Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
2013; Eat my dust Meno!
Options
Comments
-
Have you worked out which singlet your allowed wear on Saturday yet? :rolleyes:
Well whatever the weather allows for, the bullseye target on my back will allow the haters to shoot me down… It'll also give Meno something to focus on when the going gets tough…
chinguetti wrote: »When's the house party???
No plans yet - I'll get the guy who arranged the last one to sort it all out and revert… I really hope you can make it this time though!
Is that bet still outstanding Digger??:D
Chance, missed, chicked… a couple of words that come to mind!
0 -
Friday 20th April
A Garmin-free 2.4 miles - rough guess that it was about 9:30 pace.
Just did an early loop before work to see how the legs feel. It wasn't overly pretty… Ugh.
I'm very nervous about tomorrow. Stomach is turning at the very thought of it.
Anyone got an opinion on my possibly wearing my new lunaracers tomorrow…? I've never worn them...:rolleyes:
0 -
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
RacoonQueen wrote: »Wear compeed plasters on your achilles before doing any running in these shoes.
Will pick up a pack at lunchtime today just in case I decide to go for it…
What's your target time?
No idea! Genuinely. Based on the 5K in March, McMillan gives me 42:33. Based on the Raheny 5 in January, it gives me 43:46. However there was the teeny tiny itsy bitsy issue of a 39 mile in the interim. I think I'd be happy to break 45… I'm just not feeling so hot about tomorrow. And I'm not sure if my legs, and body in general, are going to be agreeable to a really good race for me.
Should be a PB anyway (currently 54:xx) unless I have a massive blow up… In which case I will have gone for it and hit it hard, and so would learn a lesson from that…
What's your plan?
Well CL that depends on which singlet you'll be wearing. Running shoes need to match the singlet after all :cool: (ask Digs!!)
I was thinking of becoming a club whore, buying a singlet from every one within a 20 mile radius, and engaging in some creative stitchwork to make a patchwork "Do you know who I am" vest for all occasions… I suppose I should wear the racers - I am in a club you know!!
0 -
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
Brianderunner wrote: »Yeah target something like sub 43, dont you dare break 42, Meno will tell you why, although it's fairly obvious
Shut up. :mad:
No pressure, just try your best.
I wouldn't try new shoes for a race, your Kinvaras will be light enough.0 -
-
Just a quickie post - textbook report to follow Had no real game plan starting - it hurt - I digged and I dug and I digged some more - finished in 42:29 for a 12 minute PB in 10 months - think whoever invented racing the 10K distance should be shot -that is all for now.
Doughnuts and tea on the couch before party party with NKOTB and Backstreet Boys tonight...:D0 -
-
-
-
RacoonQueen wrote: »Wear compeed plasters on your achilles before doing any running in these shoes.
I had heard that RQ, I've worn mine 3 times now and not a problem (although haven't raced in them)... Only catching up on CL's log now... There was no way she was wearing LR's this morning no matter what she was thinking 0 -
Brianderunner wrote: »Yeah target something like sub 43, dont you dare break 42, Meno will tell you why, although it's fairly obvious
Enjoy the last bit of interest on that cash dude... Sub 42 without a doubt on her next 10k...;)0 -
-
Advertisement
-
Krusty_Clown wrote: »Super result, well done. Won't be long before you'll be having a crack at sub-40.
+1 on this for me.
From reading your log you seem to have a real talent for the shorter fast stuff with some very impressive performances over 5 and 10k. Sub 20 5k and sub 40 10k are both very achievable for you (in my humble opinion) and that would put you up with the top women in most races. Looking forward to see where this takes you! 0 -
I had heard that RQ, I've worn mine 3 times now and not a problem (although haven't raced in them)... Only catching up on CL's log now... There was no way she was wearing LR's this morning no matter what she was thinking
At your age though your skin has probably lost all elastisicity so you've probably got some loose skin on your achilles that cushions them from the harshness of the LR's. 0 -
-
-
-
-
Usual caveat for a CL race report– if you’re reading during work, you may need to put in for annual leave…etc etc…
I fell out of bed bright and early on Saturday morning to go for my pre-race mile. (Aside: a few months ago, early on a Saturday morning, I went for a run. That afternoon, during his weekly trip to Base2Race, Digdig purchased a new pair of runners. When he got home, I accompanied him on an easy run to try them out. During this, I noticed that my legs felt considerably better than they had during my earlier run, which got me thinking about the merits of waking up the legs before heading out for a run in general. Now, obviously I’m not going to get up every morning and run a slow mile to warm up the legs for a later run (though it might be an idea…), but I decided that it might be worthwhile to do on the morning of a shorter race. The first time I did it was before Raheny in January, and I had a great race. Since then (and I’ve only run a handful of races) it’s become my lucky charm. It may sound foolish, and it may all be in my head, but I’ll most likely continue to live in my la-la land preaching the amazing powers of a ten minute mile to start the day… Until the day it doesn’t work, no doubt!)
So, with my 10 minute mile out of the way, I had a good stretch and a not so good few minutes on the roller. Ate my breakfast a good 2.5 hours before the race was due to start. I’m grand running the slow miles after eating these days, but the stomach does not hold up so well with the faster stuff so I’m still a bit nervous about that.
As we hit the road, I got into my usual pre-race ‘I HATE running. I HATE races. This is going to be an unqualified DISASTER’ mood. Suffice to say, I am not good company before a goal race… Registration was painless and we had plenty of time to settle down for some people watching. Digger pointed out that I always act strange in the pre-race setting – and he’s right – when I’m hanging around registration tables and start lines, I feel like an impostor. I don’t feel like I belong or that I deserve to line up alongside actual talented athletes. It’s strange because although I don’t class myself as an ‘athlete’, I know I can run – I can’t explain it. After some chilling to try to shake the nerves and demons, I was able to engage in some relatively sociable conversation with Meno, Belcarra, The Boy Wonder and Belcarra. My concern regarding my nerves was not alleviated by talk of the pain on the horizon i.e. it would kick in quickly and last for the duration. I knew that this was not going to be pretty. With about 15 minutes to go, I did a short warm up with some strides, dumped my hoodie and headed to the start line.
I was under instructions not to start too far back but I was still aware of knowing my place and started a couple of rows behind Ray who I expected to be a good few minutes ahead of me. There was a bit of shuffling around at the start line and then we were off. It was pretty congested for the first km and I had to dodge a lot of people to settle into my own pace and path. As I’ve said, I had no plan. McMillan had predicted 42:33 based on my recent 5k time. I knew that to finish between 42-43 minutes, my pace would have to be between 6:45 and 6:55. I had hoped that I would be able to do this but really didn’t know whether I could. My first mile was far too fast c.6:30 and signalled the beginning of the pain. I tried to not look at my watch and just kept trucking. At the 3k mark, I made about 5 metres on a girl who had been just ahead of me. She landed right beside me within a matter of minutes, and side by side is where we stayed for the next 4k. It was a silent battle, neither of us wanting or willing to let up. Whilst we were fighting with each other, we were also keeping each other going.
At around the 4k mark, I could feel a stitch coming on and really had to focus on my breathing to fight it. It had started to get quite warm at this stage too, and I was very much concentrating on working hard – there was no room for complacency and this race wasn’t going to be successful without an effort. At the 5k mark, I passed Digs roaring support – I was wrecked. The urge to give up was pretty strong. Then I passed Meno who had dropped out due to a dodgy stomach. I considered that the guys would be worried that seeing Meno at this point could have a negative impact on me if I was struggling. It did. I wanted to give up and stop. I wanted to ease back to 9 minute miles and enjoy the scenery. What did I want out of a 10k race anyway? I had no time in mind. It wasn’t going to change my life. Ah crap, I couldn’t come back to my log with a DNF. I couldn’t come back with another 10k blow-up after all of you guys telling me that I had a good time in me. This internal struggle got me through to about 7k. At this stage, I started to fall off the pace of my opposition and she kicked on inch by inch.
My stitch had developed into a whole load of piercing painful knots in my entire core which prevented me from going faster despite my legs and lungs feeling relatively ok. I was forcing myself to breath, focus on my footfall, count sheep, count the steps of the man in green shorts in front of me, name the brands of runners people were wearing, name the colours of the flowers on the side of the road, identify every shade of green around me – literally anything and everything to keep my mind from acknowledging the pain my body was feeling. The pace was dropping – but not at a frightful rate – more an expected one! The plan had shifted from maintaining a pace to finish between 42-43 minutes, to “just get another 500m at sub-7 pace under your belt and then you can ease off… And another. And another.” I got a sharp belt of stitch-pain around the 8.5k mark and let out a bit of a squeak. I was just about able to let the lady beside me know that I was ok in response to her concern, and then it was back in the zone.
When I saw the 9k marker, I knew the pain would soon be over. I managed to pick it up here by shortening my stride and keeping the legs turning. I started passing a few people which was a nice change in comparison to the previous 2k. As I came back through the gate with just over 500m to go I knew I just had to dig. I knew the pain was written all over my face and I knew that’s the way it should have been. For once, I thought ‘that’s it; I have given everything to this course’.
The final 50metres were less of the usual joyous ‘yaay, there’s the finish line’, and more ‘sweet Jesus, one more step and I’m nearly done, one more step, one more step…keep going, nearly there, ouch ouch ouch… catch that person, stay with that person, beat that person…why is this taking so long, am I really going to run 42:xx… I think I’m crying tears of blood, are my legs even moving anymore, I think I’m flying…’
I crossed the line in 42:29 by Garmin though the official result is 42:32 – either way, I’m delighted. As I said it’s a 12 minute PB in a race that almost had no ending (quite a few times!) At the very least, this race proved that I am far more stubborn and focused and capable than I give myself credit for. I haven’t forgotten the pain; yet in a sadistic way I’m looking forward to the next one.
I think my finish line picture sums it up pretty well – I finally managed to perfect the painful grimace after Spagbol‘s disgust with the huge grin I was sporting crossing the finish line in Connemara.
The post-race feed was awesome! Suffice to say I took advantage… Haha.
This was a fantastic race – 10 horrendously painful kilometres in a lovely scenic setting, with a great crowd, all facilitated by wonderful organisation – and my first of many BHAA events I suspect!0 -
-
-
Advertisement
-
So which PB are you going to destroy next?
Half Marathon hopefully. Currently 1:54.53 (from the final 13.1 miles in Connemara). Before that it was 1:59.xx from the Race Series last September...not pretty!No matter how much you try to claim it I wasn't talking to you guys before the race at all!! It was afterwards!
Good report there...perhaps the reason it was such a struggle was that this was the first one you went at 110%? I'm just guessing that because your previous PB sounds like it may have been a good bit soft for you and therefore a more comfortable run all round??
Maybe I'm wrong though and the last 10km took just as much out of you?
Regardless, the more pain you experienced the longer the afterglow of the race!!
Haha. Meant to say Ray... Sorry Ray!!
My last 10k race was Dunshaughlin last June which I ran in 54:xx finishing in absolute agony. I was hoping to break 50 and it was a disaster. I remember doing the first mile at around 7:20 pace and absolutely died a death thereafter. I certainly was not as fit or determined then as I am now - it's all relative. Up until about last October 9 minute miles were still killing me.
I did go out particularly hard on Saturday albeit but towards something I felt was within my grasp. Had no idea where I stood 10k-wise so I had to find out!! 0
Advertisement