Turning a mule into a race horse.

PDCAT

Great result and brilliant report. I'm in stitches reading it....

Chivito550

That's what it's all about. Great PB to add to your performance from Saturday. Well done. Super performance leaving everything out there like that.

dublin runner

That's the type of race report and performance that gets me to lace my runners each and every day. Just deadly.

laura_ac3

A very big well done. Great progress. Deadly time.

paddybarry

Well done PM, it's great to see hardwork paying off. Onwards and upwards from here.

belcarra

Great race report and run PM!
I reckon we were very close to each other for the first mile and your report is eerily similar to my experience, albeit I wasn't stalked by PaulieC!!
May the remarkable progress continue infinitely!

PaulieC

belcarra wrote: »

Great race report and run PM!
I reckon we were very close to each other for the first mile and your report is eerily similar to my experience, albeit I wasn't stalked by PaulieC!!
May the remarkable progress continue infinitely!

I wasn't stalking, honest. I knew PMs target time so I just waited for him to finish. Honestly, you can't follow someone's projected movements and hang around waiting for them anymore without being labelled a stalker

Duanington

Well done PM - really impressive progress here!

Pacing Mule

Firedance wrote: »

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

I sure was - 3 bottles of the finest Moosehead :P

Ososlo wrote: »

Congrats PM. Great report and brilliant racing!

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

Thanks ! Will come back to you on the marathon part.

adrian522 wrote: »

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

There was immense temptation tbh - but reporting here I'd wussed out was enough of a balance !

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Excellent result!

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

Let us never speak of the costume again

PDCAT wrote: »

Great result and brilliant report. I'm in stitches reading it....

Always nice to hear people enjoy your random warbling

Chivito550 wrote: »

That's what it's all about. Great PB to add to your performance from Saturday. Well done. Super performance leaving everything out there like that.

Thanks J - Great to have the effort recognised.

dublin runner wrote: »

That's the type of race report and performance that gets me to lace my runners each and every day. Just deadly.

That's an awesome comment to read. Especially given the level that you are at yourself. Thank you !!

laura_ac3 wrote: »

A very big well done. Great progress. Deadly time.

Thanks a million Laura. Looking forward to seeing your own progress develop.

paddybarry wrote: »

Well done PM, it's great to see hardwork paying off. Onwards and upwards from here.

I'm hoping for downwards (times)

belcarra wrote: »

Great race report and run PM!
I reckon we were very close to each other for the first mile and your report is eerily similar to my experience, albeit I wasn't stalked by PaulieC!!
May the remarkable progress continue infinitely!

Ha yeah we would have been very close alright but that's all I had in me at that pace. Had to gradually say goodbye to you all.

Duanington wrote: »

Well done PM - really impressive progress here!

Again thanks for taking the time to recognise it.

Pacing Mule

So the log reaches 1000 posts. :eek: Time for a bit of a check up.

When the log started 18 months ago ....

Key Official PBs were

5k 28:24
5 Mile 47:10
10k 1:02:51
Half Marathon 2:18:30
Full Marathon 5:36:53

Now stand at

5k 21:21
5 Mile 38:13
10k 49:18
Half Marathon 1:49:10
Full Marathon 4:58:34
Beer Mile ! 9:47 :pac:

Weight loss continued and another 2.5 stone came off. I'd like to see 1 more stone off but have to be happy enough with things.

Marathon time sticks out like a sore thumb and I'm hopeful this year will see that rectified. I'm going to take it easy now for a couple of weeks and try and give the legs time to repair themselves a bit. The niggles have been snowballing in last few months and I need to give them a chance to settle before getting stuck into marathon training.

Finally - You guys here are awesome. The level of support, encouragement and advice this forum and its members have given me has been invaluable. Any progress made wouldn't have been made without the help here. So for the 1001st post in this log I'm going to sign off with a massive

THANK YOU

RedRunner

Great result P! Delighted for you.

But seriously?"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."

Ya bleedin Drama Queen!

Pacing Mule

RedRunner wrote: »

Great result P! Delighted for you.

But seriously?"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."

Ya bleedin Drama Queen!

Feck off !!!

Drama queen would have been to hit the deck in the middle of the road and wait for an ambulance. A twisted ankle wasn't putting me out that early :pac:

Chivito550

Your 10k PB is well out of line with your 5k now, but this will keep happening during a period of rapid improvement, where your most recent race is probably the most indicative of your best fitness. I guess over time they'll become more in line with each other, and you'll then be able to tell what your best distance is. Sub 20 is a very realistic short/medium goal now, and maybe in time you might dip your toe into 3k and 1500 at a graded meet to see if you are suited to shorter or longer (probably doesn't sound appealing right now, but probably will in time). Keep doing what you are doing, and the improvements will keep happening pretty swiftly.

Dubgal72

Some amazing journey! Well done, huge congratulations P.
Ps, you compared the pain to that of the marathon...it's not for nothing that 5k has that rep, it's up there with the marathon for title of 'the ultimate race' Sounds like you weren't found lacking, great race report.

Pacing Mule

Chivito550 wrote: »

Your 10k PB is well out of line with your 5k now, but this will keep happening during a period of rapid improvement, where your most recent race is probably the most indicative of your best fitness. I guess over time they'll become more in line with each other, and you'll then be able to tell what your best distance is. Sub 20 is a very realistic short/medium goal now, and maybe in time you might dip your toe into 3k and 1500 at a graded meet to see if you are suited to shorter or longer (probably doesn't sound appealing right now, but probably will in time). Keep doing what you are doing, and the improvements will keep happening pretty swiftly.

Will probably do the DLR Bay 10k in August and take a chunk off that.

I definitely enjoyed the track running part of the beer mile so a future graded meet sounds good !

Pacing Mule

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Some amazing journey! Well done, huge congratulations P.
Ps, you compared the pain to that of the marathon...it's not for nothing that 5k has that rep, it's up there with the marathon for title of 'the ultimate race' Sounds like you weren't found lacking, great race report.

I'd heard that comparison before but never really understood it until now The 5K is a distance where you are out at high speed but also for a relatively long time at that pace. You really can completely empty yourself in 15 minutes and be hanging on for dear life for the finish. I was in bits after that.

Ha as a comic aside was talking to Marthastew yesterday and she had messaged me saying that I could tell Yaboya for sure I was spent at the finish line. Me- ah sorry I didn't see you at the time, I was just focused on the finish clock and then the ground. Her - P I was there with you patting you on the back checking up on you.

Murph_D

Great report, P. That was some first mile and some effort to hold on for the rest. Brilliant. You say the Marathon PB sticks out like a sore thumb but the fact is they all do now, even the 5 mile. Watch them tumble!

You looked in great shape at the beer mile - great to see you follow that up with this.

Hannibal Smith

Carlsberg dont do race reports...but if they did.

What a fantastic run! Sorry im only reading it now. Absolutely incredible running.

Pacing Mule

Murph_D wrote: »

Great report, P. That was some first mile and some effort to hold on for the rest. Brilliant. You say the Marathon PB sticks out like a sore thumb but the fact is they all do now, even the 5 mile. Watch them tumble!

You looked in great shape at the beer mile - great to see you follow that up with this.

Cheers D

First mile was a bit quicker than planned. Probably made hanging on afterward even tougher. Might have squeezed a few extra seconds out with slightly more even pacing.

Arsenal jerseys are somewhat flattering. The Jersey equivalent of go faster stripes. Gooner fans are more in need of these illusions than most

Pacing Mule

Hannibal Smith wrote: »

Carlsberg dont do race reports...but if they did.

What a fantastic run! Sorry im only reading it now. Absolutely incredible running.

Haha thanks L - Carlsberg would have me miraculously hanging onto the sub 20s all way round.

Hannibal Smith

Pacing Mule wrote: »

Haha thanks L - Carlsberg would have me miraculously hanging onto the sub 20s all way round.

Ah...that'd be if Carlsberg did races!

annapr

PaulieC wrote: »

I wasn't stalking, honest. I knew PMs target time so I just waited for him to finish. Honestly, you can't follow someone's projected movements and hang around waiting for them anymore without being labelled a stalker

...and after all that, he doesn't even remember you

PM... loved the report, fantastic performance, good on ya.

edit: just read your marthastew comment above... sounds like you were right on the edge... jaysiz

Runchick

Some race PM! Not only have you found speed but you have the guts to dig deep when it really hurts, deadly combination, well done

Pacing Mule

Tuesday

Back out tonight for a little test run. 4 miles in total. Walking warmup, 1 steady, 2@ 10k pace and 1 easy to finish off.

8:48, 7:17, 7:17, 9:11

Firedance

is there something you wanted to tell us PM

tang1

Firedance wrote: »

is there something you wanted to tell us PM

Talk about a snake, kept that hush hush.

Pacing Mule

Pacing Mule wrote: »

So the log reaches 1000 posts. :eek: Time for a bit of a check up.

When the log started 18 months ago ....

Key Official PBs were

5k 28:24
5 Mile 47:10
10k 1:02:51
Half Marathon 2:18:30
Full Marathon 5:36:53

Now stand at

5k 21:21
5 Mile 38:13
10k 49:18 46:41
Half Marathon 1:49:10
Full Marathon 4:58:34
Beer Mile ! 9:47 :pac:

FMP

Clonee 10k

So after last Thursdays 5k flogging and the post above I came across the inaugural Clonee 10k being held tonight. Part of me was itching to take a chunk out of the 10k PB - another part of me reckoned too soon to be really hammering it. Settled on a compromise of seeing what happened on the night and entering anyway but not really treating it as a big deal - hence not mentioning it here in advance. Mondays 2 miles at 10k pace may now make sense though

Lined up more tired than I ever have for a race but felt confident enough of a good time. (McMillan would put me around 45 min based on last weeks 5k) Felt I had 45-46 in me tonight - at the start

Strategy
Knowing that the course climbs gently for the first half I elected to go out approx 10 seconds per mile off 45 min pace, take it easy enough and have a bit in the tank ready for the second half to take it back down towards 45 min.

Mile 1-3

Started off and felt quite comfortable at what was a slower speed than the 5k last week. Breathing was fine. Seemed to be doing much better than people around me and was enjoying the concept of what was going to be a very strong finish / negative split etc. This was good! Went through 3 miles 22 seconds down on 45 min and feeling good.

7:18, 7:24, 7:22

Mile 4

Time to steady the ship and push the time a bit. Put the pedal to the floor - and **** all happened. Em this is the time to speed up. But instead I'm working harder and slowing down.

7:27

Mile 5

Right now it was crunch time. The loop at the top of the gentle climb was finished and it was now a gentle slope back down to the finish. Realistically need to be hitting 7:00/7:05 pace at this stage to get close to sub 45. It just wasn't there. I felt exhausted. Not have ran the bollix off myself exhausted like last Thursday but a deep down tiredness that left me with no motivation or urge to dig in and flog myself. Debated with myself and ultimately won the argument with this thought: I could dig in, really flog myself again like last week and STILL wouldn't hit my true potential 10k time as I wasn't fresh enough. Decision made. See it out at a steady clip but not going to kill myself. Gave up looking at the watch and just concentrated on finishing.

7:48

Mile 6.2

Despite easing off and not flogging myself it was getting harder and less comfortable to be running. Seemed to be an endless supply of twisty bends to navigate (and I know this road!) Really wanted the finish line to come soon. Knew a decent PB was in the bag but when I saw the finish line gave it a bit of welly for a little sprint finish. And finished without the urge to collapse afterwards which was a novelty for me.

8:03/6:52

Finish Time 46:41

Quite satisfied with that time. 2:30 off my PB from only a few months ago without 100% racing it. It's not the same buzz as last week though but I honestly feel it was the right call not to flog myself. The PB is great but is still a little soft and will be revisited properly as a goal race and given full attention in the near future.

Pacing Mule

Firedance wrote: »

is there something you wanted to tell us PM

tang1 wrote: »

Talk about a snake, kept that hush hush.

Hush hush as explained above. Last minute decision and didn't deserve much hyping

tang1

Well done, PB taking it easy on yourself is always nice. Shows there should be more on fresher legs.

adrian522

While there may be a min or 2 to come off that time I think a PB that big deserves to be celebrated. As you progress as a runner the PB's will be measured in seconds rather than mins so enjoy this one for sure!