Festina lente

RayCun

Yeah, a 4 race month is a bit crazy, will have to plan it better next year. This week will probably work out at 50 miles, maybe a bit less, and there'll be no races next month.

RayCun

Saturday
9.22 in 41.54 (4.33 pace)
Just a short run. Faster than Wednesday but this felt comfortable all the way, not pushing at all.

Sunday
Raheny 5 mile (gun time 29.18, chip 29.14, 93rd overall, 87th man, 11th M40)
The trip over today got a bit worrying, going from cold but dry into torrential rain. It more or less stopped before we arrived, but then we were running a little late, so there was a mad rush up to register the boy for his race and get him in the pen before the start. The 8-12 race was a bit crowded so he didn't get a great run, he wasn't impressed
No time for hanging around for me after that - got my number, went to toilet, dropped off my clothes, and it was already time for the walkers to start. I spent about ten minutes jogging around easily, did some high knees and butt kicks but no faster running, before joining the front of the pen. Could/should have done some more warming up, there was another 5 minutes of hanging around and my hands were frozen
By the time we started I was about 4 rows from the front, as I expected and about right. It gives me a very obvious way of measuring improvement from year to year - the closer to the front I am, the sooner the crush melts away. This year it was still pretty busy around Watermill road, and I was stuck for a while behind a guy who was all flying elbows and feet - didn't want to try passing until I could give him a wide berth but then it eased off. One irritation at this point, I hadn't tied my shoes tight enough and it this pace they were moving around a bit on my foot. **** it, nothing to be done now, just forget about it...
First k was fast, 3.25, but then we turned on to a bit of a drag and slowed a bit to 3.43. I had Annette Kealy right behind me all along this long road - great to know the name of someone chasing, gives you a bit of extra motivation to keep working. Passed my Sportsworld nemesis :pac:on this stretch (score - 2 XC to him, to road to me )The turn onto Sybill Hill road was a welcome break, I was looking forward to that downhill. 3rd k picked up a bit at the end to 3.39. My feet were annoying me (again) on the downhill, really seemed to be slapping off the ground. Again, **** it, forget it, concentrate on the hips...
I like the twisty stretch around this end of the park. Never too far to the next turn, you can run corner to corner and get into a zone. Long straight roads might be faster but you get to wondering how long does the bloody thing go on for... Around the halfway mark, just like in Rathfarnham, a young guy from the club passes me by, looking like he's out for a jog, but I keep him in sight to the end. 4th k was 3.32, the end of that downhill, and 3.39 for the 5th. Pass the 3 mile marker and soon we're on the sea road. One last long stretch with the promise of a hill at the end :rolleyes: Think this is the first year I ran all of this on the road, previous years I was up and down on the path passing people but this year we're all pretty static. There's a guy I'm closing in on in front, a Raheny guy with a lot of tattoos goes by, and Annette Kealy is close enough behind, but there's not a lot of passing. 6th k is 3.34.
Turn onto the hill and finally pass the guy in front. Go by the 4 mile marker in 23.10 and we can hear the finish line PA, everyone is starting to wind up for the finish. Back to the park and I'm starting to push, passing a few more people. (7th k: 3.51, 8th: 3.40) There's one guy beside me doesn't want to be passed but he's breathing like he's about to explode and I'm not going to let him edge in front. Coming into the final straight he tries again and we have 50m of flat out sprinting side by side, but this time I won't let myself be beat. 20m from the finish I find another gear and edge past him, sprint though the line and nearly back out onto the course :pac:
(in fairness though, he beat me on chip time by 6 seconds)

Total for the week - 77.16k, about 6 1/2 hours, 5.00 pace again

(thanks to my support team, couldn't have done it without you

drquirky

Outstanding running. Congrats on the big PB

banner_phoenix

Fantastic result Ray, congrats and great to see the training paying off big time.

PaulieYifter

Great stuff Ray - legend!

Deedee2012

Well done Ray, brilliant time

digger2d2

Well done again again Ray, tbh you actually looked quite comfortable crossing the line.... Sub 27 next year

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Well done Ray on a comfortable sub 30, great running.

Mr Slow

Smashing stuff Ray, well done.:)

smmoore79

Great stuff Ray, nice pb. I found myself in one of those horrible sprint finishes too, thought my lungs would explode!!!

antomagoo

Bloody hell Ray, haven't been round these parts in ages, but glad to see your still flying it, great running

pconn062

Well done Ray, getting fast now, it took a strong runner to do that time in that wind yesterday. Looking good for the rest of the year!

jcsmum

Delighted for you Ray!

PDCAT

Brilliant time again ray. Your flying it these days.

tHE vAGGABOND

Excellent stuff ray, brilliant time! Well done

digger2d2

Imagine just how fast you could be if you joined Sportsworld!!

RayCun

digger2d2 wrote: »

Imagine just how fast you could be if you joined Sportsworld!!

with you two crocks? :pac::p

jcsmum

digger2d2 wrote: »

Imagine just how fast you could be if you joined Sportsworld!!

Don't even think about it! :rolleyes:

Aimman

Well done Ray, great time and with enough to knock out a sprint and gain a place just at the end.

RayCun

Monday
10.45 in 50.25 (4.50)
quads are shredded, knees are stiff, when I get up from my desk I can only shuffle:o Took this a little easier, 50 instead of 60 minutes. 20 minutes core in the evening but I had to skip the double-leg-raises (what is the proper name?) after 3 because my groin/thigh just wasn't having it

Tuesday
8.7 in 51.06 (5.52)
Just the recovery run in the morning because I was needed for coaching later

Wednesday
14.53 in 69.20 (4.46)
Back to something like a regular run, still a bit stiff and the weather didn't help. 20 minutes core in the evening

Thursday
8.63 in 49.51 (5.47)
9.96 in 49.42 (4.59)
Recovery run in the morning. Still a bit off on the way home, into the wind again

Month|2010|2011|2012|2013
January|38.8|105.61|187.46|257.13
February|35.5|106.68|191.79
March|53.2|121.83|214
April|72|106.33|201.18
May|75.9|107.13|175.21
June|90.2|64.85|150.09
July|118.1|126.92|242.21
August|124.4|168|240.27
September|154|171.75|203.69
October|108.7|191.2|229
November|58.4|128.9|283.87
December|83|166.58|285
Total|1012.2|1578.1|2604


Crazy month really. 4 races is too many... but I don't know which I'd leave out next year.
Apart from the races there was only one 6x1k session, one 6 x 800m session, and everything else was easy or recovery.

RunningKing

257 miles is a crazy month! Your 3rd highest mileage month ever.

How's the mojo doing?

RayCun

I'm glad there's no races this month, put it like that
I'm a crock right now anyway, still recovering from the month - 4.59 pace into work this morning, with the wind behind me!

macinalli

RunningKing wrote: »

257 miles is a crazy month! Your 3rd highest mileage month ever.

How's the mojo doing?

And the other highest months were Nov & Dec 2012! Do you plan on keeping that high mileage all year round? I'd be curious about how you do this. When marathon training we'd typically do 3 hard weeks, then 1 easier to help us recover/absorb the training. Will you be doing the same, but with months instead of weeks? :eek:

RayCun

It's slightly different, I guess, in that during marathon training we had low base mileages that were increasing week by week. Those increases were pretty rapid - week 1 of HH Novice 1 was 15 miles, week 15 was 40, say 2 miles/day to almost 6/day - so we needed the stepback weeks to deal with them. I'm not increasing mileage by that much at a time. Average per day in January last year was 6 miles, in December it was 9, so an extra mile a day every 4 months?
It wasn't a smooth increase because of missed days - a few days sick in May, holiday in May/June - and races. I'll do a long run on Sunday after a Saturday race, but wouldn't have even a few months ago. A Sunday race means no long run for the week. That's why my distances dipped in September (4 races) and October (novice XC) and recovered in November.
60ish miles a week is the training baseline at the moment, but it's also a maximum for now. It's what I get if I do all my planned sessions, I'm not trying to increase it every week. It should creep up slowly as I get faster, and I might add some recovery runs on my one-run days. Maybe over the summer I'll be extending the midweek runs, doing some PMP runs, going over 2 hours on my long runs, and that'll also increase the weekly totals a bit, but I don't expect to have the kind of big ramp-up that I had in previous marathon-training seasons.

chinguetti

Ray, just a quick question. Do you ever go for sports massage/physio to assist the legs recover? Just curious as i'm only getting right today after Sunday but i'm a long way off your level at present.

RayCun

chinguetti wrote: »

Ray, just a quick question. Do you ever go for sports massage/physio to assist the legs recover? Just curious as i'm only getting right today after Sunday but i'm a long way off your level at present.

No. I should, but I don't have the cash, and even if I hit the whippersnapper up for a freebie I don't have the time either. (Unless he wants to set a table up in the lobby and do me at lunch:pac:)

(and I'm not right from Sunday yet either, still banjaxed)

nerraw1111

Impressive stuff Ray, well done on Sunday. That's great running

drquirky

RayCun wrote: »

even if I hit the whippersnapper up for a freebie I don't have the time either. (Unless he wants to set a table up in the lobby and do me at lunch:pac:)

(and I'm not right from Sunday yet either, still banjaxed)

Ray- I just wanna let you know, if the Guards ever look into you for anything dodgy, this last post could get ya 5-10 in Arbour Hill. I guess context really is everything lol... :eek:

ecoli

RayCun wrote: »

(Unless he wants to set a table up in the lobby and do me at lunch:pac:)

With a request like that you have to atleast wine and dine me with dinner:D

RayCun

ecoli wrote: »

With a request like that you have to atleast wine and dine me with dinner:D

Oh yeah, 'grooming', that'd add another few years to the sentence :pac:


(I have a foam roller at home that I should use before complaining about not getting massages)