I thought it was a half they had in Connemara?

brownian

Nothing to report today - it's going to be a rest day.

Had a session with Ciaran Fitz, muscle-beater to the stars, yesterday. Talented man. Fortunately, none of my niggles seems to be a real injury just now, so hadn't anything specific for him to work on (booked him last week after a new crop of niggles erupted, which have settled - touch wood - since). But great sports massage, if you like your therapy to be on the edge of pain. Can't wait to be injured so I can go again [why do I write stuff like that - it's bound to bite me!!]:eek:

Stopped off in Marathon Sports (or whatever it's called this week) in Stillorgan to buy a pair of athletic shorts (not the lycra ones, the slashed-to-waist kind), to see if they'd be a lot cooler (temperature wise) than my usual lycra. Will run in them tomorrow and decide. Don't know if you're meant to wear anything under them - there's a sort of mesh insert thing, but is that meant to replace jocks? Style - it's such a mystery.:)

Latest forecast is for heavy rain on Sunday in the West. Gotta hope that changes. :eek:

Two eeks in one post - time to stop.

Micilin Muc

Heavy rain?! I'd rather that than splitting sunshine!

tHE vAGGABOND

My iPhone weather thing has 15 degress and sun in West on Sunday, and rain on Monday...

iPhones are NEVER wrong

brownian

Yes, me too. But cool, calm overcast would be nicer.

I've since checked non-met-eireann weather sites and several of them suggest only showers, with a chance of no rain at all. Met basically says good weather to Friday, then downhill all the way. Other sites say rain Sat, less rain Sun, rain Monday...

You get what you get, I guess.

rainbow kirby

brownian wrote: »

Nothing to report today - it's going to be a rest day.

Had a session with Ciaran Fitz, muscle-beater to the stars, yesterday. Talented man. Fortunately, none of my niggles seems to be a real injury just now, so hadn't anything specific for him to work on (booked him last week after a new crop of niggles erupted, which have settled - touch wood - since). But great sports massage, if you like your therapy to be on the edge of pain. Can't wait to be injured so I can go again [why do I write stuff like that - it's bound to bite me!!]:eek:

Stopped off in Marathon Sports (or whatever it's called this week) in Stillorgan to buy a pair of athletic shorts (not the lycra ones, the slashed-to-waist kind), to see if they'd be a lot cooler (temperature wise) than my usual lycra. Will run in them tomorrow and decide. Don't know if you're meant to wear anything under them - there's a sort of mesh insert thing, but is that meant to replace jocks? Style - it's such a mystery.:)

Latest forecast is for heavy rain on Sunday in the West. Gotta hope that changes. :eek:

Two eeks in one post - time to stop.

There's a hell of a lot of taper madness going on here! :eek::cool:

brownian

rainbow kirby wrote: »

There's a hell of a lot of taper madness going on here! :eek::cool:

When there's no running, the sludge in the bottom of the mind tends to get unsettled, and you get these bubbles of "thought" coming to the surface.

It also means people will give me plenty of space at the start line:rolleyes:

brownian

Thought about playing some wii tonight with the kids, and decided not to for fear of injury.

This run can't happen too soon.

brownian

For the first time in I don't know how long, there were zero niggles and tweaks walking downstairs this morning. Maybe it's the magic hands of Ciaran Fitz, who I saw on Tuesday. Maybe it's the fact that I ran only 8.5 km on Tuesday and not at all yesterday. Or that I went back to bed after dropping the kids to school and slept for two more hours. Anyway, feeling good.

Will go for ten easy kms at lunchtime, in what looks like settled foggy conditions, and then maybe 5km or so on Saturday.

Can't wait to get down the West - it's always good for the soul, and the good forecast (Met more positive today) may mean a hot and thirsty run, but the other 65 hours will be greatly enhanced. I already see myself leaning against a sun-drenched wall with a cold beer, watching the sea out around the islands. That's after the run, of course!

Heading down tomorrow afternoon...bring it on.:)

ElectraX

Best of luck for Sunday, I'm sure all the training will pay off.It's nice going into a race feeling prepared and well psyched up for it:D

brownian

Thank you!

I'm actually pretty chilled about it...as I keep telling myself, it's Kildare I want to run fast:)

That said, I definitely feel a bit twitchy...maybe I'll go for a quick run...:D

RayCun

Good luck Sunday. Twice as long as usual means you'll enjoy it twice as much!

brownian

Thanks, Ray!

Gonna be good

I hope!!:D

brownian

Feelin' good, looking...more or less the same as usual.

For this, my second-last taper run, the plan was 10km at an easy pace. 5:00 per km was the target. None of yer "accidental tempo" this time.

Struggled all the time to keep the pace slower than 4:20. Even though I "knew" my target pace, I'd still look at my watch and some inner voice would say "don't slip to slower than 4:30!". At least I never went faster than 4:00, though clearly an average pace of 4:30 wasn't the plan. Nice feeling, though, that it's hard to run as slow as 4:30

Still no marathon plan. Running the first 21 at 4:30 would be handy enough (1:34:30), but would torpedo any realistic hopes for a 3:00 to 3:10 finish. So maybe I should just turn off the brain and run at "body pace", like I've done on all my training runs, with concomitant (gotta love that word) slow-downs on the hills. That's what I've been advising others to do, after all. I might blow up, but then again I might actually run a good time. Jesus, does he never stop going round in circles on that one?

First run in my new Ron Hill athletic shorts (as opposed to lycra). Can't decide if that mesh insert is an underwear replacement or not. Assumed not today and wore the usual boxers underneath. That was fine, certainly cooler than lycra shorts.

Heading West tomorrow - hurray!

cwgatling

Just my opinion, but I think you can hit sub 3:10 no bother. I know you're not shooting for a PB, but a race is a race. Don't sell yourself short. Maybe go out at 7:05 miles and if you're still feeling good after the big hills, put the foot down?

Enjoy the day!

Krusty_Clown

brownian wrote: »

That said, I definitely feel a bit twitchy...maybe I'll go for a quick slow run...:D

Fixed your post.
Best of luck on Sunday. Hope it goes exactly to plan, and the weather is suitably aligned. I love that downhill stretch into Leenane overlooking the fjord. That slightly pointy hill will feel like a blip in comparison to some of those pointy hills you leisure ran up, during our 'recce of the Wicklow Way! Have a cracker!

brownian

@cwg::I don't think a PB's on the cards over that course. I'd be pretty happy with a decent AgeGroup placing. But thank you for the vote of confidence - there's a strong inclination to do as you suggest

@KC:: thanks a lot. And for the steady supply of good advice. Much appreciated.

claralara

Are you going to go intricate race/pace plan or loose cannon so? I think I’ll stick with what I know best…Loose cannon all the way!:D

brownian

Given your carefully paced Mallow performance, I'm expecting similar discipline on the longer run. :cool:Pick your best realistic pace, and stick to it. I expect there'll be more mental discipline for all of us, as it's not exactly a massive-crowd experience after the first few miles, so there'll be less picking someone and sticking to them than we might get in DCM, say.

My own current plans are made of cobwebs and may change radically before or during the run. But right now my plan is about 1:25 or 1:30 for the first half, and as close as possible to that for the second half, bearing the hills in mind. This relies on my feeling pretty perky when I get to Leenane, but I don't think that's infeasible. If I catch myself panting or working hard on the flat in the first half, I'll throttle back. If in the second half, I'll see how much of it I can sustain.

Oh, and I'll be trying to enjoy myself:pac:

liamo123

brownian wrote: »

My own current plans are made of cobwebs and may change radically before or during the run. But right now my plan is about 1:25 or 1:30 for the first half, and as close as possible to that for the second half, bearing the hills in mind. This relies on my feeling pretty perky when I get to Leenane, but I don't think that's infeasible. If I catch myself panting or working hard on the flat in the first half, I'll throttle back. If in the second half, I'll see how much of it I can sustain.

Oh, and I'll be trying to enjoy myself:pac:

Best of luck with that....Like myself alot will depend on the conditions on the day...Mild dry and no wind would b perfect but I doubt if we'l b that lucky :rolleyes:

As 4 trying 2 enjoy urself; that can wait til the post race pints :pac:

tHE vAGGABOND

Good luck!

Wish I was heading down that direction tomorrow too, damn work

Sure we may bump into each other and have a pint down there

ElectraX

brownian wrote: »

Struggled all the time to keep the pace slower than 4:20.

Oh I really really wish I had that problem:D

shazkea

+1 on all the good wishes. Best of luck and hope all goes to plan

brownian

@vagga - that'd be good. I'll be the sweaty tired-looking old geezer

@electraX - self control isn't a strong point

@shaz - thanks v. much. All the support at taper madness time is great!

shotgunmcos

Just skimmed over your log there brownian. You seem to be in great shape from your staple diet of 65min 10 milers :eek: Best of luck on Sunday, you will be one of those skipping off down the road ahead of me. I'd say you will place well if you put it together. Looking forward to your report. I'll be chatting with 2 good looking but nervous women at the start maybe in a white cap...

menoscemo

Best of luck on sunday. You should be finished about 3 hours before me, but maybe see you about galway?

brownian

Thanks lads.

Sadly won't be in Galway - always make a long weekend of it and get a house outside Louisburgh, so while I'll (hopefully!) be at the finish for a while waiting on a couple of housemates, I'll be skiting off back to Mayo post-race.

Best of luck to you both!

claralara

Safe journey today!

brownian

Stoked. Settled into the house in Mayo.
Fantastic weather, the challenge is to get sleep and stay off the beer.

Went to bed a bit late last night (1!!) but just had the one pint.
Got a good load if rice spuds and prawns down me.

Easy 5km planned for today, just to keep the legs alive.
Two years pulled a calf muscle on the same pre- race run.
Will try to avoid that today.

Other than that it's try to relax and eat plenty.

Hope to bump into a few boardsies tomorrow. My blue and White singlet has
Brownian on the back

digger2d2

Good luck and enjoy!

rainbow kirby

Best of luck!