BQ or Bust!

Murph_D

Thu 1 Mar

8.7k easy

Another run in the snow to the Bull Wall and back, with M. Quite a gale on the outward journey, nice to be blown back. No coffee stop today as The Food Room had closed early. Home then to batten the hatches, and scour the NS for bread and wine. :pac:

Fri 2 Mar

No running.

Sat 3 Mar

8.25k easy

With no parkrun happening, I joined about 30 of the St. Anne’s crowd for a ‘freedom run’ around the course in the snow. Very cold at the start and for the third day in a row I was running in tights and several layers including the Boston marathon jacket, hat, gloves - the works. Very pleasant and sociable run, and the conditions weren't that bad, considering. Ran an extra lap before the usual coffee and brack.

Sun 4 Mar

Longish run 11.8k easy

With the thaw well underway, headed up the Malahide Rd to meet up with M and G for a slushy enough tour of D5/9. As it was after dark, we had to keep our eyes open to stay upright. Pretty good conditions really, although it would have been a more difficult run without the company. Brings the weekly mileage to 30 - low but acceptable enough for the week that was in it.

WTD: 49k (30m)
MTD: 29 (18)
YTD: 473 (294)

Murph_D

While I’ve done a few races this year I’ve really just been ticking over since the October marathon. Time to focus now on some specific training for shorter stuff, with the goal race being the 800m at National Masters in mid August - 24 weeks away. One suggestion was to do some 5k specific work first. After several weeks of ticking over at around 30-40 miles a week, that sounds appealing. I’ll be looking at Pfitzinger and Latter Faster Road Racing 5k schedule (45-55m) for the next 12 weeks.

Mon 5 Mar

Rest day.

Tue 6 Mar

17k w/ 3x8mins LT (3mins jog recovery)

Started the plan by swapping the Tuesday for Weds, to be more compatible with club session. The track was icy in parts, and I joined the marathon group in the outer lanes, just doing my own thing while they did whatever they were doing. I always find it hard to get into LT on the track - pace is supposed to around 4:16, but this measured more like 4:18, close enough to the margin of error for track garmin running!

Wed 7 Mar

General aerobic 10.5k

Out along the Royal Canal towards Kilcock at lunchtime. There is still lots of frozen snow on the ground around Maynooth. Canal was relatively clear, except around the bridges, probably because of shade effect. Turned a little early as there was a long icy stretch between the North Kildare Club and adjacent bridge. Noticeably colder, with frozen water surface, the further west I went, even if that outward stretch was only a bit over 5k. Kildare and its microclimates!

WTD: 27k (17m)
MTD: 56 (35)
YTD: 501 (311)

OOnegative

Bundoran at the weekend D?

Murph_D

OOnegative wrote: »

Bundoran at the weekend D?

Was planning to do the BHAA cross country race at Maynooth but that's been cancelled, so you never know! Doubt it though. Next year, when you're back.

Murph_D

Thu 8 Mar

Endurance 11k

14k on the plan but was pressed for time, and cut this short. Nice loop of Carton House and the Royal Canal back to MU.

Fri 9 Mar

6.7k recovery

After work, after dark, along the seafront. I see the Clontarf Baths are open for business, as long as you're a diner (with a few quid to spare) and not a swimmer. Also they want to build a car park across the public parkland, and generally get in everyone's way. I like what they've done with the place but how about reaching out before pi$$ing everyone off. :rolleyes:

Sat 10 Mar

8.7k inc Castletown parkrun @ LT

No cross country today with the BHAA race cancelled. An opportunity for some parkrun tourism with FBOT, laura_ac, aquinn and pquinn. After a short debate about the best way to get out of DNS (I lost) we were on the M50 heading for Celbridge, where Castletown parkrun awaited. A damp morning, with a downpour just before the event. Plenty of muddy puddles to plough through, Peppa Pig style. An LT run for me, which was good enough to progress to 12th and maintain that position for a good while, until I started to struggle on the second lap and eventually kind of blew up in the last km, getting passed by three runners, including a buggy pusher, as I experienced some dry-heave-type discomfort. Good workout all the same. An extra circuit to cool down. Very nice parkrun, must check it out on a dry day sometime. FBOT won the mud-slide contest with an impressive entry to the chute. Many thanks to the Castletown team. Coffee afterwards in the well appointed but chilly tea rooms.

Sun 11 Mar

Endurance 16.1k plus 4k recovery

I like these Pfitzinger-style long runs, starting out at MP+20% and increasing gradually to a steady MP+10%. Headed up the NCR to the Park for a loop around the perimeter. Took in the trails between Farmleigh and Furry Glen and I must have found the same quagmire as AMK, leaving me with mud-caked shoes and wet feet for the rest of the run. A chilly enough day - brought the buff and gloves and hat but it was nice to be in short sleeves again. Completed the specified 16k around Hanlon’s Corner and switched to easy/recovery mode. Happy to have found this so straightforward after a fairly high mileage week with a couple of good sessions.

Home past Croke Park, where a good few Dubs were leaving early, so many so that I thought Kerry must have snatched one. Wrong again!

74k (46 miles) for the week - feeling good. Some great results in Bohermeen and elsewhere today - well done if yours was one of them, or even if it wasn't.

WTD: 74k (46m)
MTD: 103 (64)
YTD: 547 (340)

Murph_D

P&L FRR 5k Week 2 of 12.

Mon 12 Mar

Rest day.

Tue 13 Mar

General aerobic 16.2k

Over to the club as usual with aquinn. Normally if I go to the club in the middle of a generic plan I’d swap the session for whatever’s on offer, but I want to do this week's scheduled hills tomorrow, so kept it easy all the way. It helped that I found an injured clubmate almost as ancient as myself to run with, and we kept each other close enough to target pace for a half hour or so, before I headed back across the Liffey in the usual company.

Wed 14 Mar

13.9k inc 6 x 3 min hill reps

Bucketing rain and blowing a gale, but the plan said hill session. M was enthusiastic about joining in and I’m glad he did - I could hardly breathe running into the wind on the warmup and might well have baled, or at least postponed, if doing this solo. Started the reps near the start of the Fat Turkey route, up to end of St. Fintan’s cemetery and jogging back down. So a gentle slop at first, rising sharply and getting steep fast. This was hard, and I found it difficult to pace it properly, flogging myself for the first couple of reps before settling down somewhat, saving something for the steep part. Very glad of the tailwind on the two miles back to the car.

WTD: 30k (19m)
MTD: 133 (83)
YTD: 578 (359)

Bungy Girl

Murph_D wrote: »

Wed 14 Mar

13.9k inc 6 x 3 min hill reps

Bucketing rain and blowing a gale, but the plan said hill session. M was enthusiastic about joining in and I’m glad he did - I could hardly breathe running into the wind on the warmup and might well have baled, or at least postponed, if doing this solo. Started the reps near the start of the Fat Turkey route, up to end of St. Fintan’s cemetery and jogging back down. So a gentle slop at first, rising sharply and getting steep fast. This was hard, and I found it difficult to pace it properly, flogging myself for the first couple of reps before settling down somewhat, saving something for the steep part. Very glad of the tailwind on the two miles back to the car.

What sort of pace / effort were the reps ? 18 mins total is a lot of hill :eek:

Murph_D

Bungy Girl wrote: »

What sort of pace / effort were the reps ? 18 mins total is a lot of hill :eek:

It was meant to be 3-5k effort. I only covered about 600-620m per rep (felt like more of course). M got a good 50-70m further up the hill than me each time. I think I could have gone a little harder but not much. Felt fine the next day until I went out for a run, and the legs were definitely tired.

Bungy Girl

Murph_D wrote: »

It was meant to be 3-5k effort. I only covered about 600-620m per rep (felt like more of course). M got a good 50-70m further up the hill than me each time. I think I could have gone a little harder but not much. Felt fine the next day until I went out for a run, and the legs were definitely tired.

That's a tough session! So if you were close to 3K effort you would end up doing more than the race distance at race effort :eek: ?

Murph_D

Bungy Girl wrote: »

That's a tough session! So if you were close to 3K effort you would end up doing more than the race distance at race effort :eek: ?

I’d say I was nowhere near 3k effort and a bit shy of 5k effort possiblyI don’t do hill stuff often so have no idea how to pace them. Was working hard, but maybe not hard enough.

Murph_D

How do you interpret this kind of session, G?

Bungy Girl

Murph_D wrote: »

How do you interpret this kind of session, G?

Was curious as I hadn't personally come across a session where you could potentially go quite a bit over the distance at the effort associated with that distance. In this case if you chose 3K effort for a total of 18 mins you'd probably have covered half the distance again. At least! Even with recoveries that is a very tough session :eek:. The closest I ever came to that sort of session was the Macmillan 10k sets where you start off with 6 x 1 mile at pace then work your way up to 3 x 2 mile (I think). I was never able to complete it and it was just under the race distance at pace. I guess it's part and parcel of more advanced plans, I have only ever really done intermediate level plans. Fair play to you (and M!) for doing it. I did 7 x 1 mins hills this week and the plan only goes up to 10 mins total which I'll probably do as 5 x 2 mins.

Murph_D

Have never really thought too deeply about this stuff (tend to just follow the plan) but you’ve got me thinking - is this session harder than an equivalent on the flat? The key thing is 3-5k ‘effort’, not pace (as KennyG reminded me before I’d even laced up the Sauconys).

For me, 3-5k pace is (to be precise, based on TT and race results) 3:53-3:57 per km, which is 1:33-1:35 per 400m. At that pace, a standard track session of 12x400s or 6x800 would take about 18:30-19:00 mins of running time - again 50% or more longer than a 3k race, but slightly shorter than 5k race. So maybe it’s typical of many sessions - principle being that recovery allows you to push the effort. The equation would be even more dramatic for shorter stuff. 200s at 800m pace for example - always going to amount to more than race duration.

Bungy Girl

True enough. I suppose I hadn't considered how close 3K and 5K pace really are. I thought there would be a bigger gap, but I checked my own PBs and the pace is exactly the same ! Which means I need to HFTU next time I do a 3K .

Murph_D

FRR5k Week 2 of 12 cont.

Thu 15 Mar

Endurance 14k

Out along the seafront again, joined once more by M. As mentioned above, I’d felt fine all day until I started this. But got through. A loop through St Anne’s and back, picking it up a little as P&L recommend.

Fri 16 Mar

No running

6k recovery on the plan but travelling and did not get out, opting for a beer instead when I reached my Corralejo digs after dark. No matter - was 6k ahead anyway after extra mileage early in week so a guilt free extra rest day.

Sat 17 Mar

14.2k easy w/ strides

The plan had 11k GA with 6x12s hills and 8x100 strides. Opted instead for a leisurely tour of the Corralejo seafront and the sandy beaches of Las Dunas National Park. It was early, just after sunrise, and very beautiful, except for two massive hotels built right on the beach. The sand was a bit soft, even close to the shoreline, so I didn’t push the pace, except for a few strides on the one part of the beach with some harder stuff.


Sun 18 Mar

Endurance 17.3k

Out before breakfast, through the lava field badlands west of Corralejo on a route suggested by paulieyifter on Strava. A bumpy dirt road, not the most pleasant surface, but great views and the roar of surf a constant. Fuerteventura is know for its wind and it was against me in both directions, somehow. Turned at a little fishing village called Majanicho - clean and tidy and very basic, like something from a western film. I kept the pace at the slow end of the endurance range for almost all this run - good enough with the rough road and wind, I reckon, not to mention a slight Paddy’s Day hangover. I love holiday running, and this was a memorable one.


WTD: 76k (47m)
MTD: 179 (111)
YTD: 623 (387)

AuldManKing

ahh, a running/travel log - I miss TBL.

Murph_D

That blow-in? Sure I was documenting runs in all 32 counties before he even had his frequent flyer card.

Murph_D

FRR 5k Week 3 of 12

Mon 19 Mar

Rest day.

Tue 20 Mar

General aerobic 14k

Haven’t been sleeping well so glad to finally roll out of bed and get out. My clubmate P (Paulieyifter who occasionally posts here) had spotted where I was on Strava and suggested a run among the series of (dormant) volcanoes that stretch along a SW axis from Corralejo. I was only down for 11k today and set out to climb and circumnavigate the rim of the closest one, Bayuyo, but there was no obvious path up and I opted just to follow the decent enough dirt road out for a few more miles up into the volcanic hills. Spectacular landscape, well marked with signs pointing out its unique features. Didn’t feel the miles going at all.

Wed 21 Mar

15k inc 2x 10, 1x 8mins @ LT

I have relocated to the southern end of the island for a few days. The Morro Jable seafront is well set up for running with a couple of miles of good walking/running path alongside the beach. The famous wind was blowing pretty freshly though, and I spent the warmup trying to figure out the best way to tackle it for the session. Started out in the most protected part, alongside a construction site and a series of placards commemorating Willy Brandt’s Fuerte hols in 1972 - maybe that’s why the Germans have been packing the joint out ever since. After a few mins I was running into the teeth of the wind, tough going, but at least it would be behind me by the middle of interval two. Gasped through the first 10 mins. 3 mins jog recovery and into the next, passing lots of German joggers, none of them smilers or wavers. I was making all sorts of excuses to cut this short, race on Sunday, you’re on holidays, no sleep, but found the jog recoveries just long enough to keep the wheels on and finish. The final interval being ‘only’ 8 mins was a powerful incentive to tough it out. I had resisted the temptation to start the session on the only downhill of any note, at the beach’s town end, and just my luck, that meant I had to scale it in the opposite direction to finish off the last 90 seconds, properly f**ked! Couple more cooldown miles on the beach - considered jumping in to cool off but the surf was pretty powerful and it’s a dangerous beach at best of times.

WTD: 29k (18m)
MTD: 208 (129)
YTD: 652 (405)

OOnegative

Murph_D wrote: »

Haven’t been sleeping well

Must be missing herself............

PaulieYifter

Glad to see you enjoying the runs. One of the great things about this running lark is to be lucky enough to have the health and fitness to get out and about and explore places on holidays. We get to see places in a couple of hours that are either inaccessible by car or are logistically difficult otherwise. Something I always appreciate. Enjoy the rest of your break - haven’t been where you are now so go explore and report back.

Murph_D

PaulieYifter wrote: »

Glad to see you enjoying the runs. One of the great things about this running lark is to be lucky enough to have the health and fitness to get out and about and explore places on holidays. We get to see places in a couple of hours that are either inaccessible by car or are logistically difficult otherwise. Something I always appreciate. Enjoy the rest of your break - haven’t been where you are now so go explore and report back.

Absolutely - as I’ve said before, running in new places is one of the best things about being on holidays. And of course that exploring goes for at home too - I still can’t get my head around being able to run all the way to Tallaght without really being on the road for more than a few mins (less when they finally open the final section of the Royal Canal).

I recommend Jandía for your next trip to these parts.

OOnegative

Best of luck tomorrow D, run well!!

Murph_D

Thu 22 Mar

Plan: 14k endurance
Actual: 13k easy on trail/beach

After a half decent night’s sleep I was up and out early again, heading for a nearby peak, Aguda. About a 250m climb - not huge but too steep to run the second half of it. I scrambled to the top on my hands and knees at times and was enjoying the view from the summit marker when a loud “Hallo!” from behind scared the bejesus out of me and I nearly fell off. It was a (German) hiker who’d taken a more direct route. He apologised and offered me a drink of his water, while looking slightly disapprovingly at my running gear (he was in the full Wanderer regalia). We had a laugh and I moved on, descending slowly on the slippery scree, wishing I’d packed the trail shoes. The climb/descent was only a few slow kms, but a great way to start the day. Topped it off with another 10k along the nearby beaches, finishing with a refreshing dip in the waves.

Fri 23 Mar

Plan/Actual: 8k recovery

Last of the holiday runs. 8k on the seafront path and beach, with another swim in the middle. I’ve enjoyed Fuerteventura - wild, clean, windswept, classy. A good place to run, too.

Sat 24 Mar

Plan: 13k w/ 2 sets 4x300 @ 800-Mile pace
Actual: 8.6k easy w/ strides

Back in reality after the noisiest, baby-screechiest Ryanair flight I’ve had yet. But nice to be in my own bed for the best night’s sleep in ages. Some parkrun volunteering in the morning, then back out in the afternoon with M for a lap of St. Anne’s with a few strides at the end. This instead of the session as racing tomorrow.

Sun 25 Mar

Plan: Endurance 16k
Actual: 11k inc. race: Dunboyne 4m 26:24 (PB)

Recent races suggested 26 mins as a reasonable target. There were pacers for this so I lined up behind them and just followed along for the first two miles, struggling initially but getting into a groove and feeling pretty comfortable through the worst part of the course out along the bypass. However after two miles I started to drift off the pace and when I made one or two spurts back to the group, I found myself energy sapped and ready to fall off again each time. Once I was isolated I became a tall skinny target and got picked off by three or four runners over the closing mile and half. I didn’t feel mentally strong while this was happening, but there didn’t seem to be a lot I could do about it either. The end result was fair enough, but more strength required.

The splits (approx) tell it all - a perfect regression: 6:17 6:26 6:46 6:55

I won’t beat myself up - it’s the first road race of the year, and I’m still learning! the VDOT/AG are among the best ever so that can’t be bad.

Previous PB: n/a
Target: 26:00
Actual: 26:24
VDOT: 49.1
Age Grade: 75.7%
133rd (of 600)
4th M55 (of 20)
Verdict: More gumption needed!

WTD: 70k (43m)
MTD: 248 (154)
YTD: 693 (431)

Mulberry

Murph_D wrote: »

FRR5k Week 3 of 12 cont.

Thu 22 Mar

Plan: 14k endurance
Actual: 13k easy on trail/beach

After a half decent night’s sleep I was up and out early again, heading for a nearby peak, Aguda. About a 250m climb - not huge but too steep to run the second half of it. I scrambled to the top on my hands and knees at times and was enjoying the view from the summit marker when a loud “Hallo!” from behind scared the bejesus out of me and I nearly fell off. It was a (German) hiker who’d taken a more direct route. He apologised and offered me a drink of his water, while looking slightly disapprovingly at my running gear (he was in the full Wanderer regalia). We had a laugh and I moved on, descending slowly on the slippery scree, wishing I’d packed the trail shoes. The climb/descent was only a few slow kms, but a great way to start the day. Topped it off with another 10k along the nearby beaches, finishing with a refreshing dip in the waves.

Fri 23 Mar

Plan/Actual: 8k recovery

Last of the holiday runs. 8k on the seafront path and beach, with another swim in the middle. I’ve enjoyed Fuerteventura - wild, clean, windswept, classy. A good place to run, too.

Sat 24 Mar

Plan: 13k w/ 2 sets 4x300 @ 800-Mile pace
Actual: 8.6k easy w/ strides

Back in reality after the noisiest, baby-screechiest Ryanair flight I’ve had yet. But nice to be in my own bed for the best night’s sleep in ages. Some parkrun volunteering in the morning, then back out in the afternoon with M for a lap of St. Anne’s with a few strides at the end. This instead of the session as racing tomorrow.

Sun 25 Mar

Plan: Endurance 16k
Actual: 11k inc. race: Dunboyne 4m 26:24 (PB)

Recent races suggested 26 mins as a reasonable target. There were pacers for this so I lined up behind them and just followed along for the first two miles, struggling initially but getting into a groove and feeling pretty comfortable through the worst part of the course out along the bypass. However after two miles I started to drift off the pace and when I made one or two spurts back to the group, I found myself energy sapped and ready to fall off again each time. Once I was isolated I became a tall skinny target and got picked off by three or four runners over the closing mile and half. I didn’t feel mentally strong while this was happening, but there didn’t seem to be a lot I could do about it either. The end result was fair enough, but more strength required.

The splits (approx) tell it all - a perfect regression: 6:17 6:26 6:46 6:55

I won’t beat myself up - it’s the first road race of the year, and I’m still learning! the VDOT/AG are among the best ever so that can’t be bad.

Previous PB: n/a
Target: 26:00
Actual: 26:24
VDOT: 49.1
Age Grade: 75.7
133rd (of 600)
4th M55 (of 20)
Verdict: More gumption required.


WTD: 70k (43m)
MTD: 248 (154)
YTD: 693 (431)

If only we'd discussed this. There is a point at the mid-end of the bypass where
the going gets tough but you're immediately distracted by the subsequent lead in to the village. The problem always arises when you leave the village - at about 2.5 miles. There is (a) a tiny incline and (b) a huge dearth of support - from big cheers to deafening silence, at this point. It's terribly tough. And this appears to be exactly where you started to hurt.

I would look again at your race. Consider these course pain points and consider that perhaps, if you'd been prepared for them, your take outs from this race might have been different.

AND - why didn't you come up and say hello after the race?! Distracted by Emilia's superb cakes? Wouldn't blame you

Murph_D

Thanks R - I certainly would have said hello if I’d seen you. Was keeping an eye out for you and AGYR but didn’t spot either of you. Assumed you were probably in Madrid or somewhere!

Thanks for those pointers which I’ll certainly consider next time - to be honest I think I was already ‘gone’ by the point you describe, but I certainly continued to decline through those stages. It’s a good test, that race.

Well done to you and the rest of the Dunboyne club for a terrific event. And yes - great cakes, that seemed to keep coming out forever!

Annie get your Run

Murph_D wrote: »

Thanks R - I certainly would have said hello if I’d seen you. Was keeping an eye out for you and AGYR but didn’t spot either of you. Assumed you were probably in Madrid or somewhere!

She was off having coffee in Avoca avoiding all the runners #bloodyrunners :P. I had actually meant to send you the wind direction info and the course breakdown yesterday morning but I forgot, sorry! But a PB is a PB so well done!

Murph_D

Annie get your Run wrote: »

She was off having coffee in Avoca avoiding all the runners #bloodyrunners :P. I had actually meant to send you the wind direction info and the course breakdown yesterday morning but I forgot, sorry! But a PB is a PB so well done!

And what about you? Still on hols?

OOnegative

Nice going on the PB D, sense your not totally happy with it, but when are us runners ever fully happy with a race performance!!

Singer

Murph_D wrote: »

FRR5k Week 3 of 12 cont.

The splits (approx) tell it all - a perfect regression: 6:17 6:26 6:46 6:55

I won’t beat myself up - it’s the first road race of the year, and I’m still learning! the VDOT/AG are among the best ever so that can’t be bad.

Not a bad race - that 6:17 first mile with the pacers is pretty close to 25:00 pace! I wonder what the rest of their splits looked like

Murph_D

Singer wrote: »

Not a bad race - that 6:17 first mile with the pacers is pretty close to 25:00 pace! I wonder what the rest of their splits looked like

Well these are only approximations based on my strava trace, roughly adjusted for the Garmin's inaccurate measurement of the course. It was a fast start alright and the pace noticeably adjusted in the second part of the first mile. I remember one of the pacers calling 6:24 for first mile and 6:30 for the second. Anyway, I will always take responsibility for my own race and if I'd stayed with the pacers for another half mile I probably would have been fine.

Didn't use the watch except a quick glance around the 3.6k mark as I was falling behind (to look at distance elapsed, not time), and another glance when crossing the 800m to go line, which if I remember correctly read 23:36 and I briefly noted that I could still go sub-26 if I could finish with a big sub-2:30 800!

Edit - just checked trace and looks like it was more like 23:06 with 800 to go. So not my fastest finish ever, although it was at least back to the intended pace. Mile 2.5-3.5 as Mulberry suggested was where the damage was done.