3:30 or bust!

Chartsengrafs

That's a long time to be on your feet on Monday! I think 3:20 will be very achievable based on your training, keep it up.

Itziger

Belcarra, you heading to Valencia on your own or what? I was going to go alone but wife and a couple of kids have tagged along. Want to meet up for a bite to eat on Sat. night? Beware, most places don't open till 9 or so unless you're a MacDonalds man. In any case we'll hopefully get a few beers in on Sunday.

belcarra

Itziger wrote: »

Belcarra, here's a link to my Garmin. You can look at some of the runs and decide for yourself. You don't fancy going out at 3:10 pace and see how far we get?

http://connect.garmin.com/dashboard

Ah Jaysus man!
I'm being optimistic at aiming for sub 3:20 so if I was to go for 3:10 I reckon I'd need an ambulance from mile 20!!
(That link doesn't quite work by the way...)

Itziger wrote: »

Belcarra, you heading to Valencia on your own or what? I was going to go alone but wife and a couple of kids have tagged along. Want to meet up for a bite to eat on Sat. night? Beware, most places don't open till 9 or so unless you're a MacDonalds man. In any case we'll hopefully get a few beers in on Sunday.

I'll be heading over with a couple of mates so will probably be low-key Sat night but definitely on for meeting for a beer or two on the Sunday.

belcarra

Basster wrote: »

That's a long time to be on your feet on Monday! I think 3:20 will be very achievable based on your training, keep it up.

Well done on DCM by the way!
Hope you were happy with your race?

Chartsengrafs

Thanks. Very happy as everything went according to my slightly revised and more realistic plan! Left nothing out there so that's all I could do.

belcarra

Thursday, 1st November - 5.3km Easy Run
Took a nice handy run this morning as I was into work later. Legs still a bit tired from Monday.

Friday, 2nd November - 7.5km LT Pace Run
Legs were back to normal and I should have taken it handy today but was eager to get some fast kms into them. First of two laps was quick, the second lap was slower.

Saturday, 3rd November - Westport Sea2Summit with 12.1km run
I booked this several weeks ago thinking that there would be enough time between DCM and Valencia. Registration and bike drop-off were on Fri evening between 6pm and 10pm. It would have been handier if they opened reg a couple of hours earlier rather than waiting til it got dark. I was also a bit sceptical about the value for money with the race due to the t-shirts being an extra €15. Personally I don't care for many more t-shirts to my collection but I'm sure a few would have liked it to be included.

Next morning we were gathered at 8:40am for a pre race briefing. This was on top of the 12 page 'brief' which had been sent out the day before. The Supreme gang were launched on their way by 9am and only a few minutes later we (Spirit/short course) were off ourselves.

The first section was a 4km run along the Greenway to Roman Island. There was a bit of a climb involved here but it was a good course. It didn't take long for the field to spread out and most of the time I was passing people throughout the run. My split for this was 18:55 and 50th out of 712.

It was onto the bike next. After making a handful of positions in the first 300m i soon realised I'm really not very good at cycling. All the local cycling clubs started to whizz by both individually and in mini-pelotons who were going just too fast for me to latch onto. To make matters worse there was a strong headwind on the way to Murrisk so I lost even more time. I was glad to get back on my feet when i reached CP in 25:19 having dropped to 79th position overall (138th for the split).

The ascent of CP brought a brutal hailstorm which kinda added to the fun. After running the first few hundred metres I started into a walk-run mode. The mountain was so busy with people (We had now caught lots of the Supreme tailenders) it was difficult to pass, and that's if you had the energy and footwork to achieve this! Eventually I got to the top after having seen lots of people already on their descent. Reached the dibbing point in 27:27 for 55th overall (36th for the split).

It was then time for the descent but the slushy terrain allied with the tired quads meant the pace took a while to build up! Eventually I got into a bit of a decent stride but the surface was so slippery and steep that not even my trail shoes could help me down the mountain quickly. About 200m from the bottom I could feel my quads ready to buckle from the constant breaking. i had no choice but to just jog it out to the transition point or risk collpasing!! I lost a few positions here and ended up with a split of 15:26 (only 90th fastest split!) for 53rd overall so I had actually made 2 places overall!

Back on the bike for a slightly modified route back into Westport which meant a little bit of a climb but nothing serious. Thankfully the wind was on our backs now and this part was much easier than the cycle out. Made it back to Roman Island in 23:36 for 58th position overall (117th by split).

Finally it was the last leg - a 4.5km run back along the Greenway but before all that we had to contend with a mini-obstacle course which managed to drain any life left out of the legs! Once past the obstacles I was almost at walking pace again but managed to keep plodding on without stopping. I was passed by a couple of people only on this section which surprised me - I guess everyone else was feeling the same! Eventually managed to cross the finishing line in 2:11:25 which gave me 50th overall and a final split of 20:42 (30th fastest). This had proved to be my quickest split even though I felt I was moving so slowly!

So, happy enough with my time considering my poor standard of cycling (Must really look to train on the bike if I do another duathlon/adventure race!) and the harsh conditions. There was lots of bread, pasta, tea and fruit at the finish line area which was good but for the 20mins while i was there there didn't appear to be any First Aid even though a couple of nasty injuries passed through the finish in this period. I got lambasted on Facebook for suggesting there were areas for improvement for the race so I won't go into it any more than that. Overall, a good race but definitely room for improvement in a few areas.

And now my legs are stiff again, not ideal having to take 4 days off during taper...hopefully a lesson to take away for my next training cycle!!


Month|No. of Runs|Kms Run
January|29/31|405.7
February|24/29|365.6
March|22/31|310.0
April|21/30|277.5
May|20/31|252.1
June|2/30|47.4
July|16/31|189.7
August|22/31|290.6
September|21/30|366.6
October|28/31|452.9
November|3/5|24.9
Total|204/306|3,007.8

DukeOfDromada

How's the taper madness treating ya?

belcarra

There has been a few rest days and a few runs since I last updated...
Sunday, 4th November - Tuesday, 6th November - Rest Days x 3:eek:
Wednesday, 7th November - 8.9km MP Run
Thursday, 8th November - Rest Day
Friday, 9th November - 5.4km Easy Run
Saturday, 10th November - Malahide ParkRun 5km
So, a couple of runs and way too many rest days. Just wasn't motivated enough to get out and run. This is something thatseems to happen quite a lot with me during taper. Anyways, managed to get out to Malahide on Saturday for the inaugral Malahide 5km ParkRun. A nice morning for it and 159 people toed the line. I found myself in the second row at the start and paniced a little before sheepishly moving back a row before the very-susrprising-to-everyone gun went.
A couple of faster runners moved away almost immediately but I was susrprised to find myself in 5th place by the 500m mark. I felt I was doing ok and not pushing too hard but by halfway round I was beginning to tail off already. Soon a group of 4 went by and not long after I was in tenth position. Splits read a rather frustrating 3:49,4:03,4:10,4:18:eek:,4:10. Held onto 10th position at the end but should have ran a much better race. Ended up with 20:50 but I'd be confident of getting those 50 secs back a fter a few weeks of regular short running. I haven't done many intervals for this marathon, relying more on MP and LT paced sessions instead (Not by design really...just missed a few later in the schedule) so I think I'll do a bit more speedwork throughout the winter.

Sunday, 11th November - Rest Day
Monday, 12th November - 8.5km LT/MP run
Tonight I decided to do more speedwork to sharpen up for Sunday. I went out at LT (approx 4:20/km) for 4kms before easing off for 1km and then going at MP (approx 4:40/km) for the remaining 3.5km. This worked well because even though I was feeling the faster pace at the start once I settled into the MP segment it still felt good rather than tough. Just need to see how I last over 42.2kms now!!

Month|No. of Runs|Kms Run
January|29/31|405.7
February|24/29|365.6
March|22/31|310.0
April|21/30|277.5
May|20/31|252.1
June|2/30|47.4
July|16/31|189.7
August|22/31|290.6
September|21/30|366.6
October|28/31|452.9
November|7/12|52.8
Total|212/317|3035.7

ultraman1

best of luck on sunday.....lay off the beer and spanish birds on sat nite,,

Micilin Muc

belcarra wrote: »

So, a couple of runs and way too many rest days. Just wasn't motivated enough to get out and run. This is something thatseems to happen quite a lot with me during taper.

It has happened to me for the last 3 marathon tapers. IMO if you're ever to miss a run, taper time is the time to do it!

menoscemo

Good luck on Sunday, looking forward to seeing you finally nail that sub 3;30 (and a bit more).

digger2d2

Best of luck on Sunday, let us know how things went as soon as you can! Or if there's tracking I can keep an eye on you whilst I stand around in muck watching CL in another XC

Mr Slow

Good Luck!

pistol_75

Best of luck for Sunday John.

The_Boy_Wonder

Best of luck on Sunday. You've put in savage work, so hope you get the reward. And not forgetting the family title is at stake, so no pressure!!

Aimman

Best of luck John, looking forward to hearing about your new pb.

belcarra

DukeOfDromada wrote: »

How's the taper madness treating ya?

ultraman1 wrote: »

best of luck on sunday.....lay off the beer and spanish birds on sat nite,,

Micilin Muc wrote: »

It has happened to me for the last 3 marathon tapers. IMO if you're ever to miss a run, taper time is the time to do it!

menoscemo wrote: »

Good luck on Sunday, looking forward to seeing you finally nail that sub 3;30 (and a bit more).

digger2d2 wrote: »

Best of luck on Sunday, let us know how things went as soon as you can! Or if there's tracking I can keep an eye on you whilst I stand around in muck watching CL in another XC

Mr Slow wrote: »

Good Luck!

pistol_75 wrote: »

Best of luck for Sunday John.

The_Boy_Wonder wrote: »

Best of luck on Sunday. You've put in savage work, so hope you get the reward. And not forgetting the family title is at stake, so no pressure!!

Aimman wrote: »

Best of luck John, looking forward to hearing about your new pb.

Thanks for all the best wishes in advance of Sunday, I'll try and not let ye down! Apart from Ultraman...;)
Digger - Don't think there's any tracking system in place but I'll try and have a finishing time up here ASAP. You'd almost think you were worried about your PB:p

belcarra

Tuesday, 13th November - 12.1km MP run
Intended to take this easier but ended up going closer to MP than Easy pace.
Will definitely reign things in from here 'til Sunday!

Month|No. of Runs|Kms Run
January|29/31|405.7
February|24/29|365.6
March|22/31|310.0
April|21/30|277.5
May|20/31|252.1
June|2/30|47.4
July|16/31|189.7
August|22/31|290.6
September|21/30|366.6
October|28/31|452.9
November|8/13|64.9
Total|213/318|3047.8

ultrapercy

belcarra wrote: »

Tuesday, 13th November - 12.1km MP run
Intended to take this easier but ended up going closer to MP than Easy pace.
Will definitely reign things in from here 'til Sunday!

Month|No. of Runs|Kms Run
January|29/31|405.7
February|24/29|365.6
March|22/31|310.0
April|21/30|277.5
May|20/31|252.1
June|2/30|47.4
July|16/31|189.7
August|22/31|290.6
September|21/30|366.6
October|28/31|452.9
November|8/13|64.9
Total|213/318|3047.8

Best of luck Belcarra, keep the red and green flying. The work is done, make it happen.

neilc

Good luck Sunday belcarra, looking forward to hearing all about it!

beeduybe

Good luck!

ray lanigan

run happy and free:)

jcsmum

Best of luck!!!!

pconn062

Best of Luck on Sunday Belcarra, hope you enjoy the day and get the result you want.

belcarra

Wednesday, 14th November - 7.3km Easy run
Managed to slow down a bit for tonights run. Final run tomorrow evening and then 2 days off til Sunday.

Month|No. of Runs|Kms Run
January|29/31|405.7
February|24/29|365.6
March|22/31|310.0
April|21/30|277.5
May|20/31|252.1
June|2/30|47.4
July|16/31|189.7
August|22/31|290.6
September|21/30|366.6
October|28/31|452.9
November|9/14|72.2
Total|214/319|3,055.1

belcarra

Just got my race number - 3302.
Bring it on!

digger2d2

belcarra wrote: »

Thanks for all the best wishes in advance of Sunday, I'll try and not let ye down! Apart from Ultraman...;)
Digger - Don't think there's any tracking system in place but I'll try and have a finishing time up here ASAP. You'd almost think you were worried about your PB

PDCAT

Best of luck Belcarra. Sub 3.30 will be no bother to ya.

Marthastew

belcarra wrote: »

Just got my race number - 3302.
Bring it on!

You do know the number 3 is VERY lucky, don't you?;)
I'm predicting a massive PB followed by lots of that beer and Spanish birds Anto was warning you about.
Have a great break;)

MisterDrak

Good luck on Sunday...

Just reading your log there and see you were at Malahide park run last week. I finished just behind you in 12th in 21:00... A feel a bit of a smack down before Xmas, with all those marathon miles in your legs ...