Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose

jake1970

Well done diego great running especially so soon after the marathon, I wish I had your powers of recovery.

diego_b

This Fat Girl Runs wrote: »

Wow, that's pretty awesome! You're flying these days!

Thanks C, not going too bad at the moment thankfully. The marathon training got to be a bit of a slog over the last few weeks of it so going to maybe keep off plan for a few weeks and try out a few things.

jake1970 wrote: »

Well done diego great running especially so soon after the marathon, I wish I had your powers of recovery.

Thanks L, touch wood it seems to be okay. Just have to listen to the body for the moment. I am signed up for the Great Ireland 10K in the PP so would be hopeful to get a pb there if I can maintain a good level of fitness/activity over the next 2 weeks.

Younganne

Woo hoo, a Big marathon PB and a week later a 5k PB & a medal. Well done D, plenty more PBs on the way this summer.

diego_b

Younganne wrote: »

Woo hoo, a Big marathon PB and a week later a 5k PB & a medal. Well done D, plenty more PBs on the way this summer.

Thanks Anne, a good start to the year! Hopefully can chip away at the rest of them over the summer!

Mrs Mc

Wow that's brilliant congrats on the silverware great to get that after a marathon.

diego_b

Mrs Mc wrote: »

Wow that's brilliant congrats on the silverware great to get that after a marathon.

Thanks very much A, yup it a real bonus to be honest. I thought I'd have to wait another few years to go up another age category but I might get lucky in the o35 for a few years, depends on who shows up on the day ;-)

diego_b

Catchup on the week

Monday 27-03-2017

45min cycle in the evening time, giving I seem to be doing a lot of racing at the moment I am mixing it up on the general training front to give my body a chance. Took in a nice cycle (avg pace of 14.4mph over the course of 11.35miles), first half of the cycle was flat with the second having some climbs in it.


Tuesday 28-03-2017

40min easy run covering 4.2miles @ 9:37min/mi. Legs felt okay after the weekend. I had been a bit stiff on my left achilles but the cycle the previous evening seemed to have eased it out.


Wednesday 29-03-2017

Nothing, some pretty fun juvenile coaching in the evening time though. It's only my 3rd time planning/leading a session but it went pretty well.


Thursday 30-03-2017

(Fartlek)- Easy 20min Warm-Up, 8x60sec ‘Fast’, 60sec ‘Easy’, Easy 15min c/d
Picking a choosing a few sessions that were in the last few weeks of the marathon training plan I was on just to mix it up a small but outside of manly easy running and racing over the last few weeks and next. This went pretty well but again afterwards I could tell me legs are feeling the effects of racing.
5.5mi in 50mins, top speed recorded was 6:39min/mi.


Friday 31-03-2017

Rest, considered another cycle but left it be.


Saturday 01-04-2017

Ran another marathon, only joking...April fools!


Total mileage for the week was 13.45miles

diego_b

Munster Athletics Road Championships 4mile race report

Another weekend, another race. This time it was to be the annual Munster 4 mile road event. My first time taking part in a provincial event and whilst a little bit concerned about racing for the 3rd weekend in a row I was confident I could probably get a pb out of it and try do my best for the club novice team I'd be entered in under as well as running as an individual.

Before getting to Currow I took in a charity event in Castleisland that was a fundraiser for a cancer bus service between Kerry and Cork. Just entailed running 3 laps of the track with my wife and daughter (4yr old) and that was that...nice warm up for my race later and took in some of the hive of activity which was the county development squad doing their training.

Arriving at Currow then I met up with my clubmates and took in the atmosphere. Ended up doing 2 warmups as the way the event was run the women's race went off/completed first before the men's race. Some unreal times in the women's race with Shona Heaslip the outright winner in 21:01 I think it was (she was a good 2 minutes plus clear of second place)...I joked with the coach in my club that I don't think I can even sprint that pace!
My pb for 4 miles was recorded as 29:36 from a 4 mile race in Farranfore last June, I had gone through 4 miles in Raheny this year in 29:07 so I set my target as sub 29. I intended to try pace it evenly as possible (unlike last week's 5K were the last mile was a bit ott on effort) so 7:15min/mi it was going to be and then with a push for the finish.

Mile 1
Quick start this for the 300 meters or so downhill out of the village but then into a good pull up to take us to half a mile in. The second part of the mile had a tight 90 degree turn and then a small bit more draggyness as we seemed to be running along the side of height looking down towards where we started.
Got a bit of fright from the start where it seemed to be the case I would be one of the back markers here, from what I could tell there was only 1 or 2 behind me going through the start line and I passed 3/4 in the first half mile with 2 more passing me over the rest of the race. 7.06 for the mile.

Mile 2
Flat enough this section, some minor bends so it was pretty easy to keep a good line. Wasn't gaining ground on those ahead so just focused on the target pace as the pb was on the cards. Got passed around here with a guy who'd been coming up behind me for a few mins (could hear his breathing), I didn't respond to his move and let him go instead of trying to stay with him. 7:14 for the second mile.

Mile 3
Was a bit disappointed with this mile as we got back some of the climb from the start but I didn't make hay here. I was on target pace but that was it really. 7:14 again here which was nice symmetry. Effort was pretty high towards the end of the mile as we were coming towards the outskirts of the village and wanted to start a push.

Mile 4
Going into the final mile I felt better than I did in the final mile the previous week so I felt I had paced this well and I should pb well here. All I could was give it my best now with what I had left. Remember seeing the 1/2 mile sign to go and thinking ffs I really rather I had not seen that....I was just thinking 3-4 mins and get it done. Into the last few hundred meters I felt I gained a small bit of ground back on the guy who passed me in mile 2. He was about 10 seconds ahead of me but I wasn't able to reel him in. Some nice cheers from clubmates coming to the finish line. Seeing the clock I came home in 28:30/31 (not sure but no matter the job was well done on what I was targeting)
6:57 was the final mile.

Took a few mins to recover and caught up with my clubmates to compare notes on the race. Cool down jog with the head coach then and back to the community centre for hearing/seeing the results. We hung around for almost an hour but there seemed to be a few issues (it was taking ages) so said we'd head on. There wasn't going to be any medals today with the standard on show but no matter really, I enjoyed the race and happy to have achieved my target for the day. Some of the women in my club scored in the county team which was nice, there's chance some of the men in the club will have done similar but we'll see when we see the results!

Strava Link

hot buttered scones

Well done and congrats on the PB!

Kennyg71

Well done on PB D, you're going really well.

diego_b

hot buttered scones wrote: »

Well done and congrats on the PB!

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Well done on PB D, you're going really well.

Thanks, cashing in on not racing too much by racing too much and knocking off some soft PSs but I'll take them!

Wubble Wubble

diego_b wrote: »

Thanks, cashing in on not racing too much by racing too much and knocking off some soft PBs but I'll take them!

Fish in a barrel Well done (again!)

Mrs Mc

Another one ! Congrats you're having a great year

diego_b

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

Fish in a barrel Well done (again!)

Haha of course, it dawned on me recently enough (the last year) that if I do a proper training plan for one distance it makes me faster across the board. Guess it's a nice side effect to not being at the leading edge of pace of these things....keeps me happy though!

Mrs Mc wrote: »

Another one ! Congrats you're having a great year

Haha thanks A and all going well I'll have another one come Sunday. That'll be it for a few months I think till I get a good half marathon under my belt. Onto the second half of the year then, DCM?

Neady83

This feels like groundhog day .... Monday morning, ready Diegos log, PB, congratulate him ... Monday morning, read Diegos log, another PB, another outstanding performance ... Monday morning .....

Have you submitted any TUEs lately?

Only kidding, you're on an absolute roll at the moment, keep it up ...... but stay injury free

diego_b

Neady83 wrote: »

This feels like groundhog day .... Monday morning, ready Diegos log, PB, congratulate him ... Monday morning, read Diegos log, another PB, another outstanding performance ... Monday morning .....

Have you submitted any TUEs lately?

Only kidding, you're on an absolute roll at the moment, keep it up ...... but stay injury free

Haha thanks Neady, indeed no TUEs to date thankfully! I'm not even working on marginal gains properly either as there are things I could/should be doing better. Sleep is the main thing I am working on the last few weeks as pretty tired as I have given my best the last 3 weekends for races and so far so good.

I did some calf strength work last night and dug up my foam roller or more so the back baller I bought to give it a go and feeling good now. Will do an easy run later on to see how I am recovering.
One more withdraw this weekend for the Great Ireland 10K and then back to training proper....looking at a Lakes of Killarney Half marathon on the 13th of May so will need some discipline back into things ahead of that...have 5 weeks to recover/prep/tune for it though so fingers crossed.

hot buttered scones

Is that back baller any good? How does it compare to the foam roller?

diego_b

hot buttered scones wrote: »

Is that back baller any good? How does it compare to the foam roller?

I'm in two minds about it, firstly I actually bought it for my wife (always complains about tightness across her upper back) but not long after buying it I realized I was after doing a Homer Simpson and buying her a bowling ball as I was using it more than her.
But to start with I have not done the full program on the box with it and sure how inclined I would be. I generally only do foam rolling if/when I feel any tightness or to ease out some stiffness...see also stretching in that regard. Outside of that it's grand really but not sure if I would get more use of it than the standard foam roller I have as well. If you're a foam rolling disciple it probably would be a good purchase (very high quality construction) but for me/my wife it was probably overkill....looks impressive so my aim to not have it gathering dust!!

diego_b

Catchup on the log

Monday 03-04-2017

Rest


Tuesday 04-04-2017

50min easy, 5.3mi @ 9:28min/mi.
Did this in the evening time around 7pm, had become accustomed to running earlier in the day but enjoyed being able to run in daylight and less stress to get things done before it gets dark. See also the bit of cycling I have been doing of late. Legs felt fine post the race on Sunday.


Wednesday 05-04-2017

After a busy few days in work and with my colleague going to be off for the next 4 weeks due to paternity leave I decided to take the day off. Didn't do a whole lot barring catching up on a few housework things before I was due to travel up to Dublin for work on Thursday and Friday and race in Dublin on Sunday. Before starting into packing I got in a cycle around 12pm, so took in a route that I guessed would take about an hour or so, covered around 14.5 miles in just over an hour. Got in some of the coast in the area and a few hills up/downs :-) as well.


Thursday 06-04-2017

60min easy run on the Great Ireland run route, hadn't ran this race/route since 2014 so wanted to check out some parts of the course I haven't ran since then. Namely the section where you cut off the top of the Glen Road and down towards the bottom of that nasty hill that's around 8K into the race. Nice evening and tipping around at an easy pace of 9:11min/mi covering 6.5 miles in the hour from leaving my car and getting back into it. Had a few thoughts during this run about how I'd approach the race, the first half being a good bit quicker and the second half would cost me some time that I was planning on a deliberate positive split...estimated the second half of the race would cost me anything between 30-60 seconds depending on if I ballsed it up by going out too hard at the start.


Friday 07-04-2017

Rest


Saturday 08-04-2017

Staying with my parents in Laois for the first time in ages my father had talked about checking out the parkrun in Templemore (15mins away) as he's become a regular at it. With the race on Sunday I was in two minds but I said I'd give it a go but do it as a progression run.
Arrived there around 9:10am and down to the start and there was few people in sight, been a few years since I was in the park so I wandered around for a few minutes and took in some memories. Numbers were a bit low with 44 on the day. I finished in 10 place with a time of 24:44 with mile splits of 8:33/8:19/7:41. Enjoyed the course and will plan to do again another time when I'm up home.

Total mileage for the week was 20.5 miles.

diego_b

Great Ireland Run 10K race report

Did this race once before in 2014 as my second 10K race, I came home that day in 54:32 which was around 2 minutes slower than I'd managed in running 10Ks in training. At that time training/racing was all the same pace wise.

Yet again for the 4th weekend running I find myself racing, the two races since the marathon on Patrick's weekend were club related events that I didn't plan to be running but when there was a few doing them and things were going well I say I'd participate as well and as the results/reports have said they went well.

I had signed up for this race with the expectation it would be my first fast paced run/race post past marathon but obviously I have utterly lied through my teeth there but all the same I was hopeful that I could record a new fastest time despite the course possibly not very favorable in comparison to the course I set my pb on on New Years Day this year in Beaufort.

Planning for the race I was going to target 46min flat (4:36min/km) and hopefully then maybe a final kick for home to get my first 45:xx. My pb being 46:15.

Lining up I joined my fellow club runners in the leading corral just ahead of the orange numbers. I was wearing an orange coloured number but so did a few others around so guess they had done similar to myself and not registered for the AAI Championships despite intending to do so.

First KM (4:25)
Comfortable start, I was towards the back of the group but just held the pace and didn't weave. Few people cutting across here and there which was pretty annoying on what is probably literally the widest piece of black stuff you can run on in the country. I just picked my spot to the distance down at the first roundabout and got around it nice and tight on the inside.

Second KM (4:34)
Well into pace here, feeling comfortable and enjoyed the conditions. Effort felt right and said to try hold it as it is now for a bit and gain a bit going down the Kyber.

Third KM (4:39)
More of the same here, few seconds slower here with a very slight drag as you get back to Chesterfield Ave.

Fourth KM (4:24)
Gotta love this part of the Phoenix Park, think it's my third time ever racing down the Kyber Road. Such fun and just watching the speed gradually increase with no increase on effort.

Fifth KM (4:21)
Still freewheeling and gaining some time that would be lost later. Water stop at the bottom here, took a bottom and held onto it for 30 seconds for a few seconds before dropped to the side before the Magazine fort. Up the hill here with decent pace which was nice as in the past I felt it cost me more.
Going past the 5K marker, I noted 22:37 on my watch...with my prediction that I would lose maybe 30-60 seconds over the second half of the race so the race was on.

Sixth KM (4:39)
Bit of wind here before getting to the S bends, nothing bad but a small bit exposed but guess you are at probably the highest part of the park there barring the fort itself behind you. S bends went grand, was starting to think I was still feeling good here now with less than 20 minutes to run.

Seventh KM (4:29)
Nice and fast one this, good to gain some time before the nastiness to come.

Eight KM (4:50)
Glen Road, was hoping not to see anything above 5 on this split as that would me be done for I figured and seeing the 4:50 kept me in the game. Nothing to be done now but run as fast I could over the remaining distance.

Ninth KM (4:59)
The worst section of the race, horrible hill and with the bend it can catch up but thankfully having ran it on Thursday night it was fresh in the mind so I had my bearings right for it and drove all the way to the the gate/turn knowing there would be a breather for the final push.

Tenth KM (4:29)
Passing the 9K marker I checked my watch, can't recall what was on it but it was 41:20/30 maybe so I just said to myself you have to run this final K at least at your target pace for the day. If you can got faster then great but at least get to that pace. Picked up what effort I had left and started to push. Usually I run/pace in miles so it's a curious one running in Ks watching the distance clock down at the pace it does. I remembered checking with 9.5KM on the watch and thinking just another 2mins now and that's it really.
Gave it my best in this final home stretch, I knew the pb was there if I just kept the effort in. I wasn't able to muster a sprint finish which didn't surprise with the last few weeks but I knew crossing the line I had gotten a new pb.

Result was a chip time of 46:02, I am very happy with the time being a new fastest time for me on a tough course. I laughed when I saw how close I was in the end to getting a 45:xx but the truth be told particular on the 10K distance I am really not training for it at all so just seem to chip away at it a few times a year on the back of marathon training. Some day I hope to go sub 45 but then again that can only happen if I train properly for it.

Strava Link

That's it for road racing for me for a bit I think, how much can one squeeze out of a marathon training block before the body screams enough and you get injured. Saying that of course I might have a 3K on track next Friday but we'll see how the body is, it's more club/county stuff. But I do want to rapidly get back into training proper as that's where the gains are made.

I have given everything I have in races over the last four weekends and delighted with how they have gone, thanks for reading what have oddly become weekly race reports and for all the support/kind words...you're amazing!

Mrs Mc

You've had a super few months of races D serious kudos on all your hard work.

diego_b

Mrs Mc wrote: »

You've had a super few months of races D serious kudos on all your hard work.

Thanks A, been a good start to the year for sure!

HigginsJ

Congrats on the PB.

diego_b

HigginsJ wrote: »

Congrats on the PB.

Thanks very much!

Bungy Girl

Nicely done on the PB and the pacing on such a tough course! Congrats.

diego_b

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Nicely done on the PB and the pacing on such a tough course! Congrats.

Ta very much!

The Muppet

Congratulations on the PB . Great race report .

diego_b

The Muppet wrote: »

Congratulations on the PB . Great race report .

Thank you kindly!

diego_b

Catchup

Monday 10-04-2017

Rest


Tuesday 11-04-2017

45min easy, 4.9 miles @ 9:12min/mi


Wednesday 12-04-2017

55min easy, 5.8 miles @ 9:28min/mi.
Late evening run this starting at 8:20pm....ran to the nearest coastal pier to me and back home again so nice bit of climbing up and down in that run. Enjoyable run as the daylight drew to a close.


Thursday 13-04-2017

Rest


Friday 14-04-2017

Took part in the Kerry Athletics Track and Field Championships.
Very enjoyable evening with clubmates where we took home the not too shabby 50 medals for the club (everyone who competed on the day got a medal and in every event the club had a competitor we won a medal). I managed a 3x golds and 1x bronze myself. The beauty of being a master (o35) was that in some cases I had no competitors so in order I got them, first was a bronze in shot put with my first throw of 5.9 meters. I couldn't beat that and very ungracefully fell over on my third throw but enjoyed giving a new event a go and will do it again with more prep. I had only one training session and wanted to at least get some non foul throws in.

After that I took part in the 3K race on the track and being the only o35 I got the gold but I did give it my best in my first ever 3K race. In the results I got 12:26 (with an avg pace of 4:09min/mi) which going through my best 5Ks over the last year or so I haven't got close to that time/pace for 3K before so a good pb for 3K there.
Next up after that was the javelin, again like the shot putt was my first go at the event. 3x successful throws here with again my first throw being my best.....I think I got 12.9 meters but my arm was starting to feel it a bit but again I'll give this a go in future. Chucking a spear is fun. My o60 father can throw it 2 meters further though!!

Finally the relay event, so we entered masters team with my Da running the third leg and me on the final leg (my wife was running the same race on the third leg on the women's side of things) it was a family affair. I told my Da before the race don't go crazy as he's a fecker with calf niggles and just get the baton around. I was at the start of the final transition zone so I got a final leg of 110 meters which was good fun. We were the only male masters team in the race so we just had to run the event to get another gold.

All in all a fun evening, being a master athlete is great fun. It would be nice if more people from the club in the area attending but 3/4 clubs had the majority of the attendees.


Saturday 15-04-2017

Nothing, my daughter's 5th birthday party was on so kept going with that.


Total mileage for the week: 20.2 miles

diego_b

Catchup

Sunday 16-04-2017

60min easy, 6.5miles @ 9:12min/mi.


Monday 17-04-2017

1hr 35min cycle, 22.5 miles on a hilly route (avg 14.1 miles per hour).
Have a cycling event around the Dingle Peninsula (just doing the 56K on the day) coming up on the Saturday of the May Bank Holiday so needing to spend more time on the bike to get used to it. Going grand so far.


Tuesday 18-04-2017

40min easy, 4.4miles @ 9:06min/mi.


Wednesday 19-04-2017

Rest


Thursday 20-04-2017

Fartlek - 20min easy, 6x60secs fast w 5x60secs slow, 10min c/d
4.5miles in 41mins


Friday 21-04-2017

Rest


Saturday 22-04-2017

Tralee parkrun (incl warm up and cool down, 4.3 miles)

First time running this parkrun for a proper time in over a year and fancied getting parkrun pb out of it. My wife was also running too and handily her brother was on hand to mind our daughter in the playground in the same park as the parkrun is on. Got there about 15mins before the start so got a warm up in and some dynamic stretches.

My previous parkrun best time was 22:27 from Jan 2016. My plan for today was to try run each of the 3 laps in between 7:00-7:15 (or at worst be below 7:30). In the end I settled with 7:07/7:34/7:26 to come home in 22:07.
Originally I was incorrectly given 21:58 in the results but then an amazing amount of people seemed to have gotten pbs so there seems to have been an issue with the time an 39 seconds was added to almost everyone's time. So now I am classified at 22:37 (parkun best time still down as 22:27). No matter as I hope not to leave it as long to run it proper again and hope to record a 21:xx.

Total running miles this week, 19.6 miles. Lost a bit this week due to cycling and then racing the parkrun.