Things will come to those who wait...

pconn062

6.1 miles, 46:08, 7.34 avg pace

Ran this with a friend of mine this morning. There was a bit of reason to running this as fast as we did. Over the weekend I noticed a bit of a tickle in my throat and I was a little bit wheezy. It's happened to me before in my OH's parents house and I think it's the dust that agitates my childhood asthma which usually doesn't bother me any more. I was feeling a bit short of breath yesterday and this morning so wanted to try a run at a good enough pace to see how I felt. Overall it went OK, breathing was a bit harder than it should have been but seemed to settle down the further we went. First mile was slow, about 8.30 and the rest were all around 7:10-30. Feel OK not as well so I hope the fact that I'm back at home clears it up, don't want anything to go wrong at this stage. Taper madness is setting in at last!
So that's all the training done now, rest day tomorrow and 3 mile on Tuesday will bring me up to race day.

MYTD: 676.5

pconn062

RunForestRun wrote: »

Watch who you're calling a hilly bastard of a county!! Cheeky fecker!

You all set for the half now yeah? What day is it on this year?

You're training has been absolutely brilliant. I'd say you're near certain to hit your target. Take it easy over the next couple of days anyway. Nothing much to be gained by race week running in my opinion.

chat to you soon.

Ha cheers RFR, it is a hilly fecker of a county though, wait not hills, drumlins I've been told to call them! The half is on on Wednesday evening, hopefully all going well I'll have a good race. Should be back with group training in a few weeks, are you going back for a bit more Team C training? I might be able to keep up with you a bit better this year!

ThePiedPiper

pconn062 wrote: »

Ha cheers RFR, it is a hilly fecker of a county though, wait not hills, drumlins I've been told to call them! The half is on on Wednesday evening, hopefully all going well I'll have a good race. Should be back with group training in a few weeks, are you going back for a bit more Team C training? I might be able to keep up with you a bit better this year!

Yeah, I'll be back with Team Carrie indeed. I'll be missing in action for 3 weeks in July but will be about most of the summer. Probably not going to do DCM unless I do it in a pacer role or as a jog. I'm either going to target a fast Autumn marathon abroad, or else race Dingle. I love my fast, flat marathons, so it'd be a bit of a departure for me to go racing a tough course for position only. Will see what happens.

As things stand at the moment, I wouldn't keep up with you on the shorter stuff. I've done zero speed work since January. I can't wait to get back to training in a couple of weeks.

Very best of luck next week. Chat soon.

pconn062

3.5 miles

Unfortunately my tickly throat from the weekend has developed into a tight chest and a dry cough, and while it's not too bad it's definitely going to affect my race tomorrow. I feel fine apart from that and on the run today I threw in one mile at race pace and while the legs felt fine, I just wasn't able to take in enough air to my lungs, and the effort felt slightly harder than it should. The pace wasn't that hard but I don't think I could hold it for 13 miles.
This is a real kick in the balls to be honest and I think this race is cursed for me. This is my third year doing it and every year I train well but then something strikes me just before the race. The first year was a nasty stomach bug that put me out for ten days, last year my knees flared up with patellar tendonitis two and a half weeks out and I shouldn't have ran, ended up walking for a wee bit. And now this year it's the cough, it's not the end of the world I know but I really felt I was good shape to take a crack a sub 1.30.
So I'm not sure what the plan is now, I'm going down anyway and might just aim for a PB which would mean sub 1.37 or I might just go out a 1.30 pace and see what happens. As I said I don't feel that bad, just worried that the lungs and chest might let me down with 4 or 5 miles left to go. I measured my resting HR today which is usually between 58-64 and today the lowest I could get was 67, and it hovered around 70 or so. Anyway, will see what tomorrow brings.

MYTD: 680

RayCun

pconn062 wrote: »

I might just go out a 1.30 pace and see what happens.

Go for it. What's the worse that can happen?
1.37 would be a soft time for you, there's no point in planning to run a weak time.

pconn062

RayCun wrote: »

Go for it. What's the worse that can happen?
1.37 would be a soft time for you, there's no point in planning to run a weak time.

Yeah that's a fair point Ray, I'm just worried about running while not feeling 100%. I think realistically when I'm lined up tomorrow all thoughts of running easy will go out of my head and I will go for it. Just a bit afraid of running out of juice half way through and crashing and burning.

RayCun

It might happen all right
But if it does, what have you lost? How much satisfaction would you take from a 1.37 half marathon?

pconn062

Ha, you're saying all the things to me that I'm saying to myself! I just considered being sensible for once in my life, and sure if I'm going to blow up dramatically I might as well do it in a race where lots of people will know me!

ThePiedPiper

Go for it Pconn, you've put all the work in.. Even if you're not feeling the best, you might only lose a minute or two in a half marathon, it won't be a dramatic blow-up whatsoever. I went and ran a 1.27 half in Bohermeen when I was still trying to recover from pneumonia.. You can get away with things like that in half. Don't be a wuss.

pconn062

RunForestRun wrote: »

Go for it Pconn, you've put all the work in.. Even if you're not feeling the best, you might only lose a minute or two in a half marathon, it won't be a dramatic blow-up whatsoever. I went and ran a 1.27 half in Bohermeen when I was still trying to recover from pneumonia.. You can get away with things like that in half. Don't be a wuss.

Ha, well with a motivational speech like that how could I not go for it??

beeduybe

Best of luck. As the other guys have said better to attempt sub 1.30 and possibly come up a bit short than hold back and wonder what might have been. Who knows? You might even surprise yourself.

pconn062

beeduybe wrote: »

Best of luck. As the other guys have said better to attempt sub 1.30 and possibly come up a bit short than hold back and wonder what might have been. Who knows? You might even surprise yourself.

Cheers beeduybe! All the talking is done now, it's time to race!

pconn062

1:35:XX- not sure exactly forgot to stop my watch, slight chance it could have been 1:34.

Well this was a race of two halves. Given the fact that I picked up some sort of chest virus over the weekend I gave myself two options with this race, ease back and aim for a PB or just go for broke and attack the sub 1.30. I should have given myself a third option, don't run. To be honest I was kind of fooling myself a little bit by saying it was just a little tickle, it was actually a lot worse and I didn't feel good all day. But my mind was made up and there was no chance I wasn't gonna race and I was going for 1.30.

Got down in plenty of time and met Belcarra and his friend Philip to give them their race packs, was nice to meet you! The alarm bells should have started ringing when I went on a slow warm up jog with my coach and my HR was in the high 150's. I told my coach that I had this chest problem and he told me not to run. I told him I was just going to run easy but he still advised against it, but like an idiot I lined up anyway. I don't usually wear a HR monitor but I thought it might be a safe option for this one. Settled into the pace early on and was feeling good by four mile, all going to plan averaging 6.52 pace. It became a little bit tougher on the first trip back into town but crossed the halfway mat in 45:10, perfect.

But here is where the trouble started, seeing the finish line and then thoughts of another lap really hurt me and I thought about pulling out here, I was not feeling good. Ploughed on until mile 8 where I was forced to stop, it was the strangest feeling, the legs felt good but I was literally forced to stop and a wave of nausea swept over me. Checked the HR which was up near 180! :eek: I decided I was going to pull out here and walk back into town but after a minute walking I felt a bit better and decided to keep going. This was a really tough decision and I really had to mentally convince myself to just get it done, as I was still on for a PB. The last 5 miles were awful, I would run for a while then the HR would creep up and this terrible wave of nausea would hit me and I would be forced to stop until it passed. The only saving grace was that when I was running I could hit a decent pace, around 7.20, and managed to get to the end. I was in bits at the end, feeling sick and sore but very glad I finished.

It might sound weird to be disappointed with a two minute PB but it's not what I wanted. I trained really well for this race and wanted a good time, but I learned a few lessons today:

Don't run with a bad chest

Never ignore your coaches advice, they usually know best!

Good race though with a nice flat course, good atmosphere and the weather was quite pleasent. Gary O' Hanlon won for the 3rd year in a row with a super run, the guy burned off the field after 500m and ran solo to a 69 minute half, 3 minutes clear of second place, savage to just watch him run.
Plan for now is to take a few days off to try and clear this chesty cough, and then it's back into group training at then end of the month.

MYTD: 693

tang1

Hard luck, have been following your log with great interest since the start of the year. Put the race down as a learning experience, your next half you'll blitz 1.30. Your more than capable of that.

menoscemo

tang1 wrote: »

Hard luck, have been following your log with great interest since the start of the year. Put the race down as a learning experience, your next half you'll blitz 1.30. Your more than capable of that.

+1 Unlucky tonight but you are definitely in sub 1:30 shape.

pconn062

Cheers lads, tough day at the office but as you say, put it down to experience and I'll tackle it again later in the year. Time to go back to 5k's for a while I think!

belcarra

Hey Pconn, very unlucky with your throat/cough tonight. You still ran an excellent race in the circumstances. Any alternative 1/2 maras coming up that would suit you in 2-3 weeks when the illness would be out of the system and you'd be running on fresh legs? It'd be a shame to let the specific HM training be left unfulfilled!!

Thanks again for sorting us out with our race packs by the way!!

RayCun

tang1 wrote: »

Put the race down as a learning experience, your next half you'll blitz 1.30. Your more than capable of that.

+1
Enniscorthy or Waterford Half marathons next month? Clontarf in July?

macinalli

Hey, have also been following your log and expected you to breeze 1.30, but with a chest infection it was never really on the cards. I think we've all lined up for a race at some stage carrying some sort of niggle/illness - it's just so hard to be sensible when the work is done! +1 to the other comments about finding another half in a few weeks time.

pconn062

Cheers folks, yeah another HM soon is an option but I'm going to wait and see how I feel over the next few days before deciding anything. Needless to say the cough is much worse today and I had a rough night with it so I want to concentrate on getting it out of the system. I'm starting group training in a few weeks which includes all the race series races so I will definitely be doing the Dublin half in September. Might concentrate on 5 mile/10k training for a few weeks and leave the half until September, but that could change if I start to feel better soon, I've got the 1.30 bug now and I need to hit it!

Official time is 1:35:17, 47th overall.

pconn062

So was at the doctor today and he confirmed I have a chest infection so I'm on antibiotics for the next 5 days or so. Also got a call from the coach last night, he advised to take a full week off from Wednesday night, which I'm going to do, at least until I'm off the tablets.:( He also advised against jumping into another half marathon too soon so I think the plan is to aim for the half in September and for now concentrate on shorter distances. I will probably be running some track races as well for the club to make up a team and then will target 1.28ish in the Dublin half.
That's the plan anyway, I will probably be going crazy by Sunday wanting to get out and run but I think I just need to be patient, I have a good few races in June so I want to be in good shape for them. nothing to do now but to watch my mileage slide on the 1000 mile table! :rolleyes:

tang1

Your better off getting that out of your system than keep running. Its only a week off and when you look at all the quality training you have put in this year to fcuk that all up for the sake of a weeks rest would be crazy. Get some quick times in over the summer on the short stuff and you'll fly 1.28 in September.

pconn062

tang1 wrote: »

Your better off getting that out of your system than keep running. Its only a week off and when you look at all the quality training you have put in this year to fcuk that all up for the sake of a weeks rest would be crazy. Get some quick times in over the summer on the short stuff and you'll fly 1.28 in September.

Cheers tang, and you're absolutely right and you're saying everything my coach said to me last night. So I'm going to do the clever thing (for once!) and listen to all the good advice being offered to me!

Lock

Hard luck pconn. You must have been so determined to hit a good time in Dundalk that you still went for the 1:30 despite not feeling well. Just forget about running for the next week or so and come back fresh. You'll still be in the same shape. 1:28 or faster will sound a lot better come September any way. Take it easy!

pconn062

Lock wrote: »

Hard luck pconn. You must have been so determined to hit a good time in Dundalk that you still went for the 1:30 despite not feeling well. Just forget about running for the next week or so and come back fresh. You'll still be in the same shape. 1:28 or faster will sound a lot better come September any way. Take it easy!

Cheers Lock, yeah it wasn't the best decision to run the race in hindsight! But I think we've all been there, running when we shouldn't. Really enjoying your log, some great results recently.

ThePiedPiper

Well pconn.. Sh!tty luck for you during the week. I didn't realise from your posts last week that you were that sick, thought you'd just a bit of a cough! These things happen and you learn from them and move on to better things.

You know what you're capable of at the moment following all your training, you'll get that target again soon. There could also be a lot of positives from it. You'll probably push on over the summer, run loads of great times at the shorter stuff and do a super half later in the year.

I signed up for Budapest on 7th October. So, I'll be more or less following the training the club will be doing up until September anyway. I'll give you a shout next weekend, time for me to start a bit of catch-up!!

pconn062

RunForestRun wrote: »

Well pconn.. Sh!tty luck for you during the week. I didn't realise from your posts last week that you were that sick, thought you'd just a bit of a cough! These things happen and you learn from them and move on to better things.

You know what you're capable of at the moment following all your training, you'll get that target again soon. There could also be a lot of positives from it. You'll probably push on over the summer, run loads of great times at the shorter stuff and do a super half later in the year.

I signed up for Budapest on 7th October. So, I'll be more or less following the training the club will be doing up until September anyway. I'll give you a shout next weekend, time for me to start a bit of catch-up!!

Cheers RFR, yeah didn't know I was quite that sick myself, but it' not the end of the world and the half in September is looking like a good option now. Looking forward to getting back into group training in a few weeks, you should be doing most of your training with the group, that marathon is quite close to Dublin. Yeah give me a text at the end of next week and we'll go for a jog, looking forward to it!

pconn062

6.5 miles, 7.55 pace (roughly)

Back on the horse again after a (long) week off. Felt better from the start of the week but decided to take the full week off to recover completely. Headed into the club and met a few of the lads. Pace was nice and handy, the effort was slightly higher than it should have been but that's to be expected I suppose. I'm still slightly caught up so I'm just going to run easy for the rest of the week. Possibly heading to the Graded meets next Wednesday, but will wait to see how I feel at the start of the week. For now it just feels good to be back out running!

MYTD: 699.5

pconn062

6.1 miles incl 2 easy with the OH, and 4 @ 7.57 pace

Just another easy run today, two very slow miles with the OH meant I probably ran the 4 miles quicker than I should. I felt good though, still working a little harder than I should on the last hill but good overall. Going to do a run at recovery pace tomorrow, not that I have anything to recover from, just feel it is the wise thing to do, then might try a longer run on Sunday. And in between all my running, if I have time, I might put the finishing touches to my MA thesis which is due in next week! :rolleyes::eek::eek::eek:

MYTD: 705.5

pconn062

3.5 miles, 26:55, with 4x2 mins @ 5k pace

I decided to throw in a few sections of faster running today to see how it felt. This was the simplest session I could think of, 2 mins hard with a few mins easy jogging in between. To be honest I expected this to be a bit of an effort and it was, the 5.58 pace almost felt like flat out sprinting! :eek: The week off probably had an effect and the week before that was all easy running so I'm not too worried. The rest of the run was just done at an easy pace, felt good to be running a bit faster though. Meeting a few friends for a long run tomorrow.

MYTD: 709