BQ or Bust!

Dubgal72

tell...parkrun PB?

annapr

Dubgal72 wrote: »

tell...parkrun PB?

Stay tuned... He's floating around on a high

FBOT01

Dubgal72 wrote: »

tell...parkrun PB?

You'll just have to wait for the report, A;)

tang1

Nice going D, very well done on the PB. FBOT will have to start charging commission for all this PB pacing lark!!!

RedRunner

Well done again today D. Good to chat on the warm down.

Ferris B

tang1 wrote: »

FBOT will have to start charging commission for all this PB pacing lark!!!

Ehem...Ill take 50%.:D

Super run today D. You really stepped it up a few notches with a sprint finish too.

Dubgal72

annapr wrote: »

Stay tuned... He's floating around on a high

Definitely helium in the air. Feck that, am going to results page

Dubgal72

*returns* Jay. Zuz.

Fantastic!!! Well done!

Murph_D

Wed 16 Mar

MLR 18k @ 5:26 (11.2m @ 8:45). HRR 69%.

Lovely out and back to Milltown via the Dodder. Haven’t been out this route for a good while - the river is looking good. Nice easy run. A bit of residual tiredness from the weekend and yesterday’s session.

Thu 17 Mar

Rest. Walking around town and all the way home with the boys, taking in a bit of the parade. Slipped off a kerb in the crowds on Nth. Frederick St. and turned ankle a little bit. Thought nothing of it at the time but a little sore in the evening. Fell asleep on the couch like an aul lad. In bed before 10pm.

Fri 18 Mar

Recovery + speed: 6.5k (4.1m) with 6x100 strides.

A few miles in Albert College Park. No problems with the ankle, thankfully. Enjoyed the strides, which I did in two sets of three about 5 mins apart. Very cold today.

Sat 19 Mar

5k St. Anne’s parkrun: 20:21 (PB).

The plan suggests racing 5-10m today. There wasn’t a lot to choose from so I opt for trusty St. Anne’s parkrun, where there’s always enough friends and acquaintances about to keep you honest (and to lend a hand when you get in trouble). But as usual I’m not looking forward to racing the distance. Get there nice and early and do a warmup lap with some dynamics. KennyG asks am I racing today but I'm non-committal, half thinking I can still bail out. FBOT and Ferris show up after a 15-miler out to Howth, looking fresh and relaxed. Tell Ferris I’ll be running "21-ish” and he says he’ll try to keep up. Yeah right.

Line up in a good position and off to a good start for a change, feeling really good and strong all through the first lap, working through the field. I’m keeping an eye on the watch and it’s telling me we’re bang on pace for about 20:50. I realise it’s probably a bit faster due to the GPS inaccuracy of the area, but when the timer calls 10:08 at the halfway point I’m sure he’s made a mistake, and if he hasn’t I’ve blown it (up) completely. I slow a bit here, as the doubt starts to creep in. But just as I’m having this mental conniption here come FBOT and Ferris sailing past. M chides me me for looking at the watch, and the message is clear: HTFU and just run.

So I try to tuck in behind, but I’m lousy at running in a group and keep falling back. The lads can see I’m struggling and offer plenty of encouragement at critical points. "Get to the avenue and freewheel home", says Ferris (I think). Laura_ac is marshalling at the end of the back straight and roars at me to stick with them. By now I have no idea what the time is, but it feels like I’ve been slowing and I figure things are probably close to the wire. On the turn to the Avenue I’m still five or six metres behind M & C. We’ve passed a good few over the last kilometre, but a guy in a red parkrun 50 shirt doesn't want to be passed and digs in to stay ahead, providing some distraction. Down the straight, M (I think) reminds me to pick it up like the end of last week’s long run. The legs are hurting but breathing is not too bad, I notice, and manage to keep the gap constant as they start to wind it up. We’re at the 400 line and M generously pulls over to the right. I might be hallucinating but he seems to be pointing to the gap, inviting me through the inside line to finish it out. I can’t really remember the last couple of hundred metres but suddenly there’s the line and it’s all over.

I know we’ve made the sub-21 but no idea how much as I didn’t stop the watch. I reckoned it was about 20:40 at best which I’m delighted with. M & C head for coffee and I head up the avenue to cool down, I bump into a clubmate, John F, who’s in his 70s, still showing up for Tuesday night training. He tells me he’s been ill and we have a chat. What a gentleman he is, a fine athlete still. Bump into RedRunner as well, don't know how I didn't notice him before the run. I must have been in the zone 'cos he's hard to miss.

Finally make it in for coffee. KennyG congratulates me on the time, which apparently is better than I thought. Coffee with laura and the lads. They claim they weren’t pacing at all but they don't fool me. At the end of their hilly 15-miler and all - it really is all a bit humbling. But I'll still take the PB.

Approximate splits (corrected for under-measure):

km
3:58 4:05 4:16 4:11 3:51

mi
6:30 6:44 6:27 (0:40)

Previous PB: 21:02 (St. Anne’s, Dec 2015)
Target: 20:50
Official time: 20:21
Posn: 19th. 1st M55. VDOT: 48.8. Age grade 75.3%.
Verdict: I hate 5k. Did I mention I love 5k?


WTD: 47k (29m)
MTD: 200 (124)
YTD: 727 (452)

FBOT01

Great tune up race, D. FairPlay.

Singer

Very nice! All the hard work paying off and then some. That's your highest VDOT, right? Maybe you should stick to 5ks :pac:

Murph_D

FBOT01 wrote: »

Great tune up race, D. FairPlay.

Thanks - appreciated the help.

Singer wrote: »

Very nice! All the hard work paying off and then some. That's your highest VDOT, right? Maybe you should stick to 5ks :pac:

Cheers B. Highest VDOT, yes - the 48.8 kind of confirms how I felt about Ballycotton (47.6). More of a built-in taper this week than two weeks ago so that probably has something to do with it too. I love 5ks (as long as not racing them).

jake1970

Congrats on the PB Murph. That's a big improvement over 5k during a marathon training cycle, it would interesting to see how fast you could be with 5k specific training.

denis b

Have to hand it to you D, that was some run. Never mind shaving off a second or two here and there when you can lump off 41 seconds in the middle of a challenging marathon cycle. That is some achievement and testimony to your hard work.

Am with Jake and can only wonder what a dedicated training cycle at 5 km might do. Anyway, its obvious that you are in really good shape. Enjoy that pb.

Kennyg71

Super stuff D, well deserved, what a way to kick it out of the park:)

This Fat Girl Runs

Well done on the PB. That's brilliant!

Wild Garlic

Nice!

mbarr

Great work D!

Ososlo

Brilliant! Great going D

Murph_D

Sun 20 Mar

Long Run 29k @ 5:23 (18m @ 8:39)

Continued my tour of South Dublin waterways with a trek out the Grand Canal to Ballyfermot. Running through town on the way out I had to pick my way gingerly over quite a few remnants of last night's revelry and was reminded why many other cities hose down their streets of a Sunday morning. The canal itself was very quiet, and a great way to see some interesting parts of town. By an accident of timing I arrived back in town at the start of the MSB 5k race and paused to shout at a few clubmates and current and former boardsies. Looks like a very fast race, would like to do it sometime.

Felt good on this run, no problems from yesterday's efforts. Four weeks to go.

WTD: 76k (47m)
MTD: 229 (142)
YTD: 756 (470)

Duanington

Well done on the PB yesterday Murph, hanging around with FBOT has you sandbagging though, that target was well and truly shattered! Congrats

FBOT01

Duanington wrote: »

Well done on the PB yesterday Murph, hanging around with FBOT has you sandbagging though, that target was well and truly shattered! Congrats

You got it wrong, D. It's Ferris that has the degree in sandbagging not me

dintbo

That's a massive chunk to knock off a 5K PB. Well done Murph

laura_ac3

That's an even bigger chunk off the pb than when I was talking to you, brilliant! Well done D, great to do so well.

El Caballo

Well done Murph, cracking run. That spot on the 10 round numbers table doesn't look that far away either now:)

Firedance

Ops very late to this party, that's fantastic!! Well done D, delighted for you, can't wait to see what you do in Boston the training is clearly paying off.

Younganne

Well done, great chunk off the previous PB.

Murph_D

Mon 21 Mar

Rest.

Tue 22 Mar

Recovery + speed 11.3k @ 5:51 (7m @ 9:25).

Eased up to the Demesne and over to my stride spot, marked at one end by a tree and the other by a litter bin, which is beside a bench. As usual no one around at the start. During the first rep, a guy sits down on the bench. By the third, he's looking at me curiously as I hit the lap button every time I interrupt his leisurely sit.

"Sorry for crowding you", I say.

"No problem" says he, in a vaguely Eastern European accent. "I am impressed".

On the next pass, he's ready, smiling broadly as I thunder past (thunder might be a bit strong). This time I avoid eye contact.

Rep five. He's noticed my snub, looking at me a bit more coldly. "One to go", I say cheerily, and he lights up again.

On the last one I just hit the button, final wave, continue on my way.

18.6 17.6 17.1 17.0 17.4 16.7

WTD: 11k (7m)
MTD: 240 (149)
YTD: 767 (477)

This Fat Girl Runs

Murph_D wrote: »

Mon 21 Mar

Rest.

Tue 22 Mar

Recovery + speed 11.3k @ 5:51 (7m @ 9:25).

Eased up to the Demesne and over to my stride spot, marked at one end by a tree and the other by a litter bin, which is beside a bench. As usual no one around at the start. During the first rep, a guy sits down on the bench. By the third, he's looking at me curiously as I hit the lap button every time I interrupt his leisurely sit.

"Sorry for crowding you", I say.

"No problem" says he, in a vaguely Eastern European accent. "I am impressed".

On the next pass, he's ready, smiling broadly as I thunder past (thunder might be a bit strong). This time I avoid eye contact.

Rep five. He's noticed my snub, looking at me a bit more coldly. "One to go", I say cheerily, and he lights up again.

On the last one I just hit the button, final wave, continue on my way.

18.6 17.6 17.1 17.0 17.4 16.7

WTD: 11k (7m)
MTD: 240 (149)
YTD: 767 (477)

This could be the start of a fabulous movie. You've just met the guy, and he's this Eastern European genius scientist who defected from his country and now just wants to live a quiet life in Dublin, and he likes his long walks and sitting on the bench people watching, so he watches you running and wishes he had the energy for that and he sees something of himself in you so he smiles and tries to chat while you run past. He watches you leave after your run and he wonders what your name is. So the next day he come out to the bench at the same time and sure enough you're out running and the day after that and eventually you end up finishing your run and sitting beside him and he tells you his story of how he defected, leaving his family behind and how he came to Ireland and you can tell he's lonely so you strike up a conversation which leads to a lifelong friendship with him and he becomes a kind of mentor to you only one day he suddenly disappears and you don't know what happened, was he kidnapped, was he dead, killed, hurt? You worry and worry until years pass and you've almost forgotten him, almost but not quite until out of the blue a letter and a package arrives for you and in the package is a medal and the letter says he had been kidnapped and forcibly taken back to his homeland where he died under house arrest but was posthumously awarded a medal of service to his country because it turns out he defected under a terrible regime because he wouldn't carry out the terrible experiments they wanted him to. The regime was recently overthrown and the guy has now become a hero for refusing to bow to the whims of the regime. You look up from the letter, medal in hand and smile through teary eyes. The movie ends with you, running past that bench and giving a wave to the empty seat.

tang1

This Fat Girl Runs wrote: »

This could be the start of a fabulous movie. You've just met the guy, and he's this Eastern European genius scientist who defected from his country and now just wants to live a quiet life in Dublin, and he likes his long walks and sitting on the bench people watching, so he watches you running and wishes he had the energy for that and he sees something of himself in you so he smiles and tries to chat while you run past. He watches you leave after your run and he wonders what your name is. So the next day he come out to the bench at the same time and sure enough you're out running and the day after that and eventually you end up finishing your run and sitting beside him and he tells you his story of how he defected, leaving his family behind and how he came to Ireland and you can tell he's lonely so you strike up a conversation which leads to a lifelong friendship with him and he becomes a kind of mentor to you only one day he suddenly disappears and you don't know what happened, was he kidnapped, was he dead, killed, hurt? You worry and worry until years pass and you've almost forgotten him, almost but not quite until out of the blue a letter and a package arrives for you and in the package is a medal and the letter says he had been kidnapped and forcibly taken back to his homeland where he died under house arrest but was posthumously awarded a medal of service to his country because it turns out he defected under a terrible regime because he wouldn't carry out the terrible experiments they wanted him to. The regime was recently overthrown and the guy has now become a hero for refusing to bow to the whims of the regime. You look up from the letter, medal in hand and smile through teary eyes. The movie ends with you, running past that bench and giving a wave to the empty seat.

Who plays Murph in the film though Tom Hardy, Daniel Craig, Damien Lewis, Bradley Cooper, one of the Gleeson boys.......