Is it Now?

donothoponpop

Thurs 6 miles, including 4.5 fartlek

A better session than last week's. Pace's were quicker, distances longer. After a couple minutes of warm-up, I ran into a strong headwind for the first timed mile. It felt tough, but I was rewarded with a 6:28. That's a good bit better than 7 mins from a week ago. The next few miles were all about mixing it up- 20 sec bursts, 40 second strides, uphill dash's, two-minute tempo's. Recovery wasn't too long, I seem to recuperate fairly rapidly. That's probably a by-product of hill training. 7:24 pace average overall for the 4.5 miles fartlek and recovery.

donothoponpop

Fri 5.5 hilly easy

Up Mangons with PosNeg, easy paced run, except when we passed female walkers and he massively upped the effort. Its embarrassing really, a lad of his age should know better. 5.5 miles in about 50 minutes, really is a fantastic view running down from there (we both lost our footing while glancing at it).

ocnoc

donothoponpop wrote: »

a lad of his age should know better

Its an art to speed up and look awesome, but to also give yourself a good view of the scenery

donothoponpop

ocnoc wrote: »

Its an art to speed up and look awesome, but to also give yourself a good view of the scenery

Ah, I have to 'fess up, I'm the one who does the involuntary speeding-up while passing young ones. Didn't realize I was doing it until I had it pointed out to me a while back. I suck in the gut too

Dory Dory

donothoponpop wrote: »

Wed 6.5 miles easy

My ipod unearthed itself from a long-lost drawer, so Radiohead drowned out any external sounds. And for good measure, I angled the headtorch into the trees, and switched it to its dullest blue light, taking care of sense number three. I've no sense of smell to speak of (boom-boom), so if it wasn't for the lingering taste of chorizo from tonight's dinner, I may has well had been running in space.

Interesting choice, Radiohead....but I can see how in the venue that is the darkness of night it works. Very cool.

PositiveNegativ

donothoponpop wrote: »

Up Mangons with PosNeg, easy paced run, except when we passed female walkers and he massively upped the effort. Its embarrassing really, a lad of his age should know better.

If only. Just a single speed left in my gear box.

donothoponpop

Sun 11.25 miles @ 8:45 pace average.

The young lad was playing a rugby blitz in Enniscorthy, so I left him to it, and intended getting as far a run as I could, in the time it would take for the blitz. Previously this can be anything from 1 hour to three hours, so I decided to do multiple small loops that would bring me back to the pitches as often as possible. This seemed to work well, as I got to see junior playing often; he got to see me seeing him playing; I got my run in; he got to play without an overbearing dad screaming at him from the sidelines. Win-win-win-win. (Actual score was won one, drew one )

Anyway, the first loop brought me up to vinegar hill, from where I could admire uninterrupted views for miles around. Pace starting off was pedestrian, over 9 min/miles. Back to the pitches, another backroads loop, and repeat. By 11 miles in I was feeling great, running under 8:30 miles without effort. I had intended 15 or 16, but the matches were finished, and so was I.

donothoponpop

Mon 28th Oct 4 miles recovery pace.

Carnew backroads, lashing rain. After I turned off the main road, I switched down to the dimmest headtorch setting. There was an ambient orange light in the sky from the far-off town street lamps, which silhouetted trees, bushes, etc. I turned off the torch to see what it was like, and found I could actually discern the wet road surface, which was reflecting that glow ever so slightly. Since I was running easy pace, and knew there was no potholes, I kept it off all the way around. Its a magic feeling, really running in the dark.

donothoponpop

Fri 12 miles steady, hilly

Everyone knows that the best way to do indoor DIY involving nails, is in your socks. But who knew that leaving said nails scattered on the floor might involve stepping on one? There's no warning on the box- "Do not step on nails in socks", so I might consult my lawyer. A billion-to-one chance really, but jabbing my soft underfoot with one of those nails meant I couldn't do any of the off-road running I had wanted to, for fear of infection.

By Friday the pain was sufficiently reduced to hit the trails around Annagh. A lovely frozen tundra greeted me, with the first ice of the year. The pace was good and steady, I felt stronger on the uphills than I have in some time. Knee pain is almost gone, which I put down to:
*losing weight;
*no hard surface downhills at speed;
*better foorwear;
*most importantly, proper stretching after each run. At first this would be to the extent of almost pain, but I've become more flexible since I started doing it.

Slogger Jogger

I think there is a class action suit in that nail lesson. I hammered my fingers a few times recently when holding a nail and the hammer mis-aimed. Again, no warning on the instructions. Actually, no instructions at all.

Great morning this morning. Couldn't run myself but what a sky this morning. Incredible colours around 8am time. Orange and pinks a go go. Sounds like a great run, well done.

donothoponpop

Sat 5 miles recovery

Easy pace around the rugby pitches, shod for once.

donothoponpop

Sun 6.5 mile hill slop.

First snow of the season. I went up around Black Hill to check out the best route, and the initial rain I was running in soon turned to snow. The ground wasn't frozen though, so it was very sloppy going for long stretches. This section will be soul destroying on the night, so I was glad to be out in very difficult conditions, for the practice. Mist was down when it wasn't snowing, and a bitter wind kicked into my face, but thankfully my map and compass helped me through the toughest section, and I soon hit Billy Byrnes gap, covered in snow, and drowned in mist. Difficult to run a lot of this section, slipping in the icy mush as I was.

donothoponpop

Tue 6 mile hill run.

PosNeg was going up from Ballinagee Bridge to Billy Byrnes for some route scouting, did I want to come? Did I wha', any opportunity to pick up some map reading skills from the master is to be jumped at. So after exiting the forest, we contoured through marshy ground for a bit, till PN pointed to his map and said "we are here". Didn't look like it to me, so I argued we were further along. Had to insist a couple of times, and it turns out I was right. (The exception proves the rule, right?;)). After that, it wasn't going to be a handy jog to the top:D

So we split for a while to try variant routes. After we came together again, notes were exchanged and ruminated. A gorse climb to BB's gap beckoned, and with it snow and mist. Soon we were down to 30m visibility, and then up on the top. Before it got too cold, we turned and headed back, running down the sort of ground we both enjoy, and it was a tonic. Along the valley by a different route, and back to the forest. The mist had lifted a bit, and we turned to survey what we had ran. Loads of variant routes to ponder, and a heap of useful info to store until weather conditions dictate on the night.

Dory Dory

Do you ever wear a Garmin (or other device) that can record and post your route....with a satellite map? It would be so cool to see where you go.

donothoponpop

Dory Dory wrote: »

Do you ever wear a Garmin (or other device) that can record and post your route....with a satellite map? It would be so cool to see where you go.

I rarely wear the Garmin these days... PN had one, perhaps he can post a route (if he's still talking to me:)).

Here's a great flyover of the route of the race we're doing the recce's for. The area we were at today is between 1:54 and 2:15 mins in.

PositiveNegativ

Dory Dory wrote: »

Do you ever wear a Garmin (or other device) that can record and post your route....with a satellite map? It would be so cool to see where you go.

We have stakes, firewood and matches.

PositiveNegativ

donothoponpop wrote: »

PN had one,

It was a compass.

Make that 2 stakes, a big bundle of firewood and a zippo.

Dory Dory

donothoponpop wrote: »

I rarely wear the Garmin these days... PN had one, perhaps he can post a route (if he's still talking to me:)).

Here's a great flyover of the route of the race we're doing the recce's for. The area we were at today is between 1:54 and 2:15 mins in.

Holy crap! Sign me up! Looks like an absolute blast.

PositiveNegativ wrote: »

We have stakes, firewood and matches.

Sounds like two boys up to some mischief!!

Dory Dory

PositiveNegativ wrote: »

It was a compass.

Make that 2 stakes, a big bundle of firewood and a zippo.

Sounds like two boys up to even bigger mischief.
(but....what is a zippo?)

donothoponpop

Dory Dory wrote: »

Sounds like two boys up to even bigger mischief.
(but....what is a zippo?)

Actually Dory Dory, you're pretty accurate in your description... running downhill fast makes me feel like I'm ten years old again and robbing apples from an orchard.

A Zippo is an American design icon!

Dory Dory

donothoponpop wrote: »

Actually Dory Dory, you're pretty accurate in your description... running downhill fast makes me feel like I'm ten years old again and robbing apples from an orchard.

A Zippo is an American design icon!

I'm guessing you ate a lot of apples as a 10 year old.

donothoponpop

Wed 4 miles steady

I'm running the Carnew Santa Dash this weekend, so I wanted to remind myself what the course was like. Ugh. Felt very sluggish, whether thats from yesterdays exertions, or hilly road running, I don't know, but I'm not in good shape. The route is very hilly, and I realize I hate road hills, they're totally different to hill hills. Running hill hills, you are in the moment, looking at footfalls, gauging camber, exerting in bursts. Road hills just beckon ahead to the next corner with unforgiving tarmac monotony, and then to the next corner, etc.

Micilin Muc

Didn't you win this race last year?!

PositiveNegativ

donothoponpop wrote: »

Wed 4 miles steady

I'm running the Carnew Santa Dash this weekend, so I wanted to remind myself what the course was like. Ugh. Felt very sluggish, whether thats from yesterdays exertions, or hilly road running, I don't know, but I'm not in good shape. The route is very hilly, and I realize I hate road hills, they're totally different to hill hills. Running hill hills, you are in the moment, looking at footfalls, gauging camber, exerting in bursts. Road hills just beckon ahead to the next corner with unforgiving tarmac monotony, and then to the next corner, etc.

Reckon I'll feel sluggish too. Just as soon as I'm able to get out of bed.

donothoponpop

Micilin Muc wrote: »

Didn't you win this race last year?!

"Win" would be a bit strong I came in ahead of a field of local GAA and soccer lads.

(Although that didn't stop me recceing the course this year, working out effort required for each elevation, and planning where to make my sprint for the line )

donothoponpop

PositiveNegativ wrote: »

Reckon I'll feel sluggish too. Just as soon as I'm able to get out of bed.

There's still daylight. Get yourself out for a slow jog down the railway walk, get some blood flowing into those plasma-starved calves.

Dory Dory

donothoponpop wrote: »

"Win" would be a bit strong I came in ahead of a field of local GAA and soccer lads.

(Although that didn't stop me recceing the course this year, working out effort required for each elevation, and planning where to make my sprint for the line )

"Last years event was won in a staggering 32:19, by a cotton-wool bearded local man. Having since been mocked incessantly for his skeletal stature, rumours abound that he has been training hard all year in order to better fit the rotund Santa outfit. Can anyone wrest the trophy from his grasp?"

Let's at least hope the mocking has stopped.

donothoponpop

Dory Dory wrote: »

"Last years event was won in a staggering 32:19, by a cotton-wool bearded local man. Having since been mocked incessantly for his skeletal stature, rumours abound that he has been training hard all year in order to better fit the rotund Santa outfit. Can anyone wrest the trophy from his grasp?"

Let's at least hope the mocking has stopped.

They stopped mocking my skeletal structure anyhow. They haven't stopped mocking though!

Slogger Jogger

What time is the Carnew dash at? Might show up for some Boards 'weakness in depth'.
:rolleyes:

Dory Dory

Good luck on Sunday. I hear they are waxing your tractor as we speak.