The breaks even out in the long run

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Friday 26 June- 5m Easy

Bring back the sun! I found the wind tough going today for the first halfish anyway, perfect on the way back though. The legs are feeling good and no issues on this. Just going to go out for a little shakeout tomorrow so I should be all set.

Uneventful.

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Saturday 27th June- 4m shakeout w/4x150m accel

Headed to the soccer field to tip around for this run. Fairly handy ol pace to just to keep the legs ticking over with a few accel/sprint/stride thingys thrown in to finish down the passage for a little bit of speed.


I'm a nervous wreck heading into tomorrow as I'm not sure what to expect and one bad move and it all could end in disaster. I'm never really nervous heading into races but this a whole new experience. I usually get some comfort by telling myself that I've the training done but I wouldn't say hopping over the fence to call into the neighbours counts as training and that's all I have. I'm still looking forward to it as it should be a good laugh but I definetely should've trained more:eek:. The target is a sub-12:30 clocking but I haven't a clue if that is a soft or hard target. Anyway, I'm in now so might as well make the best of it and see what happens.:)

Firedance

good luck tomorrow!

tang1

Firedance wrote: »

good luck tomorrow!

+1, hope all goes well for you E. Leave nothing out there.

Myles Splitz

Best of luck tomorrow and enjoy it, few tips;

- 1st 300m is flat so use that to your advantage against the clock (you will not negative split a steeple)
- Go wide on straights for line of view of hurdle and escape bunching that can break your rhythm
- If you are not used to it any time gained hurdling in first few hurdles is usually lost in excess energy expenditure latter in the race. No shame in stepping on barriers if needed.
- Try not land two foot in water jump if possible, aim is to have as little break in momentum as possible.

ultraman1

Good luck tomoro,

Notwork Error wrote: »

one bad move and it all could end in disaster.

#1 if u fall take as many fockers with u as possible.

tipping

Best of luck with it. No advice as I've only ever jumped hurdles on a horse although I must give the human equivalent a try someday.

martyboy48

Wishing you all the best. Go out and enjoy it, there's no pressure on this one

annapr

Good luck today. Really looking forward to the report on this one!

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Cheers for all the well wishes folks!

Just an update for now, going for pints! Ridiculously tough! 12:38 for munster bronze*:D hurt my ankle going over the first waterjump, stiff for the race but it seems ok now, just a bit tender. So much room for improvement if I actually train for it as I made a meal of every waterjump. Great experience to be fair!:)

*last!:p

KielyUnusual

Notwork Error wrote: »

Cheers for all the well wishes folks!

Just an update for now, going for pints! Ridiculously tough! 12:38 for munster bronze*:D hurt my ankle going over the first waterjump, stiff for the race but it seems ok now, just a bit tender. So much room for improvement if I actually train for it as I made a meal of every waterjump. Great experience to be fair!:)

*last!:p

I'd say I'd love to try this myself but those barriers are feckin high when you see them up close and personal . Looking forward to all the gorey details.

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KielyUnusual wrote: »

I'd say I'd love to try this myself but those barriers are feckin high when you see them up close and personal . Looking forward to all the gorey details.

Should be no bother for a reasonably athletic guy with a pair of splits shorts KU:)

You're going to have to wait for those gorey details. I'm so fooked, I'd to make tracks home from the pub early.

Chivito550

Well done. Didn't realise you were running there today. I just started my warm up when the steeplechase started.

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Sunday 28th June- Munster Senior 3000m Steeple (12:38)

I'd been anxiously looking forward to this day for months and it was really my goal race of the track season if you can have a goal race without doing any real specific training:D but it was the one I was most looking forward to just out of sheer curiosity as I had heard of all the nightmare stories so in homage to my skewed psyche, I wanted a hop off it to see what's what:). Timmaay and Ecoli advised me that the main priority should be to getting into good 1500m/3000m shape. The plan was to use the John Buckley graded meets as a buildup in the month leading up to today. The meets went well and I showed a nice improvement over the 4 weeks and even though I wasn't running PB's over 3000m, I felt was becoming more mentally acquainted to running track and all the challenges it throws up which was badly needed. Still though, I'm not going to lie, I nearly chickened out and signed up for the Waterford half Marathon a few times in the last month out of fear of leaving the comfortzone. I'd hoped to get a run out over the event two weeks ago in Cork to get a taste and ease the nerves because I was nervous! really NERVOUS!!!:eek: but that wasn't to be as they couldn't pull the numbers to run it, only two of us had registered for it. By that stage, I'd felt committed to running it today so I said why not!? Got plenty of answers as to why not:D but nothing that was going change my mind. Hell! I could get injured getting out of bed too:)

Pre-Race


The plan was to meet up with 3 of the lads from the club who were competing and head off to Templemore together. The steeple wasn't going off until 3:30 but two of the lads events were off just after 11 so we left Limerick at 9:15 and made tracks to templemore. Really long wait around but I wasn't really nervous at all now for some strange reason, I'd kinda accepted my faith and whatever happened.......happened. The track is a cracking spot right in the middle of a park so I took the opportunity to do my warmup and a little exploring of the trails around it. Got the call for checkin at the startline at around 3:15 and met a fella I know of who runs low 9's on the flat and specialises in the steeple who said we were the only 2 running. Balls! There was 6 down on the entry list which I was pretty stoked with as there was a good chance I'd have some company to work with. Thankfully, another guy showed up just before the off.:)


Race

Inched up to the line with the goal being a sub-12:30 clock which I wasn't sure was sandbagging or dreaming but more on that later. The gun goes and off we go, I took up second place and left your man steam off ahead. I'd taken on Myles advice and ran the barrierless first 200 and something odd metre stretch at a good clip opening up a nice gap of 10+ metres on the guy behind, no tippy toeing into the first jump as I caught it at full stride and overjumped it ending up out in lane 3 to a chorus of "OOHHHH!" from the crowd:D awkward start to say the least but I'd got my sight in to some degree. Made a better attempt at the second and third barriers e en though it was still awkward. I could already feel the effort it takes just to shift the weight over the jumps and up for the very first time in my life, I was going to making an attempt at the waterjump which is rather kindly preceded with a 3 foot high barrier to help you clear the 12 foot long water pit:p. For the first time ever, I was really nervous during a race. All the lads had took up station down there to watch me fall offer their support. I went for the aaggressive approach and skipped up on top of it but didn't get a strong enough pushoff and landed two footed into the incline, PSSHHH! to a feeling of my knees and ankles buckling, nearly going head over heels and hearing the sound of the lads bursting their holes laughing, gave them a nice two fingered salute before going on my way again. Within a few steps, I could feel my the outside of my ankle tighten up but I was rushing on so much adrenaline, I couldn't feel any pain. 2500m to go!:D

Still holding on to second with another guy about 10 metres behind at this stage.I was starting to find out for myself already what the steeplechases biggest challenge is, it won't let you settle in, the pace and momentum is constantly changing and you can't zone out for even one second. I was still travelling well if not too fast going into the third lap when I started to notice I was hurdling wide. It was a small thing but the bar holding up the hurdle was a little off putting and I was avoiding taking the jump on at the inside because of it and wasting a lot of energy. The guy in third was now right on my heels and we were heading to the the waterjump for the second time. I had to be more aggresive this time so I lauched myself into a ballerina type tip toe sprint:D from 10 metres with one huge stride at the end to catapult myself onto the barrier and PLONK! If I was a high diver, that attempt was worthy of a 0.

The guy behind was stuck to me coming down the home straight when some guy on the side of the track tells us to work together to reel in first place who was already a good 250m ahead. The effort was definitely starting to increase as we started the 4th lap and even though I was starting to get the hang of attacking the barrier on the inside, I decided to with the stepping on the barrier approach as it was in my mind, the best way to conserve some energy to get to the finishline even if it did cost time in the short-term. Just when we crossed the line to start the 5th lap and the guy behind made his move and really picked it quickly opening a gap on me.

It was starting to get really tough around this point, I was starting to boil and the legs had gone beyond turning to jelly. They were getting hard to lift on the flat, I wasn't really deep in pain but the amount of energy to try and lift myself over the barriers was huge and it was telling in my pace which was slowing dramatically over the next 2 laps. I gave it everything to pick it up over the last 400 but I'd already gave it my all to get to that point so the mind was focused on making it to the finish which was a lot tougher than you would think. At this point, the encouragement was brilliant, as much as everyone wants you to fall flat on your face for the rest of the race, the crowd was brilliant for the last lap egging me on to make it. Just about made it over the last waterjump to my relief when I realised, ah ****e! I still have one left to jump:D Sucked up my last ounce of energy and cleared to wobble over the line in 12:38.

Picked up a Munster senior bronze, think that says more about the events standing than my ability:D

Thoughts

Absolutely bonkers!:D

It was ridiculously tough, way harder than I imagined but I loved it and it's something I'll definitely do again and actually train for. I was never going to be bothered about the time I ran today as it was all about taking in a new experience and getting out of my comfort zone. I really just set a target as something to aim for to help me push myself. If I was to have another go next week, I believe I could go under 12 but only because of what I learned today.:)

Buzzing after it! The rush during and after it is like no other race I've experienced!:)

The ankle feels much better today, it started to swell a little last night but looks ok now. Just a shock from the impact I'd say.

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Chivito550 wrote: »

Well done. Didn't realise you were running there today. I just started my warm up when the steeplechase started.

Cheers man! I knew you were running it but I hadn't a clue what you looked like other than the singlet you wear in the videos. Saw your race too and tried to make it to the fence to give a shoutout but ye were gone flying past by the time I made it. Solid run all the same, your keeping the boat steady all things considered.

Chivito550

Great report. Sounds like mighty craic indeed. I remember at a shield meet in Melbourne, well before the start of my race, I set up camp at the water jump and watched all the auld lads trying to get over. It was fairly comical. Most used their hands to climb over, and usually they’d end up 100% submerged in the water. The guys themselves would be laughing as they did it. Masters steeplechase is pretty entertaining stuff.

Just wondering though. If this was a goal race, why on earth did you not do any specific training for it? That doesn’t really make much sense to me. Sort of like a sprinter targeting the 400 hurdles, without ever attempting to hurdle one beforehand.

Have another craic at it at National League if you can. You can enter as a guest if your club aren’t involved.

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Chivito550 wrote: »

Great report. Sounds like mighty craic indeed. I remember at a shield meet in Melbourne, well before the start of my race, I set up camp at the water jump and watched all the auld lads trying to get over. It was fairly comical. Most used their hands to climb over, and usually they’d end up 100% submerged in the water. The guys themselves would be laughing as they did it. Masters steeplechase is pretty entertaining stuff.

Just wondering though. If this was a goal race, why on earth did you not do any specific training for it? That doesn’t really make much sense to me. Sort of like a sprinter targeting the 400 hurdles, without ever attempting to hurdle one beforehand.

Have another craic at it at National League if you can. You can enter as a guest if your club aren’t involved.

Haha! It's great craic alright.

It wasn't a goal race as such but more the race I was looking forward to the most. I did do some training but only one real specific workout 2 weeks ago. I usually jumped some hurdles and done a few drills after track sessions but nothing to prepare the body for jumping on legs that don't want to jump. Need a lot more workouts over hurdles.

Yeah, I might head up to National league. Two of the lads from the club are heading up to compete for another club so there's no excuse not to.

career move

Great stuff. I enjoyed reading that

annapr

career move wrote: »

Great stuff. I enjoyed reading that

so did I, wish there was video Fair play to you NE for going for it

Firedance

super report NE! felt like I was there I don't know how anyone jumps hurdles I'd land on my ass for sure!! I look forward to the next one where you get gold :cool:

Murph_D

Enjoyed that, fair play for taking it on!

Duanington

Brilliant stuff - love the fact that you just went for it, fair play to you !!!

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Can't multi quote as I'm on my phone but thanks folks!:)

Monday 29th June- Rest

Can't believe I'd a double day planned originally, that was never going happen. I was completely shattered from head to toe and especially my back. Didn't want to risk anything with the ankle too so I decided to just have a rest day.


Tuesday 30th June- 4m Very Easy

Headed out this morning to test the waters on the ankle front. Didn't have any pain but it was on the tight side and I could feel the heat of inflammation hanging about still. Sports therapist thinks it might be a slight sprain just from my experience with that type of injury and what I was describing but I'll find out for sure tonight after an appointment.

Dundrum is all a bit up in the air for now even if it was never a certainty in the first place. If he doesn't think I can run it without doing extra damage, so be it but I'll wait and see before making a decision.

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Crap!:( grade 1 sprain of the ATFL. Got chastised for running on it this morning. Only a minor injury as such but he didn't like the buildup of scar tissue from the countless previous ankle sprains I've had over the years so the only solution is rest for 1-2 weeks or 3 weeks max(doubtful) to heal fully for once and try and avoid stability issues down the road because of my history. He drained it out and wrapped it up and I have to keep it supported for 4-5 days.

Pain in the ass and all but what can you do! Swimming and low gear cycling is the order once the wraps come off. He'll have another look at it next week and we'll go from there. Not a big deal except for missing a few races but what can I do.

tang1

Notwork Error wrote: »

Not a big deal except for missing a few races but what can I do.

You have it in one, pain in the hoop it happened but at least it ain't serious.

Vito Andolini

Hard luck man, hopefully the recovery won't take too long.

career move

Crap. Make sure you do rest it even if after a few days it feels good. It'll save you hardship down the line. At least you can swim and bike!*




*Another recruited to the 'Dark side' woohoo

Vito Andolini

career move wrote: »

At least you can swim and bike

These are just cross training ;-)

career move

Vito Andolini wrote: »

These are just cross training ;-)

At the beginning they are ....

Dubgal72

Oh crap. Do as you're told and always look on the Bright Side of life....

annapr

Bummer to have another setback, NE. Good luck with the rehab.

Firedance

another well wisher, hope you recover quickly!

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Saturday 4th July- 30ishK cycle


Sunday 5th July- 4m Easy(8:32)

Met up with the ST for the Match today who ran the ankle through it's paces. Doing shuttle drills on the street to see how stable and powerful the ankle is, looked like a right eeijet skipping around and jumping up to touch the telephone pole on the side of the road. He was happy out and gave me the all clear to get some runs in but not to go mad yet. Took it handy this evening and the body felt ok, no shouting from the ankle so I'm beaming with that.:)

This week isn't going to be great for running anyway so there's no fear of me overdoing it, heading to Valentia for a music festival and 4 days of debauchery so anything healthy is going to have to take a backseat......should to be brilliant though:pac: I'll bring the runners anyway just in case I feel up to it.

Bulmers74

Glad the ankle is on the mend. Enjoy the festival and don't forget to come back:p

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Bulmers74 wrote: »

Glad the ankle is on the mend. Enjoy the festival and don't forget to come back:p

Cheers lad. It wouldn't be the first time. It's not starting until Thursday and I've a feeling the least sensible thing I'll do this week will happen today at a different festival;)

Bulmers74

Notwork Error wrote: »

Cheers lad. It wouldn't be the first time. It's not starting until Thursday and I've a feeling the least sensible thing I'll do this week will happen today at a different festival;)

Dromcollogher, I presume

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Bulmers74 wrote: »

Dromcollogher, I presume

Yep!

Ran 25:38. Happy enough with it, over a minute faster than my last attempt back in the last week of March. Pacing was a bit all over the shop struggled a bit with the hills(if you can call them that:pac:) in the second half but felt at ease running the flat first half which I was expecting to be honest. The track has definitely made the pace on the roads feel like a jog, I just have to add the endurance, hill work and longer speedwork on top now and I should be good to go.


There's probably a good 5k in the legs now if I can find a flat one. Will get a report up tomorrow, Off to CIT this evening for the Cork City Sports meet.:)

tang1

Let us know how Mark English goes in the 800 pls E.

Bulmers74

Notwork Error wrote: »

Yep!

Ran 25:38. Happy enough with it, over a minute faster than my last attempt back in the last week of March. Pacing was a bit all over the shop struggled a bit with the hills(if you can call them that:pac:) in the second half but felt at ease running the flat first half which I was expecting to be honest. The track has definitely made the pace on the roads feel like a jog, I just have to add the endurance, hill work and longer speedwork on top now and I should be good to go.


There's probably a good 5k in the legs now if I can find a flat one. Will get a report up tomorrow, Off to CIT this evening for the Cork City Sports meet.:)

Well done. Saw the time earlier this morning & reckoned you'd be happy enough. No complaints from the ankle is the main thing.
A fast 5k in Borrisoleigh tomorrow night, allegedly

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Bulmers74 wrote: »

Well done. Saw the time earlier this morning & reckoned you'd be happy enough. No complaints from the ankle is the main thing.
A fast 5k in Borrisoleigh tomorrow night, allegedly

Cheers J! Might give that one a miss. You giving it a crack?

tang1 wrote: »

Let us know how Mark English goes in the 800 pls E.

Will do B!

Bulmers74

Notwork Error wrote: »

Cheers J! Might give that one a miss. You giving it a crack?

Thinking about it - PB is soft & Martyboy has me by a couple of seconds

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tang1 wrote: »

Let us know how Mark English goes in the 800 pls E.

English was 3rd. Not sure what time, 1:48ish in decent breeze, took the lead 500m but looked a little flat coming onto the homestretch.

KielyUnusual

Bulmers74 wrote: »

Well done. Saw the time earlier this morning & reckoned you'd be happy enough. No complaints from the ankle is the main thing.
A fast 5k in Borrisoleigh tomorrow night, allegedly

...and its an amazing place too with loads of lovely, lovely people

Bulmers74

KielyUnusual wrote: »

...and its an amazing place too with loads of lovely, lovely people

I'm sure they are - I'll report back to confirm

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Monday 7th July- Dromcollogher 4 Mile(25:38)

Back onto the roads for the first time since the Limerick Half over two months ago. Made a snap decision Monday morning to take a shot at this race. Called up the sports therapist to see what he thought, he was a little hesitant in case I rolled my ankle but after some persuasive talking from me, he gave me the green light. I'm not sure I would've being able to resist the temptation if he gave me a different answer but the call probably saved me a bollocking the next day. The plan was a simple one, run hard and see what happens which seems to be the goal for every race lately but an approach I like as it's nice and laid back and the only expectation is that I feel I've given a good effort after it.


Pre-Race

Late enough start for the race at 8 so I had a full dinner on board and made tracks towards towards Drom early so I could take it easy and relax once I arrived. Got to the GAA club with about 90 minutes to spare. Met up with the lads and started our warmup with about a half to go until the gun, just a gentle jog but enough to bring out a warm sweat in the humidity. Thankfully, that disappeared before the start with the arrival of a cool misty shower. I wasn't feeling like my racing legs were on during a few pre race strides, my quads felt on the dead side which was probably to expected as I had no real running behind me in over a week but I was confident there was enough there for a good run.

Race:

Mile 1:

The gun went and we went, I was familar with a lot of people running so I slotted myself in a little back from two usually slow starting runners but everyone took off like hares but for once, a little common sense showed itself early in a race and I didn't commit yet and took up a position alongside the second woman. The first mile was a nice gentle downhill, enough to make a difference to the pace but not to shred the quads so I started to pick it up at about 1k while picking up a few places, feeling pretty good as I passed through the mile marker to a 6:02 first mile, didn't have a watch but called out for a split, fast start but I felt at my ease.


Mile 2:

Spotted a familar back from Kilmallock AC about 30m up the road and focused on trying to bridge the gap, this mile continued with the gentle downhill from the start before turning off on to a country road with a few gentle pulls along the second half. Still feeling really good and had managed to reel in the gap to about 5m and the drags weren't causing any problems, The group up ahead were also coming back and the pace felt like a little jog. I was pretty confident passing through the 2 mile marker in around 12:15ish.

Mile 3:

Not long after passing halfway, the course started to kick up a bit, nothing steep but just a really long drag which ate into my momentum pretty rapidly, The gap I'd managed to pull back on the Killmallock AC guy was starting to open up again and he passed a Riocht guy who was going through the same struggle as me but was still fighting. The drag kept going for the next mile with the gap narrowing and opening up constantly at about 25m. Quads were feeling empty slowed a lot over this mile.


Mile 4:

Just after the 3 mile marker, the drag peaked out in the form of a short sharp climb and relief, a nice little short downhill section to gain some momentum before hitting the flat. The gap ahead was staying constant and I couldn't quite get on the front foot. Finished with decent pickup over the last 300 to finish in 25:38.


Thoughts:

The course was definitely decently fast with the second half a good bit tougher, though not as tough as my positive split suggests. I'm happy enough woth how I got on, pacing was a bit off which I probably cost me a little on the hills. Without having done much endurance or speed training longer than 400's-800's, I think It was a solid run of what kind of shape I'm in right now on the roads. Not for the first time, the hills were my biggest weakness which I need to address with cross-country in mind. The good is that I feel my speed has definitely come on over the last 2 months on the track, just need to stack that endurance on top now by building the miles.


Tuesday 7th July- 5m Easy

Down in CIT for the Cork City Sports meet so snuck in a few miles before it started. Headed down through the park behind the track carpark. Legs were definitely on the rough side especially around the VMO and the calves. It hurt to start but I felt so much for the better after finishing up this run. Well worth it.:)

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Monday 13th July-5m Recovery

Ropey to say the least after the festival but I had to get back on the horse after only 4 days of running in the past 2 weeks. Something weird happened to my toe over the weekend as well so that's a little on the tender side. Other than that, the body felt ok but the head is still back on the Island and will probably take a few days to start functioning or not functioning again so I'll play it by ear on the plan going forward this week.

Murph_D

How are things progressing, NE?

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Murph_D wrote: »

How are things progressing, NE?

Good, been a bit lazy getting back to full-time running and been busy for the last few weeks so didn't have a chance to update. Starting a new plan from coach now to target XC for the rest of the year which will have me running 40-60 mpw with 2 workouts and a lot of focus on hills. Probably going to leave the log drift off as I'm not sure I'll get much value from it when I'm committed to someone else's plan and getting a bollocking from him if I'm slacking off is good enough motivation. Might start it up again at some point if the feeling takes me there but the ol pen and paper is doing a grand job for now and it's handier.

Enjoy the holidays!:)

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It's been a while!:) Feel like digging this up again as it might serve for some extra motivation and I can't have too much of that as the XC season is on the horizon. The plan going forward is challenging and has a strong focus on quality so I'm hoping it can do the trick and bring in the results. First up on the agenda is an open 8k XC race in 2 weeks time to test the waters and get reacquainted with racing on the grass before the championship races kick off on the 27th September with County Novice all the way through to Munster senior:). The last few weeks have been solid(picked up my first race win as an adult in a 10k fun run of a huge field of 21:p free pint for first place:pac:) and my fitness is pretty good so I'm hoping I can take it to another level over the next few months and set myself up for a big 2016:).


Sunday 16th August- 5m Easy

Nice gentle run around the hills. Legs are feeling good but are going to be tested when specific training starts this coming week.

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Monday 17th August- 7m Easy

Headed out just before dinner for this. Legs were on song so I was happy out, done the reverse hill route which is downhill overall but has a few testers thrown in for good measure. Had dinner and lost the plot and decided to meet up with the lads for a cycle, take it handy was the plan with a session coming up tomorrow but as usual, the weekday spin turned into a race so I had to go with them or risk losing the wheel again to be left with a ballbreaking solo ride home, sneaking this in here 72km cycle.