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Getting Back To My Best
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34th place in 1'22'29 (2 min 32 secs PB)
Flew over Friday evening with high hopes of a good run. My 61'08 10 mile 8 weeks previous was the key run in determining a goal time. However pacing DCM had flattened me for the best part of a week and i only really had 4 weeks of solid training to prepare for this. All the same though i got 6-7 quality sessions culminating in a 18'16 solo and windy 5k time trial 10 days out and anything less than a PB (from Reading last March 1'25'01) would have been deemed a failure. Missed the planned tune up session last Tuesday due to a minor cold but it was all systems go apart from that.
Headed down in the car from Dublin with Meno, RK and Chinguetti (cheers for the lift). Did a couple of laps of the track i have so much history on (Munster schools and clubs athletics) and a few strides as a warm up and felt fine. The start was a little iffy to say the least. Myself and meno were chatting away when the race starts without warning. Thankfully we were near the front so we weren't affected.
I settled into a sensible pace, roughly 6'15-6'20, which was my target pace. Ecoli came shooting past at about 5 min mile pace and i asked him what happened. First mile hit in 6'09 (right at the mile marker, love when that happens) and we headed out towards Tramore. I got into a group of about 7 or 8 which included the 2nd and 3rd ladies and did zero of the pacemaking duties. 2nd and 3rd miles hit in 6'15 and 6'13, perfect i thought. This is 6-7 seconds slower than my 10 mile splits, nice and sustainable. The uphill drags followed over the next 2 mls and our group inevitably fragmented.
Found myself running alongside 2 other lads for the next 5 mls. We chatted away like we were out for a Sunday stroll, it was perfect. We left the main road and up the hills and i felt super. I mean this is why we all run, to get that almost effortless feeling in a race at sub pb pace. We discussed our goals. One said sub 90, me and the other lad said sub 83. The look of horror on the sub 90 guys face was priceless. He immediately dropped back into line
and a heads up battle developed.
Heading back towards town and the pace increased closer to 6'00 pace for a couple. We were working together brilliantly, passing runners slowly but surely. At mile 9 i passed a guy from Mornington Chasers (neighbouring North London club), small world. I'm not the only nut who flies in for these races evidently. Mile 10 was mostly downhill and your man pulled ahead of me here and i let him off. I was now starting to feel it, but i knew i was still on for a big PB. 10 mile was reached in 62'32 (32'17 5 mile so perfect pacing) and my maths brain was in overdrove working out the projected splits. I passed a headstone here and in my head i superimposed on it "RIP Brianderunner's HM pb, Dec 10th 2011"
At mile 11 a near disaster occurred. My left hamstring became very tight. A feeling i havent had since 2005, when i tore my hamstring while training for the colleges 400m. As a consequence i had to alter my stride to protect it and the pace dropped to 6'30. In fact i considered pulling out here. I mean London is 4 months away and i didnt want to jeopardise the whole winter. Thankfully it didnt get any worse and i kept on at this pace the last 2 mls. 2 guys passed me with half a mile to go but i was powerless to stop them. I was just hoping and praying to get to the finish line in one piece. i picked it up a bit the last 100m to finish in 1'22'29 as cramp tried to hit my calves. A time which finally eclipses that hungover/post Barca Reading performance and then some. 10th pb of the year, not bad
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/134062653
Bittersweet emotions as i crossed the line. A nice pb, yes, but a sub 82 and a strong finish were lost by my dodgy hamstring. Its 4 minutes faster than last year's 1'26 which shows the progress i have made in 12 months. Looking forward that sets me up for a crack at sub 80-81 in Silverstone in March and a possible tilt at sub 60 in late january in Dungarvan. Not gonna mention the other target for now. Headed back to Dublin later for the boardsie pints to round off a great day.
Weekly Review, 29 mls and 5 runs. Glad to recover from the cold earlier in the week and to feel so good at mile 7-8 in a half.
Yearly Mileage, 1883.5. I'm making things interesting for the 2k. i'll get there by xmas day or the boxing day 10 miler i'll predict.0 -
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Weds 14th Dec, 6 mls easy in 48'42 (8'07). Almost identical run to last night but this felt much tougher for some reason. Last night i thought i might be over the race on Saturday but tonight said otherwise. Another few easy days and i'll be good to return to normal i think.
18 weeks to London from Sunday, not that i'm aiming myself towards it or anything
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Fri 16th Dec, work xmas party, free bar all night. Never got the chance to run today. Annoying but probably best given that its a recovery week anyway.
Sat 17th Dec, Hungover and tired from a day at Ascot, but got out for 5 mls easy (no watch). I actually felt grand once i started.
Sun 18th Dec, 2 mls w/u around the Heath then 16 x 400m on the track at 10k pace (roughly 87-90 secs per lap) with 45 secs jog recovery. I started in lane 1 and worked my way out rep by rep to lane 8 and back in. This turned out to be a masterstroke cause i was fcked after 6 reps and wanted to quit but once i got to halfway and i was "on the way down" it got easier and i finished the session feeling quite strong despite the strong wind up the homestraight. 1 mls w/d for 8 mls total.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/135423655
Weekly Review, 32 miles and 6 runs. This week was never gonna be anything special but i was happy with the track session nonetheless.
Yearly Mileage, 1915.5 mls. Yes the 2k is really gonna be tight. I'm confident.
Mon 19th Dec, 4 mls recovery today in 37 mins (9'15) felt fine.
The Never Mind the Buzzcocks i was in the audience for is on BBC2 now for anyone thats interested.0 -
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Thurs 22nd Dec, 6 mls easy in 53'30 (8'55) Felt awful the whole run again, no energy or joie de vivre. The chocolate santa i had for lunch in work probably didnt help :pac:
Important session this afternoon to do after work breaks up (the earlier the better), if that goes well 2 mediocre easy runs will be forgotten.
Funny story - woke up this morning thinking it was a Monday in January until the penny dropped. It's Friday the 23rd December, does it get any better
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Fri 23rd Dec, work finished up at midday so i had time to sneak in the planned session of 2 mls w/u, 20 mins at tempo (6'15), 1 mls easy, 8 x 1 min hills at 10k effort, 2 mls easy.
Did this in the heath and the tempo on the track followed by the hill repeats on the adjacent Parliament Hill. The tempo wasnt comfortable i have to admit and i fell a bit short of pace due to the very strong wind up the home straight. Ended up doing 5,100m in the end in 20 mins (6'18).
The hill repeats were tough at first but felt better as i settled into it. I was reaching the same spot on the hill as i was the last time i did this session 2 months ago. Glad to finish. 10 mls total. Flew home afterwards for 16 days
Christmas Eve, 4 mls recovery in 36 mins along the UL riverbank. Felt ok despite the hectic last 24 hrs.
Christmas Day, 7 mls with the bro around the locality in 55'10 (7'53). Headed out a bit fast early on and was dropped the last 2 mls. Finished a little tired.
Weekly Review, 42 mls and 7 runs, happy with the week.
Yearly Mileage, 1957.5, gonna be a photo finish for the 2k.
Stephens Day, Caherdavin 10 Miler
Always planned to do this as a MP run (6'50 pace). Was a little dehydrated beforehand and this race never felt comfortable. Felt easier than tempo pace alright but not by much. Got through it fine but i just had the feeling the pace wasnt sustainable for 26 mls. Happy enough to finish and legs a bit dead afterwards. Race was a bit long again (10.2 mls) and i stopped the watch in 69'57 for 10.2 mls (6'51). With warm ups etc it was 11 mls total. Still good to do this race though, seeing as its so close to my house. A lot of work to do over the next 4 months between now and London by the looks of it.
Tues 27th Dec, 4 mls recovery in 36'00 (9'00) before the races. Felt fine after yesterday.
Weds 28th Dec, 8 mls easy in 62'34 (7'49) Felt pretty good this evening. Added a couple more than planned to get closer to the 2k.
May not get to run tomorrow, heading to Dublin for 2 days. LSR planned for Friday.0 -
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RacoonQueen wrote: »I'll try to run up to meet yee with the ticket on Friday, I only plan a short run so you might have to be nice to Niall and see if he'll swing by my house to pick it up for you!
Yeah I can swing by on the way up, no worries. You can join us for a few miles too.0 -
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metamorphosis wrote: »When you're running in Limerick next, gimme a text, did 7 yesterday - would've went out with ya if I had bloody thought
Sound yeah i'm home until Sunday the 8th.
Sat 30th Dec, 4.5 mls easy (hungover) in 40 mins (8'55) out on the Clontarf seafront. Was feeling this one big time, just as well i was late for the group run in the park.
Sun 31st Dec, New Years Eve, 15 mls LSR in the phoenix park in 2'06'11 (8'25), after a steady start i pushed on the last 5-6 mls and felt good all the way. Nice run.
There was a definite reason for running 19.5 mls the last 2 days. That takes me to 2,000 miles exactly for the year Nice to hit that little target. I may get close to 2.5-3k in 2012, depending on what direction i take after London.
Review of the year and a preview of 2012 to follow tomorrow.0 -
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Tues 3rd Jan, 7 mls easy around home in 54'17 (7'45). Felt great the whole way again today, sub 8 m/m is fairly easy for me these days which makes a change. It should though, given my race times.
Managed to secure Spurs vs Everton tickets for next week, 2 days after Arsenal vs Leeds I'm a Leeds fan and a closet Everton fan living in North London, doesnt get much better than that! 0 -
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