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BQ or Bust!
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Bungy Girl wrote: »Ya wuss! It was actually perfect running weather last night, really fresh with a nice cool drizzle.
I beg to differ, or at least the cold I have brewing this morning after the utter soaking I got on the bike, begs to differ (working my way through a bottle of echinea!!) Denis you made the right decision
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Thu 15 Sep
12 easy miles with yaboya. Well, mostly easy - I was late setting out and had to leg it from DCU to the meeting point at the entrance to Tolka Valley Park. A stressful start, but enjoyed the rest of it. P did most of the talking, which suited me fine.
Fri 16 Sep
Rest. Right knee a little niggly, which is slightly worrying. That knee always gives a little trouble during the marathon cycle, but has usually righted itself by this stage. Fingers crossed.
Sat 17 Sep
Dublin HM 1:37:27
Tough enough day out there again. Started with Wubble Wubble and a clubmate, E. We set off at 4:30/k (7:15/m), which is 1:35 pace. That would allow a bit of leeway for a sub-1:36 finish (good enough for an aul lad NY GFA). Smooth start, feeling comfortable enough through the opening miles (although I missed the traditional easy start down the Khyber). By the S-Bends WW was chomping at the bit a little. I tried to rein him in
but he was feeling good and eased away down the Military Road. Stayed with E up past the Wellington monument, but she urged me to push on at the zoo as she dropped back to 4:40 pace. So on my own after only four miles. Stuck with a little group up most of the North Road. Pace was bang on through five miles (8k). It was starting to feel warm, and I removed my cap. Soon after, there was the wonderful aquinn marshalling so I threw the wet, sweaty item at her for safekeeping, a move I am sure she greatly appreciated.
Towards the upper end of the North Road the novelty wore off and I started to feel the pace. Dropped a little time over the next mile but went through half way (estimated, didn’t notice a marker) just under 1:36 pace, so still on track. The climb up through Farmleigh went smoothly enough. I knew from last year the pace would drop here but was confident that any time lost would be regained on the Tower Road drop and on the Chesterfield stretch. Felt really good through this section and by the time I hit Chesterfield again I could see WW about 100m ahead, probably starting to feel some pain. At the 10 mile mark (73:30) I was closing in and feeling strong. A clubmate appeared on my shoulder. He’s got the same marathon target so I thought, perfect, G can help me through the last 3 miles. But just past the marker I felt the dreaded jabs as a stitch came on and took hold. I had to slow down and let him go. People started streaming past as tried to massage the stitch out. It felt like I almost stopped here, but in retrospect I only lost about 30 seconds over the next km or so. Not too bad, but not great either, with the Acres and the familiar Race Series finishing climb to come.
The stitch passed on the Acres and I revived - the ‘breather’ had lowered my HR back to more manageable levels (had been high since the 5 mile mark) and I felt strong again, coping well with the headwind, sheltering behind a few big lads, hopping from group to group until we reached St. Mary’s, the wind disappearing for the mile and a half and the familiar climb. I’d gotten back on track, but didn’t make up much of the lost time, and that wasn’t going to happen on the hill, which I negotiated well, passing plenty of runners, but inevitably lost some more time (Mile 13 - 7:45). Towards the end of this mile, however, I could see I was gaining on WW again. so I set my sights on him for a little motivation. Terrific shout from BG at the turn helped deliver some HTFU for the final 500m. The dry retches had begun on the Upper Glen Rd but I held it together, emptying the tank and steaming past my friendly rival (sorry, J) with about 100m to go, finishing strongly through the line.
After taking a moment draped over a barrier and assuring a kindly steward that I was OK, I checked the watch, which showed 1:37:26. I’d known since the the stitch that the <96 was well gone. I hadn’t memorised my PB and knew I’d come close, but in the end I was 8 seconds off. A little disappointing but in the end I think I ran a decent race and the time was pretty good considering the PB was gained last year after a dedicated HM block including a decent taper. So a good workout that will hopefully count in the end towards the real goal next month. No trouble from the knee during the race, thankfully, although still a little jabby from time to time.
Another well organised Race Series event. We are privileged to have these races available year after year in the Capital. Long may they continue.
Km Splits here.
Previous best: 1:37:19 (Dublin HM 2015)
Target: 1:35:59
Actual 1:37:27
Posn 830 of 6936. 12th M55. VDOT 46.5. Age Grade 69.9
Verdict: Half full.
WTD: 57 (35 m)
MTD: 272 (169)
YTD: 2,277 (1,415)0 -
Great report D, I'm laughing sitting here reading it. For those looking in from the outside, this wasn't supposed to be a Boardsie smackdown :eek: although it's good to know that I was being targeted in the closing miles
You're right in that I was going backwards from a long way out (my version of events is on the Novices thread) and hence was a sitting duck for anyone who even thought about passing me coming up to the finish. Serves me right for leaving you (and E) behind :rolleyes: Well done today, still time to bag the NY GFA?0 -
Ha ha, J - not a smackdown, I always try to target someone up ahead in the final stages - it's a tried and trusted way to keep your mind off the pain. All the better if it's someone you know. And better again if it's someone you started the race with, who ran off.
Re your Q's in your report, if you're sure the other race was short I'd certainly take today as your PB.
Re the other Q - you have to go with how you feel, so you were probably right to push on, although my experience is that a chomping too much off the pace often comes back to bite you, and the time you saved usually has to be paid back with interest. It always feels better to finish relatively well than to start well and fade late. I've plenty of experience of both, and there are races where I regret not pushing harder when the going was good.
Congrats on the PB.0 -
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