Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

adrian522

Dunshaughlin 41.20, 45 second PB, happy days.

hot buttered scones

Well done. Congrats on the PB.

Duanington

That's a big PB there A - congrats, well done

Annie get your Run

Well done Adrian! you didn't look like you were struggling in the last 500 meters (unlike plenty of others!) so sounds like a well executed race.

OOnegative

Well done on the PB A, nice chunk to take off it.

adrian522

Duanington wrote: »

That's a big PB there A - congrats, well done

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Well done Adrian! you didn't look like you were struggling in the last 500 meters (unlike plenty of others!) so sounds like a well executed race.

OOnegative wrote: »

Well done on the PB A, nice chunk to take off it.

Thanks all. it a hard course to get right, the last 2k always seem like such a struggle after the uphill sections. I think I did ok though, I went through halfway in 20.40 I think, so paced it ok overall.

Murph_D

Terrific time, well done A.

adrian522

This week was all about tapering for the race yesterday, so apart from the aforementioned light session on Monday it was all easy enough.

Tuesday - 6.3 Miles @ 8:38 m/m

Jog into work for this. Legs not feeling the freshest after Monday night but with Radiohead in the evening this was the only time to get this done. (Gig was amazing by the way!)

Wednesday - 5 Miles @ 9:04 m/m

Got this done at lunchtime around UCD. It was warm and sticky but felt good to get it done early in the day.

Thursday - Off

Friday - 4 Miles @ 8:28 m/m with 4 x 20 second Strides


Another lunchtime run, different route and added in some strides here. Nothing much to report from the run.

Saturday - Dunshaughlin 10K


So fairly well rested, I felt I should probably go out for a shakeout run in the morning just to take the edge off but I didn't in the end.

I arrived down in plenty of time for a good warmup and number pick up. Plenty of familiar faces around, a good block of training had me planning to go out at 6:35-6:40 pace and try and not lose too much time on the hills in the last 2 miles.

Confident but a little apprehensive I lined up in what felt like the right position for my target time.

With a timing mat at the start there was less stress about the start and once we were off there was plenty of room on the wide road.

The start is pretty downhill so the temptation is to go a little to fast here. I had words with a guy I know who was going for 40-41 (and who finished sub 40) so I thought better back off a bit here. Settled into a nice pace all the same running with a clubmate.

Mile 1: 6:22

Ok the first mile was a bit fast, I was feeling ok, knew that time would be lost on mile 5 so no harm having something in the bank. I moved on past my team mate here, and started to make progress towards the group in front, about 10-15 meters away.

Mile 2 is also net downhill but not too much, really this is wher eit can get away from you if you overcook this bit.

I managed to hit my target pace here though so all good.

Mile 2: 6:37

The next section is about maintaining concentration, time typically gets lost here but trying not to push too hard this early. I'm still not catching the group ahead but feeling ok, not red-lining yet anyway.

Mile 3: 6:44

As always mile 3 was slower than hoped for. Just trying to run relaxed and maintain pace here. Ther eis a fair bit of downhill here and then the right turn up the hill.

Just as we turn I catch up that group and get a shout out from a club mate who is going really well. I push on up the hill trying not to burn through too much energy.

Mile 4: 6:31

This is where it starts to hurt, after that initial sharp climb there is a series of drags over the next while. You always lose time here but I've run a good first half I think.

There is plenty of on course support, including families creating improptu water stops and some out with garden hose!

I struggle through this section, trading places with a girl from Drogeheda.

Mile 5: 6:59

Once you get to 8K it is actually pretty flat to the finish but I'm really digging into the mental reserves at this point, the end just won't come. The club mate I passed at the bottom of the hill comes up behind me and that pushes me on to pick up the pace a bit. 800 to go and after that initial burst I feel I've gone too soon. Good shoutout from AM, and later from a clubmate out supporting.

Once we got to 400 to go I tried to pick it up but just nothing there really. At 200m to go my club mate went past and I tried to give words of encouragement (she finished 15th female). Last 100m I maanged tp pick it up and finish with a chip time of 41:20.

Mile 6: 6:36/0.2:1:29

Overall very happy, preparation wasn't perfect but it was pretty good and am delighted to have taken down PB's at 5k, 5 mile, 10K and 10 miles over the fist half of the year.

The race is wonderful as it always is and there are lots of familiar faces trading war stories at the finish line!

Sunday - 10 Miles @ 8:34 m/m

Left this until late afternoon, felt ok, I was going to go with a shorter run but felt ok so pushed it out to 10 miles. Tymon looks good in the summertime!

Total for the week was 42.2 Miles.

Singer

Nice going in Dunshaughlin - great first half of 2017!

aquinn

What a PB, congratulations.

AuldManKing

congrats - great racing on Sat - must give you confidence going into the next part of the year.

adrian522

Monday - Off

Tuesday - Tuesday Club Session

6 x 200 (45,49,50,51,50,51)
1 x 1000 (3:58)
1 x 800 (2:50)
2 x 400 (1:36, 1:29)
2 x 200 (46,46)

Let's be honest, too soon after Dunshaughlin to be doing a full on session but with a race on Friday it was Tuesday or nothing.

I started off taking it very easy and after the 200's which were run more like strides I thought about bailing on the session but I'm glad I stuck with it as once I settled into it the session was actually fine. Good that it was run on grass.

The distances won't have been exact so the times aren't hugely relevant but a good session nonetheless.

And yes the All White Kinvaras were the talk of the club.

Wednesday - 5.1 Miles @ 8:36 m/m


Just an easy run home from work via Bushy Park, legs not feeling the freshest to be honest!

Thursday - 4.1 Miles @ 8:48 with 4 x 20 sec strides

Run into work, adding 4 x 20 second strides. Nothing too fancy.

Friday - St. Cocas 5K

This is a race I hadn't planned on doing but being unable to run the Crusaders race next week i decided to go for this one instead.

I'd run the 5K in Bohermeen on June 10th, running 20 mins flat, so the hope here was to dip under. I wrote the following in my race report from that race:

Most of my training this year had been focused on 10K, but still a good few track sessions and good results at 6K and 5 Mile had me thinking a time of 19:40 was doable. That was probably a bit optimistic but I'm nothing if not an optimist while toeing the line!

So I was obviously in a positive frame of mind then. Last night not so much, still feeling like the legs were not properly recovered from Dunshaughlin, , maybe a bit overcooked from all the racing recently, regretting doing the session on Tuesday and not really getting a proper warmup done, but anyway, here I was, plan was to follow the 20 mins pacers and let them do the work.

The start was pretty congested, I was off and running and already the 20 mins pacers were off about 10 meters ahead. Was I too slow or them too fast. It felt like the effort levels were too much where normally at the start I'm trying to hold back from going too fast.

The watch said 6:34 so I tried to up the effort but wasn't making much progress on catching the pacers. There was a need to do a bit of weaving to get around a few people. We passed the 1K mark, didn't check the watch, just following the pacers who stayed around 5 meters ahead.

After 1 mile I realized we were well ahead of schedule when the watch beeped at 6:13. Not sure what the pacers were doing but they must have been a solid 10 seconds ahead of me.

Mile 1: 6:13

I decided to ease off on the effort and try and not blow up too early. The second mile I was just trying to run relaxed but did notice the pace at 6:45 at one point so upped the effort again. Just trying to catch a small group ahead. Pick off one runner at a time.

As we passed halfway I was hurting but nowhere near as bad as the last 5k I did, told myself that I still had somthing for a big last mile and not to redline yet.

Mile 2: 6:25

Last mile was all about hanging on, pace had slowed a bit but I knew I had something in the bank and I could bag a sub 20 with a 6:24 or so. The pacers are still a fair bit off in the distance. After the 1 km to go marker I was still feeling ok but didn't want to push for home too early.

800m to go, through the town, realized no point in reserving energy at this stage. Got a great shout out from the coach, 400m to go, pacers still way off in the distance.

As the watch beeped for 3 miles I emptied the tank, thinking I've a great chance at sub 20 despite the fast first mile and not great preparation. Caught a glimpse of the clock, 19:22. Wow. Pushed hard and ran through the line, where there were a load of runners stopped right at the line. Stopped the watch, 19:36. Deligthed.

Mile 3: 6:23 (0.1 - 0:34)

All in all very happy. Not sure what happened with the pacers but if they had run closer to 20 mins I guess I would have done the same.

Great race and everyone I spoke to afterwards seemed to have PB's also!

chickey2

Well done! Two big pb's in a week is fantastic.

annapr

Adrian, you are flying at the moment! Brilliant racing, great to have that sub-20 target smashed. Maybe you need to start all races feeling pessimistic

AuldManKing

Delighted for you - well done and congrats.

Very well deserved.

adrian522

Thanks all. Very fair to say I've a bit of a love hate relationship with the 5km distance. Hurts like hell and so hard to get right.

Wubble Wubble

Well done A, an amazing week or so for you on the results front, and richly deserved!

Singer

Congrats on getting that monkey off your back! Now you have sub-40 to go for

diego_b

You fairly well blew that previous pb out of the water, nice way to go sub 20. Well done and keep it up!

Murph_D

Fantastic racing A, it's been a long time coming and hopefully all the sweeter for it. After that recent 10k time it was certainly on the cards, but jaysus, 19:36 — you murdered it.

Hope you gave those pacers a friendly bollocking too

Congrats.

adrian522

Days Running|25/30
Sessions|4
Long Runs|5
Races|5
PB's|5

Month|2013|2014|2015|2016|2017
January|7|0|191|73.5|133.3
February|10|53|196|104.1|165.9
March|7|111|207.9|70|186.9
April|26|154|165.2|74.9|203.2
May|69|121|219.7|128.6|193
June|75|93|257.4|183.2|179.3
July|67|212|151.2|236.4
August|101|233|132.7|279.7
September|85|261|31.6|191.2
October|4|179|63.6|106.6
November|13|28|17.5|154.9
December|6|163|21|151.3
Total|471.2|1606.2|1654.8|1757.3|1090.6

Mileage is down but racing is up. 2 cheap PB's in Trinity, but taking down the 5k and 10K pb's is a big deal, but still not hitting the times I put in the "2017 Goals" thread. Next up will be a focus on the longer distances of 10 Miles and Half Marathon.

Annie get your Run

just catching up, that's brilliant result on the 5K Adrian!! Really delighted for you.

Dubgal72

Delighted to see this. You caught the break, deservedly, cos you earned it with hard work and consistency. Well done!

Bungy Girl

Wow, talk about a winning streak ! Brilliant to read about 2 PBs one after the other :cool:. You're having a great year

hot buttered scones

Well done on the PBs. A great start to the year - I hope the second half is just as good.

adrian522

Thanks everyone for the comments!

Saturday - 9.6 Miles @ 8:21 m/m

Legs weren't too bad for the day after a race, ended up doing a bit more than I'd intended, not quite a long run, but more than a normal easy run too.

Sunday - 10 Miles @ 8:47 m/m

The efforts of the last few days starting to catch up with me and this was a bit of a struggle (it was warm emough too I think). I'd thought of doing more than 10 but left it be as I felt I'd enough done for the weekend.

Weekly Total - 40 Miles.

Monday - Off

I was in Malta with work this week and didn't get any chance to run at all on Monday. I asked about using the gym and was told it was open 9am to 9pm, not really much use to me, so decided I'd have to get up early to get any runs in.

Tuesday - 8.3 Miles @ 8:11 m/m

I'm pretty sure Strava has the distance and the pac wrong on this, bu anyway, it was an early morning easy run in Malta. I was glad to get something done before work. Even at this hour of the morning it was very hot and once the sun came up it was very noticeable.

Wednesday - 9.3 Miles @ 7:56

Again Strava has trouble with accuracy on this on (it should have been bang on 9 miles. I was up early again (my standard for the week being about 6 hours sleep).

There's a good hour between 6 and 7 before it gets too hot. Wanted to get my session done this morning, from the "Faster Road Running" HM plan.

18 Mins @ LT
14 Mins @ LT (with 4 mins recovery)

I knew lack of sleep, slight hangover and dehydration meant judging this by pace was a bad idea so went by feel instead. 18 mins felt very long and I was struggling by the end of it, and could have done with water at this point but couldn't find anywhere open. I took a bit more than the 4 mins for recovery. The second for 14 mins didn't seem quite as difficult. I felt like I lost a serious amount through sweat and grabbed some water and jogged back the rest of the way.

Paces were around 7:05 m/m for each of the LT segments.

Thursday - 5.4 Miles @ 8:21 m/m

After around 4 hours sleep and travelling back I struggled around for 5 or so easy miles. Nice to get it done but nothing to write home about.

Friday - 8 Miles @ 8:34 m/m

Just some easy miles after work on Friday.

Saturday - 8.3 Miles @ 9:05 m/m

Incorporating 6 x 12 second Hills plus 8 x 20 sec strides.

Did this as a run into work to collect the car. Apart from the hill sprints its a hilly enough route as it is, decent run though I was glad when it was over.

Sunday - 13 Miles @ 8:44 m/m

Needed some rest so decided to leave this until later. Up around Bohernabreena and everytime I go up there the hills seem to get steeper and longer. It was a good run for the most part but it was warm and I was dehydrated from early on and the last 5 or so miles were a bit of a struggle.

52-ish Miles for the week, good return after all the travel and beers and heavy food etc. Happy with the sessions and the long run over hilly terrain.

adrian522

Monday - 4 Miles @ 9:24

Just some recovery miles on Monday evening, bit of a struggle but I guess thats the point.

Tuesday - 10 Miles @ 8:32 m/m

MLR on Tusday. Foundation of the Pfitzinger plan but I think I'll be dropping some of these as I think he does these to the extreme in his plans.

Wednesday - LT intervals session

Session on Wednesday, idea was 20 mins and 14 mins at LT/HMP with 4 mins recovery. It went well enough without being brilliant. Paces were 6:54 and 7:02. According to my recent race times my LT should b around 6:45 but I don't think that is actually the case. Anyway glad to get this done, but it took a lot out of me.

Thursday - 4.2 Miles @ 7:54 m/m

Went down o the club for this, probably too fast. Tried to take it easy, but I did include a few strides towards the end. Followed this up with the annual club BBQ.

Friday - 8 Miles @ 8:42 m/m

Just some easy miles on Friday, was a bit of a struggle with Wednesday's session still in the legs.

Saturday - 8 Miles @ 9:42 m/m

Mini session on Saturday, 8 miles with 6 x 12 sec hills and 8 x 20 sec Strides. The legs were still not 100% and I was glad to get this over with to be honest.

Sunday - 12 Miles @ 8:24 m/m

This didn't go particularly well. As mentioned above the legs were feeling the effects of recent training load, so this was always going to be tough. The session is 14 Miles Progression, with final 2 miles @ LT.

Sounds so straightforward. I thought about something like 5 Easy, 4 Steady, 3 around MP and 2 @ HMP to finish. The easy miles were fine but once I got into the steady miles I was working fairly hard. I was pretty much going as hard as I could for the MP section and even at that it was slower than I had originally intended. Once I got to the stage where I was stopping for a few mins fairly regularly I knew the game was up and I saw no point in flogging myself and also knew I wasn't going to be knocking out 2 miles in low 7:00's so I called it a day at 12 miles.

To quote a wiser fella than myself.

"Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear, well, he eats you"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPVLyB0Yc6I

It is what it is, sometimes its just not going to be there, next week is a recovery week so hopefully come back fresher the week after.

56 Miles for the week.

adrian522

Monday - 4 Miles

4 Recovery Miles up around Bushy Park, it wasn't pleasant but I got them done.

Tuesday - Club Session

Up to Bushy for my first mid-week club session in a while. The session is 3 x 400, 2 x 1k, 4 x 300. The actual times aren't important as the distances aren't measured to the last meter but I was happy with the effort and the consistency across the splits.

Dist|Time|Pace
400|1:29|5:50
400|1:28|5:52
400|1:28|5:50
1000|3:55|6:20
1000|3:56|6:21
300|1:05|5:48
300|1:08|5:54
300|1:06|5:49
300|1:06|5:50

Wednesday - 10.3 Miles @ 8:30 m/m

10 Miles, up around Marlay Park and back. pretty enjoyable. Feckers taking their time taking down the concert related stuff. Got fairly wet on this one I think.

Thursday - 4.2 Miles @ 8:39 m/m

Just some very easy lunchtime miles. Got wet again.

Friday - 7 Miles @ 8:26 m/m

Few Miles after work on Friday. Incorporated some hills into the route including up Mount Merrion Ave and Fosters Ave.

Saturday - Club Session

Track Session - 4 x (600/300/600)

Tough Session on the track. Enjoyable, hadn't done one of these for a while so I was happy to get through the 4 sets.

Happy with the consistent times and being able to push on in the last set.

Set|600|300|600
1|2:15|1:02|2:16
2|2:16|1:00|2:15
3|2:16|1:00|2:15
4|2:13|1:00|2:10

Sunday - 13 Miles @ 8:37 m/m

Up around and back through the waterworks. Always good to get some hills into the legs. it' a hilly route, but coming back through the waterworks at least makes the run back more manageable.

It was fairly hot so a good run overall.

53 Miles for the week.

Overall, this was supposed to be a stepback/recovery week, so 53 Miles, 2 sessions and 2 long runs is not exactly that but a good week nonetheless.

adrian522

Monday - 4 Miles Recovery @ 8:55

Slow Recovery Run

Tuesday - Club Session

2 x 1200 - 6:23/6:27 (Pace in M/m)
2 x 800 - 6:14/6:15
4 x 400 - 5:54/5:53/5:48/5:35

Club Session, hadn't planned on doing the full session but it seemed a good HM type session so I went with it. All on grass. 8.3 Miles total.

Wednesday - 12 Miles @ 8:33

This was pretty horrible from memory, the weather was some of the worst I've ever run in and I'm starting to remember why I'm not such a fan of the P&D type plans.

Thursday - 5 Miles Recovery @ 9:06

Friday - Session - Tempo Intervals

I did this after work on Friday. Legs weren't the freshest, fairly windy, on grass so a bit slower.

I guess thats the excuses out of the way, but in fairness it didn't go well .The target was supposed to be 6:50 ish but was nowhere near this despite working very hard (see list of excuses above).

It was supposed to be 24 min and 18 mins, but I downgraded it to 22 mins/18 after around 20 mins! These sessions are on 2 different versions of the plan, I've been hitting the sessions from the higher mileage plan mostly but my actual mileage has been falling in between the medium and high mileage versions.

Anyway, plan was 6:50 ish but ended up doing 7:05/7:19. So I was a log way off. Not sure how much benefit this session is as it just knocked my confidence and has me thinking I'd have been better off following a different plan or something. Anyway, 10 miles total for the day.

Saturday - 7 Miles Easy @ 8:30 m/m

Bit of a dehydrated/hungover run, went well enough considering.

Sunday - 14 Miles @ 8:17 m/m

This was good, even though the weather was miserable again. I got absolutely destroyed by the heavy rain in the PP up around the papal cross with nowhere to hide and it seemed to last forever. I was really glad when this finished and was pleasantly surprised by the overall pace on the run @ 8:17.

Overall a mixed week. 1 good session, 1 poor session. 2 long-ish runs and a total of 60 miles.

That finishes a streak of 27 consecutive days running, as the body just needed a break after that.

adrian522

Days Running|29/31
Sessions|8
Long Runs|8
Races|0
PB's|0

Month|2013|2014|2015|2016|2017
January|7|0|191|73.5|133.3
February|10|53|196|104.1|165.9
March|7|111|207.9|70|186.9
April|26|154|165.2|74.9|203.2
May|69|121|219.7|128.6|193
June|75|93|257.4|183.2|179.3
July|67|212|151.2|236.4|242.1
August|101|233|132.7|279.7
September|85|261|31.6|191.2
October|4|179|63.6|106.6
November|13|28|17.5|154.9
December|6|163|21|151.3
Total|471.2|1606.2|1654.8|1757.3|1315.8

Highest Mileage month since last August, despite the fact that I haven't done any runs longer than 14 miles.

No racing in July, I had thought about the 10 Mile in Mullingar but I didn't feel the timing was right, I'd raced loads in May and June and just wanted a steady block of training.

Next up will be the Frank Duffy 10 Mile which I'll hopefully go all out in. (the RNR half will again be a training run/session).

Overall happy with the miles being put in, not overly impressed with the plan I'm following, found the progression long run difficult and didn't even attempt it last week, so will try that again during RNR. Some of the sessions are of the 'Monster' variety, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but does leave you in a bad place mentally if you can't hit them so have been focusing on effort ,ore than times.

Finally I still don't know what my goal pace will be for Charleville in September.