The North Road

KielyUnusual

The North Road, even the same sounds ominous.

For those unfamiliar, here it is

I'm just wondering if people have a similarly troubled relationship with this road?

There's no great hills to speak of on it but I always struggle on this road. Maybe its the long, bleak nature of it. Maybe it is that steady incline that just saps your energy. Maybe its that if you run anti-clockwise around the park (my preference) then you're facing in to the prevailing wind all along this stretch. Maybe its something else.

I ran the trails today and while they are much more picturesque than the road itself, they were still the slowest 2 miles on the 2 laps I did of the Phoenix Park, although one would think that the other side of the park would offer more challenges.

Anybody else have similar experiences with this road/side of the park? Is there a physiological reason why its difficult to run fast on along this stretch or is it just me?

Ososlo

I think it's the direction you're running it. I find it tough physically and mentally that way too but in reverse I love it!
It is a bit darker too I guess than the other side of the park.
Now that I think of it, I'd say more people run it the direction you run it than the reverse.

dublin runner

Think I ran by you this morning! I only mentioned today what a difficult stretch it is. The constant drag into the wind makes it tough. It is deceptive in that is a tougher incline than it looks.

One of the reasons I avoid racing in the park! Haha.

KielyUnusual

Ososlo wrote: »

I think it's the direction you're running it. I find it tough physically and mentally that way too but in reverse I love it!
It is a bit darker too I guess than the other side of the park.
Now that I think of it, I'd say more people run it the direction you run it than the reverse.

I think people run it that way because all the race series and the marathon are run in that direction so it familiarises them with the course. I have run it in the opposition direction on occasion when overcome with a fit of madness. It certainly is a bit easier but there's something about doing it that doesn't sit right with me. Creature of habit, I suppose.

KielyUnusual

dublin runner wrote: »

Think I ran by you this morning! I only mentioned today what a difficult stretch it is. The constant drag into the wind makes it tough. It is deceptive in that is a tougher incline than it looks.

One of the reasons I avoid racing in the park! Haha.

Yes, the sun was in my eyes and it was only when I saw your statuesque silhouette up close that I thought it might be you. You were running in the wrong direction, by the way

ooter

It's only really from the hole in the wall onwards that it gets noticeably tougher,the wind is always in your face when running towards chesterfield avenue.
I run in that direction on it all the time,doesn't bother me most of the time but if I'm on a 3rd loop on a 18-20 miler it's not a nice experience on tired legs.
OP,have you ever run around the track up at the 15 acres?
Completely flat but the wind can be horrendous.

Chartsengrafs

I was just discussing this with someone yesterday! Combination of wind, the drag and even the footpath is patchy enough in places. I head straight for the trails along that section as I also favour an anti-clockwise route.

KielyUnusual

ooter wrote: »

It's only really from the hole in the wall onwards that it gets noticeably tougher,the wind is always in your face when running towards chesterfield avenue.
I run in that direction on it all the time,doesn't bother me most of the time but if I'm on a 3rd loop on a 18-20 miler it's not a nice experience on tired legs.
OP,have you ever run around the track up at the 15 acres?
Completely flat but the wind can be horrendous.

Yea we train down there every Saturday morning. Well, the club trains down there every Saturday morning. I train down there sporadically. Great buzz on a Saturday morning with the 3 or 4 clubs training at once.

It is very open and on a windy day, you'll not find much tougher place to do a session. The Munich hills are great for the cross country too.

Basster wrote: »

I was just discussing this with someone yesterday! Combination of wind, the drag and even the footpath is patchy enough in places. I head straight for the trails along that section as I also favour an anti-clockwise route.

Yea, the trails are brilliant. Today has made me a convert. The section at the top of the North Road by the Ordinance Survey HQ is especially satisfying.

roseybear

ooter wrote: »

It's only really from the hole in the wall onwards that it gets noticeably tougher,the wind is always in your face when running towards chesterfield avenue.
I run in that direction on it all the time,doesn't bother me most of the time but if I'm on a 3rd loop on a 18-20 miler it's not a nice experience on tired legs.
OP,have you ever run around the track up at the 15 acres?
Completely flat but the wind can be horrendous.

wind is ALWAYS in your face 2 wards Chesterfield avenue. It is unusual for it not to be there.

ThebitterLemon

KielyUnusual wrote: »

Yea we train down there every Saturday morning. Well, the club trains down there every Saturday morning. I train down there sporadically. Great buzz on a Saturday morning with the 3 or 4 clubs training at once.

It is very open and on a windy day, you'll not find much tougher place to do a session. The Munich hills are great for the cross country too.



Yea, the trails are brilliant. Today has made me a convert. The section at the top of the North Road by the Ordinance Survey HQ is especially satisfying.

Are you back training KU?

Any races planned?

TbL

yaboya1

Myself & dublin runner were only alluding to this earlier on today and Ferris B also mentioned to me that he hated it on our long run a few weeks back. It seems you are most definitely not alone.

RacoonQueen

Hate it. I can just about cope with it when going clockwise. Anti clockwise feels like a 20 miler in itself...

jebuz

Hands down the darkest moments of my Frank Duffy race last week, but there's always light at the end of the tunnel in the form of Chesterfield avenue. It's a combination of the shadows, shoddy shoddy footpaths, boredom and the inevitable headwind, have only ever run that direction in a race. Still though, god bless the North Road.

KielyUnusual

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Are you back training KU?

Any races planned?

TbL

Yea I'm getting back in to it after returning from the holidays. The bit of fitness is slowly starting to return. The focus will be the Dublin Novice XC in October. I'm an awful cross country runner but we've a very decent team and I might get to sneak on to the scorers and get myself my first proper medal since I was 15 if I'm lucky. I might run a couple of the BHAA XC races too when they start up. Always good events.

ooter

KielyUnusual wrote: »

Yea we train down there every Saturday morning. Well, the club trains down there every Saturday morning. I train down there sporadically. Great buzz on a Saturday morning with the 3 or 4 clubs training at once.

It is very open and on a windy day, you'll not find much tougher place to do a session. The Munich hills are great for the cross country too.



Yea, the trails are brilliant. Today has made me a convert. The section at the top of the North Road by the Ordinance Survey HQ is especially satisfying.

Are the Munich hills in the p park,not familiar with them?
I've stopped doing any sessions up at the 15 acres for a while,they were really putting a dent in my confidence.been using c avenue,not ideal but I'm hitting my targets.

KielyUnusual

ooter wrote: »

Are the Munich hills in the p park,not familiar with them?
I've stopped doing any sessions up at the 15 acres for a while,they were really putting a dent in my confidence.been using c avenue,not ideal but I'm hitting my targets.

Aye, the Munich Hills are just by the 5 Acres over by the Military Fort. Here's a map. There's loads of different variations you can do and the trails are well established by the numerous clubs that train down there. My advice would be to pop down at 9.30 - 10 on a Saturday morning and join in.

KielyUnusual

KielyUnusual wrote: »

Aye, the Munich Hills are just by the 5 Acres over by the Military Fort. Here's a map. There's loads of different variations you can do and the trails are well established by the numerous clubs that train down there. My advice would be to pop down at 9.30 - 10 on a Saturday morning and join in.

By the way, if you are not familiar with the Munich Hills at all, these are the hills that Eamon Coghlan trained on in the build up to the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972, which is where the name is derived from.

Murph_D

Do the North Road regularly enough, almost always in the uphill direction. Definitely the footpaths that make this unpleasant for me. Path on one side only and it's very bumpy. I try to use the road to avoid this but then you're always jumping back up with the traffic. If there was no cars it would be easier - like the other side which should feel harder but somehow doesn't!

KielyUnusual

Murph_D wrote: »

Do the North Road regularly enough, almost always in the uphill direction. Definitely the footpaths that make this unpleasant for me. Path on one side only and it's very bumpy. I try to use the road to avoid this but then you're always jumping back up with the traffic. If there was no cars it would be easier - like the other side which should feel harder but somehow doesn't!

I used to always run the paths and its not pleasant. I took this route yesterday and its a lot more pleasant. Especially if its a nice day as it was yesterday. Its all trail except for the odd section where you are forced back on to the path. Would be a bit more difficult in the winter time if there's been a lot of rain.

Sacksian

While the uphill North Road basically killed 90% of tempo runs I attempted starting off running, the one thing in its favour was that every now and again it helped produce a really magical progressive tempo run.

If you start a tempo about a half a mile up and grit your teeth for the next two miles, ignoring the pace (particularly when you turn directly into the wind), you WILL feel like you’re flying once you get to the other side or turn down Chesterfield Ave! The average pace will be fine, you’ll have finished strong and forgotten completely about how uncomfortably hard you were working in the first or second mile. Obviously, push too hard in the first couple of mills and your tempo’s ruined. Like doing tempos on the 15 acres, as unpleasant as it is, it does teach you a lot about pace/effort management.

Having said that, the North Road did defeat me and I only ever run on its trails these days.

Tombo2001

Sorry for slight change of topic, but does anyone know the distance of the standard Munich lap.....

Sacksian

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Sorry for slight change of topic, but does anyone know the distance of the standard Munich lap.....

I'd call the Gerry Farnan lap the "standard" - it's a mile - here's a track of the GF lap: http://www.mapmyrun.com/ie/dublin-l/gerry-farnan-xc-route-147811375

But there are a lot of different permutations, depending on the type of session that you want to do.

So, there are longer versions (the BHAA Garda XC lap is a longer take on it) and a lot of different shorter versions, with different starting points, etc, 400m, 600m, 900m, 1200m versions. Run in any direction and you're doing a session that some club has devised!

RacoonQueen

Sacksian wrote: »

I'd call the Gerry Farnan lap the "standard" - it's a mile - here's a track of the GF lap: http://www.mapmyrun.com/ie/dublin-l/gerry-farnan-xc-route-147811375

But there are a lot of different permutations, depending on the type of session that you want to do.

So, there are longer versions (the BHAA Garda XC lap is a longer take on it) and a lot of different shorter versions, with different starting points, etc, 400m, 600m, 900m, 1200m versions. Run in any direction and you're doing a session that some club has devised!

Great place for a session. This is the lap I do when doing a hill session (look at it in satellite mode) - hills for me would generally be between 30 and 50 minutes so it does still get rather boring!

ooter

KielyUnusual wrote: »

Aye, the Munich Hills are just by the 5 Acres over by the Military Fort. Here's a map. There's loads of different variations you can do and the trails are well established by the numerous clubs that train down there. My advice would be to pop down at 9.30 - 10 on a Saturday morning and join in.

Cheers,never knew they were called that.
Did a bhaa race earlier this year pretty much along that route,it was TOUGH!

Murph_D

Had a bizarre experience trying to run the trails. Details here. guess its all about the local knowledge.

ooter

Ran up the north road earlier and there wasn't a breath of wind,that is very,very rare.
If it is like that for the HM on Sunday it'll be a welcome bonus.

annapr

maybe I'm weird but I love the North Road, once you get on the trails it's great... i kind of like running around all the families heading to the ya-zoo too . My favourite place in the park is the furry glen though, can't beat it

ooter

I find the furry glen can be creepy at times,especially if there's no one else around.
Maybe I've just watched to many horror movies.

PaulieC

This is going to sound like a 13 year old youngfella, but where exactly is the furry glen ? I'm sure I've run it before, just don't know the names of the areas in the PP too well.

Edit: nevermind, after a bit of fumbling I found it

ooter

PaulieC wrote: »

This is going to sound like a 13 year old youngfella, but where exactly is the furry glen ? I'm sure I've run it before, just don't know the names of the areas in the PP too well.

Edit: nevermind, after a bit of fumbling I found it

Just inside the knockmaroon gates and down to the right.

annapr

ooter wrote: »

Just inside the knockmaroon gates and down to the right.

The infamous Upper Glen Road (which I know I will be struggling through tomorrow) runs along the top of the furry glen... the pond you can see down to the left is the glen pond... just before you turn into the finish for any of the park races, usually not enjoying the scenery at that point!!

We used to think the glen was spooky when we were kids... wild animals lurking in what was known as the 'plantation'. And the name 'furry' apparently comes from the furze bushes :-)