Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard

Firedance

+1, best of luck! hopefully see you afterwards.

Dubgal72

Best of luck tomorrow chickey! Hopefully see you after. Sniff out the Novices post-race stand

chickey2

Thanks guys! Heading out now so no time for individual thanks but will see some of you tomorrow!

ThebitterLemon

Best of luck Chickey hope you have s good one

TbL

Tom Joad

Best of luck tomorrow

aquinn

See you in the morning. Have a great race.

Hold on, heading out?

laura_ac3

Have a good one!!!

Murph_D

Good luck C. Run well!

Bungy Girl

Just saw your chip time !!

Firedance

well done today C!!! great going and well deserved after all your hard work, hope you enjoyed the bulmers and the match

chickey2

Thanks! After I left to get my bag I got a text with my chip time 01:49:58! I was thrilled and had no one to share it with. I was sure I'd done 1:51 but since my watch battery went I wasn't sure.
Celebratory pints in ryans went down very well!

menoscemo

chickey2 wrote: »

Thanks! After I left to get my bag I got a text with my chip time 01:49:58! I was thrilled and had no one to share it with. I was sure I'd done 1:51 but since my watch battery went I wasn't sure.
Celebratory pints in ryans went down very well!

Hmmm, you weren't by any chance sitting at one of the small tables by the window?

Firedance

chickey2 wrote: »

Thanks! After I left to get my bag I got a text with my chip time 01:49:58! I was thrilled and had no one to share it with. I was sure I'd done 1:51 but since my watch battery went I wasn't sure.
Celebratory pints in ryans went down very well!

whoop whoop!!! that's fantastic big congrats on the sub 1:50!

chickey2

menoscemo wrote: »

Hmmm, you weren't by any chance sitting at one of the small tables by the window?

Yes, that was me! Thanks again. If it wasn't for the pacers I wouldn't have done it.

Hannibal Smith

Fantastic chickey!!!! Well done!

menoscemo

chickey2 wrote: »

Yes, that was me! Thanks again. If it wasn't for the pacers I wouldn't have done it.

Af feck, I thought I recognised you! Should have said hello but was far from sure.
Good job, you must have hung on really well coming off the hill as we were cutting it fine enough as it was!

laura_ac3

Well done chickey, you must be chuffed. Training paid off

annapr

chickey2 wrote: »

Thanks! After I left to get my bag I got a text with my chip time 01:49:58! I was thrilled and had no one to share it with. I was sure I'd done 1:51 but since my watch battery went I wasn't sure.
Celebratory pints in ryans went down very well!

Brilliant C!!!! that's a sweet time

Murph_D

Great news. Well done. The plan works even better

aquinn

Ah delighted for you. Well done.

hillsiderunner

Oh that was tight!

Very well done on the sub-1hr50

chickey2

I'm finally getting around to writing my report for the Dublin half marathon. This was my main goal race for the year so I wanted to take my time and do it properly. I'm so tired and emotional now I'm not so sure I'll do it justice, but here goes.

2014 was my first proper year if running. I went from C25k to marathon in 10 months. Crazy when I think back on it, but it wasn't planned, just a natural progression. After DMC 2014 I joined the graduate thread and got loads a great advice from Clearlier, Dubgal and others. I decided 2015 would be about improving on the times I'd done in 2014 but I'd stop at the half. I don't mean stop running, just not progress to the marathon like I did last year.

The half marathon plan I used was from the Pfitzinger and Latter book "Faster road running 5k to half marathon" . I went for the 12 week 50-76 km (31-47 mile) plan which suited the stage I was at. It suited my life too as I have a 12km commute to work and most of the weekday runs were about that.

My build up to the race wasn't great. On Thursday I stupidly wore a new pair of shoes to work. By that evening I had two skinned heels. Then Friday was my husband's birthday so we went out for dinner. We weren't out too late but I was conscious of getting enough sleep so forgot to charge my garmin that night. Slept fine, but woke up in a panic and just made it out in time. Forgot my bottle with electrolytes and had a flat garmin, but that wasn't going to stop me run so kept going. Got to the start about 9:20 and dropped my bag. I thought the way the toilets were arranged this year was bad and the queues were worse than I've ever seen them in the park.

By the time I was done it was time to line up. Going on my recent races I'd decided to aim for 1:50 so headed for the 1:50 pacers. Since I knew the garmin wouldn't make it I knew I needed to stick to them! Last year i did this race in 1:57 so I was confident of a pb. Started off well and the pace felt really easy. At mile 1 I was thinking I'd easily pass the pacers and fly ahead, but the sensible voice in my head (was is Dubgal?) said no, wait til mile 7. It was so congested I probably couldn't have gotten past them anyway. So I just settled into a nice pace in the centre of the road (I learnt my lesson about running at the side last year, nearly breaking my ankle on the Khyber).

Couldn't believe when I saw the 5k sign as it still felt easy. Nearly got creamed at the water station but managed to get some (although I still had the bottle in my hand when I finished!) I didn't like the narrow section leading up the the castleknock gate and was glad to get back on to Chesterfield avenue, but when we did, the sun came out and I started feeling the heat. Was glad to head off it again and managed to catch up with the pacers on whites road. Stayed on their heels for a good bit. I heard meno saying they'd be increasing the pace slightly for about three miles on the decline down Chesterfield so we could slow a bit on the last hill. That sounded good to me.

The fire engine on Chesterfield avenue was fantastic! It really gave me a boost. But the time we got to park gate, I was starting to fade. I knew about the horrible drag on the Chapelizoid road but it seemed much worse than I remembered. The heat was really getting to me and it seemed there was no breeze. It was at this stage I swore I was never running a half marathon again! The 10 miler was so much easier. The pacers were very gradually pulling ahead at this stage. I tried to keep up but my breathing started getting erratic so I eased off and used the wand. Calmed down a bit and dug in. It was all very quiet at this stage, very little chat going on. Next thing a woman bounds up to the guy beside me saying " oh hi X, how are you getting on, it's a great race isn't it!?" as if she'd just started. He just snorted at her so she replies "ah sure I'll catch you at the finish" and off she bounds full of energy! She obviously wasn't trying hard enough 😀

As we entered the park again I could still see the pacers but they were getting away. Took a few deep breaths and took on the hill. I managed to pass a good few people. Although it's steeper here I prefer it to the Chapelizoid road. At this stage there was quite a few walkers and I was so close to joining them. I reckoned I couldn't catch the pacers and I was being swamped with negative thoughts. Somehow I kept going. Did another bit of wand waving and that gave me a bit if a boost. I could still see the pacers so I just imagined a thread between them and me and tried to reel it in. I was so focused on this I was oblivious to everything else around me. I must have run past that poor guy who collapsed as meno said he saw him, but I don't remember.

When I saw the finish I tried to sprint but barely managed to speed up. The clock said 1:56 and I was a bit behind the 1:50 pacers so I guessed I did about 1:51. I was quite disappointed despite the 6 minute pb. I really wanted to get in front of the pacers but just couldn't do it.

Met up with a few of the boardsies which was another big improvement on last year when I knew no one. Thanks to dub gal and TFGR for the flapjacks. As I left everyone and headed for the bag drop I got a text with my chip time 1:49:58! Suddenly I was delighted, it's amazing how a small difference in time can change everything. I ended up walking to Ryan's as the traffic was terrible. Met a few friends there, had a steak sandwich, a few pints and watched the rugby. Happy days!

Today, I woke up feeling like I'd been beaten up. At least I know I gave it my all yesterday. I think I might be getting a cold too. Took the kids out on the bikes for a 7km walk to loosen up and tried a bit of foam rolling but my quads and calves are really tight.

Here's my times for 2014 compared to 2015.

Distance | PB 2014 | PB 2015
5K|25:56|24:19
5mile|n/a|40:00
10K|52:53|49:12
10M|1:33:48|1:28:50
HM|1:57:31|1:49:58
Marathon|4:33:56|


So what's next? I'm not sure. I'm following a recovery plan for the next two weeks. I think I'll try a 5k as that pb is from may and I've done a lot of training since then. I'm at a bit of a loss really! Any suggestions/advice would be appreciated.

Murph_D

1:49:58 - that's what's called perfect pacing! Well done indeed, it takes a lot of heart to keep it going right to the end like that when it looks like it's getting away from you. Delighted for you, you deserved that bit of good news.

Firedance

Great report C, love how you won the battle with the negative thoughts which is sometimes harder than the run itself. Well done again, you've made some fantastic improvements this year.

hillsiderunner

chickey2 wrote: »

Here's my times for 2014 compared to 2015.

Distance | PB 2014 | PB 2015
5K|25:56|24:19
5mile|n/a|40:00
10K|52:53|49:12
10M|1:33:48|1:28:50
HM|1:57:31|1:49:58
Marathon|4:33:56|


So what's next? I'm not sure. I'm following a recovery plan for the next two weeks. I think I'll try a 5k as that pb is from may and I've done a lot of training since then. I'm at a bit of a loss really! Any suggestions/advice would be appreciated.

No suggestions of where to go from here but your 10K and HM times are almost identical scary how close to what I was doing last summer/Sept ... scary how close ... and continuing the comparison, yes, you should be able to take nearly a min off that 5k time on a flat course

Bungy Girl

Brilliant report Chickey. That was a gutsy race! So happy that the chip got you the time you deserved!

As for what's next, I'd agree there's a good chunk to come off the 5K, especially with all your fast twitch muscles . If it was me I'd have to do a 5 miler to get the 39:xx but that's just my OCD.

Super progress this year, well done. I must get a copy of that book, it hasn't done Murph_D any harm either :rolleyes:

nop98

Excellent work! well done for holding out!

Younganne

Congrats on a great run and report. you deserved the sub 1.50.

chickey2

Thanks for the support guys!

I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself as I'm sick. Went out for a recovery run on Monday but only managed 4km at 7:05 pace (11:26 for the aul ones) yet my heart rate was 157. I knew that wasn't right and felt crap so went home and sure enough I've succumbed to the dreaded lurgy. Not sick enough to miss work though! Haven't run since so I've decided to just write off the week and get well.

After reading bungy girls log about getting a 10 mile pb during the half, I did a few sums and realised so did I! Think I passed 10 miles in about 1:23 so that cheered me up.

Firedance

go you! more celebrations hope you're feeling better soon, no harm to have a week off after all your hard work