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BQ or Bust!
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Was nearly ringing the guards for three aul fellas gone missing on Sunday !!!! you three certainly took the long slow run to another level !! Didn't realise getting a swim and an ice cream had to be included as well !!! 3 and half hours !!! 3 and half hours !!!
Ha, glad it wasn't just me!
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Week 6 cont.
Thu 22 Jun
12.9 km inc. 6.4k @ HMP
This week’s tempo felt easy for the first third (wind-assisted first km helped), more challenging in the middle, and pretty difficult by the end. Just what the doctor ordered, I guess. Warm day but having started the training in warmer climates, the heat has not been bothering me at all for sessions of late. Rewarded myself with a 99 all the same.
Splits: (target 4:30)
4:27 4:28 4:37 4:29 4:28 4:29 (4:25)
Fri 23 Jun
10.9 km easy.
Back to St. Annes for a few laps of the pitches then a circuit of the park with a few of the DNS board members.
Sat 24 Jun
7.5 km including St. Anne’s parkrun.
Pacer day at St. Anne’s. I chose the 28 mins slot to get in a nice easy run. Enjoyed this, managed to get a few runners over the line. I think for many runners at this level, it’s not really fitness holding them back. I tried to encourage them to accept a bit more discomfort than usual, which seemed to work for a few of them, with a couple of PBs. Pretty rich coming from me all the same. :pac:
Sun 25 Jun
Long run 20.6 km @ 5:52 (12.8 m @ 9:27)
After a few scoops last night, followed by a morning at junior parkrun, I was pretty tired and a little, eh, dehydrated setting out on the long run. Headed up to the Phoenix Park for a change, doing a lap of the perimeter including the usual trails. Beautiful afternoon but I hadn’t eaten enough before this and it was a bit of a slog. Stopped for some sustenance (Lucozade and Snickers) at the park gates before plodding home. Passed a few people who seem to be semi-permanently resident in a couple of tents along the canal banks. Looks like the “Republic of opportunity” still has a bit of work to do.
WTD: 73k (45m)
MTD: 240k (149)
YTD: 1,358 (844)0 -
Charleville HM Week 7 of 18
Time flies: more than a third of the way through this training block and it still feels like it just got started. Plenty of work to do! The mileage is starting to bite - three weeks in a row over 40 now. Not big numbers in the scheme of things but still a step up, given my relatively low mileage so far this year.
Mon 26 Jun
8.9k easy @ 5:29/k
I am in Donegal for a couple of days and hit the local 5-mile loop. Nice to stretch the legs after the drive, and this felt very good (unexpectedly, after yesterday’s difficult LSR). The pace was towards the faster end of the specified easy range. A lovely soft evening, with a gentle cooling rain.
HR reading quite low (60% HRR) - I don’t really trust the 235’s optical sensor anymore. Either that or the training is going really, really well. :rolleyes:
Tue 27 Jun
Speed: 4 x 1600 @ 5k pace
Didn’t fancy doing these long intervals on the undulating local roads so I drove over to Glenties, where there is a decent cinder track at the Naomh Conall GAA club (no sign of local hero Jimmy McGuinness).
Given the size of a GAA pitch, the track looked a bit long, and during the warmup I estimated it was about 470m. As far as I know this track is also used by a local athletics club, and sure enough there were some undetermined marks along the curb, but I couldn’t make head or tail of them. But it was easy enough to estimate start and end points for 1600m, which involved a little under three and a half laps. There was a headwind in one direction, and I chose to face it four times when I could just as easily have had four tailwinds, how’s that for hardship? Said hello to an old lady walking the track but she had gone by the time I launched into the mile reps for the session proper.
Splits (target 6:30-6:40):
6:37 6:33 6:30
Despite a good warmup, the first mile had me gasping early. Couldn’t wait for it to end. Enjoyed the jog recovery, taking close to the maximum 50-90% rep time specified by Hanson. The second rep felt easier, and I was well into it by the third, which I finished a little fast and had to take a moment. Good session though, and great to have it done before breakfast - gives a little extra recovery before the Thurs tempo.
Risked my life jogging a mile and back out the N56 among the cars, trucks, and tractors. Scary stuff, which reminded me of last year’s death-defying Glenties 5k race.
Would’ve called in to aquinn’s granny for breakfast but I don’t know the address.
WTD: 22k (14m)
MTD: 262k (163)
YTD: 1,380 (858)0 -
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Week 7 cont.
Sat 1 Jul
7.3 km including Donabate parkrun.
Some parkrun tourism up to Donabate, joined by the mrs, laura, aquinn, yaboya and various BFs and fiancees. Tricky enough course with a couple of 180 degree turns. Ran it progressively averaging out around HMP. IT would have been MP, but I noticed the lad in front was cutting corners so had to make it my business to pass him. Enjoyable run, friendly crowd, good coffee.
Sun 2 Jul
Long run 16.8km @ 5:05 (10.4 m @ 8:10)
Hooked up with some clubmates for the Sunday run. Yes, this was a good bit too fast but that was the pace, so I went with it. Tired after a long day yesterday but this actually felt good most of the way round, sticking to the trails, including a good few I’d never been on before. Another decent week. It feels like progress is being made. More ‘warm weather training’ next week, that could be a bit of a challenge.
WTD: 69k (43m)
MTD: 24k (15)
YTD: 1,428 (887)0 -
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Charleville HM Week 9 of 18
This week got off to a slow start with a persistent earache. Doesn't sound like much but it puts man flu in the ha’penny place in terms of illnesses that make a normally healthy male feel sorry for myself. Surprisingly debilitating to the extent that I felt too disoriented and off balance to run for a few days, before deciding feck it, if it’s not improving, learn to live with it. :pac:
Mon 10 Jul
No running. Travelling home from France when the earache, noticed on waking earlier, transformed into full blown agony on the plane home. Couldn’t pop the right ear for love or money. Awful feeling.
Tue 11 Jul
No running. Binned the 6x800 session on the plan. Not up for it.
Wed 12 Jul
No running. Starting to feel guilty though. It’s only an ear.
Thu 13 Jul
48 mins easy. Hooked up with FBOT in St. Anne’s. Chatty run but I’m still half deaf.
Fri 14 Jul
Tempo Friday: 14 km inc. 8k @ MP
Encouraged by yesterday’s run, I decided to attempt the scheduled 5 miles @ tempo, which had been a bit of a fail last week. Headed to Phoenix Park where I met up with yaboya who kindly offered to lay down the pace so I wouldn’t have to think about it too much. Followed the old Irish Runner 5-mie course, and although the last mile was a struggle (as it should be on that course), pretty much nailed this one otherwise, which felt great considering how crappy I’d been feeling all week.
Approx Mile splits: (target 7:18)
7:27 7:15 7:18 7:17 7:19
Thanks P, kept me honest there for sure.
Sat 15 Jul
14k inc Fairview parkrun @ tempo+
I’d offered to volunteer at the inaugural Fairview parkrun but apparently they were OK so I was secretly pleased to be able to run it, as I’d managed to show up at all the other inaugural events in the general NE Dublin area to date (Malahide, St. Anne’s, Fr. Collins). It was great to see people converging on the local park for the event, including a group from Balbriggan Roadrunners on the way in. I welcomed them to Fairview and pointed in the general direction of the start area when they enquired. Great turnout from various boardsies, whether running or volunteering, and I said hello to a good few before the off, includiing racheljev, Bungy Girl, Wubble Wubble, Nop, AGYR, Killerz, Ferris, aquinn, Laura, FBOT and Mrs Mc, and a host of other Raheny Shamrocks and a few from my own club too.
The run itself went well, although it was obvious that a small number of inexperienced runners, struggling to complete the three and a bit laps, opted to duck into the finish straight a little early, knocking us all down the rankings a few rungs. Hopefully next week will be as successful, and it’s great to see the organisers pull off a great first event with the help of AlFoley from Fr. Collins, among others.
I was doing this as a second tempo of the week (figuring I could afford that having missed the speed session) and pretty much stuck to the plan. Found myself in a little bit of a race with a neighbour who I traded places with a few times over the course. This made me run a little faster, as did the sound of the Killerz buggy behind me all the way from the start till lap three when, despite running a track marathon the night before, himself and his twins buzzed past, at least giving me something to follow for the last 1500m. Humid morning, and for a 22-min 5k I felt pretty bunched after this. Cooled down with a run to the Bull Wall and back with the aforementioned neighbour. At least I’d managed to stay ahead of him.
Sun 16 Jul
Long run 16.8k @ 6:14 (10.4 mi @ 10:02)
With the kids away the mrs and I had the luxury of a leisurely morning including a drive over to Tallaght for a run up to and around the Bohernabreena reservoirs. Only my second time running up here, and it was even more spectacular than the last time, with the glorious morning that was in it.
So in the end, a decent enough week. Witnessing the birth of a new parkrun was definitely the highlight. Haven’t had the head turned though, St. Anne’s is still where the heart is. :pac:
WTD: 53k (33m)
MTD: 135k (84)
YTD: 1,539 (956)0 -
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Charleville HM Week 10 of 18
Running Fingal 10k this Sunday, so I will substitute the Thurs tempo with something less strenuous. Otherwise, try to keep things moving along as we enter the second half of the 18-week block. Reflecting on the first half, it's gone pretty well, hitting the correct paces on most of the sessions and tempos. Feeling stronger the last couple of weeks, and glad to have had the benefit of some good warm weather training in Ireland and further afield.
Mon 17 Jul
60 mins easy (11k/6.9m)
Only 10k on the schedule but stretched this out a little, heading from park to park to park and a couple of mini-parks in between. There followed some dispute on my strava about the definition of a park but I'm sticking with my interpretation, regardless of what the Dublin City Council website says. Might get a ruling from Wubble.
Tue 18 Jul
Miraculously the main club session tonight was 12x400 off 45 secs standing recovery, lining up precisely with Hanson speed session for this week (although Hansen was allowing a more generous recovery). This meant I didn't have to join the marathon group and work around their entirely different session. Started with the usual group which meant pace was a little fast (as Hanson specifies 5k pace for these, as opposed to the 3-5k pace the rest of the group would have been targeting).
Splits:
1:32 1:31 1:33 1:31 1:32 1:33
1:34 1:38 1:34 1:34 1:31 1:30
These should have been at 1:36. Tried my best to slow down by dropping back to next group but it's hard not to get sucked in, and anyway maybe my 5k pace is a little soft. Either way it felt about right.
Lovely night for running. Great to see aquinn back training on the track, as well as marthastew and a few other faces I've not seen in a while. A bit of 'turnaround' form coaching from one of the club luminaries and a few warmdown laps while waiting for Ferris to finish so we could jog back to the northside. Total for the evening 16.1k (10m).
Wed 19 Jul
Rest.
Good start to the week. My earache is still at me though. Medical intervention tomorrow.
WTD: 27k (17m)
MTD: 162k (101)
YTD: 1,566 (973)0 -
Charleville HM Week 10 of 18
Running Fingal 10k this Sunday, so I will substitute the Thurs tempo with something less strenuous. Otherwise, try to keep things moving along as we enter the second half of the 18-week block. Reflecting on the first half, it's gone pretty well, hitting the correct paces on most of the sessions and tempos. Feeling stronger the last couple of weeks, and glad to have had the benefit of some good warm weather training in Ireland and further afield.
Mon 17 Jul
60 mins easy (11k/6.9m)
Only 10k on the schedule but stretched this out a little, heading from park to park to park and a couple of mini-parks in between. There followed some dispute on my strava about the definition of a park but I'm sticking with my interpretation, regardless of what the Dublin City Council website says. Might get a ruling from Wubble.
Tue 18 Jul
Miraculously the main club session tonight was 12x400 off 45 secs standing recovery, lining up precisely with Hanson speed session for this week (although Hansen was allowing a more generous recovery). This meant I didn't have to join the marathon group and work around their entirely different session. Started with the usual group which meant pace was a little fast (as Hanson specifies 5k pace for these, as opposed to the 3-5k pace the rest of the group would have been targeting).
Splits:
1:32 1:31 1:33 1:31 1:32 1:33
1:34 1:38 1:34 1:34 1:31 1:30
These should have been at 1:36. Tried my best to slow down by dropping back to next group but it's hard not to get sucked in, and anyway my 5k pace is a little soft. Either way it felt about right.
Lovely night for running. Great to see aquinn back training on the track, as well as marthastew and a few other faces I've not seen in a while. A bit of 'turnaround' form coaching from one of the club luminaries and a few warmdown laps while waiting for Ferris to finish so we could jog back to the northside. Total for the evening 16.1k (10m).
Wed 19 Jul
Rest.
Good start to the week. My earache is still at me though. Medical intervention tomorrow.
WTD: 27k (17m)
MTD: 162k (101)
YTD: 1,566 (973)
That's a great session to have in the bag on such a warm evening. I did a little FYP for you there, as it's guaranteed to fall next time out 0 -
Week 10 cont.
Thu 20 Jul
50 mins easy. No tempo today with Sunday’s race in mind.
Fri 21 Jul
10.2k easy
Managed to do all this in Fairview Park, which is a more impressive feat than it sounds. Fairview parkrun has helped me see the local park in a new light and so I decided to get to know it a bit better. Think I covered every possible loop.
Sat 22 Jul
5k easy around Croke Park and Drumcondra. Lots of ancient Joshua Tree tee-shirts on view. :rolleyes: Going to the gig myself but in my civvies.
Sun 23 Jul
Fingal 10k 43:23 (PB)
The Hanson plan is not big on tune-up races, but the Race Series is part of the furniture for me at this stage, and with the shorter stuff over recent months it had been a while since I’ve raced anything more than 5k. So in the buildup to this I tried to channel the feeling I had during January’s Raheny 5, when I ran consistently hard for the duration of the race and came away with a very decent result.
Got in a good warmup with a few clubmates, including Singer who has apparently just declared for the Irishtown singlet. Felt OK, and I tried to banish any excuses about being tired, up late, earache, antibiotics, etc. The drizzle during the warmup boded well for good race conditions, and while it was a bit muggy around Swords, it looked like it would be a much cooler race than the past two years. The PB - 44:15 from the same race last year - was certainly soft. I had mentioned the words 'sub-43' in recent days and to be honest the prospect of reeling off 10kms at 4:18 (6:55/m) felt pretty doable after eight weeks of increasingly longer Hanson tempos, some of them done in pretty warm conditions.
Took up a good position on the street and we were off. The usual congestion but got into stride soon enough, hitting the 1km mark (4:22) only a few seconds behind target - a shortfall easily made up over the next three kilometers on the dual carriageway (4:16, 4:11, 4:25). Tracked clubmate D here, switching position a few times. We didn’t speak, but it felt like we were working together, and would continue to do so throughout the race. By the time the course turned off the carriageway into the leafy country roads, I was over a wobbly enough beginning (legs a bit rubbery) and in good shape. In truth though, I have not been hydrating very well and I badly needed the water station which appeared just after the turn. Lost a few seconds slowing to gulp from the cup, throwing the rest of it over my head. In no time we hit the 5k sign (4:21), and I marked the split at 21:35, so definitely in the game. Reminded myself that this was showtime, but just like last year I found the sixth km (4:23) pretty tough going, fending off some dry heaves and even the beginnings of a stitch as I struggled to stay in control.
But I got over this bad patch and found myself reeling off the next three kms like clockwork (4:19, 4:17, 4:19), continuing to trade places every km or two with D. Worryingly though, another clubmate I always catch was up ahead and not coming back to me, and Wubble Wubble had also sailed past around 8k, and he wasn’t coming back either. I could sense both of these runners were flagging a little but when I tried to respond and dial up a big finish there wasn’t much happening, and in fact I had to ward off some more dry heaves for my trouble. So when I passed D for the last time at the 9k mark, which is followed by a nasty little drag, it was all I could do to stay ahead of her, so I settled for that, and picking off a few more souls in the heat of the final stretch. At the top of the hill, with maybe 300m to go, I finally emptied the tank and hit the downhill finish at a gallop, perhaps too much of a gallop for the stage of the race. I’d left the glasses at the bag drop and by the time I could make out the clock it was showing 43:xx so I made sure to stay well under 44 by the gun, finishing at 43:52, net 43:23. (Final km 4:27)
Good to chat after with Singer, Wubble and a few others. Plenty of PBs out there today for sure.
A 52-second PB, which is not to be sneezed at and will be gratefully accepted. I don't doubt there was a better time available, with better preparation and a little more expertise at managing that red zone. Age grades and VDOT mediocre enough all the same, but I’ll give myself a little bit of a break due to generally not feeling terrific over the past fortnight. Living and learning.
Previous PB: 44:15 (Fingal, July 2016)
Target: 42:xx
Result: 43:23
496th position (of 3,051). 5th M55 (of 62). Age grade: 72.9%. VDOT: 47.2
Verdict: Good but not great, Bill.
WTD: 69k (43m)
MTD: 204k (127)
YTD: 1,608 (999)0 -
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:D #darksiderecruitment 
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