Turning a mule into a race horse.

tang1

RedRunner wrote: »

Best of luck in the Docklands this week P!

+1, will be keeping a close eye on Precision Timing for your result P.

PaulieC

yeah PM, we all will. No pressure though

Pacing Mule

There's always pressure when you have a public log

Bring the pressure on ! Let's be having you as Delia Smith once roared at the Canary faithful.

Tom Joad

Best of luck PM on Thursday

Bungy Girl

I'll be marshalling somewhere along the route so will keep an eye out. Arsenal jersey and a pink skirt, right ?

Pacing Mule

Bungy Girl wrote: »

I'll be marshalling somewhere along the route so will keep an eye out. Arsenal jersey and a pink skirt, right ?

annapr

Best of luck tomorrow, PM, it should be a lovely course.. enjoy it and go get that target!

kit3

Best of luck pm - absolutely no pressure (public log ?? :eek:):cool:

Pacing Mule

Monday:

3.7 miles with the dog avg pace 8:57. Mainly easy with a few strides faster than 5k pace to frighten the fecker into submission.

Today:
Very gentle 20 min leg loosener around the local park.

Tomorrow:
Goal race time. Despite taking it relatively easy last few days I feel very tired. Am off for an early night and fingers crossed am at 100% by tomorrow evening.

PaulieC

Best of luck PM

adrian522

Best of luck, I'm sure you'll be fine tomorrow.

Hannibal Smith

Go on ya race horse!!!

tang1

Great time, your coming on leaps & bounds man. Well deserved.

adrian522

Nicely done. Enjoy this one before setting a new target!

PaulieC

+1, smashed it, sorry I had to run away, the Mrs was waiting to go out 😏

tang1

PaulieC wrote: »

+1, smashed it, sorry I had to run away, the Mrs was waiting to go out ðŸ˜

Did you PB Paulie?

Edit: scratch that seen your own log.

kit3

Smashed it is right ! Well done P - great going

yaboya1

BOOM!!

Chivito550

Time?

ultraman1

yaboya1 wrote: »

BOOM!!

Saying Boom is an actual offence

Well done pm

Pacing Mule

Chivito550 wrote: »

Time?

21:21 - will edit a report in here in a while.

And here it is .....

Background:
This was the goal race that was eventually settled on months ago. This would be my first ever training block aimed at improving speed. Based on a race result from the Raheny 5 mile earlier in the year I felt that sub 22 was a decent target to be aiming at. McMillan at the time predicted 23:03 for a 5k off that time. A training plan devised by ECOLII with this in mind was undertaken. A test run in Enfield a few weeks ago landed in at 22:05 so sub 22 was on.

Race Plan:

My strategy here was to line up within a few rows of the sub 20 pacers. I felt that this was the best thing to do for two reasons: 1) Potential congestion at the start and 2) the course profile and wind direction meant that the first third or so of the course would be a bit easier and wind assisted so it made sense to bank a bit of time here. I felt I could comfortably stay in sight of the sub 20s until the turn down at the point depot and see what happened from there. Privately I wanted 21:30

Mile 1
Yeah we're in miles despite this being a k race. Lined up in plenty of time behind the sub 20 pacers. But WTF they were only 10 rows back from the front. I'm not used to being this far up a field and felt more than a bit out of place. Still I know I will be running with them for the first mile so it's ok. Race start was delayed due to traffic not exiting the course yet and the warmup mile I had done earlier may as well not have existed. Eventually we take off and the sub 20 pacers go off like the ****ing clappers. Despite being all of 20 rows from the front myself I'm immediately dodging around slow moving runners. Then a bit of a disaster. Twisted my ankle in a pothole 300m into the race. Sharp pain nearly stopped me there and then but I figured if it wasn't broken I could still run on it and it would ease off. Across the bridge and right hand turn down towards the point. The sub 20 pacers easing off into the distance. Maybe too much distance. Need to run a bit faster here. Watch beeped for 1 mile but I didn't look at it at the time. If I had I would have realised that the sub 20 pacers had the same idea as me to bank time. Despite me giving up at least 20 seconds to them I actually ran this under sub 20 pace :rolleyes:

Mile 1 - 6:22

Mile 2

Got as far as the turn and got a much appreciated shout out from Meno who was marshalling there. Immediately hit with the wind and the slight incline back up. The wind wasn't too wild - was probably gentle BUT it was now in my face and things were much harder now. Again I hadn't looked at the watch here at all. Didn't know how I was doing time wise. Knew it was tougher and knew I was going backwards a bit in the field. Also knew it was a ****ing long way up to that left hand turn across the bridge. We surely didn't run this far down ??? It was starting to hurt now. Really hurt. It was back to Enfield and feeling sick and not wanting to puke out on course. Mile 2 beeps in and I do glance down at the watch.

Mile 2 - 7:02

Mile 3.1

Super stuff ! I know I've ran a fast first mile. Mile 2 is coming in at sub 22 pace. I'm on target so and once I get to the top of this impossibly longer on the way back up than it was down section the wind goes back to my back and it's only a little over 1km down to the finish. It's harder though. It's so much harder. Throat is dry. I need a drink. I'm too hot. It's only a 5k but OMG I need a drink. Bridge finally arrives. Turn left, cross the bridge and I am looking out for the 4km sign on the way back down. I'm bolloxed now. Truly bolloxed and in that near quit mode where now 21:30 can piss off and 22:00 is now very appealing. Was struggling mentally now too and tried to work out what pace I could hit for this last km. For some reason I had decided that a 6:00 km would be doable and all I needed to see on the watch when we got to 4km was 16:00. Then happiness would ensue. (God knows how I got that figure - messed up the mile pace and kilometre conversion) 4km hits - I look down - ah noooooo! 17:xx on the clock. I could do 6 min pace for sure - now I need 4:xx - Can I even run that fast ? I can see the finish line very far in the distance. This really sucks. Keep going - keep going. This is a goal race. You simply can't come in over 22 minutes and waste everything put in so far.

Started getting dizzy at this stage. The finish line is getting closer but I'm having trouble focusing on it. Legs are feeling less than stable. Again this is only a 5k - how can it feel like the end of a marathon. I'm ready to lie down at the side of the road but it's still so far to the finish line. What the fcuk does that clock say ? It's already in 20:xx and I must be at least 3 miles away from the finish. I'm out on my feet here. Just get it done - get it done - get it done. Finish line is getting closer and although it says 21:xx now I might just get there. Heart rate is through the roof now. Headache has arrived and is pounding. I'm dizzy and I want to get sick and I'm crossing the finish line and I must look like **** but it says 21:30 and I am a few seconds better than that and if Yaboya says to me I look comfortable he can fcuk right off. (Sorry P - but that's exactly what I was thinking at the time)

Mile 3 7:08 / Mile 0.1 6:59

21:21 Chip Time a big PB

Fastest ever 5k, 1k, 1 mile, 2 mile,

SamforMayo

Pacing Mule wrote: »

21:21 - will edit a report in here in a while.

Wow, that's some progress!

Tom Joad

SamforMayo wrote: »

Wow, that's some progress!

+ 1 to that. Fantastic progress. Well deserved

annapr

Brilliant, well done! Clearly the beer mile was the perfect taper!

Murph_D

Hearty congrats, P. Great time!

Pacing Mule

tang1 wrote: »

Great time, your coming on leaps & bounds man. Well deserved.

Cheers mate - Progress is there for sure. Am very happy.

adrian522 wrote: »

Nicely done. Enjoy this one before setting a new target!

No more targets for a while. Need a break !

PaulieC wrote: »

+1, smashed it, sorry I had to run away, the Mrs was waiting to go out 😏

I'm really sorry myself. (Was talking to PaulieC who had introduced himself to me and had to excuse myself to go and have a mini houey behind a skip - was there a while and when came out he was gone. Caught up with him a little while later and chatted some more until the dude asked me what time I ran and I realised I was talking to a complete stranger ) Was quite disorientated chatting to you PaulieC - really sorry about that !!

kit3 wrote: »

Smashed it is right ! Well done P - great going

Thanks C ! Much appreciated

yaboya1 wrote: »

BOOM!!

All Booms welcome here

ultraman1 wrote: »

Saying Boom is an actual offence

Well done pm

Cheers A

SamforMayo wrote: »

Wow, that's some progress!

Yeah it really is - not being egotistical but I've come a hell of a long way. Am very happy with this.

Tom Joad wrote: »

+ 1 to that. Fantastic progress. Well deserved

Thanks TJ

annapr wrote: »

Brilliant, well done! Clearly the beer mile was the perfect taper!

Ha the beer mile was actually a big confidence booster for me. That's what put me standing a few rows back from the sub 20s.

Murph_D wrote: »

Hearty congrats, P. Great time!

Thanks a million D.

Firedance

Congrats! super result, well done for pushing through the pain and reaching your goal, I hope you're celebrating :-)

Ososlo

Congrats PM. Great report and brilliant racing!

Best of luck with the marathon training. You're gonna smash it!!!!!

adrian522

Great report, thats fantastic running in fairness. Really dug deep when the temptation to back off must have been immense.

Bungy Girl

Excellent result!

I never saw you. You must have decided on a different race outfit . Well done on the PB!