Festina lente

RayCun

Step-back week this week for a few reasons - upcoming race, should really take an easier week regularly, I was falling apart :pac: Not too bad really, but definitely still feeling fragile after the weekend, especially around the right thigh and knee. So took it easy after midweek.

Monday - run home from work, with strides

Tuesday - run into work, club session in the evening. Session was sets of 400, which I think I nicked from someone on here? Recovery of 45, 30, 15, then 90 seconds before the next set. I made it to the start point seconds before everyone took off, so I knew the recoveries but had only a vague idea of where the start and end points were (we were training on the path leading in to the national basketball arena, and the road was full of parents driving in to the children's choir performance). On my own for most of these, just don't have the pace for the lead group, but happy enough with the times afterward.

Wednesday - run into work, gym in the evening

Thursday - run home from work, with strides

Friday - run into work

Saturday - 25 minute pacing in Tymon, strides afterward

Sunday - Dunboyne 10k
I ran the 4 mile here a couple of years ago and had planned to run it again this year, it was a nice race. Wasn't so keen on a 10k but decided to give it a go. It seems to be a mix of the 4 mile and the BHAA 5 mile - same start as the 4, and finish line in the village, but most of the loop is from the BHAA race.

I was there in plenty of time, got parking at the race HQ and hung around there for a while before jogging around to the start and doing a bit of a warm-up. it was a cold morning, a bit of wind, but bright and sunny, nice running weather.

First k starts with a run down into the village, a good fast start. Glanced at my watch in the first couple of minutes to make sure I was in around the right place but tried to ignore it from then on. There's a bit of a drag coming out of the village on the other side, just enough to calm everyone down after the start. I only remember a couple of small drags in the whole race though, and there seemed to be a lot of slight downhills.

After the first mile most of the race was on small country roads, very quiet and mostly pretty sheltered. I wasn't running in a group, but there were a couple of runners just ahead of me that I tracked through most of the race. They were moving through the field and I was moving through after them, but never quite catching them.

Water station was just before 5k and I got a couple of cups to throw over myself, it was starting to get warm. Still passing people slowly. Happy to see I was well under 19 minutes at halfway, but it was getting harder, the couple of runners I was tracking started to inch away at 6 and 7k. (Also started to meet cars on the course around here, though they were all going slowly, obviously aware of the race)

Finally started to get back into the town, and another downhill. Last turn to the finish with about 400 to go and managed to pick it up again, to finish in 37.47.

Nowhere near the prizes this time (8th M45!, first ran 32.xx!) but I was happy with that. I didn't have any real goals before the race but was expecting 38 something, so nice to get under. It's a fast course, and was a fast day, but I'm moving in the right direction anyway.

shotgunmcos

Pretty decent result given how fragile you felt on Monday! And a good start to your series of events en route to Frankfurt

RayCun

Now that you mention it, I was still feeling iffy during the warmup, but once I started running I forgot all about it...

March
487k for the month
4 gym sessions
8 sets of strides
one hill session (club session of 250s, not short hills)
7 sessions - 3 tempos, hill session, 6 x 800, 5 x 1k, 12 x 400
two races, Lusk 4 mile (okay) and Dunboyne 10k (good)

RayCun

Monday - platelet donation in the evening, so just got out for a while at lunch.

Tuesday - run into work
School thing in the evening so did a session at lunch, 10 x 400, 75 recovery, in Irishtown park. All around 85 seconds, give or take.

Wednesday - run in, short run at lunch, gym in the evening

Thursday - run at lunch, run home with strides

Friday - run in, run at lunch.

Saturday - at a funeral so had to get out and done early. Went up to Tymon and did some hills

Sunday - met up with Wottle's group for an early run. Out along the Dodder to Clonskeagh, on the marathon route to Fosters Avenue, then in through UCD and back to the Dodder and home. 24k altogether, in about two hours.

just under 120k for the week

OOnegative

Best of luck Sunday Ray, run wel!!

RayCun

Monday - run home in the evening, with strides

Tuesday - run into work
Club session was 2 x (300, 600, 1000, 1600) (though there was some confusion about whether it should have been 300, 600, 1000, 1600, 1000, 600, 300). All on grass, all supposed to be at 5k pace but faster on the shorter ones and slower on the longer

Wednesday - run in, short run at lunch, gym in the evening

Thursday - run home with strides

Friday - run in

Saturday - easy run in the morning, ending with strides. Feeling the effects of some Guinness the night before

Sunday - Great Ireland Run
Got the LUAS and walked up, and was congratulating myself for having timed it well, until I got to the Phoenix roundabout and realised there was less than 20 minutes to the start :rolleyes: Stripped down in the queue for the baggage tent and got a few minutes jog in before jumping into the pen.

So between the weather and the lack of warm-up, I felt pretty cold and sluggish at the start, especially since the standard in the race was high. Numbers are way down for the Great Ireland Run, but not for the national championship. First few km were actually okay - 3:42, 3:46, 3:44 - but felt slower. I was passing a few people, but not many, and being passed by more.

3:45 and 4:07 to halfway, and I was wasting energy being annoyed at running badly - but more of a problem, since I'd decided I was running badly I was deciding that the race was going to go badly and coming up with excuses.

At some point then along Acres I remembered the words of my new hero and decided to run the best race I could from there on. It didn't make things any easier but the mental conversation about "can I go faster or will I blow up" is at least less annoying. 3:53, 3:49, and 3:52 brought me back to Chesterfield, past a couple of people, and within earshot of Feidhlim calling the winners as they finished. Back onto Ordnance Survey, 3:46 again, and then the final fight along Furze Road, picked off a few more people with 3:39.

38:10/38:07 - 20 seconds slower than Dunboyne, probably about the same level of run given the course and the conditions
171st overall, 157th M, 18th M45

just under 100k for the week

RayCun

Monday - run home from work, strides

Tuesday - run into work
Club session in the evening was the Speaker Connolly loop. A mile long, 2 1/2 times over a small hill. Laps were 5:59, 6, 6:07, 6:13. Recoveries supposed to be 3 minutes but were actually 2:40, 2:30, 2:20, 2:10 - that's what happens when you eyeball the gap off the group in front rather than timing things properly!

Wednesday - run in, short run at lunch, gym in the evening

Thursday - run at lunch, run home. Arse was sore all day, combination of race, session, and gym I think, and just stopped working a couple of times on the run home, so I skipped the strides.

Friday - shorter run in, no lunch run, arse recovery :rolleyes:

Saturday - tempo run. Got there early for a longer warm-up, which I should really do every week, then 8 laps in 31:28 and a couple of laps cooldown. Felt good during this, pace better than it has been in a while.

Sunday - met up with Wottle's group again, out to Bohernabreena

109k for the week

RayCun

Monday - over to Tymon for an easy 10k, ending with strides

Tuesday - 8k at lunch
Club session in the evening was 12 x 400 with short recoveries - 45, 30, 15, then 90 before the next set. Times all over the place between 80 and 90 seconds.

Wednesday - run in, short run at lunch, gym in the evening

Thursday - run at lunch, run home finishing with strides

Friday - run in, short run at lunch

Saturday - tempo run. Marlay was closed so we wandered down to St Enda's park, got there just as the OPW opened up. Four laps in there, a bit under 4 miles, a lot slower than usual because it's a much hillier and twistier route. Had to get over to Santry after for juvenile leagues, so shorter than usual, and no time for an afternoon run.

Sunday - Parked at Cherryfield and ran up to Marlay to meet Wottle's group again. A lap of the park to warm up some more, then a mile on, mile off, 3 on, 1 off, 1 on. Supposed to be faster than HMP, HMP, faster than? My legs were tired from Saturday so I just stuck with the group I was in, something like 6.15, 3 x 6.25, 6.15. Cooldown was the run back to Cherryfield, and I was fairly wrecked when I reached my car.

Over to the road relays in the afternoon to cheer on some of the kids I coach making their debuts on the senior team. My first time at the relays, great event, and great to see so many boardsies out there.

120k for the week

RayCun

jaysus, entered the 800 in the gradeds tomorrow and I'm already nervous :pac:

overpronator

Don't worry, the warmup is 5 times longer than the race. Just make sure you don't forget your tights so you can throw shapes for your strides.

RayCun

I have to go out and buy some sunglasses and hair gel

RayCun

April
one race, Great Ireland Run
6 sessions - 2 tempos, Speaker Connolly hills, 6 x 800, pyramid, 2 sets of 400s
4 gym sessions
8 sets of strides
one hill session
481k for the month

RayCun

graded meets 800m
:pac:

took off like a bullet, 200m in my legs had turned to jelly :pac:

will go back again in meet 3 and see if I can pace it better - could hardly be worse


(the kid ran 2:10 )

shotgunmcos

RayCun wrote: »

graded meets 800m
:pac:

took off like a bullet, 200m in my legs had turned to jelly :pac:

will go back again in meet 3 and see if I can pace it better - could hardly be worse


(the kid ran 2:10 )

Aboy da kiiiid!!

That second lap for you though must have felt like quicksand :pac:

RayCun

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Aboy da kiiiid!!

That second lap for you though must have felt like quicksand :pac:

It was crazy, my breathing was fine but my legs just weren't working, I was finishing the first lap wondering how I could want to stop after only 400m :pac:

There was someone right behind me so holding him off kept me working at least

RayCun

Monday - 8k at lunch, platelet donation in the evening

Tuesday - 13k into work, 8k home + strides

Wednesday - 8k into work, graded meet in the evening

Thursday - run at lunch, run home finishing with strides

Friday - run in, short run at lunch

Saturday - 8k tempo run, with a few k warmup and cooldown

Sunday - Lots of chopping and changing of plans this morning because OH needed the car. Ended up running to Cherryfield and meeting a clubmate there, then up to the reservoir. At the top gate we met Wottle's crew and ran back down with them, then split off again at the nursing home to head back towards Cherryfield. Chris turned for home, I realised I'd already done 25k, and sped up a bit for the last 5k home.

126k for the week

RayCun

Monday - morning run around Tymon, finishing with strides

Tuesday - 8k at lunch
club session in the evening was 400s. Coach wanted somewhere we could run in a loop rather than the straight outs and straight backs of Tallaght, so we traipsed around Tymon trying to find somewhere that wasn't infested with ball players. No luck - ended up having to take diversions through long grass to dodge sliotars. More people around my pace than usual, and jog recoveries rather than the very short recoveries, so ended up running these faster than usual

Wednesday - 13k into work, 6k at lunch, gym in the evening

Thursday - completely wrecked from last few days, slow jog home ending with strides

Friday - still wrecked, 13k into work

Saturday - still in bad shape. Only a short morning run, about 5k including strides. Then spent the day measuring turbo javelin throws, squatting down and standing up, and down and up, and down and up, and down and up...

Sunday - Terenure 5 mile
Legs still dead
Walked over and went for a jog around Bushy. Legs still dead.
Lined up since I was there, maybe it wouldn't be too bad once I got going - but it was, I was tired from the start. Not sore, not out of breath, just tired. Two miles in, still moving at a reasonable pace, I just couldn't face it any more and dropped out.

84k for the week

AuldManKing

There's something about that race.! Glad I wasn't tempted by it this year.

You probably feel that you have to run it every year, due to the RD connections!!

RayCun

AuldManKing wrote: »

There's something about that race.! Glad I wasn't tempted by it this year.

You probably feel that you have to run it every year, due to the RD connections!!

He even makes my sisters walk it most years

Ah, it was my own bad planning/inaccurate recovery expectations. Sunday was maybe a little harder than usual, Tuesday was a bit harder, I should have scaled back the gym... but I'm not putting a lot of emphasis on these spring races so I'm trying to keep tapers small and I thought two easy days would be enough.

aquinn

Apologies. I hadn't realised when I saw you after you had dropped out.

RayCun

This is too easy a distraction when I have too much on. It's been great meeting people through here, look forward to seeing you at more races in future

Murph_D

RayCun wrote: »

This is too easy a distraction when I have too much on. It's been great meeting people through here, look forward to seeing you at more races in future

Ah here. Hope all well. See you in Irishtown.

healy1835

I've almost met you at a few races at this stage I'd say Will hopefully run in to you over the summer Ray.