped out a mini camera and told me he was taking a picture to mark me finishing out the 1000. I told him then and there that I would have to do it, so we went off on another lap of the park and I ended up forcing poor pg around another few corners just to make up the distance.

Truth be told, despite his 10 this morning he was much fresher than me and I was really suffering in the heat (warmer than yesterday evening at 86f). I ended up drinking 1.5 litres of water and a 1 litre bottle of gatorade after the run. I left Pg att he metro stop and ran back up to the hostel, finishing with
12.8 miles at 9:10 ish pace

Thanks PG again for coming up to do this run and for the converstaion. Look forward to meeting you after Dublin for a few pints

pgmcpq

menoscemo wrote: »

As I said yesterday, I was meeting up with pgmcpq (a New York Resident, but apparently a true Dub) this evening in central park. Now my original idea was to do about 6 tonight and 6 tomorrow to finish up the challenge. All this looked like it was gonna come to fruition when I spent the best part of 7 hours on a guided foot tour through the city and met pgmcpq for him to tell me he had already done 10 that morning. At 6 we decided to do another mile or two and I was feeling a lot better than yesterday, however as we stopped at a tap, my running partner whipped out a mini camera and told me he was taking a picture to mark me finishing out the 1000. I told him then and there that I would have to do it, so we went off on another lap of the park and I ended up forcing poor pg around another few corners just to make up the distance.

Truth be told, despite his 10 this morning he was much fresher than me and I was really suffering in the heat (warmer than yesterday evening at 86f). I ended up drinking 1.5 litres of water and a 1 litre bottle of gatorade after the run. I left Pg att he metro stop and ran back up to the hostel, finishing with
12.8 miles at 9:10 ish pace

Thanks PG again for coming up to do this run and for the converstaion. Look forward to meeting you after Dublin for a few pints

Great to meet you ! Didn't mean to up the pressure ... but you cruised to the 1,000 mark. I'm a bit thick so the bit about the walking tour didn't register - I'd been sitting most of the day. You had me a bit worried when you took off chasing the guy in the Dublin shirt - I thought you were likely to mug him and steal his water . Here's the pic (not great but from a $10 key ring camera high art is unlikely!)

racheljev

Fair play menoscemo, what a way to break the 1000! Congrats:)

sarsfieldsrock

Well done on that. Good running.
And of course you congratulated the dub on their win a few weeks ago?

Aimman

Well done on the 1000M. Probably the best place it's been achieved so far this year. ;-)

Brianderunner

Congrats, your well placed now to rip up that Dublin Marathon course.

RacoonQueen

I can't believe you beat me. The shame. The SHAME.

Congrats on the 1000 miles. Now you can kick back, relax and enjoy the rest of your holiday.

menoscemo

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I can't believe you beat me. The shame. The SHAME.

Congrats on the 1000 miles. Now you can kick back, relax and enjoy the rest of your holiday.

I sure will, the heat outside is such a killer, it is really not condusive to this kind of stuff. Truth be told, I would have given up on doing this out here had you not been creeping up
Anyway back on saturday morning so I will be back to normal training, I have done about 80 miles in the last 3 weeks and although that's not bad for holidays and I haven't been following P&D; it still feels like I've let it slip a fair bit.

menoscemo

Well, I said no more runing till I got back but I lied!!
Today the temperature dropped from 89 (32 celcius) to 72 (22 celcius) and there was a nice little drizzle. I said this must be a sign to get out there running

Since I haven't done any thing speed related since I took holidays a few weeks ago, I said I'd give a few LT miles a lash to see if the speed was still in the legs so After a warm up I bashed out two fast miles (7:03, 7:04). It felt great to fly past all the sloggers and even the run-walkers (so many out here run a few minute then walk a minute and you are constantly overtaking them, but tonight I flew past them even in their running phase ).
All the other miles were done at 8:30 or below and it all felt quite comfortable, so Really happy with that. Despite the lower temperature, the humidity was still sneakily high and it was only when I got back I realised I was absolutely drenched in sweat as usual.

Anyway 7.2 miles @ 8:06 pace
Flying back tomorrow and may get a run in on saturday evening (even though I don't land until 5am sat morning).

menoscemo

9 weeks to DCM and I haven't followed any official training plan for the last 3 weeks (though I have been doing about 30 miles a week.

I have decided to swap weeks and do the (recovery) week of 8 weeks to go to ease me back in (though I have a 10 mile arce on saturday).

Tonights plan was 8 miles GA with strides.
Headed out in the rain which was rather refreshing. I went to chapelizod up through the hill on st Laurences Rd to get a bit of the DCM course in (It is a lot shorter than I remember,
back to do the strides along the canal

Summary: 8.1 miles @ 8:34 pace, HR 152 :eek: HR is somewhere between 5 and 10 bpm higher than it normally sould be for this pace, which shows I have lost some fitness. Hopefully this is just cobwebs that I will knock off before saturday.

In other news, I got on the scales on saturday to see what the damage of the eating and por diet for 2 weeks was, and shocking I am down 3 pounds or 1.5kg (now 73.5kg). I am sure it will all go back on though :rolleyes:

RacoonQueen

I often do miles 8 - 14 of the marathon route, be nicer without traffic though I can take you round it to about mile 16 or so sometime if you like, I could do it all blindfolded at this stage. Only thing is it's best done early on a sunday morning as traffic lights are a pain in the foot.

It's nice to take the marathon route in actually you can get miles 5 - 14 in pretty easily if you do a lap of the park then exit at the chapelizod gate and head up to walkinstown, 16 miles to my house doing it that way would probably be a 17 or 18 miles for you.

menoscemo

I used to do varying parts of miles 11-20 all the time when I was living in Kimmage. Would be nice to take in a good big chunk of the course as an LSR before the big day.

menoscemo

Up nice and early this morning (still on USA Time, not getting to sleep until 6am and not waking up until after 3pm :eek:) after only 2 hours sleep for 10 hilly miles with woddle up through the Dublin Mountains. Had been hoping for 14, but with the 10 miler at the weekend and a track session tomorrow and 2 hours sleep I thought it was best to leave it short. I have gotten injured before coming back from a break.

HR still alittle high but it was very hilly in places, I feel like it was a good workout for the legs. Pleasure as always running with Woddle, who looks to be in improved shape.

Summary:
9.8 miles @9:03 pace. AvHr146

menoscemo

My sleep woes continue....I guessed I would be shattered last night after only a couple of hours sleep and I certainly was. Went to bed nice and early and nodded off before midnight, awoke about half an hour later feeling bright as a button :mad: ended up not getting back to sleep till about 6am.
Decided to get up nice and early anyway (9.30) but I am now in a bit of a zombie land, I had planned a track session: 4 x 800m at 5k pace, so decided to go to UCD to do it anyway. I was excited about testing out the new Lunar racers I got in the states. I have to say they felt great, very soft on the feet and light as a feather. I did 2 miles warm up at about 8:40 pace (135 HR back to normal despite no sleep) and launched into the first interval

Given a 20 minute 5 k I had calculated about 3:12 per 800m. I forgot to switch the garmin pace to Km's though so was unsure of pace on the first lap, though I wasn't really pushing the HR high enough, sure enough after a lap I realised I was way too slow and despite speeding up on the second lap, only made 3:21 (6:37 pace (max hr 166- way too low). I launched into the second interval and went off nice and fast, after one lap I was travelling at about 6:10 pace (a bit fast but good) and HR 175 (about right) when bang, I felt a sharp pain in the left groin. I pulled up immedaitely and jogged back to the car. Jogging was fine, but I can feel there is damage there and it would be sore if I speeded up.

I am not sure what the prognosos is, I have had this type of thing before and it has cleared up pretty quickly. I would hate to put it down to the shoes as they felt great, probably it is down to tiredness and not stretching (tired = tight- right?).

Anyway 3.1 miles @ 8:14 pace (141)

Will see how this pans out over the next few days, lots of stretching and hopefully some good sleep. I will check on friday If I can run ok before deciding to run on saturday or not :mad:

Brianderunner

You should see a physio straight away. Say you are running the 10 miler on Saturday and you should get a quick appointment. No point risking a serious injury with it. You have put in too much hard work up to now to be sidelined. The 10 miler can wait, the DCM is all that matters.

I had that sleep thing too after a USA trip, it was pure hell awake till 7am every night, West coast 8 hrs behind. Went away after about a week.

Hope you make a speedy recovery.

menoscemo

Cheers Brian. You are probably right. It really doesn't feel like much though. If there is any trouble with it tomorrow, I'll ring my physio to see him on Friday (I am heading up north this evening for a night or two).

pgmcpq

Sorry to hear about the groin problem. Hopefully it is just the body objecting to the first speed session in a while. Even with a two mile warm up you might not have been fully loosened up - shoes seem less likely. Good decision to knock off the session. I am looking at my first track session since April this week and the prospect is ... worrying.

As far as the sleep thing goes - I usually try to stay up as long as possible when arriving in Ireland so that by the time I do go to sleep there is no chance I won't get a decent few hours in. After that thing settle down pretty quickly. Valerian or melatonin might be useful too.