One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Mrs Mc

Ferris B wrote: »

Bumped in to Mrs Mc on my way home full of the joys looking like she was thoroughly enjoying her run.

I think that might be stretching it just a little C

Ferris B

Sat 23rd Jan
4.4 m Recovery, Ave 8:31

A fairly easy weekend's running started with 4m recovery. Felt harder than it should have.

Sun 24th Jan
8m gen aerobic. Ave 7:57

8m miles around a local loop.

Calves starting to tighten up over last few weeks which has been an issue since I started running and never really addressed properly. The problem is that they get over worked while other muscle groups are under used. Come marathon time it means a cramp in my left calf ( same feckin’ spot every time:mad:) at about mile 20 and I’d like to try and avoid that this year. I know I need specific core work and stretching exercises but it’s a matter to doing it as opposed to just googling lots of nice exercise programs....I’ll start tomorrow.:D

Ferris B

Tues 26th Jan
2m wu; 12 x 400; 30s intervals; 0.7 cd

I was pondering not attending the club session tonight as I wasn’t feeling great all day. Went there anyway. Kinda felt I shouldn’t be opting out with only a wet week in the club. During my warm up got chatting to another runner who advised the plan for the eve was 12x400 with 30s intervals...should have opted out! I thought maybe after 6 we’d get a bigger rest, but no such luck. 30 seconds does not last long.

Didn’t expect much as was feeling weak but still managed to squeeze out a bit of consistency although I dosed off in the 9th lap. Picked it back up for the last two . Per Murph’s instructions I pressed the lap button this week:

1:27, 1:29, 1:29
1:29, 1:30, 1:30
1:30, 1:30, 1:32
1:30, 1:27, 1:25

Didn’t get lapped. I call that a success!

annapr

You looked way too happy out there today C!!! we obviously failed in our cheerleading duties when you had to cheer at us! good going!

Ferris B

annapr wrote: »

You looked way too happy out there today C!!! we obviously failed in our cheerleading duties when you had to cheer at us! good going!

I enjoyed my run. Bit of people watching, cheering at the cheerleaders.

Murph looked like he was turning off the camera both times I came along. I obviously don't make a good enough muse for his high standards.

Ferris B

31:37 for me today. Happy with that.

annapr

Ferris B wrote: »

I enjoyed my run. Bit of people watching, cheering at the cheerleaders.

Murph looked like he was turning off the camera both times I came along. I obviously don't make a good enough muse for his high standards.

He's desperately checking his thousands of photos now to see if he can find you

Murph_D

Nice time, C, an excellent outing in the new vest.

Got one of the side of your head alright. Next time I'm leaving the camera at home and "staying in the moment".

Actually, screw that, next time I'm running.

Mrs Mc

Ferris B wrote: »

31:37 for me today. Happy with that.

Looks like you are back C, well done, a tough day out there today.

Duanington

Nicely done C - another good outing for you today, keep up the good work!

Ferris B

Wed 27th, Thurs 28th , Fri 29th Jan

No running as I had an annoying cold and I reckoned training would do more harm than good.

Sat 30th Jan
6.4 m (inc parkrun 7:36)

A gentle test of the lungs and legs with a run to st annes, a relatively relaxing parkrun nattering with FBOT, following by coffee and a run home.

Sun 31st
7.6m; 2.6 wu and Raheny 5 Mile

Commuted on foot with FBOT to the race to get my warm up done. Picked up my shiny Crusaders singlet and toed the line as a club runner for the first time.

Rough pace I had in mind was 6:15-6:30ish but would play it by ear. Breathing still wasn’t great with the remnants of my cold lingering. I started too far back though and with the crowds and the badly placed slower runners, it was about 800m before I could run a full length stride. It was quite frustrating. Pretty disappointed at the amount of corner cutters as we turned onto Watermill rd. Spotted Annapr & Murph_D taking a brief break from cheering duties but just caught their belated yell of support as I turned onto Howth rd. Mile 1 in 6:10. Not so slow after all, just very energy sapping with all the weaving.

The run up howth road was slow. Very little room for passing and I got boxed in a few times. I think we had more room here on previous years. A couple of shouts from friends and neighbours. Turning onto Sybil hill was a relief, not so much the down hill, but room to move. Didn’t look at watch at the time but Mile 2 was 6:19.

Got a shout from the Mrs and elder daughter at the left turn for Mt Prospect Ave which spurred me on. Hadn’t recognised any other runners up to now but then spotted Meno up ahead which gave me a target. Caught him and moved on. I felt now I was flying, helped with a downhill and tail wind. Quick check of my lap pace showed 5:55. Bit pacey perhaps. Conscious of 2+ miles left, I pulled back a little although still seemed to be passing more runners. Mile 3 finished in 6:03.

Turned into the park and up the avenue. The run up to the 180 turn into the wind seemed to go on forever. Breathing was getting a bit laboured. Watch a few at the pointy end of the race flying by the other side and waited for my turn for the tail wind bit. Turned and relaxed (maybe too much) up to mile 4 marker, 6:15.

Through mile 5, I was tiring but tried to hold the pace. Picked off a few runners and also got passed too by others as folk started to empty their tanks. As we took the first rh bend around the park I’d say about 70% of runners cut the corner and stayed on the path. Annoyed! I took the race route with one or two others. Caught Murph_D & gang having another nap at the far end of the park and woke em up with a wave. Maybe I was too relaxed! A few more shouts from supporters brought me over the finish line. Mile 5 6:16 plus 5:18 for the last 0.1m my watch had measured.

Total time 31:37. 30s off my PB for the race but considering my relatively low mileage recently and extra few lbs I was very pleased with my efforts .

Organisation was as usual, excellent other than the congested start, although that’s probably mainly down to the runners. Kids were delighted scrapping over the huge goodie bag when I got back home later.

Coffee, biscuits and chat with other boardsies was followed by a pint o’ plain with Parkrunners to complete the day.:)

Mon 1st Feb
Rest

First day of 18wk program for Cork Marathon started with a rest day. Probably a good idea after yesterdays efforts. Real work starts tomorrow .

dintbo

Brilliant running. Well done.

Mrs Mc

Well done C like that first day of training for Cork

aquinn

That's fantastic running, well done. No wonder meno had a face on him.

Ferris B

aquinn wrote: »

That's fantastic running, well done. No wonder meno had a face on him.

He did mention post race that he uttered an expletive as I went by. I was too far gone to hear it though. Nice pb yourself.

Mrs Mc wrote: »

Well done C like that first day of training for Cork

I start as I mean to go on. Plenty of rest days.

dintbo wrote: »

Brilliant running. Well done.

Cheers Dintbo. We seem to be quite close with our times. Someone will probably suggest a smackdown!

Ferris B

Tues 2nd Feb
2.7 wu; 4m@ hmp; 1.6cd

Joined in with the Crusaders marathon group for this one at the track. They are in the middle of a program for Rotterdam and were running 30mins at hmp. This conveniently suited my first day of my P&D as I had 4m to do at hmp. Got 2.5 m warm up done before session started. Someone mentioned it would be 3hr marathon pace which I thought was fine, thinking 6:45ish pace. I obviously misunderstood the pace cos they took off at some lick and got faster. What was nice though, I was able to hold my ground and felt reasonably comfortable too , so didn’t feel the need to ease up. So much easier both in a group and on a track. I stepped out after 4miles to do a warm down while the others continued for the full 30mins. Really enjoyed this. Should’ve run with these guys on Sunday.

Mile splits: 6:21, 6:12, 6:09, 6:03

It did cross my mind that only last week I was accusing FBOT of running HMP miles too fast so early on his program and here was I running at <5k pace. Oh well, as my mother used to say to me ...”do as I say,not as I do”;).

Murph_D

No easy run for anyone who raced at the weekend then?

I've jumped in that session a couple of times and it always seems a little hot for for me too, although it depends on who you choose to run with. Well done though. You've announced yourself.

Kennyg71

Well done C, great run, running in club colours will defiantly help you push a bit harder, not suggesting you don't always:)
but easy to get caught up in a session, and forget your goal.:p

Ferris B

Wed 3rd Feb - Rest

Thurs 4th Feb
9m General Aerobic. Ave 8:03

Got out earlyish (6:30am) for this one, out and back along the seafront. Work is quite stressful at present but this run really set me up for the day.

Fri 5th Feb - Rest

Sat 6th Feb
12m Medium Long Run. Ave 8:01

A loop of the Nside before breakfast followed by timekeeping at Parkrun. Badly needed coffee afterwards, to defrost my fingers.

Sun 7th Feb
4.2m Recovery. Ave 8:31

Nice gentle recovery run at lunchtime.

First week of the program successfully completed. Been here before though and I know there’s a long road ahead with lots of ups and downs. MP miles start next weekend which is always a challenge.

Ferris B

Tues 9th
8m w/8 Hill strides. Ave 7:56

Logistics and pancakes mean’t I wouldn’t make the tues eve session with Crusaders so got out early instead for this run. 6am start took me out and back along the seafront. Ran the hill strides at the corner of St Annes in the pitch black.

Found a wallet on the path on mile 2 and felt it my duty to try and return it to its owner so carried it for the remainder of my run which was a bit of a hassle. Looks it was probably tossed out of a passing car by thieving b***tards as all that was left was a bunch of receipts but no cash or cards. Bit of detective work by the family found a name and the OH is currently using her F’book talents to locate the owner. No luck yet though.

Thurs 11th Feb
General aerobic. 10m @ 7:56

Another early morning run out and back on the seafront again. Lovely crisp, frosty morning. So few others about in the early stages, I felt I owned the road. Picked it up slightly for the return 5 as I was hungry for my porridge.

Mrs Mc

Ferris B wrote: »

was hungry for my porridge.

Gotta love the porridge

Ferris B

Sat 13th Feb
15.5m w/ 9@mp

I received a generous invite, courtesy of Ultraman1 to ‘do a few laps’ of the Donadea 50k race. Having run the full thing in 2014 as a build up to Conn Ultra, I had fond memories of the race where I broke 26.2 distance for the first time, so jumped at the chance. My actual prescribed run for the day was 13m w/ 8@mp . As this was a 10x5k loop course (plus an extra bit at the start) I had to do 4 and a bit laps but decided to round this up to 5 laps which would mean an extra couple but for such a prestigious race it was worth the effort.

Plan was to run the first 2 laps at comfortable pace (8ish) before ramping up to 7:15 for the remaining three. Got carried away a little with race adrenalin on my second warm up lap (hit 7:32) before upping the pace . The covered forest and sharp turns, made for dodgy Garmin readings and I was relying on effort a lot of the time to judge the pace but still somehow managed to pull out an ave 7:15 for my mp miles. It was actually tough going as it was quite soft underfoot in places and I foung myself tiring a bit more than I expected. My mp miles times did slow in the latter stages, possibly not helped by my earlier enthusiasm. Was in awe though of the athletic talent around me were doing the full 50k and lapping me!

I did have a funny moment around mile 8/9. Gary O’Hanlon, winner in 2:56 and athlete extraordinaire, had just lapped me and was overtaking a group of 8 heading for 4hrs ish. I, of course was the next runner to overtake this same group, some 30 secs later. At this stage everyone is monitoring the contenders. I heard one of the group whisper to another as I went by, ‘Who is he?’. I got a good laugh out of that but at the same time felt a pang of guilt and admitted my 25k secret to others I subsequently passed although I thought my dodgy running gait would have been a give away!

Thoroughly enjoyed this run. Good crack after with Boardsies aplenty, supporting the runners. Kudos to Killerz on an absolutely stunning Pb today and to Marthastew for showing real physical and mental strength, toughing it out while feeling under the weather. Hopefully I 'll be back to race this proper again.

MP miles 7:15, 7:12, 7:07, 7:21, 7:16, 7:10, 7:24, 7:17, 7:20 (ave 7:15)

Mrs Mc

Super stuff C looking good in the Cru kit too !!

Killerz

Well played Colm and thanks for the cheers and support today. Funny you mention the Gary OH thing - I followed him past a couple of group too and wondered did people think I was in second place.

Actually probably not

Ferris B

Sun 14th Feb
5m Recovery, 8:43

Easy run, mostly on grass on the seafront and in St Annes

Mon 15th Feb
Rest

Tues 16th
9m; 1.2 wu; 40 mins Fartlek 6x (5mins hmp; 2mins slightly slower); 1.3 cd

Decided to go to Irishtown and do whatever session was on with the marathon group. I knew the session in advance, just not the pace. It turned out they were going at a ‘one size fits all those who might be targeting sub 3’ pace. I stayed with them for the first few laps and then pulled back a bit. It meant I ran on my own for most of it but no point flogging myself.

I’m not sure my paces are accurate from the track. I think Murph_D suggested Garmin tends to measure faster paces at the track than the equivalent for the road. Certainly my figures are a lot quicker than I’d expect.

My paces for the 5min/2min sections were

5:58 / 6:47 /6:08 / 6:54 / 6:14/ 6:51/ 6:03/ 6:49/ 6:06/ 7:09/ 6:15

Wed 17th Feb
4m Recovery, 8:30

Headed for a Thai massage this eve. I’m glad to say my OH had suggested this place as I wouldn’t have darkened the door otherwise . She’d been there are few times and had forewarned me what to expect. Just as well. I was kneeled on, walked on, jumped on and basically twisted and bent in to all sorts of shapes and positions. If only TBL was there, he could do it justice with a proper report. IN fact it's the sort of place he's probably been already. Safe to say, I escaped with my dignity intact and will probably go back for more punishment.

4m Recovery run after.


Thurs 18th Feb
10m General aerobic, 7:57

Early morning run from work out to forty foot and back while the rest of the world was getting up. Cool but lovely morning.

Fri 19th Feb
Rest

Sat 20th Feb
14m MLR. 9.4m (7:57). Parkrun 7:34, 1.5m cd.

Parked at St Annes and ran out to howth and back. Didn’t feel the best for some of this which I think may be due to antibiotics I’m taking for a dodgy tooth. Jumped in with the parkrun for company after, which was a nice distraction. Finished off with an extra lap of the parkrun to make up my mileage in the company of Belcarra and FBOT. Obligatory coffee and banter after.

Firedance

LOL Ferris very adventurous with the Thai massage!!! I had one in Vietnam, I won't go into the details (tang would probably come along and make it worse...) but holy cow it's unreal the things they do to you!! Worth it though must get the details off you as haven't tried one here and like you wouldn't try without recommendations!!

FBOT01

Firedance wrote: »

LOL Ferris very adventurous with the Thai massage!!! I had one in Vietnam, I won't go into the details (tang would probably come along and make it worse...) but holy cow it's unreal the things they do to you!! Worth it though must get the details off you as haven't tried one here and like you wouldn't try without recommendations!!

Was he there too

Firedance

FBOT01 wrote: »

Was he there too

Ah come on! gimme a break :pac: I meant, if I gave the details of the massage, he'd come along and twist into something else :rolleyes:

FBOT01

Firedance wrote: »

Ah come on! gimme a break :pac: I meant, if I gave the details of the massage, he'd come along and twist into something else :rolleyes:

“If you're explaining, you're losing.”


― Ronald Reagan, The Reagan Diaries :D

Mrs Mc

Ferris B wrote: »

I’m glad to say my OH had suggested this place as I wouldn’t have darkened the door otherwise .

Whats your Mrs doing going to dodgy places for Thai massage will have to have chats with her !!!;)