Is it Now?

donothoponpop

Mon 12k fartlek. The whole family came up for a forest loop, so while they jogged, I did my fartlek bursts, jogging back to them each time. This seemed to work well, after 4k I left them back to the car, and took off myself. The initial bursts were all 30-60 secs long, and pretty fast, for the solo part I attacked long hills, jogging the downs.

Running with the family is a good way of stalling the never-seen marathon dad, which I'm always wary of becoming. At this stage of my life, I have my goals, but the kids have to come first. So much so, that I'm reconsidering doing the Art O'Neill. It will mean a solo weekend, my son will miss his rugby training, all for a race which I'm not prepared for (or very excited about, well, the initial road part, anyway). I'll sleep on it and decide- they have a waiting list a mile long, so it might be preferable to give a place to someone who really wants to do it. My focus at the moment is about running shorter, faster, and the AON is very much a long slow slog.

PositiveNegativ

Bags the krypolitium rain jacket.

donothoponpop

PositiveNegativ wrote: »

Bags the krypolitium rain jacket.

You might have to wait a bit before plundering my wardrobe. I saw something on the AON website yesterday asking doubters to contact them so the waiting list people could be facilitated, but I can't find it now (in fact it states no transfers or refunds). Haven't heard back from them, so I might just have to run the damn thing, to get my moneys worth.

donothoponpop

Tue 7k easy

Last light of the day, splashing through the forest, nice'n'easy.

ocnoc

If your wussing out of the art o'neil (and giving yourself a few weeks of quality training instead of sitting on your arse recovering) there was a shout out on the IMRA forum for a race number transfer.

Trust me, you get a bigger buzz out of doing well in a hard hill race over suffering it out for a few hours in a cold jan night.

Ignore PN - he just doesn't want you to beat him

Do more terrain runs - get stronger, get closer to the race leaders...

Or go orienteering http://vimeo.com/23237161
All the top hill runners orienteer

RacoonQueen

As you know, all the cool people are doing Art O'Neill in 2013 instead.

Shame if you're dropping out seeing as you've done some recces for it but there's a 50k to think of aswell, people keep mentioning the wicklow way ultra to me as well. That's just crazy talk.

ultraman1

donothoponpop wrote: »

. My focus at the moment is about running shorter, faster

i like ur defonition of shorter...welcome to the dark side

donothoponpop

ocnoc wrote: »

If your wussing out of the art o'neil (and giving yourself a few weeks of quality training instead of sitting on your arse recovering) there was a shout out on the IMRA forum for a race number transfer.

Trust me, you get a bigger buzz out of doing well in a hard hill race over suffering it out for a few hours in a cold jan night.

Ignore PN - he just doesn't want you to beat him

Do more terrain runs - get stronger, get closer to the race leaders...

Or go orienteering http://vimeo.com/23237161
All the top hill runners orienteer

Cheers, I replied to Ken just now. Emailed the organizers yesterday, haven't heard back from them though.

I enjoyed the recce's , looking at the map, planning routes, etc. The initial 30k on roads I had shoved to the back of my mind. Goal is to work harder in the imra races, all right, and thats all terrain work. I'm lucky in that my local hills offer an abundance of variety, all a couple of miles warm-up run from the house.

RacoonQueen wrote: »

As you know, all the cool people are doing Art O'Neill in 2013 instead.

Shame if you're dropping out seeing as you've done some recces for it but there's a 50k to think of aswell, people keep mentioning the wicklow way ultra to me as well. That's just crazy talk.

You should do the WW Ultra, its a decent into to the hills, for road runners. I'll be honest with you though, I've ran that route too often (and turned to such a terrain snob that its a road run for me). Actually, given where you are in training, the 25k Trail race might suit you better?

ultraman1 wrote: »

i like ur defonition of shorter...welcome to the dark side

No freakin' way! I'm only doing that 50k coz you're the organizer supreme!

donothoponpop

Wed 25k hilly LSR (2 hours)

If I am to do an Ultra, I guess I should start doing some distance training:) Headed out along a windy Annagh with the intention of doing 20k, but I felt pretty good on the return, so took a turn up the hill, to bring me the long way home. Not much food on board today, so I was keeping an eye on how I felt towards the end. The pace was easy enough: I can go all day at this rate. Coming towards home, I did a quick NCT and passed. Could have kept on going all right, and with a bit of grub, could have done the loop again.

Legs, knees, all felt fine.

RacoonQueen

donothoponpop wrote: »

You should do the WW Ultra, its a decent into to the hills, for road runners. I'll be honest with you though, I've ran that route too often (and turned to such a terrain snob that its a road run for me). Actually, given where you are in training, the 25k Trail race might suit you better?

I'm meant to be doing Donadea next month :eek: Depending on what I decide with the Rotterdam marathon I might give WW trail a shot. I'm hoping to make it to the IMRA opener - would love to do Annagh to see if it's all you guys make it out to be but Enniscorthy 10k will probably be a goal race. Bummer that they're the same day.

donothoponpop

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I'm meant to be doing Donadea next month :eek: Depending on what I decide with the Rotterdam marathon I might give WW trail a shot. I'm hoping to make it to the IMRA opener - would love to do Annagh to see if it's all you guys make it out to be but Enniscorthy 10k will probably be a goal race. Bummer that they're the same day.

Yeah I'm likewise meant to be doing Donadea:eek: You're welcome to hide with me in the bushes for a couple of laps, I have a picnic basket and hot chocolate stashed.

The trail would be a good one for you: the WWUltra is probably more like a 60k flat race for effort, especially if you're not used to climbing.

We usually organize a couple of recce's of Annagh before the race, if you can get a lift down to marvel at the route.

ultraman1

a lot of people here lookin 4 ur soul DP;)

Krusty_Clown

donothoponpop wrote: »

You should do the WW Ultra, its a decent into to the hills, for road runners.

:eek:

Did this last year and it's about as far from a decent intro to the hills as you can get! I'm not saying that it's particularly mountainous, but the distance + climbs + minor potential to get lost = very challenging. Much better to go with the Wicklow Way Trail, if one hasn't spent much time in the hills getting the muscles ready (to avoid the cramps). Or better still, work your way through the winter league and then do the WW ultra.

donothoponpop

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

:eek:

Did this last year and it's about as far from a decent intro to the hills as you can get! I'm not saying that it's particularly mountainous, but the distance + climbs + minor potential to get lost = very challenging. Much better to go with the Wicklow Way Trail, if one hasn't spent much time in the hills getting the muscles ready (to avoid the cramps). Or better still, work your way through the winter league and then do the WW ultra.

This in the context of RQ who has been contemplating the Art O'N, and (I think!) is well-versed in Ultra's. If you're comfortable with the distance, the climbs aren't much, and its an easy-to-follow route. Anyone used to distance running, who was running the WWUltra at a plodding pace, shouldn't have cramp issues (racing it is a different matter). My advice was for her to do the Trail anyways.

Wasn't intended as general advice to road runners. They can feck off and stick to their goody bags and expo's; imra is at saturation point as it is.

Krusty_Clown

It's got four times the amount of 'up' you'd get at Annagh Hill and almost five times the amount of 'across'. But point taken. Road runners be damned,

donothoponpop

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

It's got four times the amount of 'up' you'd get at Annagh Hill and almost five times the amount of 'across'.

You can't compare hill races like that. The big climb in Annagh is 1:4 grade, through wet grass and heather, and is walked by most runners (this less than 1k into the race). Any climbs on the WWU are a gentle grade, that shouldn't bother anyone used to running tarmac hills. Fair enough, it gets a bit muddy on Djouce, but its all quite runnable track.

I'll rephrase what I said originally:
*Anyone used to road Ultra's shouldn't have many problems with running the WWU.
*Anyone looking for an intro from road running to hill running (who doesn't heed my "feck off" order), should turn up to Howth on the 22nd Jan, and build up from there.

Friends again?

Krusty_Clown

donothoponpop wrote: »

The big climb in Annagh is 1:4 grade, through wet grass and heather, and is walked by most runners

I remember trudging my way up that hill last xmas, well behind yourself, SJ and Jeff, wondering why I had lost the use of my lungs.

donothoponpop wrote: »

Friends again?

Only if you let me start the Annagh Hill race from the top of the hill.

Dory Dory

(god I love these logs! going for popcorn....)

donothoponpop

ocnoc wrote: »

Or go orienteering http://vimeo.com/23237161
All the top hill runners orienteer

Just saw that video now, it looks great! I think I'll try some orienteering soon. It's very family friendly too, kids enjoyed a GEN event they were at last year.

RayCun

donothoponpop wrote: »

Just saw that video now, it looks great! I think I'll try some orienteering soon. It's very family friendly too, kids enjoyed a GEN event they were at last year.

We've been orienteering with the kids a few times too and they like the treasure hunt element.
(My son didn't appreciate going uphill through gorse though, and says he liked the flat one in the Phoneix park best - he'll be a road runner like his dad :pac: )

donothoponpop

Thurs 8k recovery

After yesterday's distance and climbs, I woke with stiff legs, so a recovery run was called for. I had intended doing some uphill strides today, and after a mile of the recovery run I felt great, and considered the strides. However, one of the best bits of advice I've been given is to make sure each run fits its purpose, so I continued slow and short; tomorrows another day. Have to admit, the lure of the 1000 mile challenge has me contemplating throwing extra miles onto the end of runs like this- I have to watch this, junk miles will do me no good. Today's run fit its purpose, legs feel good now.

donothoponpop

Oh, and it looks like I've found someone to take my AON place. I'll be looking wistfully at the dark sky come Fri 12th, but its the right decision. 30k slog on the road will do me no good right now, I'd prefer to do the offroad section twice. The recce's and planning were good fun, and the night element got me out running through this dark winter.

PositiveNegativ

donothoponpop wrote: »

Just saw that video now, it looks great! I think I'll try some orienteering soon. It's very family friendly too, kids enjoyed a GEN event they were at last year.

"Hill Runners are failed Orienteer's"
I can't claim that one which is a pity, as I like it.

donothoponpop

Fri 8k including 3x400m 475m uphill intervals.

First intervals in a while, and I wanted to do them at near maximum effort, to make a good marker for the rest of the year. There's a nice uphill trail just beyond Tomnafinnogue, where I had been doing intervals with PosNeg a year ago, so I ran to it at dusk. Last years time was forgotten- was it 1:40 for 400m? *Edit 475m av 1:55* In any case, these would be ran on effort.

1st) got into a rice rhythm early, by halfway a wave of pain covered me, so I fought against it till the end. Into a breeze at the top, 1:45 for just short of last years marker. Hands on knees, dead at the end. Jogged to start.

2nd) this time the pain came earlier, and I was fighting against it right till the end. Felt like the mile race I ran at Xmas, very intense, but these intervals are all about learning to push the pain aside. Wrecked at the end. 1:42, jogged back down.

3rd) before the first bend I was fighting stopping. Its amazing the mental battles you can have with yourself! Pushed harder and gritted my teeth, this really was a matter of swimming in pain. The wind at the top was against me, but it just added to what had to be dealt with. Finished in 1:40, shattered, doubt I could have given these much more effort. 5k warm down.

I just checked last years log (actually almost 2 years ago!:eek:), I was up to running 7 of these c1:25, so there's a fair bit of work to do yet. But I'm content to have given it all I had tonight: one more interval per week for the next while. *Edit- that can't be right, no way was I running uphill 400's at 1:25...* *Edit edit- I was running 475m in about 1:55. Phew!**

Dory Dory

....it's only pain.....

ocnoc

donothoponpop wrote: »

*Edit- that can't be right, no way was I running uphill 400's at 1:25...*

Depends on the hill :P

donothoponpop

ocnoc wrote: »

Depends on the hill :P

True enough, depends on the distance too, and I don't think these are the full 400m. Anyway, looked back on the log, I got these down to 7x 80/82 secs, that was May 2010. So 3x100 secs felt like hell today, meaning I've a fair ways to go. **Edit- Turns out I was running 475m @ 1:40/1:45 tonight, versus 1:55-ish last year. Very relieved!**

Slogger Jogger

Nice work. I was tempted to do nothing this evening as the rain fell just as I arrived home. However, on reading your log I said I better got off my backside, so I headed out and did something similar. I didn't sprint the hill reps, just took them steady. Just over 8k with 232m of climb. Looking forward to a glass of wine now with the dinner

donothoponpop

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Looking forward to a glass of wine now with the dinner

YOU EVIL FECKER!!!


(Mick knows I'm on the wagon for Jan...)

Slogger Jogger

donothoponpop wrote: »

YOU EVIL FECKER!!!


(Mick knows I'm on the wagon for Jan...)

Its okay. Its only white wine. Thats allowed isn't it.